730PM OUR NEWS OCTOBER 2ND 2021

[Music] our news is brought to you by alive good evening bahamas coming up in our news tonight inaugural residents describe life on the island as hundreds of migrants are held there before repatriation the multi-billion dollar hurricane hall development is on track for opening we'll tell you when why health care workers are feeling optimistic a little later we take a look at the burden of taxation and the way forward plus meet zuma the explorer the newest and youngest environmental steward [Music] welcome to our news the weekend edition and thanks for joining us i'm giorgio bain topping news tonight even as hundreds of illegal haitian migrants being held on inaugural were repatriated this week some residents of the island say they're still concerned about the growing illegal immigration problem our bernie mcdermott reports as repatriation exercises continue pastor kenneth major said he's still on the edge about the number of migrants being housed so close to home while residents say government is doing all it can it's not enough we are um on edge yeah we know that the nature it could be of um some of them guests when they get comfortable and stuff like that you know some of them are running for their lives and i know some of them don't really want to go back but you know as an island and even the bahamas we only take so much well right now it's quite risky because we never have had this influx of patients before but in the past we learned to deal with the situation the influx of haitian migrants to inaugural began last week on friday 500 of them returned to haiti on board bahamas air flights major field repatriation should have started sooner but nova led turnquest doesn't think so i think it cut off especially for the 46 but now we're just having just another 400 meeting with that with the voice that then you don't know what's going to happen in the next if what could happen for the day out michael member of parliament basel johnson was among the delegation that traveled to inagura friday morning that was his first time seeing the facilities where the haitian nationals were being held i don't see any need for any worries they are utterly i don't see a hood of any uproar or any uh mistreatment of the migrants now to make an assessment um but i've heard about some um some concerns and with me being here i'll be able to speak to that in more detail once i see what the facility is all about reporting for our news i'm bertini mcdermott the multi-million dollar sterling commons and hurricane hall marina will open early next year president of sterling advisory services kayla's rule says the first phase of the project cost more than 70 million dollars while the total cost of the project is about 250 million he says the ground opening for the phase one will be happening sometime in january 2022 the during the construction phase we ran an average of about 150 people per day and we anticipate sterling alone would probably have about 70 people employed full-time on this site as well as all of our retailers and 700 wines the clinic that's going to be opening in this building as well as the pharmacy supermarket as well as the two restaurants that will be on the site in december 2020 sterling global financial chairman david cossay said that the project had fallen behind by one month after the pandemic cost caused overruns deputy prime minister chester cooper toured the site on friday i was quite impressed with what i saw here today the mixed-use buildings with retail and office as well as residential i think we'll do a significant good would be a good boost for this area pirates island has been popular for many many years but i think this will breed some new life into the product here in paris island and park and whole sterling commons will feature service and retail businesses on its first level professional office space on the second level and luxury one to two bedroom residences on the third floor yacht owners and residents will have access to the restaurants of garmi grocery store day spa and medical clinic among other amenities our sales are great skills are great um in fact we are 92 percent uh lease on the retail and um almost completely leased with the office and we're completely sold out on the residential so the first phase residential consists of one and two bedrooms marina view units and it's uh six in each building a total of 12 and we're completely sold out with those units shifting gears following a meeting with the prime minister and minister of health consultant physician staff association president dr sabrika pinder butler expressing optimism that some long-standing issues including staffing and resources will finally be addressed as soon as things settle which we know has been happening quickly as well because of all that's come happening in country that we will have follow-up meetings certainly our main concern has to do with managing covid the healthcare needs as it relates to resources in our healthcare institutions we're still awaiting staff that were expected months ago all of these things have to be addressed certainly the union had some outstanding matters that we've also hopeful that will be sorted out as well too she says communication and engagement are also high on the list for the cpsa in order to improve the delivery of health care so we would have made those recommendations and we await follow-up meetings certainly we had spoken a lot about communication and engagement at the level of the health care workers who are on the front lines and we had gotten that commitment verbally from the minister of health as well as the prime minister so we will hold fast to that and hold them accountable as well to that and so we're hopeful that if those things happen that we'll be able to provide the highest quality of health care that we can for all persons in country still to come on our news weekend a former cabinet minister says the f m