TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016
business@tribunemedia.net
Bran’s ‘living nightmare’ over Tax Certification By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The DNA’s leader yesterday said “the living nightmare” of business in the Bahamas was brought home when the National Insurance Board (NIB) effectively tore up the contract with his family’s pharmacy via its Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) demands. Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that NIB is required to reimburse Wilmac’s Pharmacy weekly for drugs supplied to National Prescription Drug Programme (NPDP) members. He explained that the contract’s terms were supposed to endure for the full 12 months of their agreement, and could only
NIB altered drug plan payments on tax compliance Family’s pharmacy waited 7-8 weeks for monies But contract says should be reimbursed within week be changed by mutual agreement. That, though, was before NIB introduced the requirement that all its vendors had to produce a See pg b4
Cable to ‘devastate’ BTC via mobile win By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Cable Bahamas could “devastate” the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) if its mobile market share projections come true, even though the latter recorded a 26 per cent profit rise in its last financial year. Dionisio D’Aguilar, a Cable Bahamas shareholder, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that mobile was “all BTC has”, with this segment accounting for the majority of its revenues and profits. With Cable Bahamas predicting that NewCo2015, the second mobile operator, is likely to capture between 27-52 per cent of the market within the next two-three years, based on Caribbean and regional experience, Mr D’Aguilar implied that BTC’s very survival may be threatened. The incumbent, now majority owned by Liberty Global, is unlikely to see it that way, especially as profits for the 12 months to endMarch jumped by 25.9 per cent year-over-year. However, the increase from $53 million to $68 million was not as promising as it seems, for the prior year included $25 million of one-off restructuring costs as BTC downsized and realigned to prepare for competition. Strip that figure out, and BTC’s performance for its 2016 financial year would have represented a $9 million reduction upon its prior
Investor says mobile ‘all BTC has’ But BTC profits up almost 26% to $68m Driven by absence of one-off $25m charge year bottom line. Referring to Cable Bahamas’ imminent entry into the mobile market, thus ending the Bahamas’ latest communications monopoly, Mr D’Aguilar said: “They’ve fleshed out See pg b3
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DNA leader Branville McCartney.
‘Sense of chaos’ at Out Island airports By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Government has been warned that “a sense of chaos” exists at several key Family Island airports, which lack the necessary management policies and structures to deal with environmental and social concerns. A July 21, 2016, report submitted to both the Christie administration and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) found that several airports suffered from “general disorder and lack of cleanliness”, with hazardous and flammable materials not property stored or disposed of. The report, compiled by ALG Transportation Infrastructure and Logistics, assesses the Exuma and North Eleuthera airports, plus their Abaco and Treasure Cay counterparts. All four have been identified as airports suitable for public-private partnerships (PPPs) between the Government and private investors, as part of an IDB-assisted project to upgrade the Bahamas’ airport
Key facilities rapped over waste disposal Emergency response facilities found inadequate Report discovers ‘general disorder’ infrastructure and secure tourism’s sustainability. Overhauling all the Family Island airports has been pegged as an $180 million investment, and the ALG report’s findings indicate there is much work to do. “The environmental management of the airport of Exuma (GGT or Georgetown) is not adequate,” it said bluntly. “The terminal spaces are saturated due to the lack of space. Given the absence of a structured See pg b5
Lack of freedom ‘impairing’ BPL By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Opposition’s deputy leader yesterday renewed concerns that PowerSecure lacks the necessary freedom to run Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) as a business, arguing that it was being “hampered and impaired” by the Government. KP Turnquest told Tribune Business that the Christie administration’s vetoing of BPL’s ‘base rate’ increase
proposal was but one example showing that its Board and management has less autonomy than their counterparts at the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD). PowerSecure’s BPL management agreement, and the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) restructuring, were based on the so-called ‘NAD model’, which allows the Government to retain ownership of the underlying assets while engaging private sector expertise to operate them. See pg b5
Turnquest says obvious lack of autonomy from Govt Utility’s refinance said pushed back to 2017 Govt’s must admit ‘burden from interference’
GB Power action challenges ‘validity’ of Freeport MoU By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Grand Bahama Power Company’s opposition to regulation by URCA further challenges the “validity” of the Government’s Freeport Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Opposition’s deputy leader said yesterday. K P Turnquest, the east Grand Bahama MP, said the utility’s legal challenge to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) showed
that the MoU “does not have the buyin” of key Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees. “Obviously, the MoU made some commitments that did not have the buy-in of the licensees in Freeport, the Power Company being one,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “As a result, the validity of it is questionable. The Port Authority, in and of itself, does not have the right, as I understand it, to sign away any of the rights licensees may have.” See pg b5
Shows Port licensees not ‘bought in’ to Govt’s deal FNM deputy queries if GBPA can bind licensees URCA to respond ‘appropriately’ to action