05232024 BUSINESS

THURSDAY, MAY 23,

DEPP ‘roadblock’ fear over $24m in projects

By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

MORE than $24m worth of development and construction projects targeted at Hope Town have been placed on hold due to the creation of a “major roadblock” in the approval and permitting process.

The Hope Town District Council said it is now considering suspending all town planning and port authority-related applications until the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) shows it can process Certificates of Environmental Clearance (CEC) in a timely manner.

The move comes after the Council said it was informed that CECs are now required for all construction-related developments. This is contrary to its previous understanding that this DEPP approval was only needed for major projects, and did not apply to land-based developments and small building projects.

In a statement released yesterday, the Council said it was informed by Alexander Flowers, director of

local government, during their regular monthly meeting on Monday that they should not consider any port-related or Town Planning applications without the developer first obtaining a CEC from DEPP.

It said that prior to this announcement, CEC approvals were only sought from developers looking to build near coastlines or wetlands.

“Until this, the District Council had been under the impression that CEC approvals were only needed for

coastal applications or persons seeking to build near wetlands or other areas that could cause an environmental impact,” the Council added.

“But today’s communication made it clear that a CEC was needed for all applications, including land-locked areas and small building projects. This is not welcome news to district councillors who serve in arguably the busiest district in the Family Islands.

“Given the sheer volume of applications that the Hope Town District Council considers on a monthly basis, councillors view this as a major roadblock and a slowdown for applicants in their district.” The Council said that on a monthly basis it deals with an average of 10 to 12 portrelated applications and 18-20 Town Planning applications.

The new CEC requirements were said to have “sidelined” more than $24m in home construction applications in an area that is still recovering from the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Dorian.

Jeremy Sweeting, Hope Town’s chief councillor, said the new

‘Dirty power’ danger worsens Superwash’s 47.5% cost hike

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SUPERWASH’S principal yesterday asserted that the “dirty power” produced in The Bahamas is just as great a threat to business stability as last year’s 47.5 percent increase in electricity costs.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, the former Cabinet minister and MP, told Tribune Business that machine and equipment-intensive businesses such as his laundromat chain are forced to incur “tremendous” to protect themselves against the brown-outs, spikes and dips in voltage caused by

Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) grid instability. Revealing that an “electricity surge” once “blew out all the washers” at a particular Superwash location, he branded BPL as “far more dangerous” to

Prosecutors attack FTX Bahamas chief’s claim to be ‘whistleblower’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

US prosecutors have downplayed the whistleblower role performed by FTX’s former Bahamas head in demanding that he be sentenced to up to seven years’ in prison.

Damian Williams, the southern New York district attorney and his team, in their sentencing submissions sought to counter Ryan Salame’s actions in alerting the Securities Commission and Bahamian authorities to the extent of the multi-billion dollar fraud and misuse of client funds perpetrated by the now-jailed Sam

Bankman-Fried and his FTX inner circle. They argued that the former FTX Digital Markets chief was instead acting “in his own financial interests”, using his inside knowledge of the crypto

Drop ‘old-style politics’ to improve fiscal credibility

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government must not “hold its cards close to its chest” if it knows it will miss this year’s $131m fiscal deficit target by a significant margin, a senior Bahamian banker warned yesterday.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business it is “better for credibility’s sake” for the Government to be open and transparent over whether will meet its financial projections given that data for the 2023-2024 first half showed it is “highly unlikely” to hit its full-year deficit reduction target. With the Davis administration due to unveil its Budget for the upcoming 2024-2025 fiscal year next Wednesday, he urged it to abandon “old-style politics” where successive administrations have adopted the attitude that Bahamians should only be told “what they need to know” and what is good for them as opposed to being frank about the country’s problems.

Mr Bowe told this newspaper that he is looking for “a proper debrief” on the Government’s fiscal performance for 2023-2024, and whether both revenues and spending have either met, exceeded or missed the targets and expectations set, and the reasons for this. He argued that this is “even more critical” this Budget than in past years given the “milestone” 75 percent deficit reduction target that was set for 2023-2024.

GOWON BOWE

BAHAMAS TRADE DEFICIT AT FIVE-YEAR HIGH OF $3.45BN

The Bahamas’ trade deficit hit a five-year high of $3.451bn in 2023 despite the 25.6 percent year-over-year increase in goods exports far outpacing import growth.

The Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI), in unveiling the 2023 foreign trade figures, disclosed that goods imports, exports and the trade deficit all hit five-year peaks as the Bahamian economy completed its post-COVID reflation.

While exports rose by more than $150m, jumping from $585.904m in 2022 to $736.166m last year, these continued to be dwarfed by import activity that was close to six times’ as great. The total value of goods imported into The Bahamas in 2023 breached the

$4bn mark for the first time to hit $4.188bn - a 9 percent increase over the $3.84bn that came into this nation during the prior year.

As a result, the country’s trade deficit expanded by 6 percent year-over-year to reach $3.451bn despite the record export activity. The prior year’s deficit, which measures by how much the value of imported goods exceeded this nation’s physical exports, stood at $3.254bn.