administration should be proud of what it accomplished when first business experts weigh in on possible changes to the country's taxation system and why the teachers union says that they will be heard on the way forward for education that's coming up when our news weekend returns a new prime minister we have the right vision the right policies and the right thing to take this country forward a new government and cabinet and now a new legislative agenda we will be very very aggressive and make them extremely accountable join the rtv team as we give you full coverage of the opening of parliament october 6 9 a.m [Music] you're watching our news weekend thanks for staying with us a top banker says bohemians need to be prepared to pay for the things that they want the government to provide our jared higgs explains fidelity buying ceo gowan beau says there are three key elements when it comes to tax reform in the bahamas tax in the bahamas is a taboo word but the bahamas actually collects less than 20 percent of its gross domestic product value out of tax brings in the lion's share of the country's revenue compared to other taxes bo says if we are going to fix the tax system in the country one of the things that has to happen is that the system must be more fair to make the um the burden of taxes equitable so you are paying based on your ability to pay not just on consumption critics of that have long said it is a regressive tax that is more of a burden on poorer bohemians persons with very different uh earning capacities as an individual will consume very similar amounts and so the person earning less certainly bears a much larger burden of tax because they spend more of their earnings bow says any tax reform has to be balanced with the need to protect the financial services industry even though that sector has been greatly reduced over the years due to sanctions from groups like the european union we need to be competitive so if financial services is to survive we can't continue to be on blacklist and we are there simply because we are deemed to be a tax haven and have harmful tax practices and we can argue that it's unfair but the reality is when you go to play on someone else's basketball court you play by their rules and so the bahamas wants to play in europe the bahamas wants to play in the oecd countries so we can't cry about their rules if we don't like their rules we don't play there the last two governments in power have both raised taxes with the christie administration introducing bad at seven point five percent and the minutes administration increasing the rate to twelve percent prime minister philip davis has promised to decrease vat to ten percent reporting fire news weekend i'm jared higgs the munici administration should be proud of its accomplishments while in office according to former national security minister marvin dames dames appeared on our tv show on the record with host jerome sawyer this week where he was asked if he believed that over promising led to the fnm's defeat this was his response when we came into office this human minutes led administration we met an economy that was in the dumpsters after going through at least four or four downgrades we had negative growth all right um but two years at least two years into our administration we were able to rectify a lot of that in fact dames says that the menace administration met many of the goals outlined on the campaign trail ahead of the 2017 general election we brought growth back to the positive level all right we were able to mitigate any further downgrades we were able to grow our foreign reserves significantly okay and even in the midst of dorian and the midst of this pandemic our our economy still remained vibrant our foreign reserves continue to grow and so that there there there were positive signs that we were certainly on the right track dame says he believes the f m should be proud of what it delivered during its term in office we had dorian and we knew the impact of that on our on our economy on our islands on our people and still the impact of that today and we're still going through this pandemic this global pandemic that continues to reap havoc around the world but we remained steadfast as a government and we ought to be proud of the successes that we would have reaped when our news weekend comes back from the break of former chamber of commerce leader talks to the growing cannabis industry plus meet a young steward of the environment via the details when our news weekend returns a new prime minister we have the right vision the right policies and the right thing to take this country forward a new government and cabinet and now a new legislative agenda we will be very very aggressive and make them extremely accountable join the rtv team as we give you full coverage of the opening of parliament october 6 9 am [Music] you're watching our news weekend welcome back as the new administration settles in bahamas union of teachers president belinda wilson is encouraging the minister of education to allow the union to have more input before important decisions are made she had that teachers union should definitely have a say when it comes to the inevitable transition from virtual learning to face-to-face instruction if it's going to remain fully virtual is it going to be a hybrid model or is it going to be face to face which ever one or combination of those models is going to be used definitely i need to know what is the plan how do we open how do we open safely and ensure that all of the students the 48 000 students throughout the bahamas from grand bahama to inaugural how do we ensure that they get access to education and we're talking about quality education minister glennis hannah martin said that the ministry is currently getting advice from health officials to see which method of instruction works for schools on various islands wilson says whatever decision is made there needs to be better