It seems our Freeport status for the the Bay Islands will be postponed 30 days due, in part, to the Bay Islands Census that is currently being conducted. Some of the municipalities have asked for this extension due to the fact that they have not completed their respective portions of the census.
I did speak with the Governor of the Bay Islands, the Honorable Arlie Thompson on Monday and was enlightened somewhat on what has pretty much been decided as to how this new law will work... Here's some of the details so far...
According to the Governor, there will be the following in the law:
1) ALL tourism related companies qualify for the ZOLITUR status and, if not counted in the Census, must register their companies at a new office at the Municipality AND at the ZOLITUR offices.. They will get a card as identification in the program.
2) Those that qualify (as most, if not all businesses on Roatan will) shall have the benefit of:
No income taxes
No import duty taxes on any business related items
No sales taxes on any business related items
3) 4% Capital Gains tax
4) No duty on imported autos (for those who qualify above)
There were a lot of other small points we discussed as well, but all in all, I really think this will be a VERY good thing for the Islands... Good for local businesses... good for tourists who can shop literally EVERYTHING duty free.... good for investors wanting to build shops, commercial space... good for the economy....
Sadly, it will also prove bad in many ways.... more tourists means more development for tourists. This means more jungle cut down... this means more green space destroyed. This means more pollution on our Islands... We have been involved in discussions with individuals and companies offering alternative solutions to energy and other necessities recently... and I'm very happy that we have choices. Choices as to how we develop these Islands... effectively and eco-fectively thus killing two birds with one stone... or rape and pillage...crash and burn...call it what you will... I pray the developers, the land owners, the business people...all make the right choices... one for a better tomorrow. Green(er), grand(er) and gratefull(er).