FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
business@tribunemedia.net
$3.78
$4.19
$4.19
$4.01
Bahamas total debt over 90% of GDP
Attorney sets out ties to high unemployment, crime
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Complete public sector liabilities some $7.6bn
Govt ‘screaming for’ accountability, transparency
Bahamas in ‘very, very dark position’
Fears ‘shell game’ over devaluation prospect
The Bahamas was yesterday said to be “in a very, very dark position” after the Central Bank revealed that total public sector debt was a mammoth $7.604 billion, a sum equivalent to more than 90 per cent of national economic output (GDP). The revelation, based on official data from the regulator and the Government’s Department of Statistics, gives a complete picture of the Bahamas’ debt crisis by including public corporation liabilities that have not been guaranteed by the central
ORG chief’s ‘empty feeling in my stomach’ government. The data is laid out in the Central Bank’s review of the 2016 second quarter, which revealed that total public sector debt increased by more than $1 See pg b6
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Central Bank of The Bahamas
Attorney: BOB debacle AML: $14m spend shows governance rule aids ‘neighbourhood enforcement ‘selective’ store’ strategy switch By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Bank of the Bahamas’ continued existence shows that the Central Bank’s application of its corporate governance guidelines is selective and “arbitrary”, a wellknown attorney said yesterday. Carey Leonard, the former Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) in-house attorney, questioned why no one had been held accountable for the BISX-listed institution’s collective $120 million in losses over the past three years. Addressing a Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) seminar in Freeport, Mr Leonard also queried why Bank of the Bahamas had been allowed to continue operating despite being in persistent breach of several key Central Bank capital ratios. He pointed to the Bank of the Bahamas situation as evidence of the Central Bank’s failure to enforce its
Queries why Central Bank allowing it to operate No one held accountable for $120m total losses Taxpayer loses ‘millions and millions and millions’ corporate governance guidelines, and not hold its licensee’s Board of Directors and management accountable for what led to a $100 million ‘bail out’ underwritten by the Bahamian taxpayer. Quoting from a 2012 presentation given to the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers (BACO) by Cassandra Nottage, deputy head of supervision at the Central See pg b6
Chinese labour won’t ‘ruffle feathers’ over Baha Mar completion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The importation of hundreds of Chinese workers to complete Baha Mar is unlikely to “ruffle anyone’s feathers”, a former Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president said yesterday, adding: “No point in crying over spilt milk.” Stephen Wrinkle told Tribune Business that Bahamian contractors were not “getting too worked up” about the re-hiring of China Construction America (CCA) as Baha Mar’s general contractor, with many happy to be paid the collective $74 million that the industry is owed. “I don’t think anyone is too worked up about who does the work. The major concern is to get it done and get it open,” he said. “I think that we’ll find that the scope of works is significantly more than was anticipated.” There were suggestions that CCA’s importation of Chinese labour, and the number of work permits required, was likely to cause a surprise and consternation in some quarters. However, Mr Wrinkle said no one could be shocked, given that the original Baha Mar Heads of Agreement permitted the engagement of thousands of Chinese workers. And it now ought to be common knowledge that where Chinese investment is involved, Chinese labour and materials soon follow, and are key
Ex-BCA chief: ‘Can’t cry over spilt milk’ Sarkis ally: Good luck in dealing with CCA Queries North America expertise of new owner
Stephen Wrinkle parts of the deal. “There were thousands here to begin with, so several hundred are not going to ruffle anyone’s feathers,” Mr Wrinkle told Tribune Business of the Chinese workers. “There’s no point in crying over spilt milk and looking back. If anyone got money out of CCA, it’s a blessing; it seldom happens. See pg b7
No Govt governance leaves nation facing ‘financial disaster’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
AML Foods yesterday continued its transition away from the “mega destination store” model with the groundbreaking for its $14 million Solomon’s Yamacraw property, its chairman saying he was “very bullish” on the company’s prospects. Dionisio D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that the BISX-listed food retail and franchise group felt a “more neighbourhood store” model would “serve us better” in generating future growth. Emphasising that the group’s two New Providence-based Solomon’s Fresh Market stores, and Solomon’s Lucaya in Freeport, represented the first steps in this strategy when opened in 2011-2012, Mr D’Aguilar said they had been “the engine” for AML
BISX-listed group targets 35-40,000 sq ft sites Store ownership ‘controls our destiny’ Chairman: Consumers ‘yearning’ for better stores Foods’ consistent profitability over the past five years. As a result, the publicly listed company is moving away from the 80,000-90,000 square foot ‘destination stores’ that characterised its early years, See pg b5
The complete absence of effective corporate governance within the Government “is solely responsible for the financially disastrous situation” the Bahamas now faces, a well-known attorney charged yesterday. Carey Leonard, the former Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) in-house lawyer, urged the Bahamas to immediately implement a proper corporate governance culture, and appropriate oversight mechanisms, within the public sector to prevent this country suffering further rating downgrades and a currency devaluation. Addressing a Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) conference in Freeport, Mr Leonard said the nation’s high crime and unemployment Carey Leonard levels, plus low educational achievement, could be traced directly to the lack of transparency and accountability in government. Now a Callenders & Co attorney, he argued that “compliance with corporate governance is lacking in almost every area” in the Bahamas, both in theory and the practical application. “This brings me to the area that no one seems to discuss, but is now screaming for corporate governance; the area that is completely out of control because it has absolutely no corporate governance whatsoever, and is solely responsible for the financially disastrous state that this See pg b4