12062022 BUSINESS AND FEATURES

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN auto dealers yester day predicted new vehicle sales will close 2022 some 15-20 percent ahead of last year after the industry over came “outrageous” shipping cost hikes and inventory shortages.

Ben Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA)

president, told Trib une Business that the industry had collectively beaten 2021’s full-year sales within the first ten months of the cur rent year.

Revealing that the sector “did just over 1,500 units” for the year to end-October 2022, as compared to last year’s 1,468 for the full 12 months, he disclosed: “As of the close of October, the BMDA has already collectively sur passed the total sales recorded in the 2021 calendar year. I am expecting a 15-20 percent improvement over last year.”

While the industry is entering a third year of supply chain backlogs, meaning local dealers are unable to receive the full vehicle orders they place, Ben Albury said this is coun ter-balanced by their ability to “sell everything we can get” due to persis tently strong consumer demand.

catch the island’s peak winter tourism season.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A WELL-KNOWN

Bimini condo hotel has closed for a $10m over haul that will near-triple existing marina slips and “polish a diamond in the rough”, its developer revealed yesterday.

Charlie Conigliaro, pro ject manager and partner at Prestige Worldwide Resorts, told Tribune Busi ness that the developer plans to “take the bull by the horns” and totally revamp every aspect of the Bimini Cove Resort and Marina that it acquired

in 2019 from Super Value chief, Rupert Roberts. Having renamed the former Bimini Sands, Mr Conigliaro said he and Prestige’s principalsthe billionaire Asplundh family, named as America’s 103rd wealthiest family

No Cable customer payout for bad TV

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

CABLE Bahamas pay-TV customers will not be compensated even though reg ulators found it breached both its licence terms and consumer protection regulations by delivering poor quality services in 2021.

The Utilities Regulation and Com petition Authority (URCA), yesterday releasing its “final determination” on the probe into the BISX-listed communications provider’s TV service standards, justified its decision on the basis that it wanted the company to correct the problems rather than pay a “one-time” sum to customers.

The communications sector regulator said the “repeated loss of service” experi enced by Cable Bahamas’ TV customers in 2021 meant that the company had violated consumer protection measures, as well as the pledge contained in its own licence to comply with all legal and regulatory meas ures connected to the Communications Act. As a result, it imposed a fine equal to 2.025 percent of the BISX-listed provider’s 2021 “monthly recurring” pay-TV charges.

The dollar sum of the sanctions imposed on Cable Bahamas is virtually impossible to specify as the company does not break down its revenues by product category in the annual report, thereby showing how much it earns from pay-TV. However, the company’s financial statements for the year to end-June 2022 described the penalty as

in 2015 by Forbes maga zine - were now racing to transform the property’s buildings, marina, roads, landscaping, restaurants and other amenities over the next several months so it can re-open “before April 2023” in time to

“We want to make it - I shouldn’t say a five-star resort, because it’s not a resort; these are condos in a rental programme - but we want to make it a premium property,” Mr Conigliaro told this newspaper. “I have been going to Bimini for 30 years, and I have to tell you it’s one of The Bahamas’ island jewels. The prop erty has such character and charisma. It was like a diamond in the rough, and what we’re doing is polish ing that diamond.

“We took it over right before COVID, and now it is called Bimini Cove. The project has been there for 20-something years, and has been pretty much neglected to a cer tain degree. The buildings need work; they need to be painted, we have a whole new landscaper ready

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

REGULATORS yester day rejected Cable Bahamas’ warning that the fine imposed on it for poor pay-TV service qual ity would “detract” from its $85m capital investment in network infrastructure upgrades.

The BISX-listed communica tions provider, responding to the Utilities Regulation and Com petition Authority’s (URCA) decision to levy a fine equal to 2.025 percent of its “monthly recurring” TV revenue for 2021, hinted darkly that its multimillion investment plans would be undermined by the regula tor’s actions even though it has

admitted the sum involved is not material.

Touting its good deeds, includ ing a $45.1m investment in network upgrades during a time of declining revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, URCA said Cable Bahamas responded to its findings and decision by arguing that any sanctions would contravene the central thrust of the Government’s communica tions sector policy.

“While Cable Baha mas has committed $85m to network upgrades, Cable Baha mas explained that it had not paid dividends to shareholders for the past five years,” URCA said of the company’s response. “Therefore, a fine of this magni tude would significantly impact or detract from its ability to continue with its fibre-to-the-home capital investment to upgrade its existing network.

“Such a consequence would not advance one of the primary objectives of the electronic

The Bahamas Bus and Truck general manager, noting that his company’s auto sales have increased by 30 percent com pared to 2021, added that “the pipeline is starting to open up” on vehicle supply with manufacturers now far more responsive to orders placed by this market.

He added that slow ing US vehicle demand, likely due to rising interest rates as the Federal Reserve seeks to combat inflation, would potentially further help The Bahamas by freeing up more vehicle supply for this market. And, despite fears of a US and wider global reces sion, Ben Albury said any fall-out for The Bahamas is “a little ways off” yet given that the visitors attracted to its high-end tourism product are among the least likely to be affected by any downturn.

Atlantis beats revenue goals, targets ‘strong’ 2023 first half

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

ATLANTIS continues to beat its revenue targets and is predicting a strong 2023 first half, a senior executive has revealed, with the wider resort industry bracing for 90 percent-plus occupan cies over the Christmas and New Year period.

Vaughn Roberts, the Par adise Island mega resort’s senior vice-president of government affairs and spe cial projects, told Tribune Business in a recent inter view that high average daily room rates (ADR) and visi tor spending per occupied room are driving higher than projected revenues even though occupancy fig ures are slightly down on pre-COVID numbers.

Confirming that the Nassau/Paradise Island resort industry’s rooms rates were up 25-30 percent

year-over-year, due to a combination of tourist demand and loss of room inventory due to the clo sure of the Melia Nassau Beach and British Colo nial resorts, plus Atlantis’ own Beach Towers, he said: “We’re kind of wrapping up our budget for next year and we will be very strong through the first quarter.

“The Christmas week and festive season are very strong. The rate, ADR, is

ROBERT SANDS

BEN ALBURY

REALTOR REOPENS ABACO OFFICES FOLLOWING DORIAN

A WELL-KNOWN Bahamian real tor is re-opening its offices in Abaco more than three years after both the Marsh Harbour and Hope Town loca tions were destroyed by Hurricane Dorian.

“The damage to our offices was very extensive,” said HG Christie chief executive, John Christie. “Like every one, we were truly heartbroken by the aftermath of the storm - not just for our buildings but to the communities we serve as well. But, as a team, we were immediately committed to rebuilding and reopening.”

The work to restore both sites began almost immediately with the company’s agents and residents working diligently to rebuild and restore the locations and their surrounding settlements. Now, some three years later, those repairs have been completed and HG Chris tie is preparing to formally reopen its Abaco offices.

“During these past few years, our commitment to doing our part each and every day has been filled with love and passion for this beautiful Abaco chain of islands,” Mr Christie explained.

The reopening of the firm’s Abaco offices coincides with the celebration of its 100-year anniversary. “We are proud to have rebuilt our new and improved office spaces in both Marsh Harbour and Hope Town, both with the same island charm that buyers and sellers from around the world have grown to love,” Mr Christie added.

“Although I have observed fairly high interest and steady growth in the Abaco cays over the past 20-plus years, I have never witnessed such a high level of investor confidence as I have seen in this past year,” said top Abaco agent, Franklyn Knowles.

“It is quite remarkable considering what these communities have been through. I felt confident that the cays would rebound, but it has actually been to a much higher degree than I could have imagined. It truly says a lot about our community members, including full-time residents, second homeown ers and long-time visitors, and their determination to not have it any other way.

Bahamas featured by Canadian showbiz TV

THE BAHAMAS has teamed with Entertain ment Tonight (ET) Canada to further expose this nation’s qualities as a tour ism destination.

PRINCIPAL

The Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, in a statement, said the part nership with ET Canada involves producing a series of two to three-minute seg ments that will highlight

various aspects of the Baha mian vacation experience. These will showcase Baha mian cuisine, culture, activities and beaches to Canadian travellers.

“We’re beyond excited about this opportunity to work with ET Canada to produce engaging con tent about the islands we love so much,” said Latia Duncombe, the

Ministry of Tourism’s acting director-general.

“We are eager to intro duce ET Canada’s audience to the wonderful Baha mian experience, and to share the richness of The Bahamas. ET Canada has a huge following, and this format really gives us an opportunity to capture our incredible diversity and the warmth of our people.”

Filming began on November 30 and is expected to continue until this Wednesday, Decem ber 7. A film crew from ET Canada is on location in Nassau and Paradise Island, and will also visit Freeport. Its itinerary will reflect personalities such as Tony Hanna, the King of Conch; proprietor of Tony’s Conch Experience, Marv Cunning ham, Mr Mix-It, mixologist extraordinaire; and Arlene Nash-Ferguson, an expert on Bahamian culture and traditions at the Educulture Junkanoo Museum and Resource Centre.

Besides being screened on TV, the series will also

be posted on etcanada. com as well as its YouTube channel to over 1.16m sub scribers. An accompanying digital media campaign on Facebook and Instagram will further drive tour ist engagement with the content across multiple platforms.

Direct non-stop flights to The Bahamas from Mon treal, Calgary and Toronto have been launched to Nassau, George Town and Freeport this winter. The routes are serviced by WestJet, Air Canada and Sunwing, with the latter launching a new flight from Toronto to Freeport on December 17. Entertain ment Tonight Canada airs week nights on Global TV.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000, the Dissolution of TRIER INVESTMENT LIMITED commenced on December 2, 2022. The Liquidator is Heitor Jose Muller, whose address is Rua Engenheiro Olavo Nunes, 100 AP 00601, Porto Alegre – RS, Brazil.

