The economy of Inagua has been dealt a crippling blow with the indefinite closure of Morton Salt.

Sunday's passage of Hurricane Ike totally destroyed Morton's main building and melted tons of salt in its salt pans, forcing management to cease operations at the establishment, the island's main economic engine.

In an interview with The Nassau Guardian yesterday, Morton's Managing Director Glenn Bannister admitted that with the closure of the salt operation, the island's economy would be greatly affected. He could not say for how long the business would be closed.

"Our operations have ceased and nothing is going on right now. Everybody is in town dealing with their own homes and taking care of their personal situation today. But in any event, we won't be able to resume normal operations because there is nothing to go back to - the building has been literally decimated by the hurricane and it has to be either rebuilt, or we have to put a new building back there," Bannister said via his cellular telephone.

"At this time, we are not able to put an estimate cost on it, but I know that we would have to rebuild that building and if that was to happen, you are looking at a few million dollars," he explained.

Bannister could not say when the more than 100 employees would be able to return to their work stations.

"I can't answer that because I don't know. We are going to have to assess [the situation] and see what alternative arrangements we can make to continue operations," he explained.

Inagua has a population of about 1,000. And, besides the limited number of government jobs on the southernmost island, Morton Salt employs some 70 percent of the working population.

Morton just began to recover from a bitter, three-week spat with its line staff employees union, the Bahamas Industrial Manufacturers and Allied Workers Union, coupled with damage caused by Tropical Storm Hanna, which melted tons of salt and erased thousands of dollars of work in the process, less than a week before being hit with Hurricane Ike on Sunday.

Morton produces 5,000 to 6,000 tons of salt a day, and 1.2 millions tons a year.

As a result of Morton's closure, Island Administrator Preston Cunningham predicted that hard times are ahead for residents.

"It is a devastating blow to us because residents rely heavily on Morton Salt. It is our lifeline that has been affected and residents will come up against some hard times as a direct result.... a little suffering here and there and only God knows how the rest will work out. But we trust in God for our future," Cunningham asserted.

Morton also operates a general food store on the island. Up to press time yesterday, The Guardian was unable to determine how the store feared during the hurricane. But earlier information gathered pointed to the store being fully stocked for Hurricane Ike's passage.

Although not confirmed, it is believed that Morton pumps hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the economy of Inagua annually.

And while, Morton is attempting to come to grips with its salt and building losses, it also has to face the harsh reality of not being able to provide electricity to the islanders. Power went off on the island on Sunday, and it has yet to be restored.

Morton has the sole responsibility of providing electricity to the island. For years, the company has been lobbying the government to take over that task.

State Minister for the Environment, Phenton Neymour, disclosed yesterday that a deal had recently been struck between government and the company for that to happen.

"We were taking the necessary steps for the transfer to occur, and in fact, we have had a number of visits to Inagua to meet with the new customers, and to get all the customer-related matters in order. We had actually made plans to execute the takeover at the end of this month, unfortunately the hurricane has created significant damage to some of the assets in Inagua," Neymour said.

He was reluctant to disclose the cost of the intended acquisition, explaining that there is likely to be additional costs added as a result of the damage suffered. At present, Neymour said the Bahamas Electricity Corporation is providing assistance to Morton Salt and residents in Inagua, in a bid to restore the vital service as soon as possible.

"BEC has been very responsive and they are treating Inagua as if it is a part of their distribution system. The government and BEC is committed to assisting the Inaguans and Morton Salt in this matter, because this is a national issue," Neymour reported.

By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE