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FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021
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Luna owner’s ‘nightmare’ on $734k debt deadline
Bahamas at pre-COVID airlift by fourth quarter By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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BAHAMIAN businessman yesterday said he is facing the “nightmare” prospect of losing his near 40-year investment in just 45 days’ time if he cannot pay a $734,222 tax debt owed to the Government Al Collie, developer of Club Luna and the Zoo before it, told Tribune Business he faces “losing it all” and is exploring every option possible to meet the Supreme Courtimposed September 28, 2021, deadline to settle the outstanding liability or see that West Bay Street
$35m Glass Window upgrade to be ‘world famous attraction’
• Collie faces ‘losing it all’ on 40-year investment • $808k tax payment should ‘give me more time’ • Hopes appeal will provide ‘breathing room’ property seized and sold. Disclosing that he and his attorneys will likely seek to appeal Justice Ian Winder’s ruling, so that he gains “some breathing room” to work out his next move, Mr Collie argued it was virtually impossible to raise the sum required within the timeline set by the Supreme Court as banks and other commercial lenders typically required six months to make that sort of sum available. Justice Winder, on July 29, dismissed the bid by
Mr Collie and his Alco Holdings entity to stay/suspend enforcement of the $1.357m judgment that the government had obtained against him for real property tax debts owed on both the Club Luna property and another located at Elizabeth Avenue in downtown Nassau. But the businessman yesterday argued he had been given no credit for paying some $807,651 more than half or 59.45 percent of the outstanding taxes and penalties due - to
DESMOND BANNISTER successive budgets. Affirming that the bridge has needed to be replaced “for many, many years”, he added that of the three options presented to the government it had chosen one that will locate the
Bahamas’ ‘first class fills before economy’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ tourism rebound is seeing “first class fill up before economy class”, a Cabinet minister said yesterday, estimating that as much as 80 percent of the industry’s economic impact has returned. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, used the aircraft analogy to illustrate to the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the higher-end segment of the tourism market had rebounded faster
from COVID-19 than the likes of the mass market destination resorts. With visitors staying longer and spending more, he suggested that while arrivals figures for June had rebounded to 70 percent of pre-COVID levels, the economic impact of that spend was somewhat greater. “In the first six months of 2021, just over 400,000 stopover visitors came to The Bahamas,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “That was 38 percent of the stopover visitors that
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Disney: ‘We’ve struck right tone’ on Eleuthera project By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
DISNEY Cruise Line’s president yesterday asserted the cruise line had “really struck the right tone” in balancing economic development with conservation at a Lighthouse Point project it hopes to start this year. Thomas Mazloum told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the company’s commitment to the island and its $250m-$400m development at the southern tip “has never wavered” during the COVID-19 pandemic
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• DPM: ‘Most ambitious bridge build’ yet • Says construction to start in early 2022 • Water battle a ‘national embarrassment’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE government’s $30m$35m Glass Window Bridge replacement will combine “the most ambitious bridge building project” with “a world-famous tourist attraction”, the deputy prime minister revealed yesterday. Desmond Bannister, the deputy prime minister, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that construction on the vital transportation artery would begin in early 2022 with financing phased over a period of three years in
the Department of Inland Revenue on May 18, 2021, which was some two-and-ahalf weeks before the July 6 hearing before Justice Winder. Suggesting that he was being “singled out” and unfairly targeted by the government, Mr Collie asserted that a payment of this magnitude should have persuaded the Supreme Court to give him more time to settle the outstanding arrears balance.
despite the inability of its ships to sail for almost a year-and-a-half. “We know there is a delicate balance between economic development and the environment, and we believe wen have really struck the right tone with this one,” he said. “We always said we would only move forward at Lighthouse Point if we were convinced it was complementary to our long-standing commitment to the environment.” Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, had earlier confirmed
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replacement some 60 feet west of the current version. Revealing plans to ensure it was more than just a mere bridge, Mr Bannister said the government is also aiming to create “a world-renowned tourist
destination” at the site with the Glass Window Bridge Park. Besides allowing visitors to see and contrast the normally rougher Atlantic waters with the calm Caribbean side, he added that it would also provide a focal point for Bahamian entrepreneurs to sell their wares to tourists. The deputy prime minister said the $2.803m completion of the bridge between Spanish Wells and Russell Island, as well as new bridges and repairs in Long Island, Andros and Abaco, had “led to considerable reflection on my part” as to how the government can maintain and develop such vital infrastructure to “the highest
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A CABINET minister yesterday predicted incoming airlift to The Bahamas will return to pre-pandemic capacity of 4,000 seats daily by the 2021 fourth quarter with airline confidence “going through the roof”. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, made the projection prior to giving an impassioned plea for North Eleuthera’s 3,000 “common” land owners to reach a compromise with the government so that the $60m-$70m redevelopment of the area’s airport can proceed in earnest. Addressing the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference, he warned that the compensation demands and legal action initiated by the Harbour Island Commonage Committee would make “the hurdle for its start and completion “that much higher” just as tourism and air travel into the destination were ramping up post-COVID. “Airlift into Eleuthera will grow as demand improves,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “We are encouraged that investor confidence in The Bahamas and the Family Islands by the airlines has gone through the roof when it comes to airlift. Pointing to Virgin Airlines’ plans to begin twice-weekly service to Nassau from London’s Heathrow airport this November, and Frontier Airlines’ “ramping up” of service from key US markets, Mr D’Aguilar said: “What great news for brand Bahamas as we move to aggressively secure pre-pandemic airlift levels. “We are projecting that by the fourth quarter of this year The Bahamas will be back to pre-pandemic airlift capacity of 4,000 seats daily.” He added that this now needed to be
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR matched by the quality of airport gateways into The Bahamas, including North Eleuthera’s airport. “There is no doubt that North Eleuthera needs a new airport,” Mr D’Aguilar asserted. “You have completely outgrown your existing facility given the robust growth in visitor arrivals. The North Eleuthera airport is woefully inadequate.” New aircraft taxiways and runways were required, the minister added, while the existing terminal building needed to be demolished and replaced with an expanded version. However, North Eleuthera’s commoners have already made good on their threat to pursue multimillion dollar Supreme Court redress over the government seeking more of their land for its airport expansion. They are seeking to repossess the land upon which the airport, Water & Sewerage Corporation water fields (now a reverse osmosis plant) and North Eleuthera Garbage Dump now sit on the basis that the government has violated their constitutional and property rights in taking these assets without paying a single cent for it. The writ and statement of claim, filed on behalf of the Harbour Island Commonage Committee as representative of the commoners, is also seeking an injunction to bar the
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