“Estimates on external or foreign trade show that, during the year 2023, the value of commodities imported into The Bahamas totaled some $4.2bn resulting in a 9 percent increase over the $3.8bn recorded for 2022,” the Bahamas National Statistical Institute report said.

“Machinery and transport equipment, the largest contributor to imports, totalled some $875m or 21 percent of all imports. This was followed closely by the category of food and live animals, which accounted for 18 percent or $761m.

“Other categories that contributed significantly to total imports were mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, which totalled $625m or 15 percent of total imports, and miscellaneous manufactured articles which accounted for almost $605m or nearly 14 percent of total imports.”

Of The Bahamas’ $736.166m total goods exports, almost threequarters - some 73 percent - were described as reexports. This means that some $536m worth of

exports were not manufactured or created in this nation but, rather, either transited through The Bahamas on the way to their final destination or underwent further valueadded processing while in this nation.

“Total exports, domestic and re-exports, for 2023 totalled $736.2m,” the Bahamas National Statistical Institute said. “Domestic exports ($199.6m) accounted for 27 percent of total exports, while re-exports ($536m) accounted for 73 percent.

“The major categories of domestic exports consisted mainly of food and live animals totalling $101.9m, or 51 percent of total domestic exports, and crude minerals totalling $44.9m or 23 percent

of total domestic exports. Machinery and transport equipment ($180m) and mineral fuels ($173m) together represented 65 percent of re-exports, accounting for 33.5 percent and 32 percent, respectively.”

The Bahamas National Statistical Institute’s report only covers The Bahamas’ trade in physical goods. The data thus only reflects the current or merchandise account, and does not capture this nation’s services exports and its two largest industries - tourism and financial services - or the capital account. Capital inflows generated by earnings from these sectors, as well as foreign direct investment (FDI), are what finances The Bahamas’ import bill

and ability to afford these goods. However, an everwidening trade deficit is not good as it imposes ever-increasing pressure on the likes of tourism and financial services to generate more and more income to satisfy this nation’s consumption desires.

“The United States maintained its position as The Bahamas’ number one trading partner,” the Bahamas National Statistical Institute added. “While The Bahamas did a significant amount of trade with China, Japan, Panama and Switzerland, the US still represented 84 percent of total imports and about 80 percent of exports.”

INDUSTRY-WIDE TRAINING LAUNCHED FOR AVIATION

THE Department of Aviation has launched its industry-wide service excellence training with the latest group of Bahamasair flight attendants.

“Service from the heart must be at the heart of who we are, as there is never a good excuse for bad service,” said Dr Kenneth Romer, director of aviation and deputy director-general of tourism.

“All of our approximate 4,000 exceptional aviation professionals, beginning with our customer-facing team members throughout the nine aviation agencies, will be targeted for inperson or virtual training centred around ‘certifying’ them as service ambassadors who place emphasis on delivering positive, memorable experiences for internal and external customers”.

Training is a key component in the Bahamas National Aviation Strategic Plan that was launched on July 1, 2023. It is being co-ordinated through the recently-launched Bahamas

Aeronautical Academy, and uses content from the much-touted Ministry of Tourism’s BahamaHost Programme, John C. Maxwell Career and Leadership Development Certification and other local and global training programmes.

The initial three-days of training centred around topics such as understanding The Bahamas’ aviation ecosystem; the history of The Bahamas; Bahamian culture and product knowledge; customer service delivery and service recovery; and understanding the domestic and global impact of tourism and aviation.

“While the focus of aviation is oftentimes placed on creating a culture of safety, it is equally important that all of our stakeholders be cognisant that it is also exceptional customer service that continues to give us the competitive advantage over other destinations. We must return to loving what we love, while doing it with love,” said Dr Romer.

L-R: Bahamasair’s new flight attendant; Sherry Collie, trainer, Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation; Dr Kenneth Romer, director of Aviation and deputy-director general of tourism; Debbie McKenzie-Lightbourn, in-flight manager at Bahamasair; and Milo Butler III, general manager in the Department of Aviation.

DPM: NO BENEFIT LOSS FOR 48 BAHAMASAIR TRANSFERS

By FAY

THE Deputy Prime Minister last night pledged that the benefits due to 48 Bahamasair ground handling staff will not be impacted by their transfer to Nassau Flight Services amid fierce union opposition.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said in a statement that the Airport, Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU) was consulted on the decision to transfer the workers and refuted claims that those impacted will lose their benefits. He also asserted that the move does not violate the Industrial Relations Act or the union industrial agreements.

“We outright refute the claim that the union was not consulted, and we refute the claim that anyone will lose benefits,” Mr Cooper said. “And, contrary to the

EAST PRINCE CHARLES

FIRMS HIT BY ROAD REPAIRS WORKS

By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter

BUSINESSES at Prince

Charles Drive’s eastern end yesterday said customer access was impeded for a second day this week following repairs to the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s main line.

Betsy Pinder, manager at Pinder Tile, said repairs to a section of Prince Charles Drive located close to Quality Home Centre and Ashley Furniture HomeStore caused a traffic diversion that took potential customers away due to the road’s closure.

