Oracle you are so so right. I detail the "thousand cuts (and bribes)" below. I could have gone on and on but had better things to do with my time.

Why would anyone want to open a business in the Bahamas...especially a small business with limited capital? With a national education level of "D", VAT on Customs duty, Business License fees regardless of if you make a profit or not, high shipping cost (due to Arawak port high fees and monopoly), high electrical costs - lots of stealing at that company, undrinkable water - stealing hear too, high gas prices - one importer/monopoly, inferior low octane gas - it can't meet US standards so its dumped in the Bahamas, oil monopoly, web shops on every corner and island settlement (anyone bin to West End lately? its a wasteland) liquor stores on every corner, crime, exchange controls, lousy banking, high bank charges, low tech baning, pot hole roads, crooked politicians, beggars everywhere, impossibly high construction costs, real property taxes very high on foreigners, foreign owned properties being "expropriated" with the nood of the government (Cable Beach), poor airlift to the family islands.

But no worries - the BTC marketing man will solve everything. Is this a joke or what.

Hmmm. I wonder who this intelisys is?

Its easy for PLP and FNM's to prey upon foreigners from the former owner of a couple of Cable Beach hotels straight down to foreign owned bush land with no utilities in the middle of no where on an barely developed family island.

But this is absolutely wrong.

Thanks Licks2.

The Government really needs to take a more careful look at aviation in the Bahamas to ensure we are safe as possible when flying around the family islands.

"Established in November 1981, ATR is a joint partnership between two major European aeronautics players, Airbus and Leonardo."

http://www.atraircraft.com/about-atr/co…

Airbus is the controlling shareholder and inbeds its best practices and best of breed, production and maintenance policies and procedures into ATR.

ATR are first class planes. I fly Bahamasair to the islands because of the quality of their equipment and training of their pilots to world class standards. ATR/Airbus would have it no other way.

So why is Bahamasair which is owned by us the Bahamian people subjected us to lesser standards? Where are they flying these 8 planes they bought? To Cuba? To Haiti? Where? and Why.

I hate when I book my entire family on Bahamasair’s brand new European made Airbus planes to go to Long Island and then they put me on these old nasty looking planes.

While Bahamasair looses a lot of money I know thier pilots were professionally trained by Airbus to fly theses planes.

I also know that Airbus controls the maintenance of these planes to a global standard.

My heart sinks and I feel like asking for my money back and going back to my house in Nassau and not visiting Long Island.

Please please Bahamasair, stop f’ing with the Bahamian people who are paying hundreds of millions in taxes to support your operation.

Hi John, stock market futures are indicating another record breaking day to the upside.

Probably advisable if you don't have a loan to self insure your home by (1) increasing your savings and (2) doing all structural repairs to your home.

The cost of insurance and the high deductible has already put it out of reach of most Bahamians.

The vehicle third party fire and theft is a complete waste of money.

Alibaba the Chinese internet giant and one of the largest companies in the world by market cap is domiciled in Cayman.

Indeed most multi jurisdictional asset managers have long since redomicled their software input vendors out of the Bahamas, such as Bloomberg since the advent of VAT. Most are now safely in Cayman.

Our dumb dumb politicians recognize that financial services is dying but are clueless as to how to rectify it.

I’m actually shocked that the VAT enforcement unit hasn’t collapsed Bruce’s structure for tax purposes as “mind and management” is still in the Bahamas.

Most clients would have physically moved to Cayman before the VAT enforcement unit shuts down their international structure.

If VAT doesn’t get you the archaic exchange control laws will sooner or later block this Bahamian from countined success.

Yes, let’s just issue a bunch of work permits to foreigners to increase economic activity benefiting the monopolies (and a dozen Bay St and Sunshine families) such as the container port, oil imports, big box retail, government, bec, btc/Cable and the bank cartel.

I maybe black and Bahamian but not as dumb as you tink I is.

Tal you are spot on. Foreigner's will now be able to come into the Country without expressly issued work permits just because the Ministry of Immigration will never be able to issue anything in 14 days. No need for business licenses either.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. When was the last time a foreign investment made the Bahamas better? Freeport? Baha Mar? Our Lucaya? Container Port?

Letting in thousands of foreigners will only increase the deficit because we don't have income tax. The foreigner will be using more BEC, more Water and Sewerage, more government services, more PMH for their servants (no need for them to get health insurance - PMH is free to all), more roads, more Haitians, more Bahamasair....all of which will blow the deficit wide open.

In case anyone is keeping track the deficit is increasing at a rate of $1 billion a year.

If I were a foreigner I would come to the Bahamas as well. With no income tax and subsidized electricity, water, no licenses, no regulation, open up whatever business I like, take all the fish from the ocean and have utter contempt for Bahamians.