The Tribune

• GBPA licensees plan to intervene

• With call to ‘come to round table’

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A group of Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licensees plans to intervene in its escalating dispute with the Government as the Prime Minister was yesterday urged to “stop throwing rocks and come to the table”.

Darren Cooper, a Freeport businessman who was among the leaders of a protest march to the GBPA’s headquarters last year, told Tribune Business that around 30 members of Freeport’s private sector have resolved to write to Prime Minister Philip Davis KC requesting that the Government properly engage in a “frank conversation” with all stakeholders on the city’s future.

Speaking after tensions between the Government and the GBPA seemingly intensified this week, amid assertions and counter assertions over how much the latter must allegedly pay for the provision of public services in Freeport, he branded the public row between the two sides as “unacceptable” and said it must cease.

Telling this newspaper he was “very concerned” by the situation, which has to-date only created uncertainty in the private sector and damaged already-fragile investor confidence, Mr Cooper said: “There will be in a number of days, probably within a day or more, a response from the private sector.

“There was a meeting between a little over 30 of us private sector stakeholders. We gave drafted a letter giving them [the Government] our position as the private sector, and inviting the Prime Minister to come to Grand Bahama for dialogue and conversation. It’s not been sent out yet, but it is something that is being drafted and should be sent in a day or two.”

Mr Cooper said the private sector group had extended a similar invitation to the Prime Minister previously, but alleged that “his office declined” it. However, he added that the present state of relations between the Government and GBPA compelled them to try again and see if a peaceful resolution can be achieved for the benefit of all Freeport residents and businesses.

“We believe the Grand Bahama Port Authority wants to talk and come to the round table,” he told Tribune Business. “We’re now requesting a dialogue. It will be best for the way forward for Grand Bahama. We’re going to break our silence, advocate for talks and address our concerns.

“Hopefully the Prime Minister will see the need to stop throwing rocks at the Port Authority in the public domain, come to the table and have a sensible conversation about how to move Freeport and Grand Bahama forward. It will be for the benefit of all concerned. We’ve been in dialogue with the Port Authority, different executives, and they have never shied away from a conversation.”

Mr Cooper said he and his fellow group members want to send a message to the Government that the present public dispute with the GBPA and its principals, the Hayward and St George families, is “unacceptable” and “enough” and should cease immediately for the greater good of Freeport.

“It’s time to come to the round table,” he reiterated. “This way we can have a more responsive and healthy conversation. Let’s hear what the Prime Minister wants, what his end goal is, and understand the stakeholder concerns and what they want, and work in harmony to make this happen.”

Mr Cooper spoke after several Freeport-based sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this newspaper that the persistent attacks on the GBPA by Mr Davis and multiple Cabinet ministers, especially Fred Mitchell, minister of the public service and foreign affairs, was tantamount to “throwing rocks at the port but hitting the licensees and investor confidence” because of all the resulting uncertainty over Freeport’s future.

The GBPA, meanwhile, is pushing back against the Prime Minister’s accusation it has failed to repay costs the Government has incurred in providing public services in Freeport despite being billed for these expenses, asserting that the sums in question are “contested”.

Suggesting that the Government’s long-standing claims are neither justified nor supported by “credible evidence”, Freeport’s quasi-governmental body argued that the city has always been a positive “net contributor” to the Public Treasury and effectively blasted Nassau for impeding the city’s development.

The GBPA, in a sign that relations between Nassau and Freeport continue to worsen, blamed “increased Government imposed bureaucracy and red tape” for hindering the city’s development, which it argued was a violation of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

And, in a pun on the Government’s election campaign slogan, it also asserted that Freeport’s residents and 3,500 GBPA business licensees “deserve a ‘New Day’” where the Government works with it to realise the Hawksbill Creek Agreement’s still-untapped “huge potential”.

“Government’s claims under clause 1(5) of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement are contested. The GBPA is yet to be satisfied that the Government’s purported claims, which have lain dormant for more than 50 years, are justified and supported by credible evidence. They are, however, being reviewed and will be fully addressed,” Freeport’s quasi-governmental agency said.

“We would add, however, that the claims under this clause, which has not been amended since 1965, when Freeport was in its infancy, have little relevance today. At the time, government merely collected Excise Tax. Today, they extract a multitude of additional taxes which include, but are not limited to, cruise and airport passenger taxes, environmental taxes, road taxes, room taxes, as well as import / export duty and VAT, to name but a few.

“It is also an anomaly to ask the GBPA to fund the Ministry of Grand Bahama. The fact of the matter is, Freeport has always been, and continues to be, a net contributor to the Bahamas Treasury, despite the increased Government imposed bureaucracy and red tape, in breach of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which has held Freeport back,” the GBPA continued.

“GBPA remains focused on advancing the economic and social development of Freeport, despite these challenges. The licensees and residents of Freeport, however, also deserve a ‘New Day’, where government and GBPA are working together, positively, to propel Freeport’s economy forward and ensure a positive future for all residents and licensees. The Hawksbill Creek Agreement’s huge potential can only be achieved if Government is willing to work collaboratively with GBPA.”

Mr Davis, in closing the 2023-2024 Budget debate on Monday, told the House of Assembly as he wrapped up the 2023-2024 Budget debate that the Government has “begun to invoice” the GBPA for “reimbursement” of these unspecified costs.

He argued that the Government was justified in seeking repayment under section one, sub-clause five, of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, Freeport’s founding treaty, which stipulates that it can seek payment from the GBPA for providing “certain activities and services” if the costs involved exceed certain tax revenue streams generated in the city.

“It’s important to note there’s a provision in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement that specifies that the cost borne by the Government for certain activities and services provided are to be reimbursed by the Grand Bahama Port Authority for amounts in excess of Customs duties and emergency taxes collected,” Mr Davis said.

“My government has begun to invoice the Port Authority for these reimbursable expenses, as calculated by an independent accounting firm. To date, the Port Authority has not provided reimbursement in connection with any of these invoices.”