FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2016
business@tribunemedia.net
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Top investors lead Port Dept’s $5m debtor list By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Cruise lines owe thousands, taking 5 years to pay
The Port Department has been blasted for failing to collect almost $5 million in due revenues, with some of the Bahamas’ largest investors owing unpaid bills dating back to the last century. A newly-released Auditor General’s report, which examined the agency’s accounts over a two-year period to end-June 2016, expressed “great concern” over “weak internal controls” and its failure to enforce the law. The report, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, revealed that at end-June 2016
Atlantis marina said to owe $363k in annual fees Auditor General slams non-enforcement, controls some $3.868 million in annual fees and tariffs for services provided by the Port Department had not been collected in New
Providence or the Family Islands. And a further $921,390 in due revenues was outstanding at Potter’s Cay, with the monies due including pierage fees for mailboats and fishing vessels, plus water provided by the Port Department. The Auditor General’s report also disclosed that some of the Bahamas’ largest, and wealthiest, foreign investors were among the Port Department’s greatest debtors. The Atlantis marina was shown as owing some $363,837 in annual fees, with part of this debt dating back almost two decades to 1998 - when Kerzner International still owned the
property. And the world’s two leading cruise lines, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, owe the Port Department some $628,284 for water supplied to them at Prince George Wharf. Some of these debts date back to 2010, with the cruise lines’ accounting for 86.5 per cent of the total $725,535 owed for water usage at the Bahamas’ main cruise port. “As a result of our examination of the accounting record, we noted that outstanding amounts continue to increase,” the Auditor General’s report said. “We were advised by the See pg b4
Employment may ‘slightly improve’ after Matthew By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Baha Mar development.
‘Low hanging fruit’ to receive $8-$10m Baha Mar payout By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Payments start for 150200 Bahamian creditors
Baha Mar’s creditor payout committee yesterday estimated that up to 200 Bahamian companies will receive a collective $8-$10 million, as it begins cheque distributions to more “low hanging fruit”. See pg b5
Companies owed $500k or less set to benefit Payout committee ‘right on target’ for year-end finish
Key industries to get ‘more flexibility’ on foreign capital access By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Certain industries will be given “more flexibility” than others to raise financing from foreign sources should the Central Bank’s latest proposed exchange control relaxations be approved, its Governor said yesterday. John Rolle, while not naming these sectors, indicated that they would be those playing key roles in the Bahamas’ national development, and/or having significant potential to earn foreign currency. He confirmed to Tribune Business that the latest measures being eyed by the Central Bank were designed to boost economic (GDP) and business growth by improving Bahamian firms’ ease of access to credit. “We do not want to prejudge the outcome,” Mr Rolle told this newspaper via e-mail of the latest proposed liberalisation measures. “However, the expectations is that some sectors more than others would be given more flexibility to raise financing outside the Bahamas or in foreign currency (from local sources), provided the activities are also aligning with our national development goals or would enhance our ability to earn net foreign ex-
Exchange control reforms to aid growth, funding Private sector lending down $51.5m year-to-date Central Bank seeking data to bolster case
John Rolle change. “We are also keeping an open mind as to how our commercial banks could be involved in any reformed outcomes.” Tribune Business reported yesterday how the Central Bank is eyeing further exchange control liberalisation measures that would allow Bahamian companies to obtain capital and See pg b6
The Central Bank of the Bahamas yesterday gave a mixed short-term outlook for the Bahamian economy post-Hurricane Matthew, predicting that employment may “slightly improve” even though the tourism industry will be “below trend” in the Christmas run-up. The regulator, in an analysis prepared by its research department, suggested that the Category Four storm’s impact on the 12.7 per cent unemployment rate depends on whether construction industry activity offsets reduced tourism jobs. Noting that the Department of Labour is currently preparing its November Labour Force survey, the Central Bank said: “Employment should be stable to slightly improved due to construction labour demand.
Central Bank sees construction offset to tourism Banks foreign currency purchases fall 25% Reinsurers meet $200m, or 50%, of insured losses “Results will be influenced by the large increase in demand for construction workers for building repair activities. Temporary underemployment will, however, persist in the resort sector in Grand Bahama.” The Central Bank also warned that “skills shortages could surface” in the construction industry, “given the significant volume of repair See pg b5
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Minister admits Small Homes surveyor did ‘not produce’ properly And contractors not required to show proficiency Public Accounts minority back key FNM findings Brand China Ambassador’s conflict as ‘moot’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A Cabinet Minister has admitted that the company hired to oversee Urban Renewal’s $3.2 million Small Homes repair project was out of its depth, and that there were minimal qualifications required from contractors. The Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) minority report on the programme, while intended to rebut the findings of its FNM majority, actually backed up several of the latter’s key findings when it came to project oversight and contractor quality. The minority report, presented by Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, conceded that CCMG Consulting, the quantity surveyor hired to oversee the Small Homes project, found the task “stressful and daunting”. The document, tabled in the House of Assembly, said the hiring of CCMG and its principal, Lisa Tucker, was approved by Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis “after the Ministry of Works and Housing advised that they could not assist with providing a quantity surveyor or building inspectors”. The PAC minority report, produced by governing party members, Mr Gibson and Ryan Pinder, the Elizabeth MP, said “two professional quantity surveyors” were employed by CCMG. However, the minority duo then conceded: “CCMG found the workload heavier than expected, and the urgency for certificates of completion, stressful and daunting. “The [Urban Renewal] Commission realised it needed an in-house quantity surveyor as CCMG was not producing as expected, and engaged Randolph John to fulfill that role in August.” Messrs Gibson and Pinder do not provide a date for Mr John’s hiring, and their See pg b4