12112023 BUSINESS

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

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VAT ‘outlier’ status in up to 25% marina fall

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

t 'PSFJHO DIBSUFST AIFTJUBOU UP VTF #BIBNBT MARINAS are warning the “hesitancy” of foreign yacht charters to consider t /P XBZ UP SFDMBJN 7"5 The Bahamas because of its status as a VAT “outPO JO DPVOUSZ TQFOE lier” has caused a 20-25 percent business drop-off t #VU UPUBM CPBUJOH BSSJWBMT for some properties.

Marques Williams, the VQ BU OFBS L Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business the sector is shying away from this nation because the 10 percent VAT imposed on all yacht charter fees in the 2022-2023 Budget is “not working as they are accustomed to it working”.

Apart from its imposition more than tripling the tax rate facing foreign yacht charters, taking it to 14 percent when combined with the Port Department’s 4 percent fee, The

Bahamas - unlike Europe and other major yachting destinations - has no mechanism in place that allows boats to reclaim the VAT they pay on in-country purchases such as goods and cleaning/maintenance services.

Businesses typically ‘net off’, or recover VAT paid on their inputs against what is charged to, and collected from, their end customers. However, Mr

Williams confirmed that foreign charters have no way at present to do this in The Bahamas, and are thus faced with an across-theboard 10 percent increase in the cost of in-country purchases as well as the levy now imposed on the charter fee paid by clients.

However, the foreign yacht charter sector is just one niche of the overall boating market. Mr Williams said all other

MARQUES WILLIAMS segments have been “moving on up” to create “a nice little offset”, with total boating and yachting visitors for the ten months to end-October 2023 increasing by 8 percent year-over-year to just under 100,000.

Data presented by the ABM at last week’s Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA)

SEE PAGE B3

Abaco slams Water Corp’s Dorian back-billing cut-offs

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FURIOUS Abaco residents yesterday slammed the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s move to launch mass pre-Christmas disconnections over bills dating back four years to Hurricane Dorian as “very inhumane”.

Lydia Higgs, an Abaco realtor and property manager, told Tribune Business that many locals, second home owners and vacation renters had received an unpleasant “Christmas surprise” after finding that the state-owned utility had

“locked” their meters and cut-off supply over sums allegedly outstanding from September 2019 to present.

Revealing that it took five hours on Friday, queuing at both the bank and Corporation’s Marsh Harbour office to pay bills reaching fourfigure sums behalf of seven clients, she said the billings had failed to take into account the discrepancies, inconsistencies and nuances stemming from the disaster inflicted by the Category Five storm as well as the loss/interruption of service.

Ms Higgs told this newspaper that, in Dorian’s

SEE PAGE B6

Gov’t on deficit track even if 2024 ‘slides’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government’s prior year performance gives confidence that it remains on track to eliminate the fiscal deficit even if 2023-2024 “slides” from its original targets, a governance reformer said last night.

Hubert Edwards, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) economic development committee head, told Trib une Business that while reaching a fiscal surplus “may take a bit longer” than the Government’s 2024-2025 goal this would

not be “fatal” for its plans or The Bahamas generally.

And, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting that the Government will run a near-$379m deficit for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, he argued the Davis administration’s first goal “almost instantly becomes” beating that benchmark.

Mr Edwards told this newspaper that while the Government’s $131.1m deficit target for the year is “aggressive”, given that this number is just onethird of the IMF’s forecast, there is likely “some wiggle room” provided the

SEE PAGE B7

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Only fear Business Licence audit if ‘something to hide’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ONLY businesses “with something to hide” should fear having to submit audited financial statements over their Business Licence renewal, a prominent gas station operator believes.

Vasco Bastian, the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association’s vice-president, told Tribune Business that the Government’s move to tighten turnover verification and prevent Business Licence fee underreporting promises to bring the “accountability and transparency no good business person should object to”.

While some in the private sector are worried about the cost this will impose by requiring all companies with an annual turnover worth $5m or more to submit audited financials, and others view it as overkill given that Business Licence fees are calculated solely on top-line revenues and thus only this

should be certified as accurate, Mr Bastian argued the exercise will improve private sector governance.

Pointing out that accurate numbers are required to make sound business decisions, he told this newspaper: “The Government is just trying to make sure people are paying what they should be paying. It’s not a bad idea to deal with this. Fundamentally, it’s more accountability and transparency. No good business person should object to that.

“The banks already require it. Some banks, for a certain value of business and certain level of business, require you to submit audited financial statements every year. Only people with something to hide should worry. Some people might see it as an invasion of privacy. I don’t see that if you don’t have anything to hide.

