All results / Stories / Neil Hartnell
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.
Skills transfer woe still a ‘sad reality’
The Bahamas must change “the sad reality” that key skills and knowledge are not being passed on to local workers by expatriate work permit holders, a prominent contractor argued yesterday.
‘I want Schooner Bay progress’, says ex-PM
An ex-prime minister yesterday asserted he wants to see “progress and development” at an Abaco community once held up as sustainable development model following its baffling break with a former management partner.
Bahamas shrugs off FTX for perfect ‘40 out of 40’
The Bahamas yesterday shrugged off FTX’s implosion through what the attorney general hailed as the “enormous accomplishment” of a perfect score in the fight against financial crime.
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.
‘Breath of fresh air’: 150k cruise arrivals over Xmas
The Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair yesterday hailed the increase in cruise ship traffic as a “breath of fresh air” for business with close to 150,000 passenger arrivals forecast for Christmas week.
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.
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.
IDB brands price controls ‘poorly targeted subsidy’
The Government’s price controls are a poorly-targeted mechanism to counter soaring 16 percent food inflation as they benefit the rich as much as low income and vulnerable families, a multilateral lender is arguing.
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.
Insurers: ‘Light at end of tunnel’ over taxation
Bahamian insurers yesterday voiced relief that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” after the Government said it would drop plans to move the industry to a Business Licence fee taxation regime.
Realtor has ‘never seen such high rental rates’
A Bahamian realtor says he has “never seen such high rental rates” as now exist in some of western New Providence’s most upscale communities with demand in this segment now suppressing available-for-sale inventory.
‘Lots of muscle’ required for $142m toxic BOB pile
The Bank of The Bahamas bail-out vehicle must now employ “lots of muscle” to recover its remaining “toxic” loan collateral valued at $142m, its chairman revealed yesterday.
Investor seeking $2.7bn in South Ocean dispute
A controversial Austrian investor is pledging to seek an extraordinary $2.7bn in damages if his attempted acquisition of New Providence’s 384-acre South Ocean resort is ultimately thwarted.
FTX shows Bahamas can’t ‘live or die’ by one investor
Governance reformers are arguing that FTX’s implosion further reinforces that there is “no silver bullet to solve our economic growth issues coming out of Dorian and COVID-19”.
‘Unprecedented’: Hotel staff enjoyed slow season boost ‘unpred
Many hotel staff worked “unprecedented” five-day weeks during the tourism season’s slowest months, a union leader revealed yesterday, as he bids to complete multiple new industrial agreements in early 2023.
‘Unenviable balancing act’ confronting The Bahamas
The Bahamas “faces an unenviable balancing act between food security and fiscal discipline”, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) warned yesterday, with global financial developments proving “particularly concerning”.
Ex-AG: Don’t let ‘proper’ FTX collapse probe slide
A former attorney general yesterday warned The Bahamas against letting a “proper probe” into FTX’s implosion slide because of its perfect score in the financial crime fight and Sam Bankman-Fried’s departure.
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.
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.
