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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2024
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Port operator’s $1m stake in electricity grid company
DPM’s insurer pursues ex-MP on $132,000 unpaid mortgage
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• But BAF’s ‘third party debt Order’ bid fails • Move branded ‘irregular and speculative’ • Peet: ‘All efforts being made’ for resolution
THE Nassau Container Port’s operator yesterday revealed it has acquired a $1m ownership interest in the entity that controls New Providence’s electricity grid after itself surviving a ransomware attack in April 2024. BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company (APD), unveiling its audited financial statements for the 12 months to end-June 2024, disclosed to investors that it acquired 50,000 common or equity shares in Bahamas Grid Company on July 17, 2024. The purchase was made as part of Bahamas Grid Company’s raising $30m in equity capital from targeted institutional and high net worth investors via private placement, and thus gives APD - which is 20 percent owned by Bahamian shareholders, with the reminder split 40/40
• BISX-listed APD expands energy reform investments • After surviving ransomware attack that drove it manual • Firm: No ransom paid, ‘minimal’ disruption for 2 weeks
NASSAU CONTAINER PORT between the Government and shipping industry - a further direct ownership stake in the Government’s energy reform drive.
“On July 17, 2024, after the end of the reporting period, the company acquired 50,000 common shares in Bahamas Grid
Company for a total consideration of $1m,” APD’s 2024 financial statements said. “While this transaction occurred after the reporting date, it does not affect the financial position or performance of the company for the year ended June 30, 2024. The acquisition will be recognised in the subsequent fiscal period.” Disclosure of the Bahamas Grid Company interest means that APD now has confirmed equity ownership in two entities at the heart of the Davis administration’s energy reforms. Besides its stake in the company that controls New Providence’s electricity grid, and which is 60 percent majority owned by the private sector, it is also involved in the project to supply shore power to cruise ships docked at Nassau Cruise Port.
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Apprenticeship ‘five-star priority’ with 19% youth unemployment By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas must treat the National Apprenticeship Programme’s launch as “a five-star priority” with almost one in five young citizens still unable to find work, a labour specialist urged yesterday. Peter Goudie, who heads the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour
division and represents the private sector on the National Tripartite Council, told Tribune Business he “hasn’t heard anything” about the start of a muchtouted initiative that aims to make a significant dent in the 19 percent jobless rate among Bahamians aged between 15 to 24 years-old. The Ministry of Labour and Public Service, in a statement issued yesterday, hailed the 8.7 percent national unemployment
rate at end-June 2024 as “the lowest in 16 years” and argued it is further proof that the Davis administration’s economic policies, attraction of “more than $10bn in new investments”, and training and ‘Bahamianisation’ drive are working. However, Mr Goudie, while joining the Government in welcoming the reduced 2024 unemployment rate, which compared
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN insurer’s bid to enforce payment of an unpaid $132,000 mortgage debt owed by a former Cabinet minister has been rejected by the Supreme Court as “irregular and speculative”. BAF Financial, whose principal owners include deputy prime minister, Chester Cooper, had sought what is known as a “third party debt Order” mandating that The Bahamas’ six commercial banks along with two credit unions pay it the sum allegedly owed by attorney and ex-PLP MP, Vincent Peet, and T. R. Management Ltd. However, the move was emphatically dismissed by Jonathan Deal, the Supreme Court’s assistant registrar. He ruled that BAF Financial & Insurance (Bahamas), the former British American Insurance Company of The Bahamas,
had supplied no evidence to prove any of the financial institutions held assets/ funds owned by Mr Peet and T. R. Management or that they themselves owed money to the former minister. Mr Peet, who initially served as minister of labour and Immigration in the first Christie administration from 2002-2007, before being switched to minister of financial services and investments, last night conceded to Tribune Business that “all efforts are being made” to settle the dispute and pay BAF Financial what it is due. The former MP for North Andros and the Berry Islands told this newspaper: “That’s an outstanding mortgage that was taken out and partially paid. As you would have seen, there was a judgment for the balance of it. It would have been a residential mortgage.
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PETER GOUDIE
Watchdog recovers $117,000 to help aggrieved consumers By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net CONSUMER protection regulators yesterday asserted they have recovered more than $117,000 over the past year for aggrieved Bahamians who believe merchants violated their rights. Alfred Taylor, the Consumer Protection Commission’s deputy complaints manager, said the regulator receives on average around 35 complains
SENATOR RANDY ROLLE per month from consumers who believe they have been sold defective or shoddy products, or that
businesses have exploited them and failed to deliver what was promised. Disclosing that fines “should not exceed $5,000 when providers are found in breach of consumer rights”, he said that from September 2023 to now he believes the Commission has gained more than $117,000 in refunds from merchants. Senator Randy Rolle, the Commission’s executive chairman, announced it “intends to leverage existing laws to compel retailers to improve their
products practices”. He added: “To address these violations, we intend to leverage existing laws to compel retailers to improve their practices. “We are also recommending to government through our minister [Michael Halkitis] to establish fixed penalties creating a more straightforward process for imposing fines on those who violate these standards. What the consumer infers from these findings is that retailers
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