Hannes Babak, the Austrian-born businessman whose recent appointment as chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority – in the words of CEO Sir Albert Miller – created waves, believes that the company needs to be more transparent.
Mr. Babak said as much when he appeared with Sir Albert as a guest on the Love 97 programme “Jones and Company”, which aired on Sunday.
“We agreed right from the beginning – Sir Albert, myself and the whole management – we have to make the Port Authority more transparent, and we’re working on that,” he said.
“We’re making great progress on it because the most important thing for an investor who comes, be it a Bahamian investor from any other island of The Bahamas, be it an investor from abroad, he needs security and he needs transparency.”
Mr. Babak’s statement came after the show’s host, Wendall Jones, suggested that some investors coming to Freeport feel burdened by the fact that Freeport in a sense has two governments – the Government of The Bahamas and the Port Authority.
The chairman said there are potential investors who do not know how to go about getting a license in Freeport.
Sir Albert added, “It is true that the Port Authority might be seen as a quasi governmental agency and there is good reason for that, but it is true that we need to have the good will and support of the Central Government to function in Freeport.
“I think that we enjoy that relationship with the government and while it is true that we share information on expatriate licenses, we think that the government understands the role we play and [it] understands the importance of business in Freeport because [it] derives a considerable amount of revenue from Freeport.”
He said this amounted to $120 million last year.
The issue of two governments in Freeport was also raised by former Co-Chairman and CEO Julian Francis when he appeared as a guest on the same programme.
“What might be in need of reform is the way the Port Authority, from its regulatory perspective certainly, operates,” said Mr. Francis at the time.
“That’s one of the things that I believe needs to happen. There needs to be more transparency with respect to the regulatory operations, it seems to me, of the Port area.”
He said that was an opinion he had even while he was co-chairman, and embarked on initiatives, which he thought in time would have brought about more transparency.
Mr. Francis said Freeport businesspeople need to know more clearly what the rules are.
“If those rules are established so that they are available to everyone you move a lot of the uncertainty,” he said.
Concerns regarding the future of Freeport and the role of the Grand Bahama Port Authority have mounted over the last two months.
At a town meeting in Grand Bahama last week, President of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce Dr. Doswell Coakley declared, “The Grand Bahama Port Authority is obviously in trouble.”
“As businesspersons and licensees of the Grand Bahama Port Authority this troubles us greatly,” Dr. Coakley said. “The signal the apparent instability sends to potential investors is not a good one. In fact, it is negative.”
He said licensees want to know about the vision and the plans for Freeport.
“We do not hear it articulated in any quarters,” Dr. Coakley added. “We feel that we have a right to know, and we call upon the Grand Bahama Port Authority to make those plans known to its licensees without delay.”
Sir Albert and Mr. Babak said the Port Authority has a new vision for Freeport, and they indicated that it is being shared with parties concerned.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
