Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie has pocketed what looks like a major public relations victory with the long-awaited opening of the Baha Mar super-resort just three weeks in advance of the island nation’s next general election.
Or he could be facing a tough time in the wake of revelations last week that his Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald may have tried to pocket something else.
The same day that Christie appeared to bask in the glow of Baha Mar’s April 21 ribbon-cutting a cache of e-mails was released showing that Fitzgerald had lobbied the original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, to obtain millions of dollars’ worth of contracts for Bahamas Cargo & Logistics, a customs brokerage owned by his family.
Bahamas Cargo didn’t win the contracts, but critics are now wondering what role that rejection played in the Fitzgerald-led negotiations that eventually saw Chinese conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises acquire the US$4 billion resort out of liquidation proceedings overseen by the Bahamas courts.
Construction delays and cost overruns led the original development group back in 2015 to seek a financial reorganization under the protection of U.S. bankruptcy law. Christie’s government opposed this, however, and the unfinished resort was turned over to its principal financiers, Export-Import Bank of China and China State Construction, forcing Izmirlian out. His attempts to regain control were rebuffed by the government in favor of a trusteeship that eventually sold to Chow Tai Fook.
Fitzgerald has admitted having contact with Izmirlian prior to the bankruptcy filing but has denied any impropriety. Opposition politicians are urging him to resign. But with the election looming on May 10, observers say it is not likely Christie will let him go.
Baha Mar’s first phase opening on April 21 included the largest casino in the Caribbean, plus a golf course, a spa and several restaurants and bars. The first of its three hotels, an 800-room Grand Hyatt, is accepting reservations ahead of a scheduled May 29 debut.
The first phase also is providing a reported 1,600 jobs, most of them badly needed positions reserved for Bahamians.
