HOUSE & HOME MONDAY Big Mac
HIGH 82ºF LOW 71ºF
i’m lovin’ it!
Monday,
February
CARS! CARS!
8, 2021
The Tribune Established
Being Bound To
Swear To The Dogmas
1903
Of No Master
The Tribune
Volume: 119 No.16, December 13, 2021
L A T E S T
N E W S
tise Call
To Adver
-2351
601-0007 or 502
Starting at
$33.60
CLASSIFIEDS TRADER
ed
VAT includ
Established 1903
O N
T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M
Biggest And Best!
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1
‘SCRAPPING VISA A HUGE MISTAKE’
Minnis attacks decision to remove health visa requirement for locals FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis says the Davis administration has made a “grave mistake” by removing the travel health visa requirement for Bahamians and residents who are returning to the country from international travel. He believes the government should reconsider the decision, saying the data gleaned from the travel health visa was an important tool in contact tracing. He also said removing the requirement for returning citizens and residents opens
up the possibility of fraudulent COVID-19 tests going undetected. “The government is making a grave and serious mistake,” he said yesterday. “There is no shame in saying you were wrong, after all you’re talking about jeopardising the Bahamian economy as well as lives and (people’s) livelihood. “This is an important health tool in terms of tracing and quarantine and (removing it is) a set-up for a disaster and catastrophe. SEE PAGE FOUR
in the construction industry are sustaining losses because contracts are not being adjusted to account for the sharp post-COVID increase in building materials costs. With post-COVID demand, as well as the supply chain backlog, combining to drive construction material prices up by 40 percent “across the board”, Mr Sands said: “Contractors are suffering.” FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net
PLANS by the Minnis administration to convert Ragged Island to a “green island” were nothing more than “fanciful speech to get likes on social media.” This according to Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper, who told the press on Friday that there were never any plans to support the former government’s repeated pronouncements. SEE PAGE THREE
WOMAN, 22, DIES AS CAR COLLIDES WITH POLE
MATERIAL COSTS SURGE DEVASTATING BUILDERS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Bahamian Contractors Association president Leonard Sands yesterday said many contractors are “on the brink of collapse” due to fixed-price contracts that exclude the impact of 40 percent cost hikes. Leonard Sands, disclosing that he himself has experienced this pain, said many
GREEN PLAN FOR RAGGED ISLAND WAS ‘FANCIFUL’
MAKING HISTORY CHANTEL O’Brian made history for The Bahamas last night as she reached the top ten of the Miss Universe competition, the first time a contestant from the country has gone so far. She doesn’t come away empty handed either, after winning the Spirit of Carnival award at the pageant’s preliminary competition. Her top ten finish was last night hailed by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who said: “Tonight, we are so very, very proud of Ms Chantel O’Brian.” See PAGE TWO for the full story.
KOMALAFE QUITS DNA - BUT NOT POLITICS By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
ARINTHIA Komolafe announced on Friday her immediate resignation as Democratic National Alliance leader. Mrs Komolafe explained candidly during a press conference the many reasons that sparked her resignation and admitted that third party politics in The Bahamas was “brutal” and
ARINTHIA KOMOLAFE “extremely difficult”. While the party was trying to improve its
performance during the 2021 general election, the DNA did not produce the results its members had hoped for. Their performance was quite the opposite and the party performed worse than in both the 2012 and 2017 elections. Her absence now leaves the DNA’s deputy leader to become interim leader, as set out in the party’s constitution.
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE FOUR
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net A WOMAN is dead after her car veered off the road and hit a utility pole in Grand Bahama on Saturday night. While police did not release the victim’s identity, sources say she is 22-yearold Georganique Baptiste of Holmes Rock. SEE PAGE TWO
NINETY DAYS TO SWITCH VAT PRICING
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
RETAILERS have been given a 90-day transition period to deal with the repricing “nightmare” caused by the VAT rate cut, one saying yesterday: “We hope this is the last change for a very long time.” FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
INSIGHT IF THIS IS HOW WE DO BUSINESS, NO WONDER WE’RE IN A MESS
SEE PAGE EIGHT