Although the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) has opined that it is "unfair" to saddle Baha Mar, as a private sector development with nearly sole responsibility for jumpstarting The Bahamas' economy, it noted that both local and international public perception had already "been set", leaving Baha Mar's stakeholders with monumental responsibility for the country's economic recovery, according to a recent BCCEC statement.
In a statement released on Friday, the chamber noted that failure to bury the hatchet and collectively resolve the issues delaying Baha Mar had "significant ramifications" for all entities involved, with the reputation and economic recovery of The Bahamas hanging in the balance.
"The BCCEC stresses that the challenges of the Baha Mar project collectively, are singularly the most important issue facing the government of The Bahamas today, and therefore the BCCEC strongly encourages the government of The Bahamas to channel all of its efforts and resources, and leverage the skills and expertise available among the brightest minds in The Bahamas, to facilitating an expeditious resolution to the issues confronting the resort development."
The chamber called on all parties to honor past commitments or swiftly agree to a restructuring of any outstanding commitments to minimize the damage of the delay on the country's economic recovery. This included a call for all political stakeholders to "set aside party agendas" to expedite negotiations.
"Considered, deliberate and timely action must be taken, but any financial support to the resort development should be limited to amounts owed to the resort development or be based on proper economic impact analyses that clearly demonstrate the benefits of such support outweigh the costs," read the statement.
Baha Mar Ltd. last week filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware bankruptcy court.
The resort's developers last week sought approval from the Bahamian Supreme Court to approve an order granted by the Delaware bankruptcy court that grants Baha Mar access to $30 million in debtor in possession (DIP) funding. However, at the joint request of the Office of the Attorney General of The Bahamas and the Export-Import Bank of China, Baha Mar's chief lender, the Bahamas' Supreme Court decided to adjourn the matter until this coming Tuesday.
The statement stressed the resort's importance on both the development and sustainability of The Bahamas' economy, particularly as it relates to national employment (and youth employment), growth opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses and GDP growth rates, which have considerable implications on the government's projected revenue and debt repayment plans.
The chamber statement additionally highlighted the move's implications on the projections and assessments made by international ratings agencies, which in turn could impact The Bahamas' sovereign credit ratings and borrowing costs.
The move came a day after international credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) placed its long-term and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for The Bahamas on CreditWatch with negative implications as a result of Baha Mar's decision to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
According to S&P, the move means that its analysts have determined that there is at least a 50 percent chance of a rating change in the next 90 days.
"In our opinion, if the parties do not come to an agreement in the next several weeks, there are risks that not only will Baha Mar be unable to open in the near future, but that if and when it does open, it will not receive the amount of visitors it initially expected, thus tarnishing the reputation of The Bahamas' tourism industry, which represents more than 50 percent of The Bahamas' GDP.
"The resulting damage to The Bahamas' financial profile, including potential erosion of its external liquidity due to lower than expected tourism exports, would weaken its credit worthiness," read the S&P notice.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
