09182019 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

$4.50 Ex-BCA chief warns over Dorian rebuild ‘recipe for disaster’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president yesterday warned against “draconian measures” post-Dorian that could increase building costs by between ten to 20 percent.

Stephen Wrinkle told Tribune Business that the government should instead focus on “low hanging fruit”, such as enforcement of the existing Bahamas Building Code and implementation of the Construction Contractors Act, before making major regulatory changes that could “inhibit” the industry and wider economy.

In particular, he warned that the failure to implement an Act that will introduce a licensing and certification regime for Bahamian contractors was a potential “recipe for disaster” for the post-Dorian reconstruction process.

Without such a self-regulatory system in place, Mr Wrinkle voiced fears that the “mammoth” rebuilding effort in Abaco especially could be compromised because there would be no control over the participation of unqualified contractors in the process.

Acknowledging that the severity of the destruction would inevitably spark discussions about Building Code reforms and increase construction costs for current and future new-builds, the ex-BCA chief said The Bahamas needed to examine what was “feasible” and strike a balance that did not price homeowners and developers out of the market.

“It’s going to make it more expensive, no question about it,” Mr Wrinkle said of Dorian’s construction industry fall-out. “I think further study is going to be required on that to see which buildings there was a tremendous amount of devastation, we know - but some withstood better than others. It maybe that some information can be gained from that before we make a decision.

“We’re going to have to look at our structures, adherence to the existing code because a lot of people don’t do that, and improving the code in a feasible manner. It’s a difficult situation, but we’re undoubtedly going to have more hurricanes.

“The cost of living in hurricane zones is going to get a little more expensive, and when the wind blows at 200 miles per hour I’m not sure what structure could stand up to that.”

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$4.53

$4.54

No ‘new or raised taxes’ from Dorian

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE deputy prime minister yesterday said there are no plans for new or increased taxes to finance Dorian rebuilding “at this point”, adding: “That is not part of the discussion.”

KP Turnquest told Tribune Business that the government had yet “to exhaust all our options” other than taxes for funding a restoration effort that will cost several hundred million, if not billions, of dollars.

Confirming that the government will “likely” have to draw down on the entire $100m Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) emergency credit line, Mr Turnquest said The

• DPM: ‘Other options not exhausted’ • But impossible to delay rebuilding • GB and Abaco some 15-20% of GDP • Dorian creates ‘multi-year’ fiscal issues

KP TURNQUEST

Bahamas did “not have the option” of delaying postDorian recovery given the importance of Grand Bahama and Abaco to the overall economy.

Estimating that the two island combined generate up to 20 percent of annual Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP), he added that the loss of this output was likely to cost the government some $200m in projected revenue for the 2019-2020 fiscal year (see other article on Page 1B).

Mr Turnquest said the magnitude of the government’s revenue loss would

depend on how quickly both islands’ economies were restored, with the Ministry of Finance currently assessing how it can re-purpose alreadyallocated budget financing to Dorian recovery efforts.

Conceding that the severity of Dorian’s destruction had dealt “a multi-year” blow to the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts, the deputy prime minister said it would seek to rebalance rebuilding needs with “containing any extraordinary expenditure”.

THE Central Bank yesterday said its plan to end the Bahamian one-cent coin’s use as legal tender by end-2020 will save itself and the banking system $7m over a ten-year period.

The regulator, unveiling its rationale for ending the coin’s 54-year history as a means of payment, said it had lost 90 percent of its purchasing power and was “increasingly rarely used” in commercial transactions by the Bahamian public.

With a survey showing that just 52 percent of

regulator is estimating that its withdrawal as legal tender will result in annual cost savings of between $800,000 to $1m.

Recalling the coin’s introduction in 1966, the Central Bank said: “In over 50 years of circulation, the onecent coin has lost around 90 percent of its purchasing power, while the cost of its production and administration grew in line with inflation and now exceeds

BTC lowers roaming agreement period on restoration ‘pick-up’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

its face value.

“The current value of these coins is so small that essentially no goods or services can be purchased with them. The only remaining utility of these coins is to give change in larger payment transactions.

“Once the coins are given to the consumers as change, they are rarely used in subsequent transactions, which

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• Central Bank: Will save $7m over ten years • Says costs of use outweigh the benefits • 215m coins will be withdrawn persons use the one-cent coin to pay for goods and services, and the use of electronic payment methods such as debit cards and wire transfers becoming increasingly popular, the Central Bank argued the costs of maintaining it as legal tender outweigh the benefits.

With businesses and banks incurring handling and processing costs greater than the one-cent coin’s value, the banking industry

GARFIELD SINCLAIR

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday said it is no longer pursuing 30 days free roaming for Abaco and Grand Bahama subscribers because restoration has “picked up in earnest”.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the carrier now expected to restore an “adequate level of service” to Grand Bahama clients within the next 14 days as it seeks to rebuild its network to withstand future Dorian-strength storms.

Pledging that BTC, together with its parent, contractors and vendors, was “going flat out” to restore its network and services throughout the two Dorianravaged islands, Mr Sinclair said coverage had improved to “more than 50 percent availability” in Freeport and West End. Revealing that Dorian had “taught us a lot”, Mr Sinclair said among the lessons learned was the need to provide back-up generators at all cell tower sites and “bury” its aerial transmission and fibre network in the ground to protect it from high winds and storm surges.

The BTC chief, explaining that both its subscribers and Aliv’s were still able

One-cent coin use to cease by end-2020

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$4.54

Govt in $200m dorian shortfall

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE government likely faces a $200m revenue shortfall as a result of Hurricane Dorian’s devastation, the deputy prime minister revealed yesterday.

KP Turnquest said the category five storm had inflicted a “not insignificant loss to the economy” given that the two islands it decimated - Abaco and Grand Bahama - together account for between 15-20 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP).

“Our initial projected estimates on revenue shortfall is around $200m, but we are still in the process of finalising those numbers.

• DPM hopes reconstruction offsets tourism loss • Civil service lump sum payment ‘on hold’ Grand Bahama and Abaco represent somewhere between 15 percent and 20 percent of our GDP, so this is not an insignificant loss to the economy.”

The government’s $2.626bn revenue projection for the 2019-2020 fiscal year now faces being cut to around $2.426bn, with such a loss increasing the fiscal deficit - the extent to which government spending exceeds revenue - to around $300m by itself.

Increased public spending and borrowing to finance Dorian

reconstruction will likely add several hundred million more to the deficit, but Mr Turnquest countered: “Hopefully the reconstruction, and the inflows of insurance proceeds and people putting to work to rebuild the economy, hopefully that would offset the tourism losses we expect.

“Obviously this event would have thrown the budget off, so we do have to come back with a revised plan. The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires us to come in November with our fiscal

projection and outlook for the next budget season.

“So we will make whatever necessary adjustments during that time. Then, when we come back to Parliament to present that revised report in January or early February, we will be able to outline exactly what has happened, what the effect has been and how we intend to adjust our fiscal outlook going forward, to account for it and to get us back on track.”

