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FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020
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Govt may ‘trim Bahamian duo reject sails again’ on ‘collusion’ allegations Isaias impacts By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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UPER Value’s president and The Bahamas’ marinas chief yesterday vehemently denied claims they “colluded” with a property manager to help deprive a condo owners group of thousands of dollars. Rupert Roberts and Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business there was “no truth at all” to allegations by 11 Bimini Sands homeowners associations that they had enabled Miami-based KW Property Management
• Super Value and marina chiefs: ‘No truth at all’ • Bimini Sands owners target property manager • Demanding $719k over ‘unauthorised transfers’
RUPERT ROBERTS
to access its Florida-based bank account for the purpose of making “unauthorised transfers”. The claims were made in a lawsuit filed this week in the Miami-Dade County Judicial Circuit Court, which is seeking $729,593 in “treble damages” from KW over its former role as property manager at the Bimini-based development that Mr Roberts sold last year. Neither the Super Value
chief nor Mr Maury is named as a defendant in the action, but the homeowners associations - representing condo owners who had purchased their properties during the first 11 phases of Bimini Sands’ development - are alleging that some of the monies taken by KW were wrongly applied to cover fees owed by Mr Roberts on 63 units that had yet to be sold.
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GB ‘needs Isaias like hole in head’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GRAND Bahama and its ailing economy “need Isaias like we need a hole in the head”, the island’s Chamber of Commerce president told Tribune Business last night. Greg Laroda said businesses and residents alike, already in the middle of a two-week lockdown to curb the surge in Grand Bahama’s COVID-19 cases, were “waiting with bated breath” to see what the predicted hurricane will do when it reaches Grand Bahama. With Isaias projected to strengthen into at least a category one storm by the time it reaches Grand Bahama, Mr Laroda voiced particular concern for the multiple households and businesses that have yet to complete
• Chamber chief: Island waiting ‘with bated breath’ • Fears for homes, firms not repaired from Dorian • Lockdowns ‘may do more damage than COVID’ post-Dorian repairs to their physical premises. Warning that these properties may again be compromised by Isaias’ winds and heavy rain, the chamber chief also looked ahead in calling for the government to strike a better balance between The Bahamas’ health and economic needs over COVID-19. Arguing that the constant lockdowns/shutdowns “may do more damage than COVID-19”, Mr Laroda said Grand Bahama and the wider Bahamas cannot afford to “close out the year” in that state as it would mean significant
Building Code reform must be ‘grass roots’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Society of Engineers (BSE) president has voiced concern that the drive to update the country’s building codes is not being led by a “grass roots effort” featuring all stakeholders. Quentin Knowles, arguing that The Bahamas was “way behind” on this initiative as Isaias threatens as a potential hurricane, told Tribune Business he had “anecdotal information” that the building code effort was “being led by a group in
the Ministry of Works of a related department”. However, he said few details - including proposed reforms and timelines - had been shared with the private sector stakeholders that have to use and implement the new code, such as engineers, contractors, architects and others. Mr Knowles contrasted this with the approach taken by the Canadian Electrical Code technical committee, upon which he sits, and from whom the electrical code in The Bahamas is taken from.
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Govt rescues ‘last hurrah’ for hoteliers By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN resorts yesterday said the government had preserved their “last hurrah” through its u-turn on requiring locals to present a negative COVID19 PCR test to stay in them over the weekend. Clinton Davis, the Courtyard Marriott’s general manager, told Tribune Business that the initial mandate has already impacted business significantly. “To my understanding, there is going to be a rescind of that order,”
he added. “I don’t know when they are going to do it, but I did receive an e-mail that there is going to be a reverse in the decision from the Ministry of Tourism so I am just waiting on that rescind order. We know that Bahamians not being able to go to a hotel will definitely impede this business and, of course, the Bahamians that we do have employed here will most likely be sent home. “This is our last hurrah of trying to keep a few people
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business closures, job losses and an economy that was on the brink of collapse. His comments came as the government revealed three more COVID-19 related deaths, along with 24 new cases, as it was forced to simultaneously relax restrictions to enable Bahamians to prepare from the threat posed by Isaias. “Of course we need this like we need a hole in the head right now,” Mr Laroda said of Grand Bahama’s storm-battered and weary economy. “I don’t know what to say. We really don’t need this. “A lot of homes and
business places still have not been secured after Hurricane Dorian. This one we expect to have a lot of rain associated with it. Hopefully in terms of strength it will be a weak category one when it comes through, so wind may not be an issue, but we have a lot of roofs that are not secure so the rain may do a lot of damage to homes and shops that persons have not secured yet. “With the COVID-19 shutdown doing repairs has been slowed on the island. We are closely watching it [Isaias] with bated breath,
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K PETER TURNQUEST
JEFFREY BECKLES
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
in its bid to contain the latest COVID-19 surge. While residents and businesses now needed to stock up on hurricane supplies and materials, this risked a further spike in the already exploding infection rate that saw 24 new cases yesterday. “The intensity of the storm is what is going to make the difference,” Mr Turnquest said. “We know even a category one storm going over some part of New Providence is going to cause tremendous issues with respect to flooding and some of the structures that have not kept up with The Bahamas Building Code, so that’s a significant concern as is Grand Bahama. “They have a lot of weakened structures, a lot of debris that is still lying around, and [Dorian] restoration efforts were only just getting to the point where we can start to see the way forward. It’s obviously a significant potential setback. We’re sitting here with bated breath hoping something changes its trajectory either further east or west. It’s a matter of hoping for the best. “There’s not much we can do about it obviously other than do what we can to protect life and property. The
THE government will have to “trim our sails one one more time” and reallocate spending to deal with the potential damage and fall-out from Isaias, the deputy prime minister said last night. K Peter Turnquest told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration would yet again adjust its spending priorities to cope with the predicted hurricane’s impact which seems likely to spare almost no island in The Bahamas’ chain based on its projected path last night. Acknowledging that the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions would minimise the revenue losses for both private sector and the government, given that tourism is virtually shutdown at this time, Mr Turnquest said the potential category one hurricane’s emergence represented a “potentially significant setback” for Grand Bahama, in particular, in its post-Dorian recovery. With the entire Bahamas “watching with bated breath”, the deputy prime minister added that Isaias had created a further dilemma for the government
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