business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2024
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GB medical school’s $25m expansion to give 200 jobs By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
t "JNJOH GPS DPOTUSVDUJPO TUBSU AJO UISFF NPOUIT A GRAND Bahama medical school says its imminent $25m expansion will create t 0UIFSXJTF DBNQVT GBDFT 200 construction jobs as it dismissed a legal battle with its ACSFBLJOH QPJOU co-founder as “a distraction”. William Colgan, chair of t $P GPVOEFS MFHBM CBUUMF Western Atlantic University School of Medicine’s board UP IBWF A[FSP JNQBDU of directors, told Tribune Business it hopes building work will start “in the next three months” once all necessary Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) approvals are received given that everincreasing student enrollment will soon leave the existing campus “at breaking point”. With the second phase expansion targeted for completion by September 2025, he added that the school’s presence is already having a significant impact on Freeport’s economy with average annual per capita spending by students and faculty members
ARTIST rendering of Western Atlantic University on Freeport.
standing at between $25,000$28,000 and $35,000-$40,000, respectively. Mr Colgan, meanwhile, told this newspaper that the school’s recently-launched litigation against Peter Goetz, also its former chief executive, will have “zero effect” and “truly no impact” on the school’s operations and management as separate cases proceed through Delaware’s federal and chancery courts. The companies responsible for Western Atlantic’s operations and development, in a federal court lawsuit unveiled on February 13, 2024, are alleging that Mr Goetz “fraudulently offered and sold investments” in the school to “key high level employees” - including faculty members via his RJG Global Education vehicle. They claim Mr Goetz offered these employees indirect equity ownership interests in Western Atlantic
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‘Folly’ to release PwC’s $357m GBPA research By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday asserted it would be “folly” for the Government to disclose evidence showing how the $357m payment demand issued to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) was calculated. Wayne Munroe, minister for national security, dismissed
calls by Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, for the Davis administration to release both the report it received from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting firm setting out what is allegedly owed to the Government and the bills presented to the GBPA. Mr Pintard, asking if PwC’s work will be disclosed so that all MPs can view it, said: “I would just like to ask
the member for Freetown: Would the Government be willing to lay the bill and the study that was conducted by the accounting firm so that all members of the Parliament have a chance to see what the figures are and how you arrived at it. You may very well have an ally in the Free National Movement.
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WAYNE MUNROE
Lodge owner ‘can’t deal’ with BPL power outages By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SOUTH Andros and Mangrove Cay residents yesterday urged the Government to “put their foot on BPL” after a 24-hour power outage knocked out all the area’s utilities and Internet service. Cheryl Bastian, owner/ operator of Andros-based Swain’s Cay Lodge, told Tribune Business she “can’t deal with it any more” and is exploring the acquisition of a generator after losing electrical supply when the owner of a leading fly fishing retail and mail order business was enjoying a last night at her property.
Speaking after Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) sought to reassure residents that it now has “sufficient generation” to supply their communities, following completion of repairs to two of its “larger units”, she confirmed that power was restored at around 4pm after going off at around the same time on Tuesday. “BPL, they really need to do a little bit better, they really need to do a bit better,” Ms Bastian told this newspaper. “I’m tired of talking on it. They can do better; much better. I’ve decided to get the price from Marlin Marine and get a generator. I can’t deal with it any more. I’ve been
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CARIFTA TV payment cut in half on contract breach By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN upfront $50,000 cash payment related to broadcasting rights for last year’s 50th CARIFTA track and field championships was cut by 50 percent after organisers breached the contract. The Auditor General’s Office, the Government’s own internal financial watchdog, in a report tabled in the House of Assembly yesterday revealed numerous flaws in sponsorship arrangements and compliance with these deals among multiple other concerns. Apart from finding that 100 temporary staff hired
by the CARIFTA Games Company Ltd, which was incorporated to organise the championships, were “assigned tasks unrelated to” the event, the report also detailed how $136,000 was lost on a Gospel concert that “bore no relevance” to track and field. And there was a further $50,641 net loss in sales of CARIFTArelated merchandise. The Auditor General’s Office also asserted that organisers failed to get even the basics right as the CARIFTA Games Company was not registered correctly, and had been incorporated under the Companies Act instead of as a non-profit.
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Taxpayers suffer $7m overruns on CARIFTA, Bahamas Games t (PW U TQFOU OFBS N XIFO POMZ N CVEHFUFE t $"3*'5" T MPTT XBT UJNFT GPSFDBTUT t 5BYQBZFST QBJE JO FYUSB N BGUFS CPUI FWFOUT FOE By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN taxpayers incurred an extra $7m bill to cover cost overruns for two much-hyped sporting events that were hosted last summer, the Government’s financial watchdog has revealed. The Auditor General’s Office, in reports TERRANCE BASTIAN tabled in the House of Assembly, revealed that the Government overshot its upgraded $4.9m spending allocation for the 50th CARIFTA track and field championships and Bahamas Jubilee Games through a near-total $12m outlay on the two events. This $7m overrun occurred despite the Government, in its 2002-2023 supplementary Budget, more than doubling spending on the Bahamas Jubilee Games from the original $1.5m to $3.5m - an increase of $2m. CARIFTA expenditure was also increased, albeit by a more modest $400,000, to take it from an initial $1m to $1.4m in the same 2022-2023 fiscal year. However, even these increases proved woefully insufficient to cover the Government’s ultimate outlays, which came to $5.559m for the Bahamas Jubilee Games and $6.43m for hosting the regional CARIFTA championships. When the figures are combined, the total $11.989m total exceeds the $4.9m supplementary Budget allocation by more than $7m or 145 percent - meaning the spend is more than double what was predicted. And the Auditor
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