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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Statement By Senator J. Kwasi Thompson on Hawksbill Creek Agrement Memorandum of Understanding “Prime Minister Christie Overstates Freeport MOU”:
Prime Minister Perry Christie’s Statement on Freeport leaves more questions than answers. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority which extended the Tax concessions in Freeport for certain entities will not provide the needed relief which Freeport and the Island of Grand Bahama so desperately requires. It falls short of the bold and necessary changes we need in Freeport. Freeport continues to suffer. Unemployment which is higher than the national average is too high. Home foreclosure is too high. Property sales are sluggish. Our local economy is not growing fast enough. In Freeport our taxes are too high for our current economic crisis, and our cost of living which has risen in some cases above the national average, is too high. The construction industry is stagnant, the housing market is stagnant and the PLP has failed bring sufficient economic development.
The Prime Minister’s remarks to Parliament were a gross overstatement of what is actually in the MOU. Once again this PLP government has again proven that it cannot be trusted. It says one thing and does another. The MOU extends the tax concessions for 20 years in consideration of mostly vague statements with no timelines, no details or specifics and no penalties or incentives to comply. What is also most egregious is there are performance check points for everyone else except the major party to the agreement which is the Port Authority and its companies. They have been given a blanket extension. They are really the party that needs the five year performance checkpoints.
The Government has agreed to continue the status quo for the GB Port Authority and its companies for what in many cases amounts to nothing more than a promise to collaborate or enter into further discussions. The Prime Minister also makes references to matters which do not even appear in the MOU leaving the impression that commitments have been made in these areas.
The PLP Government first of all started the process of negotiating the extension far too late to achieve a proper solution to these very complex issues. The PLP knew the date of the deadline for the tax extensions before the 2012 elections yet they negligently appointed the Commission 5 months before the first deadline causing the process to be unnecessarily rushed. We are only left to conclude that the delay was as a result of the neglectful attitude the PLP shows to Freeport.
The PLP Government has also dismissed the wishes of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce and many Licensees who called for more control and involvement by the private sector. However, the MOU only provides for one director on the Board of the Port Authority which does not provide the Licensees with sufficient control or influence. Licensees should have a more significant role than one seat on the board.
The MOU failed to obtain specific timelines and details on a vital recommendation that the GBPA and PGL must establish and capitalize an independent investment promotion agency with expertise in retaining, expanding and attracting businesses. It was also recommended that this agency be created and funded by the Port Authority. There should have been no compromise on this point. This is the whole purpose and obligation of the GB Port Authority. The MOU only speaks of a vague promise to collaborate with the government. Who will pay for it? When must it be in place?
The PLP also failed to obtain specific obligations on the contributions for education, training and health contrary to its own Commission’s recommendation which was very clear “Specific commitments around the quality of life investments, for example, hospital, sport center upgrades, bridge and road upgrades” A strict reading of the MOU reveals that there are no specific places or amount that must be contributed. The PM touted infrastructure and social improvements but the MOU is vague with no specifics, timelines or consequences for breaches. Unfortunately for the people of Grand Bahama these are not new as the Port Authority is already responsible for infrastructure and social improvements. What additional benefits are the people really getting?
The Prime Minister boasted of “historic changes in the governance, transparency, and regulatory framework that governs Freeport” yet if you take a close look we have no idea what those changes will look like or whether they will be faster or fairer. Essentially they have agreed to follow government policy which is not new and may even be possibly worse than is the current policy. Also more importantly there are absolutely no provisions about accountability which was the essential change the people of Freeport were hoping for. If they perform regulatory powers over the people, they should be accountable to the people.
The PLP Government has also stated that real property tax exemptions may not be extended for non- Bahamians who own undeveloped land as an incentive to develop the land, however, it has essentially approved the extension for the non- Bahamian company that owns the largest amount of undeveloped land and who has been the main problem in land sales. The PLP has again missed the point. There is no incentive for GB Development Company to begin to develop their land or even offer their land at discounted prices.
The MOU ought to have committed the GB Development Company to allocate land at discounted prices for the government’s housing program which would have helped the economy.
The MOU also has failed to even address the change in the regulation of the GB Power Company which the people of Grand Bahama have been calling for many years and was a key recommendation by the Government’s Commission. This also had important economic benefits. The MOU should have provided for the independent body URCA to regulate the GB Power Company.
The MOU is a vague list of possibilities which have no timelines and no penalties and no incentives whatsoever for the Port Authority to change the status quo. The MOU in and of itself does not offer hope only more unanswered questions.
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