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MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

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COVID inflicts $3bn tourist spending blow

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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OVID-19 likely cost The Bahamas up to $3bn in lost in-country tourist spending last year, with a Cabinet minister asserting yesterday: “We have to get the sector back into operation.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that while he had not “gone through the numbers” the pandemic’s impact on the Bahamian economy and society was “evident” from multiple business closures and continuing mass unemployment.

With The Bahamas’ cruise passenger volumes having gone from 5.4m annually to zero over the past 12 months, and stopover visitor numbers slowly but surely improving amid ongoing COVID-19 travel protocols, he added: “I think we have to get our tourism sector back into operation, and get people vaccinated and

• Pandemic’s huge hit to $4bn-plus outlay • Bahamas still got much of Q1’s peak • Cruise spend data exposes ‘work to do’ travelling again. The impact is evident every day, with multiple businesses closed.”

While no figures have yet been produced on 2020’s tourism performance, it is possible to extrapolate COVID-19’s likely impact based on 2019 spending data released by the Ministry of Tourism. The figures for the final year pre-pandemic, which have been seen by Tribune Business, show that visitors spent a total $4.125bn in The Bahamas for a year-over-year increase of 10.7 percent.

Given that the pandemic struck The Bahamas in March, with the government imposing a lockdown covering the final two weeks of that month, this nation will still have gained most of its typical tourist spend during the 2020 first quarter.

Tourists spent some $1.295bn during the 2019

Top realtor’s $432k claim survives US buyer’s strike out

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT Bahamian realtor’s $432,000 legal claim over the sale of a multimillion dollar Eleuthera investment project has survived a US developer’s bid to strike it out.

George Damianos, pictured, president and managing broker for Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty, is alleging he was cut out of efforts to sell the Windermere Island North development despite an agreement giving him the “sole and exclusive right” to market and sell the property.

He is claiming that BISXlisted Bank of The Bahamas, which hired him to help realise its mortgage security over the property, effectively went behind his back and - without his knowledge - negotiated directly with US investment house, CrossHarbor Capital

SEE PAGE 7

‘We couldn’t leave 40 terminated staff in limbo’, says hotel

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN Exuma resort’s top executive yesterday said post-COVID business levels gave it no choice but to terminate 40 staff, adding: “We couldn’t leave them in limbo.”

Dean Spychalla, Grand Isle Resort & Residences general manager, told Tribune Business that the “new normal” created by the pandemic’s fall-out meant the property did not require as many staff as in the past as it adjusts to anticipated future business levels.

Explaining that the resort could have waited until June 23 to sever the affected staff, all of whom are presently on temporary lay-off, as this is when the government’s emergency powers furlough ends, Mr Spychalla said activity had picked up sufficiently to give the workers what was due to them now.

Admitting that Grand Isle is “going out on a limb” to fund the severance and benefit payments, given that revenues and cash flow are still recovering, he told this newspaper: “Unfortunately

SEE PAGE 8

first quarter, a period that coincides with the peak winter tourism season when visitor volumes and spending are typically at their highest. More than $1bn of this number was provided by stopover visitors at $1.169bn, with cruise passengers contributing $124.844m.

COVID-19 lockdowns, travel restrictions in both The Bahamas and its major source markets, and other impediments meant this nation earned little to nothing from tourism during the 2020 second quarters with the July 1 border re-opening quickly aborted by the government.

Tourism’s second attempted re-opening, which began in November 2020, saw minimal business that month with the Christmas/New Year period also relatively quiet when

compared to past years as many hotels and industry operators - especially the larger properties - enjoyed minimal business.

Mr D’Aguilar, in his mid-year Budget presentation, also confirmed that total tourist arrivals to The Bahamas were down by 74 percent or almost threequarters. As a result, and allowing for the fact that the industry still enjoyed most of the first quarter, subtracting the $1.295bn earned in the first three months of 2019 from the full year total gives a figure of $2.83bn that would have been lost in 2020.

As a back-of-the-envelope calculation it gives an insight into the extent of the financial blow and losses inflicted by COVID-19 on

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US urged: ‘Make us next in line’ on COVID vaccines

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister yesterday voiced hope that The Bahamas will be “next in line” to receive a distribution of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from “overflowing” US stockpiles.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, while declining to comment on whether this nation’s vaccination roll-out is proceeding rapidly enough to aid tourism’s revival, told Tribune Business he hoped The Bahamas’ proximity will make it the prime candidate to be the next beneficiary of US generosity.

With stockpiles of the AstraZeneca vaccine accumulating, and its emergency use yet to be authorised in the US, the Biden administration was reported to have agreed to make 2.5m doses available to Canada and give 1.5m to Mexico as it is currently unable to use them on Americans.

The AstraZeneca vaccine

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR is the current version being employed in The Bahamas, and Mr D’Aguilar said: “I will say that the US has, according to press reports, about 30m AstraZeneca doses in-country.

“They made some distribution of the stock of AstraZeneca to Canada and Mexico as they don’t have emergency use authorisation for that yet, and don’t expect that to happen until May at the earliest.

Yet they are awash in Pfizer, Moderna and J&J. “One hopes that given our proximity we can be the recipient of some of that largesse they’ve given to Canada and Mexico. First of

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PAGE 2, Monday, March 29, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Up to 300 construction jobs in South Riding Point rebuild SOUTH Riding Point’s owner told two Cabinet ministers that up to 300 construction workers will be hired to rebuild its fuel storage tanks after Hurricane Dorian triggered a $200m spend.

Executives from Equinor, the Norwegian-headquartered

energy group that is majority-owned by that nation’s government, was said to have fully committed to the Grand Bahama fuel storage and transshipment facility’s repair and upgrade after the category five storm inflicted severe damage in early September 2019.

Dorian’s sustained winds, reaching more than 200 miles per hour over a twoday period, ripped the roofs off several storage tanks and blew oil into the forest and landscape surrounding the South Riding Point facility.

A video overview of the impact was shown to Carl Bethel QC, the attorney general, and Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment and housing. The government, in a statement, said Equinor informed the ministers that some $200m has been spent on Dorian cleanup and repairs, with 250 Grand Bahama residents contracted to remediate the pollution fall-out.

Pledging that environmental rehabilitation is

nearly complete, Equinor officials added that South Riding Point’s storage tanks will be rebuilt to withstand 200 mile per hour winds in full compliance with Bahamian environmental laws and regulations. Between 150 and 300 construction workers will be hired for this effort.

Pictured from left: Charles O’Brien, Equinor legal manager; Arlete Thompson, maintenance, modification and environmental leader; Hilde Østerhus, asset manager; Kevin Stuart, Equinor country manager; Carl Bethel QC, attorney general and

minister of legal affairs; Romauld Ferriera, minister of the environment and housing; Cecilia Strachan, permanent secretary, Office of the Attorney General; David Cates, permanent secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Housing.

US PUTS $3.15M PRICE ON WEST BAY PROPERTY THE US government has placed a $3.15m price tag on its West Bay Street property between Arawak Cay and Saunders Beach that is concealed by an eight-foot high wall.

The property, which has been owned by the US State Department of State since 1975, has been put up for sale as part of a strategy said to be co-ordinated between

VIEW of US government property on West Bay Street. the US Embassy in Nassau and the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO).

Hidden behind a 560-foot wall, the property has served a number of purposes for the State Department’s operations in The Bahamas.

The sale decision comes as the US government continues construction on a $318m energy efficient new embassy building at the corner of Shirley Street and East Street. Engel & Volkers Bahamas, in conjunction with CBRE, has

been selected to act as the realtor involved in the sale of the property.

Listing advisor, Silvina Andrews, said: “The property is underutilised in its current residential use as it is zoned commercial tourist (C2) and permits commercial, office, flex and mixed uses. The size and location of the property lends itself to a diverse list of commercial uses. The proximity to the port, Downtown Nassau and Baha Mar just to the west places it in a very central location.”

The West Bay Street

property comprises 3.6 acres and also has a protected waterway along the entire length of its northern coastline. It has two residences built in 1975 and 1989 as well as a gym, pool, basketball court, cottage, guardhouses, two gated entrances and a number of smaller buildings.

Seen as a boost to downtown Nassau’s revitalisation, the new US embassy is expected to employ around 160 local workers at the peak of construction activities and is likely to be completed in 2023.

DIPLOMAT HIGHLIGHTS THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT A BAHAMIAN diplomat highlighted this nation’s vulnerability to climate change during a summit attended by 300 policymaker and business executives from the US and European Union (EU).

