IAN FERGUSON: The business questions politicians must answer
The years 2016 and 2017 are major political ones for the US and the Bahamas, with many persons already in campaign mode. Our democracy requires individuals, and their and constituencies, to decide who will govern, but the business community watches on nervously given what is at stake.
Ruffin blasts Obie on casino tax claim
Philip Ruffin yesterday slammed the Minister of Tourism for publicly suggesting he and his companies still owe casino taxes to the Bahamas Government, urging him to “desist” from this position.
PM slams Ingraham Gov’t on Hutchison GB port monopoly
The Prime Minister yesterday slammed the former Ingraham administration for granting a monopoly that complicated negotiations over Carnival Cruise Lines’ new east Grand Bahama port.
GBPA ‘shadow of former self’
The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) was yesterday branded “a shadow of its former self” by its ex-attorney, who urged Freeport’s 3,500 licensees to take the lead in defending their rights.
FNM fears doctor NHI ‘brain drain’
The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday expressed concerns that National Health Insurance’s (NHI) proposed payment methods could drive high-qualified doctors to leave the Bahamas.
Gov’t ‘cannot be held hostage’ by GBPA developer
Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday pledged that the Government “cannot be held hostage” to the intentions of any Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) developer, delivering his clearest warning yet that the current owners must seek an exit route.
Freeport losing its ‘second city status’
The Government and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) were yesterday urged to work together to revive Freeport’s economy, an Opposition MP warning it had “just about lost its second city status”.
Club Med adds new Miami flight
Club Med yesterday confirmed guests that its San Salvador resort reopened on January 31, with major repairs to the ‘extensive damage’ caused by Hurricane Joaquin completed in less than three months.
BISX targets 100 new debt listings
The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is seeking to attract more than 100 new listings, its chief executive telling Tribune Business: “We’ve turned the corner.”
Chamber proposes Joaquin ‘stimulus’
The Government has been urged to expand Hurricane Joaquin-related tax breaks to storm-devastated businesses, with the private sector also calling for an amended relief model that would act as an “economic stimulus” throughout the Bahamas.
‘An affront to the profession’
Medical technologists yesterday slammed the use of a National Health Insurance (NHI) forum for product promotion as “an affront to the profession”.
Lab test plan an ‘inducement’ for NHI buy-in
The Government’s push for doctors to conduct in-house laboratory testing was yesterday described as an “inducement” to entice the profession to sign-up to National Health Insurance’s (NHI) preferred care model.
Industrial Tribunal ‘cannot go behind’ dispute referrals
The Industrial Tribunal “cannot go behind” a Minister of Labour’s decision to refer a trade dispute to it, even if the process is non-compliant with the law, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Joaquin-hit islands are ‘still struggling’
Residents in the southern Bahamas are still “struggling” to recover almost five months after Hurricane Joaquin’s Category Fiur winds and rain devastated several Family Islands.
Enough business for Bahamas and Cuba
The Minister of Tourism yesterday said there was enough tourism business to go around, as Cuba inked an agreement authorising daily US commercial flights to the island for the first time in more than 50 years.
