The Tribune

Just one in four business applications for post-Hurricane Joaquin assistance was approved because many enterprises were non-compliant with tax and other legal requirements.

Rebuild Bahamas, the joint relief effort supported by Rotary and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC), assisted 48 businesses in the southern Bahamas islands devastated last year by Joaquin.

However, it said in a statement that applications from around three times’ this number did not qualify for aid because they did not have a Business Licence or were non-compliant with other government requirements.

The Ministry of Finance has suggested this will be less of a hindering factor for the Hurricane Matthew relief and recovery efforts, and is putting in place mechanisms to assist this.

Rebuild Bahamas also noted that no business took advantage of $250,000 set aside by the Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Fund for short-term loans.

“Businesses just did not want to borrow, even at very low interest rates with extremely favourable terms,” said Edison Sumner, the Chamber’s chief executive.

Rebuild Bahamas, in a September 5 report on its Joaquin activities, said it would seek longer term solutions in conjunction with the insurance industry to help small to medium-sized businesses obtain affordable insurance coverage.

Rebuild Bahamas has now re-engaged stakeholders to assess needs and begin fund-raising restoration efforts in Matthew’s wake..

“Rebuild Bahamas, a partnership between the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation and the Rotary Clubs of the Bahamas, flew into action immediately following the passage of Matthew,” said Mr Sumner.

“As soon as planes could get into Andros and Grand Bahama, we had teams on the ground conducting interviews, photographing damage, checking businesses that were impacted and we are working on compiling the costs associated with repairs right now.”

Damages from Matthew, which blew through the northwestern Bahamas onOctober 6-7 with winds of up to 145 miles an hour, and strong storm surges that caused widespread flooding, have been estimated by the Government and insurers in the hundreds of millions of dollars, far exceeding Hurricane Joaquin.

The repercussions from Matthew are more extensive because the storm struck heavily populated sections of New Providence, as well as much of Grand Bahama - from Port Lucaya to West End and portions of North Andros.

Gowon Bowe, the Chamber’s chairman and a member of several disaster-recovery related boards, said there was recovery and rebuilding activity at every level.

“While several organisations have been working to assist with meeting emergency and immediate needs of individuals, some of whom do not even have a roof over their heads, Rebuild Bahamas is trying to get affected businesses back up and running as fast as possible so people can get back to work and repair supplies are available especially for those areas hardest hit,” Mr Bowe said.

Rotary was first to get emergency supplies to hard-hit areas and will again partner with the Chamber for a Rebuild Bahamas effort that, according to the latest report, spent $573,926 helping to re-build or re-stock businesses in five islands - and re-float fishing vessels - in the southern Bahamas devastated by Hurricane Joaquin.