Fewer than 24 hours after Baha Mar warned that it may soon have to take “drastic and regrettable steps, including staff reductions”, more than 200 workers marched yesterday in carnival-like fashion on West Bay Street in support of the company’s chief executive officer, Sarkis Izmirlian, and what some called the “Baha Mar dream”.

Baha Mar filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Monday and sent the majority of its staff home.

The workers, led by a flatbed truck that blared carnival music, danced, waved Baha Mar flags and shouted, “Sarkis.”

Clad in blue Baha Mar T-shirts, workers brought traffic in the westbound lanes of West Bay Street, from Goodman’s Bay to Baha Mar’s parking lot, to a crawl.

Some of them held up placards broadcasting the message: “Sarkis is the best CEO”.

In a statement on Thursday night, Baha Mar said it is “extremely concerned and disappointed” that its application for an automatic stay, seeking creditor protection and access to funding was deferred by a Bahamian judge.

Baha Mar’s legal team appeared before Justice Ian Winder Thursday, seeking approval of U.S. court orders handed down in Delaware on Wednesday.

Noting that the company’s application was “extremely novel”, Winder said he would benefit from hearing arguments on the matter in the meantime and adjourned it to Tuesday, July 7.

“We are working as hard as we can on as many fronts as possible to move matters along toward completion and opening of the Baha Mar project,” Baha Mar said.

“Extensive efforts to reach a compromise with our lender and our contractor have been fruitless, and if we are frustrated in taking advantage in The Bahamas of the U.S. chapter 11 process for very much longer, drastic and regrettable steps, including substantial staff reductions, will have to be taken.”

During the march, dozens of people put questions about the status of the resort to Baha Mar Senior Vice President of Administration and External Affairs Robert “Sandy” Sands.

Sands, who was standing in front of the resort, later told The Nassau Guardian the march was a “tremendous showing of support” for Izmirlian.

The workers who did speak, did not wish to be named after being shunned by other demonstrators.

Several of them said the march was to show their “appreciation, and faith” in the company and its CEO.

“We are marching for Sarkis Izmirlian to show him our love and our appreciation,” one worker said.

“I am a Baha Mar worker. I feel proud and awesome to be out here, supporting my CEO.”

Another worker said, “This is a tribute to Sarkis to show him our appreciation for being here for us when no one else would hire us.

“We are just showing our love back to him, showing that we are still behind him 100 percent.”

Asked whether he was concerned about the threat of job losses, the man said he was confident that Baha Mar will open and “we are just waiting during this time out”.

Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson announced on Thursday that the government will pay out $7.5 million this month to cover the salaries of 2,400 Baha Mar workers.

Following the march, organizers Reginald King, a front desk concierge at Rosewood, and Nicholas Lockhart, a bellman at Rosewood, addressed the large crowd before speaking to the media.

King said he and Lockhart felt passionate about Izmirlian, and after several conversations about the developments at the company, sought to find a way to show their appreciation.

When asked whether there was anxiety about the potential redundancies, Baha Mar not opening in the near future or salaries not being paid, King said, “Right now, we are focused on the march and today is all about Sarkis. We just want to leave it right there.”

Lockhart said workers want to show their support in “these trying times” and “we do not feel any type of nervousness because we have faith in this”.

In a statement yesterday, Baha Mar said, “We are touched and appreciative of the support we are receiving from our employees.”

The company said it is in these “trying times” when the value of its culture shows.

Baha Mar added that it is doing all it can to ensure the resort opens, as “we all understand that a successful Baha Mar is of vital economic importance to this community and to The Bahamas”.