business@tribunemedia.net
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022
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‘New farming model’ to aid 57,000 trapped in poverty By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A “NEW food production model” will aid up to 57,000 poverty-stricken Bahamians through the location of ten hydroponic container farms “in poor and vulnerable communities”, it has been revealed. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in documents seen by Tribune Business, discloses that it is partnering with the Bahamian entrepreneurs behind BRON International and Eeden Farms, Lincoln Deal and Carlos Palacious, on an $800,000 initiative that is designed to combat “food insecurity” driven by rising prices and import dependency. Mr Palacious declined to comment when contacted by this newspaper, referring it to the IDB on the grounds that the project has yet to
• IDB teams with Eeden Farms duo on hydroponic roll-out • Ten farms to be based in ‘poor, vulnerable communities’ • Solar use to slash carbon emissions by 240,000 tonnes be approved. However, the papers obtained reveal that one of the project’s goals is that 50 percent (five) of the ten hydroponic container farms will be “women-led”. Messrs Deal and Palacious have been pioneering this form of farming in The Bahamas, which is seen as a critical counter to extreme weather and climate-related events plus the “high pH” or alkaline levels in the country’s soil which makes land unsuitable for commercial farming.
“The main objective of the project is to build the capacity of small farmers, particularly women, in vulnerability conditions in The Bahamas to migrate to a new food production model which is based on increasing energy conservation and strengthening the provision of food for at-risk communities,” the IDB paper said. “The project will produce a series of world-class, roboticsenabled, climate resilient and solar powered hydroponic container farms (stationed in
poor and vulnerable communities) that will produce fresh fruits, vegetables and organic leafy greens. “This technology has been tried, tested, and proven under the umbrella of Eeden Farms, and has produced thousands of pounds of fresh leafy greens which are currently being sold to the wider population. Eeden Farms currently has several key formal agreements with major hotels and restaurants in The Bahamas where they supply organic greens.” The use of solar energy to power the hydroponic container farms was billed as further reducing The Bahamas’ carbon footprint, while also building resilience and adaptability to climate change. “The locally produced organic produce will help improve food security in the country by making quality fresh produce available yearround even in the occurrence
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Bahamian bank, chair under US senate scrutiny on FTX By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN bank and trust company, and its chairman, are coming under increasing scrutiny by US senators over their links to FTX and other entities owned by the collapsed crypto currency exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith, in December 7, 2022, letters to US financial services regulators including Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, have raised multiple questions about the level of oversight applied to an $11.5m investment by Mr Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, in the country’s 26th smallest bank.
That bank, Farmington State Bank, which was subsequently renamed Moonstone Bank, is headed by Jean Chalopin, also chairman of Lyford Cay-based Deltec Bank & Trust. While there is nothing to suggest they have done anything wrong, senators Warren and Smith told Mr Powell that Moonstone and Deltec are just two financial institutions to come under
scrutiny over their ties to crypto currencies and digital assets following FTX’s implosion last month. The duo, voicing concern about growing ties between the traditional banking and crypto currency industries, focused on the $11.5m investment made by Alameda Research in Moonstone Bank, located in Washington
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‘We didn’t have $40m for fuel hedge trades’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE GOVERNMENT and Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) last year lacked the $40m in free cash needed to finance cutprice oil purchases that would have saved electricity consumers millions, it was argued yesterday. Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk publicly, told Tribune Business the cash-strapped position at both the Public Treasury and BPL when the Davis administration took office in September 2021 meant there was simply
no liquidity available to finance the acquisition of more below-market oil to further underpin BPL’s fuel hedge. While the Opposition has attacked the Government failure to execute the trades for costing Bahamian businesses and households more than $100m through higher electricity costs they did not have to incur, this newspaper was told that this does not account for the bigger picture BPL faced at that time with a $246m loan due to mature in February 2022 and no funds to repay it. Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial
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BPL’s solar drive targets $30m consumer savings By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Power & Light’s (BPL) chief executive yesterday said the utility could create $30m per year in savings when its proposed 60 Mega Watt (MW) solar project for New Providence becomes operational. Shevonn Cambridge said the facility will slash BPL’s fuel costs and result in “lower charges” for consumers. “The 60 MW project is anticipated to be a utility-scale facility, and that will feed into the overall grid for New Providence,”
he explained. “And, basically, the benefits of it will be felt by all consumers, because what it does is the same 60 MW that we’re currently generating with conventional fossil fuel generation will now be fuel-free. “Working simultaneously with that, a lot of people spoke to the supply chain challenges, which caused a lot of maintenance issues with the road works, the waterworks and the like. We’ve experienced the same thing in the energy sector. But now, as the supply chain channels are opening up, we’re ramping
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Sears admits misleading House on BPL fuel hedge • Confirms briefed on critical trades on October 9, 2021 • Says Ministry of Finance advised against execution • Pintard: ‘No amount of grease’ will get Gov’t off hook By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters A CABINET minister yesterday admitted misleading Parliament by initially denying he was briefed on the Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) fuel hedging controversy that will allegedly cost households and businesses over $100m. Alfred Sears KC, minister of works and utilities, confirmed that on October 9, 2021, he received a briefing on the rationale for executing transactions, known as “call option” trades, that would enable BPL to acquire additional cheaper fuel at below-market prices and thus keep its fuel charge - and overall electricity bills - relatively low with stable rates. The minister, who had previously told the House of Assembly on several occasions that he never received any such advice or recommendations, added that he forwarded the e-mail briefing and attachments to the Ministry of Finance and its financial secretary, Simon Wilson, for their assessment. Describing this as “normal” procedure for any major financial or spending decision facing the Government, Mr Sears said Mr Wilson recommended that the trades which would have supported the initial BPL fuel hedge implemented in summer 2020 by increasing the utility’s stock of cheaper fuel not be executed. The minister added that despite BPL’s thenBoard and management trying their “hardest
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