Bahamas News

Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium has fired assistant director Glenn Miller for improperly releasing information regarding the death of 16-year-old Jett Travolta.

The former Restview employee told the press that the young man’s body was in fact “in good condition,” and that the death certificate listed the cause of death as “seizure.”

In a statement issued by the funeral home and addressed to the Journal yesterday, the company stated that Mr. Campbell never viewed the body or the death certificate, and therefore could not make such statements.

“Mr. Campbell has no authority to issue statements on behalf of Restview,” the statement read.

According to the statement, Mr. Campbell apparently admitted that he did make unauthorized statements to the press when interviewed by Mr. McSweeney.

It was then that Restview immediately terminated him.

The statement also revealed that Mr. McSweeney took the medical certificate to the Coroner’s Court and waited for the Police to forward their report.

Afterwards Mr. McSweeny personally collected the Coroner’s Certificate.

According to the information in the funeral home statement, Mr. McSweeny was in fact the one to personally collect Travolta’s certified death certificate.

The death certificate, the coroner’s certificate and the medical certificate was hand-delivered by Mr. McSweeny to the Travolta family physician Dr. Mark Smith.

The statement also clarified that Mr. McSweeney, Dr. Smith and Mr. Russ Faber, a Travolta family representative went to the morgue at the Rand, along with CDU officers and collected the remains of Jett Travolta.

It was confirmed in the same statement that Travolta was in fact cremated on Monday and at no time did any other individual other than the aforementioned individuals view the body from the completion of the autopsy to cremation.

During the cremation, Mr. McSweeney was apparently asked to make a statement to the press regarding the death by the Travolta family attorney, Mr. Michael Ossi.

Mr. McSweeney issued the following statement in front of the funeral home: “Jett Travolta was pronounced dead on Friday, 2nd January 2009 at 12:14pm. On Monday the 5th January 2009 at 10:00am an autopsy was performed by medical examiners.

“The cause of death was seizure disorder. The body was brought to Restview. The family requested cremation. The body is being cremated now. May God bless the Travolta family. Thank you very much.”

The statement also clarified that the Restview staff had been briefed by Mr. McSweeney from the moment instructions were received from Ginn Resorts that all communications and correspondence regarding the matter was to be dealt by Mr. McSweeney alone, and that normal protocol regarding confidentiality was to be strictly obeyed.

Source: Bahama Journal

While authorities remained tight-lipped on Monday about the results of the autopsy on Jett Travolta, son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, the Journal learned that the death certificate listed the cause of the young man’s death as “seizure.”

While authorities remained tight-lipped on Monday about the results of the autopsy on Jett Travolta, son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, the Journal learned that the death certificate listed the cause of the young man’s death as “seizure.”

Jett Travolta, 16, died on Friday in Grand Bahama at that Travolta family’s vacation home.

Police initially reported that it appeared the young man had suffered a seizure, fell and hit his head in a bathroom. Police said that before he was discovered in the bathroom unconscious, Jett had last been seen on Thursday.

This information sparked queries about the young man’s supervision, with the family insisting that he was “spectacularly” supervised.

On Monday, local police did not release a statement, and a press conference scheduled for the day did not happen. It is believed that the press conference will now be called on Tuesday instead.

Glen Campbell, Assistant Funeral Director at the Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium, confirmed to the Journal on Monday afternoon that the cause of death listed on Jett’s death certificate was “seizure.” Mr. Campbell also noted that there was no evidence of any head trauma, insisting that Jett’s body was in “great condition.”

He said that the only thing listed on the death certificate as the cause of death was “seizure.”

Mr. Campbell also confirmed that the Travolta’s family lawyers as well as the police both received copies of the Jett’s death certificate and pathology report.

The pathologist report was signed by Dr. Sands – the pathologist brought in on Monday from New Providence to assist local pathologists with the autopsy.

Mr. Campbell said that the body was escorted from the morgue to the funeral home by doctors from the Rand Memorial Hospital.

The body was set to be shipped to Ocala, Florida, on Monday afternoon. While the Travolta family was not present at the funeral home when the body arrived, the family’s personal doctors were there to make the necessary arrangements.

John Travolta and his wife Kelly broke their silence on Sunday in a statement to the media.

“We would like to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has sent their love and condolences,” they said.

“Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered. We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives.”

The President of Ginn Resorts, Robert Gidel, has also expressed condolences to the Travolta family on the passing of their son.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their family on the tragic death of their son Jett. The Travolta family has become like family to us at Old Bahama Bay and we extend our deepest sympathies to them,” he said

Source: Bahama Journal

A potential foreclosure looming over four properties owned by the Ginn company will in all likelihood have no impact the mega mixed use resort that the company is developing in West End, Grand Bahama, according to Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing.

