The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Government-appointed six-member committee that will lead discussions on Freeport’s expiring investment incentives and long-term future is aiming to complete its report in eight weeks, its chairman yesterday admitting this was an “overly ambitious goal”.

Speaking after the committee was introduced, Dr Marcus Bethel said: “We know that our work is enormous. We know it is going to be time consuming.

“The members of the committee are up to the task. We expect and anticipate delivering a report to government with our recommendations in as short a time as possible.

“I have told members of the committee that given that the provisions under consideration expire in the early part of August 2015, that we should work as diligently as time to get our report into the Government for their consideration and policy determination within eight weeks. That may be overly ambitious but we will be using that as our target.”

Following his address at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference, the Prime Minister held a separate press conference to confirm that Dr Bethel, a former Cabinet minister; Sir Baltron Bethel, the Prime Minister’s senior policy advisor; former Central Bank governor James Smith; Kevin Seymour, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president; former MP Maurice Moore; and Grand Bahama-based attorney Cassietta McIntosh would form the committee, which will report to a ministerial sub-committee headed by Mr Christie.

The Prime Minister said that with the passing of both Edward St George and Sir Jack Hayward, the former Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) co-owners, investor groups from around the world were expressing interest in its purchase.

“The assistance that this committee will be able to render to me as Prime Minister and minister of finance will be of immense value, even though that is not within their terms of reference,” Mr Christie said in reference to the buyer interest.

“In the event of some purchaser manifesting in the immediate future an intention to purchase, we would want to ensure that we are transparent in all that we do to share with Bahamians what is happening. There is a lot at stake here.”.

Mr Christie said certain provisions of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement (HCA) were due to expire in August of this year.

He added that the expiration of those incentives provided an opportunity for the Government to secure a “comprehensive set of new arrangements, which can spur economic development and increase the island’s contribution to net fiscal receipts”.

The international consulting firm, McKinsey and Co, has been retained to consult with the GBPA and other Freeport stakeholders, and to undertake a study of the economic situation within the Port area - including the implications of the expiring real property tax and Business Licence incentives, as well as measures that might drive economic development.

Mr Christie said the main objectives of the Government-appointed committee are to agree with the GBPA and principal licensees a long-term economic development plan, which both protects and promotes shipping, industry, tourism, real estate and other commercial sectors as the focus for Grand Bahama.

The committee will also develop a framework for immediate and long-term investment promotion on the island; ensure that mechanisms are in place to align the GBPA’s quasi-regulatory authority with the policies of the Government; and agree a suitable framework for property tax and Business Licenses that will not impede economic growth.