11222021 BUSINESS

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2021

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‘Not a dollar back’ in tax arrears deal

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN ABACO district council is hoping “the third time” is a charm in persuading the Government to honour an agreement where it has “not got a dollar back” from unpaid taxes it has recovered.

Jeremy Sweeting, the Hope Town district’s chief councillor, told Tribune Business he and fellow councillors were now “cautiously optimistic” following a recent meeting with Ministry of Finance officials that they will finally receive a rebate on the collected tax arrears that could be as high as $60,000.

The officials, including Senator Michael Halkitis,

• Hope Gov’t honours rebate at ‘third time’ of asking • District ‘pressed brakes’ after collecting $900,000 • Model for Out Island autonomy if followed through minister of economic affairs, and Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, had “promised to come through” after Mr Sweeting warned that the council - in the absence of any progress - would seek legal advice over enforcing a legally binding agreement that could act as a model for financing Out Island community needs.

He confirmed that Hope Town had “pressed the brakes” on the deal after just one year due to the Government failing to fulfill its side of the bargain, which was to return between 2-10 percent of any real property tax arrears collected within its jurisdiction for use in financing projects that would benefit the local community.

Revealing that some $900,000 in real property taxes, of which almost $600,000 was past due, had been collected from foreign property owners, including wealthy second home buyers, in that year, Mr Sweeting said the agreement could provide a template for the decentralisation of Bahamian governance and greater self-determination for the Out Islands if followed through.

For, looking beyond real property taxes, Hope Town’s chief councillor said the recent Ministry of Finance discussions had also focused on how local government could assist with collecting other taxes

SEE PAGE 6

Port: No tariff increase as income jumps 48%

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net NASSAU’S major commercial shipping port has no plans to increase tariffs “in the near term”, its top executive has affirmed, after operating income increased by $1m in its 2022 first quarter.

Dion Bethell, Arawak Port Development Company’s (APD) president and chief financial officer, told Tribune Business that the BISX-listed port owner/ operator has no plans to adjust projections for the year to end-June 2022 yet despite enjoying a 48.2 percent year-over-year total

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ARAWAK PORT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Cable hails $75m spend for record Internet year

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas says a $75m network investment over the past three years enabled its Internet business to enjoy its “best ever” year during COVID-19’s peak with subscribers hitting 56,000.

The BISX-listed communications group, in its just released 2021 annual report, said its legacy REV business - TV, Internet

and fixed-line telephone generated almost $80m in top-line revenue during the period to end-July 2021.

“Broadband remains the cornerstone of our business, and in 2021, REVNET broadband had its best year in company history, with 56,000 broadband connections - safeguarding a two- thirds share of the broadband market,” Cable Bahamas told shareholders.

SEE PAGE 7

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Realtor questions VAT break for ‘rich’ buyers

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A REALTOR yesterday questioned why the Government is effectively giving a break to “rich” overseas real estate buyers while raising VAT on the poor by taxing ‘breadbasket’ food items again.

Peter Dupuch, ERA Dupuch’s founder and president, told Tribune Business that billionaire and millionaire property purchasers - in what is the most active market he has seen in a 30-year career - would not be deterred by a two percentage point increase in the VAT rate on the transaction portion above.

The VAT Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament by the newly-elected Davis administration reverses a modest tax adjustment implemented by its predecessor just over four months ago, reducing the rate on the value above $2m from 12 percent to 10 percent once again.

While acknowledging the stimulative effect this was likely to have for an alreadybooming high-end property market, Mr Dupuch nevertheless also urged the Government to focus on collecting the $600m in real property tax said by the Auditor General’s Department to be outstanding instead of rewarding delinquent taxpayers with amnesties.

The recent amnesty, introduced by the former Minnis administration, collected $37.5m in tax arrears but, according to the Ministry of Finance, involved writingoff a further $61.9m that was owed in the process.

This meant the initiative collected some 39.4 percent less than the sum written-off.

“I don’t agree with VAT. You’re taxing the poor people and taking two percentage points off the rich people, while taxing the breadbasket items. I don’t agree with that at all, but it’s going to do well with real estate,” Mr Dupuch said.

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PAGE 2, Monday, November 22, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

MAKE COMPLIANCE YOUR FIRM’S STRATEGIC PARTNER I

t may well be the misalignment between culture and strategy that poses the largest workforce-related risk management challenge. The abundance of global regulations, rules and guidance, as well as stakeholder expectations, puts companies at a greater risk of non-compliance than ever before. The merging of international regulations, as well as the expansion of businesses into new and affiliated industries, has increased the need to review compliance risks in a broader context.

In the first article of this two-part series, I discussed in brief how: * The Top is the Guiding Light. This is where Boards and senior management provide direction, vision and leadership for employees to follow, while simultaneously

In today’s article, I will provide two further tips for your institution to consider as a catalyst to ensuring compliance is compatible.

By

Derek

Smith giving directors executives their key responsibilities. * Making Compliance Everybody’s Business from the time they join the company, right through their employment, and when transitioning to another opportunity.

Compliance risk assessments Two very well-known risk assessments are enterprise risk assessments and internal audit risk assessments.

Strategic, operational, financial and compliance risks are identified through enterprise risk assessments.

Financial statement risks, and other operational and compliance risks, tend to be included in a conventional internal audit risk assessment.

Although both enterprise risk assessments and internal audit risk assessments do identify compliance risk, they are not typically designed to identify specific legal and compliance risks at a

granular level. A compliance risk assessment, on the other hand, identifies, prioritises and assigns accountability for managing potential or existing legal or policy non-compliance, and ethical misconduct, that may result in fines or penalties, a damaged reputation, or inability to operate in crucial markets. Moreover, unlike the enterprise risk assessments that are owned by the chief risk officer and/ or the chief financial officer, and the internal audit risk assessment that is owned by the chief audit executive, the compliance risk assessment is owned by the chief compliance officer.

A culture of ethics and compliance should be at the core of the compliance risk assessment. Its scope should also include all laws and regulations with which the company must comply wherever it conducts business, as well as critical company policies whether or not they are via Act, regulation, rule or guidelines.

Testing and monitor the compliance environment An ineffective testing and monitoring programme can

have an adverse effect on other elements of the compliance programme. Testing is essential for understanding what is working and what to be improved.

Equally, the advantages of vigorous monitoring programmes are that they serve as early warning systems that permit compliance professionals to identify potential compliance issues earlier rather than later. It is imperative to appreciate that testing and monitoring work together, and one cannot be optimised without the other. For clarity, testing involves a risk-based process that gauges and reports on the operating effectiveness of compliance controls and/or adherence to stated policies and procedures.

Conversely, monitoring entails the continuous review and analysis of key business metrics and risks, so as to identify potential compliance violations.

Conclusion In this rapidly-changing environment, compliance and ethics need to become strategic partners for top executives so they can

facilitate their companies’ transformations. To establish an enterprise anchored in an effective compliance programme, it is essential to create a strong guiding light (tone at the top). Then ensure every level of the company appreciates their role. Additionally, incorporate well-designed compliance risk assessments led and owned by the chief compliance officer.

Finally, make certain the compliance programme is both tested and monitored.

Jr

NB: About Derek Smith

Derek Smith Jr. has been a governance, risk and compliance professional for more than 20 years. He has held positions at a TerraLex member law firm, a Wolfsburg Group member bank and a ‘big four’ accounting firm. Mr Smith is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS), and the compliance officer and money laundering reporting officer (MLRO) for CG Atlantic’s family of companies (member of Coralisle Group) for The Bahamas and Turks & Caic

AUTHENTICALLY BAHAMIAN FAIR GETS FULL MINISTERIAL BACKING A CABINET minister has given his full backing to the upcoming Authentically Bahamian Trade Fair that will be held at Atlantis on December 11-12.

Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, marine resources and Family Island affairs, backed an event that has been organised by the Nassau Cruise Port in partnership with the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC).

The trade fair will showcase a variety of Bahamian-made products designed and produced by local artisans. It is designed to connect the entrepreneurs who will populate Nassau Cruise Port’s Authentically Bahamian Marketplace with suppliers and producers of Bahamian products.

It will also facilitate networking and engagement opportunities between artisans, entrepreneurs and wholesale producers from the hotel and cruise sector with owners and operators of tour companies and attractions, restaurants and such like.

Leroy Major, the Southern Shores MP who is BAIC’s executive chairman, said: “In preparation for the opening of the transformed and redeveloped port of Nassau, one of the busiest and most dynamic seaports in the region, the Authentically Bahamian Trade Fair will help to identify some of the artists and artisans who will populate the Authentically Bahamian Marketplace [and] showcase a variety of high-quality Bahamianmade products designed and produced by Bahamian craftsmen and women.

“The Authentically Bahamian Trade Fair will present yet another opportunity

MINISTER Sweeting meets with staff at the Department of Fisheries. for Bahamian artists and artisans, the producers and suppliers of Bahamian products such as artwork, crafts, straw goods, jewellery, wood work, sundry items, clothing, shell work among other items, to connect with market entrepreneurs and wholesale producers from the hotel and cruise industry, owners of tour companies, and tourist attractions and restaurants, to begin networking in order to reduce the multi-million dollar import of foreign-made gift and souvenir items into the country annually.”

Mr Sweeting praised Nassau Cruise Port and BAIC for hosting the trade fair, and he called on artists and artisans from throughout the Family Islands to showcase their unique Bahamian-made products at the event.

In attendance were Leonardo Lightbourne, parliamentary secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs; Rocky Nesbitt, BAIC’s general manager; Vernita Rhodenwalt, assistant

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 - NOON THOMAS A. ROBINSON NATIONAL STADIUM VS.

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general manager, human resources; and Kervan Culmer, financial controller at BAIC. Also addressing the event was Amanda Freedman, a member of the advisory committee representing the Nassau Cruise Port, who gave an overview of the Authentically Bahamian Trade Fair.

The Authentically Bahamian Advisory Committee is headed by Pam Burnside, president of Creative Nassau. Also on the committee are Ed Fields of Nassau Cruise Port; Debbie Strachan, senior deputy general manager at BAIC; Suzanne Pattusch of BHTA Tru Tru Bahamian; Samantha Rolle of the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) Access Accelerator; Kirk Deleveaux and Eldena Cartwright of Festival Place Association; Janet Johnson of the Tourism Development Corporation; and Bernadette Bastian of the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 3

SIR FRANKLYN IN CALL FOR CHAMBER-ORG MERGER

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) incumbent chairman has seen off an election challenge to retain her post for a second two-year term.

Khrystle Rutherford-Ferguson successfully defeated the rival bid from Hubert Edwards, principal of Next Level Solutions, a corporate governance and risk management consultancy, to maintain leadership of the private sector advocacy group.

Tribune Business revealed last week that the Chamber’s annual general meeting (AGM), and election of its officers and directors, was being held in a climate where there were growing concerns from some that the organisation has lost its way at a time when it is needed most given ongoing efforts to rescue the economy from COVID-19’s clutches.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, the Sunshine Holdings and Arawak Homes chairman, who pre-election said those worries reflected his own sentiments, yesterday confirmed that the outcome had done little to alter his views.

However, voicing optimism that Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson and the newly-elected Chamber Board have been provided with a fresh “mandate” via the election results, he pledged to “do whatever I can” to support them in their efforts on the private sector’s behalf.

“We wish them luck; we wish them success,” Sir Franklyn told this newspaper. “We must do all we can to rebuild the Chamber and

support it, and wish they have the best term possible.

“The fact of the matter is there’s a new mandate, and one of the benefits of democracy is a new mandate gives an opportunity to revisit and do things better.

Hopefully the new mandate will result in just that.... As someone who is a member of the private sector, I will do whatever I can to reasonably try and help.”

Speaking pre-election, Sir Franklyn had suggested that the Chamber organise a merger or tie-up between itself and the Organisation for Responsible Governance (ORG). “I’m at a bit of a loss to understand why there are two groups with such overlapping objectives and such common mandates in existence,” he said.

“I’m at a bit of a loss as to where one stops and the other starts... In other forums I’ve advocated that there be some type of merger between the Chamber of Commerce and ORG. ORG appears to have more effective leadership at the moment, and appears to have more resources. I just don’t see why we need both.

“To me, it’s a merger waiting to happen. I go further to say it’s time now for the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce and leadership of ORG to seriously consider whether it’s in the national interest for them to have a serious conversation about collaboration.”

Mrs Rutherford-Ferguson could not be reached for comment last night, while Mr Edwards declined to comment on the election.

The outcome also saw Tim Ingraham, Summit Insurance Company’s president, re-elected unopposed as vice-chairman.

Don Williams was voted in as treasurer, while Nadine

KHRYSTLE RUTHERFORD-FERGUSON Frazier defeated Nikia Forbes for the secretary’s post. Elected as directors were Peter Goudie; Vernice Walkine; Sean Moree; Royann Dean; Antoinette Russell; Cristobal Gomez; Keith Roye; Michele Moodie; Odetta Morton; and Christel Sands-Feaste.

The two who missed out were Marisa Ahwai and Debbie Deal, the latter being the division chair for the Chamber’s energy and environment committee.

Ms Deal told Tribune Business last night she “was a little shocked” about not being re-elected to the Board, but said it would have no impact on her plans or activities.

“There are a number of things we need to do, and want to do, that we had in motion, but myself and the team will be able to continue those through other areas we are involved in,” she said. “It will continue.”

Pointing to her role and connections to bodies such as the National Climate Change Committee; Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality; and the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA), Ms Deal thanked Mr Goudie and Michelle Patterson,

BISX market cap drops by $278m THE Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) has revealed that its total market capitalisation fell by more than $278m during the first nine months of 2021.

The exchange, unveiling its third quarter market summary, disclosed that its total market capitalisation had fallen from $8.701bn at year-end 2020 to $8.423bn when September 2021 closed.

The 3.2 percent decline was driven solely by reductions in the value of debt instruments that are listed and traded on the exchange. Equities investments saw their collective value rise from $4.698bn to $4.734bn, while debt securities dropped from $4.003bn to $3.689bn.

The total valuation ascribed to equities investments, based on BISX data, increased despite a modest year-over-year decline in the exchange’s All-Share Index for the nine months to end-September 2021.

The index, which measures only share price movements and strips out capital returns (dividend payments), fell by 0.52 percent or 10.94 points year-to-date. This, though, was less than the 138.05 point or 6.19 percent increase enjoyed for the first nine months of 2020.

“As at September 30, 2021, the market was comprised of 20 ordinary shares with a market capitalisation of $4.484bn,” BISX said.

“In addition, there were seven preference shares with a market capitalization of $249m, 11 BGS (Bahamas government stock) and corporate bonds with a face value of $470m, and 196 BRS (Bahamas Registered Stock) with a face value of $3.2bn.”

Trading in ordinary shares dominated activity on BISX for the first nine months of 2021, with some 9.44m securities worth a collective $36.957m changing hands. Some 237,276 BRS government debt securities, worth $23.674m, were also traded along with 396,435 preference

However, AML Foods led the way on value, with its $13.531m worth of shares traded accounting for 21.5 per cent of all activity. It swapped places with Commonwealth Bank, which accounted for 19.2 percent of trading value with $12.071m worth of securities changing hands.

