bahamasuncensored.com
APRIL 2007
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 5 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2007
While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of
the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site.
8th April, 2007
15th April, 2007
22nd April, 2007
29th April, 2007
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: This
is an interesting country in a lot of ways. One way is how it claims
not to be doing something that it knows that it is doing and does it by
another name. Case in point; the notion that no political rallies
would take place during Lent. Say what? That was the claim
of Hubert Ingraham for the FNM at the start of Lent, the same man who called
an election in 1997 for 10th March and campaigned the most nasty and vicious
campaign during Lent. The PLP seemed to be following right along.
But each party has had branch openings, prayer breakfasts and of course,
the grandest day of all, they have now launched their candidates.
The most exciting launch of all of the candidates (click here for last
week’s report now confirmed) was that of the PLP at the Radisson Hotel
on Tuesday 27th March. The hall was overflowing with excited people,
chanting ‘PLP! – ALL THE WAY’ and ‘SO SAID; SO DONE’. The ceremony
was crisp and direct; the candidates were introduced on time without fanfare
but to loud cheers by the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt and then
the Prime Minister came on to thunderous applause and this was followed
by a comprehensive policy speech answering point for point the campaign
of lies and deceit being run by the Free National Movement (Click
here for the full address, with pictures). So our photo of the
week is that of throngs of Progressive Liberal Party supporters cheering
as the Prime Minister stands in the glow of the light and the applause.
Photograph by Peter Ramsay. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
DEY COMIN’
If
you had any doubt before this week that the general election was near,
then that doubt should have been wiped out after Tuesday 27th March.
On the evening of that day, the Prime Minister Perry Christie announced
and introduced his candidates to the country. As we predicted in this column
last week, the PLP will field 39 candidates. The two seats
that will not be contested it now appears are Bamboo Town, held by incumbent
Tennyson Wells and Long Island and Ragged Island held by the FNM’s Larry
Cartwright. James Miller, a former FNM MP, will reportedly run in
the Long Island seat as an independent.
As you can see from the pictures in the photo of the week and the
others throughout this essay, the launch of the PLP’ s candidates created
the highest excitement. People came from all over the island and
flew in from across the country to be there to support their candidates,
in applause that simply shook the earth. The pictures of all those
gold T shirts portrayed a party that is poised to win again. The
elections are now expected in early May.
The Free National Movement had to scrap themselves up the same kind
of show a few days later and its showed. This is the party who wasted
valuable news space to say that the PLP had been copying their programmes
but it was clear that the changes in the boundaries caught them unawares
and Brent Symonette in particular was having a problem deciding where he
was going to run. It appears that Hubert Ingraham, the FNM leader,
had to finally order him to run in the new constituency called St. Anne’s
where he lives rather than the constituency where he grew up which is now
Montagu. He took his sign down saying ‘Headquarters for Montagu’
that could be seen on the Eastern Road once the boundaries were announced
and on the night of the House of Assembly meeting on Wednesday 28th March,
the cars could be seen into the road, meeting late into the night to decide
what to do. Mr. Symonette was boasting all about the place that he
is the only one who has a choice where to run and no one would tell him
where to run because he did not need politics. Yadda! Yadda! Yadda!
In the end, he went like all the other FNM lambs to the slaughter, precisely
where he was told to run.
The
reviews are in and there is no surprise that the FNM’s show fell dead flat
on Thursday night at the Radisson in the same hall as the PLP’s golden
show a few days earlier. The election as you know is very much about
numbers and perception. The PLP has the momentum with it. The FNM
has been reduced to carping, and nastiness throughout their campaign.
The PLP simply has to continue its work, with its teams in the field and
the work being done, focusing on the issues. The Prime Minister’s
address seemed to cover all the points of the campaign of lies and deceit
being run by the FNM.
One of the most telling points of course is the continued deception
being staged by the FNM with regard to Hubert Ingraham's pension, a most
embarrassing thing for them. Hubert Ingraham collects $9,500 per
month as a pension from the Government each month. He was supposed
to be retired. It is clear that he designed the law in such a way
that he politically blackmailed Sir Lynden to resign from office before
he could get the pension and then took the pension himself while retaining
political office and seeking to become Prime Minister again.
How greedy can you get? How much do you want?
Then
to add insult to injury he gets up in the House of Assembly last week during
the debate on the resolution on Monday 26th March to increase national
insurance pensions to attack the Government for seeking to raise national
insurance pensions by 30 dollars for the old age pensions. So here
is a man who gets $9500 per month, trying to stop someone who gets $200
per month from getting an additional $30 dollars per month. Something
is wrong with that picture. And yet you have a group of diehard FNMs
dressed in their blood red T shirts wanting to have this greedy, disrespectful
politician back at the head of our country. Again, something is wrong
with this picture.
There are now 41 seats in the House of Assembly to be won in the
next general election. The PLP believe that the PLP will win the
majority of those seats. The PLP has done its work. It has
a record of accomplishment that is enviable and unmatched in this modern
era. The levels of investment, of the reserves, the rise in household
income, the reduced levels of unemployment, the buoyant tourism figures,
all show that the proof is in the pudding. The PLP has done its work
and done it well and it deserves a second opportunity under Perry Christie
to govern again,
We use this opportunity therefore to urge those who have not yet
registered to do so. Get it done this week. The Prime Minister
said last week in the House that the general election is only a heartbeat
away. That is close indeed. Every PLP should now be in readiness
for the battle when the bell rings. The horses are walking toward the gate.
Our bet is on the PLP. The people’s bet is on the PLP and that is
what matters.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 31st March 2007 at midnight:
194,072.
Number of hits for the month of March up to Saturday 31st March 2006
at midnight: 893,630.
Photographs by
Peter Ramsay
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
FNM
FOLLOWS FASHION BUT FLOPS
You have to ask yourself what is going on with the
party opposite the PLP. They have now become a party of follow fashion.
As usual, Mr. Ingraham claimed that it was not he who was following fashion
but the PLP. The facts speak otherwise.
The PLP launched its candidates in an extravaganza
at the Radisson Cable Beach Hotel on Monday 26th March. The FNM followed
suit on Thursday 29th March in the same place with the same format, only
they couldn’t get the crowds out and their message was flat. Then
the PLP had a prayer breakfast, attracting massive crowds on Sunday 18th
March . Guess what, the man who does not go to church and says that
he does not because he is not a hypocrite was busy copying Prime Minister
Christie and the PLP again. Hubert Ingraham led the FNM to a prayer
breakfast on Saturday 31st March.
They need now to come up with a real new idea and
stop following fashion. You may click
here for a sound bite of how the country should see Hubert Ingraham.
AFRICAN
HERITAGE CELEBRATIONS
During the week that passed beginning on Monday
26th March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education
cosponsored a number of events to observe the 200th anniversary of the
abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The actual anniversary
and day set aside by the United Nations was last Sunday the 25th March.
The Bahamas began its observances on Monday 26th March in the House of
Assembly with a communication by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell laid out how The Bahamas was affected in the 19th century
by liberated Africans. You may click
here for the full communication.
