Rick Lowe
Monday, February 21, 2011 must have been a special day for Mr. Sarkis Izmerlian as he is one step closer to fulfilling his vision for Baha Mar.
Bahamian political dignitaries (Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism, the leader of the Opposition and others) along with executives from The Export-Import Bank of China and Baha Mar broke ground for their $3.4 billion project.
The numbers are in boggling to me. That's almost as much as our national debt!
Two interesting tid bits:
- Mr. Izmerlian used the opportunity to encourage the government to forge ahead with privatising the Bahamas Electricity Corporation and other government "businesses", and
- Mr. Perry Christie, leader of the Opposition PLP used his moment in the spot light to say he was disappointed that Mr. Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister was not at the ground breaking.
I like Mr. Izmerlian's hutzpah. He's made some very interesting and sensible comments about government's role in recent months.
With regard to Mr. Christie's silly little jibe, all I can say is he must have more to offer? I would recommend that he get a new speech writer, because our country's leadership are supposed to lead, not make petty comments like that at such an auspicious ocassion. There will be enough time for that when the campaigning starts.
You might enjoy this story from the BBC News and this one from The Miami Herald.
The die has been cast.. Is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.. Who knows but the Bahamas may be heading to a fool’s Paradise..
There is something ominous – maybe it’s just me – about a private corporation or entity having that large a single investment in The Bahamas (as you point out nears our $4 billion debt).
What kind of influence will an entity of that size have upon decisions made by the government? There is much power and influence in that size of investment and we need to be very careful or we lose the tenuous thread of sovereignty that we do hold.