The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Exuma's Chamber of Commerce president last night argued the Prime Minister would have created "an even greater confidence boost" if he had said the latest travel easing would stay through year-end.

Pedro Rolle, while welcoming Dr Hubert Minnis' move to eliminate the COVID-19 PCR test requirement for all persons travelling from Exuma, told Tribune Business that tourists and residents were more likely to firm up travel plans if he had announced the relaxations would remain in place for a set time period.

With the Prime Minister also confirming, albeit a month later than planned, that the mandatory 14-day quarantine on all travellers from New Providence to the Family Islands will finally be eliminated, Mr Rolle said the loosening of COVID-19 inter-island travel protocols was "a big plus" for Exuma and other locations.

The quarantine will be replaced by more frequent testing, thereby bringing the COVID-19 travel protocols for Bahamians into line with those imposed on visitors, with the Exuma Chamber chief adding that the move had come just in time to enable the island's businesses to fly to Nassau and stock up for Christmas.

Speaking after he just arrived in Nassau himself, Mr Rolle said a COVID-19 PCR test cost $320 on Exuma. When this was added to the cost of taking a "return" PCR test in Nassau, plus the cost of a private flight, he suggested the cost of a round-trip to his home island had been around $1,000 under the just-removed measures.

"I think it's been what we've been crying out for in recent times," Mr Rolle told this newspaper of the Prime Minister's relaxations. "Our view has always been that the restrictions for travellers to take a PCR test were draconian and didn't serve any purpose.

"It's a plus that it was lifted, and it will make a huge difference to come to Nassau to do commerce to prepare for Christmas. It's quite expensive to have the PCR test done in Exuma as opposed to Nassau. It will increase travel, it will increase commerce and we'll see a positive result for the economy because of this.

"I'm telling you that people would not have been able to go ahead and do the necessary things in Nassau otherwise. Most businesses come to Nassau to get their Christmas stuff and go back, and some have to do it in person. This gives them enough time to get things done."

Dr Minnis, in his national address yesterday evening, said: "Effective tomorrow, Monday, December 7, the quarantine presently in place for travellers leaving New Providence to go to the Family Islands will be lifted.

"Travellers from New Providence and Grand Bahama to the rest of The Bahamas will be required to obtain the travel visa, to complete the daily health questionnaire and take the rapid antigen test on the fifth day after their travel. This is the same protocol in place for international travellers to The Bahamas.

"Additionally, the requirement for people travelling from Exuma to the remainder of The Bahamas to take an RT PCR test will be removed. The requirement for an RT PCR test for travellers from New Providence and Grand Bahama to the remainder of The Bahamas will remain in place."

While acknowledging that the removal of Exuma's COVID-19 PCR test requirement, and the mandatory quarantine's end, do "send a positive message", Mr Rolle told Tribune Business: "It would have been an even greater confidence boost if we could say with certainty that the plans put in place today will be in place for the next six to eight weeks so persons can travel without the threat of a sudden lockdown.

"It would have been good if the Prime Minister had said this would remain in place for the next month or two as this would give them greater confidence to plan their travel. Locals can plan their Christmas travel to Exuma, and visitors can plan their trips.

"Let me give you an example. I'm in Nassau today. Let's say I want to stay in Nassau and spend Christmas here, and go back and spend New Year in Exuma. That doesn't allow me to go ahead and plan. There could be a shutdown on the 29th, and I will not be able to get back home. A plan from this date to that date for me really does make a difference."

The Government, though, will argue that recent history shows it has to be nimble and adjust rapidly to fast-evolving circumstances with COVID-19 as infection rates suddenly surge on different islands, thus making it impossible to plan as Mr Rolle suggests.

Meanwhile Anthony K Hamilton, president of the Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators, last night told Tribune Business that the elimination of the 14-day mandatory quarantine for all travellers from New Providence should "definitely breathe some fresh air" into a struggling domestic aviation sector.

Noting that many airlines' employees currently remain on furlough, he added: "This is some kind of reprieve. I'm hoping now that they have made the announcement we will have the instructions to make a good execution.

"We anticipate the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority will make the requisite pronouncements. The industry is a very structured industry, so for the requisite compliance these instructions are very necessary to provide smooth execution.

"The industry is so sensitive in light of the COVID-19 environment, there's always concern about unnecessary exposure. The margins are very slim already, and we don't want to expose ourselves unnecessarily."

Mr Hamilton was referring to both the health and liability risks associated with the virus, but he voiced hope that the easing unveiled by Dr Minnis - especially the end to the quarantine, which was seen as the biggest impediment to domestic travel - would enable "a bit of revenue generation" and allow domestic airlines to bring staff back ahead of the Christmas season.