By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
JUST 35 per cent of Long Island businesses are back in operation three months after they were devastated by Hurricane Joaquin, the island’s Chamber of Commerce president yesterday estimating that the private sector will take two years to “get back to where it was”.
Cheryl de Goicoechea, told Tribune Business that residents were trying to “move along as best as they can”.
“Quite a number of businesses in the south have not reopened and it is possible that they will not reopen. The businesses that have not reopened as yet have lost their inventory or buildings, which they are unable to replace. Small hotels had major damage to their properties and are unable to reopen. Businesses need financial assistance or the ability to get a low interest loan, in order to reopen,” she said.
She added: “With the assistance of several organisations, fishermen are getting their boats back into the water. However now comes the expensive part of repairing and replacing lost equipment, dive gear, etc. They have already missed three months of the crawfish season, which is only open from August 1 to March 31. This is a huge loss for them and the island economy. Fortunately visitors are still coming to the islands. They have the larger resorts in the North, small hotels in the south, guesthouses and vacation homes throughout the island that are operational and able to accommodate these guests.”
Joaquin, a Category Four hurricane, with maximum sustained winds around 130 miles per hour, battered the southern and central Bahamas last October leaving massive devastation in its wake. The Government had pegged Joaquin’s damage at $60 million, but that has since been increased to $80 million and in December Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the figure was $100 million.
Mrs de Goicochea also expressed concern over the level of debris littered across the island’s beaches in the wake of the storm. “We’re concerned about the garbage that washed ashore on the beautiful beaches and coast of Long Island from El Faro cargo ship that sunk during the storm. We are interested to know whether the Government has addressed this issue of clean up with the owners of this ship. We are anxious to know when or if we will be seeing teams up here to clean up these beaches because this is a huge deterrent to visitors.”
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