KEITH DAVIS shares collectively valued at $2.13m.

“Trading volume for the nine-month period January 2, 2021, to September 30, 2021, was 10.074m shares for a value of $64.005m,” BISX said. “By comparison, trading volume for the nine-month period January 2, 2020, to September 30, 2020, was 3.708m shares for a value of $17.197m.

“Trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2021, to September 30, 2021, was 2.779m shares for a value of $26.466m. By comparison, trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, was 1.084m shares for a value of $5.574m.”

Breaking this down further, BISX said: “For the nine-month period from January 2, 2021, to September 30, 2021, the average volume per trading day was 51,275 shares for a value of $326,203. By comparison, for the nine-month period from January 2, 2020, to September 30, 2020, the average volume per trading day was 19,635 shares for an average value of $90,417.”

Then, identifying the most active stocks, BISX said Commonwealth Bank accounted for 41.8 percent of all equity stocks traded during the first nine months of 2021. Only AML Foods, with a 27.8 percent share of market activity, also achieved a double-digit share of trading volumes.

SIR FRANKLYN WILSON as well as former Chamber chief executive, Edison Sumner, for bringing her on to its energy and environment committee in 2016.

That committee was then-headed by Romauld Ferreira, who would go on to become minister of the

environment and housing, with Ms Deal succeeding him. “I have learned a lot, met some amazing people on the Board over the years, and met some amazing people in the energy and environment sector, and other countries,” she said.

“Whatever happens, happens. My work seeks to make a difference, and I will push on with that work.

That will continue. It’s not going to stop. I have really worked hard and will not disappear. The work needs to get done.”

Ms Deal pointed to the energy and environment division’s achievements during her term in office, which included the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of the Environment on

banning single-use plastic bags, plus the 12 energy efficiency and conservation videos produced with the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) help.

And there is also the drive to eliminate mercury in man-made products, particularly CFL light bulbs, to ensure The Bahamas fulfills its obligations under the Minamata Convention that it signed up to in 2019.

“We were working with the larger stores on eliminating CFL bulbs and going to LED only,” Ms Deal said. “It’s very difficult to collect them. We figured we’d use the border. If we don’t bring them in, they would not be here to buy.”

This work, Ms Deal said, would continue via the National Climate Change Committee.

PAGE 4, Monday, November 22, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

HIGHER TURKEY PRICES A THANKSGIVING TURN-OFF

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A FOOD store manager believes increased turkey prices are turning consumers off from Thanksgiving shopping.

Bradley Rolle, Centreville Food Market’s general manager, told Tribune Business that shoppers have not been spending as much as they typically do in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday and this year is “off”.

“We have some ham and turkey in, but the price of turkey nowadays is higher and we really don’t have anybody coming in now asking for them, so that means that Thanksgiving is not happening,” he said.

Bahamians have increasingly celebrated Thanksgiving despite it being an American tradition.

Yet there has been no noticeable spike in Thanksgiving Day spending this year. “The prices are putting people off for sure,” said Mr Rolle.

“The average butterball turkey costs about $40; last

year, it was $32.” This 25 percent increase is seemingly just enough to put a damper on Thanksgiving Day spending.

“Nobody is coming in like that.

We just have regular customers. This Thanksgiving is off for us; it never used to be this slow before Thanksgiving Day,” Mr Rolle added.

Food price increases have been looming since summer due to the shipping and logistics backlogs that have been made worse by the labour shortage in slaughterhouses across the US. Leading wholesalers and retailers have warned that Bahamians should brace for a more expensive Christmas.

Harry Bunch, Phoenix Supermarket’s general manager, added: “Sales are picking up.

I don’t know if this is about Thanksgiving Day, but things are picking up.”

Despite not having any turkeys or hams, Mr Bunch said he had heard from other stores that the price of turkeys and hams was putting consumers off but he does not have that problem in his store. “Sales are just steady with us,” he added.

THE TWO national Thanksgiving turkeys, Peanut Butter and Jelly, are photographed in the Rose Garden of the White House before a pardon ceremony in Washington, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021.

Photo:Susan Walsh/AP

RESORTS NOW AWAIT THANKSGIVING FEAST

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

TWO Bahamian resorts have provided further evidence of the industry’s post-COVID rebound by disclosing they are “100 percent” occupied, and “beating 2019 numbers”, for Thanksgiving.

Vernon Moss, the Sandyport Beach Resort’s general manager, told Tribune Business he is “100 percent booked out” for this upcoming Thanksgiving Day weekend. “We’re back.

We are booked out for this Thanksgiving Day weekend,” he said.

“Things will dip right after the Thanksgiving weekend is over, but then it picks right back up solid for the Christmas holidays straight into the New Year’s. We’re booked solid. All of my workers are glad to be back making a few extra dollars to take home to their families. Things are so busy now we are even looking at additional hires. We need some new hires.”

Matthew Brear, Cape Santa Maria’s general manager, added: “Since we reopened on November 1 we have been seeing steady numbers. In fact, we have been seeing Spring Break numbers in November.”

The resort is trending at 75 percent occupancy, which is better than good for this

time of year. Mr Brear said it is “beating 2019 numbers.

Actually, our May, June, July, August, November and December numbers are better than our 2019 numbers”.

The final year preCOVID, 2019, was a record-breaking year for Bahamian tourism with some 7.25m arrivals. The surge in 2021 arrivals is being caused, at least in part, by what analysts have said is “pent up demand” as a result of US and other travellers having been confined in lockdown for so long.

Tourism numbers for the month of September, a normally slow month, saw 158,000 visitor arrivals.

THE TRIBUNE

KEYNES, FRIEDMAN AND STAGFLATION

By RICARDO EVANGELISTA

etween the end of World War II and the 1970s, mainstream economics was dominated by the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist. Keynesian economics, developed in the 1930s as an attempt to understand the mechanics that led to the Great Depression, was a theory that postulated the existence of an inverted correlation between inflation and unemployment.

To Keynes, weakness in production would induce a decline in wages and prices, while prosperity and high employment generated rises in prices.

According to this theory, whenever unemployment rises, monetary as well as fiscal stimulus should be applied to re-energise the economy without fearing inflation, which would arise only once the recovery was achieved.

B

But then the 1970s came along and so did stagflation, which can be defined as a period during which slow growth and unemployment co-exist with high inflation.

Such a scenario presented a dilemma for economic policymakers, as actions aimed at lowering inflation would be likely to further stifle growth and exacerbate unemployment.

Enter Milton Friedman, an American economist and statistician who gained notoriety for explaining the role of money supply in economic and inflation fluctuations. His research work, focused on the role played by monetary supply in an inflationary environment, eventually won him the Nobel Prize for Economic Science in 1976. Friedman subscribed to the idea of monetarism, a theory that highlighted the importance of monetary policy and how shifts in money supply can have immediate and lasting effects. For Friedman, inflation was always a monetary phenomenon, meaning

JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES IN 1945 that to control it central banks must tighten policies through hiking interest rates.

Fast-forwarding to the present, we can see that throughout 2021 consumer

prices have been escalating. At first, central banks dismissed the process as transitory, the product of COVID-related supply bottlenecks.

However, with time passing and

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 5

inflation remaining a hot topic, recently reaching the highest level in more than 30 years in the US, that argument is wearing increasingly thin. Many observers suggest that, rather than transitory, the problem is structural and could last for years.

