So starting with all the concessions the Bahamas has made over the past 15 years we are still blacklisted. That's the problem with giving in to these kinds of demands, how do you know there won't just be ever more demands?

The logic of simply reinstating rigid bank secrecy as existed twenty years ago may be to the national interest, and should be examined rather than running on the the treadmill of endless demands to in the end see more blacklist.

Could a solution be:

1. A firm date is given to open and have all disputes resolved. Failing that:

2. The project is nationalized and completed and opened by the government, and all claims for compensation can be settled in court or negotiations with the government.

Finally, good wishes aside, its clear this will take political leadership with action to resolve this all at this point.

I think its more a case of growth (rapid growth) in cruise ship tourism at the price of land based tourism with hotel stays and MUCH higher spend per capita. $60 per capita cruise ship spends do not provide enough inflows to sustain a country which imports near everything! Basic math, you need people to stay in hotels, eat here, pay local workers, pay for everything here and not spend only trivial amounts in the country, and spend the bulk of their money on foreign flagged vessels!!

Is not the fact tho that the publicly owned/controlled model has been essentially at the root of the problem with why in 2015 there is not a regional leading BEC in place now?

Fully private utilities in this region have fared much better (when internationally owned)

IMHO there is probably a reason why there isn't much of a contracted out management for a utility industry the way there is for airports.

To obtain the best service we really need to evaluate multiple bidders with proven experience, and I'm not sure how we can do that if we are trail blazing with the first ever Caribbean implementation of this. We had a great proven operator and model for NAS with YVR Airport Services, but will/can this apply to BEC?

Safe to say if it was depegged, govt would spend way too much, leading to more devaluation and soon it would be a one way ticket to the Jamaican dollar. Very, very bad idea.

Now getting off of oil, and going to solar would do wonders for the fiscal position! Far, far more than anything else. Those fortunes BEC spends on fuel gotta come from somewhere!

Put another way, tho why should a family pay for VAT on food if someone who can afford a prviate plane was to escape VAT? A dollar is a dollar, and any VAT exemption MUST be made up somewhere else!

Do cruise ships have to pay VAT on their port and arrival fees?

Sell to the highest bidder, with bidders pre-qualified to ensure all are sound and experienced.

Why is this hard?

Has not the model for a foreign owned power utility not been proven in the Turks and Caicos and other islands? Why re-invent the wheel?

If public ownership of BEC worked, we'd have known it a LONG time ago!

With no huge investment of capital going in, why would the new manager necessarily tough it out to fix a very broken BEC? The only way to ensure it will succeed is to have them put up big money. Otherwise everyone has options if this gets tough going. There's is to just walk out and turn over the keys. Why it was best from day 1 this all got sold 100% to the private sector. The comparison to NAS is not accurate in my view, the airport and operations were not nearly so troubled, just needed a reno.

BEC needs to be privatized ASAP.

Social ownership has in the case of the Bahamas, simply not worked out. No sane person can argue the opposite.

Therefore any discussion of BEC that does not involve a real privitization of 100% of the company is not a productive discussion to solving things.

Buying new generators, labour agreements etc. all need to be left to the new owner, whoever this is.