07082021 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021

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CHRISTINA ROLLE

‘Huge opportunity’ through no foreign crowdfunding bar

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NEWLY-implemented crowdfunding rules were yesterday hailed as “a huge opportunity” for Bahamian small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) who will be able to source equity capital from foreign investors.

Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, told Tribune Business that “there’s no restriction” on participation by international investors even though their investments in SMEs will have to be converted into Bahamian dollars.

“International investors can invest, but their investments will be converted into Bahamian dollars,” she explained. “Foreign investors are welcome; there are no restrictions on foreign investors. They don’t have to get exchange control approval coming in.”

Ms Rolle, though, confirmed that Central Bank exchange control approval will be required of foreigners to convert their Bahamian dollars to foreign currency once they exit their equity investments. It is also unclear whether foreign investment will be allowed in companies in sectors which, under the National Investment Policy, are supposed to be reserved for Bahamian ownership only.

Still, allowing foreigners to make investments in Bahamian SMEs holds out the possibility of significantly expanding the financing pool they have

SEE PAGE 7

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‘Elephant in the room’ for 1m stopover target

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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CABINET minister yesterday said he is targeting one million stopovertouristarrivalsfor 2021 but acknowledged that COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy remains “the elephant in the room” for this ambition.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the government will have to be more aggressive in persuading Bahamians to become inoculated so that this nation can avoid infection “spikes” such as the one that dampened Bimini’s US Independence holiday business the past weekend.

Suggesting that the government will “have to take the vaccine to the people, if

A BAHAMIAN entrepreneur yesterday hit out at Royal Caribbean after the cruise giant declined to “acknowledge” his Paradise Island crown land lease that is now locked in a legal battle with the government.

Toby Smith, principal of Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Company, told Tribune Business it was “very disingenuous” for the cruise line to have drawn him into reconciliation talks to see if their projects can co-exist only to then revert to its original position that his dispute with the Minnis administration has nothing to do with its ambitions.

KEITH DAVIES

BISX targets 2021 • Minister eyes 80% of 2019 tourism levels by winter crowdfund launch • But ‘walking on egg shells’ over vaccine reluctance • So govt ‘will take COVID inoculation to the people’

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR the people do not come to the vaccine”, he argued that The Bahamas “doesn’t have that much time” to improve inoculation rates if it wants to sustain its present tourism and economic rebound while remaining competitive with rival destinations.

Mr D’Aguilar said the general reluctance to become vaccinated against COVID-19 meant The Bahamas was continuing to “walk on egg shells” when it came to surges in case numbers that could result in it being downgraded by health authorities in major tourist source markets, such as the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Nevertheless, the minister said he was aiming for The Bahamas to recover 80 percent of the stopover tourism business it enjoyed during 2019’s recordbreaking arrivals year by the Christmas/New Year

holiday season and 2022 first quarter.

He based his optimism on the continued monthly uptick in stopover arrivals that saw foreign visitors purchase some 131,000 health travel visas in June, representing a figure that was 30 percent below the 187,029 that visited The Bahamas in the same month during June 2019.

Despite the 56,000-plus difference, Mr D’Aguilar said the gap between this year’s and 2019’s performance was narrowing every month, with May having been off by 37 percent,

SEE PAGE 6

Cruise giant ‘can’t recognise’ rival’s PI crown land lease

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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• Royal Caribbean: ‘Impossible’ to take position • Entrepreneur slams ‘disingenuous’ discussions • Alarmed by survey sticks on disputed parcels

A SURVEY stick marking on the beach side of the Paradise Island lighthouse parcel of crown land.

Having handed over a copy of his site plan to Royal Caribbean, he argued that the cruise line had “drawn me into conversation” only to turn around and “disregard” the land boundaries for what Mr Smith argues is his own validly binding and executed crown land lease.

The entrepreneur spoke out after Jay Schneider, a senior Royal Caribbean executive, informed him via a July 5 e-mail that the

SEE PAGE 8

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) plans to launch into the crowdfunding space in 2021, its top executive confirmed yesterday, suggesting it will happen “sooner rather than later”.

Keith Davies told Tribune Business that the exchange was still debating whether to launch a separate platform for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to raise financing via this mechanism, or whether it will simply integrate them and the new Securities Industry (Business Capital) Rules into its existing structure.

“Our goal is 2021, this year, to be able to launch,” he said. “If we don’t launch a platform we will integrate these Rules and provide access to capital through these Rules through BISX. We might do it sooner rather than later. We need to tie these rules, these specifics up.”

Mr Davies added that BISX plans to treat the new formalised, regulated crowdfunding structure provided by the Securities Commission as a marathon rather than a sprint when it comes to market development. He reiterated that the exchange will not compromise on market integrity, and the level of trust and confidence that the market requires from investors to succeed.

“We see this as a developing aspect of the market,” Mr Davies explained. “Over time, this will become instrumental in building the

SEE PAGE 6

PAGE 2, Thursday, July 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

FROM left: Chief Supt Mark Barrett, Jason Fitzgerald (NNWC President Millennium Gardens), Jouette Smith (NNWC Vice President Stapledon Gardens), Justin Johnson (NNWC Acting Deputy Chair), Keno Wong (NNWC National President), Hon Marvin Dames (MP for Mt Moriah and Minister of National Security), Denvar Miller BTC Senior Manager for Channel Operations, Patrick Rolle (NNWC Stapledon Gardens Executive), Tamara Clarke (Millennium Gardens Association President), Lakel Johnson (NNWC President, Stapledon Gardens), Police Reservist ASP Sherman, Supt Wilton Johnson (Police Coordinator National NNWC).

BTC donates to crime fight THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has donated 25 mobile SIM cards with data services for a period of one year to assist crimefighting efforts in the Mount Moriah community.

The community recently installed CCTV cameras to monitor the neighbourhood as part of the National Neighborhood Watch Council’s efforts to create safer communities.

André Foster, BTC’s chief executive, said of the donation: “We were happy to support the Mount Moriah community. We are very impressed by the determination of this community to be their ‘brother’s keeper’ as

they installed solar powered CCTV cameras to support crime prevention. We truly value our partnerships with our communities, and this is just one of many ways that we are giving back.”

Marvin Dames, the area’s MP and who also serves as minister of national security, was present for the donation. Mr Dames said: “We’re grateful that BTC decided to come on board. The company has always been a tremendous corporate partner, and we are extremely elated. This donation will go a long way to helping to keep these communities safe.”

Keno Wong, chairman of the National Neighborhood

Watch Council, added: “I think this is a great initiative, and one of the main goals of our organisation, which comprises of over 167 neighbourhood watch groups throughout the country, is to partner with corporate Bahamas as we seek to combat crime in our communities.

“We are happy that BTC has come on board to support the Mount Moriah community, which includes Yellow Elder Gardens, Millennium Gardens and Stapeldon Gardens.” BTC said it hopes to expand this initiative and partner with other neighbourhood crime watch associations in the near future.

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Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 3

BUSINESSES SEE ‘LIGHT AT END OF VERY LONG TUNNEL’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN businesses yesterday said they “see the light at the end of a very long tunnel” on their COVID-19 recovery but warned that challenges remain in several areas.

Alannah van Onselen, owner/operator of Bahamas HandPrint, told Tribune Business: “Now that we have opened up fully we are finding that our local customers are shopping at home and supporting us.

“We are slightly ahead of where we thought we would be considering that our wholesale business is only just starting to trickle back in, and tourists are mostly staying within their hotels, but we do see the light at the end of a very long tunnel.”

Despite heading into what is traditionally regarded as Bahamas HandPrint’s slower season

CRYSTAL CRUISES’ FIRST EXUMA STOP ‘IS A HIT’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net EXUMA’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said nothing went “amiss” with Crystal Cruises’ first call on the island.

