The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian economy could suffer “catastrophic” consequences if Hurricane Matthew scores a direct hit on Nassau, the Chamber’s chief executive yesterday warning this nation “cannot take” another Joaquin-style hit.

Edison Sumner told Tribune Business that if Nassau “goes down” as a result of Matthew, which is forecast to remain a major hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas, then “the entire country will suffer” because of it.

This, he explained, would occur because Nassau is both “the centre of government” and commercial activities for the Bahamas, in the past serving as a hub for relief efforts to assist Family Islands hard-hit by past hurricanes.

Should New Providence suffer a direct strike from what are projected to be Matthew’s Category Three winds, it may be unable to assist other islands as it has in the past.

And Mr Sumner said many islands struck by Hurricane Joaquin, almost a year to the day that Matthew is approaching, had yet to fully recover from that blow some 12 months later.

He urged all Bahamas-based businesses to fully prepare for the latest storm’s impact, and to secure their premises and assets - especially their financial and business records, and key corporate documents.

“Given the devastation we faced last year with the business community in the southern islands, we are very concerned about this storm,” Mr Sumner told Tribune Business, “first of all for the citizens of the islands of the Bahamas, and then the safety and security of the business community.

“We certainly can’t take another hit like the one we did last year.... These storms never appear at a good time, but at this stage of the country’s development, we cannot take a storm or disaster that impacts its infrastructure and its private sector.”

With Matthew last night projected to directly hit New Providence and Freeport (Grand Bahama), and place Abaco on its stronger north-eastern side, the Bahamian economy is facing potential multi-million dollar losses and damages that may run into a nine-figure (hundreds of millions) sum.

Mr Sumner acknowledged that Matthew’s impact will be exacerbated if the storm’s centre directly hits New Providence, as this would impact recovery and rebuilding efforts on other islands.

“New Providence now seems to be in the path of the storm,” he told Tribune Business. “Our greater concern is the impact it will have on New Providence, Nassau being the centre of commerce and Government for the entire country.

“If Nassau goes down, the entire country will suffer because of it. If Nassau goes down, we will have some real concerns we will have to deal with quickly. After the storm passes, we will have to mobilise ourselves very quickly as far as business development is concerned, and getting back to some level of normalcy.”

Mr Sumner said private sector leaders had seen

“the likely impact of what a Category Three storm can do to any society” at this year’s National Conclave of Chamber of Commerce heads.

He added that “the impact can be quite catastrophic”, and said the Conclave’s main focus was disaster preparedness and recovery.

Mr Sumner “implored” all Bahamas-based businesses to take every appropriate measure to secure their assets, both physical and electronic, as this would allow them to recover and re-open more rapidly in Matthew’s wake.

“We want to implore businesses to take every precaution they can to ensure their staff are safe, and they protect against any loss or damage to life,” he said.

“We also want to encourage them to start putting aside their business records, and implement contingencies to protect their business and financial records. In the event there is damage, they don’t want to have to spend a lot of time repairing records.”

Mr Sumner said the loss, or damage to, business and financial records had impaired the recovery of many companies impacted by Hurricane Joaquin, especially their ability to access capital.

The Chamber chief executive urged companies to make back-ups of their electronic records, and said: “The business community has made considerable adjustments to their business models since last year, where because of Joaquin’s destruction, they took measures to improve their preparation and readiness for disaster.

“We are hoping in this instance that businesses put their disaster management strategies in place.”

With Matthew now approaching the Bahamas just over one year since Joaquin devastated the south-central Family Islands, Mr Sumner said many firms on those islands had “not been given enough room to adjust” since then.

“We’re hoping for the best,” he told Tribune Business. “Hopefully it’s not going to have as catastrophic an impact as in the southern islands last year. We want to be sure that the centre of civilisation in the Bahamas, in particular, Nassau, is protected.”