freeport

What was billed as a public town hall to “clear the air” about the government’s arbitration battle with the Grand Bahama Port Authority quickly turned into something far more political.

By the time the meeting got underway at the Bahamas Union of Teachers Hall in Freeport, the atmosphere already hinted at the direction the evening might take. The room was filled, though many attendees wore clothing and hats associated with the governing Progressive Liberal Party, including the party’s familiar “Safe with Brave” slogan tied to Philip Davis.

Even before the panel discussion began, moderator Joan Davis Rolle praised Davis.

Click here to watch the town hall meeting

The event’s stated purpose was to explain the recent arbitration ruling between the government and the Port Authority. Panelists — including attorneys Gregory Moss, Terrance Gape and Ernie Wallace — walked the audience through elements of the tribunal’s decision. Moss described the ruling as being “substantially in favor of the government,” echoing the position the Davis administration has taken since the decision was handed down.

Davis defended the decision to pursue arbitration, arguing that successive governments had long struggled with what he described as stagnation in Freeport’s development. He said the legal action was not personal but necessary.

“This is about Grand Bahama and the people,” Davis said, adding that the government is now open to negotiating the next phase of the relationship with the Port Authority ahead of the expiration of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement in 2054.

But the evening’s most dramatic moment came when Michael Pintard, leader of the opposition Free National Movement and MP for Marco City — the very constituency where the meeting was held — asked to address the room.

What followed was less dialogue and more confrontation.

As Pintard attempted to speak, sections of the crowd booed loudly, repeatedly shouting over him during his roughly 11-minute attempt to make remarks.

Pintard suggested that the people of Freeport, central government and licensees of the port collaborate. “Brother and sisters, you’ve heard the case by the four attornies, surely at the end of the presentation, if you have a problem with what I say, you will have an opportunity to make a decision. At least give me an opportunity to make the point.”

The crowd shouted, “Nooo, nooo.”

Later, when East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson attempted to raise questions during the forum, he too was heckled and faced interruptions, and at one point, his microphone was cut off.

He asked for clarification on the tribunal’s dismissal of the government’s claim of $375 million owed by the GBPA and Moss’ interpretation that it is “a judgement with damages to be assessed.”

In the end, the meeting offered a preview of how fiercely contested the debate over Freeport’s future is becoming as election season intensifies.

The current dispute between the government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority did not begin with the recent arbitration ruling. In many ways, it is the continuation of a debate that stretches back more than half a century, to the era of Lynden Pindling.

When the Grand Bahama Port Authority was created under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, Freeport became one of the most unique economic arrangements in the Caribbean. The agreement granted the Port Authority powers over land development, licensing, and investment within the port area, effectively allowing a private company to manage many functions typically handled by the government.

When Pindling’s Progressive Liberal Party came to power in 1967, that arrangement became a national issue.

Pindling understood the economic importance of Freeport. He famously said he had no intention of “killing the goose that laid the golden eggs,” a phrase often used to describe the prosperity the port brought to Grand Bahama.

But he also made clear that the balance of power could not remain unchanged forever.

Pindling questioned whether the model would eventually have to adjust to reflect Bahamian sovereignty. The government wanted a greater role in economic participation and oversight, even while allowing the Port Authority to continue operating.

That tension between economic partnership and government control has lingered ever since.

Today, Prime Minister Philip Davis is attempting to echo Pindling in the recent arbitration ruling with the Port Authority. While the tribunal dismissed the government’s claim for $357 million in reimbursement, the administration has argued that the decision still affirmed an important principle—Freeport ultimately exists under Bahamian law and parliamentary authority.

The Port Authority’s leadership, including co-chairman Rupert Hayward, has pushed back on some of that framing, emphasizing the Port’s longstanding partnership with the country and its role in developing Grand Bahama over generations.

What has followed is a narrative battle.

The government has framed the arbitration as part of a broader effort to rebalance the relationship between the government and the Port Authority. The Hayward family, meanwhile, has defended its legacy and its identity as deeply rooted in the Bahamian story.

With a general election expected at any moment, the dispute has quickly moved to politics.

For voters watching the back-and-forth, the debate may appear to be about a specific arbitration case. But the deeper issue is one that Bahamians have heard before. It is the same question that hovered over Freeport when Pindling first entered office decades ago: Who ultimately controls the future of Freeport — the government of the Bahamas, or the private authority that helped build it?

Friends are remembering a man who was found dead after he vanished while on a fishing expedition near Gold Rock Creek in Freeport on Tuesday.

Friends said Patrick Bevans was a curb and whelk supplier, known for gathering sea snails from the island’s shoreline.

“I will miss you,” Tracey Hield said.

