February 13th, 2011
February 20th, 2011
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THE PEOPLE TURN TO THE STREETS: It was a wonderful demonstration of people power. By international standards it was small but it made great pictures on the front pages of the daily papers in The Bahamas. We are talking about the march by the Committee To Save BTC which was supported by the Progressive Liberal Party on Wednesday 23 rd February. The march left Ft. Charlotte to head up Bay Street to the Public Square. The march had about 1200 people on and they met another 300 or so already in the square. The people pressed against the barriers at one point during the demonstration and the police came out swinging with batons. One lady was hurt. The FNM accused the PLP of fomenting violence and in fact paying people to demonstrate. If that is their only charge then praise God because what it shows is that the PLP has the ability to rattle the FNM's cage. More is to come as the resistance to selling the phone company grows. Our photo of the week then is that of the public demonstration against BTC in the public square on Wednesday 23 rd February. The photo is by Peter Ramsay. |
| Videos by Andrew Burrows |
RUN INGRAHAM RUN
It was a Saturday morning early and it is the Lynden Pindling International Airport in the domestic section. This is the one time that the planes of Bahamasair tend to run on time. It is clear that some very important person is going to be on board the flight because the police are there and the protocol people are in evidence. The flight boards to Freeport and then in a flash, never looking left or right and surrounded by a phalanx of policemen and officials, it turns out to be the Prime Minister dressed in gray slacks, white shirt and tie, sans his jacket headed to a funeral no doubt.
A few days earlier on Wednesday 23 rd February, he was in the House of Assembly nervously reading from his hymn sheet about his great stewardship of the economy. His message was as clear as mud and outside you could hear the chants that he had to go. He read on through the boring detail of recitations of Central Bank statistics. Then as soon as he was finished, he started to make for the doors and as you can see from the video on this site, he had a security problem because he snuck out of the House like a thief in the night as people booed him and he was gone.
This is how Hubert Ingraham has to travel, surrounded by bodyguards, afraid to be without his close friends around him. Fred Mitchell has called him the most hated man in the country because of how Mr. Ingraham now governs. Sad case really but we do not feel sad for him. You have to use that line from the Lion In Winter:” How from where we started did we end up like this?”
The point we make here is that the Prime Minister has now taken to carefully orchestrated entrances and exits. The whole thing is done to make it appear when the cameras are around and recording that things are normal, going to plan and nothing is disturbing the man in charge.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Ingraham is in deep do do and he knows it. You can tell from his shifty watery eyes, his nervous laughter, his lashing out at critics. His performance at the opening of the airport was instructive. He even in the face of a multi party crowd stuck to his party driven script, with cheers coming from the faithful followers with whom they had packed the hall on that night Friday 25 th February.
Well if this is the life you want to lead and choose to lead, we say go to it sir. Run if you will but you cannot hide. The day of reckoning is coming. The wind will blow over and we will see you no more.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 26 th February 2011 up to midnight: 176,905
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 26 th February 2011 up to midnight: 564,387
PLP PRESS STATEMENT ON THE DEMONSTRATION
The following statement was issued by the Progressive Liberal Party on the allegation made by the Free National Movement that the PLP organized a demonstration to protest the sale of BTC. The statement follows:
Press Release
Progressive Liberal Party
PLP responds to the FNM on demonstration claim
24 th February 2011
For Immediate Release
The claim by the FNM in a press statement issued today accusing the PLP of organizing the demonstration in Rawson Square on the 23 rd February 2011 is as ludicrous as Junior Minister Laing's estimate that only 200 Bahamians participated in this lawful demonstration. The demonstration was not led by the PLP but by the Committee to save BTC for Bahamians.
The fact of the matter is that this Government's incredible lack of compassion, understanding and insight into the fundamental needs and concerns of the Bahamian people and their continued refusal to hear and for that matter feel the needs and concerns of the Bahamian people is shameful.
No wonder there is a rising tide of popular resentment and discontent in our country today. People are sick and tired of this Government. The people have had enough.
People are sick and tired of all the un-kept promises, of all the arrogant neglect of their dreams and aspirations. Most of all, there is a rising tide of resentment and discontent over this Government's failure to bring hope for the future.
The evidence is there for all to see that the FNM government's inability to connect with the collective will of and lack of respect for the sensibilities of the Bahamian people was the root cause of the demonstration and pent up frustration.
This discontent is from Bahamians of all stripes, young and old, black and white, middle class and grass roots, men and women who are now coming together with one collective voice to proclaim that enough is enough and that it is time now for the FNM Government to pack up and clear out.
The FNM is well advised that the solution to this popular uprising is not in finger pointing and diversionary tactics to deflect from its policy failures. The solution is in ensuring that public policies always reflect the collective will, desires, aspirations and sensibilities of the Bahamian people. Failing that, the people will always avail themselves of democratic and civil tools through which to express their discontent and displeasure with the government.
The PLP has said it before and we say it yet again: The FNM government simply does not get it and until they do, they will be backed into a corner by popular resentment from which there is no retreat.
PLP’S BUDGET RESPONSE
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who is also the Minister of Finance came to the Parliament on Wednesday 23rd February to deliver his mid-year budget statement. It was a tales of woes which was described as a confession of failure by the PLP. You can click here for the full statement by the Prime Minister which shows that revenues are down 84 million dollars behind projections. The tax raises last year have not produced what the government thought that it would. Perry Christie led his team in a response to the mid-year statement. You click here for the full response of the Opposition.
The period for consultation on the change of control of the telephone company BTC began on 7 th February and the Utilities Regulation Competition Authority (URCA) has begun to solicit objections and comments. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill has written to object. The text follows:
23 rd February, 2011
The Utilities Regulation Competition Authority (URCA)
UBS Annex Building
East Bay Street
P.O. Box N 4860
Nassau, The Bahamas
Dear Sir,
Re: Change Of Control BTC
Please be advised of my objection to the change of control of BTC. I list the following:
The case law suggests at the Privy Council level that the exclusivity which is proposed as part of the overall transaction is ultra vires the constitution. URCA therefore cannot be a party to an unconstitutional result. At best before making a decision, it should require the applicants to address the question as to whether or not the exclusivity arrangement offends the constitution.
Secondly, the URCA note paragraph 6 which refers to the potential efficiencies and consumer benefits of the change of control indicates that the government has publicly disclosed a number of considerations that assist with the analysis of consumer and economic benefits in relation to the proposed change of control including price reductions, network investment, efficiencies improvements, new product offerings.
I assert that there is no evidence to show that the change in control will result in greater benefits for consumers. In fact, the reputation of the proposed new owners suggests quite the contrary. I assert further that the change in control will not mean a lessening of prices for consumers, but will mean quite the opposite. There is no evidence to suggest in the Caricom region where Cable and Wireless also operates that the prices to consumers are any less than the prices that Bahamians now pay. This proposed change of control is therefore not in the public interest.
I will not be content to have my objection or any other objection that may have been made to be dealt with on paper alone. There should be public hearings to enable the optimum ability for representations to be made for or against approval.
Further I wish to record my anxiety about the involvement of Usman Saadat, Managing Director URCA and Marcia Lewis, Human Resources Manager in the decision making process. Each has had a relationship with Cable and Wireless which is so proximate that contaminates the entire process.
I take formal objection to this matter being considered by URCA in the circumstances of those individuals being a part of URCA.
I note also an agreement that a 3 per cent management fee is to be paid to Cable and Wireless to manage the Bahamian entity. This means that the owner of the majority shares will be charging a fee and the minority shareholders will bear the costs of that fee. If URCA is minded to agree to the change of control to which I object, then a condition ought to be added to your adjudication by restricting the right of BTC to pass those management fee costs on to the consumer.
I note further the intention of the government to extend the exclusivity period on cellular phones for an additional 12 months. This will further delay the promotion of sustainable competition and will thereby have an adverse effect on new entrants and will not afford the creation of alternatives for the benefit of consumers. By extension new entrants to the market will be greatly disadvantaged.
The proposed change of control has the obvious intent of breaching the intent and spirit of section 73(1)(a) of the Communications Act. To allow the change will also breach the overriding objectives set out in section 5 of the Communications Act.
In the premises, there is a need at the very least for URCA to exercise its discretion in favour of an in depth investigation into this matter pursuant to the provisions of the Communications Act Section 78 , rather than to rely merely on the ipsit dixit of the applicants. It will then come to the inescapable conclusion that its consent to this change of control should not be given.
Yours sincerely,
Fred Mitchell MP
PHOTOS OF THE BAY STREET DEMO
We present photos of the demonstrations on Bay Street on Wednesday 23rd February by Athama Bowe, Rodney Moncur and Andrew Burrows. It was a great day. Young leader Latrae Rahming got permission from his parents to miss a day at school so he could participate in the demonstration. It was a first for him and he got to sing We Shall Overcome.
THE AIRPORT US TERMINAL OPENS
Every FNM Council Member was there and we guess that is why you win government so that you can invite your supporters out to functions like that. Many wore their red ties including the Prime Minister. Just don't know when a fight is a political one and when one is a national one. It comes off as classless. There was the Prime Minister of all people at a national function in honour of the founding Prime Minister of the country, his widow in the audience and he is in a red tie and speaking at a pitch that comes off like a public rally. That was the whole point of the FNM councilors we guess. They themselves seemed so chuffed at the whole thing, acting like people who have power that is unchallenged, rulers of the world. How fragile we are when we so not realize that it is all ephemeral, in fact nothing at all.
The propaganda line the FNM was running is that the country can now really be proud of the airport named Lynden Pindling International. What they mean is that the PLP should have waited to name the airport after the founding Prime Minister after the new terminal was built. Of course, if the PLP had waited to dot ht, the airport would have been named after the UBP's Roland Symonette and not after Sir Lynden at all. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's singular mission is to dumb down the contribution, diminish to nothing, that of Sir Lynden. The photos of the event that we show here are by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. The event took place on Friday 25 th February.
BASIL DEAN IS BURIED
Even though he was retired from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the government and the Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade granted the deceased Basil Dean a full military funeral. Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest who spoke at the funeral said that it would be the policy of the government to extend these services to those of the rank of Assistant Commission of Police and above even though retired.
The photos of the Dean funeral are by Sgt. Clinton Dean of the RBPF took the photos of the viewing of Mr. Dean at the Police Headquarters the day before the funeral on Monday 21 st February. Fred Mitchell MP who is the representative for Fox Hill from which hails the widow of Mr. Dean visited with the family.
Dr. Keva Bethel, the deceased President Emerita of the College of The Bahamas was eulogized in a three hour funeral service at the Christ Church cathedral, one week after her brother deceased Bishop of Nassau and The Bahamas Michael Eldon was also eulogized in the same church. The country gave a state recognized funeral for her on Thursday 24 th February. The photos are by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
BAHAMAR IS OPENED
Well the ground is broken at last on Tuesday 22 nd February, the Bahamar group headed by Sarkis Izmerlian broke ground in an emotionally charged ceremony. Mr. Izmerlian was close to tears as the thanked the many people who made it possible to make this investment of a lifetime.
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was a no show at the groundbreaking saying that he had other work to do, or so his propaganda people said. In a previous column, we had wondered aloud whether he would actually show given his vow not to attend groundbreakings. He deviated from that once his master Sol Kerzner called him to Paradise Island to break ground there for the new Hurricane Hole project which never materialized.
The PLP criticized the Prime Minister for not showing and sending the Deputy Prime Minister instead. (Photos by Derek Smith - BIS)
PLP CHAIR VISITS CARMICHAEL BRANCH
Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts visited the Carmichael Branch as part of the party's effort to remain engaged with its branches. The Carmichael constituency will be represented in the next election with Dr Daniel Johnson as the standard bearer for the PLP. The photos of the visit which took place on February are by Athama Bowe.
PLP CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS AND MORE
A public meeting was held at the PLP's headquarters on Farrington Road to speak about the curent political climate. Party leader Perry Christie led the way with a call for the government to call elections. Mr. Christie said that the Government does not have the mandate to sell BTC and should go to the country before proceeding any further. Other speakers included Shane Ginson MP for Golden Gates and Arnold Forbes, the PLP's standard bearer in Mt. Moriah. You may click here for the links to their addresses. Photo by Andrew Burrows
PRESS STATEMENT BY THE PLP ON WATER AND SEWERAGE
PRESS STATEMENT
By
Progressive Liberal Party
February 27th 2011
PLP RAISES VERY SERIOUS CONCERNS WITH ESTIMATED $240 MILLION 20 YEAR CONTRACT AWARDED TO CONSOLIDATED WATER BY WSC WITHOUT PUBLIC TENDER FOR REVERSE OSMOSIS PLANT
After receiving information from sources within the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) raised several questions, as per attached Press Statement, regarding the relationship between Jr. Minister Phenton Neymour, General Manager Glen Laville and Senior Manager Mario Bastian, who was recently re-instated in his job.
The questions raised in the press statement, which included references to alleged impropriety in public tendering processes, were meant to embolden the Corporation's Board and cause a full review by the Board and Corporation documents and processes.
The PLP is in now in possession of information that confirms that WSC was seeking unsolicited bids for the construction of a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant at Arawak Cay. These bids were requested by both Mr. Laville and recently Mr. Bastian.
While it is understood that at least one company responded, it is also understood that others did not respond because it was commonly believed, amongst the water producer community, that WSC was merely conducting a 'price fishing expedition' for Consolidated Water Company (CWCO). Click here to read the full article...
PLP STATEMENT ON BRENVILLE HANNA'S PASSING
February 22nd 2011
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. Brenville ‘Bulla’ Hanna, a proud son of Acklins and an outstanding former Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). Bulla loved his people, his Bahamas and maintained the relationships developed over the years, even when he traveled on another course. Through his challenges he remained positive and caring. Bulla will be sadly missed by all.
On behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), the Leader the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, Deputy Leader, Hon Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, the National Chairman, Hon. Bradley Roberts, Party Officers and supporters, we extend sympathies to his children, Hollin and Deandrea, siblings Leon, Henry, Neville, Roy, David, Rita, Joan, Delano and care giver Mrs. Lorraine Smith. This is a file photo of the late Mr. Hanna (right) and the late Sir Lynden Pindling.
CALL FOR FULL DISCLOSURE ON PORT
You can click here to see the ad that appeared in the press soilciting service vendors for the Arawak Port but a correspodent has pointed out to us that this cannot be serious, particularly since it has not been fully disclosed by the FNM government who actually is going to own the new Aarwak Cay Port. It screams of collusion and conlflict of interest on the part of the FNM government. Our correspondent says "Remember the public has yet to be told who are the beneficial shareholders 40 years of exclusive given for a port cannot possibly be justified on straight business terms. Politics is obviosuly a part of the decision inf avour of FNM supporters and financiers. Note where bidders are to send their proposals that is to the office of the chairman when there is no assurance that the chairman will not be a competitor for this aspect of the business The reality of what is happening at the port needs more sunlight."
FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER SUING THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
She has a son who is five years old with cerebal palsy. She has been ordered to come home from Miami in the middle of the term plucking out her children from school. She has found her own digs at her own expense because her son needs the special care which cannot be obtained in The Bahamas. Yet Brent Symonette whose money knows no bounds has ordered her to come home. Wayne Munroe has taken up the cause in the Supreme Court. He name is Lynnith Braynen.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Forrester Carroll writes this week from Grand Bahama on the litany of complaints and faults of the Prime Minister. It ecnoruages to vote against Mr. Ingraham for his sins against the Bahamian people.
“My name is Hubert Alexander Ingraham,” so said the country's dictator (prime minister) when in response to a reporter's question (asked of him at the give away ceremony of BTC on Tuesday 8 th February), he reminded BTC's union bosses that his name was not Egypt's Mubarak. Yes we know your name sucker; after four years of misery, pain and woe we know you very well; you are the one who has been pissing all over us, for the last four years, while endeavoring to convince us that it's really not piss at all but rain falling on us. We know, very well, who you are you traitor.
You are the one, aren't you, who gave the fifteen-year monopoly, for cable TV in the Bahamas, to your daughter's husband's Canadian father? Aren't you the one who led your FNM government into voting against a PLP Resolution, put to parliament at the time of the debate, which would have obligated your FNM government to awarding the license to Bahamians only? Aren't you the same sucker, prime minister, who tried to discourage and scare away Bahamians from even making application when you required them to submit a $10,000.00, non-refundable deposit with their applications? Were you not the Uncle Tom, boot licker who, recently, accused and castigated your fellow Bahamians of quote; “wanting to buy every damn thing?” Aren't you that same box-fish head sucker, of a prime minister, who suspended the student loan program? Aren't you the same Tub Belly culprit, prime minister, who suspended the Stamp Tax exemption for first home buyers, put in place by Perry Christie, which facilitated first home buying Bahamians in being able to claim up to $250,000.00 free of government stamp tax?
Aren't you that same “dog-in-a-manger” sucker who fired those 34 senior police officers, because you thought they were all PLP supporters, sometime back during your 1997-2002 term in office? Aren't you the same stubborn mule who, on coming to office in 2007, fired every single Urban Renewal worker and replaced them all with FNM supporters? Aren't you that same piss head of a prime minister who cancelled duly signed and valid performing government contracts, for workers and projects, which you met in place when you took office in 2007?
Aren't you that same FNM prime minister who-although you voted for the PLP's national health insurance for all Bahamians while you were the country's opposition leader, yet you failed to implement the legislation after taking office in 2007 causing many Bahamians to be dying constantly because of their inability to pay for ordinary health insurance? Aren't you that same prime minister who sent CLICO into liquidation, unnecessarily, and urged policy holders to continue paying while they receive no benefits for more than two years now? Aren't you that same uncaring, uncompassionate tub belly prime minister who withdrew funding from the PLP's venture capitol fund scheme, which Perry Christie and the PLP put in place to help small Bahamian entrepreneurs who had good ideas and wanted to start small businesses but who had no capitol or assets as collateral to secure funding for those ideas? Aren't you the same sucker who stopped funding to the PLP government's youth service program for boys, which was located in Andros, saying that it was too expensive an exercise? Aren't you that same insensitive and mean sucker who told the 1500 employees of the old Holiday Inn Hotel here in Freeport, when it closed its doors a few years ago, that while you were standing up they were employed but that when you sat down they would be fired and then you sat down and they were all fired?
Are you not the same culprit who broke up ZNS and fired a bunch of its employees after keeping them wondering, in uncertainty for months, as to who would be fired and who would be kept? Then within weeks, after firing reporters and other staff members you began advertizing, in the newspapers, for the employment of more reporters and staff members? Aren't you he who ordered the police off school campuses which has resulted in multiple murders, stabbings and other injuries since May 2007? Is it not you who claimed to have adopted a code of ethics, for governing the conduct of your cabinet ministers, but failed to live up to your own code in the case of the alleged charges of misconduct brought against Laing/Monavie; Carl Bethel and the conduct involving his son; Sidney Collie's local government debacle; Julian Francis' alleged BTC conflict of interest charges; Earl Deveaux's Helicopter escapades; Neko Grant's alleged misuse of tax payer dollars for private constituency matters and Kenneth Russell's alleged nepotism in awarding ministry of housing contracts? Are you not the one who met Mr. Leon Williams, former BTC executive, in John Bull's Bay Street store on Christmas Eve, and tried to pick a fight with him, right in the store in full view of the public, which included a bunch of tourists; are you not he?
You are the same sucker, are you not, who aborted the Hotel Corporation and dismantled the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments? Aren't you the same bull head who gave that rich foreigner, who owns that large yacht, permission to dredge a deep water harbor within the protected Exuma national park? Aren't you the same irresponsible, reckless jackass who ran up our national debt to more than $4 billion, adding $3.3 billion, yourself, to the debt in the fourteen years, thus far, of your governance? Aren't you the house negro; uncle tom, who said that if the government gave BTC to Bahamians to own and or manage, that in two years they would run it into the ground and the government would be obliged to take it back? Aren't you the one who has all these Bahamian families living in darkness, without electricity, water and garbage collection? You are the one, aren't you, who said that voters didn't want the PLP's talk and promises but wanted some things they could feel and touch and you have now certainly gave them enough hardships, that they can feel and touch? What about the whopping 85% import duty increases on motor vehicles and the 400% increase (in most cases) on vehicle registration; weren't you the one who sucked these increases onto poor Bahamian families? Are you not the pin head who, instead of dismissing half of your gussiemae cabinet, dismissed poor struggling contract working Bahamians from the employ of the civil service? Aren't you the pea brain who in four years of governance, thus far in this your five year term, has not been able to attract one single investor to the country? Aren't you he who fired Customs, Immigration and Police officers, giving them only one hour notice and then stopped the overtime payments for the officers who were left, employed, in the Customs and Immigration departments? Aren't you the one who cancelled the rent payments to civil servants who, for the official record, are domiciled elsewhere in the country but were transferred to Grand Bahama to work and therefore are entitled to the rent allowances? Aren't you the bully who withheld the increments of all civil servants and told them; “I can't afford to pay it and let me make it clear; am not delaying it; am just not paying it?” Aren't you that reckless, big spender of other people's money, who intends to authorize the building of seven miles of road, from the Nassau airport to downtown Nassau, which proposes to cost, poor struggling Bahamians, almost $11 million per mile? Aren't you the one who said that you had nothing; came from nothing and wanted nothing but shortly after making this declaration, you took legislation to parliament to have that August Chamber vote in favor of a $10,000.00 per month pension for you when you do retire, so long as you spent at least eight (8) years on the job? Aren't you the fellow who reduced the government subsidies to private schools and charitable organizations? Are you not the culprit who increased the public school registration fees, to $100, for each poor child registering to attend public schools?
