10082020 BUSINESS

business@tribunemedia.net

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

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‘You can’t turn tourism on and off like the tap’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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MAJOR hotelier yesterday voiced concern over the “mixed message” sent by the latest COVID-19 restrictions for November 1’s re-opening, arguing: “You can’t turn tourism on and off like a tap.”

Magnus Alnebeck, the Grand Bahama-based Pelican Bay resort’s general manager, told Tribune Business the weekend lockdown and extended curfew imposed on New Providence and Abaco by the prime minister were likely “to sow a little bit of doubt

• ‘Mixed message’ fear for November 1 re-open • COVID lockdown/curfew will ‘sow visitor doubt’ • Hotelier urges: ‘Develop strategy and stick to it’ and confusion” in the minds of potential visitors mulling whether to travel to this nation once the 14-day quarantine is eliminated.

Arguing that the situation again highlights the need for The Bahamas to develop a clear strategy for its tourism re-opening “and stick to it”, Mr Alnebeck said the tighter restrictions unveiled by Dr Minnis were likely to cause some discomfort in the global travel marketplace.

“Turn it around. Imagine

you as a Bahamian are considering going to Fort Lauderdale on November 1, and tomorrow you see Florida has a 24-hour curfew this coming weekend two weeks before you are going to go there,” the Pelican Bay chief explained. “Would you go ahead with your plans?

You would say: Let’s wait and see.”

Suggesting that the measures unveiled yesterday “definitely do no good” for The Bahamas’ ambitions to fully re-open its borders

to international travellers on November 1 with the elimination of the mandatory 14-day quarantine, Mr Alnebeck said the strength of any rebound will depend heavily on how the tourism market react.

“The question of whether this hampers it or not, it’s too early to tell,” he added.

“But as a consumer it must sow a little bit of confusion and doubt. To think we can

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Retailers fear 40-60% curb-side sales drop

By YOURI KEMP and NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Reporters

NON-FOOD retailers will likely see a 40-60 percent sales drop-off compared to in-store activity, Tribune Business was told yesterday, after the prime minister ordered the sector back to curb-side offerings.

Andrew Wilson, the Quality Business Centre (QBC) and Fashion on Broadway principal, said he planned to keep all staff engaged despite the anticipated reduction in consumer demand with the shift back to curb-side, pickup and delivery mode for Bahamian retailers.

Admitting that Dr Hubert Minnis is “between a rock and a hard place” in trying to balance economic and health interests as he seeks to bring New Providence’s

• PM ‘between rock and hard place’ • Harder to work than in-store traffic • Govt has ‘gone back to the future’ COVID-19 surge under control, Mr Wilson said of the latest restrictions: “It’s not good for business, but we understand the decision he has made.

“We are able to offer curb-side. We’ve done it in the past, and will do it again.

The sales will not be at a level comparable to in-store shopping. I’d say we’d be off by 40 percent; we’d have a 40 percent drop with curbside sales, but I think he’s [Dr Minnis] doing it for the greater good. I think he’s doing the best that he can.

“There’s no precedent for what he’s faced with. Quite honestly, I’m grateful the country has Dr Minnis at

Govt gives ‘notice’ of main bond issue

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE deputy prime minister yesterday said the government has alerted the international capital markets that it is preparing to market and issue its foreign currency bond offering.

K Peter Turnquest, pictured, told Tribune Business that “the bond notice” was issued yesterday, and signalled that the government was proceeding in accordance with the previously outlined October/November 2020 schedule for raising

the majority of the debt financing that will cover the record $1.327bn fiscal deficit projected for 2020-2021.

“I think at this point we are proceeding,” Mr

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Abaco seeks Dorian lockdown exemption

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said he will seek exemptions from the newly-unveiled COVID19 weekend lockdown to ensure Hurricane Dorian reconstruction continues unimpeded.

Ken Hutton told Tribune Business he was writing to the prime minister to explain the concerns, and relief sought, by Abaco’s private sector after he unveiled plans to impose a

KEN HUTTON 24-hour weekend lockdown on the island’s construction and other sectors.

Anxious that Abaco’s rebuilding face no further unnecessary delays, he said:

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the helm for a time such as this. We all err and make mistakes in hindsight, and upon reflection we may find there’s another way, but I think he’s doing the best he can with the options available to him.”

Mr Wilson argued that it was “critical” to bring COVID-19 infection rates on New Providence under control if The Bahamas hoped to market itself as a ‘safe’ destination for tourists in a pandemicstricken world, especially since the prime minister yesterday said the government remains committed to the fast-approaching November 1 deadline for

eliminating the 14-day mandatory quarantine.

The re-opening of New Providence’s two mega resorts, Atlantis and Baha Mar, before Christmas 2020 appears to be hanging in the balance at best, with the timing and strength of stopover tourism’s return as well as that of its cruise counterpart - surrounded by much uncertainty.

“It’s critical for our primary industry,” Mr Wilson said of the need to bring COVID-19’s spread under control. “The local economy can only keep us going but for so long. That’s going

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Super Value eyes 6am start to beat lost COVID hours

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SUPER Value’s principal says he plans to open the supermarket chain at 6am from today in a bid to reclaim some of the shopping hours lost to the new COVID-19 restrictions.

Rupert Roberts told Tribune Business that extending New Providence’s curfew, and bringing it forward to 7pm, will cause the 13-store group to shut its doors at 5pm from next week to provide an opportunity for cashiers to cash out and the restocking of shelves.

With the latest measures unveiled by Dr Hubert Minnis already causing “bedlam” at many Super Value stores by early afternoon, with long lines of shoppers eager to stock-up before the weekend lockdown forming outside, Mr Roberts said the failure of many Bahamians to comply with the COVID-19 health protocols had made it impossible to balance health and economic interests.

While opposed to a lockdown that will cost Super Value three sales’ days over the upcoming National Heroes holiday weekend, and two on normal weekends, the Super Value chief argued that “we have to support whatever it takes to get rid of the virus”.

He revealed that the supermarket chain’s overtime bill was now quadruple pre-pandemic levels, standing at $30,000 per week as opposed to the previous $30,000 per month, and said it was “disheartening” that the government had decided to extend the weekend lockdown beyond the upcoming holiday.

“We’re opening at 7am

RUPERT ROBERTS and are going to try to switch to opening at 6am,” Mr Roberts told Tribune Business. “We have to take all the hours we can get.

We’re trying to pick up extra hours because we’re losing two at least. We know that when we come to the store at 6am there’s going to be lines.

“It’s going to be hard for us to get in six shopping days in the next three days.

We’re not going to get the sales in, and the big problem on Friday is the 7pm curfew, which means we have to really close at 5pm.

“We’re going to write to the competent authority for permission to stock on Saturdays, the warehouse and the stores, so we can deliver and stock and ensure consumers don’t have empty stores on Tuesday.”

Mr Roberts added that the enforced switch from a seven-day to five-day week, and reduced hours on the latter days, will cause “chaos for us” by compressing shoppers into a much narrower timeframe. “We are going to catch hell,” he said. “It’s going to be very hard on our staff, on our cashiers.”

Dr Minnis’ announcement triggered another rush to the food stores yesterday,

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PAGE 2, Thursday, October 8, 2020

Improved cyber security aids corporate resilience

BY DEREK SMITH

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T would be misleading to state or infer that cyber security management and compliance are easy tasks.

