Cartwright laments lack of banking facilities on the island, however
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — While Harbour Island’s tourism stakeholders have voiced their opposition to cruise tourism on that island, one Long Island businessman said yesterday that that island will “take all we can get”.
Businessman Mario Cartwright told Eyewitness News that Crystal Cruises’ decision to include Long Island on its itinerary for its upcoming Bahamas cruise could bring some economic injection to the island’s ailing economy, if the island is able to benefit from cruise passenger spend.
“The island can use any kind of injection it can get. If they do come, hopefully there will be ways to pump some money into the island’s economy, by taking tours, for example,” said Cartwright.
“Right now, with COVID-19, our economy is struggling. As a matter in fact, any investment Harbour Island doesn’t want — and I understand that they are a small community — but they could refer it to Long Island.
“We will take all we can get.”
Harbour Island hoteliers have voiced their concerns over mass cruise tourism to the destination, which caters to high-end, low-density tourism, in the wake of Crystal Cruises’ recent announcement that its Crystal Serenity ship will visit Harbor Island, Great Exuma, Long Island and San Salvador beginning in July and running through October.
Cartwright also voiced concern over the lack of banking facilities on the island.
“Ten years ago, we had four banks on the Long Island — two full-time brick-and-mortar banks and two satellite branches,” said Cartwright.
“Now, there is no bank here at all but the population has not changed. The population has always been around 3,000 people.
“In the old Scotia Bank building, they have an automatic banking machine (ABM). All of the banking is done there when the machine is up and running, because the machine does break down periodically.”
He added: “In my case, as an entrepreneur, I have to deposit my money into the ABM machine or do my payments online. That’s all well and gone but if the machine breaks down and my deposit is delayed getting into Nassau, it could affect one’s ability to make payments in a timely fashion.
“It’s really very sad — 3,00 people-plus and no bank. It’s a shame and a disgrace. There is no doubt that the population justifies at least one brick-and-mortar bank.”
Scotiabank announced last October that it has decided to consolidate its banking operations on Abaco, Andros, Long Island and Exuma into branches on New Providence, revealing that branch traffic had dropped as much as 50 percent in some locations.
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