09072020 BUSINESS

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business@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

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Code violations: Tip-offs wanted

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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NDER-STAFFED regulators cannot catch all building code and planning violators without tip-offs from law-abiding Bahamians, a Cabinet minister has revealed to Tribune Business. Desmond Bannister, minister of works, told this newspaper in a recent interview that even if some enforcement and building inspections were outsourced to private sector professionals such as engineers there would still be insufficient manpower to police the entire Bahamas. With the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Hurricane Dorian review revealing that non-compliance with the Bahamas Building Code has resulted in “significant damage” to buildings during every major hurricane to strike this nation since 2015, Mr

Super Value plans inventory slash to pre-COVID levels By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value will shortly reduce its warehouse inventory to pre-COVID-19 levels with the threat of food shortages and “embargoes” having eased, its president told this newspaper. Rupert Roberts said the 13-store group will shortly “pull back” by 50 percent, reverting from 12 weeks’ supply to the “normal” six weeks, to ease pressure to add extra space at the company’s warehouse. “I don’t see any danger of the food shortages or an embargo on food exports from any country,” added

Mr Roberts, referring to fears during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. “So we’re going to take our stocks back to normal. “The warehouse was full. They were telling me I had to put in another bay. I said that we would go back from 12 weeks to six weeks worth of inventory. I’m going to pull back. When I promised the government we were going to carry three months’ inventory I had no idea the warehouse could not hold it. “Between the warehouse and the dock we’ve always had 30 containers pending. I asked today why we had

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BPL worker gets token $6,000 for ‘lewd’ dismissal A 25-YEAR veteran Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) employee has been awarded a token $6,068 for unfair dismissal after she was terminated for “lewd sexual activity” in the company’s cashier’s cage. Simone Fitzcharles, the Industrial Tribunal’s vicepresident, in a recent ruling cut the sum that Sherry Jennifer Brown would normally receive for unfair dismissal by 90 percent from the maximum $60,678 on the grounds that her actions “significantly contributed to her firing”. Despite security camera evidence from the BPL pay

station at the former Post Office building proving she was guilty of the conduct cited by BPL, Ms Fitzcharles found in Ms Brown’s favour on a technicality - the stateowned utility breached “procedural fairness” by failing to give her a chance to argue against her dismissal. “No matter how slender her chances may have been to redeem herself or argue to keep her position, she ought to have had the opportunity to say why she should not be dismissed before the dismissal was carried out,” the

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“All of these things are going on,” Mr Bannister continued. “If you look at Abaco, the reality is that any of those Family Islands - not just Abaco - it’s a challenge to put officers on those islands to enforce the building code. “The ministry does not have the personnel, and until we collaborate as suggested we would with the professionals, we’re going to have this challenge. When you have an island like Abaco or the east end of Grand Bahama, the ministry has a limited number of officers. There’s no way to get around everywhere and know what people are doing until someone comes and alerts them to it. “The public service does not have the necessary number of people, and even when we collaborate with the

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‘Everything spins’ on founder finding for $400m project DESMOND BANNISTER

• If building, planning laws to be enforced • Minister admits govt lacks the manpower • And still ‘challenge’ if using private sector Bannister said the government simply does “not have the necessary number of people” to properly enforce this critical mandate. “Enforcement is going to be critical. You and I know that,” the minister added. “Even in New Providence we have serious problems with code enforcement and persons who have been evading the law. “What has been helpful to us is many, many neighbourhoods have been calling in and bringing things to our attention that should be brought to our attention. People have been doing all sorts of things. They’ve been building without permits, they’ve been doing structures that should not go up, building too close to boundaries and putting up commercial structures in residential areas.

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professionals it’s going to be a challenge. We have to get kind of tip-offs from informants about people doing things they ought not to be doing.” Mr Bannister’s admissions on building code enforcement woes come as the construction industry and its related professions await developments on its promised review and upgrade following the $3.4bn worth of damage and losses that Dorian inflicted 12 months ago on Abaco and Grand Bahama. The minister said Craig Delancey, former building control chief and now a deputy director at the Ministry of Works, has been tasked with leading the effort and reporting to him on the progress made before year-end 2020.

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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SIR Franklyn Wilson says “everything spins” on how quickly the Jack’s Bay project can find 40 “founder” investors to kick-start its next expansion phase following Friday’s Heads of Agreement signing. Making an impassioned plea for “everyone in Eleuthera” to rally behind the investment, its chairman said the build-out pace for a development that has been 35 years in the making and counting now hinges on attracting a group of high net worth individuals prepared to part with a minimum $1.5m to acquire lots and build their own homes. “It all depends on what happens with getting these founders. Everything spins on this,” Sir Franklyn told Tribune Business after the signing. “It’s in the interests of everyone in the country to get these 40 founders. Everyone is invested in this. “The key is if everyone in Eleuthera pulls together and works with us, it can only go

SIR FRANKLYN WILSON faster. We’ve already had real estate agents approaching us with their clients. Real estate agents from Harbour Island have been down here. If we have to build 40 homes at Jack’s Bay in the near future, you know what that means in terms of employment? “If we can sell those 40 founder units in a very short period of time there could be a level of employment on Eleuthera of the kind that the island has never, ever seen. Everyone in Eleuthera has a stake in helping to attract those 40 founders to Jack’s Bay; everyone has a stake,” he continued.

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