business@tribunemedia.net
Friday, May 22, 2026
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‘Dismiss $600m damages bid over Supreme Court slip-up’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net RESORTS World Bimini’s majority owner is demanding that the $600m damages claim launched against it by the project’s original developer be dismissed because it failed to obtain the Bahamian Supreme Court’s permission prior to bringing the action. Genting Americas, which owns 78 percent of Bimini’s largest resort and ‘anchor property’, is arguing that the lawsuit brought against it by RAV Bahamas, the corporate vehicle owned by Cuban-American developer Gerardo Capo and his family, should be struck out because the nature of its claim requires the Supreme Court’s go-ahead before it can be pursued in a foreign court. RAV Bahamas, since launching its action alleging
Genting: Strikeout Capo claim as Bahamian court not asked
THE OPPOSITION yesterday said it will demand “answers” from the Government on why the “ballooning” national debt is increasing at a much faster rate than its annual fiscal deficits and its continued reliance on borrowing amid record revenues. Michael Pintard, the Free National Movement (FNM) leader, speaking to Tribune Business ahead of Wednesday’s 2026-2027 Budget, said several pledges in the Speech from the Throne “didn’t ring true” - especially when
Making valuation process ‘seamless’ should be top priority
RAV and Capo: ‘This is not about ordinary business losses’
its Budget surplus target for the year to end-June 2026, especially given the doubts over whether it will collect the projected $130m from the implementation of 15 percent corporate income tax due to the absence of a collection mechanism, argued that the second Davis administration must explain where the record revenue income has been spent. “They have a ballooning national debt against the backdrop of collecting extra revenue,” he asserted. “The revenue, compared to previous years, seems to have
A BAHAMIAN realtor yesterday warned that disputes over property sale valuations are MARIO CAREY delaying transactions to the point where “everybody loses” as he urged the Government to place priority focus on making the Department of Inland Revenue’s (DIR) acceptance process as “seamless” as possible. Mario Carey, president and chief executive of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate MCR Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the tax authority’s frequent rejections of real estate sales prices - and the amount of VAT due to the Public Treasury - are causing “a huge confusion” in the marketplace that, ultimately, break deals. He warned that no party wins from such a situation, as the payment of VAT on the purchase price is held-up and delays the Government’s receipt of much-needed tax revenues, while buyers, sellers, banks, realtors, attorneys and the wider Bahamian economy all miss out if such disputes prove a deal-breaker. Mr Carey suggested that the Department of Inland Revenue be more willing to accept valuation reports and confirmations by licensed appraisers - especially since the Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) Multiple Listings System (MLS) provides a wealth of data for price comparison purposes. And he also recommended that the tax authority hire its own licensed and qualified appraisers to help speed-up the valuation and tax approval process. Multiple other realtors have previously told Tribune Business that one of their biggest
FISCAL - See Page B4
PROPERTY - See Page B4
that the Malaysian conglomerate has turned Resorts World Bimini into a “financial wasteland” by dumping hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities incurred elsewhere in its global hospitality empire
RESORTS WORLD BIMINI on the property’s books, has joined BB Entertainment to its south Florida federal court claim as a fellow plaintiff. BB Entertainment, which is a Bahamian-domiciled company, is the immediate
it came to improving the transparency and financial performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and so-called public-private partnerships (PPPs). He also argued that the Government “has to explain” the continued growth in its direct debt, which expanded by $704m or 6 percent in the nine months to end-March 2026 to hit $12.473bn, against the backdrop of both the forecast $75.5m fiscal surplus for the current Budget year and record revenue projections of $3.887bn. The latter figure, if achieved, would represent a $1.281bn or 49 percent increase in the Government’s
MICHAEL PINTARD income from the COVID-impacted $2.605bn that it generated in fiscal year 2021-2022. Mr Pintard, voicing scepticism to this newspaper that the Government will meet
LEONARD SANDS “Aggregates are going up every month. The price of sand, the price of bulk materials - sand, rock, fill that’s all seen at least a 20 percent to 30 percent price increase in the last quarter, and it’s increasingly harder to get bulk materials
BUILD - See Page B5
Food store employees shaken by armed theft
EMPLOYEES at the Buy 4 Less food store on Blue Hill Road South were left shaken after an armed robbery on Wednesday afternoon. Ellis Major, proprietor of Buy 4 Less, Budget Foods, and Xtra Value, said that around 2pm on Wednesday a lone gunman entered the business and targeted cashiers. “I know it was around 2pm,” he said. “A lone
Realtor: ‘Everybody loses’ when sales delayed, fall apart
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net
BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
DIR VAT disputes a ‘huge confusion’ in real estate deals
Says nature of Resorts World case needed judicial go-ahead
Construction feels pressure from 30% aggregate jump
THE BAHAMIAN Contractors Association’s president yesterday warned that price hikes of up to 30 percent for aggregate materials, such as sand, and growing shortages of limestone fill are placing mounting pressure on construction with little sign that cost pressures will ease soon. Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that the prices of sand, rock, fill and other bulk construction materials have climbed sharply in recent months, rising by up to 30 percent as supply becomes more constrained.
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Investor-financed development fund no ‘deterrent’ on growth
holding entity for Resorts World Bimini that is jointly owned by Genting Americas and RAV Bahamas - the latter wth a 22 percent minority
LEGAL - See Page B5
Opposition seeks answers on ‘ballooning’ Gov’t debt BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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gunman was able to rob two of the cashiers.” According to Mr Major, after obtaining cash, the suspect fled through the rear of the property. “And then they ran on the easterly area in the back of the store, and they jumped into the bushes,” he said. Mr Major said he missed the incident, explaining he had been visiting other store locations and arrived around 30 minutes after the robbery occurred.
ROBBERY - See Page B7