02152021 BUSINESS

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

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Bahamasair’s $40m taxpayer blow-out

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

B

AHAMIAN taxpayers have spent $40m “and counting” to prop up Bahamasair over the past seven months, its chairman has revealed, while confirming the airline was late meeting payroll last week.

Tommy Turnquest disclosed to Tribune Business that the government has already spent more than double what was budgeted for the entire 2020-2021 fiscal year to keep the national flag carrier in the air, adding that the delay in receiving another injection of funds from the Public Treasury was responsible for the late salary payments to hundreds of staff.

Some $19m was allocated to Bahamasair for the 12-month period to end-June 2021, and Mr Turnquest agreed that the current level of support for the airline was “unsustainable” amid the economic and

• Govt already injects double full-year subsidy • As payroll late at cash-strapped flag carrier • ‘Chicken and egg’ state on flight frequency

TOMMY TURNQUEST fiscal devastation inflicted

by COVID-19.

“The human resources director put out a company-wide memorandum yesterday [Thursday] indicating that it was likely to be late, and that it was likely to be late,” he told this newspaper of the payroll delay.

“That it would be either late Friday or first thing on Monday.”

Mr Turnquest, confirming

Bahamas ‘can’t afford’ to ignore oil discovery

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas “cannot afford” to ignore commercial oil discoveries within its territory, an ex-Central Bank governor argued yesterday, while pleading for far greater government transparency on the issue.

Julian Francis, describing oil exploration as “a twoedged sword”, said he both understood and “identified” with opponents of Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) recent exploratory drilling activities due to fears about the risk it poses to an ocean environment

JULIAN FRANCIS that sustains much of the country’s existing economy.

However, he told Tribune Business that the economic and fiscal devastation inflicted by COVID-19 meant The Bahamas cannot “deprive itself” of a potential multi-million dollar

SEE PAGE 7

Oil opponents seek to ‘draw line in sand’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

OIL exploration opponents are persisting with their Judicial Review challenge in a bid to “draw a line in the sand they will not back away from” over future drilling activities, a prominent QC is warning.

Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, who is representing Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas in their fight over the permits and

FRED SMITH QC approvals granted to Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), said the latter’s Perseverance One exploratory well could be just the first of

SEE PAGE 7

that the hold-up had resulted from the wait to receive further Treasury funding, since the cash-strapped airline lacked the resources to meet payment itself, added: “Our bankers don’t hit the button to pay everybody until the money hits the account.”

Bahamasair staff who bank with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) were likely to be paid by close of business on Friday, given that the airline’s accounts were with this institution, while their counterparts who use other banks are likely to have endured a frustrating wait for the monies to drop.

Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, said the national flag carrier’s management were in talks with the three unions representing its staff to alter the present “every two weeks on Friday” payment schedule to one that is bi-monthly.

Emphasising that this does not involve any pay cuts, the Bahamasair chairman explained: “First of all, I think Friday is a bad day to do it, so we’re having some discussions with the unions to see go from every two weeks to twice a month.

“In January, we had three pay days. Instead of dividing the salaries by 26, or every two weeks, divide them by 24 and pay staff on, say, the 10th and 25th of every month. Executive management is having discussions with the three unions, and hopefully we will come to some agreement where we do that. It provides a little more certainty on the date.”

Admitting that COVID19, and associated travel restrictions and health protocols, have left Bahamasair unable to pay its roughly

SEE PAGE 6

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Cavalier suffered $1m loss ahead of liquidity crunch

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A MAJOR Bahamian contractor suffered more than $1m in operating losses over a four-year period before it collapsed into insolvency due to an “unmanageable liquidity shortfall” in early 2020.

Liquidators for Cavalier Construction, arguably the leading name in Bahamian construction for the previous 64 years, said the company’s ultimate failure stemmed from a combination of factors including an obsolete business model, inability to restructure and absence of any new major projects in the pipeline.

Andrew Davies and Kendrick Christie, the Crowe (Bahamas) accountants and partners, in their first report to the Supreme Court also revealed that the company ran into a cash flow crunch after it was unable to collect so-called “retention payments” from clients it had completed construction projects for.

Retention payments represent monies that are withheld from contractors until a project is finished and/or any defects have been remedied. None of the clients owing such payments are identified in the report, although the liquidators reveal that Cavalier’s last management accounts to end-September 2019 show more than $2.02m in such monies as due to it.

These payments, as well as more than $1.69m due to Cavalier from its parent, the Galaxy Group of Companies, and over $678,000 owed by other companies within the group, give the impression of a seemingly healthy balance sheet ahead of today’s Supreme Court hearing where the liquidators will seek permission to sell-off equipment and vehicles belonging to the contractor and its affiliate, Bobcat Bahamas.

But, while total assets worth $7.604m were showing as at end-September 2019, the liquidators say

SEE PAGE 6

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 3

‘Revamp agriculture in its entirety

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN farming “needs to be revamped in its entirety”, an agriculture group’s head has conceded, arguing that this nation has “no choice but to support its own” with wide-ranging reforms.

Caron Shepherd, president of the newly-formed Bahamas Agro Entrepreneurs Group, told Tribune Business that the COVID-19 pandemic has “illuminated multiple reasons” why this nation needs to improve self-sufficiency and food security by reversing the decades-long contraction of its agriculture industry.

She said she agreed with much of what was contained in a series of Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports tabled in the House of Assembly last week, which detailed the fragmented nature of a sector struggling to compete against foreign producers with greater economies of scale and better access to market.

The reports, which have been reviewed by

this newspaper, argue that the better farmers tend to operate outside the Government’s packing house and produce exchange system, which has been in existence since the 1970s and was described by the IDB as “more of a paternalistic approach rather than a market-driven one”.

“The lack of organisation has favoured the [growth] of small farmers who sow and harvest the same products at the same time, reducing their bargaining power by not having the individual size to interest wholesalers and distributors,” one IDB report said, in a nod to Bahamian agriculture’s fragmented state.

“Farmers compete against each other in all crops, diminishing their capacity to negotiate. Consequently, quality, volumes, market windows and market prices drop. Generally, farmers are not really aware of market demand, enhanced by the fact of being atomised.

