Former Island Palm Resort symbolic of what has gone wrong with Freeport

Tue, Jul 17th 2012, 08:44 AM

Dear Editor,

In the weeks leading up to the May 7 general election, the former Free National Movement (FNM) government purchased the old Island Palm Resort for $1.9 million to facilitate the expansion of the Rand Memorial Hospital. The former Ingraham administration had already spent some $12 million in upgrading the accident and emergency theater and the reconstruction of the theaters at the local hospital.
According to the former FNM Minister of Works Neko Grant, in the April 13 edition of The Freeport News, the Island Palm Resort would have been demolished to make provisions for a facility that would provide 180 beds that are needed for healthcare in the northern region. It was anticipated that the construction phase of the new healthcare facility would have injected millions into Grand Bahama's decimated economy.
Perhaps all Grand Bahamians are agreed that the Rand Memorial is in dire need of more rooms. The island's population has simply outgrown that facility, which was built in the 1960s. Grand Bahama's population in 2012 is perhaps two or three times larger than it was in 1969. That is why many Grand Bahamians welcomed the FNM's plan to use the property to facilitate the expansion of the local hospital. And seeing that it is right next door to the Rand Memorial Hospital, it made every sense in the world. But obviously the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government does not see it that way. According to Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis, the PLP government is planning on converting that property into a much needed homeless shelter.
This recent announcement by the deputy prime minister has raised many concerns in the business community, especially in the downtown area of Freeport. Many business persons don't view this new plan by the Christie administration as an improvement to the infrastructure of the island. According to one business person, the government is regressing as opposed to moving forward to provide the infrastructure that would benefit the island.
Still, no one can deny that a homeless shelter is needed in Grand Bahama. Unfortunately, homelessness is a reality in Freeport. While many uppity middle-class persons would like to bury their heads in the sand and ignore this grim reality, several struggling Grand Bahamian families have lost their homes and are now living in their cars. Many Grand Bahamians have fallen prey to the anemic economy.
Freeport is not an ideal place for poor people. It continues to baffle me that neither the FNM or the PLP has been able to get a handle of Freeport's depressed economy. Even the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) appears to be unable to fix the economy. Still, whatever one's views are concerning the PLP's plan for the Island Palm Resort, you would still have to commend the Christie administration for at least attempting to address the issue of homelessness in Grand Bahama. For what it's worth, the plan to convert the resort to a homeless shelter is likely a fitting symbol of all that has gone wrong with Freeport over the past 10-plus years.
The city of Freeport was nicknamed the "Magic City" because of its robust economy during the sixties, seventies and eighties. Back then many Grand Bahamians held down either two or three jobs at a time. Now, however, the unemployment rate in Grand Bahama is the worst in the entire Bahamas. It is over 20 percent, I think.
There was a time in this city's history when thousands of Bahamian migrants flocked to the Magic City in search of employment opportunities. Now, however, many are leaving in droves because of their inability to find gainful employment. There is now a Grand Bahamian diaspora in islands such as New Providence, Exuma, Bimini and Abaco. These islands are doing far better than Grand Bahama.
I vividly remember hearing former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham tell hundreds of Abaconians at an FNM rally earlier this year in Abaco that their airport was the second busiest in The Bahamas. It simply amazes me that a Family Island like Abaco has a busier airport than the one in Freeport City. Yet Freeport is supposed to be the second city of this country, not Marsh Harbour.
Actually, I was a bit ambivalent about the FNM's plan for the old Island Palm Resort for the simple reason that the property would never again be a hotel. That hotel closed it doors due to business decline in October of 2011. At the time of its closure, about 15 persons were employed at the resort. Grand Bahamians have become accustomed to hearing of failed businesses closing their doors.
Further, the tourism industry continues to lag behind. With so few stopover visitors coming to Grand Bahama in recent years, many hotels have either scaled down or have closed down.
I will not chide the Christie administration for converting the Island Palm Resort to a homeless shelter. As I mentioned above, this plan is a fitting symbol of all that has gone wrong with Freeport in the past 10-plus years. Such a plan bespeaks the high level of poverty that continues to grip thousands of Grand Bahamians. As far as I am concerned, it couldn't have been any other way.

- Kevin Evans

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