She said: “It’s hard for customers to get to us because they’ve got the road pretty much shut off today. So, customers weren’t able to get to us as easily as they would normally.” Ms Pinder added that businesses in the area were not made aware of yesterday’s road closure ahead of time or told when it would be completed.

Ministry of Works technicians were yesterday said to have completed preparations to repair the roadway and will be laying the asphalt today. The fourlane, two way road will be repaved instead of being repatched, with today’s closure marking the third day this week that Prince Charles Drive will be closed between Commonwealth Bank and the junction with Fox Hill Road. The leak in the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s system caused a weekend interruption in service to eastern New Providence

claims of the AAAWU, the Government of The Bahamas has not violated the Industrial Relations Act nor the agreement with the AAAWU.

“The president of the AAAWU herself (Jewel Fountain) admitted during the press conference that they were made aware of the Government’s plans and met with Government stakeholders.” Mr Cooper said the transfer was done to allow Bahamasair to “better concentrate” on

operating the airline. Executives of Bahamasair and Nassau Flight Services discussed the move and made the union aware.

He added: “The Government has proposed the transfer of 48 Bahamasair ground handling service workers to Nassau Flight Services to allow Bahamasair to better concentrate on its core business of operating an airline. To facilitate this move, over the last two months, executives of both Bahamasair and Nassau Flight Services engaged in discussions, of which the AAAWU was appraised.”

Mr Cooper explained that a document that states Bahamasair workers will retain their existing benefits, including pensions and Christmas bonuses, was sent to the union to review and he said it was “unfortunate” the union will not accept it.

He added: “A document was prepared and subsequently presented to the union to review. The

document proposes that Bahamasair staff would continue to enjoy the benefits of travel privileges, Christmas bonuses and meal voucher amounts and, most especially, their current compensation package.

“Moreover, Bahamasair employees would retain tenure and have the option to accept the transfer or be made redundant and receive a redundancy package. Bahamasair employees would also retain their standing in the Employee Pension Fund which would be transferred with them.

“It is very unfortunate that upon review the AAAWU has taken the stance that it will not accept the document, which clearly articulates that there will be no reduction in benefits.”

Jewel Fountain, the AAAWU president, said the transfer that is scheduled to take effect on July 1 presents a number of issues for union members.

At a press conference yesterday, she cited

Sunken excavator poses Freeport canal hazards

BOATERS have been alerted to an excavator that has sunk in Freeport’s Fortune Canal during the project to open up that waterway and now presents a hazard to marine traffic.

A&D Gaitor’s Equipment Rock & Sand, the contractor heading the project and which was responsible for the excavator’s operation, said in a statement: “A long reach excavator used to support the Fortune Bay Channel dredging project is in the process of being safely removed after it malfunctioned while dredging a shoal bank approximately 600 feet from the southern entrance of the channel.

“As initial attempts to remove the excavator prior to high tide were unsuccessful, precautionary lighting, oil containment booms and other safety equipment were installed to isolate and contain the equipment and

its contents. In addition, the Lucaya Service Company (LUSCO) issued a warning to boaters to exercise extreme caution when using the channel.

“We are confident that the excavator will be removed in short order and that no damage has been done to the channel or the surrounding environment. Maintenance and dredging of the Fortune Bay Channel will continue.”

Rico Cargill, a senior environmental inspector with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), added: “Our department has been working with the project’s engineer of record and the contractor to ensure that the surrounding environment was not harmed by the malfunctioning excavator in the Fortune Cay Canal.

“To this end, mechanical fluids from the excavator were isolated through usage

the difference in benefits between the two companies and the number of hours expected from staff on the Family Islands as major issues for the affected workers and pledged to take their grievances directly to Mr Cooper and Prime Minister Philip Davis KC. She said: “There are a myriad of issues with both companies. Shortage of staff is the major issue. There is a shortage of equipment and there are some differences in benefits that will impact our members.

“Bahamasair has a pension fund that is $60-plus million. Nassau Flight Services’ pension fund is a $6m. We do our audits at Bahamasair every year and, at the end of that year, there is profit sharing.

“On the islands right now, our members work fourhour days. Nassau Flight Services’ people work eight hour days. So there will definitely be a difference. If they’re asking them to work eight hours, they’d

have to increase their pay. There are a number of things and we intend to take this discussion further to the deputy prime minister, who’s the minister responsible for Bahamasair and then on to the Prime Minister.”

Ms Fountain said Bahamasair has a number of other issues including flight attendants that have completed initial training but cannot work onboard aircraft yet plus a shortage of pilots.

She said: “We have a situation where we have flight attendants who have completed the initial training, but they’re still home because they cannot be checked out on these aircraft. It’s the 42-seater, the 72-seater and, as a result of that, we have underutilisation of crew cabin attendants. We have a shortage of pilots and this is creating flights having to be combined, flights having to be cancelled.”

of absorbent pads and containment booms. All mechanical fluids have now been extracted and initial indications suggest there was no escape of material beyond the boom.

“The exercise of moving the excavator is now underway. Our team will continue to monitor crane removal closely. We are satisfied that no environmental harm has taken place and will continue to ensure that remains the case.”

