The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

WITH no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the island, Cat Island residents are anxious about the inevitable return of domestic and international tourists and do not want visitors on their shores right now.

According to the island’s administrator, Neil Campbell, residents for the most part are obeying the government’s emergency orders and life is continuing as normal as possible given the circumstances.

“For the most part everyone is obeying the orders as they are given,” Mr Campbell said. “We have persons who are involved in various industries like fishing and farming and government services. As the orders exist now, they can attend to livestock, go into the fields, and the packing house is open for farmers to trade their goods. The economy is existing almost like it existed before.”

A week ago, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced that Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay could resume normal commercial activity although curfew and lockdown measures in these areas, like all Family Islands, remain in effect.

Although restrictions have not been relaxed in Cat Island, the residents are very compliant to the orders and are making the best of life as it is now.

“I think because of the type of Family Island that we live in, most of our work ends at approximately 7 o’clock each evening,” Mr Campbell explained. “Apart from weekends when people would socialise and go to the Fish Fry and to the stalls that’s how we were. Now if that would have continued, we would end up with COVID-19 hotspots. We have zero cases and we want to keep it that way.

“Even when COVID-19 was first announced and before there was a shutdown, the local government engaged people in sanitising efforts at the banks, food stores, dock and various places of business and government buildings. They even went into the schools and sanitised the school rooms and play areas and everything else. So we feel most comfortable that whatever we could have done locally, was done. And, by the closure of airport and domestic travel on the planes and mail boats we found that was a safety measure for our benefit.”

Cat Island is known worldwide for its beautiful water and tasty cuisine. Tourists and Bahamians alike travel to the island and enjoy the local resorts.

“The resort owners are a part of us as well,” Mr Campbell continued. “It’s like a family structure. Unlike other islands, locals own the resorts here. Like the Cleares, they own the Orange Creek inn; Sammy Ts is a family oriented business; Pompey Rock, Rollezz and even Fernanders Bay owned by Tony Armbrister. So we own our resorts and we are not like the other islands who have foreign owners or companies. Our resort owners live among us. They are either descendants of the island or they are Cat Islanders themselves who have never left the Cat Island.”

In a time when hotels are laying off staff, resort owners in Cat Island are making a way to keep their staff on.

“The resorts are engaging their staff,” said the island administrator. “They are bringing them in periodically just to clean, do maintenance, landscaping and other things as the prime minister’s orders allow. This allows staff to have some sort of income. So we are very happy towards that end to know people are still engaged, even partially. And, we are very pleased with our local resort owners who have really tried to hold on to their staff. We applaud them.

“From the other side, the clientele for these resorts will be determined when the international borders are opened. So that might be of some concern to us, because just how we don’t want other persons to come from New Providence, we won’t want other persons to come from other countries either, while COVID-19 is still around.”

Mr Campbell said based on the many chat groups in Cat Island, the general consensus is Cat Islanders don’t mind the prime minister’s orders being relaxed so they can move around more freely, but they don’t want any outsiders allowed on the island. The island administrator said residents have no problem with Nassau residents and foreign visitors leaving the island to return home, but they do not want anyone coming in.