The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A TOWN hall meeting on the recent arbitration ruling involving the Grand Bahama Port Authority took on a political tone Monday evening, as supporters of the governing party booed and refused to allow Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard to speak.

The Bahamas Union of Teachers Hall was filled to capacity, with a large number of attendees dressed in Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) colours and party shirts.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who delivered remarks during the meeting, attempted to calm rowdy supporters while Mr Pintard was speaking, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

There also appeared to be little attempt by senior police officials present to control hecklers and maintain order in the hall.

Although the event was described as non-partisan, Mr Pintard was not invited to deliver formal remarks, even though the meeting was held in his Marco City constituency.

Panel speakers included attorneys Terrance Gape, Ernie Wallace, Gregory Moss, and Mr Davis.

FNM MP Kwasi Thompson was also frequently interrupted by the crowd as he tried to share his views during the question-and-answer segment.

Mr Davis said bringing the claim against the Grand Bahama Port Authority was not personal, emphasising that the two families that own the GBPA had failed to live up to their obligation to develop Freeport.

“It was not an easy decision to decide to go that direction,” Mr Davis said. “We had numerous discussions with the shareholders.”

“My position was clear from day one, and it was shared by many that the potential of Freeport had been stalled, stagnant, and was being retarded by the fact that the shareholders had lost the vision, did not have the desire to see it move on.”

“This is not personal. This is about Grand Bahama and the people, and the direction needs to change. But they did not respond to me and only kept dragging me on and dragging me on, and I said there's a mechanism to resolve this. And I activated that mechanism by serving notice of arbitration. We went to arbitration, and yes, the claim was for $357 million."

Mr Davis said the next phase is for the government to negotiate in good faith, adding that annual payments will be levied for 2024 up until 2054 when the Hawksbill Creek Agreement expires.

“We are open to negotiating,” he said.

The prime minister said the status quo at the authority has remained for many successive governments, and he wanted to do something about it before he leaves office.

“The Tribunal ruling has left a lot of opportunities for Grand Bahama. The decades of license fees that you paid, with too few visible returns, I tell you those days are over,” he said.

After the meeting, Mr Pintard told reporters that they were prepared for a potentially contentious political environment.

“Despite the fact that we know we were walking into a PLP rally, we were prepared to come and share our views relative to what the government is doing," he said. "But we didn't have an opportunity to fully do that.

“We know that this fight with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, this public fight is detrimental in our view to international investors' confidence in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and the Prime Minister and his team should have gone to the table not only with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, but with the licensees of the Port, the Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders. That is what we would do under my administration."

Mr Pintard said the government must be transparent about what has happened concerning the ruling.

“They brought a claim, and the claim was dismissed. When they mentioned the counter-claims of the Port Authority, Kwasi Thompson and I have said over and over that we never agreed to the counter claims that the Port Authority," he said.