12222020 BUSINESS, WOMAN AND HEALTH

business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020

$3.98

‘Payments crisis’ not govts fault

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CARIBBEAN economist yesterday stuck to her forecast that The Bahamas “faces a potential balance of payments crisis” within the next two years but is arguing this will not be the government’s fault.

Marla Dukharan, whose recent prediction that The Bahamas’ will suffer a sovereign debt default and be in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment programme by 2021 was rebuked as “unduly alarmist” by the Ministry of Finance, said the multiple economic pressures facing the country cannot be blamed on the government’s COVID-19 policy response.

Praising the Minnis administration for its actions, she said she could recall no other Caribbean country that has had to contend with both the worst natural disaster and worst economic crisis in its history within the space of six months.

“Never before has any country in the Caribbean (and maybe even globally - but please don’t quote me) had to grapple with the worst natural disaster in its history and (arguably) the worst economic crisis in its history, both within a six-month timeframe,” Ms Dukharan wrote in her analysis of the Bahamian economy that was released yesterday.

“How the Government of The Bahamas has maintained a reasonable level of socio-economic stability so far, is testament to their capabilities, political will and ability to access assistance from external parties including the multilateral lending institutions. By no means could this be an easy task, and the government is certainly dealing with a lot more than many, at least in a regional context.”

She said The Bahamas’ economic woes, and post-COVID-19 recovery challenges, stem from its overwhelming dependency on tourism to generate 75 percent of its export earnings and 40 percent of tax revenues.

Noting that The Bahamas’ is the third most dependent country in the world on an industry that has been shut down for nine months, and is only now just re-opening, she said: “All of the above

SEE PAGE 3

$3.98

AG: New tax for BPC if royalties ‘abysmally low’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

T

HE attorney general yesterday said the government could impose a new tax on Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) if it declines to renegotiate “abysmally low” royalty rates that are the world’s poorest.

Carl Bethel QC told Tribune Business the Bahamian people were in line to receive the lowest return of any nation on their country’s potential natural resources as he blasted the former Christie administration for ignoring studies suggesting it should revise a royalty structure that was “in the pits”.

Disclosing the findings of a Commonwealth Secretariat report that showed, under the present structure, the highest royalty rate BPC will pay is some 20 percentage points below the lowest rate in other jurisdictions, Mr Bethel argued that the former government missed the chance to negotiate a better deal for the Bahamian people when the leases for the oil explorer’s five licence areas came up

• Argues Bahamians short-changed by former govt • People’s returns ‘in the pits’; ‘lowest on the planet’ • Pledges to ‘renegotiate’ as explorer starts drilling

CARL BETHEL QC

SIMON POTTER

for renewal in 2015.

Instead of renegotiating higher royalty rates for the benefit of the Public Treasury and proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund, Mr Bethel said his predecessors left the structure that has existed from 2007 to the present day untouched and only increased the seabed lease rates for those five areas from $57,500 to $250,000.

The attorney general then argued that the former Christie administration compounded that error by allowing the royalty rates to be based “on the net value

of extracted petroleum”, which is the value after BPC has deducted all its production and investment costs.

This, Mr Bethel said, would have left the government and Bahamian people at the mercy of BPC’s accountants and external auditors to determine this nation’s share from the potential extraction of its natural resources as they would be responsible for certifying the company’s production and investment costs.

He added that basing royalties on the “net petroleum

THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday argued that the imminent web shop patron winnings tax is a levy “on a specific type of game” rather than an attempt to discriminate against Bahamians.

Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, pushed back against arguments that the new tax - which is set to be imposed on the winnings of web shop patrons from New Year’s Day - is discriminatory because it only applies to Bahamians while foreign casino gamblers pay nothing of this nature at all.

“The tax is a tax on a specific type of game. The lottery game; three-ball, four-ball, five-ball,” he told a press conference on the just-released Fiscal Strategy Report, adding that such a

value” was also contrary to global best practice as most oil producing countries base their share on “gross tax at the well head” in their agreements with private companies to ensure they get a better return.

Mr Bethel spoke out after BPC yesterday hailed the start of drilling for its Perseverance One well in waters 90 miles west of Andros. With the legal challenge to their plans from environmental activists seemingly stalled, at least temporarily, while a judge and hearing date is sought, the oil explorer confirmed its Stena IceMAX drill ship is proceeding apace.

With drilling of the well said to have begun at 6.30am on Sunday morning, targeting a “potential reserve” of between 0.77 and 1.44bn barrels of oil over a 45-60 day period, Simon Potter, BPC’s chief executive, said: “The well has been spud.

“This is a momentous

SEE PAGE 4

‘Taxing’ to hit $100m govt spending cuts

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday admitted it will be hard-pressed to achieve the $100m in recurrent spending cuts it is targeting over the next six months, conceding: “It will be very taxing.”

Marlon Johnson, responding to Tribune Business queries at a press conference on the newlyreleased Fiscal Strategy Report, conceded that such savings will be hard to achieve because the government’s 2020-2021 budget had already been “scaled back” to cope with the slump in tax revenues produced by COVID-19.

Disclosing that Ministry of Finance officials and analysts were inspecting the budget “with a microscope” to detect areas where expenses can be slashed, Mr Johnson said the government’s

• Ministry using ‘microscope’ to find savings • Minister pledges ‘no plans to raise taxes’ • But studies eyed on ‘progressive’ options

MARLON JOHNSON

SEN KWASI THOMPSON

permanent secretaries - the civil servants in charge of its ministries - and other top executives all “understand the precariousness of where we are”.

Describing the search for recurrent spending cuts as “a work that’s in progress”, Mr Johnson said the Ministry of Finance was

working with all ministries, departments and agencies to target areas such as “discretionary programmes and subventions to state-owned enterprises” for cutbacks.

“We’re really going through that with a microscope to see what can be postponed and deferred,” he replied to this newspaper.

Patron winnings tax ‘on a game, not Bahamians’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$4.02

• Top official argues levy non-discriminatory • Argues web shops had sufficient warning • ‘Don’t start New Year with COVID spike’ tax would also be imposed on casino patron winnings if that industry introduced such a game.

“It’s not a tax on Bahamians versus foreigners. It’s a tax on a type of game,” Mr Johnson repeated. Few observers, especially the domestic (web shop) gaming sector and its patrons, are likely to be reassured or convinced by the acting financial secretary’s stance, though.

And his comments were earlier this week directly contradicted by Carl Bethel QC, the attorney general, who told other news media that the casinos were being spared from a patron winnings-style tax because they are critical to a tourism

industry that generates thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, and is the country’s biggest foreign exchange and tax revenue earner.

Suggesting that the web shop industry’s economic contribution is much smaller, and that it effectively redistributes wealth from the many to the few, Mr Bethel was quoted as saying: “Their [the casinos’] presence creates thousands of jobs for Bahamians in the tourism sector.

“In short, the casinos make a far greater contribution to employment and economic activity throughout the Bahamian economy than gaming houses. This is

why the taxation in casinos is where it is.”

Mr Johnson, meanwhile, also yesterday rejected the web shop industry’s assertions that it has been given insufficient warning to properly roll-out the patron winnings tax from New Year’s Day. Arguing that the sector had known from last year that the levy was coming, he said: “As far as I understand, this actual tax structure was negotiated with the gaming houses back in 2019. They were aware of the tax for over a year, were aware of what it meant, they were consulted and there were discussions.

SEE PAGE 5

“It is very taxing given that we start with a scaled back budget. My permanent secretary colleagues understand the precariousness of where we are.”

Senator Kwasi Thompson, the newly-appointed minister of state for finance, in unveiling last week’s Fiscal Strategy Report, said the government was seeking $200m worth of spending cuts - some $100m on the recurrent side, and a matching $100m reduction on capital expenditure - to ensure it met the 2020-2021 budget’s $1.327bn deficit target.

He explained that the cuts were necessary because of some $75.8m in previously

SEE PAGE 3

$3.98 Loan delinquencies up $92m as tourism arrivals totally dry-up

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MORTGAGE and consumer loan delinquencies soared by $91.8m in two months as tourist arrivals to The Bahamas dropped 98.4 percent year-over-year for October, the Central Bank has revealed.

The latest grim economic data from the regulator’s report on November’s developments, while not surprising, further exposes the extent of the devastation inflicted by COVID-19 with many Bahamian households and individuals unable to meet their debt servicing obligations after loan deferral initiatives came to an end.

Mortgage loan delinquencies increased by a further $37.4m during November, although their consumer equivalent actually dropped by $3.6m. When added to the $58m rise in mortgage and consumer loan delinquencies from the previous month, this contributed to a more than $90m jump in a 61-day period.

“Banks’ credit quality indicators deteriorated during the month of November, reflecting a rise in short-term delinquencies, attributed to the negative effects from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, total private sector arrears grew by $45m (six percent) to $796.2m, elevating the relevant ratio by 80 basis points to 14.2 percent,” the Central Bank said.

“An analysis by average age of delinquency revealed that short-term arrears (31-90 days) rose by $43.3m (15.3 percent) to $325.7m, as the corresponding ratio rose by 77 basis points to 5.8 percent. Similarly, nonperforming loans (NPLs) increased by $1.6m (0.4 percent) to $470.6m, resulting in a 32 basis point rise in its accompanying ratio to 8.4 percent.