Some even fear the return of stagflation. Supporters of this view have been advocating for immediate rate hikes, arguing that the short-term impact such a shift in monetary policy may have on growth and unemployment is a price worth paying, despite the fact that economies are still recovering from the pandemic’s brutal impact.

However, there is little political appetite for such tightening of money supply and government

REALTOR QUESTIONS VAT BREAK FOR ‘RICH’ BUYERS FROM PAGE ONE “They’ve got to have a little more imagination than that. It’s just so easy to tax the poor, and billionaires don’t care if they’re paying 12 percent or 10 percent.

If they want to live here, they’ll live here.”

Senator Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told Tribune Business via messaged replies that the Government had chosen to remove the 12 percent VAT rate on the real estate transaction portion above $2m for administrative simplicity as part of its drive to return to a broad-based, less costly tax model. And he revealed that adding to already-high closing costs was a concern.

“Bottom line is we wanted one rate,” he explained.

“Added to this are our comparatively high closing costs, but mainly we wanted the one rate for ease of administration.” The Government has also argued that the previous administration, in treating breadbasket foods as VAT zero-rated, also gave a tax break to wealthier Bahamians who could afford to pay - not just those on lower incomes.

It believes that the best way to mitigate VAT’s impact, and regressive nature, on lower income Bahamians is via more targeted social security spending rather than adding to the complexity that both the Government and private sector must endure in collecting and administering the tax.

Meanwhile, Mr Dupuch also expressed misgivings about real property tax amnesties. “They need to collect the taxes that are owed now on property instead of giving breaks to people that haven’t paid taxes,” he argued. “They need to collect the taxes that are owed. If that was a business, it wouldn’t be run like that. It’s easy to spend and waste other people’s money.”

The Government also needs to be more consistent with its tax policy, Mr Dupuch said, having gone to 12 percent VAT and now back to 10 percent within just the space of four months. “This is it. How does a guy who has just paid 12 percent feel now it’s gone

back down to 10 percent?” he asked.

“It’s going to spur the market, as persons will save two percentage points right off the top, but they should be a little more consistent.”

Describing the high-end real estate market’s current state, he said: “I’ve been in this business for 30 years, and have never seen the market like this. It’s just busy; very busy. We’re running out of inventory at the high-end. The Bahamas is still the place to come, and people are coming.”

Gavin Christie, Corcoran C.A. Christie Real Estate’s managing partner and operational head, backed Mr Dupuch’s call for more consistency from the Government when it came to

tax policy affecting the real estate industry.

“Consistency is always key,” he told this newspaper. “The fact it’s been back and forth, it doesn’t help the market. What we want to do is appear, and to be, as consistent as possible.

Hopefully, once that change is made, it will stay that way into the upcoming future.

Fingers crosses that everything will be sooner rather than later because I believe it will positively impact the market.

“I think it [the cut to 10 percent VAT] will be a huge boost. Anything that lowers the cost of the transaction would be a huge boost to the real estate market.

There’s been sip sip in the market wondering when

spending. The austerity of the post-2008 financial crisis generated discontent among large sectors of the population. It may even have created scope for the global wave of populism that followed. If anything, stimulus looks set to grow through gargantuan programmes in the US, Europe and Japan, which may lead to a new form of capitalism - one with a larger state footprint than we got used to over the last decades.

This is something Milton Friedman would have disapproved of, but… we are in unchartered waters and, just like Keynes’ ideas revolutionised policymaking in the post-war, a new economic template may be required to map the way forward in the aftermath of the pandemic. the Government is going to make the change. There’s been a positive reaction. If we can lower the transaction cost, it encourages people to buy.”

Recalling what happened when the Minnis administration unveiled the increase to a 12 percent VAT rate, Mr Christie added: “On the flip side, when the Government increased it, it created a small boom because we had so many clients trying to get in and close before it rose.

“We had clients who, when the Government made the announcement, were on the fence in terms of committing to the transaction and rushed to complete before it increased.” Now, with a rate cut in the offing, some high-end buyers may elect to delay their purchases to take advantage of the 10 percent VAT.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) (Expressed in Bahamian dollars - $000) The Board of Directors of FOCOL Holdings Limited (FOCOL) is pleased to present the unaudited results for the year ended September 30, 2021.

Total Comprehensive Income for the year ended September 30, 2021 was $25.7 million compared to $22.9 million for the fourteen (14) month period in the previous year.

Taking the impact of COVID-19 on the Bahamian economy into consideration, FOCOL’s financial results for fiscal 2021 is encouraging.

Management is cautiously optimistic that the recent increase in tourist arrivals and the expanded operating business hours will boost the local economy.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) (Expressed in Bahamian dollars - $000)

The Board of Directors wishes to thank our loyal customers, dedicated staff and shareholders for their continued confidence in FOCOL Holdings Limited.

Sir Franklyn Wilson, KCMG Chairman.

Copies of a full set of the unaudited financial statements can be obtained via email request to bpinder@sunoilbahamas.com.

PAGE 6, Monday, November 22, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

‘NOT A DOLLAR BACK’ IN TAX ARREARS DEAL FROM PAGE ONE

of Finance discussions had also focused on how local government could assist with collecting other taxes such as docking fees and mooring fees on Abaco’s cays - now reviving after Hurricane Dorian and COVID - that were rarely visited by the collection agencies.

Mr Sweeting recalled how the initiative began more than six years on February 12, 2015, when a Hope Town delegation met with the then-Christie administration. The group, which included himself and two-three council members, as well as realtors and property managers, had a proposal for tackling the collection, valuation and assessment challenges with real property tax.

“Local government made the argument that said: ‘We’re on the ground, we know everybody on a personal basis, the second homeowners that pay property tax, and with

our statutory authority as the local planning authority we accept applications for building permits’,” Mr Sweeting said. “They have to declare the value of construction.

“We have a general understanding of the situation, we could be a big help, and we’d offer to help with real property tax collection if we could retain a percentage. That was the proposal.

We went back and forth on it.”

The then-administration warmed to the idea, with former prime minister, Perry Christie, informing Parliament while unveiling that year’s Budget that changes to the Local Government Act would empower certain local councils to collect real property taxes on Nassau’s behalf while retaining “a share of the proceeds” to fund capital improvements in their areas.

The amendments to that Act gave local government the powers of the Chief

Valuation Officer to collect real property taxes in their areas, using the tax roll provided by central government. However, it was not as simple as just passing legislation.

Mr Sweeting said Hope Town District Council, after enactment of the Act, still had to negotiate “a legally binding agreement” to perform these functions with the Ministry of Finance.

The latter drafted the deal, which both parties signed.

“The big initiative was we’d get back a percentage of the arrears we collect up to 10 percent,” he added.

“We argued we needed a floor. We finally came to 2 percent. Anywhere between 2-10 percent, we agreed to that.”

The only problem is that Hope Town has still to receive one cent in rebate despite collecting thousands of dollars between February 1, 2017, and endJanuary 2018. “After 12 months we did not get a dollar back,” Mr Sweeting

told Tribune Business. “We pressed the brakes on the whole initiative.

“We were exhausting a lot of time, energy and resources, and not seeing anything come back under the agreement. We had a meeting with the Christie administration after we started collecting taxes, and did not get a rebate; we met with the Minnis administration, and did not get a rebate, and now we’re coming for the third time to get a rebate.

“When we left the meeting [with the Davis administration’s Ministry of Finance], we everybody attending felt confident it would work this time. Me personally, I’m cautiously optimistic because I’ve seen this movie before.”

Reiterating that it was a legally-binding deal, and not just a gentleman’s agreement or handshake, Mr Sweeting added: “We also reminded them, and I don’t want to sound harsh; they could sense the frustration.

