He represents the only auditor that they could find who was not conflicted. Their first and second choices PwC and E&Y had conflicts. They probably looked at all of the Big 4 accounting firms and none of them could do it possibly due to conflicts. So they went down the ladder to the path of least resistance.

Unfortunately accountants are not developers, contractors or hoteliers so they have zero experience in running or marketing a development. They are bean counters, using the ancient english law of liquidations, which means to liquidate, close down, sell off. This is what liquidators know how to do best.

The are already making threats to close down the Melia due to the insurance not being paid. Let's see if the raise the money on Monday.

Banker, a devaluation would be good for our economy. See my comments above in response Newcitizen.

Currently the Bahamian dollar is not on par with the US dollar. The Bahamian dollar is actually worth 1/2% more than the US dollar! If you deposit a US$1,000 check in any bank they will only give you B$995. The $5 (1/2%) difference they call an FX fee, however I would argue that this is not an FX fee but a conversion rate because no matter which bank you go to the fee is the same and is fixed. This is cartel like behaviour that administration after administration allows to occur which rips off Bahamians by hundreds of millions over the decades. This is not a government charge (which I would be happy with because the government needs money and is broke) but it goes straight to the profit of Canadian banks which then dividend it to Toronto after Barbados gets its cut... the Canadian banks then cut jobs and close branches is places like Long Island where they do not care about local communities.

The banks do absolutely nothing to earn the 1/2% but we are paying for the privilege of converting a high quality world reserve currency (US$) into a non convertible, exchange controlled currency.

No wonder foreigners think we as Bahamians are stupid. I guess we believe anything foreigners tell us is true.

Newcitizen, we actually produce a Tourism product with a very high labour cost coupled with low worker productivity. By devaluing the B$ it actually reduces the cost of our product as most Tourist dollars are received in US$. Once there is a 20% B$ devaluation our hotels could bring down the cost of their rooms and restaurants and pass the savings on to the tourist. A lower cost product will bring more tourist to the Bahamas and increase GDP. It will be hard to increase Bahamian productivity without improving education or bringing down the cost of electricity, neither of which will improve anytime soon.

You can't increase business license fees, minimum wage, VAT, gaming taxes and national insurance as the hotels are already working at a loss and will have to pass these costs onto the tourist making our tourism product less competitive. Taxes will also need to be increased again to pay for the national health program which will start in January 2016. Perhaps this can be done by increasing national insurance again.

The government is providing essential services for which it needs to be paid and thus we have to have higher taxes. Also without increasing taxes we will never get the national debt down.

I think a devaluation will be the next thing that the government needs to do to increase competitiveness, especially with a low cost tourism product on our doorstep (Cuba). Tourist shop around and if they can go to Cuba for less money they will.

Devaluations to be credible must be sudden and large enough so they can be seen as credible. China gave no warning of its devaluation which increased their competitiveness as their products are now cheaper. Now the global markets are recovering after being caught off guard.

Looks like total national debt (including government corporations) at 3/15 was $6.3b versus 3/14 at $5.6b (an increase of 11% in one year).

External reserves at 3/15 were $829m and at 3/14 were $957m, a decrease of 15%.

Everyone should to tighten their belts and conserve their funds in case there is a rainy day.

A devaluation is not in the cards but some larger private businesses are complaining about high local costs (payroll, electricity, shipping and taxes). A one time devaluation similar to what China just did could perhaps increase our competitiveness.

I guess he upset too cause he'en gettin no Baha Mar towel dem to wash.

After the abolition many blacks went back to Africa. But lots of shiftless negroes stayed on da plantation. Lol...now Africa is a mess, I bess stay on the plantation wit masa dem.

Its ironic to be talking about saving our youth when the first major initiative of the current administration was the legalization of gambling as a means of increasing productivity against the will of the people expressed in the referendum.

Now there are webshops on almost every block of the poorest neighbourhoods and they are creeping into lower middle class and middle class areas. On the family islands they are creeping into all major settlements and are replacing the Canadian banks for day to day banking services.The webshops are not regulated by the Central Bank...watch this space in a couple of years.

As our youth loose hope, they will turn in even larger numbers to gambling, alcohol and crime to fill the void. Yesterday on the Randol Fawkes Labour Day parade it was shocking to see the number of people drinking at 9am. These neighbours are the bedrock of the current administrations support and part of their half century legacy of representing the poor.

Also it made a loss last year, negative/spotty cash flows in the last couple of years and only had $33m of cash. Market cap of $295m. Will be interesting to see where they get the capital from to turn BEC around. The government as BEC's shareholder will need to borrow the money. Increasing our total debt well beyond $6b.

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…

It is likely that all gas station storage tanks and the electricity company have leaked enormous amount of fuel and cancer causing agents into the Nassau water table for the last 75 years.

In the US these tanks need to be changed frequently and large fines are placed against companies that pollute the water table. Also, once pollution is found the water in that are is not used, sometimes for up to 30 years! There is no regulation here and the corrosive nature of salt water means that the gas tanks should have been changed more frequently than in the US.

As Bahamian public and private water companies extract water from the water table it maybe that these cancer causing agents have affected all Bahamians in Nassau.

Could this be the missing link/cause behind the extremely high levels of cancer in the Nassau? Also, the octane levels of the gas used is so low it could not be used in developed countries like the US as its fumes are poisonous and unfit to breathe. But we sell them here in the Bahamas. The energy/executive/prosecutorial/financial/legal cartel is untouchable and united to protect their financial interest at the expense of the entire population of the Bahamas.

Of course the powers that be will keep the Marathon/Rubis investigation narrowly focused to the Rubis/Marathon station, the investigation will be run by partial interest and be overtaken by the next drama which will be here soon than you think. The need to investigate the purity of our water and air supply for the entire Bahamas will be ignored.

This is a middle class issue and it doesn't resonate with the lower income classes who are the base support for the political establishment. So as we are horrified, the political elite are unphased as their base is secure. Give them their carnival, sports events, numbers, bars and churches, free medical clinics, poor education, menial jobs and subsidies and they are happy. Nevermind that the lower income class also have the highest levels of cancer and the least ability to go to private clinics for treatment.

My suggestion is that civil society embark upon a comprehensive testing of the water table and air throughout New Providence to see if it is safe. We the people need to do this as those persons who have a fiduciary duty to protect us are clearly derelict in their duties.

270 STRs and no actions prosecuted. Hmmmm.

Add to this BOB webshop banking. Not to worry, the webshops will be compliant with STR reporting...I am sure.

Government sure is good at talking, regulating and regularizing.