With straw markets shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Straw Market Authority (SMA) made no revenue during the 2020/2021 fiscal year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister said yesterday.
However, Bannister said the authority cleared much of its debt, leaving for the first time a surplus on its accounts.
“The Straw Market Authority has no revenue since the close of the markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget expenses for 2020 were $1,280,185.60 and the actual expenses were $957,682.98, a decrease of 25 percent,” he said during the 2021/2022 budget debate.
“The net loss of the Straw Market Authority for 2020 was $777,147.98. I’m not supposed to say this, but for the first time now the Straw Market Authority actually has money in the bank.”
Bannister said when its board was appointed in September 2017, the Straw Market Authority owed Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) $139,463.57, which has now been retired.
“When we were elected, by September 2017 the board of the Straw Market Authority owed the Water and Sewerage Corporation $58,518.71. That debt has now been retired in full,” he said.
“Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), in September 2017, the board met the authority with a debt of $112,319.12 to BTC. Of that, $45,935.63 was for board member cellphone charges, plus $66,383.72 in land line charges. The Straw Market Authority has now paid that bill in full and it has cancelled cellphones. We don’t just talk about fiscal responsibility, we act.”
Although the tourism industry has reopened and business has picked up for the country, with at least 300,000 stopover visitors for the year and cruise lines returning to Nassau’s cruise port, straw vendors have lamented that they feel forgotten by the government as the market remains closed.
The post Straw Market Authority clears debt amid COVID-19 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/straw-market-authority-clears-debt-amid-covid-19/
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