The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce's president yesterday said the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) remains restricted to revoking occupancy certificates because it has no powers to demolish unsafe buildings.

James Carey told Tribune Business that the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, the city's founding treaty, does not provide the quasi-governmental body with the necessary authority to order the demolition of dilapidated, unsafe or unsanitary properties despite efforts to change Freeport's by-laws so it gains these powers.

Responding to the 30-day notice issued by the GBPA to the Lucayan Towers South condominium complex, demanding that its Board fix multiple safety woes and other deficiencies or otherwise its occupancy certificate will be revoked, Mr Carey said: “One of the things the GBPA has been fighting for in recent times is seeking the amendment of the by-laws for Freeport so that they can freely demolish buildings that are in a state of disrepair or vacant or unoccupied.

"That, to my knowledge, has not happened yet because that requires government permission.” Revoking Lucayan Towers South's occupancy certificate is thus the only option the GBPA has in its arsenal, as the Hawksbill Creek Agreement does not permit it to demolish dilapidated buildings.

The agreement gives the GBPA the authority to manage Freeport in its sections 13 (1) (a) and (b) with respect to all factories, warehouses, office buildings and housing. To demolish buildings in the Freeport area, the GBPA needs the co-operation of the property owner and/or landlord. Absent that, it has to ask the central government to intervene and force owners to address the issues with their buildings.

Mr Carey said: “The Government can only work within the boundary of the legislation, which gives them existence, and that is primarily the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. If that agreement does not provide for certain things then they just can’t do certain things.

"The GBPA is not responsible for the police force, Immigration or Customs officers, which obviously limits the powers of the GBPA in terms of border security. They are not a government, they have certain authorities, but one of the things they can’t do is legislate.”

"The Government has the force of legislation with them. For example, they can demolish certain buildings and they can also take certain properties in the public interest. The GBPA does not have the ability to do that.”

Efforts to contact the Lucayan South Towers Board of Directors have proven unsuccessful. The 30-day occupancy certificate warning has also arisen just when relations between the Government and the GBPA and its owners, the Hayward and St George families, have become increasingly frosty due to the public spat over Freeport's governance structure and whether both this and the Hawksbill Creek Agreement are living up to their development obligations.

Mr Carey said: “I guess something extra is going on in the background, or the GBPA may be saying we are doing due diligence as best we can. I think that when this back and forth started, somebody in government made the comment that there are unsightly buildings and properties in Grand Bahama that the GBPA is not dealing with.

"So, are they now responding to that by dealing with a property that is occupied, and maybe in a certain state that it could be hazardous to occupants? And I haven’t seen anything about the GBPA’s request for an amendment to the by-laws so that they can take down dilapidated and unoccupied property.”