By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday accused the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) of “holding up progress in its own city’ by delaying the International Bazaar deal over $1.5m in allegedly outstanding fees.

Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, countered assertions by Ian Rolle, the GBPA’s president, that the Government has yet to supply a business and/or financial plan for its much-touted African-Caribbean Marketplace by alleging that Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority is “holding up” its purchase of the now-derelict Bazaar site.

She asserted that the delay centres on $1.5m in past due maintenance fees purportedly owed by the Bazaar’s 13 owners to the GBPA. Mrs Moxey, arguing that a portion of this sum dates back almost 20 years to 2006, asserted that Freeport’s quasi-governmental authority had initially been prepared to write this off but then altered its stance - a thinly-veiled reference to its $357m dispute with the Government.

Well-placed sources, speaking to Tribune Business on condition of anonymity, confirmed that while “some money is owed it’s certainly not as much” as the $1.5m cited by Mrs Moxey. They suggested that the debt could be settled as part of the Bazaar’s sale, with the purchase proceeds used to pay it off.

And the Government’s planned purchase of the Bazaar also does not appear to be close to closing. While many of its 13 owners have signed Letters of Intent (LOIs), no binding sales agreement is understood to have been agreed or inked by any of them.

While most of the International Bazaar owners - who include the likes of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union, John Bull and the Chee-A-Tow family - have voiced a willingness to sell if the price, terms and conditions are right but any deal has progressed little beyond that.

Mrs Moxey hit out after Kwasi Thompson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, picked up on Mr Rolle’s comments and challenged the Government over whether a business plan for the Afro-Caribbean products marketplace exists.

“Even more relevant is what’s happening with the touted Afro-Caribbean Marketplace,” the east Grand Bahama MP blasted. “The members from the Grand Bahama Port Authority, they asked the question: Is there a feasibility study, is there a financial plan, to determine the feasibility? Officials at the GBPA say they don’t believe one exists. That’s what they say.”

Mrs Moxey, in reply, said: “I want to put on record that communication has been had with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, and they know for a fact that we would have given them what they needed in order to proceed.

“To clarify all of that, the Port Authority knows full well why it hasn’t closed yet and it’s the Port Authority’s fault. It has nothing to do with the Government. The Government is prepared and ready to close. It has been budgeted for, and it’s the Grand Bahama Port Authority not the Government of The Bahamas.”

After Mr Thompson repeated the question about whether a feasibility study has been conducted, Mrs Moxey again intervened to assert that this was included in a project package agreed last year between the Davis administration and Africa Export-Import Bank.

“In June of last year, the Government signed a project preparation facility for development of the Afro-Caribbean Marketplace, “ she said. “The project preparation facility deals with the feasibility study, architectural renderings and all of that. 

“Right now the issue is the acquisition of the land, which the Port Authority is holding up on because since 2006 the International Bazaar owners...... the land owners owe the Port Authority for some maintenance charges. This is a $1.5m amount that the Bazaar owners owe that should have been written-off.

“This is about 20 years ago. It would have been written off. The Port Authority indicated it was prepared to write that off. It has nothing to do with the Government. It has to do with the Port Authority, which is holding in because of other matters,” Mrs Moxey added, referring to the dispute between the GBPA and the Government over the latter’s $357m claim that is currently in arbitration.

“At the end of the day, because the Government is working on this $1.5m they say is owed.... But the Port Authority is supposed to be city managers and developers of the city. They are the ones who are holding up progress in their city. Because the Government of The Bahamas doesn’t need to be doing this in the city of Freeport,” she said.

“We are fixing the mess that no other government has fixed, and the Port Authority - who are the city managers - have not fixed.” Mrs Moxey argued that the GBPA itself would benefit from a fully operational Afro-Caribbean Marketplace because it would earn fee income from the businesses operating in there. “We are fixing the mess,” she added.

The International Bazaar, which has steadily deteriorated ever since the Royal Oasis resort that supplied a significant proportion of its customer base closed in 2004, suffered further blows as a result of two fires that further devastated what remained of many buildings.

Mrs Moxey said of the Government’s Afro-Caribbean Marketplace plans in 2023: “Not only will the marketplace promote and distribute African and Caribbean products, but it will also offer a taste of Africa and the Caribbean, making it an appealing tourist attraction.

“In the marketplace, we envision seamless connectivity for trade between Africa and the Caribbean through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with the Caribbean as the sixth region, and the added advantage of a 230-square-mile free-trade zone offering tax concessions on Grand Bahama.”

Using Grand Bahama’s proximity to the US, the marketplace would provide strategic opportunities for value-added manufacturing, transshipment, distribution and logistics. “This vision, however, goes beyond mere trade,” Mrs Moxey said.

“It represents the culmination of a world-class experience, showcasing the rich cultures of Africa and the Caribbean. The African-Caribbean Marketplace will become the home of ‘All things African and Caribbean’. It will feature a ‘Bahamas Bazaar’ representing each inhabited island of The Bahamas.

“With its conceptual design, including an amphitheatre, featuring a performance arts theatre, African and Caribbean-flavoured concessions and unique architecture reflecting the authenticity of our cultures, we aim to create a space that resonates with the spirit of Africa and the Caribbean.”