By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
OPPOSITION Finance spokesman K Peter Turnquest yesterday asserted that Government’s involvement with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) would result in neither quick decisions nor efficient business, suggesting that one need “only look as far as BEC and NIB” to see the results of political considerations.
While Prime Minister Perry Christie has defended the government’s “minority equity stake” in the principal landholding companies in the city of Freeport based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the GBPA, Mr Turnquest yesterday asserted that government involvement would likely not improve business.
“We’re talking about government getting involved in a private entity,” Mr Turnquest said. “That is never a good thing from the private entity’s point of view because it injects a whole different dynamic into the operation of what is otherwise a business. You only need to look as far as NIB or BEC to see what happens when you have government involved in the decision making process. BEC wants a rate increase but the government says no because there are other considerations - political considerations. When you start to inject government into the running of a private entity you are going to have complications. That is not going to result in quick decisions or an efficient business.
“On the other hand, if the government is a participant in the decisions of the Port Authority then what is the recourse for citizens after that if they are aggrieved? As it is now if the Port Authority acts outside of its mandate or does something harmful to a licensee, the licensee can appeal to the government for an intervention. If they become part of the deal then the only recourse open would be the courts, which can be expensive. I don’t know what we are trying to achieve with the government being a part of the equity side. They say that at the end of the day they want there to be development in the Port area but the process they have taken in my view has provided disincentive for people to invest.”
Under the MOU with the GBPA, the government will acquire a “minority equity stake” and “participation in governance at the board level” in the principal landholding companies in Freeport, such as the Grand Bahama Development Company Limited (GB DevCo) and Freeport Commercial & Industrial, via the vehicle of a new company.
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