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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2021
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‘We need more from resident billionaires’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas “needs a little more than residency” from the multiple millionaires and billionaires that reside within its borders, an accounting firm’s principal is urging. Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez managing partner, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas must find a way to encourage more of its high net worth investors to “do real business” in this nation so that “Joe Public” feels a greater impact from their presence. Unlocking such investment would drive a faster, and greater, post-COVID recovery, he added, while calling on The Bahamas to better exploit the luxury real estate boom by
FUSION SUPERPLEX
• ‘Not enough’ to attract solely property buyers • Accountant says more must ‘do real business’ • Adds that ‘Joe Public’ must feel greater effect realising “it’s not enough” to simply attract such persons to these shores. “We need a little more than residency,” Mr Gomez told this newspaper. “We need residents who find The Bahamas a good place to reside but, at the same time, do business in a very regulated and market driven way.
“It is not enough for us to say we have eight, nine, ten new billionaires coming to The Bahamas and, at the same time, Joe Public cannot feel the impact of these residents. We’d like to see them do real business here. “Granted that’s not for everybody; some people just need a residence. But the Government must find
SuperPlex hopes for 47% revenue return By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
CRAIG A. ‘TONY’ GOMEZ opportunities to realise the impact of such residents in The Bahamas. The real estate industry at the high end seems to be booming, and while we want to sell our land inventory, the Government must be keen to gain the collection of its taxes and duties especially with high net individuals
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Amnesty write-offs ‘discourage’ good property taxpayers By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT realtor yesterday warned the Government’s frequent real property tax amnesties “almost discourage compliant taxpayers” from continuing to pay in full and on time. David Morley, Morley Real Estate’s president, told Tribune Business the most recent amnesty initiative had sparked comments that taxpayers would be better off financially if they stopped paying and instead waited for the next “forgiveness” programme
DAVID MORLEY to substantially slash the amount owed. Describing such amnesties as “unfair and inequitable”, since they rewarded deadbeat tax dodgers and did nothing for
SEE PAGE 11
Employers, unions unite on extra 90 furlough days By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
EMPLOYERS and unionists yesterday both hailed the Government’s move to extend the furlough period by an extra 90 days amid concerns Atlantis may be readying for further lay-offs. Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union’s (BHCAWU) president, told Tribune Business that the Paradise Island mega resort “was going to do something” based on a letter the union has received. “I understand they’re going to do something.
They sent us a communication,” he said, adding that the union had replied and was waiting for Atlantis to respond. Mr Woods declined to comment further, while an Atlantis spokesperson, when contacted by this newspaper, said: “We have no comment at this time.” It is thus unclear whether any terminations will occur, and their timing, but well-placed sources - speaking on condition of anonymity - suggested the numbers involved, while in the low hundreds, would be less than the 700 released earlier this year if redundancies did happen.
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THE FUSION SuperPlex’s principal yesterday said ending COVID emergency orders and curfews could help it regain up to 47 percent of pre-pandemic revenue, adding: “Economic freedom is back.” Carlos Foulkes told Tribune Business that eliminating these restrictions would enable the entertainment and cinema complex to resume its final two night-time showings which have either been shut-down or severely disrupted for the past 20 months.
• ‘Economic freedom is back’ However, he acknowledged that the Gladstone Road-based destination has “to do some work to get us back” to pre-COVID operating hours, with around 40 staff still needing to be recalled from furlough and “retooled” in terms of refresher courses and training. Predicting that all staff wanting to return to work
SEE PAGE 12
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 3
GB Power seeking $5m ‘base rate revenue’ rise By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters GRAND Bahama Power Company is justifying its proposed rate adjustments by asserting that it needs to increase annual base rate revenue by almost $5m due to recent hurricanes. The energy monopoly, in a presentation posted on the website of its regulator, the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), said it needs to recover a $2.3m increase in insurance costs stemming from claims submitted over the damage inflicted by hurricanes Matthew and Dorian. Taking 2018 as a benchmark, GB Power’s presentation showed insurance premium costs rising from $2m in that year to $4.3m in what it described as “a test year”. The utility, though, can only obtain insurance for its generation plant, with its extensive transmission and distribution network going uninsured because underwriters perceive the risk of storm damage as just too great. “The growth in insurance is the result of significant premium increases for the electric industry in the region in general from marked increases in tropical storm and hurricane activity, and GB Power specifically from the claims that have been paid out for both hurricanes Matthew and Dorian,” GB Power said. GB Power says base rate revenue needs to increase by $4.8m per annum, or 7.8 percent, from $61.7m in the 2018 benchmark year to $66.5m. Included in that $4.8m is the $2.2m “amortisation of regulatory assets”, which is the utility’s recovery - spread out over time - of costs associated with
restoring its transmission and distribution network following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. “In the 2016-2018 approved rate plan, GB Power was authorised to amortise regulatory assets at a rate of $3.5m annually,” the presentation said. “After Hurricane Matthew these amortisations were stopped with the understanding that they would be resumed once sales levels recovered. “Hurricane Dorian and the impacts of COVID19 have prevented the resumption of these amortisations prior to a new, approved three-year rate plan. GB Power is proposing to resume these amortisations at a rate of $2.2m in 2022, $2.4m in 2023 and $2.2m in 2024.” GB Power said these figures had been “determined by the difference between a fixed fuel rate and actual fuel costs”, adding that the former is slated to be 10 cents [likely per kilowatt hour] in 2022; 10.9 cents in 2023; and 11 cents in 2024. Meanwhile, GB Power will recover its Hurricane Dorian rebuilding costs separately via the new hurricane recovery charge that was added to consumer bills earlier this year and is set to continue through 20222024 if the rate proposal is approved as is by the GBPA. Between 2021 and 2024, GB Power will thus recover a total $34.9m in combined Matthew and Dorian costs, plus what it calls “base amortisations”, via the new rate structure. That will still leave an outstanding $34m to be recovered post-2024. Then there are GB Power’s proposed capital investments in its existing infrastructure plus renewable energy. Total spend between 2022 and 2024 is pegged at $41.9m, with
“base rate investments” over that same period set at $36.7m. Promising that 15 percent of Grand Bahama’s energy will be produced by renewable source come 2026, the utility added that a 5 Mega Watt (MW) solar plant is to be commissioned by late 2022/early 2023 while agreements with two independent power producers (IPPs) will be under review at the same time. GB Power is also promising to install 5,000 automatic meters by year-end 2021, with the remaining 75 percent of customers outfitted with these in 2022. To hit its revenue requirements, GB Power is relying on the economy’s post-COVID reopening to drive increased electricity sales. It is forecasting a 10 percent increase in electricity sales between now and 2024, rising from 273,279 mega watt hours (mWh) in 2021 to 300,900 mWh. As for the impact on consumer bills from the rate adjustment proposal, Grand Bahama’s greatest consumers - Freeport’s industrial sector - are forecast to see between a $1,448 and $2,119 increase in monthly bills as high as $51,957. GB Power says all classes of commercial customer will experience a 6.3 percent base rate rise if the proposal is accepted as is, with electricity bills rising by between 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent. However, the greatest residential energy users will suffer the biggest proportionate increases, with their base rate increasing by 9.4 percent and overall bill up by 6.2 percent. Meanwhile, a Cabinet committee met yesterday to discuss GB Power’s planned rate increase. It has already met with the GBPA to inform it that the “Cabinet will not
support a rate increase on any portion of the customer base at this time”, Clint Watson, the prime minister’s press secretary, said.
