07222019 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019

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BTC chief: Unite or company dies

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) trade unions have been warned their tactics “could be fatal” to a business that has lost $110m in annual revenue in less than three years.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, bluntly told the worker representatives to “stop finding a dark cloud behind every silver lining” otherwise the former government

Bran: Get ‘right Atlantis buyer’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) ex-leader yesterday urged the government to use its influence to ensure “the right buyer” is found for Paradise Island’s Atlantis resort.

While acknowledging that the Minnis administration cannot interfere in a private

BRANVILLE MCCARTNEY sale, Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that it could seek out developers and operators with the experience of owning/running mega resorts and point them in Brookfield Asset Management’s direction.

International reports that the Toronto-based asset manager is seeking to sell Atlantis are of little surprise

SEE PAGE 3

BTC to offer ‘much more’ in new VSEP

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) top executive has pledged that new voluntary separation (VSEP) packages will be “considerably more” generous than in previous downsizings.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, confirmed to Tribune Business that the former governmentowned monopoly is in the planning stages for another

VSEP as it bids “to create the impetus for a cultural evolution in the business” to help it cope with everincreasing competition.

Leaders of the two trades unions representing BTC staff on Friday suggested that the carrier was hoping around 100 staff would accept the packages, although Mr Sinclair said numbers and costs had yet to be determined.

He emphasised that it was “voluntary”, with no forced

SEE PAGE 6

adjust its business model and properly compete with the likes of Cable Bahamas and Aliv.

Revealing that BTC had just agreed terms on a new industrial agreement with its management union, following closely behind a similar deal agreed with the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) for the line staff, Mr Sinclair said he was

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BTC owner proposing 25,000 homes spend

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GARRY SINCLAIR

• Warns unions: Your tactics ‘could be fatal’ • Revenue down $110m in just three years • Carrier faces ‘existential crisis’ unless adapts monopoly will face “an existential crisis” as it tries to “win again” in a fiercely competitive communications market.

In an impassioned call for unity within BTC, Mr Sinclair told Tribune Business that both the line staff and management union must “resist the temptation to fall back into ancient habits and practices from the monopoly days” if the carrier is to

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at a loss when it came to identifying their continued grievances and instinct to “fight at every step”.

Voicing disquiet at the two unions’ seeming tendency to “sow dissent and extend controversy at the first sign of adversity”, Mr Sinclair argued that the “vast majority” of BTC workers and consumers now

SEE PAGE 4

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) ultimate parent is proposing a “huge” investment to extend its fibre network past another 25,000 homes, not the buy-out of the government’s stake in the carrier.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, told Tribune Business “nothing could be further from the truth” in response to suggestions from the president of its line staff union that Liberty Latin America (LiLAC) offered to acquire the government’s 49 percent stake in the business when its senior executives met the prime minister recently.

The BTC chief revealed that the only concession

BUY OUT GOVT? ‘NOTHING FURTHER FROM TRUTH’ sought by Liberty was a shortterm “tax holiday” on import duties that would be levied on the equipment required to extend the fibre-to-the-home network - something that it had agreed could also be granted to Cable Bahamas/ Aliv for their rival network.

If this investment proceeded, Mr Sinclair said 70 percent of New Providence homes would be passed by a combination of BTC’s fibreto-the-home network and copper network overlay to give all customers access to “must have” high speed Internet services.

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PAGE 2, Monday, July 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BTVI HELPS GLOBAL WOMEN IN IT PUSH THE Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) recently joined a worldwide push to encourage women to consider educational and career paths in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

A one-day Girls Power Tech conference, sponsored

by Cisco, was held at the BTVI New Providence and Grand Bahama campuses.

Cisco is a global player in information technology (IT), networking and cyber security solutions.

Participants had the opportunity to interact with women who are technology professionals, and who shared stories about their careers and their vision for a technologically advanced future. The girls were selected from students who are already a part of the Government’s three-year Information and Communications Technology (ICT) programme.

St John’s College student, Kaitlyn Micklewhite, who is in her second year of the ICT programme, said: “Not a lot of girls are exposed to IT the way we are being exposed.

We are gaining lots of knowledge in cryptocurrency and blockchains, in basic IT, advanced fundamentals and in programming.

“It has helped me a lot in IT in school. It has been a platform to do better in the subject. The world is moving with technology and I want to be a part of the advancement and be able to contribute.”

Danielle Issacs, a Queen’s College student, added: “We’re learning more IT and working on blockchains…it’s really hard, but it’s fun. I feel lucky to be chosen to part of the programme, and would like to use my IT knowledge in business.”

New Providence participants toured Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) data centre, while

MINISTER Johnson speaking at the luncheon.

QUEEN’s College student, Danille Issacs (left), and St John’s College student, Kaitlyn Micklewhit, were two selected to participate in a one-day Girls Power Tech conference sponsored by Cisco. The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) is a facilitator of the programme

SHOWN here are participants of the Cisco Girls Power Tech conference, facilitated by BTVI. From left: Kalista Miller, Stenasia Wilson and Clarece Moxey. The one-day conference was held at BTVI’s New Providence and Grand Bahama campuses. those in Grand Bahama visited Cable Bahamas and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

There was also a video conference with Cisco representative, Monica Gomez.

BTVI’s chair of information technology, Anthony Ramtulla recalled how the IT programme had advanced from having just five female participants to a student population that was now 50 percent women.

“I thank the Prime

Minister for making this whole venture possible. This is his idea; BTVI is facilitating it. You are a seed that has been planted to move this country into a new era,” said Mr Ramtulla.

Mr Ramtulla believes the programme will help create the next generation of software engineers, network engineers and information technology managers.

Leroy Sumner, associate vice-president of academic affairs, added: “Technology

runs the world. If you don’t be a part of it, you will be left behind. It is driving everything. You are in the right place at the right time.”

He told participants: “Stay focused. All of the other things will follow; they can wait. Be young, upstanding women. Don’t get into the programme and demean yourselves. Take your rightful place. There is a place for you somewhere in The Bahamas, somewhere in the world.”

The ICT programme was developed at a time when there is a wide gap between the number of men and women working in the field. According to Cisco, women comprise 27 percent of workers in the computer science, engineering and physics fields in some of the world’s emerging economies.

Last year, 123 students from private and public schools in New Providence were awarded certificates after completing phase one of the three-year ICT programme. There were 175 students combined between the programme in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

LUNCHEON attendees.

Minister unveils Govt position on arbitration A CABINET minister has addressed a luncheon hosted by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Elsworth Johnson, newly-appointed minister of financial services, trade and investment and Immigration, spoke at Luciano’s

Restaurant after he was invited to state the country’s position on arbitration amid government moves to create an arbitration centre on Grand Bahama in the near future. The Institute’s 2019 executive committee was also installed.

Photos: Patrick Hanna/BIS

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 22, 2019, PAGE 3

CENTRAL BANK IS LATEST BISX BROKER MEMBER BAMSI NO RIVAL TO

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Central Bank is becoming the seventh BISX broker/dealer member in the latest step towards the eventual listing and trading of government debt via the stock exchange.

