The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

More than 7,000 persons will be covered by the government's $5.9m expansion of COVID-19 aid to self-employed workers outside the tourism sector, the deputy prime minister said yesterday.

K Peter Turnquest told the House of Assembly that the extension will cover self-employed workers outside The Bahamas' main industry who are also "facing the complete loss of income, and the challenge of meeting their financial obligations", due to the economic fall-out from the global pandemic.

Like their tourism industry counterparts, he added that these workers will also receive a $200 per week benefit for as long as The Bahamas' national COVID-19 lockdown lasts. That period is currently due to expire on April 8, and Mr Turnquest said applications for this assistance should begin by next Tuesday - one day before the lockdown is scheduled to end.

This indicates that the lockdown is likely to be extended beyond April 8, although this will be determined by whether measures to prevent the COVID-19 virus's spread locally are working.

To qualify for the self-employed assistance initiative, Mr Turnquest said Bahamians will need to provide a valid business licence and National Insurance Board (NIB) number, and neither be in full-time employment nor someone who employs others.

He added that they would have to produce proof of active income for their business-related activities in January and February 2020, either through a bank statement or some other verification, and either be registered - or now register - with NIB as self-employed.

The deputy prime minister said such checks were necessary to prevent persons applying for benefits from multiple COVID-19 assistance initiatives, such as the Business Continuity Loan programme aimed at small businesses and the unemployment benefit targeted at temporarily laid-off workers.

"It was important for us to ensure that we make the most efficient use of a very limited budget," Mr Turnquest explained. "For this reason, before any claim is disbursed, NIB will also check with the Department of Social Services and the Small Business Development Centre to ensure that there is no duplication of assistance.

"As a country, we must be cognisant that this is a national challenge, with massive segments of the population already impacted or soon to be impacted. We must therefore ensure that our limited budgets are used responsibly to make certain that we are able to assist as many people as possible."

Mr Turnquest also disclosed that the National Insurance Board (NIB) has already fielded 17,000 e-mails related to unemployment claims since the COVID-19 induced tourism shutdown and subsequent nationwide lockdown.

"The sheer number of applications has put tremendous pressure on NIB resources, both from a financial and operational standpoint. To assist in the administration of payments, NIB enlisted the support of the Public Treasury," he added.

Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, NIB's director, yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business yesterday that the social security system was presently processing some 14,000 e-mails received in its "new customer service inbox".

She explained: "Some things are coming in from the employer directly, and some things are coming in from the employee. So we don't know how many claims we have. We are just saying we have 14,000 messages in our inbox right now.

"We are just going to see how much that represents in terms of actual claims, but we are prepared for a sizeable amount of people given the main sector of the country has been halted for a few weeks."

Asked whether NIB has the capacity to handle such a claims influx, Dr Virgil-Rolle added: "We have beefed up all of our operations, and we have moved across 60 persons from other areas that are deemed non-core at this time to assist with the registration of claims as well as also brought in another 30 people from within the board to work on processing claims as well.

"We are training up a cadre of people to be comfortable. Normally this is something that takes weeks, but we're doing it in a few days to be comfortable processing unemployment claims.

"The Family Island staff for the NIB are at work. Either they are working remotely from home or at the office. The Family Island staff are also processing claims as well, and they are working to process their islands."

Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, said NIB has received 1,563 applications to-date for financial assistance from self-employed persons in the tourism industry, such as taxi drivers, straw vendors, hair braiders and tour operators. And the Department of Social Services has received 1,430 applications for food assistance and social support.

"These groups of workers, who are on the front line of our tourism industry, are highly vulnerable to the economic fall-out from COVID-19 given its devastating impact on global tourism," he added. "Thousands of self-employed people, who rely on the flow of cruise ship and stopover visitors, are now unable to make a living over the next few weeks.

"Like many other governments around the world, this administration is compelled to help its citizens through this very tough time. In this first instance, income support is vital to those whose primary sources of income have been eviscerated by the economic fall-out of COVID-19."

Mr Turnquest continued: "For tourism workers, particularly the self-employed, there were few options to adapt. The market to which they sell their goods and services has come to a seismic halt. There is no one to buy a t-shirt, a straw bag, a daiquiri or take a taxi.

"As markets re-open, hopefully within the next few months, I am confident that these Bahamian entrepreneurs will bounce back. Until then, it is our hope, however, that the Government's intervention will cushion the economic blow to industry workers."