There was a reception at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs for the press and the diplomatic corps. Then on Friday 20th
March there was the launch of the learning channel by the Ministry of Education
by its Minster Alfred Sears. The channel will provide distance education
and education programmes by cable with two hours now and twenty four hours
by September of this year, beginning first on channel 12. There was
a panel discussion led by Dr. Thaddeus McDonald of the College of The Bahamas
and Dr. Gail Saunders historian. This was followed by a panel discussion
with the Minister of Education of South Africa Naledi Pandor who spoke
at a luncheon hosted by her counterpart here. In the evening there
was a lecture by George Lamming, the Barbadian writer who is the author
of the famous work In The Castle Of My Skin.
The week ended with a march led by the Royal Bahamas
Defence Force Band through the streets of Fox Hill, a religious observance
in Fox Hill and ending with a cultural show. This essay of photographs
by Tim Aylen provides a sample of what happened in Fox Hill on Saturday
afternoon.
AIRPORT
HANDOVER
Glenys Hanna Martin and her team at the Ministry
of Transport and Aviation along with the Airport Authority, the owners
of the Lynden Pindling International Airport have completed months and
years of hard work at crafting an agreement with Vancouver Airport Services,
a Canadian management company to manage the Lynden Pindling International
Airport. The deal was inked on Friday 30th March in a ceremony attended
by the Prime Minister Perry Christie. Security and fire and rescue
are still in the hands of the Airport Authority but all the rest is in
the hands of a management company that is jointly owned with the government.
The deal gives the management to the company with
the Canadians in the management and control of the joint venture.
But it sets certain benchmarks and timelines for improvements to the airport.
Ultimately there must be significant capital development that will see
new buildings for both, domestic, international and US travel. We
think that this is a landmark accomplishment and look forward to the improvements
at the airport. We congratulate the Minister on her accomplishments.
ABOVE - From Left: Melanie Roach, director of Public Works; Archie
Nairn, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transport and Aviation; Anthony
Kikivarakis, Chairman of the Airport Authority; and George Casey, president
of Vancouver Airport Services, sign several documents for the official
handover of management of the Lynden Pindling International Airport to
the Canadian-based Vancouver Airport Services Friday, March 30, 2007. (BIS
Photo: Tim Aylen)
Left: Minister of Transport & Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin.
Centre: Airport Authority official Gerry Hutchinson and Minister.
Right: Prime Minister Christie. BIS photos: Peter Ramsay.
US
AMBASSADOR MISSPEAKS SAYS LETTER WRITER
We
ordinarily post correspondence to this site in our 'Letters to the Editor'
section. However, this letter writer's subject speaks directly to
the story above, so we publish it here:
Dear Editor:
His Excellency, Mr. John Rood, the Ambassador of the United States
of America to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, ended his tour of duty to
our sovereign nation on a less than diplomatic note.
There are two cardinal principles of diplomacy. The first is
that no foreign envoy should publicly offer any comments, much less criticisms
of or about the policies and domestic affairs of the host Government.
This is particularly the case where such comments are clearly critical
and may be viewed as offensive to the host Government. The second
fundamental principle is that the conduct of foreign policy, i.e., the
business and relationship between states, should be conducted so far as
possible through secure and confidential channels. There are well
established protocols in this regard. It follows, therefore, that
the news media is not the place for a discourse or worse the venting of
views between any ambassador and the host country.
Could one imagine the reaction if the ambassador of The Bahamas to
Washington were to publicly criticize the actions of the Government
of the United States on, say, drug interdiction, human rights or illegal
migration? The end would never be heard.
Based on these recognized and established principles and conventions,
it is shocking and downright embarrassing for any patriotic Bahamian to
sit with smugness and read the comments of the outgoing ambassador.
It may be that on a personal level he might be forgiven for the sin of
inappropriate behaviour and perhaps ignorance, but when the ambassador
speaks publicly he should be most conscious that he speaks as the representative
of the Government of the United States of America. The professional
hands in the embassy should, therefore, share the blame for this egregious
breach of protocol. Is there a hidden motive behind his action?
Who Knows?
The Hon Glenys Hanna-Martin has made a substantive rebuttal of the
offending remarks in her Thursday evening statement. It was reinforced
by the news events of Friday, 30th which saw the signing of the agreement
between the Airport Authority and the new management team at the Lynden
Pindling International Airport and the unveiling of plans for the re-development
of the facility.
All well thinking Bahamians and those who cherish our sovereignty
should condemn Ambassador Rood for his statement and bid him a fond farewell.
Samuel Weir
RIGBY
ON THE ATTACK
PLP part Chair Raynard Rigby has had a week swinging
away at the FNM. Can you believe that The Tribune, that lousy, slimy
newspaper that purports to be balanced and fair, had not one word to say
about the launch of PLP candidates on Tuesday evening 27th March?
This after clamouring for the PLP to name its candidates. This after
stealing the list of PLP candidates from this site last week and not attributing
it to their sources. They didn’t even bother to change the order;
just outright stole it without so much as a by your leave. The Chairman
flailed away at them.
| I was shocked and gravely disappointed at the actions and decision
of the Tribune to refuse to provide coverage in the today’s edition of
the newspaper of the PLP’s public unveiling of its Candidates held last
evening at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort. This is a blatant abuse of
journalistic professionalism and it again confirms that the Tribune would
stoop to the lowest denominator in its effort to show bias against the
PLP.
As a young Bahamian who loves The Bahamas this is not what I would expect
to see in our democracy. It is always important for newspapers to be fair
and unbiased in its reporting. The Tribune has shown its hands again and
is obviously content on being the propaganda machinery for the FNM.
The responsibility of the media is to present information to the public
and allow them to make choices based on the facts. The Tribune’s abuse
of its role as a media house in The Bahamas implies that they do not have
confidence in the citizens of The Bahamas to review all of the issues and
make decisions which are best for their country.
We in the PLP have the full confidence that the people of The Bahamas,
when all of the facts are unveiled, will make the right choice for the
future of The Bahamas.
Raynard Rigby, PLP Chairman
|
Then Mr. Rigby was incensed at the nonsense spoken by FNM Leader Hubert
Ingraham who instead of making atonement for taking his 9500 dollar pension
while trying to stop old age pensioners from getting an increase, attempted
to attack the PLP’s record of investment. Lastly, Mr. Rigby exposes
today the FNM as being ashamed of their record on the stewardship of Bahamian
land. Please click here.
IN PASSING
Stephen Mitchell Buried
We offer our condolences to the Mitchell family
on the passing of their loved one Stephen ‘Daddyo’ Mitchell. Mr.
Mitchell was a well known political figure in the country, being a supporter
of the PLP and a close confidant of Dr. Bernard Nottage even in his wilderness
years in the Coalition For Democratic Reform (CDR). Mr. Mitchell
died suddenly after a brief illness following surgery. We have no
doubt in our minds that Mr. Mitchell looked forward to this campaign for
the general election and accompanying Dr. Nottage back into the halls of
the House of Assembly. That is not to be but his spirit will live
on with all PLPs and men and women of goodwill in this community.
The funeral service for Mr. Mitchell took place on Saturday 31st March
at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church. The service was attended by the
Governor General Arthur Hanna, the Prime Minister Perry Christie and other
members of the Cabinet including his friend Dr. Bernard Nottage.
