Although The Bahamas made transferring property easier by reducing stamp duty, it still made the process more costly by increasing the applicable stamp fees.

This, along with other related factors, led to The Bahamas placing 166, out of 190 economies, on the 'Ease of Registering Property' index.

A recent World Bank Group report on doing business showed that, when compared to comparator economies on the ease of registering property, The Bahamas was ranked the lowest.

Neighbors like Jamaica and St. Lucia, which ranked 123th and 104th, respectively, outperformed The Bahamas.

Other countries on the list for comparative economies were The United States (36th), The United Kingdom (47th), Barbados (130th), and Antigua and Barbuda (150th).

According to data collected, registering property in The Bahamas requires seven procedures, takes 122 days and costs 4.7 percent of the property value.

The report asserted that the importance of ensuring formal property rights is "fundamental".

"Effective administration of land is part of that. If formal property transfer is too costly or complicated, formal titles might go informal again. And where property is informal or poorly administered, it has little chance of being accepted as collateral for loans -- limiting access to finance," the report pointed out.

Xian Smith, Guardian Business Reporter

POLICE detectives are asking the public to assist them in solving the latest homicide that occurred in the capital early yesterday morning.

The murder happened on Peach Street and Montrose Avenue and brought the country’s murder count to 84 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

Officer-in-Charge of the Central Detective Unit, Superintendent Ashton Greenslade told The Tribune yesterday that police had few details on the homicide but were actively investigating the incident.

“We have no motive for this latest homicide as yet as we’re still conducting our investigations into this matter,” Supt. Greenslade said.

According to reports, police were on patrol in the Peach Street area shortly after 1am when they discovered the lifeless body of a man who had been shot.

The man, whose identity has been withheld pending an official identification by next of kin, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The latest homicide occurred less than 72 hours after an 18-year-old woman was shot in the back of the head and killed early Thursday morning in front of a home in Jubilee Gardens.

Officers got a call shortly after 6am that shots were heard in the Fire Trail Road area. When officers arrived at the scene they saw the lifeless body of a young woman lying in the driveway with gunshot wounds.

Supt. Greenslade yesterday said officers are “following several leads and we expect to bring this matter to a close shortly.”

Anyone with information on either homicide is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.

By Lamech Johnson, Tribune Staff Reporter

The Road Traffic advises the public that the distribution of new Vehicle License plates and other Vehicle Registration assets continue Monday, October 31st at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs Gym. Individuals whose vehicles were licensed during the period October 21st through 28th should collect their documents between the hours of 8am and 8pm.

When collecting your documents, you are required to present your Road Traffic receipt as proof of payment and a Passport, Driver’s License, Voter’s Card or NIB Smart Card as proof of identification.

The department appreciates your patience and apologizes for any inconvenience caused.

Source: Bahamas Information Services

Dr. Hubert Minnis

FREE National Movement (FNM) leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said on Friday that the disclosure of the company negotiating with the government to acquire Baha Mar is too bare on details to satisfy the public’s right to information on the matter.

On Thursday it was revealed that the Hong Kong-based firm Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited was in talks over the troubled resort, but Dr. Minnis was unhappy with the Prime Minister Perry Christie’s “refusal to share the full details”.

“Drip…Drip…Drip – that’s the sound of the slowly leaking of details coming out about the embattled Prime Minister’s dubious, secret Baha Mar scheme he cooked up with his Chinese allies,” Dr. Minnis said in a statement.

“We now have learned through the press – not the embattled Prime Minister that negotiated then sealed the deal – a company named Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited is applying to buy the resort. Yet this new information still does not allow the public to know what this sale means for Baha Mar and the Bahamian people because the embattled Prime Minister continues his refusal to share the full details of his secret deal.

“With each detail that drip out, it is becoming more and more clear to Bahamians that Prime Minister Christie seems more concerned with pleasing his Chinese allies than negotiating a true deal that would benefit our people and our country,” the statement continued.

And Mr. Minnis called for the Prime Minister to “unseal the deal”: “It is far past the time for the embattled Prime Minister to unseal his deal and finally share the details of this Baha Mar deal with the public now that an owner has emerged. There is nothing to protect anymore other than his political position. The government’s argument that it was for commercial reasons involved in the sale that they could not reveal the details, no longer applies.

“Did he negotiate some fireside sale with his Chinese allies in a desperate attempt to bolster his sagging hopes of reelection? Doesn’t the rest of the PLP that are not privy to this deal agree with the Bahamian people that we should know what was negotiated and what the true costs are to our nation?

“The FNM remains hopeful that Baha Mar will be up and running and provide good paying jobs for Bahamians, but we, like the rest of the country, still demand accountability and transparency from this PLP Government. The continued silence on their part is deafening and cannot continue. The people deserve an open and responsive government, not the secretive one we have now. The FNM has made it clear that we will represent the people, and stand with them as they continue to call out for the embattled Prime Minister to unseal his secret deal with his Chinese allies,” said Dr. Minnis.