WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
business@tribunemedia.net
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‘Agents’ pledged PM help for LOI group By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Government “agents” allegedly promised the group at the centre of the Renward Wells’ Letter of Intent (LOI) controversy that the Prime Minister would arrange a $40 million guarantee for them, adding: “We hold the key to the kingdom.” Stellar Energy, in legal documents detailing its claim for $727.364 million in damages, alleged that ex-Cabinet minister, Algernon Allen, and businessman Frank Forbes, “were irrefutably agents acting” on the Government’s behalf in See pg b4
Allen, ‘chairman’ said PM to aid $40m guarantee Stellar: ‘Clear Govt intent to sabotage’ project Well-known QC drafted Wells LOI; ‘forced’ on group
Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells
Financier had ‘close connections’ to DPM
Exuma Chamber chief Building supplier calls fearing ‘one-two year’ police amid Matthew rush setback from Matthew By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Exuma’s economy could be “set back a year or two” if Hurricane Matthew scores a direct hit on the island, its Chamber of Commerce president said yesterday. Pedro Rolle told Tribune Business that the Category Four storm’s emergence, and projected path, were “devastating” timing for Exuma, given that it coincided with the start of the island’s winter second home/tourism season. “Generally speaking, I think it really can be devastating,” he said of Matthew’s potential impact. “This is about the time of year when a lot of people make a lot of money in Exuma from second homes. “We have a lot of people that come and visit now. Whether it hits or not, the effects of the hurricane are potentially significant in terms of what it can do to our economy for second homeowners and visitors
Timing ‘devastating’ for island’s visitor economy Coincides with second home return, homecoming coming in, not to mention the disruption caused for residents already there. “I am a little bit worried about it, to be honest with you.” Mr Rolle added that local events, such as the Mount Thompson homecoming scheduled for this holiday weekend, have also been disrupted by postponements and cancellations as a result of Matthew. “It was planned to be a significant event, as all the renovations for the community centre have been completed, and there was a huge amount of people coming from Nassau; big families,” the See pg b6
Regulator backs NewCo on 25% higher charges for termination By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Regulators have backed the new mobile operator’s argument that it should be allowed to charge “asymmetrical” call termination rates that are 25 per cent higher than the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) over the short-term. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in unveiling the results statement on NewCo 2015’s significant market power (SMP) on call termination, agreed to the new market entrant’s request despite BTC’s opposition and call for matching charges. Acknowledging that the evidence could be used to support both companies’ arguments, URCA based its decision on NewCo2015’s requirement to gain “efficient scale” and achieve 1520 percent market share. “URCA preliminarily concluded that from the various potential justifications for asymmetric mobile rates, only the need to achieve an efficient scale seemed applicable to New-
URCA rejects opposing arguments from BTC But ‘asymmetry’ to only last until NewCo gains scale ‘Efficient’ benchmark set at 15-20% market share Co,” it found. “URCA remains of the view that NewCo is likely to require time to establish itself, and to reach the 15-20 per cent minimum market share threshold for an efficient scale. “During this interim period, NewCo is likely to face higher unit (Long Run Average Incremental Cost) termination costs than its longer run efficient level of termination costs. As such, URCA sees merits in allowing NewCo to temporarily set termination rates See pg b5
By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
A well-known building supply firm was yesterday forced to call the police to address a severe traffic back-up on Prince Charles Drive, after experiencing its typical prehurricane sales rush. Adam Darville, Pinder Enterprises’ general manager, told Tribune Business: “It’s been very busy. We had to call the police to come and sort out the traffic situation. We have got it pretty much under control now. “The rush started since Monday; all day Monday and all day again Tuesday. People are coming mainly for plywood and lumber, as well as all the stuff that goes with that; nails and screws, very little of anything else.” Mr Darville said that depending on the weather, Pinder Enterprises will open today to accommodate customers. “Our other location, Pinder Tile, won’t be open on Wednesday, but
the Enterprise locality we will be openas long as weather permits. It’s an unpredictable storm,” he added. Mr Darville said Pinder Enterprises has seen this type of customer traffic before. “It isn’t the first time,” he added. “Plywood sales are the biggest part of our business. We have pretty much the best prices in town. Every hurricane is very busy for us. This is not anything new for us.” Other lumber distributors and building supply stores told Tribune Business earlier this week that they had seen a pick-up in business due to a spike in plywood sales ahead of Hurricane Matthew. Raymond Collins, manager at Tops Lumber Yard, told Tribune Business yesterday: “We have been pretty busy with plywood sales. It has been a steady flow of traffic. It started a bit on Saturday but today has been pretty busy.” Matthew, is a powerful category four hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, with higher gusts. The storm is expected to move north across the See pg b4
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Bahamas’ failure ‘to save for rainy day’ bites back DNA chief: No ‘fiscal headroom’ for Matthew Fears storm will place economy at ‘standstill’ Country yet to recover from 2008 recession By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Bahamas’ inability to “save for a rainy day” could come back to haunt it if Hurricane Matthew proves as devastating as forecast, the Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader told Tribune Business yesterday. Branville McCartney said that with a total public sector debt of $7.64 billion, a sum equivalent to 90 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the Government lacked the ‘fiscal headroom’ to properly respond if the Category Four storm inflicts severe damage on public infrastructure and society at large. “I think that goes without saying,” the DNA leader responded, when asked by this newspaper whether he was concerned Branville that the Bahamas McCartney lacked the borrowing capability to react in Matthew’s aftermath. “Where we are, our fiscal position is tenuous. It is not good. It’s almost like it could be equated to not saving for a rainy day, and it’s raining. It’s raining and we’ve not saved.” While the cost, time and hardship associated with Matthew’s recovery depends on how much damage the hurricane inflicts across the Bahamas, Mr McCartney said this nation might have to look beyond the multilateral lending institutions “if the worst case scenario materialises”. While seeking financial assistance from the likes of the Inter-American See pg b5
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