The Tribune

Stanley Cartwright says no amount of public relations trickery - all at taxpayers’ expense - can hide the government from serious questioning over the Baha Mar deal . . .

There has been a lot of commentary over the past few weeks on the secret Baha Mar deal.

The Government had thought that by announcing a framework agreement between the Export Import Bank of China and the construction company, China Construction America (CCA), they would receive a much needed boost in public support. This however backfired spectacularly.

The Bahamian people saw through Prime Minister Perry Christie’s smoke and mirrors and sent him on his merry way.

The promises that he made we had all heard before, but what was worse was that our Prime Minister was on national television pretending as if he had won a great victory for our country when in truth he had done the reverse. Our leader, in his usual shuffling ways, failed to point out that he was now dancing to the tune of the Chinese. That is the only conclusion one can arrive at when you secure a deal that protects their interests over ours.

The Chinese will be made whole and receive all their outstanding monies that are owed to them while Bahamians will have to negotiate with a view to receiving half - if that!

The completion of the resort will be left up to the same CCA who caused this mess in the first place, and other creditors are still left out in the cold. The Prime Minister also attempted to pour honey into the ears of the former Baha Mar workers by claiming that he had (again) secured a great victory by getting them their severance pay.

We must truly be living in ‘La La Land’ when the Prime Minister of a country gets up and seeks praise for something that the people are legally entitled to. But wait: let us not forget that Christie also was quick to point out that the Chinese were under no obligation to make such payments - without explaining how this came to be. It was you, Mr Prime Minister, and your Government that pushed the resort into liquidation, thus obfuscating the Chinese from having to settle what they owe. It was you Mr Prime Minister, and your Government, which forced us down this road which caused the termination of over 2,000 plus Bahamians ... but you now want us to believe that you were looking out for our best interests?

Another untruth that this Government was pushing in their now infamous press conference was that thanks to their efforts, Bahamian creditors will now have the chance to receive some of their monies that they had no prospect of receiving under the Chapter 11 brought forward by Sarkis Izmirlian, Baha Mar’s developer.

We thought we should lay some truth out there for those who want to know. In the court-filed and publicly available Plan for Reorganisation of Northshore Mainland Services Inc, filed on August 26, 2015, here is what the Chapter 11 says - not what anyone has to interpret - in black and white:

“The Plan presents the best available alternative to allow for the expeditious resumption and completion of construction of the Project, thereby capturing the Project’s significant value as a going concern for the benefit of all interested parties, including the economic welfare of The Bahamas. Once completed, the Project is projected to generate nearly 5,000 new jobs and have an annual payroll in excess of $130 million, representing 12 per cent of the GDP of The Bahamas. Most notably, the Plan does not impair the legal or equitable rights of Bahamian creditors or the Government of The Bahamas, whose Claims will simply “ride through” the Chapter 11 Cases. The Debtors submit that timely confirmation of the Plan is unequivocally in the best interests of their creditors and estates.”

It should also be noted that that the committee of unsecured creditors unequivocally supported this plan.

So why did the Government oppose it? Maybe they were working on behalf of their real masters - and not us, the Bahamian people. It does leave you to wonder how the interests of Bahamians are truly being served when even the committee to oversee their claims has only one Bahamian, James Smith, on it, and he didn’t even know he had been appointed until it was announced via the press!

So come on Progressive Liberal Party (PLP): just stop with the charade. You’re not even pretending to be above board on this.

So it was with some amusement as we watched over the last few weeks as many PLP Members of Parliament and Cabinet ministers were vividly (and some flamboyantly) perturbed by the response of the public at large on this matter.

After all, we can only assume that they believe we are all idiots, so why weren’t the sheep buying their little public relations stunt?

We could hear them now in their huddle masses: how is it that no one believes us? What more do these Bahamians want? We giving them a few dollars before Christmas; surely someone should be patting us on our backs, right? Why are people so concerned about the details? How is it that the plan didn’t work?

Yes, we are sure these and many more questions were asked.

So what did our Government do in response? What they’ve done all along - hire more public relations firms to manipulate us into buying the garbage they are pushing.

So far we know the Government has contracted Fleishman Hillard, the third largest PR firm in the world, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, and now a third foreign crisis communication firm out of Canada, all on the public’s dime.

Does anyone know what the value and terms of these engagements are? How many millions of taxpayers’ dollars are being exported to these companies to turn around to feed us propaganda?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

After all, some of these firms have no problem boasting about their accomplishments in the Bahamas. If Greenberg is to be believed, as per their own website, in 2012 they helped to “elect a new government and prime minister in the Bahamas”. Interesting. So no surprise that they are now working for the Government of the Bahamas. Very interesting.

We again ask the question, very clearly: how much are these international firms being paid, and what exactly are they doing in the Bahamas? If everything is above board then the Government should have no difficulty tabling their contracts in Parliament and disclosing what it is they are contracted to do. If it is on our behalf, then there should be no concern.

They should not be engaged to run the Government’s re-election campaign off the public purse. We hope that is not the case.

So perhaps when our beloved and all-knowing Prime Minister returns from his trip to London to meet with Hutchison Whampoa and Mediterranean Shipping Company Cruises (which of course he did not inform the public about before he departed), perhaps he would reveal both the details of his secret Baha Mar deal and the contracts of these firms.

We shall wait and see.

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