The Management of Lucian Blue Ocean Seafood Inc. (LBO), an entity that is solely owned by a Saint Lucian business woman, wishes to inform the public that as of November 1st 2021, the company had undertaken a temporary closure of its business operations at the Sans Soucis location. Contrary to unverified reports broadcasted in recent times, the closure took effect after all staff and our fisher partners were duly informed. Our decision was not without due thought process. Our staff and stakeholders have always been front and center of all of our operational decisions. The effects of the temporary closure on their livelihoods were not overlooked. The temporary closure comes at a time of low yield from our fishers and arriving at this decision was unavoidable and is in an effort to ensure the viability of the company under these trying times.
Coupled with the previous government’s failure to act in accordance with its commitments under the PPP arrangements with LBO, our business, like many other businesses worldwide, did not factor a pandemic in its forecasting. Our earlier huge capital investments in repairs, renovations and restructuring were all premised on cabinet decisions made by the previous administration. Thanks to our highly committed staff and supportive fisher partners, we were able to somewhat weather the early moments of the shocks that were brought about by these two mammoth occurrences which simultaneously impacted the business whilst in its infantile stage. LBO was officially launched on February 22nd 2020. Suffice it to say that the situation we inherited was a dismal one. We inherited an entity which was operating for many years with annual losses amounting to millions of dollars, monthly electricity bills of nearly 40K dollars and an unkempt physical structure. LBOs projections were poised to change this trajectory.
In accordance with the PPP arrangements, we are in talks with the current government administration regarding sustainable measures which were presented in futility to the former administration, in February 2021. It is expected that the unresolved issues brought forward from the previous administration will be resolved amicably and a new way forward will be arrived at. The current administration has articulated a genuine interest in the fishing industry and our fishers.
Food sustainability, energy efficiency and the livelihood of our fishers form the main pillars of our strategic plan and as such, we will continue to work assiduously to: a) provide a ready market for our fishers to operate; b) pursue avenues to leverage renewable energy and c) retool our fishers to meet the international standards that are required for the sector to be integrated into global economies.
Of note is that, despite our temporary closure of the Sans Soucis location in Castries, we remain open at our Vieux-Fort location where LBO continues to provide 50% subsidies on the cost of ice to our fishers. We wish to assure the public that this is only a temporary setback as we look forward to serving our fishers and customers.
We kindly ask our stakeholders and patrons for their indulgence and patience as we undertake this exercise to ensure a successful reopening in the new year. We continue to focus on creating employment opportunities and remain steadfast in our resolve despite reports to the contrary.