Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 4 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2006
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The line in the sand is now drawn for the election year 2007. The line divides those who support National Health Insurance and those who say they support it but are playing games. The Prime Minister Perry Christie put it starkly to the nation. The PLP proposes to go ahead with National Health Insurance. It may not be perfect but we have to start otherwise there will be no change in the country. His address was passionate and dynamic, Mr. Christie at his best. That is why we chose this photograph of the Prime Minister in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 29th November in full thrall as our photo of the week. You may click here for the Prime Minister's full intervention in the House of Assembly. The Nassau Guardian photo is by Letisha Henderson. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
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When the news seeped back to Nassau that Winston Saunders had died on Saturday 25th November, the collective heart of the nation sunk. Here was a man at 65 years old, a wartime baby named after Winston Churchill, a brilliant man: gone, dead. What else could you say? The words of W.H. Auden the poet come to mind: “The stars are not wanted now; put out the sun, / Pour away the ocean and sweep the woods, / For nothing now can ever come to any good.”
Death often leaves us speechless. We know that it is a fact of life and it must come but when it comes, that knowledge hardly gives us any satisfaction. The fact is that we only then begin to see the life of the individual in perspective, how he fit into the whole.
Winston Saunders, 65, was a relatively young man though in a young country he was an old man, and had become the griot, the éminence grise; told the stories of the past. He was the protector of our heritage. When you could not find a definition of what was Bahamian and you needed an answer quickly, you thought right away: “Call Winston!” Virtually nothing in the area of cultural policy in this country from Independence to now has been decided without him.
The alter ego of Winston was the late Clement Bethel. Mr. Bethel was the country’s first Director of Culture. He helped to bring Junkanoo into the mainstream as a serious art. He was part of the establishment, having studied ethnomusicology and he confirmed what we knew as Bahamians in our hearts that Junkanoo was just all right. The two men set out in this independent Bahamas to shape and protect our heritage. Clement died too young of a genetically inherited kidney disease. Winston sat at the side of his widow Keva and with his children. Clement's daughter Nicolette is now the Director of Culture and she paid tribute to Winston as a man who was like her father.
But Winston’s writ was large as he went on to write plays, sing in the Renaissance Singers, to play the organ at church, to teach at school, to work as an attorney, to work as a magistrate, to advise the late Sir Lynden Pindling as Chair of the Quincentennial Commission. He wanted to leave a lasting legacy for the country and during that time he founded the National Youth Choir, the National Children's Choir, the National Youth Orchestra, and the National Dance Company. Lastly and finally he was an advisor to Prime Minister Perry Christie as the Head of the Cultural Commission and helped to design the National Heroes Bill and the National Honours Bill. Working with Winston and Clement was the now late Kayla Edwards.
So the three are now gone, the leading cultural lights of their time Clement, Winston and Kayla. The cartoonist Stan Burnside paid tribute in his own way with a cartoon that said there would be joy in heaven.
Mr. Saunders was the intellectual guiding light for so many young men and women. He was the shoulder upon which so many leaned. People had come to expect that he was strong and indestructible. Just ask Winston and he had the answer. Just call Winston and he came. He was always there and could always be depended upon. But at 65 his body broke and failed him and he passed away from time into eternity in a hospital bed in Kingston, Jamaica.
There were tributes aplenty that came. Leading the tribute was Perry Christie, the Prime Minister. It seems that he has been to too many funerals these days of young people. This week he also buried Pat Bain, a victim of colon cancer, at the age of 62. He described Winston as an intellectual guiding light for the country.
Perhaps we are unable to appreciate fully what someone’s role is while they are living. In shaping a nation, it seemed to be Winston’s role in life to keep us on the cultural straight and narrow, to make sure that as we developed we did not stray far from our roots. Our society’s grip on itself is so fragile and so shallow that it requires an authoritative voice to say “That is not Bahamian”. Winston provided that for us all.
It is hard to think who fills his shoes. Maybe it is not possible to fill his shoes. Perhaps even the notion is disrespectful to him and the next generation of leaders in this area. But we think that there are thankfully many others on the horizon. You have Jackson Burnside, the One Family Junkanoo leader, developing nicely into a story teller of his own. Then you have Arlene Nash who is coming into her own. There is no one yet though on the horizon that is that cultural icon that is the authoritative voice for public policy. It will obviously come in time.
Each generation will play its part but as they play their part it will surely be clear that what was left behind by Winston Saunders was important and overarching and will heavily influence what comes next.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 2nd December 2006 at midnight: 108,795.
Number of hits for the month of November up to Thursday 30th November 2006 at midnight: 447,710.
Number of hits for the year 2006 up to Saturday 2nd December 2006
at midnight: 4,469,675.
PAT
BAIN IS BURIED
Patrick Bain died when he was just 62 years old.
Trade unionists from around the country came to pay their last respects
in the Christ Church Cathedral on Friday 1st December to the man who was
a moving force in the trade union movement since he was a young man and
for almost a generation. Mr. Bain was latterly the President of the
largest and most influential union in the country the Bahamas Hotel Catering
and Allied Workers Union. He lost the election in May of this year.
He died after a long struggle with colon cancer. He was also the
President of the National Congress of Trade Unions, the nation’s largest
umbrella union. The labour leaders, the politicians, other civic
and religious leaders and ordinary Bahamians showed up in their hundreds
to say farewell.
Speaking at the service were Pat Bain's successors
in the movement Robert Farqhuarson, the President of the Telecommunications
Union; Frank Carter, retired President of the Airline Workers Union; and
John Pinder, the acting President of the NCTU and head of the Bahamas Public
Services Union. Prime Minister Perry Christie spoke on behalf of
the nation and paid tribute to Mr. Bain’s vision as a trade unionist to
move beyond the pure bread and butter issues to the wider concerns of the
movement. You may click here for
the Prime Minister’s full address.
Bahama Journal photo
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN EUROPE
Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister of The Bahamas,
returned to The Bahamas from Europe today 3rd December. While in
Europe, he attended the Caribbean Caucus meeting with the European Union
on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements in Brussels, Belgium.
He then went to Madrid, Spain for a conference of donors to Haiti.
His final stop was the United Kingdom where he met with officials of the
Bahamas Maritime Authority.
You may click
here for the Minister’s statement in Madrid supporting the efforts of the
international community in Haiti and reaffirming the commitment of The
Bahamas to support Haiti.
Nassau Guardian front page photo
FREEPORT
FROM BAD TO WORSE
It appears that the intervention of Prime Minister
Perry Christie in Freeport was not enough to hold back the hand of one
of the sides in the dispute that is raging over control of the Port Authority.
The press reported during the week that the Prime Minister travelled to
Freeport to see whether or not he could persuade the sides to settle their
differences. The Prime Minister has now become concerned about the
dispute affecting the ability of Freeport to continue to attract investments.
