Neil Hartnell

THE BAHAMAS was yesterday hailed as “a strong leader” in the Caribbean on the shipping industry’s transition to cleaner fuel and energy sources, with Nassau Cruise Port’s top executive yesterday asserting this nation will be “clearly ahead” of all rivals by 2027.

THE OPPOSITION’S leader yesterday voiced hope that public officials and others will be deterred from “misusing” taxpayer monies by Parliament’s spending watchdog as it held “a productive meeting” with a provider of the controversial pre-election building vouchers.

BAHAMIAN attorneys yesterday questioned whether the courts will now have to be independent of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) grid as well as the Government after repeated energy outages since last Friday finally forced the Supreme Court’s closure.

A SUPREME Court judge was yesterday urged to swiftly clarify that his recent verdict does not mean the challenge to the Department of Inland Revenue’s demand for nearly $10m in unpaid taxes owed on the former Ginn project’s land assets is dismissed.

A TOP Bahamian real estate firm and Briland tour operator have slammed the latest “fabricated and impertinent allegations” levied against them by the latter’s former US partner as they bid to dismiss his “shotgun pleading”.

A VETERAN trade unionist yesterday called for Obie Ferguson KC to step down from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) presidency following a near two-year legal battle that has left the Bahamas General Workers Union (BGWU) in turmoil.

THE WARRING parties in the $200m Rosewood Exuma conflict yesterday resumed battle over what sparked the developer’s “undertaking” to halt all Sampson Cay work until August 26 and the fall-out for their legal fight and the project’s future.

COMMONWEALTH Bank says it has no plans to act as “a market maker” for its stock through a recently-unveiled five-year share buy-back initiative upon which it expects to spend between $9m-$10m annually.

A FORMER Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) chief executive yesterday said he was “shocked” by overtime figures he branded “off the charts” as it emerged that such payments have previously equalled almost one-third of the state-owned utility’s regular payroll.

TOURISM executives say they have yet to receive complaints over retroactive triple-digit fee hikes facing private aviation but urged regulators to consider the “bigger picture” and not “ruin The Bahamas’ image”.