TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.
• Acknowledges the Bahamas’ COVID-19 numbers are high
• Encourages all Bahamians to do is get vaccinated
• Gov’t still setting up mechanics for collecting overflight fees
By YOURI KEMP
Tribune Business Reporter
ykemp@tribunemedia.net
TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar yesterday acknowledged the Bahamas’ COVID-19 numbers are high but still better than in the US which has raised our travel advisory status to Level 4.
Mr D’Aguilar, speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, said while the number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing for quite some time the most important thing for all Bahamians to do is get vaccinated.
“Despite our numbers being what they are, they’re a hell of a lot better than the United States... Ninety percent of foreign visitors come from the United States and if they were to be truthful to themselves and... rank themselves, they would be a Level 6.
“The Bahamas is a safe place. We have entry protocols which have proven to be safe and we’ve tightened up some of our protocols for persons coming in by air and... by cruise ship. We’re walking that fine line the Prime Minister always talks about: We’ve got to keep our economy open, because we need to live and we need to eat, but at the same time, maintaining safety and health protocols.”
Starting September 3 cruise ships will not be able to dock in The Bahamas unless all passengers 12 years and older supply proof that they are fully vaccinated. This requirement does not apply to crew members, children under 12, or anyone who is ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccine due to a medical reason.
Responding to questions about the government collecting overflight fees from aircraft flying over the country’s airspace, Mr D’Aguilar said: “We’re going through the mechanics of setting all of that up, getting the bank account. We’ve already been established by the IATA (International Air Transport Association), they’ve already started to bill.”
The original date to begin collection of overflight fees was January of this year, but COVID-19 had set the original date back.
“So I expect in the next 30 days or so we will start to receive funds from that which will be a huge boon to the Bahamian people,” Mr D’Aguilar said.
“For the first time ever we will be receiving money for our natural resource, which is the space above us. Never before in the history of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas have we ever earned any money from it. So I’m very proud of the fact that we’ll be collecting something from this natural resource.”
The government has initially projected to collect $25m to $30m annually from overflight fees; something Mr D’Aguilar hopes will be a “substantial” boost to the government’s coffers considering the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the next ten years the government is looking to collect over $250m in overflight fees, some of which will be earmarked for the operations of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Air Navigation Services Authority and for air accident and investigations.
Comments
ibonamy 2 years, 8 months ago
If you take the 600+ thousands of people who died in the USA f rom Covid-19 and replace them with Bahamians, we would not have anyone left in the Bahamas, the USA will still have a country of over 300 million. To say our numbers are better is being irresponsible but damn right silly. We depend on the same USA to assist with every facet of our daily lives. We need to get off our soap boxes and make the tough decisions. Testing, and mandatory vaccinations have to be the rule of today. Mr. Ministry you were part and parcel of allowing flights landing in the Bahamas carrying this deadly disease, so please stop.
whogothere 2 years, 7 months ago
Stupid false equivalence c19 death rate is 0.15 so even if every person in the Bahamas got COVID simultaneously at most 600 might die
dwanderer 2 years, 8 months ago
Similar to you, my heart sank when I heard him say those words during a news clip. How utterly stupid can one be, especially when he holds such a high ranking position. Rather than being concerned about our increasing cases and a rise in fatalities, he chooses to compare statistics. Not surprising how this Minister's concern is always on maintaining or surpassing tourism arrival records or easing travel restrictions for visitors so that they aren't inconvenienced, rather than the health of our citizenry.
TalRussell 2 years, 8 months ago
The US Embassy is already preparing to add a devil's dozen of reds to its list of local political elites' — are to be permanently banned from entering the United States — effective at 12.01 am, — preciously, — on September 17, 2021 — Yes?
killemwitdakno 2 years, 8 months ago
This D'Aguilar we have. All of our hospitals are full.
ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago
He lists all the right data points but doesnt make the correct linkages.
"most of our visitors come from the United States"
"the United States should be at a level 6"
"the most important thing is to get vaccinated", because he knows our vaccination rate is currently below 20%.
With those 3 pieces of information what would responsible leadership do? Mass travel from the US where theyre experiencing off the charts infection rates and theyre coming to our 6th fatest nation, hypertensive, diabetic, high blood pressure, vulnerable unvaccinated population.
Out of an abundance of caution responsible leadership would not accept vaccination as a guarantee of a COVID free status. Travel is the greatest risk. Vaccination status comes in second. If you fail to protect against the number one risk you've conceded the battle. Or at minimum youve made the fight much harder than it needs to be. They knew this from 1918 why havent we learned?
Again, since vaccination status is not a guarantee of COVID free status, fully vaccinated vulnerable are still at risk and we're the 6th most vulnerable nation, what do we need to do?
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