Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 8 © BahamasUncensored.com 2010
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
INGRAHAM SAYS HE COULD CARE LESS
Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition, posed the question
to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in the House of Assembly from his seat
on Thursday 29th July: “What is the position on Bahamar?” Mr. Christie
was talking about the Cable Beach touristic project that threatens to spend
several billions of dollars in the Bahamian economy now in the doldrums
and with the prospect of 10,000 jobs for Bahamians.
Mr. Ingraham’s reply: “I don’t know and I could care less.”
This is the attitude of a pig. Shameful! But why would we want to
talk about shame when Mr. Ingraham is better described as shameless.
In the mean time, the Bahamas Contractors Association headed by
Stephen Wrinkle was holding a seminar for some 200 or so contractors who
are hoping and praying that the Bahamar deal will come through. They have
no work now and there is no prospect of any work, yet you have someone
acting like a clown for a Prime Minister saying he does not care whether
the deal goes or comes. What a very strange and disgusting characteristic?
The flurry of activity over the past week came after the Chinese Ambassador in The Bahamas notified the government of The Bahamas that the last Ministry in the Chinese government responsible for approvals had signed off on the project so the matter was a go, and that all that remained was the approval of the government of The Bahamas.
But the head of the Bahamas government says: “I don’t know and I could care less.”
By damn!
Number of hits for three week ending Saturday 31st July 2010 up
to midnight: 113,407
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 31st July 2010
up to midnight: 578,922
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 31st July 2010 up
to midnight: 5,229,585
U.S.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE VISITS
Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Western
Hemisphere, the top diplomat in the hemisphere for relations in the U.S.
State Department on a day to day basis with the region and hemisphere was
in The Bahamas for a visit on Monday 26th July as part of a region wide
swing. He met with the government, the opposition and with people from
civil society including PLP Young Liberals. Dr. Valenzuela stressed the
U.S.' commitment to the region and supported the view that there ought
to be an effort toward regional cooperation. The photo shows from left
U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas Nicole Avant, PLP Deputy Leader Philip “Brave”
Davis MP, and the Assistant Secretary, PLP Leader Perry Christie and Fred
Mitchell Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs.
RYAN
ON FISHING
The following
open letter to the fishermen of The Bahamas was issued by Ryan Pinder,
a descendant of Spanish Wells, the nation’s fishing capital on 27th July,
on the eve of the opening of the crawfish season which is today 1st August.
My Dear Bahamian Fishermen:
August 1st is the opening of the crawfish season and this is my
first opportunity as a Member of Parliament to voice my concerns and opinions
at the National level for this important day in the life of our Fishermen.
After my commitment to my friends and constituents in Elizabeth who are
obviously #1 with me, I am committed to the Fishermen and Farmers of our
Bahamaland, and who in my opinion have for long been relegated to the bottom
rung of the ladder in our economy. You will have on several occasions heard
me address your plight and you have my commitment that I will continue
to do so. I have addressed your plight with the leadership of my Party,
the Progressive Liberal Party, and I have their commitment to take up your
plight and pledge to stay with you until your fight is won.
The PLP and I would like to wish all fishermen of the Bahamas a
prosperous and safe crawfish season and maiden trip as the crawfish season
opens on August 1st. The PLP recognizes the importance of this industry
to thousands of Bahamians throughout our archipelago of islands, including
Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Abaco, Long Island, Exuma, Andros and many others.
The Progressive Liberal Party wishes to emphatically remind Hubert Ingraham and the FNM that fisheries and the crawfish industry might be the most important industry to many in our family islands, and to our country as a whole. Under this Government, fishermen throughout our family islands have witnessed an explosion in illegal poaching during the off-season by foreign vessels, most noticeably from the Dominican Republic. This is destroying our fisheries industry, from crawfish, grouper, scale fish and conch. We need to be serious about protecting this fragile industry so Bahamian fishermen can have a future in it.
Most notably, however, is the danger that is posed to Bahamians on the water. There were numerous encounters during the summer months by Spanish Wells and Current fishermen with illegal poachers. Some of these instances have turned violent. There are reports that foreign poachers are attacking Bahamian fishermen with explosive devices and spear guns. These encounters have been reported to the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources without adequate response.
In fact, this summer a Spanish Wells fishing vessel had an encounter with illegal poachers from the Dominican Republic, and when they did not receive support from the Bahamian Government, they seized multiple fishing dinghies, hundreds of pounds of illegally caught crawfish and grouper and brought them back to port. It is my understanding that these illegal poachers, who exhibited violent actions against Bahamian fishermen have been returned back to the Dominican Republic without prosecution and likely fishing illegally again in our waters. The danger is that the inaction by this FNM Government will encourage vigilante justice in order for Bahamians to protect their livelihood. This must be prevented as it will only lead to additional violence and possibly loss of life and it can only be prevented by proper and persistent policing of our fishing grounds.
We find it inexplicable and inexcusable that this administration
has no answer for the protection of Bahamian fishermen and their fragile
industry. We find it inexcusable that concerns are not even addressed.
I propose that the Government do the following to ensure the protection
of Bahamian fishermen:
1) Routine air patrols originating from South Andros over the southern
banks.
2) Marine patrols along the southern most boarder of the Great Bahama
Bank and Cay Sal Bank.
3) The separation of The Royal Bahamas Defense Force patrol into
two divisions: a) Division for the protection of marine resources; and
b) Division for drug interdiction and illegal immigration. This would allow
a focus specifically on two different priorities of marine patrol.
4) A designated liaison of The Royal Bahamas Defense Force to interact
on a real time basis with Bahamian fishermen at sea.
5) Immediate apprehension and prosecution under Bahamian law of
illegal poachers.
6) Publication of a security protocol and procedure for fisherman
outlining procedures for reporting poaching violations to better understand
where the illegal poachers tend to be.
The Progressive Liberal Party and I would like to wish the fishermen of the Bahamas a safe crawfish season and a bountiful catch.
CRABS
FOR COMPUTERS
Well as promised the Crabs For Computers programme came to the R.M.
Bailey field in Nassau on Friday 30th July. Family Island Administrator
Gilbert Kemp led the way with 30 children coming on the boat with Crabs
for sale at 25 dollars per dozen and the people turned out in full force
to help the children of Mangrove Cay buy their lap top computers. Governor
General Sir Arthur Foulkes was there for the occasion and Fred Mitchell
MP Fox Hill joined them. The event raised $4500 and there is a need for
$1500 more. The photo is by Derek Smith of the Bahamas Information Services.
PHOTO
ESSAY ON DUDLEY THOMPSON’S VISIT
The photo of the week is that of visit of former Senator Dudley Thompson
of Jamaica now 93 and a well know figure in the early life of the PLP in
The Bahamas. Senator Thompson was invited to The Bahamas as the special
guest of Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes and gave a lecture at the
Balmoral Club on Thursday 29th July. The photo essay is by Peter Ramsay.
Pictured left to right: Keith Davis Bisx and unidentified
female, Dr. Keith Wisdomof Cable Bahamas; Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Wilson.
Pictured left to right: Dr. Barry Russell, MP Sidney Collie,
Mr. and Mr.s Patrick Rahming
Pictured: Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell Gibson
Pictured left to right: Attorney Damein Gomez, Philip Galnis,
Senator Dudley Thompson,Cartoonist Stan Burnside
Pictured left to right: Paul MCweeney, Managing Director
Bank of The Bahamas; Godfrey Eneas of Love 97 and Mrs. Eneas; Deputy Commissioner
of Police Marvin Dames; Dr. Barry Russell
Pictured left to right: Philip Galanis, Senator Dudely Thompson
Dame Marguerite Pindlingand PLP leader Perry Christie.
Pictured left to right: Archbishop Drexel Gomez; Sir Arthur
Foulkes Governor General; Sir Orville Turnquest, former Governor General;
former National Security Minister Hon. A. Loftus Roker; Philip Brave Davis
MP and Deputy Leader of the PLP; Dr. Judson Eneas.
Pictured left to right: Mr. and Mrs Arnold Forbes, Senator
Dudley Thompson, Philip Galanis and Mrs. Tonya Galanis, Alpheus "Hawk"
Finlayson.
Pictured left to right: Senator Dudley Thompson., Sir Arthur
Foulkes, Governor Generaland in a rar public appearance the Hon. A; Loftus
Roker, former Minister of National Security and former MP for North Andros.
Pictured left to right: Dr. Judson Eneas, Dame Marguerite
Pindling, and TonyaGalanis, Principal Eugene Dupuch Law School.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Chuck Pinder writes from Spanish Wells on the state of the fishing
industry:
I have sat back and waited all summer long to hear what this incompetent government is going to do about the illegal fishing by fishermen from the Dominican Republic. All summer long these foreigners which by the way Bahamas is the off season when crawfish spawn and reproduce these Dominicans have RAPED!!!!! In The Southern Bahamas. Numerous fishing boats out fishing for snapper or repairing traps (condos) have had interaction in which gas bombs were thrown and spear guns were held up at Bahamian Fishermen our own have been shot at by these invaders . In May a Spanish Wells fishing boat named the Comfort Zone had a battle with them 30 miles in over the southern banks of the Bahamas 5 Dominicans were captured by them and out of 12 dinghies which were seized by our fishermen 540lbs of crawfish and numerous under sized grouper and hog fish were taken with no clue what the big boat had AND THIS WAS IN MAY!!!!!!
These bastards were picked up by The Royal Bahamas Defense Force and carried to Nassau. And do you know where they are now Bahamas they have already been shipped back to the Dominican Republic and have probably been fishing our banks again before we can. These bastards should still be eating Amber Jack in Fox Hill Prison .This is an OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIME AND TIME AGAIN for years we the fishermen of Spanish Wells have passed on information to The Ministry of Fisheries and also The Ministry of Defense .Lately all Crawfish Season long for at least the past two years the sightings of Dominican boats have been increasingly seen all over our southern fishing ground . They are killing our Conch Beds our Grouper and our Crawfish and any other type of bottom fish they can get. To you our Fisheries Department WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!! You create laws that you can’t enforce. Take for example THE Grouper Season , you make laws stopping the Bahamian Fishermen from catching grouper and THE DOMINICANS ARE GETTING ALL THEY WANT EVERY YEAR EVERY SEASON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You listen to a bunch of people from foreign countries telling us that our marine life is in trouble. Well you know they are right but it’s in trouble because we allow foreigners to come into our country rape our marine life and then you start with your statistics telling us about the decline in this marine resource or that marine resource .The only problem we are having with our Marine Resources is that you either think you know it all or people in The Department of Marine Resources just don’t care .Maybe it’s time you start listening to the people that do and that would
be us the hard working fishermen of this country and I say that coming from the island of Spanish Wells where 95% of the income of our island in dependent on fishing and also it’s the same place when you come here for a Fisheries Meeting YOU TELL US THAT WE ARE TO BEST AT WHAT WE DO. And to The Ministry of Defense to the hard working Defense Force Officers that have chosen to serve our country I want to say thank you .But to the good Minister may I remind you that under articles of our Constitution you good Sir is mandated by law to protect the people and to guard our Bahamaland from people that wish to harm us poach our waters and also from people that infiltrate our country illegally. And so far This ADMINISTRATION has Failed MISERABLY. These men and women of our Royal Bahamas Defense Force can’t do their job with the Defense Force Boats parked at PRINCE GEORGE WARF .The Defense Force has to be vigilant and present in these areas, it’s does very little good to call in and have to leave from Nassau they need to be constantly patrolling the southern Bahama bank to get a grip on what’s going on. And to you the Government of the Bahamas as a whole you have done more damage to the fishing industry in this country than any other Administration in the history of our country. Just about every branch of government in this country falls in this category first a few years back BEFORE the recession came you took away our Duty Free Tariffs on parts for our fishing boats we used to pay 7% then you changed that to 10% then you took that away and now we pay 65% on parts thank you F.N.M Government. That was for the Ministry of Finance and now for the Ministry of
Immigration AGAIN there are fishing boats tied up to Potters Cay Dock that are fishing in this country that there crew are Dominicans . A Bahamian Fishing boat came in this summer with over 20 thousand pounds of skinned conchs all the crew was nothing but Dominicans; what a disgrace and you want to know why our conch beds are dying out. You can start your immigration clean up out to Potters Cay Dock. And again thank you F.N.M. Government for allowing this to happen. Wake up BAHAMAS it’s time to clean house as a born and bred Bahamian and proud of it for 43 years and a fishermen for 27 it’s time to rid this country of under the table politics F.N.M’s and P.LP’s alike need to see what we are becoming and that is a country with leaders that if it don’t affect them why bother. We are now being taxed to death by this government that in there last convention said WE GOT THE MONEY .And so I say to you like you asked former Prime Minister Pindling in 1992 WHERE’S THE MONEY ? This government is killing this country by taxing the very people that holds this country together THE MIDDLE CLASS. The poor can’t pay, the rich don’t care and the crooked is going to steal to get what they want, so who suffers THE MIDDLE CLASS. The hard working men and women of this country that struggle to send their children to school ,put food on the table , pay their light and water bill and just try to make ends meet .That who is going to end up suffering the most . And once you break the middle class it’s all over then. Once again thank you F.N.M. Government. I’m a hard working Bahamian Fisherman and I hate to see what our Fishing Industry is becoming , a lost jewel in this great country of ours millions of dollars worth of revenue lost by the Bahamian people stolen by illegal poaching, they come and take what they want when they want and however much they want . And this Administration does little to
nothing about it. It just kills me to think what is this country is coming to when we are not willing to step up and take hold of this serious situation .Along with this situation on the 28th and 29th of July is the U.S. mini lobster season and for years that have fished the North Western Bank . Rouge Bahamian Fishermen have been working in that area well before the season opens and very little is being done. You know Bahamas as you pass Fort Montagu Ramp as a little boy between the ages of 8 and ten years old I stood to the edge of the road holding bunches of fish to sell. .Summer time I would go net hauling with my grandfather Mr. Purcell Pinder a descendent from Spanish Wells who was the first man to start selling fish at Montagu Ramp. My other grandfather Mr. Horace Sands was from Abaco and at that same age every August I would go to Great Guana Cay and go spearing CONDOS and that is where I learned to spear crawfish. Yes Ministry of Fisheries CONDOS being used in the Bahamas OVER 30 YEARS AGO. To my friends and family in Abaco I hope you are reading this in the day or I hope you got a good flash light because I know you don’t have much electricity. Fishing is not just my job it’s in my blood and before I see it spilt for it, it’s high time that the government of this country do something about it. I hope you listening Mr. Christie because I feel sure that if you are listening and are willing to fix what’s broke all I got to say is IT AIN’T LONG NOW!!!!! Former leaders have come and gone. Former Opposition leaders have come and gone in my 43 years all I’ve got to say is I don’t care which party you are for if you don’t do your job IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO GO!!!!!!!! It’s time that we as a country stop playing party politics and keep the government on their toes. In my work place fishermen are suffering and we are suffering because of incompetence. I pray to the Good Lord that we find the people in this country willing to make a stand and say to whatever party enough is enough.
Thank you for your time and may God Bless You and May God Bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Chuck Pinder
Spanish Wells, Bahamas
July 27th 2010
Dr. Lynwood Brown writes about Cable Bahamas:
The Editor of The Punch, Tribune, Nassau Guardian & Bahama Press
Farrington Road
Nassau, Bahamas
RE: Cable Bahamas
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to shine the spotlight
on
what I believe to be an unfair practice that has been perpetrated
on
the good people of the Bahamas. Cable Bahamas has been operating
in
this country for more than a decade now and has enjoyed a monopoly
for
its entire time in operation yet it seems to have no compassion
for
the people who have made the company such a success. For instance,
if
your cable has been disconnected you would have to pay thirty dollars
reconnection. I say that this is outrageous. I watched the customer
service representative touch a few buttons and in a flash reports
that
“Okay your cable is back on”….a few strokes on the key board and
shazaam, cable back for THIRTY DOLLARS. This is shameful, especially
now when Bahamian people are struggling. Mr. Government, we ask
that
you please do something to assist the Bahamian people.
My second grievance with this company is that prior its arrival,
we
have enjoyed ZNS TV13 with very little static (well, that is people
in
Nassau) but since Cable Bahamas’ arrival this is no longer the case.
If your cable is disconnected for lack of payment, you will have
to
disconnect the cable to watch your national station. I say that
this
too is wrong. Cable Bahamas has the ability to selectively block
any
channel that it wants, remember B.E.T.? So why is it then, that
if an
account has been disconnected that Cable Bahamas doesn’t just block
all other channels except ZNS TV13, allowing the customer to continue
to enjoy watching ZNS. It is almost criminal how the Government
allows
a foreign company (well now that BTC, BEC and NIB own major shares
in
the company that may not be the case) to take advantage of Bahamian
people is beyond me.
Please HELP Mr. Government.
My final point in this letter is the new digital box, this is the
biggest rip off of them all. In The United States of America, digital
TV was phased in but only to those persons who did not have a digital
television. I recently had to purchase a few of these digital boxes
and now that I have, my already “digital” television is no longer
able
to pick up any signals. Wow! But yet the cable company is telling
everyone that one of these boxes is required to watch cable TV.
So I
asked the customer service representative what if I sourced my box
elsewhere, she said almost with a chuckle, “and watch Cable Bahamas?
No sir that is not possible”. So my question to Cable Bahamas is:
is
the box a requirement or is it just another way to squeeze every
last
cent out of the pockets of the Bahamian people?
Mr. Government, we need your assistance in stopping this injustice
and
the blatant abuse of the Bahamian people, the people who have elected
you to protect them from this predatory-like behavior. We need action
from you Mr. Government and we need it NOW.
Dr. Lynwood Brown
A concerned Bahamian
Jerome Fitzgerald responds to Rick Lowe:
Just get over it.
Dear editor,
On the 20th July 2010, while I was on vacation, Mr. Rick Lowe, General Manager of the Nassau Motor Company, was kind enough to send me a copy of a letter he had written to you, which I understand was subsequently printed in your daily.
As you will recall on the 25th May 2010 the Prime Minister announced in the House of Assembly that drastic changes to the rate of duty on cars were to come into effect. The Protection of Revenue Act brought those changes with immediate effect thereby catching many Bahamians unaware. On the 26th May while in the Senate debating an unrelated Bill I took that opportunity to state that I understood the law, but thought it was wrong for Bahamians to be faced with what amounted in some cases to a 60% increase customs duty without any notice as I was aware of persons who had cars sitting on the dock and would be affected by this change. I thought in the circumstances it was unjust and wrong and asked the government to allow persons who had cars were either sitting on the dock or in route to pay the old rate of duty. My comments were carried in the Nassau Guardian on the 27th May.
In the same vain during my Budget contribution in the Senate three and a half weeks later on June 21st 2010 I produced a two customs entries with the customs cashiers stamp dated May 27th(2 days after the announced increase) showing that Nassau Motor Company had paid the old rate of duty. Just as I thought it was wrong for the government to increase the rate so drastically without notice I thought it was wrong for one company to pay a lower rate than everyone else. I did not make the law and stated in Parliament that in circumstances as this where there was a significant increase in duty on a particular item I did not agree with it. But that is the law and it applies to me, you and yes Nassau Motor Company. What Mr. Lowe appears unwilling to accept is that the relevant date is the 27th when payment was made and the cashiers stamp appeared on the entry and not the 25th when he claims customs approved the entry.
I gave this information by way of background, but the real purpose of this letter is to address a particular point raised by Mr. Lowe concerning me abusing my Parliamentary privilege by raising this matter in the Senate. I can only assume that Mr. Lowe is saying that had I said what I said inside the Senate outside the Senate Nassau Motor Company would have sued me. During the 3-4 minutes I spent on this topic in the Senate describing what I said above, I also said in closing that “an egregious offence has been committed against the Stamp Act”. This statement appears to have disturbed Mr. Lowe and Nassau Motor Company. I cannot understand why. The fact is that Nassau Motor paid the wrong rate of duty and they were subsequently made to pay the correct amount in accordance with the amendment to the Stamp Act on the 25th May 2010.
I therefore do not and will not apologize or retract what I said and for the sake of clarity, I will not say anything in Parliament I am not prepared to say outside Parliament and I state again; in the matter of Nassau Motor Company and Bahamas Customs that I raised in the Senate on June 21st 2010, an egregious offence had been committed against Stamp Act. I have now said it outside Parliament and Rick Lowe and Nassau Motor are now invited to pursue whatever cause of action they deem prudent. I appreciate his frustration and anger for having to pay the correct amount of duty, but I suggest that he has misplaced his time and energy by focusing on me for carrying out my duty and bringing this matter to the Government’s attention. I hope he will now leave well enough alone and get over it.
With regard to the issue of racism introduced by Mr. Lowe, I will not dignify his comments with a response as I find them most unfortunate in this context.
Senator Jerome Kennedy Fitzgerald.
August 1, 2010.
TERRAN
BROWN
Scharad, the photographer and the son of Deputy Governor of the Central
Bank Michael Lightbourne has a Facebook page in which he displayed a series
of Bahamian artists. Terran is one of them.