While the Prime Minister was meeting with the sides,
however, one side, that of the widow of the late Edward St. George Lady
Henrietta represented by Harvey Tynes Q.C. and former Senator Damien Gomez;
was appearing before a judge of the Court in Nassau to ask for an ex parte
(one side present) order to restrain Hannes Babak from running the Grand
Bahama Port Authority and to appoint a receiver to run the company until
the Court can sort out what belongs to who. The adjourned hearing
is slated for 11th December when both sides will be present. No word
on what action if any has been taken by the other side headed by Sir Jack
Hayward in response to the court action.
The receivers are Clifford and Myles Culmer accountants
of the firm Mann Judd. They announced that they had been into the
business and that all the employees were co-operating. This seemed
to bring a measure of calm to the situation and probably is the best solution
in the short term. As to the law this order appears a bit strange
that a person who is the major shareholder in a company, purportedly 75
percent, cannot run the company as he wishes to run his company and appoint
who he wishes to run the company.
Later in the week, the St. George side also announced
that it had gotten leave to proceed with a committal hearing against Hannes
Babak for refusing to turn over certain documents to them as ordered by
Justice John Lyons in a previous order. The knock on effects of this
seem to be quite serious not only for the persons involved but also because
of the adverse publicity this is all bringing to the city of Freeport.
One thing is clear no matter who is wrong or right,
the division of the families that own the Port was the result of a bad
decision by Sir Jack Hayward. At 84 years old and with no experience
of running a company, Sir Jack should really allow Sir Albert Miller who
knows the company and its inner workings, who is trusted by both sides
to get on with arranging a transition to a sensible Bahamian management.
The Government itself needs to decide and quickly
how to intervene and we think that the best idea so far is to join the
action for the receivership as an interested party and try to broker a
solution. One thing seems certain: Hannes Babak must go. It
appears that until he does this saga is going to continue and the adverse
publicity will not stop.
A
CHIEF JUSTICE DOES NOT CLARIFY
Last week shortly after we uploaded, the Chief Justice
of The Bahamas Sir Burton Hall appeared on the radio talked show Jones
and Company. Many people tuned in thinking that he would be able
to shed some judicial light on what is going on re the rulings or statements
of the Justice John Lyons from the Bench and the public responses from
the House of Assembly and in the public domain by the Attorney General
Allyson Maynard on the state of the Judiciary in The Bahamas. Does
he agree for example that the Judiciary and the Judge are under threat
by the Government? The result: the public is none the wiser.
The Chief Justice's comments were circumspection
to the point of obfuscation and confusion. Press as they might the
interviewers Wendall Jones and Godfrey Eneas were able to shed no light
on the facts on the matter save and except what we already know.
The Courts are continuing to function; the matter
has been appealed and so far it appears that the opinion about the state
of the Judiciary in The Bahamas by Justice Lyons is not an opinion that
is shared from the Bench. The Chief Justice did say that some parts
of a Judge's rulings are part of the actual decision (the ratio); other
parts are not (obiter). This is lawyer speak for some parts have
judicial effects, others do not and are of no more value than the comments
of the rest of us on the streets. The Chief Justice did not go further
with regard to Justice Lyons’ rulings. The result, we await the word
from the Court of Appeal that apparently is packing up from its headquarters
and incredibly won’t be sitting because the Privy Council is coming to
town to sit, using the premises of the Court of Appeal to hear cases.
IN PASSING
Case Against MP Dismissed
We reported in this column (click
here for the report) that Kenyatta Gibson MP was before the courts
in a paternity suit. The matter made headlines in the Bahamian press, interested
as they are in the salacious details of the private lives of public individuals.
The press now reports that the matter was settled and the case was dismissed
before the magistrate. There was a settlement it appears. No
terms were announced and both lawyers are said to not be able to release
any information about the settlement.
World Aids Day 1st December 2006
We salute those who fight against Aids. We
salute those who have the disease and are still fighting for a life free
from discrimination and with dignity. We support life.
Letter Writer Dead Wrong on PLP
Margaret Cooper is a letter writer to the Nassau
Guardian on 28th November. She was seeking to defend the grant in
five days after expiry of the spousal permit of Hubert Ingraham’s son-in
law a permanent residence permit by the FNM administration. She claims
that this shows the PLP’s true colours. She claims that it has always
been the position of the PLP that the foreign spouses of Bahamian women
should be excluded from the country. We don’t know if this is a real
person or a nom de plume. The FNM’s dirty tricks campaign is so extensive.
Ms. Cooper should really get her facts straight.
Shane Gibson, the Minister of Immigration, raised the issue of Mr. Ingraham’s
son in law in the defence of the attacks on his Anna Nicole decision to
show that the son in law got preferential treatment which he did simply
because he was Mr. Ingraham’s son in law. The FNM left hundreds of
other permanent residence permit application for Bahamian women untouched
but granted Mr. Ingraham’s son in law’s permit in record time and in preference
to others in the line. In fact the spousal permit law was passed
to accommodate Mr. Ingraham's son in law.
The other point with regard to the treatment of
Bahamian women in law: this comes from the constitution. The constitution
was agreed by both parties at the constitutional talks in London in 1972
and the provisions found their way into law with the consent of the both
the FNM and the PLP. In fact the FNM left the conference to get home
for Christmas 1972 leaving the PLP to settle the details that both parties
had generally agreed.
Virgin Atlantic Withdraws From The Bahamas
It has been announced that Virgin Atlantic is withdrawing
from The Bahamas beginning March 2007. The airline says that this
has the support of the Ministry of Tourism of The Bahamas. Strange!
The rationale is that with the Bahamar project on Cable Beach withdrawing
rooms out of the inventory so that new hotels can be rebuilt there will
not be sufficient rooms to fill the requirements of Virgin’s passengers
in the spring of 2007. However, some are arguing that the planes
are not flying with enough passengers.
On Ian Strachan
Ian Strachan is a playwright, a lecturer at the
College of The Bahamas, and an iconoclast who is perpetually dissatisfied.
His most recent foray into the realm of dissatisfaction was his recent
column on the National Health Insurance programme on Thursday 20th November.
He is one mixed up fellow on this. Instead of helping to promote
a sensible policy on National Health Insurance, helping the country to
flesh out the programme, Mr. Strachan has chosen to go on the attack.
His arguments come off as petulant and silly. He claims that the
PLP did nothing for four years and has now waited until the last moment
to pass this National Health Insurance Bill without consultation and rushing
and that this is the PLPs’ equivalent to the referendum of 2002.
He claims that the FNM is going to win the election even though he says
they don’t deserve to.
Up to this time one tended to rate people like Cassius
Stuart, Omar Smith and Ian Strachan in a special category of persons who
genuinely had intellectual thoughts in their head and wanted to help, not
rabid FNMs even who simply don’t have a sense of history and want to destroy
the PLP. No more. It is clear that these persons should now
be put in the FNM category. They simply don't want the PLP to be
in power. Mr. Stuart and Mr. Smith influence hardly anyone at all
but for their nuisance value. The problem is Mr. Strachan is busy
talking to our students every day. That is quite another matter.
The arguments put forward in his last column are not worthy of an intellectual
and worst of all are inaccurate. Further there is no evidence that
he sought to get the facts and the truth. Axiom number one in Bahamian
journalism: don’t let the truth interfere with a good story.