These topics can often appear daunting to many top executives, small business owners and all those in between. To further complicate the discussion, there are so many acronyms, technology jargon, controls, regulations, codes of conduct

THE TRIBUNE and more that must be carefully analysed in an effort to create the safest environment for your privacy, communications, professional and personal data.

However, despite the best efforts of governments, regulators, companies, and individuals, there are mounting statistics which confirm data breaches and other cyber crimes are increasing.

And locally, police commissioner Paul Rolle, when addressing the CARICOM IMPACS virtual security conference, said: “In the last six months, we have seen some increase in fraudrelated matters, particularly cyber fraud. There was a 36 percent increase in hacking and extortion.”

The Bahamas is not alone in this regard. The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) quotes Marina Walter, the United Nations resident co-ordinator for Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Aruba, Curacao and Saint Marteen, expressing

concern about the lack of comprehensive cyber security policies among member states due to “the high number of unsecured servers”.

Given that October has been celebrated as Cyber Security Awareness Month for the past 17 years, I believe it is important to provide simplicity on this otherwise technical topic by explaining several of the aspects that both small and large businesses, individuals and governments, should be aware of and how compliance fits into the mix.

Threat Actors These are the source of an event, incident or breach. This person can be an employee or an outside that launches a cyber attack.

While it is widely accepted that insiders account for the greatest threat to a company’s security, the 2020 Data Breach Investigation Report suggests this is inaccurate. Although there has been an uptick in internal

actors, “financially motivated breaches are more common than espionage by a wide margin”.

Threat Actions These are the ploys used by criminals to gain access to protected information.

These are numerous. However, placing them into the following topics, helps provide perspective. These topic areas include malware; hacking; social; misuse; physical; error; and environmental.

Cyber security Compliance The role of compliance in the cyber security space is multi-faceted. Risk and compliance professionals ensure that our companies are aware of both applicable laws and global best practices. They provide creditable challenges surrounding controls implemented by our respective organisations.

Moreover, they ensure staff and owners alike are made aware of implemented cyber security standards and protocols.

In conclusion, as

technology continues to grow so will cyber threats.

Compliance regulators, business owners, executive leaders, compliance professionals and employees all have strategic roles to play in the security of data. As cyber security standards become embedded, I submit company resilience will increase as a direct result.

NB: Derek Smith Jr is a compliance officer at a leading law firm in The Bahamas, and a former assistant vicepresident, compliance and money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), at local private bank. His professional career started at a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm and has spanned over 15 years, including business risk management, compliance, internal audit, external audit and other accounting services. He is also a CAMS member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).

CHAMBER CHAIR: LOCKDOWN TO HIT RESTAURANTS AND RETAIL

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Chamber of Commerce’s chairman yesterday warned the retail and restaurant industries will be among those hit hardest by enhanced COVID-19 restrictions that may prove counter-productive.

Khrystle RutherfordFerguson, pictured, in a statement to Tribune Business, said she feared that measures unveiled by the Prime Minister for New Providence and Abaco may have “the unintended consequences” of aiding COVID-19’s spread by causing “overcrowding” at food stores due to reduced opening hours.

Acknowledging that the government had elected not to impose a full lockdown, and that it tried to balance economic concerns

with the rising COVID19 infection rate, Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson said numerous retailers were unable to offer curb-side services due to the nature of the products they sold.

And the weekend lockdowns unveiled by Dr Hubert Minnis, together with the earlier curfew start time of 7pm, meant restaurants will lose what is traditionally their busiest sales period due to the tightened restrictions.

“The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation notes that another lockdown was not announced,” Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson said.

“We also note that there were steps taken to balance the immediate health concerns with the economic concerns.

“However, the effect of the curfew changes will present some challenges for the business community.

We are concerned that the announced restrictions may result in the unintended consequences of overcrowding at businesses, which may lead to virus spread.”

Food stores are the only retail operation where customers will be allowed in-store on New Providence and Abaco with effect from Tuesday next week. All other retail formats will be restricted to curb-side

services on all week-days, from 9am to 5pm, with Dr Minnis opting for full 24-hour weekend lockdowns and curfews when only essential services will be allowed to operate.

Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson said: “Retail businesses will be impacted as there are practical issues regarding limiting its commercial activity to curbside pickup only without including appointments. We also acknowledge that many of our members are not able to offer delivery and curbside pick-up due to the nature of the goods and services they offer.

“Furthermore, having restaurants revert to takeout, curbside pick-up and delivery only, in addition to prohibiting indoor and outdoor dining, means that their revenues will be negatively impacted. They will be further impacted

by the fact that the new curfews will restrict them from providing services on the weekend and week day dinner service, which tends to be the most lucrative [time] for restaurants.

“Ultimately, prohibiting commercial activity on weekends, in general, will impact revenues, and may lead to long lines during the week,” the chamber chair added.

“We join in and underscore the message regarding the importance of enforcement, education, wearing of masks, washing hands frequently and social distancing, with a recognition that vigilance is key.

There is no doubt that we all have an individual and collective responsibility, which calls for a community effort, discipline and determination.”

“The chamber awaits the release of the emergency

order that will codify the announcements made by the prime minister, and will provide further clarity on the restrictions, together with the goals regarding targets and timelines that will be set by the health professionals.

Empirical data is what leads to predictability, and is a banner point for the business community in establishing and co-ordinating its commercial plans.”

“The steps taken today must be taken with the full knowledge that mitigating the spread of the virus, with the least amount of restrictions to commercial activity for the shortest period of time, is in the best interest of all. The chamber remains committed to working with businesses and the government to see how quickly the restrictions can be removed.”

Second airline targets SUPPLY CHAIN BOOST VIA NEW ROCK SOUND DOCK pre-flight COVID test

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net ANOTHER airline yesterday announced it was working with the government to implement pre-flight COVID-19 testing for all passengers travelling to The Bahamas.

Tropic Ocean Airways, in a release sent to Tribune Business, said: “Tropic Ocean Airways, an amphibious airline providing luxury air travel servicing South Florida, The Bahamas and greater Caribbean, is working with the Bahamian government to offer preflight COVID-19 antigen testing at its Fort Lauderdale International Sheltair facility and the Miami Seaplane Base to locations in The Bahamas.

“In addition to offering Immigration pre-clearance, through its partnership with Bahamas pre-clearance, this will help facilitate direct travel to all islands of The Bahamas, reducing additional touch points and possible congestion at ports of entry, and removing the logistical challenges of testing upon arrival.”

Tropic Ocean Airways thus becomes the second carrier, after American Airlines, to confirm it is working on a pre-flight testing solution for all passengers it will bring to The Bahamas. It will seemingly dovetail well with the Ministry of Tourism’s plan to replace the 14-day visitor quarantine with increased COVID-19 testing.

The airline added: “Travellers to The Bahamas are required to provide a negative test result using a COVID-19 RT-PCR swab test no more than seven days prior to travel, a Bahamas Health Travel Visa and to receive an antigen test.

“This is all part of their commitment to welcome visitors and residents back safely. One of Tropic Ocean Airways’ testing partners, Genome LLC, has offered to offset costs to travellers by providing a package deal including the COVID19 RT-PCR swab test and Ag Antigen test. The Ag Antigen test kits have the required 95 percent specificity and sensitivity.”