CHESTER COOPER

Prosecutors attack FTX Bahamas chief’s claim to be ‘whistleblower’

exchange’s impending collapse to withdraw more than $5m in digital assets from accounts he controlled just prior to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. These funds were purportedly spent on hiring a public relations firm and settling bills and debts.

“While Salame did not know of Bankman-Fried’s theft of customer funds or the related dire financial condition of FTX before November 2022, he withdrew a substantial amount of money upon learning of such circumstances,” the US district attorney and his team alleged.

“Salame argues that when he did learn of those facts in November 2022, he solely acted benevolently, informing Bahamian authorities and blowing the whistle. But his November 2022 transfers also indicate that he acted in his own financial interests, withdrawing and later spending millions of dollars that appropriately belonged to FTX’s creditors.”

These assertions are designed to negate arguments by Mr Salame and his attorneys that he should receive a much lighter sentence based, in part, on his actions in informing the Securities Commission, the regulator for FTX Digital Markets, that a colossal fraud may have been committed.

They are pushing for a jail term “of no more than 18 months” for breaching US campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed money transmission business. US prosecutors are, at a minimum, seeking a sentence that is more than three times’ greater, urging judge Lewis Kaplan to

send Mr Salame to jail for between five to seven years.

Mr Salame’s attorneys, in their own sentencing submissions, called for as light a sentence as possible, and argued that the FTX Digital Markets chief was not part of the “innermost circle” surrounding BankmanFried. They asserted their client was “duped” - along with thousands of FTX customers - into believing the enterprise was “legitimate, solvent and wildly profitable”.

“Indeed, when he finally understood the FTX fraud, he was the first person to blow the whistle to authorities in The Bahamas who regulated FTX Digital Markets, FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary Ryan headed,” Mr Salame’s sentencing submissions stated.

“Ryan contacted the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, FTX Digital Markets’ regulator, as soon as he learned about the fraud that Bankman-Fried and others had committed. Ryan contacted the Securities Commission to alert them to the fact that ‘assets which may have been held with FTX Digital were transferred to Alameda Research’, and that ‘such transfers were not allowed and therefore may constitute misappropriation, theft, fraud or some other crime’.

“Ryan further informed the Securities Commission that the only three people who had the necessary codes or passwords to transfer clients’ assets were Bankman- Fried, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang. This information appears to have initiated the Bahamian investigation into FTX and those three individuals.”

But, moving swiftly to counter this, the US prosecutors claimed: “While Salame did not have contemporaneous knowledge of Bankman-Fried’s theft of billions of dollars of customer funds he, like many others at FTX, began to learn the truth soon after Alameda’s balance sheet was leaked to and then published by CoinDesk on November 2, 2022.”

Alameda Research was the private trading entity controlled by BankmanFried, FTX’s disgraced founder, to which he misappropriated funds belonging to the crypto exchange’s clients to finance its speculative, risky investments and repay loans it had taken out.

“When FTX began experiencing huge customer outflows around November 6, 2022, Salame was involved in the efforts to try to staunch the bleeding and raise necessary funds. On November 6 and 7, he recognised there was a meaningful chance FTX would go bankrupt, and even told an associate on November 7 that FTX needed more than $1bn to meet ongoing and accelerating customer withdrawals,” prosecutors claimed.

“Despite this knowledge, Salame acted in his own interest that day. At about 8.30pm on November 7, 2022, Salame withdrew more than $5m in crypto currency from an account he controlled on FTX.com to a crypto wallet. He tried to withdraw tens of millions more that evening, but the withdrawals failed.

“Over the next few days, Salame was a party to additional conversations about FTX’s doomed position, some of which raised

Nvidia's profit soars, underscoring its dominance in chips for artificial intelligence

the implication that Bankman-Fried had committed a massive fraud. On the morning of November 9, 2022, Salame learned that FTX’s US affiliate, FTX. US, was also affected and had a deficit of $45m in funds,” the southern district of New York attorney’s office added.

“One senior FTX.US executive recommended shutting down all trading calling the deficit a ‘tier one fire at any financial institution’. Salame nonetheless withdrew nearly $600,000 in crypto currency from his account at FTX.US on November 11, 2022, hours before the bankruptcy.

“FTX and FTX.US declared bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. Despite the bankruptcy and the public revelation that Bankman-Fried had been stealing customer funds, Salame spent millions of dollars from the more than $5m he had transferred from FTX to himself on November 7.

“Among other things, he spent the money on hiring a public relations firm and paying off personal credit card expenses, including a $20,000 charge at Restoration Hardware that he incurred after the bankruptcy.”

However, Mr Salame’s bid for a lighter sentence continues to receive support from former FTX Bahamas employees and those who knew him while he was in this nation. One ex co-worker praised him for always seeking to “bridge the gap” between the crypto exchange’s Bahamian staff and expatriate hires.

Zane Tackett, recalling his time with the crypto exchange, wrote to judge Kaplan: “When I finally

By DAVID HAMILTON AP Technology Writer

NVIDIA on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom.

Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first quarter that ended April 28 from $2.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue more than tripled, rising to $26.04 billion from $7.19 billion in the previous year.