The Cabinet committee features three ministers with strong Grand Bahama connections. Besides Ginger Moxey, minister
for Grand Bahama, they include her predecessor, Dr Michael Darville, now
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KPMG set to analyse Gov’ts multi-billion pension liabilities By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Government was yesterday said to have hired KPMG to analyse how the Government should best structure a contributory pension scheme for new civil service hires. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of state for the public service, told the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly media briefing that the accounting firm will develop recommended contribution rates and other conditions for a scheme
that will see new civil servants - for the first time in Bahamian history - contribute towards their pensions and retirement upkeep. She said: “Any persons that would be engaged - and remember I said we aren’t hiring generally at this time - but any new hires going forward, when we do commence our hiring process, will be considered for a contributory pension. “The sustainability of the pension plan in its current form cannot take on the burden of new pensioners. That process has been under an analysis that has been going on for a while,
dating back to probably four or five years. “That analysis has brought us to this conclusion that we need to find a better way to sustain our pension fund with any new hires coming on board. So far, the analysis that has been done has been very promising. Persons understand that for the sustainability of the plan that there will have to be contributory pensions.” Tribune Business reported earlier this week that the total public sector debt stock of $11.429bn is likely to be significantly higher because it does
PIA GLOVER-ROLLE not incorporate the Government’s multi-billion dollar civil service pension liabilities. Public officials currently contribute nothing to their retirement income, with the financing burden borne 100 percent by Bahamian taxpayers in the annual Budget. The Government presently funds these pensions via a “pay as you go” mechanism, with almost $125m dedicated to this issue in the 2021-2022 Budget. The issue thus represents a potential millstone around the necks of future administrations and taxpayers. Previous research by KPMG, which was engaged by the last Christie administration to examine the issue, projected that these unfunded civil service pension liabilities will likely be around $2bn by now, which would take the total debt stock to well over $13bn.
“The civil servants’ pension system is unsustainable,” the IMF warned three years’ ago. “Government employees draw pensions at retirement without contributing to the system while employed. Staff analysis in the 2016 Article IV Staff report noted that accrued government pension liabilities totaled $1.5bn in 2012, and would rise to $3.7bn by 2030 as the population ages.” The IMF called for reforms that involve “moving to a contributory regime in the near term, and to a defined-contribution scheme in the mediumterm”. This would require civil servants to contribute a portion of their salary to funding their retirement, rather than having this financed 100 percent by the taxpayer through the budget. And a presentation delivered by KPMG in 2013, the early years of the last Christie administration, estimated the unfunded, “pay-as-you-go”, civil service pension liabilities at around $1.5bn. These liabilities were set to increase to $2.5bn by 2022, and $4.1bn by 2032, unless reforms were enacted - and this is still yet to happen. Meanwhile, amid the public service hiring freeze, Mrs Glover-Rolle said an exercise will be held to make prior recruits permanent and pensionable. She
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added: “We realise with the amount of persons that need to be captured in this exercise that we will have a blanket exercise for that. “So we are considering moving from 2016 backwards to capture those persons in the service that need to be permanent and pensionable. Of course, those that have adverse reports, we will have a special analysis of their files to make sure that we’re progressing with all of the best and the brightest and those that are able to move through the system well.” Mrs Glover-Rolle said there is also a process to “disengage” the Government from unoccupied buildings that it pays rent on to the tune of $5m annually, she estimated. She added: We do have a unit that is capable and competent, and that has an inspection officer who is currently going and reviewing buildings across the country.” This review of public buildings “isn’t Nassau centric” and will be done throughout The Bahamas. “In some instances we have civil servants that are employed that are working in buildings that are not occupiable, and should not be occupied by persons expecting to do a good job at work,” Mrs Glover-Rolle said.