“Further, the Government of The Bahamas recently announced that the 14-day mandatory ‘vacation in place’ quarantine will expire on October 31,” Tropic Ocean Airways added.

“Thereafter, visitors and residents alike will be able to move about and explore the destination at their leisure and discretion.

“Tropic Ocean Airlines stands firm as a partner with The Bahamas to bring visitors and residents back to the country in a safe and efficient manner, and to facilitate arrivals across the archipelago to have an immediate impact on tourism.”

“To help the re-opening, Tropic Ocean Airways will offer pre-testing capabilities at cost to its guests, and will offer the service to other carriers at its Fort Lauderdale International facility.”

ROCK Sound’s replacement dock will improve the speed and efficiency of deliveries to businesses in that part of Eleuthera when it is completed by May 2021.

Desmond Bannister, minister of works, said the existing dock was “in very bad shape”. He added: “It was crucial that the dock be repaired and upgraded, and the existing channel dredged to a deeper depth.

“The repaired dock will be more convenient for the residents of Eleuthera that utilise the mail boat. This structure will allow larger vessels to dock, which will make the loading or unloading of goods or passengers much easier.”

Hank Johnson, central and South Eleuthera MP, said: “Residents are more than happy that the government has decided to upgrade the dock in Rock Sound. The people are grateful and it’s a spin-off economically, and so we are looking forward to having quite a few of the residents working on the project.

There are quite a few positives to it.

“The dock was in real bad shape, and one of the problems we had there was that we were not able to bring in any large size ships because of the shallow depth of the water. Companies therefore discontinued going into Rock Sound and everything had to be trucked out of Governor’s Harbour.”

Mr Johnson added: “Now that they are repairing the dock, putting in a ramp and dredging the basin, we will

WORK in progress at the Rock Sound dock. be able to receive ships of a bigger size and international vessels. Once this dock is completed all of the mail boat services won’t have to come through Governor’s Harbour; they can go directly to Rock Sound.

“It was pretty costly for the residents having to truck items from Governor’s Harbour into Rock Sound. Eleuthera, being 110 miles long with one main port of entry at a central location, it made it difficult. That is why it is so important to have that docking facility.

“Rock Sound used to be a main point of entry one time ago. Part of it was the developers were in the south, and so with that dock

Photo: MOPW

being accessible traffic will be reduced quite a bit.”

A & D Gaitor Equipment, Rock & Sand won the contract for the project. The company’s owner, Andrew Gaitor, said the project started in September 2020. He added: “The barge arrived in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, and was offloaded on September 8, 2020.

“The first thing we did was demolish the old Customs warehouse building.

Then we made preparations to go out 200 feet from the main dock to prepare for the dredging process. The job requires the dredging to be 125 feet in width and 200 feet in length with a finished level at nine feet

water depth at low tide. The dredging is 70 percent complete, and we are scheduled to be completed by October 16,” he added.

“After the dredging process is completed we will install sheet piles. The sheet piles are scheduled to arrive in Rock Sound on October 30. The piling process will commence November 6, and the completion date is estimated to be January 31, 2021. As is relates to the refurbishing and extension of the concrete dock, we are hoping work will commence the second week of February next year. The fishermen dock removal and demolition is scheduled to begin on October 22. The estimated completion date is January 2021.”

Oria Culmer, 700 Wines & Spirit’s manager, said the new dock will be very convenient for business.

“We will be able to receive our products earlier. This was much needed because sometimes the trucks bringing the goods are late. I’m for it definitely.

I’m glad they’re replacing it. I’m very glad this is happening because it is better for the community,” she added.

Eleuthera Stationary Office and Supplies owner, Michelle Gibson, said she was happy to see “our tax paying dollars being put to good use”.

“I think this is a good thing the government is doing for Eleuthera. I think the community and myself is happy work is being done,” she added.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, October 8, 2020, PAGE 3

Gym owners: Closure Restaurant ‘very upset’ now ‘very real option’ over COVID measures

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net STUNNED Bahamian gym owners yesterday said closure of their businesses is “a very real option” after the prime minister yesterday ordered the sector to close again just two weeks after it re-opened.

Acknowledging that Dr Hubert Minnis’ move to shutter the sector was a “blow”, as the government bids to halt the surge in COVID-19 infections in New Providence and Grand Bahama, they argued that the sudden closure was unnecessary given that client numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Dr Kent Bazard, owner/ operator of Empire Fitness, said in a short note to this newspaper: “Closing my business is now a very real option I have to consider.” Speaking just a fortnight ago, after Dr Minnis had again given the sector the go-ahead to reopen, he said then: “There is not much longer we can hold out. Within a few weeks it will be $80,000 in debt and that’s not sustainable at all.

“This is money that I owe regardless of when we open. I owe the money.

This is not a good place at all. The bank is not working with me and we are working out a payment plan with our landlord.

They are very understanding, but they are still due their money whether or not our business closes down or not.

“As far as the law is concerned they are totally within their legal rights to kick us out at any point, but I’m saying as a business we cannot keep racking up bills. We can’t be operating a business and operating in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. We just can’t do it.”

The latest closure, and the frequent switching between lockdown and opening, has thus brought some gym owners to the brink of extinction. Mark Turnquest, a small business consultant who yesterday revealed that five of his clients are gym owners, said yesterday: “All of them are crying now.

“They were only open for two weeks. All of them reinvested money to buy bar bells and equipment, and now they have to close again. That’s going to kill them. To have a successful gym you’ve got to have equipment, and that costs money. The landlords and banks, they ain’t checking.

They are in one mess.”

Alison Burnside, owner/ operator of Reflection Image Fitness Centre, told Tribune Business yesterday of the prime minister’s move: “It’s a blow, OK. I mean, he didn’t need to shut us down abruptly. He could have let us open up a timeframe because we don’t have large numbers of participants in the gym right now due to the fact that a lot of people are still in fear of coming out.

“We were just trying to get ourselves together to pay off some of our utility bills and our rent. Our landlord was lenient with us, but now with this.....

What could you do except for us to sit here in a state of shock.”

Dr Minnis acknowledged the pain he was inflicting on the sector, saying: “Unfortunately, gyms will once again be closed. I acknowledge that they were only very recently opened. We will try to re-open them as soon as possible.”

Ms Burnside said her landlord is Super Value chief Rupert Roberts, and said: “He gave us leniency for the past seven months and now this again? Then

we have to pay for deep sanitising, and we have to get the Ministry of Health and do their course and what not to meet the requirements.

We are practicing the protocols and here it is again; we are shut down.”

Ms Burnside said she had patrons inside that heard the prime minister’s decision on TV at the same time she. She waited for them to finish their workout routine before closing, adding: “I can’t put them out. They are putting food on my table. I’m waiting on them to finish, I will be honest with you.”

She continued: “We haven’t had any cases in any gyms reported for COVID-19. I don’t recall anything because when my patrons come in they have to sign the register, put your gym number and your gym membership name, and sanitise when you come through even before you pick up the pen.

“You have a timeframe to be in here, one hour and 15 minutes, and then you have to leave. If we have six persons in the weight room, the next person has to wait outside until they are finished because we don’t even want you gathering by the counter.

So it is a fluid in and out of people coming in the gym.”

Ms Burnside said she has no intention of closing her business entirely and will “stick it out” until the latest COVID-19 restrictions end.

