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Activist slams Shell LNG deal as ‘regressive step’
A WELL-known environmentalist yesterday said the adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the Bahamas’ main power source is a “huge regressive step”, questioning why the Government was not aggressively pursuing solar energy.
DPM: Business Licence fee is ‘inherently unfair’
THE Government is examining how to adjust a Business Licence fee that the Deputy Prime Minister yesterday branded “inherently unfair” to firms with high turnover and low profit margins. K Peter Turnquest, who is also minister of finance, described as “misinformation” any suggestion that the Government has committed to the European Union (EU) that it will introduce a corporate tax or income tax.
Economist backs spending cuts to end ‘major wastage’
A University of the Bahamas economist yesterday backed government spending cuts on the grounds there has been “a great deal of wastage”. Rupert Pinder, addressing a Rotary Club of West Nassau luncheon, said: “We cannot overemphasise the importance of economic growth. You can cut spending until the cows come home, but what is really going to put this economy on a strong footing is growth. I am a proponent for cuts in public spending because I think there has been a great deal of wastage.
Gov’t to tackle mail boat concerns ‘in earnest’
A CABINET minister yesterday said he has committed to a “sit down” with mail boat operators after Christmas to address “in earnest” industry concerns.
A Cabinet minister yesterday moved a parliamentary motion to create a select committee that will probe the the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) 2011 privatisation.
A Cabinet minister yesterday moved a parliamentary motion to create a select committee that will probe the the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) 2011 privatisation.
QC tells the web shops: Form own credit union
A prominent QC has called on web shop gaming operators to establish their own credit union, as blasted the Canadian-owned banks’ refusal to accept the sector’s deposits as making “no sense whatsoever”.
NHI manager blasts sector’s ‘false division’
The National Health Insurance (NHI) project manager yesterday asserted that the primary care phase’s roll-out by early 2017 remains “reasonable”, while dismissing the “false division” between public and private health care providers in the Bahamas.
Pinder: Sue for $13m over ‘Bahamas papers’
A former financial services minister yesterday suggested that this nation sue to recover the $13 million in Companies Registry search fees owed by the international journalists’ group responsible for the ‘Bahamas papers leak’.
Businesses monitor air cargo fall-out
Bahamian businesses are continuing to monitor the fall-out from new and increased Customs fines on the air cargo industry, which has prompted some carriers to threaten to withdraw from this market.
Mortgage Corp still stuck at 40% arrears
The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation’s (BMC) arrears ratio continues to hover around 40 per cent, its chairman said yesterday, despite it adding $49.7 million in new mortgages to its portfolio over the past four years.
Fishermen: Gov't late on storm relief
Bahamian fishermen are hoping the Government will give further thought to their cry for fuel concessions, one representative telling this newspaper: “That would go a long way to helping the industry”.
FNM deputy questions Mortgage Relief ‘sense’
The Christie administration’s revised Mortgage Relief Plan does not make much sense “on the face of it”, according to the Opposition’s finance spokesman, who questioned what return the Government would get for its $20 million ‘investment’.
FNM deputy: Oil’s value in refining
The FNM’s deputy leader yesterday argued that the petroleum industry’s true value lay in refining, and said the Government need not determine whether commercial quantities of oil exist in the Bahamas before putting the issue to a referendum.
Three-year recognition is ‘vexing’ trade unions
Union recognition is taking a “vexing” three years to complete, a leading trade unionist says, rather than the desired three months.
Industrial system frustrates unions
THERE is “no question” that the present industrial relations system is set up to frustrate the Bahamian trade union movement, as one leader renewed his call for a united labour front.
LOI made $650m waste plant ‘political football’
The company behind the $650 million waste-to-energy proposal at the centre of last year’s Letter of Intent (LoI) controversy yesterday said it had been treated as “a political football”, which “turned a positive into a negative” and damaged its bid to secure financing.
Excise Tax snafu stymies start-up's 60 hires plan
A Bahamian-owned tobacco manufacturing start-up said yesterday it would pursue legal action as a “last resort” if it is unable to obtain an Excise Tax exemption on domestic sales, adding that its business model had been thrown “totally out of whack”.
Call for orderly behaviour during elections
POLITICIANS have renewed calls for civil and orderly behaviour during elections after a supporter spit at the wife of a party leader.
GDP boost from raising Bahamas' 60% net access
GDP boost from raising Bahamas' 60% Net access By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net LESS than 60 per cent of Bahamian homes have Internet access, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company's (BTC) chief executive has said
NIB 1% RATE IS RISE PROPOSED
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor and NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net A recommendation to increase the National Insurance Board (NIB) contribution rate by one percentage point to 10.8 per cent has been lodged
