Published On:Monday, October 25, 2010
By ALISON LOWE
Business Reporter
alowe@tribunemedia.net
A Bahamian renewable energy solutions provider has described a week of efforts to clear power-saving lightbulbs with Customs at the Arawak Cay dock as a "maddening exercise", which draws into question just how serious the Government is about encouraging Bahamians to reduce their energy bills.
Philip Holdom, executive manager of Integrated Security Services (ISS), said: "Either the Government needs to drop the tariffs they are trying to levy, or they need to stop going around saying we are promoting energy efficiency. As it is, they either appear to be ignorant, or hypocrites."
The businessman's frustration arose as he attempted to import a shipment of energy efficient Accord lights, made by Cooper Lighting, for a Nassau-based client. The bulbs - intended for commercial use - can produce energy savings of up to 56 per cent, and come housed within a "metal box" that enhances their light output and allows them to be easily attached to the electrical system, saving labour costs.
When the items arrived at the Arawak Cay dock, Mr Holdom said he was initially told by Customs officers that because the bulbs did not come with an invoice that specifically described them as "energy efficient", they would be charged duty at the regular rate, and not be imported duty-free.
Meanwhile, metal housing the bulb comes already mounted within was to have duty levied on it at 35 per cent, a Customs official determined, thereby all but wiping out any potential duty savings that should have been associated with the energy efficient lighting.
After meeting with acting comptroller of Customs, Charles Turner, yesterday morning, a position was reached whereby Mr Holdom was asked to re-submit his Customs entry with the bulbs separate from the fixtures. He was then allowed to clear the bulbs free of charge while paying 35 per cent duty to get the housing off the dock. This additional charge, Mr Holdom said, he will now reluctantly have to pass on to his clients, who had been under the impression that their power-saving lights would attract no duty.
Mr Holdom asserts that the bulb and the housing should be considered "a system", and since one cannot be effectively used without the other, the Government must re-consider its position or else face undermining what he interpreted as the intention of its tariff reductions on energy efficient bulbs - that of encouraging a shift to "greener" technologies in the Bahamas, in light of the acknowledgment that initial capital outlay can be a significant impediment to these choices.
As such, the businessman said he now intends to appeal the matter to the Prime Minister, admitting that while it may seem "absurd that a Prime Minister should be involved in an individual decision on a lightbulb", this may be the only way to ensure that what he considers as 'an element of rationality' is brought to bear on . . .
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