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TAINO BRIDGE Governor: Bahamians fully BOND CALL ON PORT’S ‘LESS covered on banking failures THAN STELLAR’ UPKEEP By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor says planned legal reforms will boost Bahamian consumer confidence that they will receive “swift payouts of all insured deposits” should their bank collapse into insolvency. John Rolle, in a series of e-mailed replies to Tribune Business questions, revealed that proposed changes to the Protection of Depositors Act will create “dedicated back-up funding” for the Deposit Insurance Corporation and provide it with “greater liquidity” should it ever be called upon to compensate Bahamians if their banking institution fails and they are unable to access their money. He added that the “back-up” regime, besides ensuring rapid payouts of all insured deposits, will also prevent the Deposit Insurance Corporation from “exhausting” reserves that stood at $101.5m at year-end 2024. Its creation will thus generate an added layer of protection that gives Bahamian depositors greater confidence there financial well-being is protected should the worst occur. “Establishing a back-up funding regime for the deposit insurance
Reforms ‘confidence-enhancing’ for domestic financial stability scheme is confidence-enhancing domestic financial stability,” Mr Rolle told this newspaper. “This provides assurances that the Deposit Insurance Corporation will be able to make all payouts of insured deposits swiftly without running short of liquidity and without exhausting the Deposit Insurance Fund in any single payout. “At all times, the Deposit Insurance Corporation also needs to be able to maintain positive reserves, even ever after claims payouts. Having back-up funding satisfies this requirement. Of course, by law the Deposit Insurance Corporation would be able to levy an assessment on the member institutions to repay any borrowed resources.” The Central Bank, in unveiling its regulatory reforms package, said the changes were designed “to strengthen the framework and operational capacity of the Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) by ensuring that Bahamian depositors are always protected, irrespective of the financial balance in the Corporation’s fund”. It reiterated: “This will facilitate
confidence in financial institutions, the absence of which may lead to preemptive runs on weak but otherwise solvent institutions. To achieve this, the draft legislation would make provision for the Corporation to have access to a dedicated, pre-arranged back-up funding arrangement with the Central Bank that is sufficient to meet liquidity needs. “These emergency funds would be supported by government guarantees and repaid to the Central Bank.” Section 15 in the Protection of Depositors Act is to be changed to establish an emergency back-up funding facility financed by funds borrowed from the Central Bank and guaranteed by the Government. The Central Bank governor, explaining the intent by the planned changes to the Act and its accompanying regulations, told Tribune Business: “Reforms to the deposit insurance regime, and for the Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC), would COVERED - SEE PAGE NINE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A PROMINENT attorney is calling for the Grand Bahama Port Authority and its affiliates to guarantee the Taino Beach bridge’s rebuilding by posting a bond due to their “less than stellar” upkeep of Freeport. Terence Gape, a Freeport-based partner at the Dupuch & Turnquest law firm, in an October 10, 2025, letter argued that the bridge’s fate represents “a litmus test” of whether the city’s quasigovernmental authority and its affiliates have the financial and administrative capacity to fulfill their Hawksbill Creek Agreement obligations to properly maintain the Port area and its infrastructure. Writing to Charisse Brown, chief executive of both the Grand Bahama
Development Company (DevCO) and Lucaya Service Company (LUSCO), he cited the “abdication” of the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) responsibility for the island’s airport, and the condition of Freeport’s roads, bridges, waterways, canal entrances and water supply, to back his argument it has “been neglecting their duty”. And, signalling his backing for the Davis administration’s arbitration push as a means to make the Port area “administratively a part of The Bahamas once again, Mr Gape asserted that Freeport and Grand Bahama “remain the last chance for significant economic growth in the country for the short and long-term given [their] available infrastructure and land mass”. The well-known legal advocate, in a letter GUARANTEE - SEE PAGE FIVE
NAD ‘HOISTED BY OWN PETARD’ ABACO PORT’S WORK LAUNCH TO OVER POLITICAL FIRESTORM LEASE END ‘OVER-SHADOWING THREAT’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU Airport Development Company (NAD) violated its duty to deal “in good faith” with a prominent businesswoman over renewing a restaurant lease formerly embroiled in a political firestorm. Justice Loren Klein, in a September 28, 2025, verdict awarded Patricia Mortimer and her Patmor Group of Companies unspecified damages after finding that Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) operator was “hoisted by their petards” over how it handled negotiations for the renewal of one of the
