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MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2021

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Infrastructure Fund’s public offering plan

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

B

AHAMIAN investors will be given the opportunity to own a portion of the proposed National Infrastructure Fund via an initial public offering (IPO), a Cabinet minister confirmed yesterday.

Senator Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for finance, responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said the present plan also calls for the fund - which is being created to pool financing for projects deemed vital to closing The Bahamas’ $2bn infrastructure gap - to be privately managed.

He spoke out after this newspaper obtained an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) document suggesting that the National Infrastructure Fund may adopt a similar structure to the Arawak Port Development Company (APD) in terms of how it is controlled, owned and managed.

• Minister confirms equity for Bahamian investors • Fund privately managed; similar to APD set-up • ‘Under-used’ public assets to fund govt share

KWASI THOMPSON The paper, which provides more details than those offered by the prime minister last week, suggests that the National Infrastructure Fund will be majority private-owned and managed although, as with APD, there will be “reserve matters” or issues upon which government approval must first be obtained before they can be acted upon.

‘Blind’ driving attorney loses sanctions fight

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court judge has refused to give an attorney “a second bite at the cherry” and appeal sanctions related to his management of a $30m estate on the basis he is “legally blind”.

Justice Indra Charles, in a February 5, 2021, ruling found that there were multiple “inconsistencies and omissions” in new evidence submitted by Gregory Cottis in a bid to justify being granted leave to appeal penalties imposed for “13

breaches” of Supreme Court orders.

While not making any “factual findings”, Justice Charles recorded in her judgment that substantial evidence had been provided to challenge Mr Cottis’ assertion that he had been unable to comply because he had been “incapacitated by blindness” since December 2019 - including him being spotted driving his vehicle numerous times by multiple persons in 2020.

She added that Mr Cottis had also attended meetings in 2020 with attorneys from

SEE PAGE 8

Sir Franklyn: Is data protection up to challenge?

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT businessman is questioning whether the government and private sector are doing enough to protect Bahamians’ personal financial data from employee theft in a growing digital economy.

Sir Franklyn Wilson told Tribune Business that widespread employee abuses and stealing, as evidenced by the number of cases brought before the Bahamian judicial system, meant companies

SIR FRANKLYN WILSON needed to be extra careful when securing customers’ payment-related data.

While acknowledging the improved ease of doing business and customer convenience provided by digital payments, he added that “in every element of progress there’s an element of risk” that has to be properly mitigated and addressed.

SEE PAGE 7

Affirming that the Fund will be created as a “fund of funds” structure, with a so-called ‘Master Fund’ and a series of underlying sub-funds that each invest in specific infrastructure sectors, such as renewable energy and the Family Islands, the IDB paper proposes how the ownership would be determined.

While the “Master Fund” would be owned and directed by the government, multilateral development institutions such as the IDB, and the private sector fund/ asset manager, the underlying funds would each be owned by the investors providing capital for sectorspecific infrastructure.

“The entity will be structured as a master fund or ‘fund-of-funds’ - a pooled investment fund that invests in sector specific funds,” the IDB said of the National

Infrastructure Fund’s preliminary design.

“The entity will include the best practice corporate governance features of other projects, such as the APD experience with private sector management, private sector ownership majority, reserve matters for the Government of The Bahamas, as well as a public offering for the equity participation of the Bahamian general public.”

Confirming that Bahamian investors will receive the chance to participate, in a bid to create and broaden wealth creation, Mr Thompson said in messaged replies to this newspaper’s questions: “An important component in the proposed plan for the National Infrastructure Fund is the requirement

SEE PAGE 8

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BOB: ‘Break even excellent’ for 2021

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BANK of The Bahamas’ top executive says it will “be excellent” if its closes its 2021 financial year in a “break even” position after incurring $20m in loan loss provisions over the past two years.

Kenrick Brathwaite, the BISX-listed institution’s managing director, told Tribune Business that the entire commercial banking industry was in “the telling period” where it will learn just how many of its COVID-19 loan deferrals are to become non-performing and pass 90 days past due.

Revealing that the many institutions are “past the point of giving forbearance” for borrowers working in or connected to hotels and tourism, he argued that the banking sector’s position would be “a lot better” if The Bahamas can get 70 percent of employees in its largest industry back to work.

“The hotel industry is what’s driving the provisions and loan loss provisions,” Mr Brathwaite explained, after Bank of The Bahamas was forced to take

another $4.46m in credit loss expenses for the three months to end-December 2020.

“If we can get 70 percent of persons in the hotel industry back to work that results in a position that is a lot clearer and much better.

We have a lot of hotel workers who have loans and we’re past the point of giving forbearance.

“Anyone affiliated with the hotel industry is driving these figures. We need some of these hotels to open up, come on stream so we can offset some of this unemployment. I think this is the telling period now after the forbearance in 2020.”

Mr Brathwaite said loan payments for many borrowers impacted by COVID-19 furloughs, job losses and income cuts had been waived until December 2020 as part of bank deferral initiatives.

Some facilities, he added, had remained on deferral going into 2021 while others have been restructured.

“There’s no way you can have loans on the books for a year without payment and think there’s not a challenge with them,” the Bank of The Bahamas chief said.

SEE PAGE 6

PAGE 2, Monday, March 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Running the race to full compliance

A

S I ran along the Cable Beach strip contemplating why I decided on a vigorous “speed repeat routine”, as I embarked on my second

week of a year-long journey towards running my first full marathon, I was stopped by Bahamianborn, now-Washington DC domiciled, Reuters business writer Katanga Johnson.

Amid our thought-provoking conversation on changes within the global regulatory environment, on which he writes extensively, one position stood firm – that the compliance

function is statistically one of the fastest-growing professions, and one of the few where growth is expected in 2021. Yet many aspiring compliance professionals are seemingly unaware of

The Management of UBS Trustees (Bahamas) Ltd. is pleased to announce its

2021 Promotions

Authorized Officer

Associate Director

Diego Turnquest

Shirley Gray

Dena Andrews We would also like to thank those employees with service anniversaries in 2020 15 Years Racquel Johnson Bethshan Jules Monalisa Stubbs

10 Years Rona Knowles-Astwood Melbith Davis Shirley Gray Iona McDonald Indira Sears

its complexities and, more importantly, its processes versus speed.

Just as running a race requires a science, compliance, too, requires a skillful and methodical approach.

Irrespective of the jurisdiction or industry, there are rules, regulations and guidelines that shape the environment that an institution must be compliant with to avoid - at a minimum - unwanted regulatory pressure or fines.

Within the Bahamian financial services sector we have experienced a host of Acts, regulations, guidelines that have been truly transformative. An example of one such transformation is the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act 2020 that came into effect on December 14, 2020.

DARE acknowledges digital ledger technology while simultaneously bringing regulations to the issuance, sale and trade of digital assets in or from within The Bahamas.

Other notable examples were detailed in the August 2018 notice by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, which detailed the replacement of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000; Financial Transactions Reporting Act 2000; and the Anti-Terrorism Act 2004 by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2018; the Financial Transactions Reporting Act 2018; and Anti-Terrorism Act 2018, respectively. Additionally, the Financial Transactions Reporting Regulations 2000 and the Financial Transactions Reporting (Wire Transfers) Regulations 2015 (“the Wire Transfers Regulations”) have also been replaced with new versions.

Based on the above, and for good corporate governance, I wish to provide three tips as your institution designs its pathway for being compliant with our jurisdiction.

Evaluate your risk position The risk assessment must be your starting point.

Based on the size, business channels, vendor complexities, customer geographical spread, services offered and more, this assessment once it is designed and implemented, and managed and monitored effectively - will give you the sobering reality on your institution’s exposures but also how to mitigate them. From that point, an action plan can be designed and must include all internal stakeholders as well as shareholders.

Regulatory Gap Analysis In my article entitled The fine art of reducing sanctions, released in July

2020, I explained: “A strong regulatory compliance framework can be the distinguishing factor for whether your institution survives.” Compliance officers must be acutely aware of the policies and procedures of their institution, while simultaneously making themselves aware of changes in laws, regulations, directives and standards. If a gap is identified between the internal environment and the external environment, actions, owners and timelines should be established and properly documented.

Costs and human resources must be taken into account before deploying the aforementioned.

