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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021
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‘Glaring deficiencies’: Sky chief defeats $33m ruling By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court judge yesterday cited “glaring deficiencies” as he overturned a default judgment against Sky Bahamas’ principal over an alleged $33.4m “bogus loan conspiracy”. Justice Loren Klein branded the claims made against Captain Randy Butler and the airline by the latter’s former financier, Fred Kaiser, and his companies as “rather threadbare” and “far short of the mark” when it came to making a case for “fraud and/or conspiracy” against them.
• Airline financier’s case against Butler ‘far short of mark’ • Former deputy prime minister added as fourth defendant • Judge: ‘Striking’ Turnquest not named as party earlier And he found it “striking” that former deputy prime minister, K Peter Turnquest, was not named as a defendant to the action despite Mr Kaiser and his companies alleging that he had played a key role in the purported fraud as a “third party conspirator”.
Holiday determination aids staff cost control By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR hotelier yesterday welcomed the Government’s decision to clarify which two days will be designated as “holidays” this Christmas for better enabling the industry to control labour ROBERT SANDS costs. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that confirmation December 28 will NOT be a public holiday will allow resorts to now properly plan roster schedules for the Christmas weekend and the week leading up to New Year. With “premium rates” of at least “double time” or pay mandated for employees who work on Christmas Day and September 27, he said determining the number of staff rostered for those days was critical to controlling labour costs. “Nothing has really changed financially. We appreciate the clarification. There is no negative or positive impact to the hospitality industry,” Mr Sands told this newspaper. “I think it brings clarity to the situation, because there was some consideration that the Christmas holiday might be moved to Monday and the Boxing Day holiday be moved to Tuesday, and for some people that may have been a four-day break. “As it currently stands, it will be a three-day break over Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It’s not additional days; it’s just when the day is officially recognised as a holiday by the Government of The Bahamas.” Mr Sands spoke after Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, said the
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Michael Scott QC, attorney for Mr Kaiser’s Alpha Aviation and Advanced Aviation entities, yesterday told Tribune Business that concern has been resolved after he obtained Justice Klein’s permission for Mr Turnquest to be added as a fourth defendant alongside Captain Butler, Sky Bahamas
CAPTAIN RANDY BUTLER and another company, Aviation Group Oversight. “The same judge has granted leave to add K Peter Turnquest
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Carnival transparency need is ‘quite obvious’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A GOVERNANCE reformer yesterday said there was “quite an obvious need for transparency” around the relationship between the Christmas Carnival and whichever political party is in power. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business that it seems “a bit left of above board” for the popular Christmas/New Year attraction to be obtaining its required permits and approvals via a political party. Speaking after a letter was tabled in the Senate revealing that the governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) had applied
• Butler: ‘I hope this happens to no one else’ • QC: Verdict ‘minor detail on road to justice’ • Warns airline chief: ‘This of little comfort’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
to the Ministry of Finance/ Customs for importrelated approvals for all carnival equipment, the ORG chief said the situation “screams two things”. These were a need for “greater transparency and objectivity” around the Carnival’s permitting process to ensure it was not receiving favourable treatment compared to Bahamian and foreign investors seeking the same
SKY Bahamas’ boss yesterday said he “hopes and prays this never happens to anyone else” after a default judgment against him over an alleged $33.4m “bogus loan conspiracy” was overturned. Captain Randy Butler told Tribune Business he “cried because the weight was lifted” when Supreme Court justice, Loren Klein, cited “glaring deficiencies” in the case brought against him by Sky Bahamas’ former financier as the rationale for dismissing the previous verdict. He added that his faith and trust in the Bahamian judicial system had been rewarded after Justice Klein found that the allegations made by Fred Kaiser, and his Alpha Aviation and Advanced Aviation entities, were “rather threadbare” and “far short of the mark” when it came to making a case for “fraud and/or conspiracy”. However, Captain Butler said the “damage” done to his personal and business reputation, plus his family, had left a lasting impact, and added: “Had not God provided, I would have been a serious case.” Sky Bahamas, too, is no longer flying.
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• Governance reformer: It ‘screams two things’ • Need for independent ‘vetting’ of concerns • And ensuring political favouritism absent
MATT AUBRY
Sky principal wins ‘tolerable victory’
CHAMBER CHIEF’S FEAR ON MINIMUM WAGE ‘TIMING’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president says the private sector is not opposed to the concept of a minimum wage increase but, rather, the timing. Greg Laroda told Tribune Business that a further increase in labour costs for already “struggling” small and medium-sized businesses could make the difference between
GREG LARODA
them maintaining current operations or downsizing and even closing their doors. The Davis administration, which committed to raising the minimum wage by 19 percent pre-election, from $210 to $250 per week, has now asked the National Tripartite Council, the body responsible for all labour-related matters in The Bahamas, to study the issue and provide recommendations to the Government. However, Mr Laroda said that besides these concerns,
many companies are in a dilemma as to what they will do when the COVID ‘furlough’ period expires in March and they have to either recall those staff or pay them full severance packages. “We also have to look at what happens with the furlough coming to an end in March,” the GB Chamber chief warned, “and what some companies are going to do. Some companies are wondering if they have to let people go, and wondering
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