Jennifer Godet, owner of J-Line Fitness, said: “All victory over the pandemic and the economy and life itself belongs to God, so there is nothing to fear. From a business standpoint, I do not see how the constant back and forth will improve the overall outcome.”

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A RESTAURANT owner yesterday said he was “very upset” by the reimposition of tighter COVID-19 restrictions on the industry, adding that he felt “victimised” due to the sharp cut in opening hours.

Jacques Carlino, owner/ operator of the Blue Sail Bar & Grill, told Tribune Business: “I’m very upset, very upset. My staff is very upset. I have been trying to tag along my staff for months now, paying them when NIB was not paying them.

“You know, to this date, they still have not gotten their National Insurance Board (NIB) payments, and if I had not paid their salaries from March, I don’t know what they would have done.”

He spoke out after the prime minister yesterday said no indoor or outdoor restaurant dining will be permitted in New Providence and Abaco as he bids to halt the rapid surge in COVID-19 infections on the former island in particular.

Restaurants will only be allowed offer take-away, curb side and deliveries, and must also contend with earlier closing hours during the week after the curfew’s start was brought forward to 7pm. The weekend lockdown also eliminates what, for many, is traditionally their busiest time.

“Where take away services are being provided, enforcement monitors will be vigilant to ensure that there is no congregating either indoors or outdoors by patrons,” Dr Minnis added.

Mr Carlino said: “My staff is short now as they know curbside can’t keep them on. There is no money for all of the front team members of my staff; there is no money to keep them on.

It’s very tight and I understand that this COVID-19 is out of control. I am looking at the numbers and they depress me, and I totally understand.

“I feel as if we had followed the protocols from the beginning. We sent our protocols to the prime minister right from the beginning before the reopening, so punish those who are not following the protocols; don’t punish everybody.

“I was expecting the three-day lockdown because of the holiday, and then I was expecting that we would tighten the curfew, but we need to still open and stay open. Make us close at 6pm and let us get some money in the tin so we can survive, because otherwise we are all going to die,” Mr Carlino added.

“It doesn’t matter how big our shoulders were in March; we are weakened to the ground. My restaurant has done well,; I am one of the lucky ones, but still that’s it. The reserves are gone and I think this is

too tough, and I am talking from the heart.

“I understand that we have to get it under control, and it must be done if we want a chance for opening up on November 1. I totally see where the prime minister is coming from, but leave us open until at least 7pm, so everybody can operate a little bit of business. Doing curbside and delivery, there is no money in it. There is no money to pay the rent and that’s the reality.”

Mr Carlino said he was unsure if he will stay open to offer curb-side, and added: “The landlord who has been helping us through this time, it is getting tough on them, too. It is tough on everybody.

Everybody needs to work, and we all pay the price for about ten percent of the population who can’t keep their butts in their house.

That’s what’s happening.”

He said he has been a staunch supporter of the COVID-19 health protocols from the start, and had ensured staff to wear their masks and face shields, and sanitise hands regularly. He said: “I have ordered 100 new shields for my staff. We don’t let anybody sit at the bar. We are right on top of it; even inside our restaurant the tables are so far apart.

“We really have been obeying the law. Our customers are warned that when they come in, we close at 9pm and at 8:45pm we go around and tell them it is closing time and they have to be gone in ten minutes. We do our best to obey because we want to stay open.

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PAGE 4, Thursday, October 8, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Small Business Bill is pledged by mid-2021

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE deputy prime minister has pledged that the Small Business Development Bill (SBDB) will be brought to Parliament before the current fiscal year on June 30, 2021.

K Peter Turnquest said the Bill, which has been awaited for some 13-14 years, and been a project that has lasted across four administrations, is something the government is going to give “focus to over the next several months”.

Her added that “certainly

before the new fiscal year” the government will have a Bill that can be brought forward to Parliament.

Merrit Storr, a Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) board member, said the agency will lead a formal consultation with all micro, small and mediumsized (MSME) enterprises on what should be included in the proposed legislation.

“The government has a number of its agencies that service this sector, and so an initial consultation involving the Bahamas Development Bank, the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, the Bahamas

Entrepreneurial Venture Capital Fund and a number of smaller agencies is of critical importance,” Mr Storr added.

“Streamlining the government’s resources, and ensuring they are effectively utilised, is also an important goal of this consultation process. The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, and the various island chambers of commerce, will also be consulted along with other private sector stakeholders.

“Approximately seven years ago I had the privilege of leading a similar consultation process, which

‘You can’t turn tourism on and off like the tap’ FROM PAGE ONE turn this on and off like a tap, it doesn’t work like that.

“People are very reluctant to travel, and the mixed messages about the situation doesn’t make them any more comfortable. Let’s try and come up with a plan we can stick with, and let’s stick to it. Changing things too rapidly has been a problem for us over the last eight months. Open/close, change this, change that. I think we need to find out whatever our plan is and stick with it.”

Giving specific example of where The Bahamas’ messaging has been less than consistent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,

Mr Alnebeck added: “We’ve had a problem in Grand Bahama where for weeks we are open and people who come to the island and want to go to the beach cannot do so after 12pm because they are told the beach is closed.

“Some of the things we are doing, like keeping the beaches closed, makes no sense. We all know what happened in July when we opened up for tourists but closed the beaches. The concern is how difficult it will be to send out the message that in three weeks we will be opening up now that Nassau is under weekend lockdown and curfew. Have we shown in the past that we stick to what we actually say?”

The Pelican Bay chief

added that his resort had suffered cancellations as a result of the government and Ministry of Tourism promoting the Bahamian hotel industry’s re-opening on October 15, as this created the impression the Grand Bahama resort, tool, was closed even though it had remained open throughout the pandemic.

Pointing out that persons planning to come to The Bahamas in early November 2020 will be making their plans and bookings now, just as the prime minister announced new restrictions for New Providence and Abaco, Mr Alnebeck also questioned how comfortable travellers to the Family Islands will be transiting

ended with a drafting of a Bill to govern an agency like the Access Accelerator (SBDC), but unfortunately that process stalled for various reasons,” he said.

“As a result of the early success of the Access Accelerator, we believe there is a renewed commitment to completing this process and ending up with a working draft Bill that can be presented to government for approval and, ultimately, for tabling in Parliament as soon as it is reasonably possible.”

Recalling the previous effort he led seven years ago, Mr Storr added: “It was

envisioned at that time that the legislation was going to be a Small Business Development Act, and there was going to be an agency created similar to what the Access Accelerator has become, but it was a little different.

“So what we have now has been completely revised and reformulated, and I think that it’s only fair that we probably have to go through that process again.

The information or the circumstances that existed seven years ago have certainly changed.”

Mr Storr said the proposed legislation will have

objectives that are “twofold”. He said: “One of the objectives is to create a more precise framework for the governing of the Access Accelerator, and to create a legislative format for that.

“There are a number of government agencies that are providing support for MSMEs, and in some instances there may be a question as to whether some of those services are overlapping. So part of this process is to also try and create a more efficient process so that all of these agencies work in tandem and there is a legal infrastructure that governs that.”

through Nassau.

Dr Minnis has given himself just three weeks to bring New Providence’s COVID19 surge under control as he yesterday reaffirmed that the November 1 deadline for re-opening The Bahamas’ borders to international tourism, and the elimination of the 14-day mandatory quarantine, remains intact despite the new measures.

