12312018 BUSINESS

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

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Bahamas ‘closer than ever’ to a sustainable NHI

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas “is as close as it has ever been to sustainable National Health Insurance (NHI)” with the Cabinet now awaiting the final report on recent stakeholder consultations.

Dr Duane Sands, pictured, minister of health, told Tribune Business that “it shouldn’t be too long” before the NHI Authority, chaired by Dr Robin Roberts, submits its report to the Minnis administration on the outcome of talks with healthcare professionals, the private sector, trade unions and Bahamian public.

Confirming that the consultation period had ended just prior to Christmas, Dr Sands said it was “all systems go” towards the next step in the Government’s NHI plan, which is for the Cabinet to determine how, when and what form the scheme should take to achieve its healthcare objectives.

He also conceded there was merit to private sector and healthcare industry concerns as to how the NHI Authority had arrived at the $1,000 annual premium cost for the Standard Health Benefit (SHB), the scheme’s minimum level of coverage, as it would be akin to “shooting in the dark” on costs without agreeing provider and facilities fees with doctors and others.

“I met with them a week-and-a-half ago, and they’re pretty much wrapped up and writing their report,” Dr Sands told this newspaper of the NHI Authority. “When they’ll be completed with their report for Cabinet I can’t say, but it shouldn’t be too long.

“I think the most important thing is we get a real snapshot of the opinions of the many different stakeholders. Once we get that in black and white it will be very beneficial to the Cabinet of The Bahamas in terms of deciding how to proceed.”

Dr Sands said the NHI Authority was “not too many standard deviations off the general timeframe” for the revised NHI scheme’s roll-out that was outlined in its original 22-page policy document.

“I honestly think the process of reviewing the past NHI roll-out and execution, then determining what worked and didn’t work, and looking at ways of sustainable approaches to NHI, presenting a proposal

SEE PAGE 3

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‘Flawed model’ creates more Bahamasair woe

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

B

AHAMASAIR’S “vexing business model” was yesterday blamed for the airline’s latest troubles that resulted in 17 passengers - and virtually all bags - being thrown off a flight to Marsh Harbour.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, last night told Tribune Business that the national flag carrier had “no choice” but to take such action after an electrical malfunction meant it was unsafe for the plane to depart West Palm Beach with a full passenger and baggage load.

He warned that Bahamasair’s “lack of scale”, with a fleet featuring just eight planes, meant “customer

• Marsh Harbour flight bounces passengers, bags • Situation a ‘black eye’ for Bahamian tourism • Minister: ‘Customer service disasters will persist’

DIONISIO D’Aguilar, left.

Bahamasair plane, right. service disasters” such as those that have occurred repeatedly over the Christmas period are bound to “persist” with no good options available for

resolving them.

Arguing that the choices were the same as those confronting the Bahamian people since the airline’s founding in 1974,

Mr D’Aguilar said the Government could either “go all in” and pour more money into the loss-making carrier

SEE PAGE 5

Cruise line withdraws Nassau crime warning

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A MAJOR cruise line has agreed to withdraw a crime warning that threatened to “unduly bring fear to passengers coming to Nassau”, a Cabinet minister has revealed.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that “gentle nudging” by his ministry had prompted Royal Caribbean to drop the “unwarranted” passenger advisory that branded the Arawak Cay Fish Fry as a “particular area of concern” for crime.

The cruise line, in a

• Royal Caribbean alters course after ‘gentle nudging’ • Caused ‘undue fear’ for cruise passengers • Minister promises tourism outreach to Canada

message sent to the minister, said the advisory would be replaced “effective immediately” with

be taken as referring to any of its ports of call.

A ROYAL “Effective immediately, Caribbean the travel advisory letter cruise ship. to all Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines guests will be replaced with the following text in the Cruise Compass newsletter,” the cruise line wrote, referring to language that encouraged passengers to “use the same common a generalised warning to sense you would in any Royal Caribbean passen- major city”. gers that does not mention SEE PAGE 2 Nassau by name and could

$4.30 Non-profit sector ‘lucrative’ area for financial services

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A WELL-KNOWN QC has backed the Government’s decision to spend more time in getting nonprofit regulation right, describing the sector as a “lucrative practice” for the financial services industry.

Brian Moree QC, senior partner at McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas needed to strike the correct “balance” between meeting international standards for fighting financial crime while ensuring it remained a competitive jurisdiction for civil society and nonprofit groups.

“I was very pleased to see the Government deferred the passage of the NonProfit Organisations Bill in order to complete public consultation,” he said. “It is important to get that right, and get it right in the sense of The Bahamas meeting the international standard but not undermining market utilisation of that product.

“Non-profit organisations are a rising area for specialist clients, and it is a lucrative practice area for the financial services industry in terms of charities, foundations. Some of the foundations are very large, and bring significant advantages to the jurisdiction in which they operate and are established.

“We don’t want to marginalise the business to the point where we’re uncompetitive against regional competitors or we eliminate basic market utilisation.

That means getting the balance right between regulation and international standards, and market needs and utilisation,” Mr Moree added.

“The additional time

SEE PAGE 4

Bahamas won’t ‘blindly’ rush into joining WTO

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas is pushing its next WTO talks back by one month, with its chief negotiator pledging that the country will not “blindly” rush into membership of global trade’s rules-setting body.

Zhivargo Laing told Tribune Business that The Bahamas’ next meeting with the WTO Working Party, whose members include all the countries interested in trading with this nation, was likely to take place towards the end of February rather than the initial end-January target.

He explained that The Bahamas had sought the delay to ensure that the Government and private sector arrived at “an agreed position” on any changes to this nation’s initial goods

• Top negotiator: Next talks pushed back by month • To retain National Investment Policy ‘as best we can’ • Eyeing ‘better’ than existing tariff protection

ZHIVARGO LAING and services offers, with some industries yet to respond with the negotiating position they want Mr Laing’s team to take.

Reiterating previous

promises to work “hand in hand” with the private sector to achieve the best WTO accession terms for The Bahamas, Mr Laing said there was “no other way” this could be achieved other than through the closest possible partnership between government and business.

He added that the Government’s target of completing negotiations for full WTO membership by end-2019 was not a date set in stone, adding that the pace of negotiations depended on whether The Bahamas obtained the desired economic gains and benefits.

Mr Laing expressed

optimism that The Bahamas had “a legitimate case” for maintaining the status of industries listed in the current National Investment Policy as reserved for Bahamian ownership only - a goal he said his team would seek to achieve “as as much as possible”.

He added that the Government would also seek to keep existing tariff protections for Bahamian manufacturers and other vulnerable industries that rely on them to maintain their competitiveness against foreign imports, even though this nation must reduce its average tariff rate from 32 percent to 15 percent.

Mr Laing said little had changed since The Bahamas’ last Working Party meeting in September, although its members had submitted questions and clarification requests on this nation’s legal and regulatory regime for trade.

