Published On:Wednesday, December 02, 2009

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

THE newly-elected Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce's president yesterday urged that the long-running Port Authority ownership dispute be resolved "by the end of the first quarter 2010, if not before", and warned that the continuing uncertainty meant potential businesses and investors were likely to give Freeport a wide berth.

K. Peter Turnquest, of Telecom Trading & Consulting, told Tribune Business that during his term in office he also wanted to obtain "a better understanding" of Hutchison Whampoa's plans for Our Lucaya, Grand Bahama's premier resort property, and see the development of a master plan for Grand Bahama that emphasised the development of the Sea Air Business Centre.

Turning to the three-year Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) ownership dispute between the Hayward and St George families, Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business: "With respect to that, we hope the ownership issue is settled very shortly, hopefully by the end of the first quarter, if not before.

"No business will come into Grand Bahama if they're not sure who they're dealing with, and do not know what the landscape will look like. It's very important that we resolve that issue, so we can speak to investors with one voice and one direction."

As previously revealed by Tribune Business, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has been pushing behind the scenes for a resolution to the Port ownership dispute, and taken steps to bring this about by refusing to renew the work permit of its chairman, Hannes Babak, beyond December 31, 2009.

The Prime Minister has viewed this as increasing the pressure on Sir Jack Hayward and the Hayward family trust to settle with the late Edward St George's estate, but Sir Jack has shown no signs of bowing to the Prime Minister's wishes when it comes to a resolution and a possible sale to Hutchison Whampoa.

Instead, he has been making overtures of his own regarding a possible sale to Lord Ashcroft of Belize and a US group whose Grand Bahama-based point man is Ben Bell.

On the issue of Hutchison, Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business that he and the new Chamber Board wanted to obtain "a better understanding of the intentions of Hutchison with respect to Our Lucaya. Our premier property continues to suffer".

Residents

He added that Grand Bahama residents had held out "high hopes" that Hutchison might sign an agreement allowing Foxwoods Development Company to take over as Our Lucaya's operator/manager for both the resort and casino, since its world-renowned brand could immediately place Freeport and the entire island on the world gaming/tourism map.

Agreement

It now seemed that an agreement with Foxwoods cannot happen, and Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business: "The Radisson group [the current operators] are showing some signs of life and bringing some energy to the product, because right now it seems to be dormant and waiting for others to do it for us.

"The operator and owner need to put more work into promoting the market to get the best out of it."

The Chamber president added: "We'd also like to see the development plans for the island include the revitalisation of the Air, Land and Sea Park [Sea Air Business Centre], which would provide excellent opportunities to create quality jobs in supply chain management.

"The infrastructure we have here is unsurpassed in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, so we'd like to see more focus on that."

Freeport's infrastructure, including its planned roads, deep-water harbour, the Freeport Container Port, Grand Bahama International Airport and Grand Bahama Shipyard, together with its tax-advantageous status and geographical location, made the island perfect for industries such as logistics, shipping and duty-free warehouses.

Goal

"Our goal is to see the recovery of the economy in Grand Bahama for the benefit of the members," Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business. "We're going to do our part to correct the impression that doing business in Grand Bahama is difficult.

"Grand Bahama is an excellent place to do business. The quality of life is unmatched, and we have the technical and labour skills to do the job. We think it's a wonderful place to do business, and will do all that is necessary to make business grow."

Grand

Mr Turnquest said the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce intended to "meet with all the relevant government agencies" come January 2010 to obtain an update on their commerce-related agendas.

The Chamber also intended to "give some input" on what it wanted to see happen.