THE PORT STRIKES BACK

The pitiful sign on the side of the road was the evidence of the Grand Bahama Port Authority doing what the Hawksbill Creek Agreement that they signed in 1955 said they should be doing.  The roads should be fixed, with no potholes.  There should be a functioning international airport.  There should be a well-equipped hospital.  There should be a bridge to east Grand Bahama.  They are able to provide none of these things in full measure. Instead, we have today, a set of half-kept promises and some simply abandoned.

In the meantime, the Grand Bahama Port Authority is still able to extract profits from the collection of fees and service charges for the business of running the city. That has not stopped.  But the main business in Freeport now is demolition. Everywhere there are abandoned buildings and the Port is in the business of tearing them down. This is not the sign of a city that has a life.

For years the government of The Bahamas has been carrying the city. The Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey, for example,  pumped 9 million dollars into the city to get people to beautify the city and put people to work. Why did she have to do this?  Because since Hurricane Dorian, the Grand Bahama Port Authority has not been able to refresh the city.

We are using fancy words.  But refresh means to attract investors and to create jobs  They have simply been extracting profits and allowing the place to collapse upon itself. They are either unwilling or unable to put the money into the city that it needs to be attractive to investors.

Prime Minister Philip Davis says in the face of this the Government has decided it needs to move.  He has been talking to the Port behind the scenes for the better part of a year.  We hear that there is an offer on the table.  The Attorney General says that the Grand Bahama Port Authority owes the government a wad of money for all the services it provides and the Port should pay what it owes.

Last week, the Port responded with a  slew of press releases. First, they contradicted the Government and challenged the Government politically. Then their surrogates started appearing in the press to say leave them alone. Uncle Tom is ready willing able always. Then they said what was taking them so long to fix the bridge; they were testing it to prove that it could withstand the load.  Test, test, test  From Dorian in 2019 to now.  That’s four years of test, test, test.

The FNM is hiding in the tall grass, saying on the one hand and on the other hand but has no solution themselves.

The best response so far though is the Port announced that it is supplying food for the free giveaway this weekend.  That’s right.  If they don’t agree to leave us alone, let us give away free food. What wonderful people the owners of the Port are.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 8 July 2023 up to midnight: 1;

Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 8 July 2023 up to midnight: 540,407;

Number of hits for the year 2023 up to Saturday 8 July 2023 up to midnight: 11,757,858;