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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022
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‘Thunderball’ causes storm on Staniel Cay By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Supreme Court this week extended the construction halt on a property at the centre of an escalating dispute between Staniel Cay homeowners over fears it is a boutique hotel development in disguise. Justice Neil Brathwaite, in an April 26, 2022, verdict upheld the recently-reinstated injunction barring developer Keith Doyle, and his DeepBlue Properties vehicle, from continuing to expand what he describes as a “family residence” and not the “Hotel Thunderball” that was originally proposed. While admitting in legal papers that a boutique hotel, named after the James Bond movie that filmed key scenes in the nearby Exuma cave system, was initially planned for the location, Mr Doyle asserted that “I have never submitted those plans for approval to the Ministry of Works nor the Department of
• Developer says James Bondthemed hotel abandoned • But Supreme Court upholds construction halt injunction • Rival homeowners seek permit quash, demand an EIA
TOP right is a photo of the construction and excavation alleged to have taken place at DeepBlue Properties’ location on Staniel Cay. Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) specifically”. The developer, who operates a charter airline, Staniel Air, which transports visitors to the island from Fort Lauderdale, added that “harassment” from neighbours opposed to his plans for the renowned yachting and boating destination had made him abandon the Hotel Thunderball project - and its “ten private and exclusive rooms” - almost two years ago. However, other Staniel Cay residents are far from convinced. Supreme Court filings obtained by Tribune Business reveal their belief that what Mr Doyle is attempting to build “is larger than existing boutique hotels in Staniel Cay”, and an attempt to construct a mini high-end
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Permit ‘backdoor’ allows developers to evade law By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE immediate past environment minister has warned that the permitting system “creates a backdoor” for developers “to cloak their boutique hotels as single family residences” and evade Bahamian law. Romauld Ferreira, who held the post until last year’s general election,
SEE PAGE 7
• Boutique hotels can be ‘cloaked’ as family homes • Ex-minister spies loophole in system he oversaw • ‘Selfdescribing’ project nature ‘undermines’ Act
Super Value principal backs VAT’s breadbasket removal ‘No more time to avoid By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value’s principal yesterday backed calls to remove VAT from breadbasket foods as a means to ease the burden soaring inflation has imposed on hard-pressed consumers still struggling to recover from COVID-19’s fall-out.
Rupert Roberts told Tribune Business that “I’d certainly agree” eliminating the 10 percent levy on products such as bread, rice, flour, butter and baby food/formula would help lessen the pressure on low income Bahamians and other vulnerable groups struggling to make ends meet amid wide-ranging price hikes.
pain’ over NIB reforms
“I hear a lot of consumers talking about how government should pull back on price controlled items, take VAT off the breadbasket items,” he said. “That’s what consumers are saying, and I hear it. The consumers are telling their representatives [MPs] and telling us and our store managers. If you
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
RUPERT ROBERTS
Aliv: Third mobile player will damage consumers By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ALIV is urging regulators to stop viewing the mobile market as “silos” in its approach to overthe-top (OTT) services such as What’s App, while warning that permitting a third market entrant could undermine investment in 5G technology. The mobile operator, in its response to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) recently-published market assessment, argued that
the supervisory body must view OTT disruptors as part of the market because they are increasingly used as substitutes for text messages and calls. As for the deployment of 5G or fifth generation mobile network technology in The Bahamas, Aliv warned that this will only be “commercially viable” in the more populated islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama. And it added that the incentive for itself and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to invest in such an
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GOVERNANCE reformers yesterday warned “there is no more time to avoid the pain” associated with saving the National Insurance Board (NIB) as they called for “a clear plan” of rescue that will gain widespread buy-in from society. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director, told Tribune Business yesterday that the Government was caught
between the twin dilemmas of trying to avoid imposing further costs on alreadystruggling businesses and workers while, at the same time, realising it cannot avoid corrective action to sustain the country’s social security system for much longer. “With all good conscience, it cannot continue to be pushed down the line without a clear plan of what happens going forward,” he said of reforms that will almost-certainly involve
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