Prime Minister Philip Davis said in Parliament yesterday he was “disappointed and disturbed” by a claim made by Bahamian entrepreneur Toby Smith that he was betrayed by the prime minister who has, to date, failed to approve his lighthouse development for Paradise Island.
Not long after, Smith, CEO of Paradise Island Lighthouse and Beach Club Co., apologized to the prime minister in a letter and offered an olive branch.
Smith’s years-long fight to win full approval for his project on western Paradise Island had developed into a modern-day David vs. Goliath battle as the land the Minnis administration had agreed to grant him for his development was also eyed by Royal Caribbean International (RCI) for its beach club on Paradise Island.
In opposition, Davis strongly disapproved of RCI being allowed to operate at Paradise Island, but early this month, his government announced it has approved RCI’s proposal, but that the proposal no longer includes the land that had been in dispute.
In any event, a Supreme Court judge recently determined that Smith did not have a valid lease with the government as his lease was never signed.
In Parliament yesterday, Opposition Leader Michael Pintard raised the issue, accusing the prime minister of flip-flopping on his position and failing to put Bahamians first.
Pintard also pointed to Smith’s claim — carried in The Nassau Guardian yesterday — that he felt betrayed by the prime minister, whom he claimed had promised to approve his project, but has thus far failed to do so.
“We’d like the prime minister to be consistent,” Pintard said.
“In opposition, he had a fundamental issue with it (the RCI project). He was embracing Bahamian entrepreneurs. The Bahamian entrepreneurs now feel they’ve been blindsided.”
But Davis told Parliament, “I’ve not read what the aggrieved Bahamian has said. I’ve not read it, but I feel deeply disappointed and disturbed by his comments because I can call him and his lawyer, and if you contact his lawyer, they will tell you what I said to him.
“I didn’t tell him to throw away that which he had done. I indicated to him, reapply, let’s talk and what you would have done will be taken into account. And he is saying that [he felt betrayed], then I don’t know what he wants me to do now.
“If he doesn’t want to follow the process, there are a lot of others now who are looking and interested, Bahamians, too. So, I’m disappointed and disturbed. I feel now betrayed by him.”
In a letter of apology to the prime minister, which he released to the media, Smith said, “I feel it appropriate to write to you directly to ensure that you are aware that I take ownership of my words. I offer my humble apology.
“As I am sure you can empathize, I do indeed feel frustrated by this 11-year journey and, as such, my words reflected this.
“In hindsight, however, I understand the choice of my words should have been better selected.
“I wish to go on record to say that while I am frustrated by the process, I would like to resolve this with you and I remain humble and faithful that we can achieve this.”
After being invited by the prime minister early yesterday to answer a reporter’s question on this matter, Attorney General Ryan Pinder also suggested Smith’s account of his conversations with the prime minister regarding his project was not factual.
“We met with Toby Smith. In fact, we met with Toby Smith prior to him losing his court case and we offered him a deal which he denied, he declined; and so, he chose to let the court case run,” Pinder said.
“Toby Smith lost that case against the government. We then brought him in to speak to him about his proposal and we offered him to make a new proposal on [his] development and it will be considered as all other proposals are, so there is nothing to approve because Mr. Toby Smith has not applied under this government for the right to do his development and manage that lighthouse project.
“That’s all that we have done, so if he feels betrayed by us as a government asking him to apply anew, then I’m sorry. That’s not a betrayal. That is a normal course of business when dealing with the government. So, we invite Mr. Smith again to make his application.”
On March 13, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper told The Nassau Guardian that Smith’s proposal was still being considered.
In the House yesterday, Davis shot down claims from the opposition leader that he has flip-flopped on the RCI project issue.
“If it comes to a foreigner and a Bahamian, I on the Bahamian side and anyone who knows me knows that,” said Davis as PLP MPs banged on their tables.
The prime minister said that in opposition and in government he had supported Smith’s project on the basis that Smith had an executed lease for the Crown land at Paradise Island where he wants to develop it.
He said he later learned that Smith did not.
“So, I allowed his case to go through,” Davis said.
“In the meantime, RCL (Royal Caribbean Cruise Line) was continuing meeting with the technical people trying to get the deal.
“They agreed that they are now going to exclude the land that was in dispute and if we’d consider it once they exclude the land, so consideration was given to what they were going to do, excluding the land that overlapped with the land that the Bahamian had owned, and that’s the basis upon which the conversation continued.
“And so, it’s a different arrangement. First of all, the circumstances have changed.”
Davis said after a Supreme Court judge ruled that Smith’s lease was not valid because it was never signed, he met with Smith and Smith’s lawyer.
“He came and met me after the decision and he indicated ‘you said you’ll support me’. I said, ‘yeah, I’ll support you but you have no lease. Please resubmit your application, so we can consider it.’”
Smith said on Tuesday that every aspect of his proposal is already before government, and accused Davis of “stalling” and sending him on a merry-go-round, but he said if the government wants him to resubmit his proposal, he will do so.