The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Eleuthera’s Chamber of Commerce president yesterday called for “a level playing field” on the re-opening of Family Island economies, and warned: “The well-being of communities across this island is at stake.”

Thomas Sands, in a messaged reply to Tribune Business questions, said Eleuthera residents and businesses needed to understand what was required to fully re-open commercial activity on their island after eight weeks of curfews and lockdowns.

Acknowledging that preventing COVID-19’s spread and associated loss of life remains a key priority, Mr Sands warned that the government needed to be increasingly aware of the growing toll its measures were taking on businesses, jobs and livelihoods.

Warning that many entrepreneurs “will lose their businesses” due to the economic fall-out associated with COVID-19, he said the “mental anguish” caused by lockdowns, jobs losses, income reduction and being unable to provide for themselves was likely to have a devastating, unquantifiable impact on many Eleutherans.

Speaking out after the prime minister did not include Eleuthera among the Family Islands permitted to open this week during his Sunday afternoon address, despite the fact it and other islands have yet to record a single COVID-19 case, Mr Sands said the health dangers meant caution was required in reopening the economy.

Yet he added: “At this juncture, where we have been experiencing curfews and lockdowns for eight weeks, we all need to be on the same page and to understand the key performance indicators related to what islands get opened and what islands remain closed.

“Today, Eleuthera is feeling uncertain about its future. We need a level playing field but we don’t really know the rules related to what it takes to reopen our economy. While we all remain concerned and would not want to see any further loss of life, it is important that those in authority also note that other serious losses are also taking place.

“Many Eleutherans have lost their livelihoods, many will lose their businesses, and the mental anguish as a result of months of lockdowns may never be truly quantified. We must have a definitive strategic plan to immediately move forward. The well-being of communities across this island is at stake.”

Dr Hubert Minnis has only allowed commercial activity to resume on Abaco, Long Island, Andros and Cat Island, while leaving restrictions in place in Exuma, Eleuthera and San Salvador without explaining why.

Meanwhile, Family island business are also calling for clarification on the COVID-19 travel authorisation card unveiled by the Prime Minister on Sunday.

Rosemary Thompson, general manager of Thompson’s Seaside convenience store in Eleuthera, told Tribune Business: “My husband has been in Nassau for nine weeks. This is his store. I’m here because my business has been closed down due to the COVID-19. I do printing and engraving, along with plaques and trophies, so I am manning his store.

“He needs to get back home because it looks like the hurricane season is about to get out of the gate before the actual hurricane season officially starts. My husband needs to be here because we were talking about being prepared for the hurricane season. He is in Nassau, and the island of Eleuthera always has hurricanes. We have been hit quite a number of times over the years, so he needs to be here to prepare.

“June is almost here, and there are so many things he has to come home to do. If he needs to be tested, then let him be tested and come back to the island, or if he needs to isolate himself for the two weeks then let that be the case. He went for medical reasons, and he is finished with that and he is still stuck in Nassau, and we’re not opened up. Because there are no cases reported on the island people feel pretty safe.”

Ms Thompson said Eleuthera residents feel they are being punished because of an incident at a funeral during the weekend in South Eleuthera, where there was a large motorcade and crowd. “I think the Prime Minister should have made himself clear if he was punishing Eleuthera because they didn’t follow the rules or if it is some other reason,” she added.

“Now we have a lot of winter residents and second home owners, so all of this is a concern with rentals, and we have a lot of small businesses on the island that need to be reopened to keep our people employed in the central part of the island, like the ‘Mom and Pop’ stores and the small businesses.”

Ms Thompson said of the authorisation card: “With this card to travel, does this apply to my husband because he went away for medical reasons, and can he get the card and come back on the boat? Does the card have an expiry date or is this a one-time use? I know of some people that were travelling on the boat from Eleuthera to Nassau, and all they needed was a medical letter saying that you had to go for medical reasons.

“They allowed people to leave on the boat, but coming back from Nassau was a problem, because someone told me that you have to take the letter to the police station. Someone else told me that you need to take the letter all the way to the Prime Minister’s Office, so I am not sure with coming home that was the difficulty with coming back to the island. Now, with this card, can you do so because Eleuthera is not opened up. Does this mean you can apply for this card, and then you can come back to Eleuthera even though the island is not opened up?”

Ms Thompson added: “They said you can apply for this authorisation card from Wednesday of this week, but on the other hand he says if your island is opened up that you don’t need a card once you are not high-risk, so what’s the purpose of the card? Because when the Prime Minister said it he said the islands that are opened up, you don’t need a card.

“You can go from Long island to Cat Island because both of them don’t have any recorded cases, and both of them are opened up, so you can travel to them without having to have a card. That’s what the Prime Minister said, but I think travelling from Bimini to Nassau would be a problem, and I am assuming travelling to Eleuthera is a problem, but it is not clear. Why do you need the card and who is going to benefit from the card?

“I’m not clear yet on this card and how it is going to work for us. I am not sure how this card is going to work for islands that are closed. I really feel that the Prime Minister needs to say that residents of these islands are now allowed to go back home, because persons from our islands have been in Nassau for a long time.”