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Permit crisis is ‘debasing’ Bahamas’ science brand • Deadly coral disease fight set back a year • Researchers losing ‘tens of thousands’ • ‘Real reputational damage’ in hold-ups

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE FIGHT against a deadly coral disease, and preservation of endangered species, have been undermined by a bureaucratic bottleneck that is “debasing” Bahamian science and reduced it to near-standstill, Tribune Business can reveal.

Dr Nick Higgs, head of research and innovation at Cape Eleuthera Institute - the Island School, said yesterday that the scientific and environmental community’s year-long inability to obtain the necessary permits “boggles my mind” and has reached the stage where it is “doing real damage to our country’s” reputation internationally.

Revealing that the National Science Foundation, the largest scientific research grant financier in The US and, potentially, the world, is now diverting applicants away from The Bahamas, he disclosed that the near-total halt to such activities in this nation had cost the Cape Eleuthera Institute itself “tens of thousands of dollars” in lost research funding.

Dr Higgs said this had been repeated among multiple students and scientific non-profits,

DR. NICK HIGGS giving snorkeling lessons and teaching Bahamian students about the marine environment, and what it is to be a Bahamian marine biologist. with the result that smaller ones, such as the Centre for Ocean Research and Science in Gregory Town, Eleuthera, had temporarily

SEE PAGE 4

‘Caught in the act’ over soccer bribe chief deal

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR Bahamian banker’s claim for wrongful/unfair dismissal, after he was “caught in the act” dealing with a key figure in world soccer’s bribery scandal, was yesterday rejected for a second time by the judicial system.

The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous verdict, upheld the original Supreme Court judgment while noting that Paul Major’s actions could potentially have resulted in BISX-listed CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) suffering “regulatory sanction and criminal liability, as well as civil liability and reputational damage”.

Appeal justice Stella ScottCrane, in the court’s written ruling, found that the bank was more than justified in terminating Mr Major, then its head of international banking, for breaching its strict policies on dealing with US clients when he collected a $250,000 cheque from Charles “Chuck” Blazer, former general-secretary of soccer’s governing body for North

and Central America, and the Caribbean, at New York’s JFK airport in late April/early May 2011.

She agreed with nowretired Supreme Court justice, Keith Thompson, that Mr Major had been “evasive and unhelpful” when questioned by the BISX-listed institution’s US attorneys

SEE PAGE 6

PM: Carbon credit drive to ‘supplant’ oil drilling

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday suggested The Bahamas’ efforts to extract value from carbon credits will “supplant” oil exploration and extraction as a potential future multi-million dollar revenue source.

Philip Davis QC, speaking at his office’s weekly press conference, said oil drilling was “not on our radar, not in our contemplation” as his administration focused in on the potential earnings stream from “monetising” this nation’s “blue carbons” that lie in the ocean via mangroves, wetlands and coral reefs.

Affirming that approval of further oil exploration in Bahamian waters remains “a policy decision we are

PHILIP DAVIS QC undergoing as we speak”, the Prime Minister also hinted that while the Government may permit drilling to determine if this nation possesses viable commercial quantities, it may not allow extraction but, instead, seek to obtain financial compensation for not exploiting such resources to the country’s benefit.

SEE PAGE 6

PM negotiates 38% discount on shipping container costs

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday said he had negotiated a 38 percent “discount” on the cost of shipping containers coming into The Bahamas from the Far East as the Government ramps up efforts to combat soaring inflation.

Philip Davis QC, addressing his office’s weekly press briefing, indicated that this deal had been worked out with one shipping company that he declined to identify, and said his administration

was awaiting word on the savings it could expect on containers coming from Florida.

Shipping container costs as much as tripled/quadrupled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent shipping backlogs and global supply chain crisis, and the Prime Minister said: “What I have done is I have engaged with several of our shipping airlines, shipping agencies and I have been able to work out an arrangement with one of them that has already

SEE PAGE 9

‘A poor excuse for governance’ • AG slams former Gov’t’s science law • Changes to be finalised imminently

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE ATTORNEY General yesterday said he and environmental chiefs are aiming to complete a “page by page” review of an Act that has brought scientific research in The Bahamas to a near-standstill “by the end of next week”.

Senator Ryan Pinder told Tribune Business that an evaluation of proposed reforms to the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act would be completed in the same timeframe as he blasted the former Minnis administration for what he termed “a poor excuse for legislative governance”.

Acknowledging that the law, which was implemented on April 1 last year, had “multiple deficiencies” both in its content and execution, he added that the Davis

SEE PAGE 5

PAGE 2, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

FEARS TREASURE CAY WILL ‘DIE ON THE VINE’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

TREASURE Cay residents yesterday voiced fears that the island will “die on the vine” unless the uncertainty surrounding the long-pending sale of its resort is urgently resolved so the economy can kick-start.

Randy Hondros, a Treasure Cay second homeowner, said the island could become a deserted ‘ghost town’ if its economic revival is not addressed more seriously by central government.

A Hurricane Dorian victim, he has not been back to Treasure Cay for several months as the island has not progressed sufficiently since it was devastated by the Category Five storm.

“It’s been nearly three years, and these people are hurting and struggling to

try and rebuild their homes and their lives,” Mr Hondros said. “I think what is really missing here is, for some reason, the message doesn’t seem to resonate in Nassau with the Bahamian government that Treasure Cay Ltd was the heart of the economy of North Abaco. Treasure Cay Ltd basically folded after the hurricane; they left over 200 people unemployed. These were hundreds of Bahamians with decent paying jobs.”

The fate of Treasure Cay Resort’s potential sale to controversial Austrian investor, Dr Mirko Kovats, remains clouded in uncertainty, while the island’s lift station has yet to be repaired by the Water & Sewerage Corporation so there is no working public sewage system.

“As homeowners we paid $2,000 a piece, and offered it to the Water and Sewerage Corporation for them to begin the capital expense

to get our sewer system back up and running. I’m not sure if the project is under way as yet, but this has been nearly three years since we have been struggling with this sewerage situation,” Mr Hondros said The collective $320,000 donation was formally accepted by the Water & Sewerage Corporation last month following a year of trying to encourage the state-owned water utility to accept it.

“What’s really disheartening is that I don’t understand why this thing has gone on as long as it has, and the other thing is the uncertainty over the future of the heart of Treasure Cay is driving any potential investors away,” Mr Hondros said. “I’m deathly afraid Treasure Cay could die on the vine. I’m afraid that could happen if a sale is not approved to an investor that has the best interest of Treasure Cay.”

The offer made by Dr Kovats to the Meister family, owners of the Treasure Cay Resort, was accepted and sent to the Bahamas Investment Authority last year for approval but no word has been given on its status.