Pedro Rolle, who initially had reservations about the cruise line’s decision to select Exuma as one of the weekly destinations for its sevennight Bahamas voyages, which are set to last until November, added: “When decisions are made by those in authority, then we have an obligation to make the best out of it instead of continuing to have disputes and being upset over it.

“How do we ensure that we get the best out of the opportunities? That’s where I’m at in relation to that.” Several concerns have been raised over Crystal Cruises’ plans to call on various Family Islands once its home porting plans were unveiled.

July and October, Ms van Onselen said she is hoping things get “back to normal” for Thanksgiving in November and “hopefully, a busy 2022. Right now we’re fine and a bit up from where we normally would be”.

Vasco Bastian, owner/ operator of Esso’s East Street and Soldier Road gas station, said “it’s a struggle” despite The Bahamas slowly re-opening its economy.

He lamented that the government is still taxing petroleum dealers on gross profits, not net profits, and also hit out at levies that commercial banks have imposed on large retailers for depositing money with them.

“CIBC FirstCaribbean is trying to levy what they call an excess fee on oil companies, retail stores, gas stations for making deposits daily,” Mr Bastian added. “This is crazy but that’s what CIBC, in

particular, is doing. If the other commercial banks are doing this it is in a limited capacity, but CIBC is doing it and it is unfair.”

CIBCFirstCaribbean, in an e-mailed statement to Tribune Business, said: “A fee for over-the-counter (OTC) large cash deposits and night wallet cash deposits has always existed in our schedule of charges, and is a standard fee for most banks in The Bahamas and regionally across the Caribbean.

Our fee for this service remains comparatively low when compared to other financial institutions in the market.

“With the above clarification, in terms of the rationale for the fee, it should be noted that CIBC FirstCaribbean’s cost to serve cash-intensive businesses extends well beyond cash processing. In particular, cash intensive businesses are subject to

enhanced anti-money laundering (AML) compliance obligations, including daily transaction monitoring and reporting.

“Enhanced due diligence (EDD) is required on nearly all cash intensive accounts, which are inherently considered higher risk from an AML perspective. We take our compliance obligations to our stakeholders, including our regulators, seriously and have made significant investments to ensure that we continue to meet our obligations,” CIBC FirstCaribbean added.

“Compliance costs are material and are anticipated to continue to rise, particularly in relation to managing cash intensive accounts. This is just one example of the numerous rising costs (e.g. armoured car, technology for monitoring, etc) that the bank incurs beyond standard cash processing to serve

our cash intensive clients.”

Mr Bastian, meanwhile, said the economy has to fundamentally transform so Bahamian businesses can start to see some “light at the end of the tunnel”.

He warned that any government seeking to raise VAT is “shooting themselves in the foot.”

Mr Bastian added: “I want this country to open back up. We need this country to open back up.

We have to get this country back open, open up.

But even after it’s open, we have to look at where this country is now economically, and where we want to go.

“We need all hands on deck, and all of the economic advisers regardless of what political party they are from, we need to take the politics away from it.

We need the best and the brightest economists in The Bahamas to sit around

the table and assess how we are going to get this country to grow again. Our debt-to-GDP is 98 percent.

We cannot continue like this.”

Despite his frustrations, Mr Bastian is still “optimistic” as he views Bahamians as “resilient” and the country just needs to “get the right hands on deck to grow this country again”.

David Moss, owner/ operator of A-1 Plumbing & Hardware Supplies, though, described business as “dead”. The only thing that can revive it is if there are some new foreign direct investment projects that will require hardware or mechanical contracting in great quantity.

Mr Moss said: “We need investments in buildings and stuff like that. I expected business to be down after COVID-19 but not like this; things are really rough right now.”

These involved the ability of Family Island economies to cope with an influx of several hundred cruise passengers at once; the level of garbage and other environmental impacts they might create; and whether there would be sufficient distribution of spending once persons disembarked.

However, Ricardo Morley, owner/operator of Shop Rite Mart on Exuma, said the “tourists had a wonderful time”, and he saw no issues with overcrowding or congestion on the island.

He said: “Some tourists laid back on the beach area Crystal Cruises had prepared for them. It seems as if the first trip was a hit. While I was quite a way from their planned tour, from what I gathered from the taxi cab drivers, the tour operators and water sports people, they had a wonderful time.

“They had multiple excursions around the island; some of them went down to swim with the pigs. No one’s complaining about them travelling through the island.”

CUSTOMS GB SYSTEMS WOE NOW INTO 15TH DAY

the third week now - so 15 days sounds about right to me.”

The eCas system has been down since the third week in June with no definitive timeline on when it will be brought back up. It was originally scheduled to be phased out on July 1 and replaced with the Click2Clear system already in use throughout the rest of The Bahamas, but this has now been pushed back to September 1 at the earliest.

Mr Collins added: “They are severely impacting everything over here to my knowledge because, apparently, they have to go back to doing everything manually now. It’s been slowing up a lot of different things and we haven’t been told what the reason is because apparently New Providence is still up and running fine.

“Nothing is getting out of the port in time unless you have a special connection. I had a generator that came in the same week that the system shut down and it took us ten days to get that cleared.” Mr Collins said

the delays are “putting a strain on customer relationships” as people want their goods delivered and companies are finding it difficult to help their clients.

Tony Adderely, managing director of Expert Customs Brokers, voiced hope that the eCas issues can be “resolved fairly soon” despite not having any confirmation from the Customs department on when that would be.

He said: “Every single importer has been put back because of this because the goods are not being cleared as swiftly. I can only say that

they’re [Customs] doing the best that they can, but the system is still down and, as a result, trying to process imports obviously would be a little bit slower.”

Agreeing that the eCas system has been inoperable for 15 days, Mr Adderley added: “In all fairness to the officers, they’re doing the best they can with what they have. We all want to see the system up and moving, but until that happens the importers have to understand that notwithstanding the frustration and the delays that this is what it is at this point.”

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net HOPES that Bahamas Customs had resolved its Grand Bahama system woes were dashed yesterday as businesses entered a fifteenth day of having to clear goods manually with commerce “backed up”.

Brent Collins, chief executive of Freeport-based Power Equipment Ltd, told Tribune Business that the Electronic Customs Automated Services (eCAS) system is still down and has him “stressed out” right now.

He said: “I just found out yesterday morning that the system is still down because we are waiting on some stuff to still get cleared. The broker I spoke to this morning said this is going into the third week, so this is two full weeks - and now going into

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PAGE 4, Thursday, July 8, 2021

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ACCOUNTING FIRM MAKES WAVES ON TEAM BUILDING

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net AN accounting firm yesterday said it is seeking to make waves with the Bahamian launch of its facility for team and network building.

Michele Thompson, Ernst and Young’s (EY) Bahamas managing partner, told Tribune Business that the company is launching its Wavespace meeting facility in tandem with its own move to a new location.

“It’s not necessarily logging on to a Wavespace.

Wavespace is more of a concept and approach for how we bring businesses to the table in a controlled environment to deal with complex problems or

MICHELE THOMPSON challenges, facilitated by experienced professionals,” she explained.

Ms Thompson said: “There are about 50 Wavespace centres across EY globally, each of them acting independently, but in The Bahamas we’re about to move into our newest location and so we thought

that this would be a great time to certainly go out publicly and start to brand it in the local market, even though we have been using the Wavespace across the region.”

EY, which has a presence in 150 countries worldwide with 300,000-plus employees and 700 offices, has installed Wavespace is just 50 of those sites with The Bahamas being one.

EY Bahamas’ Wavespace facility is designed for companies of any size. They could be government agencies, small firms or large retailers who want to tap into EY’s expertise. Wavespace can also be delivered virtually as COVID-19 has shaped the way consulting is being done.

“Wavespace blends EY’s methodology towards accounting and consultancy along with its vast access to human resources and experts, and its ability to provide for immersive experiences for their clients all into one mix where clients can benefit holistically from a wide range of options to better their companies,” said David McGibbon, partner/principal at EY Cayman.

