business@tribunemedia.net
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2024
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‘Cut out of the deal’ By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
t 'PSNFS -ZGPSE $BZ FNQMPZFFT FORMER employees of the Lyford Cay Club say that they AMFGU PVU PG IPUFM were “cut out of the deal” struck VOJPO BHSFFNFOU by the Bahamas Hotel, Catert 4UBGG XIP XFSF MBJE PGG JO AXFSF BDUJWF QBSU PG OFHPUJBUJPOT t 6OJPO QSFTJEFOU TBZT FY TUBGG BSF OPU FOUJUMFE UP BOZ GVOET
ing and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) and the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association. Nebra Russell, a former employee of the Lyford Cay Club, said she and other previous employees were left out of the hotel union’s recently negotiated industrial agreement. The previous industrial agreement expired in 2013 and Ms Russell said that workers that were laid of in 2020 were an active part of the union’s negotiations for seven years and that it is unfair that they are not receiving
LYFORD CAY CLUB the benefits that current employees will reap from the agreement. She said: “It’s not a handful of us that were laid off, it’s like 200 of us and all of us are on the same
grounds that they think that we should be paid and it’s not fair that they cut us out of the deal. “We were a part of the deal and you can’t go rewrite a contract and
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you separate these people, these people no longer work there, but these people were always in the bargain from you was bargaining in 2013 and this is 2024 and you just get it solved. We should have gotten the same benefit as everybody else.” She explained that she was an employee at the Lyford Cay Club for over 20 years she said that they were a part of the bargaining process from the contract first expired in 2013 and they are not at fault for the negotiations dragging on for over a decade. She said: “I was working for Lyford Cay Club for almost 21 years and during the time that we were there we had a contract that was pending that the union couldn’t get signed. COVID came along and we got laid off from
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Agreement signed to help farmers to obtain loans MOU signing between BAIC and the Bank of the Bahamas Limited at BAIC Headquarters. Photos: Moise Amisial/Tribune
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Cooperation (BAIC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of the Bahamas yesterday to provide loan facilities to farmers that wish to expand their businesses and acquire land. Leroy Major, chairman of the BAIC, said the agreement will help aspiring entrepreneurs in the field to operate and noted that the agricultural organisation has signed agreements with the Bahamas Development Bank and The Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) to achieve this goal. He said: “Today, it is my esteemed pleasure to affix my signature to this memorandum of understanding
with the Bank of the Bahamas limited as they join us in this quest to help aspiring entrepreneurs realise their dreams of owning and operating their own businesses. “BAIC and the SBDC signed a MOU to assist
entrepreneurs with much needed financial assistance almost seamlessly. SBDC is now playing a critical role in providing perspective small and medium-size business loan applicants with seed money to assist in
developing entrepreneurship in the country. “We have also entered agreement with the Bahamas Development Bank to assist farmers, food processors, handicraft and light
manufacturers with fundings for their projects.” Mr Major said the board has decided to help tenants that have not started farming projects to get their projects off the ground instead of revoking their property. He announced that a symposium with tenants and financial institutions will be held this month so that they can discuss obtaining financing through government guaranteed loans and other financing options. He said: “The board of directors has made a determination that rather than revoke land from those who have not started their projects to go one step further in our quest to render assistance. “Towards this end, BAIC has arranged a symposium
for our tenants with representatives from government agencies and financial institutions like the bank of the Bahamas, the Bahamas Development Bank, Small Business Development Centre, the National Insurance Board, Inland Revenue, Department of Physical Planning, and BAIC to come face to face with our tenants in New Providence and via zoom with our tenants in the Family Islands to inform them about opportunities possible for assistance with government guaranteed loans, and other services.” Earl Beneby, corporate manager at the Bank of the Bahamas, said both government agencies have “interests in national economic development” and that they are pleased for
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Three real ‘Impossible’ to find funds for Bahamian farming estate agents shine in awards By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