communication between the union and the ministry rather than stakeholders finding out through the media communication is going to be very important because we the communication has been very unlocked especially over the last year but um there the communication with the director of education is non-existent so if the minister and her new team is going to be successful then there has to be from the director's chair and from the department of education there has to be ongoing collaboration communication and serious consultation not just meeting to say oh we met and the recommendations that we give are ignored or not even considered a medical cannabis industry could be vibrant according to former ceo of the bahamas chamber of commerce and employers confederation edison sumner however sumner says based on his research on cannabis companies in the united states and canada the industry here could be limited and it should not be the sole focus right now so i think that there is um a possibility for that industry to uh to be established and to become a vibrant industry but i think it's going to have very limited impact on the economy right it's not going to be a panacea i don't think it's going to be something that we can abandon everything else because now marijuana is in the market it's going to save the economy that's not going to happen the menace administration drafted medical marijuana legislation however it did not make it to parliament before the administration was voted out of office the davis administration has promised to make moves on legalizing cannabis sumner was clear that he personally doesn't support recreational side of the industry but he says he's all for the medicinal use he says there are other industries worth investing as well several decades ago i know that we were very involved in the timber industry the timber mining industry islands like andros abaco and grand bahama i think that that's an industry that can be rebirthed because there's always a need for timber there's always going to be building and construction going on i have the privilege currently of consulting for a company who's going to be producing other building materials and plumbing materials and i think that's the way that we ought to be considering how we're going to be expanding the economy well so the common r news atlantis names a new executive at the paradise island resort stay with us and find out a new prime minister we have the right vision the right policies and the right thing to take this country forward a new government and cabinet and now a new legislative agenda we will be very very aggressive and make them extremely accountable join the rtv team as we give you full coverage of the opening of parliament october 6 9 am [Music] you're watching our news welcome back atlantis has appointed a new senior vice president of government affairs and special projects fawn roberts a finance and hospitality expert will take up the role leading atlantis government affairs initiatives at the strategic and operational level as well as leading special projects atlanta's president and managing director audrey oswell says that the resort is thrilled to welcome vaughn and his depth of knowledge and strong financial and hospitality background will support atlantis as the business develops new strategies to maneuver through this current business climate most recently robert served as the senior vice president of finance administration and capital projects with ocean reef club inc in key largo florida he has also worked at paharma and on the downtown nassau partnership to revitalize downtown nassau well education is key to preserving and protecting the bahamas for future generations the bahamas national trust is forging partnerships and bringing new hands on deck to get the job done our christina dragovich tells us more hey friends i'm zuma an explorer adventure time zuma is our brainchild deriving from the island of exuma zuma exemplifies a bahamian childhood colored with curiosity and a passion for protecting our natural resources bahamas national trust education officer janisha cartwright introduces zuma the explorer a young bahamian adventurer who brings issues of climate change stewardship and the environment to bahamian kids ages 5 through 12. it's part of the bnt's mission to partner with the bahamas ministry of education to equip young bahamians with the tools they need to understand and protect the environment we see ourselves as an education partner we see ourselves as as the minister's environmental education arm kerry says the bnt recognized the need to find new ways to engage young people and zuma the explorer was the perfect partner what better way to engage these young people create these new environmental stewards these new advocates then to engage them in a way that they can relate to a character they can see themselves in and will encourage them to embark upon the environmental journey with you know with zuma the 12 episode series was created in partnership with the sandals foundation a long time partner of the bnt on conservation efforts the animated series serves as just one part of the strategic education toolkit being developed for the island's very first environmental science curriculum for primary school education we at the sanos foundation are beyond honored to be partners with the team at the bahamas national trust who have worked very hard to make this possible you can find zuma the explorer on the bnt's website and on youtube bnt says it is already in talks to produce season two of the eco conservation series reporting for our news i'm christina dragovich well thank you so much for joining us for our news tonight on behalf of the entire team i'm giorgio baine and we'll see you right back here tomorrow night have a beautiful evening bahamas

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Length: 20min 46sec (1246 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 02 2021