Meanwhile, Prime Minister Christie – who had used a tourism platform to respond after reading the Guardian’s erroneous headline – was busy trying to soften the impact of his remarks once he had learned it was untrue.
It was acute embarrassment all around for both the Guardian and Mr. Christie, especially when Mr. Kerzner issued a statement saying: “We are aggressively moving forward with the planning and some of the ideas are pretty sensational. When it is open, I expect that every familyin North America is going to want to come and check it out.”
Media sources say the Guardian publisher Charles Carter was “running around like a man with three legs” yesterdayu morning in a damage control exercise. It is understood he called on Mr. Christie for tense discussions about the error.
Mr. Kerzner, the Atlantis company’s CEO said: “The headline in The Guardian was incorrect. Phase Three is not on hold. If we were to make such a major decision we should have consulted with the government ahead of time as well as our board of directors and shareholders.”
Kerzner International made it clear from the start that Phase Three would hinge on imrpovements at Nassau International Airport, which critics regard as one of the worst in the region.
Inhis statement, Mr. Kerzner said: “Our company’s position on this has always been quite clear. It is critical that certain imrprovements are made to the airport, not just for Kerzner international but for the sake of tourism in the Bahamas.”
Source: The Tribune