The BDM Clowns
It takes two to have a clown show. That’s
the way it seems. Cassius Stuart and Omar Smith: you remember them.
They have an extra parliamentary party that utterly failed to impress the
electorate, all of them losing their election deposits and collectively
getting not even one hundred votes back in 2002. They are really
a pressure group of two. The problem is that they are now widely discredited
because they pop up only when there is some sexy political issue and they
have their say, and then slink away into the dark. They try to straddle
the fence.
Recently the two reminded Hubert Ingraham of his
legacy of corruption and that he could not attack the PLP on the issue.
Two days later they had to say that there should be a Commission of Inquiry
on PLP corruption and that if the PLP did not agree the BDM supporters
led by Smith and Stuart will try to take the mace out of the House as they
did on the FNM. You will remember the PLP supported them in working
for the case against them to be dismissed. Ungrateful wretches.
This time if they show up at the House fire should be met with fire.
PM
LAUNCHES NATIONAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN
The Prime Minister Perry Christie launched the National Health Insurance
Bill by moving for the second reading of the Bill in the House of Assembly
on Wednesday 29th November. There is no doubt that National Health
Insurance is a good idea. But the PLP and the Government should be
warned that they are in great danger of losing the public battle on this
if they do not quickly reorganize themselves and get professional help
and stop trying to fight this like they were trying to convince a village
of 50,000 people 60 years ago. The Bahamas is not like that any more.
The PLP and the Government as they face elections
are faced with a slick and dishonest campaign of rumours and half truths
about this initiative which can easily wreck the policy and destabilize
the chances for elections. Already, the FNM led opposition to this
is characterizing this as the PLP’s version of the 2002 referendum.
That refers to the disastrous campaign by Hubert Ingraham in 2002 just
before the elections to force constitutional changes down the throats of
the public. There was a revolt. The FNM lost. We
think that there is no comparison here but remember this is a society that
operates on the principle: don’t let the truth interfere with a good story.
The FNM has gone on record as opposing national
health insurance. The PLP has not responded on a broad enough front.
It still seems like the PM and his Minister of Health are trying to fight
this battle alone. Other Ministers and his party do not seem to have
been empowered to get on the front lines and get this thing going.
Some help came from Tennyson Wells, the independent MP who supported it
in the House. Some support came from an unlikely quarter in the names
of Paul Moss (pictured on right) and Fayne Thompson (pictured on left)
who have been on the opposing side of every other issue led by the PLP
this term. That is good but the current is against the PLP on this
in the public media.
The idea is supported by the people as a whole but
the confusion being thrown out by these dishonest protesters and some carpetbaggers
like Cassius Stuart and Omar Smith of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM),
could easily cause a good policy to go down. So we congratulate the
Prime Minister on making the decision to go forward with this framework
legislation. The regulations will come later and with greater detail
after further consultations. Do not be deterred but do not be blind
either and allow yourself to be swamped by a slick campaign of disinformation
with the PLP having no competent response to the campaign.
Nassau Guardian photo by Letisha Henderson
TENNYSON
WELLS MP IN HIS OWN WORDS
The Bahama Journal reported that the independent Bamboo Town MP Tennyson
Wells alleged in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 29th November that
the Ingraham administration including Mr. Ingraham himself should not chastise
others for a lack of consultation. He said that Mr. Ingraham ought
to look at his own record. Mr. Wells was speaking to the issue of
whether or not there was sufficient consultation with the public on National
Health Insurance. The FNM speakers at a recent rally in New Providence
accused the PLP of not consulting enough. This is strange on their
part because up to recent times, the FNM has been arguing that the Prime
Minister consults too much and can’t make a decision. Mr. Wells recalled
the Anna Nicole Smith case which has so exercised the FNM in leading an
attack on Shane Gibson, the Minister of Immigration who was accused of
rushing Ms. Smith’s permanent residency without the proper due diligence.
According to Mr. Wells former Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham suppressed information on the character of a Ron Kelly, the developer
of the British Colonial Hilton when he was granted permanent residence
during the FNM’s time in office.
The Bamboo Town MP said that Mr. Kelly, who reportedly
bought the British Colonial Hotel in 1997, was the owner of Horizons, the
million dollar Eastern Road residence which is now the subject of litigation
in the courts between Anna Nicole Smith and a friend Ben Thompson who also
claims to be the owner. Mr. Wells charged that Mr. Kelly was a pedophile,
pointing out that he had been charged with the sexual assault of five Canadian
boys. He also said that Mr. Kelly robbed a pension fund in Canada
of a charitable organization and fled to Panama. The result of Mr.
Kelly’s action was that receivers took control of the British Colonial.
Mr. Wells said that in the purchase of the hotel
there was not proper consultation with the Cabinet. He said “somebody
who made the final decision to make the deal, had to know if they did due
diligence, had to know that this guy was a pedophile because he pleaded
guilty in Canada to (sexual assault on five) young boys and that information
was suppressed. Ninety percent of the Cabinet didn’t know anything
about it.”
According to Mr. Wells, Mr. Ingraham knew of Mr.
Kelly’s past. He asserted that the Ministers of Finance and Tourism
should have done due diligence and should have known the facts as well.
Mr. Wells said that when there is an accusation of lack of consultation
as there is now, the public should view the accusations in light of what
happened under the FNM. In other words the pot is calling the kettle
black. He said that the FNM are talking about the lack of consultation
on health care and yet “you’re bringing people like that to live among
the people on the Eastern Road. Either they knew or they ought to
have known (about Kelly’s past) if they did due diligence, and if they
had consulted properly and given advice to everybody who should have been
appraised of all the facts, that may not have happened,” he said.
“The fellow now, on all the evidence, has ripped
off the pension funds in Canada and run away down in Panama.”
This is dynamite and we wonder what the great leader
Hubert Ingraham now has to say.
CARTOON
BY STAN FOR WEDNESDAY 29/11
The cartoonist Stan Burnside is often a barometer
of what the country is thinking or reflecting on in good times and in bad.
The cartoon we show is that which appeared in The Nassau Guardian on Wednesday
29th November 2006. In it, the cartoonist reflects the joy of the
representative of Fox Hill for the donation given by the Clipper Group
and the Dockendale Group to Fox Hill’s Original Congos (click
here for last week’s photo of the week). We thought that
we should share it with you.
PLP PAPER
At last the PLP has taken the proper steps to counteract
the propaganda that The Tribune, Guardian and Punch have all engaged in
to destabilize the PLP. It’s called PLP TODAY. We have a pdf
version of it that you may read or download here. Congratulations
to the Chairman of the PLP Raynard Rigby.
MP
TALKS TOURISM TO HIGHSCHOOLERS
Parliamentary Secretary at Tourism and Member of
Parliament for Carmichael Mr. John Carey spoke to the seniors of C V Bethel
Senior high school on a career in Tourism. He encouraged the 12th
grade students to consider working in the tourism industry either as business
owners or employees after graduation. "Tourism is the key contributor to
our country's economy", says Carey. He gave the students a summary
of some of the opportunities that will be available for them in the years
ahead.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
The FNM and their hypocrisy
This week, a letter writer tackles the FNM’s stance
on National Health Insurance in detail, pointing out that the FNM “is not
associated with anything in terms of social justice in this country”.