“We have about 50 Wavespaces across the globe, and each of those operate individually. They are connected to that global network of Wavespaces as well.”

SANDALS branded fleet pulls up to American Airlines HQ in Texas.

SANDALS MEETS TOP US AIRLINE TO RESTORE TRAVEL TOP executives of American Airlines and Sandals Resorts International have met in Dallas as the Caribbean works hard to restore airlift following the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sandals team was led by its executive chairman, Adam Stewart, and chief executive, Gebhard Rainier, and also included executive vice-president of sales and industry relations for Unique Vacations (UVI), Gary Sadler, together with UVI’s chief executive, Jeff Clarke, and senior vice-president of brand development, Tony Cortizas. Unique Vacations is the exclusive marketing partner for Sandals Resorts.

The American Airlines team featured Kyle Mabry, vice-president of global sales; Alison Taylor, chief customer officer at American Airlines; and its managing director for Latin America, Caribbean and Florida sales, Christine Valls.

American Airlines said it was the first time it has hosted a Caribbean hotel company for such a meeting. And Mr Stewart said: “This meeting could not have come at a better time as we seek to restore the airlift that is so vital to the region’s hospitality and tourism sector.

“The incredible relationship Sandals has with American Airlines has led to enormous benefits for the many destinations where Sandals now operates, and we expect they will soon begin planning for increased flights to the destinations where we will soon be operating, such as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Curacao.

“I remember my dad, the late Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, used to always boast that wherever Sandals establishes a resort the airlines were sure to follow, and I am beyond proud that along with the

FROM left: Gary Sadler, executive vice-president of sales and industry relations for Unique Vacations (UVI); Adam Stewart, executive chairman, Sandals Resorts International; Christine Valls, managing director Latin America, Caribbean & Florida sales at American Airlines; Alison Taylor, chief customer officer at American Airlines; Kyle Mabry, vice president, Global Sales at American Airlines. amazing teams at Sandals and Unique Vacations we continue to carry on and build on that legacy.”

Mr Stewart added: “Over the last 14 months, American has demonstrated a level of strength and agility in a highly complex time and we appreciate it. If there is one thing COVID19 has shown us is the power of partnerships and relationships.

“Business does not come to those who wait; it’s about getting out and making it happen. We are pleased to be in a position where we can advocate on behalf of the entire Caribbean, and assist with trying to reestablish and enhance the routes that all our islands depend on to not just to bring visitors, but to connect with the rest of the world.”

The discussions revolved around growth, the expansion of air service, how American Airlines can provide more flights to the Caribbean and how it can strengthen its efforts in the region.

Mr Sadler said: “Building tourism goes beyond just having a beautiful beach

and nice hotels; the meeting with American Airlines showcases Sandals’ continued commitment to being a champion of the entire Caribbean tourism sector.

“The company is constantly taking steps to promote the region, and their success is reflected in the fact that there is increasingly high demand for travel to their resorts and to the region. This meeting will ensure that as American Airlines moves to increase its service worldwide, the Caribbean remains at the top of the list.”

The Sandals team arrived at the American Airlines headquarters in a fleet of Sandals and Beachesbranded cars. They were taken on a tour of the facility where they got a chance to see historic American Airlines equipment on display.

As they left the meeting, Mr Stewart said: “The future of Caribbean travel is strong, and our good company is bringing a new level of product to the Caribbean that is going to change the game.”

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Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 5

SHARK WEEK EPISODE TO FEATURE NEW PROVIDENCE

LASARD BURROWS, port, vessel and agency operations manager for Fowlco Marine and Logistics Management.

FOWLCO NAMES BAHAMIAN AS PORT OPERATIONS LEADER FOWLCO Ltd has appointed Lasard Burrows as port, vessel and agency operations manager for its marine and logistics management business.

Glennett Fowler, Fowlco’s president and chief executive, said: “Exemplary leadership skills and a commitment to excellence are hallmarks of Lasard’s contributions to Fowlco. As a result of this foundation, we are pleased to announce his appointment to the role of operations manager, port, vessel and agency, with immediate effect.

“This appointment aligns with our strategic goals to cultivate and promote a culture of excellence within our organisation. Lasard’s professionalism is evident in his strong work ethic and intrinsic ambition, which are celebrated traits within the Fowlco community.”

Mr Burrows added: “As I advance in my career, I value opportunities to contribute my talents in an environment that enables me to reach my potential as a respected

professional within the maritime industry.

“Fowlco consistently provides me with the exposure to learn and grow with a team that is driven by hardworking individuals and innovative ideas. I look forward to a future of limitless possibilities with Fowlco and will consistently do my part to deliver exceptional service in the maritime sector.”

Mr Burrows holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marine transportation from the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College. As operations manager, Mr Burrows assumes responsibility for vessel related activities, compliance with local and international safety protocols, leading staff, and liaising with other port entities on behalf of customers.

“The promotion of a talented Bahamian to lead as operations manager of port and agency is a significant milestone for Fowlco. We anticipate Lasard’s continued growth and remain optimistic about his future of limitless possibilities,” Ms Fowler said.

SOUTH-WEST New Providence will feature heavily in a Shark Week episode set to be screened during the second week in July, reaching potentially up to 88m homes in 224 countries.

Producers, film makers and support crew fanned out across the waters off New Providence’s coast for an episode that will feature local divers and marine scientists such as Dr Austin Gallagher (Beneath the Waves). It will air on the Discovery Channel on July 13.

Titled The Science of Sound, it explores sharks’ reactions to the sound of music - country music, in particular - thanks to the picking, plunking, playing and familiar voice of country superstar Brad Paisley.

He played live on the dive boat, with his recordings lowered by divers through underwater sonar equipment and moved with them as they swam and interacted with dozens of curious nurse and reef sharks.

A diver himself, the singer-songwriter spent two days experiencing the deep with Bahamian divers such as Kareem Bethell and Tyson Smith. Stuart Cove Dive provided vessels and dive gear. The aim was to shoot 100 percent of the episode, all 43 minutes, 20 seconds of non-advertising footage, off New Providence and the film crew achieved 98 percent of their goal.

“It’s a great place to shoot,” a producer said.

“It’s safe, it’s easy to get to - not like some of the places we have to do that, which are far out from land over fairly treacherous seas - and celebrities love it here.”

“We have been working with Shark Week every year since the first episode was filmed in The Bahamas in 1988. And every year I think what can Discovery Channel do to top this, and the next year they come up with something even more interesting or scientifically important,” said

A QUIET moment in Coral Harbour in New Providence, Bahamas, waiting for action to start, sees David Harris and Dr Austin Gallagher, of Beneath the Waves, in the front row. In the back row are Diane Phillips, writer, and businessman Mario Carey.

PRODUCERS, directors, camera and drone crew, plus local divers and marine scientists, pile aboard a Stuart Cove Dive vessel ready to shoot another day of what will be the July 13 episode of Shark Week.

Stuart Cove, who founded and operates the country’s largest dive business. This year his son, Travis, a diverturned-actor, doubled for another in the show.

Mr Cove, a director of Save The Bays and active in coral reef preservation, believes Shark Week has helped sensitise the public to the value of sharks. “Jaws made us afraid, Shark Week makes us understand. Presenting the real true story of the value of sharks helps us appreciate the important role they play in the marine eco-system,” he added.

Dr Gallagher agreed, saying: “Marine scientists, including myself, give The Bahamas great credit for the country’s shark sanctuary legislation.

Dr Gallagher, who has been exploring and documenting marine resources in The Bahamas for more than a decade, said there is no body of water comparable to it.

