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Wednesday, June 3, 2026
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Rival Labour Day marches spark worker division fears BY NEIL HARTNELL and Annelia Nixon Tribune Business Reporters LABOUR Day celebrations face the prospect of two separate worker parades with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and its affiliates planning to hold their own march in a move that some fear signals disunity and division within the labour movement. Obie Ferguson KC, the TUC president, confirmed to Tribune Business that the umbrella body will hold its own march this Friday starting at the House of Labour on Wulff Road at 9am. Those attending will move west, then turn north on Baillou Hill Road and walk to the Southern Recreation
Ground in honouring Sir Randol Fawkes, widely recognised as the founder of the modern labour movement in The Bahamas. This will be separate from the traditional Labour Day parade, which typically assembles further east on Wulff Road at Windsor Park before moving north on East Street and into downtown Nassau and Bay Street, before ending in the vicinity of Clifford Park and Arawak Cay. The TUC’s move to have a separate parade comes one year after Mr Ferguson announced that the TUC and its affiliates would not participate in the traditional Labour Day parade. The TUC’s plans were announced in a letter
FOCOL’s Shell deal approval like ‘Bahamas winning Olympic gold’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FOCOL Holdings chairman yesterday asserted its partnership with Shell in the Clifton Pier liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is akin to “The Bahamas SIR FRANKLYN winning gold in WILSON the Olympics” as regulators approved the multinational energy giant’s acquisition of 40 percent ownership in the project. Sir Franklyn Wilson told Tribune Business that Shell’s decision to team with the BISX-listed petroleum products and energy supplier in the construction of the LNG terminal and associated pipeline infrastructure, a facility that will act as the hub for supplying lower-cost, cheaper fuel vital to the Government’s wider electricity reforms, is “a real expression of confidence and respect” towards the Bahamian firm. Now, with the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) having unlocked capital investment for the LNG terminal project, and paved the way for its construction and further development, Sir Franklyn asserted that another “very significant transaction” seemingly related to it could be unveiled as early as Monday although he declined to provide further details. Speaking after URCA, which oversees the energy and national gas sectors, gave its blessing for a tie-up billed as “the structural catalyst” for the commercial scale importation of LNG to New Providence to fuel Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) baseload generation, the FOCOL chief told this newspaper of the regulatory approval: “It is a very significant development. “The fact that a major global company like Shell became a minority partner of a company led locals from a small country; a country as small as The Bahamas, we at FOCOL take it as a real expression of confidence and respect. This is Shell, this is Shell, and all that it means… any Bahamian can figure out what it means… “They are prepared to be a minority partner, and that is not a decision the Board of Directors and senior management at Shell will have taken lightly. We at FOCOL see this as a tremendous expression of confidence in us. It’s like The Bahamas winning gold in the Olympics. This is outside the norm,” Sir Franklyn continued. “The fact that Shell agreed to that, and partnered as the minority, we saw it as a sign of real partnership - that Shell has the confidence to do that. As a general principle, we always operate on the
ENERGY - See Page B4
OBIE FERGUSON KC
TUC and affiliate unions to ‘follow in Sir Randol’s footsteps’
Plan parade from House of Labour to Southern Recreation
But veteran unionist concerned: ‘It doesn’t show united front’
addressed to “all workers and their families”, which has been obtained by Tribune Business. Headed ‘Sir Randal Fawkes annual parade activities’, it calls on attendees to wear black pants and a “white Labour Day shirt” this Friday, June 5, and refrain from wearing any politically-connected clothing. The document, on TUC headed paper with the umbrella union’s name and logo, and signed by the ‘Sir Randol Fawkes Labour
Day Committee’, called on marchers to assemble at the House of Labour on Wulff Road at 8am one hour before the start. Only one banner will be present at the front of the parade. Mr Ferguson, when contacted by this newspaper over the communication’s authenticity, replied: “Yes, that is accurate.” He explained that the TUC had decided to recreate Sir Randol’s legacy, and celebrate his role as founder of The Bahamas Federation
of Labour and in leading the fight against Bahamian worker exploitation, by marching to the Southern Recreation Ground Park where he delivered “some of his most notorious speeches”. Signalling that the Royal Bahamas Police Force has been informed of the TUC’s plans, and that “everything has been done legally” to obtain permission for the march, Mr Ferguson said: “The TUC Board decided that we would now act out,
DAVE BECKFORD as close as possible, the procedures and route based on what Sir Randol Fawkes did. “What we are doing, this is the beginning of recreating back to what it used to