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Shipyard’s $350m expansion to give 2022 economic boost By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE Grand Bahama Shipyard’s $350m investment in two new dry docks will provide a much-needed economic boost to the island in 2022, government officials confirmed yesterday. Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, told media during the weekly briefing that the Prime Minister had met with Grand Bahama Shipyard executives to discuss its investment and expansion project. “The Prime Minister met with principals at the Grand Bahama Shipyard, and Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Lines,” he said. The cruise industry competitors each hold a 40 percent equity ownership interest in the Shipyard, with the remaining 20 percent controlled by the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) Port Group Ltd. Mr Watson added: “The investment is pegged at hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s expected to begin soon, providing all approvals are in place. Once completed, hundreds of Bahamian businesses will benefit as well as opportunities for direct employment with the shipyard.” The Shipyard is expected to possess a dry dock that is “the largest in the world” as a result of this expansion, Mr Watson said. Tribune Business understands that up to $80m of the required capital could be raised in the Bahamian capital markets, with the proceeds used to prepare the site to receive the dry docks that are currently being constructed in Asia and will arrive in the 2022 second half. The Grand Bahama Shipyard’s plans were revealed earlier this year by former prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis, who said: “I am pleased to announce that Carnival and Royal Caribbean have agreed to a new combined investment of approximately $350m in the Grand Bahama Shipyard. “To understand the scale of this investment, the House may recall that the original investment - and other investments to-date in the Shipyard - have totalled approximately $250m. The new investment will match this and exceed it by $100m. The proposed infrastructure works will replace the two damaged docks with even larger ones. “The new docks will be capable of handling and servicing the largest ships in the world. This will result in a notable increase in employment and economic activity on Grand Bahama, and for local businesses throughout Freeport and Grand Bahama.” Giora Israel, Carnival Corporation’s senior vicepresident for port and destination development, told Tribune Business earlier this year that Grand Bahama Shipyard will become “the biggest industrial concern in the
Caribbean by far” if it proceeds with the investment to build the world’s largest floating dock. He added that the Shipyard and its owners were currently exploring the “options and opportunities” to build such a dock in China to replace the one that was lost in April 2019’s accident. Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating fall-out has impacted the ability of the Shipyard’s cruise line shareholders to fund this investment directly, he added that some financing may be raised in The Bahamas to help cover the costs of associated land-based infrastructure work that would accompany the new dock. Mr Israel, who sits on the Shipyard’s Board representing Carnival as a 40 percent shareholder, with the remaining ownership split 40/20 between Royal Caribbean and the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s Port Group Ltd, said investing in a larger dock was under consideration prior to the April 2019 accident involving the Oasis of the Seas cruise liner. “Royal Caribbean’s ship was being taken only partially out of the water because the dry dock could not carry such a big ship,” he recalled. “The manoevere had been done before, but this time something went wrong and the dock was destroyed. It was a total loss and had to be cut to pieces and taken out. “That incident causes a lot of setbacks as we were unable to operate on other ships. The shareholders started the process of recovering the wreck and claiming the insurance proceeds. That process has not been completed.” The accident meant GB Shipyard lost its status as the world’s busiest cruise ship repair facility, having serviced three-and-a-half times the number of vessels seen by any rival yard. The accident left the company functioning at just 25 percent capacity, especially after Hurricane Dorian damaged another dry dock in late 2019. Mr Israel, though, said its shareholders had been anticipating “building a larger dock” in response to the increasing size of cruise ships that would have been “the biggest floating dock in the Americas”. Subsequent inquiries confirmed that such a dock has to be built in Asia rather than Europe, but the cruise industry’s enforced COVID-19 closure and billions of dollars in losses has disrupted financing plans. “We are looking at our options and opportunities to build such a dock in China,” Mr Israel said at the time. “The COVID-19 situation put a strain on the ability of the shareholders to directly fund it. We’re looking at various options
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and opportunities as to how to build it and fund it. We’re looking at this process. “We have to talk to the Government in due course as we get more advanced in this process. It [the dock] will definitely be the biggest in the world; by far the biggest in the world. We have a lot of engineers working on it. We have to bring it over from China. Mr Israel said just 20 percent of the Shipyard’s clients prior to the April 2019 accident were cruise ships, with the 80 percent balance featuring cargo vessels, bulk carriers and naval ships such as Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) vessels.
Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 5
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PM HEADLINES AWARDS FOR SHIPPING INDUSTRY
EXECUTIVES of Arawak Port Development Company (APD) and their spouses share a moment with Prime Minister Philip Davis (centre). Shown here L to R are: Clement Lightbourn, Sheldon Duckie, Dorothy Duckie, Mr Davis, Carla McCombe, Richard McCombe and Crispin Seymour.
PRIME Minister Philip Davis (far right) and Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general (far left), connect with Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism, Jamaica, and his wife, Carmen Bartlett. PRIME Minister Philip Davis last Friday served as patron of the 2021 Anchor Awards Gala, an annual fundraising event hosted by the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation. Mike Maura, the Nassau Cruise Port’s chief executive, co-hosted the event as chair of the gala and led this year’s fundraising efforts. The event raised over $300,000 toward scholarships for Caribbean students pursuing maritime degrees at the Foundation’s
three academic partner institutions. Those institutions are LJM Maritime Academy in The Bahamas, Caribbean Maritime University in Jamaica, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago. The event also acknowledged the efforts of maritime industry leaders by presenting Alyse Lisk, senior vice-president of technology and operational excellence at Tote LLC, and Harriat ‘Harry’ Pershad Maragh, former
chairman and chief executive of The Lannaman & Morris Group of Companies (posthumously), with this year’s Anchor Awards. Besides Nassau Cruise Port, this year’s sponsors included Arawak Port Development Company (APD); Royal Caribbean International; Norwegian Cruise Line; MSC Cruises; Tropical Shipping; Tote Maritime; and the Shipping Association of Barbados.
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 7
GB Power seeking $5m ‘base rate revenue’ rise FROM PAGE THREE
L TO R: Mike Maura, chief executive, Nassau Cruise Port; and Mrs Christy Maura, pose for a photo with Pamela Ferguson, vice-president of investments, CFAL; and Anthony Ferguson, president, CFAL.
