FREEPORT| The Grand Bahama Port Authority has shot back at the Davis Government, making the claim that, “Port Authority is determined to do everything in its power to protect our mutual interests!”
Now the Grand Bahama Port Authority, if you go back five years, owes the People of the Bahamas (THE GOVERNMENT) some $357 million.
We at BP believe if you go back more than five years the sum owed is even greater than that!
Here is a group who has now come to the Bahamian people declaring WAR ON US and, by extension, the GBPA seeks to threaten all the millions now in the pipeline created by the GOVERNMENT OF THE BAHAMAS for Grand Bahama! THIS IS WAR!
Bahamas Press advises the Davis Government to do what it must to lay claim to our national business and INTERESTS ON Grand Bahama Island for the betterment of all persons concerned. We have toyed with the GBPA for far too long; considering its neglect and lackluster approach to the business interests of the People of the Bahamas.
We call on our Beloved Prime Minister Philip Edward BRAVE DAVIS KC, his able Attorney General and his Cabinet to TAKE HOLD OF THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE THINGS!
THIS IS THE MOMENT TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUES OF GRAND BAHAMA FOR GENERATIONS AND FREE THE PEOPLE FROM THE SHACKLES OF THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY!
STATEMENT: The Grand Bahama Port Authority issues the following statement in response to recent articles in the local media:
“The Grand Bahama Port Authority does not agree that it owes the sum of $357 million as claimed by the Government of The Bahamas. We reject and will robustly defend against this claim which we firmly believe will be defeated. The City of Freeport, our licensees and the people of Grand Bahama can rest assured that the Port Authority is determined to do everything in its power to protect our mutual interests.
“In the 70 years of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement – through six government administrations – no claim of this kind has ever been brought against the Port Authority, and for very good reason. As such, we believe it is important that public understands why this is happening.
“This claim came on the heels of a recent proposal by government to purchase the whole Port Group (which owns the Port Authority) from its current shareholders at a considerable discount; a proposal that was carefully considered in good faith, but ultimately declined. Having been disappointed in its attempt to purchase the Port group outright, it appears the government is attempting to force its desired outcome by other means.
“This unfortunate turn of events will no doubt prove hugely damaging to the economy of Freeport and devastating to investor confidence in Grand Bahama and The Bahamas as a whole. It comes just as Grand Bahama is on the cusp of a resurgence with $2B in new investment already being developed, the vast majority brought to the island by the Port Authority, making it the fastest growing economy in The Bahamas.
“The sad prospect of investors being potentially discouraged from investing if they feel that their money and property may no longer be safe, harms no one more than the thousands of regular hard-working Bahamians whose livelihoods and families depend on the City of Freeport. Foreign Direct investment will likewise suffer, if investors fear that a stable jurisdiction within which property rights and freedom from government coercion are not guaranteed.
“The Port Authority and its licensees and the residents of the Port Area collectively, already pay to the government in taxes more than $200M annually. This is far more than the central government has ever invested in Freeport in a single year.
“As a result, the Port Authority has been systematically handcuffed by central government policies and legislation over decades that prevent the Port Authority from being the one-stop-shop that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement intended, and which other international ‘free port’ areas around the world enjoy.
“As a result, ease of doing business in the Port Area has been severely eroded, which has reduced its competitive advantage, and the continuing loss of opportunity for The Bahamas has been enormous. Freeport’s tax contribution to the central government could have been much greater still, if government worked with Port Authority rather than against it. Such a partnership would be magically transformative and benefit the Bahamas as a whole.
“As it stands, the shareholders have found it necessary to regularly subsidize the Port Authority in the management of the city from their own pockets to the tune of many millions of dollars each year. Despite this, the economy and standard of living in the Port Area remains better than the central government managed areas of West End and East Grand Bahama.
“This claim has sadly created uncertainty for the investment climate of Grand Bahama, which has the potential to undermine the economy as it is just beginning its resurrection from a series of devastating hurricanes, most recently, the hugely destructive Dorian, as well as the Covid 19 pandemic.
“Central government’s co-operation is required. Continued hostility towards the shareholders of the Port Authority is counter-productive and unnecessary. Again, we urge central government to withdraw its unjustified claim and let us jointly resolve the issues in good faith. This is what the residents, licensees and investors in the Port Area deserve.”
