Prime Minister
Christie: Freeport hotel properties up for sale
During
his address
on Monday at the 2016 Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants
(BICA) Accountants Week here in Nassau, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G.
Christie reiterated the role of accountants in safeguarding the country’s economy,
but in the margins he gave reporters an update on the progress being made in
Freeport pursuant to his government’s latest suite of initiatives designed to
rebuild the beleaguered economy of the second city.
In
addition to the continuation of specific tax concessions relative to income and
real property, the Prime Minister’s vision for the future growth and
development of Grand Bahama called for new leadership in the tourism sector;
capital injection and new ownership at the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA);
and a new governance regime for the port and its licensees.
At
the conference Mr. Christie specifically addressed the island’s tourism sector.
“Hutchison
has been amenable to people who have offered to purchase, and I think they are
in the process of determining whether they can get value for the properties
they own” said the Prime Minister.
The
hotel properties owned by Hutchison Whampoa that are up for sale are the Light
House Pointe, the Grand Lucayan Beach and Golf Resort and Memories Grand Bahama
Beach and Casino Resort. He also said that negotiations are at the “advanced
stage with prospective hotel casino, airline and tour operator interests for
the acquisition and operation of major hotel assets in Lucaya.”
Hanna-Martin: more
air service agreements signed; more to come.
The
International Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference (ICAN) is scheduled to be
held in Nassau from the 5
th
to the 9
th
of December and
according to Transport and Aviation Minister the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin, the
more than one thousand delegates from one hundred member countries and ten
member organizations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
promise to directly and positively impact the local economy. Additionally, the
Minister said that the government is scheduled to sign some very important air
service agreements during the conference.
The
partner countries are Qatar, Singapore, Kuwait, Brazil and Curacao.
Negotiated
“The
team will start new negotiations with twenty additional countries from around
the world” said the Minister. She pointed out that during the recent
Thirty-Ninth General Assembly of the ICAN in Canada, The Bahamas signed two
“monumental” air service agreements between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates
(UAE).
These
agreements according to the minister allow for scheduled flights between The
Bahamas and those two countries and create the potential for negotiated
codeshare agreements between our airlines and tour operators and airlines from
Turkey and the UAE.
Maynard-Gibson on
the digital economy: “Government must lead by example”
Speaking
at a ministerial roundtable this week in Thailand about the role of government
in the era of the digital economy, Bahamas Legal Affairs Minister and
Attorney-General Senator Allyson Maynard-Gibson told delegates that government
must lead by example in igniting the spark that will create an explosion in digital
entrepreneurship.
The
ministerial roundtable was sponsored by the International Telecommunications
Union.
“What
then is the role of Governments in igniting the spark that will create an explosion
of creative digital entrepreneurship” asked the minister rhetorically.
“Our
Prime Minister believes that the Government must lead by example. We are committed
to e-Government and to defining what it means to be declared, by
ITU,
the world’s first Smart Island in the Western hemisphere (which we interpret as
the world’s first smart archipelago).”
The
Attorney General listed a number of local digital initiatives to support this
policy position, from e-passports, a mobile passport unit, e-court systems,
especially videoconferencing and telemedicine to a number of online government
services including online company incorporations, the online submission of
annual returns and annual fees and the issuance of certified birth certificates.
“As you can imagine” said the minister, “this
has resulted in significant savings in time and money.”
Maynard
continued, listing the liberalization of internet and other communications
services, the teaching of Coding in Bahamian schools, the public private sector
partnership “Girls in ITC Day” as just a snapshot of the Bahamas Government’s “focus
on 21st century national development – a SMART Bahamas” said the Attorney
General.
The
Bahamas is scheduled to host the ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators
(GSR)
at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Nassau, from
14 to 17 July 2017.
In passing…
On
Sunday, the lifeless body of former bodybuilder and restaurateur Albert Rahming
was found in his car on the Montagu foreshore. He suffered multiple gunshot
wounds.
Signs
posted in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Princess Margaret
Hospital over the weekend that indicated patients would be charged a $250
service fee have been removed, according to the Public Hospital Authority.
FNM
Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis
on Sunday denied being privy to an alleged “secret
deal” between the FNM and Chinese officials for the agricultural development of
thousands of acre of land in Abaco seven years ago, calling the claims by
Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray nothing but “excessive excuses” and
“sideshow distractions”.
Three
members of Mount Tabor Baptist Church were robbed at gunpoint of a “large
amount of cash, suspected to be the church’s offering collection, and cell
phones yesterday.
Bahamians,
aged 18 to 25 make up the largest group of registered voters, far outstripping
any other age bracket, less than six months ahead of the 2017 general election,
according to data provided by the Parliamentary Registration Department.
Members
of the Mount Tabor Full Gospel Baptist Church in Pinewood were robbed in the
church’s parking lot sometime around
12:30pm
on Sunday, said Assistant
Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean.
