Ginger Moxey.
FREEPORT, The Bahamas--Minister for Grand Bahama (GB) Ginger Moxey said she has created a special unit within her ministry to foster government and private sector collaboration intended to help grow the island’s economy.
Moxey was responding to a recent protest by Freeport residents, who called on Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) executives to place greater emphasis on getting the island’s economy going again.
“I share the concerns. Grand Bahama has been going through it for a while with Hurricane Dorian and then shortly thereafter the pandemic, so we never really fully recovered. I think we were perhaps the only island that was locked down for eight weeks and so, of course, that had a devastating impact on our economy. I understand and I share the concerns of the residents and we are working very hard to get the economy back up and running and I am extremely optimistic about what lies ahead. There are a lot of projects in the works and I will be making certain announcements at the upcoming Grand Bahama Business Outlook, which is on Thursday [today – Ed.]. We have a lot in store for Grand Bahama,” she said on Tuesday before the weekly Cabinet meeting.
“Grand Bahama has so much potential and it’s been talked about for years now. With this ‘new day’ administration you are going to see a lot of things happening.
“There’s also the need to work together, so we have to be able to collaborate to make things happen. And within the Ministry of Grand Bahama I’ve created a new unit called COLLAB Partnerships for Development, where despite what is going on with GBPA, Hawksbill Creek Agreement, that we can still get things done outside of that. We’ve had a lot of interest from the corporate community, they are excited about it, they are partnering with us and I am excited about what is going to happen with that.”
Grand Bahama has endured repeated setbacks over the past two decades due to multiple hurricanes, causing devastation and waning tourism.
In its Blueprint for Change, the Progressive Liberal Party has promised to, among other things, make massive investments in infrastructure and energy, build a new hospital in Grand Bahama through a public-private partnership and re-establish the Grand Bahama Hotel and Catering College on Grand Bahama. ~ The Nassau Guardian ~
