By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas will gain a $270m economic boost if it elevates per capita cruise passenger spending in line with regional highs, as Nassau Cruise Port’s top executive asserted: “It’s not impossible. Others are doing it.”
Michael Maura, the Prince George Wharf operator’s chief executive, told Tribune Business this dollar figure is the extra economic impact that The Bahamas can generate from the six million cruise passengers projected to visit Nassau in 2025 if this nation can increase their average expenditure per head
by $45 to match the US Virgin Islands.
Reiterating that this demands The Bahamas be “creative, innovative and unique” with the tours, excursions and amenities/
Pharmacists: Consumer chief ‘threw us under bus’
By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune
THE Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) head yesterday branded talk of a partnership with the Consumer Protection Commission as “laughable” as he accused its chairman of throwing the sector “under the bus”.
Marvin Smith, hitting back after Senator Randy Rolle disclosed that unidentified pharmacies were selling medicines after their expiration date, blasted: “You can’t call for partnership after you try to throw us under the bus.
“That’s the equivalent of saying: ‘Well, since I’ve already mistreated you, we might as well try to be friends now.’ That makes no sense. The BPA is clear about this: Partnership must be based on mutual respect and trust.”
Mr Rolle had previously said: “Beyond grocery stores, we observed that some Over-the-Hill counter medication in drug stores was outdated, which also poses a health risk. Some medication, they have a date best used by as well. And again, right now, I think the National Insurance Board has a
committee that looks at these things.
“But again, as consumer protection and not working in silos and being our brother’s keepers, we noticed that some of them were selling outdated medication. I don’t want to go into more details than that but there was a number of them that, again, we communicated with the relevant agencies, we communicated with some store owners and, for the most part, we got a lot of buy-in and co-operation that they’re going to try and adjust these practices.”
Mr Smith told this newspaper that information should have never been released at a press conference, and questioned whether the Commission is seeking “brownie points” or if it really wants to aid in
‘Easy target’ fears over Bahamas cyber security
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor
TECHNOLOGY specialists yesterday voiced fears that hackers may start viewing The Bahamas as “an easy target” unless the Government, private sector and others start treating cyber security “more seriously”.
Duran Humes, chief executive of Plato Alpha Design, a software development firm, speaking after BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company (APD) revealed it was hit by a ransomeware attack in April 2024, told Tribune Business he was aware of cyber security breaches occurring in The Bahamas at the rate of one incident per week.
Describing that as “a bit more frequent” than he would wish, Mr Humes called for this nation to go beyond the Government’s Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) and create a “force” of cyber security specialists - similar to the police and Defence Force - to guard “the front lines”
attractions it offers to visitors, he argued that the FloridaCaribbean Cruise Association’s (FCCA) recent study had exposed “a real opportunity” for this nation to extract an even greater economic impact from the sector.
The FCCA, which represents the major cruise lines such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, in its first post-COVID study of the sector’s economic impact on the Caribbean and Latin America unveiled several concerning findings for The Bahamas including an 8 percent reduction in per capita spending by passengers compared to their average outlay six years ago in 2018.
Mr Maura conceded that some of the survey rankings for The Bahamas, such as the slippage in how likely cruise passengers were to return as high-spending hotel guests and stopover visitors, was “disappointing” especially given the $300m-plus investment in upgrading Nassau Cruise Port.
But, while agreeing that “we would have liked to have seen better ratings”, he added he was not viewing the FCCA study’s findings “as a negative, but as an opportunity” for The Bahamas to effect the necessary tourism product and other improvements that will increase visitor spending and get the
• Generated if 6m visitors match regional spend lead in ‘25
• Nassau port chief: ‘We must be creative, innovative, unique’
• Nation’s rankings ‘but disappointing’, but expose ‘opportunity’
CCA: $1.6bn Baha Mar ruling ‘not the last word’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
SARKIS Izmirlian and Baha Mar’s contractor traded further blows yesterday with the latter asserting the $1.6bn verdict against it “is by no means the last word” as it formally filed notice of its planned appeal. China Construction America (CCA), in a statement confirming the appeal notice was filed, said the move is a “first step towards correcting” the New York State Supreme Court verdict that ruled it perpetrated “an absolute sham and shakedown” on Baha Mar’s original while providing “phony” completion dates that ultimately cost him his $845m investment in the project.
• Chinese contractor confirms New York appeal filing
• Sarkis: ‘Blaming others for its misconduct is absurd’
The Chinese stateowned contractor again defended “the consistently tireless construction work” it performed in a bid to achieve the busted March 27, 2015, completion date, while continuing to blame Mr Izmirlian, his BML Properties vehicle and executive team for mismanaging the development and its budget.
Mr Izmirlian, though, fired back in his own statement last night by branding as “absurd” CCA’s attempts to blame everyone but itself for the missed deadline. He also
Minister: ‘Much
work’ despite Moody’s stable credit rating
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business
of this growing threat especially given the growing reliance on a knowledgebased, digital economy.
Keith Roye, Plato Alpha Design’s chief operations officer and a Tribune Business columnist, echoed his colleague’s concerns in telling this newspaper that micro, small and mediumsized (MSME) Bahamian businesses are likely to be “very vulnerable” to cyber criminals simply because they lack the financing, technical resources and expertise to properly protect themselves. He added that breaches, especially those that result in customer data being lost, stolen or hacked, can do tremendous damage to a company’s reputation and operations for once clients are made aware they will often switch their business to rival companies.
“Breaches are definitely happening at least once a week here in The Bahamas, which is a bit more frequent than I would like it,” Mr Humes said. “It’s definitely something companies
A CABINET minister has affirmed “much work” remains to rebuild sufficient “headroom” for the Government’s finances despite Moody’s confirmation of The Bahamas’ creditworthiness and ‘stable’ outlook.
Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, responding to Tribune Business inquiries via messaged replies said that lowering the $11.5bn national debt and eliminating the annual fiscal deficit remain pressing priorities for the Government given the ever-present threat posed by more frequent and powerful hurricanes.
“My reaction is that we are pleased with the progress that we have made in improving the Government’s finances over the past three years, but we recognise that much work needs to be done to rebuild the fiscal headroom we lost as a result of our response to the pandemic,” he said. “We are mindful of the everpresent threats of natural disaster and this undergirds our commitment to fiscal discipline.”
The Bahamas added more than $3bn to its national debt over the
three fiscal years from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 as a result of its response to both Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, when the bottom effectively fell out of this country’s tourism-dependent economy overnight. Dorian by itself was estimated to have inflicted a combined $3.4bn in economic damages and losses.