A proponent of naming the waters the Lucayan Sea,

BAHAMIAN dive expert Andre Musgrove directs film crew, including marine scientist Dr Austin Gallagher and Dr Erica Staaterman, a marine bioacoustics expert with the Department of Interior, as they prepare for the second dive of the day filming the Shark Week episode, The Science of Sound. he cites the statistic that an individual is more likely to be struck by lightning twice than to be bitten by a shark. “Research, which we have helped contribute to, demonstrates that

KAREEM BETHELL, one of several Bahamian divers, stars in Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. tragically, unlike The Bahamas, there are countries where greed and avarice create a shark fin trade that claims fins from up to 73m sharks a year,” said Dr Gallagher.

“And while The Bahamas is protecting sharks and, as you can see, the population out here today is healthy and active and nonthreatening, sharks in many places elsewhere continue to be threatened and that is heart-breaking for anyone who studies their role in the marine ecosystem.”

A Discovery Channel press release on Shark Week says a study published in Nature magazine earlier this year found that oceanic sharks and rays have declined by at least 71 percent since 1970.

Shark Week, Discovery Channel’s most popular programme, runs from Sunday, July 11, through Sunday, July 18, with The Bahamas’ episode on the third night, Tuesday.

Discovery Channel dubs its 2021 shows a ‘jawesome line-up’ beginning with a documentary series and includes, in addition to Brad Paisley, William Shatner, JB Smoove, Tiffany Haddish and others, celebrities diving alongside marine biologists and representatives from respected science institutes such as Beneath the Waves and Oceana.

PAGE 6, Thursday, July 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘Elephant in the room’ for 1m stopover target FROM PAGE ONE as the economy’s reopening and vaccination roll-outs in tourist source markets continue to maintain pace.

“It was 131,000 in June and is increasing every month,” he told this newspaper of stopover visitor arrivals. “It was 22,000 in January, 30,000 in February, 64,000 in March, 68,000 in April and 110,000 in May, so every month it has gone

up. It’s keeping in line, and every month it’s ticking up.

“We’re bouncing back. I spoke to all the hotel operators, Atlantis and Baha Mar, and they had a very good holiday weekend with high occupancies and are very upbeat about their booking engines. They’re demonstrating that the pace of growth in visitors coming in is outpacing what they were doing in 2019. In the Family Islands, they’re very positive and upbeat about the next four to six weeks.”

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With The Bahamas continuing to benefit from pent-up demand in its key US travel market, Mr D’Aguilar added: “I always figured we’d get one million stopover visitors [this year].

That’s kind of my target.

At the end of June we had 400,000-plus, 425,000, so I’m hoping for the second half of the year, although we may have weather events and September and October are traditionally slow months.”

Achieving the minister’s goal would only see The Bahamas attract 55.6 percent of the 1.8m stopovers who came to these shores in 2019, but Mr D’Aguilar indicated his belief that sufficient momentum will build during the second half to translate into a strong winter season. “I’m aiming for 80 percent of what we did in 2019. Let’s pray we have no weather events,”

he added of the 2021-2022 winter peak.

However, with less than 25 percent of The Bahamas’ estimated population receiving one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine to-date, this nation still has a long way to travel to reach the 75-80 percent level regarded as critical to achieving so-called ‘herd immunity’ against the virus.

Low inoculation levels could retard The Bahamas’ ability to fully re-open its tourism industry and wider economy, and Mr D’Aguilar yesterday reiterated that this remains a key concern for policymakers.

“It’s the hesitancy and reluctance of the vaccine uptake, and what it’s doing is making us very susceptible to spikes in cases,” he told Tribune Business.

“These spikes can have a real dampener on the destination, especially if it leads to changes in the US CDC rankings and the UK’s ‘green, amber, red’ ratings.

“That’s our only fear.

That’s the elephant in the room. You’re walking on egg shells every day that you don’t get spikes in numbers. It manifested itself in Bimini, where we

had a spike again and they did not benefit from Crystal Cruises’ first voyage. It was a curfew, not a lockdown, but I’m sure that it dampened demand for that destination.”

Mr D’Aguilar lamented that critical factors influencing the strength and pace of The Bahamas’ postCOVID recovery, namely “vaccine uptake and vaccine roll-out”, remained largely outside this nation’s control. But once this nation has secured an adequate vaccine supply, he added that it then needs to “have a conversation with individual Bahamians that this is the best thing for them”.

“As the health officials say, the people in the hospitals haven’t been vaccinated. Hopefully, that starts to percolate through to people,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “Unfortunately, the evidence which we have to lay out is that all the people in the hospital are the ones not vaccinated. This demonstrates that if you have been vaccinated and catch it, you will not get sick that you have to go to hospital.”

Asked whether the Government needs to mount a

BISX targets 2021 crowdfund launch

He added that “certainly three” of the five companies that ArawakX had hoped to present to investors at its launch will be ready, with those businesses involved in the medical, food services, agri-business and technology sectors.

“There’s a lot of innovative ideas out there that have been starved of capital,” Mr Rahming said.

“As the saying is, there’s nothing like an idea whose time has come. It’s about opportunity; opportunity for businesses and opportunity for investors, and that is how wealth is created by lowering barriers to entry. We’re trying to lower it to $25.”

Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for finance, in confirming that the Securities Industry (Business Capital) Rules have been brought into effect, branded the move “another revolutionary step in the development of entrepreneurial and small business opportunities in The Bahamas”.

“With these new and innovative crowdfunding regulations, we are furthering the potential of MSMEs to raise more investment money on the private capital market. We are breaking down the walls that were once only able to be traversed by big corporate players. A new wave of possibilities for Bahamian ownership and entrepreneurship is here,” he argued.

“The new rules are now in effect and they represent a game changer.

Eligible entrepreneurs can raise up to $5m to put towards the development of their start-ups or existing small businesses. And,

FROM PAGE ONE

capital markets but we’re not going to see a massive inflow. We want to grow and build the market over time.

“Our focus is on building the integrity of the market over time. It’s not throwing 100 companies at the market. That will fail. If you don’t take care of the companies coming to you, and the information they provide to investors, you will lose the confidence of the market and that’s something we’re not prepared to compromise on.

“It would be foolhardy to throw numbers out....

We want to focus on these companies and build them.

Our platform will be a little different. It will be about building companies as opposed to throwing spaghetti at the wall. A great idea does not make a business work.”

Meanwhile, D’Arcy Rahming Jr, chief technology officer for rival crowdfunding platform, ArawakX, said yesterday’s implementation of the Securities Industry (Business Capital) Rules had removed the last obstacle to its planned launch during July’s second week.

“We’re very much on track to do that,” he said of the launch, suggesting that the potential ‘financing gap’ faced by Bahamian SME’s could have doubled from the originally projected $800m per year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic although no studies have been conducted to prove this.

more aggressive education campaign to persuade and incentivise Bahamians to become fully vaccinated, he replied: “Clearly, clearly. If you are getting this level of hesitancy, the Government clearly has to work harder to convince Bahamians that this is the right thing for them.

“It would be easier if everybody bought into this, but we have to have this personal conversation with everyone to convince them this is the right thing.

We’ve got to have this conversation. If people will not come to the vaccine, we will have to take the vaccine to the people. It’s not ideal, but we’ve been doing it to a certain degree in the Family Islands.

“People say they will sign up to it, but we don’t have that much time. Let’s face it, COVID-19 is here for the rest of our lives. People have to learn to deal with it, to live with it, and the only way to protect yourself against fatal effects is to vaccinate. A lot of people say they want to wait and see how it works, but 1.2bn to 1.3bn already have it.”

D’ARCY RAHMING JR better, the platforms allow them to raise this money from citizens and residents across the country who are interested in investing in promising businesses.

“This administration is streamlining the bureaucracy. We are undertaking real structural reform. We are allowing Bahamian entrepreneurs and small businesses to have the same kind of opportunity to raise capital like the big businesses currently do.”

Mr Thompson said capital-raising businesses will not be required to file the typical prospectus required by the Securities Commission. “Instead, they would file a streamlined ‘Crowdfund Offering Document’ or ‘COD’ prior to conducting a crowdfund distribution,” he added.

