The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE president of Eleuthera’s Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns about the challenges facing local businesses in the Family Islands and is calling on the government to provide crucial support.

Mr Thomas Sands’ comments to reporters on Friday came on the sidelines of the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) launch of its new corporate social responsibility initiative, The Play Project, in Central and South Eleuthera.

While acknowledging the significant economic growth driven by Disney Cruise Line’s investment in Eleuthera, Mr Sands highlighted a critical issue: the lack of incentives and concessions for established local businesses in the Family Islands.

“If an economy is to grow in these locations, the baseline, the community, has to grow simultaneously,” Mr Sands said. “You need to incentivise the local businesses to reinvest in their economies at the lowest price points to refurbish their businesses, to go to energy-efficient equipment. All these things need to happen.”

He warned that Family Island communities’ risk economic decline without targeted government support. He urged the Davis administration to extend the same level of concessions and incentives offered to businesses in New Providence.

When asked about the chamber’s conversations with the government and their response to these challenges, Mr Sands said: “The Chamber of Commerce over the last ten years or more, have had successive discussions, written to successive governments and administrations about this specific topic and I feel that we have not achieved much.”

“I think there’s been a focus on concessions incentives for new businesses, but the economies of Family Islands, 90 percent of local economies are built and maintained by established businesses that know the challenges, that know the ropes, that have to put in place the redundancies,” Mr Sands added.

He emphasised that businesses that have remained committed to operating in the Family Islands deserve stronger support, noting the distinct challenges they face compared to businesses in Nassau and Grand Bahama.

Mr Sands stressed that while attracting new businesses is important, existing businesses form the backbone of Family Island economies.

Meanwhile, on the tourism front, he highlighted concerns about accommodation shortages in Airbnbs and hotels, as well as gaps in airlift capacity.

“I understand on the tourism side, with airlift, they also say there’s a void of accommodation in the Airbnb’s and hotels and so forth. You need to incentivise the local businesses to reinvest in their economies at the lowest price points, at the lowest cost points to refurbish their businesses, to go to energy-efficient equipment. All these things need to happen. Of course, funding comes behind that but again, the same level of concessions and incentives that take place in those locations we need to have,” he said.