Commerce Chamber board makes half-yearly Saba visit

St. Eustatius’ executive board members of the Chamber of Commerce St. Eustatius and Saba made a visit to Saba on Wednes­day, December 12, for their half-yearly face-to-face meeting.

The board met with the Executive Council of Saba to discuss matters of inter­est to the business commu­nity and the island at large. Included in the meeting was a report of the condition of the business community following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and steps taken by Govern­ment to assist businesses with recovery efforts.

Some of these initiatives included travel to St. Kitts and Nevis to arrange for the purchase of much need­ed goods, since deliveries from the regular suppliers in Puerto Rico and Miami, Florida, were not possible for several weeks.

The meeting with the Ex­ecutive Council of Saba was deemed very construc­tive. The Chamber mem­bers told Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, Com­missioner Rolando Wilson, Island Secretary Tim Muller and Head of Economic Affairs Dave Levenstone they are happy to cooper­ate with Saba’s Govern­ment regarding exchange of information and the distribution of relief funds. They applauded the Island Government on their ef­forts to make that a reality.

The Chamber of Com­merce also held a town hall meeting with members of the Saba business commu­nity to assess their needs and concerns and to give updates on the various sys­tems and plans put in place by the Chamber during the year soon ending and for the first quarter of the year ahead.

The Chamber board again made it a point to inform the business community about the tasks and work of the Chamber.

The recently established Qredits Funding Pro­gramme was a focus of many of those in attendance as this has been set up to make sources of funding more ac­cessible to small businesses, particularly those wanting to start a business, or strug­gling to expand.

The Board encouraged the audience to visit the Qredits website and call the office for assistance.

During the well-attended meeting the tourism sector especially expressed grave concerns about the slow re­covery, or lack thereof, on Saba. Chamber Chairman Carlyle Tearr provided up­dated information on the special fund of the Europe­an Union which will grant some financial relief to the tourism sector.

Hotels, restaurants and related businesses, which have lost revenue because of the hurricanes, are to receive these funds, admin­istered through the Island Government. With the sub­mission of applicable docu­mentation and after review, the first disbursements will go out in January 2018, for the first quarter of the year.

Tourism-sector business­es on Saba have recorded considerable losses due to hurricane damage, not only to their properties, but ho­tel and dive-shop bookings also fell drastically, as did restaurant visits.

The Daily Herald.