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THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
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South Ocean sale process is revived By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A new sales process has been initiated for the longclosed South Ocean resort, a Cabinet minister yesterday describing the propertyâs revitalisation as key to the Bahamas achieving higher GDP growth rates. Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, told Tribune Business that while the Government had received no formal notification, he had been informed efforts to find a buyer for the 383-acre property have revived. Multiple Tribune Business sources have this week confirmed that South Oceanâs owner, the Canadian Commercial Industry Workers Pension Plan (CCWIPP), has engaged the Miami office of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the commercial real estate broker, to restart efforts to find a buyer. This newspaper was informed that bids are due to be submitted by April 28, with some sources suggesting that âfour to fiveâ and âsix to sevenâ offers were likely to be submitted. Among those said to be interested was the Tavis-
Bidders have April 28 deadline on 383acre site Minister: Revival key to hitting target GDP growth One of two projects, with Ginn, Govt couldnât reignite tock Group, the Albany developer and vehicle for worldwide investments by Lyford Cay-based billionaire, Joe Lewis. However, although Albanyâs principals will be eager to influence any development that occurs next to their property, and want it to be of similar standard to theirâs, sources familiar with Tavistockâs position yesterday said it was not involved with any South Ocean bid âat this timeâ. Mr Rolle yesterday conceded that South Ocean was one of two major resort-based investment projects, together with the former Ginn development in Grand Bahama, that the Christie administration had See pg b4
Web shop âmust respectâ GBPAâs license authority By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) âwill take steps to cause Chances Games to respectâ its regulatory authority if the web shop fails to âregulariseâ its license terms and fees, Tribune Business was told yesterday. Fred Smith QC, the GBPAâs attorney, told this newspaper that Chances and other web shops - needed to recognise his client as âthe one-stop shop licensing authorityâ for Freeport after its injunction bid was rejected by the Supreme Court. Mr Smith emphasised
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Court expresses âhighest condemnationâ of Govt By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Supreme Court was yesterday said to have âexpressed the highest possible condemnationâ of the Government and Bahamas Customsâ conduct during a six-year legal battle with a prominent Freeport retail/ wholesale business. Justice Estelle Gray-Evans, in a March 31 ruling, ordered that the Government and Customs pay Kellyâs (Freeport) â80 per cent of its legal costs on an indemnity basisâ over a case that was vital to upholding the cityâs bonded goods regime.
Kellyâs (Freeport) wins costs on âindemnity basisâ QC: âHighest amount allowableâ after 6-year battle Rare award only given if thereâs bad behaviour FRED Smith QC Fred Smith QC, who represented Kellyâs (Freeport), told Tribune Business that Justice Gray-Evans had awarded âthe highest scale of costsâ possible against the Government and Cus-
toms. âIt is an expression of condemnation by the court of the Governmentâs conduct throughout the litigation period,â he said.
âThere are different scales of costs ordered in a court case, and this is the highest amount allowable by a court against the losing party. âIt makes Kellyâs very much whole economically on the costs of the litigation. It is the highest scale of costs which a court can order against a losing party.â It is extremely rare for courts in a UK-based legal system to award costs on an indemnity basis. This usually occurs only when the presiding judge determines that a party to the case has behaved in an appalling manner, Justice Gray-Evansâ See pg b5
PLPâs âmind bogglingâ omission of fiscal crisis By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Dionisio DâAguilar, FNM candidate for Freetown.
An FNM candidate yesterday said it was âmind bogglingâ that the Progressive Liberal Partyâs (PLP) 2017 election âaction planâ fails to mention how it will address the Bahamasâ fiscal crisis, adding: âThey donât want Fiscal Responsibility.â Dionisio DâAguilar, the
Opposition partyâs Freetown contender, told Tribune Business that the governing party was âtaking the easy way outâ by giving constituents and supporters public sector jobs. He described the Christie administrationâs policy of constantly increasing the tax burden on productive industries to fund a bloated public sector as âa recipe for disasterâ, with the civil service now See pg b6
No mention of deficit, debt, VAT in âaction planâ DâAguilar: âThey donât want Fiscal Responsibilityâ Grow public sector, not economy, âdisaster formulaâ
QC âinvitesâ Chances to regularise license, fees Warns regulatory action will follow if it fails No desire âto put operator and staff out of businessâ that the GBPA had no desire âto put Chances or its employees out of businessâ, adding that it only wanted the web shop operator to co-operate with Freeportâs See pg b7
Free electricity plan âstupidest idea everâ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Progressive Liberal Partyâs (PLP) pledge to offer âfree electricityâ to the poorest Bahamians was yesterday slammed by one of its political opponents as âthe stupidest idea I ever heardâ. Dionisio DâAguilar, the FNMâs Freetown candidate, urged the Government âto stop conducting social policy through BECâ and its new operating subsidiary, Bahamas Power & Light (BPL). Mr DâAguilar, a former BEC Board member, said BPL was simply not in a solid-enough financial position to be able to offer free
FNM candidate: BPL âin no positionâ to offer such Urges: âStop conducting social policy through BPLâ electricity to any customers, given its consistent $30 million annual losses. âItâs the stupidest idea anyone ever head of,â he told Tribune Business of the promise contained in the PLPâs 2017 âaction planâ. âBEC is not in a financial position to offer anything to anyone for free. The company has been financially See pg b4
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