Defied critics? Defied common sense and decency.
Defied the rule of law.
defied credibility.

"not paying their fair share of taxes"
Fair according to whom? By what Rule of Law?
by the hand of some mediocre Civil Servant, or a vindictive malfeasant politician?
"The Ministry added that new Customs procedures were being created, and new container examination procedures implemented".
I put it to them that the existing examinations and procedures if followed were more than adequate, but were poorly followed if at all. More rules does not make compliance better.

Trying like hell to legitimize the illegitimate.
Sellout.

Not dead, but was severely hampered, and has suffered from Government Malfeasance ever since.
Ground has been taken back but the onslaught is ever present and unrelenting.
Seems to drive Governments to distraction, although the Port Authority ownership managed to get whatever they wanted from all administrations, including the stripping of assets.
This latest assault will succeed unless a licensee (or group) launches a court action.
I wouldn't rule it out, there are already cases outstanding before the courts.
In short, they mean to kill it off, no matter the consequences.
Per Capita, (per person) Freeport generates more revenue for the treasury than any other out island, more developed, better infrastructure, etc etc, but they will cause it to regress into a typical out island, pure treasury burden.
Idiots.

And where will one find the long lost "backbone" in the business community to take such action?
Their habit is to roll over, beg forgiveness and suffer forward.
John, you are right, but this stuff only matters to those who can se the big picture,
those who might care. Those who run their own lives on budget, paying taxes and bill on time.Government does none of these, as ministers and civil servants personally nor collectively as government.

WTO membership compliance drives the reduction in duty rates, ALL must be reduced by 2025.
I have said before, Both administrations hope to ride a "hump" in revenue until that point, by negotiating this timeline.
Each "basket"(group of reductions) will include more and more "relevant to Bahamians" consumables. Meanwhile by then, we will have real property tax across the board, and income tax.
The first "basket offer" reduced the duty on hundreds of items irrelevant to the Bahamas,
items seldom imported.
But it technically complied.
We have been on this road since before 2008, but our successive Administrations have kept us
as mushrooms, in the dark, fed B.S.

Will the Government Collections Negligence Program of the last 5 decades be discontinued, or will this program run concurrent with it?
Bunch of jokers. The only reason for this effort (if actually made) is to make more $$ available for personal pillaging of the treasury.
It must be bone dry for such a desperate measure!

Thank God.

When the rule of law has no legitimacy due to the failure of those who are responsible for its enforcement, crime is the ever increasing end result, with every step taken to combat being wrong.
The Bahamas is on the wrong end of the bell curve.

Because they can, and the outcome they think will happen never ever does.
Same with endlessly monkeying around with duty rates. In any case Duty rates must come down, however the target for eventual global standard rates is 2015.
They were hoping for a decade plus of double dipping!
(should have been two decades as VAT was originally to be implemented in 2008)
Apparently it conflicted with the election cycle so was endlessly postponed.
Buggers lost anyway.