the article in the nassau guardian indicates this is an unsecured loan and the govt expects to be repaid in full (i.e. they will probably deduct it from what they owe Baha Mar for the roads). If that is the case then it is a little different that CLICO, mortgages etc as that truly would be money spent with no ability to recoup. in the case of Baha Mar they can either be repaid when the construction begins to move ahead again or it simply reduces their debt to Baha Mar. Our govt cannot simply give money away when private business fails - but they can loan it i guess with a guarantee of repayment of sorts. seems that is the thinking.

In speaking with several of the non-bahamian employees at Baha Mar it was explained that the ex-pats are paid monthly and had already been paid for June - however they are unsure as to how their July salaries will be handled. The Bahamian employees are paid biweekly or weekly and that is who was paid yesterday. According to the Nassau Guardian article which refers to the letter issued from the AG's office regarding the salary payment, the payment is being made as an unsecured loan from the Govt to Baha Mar with the agreement that it shall be repaid in full. I suspect it will simply be deducted from the amount of money owed to Baha Mar by the govt for the roads.

For Gomez to say he did not want to comment regarding whether expats were paid simply shows his lack of knowledge of the details - it would have been simpler to eliminate suspicion and subterfuge by saying 1) he didn't know the details or 2) the expats are paid monthly and that had already been addressed by Baha Mar directly. Our politicians are pretty pathetic at PR/communications. It really shouldn't be a "secret" other than most of them don't even know the details.

i do not believe this for a second. from what i heard about the testing process it was extremely selective, very limited AND most importantly, a lot of illnesses manifest over time so for many of the residents effected cancer may not show up for 5 - 10 years - it is not something that is necessarily instantaneous. These residents MUST be tested regularly for the next 10 years. Read this exercept from an article on fracking and gas/oil leaking into groundwater and residential wells:

Areas of known adverse health effects include the following:

Pulmonary
Neurological
Reproductive
Hematological
Immunological
Dermatological
Endocrinological
Ophthalmological
Gastroenterological
Along with genetic abnormalities and illnesses. Intense or chronic exposure to some of these toxins and combinations of them may result in death. The time course for manifestation of illness related to the toxins associated with gas drilling might be months, years or even decades.

Environment-related cancers may take 15-30 years to develop. In the state of Louisiana, where the petroleum industry is well established, portions of the state are referred to as, 'cancer alley,' due to higher liver, lung and other forms of cancers associated with the industry.

i like this idea!!! grin and bear it a few times, drive them all crazy, and they'll have to change it back! getting my pennies now...

i agree with you wholeheartedly. what the frig is 8 cents? an inconvenience. they could certainly afford to adjust the base price lower and include the VAT to keep it at $1, or make it 1.10 or 1.25. i would care about paying that. but 8 friggin cents? retards. absolutely.

and i couldn't say it better re the PLP in general. i can only say - "ditto".

so, 3 grownups on a jet ski - hmmm...... any regulations about that? i'm assuming the jet ski operator did not check that the women could swim, and i'm wondering if they were wearing life vests.

the right words fail me at this time. would the PLP truly be so blatant about buying votes? Do they really think this will work? They don't have to pay the salaries - what part of that don't these idiots get!!!! the DIP was granted for Baha Mar to pay the salaries. What the hell are these friggin' idiots doing????? Are they sleeping? We are not a socialist country - or are we?? We are broke!!! We can't afford this. My hearts go out to the employees of Baha Mar and I have cried every day since hearing the news, wondering where these bright and talented people will go. BUT the one thing the employees all know is that Sarkis has their back - he is doing everything he can to ensure they are supported through this. No other company has EVER done that in our country. Taking the politics and the money play and the egos out of the equation, the one thing that the actual Baha Mar workers know (and that others on the outside seem to be clueless about ) is that Sarkis really cares for his Bahamian people and really wants his project to be as Bahamian as possible - and he succeeded so far. If you had taken tours through the properties you would see that. I don't work there but I have had the privilege of meeting so many of the workers - Bahamian and expat - and I have heard nothing but respect for Sarkis and his vision. Execution may be questionable but the intent and the passion are pure.

in a bankruptcy case the debt is usually paid off at a reduced rate - as low as 10% in many cases. so he is saying that the full amounts owed to vendors will unlikely be paid - they will only receive a percentage if anything - which means huge financial woes for companies that over extended themselves.

wow wow wow! And how exactly were we to benefit from this project, or any other, when all we continue to do is grant concessions in fees and taxes. it seems that no large project has EVER paid these and now with the convenient law that allows them to be condo hotels and thus avoiding duty on the furnishings and building materials, we earn absolutely nothing from these projects other than salaries for bahamians. it would be cheaper for the govt to simply pay a salary to 5000 people each year than to allow these companies to operate. if they can't afford to come here and run an operation and pay taxes and fees when due like everyone else then it seems to me it's not a viable financial option and they shouldn't be here. Am I missing something??

now this i can definitely do!!! or we could hire a drone to drop stickies in his yard demanding his resignation...