GO SEE
“FRESH” A CLARENCE ROLLE PLAY
NATIONAL YOUTH CHOIR’S TOUR
A photo of the National Youth Choir during their tour of Italy under
the direction of Cleophas Adderley.
AN
ANALYSIS OF JOHN DELANEY’S BEHAVIOR
Political
activists Wallace Rolle and Ricardo Smith invaded the Senate on Thursday
29th July and confronted the Attorney General on the question of the appointment
of the Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Grant Bethel. They presented
the AG with a letter demanding an explanation for the perfidy of the government
on this issue. The AG’s response was that of Mr. High and Mighty. Some
of the statements that he gave to the press and our comments. The story
was reported by Paul Turnquest in The Tribune of 30th July.
“I have no idea what was included in the letter. I will look at it at some point.
“As a counsel of more than 20 years, I know that once the jurisdiction of a court has been invoked it is not the appropriate thing to be debating matters in a public forum – notwithstanding what I’ve been reading. I have not been served with anything, which I said to them.
“I read in the papers which appear to be extensive purported references to an affidavit which I have never been served with or any other proceedings. But I have to believe the press when they say that an action has been filed, and if that is the case then I must act appropriately not only as a lawyer but as the chief attorney being in my capacity as Attorney General I must obey the appropriate procedure and protocol.
“I am not concerned at all by Mr. Smith or Mr. Rolle’s remarks that
I will be in my last days as Attorney General.
“I believe you all know the identities of the individuals and you know
that they are persons who are activists or political type persons. So it
is obvious that this is being pursued by them in that vein. So I really
say nothing about it. I was not very impressed at all by the encounter.
So I spoke to them briefly and then quite quickly realised that it was
no point in pursuing a discussion with reason.
“I am surprised that such a claim can come from someone who happens to be a lawyer. I was quite surprised that he as a lawyer was unfamiliar with who has the legal authority to be making judicial and legal services appointments. It is not hard to find out who has this authority. It is in the very first legal legislative document, namely the constitution. The Attorney General has no such power. And so he was asking me about my appointments when I have no such power. So I just invited him as a lawyer, as a colleague, I tried to assist and asked him to refresh himself as to law.”
(It is very interesting that the AG takes this approach. It is emblematic of the kind of government of which he is a part. They are like ostriches with their heads in the sand and have complete and utter contempt for the Bahamian people. Here it is there is a raging battle in the news about their appointing a new DPP and he has not taken the time to even send for copies of what has allegedly been filed. He instead seeks to rely on the technical bit about the matter being before he courts so he cannot comment on it. But he was in the press not too long ago defending the decision. That is what makes it quite laughable for him to then claim in response to Wallace Role as a lawyer that he the AG does not make the appointment. So why was he in the press defending it? Such an unctuous man. There comes a point when it is better for some people not to be in public life because they simply do not know how to conduct themselves as public figures. What a shame? He had better get himself briefed on the Cheryl Grant Bethell case and quickly, because he is in for a rough ride.—Editor)
SUPREME
COURT OFFICE VANDALIZED
It is not certain what it is all about but from the way the authorities
are reacting, it must be something serious. The straights of the story
are these: on the night of Tuesday 27th July, someone broke into the Supreme
Court office of Justice Jon Isaacs and trashed the place. They reportedly
wrote a sign saying the FNM MUST GO. That never made it to the press, but
the Attorney General John Delaney in his usual indignant and unctuous style
was busy saying how quickly he had reacted to ensure that the security
interest of the Judges were taken to heart. The speculation is that someone
was trying to send a message to Justice Isaacs after some unfavorable decision.
The Police Commissioner Ellsion Greenslade said they were taking measures
to beef up security around the courts. The PLP said that this was all the
more reason why there should be one Judicial complex, that it would improve
the ability to watch over the courts. When Richard Blankenship was the
U.S. Ambassador here, he made the observation that in The Bahamas there
was a systemic lack of appreciation for security concerns. That is true
and this mess with the Supreme Court certainly shows it.
LEEVAN
SANDS WINS GOLD AT CAC
And the winner of the gold medal at the XXI Central American and Caribbean
(CAC) Games in the triple jump is The Bahamas own Leevan Sands. Mr. Sands
won the medal at the games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
His jump of 17.21m finished ahead of Randy Lewis of Grenada who took silver with a jump of 17.20m, and ahead of Samyr Laine of Haiti who jumped 17.01m. The victory came on Thursday 29th July. The photo is a file photo of Mr. Sands in an earlier jump.
BAHAMAS
GOVERNMENT AND BLUEWATER SETTLE
The dispute between The Bahamas Government and the Bluewater company
that wanted to buy the telephone company BTC from the Bahamas Government
has been settled. The PLP left in place a decision to sell BTC for 260
million dollars, a decision which the FNM cancelled and this led to a dispute
and an arbitration in London. The government backed down and agreed to
settle at the last minute. You may click here for the full statement. The
PLP criticized the FNM for passing up a good deal and now after ten years
the company is still not privatized. It is inexcusable and they will not
get near 260 million for it. They have agreed to pay 1.9 million for the
cancellation of the deal with Bluewater. Click
here to read the full statement.
IN PASSING
Shane Gibson Is Recovering
PLP MP and former Immigration Minister Shane Gibson is recovering in
Florida following surgery to repair a damaged shoulder. Mr. Gibson is an
avid golfer.
Kelly Burrows Convalescing
Retired hotelier Kelly Burrows is said to be resting comfortably in
Doctors Hospital in New Providence following an operation there last week.
We wish him well.
Skullduggery In Lyford Cay
The tongues were wagging all week about the war going on between the
billionaire and the millionaire in Lyford Cay the ghetto of rich people
who live out on the Western Shore of New Providence. Louis Bacon worth
in the billions does not like they say Peter Nygard, the Canadian fashion
designer worth in the mere hundreds of millions. Mr. Nygard is considered
new money and a bit crude and boorish. He wants to rebuild his tree house
and put some 50 million dollars he says back into the property. The Lyford
Cay old money that Mr. Bacon represents will have nothing to do with it.
They reportedly have the clout with the FNM administration that they supported
the last election. Mr. Nygard been accused of running a brothel out on
Lyford Cay, renting his former tree house estate to people with wild parties
of naked girls and guys swimming in his pool. Some say in an attempt to
bring this to heel some sound equipment was imported, a type which is used
reportedly by Israeli intelligence and has the affect of cause you to get
loose bowels. The police raided Mr. Bacon’s estate reportedly and confiscated
the equipment. Representatives of Mr. Bacon said the equipment was harmless.
Mr. Nygard’s estate was raided later in the week and equipment was also
taken. No word from the police on what the hell they are doing. It looks
like Mr. Nygard will not get his permit to rebuild the house that burned
down earlier this year or last year. To add to the mystery, there was a
man who drowned in Mr. Bacon’s pool who was suspected by the rumour mill
of actually burning down Mr. Nygard’s tree house. It gets curiouser and
curiouser. Aint the The Bahamas a great place to live.
N.I. B. Increases
The House of Assembly has proposed certain changes to the National
Insurance Benefit regulations and to the costs of National Insurance to
the beneficiaries. When the new rules come into effect, there will be some
increases in pension payments and in the future pension payments indexed
to the cost of living. But the wage ceiling for contributions now set at
400 dollars per week is being raised in the first instance to $500 and
then to $600 and eventually the actual contribution rate will have to increase
if the fund is not going to go broke. The FNM that opposed National Insurance
was busy wrapping it in their warm embrace last week in the house saying
they are good adoptive parents of the scheme and they are the ones who
took the hard decisions. Save and except that it was of course the PLP
who brought it into being and who made the decision to revise the rules
following the report of its Social Security Commission in April 2005. As
usual it was Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest along with the
idle Prime Minister who were spinning the propaganda.
Lincoln Bain Marries
His partner on Controversy TV Utah Taylor Rolle had to tell us that
the talk show host and TV station owner, what else, general all around
activist, Lincoln Bain has reportedly married and according to Mr. Taylor
Rolle’s Facebook page is off the market as of Wednesday 28th July. Not
a word from Mr. Bain.
Al Jarrett To Appear
Alfred Jarrett Retired Banker and Former Chair of BEC and Bank of Bahamas
will appear on Island FM Parliament Street on Sunday August 1st 2010 at
4:00PM. Tune In & Call In and hear Al Jarrett tell it like it is. The
Bahamas can and must do better!!
Marsh Harbour Airport Shut Down
Reports said Thursday 29th July the Marsh harbor airport was closed
down to U.S. airport traffic by the United States Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) because the fire equipment had broken down in Marsh Harbour. The
Minister Vincent Vanderpool Wallace said he was unaware of the details
of the problems. Like Shane Gibson likes to say: Clueless! The report was
later denied by Director of Civil Aviation Patrick Rolle.
Randol Dorsett Withdraws
The young lawyer Randol Dorsett who seemed a sure bet to get the nomination
for the Pinewood constituency for the PLP in the next general election,
has reportedly withdrawn his name for consideration for any seat in the
next general election. Mr. Dorsett appears to be on a fast track to better
times in his law firm Graham Thompson and Co. The branch was introduced
to another prospective candidate Cheryl Buzzard last week. Former representative
Alyson Gibson has said she will no longer be involved in public life as
a representative leaving the field open. The seat is a marginal seat and
in a general election should be within striking distance for the PLP should
there be a swing toward the party. Reportedly in the branch meeting held
there last Thursday 29th July, one of FNM MP Branville McCartney’s main
generals.
Jerome Gomez To Get His Shot
Jerome Gomez, the businessman and financial consultant at Baker Tilly
Gomez, looks set to get his shot at a PLP nomination with a possible run
for the Kilarney seat in the next general election. Reports say he is the
unanimous choice for the branch and the Candidates Committee is looking
favorably at him.
Not Guilty In Harl Taylor Case
The verdict in the murder trial of Troyniko McNeil for the death of
designer Harl Taylor came to a crashing end on Monday 26th July when after
3 hours of deliberation the jury brought him not guilty by a 9 to 3 verdict.
The first trial ended in a hung jury. The three years of the young man’s
life on hold have ended. Mr. McNeil’s father who was the murder victim’s
business partner and special friend said that he was pleased with the outcome.
He said his son was innocent and that he did not like how Mr. Taylor’s
mother Beverly reacted to the events. Ms. Taylor was said to be distraught.
Given the nature of the evidence, it may be open to Ms. Taylor to sue the
accused for civil damages for the death of her son. Mr. Taylor was brutally
murdered in his apartments on West Hill Street, New Providence on 18th
November 2007.
FNM Page Says Tinker Resigns
Dr. Keith Tinker is the subject of the FNM’s Facebook propaganda machine.
They reported that he was forced to resign his post as Executive Head of
the Museum and Antiquities Corporation. This had previously been denied
by Dr. Tinker.
Mandela Turns 92
Congratulations to Nelson Mandela, the statesman, former President
and international icon on turning 92 on 18th July of this year.
The Order Is Signed In GBI
Halleluiah! Hallelujah! Was how the Nassau Guardian characterized the
settlement of the final order in the long running and tortuous dispute
between the St. George family and Sir Jack Hayward over the assets of the
Grand Bahama Port Authority and its group of companies. The order was signed
in the Court of Appeal on Monday 26th July bringing to an end the matter.
The words came from judge Christopher Blackmun who pronounced the issue
closed and added the words Halleluiah! Halleluiah! No word on what this
will actually mean for Freeport where the economy is as dead as a doornail.
The New DPP Arrives?
Vinette Graham Allen is to be the new Director of Public Prosecutions
for The Bahamas and was scheduled to arrive in The Bahamas for work on
1st August. No word on whether she actually turned up. Political activist
Wallace Rolle reportedly spoke to her by telephone to warn her of the fire
storm of controversy that she is coming into when she arrives here. Ms.
Graham Allen said that she was unaware of the controversy. That is untrue
but anyway. Then she was called away from the phone and when she returned
she had a new attitude. She said that she was coming and she feared no
one and that God is on her side. That is all we need now is a messianic
Director of Public Prosecutions. The scuttlebutt on this whole thing is
that she is desirable in The Bahamas because the Prime Minister wants to
prosecute a PLP MP before the next election and so far all the Bahamian
prosecutors have refused to cooperate.
Mitchell To Be On Jones & Co
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill will be the guest on Jones and Company
on Sunday at 5 p.m. on Love 97 radio and at 7:30 p.m. on Jones Communications
Channel 14. He will speak about Project Bahamas a new proposal to build
bi partisan support for the general direction of the Bahamas.
Bermuda Premier Retires
Ewart Brown who led the revolt against two PLP Bermuda Premiers Jennifer
Smith and Alex Scott is to leave Parliament before the end of the year.
The last sitting of the Bermuda Parliament before the fall opening session
took place on Friday 23rd July and at 2 a.m. Mr. Brown who has served in
Parliament since 1993 delivered his farewell address. You can link here
to that address. The photo is from the Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s daily paper.
Click
here to read the full statement.
Fox Hill Festival Begins
The 176th annual Fox Hill Festival began on Friday 31st July with the
opening speech and ceremony at the Fox Hill Parade in Fox Hill. The Festival
was officially opened by Minister of Culture Charles Maynard. Fred Mitchell
MP for Fox Hill spoke of the special nature of the event in the history
of The Bahamas. The Festival kicks off in earnest with Junkanoo on Monday
2nd August 1 a.m. and later in the day there is an ecumenical service of
thanksgiving to mark the emancipation of the slaves on the Fox Hill parade.
The Festival ends with Fox Hill Day on Monday August 10th with the Leader
of the Opposition Perry Christie making his annual visit to the four churches
along with the representative Mr. Mitchell for their party day celebrations.
Bridge Collapse
A late report says that the Bridge in western New Providence near Snady
Port has collapsed and several people were hurt and had to be taken to
hospital.
|
| Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes
was the guest of honour at the celebrations to mark Emancipation Day in
The Bahamas in Fox Hill. The slaves were freed by act of the British Parliament
on 1st August 1834.
The day has been marked continuously in Fox Hill since that time. A week of activities surround the event in Fox Hill and will culminate in the festivities of Fox Hill day on Tuesday 10th August. No the news did not get to Fox Hill a week late. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill pointed out that Fox Hill is now the only community which marks the day with special observances in The Bahamas. The photo shows the special guest of the Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes on the occasion of Emancipation Day former Senator Dudley Thompson of Jamaica with Mrs. Thompson. Senator Thompson was a former defence counsel for Jomo Kenyatta, the founding president of Kenya during his trial for the Mau Mau uprising against the British prior to Kenyan independence. He is a former foreign minister of Jamaica and a founder of the Pan African movement. Seated next to him are former MP for Fox Hill Frank Edgecombe and Mrs. Edgecombe. The photo of the week is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services ( click here for more photo below).. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
TURNQUEST MAKES A GRAVE ALLEGATION
The Bee Gees sang a song a long time ago and they said: “ It’s only words, but words are all I have…” Yes words may be all there are but words are also powerful because they move people. Words are the instruments through which politicians mass mobilize. We say that against the backdrop of a strange statement made by the Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest during a radio programme on Love 97 with Algernon Allen. On that programme on Thursday 5th August, he used these words: “ It is an attempt to destabilize the government”.
What was he talking about? He was talking about the break-ins that have occurred on various government premises that from all accounts and at face value appear to be simple attempts at robbery or vandalism, but the minister has now weaved that into something more, a conspiracy to overthrow the government. That is in effect what he was saying. When asked by the Nassau Guardian what he was talking about, he claimed that he said exactly what he wanted to say. No Mr. Minister, you cannot be coy on this. If you have evidence that there is a plot to overthrow the government, this cannot be dismissed in a single line and then you clam up. You must come clean and tell us what you know about this conspiracy. The nation demands it.
The break-ins have taken place over the past month: the passport office ( seems like they were looking for money); the Supreme Court Justice’s office with a sign that said “ The PLP must win the next election, all FNMs must die. All PLPs must live and a picture of a gun pointed at the FNM ( seems like an act of vandalism by a disgruntled litigant and if you lived in Chicago’s Richard Daly the first’s regime , you would know that it certainly would not be the PLP that did this but the FNM trying to make it look like the PLP did it) ; the Immigration Department ( looks like robbery again was the motive) ; and finally the last one the Magistrate’s Court on Nassau Street ( robbery again the motive).
There is no public evidence to suggest that it is anything other than the government suffering what thousands of Bahamians suffer in their homes every year, petty break ins of people looking for money or trashing their victim's homes when they can't find any money. Yet now we are faced with a government minister, no less than the Minister of National Security suggesting that there is a conspiracy to overthrow the government.
Now if he is correct, it gets worse because he then goes on to say to the Nassau Guardian the following about the Magistrate’s Court break-in which took place on Wednesday 4th August: “ Police officers from Nassau Street received instructions by senior police officers in the police force to delay or change the patrols of the Nassau Street Court complex, Nassau Street. .. It was interesting that it happened when it did.”
So Mr. Turnquest is now saying that the police were in on this conspiracy to overthrow the government. This is serious and grave stuff and the Prime Minister on his ocean vacation had better tell us quickly what he knows about this and when.
If there is nothing to this then Mr. Turnquest has done the nation a disservice and created a huge mess where there is nothing more than petty crime.
Politicians are often accused of creating smokescreens to hide their
own incompetence. This surely smacks of such a case by Mr. Turnquest. Unless
he procures the proof we do not believe him. We think he ought to resign
and resign forthwith.
THE
CITY MARKETS SITUATION
We would venture to guess David Thurston has apart from little childhood
pranks has never done a dishonest thing in his life. But after working
for City Markets, the food store in The Bahamas, that used to dominate
the general food market scene, he made a misjudgment of some kind, he was
accused and then summarily dismissed. No appeal for mercy on account of
his years of service, the customer loyalty that he built up or just plain
human decency could prevail with the new owners of the company. For all
we know, he is still fighting the case. City Markets was a storied company
in the annals of Bahamian history. It used to be owned by Sir Stafford
Sands, the UBPs much reviled Finance Minister, who sold it to Winn Dixie,
the American firm that went bankrupt and then after years of success in
this country, paying dividend after dividend to Bahamian shareholders and
bursaries to assist in Bahamian education, the company was sold to a group
of financiers. It seems that they have paid too much money for the company
in trying to outdo Senator Jerome Fitzgerald and Mark Finlayson in their
bid to buy the company.
On the face of it, the new owners had Bahamian money but who was really behind it were the owners of Trinidadian capital a company called Neal and Massey that bought Barbados Shipping and Trading that bought City Markets. They did not want to be behind the scenes but the government’s restrictions, anti CSME, caused them to have to hide their light under a bushel and be seen as financiers. In fact they are the marketing and purchasing muscle behind the new operation even though this was a fiction because they own and manage the stores. The problem is that they seem to have missed badly. They have not been able to get the management right, the purchasing right, the marketing right, the merchandising right and its seems people seemed to stop coming in into the stores. Now the company pays no dividends. It is a shadow of itself with broken doors at its signature Harbour Bay store in New Providence, out of commission for a month with a written sign saying use the next door. Inside the store, the coolers are broken down and not only there but in the Seagrape store. Specialty chips. Not available. Almonds. Not available. Turkey salami, Not available.
Bruce Souder, the dead former manager, in his worse days paid dividends on time and had all the products and he was merciful to his employees. The problem then is this: there is a crisis in the stores with the employees who see that orders are not being filled because they say agencies may have issues collecting their monies; then there is the problem of the buyers not seeming to be able to adjust to the competition and buy the goods that people here want. This is an American market with American type and driven consumers. Perhaps this lesson is missed. But the employees are in a state of sublimated panic. They want to know if the stores are going to close . They wonder if this is a new Clico on their hands and who from the government is minding the store on their behalf. You remember the high flying insurance company Clico that went under taking the savings of people across the Caribbean by misadventures in the Florida real estate market. They think that the Minister of Labour should have a talk with the company. Some assurances are in order.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce Khaalis Rolle told the press the other day that the business models of some companies could not adjust to the new environment and he named Jiffy Cleaners and John S. George hardware as among them that simply went under because they could not adjust. That’s fine for him to describe the problem but there is a moral element to business that is not so clinical when people’s lives are at stake in this bad environment sullied by an incompetent Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. City Markets with 700 employees, and thousands of loyal customers and not to mention the Bahamians who put their money into the company is almost too big to fail, and we had better not allow this government’s market forces foolishness have us end up in a holy mess with 700 people out of work. Which brings us to where we started about David Thurston who was fired summarily and without mercy from City Markets. Should these same people who fired David Thurston be given any lee way to get it wrong or should we put their feet to the fire.
INGRAHAM
SAILS AWAY
Shakespeare
put the words: “ To or not to be” into the mouth of the dark centre of
the piece Hamlet as he contemplated what the hell he was going to do in
the face of his sea of troubles. Our own dark Prince Hubert Ingraham has
now taken to the high seas with his wife for two weeks and we hope that
he takes the opportunity to contemplate his fate. He is a failure. He is
reviled by the Bahamian people.