“For them” he says, “no time would be right time.” He brands the
FNM as a “party of the elite who can afford private health insurance” with
a dog in the manger attitude toward NHI. Please click
here for the full text of the letter. It's a well researched
and comprehensive statement - Editor
Freeporters Beware of Hoodwinkers
There is no denying that there is terrible trouble
in Freeport. The economy is abysmal, foreign investor confidence
is at an all time low and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) is undeniably
in trouble. Everyone is finding reasons for this situation, but there
was an article in the November 22nd Tribune that really made me stop and
think seriously about the stability of the management infrastructure of
the GBPA and its effect on what is happening in our nation’s second city.
For a very long time, I have been questioning
the wisdom behind the GBPA’s wholesale housecleaning of upstanding, professional
Bahamians in their management. Similarly, I have been trying to understand
the logic of the decision to appoint Hannes Babak as the Chairman of the
GBPA. However, with this Tribune article, sadly I am beginning to
understand what might be going on within the GBPA.
In this story, Sir Jack Hayward states that he
was “hoodwinked” into signing a document a few months ago. Notwithstanding
what the document was, it is shocking to me that this man who purports
to own 75% of the GBPA and its group of companies could admit to such a
failing. How could this happen to a man who is ultimately in charge
of this quasi-government entity? And, if he was “hoodwinked” into
signing such an important document, what else has he been “hoodwinked”
into doing?
There is no question that Sir Jack has been involved
in the running of the GBPA along with the late Edward St. George for decades.
But now, by his own admission, he is subject to being “hoodwinked” into
doing what he does not want to do. How, then, can we, the licensees
of the GBPA, believe that he is not being “hoodwinked” on a daily basis
as regards the running of the GBPA? How can we ever feel confident
in his decisions again, not knowing if they are really his or if they are
decisions thrust upon him by those within the GBPA who would take advantage
of someone who is in reality an elderly man who admittedly is vulnerable
to being “hoodwinked”? It leaves so many of us, including the residents,
licensees and potential foreign investors to question just what, conflicting
and pernicious schemes are being concocted by those at the helm of the
Port Authority to further “hoodwink” the Honorary Chairman and the people
of Freeport.
I am very concerned. I would like to suggest
that the GBPA take a good look at exactly who is in charge and move swiftly
to put in place people who are not prone to being “hoodwinked” and who
actually know what it is they are signing at all times. For the good
of everyone in Freeport, in Grand Bahama and in the entire Bahamas, I would
like to suggest that, for its very survival and the survival of every man,
woman and child it touches, the GBPA replace their vulnerable and aging
management with vibrant, untarnished and dynamic Bahamians who can move
the GBPA into the 21st century and stabilize the economic life of Freeport
once and for all.
Senator Philip C. Galanis
NIB HQ Named for Sir Clifford Darling
Prime Minister Perry Christie lauded the first Minister
of National Insurance Sir Clifford Darling as a hero of the country
this past week as Sir Clifford was honoured with the naming of the National
Insurance Headquarters after him. Sir Clifford and Lady Igrid Darling
are pictured above after the unveiling with the Prime Minister; NIB Chairman
Philip Davis, Governor General Arthur Hanna and Minister of Health &
National Insurance Dr. Bernard Nottage. Please click
here for the Prime Minister full remarks honouring Sir Clifford.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
HUBERT INGRAHAM’S PROBLEMS
Hubert Ingraham has a problem. He is quite clearly bored.
He has been there and done that. But his megalomaniacal complex has
led him to the present course of destruction on which he is now embarked.
He has convinced himself and he has convinced his Members of Parliament
that they are going to win. They have convinced themselves that the
National Health Insurance programme as proposed by the PLP is the PLP’s
equivalent to their referendum debacle in 2002 and that history is repeating
itself. He has convinced them that all they need to do is to follow
behind him in lock step and he will lead them to the Promised Land.
It was embarrassing to watch his display in the House of Assembly on Wednesday
6th December when he got up and spoke, capitulated the FNM’s position and
then sat down and stopped the rest of them from speaking. All of
them after promising that they would rail against the Bill sat silent and
said not one word thereafter. They then all voted for the bill but
for those who were absent.
Hubert Ingraham has a problem. It is a deep-seated issue about his roots. You will remember that during the time that he was Prime Minister he was constantly up on public platforms talking about how he was in his words a “bastard” who did not know his father until late in life. He would then add the equivalent of “but look at me now”. Yes indeed Mama, he had become the Prime Minister; but to this day, it appears that he can’t shake the sense that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t belong and so he holds it against others that they were born into the middle class, such as that may mean for any black person born into The Bahamas of the 1950s and 1960s. All of us were in a struggle of one degree or another. The fact is we all survived as Martin Luther King said it on “the content of our character” not because we were born into any particular station in life. So we have said it time and time again that Mr. Ingraham ought to get a life, get over it and move on. We are convinced that this is what drives him now in this ruinous campaign to his health and the well being of his family and that of his party to become Prime Minister again. The problem is that he is going to take some well meaning dupes like Zhivargo Laing, the former Minister down with him.
How does Mr. Ingraham spend a day at the House of Assembly? He does not spend it in the House itself doing the people’s business but rather socializing with his members, and then seeking to intimidate the younger PLP members by his harsh speak. He seeks to speak as if he is the Pope; infallible, the font of all knowledge that cannot be contradicted. He then seeks to make predictions about the futures of other MPs of course forgetting that he now longer has power and given the internecine warfare within his own party it is unlikely that he will ever get state power again. When it’s not that modus operandi, he simply comes to the House to mark himself present and then walks out again and leaves never to be seen for the rest of the day.
Hubert Ingraham had a problem. He could not decide which side he should be on in the most recent debate on how health care was going to be supplied and how it would be paid for. When he was speaking at the rally in New Providence not two weeks ago, he gave the clear impression that this party would not and could not support national health insurance. He said that the contribution that each person would have to pay to national health was a tax. This is wrong as his stooge Zhivargo Laing has now belatedly admitted. What then happened between the time of the rally and the time of his presentation in the House? What happened was that the FNM and Mr. Ingraham decided that they did not want to be on the wrong side of history. Their arguments were too nuanced in having to explain in simple terms why they were opposed to a heath programme that would assist poor people.
The PLP’s point was quite simple: are you for helping poor and middle class people to be able to pay for their health care? If you are for that, then you should be supporting the Bill. If you are against that then, you are against the Bill. The unfortunate thing about politics is that sometimes in order to sell an idea you have to reduce the matter to its simplest essence. The notion put the FNM and Mr. Ingraham on the defensive because in his mind no one knows more about being poor than he does. No one and especially Perry Christie, in Mr. Ingraham’s mind knows more about being poor than he does. Mr. Ingraham thinks then he has a monopoly on the poor. Not only does he not have a monopoly on the poor. He does not represent their interests and unfortunately he has allowed himself and his party to be seen as mean spirited, scrooge like and disgusting. When the polls were taken by their advisors, (the same advisors that urged him to keep his mouth shut as long as he could so that he would not energize the PLP’s base) Mr. Ingraham did a quick about face and after railing against the Bill in his intervention in the House, he said two things.