As a result, The Bahamas used up virtually all its borrowing ability for when further emergencies arise. It has, however, been spared a further major hurricane over the past five years since Dorian, which has given the Government breathing room to slash the annual fiscal deficit (to a forecast $70m in the 2024-2025 Budget year) and lay the path for generating the anticipated surplus and rebuilding “headroom”.
Moody’s last week, in its latest update on The Bahamas, praised the Government’s “effective fiscal management” in slashing its annual deficits but cast doubts over whether it will hit its 25 percent revenue-to-GDP ratio target and achieve the Budget surpluses anticipated.
The credit rating agency, which maintained a ‘B1’ rating on The Bahamas’ sovereign along
pointed out that CCA has already failed twice with appeals to the New York State Supreme Court’s appellate division relating to the case. Nevertheless, CCA pledged to use all efforts to overturn Judge Andrew Borrok’s verdict as it argued that Mr Izmirlian went “behind the backs” of itself, the Christie administration and the China Export-Import Bank, the project’s financier, in seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. It argued that this, and the legal battles, receivership
with a ‘stable’ outlook, thus indicating this nation is unlikely to suffer a further downgrade to its creditworthiness over the next 12 months, backed the Davis
and sales process that followed, delayed completion and hurt the Bahamian economy.
“The lower court’s decision is by no means the last word in this matter, and the action we have taken to begin the appeal process is the first step towards correcting a ruling that misapplies basic principles of New York law, misconstrues core facts, and completely overlooks the consistently tireless construction work done by CCA Bahamas that ultimately completed the
administration’s forecast that it is on target to deliver a “steady fiscal surplus” from 2025-2026 onwards.
MICHAEL MAURA
SARKIS IZMIRLIAN
DR MARVIN SMITH
MICHAEL HALKITIS KWASI THOMPSON
CLEVELAND CLINIC ANNOUNCES ITS SECOND BAHAMAS REPRESENTATIVE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
CLEVELAND Clinic has added a second in-country representative for The Bahamas in a bid to expand its network and improve access to quality healthcare for patients from this nation.
The clinical and hospital care provider, in a statement, said Allison Moss-Ferguson will act as a second local liaison between Bahamian patients and Cleveland Clinic. “The most important aspect of my role is to assist patients with scheduling their appointments and provide them with the necessary information for their visit to Cleveland Clinic,” said Ms Moss-Ferguson.
“Based on my experience, patients typically come to Cleveland Clinic when seeking a specialised doctor.” Prior to her role at Cleveland Clinic, Ms Moss-Ferguson worked in human resources and the financial services industry. She joins Shenika Nesbitt as a Bahamas country representative.
Tommaso Falcone, Cleveland Clinic’s executive vice-president and president of international and emerging markets, said in-country representatives are selected for their local knowledge including a deep understanding of healthcare.
“We believe every individual can benefit from the quality of care Cleveland Clinic provides. By expanding our network of in-country representatives, we are able to facilitate access to care,” said Dr Falcone. Bahamians interested in connecting with Cleveland Clinic for care can contact both in-country representatives, Ms Nesbitt having served in that role since 2018.
“Our representatives are trained and kept upto-date with the range of expertise and newest treatments available in Cleveland Clinic’s global network, so we can ensure they connect our patients with the correct team of experts for their needs. The aim is to provide a seamless patient experience from the initial consultation to post-treatment follow-ups by leveraging
the interconnectedness of our global health system,” said Dr Falcone. The in-country representatives’ roles also include connecting Bahamian medical professionals with training and continuing medical education offered by Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic’s incountry representatives have in-depth knowledge of the latest treatments available.
The healthcare provider has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery, deep brain stimulation surgery to restore functions after a stroke, and the first face transplant in the US. In 2023, the IBM Quantum System One was installed at Cleveland Clinic. It is the first quantum computer in the world to be uniquely dedicated to healthcare research with the aim of helping Cleveland Clinic accelerate biomedical discoveries
In-country representatives can connect patients to Cleveland Clinic care at locations across the US, and in Toronto; London; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They can arrange online educational consultations, second opinions where available, and followup appointments, as well as in-person treatment at the most convenient Cleveland Clinic hospital, complete with travel arrangements for patients and their families. Cleveland Clinic’s health system currently has 23 hospitals and 276 outpatient facilities globally. In 2023, patients came for treatment from 132 countries. Access for international patients is enhanced by a seamless, global interface with 24/7 access portals and digital medicine capabilities.
Cyber security chief: Crooks getting better
By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas’ cyber security chief yesterday called for shared resilience and information sharing to better combat threats in an increasingly digital world.
Sametria McKinney, director of The Bahamas’ cyber incident response team (CIRT), told the 32nd meeting of the heads of CARICOM social security organisations: “You have to share information on things like what tools are you using.
“And I’m not saying share on the Internet. I’m talking about sharing with your community. These are the conversations you need to have. You also need to share framework and policies because if you’re in the same business, you’re doing the same thing.” She discussed risks, including those related to technology, legal, people and strategy.
“All of those are part of enterprise risk
management,” Ms McKinney said. “So what you’re seeing is you’re seeing some phishing, some fake apps, you’re seeing viruses, malware. You’re seeing fraud, you’re seeing password theft, you’re seeing data loss. These are some of the things you’re seeing.
“But the reason why I put this here is because I initially had a slide at artificial intelligence (AI) and I opted against it. But I did want to mention phishing specifically because one of the things I want people to appreciate, when you think about what your threat looks like, is that your threat isn’t static.
“It’s just non-static. It’s evolving. So that means then at the Board level, at the management level, at the operation level, at the technical level, that we should be talking and understanding what our threats are. We should be discussing those threats and then, more importantly, we should be discussing them together.
Ms McKinney added: “The other thing, too, is your threat actors are
also evolving. And they’re evolving because technology is changing. A perfect example of that is phishing. You remember back in the day you would have these phishing e-mails, say from an African prince. I used to see them. I would open them and read them.
Just in case.
“And the way we would tell that they were phishing would be because the grammar was wrong, the sentence structure was wrong, there was an obvious sign that, you know, maybe this doesn’t work. Nowadays, that is not the best method of telling if it’s efficient because with AI, the e-mails that they’re sending you are correct.
“They have no errors, they know your name. They know enough about you to be 100 percent believable. So that means that your threat actors are evolving. They’re getting better at this.”