Last week as his amanuensis, some say its him, under the nom de plume the Scribe wrote in The Punch the cri de coeur that Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill was ruining his reputation, people were cussing him because the taxes have gone up, the power is failing in the middle of the summer, unemployment is high, and now in the middle of all of the mess he is on the high seas while the phone lines in the country are down.
Everyone deserves a vacation. It gives you down time and time to think about what you are going to do. Some say that Franklin Delano Roosevelt who used to be President of the United States came up the lend lease programme to arm Britain prior to the U.S. getting into he war while on holiday. Perhaps Mr. Ingraham will come up with bright idea. The brightest idea would be for him to come back and announce that he is carrying his you know what and simply leaving us to our devices so we can try and get ourselves out of this mess that he has gotten us into. The question we ask ourselves: how from where we started did we ever get into this absolute mess? It’s Mr. Ingraham’s fault more than any other in this generation. You broke it. Don’t worry to fix it. Just leave and go. Thank you very much.
COMMUNICATIONS
DOWN IN THE BAHAMAS
The following statement was issued by BTC, the Bahamian telephone company
with a monopoly on voice communications in The Bahamas and with the outside
world saying that the phone system within the country had entirely crashed.
This is yet again a national disgrace that must be put at the feet of the
FNM administration and Hubert Ingraham’s stop review and cancel programme.
The FNM administration has been seeking for nearly a decade and a half
to privatize this company which continues to fail in its mission to the
Bahamian people. Last week, we reported how the FNM government had to pay
the people at Bluewater 1.9 million of the Bahamian people’s money because
they cancelled the contract that the PLP left in place to sell BTC for
260 million dollars, a price which the FNM cannot get for the company today.
The FNM has spent close to 200 million trying to sell this telephone company.
The BTC nationwide failure on Friday 6th August comes at a time when the
electricity company BEC cannot pay it bills and is failing the Bahamian
people all over the country with one power failure after the next. This
is affecting national self esteem and embarrassing the country before the
world and itself. Shame on you Hubert Ingraham for stop reviewing and cancelling
our reputation. The statement follows but what is of more significance
is the thread of responses (click
here for a sample) on BTCs Facebook page in reaction to the loss of
telephonic communication for 24 hours and counting. The public was furious.
The statement from BTC:
During the early hours this morning ( 6th August), BTC suffered significant network failure on its prepaid cellular, SMS Platforms and some landline exchanges. The Company also experienced major difficulties with its International Roaming Services. As a result, customers throughout the country were unable to use their prepaid cellular phones, make or receive landline phone calls. In addition pre-paid and post-paid cellular services were also affected. Our systems alerted us immediately on the network failure, and since then all of our technical resources have been entrenched in working to ensure that services are restored as soon as possible. Since this morning, we have seen some signs of restoration with our landline service and we can confirm that all landline, SMS and international roaming service have been restored as of 2:45pm. The prepaid network is being restored gradually. Our technical teams are still working to confirm the cause of the outage, will continue trouble shooting efforts to ensure that this outage does not reoccur. In its history BTC has never experienced such an outage. In the upcoming days the Company will issue a statement outlining the cause of this outage and compensation to our customers.
43RD
ANNUAL GLENDA’S ROAD RACE
Every year, Glen Rolle, aka the Sheriff, used to sponsor a road race
in honour of his daughter Glenda. The race started at the clinic in Bimini
and went south to the Chalk Ramp and then to the finish line at his hotel
in Alice Town. Mr. Rolle died in 2002 but the tradition has continued.
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill has attended the races each year and this
year was no exception for the 43rd version of the race. Race organizer
is Leonard “Brave” Stuart along with Bishop Dexter Rolle and Glen’s son
Gelnrick Rolle. The photo scenes from the race and presentation are by
Deandrea Dean.
ANDREW
BURROWS ON BLACK WOMEN AND THEIR HAIR
Andrew
J. Burrows, a media specialist in his own right and the webmaster of the
Perry H. Christie page on Facebook started a thread on Wednesday 4th August
on Facebook about black women and the false hair that they wear these days.
The comments in the thread were interesting. Now the thread really started
out with this question: What do the Free National Movement government and
Lace Front Wigs have in common? For that answer check the comments:
What do the Free National Movement government and Lace Front Wigs have in common? A lot.
Jennifer Johnson: The lace is slowly raising up because the glue that supported the head is wearing thin and never really bonded properly and it's time for a NEW HAIRDO.
Andrew J. Burrows: Jenny, if you had your own head of hair, you wouldn't need the lace front to begin with. That’s the FNM. The weave and wigs of Bahamian politics.
Jon Smith For the life of me I do not understand why so many beautiful black women in this country ruin their looks with this false hair craze.
Yvonne Lees: I agree Smith! nor do I like this low ball head hair cut, some say that's a Lesbian hair cut. Ladies! some of y'all head shape like a egg and that style don't suit the bad shape head. You were wonderfully created by God, so don't add or take of just tell them fellers WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET....
Andrew J. Burrows: Only black women Jon, only black women.
Yvonne Lees: I apologise to the persons whose hair was loss because of sickness, Cancer and Alopecia.
Jon Smith: Of course Yvonne but I think everyone accepts that the medical reasons are okay but people with great looks piling this hair that looks so incongruous on an African face. are we back to minstrel shows. jeez. I gatta tell you, it drives me nuts.
Andrew J. Burrows: Jon, the really nasty part that drives me nuts is to see it when the glue starts to break!
EMANCIPATION
DAY PHOTOS
On 1st August 1834, all slaves in The Bahamas, Africans all, were free
by act of the British Parliament. In 1807, the British Parliament had abolished
the transatlantic slave trade. The slaves had four years of apprenticeship
and then they were absolutely free to do what they liked. Some described
the apprenticeship period as “ three days” meaning that the slaves during
that time worked 3 days for their old masters and three days for themselves.
Whatever! One hundred and seventy six years later, the people of Fox Hill
marked the day on Monday 2nd August with a special ceremony of remembrance
at which Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes spoke. The photos are by Peter
Ramsay and by Derek Smith of the Bahamas Information Services. Fox Hill
representative Fred Mitchell spoke and recounted the resistance to slavery
in The Bahamas. You may click here for the full address. The function was
also attended by Senator Dudley Thompson of Jamaica, who defended Jomo
Kenyatta of Kenya during the Mau Mau Trials and is a former Foreign Minister
of Jamaica and founder of the Pan African movement.
Photo shows Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes addressing the crowdin
Fox Hill for the 176th annual observance of Emancipation Day inThe Bahamas
at the Fox Hill parade on Monday 2nd August. The photo isby Derek Smith
of the Bahamas Information Services.
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill addresses the crowd at theEmancipation
Day observances Fox Hill on 2nd August
Pictured from the left: Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill, Lady Joan
Foulkes and Sir ArthurFoulkes, Governor General and his wife, Rev Hartman
Nixon of MacedoniaBaptist Church Fox Hill, Rev. Dr. Philip Rahming who
preached thesermon; Rev. J. Carl Rahming, the Master of Ceremonies for
the 176thobservance of Emancipation Day at the podium. The photos are by
Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
Pictured from the left: Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell with Rev.
Dr. Philip Rahming and LeroyThompson, organist on Emancipation Day 2nd
August Fox Hill
Fox Hill Festival Chairman Maurice Tynes Emanciaption day 2ndAugust
at Fox Hill
Tenor Wilfred Timothy Adderley sings Fox Hill Emancipate yourselffrom
mentl slavery, Bob Marley's Redemption songs
Pictured from the left: Paula Tynes, Fox Hill Festival Committee,
Sheketra LightbourneMiss Fox Hill, Rev. Sabrina Pinder - Photos are by
Derek Smith
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill listens as Governor General Sir ArthurFoulkes
speaks at the Emancipation Day observances in Fox Hill on 2ndAugust.
Pictured from the left: Rev. J carl Rahming, Fred Mitchell
MP Fox Hill, Lady JoanFoulkes, Sir Arthur Foulks Governor General, Rev
Warren Anderson atthe Fox Hill observances for Emancipation Day 2nd August
Pictured from the left: Evangelist Irene Rolle, Community
Leader Fox Hill, Nurse CelesteLockhart Fox Hill Community Leader and Community
Leader Fred Ramsay atthe Emancipaition Day services in Fox Hill on 2nd
August. Photos byPeter Ramsay Bahamas Information Services
CARICOM
SECRETARY GENERAL TO STEP DOWN
Edwin
Carrington, the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community is to leave
his post for retirement at the end of the year. We wish him well. It has
been a long and fruitful, productive 18 years. He has kept his equanimity
and his leadership coordination skills are exceptional. He has a son who
is suffering from cancer and this now requires the full attention of his
wife, himself and his family. Caricom issued the following statement on
4th August:
CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) His Excellency
Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
has notified the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community of his
decision to step down from his position, effective 31 December 2010.
Mr. Carrington, a national of Trinidad and Tobago was appointed in
1992 - the sixth Secretary-General of the Community. He succeeded Mr. Roderick
Rainford of Jamaica.
“It has been my privilege and honour to have been given the opportunity
to
serve the Region and its people in this capacity” said Mr. Carrington.
“These last 18 years as Secretary-General have been the pinnacle of
my public service career. I have, despite the odds, done all I could to
help create a viable and secure Community for All. It has been a period
of important achievements as well as significant disappointments. I leave
satisfied and confident however, that the Caribbean Community now has a
solid platform on which to continue to build the integration movement,”
the Secretary-General said.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to deal with some pressing family issues and to enjoy much more time with them. I pay them the highest tribute for their patience, understanding and tremendous support during this long and arduous journey”, Mr. Carrington added.
During his tenure, Mr. Carrington oversaw the revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the consequent transition of the Community from a Common Market to a Single Market in 2006. Under his Secretary-Generalship, the platform is also being set for eventual evolution of the Community to include a Single Economy - the framework for which Heads of Government have undertaken to create by 2015. Mr. Carrington’s term has also seen the establishment of a number of key institutions designed to put the integration process on a sound base, including the CCJ - Caribbean Court of Justice (2005); as well as CROSQ - the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (2002); the CCCCC - Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (2005); the CCC - CARICOM Competition Commission (2008); and the CDF – CARICOM Development Fund (2008).
Mr. Carrington, an economist by profession, first joined the then Commonwealth Caribbean Secretariat in 1970 as Chief of Economics and Statistics, rising to Director of Trade and Integration before being appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in 1976. He was subsequently elected Secretary-General of the ACP in 1985, the only Caribbean national, to date, to have held that position. In acknowledgement of his outstanding service to the ACP, Carrington Hall at the ACP Secretariat (Brussels) is named in his honour.
On returning from Brussels in 1991, Mr. Carrington served as his country’s High Commissioner to Guyana before his appointment to his current position. Carrington is the longest serving Secretary-General of the Community in the service of which he has been the recipient of national awards from Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago as well as from the Dominican Republic, Italy and Spain.
As Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Carrington also served as Secretary-General of CARIFORUM (comprising all the Member States of CARICOM except Montserrat and comprising the Dominican Republic).
CONTACT: piu@caricom.org.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Philip Smith, former MP for North Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador
writes about the Bahamar, the Cable Beach project and Chinese labour. Click
here to read...
Faith Hall is the daughter of former PLP MP for West End Moses Hall,
a PLP activist and an ally of Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie writes
on the media and how it treats the PLP:
Letter to the Editor by Faith Hall
August 2010
Dear Editor,
In his speech to the Urban League, Thursday July 29, 2010, President
of the United States, Barack Obama, demonstrated how in the context
of
a Nation, economics and social development are inseparable variables.
Specifically, he spent a considerable amount of time linking tertiary
education to higher income potential and the challenges this has
posed
to the African American demographic which historically has been
outpaced by its white counterpart in terms of access to and
performance re: college education. The Bahamas with its predominately
Black make up and its blatant inequities (although mainly silent)
with
respect to the distribution of wealth and opportunity is unlikely
to
have its elected leadership engage in this kind of dialogue for
a
while yet but what was poignantly relevant about President Obama’s
speech for a Bahamas at the cross-roads of development is the central
idea that economies do not flourish and bloom in isolation from
a
people – the two are as interconnected as carbon dioxide and oxygen.
The present stagnation then of the Bahamian economy is in direct
correlation with the present stagnation of general Bahamian society.
Murder and mayhem, stifled vision, immaturity and conflict among
leadership in government, church and society, an out-dated educational
curriculum, the arrested development of so many of our citizenry,
the
dangerously misguided ambition of the privileged and or youthful
among
us, the dying sense of civility, harmony and humanity on all strata
of
social interaction is not only the result of historically imbalanced
economic practices but has become the source of the further
perpetuation of disharmony between a people and their economy. In
other words, whatever is lacking to successfully diversify and expand?
the Bahamian economy exists or persists because it is lacking in
the
will, cooperation or imagination of our people and or those who
lead
us.
Two things became painfully obvious with the announcement of the
finalized partnership agreement between the Chinese Government and
the
Baha-Mar development, in an environment of a harrowing recession
which
for a while seemed bottomless no less, exacerbated by a general
mood
of hostility, apathy and hopelessness. One: by and large, the Bahamian
media has become a menacing failure in its duties to educate the
populace of this developing Country with respect to the proper
definition of true leadership qualities and the tenets of good
governance.
It is a travesty of epic proportion that the key personalities
afforded the opportunity to direct, develop and define the profession
of journalism alongside the simultaneous development of a young
Independent Nation, allowed personal un-reconciled bitter emotions
to
dictate the tenor and messaging of the most powerful private media
outlets in The Bahamas. The crusade in the name of journalism led
against Sir Lynden Pindling and the Progressive Liberal Party and
its
inheritors has done and continues to do more harm than good to the
psycho-social development of our people. Even more frightful, the
fact
that persons have become quite wealthy and their rag sheets,
culturally entrenched, in the process.
The result is, and they must be held accountable, that their tactics
have left a great many Bahamians unable to see beyond the carefully
crafted stigma of corruption attached to the PLP while without apology
they have emerged as the great defenders of the now governing Free
National Movement. This gross bias has distorted the concept of
truth
in information dissemination in such a small Country. A dangerous
realization – that truth as advanced by our leading media sources
with
respect to Bahamian politics is not unbiased and without prejudice
but
rather for decades, this truth has been in a powerful way, reported
through the lens of those motivated by hate and inspired by revenge.
The economic and social victories attained by the Progressive Liberal
Party whether in government or opposition by their standards must
always then be over- shadowed by negative gossip and sensationalized
scandals. No matter the truth of the matter, even in great crisis,
by
their twisted standards, they are mandated to continuously condition
their audience to believe that the policies and practices of the
Party
of their choosing, namely the FNM are without exception superior
and
purer than that of the PLP. By all means and any means necessary
it
must not be told that PLP governments by leaps and bounds, verifiable
by facts, have out-performed FNM administrations and consistently
have
been better stewards of the Bahamian economy. What we have, veiled
as
journalism is nothing more than profitable and effective public
relations for and on behalf of the FNM.
Otherwise, what the public would be bombarded with as it relates
to
the difficult journey of Baha-Mar are the facts surrounding this
startling development. Baha-Mar is one of a number of investment
projects attracted by the visionary Christie administration which,
due
in large part to private media, was voted out after one term of
governance. For the record, a summarized account of what Perry
Christie sought to leave in place for our Country through his economic
policy was a revitalized and more properly planned New
Providence/Bahamas, poised as the envy of the region in terms of
tourism potential and the most modern and picturesque place to do
international business in the Caribbean.
New Providence according to his plan would have seen the development
of a shipping hub and neighboring affordable communities on land
acquired by a caring PLP Government at its most South-westerly point.
This was to be complemented not too far away by a world class mixed
used property featuring the very best golf has to offer developed
by
Tiger Woods and other leading personalities in the golfing world.
If
one took the journey eastwardly, having already experienced the
internationally recognized historical Clifton heritage theme park
which under the Christie administration drew the attention not just
of
the United Nations and noted historians but also the interest of
National Geographic magazine, the next stop of wonder and imagination
would have been Baha-Mar, the charm and wizardry of which is captured
in their online plans.
Downtown New Providence was also to experience an upgraded
revitalization, again competitive with international trends. And
to
cap it off the Ritz Carlton brand was to be involved in a mega-project
on the privately owned Rose Island. Monte Carlo would have had nothing
on Christie’s “new” New Providence, and his plans would have taken
unemployment to its very minimum, expanded a healthy middle class,
and
provided the opportunity for more Bahamians to own more of our economy
and greater wealth through spin-off opportunities. This plan was
also
to be duplicated on Grand Bahama and every major Family Island in
this
archipelago.
Aided and abetted by private media, as soon as the FNM was re-elected
in 2007, the dreams, vision and plans of the Christie administration
were hijacked, distorted and/or abandoned by the new FNM government
and its spiteful leader. What a mature media would also bombard
the
public with is the fact that the proposed Baha-Mar development was
intentionally bastardized in a horrifically public way by the newly
elected yet seasoned Prime Minister in the Halls of Parliament for
mysterious reasons. Harrahs, which should have been the main partners
in this deal, as opposed to the Chinese Government, were deliberately
frightened away -like so many other potential investors, by the
one
elected by our “media misled” people to govern, just before the
onset
of the worst ever global financial crisis and subsequent recession
this Country has ever faced.
But again these are truths which our mainstream media would prefer
to
cover up. It must never be known, the extent to which the imagination
and planning of Perry Christie and the PLP has secured the soundness
of the future of the Bahamian economy, no matter how long it takes
his
plans to unfold, nor how it would have cushioned us from the
recession. Yet even in its present renegotiated form with a
partnership which may cut into the full prospects for Bahamian labor,
the Baha-Mar project is set to be the “savior” of the struggling
Bahamian economy and possibly the factor which may mark its rebound
and stabilization. We should really be thanking Rt. Hon. Perry
Christie whose vision has reached beyond defeat to rescue us from
the
emptiness and uncertainty of a Government which to date has been
unable to devise a single strategy to lift us out of present despair.
However, we find ourselves in this place as a ‘devalued people with
a
devalued economy led by a devalued government’ because of the second
troubling dilemma which has presented itself since the announcement
of
the Baha-Mar, Chinese Government partnership: and that is the
unsettling level of xenophobia being expressed to distract us from
the
fact that as a people we have not yet actualized to the place of
invention, ingenuity, partnership, entrepreneurship and imagination
necessary to move our own economy forward. We are held hostage by
the
need for foreign investment because for a myriad of reasons we are
not
yet in a position to invest in the ownership of our own economy.
We rejected the imagination of a misunderstood leader, the plans
of
whom would have re-created a Bahamas trending more towards what
our
next generation so badly deserves – job creation, ownership
opportunities, stability in social conditions associated with the
successful expansion of a developing economy, and with it the level
of
free or affordable education, health-care and other social benefits
which can more readily be offered by Governments not cash strapped
for
survival. Every pundit you will hear embroiled in an argument of
a
xenophobic nature over this Baha-Mar/Chinese arrangement does so
because it is easier to point to the flaws of the foreigner positioned
to invest than to deal with the reasons why we are not yet able
to
invest ourselves.
And a key component to unlocking the potential of our energies and
being mentally inspired and liberated in our renaissance driven
imagination is to first have the kind of leaders and leadership
who
embody these very principles. Responsible journalism in a 37 year
old
Independent democracy would find it imperative and ‘just the right
thing to do’, to explore the failings of FNM administrations and
comparatively reveal their short comings in relation to the
philosophies, programs, policies, and visionary strategies of the
Progressive Liberal Party. Objectivity in reporting in this regard
would assist in maturing our voting population so as to arrive at
more
sensible conclusions.
And this brings us to the point where we began and the relevance
of
that reminder from President Obama – that economies cannot and will
not flourish in isolation from a people. The expanded consciousness
of
a people determines the expansion and diversification of their
economy. President Obama’s message is further, a clarion call for
greater responsibility: greater responsibility in education (as
was
the emphasis in Pres. Obama’s speech) but also greater responsibility
in journalism, in the decision making process in casting one’s ballot,
in choosing careers which would advance one’s society and aid in
diversifying one’s economy, in accepting one’s role in nation
building, and in identifying the right kind of leadership
characteristics necessary for the sustainable development of today’s
Bahamas.
The REAL Truth is that if you want more peaceful communities grounded
in the principles of partnership and consultation, you choose a
leader
whose nature is more reflective of peace and whose style exemplifies
partnership and consultation. And if you want to build a Nation
with
meaningful and lasting employment and ownership opportunities, coupled
with 21st century social policies and programs, all under-girded
by an
ever expanding economy, you choose the leader and his team which
has
proven through performance that they have the formula to inspire
and
deliver just that. When we become more responsible as a people in
these various capacities, the foreigner, whether Haitian, American,
Chinese etc., just might become less of a threat and more of what
he
is intended to be – a partner and ally, in a destiny directed by
a
valuable people in harmony with a highly valuable economy under
the
leadership of a valued government.
August 2010
POOR
DESMOND BANNISTER
Desmond
Bannister has a pretty good image as a minister and as a Member of Parliament.