Carvel Francis, the publicist and political consultant, wrote this tribute
to him. May he rest in peace:
The man who believed in a second chance…
Stephen ‘Daddyo’ Mitchell
By: Carvel Francis
St. Matthew's Communications
On this eve of the laying to rest of my good
senior brother and friend, the sorrow and grief of losing another good
churchman has begun to set in. This morning however I rose up in my prayerful
hour, remembering the kind friend that was Stephen Mitchell.
Yes, kind, because it appeared that not
only was he good-hearted and gracious to my siblings and me, but he appeared
to be equally humane and considerate of everyone he knew. Yes he
forgave my failings, and Yes he also believed that we should all take that
leap of faith and extend the hand of friendship to all.
I first became acquainted with this friend
to all Bahamians when I was just a freshman entering St. Anne’s High School.
I would remember waiting for the bus early in the morning and there would
pull up ‘Daddyo’ and shout “Let’s go Carvey”. He was then the publisher
of Goombay Magazine, among other things, Bahamasair’s in-house magazine,
and spared me from being late for school. He, like my aunt Stephanie,
never was in too much of a rush to pass me while I was sitting on that
road. (Click here for the continuation
of the full tribute)
Building In Fox Hill After George Mackey
On Thursday 29th March, the village of Fox Hill paused to pay tribute
to the late George Mackey, their friend and brother and their representative
for ten years in the House of Assembly. Mr. Mackey was honoured by
the Governor General Arthur Hanna, the Prime Minister Perry Christie and
the representative for the area Fred Mitchell at the ceremony. The
name was unveiled by his widow Betty with their children and grandchildren
watching. Dr. Bernard Nottage, the Minister of National Insurance
and the Chairman of the National Insurance Board spoke to the importance
of the occasion. The MP for the area Fred Mitchell paid tribute to
George Mackey’s contribution to his own political life and to Fox Hill.
You may click
here for remarks prepared for delivery by Prime Minister Christie and
click
here for the full address of Mr. Mitchell.
LEFT: Mary Mackey, right, pulls the cord to unveil a plaque in honour
of her husband, the late George Mackey, at the official naming ceremony
of the National Insurance Board Fox Hill Building to the George W.
Mackey Building in Fox Hill on Thursday, March 29, 2007. Shown looking
on are (from right) Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, Minister
of Health and National Insurance Senator Hon. Dr. Bernard J. Nottage, Lennox
McCartney, director National Insurance Board; Portia Nottage and
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service and Member of Parliament
for Fox Hill the Hon. Fred Mitchell. RIGHT: Governor General
His Excellency Arthur D. Hanna lets go of the curtain unveiling a
sign on the side of the building at the official naming ceremony
of the National Insurance Board Fox Hill Building to the George W. Mackey
Building in Fox Hill on Thursday, March 29, 2007. The Governor
General's wife Beryl Hanna is shown along with Prime Minister the Rt. Hon.
Perry Christie and Minister of Health and National Insurance Senator Hon.
Dr. Bernard J. Nottage.
Bahamas Information Services photos by Tim Aylen
The Wicked Witch of The East
The faker of Fox Hill aka Doctor Doctor Juice in dere was at it again
with her ugly aggressiveness in Fox Hill; rude, insolent, fumbling and
pushing herself up in business that does not concern her. This time
it is reported that she has a man who is parading round as a reverend who
went to various schools on her behalf to tell them they were going to be
in a tournament. The schools were duped into thinking that it was
for the betterment of the kids only to come to find they were in a political
promotion by doctor doctor. The kids were forced to wear T- shirts
with her picture on it. As soon as the game was over, you could see
the kids stripping the shirts off and throwing them away. She also
put up without permission a huge canvas size photo of herself asking people
to vote for her. Still not speaking to people. It is her breath
so one supposes she can hold it. Charity is not puffed up, said the
good Bible but she sure is.
What’s The Matter With Joan?
Dame Joan Sawyer made some extremely unfortunate remarks in the case
where the government sought leave to withdraw their appeal from the Court
of Appeal of the legally flawed decision of Justice John Lyons who stopped
working because he claimed that he is not apart of an independent judiciary.
We wonder if he is going to take the most recent raise offered by the Government
and start working again. You will remember his unfortunate and impolitic
remarks that in our view ought to have led to an action for dismissal through
the procedures of the constitution. Dame Joan in the course of hearing
that the Government was no longer pursuing the appeal thought she would
give her five cents, saying most startlingly that she does not think that
laymen should criticize judges and what they do. This is laughable.
Here you have a public institution, paid for by public funds, and it can’t
be criticized by the public? This lady must be joking.
The Slime of John Marquis
This is a quote from John Marquis, an Englishman, whose country allows
same sex unions by law from The Tribune of Thursday 29th March: “I
once had a lady friend who said I could walk around in a ball gown and
still not be mistaken for a fairy.” Mr. Marquis then went on to say
in answer to some foolishness about an alleged plot to smear him when pictures
showed up on the web that were allegedly computer generated showing him
in gay sex that this showed what the Bahamian people were up against.
To the contrary the comment above shows what the Bahamian people are up
against by allowing this purveyor of hatred to remain in The Bahamas.
Mr. Marquis is busy telling his friends that he does not want another work
permit to stay in The Bahamas. Of course he is only saying that because
he thinks the PLP will win the election but if his Uncle Tom buddies of
the FNM win, he will be dancing at their door and happy to accept one.
Time is ticking on his stay in The Bahamas and the sooner the goes the
better. The Truth Committee, headed by Ricardo Smith was demonstrating
against him again last week and has him on the run.
WHO Recommends Circumcision To Protect From HIV
The press in The Bahamas reported this week that the World Health Organization
(WHO), a UN specialized agency believes that circumcision is one route
to greater protection from HIV/Aids. The risk to men who are circumcised
decreases about 60 per cent in heterosexual sex. The theory is that
the cells within the foreskin are more susceptible to infection and that
often the area is not washed and the virus incubates. So the deal
is to wash properly say the doctors to cut down on infection rates in unprotected
sex . There is no suggestion in The Bahamas that men should suddenly
go out and get circumcised said the doctors but it is one strategy that
is said to help to cut down the rate of infections.
Rood On Haitians
Judging from the letter to the editor published today, it appears that
some Bahamians believe that the outgoing Ambassador to The Bahamas John
Rood is sort of cursing out the family friend as he walks out the door.
There was a clash with Glenys Hanna Martin about the Lynden Pindling Airport
when the Minister responded to a statement by the Ambassador on the airport
that she was disappointed in his remarks about the security at the airport
since he knew it was being addressed. What would probably have raised
more eyebrows though was his statement about the death of ten Haitians
who drowned in a tragic incident at sea two weeks ago. The Ambassador
said that he could not understand how there was not more outrage in the
country over the death of the ten Haitians who drowned in the Exumas
two weeks ago and were buried within 24 hours. Tell you the truth,
we wonder ourselves. He said imagine that were 10 Americans who drowned
instead of ten Haitians. The remarks were made at the British Colonial
Hilton at a joint meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Clubs
on Wednesday 28th March.
Farewell MPs
Five Members of Parliament are retiring from office voluntarily.
They are Bradley Roberts, PLP Bain and Grants Town; Pierre Dupuch, Independent
St. Margaret’s; Agatha Marcelle, PLP South Beach; Sidney Stubbs, PLP Holy
Cross; and Robert Sweeting, FNM South Abaco. They each said farewell
to the House on Wednesday 28th March. You may click
here for the full remarks of outgoing PLP giant Bradley Roberts.