In the Estate of THOMAS

late of the Settlement of James Cistern in the Island of Eleuthera one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that all persons having any claim against the above named Estate are required on or before the 30th day of December, 2022 to send their names and addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the undersigned and if so required by notice in writing from the undersigned to come in and prove such debts and claims or in default thereof they will be excluded from the benefits of any distributions made before such debts are proved AND all persons indebted to the said Estate are asked to pay their respective debts to the undersigned.

HAILSHAMS LEGAL ASSOCIATES Counsel and Attorneys at Law RENALDO HOUSE 10 Queen’s Highway Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, Bahamas P. O. Box SS 5062, Nassau, Bahamas Attorneys for the Administratrix of the above Estate Tel: 242-332-0470 email: hailshams@1stcounsel.com

NOTICE

The dissolution of the said Company commenced on 1st December 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered with the Registrar General in Nassau, The Bahamas.

The sole liquidator of the said Company is Kim D Thompson of Equity Trust House, Caves Village, West Bay Street, P O Box N 10697, Nassau, Bahamas.

AFTER Hurricane Dorian’s devastation, HG Christie’s offices in Marsh Harbour have also been fully restored.

Photo:HGC/Barefoot Marketing

IN the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, HG Christie’s office in Marsh Harbour was completely gutted and had to be totally rebuilt.

HG Christie is open for business again in Abaco fol lowing Hurricane Dorian’s destruction.

HG Christie chief executive, John Christie, cut the ribbon on the company’s newly-reconstructed Marsh Harbour offices. The reopening coincides with the company’s ongoing 100th anniver sary celebrations and marks another major milestone.

WILLIAM JOHNSON

Taxi union still pushes for 30% fare increase

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS Taxi Cab Union’s (BTCU) presi dent yesterday said it is still pushing for a 30 percent fare hike to offset infla tion-fuelled cost increases despite the Government being unresponsive to its calls.

Wesley Ferguson told Tribune Business that while he has not met with Jo-Beth Coleby-Davis, minister for housing and transport, for several weeks he still plans to push for the fare increase as well as request help to crackdown on self-drive (SD) owners who refuse to change their licence plate.

“The SD plates were supposed to have been changed over earlier, and it is not completed yet, but I think it’s not because of her. I think it’s because the SD companies didn’t follow through and do their due diligence, and they are out side of the parameters of their jurisdiction now,” he argued. Penalties are sup posed to be imposes on SD cars that fail to convert their plates from yellow back to the original white colour.

Mr Ferguson added: “Right now the main thing we are following up on with Mrs Coleby-Davis is the taxi fare increase. We want a 30 percent increase across the board.” He also wants the Government to address taxi plates that are

on the road without being gazetted. “Before the plates are given out they have to be gazetted in the daily papers. That process wasn’t followed; they just gave them out off of the top of their heads,” Mr Ferguson argued.

The lifting of the taxi plate moratorium has sat urated the market with drivers competing for busi ness that has not increased in volume, thereby diluting income for all. The Baha mas Taxi Cab Union only wanted an extra 200 plates to be issued, but some estimates have placed this number well above 500, with some drivers not prop erly vetted or undergoing training to obtain one.

Retailers enjoy steady sales in Xmas run-up

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN retail ers yesterday said sales are growing steadily in the run-up to Christmas.

Brent Burrows Jr, CBS Bahamas’ manager of e-commerce and online shopping, told Tribune Business that holiday sales have already been strong as they ramp-up to peak demand in the final week prior to Christmas.

“We start to see it get really busy with Christmas being on a Sunday, and Christmas Eve being a Sat urday. We expect that to be a huge day, so we’re prepar ing for that,” he explained. “But I would say probably in another week or so we’ll really start to see things

pick up for the last-minute decorations, which we’ll start to put on sale and then also the Christmas gift items.

“So about two weeks before Christmas we do a pretty nice Christmas sale, which is a mix of the Christmas items and the decorations. We really don’t sell live Christmas trees. Our trees are artificial, but all of the Christmas decora tions are going really good. We also had Christmas trees as a part of the Black Friday sales as well, and most of them sold out and they still continue to sell pretty well.”

Christmas decorations have been available at CBS since Halloween. “We’ve been steady at it, and people have been coming in and taking advantage of gift ideas and decorations,” Mr Burrows said.

Alannah Van Onselen, owner/operator of Bahama HandPrint, said sales are going “really good” even though the ShopLocal initi ative has been discontinued this year due to lack of retailer participation. How ever, those merchants she is still in contact with have been signalling a better sales period leading up to Christmas Day.

She added: “Everybody is watching their budgets in their own businesses this year. It’s still early in December, but the last week before December 24, which falls on a Saturday, is a great week for shopping. So it’s just kicking off now. We’re just getting going, but we’re hoping for a good positive season. Other than that we’re just hustling along.”

Product shortage concern for Christmas tree vendors

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

CHRISTMAS tree ven dors yesterday voiced fears over inventory shortages with one revealing they had to source product from fur ther north than normal.

Ryan Turnquest, owner/ operator of Ryan’s Christ mas Tree Garden, told Tribune Business that while sales have been strong since the Thanksgiving Day holi day, he is worried about the availability of trees this year.

“We’re rolling out our trees. It’s getting more and more difficult to get Christ mas trees, but we will be rolling out. It’s the avail ability; trees are not as available as they used to be,” he explained.

Mr Turnquest said these shortages have forced him to source Christmas trees from Canada rather than his regular supplier in North Carolina. Despite this, prices have not increased beyond the “regular incre ment, as with everyone else, with regard to freight. And the variety of trees has improved due to the assort ment of Canadian pine trees in the product mix.

“People have already been buying their tree from the weekend before Thanksgiving. We are highly Americanised with our holidays now. We cel ebrate Thanksgiving, and we want our Christmas tree for Thanksgiving dinner. It seems like the whole world is getting into the Christmas spirit now. Every year it gets earlier and earlier,” Mr Turnquest added.

Tanya Heastie, general manager of Shop Smart, said sales have gone “really well” even though they only

sell artificial trees. “I think people are really embrac ing the Christmas spirit this year, especially since the lockdowns came to an end and I have been having no

complaints,” she added. “We just want people to shop early, shop often and shop smart for this Christ mas season.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, CLEON HILFRED GAITOR, AKA CLEON HILFRED JOHNSON of The Southern District, Nassau, Bahamas, intend to change my name to CLEON HILFRED JOHNSON. 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.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that

of P. O. Box CR-55873,

New

Bahamas

and Citizenship,

a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 29th day of November, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

The Public is hereby advised that I, SAMANTHA KNOWLES of Bruce Avenue Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas. Parent of ANTIONIA SA’MARAH YVONNE LEWIS A minor intend to change my child’s name to SA’MARAH PHILICITY VERNESHA KNOWLES 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.

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

NORRIS GEORGE WILLIAMS

Carmichael Road,

Providence, The

is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality

for registration/naturalization as

AUTO SECTOR’S 20% RISE BEATS ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ SHIPPING COSTS

FROM

“In my business there’s been some loosening up as far as what I see in the pipe line,” the BMDA president said of supply chain woes that have persisted since 2021 and the world’s full post-COVID emergence. “It hasn’t replenished me in terms of supply, but I can see things in motion.

“Before [COVID] I would put in an order and typically it would take four months, but I have been six months into it and saw nothing. But, right now, I’m placing orders and in a rela tively reasonable amount of time I’m able to see the original bill of delivery and VIN (vehicle identification) numbers. In my business, things seem to be getting in order. Before they were sit ting in the system waiting for capacity.

“It sounds contradic tory when you say you are having supply chain issues but your sales are up. I was very well stocked when this thing happened, and placed orders very

aggressively. I would, for example, place orders for 100 vehicles when I wanted 50, and might get 30. I was very aggressive on that, and pretty much what I get I sell instantaneously. Bringing in $500,000 worth of cars, you don’t want it sitting there for ever.”

New auto sales are fre quently seen as a bellwether indicator of how strongly an economy is perform ing, especially on consumer demand and access to credit, because these are treated as luxury goods that are extremely susceptible to economic downturns.

Turning to the BMDA’s sales performance, Ben Albury added: “We’re not setting a record or banner year by any means, but in this post-COVID climate we are not looking at the yardstick of what we did in the last ten or 30 years. A lot of the comparison is from COVID to now.

“I’m seeing the pipeline open up now, and inven tory start to come in. That’s a key component missing to go even faster than what

we have. Driving around, I passed one of my competi tors a few weeks ago and they only had one vehicle in the showroom. I passed by again a few days ago, and it looked like they were fully stocked with a full inven tory. I’m happy to see that becoming the norm.

“My outlook for 2023 is definitely better than 2022. I don’t feel comfort able predicting beyond that. Predicting a year out is hard to wrap your head around, but with the steady increase in sales over the last seven to eight months I feel confident and see some consistency, which is very encouraging.”

The BMDA president’s optimistic outlook comes despite a 100 percent increase in vehicle shipping costs post-pandemic, which have been driven by fac tors such as higher global oil prices, supply chain backlogs and container shortages. “I’m paying double what I paid previ ously,” he said, explaining that the cost of shipping a “compact” car had risen

from $1,700-$1,800 to around $3,350 presently. “It’s not a very big car at all, but the price is outrageous.”

However, unlike his namesake, Fred Albury, the Auto Mall’s principal, told Tribune Business there was “no sign yet” that vehicle shortage woes are easing and he predicted the situa tion may last until the 2023 second quarter. “Even then it won’t be back to normal,” he warned. “There are some models I just cannot get.

“Toyota is coming out with a new Crown in Febru ary, and they’ve said: ‘Don’t even think about trying to order them right now. The Rav 4, the Prado, those are tough to get. I just recently had a high official in from Hyundai, and they prom ised us some increased production. Suzuki has been having issues as well. I’ve had orders submit ted for six months, and they’ve not even got pushed through. It’s still very, very tight out there.

“Usually if a shipment arrives it’s about 85-90

percent pre-sold. Sales have been built on what we have, but it’s just not enough..... Sales are definitely up and Toyota is leading the pack of all the brands at the moment,” Mr Albury confirmed. “I think on the Toyota side we’re going to be up 25 percent over last year.

“The main thing is we’re getting some product there. I order 50 units and, on average, get about 35. Toyota has been really good on forecasting and alloca tions. They monitor it and every two to there weeks I have to give them a report on what our sales are. If you are selling, you are getting. If you are not selling, you are not getting. They’re not going to give a market a ton of cars to just sit there.

“If we can get the prod uct we can make the sales.

BMW is doing extremely well. We’ve had probably our best year ever in BMW.

It’s the same thing there: Getting product and allo cation. We’re moving a lot of product so we’re getting a lot of allocation. There’s

Bimini ‘diamond in rough’ in $10m transformation

FROM PAGE B1

to bring in 800 trees and shrubs, we’re resurfacing the roads, we’re rebuilding the marina. It’s been under construction for a couple of weeks, and will go from 53 slips to 143 slips.”

That represents a more than-doubling, or 169.8 percent increase, in Bimini Cove’s marina slips. “The marina alone is prob ably $4m if not more,” Mr Conigliaro said of the developer’s ongoing invest ment. “We’re probably looking at about a $10m improvement.

“COVID is what delayed the renovation part of it. This is the first year we can get things done. It’s been quite difficult prior with the regulations in The Baha mas. It discouraged a lot of people from coming. It was just a hassle. Now eve rything has opened up and that’s made it a lot easier.”

Prestige acquired the 53 unsold condo units at Bimini Cove, out of a total 216, together with the marina and associated amenities in that 2019 deal with Mr Roberts. Mr Conigliaro yesterday pledged that the upgrades will be more than just a renovation, telling this newspaper: “When we get done with it it’s going

to look like a brand new development.

“It needs it. It was neglected in so many ways for various reasons. We’re taking the bull by the horns and going to get it done. It’s going to be something that everyone’s proud to go to when it’s finished.... We have a lot going on, a lot going on. It’s going to be non-stop for the next few months.”

Bimini Cove, in announc ing its temporary closure, said in a flyer: “We look for ward to seeing you in 2023, but.... Every property needs renovations from time to time, and our time is now. The property will be closed starting today [December 1] until May 1, 2023. Fuel sales will continue.

“During this time we will be upgrading water power supply, rooms, restaurants and other needed upgrades. In addition, new docks and power pedestals are being installed. We are also build ing a beachfront tiki bar.”

Bimini Cove’s fuel dock and offices will remain open to its 163 homeowners and boats requiring fuel during the renovation period, but the property will be closed to vacation and rental guests.

“We don’t want them to have a bad experience,” Mr Conigliaro said of the

N O T I C E

ACE ENTERPRISES HOLDINGS LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) ACE ENTERPRISES HOLDINGS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 30th November, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

N O T I C E

JOOY HOLDINGS LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) JOOY HOLDINGS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 30th November, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

closure to rental guests. “We’d prefer to keep it closed until we’re ready, which will be in the Spring. We’ll have a grand opening, and welcome everyone with open arms.

“It would only be hurt ing us by letting people stay there. There are a lot of problems, a lot of issues we have to work through, and don’t want people coming in here and having a bad experience because they’ll tell ten other people. You have a bad experience and it spreads like wildfire.

“We want it to be right. It will cost us money to close it down, but that’s the price we have to pay for doing it right. I’d like to be finished before April. You’re deal ing with crews and bringing people in. That’s the chal lenging part. I think we can accomplish, if not all of it, 90 percent of it before the season starts. This is the offseason. It’s the perfect time to get it done,” he continued.

“A lot of people are upset with us for closing down, but they’ll understand once they see it open and what we’ve accomplished and achieved. They’ll be happy. At the moment it’s bitter sweet but I’m confident it’s going to be beautiful when it’s all done.”

Mr Conigliaro said he would be present in Bimini every week, for several days at a time if needed, to over see the construction work. He added that Bimini Cove had hired, and obtained a work permit for, Kyle Pen niston who will live on the property as a full-time oper ations manager.

Writing in a December 5, 2022, letter to Bimini Cove’s homeowners, Mr Conigliaro apologised for “all the issues and prob lems” encountered over the past year but voiced hope these could be placed “in the rear view mirror”. He said: “Kyle and I are very aware of all the issues and problems that occurred this year and would like to take this time to apologize to you, family members and friends for any problems or inconvenience you may have experienced this past year.

“We make no excuses and feel it is important to keep you informed of the future of Bimini Cove. Just this year we formed and set up a dedicated working group, including our managers and resolute homeowners, to help make decisions that will have a positive impact on our property.

“It is safe to say there have been a fair number of challenges this year, and

N O T I C E

LWS HOLDINGS LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) LWS HOLDINGS LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 2nd December, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

N O T I C E

BAGEND LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) BAGEND LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(c) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 30th November, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(d) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

I hope we can all agree to put them in our rear view mirrors. I want to assure all of you that we are com mitted 110 percent engaged with our property’s success.”

Confirming that more full-time staff will be hired, Mr Conigliaro added: “We have made a big deci sion to cease all operations as of December 1. That means we are temporarily closing the store and petite conch and marina. The fuel dock and offices will remain open to our homeowners and customers needing fuel; rental reservations will halt until March or April for obvious reasons.

“The ongoing construc tion of our marina and our inlet needs dredging, plus a list of other improvements scheduled this year. Please understand why this deci sion is so important. The property needs renovation and the last thing we need is to have guests on site with no amenities and disrupted by heavy equipment during these changes which will be starting shortly.”

Promising a new rental programme, he concluded: “We know this is a bold plan.... These improvements are necessary and long overdue, especially if we are to restore confidence in

been a demand for the highend product out there.”

Fred Albury confirmed that auto prices, and dealer costs, have been hit by ship ping increases. “We’ve seen the prices on some Hyun dai product that have gone up $700 to $800a vehicle, which represents 40 per cent of the vehicle costs. That’s just shipping prices. I think next year is going to be very much along the lines of what 2022 has been. It’s going to be a fight for inventory.”

Ben Albury, meanwhile, said auto sales were being aided by increased avail ability of credit. “The banks have got a little different attitude in terms of willing ness to expose themselves to reasonable risk,” he told Tribune Business, “and give financing and terms to people ready to go.

“We’re starting to see the financing side get a little easier to work with. That’s been a little challenging. People go for financing and get discouraged in a lot of cases.”

our abilities.” The upgrades also include beach resto ration and “changing the colour scheme of the whole property”.

Mr Conigliaro did not specify whether the contrac tors and workers hired will all be Bahamian. He added, though, that the upgrades will make it easier to sell the remaining 53 condos, some of which are avail able for purchase in the low $200,000 range.

“We think we won’t have a problem selling them,” he added. “It’s been hard to sell them in the property’s current state. It’s just not appealing. It looked like a development built in the desert; it didn’t have any character or appeal. They [the previous owners] had the right idea but never fol lowed through with it.”

Share your news

The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story.

N O T I C E

EXCEL OCEAN GLOBAL LIMITED

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) EXCEL OCEAN GLOBAL LIMITED is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 30th November, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said company is Bukit Merah Limited, The Bahamas Financial Centre, Shirley & Charlotte Streets, P.O. Box N-3023, Nassau, Bahamas.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Bukit Merah Limited Liquidator

N O T I C E

BLUE LABEL INTERNATIONAL LTD.

N O T I C E IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:

(a) BLUE LABEL INTERNATIONAL LTD. is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said company commenced on the 2nd December, 2022 when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said company is Leeward Nominees Limited, Vistra Corporate Services Centre, Wickhams Cay II, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

Dated this 6th day of December, 2022.

Leeward Nominees Limited Liquidator

ATLANTIS BEATS REVENUE GOALS, TARGETS ‘STRONG’ 2023 FIRST HALF

higher year-over-year so we’re having very strong rates for the festive period. Currently, the market seems to be up 25-30 percent on rates. This year has just been across the market.... Baha Mar, the Four Seasons Ocean Club, it’s all up.

“We’re seeing that con tinue into the first quarter, just the room rate growth. There’s just strong demand for the destination, and I think we’ve see it play out with the property playing well. I think we’re looking for a very Christmas and New Year period, certainly compared to last year.”

Atlantis is forecasting that the post-COVID recov ery momentum will carry through the 2023 first half, Mr Roberts said, adding: “The spend per occupied room is very strong and, while we may be down on

occupancy, the occupancy numbers are getting back to pre-COVID levels.

“We are certainly making that up on the spend and room rate. We are beat ing revenue targets and it’s really driven by the strong spend per occupied room and ADR. We’re not quite there on the occupancy, but we’re happy because the additional rate has a better flow through. We’re very happy with how we’ve per formed this year and how it looks for the first two quar ter next year.”

Meanwhile, Mr Roberts said Atlantis and its ultimate owner, Brookfield Asset Management, continue to assess potential develop ment plans for the former Club Med site on Paradise Island. “It’s very much in play in terms of our owners spending effort on analys ing the opportunities and

looking at various options,” he added.

“It’s really going to be driven by the analysis by Brookfield, but it’s very much in active play to figure out the right strategy, the right progression and the timing as well. There’s a strong market today, but obviously these things take time to plan and get into construction. You’re always timing your development to get in and be in front of growth when it occurs in the future.’

Robert Sands, the Baha mas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) presi dent, told Tribune Business yesterday that the sector’s bookings for 2023’s peak winter period between Feb ruary and Easter are forecast to exceed pre-COVID num bers achieved in 2019 when a record 7.2m visitors (the majority cruise passengers) visited The Bahamas.

“I think it’s very strong, extremely strong this year,” he added of the Christ mas and New Year period. “I would say it’s as strong or stronger than 2019. That’s the best way of put ting it. We’re seeing very strong trends, both in New Providence and the Family Islands.

“Full for us is an acronym we us for anywhere in the mid-90 percent occupancies, so I’d say we’re in the very high 90 percents; over 90 percent occupancies. It will fall off after the first week in January, and by February it will pick up again and future bookings for the winter season are very strong. That will manifest itself in num bers higher than in 2019. This is also complemented by the rebound in group bookings.”

Mr Sands said the hotel and tourism industry’s fore cast performance for the

peak winter season and Christmas/New Year was “substantially exceeding my expectations coming off COVID”. He added that it could be “even better” if closed properties, such as the Melia Nassau Beach Resort and British Colo nial, were open to add to the room inventory and meet ongoing pent-up demand.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, recently admitted that The Bahamas has been losing market share to fast-growing Caribbean rivals, such as the Domini can Republic, Cuba and Jamaica, who have greatly expanded their hotel and room inventories so they can accommodate larger visitor numbers.

“We need more rooms. I want to ask the invest ment community to build more hotels, build more rooms, build more capac ity,” he said. “We can fill

these rooms but we need the inventory. We have to con tinue to improve what we offer as we have, essentially over the last decade or so, perhaps 15 years, lost our ranking in terms of share of the market.

“We continue to do extremely well. We continue to grow. But the Caribbean region is growing their room inventory and capacity faster than we are, and therefore their part of the overall pie. They are achieving better results on market share.”

Mr Cooper, though, argued that The Bahamas still had much to play for. “The Bahamas’ brand is very strong,” he said. “We con tinue to grow, we will beat 2019 in 2023, which perhaps will be the best year ever seen in tourism. We have the irons in the fire, we are carrying the message, and I look forward to completing this year in line with 2019 and 2023 ahead of 2019.”

No Cable customer payout for bad TV

relatively insignificant, and not material, when set against its total $218m revenues.

The latest fine is higher, in percentage terms, than the 1.25 percent of rev enue imposed on Cable Bahamas in 2019 over the company’s removal of TV channels from its offering. Explaining the difference,

and why consumers had to be compensated by Cable Bahamas back then unlike this time, URCA said: “At the time, URCA wanted to focus more on the compen sation to customers.

“Hence Cable Baha mas was required to compensate all of the affected customers in addi tion to the fine. For the current investigation, Cable Bahamas will be required

to pay a fine of 2.025 per cent of its 2021 pay TV monthly recurring charges after accounting for the stated upward adjustments.

“Unlike the 2019 final determination, Cable Baha mas will not be required to compensate customers following this current final determination. URCA believes the focus should be on resolving the ongoing

issues instead of a one-time compensation.” URCA served notice in July 2021 that it planned to investigate the service quality offered by Cable Bahamas when it approved the restructuring of its Rev pay-TV package. The regu lator said at the time it was “majorly concerned” by the length and frequency of outages suffered by cus tomers, adding that it was unable to ignore “recur ring complaints” from Bahamians about service interruptions and other issues.

Unveiling its findings yesterday, it asserted that Cable Bahamas “was aware of the faults on its network” but did not stop them recur ring within 30 days from when repairs took place - a violation of the consumer protection regulations. URCA also alleged that the

company “failed to address the root causes of the problems and issues”, and did not ensure staff “were aware of the potential rem edies available to resolve the complaints”.

Cable Bahamas, as revealed last week by Trib une Business, has already announced its intent to appeal URCA’s findings. In the meantime, though, the regulator has given it three months - until February 21, 2023 - to “resolve the ongo ing longstanding issues” such as channel error messages and pixelation.

The company must also report on the number of “legacy” TV set-top boxes still to be replaced and pro vide a timeline for doing so by December 21, 2022.

The replacement exercise must be finished “as soon as practicably possible”, with all consumers informed in advance. And it has to explain to customers how it is resolving their service quality issues.

“The ‘error 200’

sages and pixelation continue to occur up to this day meaning that some cus tomers have experienced these issues for more than one year,” URCA said of Cable Bahamas’ pay-TV service. “URCA considered the effects of the pan demic, supply chain issues, and other factors beyond Cable Bahamas’ control by revising its findings on the inaccurate TV guide and set-top box replacement programme.

“URCA repeats that Cable Bahamas should have commenced its settop box replacement earlier and kept its customers informed. Regarding the blacked out channels due to restrictions placed by content providers, Cable Bahamas was not found in breach for this.” URCA also questioned why outage and fault reports were not provided by Cable Bahamas despite the regu lator requesting them for its investigation.

pursuant to CBL’s own internal complaint pro cess..... and the consumer protection regulations,” the regulator added.

communications sector policy, which is to promote investment and innovation in elec tronic communications networks and services, Cable Bahamas argued.”

The BISX-listed commu nications provider, detailing its capital investments, said it had “installed fibre-tothe-home infrastructure to over 5,000 households. Sixty-five percent of these households are in Abaco and the HFC network was replaced with a fibre network after Hurricane Dorian”.

Pegging its fibre-to-thehome investment within the last three to four years at $5.1m, URCA added of Cable Bahamas: “During its fiscal year 2022, it invested $40m in the phase one deployment of fibreto-the-home in Nassau. It has already commenced a planned $85m investment in fibre-to-the-home with the

objective of improving the customer experience. Cable Bahamas added that there will be little to no return on investment for its fibre net work investments.”

URCA, though, was not moved by Cable Bahamas’ arguments. “URCA notes Cable Bahamas’ invest ments in network upgrades and ongoing migration from its existing hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network to fibre-to-the-home. URCA considers that the 2.025 per cent fine to be applied would not detract Cable Bahamas from investing in its network and/or using funds to eliminate the faults on its network,” the regula tor hit back.

“Regarding Cable Bahamas mention of the electronic communica tions sector policy objective to promote investment and innovation in elec tronic communications networks and services, URCA reminds Cable Bahamas that it is also guided by the sector policy objective to further the interests of consumers.

“Overall, Cable Baha mas considered the process by which URCA arrived at its preliminary findings to be procedurally flawed and patently unfair to Cable Bahamas.” URCA rejected these arguments on the basis that, based on responses to Cable Baha mas’ TV repackaging, multiple consumers were experiencing the same issues repeatedly which made the company’s insist ence that specific customer complaint details be pro vided “irrelevant”.

“Also, Cable Baha mas’ claim that it requires specific customer details contradicts its own August 31, 2021, response to the investigation where Cable BahamaS listed the actions its team was taking to address the signal quality issues with respect to the channel error messages and pixelated channels,” URCA added.

1.7600.000N/M0.00%

0.3690.26026.42.67%

-0.4380.000-9.0 0.00%

0.1400.00073.20.00%

0.1840.12019.03.44%

0.4490.22019.02.58%

0.7220.72022.14.50%

0.1020.43429.714.32% 11.2810.05Doctor's

0.4670.06022.50.57%

0.8160.54022.22.98%

“URCA endeavours to strike a reasonable balance between these objectives. URCA remains concerned that Cable Bahamas has failed to explain what cus tomers who still experience service issues should do in the meantime while paying a monthly bill for unreli able service. Accounting for all of these factors, URCA considers a fine is still justi fied but as stated earlier, the amount of the basic fine has been reduced.”

Cable Bahamas had ear lier blasted URCA’s probe, and associated findings, as “unfair, disproportionately punitive and repugnant to the principles of due pro cess”. It argued that it was impossible for the com pany to respond to the concerns and accusations levied against it because the consumer complaints were never specified - their nature, when and who was affected, and for how long.

“In Cable Bahamas’ view, URCA failed to provide basic information about the complaints including the account numbers, phone numbers, times and places of the incidents. Cable Bahamas also claimed that URCA never disclosed any details of its investigation and/or supporting evidence to verify the veracity of the complaints,” URCA said in its determination.

“Cable Bahamas did not ensure its staff was aware of the potential rem edies available to resolve the complaints. Based on multiple calls to Cable Bahamas’ technical sup port, the staff contacted were not aware of the set-top box replacement initiative and/or how to resolve the channel error messages and pixelation.”

And URCA added: “In regard to Cable Baha mas’ claim that it has fully cooperated with URCA’s investigation, URCA disa grees with this assertion due to Cable Bahamas incom plete submissions. Cable Bahamas provided a ‘Report of Tickets’ work book for only the month of August 2021 instead of the requested outage or disrup tion reports.

“The Report of Tickets workbook did not provide any data on the ‘error 200’ messages but included a spreadsheet on load ing ‘error 301’ messages instead. It was unclear whether these error mes sages are the same as Cable Bahamas did not accom pany the spreadsheet with descriptions or explana tions. Cable Bahamas did not provide any documen tation to demonstrate the actions being taken or that were taken to address the issues.

2.573.15%3.89%

4.843.60%5.49% 2.251.68 2.252.43%2.92% 207.86164.74 197.44-2.97%-2.35% 212.41116.70 202.39-4.72%6.04% 1.761.71 1.762.49%2.79% 1.941.78 1.935.71%7.96% 1.881.79 1.863.39%3.91% 1.030.93 0.93-8.94%-9.55% 9.376.41 9.37-0.02%10.36% 11.837.62 11.79-0.33%18.23% 7.545.66 7.540.22%3.05% 16.648.65 15.94-3.89%14.76% 12.8410.54 12.47-1.04%-2.57% 10.779.57 10.740.81%4.20% 10.009.88 N/AN/AN/A 10.438.45 10.433.00%25.60% 14.8911.20 14.897.90%48.70%

“Cable Bahamas claimed it was only able to provide general explanations for the type of faults, the possible root causes, steps required to resolve the faults, and the timelines for doing so.

Cable Bahamas was there fore confounded as to how URCA arrived at its con clusions given the lack of evidence that a proper and fulsome investigation took place.

“Again, referring to what it deemed as URCA’s failure to identify any par ticular customer, Cable Bahamas claimed it was denied a fair and rea sonable opportunity to investigate any specific complaint, ascertain the root cause and make a proposal for resolution for/resolve that complaint

“The maintenance report spreadsheet included dates and times of maintenance exercises that occurred during 2021 with a brief one-line summary of what the maintenance entailed. However, there was no explanation on which issues the exercises addressed in relation to URCA’s inves tigation and what progress was made to resolving the issues.

“URCA can assume these exercises are in rela tion to pixelated channels due to the mentions of node splits and congestion relief but, again, Cable Baha mas did not provide any details or supporting evi dence. These omissions are in addition to Cable Baha mas not providing detailed explanations to URCA’s queries.”

Mental health checks during the holidays

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

THE holidays can be the most wonderful time of the year or the most stressful. A Bahamian doctor and mental health coach is encouraging people not to fall victim to the pressure the holiday season can sometimes bring, but to prioritise taking mental health checks when needed.

Dr Lorneka Joseph, who resides in Florida and was featured in Forbes and Essence Magazine for her impact in the fields of mental health and wellness, shared somes tips to help Bahamians manage their mental health during and after the holidays.

Taking mental health check during the holidays, she said, is so important, as many people struggle with their emotions but very few utilise resources avail able to manage those emotions effectively.

“The holidays can magnify the wave of emotions different com munities feel simultaneously. Conditions such as depression, anxiety and insomnia are height ened for the most part as people tend to isolate or shut indoors

due to colder temperatures,” Dr Joseph told Tribune Health.

“Also, families gather for the holidays and for some, social gatherings can trigger unresolved issues, pain and lack of selfawareness. So more than buying the latest and going into debt, I encourage people to have more healthy conversations to heal.”

The holiday season being com mercialised globally compounds the pressure that many people feel when it comes to gift giving. Some go way over budgets buying gifts for their loved ones and some times this is to their detriment.

“People know (for the most part) that they don’t have the budget to spend beyond their means but people-pleasing, rejec tion and peer pressure leads to unnecessary debt and emotional commitments,” said Dr Joseph.

“When I’m working with cli ents, I ask them to look at the facts then make decisions because the holiday season is only a few days and then you are back to the reality of your status. Don’t take out loans unless you have a plan to make payments. January can be a slow month in certain indus tries so think before you spend.”

Exhausted finances become real stressors and a pressure point when it is all said and done.

Apart from finances, another thing that can be emotional draining during the holidays is over-committing. Dr Joseph encourages people not to take on too much work or say yes to every invitation that is extended.

“I suggest that you first identify your capacity before accepting requests personally or profession ally. You may be able to multi-task and handle requests but it doesn’t mean that you should do it all. Learn to delegate,” she said.

One of the things Dr Joseph said she tells clients is to sync their personal calendar with their work/business calendar.

“And before you accept a request from others, give yourself up to 12 to 24 hours then provide a response. This can help reduce anxiety, overwhelm and guilt for not keeping your word,” she said.

And for those who are just simply overwhelmed and not in the festive mood, her advice is: “Give yourself some grace”.

“Especially if the year has been emotionally hard for you. I find that people forget to celebrate their growth which leads to dis contentment. Write down one or

Margaritaville gives back in honour of world aids day

Margaritaville Beach Resort

Nassau provided 50 hot meals to the residents of the All Saints Camp on Thursday, December 1, in honour of World AIDS Day. They were joined by the mar keting & public relations firm, The Hannaway Group (THG Marketing).

L Hanna-Moxey, founder of THG Marketing was excited to give back to a group who has seen a drop in contributions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No stranger to community, THG has been in the business of caring for others. Despite being in operation for just under two years, this is something Mrs Hanna-Moxey has been passionate about all her life.

World AIDS Day proved the perfect occasion to join hands with members of like minded individuals in Corporate Baha mas, such as Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau to assist those in

need. The resort assisted in donat ing time, effort, food, and supplies to the All Saints Camp.

“There was a need to focus on a group that has not just been strug gling to meet operational needs but also required the care, atten tion and investment for those living with the virus”, explained Mrs Hanna Moxey.

Executive Chef Lester Dean from Margaritaville Beach Resort Nassau described this donation as a happy feeling.

“This makes me feel like I’m really making a difference helping through the art form I love, cook ing. I believe that no one should go hungry, especially during a time of warmth, love and shar ing, but the reality is many do go without, and I am just happy to be able to provide hearty hot meals for the members of All Saints to enjoy”.

Mrs Hanna-Moxey had these words of encouragement: “Yes, we are all encouraged to get tested, know our statuses, become educated and to practice safe sex but the greater question/con cern is how we can individually and collectively help reduce the stigma, help those living with the virus every day and become more aware of the need to create equal ity among us all. We believe that just a small pebble dropped in the water can make big waves and we urge everyone to study more on the virus for their own benefit and to volunteer time, care and of course funding to the establish ments like the All Saints Camp because they really need it.”For more information on how you can help the All Saints Camp, please contact The Hannaway Group at letswork@thehannawaygroup. com where you will be connected to the camp administration.

two things you enjoy doing that boosts your mood that is not connected to the holidays. Examples of this could be walking on the beach during the day (safety reasons), calling a friend that you enjoy talking to unpack some feelings, or declining a holi day party to watch one of your favourite movies,” she said.

“I believe that when we stop trying to please people and do things that heal our souls and break generational habits, over whelm will be reduced and dopamine (happy chemical) will increase throughout our bodies.”

Here are some Dr Joseph’s key tips on mental health checks during the holidays:

Honour your honesty

“As Bahamians, we’ve sup pressed and denied our need for help for decades and we are ignor ing the effects of trauma. Don’t wait until you are at a breaking point before you seek help.”

Prioritise peace

“I am aware as a mental health coach and Forbes magazine fea ture that the average Bahamian is financially challenged, but I invite them to at least research, talk to human resources or post in groups about cost-effective coun seling or therapy sessions. If you can book a session once every other month, that’s progress.”

Tame your timeline

“Social media is not evil and it can be supportive if you know how to maximise the platforms. It’s OK to unfollow people, mute or leave groups that trigger unre solved issues within you. Follow people or communities that are holistic. Leave drama-seeking groups or people that make you question your existence especially during the holidays.”

For more information, visit www.drlorneka.com

MARGARITAVILLE team: Derrino Sweeting Sr, Exec. Steward/ Abigail McMil lan, Kitchen Steward / Kendra Cooper, Sous Chef/ LaToya Hanna-Moxey, CEO & Creative Director of The Hannaway Group Camp / Tianna Roberts, Marketing Coordinator, The Hannaway Group / Dianna Ingram, administrator for the All Saints

DR Lorneka Joseph

Medication can reduce prostate cancer risk by 25 percent and treat hair loss

You have read correctly. The medication Finasteride, also known as Proscar and Prope cia, and Dutasteride/Avodart belong to the drug class 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. These are inexpensive and readily available medications that can effectively and significantly reduce a man’s risk of developing lower risk pros tate cancer, as well as effectively treating and preventing male pat tern baldness. Oral Finasteride or Dutasteride promotes scalp hair regrowth and prevents further hair loss in a large proportion of men with male pattern bald ness. Studies have shown that for men taking one of these 5-alpha blocker medications daily, 80 percent preserved their original hair follicle count and 64 percent of these men experienced hair regrowth after two years of use.

Finasteride or Dutasteride is also prescribed to manage enlarged, obstructive prostates by reducing the size of the pros tate after 6 to 12 months of use, and thus effectively reducing urinary symptoms. These medi cations are often prescribed in conjunction with alpha blocker class medications such as Flomax/ Tamsulosin and Hytrin/Terazosin to treat urinary symptoms related to an enlarged prostate. Enlarge ment of the prostate is an almost inevitable process that occurs with advancing age.

Finasteride blocks the activ ity of the body’s enzyme 5-alpha reductase, which converts the hormone testosterone into dihy drotestosteone, a very potent androgen in the prostate.

Hold your hairline

For many men losing one’s hair can be devastating; negatively impacting self- esteem and con fidence and possibly leading to depression. Male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia is the most common form of hair loss in men, affecting up to 80 percent of all men to some degree.

Pharmacological management of male pattern baldness aims at reducing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels and stimulating hair follicle formation by the use of 5-alpha reductase inhibitor medi cation. Finasteride is a much older medication than Dutasteride and therefore there are more longterm scientific studies confirming the effectiveness of Finasteride as a hair loss treatment than Dutas teride. Dutasteride has been shown to be more effective than Finasteride in recent scientific studies, in treating hair loss in men. Dutasteride is however only approved for hair loss manage ment in Japan and South Korea, whereas Finasteride is approved

in North America, Europe, the Bahamas and throughout the world at this point.

Safely reduce pros tate cancer Rrisk by 25 percent

Finasteride is a safe and effec tive oral medication that can reduce the risk of low risk prostate cancer by 25 percent after 7 years of use, according to long-term findings from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). The US National Cancer Institute funded this trial that had nearly 19,000 participants age 55 years and older who were enrolled between 1993 and 1997. Initial study results in 2003 suggested that Finasteride reduced low risk prostate cancer incidences by 25 percent but that the risk of high risk, aggressive prostate cancer was increased by taking Finasteride.

However, a New England Jour nal of Medicine 2019 published scientific article, with updated long term data spanning more than 22 years for this PCPT,

proved that there was no clini cally significant increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer with taking Finasteride.

Review of the 22 years of the PCPT study conclusively showed that the 25 percent reduction in low-risk prostate cancer risk continued long-term and fewer than 100 of the 19,000 study par ticipants had died from prostate cancer. The initial data suggest ing a potential increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer with taking Finasteride was deter mined to be flawed; paving the way for Finasteride being sup ported as a safe, effective chemo prevention for prostate cancer.

Potential side effects of taking Finasteride

The 5-alpha reductase inhibi tor medication Finasteride and Dutasteride can get into semen and potentially harm a male unborn child. Male birth defects are possible such as hypospadias, the abnormal anatomic location of the urethral pee opening on the penis. Pregnant women should

THE UROLOGY DOCTOR IS IN...

antigen (PSA), prostate cancer screening blood levels, for men who take these medications for more than six months.

