Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility worth it, says Turnquest
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — All contributions received by the Bahamian government to aid Hurricane Dorian relief efforts will be accounted for, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest said.
Speaking outside of the Churchill Building, Turnquest said, “We are pleased with the level of contributions so far. We are keeping close tabs and control over all the donations and expenditure that we incur as a result of this disaster.”
According to Turnquest, a certified public accountant has been tasked with ensuring an accurate report on all contributions the government receives.
“We are going to give [a] detailed report on what we have done with their money. No money that is collected or donated is going to incur any kind of deduction or administrative cost. I don’t think it has reached the $100 million threshold,” the minister said.
He added, “The government has organized a disaster recovery committee and they will determine how the money is spent. There is going to be tremendous private sector need. There is also going to be a tremendous commercial sector need in terms of low interest loans, loan guarantees, grants for small businesses to ensure that we get the commercial sector up. We recognize that there are some who have insurance and can take care of their own needs, but there are also people who don’t and are not going be able to recover on their own. We want to look at how we can help them.”
The deputy prime minister stressed that the road ahead will not be easy.
“This is going to be a patient and disciplined recovery to ensure that we get this right,” he said. “We would hate to build today and another storm comes and we end up with the same problem.”
The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has stated it will pay The Bahamas US $10,936,103 following the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian.
“The hurricane insurance is going to give us roughly $10.9 million which is more or less in line with what we expected. We are going to be looking at that to make sure the formulas they used make sense and are in line with our thinking. We still have to look at the rainfall coverage to see what we can get from the rainfall coverage,” Turnquest said.
“Just for comparison, we have paid $5 million the last two years, so if we get $10 million, we are $5 million ahead. We are pleased and confident that the coverage is worth it. Heaven forbid a storm like we see with Dorians hits Nassau. The damage and the cost would be astronomical.”
This article was written by Senior Business Reporter Natario McKenzie
