According to Tribune Business the port is requesting 14 acres of land to expand their operations to include more space for Bahamas Customs inspections and storage along with a new Road Traffic Department facility.

This ignited a firestorm of racist comments on Facebook because several of the shipping companies are owned by minority families. But when we bear in mind that most shipping companies operated from Bay Street properties and they were required to give up their mortgage free space and invest in the new port this seems most unfair.

A few other points of interest that I've recently learned:

In 2010 the Bahamas Government and twenty (20) shipping companies jointly invested some $40 million in a new port company and APD was born.

In 2012, 20% of the equity was offered to the wider Bahamian public and APD now has some 11,000 shareholders, making it the largest Bahamian publicly traded company.

Since 2012 the Government has garnered some $24.1 million in proceeds from APD, which represents about 22% of the ports total revenue. This seems to be an extraordinary windfall for the government. A smart investment?

All other shareholders have received about 8% of revenue or $8.6 million.

It was also interesting to learn that APD incurred about $3.86 million in losses in 2011 and 2012 due to construction and start up costs.

A bit of detail that stood out is every two years APD engages an independent Financial Services firm i.e. KPMG to analyze the port financial results and forecasts. KPMG produces a report which makes recommendations to the APD board intended to ensure that the company complies with the 10% Internal Rate of Return as stipulated in the Memorandum Of Understanding.

The MOU provides a 10% IRR to the port company in an effort to support financial viability, shareholder returns and also introduce a financial metric intended to dictate changes to the port tariff.

A couple more nuggets to digest:

In May 2016 The Caribbean Development Bank completed a regional 12 port study and ranked the Nassau Container Port (NCP) as the most efficient. In October of the same year the Caribbean Shipping Association awarded NCP the most Reliable Award.

Hey, maybe they can request more land so the port can include a bonded facility for large ticket items?

Finally to make racist remarks about some of the owners of the port seems vulgar when the benefits the government has received has topped its total investment in the port to date.