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Volume: 123 No. 34, Tuesday, January 13, 2026
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VAT TO BE AXED ON ALL GROCERIES Davis announces tax break on food to ease cost of living pressures By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip Davis last night announced the complete removal of VAT on food sold in grocery stores, a major tax policy shift the government says is aimed at easing persistent cost-of-living pressures. Speaking during a national address, Mr Davis said VAT on food will be reduced to zero as of April 1, applying to all grocery
items sold in food stores, including fresh produce, baby food, frozen items and packaged goods. The exemption will not apply to hot or ready-to-eat meals. The move represents the latest in a series of VAT adjustments under the Davis administration. After coming to office in 2021, the government reduced the standard VAT rate from 12 percent to ten percent, reversing an increase introduced in 2018. Last FOOD - SEE PAGE SEVEN
PRIME MINISTER Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaks during a national address last night.
Families of murdered taxi driver and mechanic BAHAMIAN GROUP IN believe both men were lured to their deaths By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
ROCKLING ‘ROCKY’ BOODLE
RICARDO JEAN
A TAXI driver and a mechanic, both fathers of four, became the country’s first two murder victims of the year over the holiday weekend, leaving grieving families convinced the men were deliberately lured to their deaths.
Rockling Boodle, 51, a longtime taxi driver originally from Abaco, and Ricardo Jean, 35, were killed in separate incidents just days apart, shattering families who say both men had been looking ahead to important milestones. Boodle was found stabbed at a motel off East MURDERS - SEE PAGE THREE
POLICE PROBE OFFICER OVER ALLEGED BRIBE SOLICITATION By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net THE Royal Bahamas Police Force has launched an investigation into a viral video that appears to show a police officer attempting to solicit a bribe from a tourist during a roadside traffic stop to avoid issuing a ticket.
$400M BID FOR GBPA
The more than three-minute clip, which surfaced on TikTok on Sunday, has triggered widespread outrage, with many Bahamians condemning what they described as brazen misconduct caught on camera. Although the exact date of the incident is unclear, the footage shows several BRIBE - SEE PAGE FIVE
FROM LEFT: John Bostwick, Nicholas Rees, and Super Value founder Rupert Roberts and grand-daughter Paige Waugh. By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN investor group featuring an ex-Olympic swimmer, former FNM senator and grand-daughter of Super Value’s owner are aiming to raise more than $400m in initial capital to finance the acquisition of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and its key economic assets. Nicholas Rees, chairman and co-founder of Kanoo, the
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
digital payments provider, has teamed with attorney John Bostwick and Paige Waugh, grand-daughter of Rupert Roberts, to form Born Free Capital as a “100 percent Bahamian-owned acquisition vehicle” that is seeking to purchase both the GBPA, and its quasi-governmental and regulatory powers, and the 50 percent Freeport Harbour Company and DevCO interests held by Port Group Ltd. SEE BUSINESS FOR STORY