04162020 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

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Major law firms in mass lay-offs

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

M

AJOR Bahamian law firms yesterday revealed the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to temporarily lay-off staff, with one saying: “We haven’t received a single fee in four weeks.”

Branville McCartney disclosed to Tribune Business that his Halsbury Chambers law firm had last week been forced to furlough 20 “nonessential” staff in a move he branded “heart wrenching”.

With clients in “survival mode” due to both global

blink of an eye”.

And his Halsbury Chambers law firm is far from alone in the actions it has taken. Multiple sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Tribune Business confirmed that Graham Thompson & Company, one of The Bahamas’ largest and oldest commercial law offices, has also temporarily laid-off junior legal, administrative and other staff members.

Judith Whitehead,

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Graham, Thompson & Company’s managing partner, told Tribune Business: “I have no comment I’m afraid” when contacted by this newspaper. Contacts suggested up to 40-50 employees may have been affected by the move, although this could not be confirmed.

However, this newspaper understands that such figures may not be unrealistic given that major Bahamian

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NIB: 2,000 unemployed benefit claims ‘stalled’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board (NIB) yesterday revealed that some 2,000 unemployment benefit claims have “stalled” because employers have failed to file the required contributions statements.

Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, pictured, the social security system’s director, warned that much-needed payouts to laid-off workers would be “delayed” - but not stopped - by companies who do not provide the information necessary to calculate an employee’s wage and due benefits.

She spoke out after NIB, in a statement, said: “Todate, NIB [has been] able to quickly process over 12,000 unemployment benefit (UEB) applications related

• Employers delaying payouts by filing failure • Director bemoans delay: ‘It won’t stop us’ • Expat work permit holders don’t qualify

to COVID-19. However, there are another 2,000 claims in process which have been stalled because of the lack of C10 information.

“Without the C10 forms which contain the wage information, NIB cannot accurately determine a person’s insurable wage

Bahamian investors: Our nation needs you

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT businessman is urging Bahamian investors and those with overseas capital holdings to “bring some of that back and help rebuild the local economy” in COVID-19’s wake.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, the Arawak Homes and Sunshine Holdings chairman, told Tribune Business in a recent interview it was his “hope and prayer” that the recent international thrust encouraged by the Central Bank’s gradual exchange control loosening will be reversed to help rescue both Bahamian businesses and the wider economy in the pandemic’s aftermath.

Arguing that many companies may need new equity investment, in the shape of fresh owners and partners, to revive as opposed to borrowing, Sir Franklyn said The Bahamas needed to go beyond “just talk and really rebuild together” to ensure its economy can rebound from

REPATRIATE CAPITAL FOR REBUILDING

SIR FRANKLYN WILSON the steepest contraction in living memory.

“My view is that the country is going to be so challenged to restart after COVID-19 that I believe there are going to be significant companies in The Bahamas where, to get them restarted, it’s not going to be a question of them borrowing more money,” Sir Franklyn said.

“It makes more sense for them to think of stronger partnerships. To that extent, my hope and prayer is that

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that is used to calculate the unemployment benefit.

These claims may also be deemed ineligible by NIB’s claims system as the person may not have sufficient contributions to meet the requirements without the additional months of C10 data added.”

Urging employers without outstanding C10 contribution forms to file them electronically, either using the Excel spreadsheet on its website or via its digital portal, NIB added: “The National Insurance Board is appealing to employers who have not recently filed their contributions statements and have laid-off staff to file

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Hotel union to feed the 5,500 with ‘advance’

• Bran: ‘Not a single fee paid in four weeks’ • Graham Thompson, others in furloughs • DNA leader says move ‘heart wrenching’ and local lockdowns associated with the pandemic, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader said his firm had been left with little choice but to cut costs as income and business had totally dried up.

Pointing out that law firms, too, are a business, Mr McCartney voiced fears that “some may not survive” COVID-19’s economic fall-out which has “turned everything upside down in a

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the C10s as soon as possible so that the unemployment benefit (UEB) can be paid quickly.

“For the last year NIB has stepped up its enforcement efforts to ensure that employers file their contribution statements and make their NIB payments. At this point, the most important issue is for NIB to have the C10 statements so that insurable wages can be calculated and credited to the employees’ accounts.”

Dr Virgil-Rolle subsequently told Tribune Business: “In our system, when we don’t see the right

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THE hotel union’s president yesterday said it has “risen to the occasion” to provide COVID-19 relief to its 5,500 members via “an advance” from the industry’s Health and Welfare Fund.

Darrin Woods told Tribune Business that the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) has received the necessary government and police permissions to distribute assistance using a “drive through” process that will kick-off on Monday at Workers House on Tonique Williams Highway.

The aid, which will take the form of redeemable food vouchers for use at AML Foods’ Solomon’s and Cost Right stores, has been effectively financed by a loan from the Health and Welfare Fund that Mr Woods indicated will have to be repaid by the union

DARRIN WOODS and its members once the Bahamian tourism industry returns to normality.

Declining to detail the financial arrangements, as these have yet to be revealed to union members, Mr Woods said it was essential to “jump start” much-needed assistance for thousands of laid-off resort workers as he likened the move to the government’s $20m small business loan assistance initiative.

Describing the pandemic’s “unprecedented” economic fall-out as “something I pray to God we never see again”, the union chief acknowledged the

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Bahamas holding off debt cost pressures

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas was the only Caribbean nation in early April to escape pressure on its bond yields amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report revealed yesterday.

The IDB, in its 2020 first quarter “bulletin” on the region, said the likes of Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago have all started to experience an increase in their yield coupons in secondary market

trading in a sign that access to foreign currency borrowing may become more expensive and difficult.

“One indicator that suggests that access to external finance is tightening is the fact that bond yields have increased on secondary markets for the Caribbean countries, with the exception of The Bahamas,” the IDB said.

This nation’s secondary market bond yields remained stable at below five percent for the month to April 2, 2020. That, though,

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PAGE 2, Thursday, April 16, 2020

In the final of a two-part series, Travis Sweeting outlines what The Bahamas needs to do to secure a more prosperous future and how it can realise these ambitions.

ESTABLISH A SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND A sovereign wealth fund, sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or even alternative investments such as private equity funds or hedge funds. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally.