…..and aren't you the one we branded the “double-triple-dipper?”
Yeah, piss head, you didn't have to remind us who you are; we know, very well, your name and your no-good, stinking, dutty ways, Mr. Sucker. You are the one who the voters will kick to the curb; out of government and out of the prime minister's chair (you damn uncle tom) come the next general elections, and this time for good.
Thank you
Forrester J Carroll J.P
27 th February 2011
The Road To Becoming Masters
Part Two
By
Delroy Meadows
February 27th 2011
In recent weeks we have seen Bahamians gathered together in protest. As I stood among the crowds I felt that there was something greater taking place than what was being seen by the eyes. God works in mysterious ways and indeed in this case it's no different.
Besides the noise on the ground and in the media, the political back and forth and even the subject of the protest itself I believe that there is a greater force at work here. It is not uncommon for the personal agendas and the plans of men to be uprooted and used by God for His ultimate purpose.
The aggressive force that drives change does not discriminate on which vehicle it will use to deliver it. Had it not been for Cable and Wireless I can assure you that this day would not have come.
For this reason we have been driven to organize and unite ourselves with those of our own whom we may have not said good morning to had we pass them on the streets some weeks before.
For a cause that came out of nowhere we are now forced to march together with once enemies.
I questioned the possibility of how all of this could have come out of the matter of BTC. That after 37 years of independence we find ourselves fighting our own elected government over the interest of a phone company that, at this point in the life of our nation should have been the least of our assets. This can't be the reason.
No doubt exist in my mind that very soon we will be met with the true purpose behind it all.
The Sifting
This cause is creating a tremendous amount of focus on those who now sit in the positions of leaders in our Parliament and also those leaders who are now on the streets. Bahamians now have a wide screen view to watch the play unfold. There is a sifting taking place and it's now becoming obvious. Each week we find someone who we had assumed to be a leader then publicly tested and subsequently had that assumption thrown out the window.
Which use to be a domain only accessible to the political elite has now has now been forced to give access to anyone with a voice. New faces are getting the highest level of media attention on what seems to be a daily basis and at no cost.
This has caused the views and opinions of a diverse group of Bahamians to be heard and judged by the masses. For once in our history we are being overwhelmed with choices where once only a few existed.
God is opening the doors for anyone to come out, prove themselves before Him and the public to take charge of this nation.
The Next Generation of Masters
We need a new direction to be established for our country and many are needed to accomplish this goal. I would encourage anyone who has a positive vision for the advancement of our people to take advantage of this very rare opportunity that is now being given.
We need to revamp our environment in a way that would make it easy for our children to succeed and become masters of their inheritance. If our children fail then let them fail at their own will and not because our society is conditioned for them to do so.
There is no greater time than now to begin a new road paved with examples of true leadership greater than those seen during our nation's inception. Unless today we are able to go beyond the achievements of men like Sir. Lynden and Randol Fawkes our children will have a difficult future ahead. Our children need leaders now who they can both see and touch.
The assignment that we have at present is no different from that given to those leaders of our past. We are being faced with a new breed of colonial powers seeking to take hold of what is rightfully ours, the fight for equal access and opportunity for our people and the right to fair governance are all taking place now as it did before.
We have to decide now at which status do we want ourselves and our children to live in the Bahamas to come.
Conclusion
I say it's time for us to colonize this land. The time has come for us to rule and dominate every city and every island in this nation. For far too long we have chosen to settle for the crumbs fallen from masters table. Today I say it's time for us to break bread at the surface.
IN PASSING
Steve McKinney Relieved Of His Duties?
The Nassau Guardian reported on Saturday 26 th February that as a result of Steve McKinney, an employee of the Bahamas Information Services the government's PR arm, being seen at the anti BTC demonstration, he was relieved of his duties and told to proceed on vacation for eighteen weeks which is owed to him forthwith. He will not be returning. Mr. McKinney was sanguine about it all. He said that he exercised his right to demonstrate and he had in any event told them that he would not be renewing his contract with them. We are proud of Mr. McKinney's work which also includes a radio talk show.
Johnley Ferguson Joshua Sears To Leave Politics
Reports are that Johnley Ferguson who resigned his post as Vice President of the Senate in favour of newly appointed Senator Dr. Duane Sands, the defeated FNM candidate of Elizabeth, is retiring from active politics. Mr. Ferguson was defeated in two general elections. He is working now as a local government consultant in the Office of the Prime Minister. The same is being said for Joshua Sears who lost for the second time to the PLPs Anthony Moss in Exuma in 2007. He is now serving as Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Sears is to retire from politics as well.
Delivering The Pro Mix
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill promised Shureen Butters, the agriculture teacher at Bimini, that he would arrange to get some pro-mix for her agriculture class at the public school in Bimini. Some compost was sent as arranged by the Bimini representative Obie Wilchombe (PLP) with Bahamas Agriculture Industrial Corporation (BAIC) Chair Edison Key and Mr. Mitchell delivered two bags of the Pro Mix plant food on Thursday 24 th February at the school. The photo was taken just after the delivery.
Ansel Saunders Is Honoured In Bimini
He did it 40 years ago last week. He caught a 16 pound bonefish in the flats of Bimini and he did it with a test line under 8 pounds. Ansel Saunders, a Stalwart Councilor of the PLP and the man who used to introduce the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling at conventions in the 1970s with his poetry was honoured in Bimini on Thursday 24th February at the Big Fishing Club. They gave him a plaque commemorating the day of the great catch. He told the story with great relish at the dinner that Thursday. Fred Mitchell MP was there on the Thursday and on Friday 25 th February Obie Wilchombe MP (PLP) for Bimini attended the awards banquet. Congratulations to Mr. Saunders.
Rhonda Chipman Johnson Consul General
Former Vice President of the College of The Bahamas who resigned in a huff last year because she was not appointed President of the College of The Bahamas has been fixed up by her FNM friends with the job of Consul General to New York replacing Carl Smith who is the new Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of National Security.
Lena McKinney Dies
A leader of the Bahamian community in Florida has passed away. She is the sister of Bahamian businessman George McKinney and they all hail originally from Eleuthera. Mrs. McKinney was a huge presence in Boynton Beach, West Palm and Delray Beach, Florida where Bahamians settled in the mid twentieth century. When called upon to organize in assistance to her home country, she was always there front and centre. She was also a great supporter of the PLP. Leader of the party Perry Christie sent a message of condolences for her funeral which took place on Saturday 26 th February in Boynton Beach, Florida where she lived. Alma Adams, former Consul General of The Bahamas in Miami represented the party at the service.
Patrick Paul Disinvited at Airport Opening
The Bahamas Journal of Friday 25 th February reported that Rev. Patrick Paul, the President of the Bahamas Christian Council was disinvited to do the prayer at the opening of the Lynden Pindling International Airport's U.S. Departure facility on Friday 25 th February. The reason as not given but many people suspect it is because he was vocal in his opposition to the government's position on the sale of BTC. The Roman Catholic Archbishop and the Anglican Bishop were to do the prayers instead. There was a protest says the paper and Rev. Paul was restored to the prayer duties. But Archdeacon Keith Cartwright who is a vocal supporter of the FNM did a follow up prayer and blessed the airport with holy water.
Fred Mitchell Sr.'s Birthday
He died when he was 82 years old on 23 rd May 2001. If he had been alive last week on the 22 nd February, Frederick A. Mitchell Sr., father to the representative for Fox Hill Fred Jr., would have been 92 years old.
Over Policing The Demo
The question that many people have been asking since the demonstration by some 1500 people in the public square on Wednesday 23 rd February is whether or not the event was not over policed. Clearly, the police were nervous that the Prime Minister might be injured or hurt either deliberately or by misadventure. They also had to balance the right of members of the public to have access to the House of Assembly and the right of Members of the House to have access to the House and the safety and security of the House members and the right of the public to be able to hear their representatives speak. Not an easy job. But with House members from the Opposition complaining that they had been locked out by the police from the House, and with the public complaining that the police used truncheons to beat one woman, the question is whether the demonstration was not over policed. If something had gone seriously wrong, then that would have been a huge issue for the police. As it turns out the event was entirely peaceful, but the question again: why would the police have dogs and riot shields and batons in evidence when there was no evidence that a riot was contemplated or about to happen?
Ingraham Interrupted By Frank Smith
Frank Smith MP could be heard loudly seeking the attention of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly on a point of order during the mid-term budget statement of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on Wednesday 23 rd February. Mr. Smith was rising to complain that he had been locked out of the House of Assembly by the police. This was a breach of his privilege as a Member of the House. The Deputy Speaker ignored him. Later Leader of Government Business in the House Tommy Turnquest said that it was unprecedented that the Prime Minister would be interrupted during his budget statement. Get used to it Mr. Turnquest. Times, they are a'changin'.
MPs Locked Out Of The House Of Assembly
Both Shane Gibson MP for Golden Gates (PLP) and Frank Smith M for St. Thomas More (PLP) complained to the House that they were locked out of the House during the demonstration and protest in the public square. The police were afraid that the crowd would flood the House and disrupt its proceedings so they bolted the iron doors shut and no member could get in. Mr. Smith said he had to bang on the window to draw it to the attention of Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell to get the door opened and then he came in.
Bishop Neil Ellis In The Hall Of Fame
Bishop Neil Ellis, the head of Mt. Tabor Full Gospel Baptist Church in The Bahamas has been inducted into the Civil Rights Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a first for a Bahamian preacher. The centre is located at the Martin Luther King Centre in Atlanta and the ward is organized by civil rights activist and founder of the Trumpet Awards Xernona Clayton.
Hubert a No show At Bahamar
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham did not show up to the groundbreaking for the largest project in the history of the country and one of the largest in the region to date. The Bahamar hotel project though with the potential to save his political hide draws the hostility of the Prime Minister and though he turned up to the dinner the night before, he refused to come to the groundbreaking. He did not respond to press inquiries but his propaganda people said that the Chinese Premier was not there so why should be there. Hmmm!
The CNN I Report
Bahamians made sure that the world knew what was happening on Wednesday 23 rd February when the unions took to the streets to protest the proposed sale of BTC by the government. You may find the link to what they sent here.
The Use Of The Web
The web is going to be a more active tool in the general election than it was in the past. It has just been about thirteen years since websites began to become prolific. This site has been in existence since 1998 and was amongst the first of what are called blogs. We think of this site as a news site and don't like that expression blog but there it is. The fact is though the youngsters since that time have texting and social websites. E mail seems to be falling as a source of circulating information. But there is still an issue about whether or not relying on the web, particularly the social websites is enough to build momentum and to spread information. The Bahamian public still seems to prefer the newspapers, the radio and TV for their information which they consider reliable. This seems especially so with the PLPs but it seems that this must change if the PLP is to remain relevant to the times.
The Garbage Collection In Bimini
We thought that you ought to see the vehicle that is collecting garbage on South Bimini: two big rusty holes in the side of the machine. The photos are by Randy Rolle. There is scandal in garbage collection in Bimini where hundreds of thousands of dollars are beings spent out of the local government account to collect the garbage but the job does not appear to be effective.
The State Of The Bimini Airport
It is hard to believe Bimini is the gateway to The Bahamas. Tourists come from Florida and other parts come to Bimini to go fishing in the gulf stream. But the airport that greets the international visitor is a disgrace. It is small and inadequate. The front door is now broken and has been for months in the domestic section. The female bathroom is not working. The point is that the airport needs s serious upgrade but the government refuses to do anything to upgrade the facility.
Paying The Demonstrators… More To Come
The FNM has said that the PLP paid the demonstrators who appeared on Bay Street last week to protest the sale of BTC. Boy what an effective and rich party the PLP is if it did that? This is all part of the propaganda counterattack by the FNM to try to discredit the message which is that people do not support the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless. Another tack the government's supporters have taken is to put out false statistical reports that people re in favour of the sale.
BIS FNM Task Force
Employees of the Bahamas Information Services are in near revolt because a special Committee headed by Edward Ellis is leading the propaganda effort of the FNM within BIS. They include the Deputy Director Sharon Turner who was specially brought in from the FNM campaign. Mr. Ellis who reportedly was PLP is reportedly peeved because he said that the PLP did not confirm him as Director and Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham did so, thus his loyalty is now to Prime Minister Ingraham. One of his tasks was to force Steve McKinney to go on leave for joining the demonstration against the sale of BTC. Mr. Ellis heads a committee of employees at BIS whose job it is to write FNM slogans and political propaganda.
Brenville Hanna Dies
Former PLP Chairman Brenville Hanna died at his home in San Souci on Tuesday 22 nd February. Mr. Hanna was 62 at the time of his death. He had been on dialysis treatment for 13 years. He decided to take no more of it. It was a remarkable run up to his death. Once he made his decision, he called his friends one by one and gave them his best wishes and his last words and instructions. Funeral Services will be held for him on Friday 4 th March at St. Georges Church in the Valley. Mr. Hanna (third from the right) with friends Garth Nash, Raphael Munnings with wife Wendy and Athma Bowe.
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Kermit Rolle Is Buried
Stalwart Councilor of the Opposition PLP and community activist Kermit Rolle of Rolleville, Exuma was buried in Rolleville following a service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Rolleville on Saturday 26 th February. Mr. Rolle is survived by 10 children. Leader of the PLP Perry Christie, Deputy Leader Philip Davis, Party Chair Bradley Roberts and MPs Frank Smith (St, Thomas More), Fred Mitchell (Fox Hill) and Anthony Moss( Exuma) all attended the service.
A Note On Keva Bethel
The following statement was issued by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill (PLP) on a post reported to him as appearing on the website of Rodney Moncur, the community activist and leader of the Workers Party:
“It has been reported to me that there was an attack on the late Dr. Keva Bethel, the President Emerita of the College of The Bahamas on Rodney Moncur's Facebook page. My name was somehow mixed up in what was reportedly a salacious story. I have been informed that he has subsequently withdrawn the post and apologized for it. I wish however out of an abundance of caution to disassociate myself from the post and any information contained therein and to deplore the use of my name in an unauthorized post.”
Hubert Ingraham Visits Exuma
On Sunday 27th February, hard on the heels of the PLP Leader Perry Christie's visit the previous day to Exuma for the funeral of Kermit Rolle and a meeting with PLP generals, Hubert Ingraham landed in Exuma after snubbing the Rolle family and not appearing at the church, even though he was listed in the programme. He sent Phenton Neymour,the State Minister for the Environment who is supposed to move from his South Beach seat and run in Exuma for the FNM against the PLP's Anthony Moss. Mr. Ingraham was joined in Exuma by the Chinese Harbour Company and the Chinese Ambassador. They were there to all look with local government officials at the Exuma Harbour and docking facilities with a view to getting Chinese money to develop the old navy site west of Georgetown to put a new facility.
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THE PLP RALLIES AT ELIZABETH SITE: The Progressive Liberal Party had a mass rally on the site on which they crafted their last election victory. That site on Prince Charles Drive was where the party launched its struggle to defeat the behemoth FNM, the government of the day in a bye-election. It was a squeaker but the PLP won. The FNM has been reeling ever since. The PLP welcomed on the night of the rally Andre Rollins who used to head the National Development Party. Mr. Rollins who ran in the Elizabeth bye-election has been courted assiduously by the PLP since that election. He impressed the PLPs with the way he ran his campaign. So our photo of the week is that of Andrew Rollins return to the PLP being welcomed by PLP leader Perry Christie on the site of the rally on Wednesday 16 th February. |
CHANGE AND THE PLP
Clay Sweeting is from Spanish Wells. This is the ethnically homogenous Caucasian community in The Bahamas that one generation ago told Edwin Taylor, the Black Methodist Minister that he could not spend the night there. Now they were in the halls of the PLP, the House that Lynden Pindling built to present a winning candidate to the PLP for the north Eleuthera seat. There was the range of colours and mixed ethnicity everywhere. No one even mentioned it. There was pure joy.
Mr. Sweeting is 25 years old. He is certainly the youngest person to get a nomination from the PLP since Franklyn Wilson who was 21 years old at the time he got his in 1972. Mr. Sweeting is a fisherman. He is well trained, well spoken and according to PLP Leader Perry Christie well off.
He has now gotten the nomination from the PLP for the North Eleuthera seat in the next general election confirmed by the PLP's Council on Thursday 17 th February. He brought a contingent of 80 people to support him in the PLP's council that night.
The council members were ecstatic.
On that same night Andre Rollins 35 years old formally presented himself to the PLP's Council as a member of the PLP. We think he will get a nomination from the PLP as well. He said that the PLP was the place to be. Let's hope that he can accommodate himself to party discipline. It aint easy for someone so young and ambitious but that is where the finesse of being a good politician comes. We hope the PLP treats him well and does not abuse him. We say the same for Mr. Sweeting.
Now to those critics who were so worried a few months ago a few days ago about the PLP not being relevant to young people and the PLP hating white people. What do they have to say now. What do they have to make up now?
We think that it has always been propaganda this business bout being anti young and an anti-white but this is going to be a good mix of candidates.
What we hope though is that as change comes to the PLP, these new members will help the party be true to its core constituency and principles: People first! Bahamians first! We hope that they will bring new energy and drive to what being PLP is and inculcate institutionally a spirit of renewal.
The PLP's leader when he spoke in Abaco at the meeting there said that he hopes that all candidates will be in the field by March of this year. We hope he means to stick by that and will move relentlessly to launch the campaign by 2 nd May of this year.
Hubert Ingraham must go. He must be defeated. We need to beat him and beat him so that he does not raise his political head in the country again.
That is what change in the way doing business must mean for the PLP.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 19 th February 2011 up to midnight: 135,865
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 19 th February 2011 up to midnight: 377,002
Number of hits for the year 2011 up to Saturday 19 th February 2011 up to midnight: 1,077,441
Photos by Joette Penn
We broke the news on this site that on the day of her brother's funeral Wednesday 16 th February at 5 a.m. she died. Dr. Keva Bethel who served as President of the College of The Bahamas, sister of the late Bishop Michael Eldon, died after suffering from cancer. She had been ailing in hospital for a short time.
Her children Nicolette and Eddie must be in a kind of stupor. But that of course is life. What makes this all the more difficult is that while death comes you really do not need the rumour mill to make life worse for you. For them it was sickening that Ivan Johnson of The Punch went to press to say that their mother had died when he had not died. This forced them to issue a public statement saying that she was not dead only gravely ill, only of course to have her die a few days later. Who needs it? But that is the price one pays for being a public figure in this nasty atmosphere in which a sick newspaper editor simply makes money on the suffering of other people.
We have said it before, there is a special place in hell for people like that. Dr. Keva Bethel has been cremated and a service will be held in her honour at the Christ Church Cathedral on Thursday 24th February at 11a.m.
The College of The Bahamas held a service in her memory at the College's auditorium on Friday 18th February. Peter Ramsay was there.
College Chairman T. Baswell Donaldson was amongst those who spoke.
Former COBUS President and now Chairman of the Bahamas Development Bank Darren Cash spoke. The former Chairman Franklyn Wilson was also in attendance with the now President of the college Miss. Betsy Vogel-Boze. The Minister of Education Desmond Bannister also spoke. The children of Dr. Bethel attended with other members of the family.
The photos are by Peter Ramsay
THE FIRE DEPT COULD NOT COPE WTH THE BAY STREET FIRE
Fred Mitchell MP when he spoke at the PLP's rally to mark the 1 st anniversary of the victory at the bye-election for Elizabeth on Wednesday 16 th February recalled the fire of 1943 which led to a man going to jail for arson. He indicated that there was public criticism at the response of the Fire Department to the most recent fire on Monday 16 th February.
There is some suggestion that the Fire Department does not have the equipment to fight fires. In fact some said that it appeared that the Fire Department was in fact struggling and it was not until the Defense Force appeared on the scene that some order was brought to the effort. Some say that the crowd in fact applauded when the RBDF showed up with their equipment.