When asked about the promised $800 lump sum payment that

the government had promised to pay to civil servants at end-August, Mr Turnquest said: “We are still considering it, and what we can comfortably fit in with our window.

“As you all know this is a significant unexpected event for the government, so we have to make sure we properly budget and consider all of the ramifications for our expenditure over the next couple of months for sure.

“Until we have determined, and been able to put concrete numbers to what our outlook is going to look like, at the moment it’s on hold and we see how we can adjust it maybe looking towards the end of the year to fit it in.”

PAGE 2, Wednesday, September 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BTC UNVEILS DORIAN ‘TEXT-TO-DONATE’ RELIEF THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) yesterday launched its “text-to-donate” campaign to provide a platform for persons wishing to donate to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, BTC’s chief executive, said all funds raised through the initiative will go to the Ranfurly Home for Children. He explained: “We are working two tracks in the aftermath of this ‘Black Swan’ event – humanitarian, and restoration and recovery.

“From a humanitarian standpoint, our first priority was to successfully secure our 103 colleagues and their families on both islands.

Today, we launched the text-to-donate campaign to raise funds for the Ranfurly Home for Children, which has opened its doors to welcome 23 children who were evacuated. We have also undertaken and supported several relief and restoration efforts.”

GARFIELD SINCLAIR BTC customers will receive a text message with a link directing them to the landing page for donations.

Customers can donate as little as $1, and are able to give as many times as they wish.

Funds will be deducted from prepaid balances or added to postpaid bills. The link will also be shared on

BTC’s social media pages, and customers are being encouraged to pass the link to family and friends so that they, too, have an opportunity to donate.

Alexander Roberts, administrator for the Ranfurly Home for Children, said: “Prior to Hurricane Dorian, our count was 23 children. We have since

welcomed an additional 23 children from Freeport, bringing our total to 46.

“They are settling in well, and we are grateful for the outpouring of support from the local and international communities. We are working to have all of them placed in school this week. This is quite likely going to be a long-term commitment, so we hope and pray that the support will continue to come in as we provide a caring environment for our displaced children.”

The charitable foundation set-up by BTC’s immediate parent, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), committed $500,000 towards relief and rebuilding supplies in Dorian’s immediate aftermath. Some $75,000 will be provided to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for immediate assistance, while $25,000 will be distributed to World Central Kitchen to assist with

providing hot meals for residents in both affected islands daily.

In the first seven days following Dorian’s strike, the company provided more than 55,000 pounds of groceries and relief supplies to communities in Abaco and Grand Bahama. BTC also provided more than 220 generators, ten of which were donated to the emergency room doctors at Freeport’s Rand Memorial Hospital.

BTC added that it remains heavily focused on its restoration work. Over the weekend, services were restored in Moore’s Island and Disney’s Castaway Cay on Abaco. Mobile services have been restored in several key areas in Grand Bahama, including: Freeport, Lewis Yard, Coral Reef Estates, Chesapeake, Our Lucaya Indoor, South Bahamia West, Midshipman Road, West End, Eight Mile Rock, Taino Beach, the Grand Lucayan hotel, the Container Port, Bootle

Bay West, and the Office of the Prime Minister.

Landline services are available in Bootle Bay, Eight Mile Rock, Lincoln Green, Oceanside Triangle, Rooster’s, The Shipyard, West End and Ocean Hill.

“As of last Friday, we have restored services to an additional 800 landline customers in Grand Bahama, and our teams are working aggressively to continue restoring services on that island. We are working closely with the local power company, and as power is reconnected, this allows us to restore landline and Internet services,” Mr Sinclair said.

In Abaco, services have been restored to the Marsh Harbour airport site and continue to be fully functional in South Abaco, including at Sandy Point, Casuarina, Bahama Palm, Cherokee Sound and Crossing Rock. Landline services are available in Cedar Harbour and Sandy Point.

BAMSI gives 10,000 pounds of food as aid

PICTURED front row from left are McKallan Stubbs, BAMSI farm administrator; Dotlyn Treco, president of North Andros Red Cross Division; Emily Miller, president of Central Andros Red Cross Division; and Dr Raveenia Roberts Hanna, BAMSI’s executive director. Back row from left are BAMSI’s operations supervisor, Tavey Wallace; apiculture officer, Raphael Adams; head of BAMSI’s aquatic division, Dr Vallierre Deleveaux, and crop director, Stephen Adderley.

FOOD PROCESSING & PACKAGING AT BAMSI

THE Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) has donated more than 10,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Bahamas Red Cross to help Hurricane Dorian relief efforts.

The donation, which includes bananas, papayas, cassava, sweet potato, butternut squash, okra and other produce, will be sent from Morgan’s Bluff, North Andros, on the MV Lady Rosalind to Nassau. It will then be sent to residents of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Alaasis Braynen, BAMSI’s chief executive, said it was important for the Institute to join the relief effort and provide an abundant harvest for those who survived the storm.

“In times of national adversity, where too many Bahamians have had their lives turned upside down - homes lost, properties severely damaged and, most terrifying, families torn apart and even broken forever - we have an obligation, a mandate even, to do our part in helping them to recover and to return to some level of normalcy as quickly as possible,” he said.

“At BAMSI, we are happy to be able to provide some small level of comfort and nutrition through our Andros grown fruits

and vegetables, and we are hopeful that the produce will in some way help them to continue on and grow from strength to strength as we seek to heal and rebuild as a nation.”

Mr Braynen added that BAMSI’s partnership with Captain Ted Taylor of the Lady Rosalind meant the food is being shipped free of charge.

The donation was made under the “BAMSI Gives Back” foundation, which was developed by its chairman, ex-Cabinet minister and MP, Tennyson Wells. Started in early 2019, the Foundation is a way for the Institute to help employees link the work they do with building a stronger, food secure community, where everyone has access to locally grown, fresh and nutritious foods.

The “Gives Back” initiative also helps BAMSI maintain a level of accountability and transparency as it stems the tide of waste by redirecting wholesome, healthy and locally grown fruits and vegetables to Bahamians who need it most.

As part of its new mandate, BAMSI donates quality surplus foods on a regular basis to agencies and charitable organisations that are fighting against hunger.

THE TRIBUNE

By YOURI KEMP A MAJOR Freeport manufacturer plans to restart in the first week of October, its top executive yesterday revealing that Dorian “did not do as nearly as much damage” as Hurricane Matthew.

Greg Ebelhar, Polymers International’s chief operating officer, said the polystyrene beads producer was already reloading its containers in preparation for another export shipment after it suffered no product loss during the category five storm that ravaged eastern Grand Bahama.

“Dorian did no do as near as much damage to us as with Matthew,” Mr Ebelhar told Tribune Business.

“All we had was flooding in the offices, and we didn’t have significant structural damage to our building.