The primary function of a sovereign wealth fund for The Bahamas will be to stabilise our country’s economy through diversification while generating wealth for future generations.

How we fund this: • Ten percent of total VAT income in any given year • Central Bank reserves • Currency operations • Privatisation of stateowned enterprises such as Bahamasair • Transfer payments • Natural resource exports.

How we do this: 1. Develop the “Investment Corporation of The Bahamas (ICB)” to invest internationally, independent of government/political interference 2. Create a healthy capital investment mix in world economies inclusive of stocks, funds, crypto (digital) assets, business capital and private placements etc.

3. Fund Bahamian-led

THE TRIBUNE

It’s time for the people’s time - II

BY TRAVIS T. SWEETING businesses overseas such as restaurants, fisheries and e-commerce warehousing etc 4. A healthy portion of profits to be deposited into the Central Bank’s reserves with a goal of reaching $250bn in foreign reserves in 20 years 5. Appoint a management team headed by a Bahamian financial and investment professional 6. Appoint a board of directors (five members) plus ex-officio positions by Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank (two members each) 7. Appoint an advisory board (seven members) made up of private sector finance, investment banking, legal and economic professionals at staggered three-year intervals 8. Enact legislation to implement all of the above GOVERNMENT REFORM In order for our country to come into the modern age, we must put in place reforms to safeguard any progressive measures that come out of this pandemic. In addition to many outdated laws that reside on our books, we must also decentralise concentrations of power and Members of Parliament (MPs) also sitting as ministerial members

HOW TO AVOID THE ‘RED EYE’

of the Cabinet. This creates a lack of support and development in one or both areas and stunts the progress we deserve as citizens.

How we do this: 1. With the removal of all MPs from ministerial positions, we recommend that Cabinet/Ministry portfolios be immediately revamped and filled with persons who possess the respective qualifications to run that portfolio.

Our new Cabinet makeup would include the ministries of agriculture and marine resources; culture; digital development; youth and sports; education; environment and disaster response; finance; immigration and citizenship; international trade and innovation; foreign affairs; health; housing and social care; national resources; national security; office of the attorney general; office of the governor-general; office of the prime minister; public works; public service and economic development; tourism; transport and aviation.

2. Enact legislation that divorces MPs from also being ministers in Cabinet with the exception of the prime minister. Allow MPs LOOKING back at old photographs, you may see people with the phenomenon known as “red eye”, which develops as a result of using flash photography.

What Causes Red Eye in Photographs?

Taking a picture in low light causes the flash to

to focus on their individual communities, with ministers to be appointed based on skill sets and experience in their respective portfolio areas. An example would be appointing Dr Nikkiah Forbes, the current head of infectious diseases, as minister of health.

3. Enact legislation that separates the elections of the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament.

Also establish permanent election dates and boundaries based on the formation of municipalities.

4. Pass the Freedom of Information Act 5. Review all laws on the books, in conjunction with the Bahamas Bar Association, University of The Bahamas and The Chamber of Commerce, to update and bring them current to deal with the modern-day Bahamas.

6. Enact legislation to allow all of the above.

RAPID POPULATION GROWTH At our current estimated population level of 390,000 we will never develop sufficient economies of scale to increase our GDP, pay our debts and enhance the livelihood of every Bahamian.

We have the land mass to carry our population to at least ten million across 17 major islands.

As a comparison, Grand Bahama alone is 1.9 times’ the size of Singapore’s land mass, yet the latter has 5.6m citizens and $323bn in GDP compared to Grand Bahama’s 50,000-odd population. The GDP of the entire Bahamas is $12bn.

Likewise, Manhattan alone in New York state is only 59.1km square with a population of 1.6m and a GDP of $600bn. Grand Bahama is 23 times’ larger than Manhattan. Using these comparisons, it is clear we go off close to a subject’s face. It is a reflection of the light off the person’s pupils. Instead of a natural black, the pupils appear as a bright red because the light is bouncing off the blood vessels behind the eyes.

It can give your subjects a demonic look, but it is easy

have been in an economic coma. With the addition of the other 16 major islands, we have more than enough room for growth while making our resources benefit us as Bahamians and enabling the country to compete with the best of them.

A World Bank blog post by Wolfgang Fengler says: “Population growth increases density and, together with rural-urban migration, creates higher urban agglomeration. And this is critical for achieving sustained growth because large urban centres allow for innovation and increase economies of scale.”

No country has ever reached high income levels with low urbanisation.

How we do this: 1. Terminate the Hawksbill Creek Agreement 2. Increase the Bahamian population by 5m persons over the next ten years. They can only move to islands other than New Providence, and remain there for a minimum of seven years, before they can move off that island.

Exceptions exist only for job transfers.

3. Create a skilled entry visa with the following criteria: A maximum 200,000 visas available per year, a pass skills points system, language test, and minimum of $12,000 available.

4. Create a start-up visa with the following criteria: A maximum 50,000 visas available per year, the holder must reside in Grand Bahama, set up a business and only work for that business. They must employ a minimum of seven persons within five years, have minimum capital of $25,000 plus $12,000 personal funds per founder.

5. Create a West Indian diaspora visa with the following criteria: A maximum 150,000 visas per year from Caribbean countries and African-Americans, to fix when you know what caused it.

Professional photographers often use a flash that points to the side, but if you are using a digital point-and-shoot camera or smart phone to take photos on the fly there is still an easy fix. Instead of worrying about the flash in the moment, you can clean up any of your candid photos in Photoshop.

The “Red Eye” tool in Photoshop is made specifically to eliminate the appearance of red eye. If you are taking photos at night, this helpful tool will make your picture look more natural.

The Tool for Red Eye In the menu with the other healing brushes you will find the “red eye” tool that can change the photo to a natural black pupil. It is simple. Just click directly on the red and it will change the colour instantly. In some cases, you will have to use a combination of methods to remove all traces of red eye from the image.

How is the Red Eye tool useful for us?

The light of the flash reflects from the retina and the camera captures this, which results in the red colour in the eyes.

Photoshop allows us to remove this red eye using its features. Many cameras have a red eye prevention mode, but that is little comfort when you have a great picture that features bright red pupils as the most dominant feature. If you have been using Photoshop for a while, you are probably aware that you can get the same result in many different ways.

