The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Freeport’s ease of doing business is “moving at a snail’s pace”, a group of Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees warned yesterday, as they blasted both the Government and city’s authority for the escalating row over its governance.

The 25-30 strong group, in a public letter sent to both Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and the GBPA’s owners, asserted that urgent reform was needed from both sides to help remove “chokeholds” that have resulted in approvals vital for conducting business take three to four months - as opposed to three to four weeks - to be issued.

The group, calling themselves “Concerned Licensees of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), issued a photo of its members who include realtor James Sarles, businessman Darren Cooper, and Davis Wallace, the Pirate’s Cove operator. They called for all sides to work collaboratively to “cut the administrative stranglehold and rid the island of the shakedowns”.

Suggesting that there was plenty of blame to go around for Freeport’s economic stagnation, and that all stakeholders must accept their share of responsibility, the group agreed that the GBPA requires new ownership, management and vision if the city is to thrive and prosper.

Yet they also voiced “deep alarm” at the Government’s efforts to pressure the GBPA and its shareholders, the St George and Hayward families, and slammed “inflammatory remarks” suggesting that Nassau has been “carrying” Freeport and the GBPA’s developmental obligations for at least a decade.

The group, backing the GBPA’s position that Freeport is a net contributor to the Public Treasury through more than $100m in annual revenues, thus contradicting the Government’s “reimbursement” demands, also called on both sides to work together to maximise the Hawksbill Creek Agreement’s potential as it accused each of not living up to their respective obligations.

And, in a warning to both warring parties that the GBPA’s licensees cannot, and should not, be ignored in the debate over Freeport’s future, the group pointed out that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement - which has full legal effect and is enshrined in statute - can only be changed if four-fifths, or 80 percent, of licensees vote in favour. The exact same margin is also required in a vote to devolve the GBPA’s quasi-governmental and regulatory powers to a condo-type association.

“Like all Grand Bahamians, we are passionate about its current economic state and its future,” the GBPA licensee group wrote. “This is our home and, despite the challenges, we love Grand Bahama and know first-hand its immense potential and its woeful under-achievement. Our only motive is to see our island become the progressive second city it was meant to be, the one it was. This is something upon which we clearly agree.

“However, we are deeply alarmed by recent comments made in Parliament by the Prime Minister and those made by the minister of foreign affairs [Fred Mitchell] about unspecified ‘decisive action’, inferring changes to the governance model of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, a statute not only enshrined by law but one which requires a four-fifths majority of licensees to change. We are also deeply concerned we are only hearing from the GBPA through press releases in response.

“To be clear, it is the thousands of licensees, their employees, their families and residents of Freeport that are most impacted by the protracted and unacceptable economic conditions on our island. It makes the lack of genuine engagement all the more alarming. Despite the aggressive statements – all of which have shared no plans nor details - we are unaware, to date, of any overtures by of our Government or the GPA to genuinely and substantively engage licensees on our future.”

Urging both the Government and GBPA to “sincerely embrace the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and to work together to fulfill its objectives”, the licensees said its free trade zone model had been exploited with great success by other jurisdictions.

And, while Freeport’s founding treaty needs to be modernised and upgraded, they added: “We can hardly measure its performance when obligations on both the part of the GBPA and the Government have not been met. The Hawksbill Creek Agreement and Freeport are not an infringement on our sovereignty – rather, its potential and corresponding obligation of both the GBPA and government to support realising this potential only serves to be a pivotal force in our national best interests. We all know this.”

Branding Freeport as the only planned city in the Bahamas with the infrastructure and capacity to support the economic growth this nation so badly needs in COVID-19’s wake, the group said: “We recall the ease of doing business on the island, with licensing taking two weeks, once paperwork and financing were in place. Shortly thereafter, ground would be broken and, more importantly, buildings and businesses were actually built and opened.

“Per the provisions of the contractual Hawksbill Creek Agreement, the GBPA’s role was and remains approving investors and advising government as a courtesy. Government approval was - and is - not required. We have seen this eroded drastically since the death of Edward St George and the retirement of Sir Albert [Miller].

“What used to take three to four weeks, now takes three to four months, despite all the technological advances. We have seen the Government and bureaucratic overreach in matters that have, without exception, been struck down by the highest courts in our country. Yet the erosion continues, the silence persisting for too long. At a time when we need the chokeholds removed, we are moving at a snail’s pace.”

Pointing to repeated hurricane strikes from Frances, Jeanne, Wilma, Matthew and Dorian, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the licensee group added: “No other island in our archipelago has faced these repeated hits – not one. Tourism was obliterated, our real property market plummeted, with prices plunging 40-50 percent. Yet again, we took to rebuilding, and if it weren’t for foreign support, we would not have been able to do so.

“We cannot misrepresent our plight. To say that Government has ‘been supporting Grand Bahama and … carrying Freeport and the responsibilities of the GBPA for 10 years if not more…’ does not reflect the facts of the support and contributions of the GBPA, of non-governmental organisations and that of the Government.

“In fact, it is government that is responsible for the hospital, the airport and the former Lucayan hotel. And, yet, now under multiple administrations, we have seen no revitalisation of these projects beyond ground-breakings and announcements,” they continued.

“The inflammatory remarks also do not account for Freeport’s contribution to the Public Treasury. Freeport has contributed in excess of $100m on an annual basis to the Public Treasury through airport fees, hotel taxes, VAT, customs duty, immigration fees, car license fees, NIB contributions and more. These funds are not spent in Freeport to maintain our roads, city infrastructure or utilities.

“Further, we do not see evidence of a proportional reinvestment of these funds in the East or West of Grand Bahama, in disrepair and requiring NGO support and that of the GBPA as well. Newly-constructed buildings like Eight Mile Rock’s government complex and Holmes’ Rock Junior High remain unopened, roads remain hazardous and it is evident all of Grand Bahama needs a revitalisation.”

And, also backing the Government’s position, the licensee group said: “We also firmly agree the status quo has long been unacceptable and we need transformative change with the GBPA. It is painfully clear that, notwithstanding the multiple blows Freeport, the GBPA and Grand Bahama have experienced, the lack of leadership, vision and resources have stifled our city.

“Does the GBPA need a change in shareholding and management? We believe it must. And, the sooner, the better.... We do not need rhetoric, press releases and posturing that is damaging, unprofessional and not what we expect from our Government nor the GBPA. The current lack of constructive dialogue and commitment to come to a resolution is reckless and unacceptable.

“We are calling on our Government and the GBPA to set an unprecedented example of what a stable, transparent adherence to the Hawksbill Creek Agreement can deliver for Freeport, for Grand Bahama and The Bahamas.”