PM reassures contractors over Baha Mar payments
Prime Minister Perry Christie last week summoned Bahamian contractors to a meeting at his office to urge them “not to mind the noise in the marketplace” about Baha Mar creditor compensation.
Development Plan talks to intensify
The National Development Plan (NDP) Secretariat plans to have more intense public outreach on the goals it is seeking to achieve, according to the Government’s lead official on the initiative.
Hotel union backs gratuities inclusion in wage definition
The hotel union’s president says it has “long wanted” the Employment Act to include gratuities in its definition of wages, given that the former was a substantial proportion of the take home pay for many employees.
Hotels endangered by ‘huge’ gratuities hit
The hotel industry fears that proposals to include gratuities in the Employment Act’s definition of wages will have an “astronomical” impact on its cost base, and could drive some properties “out of business”.
QC ‘urges’ FNM: Fight Baha Mar secrecy in courts
The FNM and Baha Mar creditors were yesterday urged by a well-known QC to use Judicial Reviews and other legal methods to challenge both the Government’s agreement with the Chinese and its sealing by the Supreme Court.
Union chief tones down strike threat
A trade union leader last night toned down threats of industrial action to rival the 1958 General Strike, following a nearly three-hour meeting with the Prime Minister over the Sandals situation.
CCA denies lawsuit tie to dismissal of contractor’s wife
Attorneys for China Construction America (CCA) yesterday denied that a Bahamian contractor’s decision to launch legal action against it over alleged Baha Mar debts sparked the firing of his wife that same day.
D’Aguilar: Baha Mar deal may hit Atlantis ‘viability’
A key Sarkis Izmirlian ally yesterday expressed fears that Atlantis’s “commercial viability” could be undermined if the Baha Mar agreement paves the way for China to dominate the Bahamian hotel industry.
IAN FERGUSON: Employee coaching key to firm’s health
Coaching is used in a variety of ways to help employees solve their problems. No workplace is without its share of issues, and no individual is immune from personal and professional roadblocks.
Participation in Dubai’s Expo 2020 ‘part of foreign policy outreach to Middle East’
The Government’s participation in the Expo 2020 in Dubai is part of the Christie administration’s foreign policy outreach to the Middle East, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, who noted that the aim is to ultimately attract foreign capital and market the nation as a tourist destination.
Businesses braced for stormy weather
Businesses and residents in the southern Bahamas are bracing themselves for the possibility that a strong tropical wave expected to pass over The Bahamas becomes a serious threat, with one private sector representative telling this newspaper: “We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation as with Joaquin”.
Tourism: No Zika cancellations yet
The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) yesterday said it had received no reports of booking cancellations as a result of the Zika outbreak, despite travel and health advisories issued by this nation’s two key visitor markets.
CCA ‘fired my wife when I served writ’
The only Bahamian contractor known to have taken legal action against China Construction America (CCA) for Baha Mar non-payment yesterday said he was left “heartbroken” when it fired his wife “the same day” the writ was served.
Unions threaten ‘shut down’ over Sandals
The Bahamas’ two leading trade unions bodies joined forces yesterday to warn they will “shut the country down” with a repeat of the 1958 General Strike, unless the Prime Minister meets with them in the next 48 hours to resolve the Sandals situation.
NHI insurance tender ‘skewed’ against locals
The Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) chairman yesterday argued that the bid document for the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme’s public insurer is “skewed” in favour of foreign companies.
