The Tribune

• Chamber chief: Parties squabbling like kids

• Urges rapid resolution and more Gov’t clarity

• Questions what GBPA buyer would acquire

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president yesterday branded the escalating row between the Government and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) as “another disaster for Freeport” that must be calmed rapidly.

James Carey told Tribune Business he was “surprised” the Government had decided to effect its desired reforms for Freeport through a public battle with the city’s quasi-governmental authority, and accused the two sides of behaving like children as they squabbled over who was responsible for bringing certain investment projects to Grand Bahama.

Warning that the row continues to dent and undermine business and investor confidence in Freeport, he urged the Davis administration and the GBPA to negotiate and resolve their differences in days rather than “weeks and months” given that greater damage will result the longer the impasse lasts.

Speaking after Prime Minister Philip Davis KC this week asserted that the GBPA has yet to respond to the Government’s invoices demanding “reimbursement” for public monies spent in Freeport, and the quasi-governmental authority’s blast back disputing the calculations and sums owed, Mr Carey told this newspaper: “It’s a bit surprising the Government, being the leader of the country, has chosen to go about it this way.

“It doesn’t bode well for confidence and I know some businesspersons - a few, not very many - have made mention that they’re a little uncertain what to do going forward. While government has made their utterances, they have not said what their intentions are.”

Mr Carey questioned why the Government had opted for a public fight rather than simply calling the GBPA and its owners, the St George and Hayward families, to a meeting to address its concerns over Freeport’s economic stagnation and their alleged failure to live up to their governance and developmental obligations.

He also noted that the Prime Minister, who in kickstarting the battle with his 2023-2024 Budget communication had promised to say more on Freeport during the ensuing debate, subsequently said very little other than to disclose the invoices submitted to the GBPA and, as a result, had left the latter’s 3,500 licensees and city residents none the wiser as to his ultimate plan and end goals.

“He said a few things earlier this week, but did not articulate what his intentions are,” Mr Carey said of the Prime Minister. “This is just another disaster for Grand Bahama. It’s not a hurricane disaster, but it’s a disaster nonetheless. If things that are happening suddenly go on pause we certainly don’t need that to happen.”

Any investment projects or business expansions that are placed on hold due to the uncertainty caused by the Government’s GBPA attacks only threaten to weaken Freeport’s already-struggling economy further. “It is exceedingly concerning,” Mr Carey added.

“In fact, before all of this started I’ve been inviting the Prime Minister to come and meet with the business community in Freeport if for no other reason to reassure them and show his support for them. I suspect he’s too busy to respond to that, but I’ve been in office a year-and-a-half, and invited him privately and publicly to come and meet with our community, but it’s not something he’s shown any appetite for.”

Warning that GBPA licensees and Freeport residents cannot be ignored in any talks on the city’s future, Mr Carey added: “The back-and-forth about who’s responsible for investment caught me by surprise. That’s the type of thing kids engage in. The Government were saying: ‘We’ve done more than you’. Is that what it’s about? I found it a little surprising.

“The island is poised for good things, but this is just another kick. One has to think if the Government’s possible desire in this is to get the owners of the Port Authority out and get it into someone else’s hands. Is this part of the design? We just don’t know. For me it’s akin to some of the disasters we’ve had over the last 20 years. It’s just another disaster. It makes no sense. It call it the making of another disaster. We’ve risen from previous disasters; let’s get out of this one, too.

“There’s an agreement [the Hawksbill Creek Agreement] in place that has a remaining life of 32 years. Let’s do what we have to do while this thing is in place and, in 20-25 years, we will be beginning the wind-down period. Let’s get to the table. I think the most important thing now is for the Government and Port Authority to sit at the same table and each express their concerns and find a way to resolve them.”

Mr Carey also questioned what the Government or any private sector partner would be acquiring if they purchased the GBPA given that all the productive, profit-making assets - chiefly the 50 percent stakes in the Freeport Harbour Company and Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO) - have been transferred to its Port Group Ltd affiliate.

“They are talking about selling the GBPA, but what are they selling? There are a number of other companies, and the assets may be held elsewhere,” the GB Chamber president told Tribune Business, as he urged the Port Authority to be more transparent and share information with residents and licensees.

“The danger is the utterances without specifics,” he added. “If the Government says what it intends to do, what it wishes to see happen, that would be great, but the Government should not come in unilaterally and change the structure of the Port Authority. That would not look good to the world.

“I don’t think that will happen. I think the Prime Minster is a very articulate man. This is not the time for hard ball politics. We need some definitive statements about what to expect, and where it’s going, sooner rather than later. Weeks and months is just too much. There are a number of projects said to be in the works, and they may sit on their hands and wait and see what happens.

“My fear is some of them will sit and wait. I think in a number of instances some of these players had to be convinced to come to Freeport. The days of Edward St George, who was a real deal maker, are gone. It doesn’t happen the way they did it back then.”

The GBPA is pushing back against the Prime Minister’s accusation it has failed to repay costs the Government has incurred in providing public services in Freeport despite being billed for these expenses, asserting that the sums in question are “contested”.

Suggesting that the Government’s long-standing claims are neither justified nor supported by “credible evidence”, Freeport’s quasi-governmental body argued that the city has always been a positive “net contributor” to the Public Treasury and effectively blasted Nassau for impeding the city’s development.

The GBPA, in a sign that relations between Nassau and Freeport continue to worsen, blamed “increased Government imposed bureaucracy and red tape” for hindering the city’s development, which it argued was a violation of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.

And, in a pun on the Government’s election campaign slogan, it also asserted that Freeport’s residents and 3,500 GBPA business licensees “deserve a ‘New Day’” where the Government works with it to realise the Hawksbill Creek Agreement’s still-untapped “huge potential”.

Mr Davis, in closing the 2023-2024 Budget debate on Monday, told the House of Assembly as he wrapped up the 2023-2024 Budget debate that the Government has “begun to invoice” the GBPA for “reimbursement” of these unspecified costs.

He argued that the Government was justified in seeking repayment under section one, sub-clause five, of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, Freeport’s founding treaty, which stipulates that it can seek payment from the GBPA for providing “certain activities and services” if the costs involved exceed certain tax revenue streams generated in the city.

“It’s important to note there’s a provision in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement that specifies that the cost borne by the Government for certain activities and services provided are to be reimbursed by the Grand Bahama Port Authority for amounts in excess of Customs duties and emergency taxes collected,” Mr Davis said.

“My government has begun to invoice the Port Authority for these reimbursable expenses, as calculated by an independent accounting firm. To date, the Port Authority has not provided reimbursement in connection with any of these invoices.”