In his first interview since his highly publicized resignation from the Grand Bahama Port Authority in May, former co-chairman and CEO Julian Francis explained that he stepped down because he failed to see eye to eye with the company’s owners on the future development of Freeport.
But Mr. Francis stressed that he severed ties with the major shareholders of the Port in a cordial fashion, and there are no hard feelings as a result.
“I want the public to understand perfectly that I have no desire to take a kind of recriminatory position vis-�-vis the Port Authority,” he said, while appearing as the special guest on the Love 97 programme “Jones and Company”, which aired on Sunday.
“In fact, I�ve said privately to some persons that my departure from the Port was entirely amicable, and I believe I continue to have good relations with the owners and potentially with those persons who currently are responsible for its operation.” He explained that former Port Authority Chairman the late Edward St. George was the person who had initially courted him, and after his death, his widow, Lady Henrietta, continued to pursue him.
“I was very pleased to be there,” Mr. Francis said. “As it�s turned out, I would say that the owners of the Port Authority and I see the way that Freeport needs to go forward somewhat differently, and really, that is at the heart of my decision, and I think their being quite reconciled also to the view that this was not a viable partnership.
“Again, I don�t have any difficulty with that decision. I recognize that in order to work together, you do have to see things in a very similar way.”
Mr. Francis noted that Freeport � with its sophisticated infrastructure � is potentially a very important part of The Bahamas.
“I got to recognize the fact, I think, that Freeport potentially is the most important part of The Bahamas’ economy in the future,” he added, “because of its size, because of the infrastructure which it represents, and also because of the opportunity to pursue the development of business more from a private sector perspective, I think, than anywhere else in The Bahamas.”
Asked by the show�s host, Wendall Jones, how his vision for Freeport differed from that of the Port�s owners, Mr. Francis said he came to believe that there needs to be a more structured approach to the development of Freeport.
“That is to say that because of the size of [that] community today and its importance and also the importance of the business establishments which are based there and also those which potentially wish to establish, there needs to be a more rational approach to the development of this entire community,” said Mr. Francis, adding that he fully recognized that there also needs to be the respect for the prerogative of private ownership.
He said he agrees with those who say that there should not be a fundamental governmental interference in the right of owners to make the determination as to how they do things.
Mr. Francis, who is also a former governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, resigned from the Port exactly a year after his appointment. His resignation was followed by that of executive vice president, Barry Malcolm, and a decision by the Port to make redundant the position of deputy chairman, which was held by Willie Moss.
Not too long after, two Port directors � attorneys Sean McWeeney and Cyprianna McWeeney � also resigned.
Immediately after Mr. Francis stepped down, Port officials appointed Austrian businessman Hannes Babak, who has wide business interests in Grand Bahama, to replace him as chairman.
The appointment of Mr. Babak triggered much debate in both Grand Bahama and New Providence with many observers saying his appointment was an insult to qualified Bahamians.
But Mr. Francis did not appear concerned that Port officials appointed a foreigner to replace him, and said he was not offended by it.
“I don�t share the view that at every point in our economic management you have to have only Bahamians,” he said.
It was at this point that Mr. Jones reminded him of the Bahamianization policy, which says that where there are qualified Bahamians they should get preference for available jobs.
He asked Mr. Francis whether he supported that policy, and the former Port official said he does.
But he added, “I think you need to be careful as to how you sort of see to it, and oversee owners� decisions on a case by case basis. In other words, they may feel at a moment in time that this is what they need, and is it really the right of the government to question that?
“I think you need to take a slightly longer view of it. I�m not saying obviously that the government is not free to do what it wants. We don�t know what goes on in Cabinet meetings; we don�t know what kind of review of these issues government takes. What I am saying is what you then do, I think [that�s something] you need to be very careful about.”
Mr. Francis said given that The Bahamas has an open economy and invites foreigners to bring capital into the country to develop the economy, their needs ought to be taken into considerations.
“There is a certain expectation on their part that they will be free to manage that capital as they see fit,” added Mr. Francis, who also said he felt there needed to be broader oversight by the government regarding what the development objectives are for Freeport.
He said successive governments of The Bahamas have not sufficiently inquired how Freeport is developing and whether the appropriate development objections are being met.
Asked by co-host Godfrey Eneas whether he was suggesting that the Port Authority has not been held accountable, Mr. Francis said Mr. Eneas had put his finger “right on it.”
He quickly added though that he was not suggesting that the government would have found the Port Authority “short” and found the need to impose corrective measures.
“What I�m saying is that accountability should be in place and it should be transparent,” Mr. Francis said.
The former Port co-chairman, while saying that he was not trying to defend the Port, also indicated that he was not overly concerned by recent managerial changes at the Port.
“I don�t think that it would be entirely correct to see these changes as being suggestive of a policy which is anti-Bahamian,” Mr. Francis said. “Now, having said that, I certainly would have done it differently. And let me say that was a part of my own approach, to take a different approach to these kinds of issues. And so, I don�t think it would be my role to try to make a judgment on this.
“But I believe it could have been done somewhat differently. It could have been done with a bit more sensitivity to the aspirations of the Bahamian people, to the evident policy of governments of The Bahamas over the last 30 odd years. So, I think it is understandable that many persons are offended.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