Ms McKinney explained that companies need to create committees to monitor cyber risks, appoint someone to do an assessment and consider risk
appetite. “The second thing is: Who’s talking to the Board? You need a committee, another one,” she added.
“You can combine it with the audit committee or the risk committee or whoever committee. But somewhere you need to be looking at your risk. Cyber risk is what I’m talking about. They need to be able to tell you about things like when you have your pen test done, the vulnerabilities that were discovered, and then the road map and prioritisation plan of addressing those. She added: “The other is we must assess. When you go out, you’re hiring somebody, you’re finding your framework, you are assessing. So give somebody some money to assess. If you don’t have a vulnerability scanner in your facility, just find one. The first time they run that vulnerability scan, don’t panic. There’s going to be so many unpacked systems you wouldn’t believe it.”
CARNIVAL HIRES GB NATIVE AS CRUISE PORT’S ‘LEARNING’ HEAD
CARNIVAL has named Grand Bahama native, Makayla Russell, as learning and development manager for its $600m Celebration Key cruise port destination on that island.
Returning to Grand Bahama career following a career in the hospitality industry in Nassau and elsewhere, Ms Russell said: “This appointment at Celebration Key marks a decade-long, deeply personal return to my roots in Grand Bahama.
“Being a part of this project is more than a career milestone; it’s about contributing to the revitalisation of Grand Bahama and helping Celebration Key become a cornerstone of both tourism and local pride.”
Ms Russell said her vision for the new role includes laying the foundation for an employee
culture of inclusivity, diversity and fun, while also nurturing the development of local talent at the cruise port. Celebration Key is forecast to provide 700 permanent Bahamian jobs, including 400 posts directly with Carnival Corporation, as well as numerous related business opportunities for Grand Bahamians.
Ms Russell said the project is about more than just economic growth and job creation. “It’s about restoring the hope of Grand Bahamians who are waiting for an opportunity to come back home,” she said. “That is why serving as destination learning and development manager at Celebration Key is the most significant role of my career.
“I’m proud to be making history alongside some of the finest leaders I’ve ever worked with. After spending years away from home, I’m eager to contribute to the island’s future.” Ms Russell has more than a decade of learning and development expertise, with a background spanning education, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and the hospitality industry.
Her hospitality career began with a role as training manager for a start-up management team at a beach resort. Ms Russell later transitioned to developing training programmes at a cruise destination that elevated both guest experiences and employee development. At Celebration Key, she will lead the implementation of staff training programmes in preparation for the project’s 2025 opening. Her goal is to ensure that both management and line staff are fully equipped to provide exceptional guest experiences that align with the vision of Carnival’s latest destination.
ALLISON MOSS-FERGUSON, Cleveland Clinic’s second incountry representative for The Bahamas.
MAKAYLA RUSSELL
BAHAMASAIR CHIEF: LITTLE CHOICE ON AVIATION TAXES
on the taxation to keep the infrastructure improved.
BAHAMASAIR’S managing director yesterday revealed taxes account for about 36.5 percent of airfare costs as he argued this nation has no choice but to really on such levies to finance airport infrastructure.
Tracy Cooper, speaking on a panel discussion with heads of Latin American airlines at the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) forum, said economies of scale force the collection of high aviation-related taxes as a mechanism to ensure regional airports maintain infrastructure to international standards.
“In the Caribbean, taxes on tickets, airfare, typically is around 36.5 percent; not as high as you guys, but we still have there a little bit. But in The Bahamas there are 18 international airports in one country, a country with only 400,000 persons. And so the economies of scale simply are not there to garnish that from just the air fares alone,” explained Mr Cooper.
“This is a problem straight across the small island states within the Caribbean, where some of them are much lower than the 400,000 in The Bahamas. And so the governments, and where we don’t have natural resources, etc, unfortunately have to rely
“If some of them don’t provide those taxes, you would not really be able to even fly in because the navigational and all of the other essentials for actually flying into those countries will not be there, or the funds will not be there to provide those means.”
Mr Cooper said the Bahamian tourism industry has boomed despite increased aviation taxes and fees.
“In 2020 we had a tourism population of about 7.2m. That jumped all the way up to 9.6m in 2023, which is pretty much an astronomical growth, and all of that still happened with the tax structure and everything else in play,” he added.
Mr Cooper said a challenge that Caribbean airlines face with regional travel is the demand for flights into the region is more than twice the demand for regional travel.
“The issue is that we have more flights into the Caribbean than in and around the Caribbean. It is almost a two to one structure,” he added.
“For seat availability, you had some 49,000 seats available coming into the Caribbean, whereas you only had about 11,000 intra Caribbean. To put it in perspective, you are talking about lesser air population movement in the Caribbean versus coming into the Caribbean.
“Because of the tourism product, obviously, we have to sustain that. But we’re starting to see some growth
intra Caribbean airline. For instance, Providenciales is doing a good job and a few of the others, but it is still a bit of a challenge.”
Mr Cooper said that while Latin America has “great potential” to expand flights, only 5 to 7 percent of visitors come from that region. He suggested beginning to expand connectivity by engaging in
mutual stopover locations such as Miami before expanding into direct flights.
“For the Caribbean, we see a great potential, actually, from Latin America. Sometimes we think all of these guys have to fly over the Caribbean to go where they have to go to and, somehow, they’ve lost track of fact that there’s some
beautiful islands that are sitting out there that they could stop into,” said Mr Cooper.
“For instance, 80 percent of our tourism product comes from North America and only about 5 percent or 7 percent comes from Latin America, even though Latin America is a bigger population than North America. So Bahamasair
PM: Grand Lucayan sale ‘still progressing’
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
THE Prime Minister yesterday said negotiations for the Grand Lucayan’s sale are “still progressing” although he provided no new details.
“That is still progressing, and we’re trying to ensure that we get the best deal for the Grand Bahama people,” said Philip Davis KC. During a media briefing on September 19, he had said the Government should be closing the sale within the next two weeks or so” after “intense discussions” with an intended buyer - a deadline that has now passed.
“The issue for us, of course, is to ensure that we just don’t sell for selling’s sake or to tick a box,” Mr Davis said then. “We want a world-class brand name to be associated with reopening, and I’m hopeful and I’m encouraged that we will have that, and within the next two weeks or so we should be closing an arrangement on that. Until then, just stay tuned, and we’ll let you know.”
