By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Fred Mitchell said the Grand Bahama Port Authority lacks the financial resources to maintain Freeport and that a new investor is needed.

Mr Mitchell criticised the GBPA for the three-year delays in repairing the Casuarina Bridge in Grand Bahama on Friday.

His comments are a continuation of the Davis administration’s criticism of the GBPA.

He noted the Casuarina Bridge hasn’t been fixed since Hurricane Dorian struck the island in 2019.

“The reason why I am standing here is because the Grand Bahama Port Authority is saying they have the wherewithal to keep this city going,” he said in a video. “And, this lack of repair of the bridge shows you they simply are not able to demonstrate they have the financial wherewithal to keep this city going.

“And the government has said enough of us subsidising the GBPA, we need to find someone who has the wherewithal who is willing and able to finance the needs and promotions of this city.

“If they can perform, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, fine; but if they can’t, someone else needs to be asked to do the job.”

The Casuarina and the Jack Hayward bridges connect Freeport and East Grand Bahama.

The Casuarina Bridge, which spans the Grand Lucayan Waterway, sustained extensive damage during Dorian. In late 2020, Lucaya Services Company Ltd (LUSCO) and Grand Bahama Development Company (DEVCO) engaged All Bahamas Construction (ABC) to complete repair work at approximately $1.9m. However, changes in the scope of work increased the total cost to $2.8 million, an increase of $900,000.

On Wednesday, the GBPA pushed back against the Davis administration, saying the government does not subsidise the authority.

“The GBPA, in fulfilling its industrial development, various regulatory and environmental oversights, and city maintenance mandate, is funded exclusively by its approximately 3,000 licensees,” the authority said.

“When adverse events such as hurricanes and the recent COVID pandemic cause a deficit, the shareholders of GBPA have always funded the deficit.”

“The government of The Bahamas is not subsidising the GBPA when providing healthcare, education, aviation, and assistance with tourism in Grand Bahama, as it is likewise obligated to do so for every other island in our country.

“While the GBPA has built schools, donated land for government projects, assisted with the hospital, and constructed the island’s airport, these were never a responsibility of the Grand Bahama Port Authority under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, but an act of a strategic partner.”

The GBPA said it wants to cooperate with the government to resolve issues.

Mr Mitchell, however, refused to relent. 

“It is very unfortunate,” he said. “I knew Edward St George and Jack Hayward and, outspoken as they were, they were not politically inept, and it seems to me there is an ineptitude on display here when a private company tries to take on an administration in this way over something which is so politically and economically charged,” he said.

“It is ill-advised, unwise, and it cannot benefit their company in the long run.”

“They have to know it is manifestly untrue. They know it and we know it.”