Maria O’Brien, The Bahamas’ ambassador to Belgium and head of mission to the EU, spoke on Climate Diplomacy: The role of international cooperation at the Transatlantic Conference hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. She was part of a panel discussion with Marc Vanheukelen, ambassador at large for climate diplomacy, European External Action Service; and David Livingston, senior advisor on climate, and John Kerry’s climate envoy, from the US State Department.

Ambassador O’Brien, The Bahamas’ first resident envoy appointed to Belgium, discussed the impact

of climate change on this nation, the importance of global alliances and the need to take bold steps to mitigate the environmental and economic impact on Bahamian residents.

“It is vital for The Bahamas to be an active participant in important global conversations that can assist with sustainable economic and social development,” said Ambassador O’Brien. “The issue of climate change is at the heart of this matter for our country and we should be proud to share our initiatives to that end with the world.”

Ambassador O’Brien added that the SAMOA Pathway, which provides Small Island Developing States with assistance to reduce the social and economic impact of climate change, is supported by 115 countries including the US and EU member states.

The Bahamian initiatives highlighted by Ambassador O’Brien

included the Sustainable Development Goals Inter-Agency Technical Committee, an intergovernmental panel on climate changes that includes government ministries and agencies, the private sector, civil society and academia.

It was formed to assist with sustainable development planning in economic, social and environmental policies. Legislation to ban single-use plastics, and recognising the impact of the climate crisis on women and youth, was also highlighted.

Susan Danger, chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, said it was sobering to hear Ambassador O’Brien detail the very real consequences of climate change. “These human elements should be considered daily as we work towards decarbonisation,” she added.

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Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 3

Consumers left dead and buried by old law

By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters

A 150 YEAR-OLD law is preventing government regulators from acting against unscrupulous cemetery owners who arbitrarily hike prices previously agreed for graves and burial plots.

Dion Foulkes, minister of labour and transport, wrote in the Consumer Protection Commission’s 2020 annual report that existing legislation means it cannot protect Bahamian families from such practices.

“I am advised that the Burial Grounds Act 1869 is an impediment to staff being able to effectively address complaints against cemeteries,” Senator Foulkes wrote. “I will therefore seek the assistance and input of Cabinet in bringing modern legislation to Parliament to effectively regulate the private cemeteries and funeral services providers industry in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

It is unclear whether any progress has been made to-date in developing such legislation, and/ or where it sits in terms of the timeline for bringing it to Parliament.

However, Philip J Beneby, the Consumer Protection Commission’s chairman, confirmed to Tribune Business the the Burial Grounds Act is a 19th century law that provides no legal remedy for consumers aggrieved by cemetery owners.

“One of the complaints from consumers we have run into is that they didn’t have contracts with the cemetery owners,” Mr Beneby said. “All of the cemeteries we checked with didn’t have copies of the contract either. So we were looking at if we could force

DION FOULKES them to provide copies of the contract with the Act, and we could make an intervention for the consumer.

“However, we discovered that the laws go back to the 19th century, so it is not quite appropriate to be able to adjudicate the matter with respect to that legislative framework and be able to assist the customer.”

Mr Beneby said one frequent complaint centred around the rates cemetery owners charge families for burial plots. He added that a price would be agreed, with the sum to be paid in installments over a period of time. The family would start paying, only for the cemetery owner to suddenly turn around and demand more money on the basis that market demand has increased.

The Consumer Protection chief explained: “We have had customers who would have made arrangements with the cemetery company to pay for the plot over a period of time. Now they would have paid for a year, and then the cemetery owner would adjust the balances outstanding based on market trends or market value.

“So if a customer has a plot valued at $3,000 and they have paid $1,000, they [the cemetery owner] can adjust the rate the following year and customers can end up owing $2,500 more.

These are the kinds of

contracts cemetery companies use.”

The Burial Grounds Act has no provisions for consumer protection. Neither does it lay out any penalty schedule for cemetery owners in the event a consumer has a grievance against them. “Basically, the legislation does not have any penalties in it,” Mr Beneby said.

He added that cemeteries are among several “unregulated” industries, and said: “One of the things that we need to do is implement legislation for these things.

You don’t have the legal framework to assist the customer until that is done.”

Elsewhere, Mr Foulkes voiced concern that the commission is receiving increasing complaints from tourists. While these are still relatively small in volume, the minister warned that unscrupulous business practices that take advantage of visitors had the potential to undermine the tourism industry’s recovery post-COVID-19.

“I note with interest the increase in formal complaints being lodged with the commission by visitors to our shores,” he wrote.

“Indeed, of the five open cases for this reporting year, four of them involve tourists. This is a matter of grave concern as tourist complaints have the potential to undermine the international reputation of our country and negatively impact our tourism industry.

“As minister it is important to me, therefore, that the commission has the resources, human and otherwise, and the co-operation of other government agencies and ministries in investigating and resolving all of its complaints, those made by foreigners and Bahamians alike.”

Tourism must be ‘realistic’ over vaccination roll-out

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian tourism industry must be “realistic” over the speed at which its employees can be vaccinated against COVID-19, one hotelier says.

Chris Morris, the Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina’s general manager, told Tribune Business that while he wants workers in the sector to be vaccinated as soon as possible these aspirations must be tempered by The Bahamas’ ability to secure the necessary doses.

Pointing to the presently limited number of COVID19 vaccine shots available to the public, Mr Morris said blaming the government for not vaccinating tourism workers quickly enough was unfair. He added that The Bahamas cannot compare its vaccination roll-out pace to other Caribbean countries because many have been able to draw on their status as UK and US overseas territories to obtain supplies.

Mr Morris said: “If we had the vaccines, then yes, I would love to have every hotel worker back, but is that realistic?”

He was responding to comments by Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board executive director, who is urging The Bahamas to “step up its game” on vaccination efforts for tourism workers.

Mr Fountain was pointing to vaccinations taking place in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where 60 percent of hotel workers have been vaccinated already, and in Barbados, where just over 20 percent of the entire population has been vaccinated.

The Turks & Caicos, a British protectorate, received its first batch of vaccines from the UK government in early January, while Barbados received its first batch in early February.

Both countries have smaller populations than The Bahamas.

Matthew Brear, Cape

Santa Maria’s general manager, said: “I think that the quicker the vaccine is rolled out, the better. I don’t know the logistics facing the rollout here in The Bahamas.

I’m unable to compare the logistics here versus those in the Turks.”

Vernon Grant, general manager of Castaways in Grand Bahama, said: “I think that the pace is adequate and sufficient because you have a lot of persons who are resistant to being vaccinated.

“But I believe, as we progress and move forward, the momentum is going to pick up because persons will realise that they need that certification for travel.

I think it’s going to ramp up even quicker.”

Jeff Birch, owner/operator of the Small Hope Bay Lodge in Fresh Creek, Andros, said the vaccinations he has witnessed at Loyola Hall in Nassau have been carried out “professionally and smoothly.”

He warned persons opting not to take the vaccine to “not listen to the conspiracy theories” until you have confirmation from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on any potential side effects the vaccine may have.

The Bahamas received 20,000 doses of the Oxford

AstraZeneca vaccine in early March, and since that time has vaccinated 5,000 persons, averaging just over 1,500 jabs a week.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 4, Monday, March 29, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

CRUISE HOME PORTING ‘MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY’ NASSAU Cruise Port’s controlling shareholder says the decision by two cruise lines to home port in the capital creates “a massive opportunity” for The Bahamas.

Colin Murphy, Global Ports Holding’s (GPH) head of business development for the Americas, said in a statement that the moves by Crystal Cruises and Royal Caribbean will give “an extensive boost to the profile” of The Bahamas a “major tourism player”.

Global Ports Holding manages cruises ports in both Nassau and Antigua, and Mr Murphy said: “The ability to give cruise lines the option to home port presents a massive opportunity for Nassau and Antigua, making partnerships with our ports even more critical in influencing the regional success of the industry.

“Fortunately, Global Ports Holding has an extensive experience in home port operations in many of its Mediterranean ports.

We are sharing the knowledge that these ports have with our Caribbean teams to assist with developing port-specific home port protocols.

“This is one of the many benefits that these

NASSAU Cruise Port. destinations have experienced in partnering with Global Ports Holding. Since our business is entirely focused on port management and operations, the teams in Nassau and Antigua have an opportunity now to expand their expertise and grow as professionals as we conduct this knowledge transfer.”

