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The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday – Friday, May 25 – that the country has been removed from the Eu-ropean Union’s (EU) Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes list.
Following is the statement from the Ministry of Finance in its entirety.
“The Bahamas was removed from the European Union’s (EU) list of
Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes following a positive technical recommendation from the EU Code of Conduct Group (CoCG), which was formally adopted by the Council of Eu-ropean Union Finance Ministers (ECO-FIN) this morning.
This is the result of excellent coor-dination and cooperation by Ministers
and their technical teams, especially the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration and the Offi ce of At-torney General and Legal Affairs, who worked along with the Bahamas Finan-cial Services Board and the Associa-tion of International Banks and Trust Companies and other fi nancial services
industry partners, forming a high-level technical working group dedicated to addressing this issue and the continued challenges to this important sector of our economy.
The Bahamas remains committed to constructive engagement with the ECOFIN and the CoCG technical com-mittee to meet or exceed global stan-
dards of conduct and cooperation in tax matters and to the timelines set for technical compliance and legislation to effect the same.
The Government of The Bahamas remains committed to the fi nancial ser-vices’ industry and to the success of the Bahamian professionals who form the foundation for its continued viability.
The Freeport NewsSATURDAYMAY 26, 2018 $1.00
EST. 1960/VOL. 58 NO. 49 GRAND BAHAMA’S FIRST NEWSPAPER http://thefreeportnews.com
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Bahamas offi cially off EU List
FALCONS BOYS’ CLUBset to break ground for new home this morning
For over two decades, the Fal-cons Boys’ Club has been a sta-ple in the community of Grand Bahama, positively impacting the lives of thousands of young men through their mentorship and outreach programs.
Under the leadership of di-rector Darrin Rolle, countless young men can boast and attest to the indelible mark the pro-gram has had on their lives. To-day – Saturday, May 26 – Rolle invites residents to share in the ground breaking ceremony of the club’s community center.
Rolle expressed gratitude to all stakeholders who have played a role in making this dream a re-ality.
“On Saturday, May 26 at 11:00 a.m. in partnership with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), the Falcons Boys’ Club
will be breaking ground for the Champs Community Center, which is going to be the new home of the Falcons Boys’ Club.
“We are so thankful to the Grand Bahama community, over these past 21 years, for support-ing us. We are extra thankful to the GBPA, its group of compa-nies, Sarah St. George and the other family members, and Di-rectors of the GBPA for allowing us the opportunity to be able to use this 1.47 acres of property, to develop a community center
for young men here on the island of Grand Bahama,” said Rolle.
A special thank was extend-ed to Ian Rolle, president the GBPA, who has been, “a friend in all of our efforts, in being able to help us see this dream come to fruition.
“John Donnes said that no man is an island, so this is not a man’s event this is, actually, a commu-nity event. And as a community, we are so thankful for this priv-ilege of being able to develop a community center.”
He added that the center will not only offer a basketball as-pect, as the club is known for but the facility will be multi-pur-posed.
“We will now have a build-ing that we can call our own and we can put together holistic programs for young men, using these facilities, to be able to help them even further with all the things that we have been able to encourage them to do.
“This facility, along with the
building, will be able to help us put programs together for young men that are now out of high school. We can work with all of the industrial companies and other persons who want to put programs together to help mentor young men,” Rolle dis-closed.
“We are so thankful to M & E Limited and CLH Holdings that are responsible for clearing all of the land for us. On Saturday morning, we are expecting to have young people, parents and
sponsors out, who have helped us over the years, along with our international partner – Champs Missions – at our ground breaking ceremony.
“We believe that this fa-cility is going to be able to impact more young men. As you know, we have a one-day conference called, ‘Building Youth is better than Mend-ing Men,’ that we host throughout the islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and this facili-ty will help to do even more in the community of Grand Bahama.
“ W e
again thank the GBPA for this kind gesture, to be able to
actually entrust such an amount of property
into the hands of an organization. I
believe it says a lot for us as an orga-nization … We want the community to know that we are not going to let them down in this effort.
This is not about Darrin Rolle. Darrin Rolle believes that it is bet-ter to build the youth than it is
to build a man. Phillip Whether-
burn and
Rick Russell are also persons who helped us in our mentoring program,” stated Rolle.
He encouraged all Grand Ba-hamians to come out and partic-ipate in the ceremony.
“The property is located di-rectly across from the Rotary Water Tank, near the gas sta-tion in Hawksbill. We believe that this is going to go far. We have been able to mentor some 2,500 young men over the past 21 years on Saturday mornings, during our program.
“I want to thank the Grand Bahama community that have helped us thus far, but now we need you to help us even as we go further. We are accountable; we have individuals who are on our advisory board who make sure that we are accountable for all the things that we do.
“I want to say a special thanks you to The Freeport News and the many times that they have given us coverage for the public to see. Many times people think
that we like the papers be-cause we are trying to
get our name out there. Instead, it is about letting the companies that helped us know where the monies donated are going.
“When they see the pictures in The Freeport News that is our way of saying to them, the mon-ies have gone to-wards the event that we have asked you to help with.”
He concluded by quoting, “For evil to thrive, a few good men must do nothing.”
JAIMIE SMITHFN Reporter
Two of the suspects that were arrested in Grand Bahama on drug charges were arraigned in Magistrate Court, New Prov-idence on Friday (May 25) morning.
Reports coming out of the capital revealed confi rmed that Maliek Laing, 22, of #22 Gil-
ford Crest, Mayfi eld Park and Arsenio McKinney, 28, of #20 Caliban Drive were arraigned before Magistrate Subu Swain in Magistrate Court #8.
The duo was charged with Possession of Dangerous Drugs with the Intent to Supply, Tak-ing Preparatory steps to export Dangerous Drugs and Conspir-acy to export Dangerous Drugs with the Intent to Supply.
They both pleaded not guilty and were remanded to the Ba-
hamas Department of Correc-tional Services (BDCS) until trial September 18, 2018.
A third suspect, a female was also arrested in this matter; however, she was not charged.
The trio were taken into cus-tody Tuesday, May 22, after Drug Enforcement Unit offi cers were called to the United States (U.S.) Pre-Clearance Departure Lounge at the Grand Bahama International Airport, shortly before 1:00 p.m.
Police information revealed that a male presented himself at U.S. Custom to board a fl ight to Florida, however, following a search of his carry-on bag, three plastic packages, each contain-ing suspected cocaine, were discovered.
Further investigation resulted in the arrest of another male and a female. The total weight of the suspected cocaine was 7.58lbs at an estimated value of $45,000.00.
ABRIA COOPERFN Reporter
“We will now have a build-ing that we can call our own and we can put together ho-listic programs for young men, using these facilities, to be able to help them even further with all the things that we have been able to encourage them to do.
~ Darrin RolleDirector, Falcons Boys’ Club
GB duo arraigned on drug charges in the capital
