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TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018
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BCA chief: Grand Lucayan purchase to mark Minnis’ ‘single biggest success’ By NATARIO MCKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
T
HE Bahamian ContractorsAssociation (BCA) president yesterday backed the Government’s plan to purchase the shuttered Grand Lucayan resort, telling Tribune Business the property’s revival would create “hundreds” of local construction jobs and mark the “single biggest success” for the Minnis administration. Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that with the necessary renovations and the right marketing strategy, he believes Freeport’s still closed “anchor” resort property can be successful.
Prime Minnis Dr Hubert “A lot of the things Dr Minnis told the media over Minnis is talking about relathe weekend his adminis- tive to Grand Bahama are tration is intent on buying supported by construction. the Grand Lucayan resort, If the government, like the with a detailed address Prime Minister has indiexplaining the Govern- cated are going to make ment’s decision to be given the move to purchase the later this week. Dr Minnis hotel, they are also going to warned that not getting the have to make the necessary property re-opened will renovations to the hotel. unleash a ripple effect that That means there has to be forces the closure of stores, work for Bahamian conbarbershops and other tractors and that is a very small businesses, in addi- good thing from the BCA’s tion to the loss of jobs for standpoint. Construction 400 people employed by the activity has been very slow hotel. on Grand Bahama for all Mr Sands said he shared the reasons that we recogthe Prime Minister’s nise. A renovation project sentiments, telling this of that magnitude would newspaper he is “excited” provide construction jobs over what the hotel’s revival in the hundreds,” said Mr could mean for Grand Sands. Bahama and the construcHe continued: “No tion sector. matter what the naysayers
THE GRAND LUCAYAN RESORT
LEONARD SANDS
say, when you spend money on the ground in construction it touches ten people. For every employee or worker in construction, nine other persons is feeling that dollar. I’m really excited about the position the Prime Minister has taken to engage in doing what is necessary in buying the hotel.” Opposition leader Philip “Brave” Davis has slammed the government’s decision to purchase the resort, insisting it will be too costly for the government to own and operate a hotel that wasn’t making a profit even before it was shut down. Former Prime Minister and former leader of the Free National Movement has also criticised the move, arguing that by not
Bank fraud - RBC confirms account scams By NATARIO MCKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net ROYAL Bank of Canada (RBC) yesterday confirmed some of its Bahamian Visa debit and Visa credit card holders had fallen victim to “skimming”, with some irate customers reporting “thousands of dollars” having been “wiped off” their accounts. Jacqueline Taggart, RBC’s director of strategic and corporate communications for the Caribbean, responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said: “RBC confirms that we have identified a skimming incident that has victimised a number of our VISA debit and VISA credit cards in The Bahamas in a coordinated and aggressive criminal effort. We are now in the process of contacting clients who have been affected.” Her statement continued: “To contain this fraudulent
activity, RBC has implemented restrictions on all affected VISA cards. We know that at this time of year – with vacations and back-to-school expenses – these restrictions may inconvenience our clients and we will work with them to minimise the disruption. All affected cards will be replaced as soon as possible.” It is unclear how many people may have been affected by this skimming attack. Taggart told Tribune
Business: “Right now we are still investigating the scope of the illegal activity but we can already confirm that the vast majority of our clients have not been affected.” Skimming refers to the use of fraudulent methods to obtain customer details by “skimming” their debit and credit cards at point of use, whether ATM or point of sale. As to the method in this instance, she said: “I cannot say conclusively as we are still investigating, but todate the skimming has been isolated to ATMs.” Local entrepreneur Kosha Johnson told Tribune Business: “I discovered the issue through a friend of mine who went into RBC and there was this long line of persons complaining of their accounts being wiped. They told me to quickly check my account where I have a personal and business account. I went online to check and thousands of
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dollars were gone off my account. It’s saying international withdrawal on my account. This is extremely frustrating, stressful and heart wrenching.” She added: “I’m a business owner and I have payroll in a few days. They’re telling people it takes 45 days for them to conduct an investigation and get your money back. I’m not being insensitive but for business accounts I think there should be a concession. As a business owner you can’t wait 45 days.” Edison Sumner, of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), also expressed concern that 45 days might be too long for some businesses. “We haven’t heard anything officially on this. I got some notices about inordinate lines at RBC but we haven’t received any formal
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meeting face-toface in Hong Kong with officials of Hutchinson Whampoa, which owns the resort, the administration has not exhausted all options for keeping the development in private hands. Mr Sands told Tribune Business: “I hear the naysayers talking about the hotel not being successful but we don’t know what the failed marketing strategies were. I encourage the government to look for world class successful operators to market the property and attract the kind of business it can handle. We keep talking about what didn’t work but why not look at what
worked. Atlantis and Baha Mar and Sandals are not the only successful hotels. There are hundreds of thousands of boutique branded hotels all around the world who have their marketing so structured that they can attract people from far and wide. I believe the Grand Lucayan presents an opportunity for the government to achieve the very same thing.” Mr Sands added: “That’s already a beautiful property. It’s a magnificent property in need of repair. If the hotel is purchased, renovated, and marketed
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Property tax U-turn played to the privileged, says Davis By NATARIO MCKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net OPPOSITION leader Phillip Davis yesterday slammed the Minnis administration’s over its recent decision to revert to the previous definition of owner-occupied properties, arguing that this was a “stark contrast” to the treatment of Bahamians. Despite the insistence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest that the government’s decision to rollback its revised definition of owner-occupied properties was not a bid to appease irate Lyford Cay residents, Mr Davis said his pronouncement underscored the government’s “incompetence” and provided a stark contrast between how rapidly it responded to “the cries of Bahamians as compared
PHIILIP “BRAVE” DAVIS to their response to a moneyed few”. Mr Turnquest previously noted the government had sought to increase taxes on foreign-owned undeveloped land in The Bahamas, in an effort to discourage land speculation and to encourage development of any such property. He said the government had also taken steps to improve the tax yield from homes used for
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$12m upgrade on Windsor water plant nears completion By NATARIO MCKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net BISX-listed Consolidated Water is in the “final stages” of commissioning its Windsor Plant, its chief executive telling shareholders yesterday approximately $12m has been spent on the upgrades. Rick McTaggart, CEO of Consolidated Water Company (CWCOO) told investors during a conference call: “We’re spending approximately $12m on that upgrade. We’re in the final stages of commissioning right now so most of that has been spent already.” The government pays Consolidated Water for supplies produced by the company’s two Nassaubased reverse osmosis plants, Blue Hills and Windsor. The company secured a 15-year extension at the end of 2016 over the
CONSOLIDATED WATER WINDSOR WATER PLANT
Windsor plant, which Mr McTaggert noted “kicks in” once upgrades are completed later this year. Consolidated Water released its second quarter 2018 results last week, revealing the revenue of the company’s manufacturing segment nearly doubled. According to the financial results, the company’s total revenues for the second quarter of 2018 were $15.9m, which represents a 3.9 percent increase from $15.3m in the
same period last year. “Gross profit amounted to $6.6m, compared with $6.5m in the same quarter last year. Net income attributable to Consolidated Water stockholders was $2.2m, or $0.14 per fully diluted share, compared with $0.6m, or $0.04 per fully diluted share, reported in last year’s comparable quarter,” the company stated “In the second quarter of 2017, the company recorded an impairment
loss of $1m relating to its Bali operations, however this subsidiary did not have a material adverse impact on the company’s results or operations for the second quarter of 2018.” David Sasnett, the company’s chief financial officer, noted during the conference call that the company is seeking to establish a payment plan with the government or the Water and Sewerage Company (WSC)
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