“If this administration is voted out of office, another administration can come in and squash all of these decisions”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A local small business consultant yesterday reiterated calls for legislation for the introduction of a Small Business Act, telling Eyewitness News that while the government’s Small Business Tax Concession & Relief Programme is “encouraging”, the sector needs more than reversible policy decisions.
Mark Turnquest, president of the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre, told Eyewitness News: “The incentives are encouraging but the problem still remains that they are only policy decisions.
“If this administration is voted out of office, another administration can come in and squash all of these decisions. There is no Small Business Act to ensure that certain things have to take place…and so you will always have knee-jerk initiatives.
“The Small Business Act should set the tone for a national strategy of what all governments should do as it relates to the small business sector. It’s good that a lot of businesses can access these incentives, but looking long-term, we need legislation to set out a road map for the sector.
“I’ve been around long enough to see a lot of promises relative to this sector go unfulfilled and good ideas get tossed in the garbage.”
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, during his 2021/2022 budget communication in the House of Assembly yesterday, noted that every Bahamian small business and entrepreneur will be able to apply for and obtain duty-free concessions on all the items needed to start or expand their business, including on the first stock of inventory.
“Any small business with an annual turnover of less than $5 million, anywhere in the country, you will get the same treatment as the mega-resort, or the large manufacturer,” the prime minister said.
“We are leveling the playing field.”
Minnis noted that Bahamians have demonstrated a remarkable level of ingenuity and creativity during this COVID crisis.
“We have seen a large number of businesses emerge during this crisis and my government has sustained small businesses in several ways,” he said.
“More than 1,000 small businesses were approved for loan and grant financing as part of my government’s COVID-19 program. This initiative administered by the Access Accelerator Small Business Development Center, or SBDC, represented a collective $45 million allocated and dispersed.
“For businesses in the fishing and agriculture sector, duty on all related fishing and agriculture equipment was reduced, along with the SBDC providing $5 million in loan and grant financing to these sectors.
“More than $800,000 was disbursed to 41 applicants as part of the preschool grant program, providing wider access to early childhood education.”
Minnis also noted that approximately $1.6 million in grant funding has been provided as part of the government’s stand-alone grant programs and $1.5 million in equity financing has been provided to small businesses via the Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Capital Fund.
