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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 The Democratic National Alliance is calling on the Government of the Bahamas to explain to the Bahamian people whether or not this administration has done its due diligence on the company that is reportedly in talks to purchase Baha Mar.
Chow Tai Fook was touted as a highly qualified party to purchase this resort from Perfect Luck, however since then the company has already had to distance itself from its own track record as concerns of its deep rooted relationships to elements of organized crime continue to come to light.
The Bahamian people deserve to know, exactly who is being brought into this country in the name of Foreign Direct Investment, and this PLP administration has a duty to inform the public as to the track record of this firm, and their past relationships.
The DNA notes that the responses from Chow Tai Fook and members of our Government have been to try to whitewash the facts and concerns of the public by simply suggesting that the principal owners of Chow Tai Fook, who are the Cheng family, are simply investors in enterprises of another one-time rumored purchaser of the Baha Mar, Stanley Ho. Ho, as was published locally, has had regulatory and legal issues worldwide, including the United States, with respect to his criminal associations.
However, it appears that our bumbling PLP government, in their zeal to have this resort completed and opened before the next general election, has failed to do their due diligence on Cheng, as this excuse of being nothing more than a passive investor in Stanley Ho’s casinos is specious at best.
Beyond his substantial investment—and directorship—in the Ho casinos which he has held for 34 years, Cheng holds no fewer than six partnerships with Ho in Macau, including Heng Seng Bank, the target of a United States investigation of money laundering for North Korea, as well as Macau’s dog racing track, its horse racing track, its sports book, and ferry lines. The public record is crystal clear on all of these relationships.
If Cheng is only an “investor” in these enterprises, what does this say about their lack of due diligence?!
We have seen what corruption and the drug trade did to our beloved country under the reign of Sir Lynden Pindling in the 1980’s. It now appears that this PLP Government, under the stewardship of Prime Minister Perry Christie is attempting to one-up his political mentor as he continues to shuffle his way through in what can assure him will be his last few months of public office.
The DNA is once again raising the alarm as to this administration’s instance on Chinese investment, at the detriment to our national sovereignty.
The PLP should come clean with the Bahamian people, reveal all their secret dealings with the Chinese, and announce the date for the next general election, so we can finally put these dark years of 2012-2016 behind us.
The DNA stands ready to provide good governance to the people of this country, and we invite the Bahamian people to stand against this administration that is clearly not governing in our best interest.
Branville McCartney
DNA Leader
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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