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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2025
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Fears Exuma moorings deal to be ‘repackaged’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MARINA and environmental chiefs yesterday asserted that despite “relief all around” that the Exuma-wide moorings deal has been aborted there are still fears it will be “repackaged” and return in a different form. Eric Carey, the exBahamas National Trust (BNT) executive director, also challenged the Government’s environmental justifications for the nowaborted deal on the basis that many of the 49 sites selected for the Bahamas Moorings lease did not
• ‘Relief all around’ but concern it will re-emerge • Ex-BNT chief queries environment justification • And marinas chief still ‘dumbfounded’ by saga impact or cover “sensitive habitats”. Informing Tribune Business that “what’s next is the question everyone is asking”, he added that his own review of the 49 sites plus feedback from research scientists - suggested that
the seabed for consisted of sand as opposed to coral reefs, seagrass meadows or other “hard bottom” types. Many instead appeared to have been selected for their commercial potential and Bahamas Moorings’ likely earnings, with Mr Carey pointing to one - Big
ERIC CAREY
PETER MAURY
Majors Cay - as a location where “hundreds of boats” go to see the swimming pigs. And Peter Maury, the Association of the Bahamas Marinas (ABM)
president, who said he had been “dumbfounded” by the moorings/anchorage scheme when it was first disclosed, suggested to this newspaper that the Government and Bahamas
Moorings quickly agreed not to go through with it because they knew the deal would not withstand public scrutiny. And he warned that the agreement, which effectively privatised all feasible, safe mooring locations in the Exuma Cays outside the Exuma Land and Sea Park by putting them into the hands of a private monopoly, will likely be revived at a later date when public attention is focused elsewhere with the names and identities of those involved changed. Tribune Business previously disclosed the links
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Gov’t urged to justify deficit optimism in mid-year Budget By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
MICHAEL PINTARD
PHILIP DAVIS KC
Opposition demands PM ‘dismiss a senior advisor’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s leader last night demanded that the Prime Minister dismiss an unidentified “senior advisor” over alleged “conflicts of interest” stemming from the now-aborted Bahamas Moorings deal. Michael Pintard, in a statement demanding the Government “come clean” over the controversy, and pledging that the Free National Movement (FNM) will not permit it to be “swept under the rug”, called on those involved in the Exuma-wide moorings scheme to be held to account. And, while not naming who he was referring to, the Opposition leader blasted: “We are certain that the Prime Minister is also aware of the conflicts of interest that tie the president and other principals
of Bahamas Moorings to another senior advisor in his office. That advisor must also be dismissed along with any other public officials who have been aware of these conflicts of interest but did nothing.” Mr Pintard’s statement came as Tribune Business uncovered and confirmed further coincidences involving Bahamas Moorings’ address. This newspaper’s own records, plus a VAT registrants list from 2016, reveal that 138 Wulff Road was also once the home of Bahamas Cargo & Logistics (BCL), a company owned by the family of the “senior advisor” to whom the FNM leader was likely referring. This newspaper reported yesterday how a bill of lading, detailing Bahamas Moorings’ importation of anchors and link chains from China, gives the company’s address as Suite
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THE Government must use today’s midyear Budget to justify and “elaborate” on why it believes it will hit its fullyear deficit target despite needing a more than fourfold increase in its second half surplus to do so. Gowon Bowe, a member of the original Fiscal Responsibility Council, the watchdog created to verify and analyse the accuracy of the Government’s fiscal projections, voiced scepticism that the Davis administration will meet its original $69.8m deficit goal for the 2024-2025 full-year despite the Government’s own public expressions of confidence that it will do exactly that. With the six-month deficit to end-December 2024 standing at $394.8m, a sum more than five times’ greater than the 12-month target, Mr Bowe told Tribune Business that the Government will need
• ‘Why confident four times’ higher secondhalf surplus met?’ • Member of first Fiscal Council calls for ‘tangible evidence’ • Says ‘more credible way’ to revise targets to realistic goal revenues to exceed its total spending by $325m during the 2024-2025 second half to achieve its initial forecast. And that $325m ‘surplus’ is more than four times’ greater than the $72m generated during the second half of the previous 2023-2024 fiscal year. The Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive said that, with no “abnormalities” in terms of major revenue boosts or spending reductions identified by the Government, the fiscal performance to-date
