DOMA President says POS in need of a revival as more businesses leaving

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DOMA President says POS in need of a revival as more businesses leaving

President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association Gregory Aboud said the life of the capital city is hanging in the balance, as the number of empty spaces in the city increases.

In an interview on i95 Thursday, Aboud said not enough was being done to address the apparent exodus of business from the capital.

He added: “Those that understand business, those that understand urban development immediately recognise that you cannot have a city without active business to provide for needs and to attract people to the commercial centre.”

“Unfortunately that the decision makers not only do not understand our needs, but they don’t care about our needs and that is why there are so many vacancies in so many buildings. And may I respectfully point out because time is so short now for the city of Port-of-Spain, that some of those vacancies are opposite City Hall. They can see the unoccupied buildings and the for sale signs on the buildings and it seems to bring no response from them. It is a matter of great concern, it does speak to the need for urgent intervention to try and return some commerce to the City of Port-of-Spain,” Aboud said.

He said: “You have to understand that I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with more than one regime, more than one administration that came into office and they really don’t seem to care much about the city. A minister in a previous government, not this current government but in a previous government said that the businesses moving out of the city was really an expansion. I asked if they move out and they don’t come back or if they move out and leave their premises vacant how can that be considered an expansion?”

Aboud said the rent in the city is not even 50 per cent of what is being charged in some of the malls and the malls are occupied and the city is not.
However, he said it is not a question of rent, it’s a question of outcome, it’s a question of convenience, it’s a question of cleanliness and safety and it’s a question of understanding from those in authority.”

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