Today the multibillion-dollar Baha Mar resort opens at Cable Beach. It's a soft opening, part of a phased opening over the next year. The resort has had many ups and downs. It was first conceived of by developer Sarkis Izmirlian during the first Christie administration. He is no longer part of the equation. The hotel opens under the direction of soon-to-be owner Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE).
With an economy that has not grown in four years, and in a country with double-digit unemployment, Bahamians are hopeful that Baha Mar will be a success. In the 1990s the Atlantis investment spurred a decade of robust growth. Jobs are scarce in these times.
Prime Minister Perry Christie wants to count "resolution" of the Baha Mar bankruptcy as a major success. He talks about the resort's opening every chance he gets. But instead of seeing headlines in the newspapers celebrating day one of the property, scandal dominates the front pages.
On Thursday The Tribune published emails from Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald soliciting contracts for his family firm from Izmirlian while he was head of Baha Mar. Fitzgerald was begging for the deals.
Article 40(b) of the Manual of Cabinet and Ministry Procedure states that a minister must not "solicit or accept any benefit, advantage or promise of future advantage whether for himself, his immediate family or any business concern or trust with which he is associated from persons who are in, or seek to be in, any contractual or special relationship with government". Fitzgerald was clearly in violation of that.
As a result of the revelation he should resign or be fired. That won't happen because we are two-plus weeks away from a general election and Christie doesn't fire loyalists.
The emails are stunning. Fitzgerald as a sitting Cabinet member is engaged in family business openly. It gives evidence to those who have said the governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is deeply conflicted with its dealings concerning the property.
This evolving scandal is coupled with the fact that the PLP administration still has not revealed to Bahamians the new Baha Mar deal.
Last August, Christie announced that an agreement was reached with the Export-Import Bank of China -- the lender -- to complete Baha Mar. He told Parliament the Supreme Court sealed the agreement upon the request of the Chinese. He also said the seal was intended to protect the transaction.
Since then, however, the buyer became known. In December, the prime minister confirmed Baha Mar was being sold to CTFE, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.
In January, amid ongoing questions from the public over why the deal was sealed, Christie told reporters the attorney general had been instructed to make the records public at the "earliest opportunity".
Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson then confirmed that the unsealed Baha Mar documents would be released before the phased April resort opening. This week she said the documents are still on target to be released this month.
It was leaked that there are certain value-added tax (VAT) exemptions as part of the secret deal. There are likely other shocking concessions. We doubt the PLP has any intention of making this deal public before the general election. The party does not want the Bahamian people to know what it gave away in their name. In fact, if the PLP wins Bahamians may not see the deal over the next five-year term either.
The actions of Christie's PLP mar the opening of this resort. Scandal and secrecy are what Bahamians think of when Baha Mar is mentioned. We hope if a new government is elected all documents related to Baha Mar will be released. This prime minister does not believe in Bahamians. He does not think they need to know what goes on behind the scenes at the Imperial Court of the Emperor of Centreville.

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