business@tribunemedia.net
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
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Gasoline forecast to jump over $6.50 per gallon, diesel to near-$7 Dealer: ‘How can the country survive with 30% fuel cost increase?’
UN’s Green Climate Fund approves $37.5m grant for upgrades
Opposition blasts Gov’t over inaction on VAT fuel cap proposal
Targets ‘urgent transformation’ of water sector climate resilience
BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
Water Corp: Seven-year project ‘critical’ to ‘financial sustainability’
THE entire Bahamian population will benefit from a $65.2m project that is targeting “a transformation in the country’s water security” against climate change perils after major international donors approved the necessary funding at the weekend. The Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was established to provide developing countries with financing for climate change adaptation and mitigation, is set to provide The Bahamas with some $50m - more than $37m of which is grant funding - for an initiative that aims to both protect this nation’s “vulnerable freshwater resources” and modernise critical infrastructure against threats such as sea level rise, global warming
and more frequent and devastating hurricanes. The grant funding, which will account for almost half the monies needed by the ‘Climate resilience of the water sector in The Bahamas’ project, is especially significant given that it represents one of the few occasions this nation has been able to access such financing sources. The Bahamas, because of its relatively high per capita income and other economic indicators, has frequently been unable to access grants - where typically the money does not have to be repaid - because it is viewed as a developed state. Besides the grant, the Green Climate Fund is also providing The Bahamas with a $12.546m “concessional loan” - signalling that the interest rate and repayment terms are more generous than a commercial credit facility. The balance of
Iran war may ‘significantly erode’ Bahamian growth BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank yesterday warned JOHN ROLLE The Bahamas’ 2026 economic growth prospects may “significantly erode” if the Middle East war becomes protracted although it reassured that this nation’s $2.898bn foreign currency reserves “provide a meaningful cushion” for increasingly expensive fuel imports. The banking regulator, in its report on February 2026’s economic developments, warned that - while The Bahamas’ economic outlook remains “positive” - risks related to inflationary pressures stemming from increased global oil and fuel prices have increased due to the fall-out from the US and Israeli assault on Iran. However, it said electricity costs - apart from Grand Bahama - should “stabilise” in the short-term due to Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) move to hedge, or lock-in, the price of two million barrels of oil at an all-in cost of $70 per barrel. The consequences of the Middle East conflict are now set to impact the Bahamian economy and people, with petroleum retailers forecasting that gasoline prices are set to jump above $6.50 per gallon as early as today as the oil price effect feeds through the supply chain to reach this nation (see other article on Page 1B). Retailers forecast that gasoline prices are likely to rise by $1.02 per gallon due to the increased cost of imported fuel shipments, while diesel is expected to increase by $1.59 per gallon.The latter would take diesel prices to around $7 per gallon on New Providence, immediately negatively impacting transportation businesses such as taxis, livery drivers
EXPAND - See Page B5
PETROLEUM retailers yesterday warned that soaring fuel prices are expected to drive goods and services price increases across The Bahamas, as one asserted “nothing is going to be cheap” with gasoline forecast to climb above $6.50 per gallon. Peter Roker, owner of Roker’s Gas Station, said gasoline prices are projected to rise by $1.02 per gallon, while diesel is expected to increase by $1.59 per gallon — sharp jumps he said could have a ripple effect throughout the economy. Current pump prices already range widely across New Providence, with gasoline listed at $5.32 per gallon at Esso, $5.53 at Rubis, $5.77 at Shell, and $5.75 at Shell Marathon
BAHAMAS WATER AND SEWERAGE CORPORATION HEADQUARTERS financing for the project, which has been almost seven years in development after first being conceived in June 2019, is set to come from a $12.546m Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) loan and $2.602m “in-kind contribution” from the Water & Sewerage Corporation, Robert Deal, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s general manager, and his staff, in response to Tribune Business inquiries, yesterday said all Bahamians and residents will benefit from the initiative regardless of whether they are customers of the
SUPPLY - See Page B4
New Rosewood Exuma fight over ‘secret permit carve out’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE $200m Rosewood Exuma project’s leading opponent is accusing its rival developer of using environmental approvals, granted for limited land preparation studies, as ”cover” to begin the construction of roads and
other major infrastructure on Big Sampson Cay. Jeffrey Clark, chief financial officer for the neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, alleged in a March 27, 2026, affidavit that the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection’s (DEPP) decision to grant Miami-based Yntegra Group certificates of environmental clearance (CEC) to conduct
geotechnical studies for its development, and “temporary housing” for the required workforce, have “secretly carved out” portions of the project from public scrutiny and consultation. He is claiming that CEC approval relating to these studies, an extension for which was granted by DEPP on October 8, 2024, was only just disclosed on March 23, 2026, as part of Turtlegrass’s Judicial Review challenge that is seeking to overturn the main permit granted for the whole of the Rosewood Exuma development. As a result, Mr Clark and his principal, Bob Coughlin, are arguing that this situation is another reason
Judge boosts FTX liquidators over West Bay property’s sale BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FTX’s Bahamian liquidators have been boosted in their quest to maximise real estate recoveries for creditors after a Supreme Court judge ruled they and others have “strong prospects of success” in defeating a claim that so far has blocked the sale of a high-end West Bay Street property. Acting justice Gail Lockhart-Charles KC, in a March 13, 2026, verdict ruled that a UK investor’s claim to have an ownership interest in the 5.295-acre Ocean Terrace property, located east of Caves Village, has “a serious hurdle to overcome” including the “formidable” defence afforded by the Limitation Act as their action was filed some six years after the deadline for doing so had expired. Ocean Terrace is among the near-40 high-end Bahamian
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Petroleum retailers warn: ‘Nothing is going to be cheap’
Entire Bahamas set to gain $65m water security boost
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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properties that the liquidators for FTX Digital Markets, the collapsed crypto currency exchange’s local subsidiary, have been seeking to sell in a bid to recover and return assets to former clients and creditors. It was acquired for $17.435m by FTX Property Holdings, the subsidiary created by the now-jailed Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates, to purchase and hold around $256m worth of Bahamian real estate. However, efforts by Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton attorney and partner, and the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) duo of Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves, who are collectively overseeing the winding-up of FTX Digital Markets, to offload this valuable condominium complex have been held up by two separate legal actions initiated by investors who allege they paid multi-million sums to a
COURT- See Page B6
AutoServ. Diesel at the latter is priced around $5.45. “I am afraid. I’m deeply concerned, because we don’t know where this is going,” Mr Roker said, pointing to increases he estimated at roughly 20 percent for gasoline and as much as 30 percent for diesel. He warned that while motorists may attempt to adjust their personal consumption, industries that depend heavily on diesel - including trucking, construction and heavy equipment - have far less flexibility. “A dump truck can’t do that. They use diesel, and that’s definitely going to have a very, in my opinion, grave effect,” said Mr Roker. “It’s going to result in higher prices. Almost everything - nothing is going to be cheap.” He said the scale of the diesel increase is
COSTS - See Page B6 why the Supreme Court should issue an injunction to halt all work by Yntegra. However, sources close to the Miami-based developer, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday described the allegations that it is starting work on the project’s roads and other key civil infrastructure as “garbage”. This newspaper was shown photo comparisons between site clearance work that took place in March 2025 and now, with one contact asserting: “They are clearing the exact same spot that was there before. It is purely geotechnical work.”
BATTLE - See Page B4