business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2023
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Residents ‘adamantly’ oppose resort’s West Bay expansion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net RESIDENTS in two western New Providence communities are “adamant” a hotel should not be given permission to re-zone a West Bay Street property as “commercial” so it can develop a grocery store, cafe and other amenities. Homeowners in Tropical Gardens and Gambier Heights have both submitted petitions to the Department of Physical Planning urging the authorities to reject the application by A Stone’s Throw Away, a resort property that is part of the Enthusiast Hotel Collection owned by former Paradise Cruise Line chief executive, Oneil Khosa.
t 8FTU /FX 1SPWJEFODF DPNNVOJUJFT VSHF SF [POF SFKFDUJPO t 'FBS DBGF nPSJTU HSPDFSZ TUPSF QMBO XJMM XPSTFO QSPCMFNT t A8BMMT MJUFSBMMZ TIBLF GSPN " 4UPOF T 5ISPX "XBZ NVTJD Describing the existing resort as a “nuisance” to the community and nearby residents, with music that “literally shakes the walls of our homes” during functions, homeowners fear approving its expansion will only worsen traffic congestion and the
lack of available parking; increase the volume of trash and pollution they have to deal with; and produce an “uptick in crime” by drawing undesirables to the area.
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ArawakX blames BOB ‘mislabel’ for fund commingling allegation By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS’ first-ever crowdfunding platform is alleging that the “mislabeling” of its accounts by a BISX-listed bank created the “prejudicial impression” that it was commingling investor/client funds with its own. Documents filed by ArawakX, in its bid to fend-off the Securities Commission’s attempt to have the Supreme Court order its winding-up, allege that Bank of the Bahamas incorrectly described payments into its fiduciary accounts as ‘payroll’ rather than ‘credits’.
D’ARCY RAHMING SNR Fiduciary accounts are typically used by multiple forms of financial services providers, including attorneys, to fold funds and assets that belong to clients and keep them separate from those of the company.
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ArawakX: Our ‘$70m pipeline’ is neglected By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ARAWAKX’S chairman is asserting that regulators are placing too much emphasis on “accounting law” and ignoring “pipeline” business that could be worth up to $7m in fee income for the platform. D’Arcy Rahming senior, also the crowd-funding platform’s chief executive, argued that the Securities Commission is “not recognising the operating side” of its business and the market it has built amid its ongoing bid for a Supreme Court
order that will authorise the company’s winding-up. The capital markets regulator has accused The Bahamas’ first-ever crowd-funding platform of having a solvency deficiency worth “at least $2.4m”, while also charging it with “governance irregularities, regulatory breaches and possible criminal infractions”. Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, has also argued that these woes are sufficiently “insurmountable” to justify ArawakX’s winding-up amid allegations
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Bahamas can’t pay $4bn costs for climate change By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS cannot afford the $4bn required to meet its pledged climate change targets without international financial, technology and other “capacity-building” support, it has admitted. The nation, in its updated nationally-determined contribution (NDC) that sets out the goals and road map for how it will meet the climate change mitigation measures it signed up to in the 2015 Paris Agreement, warned it simply cannot cover these costs while striving to also fulfill its economic and social “development agenda”. “The mitigation and adaptation targets presented in the updated NDC are contingent upon receiving international support for technology transfer, capacity-building and financial resources, including through the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Adaptation Fund (AF),
multilateral and bilateral agreements and the local private sector,” The Bahamas warned. “The indicative cost for The Bahamas’ identified NDC measures through 2030 is in excess of $4,000 million for mitigation and adaptation actions. The exact cost for these activities will be further developed over the next few years. As a result of low international ambition for mitigation as well as still very high subsidies for financing of carbon intensive activities, the cost of adaptation is expected to continue to increase and even go beyond the ability of certain sectors to adapt. “The Bahamas is not able to pay for the incremental cost of adaptation and mitigation while supporting the development agenda of the country.” The disclosure comes as The Bahamas hosts the Climate Finance in the Americas summit at Atlantis over the next several
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