How to remove red eye Open the original photo with red eye, then select the “Red Eye” tool. Using the default settings, click the red portion of the eye in your image. This oneclick tool darkens the pupil and retains the tonality and texture of the eye. If you are not happy with

skills points tests, language test, minimum of $15,000 available.

6. Fast track economic/ foreign direct investment visas for organisations establishing companies that can employ 500 and more persons 7. Automatic citizenship for persons born on Bahamian soil 8. Use the Ministry of Culture to keep Bahamian culture alive and vibrant, integrating it into schools and communities 9. Enact legislation to allow for all of the above The Commonwealth of The Bahamas can not grow further in the shadows of Sir Stafford Sands. I implore the prime minister to serve the people and make these necessary decisions to reshape and revitalise our economy.

No better landscape has existed for us to effectively and efficiently reshape our economy. There is a 35-seat majority in the House of Assembly, a global economic pause, $2bn in foreign reserves, strong commercial bank liquidity, and an unprecedented $2tn stimulus package to the US economy, our most intimate trading partner. With these advantages and some elbow grease, we can raise aggregate demand and supply to grow our GDP 40-fold.

If we say this is “The People’s Time”, and we wish to not ever hear the question: “Which people?”, then the government needs to move on these strategies and show us they possess the fortitude for positive productivity over baseless publicity.

NB: The views expressed are those of the author, not The Tribune.

Travis Sweeting is a publishing professional with experience in financial services, marketing, political and business strategy. Travis welcomes feedback at travissweeting@gmail.com.

The Art of Graphix

BY DEIDRE M BASTIAN

the results, tweak one or both of the following options. First, pupil size.

Use the slider to increase or decrease the size of the pupil. Or, darken pupil. Use the slider to darken or lighten the colour of the pupil. If all goes well, your image is now cured of the dreaded red eye.

With the power of Photoshop you do not have to worry about images being ruined with red eye again.

You can avoid it by not using flash, but if you are taking quick snapshots in a dark room it is easier to lighten the image with the flash and fix it later with the “Red Eye” tool. Until we meet again, fill your life with memories rather than regrets. Enjoy life and stay on top of your game!

NB: Columnist welcomes feedback at deedee21bastian@gmail.com ABOUT COLUMNIST: Deidre M. Bastian is a professionally-trained graphic designer/marketing coordinator and certified life coach with qualifications of M.Sc., B.Sc., A.Sc. She has trained at institutions such as: Miami Lakes Technical Centre, Success Training College, College of The Bahamas, Nova Southeastern University, Learning Tree International, Langevine International and Synergy Bahamas.

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Thursday, April 16, 2020, PAGE 3

‘Change mindset’ for virtual queues

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN information technology (IT) provider yesterday urged businesses to “change their mindset” and embrace digital solutions to the problem of long customer lines during the COVID-19 crisis.

Philip Darville, SolveIT Bahamas’ managing director, told Tribune Business his firm had teamed with a US-based company, QLess, which specialises in the development and provision of virtual queuing systems.

“We have the clear issues that we are facing with having to deal with crowds and customer queueing,” Mr Daville said, pointing the persistent long lines at food stores and pharmacies due to the need to maintain social distancing protocols.

“So we’ve recently partnered with a company out of the United States, QLess, which specialises in virtual queue systems. The concept of virtual queue systems

COVID-19 aid moves businesses to tears

ROBERT PANTRY, founder and chief executive, Simplified Lending.

A PARTICIPANT in the government’s $20m small business loan support initiative says many borrowers have been reduced to tears when approved for credit that will help pay staff.

Robert Pantry, founder and chief executive of Simplified Lending, said notes filled with words of tearful responses to learning a loan has been approved began pouring in almost as soon as the process began.

“The Business Continuity Loan Programme is a model of efficiency. It is literally saving businesses every single day. If ever there was a concern about the value of and need for this programme, the e-mails and messages we are receiving put any doubt to rest,” said Mr Pantry.

is essentially the same as checking into a flight digitally.

“The idea is this would eliminate the need to physically stand on a line. What we would do is use technology to virtually stand on the line, and you would be notified electronically by an SMS (text message) about the progress update on your queue system.”

Mr Darville said SolveIT Bahamas had just signed the contract with QLess last week, and was now in the educational stage of learning its product. He added: “We have had significant interest from the public sector. What’s happening is that the biggest gaps existing right now are in client-facing solutions within government and being able to see customers in a safe and professional manner.

“Right now we are busy talking to people and showing them how it works, and letting people know there are more options than the regular legacy-based concepts like standing in the

sun and things like that.”

Mr Darville explained that the logic behind the technology is “two-fold.

One is the consumer and one is the operator, meaning each establishment has operator facilities. So it is completely cloud-based and the operator essentially manages the queue.

“So let us say each business has a queue that they want to establish for customers,” he added. “One may be for customer service, one may be for returns and one may be for new store purchases as an example.

So what would physically happen is each consumer would go to the app, which is free and downloadable, find the merchant, see their available queues and join the queue.

“The merchant, in turn, would essentially manage that queue by each customer who flows in and out.

They would then summon the next customer. What can happen is each customer would be able to understand how long their

wait times are.

“For every time they check in they will see how many people are ahead of them, what is their estimated wait time, and they would get notification of the progress. So every five or ten minutes they would get a notification that they are now 12th in the queue or sixth in the queue, and when they are in front of the line they get a notification that says you are at the front of the line now come.

“So you present yourself at the front, and you show your SMS, as an example, to the front desk or the security and they would be able to process you. It is a technology that is focused on business resiliency,” Mr Darville explained.

“There is no hardware required. It is done either from a PC or from a phone or tablet. So, literally, operators would just manage the queues. They are seeing people that come in, and the persons would have virtually checked in.

“It is a technology that is

focused on business resiliency. The greatest issue we are faced with now is that commerce has essentially stopped for the most part, so this is avenue that we are aggressively trying to promote in government, first of all, to be able to get core services up and running again and handle clientfacing environments. Then this needs to be looked at for retail businesses because jobs are at risk.”

Mr Darville added: “We were analysing this prior to COVID-19. The key thing that we wanted to do is be able to improve efficiency in the delivery of services by various agencies and businesses, because one of the biggest things that happens - and something we all complain about - is wait times in business.

“So this was something we were analysing months back to be able to offer to the Bahamian public something that increases efficiency and overall customer satisfaction.”

