The idea of Finance Minister Michael Ferrier to provide refinancing for local businesses struggling due to the severe impact of Hurricane Irma (see related story) makes sense. Keeping both small and larger entrepreneurs going at this difficult time is of great importance particularly to them and their employees, but also for Government and the country in general.
One can argue that these privately-owned companies should take care of themselves, but such thinking fails to acknowledge the seriousness of the current socioeconomic situation. Their very survival could often depend on temporary funding, with much of the dominant stayover tourism industry down and expected to stay that way until the end of 2019, while the cruise and yachting sectors are also not yet what they used to be.
If these companies were to close and their workers sent home, the consequences in terms of less tax income, more unemployment and an increased social burden would no doubt be felt by the entire community. That makes it everybody’s business.
Of course, this neither means Government should – for example – honour all the requests of the Maho Group and Sunwing mentioned in Saturday’s newspaper nor that these were reasonable. However, engaging crucial stakeholders, including big resorts, to seek joint solutions that may prevent a major crisis from getting even worse is in principle a good proactive strategy.
Some similar help is already being provided, judging from reports that microfinancing organisation Qredits had so far issued 42 soft loans to local entrepreneurs. More will clearly be required, so Ferrier’s plans to assist others in need deserve support.
