Dear Sir,

Once again, Hannes Babak has demonstrated his outrageous contempt for the people of Freeport, the Government of The Bahamas and the rule of law. He has willfully and arrogantly disregarded the laws of The Bahamas and the rules of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), a body whose welfare he had supposedly been trusted to safeguard in his position as Chairman. Moreover, his contemptible actions may have endangered the well-being of one of The Bahamas' newest and most promising investors, the Associated Grocers.

Here are the facts: In September of 2006, Mr. Babak announced, after being caught in a flagrant conflict of interest between his private company and his position as Chairman of the GBPA, that he would be relinquishing the contract that his company, H & F Babak Construction Co., had signed with the Associated Grocers to build their enormous, state-of-the-art warehouse. Additionally, he announced that he would be selling his interest in H & F Babak Construction in order to be above reproach as Chairman.

Subsequently, we were told, that Associated Grocers found another construction company and, as documented in various television news reports, their warehouse is rising from the ground in Freeport. There is one problem with this scenario.

At the site, there is a sign that identifies the new construction company doing the work on the building as the ABC (All Bahamian Construction) Co. Its address is listed on that sign as First Commercial Centre, its post office box is F-42692 and its telephone number is 351-4677. A quick consultation of the record will show that the address, post office box number and telephone number are exactly the same as those belonging to H & F Babak Construction Co.

Furthermore, there is no such company as the ABC Co. incorporated with the Registrar General of The Bahamas. What is even more appalling is that, although it is reportedly engaged in the construction of a multi-million dollar facility in the Port area, this purported company is not a licensee of the GBPA, nor is there any application pending for the ABC Co. to become a licensee of the GBPA. Just who, then, is lurking in the shadows of this legally non-existent company that has managed to secure one of the most lucrative building contracts within the Port?

It is also worth noting that, notwithstanding Mr. Babak's statement in September 2006 that he was negotiating a sale of his interests in H & F Babak Construction Co., there is no record whatsoever of any such sale.

Even more revealing is that on November 17, 2006, two months after Hannes Babak announced H & F Babak Construction Co.'s supposed surrender of the Associated Grocers Warehouse building contract, and while he was acting as Chairman of the GBPA, the Technical Department of the GBPA approved building permits for H & F Babak Construction Co. with respect to the building of the Warehouse for Associated Grocers. How does Mr. Babak explain this? Or is he assuming that the Bahamian public is not intelligent enough to see that this is a blatant misuse of his position as Chairman of the GBPA and another example of his arrogance and high-handedness.

It is said that the reason that Associated Grocers initially selected H & F Babak Construction Co. to build their warehouse, was because the type of technology Associated Grocers required was not to be found with any other construction company in The Bahamas. On a visit to the site, it is apparent that the warehouse currently being constructed is by the same method as the method H & F Babak Construction Co. was known for. If indeed this technology reposed in no one other than H & F Babak Construction Co., it must be that H & F Babak Construction Co. is the company that is actually performing the work at this site. And if not, then we have to be concerned as to whether or not Associated Grocers is getting a proper job from the ABC Co by use of their building system which could not meet the standards required by Associated Grocers.

It is more obvious than ever that Mr. Babak has only his own interests at heart and that he does not care about the people of Freeport and the laws of The Bahamas. His disgraceful and reprehensible untruths about his involvement in H & F Babak Construction Co. and that company's involvement in the building of the Associated Grocers Warehouse need to be exposed for the deceptions they are.

I call for his immediate resignation from his position as Chairman of the GBPA, as well as the revocation of his work permit to perform that duty. His lawless disregard for the welfare of the people of Freeport, his disrespect for the Government of The Bahamas and his obvious contempt for the laws of our nation clearly make him unfit to run the GBPA and to do business in The Bahamas.

I call upon the relevant authorities to move swiftly to rectify this embarrassing and appalling situation that Hannes Babak has caused and rid our nation once and for all of this man who would single-handedly attempt to bring down the GBPA and ruin the lives of the men and women of Freeport.

Yours etc.,

Senator Philip C. Galanis