@ John - whereas I totally agree that Bahamians must become owners in our economy, this LOI signing with the Wynn group is a positive step in the right direction mainly due to the fact that they have 40 years experience, international clout providing the ability to "jump-start" this facility.
Factoring in that statistically, 60% of all new ventures fail, unfortunately, this is not the right place in time for a new Bahamian owned group to try their hand at reviving this property. Freeport needs an immediate infusion of experienced investors with deep pockets and the wherewithal to succeed.
That being said, nobody travels to a vacation destination just to sit in a hotel room!
Bahamian investors can still play major roles in owning & developing the economy with far fewer risk factors by investing in fun resort amenities i.e. theme parks, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, water activities etc' which feed off resort properties.
However, again, the Bahamas is far behind the eight ball and need not waste time reinventing the wheel, initially Bahamian investors would be better off partnering with experienced companies with similar operations.
It's only fair to give credit where credit is due. The former Christie administration deserves 1/3 of the blame for destroying the Bahamian economy and following the lead of Pindling and Ingraham, who are both intrinsically equally responsible for "leading" the country to the dire condition we now find ourselves.
All three former prime ministers sold out to UBP special interest groups, managed massive systemic corruption for personal gain of friends, family, and lovers, and should be charged with treason!
No new laws or Constituional amendments are required to deal with this delimma.
The total horse manure spewed from people attempting to hide behind and cherry picking the Constitution to protect illegal Haitian migrants is appalling and an absolute insult to our intelligence!
These smartass fools have played right into the palm of governments' hands, succeeding in making matters worse for illegals in the country, especially Haitians.
The Bahamas is unquestionably under invasion by Haitians. Government will now use its' impetus to play the ace card, by having the Governor-General file a proclamation of emergency, giving the government extraordinary authority to take whatever immediate actions deemed necessary in the interest of national security **"under chapter 3 article 29 of the constitution "!**
We must rid our country of this Haitian invasion forcefully and expeditiously once an for all, and **enforce** stiff penalties for people caught hiring, aiding and abetting illegals regardless of origin.
Chester Cooper continually makes a jackass of himself by trying to defend the indefensible asinine stupidity of the former PLP!
This very lost soul needs to realize that as "he just reach", he has absolutely no responsibility for the stupid shenanigans of former PM Perry dancing clown Christie or his crew of incompetent pirates.
Cooper needs to focus on post-May 10th 2017 when he became relevant, and temper his pronouncements accordingly if he expects to be taken remotely seriously.
Many thanks to the red-stripes (cops) for expeditiously dispatching this low life hoodlum! We can avoid all the wasted money on incarceration, the courts time and the blah blah debate about the death penalty if red-stripes simply blow away anyone that shots a gun at them.
If I want to go on a "real" shopping spree with the family, I take them to Panama and rent a condo or house in the Coronado or El Valle area 2 hours out of the crap in Panama city.
The downside is, Panama can get ugly very quickly if you end up in the wrong section of the city, which is easy to do because road markings suck!
Shopping locally only when absolutely unavoidable or for immediate must have items. They need to lower prices if they intend to seriously compete with online shopping.
The only solution I see for saving retail in the Bahamas is for government to get off their hands and move towards using Freeports shipping capacity to turn the country into a duty free shopping zone similar to Panama.
This will be attractive to visitors from the North and South as people chose the Bahamas as a relatively safe vacation shopping destination. They can keep the VAT on sales and earn additional revenue from increased NIB contributions as retailers expand and hire more staff to service increased sales volumes.
Alternatively, we can take the usual road of procrastinating, talking and doing nothing as we watch retail nose-dive globally until it erodes more jobs and we will find ourselves following the same path as our dead tourism product.
Thanks to online shopping, gone are the days of dealing with rude, pain in the ass, U.S. border agents, flying to Florida, renting cars, fighting traffic, paying for hotel and food bills, rushing from mall to mall and paying excess baggage fees!
Bahamian retailers will have to follow U.S. retailers and reduce prices to make profits from volume sales or close shop.
SP says...
@ John - whereas I totally agree that Bahamians must become owners in our economy, this LOI signing with the Wynn group is a positive step in the right direction mainly due to the fact that they have 40 years experience, international clout providing the ability to "jump-start" this facility.
Factoring in that statistically, 60% of all new ventures fail, unfortunately, this is not the right place in time for a new Bahamian owned group to try their hand at reviving this property. Freeport needs an immediate infusion of experienced investors with deep pockets and the wherewithal to succeed.
That being said, nobody travels to a vacation destination just to sit in a hotel room!
Bahamian investors can still play major roles in owning & developing the economy with far fewer risk factors by investing in fun resort amenities i.e. theme parks, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, water activities etc' which feed off resort properties.
