The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Building suppliers said port security remains a major concern in Abaco as reconstruction efforts start to ramp up because materials are still "going missing".

Chris Lleida, Premier Importers' chief executive, said demand for the company's construction supplies and hardware was picking up "slowly but surely" almost six months after Hurricane Dorian struck.

"We started seeing signs of a lot more activity, but it's still challenging," he added.

"You have seen the stories with the issues at the airport, issues at the seaport, but it is definitely increasing."

Describing some of the "issues" he has been dealing with at the sea port, Mr Lleida said: "At the port, for instance, there are materials that go missing at the dock. The actual Customs warehouses and everything has been destroyed.

"The last time I was there they still had Defence Force officers monitoring entry during the day, but docks are big places but I guess there are other ways in and out of the dock. I think it is a matter of coordination. It frustrates the public, and there is no flexibility seemingly or discretion shows."

Explaining one such problem, Mr Lleida said: "For example, on the Majority Rule Day holiday on the Friday, due to the weather the mail boat from Nassau didn't get to Marsh Harbour until some time midday on Thursday, but the dock closes 4pm.

"Come hell or high water you need your stuff. So dog eat your lunch because your stuff is going to sit on the dock from Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and you can come back for it on Monday. Under normal circumstances, fair enough.

"But there is no storage; security is stretched and challenged; and with that kind of decision-making it kind of leaves the public scratching their heads. If it wasn't a hurricane recovery situation I would say fine, not happy, but I can deal with it."

Describing efforts to rebuild Premier Importers' Abaco location, Mr Lleida said: "I know that with our building we are waiting for an electrical inspection to start rewiring. We had to settle on a makeshift office inside our lumber yard, so you make do with what you can, but it is going as well as it can be expected."

Another building supplies store owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "There is a problem with the security at the port in Marsh Harbour, which I think you are aware of. Everybody is having the same problem. It's actually the customer's stuff that's going missing. A lot of people have had stuff missing; some of it just disappeared."

When asked if the items were insured, they replied: "Once the mail boat signs for them the mail boat covers them."

Ernelia Turnquest, general manager of the Legacy mail boat, told Tribune Business: "It seems as though we had to give a disclaimer to persons that, if they ship, we would be forced to leave their goods in the open if they do not pick them up at the appointed time. We would have to leave it. Especially for building materials, we have no way to keep them if we don't have the storage space."

Ms Turnquest added that the company was waiting for the Ministry of Transport's building to be rebuilt because that is where its operations were located prior to the storm.

Iram Lewis, minister for disaster preparedness and reconstruction, told the media last month he was not sure which properties shippers were using for customers to receive goods shipped to Abaco.

More recently, he told reporters that the Government is planning to move the destroyed dock buildings as part of proposals to move Marsh Harbour further inland, but gave no indication as to when this will happen or where the new site would be.