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Investor seeking $2.7bn in South Ocean dispute

A controversial Austrian investor is pledging to seek an extraordinary $2.7bn in damages if his attempted acquisition of New Providence’s 384-acre South Ocean resort is ultimately thwarted.

Skills transfer woe still a ‘sad reality’

The Bahamas must change “the sad reality” that key skills and knowledge are not being passed on to local workers by expatriate work permit holders, a prominent contractor argued yesterday.

CCA: WE SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BAHAMAS – Contractor reached out for help to son of top govt advisor

Baha Mar's main contractor asked the son of Perry Christie's top policy adviser to intervene when his father proposed changing The Pointe's Heads of Agreement over how many Bahamian construction workers would be employed.

‘Get out of dark ages’, Gov’t and unions told

* Reformer urges end to worker benefits focus * Calls for more productivity ‘to lift GDP growth’ * And wants wages ‘held’ at current levels

The Department of Labour must “get out of the dark ages” and focus on improved worker productivity if the Bahamas is to enjoy higher GDP growth, a governance reformer urged yesterday. Robert Myers, a principal with the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG), told Tribune Business that the Labour Department and trade unions needed to stop pushing for increased worker benefits “if we are to lift ourselves out of this socio-economic recession”. Arguing that both were still “singing the same old song”, Mr Myers called for wages and benefits to be “held” at present levels until the Bahamian economy generated improved GDP growth rates.

Gov’t ‘won’t ruin’ economy revival with labour laws

* Minister reassures private sector on changes * No move on ‘controversial’ issues yet * Will only proceed if business/union ‘consensus’

THE Government “will not do anything to ruin” efforts to revive the Bahamian economy, a Cabinet Minister pledged yesterday, as he sought to reassure businesses over labour law reforms. Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour, told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration had yet to move on “contentious” election commitments to raise the 12-year redundancy pay ‘cap’ and increase the notice period for terminated employees.

DPM: Bahamas must ‘prove’ itself to S&P

* ‘Not at all’ upset nation still ‘junk’ * Blames former Govt’s failure to deliver * Nation has 12-24 months to execute

The Government must “prove” it can deliver on its fiscal and economic turnaround strategy, the Deputy Prime Minister admitted yesterday, after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) kept the Bahamas at ‘junk’ status. K P Turnquest told Tribune Business he was “not at all” disappointed at the outcome of S&P’s annual review of the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness, despite having previously expressed optimism that the Government could make the case to be upgraded to ‘investment grade’ status.

Gaming Board lacks ‘oversight structure’ for numbers houses

* Minister: Changes to make regulator ‘more relevant’ * Gaming Board will ‘look very different’ in five years * ‘92,000 didn’t vote for us to maintain status quo’

RECENT downsizings are intended to make the Gaming Board “more relevant” and help it cope with the “seismic changes” created by web shops, a Cabinet minister said yesterday. Dionisio D’Aguilar, who has ministerial responsibility for gaming, told Tribune Business that the industry regulator will “look extremely different from the Gaming Board of today within five years”.

AG: We’ll deal with ‘major slippage’ in anti-launder regime

THE Attorney General yesterday pledged to address the Bahamas’ “significant slippage” in the battle against financial crime through roll-out of its National Risk framework before year-end.

Chamber urges: ‘Tighten up and enforce’ Enterprises Bill

THE Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged the Government to “tighten up the language”, and enforce the provisions, in the Commercial Enterprises Bill to prevent potential abuses.

AML Foods closes Carl’s Jr franchise

AML Foods has decided to pull the plug on its Carl’s Jr franchise and close all three outlets, Tribune Business confirmed yesterday, although no job losses will result.

Enterprises Bill compared to ‘fighting cancer with band-aid’

A well-known businessman has compared the Government’s Commercial Enterprises Bill to “fighting cancer with a band-aid”.

‘Absolutely imperative’ Baha Mar doesn’t fail

BAHA Mar’s transformation into a sustainable mega-resort is an “absolute imperative” for the Bahamas and its economy, the Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive says.

Gov’t narrows inner city taxation breaks

The Government yesterday appeared to narrow its planned VAT and inner-city ‘tax breaks’, while seeking to deliver on campaign promises of accountability, transparency and good governance.

Freeport investment law blasted as ‘anti-business’

Freeport’s new tax incentives law was yesterday branded an “abomination” and “anti-business” by an FNM Senator, who argued that it will undermine both the city’s founding agreement and economic growth.

TUC chief: Labour law reform ‘unlikely’ before next election

The Trades Union Congress’s (TUC) president yesterday 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.

All results / Stories / Neil Hartnell

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