Since that time two counteroffers have been made to the Meister family, but they have not been entertained.

Trevor Lightbourn, owner/operator of Treasure Charters, Island Hopping and Deep-Sea Fishing, added: “Nobody knows what’s going on. Everything is just up in limbo.

There is nothing being said concerning the sale, and there is no solid information like when is this all going to happen, and when are they going to put some infrastructure in place for the marina and things like that.”

With the resort and marina in a state of disrepair, there are no guests arriving and Mr Lightbourn

cannot use the marina for docking. He added: “There is nothing happening right now because, even with the sewer system being down, we don’t have the volume of people. I have some people that have second homes here that I’ve been doing work for, and I’m doing what I have to do to survive.

“At the Bahama Beach Club they cant’ take too many people because of the sewer system and other places that rely on the sewer system. They are suffering, and a lot of other places tied to the sewer system are suffering, and that falls down on me because if we don’t have the volume of people then I can’t get jobs.”

Gordon Beavridge, a second homeowner on Treasure Cay, said: “I’m not sure a sale for the Treasure Cay Resort has been accepted or approved. I just keep hearing rumours and innuendos, but nobody has really come out and said

who is on board and who is actually going to be a part of the sale.

“I think the major issue is is that the Treasure Cay Ltd is more or less abandoned. There is no security or progressive clean up.

With Water & Sewerage they don’t have the lift stations, and those still haven’t been repaired 32 months down the road. I think its really disappointing for everyone involved.”

Mr Beavridge has opted to live in Marsh Harbour instead of Treasure Cay because the living conditions are simply unbearable.

“I think they are trying to repair the lift stations now, but I haven’t seen any action or any firm direction or communication from anyone on what to expect.

I’m in the construction business, and you can deal with what you can expect, but when you have unknowns you just don’t know what to expect,” he said.

GB ‘is famous for pipeline projects’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A GRAND Bahama businessman yesterday said the island is “famous for having things in the pipeline” and he will believe the Grand Lucayan has been sold when he sees it.

James Rolle, Dolly Madison’s general manager, told Tribune Business: “I just hope a deal comes

through along with some other things the Government has spoken about. I understand they are going to start focusing on getting the airport sorted out, and that is critical because a hotel without an airport isn’t anything.

“The airport is even more of a priority than the hotel at this point in time.

The hotel is just one of the mainstays for tourism. We have a couple of hotels opened now, but the airport

is the entity that sustains the hotels on the island.”

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, earlier this week said the Government has narrowed the potential Grand Lucayan buyers down to three, with each of their proposals likely to be acceptable. He added that the Government hopes to select the preferred bidder, namely the one they will enter exclusive sales negotiations with, by the end of this month.

In the meantime, the Government has also launched the initial prequalification bidding round for Grand Bahama International Airport, setting a 30-day deadline to receive responses as it seeks an investor willing to team with it in a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

While not buying into the hype surrounding proposed investment projects for Freeport and Grand Bahama, Mr Rolle said he remains cautiously optimistic. “Grand Bahama is famous for having things in the pipeline, and I just pray and hope that things break through. So for people in Grand Bahama we have to believe it when we see it.

What we have is a hopeful promise,” he added.

The Grand Lucayan’s Lighthouse Point complex remains open for guests, along with the restaurant

GRAND LUCAYAN on-property. “The Lighthouse Point is open seven days a week and it’s not a totally dead property, but I think for the whole property more than 80 percent is really stagnant and not doing anything now,” Mr Rolle said

Alfredo Bridgewater, owner/operator of Coco Nutz, added: “I just saw the story on the $1.6bn being in the pipeline for Grand Bahama, so I am positive about all of the activity set to take place on the island.

“The Grand Lucayan being sold is directly in line with my business, so I am thankful, but I don’t know how soon it will get up and running. I am looking forward to it bringing more business for my coconut cruises bike tours. Most of my business now comes from the cruise ships, so this would be like a new business line if we can get folks coming in from the local hotel. I have more free days and I can always schedule them in on the non-cruise days.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 3

YEAR-LONG RESEARCH CRISIS IS DEBASING LOCAL SCIENCE

By DR NICK HIGGS

A

S a Bahamian scientist, I am writing today out of deep concern, but also a renewed sense of hope. As you may have read in the OpEd by fellow Bahamian researcher, Candace Fields, last November, a crisis is developing for the Bahamian scientific community. In her eloquent article, Candace explained that more than a year ago we were thrown into chaos because, almost overnight, it became nearly impossible to secure approvals to do vital research and environmental conservation work in this country.

Most of this is the result of a new, flawed piece of legislation, hastily passed by the previous government, called the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act 2021. The aim was to regulate research permits throughout the country, but unfortunately this misinformed law takes a blanket approach that treats everyone the same. This means harmless in-country conservation and research now faces heavy obstacles and restrictions that would be more appropriate for a risky external entity - for example an experimental pharmaceutical lab, stem cell research facility or genetically-modified food company.

As a result, hugely beneficial ecological research and vital conservation by Bahamian scientists and their partners all but ground to a halt, and our programmes are suffering serious economic fall-out - and maybe even complete collapse - as a result.

I feel a moral and professional obligation to the country, and to the environment, to add my voice to this issue. From the beginning, it was my hope that the scientific community’s efforts to work constructively with government agencies would yield fruitful solutions. In the first months of this crisis, these hopes seemed destined to be dashed against the sharp rocks of official stubbornness.

Thankfully there is a new administration in office, and I am heartened to know that the new Prime Minister, attorney general and Cabinet have undertaken to fix the law to make it fair and equitable to both Bahamian and foreign scientists alike.

We all know that legislative change takes time and should not be rushed. After all, that is how we got into this mess in the first place. I was therefore overjoyed that the Government seemed willing to consider issuing provisional permits in the interim, while Cabinet works to revise the law to fulfill its original aim – raising public funds through patents, while at the same time promoting and facilitating

DR. Nick Higgs teaching Bahamian public school students about the life cycle of crawfish. Dr. Higgs and CEI are working to develop the country’s first sustainable crawfish aquaculture project. conservation-oriented, nonprofit scientific research and ecosystem restoration.

But even these provisional permits seem nearly impossible to come by without a press conference and massive public outcry. This has to change, and quickly.

The Government has issued one such provisional permit, to marine conservationists skilled at treating corals infected with the deadly and fast-moving Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). This relentless plague is ravaging the country’s reefs at an alarming rate and there is not a moment to be lost in the fight to stop it.

I applaud the Government for recognising the crucial importance of tackling the SCTLD crisis, and hope the move foreshadows other provisional permits, including for my team of researchers at The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). We have been under incredible stress over the past several months because we have essentially been unable to carry out our core work - scientific research and conservation.