The Bahamas has already submitted replies, and Mr Laing said: “We do have another Working Party meeting that is being planned for early in the New Year, and that was initially intended for the end of January.

“We indicated to the WTO that we had undertaken to consult with the various sectors prior to any amendment to our offers so that our changes reflected consultations with the sectors. Because we’ve not heard back from some of our sectors on these

SEE PAGE 4

PAGE 2, Monday, December 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

MARATHON EXPECTING TO MATCH $2M ROOM EFFECT

By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net MARATHON Bahamas organisers say they are confident that the 2019 event will generate “no less” than the $ 2m in hotel room revenue produced by this year’s event.

Paul McWeeney, president of Sunshine Insurance, organiser of an event now in its 10th year, told Tribune Business: “This is going to be our tenth year anniversary and so we’re making it a bit more exciting.

“We have prize money involved, and all plans are in progress and on time.

We are really excited about it this year. We expect to have a significant amount of, as we have in the past, international competitors

AMERICAN David Kilgore crossing the finish line at the 2018 Marathon Bahamas race. attending. We also look forward to the Susan G Komen event.”

Marathon Bahamas will take place on January 20, 2019, one day after the

Susan G Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure. Both events are part of Sunshine

Insurance’s Race Weekend series.

Marathon Bahamas has been listed as one of the top 50 races in the world outside of the UK, and has won a Tourism Impact Award. For the first time, a $10,000 prize will be awarded to winners of the marathon and halfmarathon, in what is being dubbed “Ten for 10”.

Organisers hope that the new prize purse will entice even more runners to take part.

“Last year we’re proud to say that we generated over $2m in room revenue for the country, and that’s just dealing with the hotels,” said Mr McWeeney. “There were other related businesses such as restaurants, taxis etc. This has now become a major national event. It’s

been voted as one of the 50 best marathons in the world by Runner’s World UK, and is getting a lot of attention internationally.”

As to the potential economic impact of the event, Mr McWeeney said: “It’s a bit too early to say at this point in time, but we are confident that it will be no less than 2018.”

He added that registration for Marathon Bahamas has been in line with expectations. “What tends to happen is most of the registration starts coming in towards the end of the year. That’s typically how it works, persons wait for the last month to do things, and it’s a trend we have seen for a number of years. Registration is in line with our expectation at this point in time,” Mr McWeeney said.

Cruise line withdraws Nassau crime warning FROM PAGE ONE Referring passengers to US and other government websites if they needed more information, Royal Caribbean added: “We will begin with replacing the letters in all Royal Caribbean International ships calling on The Bahamas, and review for the remainder of the global fleet beginning early 2019.”

Mr D’Aguilar said it was unclear how long Royal Caribbean had been issuing warnings similar to the one provided by its Anthem of the Seas vessel on December 26, which sparked the controversy when it was published on a well-known cruise industry website.

But it appears likely, based on the cruise line’s response to the minister, that the letter - or similar versions - has been widely circulated to passengers on all ships calling at Nassau.

Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business there was no way to measure the impact

of the cruise line’s advisory and other crime warnings on The Bahamas’ tourism performance. While expressing optimism that few visitors were deterred by official government warnings, he acknowledged that they posed a significant reputational risk for the country.

And, while the Government may have succeeded in persuading Royal Caribbean to reconsider, it remains very much a case of “one down, another to go” on crime advisories. For the Canadian government, just prior to Christmas, updated its own travel advisory on The Bahamas by expressing similar crime concerns relating to the Arawak Cay Fish Fry. Mr D’Aguilar said he “simply does not agree” that the Fish Fry, a Bahamian food, cultural and entertainment hub, was unsafe for either Bahamians or visitors.

He added that his ministry will now ensure it meets with the Canadian High Commissioner to The

Bahamas, who is based in Jamaica, when they next visit Nassau to press its case that much of the contents of Ottawa’s latest advisory are inaccurate and/or unnecessary.

Praising Royal Caribbean for its swift response, the minister said of the cruise line: “I was slightly blindsided by their letter since the crime statistics record the city of Nassau as being as safe as Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

“Once cruise passengers exercise common sense levels of precaution about what they do and where they go, Nassau is as safe as any city Royal Caribbean calls on. I suggested that they rescind this letter and am delighted they did so.

“They will issue what they said in the message to me, and make it a more generic warning and not unduly bring fear to cruise passengers that come to Nassau. I don’t think it [the first letter] was warranted and I’m delighted

they’re convinced of that.”

Mr D’Aguilar, conceding that private companies had a right to publish what they saw fit, said Royal Caribbean’s withdrawal came following conversations between its head of government relations and the Ministry of Tourism.

“All we can do is put forth a case,” he told Tribune Business. “We tried to make the case that this level of warning, concern is not warranted and, to their credit, without much pushing but gentle nudging they saw fit to reverse it.”

The controversy was sparked by Captain Srecko Ban’s Boxing Day letter to his Anthem of the Seas passengers, in which he warned “that Nassau has been experiencing an increase in crime”.

While acknowledging that “thousands of visitors routinely travel to Nassau without incident”, he then wrote: “We recommend guests not venture too far from tourist areas and consider participating in an organised tour. Particular areas of concern include the Sand Trap, the Fish Fry and other areas of Nassau referred to as ‘Over-theHill’ by locals, which should be avoided after sunset.”

The Royal Caribbean warning immediately fuelled suspicion among Arawak Cay and downtown Nassau vendors, and other professions that rely on the cruise industry for their livelihood, that it was intended to deter passengers from leaving the ship while in Nassau and keep them on board where the cruise lines can maximise the economic benefits from their spending.

The timing of the Anthem of the Seas letter could also not have been worse from the perspective of

downtown Nassau retailers, restaurants and others as it coincided with the key afterChristmas shopping period.

And it came as Royal Caribbean is one of four cruise lines involved in the bidding to take over management/ operations at Nassau’s cruise port, the industrygrouping having partnered with Cruise Ports International - the Bahamian group formerly known as Cultural Village (Bahamas), headed by ex-Family Guardian president Gerald Strachan.

The Royal Caribbean advisory was one part of a double blow for the Fish Fry, as the same language was also repeated in the Canadian government’s revised December 20 travel advisory to its citizens.

“Avoid Nassau’s ‘Over the Hill’ (south of Shirley Street) and Fish Fry (Arawak Cay) areas, especially at night,” the Canadian advisory warned, while also cautioning its citizens about renting jet skis and dealing with the water sports industry.

Mr D’Aguilar, pledging to address this with Canadian officials as rapidly as possible, said the downward trend in Nassau’s crime statistics meant “this level of warning” was not warranted.

While agreeing that visitors to any city must take all necessary precautions to prevent themselves becoming victims of crime, he added: “I simply don’t agree with the warning that the Fish Fry is unsafe.

“We need to speak with the Canadians about updating them on that fact. The Fish Fry is frequented by many, many foreign visitors and many, many Bahamians, and there’s a police presence on the ground there. It’s as safe as any place frequented

by foreign visitors to our country.

