The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL 

Tribune Business Editor 

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

HURRICANE Milton and the recent US dock strike have exposed the urgency with which The Bahamas must diversify its supply chain and address “the definition of insanity,” its trade chief argued yesterday.

Philip Galanis, the Bahamas Trade Commission’s chairman, told Tribune Business that anticipated storm damage in Florida - following so swiftly behind the now-eased threat of industrial action - showed why it must “accelerate” its search for new trade routes and facilitate the offloading of goods destined for this nation at the Freeport Container Port.

He argued that the price of imported goods is being increased by as much as 20 percent through their transiting the Container Port’s transhipment facility on the way to US ports only to then be trucked down the east coast and shipped back to The Bahamas via Florida and other ports.

Branding this “the definition of insanity”, Mr Galanis told this newspaper that the Commission is also talking to Brazilian interests about creating direct shipping routes to The Bahamas from the South American country in a bid to diversify the country’s supply chain and reduce import costs through lower shipping/freight expenses.

Voicing optimism that The Bahamas will escape significant trade disruption from Milton, due to the number and variety of ports that service this nation, the Trade Commission chair said supply chain diversification was “the first thing I thought of” when both the Category Five hurricane and now-ended US dock workers strike both emerged as major potential threats.

“My mind really pivoted to South America generally, and principally Brazil, because we are in discussions right now with them about trying to implement transportation directly to The Bahamas from Brazil,” Mr Galanis confirmed. “These are obvious examples of why these alternatives need to be available to us.

“It also accelerates the need for us to be able to offload goods in Grand Bahama as opposed to having them transit to North America and be trucked back down the east coast and shipped here. It’s the definition of insanity. We are increasing the cost as much as 20 percent by getting goods into The Bahamas via that route.

“We’ll make recommendations to the Government. That is the role of the Trade Commission; to find ways and means of facilitating these kinds of arrangements.... We really have to find alternative means of shipping and transportation to The Bahamas from the point of sale.”

Describing the anticipated impact from Milton and the short-lived US dock workers strike as “reminiscent of COVID”, and the supply chain backlogs, shortages and price increases that resulted, Mr Galanis said of the progress in finding alter- native trade routes: “We’re working on it.

“It’s constantly on our agenda. We are talking to a number of stakeholders in different countries to try and make it happen. It’s a work in progress. I hope within the next year to see significant improvement in that regard.”

Asserting that Milton and the US dock strike have rein- forced how vulnerable The Bahamas and its economy remain to external events, Mr Galanis reiterated: “It really accelerates that need for us to be able to find solutions that are workable, that are pragmatic and are sustainable.

“That’s what we’re about at the Trade Commission, doing all those things. It’s really something we can do to make a difference in people’s lives. The price of goods is not a statistic. These are real dollars and cents. The more we are able to save on transporting goods to The Bahamas, the more we are able to save at the consumer level provided wholesalers and retailers pass those savings on to the consumer.

“That’s another story for another time, and at some point we’ll be able to address that aspect of it, passing savings on to the consumer.” And the Trade Commission chair said recent events should also give extra impetus for The Bahamas to focus more on growing its food security and producing more domestically.

“All this really accelerates, and really enlarges and magnifies, the extent to which we need to address food security in The Bahamas,” he told Tribune Business, “and find replacement goods for what we import. Agriculture and fisheries is an area we need to focus on. We need to no longer pay lip service to it. We need to make progress on both those fronts.”

Focusing on Milton specifically, Mr Galanis said much will depend on how wide and devastating is the damage it inflicts, and “what alternative transportation routes we can find to get goods to The Bahamas. It clearly demonstrates how external events can impact domestic performance, and how it impacts your life every day”.

The Bahamas, as a small, open economy that is highly dependent on imports for virtually everything it consumes is especially vulnerable to trade-related disruptions caused by the likes of strikes, pandemics and hurricanes.

“We’re going to have to hold our breath on this one

and hope damage to life and property is minimal,” Mr Galanis told Tribune Business. “I think we’ll be OK, though. I really do think we’ll be OK. No matter what happens there is the possibility of rapid recovery as the US has the financial resources to respond swiftly and provide alternative shipping routes.

“We get goods from North Florida, Savannah and Georgia, and some things we get from New York and New Jersey. I think we’ll be OK. Any climate change denier should take stock of what’s going on. How many times have we seen these very powerful hurricanes develop in the Gulf of Mexico? They usually come out of Africa and the Caribbean. You never see them develop in the Gulf of Mexico. Mother earth is speaking, so we’d better listen."