Nearly $70m of IMF’s $250m went to SOEs
Governance reformers yesterday renewed demands for more transparency around state-owned enterprises (SOEs) after they collectively consumed $70m of last year’s $250m IMF loan to The Bahamas.
Super Value chief seeking to avoid ‘perfect storm’
Super Value’s president yesterday said he was hoping to avoid the perfect storm of an earlier COVID curfew and potential hurricane if tropical depression ‘six’ becomes a major threat later this week.
‘Catastrophe collision’: No COVID mitigation without IMF’s $250m
The Bahamas would not have been able to finance the health, unemployment and business support measures to mitigate COVID-19’s fall-out without the IMF’s “emergency” $250m loan.
WHO OWNS FIRMS GIVEN GOVT COVID CONTRACTS? – Auditor General reveals his request for beneficial owners list still pending
The Government has failed to meet the Auditor General’s demand to provide ownership details on all the companies awarded COVID-related contracts despite this being deemed “pivotal” to good governance.
Water Corp ‘author of own demise’ on supply cut-off
The Water & Sewerage Corporation has been blasted as “the author of its own demise” over $644,000 in unpaid bills that resulted in water supply to central Eleuthera residents being cut-off for several days last October.
Ministerial ‘intervention’ call as Morton Salt releases 24
The minister of labour was yesterday urged to “intervene” in the planned termination of 24 Morton Salt workers amid union complaints that the company had failed to follow the law or their industrial agreement.
NAD plans $28 private aviation passenger fee
Aviation operators yesterday described fees as “a dirty word” after Nassau’s main gateway unveiled plans to create equality between commercial and private plane passengers by levying a $28 charge on the latter.
Pearl Island happy to have ‘survived’
A Bahamian destination provider yesterday said it is preparing to receive its first post-COVID cruise ship guests this Thursday after hotel clients kept it afloat over the past several months.
Bahamas First severs Colina General tie-up
Bahamas First has issued Colina General Insurance Company with 90 days’ notice that it plans to terminate their agency relationship because of the latter’s parent re-entering the underwriting business.
BICA president: Tough times increase fraud
The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) president yesterday said tough economic times often result in an increase in fraudulent activity as persons turn to such activities to “make ends meet”.
Inspection outsource to cut approval ‘bottleneck’
Construction professionals yesterday said that allowing licensed engineers and architects to perform third-party building inspections will help “reduce the bottlenecks in the Ministry of Works”.
‘Perfect storm’ triggers forensic accounting rise
Bahamian accountants have revealed a significant increase in demand for forensic services to detect potential financial crime, and trace assets, arising out of the economy’s post-COVID emergence.
COVID like ‘bad nightmare that won’t go away’
Bahamian businesses were last night bracing for the imposition of additional restrictions to combat “out of control” COVID-19 infection rates, with one saying: “It cannot be business as usual.”
Top hotelier: COVID cases ‘unacceptable’
The Bahamas’ top hotelier last night branded soaring COVID-19 case numbers as “unacceptable” and backed the government imposing “prudent” measures and conditions to control the outbreak.
Law change to open building inspections
The government is planning to reform construction-related laws so that licensed architects and engineers can approve building works performed by their counterparts, the deputy prime minister has revealed.