“But this has been going on for six years. This is the third administration. I said they may find, should there not be any progress seen in several months, that the district council may seek

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a private attorney and see what its options are because this is a legally binding agreement. They promised to come through, and our guys felt very confident coming out of the meeting.

We’ll see.”

Mr Sweeting said that, at the agreement’s outset, he “gave a charge” to all council members to ensure all due and outstanding real property taxes were collected in their townships. “I basically took ownership of this programme in the first year to prove it could work, and tried hard,” he added.

“In my township, Man O’ War, we collected 74 percent of the district’s total.”

While Bahamian-owned property in the Family Islands is currently real property tax exempt, the Hope Town chief councillor said he believed the district’s tax generating potential is far greater than what was collected.

“We knew these people personally,” he added of overseas real estate owners.

“We were calling them in through phone calls, saying ‘Mr So and So’, we want to get get property taxes up in the district because a certain percentage comes back to town.

“That personal touch, those personal phone calls, make the difference and we know people on a personal basis. We go to the same churches, the same grocery stores and see them on the road, passing them in golf carts. We collected about $900,000 in property taxes, and almost $600,000 of that was taxes in arrears.”

Acknowledging that the Minnis administration may have been distracted by

COVID-19 and Dorian, Mr Sweeting said a rebate paid to Hope Town District Council every three months had been discussed initially.

Based on the $600,000 arrears, a maximum of $60,000 - and minimum of $12,000 - is owing under the agreement. Pledging that these funds would be handled in a “fully transparent” manner, and come through the administrator’s office to ensure tracing and accountability, he added that the monies would assist with the likes of public dock, school and post office repairs plus road patching.

“Something we also discussed and expanded upon was there’s a lot of uncollected taxes because these agencies and departments don’t come to the cays,” Mr Sweeting said. “Dock fees, mooring fees, we told them we could go in and help them.

“We know about the docks and properties in our community, and will collect from them. Central government still wins at the end of the day because they get revenue they were not getting anyway. That’s being discussed and we’re hoping it comes to fruition.”

Pointing out that the Local Government Act change applies not just to Hope Town, but islands such as Exuma and other local government areas in Abaco, Mr Sweeting said the agreement they are seeking to enforce could provide a model for giving Family Islands more control over their affairs as they have “a better grasp” of their own community’s needs than Nassau.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 7

CABLE HAILS $75M SPEND FOR RECORD INTERNET YEAR FROM PAGE ONE

“Due to COVID-19, our network experienced the largest sustained surge in residential internet traffic.

However, since 2018 we’ve invested $75m in our network, which allowed us to stay ahead of demand.”

Monthly revenues from Cable Bahamas’ three legacy businesses dipped to a monthly low of $10.9m in August 2020, as COVID-19 lockdowns and associated restrictions took their toll, but this recovered to a peak for the 2021 financial year of $11.5m for May 2021.

Customer payments, too, recovered from $7.3m (VAT exclusive) in March 2020 when COVID-19 first hit to reach $10.1m in June, having peaked at close to $11m in February 2021.

Elsewhere, Cable Bahamas conceded that “declining customer satisfaction” had played a big role in plans to invest up to $85m over the next two-three years in replacing its existing 25 year-old New Providence network infrastructure with fibreto-the-home (FTTH) technology.

“Over the last eight years we have also conducted several field trials of Fibreto-the-Home technologies for some green field deployments, pushing our fibre access systems deeper into the network to get that much closer to our customers,” the BISX-listed group said.

“At the end of 2021, the business was faced with some fundamental challenges driven by mounting competition, growing operational expenses in our plant and, unfortunately, declining customer satisfaction.

“We have had to stop and ask ourselves some fundamental questions, the type of questions that kept us up a night: How much more can we realistically get out of our HFC Infrastructure? What technology will we need to enable the future of telecoms in The Bahamas? And, finally, how do we continue to deliver reliable, cutting-edge, uninterrupted service to the delight of our customers?”

Unveiling the results of this soul searching, Cable Bahamas said it had “initiated the most significant transformation of its technology stack using Newco fibre as the vehicle for change”.

It added: “NewCo Fibre is being executed as a major investment being undertaken by Cable Bahamas with a value of $85m that is being treated as a capital project with its own dedicated budget and resources.

“The team has been given a very specific mandate to construct a new purposebuilt fibre-to-the-home network that will provide 100 percent overlay of the existing HFC services footprint on New Providence.

Within the scope of this project, we will be delivering a fibre connection for each of the estimated 80,000 homes and businesses in New Providence plus additional areas in the Family Islands.”

As for its Aliv mobile subsidiary, Cable Bahamas said its revenues and market share had risen from $13m and 23 percent, respectively, in 2017 just after it launched to $83m and a 48 percent share in its 2021 financial year. Over the same period, earnings

CONSTRUCTION TEMPORARILY HALTED ON $1B TRANSMISSION LINE

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The developer of a $1 billion electric transmission line is suspending construction at the request of Maine's governor after she certified election results Friday in which residents firmly opposed the project.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills had urged New England Clean Energy Connect Transmission LLC to stop construction on the 145-mile (233-kilometer) project until legal challenges are resolved.

Thorn Dickinson, president and CEO of NECEC, said work will be temporarily halted until a judge rules on a request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit contending the referendum was unconstitutional.

"This was not an easy decision. Suspending construction will require the layoff of more than 400 Mainers just as the holiday season begins," Dickinson said in a statement Friday evening.

Mills supports the project but said she also supports "the rule of law that governs our society and the will of the people that informs it."

Funded by Massachusetts ratepayers, the project would supply up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid. That's enough electricity for 1 million homes.

Critics said the project is damaging the woods and changing the character of a part of western Maine with little if any benefit for its residents.

Supporters said big solutions are needed to remove carbon from the environment and address climate change. They also contend the flood of electricity would stabilize electricity prices in New England.

Maine utility regulators this week approved electric rate increases approaching 90% for most Maine residents starting Jan. 1.

Utilities supporting and opposing the project poured more than $90 million into the battle ahead of the referendum, making it the most expensive referendum election in Maine history.

On Friday, Mills certified the outcome of election, as well as other election results, including the passage of a "right to food" constitutional amendment and $110 million transportation bond issue. That means the power line referendum becomes law in 30 days.

The Maine proposal for a transmission line mostly followed existing utility corridors. But a new section needed to be cut through 53 miles (85 kilometers) of woods to reach the border.

Construction started this year on the New England Clean Energy Connect, so miles of trees already have been cleared.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine, which opposed the project, said the developers should do more than simply pause construction.

"It's time for CMP to respect the will of Maine people by abandoning this controversial project and restoring the portions of western Maine it has damaged," said Pete Didisheim, NRCM's advocacy director.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection plans to hold a final public hearing Monday whether to suspend or halt the permit for the project following the referendum vote.

The DEP previously gave its approval along with the Maine Land Use Planning Commission, Maine Public Utilities Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

But a state judge called into question a lease for a 1-mile stretch of the corridor on state land, and then voters rejected the referendum on Nov. 2. Both matters are subjects of ongoing litigation.

before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) had gone from a $45m loss to a positive $10m.

“While fixed voice continues to decline worldwide, coupled with the popularity of TRIO and the addition of two value-add TALK plans, REV has been able

to increase our voice product share for a third straight year,” Cable Bahamas said.

“In spite of a competitive mobile market, our fixed voice product is currently

at 47 percent market share along with increased yearover-year revenues and revenue growth units (RGUs).”

PAGE 8, Monday, November 22, 2021

PORT: NO TARIFF INCREASE AS INCOME JUMPS 48% FROM PAGE ONE

comprehensive income rise for the three months to end-September 2021.

