business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2023
$5.74
$5.74
Aquapure ‘dam bursts’ over price increases By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN bottled water supplier yesterday said it had been forced to implement its first product-wide price increase for 15 years as “a last resort” with costs having increased “no less than 30 percent” since COVID hit. Christian Knowles, Aquapure’s senior manager, told Tribune Business the manufacturer had resisted passing greater raw material and other expenses on to consumers for as long as possible but “sometimes the dam bursts and you really have no choice”. Branding some of the higher increases as “insane”, but typical of the post-pandemic norm most Bahamian companies find themselves operating in, he voiced optimism that Aquapure had “got it right” and struck the necessary balance between not over-burdening consumers while ensuring it earns enough income to survive and remain viable.
• Water supplier in first acrossboard rise in 15 years • Held-off for three years but expenses jump by 30% • Says increase ‘minimal’; refuses to ‘cut corners’ Declining to provide specifics on the increases, which will take effect on May 1, Mr Knowles told this newspaper they should be sufficiently “minimal” - ranging from 25 cents on some product lines to 50 cents, with others “not touched” - not to have a major impact on Bahamian families still struggling to make ends meet amid the ongoing cost of living crisis as water is something they cannot go without. “I’m an optimist. I don’t like to be negative, and I was hoping things
would come back down to normal pre-COVID but that’s not what’s happening,” Mr Knowles explained. “Freight has come down quite a bit from the craziness where it was at during COVID, but raw material costs are still very high.” Suggesting that many suppliers have elected to keep prices high because customers have no choice but to pay them, he added: “I can’t do that to the people of The
SEE PAGE B4
$20m developer seeking ‘wasteful’ restrictions end By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN developer yesterday voiced optimism that the planning authorities will eliminate “wasteful” restrictions to allow his proposed $20m project to proceed and create over 100 construction and full-time jobs combined. Nick Dean, principal of Integrated Building Services (IBS), told Tribune Business he was “fairly confident” that the Town Planning Committee will use its lawful powers to eradicate restrictive covenants - imposed decades ago by Old Fort Bay’s
developer - that “serve no real purpose” and presently block his proposed 30-unit Azumi community. The residential project, targeted at a three-acre site in western New Providence that lies between Charlotteville and Old Fort Bay, is aiming to create 50 to 75 jobs during the construction phase and a further 30-40 full and part-time posts through operation of amenities such as a clubhouse, pool and wellness centre. Speaking to this newspaper before Azumi’s upcoming public consultation with the Town Planning Committee, Mr Dean argued that
SEE PAGE B11
Show not spooked by FTX through DARE-ing reforms By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net REFORMS to The Bahamas’ digital assets regulatory regime must send a “strong message” that this nation remains open to innovation and has not been spooked by FTX’s collapse, an industry entrepreneur urged yesterday. Kevin Hobbs, chief executive and founder of Aventus Ventures, and a blockchain investor for ten years, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas has “a great chance to attract” more digital assets businesses and activity to its shores provided the Digital Assets and Registered
Exchanges (DARE) Bill 2023 takes a risk-based, firm-by-firm approach to supervision. Acknowledging that FTX’s implosion had disrupted, and blunted, The Bahamas’ ambitions to establish itself as a digital assets business for the wider region and Western Hemisphere, he added that it was vital the reforms provide “clarity” and clear guidelines for what those firms eyeing this jurisdiction can expect should they domicile here. Mr Hobbs, who has established “a couple” of digital assets companies in The Bahamas because
SEE PAGE B10
$5.78
$5.71
PI entrepreneur hits back over ‘damn lie’ • Smith refutes RCL’s 1,000 guest per day assertion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian entrepreneur seeking to restore Paradise Island’s lighthouse yesterday blasted that it was “a damn lie” for Royal Caribbean to assert his project will have a higher guest density than its own. Toby Smith, the Paradise Island Lighthouse and Beach Club principal, vehemently rejected assertions by Jay Schneider, the cruise giant’s chief product and innovation officer, that his venture was seeking to accommodate some 1,000 visitors per day on a threeacre Crown Land parcel he has been battling to lease. Mr Schneider, in an interview with Tribune Business, said environmental activists are criticising the $110m Royal Beach Club over plans to bring a daily average of 2,750 passengers to its 17-acre western Paradise Island site yet supporting Mr Smith’s project and its greater guest density. As a
result, he argued that concerns Royal Caribbean’s project will “decimate” Paradise Island’s environment “are not necessarily rooted in consistency”. However, Mr Smith said his planned maximum capacity - should the project obtain all the necessary approvals to proceed - was half that asserted by Mr Schneider and Royal Caribbean. He pledged that the beach break destination which will accompany the lighthouse tour will be “low impact, sustainable” and a location that will “show the world what Bahamians can do when afforded the opportunity”. “It’s a damn lie,” he blasted of the suggestion that Paradise Island Lighthouse and Beach Club is targeting up to 1,000 visitors daily. “I have never once proposed 1,000. It’s always been between 200 and a maximum of 500 people per day. Our target, because we are a low
SEE PAGE B6