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX), in a statement, confirmed that the Central Bank is not becoming a member to conduct securities trading on behalf of individual investors.

Instead, the move is part of the broader effort to list Bahamas Registered Stock (BRS), which is debt issued by the government, on BISX. The Central Bank’s membership will allow it to trade directly in the secondary debt market should it see

Bran: Get ‘right Atlantis buyer’ FROM PAGE ONE and nothing new, given that Tribune Business reported in February how a previous purchase backed by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund had fallen through.

That, though, confirmed that Brookfield is willing to sell if it gets its price and the correct deal. Mr McCartney, though, argued that the Government should not sit idly by during any sales process given the importance of Atlantis in terms of employment and the Bahamian economy’s overall well-being.

He added that the fact any purchaser would have to negotiate a Heads of Agreement with the government gave the Minnis administration some leverage, as well as the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause in Atlantis’s current deal that ensures the resort is treated no less favourably than any rival properties.

The former DNA leader added that The Bahamas needed to ensure a new owner was a resort developer

the need. Primary issues will still be carried out through the Central Bank as issuing agent for the government.

Keith Davies, BISX’s chief executive, said: “We are extremely pleased to welcome the Central Bank of The Bahamas as our newest member. This is a momentous day in the Bahamian capital markets, as the Central Bank takes this action which allows it to transact directly on the exchange.

“When considered in conjunction with the upcoming listing of all BRS on the exchange, and the dematerialisation of all BRS, these initiatives position the Central Bank to continue to modernise its monetary policy framework. In the long term, these moves will promote the creation of a market-driven yield curve in The Bahamas that should

allow all other securities to be priced more efficiently.”

Mr Davies continued: “The Central Bank went through a modified due diligence process compared to a private entity.

We applied our membership rules and modified them in instances where the items were not relevant; for example. in requiring proof of registration with The Securities Commission of The Bahamas.

“In the end, as with any other applicant, we presented all relevant information to the BISX membership committee who made the decision to approve the Central Bank.

We would like to thank the governor and staff of the Central Bank for their assistance during this review process.”

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s

governor, said: “Through the bank’s presence on the exchange, we wanted to ensure that there continued to be ample liquidity in the secondary market for government securities. Retail investors, particularly, must be able to complete trades without delays.

“As necessary, the Bank will step in as counterparty to trades, to minimise execution delays. In the first instance, though, the bank will only quote its bid and offer rates, and allow market participants to conclude their own trades in mutual agreement with these rates or through a price discovery process that uses these rates as a baseline. Otherwise, the bank continues to be the registrar for government bonds and will perform this function for all such trades executed over BISX.”

with the capacity to grow the Atlantis brand, rather than any “fly by night” entity that would seek to flip the property for profit several years later.

“There’s a clause that runs with that particular property, an MFN clause, no matter who owns it. We’ve seen it with Kerzner International, and then with the new owners,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business. “With that clause being there, it’s incumbent that the government takes a closer look.

“I know it’s a private entity and the government may not be able to direct who purchases the property, but they can influence and have some input over who gets it as they will have to negotiate with the buyers a lot with that clause.

That should give the government some leeway.

“The property is so significant to the economy of the country, so the government ought to take a clear look at who the purchasers are or influence persons to look at the property if Brookfield wishes to sell,” he continued.

“Atlantis, because of its employment and contribution to the economy, you want to ensure the owners of that property are sound, legitimate and will continue

to build the brand. You don’t want a fly-by-night person coming there; you want a person who will improve the product substantially so, at the end of the day, it benefits The Bahamas.

Mr McCartney added that Atlantis, with its alreadyrecognised brand name and prime location on Paradise Island, should not prove a difficult sell despite Baha Mar’s presence nearby.

Pointing to recent reports of high Atlantis occupancy levels, he said The Bahamas’ recent “double digit” increases in arrivals and visitor spending should reassure potential buyers that the two high-end resorts have not spilt the market for premium visitors as many had feared would happen.

“Tourism has been on the increase for The Bahamas as a whole. If there’s a time to sell, now’s a good time for that type of business,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business. “We want the right buyer who will increase the brand, grow the brand internationally.

“You don’t want an entity in it for investment purposes who will flip it a few years down the line to make money.

You want a Sir Sol Kerzner to build the brand and

enhance it; those persons who are in the business of resort development, not buying a property and selling it.”

Brookfield Asset Management holds $330bn of global real estate and other properties, among which is Atlantis. More an asset manager of underlying real estate, hospitality and resorts are not its speciality, whereas retail and commercial office space are. It is also thought to have become much more involved in Atlantis’s day-today operations than it likes.

Brookfield has also twice refinanced Atlantis’ debt, the last transaction occurring in mid-2018, and previously sold the Ocean Club to Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries to raise principal to pay down that debt.

Morningstar Credit Ratings, the investment analysis firm which assigned the highest “triple-A” rating to the most senior financing tranches in Atlantis’ last $1.85bn refinancing, revealed in a July 2018 report that the resort “feels strongly” that Baha Mar’s emergence will not impact its long-term performance after net operating income jumped 27 percent for the 2018 first quarter.

BAHAMIAN FARMERS THE Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) is “here to support our farmers, not compete with them”, a senior executive has pledged.

Dr Raveenia RobertsHanna, its executive director, challenged concerns that the Institute is in direct competition with Bahamian farmers, many of whom already feel there is a general lack of support for the industry.

“We are here to support our farmers. We are not here to compete with them because, for too long, farmers have said nobody is checking for them. And they have issues, they have problems, so it’s important that we have a system that allows us to facilitate their needs as best as we can,” Dr Roberts-Hanna said during her address to the 2019 Andros Business Outlook.

She also focused on the tertiary level academic programmes that are in place to ensure future Bahamian farmers have both a theoretical and practical grounding in agriculture, with an emphasis on best practices.

Dr Roberts-Hanna added that even if an aspiring student was in the midst of a financial crisis, it would not negate their chances of being admitted into BAMSI, as full and partial scholarships are available. She was also pleased to highlight that upon

completion of their studies, graduates are less likely to succumb to unemployment, as their attendance at the Institute provides them with a number of job opportunities.

“I got job offers for 12.

They want 12 BAMSI students. Solomon’s wants a produce manager, and they’ve earmarked that just for a BAMSI student. Enviroscape just last week wanted eight students as managers. They know that when they come to BAMSI, they get that hands-on practical experience and exposure,” Dr Roberts-Hanna said.

She highlighted why BAMSI was founded, and why those reasons – to help build a food secure nation, to advance the level of education and training amongst industry participants and stakeholders, and to implement sustainable measures that support the overall health of the environment, industry, economy and citizens - is still relevant considering the current state of food security in the Bahamas. This nation still imports around $1bn in food imports annually.