He revealed that APD’s core business, twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container volumes, were up 9 percent on prior year figures

for the 2022 first quarter while vehicle imports were also ahead by 11 percent.

However, when compared to pre-COVID volumes, these two segments remain down by 5 percent and 35 percent respectively.

Speaking after APD saw its total comprehensive

income rise by more than $650,000 for the three months to end-September 2021, jumping from $1.402m to $2.078m, Mr Bethell said the improving financial performance means “there are no plans for any rate increase in the near term by APD”.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the shipping industry and the Government, which led to APD’s creation in 2011, specifies that tariffs and fees can be adjusted to ensure the company generates an internal rate of return (IRR) of no less than 10 percent.

But, with any rate increase ruled out in the near future, Mr Bethell said APD also has no plans to alter its 2022 financial year forecasts despite the improved year-over-year results as the company is currently matching projections with TEU volumes just 63 containers ahead of estimates.

“At this time we’re hitting our budget, so there’s no intention at this time to make any revisions, but we will monitor it,” he added.

“When we forecast, we assumed throughout the first and second quarters [of 2022] we’d be above COVID volumes and for the third quarter, which would be the first calendar quarter in 2022, we would have been trending towards pre-COVID volumes.

“Moving into the third and fourth quarter, that’s what we’re focused on and that’s where we’re trending. We have seen there’s a shift in a more positive direction for the

economy notwithstanding we’re moving into the season with increased holiday volumes. That is certainly coming in with the carriers; not excessive, but Christmas volumes are coming in.”

With perishable and nonperishable import volumes also matching expectations, and headed towards pre-COVID volumes, Mr Bethell continued: “Vehicles are trending about 11 percent over last year through to the end of the first quarter. Our TEUs are trending about 9 percent over last year for the first quarter.

“We’re still down about 5 percent on pre-COVID volumes on TEUs, and down about 35 percent on preCOVID vehicle volumes.

When you look through to the end of October, we are flat or relatively flat. TEUs are over budget by 63. On vehicles, we’re about 7 percent over budget through to the end of October.

“Our overall revenues are about 5 percent over budget through to the end of October and we continue to manage our costs. There are some bit ticket items that have not materialised, but we are trending slightly under budget on expenses.”

APD’s total operating income for the first

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THE TRIBUNE quarter jumped by more than $1m or 31.2 percent, hitting $4.383m compared to $3.34m the year before.

Finance costs also fell by over $100,000, dropping from $441,953 to $320,563 year-over-year due to the replacement of more than $30m in preference shares with lower-cost bank loans.

“What we are beginning to see when we look at the savings to the bottom line is the impact of the debt restructuring, moving from preference shares to bank debt. If you were to compare to the end of October to last year, we’re seeing the significant year-over-year savings when compared to previous finance costs,” Mr Bethell said.

He added that APD was anticipating a further boost from construction projects such as the FXPro property in western New Providence; Aristo Development’s Aqualina project at Cable Beach; and possibly Royal Caribbean’s Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island.

This is in addition to existing projects such as the US Embassy, GoldWynn and Sterling’s Hurricane Hole development.

Revealing that APD has a capital budget “just shy of $2m” for this current financial year, Mr Bethell said it was awaiting arrival of equipment that will help its cranes to unload vessels at the Arawak Cay port more efficiently. Delivery has been delayed due to the supply chain backlog created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other upgrades include the planned replacement of golf carts and other vehicles used to move around APD’s docks, plus repairs to drainage. Energy efficiency at its Gladstone Road breakbulk terminal is also being targeted through the installation of LED lighting.

THE TRIBUNE

FRANCE VOWS TO KEEP BATTLING IN FISHING DISPUTE WITH UK PARIS (AP) — France's minister of the sea vowed Sunday to "continue the fight" in the country's dispute with Britain over fishing rights.

Minister Annick Girardin met with fishermen in northern France on Sunday.

"We fight every day for these ships, for these licenses, and we will not give up," she told reporters, criticizing the British interpretation of post-Brexit rules over fishing rights as "inadmissible."

Fishing is a tiny industry economically, but one that looms large symbolically for both Britain and France, which have long and cherished maritime traditions.

The U.K. licenses are at the center of the dispute following Britain's split with the European Union earlier this year. Before Brexit, French fishermen could fish deep inside British waters. Now they need to be granted a special license from the British government or the self-governing

British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey to fish in certain areas.

Those authorities have already granted 961 fishing licenses to French boats, according to French authorities, but France wants about 150 more licenses.

Girardin said France set a deadline for the fishing talks, led by the European Union, to end in December.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that France "will not yield."

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 9 FRENCH fisherman Sylvain stands aboard the trawler Le Chant des Sirenes (The Mermaids’ song) as they fish at the limits of the French-UK waters, off Granville, Normandy, Tuesday, Nov.9, 2021.

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying British goods if more French vessels aren’t licensed to fish in U.K. waters.

Photo:Nicolas Garriga/AP

PAGE 10, Monday, November 22, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

VIETNAMESE WORKERS AT CHINESE FACTORY IN SERBIA CRY FOR HELP

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press ZRENJANIN, Serbia (AP) — They are shivering in barracks without heat, going hungry and have no money. They say their passports have been taken by their Chinese employer and that they are now stuck in a grim plainland in Serbia with no help from local authorities.

These are the Vietnamese workers who are helping build the first Chinese car tire factory in Europe. The Associated Press visited the construction site in northern Serbia where some 500

of the workers are living in harsh conditions as China's Shandong Linglong Tire Co. sets up the huge facility.

The project, which Serbian and Chinese officials tout as a display of the "strategic partnership" between the two countries, has already faced scrutiny from environmentalists over potentially dangerous pollution from tire production.

Now, it has caught the attention of human rights groups in Serbia, which have warned that the workers could be victims of human trafficking or even slavery.

"We are witnessing a breach of human rights because the Vietnamese (workers) are working in terrible conditions," Serbian activist Miso Zivanov of the Zrenjaninska Akcija (Zrenjanin Action) nongovernmental organization told The Associated Press at the drab one-story warehouses where the workers are living.

"Their passports and identification documents have been taken by their Chinese employers," he said. "They have been here since May, and they received only one salary.

They are trying to get back

to Vietnam but first need to get back their documents."

Workers sleep on bunk beds without mattresses in barracks with no heating or warm water. They told the AP that they have received no medical care even when they developed COVID-19like symptoms, being told by their managers simply to remain in their rooms.

Nguyen Van Tri, one of the workers, said nothing has been fulfilled from the job contract he signed in Vietnam before embarking on the long journey to Serbia.

"Since we arrived here, nothing is good," he said.

"Everything is different from documents we signed in Vietnam. Life is bad, food, medicine, water … everything is bad."

Wearing sandals and shivering in the cold, he said about 100 of his fellow workers who live in the same barracks have gone on strike to protest their plight and that some of them have been fired because of that.

Linglong did not respond to an AP call seeking comment but denied to Serbian media that the company is responsible for the workers, blaming their situation on subcontractors and job agencies in Vietnam. It said the company did not employ the Vietnamese workers in the first place. It promised to return the documents it said were taken to stamp work and residency permits.

The company denied that the Vietnamese workers are living in poor conditions and said their monthly salaries were paid in accordance with the number of working hours.

Populist-run Serbia is a key spot for China's expansion and investment policies in Europe, and Chinese companies have kept a tight lid on their projects amid reports they run afoul of the Balkan nation's antipollution laws and labor regulations.