Mr Murphy continued: “We have actually received interest from several cruise lines about providing home port services in Nassau and Antigua recently. Being

able to offer this benefit to them will bring an extensive boost to the profiles of each of these countries as major tourism players, which has always been one of our overarching goals as a partner and supporter of their local tourism industries.

“As our discussions with the cruise lines advance, we continue to pursue opportunities to expand our reach in the Americas to bring more business and opportunities to other communities in the region.”

Crystal Cruises will

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launch a series of sevennight round-trip voyages from Nassau branded “Luxury Bahamas Escapes”, beginning on July 3 on board Crystal Serenity. Crystal Cruises recently said that within the first 24 hours of opening reservations “nearly 4,000 enthusiastic travellers reserved staterooms or suites on at least one of the seven-night voyages that cruise from Nassau or Bimini round-trip, booking more than 25 percent of the 16 voyages combined availability”.

This was followed

by Royal Caribbean four days later announcing the relaunch of Caribbean cruising in June. Each trip in this itinerary will also begin and end at Nassau Cruise Port. It features a line-up of seven-night cruises aboard Adventure of the Seas, which will include visits to Nassau, Grand Bahama, Perfect Day at CocoCay (a Royal Caribbean private island destination), and Cozumel, Mexico.

“We are extremely excited to participate in the relaunch of cruising in the region,” said Mike Maura, Global Ports Holding’s regional director for the Americas and chief executive of Nassau Cruise Port. “While home port service may not have been a part of the short-term

strategy for Nassau one year ago, we are more than willing to speed up our plans and adapt to ensure the survival of the industry.

“This opportunity could not have been achieved without a strong commitment to the trilateral partnership between key contributors to this process – Nassau Cruise Port, the Government of The Bahamas, and our cruise line partners,” he added. “Each entity works together to ensure that everyone has what they need to make this work.

“Nassau Cruise Port collaborates with the government to contribute to policy and regulation development to ensure that the best interests of our communities are maintained. The government collaborates with the cruise lines on health protocols, contractual matters and other details to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership exists on an ongoing basis, and Nassau Cruise Port works with the cruise lines to ensure that their operational, passenger experience, and other needs are met at the port.

“It takes a lot of teamwork, co-ordination, listening and flexibility to achieve such effective collaboration. We appreciate the constant support of all our partners in making this

kind of progress possible.”

Mr Maura confirmed that, “at its peak, vessels that home port in The Bahamas will potentially bring thousands of new passengers to Nassau annually, which is not only significant for us but for other local industry players as well.

This opening will generate an extensive amount of economic activity for hotels, tour operators, taxis and other tourism stakeholders as this area of our business grows”.

According to August 2020 data provided by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), the Caribbean lost at least eight million jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. “COVID-19 brought bustling ports like Nassau and Antigua to a complete standstill,” Mr Maura said.

“It is our duty to do whatever we can to bring those jobs back to our communities, to reinspire confidence in the industry, and to demonstrate our support for the cruise lines as we work together to bring the industry back to its former glory – one voyage at a time.”

In Nassau, home port operations will begin amid ongoing construction as general contractor, ENKA, completes the marine works associated with the facility’s $250m transformation. Mr Maura added that “Nassau Cruise Port has been accredited with a Safe Travels certification, which was awarded by the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) in August 2020.

“Additionally, as part as Global Ports Holding network of ports, Nassau Cruise Port is applying the Global Ports Holding health and safety protocols for operations. We are amending our operational plans in response to this very exciting opportunity so that passengers remain unaffected by the evolution of our project. Every aspect of their experience is being planned and reviewed to ensure the success of this venture.”

LAW FIRM CELEBRATES ITS TOP GLOBAL RANKING A BAHAMIAN law firm says it has been ranked among the “Top 100” law firms in the world by The Global 100 - 2021 edition.

“To make this list is absolutely incredible, and we would like to thank the Global 100 for this huge honour. We’re taking it as a sign that we’ve risen to

meet the challenges that 2020 presented to us,” said A. Kenra Parris-Whittaker, partner at the Grand Bahama-based ParrisWhittaker law firm.

“The last 12 months have certainly been the most difficult that we have ever seen. I am so proud of the way this team has

responded to those challenges, and the way we’ve worked even harder to find new ways to connect with our customers.”

ParrisWhittaker said it was earlier this month named as the Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year in The Bahamas for the third consecutive year.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 5

OUT ISLAND RESORTS SEE EASTER UPTICK

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net FAMILY island resorts are reporting strong bookings for Easter, with some fully booked and voicing optimism that they have “turned the corner” despite COVID-19’s lingering impact.

Jeff Birch, owner/operator of the Small Hope Bay Lodge in Fresh Creek, Andros, told Tribune Busienss that around the upcoming Easter weekend he is about “two thirds” booked - the strongest performance he has seen since March 2020 when lockdowns and other pandemic-related

restrictions began.

He added, however, that forward bookings drop significantly after Easter - traditionally the period that marks the end of the peak winter tourism season - and the rest of the year is “really slow”.

Signaling that visitor bookings may see-saw over the next two months, Mr Birch added that after a short post-Easter lull “it picks back up again and then it drops again”.

He said: “We have some small groups that are trying to get in for the fall, but it’s not solid. It’s not like what it used to be, but I believe there is definitely more travel going on in April than it has been. Probably not as much as it was. The phone is ringing now. The people are calling.”

Cape Eleuthera is booked 100 percent going into Easter due to marina traffic. Chris Morris, its general manager, said: “We’re looking great. We’re turning the corner and the marina is full, like I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m very, very encouraged. I’m booked at 100 percent for April.”

Mr Morris said travellers are “taking their time” booking post-Easter, but added that he will take things “one month at a time.

April seems to be booking out. I’m very encouraged and I really feel that we have turned the corner”.

Matthew Brear, general manager of the Cape Santa Maria resort on Long Island, said: “We are 90 percent occupied for the week of Easter. We surpassed budgeted numbers for March and April.

“It looks like it will be a great year. We are currently adding a couple hundred room nights a week - a great pace for a small resort.”

Vernon Grant, general manager of Castaways resort in Grand Bahama, is not seeing the booking pace that his competitors on other islands are enjoying as he is only trending at 20 percent for Easter.

Mr Grant said: “Things are looking favourable, but right now we are booked at 20 percent. I think we will be beyond that for the Easter weekend. I’m seeing us booked at 50 percent but, to be realistic, I know it will be above 20 percent.”

Arguing that this is a “challenging time”, Mr Grant said the Grand Lucayan re-opening will present another challenge for as it will become very “competitive” to draw visitors to Castaways.

Gold BRICKS.

Gold’s role in a post-pandemic economic recovery ACTIVTRADES WEEKLY ByCARLOALBERTODECASA www.activtrades.bs INVESTOR demand for bullion may have dimmed recently but gold’s everlasting appeal endures.

After gold’s record breaking 2020 which saw the price smash through $2,000 an ounce to its highest ever level, it is perhaps little surprise that the precious metal has had a more muted first quarter in 2021.

But has gold’s appeal permanently waned with the coronavirus pandemic seemingly starting to come under control and with new cryptocurrencies dominating headlines, or are there still reasons to back the oldest currency of them all?

First, let’s reflect on the factors that sparked last year’s price surge. As coronavirus spread around the globe, it triggered the biggest health and economic crisis in a generation, with investors rushing to safe haven assets such as gold amid a stock market crash. Then as the potential economic fallout of the lockdowns and other restrictions became apparent, central banks around the world were forced to print almost infinite amounts of money, further boosting demand for gold and its finite amount of supply.

Now the health crisis looks to be receding as

vaccines are being rolled out globally, investors have flooded back into stocks and equities with the bulk of indices across the world now back to pre-pandemic levels. Yet while gold’s appeal as a safe haven asset has dwindled in recent months, its other major investor characteristic as a store of value continues to shine, with no signs of central banks turning off the money taps any time soon.

Central banks are also showing signs their appetite for buying physical gold as part of their currency reserves is returning after a quiet 2020. The Polish Central Bank has announced plans to buy at least 100 tons in the coming years, while Russia, the largest buyer of recent times, is warming again to renewed purchases.

While a resurgent stock market clearly presents a significant headwind to gold, the economic recovery remains very nascent and fragile and it would only take a few negative news items or data releases to knock the current optimism. Therefore, a correction of five to ten percent is entirely plausible, with gold likely to be one of

the winners to a “risk-off” environment.

