@ This is Ours, you really do not understand public policy. This has nothing to do with the financial secretary. This audit requirement for firms with turnover of five million dollars was passed with the budget legislation of 2023. An accountant explained that to me. The reasons he gave are

1. The International Monetary Firm wants the government to provide more accurate financial information. They also propose that the Bahamas eventually move to an income tax.
2. The government needs to be sure that financial numbers presented by businesses
are accurate. The accounting firms through their audits will ensure that.
3. The accounting firms and BICA is on board with this.This audit requirement is a big money earner for them. At least two senior accountants admitted that off the record.

Your mentality like so many Bahamiams is why this country has lost ground. You oppose changes for the positive.This is why the Bahamas has lost ground in financial services to Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Some parts of the island of New Providence resembles a dump, Governments long ago should have stop this practice of roadside garages in residential areas. This was spoken about from the time , Leslie Miller was Minister of Trade and Industry. All bahamians do is talk.

A next thing needed on this island is the enforcement of zoning laws. Also a top to unregulated building on this island. A relative of mine pointed out just today, how people have built near or in the road in some areas. This makes it extremely difficult to put in proper sidewalks. Bahamians need to leave this country to see how a well, planned and governed city works.

This tax is an idea of the Biden administration through his treasury secretary Janet Yellen. This is designed to go after american multinational who move their corporate head quarters aboard to reduce their tax liability to the U.S. government. This idea is supported by the OECD.Over 140 countries signed on to it including the then Minnis administration.

There is an acute shortage of nurses in the United States and Canada. Many bahamian nurses have migrated to greener pastures. I know a lady whose daughter is a highly qualified nurse at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. I worked with a lady whose daughter makes over one hundred thousand dollars a year as a nurse in New York.

@ Economist. The government will get that money two ways, both of which will affect you. One they will tax or two, they will borrow it. Bahamians like you do not understand basic government finances.

One of the many mistakes of the PLP was the destruction of Jumbey Village. It was both deliberate and by neglect. Jumbey Village was the late Edmund Moxey's baby. It could have been a place to showcase Bahamian culture. It could have been marketed to both tourists and Bahamians. It could gotten more tourism dollars directly into the hands of people over the hill.

Bahamians like the DPM Chester Cooper are talking about the projected tourism arrivals for 2024. If they analyze the numbers, they would see an interesting trend. More visitors visit the Bahamas by cruise ship than by air. Compare that to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Both countries have had high growth rate in stop over visitors/ Hotels are being built at a faster rate in those two countries. Pat Rahming has written about that on several occasions

The reason I first mention Jumbey Village is what I hear some cruise passengers saying. There is little worth while to see on New Providence. A cruise passenger on Bay Street said all the stores are basically the same. The Bahamas despite attracting a lot of cruise tourists seem to have trouble providing them with experiences to entice more of them off the cruise ships.

The Bahamas is not a sensible,progressive country. There are too many poorly drafted as well as antiqued laws here. Parliaments should constantly review and update laws. It is concerning in so called advanced society, that an important health issue is still governed by a law that was passed in 1860.

@ Economist, the government has no money of it's own. That $ 89 million will be paid through the taxes that are levied on it's citizens.

A land surveyor said it was recommended from 1963 that a land registry be established in the Bahamas. One of the reasons for the reluctance to develop a land registry was that would hurt the income of some lawyers. Also it would reduce the ability of some persons to acquire land through nefarious means.

There is no real urbaN planning in this country outside of the port area managed by the GBPA. Too many businesses are allowed to operate in areas that were deemed residential. This destroys the character of various neighborhoods on New Providence.

@ Sheeprunner 12. There is not a land registry in this country at the moment. Also land has been sold in the past and the transfer of title was not recorded in the court registry. Here we are in the second decade of the 21st century, finally talking about setting up a land registry.