I take pride in being the first Bahamian director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute at The Island School, an organisation that undertakes important scientific research in The Bahamas and educates students of every age about our country and our environment, and how we can best take care of it. In 2018, I left my tenured position at a British university to return home with the hope of using my experience for the betterment of my native land. It has been very difficult to accept being unable to do my research and, even worse, as a leader, unable to help my staff undertake work that I know is critical for the development of The Bahamas.

Science is highly collaborative and global in scope, and partnerships with foreign scientists and funders are key to achieving the dream of science by Bahamians for Bahamians.

Because of a partnership with the University of Miami and NOAA, we were able to expand the scope of our research and hire a rising

star, Marjahn Finlayson, a Bahamian expert on hurricanes and climate change.

Our Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub partnership has trained dozens of young Bahamians as reef-rescue divers and provided opportunities for Bahamian researcher development, yet this project has been without a permit for over a year, resulting in me losing a member of staff.

On another project, I have a Bahamian PhD student here that has been waiting for a research permit since July 2021, all the while valuable tuition fees are squandered. Casting away international expertise and rejecting local knowledge, capacity building and training for the next generation of Bahamian scientists is counter-productive, and the world is starting to see us as a country that is hostile to science. Far from being an example followed by other countries, they are looking on in shock at the self-destruction of our sector. For example, the US National Science Foundation is actively diverting funding away from The Bahamas.

In the regulatory environment of the last year, where a permit has been harder to come by than fresh snapper on Good Friday, talented young scientists have been prevented from coming home to contribute to their country. We have been pushing out our own people instead of encouraging them to come home and conduct their research for the public good.

We complain about brain drain, yet impressive Bahamian scientists who have been denied permits and forced to stay away are now contributing to other countries’ scientific knowledge base and, indeed, to other countries’ economies.

In the writing of this legislation it seems as though the authors forgot to recognise that there are Bahamian scientists, including many that are doing important work in support of our country and our ecology. This is made very clear by the fact that there are no fee categories for Bahamian research scientists. It is a particularly

vexing issue to understand given society’s push to expand local capacity to carry out more of our own research - by The Bahamas for The Bahamas. The fact that fees are levied under the act for Bahamian students (some in the hundreds of dollars) is unconscionable. These are by definition people who do not earn a salary.

The fee structure, as it stands, is completely disconnected from the Bahamian professional reality. For example: Doctors, lawyers or real estate agents pay annual licensing fees in the hundreds of dollars. On the other hand, and without explanation or justification, the fee structure imposed in 2020 requires professional scientists to pay in excess of $1,000 to perform our basic jobs and, as such, contribute to the economy.

I was heartened to hear the new director of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) commit to a revised fee structure at a recent meeting with stakeholders. I encourage this reform to be published as soon as possible, and to pursue a nationally consistent and globally competitive fee structure.

Like any institution, business or even Government, it becomes very difficult to justify employing people who are not actually able to carry out their job duties. If we do not receive scientific permits soon, Cape Eleuthera Institute will begin experiencing very real financial hardship.

In fact, we already are, as visiting scientists have cancelled their visits due to lack of permits. Most sadly, some Bahamian environmental non-profits and researchers have already been forced to leave the country due to these real financial consequences. We hope they will come back if/when this exclusive permitting structure is remedied, or if they are granted provisional permits in the meantime.

My humble request to the DEPP and other Government actors is that they continue to issue provisional permits to us and to our partners alike, until

the Access to Benefit Sharing (ABS) law is equitably reformed and focused on its true intent - value capture for the Bahamian people in the case of a research breakthrough, such as a drug discovery or groundbreaking conservation strategy. A properly reformulated law could trigger a huge windfall for the Bahamian people by welcoming and facilitating the work of commercial bioprospectors on the cusp of major pharmaceutical breakthroughs. We truly can save our environment and reap the financial benefits

of scientific research at the same time.

In the meantime, my fellow Bahamians, please understand that our nonprofit science is for the public good, and more often than not meant to directly assist Government agencies in their day-to-day decisions about resource management and nature conservation.

Please join me in encouraging the Government to continue bridging the gap by issuing provisional permits for our work to continue, while Cabinet works to right a grievous legislative mistake.

PAGE 4, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

PERMIT CRISIS IS ‘DEBASING’ BAHAMAS’ SCIENCE BRAND FROM PAGE ONE

closed because all their financing sources had dried up in the absence of permits legally enabling them to do their work.

Branding the situation a “crisis”, he blamed it on the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act that was passed into law last year by the former Minnis administration and implemented on April 1, 2021.

Arguing that it was based on “misguided idealism”, Dr Higgs said it introduced a new scientific and environmental permitting system that the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) simply does not have the capacity to execute.

He added that it had created a one-size-fits all system where non-profit, conservation and student-based research was subject to the same regulatory burden as “high risk” commercial activities, such as bioprospecting. And the sanctions for non-permitted research created “unconscionable liabilities” for non-profits that were akin to “charging the Red Cross to come in and do relief.”

The unworkable system outlined by Dr Higgs (see column on Page 3B) has also disrupted efforts to save The Bahamas’ coral systems, vital to tourism, fisheries and hurricane protection, from the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). Dr Craig Dahlgren, executive director of the Perry Institute for Marine Science, which is leading the fight against this disease, yesterday said they are now playing “catch up” after the necessary research permits were delayed for a year.

Had the Institute, and the Task Force created by the Government to fight Stony Coral disease, been able to begin operations earlier, he said might have been able to treat more coral and slow/ prevent its spread to at least five other Bahamian islands and possibly across the whole archipelago.

Describing Stony Coral Disease as the equivalent of “COVID or Ebola” for coral, Dr Dahlgren said it was threatening to do in five years what climate change will impose in 20-30. “We were the ones that discovered it in The Bahamas, and first documented it, the spread, and produced some papers on it,” Dr Dahlgren said. “That led to the creation of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Task Force by the Cabinet.

“We were on that to develop a strategy for The Bahamas for dealing with the disease. It was back in 2020 when we discovered it.

The Task Force was formed at the end of June 2020, and then April 1, 2021, came.

That was when the new permitting system was enforced under the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act, and that’s when everything kind of shut down. Even though we had a signed contract to do the work, we were unable to get any permits to do it.”

The Perry Institute for Marine Science finally obtained the necessary permit to move ahead in March this year, meaning that 12 months or a whole year had been wasted in the Stony Coral Disease fight.

“We are actually treating that disease and assessing it now. We’re playing catch up after being held up for a year. We are able to do what

we need to do,” Dr Dahlgren told this newspaper.