“A breakdown by loan category showed that the growth in short-term arrears was led by mortgage delinquencies, which expanded by $37.4m (8.5 percent) to $476m, as the $41.3m (25.7 percent) rise in the shortterm segment outstripped the $3.9m (1.4 percent) fall-off in non-performing loans,” the Central Bank added.

“Similarly, commercial arrears rose by $11.1m (17.6 percent) to $74.5m, with both the short-term and the non-accrual components

SEE PAGE 2

PAGE 2, Tuesday, December 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

BISX market cap’s 59% govt debt listing boost THE total market value of all securities listed on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) soared by 59 percent in the 2020 third quarter thanks to the listing of $3.5bn in government debt.

The exchange, unveiling its statistical report for the nine months to endSeptember 2020, said total market capitalisation had leapt from $5.466bn in 2019 to $8.701bn this year after the government’s 210 long-term bond issues were added to BISX’s listed securities roster.

This also took the total value of debt securities, excluding preference shares, from $513m to $4.004bn year-over-year,

according to the exchange, after it finally completed a 20-year effort to entice the government to place its bond issues in a formalised market.

Just over $1.2m worth of government debt securities were traded during the 2020 third quarter, boosting trading activity on BISX and providing a deeper, more liquid market. “As at September 30, 2020, the market was comprised of 20 ordinary shares with a market capitalisation of $4.454bn,” the exchange said.

“In addition, there were seven preference shares with a market capitalisation of $243m, 11 Bahamas Government Stock (BGS) and corporate bonds with a face

value of $480m, and 210 Bahamas Registered Stock (BRS) with a face value of $3.5bn.”

Elsewhere, the prices of listed equity stocks began to feel the effects of COVID-19’s impact on the Bahamian economy and investor sentiment. The BISX All-Share Index, which measures collective share price movements in all BISX-listed stocks, closed down 6.19 percent for the nine months to endSeptember at 2,093.55. For the same period in 2019, it was up 2.94 percent.

The All-Share Index’s decline mirrored that experienced by major global stock market indices. London’s FTSE 100 Index was

down 22.86 percent for the same nine-month period, while the MSCI Emerging Market Index was off by 2.57 percent. The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) was the only riser referred to by BISX, up 3.23 per cent.

Besides the $1.2m worth of government bonds traded in the almost-three months since their July 2020 listing, the exchange said some $12.715m in ordinary shares (equities) and $2.094m of preference shares changed hands in the nine months to end-September 2020. This meant some 3.7087m securities worth a collective $17.197m were traded for the year to end-September.

“Trading volume for the

AIRLINES RAMP-UP BAHAMAS FLIGHTS FOUR US airlines have added flights to their Bahamas schedules from mid-December in a bid to meet the anticipated rampup in demand from the hotel and tourism industry’s gradual re-opening.

The Ministry of Tourism identified JetBlue, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta as those increasing service to The Bahamas following the reopening of Atlantis, Baha Mar’s Grand Hyatt and the British Colonial Hilton.

Atlantis’ The Cove resort will return on February 11, while Baha Mar is aiming to re-open its Rosewood and SLS properties some time in February. Sandals, too, is planning to re-open its Royal Bahamian and Emerald Bay resorts by late January/early February.

“It is with the consistent support and collaboration of The Bahamas’ tourism stakeholders, promotion boards, agencies, media and other travel partners that the country has been able to establish the on-island guidelines and preventative measures to help curb further spread of COVID-19,”

DIONISIO D’AGUILAR

JOY JIBRILU said Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation.

“Our new, streamlined protocols for entry and inter-island travel, adjusted after careful monitoring, diligent analysis and swift response from

all government entities, responsibly enforce public health and safety measures while allowing travellers to more freely enjoy our vacation experience.”

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, added: “It is our duty

at Ministry of Tourism and Aviation to promote tourism to our beautiful country, and while 2020 brought unprecedented roadblocks to that task, our optimism and dedication to that mission never wavered.

“As we look ahead to 2021, we will continue to find new and unique ways to promote our islands’ offerings through expanded programmes and initiatives that will bring even more visitors back to our shores as quickly as possible.”

The Ministry of Tourism said its sales team had worked rapidly to develop virtual sales and promotions to help keep the travel trade community engaged after COVID-19 put an end to in-person meetings. This work included the development of a new virtual platform for webinars and trade shows.

“With this new technology, the Ministry of Tourism conducted virtual events around the world, bringing all suppliers and trade partners together to share and discuss COVID-19 protocols and updates,” the Ministry of Tourism said.

“Additional virtual events included the firstever virtual Bahamas dive pavilion for dive operators during DEMA, the largest dive supplier show in the world; webinars for private aviators espousing the coming pre-clearance initiative in South Florida; and Facebook Live events featuring culinary experts, award winning mixologists and other local craftsmen.

“Lastly, the team worked hard to strengthen relationships with air partners in an effort to facilitate the return of international flights. The Ministry also launched a dive and boat ambassador programme which includes top influencers in the industry who will support and assist us in promoting the destination.”

The Ministry of Tourism added that it plans to launch The Bahamas’ Romance magazine during its March 2021 Romance Forum.

nine-month period January 2, 2020, to September 30, 2020, was 3,708,304 shares for a value of $ 17.197m,” BISX said. “By comparison, trading volume for the nine-month period January 2, 2019, to September 30, 2019, was 5,934,256 shares for a value of $28.927m.

“Trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, was 1,084,256 shares for a value of $ 5.574m. By comparison, trading volume for the three-month period July 1, 2019, to September 30, 2019, was 1,478,146 shares for a value of $7.058m.”

Turning to average daily volume and value, BISX said: “For the nine-month

period from January 2, 2020, to September 30, 2020, the average volume per trading day was 19,635 shares for a value of $90,416.55.

“By comparison, for the nine-month period from January 2, 2019, to September 30, 2019, the average volume per trading day was 31,806 shares for an average value of $155,687.59.”

FOCOL was the most widely-traded stock over the first nine months of 2020 by volume, accounting for 37.8 percent of all shares traded with 1.403m shares changing hands. It also led the way in terms of value, accounting for 31.3 percent of $5.738m worth of shares that were traded.

Loan delinquencies up $92m as tourism arrivals totally dry-up

reductions in both sea (99.8 percent) and air (96.9 percent) arrivals.

“For Grand Bahama, total visitors matched just 5.6 percent of the 2019 volumes, as air arrivals reached 62.1 percent of the previous year’s levels. Similarly, visitors to the Family Islands corresponded to 2.3 percent of the prior year’s volumes, with air arrivals matching 34.5 percent of the 2019 levels,” it added.

“On a year-to-date basis, total foreign arrivals contracted by 70.5 percent, a turnaround from the 10.2 percent expansion in the previous year. Underlying this outcome was a 73.4 percent reduction in air arrivals, visà-vis a 10.1 percent growth in 2019. Similarly, sea passengers reduced by 69.6 percent, relative to a 10.2 percent increase last year.”

However, the short-term vacation rental industry was again boosted by the domestic market. “Shortterm rental market data, provided by AirDNA, featured positive movements during the month of November, supported by domestic demand,” the Central Bank added.

“Specifically, total room nights sold rose by 49.7 percent, surpassing the 36.1 percent increase in the prior year, bolstered by advancements in entire place accommodations by 52.1 percent and hotel comparable listings by 45.5 percent.

“Pricing data revealed the average daily room rate (ADR) for both entire place listings and hotel comparable listings grew by 22.2 percent and 13.9 percent to $451.26 and $163.62, respectively. Domestic spending also stemmed the cumulative losses, when compared to the hotel sector,” the Central Bank added.

“Over the 11-month period, total room nights sold declined by 46.4 percent, as bookings for entire place listings were lower by 47.5 percent and hotel comparable bookings contracted by 36.7 percent. Pricing indicator outcomes were mixed, as the ADR for entire place listings rose by four percent to $406.43, while the ADR for hotel comparable listings fell by 1.2 percent to $152.02.”

FROM PAGE ONE

registering growth of $10.2m (45.8 percent) and $0.9m (2.2 percent), respectively.

“In contrast, consumer loan delinquencies declined by $3.6m (1.5 percent), owing to an $8.2m (8.3 percent) reduction in the 31-90 days category, which eclipsed the $4.6m (three percent) increase in the long-term segment.”

However, the Central Bank said the commercial banking sector actually reduced its collective loan loss provisions by $10.4m or 1.9 percent during November despite the rise in bad loans, dropping this to $541.3m.

“As a consequence, the ratio of total provisions to arrears fell by 5.5 percentage points to 68 percent,” the regulator added. “In addition, the ratio of total provisions to non-performing loans reduced by 2.6 percentage points to 115 percent, while specific provisions to nonperforming loans was lower by 2.5 percentage points at 78.1 percent.”

Elsewhere, the Central Bank warned the improved outlook for travel and tourism in the 2021 second half due to the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines will be “heavily outweighed by foregone business during the first half of the year, which would have included the lucrative winter season”.

