Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Sen. Hon. Ryan Pinder appeared at a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister on Tuesday where he spoke about the decision handed down in an arbitration case brought by the government against the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).
Also on Tuesday the GBPA released a statement claiming it had won the proceedings because the government’s $357 million claim was dismissed. Pinder said, “we would argue that statement is misguided, misleading and does not portray the true intention of what the award ruled on. That is why they would have only released the last page of the award. The award is 139 pages.”
The Attorney General went on to explain the decision deeming it a win for the government and the Bahamian people. “The tribunal confirmed that the Grand Bahama Port Authority has an ongoing contractual obligation to make annual payments to the government for the benefit of Bahamian taxpayers for the remainder of the term of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement until 2054.”
The GBPA sought more that $1 billion in damages from the government for wrongful interference in the management of Freeport. Of the eight claims brought by the GBPA seven of them were rejected by the arbiters. These included expanded powers over licensing, immigration, customs, development and other regulatory matters.
“The GBPA wanted a declaration that the government was not entitled to regulate immigration in the Port area. Again, the tribunal rejected the GBPA’s case on this issue outright holding that it was lawful for the government to legislate matters related to immigration and apply that legislation within the Port area. The GBPA also wanted a declaration that the government was not entitled to operate a customs regulatory regime within the Port area. They said we were not entitled to regulate what comes into our country through the Port area. That was one of their counter claims. The tribunal also rejected the GBPA’s case on this,” Pinder said.
The Port Authority also sought to have itself declared the regulator of electricity and other utilities in the Port area. This has been a point of contention for some months as the government has maintained that it is the regulator through the Utilities, Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA).
The Attorney General said, “the tribunal held that the government has a right to introduce legislation to apply to the construction, operation, and regulation of utilities in the Port area and rejected the counter claim by the GBPA. In fact, there’s an ongoing case in our courts, specifically on this issue, of which the power company is challenging the right of URCA to regulate them. This arbitration make it clear, URCA has the authority in law to regulate utilities in Freeport.”
The GBPA won the argument that the government is in breach by continuing to fail to take the necessary steps to effect the promulgation of the environmental bye-laws for the Port
Area. However, the tribunal did not see a need to assess damages on this basis.
The government initially filed a notice in May 2024 seeking reimbursement from the GBPA for cost associated with the management of Freeport.
The full award from the arbitration proceedings has been made public.