Part of the Institute’s response to this challenge are its five associate degree programmes – agriculture, marine science, aquaculture, environmental science and agribusiness. Five new degree programmes are expected to be added for the upcoming fall term.

PAGE 4, Monday, July 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BTC chief: Unite or company dies FROM PAGE ONE wanted to “move on” following last week’s controversy.

While acknowledging the hurt and upset caused

by Balan Nair, chief executive of Liberty Latin America (LiLAC), in his remarks about Bahamian worker productivity and attitudes, Mr Sinclair said the necessary apologies had been made quickly. And he used the comments by the head of BTC’s ultimate parent to lay down a challenge to his staff and the two trade unions.

He argued that the fallout “should stiffen resolve” among BTC workers to achieve the vision he has set out for the carrier, namely to “prove” that it is the best communications operator in the region and then the world.

Mr Sinclair said the “tremendous reservoir of

goodwill” among Bahamian consumers towards BTC, as result of its history and brand recognition, meant that its turnaround and transformation into a market leader could be achieved “in a very short space of time “ - but only if management, unions and workers were “aligned” as one.

“I’m imploring our union partners to resist the temptation to sow dissension and extend adversarial controversies beyond when everyone else has moved on,” the BTC chief told Tribune Business.

“In times of adversity we need to pull together in a competitive fashion and I don’t see us doing that. Let us not succumb to this reflexive need to fight and sow dissension when everyone else has decided to move on.

“It’s unnecessary and inexplicable when the work done to adjust the operating model has been solid, and

we’ve been able to get industrial agreements that we’d not been able to achieve in the previous two years,” Mr Sinclair continued.

“We’d made the accommodations required that allow us in conjunction with our union partners to adjust the operating model, yet at the first sign of adversity they’re sowing more dissent and extending the controversy. There are instincts that could be fatal to our business, and our union partners do not have experience in a competitive environment.”

Mr Sinclair, a Jamaican, who has headed communications operations in both his home nation and Caribbean-wide for Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), BTC’s immediate parent, suggested that the latter’s two unions are using “ancient practices” to get their own way which are simply ill-suited for the competitive environment

in which the company finds itself.

He added that BTC has no choice but to “adjust its business operating model” given the sharp drop in revenues that resulted from the November 2016 end to its mobile monopoly, which traditionally accounted for between two-thirds to 70 percent of its top-line, due to the entrance of Aliv. Otherwise, he warned, BTC’s long-term survival may be at stake.

“What is the grievance exactly? We’ve just signed two industrial agreements that were outstanding for two years,” Mr Sinclair told Tribune Business. “This is not an effort to blame anyone. I just think instinctively we’re relying on instincts from another time. Our instincts need to be to relying on our competitive instincts and what we need to do to compete against the competition.

“We are actually moving ahead and concluding agreements we’ve been unable to conclude for the past two years. We’ve managed to do that by making concessions to the unions to finalise the operating model that’s appropriate for the operating environment we’re in.

“We’re no longer a $330m a year revenue business.

We’re a $220m business.

If we don’t make that adjustment we’re in an existential crisis. It’s been tough to make adjustments to the operating model now that it has one-third less revenue.

The ability to do that has been tough.”

Describing the need to work with BTC’s unions as “a privilege but a challenge”, Mr Sinclair said the carrier’s main competitors - BISXlisted Cable Bahamas and its Aliv mobile subsidiary - were able to adjust their business models at a moment’s notice, and as they saw fit, because they were operating in a nonunionised workplace.

BTC does not have that luxury, and Mr Sinclair said the portrayal of their industrial agreement as only an unsigned deal “in principle”

by BCPOU union president, Dino Rolle, highlighted his contention that the unions are seeking to find fault where there is none.

“It shows again an absolute determination to find a dark cloud behind every single lining,” Mr Sinclair argued. “They’re trying to claw it back, trying to downplay and denigrate this agreement by saying it’s in principle.

“We have a written Heads of Agreement signed between us and the union, laying out the substantive terms of the Heads of Agreement. We’ve just got an agreement with the management union on the same basis. They keep looking for dark clouds behind every silver lining to extend dissension, extend contention. We continue to ask: Where is the need for this dissension?”

While many outside observers will likely agree with Mr Sinclair’s comments, his stance risks further stoking industrial tensions at BTC. These passions rose sharply last week after Mr Nair’s address to staff of Liberty’s Jamaican subsidiary, Flow Jamaica, went viral on social media in which he appeared to unfavourably compare BTC workers with their Jamaican counterparts.

Mr Sinclair, who was present at that meeting, told Tribune Business that Mr Nair’s comments had been taken “out of context” because he was speaking specifically about his experience when he visited BTC’s Mall at Marathon store.

The BTC chief emphasised that the remarks were “not aimed at the Bahamian people”, and pointed out that Mr Nair had rapidly apologised for any hurt caused to both the prime minister and wider public.

However, both the BCPOU and Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) have publicly rejected Mr Nair’s apology. And, just an hour after Tribune Business’s interview with Mr Sinclair, they staged a protest walk

around BTC’s head office demanding that both he and the Liberty Latin America chief resign.

This is unlikely to deter Mr Sinclair, who pledged to Tribune Business that he will be “relentless” in executing his and CWC/Liberty’s plans for BTC given his conviction that he is taking the carrier on “the right road”.

Describing last week’s controversy, and the fragile state of labour relations, as “a bump in the road”, he added: “We’re doing the hard work to win currently, and don’t want to be derailed by reflexive, knee jerk reactions - the ancient approach to industrial relations that pits one segment of the organisation against another and sows dissent in an environment where we’re trying to win again.

“I’m sure my union partners’ intentions are pristine but we know what the road to hell is paved with... For the life of me, this preposterous inclination to find a dark cloud behind every silver lining and to extend controversy rather than put it behind us as fast as we possibly can is disingenuous and not progressive.

“Let’s not focus on going down rabbit holes with this business. If we continue to go down that road, a cloud behind every silver lining, we’re not going to escape from the trap we’re in. Let’s not be fighting every step of the way. This sense of going to hell in a hand basket approach, nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr Sinclair continued.

“We’re falling back into old habits that were effective in the past when we were a monopoly, but can’t be considered effective today. What we have to do is compete better. That’s what we have to do... The focus has to be on how we compete more, and more effectively. I don’t think our entire business has enough experience at it. Our union partners only have experience in a monopoly environment.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 22, 2019, PAGE 5

BTC owner proposing 25,000 homes spend FROM PAGE ONE Arguing that Liberty and Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), its subsidiary and BTC’s immediate parent, were “putting their money where their mouth is” through the proposed investment, Mr Sinclair said the plan would enhance “the green shoots” of recovery that the former government monopoly can see in its business.

He revealed that the loss of mobile subscribers to Aliv was reaching “a plateau”, with BTC “well ahead” of its 2019 target to cut “net churn to half the rate” of 2018. And BTC was said to be adding 200 fixed-line voice and broadband internet customers a day - a rate that Mr Sinclair described as “unprecedented”.