Create a Compliance Plan The results of your risk assessment and regulatory gap analysis will generate key aspects of the compliance plan. It is important that the compliance plan be agile yet consistent. This will provide your institution with the knowledge and details needed to remain informed of changes, both internally and externally.

Conclusion In short, compliance is an opportunity for an institution to understand itself on a deeper level, then grow and evolve. The pathway to being compliant may be vigorous, filled with evolving pitfalls and occasional costs but, with robust risk and compliance structures, these apparent obstacles can be turned into opportunities that lead to profits.

Institutions must trust the compliance process rather than speed in reacting.

The compliance process is built to be proactive versus reactive.

NB: Derek Smith Jr is the compliance officer and money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) at Higgs & Johnson, and former assistant vicepresident of compliance and money laundering reporting officer at an international private bank. His professional career started at a major accounting firm and has spanned more than 15 years, including business risk management, compliance, internal audit, external audit and other accounting services.

Three new institutions qualify for Sand Dollar

Director

20 Years Zelpha Davis Bernard Sechaud

BY DEREK SMITH

5 Years Shaun Mahelis

THREE more Bahamian financial services providers have been authorised to distribute the Sand Dollar digital currency after completing the necessary cyber security protocols.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas, in a statement, said BISX-listed Bank of The Bahamas and the Teachers and Salaried Workers’ Cooperative Credit Union have become the first clearing bank and credit union, respectively, to be given permission to participate in Bahamian digital currency transactions via the app.

Island Pay, a payment services provider, has also met the requirements to offer Sand Dollar services through its proprietary mobile application. These three institutions are finalising internal procedures, and will begin offering Sand Dollar services to the public within the 2021 first or second quarter, having earned the designation of Sand Dollar authorised financial institution (AFI).

The Central Bank said surveys show Bahamians require reassurance around the safety of conducting online transactions. Thus all Sand Dollar AFIs are required to complete cyber security assessments by an independent international firm before receiving approval to offer services or integrate the Central Bank’s digital currency with their custom applications.

This cyber security assessment evaluates AFIs’ custom apps; the overall security postures of the businesses; and reviews the coding practices applied in application development.

The Sand Dollar platform has also undergone a rigorous and independent cyber security assessment.

The regulator added that Sand Dollar-integrated wallets are enabled with multiple authentication features. All mobile devices are required to support a device passcode or biometrics to access the app and complete transactions.

Publish your Balance Sheets and Financials in The Tribune.

Call 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 8, 2021, PAGE 3

PLP pledges rise in minimum wage

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) yesterday unveiled a populist economic agenda that included a weekly $40 increase in the minimum wage and cutting VAT to 10 percent for at least one year.

Philip Davis and Chester Cooper, the opposition’s leader and deputy leader respectively, said they would return to the “road map” provided by the National Development Plan to underpin efforts to revive the economy from the devastation inflicted by COVID-19 and Hurricane Dorian if voted into office at the upcoming general election.

The Minnis administration, while adopting some of its elements, seemingly eased the Plan - known as Vision 2040 - to one side after taking the government in 2017, but Mr Cooper yesterday argued that it remains “the sturdiest guide” to take The Bahamas where it needs to go.

He and Mr Davis, pledging that they will not implement new and/or increased taxes if elected, unveiled a series of tax, rent and mortgage relief promises as well as recommendations to increase the weekly minimum wage by 19 percent from the present

PHILIP DAVIS

CHESTER COOPER

$210 to $250.

Few to no details were provided on the cost of these proposals, and how they will be financed and where the money will come from. Some observers - as well as the PLP’s FNM opponents - will likely brand the plan as designed merely to win votes via costly suggestions that the already cash-strapped Public Treasury will find it extremely difficult to support.

However, Mr Cooper argued that a Davis-led administration will “phase in a livable wage, so that everyone who works is able to live with dignity and in a way that is acceptable in a modern Bahamas”.

“With so many people unemployed, those who are working have to support greater numbers of people.

We will recommend to the National Tripartite Council that they move towards a minimum wage of $250 per week in the private sector,” the PLP’s deputy

leader added.

The minimum wage has only seen one increase since it was first introduced in The Bahamas in 2002.

That occurred under the last Christie administration in the aftermath of VAT’s 20-15 introduction, and was designed to help offset the rise in living costs produced by the then-new tax.

However, the increase from $150 per week to $210 per week is understood to have been backed by rigorous analysis undertaken by the National Tripartite Council, the body responsible for addressing all labour-related matters, and others.

While any increase will doubtless be welcomed by minimum wage workers, its implementation in COVID-19’s immediate aftermath represents a further burden for those many businesses struggling to survive. It would act as a marginal increase in labour costs that could disincentivise firms from hiring, a

RESORTS SHOWING EASTER PROMISE

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net FAMILY Island hotels say they are “booked solid” for the Easter period, with one disclosing an 80 percent occupancy level for

the holiday that traditionally marks the winter season peak and climax.

Cheryl Bastian, owner/ operator of Swain’s Cay Lodge in Andros, told Tribune Business that while bookings for the Easter

weekend have traditionally been weak for her business - because many anglers tend to spend time with their families during the holiday this April is instead booked solid.

Ms Bastian said: “We’re getting some excellent bookings before and after the Easter Holiday. But that particular Easter weekend for us, we don’t get a lot of anglers in. That’s a family time. But as we’re a fishing lodge, it is definitely a crowd we want to attract

move that would especially impact younger workers, and even spark some to lay-off.

Acknowledging widespread fears that new and/ or increased taxes are imminent to pay for the multi-billion dollar national debt increase sparked by Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, Mr Cooper added: “Increasing the tax burden for ordinary Bahamians would be both immoral and terrible economic policy.

“We will instead reduce VAT to a rate of ten percent, across the board, for 12 months. This is not a huge difference, but it will put consumers in a position to afford a little more of what they need to get by, which will help get the economy going again. The government receipts are likely to increase, as more transactions will yield more VAT payments. We plan to re-assess this rate after a year.”

This represents a potential move back towards the low-rate, broad-based 7.5 percent VAT that The Bahamas was praised for when the tax was first introduced in 2015. The rate was hiked 60 percent to 12 percent by the Minnis administration in the 20182019 budget on the basis that it needed extra revenues to pay off $360m in unfunded arrears for which

it said no monies have been allocated.

Multiple observers have recently urged the next administration to undertake a detailed analysis of whether the VAT rate can be lowered as part of a more wide-ranging tax assessment, and Mr Cooper yesterday indicated a PLP administration will oblige.

He added that the “shock” VAT rate increase “meant that people had less to spend, and therefore the government earned less.

The increase in VAT put the basics out of reach for many ordinary Bahamians.

When consumption taxes are too burdensome, they have a negative effect on economic growth”.

Mr Cooper said a PLP administration would also “revive” the Revenue Enhancement Unit (REU) to crack down on tax dodgers and cheats, and ensure compliance, adding that it had been collecting $30m per month before the Minnis government closed it down.

The latter argued that the unit had been operating without any proper legal basis, which was why it closed it temporarily before restarting the initiative. Tribune Business files show the unit, which was established in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath, had been collecting $15m per month.

Mr Cooper effectively pledged to continue the overflight fees and real property tax collection efforts that have transcended several administrations, and talked of having “the first opportunity to re-structure the national debt in 2024” although no details were given.

Promising to address the rise in homelessness postCOVID-19 via increased funding for rental assistance, he added: “Where landlords are relying on rent to pay mortgages, we will work with lenders to reschedule their payments to avoid defaults.

“We will work with banks to keep homeowners in their homes, delaying a portion of mortgage payments for qualifying individuals until the economic recovery is underway. Our main objective is to avoid allowing the crisis in homelessness to grow.” No definition of “qualifying” individuals was provided.

Mr Davis, adding that the PLP is “betting on the Bahamian people” to assist the party’s plan with entrepreneurial ventures, pledged to revive the socalled Domestic Investment Board - a body that many said introduced another level of bureaucracy - to aid local businesses. He also said tax breaks and subsidies for investors will be reformed.

and get them going forward.

“For Andros we have to do a different kind of marketing,” Ms Bastian added, pointing out that islands such as Exuma have the swimming pigs while the majority of The Bahamas’ marketing spend is focused on the likes of Atlantis and Baha Mar. She added: “We have to enhance the angling, we have to enhance the blue holes and the snorkelling and other things specific to Andros.”

