Flipping Grand Bahama

Flipping Grand Bahama: "Bend or Break speech" : "Bend or Break speech" On July 26, 1969, Sir Lynden O. Pinding, then Premier of The Bahamas, delivered this speech duri...

"Bend or Break speech" On July 26, 1969, Sir Lynden O. Pinding, then Premier of The Bahamas, delivered this speech during an inspection tour at the official opening ceremony for the new Bahamas Oil Refinery Company (BORCO). This speech in history has been called the "Bend or Break Speech" and has long be said by officials in Grand Bahama to be the reason the lights went out at the "Magical Fair" that was the spark called Freeport. Here is the entire speech: “I am certainly delighted to be here this morning because what I see beginning on this site is not only the erection of an oil refinery but also the real true birth of a petro-chemical industry in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Islands. I am delighted to be here because, if the industry develops as the proprietors hope it will be and I hope it will, not only will The Bahamas be able to meet from within its shores its own presently small needs of kerosene, gasoline, diesel and oth...

The Magic City This was the name of Freeport, the economic capital of Grand Bahama (the capital is really West End.) This is a photo (complements of OldBahamas.com) showing the historical moments when 250 acres of pine barren was leased for 99 to begin a planned city headed by Wallace Groves and Sir Charles Hayward. From here on for about 20 years there was an unprecedented growth - a huge boom on this island. One of the missions was the construction of a deep water harbour which since then has expanded on several occasions. Of couse that also meant that they had to build homes and hotels in this area. The water supply to this island was/is more than capable of supplying over 50000 people and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (the company named to carry out this agreement) tried all they could to bring in just that amount. This agreement was signed in 1955 with amendments made throughout the years. The magic was seen and felt in the construction of many hotels and most f...

So... this is my island. An island in the sun. A place where I (think) belong. After spending eleven years away from it it has always been my dream to make it better ... in aspects. I was thinking while taking my morning walk about what have I done in the past three years to try to do any of that and even to ask.... if I want to make it better, what do I think is first of all wrong with it? To answer that, first I need to place everything. Grand Bahama Island is the northern most island in The Bahamas archipelago and features something none of the other islands have, and that is a company regulated section of the island which is known as Freeport/Lucaya. As with the other islands there are many settlements, but Freeport/Lucaya sits as the mean hub of the island and was created by an agreement, called the Hawksbill Creek Agreement back in 1955. This agreement has a life span of 99 years and will be done away with in 2050. On this particular topic we will go into details in u...