Assuming the economic recovery does continue as unabated as seems to have been priced in by investors, there are concerns about the impact this would have on inflation. The correlation between gold, the ultimate store of value, and inflation, the silent destroyer of value, isn’t particularly clear. On the one hand, rising interest rates to counter inflation are bearish for gold as its lack of return means its appeal diminishes in a high interest environment. On the other hand, given one of the primary causes of the inflation is the huge amount of quantitative easing by central banks, then that circles back to gold and its appeal as a finite commodity.

So, where does that leave the outlook for gold? While a return to the record highs of 2020 may be asking too much, the medium-term outlook looks cautiously optimistic and a worthwhile hedge to counteract any further jitters on stock markets while offering investors a tangible asset at a time of almost unlimited liquidity on currency markets.

PAGE 6, Monday, March 29, 2021 THE Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president has voiced optimism that the sector “can navigate a steady and sure path to recovery” amid COVID-19’s economic devastation.

Robert Sands spoke out after a recent BHTA Board of Directors and members meeting brought together 100 tourism stakeholders to report on the state of the industry, plus airlift and occupancy forecasts for The Bahamas.

Senior executives present included Joy Jibrilu, director-general of the Ministry of Tourism; Graeme Davis, president of Baha Mar; and Jackson Weech, the BHTA’s senior vice-president and vice-president at

THE TRIBUNE

‘COVID’s worst is far behind us’

RUDY GRANT

STACY COX

ADAM STEWART

ROBERT SANDS

Atlantis, Paradise Island.

They were joined by Promotion Board heads including Fred Lounsberry (Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board); Ian Rolle (Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board); Kerry Fountain

(Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board); Joe Dargavage (Association of Bahamas Marinas); and Vernice Walkine (Nassau Airport Development Company) in reporting on their respective sectors.

Executives reported a

robust booking pace, particularly in the high-end luxury markets and key sectors such as yachting and boating. They forecast a consistent, marked improvement in occupancy rates throughout the wider industry in the 2021 third and fourth quarters, which is predicted to continue throughout 2022.

“The future looks bright for tourism in our region.

I believe, through collaboration, we can navigate a steady and sure path to recovery,” Mr Sands said.

“By continuing to encourage adherence to sound health and safety protocols for visitors and our local population, and with the implementation of prescribed preventative measures including a robust and comprehensive vaccination strategy, we will meet and surpass the challenges we face today.

“Also key to the recovery of our tourism sector is the continued enhancement of private sector participation in the decision-making process locally and in our source markets regarding matters pertaining to health and safety mitigation and prevention strategies.”

The BHTA meeting brought together tourism executives from leading Caribbean destinations, including Senator Rudy

Grant, chief executive of The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association; Stacy Cox, chief executive of The Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association; and Adam Stewart, executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International (SRI).

Adam Stewart, speaking from a regional perspective, given Sandals’ footprint throughout The Bahamas and The Caribbean, Ms Cox and Senator Grant from Barbados echoed the positive sentiments regarding the anticipated tourism industry recovery.

Mr Stewart said: “There is absolutely a light at the end of this tunnel; the worst is far behind us. The Caribbean has been the darling of the world and the Americas for decades upon decades, it is the most beautiful part of the world; the richness of the people, the soul, all of it cannot be achieved anywhere else on the planet and, as a result,I feel very strongly about where the (recovery) is heading for us.”

Senator Grant emphasised “how critical it was that everyone followed directives and protocols in order to curb the spread of the COVID virus”.

He ended his presentation by saying: “You are as strong as your weakest

link.” The panelists were also unified in expressing how important it was for the public and private sectors to work together to ensure all voices are heard as jurisdictions continue to face challenges posed by COVID-19.

Mr Stewart underscored the need for tourism’s involvement to “strike the balance” necessary to give the hospitality industry the best possible opportunity to recover from the pandemic, and to survive long enough until it can reach break even. Some hotels are still only achieving single-digit occupancies, while others are at 15-20 percent occupancy levels.

Vaccination strategy was also discussed. Barbados has been able to attain a vaccination rate of 20 percent of the overall population, a total of 60,000 persons, and Turks and Caicos has vaccinated 32 percent of the population.

Ms Cox reported that Turks & Caicos received its first batch of 10,000 Pfizer vaccines in January 2021. An additional 23,000 arrived in February, and it is expecting a third batch of 19,000 in April 2021.

Some 70 percent of hotel workers have been vaccinated in Turks & Caicos.

Recognising the resistance by some members of the local community to taking the vaccine, Turks and Caicos’ public and private sector embarked upon a public outreach campaign, using forums, educational programmes, social media, educational videos and local influencers to “lead by example” and help dispel myths and misunderstandings by talking about their own experiences with the vaccine.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 7

Top realtor’s $432k claim survives US buyer’s strike out FROM PAGE ONE Partners, in agreeing a sale that was completed by early 2018.

A March 25, 2021, judgment by acting Supreme Court justice, Tara CooperBurnside, reveals that Mr Damianos is claiming the $432,000 as his six percent realtor’s commission that is due under the exclusive listing and sales agreement.

Based on those figures, Windermere Island North’s sale to CrossHarbor was a $7.2m transaction.

The verdict, which also saw the judge refuse to dismiss CrossHarbor Capital Partners as a defendant, noted that the Lyford Cay-based realtor is claiming the buyer and Bank of The Bahamas - together with Windermere Island North’s original developer, Joseph Carry Rich - conspired in a bid to exclude him from the transaction as means to avoid paying his commission.

Mr Damianos declined to comment when contacted

by Tribune Business on the basis that the matter is still live before the Supreme Court, and the substantive hearing on the merits of his case has yet to take place.

Still, the interlocutory verdict by acting justice Cooper-Burnside details the fate of one of the first foreign direct investment (FDI) projects to be approved by the first Christie administration after it took office in 2002.

Bank of the Bahamas provided financing to Mr Rich, a US citizen, via a 2003 loan that was secured on the Windermere Island North property through a mortgage and debenture charge.

The sum advanced to fund the project’s build-out was increased in 2005, but the original developer subsequently defaulted on the repayment.

Last week’s judgment disclosed that Bank of The Bahamas agreed not to collect on the loan after Mr Rich signed a promissory note and gave a guarantee it would be repaid. However, it appears this was only a temporary respite.

“The bank subsequently became entitled to exercise its power of sale under the mortgage and debenture,” acting justice Cooper-Burnside wrote. “It entered into a listing service agreement with the plaintiff

[Mr Damianos] for these purposes.

“The listing agreement provided, among other things, that the plaintiff would have the sole and exclusive right, power and authority to act as the bank’s agent for the listing, marketing and sale of the property.

The bank would pay the plaintiff a commission of six percent of the sales price plus VAT if a sale of the property was completed, and the terms of the agreement would be effective for the period June 6, 2016, to June 5, 2017.

She added: “Sometime after May 2017, the plaintiff discovered that the bank had conveyed the property to CH Windermere Lender LLC, and had sold, assigned and transferred the debt due [by Mr Rich and his company] under the loan, the security documents and all powers, rights and remedies contained in the security documents to the LLC.” CH Windermere Lender LLC is the acquisition vehicle employed by CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a Boston-headquartered commercial real estate asset manager that was founded in 1993. Its website says it has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, and boasts of a $21bn “investment track record”.

Mr Damianos, alleging that Windermere Island North’s conveyance to CrossHarbor Capital Partners represented a sale under his exclusivity agreement, initiated legal action demanding that he be paid his six percent commission as stipulated in the agreement.

He claimed that the first he knew of the sale was when Damianos Sotheby’s Eleuthera-based agent, Johnathan Morris, was contacted on March 28, 2018, by Eric Christensen of CrossHarbor Capital Partners requesting that Windermere Island North be removed from the realtor’s website because a deal had been closed.

Besides naming Bank of The Bahamas as a defendant, the realtor also included Mr Rich and his investment vehicle as well as the buyer’s acquisition LLC. CrossHarbor Capital Partners, though, said it had “no knowledge” of Mr Damianos’ exclusivity agreement while confirming that it had begun negotiating with the

BISX-listed bank a month before that expired in May 2017.

CrossHarbor Capital Partners agreed to acquire Bank of The Bahamas’ interest in the loan secured on Windermere Island North on September 22, 2017. It alleged that the latter said no real estate brokerage commissions were to be paid in relation to the sale.

Denying that it conspired with the other parties to cut Mr Damianos out, and therefore save on his commission, CrossHarbor Capital Partners also rejected claims that itself and Mr Rich “induced” Bank of the Bahamas to breach the listing agreement.

