BahamasUncensored.Com Archive

ZHIVARGO DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE
There is mud all over the faces of the Free National Movement, their leader Hubert Ingraham, the FNM cabinet and especially the Minister of State Zhivargo Laing. The reason is they have been found out and exposed not by the PLP. Standard and Poors published a report on 17th December 2008 that confirmed in a few words what the PLP had been saying all along about the economy of The Bahamas and the ruinous policies of the Free National Movement. You may click here for the full report.

The report confirmed that the investment climate in The Bahamas had deteriorated from stable to negative. You will probably remember that news. When that came out, the government was quite sanguine. Zhivargo Laing, the Minister of State for Finance simply said that this was to be expected since the economy had declined as a result of the downturn in the US economy. But what he had no answer for was the claim by Standard and Poors that the policy of stop, review and cancel by the FNM administration including the cancellation of the 23 million dollar straw market contract had caused a climate of uncertainty and had led to the deterioration of the economy being worse in the present situation than it would have been had they not done so.

This was too much for Mr. Laing. His boss Hubert Ingraham said nothing. Mr. Laing lashed out at Standard and Poors. They put The Tribune on Standard and Poors. Mr. Laing challenged Standard and Poors on two fronts. First he said that no one could credibly say that the PLP left 80 million dollars of completed contracts when they left office. The point here is that no one needed to say it. The figure came from no less a person than the FNM Chairman Johnley Ferguson. The figure of 90 million dollars came from no less a person than the then Minister of Public Works Earl Deveaux who in his budget statement listed the contracts that were cancelled or stopped by the FNM and said that they amounted to 90 million dollars. So the figures came from the FNM themselves.

Mr. Laing also challenged Standard and Poors to say how the business climate had become more difficult since the FNM took office.

The PLP Chairman Glenys Hanna Martin was quick to respond on Monday 29th December 2008. She said that the PLP’s position was supported by Standard and Poors. Mr. Laing then came back and attacked Standard and Poors. Mrs. Hanna Martin called Mr. Laing’s attack disingenuous.

The PLP’s position certainly is vindicated. It should give them no satisfaction because the people of the country are suffering as result of the policies of the FNM, but the PLP should crow from the rooftops about this. It is simply a crying shame what Hubert Ingraham has done to this economy since he came to office.

Fred Mitchell, the PLP MP speaking to The Tribune’s business section told The Tribune to mark his words that when the FNM was finished negotiating the damages with the contractor whose contract they cancelled, and designing a new market and building the new market, the price will exceed the 23 million dollars allocated by the PLP for the project that would have been finished in August 2008.

There are many more stories about the ruin that the FNM has brought to the country. They and their leader should hang their heads in shame. But what is happening is their apologists are all over the place shifting the blame, trying to change the story, making it up as they go along.

The Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest was on a separate tack himself when he gave an interview published in The Bahama Journal in which he said that he expected there to be increased investigations into public figures over the 2009. Fred Mitchell, Fox Hill MP, questioned what did the Minister mean? Did he in fact mean that the FNM was going to pursue a witch-hunt against PLP politicians? You may click here for Mr. Mitchell’s full statement.

What is clear is that the attempt is being made at every turn to make the PLP into the bad boy to try and rewrite the history of the country so that the PLP does not play a part in it. It is therefore a saving grace that you have outside agencies with no axes to grind in the Bahamian milieu that can bring the facts forward that are difficult to contradict. The fact is Mr. Laing can rail all he wants at Standard and Poors; the country still has to rely on Standard and Poors for the rating of its credit. What the agency says goes. What The Tribune says about the credibility of Standard and Poors is not a matter that affects the rating agency one way or the other.

The country is approaching the 10th January 2009, the 42nd year since the majority rule government was elected. When Lynden Pindling and his colleagues took the reigns of office, they were seeking to bring hope to hundreds and thousands of Bahamians who had been disenfranchised and had no hope of progressing in their own country because of the colour of their skin. With that battle largely won, it is important for us now to move on to the next stage. But it appears that what is happening is the FNM has no agenda that can move that objective forward. They are concentrating on the past and seeking to rewrite history.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 3rd January 2008 up to midnight: 149,569.

Number of hits for the month of December up to Wednesday 31st December 2008 up to midnight: 1,044,423.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Wednesday 31st December 2008 up to midnight: 13,411,241.

TRANSITION IN THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

    At the stroke of midnight 31st December 2008, the mandate of the Archbishop of the West Indies Drexel Gomez and the Bishop of The Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands (at right) expired. The new Bishop is Laish Boyd (at left) who has served as coadjutor Bishop for two years. The new Bishop celebrated mass at Holy Spirit Parish in Chippingham in Nassau. There is to be a special service to commemorate the passing of the reigns on 11 January and the new Bishop will be formally enthroned 8th February.
    This is likely to mean significant change for the Anglican Church that has been led by Drexel Gomez for a decade and certainly influenced by him since he began serving as an Archdeacon in this diocese and then later as the Bishop of Barbados for twenty years before his service in this parish as Bishop and then Archbishop. As a consequence of the new Bishop coming to office, all Archdeacons, the equivalent of a Prime Minister's cabinet resign as a formality. It is understood that the new Bishop intends to reappoint all of them but that one of them Archdeacon Cornell Moss will not accept reappointment.
    Change is a theme that is current these days and the change will be refreshing for the Anglican Church. There are many decisions for the new Bishop. One is the ever present issue with the finances of the church, the assault on its membership from the newer denominations and the dispute over the retirement age of one of its most prominent priests. We pray that Bishop Boyd is up to the task and will lend all the support that we can.

JOHN TRAVOLTA’S SON DIES IN THE BAHAMAS

The Associated Press has reported that the son of American actor John Travolta who has a vacation home in West End, Grand Bahama died in what appears to have been an accident on Thursday 1st January. Mr. Travolta and his wife were in Grand Bahama at the time of their son’s death. The speculation is that the son who suffers from seizures hit his head in the bathtub and died. He was pronounced dead at Freeport’s Rand Memorial Hospital. PLP MP Obie Wilchcombe was quoted by the Associated Press as appearing on Larry King Live by phone to report that in the circumstances the Ministry of Health had acted quickly to lend what assistance they could. An autopsy is to be held to determine the cause of death.

SENATOR FITZGERALD AT WORK

Senator Jerome Fitzgerald plans to be the Progressive Liberal Party’s standard bearer in the next General Election for the Marathon constituency. He has been nursing the area for a year or more. The Senator is in touch with his would be constituents and is a supporter of the activities of the Marathon Branch of the PLP. During the Christmas season, Senator Fitzgerald and the Marathon Branch provided care packages for the needy and for the children of the area. He took one of his sons to show him the ropes. The photos are of Senator Fitzgerald and his team at work for and on behalf of the people of the Marathon constituency.

MITCHELL’S VISIT TO THE ABACOS
Fred Mitchell, the Fox Hill MP, returned to Nassau on Friday 2nd January following a seven day visit to Abaco and to Grand Bahama. While in Abaco, The Tribune reported that he visited with the PLP’s leaders in the constituencies of South and North Abaco. Mr. Mitchell went to Moore’s Island which is a PLP stronghold. He also visited Green Turtle Cay and the settlements from Treasure Cay up to Crown Haven in North Abaco.
There was speculation in the press whether the visit was in support of a leadership bid. Mr. Mitchell said that he was not doing anything unusual, in that he always spends the New Year’s holiday in Freeport and he was merely visiting with the leaders in Abaco. In Moore’s Island, he denounced the Minister of Health for boasting about tele-medicine in Abaco but the computer in the clinic in Moore’s Island was not working. He said that the contract for the roads that had been issued by the PLP was cancelled by the Prime Minister when he came to office and no word has come on when the new contract will be issued.

TOMMY TURNQUEST MUST ANSWER
It was the strangest of stories in the Bahama Journal on 29th December and penned by Quincy Parker. Tommy Turnquest was being interviewed on the subject of the appointment of the police officers Ellison Greenslade and Marvin Dames upon their return from leave in Canada where they underwent unnecessary training courses at some $200,000 expense to the Bahamian people. Instead of sticking to the point, Mr. Turnquest ventured off into a comment that said in indirect speech that he anticipated that over the next year there will be increased investigations into public figures now that the two officers were returning to The Bahamas.
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill issued a release straight away, asking the Minister of National Security pray tell what did he mean? Mr. Mitchell said that he had expressed concern before about the fact that there was a campaign to smear and sully the name of the PLP, orchestrated from the highest levels of the police force. This was denied at the time by the Chairman of the FNM and by the Commissioner of Police. You may read the full statement of Mr. Mitchell by this link.

