business@tribunemedia.net
Friday, September 11, 2026
$ 6.95
$ 7.35
$ 6.95
Bimini bounces back but other marinas down 15% BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Big Game veteram hails holiday as ‘one of busiest seen in a long time’
A LONG-SERVING Bimini dock master yesterday hailed last weekend’s US Labour Day holiday as “one of the busiest I’ve seen for a long time” for the island’s marinas and hotels although other Bahamian boating destinations did not fare so well. Robbie Smith, a Bimini Big Game Club veteran of 36 years, attributed the strength of the year’s last US holiday weekend to the Government’s June 2026 boating fee and cruise permit reforms which both reduced costs and made The Bahamas more appealing for the Florida day-trippers and smaller vessels that comprise much of his island’s boating market. Asserting that the two newly-created cruising permit fee categories had “a big impact”, he added that the past weekend “reminded me of how Labour Day used to be years and years ago” with both marina berths and beds in short supply throughout
But ABM chief says other locations down, and ‘time to make the change’
Deltec defeats ‘negligence’ claim on £3.5m payments BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN bank has defeated a breach of contract and negligence claim brought by a foreign client over the allegedly “unauthorised” transfer or £3.5m from her account even though a Supreme Court judge found its “procedures were open to criticism”.
Justice Simone Fitzcharles, in a September 9, 2026, verdict, dismissed Irina Vladykina’s claim against Deltec Bank & Trust after finding she had failed to prove the Lyford Cay-based institution “breached its duty of reasonable care and skill” over two payments made from her account more than a decade aho. The judge also ruled there was a “sufficient objective basis” for Deltec to believe
Environmental bond hold-up over DEPP’s payment issue BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE $200M Rosewood Exuma developer has revealed it was unable to lodge the environmental bonds mandated by its permits because the Government’s regulator has yet to set-up the required payment infrastructure. Justice Leif Farquharson disclosed the hold-up in a verdict unveiled yesterday, in which he rejected the latest demand by the project’s chief opponents - the neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club and Yonder Holdings, the Over Yonder Cay developer - for the developer, Miami-based
Yntegra Group, and the Government to disclose further documents related to the project. Yntegra, not surprisingly, hailed the Supreme Court’s decision after Justice Farquharson branded some document requests “speculative”, adding that the rival resort developers’ requests were “peripheral to the centrally-pleaded cases” and “seemingly ignore the extremely fulsome record already before the court” before their substantive Judicial Review challenge to Rosewood Exuma’s environmental approvals is heard at month’s end. But Turtlegrass, whose principal is US investor
COURT - See Page B5
Employees demonstrate amid residents’ Bahama Rock fears BY ANNELIA NIXON TRIBUNE Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net BAHAMA Rock employees yesterday staged a public demonstration as Grand Bahama residents opposed to its proposed Freeport Harbour expansion accused it of using the imminent temporary lay-offs of 69 staff to pressure the Government into approving its project. The demonstration occurred after Bahama Rock confirmed that it will cease aggregate production on September 18 and
temporarily lay off its 69 hourly employees for up to 60 days from September 21, citing the depletion of its existing aggregate reserves and uncertainty over approvals to access a new source at the former 515-acre Bahamas Cement Company property. Residents in Eight Mile Rock and surrounding communities, however, questioned whether the impending job furloughs were being used to pressure the Government over the project, which has faced opposition over the feared
PROJECT - See Page B6
Mr Maury renewed calls for The Bahamas to reset its approach to a boating/yachting market that was buffeted by a series of fee hikes under the first Davis administration. Asserting that “it’s time to make the change”, the ABM president argued: “We need to bring The Bahamas back to the forefront of the yachting industry.” With this nation “losing market share” and tourists to rival Caribbean destinations, he urged this nation to “go back to where we started to make it easy” for visiting boaters while also resuming the post-Dorian “messaging” that The Bahamas is “open for business”.
the instructions authorising the transfers had come from Ms Vladykina’s authorised agent and representatives and, as a result, the so-called “waiver” clause in the account opening contract kicked-in to protect the bank. But, while branding as “imperfect” Deltec’s record-keeping and customer verification procedures, Justice Fitzcharles found that the documents and sequence of events leading to the two transactions meant the Supreme Court could not conclude the Bahamian institution “acted unreasonably in executing either transaction”. Ms Vladykina had opened an investment account at Deltec, together with her late mother, Serafina Vakula, on
$ 6.89
Airport’s hotel winner chosen before year-end 250-room LPIA resort set for end-month consultation NAD chief asserts: ‘The timing right to move forward’
Bahamas must ‘be everybody’s destination’, not send visitors elsewhere Bimini for those who failed to book in advance. However, Bimini’s upbeat US Labour Day performance did not appear to be matched on other Bahamian islands. Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business that business volumes at Bay Street Marina were down 10-15 percent against last year’s Labour Day weekend, and 30 percent off against comparisons from when the boating fees “were good”. Revealing that the sector is seeking a meeting with Glenys Hanna Martin, newly-appointed minister of tourism, so she can here its “pleas” to alter policy course,
$ 7.06
PETER MAURY Nassau was not the only location where Labour Day was less than robust. Lee Prosenjak, managing director at Valentine's Resort and Marina in Harbour Island, told this newspaper that the US holiday was typically “not a big day for us” and other Family Islands and his property’s boating numbers were “predictably soft”. Predicting that the full impact of the Government’s June 2026 boating fee changes will only start to become evident in December, when the winter season
Livery drivers to be relocated from cell phone wait site BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net
June 12, 2014. The account mandate allowed Deltec to act on instructions received from the client and their attorneys, with Julian Radford named as her contact if she was unavailable. Under a special power of attorney, the mother/daughter duo gave Gabarit International powers to act on their behalf to “invest the cash, securities and any other assets in the account in whatever investments as [Gabarit] shall think fit”. Two of Gabarit’s principals were Xavier Delattre and Jean-Pierre Ribes The dispute arose when Mr Delattre e-mailed Deltec employee Aisha Johnson on January 13, 2015, copying two
THE NASSAU Airport Development Company’s (NAD) top executive yesterVERNICE WALKINE day revealed it plans to conclude the process of selecting a developer for its proposed hotel before year-end 2026 with public consultation over the project’s environmental impact set for September 29. Vernice Walkine, the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) operator’s president and chief executive, in e-mailed replies to Tribune Business questions reiterated its belief that lack hotel room inventory growth on New Providence, coupled with still-buoyant tourism demand, ensures “the timing is right to move forward” with what is planned to be a 250room, mid-market priced, airport hotel. Speaking to the tender for selecting a developer for the hotel, billed as the “first” stage in NAD’s wider vision to create a larger business and economic hub centred on LPIA, she confirmed that the bidding process that was launched some 16 months ago in May 2025 is “still underway”. Ms Walkine, telling this newspaper that she and NAD executives remain under “confidentiality requirements” until this is completed, said: “We expect to conclude this process before the end of the year. This is an exciting project for NAD, and we believe it will have a meaningful positive social and economic impact on our destination… “We believe the timing is right to move forward with the airport hotel development, given the loss of hotel room inventory in recent years, the continued growth in tourist arrivals by air and sea, and the strong market
VERDICT - See Page B6
CONSTRUCT - See Page B4
SAILING - See Page B4