With this deadline not being met, Opposition leader Michael Pintard seized the opportunity to criticise Mr Davis for the delay. Mr Pintard expressed frustration over what he described as the
Government’s pattern of missed deadlines, arguing that the prolonged sale process has left Grand Bahama residents disappointed.
“Seemingly taking over from his deputy prime minister who could not close the deal, the Prime Minister three weeks ago assured the Bahamian people that the Grand Lucayan would finally, this time for sure, be sold within two weeks. That pledge followed more than two years of similar idle promises from this rudderless PLP regime,” the Opposition leader blasted.
“Yet, to the surprise of no one, his earnest deadline has come and gone and still the people of Grand Bahama are left disappointed once again. The Grand Lucayan remains unsold.”
Responding to Mr Pintard, the Prime Minister had described the FNM as the “inferior negotiator”. He asserted that the former Minnis administration agreed a “bad deal” when it acquired the property for $65m from Hutchison Whampoa’s real estate arm in September 2018, arguing that the Opposition is in no position to “lecture” his administration on its handling of the sale.
“Don’t forget, first of all, they’re the one who made the bad deal to buy it; and buy it in circumstances that they clearly were the
inferior negotiator, and they should be the last to speak about that,” said Mr Davis.
“What did they do when they had it? They bought it right at a price that we don’t think it was worth, and bought it with less assets than it really had. And I don’t want to speak on it because that’s looking backwards.
“They cannot lecture us on what we are doing. What did they do? Question asked. If we are failing, let them just wait and see. We could say they have failed. They have failed. We are still working. We still here.”
In August, Tribune Business reported that the hotel’s potential buyer plans to demolish all its existing properties to make way for three new hotel towers and two casinos as part of an investment that could hit $2bn.
Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prospective purchaser is a US-based investor/developer with strong and already-existing casino industry links. “It’s a little vague, but it’s a USbased company with casino connections,” one contact said. “They’re apparently going to knock all the hotels down and put up three towers and two casinos. If it’s true, it’s encouraging.
“It’s this big company, and they have big plans with the three towers. I
don’t know why they would knock down the big hotel in the middle, which is the only one that has value.”
Another source said of the buyer: “These aren’t people looking to try and find a
demand. They have that demand. They are building a supply for that demand. These are real investors, real developers and people who have real money.”
has started see a lot of Latin American carriers that are actually flying over us and, OK, you don’t want to stop in The Bahamas but perhaps we could take some of your people because we have mutual spots Miami, Orlando and the likes, and that we could then expand it a bit.”
Only one of the Grand Lucayan’s three resort properties, Lighthouse Point, is presently open to guests. Both Breaker’s Cay and the former Memories property have been closed for numerous years –– the latter ever since Hurricane Matthew struck the island in October 2016.
PRIME Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip Davis officially opens Bahamas Aviation Week 2024 and the Latin American & Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) 20th Forum on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 in the Ballroom of Baha Mar resort on Cable Beach. Photos:Kemuel Stubbs/BIS
$270M CRUISE BOOST GOAL ‘NOT IMPOSSIBLE’
19 percent of passengers who remain on board while in port off the vessel.
Suggesting that the US Virgin Islands, which enjoys an average cruise visitor spend of $166.22 per head, is “a more reasonable and comparative” target for The Bahamas to aim at, Mr Maura said eliminating the $45 gap between it and this nation would inject an extra $270m impact into Nassau’s economy in 2025 based on the forecast six million-plus passenger arrivals.
The Bahamas’ per head cruise passenger spend, according to the FCCA survey, stood at an average $120.93 for the 12 months to end-April 2024 and represented a more than $11 decline on the $131.95 enjoyed in 2018. “That’s not a one-time benefit; that’s an annual benefit,” Mr Maura told this newspaper of the potential $270m spending increase.
“The fact is someone else out there is able to offer experiences and products that cause individuals to spend a little more than $45 more than they have been spending when they visit The Bahamas.” This nation was ranked seventh by the FCCA survey for per capita cruise passenger spend, with both St Maarten and St Kitts also ahead of it at $163 and $145 per head, respectively.
“I would say that, in the case of St Kitts, that’s a tour component,” Mr Maura added. “They are getting more out of tours than we are. Then you go to Aruba,
and experience the opportunities there as well.” Aruba’s per capita cruise passenger spending stood at $131.05, around $10 higher than The Bahamas, and the cruise port chief said just matching that would boost this nation’s economy by $60m based on next year’s arrivals forecast.
Mr Maura said he had compared The Bahamas’ guest satisfaction rankings in the 2024 FCCA survey with the last pre-COVID one conducted on the cruise industry’s behalf in 2018. He noted that this nation’s score was effectively “flat” when passengers were asked how satisfied they were with their overall visit to The Bahamas, ranking 23rd out of 33 destinations on 2024 compared to 24th out of 36 some six years ago.
“Obviously we don’t want to be flat, and we don’t want to be ranked 23rd or 24th,” the Nassau Cruise Port chief said. “We obviously have been working hard to improve the demand for our destination, in the case of Nassau specifically, having spent over $300m on the waterfront [cruise port] which opened in May 2023.”
Mr Maura, stating he was unsure how much “legacy perceptions” of Nassau and The Bahamas may have influenced the findings, acknowledged: “We would have liked to have seen better ratings. But I don’t look at this as a negative; I look at this as an opportunity.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity given the fact this year we are going to
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that MORALES SAINTILMA, of P.O. Box N7060 #39 Key West Street, Nassau, The 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 30th day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
welcome 5.3m or 5,4m passengers to Nassau, and next year we will have over six million. There’s really a great opportunity here to give these guests more to do, and be innovative and creative and not do the same as everyone else.
“If we are offering the same, or nearly the same, as they are introduced to in other destinations there’s a real likelihood they may have had their fill. If we are different, unique and innovative there’s a chance they’ll give it a try as they will not have done it before. That’s something for us to look carefully at and, in some cases, continue to look at.”
Bahamian tour and excursion operators, though, have frequently complained in the past that their innovation and creativity has been stifled by the cruise lines directing their passengers to use only certain providers while also controlling the prices they charge and the mark-ups they earn.
An insight into this influence was provided by the FCCA survey, which noted that three-quarters or 75 percent of passenger tours and excursions in The Bahamas are booked and paid for via the cruise lines. Just 4 percent book directly with the local provider, with travel agents accounting for the 21 percent balance. Only 47 percent of visiting passengers go on tours and excursions.