First, Mr. Ingraham agreed that a levy, that’s the word he used, would be needed to fund national health insurance. A levy is a tax. What the PLP proposes is a contribution by each working person between 16 and 65 of a fee equal to 2.65 per cent of their income with the other 2.65 per cent being contributed by the employer. Nowhere else in this Bahamas today can you get health care for that level of payment. It is not perfect but it is a start.
Hubert Ingraham has a problem. It is a political problem. It is how is he going to get over the ill will and bad feelings that he has engendered in his party and in the country on this issue that makes him simply look cheap and mean. His work seems to be that of Satan and not that of the Lord.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 9th December 2006 at midnight: 84,970.
Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 9th December 2006 at midnight: 104,036.
Number of hits for the year 2006 up to Saturday 9th December 2006
at midnight: 4,554,645.
NATIONAL
HEATH BILL PASSES THE HOUSE
The collapse of the FNM opposition to National Health
Insurance (NHI) in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 6th December should
not cause the PLP to let its guard down. We must come out swinging
because anyone who knows Hubert Ingraham must know that he does not mean
a word he says. This recent sidestep of voting for the Bill while
all the lead up to the debate suggested that they would be voting against
it is just a ruse to get the PLP to let down its guard and then he will
try to pick NHI apart with a thousand little criticisms. Let us remain
resolute.
Prime Minister Christie in summing up the debate
answered the questions of the critics about whether or not the scheme would
bankrupt the country, the issue of what services the public would get and
the PLP’s commitment to the poor. You may click
here for the full address of the Prime Minister as he wrapped up the debate.
When the vote took place, there was a division requested by the government
which meant that the yeas and the nays would be individually counted.
When the votes were all in, there were 31 yeas including all opposition
members present. The Opposition members had already indicated that
they would vote for the Bill. During the vote count when they were
challenged by the PLP to speak their minds, Brent Symonette, the Deputy
Leader of the FNM rose and said that if he could vote by proxy he would
vote all the votes of the absent FNM members in favour of the Bill.
In contributing to the House debate, Minister of
Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell said that he had
determined that National Health Insurance was certainly the best thing
for his constituents and he would rise or fall with it. You may click
here for the full address of Minister Mitchell.
Among other contributors to the House debate was
Minister of Works Bradley Roberts. Mr. Roberts said that the nation
must undergo a radical revolution of values, shifting from a ‘thing-oriented’
society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. “When machines and computers, profit
motives and property rights are considered more important than people,
the giant twins of selfishness, and materialism, are incapable of being
conquered”. Please click here for Minister
Roberts full address.
Prime Minister Perry Christie holds aloft a copy of the Progressive
Liberal Party platform 'Our Plan' as he closes the House of Assembly debate
on National Health Insurance. BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
THE
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Hubert Ingraham and the FNM braved the cold weather
again in Freeport to hold a rally in Grand Bahama to officially introduce
their candidates to Grand Bahama. The candidates are Ken Russell,
High Rock (incumbent); Neko Grant, Lucaya (incumbent); Zhivargo Laing,
Marco City; Kwasi Thompson, Pineridge; Vernae Grant, Eight Mile Rock; David
Wallace, West End and Bimini. Mr. Ingraham had little else to talk
about. He went down the list of each Minister to say something about
what they had not done. This is pathetic really. He does not
have an issue to grab and run with in the sense that he can say what programmes
the FNM will promote if (God forbid) they come to power.
Instead of seeking to denigrate the PLP Ministers
Mr. Ingraham must explain to the country and his people in Freeport how
he started off attacking National Health Insurance and then did an about
face without consultation with them. It was really sad to see the
six grown men, all FNM MPs, sitting up listening to their leader in the
House on Wednesday 6th December only to hear him pull the surprise that
the FNM was now supporting the Bill and further that they were enjoined
from entering the debate. So the people’s representatives, sent there
to speak on their behalf were silenced. They were like the lambs
going to the slaughter. We regret the silence of the lambs.
LESLIE
MILLER – QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“IS THERE A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING?” – House of Assembly
on the National Health debate Wednesday 6th December 2006
PLP
WOMEN SUPPORT NHI
According to Chairman, Dr. Madelin Sawyer, the Executives
and members of the Progressive Liberal Party’s New Providence Women’s Branch
wholeheartedly support the National Health Insurance Plan. According
to Dr. Sawyer, women especially have several very good reasons why such
a plan would be beneficial not only to the country as a whole but to women
in particular.
“Firstly, statistically, women tend to live longer
than men. Consequently they have a longer time during which such medical
services may be needed.
“Secondly, women tend to be the caregivers for our
children, elderly parents and other relatives. Again, during the
time they are likely to have that responsibility, those individuals most
probably will require health care and medications.
“Thirdly, the recent living standards survey has
revealed that the majority of the poor in our country are women. Additionally,
a number of them are single heads of households. By extension, this
would suggest that these women are more likely to need assistance with
access to adequate health care services for themselves and their families.
“We all realize and accept that there is no perfect
plan and no perfect time in which to introduce such a plan! But if
not now, when? Can we as a caring nation afford to wait any longer to provide
the comfort and security of adequate health care for our citizens?
“We feel that for any such national plan to succeed,
ALL of the stakeholders need to cooperate and try to make it work for the
good of ALL.
“There must be efficiency and prudence at all levels.
The public must not take advantage of the system and try to abuse it. We
must see it as our duty to pay our contributions fairly. Additionally,
health care providers must endeavour to provide fair, efficient and satisfactory
service.
“At the end of the day the maxim that ‘an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ has to be taken seriously by ALL.
Healthy lifestyles must become the order of the day for all of us. It is
only in this way that the chronic diseases will be curtailed and minimized.
However, when chronic and catastrophic illnesses threaten our families
and friends, we want to know that they will have access to the best care
available.
“We feel that all right thinking people will
agree with the New Providence Women’s Branch of the Progressive Liberal
Party that this access to adequate affordable health care is a right, not
a privilege, for ALL Bahamians, irrespective of age, sex or economic status.
We join with all right thinking Bahamians and say with one voice: LET US
MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW. LET US BE THE MODEL FOR THE REST OF THE REGION
AND THE WORLD. LET US BE THE LEADERS IN SHOWING THE REGION AND THE
WORLD HOW A NATION FULL OF HEALTHY PEOPLE CAN BE MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL AND
SECURE.”
JACK
THE TWIT AND THE GRAND BAHAMA MESS
Sir Jack Hayward, the largest shareholder in the Grand Bahama Port Authority
(according to him) has been to court several times during the week in Nassau.
His picture has been in the press with Hannes Babak the now ousted Chairman
of the Grand Bahama Port Authority. The two were seen smiling together.
The other familiar Grand Bahama group was that of Lady Henrietta St. George
and her family who were also in court as they battled over who owns the
Port Authority.
