Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) President Ian Rolle has outlined a rigorous schedule of activities for the authority's foreseeable future to get the city of Freeport back up and running in the wake of the havoc wrought by Hurricane Matthew.

While acknowledging the gravity of the situation - including the necessity to ration water and stave off a potential food shortage - Rolle remained upbeat about the prospects.

Still, despite Rolle's optimism, nightmare-like reports continue to come from Grand Bahama about the effects of the storm.

Rolle added that the port authority's staff have been told that there are no set hours of work right now. The job is to get the city up and running.

He told Guardian Business yesterday, "It's too early to say when the city will be fully up and running, but I expect within two weeks to start entertaining guests here on this island. Tourists."

First priorities
Rolle laid out his agenda.

"One priority for us is to get the water going throughout the city. That's number one. We are in conservation mode right now, but as we get more wells up, we actually are stretching the time limit with regards to the flow of water to the city," he said.

Rolle also identified the team assisting the Grand Bahama Power Company as being from Tampa Energy.

"They hit the ground running trying to get these poles repaired. We have quite a number of poles that are down, so the power is going to come up in pockets. Nobody can tell you how long power is going to be off, we can't say that. We're working full steam ahead to get various pockets of the city up and running.

"And then in the meantime, we have to focus on food."

He cited "certain main restaurants", such as Wendy's, Marco's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, who he noted would require water for sanitary reasons and to cook with.

"We have engaged the services of Waugh Construction, who has a truck that can get water from our wells and service these major food companies to make sure food doesn't run out or the restaurants don't close, because they need water," Rolle said.

He said another focus was ensuring that generators are consistently filled with gasoline for the restaurants and major businesses.

"I am about to see if I can get one or two extra diesel vehicles on the island.

"Sanitation Services - the company that deals with clearing up the city - they've done a fantastic job. They've done an excellent job clearing the main arterial roads, and the next move for us, I want them to get the major tourist areas cleaned up next. That's the focus, before we start focusing on the subdivisions," he said, adding that the GBPA owns 50 percent of Sanitation Services.

Rolle also reported that garbage collection had begun in Freeport on Monday, to make sure there are no issues with pests and rodents.

Tourism
"The tourist attractions, I'm focusing on getting one or two of the major tourist attractions that were not significantly damaged. I'm working at getting them up and running as soon as possible. Bahamas Adventures is one of them," Rolle said.

He spoke to the status of some of the major players in the tourism sector.

"Memories is closed at the moment. Grand Lucayan is closed at the moment. Viva Club Fortuna is closed at the moment. Pelican Bay is open. Castaways, although they had roof damage, they are open. Royal Palm Way is available as well," he said.

Pressed to say how the city would handle visitors in the two-week time frame he proposed, Rolle explained that the goal is to cater to the cruise tourist.

"We want to cater to the cruise lines first.

"Commercial airlift will probably be a challenge, because I don't know if the airport is going to be receiving commercial flights. Right now we're receiving charters. So the tourists that I'm talking about are cruise passengers and those people who come on charters," he said.

Industrial sector
Rolle laid out his plans for the next few days with regard to the industrial complex.

"Now that the most critical things are being dealt with, now I can focus on the industrial sector, to get commerce going again. So I'll probably have a meeting with the major industrial players - the container port, the harbor, Polymers, PharmaChem, BORCO - to see when we can get back in business as soon as possible," he said.

He declined to say the damage in the industrial sector was "extensive".

"Let's not say that. The container port had some damage, but my harbor is good and open for business. They are open now and dealing with emergency vessels that are coming in. Balearia is coming in, so the harbor is open. The container port had some damage to maybe two or three cranes.

"I don't know what the damage is to Polymers and BORCO," he said.

"We've dealt with a lot of the critical components to get the city up. Now it's time to focus on commerce."

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