‘Challenged’ to exploit govts VAT tax break
Real estate buyers will be “challenged” to exploit the government’s VAT waiver/discount on deals under $250,000 due to a shortage of contractors in the Dorian-hit islands, it was argued yesterday.
Bahamasair sees revenues fall 84%
Bahamasair’s revenues for the ten months to end-April 2021 plunged by 84 percent year-over-year, a Cabinet minister revealed yesterday, with taxpayers set to underwrite its survival via a $60m-plus subsidy.
Civil service expansion labelled ‘mind boggling’
A governance reformer says it is “mind boggling” that the government would abandon previous pledges to rein-in an oversized civil service by adding at least another 1,802 persons to its payroll.
‘Major improvements’ needed on bank fees
Almost two-thirds of Bahamian businesses say the fees charged by commercial banks need “major improvements”, according to the findings of a Central Bank survey.
Brave blasts govt on Dorian and COVID
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis accused the Minnis administration of mismanaging its Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 response.
‘New citizens should wait to have a vote’
FORMER parliamentarian Loretta Butler-Turner says she believes the government should legislate “a timeframe” for naturalised Bahamians to become participants in the nation’s electoral process.
Home porting will deliver extra $50m
TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar estimates that home porting will bring 30,000 to 35,000 cruise ship guests to the Bahamas this year who will contribute $50m during their week-long stay in the country.
Budgeting to face future challenges
* In the third of a four-part series, Hubert Edwards argues that a greater focus on foreign and Bahamian investment will be critical to breaking the low growth trap . . .
‘Phenomenal’ tourism pick-up - but still below 2019 levels
A Cabinet minister yesterday hailed the “phenomenal rate of increase” in stopover visitor arrivals as a sign “tourism is bouncing back” even though the industry remains more than one-third below 2019 numbers
THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO HELP: Police shot cutlass wielding man they had come to assist
A MAN who “charged at” an officer with a cutlass was fatally shot by police on Poitier Avenue and Foster Street in Chippingham yesterday.
Cruise home porting to give $50m boost
A Cabinet minister yesterday predicted that 35,000 home porting cruise passengers will spend a collective $50m across The Bahamas during their seven-night voyages around the island chain this summer.
Food stores confirm price rise pressures
Food stores yesterday said food prices have risen by at least ten percent since last year amid forecasts that increases could last well into 2022.
Prices regulator seeking more power as costs rise
The Price Control Commission’s chairman yesterday said recommendations have been presented to the Minnis Cabinet calling for it to be given greater powers over non-price controlled items.
Men’s American Zone III Davis Cup tie: Bahamas will be ready
WITH a little more than two weeks left before they head to Panama City, Panama, for the men’s American Zone III Davis Cup tie, veteran player/captain Marvin Rolle said he’s making sure that all of the players will be ready.
COVID-19 death toll rises to 239
THE COVID-19 death count has risen to 239 after two more deaths were recorded.
Closing arguments in Supreme Court shanty town hearing
ATTORNEY Fred Smith said the Supreme Court must now decide whether the government can lawfully target and destroy all communities of Haitian ethnic origins in the country.
US businessman denies having pistol and ammunition
AN American businessman who denied having a .9mm pistol and a large quantity of ammunition was yesterday granted bail ahead of his trial.
Police corporal found Petty Officer ‘motionless’ with bullet wounds
A POLICE corporal testified yesterday that he found Petty Officer Percival Perpall “motionless” and slumped over on a couch with bullet wounds to his upper body when he responded to a shooting incident at Government House in 2019.
Law and order established
For two hundred years the settlement of Hope Town on Elbow Cay, Abaco, was a sleepy little fishing village with very little crime. In the 1990’s when the internet put the island on the map, the economic growth that followed, led to more and more crime. A tipping point came in 2018 when Hope Town experienced its first armed robbery http://www.tribune242.com/news/2018/may/22/holiday-weekend-blighted-by-series-of-armed/robberies.
Nightclub noise
Club Waterloo’s principal should not be permitted to operate a nightclub at its current venue, even if COVID restrictions are lifted.