“This is a significantly less expensive process when compared to the minimum $20,000 prospectus. This is just one way that we are breaking down the barriers for Bahamian entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise capital in The Bahamas.

“The new crowdfund rules provide an appropriate balance between access to capital for entrepreneurs and, of course, provisions to ensure protection for potential investors. The rules also seek to minimise systemic and jurisdiction risks.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 7

‘Huge opportunity’ through no foreign crowdfunding bar FROM PAGE ONE access to beyond the local market. Mark A Turnquest, a well-known small business consultant, yesterday told Tribune Business that the removal of restrictions on foreign investor participation creates “an excellent opportunity” for Bahamian SMEs. “You’re looking at a huge, open market for SMEs,” he said. “There’s no excuse for not raising money. If you want to play the game with the big boys, you have to start with organising yourself to take advantage of this huge opportunity now.

“There’s a lot of money in this world, and a lot of people wanting to invest. A lot of people see The Bahamas as a little gem and don’t mind investing in our country. The Bahamas is now more competitive. It narrows the gap between the big companies and the small companies.

“It’s [crowdfunding] been a journey but it’s coming to fruition now. When I spoke on it six years ago I was really frustrated because it took so long, but now it’s here. We need to manage it properly, let businesses

MARK TURNQUEST get off the ground and be innovative.”

Mr Turnquest branded the formalised, regulated crowdfunding market created by the Securities Commission’s Securities Industry (Business Capital) Rules 2021 as “a tremendous boost” especially for innovative, technologybased SMEs that have increasingly struggled to obtain financing from “risk averse” commercial banks and other start-ups.

“This has been needed from five to six years ago,” he added. “It brings a lot to organisations that don’t have the opportunity to go to the local banks and investors. A lot of bright people with creative ideas and technology-driven types of businesses who need the opportunity to begin their

way forward to be entrepreneurs can put together a good business plan, management team and market analysis to take advantage of crowdfunding.”

Mr Turnquest, though, said the qualifying criteria employed by platforms such as Arawak X in determining which companies and investors can participate in crowdfunding will be key. Crowdfunding, which involves financing a project or business venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet or a regulated exchange, is aiming to fill the funding gap by pooling money from friends, family and investors.

The Securities Commission, in unveiling the Securities Industry (Business Capital) Rules 2021, said SMEs can raise a maximum $5m via crowdfunding within a 12-month period through no more than two issues of equity securities to investors.

Businesses eligible to seek capital via crowdfunding must be organised under the Companies Act, operating in The Bahamas, and categorised as a small or

medium-sized enterprise.

Small-sized businesses are defined as having annual gross incomes of up to $1.5m, while medium-sized businesses have annual gross incomes between $1.5m and $3m.

To reduce the regulatory burden and associated costs, the requirements for filing an offering prospectus with the Securities Commission have been streamlined and reduced. And the requirement to produce audited financial statements has also been lessened in line with the amount of capital a company can raise.

As for investors, individuals - known as retail investors - are limited to investing up to $10,000 per crowdfunding issue, or a

total of $50,000 over a single 12-month period. They will be able to trade their shares on the secondary market provided by platforms such as Arawak X and the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX).

Ms Rolle said in a statement: “Small and medium-sized enterprises have long lamented the cost of raising business capital in The Bahamas, which has limited their capacity to grow and, in some cases, to compete and survive.

“Simultaneously, investors continue to seek greater diversity of investment products to choose from to grow their personal wealth in alignment with their investment principles and personal philosophies.

They also want confidence that they are protected from unfair practices, market misconduct and other securities and investment fraud.

“These Rules address both sides of this coin, easing access to capital for many entrepreneurs on one side, and providing an appropriate protection regime for retail investors, in keeping with key regulatory standards and best practices, on the other,” she added.

“We are pleased they are finally a formal element of the capital markets regulatory regime, particularly as we seek to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastation brought by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.”

HELP WANTED New lab in Nassau is seeking laboratory technologist/technicians with the following qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Laboratory or a related field.

Associates degree in science with training provided on the job.

Work experience may NOT substitute for education requirement.

Certification or eligible for certification as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) with the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) or as a Medical Technologist (MT) with the American Medical Technologists (AMT) required. Certification from ASCP or AMT must be obtained within thirteen (13) months from the date of hire. Additional credentials may be recognized.

Duties: To perform, check accuracy and report results of routine and complex laboratory procedures on body fluids and other substances when received. To assist supervisor and/or team lead with evaluating new instruments and/or methods, reagent preparation, quality control information, troubleshooting, and equipment maintenance. To assist team lead with coordinating educational sessions, computer operations, and/or quality control/ improvement activities within a section as needed.

Please send CV at diagnosticlab.bs@gmail.com

PAGE 8, Thursday, July 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Cruise giant ‘can’t recognise’ rival’s PI crown land lease FROM PAGE ONE cruise giant is not taking a position on his lease and that he must instead resolve his differences with the government.

“After reflecting on our conversation and discussing this issue with our attorneys, Royal Caribbean is not in a position to meet your request (acknowledging your lease),” Mr Schneider wrote. “We have not been privy to your conversations and negotiations with various governmental officials and therefore find it impossible to take a position, one way or the other.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

“We do not wish to appear provocative or unreasonable, just the opposite. Our motivation is to continue to build on the more than 50 years Royal Caribbean has supported The Bahamas and Bahamian businesses.”

Mr Smith, though, told Mr Schneider that he had only provided the site plan attached to his lease “based on your reassurance you wished to be able to see what a scaled down version would look like for Royal Caribbean”.

Speaking to Tribune Business yesterday, he said: “Royal Caribbean called the meeting for reconciliation talks. They asked me for a copy of my site plan contained in my crown land lease agreement on the auspices of understanding my boundaries so that they could run a 3D model with a reduced footprint to honour my parcel.

“They later responded that they were not prepared to scale back on their development, and they wish to disregard my land boundaries contained in the lease. It is a very disingenuous move to draw me into reconciliation only to draw me into conversation to obtain my site plan.”

Mr Smith said he had been further alarmed to discover that, between Sunday gone and the previous Monday, surveying sticks had been placed along the northern beach boundary of his crown land parcels, as identified on his site plan, even though

the property is presently tied up in the Supreme Court litigation he initiated against the government in a bid to force it to honour his lease.

The government’s Department of Lands and Surveys, the entrepreneur said, had informed him it had no knowledge of any surveying being carried out in that area of Paradise Island.

“I think it’s very disingenuous of the government to continue to negotiate with Royal Caribbean over a matter that is before the Supreme Court,” he added.

“As a Bahamian, I am tired of these backroom deals being done with foreign interests, with the government stomping on Bahamians who put them in office.

“Minnis, who wishes to announce anything positive so that his government can take the credit, sits quiet as a mouse in the backroom.

I feel as though he is continuing to shun Bahamians.

I’ve asked him for a meeting in writing, he’s ignored me in favour of foreign interests for Bahamian crown land yet again.”

Mr Smith contrasted the government’s position with that of the opposition, whose leader, Philip Davis, has promised to cancel any Paradise Island crown land lease involving Royal Caribbean should it be elected to office at the upcoming general election.

Royal Caribbean has steadily amassed around 13.5 acres on Paradise Island’s western end by buying out private landowners in the area, but it is also seeking to lease some ten acres of crown land in the Colonial Beach area to complete its Royal Beach Club development as part of a total $110m investment billed as creating $26m in annual local spend and 200 full-time jobs.

This has brought it into potential conflict with Mr Smith, who is seeking himself to lease two crown land parcels at Paradise Island’s western end, one of which involves two acres around the lighthouse and another three acres for the “beach break” element of his own $2m project. Two of the acres sought by Mr Smith are included in Royal Caribbean’s crown land lease.