CrossHarbor Capital Partners and its acquisition vehicle argued that the latter should be struck out as a defendant because Mr Damianos’ claim “fails to disclose a reasonable cause of action”, alleging only vaguely that they combined with Mr Rich to influence Bank of The Bahamas to breach the listing agreement.

Giahna SolesHunt, CrossHarbor Capital Partners’ attorney, described Mr Damianos’ claim as “fanciful and speculative”, arguing that it lacked specifics on the acts her client was alleged to have committed.

While agreeing that the claim “does not clearly set out the basis upon which the plaintiff alleges a conspiracy to cause him loss”, acting justice Cooper-Burnside said Mr Damianos’ case raised issues that were fit for trial and she thus rejected CrossHarbor Capital Partners’ strike out bid.

The US investment house also alleged that Mr Damianos’ claim was “frivolous or vexatious and/or otherwise an abuse of the process of the court”. Samuel Byrne, its managing partner, alleged in affidavits that CrossHarbor Capital Partners and its executives were unaware of the exclusive listing agreement, and denied that he worked with Mr Rich to cause its breach.

The CrossHarbor Capital Partners chief said he became aware of Mr Rich’s travails on Windermere Island via “a mutual acquaintance”, and initially discussed refinancing the project on a private island on Eleuthera’s Atlantic

coast that was used by Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana for their 1981 honeymoon.

The island has also played host to other wealthy and celebrity homeowners.

Mr Byrne also said the deal with Bank of the Bahamas was structured as a loan purchase to save on costs and enable CrossHarbor Capital Partners to “retain priority”. Mr Damianos, though, voiced doubts

about the US developer’s protestations of innocence on the basis that the listing agreement required all interested buyers to be referred to it.

“The plaintiff believes the defendants, including the LLC, knowingly conspired to circumvent him and intentionally structured the transaction under then guise of a ‘transfer’ in an attempt to assist the bank in avoiding its obligations under the listing agreement to

pay commission to him and/ or for tax benefits for both the bank and the LLC,” Mr Damianos alleged.

Ms Soles-Hunt argued that there was no evidence to show CrossHarbor Capital Partners participated in a conspiracy, or that it was aware of the listing agreement and its terms, but acting justice Burnside said this was not sufficient reason for striking out the claim against it.

PAGE 8, Monday, March 29, 2021

COVID inflicts $3bn tourist spending blow FROM PAGE ONE

The Bahamas’ major industry. This represents monies spent directly in the destination with restaurants, taxi drivers, retailers, hair braiders, tour operators and other vendors - the whole range of Bahamian entrepreneurs.

It also under-estimates the true extent of the financial devastation as the Ministry of Tourism’s figures likely do not include monies spent ‘offshore’ on hotel room bookings and the like before visitors arrive in The Bahamas.

Given that this nation was thought to be on course to mirror 2019’s performance before COVID-19’s emergence, the data indicates that the pandemic cost the entire Bahamas somewhere around $268m in cruise

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passenger spending over the final months of last year.

Charles Klonaris, the Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair, told Tribune Business that the last full year of pre-COVID data exposed the extent of downtown Nassau’s task when it comes to generating increased returns from the cruise industry once it resumes sailing from Florida again.

Tribune Business last week revealed Ministry of Tourism data showing that 43 percent of passengers who exit the ship in Nassau spend less than $50 while in port, while per capita spending in 2019 was still lower than 2013 - six years previously albeit trending in the right direction.

“I think that really illustrates a clear position as to where the city really is, and there’s a lot of work to be done, especially in the service industries - restaurants, entertainment and showing the culture of The Bahamas,” Mr Klonaris said of the data.

“Those are things we are really missing.”

While acknowledging improved product offerings from tour operators, he added: “We need to improve the city tours and how they connect with the restaurants.

The big thing for downtown to keep the tourists as well as the locals is the nightlife.

How many live performances do we have downtown in the evening? We don’t have any.

“That’s one area we can improve to attract the tourists, connecting the port to the city itself during the evening. Until we create that, especially in the culinary and nightlife we’re not going to get much spend from visitors on cruise ships because they have all the amenities on board.

“We have to be creative if we’re going to compete against what they have on a cruise ship. Until we do that it’s going to be difficult to compete. We have to elevate the experience downtown.

Creating an exciting city during the day and evening is the first and critical step to entertain the tourists.”

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‘We couldn’t leave 40 terminated staff in limbo’, says hotel FROM PAGE ONE we’re not going to be able to staff at the level we were staffed prior to COVID-19.

“If we had the level of activity we had three years ago this would not be a discussion. It’s the new normal, and likely will be for quite some time. We don’t want to keep those people in limbo. They want their money, they need their money, and it’s the right thing to do.”

Grand Isle confirmed the terminations in a statement on Friday after six furloughed workers protested at the resort’s entrance seeking their termination packages and other benefits. Mr Spychalla praised the way the protest was carried out, describing those involved as “respectful” and “very civil”.

He added that Grand Isle’s closure due to COVID-19 lockdowns, and subsequent operational and travel restrictions, meant that like many businesses it was a struggle to come up with funds for severance packages after being starved of cash flows and revenues over the past year “Cash flow kind of determined when we could do this..... Now we’re open and have a couple of dollars coming in maybe we have the money to do that when in the past we did not. It’s not like we extended this

[furlough] to hurt anyone.

There was nothing in the coffers to be able to do that prior to now. We’re going out on a limb to do it from a cash flow point of view,” Mr Spychalla said. “We’re doing what we can at this time.”

He added that staff member presently working at Grand Isle “is going to be terminated under any circumstances”, and added that the 78-unit condotel property will bring back other furloughed staff as business permits.

Tribune Business understands that the property went into the pandemic with 160-180 staff, although Mr Spychalla declined to provide numbers for the workforce’s size after the restructuring other than to day “the 40 are a good percentage of the people on furlough”.

He added: “We’ll do what we can to bring as many people back as and when business activity picks up.

Business activity determines staffing. Like everybody else I think that will be determined by herd immunity and the sooner most persons in the US are vaccinated because the US is 85-90 percent of our market.

“As soon as people feel comfortable enough to travel again we’ll probably return to that new normal.

No one knows what that new normal will be. It will

be better than it is now.

We’re hoping for a good summer and that will be enough to get us through another slow season. There is some pent-up demand out there. It remains to be seen when it breaks.”

Grand Isle, in its statement, said: “In anticipation of the reopening of the tourism sector, in the throes of recovery from a year of severe financial challenges Grand Isle Resort & Residences has no choice but to restructure its business model.

“It is with regret that the restructuring includes the termination of some 40 team members, each of whom will be treated fairly and receive full payout packages in accordance with the Bahamas Employment Act. Grand Isle is committed to retaining as many team members as possible and remaining a preferred employer on the island.”

THE TRIBUNE

US urged: ‘Make us next in line’ on COVID vaccines

FROM PAGE ONE

all, we are the closest of their remaining neighbours out there, and a large percentage of what is spent in The Bahamas ends back up in the US,” he added.

“One hopes they see fit to make available some of their supply.... They’ve done it with Mexico and Canada, and hopefully we’re next in line.” The New York Times reported on March 18 that “tens of millions of doses of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine have been sitting in American manufacturing sites”.

However, the Biden administration said the shipments to Mexico and Canada would effectively be a loan, with the US receiving doses of AstraZeneca, or other vaccines, in the future - something that The Bahamas would find hard to reciprocate.

However, The Bahamas’ vaccine needs pale in comparison to the size of Canada and Mexico given

this country’s 400,000-strong population. The first 20,000 vaccine shots received by this nation were supplied by India, and it is still awaiting to receive some 33,600 doses - out of 100,000 ordered - of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Pan Health Organisation’s (PAHO) COVAX facility.

Those 120,000 total shots, though, are still way short of the likely 280,000 needed for The Bahamas to meet the so-called “herd immunity” threshold of having 70-80 percent of its population vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mr D’Aguilar spoke out after Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, last week urged The Bahamas to “step up its game” on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out over fears its Caribbean rivals are outpacing it.

Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business he had

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 9 just attended a Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) meeting where it was revealed that more than 60 percent of hotel workers in Turks & Caicos have already been vaccinated against the virus.

Some 30 percent of the total population in The Bahamas’ immediate southern neighbour have also been inoculated against COVID-19, while Barbados media reported five days ago that more than 60,000 persons - over 20 percent of its population - have also received their jabs.

Calling for “all hands on deck” over the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, Mr Fountain told this newspaper: “What remains a challenge for us, and not just in the Family Islands but throughout the island of The Bahamas, is acceptance of the vaccine and then the distribution of the vaccine.