You want to feel sorry for him because he has such a bum job, a thankless
job in fact. Being Minister of Education in The Bahamas is like being Minister
of National Security in Jamaica. No matter what you do, you can’t win for
losing. That is of course as close as we will get to being sympathetic
and shedding a few tears for him in the job. He took the job so he must
have known the risks. Like many before him, he is sinking in the mire of
a bureaucracy that appears to have no clue as to what to do to get us out
from under this mess that our education system is in. We laughed in the
column a few weeks ago when the announcement was made by the Minister that
because the announcement of the national grade average had become so politically
contentious, the Minister simply decided to abolish it as a measure. That
apparently would solve the problem. Except that the problem is not public
relations, the problem is too many people coming through a school system
with the inability to read and add and subtract, multiply, divide or with
the capacity to comprehend, reason and understand. Too many can’t even
fill out an application form. Each Minister comes along with plans and
programmes, speeches and handshakes but the general trend is downwards.
This Minister has apparently not despite his good image been able to escape the stop review and cancel policy of his party The audio visual department that was supposed to go 24 hours on TV with a learning channel has been systematically starved of resources despite its obvious success in promoting good academics simply because it was a programme idea started by former Minister Alfred Sears who was PLP. Last week, the Minister was in the paper almost every day. One day he was handing out the Merit Scholarship which went deservedly it seems to Clifford Bowe Jr. of Grand Bahama. Good for him. There were other one-off gifts to students who did well in school. But this whole idea of a merit scholarship seems a bit off, that these students are put on display for an amount of money that will not cover their fees and for which the majority of those seeking tertiary level education will not get an opportunity to vie.
The exceptional student must be helped, no question but the problem is not the exceptional but the general average run of the mill student, that boy or girl in the middle who needs the college tuition and can’t get it. The government’s scholarship programme of loans has collapsed. The grant system seems mysterious and out of reach. But what really prompted this intervention was a system of grading that was explained in a special box on the last page to The Tribune on Friday 6th August. No wonder we are in trouble the grades are from A to U with B C, D., E, F, G in-between. The distinctions are incomprehensible and the definitions of what each grade means are so incomprehensible, they come off as psyho-scio mumbo jumbo and babble. Useless. What concerns us then back to Desmond Bannister is why does minister after minister allow themselves to be hogtied to this foolishness and seek to defend it.
FACTS
FROM THE CORONER
(The following article appeared in the Nassau Guardian on Thursday
5th August about backlog of cases in the Coroner’s Court. There is now
a dedicated coroner again. There is also a draft new Coroner’s Act in circulation
and which awaits action by the Government. The issues in the Coroner’s
Court are part of the wider justice issues which face The Bahamas. We present
it without further commentary—Editor)
Some Bahamian families have been waiting for up to 10 years to learn
the cause behind a loved one's death as officials work to reduce the
100-plus case backlog at the Coroner's Court, The Nassau Guardian can
reveal.
Most of the backlogged cases at the Coroner's Court date back seven
or
eight years, 2002-03, with one case dating back as many as 10 years,
2000, said Coroner William Campbell. In total there are 115 cases
pending before the Coroner's Court. That number is down slightly from
the 129 matters that were in the system as of June.
"Cases are going back for a number of reasons," Campbell said.
"Sometimes you have cases that span across The Bahamas."
For instance, Campbell said when persons die in some of the outer
islands, it's harder to get witnesses in place and it requires more
resources to begin proceedings.
In other cases that have aged, Campbell said it's sometimes difficult
to locate witnesses at all.
He said the case backlog is not nearly as distressing as some
Bahamians seem to believe.
Over the past months Bahamians have complained about the backlog at
the Coroner's Court.
Just two years ago when the backlog stood at 157 Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham criticized the system.
"What I find distressing is the number of persons who have matters
before a Coroner's Court or [that] should be before a Coroner's Court
in The Bahamas and nothing is happening on them," the prime minister
said at the time.
Of those cases currently before the Coroner's Court, 31 call for
public inquests. The remainder are all matters that can be disposed
of
without one, said Campbell. From January to June there were 16 public
inquests. Another 12 are scheduled for hearing between July and
December.
Campbell explained that cases that call for public inquest could up
take to four months to get through the system for various reasons,
while others could take a few weeks.
He said there are about 35 to 50 cases that call for public inquests every year.
Despite this, he said the numbers have been "trending down in a
significant way".
"Things should only improve and go more speedily," said Campbell, who
described the state of the court as "very good".
"Largely because arrears have come down significantly," he added.
Campbell said this year alone he disposed of 140 cases under section
15 of the Coroners Act, which allows a coroner to dispose of matters
once he is satisfied with the cause of death.
Campbell said the severity of any backlog has to be determined by the
rate the cases come in.
"There'll never be anything that has zero arrears," he said. "The
question is what is an acceptable level of arrears. How do you measure
what is acceptable arrears. You'll never have zero unless people stop
dying.
"If you aim for zero mortality, you'll never make it. In the Coroners
Court, I believe that 100 cases, with about 25 being public cases and
75 being cases that can be disposed of without an inquest -- that
would be very good because that would mean we have it under control.
If we can keep it down to a 100 that would be very good... we are
heading in that direction."
Campbell said most of the problems with the backlog happened between
2005 and 2008 when there was no court dedicated to handling inquests.
"Now we're back on stream. The arrears are going down because we have
a specialist court," he said.
Campbell said the new Coroner's Court Bill will also improve the
efficiency of the court.
The government intends to introduce the Coroners Bill 2010 to
Parliament later this year.
"The present Coroner's Act was passed in 1909 and came into force Jan
1,1910 and is in dire need of reform to suit the exigencies of the
modern day society," according to the Objects and Reasons portion of
the bill. "The opportunity is therefore being taken to revise the act
in order to achieve that end."
The current act allows a coroner to charge someone with murder or
manslaughter. The new bill does away with that possibility.
IN PASSING
Bradley On Holiday
PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts and Mrs. Roberts are off on a well deserved
holiday. Mr. Roberts and his wife have left The Bahamas for a specialty
Mediterranean cruise for one month. They are expected back in The Bahamas
on 7th September.
Ingraham Has A Birthday
Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, celebrated his 63rd birthday
on 4th August. Mr. Ingraham was born in Pineridge, Grand Bahama in 1947.
He has been Prime Minister for a total of 13 years. He and his wife
Delores reportedly left The Bahamas on his birthday for a two week cruise.
Lynn Holowesko Loses It…Gets Mixed Up
Lynn Holowesko accused Tribune reporter Paul Turnquest of writing
about the invasion of the senate by activists Ricardo Smith and Wallace
Rolle. ( Click here for last week’s story). Mr. Turnquest responded on
Friday 6th August to say that clearly Mrs. Holowesko was not reading what
he wrote. She apparently has gotten her mind in a little twist. Might we
suggest that she actually read the story here which said what she accused
The Tribune of writing. But that’s what pressure will do to you in these
days and times. No Paul Turnquest does not write for this site.
Wyclef Jean To Run For Haiti's Presidency
The musician and entertainer Wyclef Jean has lodged papers to become
officially a candidate for the Haitian presidency. He did so on Thursday
5th August in Port au Prince, the Haitian capital. The election is to be
held on 28th November. The official list of candidates will be published
on 17th August. There is a question about whether he is eligible to run
for the post having lived out of Haiti for more than five years prior to
the election. Mr. Jean says that because he was appointed a roving ambassador
this exempts him from the residency requirement.
No Improvement For BEC In Abaco
The situation continues to deteriorate for the people of Abaco and
the electricity supply. Power continues to go off for hours at a time because
of the lack of planning by the FNM administration. The FNM came to power
and cancelled the PLP’s plans to build the new power station, that delay
caused a critical lapse in the availability of usable equipment to supply
one of the largest tourist Meccas in the county with power.
Press Says Tommy May Run For Leader Of FNM Again
It was a curious story on the front page of the Nassau Guardian on
Friday 6th August what with Hubert Ingraham out of town on a cruise for
two weeks, it appears that Tommy Turnquest is suddenly a brave man. Mr.
Turnquest was asked if he intended to run for Leader of the FNM when convention
comes around in the fall. He said he had made no decision. Interesting.
We are all ears. You remember Tommy Turnquest was defeated for the leadership
position in 2006 with the cruel intonation by former Deputy Prime Minister
Frank Watson (the only man Mr. Ingraham can trust) saying of Mr. Turnquest:
“ I like the young man but let’s face he just doesn’t have it.” Of course
if he opposes Hubert Ingraham he will lose his cabinet job and lose the
race. But then again with Branville McCartney, the former Immigration Minister,
hinting that he intends to run against Mr. Ingraham in the fall, Mr. Turnquest
may be afraid he is going to be outflanked by one of his generation. Mr.
Ingraham has been playing coy about whether he intends to stay or go. We
think he intends to stay. But the FNM tacticians may well be thinking that
with Mr. Ingraham out of the way and a fresh face at the head of the FNM,
they have the best chance of defeating the PLP with Perry Christie at the
helm of the PLP. Andrew Dud” Maynard, who is the father of Culture Minister
Charles Maynard, when he was Chairman of the PLP used to say when someone
jumped up to challenge him: “ he mussy smell he sef”. Translation, he has
gotten too big for his britches. Well Tommy, over to you.
COB Union Comes To An Agreement
The team of arbitrators and the College of The Bahamas administration
and the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas have announced that
they have a four year deal which should settle outstanding issues between
the Union and the College. The deal was announced on Thursday 5th August.
The head of the arbitration team was Anglican priest Archdeacon James Palacious.
What’ s The Matter With John Delaney?
The Attorney General directed his Permanent Secretary Leroy Sumner
to answer the comment of Wayne Munroe, lawyer for Cheryl Grant Bethell,
the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the press on Friday 6th August.
The day before that Mrs. Grant Bethell’s lawyer Wayne Munroe issued a statement
on her behalf explaining their legal position which is that she is still
the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions. She is resisting in the courts
an action by the government to dump her as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr. Munroe said that contrary to the arguments of the Attorney General
( we attacked his pomposity last week) Mrs. Grant Bethell still considers
herself to be Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and not Deputy Law
Reform commissioner as the AG is asserting. The AG asserts that Vinette
Allen Graham has gotten the job as Director of Public Prosecutions and
she is coming in from Jamaica to start the new job on Monday 8th August.
That is the nub of the court case. But his eminence, “Cardinal” John Delaney
is arguing that what is done is done and what he says is done is done.
Not to be undone then he had the P.S. go to press to contradict Mrs. Bethell’s
lawyer. Problem is the P.S. was simply wrong to allow himself to get in
this political mess. The AG was wrong to get the P.S. in the mess. He should
fight his own battles. What we don't understand about so many of these
people who come from humble beginnings is where do they get off at with
this high and mighty attitude toward those who they manage.
Induction Of Fox Hill PLPs
The officers of the Fox Hill Branch of the PLP were officially prayed
for and installed when they attended the morning service at St. Mark’s
Native Baptist Church, Fox Hill today. Branch Chair is Charlene Marshal,
Vice Chairs Sherine Glinton, Chaplain Yvonne Stubbs Rolle, Assistant Chaplain
Laura Rolle, Treasurer Altamese Isaacs, Assistant Treasurer Marjorie Rahming,
Secretary Deidre Rolle, Assistant Secretary Lashanda McPhee, Executive
Directors: Lillian McPhee, Tammi Ferguson and Michelle Francis. Fox Hill
MP Fred Mitchell spoke and encouraged the new members to speak up in defence
of Cheryl Grant Bethell, the widow of a former PLP Minister and Deputy
Leader of the Party Cheryl Bethell who is being attacked by the FNM government.
He urged PLP women generally to let their voices be heard on this issue.
Jamaica Celebrates Its Independence
Our Caricom neighbour Jamaica celebrated their48th anniversary of independence
on Friday 6th August. Fred Mitchell, Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs
represented the PLP at the Independence Day services for Jamaica on Sunday
1st August at the Golden Gates Assembly on Carmichael Road. Preaching was
Trent Davis. Mr. Mitchell announced to the congregation that if the PLP
wins office after the next general election it plans to put an embassy
in Kingston, the Jamaican capital.
Pineapple Air Expansion
The airline business in The Bahamas seems to be the one area of the
economy where there is growth and people who are in that business seem
to be able to find capital with which to invest. The latest in the expansion
race is Captain Kenneth Carey’s Pineapple Air which principally serves
Eleuthera, Ragged Island and Long Island. They announced on Friday 6th
August a 2 million dollar expansion. This will get them some new planes
and strengthen their base in Eleuthera. They have gotten permission to
put a Fixed Base Operation (FBO) in North Eleuthera. Compare and contrast
the expansion plans of Rex Rolle’s Western Air, which started out flying
to North Andros but now serves Bimini, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Jamaica and
has plans to fly to Orlando in the United States. There are doubts about
the continued viability of the Jamaica route with planes going empty and
coming back with one or two passengers following the reentry of Air Jamaica
on the route. They are building a four million dollar facility in Freeport.
Then there is Sky headed by Captain Randy Butler which flies to Exuma,
Abaco and Grand Bahama. It has plans to expand to West Palm Beach and Ft.
Lauderdale. What was that about a bad economy?
Christie Celebrates His 36th Anniversary
Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition and his wife Bernadette
celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary on 3rd August. Mr. Christie flew
to Atlanta to be with his wife who is living with their daughter Alex now
forging a career in music in the United States. He returned to the country
on 4th August.
Yamacraw Basketball Tournament
Melanie Griffin’s annual Yamacraw Basketball Tournament started on
Saturday 7th August on the Elizabeth Estate Courts behind the Police Station
on Prince Charles Drive. The tournament ends on Saturday 14th
Miss Drag Queen
There was some minor commentary in the Bahamian
press over the last month calling out the Christian Council because it
did not condemn the Miss Drag Queen contest that was held in Nassau. The
press did not report the contest so no details are available, but a picture
of Myz Jungless Jay appeared on a Facebook page… man or woman? You guess.
Congratulations To Pamela Bridgewater U.S. Ambassador Designate
The American President Barak Obama has nominated Pamela Bridgewater,
a former Deputy Chief of Mission to The Bahamas in the U.S. Embassy in
Nassau as the new American Ambassador to Jamaica. Ms. Bridgewater made
many friends in Nassau and we wish her well should she be confirmed in
her new post which is expected any day now.
Price Gouging By Airlines
The flights to Florida are full and you can’t get a seat from Nassau
to Miami all of next week. Bahamasair is offering to get you to Florida
by taking you through Freeport. How ridiculous is that. The price on American
or Bahamasair for a roundtrip ticket upwards of 400 dollars and if you
make changes then another 100 dollars and then if you have bags, it adds
up. Even cheap fare airline Spirit is getting into the price gouging act
by charging you money to bring on a carryon bag. The regulators musts step
in and put a stop to this.
Rick Lowe Responds To Senator Fitzgerald
You may remember a letter to the editor last week in which Senator
Jerome Fitzgerald sought to put Rick Lowe, the ubiquitous head of the fictional
right wing organization called the Nassau Institute which is just retired
banker Raymond Massey ( his breakfast group at the Lyford Cay Club) and
Rick Lowe whose specialties are writing letter to the press. We won’t bother
this week to print Mr. Lowe’s reply. He is like a spoiled child. Can’t
take last. The reply takes the matter no further. But what is interesting
is that he still cannot bring himself to say that there is a circumstance
under which he can support the PLP. Racism is a difficult thing to overcome,
and he is of course the main proponent of the propaganda of the PLP being
a racist party. The problem is it takes one to know one.
Juan McCartney Injured
It appears that Nassau Guardian reporter Juan McCartney was injured
last evening in a road traffic accident on Prospect Ridge. He was rescued
by an ambulance and taken to hospital. Not thought to be life threatening
but it is serious.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
INGRAHAM AND COMPANY MUST PAY PERSONALLY
The police should have started it long ago. There are so many cases where detectives of the Central Detective Unit (CDU) of the Royal Bahamas Police Force commit torts, for example, beating suspects or arresting them falsely and the government ends up paying. Some have argued that maybe the police would behave more responsibly if they would be made to pay personally for the torts that they commit.
That sounds likes a good idea but as long as it has been around no government has had the temerity to implement it.
We have a suggestion though. We think that this ought to apply to the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Attorney General John Delaney who appear to be responsible for the problems that the government now faces with regard to the appointment of a Director of Public Prosecutions.
The new Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham Allen started her job on Monday last 9th August. The newspapers claimed that she was well received by the staff despite the controversy raging in the country about the appointment of Ms. Allen over Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Bethell, a Bahamian who applied and is qualified for the job.
Ms. Graham Allen must be the most blind, deaf and dumb individual to come into this situation in The Bahamas and think that she will be able to do a good job. She is not wanted and not welcome in the job. On the day that she showed up on the job there were demonstrators outside the building and tomorrow there will be more demonstrators.
During the last week on Sunday 8th August, Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill spoke at the induction service for the PLP Branch leadership in the Fox Hill area. He called for PLP women to support Mrs. Grant Bethell. Mr. Mitchell said that Mrs. Grant Bethell is the widow of a former Deputy Leader of the PLP and a former PLP Minister, Peter Bethell. He said that PLP women ought to respond to the call and ought to state their support for Mrs. Grant Bethell.
Last week, Mrs. Grant Bethell obtained leave in her legal battle to challenge the government over how it has treated her. We support her battle against the government. The court also granted an injunction against the government, which through its Attorney General John Delaney was claiming that Mrs. Grant Bethell was no longer a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions but was transferred to be Deputy Law Reform Commissioner. The latter is a job that she did not apply for, does not want and has not accepted.
We hope that the Court agrees with Mrs. Grant Bethell’s case. We believe that the appointment of Vinette Graham Allen should be set aside and that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission should be made to review the matter and act according to law.
If in the end the matter comes down in favour of Mrs. Grant Bethell, our view is that the damages for Mrs. Grant Bethell should be significant and the court should order their payment by the Prime Minister and the Attorney General personally. The actions in this matter by them appear to be motivated by spite and malice and therefore they ought to be made to accept the cost personally.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 14th August 2010 up to midnight: 98,957.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 31st August 2010 up to midnight: 578,922.
Number of hits for the month of August up to Saturday 14th August up to midnight: 234,272.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 14th August up to midnight: 5,463,857.
THE
GREAT LYFORD CAY FIGHT
If you click
here, you will find a summary of what we said about this matter of
Bacon vs. Nygard that is playing itself out in the Bahamian press and is
now in the courts of The Bahamas. Peter Nygard has filed a writ in
the courts claiming that an easement that he had negotiated with Louis
Bacon, the billionaire who is his neighbour in Lyford Cay was set aside
by Mr. Bacon. This is the continuation of a feud that the press is
now saying has Mr. Bacon so fed up that he is thinking of quitting The
Bahamas.
The Bahamas government needs to say where they are
on this. The Minister of the Environment has been silent. The
issues land squarely in his Ministry. The easement is of course a
private matter, but questions about noise pollution and the fact that Mr.
Nygard is now being accused by the Department of Crown Lands of damaging
the coastline and claiming parts of the seabed that do not belong to him
are matters for serious national concern.
Our concern is even more than that. The fact
that this rich ghetto Lyford Cay exists out there in west New Providence
should not itself be news. The whole value of the thing is that people
can come and get lost there without contention. If Peter Nygard is
the source of contention and bitterness, then Peter Nygard should be told
that he must behave or he must go. It appears that our public officials
have been too timid in dealing with him and the Lyford Cay residents themselves
have been cowed by the man’s aggression and cravenness to money and what
looks like bribes to be silent. The reports of what has transpired
on the Nygard property are frightening. The Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham needs to speak to the issue of what is happening there before
the situation gets further out of hand and damages our international reputation
as a country.
STUDENT
MOSES MOXEY GETS HELP
Another private company is stepping up to make one young man's dream of
obtaining a college degree a reality.
Waugh Construction’s Harold ‘Sonny’ Waugh presented a cheque to West
End resident Moses Moxey on Thursday 12th August. He will be attending
the University of Nebraska beginning this fall. He will be majoring
in Business Management.
Mr. Moxey is also the recipient of a scholarship
from the Kohn Foundation, a non-profit organization which assists students
from West End. Last month, the Kohn Foundation received a cheque
for $20,000 from the Ginn West End Foundation to assist with its efforts
in providing scholarships.
Company President Godfrey Waugh said it was through
the Ginn West End Foundation that his brother Gregg and his wife met Mr.
Moxey.
“They were impressed with him and did a little bit
of research into his background. We found out that he is one of Bonefish
Foley's grandchildren, who is a longtime resident of West End.”
Mr. Waugh said his father, Harold, has known the
fishing legend for decades. Describing Mr. Moxey as a very articulate
and ambitious young man, Mr. Waugh said, he believes Mr. Moxey was a very
good candidate and that the company's contribution to his education is
a good investment for the community of West End. He said he hopes
that when Mr. Moxey returns he will be able to assist in the development
of that community.
President Emeritus of Waugh Construction, Harold
Waugh, explained that his family has deep ties to the West End community
and that was where he first started his company.
“I moved my family to West End in 1956 and we lived
in the apartment above the Bethell Robertson warehouse. My wife Alice
and I raised our four children in West End. Waugh Construction built
the sea wall and roads in West End and look forward to helping rebuild
West End”, he said.
