It’s been almost a month since Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that he had brokered an agreement between Export Import Bank of China (EXIM) and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) that would kick-start construction on the stalled Baha Mar project in Nassau. Although he gave no timeline for a final agreement and the resumption of construction, there was general relief at the announcement.
But now opposition politicians are questioning whether the deal is even done, and what it means for the country. Christie said the government does not control the pace of construction.
“The point I made in my previous conversation (in Parliament) was that essentially the matter was between the financing bank and the receiving managers and I laid on the table a statement which has now been acted upon,” Christie said. “Very active decisions are currently being made with respect to the construction site. I do not control the activity, it is a matter between the bank, the receiving manager and the courts. But because we are the Ministry of Finance in the Office of the Prime Minister, we are observing and persuading the acceleration and energizing of the construction site and it’s progress.”
The $3.5 billion resort was slated to open in December 2014, but a series of construction delays kept pushing back the opening until construction stopped and Baha Mar filed for bankruptcy in June 2015. A sale process commenced in March of this year, conducted by a Canadian real estate company.
