BY ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Abaconians are calling for more attention to be put on the island’s infrastructure needs, especially given the economic impact it makes on the country.

Residents have made complaints that most of the financing and focus is put on New Providence followed by other family Island.

“Well, there’s so much that needs to be done,” Molly McIntosh, owner of the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina, said. “We read in the papers that they’re doing this in Exuma and that in Grand Bahama and Cat Island is getting a new airport, medical facility or whatever. But here in Abaco, it’s a huge amount of business  and money that’s going back into the central government. So I would like to see some more money put into the infrastructure, such as the roads. That’s a very good example. You know, the potholes are so bad, tyres get blown all the time, and it makes it more expensive to do business.”

Owner of the Island Spirit Mobile Spa and Wellness Suzette Colquhoun said Abaco is the new second city. Based in Treasure Cay, Ms Colquhoun noted that second home owners play a huge role in Abaco.

“It’s horrible,” Ms Colquhoun said. “I mean, Abaco is becoming like the second city in The Bahamas. I don’t think people highlight that enough, but there’s a lot going on in Abaco. I would say Freeport used to be the second city, and now most of the Freeportians are over here, Nassau over here, because they have a lot of construction going on. They have a lot of big private…like Bakers Bay, Winding Bay. A lot of people come in. So it’s way more traffic in Abaco now than it was before. Second homeowners... I think if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t survive around here, if it wasn’t for the [second] homeowners. 

Eric Bethel, another Treasure Cay resident added: “This is what  I don’t understand. Abaco, before Dorian, generated 19 percent of GDP for the entire Bahamas. 19 percent. That’s almost, what? A fifth of all the GDP for The Bahamas. A lot of tourists that come to Abaco have money. They come on their jets. They come with their yachts. They got money. Why is the government not trying to build that up? That’s a cash cow for the government if they would put a couple dollars into that island. I mean, you got people with these yachts and these planes and stuff. If they would put a couple dollars in some infrastructure to do something, they could be helping themselves and generating money. But they don’t really want to do anything it seems like. They’re more focused on doing stuff in Nassau. Abaco is like a backwater.”

“I grew up in Nassau, but it seems like most of the government funds go to Nassau or Freeport, but the out islands don’t really get much. That’s always a problem with Town Council in Marsh Harbour, they’re always saying, you know, we can only do so much because we don’t have the funds. Same in Treasure [Cay]. There’s no funds, and the government’s not putting any money towards anything. So not much is getting done.”

Noting that one of the most important upgrades the island needs is repairs on the SC Bootle Highway, Abaco residents described the road as having no lights and massive potholes, leading to countless car accidents and deaths, as well as damage to vehicles.

“There’s been countless deaths on that road too,” Mr Bethel told Tribune Business. “There’s no lighting, there’s no guard rails, there’s nothing going from Treasure [Cay] to Marsh [Harbour] anyway.”

Ms Colquhoun said she has canceled appointments to avoid driving the highway and some of her clients shy away from that road as well, which negatively impacts her business.

“People who work say they work Baker’s Bay… that’s almost two hours of dark, bumpy, bad road you gotta drive on,” Ms Colquhoun said. “Sometimes you can’t see nothing because sometimes even those wild hogs run across the road. You can’t see nothing because there is no lights on the road other than your headlights in front of you. The chances before you see anything, you’d have to be in front of your headlight, which is probably too late then.

“It definitely impacts business, and people don’t want to drive that road sometimes. I’ll have clients who want to come but they don’t want to drive that. I get flat tires and stuff like that. And like I said, sometimes you have to make the decision whether you run into a car or you drop in the hole. So sometimes if I don’t have to go, although I really would like to go, like I had a good week, I sometimes cancel my appointments in Marsh Harbour just because of the roads.”

Mr Bethel and Ms Colquhoun also spoke on the lack of a Fire Department on Abaco, giving credit to second home owners, and volunteers who have been battling the recent fires. Mr Bethel clarified that without those volunteers there’d be no fire services in Abaco.

“I was a police officer in Florida,” Mr Bethel said. “I was also in the military, and in the States, the fire service is an essential function that the government usually provides; fire, police, medical, ambulances and stuff. If it wasn’t for the volunteers in Abaco, there would be no fire service. The government doesn’t give Treasure Cay any fire trucks or equipment. That’s all volunteers and all donations. The government doesn’t do anything.”