PLP Website
The PLP has launched a new website. The Prime Minister Perry
Christie hosted hundreds of young people to a meet and greet at Sandals
hotel on Friday 30th March to launch the site. You may click
here for access. The PLP website continues to be available in
the links section at the top of this page.
New Links
Other new website links on the site this week are Vincent
Peet, MP for North Andros & The Berry Islands; Alfred
Sears, MP for Fort Charlotte; Keod
Smith, MP for Mount Moriah and a new
website about kayaking in The Bahamas by Randy Albury. The websites
are now permanently available in the links section at the top of this site.
Enjoy.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
A Sea of Gold...
Wildly enthusiastic Progressive Liberal Party supporters
press forward to hear Prime Minister Christie as he addresses the event
to launch the Party's slate of candidates for the 2007 General Election;
sailing on a sea of gold. Please click
here for the Prime Minister's full address to the crowd, along with
additional photographs of the event.
Bahamas Information Services photo by Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
is one of the more strange rituals connected with politics. It is
the Prime Minister’s exclusive prerogative and it seems like it should
be consigned to by-gone era. The date for the election is set by
the Prime Minister. The present Prime Minister Perry Christie tried
to make it more transparent by announcing months ago that the election
would be held on or before the 2nd May. True to that promise he advised
the Governor General on Wednesday 4th April to dissolve the Parliament
and the Provost Marshal, a title also from another era who is really the
Commissioner of Police went to the steps of the House of Assembly and read
the proclamation of the Governor General, setting the elections for Wednesday
2nd May. So it’s all set. The days of proclamations being read
to announce something seems again from a by-gone era but it still happens.
What with television and radio today, why do you need to stand on the steps
of the Assembly? Anyway it is quite quaint. The photo of the
week is that of the Commissioner of Police Paul Farqhuarson reading the
Governor General’s proclamation. The Bahamas Information Services
photo is by Tim Aylen. |
 |
Stan Burnside's
'Sideburns' from The Nassau Guardian Thursday 5th April 07
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
ENDORSING THE PLP FOR
ANOTHER TERM
We
are happy that the general election has now been called. This matter
of who will govern for the next five years needs to be settled. The
Free National Movement and its disingenuous leader and their disingenuous
words have destabilized the country in the sense that while they carry
out a democratic and constitutional function, the lies are simply too much.
The public has been faced with a barrage of inaccuracies and counterpoints
going back and forth, back and forth. The nastiness emanating from
the leader of the Free National Movement, fundamental political dishonesty
what with his promising to serve two terms or ten years, saying that was
enough for anyone but now deciding that it is not enough.
Then there is that question of the pension. It is clear no
matter how many time he tries to wiggle out of it that he is collecting
$9,500 per month as a retiree. He forced Sir Lynden Pindling to retire
from the House of Assembly or he would not get the pension, and now Hubert
Ingraham accepts his pension but continues to serve in the House.
The FNM has all around the country these flags saying ‘Trust’. They
have made the word a mockery, since there is everything in the FNM but
trust. Further, they have made red an ugly colour. To many
people it simply has come to represent some pretty bad things.
The two parties are to come out of the gate full steam ahead on Wednesday
11th April. The PLP will gather at the Carnival Grounds at the Queen
Elizabeth Sports Centre. The FNM will gather at Fort Charlotte.
Their traditional R.M. Bailey grounds are in the hands of another circus,
only this time; it’s a real circus and won’t be available to them until
16th April.
The PLP is not leaving anything to chance with this election.
The FNM plans to baffle people with b.s. They do not have issues.
They are seeking to make this a personality show. Perry Christie
does not do this or that. The problem is for them by focusing on
Perry Christie, they put their man Hubert Ingraham on the stage.
What it shows is all his harshness, nastiness, biggityness and all the
things that were rejected in 2002. Five years later, having washed
his face and taken a nap he comes back to the Bahamian people and says:
“I’m a new man”. No one is fooled by this for one moment.
The Progressive Liberal Party came back from a ten year abyss.
Over the past five years, the party has performed more than admirably.
The FNM was good at fooling people about what wonderful things they were
doing. The fact is they left debt, they left the public infrastructure
in a mess, and all of that was handed over to the PLP to fix. You
have only to remember that one of the first acts of the new PLP parliament
was to borrow some 125 million dollars to get things right. Then
there was the fact that the Prince George Dock needed new equipment, with
the cruise ships threatening to leave. The airport runway needed
fixing, with the airlines threatening to pull out. What a way to
start a government.
The fact is the economy has grown under the PLP. The Prime
Minister listed in his speech launching the campaign (click
here for that) how household income had grown, how the reserves had
grown, how the unemployment had fallen. In every material respect,
The Bahamas has prospered. This material prosperity has led to the
expansion of public services, raises in the public service, new industrial
agreements that were landmark in nature.
For all of these reasons we think that the PLP needs to be reelected
to office. When you look at the atmosphere in the country, there
is no nastiness emanating from PLP politicians. There is not a Prime
Minister who is threatening this one and the next one. People have
a sense of freedom which they have never enjoyed before. It is necessary
for this freedom to exist in order for the country to flourish and survive.
No one has any fear that they will lose their job or that their life will
be jeopardized because of their opinions. It has perhaps gone too
far the other way, with public servants defying the instructions of their
ministers. A remarkable fact which should not be but that in fact
exists.
In making his announcement to the country, Prime Minister Christie
said that The Bahamas was one of the oldest democracies in the hemisphere
and that it was time for Bahamians again to exercise their choice as to
who will govern them. He asked that there be a peaceful and lively
campaign, and that the personal nastiness that has been associated with
the FNM’s campaign should be left behind. He pledged that his candidates
would not engage in any such exercises. You may click
here for the full statement by Mr. Christie.
Soon the posters will be up, the bill boards are already up and the
race is actually to start. This election must be fought to turn back
the tide of UBPism that is threatening us again. Forward ever! Backward
never! There is no turning back now. PLP ALL THE WAY!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 7th April 2007 up to
midnight: 240,793.
Number of hits for the month of April up to Saturday 7th April 2007
at midnight: 240,793.
Prime Minister
Perry Christie advises Governor General Arthur Hanna to issue the writ
for the General Election of 2007 - Bahamas Information Services photo Peter
Ramsay
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
HUBERT
IS A LOST SOUL
 |
Stan Burnside's
'Sideburns' from The Nassau Guardian Tuesday 3rd April 07
A Personal message to Hubert Ingraham. The
tail does not wag the dog. This is necessary because of a silly statement
issued by the Free National Movement and its Leader Hubert Ingraham in
response to the announcement that the House of Assembly was being dissolved.
Mr. Ingraham criticized the Prime Minister for dissolving the House during
Holy Week. This is incredible.
This is a man who said there would be no campaign
rallies by the FNM during Lent and he proceeded to have rallies everywhere
calling them official openings of headquarters. Then he said that
they would suspend all advertising of a political nature during Holy Week,
and the advertising continued. Then he failed to remember that he
called the general election for the 19th March 1997 in the middle of Lent
and there was a campaign during the entire Lenten season.