The Sunday Mail in Britain ran a two page spread
in their last week’s edition in which Jack Hayward repeated his comment
that he made to Lady Henrietta St. George “If you are being raped, you
may as well lay back and enjoy it.” He told the Mail that he did
make the statement and he had no regrets about making the statement.
This only shows his actions are those of what we would call a complete
and utter twit. He lacks all sense and sensibility about the precarious
state that he has put his company in by his most recent foolish decisions.
The Government intervened in the matter when former
Attorney General Paul Adderley was apparently asked to seek an adjournment
of the Court as an ‘amicus curiae’ or friend of the court to be able to
craft a settlement. It appears that some kind of settlement is still
being worked out with the Receivers appointed by the Court Myles and Clifford
Culmer staying on as consultants and running the company. Mr. Babak
is to stay out for at least another two months. This might calm inflamed
passions in the matter. Nothing can be done without the consent of
the receivers who are now to be called independent management consultants.
It appears that Lady Henrietta St. George is to get her office back in
the Port Building. All of this was put in place by a consent order.
The main thing is that each side seems to have won
a little. First Babak is out for two months at least and we think
quite possibly forever. Secondly, Fred Smith, the lawyer, who in
the most odious manner has been seeking to fight the case in the public,
has to keep his mouth shut. But this is quite a ridiculous situation
for a company that needs dynamic leadership to rescue the dire economic
situation that the city now finds itself in.
Sir Jack Hayward left; Hannes Babak - Nassau Guardian photo by Farenno
Ferguson
THIS
FELLOW ZHIVARGO LAING
Being on the wrong side of history is really quite
a problem for a young man, particularly one who is so desperate to
get back into the House of Assembly and now it appears will do almost anything
to get there. Mr. Laing, former Member of the Ingraham cabinet, has
been announced as one of six FNM candidates running in Grand Bahama in
the next election. He has been the most talkative, popping up on
radio stations and anywhere anyone would have him to spin his special brand
of unprincipled FNMism.
Leslie Miller, the PLP’s Minister of Agriculture
reminded the public on Wednesday 6th December in the House of Assembly
that this was a fellow who said that God told him not to run, to withdraw
from politics but Hubert Ingraham called him and told him “Take up your
cross and follow me.” Mr. Laing followed Mr. Ingraham instead of
listening to the voice of God. In that single act, he discredited
himself. He only made it worse by then seeking to savage National
Health Insurance, only to find at the end of the day his leader and “God”
Hubert Ingraham changed his mind about the subject without consulting him
and supported NHI. He is now busy back pedalling all over the place.
Sad, you know, when someone with a good education
who ought to know better can’t think for himself.
WINSTON
SAUNDERS IS INTERRED
In just over an hour it was over. We hope
that the Bahamian public and its leaders see how you can pay tribune to
an important man without stretching the thing out into forever. It
was simple, short and dignified. All the rights things were said,
the right hymns sung, the right pitch taken and then we were gone.
Winston Saunders CMG was memorialized in a service at the Christ Church
Cathedral where he worshipped on Friday 8th December. He was interred
in the columbarium on Tuesday 5th December in a private ceremony at the
church. He had earlier been cremated in Jamaica where he died.
At the public service, Mr. Saunders was lionized
by the Prime Minister Perry Christie as the leading cultural voice of his
generation, and said how he will be missed. You may click
here for the full tribute of the Prime Minister. Others speaking
were Keva Bethel and a letter was read on behalf of Professor Rex Nettleford
of Jamaica, the Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West
Indies. May he rest in peace! The Prime Minister is shown greeting
the widow Dr. Gail Saunders and relatives in this photo by Peter Ramsay
of the Bahamas Information Services.
GALANIS/PACO
NUNEZ (TRIBUNE) EXCHANGE
Today we print the letter from Paco Nunez, The Tribune
editor in response to a letter 'What International Media?' that we published
on this site 19th November by Senator Philip Galanis (PLP). Click here
for Senator Galanis’ original letter.
Mr. Nunez is one of the better writers at The Tribune
and is overall pretty fair with what he does – a bright young man.
The letter written by Mr. Nunez has now also been published in The Tribune
along with the letter of Mr. Galanis which The Tribune had earlier refused
to print. In a long explanation on Thursday 7th December, The Tribune
said that they intended to print the letter but they couldn’t get around
to it because there other more pressing letters in the queue.
Eileen Carron said that Senator Galanis’ criticisms
of The Triune showed how “dumb” he was about journalism. Of course
since Mrs. Carron can call someone dumb she probably knows one when she
sees one and when she wakes up and looks into the mirror she would then
happily recognize herself in that category. Not so Mr. Nunez and
generally not so the writers at The Tribune. Mr. Nunez has a well
written letter. He obviously went to great pains to review the letter
of Senator Galanis and to analyse its objects, reason and content, even
its grammar, spelling and syntax. Such was the importance to him.
Said he: “Nowhere in my article is it claimed or even suggested that the
stories were the work of foreign journalists.”
The problem is that it appears to us that Mr. Nunez
misses the point about the Galanis letter. Senator Galanis’ point
was that the origin of the judgment about the matter of Anna Nicole Smith
and its political impact in The Bahamas came not from some independent
overseas source but out of local reports that got their slant from the
local press that to be charitable have been less than fair about the matter.
The Anna Nicole Smith matter is not a political
problem for Shane Gibson or the PLP except inside The Tribune, perhaps
the Nassau Guardian and the FNM. They all happen to be on the same
side politically. Where is the objective evidence that it has in
any way affected Shane Gibson politically? None was cited and none
is there. The judgment of the political impact was entirely based
it appears on the subjective judgment of The Tribune and its allies.
So when these stories show up in the international media, the suspect is
The Tribune and its biases being represented abroad as objective fact when
the reality is that at best it is one newspaper’s anti government propaganda.
Now the question is whether or not that touches
and concerns the writers at The Tribune or the stringer who wrote it.
In one sense it does since they might have written the stories and so they
take umbrage at any suggestion that attacks their integrity. However
it is possible to be in play but from where you sit not to see the larger
picture. Some things should simply be left alone and we think the
response to Senator Galanis falls in that category. The Senator’s
comments are really aimed at the institutions and their biases not the
writers. No one will pretend, and we hope not for a minute will the
writers pretend that The Tribune is not infused throughout with an institutional
bias against the PLP that makes it incapable of balanced and fair reporting.
So the writers have a job to do, but it’s the Marquises and Carrons of
this world that are the problem; not the Nunezes.
You may click
here for the full response of Paco Nunez.
JOHN
CAREY’S CHURCH VISIT
John Carey, Member of Parliament for Carmichael
visited United Christian Church where Bishop Albert Hepburn is the senior
pastor. “There is strength in the transformative work that the church does
that is so essential to our overall development as a nation”, says Carey.
The Church is located in Flamingo Gardens in the Carmichael Constituency.
The photo shows Associate Ministers of the Church with MP Carey and Bishop
Albert Hepburn.