Mr Darville added that

ultimately “businesses have to change their mindset to the way they approach commerce. We have been legacy-based for so long that, as entrepreneurs and business stakeholders, we have to understand that commerce is diverse and it is changing. We have to be more fluid to customer satisfaction.

“Things we are seeing with COVID-19 is what we should be have been seeing years ago, like curbside pick-ups. Really and truly, businesses should have made it so easy for commerce to happen that you shouldn’t wait for a pandemic to offer these types of conveniences to our customers.

“This is the new reality; this should be the new reality. We should be able to cater to our customers and satisfy them to improve our brand perception because, at the end of the day, I would be more inclined to patronise a business that values me and shows me that they value me more.”

His company is one of several participating lenders in the facility administered through the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC). Low interest loans, repayable over a five-year period with no payments due for the first four months, are designed to enable micro, small and mid-sized businesses (MSMEs) to ride out the economic tsunami resulting from the COVID19 lockdown.

“Usually, when we secure or grant a loan, we get signatures and a firm handshake,” said Mr Pantry. “But these are such emotional times that today we are getting the most personal notes of gratitude and relief with many mentioning the word ‘approved’ brought them to tears.”

“I am crying,” wrote one client. “Thank youuuuuuu is not enough. I could not sleep last night, I was so anxious about money. Wow.” Mr Pantry said Simplified Lending’s staff of 23 is “working around the clock” to process applications in a programme he believes demonstrates that great efficiency can be achieved when the public and private sectors unite.

“The proof is in the speed with which decisions are made, applicants are informed and the responses we are getting,” he said. He showed reply, which said: “I would like to take this time to thank Simplified Lending Ltd at this time for approving our loan. I can now pay my wonderful staff and pay our office bills. I would also like to thank the hardworking staff at SBDC.”

Another added: “Amazing!!!!! Oh man, Going to sleep like a baby. Thank you very much. All my staff got paid. They are on their way to the food store. Life changing for 26 people.”

That was another client, Mr Pantry said, who was “brought to tears” when she was notified of her approval, at least the fourth in a week.

“We are working through hundreds of applications, securing the required documentation so we can approve and disburse funds,” he said. “We are working around the clock, and accepting applications and interviewing clients over the phone, using technology to be able to accept, vet, approve and disburse loans even during the complete lockdown.

“All of our staff are working from home, including our back office administration team, in an effort to ensure the process remains seamless as possible for the client.”

The government established the $20m initiative to assist businesses with fewer than 50 employees, a record of current licensing, and evidence of sustainability once the crisis has passed. Funds are allocated according to staff numbers and revenue, with the maximum loan amount being $300,000.

The programme was also recently amended to allow 50 percent of staff salaries to be given in the form of a grant up to a maximum of $20,000.

“We are still processing mortgage applications and other loan facilities,” Mr Pantry said, “but the business continuity programme

has dominated our time because it is so important to keep some level of commerce afloat. Two of our early successful clients rely almost 100 percent on the tourism industry, a womanrun taxi service and a well-established souvenir company.

“With borders closed, hotels shut and the cruise port empty, they and all their employees were left with nothing but a good reputation to fall back on, and reputations do not pay staff or buy bread at the store.

“We were pleased with the assistance of the very efficient Small Business Development Centre and responsiveness by the government to be able to assist them. Now we are confident that they will be back on the move as soon as the economy starts.”

Cooking gas suppliers face ‘sky high’ demand

make sure they have an adequate supply of propane.”

Harold Watson, managing director at Nassau Propane, another liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) operator, added: “It’s very busy, and what we are trying to do is put in place a procedure that would comfortably allow us to deal with the demand.

“We have taken the Prime Minister’s suggestions very strongly, and we have been going ahead and only allowing four cars on property at a time, practicing social distancing and making sure we provide our customers with efficient services and safe service.

“We have no issues with shorting, and we have a really good relationship with our supplier, Sun Oil. We haven’t had any issues, and don’t foresee us having any issue. We have several thousand gallons of fuel and we have been able to replenish those regularly like clockwork.”

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net COOKING gas operators yesterday reassured consumers they have adequate supplies to cope with a surge in demand during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown period.

Barry Pratt, managing director of Island Gas, told Tribune Business: “Supplies are fine and levels are where they should be. There is no strain on supply.

You don’t have to worry about supplies but volumes are sky high. People are just wanting to stock up and buy propane.

“It’s been crazy because a lot of people are at home and they want to cook, and they want to

PAGE 4, Thursday, April 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Mask producers mixed Realtor chief forecasts over import prohibition 20% property price fall

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net LOCAL face mask producers yesterday had a mixed reaction to the prime minister’s decision to ban the importation of non-medical rivals in a bid to stimulate domestic manufacturing.

Oscar Cerna, a local tailor, told Tribune Business that the move would make little difference if high unemployment and loss of incomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic left persons unable to afford to purchase them.

“You have to find the good price for the fabric,” he explained. “If they give me the job to do it I will, but it makes no sense to buy expensive fabric and nobody buys them. People sell the masks for $10 and up to $15. When the shops open and the fabric is here, then we can look into how much of the fabric we can get here and then see what it takes to make them at an efficient and cost effective rate.

“Who is going to buy masks when people don’t

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have any money? Everywhere in the world they have to wear masks, and if we don’t produce fabric here you have to get the fabric at a good price for us to sell the masks.”

Mr Cerna added: “The elastic you use for the masks costs $2 a yard. In America it costs $2 per yard. So now they are going to try to sell it for $5 a yard because everyone is buying, and that is going to raise the price. I can make nine to 12 masks out of one yard. This is just the elastic for the masks, and not the fabric to make the masks.

“You could have gotten the elastics from China cheaper, but the supply markets have been down so there is no idea on where you can get elastic cheaper. I know everyone wants to work but you have to make money. The Government would have to take it to the students or to the prisons to train people to make for cheap labour in order to make it work.”

Mr Cerna told Tribune Business last week that he can “make up to 1,000 masks in a week”. The importation of non-medical protective face masks was prohibited, effective from Friday, April 10, the prime minister announced last week. This does not apply to the importation of medical-grade masks for health care workers.

Dr Hubert Minnis said: “The move is an effort to protect the local mask manufacturing industry that has sprung up overnight as a result of the COVID19 virus. We are working to protect and encourage small businesses, and to create and promote jobs.

