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Water Corp: $1.2m claim was resort financing ploy

The Water & Sewerage Corporation has defeated a $1.227m damages claim for trespass that it alleges was merely a ploy attempting to force it to finance a planned Andros eco-resort.

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CCA: WE SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BAHAMAS – Contractor reached out for help to son of top govt advisor

Baha Mar's main contractor asked the son of Perry Christie's top policy adviser to intervene when his father proposed changing The Pointe's Heads of Agreement over how many Bahamian construction workers would be employed.

Pensioners left with 30% in City Markets HQ sale

* Claim trustees ‘not acting in our best interest’ * Trustees retain 27% of $3m sale to AML Foods * And lawyer paid almost one-third of proceeds

City Markets pensioners have been “kept in the dark” over the $3 million sale of the plan’s main asset, with just 30 per cent of the proceeds seemingly left for their benefit.

Title questions raised over $3m AML deal

CITY Markets pension fund trustees have no legal standing to sell the defunct supermarket chain’s former head office to AML Foods for $3 million, it was alleged yesterday.

BPL pledges: You’ll have ‘soft landing’ on extra charge

BAHAMAS Power & Light’s (BPL) chairman yesterday pledged to make “the landing as soft as possible” for Bahamian consumers when it adds a debt servicing charge to their bills.

DPM: Bahamas must ‘prove’ itself to S&P

* ‘Not at all’ upset nation still ‘junk’ * Blames former Govt’s failure to deliver * Nation has 12-24 months to execute

The Government must “prove” it can deliver on its fiscal and economic turnaround strategy, the Deputy Prime Minister admitted yesterday, after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) kept the Bahamas at ‘junk’ status. K P Turnquest told Tribune Business he was “not at all” disappointed at the outcome of S&P’s annual review of the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness, despite having previously expressed optimism that the Government could make the case to be upgraded to ‘investment grade’ status.

‘No cause for celebration’ over S&P breathing room

* Bahamas ‘still has to climb out of hole’ * But Chamber chief ‘fully expects’ 2018 upgrade * Many Bahamians don’t realise reform ‘gravity’

PRIVATE sector executives yesterday said the Bahamas has “no cause for celebration yet” after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) elected not to further downgrade its sovereign creditworthiness.

S&P: Gov’ts fiscal, economic reforms ‘will take time’ to work

* 1.5% average growth forecast lower than IMF’s * Grand Lucayan closure takes out 7% of rooms * Debt to rise through 2020 to 52% of GDP

THE Government’s fiscal and economic reforms will take time to “pay dividends”, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned yesterday, as it took a more ‘bearish’ view of the Bahamas’ growth prospects. The rating agency, in its latest Bahamas country assessment, expressed confidence that the Minnis administration’s fiscal reforms will “arrest the deterioration” in the Government’s deficit and the national debt.

Union chief: ‘No way’ would I breach law and Bar regulations

A trade union leader yesterday said there was “no way” he would have agreed to an illegal ‘contingency fee’ in taking on Sandals Royal Bahamian all the way to the Privy Council.

Kosoy, Sterling eye Hurricane Hole deal

David Kosoy’s Sterling Global Financial is in negotiations to acquire Paradise Island’s Hurricane Hole property from Atlantis’s owner, Tribune Business can reveal.

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McCartney: ‘Look elsewhere’ for Baha Mar purchaser

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday said Baha Mar’s potential purchaser would not be granted a casino licence if the Gaming Board “did proper due diligence”, as he accused the Government of “playing with fire”.

BTC mobile competitor ‘not planning to lose’

The Bahamas’ second mobile operator says it is “not planning to lose”, as it kicked-off its market entrance with the introduction of the ‘Aliv’ brand, promising to deliver a superior experience and customer plans.

Liquidator targeting Govt’s $720k oil fee

Some $720,000 in oil exploration license fees that were paid to the Bahamas Government are being targeted by a Cayman-based liquidator, who has written to two Cabinet ministers seeking their assistance in recovering the funds.

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Baha Mar expat staff face October 31 wait

Former foreign employees of Baha Mar have to wait until October 31 to see if they will recover what is owed to them, while their Bahamian counterparts have been reminded of the “take it or leave it” approach.

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800 job applications for new mobile player

Cable Bahamas had received around 800 applications for jobs with the nation's second mobile provider by end-last week, it was revealed yesterday, and is confident the new operator can beat its financial targets.

Receiver dismisses 'uninsurable' Baha Mar allegations

Baha Mar's receiver yesterday dismissed claims by firebrand FNM MP, Dr Andre Rollins, that the $3.5 billion development is both "uninsurable" and will cost a further $1.8 billion to complete.

Ex-minister: Dingman case 'waste of judicial resources'

Trying the $1.1 million damages claim against Jamie Dingman's failed Nassau restaurant empire in New York will be "a waste of judicial resources", a former Cabinet minister is arguing.

Buyers 'pull back' on Moody's threat

International buyers are "pulling back" due to uncertainties caused by Moody's threatened downgrading of the Bahamas to 'junk' status, realtors have warned.

Mortgage finance 'biggest hurdle' to housing recovery

Mortgage financing access remains "the biggest hurdle" to reviving the domestic real estate market, causing up to three deals for the same property to fall through.

Chamber chief says 'space for third mobile operator'

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce's chief executive believes "there is space for another mobile player", and is urging the Government to issue a third licence come 2019.