“The vendors and community at the Fish Fry see that it’s in their interests to keep it that way and make sure it’s safe. We have police and vendors working together to make sure it remains safe and a pleasant place to go and enjoy some good Bahamian food.”

Mr D’Aguilar agreed that the Royal Caribbean and Canadian advisories appeared to be “piggy backing off” the US State Department warning, issued in January 2018, which also singled out the Fish Fry for attention.

“I’m definitely going to make it a position that, when the High Commissioner for Canada next visits The Bahamas, he makes a courtesy call on the Ministry of Tourism,” he said. “Tourism has to make a special effort to meet and talk with them, and open up a channel to get information to them before they put warnings on their website.”

While believing that the “vast majority” of travellers are not deterred by such warnings, Mr D’Aguilar added: “Needless to say it’s not good. I have no way to measure the effect on people coming to The Bahamas, but it will affect some and cause them not to come.

“It behooves the Ministry of Tourism to work through all the issues that arise to limit these types of advisories, but also work with local police officers to make sure the basis of these warnings is unwarranted.

“We have work to do on our side, as well as ensuring that information that Nassau is safe, and crime is decreasing, is passed on to persons who put together these warnings in their countries.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 31, 2018, PAGE 3

Taxi chief’s concerns on unlicensed drivers

By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Taxi Cab Union’s (BTU) president says he is concerned over the number of unlicensed operators within the industry.

Wesley Ferguson told Tribune Business: “That is one if the concerns that we have. What a lot of people do not understand is that the Government really made a boo-boo when they took the SD plates and

made them the same as the taxi plates.”

The Canadian government, in an updated travel advisory to its citizens last week, highlighted the issue of “unlicensed operators” and warned its citizens to not accept rides “from strangers or from unlicensed taxi drivers”.

“That’s what the Canadian government is warning about, unlicensed taxi drivers,” Mr Ferguson added. “They are talking about those persons driving SDs under the guise of

being a taxi driver. Those persons are not insured to do so, nor are they authorised to do so by any entity.

You can’t charge people to ride an SD. That is what the travel advisory pertaining to taxi drivers is all about.”

The advisory, which was listed on the Canadian government’s website travel.gc.ca, did note that crime in The Bahamas has decreased.

“There has been a decrease in violent crime since the beginning of 2018,” the advisory said.

“Crime, however, including violent crime, still occurs, mainly on the islands of Grand Bahama and New Providence.

“Armed robberies, burglaries, purse snatchings, theft, fraud and sexual assaults are the most common crimes committed against travellers in Freeport and Nassau. Incidents of robbery also take place in cruise ship terminals and in and around popular resort areas, even in daylight hours. Crime increases during the holidays.”

LEGAL NOTICE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES, ACT 2000 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act, 2000 as follows:a) POLAIRE STAR LIMITED is in dissolution under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, 2000. b) The dissolution of the said Company commenced on 21st December 2018 when its Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General. c) The Liquidator of the said Company is Amicorp Bahamas Management Limited, whose address is: Bahamas Financial Centre. 3rd Floor, Shirley & Charlotte Street, P.O. Box N-4865, Nassau, Bahamas.

AMICORP BAHAMAS MANAGEMENT LIMITED Bahamas Financial Centre, 3rd Floor Shirley & Charlotte Streets P.O. Box N-4865 Nassau, Bahamas

Bahamas ‘closer than ever’ to a sustainable NHI FROM PAGE ONE

and getting general opinions from the public, good and bad, gets us as close as we’ve ever been to a sustainable NHI product,” he told Tribune Business.

“I’m excited that we’ll have an opportunity to dig into something that has many facets we’ve never seen before. We actually have a model in place, patients being seen and now an opportunity to see how we can deliver the NHI product people say they want.

“It’s all systems go to the next step of the process; submitting to Cabinet, and the Cabinet of The Bahamas will look holistically at everything presented and make a decision about how, what and when to proceed.

We now have a substantial body of evidence on which to base a decision.”

Dr Sands was unable to say when the NHI Authority report will make it on

to the agenda for Cabinet’s consideration, but suggested it may involve a “face-to-face presentation”

by Dr Roberts and his team.

Much of the NHI discussion to-date has focused on the proposed funding mechanism, which involves a National Insurance Board (NIB) payroll-type tax equivalent to either two percent of a worker’s salary or a maximum of $500 per year ($42 per month) whichever is greater.

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), in particular, has warned that such a mechanism will further increase the private sector’s labour costs at a time when companies and consumers are both struggling to absorb the budget’s VAT hike to 12 percent.

And the chamber, as well as the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA), have expressed concern that the $1,000 pricing for NHI’s SHB package may

well underestimate the true costs - especially given that the Government wants to expand the benefits package beyond the existing primary care to also include secondary care.

The chamber is particularly worried that failing to accurately calculate NHI’s costs will lead to everincreasing tax demands being placed on the private sector to cover the financing gap and sustain the scheme.

Together with the BIA, it has pointed out that it is impossible to predict NHI’s costs given that no fee structure has been agreed with doctors, providers and healthcare facilities.

Dr Sands, though, said NHI’s financing mechanism was not set in stone while conceding that an agreement on fees was essential.

“I think the prime minister has made it very clear in his direct utterances that no final decision has been made by the Cabinet of The Bahamas on how any NHI programme will be funded,”

he told Tribune Business.

“You’re going to have to have enforceable agreements for healthcare providers, facilities, diagnostic facilities otherwise you’re shooting in the dark.”

Dr Sands praised the “level of enthusiasm and commitment” with which the NHI Authority had conducted its work, adding that it had addressed the legacy issues left behind by the former Christie administration.

“They’ve dealt with the legal and legislative challenges in the roll-out of NHI in the absence of the authority, and they’ve dealt with legacy decisions made, continued to provide benefits and expand the patient pool,” he added.

“They’ve determined the primary care component is hugely popular, and made good progress in establishing an IT framework that functions at a level and cost that is not prohibitive.”

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT

2018/CLE/Qui/433

Common Law and Equity Division N THE MATTER OF ALL THAT piece parcel or tract of land situate in the Settlement of Salt Pond in the Island of Long Island one of the islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas comprising 50.38 acres being a portion of the tract of land known as “Armstrong” now claimed by the Estate of Charles Alexander Fox which said Estate comprises a portion of original Crown Grant D-182 to Alice Thompson and also a portion of an original Crown Grant D-156 to Martin Jollie and bounded approximately Eight Hundred Feet (800) feet off the Eastern Side of The Queens Highway in the said settlement of Salt Pond in the island of Long Island which said piece parcel or tract of land has such position boundaries shape marks and dimensions as are on a survey plan and thereon coloured Pink.

