All results / Stories / Neil Hartnell
Baha Mar casino hotel at '20 storeys' by year-end
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The casino hotel for the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project could "be as high as 20 storeys" by year-end, Tribune Business was told yesterday, with work on the core "superstructure" 50 per cent complete by that point.
Govt told: ‘Cut inefficient taxes across the board’
The Government was yesterday urged by a leading governance reformer to reduce “inefficient taxes across the board” so that it could make room for potential Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate increases.
Gov't 'dragging on everything'
The Tax Coalition’s co-chair yesterday said there ad been no contact with the Government since the Budget’s unveiling more than a month ago, complaining that the Christie administration was “dragging their feet on everything” vital to the private sector.
Bahamians warned: Brace for post-VAT delinquency cut-off
Bahamians must get used to companies increasingly cutting them off for non-payment due to Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) cash flow impact, a well-known businessman warned yesterday.
Air cargo pull-out threat result of ‘ill thought-out policy’
The threat of a Bahamas boycott by Florida-based air cargo operators was yesterday branded as “the unintended consequences of ill-thought out policy” by the Opposition’s deputy leader. K P Turnquest warned that as an import-dependent economy, reliant on international transportation links, the Bahamian economy could only suffer if freight companies reduced or eliminated services to this nation.
BAHA MAR'S OCCUPANCIES 3-4% ABOVE FORECAST LEVEL
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor While occupancies at Baha Mar's two existing Cable Beach resorts are trending 3-4 per cent ahead of 2012 forecasts, the resort developer yesterday said they had yet to reach "levels considered acceptable", followi
MP fears Baha Mar impact on sovereign rating
An Opposition MP yesterday warned that the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness could be “very negatively” impacted if the $3.5 billion Baha Mar project fails to open within the next three to six months.
S&P: Baha Mar to prevent any outlook upgrade
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) says the delayed Baha Mar opening has eliminated any chance that it will raise its ‘negative’ outlook on the Bahamas, as it prepares to “revise downwards” growth estimates for this nation.
FAILED BROKER IN '16 REGULATORY BREACHES'
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Securities Commission uncovered 16 alleged regulatory breaches during an on-site inspection of Caledonia Corporate Management less than one year before its $25 million collapse, Tribune Business can reveal, th
Bahamas can’t afford ‘another five years’ of secretive governance
The Bahamas cannot afford “another five-year cycle” of unaccountable government spending, a governance reformer warned yesterday, arguing that a Fiscal Responsibility Act should have “preceded” Value-Added Tax (VAT).
Contractors Association: No Baha Mar woe reports yet
Senior Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) executives say they have yet to receive reports of local construction companies not getting due payments for work done on the $3.5 billion Baha Mar project.Senior Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) executives say they have yet to receive reports of local construction companies not getting due payments for work done on the $3.5 billion Baha Mar project.
Wilson: Ingraham responsible for Sth. Eleuthera’s ‘demise’
The developer adjacent to a newly-announced $100 million resort project believes they will together make Cotton Bay “the Caribbean’s premier destination”, as he blasted former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham for decisions that caused South Eleuthera’s “demise”.
$6.6bn debt ‘well beyond’ the need for stabilisation
The Bahamas is “well beyond” the point where it merely needs to “stabilise” its $6.6 billion national debt, a former Chamber chairman said yesterday, as he warned that the economy was showing “no desire for growth”.
Litigation concern on Baha Mar delays
Fears were mounting yesterday that the continued delays to Baha Mar’s opening could spark litigation between the parties involved, a Caribbean tourism expert warning they had “better get their act together” to avoid lasting damage to the project and the Bahamas.
Baha Mar’s expat hires told to leave
Baha Mar has told several expatriate hires to leave the Bahamas because construction delays mean there are no jobs for them to step into, amid suggestions it is seeking additional financing to complete the $3.5 billion project.
‘The s*** has hit the fan’
The Bahamian economy is paying the price for the Government’s “financial disasters” in attempting to run businesses, a leading executive blasting yesterday: “The s* has hit the fan.”
AML chair: three food retail players likely to survive
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Bahamian food retail market will ultimately be dominated by just three major players, AML Foods' chairman telling Tribune Business in the wake of Robin Hood's demise that consolidation was "inevitable". Dionis
AML chair: City Markets deal 'kept changing'
AML Foods chairman yesterday said its efforts to acquire City Markets' remaining business fell apart because the latter's principal, Mark Finlayson, "kept changing the terms of the deal" on a daily basis, and had nothing to do with the BISX-listed food retail group refusing to take on the chain's staff.
‘No cause for celebration’ over S&P breathing room
* Bahamas ‘still has to climb out of hole’ * But Chamber chief ‘fully expects’ 2018 upgrade * Many Bahamians don’t realise reform ‘gravity’
PRIVATE sector executives yesterday said the Bahamas has “no cause for celebration yet” after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) elected not to further downgrade its sovereign creditworthiness.
Casino reforms keep expat resident bar
The Government’s decision not to allow permanent residents and work permit holders to gamble in Bahamian casinos is a “miniscule” issue that will not delay much-needed reform, a tourism industry executive said yesterday.