The year-long hiatus also played havoc with the research team’s funding. He explained that The Bahamas Protected Area Fund had pledged financing, but withdrew this after six months because the permitting holdup meant no work could proceed.

While sufficient funding is now available once again after the permit’s issuance, Dr Dahlgren reiterated that he and his team are now “playing catch up”.

Illustrating the very real consequences of the hold-up, both for The Bahamas and the industries that depend on its coral and reefs, he explained: “We know it has spread to at least five new locations where it was not before; five different islands in that time.

“In 2020, it was confirmed in New Providence and Grand Bahama. Now we have it confirmed in Abaco, San Salvador, Long Island, the Berry Islands and unconfirmed cases in other locations. Had we been able to act earlier we might have been able to do something to stop the spread or been able to get to new areas right away to be able to treat the growth and prevent the spread,” Dr Dahlgren said. “We’re in a much worse situation now than we could have been had we acted earlier.”

As to Stony Coral disease’s impact, he added that The Bahamas had to look no further than Florida where at least one coral species had become extinct in the wild.

“We’re starting to see more of it in the more vulnerable species in The Bahamas. The coral populations are a mere shadow of what they were 30, 40, 50 years ago because

of climate change and other impacts, and this disease is likely to end coral reefs in The Bahamas as we know them,” Dr Dahlgren warned.

“Climate change is acting on a 20-30 year timeframe; this disease is acting on a five-year timeframe. Climate change is the bigger beast.

Climate change is cancer, but this one is COVID or Ebola for coral. It’s going to wipe them out before climate change. I’m very grateful we’re able to go out and do stuff now. It would be nice to have had the permit two years ago. We’d be in a much better place if we were able to do something.”

The Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act, which was brought to Parliament by former environment minister Romauld Ferreira, was billed as plugging a loophole that has enabled foreign exploitation of The Bahamas’ biological and genetic resources without this nation earning a cent.

It was designed to establish a regulatory, permitting and revenue-sharing regime with companies seeking to research and exploit this nation’s marine genetic resources.

The Act introduced by Mr Ferreira created an Access to Benefit Sharing (ABS) committee that is supposed to review and make recommendations on whether to approve research and development applications by companies seeking to exploit The Bahamas’ genetic resources.

The committee, which is supposed to be staffed by civil servants from multiple government agencies, recommends to the Competent National Authority - the entity in charge of all matters related to biological diversity - whether to approve such permits, and provides advice on the revenue/benefit sharing terms agreed with private sector entities.

However, the Island School’s Dr Higgs said the Act had resulted in multiple unintended consequences that have effectively halted scientific and environmental research over the past year. Arguing that the DEPP has been “tinkering at the edges” to-date, he added that the sector was eagerly awaiting legislative reforms that have been promised - and are being worked on by the Davis administration (see other article on Page 1B).

“Until then it’s been a year of nothing,” Dr Higgs told Tribune Business, adding that himself and a team working on a project with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were still waiting for answers on a dozen applications. “I’ve had resignations because of this. My staff, my research scientists, some of them are doing PhDs and cannot wait a year. Some of them have been unable to do research for a year.

“We’re bringing scientific capacity into The Bahamas.

There just seems to be no urgency to the issue. We’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars in research funding; just us alone. Some smaller organisations, like the Centre for Ocean Research and Science in Gregory Town, Eleuthera, have just closed up shop.

“The smaller organisations are kind of at risk because they don’t have the diverse income streams that we do. They cannot get grants, they cannot get money, they cannot work and go bust.... It’s starting to bite. The National Science Foundation, the largest funder of scientific research in the US if not globally, is actually diverting people away from The Bahamas,” Dr Higgs continued.

“If someone applies for funding in The Bahamas, they’re saying: ‘Look somewhere else’.” As another example, he added that a

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group of visiting scientists from the US thought they had obtained the necessary permit in January 2022, and paid the required $9,600 fee, but have “not heard anything since” from the DEPP. Pinpointing the cause of these woes, Dr Higgs said: “The hold-up is that they built a system that doesn’t have the capacity to actually execute. It was driven by idealism, misguided idealism, and the DEPP doesn’t have the staff to execute in reality.

“At a meeting with the DEPP in January, they called a conclave, and before they started their presentation on this topic said they have just three officers dealing with hundreds of applications. Until those permits come through, nothing can be done legally... The system needs a complete overhaul.

“No one who understands how research works in this world could be involved with putting this legislation together. It’s so divorced from the reality of how science and research works.

I can’t believe that anyone in that area is involved in putting together this legislation and regime,” Dr Higgs continued.

“The scientific community was not consulted, and we weren’t privy to any of the details before it became law.

I would challenge anyone involved to stick their head above the parapet because I guarantee they’re ashamed.”

Dr Higgs said the previous DEPP director, Rochelle Newbold, had hailed the Act as “leading the way, and how other countries were saying we’re the model. We said: ‘Are you crazy? They’re looking on in absolute horror at what’s unfolding here’.”

While the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act was supposed to have created a ‘one-stop shop’, where all scientific and research permit applications would be dealt with and approved/ declined in one place, Dr Higgs said all it had done was create “another layer” of bureaucracy and red tape because applicants were still being told they had to obtain the go-ahead from the likes of the Department of Marine Resources.

Calling on reforms to the Act to be “front and centre in the public policy space”, Dr Higgs said: “I feel like we are being heard and taken seriously by the Attorney General’s Office, and they are working to get this done.

I just want to know they are committed to pushing it over the line and not one of these issues put on the back burner because it’s doing real damage to our country’s reputation. We need to know this stuff will be taken over the line and is on the agenda.’

See Monday’s Tribune Business for more....

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 5

‘A POOR EXCUSE FOR GOVERNANCE’ FROM PAGE ONE

administration also expected to have the “mutually agreed terms” which will govern relations and financial terms between the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) and commercial researchers conducting exploration in The Bahamas - prepared by end-April.

Asserting that one of the existing Act’s “key deficiencies” was the failure to distinguish between commercial research and that conducted by non-profits, conservation groups and students, subjecting them all to the same regulatory regime, Mr Pinder said the revised law will be fully compliant with the Nagoya Protocol, the worldwide treaty that governs access to genetic resources and the fair/equitable sharing of benefits derived from their discovery and use.

“We have engaged environmental law experts to review the legislation in the context of international best practices, with global benchmarks, and consistent

with the Nagoya Protocol,” the Attorney General told this newspaper. “They have come back to us with a benchmark and suggested amendments to the legislation.

“Myself and the DEPP director [Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy] are doing a page turn through the legislation, looking at the amendments. It’s a page-bypage review and evaluation of the amendments, and we should hopefully be finished with that review by the end of next week.”