The BTC chief said this effort had been boosted by “a restructured sales infrastructure” that involved moving its franchisees from billing/collection agencies to selling the carriers products and services. He added “the mean time to install” new customers and give them service had been reduced by over 80 percent - from 500 hours to 80 hours average - in less than a year.

Whereas previously franchisees had received a three percent commission on the customer payments

they collected, this has now been switched to the products and services they sell.

Mr Sinclair also revealed that BTC’s sales effort had been “operating at half capacity” because its franchisees’ stores had not been connected to the carrier’s billing and provisioning systems.

This fault has now been rectified, and Mr Sinclair said BTC was already “seeing results” from simple but fundamental, common sense reforms to the way its business is structured and operated.

He also warned that renationalising BTC, as some trade union leaders had urged the government to do in the wake of controversial comments by Balan Nair, Liberty Latin America’s chief executive, would be “an absolute disaster” given the demands of a fast-evolving, competitive global communications market.

Responding to the “suspicions” of Dino Rolle, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union’s (BCPOU) president, who suggested the “investment proposal” submitted to the government was for Liberty to buy-out its BTC stake, Mr Sinclair blasted: “Nothing could be further from the truth.

“There was no proposal to acquire the other

49 percent, certainly not during the meeting I was at with the prime minister a couple of weeks ago. That was the only proposal.

“The proviso was made that there needed to be a bit of a duty holiday, which could be provided to the competitor as well.

We didn’t want any special favour, and it didn’t have to be interminable - it could be 90 days, just to bring in equipment to pass another 25,000 homes.”

Mr Sinclair declined to put a figure on the proposed investment, but described it as “huge” and “not just an investment in BTC, but the people and economy of The Bahamas”.

Revealing that Liberty’s commitment to the government had come following an “operations review” conducted by Mr Nair and his fellow executives on BTC, Mr Sinclair added: “When passing another 25,000 homes with fibre-to-thehome is done, and added to the 35,000-37,000 homes passed to-date, 70 percent of homes [on New Providence] will have high speed internet access.

“That will ensure broadband speeds of well over 100 megabytes per second.

We’re gaining a tremendous amount of success selling off of this footprint. We’re selling upwards of 200 revenue generating units per day, which is unprecedented for us, as we’re selling with a network that’s robust and provided first-class Internet access. Internet access is the must-have utility.”

The BTC chief added that the carrier intended to be

The Bahamas’ “partner of choice” in enabling Nassau and its residents to “leverage technology” to the point where they enjoyed a “smart city” and “smart homes”, respectively.

“If we can get a country like The Bahamas connected to that kind of speed, that will put you well on the way to creating a smart city and smart government,” Mr Sinclair said.

“There is a road map here for The Bahamas because it is so advanced, and GDP per capita so high, and the average revenue per user in The Bahamas is so high.

We’re putting in infrastructure to place The Bahamas in the 21st century world.”

Elsewhere, Mr Sinclair said BTC’s loss of mobile subscribers to Aliv had been on “a fairly steep decline”, with the rate of attrition falling by 32,000 in 2018 compared to the prior year. He added that 2019 to-date had produced further evidence that these customer losses were starting to bottom out.

“The target was to cut prior year churn in half,” Mr Sinclair said of BTC’s 2019 mobile targets. “We’re well ahead of that target, and would have been even further ahead but we made some decisions with respect to subsidised handsets and our investment in subsidised handsets.

“We’re going to revisit that in the second half, and you’ll find us way more competitive there.” He added that BTC also planned to introduce a “simplified” range of new mobile plans, along with a “fresh-fixed line proposition”, that customers will find “particularly compelling” heading into the 2019 second half and final quarter.

Describing BTC as “the provider of choice” on business solutions and services, Mr Sinclair added that the carrier was moving to improve the 30 percent broadband Internet market share, and ten percent TV/ video share, that it enjoyed when he took over in August 2018.

“We’ve done a ton of work in restructuring our sales infrastructure,”he told Tribune Business.

“Our franchisees used to be bill collection agencies; we were paying them three percent commission for collecting bills.

“We’ve totally reorganised the commission structure to incentivise them to sell products and services, as opposed to bill collection. We’ve reduced the number of franchisees so they’re not falling over each other. We’ve rationalised the whole network.

“I think we separated from between five to ten franchisees, and have

reduced the number of stores in the footprint,” Mr Sinclair added. “We’ve completely reorganised the commission structure so they’re incentivised to do the things we want them to do.

“They are connected to our billing and provisioning system, which they weren’t before. They can now actually sign up a customer and get it in our provisioning system so that they are scheduled in real time, rather than going on a waiting list. We’ve done the heavy lifting to improve the retail store capacity.”

Mr Sinclair said the failure to connect BTC franchisees to the billing and provisioning system had meant the carrier was functioning “at half our sales capacity”. He admitted: “Where we’ve fallen down is in our sales capacity. We had half the retail network incapable of selling the fixed network because they were not connected to the billing and provisioning system.

“We had people collecting bills instead of selling products and services on the ground. We’re now seeing results and are getting results.” BTC is also encouraging its franchisees to engage in door-to-door and pop-up sales as a means of going directly to consumers rather than waiting for them to visit them.

PAGE 6, Monday, July 22, 2019

BTC to offer ‘much more’ in new VSEP FROM PAGE ONE

redundancies will be involved, and said that unlike other VSEP-type exercises at other stateowned enterprises (SOEs) he would not stand in the way of any BTC employee wishing to leave.

Other entities, especially Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), rejected numerous VSEP requests on the grounds that the persons involved had specialist skills for which there were no

ready replacements. However, Mr Sinclair pledged this would not occur, saying: “I want people who want to be here.”

He told Tribune Business on Friday: “I can confirm we are going to engage in another VSEP here. It’s going to be voluntary, and there’s no set number in mind. As part of this thing we have to look at numbers to get a sense of the costs, but the VSEP is going to help us create the impetus for the cultural evolution

THE TRIBUNE in the business that’s going to happen as we evolve from this monopoly environment into a competitive environment.

“Yes, a VSEP is more than likely going to occur, but it will be voluntary.

The package is going to be attractive enough for any colleague who feels they’ve come to the end of the road in this business, don’t like what the leadership is doing with this business, they will be able to put their hands up and say they’d like to avail themselves of this and we will be able to accommodate them.”

BTC currently has some 700 employees, of whom 520 are full-time staff. The remainder are contract workers, and Mr Sinclair

said he was unsure “what the contention” of BTC’s two unions, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) and the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), would be in relation to the likely VSEP exercise because it was voluntary as opposed to being forced.

He added that their opposition was another example of the unions’ tendencies “to find a dark cloud behind every silver lining, which they need to resist if we are not going to become extinct”. Yet within an hour of his interview with Tribune Business on Friday, both unions were demanding Mr Sinclair’s resignation and alleging VSEP negotiations had failed.