L to R: Dr Steven Metzger, event supporter; Maya Nottage, regional marketing manager, Nassau Cruise Port; Tre’von Ferguson, second officer, Odyssey of the Seas; Charmaine Maragh, Lannaman & Morris Shipping; and Mike Maura, chief executive, Nassau Cruise Port.
minister of health and wellness, and Obie Wilchcombe, minister of social services and urban development, who is also MP for West End and Bimini. The committee’s other members include Alfred Sears, minister of works and utilities, who has responsibility for Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), and Ryan Pinder, the attorney general. Cleopatra Russell, GB Power’s spokesperson, said: “This adjustment that we’ve filed is the first one that we’ve done since 2016. In 2016, when we would have failed to recover the costs for Hurricane Matthew, we would have made a commitment and the regulator would have asked us to hold rates steady, which means that we did
not change rates at all since 2016. “So this adjustment that we filed actually is requesting that 42 percent of our customers; their rates either decrease or have no change at all. Just under half of our customers will either see a decrease or would see no increase at all. It asks for a 4 percent average increase for the rest of our customers.” There is a 45-day consultation and review process
that GB Power’s application must undergo. Mr Watson said: “We are waiting for the 45-day review process the Power Company is going through and we will see what their outcome is. It is our hope it is stayed. The committee has been very clear and very vocal in talking to the Port Authority about its position, and our position remains just that.”
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Retailer’s e-commerce portal ‘puts us ahead of competitors’ By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A MAJOR Bahamian retailer yesterday said its e-commerce investment had given the business more “exposure” while allowing customers to shop from the safety of their homes.
Brent Burrows Jr, CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies) manager of e-commerce and online shopping, told a webinar: “Having the online catalogue, having the online presence, it gives us a lot more exposure out there in our marketplace. “If you go on Google right now we have close to 900 keywords that will give you a ‘CBS Bahamas’ top
search result. So it really puts the CBS Bahamas name out there and puts us ahead of our competitors.” Mr Burrows Jr, speaking at a webinar organised by RF Bank & Trust, added that the merchant’s online portal was pushed to completion in 2020 following years of planning, which enabled it to counter the lockdowns and associated restrictions - such
as curbside service only that were imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides facilitating sales, CBS Bahamas’ Internet platform also allows the company to track customer data as well as determine what products individuals are most likely to search for and what they need. Mr Burrows said: “Our marketing team is able to
really integrate their marketing efforts with what’s happening online, and track those customers back and forth to keep on top of the trends, see what’s happening and get all the information current in real time as possible. “And we really are able to be very flexible, and adapt very quickly on where we concentrate our marketing spend to maximise the potential. Not only that, but we can link it all back. So you can now see exactly what this particular ad might have done in terms of your online revenue for these particular products. So it allows you to learn very quickly and really stay on top of fine tuning that customer experience and that outreach.” These developments have come as Bahamian companies, along with their global counterparts, continue to recover from the pandemic. Jim Wilson, RF Bank & Trust’s vice-president of corporate finance, said firms are “digging themselves out” of the hole that 2020 placed them in through adapting to the new operating environment. “What we are also seeing is that there is a broader trend of acceptance in that having a small percentage
of your business is better than having 100 percent of nothing,” he added. “So we’re seeing businesses take on equity partners, and part of that is also a process that’s an honest process. You have to ask yourself: What is my business worth? How much can I bring in?” Finding the right equity investor/ partner was also critical to keeping businesses out of debt, Mr Wilson said. Charnette Thompson, Cable Bahamas’ vice-president of businessto-business innovations, said: “The key is to always be learning. So for the existing team we are always learning new skills, new applications and new innovations.” She added that Cable Bahamas has to learn all these things and “take the staff on that journey as well, because existing staff have to understand up-skilling and any new staff coming in have to add value. “They have to come with information, and the attitude and willingness to learn all of these technologies, all of these nuances, all of these innovations and why they’re important to the SME community,” Ms Thompson said.
RENEWABLE PROVIDER HAILS RESORT’S NEW SOLAR SYSTEM By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A RENEWABLE energy provider yesterday said the system installed at a major Family Island resort will cut its emissions by 95 percent through slashing diesel fuel consumption. Justin Cunningham, of Compass Power, told Tribune Business that more hotels need to follow the Chub Cay Resort’s lead on solar energy as a solution to cutting energy costs. He said: “We want people to understand that solar power is here, and that it is real and it’s feasible, and it is economically beneficial so people can trust it. You can go to our company, or any other solar power company, and you can expect to see real savings.” The new solar system will reduce the Berry Islands-based resort’s diesel fuel consumption and resulting emissions by 95 percent. Chub Cay’s general manager, David Renaud, said: “Energy production is our second highest monthly expense with diesel fuel only being one component of the cost. “Our (Chub Cay) transition to renewable energy is designed to elevate the guest experience and benefit our bottom line. Chub Cay is happy to be an industry leader and hopes that other resorts will follow the same path.” Compass Power is an energy, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions provider for energy systems in the Caribbean. Its renewable subsidiary, Compass Solar, specialises in commercial/utility solar and microgrid projects, having completed 5 Mega Watts (MW) of solar installations with a further 5MW under contract. Compass Power said the Chub Cay project had made it the only resident Bahamian contractor to achieve such an installation, and it was the second-largest power installation the company has completed in its 16-year history. “For Compass Solar to be the EPC (engineer, procurer and construction) contractor for the
largest microgrid in the country is a game-changing opportunity,” Mr Cunningham added. “Coupled with the engineering skills required to build-out large power stations, such as the Baha Mar resort, this makes Compass the only resident Bahamian contractor to install over 70 MW of traditional and renewable power applications.” At Chub Cay, Compass said it paired four 1 MW bidirectional PCS inverters with a 10 MWh (mega watts per hour) lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS). These are housed in two environmentallysealed and hurricane-rated enclosures. Each building features 40 battery racks loaded with 17 modules, weighing over 200 pounds each. To achieve completed redundancy for the resort, the BESS, PCS inverters and PV (photovoltaic) field is divided into two halves, each separately connected and with the ability to operate independently of one another. Mr Cunningham said: “I think we need to highlight that BPL (Bahamas Power & Light) has done a lot of hard work accommodating solar coming into the country. I think the OPM (Office of The Prime Minister) has also done a good job of putting regulations in place that allow for the implementation of solar, and whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner, you definitely should consider it.” While Chub Cay is an island unto itself with no true utilities, Mr Cunningham said “an off-grid residential complex is something that could be done”. He added: “I think more resorts should consider solar energy because energy is probably their second highest cost, and anything a resort can do to make energy less expensive is beneficial for the resort. And anything that we as Bahamians can do to mandate solar or renewable, clean generation from that resort is beneficial for ourselves as a country.”
