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Volume: 118 No.127, May 28, 2021
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HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE? Minister admits debt is ‘elephant in the room’ as official says it’s only a temporary concern By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FINANCIAL Secretary Marlon Johnson said that although the country’s high deficits and debt are a cause of concern, they are not a cause for alarm, insisting an economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic will prevent the need for new taxes. He spoke during a Ministry of Finance press conference yesterday. The deficit for the current fiscal year is on track
to reach an unprecedented $1.3bn while the deficit for the next year is projected to be a similarly extraordinary $951.8m. Mr Johnson said of the deficit: “These are temporary and transitory. These are not structural. Where countries run into trouble is when they have structural deficits, meaning when an economy is at full tilt you’re still running big deficits. The deficits are occasioned because we had a substantial shutdown of the economy.” SEE PAGE THREE
FORECAST UP TO ‘80 PERCENT’ RECOVERY BY NEXT SUMMER
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday predicted the Bahamian economy will regain 80 percent of its pre-COVID capacity by June 2022 with key taxes forecast to rise by a similar magnitude. Marlon Johnson, the acting financial secretary,
said improved tax revenue flows over the past four to five months - together with the vacation rental market’s return to 70 percent of preCOVID business levels and signs the tourism plant is “gearing back up” - meant he was “very confident” the economy will return to four-fifths of pre-pandemic output in a year’s time. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
MARIJUANA BILL DOESN’T LIVE UP TO HIGH HOPES
SEE PAGE EIGHT
JUDGES REJECT KILLER’S APPEAL
By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
THE Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed the 25-year sentence of a man who was convicted of the manslaughter of a woman who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery over a decade ago. In 2009, Valentino Dorsette and two other men attempted to use a 9mm firearm to rob Tagia SEE PAGE SEVEN
TWO HELD FOR ABACO ACCIDENT
BREAKING BALLET BOUNDARIES
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
ISABELLA BOYLSTON, a principal ballerina with the American Ballet Theater, will be taking part in the upcoming ArtSea Dance workshop in Nassau. She will host a ballet class and a Q&A session and the event will also encourage boys to overcome the stigma of taking part in ballet. See today’s Weekend section for the full story. Photo: Deborah Ory
MARCO ALERT MOVES STEP CLOSER By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net
A CONTRACT signing between the Ministry of National Security and Multimedia Technologies Ltd for a little over $1.9m has propelled the muchanticipated MARCO Alert one step further towards protecting the country’s children. The public warning alert
THE MARCO’s Alert contract signing yesterday. system signing took place at the Ministry of National Security yesterday. Two
other contracts were also signed: one for the audio-visual integrated communication system with Multimedia Technologies Ltd and a long-term service agreement between the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Damen Shipyard Group. In May 2017 — following a second trial — Kofhe Goodman, of Yorkshire Drive, was convicted of
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE FIVE
A HAITIAN couple have been arrested in connection with a traffic accident that resulted in serious injuries to a child and woman in Abaco. SEE PAGE FOUR
NOT THE FIRST TIME WE GOT TOUGH TO BEAT DISEASE
SEE PAGE NINE