By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Prime Minister has been urged to “think like a businessman" by one private sector executive who warned that any renewed attempt to totally lockdown New Providence will be “economic suicide”.

With Dr Hubert Minnis set to address the country later this afternoon, amid speculation that he will try to re-impose a full New Providence lockdown to arrest the spike in COVID-19 cases, Raymond Collins, Tops Lumber and Plumbing’s general manager, told Tribune Business: “I think it gets to a point of no return, and I think personally this would be foolish.

"I think it is causing more problems to go into lockdowns and come out of lockdowns because of the mass of people that are going to be at food stores, gas stations, banks and everything else. Instead of letting things run smoothly and have people social distancing, you can have COVID marshalls around.”

Mr Collins explained: “I was just reading about what a friend of mine in Costa Rica had sent me about what’s happening down there. You have COVID marshalls that are in malls. They are in the food stores and, in my opinion, you should hire some of these well-educated people from the hotels that know how to speak to people and get them out there as COVID marshalls.

"Get them some police support, and get them out in the field in all of the major shopping areas, and make people social distance and make them wear masks. I don’t think that until they get a vaccine you would ever slow down this COVID-19 at the moment and, unfortunately, people that don’t want to abide by the rules will get COVID-19.

"Just like the Lord said in the Bible, the poor will always be with us," Mr Collins continued. "You are going to have people that don’t want to abide by the rules, and they will end up getting COVID-19, and the people that abide by the rules and wearing their masks properly, staying home and social distancing, they are going to be safe.”

"Going in and out of lockdowns is economic suicide. Firstly, they are going to have to offer some incentives to these businesses to get back on their feet. I say drop the VAT (value added tax) down to 7.5 percent again.”

Charging that Dr Hubert Minnis must “stop thinking like a doctor and think like a businessman”, Mr Collins said: “I’m out in the field, I’m out in the trenches all day long, and these guys are sitting up in their offices in three-piece suits trying to make decisions that they don’t know anything about because they are not out in the trenches.

"You have shoe stores that have been closed, you have clothing stores have been closed, and you know what that is doing? It’s driving people to order their items online through Amazon. They are just driving the business to the US because everything is closed down. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Anthony Roberts, City Lumber Yard's general manager, said of the possibility of another full lockdown attempt: “I don’t know. I guess we will have to wait and see if he actually does it.”

Responding to comments by Travis Robinson, MP for Bain and Grants Town, who warned residents that a full seven to 14-day lockdown was almost certain, Mr Roberts said: “I saw the little write-up that he had said that, but I guess we will have to wait until next week when the storm (Laura) is definitely passed. But I guess we will have to see what happens. Mr Robinson is a member of parliament and he should know better than any of us."