The use of the PSA blood test as a prostate cancer screening tool would be derailed and invalid if physicians and patients are not aware that PSA values for men on long-term Finasteride or Dutas teride must be doubled so as to obtain the true PSA value and maintain the integrity of the pros tate cancer screening process. For example, a prostate specific anti gen PSA blood value of 3 mg/dl for a man on finasteride or dutas teride for more than 5 months, is actually 6 mg/dl which is above the upper limit of normal PSA of 4 mg/dl.

Who benefits most from taking Finasteride

Greggory Pinto

never handle these medications as they can be absorbed through the skin.

Advisably these medications should not be taken by men if their partner is pregnant or a couple are attempting to get preg nant. Men taking Finasteride or Dutasteride with partners who are pre-menopausal or pregnant, are advised to use a condom.

Five to six percent of men on these medications may experience breast enlargement or tenderness and some form of sexual dysfunc tion; with a potential negative impact on sexual drive and the impaired ability to achieve and maintain an erection. Medications can be prescribed to counter any sexual dysfunction side effects if they occur, thus allowing these five percent of users with sexual side effects to still reduce their prostate cancer risk, combat male pattern baldness, treat urinary symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate and still main tain good erectile function.

Finasteride and Dutasteride may reduce sperm counts and cause an element of reduced fer tility in some men during its use and in rare cases beyond its use.

The good news is that most mid dle-aged men and men older than 55 who can reduce their prostate cancer risk and treat their male pattern baldness and obstructive prostate urinary systems by taking Finasteride or Dutasteride, have already had their desired number of children.

Any potential side effects from taking Finasteride or Dutasteride to men may only be temporary and resolve over time with longterm use.

Impact on prostate cancer screening

Finasteride/Propecia/Proscar and Dutasteride/Avodart will have an impact on prostate cancer screening. These medications arti ficially halve the prostate specific

Can you really get the benefits of exercise without exercising?

Exercise is a great, natural medicine. It produces benefits for every system in the body from the head on down.

Getting a consistent dose of daily exercise improves your brain power, supports your cardiovas cular system, lowers your risk for chronic disease, strengthens your bones and muscles, and maintains your independence to carry on with daily life.

But even though exercise does the body and mind so much good, many people don’t like exercising and must force themselves to do it if they do it at all.

It begs the question, is it possible to get any of the ben efits of exercise without actually exercising?

Let’s look at what a new study says…

For years, doctors have said “use it or lose it” as they encour aged patients everywhere to get on their feet and get moving. But now some researchers believe there’s a simpler alternative that produces health benefits similar to what exercise yields.

Although this alternative still requires some of your time, you can do it at home with very little effort.

Good vibrations for better health

I’m talking about whole body vibration. It merely consists of standing on a vibrating platform that sends vibrations through your entire body. Growing research demonstrates that these

vibrations yield significant health benefits.

How does it work?

When your body vibrates on one of these platforms, the energy of the vibrations moves through your tissues and causes your mus cles to contract and then relax multiple times per second. As this occurs, people on the platform can feel that they are exerting themselves.

According to many studies, the health benefits are measurable and powerful.

For instance, lab tests at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University show that a daily session of whole-body vibration can have similar healthsupporting effects as time spent on a treadmill.

In this study, participants who spent twenty minutes a day for

three months on either a treadmill or the vibrating platform reduced body fat, lowered insulin resist ance and improved bone strength.

It also made body fat less inflammatory (and dangerous to health) by reducing fat depos its in the stomach area – where it can compromise heart health and cause other problems. Plus, it shrank fat in the liver which can also lead to serious health complications.

In addition, being vibrated increased the amount of the bonestrengthening protein osteocalcin (which is also good for the brain) circulating in the bloodstream –just as exercise does.

Among its many activities, increased osteocalcin leads to increased production of insulin by the pancreas – which helps the body burn more blood sugar for fuel and keeps blood sugar levels down.

Whole lot of healthboosting shaking going on

Whole body vibrations can also:

• Help you recover from a stroke: Research at the University of Miami demonstrates that these vibrations accelerate cognitive recovery after a stroke, can reduce brain inflammation and increase blood levels of irisin, a hormone secreted by the muscles that can improve brain metabolism.

• Relieve lower back pain: Research in the Middle East found that using a whole-body vibrating platform is effective for easing back pain, increasing core muscle strength and improving the ability to do physical labour.

• Support better health in people who are extremely over weight: A study in Asia that involved 40 obese women demon strates that a 12-week programme of using a vibrating plate five times a week for 30 minutes at a time improved heart health and made body fat less inflammatory – and therefore less of a threat to health.4

• Reduce the risk of falls and bone fractures in older women: An investigation in Belgium shows that an eight-month vibra tion programme increases muscle and bone strength in post-meno pausal women. It also improved the women’s sense of balance and lowered their chances of experi encing a life-threatening fall.

Prostate cancer has the high est incidence of any cancer in the Bahamas. Men of African ances try are at a particularly high risk for developing prostate cancer in their lifetime. An estimated one in six African American men will develop prostate cancer and one in four men of African or Car ibbean ancestry in the United Kingdom. One in nine Caucasian men will develop prostate cancer. Finasteride or Dutasteride medication can safely and effec tively reduce the incidence of prostate cancer by 25 percent in men 55 and older. The average age of prostate cancer diagnosis is 66. High-risk groups such as men of African ancestry could poten tially benefit greatly from taking this medication to lower their prostate cancer risk.

Male pattern baldness is also not inevitable as Finasteride or Dutasteride can effectively pre vent and treat male hair loss.

Middle-aged men may look at their brothers, uncles, father and grandfathers who suffer from male pattern baldness and/or have been diagnosed with pros tate cancer and take comfort in the fact that taking Finasteride or Dutasteride may spare them from suffering the same fate.

Finasteride and Dutasteride can also be prescribed to manage lower urinary tract symptoms such as a weak urinary stream, incomplete bladder emptying, urinary urgency and high urinary frequency associated with an enlarged prostate.

Disclaimer: This article serves to provide valuable educational information regarding the medica tions Finasteride and Dutasteride. It is not fully comprehensive in its scope. These prescription medica tions should only be taken after a thorough evaluation and dis cussion with your urologist or physician.

• Dr Greggory Pinto is a board-certified Bahamian urolo gist and laparoscopic surgeon. He can be contacted at OakTree Medical Center #2 Fifth Ter race and Mount Royal Avenue, Nassau, Bahamas; Telephone – (242) 322-1145-7; email: wel come@urologycarebahamas.com or visit the website:www.urology carebahamas.com

My takeaway

The news is exciting, especially for people who may suffer with limited mobility. I wouldn’t give up exercise in exchange for a whole-body vibrating platform. I do, however, think that using whole-body vibration would be a good addition to your regular exercise programme. In particu lar, for those who are suffering from illness or chronic inflamma tory diseases.

If you decide to try using a vibrating platform, you can find a dependable model online for about $200 and up. If you want to try the vibration platform before you buy it, try it out at Genesis Physiotherapy.

• For questions and comments, call Hannah Foster-Middleton at 356 4806, e-mail genesisphysi otherapy@gmail.com, or visit www.physiotherapybahamas. com.

Dr

Hannah Foster Middleton

BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, MCSP, SRP

Infertility through the ages – and how IVF changed the way we think about it

By TRACEY LOUGHRAN Reader in History and Deputy Dean of Humanities (Research), University of Essex

(THE CONVERSATION)

– To all outward appearances, Louise Brown looked exactly the same as thousands of other babies when her blinking, slightly quizzi cal gaze met newspaper readers on the morning of July 25, 1978. But as the first child born using the technique of in-vitro fertilisa tion (IVF), she was utterly unique in the history of humankind.

More than 40 years later, the media is saturated with arti cles about people’s experiences of infertility. There is frequent debate about the possible dangers of current and future reproduc tive technologies. These include intracytoplasmic sperm injection (the direct injection of sperm into eggs obtained via IVF), uterus transplants, artificial wombs and human cloning.

And there is good reason for news outlets to be concerned about infertility. It remains an immediate and painful prob lem for many people today. In 2010, an estimated 48.5m couples worldwide were infertile. We will never know how many people suffered from infertility in past generations – the numbers were never counted – but there are fears that rates are now rising.

Today, declining fertility rates are often blamed on wider changes in Western women’s lives in the early 21st century. The aver age age of first-time motherhood is rising in England and Wales and across most of Europe. The reasons behind this change are complex, but in Western Europe include increased educational and professional opportunities for women and changing models of family life. Childlessness is often perceived to be a direct result of these changes

For these reasons, many people assume that infertility is a distinctively modern experi ence. Likewise, when they think about infertility, they think about modern medical approaches to its treatment. But the history of infertility goes back much further than 1978, and in the past people often did not think of it as a medi cal condition at all.

Men suffer from fertility prob lems too and there is increasing public debate on male infertility. But looking back over a longer time frame shows that for most of history, women have been blamed for childlessness. In some ways this has not changed since 1978. Because IVF is a technology that intervenes on women’s bodies, it also reinforces the focus on how women’s reproductive systems might “fail”.

A long history

It’s easy to forget that only a few decades ago, the birth of one baby via IVF was widely per ceived as a scientific miracle. But writings and stories about infer tility stretch back to the medical texts of ancient Egypt, Greece and beyond.

The entire Judaeo-Christian tradition begins with the story of Sarah and Abraham’s desperate

desire for a child. In Icelandic sagas, Indian epic narratives and ancient Greek plays, we find sto ries of childlessness, miraculous births and adoptions that cross national boundaries.

In centuries past, couples sought all kinds of remedies for childlessness. They prayed and went on pilgrimages. In medieval England, men and women took remedies containing the sexual organs of animals in the belief that this would stimulate their reproductive organs. In 18thcentury Europe, childless women were encouraged to “take the waters” in spa towns to ease their nerves and prevent spasms of the womb. More recently, in the mid-20th century, doctors who believed that female infertility was a psychosomatic condi tion recommended adoption as a “cure”. They argued that becoming a mother to an adopted child made women relax and increased their chances of conception.

