Up to a dozen cruise ships off the coast of Barbados are continuing to buy some of their food for crew members from local farmers which is an unexpected benefit from the Covid-19 lockdown.
That information came from Senator Lisa Cummins, chair of the Bridgetown Port Inc who dismissed suggestions that the country was responsible for taking care of them while they were docked there.
In fact, she said the island is earning revenue from those cruise ships as they source some of their dietary needs from local farmers to complement what they have imported.
She said: “Based on what I see daily in terms of request for persons to access the port to provide services to the ships, there is still economic activity to a number of local businesses. Wherever there is an opportunity for provisioning to take place for the ships that is still taking place.
“We don’t have to provide food for them. They are working very closely with us. They are taking food in from us, so you have a number of local providers who ordinarily have contracts with the ships to provide them with food.” She said that local trade is providing fruits, meat and vegetables to the ships. The cruise ships docked off the shores of Bridgetown, some of which have more than 250 crew members aboard, have also been getting items from their parent companies. There are no passengers on the ships.
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