“We plan to restart

Wednesday, September 18, 2019, PAGE 3

Freeport manufacturer in early October restart business up around the first week in October. We also had no shipping issues or concerns. Tropical Shipping was able to get our last shipment out of here, and what we’re doing now is reloading containers for another. We have lost no product during the storm, and regular shipping for our customers has resumed.”

Polymers began operations from its Queen’s Highway plant in 1996, producing and exporting expandable polystyrene to

Europe, the US, Argentina and other countries for use in foam products. Established as one of Grand Bahama’s major employers, it has almost 100 full-time employees and manufactures about 170 million pounds of polystyrene beads annually.

Mr Ebelhar, meanwhile, said Polymers International was still running on its own generator power to give time for its reverse osmosis water tanks time to fill.

He explained that steady,

consistent energy supply was required for this task, as the company wanted to avoid any fluctuations and instability that typically occur when power is restored after a storm.

Polymers has to restart its tanks all over again if such a scenario occurs, and Mr Ebelhar said this causes serious wear and tear on the company’s motors as well as threatening water safety.

“We have just not decided to go back on city electricity with Grand Bahama Power

as yet because we have our reverse osmosis tanks running, so we want to stay on generator power until we have our tanks full,” he added. “Dave McGregor at GB Power is aware of this, and he is fine with it for the time. We will let him know when we will be ready to go back on to city power.

“In times like this what we do is provide water to the community free of charge.

We have allowed the Rotary club to fill up their trailers.

We also provide water for

the Power Company. We do this all the time after storms.

We have already produced several thousand gallons of water already.”

Mr Ebelhar added that “all of our staff members are accounted for, but five of our staff members had serious damage to their homes.

So we’re being very considerate to them. The eastern end of Grand Bahama has been destroyed. It’s amazing what being 28 miles outside of the eye of the storm can do to you”.

MAJOR ABACO RESORT TO RE-OPEN LATE OCTOBER

By YOURI KEMP

THE Abaco Club’s developer yesterday said the residential resort project will re-open on October 29 after incurring no major structural damages in Hurricane Dorian.

David Southworth, founder and chief executive of Southworth Development, told Tribune Business that the development will still likely have “several million dollars worth” of issues to deal with following the category five storm that devastated central and northern Abaco.

Revealing that Dorian’s eye missed the Winding Bay-based development by around 20 miles as it rampaged over Abaco and Grand Bahama, Mr Southworth said it will likely take another two weeks for construction executives and insurance loss adjusters to complete their damage assessments.

“We do have damages at our club, but no major structural damages,” he told this newspaper. “The eye of the storm missed us by 20 miles, thankfully. I’m sure we will have several million dollars worth of other things we will have to deal with.

“Right now construction professionals are on the ground along with insurance adjusters and all that, so it will be another two weeks before we can really dive into every nook and cranny and have all of the assessments completed so we can know what is what.”

Mr Southworth added

AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE ABACO CLUB ON WINDING BAY

that it took the Abaco Club several days to locate all its employees, but it then paid for them and their families to be housed at Baha Mar in Dorian’s immediate aftermath.

“It took us about four or five days to find all of our staff members,” he said. “But we found all of them, and got them and their families safe and sheltered. We put them up in Nassau at Baha Mar, and we have just now brought most of the staff and their families back to Abaco, with some of them residing at our resort.

“We have also been host to several aid-work teams, particularly Team Rubicon out of the United States,

and journalists from the Wall Street Journal are on site for this week. So we have turned our resort into a bit of a camp-site and have gotten back to serving three meals a day and some of the regular services we did when we were fully open.”

Mr Southworth said the Abaco Club has “not quite gotten to marketing and promotions just yet to let people know we are open for business”, emphasising that it was focusing on providing temporary housing for the 178 staff members who were impacted.

“Up to now we have raised about $3m in donations, and we are administering these funds through our 501 c 3 foundation we have set up,”

he added. “We are administering the donations for relief through that board.”

A 501 c 3 organisation is classified under US federal law as a non-profit, charity

or foundation that is exempt from paying federal income taxes.

“We have already authorised a purchase of a mobile doctor’s office - a clinic on

wheels of sorts - for one of the doctors in North Abaco who lost his entire office due to Hurricane Dorian, and we expect to do much more,” Mr Southworth said.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, September 18, 2019

No ‘new or raised taxes’ from Dorian FROM PAGE ONE

He added that Bahamian taxpayers, either via direct loans or government guarantees, will need to help finance the Abaco restoration efforts of the two cash-strapped state-owned utilities, Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and the Water & Sewerage Corporation, although he declined to specify the sums involved.

Mr Turnquest, though, was adamant that new and/ or increased taxes were not yet being entertained by the Government as a financial response to the damage inflicted by Dorian - especially given its continued ability to tap the local and international capital markets for debt funding.

“There are no new taxes at this point,” he replied, when questioned by Tribune Business. “That is not part of the discussion. We just haven’t reached there yet. We haven’t exhausted all our contingency options before we get to that.”

There has been significant speculation on social media and elsewhere that the Government has no choice but to levy new or increased taxes, such as another VAT

rate rise to 20 percent, to finance Dorian-related reconstruction and recovery given the sheer scale of this task.

But Mr Turnquest, in rejecting such fears, said it was examining “a combination of sources” to finance post-storm rebuilding efforts. “Local borrowing will be a part of it as well as foreign borrowing,” he said.

“We’re drawing down on the [$100m IDB] contingent facility, and will supplement where we have to supplement from both local and foreign sources.” Asked whether The Bahamas will have to fully draw down on the IDB credit line, he replied: “It’s a little early to say, but based upon estimates, it’s likely.

“We have our lending sources. We will look at those and what offers the best rate of return on interest rate and go for that.

We’re going to be as deliberate and cautious about any additional debt as we can.”

Mr Turnquest’s confirmation that new or increased taxes are not being considered will likely produce a sigh of relief from both Bahamian consumers and

THE TRIBUNE businesses, not least because further sudden increase in the taxation burden could well drive the economy into recession.

The Government can access ample excess liquidity in the commercial banking system, which stood at $1.855bn at end-July 2019, for Dorian rebuilding. External reserves, too, were relatively healthy, standing at $1.583bn at the same date, and will likely gain a further boost from the multi-million dollar foreign currency reinsurance inflows that will materialise once claims start to be paid.

The international capital markets also remain accessible, as The Bahamas still retains ‘investment grade’ status - albeit barely - with Moody’s. Neither that credit rating agency nor its counterpart, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), have yet given an indication they will further downgrade this nation’s creditworthiness although they may be waiting for Dorian’s full impact to emerge.

Gerry Rice, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesman, recently said The Bahamas has not asked it for financial assistance in Dorian’s wake - a position confirmed by Mr Turnquest yesterday.

“The authorities have not yet requested IMF’s support,” Mr Rice said.