Mr. Moxey is a beacon of hope in West End, Mr. Waugh
continued, and Waugh Construction is challenging other businesses in West
End and Freeport to help support his college education, since while he
has sufficient funding for his freshman year, he will need support for
his remaining time in school.
Mr. Moxey expressed his gratitude to the Waugh Construction
company and pledged to do his best to excel academically. The generosity
of those assisting him financially has touched his heart, he added.
“It meant a lot to me seeing that I wanted it (education)
so bad. I think I see a different look in my grandfather's face now,
knowing that one of his own will be able to do what he didn't have a chance
to do when he was younger," he said.
“Grampy has achieved a lot in his life. I
know I could never fill his shoes... It would be almost impossible for
someone to achieve so much in his field so to venture out into my own field,
business, it will mean something more to my family. It will be great
to give people in West End the hope that you can do more with your life
if you want to.”
CHERYL
BETHEL GETS LEAVE AND AN INJUNCTION
The Supreme Court has granted Cheryl Grant Bethell
leave to proceed with her judicial review application to challenge the
government’s decision not to appoint her as Director of Public Prosecutions.
This is a remarkable story. Once more, a civil
servant is taking the government to court in a situation where the rules
are clear. You cannot unilaterally abrogate the right of a person
to say whether or not they want new job. Further, if you are asking
for people to apply for a job, the person who has nothing to do with the
matter cannot interfere and then get away with it. What is more,
if you are considering someone for the job, you must not just go through
the motions but you have a duty to act fairly. That is not what seemed
to happen in the situation involving Cheryl Grant Bethell’s application
to be appointed to the post of Director of Public Prosecutions. The
outcome of her application in the courts will be most important.
We have said before that Vinette Graham Allen is
not welcome here in these circumstances. She is the new hireling
for the government as Director of Public Prosecutions. What we believe
is that this individual who now has the post of Director of Public Prosecutions
was brought here with the express purpose of seeking to charge and try
some PLP MP just before the next election. In other words, this has
nothing to do with law and order, but everything to do with Mr. Ingraham
and his FNM politics and the FNM seeking to win the next general election
by doing all they can to sully the name of PLPs. We wish Mrs. Grant
Bethell well in her quest.
MITCHELL
ON TOMMY TURNQUEST
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill has challenged the
Minister of National Security to put up or shut on the question of the
alleged destabilization of the government by criminal elements. Mr.
Mitchell issued the statement saying that the Minister of National Security
was irresponsible to say what he said without disclosing what the basis
of his information was. The next day, the police denied that there
was any possible political motive involved in the four breaks in to government
buildings. You may click here for
Mr. Mitchell’s full statement. Mr. Turnquest responded with a
personal attack on Mr. Mitchell which led to a second statement issued
by Mr. Mitchell on Wednesday 11th August. You may click
here for that statement.
FOREIGN
LABOUR - ARE FOREIGNERS BETTER?
There should not be but there is still a question in our country today
about the ‘foreign is better’ syndrome. An entire generation after
the Pindling government implemented the policy of Bahamianization, many
people are asking is the policy dead, or has it outlived its usefulness?
The Bahamas Government is seen as its greatest offender. Philip Galanis
(above, left) spoke recently at a Human Resources Development Seminar about
the question. Here is some of what he posed:
“Government must lead by example in hiring and procuring
Bahamians to fill positions that are currently held by foreigners and foreign
consultants in all Government Ministries, Agencies, and Departments;
“The Department of Labour must aggressively
implement its mandate and not issue Certificates of Vacancy for companies
that hire foreigners by making bona fide efforts to find Bahamians who
could fill positions that are presently held by foreigners;
“Bahamians must become whistle blowers and inform
on those foreigners who presently hold positions that can be filled by
Bahamians;
“Joint venturing opportunities of foreigners with
Bahamians must be encouraged by the Government for investors who wish to
invest here.
“Any political party that does not take aggressive
steps to implements these steps should not be given the mandate by the
people of The Bahamas, because if they do not take definitive steps as
outlined above, they should be considered unsuitable to hold public office.”
We agree. You may click
here for the full address of Mr. Galanis.
In a thoughtful address also at the Human Resources
Professionals event, held Wednesday 12th August, former Senator Darron
B. Cash (above, right) urged the gathering to reframe the question.
He said the question was not so much whether foreign labour was better,
but rather how do you strike the right balance between the need for foreign
labour and preserving the benefits of the society for Bahamians.
Senator Cash said, “The national debate should not
be about whether we need or should have expatriate workers here in the
Bahamas. It should be about how we get the government and the private sector
to strike the right balance between their short-term economic and political
interests and the country’s long-term national interest.
“This seems like such a reasonable approach. So
what is the problem? Why this constant debate about Bahamian versus foreign?
We keep having the same debate because, as I have suggested, the issue
will not go away anytime soon because we are a developing nation. More
importantly, it persists because of the continuing failure of both political
and business leadership. Even as we embrace foreign participation in the
advancement of our nation, wilful ignorance or ineptitude in the implementation
of immigration policies cannot be acceptable.”
You may click
here for the full address of Mr. Cash.
This debate is not going to go away soon but kudos
to the organizers of this event for raising the question and having an
opportunity for some of our most thoughtful speakers, all of whom are non-Parliamentary
actors who have the opportunity by these interventions to influence public
policy.
DELTA
SUSPENDS BOTH ATLANTA AND NEW YORK SERVICE
The announcement came last week, as the country
seemed to be recovering from the tourism slump that hit us in the world
recession. The Minister of Tourism seemed to be slunking and The
Bahamas seemed to be losing ground but for the month of August, the planes
seemed to be full and the airport bustling. But into this mix came
the fact that premium carrier Delta airlines has decided to call the New
York to Nassau run quits. They described it as suspension, but that
cannot be good news for the country and the Ministry of Tourism.
What we have left on the run are the two dumbed down airlines: Spirit and
Jet Blue. There is also Continental out of New York.
Delta said that they left the market because they
could not compete below costs with Jet Blue and Spirit. This is old
world economy against new world economy again and we suppose there will
be more of it. But one can’t help but get a sinking feeling that
the Ministry of Tourism is simply not doing its job and we keep losing
ground. Losing New York is significant. That means your premium
travellers can’t get a first class flight, they have to hustle with the
rest of the herd on the bus that travels between JFK and Nassau.
Now comes even worse news: as of today, Delta is
suspending its 6 p.m. Atlanta - Nassau flight. This is interesting
since Delta has the monopoly on Atlanta - Nassau. This is the flight
that would overnight in Nassau and leave first thing in the morning and
is especially useful for European travellers. Again, what has the
Ministry of Tourism to say about this or are we simply staring with our
eyes in the headlights. Meanwhile, the web is reporting that the
Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine is to leave her job.
No confirmation of this, but the government should have said what the position
is. Why is she leaving?
FNM
IN DISARRAY OVER BRAN MCCARTNEY
The interest in political gossip has reached a fever pitch in The Bahamas
as the Free National Movement (FNM) the governing party of The Bahamas
looks set to do something. Something is going on; no one is quite
sure what, but it looks like there is some kind of foment going on in the
party that is giving voice to dissatisfaction with Hubert Ingraham’s leadership
in the party.
It may not really amount to much, because the antagonist
is a former Minister of State Branville McCartney who is also a newcomer
to party politics. He has no background as such in the party called
the FNM and people do not see how this long shot can in fact unseat Hubert
Ingraham for the leadership of the FNM. Nevertheless, that did not
stop tongues from wagging during the week with one speculative story after
another in The Tribune.
The Tribune’s version of the facts is that Branville
McCartney would make a good leader of the FNM, so some people say that
he is thinking seriously about it. Mr. McCartney has been playing
pretty coy about it all in public. He appeared on one of these pat
interviews with Jerome Sawyer, the official propagandist for the FNM on
ZNS, who peppered him with questions about the performance of the FNM.
In the ZNS interview, we thought one answer was
particularly cute. The answer about the taxes put on the Bahamian
people by Hubert Ingraham’s latest budget. Mr. McCartney said that
the FNM obviously (obviously?) had to do what they had to do. But
then he added that maybe, just maybe it was the way they went about it.
He said that the FNM must listen to the people. Now what we thought,
if this fellow thinks he is going to take Hubert Ingraham out with that
kind of walking a tight rope talk, then he has got another think coming.
As one Facebook commentator said, one blow from Mr. Ingraham and Mr. McCartney
is out.
Not to be outfoxed of course is Tommy Turnquest,
the hapless Minister of National Security who blundered big time last week
by accusing the police of destabilizing the government. We ran a
commentary on it and what we said proved to be true. The whole accusation
was utter rubbish. There was no conspiracy. All that happened
was four robbers broke into four government offices. But Mr. Turnquest,
with Mr. Ingraham out of town on a cruise, had to flex his muscles, just
to let Branville McCartney know that the party is still his if Mr. Ingraham
was to step down. The press said that Mr. Turnquest wants Mr. Ingraham
to step down before the next election so that he can become Prime Minister
and then lead the party into the election. Good luck on that!
We suppose that is one way to accomplish it.
Meanwhile, the forces of darkness are plotting against
Mr. McCartney. The Tribune reported that the FNM was thinking of
cancelling its convention so as to avoid Mr. McCartney having the opportunity
to mount a challenge. Now that’s the FNM that we know. The
society waits holding its breath to see what is going to happen when Mr.
Ingraham returns. Late news speculation was that Mr. McCartney was
trying to talk to FNM and PLP MPs to see if he could get them to breakaway
and form a political party that would then mount a challenge to the established
order. From our point of view, all of this is idle nonsense.
No third party formed that way can survive the general election, since
it would have no followers on the ground. It would be an artificial
party, but that did not stop people like Cecil Smith, the air conditioning
maintenance man saying that he was prepared to put 300,000 dollars behind
Mr. McCartney’s bid to challenge Mr. Ingraham and to encourage PLP MPs
to listen carefully to what Mr. McCartney had to say.
The web said that Perry Christie meanwhile was busy
with plots and schemes of his own in the PLP. They reported that
Philip ‘Brave’ Davis was dispatched to Switzerland to look for money to
mount the challenge to the FNM; Bradley Roberts was sent to London to do
the same and Mr. Christie himself though deadly quiet was said to be closeted
with his advisors planning strategy to overthrow the FNM. Wonderful
stories and all no doubt will be revealed in good time. What worries
the young PLPs though is the thought that if Mr. Ingraham does in fact
step down, and throws his support behind Branville McCartney and goes to
a general election with the FNM led in that way, will the PLP still in
those circumstances be able to pull it off?
NEW
DEPUTY TO GG
Now this is interesting. Frank Watson, former FNM
Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Airport Authroity is appointed Deputy
to the Governor General on 13th August; sworn in by Chief Justice Sir Michael
Barnett. Looks like Janet Bostwick is really out, out.
BIS photo/Peter Ramsay
MITCHELL
HOSTING THE LUNCH BUNCH
On Fox Hill Day, Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill hosts
the members of the Lunch Bunch to a late lunch in the Community Centre
in Fox Hill. The fare is crab and dough, and this year there were
200 crabs ordered from Andros in the Crabs for Computers programme sponsored
by Gilbert Kemp, the administrator of the Mangrove Cay district.
Photos/Joel Seymour
FOX
HILL DAY PHOTOS
Fox Hill Day took place on Tuesday 10th August,
the second Tuesday in the month as it has each day since about the 1880s.
The photographer Tim Clarke was present for the morning visits of the Leader
of the Opposition and his colleagues to the observances. They visited
St. Paul’s Baptist Church, Macedonia Baptist Church, Mt. Carey Baptist
Church and St. Mark’s Native Baptist Church. Mr. Mitchell was accompanied
by Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie, Picewell Forbes, MP South Andros;
Melanie Griffin, MP Yamacraw and Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, Deputy Leader of
the PLP and MP for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.
MISS
BAHAMAS IN PHOTOS
The Miss Universe Contest is on now in Las Vegas.
Last year it was held in The Bahamas. Miss Bahamas Berneka Bassett
is representing us in Las Vegas. Many people think that she is a
pretty woman who has a real shot at the title. We will see.
But whatever! She is pretty though. We present the photos of
what she will put it forward.
CITIZENS’
REVIEW IN ELEUTHERA
Contributed…
Erin Ferguson, Host and Executive Producer of the
Number 1 Rated Television show in The Bahamas, Citizens’ Review, travelled
to South Eleuthera to shoot two shows at the Cape Eleuthera Institute,
and the Island School. The trip was the reward for the recipients
of the Citizens of the Year Award, an annual award given by Citizens Review.
The awards were presented to High School Graduates in New Providence and
Grand Bahama whom the Principals, Guidance Counsellors and Teacher thought
were living by example the three tenets of the Citizens’ Review TV show,
which are ‘independent’, ‘accurate’, ‘bold’.
The students from Grand Bahama are Keiannah Charlton,
Eight Mile Rock High School, Anjelica Maycock, Jack Hayward High School,
Charles Rose, Head Boy, Jack Hayward High School, and Charles Harvey, Jack
Hayward High School. New Providence students are Sloan Smith, R.M. Bailey
High School, Denielle Miller, C.V. Bethel High School.
The trip was fully sponsored by Security Systems
International, and SSI CEO Craig Cates who is a South Eleuthera Native
from Rock Sound. Also, the trophies for the Citizens of the Year
awards were sponsored by Arthur McDonald, President of Le Bleu Water, Celsius,
and Natures Pearl.
Mr. Cates met the group at the Airport in Rock Sound
and expressed to them how excited he was to see them come ready and willing
to experience what the Island School and South Eleuthera had to offer.
The student expressed how happy they and their parents
were, to have the opportunity to travel with the show Citizens’ Review,
be on TV and experience the Island School after they heard so many great
things about the school.
Accompanying the group at the invitation of Mr.
Ferguson and Citizens’ Review team was the CARICOM Youth Ambassador for
The Bahamas, Demathio Forbes, and Bahamian Olympic Swimmer and recent Pan-Am
Bronze Medallist and CAC Silver Medallist Alana Dillette.
Ambassador Forbes commented that he thought what
Citizens’ Review has accomplished as a Television show in The Bahamas is
phenomenal, and he was more than happy to accompany the group of young
people to the Island School. Forbes thought that it was important
for he himself to experience the different systems of living sustainably
at the Island School, and it could help to inform the policy he advances
at the CARICOM level in meetings with the other countries. Forbes
was grateful to both Craig Cates of SSI and Erin Ferguson for making this
experience possible for the students.
Alana Dillette commented, “I am always able to watch
the show even though I am doing my Masters studies at Auburn University,
and I travel all over for swimming competition… the students seem inspired
by the trip and the opportunity made possible by Mr. Ferguson and Citizens’
Review and its sponsors.”
Chris Maxey, Founder of the Island School and Carla
Crosgriff, Managing Director of Cape Eleuthera Institute both commented
that they thought it was great that Citizens’ Review sought to bring the
top young Bahamian students to share in the Island School experience, it
has changed many lives before and have gotten many students to pursue careers
in these areas, so we invite all to come and we really thank SSI and Citizens’
Review for taking a keen interest in what the Island School is doing to
help The Bahamas.
When asked about the trip Ferguson said, “Before
my Father died we had plans as Bahamians to invest in Aquaculture and sustainability,
and my brother Eldin III and I still plan to do so. There is a special
place in my heart for institutions like the Island School and the Cape
Eleuthera Institute who have come to The Bahamas, fell in love with our
country, and are now in the process of helping us to save our country.
We have to be grateful that our country is such a beautiful place and we
must work towards protecting it ourselves.”
The Cape Eleuthera Institute is currently conducting
research and studies on areas vital to the survival of the Oceans Surrounding
The Bahamas as we know it, including Flats Ecology, Aquaponics, Aquaculture,
Energy Independence, Biodiesel, Permaculture, Water Conservation, Food
Security, and many other areas.
Said Ferguson, “We have to begin to embrace these
ideas if we want to grow as a country, so SSI and Citizens’ Review partnered
to make certain that students get exposed to these systems and become aware
of what is possible, because they are the future leaders of The Bahamas.”
Citizens’ Review’s is airing a two part special
report on the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Island School on JCN Channel
14 on Tuesday August 17 at 9 p.m. with part two on Thursday August 19 with
a replay on Tuesday August 24 at 9 p.m.
Citizens’ Review group arrives Rock Sound, Eleuthera airport - Front
row, from left: Kahlin Griffin, Anjelica Maycock, Keiannah Charlton, Charles
Harvey, Denielle Miller, Sloan Smith, Justin Lewis. Back row, from
left: Craig Cates, Charles Rose, Erin Ferguson, Ambassador Demathio Forbes,
Alana Dillette.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Attorney Rawle Maynard defends Cheryl Grant Bethell:
Authority or legitimate domination
When the Bahamian nation committed itself to
being a sovereign Independent State, it expressed the belief that the preservation
of such sovereignty and independence could only be preserved by self discipline,
industry, loyalty, unity and an abiding respect for Christian values and
the Rule of Law.
Therefore, it seems that the Bahamian nation
must ensure that the exercise of government power, which is essential to
the realization of the values of their society, be controlled in order
that it should not itself be destructive of the values it intended to promote
and protect. Thirty-seven years into this venture of independence, can
we still assert that our society is founded upon reciprocal rights and
duties, or is the individual merely a pawn in the hands of state power?
What about this thing we call Majority Rule,
is it the same as the rule of Law?
The Progressive Liberal party, having a membership
almost entirely negro claimed to have had control of a majority of the
Parliament in 1967 and the negro population comprising a majority claimed
to have become the rulers of The Bahama Islands, describing the manner
of government as majority rule. That description could not have been more
inconsistent with and repugnant to the concept of the rule of law as envisioned
by John Locke but it was in such ignorance that the nation undertook an
enduring commitment to the rule of law.
It is true that a majority in Parliament makes
the laws, but the laws which the majority are authorized (or empowered)
to make are to be made subject to the supreme law of The Constitution which
provides for the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of The
individual, a minority.
The rule of Law means that everyone within the
territorial boundaries of the State including the lawmaker is bound to
obey the law. Those persons who are vested with executive authority must
exercise the authority strictly within the boundaries of the law and if
one performs an act of which one is not authorized by law, such act is
unlawful and null and void.
The Constitution of the Common-wealth of The
Bahamas has been careful to separate the powers of the State and for that
purpose has created institutions for the appointment of persons to be employed
in the Executive and Judicial branches of Government, one such institution
is the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; its function is to select
and recommend to The Governor General for appointment judicial and legal
services officers.
Recently, it was reported that The Prime Minister
made disclosures in Parliament which could lead to the conclusion that
he had either displaced or interfered with the function of The Judicial
and Legal Services Commission in the appointment of a Director of Public
Prosecutions and it was further reported that he and the Chief Justice
had interviewed the person to be appointed. Neither the Prime Minister
nor the Chief Justice alone was legally authorized to interview the candidate
and to recommend to the Governor General her appointment, therefore if
the Chief Justice recommended the appointment based upon that interview
and not the decision of The Commission then he not only acted unlawfully
but also deceived the Governor General and if the Prime Minister's role
in the appointment is as reported he too violated the law. These two honourable
men are obliged to do the honourable thing and fall on the sword. What
however, is most shocking is that Parliament appears to have acquiesced
in this illegal conduct since no one called upon The Prime Minister to
resign? Such delinquency may be explained by the evolution of a peculiar
form of personal ascendancy which confers on The Prime Minister an unquestionable
aura of legitimacy over all his actions.
The mere possession of a quantity of dangerous
drugs, no harm done to anyone, may result in a severe fine or imprisonment
because it is a violation of the law yet a violation of The Constitution
in a way which could compromise the fair hearing of Criminal Trials seems
to carry no penalty.
Belief in legitimacy is fundamental to the working
of the State, without such belief so widely disseminated as to be unchallengeable
the impersonal operation of the legal authority would cease to function
and would be replaced by anarchy and disorder, a state of affairs of which
there is already visible evidence.
Rawle Maynard
Attorney-At-Law
Maybe you should try to create another "hot" issue Mr. Fitzgerald
'cause this one 'aint it
Jerome Fitzgerald, in his recent letter to the
editor of the local papers and web sites, which he blind copied me, is
his attempt to defend his intellectual dishonesty.
As I wrote to him in an e-mail exchange, he leaves
out the fact that the entry in question was approved on the 25th, the day
before the Budget announcement.
However, the law allows Bahamas Customs to rescind
their approval and charge the higher rate of duty, which was subsequently
paid. Something that the private sector cannot ethically do.
Of course facts are irrelevant to some people
when they're trying to make a name for themselves.
As one friend said to me, "In some circles –
or groups - there is an unwritten rule – never, never admit to a making
a mistake..."
Mr. Fitzgerald, while seeking elected political
office is surely one of those.
