TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016
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Sandals outlines ‘fast tracked’ $4m renovation Winter season shaping up to be its best ever
BY NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net Sandals yesterday outlined a $4m renovation to be undertaken during a two-month closure of its Cable Beach property, saying that the work was being ‘fast tracked’ for what is shaping up to be its best winter season ever. The resort’s management had been mum on the reasons for its abrupt closure since a letter by a senior sales executive acknowledging the closure was reported on by local media some two weeks ago. Sandals executives said yesterday that the repairs and upgrades which forced the 60-year-old Royal Bahamian resort’s closure yesterday are being fast-tracked at an estimated cost of $4m. Those upgrades
Nearly 500 members of Sandals staff received severance pay today as the hotel closed for two months for extensive repairs. Hotel management said every redundant staff member will have an opportunity to be interviewed for a position when interviews begin as early as next week. Photo/Alexavia Dorsett/Diane Phillips & Associates and repairs are to be implemented within 14 weeks, which is described as a “massive feat itself’, considering the original time-frame for completion was appraised at four months.
Medical association president: Make ‘maximum use’ of healthcare infrastructure By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
Medical Association of The Bahamas president Dr Sy Pierre yesterday reiterated calls for a sustainable national health insurance funded universal healthcare system, stressing that we must make “maximum use” of the country’s current healthcare infrastructure. “We want universal healthcare. We have that now but is poorly managed. I think the great benefit of a national health insurance plan is that it will allow some of the private entities to take some of the burden off of the public,” said Dr Pierre. “The idea of national health insurance-funded universal healthcare is really good. We want it to be sustainable and we want it to have minimal disruption of the present structure as we know it. We also want to make maximum use of the present infrastructure. We have a lot of physicians and other providers who have other facilities which they may want to utilise for national heath insurance or for public patients and NHI will allow that. We also want it to be flexible so that moving forward more benefits will be added. We don’t want a complete breakdown of the system,” said Dr Pierre. Dr Pierre further noted that an effective universal
DNA blasts Govt over failure to ‘stand up’ for Sandals workers
NHI Bill ‘quite good’ healthcare system is also dependent on the quality of physicians. “We want more Bahamian physicians to come home. What we are seeing quite often is Bahamian physicians who have trained in certain countries are opting not to come back home. If you don’t have the best physicians, the system won’t work.” Having looked at the NHI Bill 2016, Dr Pierre told Tribune Business: “I took a look at the Bill. The Bill is actually quite good. See pg b3
“Simultaneously, the screening and re-hiring processes to engage the resort’s full complement of 750 staff are currently underway. This will also involve the SRI team
carrying out extensive training of talents, to guarantee full mobilisation upon re-opening and thus ensuring the company’s award winning services are See pg b3
$315M tax loss underscores Govt receivership flaw By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
Opposition Finance spokesman and East Grand Bahama yesterday said that the $315m in lost taxes to the Government as a result of the delayed Baha Mar opening only further underscored the impact of government’s intervention in the resort’s receivership, telling this newspaper: “All is not well”. It is estimated that the government has lost $315m in tax revenue from the beleaguered Baha Mar resort due its opening delays and the court appointed receivership process, according to an economic impact report of the $3.5 billion property. Of this figure, the government has lost an estimated $25m in stamp conveyance at a rate of 10 per cent; more than $30m in casino taxes on winnings; $16m in business license fees; $33m in National Insurance Board contributions; $13m in departure tax; $114m in import duty and $81m in occupancy tax/value added tax, among other losses. The report also estimates that $451m in wages
K Peter Turnquest and salaries for direct and indirect workers has been lost, as well as a $48m loss in government utility payments and a gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $1.9m. “We can’t say with any certainty whether the project would have been opened by now if it had gone through the bankruptcy process but we do know that would have been See pg b3
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) yesterday expressed “dismay” yesterday after some 600 workers at Sandals Royal Bahamian were made redundant, blasting the Christie administration for failing to “stand up” for the workers and make the resort “fall in line”. DNA finance spokesman Youri Kemp yesterday told Tribune Business: “We are dismayed by this entire affair, particularly when the labour minister said he didn’t know that Sandals was laying off 600 people. I find that hard to believe. I don’t think that Sandals made the determination to lay off 600 people just last week. We understand that there is some angst between Sandals management and the union and this may simply be a union busting tactic where they don’t want those people to organise and fire the persons leading the charge in the union. They may have a soft season but they definitely waited until the time was right to let go a lot of people. It’s just ridiculous. I call on the government to stand up in this situation. They have to have the courage to Youri Kemp make them fall in line.” The Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (BHMAWU), which falls under the Trade Union Congress (TUC) umbrella, has since 2009 been seeking to negotiate an industrial agreement. Last week, Sandals Royal Bahamian general manager Gary Williams and the resort’s financial controller, Ronnie Mirza, both appeared in a magistrate’s court for failing to negotiate with the union, unlawfully terminating several union executives and intimidating union executives. The men pleaded not guilty and were each granted $5,000 bail with one surety. TUC president Obie Ferguson has slammed the resort for its abrupt closure notice, noting that it was just days before the back-to-school period. It is understood that the all-inclusive Cable Beach property will be closing its doors on August 15 with plans to re-open on October See pg b3
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