Response by others to speech
After reading the "Bend or Break" Speech I have had two responses that made me really wonder.
The first said that Mr. Pindling was wrong to give such a speech.
"But that is not what destroyed Freeport. The Hawksbill Creek Agreement is the finest development agreement every written, in my view. However, after Wallace Groves, a lack of imagination and skills, together with a relatively low bar of the concept of "success" the owners of the Port concession set about milking the local population.
"If the Hawksbill Creek Agreement was being run right, Freeporters would pay nothing for Business License Fees; the profits from utilities would have been used to promote Freeport. Look at what Andrew Young Jr. did for Atlanta, that what Freeport lost with the aid of both political parties!"
Very interesting concept, especially considering that to this day the Grand Bahama Port Authority says the stagnation of Freeport came because of the speech.
Another person wrote to say that they had heard from persons who lived here and were classmates in the early 1970 who gave another view.
"I heard some of their family stories and reasons as to why they left after the infamous speech. They shared that their parent who came to Freeport to start a business here in the early days and invested all they had, were told that they had to give up 50% of their business to a Bahamian. Some left their businesses and the island with only two suitcases each of personal belongings, as the uncertainly of Freeport's future development and the 'new rules' coming to be, seemed most unfair."
So far unfortunately I have not uncovered the reasons for the 50% loss of any business and if that was the beginning of Bahamianization, but it to me is a more likely cause for persons leaving the country instead of the speech.
The onset of Bahamianization came with the fight for independence which as not much of a fight and saw the emergence of the two party political system which has since threatened to split to three or more.
I will continue to delve into this cause and effect while in the next blog, as promised I will give you a residents idea of re-branding Freeport from back in the 1990s. It is quite a read. Many had made comments on how to improve this island an this city, but little has been done and as the title states, it really is time to flip Grand Bahama to the unrealized potential it really has.
The first said that Mr. Pindling was wrong to give such a speech.
"But that is not what destroyed Freeport. The Hawksbill Creek Agreement is the finest development agreement every written, in my view. However, after Wallace Groves, a lack of imagination and skills, together with a relatively low bar of the concept of "success" the owners of the Port concession set about milking the local population.
"If the Hawksbill Creek Agreement was being run right, Freeporters would pay nothing for Business License Fees; the profits from utilities would have been used to promote Freeport. Look at what Andrew Young Jr. did for Atlanta, that what Freeport lost with the aid of both political parties!"
Very interesting concept, especially considering that to this day the Grand Bahama Port Authority says the stagnation of Freeport came because of the speech.
Another person wrote to say that they had heard from persons who lived here and were classmates in the early 1970 who gave another view.
"I heard some of their family stories and reasons as to why they left after the infamous speech. They shared that their parent who came to Freeport to start a business here in the early days and invested all they had, were told that they had to give up 50% of their business to a Bahamian. Some left their businesses and the island with only two suitcases each of personal belongings, as the uncertainly of Freeport's future development and the 'new rules' coming to be, seemed most unfair."
So far unfortunately I have not uncovered the reasons for the 50% loss of any business and if that was the beginning of Bahamianization, but it to me is a more likely cause for persons leaving the country instead of the speech.
The onset of Bahamianization came with the fight for independence which as not much of a fight and saw the emergence of the two party political system which has since threatened to split to three or more.
I will continue to delve into this cause and effect while in the next blog, as promised I will give you a residents idea of re-branding Freeport from back in the 1990s. It is quite a read. Many had made comments on how to improve this island an this city, but little has been done and as the title states, it really is time to flip Grand Bahama to the unrealized potential it really has.
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