"The next industrial revolution has begun," CEO Jensen Huang declared on a conference call with

made it to Hong Kong, I had to quarantine for two weeks. During this time Ryan was preparing to move to The Bahamas to set up the office there, so he had plenty on his own plate, but would always send me care packages to the hotel room I was quarantined in to keep my spirits high.

“Not long thereafter I moved into Ryan’’s apartment in The Bahamas. Living with Ryan in The Bahamas while working at FTX, I witnessed firsthand his inclusiveness and care for others. He always made it a point to bridge the gap between local Bahamian employees and non-local staff. He would host monthly gatherings at his home with an open invite to all employees.

“These events underscored his ability to treat everyone with respect and ensure a good time was had by all. It is no wonder that he was universally loved by those at the company.”

Roshan Daswani, another FTX staffer, added: “When FTX moved to The Bahamas, they asked me to join them there. Ryan helped me with the logistics of moving over 9,000 miles with 24 hours’ notice.

“He gave me the tools I needed to hire staff and get our trading desk up and running.” Another character witness who submitted a letter to the southern New York court was Michelle Cove, who said she “quickly bonded” with Mr Salame after meeting him through her boyfriend when he arrived in The Bahamas.

Jamaron Thompson, a pilot with Trans-Island Airways, the Bahamasbased aviation business that provided transportation services to FTX executives, said he flew Mr Salame

analysts. Huang predicted that the companies snapping up Nvidia chips will use them to build a new type of data centers he called "AI factories" designed to produce "a new commodity — artificial intelligence." Huang added that training AI models is becoming a faster process as they learn to become "multimodal" — that is, capable of understanding text, speech, images, video and 3-D data — and also "to reason and plan."

The company reported earnings per share — adjusted to exclude one-time items — of $6.12, well above the $5.60 that Wall Street analysts had expected, according to FactSet. It also announced a

several times per week to the US and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

“The additional flights from FTX expanded our business at Trans-Island Airways. Our company added jobs which supported individuals and their families. I thank Ryan for this growth and opportunity,” Mr Thompson wrote.

However, US prosecutors sought to paint a different picture. Mr Salame is especially exposed to the campaign financing violations as these charges were dropped against BankmanFried because they were not included in the original extradition warrant that sought to remove him from The Bahamas.

“Salame, who BankmanFried prized for loyalty and served many different roles for Bankman-Fried’s empire, committed two serious crimes to foster the growth of FTX and burnish Bankman-Fried’s image. He helped lead efforts to allow customers to send and receive fiat currency to fund their FTX accounts through US-based bank accounts without complying with federal registration requirements,” prosecutors claimed.

“And he acted as a straw donor to help pump more than $100m in illegal contributions through the US political system to help support Bankman-Fried and FTX’s legislative priorities. The campaign finance offence is one of the largestever in American history, and the unlicensed money transmitting business exchanged more than $1bn without proper supervision.

“Those are serious crimes, and a substantial sentence is required to ensure that Salame receives just punishment.”

10-for-1 stock split, a move that it noted will make its shares more accessible to employees and investors. And it increased its dividend to 10 cents a share from 4 cents. Shares in Nvidia Corp. rose 6% in after-hours trading to $1,006.89. The stock has risen more than 200% in the past year.

The company, based in Santa Clara, California, carved out an early lead in the hardware and software needed to tailor its technology to AI applications, partly because founder and CEO Jensen Huang began to nudge the company into what was then seen as a still half-baked technology more than a decade ago.

Drop ‘old-style politics’ to improve fiscal credibility

“What I would hope to, and need to, seeand we don’t often get it - is a proper debrief on what transpired this year,” the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said. “This year is even more critical than recent times because there was a projected significant decline in the deficit.

“There’s still significant uncertainty as to whether they [the Government] recognise the deficit will not be met. Why I say that is, listening to the utterances of the Government, there isn’t a definitive statement that the original Budget will be met. The language is that we will not revise the original Budget, and have seen positive trends, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given a forecast for what the actual outturn will be.”

The Government, in the original 2023-2024 Budget unveiled almost exactly a year ago, forecast the GFS deficit would be slashed by some $400m to $131m - a sum equivalent to 0.9 percent of Bahamian economic output or gross domestic product (GDP). Mr Bowe agreed it was “fair to say” this year’s deficit “will be significantly less than” in recent COVID-impacted years, but it “warrants a significant debrief”.

An April 2024 presentation to international investors, capital markets and The Bahamas’ creditors revealed that the Government is not shifting from that $131 target. But, when asked how confident he is that the 2023-2024 Budget will meet the administration’s goals, Mr Bowe replied that it is “highly unlikely” to meet its deficit targets based on the first-half outcome and longestablished trends.

While the fiscal year’s third quarter, representing the three months to end-March 2024, traditionally generates a small

Budget surplus as it coincides with the revenue-rich period encompassing peak winter tourism, Business Licence fees, the bulk of real property tax payments and commercial vehicle licensing, the Fidelity chief acknowledged it is “not a drastic surplus”. The Government produced a small $30m-plus Budget surplus during the first four months of 2023, which fell in the prior fiscal year. While the Ministry of Finance has provided no update on the current fiscal period since the mid-year Budget and end-December 2023 figures, there are some signs that - instead of a small surplus - the Government may have run a small deficit for the early months of 2024.