CELEBRATE - See Page B2
Exuma resort Pintard demands answers Judge on $900k building vouchers fight: blasts ‘fishing BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
expedition’
THE Opposition’s leader is demanding the Government explain how $900,000 worth of building material vouchers acquired by the Ministry of Finance in the general election run-up were used amid fears they were employed for political campaigning. Michael Pintard, in a June 1, 2026, letter to Michael Halkitis, minister of finance, called for “a full breakdown” on how these vouchers were distributed and the criteria employed to determine who qualified to receive them after the Government’s monthly report on public procurement contracts awarded in March 2026 revealed they were sourced from five different construction materials suppliers via contracts all awarded on the 20th of that month. The public procurement report, which has been seen and verified by Tribune Business, revealed that the Ministry of Finance sourced some $250,000 worth of building material vouchers from 21st Century Building & Hardware, located on Palm Beach Street, plus a further $200,000 from Wulff Road-based FYP. Some $150,000 was obtained from each of Cartwright’s Building Supplies, Pinder’s Enterprise and Hanson Building Materials to bring the total to $900,000.’ The Ministry of Finance’s report states that the five voucher contracts were awarded in a response to a request for proposal (RFP), signalling there was competitive bidding. However, the collective $900,000 award is separate and apart from the $200,000 worth of Premier Importers vouchers whose generated significant controversy in the run-up to the May 12 general election.
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
MICHAEL PINTARD
Procurement report shows purchased two months before election Mr Pintard, voicing concerns that the $900,000 may also have been abused for political purposes given the timing less than two months before the May 12 general election, wrote to Mr Halkitis: “The attached excerpt from the Government's March 2026 procurement report.. shows $900,000 in building supply vouchers approved by the Ministry of Finance. “We similarly demand a full breakdown as to the destination and use of these vouchers, as well as the underlying process for eligibility and the accompanying audit trail. We need to know who these vouchers were provided to, how they distributed it and whether any of these vouchers were handled or directed by any candidate for office.” His comments came after Premier Importers revealed that the Ministry of Finance purchased some $200,000 worth of building materials vouchers from itself
CONSTRUCT - See Page B4
‘If ever there’s time to sell bookings, this is it’ BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net SOUTH Andros tourism operators are hoping this weekend's Homecoming festivities will deliver a visitor arrivals boost, with one lodge owner yesterday describing the annual event as one of the island's strongest tourism draws. Nathan Adderley, owner of Nathan's Lodge, said homecoming traditionally attracts a steady flow of visitors and returning residents, making it an important period for businesses across the island. "If there's ever a time to sell bookings, this is it," said Mr Adderley. "Homecoming always draws a crowd, and we're looking forward to the weekend." While he described current business conditions as stable, Mr Adderley said tourism operators continue to face challenges linked to transportation access. "Overall, things are going okay. We're holding steady, but business could be
much better if we had stronger airlift into South Andros," he said. According to Mr Adderley, flight connectivity and service remains well below pre-COVID levels, making it more difficult for visitors to reach the destination. "Before COVID, Western Air was flying twice a day. Now it's down to four flights a week, and that has had a real impact on how easily guests can get here," he said. Mr Adderley said the reduced schedule has created difficulties for both domestic and international travellers, particularly visitors connecting through Nassau. "I just had a guest last week telling me how difficult it was to reach South Andros. That's a complaint we hear far too often," he said. "For many international visitors, especially those coming through Fort Lauderdale or other gateways, they often have to spend a night in Nassau before they can get down here. A lot of people don't want to
PARTY - See Page B3
THE Supreme Court has ordered the $200m Rosewood Exuma developer to disclose “a very limited number” of further documents relating to the project while blasting its main opponent for embarking on a “blatant fishing expedition” with many of its demands. Justice Leif Farquharson, in a June 1, 2026, verdict ordered that the resort’s developer produce all communications between its Bahamian environmental consultant, BRON, and the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) relating to concerns voiced by Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club and its principal, Bob Coughlin, “about marine navigation in North Bay” prior to the development’s receipt of its certificates of environmental clearances (CECs). Yntegra Group, Rosewood Exuma’s developer, has repeatedly asserted it has no plans to dredge in Big Sampson Cay’s North Bay
VERDICT - See Page B4
BIG SAMPSON CAY