The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Former Free National Movement MP Rev Frederick McAlpine’s opposition to the central government purchasing the Grand Bahama Port Authority seems to be irrational. In an interview with Tribune Business, McAlpine stated that “if you want to see how the Government will run the GBPA, look at how it operates the eastern and western parts of Grand Bahama.” Both areas on Grand Bahama resembles the Out Islands, which are mostly underdeveloped, as should be expected for a third world country.

Unlike Nassau, Freeport is a planned city with an impressive network of roads and and zoning laws, unlike the 353-year-old Nassau, whose development and planning have been scatter-shot and ad hoc. However, like Nassau, Freeport City is now rundown. The original pioneers of Freeport have all died. Whatever these founders had envisaged for Grand Bahama, that seems to have died with them.

McAlpine also expressed misgivings about the central government’s lackluster performance in managing its utilities in New Providence, claiming that the same thing would inevitably occur on Grand Bahama. In the same Tribune article, the issue of possible political victimisation under a government-run GBPA was raised, as if it doesn’t already exists. Clearly this excuse was not well thought out.

What is prohibiting the current administration from engaging in political victimisation in Freeport? All in all, McAlpine’s anti-government sentiments are held by a small minority of well-to-do Grand Bahamians who have all acknowledged that Freeport has been in an economic slump for over two decades. If given a choice between the central government and the GBPA, these well-to-do Grand Bahamians would without hesitation choose the latter, even as this quasi-government entity fails to woo deep pocket foreign investors to Freeport.

Let me state that I believe that a central government takeover of the GBPA wouldn’t be any worse than what we currently have in Freeport. Freeport is already rock-bottom. What exactly do we stand to lose if Nassau takes over Freeport?

Moreover, in a recent visit to New Providence and Paradise Island, this writer saw firsthand the central government’s ability to attract major foreign investors -- something that the GBPA has simply not been able to do since the demise of Edward St George in late 2004. As acknowledged in The Tribune article, other Family Islands are getting favorable foreign investments. For some reason, foreign investors are bypassing Grand Bahama for Bimini, Abaco, Eleuthera, San Salvador, Exuma, Cat Island and New Providence. A few weeks ago I read in The Tribune that a group of investors of New World Developments, including former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, have proposed a $1 billion investment on 10,000 acres of land on San Salvador that will be bigger than Baker’s Bay in Abaco. I am certain that had the central government purchased the GBPA years ago, Freeport would’ve been currently experiencing an economic boom. Unlike the GBPA, the central government has international reach, as evidenced by the impressive number of investors clamoring to invest in government-run areas. Regarding McAlpine’s misgivings about the government’s management of the utilities, such as electricity and water, Grand Bahama already has the Grand Bahama Power Company and the Grand Bahama Utility Company. Why would McAlpine assume that a government takeover would automatically entail the demise of the two utility companies? Whatever arrangements the GBPC and GBUC have with the GBPA, the central government can honour them. Similar arrangements can be made with Sanitation Services. This should allay the fears of Grand Bahamians regarding the continued timely collection of garbage in Freeport.

Another thing McAlpine and others who are against Freeport becoming like the rest of The Bahamas are not considering is that the tentacles of the central government are already throughout Freeport. The police, the main hospital and several clinics; immigration and customs; the National Insurance Board, Road Traffic; the Labour Board; the magistrate and supreme courts; the post office and other government agencies are in Freeport. In a sense, Freeport is already under the jurisdiction of the central government. Furthermore, McAlpine referenced government cronies at least twice in The Tribune article, which tells me that he also fears government corruption in the day-to-day management of Freeport. This fear assumes that Freeport is corruption free, and has been since the signing of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement in 1955. As a man of the cloth, McAlpine should be well aware of the biblical doctrine of sin and its far-reaching impact on human nature. Corruption is not unique to Bahamians. Another thing, McAlpine mentioned that many Grand Bahamians have left Grand Bahama for elsewhere, which should sound off the irony alarm. Whatever fears he has of a government controlled GBPA and Freeport, members of the Freeport diaspora throughout the government controlled Family Islands and New Providence obviously do not share. I know of several Freeport residents who have relocated to New Providence and have no desire to return. The time has come for anti-government Grand Bahamians to stop mischaracterizing the central government as a bogeyman in Freeport. I don’t believe the central government can do any worse than what we currently have. We might as well give the central government a try. An increasing number of Grand Bahamians are willing to give the central government a shot at managing Freeport. McAlpine and his camp are in the minority.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport,

Grand Bahama

May 23, 2023.