I am happy to see so many seamstresses and tailors involved in this growing industry.”

Howard Cunningham, owner of Howard’s Custom Tailoring, said of the import ban: “At least it gives people something to talk about in the economy.

It gives people an opportunity to make a couple of dollars when they don’t have any jobs.”

Rejecting the notion that masks can cost as high as $15, Mr Cunningham added: “That’s high. If you find the material, I can charge $6 to do that. I don’t know where other people buy their elastic from and I am not sure what the cost of the elastic is as different fabric stores sell for different prices.

“Whatever you want me to do in a week I can try to get that out. I made some masks for some police officers over the weekend. I made about 80 to 90 over the weekend, so I am averaging about 40 a day, but if we have to do more we will do more.”

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) president yesterday forecast a 20 percent price cut across the real estate market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Christine Wallace-Whitfield, pictured, told Tribune Business: “I think prices will go down but it is tough one, because we really don’t know what’s going to happen. We are just going to see a slight lull in the market and, of course, worldwide everything has slowed down.

“Even though we have a local market, and we really rely a lot on our international market, I think you will definitely see people taking a break, slowing down and then maybe revisiting investing after this COVID-19 has passed.

There is uncertainty and a lot of people want to see what will happen with the market.

Predicting that there will be a lot of “discounted prices”, Mrs WallaceWhitfield said she foresees property prices across-theboard falling by 20 percent in The Bahamas. She added: “I hate to give a high percentage, because I don’t want to scare our real estate membership as we worked really hard at this, but I think people need to expect that people will be seeing a lot of discounted prices.

“You definitely will see a decline in the real estate market. Yes, that is a scary point, but it is also important that we as Bahamians, real estate agents and brokers make sure we do our due diligence and we continue to check up on our customers and clients. The

important thing is to stay in touch.

“Stay in touch with the markets out there and keep a positive outlook on it, because The Bahamas definitely is a sought-after destination for second home ownership. Even though we are going through a slow period, we will definitely bounce back and, like the Prime Minister said, we will come back and we will come out of this shining,” the BREA chief added.

“I just heard this morning that we are one of the top destinations to go to after this COVID-19 has passed, so that is very, very encouraging and I am really excited about that. I think for the real estate agents and salesmen we need to just keep at it, watch the market and watch what’s going on.

“I think this is the best time for us to prepare, to start doing our homework, read up, take extra courses and there are a lot of briefings online that can help us with our social media skills.

So I think in this time we need to prepare and do our homework so that when we are ready to come out of this thing we can come out of it running and ready to promote The Bahamas.”

Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic will have cost The Bahamas some sales that

were already in the transaction pipeline, Mrs Wallace-Whitfield added: “I know some people have lost some customers and lost some sales, which is very unfortunate, but people are scared because a lot of foreigners have their cash in stocks.

“They sometimes use that money for their cash purchases, so a lot of people have taken a stance to wait and see. So I would say within two months you would see a slow period. I think you will see people start thinking about putting their property on the market, so you may see an increase in people starting to list their properties.”

She added, though, that the ongoing COVID-19 uncertainty meant there was likely to be a reduced pool of real estate buyers.

“I think it’s still early days, and people are still looking at what the government says and what the international market says because everything changes,” Mrs Wallace-Whitfield said. “It used to be daily, and now it is every other day, which is a good thing.

“But you are watching what America is doing, what the European market is doing and the UK, so we have to stay vigilant and watch the markets just to make sure. Watching what those countries are doing, once their cases start to decrease and their borders start opening up again, then our economic platform will start to rise because once we open our borders then we will start to get people in and then jobs will start to be created again. People will go back to work and salaries will come again and people will start to buy. It is all a trickle effect. It is a waiting game and we just have to wait and see.”

NIB: 2,000 unemployed benefit claims ‘stalled’ FROM PAGE ONE

amount of contributions it goes into a queue where our contributions staff investigate if these things are on file, or whether we need to get the employer to send the information in.

“The process runs a lot smoother when employers are compliant and have the C10 sent prior to the 15th day of every month.

That makes it a lot smoother for going through our system and having everything current. When that does not happen, it causes a backlog like this where we have to check and then get the information and post it.

“You would have noted that we pushed the EFS (electronic filing) portal, and that was one of the reasons and advantages - that employers can directly post their C10s and there would be no need for manual intervention,” she added.

“You can automatically go.

It makes it easier to use, and you can pay online as well.

For this purpose we are not asking or demanding payment; we are only asking for the direct information so that we can appropriately calculate the insurable wage and ensure that the person was working there at the time.”

Speaking directly to the

“stalled” claims, Dr VirgilRolle said the issue “delays us, but it doesn’t stop” the payment of due benefits.

“Most employers have been very happy to assist and get information to us,” she added.

“We have been working and most employers, once we contact them, they send the information in immediately. That is important, and it is just a matter of having an additional step of having a meeting with our compliance officers to then check with the employer to ask for the information. So it is very important to have those C10s in on a timely basis.”

The failure of employers to file contribution forms on time results in laid-off staff being unable to obtain timely benefits that may be crucial to them and their families purchasing lifesustaining necessities and staying above the poverty line.

Dr Virgil-Rolle, meanwhile, also confirmed that expatriate work permits who have been laid-off are ineligible for unemployment benefits. She explained: “To be eligible for unemployment you need to be available to work and look for another job.

“On certain categories of work permits, however, those persons are tied to a single

employer so they won’t meet the test for the Department of Labour’s labour certificate and that is what is necessary to qualify for unemployment benefit.”

“It is a long-standing policy of NIB because of that. Now persons with spousal permits are allowed, and they are not tied to a particular employer, so they would be able to obtain the labour department’s labour certificate, which allows them to qualify for unemployment benefit.

Persons that are on permanent residency are not tied to a particular employer.”

However, NIB’s stance may lead expatriate workers and their employers to question why they are both paying contributions if no benefits are available in return.

Still, Dr Rolle said: “NIB is now over 12,000 claimants who have been able to be processed, and we have worked around the clock to reach the others. We are quite confident that within the next week we will be able to grant the other approvals and go through the process.

“We had to change our business model to focus just on this. Even for those who have been delayed a bit because of the lack of C10s we have persons actively working on that.”