“Some people paying ‘X’ amount of dollars in Business Licence may be afraid

SEE PAGE B3

PAGE 2, Monday, December 11, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Dock construction starts to pave way for $50m resort

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net WORK has begun on a $1.5m cargo shipping dock that will pave the way for construction of a resort development in the Exuma cays.

The dock will enable roll-on, roll-off (roro) cargo vessels to deliver and offload goods and supplies for the build-out of the planned Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club.

“We are very pleased to report that every aspect of the roro project is being done by Bahamians,” said Bob Coughlin, the development’s principal. “We have contracted with CMS Marine Construction, which brought in the barge, tow, heavy equipment and a full crew from Spanish Wells and Eleuthera.”

Mr Coughlin said CMS Marine Construction was selected because its owner, Bruce Wilson, understood the importance of protecting the marine environment while engaging in activity that touched it.

“They know, and easily agreed, to the strict guidelines and protocol of the job, objective - careful handling of any displaced materials so as not to disturb existing marine life and careful restoration of any upland impact,” he explained.

Mr Coughlin, who plans to leave 90 percent of Big Sampson Cay’s 121 acres in a natural state or dedicated to sustainability, said preserving the beauty of Exuma, known as the boating capital of The Bahamas, while making it accessible for others to enjoy is his top priority.

“These are the most beautiful waters in the world, and islands like Big Sampson Cay are national treasures that should be treated with great respect,” said Mr Coughlin, who is also founder and president of the non-profit Friends of Exuma.

The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) last week credited Friends of Exuma with helping to underwrite the partnership between Elizabeth Harbour and Moriah Harbour National Park that will restore the health of the harbour. Part

of that campaign involves the installation of dozens of mooring buoys, lessening the danger to marine life by the hundreds of vessels who anchor in the harbour while riding out the winter.

Work on the roro docking facility is due to finish by the end of January. The developer, in a statement, said that assuming resolution can be reached with the Government on unspecified matters - which it did not identify - impacting the development, construction of the first phase of the $50m Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club should begin in early 2024.

During its launch event in October, the project was heralded as “the kind of development The Bahamas needs” by Zane Lightbourne, minister of state for the environment.

Eric Carey, the BNT’s former executive director, said Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club should be used as a model for Family Island resorts going forward.

Plans call for low-rise, low density, Bahamian-style traditional cottages, a central pavilion overlooking the sea, fine culinary experiences highlighted by fresh food and produce grown or raised on property, and freshly caught and locallysourced fish. Mr Coughlin added that he would like to see the site become the host for an annual marine environment conference.

CMS Marine Construction won the $1.5m contract for the roro dock facility at Big Sampson Cay, Exuma. Crew arrived this week to construct the $1.5m roll on, roll off docking facility at Big Sampson Cay, Exuma, site of the planned Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club eco-tourism development.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 11, 2023, PAGE 3

VAT ‘outlier’ status in up to 25% marina fall FROM PAGE B1 meeting revealed this nation attracted 99,422 boating and yachting visitors during that period compared to more than 92,000 arrivals during the same period in 2022.

However, Peter Maury, a past ABM president, told Tribune Business that the increased foreign yacht charter taxation and subsequent uncertainty had blunted the marina sector’s impact and prevented it from providing an even greater boost to the Bahamian economy.

Asserting that foreign yacht charter guests are typically the highest-spending boating visitors, and circulate this the most through visiting multiple Bahamian islands, he echoed the concerns expressed last week by the Bahamas Yacht Brokers Association by revealing that marinas have suffered an up to 20-25 percent decline in visiting boat volumes.

With the brokers describing bookings for the remainder or the winter season through to endApril 2024 as “dismal”, Mr Williams conceded that VAT’s imposition on foreign yacht charter fees - and the resulting uncertainty

over how the tax works has impacted the industry.

Pointing out that some marinas are more impacted than others, with properties in the islands of Abaco and Bimini “doing well”, he added that foreign yacht charters “being able to recoup the VAT” on Bahamian purchases when they leave this nation remains an issue.

“In other countries when VAT is used, typically when they’re leaving they get reimbursed for VAT,” Mr Williams told Tribune Business. “We don’t have that mechanism here. It’s not here. They know how VAT is supposed to work. They feel that they are not only paying VAT, but VAT is not working as they are accustomed to it working.

“That creates an issue with our customers with regards to that. It’s giving them a lot of anxiety, and the brokers are not able to overcome that. The information is not clear, and being able to communicate that to clients is difficult.

“For sure it’s a bit unclear, so we are an outlier when it comes to that. VAT is done in Europe on the yachting industry, so they have a process for how that works and how they reclaim the VAT. It doesn’t work that way here. Ours is a bit

unclear, and they don’t feel it is a fair system. There’s a lot of confusion in it, and these reasons are why they are hesitant to come down here with foreign yacht charters.”

The ABM acknowledged this in its report at the BHTA AGM, saying: “The initial response from the industry was not positive. Marina members and stakeholders felt the initial reactions of declining charter yacht visits. The ABM presented concerns to the Government with data from marinas showing the reduction of charter yachts from the previous year.”

VAT’s imposition, and the structure unveiled in the 2022-2023 Budget remain in effect. The Government’s strategy was that those using The Bahamas’ waters and environment for their own economic benefit should contribute more to its protection, especially since it has long been felt that foreign charters evade the Port Department’s 4 percent fee, as well as creating a tax level playing field with local tour operators.

However, Mr Maury questioned “at what point will the Government start listening” after the Yacht Brokers Association raised similar concerns to those long voiced by the ABM

when it comes to yacht charter fees.

Revealing his recent discussions with representatives of the American Charter Yacht Association, who are attending an industry event in Antigua, the former ABM president said: “They asked me if there’s going to be any changes here. I said not that we know of. We were hoping the Government would see the decline in charters and do something about it.

“The charter brokers, if they’re looking on the industry’s MLS (Multiple Listing System), can see there’s very little activity in The Bahamas. It’s down from previous years.

The fact these guys, the Bahamas Charter Yacht Association, are saying it, the yachts are saying it, the American Charter Yacht Association is saying it, the International Charter Yacht Association is saying it, I don’t know at what point the Government starts to listen.

“If Thanksgiving was any indication of 2024, it’s pretty pathetic. We were not even close as far as boats to what we had the previous year.

It was slow and last year wasn’t that great. It’s off 20-25 percent. The charter boats are significant.”

Mr Maury said Bahamian marinas are feeling the impact in different ways. “The problem is most people book out the season,” he explained.

“The feedback we’re getting is that charters offset a lot of the expense for clients. I had a guy who said that if he doesn’t pick up some charter business he’s leaving. They’re just going to leave. It’s cheaper to go back to Florida than stay in The Bahamas.

“When they want to come over, they take the boat here and it is paid for by charters. They have a couple of charters for Christmas and New Year, but if they don’t start booking for March and Spring they will put the boat back to Florida. It becomes too expensive to pay utility bills, crew bills and other bills that they get.

“To me, it’s common sense,” Mr Maury added.

“The Government says these are rich guys, they can pay for it. But they’ve decided not to. This theory that we can charge them anything and they’ll suck it up. No. These guys want value.

“If they feel they can get better value, they’ll go to the Caribbean. It doesn’t matter how great our waters are. At some point

ONLY FEAR BUSINESS LICENCE AUDIT IF ‘SOMETHING TO HIDE’ FROM PAGE B1 because they will now be reporting the true figure to the Government, but I don’t see an issue with regard to audited financials for over $5m,” Mr Bastian reiterated. “Government has got to do what they’ve got to do to function and keep everything going. To be honest, I don’t see an issue with it.

“Any decent, responsible business owner should always produce audited financials so they know exactly how the company is performing and where they need to make the necessary adjustments going forward to ensure the company is profitable and doing exactly what it sets out to do in terms of annual projections.

I don’t see a problem.”

Mr Bastian said many companies were required, as a condition of the loans and other financing they received, to submit audited financials to banks and other lenders. He added that he would merely send to the Government, for Business Licence purposes, what is already produced for the bank so there would be “no duplication of effort there”.

“Any good business person will have annual financial statements,” the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association’s vicepresident said. “You want to make sure those numbers are reliable numbers that

you need to make critical decisions for your company and to manage cash flow.”

Tribune Business had reported last week that Bahamian accountants had urged the Government to delay the Business Licence audit requirement for firms with an annual turnover of $5m or more by one year.

Pretino P. Albury, the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) president, in a statement sent to Tribune Business said the body and its members called for implementation to be pushed back to ease “the burden on businesses that are not audit-ready”.

While the Government has not agreed to a year’s deferral, this newspaper revealed that it will give companies until end-April 2024 to submit their audited financial statements. And, once they apply and it is justified, a further twomonth extension will be given until end-June 2024.

