Despite what some people may think or even fear, Port Authority Chairman Julian Francis has said that extending the terms of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement outside of Freeport into other areas of Grand Bahama would not mean greater benefits to the Port.
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Port Authority Chairman Julian Francis. |
"Contrary to what I think some people fear, the idea would not necessarily imply any additional advantages for the Port Authority. In fact, some people would argue that if this would happen it would somewhat diminish the Port Authority’s situation, which it enjoys today," Mr. Francis told The Bahama Journal.
Mr. Francis believes that extending the terms of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement would be beneficial for the entire island.
"What we’re talking about is extending to those parts of the island those concessions that today are routinely enjoyed only in the port area," he explained. "You are not necessarily talking about who will have the responsibility for the administration of those parts of the island. It doesn’t have to be the Port Authority at all."
Some residents of Grand Bahama have questioned whether broadening the terms of the agreement would really benefit Grand Bahamians.
Businessman Elvis Hepburn, who is from Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock, said the very thought of the Port Authority having complete autonomy over Grand Bahama is "insulting."
"The only benefit of the [Hawksbill Creek Agreement] being extended is really to the Grand Bahama Port Authority. There is no benefit really to the people of Grand Bahama outside of Freeport," Mr. Hepburn said.
"Why should Bahamians in West Grand Bahama or East Grand Bahama have to pay or should pay a license fee to the Grand Bahama Port Authority?"
Another Grand Bahamian, Cecil Hepburn, a retiree who also lives in Hanna Hill, also thinks it would be a bad idea to extend the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
"I worked for [the Port Authority] in the early days, and I don’t see any advantage after all these years from 1955 until the present day that any Bahamian got any special privilege," Mr. Hepburn said.
"The only thing I see is we are paying to walk on our land…The only thing the government should do is bring some sort of restrictions [because] what is the Port Authority going to do for us?"
The Hawksbill Creek Agreement is a contract between the Government and the Port Authority signed in 1955, which granted the Port and its licensees concessions to import duty-free materials and have freedom from taxes for financial, commercial and industrial enterprises until 2054.
Mr. Francis believes extending the agreement would stimulate development throughout Grand Bahama.
He said providing concessions outside of the port area would "reduce some of the monopoly", which the Port Authority holds over benefits on the island and remove some of the bureaucracy.
"It would remove the administrative problem of having to separate the island into three because you have the port area [Freeport], which sits in the middle, and the two extremities [the eastern district and the western district]," he said.
"You would no longer need to have this separation. That would make the whole [island] more homogenous, more efficient, and less bureaucratic, and it’s a good thing."
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