With timing rapidly running out, and new infections on New Providence running at between 50 to 100 per day or 500 per week, some observers believe with hindsight that the Prime Minister may have been correct to try an August lockdown.

However, its botched handling, which have residents too little time to prepare, resulted in the government rapidly reversing course and re-opening the economy. After suggesting that no more lockdowns would be employed, and that COVID-19’s so-called second surge was coming to an end, Dr Minnis has

now performed yet another u-turn with the imposition of more restrictive measures.

As reported by Tribune Business on Tuesday, the prime minister yesterday opted for weekend lockdowns and an extended, earlier curfew on weekdays that begins at 7pm rather than the current 10pm on New Providence and Abaco with effect from this Friday.

While sea and airports will be allowed to operate normally, and travel continue uninterrupted with no disruption to flights, Dr Minnis said: “No food stores, pharmacies, gas stations, construction sites or laundromats will be permitted to operate during the full 24-hour weekend curfews.... Gas stations are not permitted to provide instore services.

Calling on all Bahamians who can work remotely from home to do so, he added: “We have many reports of individuals in offices not wearing masks and not maintaining

physical distancing, proper sanitisation and other health measures. Such practices are helping to spread the virus.

“I again make a strong appeal to those businesses that are not complying with health and safety guidelines to do so immediately..... As a part of our enforcement efforts, all fines for breaching health protocols, except for the mask violations, will be doubled.

“To encourage compliance with public health protection measures, there will be an amendment to the Emergency Powers Order that causes businesses to be closed for business on their second violation of the orders. They will be closed for 14 days.

“If a business or construction site has an infection rate of ten percent of the full staff complement, the business or construction site will be closed, and all staff members will be quarantined for the prescribed incubation period of 14 days.”

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Thursday, October 8, 2020, PAGE 5

Retailers fear 40-60% curb-side sales drop FROM PAGE ONE

to be critical for the hotels to open so people can go back to work.”

He added that his stores’ locations at the Mall at Marathon, where they were close to entrances/ exits, meant they were better placed than others to respond to the new curb-side environment.

The Harbour Bay Shopping Centre, where Mr Wilson also has outlets, is also well-equipped for curbside, pick-up and delivery services.

Mark A Turnquest, a small business consultant, who said clothing and electronics retailers account for a significant proportion of his client base, revealed that this category “lost 60 percent of their business” when the switch to curb-side was imposed as the economy

emerged from the first COVID-19 lockdown.

“All of them had their staff on two to three-day weeks,” he recalled to Tribune Business. “That means their staff were making $120, $130 per week, no more than $150 for a regular $210 minimum wage job. A lot of them make their money on tops and commissions.”

Mr Turnquest said curbside sales, which required companies to take orders over the phone, e-mail or What’s App for pick-up/ delivery, or go out to persons sitting in their vehicles, was “not as easy as people think. It’s a lot of work. My clients’ sales will decrease by 60 percent”.

He added: “The government does not have a strategic plan to re-open the country. They’re going back to the future, so to speak. I don’t know who’s advising

Super Value eyes 6am start to beat lost COVID hours FROM PAGE ONE

with the Super Value chief telling Tribune Business at mid-afternoon: “It’s bedlam out there right now. They’re lined up outside the stores and it’s getting worse by the minute. All the stores are that way now.”

Reiterating his opposition to lockdowns, Mr Roberts added: “It doesn’t suit us but whatever it takes to get rid of this virus, we have to do and we support it. I would think the prime minister’s taken the best medical advice and consulted accordingly, and we support it 100 percent.

the government, but they have to put enforcement mechanisms in place. They don’t enforce the regulations. They need to have a COVID-19 enforcement force.

“What the government is trying to do now is buy time for November 1 because they’ve already told the market they’re opening.

They’re going to lock up the economy between now and November 1.”

Not all retailers were as sanguine as Mr Wilson, though. One told Tribune Business they did not want to speak ‘on the record’ because they were “so angry and frustrated” about the prime minister’s decision to reimpose COVID-19 curbs.

“It’s too much,” they said. “The government has done more damage to this country than the virus ever could. I need time to process it. I don’t know where

it’s going. Operating curb side is a losing proposition.

You’re losing money and just spinning the wheel.

Everything is upside down.

“I’m trying to run a business and stay in business.

It’s easy for politicians to talk, but they don’t understand the needs of business owners who make decisions six months out. We cannot on/off all the time. It just doesn’t work. Who’s going to start a business in a country where you don’t know whether you will be open or closed.”

Meanwhile Brent Burrows, CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies) principal, told Tribune Business: “Just like the last time it is going to be very difficult for us to implement safety via the curbside.

It is not really going to do anything to boost our business, and we are hoping that the online sales will bring in

some revenue, but the curbside usually doesn’t do so well. It is too cumbersome for someone to do curbside.

“We are going to try to put our staff on a rotation and, at this stage, we don’t intend to lay anybody off.

We are just going to put on a rotation to service the online, and if we do some curbside hopefully it is not going to last no longer than two weeks at the maximum.”

Dwayne Higgs, WHIM Automotive’s general manager, added: “I had a chance to listen to everything, and I understand that we can open up curbside, so having this drive-though that we just built will be a big step for us.

“We will utilise the drivethrough and the curbside at the door, and I think we will make the best of it. It sure beats the twoweek lockdown that some

people were talking about, but maybe they put that out there to say that this is the worst case scenario in hoping that we will accept something that is not as bad.”

Mr Higgs said: “It’s a shame because Saturday is usually one of our busier days, but hopefully the people just spread out between the Monday to Friday. But our plan is to do the drive-through and the curbside, and then the delivery through the website and hoping that that website will help us to stay afloat.”

Mr Higgs said he is not laying-off any staff, but “looking at possibly doing shifts. But since we can do curbside and delivery and drive-through, I think we will just run it with our whole staff. I’m really glad we put that drive-through into place because that is really going to save us”.

“We have to work together to get rid of this virus and bring it under control. I don’t understand it [the lockdown], but I don’t have to. I have to obey and comply.”

Mr Roberts said the “total disregard” for COVID-19 health protocols by some made it impossible for the government to balance health and economic concerns with its latest lockdown measures, and added: “There’s no balance because people are not listening. They either don’t understand or don’t care.

“I don’t want to lockdown, but if the powers that be and the medical officials recommend a lockdown, we cannot get out of it.”

Abaco seeks Dorian lockdown exemption FROM PAGE ONE

“We’re in the middle of writing a letter to the prime minister requesting some exemptions here. We are certainly going to be asking for some, one in particular being to allow construction efforts to continue during the lockdown at weekends.

“For many people it’s the only time they have to rebuild their homes because they are working during the week. The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are getting so close to finishing some of their projects, and standing them down at the weekend is problematic because they only have a certain amount of time here.”

With Abaco suffering 157 COVID-19 infections as of this Tuesday, Mr Hutton said the government had little choice but to act if it was to bring that and the rate of spread on New Providence under control.

“It’s not helpful,” he added of the latest restrictions, “but again I think something has to be done.

There’s no doubt about that. It’s a very serious issue. But I think putting Abaco on the same scale as New Providence is probably not accurate. There are very different circumstances here in Abaco than

there are in Nassau.