It added: “Official data provided by the Ministry of Tourism revealed that total foreign arrivals reduced by 98.4 percent in October, contrasting with a 6.6 percent growth a year earlier. In particular, air visitors decreased by 92.7 percent, extending last year’s 11.4 percent decline. Similarly, sea traffic fell by 99.5 percent in comparison to a 10.7 percent gain in 2019,” the Central Bank said.

“A breakdown by major islands showed that in New Providence total arrivals were only 0.9 percent of the prior year’s outturn, underpinned by significant

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 22, 2020, PAGE 3

CHAMBER DIRECTOR QUERIES BPL’S $535M BOND TIMING

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A CHAMBER of Commerce director yesterday said it was “ridiculous” for Bahamas Power & Light to still be seeking to place its $535m Rate Reduction Bond in the current high interest rate environment.

Debbie Deal, head of the chamber’s energy and environment division, told Tribune Business: “It’s ridiculous that we’re still going up for this Rate Reduction Bond, when more than half of it is for historical debt. This is no time to be borrowing that kind of money when the

BPL HEADQUARTERS country just finished borrowing $600m dollars at nine percent.”

Ms Deal was referring to the government’s recent sovereign bond issue, which was subsequently expanded to take on a further $225m at a slightly lower interest

rate than nine percent.

That borrowing was placed to raise money to cover the 2020-2021 fiscal year’s projected $1.327bn fiscal deficit, as well as bolster The Bahamas’ foreign reserves.

Meanwhile, BPL is

aiming to place the $535m Rate Reduction Bond with investors by end-January 2021 in a mammoth refinancing that aims to take out its legacy debt and provide funds to upgrade its transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure.

Ms Deal added: “The other part of what we were going to borrow was for transmission and distribution.

The IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) has already given a loan of $170m, and $25m to $30m of that is for alternative energy in the islands. The rest of it is to go for transmission and distribution. So we should not even be venturing

‘Taxing’ to hit $100m govt spending cuts FROM PAGE ONE unplanned COVID-19 assistance spending, and a $68m undershoot on projected first quarter revenues due to a combination of lockdowns and the slowerthan-expected tourism recovery.

While capital spending, which includes infrastructure and public works developments, is much simpler to slash by simply delaying or deferring non-key projects, the government’s recurrent budget is much harder to unpick in the search for savings.

This is because it includes all the government’s fixed costs, such as civil service wages, emoluments and pensions; rents for property; and debt servicing and principal redemption costs - with the latter now the single biggest line item in the Budget. All these expenses are effectively set, or baked in, making it much harder to make cuts without causing pain.

Mr Johnson yesterday acknowledged the challenge of finding deeper cuts in the recurrent or fixedcost Budget, especially since all ministries, agencies and departments had already been tasked with cutting expenses by 20 percent prior to the new fiscal year’s start.

He confirmed that “the government is intending to postpone non-essential and bigger projects that can be deferred” on the capital spending side to achieve the necessary $100m savings there, and added that reducing taxpayer subsidies

‘Payments crisis’ not govts fault FROM PAGE ONE

suggest that The Bahamas is facing a potential balance of payments crisis, which is possible in the next year or two - not because the government has not managed these crises appropriately, but because it is hard to imagine how any small, open, developing economy would be able to successfully survive its worst natural disaster in history, and a global sudden-stop, within one year.

“A balance of payments crisis would not necessarily reflect on the authorities as much as it reflects The Bahamas’ vulnerability, and indeed, that of many in the Caribbean.

In order to create the sustainable long-term progress we desire, we must reverse our poor policy choices, such as fiscal imprudence, which have contributed to our ‘pre-existing conditions’.

“This pandemic, like every crisis, presents us with a precious opportunity to take a long, hard look at our current policy approach and fearlessly adopt a transformative path towards the future we deserve.”

Ms Dukharan’s analysis was released on the day that Senator Kwasi Thompson, newly-appointed minister of state for finance, hailed the government’s monetary and fiscal policies for maintaining the security of the one:one fixed exchange rate peg with the US dollar.

Noting that the foreign currency reserves were “near historic highs” of $2.39bn as

to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be critical to enabling the government to meet increased debt servicing obligations produced by the COVID-19 blowout.

With almost $408m budgeted for such subsidies in 2020-2021, Mr Johnson said: “The government is seeking accelerated savings of $100m over the next four years. That is critical to enable the government to meet its debt servicing obligations as a result of the increased expenditure caused by” COVID-19.

Mr Thompson, meanwhile, reassured Bahamians the government has no plans to impose new and/or increased taxes on Bahamian businesses and households - at least not in the short-term until the economy has recovered.

“The short answer to that is there are no plans for increases in taxes,” he said in response to questioning.

“One of the things we really want to be focused on is to maintain the plan we have in place now. We have to take care of our people. We have to focus on reducing spending, and then we must grow the economy.

“There is a school of thought that if we increase taxes that is going to have an effect on growing the economy. In short, there are no plans at the moment for us to increase taxes.”

Many observers, though, will likely be sceptical and unconvinced that The Bahamas can escape imposing new and increased taxes over the medium to longterm once the economy has recovered from COVID-19.

This is due to the debt at December 15 thanks to the government’s recent foreign currency borrowing, Mr Thompson said: “I am pleased to cast aside any concern regarding the threat of devaluation of the Bahamian dollar.

“Despite the economic trauma of the last nine or so months, the prudent management by this administration has ensured that the Bahamian dollar remains as strong and as secure today as it was before the onset of this most devastating economic setback.”

On the fiscal side, Marlon Johnson, acting financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance, conceded that “where we are heading is not ideal but is certainly within the realm of being manageable” as the debt-toGDP ratio is projected to peak at 85 percent in the 2021-2022 fiscal year before declining to 73.7 percent by 2024-2025.

However, Ms Dukharan warned that the fact The Bahamas’ primary fiscal balance has been in deficit for some time indicates it is having to borrow to pay interest on its existing debt, which could trigger a debt spiral.

“It is important to note that even before Hurricane Dorian in 2019, The Bahamas’ primary fiscal balance was consistently in deficit for some time, which means that the government is already in deficit before it pays the interest on its existing debt, so it has to borrow to pay the interest on existing debt, suggesting that there is a structural problem with the government’s fiscal affairs, as opposed to an exceptional or event-driven problem,” she said.

and deficit blow-out produced by the pandemic in combination with Hurricane Dorian. The Fiscal Strategy Report itself forecasts that the national debt will be approaching $11bn come 2024-2025, and admits that economic growth by itself will not be sufficient to set The Bahamas back on the path to economic and fiscal sustainability.

Mr Johnson, in his presentation, indicated that the government has adopted the recommendation from the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) he cochaired to “review the existing tax regime and develop a road map of tax system reform recommendations that would introduce greater progressivity, fairness and stability”.

This language seemingly indicates a shift towards an income or corporate income tax-type system, away from the regressive consumption-based taxes that The Bahamas has traditionally relied upon. Mr Johnson, though, said the Ministry of Finance was only at the starting point when it came to undertaking the necessary studies that will provide the empirical data to justify any tax reform.

This work, he added, will determine “where the underlying burden falls” when it comes to paying any new tax, as well as the costs and administrative complexity associated with

enforcing it. The acting financial secretary also reinforced that SOEs must move to a “cost recovery model”, either through fee/ tariff increases that cover the cost of providing services, or efficiency and savings gains.

Both he and Mr Thompson were also forced to give a clarification after Mr Johnson indicated that “the number of clerical positions” within the public sector will likely reduce over time as the government moves to digitise more and more government services.

Mr Thompson said the digital transition will take place over time, and not result in “a complete shock that persons are out of work or a job description”. He added that the switch would be accompanied by retraining for those affected, while new posts would likely be created that they can fill.

“Where we see savings is not what the government spends,” Mr Thompson said. “Where we see savings is in efficiency, and for the businesses and people that have to use these services.

It saves them time in terms of doing business with the government.

“The time one spends on the line is time not working, time when they are not making money. We’re focused on reducing the amount of time persons are spending doing business with the government to get that service.”

into this now.”

Turning to BPL’s latest fuel hedge, Ms Deal said: “They need to hedge when the timing is better. Hedging is about getting your best price. Now I’ve been looking at the international market and right now, if fuel prices have gone up, this would not be the time to be hedging.

“If prices are going to have gone up to $80 or $90 a barrel, we need to wait until maybe spring time when they go down. There are so many countries that are now revving up to make as much income as they can because of COVID-19. But by the time spring comes, that’ll be over.”

The IDB, in a statement, said the latest hedge will “allow the government to take advantage of low oil prices in the international markets and protect itself against abrupt oil price movements, ultimately offering consumers protection against unexpected increases in energy costs”.

“It also protects the government’s budget resources by allowing it to implement better financial risk management over the next three-and-a-half years, with a series of Asian Call Options purchased by the government from the bank on approximately 7.2m barrels of crude oil.”

RETAILERS: XMAS SALES ARE ‘SURPRISINGLY WELL’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net SEVERAL retailers yesterday said Christmas sales were performing “surprisingly well” given the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted upon incomes and jobs.