“When I say challenges with the vaccine, it’s not just putting it in folks’ arms, but encouraging people to want to take the vaccine. I was on a BHTA call today, and Stacy Cox from the Turks & Caicos Islands reported that 60 percent of their hotel workers received the vaccine and 30 percent of the population received the vaccine.

“Those are big numbers, even though their population is much smaller. Sixty percent is 60 percent and 30

percent-plus is 30 percent.

We received our first vaccines about two weeks’ ago, some 20,000 shots, but up to this weekend only 1,500 persons had received them,” Mr Fountain continued.

“That number will have changed but you’d think that if we get 20,000 vaccines in The Bahamas two to three weeks’ ago all would be gone by now. We have a challenge convincing Bahamians of qualifying age to take the vaccine and we need to step up our efforts in that regard.”

Mr D’Aguilar said Caribbean dependencies of the US and UK, like Turks & Caicos, had been able to rely on their parent nation to receive supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. The Bahamas, as an independent nation, has no such support.

Pointing to the advantages enjoyed by the likes of the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, he added: “They are clearly having more success in securing a supply of vaccines than we are because they are benefiting from their association with their colonial power.

“We threw off the chains of colonialism in 1973 with a decision that has been enormously advantageous to us, but in this particular instance in securing or being the recipient of vaccines

from a mother country we don’t have that connection any more. All those territories are awash in vaccines to their benefit, and they are enjoying it.”

However, Barbados, which is independent, has managed to vaccinate 60,000 persons or 20 percent of its population. Meanwhile, the National COVID-19 Consultative Committee last night said The Bahamas will receive the 33,600 doses

YOUR

of the AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine through the COVAX facility this week.

“Since the COVID-19 vaccination programme began on March 14, 2021, more than 7,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered on New Providence and Grand Bahama,” the committee said. “The highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered on a single day totalled more than 1,000.”

CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019

PAGE 10, Monday, March 29, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Biden is taking the opposite approach of the Clinton administration to help the economy. He’s bulking up on debt to fuel growth, offering aid to the poor without work requirements and pulling back from globalisation.

Photo: Evan Vucci/AP

Path from Clinton to Biden takes U-turn on debt, trade, more WASHINGTON Associated Press WHEN Bill Clinton spoke of how to build a bridge to the 21st century, it was to be constructed with balanced budgets, welfare recipients who found jobs and expanded global trade.

Three decades later, President Joe Biden is dealing with harsh 21st century realities and his approach has been the exact opposite: Borrow to spur growth, offer government aid without mandating work and bring global supply chains back to the United States.

This change in Democratic policy reflects the unique crises caused by the pandemic, as well as decades-old trends such as the rise of economic inequality, the downward slope of interest rates that made borrowing easier and globalisation’s pitfalls as factories departed the Midwest.

White House aides are comparing the scope of Biden’s policy ambitions to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s after the Great Depression.

All of these factors coalesced in Biden’s $1.9tn relief package that his administration is now selling nationwide to voters.

And even grander designs

are still to come for an infrastructure package and investments in workers that Biden will probably detail in a speech on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

“The underlying goal of how do we deepen, broaden and secure America’s middle class has changed with the times,” says Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “What happened in 2020 was this huge unmasking of all these fragilities and vulnerabilities in our economy.”

Biden’s relief package — which comes on top of roughly $4tn in aid already approved to address the coronavirus fallout — is an effort to strengthen the social safety net that many in his own administration had helped stitch during Clinton’s second term.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain held the same job for Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was Clinton’s chief economist. Gene Sperling, who oversees the release of the relief money, was director of the National Economic Council back then. Deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed had been the head of Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council.

At the time, the Clinton administration seemed to have found a winning formula. The 1996 welfare overhaul signed during the heat of a reelection campaign was designed to end welfare as an entitlement and move aid recipients into jobs, while globalisation offered the potential for greater profits for employers.

“We begin a new century, full of enormous possibilities,” Clinton said as he accepted the Democratic nomination that year in his “Bridge to the 21st Century” speech. “We have to give the American people the tools they need to make the most of their God-given potential. We must make the basic bargain of opportunity and responsibility available to all Americans, not just a few.”

The US economy seemed solid after Clinton’s reelection. Record highs were set in the percentage of Americans working. The federal budget was running a $236bn surplus by 2000.

US companies could reach new markets through trade pacts and China’s admission into the World Trade Organization.

But the stock bubble in internet companies burst as the Clinton era ended.

Factories quickly relocated to China, while assistance meant to retrain the newly unemployed never fully delivered as intended. The seeds of inequality became apparent after home prices inflated in the ensuing years and then plunged, causing a financial crisis in 2008 followed by a grindingly slow recovery.

Democratic voters have also evolved since the peak of Clintonism in the 1990s.

They became more diverse, more likely to hold a college degree and more likely to live in an affluent city or suburb. That progression was easily overlooked until Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 on the promise of scrapping trade

deals, declaring that the government had stiffed the public and vowing to return the country to a past bluecollar identity.

“That happened without Democrats really taking it into their politics until Trump comes along and he is the wakeup call,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution who served in the Clinton White House. “Democrats were slow to realise this, but Biden was not. Biden was probably the best about this.”

Celinda Lake conducted polling for both the Clinton and Biden campaigns. Clinton was a relatively young 46 when he became president, the first baby boomer to take the reins of national leadership. Baby boomers, by contrast, had practically grown up with Biden in one office or another. An experienced hand in a crisis, he spent 36 years in the Senate and eight as vice president to Barack Obama.

“It was the inverse choice in terms of leadership — in 1992, they went for the next generation, the new thing,” Lake said. “In 2020, they went for the steady leader.”

At 78 years old, Biden can remember an older Democratic Party that believed big government was not inherently bad government. The child tax credits in his relief package let aid flow to families without imposing work requirements. His $1,400 direct checks go to each partner in a couple earning as much as $150,000, effectively expanding the social safety net beyond the poor to 158.5 million households.

The pandemic relief is financed entirely by debt, something made possible by interest rates hovering near historic lows. Despite the growth of the national debt since Clinton’s presidency, the federal government spent a smaller share of gross domestic product servicing the debt last year than during the Clinton era.

This has made it possible so far for the government to borrow such large sums, though long-term debt pressures remain.

The Biden administration is now challenging China, which never embraced the values of democracy as trade advocates once believed it would. The White House has made it a priority to ensure the United States has a steady supply of vital goods such as computer chips, a sector increasingly dominated by China. A chip shortage is stifling auto production around the world, making it a threat to US manufacturing jobs.

Robert Lawrence, a Harvard University professor who served on Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, doubts that the factory jobs can all return as automation has reshaped the economy. But he sees the Biden administration as pursuing new policies to help workers.

“If you think about Biden, we’re going back to big government and we’re going back to a new form of welfare — which includes the middle class,” Lawrence said. “These are really revolutionary changes.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 11

UK eases lockdown but nervously eyes European virus surge LONDON Associated Press BRITAIN is taking another small step out of lockdown as it looks nervously at a new virus surge inundating its European neighbors.

With UK coronavirus vaccination rates outstripping those of European Union nations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is easing the stark “stay at home” message that has curtailed everyday life — and kept the virus in check — for almost three months.

From today, it will be replaced in England with a message to stay local.

People will be allowed to meet in groups of six outdoors and can resume outdoor sports such as basketball, tennis and golf.

The other parts of the UK — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are taking broadly similar steps. In Wales, thousands of people poured onto beaches and mountain spots on Saturday, after the authorities lifted travel restrictions that have been in place since December.

Most nonessential businesses remain closed, along with pubs, restaurants, gyms, cinemas, theaters, museums and sports stadiums. Millions of workers have been furloughed, with the government paying the bulk of their wages.

The UK has recorded more than 126,000 COVID19 deaths, the highest toll in Europe.

Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service in England, urged people to continue to follow the rules and limit contact with others, saying the easing “does not mean job done”.

“We’ve made enormous progress that we need to build on and not squander the gains we’ve made,” he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

The stringent restrictions in business and social life imposed during three lockdowns in the past year have had broad public support, though they have alarmed some lawmakers in Johnson’s Conservative Party, who argue that the economic, democratic and human costs outweigh the benefits.

