The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A frustrated Bahamian auto dealer yesterday revealed he “cannot make any headway” in resolving demands for thousands of dollars in port storage fees after COVID-19 left his vehicle imports “stuck on the dock”.

Brent Fox, Montague Motors’ principal, told Tribune Business he was faced with having to pay BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company (APD) some $1,300 per vehicle after Customs failed to remove them to its storage facility once they had remained at the port facility for a week.

“I had couple of shipments coming in from Japan when the virus came down on us,” he disclosed. “They subsequently got stuck down at the port and I was unable to clear them. Nobody called to advise me from any source that the cars were in that situation. Customs didn’t call me, the Arawak Port did not call me because that’s not their responsibility, and my broker did not call me because they were not working.

“Now I have a bill for $1,300 per car. The people at the port (APD) said they were calling Customs to come and pick up the cars, and Customs were saying they couldn’t do that; either they didn’t have the personnel or they were locked down with the virus. The port is blaming Customs, and Customs is saying it’s nothing to do with them.

“I have 12 cars there, and have cleared four of them, but the port is saying they cannot clear the others unless I pay a storage fee of $1,300 per vehicle. They want me to foot the bill. All I’m getting is the runaround, and no one wants to take responsibility apart from getting their money. Someone has to step and do something.”

Mr Fox explained that vehicle imports were typically allowed to remain at APD’s facilities for a week storage-fee free while the relevant border taxes (excise duty and VAT) were paid. Once this was cleared, Customs typically removed the vehicles to its storage warehouse on Thompson Boulevard where he collected them.

He added that at least “20-30 Family Island” residents were in the same situation as himself, having been unable to travel to Nassau to claim their imported vehicles due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and were now reluctant to to do so for fear of incurring exorbitant storage fees.

“You’re supposed to clear them in a week, and Customs moves them to its storage facility,” the Montague Motors chief added. “The fee there is $50 per car per week. The port is $50 a day. I paid $1,000 per car last week, and now it’s up to $1,300 something.”

Mr Fox said he had met with Richard McCombe, APD’s operations manager, who had informed him the port’s efforts to contact Customs to remove the vehicles before storage fees were incurred had proven futile. He added that APD’s one-month waiver of storage fees had ended in mid-April and, as a publicly-traded company, needed to collect what was owed to it.

The Montague Motors chief, though, told Tribune Business that the additional storage fee demands will place further strain on his business - and its cash flow - given that the COVID-19 lockdown means he has not sold a vehicle for three months.

“These are some rough and unprecedented times,” he added, “and you’d think the parties would be able to eliminate this sort of problem. If you don’t shine a light on it no one will claim responsibility. I’ve got trouble trying to make ends meet and cannot seem to make any headway.

“Now I’ve got a $15,000 bill to pay or I won’t be able to clear the cars. You don’t even have money to clear the cars as we’ve not sold a car in three months. Nobody is stepping up to the plate. I assumed the cars were in Customs storage, but the port said they were still sitting here and I needed to pay $4,000 to release them. I did those first set of cars.

“I’ve got eight more pending and have money to clear another four, but am desperate to see if they waive those storage fees. I’m not asking for a favour but it was a world event and there was nothing I can do.”

However, Dion Bethell, president and chief executive of BISX-listed APD, told Tribune Business that the Nassau Container Port operator had been more than generous in its application of storage fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He confirmed that APD further extended the storage fee waiver to May 15, beyond the initial one-month “holiday” provided to mid-April, after it realised that COVID-19’s impact on the Road Traffic Department meant many vehicle importers would be unable to licence their autos and have them inspected.

“We’ve been more than fair and reasonable with storage allowance,” Mr Bethell added. “When you look at the eight days in March, 30 days in April and 15 days in May, we effectively provided a vehicle storage facility free for 53 days. Adding in the existing seven days gives 60 days of holiday.

“We appreciate the circumstances we all find ourselves in, but the port has done more than enough to compensate for the difficulties. The majority of the dealers, whether it was Nassau Motor Company, Bahamas Bus and Truck, Auto Mall and Friendly Ford, brought in a combination of new and used vehicles during that period and did not incur any storage charges.

“That was because they knew the date of arrival and did what was necessary to have them cleared and removed from the facility.”

Dr Geannine Moss, the Customs comptroller, did not respond to Tribune Business messages seeking comment before press time last night.