Highlighting the work being done to ensure COVID-19 test kits are available for all travellers to Andros, Ms Bastian said persons can easily access the island if they want to

and “that is the reason I am booked solid for the month of April”.

Matthew Brear, Cape Santa Maria’s general manager, said the Long Island resort is at 80 percent capacity for Easter and “climbing”. He added: “With more vaccines, more confidence and experience with testing and protocols, and the nature of our ‘Out Island’ product, all are helping to drive business to Long Island.”

However, Jeff Birch, owner/operator of the Small Hope Bay Lodge in Fresh Creek, Andros, said occupancy remains down and blames “vaccination paralysation” for the low outlook.

But the “phones are at least ringing”.

Carl Rolle, owner/operator of Rollez Villas on Cat Island, said he expects Easter to be “pretty good”.

He added: “The good thing about it is that we see a little creeping, so we are always thankful for small favours because we feel that we have done enough work to satisfy our guests when they come. Easter has always been a really solid period; we are always booked out but we’re not booked out at the moment.”

Mr Rolle said “a lot of people have expressed interest” in booking a Cat Island vacation.

BAHAMAS URGED ON CREDIT REGISTRY MOVE

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net AN Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) economist has urged The Bahamas to go beyond its proposed credit bureau by establishing a credit registry to enable better lending decisions.

Diether Wolfgang Beuermann Mendoza, lead economist for the IDB’s Caribbean Country Department, told Tribune Business that credit registries - an information repository where details on new and existing borrowers are held - are absent

from virtually all Caribbean countries.

Mr Mendoza said The Bahamas and other nations in this region face a “high level of asymmetric information in credit markets”, with lenders unable to precisely determine which borrowers present “good” risks and others who have a history of loan delinquencies.

“One type of institution than ameliorated this asymmetric information, and which has been shown to facilitate access to credit and reduce also the cost of credit, is a credit registry, or credit bureaus, where they can collect all information on potential borrowers

and see in a clearer way the riskiness of the borrower,” he added.

The Bahamas’s credit bureau, which was licensed at the end of 2019, is now setting up operations and is to begin obtaining information from banks and other lending institutions by the 2021 second quarter so that it can begin the lengthy process of compiling credit reports.

The Italian-headquartered CRIF SpA, which has a presence in providing such services in 30 countries across the Caribbean,

SEE PAGE 6

PAGE 4, Monday, March 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

REALTOR TEAMS WITH BAHA MAR FOR RESIDENCES SALES A MAJOR Bahamian realtor has unveiled a partnership with Baha Mar to market and sell the Cable Beach-based resort’s real estate options.

Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty said in a statement that the strategic tie-up will see it exclusively represent Baha Mar Residences, which features turnkey product under its two Rosewood and SLS resort brands.

The 307 Baha Mar Residences feature a collection of five-star, one to six-bedroom oceanfront private homes and waterside villas.

BAHA MAR “We are honoured to represent these extraordinary properties and iconic hotel brands. Baha Mar has

created an exceptional destination, and we take great pride in showcasing the exclusive Rosewood Baha

Mar and SLS Baha Mar Residences across international markets,” said Nick Damianos, of Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Baha Mar offers the ideal lifestyle experience for contemporary homeowners looking for the privacy of a luxury home paired with the amenities of a world-class resort destination,” said Graeme Davis, Baha Mar’s president.

“As the premier real estate firm in The Bahamas, Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty deeply values our unparalleled approach to resort lifestyle

and we look forward to working together to reach Sotheby’s international network of qualified clients seeking the best of luxury living in The Caribbean.”

Baha Mar provides residential owners with access to on-property amenities including Royal Blue, the Jack Nicklaus championship golf course; tennis at Baha Mar Racquet Club; and spa services at ESPA, in addition to multiple dining experiences.

“These amenities paired with the resort’s rental programme make ownership at Baha Mar even

more attractive for the clients looking to work remotely, stay and play at their new home,” added Mr Damianos.

The partnership with Baha Mar will see Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty open a dedicated sales office at the resort.

The team is led by Michelle Collie, director of sales and operations, who formerly served as director of resort experience at Baha Mar, and sales associates Bianca Aranha and Jacquelyn Louis. They will manage the real estate services and sales of Baha Mar Residences.

Private islands demand on rise DEMAND for Bahamian private islands among has grown significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic as high net worth individuals increasingly seek seclusion.

The latest offerings on the Concierge Auctions website

include St. Andrew’s, Little Ragged Island, a 720-acre island in the southern Bahamas with two fresh water springs and top diving and fishing. Also up for sale are oceanfront villas at Grand Isle Villas in Exuma.

“There is nothing comparable to Grand Isle for its magical combination of understated luxury and out island, away-from-it-all feeling,” said the seller. “Only conditions beyond our control have enticed us to sell

Little RAGGED ISLAND, also known as St Andrew’s, will be offered for sale to the highest bidder without reserve this month by Concierge Auctions in conjunction with Bahamas Realty’s Stuart Halbert. The 720-acre island with two fresh water springs is believed to be the largest island currently for sale in The Bahamas.

Photo: Brett Davis/DPA and since that was the case, we turned to Concierge because of its unmatched database of luxury property buyers, its lightning fast, sensational marketing, and its dedicated focus on getting the highest dollar for high-end property.”

Of every 20 properties or estates offered to the online firm, Concierge Auctions turns down 18. “The ten percent of properties we do take must have that special something that makes

it Concierge quality,” said director of business development, Danny Prell.

“Only then will one of our digital marketing and sales teams begin the process of preparing for the sale, always aligning with a local agent, working the database, understanding who the offering and the price point will appeal to, qualifying them for the bidding process which requires a deposit to participate, and then watching the excitement

General Dentist

unfold online.”

Once up on the Concierge website, the sale of a property takes place against a ticking clock and climbing prices. If a reserve has been set by the seller, it will show up on the screen.

“With the demand for private islands so great now as people seek security for themselves and their families by creating their own perfect getaway haven, we are really excited about the listing for Little Ragged Island,” said Carly von Haven, who is handling the virtual listing along with Stuart Halbert at Bahamas Realty. Little Ragged Island is selling without reserve.

The 720-acre island at the southern tip of The Bahamas is believed to be the largest private island currently for sale in The Bahamas. Recently, 15 yachts were spotted anchored off its beaches and in its protected coves.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 8, 2021, PAGE 5

THE GREEN AUTOMOBILE REVOLUTION not properly disposed, the old batteries can contaminate soil and water supplies which then becomes an expensive endeavour to clean up. Another new business opportunity for the forward-thinking investor.

Digitisation, increasing automation and new business models have revolutionised other industries, and automotive will be no exception. These forces are giving rise to four disruptive

technology-driven trends in the automotive sector: diverse mobility, autonomous driving, electrification and connectivity. Forming strategic tech partnerships is more important than ever as technology will continue to disrupt and fuel growth in the auto sector.

As an investor it will be important to recognise the important alliances and take advantage of the new industries.

TEMPLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL A “green” or electric car receiving charge.

ACTIVTRADES WEEKLY

By CHRIS ILLING www.activtrades.bs

N

IKOLA Tesla, born in 1856 was a SerbianAmerican engineer who contributed to our modern alternating current electricity supply system. He became a wellknown inventor and was noted for his showmanship at public lectures and his demonstrations to celebrities and wealthy patrons.

Nowadays Tesla is a synonym for the electric-car revolution and the company’s eclectic founder, Elon Musk. Due to the tremendous popularity of his car company and what it symbolises, Musk has become one of the richest men in the world. Purely in terms of balance sheet there are larger EV-companies but none that symbolises the investment opportunities for retail investors more than Tesla. Tesla shares have seen an increase of over 700 percent YTD. All automakers,

governments and consumers are pushing the trend to go green, consume less fossil fuels, reduce their carbon footprint and create new job opportunities.

Even companies that never even assembled a car, are working on plans to build the next generation of electric vehicles based on their superior software. Apple just hired a Porsche engineer and rumours have it that the Cuppertino firm could start producing cars as early as 2024.

The question arises what will happen with the established car companies?

