BBC: No price hike

General Manager of the Barbados Bottling Company Limited (BBC), Andre Thomas, says there is no immediate plans for a hike in price on soft drinks and products the company produces.

His comments came while admitting that the Garbage Sewage Contribution (GSC) Levy, which was implemented in August 2018, has had an impact on that company’s operations. He also said the increase in water rates has impacted as well.

He was speaking to the media following a recent tour with Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams; Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) General Manager, Keithroy Halliday; and other senior officials from BWA at BBC’s Newton, Christ Church location.

“The increase in water rate and GSC tax impacted our business heavily. Our cost went up by 30 [or] 40 per cent, but at the end of the day we are part of the environment and we want to protect the environment, so anything that is useful to assisting doing so we support.”

Thomas, who stated BBC fully gets its water from the BWA, further noted the company has “some solutions that can be helpful that wouldn’t require an increase in tax”. He added, “We are willing to invest and put our money where our mouth is to ensure that we support the environment, the country of Barbados, to ensure that you guys achieve your objectives and everybody benefits.”

Meanwhile, responding to a question about the impact on BBC’s operations by the recent water outage in the area, which was due to a burst on the BWA’s 16-inch main in Fairview Christ Church, the General Manager said: “We were slower than usual, but the Water Authority were magnificent. They supported us to make sure we kept running and there was minimal impact.” (MG)