The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The valet parking service implemented for downtown Nassau is aiming to become a permanent feature this Christmas as demand for its service grows.

Turan Miller, owner/operator of 5 Star Valet, told Tribune Business it will provide its attendants with scooters so they can move more swiftly between the parking site at the old Royal Victoria Gardens and the location where customers drop-off their vehicles at the junction of Bay Street and Parliament Street.

“Things have certainly grown from day one, and now just over two months we have seen growth and more people come in and take advantage of the service. When we first started a lot of people didn’t know what the service was about, but now everyone is getting used to it,” Mr Miller said. Vehicles are taken to the Victoria Gardens parking lot and then retrieved when motorists are ready to leave downtown Nassau.

With employees having to walk back and forth between Victoria Gardens and Bay Street, Mr Miller said: “We are used to the walk, and the people who we bring on to the operation know that it is a walk and they are prepared for it. But I’m happy to say that we have just recently purchased some scooters; some folding scooters. So what’s going to happen is that when we take cars up to the parking spot we are going to have scooters to bring us back down.”

Mr Miller said 5 Star Valet has an arrangement with the security officers at Royal Victoria Gardens where they don’t let anyone else, aside from Ministry of Health staff, park at that location.

“There is no contract with the Ministry of Tourism for this,” Mr Miller added. “We just have a permit. We don’t give the ministry any charge and they don’t pay anything. We just provide a service and we are being permitted to provide that service.”

The permit is still in the “review stage”, with 5 Star aiming to remain permanently downtown this coming December. “The review period is still ongoing, but we are expected to get a permit. So hopefully by Christmas we can have a firm agreement,” Mr Miller said.

The lack of sufficient parking in downtown Nassau, for residents, visitors and workers alike, has been a decades-long challenge that many view as a key factor in the area’s steady decline. The present administration is now trying to reverse this trend, with 5 Star Valet seen as part of the solution - at least in the short-term.