“As a matter of fact, they do not maximise the existing market windows due to lack of information, technology, seeds, and unawareness of the new market

opportunities and tendencies. The packing house system has discourage farmers,” it continued.

“The more efficient and market-driven operate outside the system, while farmers more linked to the system produce more traditional crops such as tomatoes, cabbages, sweet peppers, onions and bananas.”

Bishop Gregory Collie, the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation’s (BAIC) chairman, in an article today (see page 4B) says payments to farmers via the Soldier Road produce exchange have more-thantripled to around $800,000 in 2020 compared to $250,000 in 2017.

The packing houses, established in the 1970s, package and grade products received from farmers, who are subsequently contacted for payment when the foods are sold via the produce exchange at the wholesale and retail level. However, the $9,000 maximum on how much can be purchased from each farmer makes it unattractive “with no real buying power”.

And the IDB identified transportation/logistics as an increasing problem for the $4m-$5m worth of produce shipped annually to Nassau.

“We conclude that most local agricultural produce on the Family Islands (say 80 percent) is consumed locally,” it said.

“Lack of cooling during transport makes inter-island trade in fresh agricultural produce rather problematic.

High levels of waste (up to 50 percent) have been reported at the produce exchange in Nassau in the past.”

The government’s recent policy edicts requiring hotels, restaurants and food stores to source 40 percent of their needs from Bahamian producers, but the IDB report noted that pricing, quality and consistency of supply remain challenges.

Identifying further obstacles to achieving these goals, the IDB report said: “Important local buyers such as hotels, restaurants and supermarkets increasingly require traceability of agricultural produce and certification of all actors along the agricultural value chain, including farmers.

“To-date, no official traceability system for agricultural produce has been put in place, and very few farmers in The Bahamas are certified except for some of the bigger farm corporations.”

Ms Shepherd said her group had already moved to organise Bahamian farmers into groups that specialised in certain products, such as tomatoes and cabbages, so that the industry avoided “a gluttony” of one particular crop at any one time.

Agreeing that Bahamian agriculture needed to first supply the local and tourist market, before trying to realise more lofty export ambitions, she added: “The entire agriculture sector needs to be revamped. It needs to be brought up to today’s standards in a way that has improved technology.

“We need to first chisel away at the 40 percent we can supply to the local market. The only benchmark we can match that to is the tourism industry being open, and enabling us to supply the hotels.

Once we’re able to supply the hotels and local market,

then and only then can we look to export. We need the government to put a moratorium on imports so the supply we have in-house can go to the local market.”

Optimistic that “the growth and turnaround” in agriculture will begin in 2021, albeit “in small incremental steps” as the industry recovers from Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, Ms Shepherd said an increasing “intake” of young farmers will help awaken the industry from its present “sluggish” condition.

“There’s no other choice,” she told Tribune Business.

“We have no choice. We want to be able to feed ourselves and want to be able to export. We have to bite the bullet and we have to do that. COVID-19 has illustrated more reasons than one as to why we need to produce more of our food.

“We don’t have sufficient healthy foods to be able to provide for our populace.

Every other country is in self-preservation mode at the moment, every other country is looking to support their own, so we have to do the same thing.”

PRIVATE SECTOR MIXED ON OIL DRILLING RESULTS

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A MAJOR realtor said it was a “good thing” that the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) did not find commercial quantities of oil as the private sector offered mixed views on the exploratory drilling results.

Mario Carey, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group Bahamas principal, told Tribune Business that not everything should be about money and financial gain when it comes

to the country’s economic development.

“I’m more of an environmentalist,” he said.

“I’m more of an advocate to preserve our pristine waters. It’s just a very personal thing. So it’s nothing to do with money. Sometimes decisions about life and things shouldn’t be based on money.”

Mr Carey argued that BPC should move on from The Bahamas because he does not want this nation to become like Trinidad and Tobago, with its oil and gas industry. “We are very unique situation, and we should destroy it [our

environment] for what?

For an oil spill for your kids and their kids to have to deal with that mess?

“My hope is that the government isn’t in a position where they have to grant a licence where they can’t get out of it any more. I think there’s a lot of other ways for the Bahamas to make money other than drilling oil. I have a whole list of them.”

Peter Bridgewater, Open Systems Technologies’ president, said he was disappointed that BPC did not find oil and that the outcome of its exploratory

Perseverance One well was “bad” for The Bahamas.

He added: “Just thinking about it, if there was oil there it would have been an opportunity for future income for The Bahamas.

Notwithstanding what we have in other natural resources.”

However, Mr Bridgewater said that if The Bahamas was to continue with oil exploration it should not be through BPC. He added: “Not with the same people, and since they haven’t found anything, I would probably farm those licences out

and see what the country could really get for them.”

Dwayne Higgs, WHIM Automotive’s general manager, said that from an “environmental perspective” it was a “good thing” BPC did not find oil. “The potential for an oil spill would devastate the environment and tourism as a result,” he added.

“We’ve even seen other oil spills around the world that have taken a very long time to contain and do a lot of damage, and we really can’t afford that to our number one resource, which is the sun, sand and sea.”

Mr Higgs, arguing that the world is moving away from fossil fuels, said The Bahamas does not need to move in that direction and “we should find other innovative ways to diversify our economy. I don’t think oil is it.”

He argued that policymakers need to think about the “long term” as the price of fuel has come down over the last few years, with the US producing much of its own oil. “It’s a matter of being innovative, looking at other things not related to the petroleum industry,” Mr Higgs said.

PAGE 4, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Exuma resort owners seek $11m in auction

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE owners of an Exuma resort are seeking at least $11m when the property is sold via international auction in two weeks’ time.

Fred Wetzelberger, partowner of Exuma Palms, said he and his partners were never able to secure the financing needed to sustain the resort, which is why they decided to exit via an auction process that they hope will maximise their returns.

He said: “I just had trouble over the years. After 2008, and after the real estate crash, things were tough especially after the

Four Seasons hotel pulled out of Exuma. Then, after that, four or five years when things were tough.”

While Exuma Palms has performed better over the past three years, Mr Wetzelberger added: “Financing is hard to come by to get the project properly financed.

So we listed it with a couple of different Bahamian realtors, and it didn’t really get a lot of traction there.

“So we thought placing it with an auction might give us a broader scope of folks that would look at it from the Caribbean as well as internationally. So an auction might be a good approach to take.”

