“Characterising the enforcement of the country’s Immigration laws as a threat to investors generally is a figment of the vivid imagination of Mr Fred Smith QC.”

From what I see Mr. Smith's cases are all because **Immigration is not enforcing the immigration law**. If they were following the law properly Mr. Smith would not be wining any cases.

The problem is not Fred Smith. The problem is an out of control government that use the immigration department as their personal vendetta machine. Our immigration laws are used so selectively,it is hard to tell when the law is really broken. Remember the cuban who was to testify about abuse at the detention center was deported brfore he could testify. The government "at great expense had to fly personell there to interview him.

Indeed, Economist. But that type of logical thinking eludes commentators on immigration issues in this country.

The Comrades of Bahamaland should all be funding and campaigning for the 2017 General's re-election of The Honourabe Minister for Immigration Fred Mitchell.
Never in long history of our nation has any Crown Minister practiced such ministerial transparency.
Minister Freddy keeps the people informed of the ongoing activities of immigration when
compared a complete lack transparency behind closed-blinds of the former DPM & Minister of Immigration Brent - who ain't shared noting immigration policies and actions with the people.

This is hilarious. Transparency? Fred Mitchell? Deport before testimony that would expose his fascist department? Fred shows the transparency of his good pals the Castro Brothers. The transparency of the Gulag!

Fred Smith found the perfect Jackass in Bruno Rufa to finance and advance his political agenda. Had Fred Smith not defended and secured the illegal liquor license to operate the bar at coral beach, Bruno Rufa would not be in this mess.
Rufa is dragging the condo association into bankruptcy with legal fees, over $300K spent already, owners are putting their apartments up for sale.

If a Liquor License was obtained, it is not illegal. That means that what was done was legal. How is it illegal?

Since when does one apply for an illegal liquor license? Do you have an illegal gun license or an illegal car license?

one does not apply for an illegal liquor license, one does apply for a liquor license illegally by providing false information and perjuring yourself.

Wow, those are strong words. You need to be careful on a public forum unless you can back up what you say.

Just saying.

The FNM was the government in 2007 and 20ll Rufa has saved the Coral Beach complex. that is most interesting. what is written here is Fred Smith's view. There is another side. Rufa seemed to be in the business of putting people out of work. and it appears he has hurt many people. That is the impression this article gives. Now these millions that is spent by owners of Coral Beach complex will it all stop if Rufa goes?. and does life go on even when persons are no longer here.?

Birdie, give us facts.

How many people were employed when he took over? How many people are employed now?

How much did the condo association spend per year before he took over and how much does it spend now?

I wait for your detailed response.

The owners are being robbed blind, no certified audit since Bruno Rufa took over in 2006. Prior to 2006 legal fees were $12K per year now $300K per year. The auditor Deloitte just recently quit leaving the condo association with no auditor. No audit company want to take on Coral Beach under Rufa's leadership. What saved the condo was the Insurance proceeds from Hurricane Francis and Jeanne plus the $1.5 million in assessment, which to date has not been properly accounted for and work not completed since hurricane Francis. The condo association's reserve fund is rapidly being depleted on Rufa's legal troubles.

Mr.Mitchell, instead of wasting time, send some of your boys to investigate a company called "Kenilworth Investments Limited". you might be able to arrest Rufa, his wife, and the entire Coral Beach BOD in one swoop, you may even get Fred Smith as a bonus.

If things are as bluesky and seagrape say then why don't the unit members get together and change the board? If the majority is unhappy they have the power to change things.

This BOD led by Rufa is entrenched, there is no getting rid of this BOD. Rufa said at the AGM, quote :- "To become a Board member you have to be invited by me !!! ". Even deported, Rufa can still be President from Canada . Owners who stand against him have their power shutdown, their guest and family evicted , get penalties ,fines and be deemed Undesirable. The proxies are controlled by the BOD. Difficult for an unhappy majority of elderly Owners to make changes under these conditions.The last group who tried had to sell their unit and leave The Bahamas . B. Rufa is fighting hard to stay in The Bahamas to keep control of this company . A perfect company for money laundering.

No bluesky no condo works that way. Check the law. The majority rules.

Check the law, what law? Coral Beach is a society within a society their laws trumps Bahamian laws, good luck trying to persuade the BOD otherwise. They often speak disparagingly of Bahamian Law. The majority has been divided and conquered, chained like elephants, therefore cannot rule.

What you are saying is that the majority are not yet ready to make any change. Are you one of those disgruntled owners or a friend of one?

I have been on a couple of condo boards (first one because we, the majority, changed the board) and the majority can always change a board.

The board had been the same for many years when I bought. 6 months before the AGM a group of us got together and to see if there was any support to change the board. We contacted each owner (many did not live here so it takes time energy and organization) and got proxies.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

How many owners in your condo association? Were the Board Members prior to your group taking over, decent people? How did they react when they found out your group was gathering proxies? Did you find any wrong doings after your group took over the association? Did you victimized any of the past Board members? Did your group conduct the affairs of the association with integrity after you gained control? Was any member of your group charged with a criminal offense? The President of Coral Beach condo association got arrested, charged in court, never informed the owners that he was arrested and charged, spent $300K of the owners money on his legal defense. The owners found out via local news media. Don't you agree that something is wrong with this picture?

It certainly seems so. But with all that, it is surprising that the foreign owners have not voted them out.

We got the most help from the foreign owners. Many of them were Canadian where the condo law is similar to ours, indeed The Bahamas Condo law comes from Canada.

They were the ones who coordinated most of the foreign owners proxies.

The board that we removed had been in control for 19 years. Yes things were run down and no we had not had any accounts for three years.

When the old board found out what we were doing they were not too happy, but you only have to put up with their tactics for a couple of months, until you remove them.

With all of what you are saying, I can't see the foreign owners (Canadian or U.S.) putting up with it, and certainly not year after year. What nationality are the majority of the owners?

It seems that your past BOD was not ruthless. They could have simply change the format of the proxies and render all of your hard earned proxies useless, after all the BOD are the ones who control the proxies. this is the kind of tactics that Mr Rufa used at Coral Beach. over the past ten years every candidate that ran against the BOD, had either their power turned off, Guests evicted or forced to sell and go, or suffered some kind of abuse.

The company operating a Hotel ,Restaurant and Bar . Coral Beach has 272 units.
30% of the owners just can't be bothered.15% is owned by one Board Member. another 15% don't want to get involved but send their proxies to the office. The BOD has 15% support. 25% don't support the BOD.
When you tally the numbers the BOD has 45% overall support. The deciding factor is the 15% proxy votes sent to the office. The BOD control the proxy votes by not allowing the opposition candidate's names on the proxies, only Board members names are sent out on the proxies to all shareholders. Before Bruno Rufa and his BOD took over , all candidate's names were on the proxies . Opposition candidates can only run from the floor at the AGM which makes it impossible to win.

30% that can't be bothered......seems that they don't feel the need for a change, if they felt the need for a change they would be bothered.

If the place is burning to the ground this 30% won't be bothered. Even the BOD can't get the 30% to be bothered. They tried to amend the articles a few times but could not get 75% of the votes. My point is the deciding 15% proxy votes sent to the office could make the difference.