Alannah van Onselen, the ShopLocal initiative’s director, told Tribune Business: “Sales are going well; we’re getting them. We’re good. People are definitely spending less and they’re buying smaller items, so the numbers are probably going to be down a little bit, but I would say but people are supporting local.”

“I think we are getting the message out there, and so far we’re busy. We’re not slammed. Bu what we would have expected, we’re getting.”

Ms Van Onselen added that Bahamian consumers have responded well to the ShopLocal initiative that was launched in early November. She said: “I think we’ve gotten the message out there, and I think that people are trying to get their communities to support local businesses and they understand the importance of it. We’re hoping that that message is getting out there.”

ShopLocal was developed through an alliance of several major businesses and organisations, including the Bahamas Federation of Retailers, the Nassau Cruise Port, Furniture Plus and Carpet World. It aims to encourage Bahamians to shop at home this

Christmas to preserve foreign exchange and keep money circulating in the local economy.

Ms Van Onselen, though, conceded that 2020 is “not even close” to the business many retailers enjoyed in 2019, but is thankful for what they have. She added: “I think people actually really started shopping a little later this year. I can’t give you exact details right now, but after Christmas I could give you like a percentage of up or down.

“But I don’t think we’ll hit the same number by any means. We knew that that wasn’t going to be the case, but people are shopping locally. From what I know, people are making an effort.”

Cathy Moultrie, operations manager at Coin of the Realm, said business was going “pretty well, surprisingly”.

As Coin of the Realm is limiting shoppers to only five customers in-store at a time, she said the “very controlled” environment meant sales were unlikely to match 2019 levels.

Ms Moultrie added: “I can tell you that it’s a flow all day long. People have been coming to shop all day over the last few days.” She said Coin of the Realm will remain open until 6pm on Christmas Eve.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 4, Tuesday, December 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

AG: New tax for BPC if royalties ‘abysmally low’ FROM PAGE ONE milestone for both BPC and The Bahamas, and represents the culmination of more than ten years work by a team who have remained steadfast in their belief in this project throughout. That it is finally taking place is a testament to the application, skill and professionalism of many people over those years.

“The well will be drilled to the highest environmental and safety standards over the next 45 to 60 days,” he added. “Our shareholders have been extremely patient, but we are now within a couple of months of understanding the scale of potential resource uplift that might be accessed within the licences: A potential uplift that is the traditional domain of the ‘oil majors’.

“More than a decade ago BPC secured several offshore hydrocarbon licences in the far southern waters of The Bahamas. Convinced of the compelling prospectivity of those licences, the company has spent close to $120m bettering our technical understanding, continuing to de-risk the play, and ultimately preparing meticulously for exploration drilling.

“Our 3D seismic survey revealed structures that have the potential to contain a world class, multibillion barrel oil resource that, if present in the way we hope, could prove to be transformative - not just for our company, but for the nation and people of The Bahamas as a whole.”

STENA ICEMAX DRILLING SHIP Any discussion on negotiating revised royalty rates is moot until BPC finds commercial quantities of oil that it can extract from the Bahamian seabed. Mr Bethel acknowledged this, while adding that the history of oil exploration in The Bahamas suggested this was “a big if”.

And Mr Potter, in a recent interview with Tribune Business, pledged that BPC will “pay double the royalties that the law provides for” to the government should it strike success. The royalty structure is embodied in law and the licence. The law establishes a royalty that we have to pay for the production of oil and gas, and the licence we signed provides more royalties on top of that,” he added.

“It doubles the amount of royalties we’d pay under the law. We agreed with the government many years ago to pay more royalties than the law provides for.

Depending on the volume of oil it could double the royalties.”

LEGAL NOTICE

FINAL NOTICE

BPC’s existing commercial terms with the government involve a ‘sliding scale’ of royalty fees, with the rates tied to production (the daily volume of oil, measured in per barrel terms) that is extracted from Bahamian waters.

The royalty rates range from a low of 12.5 percent for 75,000 barrels per day to a peak of 25 percent for 350,000 barrels per day or more, with a production licence granted for 30 years.

However, Mr Bethel yesterday said the Christie administration was warned in 2014 - one year before it renewed BPC’s seabed leases - by the Commonwealth Secretariat that “their rates were too low and not consistent with global standards”.

“In their report they produced a graph showing where other countries were, and The Bahamas was at the bottom of the list,” he blasted to Tribune Business.

“The lowest return in terms of profit sharing and tax returns or royalties of any country on the face of the

planet. We were in the pits.

That is what we still have today.”

Saying there were “serious questions” as to why the former government did not use the seabed lease renewals as leverage to secure a better royalty rate for the Bahamian people, Mr Bethel added that it knew from 2014 that “the royalty agreement as contained in the original 2007 lease with the oil company was the lowest in the world” but never acted to improve it.

He added that the highest rate in the present royalty structure, 25 percent of the “net petroleum value”, was 20 percentage points below the lowest rate elsewhere that was identified by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s study.

“The highest rate was 75 percent, and the average was 60 percent,” the attorney general said. “That’s a big question the PLP needs to answer. If you’re dealing with a raw material, a resource that your jurisdiction has that is supposed to benefit your people, why

accept a royalty rate that was so below the global average? Yes, we will renegotiate it.”

Acknowledging that Mr Potter had indicated his willingness to do so, Mr Bethel added: “At the end of the day, if renegotiations don’t work we have the option as a sovereign state to impose a tax on the business. We can impose a tax on the gross returns.

“We’ll have a renegotiation or impose a business tax like we did with the gaming industry, and that will be based on the gross revenues from the well head, which should have been done from the beginning.

“One scenario is that we keep the royalty rates and they go to the Treasury, and we impose a business tax on the gross that goes directly into the sovereign wealth fund that will be created for the benefit of every Bahamian,” he continued.

“We could establish an annuity that pays every Bahamian $50 a month, or use it for public projects that benefit communities.

We are going to review the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act because we believe it is not quite where it should be.

We’ll conduct a review in short order and come with amendments or a new Act.” Mr Bethel said the government was not about imposing “state mandates” on BPC, and added: “It’s about having dialogue about a level of taxation that is reasonable and consistent with global standards.”

He argued that the former administration’s acceptance of a royalty rate based on net, as opposed

to gross, value would have left the government and Bahamian people as potential “victims of accounting” since it would take “months, years” to win in a challenge over BPC’s investment and accounting figures.

Mr Bethel, though, suggested that the history of oil exploration in The Bahamas was against BPC, as numerous wells dug previously had all struck oil but not in commercial quantities to make any project economically viable.

BPC’s Mr Potter, when the royalty rate structure was called into question in 2013, said the rates are “30 per cent higher” than those paid by Gulf of Mexico oil drillers and “more onerous” than what was specified in the then-Petroleum Act. Justifying the existing agreement with the government, Mr Potter emphasised that BPC and its now-$120m investment to-date had assumed all the risk, with its oil exploration activities not costing the government one cent.

And, pointing out that the government would earn any royalties from oil discoveries from “day one”, the BPC chief executive said there had been no exploratory well drilling in Bahamian waters for 25 years.

This, Mr Potter said, meant comparisons between the Bahamas’ royalties regime and that in Trinidad & Tobago, where oil and gas exploration activities had been going on for 100 years, were inappropriate because it was like “comparing apples to oranges”.

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

IBC NO. 160496

FINAL NOTICE

KALIPSO INVESTMENTS LTD (In Voluntary Liquidation)

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that:-

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that:-

CHRONOVALUE INVESTMENT FUND SAC LTD has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to Certificate of Dissolution issued by the Registrar General on October 7, 2020

CHANESGRO CORP has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to Certificate of Dissolution issued by the Registrar General on November 13, 2020.

Dillon R. Dean Liquidator

Dillon R. Dean Liquidator

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with the International Business Companies 2000. Kalipso Investments Ltd is in dissolution was February 14th, 2018 R. Clive Moore of Octagon Fund Management Ltd. No 3 Offices at Old Fort Bay, Western Road Nassau Bahamas has been appointed liquidator.

R. Clive Moore Liquidator

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

N O T I C E

NOTICE

EXXONMOBIL RUSSIA HOLDINGS LIMITED

EMERALD ISLES FINE ARTS LTD.

NOTICE is hereby given as follows:

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certificate of Dissolution issued by The Registrar General on the 8th day of December A.D., 2020.

(a)

Emerald Isles Fine Arts Ltd. is in Voluntary Dissolution under the provisions of Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act 2000.

(b)

The Dissolution of the said Company commenced when the Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

(c)

The Liquidator of the said Company is Beatus Limited, P.O. Box N7776-348, N.P., Bahamas.

Dated the 22nd day of December, A.D., 2020 Matteo Pedercini Liquidator of EXXONMOBIL RUSSIA HOLDINGS LIMITED

Dated this 22nd day December, 2020 Beatus Limited Liquidator

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

N O T I C E

N O T I C E

N O T I C E

EXXONMOBIL GAS VENTURES (RUSSIA) LIMITED

EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION RUSSIA OFFSHORE LIMITED

EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION RUSSIA BLACK SEA LIMITED

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certificate of Dissolution issued by The Registrar General on the 8th day of December A.D., 2020.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certificate of Dissolution issued by The Registrar General on the 8th day of December A.D., 2020.

