Brave begs grocers: ‘Work with me!’

Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis
PM Philip Brave Davis

Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis is begging grocers to work with him on implementing price control measures. The move comes after the PM announced last week that a host of items, including fruits, vegetables, and baby diapers, will now fall under price controls.

There has been pushback from local grocers who claim the introduction of markup caps will destroy their businesses. Talk of store closures, staff layoffs, and even pulling items from shelves has intensified in the last few days. Any one of these actions would be devastating for Bahamians and the economy.

PM Davis, however, is hoping to avert disaster and is appealing for a ‘partnership.’

As initially reported in The Nassau Guardian, the PM said, “I’m looking for them to partner with me to bring relief to our people.”

Davis also expressed confidence that he will “be able to persuade them to understand what is happening and why we need to do what we’re going to do.”

The price control measures took effect on Oct 17. But on Oct 16, the Ministry of Economic Affairs seemed to back down. They released a statement saying enforcement of price control measures will not happen during ‘an adjustment period,’ though they didn’t say how long the period would last.

A different approach

Now the PM is trying a different approach to get results – public petitioning through the press.

Davis met with the Retail Grocer’s Association yesterday, but so far no word on any final decisions reached. Retail Grocers Association President Philip Beneby told The Nassau Guardian he could not speak to the specifics of the meeting.

Davis faces an uphill climb in reaching an agreement as many business owners are upset they were not consulted on the price control move beforehand. Additionally, many are facing mandatory minimum wage increases come January, and potentially high energy bills due to a recent BPL rate hike.

According to the grocers, 40% -60% percent of their sales volumes are at stake. They argue that more than the 38 items the government listed will come under price control if the markup caps are implemented.

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