However, once that deadline has passed, potential sanctions and penalties may be enforced.

“While we understand the Government’s objectives in implementing the new audit requirements, we advocate for a pragmatic

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NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that SHANICE PALMER, Caravel Beach, Grand Bahama, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 4th day of December 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that KADRICK RAQUAN WALTERS, Shrimp Road off Carmichael, Nassau, The Bahamas, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 4th day of December 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

approach that considers the challenges faced by businesses,” Mr Albury said. “Our proposal for a one-year delay is aimed at ensuring a smoother transition without adversely affecting businesses with turnovers of $5m or more.”

Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, said he is hopeful that the Government, accounting industry and private sector can shortly finalise and publish an agreed framework that has “built-in flexibility” over the deadlines by when companies with annual turnover exceeding $5m must submit their audited financial statements.

While many in the accounting and private sectors view the demand for audited financial statements as too onerous and unnecessary, given that only top-line turnover needs to be verified as this is what the annual Business Licence fee is based on, Mr Wilson explained that the Ministry of Finance has a broader objective.

Rather than a narrow focus on Business Licence fee certification and

collection, he told this newspaper that the exercise is a wider “revenue intelligence tool” designed to ensure “integrity across all tax types” and said the tax authorities “see no reason why there won’t be a high level of compliance from year one”.

Pointing to the betterdefined guidelines in the new Business Licence Act, which set out what is expected of auditors/ accountants in verifying a company’s annual turnover, Mr Wilson said the Government had previously discovered some “did not do the basics” in checking the accuracy of disclosures by corporate clients subsequently found to have under-reported revenues to avoid paying the full tax liability.

The Prime Minister, back in June 2023, said the Government through the enhanced Business Licence reporting regime was “encouraging better recordkeeping within businesses and encouraging proprietors to be responsible for honest reporting”.

But micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

(MSMEs) with annual turnovers below $250,000 will be exempt from having to maintain electronic records and have an independent accountant certify their turnover for Business Licence renewals. This threshold was raised from $100,000 to ease the burden on more such firms, who will submit management accounts as verification of their turnover sums.

However:

it’s the opportunity cost; basic lesson of economics.

The experience does not match the cost, so they will go somewhere else. Right now, the general consensus is the Caribbean is getting significantly more charters than we are.

“The whole Bahamas relies on foreign yachts.

They travel all around, going to Exuma, Abaco. It’s all part of the charter business. When you take that part away, that’s the most economic part of the marina and yachting industry. The yachts that do charters spend the most amount of money in the country, bring the most people into the country. The economic impact is significant.”

Bahamian yacht brokers last week warned charter bookings for the peak winter season are “dismal” with the sector “almost at a standstill” due to VAT’s imposition and lack of clarity on how it works.

A Bahamas Yacht Brokers Association (BYBA) spokesperson told Tribune Business the drastic fall-off is not only impacting themselves and local marinas, with the brunt of the impact being felt by small providers and entrepreneurs who provide cleaning, maintenance and other services to visiting yachts. * Businesses with annual revenue between $250,000 and $499,000 will require accounting certification by an independent accountant * Businesses with turnover between $500,000 and $2.499m will require a compilation report by an independent accountant * Businesses with revenue between $2.5m and $4.999m will require a review statement by an independent accountant * And large taxpayers, namely businesses with turnover above $5m, will require audited financial statements produced by an independent accountant

PAGE 4, Monday, December 11, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

PIPE MAKER TO HIRE 90 FOR $1M PLANT BUILD-OUT

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A NEWLY-created PVC pipe manufacturer has pledged to hire more than 90 persons for the construction of its $1m Grand Bahama plant that is due to be completed by September 2024.

Mitchell Thurston, the Bahamas Mineral & Manufacturing Corporation’s (BMMC) chief executive, said his ambition is to bring about a “revolution in Bahamian building material manufacturing” by providing quality construction products that can compete at a global level.

“Our projections anticipate the creation of no fewer than 80 positions in construction, exclusive of the 13 employment opportunities

generated during the tidying and preparation phase of this property,” he said at BMMC’s official groundbreaking.

The plant’s construction is due to begin in January 2024 and, upon completion, it is expected to provide 33 full-time jobs.

The five-acre site presently hosts eight structures, most of them income generating, which supports another aspect of BMMC’s plans. Mr Thurston said: “We stand in the heart of our company: A cutting-edge 19,560 square foot facility where we’ll transform raw materials such as PVC resin and calcium carbonate into high quality PVC pipes.

