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WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024
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Tourism backlash fear over dolphin fatalities By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas was yesterday warned it faces a “PR nightmare” and severe tourism backlash unless it saves the five surviving dolphins at an abandoned project off New Providence’s north coast. Ric O’Barry, the Dolphin Project’s co-founder and director, told Tribune Business the “genie is out of the bottle” with “thousands” purportedly voicing outrage and threatening never to return to The Bahamas after his organisation posted details about the earlier deaths
• Five survivors ‘living nightmare’ at abandoned project • ‘Genie out the bottle’ on development that defied court • Intervention permission wait compared to ‘Gaza aid’ of eight dolphins at the former Blackbeard’s Cay development. Comparing the situation to food trucks prevented from entering the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the 63-year dolphin veteran said his group is poised to provide the remaining
‘Opportunity missed’ or PM on ‘the right side of history’? By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister’s call for Grand Bahama to “break the chains” yesterday provoked a mixed private sector reaction with some arguing he “missed a wonderful opportunity” to set out his vision for the island. Darren Cooper, proprietor of D’s Car Rental, told Tribune Business that he and other Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees were left disappointed that Philip Davis KC did not set out his development goals for Freeport and the wider Grand Bahama economy or set out the road map for getting there. Asserting that licensee concerns over the Government’s Freeport strategy and direction were not addressed, Mr Cooper also accused the Government of basing its $357m reimbursement demand of the GBPA on a period when tax revenues generated by the city would have been significantly down and government spending much higher than the norm. This is because the five-year period from
PHILIP DAVIS KC 2018-2022, which is covered by the demand, contains three years - 2019-2021 when the city’s economy, businesses and consumers were devastated by the twin impacts of COVID and Hurricane Dorian. Mr Cooper argued that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement’s “force majeure” clause relieves the GBPA from its obligation when confronted by so-called “acts of God”. “Break down or make clear to us what is this $357m,” he added. “If you are going based on the COVID years, if you are going based on the hurricane, there is a clause in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement that protects the Port Authority against such
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Taxi drivers dispute ‘political’ motives over port concerns By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net PROMINENT taxi drivers yesterday disputed whether complaints over working conditions at the Nassau Cruise Port were “politically motivated” and linked to upcoming union elections. Wesley Ferguson, the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s (BTCU) president, told Tribune Business that such
concerns are a campaign ploy created by a group of taxi drivers seeking to be the union’s new executive body after elections set for later this year. He asserted that the group which raised concerns at the recent Town Hall meeting for taxi drivers with Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of transport and energy, took over the question-and-answer period to garner attention in what
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dolphins with food, medicine and upgraded facilities essential to their survival but has yet to receive the Government’s permission to do so. Asserting that quick action by the Bahamian authorities is essential, Mr O’Barry nevertheless said this nation can “flip this
around” and turn negative publicity into positive by publicly pledging to rescue the survivors and transfer them to a purpose-built dolphin “sanctuary” that is fully equipped to cater to their needs (see other article on Page1B). Pledging that such a facility “will not cost the Government or Bahamian taxpayer anything”, he added that Dolphin Project and its partners would handle construction and raise the necessary financing as it had done in establishing a previous sanctuary in Bali, Indonesia.
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Ric O’Barry visits Balmoral Island. Photo:Dolphin Project.com
THE FACILITY has been abandoned and in disrepair.
Govt’s direct debt in $300m increase By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government’s direct debt was yesterday revealed to have grown by $300m over the first nine months of the current fiscal year as the Opposition returned to the attack over the use of $500m loan proceeds. Kwasi Thompson, the Free National Movement’s (FNM) finance spokesman, in a statement issued a renewed challenge to the Government’s assertion that no part of the half-a-billion dollar foreign currency loan, which was partially supported by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) policy-based guarantee, was used to repay or refinance existing debt. He based his challenge on the Ministry of Finance’s public debt statistical bulletin for the 2023-2024 fiscal year’s third quarter, released yesterday, which showed that the
• Opposition renews challenge on $500m loan proceeds • Queries how could repay $662m without using portion KWASI THOMPSON Government had borrowed almost $812m in foreign currency debt for the nine months to end-March 2024 while repaying some $662m in existing debt over that period. “The Prime Minister, as minister of finance, must provide an immediate explanation as to why his third
quarter public debt statistical bulletin for the current fiscal year appears to now contradict with the statements that he made in Parliament, and the financial secretary made, regarding the use of the IDB-supported $500m loan obtained earlier this year,” Mr Thompson argued.
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‘Enormous potential’ for Eleuthera dolphin refuge By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ENVIRONMENTAL activists yesterday disclosed they have identified an Eleuthera location with “enormous potential” to save the five surviving dolphins at the abandoned Blackbeard’s Cay project. Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s principal, in e-mailed replies to Tribune Business said she and Ric O’Barry, the Dolphin Project’s co-founder and director, had found a lagoon location close to Rick Sound on the island’s eastern coast that will offer protection against future hurricanes. “We have identified a potentially perfect site in Eleuthera,” they said of their dolphin “sanctuary” proposal, “which has a 30-50 foot ridge along the east coast that would provide a great barrier from hurricanes and raging storms near Rock Sound.
“It is a lagoon. The area is about two miles long and would have to be properly assessed to determine depths and proper flushing etc. But it has enormous potential to secure the dolphins safety.” Mr O’Barry in particular, a 63-year dolphin welfare and rescue veteran, said establishing such a sanctuary would enable The Bahamas to potentially reverse the negative publicity surrounding the Blackbeard’s Cay dolphins. Some 61.5 percent, or eight of the 13 dolphins at the tourist attraction, which is located off New Providence’s north coast opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian resort, have died - including six in the year to February 2024 - with the development having closed down in 2021 due to the COVID19 pandemic’s financial impact. Dolphin Rescue, which sounded the alarm over
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