The cruise lines have often cited a lack of liability insurance coverage among Bahamian providers as a
key obstacle to doing business with them. However, the latter are arguing that they also have to compete directly with the cruise lines, as evidenced by Royal Caribbean’s developing Paradise island beach club destination, although the industry’s retort is there are plenty of passengers to satisfy all businesses.
Mr Maura, meanwhile, reiterated: “A lot of the work we have been doing is about increasing per passenger spend, and obviously there is more work to do going back to the experience, the offerings, things for people to do and product variety.
“More work there along with perhaps marketing; we have to take a good look at our marketing efforts to ensure people understand the value and why a Bahamian experience is worth putting money into. That caught my eye, and it’s of concern and interest to all. There’s probably a lot of small things we can be doing to make a more significant economic contribution.”
Arguing that The Bahamas, as the regional leader with $655m in economic impact from the cruise industry, faces a ‘glass half full’ situation, Mr Maura said: “I would look at the glass half full portion as the good portion, and the half empty portion as the opportunity - things we can substantially target and fill the glass.
“Other people are doing it. It’s not impossible. It’s a real opportunity and very few destinations have the
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that NELICE JEAN, of Lyon Road, Kemp Road, Nassau, 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 23rd day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
strategic or comparative advantage we have given our proximity to the home ports of Port Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades along with the six million visitors we have.” The Nassau Cruise Port chief also asserted that The Bahamas’ proximity to the cruise industry’s Florida home ports means it has “a greater challenge than most destinations” when it comes to enticing repeat visitors, who have been to this nation multiple times, to leave the boat because they believe they have experienced all it has to offer - thus requiring continued reinvestment in, and refreshing of, this nation’s product.
The Bahamas ranked 32nd out of the 33 destinations when passengers were asked whether this was their first visit in the 2024 survey, with just 51.6 percent replying ‘yes’. “The 19 percent that stay on board [when in port], that’s the issue,” Mr Maura argued. “The challenge for us, which is greater than most destinations, is so many of our visitors have been to us so many times before.’
“That is the challenge. We have to continue to innovate, continue to innovate, and we have to continue to promote and market to cause those repeat visitors to come off the ship even though they’ve been to us three, four or five times. So
much of this has to do with continual reinvestment in our product and expansion of our product.
“There’s a fantastic opportunity for very capable Bahamians to invest in and expand our tourism product. It’s not all about creating things of monumental scale. Many visitors come to The Bahamas and Caribbean looking for intimate, micro experiences. There’s opportunities for all kinds of folks to step up, give it a try and see what they can do. That’s a wonderful challenge to have.”
Mr Maura noted that The Bahamas had also slipped to 13th out of the 33 destinations in the 2024 FCCA report, as opposed to eighth out of 36 in 2018, for how likely cruise passengers were to return as stopover visitors and hotel guests.
“A little disappointing there,” he conceded, “but an opportunity for is to look at marketing and promotion and how we work closely with our hotel partners in creating opportunities for those guests to return as stopover visitors more easily. I think an area we need to look at as an opportunity is how likely a cruise passenger, or family, is to return for a land-based vacation and work very hard on it.”
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY
The Public is hereby advised that I, MARC MATEO BRADLEY WILLIAMS of Johnson Road, Eastern District, New Providence, intend to change my name to SELENA CHANTELL MUNNINGS. 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, New Providence, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that STEPHEN AGUSTUS JONES of P. O. Box SB-50387, Golden Meadows Subdivision, 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 30th day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that SHERLANDA JOSEPH, Cumberland Place, Nassau, The 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 25th day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that JACINTH MAUREEN WILLIAMS, of P.O.Box CR-55873, Withaker Avenue, Carmichael Road, Nassau, The 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 23rd day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that T KEMIKA POWELL, of Lucaya Lane, Regency Park, Nassau, The 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 23rd day of October, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
CCA: $1.6bn Baha Mar ruling ‘not the last word’
Baha Mar resort,” CCA argued yesterday.
“Through its own irresponsible actions, BML Properties caused Baha Mar to over-borrow, overspend and overextend itself and then brought about its own losses by unilaterally and secretly putting the project into a wrongful bankruptcy behind the backs of its partners and the Bahamian Government.
“BML Properties’ ploy to keep control of the project, which was rejected by independent courts in the US and The Bahamas, harmed not only CCA Bahamas and CSCEC Bahamas, but also the Bahamian economy. We look forward to presenting our arguments to the appellate court.”
CSCEC Bahamas is China State Construction and Engineering Corporation, parent of CCA, which saw its $150m investment in Baha Mar via preference shares wiped out as a result of the original project’s
liquidation, receivership and ultimate sale to current owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE). However, in response to the Chinese contractor’s assertions, Mr Izmirlian blasted back: “CCA’s appeals in this case have failed twice already. CCA’s absurd blaming of others for its own misconduct was already rejected by the trial court. We will continue to pursue justice in this matter.”
CCA’s notice of appeal did not contain the legal grounds and arguments upon which it is seeking to overturn the verdict that awarded Mr Izmirlian the full value of his lost investment plus more than a decade’s worth of pre-judgment interest that will likely equal or exceed his $845m equity contribution to the development.
The Chinese contractor previously claimed that Mr Izmirlian and his team mismanaged the Baha Mar project through constantly changing the design and
scope of works, while also frequently supplying drawings and construction plans late. It also accused the original developer of initiating, but failing to pay, construction change directives (CCDs). However, these arguments were given short shrift by Judge Borrok who comprehensively found for Mr Izmirlian and BML Properties. As for CCA’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy complaints, these filings are typically done very quietly and secretively in a bid to avoid tipping-off creditors to what is afoot.
The Christie administration appeared to view Mr Izmirlian’s actions as a betrayal, given that it had worked on a resolution that would have seen China Export-Import Bank provide a further $150m in financing beyond the original $2.45bn to complete the project. Both CCA and Mr Izmirlian were required to provide an extra $75m each to complete the $300m balance.
Pharmacists: Consumer chief ‘threw us under bus’
fixing the issue at hand. He said the problem lies in the way the information was communicated.
“If you want to show the Bahamian people, ‘oh, we doing some work,’ simply say ‘we’re making our inspections at both grocery stores and pharmacies, and increasing the vigilance on consumer related concerns’,” Mr Smith said. “Once you say some this and some that, what you basically do is you put a target on everybody and it puts a negative connotation on the entire industry. That’s not professional.
“It would have been more proper for him to say: ‘We have conducted ten inspections, and out of the ten inspections we saw three that had some issues’. And if this is indicative, that means that we may have the problem in 30 percent of us.”
