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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
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COVID testing: ‘11th hour’ u-turn blasted
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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BAHAMIAN non-profit has blasted the government’s “180 degree turn at the 11th hour” for “sidelining” their agreement to provide three million COVID-19 test kits to facilitate tourism’s re-opening. Robert Myers, a principal with the Living with COVID Coalition (LWCC), told Tribune Business the Minnis administration’s last-minute decision to abandon rapid antigen testing for all border arrivals occurred after the group had already distributed the kits “throughout The Bahamas” to all ports of entry. Revealing that the coalition was only informed of the policy switch last Thursday, less than 72 hours before tourism’s “reopening” yesterday, Mr Myers said the reversal represented a waste of time and money for both himself
• Coalition stunned by ‘180 degree’ reversal • Came after 3m kits distributed to entry ports • Principal: ‘This why I don’t like work for govt’
ROBERT MYERS
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR
and other members as he declared: “This is why I don’t like doing work for government.” To eliminate the 14-day mandatory quarantine for all arrivals, which was seen as a major impediment to tourists travelling to The Bahamas, the government initially announced its replacement with a series of more frequent tests. Besides presenting a
negative COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival, visitors were to also receive an antigen test at the border and again if they stayed for five days. The Living With COVID Coalition, in a joint statement with the Ministry of Tourism that was issued a week ago Sunday, touted that as part of a publicprivate partnership (PPP) between the two sides it
Chamber war on COVID advocacy By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FURIOUS internal row has erupted at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce over a major retailer’s complaint that it is doing to little to address private sector concerns over COVID-19 restrictions. The response to an e-mail from Kelly-Anne Huber, Rubins Department Store’s marketing manager, prompted the chamber’s vice-chairman to rebuke a fellow director and
Board member for creating “unneeded animosity” with the very business community whose interests it is supposed to represent and advocate for. Tim Ingraham, who is also Summit Insurance Company’s principal, told Khalil Parker, also the Bahamas Bar Association’s head, in an October 29, 2020, e-mail that the chamber would now have to “repair the damage” caused by a response he branded “inappropriate” and “dismissive”.
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Bran: Banks cannot hold nation hostage on marijuana plans By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ ambitions to develop a legalised medical marijuana/hemp industry cannot be held hostage by the banking industry’s concerns, an ex-Democratic National Alliance leader is arguing. Branville McCartney, pictured, under whose leadership the DNA made legalising the sector a 2017 general election campaign issue, told Tribune Business that the well-being of the Bahamian people and their
economy took priority over fears that the banks might lose their cherished US correspondent relationships. “We need to do things
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had secured three million World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health-approved rapid antigen tests via local medical supplier, Ports International, to enable country-wide testing of all arrivals. Yet, just four days later, both the partnership and rapid antigen border testing were dumped by the government. Both Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, and Dr Delon Brennen, the Baltimore-based deputy chief medical officer, on Saturday said the “upon arrival” testing was dropped because it was not “supported by the science”. They argued that these tests would add little to a traveller’s negative
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Retailer ‘can’t afford to take risks blindly’ after 80% sales fall By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A BAHAMIAN retailer has warned he and others “cannot afford to take blind risks any more” due to the government’s handling of COVID-19, with curb-side restrictions slashing his sales by 80 percent. Egan Kemp, president of Eunison Company, the Shoe Depot parent, told Tribune Business he and his staff would likely be out of work within months as it was “impossible to sustain curb-side indefinitely” - a sentiment shared by multiple other retailers. Revealing that government-imposed limitations were playing havoc with his product ordering cycle, Mr Kemp also hit out at what he described as “inequity” with customers seemingly allowed to go into courier companies to pick up packages and imported shipments yet barred from entering local retail stores. Arguing that this was providing a further incentive for Bahamians to purchase online from Amazon and
overseas retailers, he backed Tara Morley, the Bahamas Federation of Retailers’ copresident, for warning that curb-side restrictions mean 20,000 retail jobs “are on the line” as he urged more merchants to speak out. “I’ve been trying to tell them all that if they don’t speak up now, in three to four months they may not be able to speak up at all because they’ll be out of business,” Mr Kemp told this newspaper. “This curbside is absolutely a losing proposition. There’s no way a retailer like us can do this. When your sales are down 80 percent it’s not sustainable. “The government doesn’t understand what they’re doing to us. I don’t think they have a firm grasp of the impact they’re having on everybody. They need to understand that clearly. To be quite honest, the 80 percent loss in sales is the reason I’m willing to fight. “I’m basically going to bleed out slowly, and be out of business in a matter of months anyhow. There’s no
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