Behind the chant about the wives of Henry VIII that Brit ish schoolchildren learn in the playground – “divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived” – there also lies a tale of the king’s desperate and bloody quest for more children. In the modern era, Federico García Lorca’s 1934 play, Yerma, recently reworked in a lauded produc tion at London’s Young Vic theatre, charted one woman’s obsessive quest for moth erhood – an issue that has featured in many TV soap opera storylines in recent decades.

Yet despite this historical evidence, many people persist in thinking about infertility as a product of the modern age. One reason is that IVF itself has made infertility socially visible to an extent unparalleled in earlier decades. Newspaper stories, government inquiries and oral histories show that in the 1950s and earlier, British cou ples often perceived the arrival of children as entirely down to chance. As one woman, born in 1943, told the oral historian Eliza beth Roberts: “Nature … it tricks you doesn’t it? I’ve always loved babies but you know I just never had any.”

With the first live birth of a baby conceived via IVF in 1978, such fatalism became less common. The media storm fol lowing Brown’s conception and birth (the Daily Mail reportedly paid the Browns £325,000 for exclusive rights to their story) put infertility in the public eye and encouraged other couples to pro actively seek medical support and technological solutions to their childlessness. Some women about to undergo IVF now believe that the technology works for every one. Many women are shocked to discover the relatively high rate of failure of a single cycle of IVF. The success rate for women under 35 to have a live birth is 32.2 per cent, declining to just 1.9 percent for women over 44, according to NHS data from 2010.

In only 40 years, a technology once perceived as equivalent to a miracle has come to be seen almost as a cure-all for fertil ity problems. The arrival of IVF brought infertility as an issue

into the public domain – and led people to believe it was a modern problem that could be solved. But there are other reasons, apart from IVF, why infertility feels like a late 20th-century phenomenon. It was part of a series of changes, which began nearly 20 years ear lier, that altered the way women thought about their own bodies.

Choice and control

In Britain, the oral contracep tive pill was made available in 1961 and abortion was legalised six years later. Dramatic changes in women’s sexual, reproductive and family lives followed over the ensuing decades. As women were better able to plan and space out births, the birth rate plummeted and the average age of first preg nancy rose. At the same time, pre-marital sex, illegitimacy and divorce were on the rise. More married women now worked outside the home. The Women’s Liberation Movement proclaimed that women should take their futures into their own hands.

Above all, these developments resulted in a new sense that at long last, people might be able to control their reproductive futures. In practice, not all women could easily access contraception

or abortion. It wasn’t until 1974 that the contraceptive pill was made available free on the NHS to all women, regardless of mari tal status or age. Nevertheless, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, public debates, social policy and political discourse emphasised choice and control. Because of this emphasis, infertility was often ignored. For infertile couples, public ignorance around their plight was compounded by the fact that more effective family planning meant fewer newborn children were available for adoption. By the time Brown was born in 1978, a unique set of circumstances prevailed: social changes had encouraged women to believe they had power over their desti nies, while technological advances had led to unprecedented faith in the power of women to control their fertility.

Yet at the same time, one of the traditional solutions to child lessness was being lost. While childless couples can still adopt today, they are likely to become parents to older children rather than babies. Child adoption is also now much more heavily regulated in England than it was in the early 20th century. Some couples are not deemed suitable to adopt, while others decide not to continue with the process after making initial enquiries.

Technology has the answers

It’s possible to trace this focus on technology back even further in time. Since the 1930s, it has been possible to detect pregnancy very early on by measuring the level of progesterone in wom en’s urine. Back then, the test was expensive to carry out, but in the late 1960s the home preg nancy testing kit was invented, and is now easily accessible in the West. In the 1950s, ultrasound was developed, and by the 1970s obstetricians were recommending use of the technique on all preg nant women.

This ability to visualise the foetus in the womb is taken for granted today, but it changed common perceptions of preg nancy beyond all recognition. But in previous centuries, this wasn’t the case. Early modern medical authorities tell us that there was often much uncertainty about the diagnosis of pregnancy. Take, for example, Mary Tudor’s phantom pregnancy in 1555. The queen of England fully believed that she was pregnant until long past her expected due date. She has sometimes been portrayed as delusional, driven mad with grief by her longing for a child. But her courtiers also believed that a royal birth was immi nent, and the most up-to-date medical knowledge available at the time could not disprove them until the child failed to materialise.

In the mid-20th century, the march of technology seemed unstoppable. By the time IVF became available, as adop tion became more difficult, couples were primed to pin their last hopes of raising a child from birth on a technologi cal breakthrough. This is the vital context for understand ing initial responses to IVF as a medical miracle. No one seemed to think it was genu inely possible until the late 1960s, yet previous advances such as the pill and ultrasound meant than when it arrived, people quickly trusted the new reproductive technology.

The belief in this miracle “cure” exerted considerable influence on the shape of public discussions of infertility in subse quent decades – not least in the unthinking confidence many cou ples have in IVF.

All this shows that to under stand past experiences of infertility, we need to realise just how radically recent changes in medicine and technology have altered the way we think about the body. Infertile women now experience involuntary childless ness differently to their forebears. But the emotions women often go through when dealing with infertility remain remarkably similar, despite the advent of new technologies.

a proper woman’

This argument is at the centre of a recent history of infertility I co-edited with medical historian Gayle Davis, which spans the ancient world to the present day, taking in Britain, Europe, Asia and North America.

My own research compares depictions of infertility in British mass-market women’s magazines and in feminist publications in the 1960s and 1970s. Because of developments in contraceptive technology, the women fea tured in these publications often believed that they were now able to control their reproductive destinies. They were less pre pared than women of previous

generations for the possibility that they could be powerless to have a baby. But in a pre-IVF period, if they did experience difficulty in conceiving, there was no promise of an effective technological solu tion to the problem.

Desperation was the most constant theme in mass-market magazine coverage of infertility in this period. Women described infertility as a “tragedy”, a feel ing of “emptiness”, and like being “dead inside”. They told of their inability to come to terms with the diagnosis, and their perception of infertility as an irreparable loss. One woman begged an agony aunt: “Can a woman ever come to terms with this tragedy? If so, tell me how?”

These women had expected to become mothers. Infertil ity was a loss of this anticipated future. More than this, they felt that childlessness meant a loss of feminine identity. The victim of infertility often described herself as “not a proper woman”. Above all, infertile women felt them selves separated from pregnant women and mothers.

One woman recounted stand ing “outside Mothercare, looking in the window with tears stream ing down my face”, while others dreaded visiting friends who had recently given birth. These descriptions of infertile women’s emotions remained remarkably constant, despite the sweeping social changes of these two dec ades. And women reported similar emotions in feminist publications as in the mass-market magazines. Both before and after 1978, when Brown was born through IVF, infertile women expressed intense feelings of powerlessness and despair.

A history of stigma

It seems infertility has been stigmatised in many different his torical contexts. Noble women in medieval Japan were disdained if their marriages remained child less. In 16th-century England, childless women suffered because motherhood was perceived as the most important marker of femininity. And in 19th-century France, many doctors linked childlessness to abortion, venereal disease, or promiscuity.

In widely different societies, women have borne the brunt of the blame for fertility prob lems. Yet in some circumstances, women have also been stigma tised for seeking help. In the mid 20th century, there was much debate over whether married women who conceived by use of artificial insemination by donor sperm had committed “adultery”.

For much of history, it seems, childless women literally couldn’t win, no matter what they did.

Infertility is still often seen as a woman’s problem today. In the media, childlessness is often blamed on women’s “selfishness” in seeking to build careers or wait for the right partner before trying to become pregnant. A reality check is desperately needed to stop this cruel finger pointing. Men have fertility problems too. Not all women suffer fertility troubles because they start trying too late. But even when an agerelated decline in fertility is the root of the problem – why should a woman be blamed for wanting to wait until she feels ready to be a good mother?

It might seem depressing to conclude that women have always been blamed for infertility. But maybe putting their own stories in historical perspective could help infertile women now. The ability to research and to understand the many different reasons for infer tility, and the different options open to those who are unable to conceive, helps couples to exert control over a situation that makes them feel powerless.

This ability to exert increased control by making informed deci sions about what path to take next has been identified as an impor tant mechanism for coping with infertility. Understanding the his tory of infertility could have the same effect. Humans are histori cal creatures. The ability to place our own experiences in historical perspective could help those who cannot conceive to come to terms with their situation, and not to blame themselves.

We need to look beyond that famous photograph of Brown, a baby unaware of what she would come to represent for so many millions of people. Instead, we should open our eyes and really look at the human face of infer tility throughout history – to help people understand that in all ages, women and men have had to cope with this experience, and to learn from their struggles.

• This article is republished from The Conversation, an inde pendent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Read the original article here: https://the conversation.com

‘Not

LOUISE BROWN, in 2013, holding up the jar in which her embryo was incu bated. Chris Radburn_PA Archive

LOUISE Brown with her parents Lesley and John following her birth at Oldham General Hospital. (PA)

MARY Tudor (1516 - 1558) had a phantom pregnancy in 1555. She fully believed that she was pregnant until long past her expected due date.

Black Sands

gets boost

By CRAIG HORLEMAN, DELAWARE SATE NEWS

Six years ago, Manuel and Geiszel Godoy were only looking to fill a need for their daughter and children like her. But they ended up exceeding those expectations.

Mr and Mrs Godoy, owners of Delaware-based Black Sands Entertainment, were unable to find children’s books and comics that represented their family and its Black heritage.

They realised how such repre sentation is still something with which the entertainment industry struggles. While there are a few examples — such as “Black Pan ther” — Black characters, directors and content creators remain the minority in the entertainment world and face additional struggles while trying to make it there.

So the Godoys started their enterprise as a way to diversify the field, by introducing Black charac ters and storylines in their comic books.

