Gulfport recovery too slow, lawmaker says.

The Port of Gulfport has raised the ire of an influential Mississippi lawmaker who has complained the port's recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina are too slow and its leaders fail to recognize its importance, the Sun Herald reported last month.

The feud began last month during a meeting of the Ports, Harbors and Airports Committee of Mississippi House of Representatives.

During the hearing, which was held to get a status report of port recovery efforts, Committee Chairman Rep. Billy Broomfield, D-Moss Point, refused to hear testimony from a Port of Gulfport representative.

Instead, the committee took testimony from the Port of Pascagoula, which …