business@tribunemedia.net
Thursday, April 9, 2026
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‘Major health risks’: 90% in Nassau lack piped sewerage link BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NEW Providence faces “significant public health and environmental risks” due to groundwater contamination caused by just 10 percent of residents being connected to piped sewerage systems, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is warning. The multilateral lender, in a paper disclosing it is developing a waste water and sold waste masterplan for The Bahamas, asserted that the groundwater pollution threat was little better in Grand Bahama were just 17.7 percent of the population - less than one in five - is relying on piped systems as opposed to septic tanks for solid and wastewater disposal. And, with existing piped sewerage infrastructure such as that maintained by the Water & Sewerage Corporation suffering from dilapidated conditions due to “decades of under-investment” and maintenance, the IDB
IDB sounds alert for groundwater contamination Also warns over landfill waste management woe ‘Abaco ‘dump’ fire shows $1m masterplan need added that the masterplan is critical to cutting pollution, protecting The Bahamas’ scarce groundwater resources and improving the country’s resilience to hurricane-related flooding and storm surges. “In The Bahamas, waste water services are severely under-developed with only about 10 percent of the population in New Providence and 17.7 percent in Grand Bahama connected to piped sewerage systems, leaving the overwhelming majority dependent on aging and often poorly
HEALTH - See Page B9
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THE Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president yesterday asserted he is “infuriated that everybody is taking a victory lap” over the boating fee reforms when nothing has been done to reverse the 40 percent decline in this nation’s
yacht charter business over the past four years. Peter Maury told Tribune Business that, while the reinstatement of two short-term cruising permit categories will benefit Bimini, Abaco and other islands closest to the US, it only touches one segment of The Bahamas boating and yachting market and will not impact or arrest the fall-off in foreign yacht
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Labour reforms ‘absolute priority’ if PLP victorious BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday pledged that multiple labour law reforms will be an “absolute priority” - and passed by Parliament “at the earliest possible time” - if the Davis administration is re-elected as a trade union leader demanded “a complete reformation” of Bahamian worker rights. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, in a voice note responding to Tribune Business inquiries conceded that changes to maternity and paternity leave, and other worker-friendly changes, “just didn’t make it in time” to reach Parliament before the May 12 general election despite being both “urgent” and a “priority”. She added that the planned reforms to the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act
Marina chief ‘infuriated by victory lap’ on boating fees BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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PETER MAURY charters that was sparked by a 350 percent tax rate increase in the 2022-2023 Budget. Asserting that the boating fee reforms,
Minister: Parliament to pass maternity, other changes at ‘earliest possible time’ if we win But TUC president demands ‘complete reformation’ and urges parties to back 21 reforms
PIA GLOVER-ROLLE
Urges all workers to vote, and asserts: ‘You can’t disregard people that put you in office’ are now with the draftsmen, who write and craft the Bills passed into statute law, at the Attorney General’s Office and asserted that they will be “one of the first items we take to Parliament” post-election if the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is returned to office. Mrs Glover-Rolle spoke as Obie Ferguson KC, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, set out a position demanding that the major political parties “commit to supporting the
implemented on April 1, are “too little” to address the charter drop-off, he estimated it could take up to two years for The Bahamas to win this business back once it implements the necessary changes that include making the entry/ clearance process more efficient by placing it online and lowering the present 14 percent charter fee tax to a rate that is “competitive” with Caribbean rivals.
SAILING - See Page B4
implementation of 21 key items for Bahamian workers” if they win the Government following the May 12 vote. Besides committing to a so-called “livable wage” for Bahamian workers, the umbrella union and its affiliates are also urging the parties to back multiple labour-friendly reforms including “redefining wages to include tips and gratuities” - a condition that the Davis administration’s
OBIE FERGUSON KC proposals included - as well as “guaranteeing 16 hours of rest between shifts” and “automatic agency shop recognition” where non-unionised workers would
UPGRADES - See Page B8
Liquor merchants: Business Licence process at ‘standstill’ BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net MANY liquor merchants yesterday said they have still to receive their Business Licence even though the April 1 deadline for enforcing the industry’s new regulatory regime has passed. George Robinson Jnr, owner and operator of Base Road Wholesale Bar, said he is unsure if enforcement has begun especially since many vendors have not yet received their Business Licence from the Department of Inland Revenue (DIR). He said he has not heard from the tax authority on how it plans to move forward. “Somewhere there is a delay. Something went down. I don't know what it is, but nobody's getting their Business Licence. According to my members, a lot of them haven't seen any enforcement yet
because, like I said, a lot of people haven't gotten their licence yet,” he added. “I can’t put in for it [Business Licence]. We complied with the registration but we haven’t gotten the registration certificate. It’s like they [Department of Inland Revenue] just went off the radar. “All my members who I spoke to, nobody got approved yet with the registration. You need the registration card to apply for the Business Licence. And it’s like everything is just at a standstill right now. So we don't know what's going on,” Mr Robinson said. “My task manager, I try to hit them up [but] I can't get no response from him. I had my accountant looking into it, but nothing. They're not saying anything. Like I said, I haven’t seen any enforcement yet because the problem lies
APPROVAL - See Page B9
FINCO beats pre-tax profit forecast by 19% BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ROYAL Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Bahamian mortgage lending arm beat its 2025 pre-tax profit projections by $3.7m or some 19 percent due to lower loss provisions, its managing director has revealed. Dwight Burrows, managing director of BISX-listed Finance Corporation of The Bahamas, told shareholders in the company’s just-released annual report for the 12 months to end-October 2025 that pre-tax profits of $23.2m had surpassed management’s internal forecasts. That latter figure represents profits before factoring in the 15 percent corporate income tax that FINCO must pay, as part of RBC’s multinational group given that combined annual turnover exceeds 750m
euros, under The Bahamas’ newly-enforced Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax regime. This is now in its first year of implementation in a bid to comply with the G-20/OECD minimum global corporate tax initiative. FINCO’s 2025 year-end accounts show it incurred $3.486m in gross corporate income tax for the period. However, when this is offset against the mortgage lender’s $567,861 in Business Licence fee payments, the net amount of corporate income tax owed to the Public Treasury for the 12 months to end-October 2025 is reduced to $2.918m. “We are pleased to report that net income before tax for 2025 was $23.2m, exceeding our plan by $3.7m or 19 percent,” Mr Burrows wrote. “This achievement was driven
MORTGAGE - See Page B10