Those who cannot understand a thing will oft try to destroy it. Every administration has had their efforts to erode or destroy Freeport, and all have done their damage, and no doubt will continue to do so.

Firstly, the original H.C.A runs until 2054. Certain tax concessions that ran out were extended twice ultimately until 2016. by government. Secondly, the Government seems to be seeking to recover ALL government costs for G.B. of which east and west are the governments responsibility. Only certain HCA named costs were to be offset if costs for those rose beyond revenue. If they were seeking only government costs for Freeport they'd have to have separation of the costs to remove east and west end. 3rd, the government speaks out of both sides of their mouths, first attacking and second lauding and claiming responsibility for projects they have nothing to do with.
Lastly, in that government has on average attacked Freeport every 5 years since "Bend or Break" it would seem Freeport is pretty resilient in the face of ever present and threatened government hostility. Bahamians need to realize that with 80% of licensees being Bahamian this government is attacking its own citizens, not the foreign devil (as it were)
Irrespective of political bent both major political parties active leadership have both been very cosy with the port ownership and also attacked them at the same time. Politics makes for strange bedfellows. Government desperation for money makes everyone a target. Today Freeport, tomorrow......?

All the laws in the world can’t stop law breaking or stupidity, enforcement can prevent some.
Maritime “hacking” can only be curtailed by enforcement.

And all insurance has to be upgraded from liability to “comprehensive” not defined for marine purposes.

Too many of these tragic boating accidents lately, while the government has legislated more regulations that cannot replace enforcement. Enforcement is needed to catch those without insurance, registration, training and safe operation. Always the failure to enforce gets us in trouble

Best mind the "North" doesn't "assault" us for being allied with Botswana!
Me thinks the P.M. aught to be focussed on our local long standing problems and the numerous new problems the government is creating for locals!

The wheel may want grease but if people give it.......
kickbacks are rampant from the top (the example we most often follow) to the bottom.
50 plus years to create the problem, gonna take a concerted effort to eliminate it.

Some bright spark in Government (who should be named) has had a slew of bad ideas, not thought through but pushed through. Define "comprehensive marine insurance"?
Must be purchased from a local licensed insurer? annual surveys? dry docking reports?
Crew training reports? Is this for private and commercial? They added inspections for private, and don't seem to make a distinction between for the other onerous requirements either.
And what carve out did they make for fishermen? sounds discriminatory. Is it by boat size or income level? last name or by relation to the P.M.?

So where will local tourist tour/ferry/attraction boat operators who take cruise ship passengers buy their insurance IF one must buy it locally from a licensed insurer? Currently most if not all "buy" their liability from the cruise lines themselves, not licensed to sell insurance locally but because local insurers lost their appetite for "Sue happy tourists" Also the cruise lines didn't trust local insurers or tour operators to keep insurance current.
Is the government aware they are messing around in a fragile industry they do not understand?
While the registration fees have been increased 10 fold so will insurance costs, if you can get it!

Leadership needs a serious upgrade, not vehicles.