“doesn’t inspire confidence that the projected deficit is going to be met”. He argued that, rather than sticking to the line that it will meet its original forecasts, a “more credible way” would be for the Government to use today’s mid-year Budget as an opportunity to admit it may have been “too optimistic” with some of its projections, identify areas where it can realistically claw back some of the first-half deficit, and present a revised figure that is
Couple fail to halt Sandals’ chapel By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN couple have failed in their bid to halt Sandals Royal Bahamian’s construction of its newly-opened overwater chapel and dock upon which it sits. Justice Camille Darville-Gomez, putting her reasons into writing in a February 25, 2025, verdict, rejected efforts by Basil and Margot Barnett, proprietors of Bahamas Medical & Surgical Supplies, to obtain an interim injunction from the Supreme Court on the
basis that they had failed to include the Cable Beachbased resort as a party to their Judicial Review action. The couple, who live in close proximity to Sandals Royal Bahamian, had also sought Orders requiring multiple government regulators and agencies - the port controller, director of physical planning, director of environmental planning and protection, and director of the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority - to disclose all details of the resort’s applications for permits and the associated approvals.
This, too, was refused by Justice Darville-Gomez on the grounds that a disclosure Order would be “premature” coming ahead of any Supreme Court decision to give the Barnetts permission to proceed with their Judicial Review challenge. She added that “entitlement to these disclosures rests primarily or solely” on whether the case is allowed to proceed, noting there is “a substantial dispute” over whether the couple have ‘sufficient interest’ in the matter under the new Civil Procedure Rules 2022.
GOWON BOWE realistic for both domestic and international markets. The Ministry of Finance, in last week hitting back at Tribune Business reporting of its fiscal numbers, reasserted its optimism that the traditionally revenue-rich second half of the fiscal year will enable it to reverse course and bring the 2024-2025 deficit down towards its original $69.8m full-year target by end-June. This message was reinforced by Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, who said: “Yes, absolutely. I’m confident we will meet our fiscal goals. Budgets are very cyclical and, especially for us, when the majority of revenue collections
SEE PAGE B2 Detailing the dispute, Justice Darville-Gomez wrote of the Barnetts: “It is their belief that Sandals is engaged in the unlawful construction of an overwater chapel, no public authority has demonstrated that Sandals has all the necessary permits for its construction, or that the regulatory regime necessary to supervise the construction of such overwater structures is in place.” The couple also argued that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Environmental Management Plan (EMP) had ever been produced for the project. “Therefore, they fear that there is no indication that the myriad attendant
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Resort’s bookings surge amid private pilot fall-out By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net AN Abaco resort proprietor yesterday disclosed February bookings surged after a slow start to 2025 to give her confidence that a strong winter season will last into the summer months. Molly McIntosh, the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina’s owner, told Tribune Business that the Abaco resort has booked
a number of spring-time weddings, boosting occupancy and allowing it to establish a new customer base. She explained that large events are not only profitable, but introduce new guests to the Family Islands who resorts and local businesses can entice into becoming repeat visitors. “It was a little slower in January than we would have liked, but February picked up a lot of reservations. Normally, January is when we get a lot of
reservations but this year, not so much. But February is going really well and it is really looking like it’s going to be a good spring and summer,” said Ms McIntosh. “We’ve got about six or seven weddings coming through this Spring. So that’s always a good good revenue generator, and brings lots of people to The Bahamas that might not have otherwise come. You’ve got one person making a decision where 50 or 100 people are going
for the wedding, and they bring a lot of people that are new customers to us. It’s great to bring in new business, and we have a chance to impress and get them to come back again.” Ms McIntosh added that although forward bookings are strong for both Bluff House’s marina and rooms, private pilots have logged frequent complaints about the fee increases imposed on the sector in the 20242025 Budget.
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