The Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency, under the Ministry of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, has been rolling out its Dealing with Debt Programme to prevent the premature liquidation of small businesses across the island.
Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland, made the disclosure yesterday, while speaking during the opening ceremony for a joint National Conservation Commission and the Barbados Trust Fund Limited training course in debt and money management for vendors of the Berinda Cox Fish Market and the tenants in the Oistins Bay Gardens.
The Minister told the gathering that the programme provides a framework where businesses can explore other options other than filing for insolvency and bankruptcy.
Under the programme, Mr. Sutherland said a number of private sector Chartered Accountants had been assisting businesses in difficult times over the past four months with debt management and restructuring services on a volunteer basis, as “part of their give back to the communities that they serve”.
“The aim is to help small businesses overcome their financial difficulties and to make bankruptcy a very last resort for small businesses, and I want to thank the Institute of Chartered Accountants for giving of their service to address some of the small businesses who came to the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency to file for bankruptcy,” the Minister stated.
He added that the accountants sat with the small business owners and went “through their accounts to let them see that there is more to business than coming to file for bankruptcy and insolvency”.
Mr. Sutherland reminded his audience that his Ministry was about saving small businesses.