“We stand ready to help with other member countries and, of course we are

- Bahamas and the people of Bahamas - are very much in our minds, and what they’ve gone through with this terrible hurricane. And, again, we stand ready to help.”

Mr Turnquest said the magnitude of Dorian’s costs and economic loss depended on how quickly The Bahamas could restore commercial activity in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

“It depends on how long the restoration of the economic sector takes,” he told Tribune Business. “We have to get the businesses going, and construction activity and reinsurance inflows will help in the interim, but we have to get the tourism sector back up and running as quickly as possible.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated, certainly, the magnitude of the destruction incurred with this hurricane. We have to face it. We don’t have the option of delaying the recovery, as the combined economies of Grand Bahama and Abaco accounted for 15-20 percent of GDP. “We don’t have the option not to rebuild. We have to get people back into their homes and the business sector re-energised, building back smarter and stronger.”

Mr Turnquest said the Government was prioritising utilities restoration, especially water and electricity, to kickstart reconstruction efforts and private sector rebuilding

given that these services are critical to sustaining livable communities.

While deferring the associated costs to Desmond Bannister, minister of works, the deputy prime minister said taxpayer support for such an effort was essential given the loss-making status of the Government-owned utilities.

“You fully understand BPL is strained to incur this kind of infrastructure rebuilding cost, so there’s going to be some form of mechanism to address it whether it’s direct or guaranteed loans,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “There will be some public commitment to ensure that infrastructure gets rebuilt as soon as possible.”

While discussions were continuing over whether BPL’s post-Dorian financing needs could be met through its planned $450m-$550m rate reduction bond issue, Mr Turnquest said the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s repair costs would also be imposed on Bahamian taxpayers.

Asked about the extent to which Dorian will throw the Government’s short and medium-term fiscal recovery plans off-course, he said: “It’s difficult to say until we have the quantum, and I wouldn’t want to speculate on that, but I imagine we’ve got a multi-year problem.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act mandates that the

Government achieve a fiscal deficit equivalent to 1 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP), or $137m, for 2019-2020 but that target will inevitably be breached to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars due to Dorian’s shock to the economy.

The loss of $200m in revenue will likely push the deficit close to $300m by itself, and the massive borrowing and increased spending necessary to finance the recovery will probably push those closer to the $660m worth of “red ink” incurred by the Christie administration in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath (with a general election thrown in).

Besides having to obtain parliamentary approval for the extra borrowing, Mr Turnquest and the Ministry of Finance are examining the approved 2019-2020 Budget to locate funding sources that can be reallocated for Dorian rebuilding.

Acknowledging that the Government “still has a country to run”, and that islands unaffected by Dorian still needed “the resources allocated”, he added: “This is a significant disruption and we are going to have to figure out how to redeploy the priorities that are best to contain any unanticipated and extraordinary expenditure.”

One-cent coin use to cease by end-2020 FROM PAGE ONE leads to large volumes of new coins being issued every year to compensate for poor circulation of this

coin denomination.”

Drawing on a public survey to buttress its case, the Central Bank said the results showed that the one-cent coin “is used increasingly rarely by the

general public as a means of payment”.

It added: “According to the Central Bank’s surveys, only about half of the population (52 percent) regularly uses the one-cent

coin for making payments.

This share is much lower (40 percent) for the younger consumers (age 16-34), likely related to generally lower usage of cash for payments in this age group.

“Over three quarters (78 percent) of the consumers never or rarely return accumulated one-cent coins to the banks or post offices.

Only about a third (39 percent) of the retailers and the banks regularly receive onecent coins in the course of their business.

“There is a clear concern over the cost of handling one-cent coins – a significant majority (61 percent) of businesses estimate it to be equal or higher than the face value of the coin.”

The Central Bank’s consultation paper acknowledges that the one-cent coin’s withdrawal as a means of payment will trigger “one-off costs” associated with the gathering and recycling of an estimated 215m such coins. Public information campaigns will need to be waged, along with changes to coin machines and cash tills.

“The Central Bank’s costs for withdrawing and repaying the value of the one-cent coin are in this case calculated at $2m$3m,” the Central Bank revealed. “The one-off costs will be offset by the estimated annual savings to the economy $800,000 to $1m, comprising of the costs of issuing new one-cent coins into circulation and handling them in the retail and banking transactions.

“Over the next ten years, the cumulative savings resulting from the elimination of the one-cent coin are expected to exceed $7m.”

Emphasising that the move is no different from actions taken by the likes of Canada and Trinidad & Tobago, which have already eliminated low-value coins that are “no longer useful or cost-effective”, the Central Bank added that the one-cent coin’s withdrawal would have minimal to no impact on inflation, prices and the cost of living, and retailers.

It is proposing to stop issuing one-cent coins by end-January 2020, and end their use as legal tender by end-December 2020.

Consumers will be able to redeem their one-cent coins at “to be announced” Central Bank partner locations until end-June 2021.

“The Central Bank’s purchase and distribution cost for the one-cent coin is 1.04 cents. This is equivalent to around $443,000 in 2017.

Additionally, there are logistical and processing costs to the commercial banks and the retail trade,” the Central Bank added.

“Making coins consumes a substantial quantity of metal, and their weight makes handling and logistical services costly. Each one-cent coin weighs 1.7 grams. Therefore the total weight of the one-cent coins in circulation is around 1,100 tonnes. Each year

approximately 75 tonnes of new coins are added.”

While older consumers may take time to adjust, the Central Bank’s proposal to end the one-cent coin’s use as legal tender fits with its efforts to modernise the Bahamian payments system and increase the use of electronic methods - rather than cash - to settle commercial transactions.

While electronic payment methods will not be impacted by the one-cent coin’s withdrawal as legal tender, the Central Bank has issued “rounding” guidelines for cash payments.

When a bill does not end in zero or five cents, those ending in one or two will be rounded to zero; those ending in three, four, six and seven will be rounded to five, and those ending in eight or nine rounded to ten.

The Central Bank added that the rounding should take place on the total bill, with existing price points staying the same, while the amount of VAT levied is also not impacted.

“VAT is calculated on the amount charged for taxable supplies,” it explained.

“Rounding should take place after the VAT is calculated on a bill, and only when the customer is paying the total amount of an invoice in cash or paying the balance of an invoice in cash.

“If the customer is paying the total bill with cash and card, an amount rounded to the nearest five cents should be paid in cash and the remaining odd amount paid by card. For example, a total bill of $23.39 could be paid with $3 in cash and $20.39 by card.”

The Central Bank continued: “Before the rounding becomes effective, retailers should indicate the applicable rules of rounding through appropriate in-store signage. The Central Bank would make such signage available in the form of stickers, posters, etc, for instore display to any retailer, regardless of size.

“Should some retailers prefer to develop their own signage, the necessary imagery will be made available for download by the Central Bank in advance of the withdrawal date. If larger stores require significant quantities of physical material, they should notify the Central Bank in advance.

