MITCHELL RESPONDS ON THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY
Guardian photo
This story is written by Travis Cartwright of the Nassau Guardian
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell claimed there are individuals coming to the defence of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) who are attacking Prime Minister Philip Davis.
Tensions between the Port and the Davis administration have continued to escalate after the prime minister asserted that the Port is failing the people of Freeport.
The two groups have spent weeks lobbing statements at one another.
In a voice note to PLP supporters on Monday, Mitchell, who was in Trinidad attending a CARICOM meeting, said, “I see why Moses took the tablets and broke them when he came down from the mount. Prime Minister Philip Davis is seeking to solve the Freeport problem for the people of Grand Bahama.
“The problem is that the moribund, anachronistic Grand Bahama Port Authority is either unwilling or unable to carry out the provisions of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement which they signed.
“The AG says that they won’t settle their bills that they owe the government.”
Mitchell then highlighted individuals he noted have come to the Port’s defence.
“One says don’t throw rocks at the Port, even though he was just out demonstrating adjacent the Port, and the other saying that the Port and the government are fighting like cats and dogs,” he said.
“After I saw the comments in the press, I went back and read Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Bible says the children of Israel were set free but when they fell on hard times they cried to go back to Egypt.
“In this Bible quoting society you’d think we know better. Lord help us.”
In the Senate last week, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the Davis administration is committed to recovering the outstanding money it is owed from the GBPA.
While wrapping up the budget debate in the House of Assembly last Monday, Davis announced that the government is going after the Port for monies he said are owed to the Public Treasury.
The GBPA issued a statement the next day, saying that the claims made by the government are contested.
Pinder said that this was the first time the Port responded to the government on that matter and said its statement was full of “inaccuracies and misrepresentations”.
The prime minister said Grand Bahama lost nine percent of its GDP last year and is continuing to lose more.
“Our position is clear: the Port Authority under its present structure is not realizing Freeport’s enormous potential; the status quo is not working, and the people of Grand Bahama deserve better,” Davis said.
In response, the Port said it is focused on advancing the economic and social development of Freeport.
“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,” it said.
The Hawksbill Creek Agreement was signed in 1955 between the government and Wallace Groves, who formed the GBPA.
The agreement gave GBPA authority to establish a city and free-trade zone over 50,000 acres that would spur economic development on Grand Bahama.
Under the agreement, the Port Authority, which is jointly owned by the St. George and Hayward families, is obligated to provide infrastructure in Freeport. It is responsible for constructing and administering the Port area and to license businesses in exchange for various tax exemptions.