However, the BTC chief told Tribune Business: “We’re definitely in the planning phase. We want to execute it properly and sensitively, and create as soft a landing as possible for colleagues that put their hands up, and mare sure we’re prepared for what the business and operating model will look like afterwards.

“My belief is if people put up their hands and say they want to go, we’re going to have to restructure this business in a way that allows us to deliver a solid customer experience, products and services without them... I want people who want to be here.

“All I can say is that the packages we are planning

for, and contemplating, are going to cost considerably more than last year for the same number of people for planning purposes. When you go from being a $330m revenue business to a $220m business you have to change the operating model; you can’t stay the same.”

Mr Sinclair said BTC, which two decades ago had around 2,000 employees, had always used voluntary separation exercises to reduce the size of its workforce. Historically there have been no forced mass redundancy exercises.

Meanwhile, the BTC chief said that the carrier’s existing 35-40 Bahamian contact centre employees will remain in The Bahamas following the prime minister’s opposition to its relocation to Guyana.

However, Mr Sinclair said the issue needed to be considered against the backdrop of “what modern contact centres are like and where they are headed”, and the established practices of multinationals such as BTC’s parent, Liberty Latin America, to consolidate certain back office operations into regional “centres of excellence” for greater efficiencies and economies of scale.

Confirming that Dr Hubert Minnis had “made clear he was not going to countenance” the replacement of Bahamians with expatriates, Mr Sinclair said BTC had a “well-educated, hard working cadre of

employees and colleagues that are Bahamian”.

He added, though, that Liberty and Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) executives had made clear to Dr Minnis that the call centre initiative was not aimed specifically at The Bahamas, but was a regionwide issue for all territories in which they operated.

Mr Sinclair added that the BTC call centre currently processes some 50,000 calls a month, or 600,000 a year. He said it was unable to handle such a volume, so any “overflow” of calls that do not require specialist local knowledge are being dealt with in other centres such as Jamaica and Trinidad.

Describing the meeting with Dr Minnis and his team as “a good conversation”, and that they “get it”, Mr Sinclair told Tribune Business: “We can’t think about contact centres in a static way any more. It’s evolving before our eyes, and we have to give customers the experience they want.

“It’s just explaining and getting people to appreciate the paradigm shift, that the business is evolving, and thinking about it in traditional terms is going to be irrelevant pretty soon. We need to get our heads around that. If we don’t evolve we will get left behind and become extinct like other businesses that didn’t see the signs and adapt.”

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ASSISTANT OFFICE MANAGER An established company is presently considering applications for an Assistant Office Manager. The position is open to candidates who possess the following:Qualifications Highly detail-oriented Able to work independently and multi-task, Excellent verbal and written communication skills A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent Must have a minimum of three (3) years of experience relevant to the responsibilities and computer literate Accounting experience a plus All interested applicants should email resume to nassaurecruitment@gmail.com

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 22, 2019, PAGE 7

What consumers can do as regulators weigh compounds’ risks WASHINGTON Associated Press AT FIRST, Tomas Monarrez didn’t notice the labels when he went shopping for pots and pans.

“Completely toxin free!” said a big green message on a line of nonstick frying pans in the cookware aisle at a store in the nation’s capital.

“No PFOA!” boasted the label on a 12-piece kitchen set. “Will never release any toxic fumes,” another label promised.

“Oh, wow,” Monarrez, an economist at a think tank, said, when asked if he had ever heard of the toxic chemicals that manufacturers were declaring their products free of.

“I didn’t know anything. Should I buy these?”

Monarrez asked. “So all these are bad?

Federal regulators are sorting out how to handle health risks from a group of widely used nonstick and stain-resistant compounds.

But even reading labels may not be enough to guide consumers who want to limit their exposure to the manmade industrial material, known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Scientists say there are many steps people can take to minimise their contact with the compounds, which federal toxicologists say show links to health problems.

Some changes are simple, such as checking on the safety of your drinking water or buying different pots and pans. Others require spending and lifestyle changes — for example, passing up fast food or other takeout because the containers the food may be packaged in.

For those concerned about exposure, there’s one critical thing to know about PFAS compounds: “They’re everywhere,” Linda Birnbaum, head of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, told a recent gathering of her agency’s advisory council.

“The carpets and the chairs and maybe the clothes you’re wearing,” Birnbaum said. She noted she used to love the ritual of spraying Scotchgard on newly bought tablecloths. No more, she made clear.

There are thousands of different versions of the compounds, including PFOA and another early version, both now phased out of production in the US PFAS are used in products including nonstick

A LABEL states that these pans do not contain PFAS. For consumers, the health information that state and local governments and industry are releasing about a family of nonstick and stainresistant compounds - known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS - can be a lot like the label messages on those pots and pans: a confusing mix of reassurances and alarm.

Photo: Ellen Knickmeyer/AP cookware, but also in stainand steam-resistant bags for microwave popcorn and many other food containers and packaging, shaving cream, dental floss, stain protection for fabrics and rugs and outdoor garb — for starters.

Federal studies of people heavily exposed to the compounds have found links between high blood levels of older kinds of PFAS and a range of health problems, including liver issues, low birth weights, and testicular and kidney cancer. High levels also have been found in many drinking water systems. Military installations that use PFAS-laden firefighting foam and businesses that work with PFAS are two big sources of water contamination.

It’s probably impossible to avoid all exposures, says Leonardo Trasande, a children’s environmental health specialist and vice chair for research at New York University’s pediatrics department, and a PFAS expert.

But there are “safe and simple steps to limit exposure based on what we know,” Trasande says.

Trasande himself recommends two precautions. One is shunning nonstick cookware in favor of cast iron or stainless steel, Trasande said. That’s despite statements from industry and manufacturers that newer forms of PFAS in nonstick cookware are safe.

The other is eschewing food packaging as much as possible. In practice, that can require changing habits — cutting your consumption of takeout and packaged food, and committing to cooking more at home, from scratch.

“Literature does suggest that diet is a major route of exposure,” Trasande noted.

JOB OPPORTUNITY Nursing Assistant Establish medical and surgical centre seeks an experienced nursing assistant. BLS certification and operating theatre experience required Email resume to

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People also can contact their local water utility to find out if their water system is one of those testing with higher levels of PFAS, Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Andrea Drinkard said.

Eating certified organic food can guard against PFAS exposure from fields treated with treated human sewage sludge because federal rules prohibit use of the sludge on organically raised crops and livestock, environmental groups say.

Older forms of the compounds are known to build up in people’s bodies for years. And the chemical bonds holding PFAS compounds together are among the toughest going, so they are expected to take thousands of years to degrade.

There’s no across the board consensus on whether newer versions of the thousands of kinds of PFAS are safe. Industry says they are and that there’s no reason to swear off all nonstick cookware and PFAS-treated food packaging.

“Consumers should have confidence in the safety of products manufactured with today’s PFAS because they have been reviewed by regulators globally and found to meet relevant standards that are protective of health and the environment,” Jessica Bowman, executive director of the FluoroCouncil industry trade group, said in an email.