The Central Bank’s latest quarterly statistical digest, published earlier this week, revealed that the total national debt grew by $70m quarter-over-quarter between the second and third quarters of the current 2023-2024 fiscal

year to hit $11.849bn at end-March 2024. And the Government’s direct charge, or debt, rose by almost $87m over the same period.

Mr Bowe, meanwhile, added that the final three months of the fiscal year typically represent “a difficult quarter” because this is when the tourism peak has passed and ministries, departments and agencies “rush to pay all the bills” before the June 30 year-end.

The April-June period typically sees the Government incur $200m-plus deficits, which will add to the $259m in ‘red ink’ incurred during the first half.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) previously forecast that the 2023-2024 deficit will be almost triple, or three times’ greater, than the Government’s forecast at around $378m. And, based on what is known todate, Mr Bowe told Tribune Business: “I think it’s highly unlikely that the $131m will be met.”

And, although the Davis administration has

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remained wedded to this forecast, he added: “I think, for credibility’s sake, it’s better to forecast what you are projecting than holding on to the original Budget. If you have information that is not going to be met, this is not one of the times to hold the cards close to your chest.”

Comparing the situation to the disclosures that Fidelity Bank (Bahamas), as a publicly-traded and listed company, has to give shareholders on its financial performance, Mr Bowe argued that the Government should adopt the same mindset and approach to its fiscal performance.

“I think the Government needs to look at themselves in the same way,” he added, “as reporting to its shareholders where it sees the fiscal performance actually turning out, and there will be no loss of credibility if it’s not meeting its targets provided it’s done the proper analysis and knows the reasons why.

“It’s old-style politics: Tell the people what they

show knowledge about what’s happening and be transparent.

“For the last 20 years, the last two quarters of the fiscal year have never been a surplus from living memory. The third quarter is, because that’s a major revenue bump but, in the absence of a BTC share sale and government selling an asset, the fourth quarter deficit remains the same,” Mr Bowe continued.

“What I demand from the Budget is a proper debrief of where we are fiscally because this is a milestone year. This is one where we’re projecting record tourism visitors, and we did that in 2023. It’s one where we’re projecting a significant decrease in the deficit. We need to have an understanding have an understanding of whether that has been achieved rather than a last-minute refinement.”

Noting that the 2023-2024 half-year deficit represented a near-$20m year-over-year decline, compared to the prior Budget year’s $279m,

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

IN THE SUPREME COURT

Common Law and Equity side

one-off capital expenditures materialised, which are expected to normalise during the second half of the year and lead to a deficit of 0.9 percent of GDP versus 3.8 percent in fiscal year 2022-2023.” It is impossible to judge how close the Government is to achieving that GFS deficit goal, which measures by how much its spending exceeds its revenue income. This benchmark does not include debt principal repayment, meaning the $131m or 0.9 percent of GDP represents net new debt that will further add to the $12.748bn in total Bahamian public sector debt. No fiscal figures have been released since those for the six months to endDecember 2023 were unveiled with the mid-year Budget, and last month’s investor presentation similarly did not reveal any data beyond year-end. The Ministry of Finance has yet to unveil the monthly reports

IN THE MATTER of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 Chap 393 of the Statute Law of the Bahamas

AND IN THE MATTER of a tract of land comprising Thirteen and Three hundred and Sixty-nine thousandths (13.369) acres situate approximately 0.85 miles Northwest of Haynes Avenue in the settlement of Governors Harbour in the island of Eleuthera one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas

AND IN THE MATTER of the Petition of Jenifer Doon McKinney

NOTICE OF PETITION

NOTICE is hereby given that by Petition filed in the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas on the 22nd day of December, A D 2022 JENNIFER DOON MCKINNEY of Old Queen s Highway in the Settlement of Governors Harbour in the Island of Eleuthera one of the islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (hereinafter called, “the Petitioner”) claims to be the owner in fee simple estate in possession of the tract of land described as:

ALL THAT piece parcel or tract of land comprising Thirteen and Three hundred and Sixty-nine thousandths (13.369)

2022/CLE/QUI/01783 Page 3 of 4

2024-04-29

‘DIRTY POWER’ DANGER WORSENS

business health than the likes of the Water & Sewerage Corporation whose repairs to the leaking water main serving eastern New Providence have impacted companies along a stretch of Prince Charles Drive for several days via road closures.

“The more impactful one is BPL. BPL impacts you in far more dangerous ways,”

Mr D’Aguilar told this newspaper. “BPL produces a lot of dirty power, so surges, brown-outs and spikes. All of that impacts your laundry equipment. Heavy equipment has far more electrical components than it did 25 years ago.

“They are far more susceptible to brown-outs and spikes in electricity. The fact

we have so much dirty power really impacts your business. What you have to spend as a business to provide back-up power and safeguard against spikes and dips in power is tremendous.”

These concerns further add to energy-related frustrations for the Bahamian private sector, with high costs fuelling further worries besides the reliability and consistency of supply.