Mr Smith’s court action is alleging that he was granted a valid crown land lease over both parcels, including the lighthouse and the area at Colonial Beach for his “beach break” destination, which is now legally binding. The case is based on a January 7, 2020, letter from Richard Hardy, acting director of Lands and Surveys, that was headlined “approval for crown land lease” over the two tracts he wanted.

Russell Benford, Royal Caribbean’s vice-president of government relations for the Americas, in response to Tribune Business inquiries previously confirmed: “Pursuant to the January 2, 2020, letter of agreement received from the Government of the Bahamas, Royal Caribbean has received the executed crown land lease and seabed lease associated with the Royal Beach Club project on Paradise Island.

“As steps in the project approval process continue, we will engage and work with local interests on business opportunities as the project moves forward.” Mr Smith, though, at the time suggested that the government’s actions had effectively disrupted and overturned efforts by himself and Royal Caribbean to achieve common ground.

Administratrix

Administratrix

JOB OPPORTUNITY Property Superintendent - to oversee day-today operations of a commercial property in Nassau. The Property Superintendent is responsible for overseeing all daily maintenance, repairs, security, janitorial services, landscaping, etc. and to handle tenant maintenance complaints. Responsible for performing periodic property inspections to ensure tenant compliance with leases, scheduling routine service and maintenance on equipment and proper upkeep of the property.

The following qualities are desirable for job selection:

- exceptional communication and organizational skills, detail oriented, customer service experience, ability to work under pressure, self motivated, self-directed, assertive, group problem solving and the ability to take direction and be an effective part of a property management team.

Property or property management experience required.

Qualified applicants are to email a current and complete resumé to: bahamaspropertymanager position@gmail.com

by July 14th, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 9

Donald Trump files suit against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube WASHINGTON Associated Press FORMER President Donald Trump has filed suit against three of the country’s biggest tech companies, claiming he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored.

But legal experts say the suits are likely doomed to fail, given existing precedent and legal protections.

Trump announced the action against Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube, along with the companies’ Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai, at a press conference yesterday in New Jersey, where he demanded that his accounts be reinstated.

Trump has been suspended from the platforms since January, when his followers violently stormed the Capitol building, trying to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. The companies cited concerns that Trump would incite further violence and have kept him locked out. All three declined comment yesterday.

“We’re asking the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to order an immediate halt to social media companies’ illegal, shameful censorship of the American people,” Trump said of the filings.

“We’re going to hold big tech very accountable.”

Twitter, Facebook and Google are all private companies, and users must agree to their terms of service to use their products. Under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, social media platforms are allowed to moderate their services by removing posts that, for instance, are obscene or violate the services’ own standards, so long as they are acting in “good faith”.

The law also generally exempts internet companies from liability for the material that users post.

But Trump and some other politicians have long argued that Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms have abused that protection and should lose their immunity — or at least have it curtailed.

While conservatives often claim the sites are biased against them, several recent studies have found that isn’t the case. Indeed, posts by conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro, Franklin Graham, Dan Bongino and Dinesh D’Souza are routinely among the most

FORMER President Donald Trump imitates the shooting of a gun with his finger while talking about gun violence in Chicago as he speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, yesterday.

Photo: Seth Wenig/AP widely shared on Facebook.

The suit against Facebook and CEO Zuckerberg says Facebook acted unconstitutionally when it removed Trump from the platform.

Suits against Twitter and YouTube make similar claims. All three ask the court to award unspecified damages, declare Section 230 unconstitutional and restore Trump’s accounts, along with those of several other plaintiffs who joined the suits and have also had posts or accounts removed.

Trump’s lawsuits, however, are likely doomed to fail, said Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University in California who has studied more

s

than 60 similar, failed lawsuits that sought to take on internet companies for terminating or suspending users’ accounts.

“They’ve argued everything under the sun, including First Amendment, and they get nowhere,” Goldman said. “Maybe he’s got a trick up his sleeve that will give him a leg up on the dozens of lawsuits before him. I doubt it.”

“Trump’s suit is DOA,” echoed Paul Barrett, the deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Barrett said Trump was fundamentally

misunderstanding the Constitution. “The First Amendment applies to government censorship or speech regulation. It does not stop private sector corporations from regulating content on their platforms,” he said by email. “In fact, Facebook and Twitter themselves have a First Amendment free speech right to determine what speech their platforms project and amplify -- and that right includes excluding speakers who incite violence, as Trump did in connection with the January 6 Capitol insurrection.”

Goldman said he suspected Trump’s legal team

knows it is not going to win in court, and suggested Trump was pursuing the suits to garner attention.

Indeed, Trump’s political action committee was already raising money off the announcement by early yesterday afternoon.

As president, Trump last year signed an executive order challenging Section 230 that was seen as largely symbolic.

“It was always about sending a message to their base that they’re fighting on their behalf against the evil Silicon Valley tech giants,” Goldman said.

Trump’s move comes a

week after a federal judge blocked a new Florida law signed by a Trump ally, Republican Gov Ron DeSantis, that sought to punish large social media companies like Facebook and Twitter for removing content or banning politicians. The law would have allowed the state to fine the companies $250,000 a day for removing the accounts of statewide political candidates and $25,000 a day for removing the accounts of those running for local office. But US District Judge Robert Hinkle on June 30 granted a preliminary injunction stopping the new law from being enforced.

PAGE 10, Thursday, July 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Fed officials discussed potential reduction in stimulus WASHINGTON Associated Press FEDERAL Reserve officials started discussing at their meeting last month the timing and mechanics of reducing their huge monthly bond purchases, which are used to keep longer-term interest rates in check.

The debate, revealed in the minutes of the Fed’s June meeting released yesterday, reflected a broadly positive outlook on the economy among Fed policymakers but also some concern that higher inflation could prove more persistent than the central bank has previously indicated. Still, economists saw little sign that the Fed was any closer to hiking interest

rates or reducing its bond buys.

A few policymakers “mentioned that they expected the conditions for beginning to reduce” bond purchases would “be met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated ... in light of incoming data,” the minutes said.

The Fed is buying $120bn a month in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds to keep longer-term interest rates low and encourage more borrowing and spending. Those purchases have flooded financial markets with cash, potentially fueling asset bubbles, some economists have argued. The Fed has said that it will keep making the purchases until the economy makes “substantial further progress”

FED CHAIR JEROME POWELL

toward its goals of full employment and an inflation rate slightly above 2%.

But there is a clear split on the Fed’s policymaking committee, with “some officials” cautioning that recent economic reports provide “a less clear signal about the underlying economic momentum.” The June 15-16 meeting was held before the most recent jobs report, which showed the economy had gained 850,000 new positions last month.

“Several of these (officials) emphasised that the (Fed) should be patient” about making any changes to its bond purchase plans, the minutes said.

Paul Ashworth, chief US economist for Capital Economics, a consulting firm, said the minutes “were

not as hawkish as we suspected”. In Fed parlance, “hawks” typically worry more about inflation and are less concerned with keeping unemployment low, while “doves” take the opposite view.

“There seems to be only limited support for beginning to taper the monthly asset purchases anytime soon,” Ashworth said.

After the June meeting, the Fed issued a statement and a set of economic projections that signaled that it would potentially dial back its low-interest rate policies earlier than it had previously projected. The policymakers forecast that they would hike the Fed’s benchmark short-term interest rate twice by the end of 2023. In March, they

had indicated no rate hikes would occur before 2024.

The minutes showed Fed officials expressed optimism about the economy, even as they said it was still far from meeting their employment and inflation goals.

Policymakers “observed that economic activity was expanding at a historically rapid pace, led by robust gains in consumer spending,” the minutes said.

Most Fed officials expected inflation to decline in the coming months as some supply chain bottlenecks eased, the minutes said. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly said that recent jumps in consumer prices would

be temporary and largely reflected disruptions surrounding the reopening of the economy.