There needs to be an investigation into the fire: what caused it and how it was fought. We do not need the blandishments of the Minister of Environment Earl Deveaux nor the sweet nothings of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on this. Why did this small fire which they now say started in a telephone junction booth burn down a whole block of the town in the middle of the town as tourists get off the ship.
The buildings which were said to be historic buildings must now all come down. Many stores have been shuttered as a result of it and the Cabinet Office itself was under threat of burning down because of an uncontrolled fire. There needs to be a public investigation into the matter.
There have been two catastrophic straw market fires and each of them could have been contained had the fire fighting equipment or the fighters themselves been better trained and equipped to deal with the fires. Why has this happened again? If you keep doing something the same way and getting the same result and the result is always a bad result you must be doing something wrong.
Stan Burnside shows the state of Hubert Ingraham's mind in his own way.
DUANE SANDS FINALLY GETS HIS SENATE SEAT... RYAN RESPONDS
One year after the fateful bye-election which he was so confident he would win, Duane Sands the mender of hearts aka the heart surgeon has been appointed to the Senate. This is the pattern in The Bahamas, to put those who are to have future in politics into the Senate to give them a platform.
In Fox Hill, the FNM's Hubert Ingraham appointed Jacinta Higgs to be an harassment for Fred Mitchell, a kind of alternative MP. Now it appears that he has set his sights on Ryan Pinder of Elizabeth who he cannot forgive for defeating him in the bye-election.
The deal is for Dr Sands to be a kind of shadow MP for Elizabeth. Unfortunately for him the tide has turned against the FNM and as Perry Christie said at the PLP's Elizabeth Rally on 16 th February, he will get beaten worse than the last time.
You may click here for Mr. Christie's address.
Ryan Pinder when asked about it in the press said that he is concentrating on being the best representative for Elizabeth. He does not have tie for Duane Sands. Well said. Well said.
PLP RALLY PIX AND SPEECHES
A grand time was had by all at the rally held by the Progressive Liberal Party to mark the first anniversary of the election of Ryan Pinder to the House of Assembly. Mr. Pinder was elected against the odds on 16 th February, when last year Malcolm Adderley the PLP incumbent resigned with speculation that he had been offered a job as a Judge by the FNM administration. There are no visible signs now of any reward to Mr. Adderley for stepping down and scorching the earth, attacking the PLP's leader. Mr. Pinder has served well as an MP. The young and the old turned out to congratulate Mr. Pinder and welcomed Andre Rollins, the former NDP leader into the fold. The photos from Athama Bowe and from the Anton Brenan Facebook page.
THE BISHOP'S FUNERAL
Bishop Michael Eldon was cremated following a funeral service at Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday 16 th February. The leaders of the country turned out to say farewell to the man who was the first Bahamian to head the Anglican Church in The Bahamas, the closest thing to a state church that the country has. The Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes, the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie together with Parliamentarians, religious and civic leaders were out in full force. Peter Ramsay was there to capture the moments. The Bishop who also served as Chairman of the College of The Bahamas Council for 25 years was praised by present Chairman T. Baswell Donaldson.
PLP CHAIRMAN GETS A REPORT ON SANDALS
Bradley Roberts, the Chairman of the PLP, is a sounding board for many people around the country. Recently, an insider at Sandals sent him this report. We urge Sandals to investigate these matters: Thank you for your help so far. We having been following and the whole resort is watching even head office.
Our employees are dropping down like flies. They are forced to work 6 days a week with one day rest and it is affecting them. They are working 3 split shifts a day. For example 6am - 10am and go home for a few hours and return for the afternoon shift. They are getting no rest.
If they call in as being tired or sick they are suspended for several days. Sandals is understaffed badly in every department but mostly the dining room and bars. At 403 rooms the ratio of employees should be 2 employees for every room. We have 500 employees. Employees are being rushed to the hospital and if they fall out on the job they are taken to PMH.
Sandals has about 10 Indian interns who they use in F & B. They could barely speak English. What internship could they be on and they only serve food to guest every day. They are paid $150 a week with apartments of Cable Beach.
The Ministry of Labour is getting ready to conduct an investigation into the Director of Sales, Security Manager and Concierge Manager. We would like you to inform them about the Spa Manager as well.
She is referred to as 'The Hurricane'. She is rude, verbally abuses the staff and says no one can make her leave The Bahamas because the CEO is her friend. She has frustrated both of her supervisors to the point where 1 had a near heart attack and the other was out for several months with hypertension.
The new practice now is instead of hiring a Bahamian for a position they add the title to an existing expat. For example one of the expat operations manager now has the title of health and safety. In the past a Bahamian held this position.
The entertainment manager is openly gay and sexual harasses the young men he hires and if they don't comply he terminates them. He has been here 15 years. We want immigration to explain the reasoning of getting a work permit for so many years when this man can't play an instrument or do nothing special that a Bahamian cannot do.
The Ministry of Labour is shocked to see the number of expats Sandals has when many of the positions where never advertised in the local papers. Every week they get numerous of complaints from Sandals , but they do nothing.
Sandals brought in a manager with no work permit and the individual was working and getting paid over the counter until her work permit was approved. How is this possible? What is immigration doing? Sandals pays its Bahamian managers a fraction of what it does expats. A former expat used to make $80,000 not including housing and work permit. But the Bahamian who replaced her makes less than half of what she made and he performs more responsibilities. This can't be fair.
The Concierge Manager was a reservations clerk at Beaches Turks & Caicos. They got rid of her and now she got a work permit as a manager in The Bahamas. What is the justification of this? This job was never advertised.
Sandals is getting ready to get rid of Frank Hanna Cleaning Company. They owe Frank Hanna over $180,000 which was accumulating since last year. So this amount may never get paid. They want to hire employees to do the work internally, all because they don't want to pay Frank Hanna.
MITCHELL ACCEPTS THE NOMINATION
Six PLPs were nominated to run in the next general election at the National General Council meeting of the Progressive Liberal Party on Thursday 17 th February. The choices were unanimously accepted: Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill for the Fox Hill constituency, Obie Wilchcombe MP West End and Bimini for West End and Bimini, Alfred Gray for Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay for MICAL, Clay Sweeting, a new comer for North Eleuthera, Frank Smith MP for St. Thomas More for St. Thomas More, Dr. Bernard Nottage MP for Bain and Grants Town for Bain and Grants Town. MP Fred Mitchell in a formal acceptance speech thanked the Council members for their support and pledged to continue to do his best. He said the one thing he would like to do as the next MP for Fox Hill was to restore the dignity to being Bahamian, not being a second class citizen in your own country. You may click here for the full address. The photos are by Joette Penn and Athama Bowe.
THE NDP IS BUSY
What they lack in numbers, they make up with enthusiasm and activity. The NDP has had town meetings, public demonstrations and press conferences on the sale of BTC. On Wednesday 16 th February they had a press conference in the square Fred Mitchell MP and an old activist himself joined them for the photo before they began. Later LaTore Mackey of the NDP showed up at the PLP's public meeting as his former leader Andre Rollins joined the party. He returned the favour and posed with the PLP.
Photos from Thalia Duncombe's facebook page. Photos by Rodney Moncur.
THE CHINESE FAREWELL
After spending almost three years here in Nassau as his country's envoy and as we reported earlier on this site, the Chinese Ambassador is to leave The Bahamas in early March for a new assignment. As part of the formal round of good-byes, he and his staff paid a courtesy call on the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie who was joined at that call by Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell. The call took place on Tuesday 17 th February. The photo is by Derek Smith.
FOX HILL BRANCH AT MEN'S DAY SERVICE
The Branch Executive of the PLP Fox HIll attended the annual Men's Day service at the Mt. Carey Baptist Church on Fox Hill Road on Sunday 13th February. They were led by Branch Chairman Charlene Marshal. The others shown in the photos Lashanda McPhee, Assistant Secretary with her nephew David Chambers; Haizon Pinder, NGC Member, Altamese Isaacs, Treasurer, Sherean Glinton, Vice Chairman, Ellamae Collie, Second Vice Chairman and Deidre Rolle, Secretary.
PLPS ARE ASKED TO POST THIS SIGN ABOUT THEIR OWN PARTY COLURS
You can add this sign to your profile pictures in facebook and other social network sites to show your party support. The design was created by Andrew Burrows.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Forrester Carroll writes from Freeport about the people who are sleeping in the cemeteries in Nassau and sleeping in their cars in Freeport and the overall increase in poverty that has occurred under Hubert Ingraham's government:
The only time I have ever heard of anyone living in the grave yard, and or sleeping among the tombs, was in the case of an individual (man) whose name was “Legion.” The Bible relates the story, in the book of St. Mark chapter 5, of Legion's dilemma. He was a very troubled (demon possessed) soul who was an outcast of the society at the time. The Nassau Guardian reports today (Friday 4 th February) that, right now as we speak, persons (Bahamians) are actually living and sleeping, in cemeteries, among the dead in and around Nassau town. Why are these Bahamians resorting to this, lower than low, way of life? What conditions have caused them to seek refuge in the place of, and among, the dead. Do any of you, reading these real life stories, believe that these individuals can really do better, but that they choose rather not too? Or do you believe that the circumstances, to which they have been brought, have forced them into the graveyards? I, for one, am convinced of the latter.
While Hubert Ingraham, Zhivargo Laing and the rest of the cabinet feed, sumptuously everyday, these Bahamians who, in words only, they claim to care for, go unnoticed and unattended to. These, I submit-the least of our brothers and sisters-have reached the bottom and have no where else to turn nor any one to turn to who could or would give them sustenance. This is most definitely a reflection on our society, but a real indictment on the Ingraham's FNM government. It is a damn shame and disgrace, if you ask me, for we can do better as a country. A woman, her daughter, a baby and two female cousins were making the rounds in the International Bazaar, over the weekend, where they shoplifted from three different stores. According to the local daily they were stealing such items as clothing, cosmetic and other items from the stores. They were caught by the police and found in possession of the stolen items; do you think, for one minute, that this mother, daughter, cousin team wish, above all else, to be engaged in this nasty and dangerous behavior? Absolutely not; I am convinced that circumstances, created by this Ingraham Administration, have driven them to this state and have made thieves of these normally honest persons. A policeman, with tears in his eyes, reported that a couple weeks ago while patrolling in a high end, beach front, residential area around eleven o'clock in the evening, he happened on six vehicles parked side by side near the beach. Thinking that something was amiss, he approached the first vehicle very cautiously only to discover that the six vehicles were occupied by families, with children, sleeping in their vehicles. According to the patrol officer the occupants claimed they had no where else to go. The officer said that he cautioned them to be careful, wished them a good evening and walked away, very sorrowful wondering what is becoming of our nation. This particular incident occurred in Freeport in the area of Fortune Cay, but is a common occurrence in the Freeport community. Our society, I am convinced, is paying the price for the sins of omission and commission by this FNM Government. The Lord Christ said; “what you do for the least of these-your brethren-you do for me.”
In his story captioned; “Vagrant and shelterless” sleep amongst the dead, in the Western Cemetery, reporter Chester Robarbs went on to tell us that these “Vagrant and shelterless” souls, co-exist nightly with the dead amidst pieces of broken cement slabs, old clothing, beer bottles and human waste; how awful. This, my brothers and my sisters, is what the FNM government has brought us to and what Hubert Ingraham, with his lack of compassion as opined by Branville McCartney, has brought upon us.
A photograph of open grave sites, reportedly taken of plots located in the Southern Cemetery, was displayed on the Edition's Friday front page story, under the caption “Sleeping among the dead; desecrated grave sites have become homes to the homeless.” We must ask ourselves, as a people, some very serious and sober questions; “why are so many Bahamians falling, daily, through the economic cracks so rapidly and severely?” What are the particular circumstances perpetrating this rapid decline in our way of life? Who or what is to be blamed for this dastard state-of-affairs? Someone or something must be blamed and must take responsibility.
In Freeport Grand Bahama, in recent times noticeably, we've seen a vast increase of the Vagrant population. One can hardly move around the town area without being harassed by beggars. Did they elect to become beggars? I seriously doubt so; it's the circumstances, of an economically depraved society, which have driven them to the state in which they find themselves. Where do the Freeport vagrants and shelterless abide when night falls? I am told that they occupy any abandon building, they can find at nights, and some have even been seen resting their heads in little snug corners of public buildings like the post office, for instance, the court house and the Grand Bahama Port Authority building complex downtown. The evidence is all there to prove their habitual nighttime presence, as the areas smell of stale urine. Human feces are also visible at times. The vagrants compete, daily, for the scraps of food and other items that people, when passing, are willingly to give them when they could afford to do so. I have seen, personally, a number of the homeless roaming through the dumpsters, in the downtown Freeport area, ferreting out scraps of food. Walk around Freeport Town, any day, and you would readily conclude that the situation is of crisis proportions; it has gotten progressively worse over the last three years. The country's Social Services Department is obviously overwhelmed and cannot cope. The situation reflects the FNM government's inability and or helplessness in getting the crisis under some kind of control. Contrary to what Butler-Turner and her prime minister tell us, our social workers are overwhelmed by the crisis.
In Freeport we've seen the city go from a wonderful inviting metropolis to a disgraceful, filthy, vagrant infested dump. The daily long lines at the social services department-stretching from the door to the parking lot-doesn't help either. We could do better if we had a caring and compassionate government. Some of my readers, at this point, may be asking why politics must be brought into this situation; well I bring politics into the equation because it is the bad policies and non-compassionate demeanor of the political directorate (The FNM government) which have brought us to this dastard state; that is why politics is brought into it. I put the blame for the crisis, right where it belongs, at the feet of Hubert Alexander Ingraham, Zhivargo Laing and their FNM government. We have never experienced these kinds of situations before; not until the FNM came to power and stopped all the many good projects that the PLP left in place. Nassau, New Providence should get on their knees and thank God Almighty that Ingraham wasn't able to stop the Lynden Pindling Airport and Albany projects, because they are the only two which are sustaining Nassau at the moment. He stopped the Baha Mar deal, as well, but they were determined to succeed and because he (Ingraham) finds himself, now, with nothing else on the drawing board, he reluctantly decided to allow it to proceed and go forward. It is no secret that he promised Sir Sol Kerzner that he would see to it that it never proceeds but the sucker's back is against the wall.
The grave dwellers would surely love to rest their heads on soft pillows and clean sheets, when night falls, just like tub belly Hubert Ingraham does, don't you think? And do you think, for one minute, that those who scavenge through the garbage dumpsters enjoy surviving, on a daily basis, in that fashion? Don't you think that they would daily love to eat sumptuously like Zhivargo Laing and Hubert Ingraham? Don't you think that they too yearn for their breakfast, lunch time and dinner periods to be times when their tables are spread like Laing's and Ingraham's? Do you think that our once proud people enjoy going around admitting to friends and neighbors that their power and utilities are all disconnected for non-payment? Do you think that Bahamians want to be unemployed and scrapping for food daily? Do you think that our people feel no embarrassment when they are forced to stand in long lines, in the open canopy of the heavens, for hours waiting for a number to be called so that they could enter the little cubical, at the social services department, to collect some food stamps which very often are not honored at the food stores? I was totally embarrassed for one of my friends, the other day, when I had occasion to pass by on my way to the National Insurance Board's office and saw him standing in the line waiting for his number to be called. I didn't know what else to say to him except to ask what was he doing standing on the line. This was a silly question, of course, because I knew exactly why all of them were standing there. It was, however, my shock of seeing him, of all people, standing in the line with a number and I simply didn't know what to say to him. He told me that he hadn't worked for months and that he needed the food stamps. I was so sorry that I didn't have any cash money on me, at the time, and admitted the same but promised to assist him later. I just didn't have even a dollar on me that morning and I was so sorry about my friend's dilemma. Branville McCartney only confirmed what we have been accusing Hubert Ingraham of, a long time ago, and that is that he lacks compassion and fails to hear the cries of the Bahamain people. His ears are cocked and always ready to listen to foreigners but not Bahamians. Bran said that his party (FNM) will be challenged in the upcoming elections because of its lack of compassion; he meant, of course, that the FNM will lose the election. I submit, however, that the FNM will lose the elections for more reasons than the two Branville gave.
All people are humans--not Super Humans; just humans--with feelings which are common to all of us; why do you suppose then that these two tub bellies (Hubert and Zhivargo Laing) would conclude that those who live among the dead, in the grave yards, do so because they are comfortable living and sleeping there? Where did they get that nonsense from? I say to all well thinking Bahamians; it's really time for change.
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
20 th February 2011
IN PASSING
Services For Kermit Rolle
The funeral service for Stalwart Councilor Kermit Rolle of Rolleville Exuma will be held on Saturday 26 th February in at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Rolleville, Exuma.
Filipe Major Hurt In The Fire
Tribune photographer Felipe Major was reportedly one of the casualties of the Bay Street fire of Monday 14 th February. He reportedly fell from the balcony of a building trying to get his shot. He was taken from the scene on a stretcher, treated and discharged.
Phenton Gets Dead Mad
It was a wet time in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 9 th February. The topic: the water in Grand Cay—was it safe to drink? PLP Chair Bradley Roberts has been relentless in exposing the foul smelling water in Grand Cay, one of the islands off Abaco. In the Bahamian vernacular: it stinks. The Minister Phenton Neymour has been insisting and so insisted in the House that the water is safe to drink. He got so angry that he claimed that he should know since he has so many degrees including one in chemical engineering. Whereupon the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie told him that it was fine to have degrees but any child would know when water is stink. Mr. Neymour was apoplectic, took it personally and promised he would deal with the Leader of the Opposition. As fate would have it, they were later sitting next to each other in animated but friendly conversation in Christ Church Cathedral at the funeral of Bishop Michael Eldon on Wednesday 6 th February.
The JFK Plaque
One year before he was cut downy an assassin's bullet in Dallas in Novmerb1963 John Kennedy became the only sitting U.S. President in the history of his country to visit The Bahamas. The PLP led a demonstration against the UBP for the meeting which took place with John Diefenbaker of Canada and Harold MacMillan of Great Britain at Lyford Cay. A plaque was laid and trees planted. The trees were later stolen and replaced. Now the plaque after all these years at the corner of Blake Road and the West Bay Street has been removed and the empty stand left. The government says that the plaque will now be put in the new Lynden Pindling Airport.
Who Started The Fire?
The rumour mill was going overtime about the latest Bay Street Fire on Monday 14 th February. The people on the street think that because of the relationship with the moving of the port from Nassau to Arawak Cay, that someone had an incentive to burn the buildings down. Things that make you go hmmm!
Businessmen In GBI
The business community is up in arms over the Customs Department and their practice of refusing to issue bond letters unless National Insurance is paid. The businessmen don't quarrel with that so much as it's the methodology of refusing to agree on a schedule of payments to allow them to do business so they can make the money to pay NIB. This has backfired badly on the FNM administration. None of the FNM's five MPs in Grand Bahama have had any public comment on the matter.
Brenville Hanna Is Ill
Consultant to the Local Government Ministry Brenville Hanna a political activist of both the PLP as a young man and then latterly of the FNM Brenville “Bulla” Hanna is gravely ill. Mr. Hanna has been a dialysis patient for 12 years. The priests have been to visit. We pray for him. Mr. Hanna is a close friend of Thomas A. Robinson, the Bahamian star athlete, and of Perry Christie Leader of the Opposition and Mrs. Christie and Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and of Fred Mitchell MP. H called for all of them and they all went to visit with him last week.
Bishop Randy Fraser's Time Of Testing
If ever there were a time of testing for a Bishop, it must be now. The headlines have become more lurid as the trial grinds inexorably to its finish. Bishop Randy Fraser who is facing for the second time the trial over an allegation that he slept with someone who was a teenager who was in his care has taken the stand in his own defence. He denied the allegations and told how painful they were to himself and his family. What struck the public and the press as particularly difficult must have been the testimony that he and his wife had sex in the office of the church, his explanation for the semen found on the carpet in his office. Most people are just wishing that this is over and that there is some positive outcome for him. On Friday, he faced an angry Magistrate when none of his lawyers showed up for the trial. One was said to be sick. The other simply could not come. The Magistrate said that she would proceed on 15 th March with or without the lawyers.
Where Will Andre Rollins Run?
Andre Rollins with great fanfare has joined the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). He made his announcement on Wednesday 16 th February at a PLP rally to mark the winning of the Elizabeth bye-election. Mr. Rollins who is 35 years old and an orthodontist was welcomed into the party. The question is where will be run. We hope that the PLP treats him well and that he can accommodate himself to the strictures of being in a political party. There must be a winnable seat out there for him somewhere.
McCartney To Vote With The FNM
Despite the talk from Branville McCartney MP for Bamboo Town that he thinks that the FNM is not connected to the people and that Hubert Ingraham lacks compassion, Mr. McCartney is reportedly set to vote with the FNM to sell BTC, the telephone company in the face of popular opposition to it.
