Prime Minister Perry Christie has confirmed that the government has placed on hold its plan to pay out more than $1 million in additional severance payments to displaced workers of the Royal Oasis Resort in Grand Bahama.
Back in May, Labour Minister Vincent Peet announced that hundreds of those workers received $5 million in public funds and the government had planned to go after the owners of the resort to get the money back.
The government had planned to seek approval from parliament for the remaining $1.12 million, but never did so.
The House of Assembly has been adjourned to January 11, but it now appears unlikely that the Royal Oasis matter will be up for any consideration.
“With respect to redundancy payments, we are looking at the situation very, very closely,” Prime Minister Christie told The Bahama Journal.
He said the government is hoping that an insurance settlement or a new purchaser will come in and “save the country from having to go further [in making additional payments].”
“So really, I’m very excited about the possibilities now that I have put Ginn behind me,” said Mr. Christie, referring to Friday’s signing of an agreement for a $3.7 billion mixed use resort project for West Grand Bahama.
His revelation regarding the promised Royal Oasis payments is likely to be met with anger by the displaced workers who have been pressing the government to make the final payments seven months after Minister Peet’s announcement.
The government had faced some criticism over the initial $5 million payout with Independent Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town Tennyson Wells saying in the House of Assembly that it was in fact illegal to use public funds to cover private debts.
More than 1,000 workers lost their jobs at the Royal Oasis Resort after the property – which was already facing financial difficulties – was closed following damage caused by Hurricane Frances in September 2004.
In September 2005, more than 100 maintenance and security workers were terminated after the Grand Bahama Power Company cut electricity to the property, saying that the owners owed more than $500,000 in electricity costs.
It led to Lehman Brothers, the financier of the resort’s owners, the Driftwood Group, suing the power company.
Ever since the property closed, government officials have been saying that they are “facilitating” investors who are interested in purchasing the resort.
The prime minister even said several months ago that the government would be willing to become a partner in the venture if that is what it would take to get the Royal Oasis re-opened.
In his recent exclusive interview with The Bahama Journal, Mr. Christie said the Royal Oasis situation is “a work in progress.”
“There are two offers for purchase before Lehman Brothers (the mortgage holders), I’m told,” the prime minister said.
“We have been informed of who the persons are. I do not know the status of any assessment of them. I know that there is another very intriguing development where some time in the next few days I propose to meet with this very combined, well-known entity that has existing businesses throughout the United States. I have indicated a sense of optimism to the people who lost their jobs.”
The Official Opposition, meanwhile, has continued to slam the government over the Royal Oasis debacle.
At his recent rally in Freeport, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who was recently re-elected leader of the Free National Movement, raised the matter again.
“The damage caused to the Royal Oasis by last year’s storms and the inability of the government to respond in a timely fashion to assist the owners with a speedy recovery has nothing to do with the FNM,” Mr. Ingraham said.
“Their indecision and incompetence is what contributed to Grand Bahama’s losses. That failure is a PLP failure and theirs alone.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
