Economists yesterday estimated that the day-long power outage was likely to have cost the Bahamian economy a mulit-million dollar sum in terms of lost earnings and revenues, with many businesses without backup generators forced to close early and send staff home.
One observer, who requested anonymity, estimated that the economy was likely to have lost between $3 – $6 million due to yesterday's disruption, and that was likely to be conservative.
Another source said he believed the lack of electricity contributed to a 20-40 per cent decline in productivity and said a 8:45am journey from Cable Beach to downtown Nassau, which normally took 25 minutes, yesterday took one hour and fifteen minutes due largely to to the west Bay Street traffic light being out. His calculations also placed the economic loss in the seven figure range.
Frank Comito, executive director of the Nassau Tourism and Development Board, said "This is not good for commerce and it's very difficult to communicate as some people's phones are tied in to their power.
"I personally observed a number of situations downtown where tourists stood in front of a closed store, so a number of people left the island yesterday with money in their pocket."
Source: Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
