Sir Albert retires from GBPA again

Sir Albert Miller has resign-ed as chief executive officer of the Grand Bahama Port Authority and Port Group Limited.

Sources at the Port said that Sir Albert's departure happened late last week. However, when contacted, the public relations department of the Port Authority declined comment on the matter.

The Freeport News made several attempts to contact Sir Albert both at his home and his office but up to press time he had not returned those calls. Sir Albert's resignation was reportedly ratified at a Port board meeting on Monday.

In March of 2003, Sir Albert retired after almost three decades with the GBPA, but was encouraged out of retirement to serve as chief executive officer in the wake of the devastating hurricanes in 2004.

Sir Albert served in the capacity of president for nearly 30 years, longer than any of his predecessors in that position.

The Long Island native joined the Royal Bahamas Police Force in 1943, and spent some time on the beat and in the transport section as well as on traffic duty on Bay Street, before being made a detective corporal in the Criminal Investigation Dep-artment (CID) in 1950.

During his 10 years with CID, he climbed the promotional ladder to the position of deputy superintendent by 1961. He was promoted to superintendent in 1962, assistant commissioner in 1964, and deputy commissioner in 1968.

As deputy commissioner, in 1969, Sir Albert was sent to Freeport to reorganize the police as the city developed.

Sir Albert was encouraged to move to Freeport in 1971 to become vice president of Bahamas Amusements Li-mited with responsibility for security and human resources at the casino it operated.

He subsequently became president of Bahamas Amusements and was serving in that position when St. George and Sir Jack took over responsibility for running the Grand Bahama Port Authority in 1976 and made Sir Albert president of the Port.

In 1963, he was awarded the honour of Member of the British Empire (MBE), two years later he became the recipient of the Colonial Police Medal (CPM) and the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in 1970.

Sir Albert's contributions in the private sector have also been significant. In 1994, the honour of Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) was bestowed upon him. In 1998, he was honoured as Business Person of the Year by The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce.

In 2002, Sir Albert was bestowed the ultimate honour of his career and was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG).

Sir Albert and his wife Lady Annie Laurie Miller have three children.

© 2008 The Freeport News