LEADERSHIP SPECULATION
    From The Punch to the Bahama Journal, The Tribune and The Nassau Guardian, there has been a spate of stories about Fred Mitchell and his quest for the leadership of the PLP. The fact is he has made no such announcement, but there is this buzz about leadership and Fred Mitchell. On Tuesday 30th December, The Tribune wrote a story on the point. Here is what they quoted Fred Mitchell as saying:
    “It is a moot point because there is no leadership vacancy in the PLP at this time.
    “Obviously though, a country has to be interested in who its potential leaders are and to that extent the speculation and discussion is good and I’m interested like everyone else to see what people think of me, my talents and where those talents would lead.
    “I began as a party officer in 1975 and I have served as a PLP National General Council member, branch chairman and I was twice elected in the Fox Hill constituency. I have served as a Senator. And a Minister of Foreign Affairs.
    “It’s been a long time and I’m a known quantity. The future would be safe in my and a number of other hands. But until the question [of leadership] is actually framed, it really is a moot point.”
    As for Hubert Ingraham, who is the voice behind the Scribe in The Punch, he has his own spin on it. In an article in The Punch on Monday 29th December, he claimed that he had made an allegation against Mr. Mitchell about Mr. Mitchell’s character in the House. That story really does not go that way at all. Mr. Ingraham was told on Wednesday 3rd December 2008 from MP Mitchell’s seat that he, Mr. Ingraham, was a certain part of the anatomy of the body and that he was always talking what comes out of that part. This came after Mr. Ingraham tried to dismiss a comment by Mr. Mitchell who was on his feet on a matter of public policy. Mr. Ingraham tried his usual smear campaign. In the end, Mr. Ingraham was reminded by Mr. Mitchell that whatever accusation he was making, it applied to a relative of his and Mr. Ingraham should shut his mouth. It was ugly. But the Scribe now says:
    “The Truth is that Fred Mitchell, no matter what else he might have going against him, he might pretty much be the right man to return the PLP to the party of the father of the nation, Lynden Oscar Pindling without the gross and unacceptable, “I can’t recall” corruption image… It sounds as if Fred Mitchell is the man with the PLP deliverance plan. Unfortunately, Fred can never, never be leader.”

(We think that Mr. Ingraham is talking you know what as usual –Editor)

MITCHELL VENTURES INTO FACEBOOK
It was at the meeting in Fox Hill in November that Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill called for change within the PLP. He renewed the message of change in his Christmas message to the people of Fox Hill. Now Mr. Mitchell has gone further and challenged the young PLP’s through their Facebook pages to get on board the change wagon. Here is that statement in full:

THE GILBERT MORRIS ARTICLE

Gilbert N.M.O. Morris is a Bahamian advisor to the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands who writes from time on Bahamian public affairs. Having seen the growth in the non-goods sector in the Caricom region, Mr. Morris argues in this article that The Bahamas needs to take stock in these difficult days and times and see how it can regain the advantage, relative to those Caricom jurisdictions that have benefited from problems with our country and its decision making. You may click here for the full article.

PLP CHAIR ANSWERS THE FNM
The FNM’s Minister of State Zhivargo Laing was livid or so it appears that Standard and Poors would dare to assert that the FNM was in part responsible for the downturn of the Bahamian economy. The statement issued by the ratings company on 17th December 2008 was a body blow to the false praise that the FNM was giving itself for the running of this economy. Mr. Laing was all over the paper on Monday 29th December 2008 denouncing Standard and Poors. PLP Chair Glenys Hanna Martin came right back at him with a statement saying that the PLP’s position had been vindicated by the Standard and Poors report. You may click here for the full statement issued on 29th December.
Mr. Laing did not have enough of the tongue lashing and instead came back to suggest that the PLP was cooking the books and coming up with figures that were not real. He challenged the country to show him where the PLP left 80 million dollars in projects that the FNM stopped reviewed and cancelled. The only problem was these were not the PLP's figures; they were the FNM’s figures from the Minister of Works then Earl Deveaux and their Party Chair Johnley Ferguson. In a second, rapid fire statement on 31st December, Glenys Hanna Martin accused him of being disingenuous.

NEW YEARS JUNKANOO WINNERS
Here are the winners of the Junkanoo Parade for New Year’s Day 2009:

JUNKANOO PHOTO ESSAY

The New Year’s Junkanoo Parade belonged to the Saxons. Someone reported waking up at the crack of dawn to the sounds of the Junkanoo music on Bay Street over the television screen. The music was riveting and invigorating. It turned out to be the Saxons on parade and the crowd was in a frenzy. Percy ‘Vola’ Francis was the star of the show and he proves that he still has it. Mr. Francis led the Saxons to a clear cut victory over the Music Makers in second and the Valley Boys, led by Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper.
Congratulations to all for a wonderful parade. PLP leader Perry Christie was also a star in his own right. He joined the Valley for their 50th anniversary rush. He was a regular on the Valley parade from he was child. We feature a photo of Mr. Christie on parade. Together with other Junkanoo photos. The photo essay is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.

THE S & P REPORT IN FULL
On 17th December Standard and Poors published their review of the Bahamian economy. The news was shattering for the Government of The Bahamas, the FNM administration. They had been warned by the PLP that their stop, review and cancel programme had crippled our economy. They didn’t believe the PLP or accept what was said. Now Standard and Poors has said the same thing. This is the ratings agency that the FNM had been boasting about not even two months ago. Now its Minister of State is on the attack.
We provide the full report for you via this link. The report says in part: “The review of $80 million worth of contracts and eventual cancellation of a $23 million public contract for the straw market negatively affected investor’s sentiments and brought substantial disruption to the contractor’s activities. The situation has since normalized but the important economic growth momentum has been lost.”

S&P SLAMS FNM ECONOMIC POLICY
    I note the latest credit rating and economic outlook by the international credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on the 17th December 2008. In its analysis, S&P downgrades the country’s economic outlook from stable to negative and attributes this to not only external economic forces, but on the economic policies of the FNM government.
    The report indicates that following real GDP growth of 4.5% in 2006, the growth momentum has been interrupted “by the protracted period of contracts review by the FNM government after it came to power. The review of $80 million worth of contracts and the eventual cancellation of a $23 million public contract for a straw market negatively affected investors’ sentiments and brought substantial disruption to the contractors’ activity”. The report went to state that because of this policy, “the important economic growth momentum has been lost”.
    This analysis by this internationally respected organization with no political axe to grind is both a vindication of the PLP and a major repudiation and condemnation of the now infamous, ill-advised, and failed “STOP, REVIEW, CANCEL economic policy of the FNM government.
    The PLP is on record repeatedly warning the FNM government that it “cannot turn the economy off and on like a faucet” and that its policy decisions will shake investor confidence and cause the country great harm. The FNM is yet to admit to its policy blunder.
    As for accountability and transparency, the general public does not know to this date what was reviewed, the criteria for the review, the findings of the review, and the public benefits of the review and cancellations. I remind the FNM government of their proclaimed “mandate of increased transparency, with the party’s (so called) Trust Agenda focusing on the accountability and transparency issues, strengthening institutional framework, and promoting better governance” according to the S&P report.
    To date, there is no evidence that the actions of the government demonstrated accountability or transparency. Further, the consequences of the government’s policies suggest a weakening of the public institutional framework and the delivery of poor governance as literally tens of thousands of Bahamians were adversely affected by this ill-advised public policy.
Elcott Coleby

No Newspapers On Dec. 27th
It is indeed disgraceful that no local newspapers chose to publish on the 27th, a day that qualifies for neither the dubious excuse of being the Christian day of rest or a holiday... (not that either of those ought to impede the flow of information in this day and age!). Here I am a Bahamian in Japan for the holidays having to settle for week-old news about my country, while all around me buzzes news from every corner of this earth - even Cayman! If we fail to take ourselves seriously in our country (and so end up snatching mediocrity from the grip of excellence at very turn) then we clearly take our cues from those who lead our various national estates (press included), whose flippant disregard for our seriousness as a nation is summed up in that comment about having to "take a break" from the job of reporting events in our country. What if others decided to have a break that coincided with the Wall Street crash, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand or the battle of Antietam? Maybe an inconvenient birthday, bar mitzvah or anniversary perhaps?
Thank you bahamasuncensored for at least remaining faithful in your weekly reporting. Were it not for you, I would probably have no way of confirming the country still exists during extended holiday periods - unless of course I was prepared to hold my breath long enough to get through such idiotic, anti-Bahamian rants as bahamasissues.com. I trust you will continue. In the meantime, I am taking breath-control exercises.
Andrew Allen

IN PASSING
Mitchell At Young Liberals
Fred Mitchell MP will be the guest speaker at the Young Liberals general meeting today Sunday 4th January 2008 at PLP headquarters Farrington Road Nassau at 4 p.m.

