The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) announced Tuesday the appointment of Ian Fair as the new chairman, a post that has been vacant since 2009.
Sarah St. George, daughter of the former chairman, the late Edward St. George will now assume the position of vice chairman, the release also stated.
St. George was the partner of Honorary Chairman Sir Jack Hayward and held the position until his death in 2004.
In a joint statement issued by Sir Jack and the St. George family Tuesday, both families expressed that Fair exemplifies the true essence of seasoned leadership.
The announcement comes six months after Sir Jack denied reports that Fair had been appointed to the new chairman.
“There’s no chairman being elected,” he told The Freeport News back in October 2011. “…No one’s being proposed and no one’s being elected.”
It was also then that Sir Jack explained that Fair was merely appointed as a Director of the Board along with the late St. George’s son, Henry St. George, at a meeting on June 28, 2011.
The release revealed that Fair was appointed director in September 2011.
According to the release, Fair’s role will be to guide the strategic direction for the organization and focus on maximizing growth opportunities for Freeport and Grand Bahama while Sarah St. George will work closely with President Ian Rolle and the current executive team to develop new strategies for development and build on existing initiatives and programs.
The last person to hold the position of GBPA chairman was Austrian-born native Hannes Babak in 2009.
Babak was appointed in June 2006 by Sir Jack and Lady Henrietta St. George on the heels of the resignation of Co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer Julian Francis.
Francis held the position for a year after St. George’s death.
In December 2009, the government refused to renew Babak’s work permit when it expired.
Prime Minister Ingraham, who would only disclose to the media in January of this year that it was for good reason, said recent events had reconfirmed that Babak was “unacceptable and not a suitable person to be in charge of the (GBPA).”
