The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE ELEUTHERA Chamber of Commerce’s president yesterday said the island’s economy is expanding faster than it can handle after emerging from its “cocoon”

Thomas Sands told a forum organised by the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) that Eleuthera is going through a “positive evolution”, adding: “Some of the things that we would have said worked against us in terms of a negative economy has almost kept us in a cocoon. The recession had kept us in a cocoon for a while and, really, a lot of people suffered as a result. A lot of people went out of business and a lot of people moved.

“At the same time, the realisation is that Eleuthera is positioning itself naturally as a green island. A space in this country that is not only developed and has some basic infrastructure, but essentially a visitor to Eleuthera, an investor in Eleuthera, someone moving from Nassau, sees Eleuthera and some of the Family Islands as a relief, an escape and a new opportunity. That is very much important for that energy to move back into the Family Islands.”

The lack of sufficient accommodation remains one obstacle to Eleuthera’s growth, with Mr Sands saying: “With, again, the foreign direct investment taking place, it creates a number of opportunities across the board. So, for example, one of the discussions this morning with a major investor group here was: Where’s the accommodation?

“So we have, essentially, as we look at the capital investment that is taking place, we have 1,500 people that moved to Eleuthera in the last 12 months and we don’t have the accommodation readily available to accommodate those persons. It is very, very challenging.

“We have a development that says: ‘I’ve had to build a man camp of 300 and I have to expand that’. We have groups that are coming to deliver services, and they are trying to figure out where do I place my people.” Eleuthera and its infrastructure were ill-prepared to handle the economic development opportunities that have opened up for the island, leading Mr Sands to call for a “strategic plan for growth and development in the Family Islands”.

He added: “There are many opportunities. I think that an entrepreneur has to analyse, and very carefully figure out where the access to capital will be and how they can execute. We speak about areas again like farming and fishing. So through an operation, I’ve entered the farming business with a partner and am learning a lot of the inadequacies, the challenges and so forth.

“Because I am an operator of an existing supermarket, I have an existing distribution network. So production of the farm to the existing distribution network make sense, but the process of building up that farm has been a learning curve and a huge, a huge challenge, although it is not intended to be.

“So that’s why I invite entrepreneurs to really get to understand with those who are in existing operations throughout The Bahamas, who have the knowledge, partnership with those who have executed in these remote locations.”