Another friend pointed out that, "He got the
wrong end of the issue…… too fast in trying to make the NMC Duty issue
a political one…"
A mutual friend of Mr. Fitzgerald and myself
said to us in an e-mail:
"It is hard to see how Jerome connects these
events to favoritism granted to a select group if he cannot show that Bahamas
Customs sought to collect the increased rate and was prevented from doing
so by the Government. It is unlikely that a member of Cabinet would have
authorized payment of a lower rate and the Comptroller of Customs speak
against it. I therefore find that there was no attempt by the Government
to extend a special favour to NMC."
"As to the issue of race, I find nothing in Jerome’s
speech to support the view that he introduced race into the discussion.
I would point out that many Bahamians, I am among them, believe there is
a group of persons, black and white, who receive special privileges. I
therefore find that Rick jumped to a conclusion, which is common and unfortunate,
but is not necessarily one that Jerome holds and certainly not evidenced
by Jerome’s speech."
Maybe I did jump to a conclusion as a result
of Mr. Fitzgerald's accusations of fraud and cronyism, but the economic
lesson of people that succeed are not always a result of cronyism. Many
people like "The Sunshine Boys", "The Bay Street Boys" and Mr. Rahming
did it by the sweat of their brow. And as long as they do it within the
laws of the day, we should be proud of them.
All this is too bad. I thought of the current
crop, Mr. Fitzgerald could be the leader of the PLP one day. He might still
be, but if he can distort facts as he has done with this incident the question
that Bahamians should ask is if this is the type of leadership The Bahamas
needs at this crucial juncture?
Maybe you should try to find, or should I say
create, another "hot" issue Mr. Fitzgerald, 'cause this 'aint it.
I am more concerned about the unjust laws that
caused this situation than sparring with Mr. Fitzgerald.
Rick Lowe
http://www.weblogbahamas.com
[We do not think that this carries the matter any further. Mr. Lowe simply cannot accept when he is wrong. But if, Mr. Lowe, you are not interested in sparring with Mr. Fitzgerald then why are you are doing so? --Editor]
Bahamian movie and entertainment legend ignored
Jimmy Spice Curry accomplished the following,
but generally, is ignored by Bahamian society:
a) Organized and produced
the first ‘Bahamian Celebrity Games’ at the QE Sports Centre;
b) Wrote, produced, engineered
and mastered the first Bahamian Hip Hop songs;
c) Wrote, produced, engineered
and mastered the first Bahamian Hip Hop - Junkanoo songs;
d) Wrote, directed, produced,
and edited, the first Bahamian movie Filthy Rich Gangster;
e) Former recording artist
with legendary Sugar Hill Records;
f) Directed, Produced
Lenny Kravitz…
But he remains in exile from The Bahamas, and
is still concerned about the lack of focus on improving human rights, civil
rights and the general divisions (by race/colour, socio-economics, religion)
in his homeland.
World Peace
------------------------
Our
correspondent Forrester Carroll writes upon his return from Russia...
IN PASSING
Pastor Leonard Johnson Carves Out A New Group
Pastor Leonard Johnson, the Head of the Seventh Day Adventist Church
is moving on to higher ground. It appears that he was coming to a
term limit as head of the church in The Bahamas, so following some negotiations,
a new union has been carved out of the West Indies Union of which The Bahamas
was a part. It is a rather small group. No more reporting to
Jamaica, but The Bahamas now has its own union with the Cayman Islands
and the Turks and Caicos Islands reporting to it, to be headed by Pastor
Johnson. He will be replaced as local church head by another Pastor.
The betting is it is likely Pastor Danny Clarke who now heads the Cayman
Islands. The Seventh Day Adventists are said to be the fastest growing
denomination in the region.
Minister Says He’s Making A Criminal Complaint
Cry baby sour lime! This was the appellation applied to Minister
of State Zhivargo Laing when he was attempting to defend himself in the
House against allegations that he helped his relative in the matter of
importing Mona Vie, the specialty drink, into The Bahamas, a conflict since
he was the Minister responsible for Customs duties. Now there is
a new candidate for the cry baby title. A surprise candidate: the
Minister of Culture Charles Maynard who was going on and on in The Tribune
of Friday 13th August blabbering about how he was done wrong by a website,
who attacked him and said things about him that were criminal and that
he is going to report the matter to the police. So here we go again,
a Minister of the government is going to lock up a web master because he
is exercising his freedom of speech. Even more interesting, this
is Andrew ‘Dud’ Maynard’s son, who in his day said whatever he wanted to
people in their faces, words of any description. The problem with
these court matters is inevitably, the politician ends up with the worse
end of the stick. Our advice: simply leave it alone.
Viraj Perpall In Situ
Robyn Ferrier who is the wife of well known Bahamian photographer Antoine
Ferrier used to tell her young clients, “…Take a picture while you are
in your youth because soon it is gone and you want something to preserve
the way you used to look.” Makes sense. Viraj Perpall is the
former Chair of the Progressive Liberal Party’s Young Liberals in the flower
of his youth, sort of on top of the world. He is now a law student
at the College of The Bahamas/ University of the West Indies programme
and is a candidate for the PLP’s South Beach nomination. He took
this recent profile photo for his Facebook page.
St. George’s Vandalized
The Anglican Church of St. George in the Valley district in New Providence
has been vandalized for the third time in a month. The Assistant
Parish Priest Andrew Toppin says that he finds what is happening to the
church inexplicable.
Fred Mitchell Visits
Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell is on a private visit to Boston and New York
until Tuesday 17th August.
Silence From Caricom
The new President of Suriname has been inaugurated following general
elections there. The inauguration took place in Paramaribo on 12th
August. He is the former dictator Desi Bouterse who faces charges
for the murder of his fellow citizens while he ran the military government.
He has been convicted in absentia of drug smuggling in a Dutch court.
None of that stopped the show. The question is the silence of Caricom
in the face of this. The elected Prime Ministers of Caricom cannot
sit silently by and accept this without more. One difficulty is that
President Barat Jagdeo of Guyana has already welcomed the new President’s
election.
Mitchell Insulted By ZNS
On two occasions, the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas has ignored
the representative of the Fox Hill constituency in their news reports and
chosen instead to report what his opponent in the last general election
had to say over what he had to say. They did it when Carla Palmer
reported the news on Emancipation Day and then again on Fox Hill Day.
Constituents of Mr. Mitchell called the radio talk shows to protest the
actions of ZNS. One caller said, “If we wanted Jacinta Higgs to be
the representative we would have voted for her.”
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE ULTIMATUM TO HAITIANS
It was the national joke heard around the country. Brent Symonette,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, finally had something to say after a year
and a summer of almost silence. Mr. Symonette gave a warning to Haitians,
well not quite, he said to illegal immigrants, but we know he meant Haitians,
that they must leave the country within two weeks or else. What a
joke. The warning was published on Monday 16th August. That
must have sent them all scrambling for their rafts, shaking in their boots,
so they could make the way back to Haiti, Jamaica, China(?) or better yet
to the good old U.S.A.
So this is what we are now reduced to, the same old tired policies of yore: round ups and repatriations. If you read Dawn Marshall’s (sister of former Justice Jeanne Thompson) book THE HAITIAN PROBLEM, you will learn that the policy of all of the governments of The Bahamas since the 1950’s from the colonial one, to the UBP to the first PLP, to the first FNM, to the second PLP and now to the second FNM, has been round ups and repatriations. In fact, if you go even further, Sean McWeeney wrote an essay about the affect of the Haitians on the Bahamian population following the overthrow of the French. From that time in the 18th century, the idea was to give the Haitians a once and for all ultimatum: “Get out or else!” They went nowhere and they dwell now amongst us. They are us.
All of the policies went down in failure. Even Loftus Roker, the much then reviled and now with hindsight lionized former Minister of National Security, who in his time took the whole thing so seriously that he caused the bottom to fall out in the labour market of The Bahamas during his time, did not succeed. He succeeded for a time, but the forces of backlash came back with a vengeance and before you knew it, he was gone, surrendering and warning as he went out the door that we would rue the day.
Now of course you have late adolescent Haitians and Jamaican men and women everywhere you look filling in the labour market in The Bahamas that Bahamians won’t fill.
The government added to the problem this year in a misguided attempt to look humane (a contradiction in terms for an FNM government) by announcing shortly after the earthquake in Haiti that they would stop rounding up the illegals and would allow those in the detention centre out on furlough for an unspecified time, until things improved in Haiti.
The sound of the gasp of incredulity was heard from north to south in the country. What were these FNM folks up to? Did they have the sense that they were born with? It seemed to everyone with sense (which obviously excludes the FNM policy makers) that this was simply an open invitation to the illegals (and the potential pool in Haiti especially) to say, the doors are open in The Bahamas, let us go and see.
Weeks later, the press was able to confirm that the Department of Immigration could not say where the 100 or so souls who they let out in the post quake amnesty were or are for that matter.
So here we are now today, the Minister is saying they are going to restart the round ups and repatriation. They are warning the illegals to go home. His Director of Immigration, well meaning and earnest Jack Thompson warned them that the department was serious. We are sure they are. In the end though, Immigration policy in The Bahamas is a joke. The Haitians know it. We know it. They know that we know it. We know that they know that we know it. We are a very knowledgeable nation.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 21st August up to midnight: 139,657.
Number of hits for the month of August up to Saturday 21st August up to midnight: 384,968.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 21st August up to midnight: 5,631,104.
NYGARD’S
POINT OF VIEW
You will see in this week’s Letter to The Editor
section a note forwarded to this site from correspondent from the former
MP for Mt. Moriah for the PLP and now the Attorney for Peter Nygard, the
antagonist in the war at Lyford Cay between the forces of old money and
new money in that ghetto for the rich out in Western New Providence.
Mr. Keod Smith takes umbrage on behalf of his client for comments made
in this column in reference to Mr. Nygard.
Mr. Nygard's defenders were all over the newspapers
last week, urging The Bahamas public to support him as the wronged party
because, after all, he wanted to invest 50 million dollars in our economy
and create many more jobs for Bahamians. Oh, the life of a hewer
of wood and a drawer of water. The descendants of Ham would be pleased.
The point we made here really had nothing to do
with whether or not Mr. Bacon is right or Mr. Nygard is right. The
fact is Lyford Cay should not be in the news. It should be out of
the news. We say again, if Mr. Nygard is the cause of Lyford Cay
being in the news then the solution is clear.
At last into the mix came the intrepid Minister
for the Environment, one Earl Deveaux. You never heard such equivocation.
Well no, he was not quite involved in it. Well, yes there are some
issues. Well we are seeking to address them. Yeah right.
AFGHAN
WAR A FAILURE
Usually, we try to confine ourselves to matters
of domestic policy but having commented on this matter before, it bears
some repeating in light of what is now transpiring. The US President
Barack Obama should get the hell out of Afghanistan. It is a morass.
It is the graveyard of empires. It makes no sense to continue being
there. It is depleting the resources of the American empire and imperils
his own presidency. The US Afghan policy is a failed policy inherited
from the Bush administration. There was no reason to adopt it and
there is no reason now to continue it. It is antithetical to all
that Mr. Obama says he stands for. There is absolutely nothing that
the US can do to reform that country. The best they can do is contain
the issues that affect the US and us outside their borders. The time
and money are simply not worth it.
The matter now comes up because the general who
Mr. Obama has put in charge of the effort of winning the war and of withdrawing
from the country as of 11th July next year, David Petraeus, is now saying
that he does not think that withdrawing next July is a good thing.
This seems directly contrary to everything that the President himself has
been saying. It borders on insubordination. The point we make
here is that no matter what Mr. Obama does, he is not going to appear muscular
enough for his opponents in the Republican Party. He will not get
their support. Further, The Bahamas and the Caribbean region are
suffering because the United States is distracted by this war in an area
where they cannot win the war. The money is better spent nearer home,
and the efforts at security should be put into shoring up those near home
and not in some far away, hopeless adventure.
Jerome Gomez, an accountant and financial advisor at Baker
Tilly Gomez; Danny Johnson, a podiatrist and the son-in-law of the late
Sir Lynden Pindling, and son of former MP Oscar Johnson, have been
ratified as candidates for the Progressive Liberal Party. They will
be the standard bearers for the party in the Killarney and Carmichael seats
respectively. The party made its decision on Thursday 19th August
at its monthly National General Council meeting. Gomez is pictured
above with Party Deputy Leader Philip Davis (left) and Party Leader Perry
Christie just after having received his nomination at Party headquarters.
Johnson is shown at right in a file photograph.
THE
KENNEDY RACE
Meanwhile, the race in Kennedy is far from settled.
The Tribune has been keeping the public abreast of events within the PLP;
can you believe that? Two candidates were scheduled to speak, said
The Trib, at a meeting in Kennedy of the local PLP branch on Monday 16th
August. The two were said to be front runners Derek Ryan, Attorney
and now National General Council member for the area; and Dion Smith, an
attorney. Craig Butler, who was overlooked in the Elizabeth constituency,
was also said to be interested. No word on Keith Bell who is believed
to be the establishment choice and the one who is likely to get it.
In the meantime, what you have is a situation where
there is a contest between the two alleged frontrunners over who can mobilize
the most people in the public race. So on Thursday 19th August as
the Councillors came to their monthly meeting, they had to run the gauntlet
of 200 or so ground organizer types promoting the interests of Mr. Ryan
and Mr. Smith. This has really irritated the Stalwart Councillors
who believe in the case of Mr. Ryan that they are being bamboozled by someone
who attacked the former Deputy Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia
Pratt when Mr. Ryan worked for Mohammad Haraji, the man who was disaffected
because he believed that the PLP reneged on an alleged deal to return his
bank licence that had been revoked by the FNM.
Dion Smith has the ears of the leadership and has
impressed them with his ability to organize and he does not have that baggage
of having attacked Mother Pratt. Problem is, Mr. Ryan has the branch
in his back pocket and at the drop of a hat can mobilize hundreds of street
people to press the point. The typical hands off style of the leadership
is being sorely tested.
The meeting set for Tuesday 17th August that was
touted by The Trib did not take place as such. The leadership reportedly
ordered the meeting cancelled. The branch leadership defied the leadership
and held it anyway and voted unanimously, in the absence of Mr. Bell, Mr.
Smith and Mr. Butler and their supporters to call for Derek Ryan to be
the candidate in the next election. Lot of muttering under the breath
here.
BAHAMAR
AND THE CHINESE
The rubber is about to hit the road in the matter
of the development of Cable Beach by the Izmeralian family and the Bahamar
project. In summary, some two billion dollars stand to be invested,
which will remake the Cable Beach strip in New Providence and supply brand
new hotel room inventory for a tired Bahamian tourism product. This
proposal was approved by the PLP when it was in office and left on the
table when it lost office.
Hubert Ingraham, some say tied to his masters at
Paradise Island, has been talking down the project at Cable Beach and caused
the American casino investors to pull out of the project. It has
been languishing for want of money. The money is now to come from
the Chinese and the last of the approvals were granted with one more expected,
finally, from their Ministry of Commerce. The whole matter, though,
has the Chinese on edge. Does The Bahamas government want this investment?
It is not clear, given the various statements by the Prime Minister: that
if the PLP, the Opposition party, does not support it in Parliament, he
will not approve it; that there cannot be two projects a Bahamar and a
Phase 4 of Atlantis.
The question now is, what of the PLP? How
this gets to be the specific business of the PLP is clear: the Prime Minster
wants to share the blame, the responsibility if you will, for agreeing
to bring in 5000 Chinese workers to help construct the project. The
company says that these are needed because the skill sets are not here,
either in terms of the level of skills or the numbers, to complete the
project in a timely manner. Also, since it is the Chinese government’s
money, the Chinese say that there can be no project with their money without
their labour. So they say that if we want the money, we need to support
the project, Chinese workers and all.
The more general issue is: what has this to do with
the PLP? The question of approving work permits is that of the government
and the government should simply go ahead and make a decision if that is
what they believe in the final analysis is good for the country.
They keep talking about decisiveness and leadership, it is time for this
tired Prime Minister to exercise decisiveness and leadership.
The Chinese should know that the PLP support this
project and will be encouraging the government to approve it. What
the PLP must be wary of is being blamed for something which is not of the
its making. We hope that the political chess players of the PLP are
wise to the place where they are and plot carefully through this thicket.
What may be appropriate is if the matter is brought to the House of Assembly,
only one MP should speak. That ought to be the leader, to explain
the situation to the country and then leave the government to their own
devices.
ROAD
OPPONENTS GET INJUNCTION
Strike one for the opponents of the Baillou Hill
Road project. The group led by Rupert Roberts of Supervalue, Steve
Heastie of Esso Gas Station and Ethric Bowe, a political activist, went
to court led by their Attorneys Maurice Glinton, Raynard Rigby and Paul
Moss. The Judge granted them leave to continue their Judicial Review
application, which will question whether the Minister of Works acted reasonably,
when he set out new regulations for the passage of traffic over Baillou
Hill road by reversing the traffic flow. More importantly though,
the Judge granted an injunction to stop the road works, saying that the
balance of convenience was in favour of Messrs. Heastie, Bowe and Roberts.
The government claims that it is abiding by the injunction.
The Judge set the matter down for an early hearing
to 21st September and urged the parties to consult. In making his
decision, the Judge cited as authority the legitimate expectation point
made in the case involving the Guana Cay case, where the people of that
cay took the government to court over the development of Baker’s Bay.
The case makes the point that if there is going to be consultation, there
must be real consultation and the litigants had a legitimate expectation
of such consultation. You may click
here for the full decision made by Justice Neville Adderley.
GALANIS
ON THE POLITICAL FUTURE
Philip Galanis, the former Senator, MP and now newspaper
columnist appeared on a radio show with Rogan Smith and Toshenna Robinson
Blair on Love 97 on Monday 16th August to talk about the political and
economic future of The Bahamas. His fellow guests were Dr. Ian Strachan
of the College of The Bahamas and former FNM MP David Wallace. Mr.
Galanis set the stage by reviewing the current landscape saying that the
economy is in trouble and crime is escalating exponentially. He said
that people are not only disillusioned and dissatisfied with the government,
they are angry and impatient and there is no short term solution to our
economic or social challenges on the horizon.
Mr. Galanis thinks that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime
Minister, will only run again if he thinks that the economy will improve
before the election. He said that he thinks that despite the past
faults most people are coming round to the view that Perry Christie ought
to be given a chance again as he is the best person to hold the PLP together.
You may click here for Mr. Galanis'
remarks.
MORE
FOX HILL DAY PHOTOS
Last week, we presented an extensive spread on the activities
for the Fox Hill Day celebrations which took place on Tuesday 10th August.
This is the end of the Emancipation Festival. The 1st August 2010
marked the 176th anniversary of the freeing of the slaves. We showed
pictures last week of the visits of the PLP’s Leadership to the various
churches in Fox Hill but excluded those from St. Mark’s Native Baptist
Church, we correct that error this week.
FNM
MARKS 19TH AUGUST WITH CHURCH SERVICE
You must read these words from the Prime Minister,
the number one heathen in the country. The Preacher at the Mt. Pleasant
Green Church must have been shocked out of his mind, first of all to see
the Prime Minister come to church and then to hear the words below.
These words were spoken on Thursday 19th August (a day that will live in
infamy). Even the devil can quote scripture, but in this case do
not believe a single word of this gross hypocrisy in the face of the FNM
buying the 1997 general election with public monies and then lying their
asses off to regain the government and then taking us to rack and ruin
in 2010. It is a matter of mistrust:
“Today we observe the 18th anniversary of that
momentous day when, after 22 years of struggle in opposition trenches,
division in our ranks and four successive general election defeats, our
Party, the Free National Movement finally won a General Election.
“As I stand before you tonight in this sacred
place, on this special day, I recall words of a hymn penned by the late
Carl Gustaf Boberg, a Pastor, editor and member of the Swedish Parliament.
As the story goes, Mr. Boberg was enjoying a peaceful walk when a thunderstorm
suddenly appeared. When the storm was over, Mr. Boberg looked over
a clear bay and in the distance he heard a church bell ringing. As
he listened, these words came to his heart: “O Lord, my God, when I in
awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands hath made, I see the
stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God to thee, How Great thou Art, How Great
thou art.”
“On this the 18th anniversary of our election
as the governing party we can truly say to Our Lord – “How Great Thou Art”.
You may click
here for Mr. Ingraham's full remarks.
Peter Ramsay photo
INGRAHAM'S
FAILURES ARE ALL AROUND US
The FNM should be hanging their heads in shame.
They have nothing to be proud about the 18 years they have the stewardship
of this country. This causes us to reflect on the day they came to
power on 19 August 1992. Three days later, there was a devastating
hurricane. That natural disaster was a portent of the disaster the
FNM would visit upon this country.
Speaking at this party's poorly attended service
at Mt. Pleasant Green Church on Thursday 19th August Party leader and Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham made in our opinion three points: that things
were bad when he came and he pledged to make them better; that he kept
his promises to make things better and that he is renewing his pledge to
do better.
On the first point: no matter how bad things were
when he came in, they are worse today than when he came in and worse
than they have ever been. It is a lie anyway to say that things were
bad when he came back to office in 2007. His stop review and
cancel programme saw to that.
Everywhere you look, the facts are that we are worse
off under Mr. Ingraham: our standard of living has fallen, the per capita
income has fallen; the cost of living is up; the taxes have gone up; one
startling statistic from a COB study shows that Bahamians today spend 20
percent of their income on transportation.
