The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Abaco Chamber of Commerce president Ken Hutton says the extension of the Special Economic Recovery Zone (SERZ) order for Abaco needed to be for three years, not one.

Mr Hutton told Tribune Business: “We are very pleased that the SERZ has been extended for another year. Obviously we would have preferred it to be longer than that, but we’ll take what we can get for right now and continue to work on getting more improvements to it.”

The government announced yesterday the SERZ orders for Abaco and Grand Bahama which were set to expire this coming December 31 have been extended to December 31, 2022.

John Pinder II, Member of Parliament for North Abaco, said in a note to the media: “This extension supports the Davis administration’s commitment to assist the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama with the ongoing restoration and rebuilding of homes and businesses, which were extensively damaged or destroyed by the passage of category five Hurricane Dorian in 2019.”

The SERZ exemption applies to, building materials, plumbing fixtures and materials, electrical fixtures and materials, household furniture, furnishings & appliances, hardware supplies and replacement vehicles.

Mr Hutton also said: “In previous orders we did have construction services included, which was your electricians, plumbers, air conditioning guys, your landscapers and you know landscaping is very important and key part of building. You can’t just have rocks in your driveway after you have finished building, you have got to have plants and everything.

“But we will take this as a win right now under the understanding that we need to keep pushing and we need to keep looking at having an extension for another two years.”

He added: “I think one of the biggest things for a longer extension is the labour issue. Here it takes such a long time to get things done because there is a lack of labour here.

“So, even though you are rebuilding your house, even though you might be able to start it now, you might not be able to find a contractor for about six months to get started on it and by that time the exemptions have halfway ran out.”

Labour issues have plagued the Abaco reconstruction efforts since Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, mainly because there is no place to house labourers on the island because most homes were destroyed by the hurricane.

Another major issue with the SERZ only being extended for another 12 months is the fact things take a long time to get started in the country particularly for development projects, from approvals, labour pooling, getting finances in order and importation of special materials, to which Mr Hutton agreed is the main problem of the year extension.

“The fact that it’ll be extended does not necessarily mean work is going to start immediately, particularly with the new construction where permitting and environmental regulations all have to be done,” he said.

“Those alone take several months and by the time of the approvals you are at the end of your first quarter and it might take you another month or two to mobilize them and before you know it you are already half way through the year.”