The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Vendors yesterday said none of the eight Potter’s Cay Dock stalls damaged by Sunday night’s fire were covered by any form of insurance - either on the structure or their contents.

Wendi Constantine, president of the Bahamas Dock and Allied Venues Vendors Association (BDAVVA), told Tribune Business: “You can’t insure the wooden structures. Now some persons we understood had the contents insured, but that’s not everybody.

“It’s tough right now, because we are just dealing with COVID-19 and trying to get back on our feet, but six stalls were totally destroyed and two were damaged.”

Fewer than half the vendors at Potter’s Cay are said to have contents insurance. “None of the ones that were affected had insurance on their items,” said Ms Constantine.

Michael Pintard, minister for agriculture and marine resources, visited the dock yesterday to assess the fire’s impact. He told vendors he would have to report back to Cabinet for a decision on what could assistance can be provided to vendors who lost their stalls in the fire.

Ms Constantine said: “We’ve now met with the police and they are letting us know that they are doing an investigation that they started last night. They are working on it today to get it completed as quickly as possible so we can start removing the debris, and the government at this time cannot say what they would be able to assist with.

“Everybody has to turn in the losses that they had and what it will cost to rebuild their stall. So we just have to wait and see.”