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BAHA MAR CREDITORS PROTECTED AGAINST âBACKROOM DEALSâ DâAguilar âdelightedâ he and Minister agree But Chapter 11 haircut claim âtotally untrueâ
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016
âFinancial constraintsâ hit $20m harbour repair By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Ex-director hits back at âvitriolicâ Fitzgerald
THE Port Departmentâs âfinancial constraintsâ are preventing it from carrying out a $20 million repair to Nassau harbourâs breakwater, and threatening to undermine operations at the Caribbeanâs most efficient report. A newly-released Caribbean Development Bank report has recommended that institutional reforms transfer the legal responsibilities for such activities from the government-run agency to Arawak Port
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN EX-BAHA MAR director yesterday expressed delight that a Cabinet Minister agreed all Bahamian creditors should be compensated, even if the Government âcuts a backroom deal with the Chineseâ. Dionisio DâAguilar, though, told Tribune Business that suggestions by Jerome Fitzgerald, minister of education, science and technology, of Baha Marâs Bahamian creditors taking a âhaircutâ through the Chapter 11 process were âcompletely untrueâ. Arguing that there was âno needâ for Mr Fitzgerald to label him âa total and complete hypocriteâ, Mr DâAguilar hit back by calling for the Minister to focus more on his portfolio than business matters. And he urged Mr Fitzgerald to leave such situations to âsuccessful businessmenâ, a seeming reference to RND Holdings, in which the Minister - prior to becoming and MP and Cabinet Minister - sold his majority equity interest to Colina. âI donât understand why heâs getting so excited and got to be vitriolic,â Mr DâAguilar told Tribune Business. âThereâs no reason to get down and dirty. âHe [Mr Fitzgerald] seems to be in the press a lot these days, fighting Fred Smith and Save the Bays, and I guess he needs to prove heâs a bad ass to the PLP and pandering to his base. He must be vying for the leadership, attacking opponents of the Governmentâs policies.â Mr Fitzgerald last week said it was ironic that Mr DâAguilar was calling for SEE PAGE FOUR
Chamber chief âfully expects responsibleâ Budget from Govât By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Bowe urges no spending spree
THE Chamberâs chairman yesterday that we âcannot affordâ said he âfully expects the Government to be responsibleâ with todayâs Budget, Asks if Bahamas âmoving as we and not engage in pre-election spending needâ to end deficits sprees that will throw the Bahamasâ fiscal consolidation plan off-course. âbalanced Budgetâ. Gowon Bowe told Tribune Reaching the latter goal Business he was giving the would curtail any further inChristie administration âthe crease in the $6.7 billion nabenefit of the doubtâ ahead of tional debt, which was equivathis morningâs Budget commulent to 76.3 per cent of GDP at nication, given that it knew the year-end 2015, and growing furBahamas was still in dire fiscal ther beyond the IMFâs âdanger straits. thresholdâ. Emphasising that pre-election âIâve not set any expectadeficits and spending that the tions,â Mr Bowe said of the country âcannot affordâ were 2017-2018 Budget. âI think the what the Bahamian people Prime Minister and the Govneeded least, Mr Bowe added GOWON Bowe ernment fully know whatâs facthat the Governmentâs desire to ing the country in terms of our retain office needed to be balfiscal situation. anced with fiscal realities. âI fully expect them to be responsiAcknowledging the collective $1.6 billion increase in the national debt over ble, so Iâm giving them the benefit of the the three years to end-2015, the Cham- doubt. âHopefully, they will be listening to ber chair said history was less important than where the Governmentâs finances the technical people telling them that they canât afford certain elements, and were headed. He argued that the key was whether hopefully they will not depart from the the Bahamas was âmoving as rapidly as fiscal consolidation plan they have bewe need toâ, and as quickly as the Gov- cause it runs smack dab into the general ernment has projected, towards eliminat- election cycle.â ing the GFS fiscal deficit and achieving a SEE PAGE FOUR
âMagical partnershipâ urged between Govât and private business Cost, ease of business reform key Budget priority Private sector hoping for Business Licence change By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Government and private sector were yesterday urged to form âa magical partnershipâ to combat high unemployment and escalating levels of violent crime. Speaking ahead of todayâs 2016-2017 Budget communication, Edison Sumner, the Chamber of Commerceâs chief executive, told Tribune Business that the Government needed to prioritise improvements in the ease - and cost - of doing business in the Bahamas. And, in return, the private sector needed to âplay by the rulesâ, competing on âa level playing fieldâ and ensuring that all aspects of society - including the Bahamian taxpayer and consumer - benefited from their activities. âThe only way we can fight the unemployment levels, and the crime issue in the country, is if we have businesses and companies prepared to hire people, and people going into business and creating opportunities for themselves,â Mr Sumner told Tribune Busi-
Election should not mean fiscal consolidation deviation
CEO of Chamber of Commerce Edison Sumner. ness. âTo reduce crime, there has to be a magical partnership between the Government and the private sector to move the economy forward.â He added: âFor that to happen, the Government has to demonstrate it will cause improvements to the ease of doing business in this country. âThe private sector has to show itâs compliant with the rules, and not participating in the underground or informal economy, but operating in an economy where there is a level playing field and where we all benefit.â Mr Sumner confirmed that specific initiatives and strategies to improve the cost, and ease, of doing business in the Bahamas were among the private sectorâs chief requirements for SEE PAGE TWO
Threaten most efficient port in Caribbean Arawak port to have 45% volume growth to 2025 Report: Limited union power boosts productivity
Development Company (APD). The report, entitled âTransforming the Caribbean port services industryâ, said such reforms would allow the Nassau Container Portâs BISX-listed operator to cease paying port dues to the Port Department. SEE PAGE FIVE
QC slams âabysmal consultation failureâ Abaco Club project Judicial Review gets go-ahead Smith likens cases to âbroken record repeatingâ Urges developers to respect locals, not fight them By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A QC yesterday slammed âthe complete and abysmal failureâ of seven government departments and agencies to consult local residents over the Abaco Clubâs proposed marina project. Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, told Tribune Business that such alleged episodes were akin to âa broken record that keeps repeating itselfâ, after the Supreme Court granted permission for another development-related Judicial Review to proceed. Justice Petra HannaWeekes gave Responsible Development for Abaco (RDA), acting on behalf of Little Harbour residents, leave âto issue a motion seeking Judicial Reviewâ of the Abaco Clubâs proposed development. âWe are now going to
move to have the matter heard as soon as possible,â Mr Smith said, while acknowledging that the GovSEE PAGE THREE
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