AND IN THE MATTER OF the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 (Chapter 393) AND IN THE MATTER OF the Petition of MARK ANTHONY FOX NOTICE OF PETITION The Petition of MARK ANTHONY FOX of the Settlement of Salt Pond in the Island of Long Island one of the islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, in respect of: ALL THAT piece parcel or tract of land situate in the Settlement of Salt Pond in the Island of Long Island one of the islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas comprising 50.38 acres being a portion of the tract of land known as “Armstrong” now claimed by the Estate of Charles Alexander Fox which said Estate comprises a portion of original Crown Grant D-182 to Alice Thompson and also a portion of an original Crown Grant D-156 to Martin Jollie and bounded approximately Eight Hundred Feet (800) feet off the Eastern Side of The Queens Highway in the said settlement of Salt Pond in the island of Long Island.

Mark Anthony Fox claims to be the owner in fee simple of the said piece parcel or tract of land free from encumbrances and has made application to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas under Section Three (3) of the Quieting Act 1959 (Chapter 393) to have his title to the said piece parcel or tract of land investigated and the nature and extent thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that any person having dower or right to dower or an adverse claim or a claim not recognized in the Petition shall no later than the 30th day after the final publication in the newspapers of this Notice file Notice in the Supreme Court in the City of Nassau in the Island of New Providence aforesaid and serve on the Petitioner or the undersigned a statement of his or her claim in the prescribed form verified by an Affidavit to be filed therewith. Failure of any such person to file and serve a statement of his or her claim within the time prescribed will operate as a bar to such claim.

Copies of the filed plan may be inspected during normal working hours at the Registry of the Supreme Court, The Office of the Administrator, Long Island Bahamas, The Office of Local Government, Grays Long Island Bahamas and at the Chambers of Messrs. Fox Law Chambers situated at #48 Village Road, Nassau Bahamas during normal business hours.

DATED this 30th day of November A.D, 2018

FOX LAW CHAMBERS Counsel & Attorneys #48 Village Road (North) Nassau, Bahamas Attorneys for the Petitioner

PAGE 4, Monday, December 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Bahamas won’t ‘blindly’ Non-profit sector rush into joining WTO ‘lucrative’ area for FROM PAGE ONE

discussions with them, we do not want to go ahead.”

With the WTO Working Party requiring that any information relating to an upcoming meeting be provided at least one month in advance, Mr Laing added: “We would not have been able to do that without meeting with and hearing from the sectors.

“We’ve indicated to the sectors we will walk hand in hand with yourselves, and that’s a promise I’m keeping. We haven’t gotten all the feedback from them.

We want to do that prior to any adjustments presented to the WTO at the next meeting.

“We expect that perhaps that meeting will be held at the end of February so we’re able to meet with all the sectors and come to an agreed position on how we move forward. It is a commitment. It is the way we are committed to moving forward. I can’t see any other way to do it. I really can’t.”

It is the business community, not the Government, that will have to live and work with the terms the latter agrees for The Bahamas’ accession to full WTO membership - a key element in the Minnis administration’s strategy to modernise the economy, deregulate, diversify and liberalise it by attracting new industries

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

and growth opportunities.

“What is going to happen, to the extent we and the private sector are able to come to terms with what we believe to be in the best interests of the country going forward, we will put those motions to the WTO and, to the extent they are accepted and negotiated, that will determine the pace,” Mr Laing added.

“I am not taking an approach that says you must get to some date whether or not we are able to achieve for the people of the country the aims we are seeking to achieve. Whether the pace picks up depends on how members of the Working Party respond to the positions we put forward.”

Mr Laing, a former minister of state for finance, who first communicated The Bahamas’ desire for full WTO membership when he was responsible for trade in 2001, was adamant that The Bahamas’ negotiations are driven by achieving the best possible deal for the country - not hitting some target date.

While the Government had previously eyed December 2019 for concluding negotiations, The Bahamas’ chief negotiator said this related to the fact that global trade ministers were supposed to be meeting then to ratify new accessions. That meeting has now been put back to June 2020.

“That does not mean the Government is simply blindly trying to arrive at that date without achieving the gains, benefits and manageable adjustments for the country,” Mr Laing told Tribune Business.

He confirmed that the

Government was seeking to maintain the existing National Investment Policy, which reserves industries such as retail, wholesale and real estate for Bahamian ownership only, as best as possible in the WTO negotiations.

“This remains our aim - to preserve as much as possible those reserved areas, where we believe we have a legitimate case to be made for reservations,” Mr Laing said. “We’re asking to reserve as much of that as possible, and to ensure Bahamian manufacturers and farmers have the best ability to continue to develop their industries and have their products and services available for the Bahamian public.”

He added that the Government was also seeking to maintain existing tariff levels for vulnerable domestic industries, such as manufacturing, so that they remained competitive versus rival imports.

“It could even be a little better than maintain,” Mr Laing said. “There may be a more strategic mechanism to offer these sectors the best opportunity to compete. There are WTO compliant methods to do it, and some methods even simpler than the way we’ve done it in the past.

“We’re going to do what works for The Bahamas in keeping with these international trading rules and practices. That makes good sense. We’re going to do what works for the growth, the economic viability of our sectors, and maximise the economic benefits for the country. We’re not trying to do it; that’s what we’re going to do.”

financial services FROM PAGE ONE

taken to finalise the bill and consult with stakeholders will be very important and improve the end product.”

The bill, as drafted, will apply to all charities and foundations such as the Salvation Army and Bahamas Feeding Network; advocacy groups such as Save the Bays and the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG); and environmental activists such as reEarth.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the organisation that sets the global standards for combating money laundering and terrorism financing, is putting the pressure on The Bahamas to pass this latest legislation. It is understood to be particularly vexed by what it views as minimal to non-existent regulation of non-profits by The Bahamas.

However, the Christian Council and Bahamian churches are seeking “a complete exemption” from the Non-Profit Organisations Bill and its provisions, citing one other jurisdiction that had developed a law exempting the church from such regulation, and arguing that it had established a precedent to justify their demands.

Bishop Delton Fernander, head of the Christian Council, said: “We met with the Attorney General. We had our

BRIAN MOREE QC

lawyers put our case forward, citing jurisdictions.

We will wait and see what the new bill looks like and make our position known from there.

“We are at the point now where we have made our case from a legal perspective. We’re just waiting to see what the new bill looks like, if it takes into consideration what we proposed or not. Then, if it does or doesn’t, we will make our position very clear.”

Carl Bethel QC, the attorney general, though, has described the church’s viewpoint as an “unsustainable position”, adding that the information he possessed contradicted their assertions. While agreeing that one country had drafted such a law, he added

that it never been brought to Parliament or passed on to the statute book.

Mr Bethel previously told Tribune Business that it had “accommodated 80-90 percent” of non-profit concerns over plans to regulate the sector, adding: “At the end of the day, the Government does not wish to make life difficult for anybody.

We don’t want to make it so difficult for non-profits to function that we drive them out of their causes.