The Exuma Palms is an 18-acre oceanfront

property in Great Exuma.

The property is reported to have development approval so a new owner can start developing the site right away. The auction is being handled by US-based Elite Auctions and is scheduled to take place on February 27.

Mr Wetzelberger said: “It’s a beautiful property.

A great property. I think it lends itself to a very nice mixed-use development hotel condominiums, that type of thing. “We think we are going to get in the area of $11m to $12m. I talked to some Bahamian developers that are very interested, and it would be nice if a Bahamian group took control of the property. That would be great.”

Asked if COVID-19 accelerated the desire to sell, Mr Wetzelberger said: “We were thinking about doing this last year during National Regatta. Then COVID-19 shut everything down. But I think with a vaccine out there, and that getting implemented, I think now is the time for somebody to make decisions about the future.

“I think we’re going to put the COVID-19 behind us over the next four or five months and somebody can do good things. Exuma has great rapid testing, once you’re on the island, to get back off the island to the States or wherever you’re going.

“So I think the testing has gotten very good. With Nassau, the same thing; the testing is very good. So I think people are getting more comfortable in The Bahamas, as with other places in the world, that they can travel and travel safely.

“In some ways people are looking for places to live remotely. Now they can work remotely, they can they can educate their kids remotely, and what better place to do it than on a beach in The Bahamas.”

TIMOTHY SMITH, centre. has moved up to partner at Better Homes and Gardens MCR Bahamas Group. He is flanked by the firm’s founder, Mario Carey, left, and managing partner, Tim Rodland, right. Mr Smith was the firm’s top producer and overall agent in 2020.

REAL ESTATE FIRM UNVEILS PARTNER A REAL estate firm’s top producing agent has attained partner status after acquiring more than $40m in listings since he joined in 2016.

Timothy Smith has joined founding partner, Mario Carey, and Tim Rodland, managing partner, as a partner in Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Bahamas Group.

Mr Rodland, announcing the appointment, said: “We are happy to bring on Timothy Smith as a partner. He has demonstrated a level of dedication and professionalism that embodies the core values of the company, and has proven to be a valuable asset to our team.”

Aged 27, Mr Smith has earned top honours three times since he joined Mario Carey Realty, as the firm was known then, prior to becoming the Better Homes and Gardens franchise in 2016.

Named “rookie of the year” in 2017, Mr Smith became the company’s top producer in 2019 and 2020. He last year gained the $23m Gun Point estate in Eleuthera, which has a

history of royal connections, as a listing.

Mr Carey said: “Timothy Smith’s hard work, his 24/7 availability and his social marketing skills are beyond impressive. His work ethic and his personality have already earned him respect from the real estate community at large, as well as from his colleagues here at Better Homes and Gardens.”

Mr Smith added that letting clients know you are always available is essential.

“Real estate is not a 9am to 5pm job. It’s a calling,” said Mr Smith, who believes that “calling” means answering questions and resolving concerns regardless of the day or hour.

“Real estate is not about property. It’s about relationships. It’s not one and done; it’s ongoing building of trust, looking for the best deals for clients. You have to keep up with the trends.

You can’t get comfortable and rest on what you did yesterday.”

Mr Smith said he spends “countless hours” every week studying trends and marketing strategies. He

uses YouTube to learn what the top real estate professionals around the world are doing.

Outside of real estate, Mr Smith and three partners have more than quadrupled E-Z Haul, the self-drive truck rental business they started in 2016. “Both take hard work and perseverance,” he believes.

Mr Carey, meanwhile, said: “Choosing and nurturing the right kind of leadership for real estate is not just about securing a future for a particular firm. It is important for The Bahamas to maintain The Bahamas’ reputation for excellence and integrity in real estate transactions both locally and globally. Industry leaders like Timothy Smith are the future of real estate in The Bahamas.”

Mr Smith added: “Mario took me under his wing, and I don’t think I ever could have achieved what I have had it not been for that one-on-one experience with a trend-setter and legend in the industry. I am honoured to step into the role of partner.”

BAIC SAYS FARMER PAYMENTS TRIPLED THE Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation’s (BAIC) chairman says payments to farmers for foods sold through the produce exchange have more more than tripled since 2017.

Bishop Gregory Collie said payments to farmers have increased from around $250,000 to almost $800,000 in 2020, as he praised farmers - especially those in North Andros - for heeding the government’s call to produce more high quality farm products and boosting the nation’s food security and sovereignty.

“BAIC is also pleased to bring fresh vegetables and fruits from the farm to your tables, and we look forward to making this happen in New Providence communities and throughout the islands of The Bahamas,” the Chairman said.

The produce exchange was moved from Potter’s Cay Dock to the Soldier Road Industrial Park one year ago, and BAIC said sales have increased significantly at the new location with patrons enjoying and improved shopping experience. It added that the produce exchange has seen increased traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic started as Bahamians saw the need to eat fresh produce.

Pictured here are BAIC board member, Derek Simms; Bishop Collie, BAIC chairman; deputy

chair, Kim Carey-Gibson; Debbie Strachan, senior deputy general manager; and Kervan Culmer, financial controller.

Also in attendance were Lester Stuart, assistant general manager; Gaylord Ingraham, internal auditor; and Indirah Burke, assistant general manager of human resources.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 5

The 21st century tulip bubble?

ACTIVTRADES WEEKLY

By RICARDO EVANGELISTA www.activtrades.bs THE 1600s were undoubtedly the Dutch golden age, a period during which the European country became a leading arts, science and military global power. As Holland became rich and powerful so did its citizens, with many using growing disposable incomes to invest and speculate, creating a thriving financial market where concepts such as future contracts were first traded. It was around this time that occurred one of the most famous and bizarre episodes in the history of finance: The tulip bubble.

Tulips are native to central Asia, having reached the Netherlands during the seventeenth century, immediately becoming extremely popular.

Demand was such that sellers began to stockpile, driving prices to increasingly high levels.

Bulbs took seven years to grow, so merchants saw an opportunity to cashin in advance by selling

FIELD of tulips in The Netherlands. contracts entitling holders to the future purchase of the mature flowers. This was how the concept of future contract was born.

