THE FIRE NEXT TIME IN FREEPORT
On Monday 6 December 2021, a fire broke out at the International Bazaar in Freeport, Grand Bahama in what was once rather grandly titled the second city of The Bahamas. It still is in the sense that this is still the second largest population centre in the country but Freeport is as dead as door nail. Nothing is happening on the ground and there is a palpable sense of despair. Many have given up. The fire was yet another sign of how low things had gone.
Enter into the mix Fred Mitchell, the PLP Chairman, who has always been a fan of the city and he appeared at the Tori Gate at the Bazaar for a press conference. The embers were still smoldering, five days later. He was joined by Senators Kirk Russell and James Turner, who were the PLP’s candidates in the last general election and who were rejected by the people of Grand Bahama, in the face of the worse treatment by any Government of the people of Freeport.
The people of Grand Bahama are suckers for punishment it seems.
Mr. Mitchell made the point that despite the fact that the people of Freeport chose to vote for the FNM, he was here to show that the PLP still supported Freeport and was not conceding the city to the Free National Movement. He quoted a Barbados businessman who told him that he (the businessman) simply could understand how all the capital in the city could be allowed to sit there idly and not one thing being done about it.
While the Government has a significant role to play in the overall governance of the city of Freeport because it is part of The Bahamas, the real problem is that Freeport is a privately owned and operated city. In 1955, the owners of the city made a deal with the Government to promote the city and bring investment into the city. The owners have failed miserably in these last years to do so. They have nothing to show these days but extracting profits and oppressing licence owners with service and other charges which simply depress the economy of the city.
This past week was a real case of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
The Grand Bahama Port Authority which owns and operates the city announced the appointment of four Bahamians to various management positions in the city. But when you looked at the jobs what were these people actually being appointed to do that would help improve the economy of Freeport? Nothing , it was just a case of musical chairs.
The Grand Bahama Port Authority is useless. The Government should publicly acquire its assets and run the city or find a partner that can fix the problems before the fire next time.