The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president yesterday asserted that the planned June 2025 roll-out of the Port Department’s new online portal, inclusive of fee payments, “is not a celebration”.

Peter Maury told Tribune Business it has taken the Government more than four years to replicate what the marina industry achieved with SeaZPass, the online portal that facilitated cruising permits and yacht charter licences/payments, after the Port Department’s target launch date was revealed.

Since the SeaZPass portal was ordered to shut down by the Government in October 2021, visiting yachters and boaters have lacked an online solution for fulfilling these regulatory requirements. However, Jobeth Coleby-Davis, minister of energy and transport, yesterday confirmed that the long-touted alternative from DigieSoft Technologies had been demonstrated to the ministry in recent days.

“Earlier this week, a full demonstration of the platform was held at the ministry. I am advised that a full roll-out of the system and a public education campaign will take place by June 2025,” she said. “The online solution allows customers to create their own profile on the website, and builds on previous efforts made to bring all administrative operations of the Port Department into the 21st century.

The payment system will allow users to make their fee payment directly online to the Treasury Department through Digi-pay. The system can also print financial reports for the Ministry of Finance. This engagement will assist with enforcement efforts, compliance, consistent collection of revenue, the public’s ease of accessibility to the Department and overall convenience.”

Besides facilitating payment of all Port Department-related fees, fines and penalties, Mrs Coleby-Davis indicated that the new portal will offer more services than SeaZPass. It will allow persons to request tug boat services; register and manage dock spaces; complete online vessel registration and renewal; and schedule vessel inspections.

Mr Maury, though, said neither the ABM nor its members have been involved with the new portal’s development. “I just don’t have high expectations,” he said. “It only took them four years. It’s needed because the system is a mess, but it was not needed before until the blew it up. They’re trying to take credit for fixing it, but they’re fixing what they broke...

“The portal is going to do what we were doing. It took them four years to do it. We did it in a matter of months. We put it together, put it out and were collecting revenue. It took the Government longer to write the agreement than us to put the portal together. We haven’t seen the new one. We haven’t been invited or anything. I don’t know how it’s going to work or who it’s going to involve. I haven’t even seen it.”

Mrs Coleby-Davis, meanwhile, said the Royal Bahamas Police Force issued some 1,600 tickets for drivers with uninsured vehicles during the first eight months of 2024 as she sought to justify legal reforms that eliminate the requirement for drivers to take out auto insurance in their ‘birth month’.

“Madam Speaker, also included in this mid-year Budget statement is the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2025. This amendment seeks to remove the ‘birth month’ requirement for auto insurance coverage. The adjustment is necessary to avoid additional charges that consumers might face from insurance companies,” she said.

“To be clear, the Government is keen to avoid placing financial hardship on Bahamians while we fight to stop uninsured vehicles from being on our streets. According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force, a considerable number of road traffic accidents involve uninsured vehicles.

“Not only that, Madam Speaker, during the first 8 months of 2024, I am advised that over 1,600 tickets were issued for uninsured vehicles on the streets of New Providence alone.” Elsewhere, Mrs Coleby-Davis said efforts are being initiated to overhaul Marsh Harbour’s main commercial shipping port that has been left devastated ever since Hurricane Dorian struck.

“We understand the significance of the Marsh Harbour Port to the island – residents and businesses. I can advise that a Bahamian company was selected by our US counterparts to restore the transshipment port,” she added.

“The upgrades to the port will include more lighting, provision of storm water drainage, placement of an administrative and security building, CCTV, connections to backup generators, power connection to new buildings, paving and a suitable perimeter fence.”

Mrs Coleby-Davis promised to provide a further update on Abaco’s port in April. However, Abaco-based sources yesterday asserted that “nothing is happening” and “there are no boots on the ground” working at the Marsh Harbour port. There was also speculation that the project might be a casualty of Donald Trump’s federal spending cuts as the funding is understood to be coming from the US government.