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THURSDAYFULLGOESHERE , MARCH 6, 2025
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MP’s Old Bahama Bay closure fears refuted
‘Thwarted’ Treasure Cay buyer targeting new developer’s deal
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Old Bahama Bay resort is not closing but is instead poised to undergo a change in operational and management control, Tribune Business confirmed yesterday. Michael Scott KC, attorney for Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay, the West End property’s owner, in response to this newspaper’s inquiries said his client is set to take back management and operational control from a group of the resort’s condo owners, headed by John MacDonald, which have operated the property as Island Ventures Resort & Club (IVRC). “Our concern is, in the short-term, the relationship between Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay and IVRC, which has not worked out,” Mr Scott told this newspaper. “As you put it succinctly, it’s a change in management and operational control. That will be without any detriment or prejudice to the people that live and work there.” He confirmed the resort will remain open through the transition and there will be no job losses. Mr Scott spoke out after Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, raised concerns over developments at Old Bahama Bay during yesterday’s mid-year Budget debate. “By the way, what’s happening with the property in West End?” the east Grand Bahama MP had challenged. “We are hearing some very disturbing news about what is happening with the hotel property in West End. What’s happening? “We are hearing news and hearing reports, which we hope are not true, about there is going to be a closure or some sort of issue happening with that hotel. What is happening with respect to that hotel?” Kingsley Smith, the west Grand Bahama and Bimini MP, later blasted Mr Thompson for “spreading fear and hearsay” with his Old Bahama Bay concerns. Refuting suggestions
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t -ZGPSE $BZ SFTJEFOU TFFLT (SFFO1PJOUF EJTDMPTVSF A “THWARTED” buyer of Abaco’s Treasure Cay development is seeking to t "TTFSUT XJMM BJE AQVSTVJU PG obtain evidence from its new (PW U BOE .FJTUFS GBNJMZ developer to aid his pursuit of multi-million dollar lawsuits against both the former t +BDLTPOWJMMF CBTFE CVZFS owner and the Government. FZFT HSPVOE CSFBL Dr Mirko Kovats, a Lyford Cay homeowner with permanent resident status in The Bahamas, is seeking judicial assistance from the north Florida federal court to obtain documents from GreenPointe Holdings, a Jacksonville-based developer, which last September secured a Heads of Agreement with the Davis administration after purchasing the project from the Meister family. The controversial Austrian financier, in legal filings on Monday that have been obtained by Tribune Business, made clear he is especially interested to compare the terms GreenPointe and its principal, Edward Burr, obtained from both the Government and the Meisters to determine if they are more favourable than those offered
TREASURE CAY to himself and his company, LM Property Development. In particular, Dr Kovats said he wants to learn whether GreenPointe was required to
post the same performance bond that the Government demanded he lodge as a security guaranteeing his financial obligations were it to approve
his now-rejected Treasure Cay purchase. He has previously alleged the initial $5m bond was first doubled to $10m, then raised further to $25m or 10 percent of the project’s $250m value. And, to further support his Judicial Review challenge and startling $3bn damages claim against the Government, the Austrian financier is also urging the north Florida court to order GreenPointe Holdings to hand over all communications with the Davis administration involving Treasure Cay; the Heads of Agreement and all other signed contracts; plus all business and development plans for together with real estate valuations. Dr Kovats, in a March 3, 2025, affidavit alleged that the Bahamian judicial system has “still not acted” on his Judicial Review claim that was launched against the Government almost two years ago on October 27, 2022. However, no explanation is given for why the case has not moved, and it is possible that the Supreme Court refused to grant permission for it to
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PM, Opposition clash over ‘no bust Budget’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister and Opposition’s finance spokesman yesterday clashed over assertions the Davis administration has never “bust” its deficit and other Budget targets and will not do so in 2024-2025. Philip Davis KC, in leading-off the mid-year Budget
debate in the House of Assembly, argued that Opposition claims that it will not hit its full-year $69.8m deficit target despite exceeding this by more than five-fold at the mid-way point - were mere “conjecture” and “sophistry”. And he instead urged the Free National Movement (FNM) “to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and say what we did in three years was remarkable” - a
reference to the Washington D.C.- based Fund’s assessment that The Bahamas’ rate of economic and fiscal recovery from COVID-19 had beaten all predictions. “Since this administration took office, the Government has not exceeded its Budget. The suggestion we will do so this fiscal year is without evidence, conjecture and wishful
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PHILIP DAVIS KC
New boating portal close following four-year wait By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president yesterday asserted that the planned June 2025 roll-out of the Port Department’s new online portal, inclusive of fee payments, “is not a celebration”. Peter Maury told Tribune Business it has taken the Government more than four years to replicate what the marina industry achieved with SeaZPass,
the online portal that facilitated cruising permits and yacht charter licences/ payments, after the Port Department’s target launch date was revealed. Since the SeaZPass portal was ordered to shut down by the Government in October 2021, visiting yachters and boaters have lacked an online solution for fulfilling these regulatory requirements. However, Jobeth ColebyDavis, minister of energy and transport, yesterday
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Minister: GBPA ‘holding up progress in own city’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday accused the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) of “holding up progress in its own city’ by delaying the International Bazaar deal over $1.5m in allegedly outstanding fees. Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, countered assertions by Ian Rolle, the GBPA’s president, that the Government has yet to supply a business and/or financial plan for its much-touted AfricanCaribbean Marketplace
by alleging that Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority is “holding up” its purchase of the now-derelict Bazaar site. She asserted that the delay centres on $1.5m in past due maintenance fees purportedly owed by the Bazaar’s 13 owners to the GBPA. Mrs Moxey, arguing that a portion of this sum dates back almost 20 years to 2006, asserted that Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority had initially been prepared to write this off but then altered its stance a thinly-veiled reference to
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