Bevans, 65, was found in the Freetown area near the missile base.

He reportedly went on a fishing trip with a relative around 7 am when the pair separated and planned to meet back up at 9:30. Police said tide rose and weather conditions deteriorated perhaps hampering Bevans’ return to their meeting spot.

Brian Carey, familiar with the area said he thinks the fishing trip was a “bad decision” because the area is swampy land. “[With] deep mud and high tide, you [are] in trouble.”

After police announced his discovery, Ednol Mcphee expressed shock. “ [I] still can’t believe it.”

His nephew Dejuan Bevans took to social media to pay his respects, “Sleep in peace, Uncle Pat.”

Friends said he was good-natured with an infectious smile.

“He was an awesome guy. [He was] always smiling,” Shirley Fernander remembered.

Erma Smith said his memory lives on in the trees he often planted.

“You will be in our hearts every day. You were the best always putting a smile on our faces. When I look at coconut trees and desert roses you planted, I will see your beautiful smile you had on your face.

“Every time you came by, you always had a joke and put a smile on my face. I will never forget all your jokes and kindness,” she said.

Miriam Darville grieved, “We will miss him. He always called me Miriam Roker. No more jokes from him.”

The family of a man employed onboard Carnival Cruise Line but died at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama is crying foul after his body was allegedly returned to Italy with missing organs.

“We want to know if he died at work and what happened to his organs,” sister Rosaria Torrisi lamented to an Italian local daily.

Her brother Alfio Torrisi, 54, worked as a carpenter on Carnival Paradise, employed by Techni Teak, a company based in Riposto, Sicily. He was reportedly hospitalized after becoming ill onboard the popular cruise line while docked in Grand Bahama. Still, he died on October 2023 while under medical care at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport.

When the man’s body returned to Sicily, Italy, the family claims it was stuffed with wood dust and newspaper instead of organs, upon examination by an Italian forensic pathologist.

“My brother was very well. He had undergone medical checks shortly before and was healthy,” Rosaria told La Sicilia.

“He left behind a wife and a child, and us sisters and brothers with [a] destroyed father.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Catania, Italy has launched an investigation into his death, suspecting involuntary manslaughter.

“It all seems so absurd,” the angry sister added.

The Catania Prosecutor’s Office said it had written a letter to the hospital, seeking an explanation regarding the circumstances surrounding his death and reasons for the missing organs, but has heard nothing. It has since started the process for an international rogatory commission to obtain the necessary evidence for the involuntary manslaughter case it intends to pursue.

“We will not rest until we have the truth,” Rosario concluded.

Seventy-three-year-old Heidi Ernst, an American scuba diver whose leg was amputated when she was bitten by a shark in Grand Bahama last week, is defending the Grand Bahama Scuba Dive Center after it was hit with hate mails and negative reviews.

“They are not only the best dive shop but also saved my life,” she retorted.

Ernest said of the criticisms levelled against the scuba dive company since the attack, “They do not deserve this and it really pisses me off…It is uncalled for and so hurtful to people, my friends to be under attack.”

Ernst was climbing a ladder after finishing her dive when a shark grabbed her by the leg.

“I didn’t even see him approach me. He came from below, and it was just like a truck hit me. It was just like a scene out of a horror movie,” she told ABC7NY.

Ernst, an experienced scuba diver, then struck the shark to get it to open its jaw and praised her friend for his quick thinking in saving her life.

She was stabilized at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport and then taken by air ambulance to Jackson Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, FL. The extent of the wound and the infection required Ernest’s left leg amputation.

“She [the doctor] reconnected the nerves to muscles which promotes a good outcome with less pain and things like neuromas. And then she closed it up. Post-surgery is very painful and they had difficulty controlling my pain for almost two days,” she said.

Friends are seeking to raise $30,000 to assist with her medical expenses not covered by insurance, travel expenses to get her back home, travel expenses to get her to and from therapy appointments when she has returned home and other modifications needed in her home for physical assistance.

Ernst’s horror details circulated the international media and may have spurred criticisms at the dive company. “It was harmless consent on my part and now friends are being attacked. Please if you hear anyone badmouthing them, stop it in its tracks.”

Ernst said she will continue diving and has been looking for fins suited for amputees.

Before 50-year-old Princess Mills drowned, the preacher and teacher often traversed the northern islands to spread the gospel message, after teaching students in Family and Consumer Studies at SC Bootle High School.

When friends and family found out that she died tragically after a boat in which she was a passenger overturned early Thursday morning, they were in disbelief.

“I tried not to believe this as I fought internally with so many emotions…This is a tough pill to swallow,” cousin Elon Elcaro said.

