By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The company behind a proposed ferry service between Grand Bahama’s West End and West Pam Beach declined to respond yesterday after the Deputy Prime Minister said he knew nothing about the venture.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said he was unaware of the proposal by West Capital Ferry Company to launch service in the 2025 first quarter even though the latter issued a press statement publicly thanking the Exuma and Ragged Island MP for his support.

The planned service would carry both passengers and cargo, but Mr Cooper said: “I have no information on this ferry service from West End. I saw a very curious press statement.

“I have asked my team, and the team from the Ministry for Grand Bahama, who are also unaware of this new ferry service, to conduct a briefing on this potential investment. As far as I am concerned, the Port Authority in Nassau did not have a great level of detail either.”

Mr Cooper said that while the Government welcomes new ferry services, “we want to ensure they are properly licensed and that communication is clear so everyone is on the same page regarding these developments”.

He added that a new ferry service could mean easier travel for Bahamians to Florida, and more tourists coming to Grand Bahama. “In principle, the more the merrier, but I cannot comment specifically on this company,” Mr Cooper said.

Howard Bowe, a public relations representative involved with West Capital Ferry Company, declined to respond to Mr Cooper’s position yesterday while telling Tribune Business that the company will today hold a public consultation at the Freeport Ship Services building.

“Tomorrow [today] we have an official press release at Freeport Ship Services building at Harbor Launch Services office,” Mr Bowe said. “What we want to do is to get persons to come out to the public consultation meeting because what we believe is that when you are operating in local communities and settlements, it is good to hear how the people feel about it.

“Firstly, you want to know what they think about the idea, if they have any concerns or if they have any additional questions they would have wanted to ask, those sorts of things. So the public consultation comes first and we want to really get the word out there so that we can have a good attendance and discuss those matters at that point.

“So the press release, like I said, is to actually let persons know that, hey, this is what the company is aspiring for the upcoming New Year and we want to invite the general public out, especially those in the local community of West End, because that is where the whole operation is going to be,” Mr Bowe added.

“We don’t just want to set up and operate without finding out what the residents feel about it. We want to know if they’re excited, what you think we can do to better this, and have a formal discussion with our people.”

Frederick N Black, president of West Capital Ferry, said in a statement that he plans to share details about the new company and ferry service on November 13 at a town meeting at St Mary’s Magdalene Church in West End.

“Our executive team has invested considerable effort over the past several years in acquiring, engineering and designing the necessary frameworks while securing the relevant approvals in the United States,” Mr Black said in a statement.

“The primary objective of this Town Hall meeting is to inform residents about the social, environmental and economic impacts that our company anticipates bringing to West Grand Bahama. We are enthusiastic about this forthcoming initiative.

The Town Hall meeting will be held at 6.30 pm on November 13 with the goal of informing the public “about the social, environmental and economic impacts our company anticipates bringing to West Grand Bahama, as well as ferry service details”.

“WCF is a 100 percent, Bahamian-owned company that focuses on serving the Grand Bahama community’s needs, ensuring that Bahamians come first. Our primary mission is to provide affordable ferry services, making travel easier for inbound tourism and outbound Bahamian shoppers while revitalising the local economy,” the company added.

“We also aim to create jobs, develop a network of affiliate entrepreneurs, support local programmes and encourage new developments in the West Grand Bahama district and the northern Bahamas. In order for this venture to succeed, we require the support of all community residents and business stakeholders in the months before our launch.“