Will they follow the Nokia example and be left behind, or will they muscle up and reinvent themselves? New car companies are being watched carefully by the international investor. For example, Chinese company BYD saw their share price rise by approx. 335 percentin the first two months of this year. Just the rumour that Apple is starting to investigate the car business made the company’s share price jump by five percent

in a single day.

But electric cars are not the only new hype in the mesmerising world of our beloved automobile industry. The other green energy invention worth mentioning is the Hydrogen engine which promises that the go-green engine is possible without the limitation of driving range and slow and annoying charging stops.

No politician can avoid the word Hydrogen when they talk about renewable energies and climate protection. Drivers could also still use their existing combustion engine. But the transfer to Green-energy into Hydrogen is not very efficient (approx. 80 percent of the energy gets lost) and therefore is still too expensive. More innovation is needed and is being heavily supported by government funding initiatives.

In June 2020 Germany funded a seven billion Euro package to develop the Hydrogen market.

Moving into a green and electrified world comes with enormous infrastructure

upgrades and switch to renewable energy sources which creates opportunities for companies already involved in energy production, equipment manufacturing and mining.

But also new industries are being created. All the lithium-ion batteries which are made of cobalt, nickel and manganese must be recycled or properly disposed or repurposed. There are presently only a handful of companies that have a proper recycling solution. If

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 2021-2022 Temple Christian High School will hold its Entrance Examination on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at the school on Shirley Street from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon for students wishing to enter grades 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Application forms are available at the High School Office. The application fee is twentyfive dollars ($25). Application forms should be completed and returned to the school by Friday, March 19, 2021.

For further information, please call telephone number: 394-4481/394-4484.

PAGE 6, Monday, March 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMAS URGED ON CREDIT REGISTRY MOVE MIXED REACTION TO CRUISE CONCERNS FROM PAGE THREE

Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, was eventually selected as the preferred bidder to operate the credit bureau in late 2018 and finally completed the Central Bank’s licensing process in late 2019.

However, Mr Mendoza suggested a credit registry would be more effective than a credit bureau as it would have access to more information sources.

He explained: “So far, in the Caribbean, we don’t have any country that has implemented a credit registry. A registry that could put together all the information, both public and private, that could be available for the level of payment of services like water, electricity or paying taxes.”

Mr Mendoza said

countries such as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica all have credit bureaus that are “similar” to the structure proposed for The Bahamas, but all are privately owned and lack the participation levels and information sources of a credit registry.

“As a result, the coverage of these credit bureaus in other Caribbean countries only covers 30 percent of the available actors in the economy, and do not give a robust enough sample size to have a macro-economic look at the country’s credit profile,” he added.

Elsewhere, Mr Mendoza said The Bahamas must focus on “multi-year budgeting processes and a multi-year fiscal framework” that would take into account a longer-term planning horizon. He called for the continued development

of the Central Bank Act, comparing The Bahamas to other Caribbean countries, such as Barbados and Jamaica, who have recently revised similar legislation to bring them in line with larger and more developed countries.

Mr Mendoza said: “In terms of financial regulation, one thing that we highlight is the need for more integrated financial regulation beyond the micro-prudential approach. On the macro side, it is trying to prevent system-wide credit crunches through the implementation of conservation buffers going forward in ameliorating pro-cyclical policies of credit access and going towards more countercyclical policies of credit access, which would weather the storm better in crisis sense of the world we live now.”

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

DOWNTOWN Nassau businesses and excursion operators have given mixed reactions to cruise line concerns about product quality and the Government’s response.

George Mousis, the Athena Café’s general manager, told Tribune Business that while there is always room for improvement the cruise lines should not disparage Nassau product as they have.

Standing with Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister for tourism and aviation, who said the cruise ships should not merely “dump” on Nassau, Mr Mousis said: “‘There is always something to do, there’s something to see. That’s wrong for the cruise ships to say that.”

His response came after Mr D’Aguilar pushed back on assertions by Carnival Cruise Line’s senior vicepresident for global port development, Giora Israel, who said Nassau needs more than just improved port facilities because there

were few fresh attractions for passengers to enjoy.

Mr Mousis said: “Not everything is open, but some are open and there is something to do with the sun, sea and sand. There are still the historical buildings like we had before the pandemic. A lot of restaurants are still open, maybe not all downtown, but around the island things are open.

There is a lot to the Nassau experience.”

Georgette Godet, Shoreline Escapes’ general manager, said she backed Mr Israel’s assessment 100 percent but “what’s even more concerning to me is that the Atlantis resort is in bed with one excursion provider and they do not allow any other excursion operator to provide service.

They don’t give their guests another option.

“That is our biggest concern and that needs to be addressed,” she added.

“I think the taxi drivers addressed this before about Atlantis when they started the bubble strategy, but what about all of the ferries? What happened to all

BOB: ‘Break even excellent’ for 2021 FROM PAGE ONE “You have to make a decision with those accounts, go through the bucket of 30, 90 days in arrears, and we’d expect without the hotels coming online those provisioning figures will escalate from December.”

Bank of The Bahamas barely managed to generate a first half net profit, coming in at $56,321 for the six months to end-December 2020 compared to the $2.223m produced in the year-before period that was COVID-19 free, due to the pandemic’s devastating economic impact on borrowers.

Revealing that COVID19 had set back Bank of The Bahamas’ restructuring and turnaround plan by some six to nine months, Mr Brathwaite said the BISXlisted institution was in a much weaker position than its rivals to cope with the pandemic’s fall-out because of the $144m accumulated deficit being carried on its balance sheet due to past losses that required two taxpayer bail-outs.

Disclosing that Bank of The Bahamas’ forecasts and

budget for its 2021 financial year had “anticipated normalcy by January 1 and that didn’t happen, he added that the bank was “going to get the brunt of it” for another six months as the pandemic’s impact continues to work its way through the economy.

“We’ve taken over these two years almost $20m in provisions because of the COVID-19 situation,” Mr Brathwaite told Tribune Business. “We started off from a small position in terms of overall profitability, and that’s not sustainable.

We started off with a small piece of the pie and break even will be excellent for us.”

Mr Brathwaite, in his first half message to shareholders, said: “The pandemic has resulted in travel and border restrictions, quarantines, curfews and lockdowns, causing lower consumer demand and general market uncertainty.

“Notwithstanding, the bank recorded net income of $0.06m for the six months ended December 31, 2020.

The Bank remains committed to overcoming this crisis, focused on our strategic plan in strengthening of our

of us? Why aren’t we a part of an extension of this that you’re doing?”

Ms Godet said that efforts to develop Nassau must continue, there are attractions outside the capital that tourists need to experience. She said: “There is always something for people to do. There is always something the Government can [do to] create activities and attractions; downtown is open.

“Why can’t tourists come and have a Bahamian experience” Why can’t we have a cultural show every Thursday and Saturday?

Why aren’t we offering this? Why isn’t the Welcome Centre open even if it only is an extension of the Straw Market?

Turning to the straw vendors, and the difficulties in complying with COVID-19 social distancing, she added: “We need to figure out how we are going to assist those vendors. You have to be able to take care of your people. You shouldn’t let these foreign companies come in and dump on the country.” systems, expanding of products, and improving overall customer service.”

Total operating income fell by $0.7m or 5.64 percent for the second quarter, and by the same amount or 3.28 percent for the half-year, due to lower net non-interest income that was partially offset by higher net interest income.

“The impact of the pandemic was immediately felt by the bank on its noninterest income resulting in an overall decline of $0.9m and $1.2m for the current quarter and year-to-date, respectively,” Mr Brathwaite said. “The positive variance in net interest income of $0.3m and $0.5m were attributable to lower interest expense owing to a decline in certain deposit balances and interest rates.

“The bank’s operating expenses increased by $1.4m or 18.52 percent for the current quarter, and $2.1m or 14.25 percent year-to-date as higher bank license fee of $0.6m was recorded by the bank due to the increase in levy imposed by the Central Bank.

“Increases were also noted in staff costs, depreciation and IT-related expenses as the bank invested in the human resources, system innovation and upgrades to support the bank’s planned growth and strategic initiatives.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 8, 2021, PAGE 7

Sir Franklyn: Is data protection up to challenge?

FROM PAGE ONE “The pace at which businesses, then public sector and private sector has moved to digital as a result of COVID919 has, I think it is fair to say, been faster than anyone would have dreamed one year ago,” Sir Franklyn told this newspaper.