Members of the Bahamian and scientific research community yesterday called for assurances that the necessary reforms will be “taken over the line” (see other article on Page 1B).

Mr Pinder, meanwhile, said the “mutually agreed terms” draft was also under review by DEPP “experts”, and added: “We expect to reach agreement on the mutually agreed terms by the end of this month.

“One of the key deficiencies in the existing legislation was the difference between

commercial and non-commercial research. That was a clear deficiency, and that is a deficiency we are addressing. We have templates for different agreements for commercial and non-commercial, and are adjusting the legislation to be more mindful of the differences.”

The DEPP and Attorney General’s Office are also “going through” the regulations that will accompany the revised Act, with the former set to develop a framework for how they will operate.

The revised legislation has to be approved by Cabinet before it goes to Parliament, and Mr Pinder said both the Prime Minister and the Government’s highest decision-making body are “well aware of these deficiencies” having tasked himself and his office with addressing them.

“There are a lot of deficiencies in how the prior administration looked to implement the Act and, frankly, the implementation of it was very poorly planned... It’s a poor excuse

for legislative governance.

I am in the chair and I will fix it.”

The Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act was billed as plugging a loophole said to have enabled foreign exploitation of The Bahamas’ biological and genetic resources without this nation earning a cent.

It sought to establish a regulatory, permitting and revenue-sharing regime with companies seeking to research and exploit this nation’s marine genetic resources.

The legislation aimed to close a gap identified in an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report, which exposed that the Bahamian people are earning nothing from foreign exploitation of resources that have produced over 100 “new natural products”.

The document disclosed that this nation was gaining zero commercial and financial benefits from the research activity it permits annually in the waters of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

This is despite the granting of more than 100 research permits per year, most of which are to institutions based in the US and Canada. The report revealed that many of these research initiatives had resulted in patent applications being made in the US, “a large cluster” of which covered “a marine microbe” found in Bahamian waters and its use in the lucrative global pharmaceutical industry.

The IDB said one of the “biomolecules” generated from this Bahamian microbe strain had made it to “clinical phase II” drug trials in 2014, but the failure of successive administrations to establish a commercial and regulatory regime to ensure this nation gains a just share of any resulting revenues/profit from such exploitation of its resources has deprived it of a potentially “significant” income source.

“The Bahamas used to issue over 100 research permits per year, about 90 percent of which were issued to foreign institutions (generally from the US and Canada) enabling access to genetic resources, mostly in the marine

CONGRESS VOTES TO SUSPEND RUSSIA TRADE STATUS, ENACT OIL BAN

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress voted overwhelmingly Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of its oil, ratcheting up the U.S. response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid reports of atrocities.

House action came after the Senate approved the two bills with 100-0 votes.

The measures now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly support the substance of the two bills, but they had languished for weeks in the Senate as lawmakers worked to hammer out the final details.

Biden has already taken executive action to ban Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal to the United States. The legislation puts the effort into law.

The bill to end normal trade relations with Russia paves the way for Biden to

enact higher tariffs on various imports, such as certain steel and aluminum products, further weakening the Russian economy under President Vladimir Putin.

It also ensures Belarus receives less favorable tariff treatment.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said it was important to take action because innocent Ukrainians were being slaughtered even as lawmakers were meeting.

"We have no time to waste and must immediately further punish Vladimir Putin," Neal said. "What we have witnessed in Bucha over the course of the last 72 hours alone more than justifies the positions we have taken in the past and to be more assertive and aggressive going into the future."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced late Wednesday a breakthrough in negotiations to bring the bills up for votes before lawmakers travel back to their home states and congressional districts for two weeks. Some

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that DELVIN MARTINEZ VARGAS of Sunshine Park, Nassau, 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 1st day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that YVENET ESTELHOMME of Edwpard Avenue off Jerome Avenue, Wulff Road, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that LEONARDO HIDALGO ALVAREZ of High Vista, Eastern District of 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 1st day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

lawmakers said that the failure to take final action on the bills was sending the wrong message to allies and to Russia.

"Now, I wish this could have happened sooner, but after weeks of talks with the other side, it's important that we have found a path forward," Schumer said.

NOTICE

Schumer described the images coming out of Ukraine as the war drags as "pure, pure evil. Hundreds of civilians murdered in cold blood."

environment,” the IDB report said.

“A study published in 2012 calculated that 125 new natural products were discovered in EEZ in the 2000s. A preliminary review of the patent databases of the US revealed that a significant number of research initiatives conducted in The Bahamas applied for US patents.

“A large cluster of patents covers a marine microbe originating from The Bahamas, the production of biomolecules with this specific Bahamian strain and their use as pharmaceuticals. For one of these molecules, clinical phase II tests were announced to start in 2014,” the report continued.

“These inventions based on a Bahamian genetic resource might be developed into commercially successful drugs with significant revenues. Due to the lack of a regulatory access and benefit (ABS) regime in The Bahamas and appropriate contractual provisions, almost no benefits are flowing back to the country from these and other cases of utilisation and commercialisation of Bahamian genetic resources.”

"No nation whose military is committing war crimes deserves free trade status with the United States," Schumer said.

While there was overwhelming support for suspending preferential trade treatment for Russia, Sen.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that KELVIN JOEL RODRIGUEZ DE JESUS of South Beach, Nassau, 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 1st day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that ANA VASQUEZ WESEMBER of High Vista, Eastern District of 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 1st day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

THURSDAY, 07 APRIL 2022

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 6.70 40.50 2.05 2.90 2.60 6.05 10.05 3.55 9.02 3.10 7.20 14.00 2.71 10.25 11.25 10.75 15.00 4.00 10.00 16.50

52WK LOW 4.55 32.12 1.46 2.20 1.30 5.50 6.00 2.82 4.25 2.27 5.50 9.75 1.99 6.50 10.02 9.00 13.10 3.50 8.00 15.50

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

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 1.00

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

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

CLOSE

CHANGE

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

2279.49

-0.06

0.00

51.25

2.30

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.22 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.98 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.29 99.98 91.00 90.95 89.02 89.62 89.00 90.24 90.73

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.50 4.67 2.20 207.86 207.68 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.05 9.37 11.83 7.54 16.64 12.84 10.77 10.00 10.43 14.89

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.68 1.73 1.75 1.01 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y BGRS FL BGRS67023 BGRS FL BGRS70022 BGRS FL BGRS78024 BGRS FX BGR125238 BGRS FX BGR127139 BGRS FX BGR127149 BGRS FX BGR129249 BGRS FX BGR131249 BGRS FX BGR132249 BGRS FX BGR136150

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGRS670233 BSBGRS700220 BSBGRS780248 BSBGR1252380 BSBGR1271398 BSBGR1271497 BSBGR1292493 BSBGR1312499 BSBGR1322498 BSBGR1361504

LAST CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 14.00 2.29 10.13 12.65 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.06 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 14.00 2.30 10.13 12.57 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

VOLUME

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

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.06 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

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 RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Equities Sub Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - High Yield Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

MARKET TERMS

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 (0.08) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

(242) 323‐2330 (242) 323‐2320 EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.140 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 0.080 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% 4.63% 4.50% 4.50% 5.00% 5.00% 5.50% 5.55% 5.60% 5.65% 5.69%

NAV 2.50 4.67 2.20 204.67 199.97 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.01 9.37 11.79 7.54 15.94 12.47 10.74 N/A 10.43 14.89

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.34% 4.30% -0.06% 5.21% 0.21% 2.72% 1.37% 3.18% 8.18% 14.94% 0.26% 2.76% 0.36% 2.37% 0.28% 2.51% -1.31% -3.43% -0.02% 10.36% -0.33% 18.23% 0.22% 3.05% -3.89% 14.76% -1.04% -2.57% 0.81% 4.20% N/A N/A 3.00% 25.60% 7.90% 48.70%

P/E 22.2 42.9 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M 25.1 -7.5 54.3 14.5 15.9 19.4 22.5 21.7 19.5 14.8 18.4 19.7 10.6 24.6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

YIELD 3.21% 3.15% 0.98% 3.46% 0.00% 0.00% 2.81% 0.00% 0.00% 4.51% 3.07% 5.14% 18.87% 0.59% 2.61% 2.23% 3.60% 3.01% 2.00% 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 8-Apr-2023 29-Jul-2022 22-Sep-2024 15-Oct-2038 15-Jan-2039 15-Jan-2049 15-Apr-2049 15-Jul-2049 15-Oct-2049 21-Apr-2050

NAV Date 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 28-Jan-2022 30-Sep-2021 30-Sep-2021 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

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

PAGE 6, Friday, April 8, 2022

‘CAUGHT IN THE ACT’ OVER SOCCER BRIBE CHIEF DEAL FROM PAGE ONE as they sought to verify the identity of the Bahamian banker who was referred to in the indictment that levied fraud and corruption charges against Mr Blazer in 2015.

Blazer, who pled guilty in a US court to receiving more than $2m in bribes as part of the corruption scandal that engulfed soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, had been a CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) client since 2002. Mr Major, who enjoyed a 23-year career with the bank prior to his dismissal, was Blazer’s relationship manager from that time and “handled small matter and large matters” for the American soccer executive.

Prior to his New York trip to meet Mr Blazer and pick-up the fatal cheque, the evidence showed Mr Major was aware of an increasing number of media reports making allegations of corruption/bribery against his client and other members

of the region’s governing soccer body. At one point he e-mailed Blazer suggesting he “stay out of the news”.

The New York rendezvous was detailed in the US government’s indictment against Blazer, the contents of which were reported by Tribune Business at the time. It described how a Bahamas banker from FirstCaribbean made a round-trip to New York to collect a $250,000 cheque from Blazer, which was part of a $10m bribe to influence voting on which nation would stage the 2010 soccer World Cup. The banker then flew back to the Bahamas on May 3, 2011, and deposited the $250,000 into Blazer’s CIBC FirstCaribbean bank account in Nassau, which had been undeclared to the US tax authorities until the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began its FIFA bribery probe.

Blazer, as part of his subsequent guilty plea, agreed to forfeit 50 per cent of the $1m he had stashed away at

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas), admitting his “wilfull failure” to report its existence to the US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for income tax purposes.

Meanwhile, the Blazer indictment and the reference to the Bahamian CIBC banker, triggered alarm bells at the bank which engaged the international law firm, Mayer Brown, to initiate an investigation. The bank was especially concerned that its policies prohibiting dealing with US clients on American soil had been breached.

Bahamas-based financial institutions have to be ultra careful in dealing with US clients given the global reach of that country’s tax and legal system, and the extreme consequences they could suffer if they fall afoul of it - especially given their reliance on continuing access to the US financial system for clearing transactions.

Justice Scott-Crane, detailing Mr Major’s

encounter with CIBC’s two US attorneys, wrote: “He was questioned about several customer accounts for which he was the relationship manager, including Mr Blazer’s Bahamas account referenced in the Indictment.

“The official note of the interview recorded that the appellant [Mr Major] had been shown paragraph 55 of the [Blazer] indictment and had read it, and was directly asked whether he was the ‘bank representative’ referred to.

“The note further recounted that when asked direct questions, and other questions designed to refresh his recollection, he had made various verbal and non-verbal responses, but had never expressly admitted or denied that he was the bank representative involved.”

Six days later, on June 2, 2015, Mr Major was informed in a meeting with then-CIBC managing director, Marie Rodland-Allen, that his New York cheque

pick-up had breached the bank’s policy on dealing with US clients and he was to be terminated with immediate effect.

“As clearly appears in CIBC FirstCaribbean’s US person’s policy, such conduct constitutes a violation of US federal and state banking and other laws, and might lead to regulatory sanction and criminal liability, as well as civil liability and reputational damage as CIBC FirstCaribbean (as the policy itself states) is not licensed to conduct banking business in the US,” Appeal justice Scott-Crane found.

“There is no question that this is what was under investigation at the meeting of 28 May, 2015, where the appellant was shown Mr Blazer’s US Indictment, allowed to read it, questioned about its contents and directly asked if he was the ‘bank representative’ involved.

“The evidence in this case also shows that the appellant was aware of the specific matter which was

PM: CARBON CREDIT DRIVE TO ‘SUPPLANT’ OIL DRILLING FROM PAGE ONE “There are mechanisms to know you can have oil and monetise it while it is still in the ground,” Mr Davis said.

“At the moment we are exploring monetising our blue carbons, monetising

that, and we think that will be sufficiently monetised for us to not even look at oil drilling. As I speak to you, it is not on our radar and not in our contemplation.

“What we are pursuing right now is monetising our blue carbon credits. We’ll

see how that works. The way I see it working, the question of oil drilling and oil extraction will be supplanted by the monetisation of our blue carbons.”

Mr Davis’ comments yesterday are the strongest indication to-date that

the Government is moving away from permitting future oil exploration in Bahamian waters, and were immediately hailed by environmental activists although they wanted the administration to go even further by legislating of announcing a permanent ban on such activities.

Rashema Ingraham, of Waterkeepers Bahamas, branded the Prime Minister’s remarks as “fantastic news” and told Tribune Business: “We would like to congratulate the Prime Minister on making such a bold statement to the Bahamian people, as well as to any investor or financial group that may be looking at The Bahamas and making determinations as to the future, and how the future will look for investing in The Bahamas.

“While I would say to the Prime Minister that this is a very strong and positive step, what would solidify that will be legislation or a stronger pronouncement that puts a permanent ban on oil drilling on the table so we know our goal is to monetise blue carbon credits rather than invest in the fossil fuel industry.

“This is the direction we would like to see the country move to. We’d like to see our country move to restoring our mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs, so we have more to monetise and just

see the results of the value of our natural resources,” she added.

“We’re definitely moving in the right direction, and we would definitely like to see him [the Prime Minister] stay on that same wavelength looking at opportunities for blue carbons than industries that will be non-existent. This is an opportunity to be at the forefront and leading this new industry.”

Less pleased is likely to be Challenger Energy Group, the former Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), which in its latest corporate presentation last month reiterated that it is still seeking to renew the four licences it holds in this nation’s waters for another three years.

It added that this would be the third of four threeyear licence terms, which collectively span 12 years, and added that it is “addressing entry into a third exploration period” with its application said to be “pending”.

The suspicion is, though, that Challenger will only drill a second exploratory well in this nation if it can find a joint venture partner to share the bulk of the financial and technical load, and that its real goal is to monetise or get a return on its long history and investment in The Bahamas after its Perseverance One well failed to strike commercial oil quantities.

Carbon credits were originally devised as a means to incentivise companies, and countries, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive the global

THE TRIBUNE under internal investigation

by CIBC FirstCaribbean.

As the judge found, his answers to direct questions which were put to him were evasive and unhelpful to the process. He was again given a further opportunity to cooperate with the internal investigation and failed to do so.”

The Court of Appeal found that CIBC had met the Bahamian legal standard for conducting a “fair and reasonable” investigation into Mr Major’s actions, and passed the required threshold to dismiss him. “Rather than co-operating with the investigation and admitting his involvement, the appellant failed to co-operate,” Appeal justice Scott-Crane found. “As we have said, the situation in which the appellant found himself on May 28, 2015, was akin to his having been caught in the act, albeit years later.”

The Court of Appeal thus upheld the Supreme Court’s verdict in its entirety, and ordered that Mr Major pay CIBC’s legal costs covering two attorneys. warming thought to be behind the more frequent, and intense, hurricanes that have devastated many islands in The Bahamas over the past two decades.

Negotiators at the Glasgow COP26 climate change summit in November 2021, which was attended by Prime Minister Philip Davis and a Bahamian delegation, evolved this further by agreeing to create a global carbon credit offset market that would encourage countries to work towards their climate change targets by buying credits representing emissions reductions by other states.

Alfred Sears, minister of works and utilities, was earlier this week said to be in Gabon, west Africa, to gain an understanding of how The Bahamas can follow that nation’s lead in developing a system that can fulfill its carbon credit potential.

Gabon was the first African country to receive results-based payments for curbing deforestation of its rainforests under the Central African Forest Initiative (Cafi). It last year received $17m from Norway through Cafi because of reduced emissions from forest loss in 2016 and 2017, which were lower than the 2006-2015 targets.

The payment is part of a 2019 agreement between Gabon and Cafi that could see the former receive up to $150m for reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation over ten years. The scheme is designed to eventually allow Gabon to sell its emissions reductions as carbon credits on the open market.

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THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 9

PHILIP DAVIS QC

PM NEGOTIATES 38% DISCOUNT ON SHIPPING CONTAINER COSTS FROM PAGE ONE agreed and put into effect the reduction of the cost of containers coming into the country.

“I don’t want to identify them because you don’t want a challenge as to what they’re charging, but we have negotiated up to a 38 percent discount on containers coming to The Bahamas particularly from the Far East and we are waiting to hear what that discount will be from Florida. Those are the efforts we have been engaged in to assist in mitigating the inflation and impact.”

Nassau’s major commercial shipping port earlier this year pledged it will not increase any tariffs despite growing fuel and energy cost pressures that threaten its profit targets for the 2022 financial year.

Dion Bethell, Arawak Port Development Company’s (APD) president and chief financial officer, told Tribune Business had had given such assurances to the Prime Minister. Some 90 percent of New Providence’s commercial sea freight comes through the Nassau Container Port, and its tariffs impact the cost of all goods purchased by New Providence residents.

“One thing we assured them of is we haven’t increased rates for eight

years, and there are no plans to increase rates now,” Mr Bethell disclosed.

“The greatest impact on global cargo costs is outside our control related to global shipping costs.

“No assurances were made to decrease our rates, but assurances were given that we won’t be increasing them. In unique circumstances, we do what is necessary to ensure that the impact of the services we provide is not a financial burden to the general public because, over the years, we have not increased our rates. We certainly won’t be increasing them in times like this.”

Meanwhile, Mr Davis yesterday said the Government was still awaiting conclusions from the Cabinet sub-committee appointed to review the North Andros aggregate mining project proposed by Cameron Symonette, head of the Symonette Group, and his business partners.

“They are doing their due diligence,” he said, noting that several sub-committee members were present in North Andros for last weekend’s Town Meeting to gauge the views of local residents on the venture. “The timing [of that decision] will be tied to when the subcommittee has done their work and reported to us. I

NOTICE International Business Companies Act (No.45 of 2000)

Wisdom Fund Ltd. (the “Company”)

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, No.45 of 2000, the Dissolution of Wisdom Fund Ltd. has been completed, a Certificate of Dissolution has been issued and the Company has therefore been struck off the Register. The date of completion of the dissolution was the 30th December, 2020.

Elis Ferreira Caixeta Liquidator

don’t know when that will be,” Mr Davis said.

The proposal, which was first presented to the Minnis Cabinet, is understood to have been shown to the Davis administration at end-January and a decision is now awaited as to whether it will be given approval in principle so Mr Symonette and his partners, known as Bahamas Materials, can begin the process of obtaining their environmental approvals and holding Town Meetings with the community in North Andros.

Sources familiar with the project, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to do so, said it planned to create 163 direct jobs in Andros along with numerous spin-off entrepreneurial opportunities. They dismissed any climate change concerns, saying the project will be located on “fallow” land in the shape of the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s 5,500 acre wellfields that have been inundated with seawater from past hurricanes.

Bahamas Materials plans to mine the site for calcium carbonate (limestone). The extracted rock would then be crushed and screened at a purpose-built plant before being exported by sea to either Florida or New Providence for use by the construction industry in a variety of construction applications.