“My beautiful, anointed, powerful, rare, phenomenal, supernatural, believing cousin,” he lamented.

Mills was in Freeport for a church service where she danced and preached, after which, she called a ferry boat to carry her back to Abaco where she planned to spend the Easter holidays with her husband and son in Moore’s Island.

But before she could arrive, the 20ft Grady boat capsized. Mill’s lifeless body was found floating near the vessel as the 19-year-old boat captain who always ferried her to the various islands, was found clinging to the vessel after 2 am.

Her father Jonathan Stuart reminisced, “Everybody really loved her.”

Stuart helped her load the boat with her belongings before her departure from McClean’s Town, after which she kissed him and said, “Daddy I’ll see you when you get home.”

Friend Terrece Isabella who also taught at SC Bootle High School said it was typical of Mills to take boat rides at night to partake in various church services in Marsh Harbour, Eleuthera and Freeport.

“There were no seasons in my life in the last 20-plus years, that she didn’t show up, and show up she did.

“Princess [Mills] was gentle, radical in faith, sacrificial and motherly. I witnessed Princess giving people the last that she had. Oftentimes, people were quick to take advantage of her generosity and loving nature, without regard for her sacrifices.

Isabella said Mills was the epitome of selflessness. “She fed and provided for those she believed needed her.

“She never put herself first. It was just Princess—a giver.”

Former student, Devon Cooper said, “This cut me deep. From high school, I always knew her to be an example of a true woman of God.”

While another student Krizstina Rutherford described her as “the best Home Economic teacher anyone could possibly ask for.”

After rescue crews ended their search for two missing men from Bimini, family members are holding out hope they would be found alive and have offered a reward as they piece together the circumstances surrounding the men’s disappearance nearly two weeks ago.

The whereabouts of James Toote, 31, and Nazar Robins, 23, from Bimini, Bahamas are still a mystery after frantic searches led to a dead end. Toote, a fisherman routinely travels to Grand Bahama and took Robins with him expecting to return the next day in a vessel that he purchased.

Family members of the men only grew concerned when they did not arrive in Bimini, and alerted officials about the missing case.

Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force became involved, conducting searches, but to no avail.

“Basically, we searched and searched and searched all week, last week with planes, boats and helicopters. Basically, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force was the lead in the case, and yesterday (Sunday) we searched again and that was our last day. We gave it all just about a full week, two planes, three planes in the air at all times,” Eddie Whan, BASRA Chairman told the Tribune.

“We have done everything that we can possibly humanly do up until [Sunday].

“We have had negative results in all of the searches.”

Relatives have since offered a reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the men, asking for members of the public to help identify the previous operators of the boat before it was purchased.

“We need to backtrack and identify the last person to see them or hear their voices.

“If you know something, please say something. Our families are hurting,” Robin’s sister pleaded.

The men’s cell phones were reportedly last used in the West End area, and their vessel reportedly departed from Port Lucaya in Grand Bahama.

Robin’s mother, Renee Smith also pleaded for help locating the men, “Please! We need closure.

“I believe I will see Nazr again. Hoping and praying still,” she said.

Whitney Brice, the niece of Toote said while she awaits their return, the pain of not knowing is overwhelming.

“From Sunday to now, no word at all. Lord knows this is hurtful. Yes, I trust you Lord but the process is rough.”

Early in the investigation, rumours circulated that the men were arrested in Florida, but the families quickly shot down the speculations.

“The rumours may not be true but someone knows what happened and we will wait for that story,” Robin’s sister said.

The government will extend the tax concessions under the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (Special Economic Recovery Zone) for Abaco and Grand Bahama to June 2021.

Why it matters

• Many of the provisions were set to expire on December 31, 2020.
• The local sale and importation of household furniture, furnishings, and appliances will continue to be tax-free.
• The tax relief measures were designated for Grand Bahama and the Abacos following the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Dorian.

What Minister of State for Finance says

• Senator Kwasi Thompson said, “To further assist persons and businesses who are still recovering, and are now grappling further with COVID-19, the government has agreed to extend a number of tax relief measures to June 2021.”
• He noted that the government also recognizes that rebuilding takes time, and the reconstruction of damaged homes continues.
• Furthermore, the government is extending the opportunity to receive a discount on the VAT payable on the sale of real property for transactions valued up to $500,000.
• He said the government recognizes as well that vehicles that have been ordered may not arrive in the country by the end of December. The government will honour the current tax concession on replacement vehicles, provided that there is documentary evidence that it has been shipped by December 31, 2020, and provided that it arrives by April 30, 2021.

State of play

• Government revenues are down by as much as 50 percent, but the government says it is ensuring that it still does as much as possible to cushion the economic blow for islands experiencing hardship.