These contracts changed hands several times, at ever increasing prices and, at the peak of tulip-mania, the value of a single flower

reached 10,000 guilders, which at the time was enough to buy a townhouse in the most desirable quarter of Amsterdam.

However, when something seems too good to be true, it often is. Some traders started to feel uncomfortable with the

risk and eventually auctions failed to attract any buyers, forcing desperate merchants to sell remaining stocks at increasingly lower prices. In the end, the market collapsed, and countless ill-advised investors ended up ruined, having invested all they had in tulips. The episode became known as the tulip “bubble”, an expression still used today to describe

an unnaturally inflated financial market.

If we fast forward to 2021, another financial asset is taking the markets by storm. Bitcoin is causing a demand fever that is inflating its price beyond what would perhaps be reasonable to expect. The belief that the cryptocurrency is the new digital gold is generating wild price fluctuations, that some see as fitting the description of a bubble.

In 2017 the price of one coin rose from $1,000 to $20,000, to then collapse, less than a year later, to $3000. Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, unless we factor in the environmental cost of the energy hungry mining process, in which case the value would be negative, and doesn’t generate any yield. Very few things are priced in Bitcoin, and the fact that only five transactions per second can be processed (compared for example with VISA’s

24,000) means it will ever become a mainstream way of payment. Besides, the volatility of its price could wipe out any merchant margins in a matter of seconds.

So, if Bitcoin generates no income, has very little utility and even the anonymity some believe it provides is easily overcome, as blockchain technology makes it easy to trace back any payment, why is its price soaring to, at the time of writing, around $48,000 per coin? It could indeed be that the crypto really is the new digital gold, and demand will continue to propel its price to everhigher levels; or, we may be witnessing a speculative bubble, perhaps even more absurd than the tulips, as the flowers at least had some intrinsic value, while bitcoin is nothing more than lines of code, worth only the value placed in it by speculators’ anticipation of being able to sell later at a higher price.

PAGE 6, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Bahamasair’s $40m Cavalier suffered taxpayer blow-out $1m loss ahead of liquidity crunch FROM PAGE ONE

$3m monthly wage bill from resources that were already strained prior to the pandemic, Mr Turnquest pointed out that the government had spared the airline’s staff from the furloughs and temporary lay-offs imposed on many in the private sector.

“Obviously it’s unsustainable the government continuing to fund Bahamasair to the tune it’s funding it,” he told Tribune Business. “We’re still counting.

It’s to the tune of about $40m from July 1, 2020. It’s a lot, it’s a lot.”

Mr Turnquest said Bahamasair, in common with all airlines and the global travel and tourism industry, is depending on the successful roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in this nation and major tourism source markets to enable its load factors and route schedule to return to something resembling pre-pandemic normalcy.

While the airline had enjoyed a $1.7m top-line for the four weeks from Thanksgiving to December 20, 2020, he added that this represented just over 25 percent of the revenue earned during the same period in 2019.

“For the month of December we made $1.7m, just under $2m, and you compare that with the $6.7m we made in 2019,” Mr Turnquest said. “But if you compare that to the month before, which I guess would have been $900-odd thousand in November, if you compare those four weeks with the weeks from Thanksgiving to December 20, we went from $900,000

FROM PAGE ONE

A BAHAMASAIR plane. to $1.7m.

“That was almost double, but you have to put that against the $6.7m from 2019.

That $1.7m in 2020 represents a sharp drop from 2019.” He added that the relief over confirmation the US government will not impose a mandatory quarantine on travellers returning to or visiting that nation had not impacted Bahamasair’s passenger volumes to-date.

“We haven’t seen an uptick in our load factors since the beginning of the year,” Mr Turnquest said.

“January and February are normally very slow months anyway, but we haven’t seen any real uptick. It’s really, really down, primarily year-over-year.”

Still, he added that Bahamasair had started “to ramp it up a bit more” in terms of its schedule and flight frequency with effect from February 8 in response to relatively low COVID-19 infection rates locally and the presently-stable travel protocols.

“When we had one flight a day, we’ve ramped that up to two times per day, and in the south-eastern Bahamas where we were going once a week - we are now flying two times’ a week,” Mr Turnquest disclosed. “It’s a real chicken and egg situation.

People are saying we don’t book your flights because

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there’s nothing out there, and we say we can’t put flights on because we don’t know what the demand is.

“We’re trying different things. We are small enough to be flexible in a lot of things that we do. Again, this COVID-19 situation, every day it’s something different. We really have to keep a close monitor on that. The one thing that COVID-19 has taught us is that change is inevitable.”

Mr Turnquest said “what really hurt” the national flag carrier was Cuba’s move to tighten its health and travel restrictions on incoming flights in a bid to contain COVID-19 infections, as this cut Bahamasair’s six flights per week to one every two weeks.

Prior to the introduction of these measures, Bahamasair had been enjoying 75 percent passenger load factors on its two flights into each of Havana, Holguin and Santa Clara. “They were very good. We had a guarantee from a wholesaler of at least 100 seats per flight,” Mr Turnquest said.

“We used the 700s, the jets, which have 138 seats, and many of them had 135 seats full right up to 138.

We had some good loads on that. That’s where we going six times a week. Now we’re going once every two weeks.

That’s really cut it down.

We’ve stopped going to Holguin and Santa Clara, and are only going to Havana.

“We’re trying to make the best of it and do what we can, and are continuing to look at all measures.

We’re engaged in dialogue with the employees and are doing everything we can.

We’re going to explore some options with the government and see what is possible.”

they are still examining whether much of these can be recovered and if the value attached to them is correct.

“Notwithstanding the above, and based on the work undertaken so far, the joint official liquidators are of the opinion that the company is insolvent but, at this stage, are unable to provide an estimate as to the quantum of the solvency gap,” Messrs Davies and Christie told the Supreme Court.

“At this stage, the joint official liquidators are not in a position to estimate the likely recoveries for many of the assets available owing to their current status and the ongoing pandemic conditions that continue to impact the economy.”

They added that Cavalier’s insolvency materially changed its balance sheet position by crystallising the collective $1.5m-plus claim for severance pay and other benefits owed to Cavalier’s terminated staff, who now rank as the “preferential creditors” behind CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas).

