As public and private sector relief efforts swell in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin, one local generator provider yesterday stated that it was "more important" to get power and other services restored to damaged Family Islands than to wait on the government for duty exemptions on vital equipment.
Loran Pyfrom of Marlin Marine told Guardian Business that the company, along with other private entities, had donated 18 Generac generators to Long Island since Sunday and was currently "pleading" with the Customs Department to free a current shipment of new generators sitting on the dock.
"Generators are a low-duty item. At this point I would have thought that the government would have said that any items entering the country for relief would have been duty free - particularly generators. Given that San Salvador, Long Island, Crooked Island and parts of Acklins have zero power we thought that that would have been at the top of their list.
"A little bit of effort was put in to get these things duty free. However, we weren't getting anywhere so it was decided that since it's such a low duty rate on generators that it's not pressing. There's not a huge amount of money there and it's more important to get these things down to the people in need than to save five percent," Pyfrom stated.
Pyfrom stated that Generac had offered an upfront discount on any other inventory needed for the relief effort. While Pyfrom noted that Marlin Marine had another tentative order placed with Generac, he said that his team was still trying to assess the specific needs of affected communities but hoped to lock in another order by today.
Pyfrom said that the generators were intended to power portable water makers, thus reducing the need for bulk water imports.
"We do have another shipment on the dock. We're waiting on Customs valuation to approve the entry. We have what we think the entry is going to be, the check has been written, our brokers have it, so the minute that Customs approves it - and we've been pleading with them to hurry up and stamp the entry - we can have another 16-17 generators and Generac water pumps down to the islands in need."
According to Pyfrom, Marlin Marine and its partners have prepared to donate a fully automatic standby generator to one of Long Island's schools. While not an immediate priority as Marlin Marine prepares its bulk generator shipments to the island, Pyfrom said that the company would soon send one of its technicians to Long Island to assist in installation and maintenance efforts.
"We also offered to send [a technician] down there for a couple of days if they need help in fixing current generators down there and installing generators while assessing the exact needs of what the school would need, so we can get that down on the boat, get them up and running and get the school back online possibly before BEC gets the grid back online," he said.
Joaquin swelled rapidly from a tropical depression to a 130-mile-an-hour Category 4 hurricane in stunningly short order, wreaking a trail of devastation across the southern Bahamas. Relief efforts from the private sector were mounted equally swiftly, with the need for fresh water being a clear and pressing priority.
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