Businessman Christopher Lowe even implored licensees to take more interest in the substance of the pact.
“The point being, if we donﾒt study these documents that we have signed on to as licensees, then we are the fools,” said Mr. Lowe, second vice president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce.
He shared the sentiments at a recent meeting of businesspersons, declaring that he has been researching the agreement and its amendments for several years.
Debate about the future of Grand Bahama within the context of the recent restructuring exercise executed by the port has been fast and furious, with various sectors of the community offering different perspectives.
Dr. Doswell Coakley, president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce reiterated what has been advocated in the past.
“There ought to be a “total overview of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement,” he said. “There is one school of thought that it should be extended to the whole island of Grand Bahama.”
He referred to the government in 2002 and 2003 announcing a commission to review such a proposal. Dr. Coakley said the suggestion should not to be confused with extending the portﾒs responsibilities but the concessions granted to businesspersons in the city of Freeport.
The Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which was signed back in 1955, grants the port and its licensees concessions to import duty free materials and guaranteed freedom from all taxes for financial, commercial and industrial enterprises until 2054.
Freeport residents or licensees in the port area are free from personal income taxes, corporate profit tax, capital gains tax, death taxes or property taxes until 2015.
Julian Francis, former co-chairman and CEO of the port had said he believed that extending the benefits to the entire island would be beneficial.
Mr. Francis had proffered that it would stimulate the development of those parts of the island outside of the agreement and introduce some efficiencies and ease of operation, which will favor economic activity.
The benefit of import tax exemption has been a sore spot for some licensees who have lamented that the Customs Department has not fully cooperated. It was a sentiment shared by Carmel Churchill, an executive at the Old Bahama Bay Resort.
Mr. Lowe responding by opining that a legal rulebook was never issued on the matter.
“The Hawksbill Creek agreement said what could be done, but no-one ever took the time to sit down and write how it was to be done until an unofficial document was written, between the Port Authority and the Bahamas Customs department in Grand Bahama which came to be known as the guide of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement,” he said.
“It becomes very evident if you have ever read the Customs Management Act of The Bahamas that they sort of picked and chose certain procedures and policies out of the overall customs Management Act of The Bahamas, turning it into the practice that should work with the Hawksbill Creek Agreement,” he added.
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
