It’s a slow Saturday in Freeport’s downtown area which nearly two years ago was devastated by Hurricane Dorian’s massive storm surge.
Shoppers trickle in here and there, and business owners determined to rebound from their losses continue to press on in a retail market that was less than stellar well before the destruction wrought two Septembers ago.
Their hope for better days and commitment to their investment are laudable, but it is by no means an easy journey.
The numbers paint a stark picture of the island’s protracted economic hardship markedly worsened by major hurricanes in 2016 and 2019.
Between 2019 and 2020, Grand Bahama’s gross domestic product (GDP) declined by a staggering $415 million, from $1.85 billion to $1.44 billion, according to the Department of Statistics.
During the same period, the GDP of the island’s wholesale and retail sectors, inclusive of businesses providing motor vehicle repairs and transport and storage, declined by $84.3 million.
The second largest year to year GDP falloff in the last five years occurred between 2016 and 2017 due to Hurricane Matthew, whose category five winds caused catastrophic damage to Grand Bahama’s electricity infrastructure, and so damaged commercial structures in the downtown area that many small businesses were forced to either relocate or close.
During that period, the island lost $276 million in GDP.
In its April 2021 business survey, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce reported that less than half of its respondents (47 percent) were back to their normal operations in terms of hours and services.
Of the remaining 53 percent, 23.6 percent had limited operations insufficient to sustain
business and meet obligations; 13.9 percent had limited operations sufficient to sustain business and meet obligations; and 15.2 percent were not operating since either Dorian or COVID-19.
More than half (54 percent) of businesses that are not currently open, are unsure if they will reopen.
A 20.6 percent falloff in employee engagement was observed in the survey, and of the businesses still in operation, over a quarter of the respondents (25.7 percent) said employee salaries were slashed by between 25 and 75 percent.
Close to half of the businesses surveyed (48.6 percent) said they were either doing significantly worse, or were in jeopardy of closing since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And more than half of businesses (51.3 percent) expected to struggle to meet their obligations, retain staffing levels, or questioned whether they could remain in businesses within the proceeding three to six months.
More than just statistics, these figures point to prolonged and sustained adversity for the island’s workforce and their families – families who have not only been wounded by death and property damage at the hands of Dorian, but by a desert of economic opportunities that have pushed breadwinners over the years to leave the island in search of better fortunes.
‘We need critical mass’
A critical mass of customers is the number of customers that enables a business to operate self-sufficiently.
Grand Bahama has been slowly losing its critical mass for several years, but in the immediate aftermath of Dorian, that critical mass instantly declined by thousands who evacuated the island and who in many cases, have not yet returned.
Businesses that were already faced with the pains of rebuilding from monumental losses, were consequently forced to compete in a market with far less consumers, and consumers with limited disposable income and spending priorities that centered on just the essentials.
In an interview with Perspective, Chamber President Greg Laroda affirmed, “Critical mass for businesses on Grand Bahama was a challenge long before COVID and long before Dorian, and so now you know that’s gotten even worse because a number of persons have left the island and have not returned.
“When you look at the makeup of our retail sector, a lot of our retail sector are involved in supplying the same goods and service to these few people who we have on Grand Bahama now. And so, there is a price war to see who can get the most of these persons through their doors.
“There is just a challenge to maintain a customer base that’s large enough to sustain your operating costs, let alone make a profit. Unless we can increase critical mass, all of the assistance in terms of capital and tax breaks that you can provide will probably just fall by the way, because you can have a business that is fully stocked, but if persons aren’t coming through the door, then they are not going to make any money.”
Key to boosting critical mass would be significant injections into the island’s economy by way of major investment projects.
There has been no shortage of promises to Grand Bahama in this regard this term, but so far, none of those multi-million and billion-dollar promises of economic rebirth have come to fruition.
Laroda continued, “It is important that we get some of these major projects online that would provide jobs and attract persons – former Grand Bahamians or even persons from other parts of The Bahamas – to come to Grand Bahama for jobs.
“The infrastructure in terms of having a fully functional airport with US preclearance returned, having a medical facility that international visitors can have confidence in to get a second home here, all of these things would help to attract more people to the island, and that is what we need, critical mass.”
