Rosewood's move to sever ties with the troubled Baha Mar development was "entirely predictable" given the "protracted" dispute Baha Mar is engaged in, former Attorney General Carl Bethel said yesterday.

"Whether the other brands decide to follow Rosewood would depend entirely on the state of their economic interests," said Bethel when asked about Rosewood's motion to terminate its license agreement that was filed in a U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

"No one wants to commit resources without a reasonable return. We need to follow the rules of the market. And those who understand the rules of the market know that one thing will follow another. I predicted that there would be years of litigation. It is most unfortunate. I predicted that there would be appeals by whoever doesn't get what they should in court. This could go all the way to the Privy Council. That's years worth of litigation."

Asked if he believes that Baha Mar could successfully attract another luxury brand, Bethel said, "All I can say is the market doesn't respond well to protracted litigation. And the market means those who you want to attract." There is fear in some quarters that Baha Mar's other luxury brands will also seek to pull out given Baha Mar's inability to fund the project or pay workers. But Bethel said he is not overly concerned about Rosewood's filing having a trickle effect. In addition to a lack of funding, Rosewood said Baha Mar has incurred numerous "incurable" defaults.

Among other things, Rosewood said Baha Mar is in violation of its representation and warranty to Rosewood that it owns the Cable Beach property on which the hotel and associated residences are situated; construction of the hotel has ceased for more than 30 consecutive days; Baha Mar has failed to pay both the rank and file employees and the senior executives at the hotel, some of whom Rosewood requires to run the hotel, and has failed to reimburse Rosewood for pre-petition and post-petition fees and expenses due under the Rosewood hotel agreements. Bethel previously said the government should avoid litigation by any means before it sets the Baha Mar project back many years. "I know how long litigation takes.

I know how complex legal matters, particularly matters involving different jurisdictions, different countries, can be," said Bethel, who specializes in litigation. Yesterday he reiterated his call for the government to "draw back". Baha Mar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on June 29. The attorney general subsequently filed a winding up petition, which is currently being heard in the Supreme Court.

Baha Mar charged on Thursday that the government of The Bahamas is to blame for Rosewood's decision to end its arrangement with Baha Mar. Baha Mar said the government's move to block the process that would have given it access to funding, in addition to the government's pursuit of a winding up petition, have created uncertainty surrounding the future of the development. Justice Ian Winder is due to give his ruling on the government's winding up bid on September 4.

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