This is the same man who when the Prime Minister
Perry Christie said that he would consult Mr. Ingraham about election dates,
shouted back that he did not need to be consulted and Mr. Christie could
do what he liked. Now that Mr. Christie has done what he likes he
has a complaint. This is the same man who said that Mr. Christie
was taking too long to call the election. Now that he has called
the election he says that he should not have called it. What does
he want? Does he know? Can he make up his mind? This
is yet another reason why the Bahamian people should not vote for Hubert
Ingraham.
TEN
YEARS OF LEADERSHIP
The Progressive Liberal Party called together the
masses to Gambier House, the Lynden Pindling Centre for a prayer service
of thanksgiving for the team that has led the PLP for the past ten years.
Perry G. Christie and Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt have led the Progressive Liberal
Party for ten years, succeeding the late Sir Lynden Pindling and Sir Clement
Maynard respectively as Leader and Deputy Leader of the party. In
that time, the party rose from the ashes of the ignominious defeat of 1997
and became the majority party in the country today.
The Deputy Prime Minister is noted for her reliance
on God and she is fond of saying that this is the PLP’s season and that
God lifts up Governments and he takes them down. These are the kind
of general statements that those like Hubert Ingraham who are annoyed at
religious sayings in public life take strong objection to. It got
him into trouble with PLPs when what he said was interpreted as an attack
on Mrs. Pratt who has an image of sainthood in the country. Mr. Ingraham
said he was not a hypocrite, talking about the fact that religion is quoted
so liberally in PLP circles. It is a strange logic. What utility
is there in attacking the church?
We congratulate the Leader of the PLP Perry Christie
and the Deputy Leader Cynthia Pratt on the visionary and successful leadership
that they have provided for the PLP and we look forward to their leading
us for another five years.
PLP Deputy Leader Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt and Prime Minister Christie
and family listen during the service of thanksgiving for leadership.
Photo by Peter Ramsay.
THE
PLP AND KERZNER
The Free National Movement’s propaganda machine
has been in full gear with one untruth after another. The latest
salvo is the untruth that the PLP refused to deal with Sol Kerzner of Atlantis
and that it was the Free National Movement who allowed his investment to
come here.
The truth of the matter is that the PLP was dealing
with Mr. Kerzner but the problem was that at the time the South African
investments were not possible because of the Gleneagles Accords of the
Commonwealth which called on all countries to boycott South African investments.
The Bahamas stuck to its commitments under those accords. When Mr.
Ingraham came to office in 1992, the situation had changed with South Africa
and the investment was possible. Some report that friends of Mr.
Kerzner apparently also harbour this difficulty with the PLP notwithstanding
the fact that he signed the largest deal ever in The Bahamas with the PLP.
It is important that the truth be known. Please
click
here for a release by PLP Chair Raynard Rigby on the matter.
THE
U.S. AMBASSADOR LEAVES
John Rood, the U.S. Ambassador formally demits office
and leaves The Bahamas after a successful tour of duty on Tuesday 10th
April. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell hosted a formal
farewell reception for the Ambassador on Thursday 4th April in the gardens
of the Ministry on East Hill Street. The evening ended with a salute
by the Congos Junkanoo band. The Bahamas Information Services photos are
by Patrick Hanna.
CONCERNS
ON LITTLE SAN SALVADOR
There are a number of small islands in The Bahamas
to which ships go directly. These mega vessels carry their passengers
there for special trips that give the impression that they are going to
islands that are very much like the home of Robinson Crusoe. One
such cruise goes to Little San Salvador, just off the northern tip of Cat
Island and to the south of Eleuthera. It has been renamed Half Moon
Cay by the ship’s promoters.
The cay has had a kind of checkered history in tourism.
In its early stages, the Bahamian staff revolted because they said that
there were various gay intimacies that caused them moral difficulties and
a strike took place that crippled the operations there. All the then
staff was dismissed and there was a fresh start. The cay is in the
news again. The report this time from one of the employees is again that
there is nude bathing and there are gays coming to the cay. This
has again upset the moral sensitivities of the particular staff complaining.
The Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe has promised
to investigate but the view has been repeated that in The Bahamas that
is open for business generally there can’t be any discrimination against
any law abiding tourist who comes here.
THE
PUBLIC SERVICE AND PROMOTIONS
The Senior Police promotions are done and the restructuring
of the Royal Bahamas Police Force is now complete. The most significant
change has been for the first time there is an Assistant Commissioner of
Police who is female Mrs. Juanita Colebrook. Then there is a new head for
crime Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade.
Heading security for the Ports and the airport is Assistant Commissioner
of Police Marvin Dames, the youngest ever to achieve that post and in record
time.
In turn, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Promotions
have released some 262 promotions, the largest ever in the history of the
Force. The promotions for the junior ranks of the police force are
to come. There are also promotions due for the prison. In the
case of the Defence Force, they have received an increase of $150 per month
starting 31st March 2007 and backdated to 1st July, 2006. That means
they received a lump sum of $1350 in their hands with $150 of that being
an advance payment for the month of March. This means that in April,
a $150 per month increase will be reflected in the salaries.
The Bahamas Public Services Union and The Bahamas
Government recently signed a supplemental agreement which will provide
a shift allowance for the Customs and Immigration Department amounting
to $120 per month with effect from the 1st April. Notwithstanding
all of this, there are some who are spreading rumours and seeking to cause
upset within the public service.
The PLP has given the most generous agreements and
benefits in the history of all of the public service. These agreements
and benefits are generous to a fault. Yet FNM operatives through
the service are seeking to cause disruption on the grounds that the PLP
does not support the disciplined forces and the uniformed branches.
This is a sad thing and clearly there is a need for greater public education
on these matters about what the actual role of the disciplined force is
and of course the public service generally.
PALM
SUNDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, EASTER
By far, this time of the year in The Bahamas is
the most glorious in terms of the weather. The last of the cold fronts
have come through, and the air is generally without humidity and sunny,
the air is still, the sea calm. The sunshine is absolutely brilliant
and the flowers are out in full force. It is Easter time and Bahamians
celebrate with church going, dressed in white, the kids all have new shoes
and suits and dresses. We celebrate Easter today with you and wish
you all a happy Easter from The Bahamas.
MISUSING
FRANKLYN WILSON
Franklyn Wilson, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arawak Homes,
the nation’s largest home builder, and generally one of the country’s most
successful businessmen has issued a statement clarifying a statement used
in an ad by the Free National Movement on the radio. The ad seeks
to show that Mr. Wilson supported the FNM and gave them praise for starting
the stock exchange BISX. The ad is dishonest because Mr. Wilson’s
actual remarks said no such thing. In fact what he said was quite
the opposite.
Mr. Wilson said that while they started the stock
exchange, the FNM did nothing to support it and when the PLP came to power
the exchange was on the verge of collapse and had in fact to be rescued
by the PLP government making a decision through the Central Bank to support
the exchange. It is in fact today owned 49 percent by public funds.
Mr. Wilson released a detailed statement about Mr. Ingraham, the FNM and
its record on the economy.
THE FNM MANIPULATES THE POINT AND MORE
________________________________________
It has been brought to my attention that, without my knowledge or
consent, excerpts from remarks made by me regarding The Bahamas International
Stock Exchange (or BISX), have been manipulated to form a significant portion
of an advertisement sponsored by the Free National Movement.
