The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

AML Foods chief executive said yesterday there were no concerns over the restocking of its stores’ food supplies following Hurricane Matthew, telling Tribune Business they had only suffered “minor damages here and there”.

Gavin Watchorn told Tribune Business: “With regards to our stores, we managed very well. We have had some minor damages here and there, but nothing significant.

“Our Old Fort Bay store got beat up pretty badly on the outside but nothing that is significant. I think Freeport suffered more than Nassau but our stores were practically untouched. As of this point, all of our operations our open with the exception of Dominos Port Lucaya. The Marketplace itself looked like it got some damage.”

Mr Watchorn added: “Our stocks are pretty good, although our people have been in Sunday and Monday placing orders for replenishment. We had stock ready to ship so our stores are being replenished and we are not concerned about replenishments.”

Mr Watchorn said the company has been closing its stores earlier than normal to allow its staff to get home safely.

“We want to make sure our staff get home safely with so many street lights out. I know that we are closing an hour or two earlier because we want to make sure our staff get home safe,” he explained.

He added that having visited Freeport and seen the need for portable generators, battery-operated fans and radios, the company was hoping to ship some of those items into Grand Bahama this week.

“We are trying to get some water and ice into each market for our staff. A lot of them don’t have electricity and we’re working on getting them water and ice now that we are kind of past the initial assessment of our stores and dealing with the chaos of trying to get fuel for our generators,” Mr Watchorn said.

“Richard Jones, the head our facilities, did an amazing job of keeping our stores running and getting fuel. We called in some favours, and we had one or two periods where  we had to shut down because we didn’t have enough fuel, but for the most part our stores have been running with fuel and it hasn’t been a problem.”

Mr Watchorn said AML Foods was now focusing on how it could help its staff. “We have had reports that some of them have major damages to their homes, and we are looking at how we can help them, by getting them a hot meal, water and ice,”he added.

“We are working on getting some containers of water and ice into Freeport. That’s our focus right now. We have repair work to do but we will focus on that later this week. Right now it’s just getting the products in and taking care of our staff.”