Dated the 22nd day of December, A.D., 2020

Dated the 22nd day of December, A.D., 2020

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act 2000, notice is hereby given that the above-named Company has been dissolved and struck off the Register pursuant to a Certificate of Dissolution issued by The Registrar General on the 8th day of December A.D., 2020.

Dated the 22nd day of December, A.D., 2020

Matteo Pedercini Liquidator of EXXONMOBIL GAS VENTURES (RUSSIA) LIMITED

Matteo Pedercini Liquidator of EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION RUSSIA OFFSHORE LIMITED

Matteo Pedercini Liquidator of EXXONMOBIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION RUSSIA BLACK SEA LIMITED

THE TRIBUNE

Patron winnings tax ‘on a game, not Bahamians’ FROM PAGE ONE “As far as we’ve come to understand, working with the agency that deals with them, they’ve been fully briefed, they’re fully on board, the understand the parameters, and we will work with the Gaming Board to ensure there’s compliance and take into account any concerns the gaming industry has. We believe it can work, and there’s a way for it to be done within the time set by the government.”

The web shop industry had earlier this week argued that three weeks was insufficient notice to ready their systems, operations and customer service for the new patron winnings tax. They also called on the government to reconsider the timing due to the “additional burden” it will impose on COVID-hit consumers.

Leander Brice and Garvin Newball, A Sure Win’s co-chief executives, told Tribune Business their clients need “more time to bounce back” given the hardship imposed by the pandemic’s devastation of employment and incomes.

“We understand the constraints of the government and the need for new revenue opportunities, but we truly understand the plight of our gamers and we urge consideration in the timeline of this new tax roll-out to give our patrons a bit more time to bounce back in this current economic climate,” they said.

Mr Johnson yesterday confirmed the new patron winnings tax is projected to yield an extra $10m-$15m over the final six months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

While a relatively small sum in the overall fiscal scheme of things, it will certainly shrink gamblers’ winnings at a time when they will be hoping to land every cent possible due to COVID-19 related high unemployment and income cuts.

The new winnings tax will see five percent paid on winnings up to $1,000, and 7.5 percent on anything greater than $1,000. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, said previously that just 45 percent of web shop gaming activities will attract the new patron “winnings” tax with online casino spins remaining untouched “for now”.

This means that a gambler who wins $1,000 will pay $50 in tax, reducing their take-home winnings to $950. Someone who wins $2,000 will pay $150 in tax, leaving them with $1,850 to take home.

Mr D’Aguilar also added that the government had decided to focus this levy solely on lottery/numbers operations because it was too “complicated” to calculate the winnings from online casino spinning, indicating that Bahamian gamblers had got off relatively lightly.

Meanwhile, Kwasi Thompson, newlyappointed minister of state for finance, yesterday said the government is “confident that we are seeing light at the end of this tunnel” due to the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines as well as the tourism industry’s slow relaunch.

However, he warned that the Bahamian economy’s fate, and the financial well-being of citizens and residents, is in the near-term

inextricably bound up with the task of keeping local COVID-19 infection rates as low as possible so that tourism can restart and as much of the economy as possible remain open.

“No one wants to start the New Year with a January spike, and it is up to each and every one of us to do our part,” Senator Thompson added. “Our success is still dependent on our collective behaviour and discipline, so every Bahamian and resident should keep this in mind as they go about their private lives this holiday season.

“The pandemic wiped out the savings of many Bahamians who had big dreams for their families and businesses that are now on hold.

The pandemic caused many hard-working Bahamians, who value the dignity of work, to become dependent on the state for the first time in their lives.”

Mr Thompson added that the government has dedicated an extra $60m in combined unemployment benefits and food assistance to support pandemic-hit Bahamians between November and into 2021. This follows $17.2m in food assistance that was provided to endOctober, with a further $10m having been budgeted to take the initiative through to year-end.

“This has been no ordinary year: That is painfully clear.

COVID-19 has scarred our economy and transformed our lives forever,” the minister said. “We shall do everything in our power to restore the economy for sustainable and inclusive macroeconomic growth. That will improve the lives of Bahamians.”

Tuesday, December 22, 2020, PAGE 5

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

PAGE 6, Tuesday, December 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

MONDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2020

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX:

CLOSE

CHANGE

%CHANGE

2055.24

4.33

0.21

YTD

YTD%

(242) 323-2330 (242) 323-2320

-7.90 -176.36

BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 4.13 33.05 2.00 1.79 2.39 6.00 6.75 4.10 8.01 4.50 6.16 12.77 3.64 6.50 10.88 8.44 15.35 4.25 9.26 15.21

52WK LOW 3.13 22.65 0.67 1.62 1.67 5.00 6.00 2.70 4.75 3.50 5.90 11.06 2.10 4.60 9.60 7.50 13.00 3.25 8.15 14.00

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 0.90

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank Bahamas Limited Focol Finco J. S. Johnson

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ

Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Bahamas Class A Focol Class B

BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

52WK HI 2.37 4.43 2.13 198.39 176.73 1.69 1.85 1.77 1.24 8.39 10.26 7.23 12.80 12.81 10.81 10.00 8.98 11.79

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.65 1.79 1.75 1.05 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

SECURITY Fidelity Bank (Note 22 Series B+) Bahamas First Holdings Limited

SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing)

MUTUAL FUNDS

MARKET TERMS

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407

LAST CLOSE 4.13 32.12 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.61 2.80 4.75 3.50 5.90 11.26 2.43 6.23 10.39 8.40 13.00 3.70 8.25 15.20

CLOSE 4.13 32.12 1.62 1.79 1.67 6.00 6.61 2.80 4.75 3.50 5.90 11.26 2.39 6.23 10.29 8.40 13.00 3.80 8.25 15.20

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.04) 0.00 (0.10) 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

LAST SALE 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

VOLUME

55,000

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 VOLUME

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Preferred Income Fund Leno Growth Fund Leno Diversified Fund Leno Global USD Bond Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund Royal Fidelity Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Equities Sub Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - High Yield Fund Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00

EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.110 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631

NAV 2.37 4.43 2.13 198.36 173.98 1.69 1.79 1.77 1.05 8.39 9.88 7.23 12.33 12.80 10.20 N/A 9.28 11.86

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.030 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

P/E 17.3 34.5 N/M N/M N/M N/M 17.9 -6.4 33.9 19.0 13.1 15.6 23.4 13.3 15.9 11.5 15.9 18.7 8.8 24.1

YIELD 4.12% 3.92% 1.23% 1.68% 0.00% 0.00% 3.93% 0.00% 0.00% 3.43% 3.73% 6.39% 18.16% 0.96% 3.19% 2.86% 4.15% 3.16% 2.42% 4.01%

0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025

6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25%

20-Nov-2029 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2022

YTD% 12 MTH% 3.76% 4.43% 1.54% 2.56% 2.12% 2.59% 1.65% 2.39% 4.34% 9.82% 1.65% 1.95% -3.06% -2.22% 0.80% 1.17% -12.30% -11.81% 0.64% 0.98% 1.19% -3.63% 4.20% 5.04% 2.63% 7.68% 3.68% 3.93% -4.89% -4.62% N/A N/A -0.50% 3.70% -3.80% 4.10%

NAV Date 31-Oct-2020 31-Oct-2020 30-Oct-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 31-Oct-2020 31-Oct-2020 31-Oct-2020 31-Oct-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020 30-Sep-2020

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price

52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks

Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity

52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks

Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity

Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume

Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price

Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume

Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week

Change - Change in closing price from day to day

EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths

Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today

NAV - Net Asset Value

DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months

N/M - Not Meaningful

P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | CAROLISLE 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

HIGH-FLYING TESLA STOCK TAKES A HIT ON 1ST DAY IN S&P 500 DETROIT Associated Press

IN THE middle of last year, Tesla’s losses were piling up, sales weren’t enough to cover expenses and big debt payments loomed. The situation was so bad that one influential Wall Street analyst raised the possibility that Tesla wouldn’t be able to pay its bills and would have to be restructured financially.

Since then, the electric car and solar panel maker’s shares have skyrocketed, rising nearly 700% this year alone. Yesterday was its first day of being included in the prestigious S&P 500, and it didn’t go well. Shares tumbled 6.5% to $649.86 even though the index as a whole lost only 0.4%. The stock hit a record high on Friday.

Tesla’s rise to become the world’s most valuable automaker and rank among the top ten biggest US companies in the index is a surprising accomplishment considering that the company lost $1.1bn in the first half of 2019. The increase was so stunning that even CEO Elon Musk has said the shares are overpriced.

Global sales hit a record of almost 140,000 vehicles in the third quarter, debt has been reduced with proceeds from stock offerings, and Musk’s company is building two huge factories to make new vehicles and satisfy demand. Intensely loyal followers have invested billions and Musk has become the world’s third-richest man, according to Forbes.

Tesla and Musk have for years engendered strong divisions on Wall Street, and the rise from nearcollapse to an astronomical valuation is no exception.

Many investors who drove Tesla’s value higher are individuals who bought the stock after a five-for-one split reduced the price of a single share last summer.