Rev. Sebastian Campbell Leaves All Saints Parish
After 20 years of service, growing the mission church and establishing the largest parish hall for the Anglican diocese with 1000 seats Fr Sebastian Campbell has been reassigned to the Parish of St. Gregory's. He is a visionary and well beloved. His parishioners feted him to farewell luncheon on Friday 11 th February. He takes up his new assignment on 1 st April. This is one of number of changes being made in the diocese by the new Bishop Laish Boyd.
FNM Paid To Keep Silent
Most people think that it was the perennially and loquacious Ivoine Ingraham that was the unnamed individual to whom The Tribune was referring. A Councilor of the FNM in The Tribune said that he was paid to keep silent and he was not going to keep silent any more on the sale of BTC. Trouble in the camp.
Basil Dean To Be Buried
This photo from the Nassau Guardian shows Brent Dean, Deputy Editor of the Nassau Guardian and son of deceased ACP retired Basil Dean as his fathers body arrives back in The Bahamas.
The retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Basil Dean who died suddenly last week in Florida at the Cleveland Clinic where he was receiving care for colon cancer is to be buried in Nassau following a funeral service at Christ Church Cathedral on Tuesday 22 nd February at 11 a.m. He will receive military honours.
The Strife Is O'er The Battle Done?
The Leader of the PLP Perry Christie has said that in Kennedy the seat where the Committee met to try and iron out the differing positions on the nominee for Kennedy, that committee's work is finished because the main objector and alternative candidate for nominee of the PLP Derek Ryan had withdrawn from the race. There is a similar position in South Beach, where Myles Laroda was vying for the PLP's nomination. Cleola Hamilton for South Beach and Dion Smith are now confirmed.
Thoughtful Commentary
We said it up above in our Comment of The Week: they used to say the PLP was anti white. anti young people and had too many lawyers. Now with Andre Rollins, who made the point in his address, to say that his mother was a conchy joe from Long island, and with Clay Sweeting who is white and from Spanish Wells; with Dr. Rollins a dentist and 35 and with Mr. Sweeting a fishermen and 25: what do they say now? Perhaps just perhaps we may be reaching the point in the PLP where one of the aims of the original founder of the party can be realized which was to deal with the issue of class discrimination. The poverty has increased under Hubert Ingraham; the middle class is destroyed. The battle now is joined for the soul of the middle class and their struggle for survival-- to stop the indignity under Hubert Ingraham of living in a $250,000 home but can't afford to keep the power on, living in darkness for six months or more. The battle is joined to protect the fishing grounds from encroachment by the foreign fishermen and to protect the livlihood of Spanish Wells. The battle is joined to help the business people of Grand Bahama from the clutches of the tax police in Freeport. This is about interests, ideology and philosphy and gettting the job done. What does the FNM and their hateful wasteful leader have to say now?
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| BREAKING NEWS PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The burial of the first Bahamian bishop of the Anglican diocese will take place at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau at 11 a.m. Tuesday 15th February. The Bishop died on 7th February after five years in a coma. His body was laid out in the church where he got his start and where he served his last masses, the parish of St. George in the Valley. He was the founding and only Chaplain of the Valley Boys Junkanoo group and they held a rush out in his honour as the body was taken out of the church. The photo by Peter Ramsay shows the body being received in the parish church of St. George by the Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd on Monday 14th February. |
PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY
STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF
DR. KEVA BETHEL
PRESIDENT EMERITA COLLEGE OF THE BAHAMAS
15th February 2011
It is with deep regret and sadness that we learned of the death of Dr. Keva Bethel on the very day of the funeral of her late dear departed brother Bishop Michael Eldon. Our party expresses its condolences to her family at this very sad time.
Dr. Bethel was a pioneer in Bahamian education, a stalwart Bahamian patriot dedicated to the development of the intellectual talent of our country. She served in so many capacities. She is perhaps best remembered as the President of the College of The Bahamas building it into the institution which it is today. She is a cultural icon. Even after retiring, she was called upon by this nation time and time again to serve and she never said no. Dr. Bethel is the essence of public service, love of country without fear or favour.
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
TWO CONTRASTING POINTS OF VIEW
Photos here are from Rodney Moncur's Facebook page.
The
Minister of Culture Charles Maynard is one of a number of government
ministers who have Facebook pages. Through these pages and in these
times, Ministers are able to get direct feedback from their policies
and to dialogue with the public. Mr. Maynard made an entry last week
in which he thanked those members of the public for waiting in his words
and having the patience to find out the truth of the government’s
position on the sale of BTC before reacting to the matter based on the
propaganda about it.
This is very interesting because one would have thought that a man like
Charles Maynard who is a member of the Saxons Junkanoo group, who gets
around, does not lead a cloistered existence should and would know better.
You have to asked yourself how in the face of a popular revulsion, an
almost revolt over the sale of BTC does he make the intervention that
he does. Is he like the rest of his colleagues living in cloud cuckoo
land?
On the other hand, you have the statement issued from Stanford University
by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill in which he said that the Prime Minister
had becomes the most hated leader in the history of our country as a
result of the policy of selling BTC. He listed a host of other issues
where Mr. Ingraham’s administration appears to be hell bent on
proceeding in such a way as to hobble nay future government. He listed
the Port in New Providence, the spending spree in which the government
is now engaged on infrastructure, and then there is BTC.
There are then two different views of what is happening in this country.
There is always another side to a story one supposes. But you have to
ask yourself how is it that the two sides can be so completely different.
Indeed both sides are equally convinced that they are right on BTC.
There was a poll published in the press which said that 53 per cent
of the people questioned support the sale of BTC. Well they might and
that might in fact give the government some comfort. However, we do
not think that the sale of BTC is the issue. The issue is how are we
going to sell it and to whom. The sale to Cable and Wireless is simply
not acceptable. In the words of Mr. Mitchell, it is a lousy company.
The Unions don’t quite seem to know what to do in the face of
Mr. Ingraham saying to the House of Assembly that the workers at the
company ought to get used to the fact that the company is sold and that
is the new reality. With that he shut down the House of Assembly for
another two weeks after which time he said that he is coming back to
give his mid budget statement. Business as usual.
We think that the Government plans to sell this idea of BTC being sold
to Cable and Wireless as a way to lessen costs to the consumer and to
give better utility of service and to keep up with technology. That
is a big lie. Cable and Wireless’ phone service is no less expensive
n fact it may be more expensive than the present BTC service. The Unions
and the opponents of the sale must meet that issue.
We support the sale of BTC but not to Cable and Wireless. Like Perry
Christie has said this is a bad deal.
Mr. Maynard is mistaken if he thinks that there is broad support for
what his government proposes to do. The things they are saying about
the government are simply unprintable. We urge them to resile from their
decision.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 12th February
2011 up to midnight: 172,754
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 12th February
2011 up to midnight: 241,137
Number of hits for the year 2011 up to Saturday 12th February 2011 up
to midnight: 864,418
PLP RELEASES
SHOCKING INFO ON URCA HEAD
Press Statement
By
The Progressive Liberal Party
Cable and Wireless Plants its CEO in URCA
February 13th, 2011
Evidence below confirms the Mr. Saadat said he left Cable and Wireless St. Lucia to return to his homeland in the Far East. However, several months later he ended up in the employ of URCA.
After being informed of his connections to Cable and Wireless, the Progressive Liberal Party conducted an investigation into the background of Mr. Usman Saadat who was first appointed to the position of Director of Policy & Regulation at the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA) in (April 2009). He now holds the office of Chief Executive Officer at URCA.
Firstly, Mr. Saadat’s own LinkIn profile discloses the following:
Usman Saadat’s Summary
A talented and highly experienced Senior Telecommunications Executive,
with over 14 years’ industry exposure gained in the UK, Caribbean
and throughout EMEA. Has practical, demonstrable experience of successfully
managing the review, restructure and transformation of business operations
to enhance financial performance. Held senior management positions with
full financial accountability, and deployed effective strategies for business
development. Experienced consultant in regulation and policy, and helping
regulators and companies manage complex regualtory issues in liberalised
markets.
Usman Saadat’s Specialties:
1. Increasing employee engagement – motivating and empowering effective
teams, mentoring.
2. Influencing key stakeholders - especially customers, Regualtors and
Government.
3. Business and commercially focused, yet having extensive technical knowledge
of emerging convergent telecommunications technologies a nd expert in
regulatory policy and implementation.
4. Skilled Programme Manager with in-depth knowledge and experience of
implementing ‘best practice’ methodologies.
Usman Saadat’s Experience
Chief Executive Officer
URCA, Bahamas (Telecommunications industry)
October 2010 — Present (5 months)
Director of Policy & Regulation
Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA), Bahamas
(Telecommunications industry)
April 2009 — October 2010 (1 year 7 months)
Chief Executive
Cable & Wireless St Lucia
(Public Company; CW.L; Telecommunications industry)
August 2007 — July 2008 (1 year )
Business Development Director
Cable & Wireless International
(Public Company; Telecommunications industry)
November 2006 — July 2007 (9 months)
Chief Exective
Cable & Wireless Seychelles
(Public Company; Telecommunications industry)
October 2004 — October 2006 (2 years 1 month)
Vice President – Marketing
Cable & Wireless Eastern Caribbean
(Telecommunications industry)
October 2003 — September 2004 (1 year )
Economist
Cable & Wireless
(Public Company; Telecommunications industry)
January 2000 — September 2003 (3 years 9 months)
Consultant
Europe Economics
(Telecommunications industry)
August 1998 — November 1999 (1 year 4 months)
Analyst
National Economic Research Associates
(Public Company; Telecommunications industry)
September 1995 — July 1998 (2 years 11 months)
Usman Saadat’s Education
London School of Economics and
Political Science, U. of London
Msc Economics , Development Studies , 1993 — 1994
London School of Economics and Political Science
1989 — 1992
As noted above in his own profile, Mr. Saadat was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Cable and Wireless St. Lucia for just one year before taking up the position at URCA just some seven months later.
Our research has disclosed that in July of 2008 Mr. Saadat resigned from Cable and Wireless citing “personal circumstances – his various postings around the world being a challenge for him, and his family having to adjust constantly to life on the move. Saadat said he and his family took a decision to migrate back to the Far East, and settle down after many years on the move.”
This most sudden move by Saadat was made after investing more than one decade of service with Cable and Wireless.
The Progressive Liberal Party finds it most interesting that Mr. Saadat’s resume made no mention of his return to the Far East to "settle down" as noted by him as his main reason for resigning from Cable and Wireless St. Lucia in 2008.
The PLP asks how is it that in less than eight months Mr. Saadat, with just 14 years of experience, was selected by the FNM Government to become the Director of Policy and Regulations at URCA in the Bahamas and was then instantly promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer at URCA?
The PLP is deeply concerned and is not convinced that it is merely a coincidence that an eleven year employee of Cable and Wireless would be selected for such an important role of regulating a company of which he (Mr. Saadat) was once the Chief Executive Officer. Clearly any rational thinking person would conclude that this is a very serious and blatant conflict of interest and the FNM Government demonstrated incredibly poor judgment in the hiring of Usman Saadat.
We now see the FNM Government embracing and consummating a deal with Cable and Wireless, a company which did not participate in the BTC privatization bidding process. Specifically, the FNM Government has now executed an agreement with Cable and Wireless for the sale of 51% ownership of BTC with the full knowledge of and blessing that the former CEO of Cable and Wireless will now the head the communications regulatory body of The Bahamas.
The completion of the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless is conditional on a number of transactions. The key important approval needed for the sale is that of URCA. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has clearly and intentionally placed Mr. Saadat in a position where there exists a fundamental conflict between his sacred duty to protect the public interest as URCA's chief and his private and business relationships with former employer, Cable and Wireless. This cannot be right.
This brings into serious question the independence of URCA as a regulatory body. The unions rightly challenged Mr. Saatdat’s appointment to URCA which was whitewashed by the FNM Government. The response given was not transparent at all.
The Government’s claim of URCA being independent of the Government is ridiculous and must be challenged in the courts.
BAHAMAR
MATTERS TABLED
On
Monday 7th February in the House of Assembly, the Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham tabled the agreements on the Baha Mar Development which will
officially turn the shovels on 21st February to begin constructions. He
announced that number of taxes that were owed by the developers have been
paid and now work can begin. You can click here for that full statement
to the House. The PLP’s Leader Perry Christie issued a statement
on Monday 7th February in answer to that communication as follows:
Christie Responds to Baha Mar Communication
Published: Tuesday February 8th, 2011
The communication laid by the Prime Minister this morning in the House of Assembly should serve as a lesson to the Prime Minister of what can be accomplished when we stop playing politics with people’s lives and button down and work in the interest of our people.
It also shows what being a diligent and hardworking Opposition can produce. There is no doubt that the Bahamar project which was left in place by the PLP is good for The Bahamas, in spite of the Prime Minister’s unfortunate negative comments, delays and non-involvement during negotiations with the Chinese Import/Export Bank. It is long overdue and we are only at this point because after years of stall, delay and defer by the Prime Minister, he was forced to recognize that what was left by the PLP was good for the country. Indeed, the Prime Minister is now boasting of the project as if it were his own.
For our part, we welcome the promise of the turning of the shovels in the ground and will be there to watch it take place.
The Progressive Liberal Party is particularly pleased that through our efforts and persistence the demand for an extensive training and certification programme has been included in the agreement. The eight million dollar training and re-training programme is intended to provide Bahamians with opportunities to enjoy employment during the construction stages of the project. All we ask is that all Bahamians be given a fair opportunity to obtain training and secure employment.
We will continue to monitor all that has been promised to ensure that the promises of both the government and the developer are kept. We are equally concerned about the maximum participation of Bahamian contractors of all classes, not just the traditionally favoured few and that the project itself adequately prepares for the hiring of Bahamians when it is finished and complete.
Our best wishes go out to the developers and we urge Bahamian to do their best to make this work and our country proud.
THE
BTC SALE IS COMING
It’s
all official now. The last of the profitable bits of the national patrimony
that is the national institutions which form the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
are to be sold at a fire sale price by a Prime Minister who simply said
to the people of the country just that. The deal is done. Get used to
it and that’s all there is. We will see. The web exploded with vitriol
against him and his government yet his ministers keep saying that all
is well. One commentator compared them to lemmings jumping off a cliff
or the children following the Pied Piper of Hamelin to their deaths. The
statement of the Prime Minister made in the House of Assembly on Tuesday
9th February:
Govt. Notice of the Sale of BTC to Cable &
Wireless
Published: Tuesday February 8th, 2011
STATEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BAHAMASGOTB/CWC
Sales Agreement for BTC February 8, 2011
The Government of The Bahamas announces that it has today concluded the Agreement by which it has contracted to sell a 51% interest in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications Plc (CWC). The transaction is subject to Parliamentary and regulatory approvals.CWC, who will acquire the 51% interest in BTC through CWC Bahamas Holdings Ltd, a Bahamian holding company, will pay a consideration ofUS$210 million plus Bahamian stamp duty of US $7 million on thetransaction.CWC is a global, full-service communications company which operates leading communications businesses through four regional units – the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco & Islands.
Its services include mobile, broadband and domestic and international fixed line services in most of its markets as well as pay-TV, data centre and hosting, carrier and managed service solutions. CWC is a FTSE 250communications company with approximately $2.3 billion revenues, operating in 38 countries (13 of which are in the Caribbean) providing fixed line, mobile, broadband and entertainment services. It has 8.3million mobile, 1.8 million fixed line and 600,000 broadband customers. CWC has been in the telecoms business for more than 140years, and is a trade buyer with a long term strategy and interest.CWC is expected to bring synergies to BTC in terms of procurement savings, administration savings, IT implementation and support, network operations support and others. On completion of the transaction, expected to be around the end of March 2011, CWC will be primarily responsible for the day-to-day management and operation of BTC under the terms of a Shareholders' Agreement with the Government.
The Shareholders' Agreement will govern the cooperation between the Government and CWC with respect to BTC's future operations. It provides that:* The headquarters and day to day administration, operation and management of BTC shall be conducted substantially from premises in The Bahamas;* A voluntary workforce Restructuring Plan will be planned to be implemented within the first twelve months following completion;* Pension benefits enjoyed by BTC's existing staff and retirees will not be affected by the sale. The Government will assume responsibility for BTC pension costs going forward in excess of10% of the salary base, which will be funded via a trust to be established by The Government. Following completion of the transaction, the Government will place $39 million in the trust.* The Agreement provides certain conditions regarding the future sale of the interest being acquired by CWC, and provides also that the Government may, within three years of completion, sell up to 9% of BTC to the Bahamian public.
The Government will have rights of veto over certain key issues to the extent not already specifically part of the Business Plan or Restructuring Plan, which include:* approval of any material change in the nature or scope of BTC's business;* the relocation, outside of The Bahamas, of any material part of BTC's business;* decision relating to major new acquisitions or disposals of material business units; and* borrowing above certain permitted levels. Under the Business Plan produced by CWC, the core objectives are for BTC to become a more efficient, customer centric, business that will maintain a uniquely Bahamian culture while leveraging the regional and global scale benefits of CWC.
Key elements of the Business Plan, to be implemented over the near term, include:* faster mobile data through smart phone packages, and prepaid data services;* new mobile services such as mobile banking, access to music, pictures and information services;* lower roaming costs, increased coverage, and mobile calling price;* improved mobile experience overseas for Bahamians with increased roaming agreements;* entertainment products, including TV on laptops and mobile phones;* an increase in the BTC retail footprint with more stores across The Bahamas, and a significant increase in Top Up locations. This is also expected to create significant new dealer opportunities, especially in the Family Islands;* easier Top Up methods, and support to current Top Up dealers with marketing funds and margin improvement with technology enhancements such as Top Up and handset Top Up;* a focus on customer experience improvements, including improved call centres, single bills, enhanced online portals etc;* an enhanced suite of products for businesses, as well as better international and regional connectivity;* the maximization of opportunities of the Bahamas-Haiti cable link tapping into CWC's global carrier services business; and* commitment to on community projects, particularly in the areas of Environment, Education, Sports, Health, Music & Culture.
The BTC cellular exclusivity period will be extended
to three years following completion, after which a liberalization process
will be launched. Additionally, any third cellular license would not be
issued prior to five years following completion. This privatization of
BTC is at the centre of the Government's communications policy. The Government
expects that with BTC under the control and management of CWC, privatization
will enhance the efficiency of the Bahamian communications sector and
will result in more affordable access to high quality communications services
in all regions of The Bahamas. It will also ensure that electronic communications
services enable The Bahamas to increase its international competitiveness.
THE
NEED FOR AN EGYPT MOMENT
Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour, was upset that the Union Chief Bernard
Evans of BTC, the phone company now on the auction block, warned that
the country over the BTC issue could become like Egypt.
This is a reference to the fact over the past 18 days culminating with Saturday 12th February, the Egyptian people took to the streets to demand that their President of 30 years go and go right away. He stenched but in the end, he had to go. He was pushed out of the door.
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham just before he made his hasty retreat from the House of Assembly on Tuesday 8th February said that The Bahamas was not Egypt and he pointedly referred to his government as the duly elected government of The Bahamas. He too is aware of what the impact of the Egypt moment could have even as far afield as The Bahamas. Fred Mitchell in the letter he wrote to the Facebook crowd said that the Prime Minister should call an election and call it now. He said that the Prime Minister should do what the UBP did in the face of the allegations of corruption in 1967 and that is to call a general election.
We believe that Mr. Ingraham does not have a mandate to
sell BTC as he now plans and he should therefore go back to the people
in order to get the mandate to do what he now proposes.
CUSTOMS
GOES AFTER LESLIE MILLER
Last week we reported in this column a story IN PASSING that Leslie Miller
was the target of a very public allegation by the Customs Department that
he or more properly his company owed money to customs. Mr. Miller in his
inimical way described the allegation as being part of a fanciful imagination.
Our take on the matter is that with Glen Gomez as Controller of Customs
we have seen a political agenda being carried out from the start of his
tenure in that office. We do not believe him when he says that no one
is being targeted.
We believe that he is targeting PLPs and that Leslie Miller is simply a juicy target for him as a potential candidate for the PLP in the next election. With Hubert Ingraham as the Prime Minister, known to be vindictive and vengeful, and Mr. Gomez is his handpicked man, we think that they are targeting Leslie Miller. The link to the story as reported by Candia Dames of the Nassau Guardian and we know of her close links with the Prime Minister and his agenda.
Customs crackdown
By CANDIA DAMES Guardian News Editor candia@nasguard.com on 2/7/2011
Importers owe govt millions
The Office of the Attorney General has warned about 20 business owners
to move immediately to settle outstanding debts with the Department of
Customs that total millions of dollars, Customs Comptroller Glenn Gomez
has confirmed.