MARK
SYMONETTE CALLED TO THE BAR
Mark Symonette the former journalist for the Nassau
Guardian, The Tribune and latterly the Bahamas Information Services has
completed his law studies and was called to the Bar on Friday 8th December.
The whole journalistic fraternity salutes this smart and ambitious young
man on this accomplishment.
BIS photo: Patrick Hanna
IN PASSING
Peet Files Defamation Suit
Minister of Financial Services & Investment,
Vincent Peet MP has released that a writ for defamation has been filed
on his behalf, in connection with the recent FNM rally, which was broadcast
over radio.
The writ names Free National Movement leader Hubert
Ingraham, and Love97 radio.
“I have been involved in front line politics for
almost twenty five years”, said Minister Peet, “I cherish my reputation
and I owe a duty to my family, my constituents and myself to vigorously
defend it”.
“The courts will now deal with the matter”.
Ian Strachan’s Tribune to Winston Saunders
It looks like this man has finally learned to act
like a human being with some sense of civility and common decency.
What a pity it took the death of Winston Saunders to do it. Here
is what he had to say in his own words about Mr. Saunders who died at the
age of 65 in Jamaica on Sunday 25th November.
“… I have not always gotten along with Winston,
so I value that moment (the last time they saw each other) and others
like it. We have not always seen eye to eye but I have always respected
his contribution…
“I consider Winston the first among our playwrights,
and truly the first among the aforementioned founders of modern Bahamian
literature, primarily because he wrote with a poet’s sense of the terrible
importance of each word’s sound…
“So today I’m singing the blues for Winston.
We are still so far from where he wanted us to be.
“SON: And that night in our seven by eleven, I went
to sleep safe and dreamed of the lights of another city (from Winston’s
play called Horse).
“Sleep safe Winston. Sleep safe.”
Liquidity Situation in the Banks
The Central Bank has now publicly confirmed the
liquidity in the money system of The Bahamas. It is reportedly down
to 55.2 million dollars. Liquidity means that money that is available
in the system to lend. In October 2005 the liquidity in the system
was at 219.55 million dollars.
The situation today exists because of two things
that we confirmed in this column some time ago; the fact that there were
several large foreign exchange expenditures during this year: the purchase
of Winn Dixie by Bahamians and the purchase of Caribbean Bottling by Bahamians.
There has also been significant mortgage investment by Bahamians.
Add to this the regular draw down of merchants for good just before Christmas
and we find ourselves in this extraordinary situation.
The banks so far have been able to manage the issue
but there will be some tightening of consumer credit in the short term.
The Bank in its quarterly report said that in October 2006, the reserves
stood at 454.7 million dollars.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
In Defence of Ian Strachan
Why is it when someone criticizes or questions
the government / PLP you automatically label
them as FNM? The Ian Strachan that I know is not and has never
been a supporter of the FNM. As far as I am aware, Ian Strachan has
never voted in a general election. However, never let the facts interfere
with a good story, right!?
Vaughn NP Scriven
Touché! Monsieur Scriven. We stand suitably chastened.
But what a mercurial talent. The fact that he has never voted in
a general election if true is actually quite disgraceful. Does he
then have the right to speak to a result that he had nothing whatever to
shape? We were quite surprised this week that he actually was graceful
and decent enough to pay tribute to Winston Saunders in his death.
The way it was told in life it was like Winston who helped him significantly
in life never did anything to help. Just an all around strange guy.
- Editor
You can't pass without your passport
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative [WHTI]
implemented by the Bush administration will require all American citizens
and foreigners who are either entering or reentering the U.S. from The
Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico and Latin America by air
to present a passport as of January 23, 2007. Cruise travelers have until
June 1, 2009 to do so.
At first glance the issue might appear to be
a trivial one for U.S. citizens and the media, but upon closer inspection,
this is not the case. Initial statistics show that some 80% of Americans
traveling to Jamaica do so without a passport. The numbers are less for
The Bahamas - around 25%. The fact of the matter is that there is a very
real possibility that unprepared American visitors may choose to go somewhere
else on holiday, somewhere with less hassle.
Relative poverty in some Caribbean states may
therefore be replaced with abject poverty.
The Caribbean is not just America’s neighbor,
it is family, and it is in need.
The immediate hope is that Americans of Caribbean
heritage, or simply Americans with compassion, will get busy spreading
the word about the need for a passport.
Inter-Aid, a non-profit organization, registered
in the U.S. Virgin Islands says therefore, “Ahhh … the Caribbean, gateway
to paradise on earth … All are welcome but … YOU CAN’T PASS WITHOUT YOUR
PASSPORT!”
Faith Hall LL.B (Hons.)
Secretary General, Inter.-Aid
Prime Minister Christie delivers National Health Insurance Act
Prime Minister Perry Christie fulfilled a major
promise of his Government Thursday in the House of Assembly as the National
Insurance Act passed unanimously. The Prime Minister is pictured
delivering his closing address during the debate on the new legislation.
Tribute to Winston Saunders
The Prime Minister and Mrs. Christie attended the
memorial service for the late Winston Saunders CMG at Christ Church Cathedral
on Friday. The Christies are shown leaving the church with greetings
from Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder and Monsignor Preston Moss.
Junkanoo Seed Money
As Minister responsible for Culture, Prime Minister
Christie this past week has been involved in accepting a number of donations
to provide so called 'seed' money for various Junkanoo groups. Esso
dealers of New Providence visited Mr. Christie with a donation for Junior
Junkanoo.
More Junkanoo Seed Money
Donations to Junkanoo were also received from the
People's Republic of China and Bristol wine merchants, during audiences
with the Prime Minister at the Cabinet Office. At left Junkanoo representative
Eddie Dames and Mr. Christie accept a donation from the Chinese Ambassador
and at right from Arame Strachan, a marketing manager of Bristol Cellars.
Andros Welcome
Last weekend, the Prime Minister made a visit to
the island of Andros and is shown here being welcomed at the airport.
| 17th
December, 2006
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Each year there is a luncheon held just before Christmas when the Honorary Consular Corps invites the Minister of Foreign Affairs to attend and give an overview of the state of foreign affairs in the country over the past year. This time the luncheon was held at Graycliff, the upscale restaurant in Nassau. It was well attended by the Corps including the Ambassador from the United States who will soon be leaving the country. The Minister Fred Mitchell is shown in the Bahamas Information Service photo being welcomed to the gathering by the Dean of the Honorary Consular Corps Anders Wiberg of Sweden, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Harold Joseph of Haiti and the Vice Dean of the Corps, Ambassador John Rood of the United States on Wednesday 13th December. The photo shows from left: the U.S. Ambassador, the Haitian Ambassador, the Swedish Honorary Consul, Dr. Patricia Rodgers, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Minister. Bahamas Information Services photo: Raymond Bethel. Please click here for the Minister's full address. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
IRONY AND COINCIDENCE
The end of the year 2006 is surely in sight. At this time,
there is reflection about where we have come from and where we are going.
This year it may be particularly poignant now that we know for certain
that a General Election is going to be held on or before the 2nd May 2006.
We should really have been past the election but never mind it is coming.
