08/02/2022
“Grand Bahama Needs Divine and Human Intervention”
Statement by Bishop Simeon B. Hall
Pastor Emeritus and Founding Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church
Two sisters and two brothers of mine are residents of Grand Bahama. Another sister and another two brothers have died there in the past 5 years; in fact, I recently returned from the latest funeral service.
As a descendant of Turks and Caicos Islanders who settled in Grand Bahama in the 1930s and 1940s, half of Grand Bahamians are my relatives. I also lived in the second city in the early 1960s and worked as a common laborer at several businesses during the island’s heydays.
But now, to drive from Freeport City into Pinedale makes even casual observation a painful, harrowing exercise.
A recent convention with several pastors on Grand Bahama confirms that rampant unemployment, the soaring cost of energy, and housing insecurity are all monumental social and economic issues the residents face.
Invariably, even balanced discussions about this beautiful, spacious island leads to a negative view of the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the infamous Hawksbill Creek Agreement initially signed in 1955.
That agreement was signed to develop the physical infrastructure of Freeport – a part of Grand Bahama – and provided economic benefits to some, while damning others and generations of Grand Bahamians to second-class citizenship.
The Port Authority is obviously a quasi-government entity operating in an independent nation. Whatever the intention in 1955, this organization has the distinction of legal operations without being socially or culturally relevant or useful in today’s context.
Human greed blanketed in archaic and ineffective government policies that hurt the majority, most of whom happen to be Black citizens, can only be remediated by bold, daring legislative surgery.
The Father of our Nation, Sir Lynden Pindling, tried to highlight the need to change government policies on foreign investment in Grand Bahama in his 1969 “Bend or Break” speech. But it seems like political leaders who followed did little to change the intent and outcomes of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement to benefit the common man in Grand Bahama.
The Christian community of Grand Bahama must continue to seek divine intervention, while all Grand Bahamians, indeed the entire Bahamas, must engage in peaceful, but bold and creative social action to right these egregious social and economic evils.
I also respectfully call on the new President of the Grand Bahama Christian Council to think outside the box to agitate for change. Don’t be afraid to touch on the social, economic, and even political factors that impact God’s people.
What God wills is often impeded by what we mortals refuse to do.
The President of the Grand Bahama Christian Council ought to speak out on the myriad of issues the residents face, and we all should support these efforts.
I also call on the members of Parliament from both parties to sheath their swords and come up with a bipartisan, twenty-five-year National Plan for Grand Bahama.
God’s ultimate plans for all his people are always used by human couriers.
We must use our Christian faith to ameliorate the social, political, and economic problems we humans create.
We can only achieve God’s ultimate purpose by seeking to fix the myriad of problems His people face daily.
I plan to return to Pinedale, Grand Bahama this Sunday, February 13th to speak at the 2nd Pastoral Anniversary of Pastor Karen M. Dames at Bethel Deliverance Center, and also hope to engage in fruitful discussions on long-term plans to bring relief to Grand Bahama.
