News for Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Bank of the Bahamas opens for business in Bimini

THE Bank of The Bahamas opened a branch in Bimini on Monday restoring banking services to that island for the first time since the Royal Bank of Canada pulled out on August 2.

Drink video cops demoted

THE two officers caught drinking on video while riding in a police squad car were demoted, according to an order obtained by The Tribune yesterday.

New benefit programme suspended

THE Department of Social Services’ Conditional Cash Transfer project has been suspended for at least two months, The Tribune has learned.

Miller: Hill deserved to be fired from BPL

PAMELA HILL being fired as the CEO of Bahamas Power and Light was “long overdue and necessary,” according to the electricity company’s former Executive Chairman Leslie Miller, who claimed that “Ms Hill did not know what the hell she was doing.”

Migration policy ‘must be changed’

GRAND Bahama Human Rights Association President Fred Smith yesterday condemned the Carmichael Road Detention Centre as an illegal facility with no basis in law as he railed against the country’s “militaristic and inhumane” approach to irregular migration.

SIDELINED: MPs reveal Christie turned against Davis

THE missteps of the Christie administration should not spoil Philip “Brave” Davis’ leadership ambitions, former parliamentarians Philip Galanis and George Smith said, telling The Tribune yesterday Mr Davis was “out of the loop” in the administration after former Prime Minister Perry Christie became “insecure” over his leadership threat and began

Grand Lucayan deal to avoid ‘quagmire repeat’

The Government’s proposed Grand Lucayan deal aims to avoid a repeat of previous failures and create a destination experience, with Memories and the Port Lucaya Marketplace’s owners “part of the conversation”.

Dingman in legal battle on two fronts over Nassau failure

A new front has opened in the legal war over Jamie Dingman’s failed Nassau restaurant empire, as the Lyford Cay resident moves to dismiss continuing “garden-variety fraud and contract” claims.

Hope Bahamas Power & Light ‘shake up’ shows reform desire

A governance reformer yesterday expressed hope that the “shake up” in Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) top management is a sign the Government is serious about delivering energy reform.

Taxation focus ‘could scare’ vacation rentals

The Bahamas was yesterday urged to develop a comprehensive strategy for growing the vacation rental market, amid warnings its taxation focus may “scare” visitors and entrepreneurs.

Ex-landfill manager slams Christie Gov’ts ‘failure to co-operate’

The New Providence landfill’s former manager yesterday blamed the Christie administration’s “failure to fully co-operate and plan” for its decision to cease operations, arguing that this had prevented “successful remediation” of the site.

Cabinet committees set up to tackle crime and reform

THE Cabinet Office has announced the formation of various Cabinet committees to facilitate the work of the government, including groups to focus on crime and public sector reform.

‘Witch hunt’ talk a bid to prevent investigations

THE assertions from some critics that police probes into alleged corruption on the part of public officials are “witch hunts” are nothing more than baseless attempts to quell intensive investigations, according to former Royal Bahamas Police Force Assistant Commissioner Paul Thompson.

$500 fine for man who threatened to kill ex-girlfriend

A MAN was ordered yesterday to pay a $500 fine or face three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for threatening to kill his former girlfriend over three months ago.

Suspect accused after gun discovery

A 27-year-old Freeport man was charged with firearm and ammunition possession in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Stop this tax plan on rentals

Stop! I understand the government needs revenue, but it must stop for a moment to get a clear understanding of the vacation rental industry.

We Rise just a PLP response

WE Rise is nothing more than a PLP idea to piggyback on Senator Ranard Heinfield’s We March Bahamas – an organisation which was a thorn in the Christie administration’s side. This fact alone reveals that the PLP lacks innovation. Whoever the organisers are, they are copycatting Senator Heinfield.

There’s no free lunch

TOTALLY supportive of a capitalistic economy, but I am against a free lunch which is what it seems, users of AirBnB - Home Away from Home seem to wish. What next Government to give them a tax incentive?

EDITORIAL: Dames not playing games

ON Monday, August 21, shaken by the third murder in two days, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames convened a meeting of senior police officers, including the current but reportedly soon to be erstwhile Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade. He asked them to reveal their strategy for fighting violent crime and the criminal activity that ends in murder or attempted murder. We have no doubt that the senior police officers in that room gave the National Security Minister the best briefing they had to offer.

Enforce the death penalty

THE Bahamas now has a total of 87 murders for the first eight months of 2017. That is an average of a little over ten murders per month. At this rate, the country will once again reach the mark of 120 murders. The FNM government and National Security Minister Marvin Dames have stated that they will use everything on the law books, including capital punishment, to make The Bahamas safe for law-abiding citizens. Bahamians want a safe country. They are tired of the wanton bloodshed on the streets of New Providence and Grand Bahama.

The Tribune