This is regrettable because, in doing so, the FNM deliberately takes
the remarks entirely out of context, and in doing so, manipulates the essentials
of the points. The basic facts are that having encouraged the creation
of BISX, the FNM went back on it’s word and did not support it, as the
FNM Government had promised to do. It was the PLP Government that
helped to save BISX through increased financial support and more importantly
through progressive policies which have led directly to investors in companies
listed on BISX having accumulated hundreds of millions of additional wealth.
Here are the details:
-
The idea to create BISX was a good one, but the FNM Government having
encouraged the formation of BISX, then turned and did a tremendous disservice
to the entire investing community. Specifically, as a part of its
efforts to promote the formation of BISX, the FNM Government made certain
promises as to initiatives it committed to take to help encourage the success
of the enterprise. These promises played a significant role in causing
various Bahamian companies to put money into BISX, the business.
Sadly, the FNM never fulfilled the key promises. As a result, BISX
did not perform as expected and by May 2002 had come close to actual failure.
It was left to the PLP Government to save the enterprise and help to keep
BISX alive.
-
Not only did the PLP help to save BISX by providing direct financial
assistance, but more significantly the PLP caused BISX to become increasingly
relevant because the overall economic policies of the PLP created a climate
such that Bahamians who had invested in companies listed on BISX enjoyed
unprecedented levels of economic benefit—17% in 2004, 26% in 2005 and 34%
in 2006. These benefits translate into hundreds of millions of dollars.
It is particularly worthy of note that these financial benefits have been
widespread since some 7,000 to 10,000 Bahamians have invested directly
in the companies listed on BISX and some 15,000 others have done so via
Pension Funds. This is a phenomenal record which could only have
been achieved if Bahamian investors were satisfied with the future prospects
for companies listed on BISX; a clear manifestation of Bahamian investor
confidence in the management of the economy under the PLP Administration.
Now that the FNM has established that I have their attention, and have
reinforced that I am a creditable source, I take the opportunity to point
out that on the same occasion when I spoke about the formation of BISX,
I provided details of the fact that it was the personal and vindictive
victimizing actions of the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Ingraham which led directly
to:
-
The closure of the Cotton Bay Club at South Eleuthera.
-
A billionaire investor from South America, not proceeding with plans
to initiate a major new development at South Eleuthera. Worse still
was the reality that the same Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham then proceeded to
abuse the power of his Office to paint the billionaire investor as having
been a mere speculator.
I said then and repeat now that it is difficult for me to understand
how Mr. Ingraham can go and ask the people of Eleuthera to support him
when there is just so much evidence that these vindictive actions have
accounted directly for the protracted hardships at South Eleuthera, from
at least 1995 until relatively recently.
Finally, it has been brought to my attention that at a Partisan event
on Friday past, the same Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham called my name in the
context of land which his Government acquired from a company of which I
am the Chairman. Mr. Ingraham may also wish to let the public know
that his actions in that regard are the subject of a matter before the
Courts and it is not long now before we will know if his conduct in that
matter showed appropriate respect for the rule of law.
Franklyn R. Wilson
|
IN PASSING
Keturah Wright Dies
Keturah Wright nee Bain, a former principal of the L.W. Young High
School and a 38 year veteran of the Ministry Education passed away last
week after a long struggle with cancer. Mrs. Wright was lauded by
her student and former colleagues at a memorial service at the L.W. Young
Junior High School on Thursday 5th April. In attendance were members
of her family and the representative for Fox Hill the Hon. Fred Mitchell.
Mrs. Wright was buried on Saturday 7th April. She is survived by
her husband, two children and her brothers and sisters including Mrs. Emily
Demeritte of the Bank of The Bahamas and Rhonda Bain, the former Director
of Legal Affairs.
New Miss Bahamas Universe
The Miss Bahamas Universe contest doesn’t quite have the cachet and
public prominence that it used to have but the contest still goes on.
The Nassau Guardian reported that Trinere Laing was crowned Miss Bahamas
Universe 2007-2008 on Sunday evening 1st April at the Rain Forest Theatre,
Crystal Palace on Cable Beach. Photo by Donald Knowles.
Calvin Lockhart Bahamian Actor Dies
There were three famous Bahamians on the stage and screen that those
who were mature adults in the 1960s, 70s and 80s came to love, respect
and admire. One was Anthony Carroll, better known as Tony Carroll.
The other was Calvin Lockhart, known first in The Bahamas as Berkeley Cooper.
The third and greatest of them all is Sidney Poitier. In the past
month Mr. Carroll died. He was the youngest of them all. Now
Calvin Lockhart has died. Mr. Lockhart was a contrast to the clean
cut image of Sidney Poitier. He was more ruggedly handsome, a ladies’
man and played well the types in so called ‘blackxploitation’ films.
He worked with Mr. Poitier on several films, produced by Mr. Poitier.
He had been living in The Bahamas for a while and died in Nassau at the
age of 73. He is survived by his widow Jennifer Miles Lockhart, his
mother Minerva Lockhart Cooper, his sons Michael Lockhart and Julian Miles
Lockhart. Internet photo from www.grandbahamainfo.com
Basketball Tournament Ends in Fox Hill
The end of the official observances for the 200th anniversary of the
transatlantic slave trade came on Monday 2nd April in Fox Hill when the
winner of the basketball tournament was presented with their trophies.
The final game was an exciting contest between the Shonas and the Congos.
The winning team was the Congos. The Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Member of Parliament for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell presented the trophies
to the winning team. The photo shows tournament organizer Trevor
Pratt (red cap), one of the leaders of the ‘Original Congos’ Junkanoo group
beams as Fred Mitchell MP (windbreak jacket) presents trophies to the champion
Congos team after the final game of the week long Fox Hill African Heritage
Basketball Tournament staged at Freedom Park in the historic freed slave
village. All teams in the tournament adopted the names of ethnic
African groups. Photo: Tim Aylen
Voters’ Cards
The Parliamentary Commissioner has announced that voters’ cards will
be available in each constituency beginning Tuesday 10th April from 10
a.m. to 9 p.m. In Fox Hill, they can be collected from the Sandilands
Primary School.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Farewell to US Ambassador Rood
Prime Minister Perry Christie this past week received
a farewell courtesy call from outgoing US Ambassador John Rood. The
two are pictured during the courtesy call at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Bahamas Information Services photo by Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
Massive Support at PLP Rally in Grand
Bahama Saturday 14th - FNM in Full Retreat
|
| PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: They
used to call it 'FNM Country', but Saturday night 14 March in Freeport,
Grand Bahama told another story. The Prime Minister and PLP Leader
Perry Christie was welcomed by waves of thousands in gold shirts at the
Party's mass rally in downtown Freeport. Supporters at the neighbouring
FNM rally were stunned by the PLP turnout and closed down their event early
to watch the PLP on television. Our series of photographs by Peter
Ramsay shows leader Christie acknowledging the throngs and breaking into
dance as the crowds look on. The leader pledged his commitment to
each and every supporter and introduced the Party's candidates for the
Grand Bahama constituencies to a thunderous ovation. Said one observer
of both rallies, "The FNM is in full retreat!" Expect a dispatch
from Grand Bahama in our second edition. Please click
here for the leader's released remarks. |
 |
Stan Burnside's
'Sideburns' from The Nassau Guardian Friday 13th April 07
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE NUMBERS GAME
The election campaign is punctuated at various junctures by various
events. For example, there is the launch of the campaigns, started
by mass rallies by both parties. Then there is Nomination Day.
Then there are the special rallies that take place on a weekly basis to
keep the base together. Then there is the rally of the final night.
At each point, the press, the people, the supporters all seek to find out
and discover who has the largest numbers. The press usually lines
the photos up side by side on their front pages. For the PLP, it
is such a beautiful sea of gold, a slick elaborate campaign that has the
country wowed.
Bahamians count like “speeret”. That means in ordinary English that
there is no real scientific count. We look at the crowd and make
an estimate and the numbers get wilder and wilder. One thing we know
is that each party has at its base 40 per cent or so of the vote.
And that means that each party can generate huge crowds. That means
each party can put thousands into the parks. There is also a phenomenon
known as the swing voters, the ones in between who go to all the rallies
just to watch and see who is there and what the numbers are. So you
get the impression that swing voters are encouraged by the party that appears
to have the larger numbers.
One thing that needs to be pointed out is the fact that you cannot
rely on the media of The Bahamas to provide you with any legitimate figures
on who appeared at what rally. All of the print media and much of
the electronic media are opposed to the PLP. They hate the PLP and
the headlines each day in the press and in the electronic media bear witness
to this blatant bias and one sidedness. The PLP of course has systematically
failed throughout its term to stand up to this bias, always trying to be
the nice guy. Nice guys finish last. We have to meet Mr. Nasty
head on and defeat him, consigning him to the dust bin of history.
We had our spies attend the FNM’s rally on Wednesday 11th April on
Ft. Charlotte. What they did was very clever. They started
the stage about one third of the way in the field and they couldn’t even
fill that. So when you saw the pictures, you thought that you were
looking at a field covered in people. When the PLP holds its meeting
on the same park this coming week, the public will really see what a huge
crowd is.
Apart from the trickery with cameras and photos and lies in the press
and clever staging, the other trick is to seek to sully the waters with
nastiness and propaganda. For example, the candidate in Fox Hill
showed up with a bunch of drunks at her nomination day, spoiling for a
fight. One individual was in her entourage who is known for sending
around defamatory and nasty e mails and who being insecure with himself
about his colour and some other secret things is busy spoiling for a fight
where there is none and where none is necessary. He drove his truck
with FNM flags into the middle of the PLPs parade and had to be sent away
by the police but not before he tried to knock down PLP supporters with
his truck. That is the tactic of the FNM in Fox Hill. He is
just a nasty individual. There are two known ex cons that go door
to door with her. It is said that you are known by the company you
keep. They spread the propaganda of nastiness, while she walks around
saying God Bless you. Except that when the words come out, they sound
like a curse and your friends would probably say God help you.
That is what the Hubert Ingraham team is made up of in part.
Down in Exuma, with Mr. Ingraham unable to mount a sustained campaign
to protect Joshua Sears, the former Ambassador who worked for the PLP administration
for four years then left without so much as a by your leave and was busy
negotiating with Hubert Ingraham even as he was serving as Ambassador.
It was a special form of treachery. They say poor Mr. Sears had to
hustle for a ride when he landed at the airport. No crowds, no one
even seemed to recognize him. Then there was the shocker of all shockers.
Everett Hart, the former Local Government Administrator, who most people
took for PLP, and who was sent to Exuma to help save the seat for the PLP,
it turns out was an FNM. No one has to wonder then why it was so
difficult for the incumbent Anthony Moss to get anything done during his
first term. He had a man dressed up in PLP clothes who was really
an FNM. Now we know. Let us hope in the next term the PLP has
learned its lesson.
We believe it was the late Canadian philosopher Marshal McLuhan who
once said: “Perception is reality”. That is what the FNM hopes.
They hope that by spreading the b.s. in the public domain that people will
believe that there is a problem and will succumb to their blandishments.
We don’t think so. We believe that the people of the country are
smarter than that.
Yes indeed it is a numbers game. We tell you what though, the
only number that will count will be those coming out of the ballot box,
and we believe that when the votes are counted, there will be more in the
PLP column than the FNM by a substantial and workable majority. Vote
PLP! Amen!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 14th April 2007 up to
midnight: 233,661.
Number of hits for the month of April up to Saturday 14th April 2007
up to midnight: 484,850.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
THE PLP’S
NOMINEES
There was a huge crowd outside the returning officer’s
station in Farm Road at Centreville Primary School. This was the
scene for the nomination day in the Farm Road and Centreville constituency.
This is the Prime Minister’s return as the nominee to the constituency
where Perry Christie began in elective politics in 1977, thirty years ago.
There was a huge Junkanoo festival going on and there was dancing in the
street as the clock ticked toward nomination time. The Prime Minister
danced his way into the room, nominated and then told the assembled crowd
outside that they were looking at the next Prime Minister of the Commonwealth
of The Bahamas.
So the election now is officially on for 2nd May.
Candidates have nominated for all forty one constituencies throughout the
country. The PLP has nominated in 39 constituencies and two are being left
for independents to try their hand: Bamboo Town and Long Island.
PLPs will likely support them. The PLP is expected to win the next
general election.
We present the list of the candidates for the PLP
and the constituencies for which they nominated. We believe that
these 39 men and women will form the next government. The photos
show Prime Minister Perry Christie and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell on nomination day.
Top photo: Peter Ramsay; above: Fox Hill PLP
1. Perry Christie - Farm Road & Centreville
2. Cynthia Pratt - St Cecilia
3. Vincent Peet - North Andros and the Berry
Islands
4. Obie Wilchcombe - West End and Bimini
5. Fred Mitchell - Fox Hill
6. Alfred Sears - Ft. Charlotte
7. Alfred Gray - Mayaguana Inagua Crooked Island
and Long Cay
8. Leslie Miller - Blue Hills
9. Melanie Griffin - Yamacraw
10. Bernard Nottage - Bain and Grants Town
11. Neville Wisdom - Killarney
12. Allyson Gibson - Pinewood
13. Glenys Hanna Martin - Englerston
14. Oswald Ingraham South - Eleuthera
15. Shane Gibson - Golden Gates
16. John Carey - Carmichael
17. Veronica Owen - Garden Hills
18. Ann Percentie - Pineridge
19. Ron Pinder - Marathon
20. Michael Halkitis - Golden Isles
21. Frank Smith - St. Thomas More
22. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis - Cat Island, Rum Cay and
San Salvador
23. Yvette Turnquest - Montagu
24. Hope Strachan - Sea Breeze
25. Malcolm Adderley - Elizabeth
26. Ricardo Treco - St. Anne’s
27. Keod Smith - Mt. Moriah
28. Jackson Ritchie - Clifton
29. Pleasant Bridgewater - Marco City
30. Constance McDonald - Lucaya
31. Doswell Coakley - High Rock
32. Caleb Outten - Eight Mile Rock
33. Gary Sawyer - South Abaco
34. Fritz Bootle - North Abaco
35. Anthony Moss - Exuma
36. Picewell Forbes - South Andros
37. Wallace Rolle - South Beach
38. Chrisfield Johnson - North Eleuthera
39. Kenyatta Gibson - Kennedy
|
THE
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES
The Progressive Liberal Party launched its campaign
with a mass rally at the carnival site at Oakes Field in Nassau on Wednesday
11th April. The PLP would usually go to Ft. Charlotte but the FNM
was holding its rally there at the same time. The reason why the
PLP did not get first chance is because they had planned their rally on
the Tuesday 9th April. The rally date was changed because the PLP
was to match up with the FNM crowd for crowd and does not want PLPs wandering
to FNM rallies.