However, the plans go beyond mere aggregate mining to explore how the land could be reclaimed, and repurposed, for other productive use such as real estate once all the rock has been extracted. Bahamas Materials Company is proposing a corporate structure where a subsidiary, Morgan’s Bluff Development Group Ltd, owned by local residents would control/ own the land and lease portions to it for mining via a phased approach.

“The control remains with the Government and the people,” a source said.

“This project will pay royalties, it will pay taxes and it will pay Business Licence fees.”

PAGE 12, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

TECH REBOUND LIFTS STOCKS ON WALL STREET AFTER EARLY SLIDE

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AND ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers

A late-afternoon rebound led by technology companies helped drive stocks higher on Wall Street Thursday, lifting the market from an early slide.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, its first gain after a twoday slump. The benchmark index is still on pace for its first weekly loss in four weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed a 0.1% gain. Crude oil prices edged lower and bond yields rose. The choppy day

of trading came as investors weighed the latest updates from the Federal Reserve amid concerns about rising inflation. The central bank has signaled it is prepared to keep raising interest rates and reducing its stockpile of bonds and mortgage-backed securities in order to rein in the highest inflation in 40 years.

"The market is certainly having to digest a Fed that appears to be willing to be very aggressive in battling inflation," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 rose 19.06 points to 4,500.21. The

Dow gained 87.06 points to 34,583.57. The bluechip index had earlier been down 305 points. The Nasdaq added 8.48 points to 13,897.30.

Higher interest rates can make pricey growth stocks, like those of Big Tech companies, look less attractive relative to their earnings.

Tech stocks have been among the biggest drags on the market the past couple of days and were weighing down the indexes Thursday morning. But the sector began to recover by midafternoon, helping lift the broader market. Microsoft rose 0.6% and Adobe rose 1.9%.

Health care stocks, retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending also rose after having been down earlier in the day. Pfizer rose 4.3%, Target gained 5.7% and McDonald's rose 1.2%.

Communication services stocks were among the biggest weights on the market.

Twitter fell 5.4%.

Computer and printer maker HP surged 14.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed an 11% stake in the company.

Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year

Treasury rose to 2.65% from 2.61% late Wednesday.

Every major index is in the red for the week following two big losses that were partly prompted by concerns over the Fed's shifting policy as it tries to combat inflation.

Minutes from the Fed's meeting last month showed policymakers agreed to begin cutting the central bank's stockpile of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities by about $95 billion a month, starting in May. That's more than some investors expected and nearly double the pace the last time the Fed shrank its balance sheet.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 74° F/23° C Low: 55° F/13° C

TAMPA

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Partly sunny with a stray t‑storm

Partly to mostly cloudy

Considerable cloudi‑ ness and breezy

Breezy in the morn‑ ing; mostly sunny

Mostly sunny, breezy and pleasant

Some sun with winds subsiding

High: 85°

Low: 71°

High: 82° Low: 67°

High: 81° Low: 69°

High: 80° Low: 70°

High: 83° Low: 71°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

93° F

70° F

83°-66° F

84°-66° F

82°-67° F

84°-68° F

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

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 70° F/21° C

8‑16 knots

S

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 60° F/16° C

8‑16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 61° F/16° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

TONIGHT

High: 73° F/23° C Low: 63° F/17° C

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 67° F/19° C

MIAMI

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 62° F/17° C

10‑20 knots

KEY WEST

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 68° F/20° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 71° F/22° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022

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uV inDex toDay

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.)

2.4 1.8

8:01 a.m.

7:49 p.m.

0.7 0.6

2:22 a.m.

2:48 p.m.

2.3 1.8

9:00 a.m.

8:50 p.m.

0.8 0.7

Sunday

3:22 a.m.

3:50 p.m.

2.3 1.9

9:59 a.m.

9:53 p.m.

0.7 0.6

Monday

4:20 a.m.

4:47 p.m.

2.4 2.0

10:52 a.m. 0.6 10:53 p.m. 0.5

Tuesday

5:12 a.m.

5:38 p.m.

2.5 2.3

11:39 a.m. 0.4 11:47 p.m. 0.3

Wednesday 5:59 a.m.

6:24 p.m.

2.6 2.5

12:21 p.m. 0.2 ‑‑‑‑‑ ‑‑‑‑‑

Thursday

2.7 2.8

12:37 a.m. 0.1 1:01 p.m. ‑0.1

Today

1:26 a.m.

1:47 p.m.

Saturday

6:44 a.m.

7:08 p.m.

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:55 a.m. Moonrise 7:29 p.m. Moonset

12:03 p.m.

1:30 a.m.

First

Full

Last

New

Apr. 9

Apr. 16

Apr. 23

Apr. 30

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

S

E

W

6‑12 knots

S

6‑12 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 ....................................... 81° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 68° F/20° C Last year’s high ................................. 80° F/26° C Last year’s low ................................... 57° F/14° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 6.42” Normal year to date ..................................... 4.91”

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

The central bank is reversing course from low interest rates and the extraordinary support it began providing for the economy two years ago when the pandemic knocked the economy into a recession. It already announced a quarter-percentage point increase and is expected to keep raising rates throughout the year.

Traders are now pricing in a nearly 80% probability the Fed will raise its key overnight rate by half a percentage point at its next meeting in May. That's double the usual amount and something the Fed hasn't done since 2000.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 77° F/25° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 76° F/24° C

6‑12 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 84° F/29° C Low: 79° F/26° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS

are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

RAGGED ISLAND High: 83° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

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

N

H

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 76° F/24° C

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

4‑8 knots

4‑8 knots

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

Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday: Today: Saturday:

WINDS W at 8‑16 Knots WNW at 8‑16 Knots NW at 6‑12 Knots NNW at 8‑16 Knots S at 6‑12 Knots NNW at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots S at 4‑8 Knots SSW at 7‑14 Knots NW at 7‑14 Knots WNW at 8‑16 Knots W at 8‑16 Knots S at 6‑12 Knots NNW at 7‑14 Knots E at 4‑8 Knots NNE at 4‑8 Knots SSE at 4‑8 Knots NNW at 6‑12 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SSE at 6‑12 Knots SW at 6‑12 Knots NW at 7‑14 Knots SE at 4‑8 Knots N at 7‑14 Knots S at 6‑12 Knots NNW at 8‑16 Knots

WAVES 3‑5 Feet 4‑7 Feet 0‑1 Feet 1‑2 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 0‑1 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet

VISIBILITY 8 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 9 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 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 78° F 78° F 82° F 82° F 80° F 80° F 81° F 81° F 81° F 80° F 80° F 81° F 82° F 83° F 81° F 82° F 80° F 81° F 80° F 80° F 79° F 80° F 81° F 83° F 79° F 80° F