The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Arawak Cay vendors yesterday said they want reassurances that the latest COVID-19 easing will not be "another repeat dance" where their operations are swiftly shut down again once cases increase.

Rodney Russell, the Arawak Cay Association's president, told Tribune Business that the Prime Minister's decision to allow outdoor dining to resume from Monday to Friday at the popular Fish Fry destination was something vendors had seen before only for this concession to suddenly be reversed - and their operations shut down - within weeks.

“This was something we were offered before, and it was taken away as if we were responsible," Mr Russell recalled. "Then they had given us curb-side. When we were offered outdoor dining before, most of my members spent a lot of their capital preparing to operate an outdoor operation, but after it was taken from us after two weeks we have lost most of our capital again. So I am wondering if this is just another dance or repeat where, in two weeks, we will go back to curb-side again.”

Dr Hubert Minnis, in his national address on Sunday, said Fish Fry-type destinations, such as Arawak Cay and Potter’s Cay, can now resume outdoor dining after COVID-19 infection rates on New Providence eased following recent restrictions that included weekend lockdowns and extended curfews.

He warned businesses, though, to brace for further twists and turns based on the number of cases. "During the pandemic we will go through cycles of tightening and loosening restrictions," Dr Minnis said.

"When case numbers go up, we have to tighten the rules to save lives. When those numbers go down, we loosen restrictions so Bahamians may get back to work and resume more normal lives." These comments, though, have spooked both businesses and consumers because it foreshadows continued uncertainty over the economy's openness for months to come.

"We have seen this before," Mr Russell said. "We have been offered this before, and it has been taken away from us, so nothing has changed. We need to wait and see for sure because we don’t have the resources to continue bringing people back to work, buying stock and trying to run our businesses. We just can’t continue to keep doing this.

“We are not being offered anything special. What I’m saying is that the Arawak Cay vendors caution to this opening up with outdoor dining is that we feel as if that, in two weeks or so, the Competent Authority [Prime Minister] will take it back to curb-side. Most of us are still sceptical because we believe that even though the Prime Minister has given us outside dining again, we believe that in two weeks he will be right back to curb-side.”

Mr Russell said most Arawak Cay vendors are not re-opening immediately because of past inconsistencies over COVID-19 relaxations, adding: “We are not sure for the simple reason that we have been through this before.”

He said Arawak Cay wants a mechanism to monitor the number of persons in their restaurants as a solution to repeated lockdowns and curb-side service only restrictions. "What we would like for the Competent Authority to do is come into Arawak Cay and say to us how many persons we should have in our establishments," Mr Russell added.

"Have a rule that says that I can only have ten people in my restaurant at a time with social distancing, then let me go back to full-time. If they meet more persons than they have authorised, then the Competent Authority should fine them. With that in place I would believe we can open up in full force. But this outdoor dining, most of us are not prepared for it."

Maltese Davis, secretary for the Bahamas Dock and Allied Venues Vendors Association, which represents the Potter's Cay vendors, said members were grateful to be allowed to resume outdoor dining as it had been "very challenging for us with this curb-side vending".

“A lot of vendors did not re-open during the curb-side because it has been challenging to operate it at Potter’s Cay," she explained. "A lot of people like to come on the dock to sit down and have a conch salad. So many vendors and a lot of businesses went downhill and suffered a lot of losses during this pandemic, and the curb-side was just challenging for many of us.”

Ms Davis added: “I feel that many of us will be returning. It’s about 45 stalls out on Potter’s Cay Dock, and I feel about 95 percent of them will be returning. They will return within this week; I am looking forward to that. We are very serious about seeing everybody return and we are trying to synchronise our life back on the dock.

"The Association wants to partner with the COVID-19 team and make sure all of our vendors are in compliance with the law, making sure the sanitisers are up and always stocked, making sure we purchase thermometers to check temperatures and do as best we can, as well as put down our markings and everything to say that we are in compliance with the law and we work hand in hand to make a better Potter’s Cay."