Negotiations for the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort and the redevelopment of the Freeport Harbour by Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group have dragged on for over a year.
When Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar recently expressed to The Tribune his “extreme frustration” over the matter, it further dampened the already muted expectations of Grand Bahamians about the deal.
The word is already out that a renegotiation of terms of the yet-to-be tabled heads of agreement for the deal, involves a significantly scaled down proposal for the Grand Lucayan than was announced with much fanfare by government last March.
The extent of the proposed changes to the deal has not been disclosed by government, but the Grand Lucayan redevelopment plans previously announced were billed as critical to a quality of revitalization to the island’s beleaguered tourism product that business owners were awaiting with great anticipation.
The Port Lucaya Marketplace adjacent to the resort has been reduced to a virtual ghost town on most days due to the island’s steep falloff in stopover visitors.
Meantime, Carnival Cruise Lines’ vice president for development and operations now advises that the company is eyeing a 2025 completion for its port project in Freeport.
Two encouraging private sector developments have come through the recent announcement by Doctors Hospital of its plans to open a hospital on the island next year, and an announcement by Abaco Markets Limited of its plans to reopen the decades-shuttered previous Winn Dixie supermarket site downtown.
Downtown business owners hope the grocery store reopening will bring much needed consumer traffic to the area.
Commercial activity in Dorian’s ground zero of east Grand Bahama has scarcely returned nearly two years in, as the area central to the island’s ecotourism sector continues its slow recovery.
And in West End, where a promised multi-billion-dollar mixed resort development deal fell through without official word from government on the reasons and future prospects, unemployment remains a vexing problem.
Fishing in the west continues to thrive, however, as native food vendors serve up tastes of the island that remind residents and visitors of why West End is still “the best end”.
As the need for critical mass persists, there are some who have left the island and want to return home, while others are looking forward to leaving because the difficulties day to day are simply too great.
‘Trying to keep my head above water’
We asked Grand Bahamian Facebook readers to respond to a survey on whether they have left the island either because of Dorian or due to the island’s economy, but are desirous of returning home.
Those who responded, however, were current Grand Bahama residents who tell of ongoing tribulation, and thoughts of leaving the island they call home.
Malissa Jones, who said life for her has been hard, responded, “I’m trying to keep my head above water.”
William Roberts shared, “I still ain’t bounce back yet. I want to leave Freeport. Since Dorian, I lost my [living] like truck work [and] tools, and then COVID pretty much ended my trade for carpentry. I do interior [of] homes, and that stopped, causing my eviction.
“I’ve been trying to survive since August last year, homeless, barely getting work. Only [through] social service and church I’ve been able to get food. It has really changed my life a lot. I was so blessed before with everything working out until September 1, 2019. It has been very sad for me.”
Delronique Stewart responded, “People in Freeport barely catching themselves. [I will] soon pack up and go.”
When questioned on what the struggle on Grand Bahama has been like for her, Stewart replied, “Hard, barely could find a job, and without a job it [is] kind of hard some days to feed the kids.”
Destiny Saunders is back in Freeport, but said she might leave Grand Bahama by the end of the year, telling us, “It was not comfortable being away from home and trying to adjust.
“Gratefully, I did receive some help from the Red Cross with food and a little money to help carry me through. I’m currently back in Freeport and trying to get my life back on track.”
Like many Dorian survivors, Samantha Rose is still on the island, but she continues to live in the place she and her family evacuated to after the storm, as they work to put their lives back together.
She told us, “I’ve made a GoFundMe to help me financially. However, if I had my work boat which was a 17 ft. Boston Whaler I could fish, bring in conch, and slowly get back on my feet again. But I’ve been on one goose chase after the next trying to put together everything lost.
“To return home, I’d need my life back that was stolen. There are many of us facing depression from this entire thing. The person whose house I’m staying at has allowed my family to stay here, and I’m so grateful.”
For this island that has seen more than its fair share of tragedy and setbacks, the quality of life for tens of thousands of men, women and children cannot bear any more promises that are huge in scope but short on delivery.
Their ability to both survive and thrive on Grand Bahama is dependent upon marked economic growth, and revitalization that can attract the critical mass necessary to sustain the new opportunities that are desperately sought after.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/critical-mass/
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