“Rounding shall be applied in financial institutions such as banks if the transaction involves a purchase. For example, if someone is paying an electricity bill in cash at the counter, for banking transactions when the amounts are deposited, or making withdrawals in cash at banks and post offices.”

PAGE 4, Wednesday, September 18, 2019

No ‘new or raised taxes’ from Dorian FROM PAGE ONE

He added that Bahamian taxpayers, either via direct loans or government guarantees, will need to help finance the Abaco restoration efforts of the two cash-strapped state-owned utilities, Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and the Water & Sewerage Corporation, although he declined to specify the sums involved.

Mr Turnquest, though, was adamant that new and/ or increased taxes were not yet being entertained by the Government as a financial response to the damage inflicted by Dorian - especially given its continued ability to tap the local and international capital markets for debt funding.

“There are no new taxes at this point,” he replied, when questioned by Tribune Business. “That is not part of the discussion. We just haven’t reached there yet. We haven’t exhausted all our contingency options before we get to that.”

There has been significant speculation on social media and elsewhere that the Government has no choice but to levy new or increased taxes, such as another VAT

rate rise to 20 percent, to finance Dorian-related reconstruction and recovery given the sheer scale of this task.

But Mr Turnquest, in rejecting such fears, said it was examining “a combination of sources” to finance post-storm rebuilding efforts. “Local borrowing will be a part of it as well as foreign borrowing,” he said.

“We’re drawing down on the [$100m IDB] contingent facility, and will supplement where we have to supplement from both local and foreign sources.” Asked whether The Bahamas will have to fully draw down on the IDB credit line, he replied: “It’s a little early to say, but based upon estimates, it’s likely.

“We have our lending sources. We will look at those and what offers the best rate of return on interest rate and go for that.

We’re going to be as deliberate and cautious about any additional debt as we can.”

Mr Turnquest’s confirmation that new or increased taxes are not being considered will likely produce a sigh of relief from both Bahamian consumers and

THE TRIBUNE businesses, not least because further sudden increase in the taxation burden could well drive the economy into recession.

The Government can access ample excess liquidity in the commercial banking system, which stood at $1.855bn at end-July 2019, for Dorian rebuilding. External reserves, too, were relatively healthy, standing at $1.583bn at the same date, and will likely gain a further boost from the multi-million dollar foreign currency reinsurance inflows that will materialise once claims start to be paid.

The international capital markets also remain accessible, as The Bahamas still retains ‘investment grade’ status - albeit barely - with Moody’s. Neither that credit rating agency nor its counterpart, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), have yet given an indication they will further downgrade this nation’s creditworthiness although they may be waiting for Dorian’s full impact to emerge.

Gerry Rice, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesman, recently said The Bahamas has not asked it for financial assistance in Dorian’s wake - a position confirmed by Mr Turnquest yesterday.

“The authorities have not yet requested IMF’s support,” Mr Rice said.

“We stand ready to help with other member countries and, of course we are

- Bahamas and the people of Bahamas - are very much in our minds, and what they’ve gone through with this terrible hurricane. And, again, we stand ready to help.”

Mr Turnquest said the magnitude of Dorian’s costs and economic loss depended on how quickly The Bahamas could restore commercial activity in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

“It depends on how long the restoration of the economic sector takes,” he told Tribune Business. “We have to get the businesses going, and construction activity and reinsurance inflows will help in the interim, but we have to get the tourism sector back up and running as quickly as possible.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated, certainly, the magnitude of the destruction incurred with this hurricane. We have to face it. We don’t have the option of delaying the recovery, as the combined economies of Grand Bahama and Abaco accounted for 15-20 percent of GDP. “We don’t have the option not to rebuild. We have to get people back into their homes and the business sector re-energised, building back smarter and stronger.”

Mr Turnquest said the Government was prioritising utilities restoration, especially water and electricity, to kickstart reconstruction efforts and private sector rebuilding

given that these services are critical to sustaining livable communities.

While deferring the associated costs to Desmond Bannister, minister of works, the deputy prime minister said taxpayer support for such an effort was essential given the loss-making status of the Government-owned utilities.

“You fully understand BPL is strained to incur this kind of infrastructure rebuilding cost, so there’s going to be some form of mechanism to address it whether it’s direct or guaranteed loans,” Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. “There will be some public commitment to ensure that infrastructure gets rebuilt as soon as possible.”

While discussions were continuing over whether BPL’s post-Dorian financing needs could be met through its planned $450m-$550m rate reduction bond issue, Mr Turnquest said the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s repair costs would also be imposed on Bahamian taxpayers.

Asked about the extent to which Dorian will throw the Government’s short and medium-term fiscal recovery plans off-course, he said: “It’s difficult to say until we have the quantum, and I wouldn’t want to speculate on that, but I imagine we’ve got a multi-year problem.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act mandates that the

Government achieve a fiscal deficit equivalent to 1 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP), or $137m, for 2019-2020 but that target will inevitably be breached to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars due to Dorian’s shock to the economy.

The loss of $200m in revenue will likely push the deficit close to $300m by itself, and the massive borrowing and increased spending necessary to finance the recovery will probably push those closer to the $660m worth of “red ink” incurred by the Christie administration in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath (with a general election thrown in).

Besides having to obtain parliamentary approval for the extra borrowing, Mr Turnquest and the Ministry of Finance are examining the approved 2019-2020 Budget to locate funding sources that can be reallocated for Dorian rebuilding.

Acknowledging that the Government “still has a country to run”, and that islands unaffected by Dorian still needed “the resources allocated”, he added: “This is a significant disruption and we are going to have to figure out how to redeploy the priorities that are best to contain any unanticipated and extraordinary expenditure.”

Ex-BCA chief warns over Dorian rebuild ‘recipe for disaster’ FROM PAGE ONE Mr Wrinkle argued that further strengthening of the Building Code did not necessarily equate to new

buildings being able to withstand future storms with the severity and intensity of Dorian. Rather than require everyone to construct “bunkers”, he suggested

a “first step” could be for the government to build its shelters to a higher standard to ensure Bahamians can access a “refuge”.

Construction location was

also key, with Mr Wrinkle citing the Florida Keys as an example. All properties there have to be built some 14 feet above the mean high tide mark, using

stilts and concrete pilings to protect them from flooding and storm surges, and the ex-BCA chief said The Bahamas may now require similar for building on the coast or low-lying land.

“I don’t think the economy can take a hit from increasing the Building Code substantially,” he told Tribune Business. “There may be some modifications in areas that we can work on, but to say revamp the Building Code is a tough call.

“There’s lots of options available, low hanging fruit so to speak, before taking draconian measures that inhibit the construction industry going forward You can tie up the loose ends, licence contractors. ...

Compliance is a big part of it. Now people have been exposed to a tragedy of this scope, many are going to be a lot more receptive to complying with the code.

“There’s a lot of shortcutting in the islands, and people feel it’s OK, but they’re not going to look at it that way any more. Make sure there’s code compliance, contractors are licensed, and someone is held accountable for the product. Who’s held accountable today?

