By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A GROUP of small business owners marched in Nassau on Friday due to grievances with recent lockdowns and other issues stagnating business.

Mark A Turnquest, organiser of the 242 Small Business Survival March, said the event was meant to bring recognition to the small business persons who feel their plight is overlooked by officials and industry stakeholders.

“The march is the foundation to bring light to express our purpose,” he said, when The Tribune met up with the group on West Bay Street.

“We want to inform the competent authority and (let) everybody else know that we want the country to be open in a strategic manner that focuses on medical and economic competing factors. We want a national small business plan that clearly defines what a small business is all about.

“And, of course, we must legislate the Small Business Act. . .we want to sit (at) the table. We want the Chamber of Commerce to relax the restriction of international funding. They think everything coming inside the country is money laundering. We want our true rights.”

Business owner Tafari Thompson said he had to close his natural food and health shop on Robinson Road and let his employees go because of recent financial constraints.

“At this point in time my business is closed down already. I'm not functioning now. I don’t even know if I'll be able to reopen the business because of the way the economy is going,” he said.

“Right now I’m relocating. The whole foundation (has) to be replanted right now. The Bahamas government needs to step up and do something to help the small man. Do something to help the small business.

“The government is put there to help the people and that’s our government who we put there, but yet we still ain’t get no results from it. So right now we just wanna see some action.”

Friday’s march had been planned in response to the pressure COVID-19 lockdowns placed on small businesses. After Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis recently announced some lockdown restrictions would be eased in New Providence, allowing more businesses to open as of Monday, Mr Thompson said the march was still going to happen.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” Mr Turnquest said last month as a guest on 96.9 FM’s “Morning Blend”. “COVID-19 added a lot of stress on the small business owners, but the policies for small business owners over the years, we were going to see this trend eventually. COVID-19 just exposed it.”