The Minister of Tourism has reiterated that The Bahamas
is open for visitor business despite the continued rebuilding in Hurricane
Matthew’s wake.
The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) issued
coupons worth $1,000 to 25 Bahamians
on Friday, the start of a programme to
provide relief to the hundreds of people who suffered significant damage to
their homes from Hurricane Matthew.
Emmanuel Komolafe noted that the BIA has commenced the
collation of industry data in order to conduct a detailed economic assessment
of the impact of Hurricane Matthew. Noting that with thousands of claims post
Matthew, most have been settled and the process will continue in the weeks
ahead.
A recent report warned that disaster relief shortfalls
financed through debt may endanger the debt position of some small island
developing states (SIDS) – the report was titled “Climate and Disaster
Resilience Financing in Small Island States.”
Two environmental organizations are calling on Carnival
Cruise Lines to abandon plans to build a $200m cruise port in East End, Grand
Bahama, citing the area as “one of the most fragile and important ecological
wonders of The Bahamas.”
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas hosted regulators
from 18 jurisdictions in the Americas to discuss supervisory matters, further
developing the capital markets regulator’s regional and international profile.
The Water and Sewage Corporation has signed a $2.4 million
contract with Island Site Development to rehabilitate key wastewater
infrastructure in New Providence. The contract signing follows a tender process
that started in June 2016.
Prime Minister Perry Christie hailed the opening of an
office for the country’s second cellular
mobile
services operator
NewCo (aliv)
on
Fridayas putting “a definitive stamp” on the now liberalized
communications sector.
The
increasing concerns over cyber security opens up opportunities for IT
graduates, as one promising Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute student
is finding. The opening created thirty jobs.
The Bahamas’ existing
legislative and “material capacity constraints” will not support the proposed
$2.1 billion agri-fisheries venture with Chinese investors, with local
university professors charging that the country’s marine resources could be
“decimated” within a decade if the proposal is introduced without the necessary
legislative framework.
A group of 18 of the country’s sporting icons joined a
fraternity of elite company when they were inducted as new members to the National
Sports Hall of Fame.
The Antigua Observer reported on Prime Minister Christie’s
statements during the Charter Ceremony for the University of The Bahamas, where
he urged the nation’s young people to take full advantage of the university’s
opportunities and to “collectively work towards the building of a better, more
modern, more relevant, more upwardly striving and sustainable Bahamas.”
The PHA said
on Sunday that the 20 percent increase in
spending with Bahamian pharmaceutical wholesalers over a two-year period proves
that fears it is intent on “wiping out” the industry are groundless.
The Government did the “next best thing” to directly procure
certain pharmaceuticals, according to president of The Bahamas Pharmaceutical
Association Michelle Finlayson.
The Government will seek to have the precautionary measures
set by the Organization of American States’ human rights arm for the protection
of five Bahamian environmental lobbyists modified or lifted on the grounds that
the men misrepresented and sensationalized their allegations to gain
international attention.
Minister
of Agriculture and Marine Resources V Alfred Gray
on Monday dismissed a call
made by FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis for him to table in Parliament a “secret
deal” Gray claimed the FNM administration entered into in 2009 with China
Shandong Expressway Investment Holding Company Limited for an agricultural
development involving 10,000 acres of land in Abaco free of charge.
I.C.S.
Security Concepts has lost its contract for the tracking of suspects on bail,
the company’s CEO Stephen Greenslade confirmed to the Nassau Guardian on
Tuesday.
The
Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants is in talks with the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants to resolve challenges encountered by
members in maintaining their US State Board memberships, its president said this
week.
The
Martin Town Primary School was dismissed early
on Monday when disgruntled
teachers staged a sit-in at the school in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama over
the long delay over repairs following Hurricane Matthew. The 22 teachers and
the administrative staff were supported by their respective unions. The teachers
requested an urgent meeting with Minister of Education School Superintendent
Mary Cooper and Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville concerning the
start of school repairs.
Dense
black smoke billowed over parts of Fox Hill this week, the result of furniture,
appliances and other items being set ablaze just feet away from homes in St.
Anne’s Estates off Prince Charles Drive.
The
Central Bank has introduced its Nassau $10 Silver Proof coin, the second in
five- coin series celebrating the uniqueness of the islands of The Bahamas.
The
Bahamas International Film Festival’s founder said she was left “embarrassed”,
and felt “taken for a ride”, after Jamie Dingman failed to deliver on his
promised acquisition of the organization.
During his address at the launch
ceremony, FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis revealed his plans to tackle energy
reform in the country through the implementation of a national solar power
initiative. The initiatives announced by the Dr. Minnis are contained in the
National Energy Policy released by the Bahamas government in August 2014, the
eve of Earth Day commemorated by the United Nations.
The FNM’s Pinewood Gardens Consistency
Association has branded the party “deceitful” and “disrespectful” amid
accusations that the FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis broke assurances of support
for talk show host Lincoln Bain as the party’s standard bearer for this seat
and chose Reuben Rahming, as the candidate for the 2017 general election.
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe
believes the Christie administration has contributed to the decrease in crime
in the country despite a string of murders in New Providence this week. While speaking
to reporters
on Tuesday, Wilchcombe said addressing the crime problem should
not only fall on the shoulders of the government, but all Bahamians
collectively.
Despite recording three murders and
several “serious” shooting incidents
in 48 hours, Officer in Charge of the
Central Detective Unit, Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said the public
has “no need to be afraid”.
Jamaican reggae star Jah Cure found
himself in the Magistrate’s Court this week accused of committing a misdemeanor
that stemmed from an argument captured on video and shared thousands of times
on social media.
BPL has resumed disconnections of
past due accounts, Cooperate Communications Manager Arnette Ingraham confirmed on
Tuesday.
The Central Bank’s chief inspector
warned that 25 percent of its licensees will find it “difficult” to maintain existing
correspondent banking relationships, even though the Bahamas has not been
exposed to “wholesale vulnerability” yet.
A former financial services industry
regulator shot down suggestions this week that the UK’s impending exit from the
European Union would remove the regulatory competitive advantage several of the
Bahamas’ rival international financial centres have enjoyed.
Partner at Graham Thompson Co, the
Hon. Ryan Pinder said in his opinion, the cache of 1.3 million files leaked
from The Bahamas’ corporate registry in September by the international
Consortium of Investigative Journalists was “much ado about nothing” but suggested
that the Bahamas government can sue to recover the $13 million in Companies
Registry search fees owed by the international journalists’ group responsible
for the ‘Bahamas paper leak’. He also said that if The Bahamas becomes
established as a trading hub for Chinese currency, it would help to broaden and
further grow The Bahamas’ financial services sector, according to Ryan Pinder,
partner at law firm Graham Thompson.
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas hosted securities
regulators from 18 Jurisdictions across the Americas to discuss cross-cutting
securities regulatory matters, further developing the capital market
regulator’s regional and international profile.
Former Managing Director of the Turks
and Caicos Financial Services Commission Kevin Higgins expressed concerns about
the impact of Brexit on The Bahamas’ two leading industries: tourism and
financial services. He expressed his concerns while speaking at the Bahamas
Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (BICA) Accountants’ Week event
on Tuesday
of this week.
Despite the constant efforts of workers to bring the country
to a state of normalcy following Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Relief
Coordinator and Golden Gates MP Shane Gibson yesterday admitted that it would
be a “long time” before island assessments are completed and even longer before
repairs are completed.
With the 2017 general election just a few months away, Public
Accountants Committee Chairman Hubert Chipman suggested it is unlikely that the
committee will complete it investigations into the Bahamas Agriculture and
Marine Science Institute, Junkanoo Carnival spending and the government’s tax
concessions to Baha Mar.
Voter registration has picked up in recent weeks following
public expressions of concern about low registration rate, Parliamentary
Commissioner Sherlyn Hall this week.
The Trades Union Congress’s president said it was “highly
unlikely” that the controversial labour law reforms will be enacted before the
upcoming general election, with little progress in negotiations at the National
Tripartite Council.
Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder
and regional bishops who make the Antilles Episcopal Conference are urging
governments to work toward the abolition of the death penalty in the region.
The bishop also called on the Bahamas government to abolish the death penalty
and focus of offender rehabilitation.
Police said
on Thursday night that
four out of seven men wanted for questioning in relation to recent murders
turned themselves into the Central Detective Unit.
FNM Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest,
who is the Official Opposition’s representative on the Constituencies Commission,
suggested that no new constituencies should be added and highlighted the need
for an independent boundaries commission.
Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller
on Wednesday
accused BPL Company Ltd of “increasing customers’ light bills” in order to pay
“millions of dollars” to the “foreigners” who came to assist with the
restoration process after Hurricane Matthew.
Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis shot
back at Miller’s comments
on Thursday from Harbour Island where he was
inspecting new electricity infrastructure, branding the claims as “nonsense and
stressing that power bills have been decreased by nearly 40 per cent since the
PLP took office in May 2012.
Contracting the deadly Zika virus has
capped months of “neglect” and “very little” action by Department of Environmental
Health officials in Acklins, according to an island resident who called the
government’s anti-Zika campaign there a “disgrace”.
President of the Bahamas Communications and
Public Officers Union Bernard Evans said
on Thursday that any job redundancies
at BTC linked to projected losses as a result of the entry of mobile competitor
by workers.
About the author: Elcott Coleby is a Deputy Director at the
Bahamas Information Services. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry (B.Sc) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He provides
frequent commentary on public policy and communicates the works of the
government. Address all comments to the following email:
egcoleby44@gmail.com