Nobody.”

Asked how much newbuild construction costs may increase post-Dorian, Mr Wrinkle replied: “It’s hard to say, but ten to 20 percent would be within the realm.

If there’s compliance with the existing building code you’ve got a good chance of surviving most storms, but when you get up to 200 miles per hour all bets are off.”

He urged the government and industry to make the construction industry’s long-awaited self-regulation a reality immediately via the

appointment of the board to oversee the Construction Contractors Act, otherwise post-Dorian rebuilding could be compromised by contractors performing work they are not qualified to do.

“Moving forward with this mammoth reconstruction is a recipe for disaster if we do not have the board in place to license and regulate these contractors,” Mr Wrinkle told Tribune Business. “How do they expect to rebuild a major city without that in place? Without it you have no control.

“It means the city [Marsh Harbour] could be rebuilt by people not qualified to do the work. We’re all going to pay for this. I can’t emphasise enough the need to get that Act activated and the regulations in place.”

Both Desmond Bannister, minister of works, and Michael Pratt, current BCA president, told Tribune Business last month that progress was being made in finalising the board that will oversee the Act. However, Omar Archer, registrar of contractors, this week said the process had gone past the deadline laid out in the Act for the board to be appointed.

The Construction Contractors Act, when enforced, will introduce a system of licensing and self-regulation where Bahamian contractors are certified according to their qualifications, as well as the scale and scope of work they are capable of undertaking.

This is designed to place them on a “level playing field” with foreign contractors, enabling them to better compete for foreign multimillion dollar contracts on foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that come to The Bahamas because their capabilities are certified.​

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 18, 2019, PAGE 5

BTC lowers roaming agreement period on restoration ‘pick-up’ FROM PAGE ONE to roam on each other’s network in Abaco and Grand Bahama, said: “That lasts until we’ve adequately restored the mobile network.

“We anticipate being able to offer that level of service to many of the people in Grand Bahama well within the next two weeks. That’s how long the roaming agreement [with Aliv] lasts...We believe we will have Grand Bahama up and running at an acceptable

level in the major population centres, which is our major focus.

“Our restoration efforts have picked up quite significantly, and we believe we will get it all done in Grand Bahama in a 14-day period.

Abaco is going to be a bit more of a struggle, but it’s a struggle for both networks.”

Tribune Business last week reported that BTC and Aliv were at odds over how long customers should be allowed to roam free of charge on each other’s networks, with the former seeking 30 days but its rival offering only a 14-day deal.

Mr Sinclair yesterday indicated that network restoration had progressed faster than anticipated, resulting in BTC falling into line with the 14-day period Aliv wanted. Disclosing that the two parties were still “hammering out” terms for a roaming agreement already in place, the BTC chief

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LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE VEEJAY PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) VEEJAY PRIVATE COMPANY 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 06th September, 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 18th day of September, A. D. 2019. _________________________________ Leeward Nominees Limited Liquidator LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE CALUM HOLDINGS LIMITED N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) CALUM HOLDINGS 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 06th September, 2019 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. (c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas Dated this 18th day of September, A. D. 2019. _________________________________ Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

executive added: “We think we’re there.

“We thought a 30-day deadline would be enough, but the restoration process has picked up in earnest....

We’ve made mobile voice and data service free for our Abaco and Grand Bahama subscribers, and have not limited the amount of data and minutes they’ll be able to use.

“You get free service on our network, and we have not set a date for when we will end it. You do not have to worry about top-up and buying credits for pre-paid, and we have stopped billing post-paid until further notice.”

Mr Sinclair said BTC was also “reaching out” to its corporate customers recognising that their return to normal operations is key to the speed and extent with which The Bahamas recovers from Dorian.

“The key to getting communities back to normal is getting business back to normal, so people start reaching out and doing things as normal,” he added. While BTC’s enterprise clients will be restored once electricity supply resumes, Mr Sinclair said this process may take longer for small and mediumsized enterprise (SME) customers given that they were using older technology.

Describing restoration as “a marathon”, and something that is “not going to be a sprint”, the BTC chief executive added: “This kind of hurricane, with the intensity it came, was new to us in The Bahamas and taught us a lot...

“Is there more work to do?

Absolutely, but we are going flat out. The focus is rebuilding an even more resilient network so that after the next event, which will come, the conversation we will have is: ‘Garry, how did you get back up so quickly?’ That’s the

conversation I want to have.”

Asked to identify the lessons learned, Mr Sinclair replied: “We have a lot of aerial transmission capacity and fibre, and have to bury that. Cell sites need their own power generators; we have to self-energise way more of those, and we have to be more efficient with the dispersion of towers throughout those markets and cut more effective tower sharing agreements so that we don’t have multiple towers on either side that need repair when these events repeat themselves in the future.

“We need a more efficient tower network that gets us both up right away. Our fixed network is going largely to fibre. Getting away from copper makes it more resilient, and less maintenance intensive. It’s going to make us less power hungry and make us more efficient.”

Mr Sinclair declined to provide financial figures on BTC’s Dorian damages, and the cost of the network rebuild, but confirmed the price tag will run into the millions of dollars. “It’s not going to be cheap; it’s going to be expensive,” he added. “We’re going to spare no expense in having a super network rebuild and not leave any of it up to chance.”

The BTC chief added that the carrier was fully insured for storm damages and loss, and revealed that the Abaco mobile network’s capacity remains at around 20-25 percent until breaks in its fibre network are located and repaired.

Mr Sinclair said Balan Nair, head of Liberty Latin America, BTC’s ultimate parent, had also informed him that post-Dorian progress was matching or better than its affiliate’s recovery in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017, and The Bahamas was just “two to three weeks out or better”.

compliance, contractors Ex-BCA chief warns code are licensed, and someone held accountable for the over Dorian rebuild isproduct.

Who’s held account‘recipe for disaster’ able today? Nobody.”

FROM PAGE ONE Mr Wrinkle argued that further strengthening of the Building Code did not necessarily equate to new buildings being able to withstand future storms with the severity and intensity of Dorian. Rather than require everyone to construct “bunkers”, he suggested a “first step” could be for the Government to build its shelters to a higher standard to ensure Bahamians can access a “refuge”.

Construction location was also key, with Mr Wrinkle citing the Florida Keys as an example. All properties there have to be built some 14 feet above the mean high tide mark, using stilts and concrete pilings to protect them from flooding and storm surges, and the ex-BCA chief said The Bahamas may now require similar for building on the coast or low-lying land.

“I don’t think the economy can take a hit from increasing the Building Code substantially,” he told Tribune Business. “There may be some modifications in areas that we can work on, but to say revamp the Building Code is a tough call.

“There’s lots of options available, low hanging fruit so to speak, before taking draconian measures that inhibit the construction industry going forward You can tie up the loose ends, licence contractors. ... Compliance is a big part of it. Now people have been exposed to a tragedy of this scope, many are going to be a lot more receptive to complying with the code.