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FOCOL HOLDINGS LTD. DIVIDEND PAYMENT FOCOL is pleased to announce a dividend payment of 2 cents per share to all ordinary shareholders of record as of July 31, 2019 payable August 12, 2019 through THE BAHAMAS CENTRAL SECURITIES DEPOSITORY.

“Fuelling Growth For People”

PAGE 8, Monday, July 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

JAPAN’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono, centre, speaks to the media after meeting with South Korean Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan Pyo, at foreign ministry in Tokyo on Friday. Japan has summoned South Korea’s ambassador to protest Seoul’s refusal to join in an arbitration panel to settle a dispute over World War II labour.

Japan vows action if S Korea hurts companies in trade row TOKYO Associated Press JAPAN’S foreign minister said Tokyo will take “necessary measures” against South Korea if interests of Japanese companies are harmed in an escalating dispute over World War II forced labour.

The neighbouring countries and US allies are quarreling over South Korean court decisions ordering Japanese companies to compensate victims of forced labour during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Friday after summoning South Korean Ambassador Nam Gwan-pyo that Tokyo is prepared to take “necessary measures” to protect the interest of Japanese companies, without giving details.

Their talks were held in an icy atmosphere, briefly turning confrontational.

“It is extremely problematic that South Korea is one-sidedly leaving alone the situation that violates the international law, which is the foundation of our bilateral relationship,” Kono told Nam. “The action being taken by the South Korean government is something that completely overturns the order of the international community since the end of the World War II.” Kono urged Seoul to immediately take action to stop the court process, under which the plaintiffs of the lawsuit are preparing to seize assets of the Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industry.

Nam defended his government and mentioned Seoul’s proposal of creating a joint fund as a way to settle the dispute. Kono raised his voice, saying Tokyo had already rejected the idea. He also criticised the ambassador for being “rude” to suggest it again.

Japan says all compensation issues had been settled under the 1965 bilateral agreement and that the South Korean government’s lack of intervention to stop the court process is a breach of the international treaty.

Tokyo is considering taking the issue to the International Court of Justice, although some officials say South Korea is expected to refuse going to court. Tokyo may seek damages from South Korea in case assets of Japanese companies are seized, Japanese media reported.

Responding to Kono’s remark, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Japan still hasn’t done enough

to make amends for the sufferings South Koreans had gone through during the colonial past and that it should discuss ways to find solutions acceptable to both sides.

“To genuinely resolve the problem, Japan must look straight into the unfortunate past and make efforts to heal the pain and scars of the victims,” the ministry said. “We hope that the Japanese government would withdraw its unilateral pressure including the export restrictions of retaliatory character and return to the stage of diplomatic resolutions.”

Seoul has protested Japan’s tightened controls on sensitive high-tech exports to South Korea that could affect South Korean manufacturers as well as global supplies of smartphones and displays.

In Washington, President Donald Trump said on Friday he had been approached by South Korean President Moon Jae-in asking if he could help with the dispute with Japan.

“If they need me, I’m there. Hopefully they can work it out. But they do have tension, there’s no question about it,” he said, adding “it’s a full-time job getting involved between Japan and South Korea.”

The trade dispute adds to their already strained relations.

In Seoul, a 78-year-old South Korean man died hours after setting himself ablase near the Japanese Embassy on Friday, police said.

Police said the man had phoned an acquaintance earlier to say he planned to self-immolate to express his antipathy toward Japan.

Kim’s family told investigators that his father-in-law had been conscripted as a forced labourer during the Japanese occupation.

Seoul has accused Tokyo of weaponising trade to retaliate against the South Korean court rulings on compensating forced labor and plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

Tokyo said the export control issue has nothing to do with historical disputes but that the materials in question can be sent only to trustworthy trading partners. Without presenting specific examples, it has questioned Seoul’s credibility in controlling the exports of arms and items that can be used for civilian and military purposes.

South Korea has proposed an inquiry by the UN Security Council or another international body on the export controls of both countries.

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 22, 2019, PAGE 9

PUERTO RICO GOV WILL NOT SEEK REELECTION, LEAVES HIS PARTY

PUERTO Rico Gov Ricardo Rossello speaks during a press conference in La Fortaleza’s Tea Room, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Rossello summoned the press a few hours after a riot took place near the executive mansion, where protesters demanded Rossello step down after a leak of profanity-laced and at times misogynistic online chat with nine other male members of his administration.

Photo: Carlos Giusti/AP SAN JUAN Associated Press PUERTO Rico Gov Ricardo Rosselló said last evening that he will not resign in the face of public furor over an obscenitylaced leaked online chat, but he will not seek reelection or continue as head of his pro-statehood political party.

Protesters said they were not satisfied by Rosselló’s concessions, and pledged to continue demonstrations that have filled the streets of Old San Juan for more than a week.

“He’s stretching things out. We had hoped he’d taken the decision to resign. He’s making the people’s pain last longer,” said Emmarie Morales, a protester from southeast coastal town of Patillas. She said the governor’s decision would not end the protests. “He’s given us more strength to protest. We aren’t going to sit around watching Netflix.”

In a brief video posted on Facebook, Rosselló also said he looked forward to defending himself against the process of impeachment, whose initial stages are being explored by Puerto Rico’s legislature.

“In spite of everything, I recognise that apologising isn’t enough, that only my work will help restore confidence ...,” the governor said. “Facing that scenario, I announce to you that I will not seek re-election next year.”

The 889 pages of chat on the encrypted app Telegram between the governor and 11 close allies and members of his administration, all men, showed the governor and his close advisers insulting women and mocking constituents, including the victims of Hurricane Maria.

Since the chat leaked July 13, hundreds of thousands of outraged Puerto Ricans have marched to Rosselló’s official residence in the largest protest movement on the island since Puerto Ricans successfully demonstrated to demand an end to US Navy military training on the island of Vieques more than 15 years ago.

Puerto Rico’s justice secretary, Wanda Vázquez, would assume the governor’s role under the territorial constitution’s line of succession if Rosselló should quit.

The upheaval comes as the US territory is struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria and trying to restructure part of $70bn in debt amid a 13-year recession in this territory more than three million American citizens who do

not have full representation in Congress or a vote for president.

“Today, I have the great responsibility to direct my efforts, and those of my administration, to keep searching for ways and means for us, united before God, to be able to keep guiding our island,” the governor said.

This morning, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans are expected to take over one of the island’s main highways to demand Rosselló’s resignation as legislators considered whether to take the first steps of the impeachment process.

Arriving late yesterday to prepare for today’s march was Nicole Quintana, a 32-year-old dentist, along with her husband and their 3-month-old son.

“We had to do it for him,” she said, gesturing to her son. She said they drove about two hours from the coastal town of Isabela to participate. “Finally people have said: ‘Enough is enough. This ends here.’”