Gomez told The Nassau Guardian that collectively these importers owe The
Bahamas government millions of dollars, with one importer alone owing
roughly $2 million.
The comptroller also confirmed that former Minister of Trade and Industry
Leslie Miller owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in duty.
On Friday afternoon, he said the department was in the process of calculating
the exact amount Miller owes. At that point, Miller had not yet paid the
full duty owed on a shipment of goods that came in last Tuesday.
Gomez said Customs was still holding the 40-foot container, which he said
contained a variety of goods including appliances and auto parts.
Miller explained to The Guardian last Thursday that the matter was only
a misunderstanding in that he did not know some of the goods were in the
container and did not yet have the invoices for them.
Gomez indicated that he had no way of knowing whether that was true, but
he said that is the most common excuse used by business people when customs
discovers incorrect declarations.
“They always say that,” Gomez said. “That’s not
a believable one as far as I’m concerned.”
Miller told The Guardian last week that he did not owe customs a single
cent, except for what he owed on the latest shipment. He said he fully
intended to pay his bill to have the goods cleared, but up to Friday afternoon
the matter had not yet been concluded.
Gomez said if the business owners — including Miller — do
not pay up then customs would exercise its power under law and seize the
“uncustomed” goods and auction them.
Asked how Miller or any businessman could be allowed to run up such a
substantial bill with the department, Gomez said, “If you are importing
goods under a concessionary act, you might be allowed to take delivery
of your goods on execution of a bond, which I understand happened in [Miller’s]
case.
“Once the Ministry [of Finance] has agreed to the concession and
the level of the concession then of course we would see where any duties
that may not fall under that concession would be due, and that is what
we have been doing and we’re still doing.
“We’re trying to determine the full amount.”
Miller is the proprietor of Sunburst Paints and Mario’s Bowling
and Entertainment Palace on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway.
Gomez said the hundreds of thousands of dollars in duty is owed on imports
connected to Mario’s.
Miller said the shipment being held by customs is connected to his paint
company.
Gomez said he is still working to clean up the mess he met when he became
comptroller a little less than two years ago.
He said the Miller imports that led to the hundreds of thousands of dollars
in duty being outstanding date back to 2008, before he was in charge of
the department.
“We have a number of persons and businesses, small and not so small
in the community, that are owing,” said Gomez, stressing that they
are all being treated equally.
Gomez — who was contacted by The Guardian for comment — said
there is no witch-hunt against Miller, and all business people will be
held to the same standards.
“This is a challenge, but we’ve made inroads,” he said.
“It’s better than I met it, but still not quite where I’d
like it to be, but we are moving forward.”
FNM
PROPOSES TO BRIBE CIVIL SERVANTS
The Progressive Liberal Party issued a statement that
it had heard that the FNM administration planned to bribe civil servants
by paying them $2500 as a lump sum in June of this year. The PLP issued
a statement telling people take the money but vote PLP. The statement
reminded the public of the FNM's sheer bribery of the police vote in the
1997 general election. The statement of the PLP was called a lie by the
FNM and they touted how they have promoted fiscals responsibility. You
cannot pay too much attention to the protestations of the FNM on these
matters. First they lie without a conscience and with a straight face
on matters of public policy. Secondly, even if it is not now true, the
PLP should be congratulated for bringing the matter to the attention of
the public. The public is now on notice and if it happens, the PLP will
be in a position to say: “I told you so”. Finally, the PLP
knows that Hubert Ingraham can say one thing today but do a completely
different thing tomorrow so they need to be on guard. The PLP’s
statement follows:
Press Statement
By
The Progressive Liberal Party
February 9th 2011
Government conspiring to Bribe Civil Servants
The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance should confirm publicly and
today whether information coming to the attention of the Progressive Liberal
Party is correct, namely that his government intends to seek favour with
public servants in the form of a lump sum payment of $2,500 each and the
addition of $75.00 to their base salary in short order. The Prime Minister
must come clean.
While we support all legitimate payment increases to public servants,
we have to point out to them the cynical nature of what is proposed. It
harks back to the year 1997 when on the night before the police force
voted; the Prime Minister reminded them of a $1500 lump sum payment due
to them on the day of the "advance poll" telling the police
that when they vote they must “remember the money". Fortunately
the times have changed and no one will be fooled by the Prime Minister
and this government this time.
The PLP says take the money but remember that it was Mr. Ingraham's administration
that mistreated public servants during this term. You should reward Mr.
Ingraham and his FNM colleagues by voting PLP in the next general election.
In our view, this is a sinister plot devised by the Ingraham Administration
which includes failing to honour certain financial terms of the Industrial
Agreement with the Public Service Union in addition to withholding salary
increments and promotions until it becomes politically convenient to do
so. The Ingraham administration is using this as an election ploy to lure
the political support of the public service. The staff at the National
Insurance Board has already been paid the $2,000 back pay.
The Ingraham administration's tactics are unseemly and could amount to
seeking to bribe voters.
The PLP calls on the government to come clean and state whether or not
the Civil Servants will be paid in June 2011. The government is also called
on to explain why the financial terms of the union contract were not honoured
as scheduled?
End
SRG/CABLE
BAHAMAS MERGER- FRED MITCHELL OBJECTS
Last year, Cable Bahamas (TV and Internet service) and SRG which trades
as Indigo and in voice telephone service in competition with BTC, applied
to merge as one company. This will create a telephone company which will
compete with BTC in voice and data. BTC has no Cable TV business but it
will also see the concentration of the telecommunications industry in
the hands of fewer players not more. Something is simply not right about
it.
The decision was delayed for ninety days said the Utilities
Regulation Competition Commission (URCA) because they had some concerns
after the first round of objections. That period is now over because without
any ceremony or notice URCA issued its findings which now allow the merger
to go through. URCA has simply lost its credibility and is seen as another
agent of the Hubert Ingraham regime. It lacks transparent procedures and
will have to be reformed by a PLP administration. Fred Mitchell MP issued
the following statement with regard to the merger:
Click
here for view the document...
JOB
LOSSES IN GBI
We keep asking in this column which it is that the MPs who are FNM in
Grand Bahama know that we do not know. The economy in Grand Bahama is
in the sink; people are reportedly living in cars; the volunteer food
distribution services are straining at the bit; the Humane Society is
having a hard time because people in the face of the recession are abandoning
their dogs and cats. Yet in the face of all that, there is not a word
from the Members of Parliament who are FNM in Grand Bahama and there are
five of them.
The Tribune ran a story in which it spoke to the President of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce about the fact that the policies of the FNM administration are causing great hardship in the economy of Grand Bahama. The latest is the trouble with the Customs Department and their enforcement of the requirements to issue a bond letter which is the lifeblood of the Freeport businessman. This gives him the authority to bring his goods duty free and thereby take advantage of the provisions of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement which governs what goes on in Freeport.
Here is the link to the story in The Tribune. The President of the Chamber claims that there has been a fall off in business of 40 per cent. You would have thought that with five FNM MPs in Grand Bahama someone would speak to customs and see how this matter can be resolved.
Published On:Monday, February 07, 2011
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president has confirmed to Tribune Business that many Freeport-based retailers and businesses have suffered a 40 per cent sales decline due to the ongoing 'Bonded letter' controversy, with February the 'make or break' month for "significant" reductions in staffing levels.
K P Turnquest told this newspaper that many Freeport companies, especially the larger wholesalers and retailers, would use this month as a "year-over-year benchmark" to determine whether employee lay-offs would be necessary to enable them to "survive", given the drastic top-line decline. All companies concerned are seeking to avoid this if possible, Tribune Business understands, and are hoping that sales levels will return as increasing numbers of Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) licencees obtain the National Insurance Board (NIB) letter of 'good standing' that, in turn, allows them to gain the standard annual 'Bonded letter' from Customs.
"I'm being told by some of our members that business is down by 40 per cent as a result of this Customs issue," Mr. Turnquest told Tribune Business.
"I have no basis apart from their comments, but I have to believe they're feeling the effects, given the sheer passion with how they address it, and they're now having to make adjustments in terms of employment levels."
Mr. Turnquest added of the predicament many Freeport businesses had found themselves in during January: "They're looking at February as a benchmark year-on-year to see if business comes back in February, and if it doesn't come back they will have to do what they need to do to survive. That's what we're faced with in the domestic market."
However, striking a more positive note, Mr. Turnquest said the Chamber and wider Freeport community, both businesses and households, were absolutely determined and resolute that the city would shrug off the current problems afflicting it to not only survive, but prosper.
"We're, as a Chamber and community as a whole, trying to shake-off these negatives and look for the positives," the Grand Bahama Chamber president told Tribune Business. "We have tremendous confidence in Grand Bahama rising to the challenge, and believe that with creativity and innovation we will be to make this city work, regardless of all obstacles put in our way. We're moving forward."
Letter
Customs is insisting that all GBPA licencees produce NIB Letters of Good
Standing before it will renew their annual 'Bonded letter', something
that entitles them to purchase goods only for use in their own business
duty-free. Those without this letter, rather than paying duty on their
purchases and incurring higher costs, have instead deferred their purchases.
This has been compounded by Customs' decision not to give GBPA licencees the 'month's grace' they had been traditionally accustomed to, as many had waited until January of the following year to obtain their 'Bonded letter'. Customs has been enforcing compliance, this time, from year-end 2010.
One retailer, who requested anonymity, previously told Tribune Business the 'Bonded letter' move had not gone according to the Government's plan, which was to force numerous GBPA licencees into duty-paid sales and purchases, thereby increasing Customs revenue.
The actual effect, they said, had been to slow all commerce in Freeport to a grinding halt. "The impact has obviously been quite drastic," the source said, "and has had more the effect of halting commerce than shoving commerce into duty-paid sales.
"What it has succeeded in doing is undermining revenue streams for the Government itself, and the companies that provide it. It's a very hard January compared to the prior year. Although the month is traditionally slow, it is not fatal. That has not proven to be the case this time around."
The source said many major businesses were waiting to see who would be the first to shed employees, as they were all looking to follow suit. "If February is looking anything like January, there will be substantial lay-offs, and everyone is waiting for the first shoe to drop," the source said.
GILBERT MORRIS REVIEWS THE WORLD ECONOMY
In a cornucopia of insights, a tour de force of commentary on world events,
the featured columnist to this site Dr Gilbert Morris presents his views
on the ecnomic and political complexities of the US-China relationship;
the developments in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa.
He is upbeat about Africa's performance but thinks that South Africa can
do more. In the Latin America he is upbeat about Brasil, the Dominican
Republic and Panama; he is not so upbeat about the economies of the Caribbean
including The Bahamas. We think its an interesting read:
Morris Annual Global Economic Forecast
by: Gilbert NMO Morris for The Caribbean Basin Review (CBR)
Introduction:
One is afforded the opportunity, in the 10th and 11th years between decades,
to reflect on the end of a 10 year cycle of life, (2001-2010) and the
beginning of a new one. 2010 was an end and a beginning, but 2011 is a
begining.
What I will discuss in this forecast are the discrete, at times, imperceptible
trends that I believe will burst into view during this year and impact
events in this decade. Read
the full report here...
From a special correspondent:
Following the proceedings in Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Perry G Christie
assembled a Team of listeners and Party Leaders for a visit to beautiful
Lower Bogue, in North Eleuthera; the objective was to meet and interact
with supporters and community leaders, to continue the journey forward.
They came from Current, Hatchet Bay, Harbour Island, Gregory Town, Bluff, and Spanish Wells and from as far away as James Cistern, a round trip of some seventy miles; the air was electric and they expressed their support for the PLP. Moderator Greg Stuart, fielded an excellent array of speakers, who passionately voiced their support for their choice for candidate to vie for the North Eleuthera seat in Parliament; they recalled the days of former PLP representatives, Marvin Pinder and the late Peter J Bethell, and vowed to recapture the seat for the PLP.
The meeting heard from two of the candidates seeking the
nomination to become the Party Standard bearer, Messrs. Chriswell Johnson
and Clay Sweeting; the room lit up in support of Clay and giving thanks
to Chriswell for his previous gallant efforts.
Deputy Leader Hon. Philip Brave Davis MP, National Chairman, Hon. Bradley
Roberts, D. Shane Gibson MP, Golden Gates, Hon. Vincent Peet MP, N. Andros,
newly elected PYL Chairman, Keenan Johnson and S. Randy Rolle, Vice Chair
for the Family Islands, echoed the inspirational message presented by
the Leader, Christie.
The visiting Team included the Secretary General, members of the Candidates Committee, Stalwart Councilors, former Senator Mr. Audley Hanna, Senior Trustee Valentine Grimes, Deputy Chair emeritus, Irrington Minkey Isaacs and support specialist, Andrew Burrows.
Team member Laura Williams commented on the passion and high energy of the meeting and thanked the supporters for the courtesies extended.
The meeting ended with refreshments, the exchange of photo
opportunities, contacts and the return to New Providence.
North Eleuthera is a done deal, determined to become PLP, again and FNM,
no more.
Photos from Andrew Burrows.
THE DEATH
OF THE BISHOP MICHAEL ELDON
We
a few weeks ago posted a story about the policy of Bahamianization as
explained by the founding Prime Minister of the country Sir Lynden O.
Pindling. One of the things he mentioned in that statement (click here
for the statement) was that the Bahamian of the day could not remember
the time when Bahamians were not in charge of the major institutions of
the country. He mentioned that at one time there was no Bahamian heading
the Anglican Church. That all changed in 1972 when Bishop Michael Hartley
Eldon became the first Bahamian in the history of the diocese in existence
since 1861 to head the church. It was a momentous occasion. Bishop Eldon
died after being in a coma for five years.
We announced it as breaking news on this site on Monday 7th February. He was a towering figure throughout the country in his day. He led the training of local priests leading 50 or more to the priesthood. He was a leading civic voice and when the annual Anglican Synod took place in October, the country listened for what he had to say.
When he opposed the plans of the then Pindling Government to amend the constitution to change the citizenship provisions that sunk the government’s plans and they were abandoned. He was a quiet but powerful man. He is remembered particularly fondly in West End, Grand Bahama where he served as Archdeacon and rector of the local parish church. He was seen as one of the boys.
He is survived by his sister Dr Keva Bethel ( who contrary to reports remains in hospital alive though gravely ill) his niece Nicolette and her husband Philip Burrows, his nephew Eddie and Eddie’s wife and child. The funeral fo the Bishop will be held on Tuesday 15th February at 11. a.m. Christ Church Cathedral.
MITCHELL
ON FACEBOOK: INGRAHAM MOST HATED
The following is a letter which appeared on Facebook
by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill in response to the announcement by the
government of Hubert Ingraham that he intends to sell BTC:
LETTER
FROM STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Fred Mitchell Responds To The Announcements in the House
Of Assembly on The Sale Of BTC
9th February 2011
The news has resonated with me here on the west coast of the United States of the sell out by the Government of The Bahamas of part of the national patrimony by our Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. He is to be roundly condemned. He and all his colleagues are being called names that are most uncharitable in the streets of Nassau. In the space of three years, one man has managed to go from a matter of trust to perhaps the most hated leader in our country. This portends great danger for his legacy and reputation in this country. He ought to be reminded also of the Biblical injunction: the sins of the father are visited upon the children.
Those who follow him like the children after the Pied Piper of Hamlin and jump off the cliff like lemmings behind him will go down in history as traitors.
There was some speculation about the support of the policy of the Progressive Liberal Party’s Members of Parliament for the position espoused by the Leader of the party Perry Christie when the PLP becomes the government for the policy of renegotiating the agreements with Cable and Wireless if the FNM government should proceed with their policy on BTC. Let me say that I unequivocally support the policy announced by Mr. Christie and if we get the good fortune to form the next government I would go further and urge that we do in the national interest what the government of Belize did and that is get the controlling interest in BTC back again.
Indeed, it appears that so much of what the PLP will have to do within the first 100 days of a new administration will be to set right the many wrongs perpetrated against the Bahamian people by this FNM administration headed by a man who appears to be the most vengeful and contemptuous leader our country has ever had.
The interesting thing is how there are so many minions who parade around as independents but who are willing to speak up for the nonsense going around by Mr. Ingraham. The latest of these minions has to be the former Head of the Chamber of Commerce Dionysio D’Aguillar who claimed that the PLP's position on the BTC matter was rubbish. This is the same man who presumably supports a share owning democracy and one would have thought the empowerment of the Bahamian business community would be for him a priority. The PLP’s position on the matter was far from rubbish and as for the statement by Mr. D’Aguillar one hopes he recognizes it as a complete embarrassment to him and his reputation. And if he is not embarrassed for himself, I am for him, so foolish and ill considered it was.
But what Mr. D’Aguillar’s statement did was provide political cover for the Hubert Ingraham administration so that it can proceed to decimate that part of the national patrimony known as BTC with the support of the limited business class that continues to support Mr. Ingraham even in the face of the truth staring them in the face.
Mr. D’Aguillar in particular referenced that part in the Memorandum of Understanding which attempts to hobble any future government of The Bahamas from getting “our tings” back by making it prohibitively expensive. The breaches are to have penalties perhaps as high as 100 million dollars per breach. But we all know that this is nonsense and where there is a will there will be a way.
What Mr. Ingraham is seeking to do though is to do exactly what Mr. D’Aguillar in his hapless way has advanced. He wants to make it impossible for a future PLP administration to act. He wants to change things so significantly on the ground that he will rule from the grave. Ah good sir: dig one grave, you dig two.
He is doing it with the national debt as well. He is
maxing out the national credit card so that when the PLP comes to power,
there will be no money to do anything and he will sit back in his Abaco
rocking chair and say: “I told you so”.
These tactics are vintage Ingraham. He hobbled the last PLP government
by just before leaving promoting a raft of public servants who remained
loyal to him throughout the tenure of the PLP and effectively crippled
the government. We were too slow to realize it and too nice to act to
stop it.
Now with the Port at Arawak Cay which despite all the advice is being put in the wrong place, he is seeking to set it up so that the government of the PLP will not be able to put the Port where it ought to be on the south of New Providence without significant costs and penalties to be paid to the political families to whom he has given this gift of a port. But we shall see. I say to those who are investing in that Port: Buyer beware!
In the Cable and Wireless deal, our friends in the Caribbean must be wondering if we are sick in the head to bring this company with its lousy reputation into our country with its poor service and high costs, and reputation for money grabbing and shabby treatment of their staff. Again, Mr. Ingraham in his BTC deal with Cable and Wireless seeks to be able to hobble the future governments of The Bahamas by making it prohibitively expensive for any future PLP government to change that. Again, we say to Cable and Wireless: Buyer Beware!
The question then is: why is this man so hell bent on acting contrary to the national interest. Will we never know the truth from his mouth? We let the Cable Bahamas deal that was equally as inexplicable go by without investigation even though on the face of it, there was the spectre of corruption. It simply did not pass the smell test. This Cable and Wireless deal smells to high heaven. It seems to me that we cannot allow this one to go by without investigation.
Indeed, the comments coming to me suggest that the youngsters would want a future PLP government to hold a Commission of Inquiry into the matter of Mr. Ingraham's conduct and apply criminal sanctions if that is how it turns out. More and more I am inclined to support that. That is the passion which Mr. Ingraham's decisions have invited. There is hatred of Mr. Ingraham which is palpable in the streets and he has now taken to running from the public because the hatred is showing its face to him in public ways. On two occasions most recently on Tuesday 8th February, he cut and run from the House of Assembly because he is afraid of the Bahamian public. His behavior is inviting even greater hatred and although he says that this is not Egypt, the thought is surely in his mind that his behavior is inviting an insurrection.
Mr. Ingraham who loves the old United Bahamian Party (UBP) and its supporters so much ought to at least have the decency to do what the UBP did when they lost the election in 1967. The Premier Sir Roland Symonette told the Governor at the time that the government could not continue in the face of the charges of corruption against it without going back to the country and he dissolved Parliament and called fresh elections. Mr. Ingraham has no mandate to sell BTC in these circumstances or put more broadly to sell out the national patrimony; he must call fresh elections and call them now.
The election must be fought on the question of his policy. I think he does not have the cajones to do it. I would suggest he does not have the decency to do it, but that is what he must do or face Armageddon when elections are finally called.
I leave with some advice to the youngsters who are constantly
inviting us to be more radical in the House. This is your moment, seize
it if this means anything to you and do what you must to save your country
from this man.
Yours sincerely,
Fred Mitchell MP
Fox Hill
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Forrester
Carroll writes that the FNM has a bad habit any time they are in power
of shattering the economy of the country. He goes through the litany of
bad decisions which led to their loss in 2002 and the PLP coming to power
and sees a similar pattern this time:
After shattering the country’s economy-1992-2002-
the FNM was kicked out of office in May of 2002. In 1992 (although our
economy was reeling from the affects of the Gulf war) the FNM came to
power, assuming office in an economy which was still very manageable and
where few Bahamians lived below the poverty line. They inherited an economy
which was a little weak, but holding its own where, after twenty-five
years of PLP governance, the national debt was less than $1 billion, by
some $30 million.
