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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 NASSAU, The Bahamas – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs the Hon. Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Thursday, underscored the successful completion and opening of Baha Mar Ltd. as a “matter of national priority” and she asserted the Government’s commitment to continue to act in the interest of Bahamians.
“Of particular importance is that the nearly 2,400 Bahamian employees who have been prejudiced by this bankruptcy proceeding must be paid,” said the Attorney General. “Paying the employees without conditions attached would allow negotiation, hearing and resolution of other critically important issues determinative of the future of this project.”
On Monday, June 29, the $3.5 billion resort on Cable Beach, without notice to The Bahamas Government, filed a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition in Delaware, the United States of America.
The Attorney General issued a statement on the hotel’s proceedings during a Press Conference at the Office of the Attorney General, John F. Kennedy Drive. In attendance was Minister of State for Legal Affairs the Hon. Damien Gomez, Antoinette Bonamy, Director of Legal Affairs, and other members of the legal team including Loren Klein and Danya Parker-Wallace.
The Attorney General explained that on July 1, the developer of Baha Mar, in a letter from the Office of the Attorney General, was advised that it is the Government’s position that the Developer should pay the Bahamian employees and in the event that Baha Mar or the China Export Import Bank (EXIM Bank) was unable or unwilling to pay the workers, the Government, will intervene and compensate the employees for July while negotiations continue.
“The court documents in this matter were served by the Developer on the Office of the Attorney General only yesterday, July 1st, 2015. The team at the Office of the Attorney General and our international lawyers are carefully considering these documents and the issues that they raise. We are advised that the EXIM Bank, the Project’s largest creditor, has not been served with the documents.
“The Government and the EXIM Bank, today, believing that the Bahamian Supreme Court should hear from all parties with an interest in this matter, asked the Supreme Court to adjourn the Developer’s application for the Bahamian courts to recognize the Orders of the Delaware court. The Supreme Court ordered that the matter be adjourned to Tuesday, July 6th, 2015 at 10 a.m.; the Attorney General and EXIM Bank be joined as Respondents; and Baha Mar give the Attorney General employee payment details so that the employees may be paid. The Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas stands ready to make the payments,” she said.
Attorney General Maynard-Gibson highlighted the Government’s view that resolution of the disputes should occur in The Bahamas, subject to adjudication (to the extent that they cannot be resolved consensually) by Bahamian courts. She explained that options are being examined to ensure that the courts of The Bahamas are “front and centre” regarding this issue.
Court documents on the matter will be available on the website of the Office of the Attorney General.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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