“The cost of this will be over $1m and we were keen on doing our construction.

With the cost of construction, we are also building with the intention of future storms, so we are building on

piles or stilts and go against a traditional fill structure. So it’s not on foundation but on piles, and it saves us a lot of money on time, labour and fill.”

Mr Thurston added: “We truly dug in our heels, tirelessly working to establish our company. We hit the ground running, earnestly seeking out the ideal strategic partners who could provide us with the necessary equipment, expertise and investment capital. It was through this unabating effort that we were able to negotiate and acquire this property that now serves as the headquarters of our enterprise.

“Our journey also led us to various corners of the world such as the United States, Mexico, Ghana and China. We wished to ensure that we understood every minute detail required to

run this business successfully. We were adamant about building an organisation that boasted the best machinery, the highest quality raw materials and highly experienced personnel.”

The BMMC principal said the project has taken two years and eight months to bring to fruition. He added that the affordability and availability of land, reliable infrastructure and the proximity to Freeport Container Port for the transhipment and export of its products made Grand Bahama the ideal location for the factory.

BMMC will also introduce a cadet programme in = Grand Bahama schools, and the top students will be offered jobs to join their team.

Prime Minister Philip Davis KC said the Government would use its tariff policy to ensure BMMC’s

products remain price competitive against imported rivals. “By reducing reliance on imported PVC products and establishing a local production facility, BMMC supports Bahamian infrastructure and aligns with the nation’s environmental sustainability goals,” he said.

“The journey and entrepreneurial spirit of many young Bahamians is a testament to what they can aspire to and achieve. The Government of the Bahamas is committed to providing the necessary tools and resources, ensuring their journey towards success is not a lonely one. This is a strategic investment in the very fabric of our nation’s economy.”

Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, added: “This new venture seeks to open doors for innovative learning, creating careers

and jobs for Bahamians.

Innovation is critical to the growth and sustainability of our island’s economy, making Grand Bahama the home of innovation in our blueprint for change.”

Derek Newbold, the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) chief investment officer, said: “This groundbreaking signals the dawn of a new era where young Bahamians become stakeholders in this economy, creating employment opportunities.

“With over $1.8bn of investments and planned developments, including the airport and the new hospital, which would total about $2.3bn of investments, the timing for the launch of BMMC couldn’t be better.”

Bank of Bahamas unveils dedicated mortgage centre BANK of The Bahamas has opened its dedicated Mortgage Centre as part of a push to make home ownership accessible to more Bahamians.

The opening ceremony took place at the centre’s premises at the Carmichael Road Commercial Centre.

Neil Strachan, Bank of The Bahamas managing

director, said the centre’s opening is a strategic move to enhance the delivery of mortgage services.

He added that it is designed to centralise and streamline mortgage application processing to provide customers with greater efficiency. “At Bank of The Bahamas, we’re committed to making home ownership a reality. The Mortgage

Centre is a crucial step in that direction, and today’s opening is about building futures and creating spaces where families will grow and flourish,” said Mr Strachan Edward Strachan, the BISX-listed institution’s senior manager for mortgages, heads the Mortgage Centre. Robert Cox, Bank

of The Bahamas’ corporate manager for business development, said: “Our commitment to customisation ensures clients receive personalised solutions.

Additionally, we have reduced financial barriers by providing a secure pathway to home ownership with as little as 5 percent down.”

PICTURED from L to R: Archdeacon Keith Cartwright; Edward Strachan, senior manager, mortgages; Donna Harding-Lee; Bank of The Bahamas chairman; and Neil Strachan, Bank of The Bahamas managing director.

Photo:Donald Knowles

Tourism leaps into AI era with chat feature

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas is introducing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chat feature to provide instant communication and support for potential visitors who contact tourism’s bahamas.com website.

The Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, in a statement, said the new feature is a significant leap forward in boosting the round-the-clock user experience on its main website.

It added that users traditionally seeking assistance on bahamas.com faced limitations with live chat availability, which was restricted to business hours

from 9am to 5pm. This, the ministry said, created challenges for both users and the reporting process for live agents who manually categorised chats during these limited hours.

Through the introduction of AI-powered chat, the ministry said users will now enjoy real-time responses to their inquiries, breaking

free from the constraints of traditional operating hours.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, said: “In our commitment to meeting the dynamic needs of today’s travellers, the Ministry of Tourism is embracing AI technology to revolutionise the way we engage with our audience.

“This AI-powered chat feature not only ensures instant responses for users, but also empowers our live agents to focus on more complex queries, providing an elevated level of service.”