While Mr Rolle said the Commission is dedicated to safety and protecting consumer rights, and that expired medication poses a health risk, Mr Smith asserted there was a better way to handle the situation. He added that the Commission should, by all means, enforce the law when necessary but it should have come to the Association before announcing to the public that some pharmacies were selling expired medicine.
“No one’s advocating that it’s A, not a health risk, or B, not an issue that needs to be corrected,” Mr Smith said. “What we’re advocating is how this is communicated. And if it’s that critical that you want to issue a warning, you have a Pharmacy Council and you have a Pharmacy Association.”
Mr Smith told this newspaper that, about two months ago, the BPA initiated a meeting with the Commission to discuss the concerns of each party. He said the conversation covered price controls with both sides promising to handle inspections respectfully.
“Those concerns were basically on price control and how the inspections were happening,” he said.
“Our members didn’t like that. We came to them and said: ‘What are your concerns?’ They gave us some of the concerns. We went back to our members and we said: ‘These are things we want to work on.’ And we have been working on it.
“We discussed them with our members. We said to our members: ‘Let’s be more co-operative when the inspectors come about.
The inspectors told us that they would try to be more respectful when they came about. And so we wanted to lower the temperature of animosity that had really developed here. What this does, does nothing to help them; absolutely nothing to help them. But to talk about partnership, after you spoke to everybody
else except us, come on. They can’t be serious.”
Mr Smith added: “It’s not even about an apology any more. All we want them to do is live up to what they’ve agreed with us to do. We are a stakeholder. The Association is a stakeholder. If you say to me, as a stakeholder, ‘hey, we will partner with your Association because we want what’s best for the day and the people’, then live up to that, and communication is a part of that.
“No one’s running away from the fact that they may have gone into some places and found some issues. We have our own inspections and we go into places and find issues as an industry. It happens.That’s why we need inspectors. No one’s running away from that.
“But the issue for us is are we trying to really fix it or are we trying to get brownie points? Now if you want to get brownie points, say you want to get brownie points, and then we know what to do when we deal with you.” Mr Smith defended pharmacies, arguing that mistakes are made and rectified once noticed.
“One of the things we have to remember is that, for a lot of our pharmacies, these are not chains,” Mr Smith said. “These are Mom and Pop operations. And if major retailers in this country still end up with expired stuff on the shelves, like you go to major food stores and major retailers and you’ll buy a bag of chips or something else, and when you look at it, you realise it expired or something.
“It happens when you have a ton of inventory, and these are places that have much more staff than the average pharmacy. Mistakes can be made, and if they’re pointed out or consumers find it and bring it back, our members rectify it right away.
“But I don’t think there’s a benefit to going into a public forum and saying to the public: ‘Oh, these people are selling you expired stuff.’ Particularly when we have over 70 pharmacies in country and they visit three. That does not make sense.
“I challenge you to walk into any retailer that sells expirable goods, and find 100 percent perfection in terms of expiration,” Mr Smith argued. “It doesn’t happen because you have certain things that expire on a particular day. You have other things that expire on a particular month, then you have some goods that expire basically from the year-end.
“And so, at the end of the day, the fact is that a good could expire on the 13th of a month, and if that 13th happens to be a Wednesday and it doesn’t get pulled before the inspection on a
This, though, required Mr Izmirlian to give a personal guarantee, which he did not do due to the complete breakdown of trust and confidence in CCA’s ability to complete Baha Mar given that the contractor had not given a completion deadline. Knowing the bank would side with CCA, and likely squeeze him out, the Chapter 11 filing represented a last-ditch bid by Mr Izmirlian to retain control and preserve his investment.
The Delaware Bankruptcy Court also dismissed the Chapter 11 case after realising that any ruling it made would not be recognised by the Bahamian Supreme Court or the Government, ultimately bowing to this nation on jurisdictional grounds as the project and most of its assets were located here.
Judge Borrok, unveiling his findings just over two months after a 14-day trial in early August, found that Mr Izmirlian’s fraud claim against CCA was
if they’re repeated, then enforce the law.
Friday, for whatever reason, it might not get caught till the next Friday.
“And those are the things that happen in the basic day-to-day routine of business. It’s not perfect. So I wouldn’t say that every pharmacy has been perfect, every retailer has been perfect. What I’m saying is when you know these sorts of things, if they’re blatant,
“There’s a way to handle these sorts of things, and blanketly smearing, and I use that word as strongly as I could, smearing an entire profession by going out there and just throwing something out as if it’s a regular thing or regular practice, for something that’s clearly an anomaly, I think it’s irresponsible for a government office to do that.”
Mr Smith said the BPA has released a missive to its members to be more vigilant, and to make customers feel comfortable
“established beyond doubt” as the contractor “knowingly and falsely” promised it would meet the revised March 27, 2015, opening date for Baha Mar while concealing from the developer this was unlikely to be achieved.
Judge Borrok’s verdict identified six different contractual breaches by CCA, or violations of the investors’ agreement that governed the relationship between the two sides, while also citing what he described as “at least four instances of fraud” in awarding what Mr Izmirlian and his team said is a total $1.6bn in damages (the $845m plus interest).
The New York judge found that Baha Mar’s financial crisis, which resulted in the liquidity crunch sparking Mr Izmirlian’s ultimately unsuccessful Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in Delaware, would have been avoided if CCA had spent the $54m it demanded in November
enough to be able to come back if there happens to be an issue. He added that there are times pharmacists receive medication from parent companies that have already expired, and they have to return it and receive replacements.
Mr Smith said he wants to avoid possible public panic, and would like to retain consumers’ confidence in the pharmaceutical industry. “We welcome enforcement.
What we’re saying is:
2014 on paying the project’s sub-contractors rather than acquiring downtown Nassau’s British Colonial resort. And he concluded that CCA “ordered or condoned the slowing or stopping” of construction work at Baha Mar in the months leading up to the fatal missed opening in March 2015 to “further its commercial interests”, finding that one of its senior executives admitted to this before then-prime minster Perry Christie. CCA also “actively worked to curry favour with the Bahamian government” behind Mr Izmirlian’s back, justice Borrok ruled, finding that “the record evidence establishes” it made $2.3m in payments to Notarc Management Group, an entity run by Leslie Bethel, to help “gain access” to his father, Sir Baltron Bethel, who was Mr Christie’s senior policy adviser and ‘point man’ in dealing with the Baha Mar dispute.