Bahamian investors: Our nation needs you FROM PAGE ONE

investors that do have some capacity locally will use that capacity to help rebuild the country and rebuild companies. When I talk about building capacity this may be having the capacity to help rebuild local businesses.”

Sir Franklyn, whose RoyalStar Assurance acquired nearly one-third of a Cayman-based insurance broker last October before the COVID-19 threat ever emerged, also called on Bahamians with capital and assets overseas - such as monies invested via the Central Bank’s exchange control liberalisation initiative - to repatriate them

and invest in this nation’s economic recovery.

“Before there was a lot of thrust about doing business internationally, but right now we owe it to the country to do all we can to rebuild the economy,” he told Tribune Business. “As a matter of fact, with people who have taken significant capital out of the country, I think it would be an expression of confidence to reinvest that money locally.

“The Central Bank went on that thing to allow Bahamians to invest more and more overseas. Now might be the time to bring some of it back and help rebuild the local economy. This

cannot just be talk. This has to be more than just talk. We have really got to rebuild together.

It’s got to go past talk.”

Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Moody’s have projected that the Bahamian economy will shrink by more than eight percent this year, estimating that it will contract by around $1bn in current prices and almost $900m in real terms. Those forecasts are in line with the government’s, which estimated that the economy could lose $1bn in the four months to end-June 2020 before the full scale of the COVID-19 pandemic was exposed.

THE TRIBUNE

Major law firms in mass lay-offs FROM PAGE ONE commercial law firms of Graham Thompson & Company’s size typically operate with workforces 100-plus strong. “They’re very big. It could be that much, I agree,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

“I did hear that Graham Thompson had laid off more than most. The numbers may be up in the 40s or 50s,” another prominent commercial attorney, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. They disclosed that their own law firm is planning to temporarily lay-off between 15-20 persons, but requested that Tribune Business not publish the names because impacted staff have yet to be informed.

“There are a lot of layoffs going on,” the top attorney added of the legal profession. “I think you’re going to see layoffs from most of the large firms.

I wouldn’t be surprised.

What are you going to do?

“If firms have not done anything yet, I expect

Bahamas holding off debt cost pressures

FROM PAGE ONE

was one week before Moody’s placed this nation on “review” for a further credit rating downgrade that would place The Bahamas at “junk” status and cost it ‘investment grade’ standing.

The potential of such a reduction in creditworthiness will likely place pressure on The Bahamas’ bond yields, although K Peter Turnquest, deputy prime minister, told Tribune Business earlier this week that the country was some way away from having to tap the international capital markets to boost its foreign exchange reserves.

Still, the IDB noted that the fixed exchange rate regimes employed by The Bahamas

Thursday, April 16, 2020, PAGE 5 they’ll be doing so very soon unfortunately.

We’re looking at it at the moment, and are probably going to be taking some steps. I think our numbers will probably be around 20 or less, maybe 15. I think you’ll see most of the firms in the country doing it, large and small.”

The large-scale legal industry lay-offs further reinforce how the COVID19 pandemic’s economic fall-out is sparing no sector of the Bahamian economy.

The profession has long been considered one of the wealthiest, deep-pocketed industries and thought to largely be immune to downturns and recessions until now.

The growing toll imposed on companies, jobs and incomes by COVID-19 also exposes the size of the task facing The Bahamas to successfully rebound and restart its economy following what is likely to be arguably the greatest contraction since the 1930s Great Depression.

Meanwhile Mr McCartney, confirming the action his law firm has been forced to take, revealed that it was the last thing Halsbury Chambers had planned for a year in which it will celebrate the 20th

anniversary of its founding.

“What we’ve done is keep on an essential worker category, our attorneys and management are still engaged, and - I guess for want of a better word non-essential workers have been temporarily asked to see assistance from the National Insurance Board,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business.

“It’s something they’ve paid for, and hopefully they can assist with some type of unemployment benefit for the period of time through this lockdown. The reality is that we have all attorneys working at home, but we haven’t received one set of fees [from clients] for the last four weeks.

“We’ve sent out bills, but unless it’s a matter of your personal liberty.....

Clients are looking at survival mode. They’re looking at the necessities; food, water and shelter.

We’ve sent bills out, and we have attorneys working at home, but whether we’ll be paid is another matter.

Not one set of fees in four weeks. That’s not easy.

“The legal business is a stagnant business today.

It’s not a priority on people’s minds to buy a home, conclude mortgage contracts. That sort of thing.”

The Government’s emergency COVID-19 lockdown has forced all law firms and attorneys to work from home as they are not deemed to be an “essential service” that should stay fully or partially open. As a result, the profession is operating remotely using video conferencing and other digital tools to stay in touch with colleagues and clients.

Confirming that “close to 20” staff at Halsbury Chambers have been temporarily laid-off, Mr McCartney said the law firm had been able to carry on paying their salaries for the month to April 8 just before the Easter holiday weekend.

“Prior to the closing, when this first happened, we met with the staff and we were able to pay them for almost one month,” he added. “It was just last week Thursday when we issued the letters to staff regarding those temporary lay-offs. We couldn’t do anything further.

“Let me tell you: It was terrible. This is not something that is in anyone’s control. It didn’t happen because we made a bad decision. It happened because of the pandemic and no business coming, but to tell the staff

and other Caribbean states limits their ability to employ monetary policy as a stimulus to counter the COVID-2019 economic fall-out. And, with the tourism shutdown cutting off the country’s main source of foreign exchange replenishment, the IDB report warned of looming balance of payments pressures.

Noting that The Bahamas’ international currency reserves were the lowest of the six Caribbean nations assessed, based on percentage of GDP, the report added: “All six countries examined in this issue are open economies that depend crucially on imports for consumption, intermediate inputs and for capital goods.

“Of particular concern is the dependence on imported food.

As noted in a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation: ‘Almost all CARICOM countries import more than

60 percent of the food they consume, with half of them importing more than 80 percent of the food they consume’.

“Foreign currency is needed to purchase imports and to service external liabilities....

In brief, the tourism shock this year could imply one of the largest declines in foreign currency earnings ever experienced by the tourismdependent economies. Balance of payments financing could become critical.”

The government has already projected that the $2.03bn in foreign currency reserves at end-February could fall by $900m by year-end 2020, and that was based on the loss of 75 percent of this nation’s stopover visitor market - not a complete shutdown.

