The Member of Parliament for Marco City Pleasant Bridgewater Called for increased focus on Grand Bahama declaring overall leadership and development initiatives should not be left entirely to the Grand Bahama Port Authority, a private company.
She did so while commenting on the recent executive leadership shuffle that saw the resignation of Julian Francis as chairman, his replacement by businessman Hannes Babak and the return of Sir Albert Miller as CEO.
“Freeport lacks soul, it lacks leadership, it lacks cohesiveness, it lacks real life. Freeport seems to be to the large extent superficial or artificial, so focus needs to be put on it.”
Ms. Bridgewater appeared rather critical of the port’s relationship with its licensees a guideline for which was provided through the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
I don’t think decisions should just be made in a vacuum or ‘willy nily’ because it impacts the lives of so many people who live, work and have investments in Grand Bahama,” she said. “Something has to be done.
“And then of course there is very little communication to the licensees of the Port Authority, or people who do business, or the residents of Grand Bahama.”
She reasoned that while the city of Freeport is unique because of the agreement in place, its management and operation should be more in line with what occurs in the rest of The Bahamas.
“We are dealing with Bahamian people and there should be one law for one country and so focus needs to be put on the city of Freeport in terms of structuring it to become more in line with the rest of The Bahamas,” she said.
In Freeport, city management and economic development are the port’s mandate. It is responsible for nurturing and regulating all commercial and residential development within the 230 square mile ‘Port Area’ of Grand Bahama.
This week, as concerns were expressed about Mr. Babak potentially being involved in a conflict of interest because of his past business affiliations, Sir Albert told reporters this week that he is the one directly responsible for the port’s daily affairs.
“Mr. Babak will not be involved with those things,” he said.
Sir Albert said while Mr. Babak is free to hold personal business interests as free enterprise dictates he has withdrawn from active participation in some of his businesses.
Defining his position further he said, “My role in the function as the shareholders’ representative is to find the right strategies, find new investments, find the right structures for the companies and the GB Port Authority, and what is best for Freeport and Grand Bahama.”
Mr. Babak said as chairman he intends to show that the Port Authority is and will be a service company, which provides transparent service, and added, “the Port will be like an open book and no one would have to worry to come to the Port.”
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
