Correct, as there are webshops and liquor stores on every street corner of poorer areas, social services and the police will need more offices as well.

The churches are being proactive as I see allot more churches in poorer areas.

We seem to have enough schools all that is needed is to attempt to graduate some students who can read and write. However, we really don't need to know how to read and write for hotel jobs.

For the biotechnology jobs created in the brave new stem cell industry, we call always import qualified foreigners for them.

...maybe the gambling tax receipts can be given to social services and law enforcement to offset the cost of rehabilitation.

LOL...VAT and Webshop taxes is going to raise $400 million which is more than enough to fill the budget gap. Lets hope they live the lights on in Cable Beach.

I would have thought that the Central Bank would have signed off on the Gaming Bill to ensure it was in compliance with our global obligations.

Hopefully this is done before the the bill is approved into law.

The crux of the matter is that electricity is too expensive and out of reach for the average Bahamian. Now with VAT being added onto BEC bills more Bahamian will fall into the category of being unable to keep the light on.

This is one of the hottest summers on record and with global warming and a flawed and convoluted energy vision for the Bahamas, you can expect BEC costs to continue to climb.

I've compared BEC rates to Florida Power and Light (FPL) for a residential property and noted that BEC is 209% more than FPL for electricity and 641% more for the fuel surcharges. Overall BEC charges 382% more than FPL for electricity.

For a residential property burning over 800 Kwh BEC charges 0.1495 per Kwh and fuel of 0.252873 per Kwh for a total charge of 0.4024 per Kwh.

For a residential property burning over 1,000 Kwh FPL charges 0.07159 per Kwh and fuel of 0.03947 per Kwh for a total charge of 0.11106 per Kwh.

A comprehensive energy vision for the Bahamas would include selling 100% of BEC to Bahamian private enterprises and the general public through an IPO (get government out of the electricity business like all developed nations have done), splintering BEC into stand alone 'baby' BECs by island, introduction of solar energy, introduction of waste to energy processing, recycling, introduction of competition (eg. Cable voice v. BTC voice services), allow citizens to sell energy back to the grid and hive off the electrical grid to a separate to serve all electrical companies.

Through the Freedom of Information Act we could have determined why the fuel surcharges are 641% more expensive than Florida. However I can only guess that it is the difference in cost of diesel v. gas, plant efficiency/age, freight, lack of competition in the supply of diesel to BEC, mark ups by government and private concerns (cartel like behavior) on the purchase of diesel. I can't tell but it feels like someone is getting rich off of us.

The crux of the matter is that electricity is too expensive and out of reach for the average Bahamian. Now with VAT being added onto BEC bills more Bahamian will fall into the category of being unable to keep the light on.

This is one of the hottest summers on record and with global warming and a flawed and convoluted energy vision for the Bahamas, you can expect BEC costs to continue to climb.

I've compared BEC rates to Florida Power and Light (FPL) for a residential property and noted that BEC is 209% more than FPL for electricity and 641% more for the fuel surcharges. Overall BEC charges 382% more than FPL for electricity.

For a residential property burning over 800 Kwh BEC charges 0.1495 per Kwh and fuel of 0.252873 per Kwh for a total charge of 0.4024 per Kwh.

For a residential property burning over 1,000 Kwh FPL charges 0.07159 per Kwh and fuel of 0.03947 per Kwh for a total charge of 0.11106 per Kwh.

A comprehensive energy vision for the Bahamas would include selling 100% of BEC to Bahamian private enterprises and the general public through an IPO (get government out of the electricity business like all developed nations have done), splintering BEC into stand alone 'baby' BECs by island, introduction of solar energy, introduction of waste to energy processing, recycling, introduction of competition (eg. Cable voice v. BTC voice services), allow citizens to sell energy back to the grid and hive off the electrical grid to a separate to serve all electrical companies.

Through the Freedom of Information Act we could have determined why the fuel surcharges are 641% more expensive than Florida. However I can only guess that it is the difference in cost of diesel v. gas, plant efficiency/age, freight, lack of competition in the supply of diesel to BEC, mark ups by government and private concerns (cartel like behavior) on the purchase of diesel. I can't tell but it feels like someone is getting rich off of us.

The Ministry of Finance should be more afraid of the implementation of VAT than the general public.

Nowhere in the Caribbean that VAT has been introduced has it brought down the deficit or reduced economic inequality. It has not worked in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua, Dominica or St. kitts.

Besides not working anywhere else, the fundamental infrastructural reason VAT will not work is because the Government doesn't know exactly where any asset, bank account or person is located and thus will be unable to locate most businesses or persons to enforce the tax. There are no street numbers on homes/businesses, drivers licenses do not have addresses on them, real property tax records are outdated, a comprehensive database of property vales does not exist and the licensing of vehicles is manually done.

Thus VAT will succumb to the same problems that we have in the collection of business license fees, real property taxes and customs duties. Only VAT collection issues will be much worse as all businesses are turned into 'revenue agents'.

When a business collects VAT it will deposit it in its general operating account and then, about 30 days later those funds will need to be paid to the government. As most businesses operate in overdraft it is questionable if the government taxes will be there in 30 days. There will be a build up of receivables e.g. BEC.

Most developed countries require a separate VAT bank account...imagine 6,000 businesses trying to open VAT bank accounts by January 1!

The Government can say whatever it likes about VAT unfortunately we the people must live with the consequences long after they have retired on their government pensions.

Jlcandu and Talrussell,

I think you are both right. Looking at the details of the new gambling bill in today’s morning paper, it looks as if it is the intention to restrict the numbers business to the extent that it is unprofitable.

No online gaming, players need identification, players need to physically show up in person, no foreigners allowed, cash only bets, no credit cards, no account transfers between house accounts, no international subsidiaries and no loans! Looks like they don’t want them to compete with the banks. Not sure if they are asking for GAAP audits by international accounting firms.

Add to this laundry list retroactive penalties, major international banks not accepting the business, local regulatory concerns and whatever additional restrictions are placed by the FATF. Ohhh…have we discussed this legislation with big brother to see if they have any concerns?

The best part of the new law is the splitting of the licenses into 3 parts – house, premise and agent. Each license has its own risk profile. Maybe Bay and East Streets will hold the house while distributing the riskier premises and agent licenses to the boys.

Stay tuned…but in the meantime the lights are being turned of in the schools of our nation’s second city.

Let’s say the FATF agrees to the legalization of the Numbers business. It will certainly be on the premise that the new operators are “fit and proper” and have clean legal records.

“The fit and proper” test may rule out some of the major players. In come the credible East St and Bay St cartels, which currently own and contractually tie up anything that moves in this country from oil to shipping, certainly they will meet the “fit and proper” test. Out goes the current owners and operators.

Contemplated retroactive penalties will assist in putting the current operators out of business.