3 June 2016

Volume 39, Issue 21

Bahamian Prime Minister, Perry Christie, has said that work is expected to resume soon on the US$3.5bn Baha Mar Resort, following an agreement by the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank) to finance China Construction America (CCA) to complete the project.

Delivering his 2016/2017 Budget address to the House of Assembly on May 25, Mr Christie said that an agreement had been reached to remobilise the project, which has been in receivership since October 2015 (Full background in Caribbean Insight April 6, 2016 and January 20, 2016). However, he did not indicate any timeline for the restart or completion, whether local and other unsecured creditors would be fully reimbursed for the sums they are owed, who its eventual owners and operators might be, or what the cost of finishing the project might be. The status of the original developer Sarkis Izmirlian is also unclear.

In his budget statement, Mr Christie said that he was “satisfied” based on the statement and the assurances given during a meeting in Beijing. He said also that “every effort is being made to enable an earliest possible remobilisation and that adequate funding is in place to provide for the for the completion of the project and the satisfaction of legitimate claims of Bahamian contractors and suppliers.”

The Prime Minister said that an agreement had been reached during two days of meetings in Beijing, which were attended by Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson and Sir Baltron Bethel, who represented the government’s interests in the negotiations. The meeting had followed an invitation from the Eximbank.

Laying in the Parliament a joint statement by the Eximbank and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which owns CCA, and the two government representatives, the Prime Minister said……

This is an extract from the Caribbean Council’s leading weekly editorially independent publication, Caribbean Insight, which provides in depth information on current economic, political and commercial developments in the Caribbean and news on events in Europe and the US that affect the region. Business people, academics, and those with a general interest in the Caribbean find it an invaluable tool for developing and maintaining knowledge and providing an insight into political, economic and commercial events in the region.

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