“It’s been at a very rapid pace, and I think there’s a side of this that I caution the business community, society and the police to be careful on.

Are we properly considering the risks inherent in that people’s credit and debit card information is now in a lot of places they were not before.

“What steps are businesses taking to ensure that information does not end up in the hands of staff who abuse it? Stealing by reason of employment is a crime well known in this country, unfortunately. It’s remarkably commonplace. To what extent is the prevention

of that taking place,” he continued.

“The concern is whether or not customers have the confidence to share their numbers, their personal data, given the record of incidents of stealing by reason of employment in this country. The point is are these things being properly mitigated? Who has access?

Who in every organisation has access to people’s personal data and credit data? Is that degree of access increasing the possibility of abuse?”

Stolen data can be used to perpetrate identity theft and other economic crimes against persons who have their personal financial information stolen. The Bahamas, to guard against this, has passed the Data Protection Act and created a regulator to oversee this issue, while the Central Bank - and payments providers - are being extra cautious to ensure the Bahamian digital currency is cyber secure.

Meanwhile, Sir Franklyn also voiced concern that the digital drive was taking place too quickly for older persons accustomed to paying by cheque and other traditional means. He recalled how one company, which had announced a policy of no longer accepting cheques, rescinded this for a longstanding customer who said that was the only payment method they knew.

“The fact of the matter is that’s the way people have always done it,” Sir Franklyn added. “They’ve done it for 60 years. To ask them to change overnight, for some people in that category that’s just too fast.

“That has implications for businesses. I would not be surprised if over the last several months that some businesses who have moved in the digital direction have seen accounts receivables increase as they don’t want to pay that way.”

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PAGE 8, Monday, March 8, 2021

Infrastructure Fund’s public offering plan FROM PAGE ONE that the proposed fund opens to individual Bahamian investors who will be able to buy into the fund.

“This is consistent with

this government’s stated objective of broadening Bahamian ownership of productive assets in the country.” No details were provided on how much equity may be made

available to Bahamian institutional and retail investors, which is probably because the National Infrastructure Fund is still in the design/ concept stage.

However, using APD as

THE TRIBUNE the yardstick or benchmark suggests that a collective 20 percent equity stake may be made available via an IPO. The remaining 80 percent ownership of APD is split evenly at 40/40 between the government and private sector (shipping industry), with both sides dominating the board of directors.

“The proposed preliminary structure of the National Infrastructure Fund is to have the core promoters and shareholders of the asset management entity for infrastructure development in The Bahamas represented in the Master Fund,” the IDB document said.

This included the government; development financial institutions such as the IDB itself, and the private sector fund manager.

It added that the ownership structure will “reflect in each one of the sector specific funds the private sector group of investors (local and foreign) whose interests are aligned in the specific sector”.

Mr Thompson, confirming that the IDB document accurately spells out the government’s intent, said: “The proposed National Infrastructure Fund will also be privately managed and will seek to attract the best Bahamian and global talent to ensure that it optimises the potential to raise private funding and that it operates consistent with best practices from around the world.”

Acknowledging that the National Infrastructure Fund is “still in the development stage”, he described it as a “new, innovative concept to develop infrastructure and wealth creation” with the

government presently seeking feedback from both private sector and public sector stakeholders.

“The proposed National Infrastructure Fund has the potential to mobilise hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private sector funds to support investments in critical infrastructure throughout the country, with emphasis on the Family Islands,” Mr Thompson said, suggesting that the fund itself will become a sub-fund under the proposed sovereign wealth fund.

The Bahamas was already struggling prior to COVID-19 and Hurricane Dorian to develop, upgrade and repair critical infrastructure assets that must be replicated on all inhabited islands, including roads, bridges, docks, airports, ports, schools, health clinics and such like.

The devastating impact on the public finances from this double blow means the government has little choice but to seek to attract private financing and capital to fund these projects via public-private partnerships, as it is doing with the $140m Family Island airport enhancements.

The National Infrastructure Fund will be the vehicle for pooling and directing such capital, but the IDB document - designed as part of a bidding process to select the consultants who will devise and advise on its set-up - notes that its formal creation is some months away as the winning firm has nine months in which to deliver its report.

And the government’s initial participation in the National Infrastructure Fund will likely be financed

from the sale and monetisation of “under-used” public assets such as public sector buildings and land.

“Via these mechanisms, the Government of The Bahamas will be able to divest, lease, joint venture or pledge a portion of its under-utilised assets, generating new cash flows which would be used to fund National Infrastructure Fund activities,” the IDB said.

“The initial proposal is to initiate the public sector asset recycling and monetisation activities with the government’s real estate assets. Later, additional public sector assets could be added.

“The framework proposes the creation of a real estate development fund, in the form of a real estate investment trust or REIT, to recycle and monetise public sector assets. The REIT would be a mechanism and conduit to fund government’s participation in a concept of a sovereign wealth fund.”

Mr Thompson, in his response to Tribune Business, said: “The proposed National Infrastructure Fund could also acquire select government buildings, complexes and land that is suitable for public and private sector business accommodations and use.

“The government recognises that there is substantial potential value locked in a number of unused or underutilised public buildings and facilities. Many of these can be enhanced or repurposed, and can generate returns for the National Infrastructure Fund while adding substantially to the stock of modern and functional private and public facilities.”

‘Blind’ driving attorney loses sanctions fight FROM PAGE ONE Lennox Paton, who are representing a beneficiary of the $30m estate, and participated in two real estate

transactions where he represented the purchaser on both occasions.

Tribune Business previously reported how Mr Cottis had failed to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn sanctions that were imposed after he failed to comply with Orders requiring him to turn over all records relating to the late Raymond Adams’ estate to the court-appointed judicial trustee.

Attorneys for Robert Adams, Mr Adams’ son and one of the estate’s beneficiaries, have accused Mr Cottis of deliberately “obstructing” the successor trustee, Ernst & Young (EY) accountant, Igal Wizman, in a bid to cover-up his “incompetence.... and hold the estate hostage to his own illegitimate attempts to recover more than his legally-entitled compensation”.

However, undeterred by Justice Charles’ initial ruling, Mr Cottis and his attorney, Damian Gomez QC, former minister of state for legal affairs, sought her permission to appeal that decision on the basis that the noncompliance resulted because he was “incapacitated by blindness from December 3, 2019”.

Mr Cottis sought to provide new evidence that was not presented at earlier Supreme Court hearings, but Justice Charles said these only revealed “inconsistencies and omissions”. She noted that his assertion of blindness from December 3, 2019, was contradicted by a March 18, 2020, doctor’s letter which said the attorney was only having issues with his right eye.

And while Mr Cottis, in his latest affidavit, alleged that no one else was able to oversee his law firm while he was absent from The Bahamas undergoing eye surgery in Florida, Justice Charles suggested this, too, was contradicted by evidence supplied by Mr Adams and Lennox Paton.

“Mr Cottis has at least two employees/associates assisting him at his office, including his wife, Olivia Cottis, who has worked extensively on the estate, and attended a meeting with the Judicial Trustee’s team alone in June 2019 to discuss Mr Cottis’ obligations with the Order of May 24, 2019,” the judgment recorded.

“In paragraph four of his affidavit, Mr Cottis also states that he is a sole practitioner and the only lawyer in his office, and has no one in his employ or otherwise familiar with the estate documents who could identity and locate them and deliver them to his attorneys.

“In respect of this

assertion..... again, Mr Cottis fails to mention that his wife, Olivia Cottis, is familiar with the estate, having attended meetings on her own in relation to the matter, and having been involved in the estate for many years. It is not credible that neither Mrs Cottis nor Ms Bethel at his office knows the whereabouts of the files relating to this estate.”

Turning to the evidence provided by Mr Adams, Justice Charles noted the allegations that Mr Cottis had met Lennox Paton’s Christopher Jenkins and Sebastian Masnyk to discuss the estate on March 9, 2020.

And “an unaided Mr Cottis” subsequently attended a December 2020 meeting at Deltec Bank & Trust where Lennox Paton partner David Johnstone was also present.