Changes In The Public Service

Wendell Major has retired as Secretary to the Cabinet. This is the position that is the head of the public service. He sits in on all cabinet meetings and is official taker of Cabinet minutes. The Government held a farewell dinner for Mr. Major at the Crystal Palace Hotel on Friday 2nd January. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Members of the Cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie and Members of Parliament with senior civil servants attended the event. Mr. Major said that he had the privilege to serve under three Prime Ministers in that position if you included several acting stints under the Late Sir Lynden O. Pindling. The job now goes to Anita Barnard, a retired Permanent Secretary who was brought back into the service as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Works. Mrs. Bernard’s appointment is a controversial one. She signed the nomination papers for Pauline Cooper Nairn, the FNM’s candidate in 2007 and campaigned for her during that election. How can she now enjoy the confidence of PLPs in this present role? This is again a sign of the bastardization of our system. The photo of Wendell Major and Mrs. Andrea Major with former Prime Minister Perry Christie and the present Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is by Peter Ramsay. The pair are also shown with Dame Marguerite Pindling, widow of the late Sir Lynden Pindling, whose government Mr. Major credited with allowing him the scholarship to continue his education.

New P.S. Appointments

As a result of Anita Bernard’s (pictured above) controversial appointment as Cabinet Secretary, Colin Higgs, the Financial Secretary has been sent back to be P.S. at the Ministry of Works and Ehurd Cunningham has been made the Financial Secretary.

Nicolette Bethel Leaves as Director of Culture

It appears that with effect from 1st January 2009, Nicolette Bethel is no longer the Director of Culture for the country. Ms. Bethel is the daughter of former Director of Culture, musician and writer E. Clement Bethel. She writes an extensive and scathing commentary on the state of culture in The Bahamas today saying that the situation reverted right back to where it was in 2003. You may click here for the link to her comments http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/2009/01/01/no-longer-director By the way, word on the street is that the new Director is Junkanoo ‘fast’ Eddie Dames.

Ginn Files For Bankruptcy
The Ginn Company that has permission from The Bahamas Government issued under the PLP to build a multi billion dollar resort in West End, Grand Bahama, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. This is more bad news for the Grand Bahama economy that was counting on the project to inject fresh capital into Grand Bahama. The company said that this would not affect its investment in Grand Bahama but it is hard to see how it would not.

The Tragedy Of Haitian Migration Continues
Newly appointed Director of Immigration Jack Thompson held a press conference to announce the repatriation of 373 Haitians back to their homeland. It appears that the weather has been favourable for migrants to launch out to sea from the north of Haiti, which is just 90 miles away from Inagua, the southern most Bahamian island. The Director said that almost a million dollars had been spent repatriating the Haitians back home. Some of them have not made it. During the past week, there were photos of bodies being picked up on the southern shores of New Providence from those who drowned in the attempt to reach The Bahamas.

The Murder Count For 2008
The figures are in: 74 murders in 2008 in The Bahamas. This is down from 79 in 2007.

First Baptist Advertising Support
Keep it all in the family. There was an unusual sponsor of the Junkanoo coverage on ZNS TV for the 2008 Boxing Day Parade and the New Year’s Day Parade. The First Baptist Church in the Grove was a sponsor. It advertised for one and all to come to church: if you needed someone to marry you or bury you, all were welcome. Seemed surprising and then it clicked. The First Baptist Church is led by Pastor Earle Francis and his daughter Rev. Diana Francis. They are the father and sister of the Saxon’s Superstars leader Percy ‘Vola’ Francis. The moral of the story: support your own.

Opposition Leader In Antigua & Barbuda To Step Down
Antigua and Barbuda’s Lester Bird, former Prime Minister and now Leader of the Opposition Antigua Labour Party has told the press in Antigua that if he loses the next general election due in March 2009, he will retire from politics.

Mammie No Lights On The Runway
The Freeport News reported that the lights on the runway in Freeport went out without explanation from about 5:30 p.m. until after 10 p.m. on Tuesday 30th December. This caused the cancellation of Bahamasair’s evening flights from Nassau to Grand Bahama. No explanation as to why the lights went out.

Speculation On The Commodore
The Punch that is the lying and propaganda arm of the FNM has been spinning a yarn of stories about Clifford ‘Butch’ Scavella being removed as the Commodore of the Defence Force. The FNM’s Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest should make a definitive statement on this issue since it undermines confidence in the Commodore. Everyone knows that when something appears in The Punch, it was put there by an FNM who leaked it to Ivan Johnson, the rag’s editor. Mr. Scavella’s contract expires in November 2009.

Tributes Flow For Phil Smith
The ZNS sportscaster Phil Smith who died last week after a battle with kidney failure has been praised in death. Official condolences came from PLP leader Perry Christie, PLP House leader Bernard Nottage, Minister of Sports Desmond Bannister, and his colleagues and friends in the media and in the business community. No word on Mr. Smith’s funeral arrangements.

Correction From Last Week
The man who died in Junkanoo Boxing Day 2008 was not properly identified on this site last week. The dead man is Adrian Moss and not Anthony Moss as reported here last week.

Israel’s Invasion
We do not support the actions being taken against the Palestinian people in Israel. It appears to us that this is overkill and that the U.S. should intervene to stop it.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

GUTTING THE PUBLIC SERVICE
We report this week on the news that Hubert Ingraham is in the process of gutting, destroying and destabilizing the Royal Bahamas Police Force. His government announced that 15 people all over the age of 55 have been asked to leave the Police Force, some of them with ten years to go before retirement. The letters that were delivered to them on 7th January 2009 gave the men and one woman two days to give an answer. The packages amounted to resign or be dismissed. All therefore have been constructively dismissed.

The Bahamas Press website pointed out in commentary that Hubert Ingraham; the now Prime Minister misled the Bahamian people when he told them that no public servant should fear their job when he returned to office. That was clearly a falsehood. Mr. Ingraham simply made the statement when challenged by the PLP during the campaign. Bahamas Press said the following: “Ingraham told residents in 2006 at the construction site of the Atlantis Cove that he would REDUCE the Civil Service if he is returned to power, then in an about-face told a rally on R. M. Bailey Park, “All government workers need not fear for their jobs under an FNM administration.”

We now know that this was simply a story told to get himself elected. Since coming to office, he began by firing Steve McKinney from the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, from the public platform of an FNM rally. Then he backed up only when the PLP protested. From that time to now, some 1200 workers were fired from the public service because they were perceived to be PLPs. These included people who were occasional workers, workers on contract, many of them working in Social Services or Urban Renewal. In the latest round, he has been offering so called packages to induce public servants to retire.

In the case of the Department of Immigration, seven senior officers and unknown other junior officers have been offered packages ranging from two years pay to one years pay in order to force them to retire. In cases where officers refuse the offers, they were threatened with summary transfers to other Departments of the government. In the case of others, if they refused they were threatened with being put on administrative leave, which means leave with pay. You are then simply left to languish and do nothing.

The authority that is being used for this is in Section 16 of the Pensions Act and Section 66(6) of the Police Act. Section 16 of the Pensions Act has to be read in conjunction with section 15 of that act. It appears to allow the government to retire forcibly public officers when it is in the interests of efficiency or for the reorganization of their departments. In the Police Act, it appears to allow the government to require someone who is over the age of 55 and an inspector or above to retire when called upon by the government.

The letter was written by A. Missouri Sherman Peter, a permanent secretary, who herself spent much of her time under the PLP carping and complaining about the fact that she was discriminated against and had not been earlier promoted to the level of Permanent Secretary, yet she did not have any compunction at all it appears to write a letter to these officers at the age of 55 threatening them with dismissal.

As with all of these things, the Opposition PLP swung into action to defend the interests of the people affected by the decision. The PLP questioned the lawfulness of what the government proposed to do. Hubert Ingraham shot back that under the administration of Sir Lynden O. Pindling some officers were forcibly retired under the provisions. He neglected of course to say why the provision had been used in the case of one of those officers, which should not be discussed since at least one of them is dead. Suffice it to say, there was cause.

The point we make is not to sully the reputation of any of the men that Mr. Ingraham used in aid and comfort of his present policy. That is all past and best left forgotten. The point is whether the actions of Mr. Ingraham meet the smell test and they do not. Something smells foul about this. The key is in Mr. Ingraham’s defence when he claimed, in response to Perry Christie’s statement, that it was the PLP who destabilized the Force by appointing as many as ten Assistant Commissioners of Police, making the Force top heavy and sending Assistant Commissioner Marvin Dames to the Airport without an office and Assistant Commissioner Reginald Ferguson to the Police College where previously a Superintendent had served.

Mr. Ingraham should stop misleading the people of The Bahamas. The restructuring of the Royal Bahamas Police Force was done by the PLP as a result of a detailed study and recommendations to The Bahamas government. The fact is the Police College was once headed by a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police. The fact is that Reginald Ferguson was sent to the Police College as an alternative to his dismissal from the Force which we believe the government would have had good grounds to do since he had been condemned by the Commission of Inquiry into the Lorequin incident as the person who was responsible for botching the investigation into the disappearance of 50 packages of cocaine from a controlled drug operation.

