The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Plant nurseries yesterday said the limited opening hours permitted by the government will alleviate “a unique” situation where they have had to maintain payroll without any revenue coming in.

Mark Thompson, general manager of Nature’s Way plant nursery, explained that the industry had no choice but to keep staff on otherwise its massive inventory would have wasted away.

“We had asked for some consideration because plant nurseries are unique in that we have a lot of plant inventory, so while we have had this shutdown we had to maintain that inventory,” he said.

“The government has given us a concession to keep our staff employed to maintain our inventory. Now the back side of that is that we have payroll going out with zero revenue coming in.”

Mr Thompson added: “We all want to be responsible about this, and we all understand what the prime minister is trying to achieve, so we asked if we could get some permissions to do some deliveries and curb-side pick-ups to offset some of the expenses we were incurring - not just with staff payroll but other operational costs that continue.

“Our situation is unique because we actually had people employed and I couldn’t let my inventory go to the garbage. We were proud of the fact that we were able to keep our staff basically working 30 hours a week, but as you can imagine since the end of March and no revenue, you burn a lot of fuel so to speak,” said Mr Thompson.

“So we sent letters in indicating that we were prepared and we had sanitizers, gloves and masks, and we are managing this in a responsible way.” The government has given permission for plant nurseries to open between the hours of 6am and 12pm on Mondays and Thursdays as it moves to ease some of the restrictions imposed by the national COVID-19 lockdown.

Sidney Carroll, general manager of Bahamas Palms Nursery, said of the move: “I think it’s good because we have a lot of people that are home, and those who want to start a backyard nursery will be able to save some money and occupy their time with something constructive and help in giving this nation some food security. I am open now.”

The prime minister also announced at the weekend that landscape maintenance companies will now be treated as an essential service, and allowed to operate from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. However, for some, concerns linger over the threat posed by the virus.

Reginald Cartwright, Earth Design Landscape Company’s general manager, told Tribune Business: “I’m happy about it, but at the same time, quite frankly, I’m concerned that with all of the openings this virus will continue to spread.

“It’s good because at least we have some money trickling into the economy, but your health is always better than money. That’s why I continued to keep our doors closed to we can practice safety as well.”

Mr Cartwright added: “We’re not open to the public at all because I’m still concerned about the pandemic as it is. We do have plants for sale, but we try to sell them as deliveries. So we only have one guy going out to drive, and he has his mask on and we try to limit contact.

“When we go to properties we stay away from the client and everything is done via e-mail, or we call to let them know what’s going to be done and keep the employees away from the customers and vice versa.”

“It’s a catch-22. I can’t say I blame the prime minister’s decision but he is doing what he feels is in the best interest of businesses and citizens because, quite frankly, he is in a ‘damned if you do’ and damned if you don’t’ situation.”

Mr Cartwright continued: “In my opinion I would have preferred if he kept the country closed for two or three weeks to try and hit the peak and then level out. I think if we would have done that initially we would have been over this complete lockdown.

“But the reality is everyone can’t do that because everybody can’t buy two weeks or three weeks of groceries, and then people would complain that all of the hotels are shut down and no one is making any money. But the reality is tourism and banking are our two major money makers for the economy, so with those down it isn’t like any money is pumping into the economy anyway so you may as well sit home.”

“I’m not the one making the decisions, and it is easy for anyone to critique from the outside rather than have to make the decision themselves, but at this time we have to appreciate whatever he does and understand that he is trying to make the best decisions for us health-wise and economically. If no one is making any money then no one can go out and buy groceries and pay your light bills.

“If we would have shut down for two weeks I think we would have hit the curve, so my biggest concern is that the worst is still ahead of us by doing these things. But I’m not going to be one of those Bahamians that critiques the Prime Minister because I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes right now.”