By 2002, after borrowing $1.23 billion and taking the national debt to
a whopping $2.1 billion, the FNM was kicked out of office. By that time
the economy was the worst, it had been, in our history and the national
debt became unmanageable, to say the least. The country’s reserves
were in shambles and every single local vendor was threatening to take
the FNM government to court for monies owed them. Ingraham had to resort
to borrowing to pay the local businesses, who were screaming for his head.
He started the process (in May 2002 when they were kicked out of office)
for borrowing another $125 million and when Christie and the PLP assumed
office they completed the parliamentary approval process, for the $125
million, and paid off all the vendors, some of whom were owed money as
far back as six months, prior.
Needless to say the Christie Administration met a far worse financial situation, when they assumed office, than they envisioned while in opposition. The country’s once very vibrant middle class had vanished completely and relegated to a people struggling to make ends meet. Scraps of food stuffs, on city dumps, did not escape the poor. It was a very troubling state-of-affairs that the PLP government inherited from the FNM. The situation was ten times worse than when the FNM succeeded the PLP in office in 1992; notwithstanding the affects, on our tourism as I said earlier, due to the war in the Gulf. In addition it should be borne in mind that within the ten year period, 1992-2002, the FNM borrowed and spent (on God knows what) $1.23 billion which should have made things better not worse, but that was the state the PLP met. The records are all there to prove my claim of their (FNM) recklessness, in governance, to say the least, and the fact that they ran our economy into the proverbial ditch.
The PLP, for its part and to its credit, literally rescued the situation without resorting to the draconian measures of borrowing and taxation, as is the FNM’s practice, which would have added to the national debt and burdened Bahamians further. They did it with James Smith at the helm using prudence and sound principals of economics in the collection of taxes, past due the government for years, and attracting huge foreign capital inflows never before envisioned in our Bahamas. They rescued our situation without burdening the Bahamian people with additional taxes as I said before. Prior to the PLP’s 2002-2007 term in office, no other government ever signed a “Heads of Agreement” valued at a billion dollars or more; never. The records will show that the largest “Heads of Agreement” project the FNM government signed during its ten years in office was the $500 million Lucayan Beach Hotel Development Strip here in Freeport. By the end of the PLP’s term, an accumulated amount of more than $10 billion came to our shores, which catapulted our reserves to the highest they have ever been in our history (around $900 million) and reducing our unemployment rate from the almost ten per cent, we inherited from the FNM’s 1992-2002 term, to just slightly over seven per cent at the time we demitted office in May 2007. With projects on the ground and in the process of final approvals totaling billions, Christie projected that unemployment in the country would have been, drastically, reduced further and that by 2008 the country would have seen full employment for the first time in its history (given the fact that four per cent is considered full employment in any country).
I must repeat that it must be appreciated, by all, that the PLP governed without increasing the Customs Tariff rates and other taxes on the Bahamian people, during its five-year term in office, neither did Christie borrow any money which would have added to the national debt; yet the economy flourished, unlike Ingraham’s modus operandi of borrowing and spending recklessly, and increasing taxation. Under the PLP, the middle class flourished and broadened; the poor saw the light at the end of the tunnel and all classes of persons began doing much better financially. But the Bahamian people forgot the affects of FNM governance, during 1992-2002, and in 2007 re-elected the rascals; we have been going downhill ever since.
The situation today is this: The FNM came to office, less than four years ago, inheriting an economy that was vibrant and sound; with reserves higher than they have ever been in the country’s history; unemployment around seven per cent (7%); a huge middle-class; foreign capital inflows in the billions and plans on the table (including the Bah mar $2.6 billion project) which, if allowed to go forward and come to fruition, would have catapulted the country to full employment, but that was not to be. Out of pure jealousy, Ingraham “stopped to review and he cancelled” many of the approved projects. His “stop, review and cancel” policy scuttled the $1.2 billion I-GROUP project in Mayaguana; crippled the $4.9 billion Ginn Sur Mer West Grand Bahama project and caused it to slow to a snail’s pace; stopped and cancelled the $850 million Rum Cay Development project; caused a four year delay of the Bah Mar project (when Ingraham insulted the Principals of the Harrah’s group, pissing them off to the extent where it resulted in them pulling out of the deal and cancelling their commitment to finance the project) and discouraged many of the projects which were about to start up causing potential investors to take a wait and see posture. Only two of the PLP’s major projects (the Nassau airport and Albany projects) survived Ingraham’s “stop, review and cancel” dastardly policy. Nassauians should thank God Almighty that, “the FNM wrecking crew master” didn’t discourage the Albany and the Lynden Pindling’s Airport projects; I guess the Principals decided that they were already in too deep to quit. Many foreign investors lost confidence in the Bahamas, as an area for safe investing and went elsewhere.
The result of all these negative actions, on the part of the FNM, is that the country has now been brought to the precipice of financial disaster. Since May 2007 the Ingraham Administration has borrowed and spent more than three times the amount borrowed and spent in their ten years of governance, prior. By the dictator’s own admission, they are borrowing constantly to even pay civil servants’ salaries; “I have to do it; what else can I do,” he opined to a reporter. The $40 million overdraft at the bank of the Bahamas is constantly exhausted; access to essential and other services is becoming harder and harder daily. There are no funds available to maintain the country’s infrastructure and very soon the adverse affects will be experienced all over the country. At the rate we are falling, the country will experience total disrepair in a few months. It was reported in a newspaper on Wednesday 2nd February that Bahamas Customs is reporting a revenue shortfall of $56.412 million for the first six months (1st July to 31st December 2010) of the 2010/2011 budget projections. If you can believe the $56.412 million to be the true shortfall (because I don’t) it means then that revenue collections, from imports, will worsen the second half (1st January 30th June 2011) of this current fiscal period, because it should be remembered that July to December is supposed to be the most lucrative, for the Public Treasury, seeing that it covers the “back-to-school and festive seasons” when Bahamians spend the bulk of their money. Do you not see then why the boy finance minister (Laing) is so desperate? Well let me tell you just how desperate he is; he now has certain Customs Officers, parading around the country’s airports with cameras in hand, like thieves in the night, snapping photographs of airplanes he thinks he can levy and impose the ten (10%) per cent customs duties against which he (via the Customs Comptroller) threatened to impose on small aircraft operators, a couple weeks ago. A friend (an expatriate) telephoned me a couple days ago to ask if I knew for what reason Bahamas Customs would be at the airport snapping photographs of his aircraft. I told him that they were gathering evidence to make a case, against him, for the collection of ten (10%) per cent customs duties. The FNM government is certainly desperate, to say the least, and their desperation will manifest more vividly as things get worse. In Freeport they are so damn desperate, spiteful and obviously jealous as well, that it seems they are prepared to go all the way even if it kills the goose that laid the golden egg, in the end; they seem not to give a damn about the potential consequences of their actions.
Have you ever seen a time when so many families are out of work and struggling to put food on their tables? Have you ever seen a time when so many families are forced to live without basic utilities (power, water etc)? Have you ever seen a time, in our Bahamas, when so many Bahamians are resorting to suicide? Have you ever seen a time when there were so many bank mortgages in arrears? Have we ever seen a time when there were so many foreclosures? Have you ever seen a time when a once vibrant middle-class had to resort to bringing their kids back from colleges and universities abroad because they could not make the tuition payments any longer? Have you ever seen a time when parents with kids in private schools had to arrange payment plans at private institutions for their children’s school fees and yet they fall behind on their payments? Have you ever seen such a time when civil servants were so abused by the government; when dozens were retired, without notice, on the spot; when increments were stolen from them by a prime minister without regard for law; when they are publicly labeled THIEVES; when they were dismissed from the public service through the back door by a junior minister of finance? Have you ever seen a time when there was so much murder and mayhem in the country? Have you ever seen a time when there was so many homeless Bahamians roaming the streets in Freeport and Nassau? I have never.
What they (Ingraham and Laing) have done to the country’s financial structure; its ability to manage its financial affairs, in terms of meeting its long term financial obligations and commitments etc, is nothing short of treasonous. It seems like what they have done was a planned act of sabotage. Planned to ensure that when the PLP regains power in 2012 or before, as they are now sure we will that the country would be in such bad a financial shape that we (PLP) wouldn’t be able to dig ourselves out of the hole. Yes, I am convinced that the suckers are working with a sinister plan to destroy our ability to progress further. Let’s face it; the Bahamian people cannot withstand any more tax increases and the country’s credit card is maxed out to its limit; they have literally run our economy into the ditch.
The country is now once again in crisis and a general election is looming. The rascals who brought us to near destruction in 2002 are the same suckers who are now in the seat of governance again and the same ones who have brought us to this precipice of disaster; what are we going to do Bahamians? Are we going to allow them to turn this country into a little Haiti? Hell no!! Should be our answer and I believe it will, come polling day. Ring the bell, sucker.
Thank you
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
13th February 2011
"IT" - UNDERSTANDING
THE VALUE OF LIFE
Delroy Meadows talks about his beliefs on abortion and says that
concerted efforts ought to be made to stop the abortions that are talking
place in our country:
“IT”
Understanding the Value of Life
By
Delroy Meadows
February 12, 2011
We must begin to take serious the implications of turning a blind eye
to abortions that taking place in the Bahamas. The misguided view that
an aborted life will have no impact on each and every one of us needs
to change. The cultural norm of referring to an unborn child as “IT”
needs stop!
The growth and development of our country, the birth of new leadership
and the future of our existence lay within the wombs of many females we
see each day. Whether married or not, teen or adult it is the life of
the child that should take precedence in our minds.
The manner in which a child is brought into the world should have no bearing
to dictate their future.
Rape
If we are to use cases of rape or molestation as justification for the
abortion of a child then by that same justification we should all be dead.
The fact is that we all are connected to a rape case at some point in
our coming to being.
It would be foolish for us to believe that within the thousands of years
that lead to our existence that there was not one instance where this
tragedy of rape was involved in our bloodline and had that mother not
made the decision to carry on then many of us would not be alive today.
Who Do Children Belong To?
We must understand that we are merely Stewarts over these gifts of innocence
that were given to us by God. We have to learn to differentiate the difference
between our role in a child’s life and the ownership of their existence.
How can we believe the idea that man in his capacity has the ability to
create life when he himself was created? This would be like telling a
farmer that only the trees he planted are his and that all the fruits
that they bear belong to the trees.
The original Author of it all is the one who holds full rights to His
creation and all that come about thereafter.
Herods and Pharaohs
Throughout history whenever a leader enters or is about to come into the
world there is an escalation of violence against children. When Moses
was born Pharaoh ordered that all newborn Hebrew boys be killed. The same
took place during the time of Jesus’s birth when Herod initiated
what is now called the “Massacre of the Innocents” where thousands
of babies were executed in an attempt to kill one leader.
It is no coincidence that today we face the same uprising against the
innocent. However the spirit that existed in the hearts of kings like
Herod and Pharaoh now exist in Liberal Governments who are led by Pro
Choice activists and the special interests groups who support them. The
same spirit of those days live in the hearts of those communist Governments
who value the number of their population above the lives called to complete
their generation.
They can try to use every form of justification for abortion that the
mind can conceive and it would still prove to be wrong. Little do these
people know that they are destroying themselves in their actions.
We have to be very careful about what it is that we advocate because it
can be our own lives that we are taking. When a child dies we all suffer.
Race For The Cure
It has become more of a fashion statement to adorn ourselves in pink and
red ribbons every year to raise funds to fight diseases that seems to
be growing more than the support.
I believe that in every child there lives a purpose to solve a problem
that exists in the world today. That very child whose life was aborted
could have been the one to find The Cure that we are all fighting for.
The child who was given the gift of medicine died yesterday in an abortion
clinic.
The greatest cause that we can ever rally for is preservation of an unborn
life. Because in each child lives an answer to an existing question that
no one alive can find.
Conclusion
At present there is nothing being done to combat this illegal activity.
It seems that the public and the police have forgotten that Abortion in
this country is still a crime. Law enforcement needs to step up to the
plate on this matter and investigate the activities taking place in the
many private clinics now popping up around town.
Parents who encourage their teens to have abortions should face criminal
charges. Doctors who perform abortions should also face the same and have
their licenses revoked.
Abortions drugs such as Plan B. and others need to be removed from the
shelves of local pharmacies and a strong notice put forth to the Customs
Department to stop such products from entering this country.
There has to be a strong effort of support made by Social Services directed
mainly at teen mothers who may be contemplating aborting their child.
These mothers need to be assured of care and not ridicule as it’s
that life of the child that’s now priority.
Most teens who confide in others about their pregnancy can be easily convinced
to keep their child if simply advised to do so.
Whenever the opportunity arises I would encourage anyone to make the best
personal effort to save the life of an unborn child.
Our future growth, our health and the swift progress of our nation depends
heavily on each and every new life that is given to us.
IN
PASSING
Missouri’s Retirement Party
Well it’s all official, A. Missouri Sherman Peter, up to last month
the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of National Security has retired.
They even had a party to show for it. The Minister of National Security
Tommy Turnquest, the Deputy Prime Minister Brent Syomonette and a host
of senior public servants and the former Ministers Fred Mitchell and Charles
Carter showed up at the farewell luncheon on Friday 4th February at the
Paul Farquaharson Centre at the headquarters of the Royal Bahamas Police
Force.
Basil Dean Dies Suddenly
Former Assistant Commissioner of Police Basil Dean died suddenly following
treatment for colon cancer at Ft. Lauderdale’s Cleveland Clinic
on Friday 11th February. Mr. Dean was at the time of his death a Vice
President of Security at Atlantis, the Paradise Island resort. Mr. Dean
is survived by his widow Norma, who is the daughter of former MP Frank
Edgecombe and his children amongst whom is Brent Dean, the Deputy Editor
of the Nassau Guardian. In his days on the Force Mr. Dean had a fearsome
reputation for his work in the then Criminal Investigation Department
including a reputation for dead straight shooting both literally and figuratively.
You did not mess with Basil Dean. A great Bahamian has passed.
Al Dillette Convalescing
The former editor of the predecessor site frendmitchelluncensored.com
and the former Director General of the Bahamas Information Services is
convalescing in a facility near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida following hospitalization
at the Cleveland Clinic for a stroke. He is expected to recover.
FNM Disinformation
If you read the web, especially Facebook, you will not be surprised to
see the amount of disinformation that is being spread by FNM propagandists.
The PLPs are pretty much able to answer all the foolishness that people
like Peter Carey and others who are believed to be behind a site called
Voices Bahamian. Some of it is pretty nasty stuff. That is how it is in
these days and times but it becomes problematic when the propaganda becomes
policy. We had to laugh when Dion Foulkes, who is the Minister of Labour,
denounced the union leaders he claimed for threatening violence in the
country. Their offence: they threatened to do in The Bahamas what they
did in Egypt. We would support that: people taking to the streets in peaceful
protests and saying that a wicked and incompetent government ought to
go. How that translates in violence is quite beyond us. But anything comes
from the FNM for propaganda purposes.
URCA Issues Notice On BTC
On the face of it the Utilities Regulation Competition Authority (URCA)
is supposed to be an independent body. This is clearly now a fiction.
URCA is a fig leaf to cover up the wrong doing of the government. They
failed to protect the minority’s right to have equal time in broadcasts
when challenged by Dr. Bernard Nottge on the subject. They have simply
acquiesced in granting a new monopoly to a powerful business interests
by allowing the merger of Cable Bahamas and SRG. Now they are being asked
to give regularity approve for Cable and Wireless to buy BTC. What do
you think their answer will be? URCA lacks credibility. It is simply a
willing tool of the FNM administration’s policies.
Fred Mitchell And Sir Sidney Poitier
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill and Sir Sidney Poitier former Ambassador
for The Bahamas to Japan and to UNESCO shown during a recent visit of
Mr. Mitchell to Los Angeles where the retired academy award winning actor
lives.
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.
BISHOP MICHAEL ELDON DIES IN HOSPITAL
Retired
Anglican Bishop the Rt. Rev. Michael Hartley Eldon C.M.G., M.A. passed
away this morning at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was Bishop of
Nassau and the Bahamas including the Turks and Caicos Islands from 1972
to 1996.
Certainly the most exciting headline of the week had to have been that
of Branville McCartney appearing on the Jeff Lloyd Radio show and saying
that the leader of his Party Hubert Ingraham who is also the Prime Minister
lacked compassion. The press reported the matter on Wednesday 3rd February.
Mr. McCartney made his statement on 2nd February. What a wonderful thing
for the PLP to hear confirmed that which we all do know that never mind
this business of Hubert Ingraham coming from the poor, he is simply politically
a mean and nasty guy who does not give a hoot about anyone. Now one of his
own MPs has confirmed it. The PLP need say no more than to repeat what Mr.
McCartney said.
Mr. McCartney went further, he also said that the FNM from the Leader on
down is not connected to the people. Wow! Wow! Again the PLP need say nothing
more than repeat what one of its own MPs said.
Mr. Ingraham was silent in the face of it but he must be furious.
He trotted out Carl Bethel, the Chair of the FNM, to say how Mr. McCartney’s
statement was part of Mr. McCartney’s personal agenda. Mr. Bethel’s
statement was a weak statement and no one thought that he had his heart
in it since most people believe that Mr. Bethel himself believes the same
thing that Mr. McCartney does but cannot bring himself to say it.
The question most people then asked is what is next for Mr. McCartney? Dame
Billie Miller of Barbados used to say that you cannot approbate and reprobate
at the same time. Mr. McCartney has a habit of trying to do that by saying
on the one hand he was frustrated by Mr. Ingraham's behavior when he resigned
from the Cabinet last year but then saying Mr. Ingraham was still the greatest
leader. So people will be watching to see if he backs way from this latest
stab at Mr. Ingraham this time.
Mr. McCartney may well find out how much compassion or lack thereof Mr.
Ingraham really has in a few days.
We think that the strategy goes something like this. He wants the FNM to
put him out of the Party, after all the PLP putting Mr. Ingraham out of
the PLP was what propelled Mr. Ingraham forward. He is stabbing at them
and will continue to stab at them until they have no choice but to ask him
to the door. Once that is accomplished he has to go somewhere and that somewhere
many people think is the NDP, the new party with the old name now headed
by Renwad Wells.
If that is the case they will have their first MP but only for a hot minute
because, that is a graveyard in waiting politically.
The only real alternative for Mr. McCartney is a place in the PLP. Can he
and his family stomach being PLP? He would make a good candidate for South
Eleuthera if Oswald Ingraham were to step down.
The FNM has been putting it around with their operatives that they intend
to arrange the new constituency boundaries so that they will pit Mr. McCartney
as an FNM against Shane Gibson of the PLP, thus ensuring Mr. McCartney's
defeat. Sounds crazy but Hubert Ingraham is driven by vendetta politics
and he will dig one grave even though in doing so he knows he will be digging
two, the second one for himself and his party.
BRANVILLE
MCCARTNEY IN HIS OWN WORDS
Branville McCartney, the MP for Bamboo Town for the Free National Movement,
has attacked the leader of his own party Hubert Ingraham. He said that Mr.
Ingraham lacks compassion and that the Free National Movement is not connected
to the people. Here is what he said in his own words as reported by the
Nassau Guardian on Wednesday 3rd February:
MP McCartney: PM LACKS COMPASSION
By KRYSTEL ROLLE Guardian Staff Reporter krystel@nasguard.com on 2/2/2011
Bamboo Town MP Branville McCartney makes a point yesterday while on
the Star 106.9 FM talk show “Jeffrey”.
Predicts FNM will face challenges in next election Bamboo Town MP Branville
McCartney predicted yesterday that the Free National Movement (FNM) will
be challenged during the upcoming general election in part because of its
leader’s lack of compassion toward the Bahamian people.
“At this stage, I’d certainly want [the FNM] to succeed, but
we have our challenges,” said McCartney, while a guest on the Star
106.5 radio talk show ‘Jeffrey’ with host Jeff Lloyd.
“We seem to not be connected to the people, from the leader straight
down. [We’re] showing a lack of compassion and not listening to the
people.
“Although, yes we’re the ones who were put here to make decisions,
the people are the ones who put us here. We need to listen. We don’t
have all of the answers but the way we go about things, it’s not good.
We have a number of new voters and even old supporters are concerned. I
hope we get our act together.”
When asked if he was referring to a particular personality within the party,
McCartney said Ingraham has to take responsibility for the challenges the
party faces going into the next election.
“The prime minister is the leader of the FNM. The buck stops with
the prime minister. Yes, there’s a lack of compassion — probably
not intentionally. Perhaps that’s just the way he is. That type of
governance was necessary in 1992. In 2011 and 2012, I don’t think
it is.”
