business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2023
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Gov’t targets $15m egg self-sufficiency By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE GOVERNMENT has not cut food security funding by 50 percent but is instead reallocating financing to a $15m project designed to make The Bahamas self-sufficient in egg production, a Cabinet minister has revealed. Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, marine resources and Family Island Affairs, revealed to Tribune Business that the ‘Golden Yoke’ initiative - which is due to launch today - is aiming to take domestic Bahamian egg production from 700,000 per year to 28m when complete and fully operational. Suggesting that it would slash The Bahamas’ estimated $1bn food imports by around 1 percent, he explained that it will involve the provision of “climate smart grow houses” in both New Providence and the Family Islands to help create
• Aims to raise local output from 700k to 28m • Minister: No 50% cut to food security spend • Farmers to run initiative; no Gov’t take over a sustainable domestic agriculture niche. And, while the Government is seeking to provide the “enabling” environment, Mr Sweeting emphasised that it was not seeking to take over domestic egg production itself. Rather, he added that management and operational responsibility for the units will be “contracted out” to private farmers, who will also oversee
CLAY SWEETING egg sales to food distributors, wholesalers and retailers themselves. Mr Sweeting spoke after the midyear Budget, tabled in Parliament last week, revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs’ recurrent Budget allocation of $6.149m for food security - a topic much-discussed by the Davis administration
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Village Road auto dealer ‘in a pickle’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A VILLAGE Road businessman says he is “in a pickle” despite commerce returning with a “bang” as he seeks compensation for lost trade and damage to his property that he alleges was caused by ongoing roadworks. Brent Fox, Montague Motors’ principal, told Tribune Business he is unsure whether to hold-off on paying this year’s Business Licence fee amid hopes the Government will deliver on its promise of compensation for the area’s businesses because his company would
effectively be shut down without doing so. Pointing out that Customs will refuse to clear his vehicle imports without a valid Business Licence, he nevertheless acknowledged that business had “tripled” since the beginning of January when Village Road was paved and access re-opened to consumers at its northern end. However, Mr Fox told this newspaper that revived trade will not make up for 2022 when monthly sales were off by between 30-70 percent compared to normal as customers avoided the area due to the
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New Budget outlay finances 350 jobs By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A NEWLY-INTRODUCED $5.8m Budget outlay is financing the temporary employment of 350 persons who have largely been jobless since Hurricane Dorian struck three-and-a-half years ago, it was asserted last night. The Ministry of Grand Bahama, in a written response to Tribune Business inquiries, justified the extra spending that has produced a 43.6 percent increase in its 2022-2023 Budget allocation on the
basis that it has provided much-needed incomes while also benefiting the wider community and “redevelopment of government assets”. The $5.797m outlay, which was revealed for the first time in last week’s mid-year Budget but not included in the original version last May, is shown as a non-recurring item since it does not appear in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Budget forecasts. The ministry last night confirmed that the year-long initiative will end when the current
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Governor: Income tax allows better targeting By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor says introducing an income tax will make it easier for the Government to focus investment incentives on target industries and direct social assistance to those most in need. John Rolle, speaking at an Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG) panel discussion, said Bahamian policymakers must concentrate on making the “difficult decisions” and executing reforms that benefit this nation “voluntarily” as opposed to having them forced upon the country by international bodies. “One of the things that makes the Government’s efforts so much easier is having a tax system where you can give incentives to businesses in a very targeted way if you need to stimulate investments in particular sectors and activities,” he said.
JOHN ROLLE “If you have the system designed correctly, and I’m speaking, frankly, about how we approach income taxation, it also makes it easier for government to provide the very direct and targeted assistance to families, as well as to be able to exempt at certain income thresholds.” The Bahamas has long remained resistance to any calls for the imposition of an income tax despite the likes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling for a more “equitable” taxation system. Yet the consumption-driven nature of this nation’s VAT and Customs duty-reliant tax structure means those on
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