FREEPORT: THE PRIVATE SECTOR LETS US DOWN

There was a time in Grand Bahama and in Freeport in particular, you could not stick a pin at Port Lucaya, the fake market built by Edward St George to give tourists something to do in Freeport.  It became a mecca for the young and the restless and a good time was had by most. Young Bahamians gathered on weekends. The bars were full. The tourists liked to join the natives cavorting in the Port’s market place. Not anymore.  A new group came to the government about fifteen years ago with British capital and promised the world in its redevelopment. They failed and what you see today is yellow tape with do not cross lines.  Recently a fence was put up to stop wandering traffic from falling into the sea on the rickety boardwalk and docks. There are no customers. Not on Thursday in front of a public holiday and not on Friday night in front of Saturday. The private sector has not done what it should do to keep things going and Port Lucaya’s investors are an example of that failure.  They have a reputation for extracting rents from the straw market vendors and throwing them out if they don’t pay but the evidence of investment and promotion is sorely lacking. They have let us down.