NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Gym operators are questioning why they have once again been “left out of the discussion” and prohibited from reopening next week.
Dr Kent Bazard, CEO of Empire Fitness told Eyewitness News that he was now very close to $50,000 in expenses.
“Once again this segment has been left out of the discussion,” he said.
“I’m not sure if this is due to a lack of understanding about how gyms operate or a lack of faith in our ability to maintain protocols etc. Once we agreed on the previous protocols there were to be come inspections and those were never done. We still have not had the opportunity to discuss with the competent authority the operation of gyms.”
Bazard said: “We still maintain the position that we are uniquely involved in battling the transmission of any organism. As far as gyms are concerned it’s a part of our business; fighting organisms and transmission. We are uniquely positioned to comply with the protocols.”
Bazard expressed concern that there appears to be no plan to assist small business operators in covering significant expenses due to their inability to operate.
“We haven’t heard of any plans for relief from the government or if it has mandated that rent and utilities be discounted,” he continued.
“Right now businesses are at a critical point. We are approaching $50,000 in expenses. That’s a combination of rent, utilities and payment to our employees the first time we closed. Once we reopened they were still on the payroll but we weren’t able to keep them on the payroll because we were so far behind. We had to release all of our employees.”
Bazard said: “This coming September we will be getting close to $50,000. If we could hear some word on what the plan is for businesses that have incurred all these expenses we would be able to plan more and it would give you some psychological relief. We could also tell our employees when we would be able to resume operation. They have bills to pay and mouths to feed ad so there is a trickle down effect.”
He described the situation as “stressful and scary”.
“If we are going to remain closed we need to hear, what the plan is, when will we reopen and what the plan is for all these bills we have accumulated because it not our fault that these bills have accumulated,” he added.
“We are being prevented from making an income.”