However, again, the Bahamas is far behind the eight ball and need not waste time reinventing the wheel, initially Bahamian investors would be better off partnering with experienced companies with similar operations.
On Grand Lucayan LOI signed
Posted 24 December 2017, 8:56 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
It's only fair to give credit where credit is due. The former Christie administration deserves 1/3 of the blame for destroying the Bahamian economy and following the lead of Pindling and Ingraham, who are both intrinsically equally responsible for "leading" the country to the dire condition we now find ourselves.
All three former prime ministers sold out to UBP special interest groups, managed massive systemic corruption for personal gain of friends, family, and lovers, and should be charged with treason!
On Grand Lucayan LOI signed
Posted 24 December 2017, 7:49 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
No new laws or Constituional amendments are required to deal with this delimma.
The total horse manure spewed from people attempting to hide behind and cherry picking the Constitution to protect illegal Haitian migrants is appalling and an absolute insult to our intelligence!
These smartass fools have played right into the palm of governments' hands, succeeding in making matters worse for illegals in the country, especially Haitians.
The Bahamas is unquestionably under invasion by Haitians. Government will now use its' impetus to play the ace card, by having the Governor-General file a proclamation of emergency, giving the government extraordinary authority to take whatever immediate actions deemed necessary in the interest of national security **"under chapter 3 article 29 of the constitution "!**
We must rid our country of this Haitian invasion forcefully and expeditiously once an for all, and **enforce** stiff penalties for people caught hiring, aiding and abetting illegals regardless of origin.
On Defiant - sweeps for illegals 'stepping up'
Posted 23 December 2017, 9:51 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
They need additional time to “wind up their affairs”? Little Haitian Louby Georges needs to expound in detail WHAT "affairs" illegals have to wind up!
On Migrants ‘packing up and ready to leave’
Posted 20 December 2017, 7:52 p.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
Chester Cooper continually makes a jackass of himself by trying to defend the indefensible asinine stupidity of the former PLP!
This very lost soul needs to realize that as "he just reach", he has absolutely no responsibility for the stupid shenanigans of former PM Perry dancing clown Christie or his crew of incompetent pirates.
Cooper needs to focus on post-May 10th 2017 when he became relevant, and temper his pronouncements accordingly if he expects to be taken remotely seriously.
On S&P Rating ‘no cause to celebrate’
Posted 18 December 2017, 7:02 p.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
Many thanks to the red-stripes (cops) for expeditiously dispatching this low life hoodlum! We can avoid all the wasted money on incarceration, the courts time and the blah blah debate about the death penalty if red-stripes simply blow away anyone that shots a gun at them.
Well done & keep it up!
On UPDATED: Gunman shot dead after opening fire on officers
Posted 16 December 2017, 5:13 p.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
If I want to go on a "real" shopping spree with the family, I take them to Panama and rent a condo or house in the Coronado or El Valle area 2 hours out of the crap in Panama city.
The downside is, Panama can get ugly very quickly if you end up in the wrong section of the city, which is easy to do because road markings suck!
Shopping locally only when absolutely unavoidable or for immediate must have items. They need to lower prices if they intend to seriously compete with online shopping.
On Bahamian retailers hit by ‘showroom effect’
Posted 14 December 2017, 8:17 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
The only solution I see for saving retail in the Bahamas is for government to get off their hands and move towards using Freeports shipping capacity to turn the country into a duty free shopping zone similar to Panama.
This will be attractive to visitors from the North and South as people chose the Bahamas as a relatively safe vacation shopping destination. They can keep the VAT on sales and earn additional revenue from increased NIB contributions as retailers expand and hire more staff to service increased sales volumes.
Alternatively, we can take the usual road of procrastinating, talking and doing nothing as we watch retail nose-dive globally until it erodes more jobs and we will find ourselves following the same path as our dead tourism product.
The time to act is sooner rather than later!
On Bahamian retailers hit by ‘showroom effect’
Posted 14 December 2017, 8:06 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
Thanks to online shopping, gone are the days of dealing with rude, pain in the ass, U.S. border agents, flying to Florida, renting cars, fighting traffic, paying for hotel and food bills, rushing from mall to mall and paying excess baggage fees!
Bahamian retailers will have to follow U.S. retailers and reduce prices to make profits from volume sales or close shop.
http://time.com/money/4812870/retailers…
On Bahamian retailers hit by ‘showroom effect’
Posted 13 December 2017, 7:41 a.m. Suggest removal
SP says...
These Haitian drug and human traffickers are the people Fred Smith is fighting tooth and nail to protect!
We don't need them or Fred Smith!
On Five held after drugs seized on Haitian freighter
Posted 10 December 2017, 10:15 p.m. Suggest removal