USD 50 M is probably less than the annual RPT assessments issued for the whole of the Bahamas. nothing to be proud of. Where is the rest? When can we expect the rest? Having it in the accounts as receivable does not mean that it can be liquidated. Cant wait for the day our Government is the biggest holder of real estate in the country.

who hires contractors with insurance these days? its not part of the crony system. and further I doubt that contractors' insurance pays for damages that were inflicted by the contractor willfully and with intent. if for any insurance it would be BAMSI's insurance on the project - but hey am sure the Government was cash stripped on that one and decided not to take one out or not with proper coverages. Yes, Tribune please start to ask the relevant questions. Be a little tuff hustler.

really? what about currency exposure Mr. James? The BSD being pegged to the USD is a joke and a big smoke screen. I would think that 1 BSD should really be at 0.75 cents USD, so go back to your drawing board and calculate the deficit and interest burden again. Reality is that the current and past government in the Bahamas were not able to create an environment of entrepreneurship and production with all the FDI coming in (e.g. sustainable fishing, fishing farms, production facilities in Grand Bahama, companies producing from car mats (look at the success story of weathertech in the U.S.) to generic medicine, food production (pine apple, lime, ostrich farms, food processing) in the Bahamas to export services and products. None of the FDI was used to reduce cost of energy and/or increase the quality of schooling and health care. All goes into the financial services industry, construction and tourism. all three areas that will be beaten up once we all move into deep recession or deflation. The only thing that will ever save this country in good and bad times is exporting services and products. Not tourism or financial services industry.

I bet this government has to get loans from the number boyz to be able to pay the refund to the VAT businesses. And this is the direct response of the business to people such as Gibson and DPM pushing for higher minimum wage. The real world works like that: 1. first prices go up, and 2. only then the salaries. Everything else is Cuban-style communism.

too much talk about the how to increase income for the government. not enough talk about what to do with it.

funny how you make people love something per decree. Looks like PGC has already put down his input for the Bahamas Development Plan. I hope it is not his only contribution (or maybe I do). if it is good and fun, sure lets do it again. if it sucks, write off the investment and move on. who knows?

ha seems the Bahamian owned banking model didn't work that well neither, ey?

this will be a PR disaster for the Bahamas. Good intentions, very short term focused immigration policy, catastrophic communication. Now we have at least two Ministers (Fred&DPM) plus PM running after the monster they released. Funny how little it takes to get noticed in the World Press. I wish it was good news.

I have no problem with the visa requirement but for two exceptions/clarifications: 1. the fee (if you have 4 kids that is BSD 500 p.a.), and 2. the process. Unfortunately the devil is in the detail. explain to me how an illegal immigrant kid will obtain the visa please, who signs the application?. step by step and then tell me, if you would file for a visa, if you were an illegal immigrant parent of a child. And by the way, it took me 11 months to renew a work permit for one of my foreign employees (white collar), not because it was difficult, but because Immigration Dept lost the file twice. So good luck with September 2015. There is no way that this Government can ensure due process to the applicants, which opens again a whole other can of worms and discussions.

As you outline, in Canada there are a lot of Sans-Papier, immigrants, asylum seekers and Canada has its rules but it is still a welcoming nation. If you are ok with the rules, you can stay. The Bahamas does not have any rules and seems not a welcoming nation (any more). It is good the Government starts implementing rules, but a solution must be found for illegal persons that are in the Bahamas already. You cant make a law outlining the immigration policy and laws of the Bahamas for the next 10 years based on what is happening now and with a view to win the next election. Doing this is called populism, its cheap, and damages our reputation as a sunny friendly nation.