The Ginn company is struggling to pay the debt it owes on four high end resort communities and has failed to make interest and principal payments last month on $675 million in bank debt.

It is now attempting to reach an agreement within 30 days to restructure its debt.

On Tuesday, Minister Laing told the Bahama Journal that Ginn officials had briefed the government on its financial predicament and had sought to assure officials that there was no need for concern.

“We are advised that what is now happening with respect to the defaulted loan has nothing to do with two of their properties and one of those properties is the West End property,” he said. “So the funds that they have for the development of that property in terms of the infrastructure are set aside [in] a separate account.”

The Ginn Sur Mer site expands over 1,957 acres of oceanfront beachfront property in Grand Bahama.

The company has plans to develop 4,400 condominium and hotel units centred on a 20-story tower with 1,800 single-family residential sites.

This is the largest project that the company has undertaken and it is expected to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into Grand Bahama’s troubled economy.

The project, which began in December 2005, has a price tag of $4.9 billion.

Land clearing of almost 2,000 acres is 70 per cent complete, according to Ginn Sur Mer’s website.

The company, which is based in Florida, has more than 40,000 acres in its land bank, according to the resort’s website.

Ginn Resorts is an umbrella company for a host of other Ginn companies. In Central-Florida, Ginn is developing a “reunion” resort just south of Disney.

Resort officials reported that Ginn is also planning to develop ski sites in Vermont and Colorado.

The Ginn development at West End will be developed over 20 years, according to the company’s agreement with the Government of the Bahamas.

As a result of Ginn’s outstanding debt, Standard & Poor’s recently lowered its credit ratings on Ginn-LA and its ratings on the loans.

“This is not a default yet,” emphasized Ryan Julison, a Ginn spokesman.

Source: Bahama Journal

Despite what could turn out to be one of the most challenging periods for the country’s only cable television provider, Cable Bahamas’ latest financial statements show that the company has turned a profit in the last quarter that ended June 30, 2008 and for the six month period that ended on the same date.

In the quarter, revenue reached $20.346 million and net income climbed to $7.365 million. The revenue and net income figures were more than what was earned in the same quarter in 2007 [$18.920 and $6.562 respectively], according to the company’s records.

The company also just recently released figures for the six-month period that ended on June 30, which showed the level of revenue reaching $40.388 million and net income reaching $12.904 million.

“In revenue, we have seen a bit more traction; more than what was anticipated in Internet revenues for 2008 and that is mostly the biggest area of growth that we have seen for 2008,” said Barry Williams, vice president of Finance at Cable Bahamas.

The challenges, he said, have been most evident in the cable television and the premium package areas.

“We are having a bit of economic issues here in the Bahamas with the US recession and we are starting to feel a pinch of that from customers in the amount and type of service they are taking. Some people are cutting back on cable television,” he said.

The situation has forced the company, like many others that recognize tough economic times, to tighten its belt and exercise more operational efficiency.

“The other thing is that because we are aware of what is happening one of the things is to really tighten up on expenditures and operating costs and we have been able to control that quite well, but that is really what is translating into positive net income.”

In his annual statement to shareholders in April, Brendan Paddick, the chairman and chief executive officer of Cable Bahamas, said The Bahamas has been stifled for the past eight years as the regulators ponder the future of the communications industry.

At the time he blamed the government for holding back on change and technological advancements that would have led to lower costs, more competition, a broader range of products and services, increased employment and a more efficient marketplace.

Last year was a challenging one for Cable Bahamas, despite having experienced a 23 percent growth in subscribers while the operating efficiency increased by 7 percent.

“This growth has been achieved despite being denied an increase in our basic television rate,” Mr. Paddick wrote. “In these days of rising costs, it is almost unfathomable that regulators have deemed it fair to freeze Cable Bahamas’ basic rate for more than 13 years.”

Mr. Williams preferred not to comment on the matter yesterday.

He did say, however that it’s anyone’s guess about how things are going to shape up for the rest of the year.

“We have a conservative forecast,” he said. “We think that with managing costs tightly, controlling receivables as best we can, continuing to push and do innovative things, we should come out ok.”

The most substantial expenses for the company are related to fuel, electricity and airline costs and services provided by suppliers.

Source: Bahama Journal

Cost of living pressures are taking quite a toll on citizens in some of the far flung islands of The Bahamas, as they struggle to stay on top of rising costs for essential goods and services.

