WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017
business@tribunemedia.net
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NHI ‘waiting lines’ if costs exceeded $400m
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Bahamians faced “waiting lines” for treatment under the initial National Health Insurance (NHI) model if costs went beyond the $400 million that the Government already spends on healthcare, Tribune Business can reveal. A confidential report entitled ‘Full NHI Road Map Overview’,
Report reveals initial model fall-out if sums wrong Called for sidelining insurance industry if no deal Admits $100m ‘wastage and inefficiency’
Opposition: Baha Mar opening date is ‘quid pro quo’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Opposition politicians yesterday queried whether the timing of Baha Mar’s April 21 opening is “a quid pro quo” for the Government’s role in helping China to oust the original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian. K P Turnquest, the FNM’s deputy leader, told Tribune Business that both the timing and “soft launch” nature of the planned opening, coupled with the absence of any marketing activities, raised immediate questions as to its true purpose. “We remain optimistic but sceptical,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business, “because we’re talking about an April opening yet have not seen any marketing that will drive additional airlift for this project.” Prime Minister Perry Christie previously said 400,000 additional airline seats per annum will be required to fill the 2,200 room inventory increase See pg b5
‘Even blind man’ can see aid to Govt’s re-election bid Absence of marketing raising suspicion FNM deputy: I’d expected over 1,500 applicants
Branville McCartney, Leader of the Democratic National Alliance
Exuma ‘not done as well as it should’ in maximising FDI By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Exuma has “not done as good a job as it should” in preparing residents to maximise the benefits from major investment projects such as the upcoming $200 million Children’s Bay development, its Chamber of Commerce president said yesterday. Pedro Rolle told Tribune Business that Exumians had “no one to blame but ourselves” for this, arguing that the island needed to develop structured mechanisms for training its people to better exploit job and entrepreneurial opportunities. Backing the proposed Children’s Bay project, which is earmarked for cays just off northern Exuma, as “a wonderful opportunity to create opportunities outside Georgetown”, Mr Rolle said ensuring the benefits went to residents first was an “ongoing, urgent concern”. “The ongoing concern is that we know they are coming, and have sufficient time, but I don’t think we’ve done as good a job as we should have done in ensuring persons in Exuma are adequately prepared to take advantage of opportunities,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. “As long as we have people in Exuma who are unemployed or underemployed, I feel bad that others may be coming in and
Chamber chief says ‘urgent, ongoing concern’ Islanders need to be better prepared Benefits go elsewhere if workers from other islands taking opportunities. That’s a reality, that’s a concern.” The Chamber president added: “We have to develop mechanisms on the ground so that people, once they know the jobs are coming and are interested, go directly into training so that they are equipped when the opportunities arrive. “We have the National Training Agency here, which I think needs to be given a higher profile and more resources, so that it can move about and do a better job of recognising and sensitising people; there’s an opportunity coming up that will lead to jobs.” The Children’s Bay/ Williams Cay project, which has been going through the planning and permitting process following a Heads of Agreement signing last year, appears ready to come out of the ‘investment pipeline’ judging by the February 5 town meeting that will be held on Exuma to discuss it. See pg b4
which has never been publicly disclosed, identifies many of the weaknesses and concerns raised by medical industry participants that have yet to be addressed as the Government pushes for a pre-general election roll-out. It reveals a lengthy list of steps that must be completed if NHI is to be successfully implemented, many of which have not been initiated, and also discloses that the Government was prepared to sideline the Bahamian pri-
vate health insurance industry if it failed to accept its demands. The document, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, also concedes that the money going to patient care is “limited” because $100 million, or 25 per cent, of the Government’s healthcare spending goes on non-health expenses. This was previously confirmed by Dr Glen Beneby, the chief See pg b6
FNM deputy challenge to private cruise port model By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The FNM’s deputy leader yesterday challenged the Bahamas’ private island cruise port development model, arguing that those located on remote cays would generate “limited” benefits for Bahamians. K P Turnquest told Tribune Business he found himself at odds with Prime Minister Perry Christie’s assertion that the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) cruise port on Bimini was “the model” for similar future developments in the Bahamas. The MP, whose own east Grand Bahama constituency is still awaiting its own cruise port, in the shape of Carnival Cruise Lines’ promised $200 million project, questioned why the Bahamas would seek out such projects for remote locations like MSC’s Ocean Cay. Pointing out that these sites were far from commercial and population centres, Mr Turnquest said this negated the economic impact and spin-off opportunities for Bahamian entrepreneurs. And employees/business operators would likely be sourced from other parts of the Bahamas, splitting up or uprooting Bahamian families.
Says benefits for Bahamians ‘limited’ on remote cays “The question is why there? Why build a cruise port and destination on a cay in the middle of the ocean?” Mr Turnquest queried to Tribune Business, adding that there were numerous populated Family Islands that could have benefited more from a project such as MSC’s. Ocean Cay is a man-made island near Bimini that was previously used for industrial purposes, particularly aragonite mining. It faces a major transformation in usage that will address any of the lingering environmental concerns stemming from its past life. However, as shown by November’s Labour Force Survey, Bimini’s need for such a development is much less than for other islands, given that its official unemployment rate is pegged at around 3 per cent due to the Resorts World project. As a result, the more than 120 Bahamians who will be employed fulltime at Ocean Cay are likely to be primarily drawn from elsewhere in See pg b4
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Baha Mar marketing ‘kick-in’ awaits hotels, promotion, team hires ‘Very soft opening’ means concerns misplaced CTFE ‘in final stages’ of talks with Grand Hyatt Promotion to ramp up with winter 2017-2018 focus By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Baha Mar’s marketing will “kick in” once it has finalised agreements with its hotel brand operators and appointed its own promotional team, Tribune Business was told yesterday. Robert Sands, the resort’s vice-president of government and external affairs, told Tribune Business that Baha Mar’s “very soft opening” on April 21 did not require a major marketing offensive beforehand. He was responding to concerns about the lack of promotional activity to-date by Baha Mar’s new owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), which has raised BaRobert Sands hamian concerns about how it intends to attract the necessary airlift and visitor demand to fill the property. While conceding that CTFE had yet to appoint its in-house promotional team at Baha Mar, and hire outside PR/marketing agencies, Mr Sands said the Hong Kong-based conglomerate was already moving on this. He added that Graeme Davis, president of CTFE’s Bahamian subsidiary, was also “in the final stages” of negotiating a management/operating agreement with Grand Hyatt, one of the three hotel chains likely to brand Baha Mar. “I can confirm that Graeme Davis and the leadership of CTFE are in the See pg b5