“It’s in this light that the Government has taken on as many of their concerns as we possibly can, and is still trying to find other ways to make the bill more effective and serviceable... We’ll come up with something broadly acceptable, and I think they’ll be alright.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 31, 2018, PAGE 5

‘FLAWED MODEL’ CREATES MORE BAHAMASAIR WOE FROM PAGE ONE

by acquiring more planes, “maintain the status quo” or seek to sell/privatise it.

He reiterated, though, that Bahamasair was not prepared to compromise its “impeccable safety record” over issues such as those affecting yesterday’s West Palm Beach to Marsh Harbour flight, adding that it was better to arrive “eventually” than not at all.

One passenger on the flight, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this newspaper that the episode represented a “black eye” for The Bahamas and its reputation as a leading tourism destination given that it impacted numerous visitors - many with young children - who were travelling to Abaco for the New Year.

They added that the West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department was called to maintain order amid fears that tempers among frustrated passengers would boil over and “spark a riot” at the gates.

“There’s complete chaos in West Palm Beach,” they told Tribune Business. “Bahamasair just announced that they will not be able to take any bags on this flight and they are now looking for 18 volunteers to fly tomorrow.

“There’s a few irate tourists. They called for the Sheriff’s Department because they were scared there was going to be a riot at the gates. They’d checked everybody in, and then said they needed 18 volunteers who would not

be going today; they’ll be going tomorrow.

“Total embarrassment.

It’s a black eye for The Bahamas. There’s an awful lot of people with young children. You can’t get a straight answer from anybody as to what’s going on.

They said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed weight restrictions on the aircraft.”

The source said persons who volunteered not to travel on yesterday’s flight were offered around $200 compensation, which they described as “not a lot of money”. Due to take off at 12.20pm, it eventually departed West Palm Beach around two hours’ later.

Speaking after arriving in Marsh Harbour, minus their bags which remain in Florida, they added: “What comes out of all this is a black eye for tourism.

We’ve just been awarded the top destination of 2018, and then Bahamasair goes and messes it up.

“I don’t know why we’re so tolerant of this thing.

It loses millions of dollars every year. They said check back tomorrow and see if we have any bags. A lot of tourists were coming over for New Year, some of them with very young infants, and they have no bags. It’s the tourists I felt badly for.

“Bahamasair, in one fell swoop, goes and destroys it all. Somebody has got to do something with that airline. It loses $20m a year. Privatise it.” Tribune Business was told that the bags which failed to make yesterday’s flight are being trucked to Miami for

transport to Nassau, from where they will be flown to Marsh Harbour tomorrow.

Mr D’Aguilar last night explained that the West Palm Beach problems stemmed from a malfunctioning generator on the 72-seater ATR aircraft operating the route.

The plane’s manufacturer advised Bahamasair that while it could still fly, it could only do so if its weight was restricted.

“They had to reduce the number of passengers by 17,” the minister confirmed. “It’s a 72-seat plane, and the manufacturer suggested going to 51 passengers and eight bags.

They had to leave 17 passengers and 60 bags.

“Bahamasair obviously had no choice. The part malfunctioned, and in the interests of safety they had to follow the manufacturer’s guidance as painful as it is. Bahamasair has an impeccable safety record that it’s not going to compromise. It’s better to get you there eventually than not at all.”

Mr D’Aguilar said Bahamasair’s small fleet size, with a maximum of eight planes currently available to it, meant it was virtually impossible to switch aircraft between routes if one malfunctioned or was taken out of service for scheduled maintenance.

Warning that the problems experienced by the national flag carrier yesterday and over Christmas will reoccur at future intervals, Mr D’Aguilar said the Government faced the dilemma of throwing good money after bad - given

its persistent $15-$20m annual losses - in acquiring new aircraft, maintaining the current situation or potential outsourcing/ privatisation.

“This is what happens when you are an airline operating with eight planes and experience a technical malfunction,” he told Tribune Business. “Bahamasair is a small regional operator with eight planes, and when you suffer the loss of a plane due to mechanical issues it creates major, major issues.

“It’s not like American Airlines where they have 600-700 planes, and can switch one over. With a small regional company this is going to happen.

With the business model under which Bahamasair

operates right now, these types of problem are going to arise. It’s unfortunate they’ve arisen over the Christmas season, but when you lose a plane this is what happens.”

Mr D’Aguilar added that Bahamasair has a total seat capacity of 630, split between the three 120-seat jets; two 72-seat ATRS and three 42-seat ATRs. “This is a vexing business model,” he reiterated.

“It’s very hard. From the revenue standpoint you want to maximise use of your aircraft, but that leads to customer service issues for if you lose one plane you have to scramble for another. This is not an easy fix. As a businessman, this is a difficult business model to resolve, and these

problems are going to arise.

“These problems will persist in the business model of Bahamasair.

You’ve got a business with eight planes. It’s like Superwash with eight washers.

You need to create scale, and Bahamasair does not have it. Every time you lose a plane you have these customer service disasters,” Mr D’Aguilar continued.

“The business model is flawed. To address it, you can go all in, get a heap more aircraft and simply throw money at it or you maintain the status quo. It’s a question the Bahamian people have to ask: Do we spend more money, buy more planes and invest in Bahamasair, or do we align with other companies.”

PAGE 6, Monday, December 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

US RETAILERS HOPE HIGHER PAY WILL BUY MORE EFFICIENT WORKERS WASHINGTON Associated Press AMERICA’S retailers, struggling to fill jobs, have been raising pay to try to keep and attract enough employees. Now, some stores want something in return: A more efficient worker.

To that end, retailers, fast food restaurants and other lower-wage employers are boosting investment in technology and redesigning stores. Walmart is automating its truck unloading to require fewer workers on loading docks. Kohl’s is using more hand-held devices to speed check-outs and restock shelves. McDonald’s is increasingly replacing cashiers with selfservice kiosks to free up

EMPLOYEES demonstrate how air pillow machines work at a packaging station in the backroom of a Target store in Edison, NJ. For many retailers that have lifted pay to attract and keep workers, another challenge has arisen: Making those workers productive enough to justify the larger payouts. workers for table service.

Retail workers, though comparatively low-paid, have enjoyed some of the

best wage gains in the past year. Their hourly pay rose 4.3 percent in November from a year earlier — much

faster than such higher-wage industries as manufacturing, where pay rose 1.8 percent.

Walmart raised its starting pay to $11 an hour this year.

Target’s minimum is $12, with plans to make it $15 by 2020. Amazon’s starting wage leapt to $15 in November. And more than 20 states have raised minimum wages above the federal $7.25 an hour. California and Washington state’s wage floors will reach $12 on Jan 1. New York’s will be $11.80.

Even as they’ve absorbed higher labour costs, most retailers remain reluctant to pass them on to customers in the form of price increases.

American consumers have grown increasingly insistent on bargain prices — in part a hangover from the Great Recession, in part a function of online price-comparison tools. Retailers are loath to alienate them and send them looking for alternative sellers.