Chinese banks have granted billions of dollars

in loans to Serbia to finance Chinese companies that build highways, railways and factories and employ their own construction workers. This is not the first time rights groups have pointed out possible breaches of workers' rights, including those of Chinese miners at a copper mine in eastern Serbia.

After days of silence, Serbian officials spoke against "inhumane" conditions at the construction site but were quick to downplay Chinese responsibility for the workers' plight.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said she "would not rule out that the attack against the Linglong factory" is organized "by those against Chinese investments" in Serbia — referring to frequent criticism from the West that Chinese projects there are not transparent, are ecologically questionable and are designed by Beijing to spread its political influence in Europe.

VIETNAMESE workers at the construction site of the first Chinese car tire factory in Europe near the northern Serbian town of Zrenjanin, 50 kilometers north of Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. Reports have emerged in Serbia of prison-like conditions for some 500 of them at the construction site in north of the country where China’s Shandong Linglong Tire Co is building the huge factory. Populist-run Serbia is a key spot for China’s expansion and investment policies in Europe and Chinese companies have kept a tight lid on their projects in the country amid reports of disrespect of the Balkan nation’s anti-pollution laws and labor regulations.

Photo:Darko Vojinovic/AP

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 11

US OPENS COVID BOOSTERS TO ALL ADULTS, URGES THEM FOR 50+

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, MATTHEW PERRONE AND MIKE STOBBE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.

Until now, Americans faced a confusing list of who was eligible for a booster that varied by age, their health and which kind of vaccine they got first. The Food and Drug Administration authorized changes to Pfizer and Moderna boosters to make it easier.

Under the new rules, anyone 18 or older can choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose. For anyone who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the wait already was just two months. And people can mix-and-match boosters from any company.

“We heard loud and clear that people needed something simpler — and this, I think, is simple,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to agree before the new policy became official late Friday. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky endorsed a recommendation from her agency’s scientific advisers that — in addition to offering all adults a booster — had stressed that people 50 and older should be urged to get one.

“It’s a stronger recommendation,” said CDC adviser Dr. Matthew Daley of Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “I want to make sure we provide as much protection as we can.”

The CDC also put out a plea for those who had previously qualified but hadn’t yet signed up for a booster to quit putting it off — saying older Americans and people with risks such as obesity, diabetes or other health problems should try to get one before the holidays.

The expansion makes tens of millions more

Americans eligible for an extra dose of protection.

The No. 1 priority for the U.S., and the world, still is to get more unvaccinated people their first doses. All three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. continue to offer strong protection against severe illness, including hospitalization and death, without a booster.

But protection against infection can wane with time, and the U.S. and many countries in Europe also are grappling with how widely to recommend boosters as they fight a winter wave of new cases. In the U.S., COVID-19 diagnoses have climbed steadily over the last three weeks, especially in states where colder weather already has driven people indoors.

And about a dozen states didn’t wait for federal officials to act before opening boosters to all adults.

“The direction is not a good one. People are going inside more and, ‘oops,’ next week happens to be the largest travel week of the year, so it probably makes sense to do whatever we can here to try to turn the tide,” Marks told the AP. Vaccinations began in the U.S. last December, about a year after the coronavirus first emerged. More than 195 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, defined as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose J&J. More than 32 million already have received a booster, a large proportion — 17 million — people 65 or older. Experts say that’s reassuring as seniors are at particularly high risk from COVID-19 and were among the first in line for initial vaccinations Teen boosters aren’t yet under discussion, and kid-sized doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are just now rolling out to children ages 5 to 11.

The Biden administration had originally planned on boosters for all adults but until now, U.S. health authorities — backed by their scientific advisers — had questioned the need for such a widespread campaign. Instead, they first endorsed Pfizer or Moderna boosters only for vulnerable groups such as older Americans or those at high risk of COVID-19

A PATIENT waits to be called for a COVID-19 vaccination booster shot outside a pharmacy in a grocery store, on Nov. 3, 2021, in downtown Denver. U.S. regulators have opened up COVID-19 booster shots to all and more adults, Friday, Nov. 19, letting them choose another dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

Photo:David Zalubowski/AP

CHINA FINES TECH GIANTS OVER ANTIMONOPOLY VIOLATIONS BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giants including Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings were fined Saturday for failing to report corporate acquisitions, adding to an anti-monopoly crackdown by the ruling Communist Party.

The companies failed to report 43 acquisitions that occurred up to eight years ago under rules on "operating concentration," according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. Each violation carried a penalty of 500,000 yuan ($80,000), it said.

Beijing has launched antimonopoly, data security and other crackdowns on tech companies since late 2020.

The ruling party worries the companies have too much control over their industries and has warned them not to use their dominance to

gouge consumers or block entry to new competitors.

Other companies fined in the latest round of penalties include online retailers JD.com Inc. and Suning Ltd. and search engine operator Baidu Inc. The acquisitions dating back to 2013 included network technology, mapping and medical technology assets.

The companies "failed to declare illegal implementation of operating concentration," the regulator said on its website.

Alibaba, the world's biggest e-commerce company by sales volume, was fined $2.8 billion in April for practices that regulators said suppressed competition. Meituan, a food delivery platform, was fined $534 million on Oct. 8.

because of health problems, their jobs or their living conditions.

This time around, the experts agreed the overall benefits of added protection from a third dose for any adult — six months after their last shot — outweighed risks of rare side effects from Moderna’s or Pfizer’s vaccine, such as a type of heart inflammation seen mostly in young men.

Several other countries have discouraged use of the Moderna vaccine in young people because of that concern, citing data suggesting the rare side effect may occur slightly more with that vaccine than its competitor.

Pfizer told CDC’s advisers that in a booster study of 10,000 people as young as 16, there were no more serious side effects from a

third vaccine dose than earlier ones. That study found a booster restored protection against symptomatic infections to about 95% even while the extra-contagious delta variant was surging.

Britain recently released real-world data showing the same jump in protection once it began offering boosters to middle-aged and older adults, and Israel

has credited widespread boosters for helping to beat back another wave of the virus.

While the vaccines spur immune memory that protects against severe disease, protection against infection depends on levels of virusfighting antibodies that wane with time. No one yet knows how long antibody levels will stay high after a booster.

PAGE 12, Monday, November 22, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

NEW HURDLE FOR COVID-19 HOME TESTING -- THE HOLIDAY SEASON

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions more home tests for COVID-19 are hitting store shelves, but will there be enough for Americans hoping to screen themselves before holiday gatherings?

Gone are last year’s long lines to get tested, thanks to nearly a year of vaccinations, increased testing supplies and quicker options. But with many Americans unvaccinated and reports of infections among those who’ve gotten the shots, some are looking to home tests for an extra layer of protection ahead of this year’s festivities.

Janis Alpine of Seattle is getting together with seven relatives for Thanksgiving, including her 97-year-old father. While everyone is vaccinated, she plans to bring enough Abbott rapid tests for them to use.

“I’m just used to testing now,” said Alpine, who is retired. “Even though he’s vaccinated, just getting a little bit sick is probably not the best thing for a 97-year-old.”

She began testing herself regularly in September after flights to Las Vegas and the East Coast for vacation. Because local pharmacies sometimes sell out of tests, she usually buys five packs at a time when she finds them.

After weeks of shortages, chains like CVS and Walgreens now say they have ample supplies and recently lifted limits on how many can be purchased at one time. The shift comes after test makers ramped up production, spurred by more than $3 billion in new purchasing contracts and assistance from the government. Home tests are

and plans to share them with family members, particularly her son and daughter who are traveling home via plane and train for Thanksgiving.

Market leader Abbott says it is back to producing 50 million of its BinaxNow tests per month, after slashing production last summer when testing demand plummeted. Only a few home tests are widely available nationwide with new ones set to launch, including from Acon Laboratories.

