business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023
$6.10
$6.11
$6.12
$6.17
resorts urge Bahamas tackling blacklist PI4-week Wendy’s ‘symptom, not root cause’ decision delay By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN banker yesterday argued this nation is merely “addressing the symptom as opposed to the root” cause of its blacklisting woes as he urged the Government to clarify its corporate income tax goals. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business that tackling the “root” ultimately requires this nation to move to a more equitable and progressive form of taxation based on ability to pay, such as a corporate income tax. Warning that The Bahamas cannot afford “to play cat and mouse and cute”, especially following the corporate income tax ‘green paper’ consultation earlier this year, he called
t #BOLFS TBZT UIBU NFBOT DPSQPSBUF JODPNF UBY t 6SHFT (PW U UP DPNF DMFBO PO UBY SFGPSN QMBOT t 'FBST &6 0&$% UP UBSHFU OBUJPO PO ASJOH GFODF on the Government to come clean over whether its ultimate plan is to introduce such taxation and replace the much-criticised Business Licence fees. Speaking after The Bahamas earlier this week failed to escape the European Union’s (EU) tax blacklist, Mr Bowe told this newspaper that the country’s ambition must be to “permanently stay off” such adverse listings as opposed to having to
continually pass rushed reforms to facilitate its exist. He also voiced fears that the EU and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) will likely raise renewed concerns around so-called “ring fencing”, namely the the provision of preferential tax regimes for foreign investors over domestic ones, as a result of Business Licence regime changes enacted in 2022.
t 4BZ OFFEFE GPS USBGmD JNQBDU TUVEZ t 0DFBO $MVC SFTJEFOUT PQQPTFE GOWON BOWE These had amended what was previously agreed with both bodies to eliminate “ring fencing”, said Mr Bowe, who argued that The Bahamas cannot pass-off Business Licence fees as a “quasi-corporate income tax” because these will be viewed as a “band aid on a cancer” or “harmful tax practice” by the international community. And he also warned that, with administrations
SEE PAGE B7
Ex-Trust chief’s parking fears on Goodman’s Bay penthouse By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN ex-Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief yesterday argued the developer of a 14-storey Goodman’s Bay penthouse must ensure there is sufficient parking to prevent Bahamians being “further disenfranchised”. Eric Carey, the Trust’s former executive director, told Tribune Business his concerns over the Wynn Group’s ‘Penthouses at GoldWynn’ project were “social” rather than environment-related given that he has already complained to the authorities about
ERIC CAREY staff from the developer’s existing resort taking over Goodman’s Bay with their parked vehicles. Given the issues created by the ‘Residences at
SEE PAGE B9
Governance reformers hail ombudsman ‘priority’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GOVERNANCE reformers yesterday praised the Government for both treating the Ombudsman Bill as a legislative “priority” and appearing to alter the original version as a result of their feedback. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, speaking after the Government tabled the Bill as part of the first legislative package for Parliament’s new session, said he was encouraged that the power to remove the ombudsman had been switched from the Prime
Minister to the GovernorGeneral and a tribunal named by the latter. “Ultimately, it’s really good to see this on the priority take-up list on the legislative agenda,” Mr Aubry said of the Davis administration’s decision to bring the legislation forward so early. “We’ll be looking at this Bill with benchmarking, and will provide recommendations and feedback. In the interim, we feel it’s really important citizens understand the concept of what an ombudsman means and review the legislation themselves.” ORG, in its assessment of the original
SEE PAGE B8
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MAJOR Paradise Island resorts yesterday urged the planning authorities to delay their decision on Wendy’s bid for approvals by four weeks so that the restaurant’s impact on traffic flows can be studied. The Paradise Island Tourism Development Association (PITDA), which represents properties such as Atlantis, the Ocean Club and Comfort Suites, said it has hired Caribbean Civil Group to confirm its suspicions that converting the former Scotiabank branch into a fast-food restaurant will “have a very negative traffic impact on
the visitors, residents and employees of Paradise Island”. Wasting no time following Monday’s Town Planning Committee hearing on the project, Glen Haddad, the Association’s executive vice-president, argued in a letter released to the media that Aetos Holdings, the Bahamian franchisee for Wendy’s and Marco’s Pizza, had produced no evidence to support its assertions that the presence of the fastfood brands will not cause traffic problems. Noting that Caribbean Civil Group’s traffic impact study will take three weeks to complete, and another to publish the results, the
SEE PAGE B6