McCartney — who resigned from the Ingraham Cabinet nearly a year ago
— said voters want to see a different approach to governance.
Among other things, he said Bahamians want to see the government’s
plans for the future of the country and opportunities that would be provided
to them.
“They want to know that this place called the Commonwealth of The
Bahamas is for Bahamians,” he said.
McCartney has made it known that he wants to be a future leader of the FNM.
Since stepping down as Minister of State for Immigration in February 2010,
he has been careful, though, not to publicly criticize Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham in any strong terms.
He said yesterday that if he were leader, he would do things a little differently
from Ingraham.
“The difference I think is you need to listen. I don’t profess
to have all the answers. I will give persons the respect that they deserve,”
he said.
McCartney was expected to challenge Ingraham for the leadership had the
FNM held a convention last year.
Asked yesterday if he had conversations with Prime Minister Ingraham about
his future with the party, McCartney said he has not spoken to Ingraham
since he resigned from the Cabinet.
He said it is still unclear whether he will be chosen by the party to contest
the Bamboo Town seat in the general election.
“I would like a nomination, but if I don’t get it I’m
going to move on. The party makes that decision, not me. That’s out
of my hands,” he said.
McCartney added that whether or not he is chosen to run on the FNM’s
ticket for Bamboo Town, he will offer as a candidate in the election.
“[I would run] independent or otherwise; we will see what happens,”
he said when pressed on the matter.
McCartney added however that he supports the FNM and its leadership.
REF: http://www.thenassauguardian.com/MP-McCartney--PM-LACKS-COMPASSION
Cartoon by Stan Burnside
CARL BETHEL
ATTACKS MCCARTNEY
On
3rd Feb Carl Bethel, Chair of the Free National Movement issued a statement
attacking his own Member of Parliament Branville McCartney who had earlier
said that the Leader of the arty Hubert Ingraham lacked compassion. Here
is what Mr. Bethel said in his own words:
The majority of Bahamians were surprised to read the comments attributed
to Mr. McCartney, considering the openness and freedom of speech that exists
within the FNM.
Hence, the public personal attack launched against the Prime Minister is
surprising since Mr. McCartney has always had within the councils of the
party the right to express any concerns about compassion, or the alleged
lack thereof.
Indeed, Mr. McCartney attended the Central Council meeting of the party
last week and had every opportunity to voice his feelings to his colleagues,
peers, and those party officers and activists who he hopes to lead some
day.
At this meeting Mr. McCartney said nothing about compassion even though
he spoke about other issues.
The public record showing the extraordinary compassion, empathy and love
of the Prime Minister for the Bahamian people, the poor and the oppressed,
cannot be thrown into dispute by Mr. McCartney.
The Prime Minister's personal journey from the bowels of dire poverty in
his childhood, to the heights of achievement for the Bahamian people as
a visionary, compassionate leader and Prime Minister is well known.
His efforts to uplift the poor are also well known. What is perhaps less
well known are the private and individual interventions made by the Prime
Minister personally to assist hundreds, if not thousands of Bahamians over
his years of leadership and public service.
The Prime Minister's love and compassion for the Bahamian people is second
to none.
There may be policy differences which divide politicians, but any attack
based upon an alleged lack of compassion is nothing short of political posturing.
There is no question that such an attack upon the Prime Minister is totally
without any foundation and must be viewed as merely the manifestation of
a personal agenda. ”
ALBERT
GRAY IS A COORDINATOR FOR PLP IN GBI
The
following statement was issued by the Progressive Liberal Party announcing
former Senator Albert Gray as the PLP’s election coordinator for Grand
Bahama:
Press Statement
Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie
Leader, Progressive Liberal Party
PLP appoints W. Albert Gray as Campaign Coordinator for the Northern Region
For Immediate Release
I am pleased to announce the appointment of former veteran business executive
Mr. W. Albert Gray to coordinate the election campaign in the Northern Region
of the Bahamas for the Progressive Liberal Party in the upcoming General
Election. This geographical area includes Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini.
Mr. Gray comes to this critical post with a wealth of professional and corporate experience, having worked for thirty-five years with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and the Port Group Limited (PGL). He served as Vice President of the Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCo) for fifteen years and as the President and Director of the Group of Companies for four years of his illustrious career before retiring in 2008.
Mr. Gray is a native of Matthew Town, Inagua and took up residence in Grand Bahama in 1965 after completing his studies in Nassau and the USA.
He is familiar with the civic and business cultures of Grand Bahama, having served as Chairman of the Grand Bahama Red Cross, Vice Chairman of the YMCA, Vice President of the Freeport Toastmasters and Vice President of the Freeport Jaycees International Club.
Mr. Gray is deeply rooted in the PLP and his experience in and knowledge of local politics are vast. He entered frontline politics in 1987 as the PLP’s candidate for the Pineridge Constituency and as the party’s candidate in the 1990 Marco City By-Election. Mr. Gray was again a candidate on the PLP’s ticket in the 1992 General Election.
He served in the Senate from 1990-1992 and was a member of the Gaming Board from 2002-2007. He was enshrined as a Stalwart Councilor of the PLP in 1998.
Mr. Gray is married to Jacqueline and they have five adult children and thirteen grand children.
Mr. Gray’s organizational, Human Resource and administrative
skills make him eminently qualified for this important assignment. I have
every confidence that Mr. Gray will play a key role in delivering the Northern
Region into the family of the PLP.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Forrester
Carroll writes about Zhivargo Laing singing a song about the economic opportunities
in Freeport. No one believes that lie says Mr. Carroll:
Dear Editor,
When I was reared, during my childhood days, brats like Zhivargo Laing couldn’t
hang around in the presence of Grown-ups nor could he open his mouth while
big people were talking. I heard the child the other day, in the parliament;
“Mr. Speaker, the member for Golden Gates (Hon. Shane Gibson) is miss-leading
us; he is telling this house that there have been more failed businesses
in the country, especially in Grand Bahama, under this government than under
any other government in our history; he has not presented any proof for
his accusation. I am asking you, Mr. Speaker, to require him to present
proof or withdraw his statements.” If that boy minister had only known
(what he knows now) that the Hon. Minister (Shane Gibson) had the proof
of what he spoke, he would have remained seated with his brassy, arrogant,
spicy mouth shut. Of course the Hon. Shane Gibson went on to provide (for
the parliament) the proof which the rules, of that August Chamber, require
to be given in the event a member, on a point of order, asks for such proof.
What the Golden Gates MP didn’t reveal (in addition) to the Hon. House,
and I wish he had, (although it might be that he didn’t have the information
at the time) was the list of more than 400 business licenses which have
been cancelled and struck off the books, by the Grand Bahama Port Authority,
since Laing’s FNM government came to office on that sad day in May
of 2007. The Golden Gates MP will release the number and names of those
defunct businesses, in due course however, which have bitten the dust, within
the Freeport area, since the FNM came to office. Laing has learned well
how to distance himself from truth. Ingraham taught this once, up and coming,
potentially sound youth pastor, how to twist a deliberate lie to make it
sound like truth, but a lie is a lie no matter how you tell it.
I read where-in an interview with the local press here in Freeport-the boy
minister was singing a song (and he knew he was doing so) when he told them
that things were getting better, in Grand Bahama, and not worse. No one
else (former young Calvary Temple youth pastor), in Freeport or Grand Bahama,
believes this lie but you, young man. He told another reporter in answer
to a question asked of him that, contrary to popular belief, there are many
job and other opportunities out there, to be had, especially in the construction
industry. He went on to castigate construction workers; declaring, in effect,
that the only reason why they don’t have work, is because their work
ethic and job performance is far below standard and inadequate, to say the
least. He said that there is plenty construction work out there (guys) so
go and get it and if you can’t find the work try finding Laing, if
you can, and let him show you where all this work is, that he is talking
about. The boy minister went on to lump all, in the construction field,
in the same boat; he did not say that there are a few bad apples, but condemned
all of those workers as worthless. He was obviously attempting to use the
construction workers as scapegoats in, very cleverly, blaming them for their
own dilemma and not his FNM government’s policies. It’s a trick
that Ingraham uses all the time-when he has no answers for his failures
he puts the blame on someone else; they do it to the PLP all the time. This
is a trick that Laing has mastered well-blame the unemployed and out of
work, construction workers, and indeed all other unemployed workers for
their unemployment difficulties, not his FNM government.
Sir Jack Hayward told the Nation that Freeport’s woes are as a result
of bad FNM government polices and what does Laing do? True to form, he tried
to turn the tables on Sir Jack and the Port Authority. Could it be, young
man (Zhivargo Laing), that Ingraham’s counter-productive actions,
his volatile utterances and his stop, review and cancel policies, over the
past years, have had a good deal to do with running our economy into the
ditch? What about your government’s bad attitude toward investors;
could that have had an adverse affect on our economic come-back? Do you
think that maybe, just maybe, investors-both foreign and local-are all turned
off from investing in The Bahamas because of your government’s asinine
policies? I submit that they (investors) have been turned off and discouraged
from dealing with your FNM government, young man, and that they are no longer
prepared to consider investing in the country under your government, and
that’s my five cents.
Laing has forgotten, apparently, that it was only four years ago, about,
when he himself was knocking around, here in Freeport, desperately trying
to secure permanent employment at (ironically) Sir Jack’s Grand Bahama
Port Authority. I say this because we all could recall how the young man,
with teary eyes, accused a PLP MP, during one of his many stale discourses
in parliament, of blocking his chances, for employment, at the Port. He
was allegedly helped through those rough times in his life, I am told, by
some of his more affluent businessmen supporters, who allegedly arranged
to have him conduct seminars, from time to time, especially designed for
their employees. In most cases, I am told; their staff didn’t need
Laing’s seminars but they allowed him the gesture, of conducting them
anyway just to help the young man make his financial ends meet, as we say.
His friends (or should I say his former friends) tried to help him sell
his books, as well, by displaying them in their stores. All this, in an
effort to help the young man but what did he do, after he became a power
broker in the Ingraham Administration? He kicked his former benefactors
in their behinds by instituting all kinds of roadblocks in the way, which
has made it so much more difficult to conduct business in this Freeport
town. Needless to say his books are removed from their store stands, I am
told, and there remains a high degree of regret for trying to help the young
man in the first place, they tell me. Freeport’s business men and
women are holding Laing responsible-along with Hubert Ingraham-for the headaches
they are now experiencing in doing business in Freeport. Sometimes we humans
can be so ungrateful; we often times bite the hand that feeds us and Laing
certainly seems to have done exactly that.
In the Freeport News, on Thursday 27th January, residents were astonished
to hear ministers Laing and Symonette talk about all the job opportunities,
“out there” as they put it. Persons, interviewed by the local
media, in the aftermath of the publishing of the ministers’ comments
as well as postings on Face book, wanted to find out what these two lame
brains were talking about. A Carmien Saunders indicated that he had been
out of work since November 2009 and has been unsuccessful, ever since, in
his search to find something to do. He claimed that he has been looking
everywhere and is willing to do anything, but contrary to what Brent Symonette
and Zhivargo Laing are saying, there is nothing out there, he said. Ejay
Stuart said that he has been looking for work since October 2010, and he
hasn’t turned down any opportunities for any job; he just hasn’t
found any job to turn down. Shica King declared that the two fat cat government
ministers are indeed living in “La La Land;” she said that Freeport
folk are looking for any opportunities that come their way and, she said,
they do not have the luxury of picking, choosing or refusing. Leslie Dorsett
said quote, “the politicians are being dishonest” and it is
here where I rest my case. Now, with all the stringent Bahamas Customs and
other governmental measures instituted lately, Laing and his FNM government
are preparing to kill Freeport and the goose that laid the golden egg, for
sure.
Further In Tribune’s Business Section, on Friday 28th January, several
stories appear detailing concerns, by Freeport’s business grouping,
over the fact that “the central government” of the governing
Free National Movement, seems hell bent on literally destroying Freeport.
The concerns, as detailed in a story under the caption “Freeport firms
suffer 30-60% sales declines,” seem to be centered on a compilation
of decisions taken recently by central government agencies which have had
tremendous negative impact on the way business has been conducted in the
Freeport area for more than forty (40) years. It is being envisioned that
should these decisions go unchallenged and are left to stand, then the ultimate
outcome could be the demise of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, as we know
it. The Chamber of Commerce’s president, as well, has entered the
discussions and has voiced the Chamber’s concerns over the direction
the central government seems to be heading with respect to Freeport. “In
all respects, the Government almost seems to be denying the very existence
of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and the regulatory powers of the Port Authority,”
says Mr. Fred Smith QC and legal counsel for several of the Port’s
licensees, in several of the matters that now affect them. One of the real
concerns is a case being brought by URCA against Cable Freeport Ltd (in
effect) which, if upheld by the Judiciary, would undermine the very foundational
aspects of the Agreement. If upheld, it is feared that all past rulings
in favor of licensees and against Bahamas Customs, handed down by the courts
in former cases brought, could be nullified. It is interesting that this
is a major matter of concern for us here, but we have not heard a damn thing
from the Five FNM government members of parliament who represent us here
in the Port area. We don’t know how they feel about what their government
is doing to us. They are supposed to be on our side and we call on them,
right now, to put up or forever shut their mouths. While the sound of their
silence is killing us, we wish them to bear in mind and remember that while
they are forced to surrender their wills to the dictator (Hubert Ingraham)
and allow him to muzzle them, it wasn’t Ingraham who the voters in
High Rock, Eight Mile Rock, Lucaya, Pineridge and Marco City voted to elect
to represent them; no Sir.
We are watching, with bated breath, all the moves.
Thank you
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
6th February 2012
THE ROAD TO BECOMING MASTERS
Delroy Meadows in another of his series of interventions urges Bahamians
to think of higher ground, higher standards, self empowerment, self-development
and investing in people:
The
Road to Becoming Masters
By
Delroy Meadows
February 3rd, 2011
Today I question everything. No more am I to believe that in my mind laid a good foundation of reasoning, of character and the value of past pursuits. I have had an awakening and I prefer nowadays to filter my thoughts carefully to find the truth behind every word that was given to me. I am creating a new foundation in my mind. One built on rock and not sand. Today I question it all.
I believe that times are changing. There is a feeling of change in the atmosphere like the sound of a distant wave drawing near the shore. A spirit of liberation and new hope can be felt on the horizon. Bahamians are beginning to realize the importance of time and the power of their own personal influence.
Unity is Coming
I believe that what makes a people significant in the world is their ability
to stand out and not be dominated.
A nation is made vulnerable to the world when its leaders appear to lean
against the will of its people. Situations of division within a country
do not go unnoticed by the outside world. Opportunists flock to such places
seeking to exploit this kind of vulnerability.
Unity exhibited openly among the Government and its people is an essential deterrent to these types of individuals. We are attractive to the Cable and Wireless’s of the world not because of what we have but in-fact it’s what we don’t have that’s the magnet. It is better to live underground than on a surface governed by weak leadership and imitators of the world.
We must understand that being a follower of the world makes us vulnerable to their old schemes and their old ideas. If our creativity does not match or elevate beyond that which we see abroad we will forever have to fight for things that should today be meaningless.
The Road to Becoming Masters
I believe that we are on the road to becoming masters. There are moments
in life where even a nation is given a second chance by God to fulfill its
purpose. The spirit of rulership that exists within each of us stands in
line today, awakened from its dormant state and ready to carry out the task.
The road to this wealthy place is not an easy one as the past has clearly showed us. We will have to be tried and proven through fire and water to make it over this obstacle. When we succeed we must remember also the mistakes of the past and be careful not to repeat them. I am confident that we will be a stronger generation this time around but still let us not forget.
We must remember to cast aside the old ways of how we operate in Government. There will be no place to sit in the parliament of the future for those who are too stubbornly set in their ways to understand that unity in the best interest of the people should be paramount to everything else.
We have a challenge to be met that is far greater than our own personal ambitions. Unless this nation is prepared to face the new world that’s presently rising before us we will not make it. The world of tomorrow will have no room for countries governed by people who are not masters of their environment. Today we bare wittiness to superpowers that are scouring the globe for such places to colonize and unless we establish ours we can be assured that one will be established for us.
I refuse to believe that it is the will of God that we are to remain in this powerless condition. The events that led to our independence and the circumstances of today are evidence that there is a calling for us to become masters in this world. Let us not rule out the capability of our people to stand out and dominate on or above the level of the greatest nations we see around us. The minds of our people can be driven further than we can imagine once opened to the knowledge of its capacity.
The significance of the tugging that keeps drawing us back to this place has to be seen for what it is— that we are not an average people.
We live today because there exists in each of us a contribution to be made towards the establishment of this common goal.
This time around let us outstretch our hands to embrace the freedom
that was promised to us years ago and not the chains of oppression.
We
have our differences with the press of The Bahamas that seems not to understand
their role. The particular problem is the Nassau Guardian since no one expects
anything better from The Tribune. The interesting thing is that The Tribune
seems to have a better feel for this than the Guardian which should be the
natural ally of the PLP. The lead reporter for the Nassau Guardian Candia
Dames may as well be a scribe for the Prime Minister. It appears that her
stories are designed to run a campaign for the FNM. This week when the country
was engaged in the news of the latest crime sprees, the Nassau Guardian
chose to say that Leslie Miller, a PLP candidate was being investigated
by Customs.
When the Kellys Hardware Store well connected to the FNM were having their
problems, the story was buried way in the back pages if reported at all.
In Saturday’s edition 5th February the intrepid Ms. Dames was busy
ferreting out from Cable and Wireless whether or not they cared about the
PLPs statement on buying BTC to answer the PLP’s statement that the
buyer ought to beware. Their answer they did not give a hoot. But of course,
who gives a hoot whether they give a hoot since all that is necessary is
to put them on notice: buyer beware. So in the frustration of press statement
after press statement being ignored; cause after cause being ignored, the
Chairman for the PLP on behalf of the Party has called for a Press Council
in The Bahamas and in a press release has reminded the press of what their
role is:
Press Statement
By
The Progressive Liberal Party
February 2nd 2011
Subject: The role of the Press in the Bahamas
The PLP has observed with deep concern an alarm for some time that many
of its statements to the Press have been buried by the Media who appear
to be covering up for the government. We wish to strongly remind the Press
of their important role in a free and democratic Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
The role of the press in the Bahamas must be to act as watchdogs, allow
free flow ideas, and help people make informed decisions.
To protect against abuse of Government Power
George A Krimsky in an address on the topic “The role of the Media
in a Democracy said: A self-governing society, by definition, needs to make
its own decisions. It cannot do that without hard information, leavened
with an open exchange of views. Abraham Lincoln articulated this concept
most succinctly when he said: "Let the people know the facts, and the
country will be safe."
Another writer wrote: If a nation is to enjoy the political and economic
advantages enabled by the rule of law, powerful institutions must be open
to scrutiny by the people. If technology and science are to advance, ideas
must be openly shared.
In the interest of transparency and openness the PLP calls on the Media
to discharge its sacred responsibility to people of the Commonwealth of
the Bahamas without bias.
GOMEZ CELEBRATES
50 YEARS AS A PRIEST
These photos were taken by Peter on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the ordination
of Archbishop (retired) Drexel Gomez of the Anglican Church on 1st February.
The Archbishop is shown in composition at the pulpit with Archbishop Patrick
Pinder of the Roman Catholic Church at the Christ Church cathedral where
a special mass was held. Mr. and Mrs. Franklyn Wilson who are great benefactors
of the church attended the mass as did PLP leader Perry Christie, Deputy
Leader Philip Davis and Senator Allyson Gibson and Mr. Gibson.
BRADLEY
ROBERTS ON WATER AT GRAND CAY
We reported on this site how Bradley Roberts, the PLP Chairman, had been
carrying around water from Grand Cay, Abaco, and what a foul brew it was.
The water contained sulfur gas or swamp gas and Mr. Roberts said that it
was not fit for human consumption. He attacked the Minister in charge of
Water and Sewerage Phenton Neymour whom he called the junior minister for
the environment. Mr. Neymour answered Mr. Roberts two times during the past
week when Mr. Roberts challenged him to publish the results for the tests
on the suitability of the water.
According to Mr. Roberts, the water tests proved negative. Mr. Neymour
said that was not so. Later in the week, the representative for the area
Hubert Ingraham finally flew to Grand Cay presumably to inspect the plant
himself. Mr. Roberts was back on top his game, he claimed that this was
the first time Mr. Ingraham had been there in two months. It must have been
important because the Prime Minister cancelled the appointment to whisper
sweet nothings in the air of the retiring Permanent Secretary A. Missouri
Sherman Peter at a luncheon held in her honour on Friday 4th February at
the police headquarters. You may click here for the statements of Mr. Roberts
on the water.
