Concerned BTC had a strategic state of art cable connecting us to US they just spent $125M completed a year before the sale that was worth more than 1/2 that amount. It alone gave them more negotiating power in the deal since no other Caribbean country had it and it completed CWC Caribbean and Latin American backbone linking them directly to the US. We also got stuck with most of the severance cost and debt related to the operation. The mobile system was already had 3G in place and needed minimal upgrade $30million is pittance in the industry. 4G although is a nice addition most user can’t afford could have waited until 2013-14 roll out like most global carriers not in the US are doing. Believe me once they finish with their build out and Digicel comes in to this market they’ll be looking to sell the whole Caribbean operation now completed by the BTC purchase for an astronomical price in the next 5 years. I work in the mobile consulting industry this was a poorly negotiated deal, driven primarily by the psyche of making sure the PLP’s cronies didn't get their hands on or a piece of this potential cash cow.

HAI stifled young upstart entrepreneurship tending to favor the established merchant class and foreign investors interest over us. He spent like a drunken sailor on their agenda and may have paraded around as pristine by keeping his MPs hands out the cookie jar all while his private sector financial benefactors raided the country's treasury for their own benefit. The lopsided dealings that totally disadvantage local small to medium enterprises (SME's) was egregious and he through up his hands with regards to addressing the rampant social dysfunction and the crime wave sweeping the country. His negotiation for the sale of BTC is roundly laughed at by every analyst in telecommunication industry where I consult as a complete win by CWC at our expense. Folks he built roads, ports and airports while the average persons finances, minds. hearts and spirits suffered in his last term thus he was roundly rejected by the majority who either held their noses and voted for PLP or took a chance on the DNA to send a message of “enough” to the established political class. FNMs need to get their heads out of the fantasized past and look for fresh dynamic leadership or you'll fail at the polls in 2017 again.

Amen!!!

The only reason one year later we can't afford to buy back 2% is that we sold it for far less than the real value and now CWC demanding the true value to get it back. Once again you send PLP/FNM simpletons to negotiate on your behalf you get taken to cleaners every time. Let's face it we got swing, so time to move on and allow the obvious next competitor Digicel partnered with some local usual suspects with only a token interest to come in next year and clean their clocks like they did in every other country in the Caribbean where the two compete.

John, back in ‘06 a friend at a major bank told me 20-30% of homes they have mortgages on in Westridge are at least one or more payments behind at any given time. They'd rather renegotiate terms or make arrangements than start foreclosure unless it gets completely out of hand i.e. 6 or 12 months or even more in arrears because there is no resale market on most of those behemoths most of the time. Like you suggested those challenged homeowners better be a little more concerned that these predatory banks will be seizing their homesfor quick sales after 1-2 missed payments rather than discussing any such accommodation.

Point of fact previous owners already used the pension fund to bailout the business long before Mark took it over; he only foolishly took on an unfixable mess. Lesson to all don't buy failing business with only 6-7 days to do your due diligence, and attempt to reorganize it if the creditors tell you upfront they will refused renegotiate the debt. Mark was bullheaded and let ego make his decision so he now has to pay up for it. I'm just saddened by the number of people who seem to take glee in his or any local business persons’ failures. What have you gained from it?

Monopolies or Oligopolies and strangle hold control of the most strategic retail spaces isn't that what made most of the dominant traditional merchant class businesses successful? Now that one of their own might take the whole hog for themselves, get to decide who can compete in that arena and disadvantage them at Baha Mar they're outraged, welcome to every smaller entrepreneurs’ reality guys.

Concerned, In many more enlighten nations a certain percentage of space is reserved for new and smaller local business ventures in projects that have received tremendous government concessions and subsidies. It helps drive new wealth creation or do you believe in just trapping your younger upstart entrepreneurs in a never ending battle they can't win against the establish entities. For some like you I guess it is just the natural order of things no need for new blood to aspire to anything more than a job, Besides this is different the hotel isn’t inviting tenders to lease space from them; they have given a major market competitor the right to choose who it’s competition will be and first dibs on best locations that’s what you call “free enterprise”.

This is one of those sweet deals that I eluded in an earlier post; where the monopolistic/oligopolistic established merchant class got the whole hog under the last regimes watch that is now causing so much fiction between former bosom buddies Christie and Izmirilian. The usual suspects who dominate the local business environment are now to be trusted to give new upstart entrepreneurs a fair shake of competing for the tourist dollars?
You who don't already have better start polishing up your resumes and applying for jobs as waiters and maids no new retail business opportunities here for you. Effectively like most choice strategic retail space the realtor is usually your biggest competitor thus why our economy is stagnant and lacks real new wealth generation.

Here we go again the tribal FNM/PLP warriors shooting down anything purposed by their political enemies before even when their party was purposing the exact same thing when they were in power. Sir/Madame please leave this debate alone if you can’t purpose realistic solutions not just spout knee jerk responses.
Even though it use to be kept very quite prior to the Ritchie debacle almost every major and minor business in the country with few exceptions has been caught circumventing paying full customs duties to increase their profits or just plain survive. Do you really believe that merely tightening up enforcement will do anything other than give us a short term spike in fines and revenue collected. This will be followed by larger oligopolistic/monopolistic businesses implementing astronomical price increases for their goods and services as the real cost of additional duties and fines are passed on to consumers to pay for the negative effects on their bottom lines. Those smaller to medium size businesses who are mostly already on a financial respirator will collapse and go under with weight of new cost of duties and/or fines they can’t afford to pass on. Finally the long term results will be higher cost of living for everyone, lower business activity and thus lower tax base and increased unemployment no net gain.
I too do believe we need to reduce cost at the quasi-government corporation and agencies, but whole sale fire sales, draconian austerity cuts and employee downsizing with no private sector spending or jobs to fill the gap would lead to economic chaos. Let’s stay focus on really fixing a broken unjust custom duty and oppressive fee based tax system first.