The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A NEW Providence-based landscaping firm has increased staffing levels by almost 60 per cent to cope with post-Hurricane Matthew demands, its principal yesterday estimating business levels were 20-25 per cent higher than normal.

But Robert Myers, head of Caribbean Landscape, lamented that too few Bahamians were taking advantage of the unexpected employment opportunities offered by his company and others in the storm’s wake.

He told Tribune Business that too many of his company’s extra, temporary hires would fail to report back to work after receiving their first pay cheque, illustrating the private sector’s ongoing challenges in finding the workforce it needs.

“We’ve probably taken on about an extra 75 guys above and beyond our normal staff,” Mr Myers said of Matthew’s impact on his business.

“The problem we’re having is that after they get the first pay cheque, they don’t come back to work. We’re having difficulties getting consistent people, and people willing to work in the field. We’re going through a lot of people. It’s challenging. You wouldn’t know there was an unemployment problem in the country by this.”

Mr Myers, whose business is based at the Airport Industrial Park, said demands for clean-up work, yard maintenance and replanting/landscaping had dramatically increased in western New Providence as a result of Matthew’s passage.

“It’s probably a good 20-25 per cent above what it would be, I think,” he told Tribune Business of current business levels.

“We got pretty beat up out in the west. A lot of clients have a lot of problems, and we’ve been working long hours, seven days a week to get it all tidied up. It’s going to be a long road to recovery.

“Every landscaper imaginable is out here doing work for clients. I would absolutely think this will go right through Christmas. We’ll be doing stuff through into January; we’re not going to get finished between now and December.”

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, also acknowledged yesterday that businesses providing hurricane recovery-related services would be in high demand for the next several months.

Agreeing that there would be “opportunities” for several industries, Mr Sumner said the Chamber expected to see “a spike” in construction, environmental and clean-up related activity over the remainder of 2016.

Maintenance and janitorial companies will also likely receive a boost, and Mr Sumner told Tribune Business: “In some instances, we might see as much as a 30 per cent spike in activity in these sectors in the coming months.

“Even here at the Chamber we had to hire ourselves companies in the areas of construction, janitorial services, landscaping, maintenance and clean up crews. We know there’s going to be a level of activity we will see.”

Trucking services will also be in demand, and Mr Sumner added: “This is not to take advantage of people, but we see this tragedy as creating opportunities for other sectors, and keeping money circulating in the economy as we go through this process of restoration. The rest of the economy will suffer a blow.”

Mr Myers, meanwhile, said that despite the increase in business for his firm and other landscaping firms, he “never welcomes these things”.

“As I said to someone in the financial services industry, this is like a global recession happening to you and your clients, and you all being in the worst position from day one,” he recounted of a recent post-Matthew conversation.

“You can’t manage; you can’t deal with this. There’s nothing you can do to design a means to deal with this problem. It’s a catastrophic disaster.

“I would prefer it did not happen,” Mr Myers added of Matthew. “We had a really good business before. Now, it’s a fire drill. We’ve just to keep our heads down, put one foot in front of the other, and eventually we’ll get through. Our core, full-time 130 guys are doing a phenomenal job.”

He also expressed concern over whether Caribbean Landscape would receive a refund on Customs duty it paid on a consignment of chain saws brought in the day after Matthew, as need meant the shipment could not wait for the exigency Order.

“It’s very painful and challenging from a cash flow perspective,” Mr Myers said of the full duty payment. “I don’t know if we will get a full payment.”