The bank, with a $570,00 claim, ranks as Cavalier’s secured creditor and heads the queue, with the staff who account for more than 60 percent of all claims against Cavalier’s estate next in line and “unsecured creditors” owed a collective $433,574 at the back. Total creditor claims as at January 2021 totalled $2.544m.

The Crowe (Bahamas) partners identify Cavalier’s head office, located on Crawford Street in Oakes Field, as being potentially the greatest and most obvious source of creditor recovery, with its last appraisal by Bahamas Realty in October 2017 valuing the property at $2m. Any proceeds from its sale, though, will first go to paying off CIBC First Caribbean which holds security over it.

Mr Christie, in a January 14, 2021, affidavit seeking the Supreme Court’s permission to place Cavalier’s head office on the market via a realtor, is also seeking the go-ahead to dispose of plant, equipment and vehicles alleged to be valued at just under $220,000 plus $7,500 worth of fuel as well as building materials, office furniture and fixtures. That hearing is due to take place today.

Setting out Cavalier’s history in the run-up to its early 2020 closure, the liquidators said: “Total operational losses for the four-year period ended December 31, 2018, amounted to $1.009m (excluding the $490,875 revaluation uplift on land and buildings in 2017) with a corresponding reduction in total assets from $13.212m as at December 31, 2015, to $9.501m as at December 31, 2018, with a further reduction to $7.604m per the September 30, 2019 management accounts.”

The last set of audited financial statements were for the 2018 calendar year, and Messrs Davies and Christie added: “Gross profit as a percentage of total revenues decreased from 23.8 percent in 2015 to an average of 7.7 percent for the following three full financial years....

Management informed the liquidator that the company had last declared a dividend in 2011-2012.

“Management had attempted to reduce staff costs by instituting a 20 percent reduction in salary for all senior management effective May 2018 in exchange for them accepting an additional day’s vacation per week worked.”

Further signs of potential financial strife were exposed in the financial statements for 2016 and 2017, which disclosed that Cavalier was in breach of its banking covenants with CIBC, although this was remedied in 2018.

With Cavalier enduring “significant reductions in its net asset position” and “mixed operational results”, the joint liquidators said they had thus further uncovered nothing

that would contradict the explanation given by management and shareholders for the company’s failure.

They said this had been blamed on “operational changes in the delivery of construction services that have led to the obsolescence of the general contractor as a viable business model in the Bahamian market.

“Larger projects are now, more often than not, carried out under construction management arrangements by developers and owners, who will employ a construction management team, who then sub-contract smaller packages of work to contractors/subcontractors.

This effectively cuts out the traditional general contractor out of the market” such as Cavalier.

Among the contributing factors were “a reduction of the amount of work available and won by the company. At the commencement of the liquidation, Cavalier had significantly completed the remaining contracts on its books and had no new work of any significance lined up.

“The company had a number of long-standing employees and, as a result, was unable to restructure effectively by reducing head count due to the financial costs associated with terminating employees under Bahamian employment legislation.”

Besides an inability to find new investors/shareholders, the liquidators also said: “The company had recently been building luxury homes for high net worth individuals, which involved certain complexities to the project they would not expect with commercial projects the company had previously undertaken.”

And there were “challenges the company was experiencing in collecting outstanding retention receivables on projects where the delays were beyond the company’s control. This contributed to an unmanageable shortfall in liquidity that meant the company could no longer effectively trade having exhausted all lines of credit and cash reserves”.

LEGAL NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000) PAC International Fund Ltd. (the “Company”) Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, No.45 of 2000, the Dissolution of PAC International Fund Ltd. has been completed, a Certificate of Dissolution has been issued and the Company has therefore been struck off the Register. The date of completion of the Dissolution was the 7th day of July, 2020.

Gustavo Dos Santos Vaz Liquidator LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No. 46 of 2000) AMAROC CORP. Formerly ARIANE CORP. Registration No. IBC 202512 B Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that AMAROC CORP. Formerly ARIANE CORP. has been dissolved and struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 3rd day of February 2021.

GALNOM LTD. Liquidator

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 7

Bahamas ‘can’t afford’ to ignore oil discovery

FROM PAGE ONE revenue windfall that could benefit the Public Treasury and Bahamian people alike.

The former governor also suggested that successive administrations had stored up trouble for themselves by being less than fully transparent about the process involved in issuing BPC’s licences, their commercial terms and subsequent environmental and other approvals granted to facilitate its Perseverance One exploratory well.

While BPC last week announced that it has abandoned and plugged that well, after failing to strike commercial quantities of oil, Mr Francis said the “starting point” for improved public disclosure surrounding future exploration activities must start if the company seeks to renew the give licences that are due to expire at end-2021.

“This is a two-edged sword,” Mr Francis said, when asked whether BPC’s

dry well was a good or bad outcome for The Bahamas.

“I truly sympathise and understand the environmentalists. I think that they’re right; we’ve got to protect our natural environment.

That’s very important.

“But one has to admit that our options, at this stage in the game, are really quite limited. I have to say if we discover large economically exploitable resources, it would potentially change the position of The Bahamas dramatically. We cannot be completely oblivious to that fact.”

Describing himself as “really divided” on the oil exploration issue, Mr Francis added: “All steps need to be taken to provide the maximum protection to the environment but, at the end of the day, I will tell you that if we find very significant resources there that can be exploited for the benefit of the Bahamian people, I would side with figuring out how to do that.

“I don’t think my position would be: ‘There’s no

possibility. Shut it down, we’re not going to do it’. We cannot afford not to do it......

If we were to find resources in The Bahamas, I would not personally be opposed to the exploitation of those resources provided it is done in a safe and proper way.

“The Bahamas is not in a position to completely deprive itself of the benefits of significant petroleum reserves. I don’t think we are. I honestly salute the environmentalists who are trying to protect our environment. I believe in and identify with that,” the former Central Bank governor added.

“But, at the end of the day, I’m not willing to say we’ve got billions of dollars of reserves and cannot touch them. I wouldn’t go that far at all.” The Judicial Review challenging BPC’s permits and approvals has its roots in the alleged lack of transparency surrounding the government processes by which they were granted, and Mr Francis agreed that such a case could be made.

Oil opponents seek to ‘draw line in sand’ FROM PAGE ONE

several intended to be drilled within Bahamian territorial waters.

