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TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2024
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BPL ‘cannot supply’ cruise port’s 60 MW power need • Gov’t seeking bids for Arawak Cay LNG facility • ‘Shore power’ to boost Nassau competitiveness • And cut vessels’ in-port emissions while docked
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government is seeking private sector bids to supply “up to” 60 Mega Watts (MW) of power to vessels at Nassau Cruise Port because Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) “cannot supply” this demand. The bidding document, which has been seen by Tribune Business, says the Davis administration has partnered
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NASSAU CRUISE PORT
with BPL in “exploring measures” to provide the hundreds of cruise ships that call on Nassau annually with clean energy via power generated by liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel. The provision of this 60 MW, known as “shore power”, would enable docked cruise ships to shut down their diesel generators when in port. This would reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants when in Nassau,
enabling this nation to become “a greener, more sustainable” maritime industry operator. And it would also enhance Nassau’s competitiveness as a destination given that the cruise lines are increasingly switching to cleaner fuel and power generation sources with each new build that comes out of the shipyard production lines. Documents accompanying the bid tender suggest the winning bidder will enjoy significant demand with 1,573
cruise calls already scheduled for Nassau in 2025. The request for proposal (RFP) signals that the winning bidder will be required to develop and construct a new power generation facility, together with an LNG regasification terminal, at Arawak Cay. It is unclear whether a new electricity cable, for instance, will then have to be laid in Nassau harbour to take
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PI Crown Land battle in Privy Council go-ahead BPL grid firm targets 31% profits increase By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamian entrepreneur battling to restore Paradise Island’s lighthouse yesterday thanked the Government for “putting down their gloves” by not opposing his Privy Council appeal. Toby Smith, speaking after he received conditional permission to take his Crown Land lease fight before the Bahamian judicial system’s highest court, told Tribune Business he was not “having a dig” at the Government but genuinely hoping its approach to the Court of Appeal hearing could pave the way for both sides to “start afresh”. The Attorney General’s Office, acting as the Government’s legal
• Gov’t ‘concedes’ Toby Smith ‘as of right’ appeal • Entrepreneur hopeful parties can ‘start afresh’ • Case has Crown Land, local investment issues
TOBY SMITH representative in the dispute with Mr Smith, filed no documents opposing the latter’s bid for permission to take his case to the London-based Privy Council. And Kirkland Mackey, who acted as its lead attorney at the Court of Appeal hearing, “conceded” it was an “as of right “ appeal and that all necessary procedural steps had been taken by Mr Smith.
“We’re actually grateful to the Office of the Attorney General for putting down their gloves and conceding to a win for Paradise Island Lighthouse and Beach Club,” Mr Smith said in reference to his company. “I genuinely appreciate that they have conceded and hopefully this is a sign of things to come where they choose not to fight me at the
Privy Council and we start afresh. That would be nice. “This is not a dig at the Government. I recognise the olive branch that has been extended by the Attorney General’s Office, and it is our hope this goes to the root of the matter where the minister responsible for Crown Land honours the agreement for the lease.”
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Opposition ‘doesn’t buy’ foreign majority marijuana ownership By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s leader yesterday said his party “doesn’t buy” the Government’s explanation for why majority foreign ownership will be permitted in key sectors of a legalised medical marijuana industry. Michael Pintard told Tribune Business that Bahamian majority ownership of all medical marijuana-related businesses should be mandated by law as the Free National Movement (FNM) pushed back against provisions
MICHAEL PINTARD
PHILIP DAVIS KC
in the Cannabis Bill that allow foreigners to control entities involved in manufacturing and packaging; analytical testing; and scientific research.
Earlier Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, in his contribution to the House of Assembly debate on the Bill and associated legislation, explained that the Government had
sought to strike a balance between protecting and encouraging Bahamian entrepreneurs and the need for this nation to be competitive against rival jurisdictions and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). “I said to you this foreign participation in this industry is limited [to] research and innovation, and not for the purposes of selling, marketing and distribution. That’s clear. It [the Bill] says 100 percent Bahamian,” Mr Davis said in replying to Mr Pintard during the House
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BTC line staff’s ‘first industrial deal salary rise for ten years’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MEMBERS of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) line staff union received their first “industrial agreement-related salary increase in ten years” with the signing of yesterday’s deal.
Sherry Benjamin, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union’s (BCPOU) president, told Tribune Business that members in the top of three “tiers” could enjoy up to a 22 percent salary increase over the industrial agreement’s three years if they meet performancebased milestones.
Describing the 10 percent salary increase for senior top-tier BCPOU members as “a little more” than the typical 3 percent annual increments they have become accustomed to, she added that the newly-signed industrial agreement will help BTC line staff to better cope with the ever-increasing cost of living,
Meanwhile, Sameer Bhatti, BTC’s chief executive, branded the agreement’s signing as “a blue letter day”. In a statement, the carrier confirmed that the agreement includes “a 10 percent increase to the top of the scale for senior associates, as well
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE company poised to take over New Providence’s energy grid is predicting that its profits will increase by more than 31 percent during its first five years to reach $13.677m. Bahamas Grid Company’s offering document for its $100m bond issue, which formally launched yesterday, revealed that the majority-owned company is forecasting steady yearover-year increases in its bottom line from an initial $10.419m after first year in existence. The financial projections also disclose that Island Grid, the entity that will manage the firm charged with overhauling and transforming New Providence’s creaking transmission and distribution network, will be paid an annual management fee of $4.359m for each of the company’s first five years.
Maintenance and operations expenses are pegged at $21m for its first year, declining to $20m thereafter, with $3.416m allocated annually to both a hurricane emergency restoration fund and helping to repay BPL’s legacy debts. The $8m annual interest payment to Bahamas Grid Company’s bond investors was shown as declining from the fourth year onwards as the principal starts to be repaid. The Government, meanwhile, pushed back against concerns raised in this newspaper that Bahamas Grid Company was valuing the transmission and distribution (T&D) assets being transferred to its control at more than double the $100m “book valuation” being placed on them by the Davis administration and Bahamas Power & Light (BPL). Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, yesterday accused
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