Bashaar Tarabay very rarely goes into the concrete shell of what used to be Varieties Apparel, the longstanding clothing store he owns in Road Town.
When he does, he has to unlock the metal grate, remove a cracked piece of plywood, and climb under the glassless doorframe.
Inside, looters have taken almost everything except for the shelving units.
Varieties has been in Mr. Tarabay’s family for decades, along with other stores scattered across the island. His father, Omar, first came to the territory more than 40 years ago, selling underwear door-to-door to make a living until he could eventually open a small business.
In the days after Hurricane Irma, some of the family’s stores were gutted by bands of looters. Varieties was virtually undamaged from the storm, but by 7 a.m. on Sept. 7 people had broken the windows and pried off the storm boards.
Hammers were found littered around the store and a screwdriver is still wedged in one windowsill.
Based on videos friends have sent him, Mr. Tarabay estimates that at one point 50 or 60 people had broken in, ransacking shoes, clothes and other gear. He and a few others showed up in time to see the shop still packed with looters “like a bee hive.”
“We told them to leave and said, ‘We won’t do anything; just get out. Just drop what’s in your hand and get out,’” he said.
Mr. Tarabay said the burglary felt that much more personal after he saw photos of customers he knows — some of whom had become close — stealing from the shop. Because of the overwhelming theft, Mr. Tarabay and his relatives are living “month-to-month.”
“The truth is we’re a big family, and this store supports us. This is all we know,” he said. “We don’t work in finance or in law or anything like that; this is what we grew up with and this is all we do.”
‘Not safe yet’
In the nearly two months since Irma, several people have been arrested on suspicion of looting.
On Sept. 22, six men and a minor appeared before Magistrates’ Court charged with burglarising BVI Communications.
Four pleaded not guilty and were granted bail for an October court date; three pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 300 hours of community service or a fine of $3,000.
On Oct.17, three other men were charged in connection with the theft of vehicles and auto parts from International Motors.
“We continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to crime, and police will be actively protecting the public and property,” Governor Gus Jaspert said in a press release in late September.
Police Information Officer Diane Drayton said that because police systems are down, they could not “account for the number of those arrested on suspicion of looting,” but she added that there has been “no looting” since the first few days after Irma.
Despite the symbolic “all clear,” many Tortola business owners, even ones who were not impacted by looting after Irma, are nervous that their livelihoods could still be targeted.
Tarek Abouadela, owner of the children’s clothing store Mini Me, opened his shop two weeks ago but has yet to take down the sheets of plywood covering several windows.
“I’m in the heart of town, Main Street,” Mr. Abouadela said. “It’s not safe yet here 100 percent. There’s no current, no water, no facilities.”
Mr. Abouadela started Mini Mi in 2013 and has family members who have run businesses on the island for decades.
For him, he said, it was difficult to see small stores that have taken years to get off the ground be torn down in a single day.
“Maybe you understand that [the looters] are without food: They have kids, they need to survive,” he said. “But why do you need the TV? Why do you need the sports clothes? You survived the hurricane: You’re supposed to go out and thank God and support the community.”
Getting back up
Shortly after Irma, meetings were assembled for business owners across the island at various locations, including the Tortola Pier Park.
Premier Dr. Orlando Smith instructed struggling businesses to come to the Department of Trade, Investment Promotion and Consumer Affairs, where they could schedule an appointment with a trade inspector to “visit their business for an assessment of support needed.”
“I believe we had a healthy conversation about their needs, but also how government can improve our present outreach in support of businesses getting up and running and also the rebuild of the territory,” the premier said about one of the meetings in the Second District.
Businesses could also apply for loans through a new government-created fund, the premier said.
But Mr. Tarabay said after the Pier Park meeting he attended there has been a lack of information or any follow-up action from government.
“It sounded nice on paper and then when you started following up on it, you got this kind of cold shoulder,” he said.
Mr. Tarabay said when he contacted the trade department about accessing necessary forms, officials said they were still “ironing out the details.”
“It was mostly sound bites, ear candy, for frustrated people. And really, when you think about it, what does government have in place for all these businesses that have lost so much?” he said. “There’s probably something in place on paper, but the reality is they don’t have the money to do anything that they’re saying.”
Attempts to reach the trade department were not immediately successful.
‘Where are the customers?’
Even with a cash injection, proprietors worry that business will not necessarily boom.
“From my experience in these days, we are paying from our own pockets for our businesses to survive. We can’t cover the bills from the shop [through sales alone],” Mr. Abouadela said. “Okay, if you have the loan, you buy the merchandise. But where are the customers? Where’s the economy? You need this money to circulate.”
Meanwhile, small business owners are still grappling with insurance claims, figuring out how to pay mortgages, and negotiating with landlords.
When Mr. Tarabay looks at his ransacked store, he wonders how he’ll be able to save his father’s life work with his hands tied.
“We had immense public support, the community is fantastic, but the mechanisms — if there ever were any — to get us up and going aren’t there. They were technically never there,” he said. “We’re going to have to do this by ourselves.”
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 26, 2017 print edition.
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