Pressure on Rosselló to step down has grown throughout the week as the chorus calling for his resignation grew to include Puerto Rico music superstars Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny and Residente and a string of US politicians including Congress members from both parties, several Democratic presidential candidates and Puerto Rico’s non-voting representative in Congress.

Rosselló was elected governor in November 2016 with nearly 50% of the vote, and he had already announced his intention to seek a second term. A graduate of MIT with a doctorate in genetics, he is the son of former Puerto Rico Gov Pedro Rosselló, who flew to the island to marshal support after the chat was made public.

The governor belongs to the New Progressive Party, which seeks statehood for the island, and he is also a Democrat. Most of his time has been spent seeking federal funds since Hurricane Maria devastated the island on Sept 20, 2017, and battling austerity measures implemented by a federal control board that Congress set up to oversee the island government’s finances.

The upheaval against Rosselló prompted at least four cruise ships to cancel visits to Puerto Rico, and many officials worry about the impact a resignation would have on the already fragile economy as the island rebuilds from Maria, a Category 4 storm that caused more than an estimated $100bn in damage.

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PAGE 10, Monday, July 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

UK Treasury chief vows to quit if Boris Johnson becomes PM LONDON Associated Press BRITISH Treasury chief Philip Hammond said

yesterday that he will quit if — as widely expected — Boris Johnson becomes prime minister this week on a promise to leave the

NOTICE SHARON TRADING CORP. N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a)

SHARON TRADING CORP is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 18th July, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said company is BLUE SEAS ADMINISTRATION LTD of the Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley and Charlotte Streets, P.O.Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

BRITAIN’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street for the House of Commons to attend Prime Minister’s question time, in London. Hammond says he will quit if, as widely expected Boris Johnson becomes prime minister. Hammond said yesterday that Johnson’s vow to take the UK out of the European Union on Oct 31, with or without a divorce deal is “not something that I could ever sign up to”.

European Union with or without a divorce deal.

Hammond said Johnson’s vow to press for a no-deal Brexit if he can’t secure a new agreement with the

Dated this 22nd day of July, A. D. 2019 ______________________________

Blue Seas Administration Ltd. Liquidator

NOTICE

EU is “not something that I could ever sign up to”.

Hammond was almost certain to be removed from office by the new leader in any case. He has angered

NOTICE

HOPE HELPS LIMITED

FERMI LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a)

HOPE HELPS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 18th July, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said company is CST Administration (Bahamas) Limited of the Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley and Charlotte Streets, P.O.Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

(a)

FERMI LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 18th July, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said company is Leeward Nominees Limited, Vistra Corporate Services Centre, Wickhams Cay 11, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

Dated this 22nd day of July, A. D. 2019

Dated this 22nd day of July, A. D. 2019

______________________________

Leeward Nominees Limited Liquidator

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

(242) 323-2330

FRIDAY, 19 JULY 2019

NOTICE PANTALAIMON INVESTMENTS LTD

______________________________

CST Administration (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

Brexit-backers, who now dominate the governing Conservative Party, with his warnings about the economic pain that leaving the EU could cause.

Hammond told the BBC that if Johnson wins, “I’m not going to be sacked because I’m going to resign before we get to that point.”

Johnson is the strong favorite to win a twoperson runoff to lead the Conservative Party and the country. The winner is being announced tomorrow, with the victor taking over from Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday.

Britain is due to leave the EU on Oct 31 but Parliament has repeatedly rejected the divorce deal struck between May and the bloc. Both Johnson and his rival Jeremy Hunt, the

(242) 323-2320

(a)

PANTALAIMON INVESTMENTS LTD is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 18th July, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said company is Leeward Nomi nees Limited, Vistra Corporate Services Centre, Wickhams Cay 11, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,204.47 | CHG: -0.46 | %CHG: -0.02 | YTD: 95.02 | YTD%: 4.50 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.50 20.91 7.00 5.60 2.60 2.00 3.00 11.75 6.17 4.64 12.50 2.74 2.20 10.00 7.01 15.60 8.07 3.75 14.00

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 4.90 4.02 1.00 0.19 2.00 9.17 6.13 3.54 8.59 2.35 1.75 7.51 6.10 11.25 6.20 3.01 13.00

PREFERENCE SHARES 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 103.00 100.00 100.00 105.00 103.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Commonwealth Bank Class Commonwealth Bank Class Commonwealth Bank Class Commonwealth Bank Class Commonwealth Bank Class Commonwealth Bank Class Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

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

E J K L M N

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

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

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

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA CBLE CBLJ CBLK CBLL CBLM CBLN FBBA FCLB

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

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

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

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

LAST CLOSE 4.18 17.43 6.00 5.39 2.49 1.95 2.18 11.75 6.16 4.45 9.02 2.83 2.20 10.16 7.00 15.45 7.98 3.38 14.00

CLOSE 4.18 17.43 6.00 5.39 2.49 1.95 2.18 11.75 6.16 4.45 9.02 2.87 2.20 10.11 7.00 15.45 7.98 3.37 14.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 -0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.01 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

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

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

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

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

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

VOLUME 182

1,200 200 1,890

183 105 1,000 425

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.240 0.932 1.760 0.323 0.098 0.000 -0.438 0.708 0.480 0.184 0.627 0.102 0.467 0.000 0.611 0.743 0.939 0.203 0.631

DIV$ 0.160 1.260 0.000 0.250 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.720 0.220 0.120 0.000 0.068 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.200 0.120 0.600

P/E 17.4 18.7 N/M 16.7 N/M N/M -5.0 16.6 12.8 24.2 14.4 28.1 4.7 N/M 11.5 20.8 8.5 16.6 22.2

YIELD 3.83% 7.23% 0.00% 4.64% 0.00% 1.03% 0.00% 6.13% 3.57% 2.70% 0.00% 2.37% 2.73% 3.24% 3.43% 3.50% 2.51% 3.56% 4.29%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

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

INTEREST Prime + 1.75%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022

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

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

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.24 4.29 2.06 188.32 158.55 1.62 1.76 1.70 1.15 7.72 8.97 6.77 11.25 12.14 10.63 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.56 1.68 1.64 1.08 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

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

NAV 2.24 4.29 2.06 188.32 154.49 1.62 1.76 1.70 1.15 7.72 8.97 6.77 11.25 12.14 10.57 9.92 8.68 11.38

YTD%12 1.55% 1.18% 1.11% 2.06% 4.52% 1.57% 0.99% 1.32% 3.22% 3.25% 3.82% 2.59% 8.44% 3.87% 1.84% -0.71% 7.40% 10.20%

MTH% 3.97% 4.17% 2.71% 4.97% 0.96% 4.58% 4.25% 4.12% 5.64% 6.65% 8.36% 4.81% 0.78% 4.17% 2.29% 0.16% 2.70% 1.30%

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

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

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | FG CAPITAL MARKETS 242-396-4000 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

current foreign secretary, say they will leave the EU without an agreement if the EU won’t renegotiate.

Most economists say quitting the 28-nation bloc without a deal would cause Britain economic turmoil.

