By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Grand Bahama business yesterday complained the Customs Department is not approving Dorian-related duty exemptions even though his clients have Department of Inland Revenue permission.

Brent Collins, Freeport-based Power Equipment’s chief executive, told Tribune Business he is dealing with several customers who put in for duty and VAT relief on generators under the Special Economic Recovery Zone (SERZ) order.

Several informed him that the Customs Department in Grand Bahama is not approving these applications despite their possession of exemption letters from the Department of Inland Revenue.

Mr Collins said: “I was supposed to call a friend of mine at Bahamas Customs to find out if that’s true or not, but considering what’s still going on here that exemption needs to last until Freeport is fully restored. The money isn’t really flowing here like that for people to be spending, and if you look at the duty list, all of the stuff that people need are at 45 percent duty.” 

He added that there are several items listed at under a 10 percent rate, but “vehicle parts are 60 percent, and what’s happening mostly in Grand Bahama is that people are trying to get their cars fixed.

“I do IT work and most of the electronics is 45 percent, and then I’m dealing with generators, and even though generators are 5 percent, the automatic transfer switch is 45 percent. So right now I understand that the electrical supplies are still duty free, but just imagine if you spent $5,000 on a transfer switch and you have to pay 45 percent plus shipping. That’s a lot of money.” 

Marlon Johnson, acting financial secretary at the Ministry of Finance, responding to the issues raised by Mr Collins, said: “If they have a legitimate exemption, then obviously it is still valid.” 

He advised persons having trouble accessing the exemptions that they should call the Ministry of Finance, but he was unaware that anyone had done so to-date.

James Rolle, Dolly Madison Home Centre’s general manager, said the SERZ Order that is set to expire on June 30 should be extended for “at least” until the end of 2021. 

He added: “Some people have to reconstruct all over so they haven’t had a chance, and unfortunately, COVID-19 came in and has put a lot of stoppers in the way of people being able to do things that they would normally have been able to do.

“They couldn’t travel the way they wanted to. It was like The Bahamas was cut off from the rest of the world from a business perspective, and access to a lot of construction materials and resources that they would have had normally they didn’t have it.

“It isn’t the fact that the Government hadn’t given notice, because people had six months at the end of December, but people have not been able to capitalise on any opportunities to complete things that they have been doing.”

Greg Langstaff, the Grand Bahama Brewing Company’s proprietor, said the Government has to balance extending the SERZ with its fiscal and revenue needs.

He added: “Certainly people in Grand Bahama who haven’t been able to afford to purchase their new appliances, or buy their construction materials for their houses, the economy hasn’t changed around enough in the last two years to allow them to make money to buy it.

“So the people who really couldn’t afford it didn’t get it, and the people who could afford it all have no appliances, whether they had water in their houses or not. There are certainly people who need it. I can’t make that call on whether the Government should or should not extend the SERZ. The bigger picture has to be looked at for tax revenue and stuff, and how long would it take to benefit the people who really need it?”