“Mr Cottis has been witnessed driving his vehicle at various points during 2020 by multiple persons,” the judgment added. “Mr Cottis worked on at least two conveyancing transactions between July and November 2020, with attorneys Simon Lowe from King & Co and Alastair Chisnall from Graham Thompson & Co representing the sellers in those transactions, and Mr Cottis representing the purchasers.

“Mr Cottis was sending detailed correspondence with the judicial trustee’s attorneys, Delaney Partners, in June and July 2020 in relation to a matter related to the estate relating to a company called Bellwood, which he remained a director of after his resignation in May 2019.”

Declining to give a verdict on the new evidence before her, Justice Charles wrote: “Mr Cottis now seeks a ‘second bite at the cherry’.

Permitting Mr Cottis to argue new ground or to make a new case is not permissible.

“Litigants cannot be allowed unlimited bites at the cherry or else there will be no finality in litigation.

In addition, if such new grounds were to be entertained, this could well open the floodgates to numerous applications of this nature which the Court cannot countenance.”

She added: “In my judgment, it is Mr Adams who is being robbed of his right to a fair trial within a reasonable time of his case by reason of the failure of Mr Cottis to even provide discovery and begin the process of case management.

“Mr Cottis has breached a plethora of orders of this Court; in all 13 breaches......

Ultimately, Mr Cottis is the architect of his own misfortune.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 8, 2021, PAGE 9

Workers worry about safety, stress as states ease mask rules JACKSON Associated Press LEO Carney worries that bigger crowds and mask-less diners could endanger workers at the Biloxi, Mississippi, seafood restaurant where he manages the kitchen.

Maribel Cornejo, who earns $9.85 an hour as a McDonald’s cook in Houston, can’t afford to get sick and frets co-workers will become more lax about wearing masks, even though the fast food company requires them.

As more jurisdictions join Texas, Mississippi and other states in lifting mask mandates and easing restrictions on businesses, many essential workers — including bartenders, restaurant servers and retail workers — are relieved by changes that might help the economy but also concerned they could make them less safe amid a pandemic that health experts warn is far from over.

Many business owners on the Mississippi Gulf Coast were glad Gov Tate Reeves decided to eliminate mask requirements, limits on seating in restaurants and most other binding restrictions.

“But the workers themselves... especially ones that have pre-existing conditions, they’re scared right now,” Carney said.

“This just puts us back in a situation where we’re on the frontlines, under the gun again,” said Carney, who sees Black Mississippians facing the greatest risks from the decision that took effect on Wednesday.

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Latino people in the United States, and many Gulf Coast restaurants have a significant number of Black employees.

Public health experts tracking the trajectory of more contagious virus variants have warned that lifting restrictions too soon could lead to another lethal wave of infections.

Although vaccination drives are accelerating as drug manufacturers ramp up production, many essential workers are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in Mississippi and other states.

Alabama’s state health officer on Friday advised residents to keep following standard infection-prevention recommendations even though the governor is letting the state’s mask mandate expire next month.

“There is nothing magical about the date of April 9. We don’t want the public to think that’s the day we all stop taking precautions,” State Health Officer Scott Harris said.

The governors of Iowa, Montana, North Dakota also have ended mask requirements or plan to suspend them soon. The governor of South Carolina on Friday lifted an executive order requiring face coverings in government office buildings and restaurants, leaving it up to state administrators and restaurant operators to develop their own guidelines.

Governors in several other states, including Michigan and Louisiana, eased the operating limits for bars, restaurants and other businesses in recent days.

The National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association in the US, issued a statement Wednesday encouraging shoppers to wear masks. Some retail chains, including Target and supermarket operator Albertson’s, plan to continue requiring them for both customers and workers in states that no longer make them mandatory.

Texas Retailers Association President and CEO George Kelemen said he thinks many members will continue to require workers — but not necessarily customers — to wear masks and other protective gear.

“Retailers know their customers best,” he said.

McDonald’s cook Cornejo, 43, said the end of Texas’ mask mandate next week alarms her because several of her co-workers already were lax about keeping their faces covered. She said co-workers

she has asked to pull their masks back over their noses politely acquiesced, but not always for long.

“There are just different attitudes,” said Cornejo, whose 19-year-old son began working as a cashier at the same restaurant to help pay the family’s bills. “Some say it’s just too difficult to keep it on for eight hours, especially when it gets hot.”

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Walensky, encouraged Americans to “do the right thing” by continuing to abide by recommendations for routine mask use and social distancing - even if their states lift restrictions.

Dr William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, said individuals who wear masks still risk infection from unmasked shoppers and diners. He called Texas Gov Greg Abbott’s decision to lift COVID-19 restrictions starting March 10 “entirely too soon and entirely too carefree”.

While deaths and new confirmed cases have plummeted from their January peaks nationwide, they’re still running at high levels, while outbreak indicators in some states have risen in recent weeks. In Mississippi, for example, the seven-day rolling average of the virus positivity rate rose from 11.47% on Feb 19 to 12.14% on March 5, and the state’s 7-day rolling average of daily deaths increase during the same period from 15 per day to 20.71 per day.

Workers in cities that still have mask mandates or jobs at businesses that maintain their own virus-prevention rules anticipate defiance from customers emboldened by their governors’ actions and weary of taking precautions.

Molly Brooks, 25, a barista at a Farmers Branch, Texas, coffee shop, said she has regularly dealt with customers who walked out or bullied her and her colleagues when they were asked to wear a mask.

Brooks worries how they’re going to enforce the rule, which the coffee shop plans to keep in place, now that Texas’ governor lifted the statewide mask mandate.

“We are gearing up for the emotional toll that this is going to take,” said the 25-year-old barista, who started working for the coffee shop in November while looking for a job in education. “The people who don’t want to wear them are still going to fight...and now they are going to have even more ammunition.”

Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi, will require masks and allow only eight customers at a time. Although General Manager Lyn Roberts believes the rules will make many customers feel safe, bookstore employee Paul Fyke said he observed a change in Oxford almost as soon as the Board of Aldermen chose to follow the governor’s lead and did away with the college town’s mask mandate.

“I mean, really, even on the drive home, you can kind of already see there were places where, for a lot of people, it was triumph,” he said on Thursday, the day after Oxford’s mask requirement ended. “They were happy to be removing them.”

Still, some workers are cautiously hopeful that fewer restrictions will bring more customers, tips and job security after a year short on all three.

In San Francisco, where the mayor last week announced the return of indoor dining and the reopening of movie theaters and gyms, Dino Keres had no qualms about serving drinks to customers bellying up to the bar inside Sam’s Grill.

That’s partly because he was about to get his second vaccine dose, but also because nobody on staff was infected when indoor dining was briefly permitted last fall. What’s more, masks are required unless people are eating, and indoor seating is limited to 25% of capacity.

PAGE 10, Monday, March 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

BIDEN, DEMS PREVAIL AS SENATE OKS $1.9T VIRUS RELIEF BILL WASHINGTON Associated Press

After labouring all night on a mountain of amendments — nearly all from Republicans and rejected — bleary-eyed senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 party-line vote. That sets up final congressional approval by the House next week so lawmakers can whisk it to Biden for his signature.

The huge measure — its

AN exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9tn COVID-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden, pictured, and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums.

cost is nearly one-tenth the size of the entire US economy — is Biden’s biggest early priority. It stands as his formula for addressing the deadly virus and a limping economy, twin crises that have afflicted the country for a year.

“This nation has suffered too much for much too long,” Biden told reporters at the White House after

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

FRIDAY, 5 MARCH 2021

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

CLOSE

CHANGE

1957.07

0.14

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

0.01 -135.39

-6.47

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

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.70 33.05 2.00 2.83 2.10 6.00 6.90 3.60 6.15 4.29 6.16 12.77 3.64 6.85 10.88 8.44 14.60 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 2.80 5.20 10.20 2.10 4.90 9.50 7.70 13.00 3.70 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 4.60 32.12 1.62 2.83 1.59 6.00 6.40 3.56 4.74 2.84 5.20 10.20 2.67 6.82 9.88 8.40 14.25 3.79 8.35 15.50

CLOSE 4.61 32.12 1.62 2.83 1.59 6.00 6.40 3.56 4.74 2.84 5.20 10.20 2.73 6.82 9.93 8.40 14.25 3.79 8.35 15.50

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 BSBGR1200371 BSBGR1321391 BSBGR1322498

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 97.04 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 97.04 100.00 100.00

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 97.72 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 93.92 100.00 100.00

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 BSBGR FX BSBGR1200371 BGRS FX BSBGR1321391 BGRS FX BSBGR1322498

CHANGE 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

VOLUME 2,500 1,837

9,560

5,000

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 19.3 34.5 N/M N/M N/M N/M 17.3 -8.1 33.9 15.4 11.6 14.1 26.8 14.6 15.4 11.5 17.5 18.7 8.9 24.6

YIELD 3.69% 3.92% 1.23% 1.06% 0.00% 0.00% 4.06% 0.00% 0.00% 4.23% 4.23% 7.06% 15.90% 0.88% 3.30% 2.86% 3.79% 3.17% 2.40% 3.94%

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

6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 5.22% 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-Dec-2037 15-Oct-2039 15-Oct-2049

MATURITY

the vote. “And everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation, and put us in a better position to prevail.”