“So I think, and I’m hopeful, that the Prime Minister as he has in the past will recognise that, and allow certain things to go on and continue versus Nassau.”

Mr Hutton said allowing gas stations and restaurants to operate during lockdowns and curfews was critical, given that they represented vital sources of generator fuel and hot meals for those still rebuilding who remain without gas and electricity.

“We can’t give up; we’ve got to keep moving forward,” the chamber chief said. “It’s two steps forward, one-and-a-half back.”

However, Abaco and New Providence both escaped the total lockdowns that Mr Hutton and others had feared earlier this week.

He had described this as a “possibly irreparable blow”, adding that “the horse has left the stable” when it came to extreme measures to halt the pandemic’s spread given that such “cures” would effectively “kill the patient” in terms of businesses and jobs.

“We are just beginning to hit our stride again and getting back into that mode of rebuilding and getting a track record and some kind of impetus going,” Mr Hutton said then.

“We’re still waiting for the second homeowners

to return. Many have not returned since Dorian. The driving force of the Abaco economy has not returned.

If we were to go back into lockdown I fear for this place. I think it will be a tremendous, possibly irreparable blow, for Abaco.”

He added: “If there’s consideration for another lockdown we would definitely advise against that.

We believe the days of lockdown, that horse has left the building. We have to deal with the consequences and mitigate the risk of this more effectively, and protect the most vulnerable communities.

“My biggest fear is that attempting another lockdown, the preventative measures will kill the patient. We cannot afford another lockdown. We are in hurricane season, there’s much work to be done. We have no shelters, and there are scores of people without roofs on their homes who are working to rebuild their homes and businesses.

Having everything on hold again would be devastating here.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Govt gives ‘notice’ of main bond issue FROM PAGE ONE

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Turnquest said, declining to provide details such as the total amount the government is seeking to raise; the interest rate it is offering to investors; and other likely terms and conditions.

The “notice”, which was issued on the day that the prime minister unveiled weekend lockdowns and extended curfews to curtail COVID-19’s spread on New Providence and Abaco, alerts potential investors to

the fact the bond issue will become available shortly.

When asked if these restrictions, together with the slower-than-anticipated rebound of the hotel and tourism sector, make it likely that The Bahamas will have to revise its fiscal and economic growth projections, Mr Turnquest said any adjustments will be contained in the annual fiscal strategy report that the government will present to Parliament next month.

“In a couple of weeks we will report on where we are, where we think we will end

up and the path for getting there,” he added. “We’ve always said we anticipated the tourism rebound would be slow, and the domestic economy is coming along.

“It’s obviously impacted by the fact a significant portion of the economy is shut down by factors beyond anybody’s control at the moment. Again, we’ve already signalled that we are in fact reforecasting consistently.”

The government has already raised $500m worth of financing for the 20202021 fiscal year, including

loans of $200m and $40m from the Inter-American Development Bank and Caribbean Development Bank respectively. Further financing is thought to have been raised from Bahamasbased commercial banks.

The Minnis administration is also seeking the majority of the budget’s debt financing in foreign currency, chiefly US dollars, as a means to boost the external reserves that support the one:one currency peg with the US dollar due to the absence of tourism-related capital inflows.

Bleak outlook without stimulus: More layoffs, anemic growth WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s move on Tuesday to cut off talks on another government aid package will further weaken an economy straining to recover from an epic collapse, economists say, and deepen the hardships for jobless Americans and struggling businesses.

Half of all small businesses expect to need more aid from the government over the next 12 months to survive, according to a survey by the right-leaning National Federation of Independent Business.

Sales for about one-fifth of small companies are still down 50% or more from pre-pandemic levels, the NFIB said.

For roughly 25 million laid-off Americans who are receiving unemployment aid, weekly payments, on average, have shrunk by two-thirds since a $600-aweek federal benefit expired more than two months ago.

Trump did provide an extra $300 for six weeks. But that money has also run out.

Economists have warned

that without further aid, families across the country will struggle in coming months to pay bills, make rent, afford food and avoid eviction. It could also reduce Americans’ overall incomes to below pre-pandemic levels by year’s end, thereby reducing spending and slowing economic growth. On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made clear his belief that unless the government supplied additional support, the recovery was at risk of derailing.

“Given what looks to be a growing probability of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, we now attach a 50% probability of a recession over the next 12 months,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at tax advisor firm RSM. If a large stimulus is adopted early next year, the likelihood of a downturn would fall, Brusuelas added.

Oxford Economics projects that without further federal aid, the economy will eke out just a 1% annual growth rate in the current quarter, down sharply from its previous forecast of 4%.

Trump opened the door yesterday to the possibility of a narrower aid package that would bolster specific industries, notably airlines, or distribute another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to most adults. That prospect sent stock prices surging a day after they had tumbled in the wake of Trump’s tweet ending talks. Yet there was little sign yesterday that even a smaller-scale agreement would be reached.

“The recovery will continue without it, but it’s going to be a much slower recovery,” Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said in an interview on CNBC. “We’re still in a pretty big hole.”

Kelly said “it was comforting” to read Trump’s

tweet in support of immediate additional aid for airlines, “and hopefully that will get done”. Kelly acknowledged there are critics of aid to his industry, but he insisted it is not a bailout. “This isn’t a bailout.

It’s like World War II, and no company can survive ... losing all of its revenue.”

According a Census Bureau survey released yesterday, one-third of adults are struggling to pay for their usual expenses, including rent, food, car payments and utilities.

“This is a disaster — I don’t know what is going to happen to us,” said Julio Delgado, referring to the end of stimulus talks.

Delgado, who has six children, worked for more than 20 years at a job staging events at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston — until he was laid off this spring.

Delgado’s wife was also laid off from a human resources job at a hospital. Together, they receive about $900 in unemployment aid a week. But that’s all set to expire before the year ends.

After that, Delgado doesn’t know how the family will manage to pay their nearly $2,000 in rent, plus utility bills, car insurance and other payments.

His supervisor said he won’t be recalled to his job until March — at the earliest.

On Tuesday, just hours before Trump tweeted his decision to abandon talks on a new rescue package, Powell warned in a speech to business economists, “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.”

A unique feature of the current recession, economists say, is that incomes soared in the April-June quarter by a record amount, even as more than 22 million people lost jobs. The

increase occurred because $1,200 checks were sent to most households, and jobless aid was boosted by $600 a week.

That extra money enabled spending at retailers to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Analysis by Opportunity Insights, a research group, has found that spending has rebounded faster in lower-income neighbourhoods than in wealthier ones because of the benefit of stimulus payments.

Just over half the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic have been recovered. Most of them reflect the recall of temporarily laid-off workers by restaurants and retail stores.

Even though the unemployment rate has fallen to 7.9%, the number of permanent layoffs has jumped, a sign that the remaining 10.7 million lost jobs will take longer to return.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association has said that nearly three-quarters of hotels say they will have to lay off more workers without further financial aid.

And American Airlines and United Airlines combined furloughed 32,000 employees last week. Airlines have already shed tens of thousands of positions through early retirements and buyouts. Delta Air Lines began the year with 91,000 employees, but 18,000 left voluntarily and 40,000 others agreed to take unpaid leaves of absence.

The company may cut 1,700 pilots Nov 1 unless their union agrees to contract concessions.

