business@tribunemedia.net
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
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DAVE BECKFORD
Negotiating ‘in the dark’ fears on hotel talks By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER hotel union presidential candidate has voiced concern that a new industrial agreement is being negotiated “in the dark” with members unaware of what is being done on their behalf. Dave Beckford, who led Team Destiny in its unsuccessful 2013 election bid, told Tribune Business it was “not fair and right” that Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) members did not know the salary increases and benefits improvements being sought. He explained that his concerns had been sparked after union president, Darren Woods, told this newspaper on July 23 that he had agreed with the resort industry’s bargaining agent, the Bahamas Hotel and Restaurant Employers Association, not to discuss the details or progress of the industrial agreement negotiations publicly. This follows a rocky period in Bahamian hotel industry labour relations that saw the union burn the employers’ initial proposal with its members subsequently voting to strike, although no action has yet been taken. The Employers Association responded by accusing the union of riling up its members to take a strike vote over “issues that simply do not exist”, pointing out that the industry had never sought the elimination of the 15 percent automatic gratuity as suggested by the BHCAWU. The apparent “gag” on any public statements concerning the negotiations’ progress, or lack thereof, is likely designed to prevent a repeat of this situation and the possibility of any industrial action. But Mr Beckford, while accepting a bar on any public statements, said union members had a right to know what was being negotiated on their behalf. Several other hotel union members spoken to by Tribune Business confirmed they knew nothing about the terms their representatives were seeking, and Mr Beckford said: “He [Mr Woods] still has the obligation to tell the members what’s in the union’s proposal. “You don’t have to talk publicly, but the membership is supposed to know. I have no objection to not saying anything publicly, but the members want to
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‘Surprise’ at just three Nassau Flight offers By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A
SENIOR government official yesterday voiced surprise that the Nassau Flight Services (NFS) privatisation had attracted just three bids from potential Bahamian purchasers. Algernon Cargill, director of aviation, told Tribune Business that “a lot more than three” had been expected based on the level of inquiries and information requests that were sparked by the release of the formal privatisation tender. Declining to identify the bidder trio, he said an evaluation committee featuring a mixture of “outside experts” and Ministry of Tourism officials will now be formed to review the offers and make a recommendation to
ALGERNON CARGILL the government on which, if any, it should accept. Mr Cargill said the committee would aim to complete its work “within the next 30 days”, and added that a franchise arrangement - where a
A “BAD mortgage” acquirer is aiming to further relieve distressed borrowers and their lenders by expanding into unsecured loan purchases, it was revealed yesterday. Sir Franklyn Wilson, whose group is one of the investors behind Gateway Financial, told Tribune Business that the joint venture involving an arm of the World Bank was “exceeding every expectation in terms of how much good it is doing” for all sides of The Bahamas’ delinquent loan crisis.
