Ugandan High Commissioner to The Bahamas, His Excellency George Abola (second from right) accepts a welcome gift from (left to right): Charles Pratt, Commercial Manager-GBPA; Henry St. George - Director, Port Group of Companies; Sarah St. George – Director Port Group of Companies; and Arthur Jones, Vice President-GBPA, Building & Development.

Freeport, Bahamas – His Excellency, George Abola, Ugandan High Commissioner to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, paid a courtesy call on officials of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA) during a private visit to Grand Bahama recently.

On hand to welcome the visiting diplomat were company representatives, Sarah and Henry St. George, Arthur Jones, Vice President-GBPA, Building & Development and Charles Pratt, Commercial Manager-GBPA. 

After a brief video presentation outlining Freeport’s history and unique characteristics of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, His Excellency and a GBPA delegation embarked on a private boat tour of the Freeport Harbour.  The afternoon excursion afforded direct views of activities at the Container Port and Grand Bahama Shipyard where a luxury cruise liner was completing refurbishment exercises. As expressed by Gary Gilbert, Chief Executive, Hutchison Port Holdings Bahamas, the sea tour was arranged so as to give the visitors a totally different perspective of operations underway in the harbour.

The afternoon jaunt culminated with a brief visit to the Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company.

The Ugandan High Commissioner was visibly impressed by the day’s proceedings and admitted that he was quite taken aback by all that he had seen.  “Before I reached here, I had the impression I was just going to see a small city in one of these small islands.  But, when I got here, I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw,” he expressed. His Excellency explained that even from the air he could observe that everything was properly planned by its layout.

Visiting diplomat, His Excellency George Abola, Ugandan High Commissioner to The Bahamas (far right) enjoys a boat tour of the Freeport Harbour along with (left to right): LaShawn Dames, Public Relations Manager-GBPA; Fatima Kaboub; Gary Gilbert - Chief Executive, Hutchison Port Holdings Bahamas; Arthur Jones - Vice President, GBPA Building & Development ; and Sarah St. George – Director Port Group of Companies

Based in Ottawa, Canada for the past five years and with responsibilities for The Bahamas and Cuba, this trip marked his fourth visit to Nassau and first to Freeport.  The diplomat believes there is much his country can learn from The Bahamas.  “This is a small country, very stable, very peaceful and therefore able to manage its affairs much better than a bigger country with a lot of challenges,” he stated.

“In my own country, we are a developing country with a lot of development challenges especially in human settlements and welfare of the people.  In Freeport however, I see a situation where leadership has created an atmosphere which definitely creates good governance for the people,” he added.  “So, there is a lot that we can borrow from the little I have seen in the Grand Bahama Freeport.  For whatever it is worth, it can help us to improve on certain aspects of our development which we might not have addressed properly.”

Before departing, His Excellency was presented with a special gift and expressed his desire to return to Freeport not only in an official capacity but as a leisure visitor.