“It’s extraordinarily hard for retailers to systematically

raise prices,” said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Communications NA, a digital consulting agency. “These days, everyone’s prices are way more transparent. It’s just one click away from your super computer in your pocket.”

So unless companies are willing to eat all or part of their higher labor costs, they need to increase their workers’ efficiency. A company’s wage increase of ten percent can be offset if its employees produce ten percent more.

“We need ...meaningful improvements” in productivity, said Greg Foran, CEO of Walmart’s US division.

“Pricing generally isn’t going up. It’s going to come down as competition intensifies.”

Though higher wages are driving retailers to make workers more efficient, cost isn’t the only factor.

The companies are also under intensifying pressure to speed delivery times of online orders to compete with Amazon and please customers who expect fast delivery.

Walmart employees can now use mobile devices to check whether an item is in stock and avoid trekking to distant storerooms. The phones also send alerts when an item needs a price change and directs workers to those items.

And in a cluster of stores, Walmart has deployed robots that monitor stockpiles and can send photos of empty shelves to employees’ phones. The information is sent to a conveyer system that scans boxes being unloaded from trucks. Workers then organize the boxes for delivery to the sales floor.

The system has slashed the number of people needed to unload trucks.

“When I first started working for Walmart, we would unload the truck and you would have associates running all over the backroom trying to find out where to put things,” said Ty Ford, who has worked at Walmart in Houston for eight years. “It wasn’t organised in any way.”

One technology being tested is “smart glasses”, which display information on the lenses so workers can identify items from online orders for curbside pickup.

The glasses can identify which items to pick, thereby saving time that would be spent looking at phones.

To try to raise productivity, retailers are turning mainly to technology rather that hounding employees to work harder. But pressure does creep in: At Target, workers who carry online orders to shoppers’ cars now hear a honking horn on their devices, instead of a generic bell, to signify that customers are waiting.

Jaana Remes, an economist at McKinsey Global Institute, noted that after the Great Recession, stagnant pay reduced the incentive for employers to invest in labour-saving technology. Now, that’s starting to reverse. Remes pointed out that labor-saving technology is more common in countries where pay is higher.

Self-serve restaurants, for example, are more prevalent in Scandinavia and Japan than in the United States.

“When have you seen grocery baggers in Europe?”

Remes said. “We still have them in the US.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 31, 2018, PAGE 7

Lampert’s hedge fund makes last-minute bid to save Sears NEW YORK Associated Press A HEDGE fund run

by Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert said it submitted a last-minute bid on Friday to keep the struggling retailer from being liquidated.

The bid, valued at $4.4bn, still needs to be approved.

A court date is scheduled for the middle of January.

Transform Holdco LLC, an affiliate of Lampert’s ESL Investments hedge fund, said it hoped to keep 425 stores open and 50,000 people working. The bid includes $1.3bn in financing from three institutions, ESL said in a statement.

The iconic retailer, once the nation’s largest department store chain, faced a deadline of Friday for bids

A SIGN in the window at Sears promises that “This isn’t goodbye”, at the Livingston Mall in Livingston, NJ. Sears is closing 80 more stores as it teeters on the brink of liquidation. The 130-year old retailer set a deadline of Friday, Dec 28, 2018 for bids for its remaining stores to avert closing down completely.

for its remaining stores to avert closing down completely. Earlier on Friday, Sears said it was closing 80 more stores. That’s in addition to the 182 stores already slated for closure, including 142 by the end of 2018 and 40 by February.

When the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, it had 687 stores and 68,000 workers.

The retailer that began as a mail order catalog in the 1880s has been in a slow death spiral, hobbled by the Great Recession and then overwhelmed by rivals both down the street and across the internet.

Sears Holdings Corp, which also runs Kmart, joins the list of retail brands taken over by hedge funds

that collapsed under the weight of debt forced upon them. Not all have made it out of bankruptcy: Toys R Us shuttered all its stores in June, about nine months after filing for bankruptcy protection.

Under Lampert, Sears has bought time by spinning off businesses and putting on the block the brands that had grown synonymous with the company, such as Craftsman.

The company’s chairman and biggest shareholder, Lampert loaned out his own money and put together deals to keep the company afloat and to turn whatever profit he could for ESL hedge fund.

ESL said that should its bid be accepted, it expects the company to emerge from bankruptcy.

PAGE 8, Monday, December 31, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

NEW LAWS ARE PUTTING CALIFORNIA FURTHER AT ODDS WITH TRUMP SACRAMENTO Associated Press

CALIFORNIA Gov Jerry Brown is leaving office Jan 7 after signing more than 1,000 laws in his last year, further positioning the state as a bastion of liberal activism and goad to President Donald Trump.

The laws, most of which take effect tomorrow, ease

criminal sentences, tighten gun restrictions and address climate change, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

The Democratic governor approved 1,016 laws, the most in any of his last eight years in office. His 201 vetoes also were the most during his final two terms, as lawmakers passed a record number of measures.

Counting his two terms

Legal Notice

NOTICE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT (No. 45 of 2000)

CONSTANTIA LIMITED In Voluntary liquidation

“Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000).CONSTANTIA LIMITED, is in Dissolution.”

The date of commencement of dissolution is the 21st day of December, 2018.

GOV JERRY BROWN from 1975 to 1983, the state’s longest-serving governor vetoed 1,829 bills and saw 17,851 become law.

Here are some of the laws taking effect with the new year: CRIMINAL JUSTICE Sweeping new laws bar juveniles younger than 16 from being tried as adults, even for murder, and keep children under 12 out of the criminal justice system unless they are charged with murder or rape.

Other laws allow many

defendants to ask judges to dismiss their charges if they show mental illness played a major role in their crime and limit the state’s felony murder rule, which holds accomplices to the same standard as the person who carried out the killing.

A new law responding to police shootings of young black men broadens public access to officers’ personnel records. A police union is challenging whether the law is retroactive.

Repeat drunken drivers and first-time offenders involved in injury crashes must install an ignition interlock device, which blocks their vehicle from starting if the driver isn’t sober.

GUNS Spurred by mass shootings, lawmakers further tightened California’s already tough gun laws.

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

Lauren Ramsay, #6 Bosham Close, Camperdown Heights P.O. Box SP 6380, Nassau, Bahamas Liquidator

The Public is hereby advised that I, LEON CONEL RENÉJOHNSON of #3 Raymond Road, New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name to LEON CONEL RENÉ. 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 the publication of this notice.

Legal Notice

Legal Notice

NOTICE

NOTICE

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT (No. 45 of 2000)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT (No. 45 of 2000)

AMERICHEM INC.

MILL GREEN LIMITED

“Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000). AMERICHEM INC., is in Dissolution.”

“Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act (No. 45 of 2000).MILL GREEN LIMITED, is in Dissolution.”

The date of commencement of dissolution is the 21st day of December, 2018.

The date of commencement of dissolution is the 21st day of December, 2018.