He told Tribune Business it was vital that the Bahamian judicial system be able to determine whether laws such as the Planning and Subdivisions Act (site plan approval), the Conservation and Protection of the Physical Landscape of The Bahamas Act (excavation permit) and the Merchant Shipping Prevention of Oil Pollution Act apply to future exploratory well permitting processes.

“Whether it’s one or more wells, the fact that BPC was able to actually drill was a wake-up call to the environmentalists in The Bahamas that the government is not defending

the environment,” Mr Smith said.

“Notwithstanding their [the government’s] apparent commitment to a blue and green economy, and despite the prime minister and Cabinet coming out in opposition to oil drilling, the precedent matters.

“This is really an attempt to draw a line in the sand beyond which the environmentalists do not intend to back away from.”

Responding to assertions

by Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment, that the BPC furore is now behind The Bahamas after the company abandoned and plugged Perseverance One, Mr Smith said: “I don’t know how we can put it behind us when they have other licences.

“There is a real continuing risk to the

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JOHNLEE PAUL, of Farrington Road House #2, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of February 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that CHERLIUN ILIENUS, of Kelly Lane off Johnson Road, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of February 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that NATIRITE PASCALE TAMARA MICHAUD, of #17 Shirley Park Avenue, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of February 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

environment, so the [environmental] coalition has a real long-term commitment to doing it’s best to educate the public and persuade the political powers that be not to approve or renew further licences, and to use the judicial process to determine what are the consulting obligations of then government and the oil companies. What legislation does or does not apply?”

With BPC still demanding that the environmental groups provide a $200,000 “security for costs” bond despite the end to Perseverance One, it remains to be seen whether the Judicial Review will make it to

“I have a difficulty with the lack of transparency which surrounds the agreements relating to BPC,” he told Tribune Business.

“I really believe that this is such an important issue that the Government of The Bahamas really does have to be entirely transparent about what agreements are reached with investors wish to participate, and wish to explore.

“If we find resources here, one has to have a transparent framework within which exploitation of those resources can happen.” Mr Francis said it was impossible to determine whether the government had obtained the “best possible deal” with BPC prior to the drilling of Perseverance One simply due to the lack of information provided, although details revealed so far strongly suggest it had not.

“There does need to be complete transparency,” he added. “I don’t think we had that with the previous government. I’m not saying

it’s not a good deal. I don’t know, of course, but the fact is the Bahamian people have a right to know and the process needs to be transparent right from the beginning.

The environmentalists need to be head...

“I feel very strongly that the government has exposed itself to criticism that it may be doing things behind the backs of the Bahamian people, and striking deals that people don’t understand. They probably have exposed themselves to that criticism.

“We have to ensure total clarity, transparency and consultation across The Bahamas on how it’s done, and I don’t believe that was the case with BPC. That’s why our environmental colleagues have been given a fairly important podium from which to speak. A lot of people would like to know what the hell is going on.”

Mr Francis also voiced concern about The Bahamas’ ability to properly manage any royalties

earnings from commercial oil discovery, suggesting that few developing countries had achieved this although Norway was one example to possibly emulate.

“Even the idea of exploitation needs to be put out to tender. How do you go about licensing parties that wish to explore for petroleum resources. I really honestly do not know exactly how these licences were granted to BPC in the first place,” he added.

“Qualify the parties licensed to do it, have a very thorough framework in which exploration is done, and once you’ve found reserves go into the second phase of how it’s managed.

I’m not so sure we’ve done a thorough job in putting in place a mechanism to manage that.”

This, Mr Francis said, would involve determining how royalties from any successful commercial oil production would be split between the Public Treasury and the sovereign wealth fund.

a full hearing on the merits.

And it is also uncertain whether BPC will apply to renew the five licences that are due to expire at endJune 2021 by the March 31 submission date.

BPC, in a long release that portrayed the situation as the equivalent of a “glass half full”, last week said drilling Perseverance One to a depth of 3,900 metres had detected the presence of hydrocarbons but not enough to make it commercially viable at that site.

It added, though, that the Perseverance One well’s findings had made the “technical” case that commercial oil reserves may be located in areas covered by some of its four other licences and it was not giving up on The Bahamas just yet.

While the data collected from its exploratory drilling has yet to be reviewed and presented to the Bahamian government, as required by its licence

terms, BPC indicated that there was sufficient justification to consider drilling further exploratory wells in addition to continuing the search for a joint venture partner.

“The company considers the results from Perseverance One, notably the confirmation of migrated oil within the Aptian reservoirs, will significantly reduce technical risk for any future/further exploration in this new frontier province,” BPC’s statement said.

“In particular, BPC considers that the results from Perseverance One may provide a strong technical basis for renewed farmin discussions, with a view to future drilling at other target locations within BPC’s licence areas.” This leaves open the possibility that BPC may resume exploration in other Bahamian licence fields.

However, the statement made clear that BPC’s short-term focus is now

switching from The Bahamas to its recently-acquired prospects in Trinidad and Suriname, where it hopes to achieve production of 2,500 barrels of oil per day this year, plus its newlyacquired exploration rights off the Uruguayan coast.

Simon Potter, BPC’s chief executive, said: “Perseverance One is the first exploration well in The Bahamas for decades, and the data gathered from this well will prove invaluable in providing a modern analysis as to the regional potential of the petroleum system which, in our view, reduces technical risk for any future/further exploration in this new frontier province.

“The company will proceed to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the data derived from the well, as we believe the results provide a sound technical basis for renewed farm-in discussions.”