Saturday’s vote was also a crucial political moment for Biden and Democrats, who need nothing short of party unanimity in a 50-50 Senate they run with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote. They hold a slim tenvote House edge.

Not one Republican backed the bill in the Senate or when it initially passed the House, underscoring the barbed partisan environment that’s characterised the early days of Biden’s presidency.

A small but pivotal band of moderate Democrats leveraged changes in the legislation that incensed progressives, hardly helping Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, guide the measure through the House. But rejection of their first, signature bill was not an option for Democrats, who face two years of running Congress with virtually no room for error.

In a significant sign, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, representing around 100 House liberals, called the Senate’s weakening of some provisions “bad policy and bad politics” but “relatively minor concessions.” Rep Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash, said the bill retained its “core bold, progressive elements”.

“They feel like we do, we have to get this done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said of the House. He added, “It’s not going to be everything everyone wants. No bill is.”

In a written statement, Pelosi invited Republicans “to join us in recognition of the devastating reality of this vicious virus and economic crisis and of the need for decisive action”.

The bill provides direct payments of up to $1,400 for most Americans and extended emergency unemployment benefits. There are vast piles of spending for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, states and cities, schools and ailing industries, along with tax breaks to help lower-earning people, families with children and consumers buying health insurance.

Republicans call the measure a wasteful spending spree for Democrats’ liberal allies that ignores recent indications that the pandemic and economy was turning the corner.

“The Senate has never spent $2tn in a more haphazard way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He said Democrats’ “top priority wasn’t pandemic relief. It was their Washington wish list.”

The Senate commenced a dreaded “vote-a-rama” — a continuous series of votes on amendments — shortly before midnight Friday, and by its end around noon dispensed with about three dozen. The Senate had been in session since 9am EST Friday.

Overnight, the chamber looked like an experiment in sleep deprivation. Several lawmakers appeared to rest their eyes or doze at their desks, often burying their faces in their hands. At one point, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, at 48 one of the younger senators, trotted into the chamber and did a prolonged stretch.

Sen Dan Sullivan,

R-Alaska, missed the votes to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.

The measure follows five earlier ones totaling about $4tn enacted since last spring and comes amid signs of a potential turnaround.

Vaccine supplies are growing, deaths and caseloads have eased but remain frighteningly high, and hiring was surprisingly strong last month, though the economy remains ten million jobs smaller than pre-pandemic levels.

The Senate package was delayed repeatedly as Democrats made eleventh-hour changes aimed at balancing demands by their competing moderate and progressive factions.

Work on the bill ground to a halt Friday after an agreement among Democrats on extending emergency jobless benefits seemed to collapse.

Nearly 12 hours later, top Democrats and West Virginia Sen Joe Manchin, perhaps the chamber’s most conservative Democrat, said they had a deal, and the Senate approved it on a party-line 50-49 vote.

Under their compromise, $300 weekly emergency unemployment checks — on top of regular state benefits — would be renewed, with a final payment Sept 6. There would also be tax breaks on some of that aid, helping people the pandemic abruptly tossed out of jobs and risked tax penalties on the benefits.

The House relief bill, largely similar to the Senate’s, provided $400 weekly benefits through August.

The current $300 per week payments expire March 14, and Democrats want the bill on Biden’s desk by then to avert a lapse.

Manchin and Republicans have asserted that higher jobless benefits discourage people from returning to work, a rationale most Democrats and many economists reject.

The agreement on jobless benefits wasn’t the only move that showed moderates’ sway.

The Senate voted Friday to eject a House-approved boost in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, a major defeat for progressives. Eight Democrats opposed the increase, suggesting that Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and other liberals pledging to continue the effort will face a difficult fight.

Party leaders also agreed to restrict eligibility for the $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans. That amount would be gradually reduced until, under the Senate bill, it reaches zero for people earning $80,000 and couples making $160,000.

Those ceilings were higher in the House version.

Many of the rejected GOP amendments were either attempts to force Democrats to cast politically awkward votes or for Republicans to demonstrate their zeal for issues that appeal to their voters.

These included defeated efforts to bar funds from going to schools that don’t reopen their doors or let transgender students born male participate in female sports. One amendment would have blocked aid to so-called sanctuary cities, where local authorities don’t help federal officials round up immigrants in the US illegally.

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.40 4.44 2.15 201.90 184.85 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 2.40 4.44 2.15 201.90 184.85 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% 0.38% 4.56% 0.04% 1.37% 0.20% 2.56% 3.47% 3.47% 10.86% 10.86% 0.20% 0.65% -0.37% -2.43% 0.16% 0.20% -0.66% -14.82% 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-Jan-2021 31-Jan-2021 29-Jan-2021 31-Dec-2020 31-Dec-2020 31-Jan-2021 31-Jan-2021 31-Jan-2021 31-Jan-2021 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

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, LASHANDA MADER of Young Street, P.O. Box SB-50921, Nassau, Bahamas, parent of GABRIEL ANTHONY ALEXANDER DEVEAUX a minor, intends to change my child’s name to GABRIEL ALEXANDER MADER. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas, no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 8, 2021, PAGE 11

GOP pushes bills to allow social media “censorship” lawsuits Associated Press REPUBLICAN state lawmakers are pushing for social media giants to face costly lawsuits for policing content on their websites, taking aim at a federal law that prevents internet companies from being sued for removing posts.

GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the “censorship” of posts. Many protest the deletion of political and religious statements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democrats, who also have called for greater scrutiny of big tech, are sponsoring the same measures in at least two states.

The federal liability shield has long been a target of former President Donald Trump and other Republicans, whose complaints about Silicon Valley stifling conservative viewpoints were amplified when the companies cracked down on misleading posts about the 2020 election.

Twitter and Facebook, which are often criticised for opaque policing policies, took the additional step of silencing Trump on their platforms after the Jan 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Twitter has banned him, while a semi-independent panel is reviewing Facebook’s indefinite suspension of his account and considering whether to reinstate access.

Experts argue the legislative proposals are doomed to fail while the federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, is in place. They said state lawmakers are wading into unconstitutional territory by trying to interfere with the editorial policies of private companies.

Len Niehoff, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, described the idea as a “constitutional non-starter”.

“If an online platform wants to have a policy that it will delete certain kinds of tweets, delete certain kinds of users, forbid certain kinds of content, that is in the exercise of their right as a information distributer,” he said. “And the idea that you would create a cause of action that would

allow people to sue when that happens is deeply problematic under the First Amendment.”

The bills vary slightly but many allow for civil lawsuits if a social media user is censored over posts having to do with politics or religion, with some proposals allowing for damages of $75,000 for each blocked post. They would apply to companies with millions of users and carve out exemptions for posts that call for violence, entice criminal acts or other similar conduct.

The sponsor of Oklahoma’s version, Republican state Sen Rob Standridge, said social media posts are being unjustly censored and that people should have a way to challenge the platforms’ actions given their powerful place in American discourse. His bill passed committee in late February on a 5-3 vote, with Democrats opposed.

“This just gives citizens recourse,” he said, adding that the companies “can’t abuse that immunity” given to them through federal law.

Part of a broad, 1996 federal law on telecoms, Section 230 generally exempts internet companies from being sued over what users post on their sites. The statute, which was meant to promote growth of the internet, exempts websites from being sued for removing content deemed to be “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable” as long as the companies are acting in “good faith”.