There is much to be said in this column this week about all of this. We think that the PLP must in fact be more vigorous in its defence of this system. It is true that this system needs to be changed. The question is; how do we go about it? What Mr. Ingraham has done is taken a hatchet to the public service. There is more to come. We must use that same hatchet on him and his policies and see that his misrule of The Bahamas is brought to an end.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 10th January 2009 up to midnight; 289,372.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 10th January 2009 up to midnight; 366,525.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 10th January 2009 up to midnight: 366,525.

THE STORY OF ANITA BERNARD

    When you see Melanie Griffin, the MP for Yamacraw make an intervention in the press, it is important to listen. Mrs. Griffin who is the PLP’s Member of Parliament for the Yamacraw constituency and who fought a hard battle to maintain her seat in the face of an insidious and wicked onslaught by the Hubert Ingraham forces revealed to The Tribune in an exclusive article on Wednesday 7th January the true story behind Anita Bernard.
    Mrs. Bernard whose maiden name is Wilchcombe and who is the sister of Dame Joan Sawyer, the President of the Court of Appeal, was named last week by the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to succeed Wendell Major as the Secretary to the Cabinet. We think that the appointment is a disgrace. Mrs. Bernard retired from the public service two years ago as the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Public Works. Bradley Roberts, the former PLP Minister of Works, was glad to be rid of her. Lo and behold, as soon as she left the public service, she donned her Free National Movement clothes, signing the nomination papers for the FNM’s candidate for Yamacraw Pauline Cooper Nairn and then campaigning actively in all the FNM paraphernalia against Melanie Griffin. Mrs. Griffin was right to expose Mrs. Bernard and to object in the press to this appointment.
    Fred Mitchell speaking last week to the Young Liberals asked them the question how could any PLP have confidence in Anita Bernard to act dispassionately and impartially as Secretary to the Cabinet. For his part, the Prime Minister was as dismissive as he usually is, stupid as usual, he said that it was his appointment make and he made it. Never mind the contradictions in the same week when he was asking 55 year old policemen to go home, he had invited a 67 year old woman back to office who is retired and he himself is 61 and needs to go also back from the grave.
BIS file photo of Anita Bernard - Peter Ramsay

JOAN! JOAN! JOAN! BE QUIET

    Joan Sawyer seems to want the job of Sir Burton Hall, the Chief Justice. Why do we say that? Since becoming President of the Court of Appeal, it appears that Court has been engaged in a game of one-upmanship with regard to which court is pre-eminent. Prior to Joan Sawyer becoming Court of Appeal President, the opening of the legal year was a ceremony carried out by the Chief Justice, who is head of the Judiciary. Dame Joan Sawyer is the President of the Court of Appeal. She is not the head of Judiciary although she tries to act like it. Someone needs to put her in her place about this and tell her to simply shut up and be quiet in this display that is getting a little worn and tired.
    Dame Joan presided over the opening of the year ceremony at the Court of Appeal complete with the lawyers, the Bar Association president and the Attorney General Michael Barnett in tow on Thursday 8th January. She used the opportunity to say something that she should not have said in the presence of Michael De La Bastide who was visiting The Bahamas. Mr. de la Bastide is the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, the court Caricom invented to replace the Privy Council but which so far only Barbados and Guyana have had the courage to use as a final court of appeal. Dame Joan said that the question of the Privy Council being a final Court of Appeal is a matter for the executive. Duh! She should remember that with other things as well.
    Dame Joan attacked the former administration of Perry Christie suggesting that the PLP did not support the independence of the judiciary. The press reported that she supports the actions of the present Attorney General who has announced that in his legal reform package the Judiciary will get a separate and independent vote from Parliament for its budget. The only problem is that this was a proposal of the PLP and when it was offered to the Chief Justice during the time of Alfred Sears as Attorney General and Fred Mitchell as the Public Service Minister, the head of the Judiciary Sir Burton Hall did not want such arrangement. He only recently told the Crime Committee of the House of Assembly that he has changed his mind on the point.
    Dame Joan ought to think before she speaks. She also accused critics of the courts and of the judiciary as being in her words ignoramuses. This no doubt goes to the stinging criticisms of clergymen like Bishop Simeon Hall who has been relentless in his view that the Courts must carry some responsibility for the backlog of cases and for the failure of the system to process criminal cases. You can tell we hold no brief for Dame Joan Sawyer and can’t wait until she reaches her mandatory retirement age… not a moment too soon. Oh yes, but she is the sister of the now recently recalled Secretary to the Cabinet Anita Bernard, so perhaps as long as Hubert Ingraham is in office, we won’t be rid of her after all.

THE POLICE STORY
    The story no doubt starts in the silent and wicked mind of Hubert Ingraham as he was misleading the people of The Bahamas during the election campaign of 2007. The idea was to get rid of all those who were possible trouble politically for his will in the police force of The Bahamas. The first sign of trouble was his removing Paul Farqhuarson as Commissioner and sending him off to London as Ambassador. He then misled Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition about the appointment to the job of Commissioner of Police. Reginald Ferguson, the then Assistant Commissioner of Police, who was condemned by the Commission of Inquiry looking into the Lorequin drug operation, for botching the investigation into the loss of 50 packages of cocaine, was appointed Commissioner of Police under Hubert Ingraham. Mr. Ingraham told the PLP that Mr. Ferguson would not be appointed to the substantive job, that Ellison Greenslade and Marvin Dames, Assistant Commissioners would be sent away to Canada for a year to test their suitability for the job. It was a wasted exercise and a waste of taxpayer’s money, since it is clear that they were suitable and able for the job.
    Mr. Ingraham now proposes not to confirm Mr. Ferguson again but for him to act for a further year, with Mr. Greenslade acting as the Deputy Commissioner below him. How do you put this smart man to take orders from a less smart man is beyond us, but is he setting Mr. Greenslade up for failure and ultimately will toss him from the force? In the meantime, he had the Ministry Of National Security write letters to 15 senior police officers telling them that they had 48 hours to make up their minds to go. The Minister of National Security has now told the press that each of the 15 men had voluntarily agreed to sign. Voluntarily my foot! This is after he said to the press that it made no sense for them to fight it since they would be gone in any event.
    We can reveal that in cases where officers were inclined to resist, the government threatened the officers with the exposure of their bank accounts and starting disciplinary actions against them in the Police Service Commission. This was no voluntary deal. These officers had a gun to their heads.
    Among the names of the fifteen officers are: Assistant Commissioners of Police James Carey, Juanita Colebrooke and Eugene Cartwright; Acting Assistant Commissioner Kirkland Hutchinson; Acting Deputy Commissioner Christopher McCoy, Chief Superintendent Basil Rahming and Superintendents George Mortimer, Burkie Wright, Frank St. Remy, Philip Gibson, Alexander Blatch, Christopher Rahming, Cleveland Walkine, Matthew Davis and Robert Pinder.
    We do not know these people nor what their political persuasions are. However, with their management expertise, we suggest that they all seek to join the PLP immediately and work to remove Hubert Ingraham from the office of Prime Minister and the FNM from the government of The Bahamas. We repeat what we said in another story. You have a 61 year old man, the Prime Minister telling officers who are 55 that they have to go. He has just brought back a 67 year old woman to the job of Secretary of the Cabinet but 55 year old police officers have to go. The man who he has serving as Commissioner of Police is now 63 years old.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE HOTEL SECTOR?
    The headline in the Nassau Guardian on 7th January was stunning. It said that the Crystal Palace, hotel, the major hotel on Cable Beach, had such a bad forecast for the summer of 2009 that it was closing its doors entirely for the months of September and October. No staff would be laid off but would be allowed to take their vacations. Such is the prognosis for the industry in The Bahamas that has been announcing lay offs and downsizing for the past three months.
    The Ingraham administration has so far only responded with putting more money into the Internet. Tourism continues to decline. During the Christmas and New Year’s holidays there was a brief respite with high occupancy in the premier hotel at Atlantis, but after 5th January, the occupancy plummeted again and the situation does not look very bright for the rest of the year. The statistics coming from overseas are not very good either. Last year the American economy lost over 2.5 million jobs. This is an indicator of what the discretionary income is likely to be for those who take vacations overseas to destinations like The Bahamas.
    There is some solution but the government of The Bahamas with its tired and deenergized Prime Minister have no clue what to do in the circumstances.

