Kerzner International Chairman and CEO Sir Sol Kerzner has concerns about some of the terms of the $2.6 billion Baha Mar deal, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said.
“There are some concerns on the part of Kerzner as to the extent to which Baha Mar is getting a deal from The Bahamas that is more favorable to them than Kerzner got,” Ingraham said.
“In 2003 when the government of the day signed an agreement for Kerzner to do its phase three, it agreed that nobody would get a better deal in The Bahamas for any development than Kerzner got.”
He added, “They are concerned about the extent to which they themselves had to pay huge sums of money for property to do their development and Baha Mar was given property at [concessionary] prices. Secondly, they were required to hire 70 percent (Bahamian) workers on their job, and only 30 percent foreigners and we are considering giving Baha Mar these 5,000 to 8,000 Chinese workers.”
“And we will review their concerns and make determinations, but in the meantime it will not interfere with our intention to approve the Baha Mar project by the end of this month,” he said.
