(4+2) x 12 x $5,000 = $360,000 is what the bank would have had to pay you under my proposed amendment.

Wow. At least this proposed move by the government is bringing the behind the scenes sip-sips up to at least the level of whispers.

An improvement in itself :-)

"I’m still trying to reach out to the bank to find out what’s happening and whether we need to..."

Really? They won't answer a call from the Chamber chief? I would think any bank would want the Chamber on their side.

Then again, we must remember what tiny percentage of their global portfolio we represent. The concern level just might not be there.

By the way, does anyone know how many years after paying off his mortgage a client has to wait for a bank to return to him the original deeds they hold on the mortgage? Is this mentioned anywhere in the Bank Act for instance?

I've heard the multi-year holding practice is common among several banks (although no specific bank names were called...LOL).

Could we have the Bank Act amended so that banks must pay clients $5,000 per month for every month (beyond 2) that they do not return these documents?

No. Of course not. Fines are only for corned beef eaters.

Maybe the finders fees were too high? LOL.

It was the right idea though, and still is, cause with regard to the Chinese we gotta chase them crazy ballheads outta town.

At this moment though with limited funds, buying the hotel is the best move simply because it costs a whole lot less. Minnis is on the right path.

Chinese won't be the largest group of tourists. Their economy is going down and their debt up. They are currently thinking of removing the child limit restriction and that will end up costing in social services. Not to mention Trump and Steve Bannon are actively working against them.

The tide is turning globally away from this globalization and diversity foolishness. Trump is not only going to make America great again, but he's gonna send the plumber to deal with all the $h^thole countries. All, including us. So don't worry so much.

DDK in FL ive always understood that if the jackpot is, say, 54 million in the Lotto, that means they sold 108 million $1 tickets (unless part is rollover of course). So in effect Tallahassee wins every Lotto.

As for "why-ever-not"? Because we can't afford right now to put all those people out of "work". However, by increasing the state jackpot and frequency over time, the state would eventually put them out of business - like 4-7 years time. As the national patronage increases, so will Treasury deposits.

I agree Alex - but we will lose GB if they dont get that hotel rockin' and we need that by Dec 1st to catch the season. GB's reduced Treasury deposits over the past 30 years is part of the reason we need VAT.

They should ramp down tremendously the talk about monies for family island airport upgrades. Esp nothing for south andros, exuma, or ragged island. Those ragged island people need to move from them caves and join civilization.

They should not have removed VAT from breadbasket items.

We also need a national lottery with just one weekly limited amount jackpot so that it does not wipe out the private numbers employers. Up the jackpot very slowly over a 5 year period. Same model as Florida - the jackpot amount is equal to half of total ticket sales....so that the Treasury always "wins" the same amount (minus operating costs).

Im sure KP will ring my phone any day now to schedule a consult...LOL. I'd be humbled to help.

I agree totally with Dr. Minnis here. I wish him the best in this herculean effort. The macro-economic picture he paints is completely accurate.

Ingraham should be the last to talk. I don't believe there has been a greater enemy of FPO than he. Right after his win in 1992, FPO started a snowball move downhill. His govt did not re-open the Princess road and he sold Batelco for 3 sacks of potatoes. Took away the immovable property act and failed to implement term limits and recall and FOI.

I am so pleased that our deputy pm today is a Grand Bahama man. Grand Bahama is a very special place and generally only people who lived there and know the history from the 60s truly understand the gemology of it. A rare sapphire.

Best wishes to Dr Minnis and KP and Carl.

"School repairs this year will cost about $7 million".....plus or minus a few Disney World day passes. Don't worry about the details Mr. Public - we could publish them online and filter out non-Bahamas IP addresses - but we won't. We just won't.

And if needs be more simple they would just throw two words at the public; "we won't".

TheMadHatter is the only true statesman concerned for ALL Bahamians rich or poor, black or white except for communists and voodoo dem.

I will be running for PM in the next election and expect to win at least 76.3 percent of the vote (according to current polling). :-)