While many European nations are seeing a new surge in the pandemic, Britain is counting on a rapid mass-vaccination

doses of a vaccine made by US firm Moderna would arrive in Britain in April, joining the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

“We’re confident we’ll be able to deliver it and we are confident that it won’t require mixing the vaccines,” Dowden told the BBC. Under the government’s “road map” to lifting lockdown, shops, hairdressers and outdoor dining in England are to reopen on April 12, followed by indoor venues on May 17. Remaining restrictions are to end June 21, if the country isn’t facing a new virus surge.

Anthony Harnden, PEOPLE walk along the Long Walk in Windsor, leading to Windsor Castle in the background, England yesterday.

Britain is taking another small step out of lockdown as it looks nervously at a new virus surge inundating its European neighbors. From today people will be allowed to meet in groups of six outdoors and can resume outdoor sports such as basketball, tennis and golf.

Photo: Steve Parsons/PA/AP programme to help it end its lockdown. More than 30 million people — 57% of all UK adults — have received a first dose of vaccine so far, the government announced yesterday. Almost 7% of adults have had both doses.

Britain aims to give everyone over 18 a first jab

by July, with second shots delivered within 12 weeks of the first.

Health officials say the program will slow down in April because of a squeeze on supplies, in part because of a delayed order from India. The EU has also threatened to block shipments of vaccines from factories in the bloc unless drugmakers — notably Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca — send more shots to EU nations.

Some European politicians, under fire for their slow vaccine programs, say Britain has failed to export any vaccine doses to the continent, while millions have gone the other way.

Britain disputes that characterisation, saying vaccines have complex supply chains and some ingredients in Europe’s shots are made in the UK. British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government was confident it would hit its vaccination targets. He said the first

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, DARNLEY COLLYMORE, of #59 Johnson Road, P.O. Box GT 2139 Nassau, Bahamas intend to change my name to DANNY COLLYMORE. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

deputy chair of Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said it was vital that people who had received a vaccine shot remained cautious.

“It’s really important that people who are vaccinated can remember that they aren’t completely protected,” he told the BBC. “They’re protected against severe disease, hospitalisation and death, but they might not be protected against infection after one dose, it takes three or four weeks for the vaccine effects to kick in, and they could potentially still transmit.”

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NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that MICHERNA E JOSEPH, of Imperial Park, #30 Inspiration 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 29th day of March 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 13

NOTICE

DEPP – EMPLOYMENT

IN THE ESTATE OF RONALD ROOSEVELT SAUNDERS late of #19 Egret Street, Nassau East North in the Eastern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

The Department of Environment, Planning and Protection (DEPP), Ministry of the Environment and Housing, is seeking qualified Consultants to conduct the Mid-Term Review of the UNEP/GEF Project “Strengthening Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) in The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demand against the above Estate are required to send the same duly certified in writing to the Undersigned on or before the 27th day of April, A.D. 2021, after which date the Executrix will proceed to distribute the assets having regard only to the claims to which she shall then have had notice.

AND NOTICE is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the date hereinbefore mentioned.

The complete Terms of Reference and process for responding to employment opportunities are available at the DEPP website

MERIDIAN LAW CHAMBERS Attorneys for the Executrix Chambers, P.O. Box N-168, East Bay Shopping Center, East Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that RODISHA JENNIFER BAPTISTE, of Maze Court, Faith 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 22nd day of March 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

www.depp.gov.bs

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that WHITNEY ORELHOMME of Raymond Road off Claridge Road, Nassau, 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 22nd day of March, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ALYSSA BIANCA MAQUINIANA BENAVIDES of #2 Stevenson’s Subdivsion off Mackey Street, Nassau, 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 22nd day of March, 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

FRIDAY, 26 MARCH 2021

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

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CHANGE

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23.08

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1.20 -144.45

-6.90

(242) 323‐2330 (242) 323‐2320

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.80 33.05 2.00 2.90 2.10 6.00 6.90 3.60 6.01 4.07 6.16 12.00 2.75 6.85 10.50 8.44 14.60 4.25 8.97 16.00

52WK LOW 3.13 22.65 0.67 1.62 1.50 5.00 6.00 2.70 4.27 2.75 5.00 9.75 2.10 4.90 9.50 7.70 13.00 3.42 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

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

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

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00 97.72 104.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 93.92 100.25 100.00

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 FL BSBGRS710237 BGRS FX BSBGR1322498

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGR1200371 BSBGRS710237 BSBGR1322498

LAST CLOSE 4.75 32.12 1.62 2.90 1.59 6.00 6.40 3.56 4.45 2.83 5.67 9.75 2.68 6.84 10.71 8.40 14.00 3.62 8.35 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 97.04 102.00 100.00

CLOSE 4.75 32.12 1.62 2.90 1.59 6.00 6.00 3.56 4.45 2.95 5.67 9.75 2.73 6.84 10.81 8.40 14.00 3.80 8.35 15.50

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.40) 0.00 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.00 0.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

VOLUME 150

2,000 4,630

1,200

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 97.04 102.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

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

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25% 6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 5.22% 4.53% 5.65%

P/E 19.9 34.5 N/M N/M N/M N/M 16.3 -8.1 31.8 16.0 12.6 13.5 26.8 14.6 16.7 11.5 17.2 18.7 8.9 24.6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

YIELD 3.58% 3.92% 1.23% 1.03% 0.00% 0.00% 4.33% 0.00% 0.00% 4.07% 3.88% 7.38% 15.90% 0.88% 3.03% 2.86% 3.86% 3.16% 2.40% 3.94% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

MATURITY

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

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 22-Oct-2023 15-Oct-2049

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.40 4.44 2.15 201.90 184.85 1.69 1.83 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 1.67 1.73 1.75 1.03 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 1.73 1.75 1.03 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% 0.36% 0.77% -3.49% -4.68% -0.85% -0.65% -1.79% -16.80% 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 28-Feb-2021 28-Feb-2021 28-Feb-2021 28-Feb-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 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price 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

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 29, 2021, PAGE 15

BIDEN ECONOMIC PLAN TO FOCUS 1ST ON INFRASTRUCTURE THIS WEEK WASHINGTON Associated Press

PRESIDENT Joe Biden will lay out the first part of his multitrillion-dollar economic recovery package this week, focusing on rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure, followed by a separate plan later in April addressing child and health care.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Sunday the administration’s plans to split the package into two legislative proposals, part of an effort to get support from congressional Republicans. But she adds that “we’ll work

with the Senate and House to see how it should move forward”.

Biden will release details in a speech on Wednesday in Pittsburgh about his proposal for federal investments in physical infrastructure, an issue that has drawn Republican support despite wariness over a pricey package so soon after passage of the $1.9tn COVID-19 relief plan.

Democrats, meanwhile, have been aiming for a broader package that could include policy changes on green energy, immigration and other issues — as well as make permanent some of the just-passed COVID-19 assistance such as child tax

credits. Many are ready to bypass Republicans, if they have to.

Psaki told “Fox News Sunday” the White House had yet to settle on its legislative strategy, “but I will say that I don’t think Republicans in this country think we should be 13th in the world as it relates to infrastructure”.

“Roads, railways, rebuilding them, that’s not a partisan issue,” she said.

A separate proposal later in April then “will address a lot of issues that American people are struggling with — child care, the cost of health care,” Psaki said.

Plans are still in flux, with the White House recently

discussing a combined $3tn in spending to boost the economy and improve quality of life, according to a person familiar with the options who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

“The total package we’re still working out, but he’s going to introduce some ways to pay for that, and he’s eager to hear ideas from both parties as well,” Psaki said.

The Biden administration will also release this week its proposed discretionary budget for fiscal 2022, providing insight into the president’s top priorities and laying down a marker for Congress. The budget

proposal will include funding levels by agencies and guidance on investments.

The proposed budget will be the first in a decade not to be limited by caps on discretionary spending, making it easier for Biden to propose spending increases for longtime Democratic priorities such as education and housing.

On infrastructure, Republicans support a narrow bill focused on roads and bridges and balk at the size and scope of Biden’s overall plan as well as his focus on the environment. During the presidential campaign, Biden pledged $2tn in “accelerated” investments

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 67° F/19° C

TAMPA

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Partly sunny and warm

Clear to partly cloudy

Mostly sunny, breezy and warm

Breezy in the morning; mostly sunny

Intervals of clouds and sun

Windy with a morning shower

High: 84°

Low: 73°

High: 84° Low: 72°

High: 84° Low: 70°

High: 83° Low: 66°

High: 78° Low: 64°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

92° F

73° F

90°-72° F

91°-74° F

92°-60° F

78°-59° 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: 80° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

4-8 knots

S

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 74° F/23° C

4-8 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

E S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

W

uV inDex toDay

TUESDAY

W

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

TONIGHT

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 71° F/22° C

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 71° F/22° C

MIAMI

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 74° F/23° C

4-8 knots

KEY WEST

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 76° F/24° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 73° F/23° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

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

8:58 a.m.

