Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader Perry Christie yesterday downplayed an election threat from the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and suggested that the new party is falling apart.
Christie's comments came as he hit out at the DNA's claims that he was in collusion with Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to suppress details about the recent Atlantis takeover.
"Bahamians already know the DNA is not ready for the big time.  It has been a rough few weeks for [DNA Leader] Branville McCartney, whose party has been plagued by infighting, stumbles, accusations and counter-accusations," said Christie at a press conference at PLP headquarters on Farrington Road.
He said the DNA is "self-destructing even before it's out of the gate".
Christie also refuted McCartney's claims that he (Christie) was present at a Cabinet meeting called on the eve of the Atlantis ownership change announcement.
"The DNA states that I was in the Cabinet room with the prime minister and his Cabinet to discuss the Brookfield [takeover] of Atlantis. I was not. Let me say it again, though, in case the slower minds in the DNA need it to be repeated: I was not in that room," he said.
Christie said it was his party that first called on the government to reveal details of the Brookfield/Atlantis deal. He added that he only knew of the ownership change "five minutes" before the prime minister made his public announcement last November.
"I learned that the government had approved the [transfer of ownership] of Atlantis to a Canadian hedge fund on the same day as the Bahamian public. My response was concern about the security of Bahamian jobs, and it continues to be a matter of serious concern for me.
"Immediately after the government made its announcement, I called on the FNM to make the deal public, and we've been repeating this call ever since."
He reiterated his party's plea for the management agreement between Kerzner International and Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian conglomerate, to be made public.  But there is no evidence that a final agreement is actually in place.
"The truth is, Bahamians do not trust the FNM to fight for them at the bargaining table.  The government assured Bahamians their jobs were secure, but Bahamians are smart; they're asking if those assurances are only good until the elections.
"Hubert and Branville, FNM and FNM light, listen to me, for the many thousands whose jobs are at stake, and for their families, this is not a game," he said.
Kerzner Chairman Sir Sol Kerzner announced in November that Brookfield was taking over Atlantis, the One&Only Ocean Club and Kerzner's property in Mexico in a $175 million debt-for-equity swap.
Kerzner International will continue to manage the Paradise Island properties under a four-year contract, which The Nassau Guardian understands can be terminated at any time, subject to a penalty.
The management contract also requires Kerzner to meet gross earnings of $215 million at the end of the agreement's first year, a target the company last met in 2008.
The Guardian has also been informed that there are worries Kerzner could reduce staff or cut operating costs to meet those revenue targets. However, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Sir Sol have both publicly said the nearly 8,000 jobs at the Paradise Island properties are safe.

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