business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2025
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Yacht charter VAT removal ‘smartest thing I have heard’ t .BSJOBT DIJFG IBJMT 1JOUBSE FMJNJOBUJPO QMFEHF t '/. MFBEFS A8F MM NBLF NPSF PO CBDL FOE t 4QFBLT UP mSNT XIPTF USBEF AGBMMFO PGG DMJGG By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president yesterday branded the Opposition’s pledge to eliminate the payment of VAT on foreign yacht charter fees as “the smartest thing I’ve heard”. Peter Maury, reacting to Michael Pintard’s House of Assembly promise over some of the reforms a government led by himself would enact, told Tribune Business that the hiked fees and taxes on the boating industry are still “just causing havoc” as he hailed the Opposition leader for actually listening to the concerns of Bahamian entrepreneurs and businesses. Mr Pintard, in an interview with this newspaper, justified the proposal to eliminate the yacht charter fee VAT implemented by the Davis administration on the basis that The Bahamas would “make more money on the back end” by removing a financial burden blamed for driving high-end boating and yachting traffic away from this nation’s shores. Rather than levy taxes prior to a vessel actually starting its charter, he argued that removing the VAT would help attract more boats to The Bahamas and, in so doing, boost taxable spending by passengers and crews with local businesses such as food stores, gas stations, restaurants, transportation providers and other industries. This would then offset the VAT foregone upfront while boosting business for Bahamian companies. And, noting that the fall-out from reduced boating traffic extends beyond just Bahamian marinas, Mr Pintard said he and other Free National Movement (FNM) members had been informed by aviation operators, car rental companies, janitorial/cleaning firms and others that their trade has “fallen off a cliff”
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Ginn ‘owner’ complaint to Data Protection regulator By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN investor yesterday refuted complaints made to data protection regulators in The Bahamas and US that he has “misrepresented” himself as the owner and/or purchaser of the former Ginn project. Shane Coakley, managing partner of US-based Coakley International, told Tribune Business he would “never, never do that” in response to accusations by the West Endbased project’s current owner which is also on the process of reclaiming management of the Old Bahama Bay property that it also owns. He hit back after Michael Scott KC, the Bahamian attorney for Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay (LRA-OBB) and Resort Holdings, the two entities that hold the 2,000-acre plus Ginn sur mer site, launched a formal complaint with the Bahamas Data
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OLD BAHAMA BAY Protection Commission about promotional material posted on Coakley International’s website. “A Bahamian national, one Shane Coakley, who purports
to be a promoter and developer of real estate projects, is representing to the public at large through the name of his US company, Coakley International, that he is a
developer and/or investor at my client’s property and facilities at Old Bahama Bay,” Mr Scott told Michael Wright, the data protection commissioner, in a February 21, 2025, letter. “His website, under the name of his company, Coakley International, advertises that in some considerable detail. This is entirely false without the least scintilla of truth in any way whatsoever.” Mr Scott asserted that Mr Coakley had not replied to his earlier February 12, 2025, letter demanding that the offending material be removed from the website. Coakley International’s website yesterday described the former Ginn development as a “current project” with the relevant page featuring numerous photos. However, Mr Scott informed Mr Wright that “the continuing operation of the website uncorrected constitutes materially false
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Failed $7m BPL deal was for LNG terminal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s leader yesterday blamed the Davis administration for squandering $7m of the Bahamian people’s money by failing to complete the land purchase for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Michael Pintard, confirming that the deal was for the Clifton Pier-based LNG regasification terminal proposed under the Minnis administration’s energy reforms, told Tribune
Business that the failure to either close the acquisition or recover the funds paid-out “lies at the feet” of the current government. Asserting that he was “amazed” that the Davis administration would both seek to raise the controversy and blame it on the former administration, he reiterated his stance that it was the one that “messed up” and effectively gave a private landowner a $7m windfall for doing nothing at the expense of the Bahamian people either as taxpayers or BPL customers.
MICHAEL PINTARD Mr Pintard, while revealing there were two Clifton Pier landowners involved in the LNG terminal deal, declined to name them. Well-placed
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested one was The Source River, the entity founded by the late former Cabinet minister, Tennyson Wells, and the other either Arawak Homes or Sunshine Holdings. Mr Wells’ entity, which owned 12 of the 14 acres sought, kept the $7m. The row over the failed land purchase erupted in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, when Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of energy and transport, accused the Minnis administration
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Edible foods VAT rate cut ‘more complicated’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value’s owner yesterday said the imminent VAT rate cut for all uncooked foods is “more complicated” than previous adjustments because only 50 percent of products will be impacted. Rupert Roberts, who was joined by BISX-listed AML Foods in pledging that The Bahamas’ two largest supermarket chains will be ready to implement 5 percent VAT on all “edible” foods by the Tuesday, April 1, target, told Tribune Business that this change is more complex for merchants to effect because not all goods they sell will be impacted.
GAVIN WATCHORN This has meant they have had to divide their inventory into different categories so that scanners and point-of-sale systems can accurately detect which goods are subject to the new 5 percent rate and
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AG: Bahamas to meet leading Trump officials on ‘unfair’ report By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Attorney General yesterday revealed that the Government plans to meet with senior Trump administration officials over “unfair” US criticisms of The Bahamas’ anti-financial crime regime. Speaking to Tribune Business, Ryan Pinder KC reiterated that the narrative being pushed about the strength of The Bahamas’
financial regulatory regime is “dated” so the meeting will allow the Davis administration to explain this nation has a robust compliance regime that is “tighter” than the US’ own. “We want to do a high level delegation to Washington, hopefully to meet with the treasury secretary, hopefully meet with State Department, certainly the Securities & Exchange Commission and some other high level financial services representatives, to
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