The nation’s fourthbiggest airline, Southwest Airlines, hasn’t furloughed anyone, but this week it asked unions to accept pay cuts to avoid job cuts next year if there is no more federal money. More than 4,000 of Southwest’s 60,000 workers have departed voluntarily.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, October 8, 2020, PAGE 9

Stocks rise as Trump tweets on stimulus keep market spinning

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP Associated Press STOCKS closed broadly higher on Wall Street yesterday after President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on his decision to halt talks on another rescue effort for the economy.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.7% after Trump sent a series of tweets late Tuesday saying he’s open to sending out $1,200 payments to Americans, as well as limited programmes to prop up the airline industry and small businesses.

The tweets came just hours after Trump sent the market into a sudden tailspin with his declaration that his representatives should halt talks with Democrats on a broad stimulus effort for the economy until after the election, saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been negotiating in bad faith. The stakes are high, as economists, investors and the chair of the Federal Reserve all say the economy needs another dose of support following the expiration of weekly jobless benefits and other stimulus Congress approved earlier this year.

“What we’ve seen over the last 24 hours is just confirmation that the market is really addicted to stimulus from the government,” said Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ. “When it thinks it’s not getting it, it sells off, and when it looks

like there’s a possibility for that it rises, as we’ve seen today.”

The S&P 500 index rose 58.50 points to 3,419.45, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 530.70 points, or 1.9%, to 28,303.46.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 210 points, or 1.9%, to 11,364.60, despite a call by Democratic lawmakers for Congress to rein in the Big Tech companies that dominate it and other indexes. The proposal, which follows a 15-month investigation by a House Judiciary Committee panel, could make it harder for Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google’s parent company to acquire others and impose new rules to safeguard competition.

Amazon rose 3.1%, and Apple climbed 1.7%.

Google’s parent company added 0.6%, and Facebook slipped 0.2%.

Still, much of the market’s attention remains fixed on the prospects for more stimulus for the economy from Washington.

Yesterday’s gains helped the S&P 500 recoup all of its loss from the day before, when Trump’s tweets suddenly sent it from a 0.7% gain to a 1.4% loss.

Just a few hours before Trump made his announcement on Tuesday to halt negotiations, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had asked Congress to come through with more

aid. He said that too little support “would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship”.

Some analysts characterised Trump’s move as likely a negotiating ploy.

“I do not believe hopes of a stimulus deal are now gone forever,” said Jeffrey Halley of trading and research firm Oanda. “One of Mr Trump’s favorite negotiating tactics, judging by past actions, is to walk away from the negotiating table abruptly.

The intention being to frighten the other side into concessions.”

In the longer term, many investors say a big stimulus package may still be possible regardless of what Trump says. A Democratic sweep of the upcoming elections would likely clear the way for a big government program after the transfer of power, and Wall Street has begun to see a blue wave as more likely than before.

Airlines jumped to some of the day’s bigger gains after Trump singled out the industry, asking Congress to “IMMEDIATELY” approve $25bn for them.

Last week, Pelosi had told airline executives to halt the furloughs of tens of thousands of workers with the promise that aid for them was imminent, though a proposal by House Democrats to give the airline industry $28.8bn failed to advance.

United Airlines Holdings and American Airlines Group climbed 4.3%. Delta Air Lines pulled 3.5% higher.

The S&P 500 rose broadly, with technology stocks making the biggest gains. Other areas that would benefit most from a strengthening economy were also climbing, including retailers and travel-related companies.

“The market’s just been relentlessly led by longduration growth stocks,” said Barry Bannister, head of institutional equity strategy at Stifel. “The big question is are we going to see some signs of a shift to economic growth beneficiaries.”

Smaller stocks also rose more than the rest of the market, an indication of rising optimism about the economy’s prospects.

The Russell 2000 index of

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small-cap stocks climbed 33.75 points, or 2.1%, to 1,611.04.

The 360-degree spin for Wall Street in less than 24 hours is just the latest bump in its shaky run since early last month. After plunging nearly 34% early this year on worries about the coronavirus pandemic and the recession it would cause, the S&P 500 rallied back to record heights thanks to tremendous aid from

the Federal Reserve and Congress, along with signs of strengthening in the economy.

It’s been struggling since setting an all-time high in early September on a range of worries. Besides the clouded prospects for more stimulus from a bitterly divided Congress when parts of the economy have begun to slow, investors are also worried about whether the continuing pandemic

will lead governments to put more restrictions on businesses. Tensions between the United States and China are still simmering, and stocks still look too expensive in the eyes of some critics despite their recent pullback.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 0.78% from 0.76% late on Tuesday. European and Asian markets ended mixed.

PAGE 10, Thursday, October 8, 2020

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Thursday, October 8, 2020, PAGE 11

Fed officials cited risks if Congress fails to pass more aid WASHINGTON Associated Press FEDERAL Reserve officials expressed concern at their most-recent meeting that the US economy recovery could falter if Congress failed to approve another round of pandemic relief.

The Fed yesterday released minutes of its most recent meeting, showing that officials believed the economy was growing faster than expected.

But they based their forecasts of a further steady recovery on expectations that Democrats and Republicans would resolve their differences and provide further economic aid, including expanded unemployment benefits and help for small businesses.

The minutes said that “most forecasters were assuming that an additional pandemic-related fiscal package would be approved this year, and noted that, absent a new package, growth could decelerate at a faster-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter”.

Economists noted the minutes delivered a dual message of satisfaction that so far the recovery is progressing better than expected but also continued concerns that the outlook could quickly darken without further government support.

Curt Long, chief economist for the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions, said the minutes showed Fed officials have “serious

concerns over cuts to fiscal support”.

The prospects for approval of a new congressional package being passed before the Nov 3 elections, however, have significantly diminished with President Donald Trump’s decision to cut off negotiations with Democrats. Trump has instead proposed that Democrats approve individual rescue items, such as money for ailing airlines and another round of $1,200 checks for most adults, rather than a comprehensive aid package.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned in a speech on Tuesday of potentially tragic consequences if Congress and the White House do not provide further assistance, saying “the expansion is far from complete”.

The minutes covered the Fed’s Sept 15-16 meeting in which officials left their key policy rate unchanged at a record low near zero and signaled that they expected to keep rates at ultra-low levels at least through 2023.

The Fed’s statement incorporated a policy change the central bank announced in August in which it will allow inflation to rise above its 2% target for a period of time to make up for the extended period over the past decade that annual inflation has been below the 2% target. That change is seen as allowing to keep interest rates lower for a longer period.

The September statement was approved on a 10-2 vote, with Dallas Fed

FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN JEROME POWELL President Robert Kaplan dissenting because he favored less precise policy guidance in terms of inflation. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari dissented because he

wanted the Fed to make a bolder statement about the change in operations regarding inflation.

The minutes recognised large problems in trying to forecast the future path of

the economy.