But “a substantial majority” of policymakers said that there was a risk inflation could stay higher than expected, “because of concerns that supply disruptions and labor shortages might linger for longer and might have larger or more persistent effects on prices and wages than they currently assumed”.

Most economists still expect a reduction, or tapering, of bond purchases to begin by late this year or early next year, with an announcement of the change potentially occurring in late August at the Fed’s annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Some differences over the timing of the tapering have emerged among the Fed’s regional bank presidents, with Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan saying last week that he favored pulling back on the purchases “sooner rather than later”.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, in an interview with The Associated Press, said last week that it would be “appropriate” to consider tapering later this year or early next year. But she cautioned that the economy is “far from full employment”.

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, REGINALD THOMAS SMITH of Maria Ave, East Park Estates, P. O. Box EE-15969, Nassau, Bahamas intend to change my name to THOMAS REGINALD SMITH. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 11

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 8, 2021, PAGE 17

Stocks close higher, led by gains for tech; bond yields drop Associated Press WALL Street capped a day of choppy trading yesterday with more record highs for stocks and another drop in bond yields that sends mixed signals about investors’ confidence in the market.

The S&P 500 recovered from an early stumble and rose 0.3% to an all-time high. The benchmark index snapped a seven-day winning streak of high closes a day earlier. The Nasdaq composite also set a record high, its third straight.

Technology, industrial and health care companies accounted for a big share of the gains. Apple rose 1.8%, Otis added 2% and Biogen gained 3%. Those gains were kept in check by a slide in other sectors, including energy, which fell as oil prices dropped 1.6%.

The bond market continued to draw buyers, a trend that has pulled yields sharply lower this week despite economic data showing the economy continues to recover from the pandemic. The yield on the ten-year Treasury fell to 1.32% from 1.37% a day earlier.

“There’s a pretty clear disconnect between stocks and bonds,” said Jon Adams, senior investment strategist at BMO Global Asset Management.

The S&P 500 rose 14.59 points to 4,358.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 104.42 points, or 0.3%, to 34,681.79, while the Nasdaq inched up 1.42 points, or less than 0.1%, to 14,665.06. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks slid 21.66 points,

A MAN wearing face a mask walks past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong yesterday.

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower yesterday after US services activity weakened.

Photo: Kin Cheung/AP or 1%, to 2,252.85.

Stock indexes and Treasury yields had little reaction to the minutes from the June meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers, which showed Fed officials discussed the timing of reducing bond purchases that they have used to keep longer-term interest rates in check.

The discussions signal that the Fed is moving closer to a decision to taper those purchases, though most analysts don’t expect a reduction until late this year. After the last meeting, Fed policymakers said they planned to raise interest rates as soon as 2023, which was sooner than the market expected.

“The bond market is agreeing with what the Fed has talked about in terms of transitory inflation and maybe going a step further and saying we’re not real sure about how resilient this recovery is going to be once some of the stimulus

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, CRYSTAL LASHAN MAJOR of the Western District of New Providence, Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to CHRYSTAL LASHAN MAJOR. If there are any objections to this change of name

by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, N.P., Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that EREKA JOSEPH, of Palm Tree Avenue, Coconut Grove, 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 1st day of July 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that DINA BROWN, of Marshall Road, South Beach, 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 1st day of July 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JOHN ROCK, of Gibbson Corner, 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 1st day of July 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

starts to fade,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at All Star Charts. “If there’s some uncertainty about equities, investors are taking this chance to move back into bonds a little bit.”

Longer-term Treasury yields have tumbled since the spring as traders back away from big bets built on expectations for a powerful pickup in inflation and economic growth.

The yield on the tenyear Treasury sank as low as 1.28% yesterday, down from its perch above 1.75% in March. A month ago, it was trading at around

1.62%. The last time bond yields moved lower so quickly was in March 2020 when the pandemic effectively shut down the US economy.

Longer-term yields tend to move along with investors’ expectations for inflation and economic growth, and both are still very strong and much higher than they’ve been in recent years. But investors along Wall Street increasingly suspect they’ve already topped out as the economy moves past the initial catapult phase of its recovery from the pandemic.

A report on Tuesday showed growth in the US services industry slowed last month, for example, and by more than economists expected.

A wide range of other reasons are behind the sharp drop in yields in recent months, said Adams. Chief among them is growing doubt in the market that the Fed would allow inflation to stay above 2% for a while before raising rates or making other moves to stamp it out, regardless of its new policy to do just that.

Adams also pointed to worries that new variants of COVID-19 could drag down the global economy and

increased buying of Treasurys by buyers from countries whose bonds were offering even less in yields.

Lower bond yields can be good for many parts of the economy, however. Mortgage rates are tied closely to bond yields, and government borrowing costs fall when the cost of issuing bonds decreases.

What’s been perhaps as striking as the swift drop for

Treasury yields is the relative calmness in the stock market.

“There’s a fundamental reset going on right now where investors are looking beyond 2021 and 2022,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.

“Once we get beyond the recovery, the next normal is probably going to look like the last normal.”

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that YVONNIA BLANC, of Pinewood Gardens, Nassau, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of July 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that DENICHANDA LAURIKA VINGILE, of Kanl Road, 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 1st day of July 2021 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

WEDNESDAY, 7 JULY 2021

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

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BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 6.50 33.95 1.62 2.90 1.78 6.00 6.96 3.60 5.32 3.90 6.16 12.00 2.75 7.76 10.71 9.55 14.44 4.10 8.97 16.00

52WK LOW 3.13 22.65 1.46 1.62 1.43 5.00 6.00 2.70 4.25 2.47 5.00 9.75 2.10 4.90 9.50 8.35 13.00 3.42 8.00 15.20

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 0.90

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

SYMBOL LAST CLOSE AML 6.40 APD 39.95 BBL 1.60 BFH 2.61 BOB 1.44 BPF 6.00 BWL 6.96 CAB 3.53 CBB 4.75 CBL 2.48 CHL 5.95 CIB 10.20 CWCB 2.36 DHS 7.05 EMAB 11.18 FAM 9.55 FBB 13.99 FCL 3.70 FIN 8.30 JSJ 15.50

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

BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

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

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 90.65 100.34 100.95 100.29 100.05 100.62 100.46 100.47 100.67 100.27 100.31 100.47 100.37 100.47 100.37

52WK HI 2.43 4.47 2.17 202.18 190.86 1.69 1.81 1.78 1.12 8.58 10.26 7.35 14.59 12.84 10.31 10.00 10.43 14.89

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.67 1.73 1.75 1.03 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y BGRS FX BGR129239 BGRS FL BGRS32021 BGRS FL BGRS63021 BGRS FL BGRS70023 BGRS FL BGRS70024 BGRS FL BGRS77024 BGRS FL BGRS79026 BGRS FL BGRS79027 BGRS FL BGRS80027 BGRS FL BGRS81027 BGRS FL BGRS81037 BGRS FL BGRS84033 BGRS FL BGRS95022 BGRS FL BGRS97033 BGRS FL BGRS99032

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.00 (0.02) 0.00 0.00 0.29 0.00 0.00

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 0.00

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGR1292394 BSBGRS620212 BSBGRS630211 BSBGRS700238 BSBGRS700246 BSBGRS770249 BSBGRS790262 BSBGRS790270 BSBGRS800277 BSBGRS810276 BSBGRS810375 BSBGRS840331 BSBGRS950221 BSBGRS970336 BSBGRS990326

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.60 100.19 100.27 100.05 100.77 100.72 100.62 100.82 100.52 100.58 100.70 100.50 100.79 100.50

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.60 100.19 100.27 100.05 100.62 100.72 100.62 100.82 100.52 100.58 100.70 100.50 100.79 100.50

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 (0.15) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00 100.00 100.34 100.95 100.53 100.30 100.62 100.70 100.47 100.67 100.27 100.31 100.70 100.37 100.79 100.37