The bulls are largely betting on the company’s future and point to five straight profitable quarters, rising sales, and world-leading battery and software technology to justify their bets.

Bears, including short sellers who have lost millions betting against the stock, still predict a collapse. They cite limited markets for high-priced Tesla vehicles, repeated quality problems, huge capital costs for factories, and growing competition from conventional automakers.

New York investment manager Ark Invest has consistently predicted Tesla’s meteoric rise. Ark says Tesla has a technology advantage over other auto companies in performance and range of its vehicles.

And if Musk makes good on his pledge to reduce battery costs, demand for electric vehicles will rise, with Tesla uniquely positioned to respond at large scale.

“If you look at a company like Tesla, they’re single-handedly in a way sort of making that curve, because they’re the largest producer of batteries,” said analyst Tasha Keeney.

Tesla’s lowest-priced vehicle, the Model 3, is pulling buyers from mainstream brands with a base price of $37,990, Keeney said. That can quickly rise above $40,000 or even $50,000 with options.

Tesla’s upcoming angular Cybertruck pickup, starting at $39,900, will hit a mass market price comparable to other pickups, Keeney said.

And Musk has promised battery breakthroughs that will bring a more affordable $25,000 vehicle, she said.

Ark sees Tesla’s shares rising to $1,400 by 2024.

The investment firm also sees earnings potential from Tesla one day using its vehicles to run a profitable autonomous robotaxi service. Tesla, Keeney said, is building a huge database of experiences from cars now on the roads, giving it an advantage over competitors including Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, considered to be the leader in autonomous driving technology.

This all makes little sense to the bears, who consider Tesla’s valuation absurdly high. On paper, Tesla is worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan and Daimler combined.

“Tesla shares are in our view, and by virtually every conventional metric, not only overvalued, but dramatically so,” JP Morgan analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote in a note to investors.

He has a $90 one-year price target on the stock.

Demand for Tesla shares is expected to be strong yesterday as institutional investors buy to make their portfolios mirror the S&P 500. But Brinkman recommends against that.

Tesla Inc’s valuation is more than double that of Toyota Motor Corp, which typically sells over ten million vehicles worldwide every year. Last year Tesla sold 367,500. Toyota’s JulySeptember profit of $4.5bn was over six times higher than Tesla’s net income during its five-quarter profit streak.

On a November earnings conference call, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said that Tesla isn’t a real automaker yet. “You can use the analogy of kitchen and chef,” Toyoda said.

“They have not created a real business yet or a real world yet, but they’re trying to trade the recipes.

And the chef is saying that, well, our recipe is going to become the standard of the world in the future. I think that is a kind of business they have,” he said.

Tesla, which this year disbanded its media relations office, did not respond to requests for comment.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ALLANDA FORTUNE of Mackey Street, Nassau, 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 22nd day of December 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JUDITH FORTUNE of The Bluff Nelly Street, Eleuthera, 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 15th day of December 2020 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, December 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

BODY AND MIND

‘Island Gal’ seeks to introduce healing methods based on ancestral knowledge and proven by science

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net WITH a passion for helping people reconnect to their bodies and bring a sense of calmness to their minds, mental health professional, certified yoga teacher and herbalist Mykah Smith has created a space for people to uncover their boundless and healthy potentials.

Mykah told Tribune Health she wants to “guide people back to their centres”, cultivating new healing methods for the mind and body. She does this with her brands Anahata Yoga and Last Island Gal. “Anahata Yoga and Last Island Gal (LIG) are my offerings to God, my community and the global collective. Currently, LIG is in the process of expanding to some retail location, developing a bush 101 curriculum and expanding our product line. Anahata Yoga has recently partnered with local Airbnbs as well as private properties on several islands to bring you retreats, day excursions and mindful events coming 2021.

I am very grateful to God for the expansion and divine timing,” said Mykah.

She said a big part of why she initially became an entrepreneur was because she refused to be just another cog in the wheel.

She refused to compromise her integrity or her values and follow practices that she knew to be detrimental. Mykah said she wanted to have a meaningful way to impact people on her own terms.

“Being an entrepreneur allows me to do just that; make my own schedule, create freely, move at my own pace, inspire others to do the same and above all stay true to (me). During this time it’s been so comforting not being forced to meet quotas and having the freedom to reinvent and rethink without an entire hierarchy to go through. I’m grateful to be able to do what I love and make a living doing so,” she said.

Under the Last Island Gal’s brand, Mykah offers consultations, body polishes, oils, beard products, loose leaf teas, mosquito repellent, yoni steams, masks, customised products and more. Via Anahata Yoga/ Bahama Hoop Yogi, she is currently operating as a mobile and virtual service. She offers one-on-one hula hoop and yoga sessions; teaching all levels, from beginner upward, and curating each session for the client’s specific needs.

“My journey to becoming a yoga instructor is one wrought with much heartache. In 2014, my aunt who raised me along with my mother, died from cancer. This sent me into a depression and suicidal ideation. I was referred to a counsellor who introduced me to mindfulness based, cognitive based theory and started my journey into mindfulness, yoga and psychology. God, yoga, meditation and prayer saved me from myself during this time and it inspired me to help people do the same. I then pursued my Master’s in Development and Child Psychology, and my yoga teacher training certification. I use all of this training to inform my teaching style and methodology. Helping

“It was amazing to see that the innate wisdom of our ancestors was centuries ahead of science and that a lot of the methods of bush healing are in fact supported by science.”

MYKAH Smith is a mental health professional, certified yoga teacher and herbalist. my clients to unite their mind and body through their breath, allowing them to surrender, release, and thrive,” said Mykah.

Last Island Gal, she explained, was inspired by her grandparents

- Willamae Davis Wilson and William Levi Wilson. They were the medicine makers in the settlement of The Bluff, Cat Island.

Mykah said she would hear stories about how they would help

people heal, become fertile and find wholeness.

“My eldest aunt is one of the only ones in my family who holds all this knowledge, a bush griot (West African storyteller

historian), if you will. I grew up drinking bush and herbal infusions all my life, but it wasn’t until the summer of 2015 that my interest began to grow, so I began asking my eldest aunt to show my plants and I began to learn. The anecdotal knowledge was good, however, I wanted a bit more background in plant chemistry.

With this understanding, I pursued several certifications online in plant chemistry and herbalism.

It was amazing to see that the innate wisdom of our ancestors was centuries ahead of science and that a lot of the methods of bush healing are in fact supported by science. I began by sharing information and then over time transitioned into a product-based business,” said Mykah.

She said Last Island Gal offers an array of products to help with ailments like diabetes, hypertension, impotence, sinus inflammation and congestion, feminine issues, acne, eczema, psoriasis, ingrown hairs, scars, dark spots and more. And with yoga, she said it has many physical and psychological benefits, from reducing stress to improving circulation, lessening lower back pain and even increasing joint flexibility by stimulating the synovial fluid in the joints.

“I am so grateful to be able to do what I love even through this pandemic. I was very discouraged at the beginning, but I quickly found that this was an opportunity to equip myself with more knowledge to serve my community more effectively. Pushing a small business during this time is understanding that you need to be accommodating with people and their changing needs, but also remember your value. It has created space for reinvention and innovation, and it’s been an honour to work and learn through this global shift,” she said.

Mykah said it sets her soul afire to witness people realise their boundless potential and come to understand their bodies’ innate wisdom. And for her, watching people release their fears and find healing is extremely rewarding.

“Honestly, my only wish is to empower people. There was a gentleman with difficulties from high blood pressure, which contributed to his erectile dysfunction. I prepared him a regimen and within a couple months he had regulated his pressure and was healthy. He and his wife would call me at least three times a week to thank me for fixing up the sexy time,” said Mykah.

In keeping herself focused, Mykah said it’s all about staying immersed in nature, anchored in her physical body, and maintaining mental clarity.

Last Island Gal has released its Christmas boxes that are available in his and hers versions and contain the brand’s top selling products of 2020.

For more information, visit both of Mykah’s brands On Instagram @bahamahoopyogi and @lastislandgal.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 22, 2020, PAGE 9

Merry Christmas to men!

Studies show frequent ejaculations have proven health benefits Here is an early Christmas gift of scientifically based facts for Bahamian men: Frequent sex, more specifically ejaculating more than 21 times a month, has been shown in several studies, including a Harvard study, to reduce prostate cancer risk.

The Harvard ejaculation study, part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, involved health care provider volunteers, including pharmacists, veterinarians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, podiatrists and dentists. The study involved 29,342 health professionals between the ages of 46 to 81 years old. Information was obtained from each of the volunteers with regards to the number of ejaculations per month in younger years (20 to 29 years old), middle age years (40 to 49 years old) and the specific year during which the information was requested. The health care provider volunteers provided information every two years, regarding lifestyle and average monthly ejaculations.

The study found that frequent ejaculations reduced prostate cancer risk.

In comparison with men in the study who had four to seven ejaculations per month, men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month, had a 31 per cent lower risk of prostate cancer. These remarkable findings stood up to the scientific statistical scrutiny over many years; with lifestyle factors and PSA blood test frequency taken into account.

