The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BUSINESS owners in Prince Charles Drive have got together to get the government’s assistance in providing some form of compensation for their losses as a result of the New Providence Road Improvement Project.

One businessman told The Tribune he had lost 80 per cent of his business due to the road project.

According to businessman Fred Rahming, owner of Builder’s Mart, more than 300 businesses have joined the Bahamas Small and Medium Business League Association to seek assistance from the government for their businesses which have suffered as a result of road works on Prince Charles Drive.

Mr Rahming said that group representatives had recently met with Finance Minister Michael Halkitis and had been given the assurance that the process to deal with the affected businesses in the area would be expedited.

“We have about 300 businesses in the association but it’s much more than that. We are trying to get to those persons and let them know that they have a short window to file their paperwork,” said Rahming.

Business licence fee exemption and customs duty exemptions and cash injections were among the compensatory options being considered according to Rahming.

Mr Rahming said that he had lost 80 per cent of his business as a result of the road works since last March.

“I still only have one half of my business open. I’m trying to open the other half right now. I’m just trying to keep the lights on and keep the doors open. Since the road partially opened I regained a little bit of business, maybe about 15 per cent. I have lost about 80 per cent of my business since the road works started,” said Rahming.

“I’m just trying to get the other half of the business open right now. It’s really worse than I thought. We need a cash injection for that,” said Rahming.

Coconut Grove Business League spokesman Ethric Bowe recently told The Tribune many  smaller businesses along Blue Hill Road and Market Street will have to be paid out as there was simply ‘no way to bring them back’ from the damages they suffered as a result of roadworks.

The CGBL, a group of some 50 businesses, have already met with Works and Urban Development Minister Philip Davis on their issues.

Mr Bowe told Tribune Business that he was optimistic on a resolution following those talks. The CGBL, in a bid to reverse the one-way traffic system on Blue Hill Road and Market Street, took their fight to court, and in December 2010 secured a victory in the Supreme Court against the Government over the road changes, only to see that decision overturned by the Court of Appeal.