Some citizens in Mayaguana, Acklins and Crooked Island complain about having to shell out more money for the things upon which they depend for their very survival like food, energy and the precious inter-island mail boat service, whose operators lament that they are also caving under high fuel prices.

“The mailboat service is very poor. You are looking for the boats to come every week and instead it comes every two to three weeks and [food items] are spoilt,” said Rev. Lester Bain, a Mayaguana resident. “Captain Eddins Taylor used to make it here twice per month, but it is getting [worse] with increased prices. People need their stuff every two weeks so things don’t go bad.”

Others complained that they are essentially held hostage by the infrequent shipping calls. The situation appeared to have heightened their frustrations about other high consumer expenses; the cost of a gallon of fuel in Mayaguana has risen to $7.25 per gallon. There are also increased freight costs and the price of food has gone up.

“I try not to raise my prices took much,” said Rev. Bain, the proprietor of a local grocery store. “I take a beating sometimes.”

Mail boat operators have complained that the rising cost of diesel fuel, dilapidated docks in the Family Islands and stagnant tariffs over a decade were among the problems that they faced.

Earlier this year the government approved a package of subsidies to mail boat operators aimed at helping to improve their service standards and profitability.

The infrequency in shipping to some Family Islands that are farthest away from New Providence was a matter that MICAL MP V. Alfred Gray raised in the House of Assembly on Monday during its last sitting before an almost two month long summer break.

He told house members that he had been informed that heavy fuel costs was the reason for the irregularities.

“Please, I am asking the government to look at those far flung islands in the southeast Bahamas because now these mailboats are only able to go every 12 – 15 days,” he claimed.

“That is not acceptable. They are saying because of the high cost of fuel and lack of subsidies, they cannot go more often. Now that is something that I do not want the government to take lightly.”

For many weeks, he had been agitating for an improvement.

“My people cannot be starved because of the lack of government funding. We have to get the mailboats to Inagua and Crooked Island and those places because that is how they live. That is their lifeline.”

That lifeline is what the administrator for Acklins Steve Wilson said has been relatively regular for the last five weeks, at least. He told the Bahama Journal on Tuesday that the government had addressed the matter of subsidies for mailboat operators and there have been positive changes in the way the operator that services the island does business.

Other Acklins residents confirmed that the vessel services the island at least once per week. However they complained about the inefficiencies of the collection system on the island and the past trend of Sunday ports of call. Sunday is the traditional day of worship for many residents who prefer not to deal with any other distraction.

“The prices for the goods are high and they don’t appear to go by the tariff at all. It is a mess at the mailboat to get your freight,” said Cyril Ferguson, a Salina Point, Acklins resident.

“They don’t have regularly scheduled service and sometimes they would be to the dock from 3p.m. to 8 or 9 o’ clock in the night,” added Alma Beneby, who lives in Masons Bay, Acklins.

They both said they could do without the complications since they are already burdened by the high prices of other critical goods like gasoline which has reached $7 per gallon.

“Everybody is complaining. People have to go to work, so they have to buy it. The only people who would not feel the pinch [of high gas prices] are the police, BTC and National Insurance because their firm supplies them with fuel,” Ms. Beneby said.

The Bahamas mailboat network currently covers 22 routes with almost two dozen vessels that ship over $9 million worth of goods annually.

In Crooked Island, the complaints about mailboat operations continued, but Kermit Farquharson said he has noticed an improvement in the service rendered by Captain Tom Hanna.

He said the frequency has improved.

However, expressed a concern about another key area on the island.

“To be honest prices on the island are pretty stiff and what we need is price control over here to go into some of these shops and deal with these people. I know the cost of living is rising but some of these costs are very stiff,” he said.

Source: Bahama Journal

Offshore finance centers (OFCs) like The Bahamas are seeking to shed their image as places wealthy individuals use to evade taxes, and according to some, the change in image is succeeding.

It’s a trend marked by jurisdictions promoting themselves as “well-regulated” and “transparent,” whereas the image of the OFC used to be almost exclusively tied to impregnable bank secrecy laws and regimes.

Former governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas James Smith told the Journal recently that the times are changing, and that The Bahamas financial services sector – once a model of bank secrecy – is now among the leaders in touting its new regulatory regime.

Mr. Smith, who served as a Senator and State Minister for Finance in the Christie Administration, said the change is meeting with some success.

UK Wealth Bulletin, an online news and analysis service published by London-based eFinancialNews for the global wealth management industry, quoted Ernst & Young advisers, who reported an 11 percent growth in cross-border funds where tax had been declared, and a two percent reduction in undeclared capital.