“There’s a lot of short-cutting in the islands, and people feel it’s OK, but they’re not going to look at it that way any more. Make sure there’s

Asked how much newbuild construction costs may increase post-Dorian, Mr Wrinkle replied: “It’s hard to say, but 10 to 20 percent would be within the realm.

If there’s compliance with the existing Building Code you’ve got a good chance of surviving most storms, but when you get up to 200 miles per hour all bets are off.”

He urged the Government and industry to make the construction industry’s long-awaited self-regulation a reality immediately via the appointment of the Board to oversee the Construction Contractors Act, otherwise post-Dorian rebuilding could be compromised by contractors performing work they are not qualified to do.

“Moving forward with this mammoth reconstruction is a recipe for disaster if we do not have the Board in place to license and regulate these contractors,” Mr Wrinkle told Tribune Business. “How do they expect to rebuild a major city without that in place? Without it you have no control.

“It means the city [Marsh Harbour] could be rebuilt by people not qualified to do the work. We’re all going to pay for this. I can’t emphasise enough the need to get that Act activated and the regulations in place.”

Both Desmond Bannister, minister of works, and Michael Pratt, current BCA president, told Tribune Business last month that progress was being made in finalising the Board that will oversee the Act. However, Omar Archer, registrar of contractors, this week said the process had gone past the deadline laid out in the Act for the Board to be appointed.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, September 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Democrats push ahead with short-term bill to avoid shutdown WASHINGTON Associated Press DEMOCRATS controlling the House are steering clear of controversy in a short-term, governmentwide spending measure that’s needed to prevent a government shutdown at the end of September.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has agreed to a White House request to replenish funds for bailout payments to farmers absorbing heavy losses as a result of President Donald Trump’s trade battles with China. She has also rejected suggestions from House liberals to try to use the must-pass stopgap measure to try to reverse the president’s controversial moves to raid military base construction projects to pay for the border wall, The temporary spending bill would keep the government running through Nov 21 and was to be released yesterday. House and Senate votes are expected well in advance of the Sept 30 deadline to avert a shutdown, though its release remained held up over a relatively a relatively minor but complicated set of issues.

The Senate, meanwhile, remains wrapped around the axle in its efforts to advance

“Of course Democrats oppose taking funds from Congress for our military to use on the president’s border wall.

Everyone knows that,” Schumer said yesterday. “McConnell has been accusing Democrats of threatening to block military funding because we don’t want to pass a bill that steals money from the military.”

The manoeuvring highlights the precarious nature of the summer’s bipartisan budget pact, which combined a two-year increase in the national debt with a set of new spending “caps” to prevent the return of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts to both the Pentagon and domestic federal agencies.

In that agreement, both sides promised to steer clear of controversial provisions that, if included in the bills, would be so politically nettlesome that they would derail the entire process. But Sen Patty Murray, D-Wash, upset that education and health programs within her jurisdiction have been shortchanged and angry over a new Trump administration rule banning family planning providers that accept federal funds from counseling women about their abortion options, threatened an amendment

HOUSE Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, speaks at the Capitol in Washington. The good news is that it doesn’t look like a bitterly polarised Washington will stumble into another government shutdown. But as Democrats controlling the House unveil a stopgap, government-wide spending bill to keep the lights on and pay the troops, there’s scant evidence that power sharing in the US Capitol will produce further legislative accomplishments anytime soon.

Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP the 12 annual spending bills that would fill in the blanks of this summer’s bipartisan budget and debt deal.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, has set up a procedural vote for today on a huge measure to fund the Pentagon, foreign aid, and domestic agencies like the energy and education departments, but Democrats

appear likely to filibuster the measure to protest what they say is a raid on health and education programs to pay for more border wall projects. Next steps are unclear at best, and fears are growing that most of the government, including the Defense Department, will have to run on autopilot at current funding levels.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that JACQUELINE JOSEPH of #15 Clarky Alley, Kemp Road, Nassau, 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 18th day of September, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that EAREN HUINGS of 5207 North West 17th Street, Lauderhill, Florida 33313 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 11th day of September, 2019 to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT (242) 323-2330

(242) 323-2320

ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE: 2,174.98 | CHG: -1.23 | %CHG: -0.06 | YTD: 65.53 | YTD%: 3.11 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.45 20.91 7.00 5.92 2.60 2.00 5.47 11.75 6.17 4.64 12.40 2.81 2.90 10.00 7.35 16.00 9.30 3.65 14.20

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 4.90 4.46 1.00 0.19 2.00 9.17 6.15 3.60 6.75 2.35 1.75 7.51 6.10 12.00 6.20 3.01 13.00

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

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

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

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

52WK HI 2.25 4.31 2.06 191.61 158.55 1.63 1.77 1.71 1.17 7.89 9.35 6.80 11.39 12.15 10.63 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.56 1.68 1.65 1.09 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

LAST CLOSE 4.10 17.43 6.00 5.92 2.46 1.80 4.70 11.06 6.16 4.07 7.50 2.98 2.90 10.42 7.00 16.00 9.20 3.35 14.20

CLOSE 4.10 17.43 6.00 5.92 2.46 1.80 4.70 11.06 6.16 4.06 7.50 3.02 2.90 10.50 7.00 16.00 9.20 3.35 14.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.01 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

LAST SALE 100.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

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

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

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

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

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

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

margins, such as short-term extensions of the federal flood insurance program and the Export-Import Bank, which helps finance export deals important to large manufacturers such as The Boeing Co. The House and Senate banking committees are responsible for legislation to reauthorise both the Export-Import Bank and the flood insurance program, which is particularly important to the real estate sector in coastal areas. But there’s been no progress, so temporary extensions of the two programmes have been attached to the interim spending bill.

Democrats are deferring a showdown over Trump’s border wall, which sparked a 35-day partial government shutdown at the turn of the year. Democratic leaders opted against trying to use the bill as a way to take on Trump controversies like cutting military base projects to pay for his USMexico border wall. But they’re not granting Trump any favours, either, denying provisions such as the flexibility to build new border wall segments.

A new bipartisan report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released yesterday found that this year’s shutdown and a more widespread 2013 shuttering of federal agencies cost taxpayers about $4bn, mostly for back pay for workers who did not work during the shutdowns. Almost 57,000 years of worker productivity were lost, according to the report by Sens Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Tom Carper, D-Del, contributing to piled-high trash at national parks, a suspension of consumer product safety inspections at US ports, and delayed certifications for new aircraft.

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

www.bisxbahamas.com

TUESDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2019

to reverse the administration’s abortion “gag rule”.

McConnell said Murray’s amendment — it would have likely passed the Appropriations Committee over opposition from GOP conservatives and the president — would violate the agreement to avoid politically toxic “poison pills”, and the typically bipartisan appropriations process in the Senate ran aground.

