The hotel union president yesterday accused billionaire Philip Ruffin of “holding the hotel industry hostage” over the potential sale of his Cable Beach properties, impeding the revitalisation of the key tourist area.
Pat Bain, head of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) told The Tribune that workers at both Mr. Ruffin’s properties, the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino and the Nassau Beach Hotel, wanted the search for a buyer completed as quickly as possible, whether or not it was the Baha Mar consortium.
Mr. Bain said, “What I’m concerned about is that it seems one man has the capacity to hold an industry hostage, in that Cable Beach truly needs rejuvenation.”
Mr. Ruffin dropped a bombshell into the proposed $1.2 billion redevelopment of Cable Beach by telling The Tribune that he expected to this week close the sale to another buyer. He has since backed off on that time schedule slightly.
Source: Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