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

CLOSE 6.40 39.95 1.60 2.61 1.44 6.00 6.96 3.53 4.75 2.48 5.95 10.20 2.39 7.05 11.16 9.55 13.99 3.99 8.30 15.50

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Financial Conservative Fund Leno Financial Aggressive Fund Leno Financial Balanced Fund Leno Financial Global Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

VOLUME

1,000

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.110 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

460 5 30 176 100 3,000 110 50 50 50 60 20 60 257 200 NAV 2.43 4.47 2.17 202.18 190.86 1.69 1.75 1.76 1.03 8.58 10.14 7.35 14.59 12.64 9.99 N/A 10.43 14.89

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.030 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 26.8 42.9 N/M N/M N/M N/M 18.9 -8.1 33.9 13.5 13.3 14.1 23.4 15.1 17.3 13.1 17.1 19.7 8.8 24.6

YIELD 2.66% 3.15% 1.25% 1.15% 0.00% 0.00% 3.74% 0.00% 0.00% 4.84% 3.70% 7.06% 18.16% 0.85% 2.94% 2.51% 3.86% 3.01% 2.41% 3.94%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 5.04% 4.81% 4.81% 4.53% 4.56% 4.50% 4.53% 4.56% 4.56% 4.56% 4.87% 4.68% 4.27% 4.31% 4.30%

20-Nov-2029 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2022 15-Apr-2039 30-Jul-2021 12-Dec-2021 29-Jul-2023 29-Jul-2024 4-May-2024 28-Mar-2026 28-Mar-2027 9-May-2027 26-Jul-2037 26-Jul-2037 22-Sep-2033 25-Sep-2022 17-Apr-2033 23-Sep-2032

YTD% 12 MTH% 1.85% 4.26% 0.77% 1.44% 1.14% 2.84% 0.14% 5.02% 3.25% 31.13% 1.04% 0.20% -2.27% -3.15% -0.08% -0.57% -1.94% -3.33% 1.14% 4.22% 1.09% 3.04% 1.01% 4.65% 4.93% 42.27% -1.56% 0.80% -0.60% -4.90% N/A N/A 3.00% 25.60% 7.90% 48.70%

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price

52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity

52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks

Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity

Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume

Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price

Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume

Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week

Change - Change in closing price from day to day

EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths

Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today

NAV - Net Asset Value

DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months

N/M - Not Meaningful

MATURITY

NAV Date

31-May-2021 31-May-2021 28-May-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-May-2021 31-May-2021 31-May-2021 31-May-2021 28-Mar-2021 28-Mar-2021 28-Mar-2021 28-Mar-2021 28-Mar-2021 28-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021

P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

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

PAGE 18, Thursday, July 8, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR KICKS OFF $1BN STATEWIDE CLEANUP PLAN

SAN FRANCISCO Associated Press

GOV Gavin Newsom yesterday kicked off California’s $1.1bn plan to clean trash and graffiti from highways, roads and other public spaces, an effort he said will beautify the state and create up to 11,000 jobs.

“This is an unprecedented effort to acknowledge what all of us recognise as we drive around this state: It’s too damn dirty!”

Newsom said from the side of a San Francisco Bay

Area highway.

At-risk youth and people who were formerly homeless or formerly incarcerated will be given priority for the jobs created by the three-year program. In the last week, 400 people have already been hired or offered a job, Newsom said.

The cleanup comes amid growing frustration with homeless encampments that have sprouted under highway overpasses and near freeway exit and entry ramps throughout California in the past few years.

The encampments have

grown during the pandemic, and many are crammed with discarded sofas, mattresses and other trash.

An estimated 161,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the nation’s most populous state, more than in any other. Advocates say they can’t house people quickly enough with a shortage of housing units and high rents.

The Clean California program funds are not allowed to be used to displace people experiencing homelessness.

The Democratic governor, who faces a recall

election this year, pointed out yesterday that he has proposed $12bn to get more people experiencing homelessness off the streets and into homes of their own.

“When our teams are out there on encampments notifying people of our intent to clean up an encampment, we’re doing so with more resources than any time in California history to follow through on our commitment to get people housed, and get people out of these dangerous environments,” he said in Richmond.

California’s transportation

agency, Caltrans, is responsible for maintaining many of the roadways but has struggled to keep up. Newsom’s office said Caltrans collected 270,000 cubic yards of trash in 2020 — enough to load 18,000 garbage trucks.

Newsom said the biggest single investment the state previously made to remove litter from public spaces was $110m. He later traveled to Fresno, in central California, and helped a Caltrans crew pick up trash from the side of a highway in 95-degree weather. He also planned to visit Southern California

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 74° F/23° C

TAMPA

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Breezy with a shower or t‑storm

Partly cloudy

Pleasant with some sunshine

Clouds and sun with a shower

A shower; breezy in the morning

Clouds and sun, a shower; breezy

High: 90°

Low: 79°

High: 90° Low: 79°

High: 89° Low: 79°

High: 89° Low: 79°

High: 90° Low: 78°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

100° F

87° F

100°-85° F

97°-84° F

98°-85° F

99°-85° F

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

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

8‑16 knots

S

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 79° F/26° C

8‑16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

E S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

W

uV inDex toDay

FRIDAY

N

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

TONIGHT

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

MIAMI

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 79° F/26° C

6‑12 knots

KEY WEST

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 79° F/27° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

N

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

tiDes For nassau High

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

2.2 3.0

1:43 a.m.

1:26 p.m.

0.5 0.2

8:07 a.m.

8:34 p.m.

2.3 3.1

2:25 a.m.

2:07 p.m.

0.4 0.2

Saturday

8:48 a.m.

9:13 p.m.

2.3 3.2

3:04 a.m.

2:48 p.m.

0.3 0.2

Sunday

9:29 a.m.

9:52 p.m.

2.4 3.2

3:44 a.m.

3:29 p.m.

0.3 0.2

Monday

10:11 a.m.

10:32 p.m.

2.5 3.2

4:22 a.m.

4:11 p.m.

0.3 0.3

Tuesday

10:54 a.m.

11:13 p.m.

2.5 3.1

5:02 a.m.

4:56 p.m.

0.3 0.4

Wednesday 11:40 a.m.

11:57 p.m.

2.6 3.0

5:42 a.m.

5:44 p.m.

0.3 0.4

Today

7:25 a.m.

7:54 p.m.

Friday

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:26 a.m.

8:03 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

5:03 a.m.

7:13 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Jul. 9

Jul. 17

Jul. 23

Jul. 31

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

N

S

E

W

8‑16 knots

S

10‑20 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 ................................................... 88° F/31° C Low .................................................... 79° F/26° C Normal high ....................................... 88° F/31° C Normal low ........................................ 75° F/24° C Last year’s high ................................. 92° F/34° C Last year’s low ................................... 81° F/27° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday .................................. trace Year to date ................................................. 9.76” Normal year to date ................................... 15.04”

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

as part of several events to highlight the cleaning plan.

John Cox, a Republican candidate for California governor, campaigned in Fresno hours earlier with an 8-foot ball of trash he uses to tout his homelessness plan, which calls for forcing homeless people into mental health or addiction treatment before providing them with housing.

The beautification plan will be a partnership with cities and counties, which will receive one-third of the money in grants, the governor said.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

10‑20 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 87° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

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

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 87° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 80° F/27° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 89° F/32° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

12‑25 knots

12‑25 knots

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

Today: 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 SE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 12‑25 Knots E at 12‑25 Knots SE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots S at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 6‑12 Knots SE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots SE at 12‑25 Knots E at 12‑25 Knots ESE at 12‑25 Knots ESE at 12‑25 Knots ESE at 12‑25 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots SE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 12‑25 Knots E at 12‑25 Knots SE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots

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

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 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. 83° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 79° F 79° F 83° F 83° F 84° F 84° F 83° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 84° F 84° F 83° F 83° F 83° F 84° F