An Australian study replicated the same findings as the Harvard study, that frequent ejaculations reduced prostate cancer risk. The Australian study involved 2,338 men less than 70 years old. Results showed that men who had 4.6 to 7 ejaculations per week ( 18.4 to 28 ejaculations per month ), reduced the likelihood of prostate cancer diagnosis by 36 percent, when compared with Australian men who ejaculated less than 2.3 times per week on average (9.2 ejaculations per month).

The Harvard study and Australian studies both lend themselves to the need for long

THE UROLOGY DOCTOR IS IN...

Dr Greggory Pinto

term studies examining the link between prostate cancer and ejaculation frequency. The studies proved that there is a link between early adulthood ejaculation frequency and the occurrence of prostate cancer much later in life. The prostate gland is a male reproductive organ whose main

function is to secrete prostate fluid, one of the components of semen. The theory is that emptying the prostate gland through ejaculating is a likely protective mechanism, in that harmful and potentially irritating substances are evacuated and not allowed to accumulate and possibly lead to prostate cancer formation.

One in six Bahamian men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. Many Bahamian men have many of the risk factors for not just prostate cancer but a more aggressive form of prostate cancer. Important risks factors for prostate cancer include African ancestry, high alcohol intake, obesity, high calcium and red meat intake and the BRCA gene 1 and 2 mutations.

Prostate cancer has an excellent cure rate of nearly 99 percent if the prostate cancer is detected at an early stage.

Bahamian men need to live a healthy lifestyle with a weekly exercise regime, a healthy balanced diet, alcohol intake in moderation so as to reduce the risk of prostate cancer and the

Dr Timothy Barrett appointed as UB’s mental health consultant to assist students and faculty The University of the Bahamas has appointed Dr Timothy Barrett to serve as Mental Health Consultant effective Monday, January 4, 2021, providing mental and psychological health services for faculty, staff and students, including the University of the Bahamas-North community.

The Managing Director of Holistic Health Services, Dr Barrett will implement a wellness-based Employee Assistance Programme and Student Assistance Programme, offering psychological services via office visits, and through virtual sessions. A 24-hour, seven days a week counselling hotline, staffed by a team of trained professionals, will be made available.

UB employees and students will also receive grief counselling and be kept abreast of current and critical mental and psychological health information. The ultimate aim is to increase workplace productivity, heighten

morale and reduce levels of frustration, stress, disciplinary and grievance actions. Early and timely interventions for students are intended to reduce family distress and improve the ability to focus and attain educational goals.

Dr Barrett is a highly respected member of the medical fraternity and a veteran psychiatrist. He is also past president of the Medical Association of the Bahamas and former chairman of the Bahamas Medical Council. For the past 28 years, he has used his knowledge of human behaviour and talent for communication to serve as human resources consultant and trainer for a number of business organisations. For a number of years, he was the visiting lecturer for the Master’s degree programme in Human Resources in the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Business, Cave Hill, Barbados. He is an ordained minister who lectures and preaches

regularly on a wide range of topics, with a passion for helping people learn how to maximize their brief time on earth and enjoy an abundant life.

An athletic standout, Dr Barrett is a former international athlete and All-American at the University of Southern California.

In an historic feat for the Bahamas, he earned the first gold medal in a field event in the 1966 Central American and Caribbean games. He has also coached a variety of national sporting teams. Dr Barrett completed his pre-medical studies at the University of Southern California, earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from University of the West Indies, and a Master of Science in Psychiatric Medicine from the University of Manchester. He is married to the former Samantha Adderley and has four children, Timothy Jr, Marc, Torriano, and Joelle.

DR Timothy Barrett

risk of more aggressive prostate cancer.

Get an annual prostate specific antigen blood test every year starting at age 40 years old. Early detection of prostate cancer is the key to cure.

Bahamian men, ejaculating 21 or more times a month could also potentially reduce your risk of prostate cancer. Wives and partners, this is a scientifically proven fact.

Early Merry Christmas, men of the Bahamas!

• Dr Greggory Pinto is a board certified Bahamian urologist and laparoscopic surgeon. He has trained in Germany, South Africa and France, and is a member of the European Association of Urology. He can be contacted at OakTree Medical Center, #2 Fifth Terrace & Mount Royal Avenue.

Telephone: (242) 322-1145 (6) (7); e-mail: welcome@urologycarebahamas.com, or visit the website:www.urologycarebahamas.com.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, December 22, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Christmas gifts for your best gal pals

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net THROUGH thick and thin, real friends are there for one another. From sharing mutual hobbies to organising play dates with each other’s kids, or just picking up the phone to simply vent after an exhausting day - positive female friends have proven to be important for a woman’s mental well-being.

This year more than ever, expressing love to family and friends has gotten many through the roller coaster that has been 2020 - a year that will go down in history due to the global COVID19 pandemic.

Tribune Woman spoke to a number of Bahamian women who shared their thoughts on celebrating their female friends with exciting and thoughtful Christmas gifts.

“So much has changed this year and with this there are quite a number of my friends that relocated into new home spaces. So this kind of narrowed down my thinking process in what to get some of them,” said Patricia Deal.

“Whether their move was for downsizing purposes or whatever the case is, I want to do my part in making them happy.”

She said most of her girl friends are into home decor items, so

that’s given her a roadmap. Patricia has purchased everything from candles to wall art and faux plants to give to friends.

“I love making people smile on a regular basis, and I know this will certainly make their day which in the end makes me happy.

It’s been rough, as many may know. But we are still making the best out of each of our situations.

And on another note of giving and gifting, my girl friends and I are all in a WhatsApp group chat and friends circle, and collectively we all decided to pool together funds to donate to a family in need this Christmas holiday. Our biggest goal this year is doing what we can to bring about some sort of cheer this holiday season,” said Patricia.

With the lack of travel opportunities this year, Bahamian Jessica Rolle had already made up in her mind that she wanted to solely focus on shopping local for the holidays.

“I usually always do this but I have to admit that is it never on a large scale. So whenever I come across an interesting post or flyer from a small Bahamian business, I usually save it on my Instagram or Facebook page. Vendors like Pursenal Paradise, Crab Toes,

Bahari, or even a gift certificate or voucher to a local food vendor.

My girlfriends would absolutely adore and appreciate those gifts.

And I will also pick up a few things for myself. So while getting these beautiful gifts it also makes me feel warm inside to do my part in supporting the Bahamian small business communities,” said Jessica.

Veronica G. said this year she spent a lot of her down time binge-watching some of her favourite shows. And as she is normally always the only one with the actual Netflix subscription, her gift this year to her best friend, who is also her sister, is to get her a Netflix gift card.

“She is always on my account, so I said I can get her started on her own. With the gift card she can redeem it for her very own plan of choice. Man, I can’t wait for her to see what I have in store. When I give gifts, what I look forward to most is that bubbly feeling I get when I see others happy. I enjoy doing that for my family and close friends. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” said Veronica.

Eleuthera joins Zonta in saying no to gender-based violence Eleuthera is pleased to be a part of the Zonta movement and herald the message of “say no to violence”.

Eleuthera has led the way as the first Family Island to spread the Stop the Violence “Orange” message with a concerted and collaborative effort of leaders, NGOs, citizens, organisations of all strata in society.

The movement has encompassed all communities, including Harbour Island and Spanish Wells.

“We have a committed, passionate, creative, innovate group of stakeholders who have worked tirelessly to ‘Paint Eleuthera Orange’ and raise awareness throughout the island of freedom,” said Jewel Edwards, the Eleuthera representative of the international women’s advocacy organsiation.

“Special thanks to One Eleuthera Foundation, under the visionary leadership of CEO Shaun Ingraham, who has come alongside as the major sponsor to support, undergird, and partner with Zonta in this worthy cause. OEF has led the way in Eleuthera for years in Strengthening the Communities, Connecting the island, and Planning for the future through sustainable development,” she said.

Ms Edwards added: “We believe in unity there is strength.

The team in Eleuthera are simply amazing and they are effective leaders in their spheres of influence. I’m grateful and so very appreciative for my Eleuthera people who have come together and in synergy we are saying a resounding ‘we say no to violence in any form.’”

She said they are thankful to Marisa Mason-Smith, National Advocacy Chair, for her exemplary transformational leadership, and having the vision to include Eleuthera in the national movement.

“The reality is, Mrs MasonSmith’s incomparable passion and servant leadership has touched down and spread to us in Eleuthera (and the Bahamas at large). She is to be highly commended for her selfless pioneering and trailblazing work in this nation. Commendations also to the Zonta team in New Providence led by Dr Theresa Adderley-Smith who have supported the movement. I firmly believe the fire of ‘get involved’ is lit in Eleuthera and the flame will spread throughout the islands. Eleuthera is proud to be supporting the movement and this cause to stop gender basedviolence,” said Ms Edwards.

“Thank you Eleuthera and everyone who has joined in this campaign to say no to violence.

Helen Keller said it best: ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.’ We remain Eleuthera strong.”

ELEUTHERA residents ‘paint the island orange’ as they take a stance against violence

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 22, 2020, PAGE 11

Bahamas AIDS Foundation establishes safe, supervised study centre for kids The Bahamas AIDS Foundation has received permission from the Competent Authority to assist a small number of primary schoolaged children to access and benefit from the Ministry of Education’s virtual learning platform in a safe and supervised space.

