The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE impending layoffs at Scotiabank (Bahamas) and reports of possible downsizing in the hotel industry signal a “scary” climate for the middle class, FNM Deputy Leader K Peter Turnquest said yesterday.

Mr Turnquest, shadow minister of finance, said that the layoffs come at a time when middle-income jobs are scarce, with economic hardship intensified by the introduction of new taxes.

He was responding to comments by Labour Minister Shane Gibson, who criticised the Canadian bank’s restructuring exercises. Mr Gibson also revealed that a Paradise Island hotel was considering making scores of its workers redundant.

“Middle class jobs are hard to come by these days,” Mr Turnquest said. “Scotiabank is solid middle class jobs. Then, depending on who these people are on Paradise Island he’s (Mr Gibson) talking about, these are middle class jobs. With the taxes that have been added in the last year, it’s getting kind of scary out there.

“I think they need to look at what are the reasons for these downsizings and see if there is any direct correlation between increase in taxing in the last two and a half years and also the need to look at alternatives.”

A viable alternative, Mr Turnquest suggested, is to assess locations to determine whether there is a service need and then encourage other banks to expand or relocate. He underscored the need to further study the impact of the unregulated underground financial services provided by web shops on the formal banking sector.

“It’s all about generating economic activity overall, encouraging local entrepreneurs to expand and giving them the incentives to do it.

“The issue is that it is an unregulated market, and we know that they (web shops) are doing underground banking, such as loans, mortgages. So to the extent that this type of business is out there, it has to have some affect on the formal banking sector and what we need to know is to what extent has that affected the profit margins of banks.”

On Monday, Scotiabank confirmed that around 50 staff may lose their jobs as a result of its restructuring exercise, which will result in six branch closures and the downsizing of two others.

The Canadian-owned bank said three New Providence locations would be “consolidated” into other sites. Its Caves Village branch will be folded into Cable Beach; the Wulff Road and East Street site will be consolidated at Thompson Boulevard, and the British Colonial Hilton location moved into Rawson Square.

A fourth branch, Cooper’s Town in Abaco, will be consolidated into the Marsh Harbour location, while two other Family Island sites – Stella Maris in Long Island and North Eleuthera – will close outright.

Scotiabank’s remaining locations on Long Island and Eleuthera – Buckley’s and Rock Sound – will be downsized to “service centres” with reduced services and hours, and full-service ATMs.

In total, eight branches will be affected.