On the second point that he kept his promises to
make things better. This must be a joke: crime is higher than ever;
more lights have been disconnected from people's home than ever; people
are living as if they are in the Stone Age; the general quality of life
is worse.
Our institutions are in the worse shape they have
been. BEC can’t keep the power on; BTC cant keep the phones on; for
the first time in living memory for a whole day, we were out of touch with
the outside world by phone; the chronic backlog of cases in the courts
is worse than it has ever been; women have to wait longer than ever to
ask the magistrate for legal assistance to collect monies from deadbeat
dads.
In foreign affairs, the country is marginalized.
Today the county can best be described as more tribal
than ever. If you are PLP, the government will give you nothing.
If you are FNM; an Ingraham FNM, everything is there for you.
As for keeping his promises to reduce the size of
government -- where is the evidence of that? Has government gotten
closer to the people like he promised -- where is the evidence of anything
but local government being a failure. He promised to diversify the
economy but the economy is now a greater monocrop economy than every before.
Tourism is even failing under him. Illegal immigration is worse than
it has ever been. Victimization and intimidation were supposed to
end, but at ZNS, it is clear that it is worse than it has ever been.
What other country do you know where legitimate
contracts could be cancelled and people not protest? Here that is
the case, and it is so because of intimidation and fear by the Ingraham
led government. That is what Bishop Neil Ellis calls, the spirit
of the leader.
In this respect people like Cheryl Grant Bethell
who is fighting for the job of Director of Public Prosecutions in the courts
is a hero of the Bahamian people, she is standing up for her rights.
As for renewing his pledge to do better in the future.
In this own party, Mr. Ingraham's members are voting with their feet, lining
up to take him out. Their assumption is that he is last year's news
and is gone. So he is no position to renew anything because his own
people will soon take care of him.
CHRISTIE
AND MONCUR?
This photo appeared on Facebook of the perennial
national gadfly, hanger and flogger Rodney Moncur. Taking time out
from his busy schedule to get some people hanged, he met up with the Leader
of the Opposition Perry Christie and in a release from the Worker’s Party
Secretary General Brian Smith asked whether Christie was going to intervene
with Hubert Ingraham to stop what the Worker's Party said was the illegal
charging of students to get into public schools. This is one of Mr.
Moncur’s latest hobby horses, that of defending a young child who was being
forced to pay 100 dollars to get into a public school. The Minister
resolved the problem but the hobby horse is still being ridden. So
now to the photo, neither man looks too pleased and the Leader of the Opposition
looks mortified. We would too to be caught in that position. Not
a happy camper!
BEC
CAN'T KEEP THE LIGHTS ON
The power went off island wide in New Providence
for three hours on Saturday evening 21st August. This while Hubert
Ingraham, the Prime Minister and his cohorts were praising themselves about
what they have done for The Bahamas, in fact, they should hang their heads
in shame. The power doesn’t work, the water doesn’t work and the
phones say where you put me. BEC technicians explained that the heat,
which is excessive for even this time of year, has caused additional problems
to their general capacity problems. The Corporation simply can’t
meet the demands of power in New Providence, failed to plan, and are still
failing to plan for the supply of power. The country cannot progress
without reliable electricity supply and we have failed to do so.
Technicians expect that there will be three more weeks at least of continued
load shedding in New Providence. This adds to problems with power
supply in Harbour Island where demonstrations were held protesting the
interruptions there and in Abaco. It is a sickening and depressing
situation. We just cannot get it right. One start will of course
be to rid this country of the great albatross around its neck Hubert Ingraham.
Amen
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Senator Allyson Gibson writes to set the record straight of an errant
Tribune columnist:
The following quote appeared in The Tribune on
13th August, 2010, as a part of a column authored by Adrian Gibson: “The
Coroners court was formerly a specialist court until it was abolished by
the PLP in 2007. Today, it is a part of the Magistrate’s court.”
One would expect that Adrian Gibson, allegedly
a teacher and law student, would do research (if only in The Tribune’s
archives) before putting pen to paper.
Had he done research, he would have found that,
in September 2006, Sir Burton Hall (then the Chief Justice) addressed a
memo to all Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrates.
In that memo, Sir Burton Hall stated that, “it
is notified that with immediate effect the practice that was instituted
in 1993 of designating a particular Magistrate’s Court as the Coroner’s
Court will be discontinued.” Had Adrian Gibson been minded to find out
the facts and write the truth, research (even a Google search) would also
have revealed that Sir Burton Hall subsequently spoke publicly about his
decision and that his decision was supported by the Bar Council. Further,
as a law student and a teacher, Adrian Gibson ought to know that in accordance
with our laws, in The Bahamas, these decisions are taken by the Judiciary
and not by the Executive.
In 2006, the Chief Justice, as head of the Judiciary,
properly exercised his power to determine the allocation of Coroner’s work.
Clearly, in more that one aspect, Adrian Gibson’s serious allegation
are not true.
The PLP did not abolish the Coroner’s Court.
I was the Attorney General and Minister of Legal
Affairs at the time. I deplore Adrian Gibson’s irresponsible and untruthful
allegations and aspersions against the Executive.
I am deeply concerned that these obviously untrue
allegations were published by The Tribune.
I write to set the record straight and I hope
that the usual appropriate apologies and corrections will be forthcoming
from The Tribune and Adrian Gibson.
ALLYSON MAYNARD-GIBSON
Nassau,
August 16, 2010.
Keod Smith, former MP, writes in defence of Peter Nygard:
I see that bahamasunsensored.com is taking an
unfair and uninformed swipe at my Client, Peter Nygard in favour of Louis
Bacon. Perhaps [bahamasuncensored.com] ought to dig a bit
deeper before allowing [itself to be] seen as [a tool] to
carry out the bidding of Bacon, a man whom I know believes that his money
controls all things and everyone in The Bahamas.
That has never been Nygard's approach to The
Bahamas and Bahamians...
Keod Smith
------------------------
IN PASSING
Happy Birthday Perry Christie
Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition PLP celebrated
his 67th birthday on Saturday 21st August. He spent the time at a
family dinner at Compass Point restaurant with his wife and family.
Best wishes! The Christies are pictured outside St. Agnes after church
this morning.
The Farmers Market
The Ministry of Agriculture sponsors a farmer's market every Saturday
from 8 a.m. Bahamian fresh products are on sale along with Bahamian
manufactured agricultural products. Farmers come from all over the
island and the country to sell their wares. What they need are customers.
The market grounds are located at the Ministry's Farm on Gladstone Road.
Fr. Thaddeus Pratt Anglican Priest Dies While On A Cruise
Fr. Thaddeus Pratt, former rector of St. Gregory The Great, and parish
priest of St. Bartholomew, Berry Islands passed away on Friday 20th August
aboard a cruise ship docked in St. John, Antigua. He was on this cruise
with his wife, her sister, family and friends.
School Overcrowding
The Tribune reports that just what we said would happen in the school
system has happened. In its Friday 20th August edition, the Director
of Education Lionel Sands admitted that the schools in the southeast of
New Providence are full to overflowing and cannot take any more.
We predicted that as a result of the fall in the subsidy to the private
schools and their having to raise the fees, there would be a huge uptick
in the numbers attending public schools, which the public schools would
be hard put to accommodate. So said, so done.
Strike At COB Again
Jennifer Dotson, head of the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas,
the union representing the faculty at the College of The Bahamas has said
that they may exercise their right to strike at the opening of classes
this fall. Despite the arbitration having settled the clauses in
the agreement, the College refuses to actually sign off on the deal.
Mrs. Dotson said that the staff was being put on alert.
Dame Marguerite Attends Service For Sir Lynden
26th August 2010 will mark 10 years since the passing of the Father
of Our Nation Sir Lynden O. Pindling. To mark the occasion, Dame
Marguerite Pindling attended the Sunday mass 22nd August at St. Agnes Church,
joined by PLP Leader Perry Christie and Mrs. Christie and Deputy PLP Leader
Philip Davis and Mrs. Davis and the Women's Branch of the PLP. Dame
Marguerite is also pictured after the service with Fred Mitchell Fox Hill
MP and with Ryan Pinder MP and Mrs. Pinder.
Peter Ramsay photos
Mitchell In Canada
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill has returned to The Bahamas following a private
visit to Toronto, Canada.
Australian Elections
The Australian Labour Party has lost the election in Australia.
The press keeps calling it a cliffhanger. In fact, the Opposition
conservative coalition has more seats although not in overall majority
and so independents, most of whom were former conservative members, will
help to form the new government. Thus, Kevin Rudd, who ousted the
racist and difficult John Howard from power in December 2007 and last year
was the most popular Prime Minister in Australia’s history, was ousted
by his female Deputy Julia Gilliard who has now led the party down to defeat.
Typically, she is saying that she intends to fight on, but in our view
does not have the moral right to govern.
Conference On Public Financing Of Campaigns
The Organization of American States (OAS) is sponsoring a conference
on campaign finance reform in Jamaica from 2nd September to 3rd September.
The conference will include model legislation. PLP MPs Fred Mitchell
and Alfred Sears MP have both called for campaign finance reform in The
Bahamas including that of support for political parties.
BTC Seeks To Make Amends
The Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation provided a free day of calling
to its customers both landline and cell within The Bahamas on Friday 20th
August. This came after the outcry from customers that the $5 calling
credit that they offered to cell phone customers following the crash of
the BTC network for calling on 6th August was not enough. Seems that
made the natives settle down. Click
here for the full explanation about BTC’s troubles on 6th August.
Brad McPhee’s Bad Propaganda
Brad McPhee, good FNM that he is, former Torchbearer President and
all that, sent out a bit of praise on his Facebook webpage congratulating
Long Islander Frank Watson, a former Deputy Prime Minister on being named
Deputy to the Governor General. Mario Bannister, a former Young Liberals
Chairman and an aficionado himself of Facebook got right on him reminding
Mr. McPhee that Frank Watson bounced a cheque at the treasury and that
he was involved in scandal at Bahamasair. All facts. But Mr.
McPhee took umbrage. What they said in the exchange is none of our
business and they each have a right to their opinions. But Mr. McPhee
said that Mr. Bannister could not talk because there was not one former
or present PLP MP who was not involved in corruption. Excuse me?
Think again friend. Them’s fighting words and also libellous.
Please retract forthwith.
Wyclef Jean Not Certified To Run For Haitian Presidency
The Electoral Commission in Haiti has ruled that the rap star Wyclef
Jean is not entitled to run for President of Haiti. Good thing!
This is an effort that was bound to lead to problems. Mr. Jean said
he disagreed with the decision, which said he did not have the residency
requirements for the job, but he asked his supporters to respect the decision.
In a late word, the BBC is reporting that Wyclef Jean is going to contest
the ruling of the Haitian CEP. Big surprise!
Vybz Kartel Brawl At LPIA
The group was actually banned on the advice of the Barbados Police
Force from playing in Barbados. But they performed in Nassau last
week and everything went well until they reached the airport. There,
two members of the group set upon a fellow passenger over a bump by a door
they
were opening in the bathroom. The person assaulted pressed charges
and the police arrested three of the group and off they went to court.
Two of the men pleaded guilty and the charges were dropped against the
third. The two were fined 2500 dollars or six months in jail.
Hopefully they won’t come back.
Power Failure Downs Net In GBI
The power failure gremlins continue to plague The Bahamas. The
power was out in Freeport recently, causing a failure in the internet for
the business community in Freeport. The system was down for half
a day said Cable Bahamas. Life in the Third World!
Delays At Lynden Pindling International Airport
The international airport at Nassau shut down for two hours because
the air conditioning system in the air traffic controller’s work place
broke down on Friday 20th August. This cause delays of flights going
and coming into Nassau. Life in the Third World!
Congratulations To Former ACP Shenandoah Evans
Former Assistant Commissioner of Police Shenandoah Evans is the recipient
of a Master’s Degree in Police Management and Criminal Justice from the
University of Leicester in the United Kingdom on 16th July. Mr. Evans
retired from the Police Force in February of this year and is now Deputy
Controller of the Port, working out of Freeport. He is married to
Justice Estelle Gray Evans.
PM Back From His Boat Cruise
After whiling away his time on board a ship somewhere out there the
Prime Minister arrived back in Nassau on Wednesday 18th August to a sea
of troubles. There is insurrection in the FNM and the most important
thing; there was a strike against Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Someone
call the police, a state of emergency needs to be called said one Facebook
user.
ZNS Suspends Sherman Brown?
Following on a report that appeared in The Tribune of Tuesday 17th
August, reporter Sherman Brown has been suspended for ten days with pay.
This is the second suspension of a reporter this year for alleged ethics
violations. Both the Chairman Michael Moss of the Broadcasting Corporation
and the General Manager Edwin Lightbourne weighed in on the matter.
Mr. Brown is accused of moonlighting as a P.R. agent for Peter Nygard,
the man who is embroiled in a conflict with his neighbour in Lyford Cay.
The Tribune reported a number of times that Mr. Brown arranged according
to them interviews for Mr. Nygard with them. Mr. Brown has denied
it and said that he is going to sue. Paul Moss, the political activist
represents Mr. Brown as an attorney and said that the matter is pure foolishness.
What we think is foolishness is the very idea that ZNS could be high minded
about ethics. They have not a clue, bless their hearts.
Tribune Speculating On Branville McCartney Again
The intrepid Tribune was at it again last week with a front page story
on Thursday 19th August (a day that will live in infamy) which said that
Bran McCartney was being encouraged to wait his turn by his advisors.
The Trib said that he does not have the support of Cabinet members, limited
to three, maybe four. They added that some disgruntled backbenchers
were in on the plot as well. But the bottom line is that his advisors
are now telling Mr. McCartney to wait his turn. The Trib also said
that if Hubert Ingraham were to step down as Leader of the FNM there are
six people waiting in the wings to run. They listed them as DPM Brent
Symonette (to the manor born); Minister of State Zhivargo Laing (Mr. Know
It All); Tommy Turnquest, Minister of National Security (Mr. Also Ran);
Dion Foulkes, the Labour Minister (out because he is not in the House);
Party Chairman Carl Bethel (Machiavelli or Iago or Cassius, take your pick)
and well, poor, innocent Branville McCartney.
Criticism Of Conduct Of Chrissy Love On ZNS
The radio talk show host Chrissy Love has been in for some withering
criticism on Facebook because of her alleged attack on the PLP on her radio
talk show. Most people thought that her attacks were unseemly, personal
and undignified. Knowing Chrissy, would she give a damn? The
more serious point they make is would a PLP supporter be given equal opportunity
on the publicly owned station?
Vernice Walkine Leaves Her Job At Tourism
NAD, the airport development and management company announced last
week that Vernice Walkine, the Director General of Tourism is to leave
the Ministry of Tourism and join them as an Executive Vice President for
Marketing. Seems like a bit of a come down to us, but we know it
is probably more money and we are sure that she can do the job. We
think that she did a creditable job as the DG of Tourism. We know
things really got complicated when Vincent Vanderpool, who himself is a
civil servant, came on board as Minister and continued to confuse the role
of civil servant with that of minister or policy maker. Hopefully
the confusion will now end, and the fall in tourism will be on his shoulder
alone as it rightly should. By the way, his friends are complaining
that he does not return their e-mails and phone calls. Very unlike
him. Too busy with Ingraham?
 |
| DAME MARGUERITE REMEMBERS AND SO DO WE - It seems like only yesterday that Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the man whom former Finance Minister William Allen described as bestriding The Bahamas like a colossus, died. Sir Lynden was the country’s founding Prime Minister and one of the fathers of our nation. He has been called “the Father of the Nation”. We agree. Ten years ago on 26th August 2000, a nation was consumed in grief following the announcement that the great man was dead. You can find the pictures of those expressions in the coverage of our predecessor site fredmitchelluncensored.com. The photographer then was the official chronicler of our times Peter Ramsay. Each year Dame Marguerite Pindling, the keeper of the legacy and his widow, gathers with friends and family at St. Agnes Church in Grants Town and then repairs to the St. Agnes Cemetery where the great man is entombed in a mausoleum to lay a wreath and to reminisce. This year was no exception and so our photo of the week is that of Dame Marguerite Pindling with her friends, priest and well wishers gathered around the mausoleum St. Agnes Cemetery on Thursday 26th August 2010, ten years after. The photo is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
HELPING BASRA RESCUE BAHAMIANS
The photograph said it all. The stress was obvious.
The report was that a small plane took off from Walker’s Cay in the Abacos
on Monday 23rd August and was headed to Grand Bahama piloted by Fritz Cambridge.
There were six people on board including the pilot. A husband received
a phone call shortly before the plane took off. His wife said that
she was then leaving for Grand Bahama. The trip takes half an hour.
One hour later, he arrived at the airport in Freeport to find that the
plane had not arrived. Had any one heard what had happened?
Nothing.
It later transpired that the plane developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff from the island and after a warning to the tower, had to put down in bad weather, the water some ten feet deep, ten minutes away from Grand Bahama. The warning went out immediately first to Basra, the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association, a volunteer organization of men and women who use their own equipment and raise public funds, to rescue Bahamians at sea. Then there was a bulletin to the United States Coast Guard and to the Royal Bahama Defence Force.
Shortly after the plane put down, the people were spotted at sea clinging to the wing of the plane. It later turned out that none of the people could swim except the pilot. Three hours later, after working around bad weather and thanks to the skill of the US Coast Guard and the work of Basra and the RBDF, and one must also say the pilot who put the plane down in the water, all was well. The passengers, including a pregnant woman with her two small children all survived and were brought into Grand Bahama’s Dover Sound, all safe and sound.
What then is the purpose of this reflection? The first is the fact that none of the passengers could swim. We heard the shocking stats that in this country which is surrounded by water some 65 per cent of the adults in the country cannot swim. That is scandalous.
The second point is to urge the support of the work of Basra. It is an organization that does not get the support of the black community, but in the main, it is the black community in The Bahamas that ends up having to be rescued. We doubt that any of those rescued passengers ever thought one day of giving a cent to Basra for the work that they do, and yet as soon as the call goes out, the volunteers are on the sea and in the air. It would be helpful if there were a greater level of giving to Basra.
Then there is the US Coast Guard. That agency has no responsibility for helping Bahamians. Yet we know that so many times, they are the agency that we have to call upon to rescue Bahamians at sea or who suffer accidents in the air or on land and have to be airlifted as a result either to Nassau or the United States. In fact, we ought to thank the United States government for the great support that they give to assist our people when we are in trouble, with or without Basra or the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. The Coast Guard does the work.
But the final point we make is one about the preparedness of The Bahamas for emergencies and the steps we take to ensure as a country that we do not have to face emergencies. The Coast Guard, Basra and the RBDF often make the point that Bahamian fishermen and boatmen and women are often negligent in setting out to sea in rough seas or even regular seas and they travel without a life vest, a flare, a radio or a beacon that will help to find them. Death and injury and discomfort can often be avoided by some simple equipment and taking some very simple steps. There is a widespread disrespect for the sea and the air and the elements that can turn unfriendly at a moment’s notice.
Then our concern is for the regulation of the commercial aircraft industry in The Bahamas. There are too many in our view incidents that happen with these small planes that carry people up and down The Bahamas: the engine failures, the putting down in the water. There is a major incident waiting to happen and it could get worse with the new private airlines and the pressure that they have put on the regulatory authorities in our country. The pilots who work for these airlines have gathered themselves together into an organization to work for more effective regulation because they believe that they are being pressured to fly unsafe aircraft. So the appeal here is for the airlines to take safety seriously and for the regulators to take their jobs seriously. Those people who made it when the plane put down in the water last week, could easily have been casualties or deaths. We must avoid that from happening if we can.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 28th August 2010 up to midnight: 118,398.
Number of hits for the month to August up to Saturday 28th August up to midnight: 517,035.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 28th August up to midnight: 5,763,171.
NYGARD
THREATENS TO SUE AND SUE
Last week, we reported on this site that agents
of Peter Nygard, the controversial fashion designer, who lives at Lyford
Cay, the ghetto for the rich and famous in western New Providence, were
out in the highways and byways of The Bahamas to lobby the country that
he was a good guy and that his next door neighbour billionaire Louis Bacon
was the bad guy trying to bully everyone in The Bahamas into submission
in a kind of anti Nygard conspiracy. We think that is a bit fanciful,
but everyone is entitled to their view of the facts we suppose.
We also reported that Sherman Brown, the reporter
for ZNS, was interdicted and placed on administrative leave, being accused
by his employers of being a PR agent for Mr. Nygard. Mr. Brown resigned
last week from the Corporation last week before the issue could be resolved.
We further reported that Mr. Nygard’s attorneys had filed a law suit against
Mr. Bacon and one of them former MP Keod Smith wrote a letter which appeared
in this column to criticize us for taking what he considers to be an anti
Nygard stand.
There is now a new thing in the mix. It appears
that Peter Nygard’s international attorneys are going after selected websites
in The Bahamas. A letter was written by the lawyers for Mr. Nygard
it appears to those who own the domain server for bahamaspress.com and
copied to bahamasissues.com to warn them that if they did not remove certain
objectionable material (objectionable of course to Mr. Nygard) they would
sue. They wanted the material removed or the domain taken down.
