By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island fishermen and tour operators are accusing the Government of seeking “to squeeze the small man out” over four-digit boating fee increases that have been suspended - at least for private vessels.

In a video widely circulated on social media, the group gathered at Salt Pond Dock to air their concerns about how the fees are affecting their businesses. Rodger Cartwright, owner of Long Island Boat Rental and Tours, said his company employs ten persons and operates 15 boats, on which the annual registration renewal fees have increased ten-fold - from $800 to $8,000.

“I want to know how is it that I went from 15 boats being registered at $800 a year to 15 boats at $8,000 a year? The Government said they are behind small businesses. But how does this make sense? That’s cutting into my bottom line by cutting my profit,” he said.

“They say they want to encourage small operating companies in The Bahamas but they’re not trying to help us. How does my bottom line go from $800 to $8,000 just in boat registration, plus insurances and everything else...”

Mr Cartwright then questioned how the fees were passed into law and regulations in the 2023-2024 Budget debate without first consulting Family Island industry partners. “We have to do something. How did they just impose these things?” he asked.

“Why didn’t they have a meeting with all the fishermen and go around The Bahamas? How did they just put this in Parliament and expect us to pay, and they say they are for the small man? It sounds like they want to squeeze the small man out and just let the foreign or the rich people come in and take it”.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said the Government has suspended the increased boat registration fees to allow for a review and industry consultation with adjustments likely to be made in the mid-year Budget to be unveiled before month’s end.

However, Mr Cartwright added that due to the increased fees he may have to close his business next year, resulting in a loss of income for ten families. He said: “If I’m employing ten people and I have to shut down my business, that’s ten people without jobs. That’s ten young people without jobs.

“I might not be in business next year. So that’s ten people out of employment. That’s ten families that are not going to get fed or they have to go find employment somewhere else.”

Marvin Cartwright, a fisherman who also owns a small tour business, said that the fee for his 20-foot boat increased from $20 to $750. He added that the “outrageous fees” will have an impact on young per- sons entering the industry and questioned where the Government’s “head was” when it made the decision to implement such large increases.

“We want to discuss the outrageous fees as put on the Bahamian people with the boat registration. I just want to ask the Government where their head was when they thought about the young people,” Mr Marvin Cartwright added.

“How could you put all these fees on some young people just come out of school and want to start a business, and first registration for a 20-foot boat is I think $2,700 or somewhere. Last year, I paid $20. This year, coming up, I have to pay $750 for a 20-foot boat.”

Emile Knowles, a commercial fishermen, said his boat fees increased from $200 to $3,000 and questioned how young persons on islands where the economy largely depends on the farming and fishing industries will be able to pay.

He said: “The registration was $200 for this boat; now you’re looking at $3,000? How do you get from $200 to $3,000? You could see a 25 to 30 percent increase but not a $3,000 or 3,000 percent increase.”

Ms Butler, a local government official on Long Island, said the increased fees are having a negative impact on boat owners. She explained that many young persons rely on boats to travel between settlements and make a living, and called on the Government to have the fees “revisited, revamped and reduced” as the average Long Island resident cannot afford them.

She said: “The boat registration fees are really impacting our boat owners in a very negative way. You know, in New Providence, the young fellas come with a school and they buy a car. In Long Island, the young boys coming out of school, they wish to buy a boat. But it is unaffordable for them to start with a boat.

“Having a boat on these islands and a lot of the Family Islands is like owning a car because we transit between islands, between different settlements, between different areas via boat. So that is our main mode of transportation.

“So the fees that have been implemented, we really need those fees to be revisited, revamped and reduced because the average person on Long Island cannot afford the fees. And we say that we are Government for the people. Let us listen to the people.”