The Tribune

• Grocers chief: ‘Drastic measures must be taken’

• Security costs ‘biggest expense next to salaries’

• All Bahamians pay price via higher cost of living

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Businesses yesterday urged The Bahamas to put criminals “on the run” as they revealed security-related costs have “tripled” over the past year to combat the threat posed to staff and patrons.

Philip Beneby, president of the Retail Grocers Association, which represents the likes of Super Value and AML Foods, told Tribune Business that “drastic measures are going to have to be taken because this cannot continue the way it is” after 11 persons were murdered within the first two weeks of 2024.

Speaking after Prime Minister Philip Davis KC pledged there will be more intrusive policing, which could disrupt Bahamians’ daily lives, as part the authorities’ crime crackdown, he asserted that this nation must urgently reverse a trend that has resulted in criminals “having us on the run”.

Mr Beneby and other business owners told this newspaper that all Bahamians and residents are literally paying the price for crime. The extra costs associated with hiring security firms/officers, installing surveillance systems, window/door bars and other protection and preventative measures are ultimately passed on to consumers through higher prices for the goods and services they purchase.

This, private sector operators said, adds further to the cost of living crisis facing middle class and lower income Bahamians with one company yesterday telling Tribune Business that security-related costs were “next to salaries our biggest expense” in 2023.

“That’s a topic we are all concerned about,” Mr Beneby said of crime, following Sunday night’s address by the Prime Minister. “Drastic measures are going to have to be taken to bring the crime level under control and let the criminals know that criminality will not be tolerated.

“They cannot be soft on criminals. They’ve [successive administrations] been talking about this for a very long time. It’s something the business community is very concerned about, and the business community has had to put security measures in place to try and protect themselves, protect their staff and protect their patrons.

“Something has to be done. Something drastic is going to have to be done because this cannot continue the way it is. It shouldn’t be business as usual. Instead of the criminals having us on the run, we should have them on the run. I know the police are doing their job as best they can. It’s a work in progress but we’re going to have to get real serious about it.”

Crime and related violence has blighted Bahamian society for decades with the issue regaining prominence following the bloody start to 2024. The murder rate for the year’s first two weeks represented a 150 percent year-over-year increase, and a decade high, amid a spate of what are believed to be retaliatory killings, gang-related violence, personal feuds and the settling of scores, and an inability to resolve conflict.

Mr Beneby said Bahamian companies have had to implement “all the works” when it comes to security measures, including CCTV and other electronic surveillance systems, the hiring of security guards and door buzzers in a bid to counter the criminal threat.

One retail merchant, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business of crime’s economic consequences: “It’s becoming very expensive to operate. Our security costs have tripled in the past year and I’m sure other merchants’ security costs have seen similar.

“It’s very expensive and it’s peaked. I wouldn’t like to see it go any higher. We have security inside the store, security outside the store. We’re going to hook up direct TV right into the police station. That’s another direct cost but we stand to benefit from it.

“The whole country is consumed and gripped with fear. There’s been two or three innocent people who have been shot lately because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Apart from murders, the retail merchant told this newspaper that theft and stealing is “skyrocketing” while warning that crime-related publicity threatens to “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs” that it tourism.

“The stealing has become more prevalent and more acceptable,” they said. “Given the prevalence, it’s very difficult to control. It’s really skyrocketing. I think it’s more external with some internal collusion. It all contributes to the high cost of living, and the publicity doesn’t do any good. People only travel where they feel they are going to be safe. We’d best be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

Mark A. Turnquest, the 242 Small Business Association and Resource Centre’s (SBARC) founder, told Tribune Business that the costs imposed on the private sector by the crime threat “at the end of the day go straight to the customer; that’s how it is”.

Besides the tangible costs, represented by dollars and cents, he added that crime - and the fear of crime - also levy intangible costs on business such as lost productivity due to staff being unable to attend work because their homes have been broken into or some other impact.

Also a small business consultant, Mr Turnquest said the “disproportionate expense” of crime-fighting measures prevents Bahamian companies from investing in additional inventory or job-creating expansion. He also recalled how one of his clients, which he described as “a major clothing retailer”, was last year able to prevent the theft of its $7,500 generator by constantly checking its surroundings.

“What he [the Prime Minister] said last night is basically what we have been saying for years - not just our members, but the general public,” Mr Turnquest told this newspaper. “When we have talks, we have discussions about crime and the fear of crime. My members for years, and clients, have spoken about crime and the effect it has on small businesses.

“Crime has a social aspect and an economic aspect. Socially, it’s on staff. A lot of staff in our businesses, our employees, are fighting crime at home and we have to keep on making adjustments to our rosters. Productivity may go down.” He said this even extended to female staff having to cope with abusive boyfriends and husbands, who sometimes appeared at their workplace and caused further disruption.

Describing investments in the likes of CCTV and security officers as “part of a normal budgeting process” for Bahamian companies, Mr Turnquest said: “I encourage all my business members to pay for contents insurance every year...

“Crime is always a disproportionate expense in relation to revenue. If we didn’t have it, we could buy more inventory and invest in more capacity building. Security officers ain’t cheap. It’s not a new problem; it’s an old problem. For small business, crime is a continuance monitoring. You don’t wait for it to go up and come down. Every financial year you have to budget serious money.

“You have to inspect your premises, and make sure there are no internal weaknesses in your windows or bars,” he added. “Last year, one of the major retail clothing businesses, on Thursday started cutting one piece of the generator. They cut one piece the following night, another the next night, and were getting ready to put it on the back of a truck.

“Because of our walk around we detected it on the third night. That was a $7,500 generator that took of three stores.. three separate locations in the same plaza, three boutique stores. We had to double chain it, double bolt it. We put extra lighting there also....

“The criminals are just like the business owners, thinking and planning. That’s the business there are in; robbing, stealing and murdering. Security and crime is a continuous planning effort for small businesses. It’s not one day, one week. It’s a whole year of planning.”

Mr Turnquest said small businesses are spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per month to cover security-related costs. Confirming that all Bahamians pay the price, he added: “You have a built-in budget for security. You put that into your mark-up, and the customer has to pay for that eventually. The higher the cost of crime, the more the customer has to pay.”