The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie’s defence of the sealing of Baha Mar’s court documents on Wednesday has done very little to ease the concerns of Bahamians, Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis insisted yesterday, as he questioned the reasoning behind the government’s failure to object to the records being concealed.

Since the documents remain hidden from public view, Dr Minnis said he could only conclude that it was always the government’s plan to act in secrecy. He said this also raised concerns of whether the government was being controlled by the People’s Republic of China.

The Killarney MP was responding to the prime minister’s remarks in Parliament on Wednesday when he insisted that the sealing of documents was standard and that global businesses could not be expected to conduct their “sensitive negotiations” in the media.

He told the House of Assembly that the documents were sealed on the request of the Export Import Bank of China (CEXIM).

Mr Christie added that advisers have instructed him that so long as the documents are sealed, he should refrain from revealing details about the deal that was struck between the government and the bank.

However, Dr Minnis said he had issues with Mr Christie’s explanation.

“Let me say this,” Dr Minnis said. “First of all the court has a right to its judicial discretion. The problem here is that there is a conflict between the comments by Raymond Winder, one of the court appointed receivers, who stated that both the government and the bank requested the sealing, while the prime minister on the other hand said that it was the bank not the government that made the application.”

“In that case, even if it was only the bank, the government should have objected to the application and they did not. Since they didn’t, this strongly suggests that this was the government’s plan all along and raises questions as to who is in charge. (Are) the Chinese in charge or is Christie in charge?

“Therefore you must ask the question why didn’t the government object and what is the government seeking to hide? At this particular time why did they not object?”

Asked about Mr Christie’s revelation that he was advised not to speak on the Baha Mar deal, Dr Minnis added: “If that was the case, then nothing should have been known until the process was completed. So did he jump prematurely because he knew that he had other bad news coming, which is the downgrading that would have pointed out their poor management and their bad fiscal policy? Also did they know that other bad news was coming in terms of the warning by the CDC with respect to the Zika? So why did he breach his advisers’ advice?”

Dr Minnis further questioned whether there was a buyer in place for the $3.5bn hotel and whether the government would meet its time-line of payment to Bahamian creditors, contractors and employees money owed.

Earlier this week, the government said it hoped the former workers would be paid by the end of September, with all other claims to be handled by year-end.

The government has been the target of fierce criticism after it was reported that the documents related to the new deal to finish and open the resort were sealed by the courts. Critics have gone so far as to castigate the government for announcing the deal without being prepared to fully disclose all details.

The prime minister has several times denied that his administration made the call to seal the documents.

“Much has been made of the fact that the arrangements are currently under seal in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas,” Mr Christie said in the House of Assembly Wednesday.

“The application to have the documents sealed was made by the China Export-Import Bank. This kind of seal is standard, especially in transactions of this complexity, scale and international market-sensitivity. Remember, the bank already has billions of dollars invested in the project.”

Mr Christie’s comments yesterday were therefore a call for Bahamians to “trust him.”

“Putting the documents under seal enables the bank to finalise these sensitive negotiations with the normal business confidences that one would expect,” he said.

“Despite the wishes of some, it is simply unrealistic to expect global businesses to conduct their negotiations in the media.

“This is not unprecedented as I have said, very normal. The court approved the sealing of the documents to help the parties secure the best outcome for the property, and the court will lift the seal if and when it deems it right.”

Mr Christie also addressed another source of controversy: the concessions given to the foreign parties connected to the Baha Mar deal.

“My advisers instructed me to be cautious about what I say given the court order. I can say that CCA was given Hotel Encouragement Act concessions (for construction) by the FNM and will be given the same concessions to complete the construction by my government,” he said.