A Bahamas judge last week dismissed a lawsuit filed by Sarkis Izmirlian’s Granite Ventures asking the court to order Deloitte & Touche, the receiver of Baha Mar, to relinquish its claim to 2 million claim against China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the contractor for the resort.
The next day, Bahamian Premier Perry Christie announced an agreement to turn the property over to the China Import-Export Bank to finish construction and open the property. Christie reported that a delegation led by Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson and Sir Baltron Bethel, a senior policy advisor, had spent two days negotiating with the China Export-Import Bank and (CSCEC), which together make up CCA Bahamas.
Christie said the “framework agreement” provides the financing to fund the completion of Baha Mar, which is reportedly 95 percent finished.
“I am satisfied based on the statement and the assurances given in Beijing,” said Christie, “that every effort is being made to enable an earliest possible re-mobilisation and that adequate funding is in place to provide for the completion of the project and the satisfaction of the legitimate claims of Bahamian contractors and suppliers.
“Negotiations between CCA Bahamas and the receivers appointed by China Export-Import Bank are underway to agree appropriate terms for construction to recommence and to prepare a construction agreement that will provide the schedule timeline for completion of the project. It is expected that many contractors who have participated in the construction of the project will be reengaged in this process.”
BMD Holdings, the original developer of the property, which included Izmirlian, disparaged the deal.
“It is very discouraging that China Export-Import Bank, knowing full well the serious irregularities already demonstrated by its sister company, CSCEC, would now turn to this very same entity to complete the work that its subsidiary CCA Bahamas has failed to do time and again on previous schedules that it has provided,” read the statement from BMD Holdings. “What we now have is the Bahamas being forced to witness to its potential detriment, as the former great baseball star Yogi Berra said, ‘déjà vu all over again’ at the hands of CCA Bahamas.”
BMD Holdings made an offer to the China Export-Import Bank that allegedly would have completed the property and paid off non-secured creditors at no discount.
“We also look forward to a full hearing in the Bahamian court on the claims against CCA Bahamas and CSCEC for their lack of performance,” said the statement from BMD.
There were no details announced—no deadlines, no re-hiring details, no management control. It has been rumored that Christie had made an agreement with Genting to manager the property. Genting already owns a casino on the Bahamian island of Bimini.