CHRISTIE’S STATEMENT ON THE POLICE

Following is the statement was issued on Thursday 8th January by Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie on the forced retirement of 15 police officers from the Force:
“The Progressive Liberal Party wishes to express its serious concern about the involuntary retirements from the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
“The actions of the Government in this matter raised immediate issues with regard to the lawfulness of the Government’s conduct. It also raises the issue of the negative effect on the morale of the force.
“The last thing the Government should do is to make policies or take actions to undercut the ability of the Force to fight crime.
“The Government is put on notice that the Force must not be destabilized by actions which can be interpreted as contrary to the best interests of the Force.
“It seems incredible to us that police officers who have constitutional protections, can have them removed without notice. The letters of notice to the officers given by the government only gave each individual forty eight (48) hours to respond.
“This has had the effect of stripping away the dignity of these individuals, disrespecting their years of service to the country and adversely affecting their families, their present and future well being. The government’s actions appear to be heartless.”

MITCHELL TO THE YOUNG LIBERALS

Using the passage from the gospel of St. John that says that night comes when no man can work, Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill continued his campaign for change within the PLP. He spoke to the first 2009 meeting of the Young Liberals last Sunday 4th January at the PLP’s headquarters in Nassau at Gambier House. He told the Young Liberals that they must be agents for change. He quoted Frederick Douglass who said power concedes nothing without a demand. The speech created quite a stir with one newspaper suggesting that Mr. Mitchell was planning a coup at the upcoming PLP convention. The photo shows Mr. Mitchell with the Young Liberals. Not pictured is Young Liberals President Viraj Perpall. You may click here for the full statement.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Management of This Deepening Recession
    The US economy suffered job losses for twelve consecutive months during 2008, culminating with 524,000 persons being displaced in December alone; this brings the total jobless number for 2008 to 2.6 million.
    Some experts claim that this is the worst US recession since the 1940’s and others claim this to be the worst since 1993 with a reported unemployment rate of 7.2% in the United States. They all agree that 2009 will be worst than 2008, at least for the first half of the year. This could very well mean that in the Bahamas the unemployment rate could be as high as it was in 1992 when it stood at 14.6%.
    This recession has created several interesting observations. Firstly, the government, who blamed the recession of the early 1990’s on the PLP, is yet to accept any responsibility for the part they played in the present economic state of affairs in the country; they continue to insist that the stop, review, and cancel policy was prudent and in the public interest in the face of tangible evidence to the contrary. As a matter of fact, the Bahamian economy slowed in 2007 ahead of the US economy which is unprecedented and due in part to government policy decisions. Further, the government has made no attempt to save jobs in the private and public sectors, but has chosen to displace public servants (some 1,200) as a matter of policy, causing great hardship on ordinary Bahamians. The temporary employment provided late last year to clean public streets and verges cannot compensate for the massive terminations in the public service.
    Secondly, the government produced little in the way of an economic stimulus plan. When it had the opportunity to maximize the flow of capital in the Bahamian economy with its capital works program, it opted to use a foreign contractor who will repatriate a sizable portion of the $120 million air marked for this road works project.
    Thirdly, when there was a policy in place to offer tax concessions to over-the-hill small businesses, the government excluded this important business sector by rezoning the area of Nassau that would be eligible. To add insult to injury, the government raised taxes on a wide range to consumption items when ordinary working Bahamians most needed the tax breaks.
    Fourthly, there were some “off the cuff” promises made about unemployment and mortgage assistance, but nothing in the way of public policy has materialized to date.
    In the face of these failed policies and in some cases, inaction, coupled with worsening economic conditions, the PM sought to persuade Bahamians that they were lucky to have him at the helm during this period of crisis; needless to say, I thought the statement was arrogant and I disagree with the PM. I think Bahamians are unlucky to have him at the helm under these circumstances. There was a team in place that produced 4.5% in real economic growth in 2006, reduced unemployment from 10.8% to 6.7%, and increased household income from $38,000 to $45,000 per annum. Bahamians would be lucky to have that team at the helm during this period of crisis. It is important to note that under the watch of the FNM administration, household income has decreased to $42,000 per annum.
    I see a case of the emperor’s new clothes being played out in the way the FNM is managing this economic crisis. The PM clearly believes that if he continually tells us that he and his government are doing a good job, that we would believe them regardless of the evidence all around us to the contrary. The management of this deepening recession and weakening economy by the FNM government is the real sad state of affairs.
Elcott Coleby

IN PASSING
Hubert Says He Aint Gonna Answer But Does So Anyway
The Prime Minister has been described in this column as a man with a nasty little mind. He proved it again last week when he was pressed by the usually lame press of The Bahamas to answer two points raised by Fred Mitchell MP For Fox Hill: that he should resign and that he was going to use the agencies of state to smear the PLP. Mr. Ingraham fired back that he would not dignify Mr. Mitchell by answering that comment but he answered anyway by saying the use of the state agencies to smear the PLP is unthinkable. He also said that that the people put him where he is. Gotcha! You may click here for Mr. Mitchell’s full response.

Fred Mitchell At National Institute Meeting

The first meeting of Orthland Bodie Jr.’s National Institute of Public Policy was held at the Coconuts Bar and Grill on Saturday 10th January. Fred Mitchell MP was its guest and he spoke about Majority Rule Day. Mr. Mitchell is shown with the brothers Ferguson Eldin III, left and Erin, right, proprietors of the restaurant, and with host Orthland Bodie at the meeting. You may click here for the full address.
Photos: Peter Ramsay

Michael Misick Fires His Minister of Health
Even though most commentators think that Michael Misick, the Premier of the Turks and Caicos is done but does not know it, Mr. Misick still seems very much in the game. The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Island who has within the last year been accused of raping a tourist, is involved in a nasty and high profile divorce from his American wife, has been accused by a British Parliamentary Committee of malfeasance in office, and has had nine members of his 13 member Parliamentary caucus say they have no confidence in him, fired his Minister of Health Lillian Boyce last week on Wednesday 7th January. The latest matter arose because the Minister openly disagreed with his assessment of the situation within the government in a speech that he gave to the Turks people on Tuesday 6th January. On Saturday 10th January, six members of parliament signed a letter supporting Ms. Boyce’s position and saying that the reason they no longer supported Mr. Misick is that he chartered a jet to fly to Paris to shop with his mistress at government expense. Mr. Misick begins his testimony before the Commission of Inquiry tomorrow morning in the Turks & Caicos.

Oswald Brown’s Idle Commentary
Oswald Brown the man described as an FNM ideologue by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill in his speech to the Young Liberals last week was back at it again in the press. On Friday 9th January, Mr. Brown devoted a whole column in the Nassau Guardian to Fred Mitchell’s quest for leadership of the PLP. The bottom line, Mr. Mitchell is not Mr. Brown’s favourite. But all we say is what a peculiar preoccupation this man has with Fred Mitchell.

U.S. Ambassador To Leave
The U.S. Embassy has announced that the last day in office for U.S. Ambassador Ned Siegel is Tuesday 20th January, the day of the swearing in of the new U.S. President Barrack Obama. Mr. Siegel has served in The Bahamas for 14 months. He will return to his business in real estate in Boca Raton, Florida upon demitting office.

Restview Funeral Home Fires The Funeral Assistant
The John Travolta story in The Bahamas has had another interesting twist. The funeral assistant in Grand Bahama who gave the press a statement about the cause of death of the young Travolta boy Jett in West End two weeks ago was fired. His offence was giving the statement to the press when he was not authorized to do so. There is such a thing as confidentiality, apparently something that many employees don’t understand.

Chalk’s Suing The Plane Manufacturer
You will remember back in December 2005 that Chalk’s Airlines that had served the small island community of North Bimini for years came to a fiery and bitter end in the waters off Key Biscayne in Miami. The right engine tore off from the wing and the plane with 19 people abroad mainly Bahamians plummeted into the water and all were lost. The US authorities blamed Chalk’s for not maintaining the plane properly. Chalk’s has gone out of business but is still trying to survive. It settled the claims with a 51 million dollar insurance policy. Now they are seeking to get their money back saying that the plane was not properly manufactured so they could not see the flaws in the wing that they were blamed for not repairing.

The Irony of Mortgage Corporation Foreclosures
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has asked the private sector banks to be lenient when dealing with people who may be losing their homes in the present mortgage crisis in The Bahamas. Yet the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation owned by The Bahamas Government is threatening again to put people out in the streets.

Rev. Lavinia Stewart Buried
The Reverend Lavinia Stewart, a lady of humble origins from Cat Island, who rose up to be a leader in the religious community, was laid to rest yesterday at the New Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church which she founded. She was 89 years old at the time of her death. Mrs. Stewart is survived by eight children including former PLP candidate Wellington ‘Doc’ Stewart and three pastors Rev. Timothy Stewart of Bethel Baptist Church, Rev. Alfred Stewart, who succeeded her at her post and Rev. Andrew Stewart.