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, VENESHA PRATT of Nassau, The Bahamas, intend to change my name to VANESHA SYDONNY McFARLANE. If there are any objections to this 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 publication of this notice.
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Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 9
Cost cutting critical for debt reduction strategy By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net BUSINESSES yesterday said government cost-cutting must be a key element in any strategy to put The Bahamas’ public finances in order post-COVID. Dwayne Higgs, WHIM Automotive’s general manager, told Tribune Business that a slimmer civil service is vital to reducing public expenditure after the COVID-19 pandemic further “exacerbated” the country’s structural fiscal deficits and soaring national debt.
Responding to Standard & Poor’s (S&P) decision to again downgrade The Bahamas, thus pushing it further into so-called ‘junk’ status, Mr Higgs said: “Debt is now over $10bn. So it’s a matter of getting that under control, and the only way that’s going to happen is if you have consistent revenue.” This, he added, meant allowing businesses to operate more freely without COVIDrelated curfews and other restrictions while waiting for tourism to come back. “You have the Straw Market opening soon, so that’s going to be another good thing,” Mr Higgs said.
GOV’T EYES REVAMP FOR PACKING HOUSES A CABINET minister says the Government is seeking to revamp agricultural packing houses throughout The Bahamas to make them more efficient. Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, marine resources and Family Island affairs, set out the Government’s ambitions after leading a delegation to packing houses in Green Castle and Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera. The delegation included the ministry’s parliamentary secretary, Leonardo Lightbourn; Leroy Major, executive chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and MP for Southern Shores; Senator Tyrell Young, Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) executive chairman; and Joel Lewis, the ministry’s permanent secretary. “We noticed a lot of minor issues such as a government truck not being licensed and insured, and things that can be addressed very quickly. We are also looking at ways to encourage farmers where they are able to sell their products at the packing house in Green Castle and become more involved. We want to engage them so they realise that they have a friend in the ministry and BAIC,” Mr Sweeting said. “I wanted both chairmen to realise what potential lies in Eleuthera; what they are able to accomplish, and I am excited that they were able to see it, too. Immediately they were filled with excitement and plans to really bring effective change to the satellite offices of BAMSI in the Family Islands.” There are satellite offices in Long Island, Eleuthera and other Family Islands. “The problem that we have is that they really do not have any influence in the communities and they haven’t been invested in. So we are looking at using them and engaging with the farmers, livestock producers as well as using some of our pilot projects in the Family Islands, such as poultry farming, and finding ways to expand the economy. In order for us to really accomplish this, we must be serious about this,” Mr Sweeting added. The Hatchet Bay packing house has been closed for the past four-and-a-half years, according to officials. It is currently being remodelled, and construction is expected to be finished by December 2021.
Mr Sweeting said he expects the packing houses to have a full complement of staff so that farmers in Central Eleuthera can sell their products. “While we encourage private sector involvement, we are also mandated to assist farmers where we can. The packing houses were meant to be a place where they can get seeds and fertilizer,”he added. “Without a full complement of packing houses and distribution sites throughout this country, the farmers are then left with a sense of not being able to be involved and not being able to get the supplies they need to really be successful.” Mr Sweeting also wants to create simpler processes between BAMSI and BAIC. “We want BAIC and BAMSI to work together to streamline their processes,” he said. “There is a lot of overlapping and constraints that we would like to remove so that we could really be focusdriven and have a way that BAMSI’s mandate is accomplished, BAIC’s mandate is accomplished as well as this ministry. “I am a team player, and I think that it is important to keep people involved so that their ideas, along with what the Prime Minister has mandated us to do, becomes accomplished and that we look at setting goals,” Mr Sweeting continued. “I don’t take this job likely and none of my colleagues do either. That’s why we are excited about what we need to do, and I think BAMSI will play an instrumental role and we will work together as a team.” While in Eleuthera, the delegation also visited local government offices in Rock Sound and Governor’s Harbour. “We were able to hear their issues, sit and discuss how we can resolve them, and ways to really move the community forward and the constituency,” Mr Sweeting said. “They haven’t really seen representatives from the ministry to discuss issues at their level. I think that as we move forward, and as this ministry involves Family Islands, the persons that feel neglected with Nassau-centric governance will now realise that this ministry will be very involved, engage persons in the Family Islands and bring resolutions to small issues that have plagued them for generations.”
“We need to put downtown back to where it used to be so the cruise ship passengers actually have somewhere to go when they come off the boat. This is going to be a long time to recover. We have to stop borrowing, because we can’t just keep borrowing and borrowing thinking that that’s going to get you out of debt. “We need to have reduced spending and, if that means cutting government jobs, then that’s what it has to be because you can’t keep borrowing and hiring people and inflating government’s payroll. You keep going down the same road worse. Then what if we’re not allowed to borrow any more because our financial position is so bleak. Then what?”
Mr Higgs added that S&P’s downgrade was “pretty much expected” given that COVID-19 had “pretty much killed our economy” for much of 2020 and into the early months of 2021. S&P, in justifying its downgrade action, pointed to the $2.4bn national debt increase in just two years, which reflects the scale of the blow-out produced by Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19. The credit rating agency added that, in 2020, government revenues were lowered by 10 percent while social and healthcare spending increased by 11 percent. Vasco Bastian, owner/ operator of the Esso gas station at East Street and Soldier Road, added: “We need more domestic
investments. We need to promote more domestic investments. All of that red tape that blocks Bahamians from investing in their country has to be removed. “This economy is a service-based economy, and it has always been based on foreign direct investments. We need to send our minister for foreign affairs and our minister for financial services abroad to bring back some foreign investors. “In addition, we also need our Bahamian people to step up to the plate and help the country. Because if you’re a Bahamian and you have $2m sitting in the bank, and you aren’t doing anything with it, then you need to convert that money into business opportunities for your fellow Bahamians.”