Mr D’Aguilar blamed the energy cost spike Superwash faced in 2023, due to the fuel component of electricity bills increasing by 163 percent in eight months, on the Davis administration’s failure to maintain BPL’s fuel hedging initiative. “Superwash’s electricity expenses went up by 47.5 percent in 2023,” he blasted. “That’s much more

impactful than customers being denied access to your business for a day or two because of a leaky pipe.

“You have to go out and buy these things known as voltage regulators, and they are very expensive. You have a generator to provide back-up power, and have to identify your locations where power is more often than not, not clean, and the most damage is caused by dips and spikes.

“You have to go out, identify the technology, then implement it. Sometimes it doesn’t work. I remember one location where we had a surge in electricity that blew out all the motors in all the washers in one go. We’ve had to mitigate against this,”

Mr D’Aguilar continued.

“You have all these electrical boards in the washers. Everything is digital. That makes it more susceptible to surges and dips in power. That’s a far higher concern notwithstanding the 47.5

percent increase in costs.

We all know why that happened. That’s the real cost of the [BPL fuel] hedge. The inability of them [the Government] to navigate the hedge.

“People all across the country have to put in designs to limit the surges and dips in voltage because of the damage to your equipment, motors and electric boards. That is hugely costly.” Mr D’Aguilar added that, even if it desired to, BPL has no money to compensate businesses and households for electrical equipment that has burnt up and “you have to eat it all the time”.

“You cannot operate a business in The Bahamas without a back-up generator,” he continued. “It’s impossible. You have to have to have a generator and automatic transfer switch. You have to maintain that, look after that and keep diesel fuel for it.”

N O T I C E

INVERSIONES CAOBA LIMITED (In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, the abovenamed Company is in dissolution, which commenced on the 22nd day of May, 2024. The Liquidator is Windermere Corporate Management Limited, 200 Sterling Commons East, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

WINDERMERE CORPORATE MANAGEMENT LIMITED Liquidator

Pointing out that, even with such devices, there was an 11-second delay between loss of BPL supply and the generator kicking-in, Mr D’Aguilar said the only way to avoid this was to employ a battery back-up at further expense. And, even when energy supply was restored, machines typically did not work as they did previously and have to be rebooted and reset.

“Power is a problem, a big, big problem, notwithstanding it’s horribly expensive,” the Superwash chief surmised. As for the Prince Charles Drive closure, caused by the need to repair the main Water & Sewerage Corporation pipe serving eastern New Providence, Mr D’Aguilar said:

“Our customers couldn’t get too and from our location on Sunday.

“Sunday is typically one of our busiest days, but the fact Monday was a public holiday did alleviate that. Normally

Sunday is the peak because people do their weekly loads on Sunday, but they instead did it on Monday. It didn’t significantly impact the ability of people to get to the business.

“We did go out and negotiate with the employees of the Water & Sewerage Corporation to create a pathway to Superwash which, after a bit of haggling, they did agree to accommodate and customers were allowed to trickle through. The ability of customers to get to that Prince Charles location was definitely impacted,” he added.

“While all these calamities are impactful for your business, this is what happens from time to time. This is what’s going to happen. There are going to be one or two calamities that arise, but every time you make it more difficult for a customer to use your business there’s got to be a certain amount of attrition.”

DEPP ‘roadblock’ fear over $24m in projects

requirements will cause “major delays” in getting projects approved and called for the DEPP to assign an agent with a firm understanding of the area’s geographical make-up to sit in on its monthly meetings to speed-up the process.

“It is unfortunate that this added layer of bureaucracy will definitely present major delays in getting the necessary approvals for even

a simple project,” said Mr Sweeting. “The DEPP will need to assign an agent to sit in on our meetings every month to avoid a backlog in applications for our district alone. It would also be good for this agent to get a clear understanding of the geography of the various townships in our district, and to understand the layout of areas in which applications may pose any environmental concerns”

At Monday’s meeting, one Council member

TOP APPLE EXEC ACKNOWLEDGES SHORTCOMINGS IN EFFORT TO BRING COMPETITION IN IPHONE APP PAYMENTS

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer

LONGTIME Apple

executive Phil Schiller on Wednesday acknowledged a court-ordered makeover of the U.S. payment system in its iPhone app store hasn't done much to increase competition — a shortcoming that could result in a federal judge demanding more changes.

Schiller, who has been overseeing the iPhone app store since its inception in 2008, made the admission during occasionally sheepish testimony about the new payment options that so far have been shunned by all but a few dozen apps since their introduction in January.

"We have worked hard to create this program and I think we need to do a lot more to do to get developers," Schiller said. "There is work in front of us to make that happen."

Schiller's appearance came two weeks into ongoing hearings being held in Oakland, California, federal court to determine whether Apple is properly adhering to an order issued as part of an antitrust case alleging its iPhone app store had turned into an illegal monopoly.

Although U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the monopoly claims made by Epic Games, she ordered Apple to lower the barriers protecting its previously exclusive payment system for in-app digital transactions and allow developers to display links to alternative options.