Gustavo Angel Veiga Dobrich, Teniente General Pablo Galarza 3565, Apto 802, Montevideo, Uruguay Liquidator

Marc Guillaume, of Whiteley Chambers, Don Street, St. Helier, Jersey Liquidator

In Voluntary liquidation

In Voluntary liquidation

52WK HI 4.50 20.91 7.50 4.90 1.48 0.56 3.92 10.20 6.60 4.92 12.50 2.74 1.78 8.21 6.30 13.20 6.98 4.48 13.50

52WK LOW 3.50 19.17 4.90 3.32 0.90 0.18 2.10 8.70 6.10 3.54 9.00 2.30 1.50 7.25 6.00 10.10 5.85 3.25 12.51

1050.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

PREFERENCE SHARES

1.00 103.00 100.00 106.00 105.00 103.00 100.00 10.00 1.01

1.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Bank of Bahamas Benchmark Cable Bahamas CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Colina Holdings Commonwealth Bank Commonwealth Brewery Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Finco Focol J. S. Johnson

t. 242.323.2330 | f. 242.323.2320 | www.bisxbahamas.com

Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Commonwealth Bank Class E Commonwealth Bank Class J Commonwealth Bank Class K Commonwealth Bank Class L Commonwealth Bank Class M Commonwealth Bank Class N Fidelity Bank Class A Focol Class B

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00

SYMBOL LAST CLOSE AML 4.44 APD 17.43 BPF 7.00 BWL 4.90 BOB 1.46 BBL 0.56 CAB 2.29 CIB 10.20 CHL 6.16 CBL 4.38 CBB 11.25 CWCB 2.22 DHS 1.78 EMAB 7.53 FAM 6.30 FBB 12.85 FIN 6.98 FCL 3.62 JSJ 13.01 CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA CBLE CBLJ CBLK CBLL CBLM CBLN FBBA FCLB

SECURITY Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +

SYMBOL FBB22

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2015-1-3Y BGS: 2014-12-5Y BGS: 2015-1-5Y BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-3Y BGS: 2015-6-5Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-3Y BGS: 2015-10-5Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0203 BG0105 BG0205 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0303 BG0305 BG0307 BG0330 BG0403 BG0405 BG0407

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.19 4.18 2.02 182.41 158.55 1.59 1.71 1.67 1.10 6.99 8.54 6.15 10.52 11.46 10.46 10.00 8.69 11.79

52WK LOW 1.67 3.04 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.52 1.68 1.61 1.08 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.40 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 4.44 17.43 7.00 4.90 1.46 0.56 2.29 10.20 6.16 4.49 11.25 2.28 1.78 7.68 6.30 12.85 6.98 3.62 13.01

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.11 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.15 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 100.00 100.00 100.40 100.00 100.00 100.00 10.00 1.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00

CHANGE 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund FG Financial Preferred Income Fund FG Financial Growth Fund FG Financial Diversified Fund FG Financial Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

VOLUME

2,400

15

VOLUME

EPS$ 0.214 0.932 -0.306 0.317 0.059 0.000 -0.588 0.700 0.441 0.154 0.627 0.102 0.209 0.000 0.670 0.701 0.578 0.277 0.631

DIV$ 0.100 1.260 0.000 0.240 0.000 0.020 0.000 0.710 0.220 0.120 0.620 0.060 0.060 0.084 0.280 0.500 0.150 0.130 0.600

P/E 20.7 18.7 N/M 15.5 N/M N/M -3.9 14.6 14.0 29.2 17.9 22.4 8.5 N/M 9.4 18.3 12.1 13.1 20.6

YIELD 2.25% 7.23% 0.00% 4.90% 0.00% 3.57% 0.00% 6.96% 3.57% 2.67% 5.51% 2.63% 3.37% 1.09% 4.44% 3.89% 2.15% 3.59% 4.61%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

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

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.95% 4.00% 4.25% 4.25% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.00% 4.25% 4.50% 6.25% 3.50% 3.88% 4.25%

NAV 2.19 4.18 2.02 182.41 158.55 1.59 1.71 1.67 1.09 7.41 8.57 6.55 10.68 11.65 10.62 9.92 8.69 11.79

YTD% 12 MTH% 3.23% 4.04% 1.03% 1.38% 1.92% 2.39% 2.08% 3.47% 3.35% 5.94% 3.67% 4.43% 0.73% 0.96% 2.88% 3.53% -0.53% 0.27% -1.08% 1.77% -5.96% -3.05% 1.90% 4.59% 7.24% 11.96% 2.77% 3.88% 3.94% 4.69% -0.71% 0.16% 3.96% 7.75% 8.34% 14.88

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 20-Nov-2029 30-Jul-2018 16-Dec-2019 30-Jul-2020 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2018 26-Jun-2020 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2018 15-Oct-2020 15-Oct-2022 NAV Date 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 26-Oct-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 31-Oct-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018 30-Sep-2018

MARKET TERMS BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

NOTICE GENERAL PUBLIC

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE 2,108.02 | CHG 14.51 | %CHG 0.69 | YTD 44.45 | YTD% 2.15 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES

directors by the end of 2019 and two or more by 2021.

Spurred by the #MeToo movement, another new law bans private and public employers, including the state Legislature, from reaching secret settlements over sexual assault, harassment or discrimination. A law preventing businesses from requiring employees to sign liability releases to keep their jobs or receive bonuses is among several expanded protections.

Californians also can list their gender as “nonbinary” on their driver’s licenses, designated as the letter “X”.

CLIMATE CHANGE California’s utilities must generate 60 percent of their energy from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2030, which is ten percent higher than a previous mandate. Lawmakers set a goal of phasing out electricity from fossil fuels by 2045.

“This is historic because there is no economy larger in the world that has committed to pure clean energy,” former Democratic state Sen Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles wrote when Brown signed the bill into law.

It was California’s latest ambitious reaction to Trump’s decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and revive the coal industry.

Other new laws study ways to ease the impact of climate change, encourage the use of biomethane and protect Obama administration targets for removing “super pollutants” called hydrofluorocarbons from refrigerants.

Another law bars the Trump administration from expanding oil drilling off the California coast by blocking new pipelines and other supporting construction in state waters.

This is to inform the

MARKET REPORT THURSDAY, 27 DECEMBER 2018

Anyone convicted of certain domestic violence misdemeanors will be barred for life from possessing a firearm, while those under age 21 will be banned from purchasing a rifle or shotgun unless they are members of law enforcement or the military or have a hunting license.

Several other laws already took effect, including measures explicitly banning rapid-fire bump stocks that attach to guns; requiring eight hours of training for concealed carry applicants; and allowing police to seize ammunition and magazines under domestic violence restraining orders.

A lifetime firearm ban goes into effect in 2020 for anyone who has been hospitalised for a mental health issue more than once in a year.

WILDFIRES Utilities may bill customers for future legal damages and for settlements from the deadly 2017 wildfires that caused more than $10bn in insured losses, even if the companies’ mismanagement caused the blazes.

The measure is among more than two dozen wildfire-related laws.

