Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy to join the business community here in Freeport on this occasion of the Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation dinner. 

The Chamber is a forum for dialogue concerning business development and an essential medium for exchange of views between Grand Bahama’s business people and the authorities, be it the Government or the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

It is important for the Government to have an ongoing dialogue with business owners and operators.  This is especially true in times of uncertainty. And many persons feel that these are times of uncertainty here in Freeport and in Grand Bahama.

I am deeply conscious of the fact that over the last five years times have not been good for you here in Grand Bahama. 

I know and understand your anxiety; your deep anxiety.

I firmly believe that better times are coming for Freeport and for Grand Bahama.

I promised you when I first came to office in 1992 that good things would happen for Grand Bahama, and they did.

I won’t rehash the successes of the 1990’s.  You know them well.  Life was good for you then. As it was, it will be again.

We are working on matters that will translate into new economic opportunities for Grand Bahama. 

We will complete them and see them come to fruition before we begin to count them as ‘done deals’.  Our recent history amply demonstrated the inherent risks in counting ones eggs before they hatch. 

This notwithstanding, I assure you that we are optimistic about Grand Bahama’s medium-term and long-term future.  Better times are coming indeed.

    I might note that, notwithstanding the slowing US economy resulting from the high and increasing cost of fuel, the sub-prime meltdown, the related collapse of the US housing market, and the weakening of the US dollar and hence the Bahamian dollar, interest continues to grow in Grand Bahama by investors.

It is fair and it is accurate for me to say the future of this city and the island of Grand Bahama seems brighter now than it has been for quite some time.

And I reiterate my Government’s firm and unbending commitment to support and promote the growth and expansion of Grand Bahama’s economy in all its component sectors.

Increased employment and career opportunities will soon present themselves in Grand Bahama. I take this opportunity to encourage all but especially our young people to seek out and take advantage of opportunities for training and for employment.

And, I counsel the private sector not to cling to the apron strings of protectionism even after success has been demonstrated in your ability and capacity to play and win in competition with much bigger persons.

It is for us, and very particularly for those of you engaged in business and commerce to turn set-backs into opportunities. 

Opportunities abound for Bahamians to become more involved in providing goods and services to our tourism sector; to become owners of attractions and activities offered to visitors, and to become producers and suppliers of goods and services to both hotels and to visitors.

And opportunities abound for Bahamians to become purveyors of services to the industrial sector here in Grand Bahama. 

It is my expectation that as Grand Bahamians and all of you who have come to live here seek out these opportunities, be they employment or business, international companies operating here will respond by giving fair and equal access to such Bahamians to those opportunities. 

In this regard I wish to emphasize and remind that I have directed all government-sponsored funding programmes, namely: the Bahamas Development Bank loans; BAIC facilities; the Venture Capital Fund; the government-guarantee loan schemes; and the investment incentive programmes administered under laws such as the Industries Encouragement Act, to focus the bulk of their support on programmes that principally help Bahamian businesses take advantage of opportunities to create linkages between tourism and the local economy.

You must secure opportunities by rediscovering your advantages and exploiting them wisely and by confronting weaknesses and shortcomings and addressing them quickly. 

That essentially is how we ensure our competitive position in efficiency and productivity.

        I do wish to stress that in our encouragement of development in Grand Bahama we are not unmindful of the need to pay close attention to the environmental and economical sustainability of development. 
   
    The considerable damage to the water resources of this island over many years through the construction of unlined canals, the unmonitored dumping of industrial waste, and the unmonitored spillage and run-off associated with oil refining and storage, have all played their role in heightening environmental sensibilities and in crafting environmental legislation and regulations for the entire Bahamas. 
   
And so as we encourage more development in Grand Bahama, we must also remain mindful of the need to pay the closest attention to our environmental integrity and to the sustainability of economic development. 

        The level of environmental oversight nowadays is, I believe, unparalleled; I expect it to remain so and, indeed, to grow. 
   
    We must also not be unmindful of the need to avoid boom and bust in your economy.  Sustainable growth must be our aim and objective.
   
    Ladies and Gentlemen:
   
    The Grand Bahama Port Authority is a critical player in the growth and development of this island.  It needs to be united, focused and functional in order to play its role effectively. 
   
    Now I know you are concerned about the dysfunctional, bickering and litigious Port Authority.  So am I.  And so are we in the Government.  And so are all your Members of Parliament.
   
    It has been said before – some men see things as they are and ask why. I see things as they might be and ask, why not?
   
    We have approached the Port Authority wrangling and receivership from the point of view that no one can or should expect The Bahamas which legislated and granted so much to a private company to sit idle as a bystander indefinitely while the economy of our second city deteriorates, unemployment escalates and business failures increase.
   
  The Port Authority was granted a one of a kind deal by The Bahamas to cause Freeport to develop. It is not likely that there will ever be another entity in The Bahamas that will have the power and authority that was granted to the Grand Bahama Port Authority. It did a lot of good while it had that power.
   
    It can’t and won’t be permitted though, to turn that good into bad.
   
    In the vacuum created by the Port’s troubles, you’ll hear many things from many people. Pay them no mind.
   
    Be assured that your interest, and primarily your interest, is uppermost in my Government’s mind.
   
Each time I ask you to watch my back, you did.  Now I can assure you I’m watching your back! 
   
I wish I could tell you what I know, but now is not the time.
   
    The government of The Bahamas which I lead will cause to happen in GB those things which you desire most. And not long from now, very soon to be exact, you will hear and you will come to know what I know.
   
And when you do, I think you will be happy.
   
    We are nearing the finish line on our journey to restore and resuscitate Freeport’s economy notwithstanding the dark cloud which now envelops this city.
   
A functional Port Authority is an essential prerequisite to this happening – that will happen.
   
It ain’t long now before you come to see that.
   
Hold on.  BETTER is coming.
   
    I ask you to stay strong and embrace the opportunities which lie ahead and assure yourselves that what you have now will soon be no more.
   
    Thank you.