9:24 p.m.

3.1 3.3

2:54 a.m. -0.7 3:12 p.m. -0.8

Tuesday

9:45 a.m.

10:13 p.m.

3.0 3.4

3:45 a.m. -0.7 3:58 p.m. -0.9

Wednesday 10:34 a.m.

11:05 p.m.

2.8 3.3

4:37 a.m. -0.7 4:45 p.m. -0.8

Thursday

11:25 a.m.

-----

2.7 -----

5:31 a.m. -0.5 5:36 p.m. -0.6

Friday

12:00 a.m.

12:21 p.m.

3.2 2.4

6:29 a.m. -0.2 6:31 p.m. -0.4

Saturday

12:59 a.m.

1:23 p.m.

3.1 2.3

7:32 a.m. 0.0 7:32 p.m. -0.1

Sunday

2:03 a.m.

2:32 p.m.

2.9 2.2

8:39 a.m.

8:40 p.m.

0.1 0.1

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

7:04 a.m.

7:25 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

8:40 p.m.

7:51 a.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Apr. 4

Apr. 11

Apr. 20

Apr. 26

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

S

E

W

6-12 knots

S

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

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 84° F/29° C Low .................................................... 75° F/24° C Normal high ....................................... 80° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 67° F/19° C Last year’s high ................................. 84° F/29° C Last year’s low ................................... 69° F/21° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 2.02” Normal year to date ..................................... 4.34”

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

to shift to cleaner energy, build half a million charging stations for electric vehicles, support public transit and repair roads and bridges.

At his news conference last week, Biden called it “frustrating” that the US had let much of its infrastructure deteriorate and said his upcoming plan will create significant jobs, which he said “used to be a great Republican goal and initiative”. But signaling the roadblocks ahead, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell last week warned that the White House plan would only lead to tax hikes and “left-wing policies”.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

7-14 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

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

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 85° F/29° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

10-20 knots

10-20 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 4-8 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots E at 6-12 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots E at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 6-12 Knots E at 8-16 Knots SSW at 4-8 Knots ESE at 7-14 Knots E at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots NE at 10-20 Knots E at 12-25 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 6-12 Knots ESE at 7-14 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 10-20 Knots E at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots

WAVES 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 3-6 Feet 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-6 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-5 Feet 3-5 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 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. 78° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 79° F 80° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 75° F 75° F 78° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F

PAGE 16, Monday, March 29, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

New York lawmakers agree to legalise recreational marijuana ALBANY Associated Press NEW YORK is poised to join a growing number of states that have legalised marijuana after state lawmakers reached a deal to allow sales of the drug for recreational use.

The agreement reached on Saturday, which is expected to be signed into law in the coming days, would expand the state’s existing medical marijuana programme and set up a a licensing and taxation system for recreational sales.

It has taken years for the state’s lawmakers to come to a consensus on how to legalise recreational marijuana in New York. Democrats, who now wield a veto-proof majority in the state Legislature, have made passing it a priority this year, and Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo’s administration has estimated legalisation could eventually bring the state about $350m annually.

“My goal in carrying this legislation has always been to end the racially disparate enforcement of marijuana prohibition that has taken such a toll on communities of color across our state, and to use the economic windfall of legalisation to help heal and repair those same communities,” Sen Liz Krueger, Senate sponsor of the bill and chair of the Senate’s finance committee, said.

The legislation would allow recreational marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21, and set up a licensing process for the delivery of cannabis products to customers. Individual New Yorkers could grow up to three mature and three immature plants for personal consumption, and local governments could opt out of retail sales.

The legislation would take effect immediately if passed, though sales wouldn’t

JAMES MacWilliams prunes a marijuana plant that he is growing indoors in Portland, Maine. New York has failed in recent years to pass marijuana legalisation, but a state senator said lawmakers have reached an agreement to legalise marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21.

Photo: Robert F Bukaty/AP start until New York sets up rules and a proposed cannabis board. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes estimated Friday it could take 18 months to two years for sales to start.

Adam Goers, a vice president of Columbia Care, a New York medical marijuana provider that’s interested in getting into the recreational market, said New York’s proposed system would “ensure newcomers have a crack at the marketplace” alongside the state’s existing medical marijuana providers.

“There’s a big pie in which a lot of different folks are going to be able to be a part of it,” Goers said.

New York would set a 9% sales tax on cannabis, plus an additional 4% tax split between the county and local government. It would also impose an additional tax based on the level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, ranging from 0.5 cents per milligram for flower to 3 cents per milligram for edibles.

New York would eliminate penalties for possession of less than three ounces of cannabis,

and automatically expunge records of people with past convictions for marijuanarelated offenses that would no longer be criminalised. That’s a step beyond a 2019 law that expunged many past convictions for marijuana possession and reduced the penalty for possessing small amounts.

And New York would provide loans, grants and incubator programmes to encourage participation in the cannabis industry by people from minority communities, as well as small farmers, women and disabled veterans.

Proponents have said the move could create thousands of jobs and begin to address the racial injustice of a decades-long drug war that disproportionately targeted minority and poor communities.

“Police, prosecutors, child services and ICE have used criminalisation as a weapon against them, and the impact this bill will have on the lives of our oversurveiled clients cannot be overstated,” Alice Fontier, managing director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, said in a statement Saturday.

Some other states that have legalised recreational marijuana have struggled to address the inequities that the drug wars have wrought.

Three years after Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative making recreational cannabis legal in the state, Black entrepreneurs complained in 2019 that all but two of Massachusetts’ 184 marijuana business licenses had been issued to white operators.

California voters legalised recreational marijuana sales in 2016 as well and invited people to petition to have old marijuana convictions expunged or reduced. But relatively few people took advantage of the provision initially.

Criminal justice reform advocates said New York’s bill avoids that problem by setting up a process for marijuana convictions to be automatically expunged.

“We are very happy that the bill includes automatic expungement. It’s integral to addressing past harms,” said Emma Goodman, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society.

Melissa Moore, the Drug

Policy Alliance’s director for New York state, said the bill “really puts a nail in the coffin of the drug war that’s been so devastating to communities across New York, and puts in place comprehensive policies that are really grounded in community reinvestment.”

At least 14 other states already allow residents to buy marijuana for recreational and not just medical use.

Cuomo has pointed to growing acceptance of legalisation in the Northeast, including in Massachusetts, Maine and most recently, New Jersey.

New York does not have a statewide referendum process as California and Massachusetts do, so only the Legislature has the power to legalise recreational marijuana, as it did with same-sex marriage in 2011.

Past efforts to legalise recreational use have been hurt by a lack of support from suburban Democrats, disagreements over how to distribute marijuana sales tax revenue and questions over how to address drivers suspected of driving high.

It also has run into opposition from law enforcement, school and community advocates, who warn legalisation would further strain a health care system already overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic and send mixed messages to young people.

“We are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the serious crisis of youth vaping and the continuing opioid epidemic, this harmful legislation is counterintuitive,” said an open letter signed by the Medical Society of the State of NY, New York State Parent Teacher Association, New York Sheriff’s Association and several other organisations March 11.

New York officials plan to launch an education and prevention campaign aimed at reducing the risk of cannabis

among school-aged children, and schools could get grants for anti-vaping and drug prevention and awareness programmes.

And the state will also launch a study due by Dec 31, 2022, that examines the extent that cannabis impairs driving, and whether it depends on factors like time and metabolism.

The bill also sets aside revenues to cover the costs of everything from regulating marijuana, to substance abuse prevention.

State police could also get funding to hire and train more so-called “drug recognition experts”.

But there’s no evidence that drug recognition experts can tell whether someone is high or not, according to Collins, who was appointed to Cuomo’s 2018 working group tasked with drafting cannabis regulations.

“I think it’s very important that we approach that challenge using science and research and not wishes or unsubstantiated claims,” Collins said.

Collins pointed to a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union that found that Blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession compared to Whites, based on FBI statistics.

“Every New Yorker should be concerned about how these laws will be implemented or how those ways of examining drivers will be implemented in different communities,” Collins said. “It’s not likely to be equal.”

The bill allows cities, towns and villages to opt out of allowing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries or on-site consumption licenses by passing a local law by Dec 31, 2021 or nine months after the effective date of the legislation. They cannot opt out of legalisation.