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• Gateway Financial moving beyond mortgages • Sir Franklyn: ‘It’s exceeded every expectation’ • Family of seven hail ‘not being thrown on street’
SIR FRANKLYN WILSON
While unable to place a value on the distressed loans acquired from Bahamian commercial banks, Sir Franklyn said Gateway’s “very material” impact had eradicated the doubts previously harboured by the Christie Cabinet’s members who had initially been reluctant to approve the venture. He shared with Tribune Business an e-mail received on Saturday from a mother of seven, expressing gratitude
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
that Gateway had managed “not to throw us out on the streets” and instead given them “a fresh start”, as one example of how the debt restructurer’s work is benefiting Bahamians. “Gateway Financial quietly, quietly is doing a yeoman’s work in terms of keeping people in their homes,” the Sunshine Holdings chairman said. “You
low level of interest in Nassau Flight Services, and said: “Based on the response from the Request for Proposal, and the explanations and clarifications sought, we were expecting a lot more than three. We were surprised.” It is unclear why the privatisation tender did not attract more interest, given that the airport ground handling services provider’s annual $8m revenues place it well within the range of the Bahamian investor groups targeted by the government. The Minnis administration has long made clear that it views Nassau Flight
Distressed debt acquirer’s unsecured loan expansion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Law firm urges ‘clarification’ on $13m judgment BAHAMIAN law requires further “clarification” following the Privy Council verdict that allowed a liquidator to serve a $13.148m “claw back” claim outside this nation, it was argued yesterday. Attorneys for ZCM Asset Holding Company (Bermuda) Ltd, whose resistance to being served was finally defeated at the highest court in the judicial system, said the ruling’s effect is to enable the Bahamian courts to exercise “extraterritorial” authority over insolvency claims even though this is not provided for by statute law. Lennox Paton, in a statement, said the Privy Council had “painstakingly wove a needle” through multiple different procedures to enable the liquidator of a Bahamas-based investment fund to serve legal proceedings on their client in a bid to “claw back” a “voidable or fraudulent preference” it had allegedly received. The law firm, whose senior partner, Brian Simms QC, and Sophia Rolle-Kapousouzglou, represented ZCM, argued that one effect of the verdict was to provide International Business Company (IBC) liquidators with a “claw back” provision that their Companies Act counterparts do not have. In a statement pointing out this discrepancy, Lennox Paton said the Companies Liquidation Rules 2012 do not allow claims to be served outside The Bahamas - something that was not addressed by the Privy Council. Noting that the newlyappointed Chief Justice, Brian Moree QC, had appointed a committee to address the “long outof-date Bahamian Court
• Aviation chief: ‘A lot more expected’ • Recommendation to Cabinet in 30 days • Govt to ‘franchise if can’t get desired price’ bidder would lease Nassau Flight Services’ assets and assume total responsibility for managing the company’s daily operations - remained an option if the government did receive its “desired” price for the business. “There were three bids. They were opened today,” Mr Cargill revealed to this newspaper. “The next step is that an evaluation committee will review the bids and make a recommendation to the Cabinet. The Cabinet will make a final decision. The committee cannot accept or reject; it can only make a recommendation based on the bids.” The aviation director admitted that officials were surprised by the relatively
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Minister not intervening in Sky Bahamas dispute By NATARIO MCKENZIE and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters A CABINET minister yesterday declined to intervene in the dispute that has prevented Sky Bahamas from flying for three weeks and left it on the brink of financial collapse. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, instead urged Captain Randy Butler, the airline’s principal, to continue meeting with the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority and “work out” his differences. Addressing the matter ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr D’Aguilar said: “I believe, although I haven’t confirmed, that he had discussions with the regulator. I want to be very clear: No minister of
• D’Aguilar: Airline must figure it out • Sky chief hits out on NAD debt tie • Operator ‘past point of no return’
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR
CAPT RANDY BUTLER
aviation with any sense is going to intervene on a safety issue. “If Sky Bahamas has a matter before the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority, it’s up to him to figure out
how to get the necessary approvals in order for him to obtain his air operating certificate (AOC).” Mr D’Aguilar continued: “I don’t have the technical expertise to intervene on
his behalf; this is something he has to work out with the regulator. The aviation sector is highly regulated with a lot of technical standards and technical rules, which the regulator knows and the operating airlines know. “He needs to sit with the regulator and work out what difference he has in order to bring ease and calm to the matter, and put the regulator at bay to fulfill all of the requirements that he has.” Captain Butler last night confirmed that Sky Bahamas’ AOC, which is the permit required for an
airline to carry fare-paying passengers, had still not been renewed as he accused regulators of linking the matter to debts the airline allegedly owes to Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD). Arguing that the AOC was a separate issue from any debt owed to the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) operator, and that the two should not be linked, Captain Butler told this newspaper: “They’re now attaching the fact we owe NAD, which is a completely separate organisation from the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority.” Tribune Business understands that NAD and Sky Bahamas are now embroiled in a Supreme
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