Ernst & Young Head of Private Banking Ian Woodhouse said, “Everyone is tightening up. Traditional offshore centres are moving away from being tax havens towards being tax neutral, driven by government and client demands for better regulation.”

The Financial Action Task Force, an offshore regulator based in France, put together a list of 23 so-called non-cooperative countries and territories in 2000, including The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Lichtenstein and others.

Mr. Smith concurred with the Ernst and Young advisors’ conclusion that the effect of the so-called “blacklist” led to a new regime of self-regulation by the various offshore financial centers.

Jurisdictions were listed because they showed an unwillingness or inability to provide information relating to bank account and trading records commonly used in money laundering.

They were removed from the list when they supplied these details – their removal implied an assumption that the data they have supplied is correct. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is reviewing levels of co-operation.

In October 2006, the FATF declared all offshore locations above board.

Phil Cutts, director of Royal Bank of Canada’s investment management unit, said the credit crunch was working in favour of the UK as there was a general flight to quality.

He said, “Clients are more nervous about their money and feel more comfortable speaking to a relationship manager in Jersey than one in The Bahamas.”

Gibraltar has the advantage of being in the European Union and therefore offers passporting through the union, but its tax regime is hanging in the balance pending European Court of Justice approval.

Malta and Cyprus can also trade on EU membership. They have low-tax regimes and are largely used as conduits for cross-border investments through tax treaty networks. Luxembourg and Ireland are primarily used for funds approved under European Union regulations.

Long-standing European jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco have competitive tax rates and large asset management bases.

Switzerland is often the first port of call for non-resident Asians seeking a European base, although erosion of secrecy is starting to change the picture.

Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai are growing as offshore destinations, largely for structuring investment in and out of the Asian markets but increasingly for wealth management.

There has been a steady rise in business going onshore, partly as a result of tax amnesties. Woodhouse believes in a few years tax havens will cease to exist.

He said: “Tax havens grew in the post-World War Two era of political instability and the Cold War, where wealthy individuals needed somewhere safe to keep their money.

“They are less relevant in today’s environment and clients are gravitating to those centres that have made the transition.”

However, money is still moving into offshore funds. According to the most recent Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, financial wealth among high net worth individuals is expected to reach $51.6 trillion (€32.8 trillion) by 2011, growing at an annual rate of 6.8%.

Source: Bahama Journal

Bahamas Telecommunications Company officials are considering providing cable services by 2010 as a part of a $55 million expansion to its telecommunications and Internet services.

Several weeks ago, officials announced an upgrade of the company’s system to the New Generation Network System (NGN) intended to improve the current digital infrastructure.

A multi-million dollar upgrade of BTC’s GSM network is also planned.

According to BTC’s Vice President of Marketing Marlon Johnson, the new NGN system will give BTC the capacity to provide cable services.

“The $55 million is to replace our core infrastructure and we are moving it to digital and we are moving it to our IT core,” he said.

“What that will do is then put our telecommunications services online with the most modern infrastructure. It will enhance telephone services and data services for businesses and residences, more flexibility and eventually be able to things like provide cable television.”

Mr. Johnson explained that the global trend appears to be the addition of cable television services to telecommunications companies.

“You can see a lot of companies now that are getting into cable television and it will be a standard television package and we will have to position it so that it will be competitive, but all those things are things that we are looking at,” Mr. Johnson said. “It will be no different from the cable services that people are accustomed to now.”

Mr. Johnson stressed that the idea is not set in stone, but it is something that BTC officials are discussing.

He added that there are a number of things that officials would have to do in order to make cable television provided by BTC a reality.

“First, we have to develop a business case for it that needs to get board approval obviously. Once the company decides that it wants to go in that direction we still have to get a business license to make it reality, so it’s still some ways down the road,” he said.

Mr. Johnson said in the meantime, officials are in discussions about the project.

“We are getting ready to do a full business study on the prospect of that. Based on what we have discovered in the business study then we will make a corporate decision on what direction to take,” he said. “If it is something to look at, then we will make a decision on that point.”

If BTC decides to provide cable services, it would end Cable Bahamas’ 15-year monopoly.

The company has been providing cable television services in The Bahamas since March 1995, and Internet services since March of 2000.

Yesterday, details were disclosed of a deal that BTC had struck with Nortel Communications to expand the company’s GSM cellular network. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

The upgrade will involve the installation of Nortel’s EDGE platform to enhance the system.

“This network expansion will keep BTC at the leading edge of telecommunications in The Bahamas with a fast and reliable nationwide wireless network,” said Ray Bulengo, vice president, Carrier Sales, Caribbean Region and Bermuda for Nortel.