EX CHAMBER
PRES. DIONYSIO D’AGUILLAR TALKS FOOL
The
following statement was issued by Senator Michael Halkitis about the statement
made in The Tribune on 1st February that the PLP’s position on the
sale of BTC, the telephone company to Cable and Wireless was rubbish:
As a member of the Progressive Liberal Party I wish to assure Mr. D’Aguillar
in particular and the Bahamian public at large that the position of the
Progressive Liberal Party to aggressively renegotiate the terms of the agreement
to sell BTC to Cable and Wireless is not an empty promise nor is it political
pandering as he has claimed. It is also not rubbish. (See Tribune Business
Section 2nd February). That kind of loose talk by the former President of
the Chamber of Commerce is simply unbecoming.
The position of the Progressive Liberal Party as articulated by the leader
of the PLP in his recent address in Grand Bahama that the PLP will seek
to renegotiate the provisions of the deal to sell BTC that it finds repugnant
to the national interest is one that has been arrived at after careful study
and due deliberation. I support it and so do my colleagues. We are quite
surprised at the former Chamber President’s ill considered statement.
We would have thought that the former President would support a programme
of developing a share owning democracy as being in the best interest of
the Chamber's members. We hope that the Chamber does not share his ill considered
views.
Further, as detailed in the statement of Mr. Christie, there is precedent
in the country for the renegotiation of agreements that are repugnant to
the national interest. This has happened in the case of the Hawksbill Creek
Agreement. Upon assuming office, the PLP renegotiated the terms of the Hawksbill
Creek Agreement because it found the delegation of the powers of immigration
control to a private company to be repugnant to the national interest. The
PLP negotiated that change which came into effect in 1969 which saw the
Grand Bahama Port Authority return immigration control to the Bahamian people
where it rightly belonged. The PLP told the owners of the Port in advance
that it would do so and it did.
The PLP made the same principled point to the developers of the then proposed
Clifton Cay and when we came to office we changed the deal in the national
interest.
We are doing the same now with Cable and Wireless. There must be a general
election within 15 months or so. The former President would do well to get
on the right side of history in this matter.
(Senator Haliktis served as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance
from 2002 to 2007).
MITCHELL
RESPONDS TO PLEAD BARGAINING AND GUN COURT
Fred
Mitchell MP for Fox Hill issued the following statement to the press in
answer to the creation of a “Gun Court” in New Providence the
first of the cases heard in the court were on Monday 31st January:
STATEMENT ON THE GUN COURT
I write to say that the Government deserves a public spanking for the paucity
of their ideas when it comes to fighting crime. It appears that they take
the people of this country for fools.
Hard on the heels of the successful threat to have their imported DPP called
to the Bar, the first of the crime fighting initiatives was rolled out of
the box. What was the initiative: the creation of a Gun Court, slated to
start today ( Tribune and Guardian Sat. 29th Jan), a dedicated Magistrate's
Court which will deal with gun crimes only like the Magistrate's Court that
deals mainly with drugs crimes.
This so called Gun Court is an idea introduced into the region by the late
Prime Minister Michael Manley in Jamaica way back when and the idea was
thoroughly discredited then and remains discredited. If I am not mistaken
the whole thing was set aside as unconstitutional.
I have also to point out that the Gun Court is tackling the wrong end of
the problem after the gun is already obtained and fired you are talking
about locking people up. Fine but the problem is there are too many guns
on the streets and what are we doing about that and the conflict resolution
issues that lead to too many guns being used and the illegal drugs that
drive the use of guns?
And to think that this was the fresh and novel crime fighting idea that
brought two Cabinet Ministers ( AG and the Minister of National Security)
out to meet the press along with their new DPP. Jeepers creepers!
Then the AG is in the press this morning complaining about the lack of use
of the plea bargaining legislation. Again, does he think the Bahamian public
are fools?
When this legislation came to the House, I told the House that it was completely
unnecessary and all too bureaucratic. In fact, any one who has read Chris
Emmins' work on Criminal Procedure would tell you that without any formal
bill the practice of plea bargaining was widely used in the country. The
moment they put this overly bureaucratic bill in place with all its writing
requirements, who has time for all that crap?
Up to the coming into force of the act, all you did was approach the prosecution
and then the magistrate together in camera suggesting that your client wished
to take a certain course asking what would the magistrate be minded to give
as a sentence. If it was all agreed then it was adjourned to open court.
Simple, concise and straightforward. Now we have this bureaucratic useless
act that our dear AG says too few people are using. Wonders never cease.
I have as an attorney a real live example of someone on whose behalf I made
an attempt to settle a plea under this new act. The government's lawyers
fooled around and fooled around, couldn't make up their minds. The AG (
a former one not this one) could not help. The result the client got fed
up and said he would take his chances before a jury. Anyone charged in the
Bahamian courts will know that the conviction rate is so low and that you
can take you chances,do nothing and simply get acquitted. Sure enough that
was the case in my client's case.
None of these facts however matter to the AG and his political cabinet mates.
What they seem to glory in is public relations. They pass act after act
with promises of improvements but nothing happens. Crime keeps getting worse.
The government's response: just more public relations.
So over to you AG and OAT.
Yours sincerely,
Fred Mitchell MP
Fox Hill
PLP PRESS
STATEMENT ON JOHN DELANEY
The
PLP’s Chairman issued the following statement on the fact that John
Delaney, the Attorney General may be involved in a conflict of interest
in the appointment of his old law firm to a government job:
Press Statement
Progressive Liberal Party
February 1st 2011
John Delaney has taken the lining of the pockets of FNM special interests to a new level.
Bahamians will have heard on the news that Philip Dunkley QC is representing the Government in the case being brought against the Government by the BCPOU and the Management Union in relation to the BTC sale.
Philip Dunkley, appointed by John Delaney to be the lawyer for the Government in the action brought by the BTC Unions, is now the Managing Partner of Higgs and Johnson, having replaced John Delaney, who is now the Attorney General.
The Government, at record debt levels, will pay Higgs and Johnson exorbitant legal fees. There are over 1,000 practicing lawyers at the Bahamas Bar. Hundreds of Bahamian lawyers are competent to represent the Government should the Government choose not to utilize the services of the many competent lawyers at the Office of the Attorney General. The lawyers at the Attorney General's Office are ready willing and very able to serve. And, should their services be utilized, already overburdened Bahamians would not have to pay exorbitant legal fees as they are already on staff, as the people's lawyers. John Delaney is again disrespecting the legal team at the Attorney General's Office.
John Delaney has taken the lining of the pockets of FNM special interests to a new level. In this matter John Delaney, the Government’s chief legal advisor, is negotiating the sale of BTC with Higgs and Johnson, Cable and Wireless’ lawyers. John Delaney is also instructing Higgs and Johnson to defend the government in the action by BTC’s unions against the government. Higgs and Johnson is representing the Government and Cable and Wireless, at the same time, in relation to the sale of the BTC shares. This is a clear conflict of interest.
The Prime Minister claims that Ministers should shun the very appearance of a conflict of interest. We in the PLP condemn this apparent conflict of interest. We condemn John Delaney for using public funds to line the pockets of his friends and former partners. And, we condemn the entire Cabinet for allowing Higgs and Johnson to represent the Government and Cable and Wireless in the sale of the BTC shares.
THE STING
BALL
The Junkanoo group Sting has picked up the old tradition
of the scrap group, organized but not organized, not highly fringed but
basically having fun. There used to be a group called the PIGS with whom
the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling used to rush. Sting has taken that concept
one step further with a specially commissioned theme song by Stevie S and
now they have had an anniversary ball. It is the scrap group for the political
elites and the well connected. It is headed by Bernard Hanna aka B.H. The
photos appeared on the Facebook Page of Senator Allyson Gibson a member
of the group.
CORRECTIONS
FROM LAST WEEK
Shane’s Party
Last week we featured a photo from the party held by Shane Gibson for his
campaign workers. Several photos were to make a second edition which never
appeared. We present those photos now:
Olivia’s Speech
Last week we promised in a second edition that the address by Olivia Saunders
to the Bahamas Outlook Seminar would be available for the readers of this
column. That never appeared. Please find the link to the address delivered
on Thursday 13th January. Ms Saunders, who is the daughter of businessman
Bernard Mortimer, and a lecturer at the College of The Bahamas, told the
seminar that the so called Stafford Sands model which some call our economy
is not his model at all but something that The Bahamas has been doing from
the 19th century. She begged the question: do we need to do something different
to avoid which she calls the oppression of the masses of our people in the
country? Click
here to download the speech...
Pictures From PLP’s Convocation In Freeport
Last week we were to have run in a second edition photos of the Progressive
Liberal Party’s convocation in Freeport on January. Unfortunately
those photos did not run. They run today. The photos are from the Facebook
page of Allyson Smith
Jeanine Weech Gomez Spelling
Last week in the Comment of The Week, we misspelled the name of the wife
of the late attorney Dennis Gomez. Instead of Jeanne, the correct spelling
is Jeanine. We apologise for the error.
Photo Byline For Sgt. Clinton Dean
Last week we published a photo of the farewell party for Captain Gus Roberts
which bore the bye-line ‘Sgt Dean’. The full name should have
been used Sgt Clinton Dean. We apologise for the error.
THE MAGOMOLA
LECTURE
Gaby Magomola could be forgiven for thinking that maybe for a minute he
was back in Robben Island when in the middle of his lecture to the assembled
crowd of elites and intellectuals and the plain curious the Chapter One
Bookstore where the event was held went dark. There was a power failure
or so it appeared. There was one but not a general one because all around
the lights were on in other buildings. The generator did not kick in immediately
so the staff had to scramble downstairs and turn the generator on. That
was the most visible sign of a troubling deterioration in the infrastructure
at the College of the Bahamas.
We have a new President Betsy Bose Vogel who welcomed the crowd. The assembled personages were amongst Nassau’s most famous, learned and wealthy but in the middle of all that the audio visual equipment at the College of the Bahamas did not work or it seemed the department was unprepared for the fact that a DVD had to be played. Then the air conditioning did not work. So when the power failed: what next? Mr. Magamola was not to be deterred and delivered a moving a stirring presentation. He himself was moved by the welcome given to him. His wife is part of Senator Allyson Gibson’s International Women’s Federation (IWF) that was having a meeting here and he was persuaded by his wife to come along with her and the lecture was arranged to talk about his experiences being a political prisoner at 19 years old at apartheid’s Robben Island in South Africa to success on Wall Street. He was in jail with Nelson Mandela, the South African icon. Apologies for the failures but the lecture was informative and moving. Thanks for coming. The photos are by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
THE COLLAPSE
OF ZNS
We present this story supplied by a correspondent on the state of affairs
at the Broadcasting Corporation since the downsizing. The Corporation has
become an embarrassing shadow of itself: Click
here to download.
NEW IRISH
AMBASSADOR
There is a new Ambassador accredited to The Bahamas from Ireland. He presented
his credentials to the Governor General on Thursday 4th February in a ceremony
attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette. Ray Bassett
is the new Ambassador with a Ph D in bio chemistry He will live in Ottawa,
Canada. The photo is by Derek Smith. Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell MP attended on behalf of the Progressive Liberal Party.
BRAZILIAN
AMBASSADOR SAYS FAREWELL
It hardly seems like three years have gone by but they have with blistering
speed. The first resident Ambassador for Brail to The Bahamas Tomas Guggenheim
is about to demit office. He is heading to a new posting in Belize. He held
a farewell reception for the diplomatic corp at his home Tanglewood on the
Eastern Road on Thursday 4th February. Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell MP attended for the Progressive Liberal Party.
YOUNG
LIBERALS AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE 
This is a photo of Fred Mitchell MP and Ryan Pinder MP with Young Liberals
at Govt House Swearing in of Bahamas National Youth Council.
IN PASSING
The Chinese Ambassador Is Leaving
The time of the Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas is coming to an end. Ambassador
Hu Dingxian has been in The Bahamas for three years and is going back to
Beijing to begin another assignment. He can count a number of successes
for his time here including the conclusion of the 2.6 billion dollar investment
in Cable Beach by the China Export Import Bank. His last official day will
be for the ground breaking of the Chinese Embassy on 21st February at 9:30a.m.
followed by the groundbreaking for Bahamar at Cable Beach at 11 a.m. that
day. Godspeed to the Ambassador.
Kenan Johnson Wins PYL Elections
Attorney at Law Kennan Johnson is the new Chairman of the Progressive Young
Liberals. He defeated Alex Fox for the job in a contest held at Gambier
House on Sunday 30th January. The other officers elected are: Chairman:
Keenan Johnson; 1st Vice Chair: Quinton Lightbourne; 2nd Vice Chair: Phylicia
Woods; 3rd Vice Chair: Alexander Fox; 4th Vice Chair: Jaydin Miller; Secretary:
Devon Forbes; Assistant Secretary: Anton Braynen; Treasurer: Indira McKenzie;
Assistant Treasurer: Karina Glinton; NGC Members: Gregory Smith, Randolph
Curtis II, Krystal Ferguson; PR Officer: Dawn Demeritte; Chaplain: Alan
Poitier. Mr. Johnson replaces Aarone Sergeant who resigned last year.
The Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year began on 3rd February. Happy New Year to all our Chinese
friends. This year is the year of the rabbit.
Al Dillette Takes Ill
The founding editor of the predecessor to this site Al Dillette and former
Director General of the Bahamas Information Services has taken ill and suffered
a stroke. He is recovering in hospital.
Sidney Collie Is New Caricom Ambassador
Well, we think he was probably beginning to think he was the most abandoned
FNM Member of Parliament Sidney Collie, only just above Branville McCartney,
the errant Bamboo Town MP. But that is all behind him now that last week
he was officially presented with his letters of Commission that makes him
the Ambassador for The Bahamas to Caricom. This post is so important no
one has served in it since Leonard Archer was unceremoniously told goodbye
in 2007 for having cooperated too fully with the Progressive Liberal Party
during their time in office. The job carries with it $60,000 per year plus
an office, travel and other perks. You are accredited to all the countries
of Caricom and for your pain you get to visit Georgetown, Guyana. It is
an important post though. Mr. Collie's wife Mavis was said to be increasingly
bitter about the fact and loudly saying so that her husband was promised
that after he fell on his sword by taking the fall for Hubert Ingraham messing
up the local government elections. Mr. Ingraham apparently had promised
that he would take care of Mr. Collie. But Hubert Ingraham seemed until
recently to have forgotten his promise. Now though all is forgiven. Word
is that Mr. Collie has decided he will not be running again since he is
staring defeat in the face of Leslie Miller who is coming back against him
for the PLP. Hubert Ingraham is trying to make that a remote possibility
by announcing during the week through The Nassau Guardian that the customs
service was investigating Mr. Miller for customs violations. Mr. Miller’s
response was that whoever thought that had a vivid imagination.
A.C. Off At Government House For The Youth
The Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes commented at the swearing in ceremony
of the Bahamas Nation Youth Council on Wednesday 3rd February that he wanted
to extend a warm welcome to Government House but no one expected it to be
quite so warm because the air conditioning was not working in the ballroom.
Seems that this is a perennial problem that they can’t seem to fix
but you would think that in a hot country like ours people would know how
to fix the air conditioning and keep it on particularly in the Governor
General’s home.
Charles Fawkes To Restart The Vanguard Party
It appears that as the silly season of politics approaches, the retreads
are coming out of the wood work. The National Democratic Party which is
led by Renward Wells took its name from Paul Adderley’s party of the
same name. That party (Mr. Adderley’s version) failed in 1967 to win
a single seat in Parliament and disappeared shortly afterward. That has
been the fate of many a third party. Mr. Adderely himself did not draw the
lesson from Etienne Dupuch before him whose Bahamas Democratic League failed
in the 1950s. Now another of the defunct parties has come back to life in
the name Vanguard Party which used to be the Vanguard Nationalist Socialist
Party. According to The Tribune they only got in their existence a total
of 172 votes. They are a curiosity from the 1970s in that the youth movement
of the PLP split between the Franklin Wilsons and Sean McWeenys on the one
hand who left Unicomm the student movement of the say, and absorbed themselves
into the PLP and the radical element with John McCartney, Lionel Carey and
Charles Fawkes who thought that Marxism Leninism was the way and formed
the Vanguard. That went down like dull thud. But Mr. Fawkes is not to be
deterred. He says that he has revived the party with the slogan: Dare to
Struggle! Dare To Win! He will lead the effort and we will hear more from
them.
Americans Pull The Plug On Egypt
It has been a riveting week for the television audiences of the BBC and
CNN and yes even Fox News and MSNBC. They along with tens of thousands of
anti Hosni Mubarak (Egyptian President) opponents descended on the Freedom
Square in Cairo, Egypt’s capital to say that Mr. Mubarak its 82 year
old President for 30 years had to go. The American government which gives
1.3 billion dollars in aid to Egypt pulled the plug on their support of
Mr. Mubarak by saying that a transition had to begin and it had to begin
now. The U.S. President went further and said that Mr. Mubarak ought to
listen to the voices in the streets and take counsel and move now. Translation
go now. Trouble is says Fox News and the Israelis: how can you simply ditch
a US ally like this of 30 years, what does that mean for Israel? The people
are still in the square. Mr. Mubarak says he will go but not now; he will
go in September when elections are held. Someone tried to kill his new Vice
President. The BBC reported that the Americans are behind the scenes trying
to arrange for Mr. Mubarak to leave now. The army has so far not shot the
protestors although they did stand by and let them be attacked by pro Mubarak
mobs earlier in the week. Fascinating stuff and good theatre including the
picture of a cowering Anderson Cooper of CNN in a safe room from which he
broadcast by broadband link for two days in the week after he and his cameramen
were set upon by the pro Mubarak mob.
Aristide Gets Passport
Right after Jean Claude “ Baby Doc” Duvalier” landed in
Haiti last month, the other President in Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide said
he wanted to come home too but as soon as his hosts in South Africa and
the Haitian government allowed him. One complaint he did not have a passport.
The Haitian government has now obliged him and granted him a diplomatic
passport. Now the question is will he go home and what will it mean politically
for Haiti. Former Bahamas Ambassador to Haiti Eugene Newry says that Mr.
Aristide returning to Haiti will have a far greater impact than Mr. Duvalier’s
return.
Report Of Haitian Raid In Fox Hill
There are reports of a raid on a Haitian Village in Fox Hill. Reports reaching
the Haitian embassy say that Haitians were brutally beaten and arrested
before dawn on Friday 4th February by a joint immigration and police raid.
They complained to the Haitian Ambassador that children were petrified,
that property was stolen that their doors were broken down. No official
statement has come from the Department.
Deputy Commissioner To Go To Albany?
Denials were issued all around on the news that Deputy Commissioner of Police
Marvin Dames is to leave to take a high level security job at the Lynden
Pindling International Airport (LPIA). New news now is that the job is really
going to be the high level security job at the Albany Development in south
west New Providence. The FNM is determined they say to get Quinn McCartney,
the Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police in Freeport into the job of
Commissioner and with Mr. Dames gone they think that the step of making
him Deputy Commissioner will get him closer to the job…a heartbeat
away so to speak.
PLP Delegation in the Exuma Cays
PLP Leader Perry Christie led a delegation to the Exuma Cays on Friday 4th
February to Saturday 5th February. They visited Staniel Cay, Farmers Cay
and Black Point. Anthony Moss MP for the area along with Philip Davis MP,
Deputy Leader and Bradley Roberts Chairman and Randy Rolle, Vice Chair for
Family Islands visited with the Leader.
URCA To Cable Bahamas Unbundle By 2013
The Utilities Regulatory Competition Authority (URCA) has ruled that Cable
Bahamas has untold 2013 to unbundled its packages to consumers who must
buy cable TV service with internet services.
Sidney Collie On Leslie Miller
Sidney Collie at his swearing in as Ambassador to Caricom ( see story above)
commented on the investigation allegedly into the customs declarations of
Leslie Miller, his opponent in the next election. He says that it unfortunate
but he Mr. Collie does not need that to win. Get hard. Also get ready for
defeat.
The Dump On Fire Again
Taking off from Nassau by air, there is acrid smell of smoke along the John
F Kennedy Drive and then there is the view of a long trail of smoke over
New Providence. Once again, it appears that the dump is on fire and the
Minister of the Environment shows how he simply cannot control the environmental
quality of the Bahamian environment. The day: Saturday 5th February.
Birbal Sentenced
We reported last week that the Trinidadian teacher Andre Birbal was convicted
of buggering two little boys in Eight Mile Rock High where he was a teacher.
He has now been sentenced. The judge had some harsh things to say about
him and sentenced him to 35 years in prison. The press reported that some
people think that the evidence was thin on the ground to convict him and
that justice was not done. But the overwhelming sentiment in the country
is that he got what he deserved. The lawyers say that he could not get a
fair trial in this country because of the pre trial publicity.