The Tribune

By NATARIO MCKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Government’s Price Control Department still does not provide enough margin to allow retailers to pay their expenses, one leading supermarket operator has told Tribune Business.

Super Value chief Rupert Roberts said that while he had no recollection of any recent issues with the department, “the old problems still exist”.

He added: “They don’t give us enough margin to pay our expenses; that’s a big problem. We wrote to the former government pointing that out and nothing came of it. I don’t think we have addressed that with the new government.

“They have to give you enough of a margin to cover your expenses. I think anybody in business deserves to make a reasonable profit, a reasonable return on their investment. The old problems are still there, and maybe the wholesalers and retailers should meet with the new government and work out something,” said Mr Roberts.

“Under the former government it was a major issue, and there was no cooperation at all. In other words, it did the opposite of what Price Control was intended to because it was not administered properly.”

AML Foods chairman, Dionisio D’Aguilar, recently blasted the “dogmatic” approach taken by Price Control for damaging its Solomon’s Fresh Market brand, warning that profits were being threatened by an insistence that all products in certain categories be regulated.

Mr D’Aguilar charged that the Department was being “downright foolish” in its interpretation of the law and regulations, claiming that regulators were demanding that high-end, organic products in categories such as milk, be price controlled. Mr D’Aguilar called for Price Control to be done away with as it was not having the intended effect.

One prominent retailer, however, gave a different view on the matter. Phil Lightbourne, head of the Gladstone Road based retailer/wholesaler, Phil’s Food Services, said Price Control was necessary to protect consumers.

“There is a guideline you follow,” he said. “You follow that guideline, and you have no problem. That’s all I do to keep my door open. I adhere to the rules and regulations. There are certain items they have to put controls on because some people try to hit Bahamians with prices.

“I have no problem with Price Control. They are the enforcers, and without them we would be in a serious situation with people upping the price, trying to charge the Bahamian people too much.”

Regarding the margins Mr Lightbourne said: “They are reasonable. They don’t come inside a store and demand a price. They know the value of the goods that come into the country.”