Arguing that it will take more to grow the Bahamian economy than just asking investors to pump money into a flagging system, Mr Bastian said: “We need to get the people responsible for finances around the table, and we need to get the best and brightest minds around with them and see how we can get this ship back on a steady path. “In order for the debt to disappear our spending has to be reduced, or we need to plug our outstanding receivables. We just can’t tax ourselves out of debt We need to figure out a way to reduce our expenses, and we need to find out in a legitimate way. We just can’t tax the top one percent of the population in order to pay for the national debt.”
PAGE 10, Thursday, November 18, 2021
‘WE NEED MORE FROM RESIDENT BILLIONAIRES’ FROM PAGE ONE who are coming to The Bahamas,” he added. “We are extremely pleased that they found The Bahamas attractive for not only a place to own a residence, but because of other factors like a well-regulated society and sound economic environment.”
Mr Gomez spoke to Tribune Business just days after Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, voiced similar sentiments to attendees at the Long Island Business Outlook conference. He said the Government was exploring how it could link to the economic permanent residency programme to create joint
venture partnerships with Bahamian investors. While high net worth real estate purchasers contribute significantly to industries such as real estate, construction, landscaping/gardening, retail and restaurants via their acquisitions and subsequent spending, as well as government taxes, there is a perception among many
Bahamians - real or not that the economic impact of their investments is limited. However, several have made high profile, multibillion investments in The Bahamas, especially the likes of Joe Lewis and the Izmirlian family. The billionaires, both of whom reside at Lyford Cay, have ultimately invested billions in the domestic economy,
and created thousands of local jobs, via Albany and Baha Mar respectively (ignoring the latter’s Chapter 11 saga). Multiple suggestions have been made previously on how to extract more value from the presence of such investors. Sean McWeeney QC, ex-prime minister Perry Christie’s main adviser, in 2014 floated the idea of creating a limited Investor Citizenship programme, targeted at just a few high net worth billionaires and their families, in return for setting up real businesses in The Bahamas. He told the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Caribbean conference that the Bahamas needed to “join the bandwagon” by introducing an Investor Citizenship programme to target the world’s wealthiest individuals, something that could have “the most transformative effect” on the economy. Mr McWeeney said the Bahamas needed to take “a quality over quantity” approach when it came to attracting financial services business and investors - a strategy an Investor Citizenship initiative would facilitate. He added that the programme would offer select investors permanent residency with a “guarantee” of Bahamian citizenship once strict criteria were met. These conditions included fulfilling commitments to take up residence in the Bahamas, and invest in its economy, with a ‘high bar’ set for the investment dollar value that would be required. Mr McWeeney emphasised, though, that an Investor Citizenship programme would not be
THE TRIBUNE “mass marketed” to the world, and Bahamian citizenship never sold en masse to persons who did not set foot in the country. Mr Gomez, meanwhile, told Tribune Business that last week’s downgrade of The Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) meant the country “must get this economy moving again” if it is to head off a growing fiscal crisis. “The trend seems to be too negative, which will have an impact on confidence in our economy,” he added. “I think the Government’s fresh eyes on our financial affairs will allow for appropriate measures to turn this economy back on track. “This is extremely important as not only The Bahamas but the region and the world continues to be challenged by the downturn in economic prospects as a result of COVID-19, which has been heightened by the world’s food supply chain being curtailed and threatened over the past 18 months. It continues to be challenged, which by itself has a devastating impact on economic recovery.” Mr Gomez continued: “It is imperative that the brightest minds that sit around the table get to work to position, and reposition, The Bahamas as a tourism economy that is prepared for rebound and must rebound in the shortterm. The short-term in this instance is defined as six months to 12-18 months. “This not only speaks to actual returns but the perception of a rebound and the confidence that emanates from the good feeling of a rebound. The news at an economic level appears to be good in so much as tourism and the tourism professionals have indicated the tourism outlook looks good.”
EMPLOYERS, UNIONS UNITE ON EXTRA 90 FURLOUGH DAYS FROM PAGE ONE
Others added that the timing would be odd, given that Atlantis and the wider Bahamian tourism industry are fast approaching the Thanksgiving holiday that traditionally marks the start of the peak winter tourism season. Bookings and occupancies at some resorts are said to be ahead of prepandemic 2019 levels, while Atlantis itself is hosting not just one but two college basketball tournaments that traditionally boost Thanksgiving occupancies. Meanwhile, employers and trade unionists appeared united for once on the Government’s decision to extend by an extra 90 days the deadline by which companies must recall furloughed employees or terminate them and pay due severance. It had been thought firms would have to take such decisions by December 12, as provided for in the COVID emergency orders, which set the furlough deadline some 30 days after they expired on November 13, 2021. However, the Davis administration has decided to set the clock running from December 12, meaning that under the Employment Act’s furlough provisions companies have a further 90 days to March 12, 2022, to decide whether to furlough or terminate. The hope here is that the 90-day extension will provide sufficient breathing room for companies and the wider Bahamian economy to recover such that most furloughed workers are recalled, and terminations kept to a minimum, especially since the hotel and tourism sectors will then be in there peak 2022 season. Peter Goudie, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour director, told this
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newspaper of the move: “Wow. Isn’t that interesting. All I can say is that it’s good news. “We have done a bit of a survey [at the Chamber], and understand the majority of employers have about all their people back. There are bound to be pockets we don’t know about, but to me it’s good news. It gives everybody more time to get more people back to work, and not make people redundant. We’ve been against that from day one.” Bernard Evans, the National Congress of the Trade Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) president, told Tribune Business that he had discussed the 90-day extension proposal recently with Robert Farquharson, director of labour. Acknowledging that employees “cannot be left in limbo” by being kept in furlough indefinitely, he added: “COVID-19 has presented new problems, new issues and definitely highlighted some loopholes that need to be addressed.” However, with the economy starting to reopen more rapidly, Mr Evans said it was vital that employers be given more time to decide whether to recall furloughed staff. “We’re hopeful,” he added, “that the economy is kind of turning around in a favourable way, which allows for an environment that enables employees to come back to work as opposed to being asked to leave or made redundant.” Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, said he planned to meet with the umbrella union’s affiliates to discuss the matter today. But Mr Woods added that, once December 13 was reached, there was nothing to stop employees who have been on furlough since COVID-19 struck in March 2020 from demanding their due severance from employers. The BHCAWU chief said that between 45 percent to 55 percent of the union’s members remain on furlough.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 11
