By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The New Providence Road Improvement Project’s impact has been “severely damaging” to the Bahamian entrepreneurial spirit, one businessman telling Tribune Business yesterday: “I wouldn’t tell anyone to go into business.”
Ethric Bowe, spokesman for the Coconut Grove Business League (CGBL), and whose family saw their Jiffy Cleaners outlet in the area close down, said Bahamian companies now had to include ‘government action’ in their business plans as a ‘risk factor’.
Calling on the Government to take on board the lessons learnt from the New Providence Road Improvement Project, Mr Bowe told Tribune Business: “This is absolutely the whole point. That we don’t do this 15 years down the road.
“If I was a banker and someone came to me with a business plan, I would need to see in their business plan what they have to deal with threats from government action.”
He added: “Since we don’t know what the Government will do, the risk in the business environment is very high. It acts against the promotion of Bahamians getting into business.
“It’s severely damaging. When I look at doing any other business, besides the human resources side, I look at what the Government is going to do. Government is damaging the business environment today.”
Mr Bowe told Tribune Business that between the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), it was “very expensive and difficult to do business in the Bahamas”.
When it came to energy, BEC’s costs were very high and supply inconsistent, and companies had to acquire various equipment to guard against its power surges and fluctuations.
Mr Bowe said much of this equipment did not work, and it was almost impossible to claim against BEC when assets were fried.
As for BTC, dropped calls were a regular occurrence and the service was “worse than its ever been”.
“It’s a very big thing to think the Government can change the direction of the roads and damage you,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business.
“It’s not encouraging, I wouldn’t tell anyone to go into business. I won’t give that advice. I guess we’re going to end up in a situation where a whole lot of people are working for the Government.”
Comments
UD 11 years, 11 months ago
Jiffy's was ever loosing business, They would have closed eventually, the road works had nothing to do with that.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 11 months ago
what does he mean ,a whole lot of people will be working for goverment ,,we are in that position ,thats why taxes are so high ,,1 in 4 people work for goverment ,,with our education system they couldn,t work anywhere else ,,we have made a large inefficent worforce on the backs of the tax payer in the private sector,,we can,t keep employing our irresponsable birthrate with goverment jobs with out borrowing as a country ,,mathmatically it can,t continue
242smt 11 years, 11 months ago
Mr. Bowe is so right. But concernedcitizen is correct about govt workers. There are already too many. A country cannot survive by looking to govt as its main employer.
mynameis 11 years, 11 months ago
Does this mean I shouldn't patronize your business, Mr. Bowe?
spencerid 11 years, 10 months ago
Going into business is a risk that many people take. You shouldn't be frightened because you won't have any profits several years, because at one point you will start making money. In this context, to have a prosper business you need reliable employees that you can count on. So I advice you to check your potential worker through http://www.sentrylink.com/web/loadCrimi…">nationwide criminal background check list to be sure that you hire an excellent man/woman.
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