three leases she held. However, he refused to issue an Order for “specific performance” mandating that NAD consider extending the disputed lease and declared that “there is no clear victor in this matter”. And, while Justice Klein granted Ms Mortimer and her companies a temporary injunction “to prevent interference” with the lease prior to a full trial, he suggested this was moot because the two sides are still negotiating. The judge also declined Ms Mortimer’s request for a declaration that the April 1, 2007, “transfer agreement”, which saw the Airport Authority transfer operational responsibility
for LPIA to NAD, was illegal or invalid “as this has not been established as a matter of fact or law”. He added that she was not able to seek such a declaration based on her case before the Supreme Court. As to the disputed lease, Justice Klein found that NAD’s defence was based on terms that were overridden - and replaced - by a deed of settlement that it agreed with Ms Mortimer and her companies on March 3, 2017, to address the multi-million dollar rental arrears that the latter had accumulated on their retail and restaurant operations in the US departures terminal. TENANT - SEE PAGE SIX
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN EX-ABACO Chamber of Commerce chief is hailing as “about bloody time” today’s promised start on upgrades to Marsh Harbour’s port given the “threat over-shadowing our existence”. Daphne DeGregoryMiaoulis, speaking after the Ministry of Energy and Transport yesterday announced its partnership with the US embassy will see improvements to the commercial shipping facility begin today, told Tribune Business the work is critical to bringing it into compliance with
GRID OPERATOR TARGETING STAFF QUADRUPLE TO 150 IN TWO YEARS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE company formed to overhaul New Providence’s energy grid is aiming to ramp up to a 150-strong workforce within the next two years as it bids to construct its headquarters complex by 2027. Bahamas Grid Company, in e-mailed replies to Tribune Business questions, said it plans to ultimately near-quadruple its existing workforce having filled 40 posts during its first six months in operation with Bahamian staff accounting for just under two-thirds or 63 percent of those employed. “Bahamas Grid Company has created and filled over 40 jobs with a planned workforce of 150 within the next 18-24 months,” the majority private-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV), which has been financed by a
$130m mix of debt and equity funding, revealed. The company, which has an initial 25-year deal to manage and upgrade New Providence’s electricity grid, added that it plans to establish a permanent head office in south-west New Providence over the next two years. “The current Bahamas Grid Company office is located on the west side of New Providence, and it is a temporary space. Bahamas Grid Company is in the process of building a new headquarters on Frank Watson Boulevard, slated for completion in 2027,” the transmission and distribution (T&D) manager disclosed. Then, clarifying its relationship with Pike Electrical, Bahamas Grid Company said the North Carolina-based electrical services provider is “a subcontractor” supporting it on the first phase $130m New Providence grid upgrade. It has also been tasked with training Bahamas Grid Company
staff, including what it described as a “first for The Bahamas” - having local line workers work on live lines. “Pike is a sub-contractor that supports Bahamas Grid Company on the foundational grid upgrade project, and assists with maintenance and restoration efforts while also training local staff to eventually take over the job,” Bahamas Grid Company confirmed. “Our goal is to train up a team of local line workers who can do work on energised power lines, which will be a first for The Bahamas. Being able to work on energised power lines means that New Providence will have far fewer planned outages in the future, and maintenance times will be drastically reduced. “This is one of the skill sets that Pike has brought to the island, and is currently teaching young local workers to ELECTRICITY - SEE PAGE SEVEN
international regulations and preventing Abaco from being “cut-off”. This was also acknowledged by Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of energy and transport, who voiced optimism that teaming with the Nassaubased embassy and US government “will help us achieve full compliance with International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) measures” that were introduced worldwide following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Tribune Business previously revealed the Marsh Harbour port was struggling to comply with the ISPS regime in 2018, even before Hurricane Dorian
devastated the island and its major commercial shipping facility, and failure to meet these standards and pass the necessary inspections would result in US cargo vessels being barred from bringing goods directly to Abaco. The island’s private sector has long voiced fears that the failure to properly repair, and enhance, security and overall operations at the port post-Dorian has left Abaco exposed to such an outcome any moment. Should direct shipping be cut-off, businesses would be forced to import via Nassau and/or Freeport, adding further expense to already-high living costs CUT-OFF - SEE PAGE EIGHT