AMNESTY WRITE-OFFS ‘DISCOURAGE’ GOOD PROPERTY TAXPAYERS FROM PAGE ONE compliant property owners, he argued that the Government should instead have increased discounts to the latter to encourage them to pay earlier if it desperately needed revenue income. “It is unfair,” Mr Morley told this newspaper of how real property tax amnesties are structured. “My father told me to reward good behaviour and discipline bad behaviour. If you think about it, if you pay your property tax in full by March every year you get a 10 percent discount for the next period. You don’t get the benefit of that for a year.” Such a discount pales in comparison to the incentives offered by the former Minnis administration to delinquent taxpayers to bring their accounts current. The initiative, which was accessible to only Bahamian property owners, offered one option in particular that enabled those with arrears to pay less than fellow taxpayers who always keep their accounts current. The Government waived up to 50 percent of a taxpayer’s total arrears, including overdue taxes and accumulated surcharges, if the full remaining 50 percent balance was paid by end-September 2021. Arrears had to be outstanding for more than 180 days. Alternatively, those who made a 25 percent “downpayment” on their arrears and entered into a payment plan for the balance will see all penalty surcharges waived if they do so by the September deadline. Again, the arrears had to be outstanding for 180 days or more. “I’ve heard comments from people since they implemented that programme saying it almost encourages me to stop paying real property tax, and when they next offer [an amnesty] I will come in and pay it off, and be so much further ahead,” Mr Morley told Tribune Business. “It’s almost discouraging the legitimate people from paying. In other words, where do you go from this? It’s a double-edged sword. You’re rewarding those who are delinquent and discouraging those who are compliant. It’s a oneoff deal until they offer the same concessions next time.” Suggesting an alternative to such tax write-offs and forgiveness, Mr Morley added: “With all respect to the Government, in that pandemic period when things were shut down and they have very little money coming in, and they were trying to figure out how to collect from all avenues, if it were me I would have
offered a bigger incentive to people who pay in full and one time - a 20 percent reward for good behaviour. As the politician will tell you, you cannot please all the people all of the time.” Tribune Business revealed on Tuesday how the Government wrote-off $62m in outstanding real property taxes to gain just $37.5m in extra revenue via its recent amnesty initiative. Unveiling its fiscal performance for the three months to end-September 2021, the Government disclosed that it had “foregone” 65 percent more in taxes than it actually collected through this programme. Or, flipped the other way, it gained a sum that is 39.4 percent less than what it has written-off. The revelations are likely to raise fresh questions about the value of so-called real property tax amnesties given that the sum foregone by the Public Treasury is significantly in excess of what has been gained. However, the converse argument is that the $37.5m yielded would never have been realised without the incentives, and thus it still represents a timely gain. Mr Morley, though, said the amnesty could be branded “effective” given that the Government had gained $37.5m it may never have seen or otherwise waited a longer time to claim. And it had helped to boost cash flows amid the worst of COVID-19’s fiscal impact. “If I remember correctly, the amount of real property tax owed was around $600m,” he added. “If you were to add those two amounts together, what was written-off and collected, it’s only roughly one-sixth of the amount owed. “To answer your question: Was it effective? It was probably effective. We got some people to pay money but it would be more successful if the economy was in better shape, as people would be more inclined to pay and have the cash flow to pay that off. “Then, at the same time, how much of the $600m allegedly owed is being disputed? You never get a straightforward answer and picture from the Government. One could assume that some of that $600m is disputed or none of that $600m could have been disputed.” Mr Morley again pointed to the anomaly where persons challenging their purported real property tax arrears, or assessment, had to “pay the disputed amount” before they could contest it. “Was it successful?” he repeated of the amnesty. “Yes, they collected a lot of money which would have continued to accrue as a receivable. Unfortunately
ELECTRIC VEHICLES GET SPOTLIGHT AT LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW LOS ANGELES (AP) — Battery-powered vehicles will get top billing at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens this week after a year's hiatus due to the novel coronavirus. Subaru, which has seen strong sales growth in the U.S. during the past decade, will unveil its first all-electric vehicle, a smallish SUV named the Solterra. VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker that plans to start selling in the U.S. next year, will show off two allelectric SUVs. Auto shows have been waning in importance because auto companies have decided to avoid the expenses and unveil vehicles at their own events. Automakers showing new vehicles have only 10 news conferences planned for the L.A. show this year, many from electric vehicle startups. In 2019, the show said it had 25 global reveals from automakers. But the shows are still big big draws for customers in metro areas who want to see what's new, all in one place. Subaru's Solterra, about the size of a Forester gaspowered SUV, can go about 220 miles (350 kilometers) on a single charge, and will have the brand's trademark all-wheel-drive to go off the
road and handle inclement weather. The automaker says the Solterra's lithium-ion battery can be charged with home alternating current chargers and also has the ability to handle DC fast charging on the road. Its electric motor puts out 215 horsepower. Subaru says the five-passenger Solterra will go on sale sometime next year. The price was not released. Vietnam's VinFast is introducing the VF e35 midsize and VF e36 large electric SUVs at the show. Michael Lohscheller, the automaker's global chief executive, said VinFast plans to start taking orders in the spring and delivering vehicles in the U.S. in the fall. Initially the SUVs will be built at a new factory in Vietnam, but VinFast has plans to build a U.S. factory that would start producing in the second half of 2024. The company currently is looking at sites. The VF e35 will have a maximum range of 310 miles (499 kilometers) per charge, while the larger e36 will be able to travel up to 422 miles (679 kilometers) per charge, Lohscheller said in an interview Wednesday. He wouldn't reveal the prices yet.
