The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

An Abaco-based poultry producer yesterday challenged government assertions that all its services are “up and running”, citing “aggravation” over trying to get “simple things done” on the island.

Lance Pinder, operations manager at Abaco Big Bird Poultry, disputed the assessment given by Iram Lewis, minister of state for disaster preparedness, management and reconstruction. “I know there is no agriculture office here,” he said. “Right now I am trying to get permits to import plants and things, and I’m having to get somebody in Nassau to get them and bring them here. It is kind of a problem.”

Mr Pinder added that the agriculture office “was at the public dock. That whole dock building is gone and the Port Department was down there. I don’t know if she ever found it, but the lady I met two days ago who was trying to find the Port Department she said she couldn’t find them nowhere”.

Asked about the main government complex in Marsh Harbour, Mr Pinder replied: “That building is fine. That’s where most of the government officers are working out of. For agriculture there is nothing there for me to do business wise, only for the ‘one stop shop’ for you to get duty-free to import stuff for what’s been destroyed and stuff like that.

“That’s for like duty-free stuff to replace storm-related items, but if you need a permit to bring in plants - because you need a permit to do that - right now I’m dealing with that and trying to get one out of Nassau.

“What we had to do is send the request into Nassau, and then I had to send somebody to the office to pick it up for me and pay the $2.24 cents. Then they are going to have to get me a copy of the permit so I can send it to the importer,” Mr Pinder added.

“Lucky for me I have a friend in Nassau who would do this for me, but if you don’t have anyone to do that you would have to fly someone down to Nassau and do it for you.”

Expressing determination such obstacles, Mr Pinder said: “I don’t think it’s going to slow us down, but it’s just the aggravation of trying to get a simple thing done. Just this morning the permit finally came through.

“I had to send someone just this morning, so we had like four people involved making phone calls back and forth having to co-ordinate just to do this one simple little task. I can’t say it’s stopping us, but it is taking us away from other things. That really should be a simple thing.”