Click
here for the letter purportedly from Mr. Nygard’s lawyers.
Of course, most people would just have told them
what they could do with themselves. But this is quite a curious development,
so sensitive is the man now to public criticism that his lawyers are now
threatening to shut down the voices and sources of information in The Bahamas.
We wonder what his Bahamian lawyer, a fighter for rights in The Bahamas
would say to that.
PLP
STICKS TO ITS GUNS ON BAHAMAR
The Nassau Guardian tried to confuse the issue of
what the PLP is going to do with regard to the Bahamar project at Cable
Beach by a misleading headline on Monday 23rd August.
The PLP’s position is clear to us and has always
been clear. The party supports the project but the question of work
permits for 5000 Chinese is a matter for the government and not for the
Parliament. That simple message can only get garbled by the Nassau
Guardian and Hubert Ingraham’s chief scribe Candia Dames. Part of
the problem we think is Perry Christie, the Leader of the PLP, continuing
to confide in her by granting her interviews and comments. Every
time, he does so, it ends up with the Nassau Guardian making a complete
mish mash and cock up of what the PLP believes on a particular subject.
After speaking with Mr. Christie, the Nassau Guardian
led on Monday the 23rd August with the headline that PLP was changing its
mind on Bahamar. How the fact that the PLP was holding a meeting
to decide its position at a regular meeting of its MPs which takes place
every Sunday evening becomes the PLP changing its mind, only the Guardian
can explain.
Then when the PLP sought to clarify it, the next
thing you know people including the press then say the PLP is confused.
It is of course, the press that is confused. It might be wise for
him to refuse to deal with her and maybe the PLP would fare better in getting
its message out on this and other issues.
The PLP supports the Bahamar project, but the matter
of work permits for 5000 Chinese is a matter for the government and not
the PLP. Amen!
ALVARDO
LAMONT ADDERLEY ORDAINED
We send congratulations to the newest Anglican Deacon
Alvardo Lamont Adderley who was ordained deacon on Thursday 26th August
at All Saints Parish Church in South Beach, New Providence. The ordination
as deacon was conducted by Bishop Laish Boyd and he was joined by retired
Archbishop Drexel Gomez and retired Suffragan Bishop Gilbert Thompson.
Also congratulations to Deacon Letha Strachan who was ordained Deacon on
Tuesday 24th August at St. Barnabas. The two are shown together at
Deacon Adderley’s ordination.
Peter Ramsay photo
THE
FREEPORT DILEMMA
Freeport is a magic city. It sprang up out
of the pine forests of Grand Bahama Island, a quiet sleepy island in 1995
and is now a metropolis with some 60,000 people. But the economy
of Freeport is in trouble. There are five MPs for the Free National
Movement in Freeport; the city is suffering the worst of the recession
with its population moving to other parts of The Bahamas order to find
work.
Fred Mitchell, the Fox Hill MP was in Freeport to
mark the tenth anniversary of the passing of Sir Lynden O. Pindling who
issued the famous speech that if the social order of Freeport did not bend,
it would be broken. He spoke those words in 1969. Mr. Mitchell
told the supporters of the party at the special meeting of the Pineridge
constituency that if the PLP won they could expect tens of millions dollars
to be spent by the PLP in the city putting people back to work in cash
or in kind.
Click here for Mr.
Mitchell’s full remarks.
BRENT
GETS HIMSELF MIXED UP
On Saturday 28th August Brent Symonette, the Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded to an inquiry
from The Tribune about his dereliction of duty as Minister in allowing
control of the information on the government’s website mfabahamas.org to
be taken from the government. Mr. Symonette said a most remarkable
thing. He accused Fred Mitchell his predecessor in office, now out
office for three years of knowing the facts behind the website established
by the Ministry.
What the establishing of the website has to do with
Mr. Symonette allowing the information on the site to be lost is not clear
but it is simply sickeningly stupid for Mr. Symonette to continue to act
like a nitwit on this issue. It is the most asinine thing.
In the old days, we would have named him Jackass of the week, for surely
he must jest.
For three years, at each budget time, Mr. Mitchell
has raised the fact that since he left office, the Ministry has paid no
attention to the site. Mr. Mitchell has said that the site was established
in 2003 in answer to the frequent queries from Bahamians about the need
for visas, the treaties that The Bahamas has signed and what the Ministry's
policies are on various issues.
Mr. Mitchell is on the record as noting that the
government’s offices in the Ministry of Finance which ran all of the other
government websites simply did not have the capacity to create and run
the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So the decision
was taken to start a website which was paid for out of the Washington D.C
office on the credit card of the then Ambassador Joshua Sears. It
is known. It is documented.
Both Joshua Sears and Dr. Patricia Rodgers, the
now Permanent Secretary were there when the decision was taken and executed
and the facts are known to both of them. How this Minister can make
himself sound like a fool and a total idiot by suggesting that his predecessor
knows what the facts are is beyond comprehension. In any event, the
issue is not what happened in the past. The question is how did Mr.
Symonette allow the information to be lost.
This is government information which is proprietary
and should be recovered. As Minister, he has a responsibility to
say how it got lost and what he is doing to recover it. His answer
was to turn the matter over to the police. The police are making
themselves look like fools chasing after a political vendetta.
Mr. Symonette has been a failure as Minister.
He doesn’t understand his a… from a bullfrog’s foot in foreign affairs.
He is a lost soul. He began in a fit of jealousy about what Mr. Mitchell
accomplished and sought to hound everyone who was connected with Mr. Mitchell
in the ministry out of the ministry. One of them was the man who
had the codes for the website. He forced him out and the simple answer
might then have been to get the codes from that employee before he left
the office. But no ‘Mr. High and Mighty’ has lost that opportunity.
Now the only answer is to go to the owner of the domain name and get them
to release the information, since they have lost the right to own the domain
name. C. Allen Johnson who now owns the domain name is not the issue
and arresting him is not the answer. We think that Mr. Johnson should
sue Brent Symonette and personally make him pay for this action of starting
a prosecution against him which led to his arrest and the harassment from
the police. It is a crying shame.
LAING
ANSWERS CRITICS ON C. ALLEN JOHNSON’S ARREST
The Facebook pages have been all abuzz with allegations
against the government for arresting C. Allen Johnson in connection with
the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website going missing. The writers
Ethric Bowe, community activist and Andrew Burrows, webmaster for the PLP,
accused the government of using the police to intimidate Mr. Johnson.
Minister of State Zhivargo Laing did not take too kindly to it and called
the notion absurd. Here is the thread of the exchange from Facebook
on the issue:
Ethric Bowe: C. Allen - this government is on the way out
and they are still intimidating people. Be afraid but let’s do what
we have to do anyway. One of the first things we have to do is make
the police force free of politics. We also need a police for the
police. When they do foolishness on the direction of politicians,
they should be sanctioned.
Zhivargo Laing: I have no difficulty with you suggesting we are on our way out because opinions come a dime a dozen. But you are absurd to be suggesting that we are using the police for politics. I thought you were an intelligent man. This (is) offensive, untrue and not becoming of a man who loves his country.
Andrew J. Burrows: Minister, are you aware of the justification the police used for picking up Mr. Johnson? The timing of it all lends to the growing public perception that the police are under an authority separate from the COP. Your colleague Mr. Turnquest ...has done very little to diminish that fear in his handling of the Nygard issue and the DPM's comments and attitude toward this whole website affair makes you wonder.
Now whether this is in fact what is happening is a matter that we'll never know but from the outside looking in, it sure doesn't look as unthinkable as you would hope it is.
Zhivargo Laing: My Friend, trust me when I say, I am deeply
offended by any suggestion that we could use the police for political purposes.
It is simply absurd. If anyone feels aggrieved by police action, I strongly
advise that they seek redress, either by filing a proper complaint with
the Government or by putting the matter before the courts. I do not serve
in an administration that uses the police for political purposes and unless
you have evidence of the same, you should not put forward such suggestions.
Forget the government, it can be seriously damaging to our nation.
10
YEARS SINCE SIR LYNDEN’S PASSING
There was a special service held at the Greater
Bethel Cathedral Church to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the passing
of the founding Prime Minister of the country Sir Lynden O. Pindling on
Thursday 26th August. We share pictures from the service which appeared
on the Facebook page of the now leader of the PLP Perry G. Christie.
THE
TROUBLES ON CITY MARKETS
The food market chain City Markets finally made
the mainstream news in The Bahamas when Fred Mitchell Fox Hill MP issued
a press release on Tuesday 24th August speaking up for his constituents
whom he said feared that the company was collapsing and might fail.
He listed a host of issues including the apparent inability of the company
to pay its suppliers; reports of the taking of US dollars out of the stores
by foreign managers and the breakdown of equipment which the company does
not repair. He said that employees feared for the long term security
of their jobs.
Following is Mr. Mitchell’s statement issued on
24thAugust:
I have a concern for my constituents who work
at City Markets who are extremely worried that this company has such financial
issues that it may not survive.
They have seen the inventory in the store
declining. There are issues with suppliers. They have seen managers collecting
U.S. dollars from the stores. Equipment breaks and is not repaired.
Something as commonplace as sliced deli meats is not available in most
of the stores.
I have toured all the stores in Freeport where
I am today and in Nassau and the fears expressed by employees are the same.
They fear that having regard to what happened with Clico, the government
and the Ministry of Labour in particular need to intervene to protect the
interests of the 700 workers of this company.
I agree with them that the Government needs to
be proactive and seek to protect the interests of the 700 workers at the
company.
The Bahamas cannot afford a failure that would
leave 700 workers out of jobs and without proper protection.
I hereby call on the Ministry of Labour
to so intervene.
Days later, City Markets CEO Derek Winford
issued this statement:
I hasten to assure the Bahamian community that
despite the rumors that abound the demise of City Markets is not imminent.
The company just like many others enterprises,
locally and internationally, is having to fight through hardships created
by the meltdown of world economies and the impact upon all business sectors
in the Bahamas".
In addition to the difficulties caused by a poor
economy, the company suffered a series of serious maintenance problems
with refrigeration in a number of stores. I am now pleased to say
that the problems have been corrected and we are back to normal.
Further, to restore customer confidence in our business we are about to
embark upon an impressive promotional campaign".
On the question of the status of jobs for our
employees We have no immediate plans for reducing the workforce however;
as we continue to manage and control our operating costs, some employees
may be affected.
On another note the company has been forced to
face another daunting problem and that is one related to "shrink" of inventory.
We know that 'shrink' should be in the range of 2% or lower, but our 'shrink'
size is about 6% of sales. The cost to the company is substantial.
We have instituted much stricter inventory and
financial controls and are hopeful that this financial drain will be substantially
reduced. Additionally, we have put in place an incentive programme for
our employees which has been well received.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
In
Defence of Truckers...
Mediterranean Shipping Company, better known
as MSC, has now taken the ill-advised decision, effective 20th September
2010, to commence delivering, within Bahamian territory, all those containers
arriving by their shipping line for and on behalf of clients within the
Commonwealth. This back-firing, ill-advised and not so smart, corporate,
decision will mean the demise of most, if not all, of the independent truckers'
(certainly in Freeport) business. The government should now step in to
save the Truckers' business and not allow this corporate giant to come
here to this country and do as they please. These independent truckers
have been performing this "docks to client's premises" service, very efficiently
I might add, for years; besides all the domestic services industry, including
all local domestic trucking, should be exclusively, by policy if not by
law, reserved for Bahamians ; even under this Bahamian-unfriendly FNM government.
What pray tell me will be next?
In making this decision, it should be noted that,
they are proposing, in addition, to increase the delivery fees, certainly
within the environs of the city of Freeport, by $45 per unit from $150
to a whopping $195.00. Outside of the city limits of Freeport, it is my
understanding that the fees to East End is being proposed to be increased
to at around $500 from the now $300-$400 and to West Grand Bahama at around
the same. I would venture to suggest that MSC, in following the FNM government's
lead, has concluded that since the government can increase all their fees
on the littlest Bahamians, so can they; and throw us under the proverbial
bus besides.
2010 is turning out to be a real dozy of a year
and a nightmare for the small man trying to make ends meet here in Grand
Bahama. It's a hell of a nightmare, as well, for Grand Bahama's business
community which has been hard pressed, since experiencing all the increases
in government taxes, to keep track of all the price adjustments which had
to be made, in an effort to ensure their businesses suffer no unnecessary
losses.
The PLP will, I am sure, flush out all the dirt
and expose all the FNM scoundrels, in Grand Bahama, who we suspect are
cohorts with MSC in this screwing exercise of the Bahamian truckers. We
shall be monitoring very closely which, of them, opens up a new trucking
company within the next few weeks and ends up with the exclusive contract
for transporting MSC's domestic cargo; we shall not rest until we have
the information and expose the suckers. This is a good piece of business
which, heretofore, all the Freeport truckers shared and it would be a windfall
for one trucking firm with the monopoly. So we shall not rest until we
have the goods and expose the bastards.
A word to my valuable readers; I shall be away
for another four or five weeks before I am back in full form (lord willing).
When I received the e-mail on this matter, however, I had to come to the
defense of my friends in the trucking business; many of whom I've done
business with over the years. This is simply not right what is happening
to them but will this FNM government intervene and respond to their plight?
I doubt it, as I am fully convinced that some of them have cooked up this
scheme and are blackmailing MSC into giving them an exclusive contract.
Forrester J Carroll
Ft Lauderdale Fla.
IN PASSING
Kenyatta To Run In Eleuthera
The Tribune reported in its Tuesday 24th edition that the now
MP for Kennedy Kenyatta Gibson who was elected as a PLP and then crossed
the floor to become an FNM is to leave his Kennedy seat and run in the
next general election as an FNM in South Eleuthera. The incumbent
there is Oswald Ingraham of the PLP. Many believe that Mr. Ingraham
will be stepping down and the PLP is thinking about Damien Gomez, the lawyer
who is the son of the retired Archbishop of the West Indies Drexel Gomez.
Mr. Gibson has reportedly opened a law office in Eleuthera. He is
married to a woman who hails from Eleuthera.
Crystal Palace Closing Again
Despite what some say are good occupancy levels and forward bookings,
the Wyndham Crystal Palace on Cable Beach in Nassau has closed its doors
this year for six weeks, two less than last but closed all the same. Staff
are to take vacations and the company says it will save significantly by
closing. The owners of the hotel are seeking to develop Bahamar,
a new and more comprehensive upscale resort at Cable Beach but are in the
midst of a fight with the Bahamian government for approvals. The
final approvals for the money which they sought from the Chinese government
appear to have been obtained. The problem they have is that the Bank
of Nova Scotia does not want to give up their first mortgage on the property
in favour of the Chinese because Scotiabank reportedly thinks that they
were misled in the past by the owners of the project. See related
story.
Govt Appeals Road Injunction
Last week, we reported that Attorneys Maurice Glinton, Wayne Munroe
and Raynard Rigby, were able to obtain an injunction which the government
interpreted as compelling them to stop work on the roads. It turns
out they misinterpreted the judge's decision. Mr. Glinton told the
Court of Appeal where John Delaney, the Attorney General appeared in a
full bottom wig and silk gown, looking like a character from a Gilbert
and Sullivan play, on Thursday 26th August, that it was never the intention
of his clients the business owners on the Blue Hill Road strip to shut
down the road work. The injunction was meant to stop the process
of permanently changing the road and thereby seeking to compel the minister
to properly consult the business owners along the road. The Court
of Appeal with its antipathy to Mr. Glinton would have none of it and discharged
the injunction and the road work now continues. The point we make
is that John Delaney as AG appeared in court obviously to intimidate the
Court, or shall we say more delicately in these times to make the point
that the government wanted the injunction lifted. Now that the Court
of Appeal has appeared to lift the injunction, he can put another one down
in his résumé which makes him look like he is a good lawyer.
Nassau Guardian Website Inadequate
We continue to complain about the national newspapers. The dailies
and their websites. Today we are on the Nassau Guardian that simply
does not seem to be able to get a handle on the new format which they have.
The PDF version of the paper only shows up in bits and pieces. The
electronic paper comes out too late in the day. They do that so that people
will be forced to buy the paper but for the modern age, it simply comes
out too late to make any difference. What concerns us though is that
they often don’t update it at all. It is simply a sloppy product.
Meanwhile over at The Tribune, Jessica Robertson who runs the Tribune's
site has written to bahamasissues.com and threatened them in a note for
infringement of copyright. Of course, there was no infringement of
copyright but everyone is getting really touchy these days.
It’s Hotter In The Bahamas
Perhaps we need to amend the famous tourism slogan for our country,
"It's Better In The Bahamas" with the expression: "It’s Hotter In The Bahamas".
Hotter than ever before say the Bahamas Met office. The summer has been
sweltering and the Met office in The Bahamas says that the three last summers
in The Bahamas are the hottest on record. The story was reported
in The Nassau Guardian of Tuesday 24th August.
Brave Denies Million Dollar Story
The liar who runs the down-market Punch was at it again by running
a headline that said that the PLP’s Deputy leader Philip Brave Davis had
paid one million dollars to do a survey which shows that the PLP will defeat
the FNM in the next general election. Mr. Davis issued a statement
on Tuesday 24th August denying any such thing. He said that no right
thinking organization would spend that amount of money in these hard times
on a survey. He really has good time to respond to Ivan Johnson,
the publisher of The Punch and his lies.
Salary For Top Policeman In Trinidad and Tobago
Not only is the hire of a Canadian to be Commissioner of Police and
Deputy Commissioner of Police in Trinidad and Tobago causing a major upset
but now the salary has been announced and it adds up 1.2 million dollars
T & T dollars, divide by six to get the US figure. That is what
the new Commissioner will get. No Trinidad Commissioner has ever
gotten that amount of money.
Bolt To Earn 10 million US
The Jamaica Gleaner of Wednesday 25th August reported that Usain Bolt,
the 100 metre world record holder, has signed a contract with Puma, the
German shoe company which will earn him a possible 10 million dollars US
for eight years. Not bad for the fleet of foot.
Leadership Race In Bermuda
Paula Cox, the Deputy premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda seems
set to become the next Premier of Bermuda succeeding outgoing Premier Ewart
Brown. She appears to have the support of most MPs in her party but
the field of people wanting the job is crowded. There are some six
contenders in all.
Govt. Moves Against Website Man
The Bahamas government has moved against the web man C. Allen Johnson
for having the temerity to buy the domain name of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs website mfabahamas.org. The police arrested Mr. Johnson on
Thursday 26th August when he insisted while being questioned that he would
record everything that they asked him. They then confiscated
his recording device while under arrest. He was later released without
charge. The Tribune asked Brent Symonette, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs about it, and he blamed his predecessor in office Fred Mitchell
for it, saying that Fred Mitchell ought to come clean and give all the
facts about the website. Mr. Symonette is an idiot. Mr. Mitchell's
response is unprintable. The Tribune claimed that he simply laughed
it off and said that he would issue a more detailed statement later.
Pleasant To Go Free
The speculation is in The Bahamas that the case against Pleasant Bridgewater,
the former PLP Senator who was charged with extortion against the actor
John Travolta and his wife following the death of their son in West End
, Grand Bahama, may not be retried. It appears that lawyers for Mr.
Travolta have decided that their client will not proceed. If
this happens, another travesty of justice will have ended and perhaps Ms.
Bridgewater can then get on with her life. The first trial ended
in a mistrial in November last year and the matter is to come again on
20th September.
The Chinese Work Permits
Amidst all the hurrah about the issuing of 5000 work permits to Chinese
labourers to build the new Cable Beach Hotel properties, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs took time from his busy schedule to tell us last week that
he had issued 88 work permits for Chinese to build the embassy in Nassau
and to repair the home of the Ambassador. His point we guess is 88
or 5,000 same difference was we say in The Bahamas.
BEC Warns More Cuts
There were power cuts aplenty in New Providence last week. We
reported here last week that a BEC engineer had warned us that there would
be at least three weeks of load shedding in New Providence because they
simply did not have the capacity to meet the demand. Last week BEC
announced that they simply can't afford to fix the equipment, they have
no money and the machines have broken down and there will be blackout after
blackout for two hours at a time for some time. Same old excuses.
The point is that the power is off and they can’t keep the power on.
Phenton Neymour, the BEC Minister, showed again how clueless the FNM Ministers
are by the priceless comment in the Nassau Guardian last week that he was
not aware that there were power cuts. Duh!
PLP Delegation In Long Island
PLP Deputy Leader Philip Brave Davis accompanied by Fred Mitchell MP
Fox Hill and party officials Vice Chair Randy Rolle, PLP Fox Hill Tammi
Ferguson Culmer and former Senator Audley Hanna paid a visit to Long Island
to help organize the branches in Long Island. Mr. Davis and Mr. Mitchell
then went on to Exuma for the funeral of the wife of Pastor Cedric Smith
and then Mr. Davis went on to Cat Island for the funeral of the mother
of Melvin Seymour the former administrator and now Chief of Protocol.