a lot of people believe they don’t have to pay real property tax until such time as they sell their property and negotiate with government then. A lot of people have that mindset.” The former Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) president again questioned why the Government did not use the enforcement powers provided by the Real Property
Tax Act to collect due taxes, given that they have the ability to take possession of the subject property and sell it to recover the outstanding amount. And, if there is a mortgage on the building, be it residential or commercial, the Government should also request payment of outstanding property taxes by the bank or other lender with that sum added on to
the borrower’s loan, Mr Morley said. There are signs that the Government has begun to take a harder line on this, given recent prosecutions via the court to seize buildings owed by well-known Bahamian businessmen where multi-million sums are owing. “I was involved with a property where the owner was disputing the amount
owed because of retroactive reasons going back 11 years,” Mr Morley said. “They [the Government] pursued the bank that had the mortgage on the property to put pressure on them. “It forced my client to either pay them off or go to court. They were caught between a rock and a hard place.”
PAGE 12, Thursday, November 18, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
SUPERPLEX HOPES FOR 47% REVENUE RETURN FROM PAGE ONE will be recalled “within the next two weeks”, Mr Foulkes also disclosed that consumer “reaction” will determine how swiftly Fusion SuperPlex resumes a night-time movie slate where showings sometimes ran past 1am. “I would say both of the evening shows, that would represent anywhere from 32 percent to 47 percent of our revenue [pre-COVID],” he told Tribune Business, highlighting the importance of their resumption to the company’s survival. “That’s the two shows combined; the 8pm showing and the late-night show. With everything getting back to normal, they are anywhere between 32 percent and 47 percent of the revenue. That’s assuming we have reasonable occupancies.” Mr Foulkes had previously told this newspaper that the 9pm curfew, which the Davis administration pushed back to midnight on its first day in office on September 17, had a “devastating” impact on Fusion SuperPlex to the point where no employee was working a full week. Managers had been receiving just 60 percent of their due salaries - “with some of us down to 25 percent” - to ensure the business “survives” the pandemic’s crushing economic effects. That burden has now been eased with the end to the emergency orders, aiding a cinema and entertainment industry that has been one of the sectors most battered by the pandemic. Mr Foulkes, though, yesterday explained that “a big factor” determining consumer demand in the immediate term will be the confidence, and willingness, of persons to gather in larger groups and be in the same space given that COVID-19 - and the fear of COVID-19 - remains an ever-present threat. Suggesting that “by the end of next week maybe” the late-night movie screenings will resume, Mr Foulkes told this newspaper: “As soon as we’re internally capable we’ll get right back on it. If we had been able to do it at the weekend, we would. “It’s going to take us a little time to wind-up. Part of the process is seeing who is available, and that will tell us how quickly we can get back to full operating hours. But, ultimately, yes, once we get back to full operating hours we will recall all employees. “We need to make sure we’re ready for this holiday season. The goal is to get ready for Thanksgiving, and everybody back. That’s our goal; to get everything operational for Thanksgiving.” Some 230 staff have been recalled by Fusion SuperPlex since the COVID-19 restrictions started to ease under the former Minnis administration, with those workers deployed on both a full-time and part-time basis “to spread the work
around so people feel some economic relief”. Of the remaining 40 on furlough, Mr Foulkes said: “Within the next two weeks we should have all the employees willing to return come back to the facility, and for those who are not willing, then we will put notices of vacancies out to the public”. While unable to say how many staff may not return, or how many jobs will be advertised, he added that Fusion SuperPlex’s amenities such as the Edge restaurant had lost multiple chefs, waiters and other staff to the hotel sector which had been allowed to open its facilities while the entertainment complex was forced to close. Mr Foulkes, though, said he was unsure about the occupancy levels that cinemas are permitted to operate. Adding that he was awaiting guidance from the COVID-19 health rules recently tabled in Parliament by the Government, he disclosed: “We’ll ramp it up, maybe starting at 50 percent, and see how it goes.” However, other sources suggested occupancy is still restricted to 33 percent. Meanwhile, the complex’s Edge restaurant will offer outdoor dining until 1am this weekend. “We used to have the late night crowd wanting to spend time at Edge, but we had to say ‘Guys, thanks for coming, we have to shut the music down and you must exit the building’. People were just getting into their game,” Mr Foulkes recalled of the 9pm curfew’s impact. “People now do not have to worry about having to fly up town before the curfew. Economic freedom is back, and personal freedom is back.” He pledged, though, that there would be no let-up in enforcing the COVID-19 health protocols, adding: “As far as we’re concerned none of that stuff stops. We’re just doing it for a longer period of time.” The Fusion SuperPlex has also partnered with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to offer itself as a COVID-19 vaccination centre these past two weekends; something it will repeat again this Saturday and Sunday as it is also helping to drive inoculation rates among staff. “We hope this drives us closer to our goal, which is a 90 percent vaccination rate internally,” Mr Foulkes said. “Right now, we’re close to 70 percent. I’m hoping in the next months, coming into the New Year, we’ll be at our 90 percent goal.” He added that COVID19 restrictions had also prevented the complex’s Courtyard from catering to weddings, birthday parties and educational events that could hold 200-300 persons at a time. Mr Foulkes estimated that it will take between 60-90 days to “get back into full scale marketing” of that product, and selling and booking the space.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, November 18, 2021, PAGE 15
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, JORELL DELICIA PAGEOT of #54 Spring Field Road, P.O Box 5519755 Nassau, The Bahamas, Parent of JAYDEN DELON LEWIS A minor intend to change my child’s name to JAYDEN DELON PAGEOT If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, MICHAEL JOHNSON of #123 Major Road, Yellow Elder, Nassau, The Bahamas, Parent of KATELYN MICHAELLA WILLIAMS A minor intend to change my child’s name to KATELYN MARION DAVIS If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.