The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BIMINI’s Chamber of Commerce president yesterday voiced optimism that the island’s economy will “get back on track” despite taking a “hit” from recent energy woes.

“Things have normalised to a certain degree,” Edward Reckley told Tribune Business of the frequent power outages that resulted from the fire which destroyed Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) two most efficient generation engines.

“Right now everyone knows that BPL has their challenges. Normally round the summer time we have outages based on the power load here now. BPL has done a good job in terms of providing the power since the fire. Right now I think they are doing the best they can, although we are still having some outages.

“There are obviously some complaints, but I believe you have to roll with it because there is only so much they can do. New Providence, which is the capital, is having its own challenges.”

A fire at BPL’s Bimini power station last month destroyed almost nine megawatts (MW) of generation capacity. “We had some issues as a result of the fire. We had visitors who cancelled and we had some who made up for cancellations,” Mr Reckley added.

“We tried to put the message and the information out there as quickly as possible that power was restored. It’s doing much better from having a plant on fire to seeing what it is today. I think we can get back on track. Most of our business comes from Florida. It’s only the weather conditions that slow things down. As far as business is concerned I would call it fair.”