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TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025
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Treasure battle ‘like bad partner divorce’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE treasure hunter salvaging a multi-billion dollar Bahamas wreck yesterday described its legal battle with a former contractor as akin to “a divorce from a bad partner” as it bids to ramp up exploration activities. David Concannon, attorney and spokesperson for Allen Exploration Group (AEG), told Tribune Business that the explorer intends to be “out on the water” either later this month or by early May after taking delivery of a new 75-foot exploration vessel that will be dedicated to salvage and recovery work on the
sunken-Spanish treasure galleon, Nuestra Senora de la Maravillas. And he voiced optimism that their ongoing courtroom fight with Daniel Porter and his Maritime Research & Recovery (MMR) corporate vehicle will quickly reach the “merits” of the latter’s claim after a south Florida judge last week agreed with Allen Exploration that the case should be transferred to its “home court” jurisdiction of Texas. Mr Concannon signalled that switching the venue will be to the explorer’s benefit and disadvantage Mr Porter, who he accused of continuing to hold Allen Exploration’s proprietary data on valuable gems, treasure and other artifacts it has recovered as well as its commercial dealings with
Bahamas Striping affiliate’s $185m West GB road deal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SOME 95 percent of the near-$193m in government contracts issued in December 2024 was tied up in just one deal awarded to a Bahamas Striping affiliate for repaving west Grand Bahama’s roads. Details on around 100 contracts, released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance, reveal that Abaco Caribbean Holdings secured a $183.459m contract from the Ministry of Finance to overhaul some 98 miles of road between West End and Eight Mile Rock via the “direct award” procurement method. Several contacts, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday questioned the “direct award” method’s use in granting such a large contract to Abaco Caribbean Holdings as this signals it was never put out to tender and there was no competitive bidding as a consequence. Bahamas Striping’s website confirms that the winning bidder is its affiliate, and both share the same address at Lot 2C Abundant Life Road.
Currently overhauling some 163 miles of Eleuthera’s roads under a $100m contract, and having previously been hired by the Government to transform much of Exuma’s road network at a cost of $60m, Bahamas Striping and another of its subsidiaries, Caribbean Pavement Solutions, would appear well-qualified for the Grand Bahama work. Several contacts pointed out that - combined - the value of the three contracts including Grand Bahama is some $343.459m, a sum that almost exactly matches the total $344.5m capital spending that the Government has budgeted for the current 2024-2025 fiscal year. And they also challenged whether the ‘direct award’ of such a large $183m contract can be justified based on the law set by the Public Procurement Act. The last version of this Act, passed by Parliament under the Davis administration, sets out the grounds under which this procurement method can be used. These include that the contract value is less than $100,000; that no
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Gov’ts Old Bahama Bay intervention ‘improper’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE parties seeking to regain management control at Old Bahama Bay yesterday hit back at the Government’s investments chief by arguing her intervention was “improper” and challenging her standing to do so. Michael Scott KC, attorney for LRA-OBB and Resort Holdings, the two corporate entities that own the West End resort and the former Ginn project, suggested that Phylicia Woods-Hanna, the Bahamas Investment Authority’s (BIA) director, had “injected” herself and the Government into a private commercial dispute to the benefit of the group opposing his clients’ bid to retake control of their property. And, in his March 31, 2025, response to Mrs Woods-Hanna’s letter demanding that attempts to takeover Old Bahama
FILE PIC OF OLD BAHAMA BAY Bay’s management “cease and desist” until all required government approvals are obtained, he instead asserted that the Government should instead focus on ensuring Island Ventures Resort and Club (IVRC), the entity his clients are seeking to replace, pays due severance and benefits to its employees. Mr Scott, in his letter, said he had read the BIA chief’s earlier March 21, 2025, missive with “alarm
Minister: ‘Second lap’ of labour deals to start By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday said the Government is about to start its “second lap” of re-negotiating expired industrial agreements with the trade unions. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, also said the completion of industrial deals with the Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) and the Bahamas Doctors Union (BDU) - representing both the senior and junior doctors, respectively, in the public health system - is “imminent”. Speaking to reporters at the National Tripartite Council’s annual general assembly, she said talks are almost completed and is hopeful that a proposal will be agreed on within days so the industrial agreements can be signed next week.
and dismay” after she warned that Bahamian law would be “violated” if the Old Bahama Bay management takeover proceeds. Pushing back hard, he wrote: “In my considered view it is improper for a regulator, which you are, to inject and insinuate [sic, insert] yourself into a private commercial dispute on behalf of one of the disputants and on the basis of hearsay evidence which you seem not to have taken
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“I am highly anticipating us finally signing our agreement with the doctor’s unions PIA GLOVERthat would ROLLE be the CPSA and the BDU. They are imminent. We are at the point of counter proposals, where we’re down to our last clause, and hopeful that we will get that proposal agreed to within this week, and hopefully move forward to a signing within the next week,” said Mrs Glover-Rolle. She added that preparations are also being made to begin negotiations on several industrial agreements set to expire. “We’re about to make our second lap. We have 54 industrial agreements signed between public and private sectors. Many of our agreements are expiring within the next eight to twelve weeks, and we are
Ombudsman helping with consumer protection push
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor says it will recommend reforming the Payments System Act to aid development of the so-called ‘basic bank account’ designed to boost financial access for many Bahamians. John Rolle, in a series of written answers to Tribune Business questions, added that development of the Financial Services Ombudsman’s office has also spearheaded efforts to develop “financial protection legislation” for Bahamian consumers. Signalling that enhanced consumer safeguards and increased Bahamian access to banking services remain a priority for the regulator, he said: “The Central Bank continues to explore a range of consumer financial protection-related initiatives, including strengthening financial literacy programmes that empower users to better navigate the services provided by financial institutions.