business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2022
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Long Island cruise port build-out to hit $500m By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE developer behind the planned Long Island cruise port has committed to employing a workforce that is a minimum 80 percent Bahamian for a project where the total investment could exceed $500m. A spokesperson for the Calypso Cove development, whose principals signed a Heads of Agreement with the Government last week, told Tribune Business the ultimate spend could easily double the announced $250m which covers land acquisition costs and infrastructure build-out. Equipment, labour (wages) and construction materials costs would be what takes that to $500m. They added that, besides committing to a workforce that is at least 80 percent Bahamian, the project’s principals - Sherif Assal and
• Calypso Cove pledges 80% minimum Bahamian workforce • And promises to put Long Island first; drive ‘repopulation’ • Crown Land purchase only after $100m directly invested
CALYPSO VILLAGE
Carlos Torres de Navarra have also agreed to put Long Island residents first when it comes to jobs and hiring. Using a sliding preference scale, existing residents will be called first, with Long Island descendants getting the second go before the project casts its net wider to all Bahamians. Pledging that Calypso Cove, which is being billed as a “six star” independent cruise terminal and stopover tourism destination, will not be operated as a private island location that excludes Bahamians, the spokesperson told this newspaper that it will rely heavily on Long Island’s people and authentic local experiences to differentiate it from rival facilities. Some 120 construction posts, as well as contractors, will be needed once building starts. Explaining the economic and business rationale for
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Pharmacists ‘blindsided’ over Gov’t price control By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) president yesterday revealed the industry has been “blindsided” by the Government’s imposition of price-controlled mark-ups that could force smaller operators to close. Shantia McBride told Tribune Business that here
members do not support the Davis administration’s move as it bids to counter soaring inflation and a cost of living crisis, and the Association plans to “reach out to the Government respectfully” in a bid to achieve a “compromise” on the matter. “There has been no consultation with our stakeholders on any level, because there’s a Pharmacy Council. If they wished for recommendations
to have been made, they could have come straight forward to the Association. They could have come to me and I would have directed them to our representatives on this price control,” she said. “Not every pharmacy is a large-scale pharmacy. We have some small pharmacies around and therefore these price controls across the board can’t work.”
The Price Control (Drugs) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, which are due to take effect on Monday, October 17, and remain in place for at least three months until January 17, 2023 - although they could be extended for longer - impose price-controlled mark-ups ranging from 15 percent to 18 percent on pharmaceutical wholesalers. For
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Proven competition: Jamaica group targets Bahamas move By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN financial providers were yesterday told to “prepare themselves” for increased competition after a prominent Jamaican group with over $1bn in total assets unveiled plans to establish a physical presence here. Proven Group Ltd, which is supplying the $20m financing for the Government’s 365-lot Renaissance at Carmichael housing subdivision, told shareholders at its recent annual general meeting (AGM) that it has been “creeping into The Bahamas” and is now ready
to set up a “bricks and mortar” presence. Christoper Williams, president and chief executive of Proven Management, the entity that manages Proven Group, was quoted by Jamaican media as saying the company already has “a great relationship” with Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and his Cabinet ministers. “Within the three platforms, Proven Wealth Jamaica is well-known, well-established and has been creeping into The Bahamas. So, we have been flying in, building relationships and we’re looking now to establish brick and mortar on the ground in
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Gov’t intervention call at GB Power By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Government was yesterday urged to intervene over several labour-related grievances involving Grand Bahama Power Company after a trade union leader threatened to seek a “further course of redress”. Roscoe Burrows, the Commonwealth Electrical Workers Union’s (CEWU) president, did not specify what this would involve in a statement to Tribune Business as he cited three disputed terminations at Grand Bahama’s energy monopoly - the last
of which occurred just over a week ago on October 6, 2022. “Another member was wrongfully dismissed most recently on October 6, 2022, without cause or reason once again despite the previous cases being before the courts,” he asserted. The other two previous dismissals of union members occurred on November 27, 2020, and February 12, 2021, with the former currently before the Labour Board. Mr Burrows added that the second was being appealed by GB Power
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Food stores ‘up in arms’ on price control details • Fears 25% across-board mark-up will ‘devastate’ • And four days not sufficient for orderly transition • Say list way larger than 38 products stipulated By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FOOD stores throughout The Bahamas were yesterday said to be “up in arms” over the details of the Government’s expanded price control regime amid fears it will “devastate” the industry and jobs for hundreds of workers. Philip Beneby, the Retail Grocers Association’s president, told Tribune Business the 25 percent across-the-board mark-up that the Davis administration is applying to the targeted 38 product lines is “not enough to survive” for many retailers. And, with the changes due to take effect from Monday, October 17, he added that the four days granted to the industry to adjust pricing on both store shelves and electronic point-of-sale systems was simply insufficient to facilitate a smooth, orderly transition. Mr Beneby told this newspaper that food stores are instead now facing the prospect of incurring extra losses, as they will have to sell existing inventories for those goods that are not presently price controlled - but will be come October 17 - at the new, lower government-imposed mark-up instead of the higher gross margin previously anticipated. Disclosing that no merchant had been consulted on the impact prior to the Prime Minister disclosing the changes in his Tuesday evening national address, the Association president warned that the fall-out could impact the Government’s own tax income if stores were forced to close or cut back on operations as a result. Confirming that grocers across The Bahamas are voicing the same concerns and fears, Mr Beneby said former FNM MP for North Eleuthera, Ricky Mackey, who owns a food store, had also discussed the price control controversy with him yesterday.
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