“If people go out and take this ‘some’, because people hear what they want to hear, they now don’t have confidence in the appropriate places that they should be buying; not just buying their over-the-counter medicines from, but talking to their pharmacists about those medication.
“You’re going to have less informed people because they’re not talking to their pharmacies. And two, where else are they going to get this stuff from? They’re going to go into these other places.”
‘Let us help you to fix this thing’ because what we cannot do is create a lack of confidence in an essential service,” he added.
‘Easy target’ fears over Bahamas cyber security
should take seriously. We’re seeing a lot of companies looking to move towards the cloud, which is exposing their data and information even more.
“A lot of companies, because of COVID, started to work from home and some have not fully gone back to the office. Some are doing hybrid approaches, but that’s exposing them to any number of vulnerabilities. On top of that, frauds and scams are ever increasing.”
Mr Humes pointed to the surge in What’s App scams that occurred two to three weeks ago, revealing that he almost fell for requests to send someone $1,000 because they were in financial difficulties and having trouble paying their bills.
“I had at least six different persons asking for $1,000,” he recalled. “They almost got me; they almost did. They were asking for $1,000 to help with something and pay their bills.”
Explaining that scammers had hijacked the What’s App number and contacts of persons who were fooled into clicking on Zoom links, Mr Humes said other persons were conned into sending funds. He added that when he tried to obtain information from the scammers, he was only given two payment options.
“That really should have instantly been a red flag,” the Plato Alpha chief explained, “but people still went ahead and paid. Definitely cyber security is something we should take extremely seriously, especially with the Government pushing digital transformation, Artificial Intelligence (AI). Even as recently as yesterday, or the day before, we had the minister of education speaking about digitisation.”
Given this trend, Mr Humes said The Bahamas must press forward and “get cyber security in a much better place than it is now”. He added that much of this drive has to focus on education and awareness, such as not clicking on Zoom links transmitted by What’s App.
“We as the good guys, the good actors, have to be ready all the time. The bad guys only have to be good once and you’re stuck in a ransomware situation,”
Mr Humes added, warning that many Bahamian companies “pretty much ignore the Data Protection Act, sad to say”, even though it provides guidelines for the implementation of best practices.
“Data is the new currency,” he added. “Persons having access to it can sell it to scammers, spammers, whoever they are. It’s an easy market. Cyber security
becomes incredibly important as we move away from paper documents which are much harder to obtain.”
With nothing in Bahamian law to mandate that companies must publicly disclose cyber security breaches, Mr Humes said: “It definitely opens up a brand new field which I hope a lot of young people get into, cyber security, which really needs persons who are analysts and on the front lines.
“Like the police force and the Defence Force, we need to have a force of persons who know what they’re doing to set us up in the right way. We have the national CIRT, but are definitely going to need more resources. Things are definitely going to have to ramp up.”
Mr Roye, meanwhile, urged Bahamian companies to either hire “a full-time security person to make sure different metrics are in place, such as firewalls, or engage security companies to do penetration tests of infrastructure to ensure there are no data leaks, no vulnerabilities and plug them as soon as possible”.
Referring to the APD ransomware attack, he added: “I think this proves it’s a big threat. In my experience, I haven’t seen a whole lot of companies take their security particularly
If achieved, that would ensure The Bahamas enjoys its first annual Budget surplus, meaning the Government’s total revenues exceed its spending, since Independence some 51 years ago. However, Moody’s, while not explicitly saying so, appeared to differ with both the magnitude of the surplus that will be achieved as well as the Government’s prospects of hitting its revenue-to-GDP target. For the credit rating agency is forecasting that this “steady surplus” will be equivalent to 0.8 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP), or economic output. However, the Government’s Budget surplus projections for 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 - as unveiled in this year’s Budget - call for surpluses equal to 2.8 percent of GDP at $448.2m and $457.8m, respectively.
Moody’s 0.8 percent forecast estimates a more modest, but still noteworthy, surplus of around $128m for both those fiscal years - a figure that is less than one-third of what the Government is projecting. And, while it, too, is predicting that revenues will exceed expenditure, it added that the Government’s revenues as a percentage of GDP will “stabilise” at 22.2 percent over the next four years. If accurate, that would leave the Government short of the 25 percent revenueto-GDP target it is aiming to hit in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Meanwhile, Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, again accused the Government of failing to both “adequately address the high cost of living and low economic growth in The Bahamas”.
“Bahamians are struggling to afford basic necessities, while the Government’s policies have
FRANCE ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENTS IN DISPUTED WESTERN SAHARA
By SAM METZ Associated Press
A FRENCH delegation visiting Morocco with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday unveiled investment plans in the disputed Western Sahara as part of a broader suite of agreements and partnerships between the two countries.
Projects in Dakhla and the Guelmim-Oued Noun region are among the 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) worth of initiatives announced during Macron's three-day visit to Rabat, which include agreements to build and expand renewable energy and transportation infrastructure throughout the North African Kingdom.
In a 40-minute speech at Morocco's parliament, Macron said France's policy shift in the disputed territory would help write a new chapter in the close yet delicate relations between France and a former colony where it retains deep economic ties.
"The present and future of (Western Sahara) lie within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty," he told an applauding audience at Morocco's Parliament.
Referencing a July letter he wrote to King Mohammed VI announcing
France's position, Macron called Morocco's plan to offer autonomy — not independence — to the region's Indigenous Sahrawis the "only" basis to resolve the decades-long conflict.
In a subsequent speech at the International University of Rabat, Macron again noted that several of the projects announced — including those by France's development agency, AFD — were in the disputed territory.
The Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony in northwest Africa that is roughly the size of the United Kingdom and claimed by both Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front, which is based in Algeria and governs a sliver of land that lies beyond a Moroccan-built sand wall.
The United Nations considers the territory "non-self-governing" and since brokering a 1991 cease-fire has funded a peacekeeping mission designed to organize a referendum for the Sahrawi people to determine the future of the region. After years of deadlocks over who would be allowed to participate in such a vote, Morocco unveiled a plan to offer the region autonomy but not independence in 2007.
seriously and my fear is if these hackers or whoever is behind this get the idea
The Bahamas is an easy target they will start to hack into a lot more Bahamian businesses.
“My advice would be for Bahamian companies to take the necessary action and put in the appropriate measures because it will have a significant impact from an operational standpoint and data security standpoint. If your systems are compromised your customers may not feel you are safe, and cease doing business with you. It might cause customers to switch vendors and do business with someone else.”
