Rent ease needed – Holder

Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Association (SBA) Senator Dr Lynette Holder is crying shame on some private landlords who are said to be putting businesses on notice that they are not prepared to give any ease in rent for the upcoming lockdown period.

Holder disclosed that following the announcement by Government last week that the island would commence a two-week lockdown, from February 3 to 17, several micro and small business owners have been complaining that their landlords have indicated that they were still required to pay rent for the period.

However, Holder said she was calling on those landlords to rethink their decision, adding that businesses that are renting will find it difficult to get back on their feet even days or weeks following the 15 days of no business activity.

“I am hearing from a lot of firms that the private landlords are not prepared to give any reprieve at this time, and I say shame on you!” said Holder.

“The issue is, we keep hearing the mantra ‘we are in this together’. If we are in it together then we need the private landlords to understand and appreciate that, and also be committed at this time to provide that reprieve and that moratorium,” she told Barbados TODAY.

Last year, following the whole day curfew measures implemented from Friday, April 3 to Sunday, June 3, some landlords, including the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) provided an ease in rent for micro and small businesses during the lockdown period.

Commercial banks in Barbados had also agreed to waive maintenance account fees for senior accounts, not to charge over-the-counter fees for pensioners over 70 and waive maintenance account fees for the youth accounts.

The commercial banks and credit unions had also agreed to a six-month moratorium on existing loans and mortgages for individuals and businesses directly affected by the pandemic, with some of those financial institutions extending the moratorium on a case-by-case basis.

Holder told Barbados TODAY that while she strongly believed the BIDC will again provide the sector with an ease in rent, she was calling on the private landlords to also “step up to the plate” and follow suit.

She is also encouraging financial institutions to do the same.

“If Government can again use the moral suasion that was done last time with the banks, we need to do that for private landlords. I would also expect that we would see a month or two of moratorium relative to loans from banks, credit unions and other financial institutions as we did last time,” she said.

“The fact is that we were here before so it is a matter of now learning the lessons from last time and adjusting the programmes, the methodologies and conditionality this time around so that we can be a lot more nimble in how we respond to the needs of the sector,” said Holder.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)