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

FRIDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2021

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

CLOSE

CHANGE

1962.14

-19.58

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

-0.99 -130.32

-6.23

(242) 323-2330 (242) 323-2320

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.50 33.05 2.00 2.25 2.10 6.00 6.90 3.55 6.15 4.33 6.16 12.77 3.64 6.85 10.88 8.44 15.08 4.25 9.00 16.00

52WK LOW 3.13 22.65 0.67 1.62 1.50 5.00 6.00 2.70 4.27 3.10 5.50 10.20 2.10 4.75 9.50 7.70 13.00 3.50 8.15 14.00

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 0.90

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Bahamas Limited Focol Finco J. S. Johnson

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ

LAST CLOSE 4.50 32.12 1.62 2.15 1.59 6.00 6.61 2.93 4.74 3.25 5.60 10.20 2.69 6.76 9.97 8.40 13.50 3.75 8.50 15.20

CLOSE 4.50 32.12 1.62 2.25 1.59 6.00 6.61 2.93 4.74 3.10 5.60 10.20 2.66 6.80 10.02 8.40 13.50 3.75 8.35 15.20

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGR1320294 BSBGR1321391 BSBGR1322498

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Bahamas Class A Focol Class B

BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank (Note 22 Series B+) Bahamas First Holdings Limited

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y BGRS FX BSBGR1320294 BGRS FX BSBGR1321391 BGRS FX BSBGR1322498

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.15) 0.00 0.00 (0.03) 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.15) 0.00

VOLUME

50,000 364

19,758 100 1,403 1,700

3,000

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.110 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.030 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 18.8 34.5 N/M N/M N/M N/M 17.9 -6.7 33.9 16.8 12.5 14.1 26.1 14.6 15.5 11.5 16.5 18.5 8.9 24.1

YIELD 3.78% 3.92% 1.23% 1.33% 0.00% 0.00% 3.93% 0.00% 0.00% 3.87% 3.93% 7.06% 16.32% 0.88% 3.27% 2.86% 4.00% 3.20% 2.40% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

MATURITY

6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 4.81% 5.29% 5.65%

20-Nov-2029 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2022 15-Oct-2029 15-Oct-2039 15-Oct-2049

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.39 4.43 2.14 201.90 184.85 1.69 1.85 1.78 1.24 8.49 10.26 7.28 13.91 12.84 10.81 10.00 10.20 13.79

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.66 1.79 1.75 1.05 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Financial Conservative Fund Leno Financial Aggressive Fund Leno Financial Balanced Fund Leno Financial Global Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

NAV 2.39 4.43 2.14 201.90 184.85 1.68 1.79 1.76 1.05 8.49 10.03 7.28 13.91 12.84 10.05 N/A 10.20 13.79

YTD% 12 MTH% 4.55% 4.55% 1.58% 1.58% 2.60% 2.60% 3.47% 3.47% 10.86% 10.86% 1.03% 1.03% -3.14% -3.14% 0.26% 0.26% -12.29% -12.29% 1.76% 1.76% -1.97% -1.97% 4.91% 4.91% 5.28% 15.75% 0.05% 3.96% -0.35% -6.34% N/A N/A 8.60% 8.60% 11.90% 11.90%

NAV Date

31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020

MARKET TERMS

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price

52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity

52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks

Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity

Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume

Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price

Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume

Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week

Change - Change in closing price from day to day

EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths

Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today

NAV - Net Asset Value

DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months

N/M - Not Meaningful

P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | CAROLISLE 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

PAGE 8, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

UK hits target: Gives at least one vaccine shot to 15 million LONDON Associated Press THE UK announced yesterday that it had reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.

More than 15 million people, or 22% of the UK population, have received their first shot. The figure includes most people in the government’s top four priority groups, including everyone over 75, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents. Over 537,000 of them have also received their second dose.

“15,000,000!

Amazing team,’’ Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said in a tweet that featured a red heart and three syringes. “We will not rest till we offer the vaccine to the whole of phase1 the 1-9 categories of the most vulnerable & all over 50s by end April and then all adults.’’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to unveil his roadmap for easing restrictions on Feb. 22 amid signs that infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths have fallen sharply since England’s third national lockdown began on Jan 4.

“This country has achieved an extraordinary feat — administering a total of 15 million jabs into the arms of some of the most vulnerable people in the country,’’ Johnson said in a tweet.

Johnson said in England, everyone in the four top priority groups had been offered the vaccine.

He plans to release further details on the vaccination effort today.

Jockeying has already begun between those who want the measures lifted as soon as possible and those who fear moving too fast will lead to a resurgence of the virus.

Britain got a head start on its vaccination effort in December, when it became the first country to authorise widespread use of a COVID-19 shot. It ranks behind only Israel, 73%, the Seychelles, 53%, and the United Arab Emirates, 51% in the percentage of people who have received one dose, according to Oxford University. The US is fifth at 15%.

At the same time, coronavirus lockdown rules that have closed schools, restaurants and nonessential shops in the UK are starting to pay off. The number of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths recorded over the past seven days have all dropped by more than 20% from the previous week.

When Johnson announced the lockdown, he said the government would review the measures in mid-February based on their success in controlling the pandemic and progress in the vaccination effort.

Johnson’s first priority is to reopen schools, and he has promised to give schools two weeks notice to give teachers time to prepare.

Britain has reported over 117,000 virus-related deaths, the highest pandemic toll in Europe.

Mark Harper, a lawmaker from the ruling Conservative Party, has warned the government against “moving the goalposts” for deciding when to ease the lockdown.

Johnson should start by reopening schools, then gradually lift other restrictions as more people are vaccinated, said Harper,

who leads a group of about 70 lawmakers who have lobbied the government to consider the negative economic and social impacts of the restrictions along with the health benefits.

“Once you have protected people from serious illness and from death, I don’t think these draconian restrictions of not being able to meet your family, not see your friends, not see your children, not see your parents, not visit people in care homes, I don’t think they are justifiable anymore,’’ Harper told Times Radio.

After meeting the target for reaching the most vulnerable, UK authorities will progressively expand the vaccination drive to the next five priority groups until everyone over 50 and vulnerable younger people with health conditions that put them at higher risk from the virus have been offered the vaccine.

Public health officials say the top nine priority groups account for 99% of the deaths caused by COVID19 so far.

While the vaccines currently authorised for use in the UK require two doses to ensure full protection against COVID-19, British authorities say one dose provides a significant level of protection.

Because of this, they have made it their priority to give the first dose to as many people as possible as quickly as possible. To do this, Britain is planning to give second doses after three months, instead of one month as recommended by the manufacturers.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust health think tank, said the number of COVID-19 infections in Britain is still too high to think about lifting the restrictions.

“We’ve made enormous progress … but the transmission is incredibly high still and we’ve got to get it lower,” he said.

There are other dangers on the horizon. UK government scientific advisers say the COVID-19 variant now predominant in the country may be up to 70% more deadly than previous variants, underscoring concerns about how mutations may change the characteristics of the disease.