Meanwhile The IDB, adding that The Bahamas’ “fiscal buffers are limited” due to already high deficits and debt-to-GDP

ratios, said this country’s ability to manoevere is further restricted by the $3.4bn worth of losses and damage inflicted

by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.

It maintained previous projections that The Bahamas’ will lose 10.5 percent of GDP (economic output) from tourism alone if recovery from COVID-19 is drawn out, although this could shrink to 3.5 percent if there is a full rebound by the 2020 fourth quarter. And the report also warned that reduced global oil prices will only produce a modest economic offset.

“Although low international oil prices will provide relief at the international reserve level (as The Bahamas is a net importer of oil), the positive economic impact will be marginal given the overall stall of economic activity,” the IDB said.

members they were being temporarily laid-off was heart-wrenching.

“My firm, Halsbury Chambers, celebrates this year it’s 20th anniversary since it was opened, and we had planned to do some good things during this year. Certainly, asking staff to be temporarily laid-off is not one of them,” Mr McCartney continued.

“It was hurtful, really hurtful. For many of the team members I work with, they’re not only staff but have become part of our family. It is very, very hard.

Knowing some of the personal concerns they have, and having to do that as an employer, is really, really hard.”

Mr McCartney predicted that restarting the economy will be just as difficult once the pandemic has passed, and argued that the legal profession and other industries had yet to fully recover from the effects of the 2008-2009 financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Other attorneys yesterday also expressed concern that financial servicesrelated business, including private client work as well as company formations, incorporations and registered agent-type activity, will also fall-off following

the economy’s re-opening much as it did in 2008-2009.

The former DNA leader yesterday argued that COVID-19’s impact is likely to be greater, and said: ‘It’s going to be like starting all over from day one... It’s going to be a slow process. Your client is the public, and they have to get back on their feet before they do any business with you. That’s not going to happen overnight.

“It’s going to take some time. It’s not going to go back where we were. We weren’t in a good place prior to this pandemic, and will be in a worse place afterwards. It’s daunting, very daunting. The IMF says it’s going to be worse than the Great Depression.

“That’s not a good thing at all, but that’s the card we’ve been dealt and we have to assess how to manage it,” Mr McCartney continued. “Law firms are a business, and just like other businesses, I would venture to say some may not survive juts like others.

“It’s going to be difficult to bounce back. The law firm being a business, given the fall-out and the damage there will be some that probably won’t make it. It’s almost like, in a blink of an eye, everything’s been turned upside down.”

Legal Notice

NOTICE

MELIA SAGE LIMITED

(In Voluntary Liquidation) BVI Company Number: 662864 Notice is hereby given pursuant to Section 204(1) (b) of the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 that the Company is in voluntary liquidation.

The voluntary liquidation commenced on 9 April, 2020. The Liquidator is Michelle Addison of Traubenweg 43, 8700 Kusnacht, Switzerland.

Michelle Addison Liquidator

PAGE 6, Thursday, April 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

(242) 323-2330

WEDNESDAY, 15 APRIL 2020

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,147.22 | CHG: -2.69 | %CHG: -0.13 | YTD: -84.38 | YTD%: -3.78 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 22.65 7.00 6.70 2.60 2.00 5.47 12.77 6.17 4.50 10.60 3.64 5.10 10.88 8.15 16.99 9.40 4.25 15.21

52WK LOW 3.35 20.91 5.50 5.39 2.09 0.67 2.00 10.21 5.60 3.75 6.01 2.53 1.80 8.00 6.63 13.04 6.98 3.14 13.85

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

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

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

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

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

LAST CLOSE 3.55 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 2.99 11.26 6.00 4.07 6.01 2.97 4.90 9.86 8.15 14.00 8.97 4.20 15.20

CLOSE 3.55 17.43 6.00 6.68 2.10 1.62 2.99 11.26 6.00 4.07 6.01 2.85 4.90 9.47 8.15 14.00 8.97 4.15 15.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.12 0.00 -0.39 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.05 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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

LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

VOLUME

1,000

1,000 1,500

VOLUME

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

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

P/E 14.9 18.7 N/M 18.1 N/M N/M -6.8 15.6 13.4 22.1 42.9 27.9 10.5 14.7 11.2 17.2 9.6 20.4 24.1

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YIELD 4.79% 7.23% 0.00% 3.89% 0.00% 1.23% 0.00% 6.39% 3.67% 2.95% 0.00% 15.23% 1.22% 3.46% 2.94% 3.86% 2.23% 2.89% 4.01% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.37% 3.81% 0.24% 4.38% 0.23% 2.75% 5.76% 5.76% 12.81% 12.81% 0.58% 4.04% -1.09% 5.26% 0.22% 4.45% 2.29% 9.61% -0.32% 10.20% -1.58% 15.37% 0.88% 5.22% -4.91% 10.77% 1.89% 6.75% -1.95% 0.38% N/A N/A 10.80% 2.60% 10.40% -4.00%

NAV Date 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Dec-2019 31-Dec-2019 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 31-Jan-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020 29-Feb-2020

Hotel union to feed the 5,500 with ‘advance’ FROM PAGE ONE need to both further diversify the tourism industry and wider Bahamian economy to make them more resilient against such future shocks.

He added that the union had already been exploring the launch of its “Reboot” programme, which was designed to provide hotel workers whose jobs are threatened by technology with new skills, and suggested this may have to be adjusted to now account for COVID-19 and the threat of future pandemics.

Mr Woods spoke after Tribune Business obtained the April 14 note he sent to union members advising them that the food vouchers will be distributed over five days next week. “In response to the effect of COVID-19 on our industry, we were able to negotiate an advance from the union [industry] Health and Welfare Fund on behalf of all employees in the bargaining unit,” Mr Woods wrote.

“This advance will take the form of vouchers redeemable at Cost Right and Solomon’s stores. The advance will be reconciled by the union, and full details will be presented at our next membership meeting.”

Mr Woods said the food voucher distribution will take place from April 20-24, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 9am and 2.30pm at Workers House where union members will pick up the assistance in their cars using a drive through. Social distancing, and the wearing of protective face masks, is mandatory.