Others make it easier to log trees, build firebreaks and conduct controlled burns of vegetation that would fuel wildfires; require investorowned utilities to upgrade equipment so it’s less likely to cause fires; safeguard residents’ insurance coverage following disasters; and improve emergency notifications.

GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT California becomes the first state to require publicly held corporations to have at least one woman on their boards of

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | FG CAPITAL MARKETS 242-396-4000 | COLONIAL 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225

that the private roadways and parking areas situated in the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre between East Bay Street and Shirley Street will be closed on Tuesday the 1st of January, 2019 in order to preserve the right of ownership thereof.

The Owners

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 31, 2018, PAGE 9

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394 Legal Notice NOTICE PORTSLADE INVESTMENTS LTD. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows: (a) Portslade Investments Ltd., is in voluntary dissolution under the provisions of Section 138 (4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

Prices rise as the minimum wage increases in several states MISSOURI Associated Press AT GRANNY Shaffer’s restaurant in Joplin, Missouri, owner Mike Wiggins is reprinting the menus to reflect the five, ten or 20 cents added to each item.

A two-egg breakfast will

cost an extra dime, at $7.39.

The price of a three-piece fried chicken dinner will go up 20 cents, to $8.78. The reason: Missouri’s minimum wage is rising.

Wiggins said the price hikes are necessary to help offset an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 in additional

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that Sheila St.Far of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas is (b) The dissolution of the said Company applying to the Minister responsible for commenced on the 28th December, 2018 when its nationality and Citizenship, for Registration/ Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, by the Registrar General. and that any person who knows any reason (c) The Liquidator of the said Company is why registration/naturalization should not Shareece E. Scott of Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec be granted, should send a written signed House, Lyford Cay, P.O. Box N-3229, Nassau, Bahamas. statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th December, 2018 to the Shareece E. Scott Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, P.O.Box Liquidator N7147 Nassau, The Bahamas.

NOTICE GREY MIST ADVISORS SA (Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with Section 138 (4) of The International Business Companies Act 2000 the above-named Company is in dissolution, which commenced on the 21st day of December, 2018. The Liquidator is Kim Thompson of Nassau Bahamas.

Kim Thompson (Liquidator)

NOTICE SPRING ARROW INVESTMENTS LTD.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000 the dissolution of Spring Arrow Investments Ltd. has been completed and the company has been struck from the Register on the 12th day of December, 2018.

Shareece E. Scott Liquidator

annual pay to his staff as a result of a new minimum wage law taking effect tomorrow.

“For us it’s very simple.

There’s no big pot of money out there to get the money out of” for the required pay raises, Wiggins said.

New minimum wage requirements will take effect in 20 states and nearly two dozen cities around the start of the new year, affecting millions of workers. The state wage hikes range from an extra nickel per hour in Alaska to a $1-an-hour bump in Maine, Massachusetts and for California employers with more than 25 workers.

Seattle’s largest employers will have to pay workers at least $16 an hour starting tomorrow. In New York City, many businesses will have to pay at least $15 an hour as of today. That’s more than twice the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

A variety of other new state laws also take effect tomorrow. Those include revisions to sexual harassment policies stemming from the #MeToo movement, restrictions on gun sales following deadly mass shootings and revamped criminal penalties as officials readjust the balance between punishment and rehabilitation.

The state and local wage laws come amid a multiyear push by unions and liberal advocacy groups to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour nationwide.

Few are there yet, but many states have ratcheted up wages through phased-in laws and adjustments for inflation.

In Arkansas and Missouri, voters this fall approved ballot initiatives raising the minimum wage after state legislators did not. In Missouri, the minimum wage will rise from

$7.85 to $8.60 an hour tomorrow as the first of five annual increases that will take it to $12 an hour by 2023.

At Granny Shafffer’s in Joplin, waitress Shawna Green will see her base pay go up. But she has mixed emotions about it.

“We’ll have regulars, and they will notice, and they will bring it to our attention, like it’s our fault and our doings” that menu prices are increasing, she said. “They’ll back off on something, and it’s usually their tips, or they don’t come as often.”

Economic studies on minimum wage increases have shown that some workers do benefit, while others might see their work hours reduced. Businesses may place a higher value on experienced workers, making it more challenging for entry-level employees to find jobs.

Seattle, the fastest-growing large city in the US, has been at the forefront of the movement for higher minimum wages. A local ordinance raised the minimum wage to as much as $11 an hour in 2015, then as much as $13 in 2016, depending on the size of the employer and whether it provided health insurance.

A series of studies by the University of Washington has produced evolving conclusions.

In May, the researchers determined that Seattle’s initial increase to $11 an hour had an insignificant effect on employment but that the hike to $13 an hour resulted in “a large drop in employment”. They said the higher minimum wage led to a 6.9 percent decline in the hours worked for those earning under $19 an hour, resulting in a net reduction in paychecks.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Common Law and Equity Side

2018 CLE/Qui/

IN THE MATTER of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 AND IN THE MATTER of ALL THAT piece parcel or Lot of Land being Lot 6 in Block 5C in Englerston Subdivision comprising an area of 4,244 square feet and situate on the Northern Side of a Public Road called Florida Court and now known as Coco Plum Road in the Southern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

AND IN THE MATTER of the petition of TEZEL FLORINE ANDERSON ________________________________ NOTICE ________________________________ THE PETITION OF TEZEL FLORINE ANDERSON in respect of:-

“ALL THAT piece parcel or Lot of Land being Lot 6 in Block 5C in Englerston Subdivision comprising an area of 4,244 square feet and situate on the Northern Side of a Public Road called Florida Court and now known as Coco Plum Road in the Southern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and more particularly described and shown and delineated on Plan No. 5872 NP filed in the Department of Lands and Surveys.”

THE PETITIONER claims to be the owner of the fee simple estate in possession of the parcel of land hereinbefore described free from encumbrances and has made application to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas under Section Three (3) of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959, in the above action, to have her title to the said land investigated and the nature and extent thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. NOTICE is hereby given that any person having a dower or a right to dower or an Adverse Claim or a claim not recognized in the Petition shall on or before the expiration of Thirty (30) days after the final publication of these presents, file in the said Registry of Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioner or the undersigned a Statement of her claim in the prescribed form verified by an Affidavit to be filed therewith. Failure of any such person to file and serve a Statement of his Claim on or before the expiration of Thirty (30) days after the final publication of these presents will operate as bar to such claim.

Copies of the Petition and Plan of the said land may be inspected during normal office hours in the following places:- the Registry of the Supreme Court, 1st Floor, British American Building, George Street, Nassau, The Bahamas, and the Chambers of the Petitioner’s Attorneys, Suite # 6, Gomez Building Dowdeswell Street east of Christie Street in the City of Nassau, The Bahamas.

NORWOOD A. ROLLE & CO. Chambers Suite #6 Gomez Building Dowdeswell Street east of Christie Street Nassau, N.P. The Bahamas Attorneys for the Petitioner