The Tribune

BY NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business 
Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Exuma Chamber of Commerce president yesterday suggested that, as a way to create reasonably priced airlift into the island, the Government could look at subsidising local carriers to provide direct flights from the United States.

Speaking at the ninth annual Exuma Business Outlook yesterday, Pedro Rolle, the Exuma Chamber of Commerce president, noted that airlift remained a significant challenge to the island’s overall competitiveness. Mr Rolle charged that smart governance would assess ways to tackle this issue.

“We need to reduce the cost of getting to this island,” he said. “The cost of airlift can’t be what it is. If I have to go to Miami, I would get on SkyBahamas, fly to Nassau and then to Miami because its costs me less than if I were to go and fly from Exuma to Miami on American airlines. It doesn’t make sense. Smart mobility addresses these issues. Sometimes we need to stop looking on the outside and deal with those who are here. Why can’t we – with all the subsidies we give to airlines coming here – try and give some of that subsidy to Sky and let them fly from Exuma to Fort Lauderdale and make it reasonable? Silverair can pack up and and leave. Sky is not going anywhere so let’s make it work so that we can have reasonable airlift at a reasonable price.”

Mr Rolle said that perhaps the greatest contributor to the cost of doing business and living on Exuma was the exorbitant cost of energy.

“It’s probably true of Abaco, Eleuthera or Nassau,” he said.

“Smart energy needs to be brought into play if we are to move to where we ought to be,” he added, noting that the Bahamas should be exploring renewable energy alternatives such as solar and be at the forefront of energy conservation.

“Exuma stands at a critical juncture of our development. We must accept with immediacy that we either change the way that we manage our economy or we risk falling to the ranks of the irrelevant.

“The Bahamas is in dire need of a national development plan. This programme, as articulated by the Government, must be more than an academic exercise but must become a living, breathing instrument of government irrespective of who governs this country,” said Mr 
Rolle.