NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Government was yesterday implored to “move quickly” to introduce incentives that encourage domestic development, with one out-island Chamber of Commerce president noting businesses need the right environment to re-engineer their models to withstand shocks like COVID-19 in the future.
Thomas Sands, Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce president, said in a statement that the new measures to lift restrictions on several Family Islands including Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, Andros, Crooked Island, Acklins, Cat Island, Exuma, Bimini, the Berry Islands, Mayaguana, Inagua, and Abaco was great news for the business community.
“This is great news for the business community and we are glad that the voices of Family Island businesses have been heard,” he said.
“We thank the Prime Minister for listening. We see this as the first step in opening up the domestic economy. Restaurants and other nonessential businesses have been especially affected by the recent restrictions and we’re happy that those businesses, following the appropriate protocols, are now able to resume operations,” said Sands.
“We look forward to receiving more details on how the Government plans to revitalize our economy, given that it has been decimated for nearly six months. We implore The Bahamas Government to move quickly to introduce incentives that encourage domestic investment. We need to create an environment where businesses can reopen and can retool so that they can innovate and re-engineer their business models to withstand shocks like COVID-19 in the future.”
Sands reiterated calls for Bahamian businesses investing in the Family islands receive ‘most favored business status’ to ensure that they get the same concessions (or greater) as any other investor in the family islands.
He said: “We also ask for VAT rebates for Family Island businesses. We’d also like the Government to remove closing costs levied on real estate sales for Bahamians. We thank the Prime Minister for communicating his commitment to getting major projects that are pending. We agree that getting these projects moving will assist with energizing Family Island economies.”
Sands added: “We encourage every business and resident to remain vigilant and compliant with the safety precautions and protocols so that we keep our customers, our families and friends safe. COVID-19 is proving that we are indeed our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.”