Union members at the British Colonial Hilton, Ocean Club, Melia, Harborside Resort, the Towne Hotel, Restaurants Bahamas (KFC) and Best Western (Bayview Villas) will be able to obtain their food vouchers on Monday.

The following three days will be reserved for Atlantis employees, who will be split into three groups based on the first letter of their surname. Friday is being allocated for “all employees who have missed their assigned days”, with union members having to present work or government-issued identification to be able to pick-up their vouchers.

“It has to be done by drive through, and members will not be able to come out of the car; they will have to pick-up and leave,” Mr Woods said yesterday. “The police are going to be there to ensure they follow the rules. If not they will go and shut us down.

“This pretty much takes a load of of us. We’re now able execute on what we had put in place for three to four weeks. We’re kind of on target as it relates to timing, as we were looking at three weeks after the initial notice was given when something had to be done.”

The union president said the assistance it will provide is “on another scale” to what it has faced previously, as relief efforts in prior years commonly focused on staff affected by the closure of a single property. The

present effort involves an entire industry.

“Everyone in the industry is hurting right now, and we’re just trying to give out best to assist the workers right now,” Mr Woods said, adding that the effort will “cost quite a bit of money as you can suppose”.

He declined to provide details, though, on the basis that these had not been shared or discussed with union members. However, the union chief confirmed that the vouchers have effectively been financed with a loan from the Health and Welfare Fund that has to be paid back at a later date.

“It’s an advance by them that has to be reconciled by us at the end of the day,” Mr Woods told Tribune Business. “The members will get a full understanding of what has transpired at this time, the short and long-term impact of it.

“We were just happy that in the middle of all this, it’s difficult for anybody to come up with the sum of money that’s required. Everyone needs help. When it’s all said and done, however you jump start, it’s similar to how small businesses go and get capital. It’s not a gift.

“We’re just happy we were able to rise to the occasion, get what we were able to get, and bring some relief to the workers. This is a season within our country, unprecedented, and I pray to God it’s never seen again.”

Some hotel union members, though, have privately questioned to Tribune Business why the union is relying on an “advance” from the Health and Welfare Fund rather than deploying any of its own financial resources.

They pointed out that the union’s constitution mandates that it provides financial aid during times of hardship, and also queried why Lyford Cay Club members were not included in the food voucher distribution. Although that property is closing for renovations, and the staff terminated, this newspaper was told they remain members for a three-month period.

Mr Woods yesterday said Lyford Cay Club staff will be “dealt with separately, and in another fashion, in short order”, Pledging that “they don’t lose anything”, he explained that the focus is on workers temporarily laid-off with no source of income or social safety net. The Lyford Cay Club staff received severance pay and benefits due to them both under the Employment Act and last industrial agreement.

The Health and Welfare Fund, too, was created specifically to assist hotel workers who have been made redundant, not those who - in this particular instance with COVID-19have been temporarily furloughed or laid-off.

Tribune Business understands that the Health and Welfare Fund is governed by 14 trustees, seven appointed by industry employers and seven by the union, with the agreement of both sides required for assistance to be given in this particular instance.

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.34 10.26 7.00 12.15 12.58 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 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 Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD 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 2.30 4.38 2.09 195.13 166.73 1.67 1.83 1.76 1.23 8.31 10.07 7.00 11.42 12.58 10.52 N/A 8.98 11.40

MARKET TERMS

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

30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019 30-Sep-2019

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

YOUR

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

CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019

PAGE 8, Thursday, April 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 71° F/22° C Low: 66° F/19° C

TAMPA

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Warm and humid with plenty of sun

A couple of showers and a t‑storm

An a.m. shower; otherwise, sunshine

Partly sunny, warm and humid

Partly sunny, warm and humid

Mostly sunny, warm and humid

High: 86°

Low: 75°

High: 85° Low: 76°

High: 86° Low: 75°

High: 86° Low: 75°

High: 88° Low: 74°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

96° F

78° F

93°-79° F

93°-81° F

94°-79° F

97°-82° F

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 64° F/18° C

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: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

7‑14 knots

S

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

7‑14 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 74° F/23° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

uV inDex toDay

TONIGHT

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 72° F/22° C

MIAMI

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 76° F/24° C

4‑8 knots

KEY WEST

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 75° F/24° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

3:47 a.m.

4:20 p.m.

2.5 2.1

10:21 a.m. 0.4 10:27 p.m. 0.4

Friday

4:45 a.m.

5:17 p.m.

2.5 2.2

11:15 a.m. 0.3 11:25 p.m. 0.4

Saturday

5:37 a.m.

6:05 p.m.

2.5 2.3

12:01 p.m. 0.3 ‑‑‑‑‑ ‑‑‑‑‑

Sunday

6:22 a.m.

6:47 p.m.

2.5 2.5

12:15 a.m. 0.3 12:42 p.m. 0.2

Monday

7:03 a.m.

7:26 p.m.

2.5 2.6

1:00 a.m.

1:18 p.m.

0.2 0.1

Tuesday

7:40 a.m.

8:02 p.m.

2.5 2.7

1:41 a.m.

1:52 p.m.

0.1 0.0

Wednesday 8:17 a.m.

8:38 p.m.

2.5 2.8

2:20 a.m. 0.0 2:26 p.m. ‑0.1

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:46 a.m.

7:33 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

3:14 a.m.

2:18 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Apr. 22

Apr. 30

May 7

May 14

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

S

E

W

4‑8 knots

S

4‑8 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 .................................................... 77° F/25° C Normal high ....................................... 81° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 69° F/21° C Last year’s high ................................. 89° F/32° C Last year’s low ................................... 75° F/24° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 2.69” Normal year to date ..................................... 5.46”

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

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

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

6‑12 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 83° 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: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

H

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 85° F/29° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

6‑12 knots

6‑12 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS

H

CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday:

WINDS SW at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots S at 4‑8 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots SSE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots S at 6‑12 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots NW at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 4‑8 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots ENE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots S at 4‑8 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots

WAVES 3‑5 Feet 3‑6 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 4‑7 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑6 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet

To advertise ALL your LEGAL NOTICES, call The Tribune’s Sales Department

502-2394

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. 77° F 77° F 82° F 84° F 76° F 78° F 80° F 80° F 78° F 79° F 76° F 78° F 82° F 83° F 80° F 81° F 80° F 81° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 80° F 81° F 79° F 80° F