Baha Mar, the ambitious US$3.5 billion Caribbean resort saved from the scrapheap last year by Macau casino investor Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), has been granted a casino license.
Scheduled to open on 21 April, Minister for Tourism Obie Wilchcombe released a statement this week revealing that Sky Warriors Bahamas Ltd, CTFE’s local subsidiary, had been granted a license. It follows last month’s public hearing held by the Bahamas Gaming Board into the company’s suitability to operate a casino.
“In compliance with the requirements of the Gaming Act, 2014 … a comprehensive probity investigation was conducted into the application,” Wilchcombe said. “Through this investigation, which was based on all the eligibility criteria for licensing contained in the Act, the Applicant and all persons, whether natural or juristic, holding a direct or indirect financial interest of 5% or more in it were thoroughly examined against these criteria.
“Under section 20(2) of the Act, the Gaming Board for The Bahamas held a hearing in respect of the application, including having hosted a gathering, which was accessible to the public, at which the Applicant presented the key features of the project to which its application for a gaming licence pertained, and responded to questions posed to it by the public.
“The Gaming Board, having considered the application and the report submitted to it in respect of the probity investigation, recommended the approval of the application for a gaming licence and the various related certificates of suitability.
“Having thoroughly reviewed these recommendations, as well as the Investigation Report and all other documentation pertaining to the application, I have reached the conclusion that the application, the applicant and its material stakeholders have all met the qualification requirements for licensing set forth in the Act, and therefore have resolved to grant a gaming licence (subject to appropriate conditions) to Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited and certificates of suitability to its material shareholders.
“The Gaming Board and its staff will continue to work with the applicant to ensure that the prevailing pre-opening requirements leading up to the soft opening of the Baha Mar Casino on April 21st, 2017 are duly met.”
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Baha Mar was bought by CTFE following a disastrous run of that led to project founder Sarkis Izmirlian being ousted in 2015.
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