The Tribune

EDITOR. The Tribune.

About two weeks ago Butler’s Food World on West Atlantic Drive, Freeport closed its doors. The food market, which had moved to the Circle Mall Shopping Centre from its Yellow Pine Street address amid much fanfare and excitement in December 2010, appears to have underwent a significant sharp decline in business, although rumours have circulated that the underlying cause for Butler’s demise was the PLP government’s imminent private sector minimum wage increase to $210 from $150. In defence of the PLP government, the business establishment, which was owned by prominent businessman Jeff Butler, appears to have been struggling since its relocation to attract enough customers in order to remain sustainable. The proposed minimum wage increase may have been used as a cop-out, if there is any merit to the aforementioned rumour.

Be that as it may, between 30 to 40 Grand Bahamians now find themselves on the already crowded unemployment line – a sad reality which has become an all too familiar narrative on Grand Bahama, especially Freeport City, since it began its downward economic spiral in the early 2000s. If nothing else, Butler’s Food World’s closure is a glaring contradiction of recent optimistic proclamations made by a prominent government official that the magic has returned to Freeport City. Ironically, Butler’s Food World was a mere walking distance to the once world famous International Bazaar, which used to be the tourist hub of Freeport during the 1970s and 1980s that attracted thousands of tourists annually. For a lack of better words, the quality of the International Bazaar has diminished significantly, and can now hardly be deemed a suitable tourist attraction. Its presence is a fitting symbol of all that continues to plague Freeport City, and a reminder of what the city used to be in its glory years.

Had it not been for the presence of BORCO, Bahama Rock, Grand Bahama Shipyard, Freeport Container Port and the few other huge industrial entities on the island, Freeport would be just another ghost town like Nicholls Town, North Andros or Abraham’s Bay, Mayaguana.

Granted, while Butler’s was not in the same league with the Solomon’s grocery store chain, its closure, which has negatively impacted the lives of approximately 40 Grand Bahamians and their families, in my estimation, is a significant development that should have been covered profusely by the media in the second city. The local media’s silence regarding the closure of Butler’s Food World is deafening. Maybe stories such as this one are so common in Freeport that the local media houses no longer deem them to be newsworthy.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport.

August 3, 2015.