So did these fires have anything to do with the 30 r 40 (foreign) workers BPL just hired and BPL's threats to get rid of them. OR did these fires just happen coincidentally at the same time. asking for a friend who afraid of the dark

Don’t know the benefits of the country becoming a WTO member but there will have to be a lot more work to be done to make the country ready. Right now you have a financial imbecile, who probably cannot even spell finance or economics. He is causing one set of merchants to pay duty on certain items while another set go duty free. This will not be allowed under the WTO, who seeks to level the playing field on trade. But the idiot is creating a skewed economy that will cause even more erosion of government revenue.

"There is the potential for Florence to stall or significantly reduce its forward speed as it nears the coast, which could prolong the effects of damaging winds, storm surge flooding and beach erosion. A stall or slow forward speed would also greatly enhance inland flooding of streams and rivers.

“There’s never been a storm like Florence. It was located farther north in the Atlantic than any other storm to ever hit the Carolinas, so what we’re forecasting is unprecedented. Also, most storms coming into the Carolinas tend to move northward, and this storm looks like it’s going to stall over the region and potentially bring tremendous, life-threatening flooding,” AccuWeather Vice President of Forecasting and Graphics Operations Marshall Moss said.

States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia in preparation for Florence's arrival."

Get the free AccuWeather app to stay up-to-date with Florence’s expected track and impacts to the U.S.

Florence is described as potentially the largest and most powerful hurricane to hit the US north of Florida in this century. Even minimal damage will be devastation.

Another reason why Super Value and other business VAT returns for July and August and even September will be higher than expected (meaning the government will get more money) is that most of their inputs (items they purchased to sell or use in the business) were rated at 7.5% but they are paying 12% VAT to the government! So the government in these three or four months will be getting its 12% VAT plus the 41/2 % difference the businesses must now pay on their inputs. And then remember too Super Value and other food stores are now collecting zero vat on items it may have paid 7.5% on in months prior, and 12% in July. So even though they paid the VAT when they purchased these items, they are not collecting VAt when they sell them. So yes, you may say Roberts dem get swing

There is a saying in Economics that ‘Bad money chases away good money.’ To give a simple explanation Government claims that nearly half the taxes go unpaid and this is a big issue with customs and collecting duty and even vat. But when government continues to increases on the businesses that are paying the customs duties and VAT, they give the persons who are smuggling more advantage. Let’s say Super Value imports and pays duties and VAT on a case of juice. Roberts then sells that case of juice for $13.50. But the guy around the corner smuggles in his juice and pays no duty. He sells his juice for $11.50. Then government comes along and decides it wants to raise the tax on the juice by a dollar plus the 12 cents vat. So Super Value raises their price from $13.50 to $15.00. But remember the guy around the corner is not paying taxes (he still smuggling)! so there is no increase in his cost. But since there is such vast difference on his price and Super Value’s new price he decides to carry his price from $11.50! To $13.50. So he is now making $4.00 on the same case of juice while Super Value is only making $2.38 and yet he is selling for $2.00 cheaper. So Super Value starts to lose its customers to the guy with the cheaper price and government sees no additional revenue from its $1.12 per case increase in taxes on the case of juice. And so when taxes become too high, more and more persons will become willing and find ways to evade taxes. Persons who were bringing in the juice and paying taxes may now decide to buy from the guy with the cheaper price. And eventually the few. stores that are paying the duties will be squeezed out the market. And government revenue shrinks and it must resort to more borrowing. Government borrowing is expensive and is only putting an extension on bills that need to be paid. And usually when it finds its debt is spiraling out of control , a government will usually come back and increase taxes on the segment of taxpayers who were paying all along. That is why the tax burden on the average Bahamian is so heavy. That is why so many businesses are failing. That is why the economy remains stagnant. And that is why government cannot get a grip on its finances.

So Helene is supposed to come across North of the Bahamas. Make the loop near Bermuda, then stall before heading out to sea.

These are similar to what the Hubert Ingraham government put on Saunders Beach and montagu Beach to keep the sand from eroding.

*to dismantle the Shanty towns

> These figures contrast sharply with Mr
> Roberts' prediction to Tribune
> Business on July 20, 2018, that the
> "zero rating" of "bread basket food
> items would slash Super Value's VAT
> take by two-thirds

Obviously Mr. Roberts and his crew made two crucial mistakes when attempting to calculate the net effect of the Zero rating of bread basket items. Firstly while the breadbasket items may make up a large percentage of what Super value sells by number of items, The value of the goods compared to other items is far less. For example the average price of breadbasket items may be a can of corned beef at around $2.00. But super value sells steaks for average of $20.00 a pack, detergents for average of $8.00, other cleaning items and dry items that sell for upwards of $10.00 per item. And secondly while government is removing the VAT off the lower priced bread basket items, it is increasing the VAT on the higher priced non-bread basket items by 60 percent. So the net result is an increase in the amount of VAT collected and not a decrease as Roberts predicted. Now with the smaller mom and pop shops it is a little different. Since most of what they sell are bread basket items there will be a net decrease in the amount of VAT they charge. BUT also remember two things: While smaller stores pay VAT when they purchase goods and supplies, they do not revert Vat to the government like Super Value. So they wouldn't really be able to say how much impact the Zero rated items had on their tax returns, except if they were keeping records on their purchases. Maybe the wholesalers will be more able to give the information. ALSO since the smaller stores do not get a VAT return on their inputs, like store supplies and utilities, they have to factor them in to their prices and to compensate for the 60% increase on their inputs they must now pro rate this cost, either all over the VAT items or some on the zero rated items. This may mean that their prices will be a few cents higher than Super value because Mr. Roberts will have his VAT returned directly from the government. And if they fail to account for these increases in costs they will either consume their profits or even, inadvertently, sell at a loss. So while most stores were adding an additional 10-12% to cover for the 7.5% VAT, so now they will have to add 15-18% for the 12 % VAT. Remember they have to pay this money out up front so it does add to their cost of doing business.