Those who remember will know the shock for the elites on Christmas Day 2006 when Sean Hanna, the son of the now Governor General Arthur Hanna was found dead in his bedroom. At that time, George Mackey, the former MP for Fox Hill and former Minister of Housing was lying on his death bed. He died on 2nd January 2006. Then we remember the more recent shock of Winston Saunders dying while on a cultural mission to Jamaica. In between those deaths there were hundreds of other deaths of persons large or small that changed the present and future landscape of The Bahamas. But as we go and sing our hymns and recite our psalms we know that life simply goes on.
Next year we expect that the Progressive Liberal Party will win re election to office. Nothing is ever certain but unless there is something which we cannot now foresee that appears to be the written script. It appears now that the mandate will be allowed to run out to the end, and there will be no element of surprise in any of it. The nationalist party in the country will begin the year 2007 marking the occasion of the 40th anniversary of majority rule on the 10th January. It was on that day in 1967 that the one person, one vote principal finally triumphed in The Bahamas. Who could have imagined that we would in fact be a country today and a country that really stands tall and proud in the scheme of things?
If then it is the fate of the PLP to man the ship of state come May of next year, it is important that there be some strong soul-searching about where we are and what we are doing. There must be a re-examination of our policies on the alienation of land to foreign economic conglomerates that many in the public believe are gobbling up the land and providing jobs for people but the Bahamian is being left out of the larger part of the equation. You read the papers and there are reports about unease in West End with Ginn, the I Group in Mayaguana, and Bahamar in Cable Beach. PLP candidates getting complaints about land and whether land will be available for our children in the future.
Election 2007 must make a clear appeal to the young Bahamian entrepreneur, to embrace his or her goals and aspirations, to increase the wealth of that class and to promote greater economic growth. When the PLP comes to ask the country for a third successive term in 2012, it must not be faced with burning questions from that class and their children who will then be coming of age about the alienation of our national patrimony for a few jobs.
We know for example that there is a puzzle that we must solve in terms of our integration into the world economy. This touches and concerns our commitments to world trade and the changes that we have to make in our economy and in our laws to accommodate the changes in the world. There has to be the free flow of capital and there will be a demand for the free flow of labour. If our economy continues on the pace that it is presently on, we will have no choice but to change policy and accommodate both.
The question will then also turn on Bahamian sovereignty. What is it? What does it mean? Today, there is this boast that the country is sovereign and makes its own decisions. The fact is though that the country’s security is guaranteed by the presence of the American military within its borders and seas. The fact is that governmental decisions are dominated by what the Americans demand, and there is no Bahamian who is willing even on a point of principle to refuse any “request” made by the United States. We spurn our Caribbean friends with the underlying suggestion that they are not the source of expertise and wealth but rather a source of poverty and degradation. It is a strong undercurrent throughout our national life: anti black countries, pro white countries. One is the source of poverty, the other the source of wealth. Wealth is to be preferred to poverty.
Those are the unvarnished facts but we know that this is a country that will continue to survive by duck and feint; bobbing and weaving. It is a part of our national character perhaps. The idea is that to survive is better than not surviving. Hard decisions are put off in the hope and the expectation that they will melt away into history. One thing is sure that in the end they often do but the question remains; in a life, a Christian polity where life is deterministic not fatalistic, should we not at least try greater social engineering to construct a better way of life? Life is good today in The Bahamas but life can be better and it can be made better by some simple decisions that we make today. Let us hope that in 2007, Bahamian patriots will take a stand and a stab at plotting the country’s future course with the healthy dose of realism and practicality that has always been the hallmark of the Progressive Liberal Party.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 16th December 2006 at midnight: 84, 376.
Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 16th December 2006 at midnight: 188,412.
Number of hits for the year 2006 up to Saturday 16th December 2006
at midnight: 4,639,021.
INGRAHAM’S
BAD HAND AT WORK
Shane Gibson, the Minister of Labour was obviously
ready for bad man Hubert Ingraham and Mr. Ingraham got what he came to
the House on Wednesday 13th December looking for a good cut posterior,
if you would excuse our French. This arrogant little man who still
thinks that he is the Prime Minister of the country and knows and controls
everything has now become the House’s resident clown, seeking to obstruct
and confuse when he himself will not and does not take the time to study
what it is he is talking about .
What concerns us is that the PLP should not allow
Mr. Ingraham to derail what was decided by the Cabinet just because he
says so. That is why Shane Gibson’s approach with regard to the Anna
Nicole Smith matter brought up by the hapless and hopeless Alvin Smith,
MP for North Eleuthera during question time, was the right way to go.
Mr. Gibson had files upon files in his possession and revealed some startling
information. He revealed the case of David Tremblay who was granted
a residency permit like Anna Nicole Smith but within 19 days by the FNM;
2 less than the PLP in Ms. Smith’s case. Further that the FNM did
not do due diligence on the matter because Mr. Tremblay had a conviction
and is now serving time in jail. Mr. Gibson pointed out two more
people who got permanent residence from the FNM government who are in jail:
Victor Kozeny and Derek Turner.
The glum faced Mr. Ingraham sat there in the House
stupefied. We wish Mr. Gibson would keep it up. It is clear
that Mr. Ingraham needs to be put back in his box and kept there only to
be trotted out on Sundays and holidays and when we have company.
CONGRATULATIONS
BRADLEY ROBERTS AND BTC
The Minister responsible for Bahamas Telecommunications
Company Ltd. commissioned the new Bahamas Domestic Fibre Cable Network
down in Inagua on Monday 11th December. He made a call to the Prime
Minister in Nassau from Inagua. The network also goes to Haiti.
It connects 14 islands of The Bahamas. With not only telephone service
but with a capacity for 10 gigabytes and 200 digital television channels.
Please click here for the Minister's
remarks.
THE
MURDER COUNT GOES UP
A recent survey done for one of the political parties
revealed back in July that the two major issues for the Bahamian voters
were crime and immigration. They would seem to be right to be concerned.
This week, the murder rate exceed by one to 54 the number of murders committed
in the country over last year. It is not a proud statistic.
During the past week alone there were four murders. The most recent
was the grim discovery of the burned body of John Wong the owner of a Chinese
restaurant in Nassau.
The question is what is driving it and what can
be done about it? Perhaps it is time for the Government to call all
the forces together for a symposium on crime with a view to determining
what the public thinks needs to be done and commit themselves to doing
it. The danger there is always the knee jerk response about capital
punishment. It is surprising that there has not been some kind of
pubic outcry about it. The fact is this is something the PLP should
study well because given what has just happened in St. Lucia (see story
below), it is possible to have a thriving economy but crime can derail
the vote for the incumbent.
A
SURPRISE RESULT IN ST. LUCIA
Sir John Compton 81 years old, a man of the generation
of the late founding Prime Minister of The Bahamas Sir Lynden Pindling,
won the general election held in St. Lucia on Monday 11th December.
It was a shocking result. The pollsters had predicted a close win
for the incumbent Kenny Anthony but it was not to be. Perhaps a portent
of what was to come was the bye election held earlier this year to fill
the seat by a Minister who res
