Exuma becoming high-end location
EXUMA is positioning itself as a “high net worth destination”, the Prime Minister said yesterday, as the Government signed a Heads of Agreement for a $200 million boutique resort on Children’s Bay Cay and Williams Cay.
Water Corp violated industrial agreement
The Water & Sewerage Corporation breached the industrial agreement with its management union by failing to give members ‘first shot’ at the contracts for three Family Island reverse osmosis plants.
Gov’t plans S&P meeting to ward off downgrade
The Government will meet with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) immediately after next month’s mid-year Budget in a bid to stave off a further credit downgrade to ‘junk’ status.
‘It’s not about money; it’s about quality care’
Doctors have warned that the Government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme will remove all incentive for them to invest in new equipment and expanded practices, turning them into cost-cutting machines and undermining healthcare quality.
Hayward trustee says his removal ‘complete surprise’
A former trustee for the late Sir Jack Hayward’s family trust says his removal “came as a complete surprise”, since there had been no complaints about the conduct of negotiations to sell the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).
Mobile liberalisation like ‘duck in the pond’
Mobile liberalisation’s final stages have been compared to “the life of a duck in the pond’, a key adviser explaining that much progress made to-date is not visible to the Bahamian public.
Treasure Cay seeks $59m purchase to ‘maximise potential’
The Treasure Cay Resort Marina and Golf Course is seeking a buyer that will take the area to its “maximum potential”, Tribune Business has been informed.
Marathon generates $2.3m visitor spend
MARATHON Bahamas organisers have disclosed that the 442 international runners in this year’s event helped generate around 1,600 hotel room nights and $2.3 million in visitor spending.
URCA rejects industry’s spectrum fee proposals
Regulators have rejected calls by the Bahamas’ two leading communications providers that radio spectrum fees be based on administrative costs, finding that this would “not maximise” the potential benefits to society.
40% low on Business Licence Compliance
The one-month Business Licence filing period is designed to boost compliance rates that have fallen as low as 40 per cent, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday, while promising that the Government will not employe “a sledgehammer” approach.
Accountants warn Business Licence date ‘impractical’
The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) has warned the Government that its end-January deadline for Business Licence filing is “significantly challenging”, and threatens to “undermine” the quality of return certifications.
Gov’t ‘not abandoned’ fiscal responsibility, greater transparency
A Cabinet Minister yesterday backed the need for greater Government transparency and accountability over its finances, and pledged that it had “not abandoned” consultation on Fiscal Responsibility-type legislation.
Exchange control reforms imminent
Further steps to liberalise the Bahamas’ exchange control regime will be announced within the next several weeks, a Cabinet Minister yesterday suggesting they would boost the “ease of doing business”.
GB Power’s storm insurance fund delayed one year
The implementation of Grand Bahama Power Company’s hurricane ‘self-insurance’ fund has been pushed back one year until January 2017 under its newly-approved tariff structure.
Drinks producer’s lime ‘nightmare’
A Bahamian beverage producer has been forced by the “ridiculously” high cost of limes to instead use concentrate in his ‘Switcha’ product line, saying: “It was a matter of survival.”