The findings from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, published Friday on the government’s website, builds on preliminary research released Jan 21. The group, known as NERVTAG, includes experts from universities and public agencies across the UK. The new report is based on analysis of a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the county where it was first identified, is likely 30% to 70% more deadly than other variants. The studies compared hospitalisation and death rates among people infected with the variant and those infected with other variants.

The results of the analysis are worrisome, said Dr. David Strain, a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School and the clinical lead for COVID at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.

“The higher transmissibility means that people who were previously at low risk of catching COVID (particularly younger fitter females) are now catching it and ending up in hospital,’’ Strain said. “This is highlighted by the latest figures for hospitalisation that now suggest almost 50:50 male to female ratio compared to this being predominantly in men during the first wave.’’

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 11

JAPANESE ECONOMY SEES RECOVERY FROM PANDEMIC SLUMP TOKYO Associated Press

THE Japanese economy grew at an annual rate of 12.7% in OctoberDecember, marking the second straight quarter of growth, amid a recovery from the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to government data released today.

The world’s third-largest economy saw growth in consumption, government spending and exports for the final quarter of last year, compared to the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said.

Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product had grown at a dramatic annualised rate of 22.9% in the July-September period.

GDP is the sum value of a nation’s products and services. The annualised rate shows what the rise or drop would have been if that same pace had continued for a year.

Prospects for the future appear relatively good, with trade resuming, and a vaccine rollout in nations that are Japan’s key trading partners, such as the US and other Asian nations.

For the 2020 calendar year, Japan’s economy sank

4.8%, the first year of contraction in 11 years. On quarter, the economy grew 3% in October-December, according to preliminary data.

Japan never had a lockdown for COVID-19, trying to keep business activity going while encouraging working from home and social distancing.

A so-called state of emergency, centred around having restaurants and other businesses close at 8pm, is being used in Tokyo and some other urban areas where infection clusters have popped up.

Junichi Makino, SMBC Nikko Securities chief

economist, said that, although the first quarter of this year may see a setback, because of the state of emergency, a gradual recovery track is expected as overseas economies return to normal and the emergency likely gets ended next month.

“With the coronavirus pandemic getting curbed, the end of the state of emergency and the rollout of the vaccine, the Japanese economy is expected to start recovering, returning to normal, starting from the April-June quarter,” Makino said.

Japan’s larger overall economic problems remain,

such as sinking wages and declining international competitiveness, which have led to stagnation in recent decades.

Social changes that require time would be needed to correct those problems, such as encouraging overseas investment and fixing education to nurture entrepreneurship.

Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at SuMi TRUST, or Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, notes an element of “revenge consumption” at play in the GDP data.

That means shoppers try to make up for “lost time” by buying more, because

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 68° F/20° C

TAMPA

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Mostly sunny and breezy

Mostly clear

Sunny, breezy and pleasant

Mostly sunny, breezy and pleasant

Clouds and sun with a shower; windy

Sunshine and breezy

High: 82°

Low: 73°

High: 82° Low: 71°

High: 81° Low: 71°

High: 81° Low: 70°

High: 83° Low: 68°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

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AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

86° F

75° F

87°-71° F

85°-69° F

85°-70° F

87°-65° F

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

8-16 knots

S

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 72° F/22° C

7-14 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

E

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E

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WEST PALM BEACH

N

uV inDex toDay

TONIGHT

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 65° F/18° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 72° F/22° C

MIAMI

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

7-14 knots

KEY WEST

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 73° F/23° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

10:10 a.m.

10:36 p.m.

2.6 2.5

4:04 a.m. -0.1 4:29 p.m. -0.1

Tuesday

10:48 a.m.

11:18 p.m.

2.4 2.4

4:47 a.m.

5:06 p.m.

0.1 0.0

Wednesday 11:29 a.m.

-----

2.2 -----

5:32 a.m.

5:45 p.m.

0.3 0.1

Thursday

12:03 a.m.

12:12 p.m.

2.3 2.0

6:21 a.m.

6:27 p.m.

0.4 0.2

Friday

12:52 a.m.

1:01 p.m.

2.3 1.9

7:15 a.m.

7:15 p.m.

0.6 0.3

Saturday

1:46 a.m.

1:57 p.m.

2.2 1.8

8:15 a.m.

8:08 p.m.

0.7 0.3

Sunday

2:44 a.m.

2:57 p.m.

2.3 1.8

9:16 a.m.

9:05 p.m.

0.6 0.3

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:44 a.m.

6:04 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

9:16 a.m.

9:42 p.m.

First

Full

Last

New

Feb. 19

Feb. 27

Mar. 5

Mar. 13

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

S

E

W

7-14 knots

S

7-14 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Statistics are for Nassau through 1 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 82° F/28° C Low .................................................... 75° F/24° C Normal high ....................................... 77° F/25° C Normal low ........................................ 64° F/18° C Last year’s high ................................. 85° F/29° C Last year’s low ................................... 71° F/22° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 1.86” Normal year to date ..................................... 2.08”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

they had to stay home and didn’t buy as much for extended periods because of the pandemic, he said.

Government programmes to encourage spending, including the discount “GoTo” campaign last year, which has been temporarily as coronavirus cases surged also helped perk GDP. Data also showed a recovery in machinery investments.

A vaccine rollout has yet to start in Japan but is set to begin this week with medical workers. Japan, with about 6,900 COVID-19 deaths, has seen far fewer such deaths than in the US and some other nations.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

7-14 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS

are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

RAGGED ISLAND High: 81° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 83° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

8-16 knots

8-16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday: Today: Tuesday:

WINDS S at 7-14 Knots S at 8-16 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots SSE at 7-14 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots SE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 10-20 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots S at 7-14 Knots S at 10-20 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots SE at 6-12 Knots SSE at 7-14 Knots SE at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots SE at 7-14 Knots SE at 8-16 Knots

WAVES 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 4-8 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-6 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 5-9 Feet 5-9 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 75° F 75° F 77° F 78° F 78° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 76° F 77° F 78° F 79° F 78° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 76° F 77° F 79° F 79° F 78° F 78° F

PAGE 12, Monday, February 15, 2021

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