Besided improved responsiveness, the ministry said that categories - previously a manual task - are now automatically generated, streamlining the reporting process with enhanced

CHESTER COOPER visualisations such as graphs and illustrations.

This not only facilitates more efficient operations but also provides valuable insights into user interactions on the platform. One of the key advantages of the AI-powered chat feature is its ability to leverage ChatGPT’s technology to deliver

accurate and official information. Live chat agents, meanwhile, will be able to focus on addressing more complex questions or issues raised by visitors.

The system is programmed to provide users with official updates on critical topics, such as hurricane information, sourced directly from press releases within the Ministry of Tourism’s press room on bahamas.com.

“We are excited about this new feature as we work to make continuous improvements to bahamas. com,” said Mr Cooper.

“This AI-powered chat exemplifies our dedication to innovation, guaranteeing users seamless and instant access to information about The Bahamas while upholding the authenticity and integrity of our brand.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 11, 2023, PAGE 5

PETRO VERSUS LUXURY

By CHRIS ILLING CCO @ ActivTrades Corp

T

he petro fortunes from the Middle East are reshaping the latest list of the wealthiest families in the world.

Oil billionaires, luxury dynasties and industrial tycoons are part of the list of the greatest fortunes. For the first time in a long time, there was a change at the top.

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For years, the Waltons, the main owners of the US supermarket chain, Wal-Mart, were at the top of the ranking of the richest families worldwide.

But according to the latest research by Bloomberg, the Al Nahyan family, ruling house of Abu Dhabi, is replacing the Waltons.

According to the report, the Al Nahyans have a wealth of $305bn, which exceeds the fortune of the American supermarket kings easily by $45bn.

And these figures are all

conservatively estimated, and could be quite a bit larger.

In addition to the Al Nahyans, the Al Thanis from Qatar and the Al Sauds from Saudi Arabia have also made it on to the current list of the ten richest families in the world.

At the same time, the rise of the Arab oil dynasties reflects the increasing influence of that region on the global economy.

The sheikhs are exerting an increasing influence on global economic and financial markets, and are

putting their capital into companies, real estate and other investments around the globe. Gone are the times where the families just concentrated on the oil and gas business alone.

Also striking is the success of the luxury goods families. With the Hermès heirs and the Wertheimers, there are two French clans on the list that owe their fortune to the luxury

business.

Especially highlighted is the sixth-generation dynasty behind the luxury brand Hermès. With an increase of $56bn, the family rose to become the third richest house in the world by refraining from fashion trends and cultivating loyalty.

Overall, the world’s 25 richest families have become $1.5trn richer since the last Bloomberg ranking.

This represents an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.

In a world where fortunes are regularly made and lost in crypto seconds, the world’s richest clans thrive largely by sticking together.

They are united by a shared sense of duty and believing that it will make them even richer.

PAGE 6, Monday, December 11, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Abaco slams Water Corp’s Dorian back-billing cut-offs FROM PAGE B1 immediate aftermath, there was a free-for-all as survivors accessed scarce water supplies from wherever they could find them - including properties that still had working meters or outside showers.

This, she added, was exacerbated by the then-Minnis administration’s announcement that water was ‘free’ in the Dorian-ravaged areas.

However, the Water & Sewerage Corporation has never seemingly made any adjustments, or given any credits, to customers for this, and is now expecting them to pay the full four-year amount - either in one go, or via a substantial upfront sum accompanied by a payment plan.

Ms Higgs, who said many customers had been given just two weeks to pay before disconnections started, with bills issued towards the end of November, cited her duplex as an example. While one unit had received a $900 bill from the Water & Sewerage Corporation, a charge

she expected, the other had been hit for $7,000-plus.

This, the realtor explained, likely stemmed from persons using that unit’s water supply in Dorian’s immediate aftermath.

Ms Higgs said she caught countless persons exiting the unit having just taken a shower or with trucks carrying jugs filled up with water using its supply.

She also revealed that new home owners, who purchased their property post-Dorian, have also been hit with disconnections.

When Bahamas-based property is purchased, all utility bills - including water - are supposed to be settled in full, usually by the vendor or seller, so that the accounts can be switched into the new owner’s name.

However, Ms Higgs said the Water & Sewerage Corporation had held off on switching Abaco accounts into new owners’ names, despite the latter supplying proof of sale and title, as it sought to reconcile customer accounts and billings post-Dorian.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MICHAEL JON CHRISTOFFER BERGMAN of Eastern Road, New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 11th day of December, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

Now, however, Ms Higgs said the same new owners are finding themselves locked out of their meters and water supply with bills likely still being sent to the seller. She, added, though, that the Corporation is now seeking payment from the present owners who will have to seek reimbursement from their predecessors.