The UK’s official economic watchdog has forecast that a no-deal Brexit would trigger a recession, with the pound plummeting in value, borrowing soaring by 30 billion pounds ($37bn) and the economy shrinking 2% in a year.

But Johnson, who helped lead the “leave” campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, says a no-deal Brexit will be “vanishingly inexpensive” if the country prepares properly.

The EU insists it won’t reopen the 585-page divorce deal it struck with May. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said yesterday that the bloc is “simply not going to move away from the Withdrawal Agreement”.

“If the approach of the new British prime minister is that they’re going to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement, then I think we’re in trouble,” he told the BBC. “We’re all in trouble, quite frankly, because it’s a little bit like saying: ‘Either give me what I want or I’m going to burn the house down for everybody.”

Hammond is the third UK minister within a week to quit or say they will resign in order to try to prevent a cliff-edge Brexit.

Britain looks set for a fall showdown between the new Conservative government and British lawmakers determined to thwart a nodeal exit.

NAV Date 31-May-2019 31-May-2019 31-May-2019 31-Mar-2019 31-Mar-2019 30-Apr-2019 30-Apr-2019 30-Apr-2019 30-Apr-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019

Dated this 22nd day of July, A. D. 2019

______________________________

Leeward Nominees Limited Liquidator

NOTICE NEVER ON A SUNDAY LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a)

NEVER ON A SUNDAY LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 18th July, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said company is BLUE SEAS ADMINISTRATION LTD of the Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley and Charlotte Streets, P.O.Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 22nd day of July, A. D. 2019

______________________________

Blue Seas Administration Ltd. Liquidator

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that WILLYN GEFFRARD of Central Pines, Abaco, 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 15th day of July, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, July 22, 2019, PAGE 11 COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

2018/CLE/qui/00434

IN THE SUPREME COURT Common Law & Equity Division IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF ROSALEE CARROLL ROBERTS AND LESTER CARROLL AND IN THE MATTER OF THE QUIETING TITLES ACT, 1959 AND

FROM left, Yi Huiman, chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, Liu He, vice premier, Li Qiang, top party official of Shanghai, and Ying Yong, Shanghai’s mayor, celebrate the launch of the SSE STAR Market, previously referred to as the Shanghai science and technology innovation board in Shanghai. Trading is expected to start today on the Chinese stock market for high-tech companies that play a key role in official development plans that are straining relations with Washington.

China launches STAR, tech stock market to boost industry BEIJING Associated Press TRADING starts today on a Chinese stock market for high-tech companies that play a key role in official development plans that are straining relations with Washington.

Regulators have approved 25 companies in information technology and other fields seen by communist leaders as a path to prosperity and global influence for the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market.

The market, modeled on the US-based NASDAQ, reflects the ruling Communist Party’s desire to channel private capital into its development plans. It gives small Chinese investors a chance to buy into tech industries that until now have turned to Wall Street to sell shares.

The STAR Market has no direct link to Beijing’s tariff war with President Donald Trump over US complaints China steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. But it will raise money for industries some American officials see as a competitive threat to US technology leadership.

“The new board’s

important role is to provide a fundraising channel for China’s scientific and technologic innovation,” said economist Lu Zhengwei at Industrial Bank in Shanghai.

China’s stock exchanges in Shanghai and the southern city of Shenzhen were set up in the early 1990s to raise money for state industry. They have expanded to include private enterprises but still are dominated by government-owned companies such as PetroChina Ltd. and China Mobile Ltd. Companies such as e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com and search operator Baidu.com have raised billions of dollars on Wall Street. But foreign stock sales are inconvenient and expensive for smaller companies.

The STAR Market has more lenient standards for profitability and price volatility than the main exchanges. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange launched its own second board, dubbed ChiNext, in 2009 for small, faster-growing companies.

Companies that have yet to make a profit can trade on the Shanghai tech board if they spend at least 15%

of revenue on research and development or have drugs or other technologies in advanced development. By contrast, the main board requires at least two years of profits before a company can join, a condition that has limited access for fledgling ventures.

Allowing companies to sell shares before they are profitable will encourage development of Chinese venture capital by allowing early investors to recover some of their money, said Lu of Industrial Bank.

Shares on the new market can swing by 30 percent in price before regulators will impose a 10-minute trading halt. The main exchanges halt trading for the day of any stock that rises or falls 10 percent in price.

In addition to companies due to start trading today, the Shanghai exchange said it was reviewing applications from 116 other ventures for initial public share offerings.

A state-owned maker of railway controls accounts for the bulk of the market’s share value. China Railway Signal & Communication Co, Ltd said it raised 10.5 billion yuan ($1.5bn) from investors.

IN THE MATTER OF ALL THOSE TWO (2) PARCELS OF LAND COMPRISING 3.3999 ACRES OF LAND SITUATE IN THE SETTLEMENT OF GRAY’S LONG ISLAND WHICH IS A PORTION OF A PARCEL OF LAND GRANTED TO CASSANDRA WELLS CARROLL _______________________________________________ NOTICE _______________________________________________ The Petition of ROSALEE CARROLL ROBERTS and LESTER CARROLL both of the settlement of Grays, Long Island one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in respect of:ALL THOSE two (2) parcels of land comprising 3.3999 acres of land situate in the settlement of Gray’s Long Island which is a portion of a parcel of land granted to Cassandra Wells Carroll and being bounded northwardly by land said to be the property of Laurence Carroll and running 410.24 feet thereon and bounded eastwardly by land owned by Mavis and Joseph Treco and running 175.10 feet thereon and bounded southwardly by land owned by Mavis and Joseph Treco and running 175.00 feet thereon and bounded southwardly by a road reservation running 440.62 feet thereon and southwestwardly by land said to be the property of Laurence Cartwright and running 907.14 feet thereon ROSALEE CARROLL ROBERTS and LESTER CARROLL claim to be the owners in fee simple in possession of the above captioned pieces parcels or lots of land hereinbefore described and such ownership arises by 1 virtue of possession of the said land.

Copies of the filed plan may be inspected during normal office hours at:1. The Civil Registry of the Supreme Court, Marlborough House, Marlborough Street, Nassau, The Bahamas 2. The Chambers of Cash Fountain, 11 Armstrong Street, Nassau, The Bahamas 3. The Office of the Administrator, Clarence Town, Long Island, The Bahamas NOTICE is given that any person having dower or right of dower or any adverse claim or a claim not recognized in the Petition must on or before the 8th day of August A.D., 2019 file in the Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioners and the undersigned a Statement of their claim in the prescribed form, verified by an Affidavit to be filed therewith together with a plan of the area claimed and an Abstract of Title to the said area claimed by them.

Failure of any such person to file and serve a Statement of their claim on or before the 8th day of August A.D., 2019 shall operate as a bar to such claim.

CASH FOUNTAIN Chambers 11 Armstrong Street Nassau, The Bahamas Attorneys for the Petitioners

2