The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE NASSAU Container Port’s (NCP) operator said yesterday it was a “slap in the face” for the World Bank to determine that it took 13 days to import goods into the Bahamas through it.

Michael Maura, the Arawak Port Development (APD) Company’s chief executive, expressed concern that the Bahamas’ ranking for ‘Trading Across Borders’ in the World Bank’s 2014 Ease of Doing Business report was painting a picture of inefficiency that could potentially deter foreign direct investment.

Mr Maura said he took exception to the report, particularly as it relates to the time to import, which did not take into consideration the sea transport time but assessed the time it took from a container arriving at the Nassau Container Port to when the recipient is able to collect their cargo.

Mr Maura said the report, which saw the Bahamas’ Trading Across Borders ranking drop from 67 in 2013 to 72 for 2014, was “not an accurate reflection of our efficiencies”.

“They assessed the Bahamas against Barbados, and they showed that in 2013 we were ranked 72nd out of 189 countries specific to trading across borders,” said Mr Maura.

“Barbados, who they compared us to ,was ranked 30th. They have the time to import at 13 days. That’s like a slap in the face. There isn’t a business that’s awake that’s taking 13 days to get their cargo off the dock.

“I don’t know where they got that number from. In their report they said that they did not consider the transit time of the cargo across the sea, and they actually excluded the shipping company from their assessment.

“It is all based off the activities on the ground at the destination port. If someone is taking a week to get their cargo off the dock it’s probably a cash flow issue, as opposed to process issue, or maybe there has been a hold placed on it by Customs because their paperwork doesn’t look right.”

Mr Maura added: “This is painting a picture of an inefficient facility which could potentially deter foreign direct investment. One could look and say Nassau takes 13 days and Barbados takes eight days. That’s real money when you’re talking about supply chain effectiveness.”

The World Bank’s study area for its report was Nassau, with the subject being a business employing 60 persons and is a private company.

The standard unit of measurement for the study is a 20 foot dry container containing non-hazardous cargo.

Mr Maura also took exception to the bank’s assessment on the cost to import, listing the Bahamas’ cost at $1,770 in 2014 as compared to $1,615 for Barbados.

“Based off my math and what the charges I know are incurred, we’re in the range of $1,300 and change. I’m not certain how the World Bank came up with their numbers, but more importantly it’s not an accurate reflection of our efficiencies here on this island given the investments that we have made,” said Mr Maura.