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'WHAT'S CHANGED' ON BAHAMASAIR GB AIRLIFT PLANS?

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The head of a Bahamian privately-owned airline has expressed scepticism over plans to solve Grand Bahama's tourism woes via Bahamasair servicing five US markets, asking Tribune Business: "What's changed?" Acknowle

Tax crackdown: Govt hits 6,000 businesses, 5,000 property owners

The Government last night unveiled its promised crackdown on tax defaulters, promising to first pursue the largest, wealthiest delinquents - some 6,000 businesses and 5,000 high-end property owners.

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Superwash chief: VAT bites 12-14% off key products

A leading businessman says the Bahamian economy is stuck "in a funk" as Value-Added Tax's (VAT) full impact starts to bite, with sales in two of his key product categories down 12-14 per cent. Dionisio D'Aguilar, Superwash's president, told Tribune Business that the Bahamas desperately needed to change its attitude towards "rebooting the economy" and making it easier to conduct business.

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BAHAMAS TO BECOME 'CRUISE NO.1' IN 2012

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Bahamas is expected to "exceed" and surpass Cozumel as the Caribbean's leading cruise destination if it maintains its current growth rate, the minister of tourism said, with 2011 stopover visitors to this nati

Gov’t ‘won’t ruin’ economy revival with labour laws

* Minister reassures private sector on changes * No move on ‘controversial’ issues yet * Will only proceed if business/union ‘consensus’

THE Government “will not do anything to ruin” efforts to revive the Bahamian economy, a Cabinet Minister pledged yesterday, as he sought to reassure businesses over labour law reforms. Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour, told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration had yet to move on “contentious” election commitments to raise the 12-year redundancy pay ‘cap’ and increase the notice period for terminated employees.

QC: VAT rejected if no ‘value for money’

The Bahamian people will not accept Value-Added Tax (VAT) unless the Government convinces them they will receive “value for money” in return, a top QC warned yesterday.

‘Unenviable balancing act’ confronting The Bahamas

The Bahamas “faces an unenviable balancing act between food security and fiscal discipline”, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) warned yesterday, with global financial developments proving “particularly concerning”.

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Hotels target 'modest increase' for 2012 Q1

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Nassau/Paradise Island hotel industry is hoping to enjoy "a modest increase in all key metrics" for January and the 2012 first quarter, the Bahamas Hotel Association's (BHA) president last night pointing out t

GB Power urged: Don’t seek quick $25m recovery

Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) and its majority owner were yesterday urged not to target “the shortest period of time” to recover their $25 million in Matthew restoration costs from storm-devastated consumers.

'STRAW THAT BREAKS THE CAMEL'S BACK'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Failure to implement crime-prevention methods "could be the straw that breaks the camel's back" for many struggling Bahamian companies, private sector leaders warned yesterday, with "slack" businesses more suscept

'STRAW THAT BREAKS THE CAMEL'S BACK'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Failure to implement crime-prevention methods "could be the straw that breaks the camel's back" for many struggling Bahamian companies, private sector leaders warned yesterday, with "slack" businesses more suscept

Port 'dismayed' by Shenanigan's

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) has described itself as "dismayed" by criticisms from a Bahamian businessman who closed his Port Lucaya Marketplace restaurant blaming high rents, arguing that he had been "unresponsive" to attempts to resolve the si

Port 'dismayed' by Shenanigan's

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) has described itself as "dismayed" by criticisms from a Bahamian businessman who closed his Port Lucaya Marketplace restaurant blaming high rents, arguing that he had been "unresponsive" to attempts to resolve the si

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Bimini Bay facing homeowners revolt

The Bimini Bay Resort is facing a homeowners revolt in the Supreme Court, with multiple purchasers voicing concerns over how their properties and multi-million dollar maintenance fee sums are being managed.

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Contractor loses ‘millions’ in 4-year BEC theft fight

A former Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president yesterday said his business had lost “millions of dollars” during his four-year fight against electricity theft charges, and he was now trying “to put the pieces together again”.

Insurer sees 38% fall from Summit

Summit Insurance blamed reduced real estate valuations for a 38.2 per cent year-over-year profits slump, as it focuses on “defending our book” in a year that will have “negative growth”.

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Miller confident on Robin Hood replacement

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor Robin Hood's landlord yesterday told Tribune Business he is extremely confident about finding a replacement tenant for the closing retailer, describing the Summerwinds Plaza location as "second to none" and "the b

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Bahamas ‘shooting ourselves in foot’ on insurance regulation

* Bahamas ‘going beyond’ AML standard * AG: ‘We’ll give general insurers one year’ * Fears captive revival undermined

FEARS were raised again yesterday that the Bahamas could be “shooting ourselves in the foot” by including general and captive insurers within its anti-money laundering regime. Emmanuel Komolafe, the Bahamas Insurance Association’s (BIA) chairman, urged the Government to provide the “benchmarking” studies and data to support its decision to define both market segments as financial institutions under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA).

TAX RETURNS PAY FOR $44M DREDGE IN JUST '1.5 YEARS'

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The $44 million Nassau Harbour dredging costs will be paid back in full within one-and-a-half years in taxes alone, the minister of tourism yesterday telling Tribune Business that any impact on the Bahamas' cruise

COURT REJECTS CUSTOMS FEARS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor The Supreme Court has rejected fears that Customs will produce "a repeat performance" in the absence of a judicial ruling over its demand for all Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees to produce a National