By FAY SIMMONS
TRIBUNE Business Reporter
jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
A WELL-KNOWN Grand Bahama resident is warning that the Government should not commit to a wholesale replacement of Freeport's governance framework until it can show the proposed changes will deliver better economic results.
C Allen Johnson, senior spokesman for the Preserving Paradise advocacy group, argued that the Government’s ‘Green Paper’ outlining the Davis administration's proposed Grand Bahama governance reforms does not yet establish a sufficiently robust economic case for comprehensive institutional replacement.
“The Green Paper is stronger as a statement of governance objectives and a structured consultation framework than as a completed economic justification for comprehensive institutional replacement,” said Mr Johnson.
He said the document's economic statistics cover Grand Bahama as a whole and do not establish how performance differs between areas inside and outside the Port Area, limiting how confidently the Government can attribute economic imbalances to the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
“The most consequential evidence gap is explicit in the Green Paper: Its economic statistics are island-wide and do not establish how performance differs inside versus outside the Port Area,” he said.
Mr Johnson said the Government could legitimately set policy objectives without proving that its preferred approach was the only possible solution. However, he argued that claims a particular reform is economically necessary should be open to scrutiny of the evidence, causal reasoning, likely consequences and available alternatives.
“Policy authority gives the Government the power to propose reform. It does not convert a policy proposition into an established economic fact,” he said.
The Davis administration has proposed changes to the governance of Freeport, including amendments to the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and a new Grand Bahama Development Act. The Government has said the existing arrangements cannot remain unchanged and has opened the way for consultation on the future framework.
Mr Johnson argued that the Government should examine alternatives before committing to a comprehensive replacement, including modernising the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, separating regulatory responsibilities from commercial development, establishing elected municipal government and introducing a hybrid governance model.
He also identified options such as changing the ownership and governance of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), increasing licensee participation in decision-making and establishing a public development corporation with private sector involvement.
“Grand Bahama should avoid committing to a wholesale governance replacement until an independently-tested case demonstrates that the replacement will outperform both the existing framework and less disruptive reforms,” he said.
Mr Johnson called for the Government's planned ‘white paper’, expected by July 1, 2027, to include an independently scrutinised comparison of its preferred proposal against negotiated reform of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and a democratically accountable alternative.
He said the assessment should make the costs, benefits, legal requirements and transition risks of each option explicit.
Mr Johnson said the decision should ultimately be based on which institutional arrangement could produce the strongest long-term economic and public benefits for Grand Bahama, rather than a contest between the Port Authority and central government.
“The governing principle should nevertheless survive: Legal certainty, public legitimacy, economic competitiveness and democratic accountability must be designed together,” he said.
Mr Johnson added that the consultation process should also examine how Grand Bahama could generate, retain and distribute more economic value, including through an island-wide development strategy and targeted development areas with concessions where justified.
The Government's consultation on the proposed reforms is scheduled to run from November 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027.