Rupert Hayward
NASSAU, The Bahamas--Co-Chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) Rupert Hayward and Prime Minister (PM) Philip Davis both declared on Thursday that the GBPA is not going anywhere, but PM Davis pledged that under his administration, the Port Authority will remain in Freeport under “a new status quo and under clear rules”.
The PM released a public letter to Hayward, again vowing government’s determination to exert full authority over Freeport in the wake of a recent arbitration tribunal ruling on GBPA related matters.
His letter was released after Hayward sent the media an open letter to PM Davis. A day earlier, the PM told Parliament that he is not prepared to live with an arrangement where two families decide the fate of tens of thousands of Bahamians in Freeport without clear rules and proper accountability.
Hayward claimed the PM painted his family as outsiders. He said the characterisation of his family as somehow standing against the sovereignty of The Bahamas in Freeport “is deeply painful and hurtful”.
Hayward appealed for respect and fairness from PM Davis and called for government and the Port Authority to work together to advance the interests of Freeport.
“The Grand Bahama Port Authority is not going anywhere, and the government of The Bahamas is not going anywhere,” he said.
“The reality is that we must work together for the betterment of the people of Freeport and Grand Bahama. And while there may be a temptation, particularly in moments when elections approach, to lean into populist rhetoric, we must remember that the office of prime minister represents all Bahamians – not only those of a particular political persuasion.
“On that fundamental goal, we should be aligned. I therefore hope that, even in moments of political disagreement, we can speak about one another with fairness and respect, and recognise the shared commitment we both hold to the prosperity and sovereignty of The Bahamas. I remain, first and foremost, a proud Bahamian, committed to the future of Grand Bahama and to the people who call it home.”
But in his response, the PM stated that he has never questioned Hayward’s nationality, and does not know his political persuasion, and added that the government’s position relating to the Port is nothing personal.
Under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, first signed in 1955 and amended from time to time, the Port Authority, which is jointly owned by the St. George and Hayward families, has served as a municipal authority in Freeport – the second largest city in The Bahamas.
Davis addressed Parliament on Wednesday on the decision of the arbitration tribunal, which rejected government’s claim that the GBPA owed it $357 million in reimbursements for services rendered in the port area of Grand Bahama. The tribunal did find that government is entitled to payments under the amended 1994 Hawksbill Creek Agreement (HCA) after annual reviews are conducted.
The GBPA had contended by way of counterclaim that it is entitled to damages arising from the government’s alleged breaches of certain obligations contained in the HCA. The government says GBPA had sought $1 billion in damages. The tribunal rejected seven of eight counterclaims the GBPA made, seeking to assert full authority over the governance of Freeport.
In his open letter on Thursday, the PM said, “The issue at hand is the position taken by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, in which your family is a major shareholder, about its standing in Freeport and its relationship to the government and people of The Bahamas.
“Through public statements and in the arbitration, the Port Authority advanced a view of itself that no responsible government can accept. It claimed a degree of control in Freeport that would place a private company above the elected government.
“It resisted the position that substantial sums are owed to the public purse. It argued that concessions under the HCA allow it to limit the reach of Bahamian law in areas such as licensing, immigration, customs, utilities, foreign land purchases and environmental regulation. When all the legal drafting is stripped away, the Port Authority’s case was simple. It wished to decide how Freeport is governed. It wished to keep that power in private hands.
“The Port Authority went further; it counter-claimed, insisting that it had the right to control, without government intrusion, the licensing of businesses, immigration and customs, and utilities, and that the government was diverting investments elsewhere on Grand Bahama. It claimed damages for such intrusion in the amount of one billion.”
The PM said that in taking the matter to arbitration, government was mindful of Sir Lynden Pindling’s 1969 “Bend or Break” speech in which the then PM spoke in Grand Bahama of an unbending social order which, if it refused to bend, must be broken.
Davis vowed to break the GBPA order. He said in Parliament on Wednesday, “The old order in which private interests claimed the right to sit above Bahamian law is coming to an end. We will break that order. We will replace it with one in which Bahamian sovereignty is real in Freeport, in which self-determination is a lived reality for the people who call that island home.”
Hayward appears to have taken offence to the PM’s statements regarding how the families who own the GBPA have been overseeing Freeport’s affairs.
Hayward, who is the grandson of the late GBPA co-chair Sir Jack Hayward, said his family has deep roots in The Bahamas, and has for generations stood with Grand Bahama.
“I am not a ‘paper Bahamian’,” he said. “I am not a recently reached Bahamian. I am a multi-generational Bahamian. My father was born in this country before independence and is part of that first generation who became Bahamian citizens on July 10, 1973. My siblings are Bahamian. My children are Bahamian. My family’s life, history, and future are woven deeply into the fabric of this country.”
Hayward added, “Our family’s legacy in The Bahamas is something I am profoundly proud of. It is a legacy of commitment to the development of Freeport and to the opportunity it has provided for thousands of Bahamians. You and I may not always agree on the precise path forward for the economic development of our country or of Grand Bahama. That is natural in a democracy. But I believe strongly that we both ultimately want the same thing: what is best for the Bahamian people.”
PM Davis praised Sir Jack’s legacy.
“His care, his sense of duty and his capability made him a good partner for the city and for the country. My criticism is not directed at that earlier chapter. It is directed at the failure of the present owners to meet that standard and at the posture the Port has chosen to adopt,” he said in his letter.
“For decades, Freeport has operated under a model in which two families, through the Port, have exercised extraordinary influence over the city’s fate. Whatever the logic at the beginning, that model is no longer delivering for many who live there.
“Too many licensees, workers and families have seen investment stall, services decline and promises fade. In that setting, it is neither fair nor sustainable for the Port Authority to insist on its privileges, to contest its obligations and then to suggest that the government should pay it for the right to reset the balance.”
The PM said that when private claims collide with the interests of Bahamians, he is required to choose the public interest.
“That is what I have done and will continue to do,” he stated. “You have said that the Grand Bahama Port Authority is not going anywhere and that the government is not going anywhere. On that we agree. Both will remain. What is changing is the framework within which we coexist.” ~ The Nassau Guardian ~
