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Gas station warning of New Year lay-offs
A gas station operator yesterday warned the 24 percent minimum wage increase will “almost certainly” force the sector to cut staffing levels unless the Government grants a long-awaited margin increase.
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.
CCA: We’ll ‘be laughed at by world’ if Baha Mar not open
Top executives at Baha Mar’s main contractor voiced fears they would “be laughed at by the world” if the mega resort’s target 2015 opening was missed while admitting to multiple “shortcomings and deficiencies” in its construction.
Insurers: Don’t sleep on EU blacklisting ‘breathing room’
The Bahamas must not fall asleep after it gained “two years’ breathing room” to escape the European Union’s (EU) tax blacklist and preserve up to 40 percent of its hurricane reinsurance capacity, insurers are warning.
Sarkis loss ‘over $3bn’ if Baha Mar hit targets
Sarkis Izmirlian would so far have “lost more than $3bn” in potential profits alone if the Baha Mar resort from which he was ousted hit his financial projections, an analyst’s report has calculated.
CCA: Sarkis ‘inflaming anti-Chinese sentiment’
Baha Mar’s main contractor has accused Sarkis Izmirlian of “a nakedly xenophobic attempt to inflame anti-Chinese sentiment” while asserting there is “no evidence” it misused $54m to acquire the then-British Colonial Hilton.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
BIFF ‘taken for ride’ over Dingman deal
The Bahamas International Film Festival’s (BIFF) founder yesterday said she was left “embarrassed”, and felt “taken for a ride”, after Jamie Dingman failed to deliver on his promised acquisition of the organisation.
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.
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.
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.
Govt ‘encourages’ Bahamian group’s landfill ‘win-win’
The Government is seeking a “holistic” solution to the New Providence landfill’s numerous challenges, and is encouraging a Bahamian consortium to advance its proposal for taking away 25 per cent of existing waste streams.
GB Power seeks ‘unique’ energy storage solution
Grand Bahama Power Company is planning to launch a tender for energy storage technology that is “maybe unique to the world”, in a move that could reduce operating time for at least two generation units.
MSC cruise port: No lease agreement yet
No agreement has yet been reached to transfer the lease of Ocean Cay to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) for its private cruise port, with the current holder saying of the project: "It won't be done overnight."
PHA exceeds bond target with $26-$27m
The Public Hospitals Authority's (PHA) $25 million bond issue closed slightly oversubscribed, its financial advisers estimating that between $26-$27 million has been raised from investors.
BTC profits slump 26.4%
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) suffered a 26.4 per cent profits slump for the year to end-March 2015, as its revenues and staffing levels came under pressure in the run-up to mobile liberalisation.
