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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025
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Sarkis battling for British Colonial wind-up proof By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHA Mar’s contractor is fighting Sarkis Izmirlian’s attempt to use a report filed with the New Jersey bankruptcy court in his Bahamian legal bid to wind-up its two Nassaubased resorts. China State Construction and Engineering (CSCEC) Holding Company, the parent entity for China Construction America (CCA Inc), is arguing that the report compiled by the latter’s “special” Chapter 11 bankruptcy committee contains “confidential commercial information” that Baha Mar’s original developer must be prohibited from using in his ongoing Supreme Court fight. However, Mr Izmirlian and his BML Properties vehicle, which are battling to collect $1.7bn in damages awarded against the
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the Supreme Court on the basis they are insolvent. The former is the immediate parent for CCA’s Bahamian resorts, the British Colonial and Margaritaville Beach Resort. The letter, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, comes just three days ahead of today’s New Jersey bankruptcy court hearing on Mr Izmirlian’s bid to ‘pierce the corporate veil’ and directly target CSCEC Holding Company through fresh litigation in a bid to collect on his $1.7bn judgment from CCA’s parent.
SARKIS IZMIRLIAN E-mails seen by this newspaper show that attorneys acting for Mr Izmirlian and BML Properties have urged CCA Inc’s “special committee”, formed from the Chinese state-owned contractor’s independent non-executive directors, to “make a ten-figure settlement demand on CSCEC Holdings now”. They assert that Baha Mar’s original developer
HEARINGS - See Page B11
Unions alleging BTC cellular network ‘migrated’ overseas By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) two trade unions yesterday accused the carrier of “migrating” its cell phone network to “foreign jurisdictions” with recent firings “the final straw”. The Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) and Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), in a joint statement, alleged that foreign engineers were coming in without the necessary work permits to effect the
network switch while also asserting that contract workers were increasingly replacing full-time staff as part of “union-busting” tactics. BTC told Tribune Business that it was still working on a response to the union statement at press time last night, and one will likely be forthcoming today as both the BCPMU and BCPOU sought to further raise the temperature and industrial discord seemingly marked by the disputed termination of five staff last week - three of whom they allege were unfairly blamed for a credit
INDUSTRIAL - See Page B14
‘Fiscal numbers not being compiled by Brave Davis’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday hit back at Opposition charges that the fiscal data was “manipulated” to ensure the 2024-2025 deficit target was met, adding: “They are not compiled by Brave Davis.” Philip Davis KC, rising in the House of Assembly in response to assertions made by Michael Pintard, the Opposition leader, argued that The Bahamas’ creditworthiness would not have been upgraded by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) if the Government had acted unethically, or incorrectly, with the fiscal figures that
PM PHILIP DAVIS KC were unveiled for the 12 months to end-June 2025. Asserting that the lastminute revisions, which stripped some $37.3m from the Government’s spending and deficit numbers for the five months from July to
DATA - See Page B12
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‘Nothing adds up’ on labour reforms By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PROPOSED labour reforms will act as “a disincentive to employment” just as the Government is seeking to reverse the recent jobless increase, the Chamber of Commerce’s labour chief warned yesterday. Peter Goudie told Tribune Business that “something doesn’t add up” with the Davis administration pushing a wide-ranging package of Employment Act changes that threaten to both increase costs, and undermine the ease of doing business, in the face of a near-9,000 increase in jobless Bahamians between the 2024 third quarter and 2025 first quarter. The heightened expenses will likely increase marginal labour costs, and potentially deter some firms from hiring and creating jobs, just when the Government is seeking to lower the unemployment rate. Mr Goudie identified the proposed ‘redundancy insurance’, which all employers must pay to ensure their workers receive termination pay and
PETER GOUDIE due benefits, as one of his three main objections to the reforms. Confirming that he made this known at Tuesday night’s New Providence town meeting to discuss the reforms, he also challenged whether the Government has sufficient resources to monitor and check whether employers are paying ‘redundancy insurance’ should this be enshrined in the Employment Act. “I explained my objections to the fact they want to have companies pay a premium to an insurance company to cover something even if they are a OBJECTIONS - See Page B13