Grand Bahama residents have mixed reaction to a recent call made by Port Authority Chairman Julian Francis for the benefits of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement to be extended to include the entire island of Grand Bahama, and not just Freeport.
The Hawksbill Creek Agreement is a contract between the government and the Port Authority signed in 1955, which granted the Port and its licensees concessions to import duty-free materials and have freedom from taxes for financial, commercial and industrial enterprises until 2054.
Mr. Francis believes the extension of the agreement would be advantageous to the entire island. The government, in fact, promised in its 2002 campaign document “Our Plan” that it would extend the agreement.
Businessman Elvis Hepburn, who is from Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock, told The Bahama Journal on Monday that the very thought of the Port Authority having complete autonomy over Grand Bahama is “insulting.”
“The only benefit of the [Hawksbill Creek Agreement] being extended is really to the Grand Bahama Port Authority. There is no benefit really to the people of Grand Bahama outside of Freeport,” Mr. Hepburn said.
“Why should Bahamians in West Grand Bahama or East Grand Bahama have to pay or should pay a license fee to the Grand Bahama Port Authority?”
Cecil Hepburn, a retiree who also lives in Hanna Hill, also thinks it would be a bad idea to extend the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
“I worked for [the Port Authority] in the early days and I don’t see any advantage after all these years from 1955 until the present day that any Bahamian got any special privilege,” Mr. Hepburn said.
“The only thing I see is we are paying to walk on our land-The only thing the government should do is bring some sort of restrictions [because] what is the Port Authority going to do for us?”
However, Otterine Jones, another resident of Hanna Hill, said government should extend the agreement.
“If the Port Authority had something to do with it, then it would be a good plan because if they [the Port] gave us the same thing as they gave, say Port Lucaya, then that would be better,” Mrs. Jones said.
“Right now, Eight Mile Rock is at a full stop. There is nothing happening at all and everybody is hurting. We need income and we need a boost in our economy. The government is not doing anything for us, so if the Port is going to step in, they [the government] should let them do it.”
The extension of the Agreement is something Eugene Duncanson, another Grand Bahama resident, would also like to see happen.
“I feel that people who are outside of the Port Area are people who are less fortunate and most of them have to purchase in Freeport and they go to Freeport because they find they can get things at a lower rate,” Mr. Duncanson said.
“Sometimes you can find things being sold at a lower price in Eight Mile Rock, but people are still going to Freeport. I think it would be advantageous for the small man. He would be able to spread it around and still get something nice for himself. So I see no disadvantage at all.”
By: Courtnee Romer, The Bahama Journal