“Nortel has a longstanding relationship with BTC which is based on out ability to deliver customer satisfaction again and again through the quality, reliability and scalability of our wireless services and solutions.”

Source: Bahamas Journal

Local artists say Chan Pratt will be remembered for his unique style in painting.

Holly Parotti, Collections Manager and Curatorial Assistant at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB) told the Journal on Friday that Mr. Pratt will be sadly missed in the art community.

“He had his own recognizable style in the way that he painted,” she said. “He was really good at it.”

Ms. Parotti said that his death will not be in vain.

“We in The Bahamas do not really support art appreciation,” she said. “His passing brings the need for proper documentation in the art industry. We have started doing that here at NAGB but we have a long way to go.

“I mean look at the BGCSE exams that secondary high school students take. I think as part of that exam they should be able to name five Bahamian artists like the Max Taylors, Eddie Minnises, Antonio Robertses and so forth.”

She said that her recollection of Pratt’s last exhibition was a few years back with Laurie Thompson.

“I find Pratt’s passing to be very shocking because he was young but he definitely contributed to art in the country,” Ms. Parotti said.

“It’s just sad to note that we don’t take art appreciation seriously in this country. Kids of tomorrow may never ever know who Chan Pratt is.”

Ms. Parotti said there needs to be proper documentation when it comes to remembering artists and their work.

Chan Pratt, 44, was found dead reportedly from a stroke or heart attack at Colony Club on St. Alban’s Drive off West Bay Street Wednesday night.

He owned a nursery called The Tree Depot & Artscaping also located on St. Alban’s Drive.

Pratt was described as “a truly unique creative force in the world of art.”

He was the son of Captain George C. Pratt and Mavis Tynes, and was born on September 29, 1963 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Police told the Journal on Friday that foul play is not suspected in Mr. Pratt’s death.

Source: Bahama Journal

Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) officials have announced that the company will begin shutting down the now-obsolete TDMA cell phone network next month, as the company completes a multimillion-dollar migration to the GSM system.

Vice President of Marketing at BTC Marlon Johnson said on Tuesday that the company had plans to spend $44 million to do an “overlay” to complement the current frequency of the GSM system.

“What this will do is it will put GSM on the same frequency that the TDMA is on now,” he said. “That will improve the capacity on the network, which means that a lot more people will be able to get on to the network and it will also improve the coverage especially where their coverage issues have expanded over long distances.”

Mr. Johnson said once the overlay is in place, the TDMA system will begin shutting down.

” We will start with the Family Islands and end up with New Providence and Grand Bahama,” he said. “I think what customers will experience once the overlay is in place and turned on is that they will get similar if not better coverage with their GSM phones as they were getting with their TDMA phones.”

Officials have recently said that people who now own a TDMA number will be able to use their same phone number when the transformation to GSM is complete.

Mr. Johnson said the first shut down of TDMA will be on August 15 in Exuma, Andros and the Berry Islands.

On August 31, Ragged Island, Long Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and Eleuthera will then switch over to GSM.

New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Acklins, Crooked Island, Bimini, and Inagua will make the switch on October 31.

Mr. Johnson addressed some of the common complaints about the GSM network, including an inability to send or receive text messages, or access voice mail.

“It may very well be that there may be an antenna close to where you live or out in your area,” he said.

“I think that everyone can see that the GSM system is not where we want it to be, but it’s constant upgrades that we are trying to do,” Mr. Johnson added. “But I don’t think we have had any major issues as of late.”

Mr. Johnson said that the company is also working on launching the Internet and picture sending on GSM smart phones.

He said the company hopes to have this in place by the end of the summer.

“We are constantly working to make our services better,” he said.

Source: Bahama Journal

Investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton yesterday died in hospital in The Bahamas, reportedly from pneumonia. He was 95.

Templeton created the John Templeton Foundation in 1987 to encourage scientific research. The foundation has an estimated endowment of US$1.5 billion and awards some US$70 million in annual grants.

Templeton was a naturalized British citizen who lived in Nassau. He was knighted in 1987 for his philanthropic accomplishments.

Like Warren Buffett, Templeton is said to have developed a cult following, with fund investors flocking to annual meetings to hear his pronouncements.

Money Magazine in 1999 called him “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century.”

Investing, however, reportedly took a back seat to Sir John’s religious and charitable endeavors, particularly after he sold his mutual fund empire for $913 million a month before his 80th birthday in 1992.

Sir John is survived by two sons, a stepdaughter, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Source: Bahama Journal