The effort to restart the stalled Baha Mar casino resort project in Nassau, The Bahamas, resumed last week, with all three major stakeholders participating in negotiations aimed at finishing the project, the largest construction project in the history of the Bahamas.
The discussions are being mediated by court-appointed joint provisional liquidators (JPL) and top officials of the Bahamian government. Participating are executives on the team of Baha Mar Ltd. CEO Sarkis Izmirlian, general contractor China Construction America (CCA) Bahamas and the Export Import Bank of China, the main lender for the $3.4 billion project, which reportedly is 90 percent complete
Construction ground to a halt when Izmirlian refused to pay CCA after the contractor, a subsidiary of state-owned China State Construction Engineering Company, allegedly missed several deadlines, causing the grand opening of Baha Mar to be delayed twice before it was suspended indefinitely. The government of the Bahamas initiated liquidation procedures to take the project over should the parties be unable to resolve their differences.
Bahamas Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson is leading the delegation representing the Bahamian government, which initiated liquidation to protect the jobs of thousands of idle Bahamians already hired by the company.
According to the Bahamas Tribune, initial talks were described as “constructive” for the participants, and as “another important step on the road to resolution” by the JPLs.
In a statement, Edmund Rahming, of KryS Global, and Alastair Beveridge and Nick Cropper, of AlixPartners, collectively the JPLs to the Cable Beach development, said they had chaired talks with representatives from the government, bank, CCA Bahamas and its parent, and Izmirlian, the resort’s founder, who put up $1 billion of his family’s money to initiate the project.
“We would like to thank all parties for their good-faith participation in and constructive approach during the meetings,” said Beveridge in the statement. “While there is still work to be done, it is clear that all involved are focused on quickly reaching a viable solution to ensure that the Baha Mar resort is able to open for business for the benefit of all stakeholders, including the Bahamian people.
“We will continue to work with all stakeholders as we explore the best route forward and will issue further updates as talks continue.”
The parties hope to resolve all issues and complete construction in time to take advantage of the winter high season for Caribbean resorts.