For the last 10 years the Foundation has operated an outreach programme for children and adolescents infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. This programme is comprised of three components: afterschool tutoring, psychosocial intervention and medical support.

Like so many in our community, the ability of many of the

participants in the outreach programme to learn has suffered tremendously as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The difficulties encountered include food insecurity, access to the internet, working space, suitable adult supervision and assistance with the technical aspects of the virtual learning platform.

In response, the AIDS Foundation has set up a safe, supervised study centre for primary school children to spend the school day (8.45am-3pm) engaged in their virtual lessons. They will be kept in small groups (bubbles according to grade levels) and interact

with the same tutor every school day.

Through the kind support of donors, the AIDS Foundation has secured the necessary devices on which the students may participate in their virtual classes.

During the pandemic the Foundation has been fortunate to receive assistance from corporate donors such as the Credit Suisse Foundation, First Caribbean International Bank, JS Johnson, Open Current and the Securities Commission, as well as the Errol Brown Foundation and the general public.

All of the COVID-19 health protocols including mask wearing, social distancing, hand sanitising and washing, temperature checks, and sanitising frequently touched areas and objects multiple times a day will be followed. The children will stay in their assigned bubbles as they access their virtual classrooms as well as during their breaks. The Foundation’s social worker and case aide will remain in contact with guardians/parents concerning the health statuses of family members as it relates to COVID-19.

The Foundation is appealing for the assistance of additional

volunteer tutors with teaching experience to assist the students.

Although the Foundation has been unable to hold its primary fundraising event this year, the Red Ribbon Ball, it is seeking donations through its Let’s Not Attend and Fun Run Walk Cycle campaigns.

In this difficult economic environment any donation would be helpful in enabling the work of the Foundation to continue, representatives said. Further details can be obtained by visiting the Foundation’s website at www. bahamasaidsfoundation.org or calling 242- 325-9326/7.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 68° F/20° C Low: 48° F/9° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Nice with plenty of sunshine

Partly cloudy

Partly sunny, breezy and pleasant

Partly sunny, breezy and pleasant

Windy; a morning shower or two

Mostly cloudy and breezy

High: 76°

Low: 68°

High: 79° Low: 69°

High: 80° Low: 68°

High: 74° Low: 58°

High: 71° Low: 62°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

76° F

64° F

78°-67° F

83°-68° F

71°-52° F

68°-59° F

High: 70° F/21° C Low: 50° F/10° C

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 65° F/18° C

8-16 knots

S

WEST PALM BEACH High: 74° F/23° C Low: 64° F/18° C

8-16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE E

W

FREEPORT

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 67° F/19° C

N

S

E

W

High: 74° F/23° C Low: 65° F/18° C

MIAMI

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 65° F/18° C

8-16 knots

KEY WEST

High: 72° F/22° C Low: 67° F/19° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 68° F/20° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 68° F/20° C

N E

W

tiDes For nassau High Today

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

1:43 a.m.

1:53 p.m.

2.2 2.3

7:51 a.m.

8:20 p.m.

0.6 0.2

Wednesday 2:38 a.m.

2:46 p.m.

2.3 2.1

8:52 a.m.

9:08 p.m.

0.6 0.2

Thursday

3:30 a.m.

3:37 p.m.

2.3 2.1

9:49 a.m.

9:53 p.m.

0.6 0.2

Friday

4:18 a.m.

4:26 p.m.

2.4 2.0

10:41 a.m. 0.5 10:37 p.m. 0.1

Saturday

5:03 a.m.

5:12 p.m.

2.6 2.0

11:29 a.m. 0.3 11:19 p.m. 0.0

Sunday

5:45 a.m.

5:56 p.m.

2.7 2.0

12:13 p.m. 0.2 ---------

Monday

6:26 a.m.

6:39 p.m.

2.8 2.1

12:00 a.m. -0.1 12:55 p.m. 0.1

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 70° F/21° C

N

S

E

W S

8-16 knots

6:51 a.m.

5:26 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

12:48 p.m.

12:19 a.m.

Full

Last

New

First

Dec. 29

Jan. 6

Jan. 12

Jan. 20

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 71° F/22° C

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 69° F/21° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

H

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

CAT ISLAND

8-16 knots

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Statistics are for Nassau through 1 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 82° F/28° C Low .................................................... 70° F/21° C Normal high ....................................... 79° F/26° C Normal low ........................................ 67° F/19° C Last year’s high ................................. 79° F/26° C Last year’s low ................................... 71° F/22° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ............................................... 67.20” Normal year to date ................................... 39.31”

uV inDex toDay

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 72° F/22° C

8-16 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 80° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 73° F/23° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 83° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

7-14 knots

6-12 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday:

WINDS NW at 8-16 Knots E at 8-16 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots NNE at 8-16 Knots ENE at 10-20 Knots NE at 6-12 Knots E at 8-16 Knots N at 7-14 Knots ENE at 10-20 Knots N at 8-16 Knots ESE at 8-16 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots NE at 6-12 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots NNE at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots ESE at 6-12 Knots E at 8-16 Knots NNE at 7-14 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots NE at 7-14 Knots E at 8-16 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots ENE at 10-20 Knots

WAVES 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-5 Feet 4-7 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 3-6 Feet 4-7 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 4-7 Feet 4-8 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-5 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 78° F 78° F 77° F 75° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 78° F 78° F 79° F 77° F 79° F 79° F 81° F 81° F 80° F 80° F 80° F 80° F 75° F 75° F 79° F 79° F 79° F 79° F

SECTION B

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020

Bahamian men want women to treat them right this Christmas Tribune readers share their worst gift-giving experiences

“

By JEFFARAH GIBSON | Tribune Features Writer | jgibson@tribunemedia.net FOR women who are still in the process of doing some “lastminute” holiday shopping and maybe can’t decide what to get for the men in their lives, male Tribune readers had the following advice: steer clear of “generic items” and refrain from purchasing “cheap gifts”.

Some of the men who spoke to Tribune Woman went on spirited rants about how they seemingly get the short end of the stick every Christmas. Most said they don’t even get excited anymore to find out what was placed under the tree for them, because in the majority of cases the presents are “lacklustre” or “out of touch” with their personalities.

But for those women who haven’t yet made all their purchases this year, the men say there is still time to rectify this sad state of affairs, by carefully considering the nature of the man they are gifting; his personality, his hobbies, his likes and dislikes.

“I think I can safely speak for all men when I say that us men want nice gifts too,” Leroy told Tribune Woman.

“Just like how women love to receive a nice gift in nice wrapping paper, we get excited about these things too. I think men need to be shown a little bit more love and consideration in this area.”

Leroy said past partners in his life purchased gifts for him that were nice but didn’t really fit his personality.

“And by nice gifts I don’t mean an expensive gift. I mean a gift that shows a little thought,” he said.

Ryan said he has received many a gift he couldn’t really do anything with.

“One time this lady bought me a miniature cook grill. The thing is, I don’t cook. Talk about out of touch,” he said.

John said he advises women to study their men and to not only buy them something just for the sake of it.

“I know it can be difficult trying to figure out what to get for your man every year, but I mean, take some time to get to know what your man really likes and what he really appreciates. We men are very simple creatures and we are not difficult to please.

But at the same time don’t just purchase us a gift just because it’s the last minute and you just want to make sure something is there under the tree. Don’t buy your man a wrench if he is not into tools, don’t buy him a game console if he is not into games; it just does not make sense. Gifts should make sense,” he told Tribune Woman.

Ray said he has been on the “not so good” end of receiving poorly chosen gifts.

“I am person who spends money on nice gifts for the lady in my life, so I expect the same in return. I dislike when someone buys me something that is not my taste. For example, I had this past

We men are very simple creatures and we are not difficult to please.

But at the same time... don’t buy your man a wren ch if he is not into tools, don’t buy him a game console if he is not into games; it just does not make sense.”

partner who bought me a cheap cologne and T-shirt.

And before you say, maybe that is all she could afford, I knew for a fact she could have done much better than this but chose not to. I used the T-shirt to clean my car with. That was probably the worst gift I have ever received because there was absolutely no effort,” he said.

As for Alexander, the worst gift he ever received was no gift at all.

“I was speechless. I spent nearly $200 on this lady one time only to get a ‘Sorry, baby, I did not have any more money left.’

This came after watching her spend money on getting her hair and nails done. I was not a priority. Lesson learned,” he said.

Alexander said even a handmade gift would have sufficed.

“I would have appreciated anything. It didn’t even have to be something store-bought, but just the lack of effort…”

David added: “I don’t care for the gifts surrounding Christmas, to be honest, because the way it seems it’s like us men are always conditioned to spend more on our woman for Christmas. Have you ever noticed how all the ads are marketed towards us?

“Women just need to know and understand that while we are not hard to please, we like gifts that match our personalities and our interests. Don’t just buy us a shirt, wallet or cologne because it’s the easiest thing. By all means, if your man needs or requested any of those things then go ahead.

But make sure your gift to him is something that he can appreciate or finds useful. Wouldn’t you want the same?”