The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FNM Senator Kwasi Thompson has accused the PLP government of falling short of achieving “the bold and necessary” changes needed in Freeport to address the high unemployment and the current economic crisis in Grand Bahama.

Referring to the recent Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), which extended the tax concessions in Freeport, Mr Thompson says it will not provide the needed relief that Freeport and the island desperately requires.

“Prime Minister Perry Christie’s statement on Freeport leaves more questions than answers,” he said in a statement yesterday. “Freeport continues to suffer. Unemployment, which is higher than the national average, is too high. Home foreclosure is too high. Property sales are sluggish. Our local economy is not growing fast enough.

“In Freeport, our taxes are too high for our current economic crisis, and our cost of living which has risen in some cases above the national average, is too high. The construction industry is stagnant, the housing market is stagnant and the PLP has failed bring sufficient economic development.”

Mr Thompson claims that the Prime Minister’s remarks to Parliament were a gross overstatement of what is actually in the MOU, noting that the government cannot be trusted because it says one thing and does another. The MOU, he said, extends the tax concessions for 20 years in consideration of mostly vague statements with no timelines, no details or specifics and no penalties or incentives to comply.

“What is also most egregious is there are performance check points for everyone else except the major party to the agreement which is the Port Authority and its companies. They have been given a blanket extension. They are really the party that needs the five year performance checkpoints,” Mr Thompson said.

“The Government has agreed to continue the status quo for the GB Port Authority and its companies for what in many cases amounts to nothing more than a promise to collaborate or enter into further discussions.”

According to Mr Thompson, the MOU has no specific timelines and details on a vital recommendation that the GBPA and Port Group Ltd establish and capitalise an independent investment promotion agency with expertise in retaining, expanding and attracting businesses to Freeport.

“There should have been no compromise on this point. This is the whole purpose and obligation of the GB Port Authority. The MOU only speaks of a vague promise to collaborate with the government. Who will pay for it? When must it be in place?” he asked.

Additionally, he points out that the Prime Minister also refers to matters which do not even appear in the MOU, leaving the impression that commitments have been made in these areas.

Mr Thompson criticised the government for waiting too late to begin the process of negotiating the Hawksbill Creek Agreement extensions, appointing a Commission five months before the August 5, 2015, deadline.

“The PLP knew the date of the deadline for the tax extensions before the 2012 elections, yet they negligently appointed the Commission five months before the first deadline causing the process to be unnecessarily rushed. We are only left to conclude that the delay was as a result of the neglectful attitude the PLP shows to Freeport,” he said.

Mr Thompson indicated that government also dismissed the wishes of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce and many licensees who called for more control and involvement by the private sector.

The MOU, he stated, only provides for one director on the Board of the Port Authority leaving the licensees with insufficient control or influence. Mr Thompson believes that the licensees should have a more significant role than one seat on the board.

Mr Thompson also criticised the government for having extended real property tax exemptions to the Grand Bahama Development Company when it had stated that those exemptions may not be extended for non-Bahamians who own undeveloped land as an incentive to develop.

“However, it (the government) has essentially approved the extension for the non-Bahamian company that owns the largest amount of undeveloped land and who has been the main problem in land sales. The PLP has again missed the point. There is no incentive for GB Development Company to begin to develop their land or even offer their land at discounted prices,” he said.

“The MOU ought to have committed the GB Development Company to allocate land at discounted prices for the government’s housing programme, which would have helped the economy.”