“They decided from Dorian until the present they should just start charging everybody two weeks ago and then locking everybody, expecting people to come up with the majority of funds or a significant payment and make a payment plan, or you would get locked out,” Ms Higgs told Tribune Business. “They’re doing that in central Abaco and will move on to other areas. This has been ongoing for several weeks.

“We waited four years on you, and all of a sudden you want us to pay these service fees? It doesn’t make sense, and is very inhumane because water is a basic necessity. The impact to me is even greater than on us locals. They could have done a lot better job.

“We have tourists - tourism has just returned to the island - who are affected, and brand new second home owners are affected. Is that how we welcome people to our island? This is not the correct way to do it in the midst of the holiday season, start of school exams and the start of tourism season.”

Robert Deal, the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s general manager, responding to this newspaper’s inquiries pledged that the state-owned utility is working with Abaco residents on “a case by case basis” to address the issues created by Hurricane Dorian,

subsequent service interruption and the lack of account billings for four years.

Promising that disconnections are “an absolute last resort”, he urged the Corporation’s customers to contact its Marsh Harbour customer service team if they encountered difficulties while asserting that rebates will be provided for leaks.

“The challenge is that due to the absolute devastation in central Abaco following Hurricane Dorian, particularly in the greater Marsh Harbour area and the Treasure Cay area where we have over 5,000 customers in total, the issuance of bills was put on hold for a period but we resumed the issuance of bills for these customers earlier this year and we are actively working to regularise these accounts post-Dorian,” Mr Deal said.

“New property owners are urged to contact our team to arrange transfer of ownership documentation updating in our system. The Water & Sewerage Corporation remains committed to working with each and everyone of our valued customers in the Abacos, particularly in Central Abaco, where the regularising of accounts is ongoing.

“The Water & Sewerage Corporation will be flexible with our customers noting the circumstances of, and following, Hurricane Dorian, but we do want them to contact us so that we can work with them to regularise their accounts.

Adjustments will be granted based on the individual circumstances and the information/documentation presented.”

Mr Deal did not provide a figure for how many accounts have been disconnected in this latest exercise,

although some sources suggested it could be as high as 500. Ms Higgs said the Water & Sewerage Corporation started asking persons with working meters to contact it last February so these could be read, although it was not until April 2023 that bills started to emerge.

These were issued in “bits and pieces”, with quarterly bills being received for periods such as the 2019 fourth quarter or 2020 fourth quarter, but she added that customers were told “to wait” to pay because some “last minute adjustments” were being made.

“They just sent the final bills to everyone in the last week of November, and the first week in December they started cutting everybody off in central Abaco,” Ms Higgs said. Pointing to the bills issued for her two duplex apartments, she argued that the Corporation needed to investigate the massive discrepancy between the two bills - $900 and $7,000 - before she should pay the latter.

However, for the $7,000 bill, she added it is demanding $1,900 upfront and that the balance be paid off via $500 monthly installments over the next year. “It took four years to get you the bill, and they want you to pay it off in a year,” Ms Higgs said. “I’ve literally been in every quarter from when their office re-opened asking when the bills are coming out.

“They said it was not in their hands; Nassau was the one in charge of it. They even turned off somebody who was fully paid up to date. They were in town for Thanksgiving, printed out the bill for them. They were paid up to-date and still turned it off.”

Calling on Water & Sewerage to use customers’ pre-Dorian bills as a guide, Ms Higgs said persons were queuing outside its Marsh Harbour office on Friday to pay their bills. She added that it took her five hours, from 10.30am to 3.30pm, to settle the accounts of seven clients, which also required her to visit the bank and withdraw “massive amounts of cash” as cards reached their payment limits.

Roscoe Thompson, chairman of the Marsh Harbour/ Spring City Township, told Tribune Business he was aware of residents being cutoff for alleged non-payment by the Water & Sewerage Corporation. “They have been cutting people off, but they never came up with the amount after Dorian that people owed and who lost their meter,” he said.

“There are people being turned off for water bills from Dorian. I honestly thought we were going to go in, set up a plan, figure out Dorian was this, give some leeway. I was hearing people have over $2,000 water bills. How are they going to pay those? Then we cut them off? Have we given them any notice? What are we doing to avoid people, whose meters are broken, still being charged for it?

