ANOTHER BODY BLOW TO GRAND BAHAMA

Grand Bahama and Freeport must have robbed the church.  The place which is by far the most developed island in the country with the best and most modern infrastructure has been for thirty years now on a slow slide down.  Its owners the Grand Bahama Port Authority are unable to fulfil their role as the chief promoter of the city.  They appear to have no money and are mired in an internecine squabble about what to do going forward.  A succession of hurricanes, the last of which was Dorian in 2019 destroyed the airport and settled the interest of the Port in further developing the major hotel there.  The city of Freeport has been collapsing upon itself over the past three decades.  But there seemed light at the end of the tunnel as the year ended with Carnival Cruise Lines starting its new cruise port.  Not so fast.  God wasn’t finished with them yet. Or was it the devil.  Pharmachem which seemed a reliable business partner with 140 high paying professional jobs announced that they were closing their doors with immediate effect last week. They did not explain the back story except to say that their partner had pulled the plug.  What others say is that after spending 400 million trying to upgrade the plant, they were unable to pass the rigourous test for manufacturing by the buyer of the product they were seeking to make.  As a result their partner threw in the towel. Whatever the case 140 people have been sent home and no longer have any work.