Phil Smith, Sportscaster Laid To Rest

The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, its management and staff turned out in full Force to pay their last respects to Phil Smith, the sportscaster who died of kidney failure two weeks ago. Mr. Smith was lauded by the sporting and broadcasting communities. He was 51 years old. When someone is that young and well known, the community outpouring is significant. Leaders of the civic community turned out to the funeral as well which took place at St. Francis Xavier’s Roman Catholic Cathedral on Saturday 10th January. Peter Ramsay's photos show the Minister of Sports Desmond Bannister with other Parliamentarians, Shane Gibson, Golden Gates PLP; Phenton Neymour, FNM South Beach; Picewell Forbes, PLP South Andros; Obie Wilchcombe PLP West End and Bimini; Kendal Wright, FNM Clifton; Mr. Smith’s mother saying farewell in the vestibule of the church and a shot of the congregation from the balcony of St. Francis.

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THE COURTS AND THEIR INDEPENDENCE
Last week in this column we reported that during the time of the Progressive Liberal Party’s term from 2002 to 2007, the Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall as head of the Judiciary was offered the opportunity to so institutionalize the Judiciary that the issue of coming to the executive hat in hand for specific monetary requests and approvals would be obviated. The press reported (Nassau Guardian 15th January page 5) that in his statement at the opening ceremonies of the legal year at the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice took issue with that suggestion calling this website by name and denied that it was so. You may click here for the full statement by the Chief Justice.

It is now for the Progressive Liberal Party and its Ministers at the time to speak up for their party in defence of this matter. The Free National Movement administration now proposes to do the same thing that we said the PLP offered to do and that was refused, to institutionalize the separation. The denial seems a bit strange, because it appears that the Chief Justice also told the House Committee on Crime that he at first did not support the idea of such institutionalizing but had since changed his mind.

That said; the idea is a good one. The Chief Justice in an unusually frank intervention in public at the opening also said the following: “The constant interference in the business of the judiciary from those who hold high office in government ministries may lead to a constitutional crisis. The failure to resolve these issues will eventually and inevitably precipitate a constitutional crises which this country can ill afford, and agencies of the executive branch of the government should harbour no doubts as to the resolve of this bench to defend against any unwarranted and unconstitutional intrusion into the management of it affairs.”

For Sir Burton this is remarkable. But no doubt, the frustration and the failure of the bureaucracy and the executive to get the point have led to this. We urge him to push on with the matter. The latest issue arose over the instance by the Department of Public Service and the Cabinet Office that in order for personnel to travel to the Family Islands and for administrative staff to participate in training courses, approval was required from the Cabinet Office and the Department of Public Service and for Magistrates to travel they needed the approval of the Attorney General’s office.

Clearly, this is wrong. This is why, according to our information, the PLP Ministers wanted that to be changed. The reason such an offer was not acceptable, given the Chief Justice’s rebuke, is then a mystery.

The idea would be that a judicial statutory corporation would be formed like Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. or Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The Chief Justice as the head of Judiciary would negotiate with his executives for the annual subventions for the Judiciary. The Ministry of Tourism now operates in that manner. The money would then be allocated to the Judicial Corporation and it would be the responsibility of the Chief Justice and his staff to administer the funds. It should not lie in the mouth of the executive to say whether or not a Magistrate can travel on circuit. It should not lie in the mouth of the executive to say whether or not a Judge can travel to a conference.

The independence of the Judiciary is best protected in this manner because it avoids the issue of the Government Minister deciding whether or not a Judge can do a job that is required to be done. It does not eliminate the issue of Parliament supplying the money or accountability for spending the funds. You can also argue that the Judges ultimately have to come to the Cabinet for the expenditure but the separation becomes more apparent and the lines are obviously cleaner if no judge has to come hat in hand looking for money from the executive for their specific functions. Instead, it is done by the constitutional officer the Head of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, the Chief Justice.

Let us hope that the new Attorney General gets the job done and that this is acceptable to the Chief Justice.

What is interesting to us, however, is the venom with which the Tribune responded to the Chief Justice. The Hubert Ingraham administration has something for which to account to the public. That is; how did what appears to be purloined correspondence from the government with regard to judicial expenditure appear in the column of Eileen Carron the rabidly anti PLP, anti black Editor of the Tribune on Friday 16th January? You know that it is always the starting thesis of The Tribune that every black person is a crook. It is of course compounded if the person is PLP. It appears that being in the Judiciary does not insulate them from her rabid wrath.

In Mrs. Carron’s column of Friday 16th January, she wrote extensively from a minute paper from the Treasurer of The Bahamas to the Financial Secretary and in it the Treasurer wanted to know “whether it is the government’s position to allow the Judiciary Department to do as they wish with no regard for law or policy under the guise of independence?”

The Treasurer wrote, “the Management of the Judicial Department is not adhering to the Financial Administration and Audit Act, Financial Regulations, policies and procedures as it relates to procurement. There appears to be no fiscal prudence and an appetite for waste.”

The starting point for us in response to this is what is “The Judicial Department”? There can be no such department, because it gives the impression that judges are a part of that “department” and must answer to a Minister of the Government.

Secondly, the FNM must also say how the note from the Treasurer got into the hands of The Tribune and whether or not it came from official sources so as to attack in a slimy way Sir Burton and the larger point he was making. We call for the Attorney General and his government to account for this.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 17th January 2009 up to midnight: 133,579.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 17th January 2009 up to midnight: 513,163.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 17th January 2009 up to midnight: 513,163.

Photo 1: Attorney Franklin Williams, Attorney Cheryl Grant, Director of Public Prosecutions Bernard Turner,
Attorney General Michael Barnett; second row is Fred Mitchell MP.
Photo 2: Acting Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson in his role as Provost Marshal.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay

INGRAHAM RAILS AGAINST STANDARD AND POORS
    It used to be when times were much better that Standard and Poors, the credit ratings agency was a great entity. The credit rating of The Bahamas was good. The FNM government touted it as the gold standard that showed their good management of the country’s finances. Now this same Standard and Poors is in the dog house, accused of spreading propaganda by an obviously irked Hubert Ingraham. He simply can’t accept the fact that he slowed down the economy by his bad policies after coming to office. What bugs him is that Standard and Poors accepts the view that the FNM broke the momentum in the economy when they came to office. You can read their report of 17th December 2008. It shows all the facts on that point. But Mr. Ingraham is still angry and he has joined his hapless Minister of State in the foolish defence of his reckless policies.
    Mr. Ingraham spoke at the Bahamas Business Outlook Seminar on Thursday 16th January. No Opposition politician or policy maker appears to have been invited to attend the seminar or participate in it. But poor Mr. Ingraham can’t stand the heat and said the following to the Nassau Guardian:
    “We hope that Standard & Poor's would not in the future take propaganda from opposition personalities and others without at least asking us for a response to it before they publish it.
    “Firstly, they alleged that we had a protracted period of time to review contracts agreed by the previous government”, he said. “That is simply factually untrue. Within two weeks of coming to office we determined that it made no sense to build a $25 million (straw) market on Bay Street; it made no sense to build a $4 million school in Salina Point, Acklins for (fewer) than 40 children and a number of other projects. Any suggestion of protraction didn’t make any sense.”
    Mr. Ingraham may have decided to terminate but the contract was not terminated formally until February 2008 and the contract with the architect has still not been terminated. His delay will cost Bahamians millions of dollars in damages.
    Here is what Olga Kalinina, an S&P credit analyst, wrote in response to Mr. Ingraham complaints. She said that during discussions with a variety of market participants in Nassau — including government officials, officials from the public and private sectors and international observers — the issue of contracts review has been raised in most of the meetings.
    “While for obvious reasons I cannot disclose the exact meetings where we heard the reference to the size of the reviewed contracts, I will like to assure you that the information we had been getting in regard to this period’s impact on the investor sentiments and the economic activity compared to the expected performance has been consistent across all the meetings”, Ms. Kalinina said in her letter. So take that, Hubert, with your big mouth!

THE DEATH PENALTY
    No one knows how these things get started or what gets the notion started, but after years, months and weeks of silence by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in contradistinction to the cries for executions by Baptist and other fundamentalist clergy, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder told lawyers and judges and the Attorney General at the annual Red Mass at the Roman Catholic Cathedral last Sunday 11th January that he thinks the death penalty should be abolished.
    The Anglicans followed suit when Dr. James Moultrie, rector of St. Agnes told the lawyers and judges in the Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday 14th January that he supported the same position as the Archbishop. Oh well! Dr. Michael Neville who served on the government’s commission on crime wrote a minority report in which he said that he could not support the death penalty and called for its abolition. He now has company.
    The new Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd was quoted in the Religious Section of the Nassau Guardian on the subject on Thursday 15th January. He said that based on his understanding of the teachings of Jesus, the law of an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth no longer applies.