STRONG demand for luxury property helped propel three local real estate agents to spots in the annual Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) global performance awards. Timothy Smith and Mario Carey, partners in Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Bahamas, and sales associate Livingston Brown took home top honours in the international awards, the trio placing the local firm among the topranked real estate firms in a franchise brand with a sales force of more than 13,000 people across the globe. Mr Smith ranked in the top one percent for the second consecutive year, earning Emerald Elite Founder’s Club status. Mr Brown, who was in the top 15 percent in 2022, climbed up to Platinum status signifying he ranked in the top six percent. Firm founder Mario Carey won Silver for placing in the top 15 percent. Despite being overall top producer in his firm for two years followed by his twotime performance in the top one percent worldwide, Elite status winner Mr
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FARMERS say that they continue to face issues with obtaining financing - with a number of obstacles in their path. Cindy Pinder, owner of Abaco Big Bird Poultry Farm, said accessing financing for her business is “impossible”. She said that the past five years have been “hard” due to obstacles such as Hurricane Dorian, the pandemic and a chicken shortage that exhausted her businesses capital, and that accessing funding from lending institutions has been difficult due to them only offering cash-secured loans. She said: “Getting financing is impossible, everything they want is cash-secured. “We were completely out of business after Hurricane Dorian. We started to rebuild from Dorian and COVID hit, which slowed down tremendously. And then we were just ready to get back on our feet, we’ve had a worldwide shortage of chicken so we’ve struggled through that and we’re just trying, again to grow our market and expand but capital problems… it’s been a really hard five years but we’re moving forward.” She said she needs access to funding to replace
equipment and continue the installation of a solar power generation system so that she can reduce her electricity bill which increased by almost $5,000. She said: “My backhoe broke down many months ago and I took it to a mechanic here so that they can fix it. He hasn’t fixed it, he took it apart and now there’s nobody fixing my backhoe and I don’t have money to buy a new one. “Every day, I need a backhoe desperately, I can’t borrow money for that. I’m trying to put in solar. I got partial government grant, and I need money for the rest of it. “Power bills went up almost $5,000 a month for the last eight or ten months so all my excess capital went into my power bill.” She said that her business is “cash strapped” as the financial institution that she did business with for 30 years has her land papers and took her credit card. She said: “We did business with one bank for 30 years, had paid off probably millions in loans and overdrafts and we had to have our land papers released. They took away my $15,000 credit card I can’t have a credit card with them anymore, because I don’t have my land papers. “I don’t have an overdraft, I don’t have a credit card, so I’m cash strapped, it’s terrible.”
Jane Braynen, owner of HomeAway Farm, said it is difficult for her to obtain the funds necessary to employ sufficient labour. She explained she has tried to expand her coconut and banana farm into other produce and even pig farming but was unsuccessful due to the market. She said: “With resources we always need all types of things, but I find that mostly I need labour. I don’t find it hard to find them but that just comes with money. If I had a payroll of $3,000 my farm would have been right where I wanted so it’s not finding labourers so much as having to pay them. “We are just a small level farm and our lease is based on coconut. We have hundreds of coconuts planted on our farm, which I lease as coconut farm and banana. We did go into the vegetable planting part of it, but we were unsuccessful, we even went into pigs and we were unsuccessful because of the market and who you sell your products to. “ Lincoln Deal, owner of Eeden Farms indoor hydroponics farm, said farmers have “struggled” to access funding and noted the level of funding needed for each venture differs significantly. He said: “Historically farmers have struggled and are still struggling to raise capital for various types of products, whether you’re in
livestock farming, aquaculture, hydroponics, whatever it is, it is difficult. “The next issue is the level of funding, the type of funding that is needed goes beyond the small grants and depending on the scale and the size, the needs are quite significant. So we just
want to ensure that we’re not just providing funding, but we’re providing enough funding for a lot of these farmers to really get their projects off the ground and take off.”
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