“We saw a need just to do stories on African history before slavery. We wanted to connect with that aspect because it’s never really been told before. So we focus on all the different countries around Africa

and other Indigenous groups, too,” said Mrs Godoy, whose company’s books also extend to the Incan and Malaysian cultures.

They started Black Sands to tell stories of strong Black characters set in those early days of history before colonization. Established in 2016, their empire has grown to 25 titles. The most popular series is “Black Sands,” about important Black pharaohs and their families in ancient Egypt and surrounding areas.

To further their journey into getting these stories told in a fulllength, animated way, the couple, both Army veterans, scored $500,000 on the ABC show “Shark Tank” via actor/comedian Kevin Hart and Mark Cuban, during a show that aired in January.

Mr Hart’s global media com pany Hartbeat formally closed the deal recently with Black Sands Entertainment.

As part of the partnership, Hart beat will offer advisory services to accelerate Black Sands’ efforts, especially in the area of film and TV. Hartbeat and Black Sands

are already in development on an animated feature and a series around the “Black Sands” flagship franchise.

“The moment that Manuel, Geiszel and the Black Sands Enter tainment team walked into the ‘Tank,’ I knew that this was a com pany that I wanted to bring into my eco-system,” said Hart in a statement.

“The Black Sands team was look ing for a partner that has resources to grow their distribution, expand on their production, find new crea tive talent, and promote their current and future portfolio of content — these are all areas of Hartbeat’s core business. I’m very excited that our team will be able to help Black Sands grow and con tinue to share their unique stories with audiences all over the world.”

The deal follows Mr and Mrs Godoy’s successful Kickstarter campaign, which reached its goal of $10,000 in one minute and garnered $100,000 in one day. Black Sands has sold 200,000 print copies of its comic books, resulting in $2 million in sales since its inception.

Aside from their military back grounds — Mr Godoy was a radar technician, and Mrs Godoy worked in human resources — both have an interest in art.

“I went to fashion design school in California and have a bachelor’s in fashion design. I worked with Calvin Klein designing for them. ... And my husband went to college for video game design. So he’s an artist, as well,” Mrs Godoy said.

In addition, both have had hands in writing many of the books.

Mrs Godoy, who serves as the company’s chief financial officer, said she is very surprised by the company’s success.

“I thought I was going to con tinue to do fashion forever,” she said.

But, thinking back to Black Sands’ early days, she said going the independent route was the right move.

“Usually, when you write novels and stuff, you have to go to the big dogs, and they want to change everything,” said Mr Godoy, Black Sands’ CEO.

“I remember trying to pitch this really beautiful book, and they wanted to change the character’s name from Godoy to Jefferson just because of their market research. And I’m like, ‘That’s kind of stupid stuff.’”

Mrs Godoy agreed.

“My last name is Godoy. It’s about my son and my daughter. I wrote about them in the book, and they wanted me to change the names. My kids love me incorporat ing them in our stories,” she said.

In the ‘Tank’

The decision to go on “Shark Tank” was made for a few reasons.

“We wanted exposure, and we wanted to grow and scale the com pany, to take our company to the next level because there is so much red tape involved,” Mrs Godoy said.

However, appearing on the show was a tough task.

“They don’t play games. They want to know your entire history. They do their due diligence. They want to know your credit report of your company, the health of your company. They want to see all your documents relating to your com pany. It’s a very, very, very hard process. And they were telling us during that process, a lot of people get cut, and they don’t make it,” Mrs Godoy said.

They appeared on “Shark Tank,” which was taped in summer 2021 and aired January 7, with their head of studio, Teunis De Raat.

They came in asking for $500,000 for a five percent stake in their com pany but settled for an offer from Hart and Cuban of $500,000 for 30 percent. The actor would handle the entertainment portion, and Mr Cuban the technical side of things.

Mr Godoy shared his excitement about Black Sands’ future with its new investors.

“They are putting their name out there with us. And now that that’s happened, we can actually start making some real business plays on the animation production side. We have it out there. It’s all public. It’s all ready to go. And that alone allows us to go after key voice actors, go after animation studios and stuff like that, when we couldn’t do that prior,” he said.

Expansion

Along with looking to grow into animation, Black Sands has launched an app to help Black crea tors reach larger audiences and a podcast to share secrets of indie publishing success.

The Godoys said they would love to bring their books into more schools, too. They have some South ern states onboard but are aiming to expand farther, with Delaware chief among those regions.

“That’s one of the big things that we’re currently focusing on. We’re currently trying to get into New York and the DC area (schools), as far as getting very wide distribu tion in those places. We really did a lot of work to make sure that we have the books available for those areas,” Mr Godoy said.

Saturday Sunday Monday

6:20 a.m. 3.0 12:48 p.m. 0.1 6:33 p.m. 2.3 7:01 a.m. 3.0 12:37 a.m. -0.1 7:15 p.m. 2.3 1:31 p.m. 0.0

7:40 a.m. 3.0 1:16 a.m. -0.1 7:56 p.m. 2.2 2:11 p.m. 0.0 8:19 a.m. 3.0 1:55 a.m. 0.0 8:35 p.m. 2.2 2:51 p.m. 0.1

8:58 a.m. 2.9 2:33 a.m. 0.0 9:16 p.m. 2.1 3:31 p.m. 0.2

9:38 a.m. 2.8 3:13 a.m. 0.1 9:57 p.m. 2.1 4:11 p.m. 0.3 10:18 a.m. 2.7 3:53 a.m. 0.3 10:41 p.m. 2.0 4:53 p.m. 0.4

GREAT

LONG ISLAND Today: NE at 10-20 Knots 2-4 Feet

MAYAGUANA

MANUEL and Geiszel Godoy, founders of Black Sands Entertainment, with their flagship Black Sands comic book. (Black Sands Entertainment via AP)

That allimportant first date

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

There is a lot of pressure that accompanies the early stages of dating.

When getting to know a new love interest in your life, you have to ask yourself so many questions.

Does he show any red flags? Is he worth your time?

One of the most important ways to find the answers is that initial first in-person date. But what do you believe is a good first date option?

Tribune Woman asked our Bahamian ladies to chime in on the topic; here are their answers:

“I’ll start with my no movies dates. While I love a good movie date, it’s more like a fourth date to me, as opposed to a first. Too dark and not much communication. Upon meeting me, a man would notice that I am a commu nicator at heart,” said Kayla Johnson.

“Getting to know someone calls for just that: communi cation. I mean, on a good day you have to literally lemon squeeze the words out of men because they are not much for words. So, judge the first dating stages.”

She explained her idea for a good first date: “I’d like the setting to be made for us to speak to each other face-to- face like a lunch or dinner date, or side-by-side like an interactive date such as a paint and sip or what not. I always joked with my friends when I was single that I dreaded the first dating stage. I always wished I could just skip it and get to the comfortable part. But life’s a journey and shouldn’t be rushed; that’s my five cents.”

Michelle Forbes said she prefers first dates where there is an activity for the couple

Don’t let the Christmas stress get you

By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

For many people Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the most stressful, especially for mothers and wives, given the vast amount of preparation involved.

From cleaning and decorat ing the house, to budgeting and shopping for and wrapping and delivering gifts, it can leave even the most well-intentioned elf feel ing more like a Scrooge.

But even with all the to-do activ ities, it’s important to pace yourself so that you aren’t exhausted by the time Christmas Day actually rolls around.

“I remember one Christmas a few years back I completely overextended myself. I volunteered to bake fruit cakes, volunteered at several community initiatives, in addition to cooking for a full Christmas Eve cocktail party and Christmas Day dinner for my family. But I was so exhausted by that day that I spent the whole time on the sofa missing out on the festivities. I was too tired to even enjoy all the food and my efforts,” Gail told Tribune Woman.

“I promised myself that from that time on that I was going to be

mindful about all my holiday tasks so that I can actually enjoy the holidays. Sometimes, you have to learn how to say no.

Tate agreed: “I definitely had to learn how to say no during the holidays. Everyone wants you to participate or donate or attend something, and honestly, some times all I want to do is sit by the tree with a glass of wine and watch Hallmark Christmas movies. So I have to tell myself it’s OK if I don’t go to every school play, every church concert and every party. It’s also OK to not participate in every holiday gift exchange. You have to know your limits and your budget, because holiday burnout is very real.”

Anita said her challenge is always the gift-giving.

“I get overwhelmed looking for the perfect gift or card. Feeling like I have to buy something for everyone and it has to be wrapped Pinterest perfect. But it’s so exhausting spending all that time either ordering stuff or going look ing through the stores. I had to learn the value of gift certificates and just simple gestures rather than elaborate productions. And it made my life easier and people still appreciated it,” she said.

to do. She believes it helps to eliminate that awkwardness when you don’t know each other well enough to talk too much. Unlike Kayla, Michelle said movies dates, for her, are the perfect first-time date.

“There is just is just enough time to talk on the way to the movie and then you can talk about the movie over drinks afterwards. I think you can tell a lot about a person by the movies they like and their opinion of them. You can get great insight into their person ality. Another activity I like is either a quick trip for ice cream or cocktails. Because then you don’t have the pres sure to sit through a whole meal. If you get along, great, then you can stay for a while longer,” said Michelle.

Sakina King added: “First dates tend to be nerve-wrack ing. So, for me, it’s creating a chill vibe, not a lot of pressure, just us wanting to enjoy each other’s company and have a great conversation getting to know each other. I would say first dates would be coffee dates, brunch or an evening out at a lounge bar.”

Meanwhile, Shauny Taylor said she enjoys dinners, sitting across the table from her date, getting to observe the way they eat, speak, interact, their posture, and getting to know more about them, their fami lies, et cetera.

“It’s also important to find out what the date loves. For example: coffee, art or exer cising. We can go to a coffee store or an art museum, or a gym,” she said.

Zalika Turnquest suggested working out as an unusual first-date option.

“I believe couples can bond during this time. You can focus on the importance of health and wellness and this can also drop into one of categories of love languages,” she said.