EILEEN CARRON ATTACKS THE CHIEF JUSTICE
    The Tribune’s editor Eileen Carron, if not the most politically dishonest individual in the press is certainly close to it. In an editorial on Friday 16th January, she sought to go after the Chief Justice with what appeared to be a purloined letter from the government.
    It appears that the FNM is fit to be tied because the Chief Justice has said that he does not want the FNM and their henchmen in the public service seeking to determine how the Judiciary should spend its money. The Chief Justice believes that it is interference with the Judiciary. Click here for the Chief’s intervention in full.
    Mrs. Carron added this comment: “First the Judges don’t want criticism, now it would appear that they don’t want to be questioned on how taxpayer’s money is being spent for fear of compromising their independence. Just what is this country coming to? ”
    There is nothing wrong in this country that a Tribune owned and run by patriotic Bahamians would not fix.

THE FALLOUT FROM KENYATTA’S DEPARTURE
    Kenyatta Gibson left the PLP last year, slamming the door and shooting off nasty commentary as he left. The matter seemed settled. Last week there was flurry of new activity as he announced without explanation that he was joining the FNM, the party that only two years before he had denounced and they had denounced him as being disgraceful for fighting with a colleague in the Cabinet room of The Bahamas. All is apparently now forgiven and Hubert Ingraham welcomed him into the fold with swimmingly effusive language.
    The pundits are waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is probably a little minuet worked out by Mr. Ingraham and it is only a matter of time before it reveals itself. Some FNMs were said to be resentful. PLPs in the Kennedy constituency were incensed. Perry Christie, the PLP’s leader, for his part speaking at the Yamacraw Branch of the PLP on Wednesday 14th January, described it as “last year’s news”.
    The FNM propaganda machinery then went into overdrive with Tommy Turnquest claiming that more PLPs were coming. Paul Turnquest the Tribune writer got carried away in the furore and without checking his facts wrote that three MPs would be crossing the floor. The lying Punch went further and named them as Malcolm Adderley PLP Elizabeth MP, Glenys Hanna Martin, PLP Chair and Obie Wilchcombe PLP West End MP. The latter two names were ridiculous assertions. The first is also last year’s news in a sense. The Tribune said that the PLP was poised to issue an ultimatum to Mr. Adderley. No comment came from him but it is believed that he has again accepted an appointment from the FNM to head the Gaming Board that regulates gambling in The Bahamas.

WILCHCOMBE AND HANNA MARTIN’S STATEMENTS
    The following statements were issued by PLP Chairman, Glenys Hanna-Martin and West End and Bimini MP, Obie Wilchcombe following a grossly inaccurate and completely made up story appearing in The Punch of Thursday 15th January.
Statement by Glenys Hanna-Martin, Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party
    “This statement is released to refute the false report in today’s Punch that I have been in discussions with the F.N.M. to leave the Progressive Liberal Party of which I am currently National Chairman to join forces with that political organization.
    “This is a total lie.
    “I am ideologically opposed to the tenets of the Free National Movement. I am a member of the Progressive Liberal Party because I am committed to its philosophy which mandates the progressive advancement of our people.
    “I will continue to advocate for my people and my country without fear or favour and will use my best efforts to build and strengthen the Party not to weaken or debilitate it.
    I invite our people to bear this in mind whenever these baseless, mischievous assertions are made.”

Statement by Obie Wilchcombe, Member of Parliament for West End & Bimini
    “My departure from the Great Progressive Liberal Party is grossly absurd. Such reports can only be considered mischief as it would take a complete blood transfusion to remove the PLP from my DNA. I am PLP and proud!
    “I am a proud member of the PLP that will fight to the bitter end to defend its philosophy. My involvement and commitment to the PLP is pure. I am committed to service.
    “I shall be going nowhere. I will remain in the trenches of my party, committed to introduce a new era of leadership, and change so as to raise the level of the political dialogue in this country in our continued quest to move our people forward, upward, onward together!”

FAREWELL TO THE ARCHBISHOP

The Anglican Community gathered at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau on Sunday 11th January to give thanks for the life of service of Archbishop Drexel Gomez, retired. He demitted office on 31st December 2008. He is succeeded by Bishop Laish Boyd who will be formally enthroned on Sunday 8th February. The photo is by Peter Ramsay. Please click here for a photo essay of the event.

JEROME FITZGERALD: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Senator Jerome Fitzgerald this week issued a news statement "deeply concerned and troubled that last year a Commissioner of Police was forced to vacate his office and was replaced by someone older than him, and now younger officers are also being forced to retire, yet the Acting Commissioner remains supposedly the exception to this new rule". Said Senator Fizgerald, "Enough is enough!" Please click here for the full statement.
File photo of Senator Fitzgerald on his feet in the Senate

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Government's handling of officers' retirement was duplicitous
     The recent retirement announcement of 15 senior police officers by the FNM government has raised some serious concerns about the policies and practices of the government that strike at the heart of public trust and confidence in government.
     In a press release, the government reasoned that the removal of 15 senior police officers would improve morale and operational efficiency of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). Further, the Minister of National Security told the media that he expects a heightened level of policing as a result of this reorganization.
     The problem with these statements is that the character of these senior officers were impugned in that it is being implied that they were responsible for the low morale and general operational inefficiencies on the RBPF. The ramifications of the government's handling of this matter went further when an article appeared in the 12th January 2009 edition of the Punch that suggested that the PM deserves credit for "cleaning up" the RBPF. Again these choice of words further impugn the characters of the officers involved as the article suggested that their presence on the force somehow sullied the reputation of the that organization; these choice of words also connoted corruption and are libelous in nature. If these officers were corrupt and incompetent as is being suggested, then why were they promoted to levels of leadership in the RBPF? I have to conclude that the Punch's interpretation of the retirement exercise was influenced by the message the government sent into the public domain.
     The promotion of the Mr. Ferguson to acting Commissioner smacks of policy duplicity and raises more questions than answers. He was reassigned to the Police College in an earlier reorganization exercise because crime was out of control and changes in the RBPF were necessary. Firstly, it was reported that Mr. Ferguson never reported to his new assignment which is an act of insubordination. Secondly, Mr. Ferguson was involved in covert operation that sent some baggage handlers to a foreign jurisdiction under the guise of training where these Bahamians were apprehended; no less than the FNM disagreed with this operation. The Lorequin commission of inquiry condemned Mr. Ferguson's handling of that illegal drug investigation. It is incredible that with all of these allegations facing Mr. Ferguson, he was rewarded with a promotion to Acting Commissioner of Police. Conventional wisdom suggests that he should have been one of the first officers to be relieved of his duties and sent packing into retirement. I point these events out to show the apparent duplicity and hypocrisy of the FNM's decision making processes on matters of public policy.
     If this retirement exercise and its subsequent fallout cause some destabilization of the RBPF as was suggested by an editorial in the Tribune, the government has no one to blame but itself. To maintain organizational and the public trust and confidence, government's policies must not only be fair, transparent, and consistent, but these policies must appear to be so.
Elcott Coleby

IN PASSING
The San Marino Reception

The new Ambassador to The Bahamas for the Republic of San Marino held a reception for the diplomatic corps on Thursday 16th January at Lyford Cay. Above, Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill and Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs is pictured with the Ambassador for San Marino Giulia Ghirardi Borghese; below, Senator Allyson Maynard Gibson and Dame Marguerite Pindling are pictured with Governor General Arthur D. Hanna; Sir Arthur Foulkes is pictured with Sybilla Clarke and Fred Mitchell MP; Dame Marguerite with Lady Eugenie Nuttal nee McWeeney and her guest, Lord Brabourne.

Mitchell With the Young Liberals In Grand Bahama

Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill and Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs continued his agenda for change meetings by speaking with the Young Liberals of Grand Bahama on Friday 16th January at the Ruby Swiss restaurant in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Mr. Mitchell (centre) is pictured with some members of the Progressive Young Liberals in Grand Bahama. From left are: Lester Smith, Divinia Ambrister, William Stubbs, Mr. Mitchell, Melissa Sears, Kermit Feaster, Phyilisha Woodside and Renio Ferguson. You may click here for the full statement.
Photos: Allyson Smith.

Latest Events From The Turks And Caicos Islands
The testimony of Michael Misick began in the Turks and Caicos Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday 13th January. Most people thought that while he held up well in the dock, the reputation of the Turks Premier has taken a huge battering, what with reports of a 1.6 million dollars American Express bill run up for himself and his family. Meanwhile Deputy Premier Floyd Hall has announced that he will run against the Premier for the position of leader of their party when the convention is held on 28th February. As reports of chaos in the Turks government continue to come out, many observers are worried that the British may step in with direct rule. Mr. Misick is defended by Bahamian lawyers Maurice Glinton and Raynard Rigby and by British Q.C. Edward Fitzgerald.