That shake-up threatens to undercut Apple's own

lucrative in-house payment system, which generates billions of dollars annually through commissions ranging from 15% to 30% of the purchase amount on digital transactions completed within iPhone apps. After more than two years of ultimately unsuccessful attempts to overturn the order to allow alternative payment links within apps, Apple in January complied with the requirement. As part of the change, Apple set up an application process to approve links to alternative payment systems and imposed fees of 12% to 27% when users clicked on those options.

Epic, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, asserted Apple's commissions for clicking on external payment links combined with other costs for payment processing effectively make the alternative more expensive than just paying Apple's fees for using its standard system.

Prompted by Epic's objections, Gonzalez Rogers is now mulling whether to hold Apple in contempt of her order and taking more drastic actions aimed at giving consumers more payment choices in hopes of fostering competition that could lower prices. In the five hearings held on the issue so far, Gonzalez Rogers has repeatedly sounded frustrated with Apple executives while occasionally asking questions suggesting she thinks the iPhone maker is mostly focusing on how to preserve its profit margins and corral most payments to its inhouse system.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CLORENE SIMON #10 Kenwood Street off Montrose Avenue, Nassau The Bahamas 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 23rd day of May, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JEAN RENARD PAULSAINT Hospital Lane, Nassau, The Bahamas 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 23rd day of May, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that KESHENA KELLY of Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas 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 16th day of May2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

said he has been awaiting CEC approval for a dock for almost six months. Mr Sweeting said it was “beyond ridiculous” for the Davis administration to impose additional requirements on Family Island developments while pledging to provide “more autonomy” for local government. He added that, with the volume of applications the Council receives, requiring a CEC for all projects would negatively impact the approval process.

Mr Sweeting said: “I don’t think Nassau is fully cognisant of how busy our district really is and how this requirement will negatively impact the Town Planning permitting process. The ‘ease of doing business’ just got harder, as it always does. It is not easy to do business in our country. It’s a sad reality.

“The Government has this campaign pledge about providing more autonomy for local government but yet, in the same breath, they

are telling us that we can no longer issue a building permit for a simple structure unless it has met the approvals of a new central government agency that is situated in Nassau. They are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. It is beyond ridiculous.”

When contacted for comment about the new requirements, Mr Flowers said they will “do what they have to do” to comply with the new CEC requirements. He added that he was “not

EAST PRINCE CHARLES FIRMS HIT BY ROAD REPAIRS WORKS

FROM PAGE B3

consumers with repairs to the impacted pipe completed around 9.30 pm on Sunday.

“At approximately 1.45am today, the Corporation’s system control received alarms from its SCADA system, alongside public reports, indicating a major leak on Prince Charles Drive opposite Ashley’s Furniture. Our personnel promptly responded by securing the roadway and shutting down the water supply to eastern New Providence to prevent further flooding and

damage to the roadway,” the Corporation said.

“As a result, water supply to customers in eastern New Providence has been interrupted. By 7am our repair teams had excavated down to the water mains and confirmed a longitudinal split on the 24-inch main, necessitating the replacement of a section of the main.”

Motorists said workers left a mountain of excavated tarmac piled in the middle of the re-opened four-lane highway come Tuesday morning, while rain over the weekend had re-opened the large hole

N O T I C E

International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000)

THEBIGSHORT PARTNERS, LTD.

Registration No. IBC 175940 (B)

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 notice is hereby given that THEBIGSHORT PARTNERS, LTD. has been dissolved and struck off the Register of Companies with effect from the 8th day of February, 2024.

Galnom Ltd. Liquidator

in the road created by the repairs, resulting in traffic backlogs during rush hour.

The Water and Sewerage Corporation, however, said it is working closely with the Ministry of Works to ensure road repairs are completed “promptly and efficiently”. It added that its team began road repairs on Monday evening which continued into the early hours of Tuesday.

sure” if the DEPP will assign an agent to sit in on the meetings and expedite the process.

Mr Flowers said: “The DEPP has handed down certain instructions and we will do what we have to do to comply and work with what we have. We will do what we have to do to make sure the process moves along.”

Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy, the DEPP’s director, could not be reached for comment by Tribune Business before press time.

“The Water and Sewerage Corporation worked closely with our partners at the Ministry of Works to ensure the necessary repairs were completed promptly and efficiently. Ministry of Works’ team was on site on Sunday to assess the situation and plan the required work. Given the nature of the job, which necessitated road isolation, it was determined to be a two-day project,” said the Water and Sewerage Cooperation.

“Our team began cutting and preparing the road on Monday evening, continuing into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Following this preparation, the Ministry of Works team removed debris and started milling the area from 7.30m to 9am. Once milling was complete, they promptly laid down the asphalt layer.”

NOTICE Stanganelli Shore Ltd.

Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Registration number 209394 B (In Voluntary Liquidation) Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 22nd day of May A.D. 2024.

Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is Mrs. Glaucia Regina Stanganelli, whose address is 207 Sailors Run, Lakeway, TX, USA. Any Persons having a Claim against the abovenamed Company are required on or before the 21st day of June A.D. 2024 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the beneft of any distribution made before such claim is proved.

Dated this 22nd day of May A.D. 2024.

GLAUCIA REGINA STANGANELLI LIQUIDATOR