Further, there is a security element in that some
police think that it would be a good idea to keep the supporters separated.
In any event, the FNMs couldn’t stay at their rally long enough; they tried
to come to interfere with the PLP’s rally. All around Nassau there
were bands of marauding, drunken FNM supporters. But the numbers
tell the story and so we present this photo essay of the crowd at the PLP's
rally including the group that came from Fox Hill. The Prime Minister’s
address
at the rally can be accessed here.
Photos: Peter Ramsay
BOYCOTT
READING THE NEWSPAPERS
There is a boycott that is developing as we get
closer to the elections of the newspapers. Some people have become
so sickened by the bias and anti PLP bent of the newspapers, especially
The Tribune, that they have determined that no money will go into their
coffers. Silently then some people have organized a boycott and are
refusing to buy the papers. We think that this is a good thing and
perhaps PLPs might by this method bring home the nature of their discontent
with the actual bias of the press in this country toward the PLP.
We encourage those to make that make the sacrifice and not buy any newspapers
during this election period, and if you must buy a newspaper then the paper
to exclude is The Tribune.
THE
STORY OF FRUITCAKE AND JOHN MARQUIS
On Monday 9th April, The Tribune’s managing editor
John Marquis, took up several column inches of the op ed page of The Tribune
to defend himself against the charges made in an ad that was run in the
Nassau Guardian about him from a column that appeared on this site (you
may click here for that original column).
The problem with The Tribune and Mr. Marquis is
that they seem to believe that somehow they are the arbiters of public
opinion, morals and truths in The Bahamas. None of that is true.
Mr. Marquis sought to denigrate the article claiming that what was said
was not true, and that it contained gross libels. He said that a
writ will now be issued against the Nassau Guardian. What a great
big cry baby. Here is the man who has called public officials of
this country, ordinary citizens of this country, every name in the book
but now he is going off to court to cry on the shoulders of a judge.
John Marquis claims that he can have the pick of
countries to live in. Well he should go pick one that is not The
Bahamas. There is really not much more you can say in answer to someone
whose writings and opinions are so totally obtuse, except to repeat what
we have said before, the quicker he leaves The Bahamas the better.
IN PASSING
Defence Force Pay Raises
The Bahamas Government has approved pay raises for the Royal Bahamas
Defence Force officers. The raises were paid in March 2007.
They took effect on 1st July 2006. In March, each RBDF officer received
the sum of $1350, representing back pay from July 2006 plus $150 in advance
for the month of March. That means that when the pay cheque of each
officer is examined on pay day April, they will have an additional $150
in their pay packet. For the prison officers, the amount is $100
per month extra on their pay packet for the month of April. They
should have received a lump sum payment of $800 in March representing the
sums owed from July 2006 on an annual increase of $1200 per annum, plus
the advance on March’s salary of $100. The pay packet in April should
reflect a $100 pay increase.
The Don Imus Saga
The United States is a remarkable country. Suddenly there is
this a feeding frenzy about a man named Don Imus, one of these inveterate
racists, who appear on American talk radio and television and who are tolerated
in the name of free speech. And then suddenly, that country seems
to get a conscience. Mr. Imus’ offence was to call a group of mainly
African American female basketball players “nappy headed hos”. In
ordinary English, it means nappy headed whores. It did not go over
well and he was fired from his popular radio show. Mind you rap music
is full of it all the time and worse things have been said by these right
wing ideologues in their coded language about blacks, Jews, women and homosexuals.
We recall how the racist senator from Mississippi Trent Lott forgot himself
when he crossed the line and said he supported a former segregationist
Senator’s policies when that Senator Strom Thurmond ran for President.
There was a feeding frenzy and he was gone. We quite frankly don’t
understand it. The racism does not change. It’s not as if people
in the US did not know what these people believed and what their code words
were. But there you have it. What a strange country.
Whose the Baby’s Father?
The press of the United States is still in The Bahamas in full force.
They are here in pursuit of the entertainment value over the death of Anna
Nicole Smith, the B movie actress who died of a drug overdose in a Florida
hotel earlier this year but who also left a trail of fantastic stories
that have titillated the public imagination in the United States.
There was breaking news from The Bahamas on both CNN and Fox News when
the courts ruled that Larry Birkhead, a sometime lover of Ms. Smith, was
the father by DNA testing of the baby Danielynne born in Nassau last year,
and not Howard K. Stern, the live in lover at the time of her death.
The US press is still here because an inquest is to be held into the death
of Daniel Smith, the only son of Anna Nicole, who died of an apparent drug
overdose while visiting his mother in hospital in Nassau last year.
They are also here because there is a custody battle between the biological
father, newly declared, and the mother of the child. The publicity
and the tourist dollars keep rolling in. The U.S. public does not
seem to tire of this tiresome entertainment.
George Smith Will Not Run
The Hon. George A. Smith, the Chairman of the Hotel Corporation, and
the former Cabinet Minister in the Pindling Administration and former Member
of Parliament for Exuma, announced on Tuesday 10th April that he will not
be running as an independent in the election of 2007 for the Exuma seat.
He did not nominate on Friday 13th April. There had been speculation
that he might do so.
Gay and Lesbian Rights Advocate Responds
Erin Greene, who heads the Gay and Lesbian organization Rainbow Alliance,
has come out strongly against a man named Cleaver Duncombe who threatened
to run as an independent candidate against Shane Gibson in Golden Gates.
Mr. Duncombe who was most recently known for his advocacy for father’s
rights seems to be searching for another cause now that the PLP has passed
the legislation to deal with father’s rights. He claims that he wants
all candidates to declare their sexuality and true to The homophobic penchant
of the editor of The Tribune John Marquis who calls homosexuals “fairies”,
he printed what Mr. Duncombe had to say, anything sensational to sell newspapers.
Ms. Green struck back at Mr. Duncombe on Tuesday 10th April in The Tribune
and said: “To reveal someone’s sexual orientation in this heterosexist
and homophobic social environment is a violent act that could to only lead
to the demise of her/his political career, extreme psychological and emotional
trauma, but could also result in physical violence and death”. Of
course Mr. Duncombe and The Tribune couldn’t care less about any of those
things.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
PLP Rally in the Berrys
Prime Minister and PLP Leader Perry Christie touched down in
the Berry Islands Saturday night to a tumultuous welcome from Party supporters
gathered at the airport. Host candidate Vincent Peet explained to
the excited crowd that the Prime Minister had thousands waiting for him
in Grand Bahama and so would cut his visit short. The crowd surrounded
Leader Christie would could not resist leading a forty car motorcade through
Bullocks Harbour, where he stopped to address the rally and break bread
with most of the five hundred or so residents in the settlement.
Photos by Peter Ramsay
22nd
April, 2007
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