APD said it paid no ransom over the April 2024 intrusion, which resulted in data systems temporarily becoming “inaccessible” and Nassau’s major commercial shipping port having to revert to manual processes to resume operations. It described the disruption as “minimal” and the incident was resolved in just over two weeks.
In an explanation likely to provide a wake-up call to other Bahamian businesses on the perils and risks posed by cyber crime, especially the likes of ransomware, APD’s audited financial statements said:
“On April 18, 2024, the
and services has continued to impact the purchasing power of Bahamians, particularly those with fixed incomes. The Government has done little to mitigate the high cost of living....
failed to deliver the promised prosperity,” the east Grand Bahama MP argued.
“We point to a recent Moody’s report which we believe suggests that the appearance of stability is an illusion.
“The Moody’s report indicates that inflation in The Bahamas is projected at 2.8 percent for 2024. The persistent and stubbornly high cost of goods
“The Opposition urges the Government to take immediate action to alleviate the economic burden on the Bahamian. The Government must prioritise policies that will mitigate inflation and the rising cost of essential goods and services, providing immediate relief to struggling families.”
Turning to fiscal policy, Mr Thompson added: “The
company identified and responded to an Akira ransomware attack, which encrypted certain data systems including those used to record financial data, resulting in servers and onpremises applications being inaccessible for a brief period of time.
“Prompt action was taken to contain the incident and secure the systems, including engaging an external IT service provider to assist with the recovery process and a third party Cyber Incident Response Team (CSIRT) specialist who conducted a forensic investigation of the incident and provided an investigative summary report. Management also notified the Bahamas Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT-BS) and the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
“Management, with the aid of the IT service provider, was able to restore and rebuild the financial data impacting the financial statements. The company switched off Internet-facing systems and reverted to a manual process to resume business operations,” APD continued.
“During recovery, backup files were restored and quarantined. Upon full recovery of systems, electronic records were updated to include the data that could not be recovered
Government must prioritise reducing the debt burden by implementing responsible fiscal policies and ensuring transparency in government spending to restore public trust and confidence in the management of the economy. Moody’s suggests that The ‘Bahamas’ fiscal strength is constrained by a narrow revenue base, which contributes to weak debt affordability metrics’.
“This directly contradicts the Government’s narrative of a strong and resilient economy. We continue to demand that the Government must do more to encourage and incentivise
and the data captured during the manual operation period. All impacted systems had been successfully restored with minimal disruption to their operations by May 2, 2024.”
Assessing the fall-out, APD added: “Due to the full encryption of nearly every server in the APD environment, lack of available logs and the number of devices/applications in the APD environment with known exploitable vulnerabilities, the third party CSIRT was unable to confirm the root cause of the attack.
“However, the CSIRT investigation found no evidence of data exfiltration or significant disruption to operations. The company did not make any ransom payments. The incident did not result in any material financial impact or loss of revenue.
“Management has taken further steps to enhance our cyber security measures and mitigate future risks based on guidance/ recommendations from the CSIRT investigative summary report. This event has been disclosed in accordance with regulatory requirements and international best practices to inform our stakeholders of the potential risks associated with cyber threats.”
the private sector to diversify the economy. In fact, the Government according to Moody’s report anticipates increasing fees and service charges.
“The Bahamas must develop and implement a comprehensive economic long-term growth strategy. The Bahamas also needs a clear, long-term plan to foster sustainable economic growth and job creation.
We again call on the Government to take concrete steps to address the cost of living crisis and put the country on a path to longterm sustainable economic growth.”
Rising tech stocks send Nasdaq to a record as most of Wall Street stumbles
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
RALLYING technol-
ogy stocks sent the Nasdaq composite to a record on Tuesday, but trading was mixed along the rest of Wall Street as homebuilders and Ford Motor sank following the latest profit reports.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to inch closer to its all-time high set earlier this month, even though most of the stocks in the index fell for the day.
Gains for influential Big Tech stocks helped mask weakness elsewhere, and they pushed the Nasdaq composite up 0.8% to top its last all-time high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell 154 points, or 0.4%.
Alphabet rose 1.8% ahead of its profit report that arrived after trading ended for the day. The parent company of Google is the latest member of the group of stocks known as
the "Magnificent Seven" to report its quarterly results, and each will have to deliver big growth to justify their high prices.
Other market heavyweight like Microsoft and Meta Platforms were among the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.
They helped offset an 8.4% drop for Ford Motor, which said an underlying measure of profit for the full year will likely come in at the bottom end of its forecasted range. The automaker said stubbornly high warranty expenses and other costs are holding back its profits, though its results for the third quarter were better than analysts expected.
JetBlue Airways lost 17.1% even though its results for the latest quarter were better than analysts expected. The carrier said its revenue could fall between 3% and 7% in the last three months of 2024
from a year earlier, hurt by this month's Hurricane Milton and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
D.R. Horton tumbled 7.2% after the homebuilder reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Executive Chairman David Auld said some potential home buyers are waiting for mortgage rates to become more affordable and are sitting on the sidelines.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 9.40 points to 5,832.92. The Dow fell 154.52 to 42,233.05, and the Nasdaq composite rose 145.56 to 18,712.75.
Mortgage rates have been climbing recently because the 10-year Treasury yield has been charging higher.
Yields have rallied as report after report has shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. On Tuesday,
PEOPLE pass the New York Stock Exchange early Tuesday, Oct. 29,
reports said confidence among U.S. consumers jumped more economists expected, while the number of job openings edged lower in September, but the number of hires remained relatively steady.
Such numbers have forced traders to ratchet back expectations for how much the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, now that it's just as focused on keeping the economy humming as getting inflation down. Traders are even betting on a slim chance the Fed will keep its main interest rate steady at its meeting next week, according to data from CME Group.
That's after the Fed kicked off its rate-cutting campaign in September with a larger-than-usual reduction. Just a month ago, many traders were thinking just the Fed would
follow up in November with another bigger-than-usual cut.
Yields have also climbed as investors have seen former President Donald Trump's chances of re-election improving. Economists say a Trump win could help push inflation higher in the long term, and worsening inflation could lead to higher interest rates.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that tends to move more with Trump's re-election odds than on its own profit prospects, climbed another 8.8% to $51.51 Tuesday. It moved so sharply during the day that trading of its stock was briefly halted several times. The parent company of Trump's Truth Social platform has been rallying since hitting a bottom of roughly $12 in late September.
