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Debt ratio back to pre-crisis 33% with high VAT

The Government’s initial 15 per cent Value-Added Tax (VAT) proposal would have slashed the Bahamas’s debt-to-GDP ratio to a “pre-crisis” 33 per cent by 2024, a private sector-commissioned study revealed yesterday.

$4.1bn pension liability a ‘Titanic-sinking iceberg’

The Government’s unfunded public sector pension liabilities will hit $4.1 billion by 2032 without proper reform, a leading accounting firm yesterday describing this as “unsustainable” and akin to “the iceberg that sank the Titanic”.

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'Music to my ears' WTO 95% unlikely

Super Value’s principal yesterday said it was “music to my ears” to hear the government’s WTO chief negotiator state The Bahamas is almost certainly not joining under this administration.Rupert Roberts, who has vehemently opposed becoming a full Worl

Port Lucaya owner eyes further $2m investment

Port Lucaya Marketplace’s new owner plans to invest “at least $2 million” over the next five years to transform the facility into an upscale shopping and entertainment centre, with seven prospective new tenants in the process of signing leases.

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7% increase in murders but violent crime reported to be down in 2013

DESPITE a seven per cent increase in murder from 2012 compared to 2013, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade said yesterday serious crimes in the Bahamas have decreased by four per cent during the same time period.

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Christian Council denounces Carnival: 'Immodest costumes will lead to sins of the flesh'

THE government’s inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival has drawn more controversy, with the Bahamas Christian Council denouncing the “immodest” costumes for the planned event, saying the scant attire could lead to “fornication, promiscuity, rape incest” and other “sins of the flesh.”

Marine pioneer dies, aged 96

CURTIS Johnson, the Bahamian who established the first commercial aquarium of marine life in The Bahamas, has died. He was 93.

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Hield scores 20, Kings beat Spurs for 5th straight win

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points, Chavano “Buddy” Hield added 20 and the Sacramento Kings beat the San Antonio Spurs 132-115 last night for their fifth straight victory.

Distillery 'overjoyed' at February re-open

A prominent Bahamian distillery and tourist attraction yesterday said it was "overjoyed" to have re-opened last week after being closed for nine months due to COVID-19 and associated restrictions.

Police must 'recruit by need' on cyber crime

The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) needs to “build capacity” to handle cyber crimes, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday, adding: “We need to recruit based on needs and not numbers.”Marvin Dames, minister of national security, who was the keynote sp

Sarkis calls out Govt on Baha Mar sale details

Baha Mar’s original developer last night urged the Government to “end the speculation” by releasing all agreements related to the project’s opening, as his verbal battle with the Government re-ignited following a lull of several months.

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A COMIC'S VIEW: It’s not what you say... but how you say it!!

THIS week has been hard for Bahamians. Ever since news broke late last Friday that a beautiful, young baby girl affectionately known as ‘Bella’ lost her life, there’s been a pall cast over the nation.

NIB creates new fears of ‘fiscal crisis’

The National Insurance Board’s (NIB) unfunded liabilities “could trigger a fiscal crisis” beyond the-near $7 billion national debt within the next 12 years unless radical reforms are enacted, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has warned.

'Worst ever January' sparks 30% auto sales decline fear

A well-known Bahamian auto dealer yesterday estimated that 2014 auto sales could decline 30 per cent year-over-year, based on what he described as “one of the worst January’s ever”.

Gov’t owed ‘at least’ $59m by Baha Mar

Baha Mar allegedly owes the Government “at least” $59 million in unpaid taxes, fees and utility bills, including monies due to the National Insurance Board (NIB) and for work permit fees.

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THE KDK REPORT: A golden tutorial

MANY years ago, while I was still a resident on my orthopedic rotation in New York, I was paged to the surgical floor for a code blue emergency. One of our in-house patients was in severe respiratory distress. She was an elderly lady in her late 80s, perhaps early 90s and she was surrounded by her adult children when she suddenly felt weak, began slurring her speech and then stopped responding to their questions altogether. As her children panicked, rubbing her leg and chest and calling out her name, one of her sons yelled for someone to help. The cardiac monitors were beeping loudly and a nurse came running in as the crash team quickly assembled.

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ALFRED M SEARS, QC: We need to build a safe and prosperous future for The Bahamas

Hurricane Dorian’s $3.4 billion loss has decimated 27 percent of the GDP of The Bahamas making it impossible for the country to make its budgeted $340 million debt servicing on the $8.4 billion outstanding national debt.

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FRONT PORCH – Climate Emergency: When a Cat 5 Strikes Nassau?

There is a deep ocean of rhetoric from countries producing the vast majority of carbon emissions heating our planet, with myriad pledges on reducing emissions, and promises cum pledges of funds for developing countries facing existential danger amidst rising sea levels, increasing inequality and natural disasters.

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‘Not enough time given’, says Abaco shanty town resident

ALTHOUGH for years government has threatened to destroy Abaco’s shanty towns, a father of two facing eviction from The Farm fears his family will have nowhere to go before the deadline is up to leave the unregulated community, his home for 20 years.

Too many questions still unanswered

I can only sum up the current affairs of BEC/BPL, as a fiasco.