A Bahamian engineering company may petition for the liquidation of the Bahamas Film Studios' holding company after obtaining a $90,000 judgment against it for breach of contract, Tribune Business was told Monday, with the latter's "principal shareholder" saying he was no longer involved with the development.

A Supreme Court judgment, issued last Thursday in favor of well-known Bahamian firm, Islands by Design, requires Gold Rock Creek Enterprises, the parent of the Grand Bahama-based Bahamas Film Studios, to pay it $89,822 for engineering and environmental consulting work, including preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to meet the Government's requirements.

Gold Rock Creek was also ordered to pay Islands by Design interest at the rate of 1.5 per cent per month, dating back to September 30, 2006, after it was not represented at the trial before Supreme Court Justice Bernard Turner.

Sources familiar with the situation suggested that Islands by Design might now petition the Supreme Court to "put the company [Gold Rock Creek Enterprises] into liquidation" in a bid to recover the sums owed, as it was now a creditor to whom the Bahamas Film Studios' developer owed money.

An insight into the difficulties Islands by Design will likely face in recovering the judgment sum were shown Monday when Gold Rock Creek Enterprises' "principal shareholder", Nashville-based investment banker Ross Fuller, told Tribune Business he no longer had any connection with the company or the Grand Bahama-based Bahamas Film Studios.

"I am no longer involved with Gold Rock Creek Enterprises or the Studio, nor do I have any information about the judgment," Mr Fuller, a principal at Stockton, Fuller & Company, said in reply to a series of questions e-mailed to him by Tribune Business.

This, of course, begs the question of who is responsible for the Bahamas Film Studios and its debts, especially since Mr Fuller, in a February 11, 2010, article in Tribune Business, was accusing the Government of breaching the project's Heads of Agreement and failing to act in good faith by not negotiating a new lease for the project site with him.

The episode is again likely to highlight - and possibly create pressure for - the need for major foreign developers to put up performance bonds or some form of escrow security to ensure that all Bahamian companies and workers are paid what is due to them should they suddenly decide to abandon the project and leave the jurisdiction.

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