Debunking claims by former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman, Bradley Roberts that the sale of Grand Lucaya Resort, in Grand Bahama has been a constant on again off again, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest said it was all a false claim.

In  a recent statement, Mr. Roberts suggested that the sale of the resort had  collapsed. However, Mr. Turnquest  described  the former Works Minister’s commentary to being “incredibly mischievous, and it is disingenuous”.

“The deal continues to be moving forward. There are some final details that are being completed as we speak, and we certainly expect to have a completed agreement within in short order,” Mr. Turnquest said.

The Member of Parliament for East Grand Bahama, acknowledged that while there has been several times that the government said the sale is near completion, he stated that these types of negotiations are complicated.

“They are further complicated by the financial nature of them. 

“We want to make sure we get the best deal possible for the Bahamian people, and that takes a bit of effort and a bit of back and forth of negotiation. 

“We believe that we have the deal almost complete; we’ve pretty much agreed on certainly all of the big ticket items; it’s just a matter now of putting the agreements together and for everybody to agree for a date to sign off,” Mr. Turnquest said. 

When asked by reporters  yesterday  if Mr. Roberts remarks were political mischief, Mr. Turnquest said that he believed it to be so. 

“It is. It is also harmful to what we are trying to accomplish. 

“The world is changing, The Bahamas is changing. It is becoming more and more competitive, regulations are becoming more and more stringent making it that much more difficult and causing us to have to change the way we do business; the way we look at business.

“These comments, by someone who is trying to hold on to the relic of the past is just unfortunate,” Mr. Turnquest said. 

He added that with The Bahamas being in a competitive market, working together should be the only option.

“One of the things we have to remember is that we are trying to attract foreign direct investment, which is a very competitive business these days because we all have the same assets more or less, sun, sand sea, friendly people and the same basic culture.

“So, when we start making these kinds of statements, alarming statements it is not helpful to what we are trying to do in terms of [how] to grow our economy, grow opportunities for Bahamians, both in terms of careers as well as entrepreneurial opportunities and it is unfortunate, because again we all have the same goal or we should all have the same goal,” Mr. Turnquest said. 

When asked about a timeline for the completion on the sale of the resort, Mr. Turnquest  said giving a deadline was not feasible. 

“Some things are out of our control and I don’t want to give the impression that it is going to be tomorrow when I don’t control that pen,” Mr. Turnquest said.