“I thought they would make an adjustment to help. That’s the thing I don’t understand. We’ve been hearing from a lot of people around here that their water’s been turned off. At least do it in the New Year, not before Christmas. They should at least have waited.

January is only another month. They’ve waited this long already (four years).

They should have a game plan in place.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 11, 2023, PAGE 7

GOV’T ON DEFICIT TRACK EVEN IF 2024 ‘SLIDES’ FROM PAGE B1 ultimate 2023-2024 outcome moves in the right direction.

He added that 2022-2023’s $533m deficit, which measures how much new money the Government had to borrow to cover the difference between its spending and income, was “within the ball park” set by the Davis administration and should give both Bahamian and international capital markets, investors and creditors it is meeting projections.

“There’s enough for us to be confident, even if 20232024 slides a bit further than expected, we will still be on target to eliminate the deficit and move into a surplus,” Mr Edwards told Tribune Business. “That may take a little bit longer, but I don’t think it’s a fatal circumstance.”

The Government is projecting that it will achieve a $109m surplus, where its revenues exceed spending, in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. However, the IMF is still forecasting that The Bahamas will incur a deficit equal to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) or nearly $290m that year, so it remains to be seen who is right.

Mr Edwards, though, argued that missing the 2023-2024 deficit will not be a body blow for the Government provided it beats the IMF forecast by a large enough margin. “You and I readily appreciate that 0.9 percent of GDP is aggressive,” he said. “We’ve already discussed that number shouldn’t really have been set, but that’s the number they came up with.

“There’s always the view that there’s some wiggle room. The fact the IMF came out with this projection of near-$379m, the target for the Government - however they chose to portray that - automatically becomes reaching a target that’s less than that number.

“Almost instantaneously that becomes the first objective and, to the extent that becomes significantly less than the IMF pronouncement, all that represents greater success.”

Mr Edwards, meanwhile, added that the 2023-2023 full-year fiscal numbers provided some “reassurance” to capital markets observers watching The Bahamas, and “reasonable balance” to the IMF’s forecasts, as it shows the nation has “stabilised”.

However, Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, voiced concern over the $68m year-overyear increase in the public sector’s wage bill and compensations as he suggested the Government is seeking “to bloat” its payroll with ever-increasing hires.

“The Opposition is very concerned by the increase in compensation to employees by $68m,” Mr Thompson said in a statement. “Has the government properly factored in the impact of this elevated spending and made adjustments elsewhere in its discretionary spending to compensate? The Government also needs to explain how much of this amounts to new employees.

“The Government seems content to bloat the public service without restraint. If the employees increased, why did the payments in insurance premiums decrease by $55m, and have these insurance premium payments just been pushed into what is the current fiscal year? How much arrears from the last fiscal year got pushed into this fiscal year?”

However, the 9.2 percent increase in civil service compensation still came in below Budget forecasts at $805.2m, compared to a projected $827.6m. Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, added that the $68m increase was “not an annual norm” and will

“taper off over a period of time”.

He added that the multiple industrial agreements signed with various public sector unions typically “front load” improved compensation such as lump-sum payments. And, with “close to 90 percent” of public sector industrial deals now completed, he added that the wage, benefits and compensation agreed had been “kept within the fiscal framework” set by the Government.

Mr Edwards, too, said the increased public sector compensation was “straightforward” and “to be expected” given the industrial agreement signings and minimum wage increase.

“In the big picture sense, it’s a reasonable change,” he added. “When we look at overall revenues, they’re almost spot on in terms of budget, and the deficit was within the range of what was targeted.

“It turned out to be $533m; within the ball park.

All things considered, based on these numbers, the Government essentially hit its targets for 2023-2023. I wouldn’t put any major focus on shifts in subsidiary areas where some programme changes were driven.”

However, Mr Thompson, arguing that there are still unanswered questions, said: “Why did the Government exceed its budget for rental accommodation? This amounted to an increase of $20m....

“At the same time, they have decreased spending on social benefit payments by $58.4m (20.4 percent) and expenditure on social protection declined by $28.8m (11.2 percent). We continue to demand that the Government increase social assistance to assist Bahamians in dealing with the high cost of living.

It is also unbelievable that they have also decreased payments for small and medium-sized businesses ($2.5m) and national disaster recovery ($7.7m). This continues to be a major need for Bahamians.”

PAGE 8, Monday, December 11, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that PEDRO DEMELVARD of Cox Avenue, Bernard Road, New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 11th day of December, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.