A top Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said that Democrats want allocations they consider to be fairer to social programmes and agreements on plotting floor consideration of legislation so they are not at a disadvantage in fighting for their priorities. “We get those things and the poison pills start drifting away,” Durbin said.

The Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday did approve three bipartisan bills funding transportation and housing, the IRS and the Treasury Department, and agriculture programs.

The stopgap measure to fund the government is aimed at buying time for action and negotiations on $1.4tn in annual appropriations bills. Some items can’t wait and will be included, like accelerated funding for the 2020 census and $20m to combat Ebola in Africa.

Since the temporary spending bill is the only must-do legislation on the immediate horizon, lawmakers are using it as a locomotive to haul other priorities into law. That bundle of provisions, negotiated behind closed doors, offers plenty of evidence of Capitol Hill’s chronic dysfunction.

It’s not just that the Democratic-controlled House and GOP-held Senate can’t agree on big issues like infrastructure, guns and health care. They also can’t agree on lower-tier items that typically pass by wide

VOLUME 2,000

600 800 3,000 22,528

VOLUME

NAV 2.25 4.31 2.06 191.61 158.33 1.63 1.77 1.71 1.17 7.89 9.35 6.80 11.39 12.15 10.63 9.92 8.68 11.38

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 1.760 0.369 0.070 0.000 -0.438 0.722 0.449 0.184 0.140 0.102 0.467 0.000 0.728 0.816 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 0.610

P/E 17.2 18.7 N/M 16.0 N/M N/M -10.7 15.3 13.7 22.1 53.6 29.6 6.2 N/M 9.6 19.6 9.8 16.5 22.5

YIELD 3.90% 7.23% 0.00% 4.22% 0.00% 1.11% 0.00% 6.51% 3.57% 2.96% 0.00% 2.25% 2.07% 3.12% 3.43% 3.38% 2.17% 3.58% 4.30%

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

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 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

YTD%12 MTH% 2.15% 3.88% 1.61% 4.11% 1.53% 2.74% 3.85% 6.28% 7.12% 2.08% 1.91% 4.55% 1.45% 4.30% 1.67% 4.21% 4.75% 7.44% 5.53% 8.48% 8.12% 12.28% 3.03% 4.85% 9.83% 0.60% 3.92% 3.72% 2.47% 3.16% -0.71% 0.16% 7.40% 2.70% 10.20% 1.30%

NAV Date 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 26-Jul-2019 30-Jun-2019 30-Jun-2019 31-May-2019 31-May-2019 31-May-2019 31-May-2019 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 31-Jul-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019 30-Mar-2019

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

The public is hereby advised that I, VESTINA NAOMI FORBES of 8th Street, Coconut Grove, Nassau, Bahamas intend to change my name by Deed Poll to VESTINA NAOMI HEPBURN. If there are any objections to the change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of this publication notice.

LEGAL NOTICE

International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000) In Voluntary Liquidation Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act, No. 45 of 2000, the Dissolution of MONTI MANAGEMENT LTD. has been completed, a Certificate of Dissolution has been issued and the Company has therefore been struck off the Register. The date of completion of the dissolution was the 21st day of August, 2019.

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE CODINEX ASSETS LIMITED NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) CODINEX ASSETS LIMITED has been dissolved on the 29th day of July, 2019 under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, 2000.

Shareece E. Scott Liquidator

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

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, September 18, 2019, PAGE 7

Sanders-Biden feud ramps up in front of key union audience PHILADELPHIA Associated Press THE high-stakes fight for working-class voters moved to Pennsylvania yesterday as a slate of Democratic White House hopefuls vowed to use the power of the presidency to crack down on corporate America and strengthen organised labour.

But beneath all the agreement at the AFL-CIO conference, a feud between two leading candidates, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, began to spill out into the open. Neither mentioned the other by name onstage.

Yet both moved to undermine the other’s credibility with a group of voters that may hold the key to the 2020 presidential election.

Sanders was the most aggressive when he ticked down a list of unpopular votes from Biden’s decadeslong record in politics as he faced hundreds of union members in a Philadelphia convention hall.

“Unlike some of the folks running for president, I did not vote for the war in Iraq, I did not vote for the Wall Street bailout, I did not vote for a terrible bankruptcy bill and, maybe most important, I did not vote for the disastrous trade policies like NAFTA,” Sanders declared.

Speaking to reporters afterward, the Vermont senator repeatedly called out Biden by his first name, charging that “Joe” has a long record of voting against the interests of the working class.

“All I wanted to do today was make it clear that in terms of the needs of working people, I don’t have a record I have to apologise for,” Sanders said.

Earlier in the day, Biden took a jab at Sanders by

Biden has built his decades-old political brand as a native of working-class

Scranton, Pennsylvania. He reminded union members yesterday about his nickname

“Working-class Joe” and called labour unions “the backbone of the country”.

Senior Operator and Plant Manager Needed

BERNIE Sanders speaks at the Workers Presidential Summit.

JOE Biden speaks at the Workers Presidential Summit. reminding union members that the health care plan championed by the Vermont senator — known as “Medicare for All” — would ultimately force union members from their private insurance plans to a government-backed system.

“In mine, you can keep the health insurance you bargained for if you like it,” Biden said.

The tension between the two leading candidates came during what organisers called a “workers’ presidential summit”, an event in downtown Philadelphia that gave the Democratic Party’s 2020 class an opportunity to speak to hundreds of union officials in a premier swing state.

Besides Biden and Sanders, the lineup featured Minnesota Sen Amy Klobuchar, California businessman

Tom Steyer, Ohio congressman Tim Ryan, New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang and author Marianne Williamson. A handful of candidates, most notably Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, did not attend.

A Warren spokeswoman said she had “prior commitments” in New York, noting that she attended an AFL-CIO forum over the summer.

Arguably, no group of voters will play a more critical role in 2020 than those gathered at the Pennsylvania Convention Center yesterday afternoon. Trump won the presidency on the backs of white working-class voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan in Wisconsin — three states that hadn’t supported a Republican for president in almost three decades before Trump.

Our organization is searching for a dynamic plant manager to take on the responsibility of managing the operations and maintenance of a small/mid-scale desalination plant in Bimini. The successful candidate will be accountable for all aspects of plant performance and maintenance.

Essential duties and functions include but not limited to: • Oversee the day to day operation of the plant • Oversee and manage plant employees • Perform routine maintenance (mechanical repair, I&C trouble shooting and repair) • Plant operation optimization • The local company representative toward the client • Manage external subcontractors • Inventory management • Preparing daily, monthly, and general reports Requirements: • Electromechanical and hydraulic experience (preferably an engineering or technical degree/diploma) • Two years plant operation and maintenance experience (preferably water systems operation experience) • Microsoft Office proficient • Excellent communication skills • Ability to engage and motivate others The successful candidate will be required to reside on Bimini.

This position comes with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Interested qualified candidates may submit their resume via email to

info@globalcmltd.com.