“Participants continued to see the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook as very elevated with the path of the economy highly dependent on

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115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00

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

52WK HI 2.35 4.43 2.12 198.39 168.29 1.69 1.85 1.77 1.24 8.34 10.26 7.08 12.15 12.71 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.64 1.79 1.73 1.06 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) + Bahamas First Holdings Limited

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

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: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0407

LAST CLOSE 3.95 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.98 5.10 3.76 5.99 11.26 2.16 5.50 10.25 8.44 14.30 3.96 8.97 15.20

CLOSE 3.95 17.43 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.75 2.99 5.10 3.76 5.99 11.26 2.21 5.50 10.28 8.44 14.30 3.97 8.97 15.20

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 0.95

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

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

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

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

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno 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

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05

VOLUME

16,754 3,400 15,000

12,850

1

1,200 VOLUME

NAV 2.35 4.43 2.12 196.40 163.60 1.68 1.81 1.76 1.07 8.30 9.90 7.08 11.27 12.71 10.23 N/A 8.93 11.27

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.000 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 16.5 18.7 N/M N/M N/M N/M 18.3 -6.8 36.4 20.4 13.3 15.6 21.7 11.8 15.9 11.6 17.5 19.6 9.6 24.1

YIELD 4.30% 7.23% 1.23% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.85% 0.00% 0.00% 3.19% 3.67% 6.39% 19.64% 1.09% 3.19% 2.84% 3.78% 3.02% 2.23% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 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-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 2.95% 4.23% 1.39% 3.17% 1.60% 2.52% 0.65% 2.50% -1.88% 3.33% 1.10% 2.34% -2.43% 1.49% 0.34% 2.43% -11.07% -9.92% -0.45% 8.36% -3.20% 11.46% 2.10% 5.15% -6.17% 3.54% 2.92% 5.55% -4.66% -3.81% N/A N/A -4.20% 0.20% -8.60% -2.90%

MATURITY

NAV Date

31-Aug-2020 31-Aug-2020 28-Aug-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-Jul-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 31-May-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020 30-Jun-2020

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

Resumes should be submitted to:

hr.lyfordstorage@gmail.com Only considered applicants will be contacted

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

Thursday, October 8, 2020, PAGE 13

LOW TECH TALK IN GOOGLE, ORACLE HIGH TECH COPYRIGHT CLASH WASHINGTON Associated Press

THE topic was high tech: the code behind smartphones.

But yesterday the Supreme Court looked to more low tech examples, from the typewriter keyboard to restaurant menus, try to resolve an $8bn-plus copyright dispute between tech giants Google and Oracle.

The case, which the justices heard by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic, has to do with Google’s creation of the Android operating

system now used on the vast majority of smartphones worldwide. In developing Android, Google used some of Oracle’s computer code.

Some justices seemed concerned that a ruling for Oracle could stifle innovation.

Chief Justice John Roberts was among the justices who turned to examples beyond technology to try to get a handle on the dispute, asking Oracle’s lawyer to imagine opening a new restaurant and creating a menu.

“Of course you’re going to have, you know, appetizers first, then entrees and then desserts. Now you shouldn’t have to worry about whether

that organisation is copyrighted,” Roberts said, suggesting Oracle’s argument went to far.

But Roberts also had strong words for Google’s lawyer. “Cracking the safe may be the only way to get the money that you want, but that doesn’t mean you can do it,” Roberts said, suggesting Google could have licensed what it wanted to use.

To create Android, which was released in 2007, Google wrote millions of lines of new computer code. But it also used 11,330 lines of code and an organisation that’s part of Oracle’s Java platform.

Google says what it did is long-settled, common practice in the industry, a practice that has been good for technical progress. And it says there is no copyright protection for the purely functional, noncreative computer code it used, something that couldn’t be written another way. But Oracle says Google “committed an egregious act of plagiarism” and sued.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was one of several justices who worried about the consequences of ruling for Oracle. She noted that what Google took was “less than 1% of the Java code” and asked why the justices

should “upend” the current understanding of what is able to be copyrighted.

Justice Elena Kagan said that there are “all kinds of methods of organisation in the world”, from the keyboard to the periodic table, and she said Oracle was suggesting that the person who developed them could have a copyright and “prevent anybody else from using them”.

The case has been going on for a decade. Google won the first round when a trial court rejected Oracle’s copyright claim, but that ruling was overturned on appeal. A jury then sided with Google, calling its copying “fair

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 74° F/23° C

TAMPA

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Clouds and sun with a stray t‑storm

Partly cloudy

Partly sunny with a stray t‑storm

Clouds and sun, a t‑storm possible

Clouds and sun, a t‑storm possible

Mostly cloudy, a t‑storm possible

High: 88°

Low: 79°

High: 88° Low: 78°

High: 88° Low: 78°

High: 88° Low: 79°

High: 89° Low: 78°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

96° F

85° F

96°-85° F

98°-87° F

99°-88° F

98°-84° F

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 80° F/27° C

8‑16 knots

S

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

6‑12 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 79° F/26° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

uV inDex toDay

TONIGHT

High: 92° F/33° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 77° F/25° C

MIAMI

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

10‑20 knots

KEY WEST

High: 90° F/32° C Low: 80° F/27° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 88° F/31° C Low: 79° F/26° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

N E

W

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

12:14 a.m.

12:45 p.m.

High

Ht.(ft.)

2.4 2.9

6:18 a.m.

7:18 p.m.

1.0 1.2

Friday

1:05 a.m.

1:40 p.m.

2.4 2.9

7:09 a.m.

8:16 p.m.

1.1 1.3

Saturday

2:04 a.m.

2:41 p.m.

2.4 3.0

8:09 a.m.

9:17 p.m.

1.1 1.2

Sunday

3:09 a.m.

3:43 p.m.

2.5 3.1

9:15 a.m. 1.1 10:16 p.m. 1.0

Monday

4:13 a.m.

4:43 p.m.

2.7 3.2

10:21 a.m. 0.9 11:11 p.m. 0.7

Tuesday

5:12 a.m.

5:38 p.m.

2.9 3.3

11:23 a.m. 0.6 ‑‑‑‑‑ ‑‑‑‑‑

Wednesday 6:07 a.m.

6:31 p.m.

3.2 3.5

12:02 a.m. 0.4 12:21 p.m. 0.3

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

7:05 a.m.

6:49 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

11:34 p.m.

12:48 p.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Oct. 9

Oct. 16

Oct. 23

Oct. 31

CAT ISLAND

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 79° F/26° C

N

S

E

W

7‑14 knots

S

7‑14 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 86° F/30° C Low .................................................... 81° F/27° C Normal high ....................................... 86° F/30° C Normal low ........................................ 74° F/23° C Last year’s high ................................. 89° F/31° C Last year’s low ................................... 73° F/23° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ............................................... 52.43” Normal year to date ................................... 30.50”

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

use”, but an appeals court disagreed.

Because of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only eight justices are hearing the case. The questions for the court are whether the 1976 Copyright Act protects what Google copied, and, even if it does, whether what Google did is still permitted.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that the justices had been told “the sky will fall” if the court rules against Google. But he also wanted to know: “You’re not allowed to copy a song just because it’s the only way to express that song. Why is that principle not at play here?”

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

7‑14 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 87° F/31° C Low: 82° F/28° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS

are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

RAGGED ISLAND High: 85° F/29° C Low: 82° F/28° C

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 81° F/27° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 88° F/31° C Low: 81° F/27° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

6‑12 knots

6‑12 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday: Today: Friday:

WINDS SE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots ENE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots NE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots E at 6‑12 Knots ESE at 6‑12 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots SE at 6‑12 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots

WAVES 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 84° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 86° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 84° F 84° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 86° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 85° F 86° F 86° F