As the power of social media has grown, so has the prospect of government regulation. Several congressional hearings have been held on content moderation, sometimes with Silicon Valley CEOs called to testify. Republicans, and some Democrats, have argued that the companies should lose their liability shield or that Section 230 should be updated to make the companies meet certain criteria before receiving the legal protection.

Twitter and Facebook also have been hounded over what critics have described as sluggish, after-the-fact account suspensions or post takedowns, with liberals complaining they have given too much latitude to conservatives and hate groups.

NOTICE TOMILY INVESTMENT LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) TOMILY INVESTMENT LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000. (b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 4th March, 2021 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 8th day of March, A. D. 2021 _________________________________ Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE

LOST VIKINGS LTD. In Voluntary Liquidation

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act. 2000, LOST VIKINGS LTD. is in dissolution as of January 29, 2021.

International Liquidator Services Inc. situated at 3rd Floor Withfield Tower, 4792 Coney Drive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

LIQUIDATOR ______________________

Trump railed against Section 230 throughout his term in office, well before Twitter and Facebook blocked his access to their platforms after the assault on the Capitol. Last May, he signed a largely symbolic executive order that directed the executive branch to ask independent rule-making agencies whether new regulations could be placed on the companies.

“All of these tech monopolies are going to abuse their power and interfere in our elections, and it has to be stopped,” he told supporters at the Capitol hours before the riot.

Antigone Davis, global head of safety for Facebook, said these kinds of proposals would make it harder for the site to remove posts involving hate speech, sexualised photos of minors and other harmful content.

“We will continue advocating for updated rules for the internet, including reforms to federal law that protect free expression while allowing platforms like ours to remove content that threatens the safety and security of people across the United States,” she said.

In a statement, Twitter said: “We enforce the Twitter rules judiciously and

impartially for everyone on our service – regardless of ideology or political affiliation – and our policies help us to protect the diversity and health of the public conversation.”

Researchers have not found widespread evidence that social media companies are biased against conservative news, posts or materials.

In a February report, New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights called the accusations political disinformation spread by Republicans. The report recommended that social media sites give clear

reasoning when they take action against material on their platforms.

“Greater transparency — such as that which Twitter and Facebook offered when they took action against President Trump in January — would help to defuse claims of political bias, while clarifying the boundaries of acceptable user conduct,” the report read.

While the federal law is in place, the state proposals mostly amount to political posturing, said Darrell West, vice president of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a public policy group.

PAGE 14, Monday, March 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

UK SCHOOLS TO REOPEN, BACKED BY FREQUENT VIRUS TESTING LONDON Associated Press BRITISH students, backed by a robust coronavirus testing program, are gearing up to return to school today after a two-month closure, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured, says is a plan to get the country “moving closer to a sense of normality”.

The reopening of schools is the first step in the UK government’s plan to gradually ease COVID-19 restrictions as the country’s vaccination drive gains critical mass, with all restrictions

Authorities want to quickly detect and isolate asymptomatic cases in order to avoid sending entire schools home.

“We are being cautious in our approach so that we do not undo the progress we have made so far,” Johnson said in a statement, urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.

High schools and colleges will be allowed to reopen in phases to allow for three rounds of testing. Students will then get kits so they can test themselves twice more at home. The UK government has distributed nearly 57 million rapid “lateral flow” test kits to schools

lifted by June.

As part of the plan, millions of high school and college students coming back to UK classrooms will be tested for the virus for the first few weeks.

across the country, but there are concerns about the accuracy of the tests, which may result in pupils being forced to self-isolate unnecessarily A senior public health official, however, said yesterday that the risk of a false positive was very low. More than five million rapid tests have been carried out at schools during lockdown, including one million last week, the government said.

Evidence from testing over the past eight weeks indicates “the risk of false positives is extremely low, less than one in 1,000,” Susan Hopkins, the COVID-19 strategic response director for Public

Health England, told the BBC. “And a test that returns less than one in 1,000 false positives is a very good test.”

To help children forced into online learning for months to catch up with their education, officials are considering extending school days, shortening the summer holiday or adding an extra term to the year.

British students already have a much shorter summer holiday than American students, usually leaving for summer break after mid-July.

“We’re looking at a whole range of measures,” UK Education Secretary Gavin

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 70° F/21° C Low: 53° F/12° C

TAMPA

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Windy with times of clouds and sun

Low clouds and windy

Strong winds gradually subsiding

Partly sunny and windy

Partly sunny and windy

Winds subsiding with sunshine

High: 74°

Low: 65°

High: 75° Low: 66°

High: 78° Low: 68°

High: 79° Low: 68°

High: 80° Low: 69°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

70° F

61° F

75°-62° F

76°-64° F

79°-65° F

79°-67° 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

ABACO

S

N

High: 70° F/21° C Low: 64° F/18° C

15-25 knots

S

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 66° F/19° C

15-25 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 66° F/19° C

E S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

W

uV inDex toDay

TUESDAY

W

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

TONIGHT

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 53° F/12° C

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 64° F/18° C

MIAMI

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 65° F/18° C

12-25 knots

KEY WEST

High: 73° F/23° C Low: 67° F/19° C

High: 74° F/23° C Low: 65° F/19° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

High: 73° F/23° C Low: 66° F/19° C

N

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

tiDes For nassau High

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

3:36 a.m.

4:01 p.m.

2.8 2.1

10:11 a.m. 0.2 10:09 p.m. 0.0

Tuesday

4:39 a.m.

5:03 p.m.

2.8 2.2

11:11 a.m. 0.1 11:10 p.m. -0.1

Wednesday 5:34 a.m.

5:56 p.m.

2.9 2.4

12:02 p.m. 0.0 ---------

Thursday

6:23 a.m.

6:44 p.m.

2.9 2.5

12:05 a.m. -0.2 12:47 p.m. -0.1

Friday

7:06 a.m.

7:27 p.m.

2.9 2.6

12:53 a.m. -0.2 1:28 p.m. -0.2

Saturday

7:46 a.m.

8:07 p.m.

2.8 2.7

1:37 a.m. -0.2 2:05 p.m. -0.2

Sunday

9:24 a.m.

9:44 p.m.

2.8 2.7

3:18 a.m. -0.2 3:40 p.m. -0.2

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 74° F/23° C Low: 67° F/19° C

N

S

E

W S

15-25 knots

6:26 a.m.

6:16 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

3:11 a.m.

1:55 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Mar. 13

Mar. 21

Mar. 28

Apr. 4

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 74° F/23° C Low: 68° F/20° C

High: 75° F/24° C Low: 70° F/21° C

N

High: 73° F/23° C Low: 67° F/19° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 70° F/21° C

H

Ht.(ft.)

CAT ISLAND

E

W

15-25 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 ................................................... 77° F/25° C Low .................................................... 68° F/20° C Normal high ....................................... 78° F/26° C Normal low ........................................ 65° F/18° C Last year’s high ................................. 76° F/24° C Last year’s low ................................... 68° F/20° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.06” Year to date ................................................. 1.99” Normal year to date ..................................... 3.21”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

Williamson told Sky News.

“We’ve got to look at what is going to have the biggest positive impact on children’s lives.”

Britain has Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 125,000 lives lost so far. Its coronavirus vaccination program has, however, raced ahead of the United States and the European Union to give at least a first dose to nearly 22 million of the country’s adults so far.

Britain has approved three vaccines for use: those made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, and plans to vaccinate all adults by July.

15-25 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 77° F/25° C Low: 71° F/22° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 77° F/25° C Low: 71° F/22° C

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 71° F/22° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 80° F/27° C Low: 72° F/22° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

15-25 knots

15-25 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 NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 12-25 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 12-25 Knots NE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 15-25 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 12-25 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots NE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 12-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots NE at 15-25 Knots ENE at 20-30 Knots

WAVES 6-10 Feet 5-9 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-8 Feet 6-10 Feet 3-6 Feet 5-9 Feet 5-9 Feet 6-10 Feet 5-9 Feet 4-7 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 6-10 Feet 2-4 Feet 4-7 Feet 5-9 Feet 10-14 Feet 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 4-7 Feet 4-8 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 75° F 75° F 75° F 74° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 76° F 76° F 74° F 72° F 77° F 77° F 80° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 78° F 78° F 76° F 76° F 79° F 79° F 77° F 76° F