Much of the upcoming supply won’t be available at places like CVS, Walmart and Target. Bulk purchases by federal and state officials will be distributed to community health centers, nursing homes, schools and other government facilities.

Large employers and private universities are also buying up millions of tests.

Under the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers, workers who haven’t been vaccinated are supposed to get tested weekly starting in January.

“We have a little bit of a challenge right now and the math is not perfect” said Mara Aspinall, a health industry researcher at Arizona State University.

“While having these tests on the shelves is terrific so people can feel empowered personally, we also have to balance where they are going.”

Under pressure from the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration has been clearing home tests at a faster pace, authorizing four of the 13 tests now available in the last two months. In an unusual move, the White House recently announced that the National Institutes of Health will help vet the

“We have a little bit of a challenge right now and the math is not perfect.

While having these tests on the shelves is terrific so people can feel empowered personally, we also have to balance where they are going.”

Mara Aspinall typically more than $10 each and take about 15 minutes.

Despite the improving picture, health experts warn that a winter surge could easily overwhelm supplies, especially if holiday gatherings and colder weather continue sparking new outbreaks across the country.

And, they note, the U.S. is still far from having the kind of cheap or free widespread testing seen in some European countries that were early adopters of the technology.

“Unfortunately, we’re still going to be playing catch-up until next year or until demand subsides,” said Neil Sehgal, a health policy specialist at the University of Maryland.

White House officials say the U.S. is on pace to have about 200 million home tests per month by December, quadrupling the number from this summer.

Still, spot shortages continue, particularly in cities and suburban communities with higher rates of testing.

“I couldn’t find them for the longest time,” said Denise Weiss, a retired musician in suburban Philadelphia.

She was able to snap up six tests online last month

most promising ones. But it will take time for companies to make and distribute the tests.

The U.S. made huge initial investments into vaccines, essentially betting that widespread immunity would crush the pandemic.

But with roughly 60 million Americans age 12 and up still not vaccinated, experts say every region of the country is still vulnerable to the type of outbreaks flaring up in states like Michigan and New Mexico.

For testing advocates, the pandemic’s persistence underscores the need for rapid, widespread COVID19 screening to quickly catch infections before they spread-- an approach they have championed since the beginning of the U.S. outbreak.

Countries such as Britain distribute billions of tests for free and recommend testing twice a week. If the U.S. took that approach for everyone 12 and older, it would need 2.3 billion tests per month, researchers with the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation noted in a recent report. That’s more than seven times the 300 million monthly tests officials are hoping the country will have by February.

BOXES of BinaxNow home COVID-19 tests made by Abbott and QuickVue home tests made by Quidel are shown for sale Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, at a CVS store in Lakewood, Wash., south of Seattle. After weeks of shortages, retailers like CVS say they now have ample supplies of rapid COVID-19 test kits, but experts are bracing to see whether it will be enough as Americans gather for Thanksgiving and new outbreaks spark across the Northern and Western states.

Photo:Ted S. Warren/AP

THE TRIBUNE

CAP ON DRUG PRICE HIKES FOR PRIVATELY INSURED SPARKS BATTLE

By RICARDO ALONSOZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Workers and families with private health insurance would reap savings on prescription drugs from a little-noticed provision in President Joe Biden’s sweeping social agenda bill.

It’s meant to break the cycle of annual price increases for widely used medicines.

That provision would require drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if they increase prices above the rate of inflation.

Drugs sold to private plans would count in calculating the penalty, like a tax on price increases. The issue is dividing business groups in a fierce lobbying battle.

Corporate groups focused on affordable employee benefits want to keep the language as is so it would provide priceincrease protection for companies and their workers and not just Medicare enrollees. Other groups such as the influential U.S. Chamber of Commerce are backing the pharmaceutical industry’s drive to block restraints on pricing, including inflation caps, saying they would stifle innovation.

House Democrats passed the roughly $2 trillion social agenda legislation on Friday and sent it to the Senate. The bill resets national priorities on issues from climate to family life and faces more scrutiny in that evenly divided chamber. Prescription drugs are but one component, and most of the attention has focused on Medicare provi-

Polls show that Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly favor government action to reduce drug prices. The chief cost complaints are: high out-of-pocket costs for patients, high and rising list prices, and high launch prices for new medicines. The Biden package would tackle the first two issues, but Democrats were unable to agree on authorizing Medicare to negotiate prices of new drugs.

Annual price increases for established prescription drugs usually outpace inflation, although there have been periods of moderation in recent years.

Gremminger said his group estimates that the privately insured market could save $250 billion over 10 years under the inflation caps currently in the bill.

Without them, Gelfand estimates that employers could face an additional 3.7% annual increase in health care costs over the usual medical inflation because drug companies could in effect raise prices on privately insured patients to make up for rebates paid on behalf of Medicare enrollees.

“It’s true that not all the business groups are in the same place,” Gelfand said of divisions in the business community. “If you look at groups on either side of the issue, there are groups that protect the business interests of pharma, and then there’s everybody else.”

The main drug industry lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, says inflation rebates would undermine innovation that

“A lot of people don’t realize that the bill applies to, and will help, privately insured people. But that isn’t a sure thing.

As currently structured, that would be the case. But we have been worried and continue to be worried that will change.”

Shawn Gremminger sions to slash out-of-pocket costs for seniors and allow the program to negotiate prices for a limited number of medicines.

But the inflation caps would have far-reaching impact for as many as 180 million Americans with private insurance.

“A lot of people don’t realize that the bill applies to, and will help, privately insured people,” said Shawn Gremminger, health policy director at the Purchaser Business Group on Health. “But that isn’t a sure thing. As currently structured, that would be the case. But we have been worried and continue to be worried that will change.”

His coalition represents nearly 40 large employers that cover more than 15 million workers, retirees and their families.

Inflation caps would be a “game changer,” said James Gelfand, a vice president of ERIC, a group that represents major national companies as providers of employee benefits.

Earlier legislation would have based the “inflation rebates” on sales to Medicare plans, but the House-passed bill broadens the formula to include private plans.

“If they raise prices in private markets faster than the economy grows, they will be required to pay that money back to the government,” Gelfand said. The goal is to deter drug companies from extravagant price increases.

continues after medicines are approved.

The generic drug industry wants their products exempted. Dan Leonard, president of the generic lobbying group Association for Accessible Medicines, said he fears his members will be penalized for price increases that amount to pennies on the dollar.

“When generics are not exempted ... they’ll get caught up in the jet wash,” he said.

In the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has taken a lead role on prescription drugs, supports keeping the inflation caps for privately insured people.

Opponents could pursue a parliamentary challenge under Senate rules, arguing that penalizing price increases by one private company on another has no bearing on federal budgetary issues. If the challenge succeeds, costs to private insurance plans would be stripped from the inflation rebates. Supporters of the caps say they do have a budgetary purpose because they would raise revenue and generate savings for Medicare.

Katie Mahoney, the top health policy expert for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said her organization has “very real concerns” that the drug pricing provisions would undermine incentives for industry to develop new medicines, and is pressing that point in the Senate.

Monday, November 22, 2021, PAGE 13 PHARMACEUTICALS are seen in North Andover, Mass., June 15, 2018. Workers and families with private health insurance would reap savings on prescription drugs from a little-noticed provision in President Joe Biden’s sweeping social agenda bill. Drug companies would have to pay rebates to Medicare if they increase prices above the rate of inflation. Business groups are paying close attention, and the issue has divided them in a fierce lobbying battle.

Photo:Elise Amendola/AP

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