Manufacturers ‘frustrated’ by costly harbour delays

Leading business groups have called on the Mia Mottley administration to deliver significant tax relief, targeted fiscal incentives, and major infrastructure improvements in Monday’s budget.

In separate interviews with Barbados TODAY, they unveiled  wish lists that aim to ease financial pressures on manufacturers, support healthier food production, enhance accessibility for disabled consumers, and improve transport across the island.

The head of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association (BMA), Rakeesh Bernard, said on Thursday that the sector urgently needs government assistance to cater to the unique needs of the disabled community and better support the administration’s food and nutrition policy.

James Jimmy Clarke, the president of the nation’s umbrella business body—the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)—has created a “wish list” addressing broader issues impacting businesses across Barbados.

Bernard told Barbados TODAY: “The two key points that we are really hoping to get traction on are… the manufacturers are keen to support the Persons with Disabilities Act, but as you may or may not know, developing packaging for persons with disabilities is a lot more expensive. So, we are hoping that the government would allow for us to have some kind of fiscal incentives for our manufacturers who want to move towards packaging that would allow them to accommodate persons with disabilities, like braille or whatever.

“And secondly, in terms of the Food and Nutrition Programme, it is a little more expensive to bring in the material that may be mainly nutritious. So, we are hoping that the government would look at… once our manufacturers are committed to bringing in higher quality, more expensive products, that there would be some kind of fiscal incentives around being able to meet our targets set by government for food and nutrition. Those are the two areas we hope we will see coming out of the budget.”

Bernard pointed out that the government has been supportive of industry whenever it asked for help, saying the BMA has always maintained a good relationship with various ministries.

“The government has been very amenable to meeting with us and hearing our concerns,” Bernard said. “We have always had a good relationship with the various ministries, and when we needed assistance or intervention from the various ministers, they have always been forthcoming. So, I would say that the government has been very active in assisting the manufacturing sector when we have asked them for help.”

He also addressed the issue of prices, explaining that while the Mottley administration does not directly affect the cost of raw materials entering the country, its continued trade agreements with global partners could help significantly.

He said: “The trade agreements that the government has with various countries, taking advantage of those… obviously, like everybody else in Barbados, we are hoping to hear no new taxes. That is always one of those hot topics. So, I think once the government continues creating those bilateral agreements, and if they are able to maintain no additional taxes on manufacturers, then we would be satisfied.”

Bernard also drew attention to operations at Bridgetown Port where he complained about ongoing delays in clearing containers which continue to impact business costs.

“The issues at the port continue,” said Bernard. “I have gotten a lot of feedback from my manufacturers that they are still having challenges. We are working through the port to see how we can address those challenges, but it has been a thorn in the side of manufacturers in recent weeks, and we have not seen the kind of correction that we hoped. There are still a lot of challenges in getting containers off and into the port at this moment.”

Despite these issues, Bernard assured that ongoing difficulties and their ripple effects were unlikely to result in layoffs within manufacturing but would instead increase frustration and costs.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the BCCI’s Clarke emphasised that repairs to the country’s road network must continue apace to improve transport efficiency island-wide.

“It makes a big difference for how our country looks in terms of tidiness and ease of getting around, especially in tourist areas… sidewalks and those types of things,” Clarke said. “Of course, when roads are in poor condition they cause a lot of damage to vehicles; it slows up traffic and so on. That whole idea is efficiency of transportation around the whole island. That is something we would like to see in the budget.”

Clarke also reiterated calls for changes regarding taxation on imported goods: “Duty and VAT should be calculated on the FOB [freight on board] value of imported items, and not the CIF [cost insurance and freight] value. This was declined in the last budget but it is something we would like to see,” he stated.

Additionally, the chamber of commerce president called for an end to double taxation on pensions: “There is no tax incentive now,” Clarke argued, “to put monies in. The contributions used to be tax deductible; and while you can withdraw some funds—about 25 per cent tax-free—the other 75 per cent is treated as income. So you may have contributed to your pension with after-tax dollars and built it up; yet when you go to withdraw then it is treated as income; then you pay taxes on it again.”

He contended that at a time when people need encouragement to save for retirement while facing reduced incomes, taxing something already taxed does not seem right.

Clarke highlighted improving ease-of-doing-business measures as another priority: “I would expect that there would be funds in the budget for Business Barbados—a new department—so I would expect that would be well funded because that has a huge role—a big role—in helping ease doing business in Barbados,” he pointed out.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb