NASSAU MONTHLY - APRIL 2009

UNCLAS NASSAU 000293


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN PGOV PREL BF
SUBJECT: NASSAU MONTHLY - APRIL 2009


1. This is a monthly report on a variety of topics of interest
which do not merit full reporting cables.

-- Rum Drinkers Mourn as Bacardi Closes for Good
-- Reality TV Comes to The Bahamas
-- Arrested Gambling Kingpin "Would Not Support National Lottery"
-- Embassy Re-Plants JFK Tree for Earth Day
-- "Not Guilty" Pleas Entered in Travolta Extortion Case
-- IMF Projects 4.5% Decline in Economic Growth in 2009
-- Morton Salt Sold to the Germans
-- Say No To Chemicals: Bahamas Ratifies Chemical Weapons
Convention
-- "Expulsis Piratis, Restituta Commercia": Bahamian Ship Escapes
Pirates After NATO Intervention
-- No Rest for the Weary: Ex-Pat Shot as Violent Crime Spike
Continue

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RUM DRINKERS MOURN AS BACARDI FACTORY CLOSES FOR GOOD
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2. The remaining 65 employees at The Bacardi Rum factory in Nassau
closed the doors for the last time on April 30. The company is
moving distilling functions to a facility in Puerto Rico, citing
rising operating costs in The Bahamas as the main reason for the
company's departure. This closure is yet another blow to a Bahamian
economy already suffering the effects of increased unemployment as a
result of the global economic downturn.

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REALITY TV COMES TO THE BAHAMAS
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3. A new reality TV show, "Superstars," has begun filming in The
Bahamas. The show pairs up celebrities and professional athletes to
compete in various sporting challenges for a grand prize. Local
media reported that hotel mogul Kerzner International paid a
seven-digit figure to ABC to have the show filmed at the Atlantis
Resort on Paradise Island. Local motorists were less thrilled to
have reality TV played out before them when filming interrupted
daily morning commutes several days in row. Government officials
are hopeful this show will bring a needed tourism boost to the
island.

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ARRESTED GAMBLING KINGPIN "WOULD NOT SUPPORT NATIONAL LOTTERY"
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4. Police raids on illegal gambling parlors in April - first in
Freeport and two weeks later in Nassau - led Minister of National
Security Tommy Turnquest to come out in favor of a referendum to
legalize gambling, which is not on the ruling party's or Prime
Minister Ingraham's agenda. The influential Bahamas Christian
Council had been dead-set against such a move. A recent statement
by a leading cleric, however, may indicate a softening of the
blanket anti-gambling position, which some criticize as
hypocritical. Many Bahamians "play the numbers" and wonder why they
are targeted while foreigners are allowed to gamble merrily at the
Atlantis or Cable Beach casinos, and church raffles get special
licenses.


5. Bahamian gambling habits fuel significant profits for
enterprising businessmen. The best known "numbers man" was charged
May 1st in connection with the anti-gambling raids. His firm,
meanwhile, is building a new, multi-story headquarters on a prime
piece of downtown real estate overlooking the waterfront near the
Embassy. Incongruously, Craig Flowers told newspapers he opposed a
national lottery.

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EMBASSY RE-PLANTS JFK TREE FOR EARTH DAY
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6. In celebration of Earth Day 2009, The Bahamas Ministry of the
Environment organized a "Million Trees Program" -- agreeing to plant
a million trees throughout The Bahamas by December 31, 2009. At
post's suggestion, the CDA planted a brasiletto tree at the same
site where a tree was planted in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy
and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Representatives from
local environmental organizations, as well as local media, were
present for the event.

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"NOT GUILTY" PLEAS ENTERED IN TRAVOLTA EXTORTION CASE
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7. Accused former opposition PLP Senator Pleasant Bridgewater
pleaded not guilty to extortion charges April 28th at a court
hearing in Nassau. She and a local ambulance driver are accused of
conspiring in an attempt to extort $25 million from John Travolta
after the U.S. actor's teenage son died in January in Grand Bahama.
Both remain free on bail until the trial, which is scheduled to
begin September 21st. The case rocked the opposition, especially
its Grand Bahama-based leadership, and may yet inflict further
damage as further information comes out in court.

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IMF PROJECTS 4.5% DECLINE IN ECONOMIC GROWTH IN 2009
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8. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a 4.5% drop in
economic growth in The Bahamas in 2009 and a 0.5% decline in 2010.
The IMF projection is a significant drop from growth forecasts in
2007 and 2008 that predicted a 1% drop in 2009. This latest report
demonstrates once again how closely linked the Bahamian economy is
to the U.S. economy. According to the IMF, only Jamaica is expected
to suffer worse than The Bahamas. A silver lining, the IMF also
predicted the inflation rate will decline to 1.8% in 2009.
Government officials are carefully watching these figures; the
Central Bank predicts only a 2% contraction in 2009.

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MORTON SALT SOLD TO THE GERMANS
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9. On April 1, U.S. company Rohm and Haas sold the stock of Morton
International, Inc. to German company K+S Aktiengesellschaft.
Morton Salt operates a large plant on the southern Bahamian island
of Great Inagua, employing nearly 80% of the tiny workforce on the
island. The plant's continuing operation has been uncertain in
recent months as Morton management dealt with a period of violent
labor unrest in the summer of 2008 followed by severe damage to the
factory as a result of a category-3 hurricane in September 2008.
The future of the factory, and that of the economic likelihood of
Great Inagua, will depend on the decisions of K+S.

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Say No To Chemicals: Bahamas Ratifies Chemical Weapons Convention
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10. The Bahamas submitted ratification documents to the United
Nations on April 21st to become the 188th state to join the
international pact banning the production, stockpiling or use of
chemical weapons. This ends a flurry of last-minute conferencing
involving all relevant public and private stakeholders, as well as
U.S. government experts. The Convention will enter into force 30
days after April 21st.

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"Expulsis Piratis, Restituta Commercia": Bahamian Ship Escapes
Pirates After NATO Intervention
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11. Echoing The Bahamas' pre-independence national motto, NATO
forces came to the aid of the Bahamian-flagged oil tanker Kition
after it was accosted by pirates off the coast of Somalia May 1st,
capturing 19 Somalis. While not the first time a Bahamian-flagged
merchant vessel has been the victim of a pirate attack, it may be
the first case in which NATO intervened. The Bahamas has the 3rd
largest ship registry in the world. Nassau was once a haven for
infamous pirates like Blackbeard who terrorized the Caribbean and
the U.S. eastern seaboard until British rule - and licit commerce -
was restored in 1718.

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No Rest for the Weary: Ex-Pat Shot as Violent Crime Spike Continue
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12. The Bahamas is on track to record over 70 murders for the third
year in a row, with several suspicious deaths still under
investigation, as April brought Nassau another round of shocking and
gruesome crime headlines. Recent murder cases reflect gangland-type
violence, with murderers out on bail, scandalizing the public.
High-speed car chases, a New Year 2009 novelty, have also multiplied
with at least one recent fatality. In a high profile incident that
goes beyond the grim norm, a British financial specialist was shot
in the head execution-style in broad daylight upon arriving to work
April 22. The hit-man apparently lay in wait for his victim,
loitering in an otherwise affluent seafront area frequented by
Embassy staff. The victim is still in a coma, and no suspects have
been identified despite numerous eyewitnesses.


ZUNIGA-BROWN