NASSAU, BAHAMAS -The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) is set to offer economic relief assistance programs to business owners impacted by Hurricane Dorian the regulator has stated.
Business owners on Grand Bahama are set to benefit from economic relief assistance programs following on-going consultation with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited.
Deann Seymour, Chief Financial Officer and Licensing Chairman of the GBPA, said the authority recognized the daunting task of rebuilding faced by many licensees.
“Our commitment is to provide the necessary support for their recovery that will translate into our island’s economic sustainability and demonstrate Grand Bahama’s resilient spirit,” he said in a press release yesterday.
“The enormity of Dorian’s impact has tremendous effects on the physical and emotional well-being of business owners. With this in mind, we thought to allow business owners a reasonable amount of time to grasp the full scope of the storm’s impact before approaching them to address their needs.”
Seymour added: “This storm impacted us significantly not only in managing material loss, but also in handling the loss of manpower, due to the challenges many employees have faced in their personal lives.
“This also impacts the recovery process and we saw it appropriate to allow licensees a time to assess their complete situations, so that when we engage with them, they have a better idea of their needs.”
The Category 5 storm slammed Grand Bahama more than a month ago, and Seymour said the GBPA is making a great push to connect with licensees.
“We have already begun the strategic process of connecting with business owners and we intend to make every reasonable effort to connect with our 2,800 licensees. This will be achieved through online surveys, door to door visits, telephone calls and business sector meetings.”
As the engagement process with relevant stakeholders continues, Seymour anticipates her team will be better able to design, develop and deliver the best business relief assistance programs.
She added: “In doing this, they will explain their business needs and goals and we will listen, develop and launch the best initiatives to support their rebuilding efforts.”