Bush Says Farewell
Outgoing US President George Bush said farewell to his country on Thursday 15th January on live television. The only thing is that barely anyone covered it or paid attention. A plane had just crash landed in New York’s Hudson River and so the country was more riveted to their sets to see the 155 people who escaped from this miraculous crash landing. Mr. Bush was his usual self serving pitiful self. Claiming that he had many successes. This is quite clueless on his part: eroding civil rights in his country, ruining its reputation for protecting human rights, by keeping people in prison in barbaric conditions and incommunicado, invading a country and executing its leader on the basis of lies and finally the coup de grace, a collapsing economy. What record to be proud of.

U.S. Ambassador Bids The Bahamas Good Bye

Ned Siegel, U.S. Ambassador was hosted to a farewell reception at the British Colonial Hilton on Wednesday 14th January. The reception was put on by Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette. Mr. Siegel was praised for his work in The Bahamas. He said he would miss the Bahamian people. Mr. Siegel ends his term of office after 14 months here in Nassau serving George Bush, the outgoing president of the United States. The term ends when President Barack Obama takes office on Tuesday 20th January at 12 noon. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill and Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs was present representing the PLP. The photo saying farewell to the Ambassador is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. We wish the Ambassador well and thank himself and his wife for their service here in The Bahamas. A job well done!

Branville McCartney’s Campaign
Fred Mitchell recently identified Branville McCartney, the FNM Immigration Minster of State, as a potential successor to Hubert Ingraham in the FNM. Word has it that he has now contracted a high profile and well known public relations operative to keep his name front and centre in the press. He was in the press again last week, threatening employers that if they don’t pay their past work permit fees, no new work permits will be granted to them. Amen

Ricardo Smith Says
There was surprise in some PLP quarters about the statements by Obie Wilchcombe the PLP MPs for West End and Bimini that appeared to take a different tack from the mainstream party in response to Kenyatta Gibson’s departure and in response to the choice of commissioner of police. Ricardo Smith is an activist PLP with no office but is seen by the press to be sufficiently close to the PLP establishment that when he acts, it sends out a signal as to what the official feeling is. The comments of Mr. Smith came in The Tribune of Friday 16th January. He called the remarks of Mr. Wilchcombe decrying the PLPs response to Kenyatta Gibson’s departure made on a radio talk show “ridiculous and out of order”.

Church Of God Of Prophecy Turns 100
The Church of God of Prophecy marks the 100th anniversary of its founding in The Bahamas in November 1909 by Reverend Edmond Barr and his wife Rebecca of Exuma who became empowered after attending a Holiness Camp Meeting in Durant, Florida. The first church meetings were held in Bain Town. The announcement of the celebrations for the year came from Elgarnett Rahming the current National Overseer of the Church in The Bahamas. The announcement, which was reported in the Religious Section of the Nassau Guardian of Thursday 15th January says that the celebrations begin with a National Crusade which will be launched later today and end with a Centennial Banquet on 21st November.

Fred Mackenzie Dies In West End
Stalwart Councillor Fred Mackenzie was buried in West End, Grand Bahama following a service at the St. Mary Magdalene Church in West End. Attending the service was Governor General Arthur D. Hanna, former Prime Minister and PLP Leader Perry Christie, West End and Bimini representative Obie Wilchcombe and Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill.

Two More Suspended In Travolta Case
The Ministry of Health has reportedly suspended two of its officers who are accused of leaking information about the death of John Travolta son to the press. Mr. Travolta, who has a vacation home in The Bahamas, lost his son reportedly to a seizure. No one was authorized to reveal information with regard to the death. Last week we reported the funeral home fired one employee for disclosing unauthorized information about the death. Now come the Ministry of Health suspensions pending an investigation.

The Rhodes Scholars

Dr. Desiree Cox (centre), the first Bahamian to be awarded a Rhodes scholarship and Dr. Christian Campbell (right), the second to obtain one were both joined by newly chosen Rhodes scholar Myron Rolle (left), son of Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Rolle formerly of Nassau and now of New Jersey. They spoke on Friday 9th January to students of the high schools of The Bahamas to mark Majority Rule Day. Hundreds of students turned up at the Centre for the Performing Arts to listen to the three scholars. The photo shows the three just after their presentations. The event was sponsored by the College of The Bahamas.

Kay Forbes Smith To Leave The Senate?
Senator Kay Forbes Smith is reportedly to leave the Senate to take up an appointment as the new Consul General for The Bahamas in Atlanta. Anthony Musgrove who lost his seat in a court challenge by the PLP last year is to be reappointed to the seat when it becomes vacant. The other vacancy, which the Prime Minister has promised to fill, is to be filled by John Pinder, the President of the National Congress of Trade Unions.

Jamaican GG Resigns

Sir Kenneth Hall the Governor General of Jamaica has resigned his post at the age of 67 due to ill health. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding last week. The new Governor General will be the head of the Seventh Day Adventist Conference in Jamaica Dr. Patrick Allen. He takes up the new post on 28th February. Sir Kenneth is pictured with his wife and Bahamian
Governor General Arthur Hanna in this file photo from 13th October 2008 edition when he visited The Bahamas with other Governors General of the Caricom region.

New Ambassador To Cuba

Vernon Burrows, the former Director of Immigration, has received his Commission from the Queen via a presentation by the Governor General Arthur D. Hanna at Government House on Monday 12 January.
Photo: BIS/Kristaan H A Ingraham II

Obama Presidency
Hundreds of Bahamians are expected to join millions of Americans to witness the swearing in of the new American president, the first black American to become president. Bahamasair put on a special charter and package for the occasion. Young Liberal’s president Viraj Perpall and Torchbearer’s Chair Jamal Moss are amongst those who are invited to Washington for the occasion.

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BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

The PLP is simply stunned. Two of its favourite people appear to be caught up in something very sordid. We do not believe any of it is true. The headline of the Nassau Guardian read like a piece of fiction. Senator Pleasant Bridgewater, fresh from losing a very close election in 2007 to a loquacious and obnoxious opponent, was arrested, said the headline, in connection with an extortion attempt against the American actor, John Travolta, whose son died in The Bahamas two weeks ago of a seizure.

Here we go again. It is like the Anna Nicole story once more. It got worse. The next day the headlines in all the press both at home and abroad said that Senator Pleasant Bridgewater had been charged with conspiracy to extort Mr. Travolta and his family. The press went into overdrive.

The Nassau Guardian said that Obie Wilchcombe the former Minister of Tourism and Opposition spokesman on Tourism was taken in for questioning and released. They carried front-page pictures of that. The international networks were unkind, accusing Mr. Wilchcombe of being a part of the whole thing. Ms. Bridgewater issued the following statement on Saturday 24th January:
    “Yesterday, 23rd January is a day that will live in my memory as a nightmare. In my capacity as a lawyer, I acted within the bounds of the law and within the bounds of my ethical responsibility to my profession. How these innocent actions can be so misconstrued, so perversely twisted to mean something other than it was, is a mystery.
    “I assure the Bahamian people of my complete and total innocence and I am satisfied that when the full story comes out that I shall be fully vindicated. I will then take all appropriate and lawful actions for redress and to protect my good name.
    “I have spoken to the leader of our Party the Rt. Honourable Perry Christie. I have told him that while I am completely innocent, that I believe that while I fight these untrue and unfair charges that I should not put the Party through this ordeal.
    “I have thereby indicated that I will resign from the Senate with immediate effect so that I can devote my full energies to the legal battle which now faces me.
    “I want to thank the Leader for his confidence in me and for allowing me the privilege of serving the country and the PLP. I want to thank the wonderful people of the Marco City Constituency for all their love, encouragement, prayers and support. I thank all people of goodwill who have sent words of encouragement. I thank my family and my counsel for all of their assistance. I am unbowed and I fully intend to fight so that I shall be vindicated. Please continue to pray for me.”

Former Prime Minister Perry Christie and Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party at first issued a statement simply saying that he was watching the situation. That he would not engage in speculation. He said he took the matter seriously and would as soon as he had been briefed by the lawyers indicate the course to the country.

In response to the statement of Senator Bridgewater, Mr. Christie said:
    “I have been advised by Senator Pleasant Bridgewater today that she has tendered her resignation to the President of the Senate with immediate effect so as to fully dedicate her resources and energies to fight the charges brought against her. She has assured me of her innocence.
    “I deeply regret this turn of events, having regard to the yeoman service Senator Bridgewater has given to our party and to our country.
    “I understand the course of action that she has decided to take and I believe that this is the right and appropriate thing to do in these most unfortunate circumstances.
    “I thank Senator Bridgewater for her service to the Progressive Liberal Party and to our country.”

This was the right course of action and more will have to be done. This is not a good picture and it does not augur well for the PLP unless quick action is taken to staunch this.

This resignation has nothing to do with innocence or guilt but what is expected of the PLP from the country. Senator Bridgewater did the right thing.

Now, the politics of it. The friends of Hubert Ingraham were said to be in Major’s Inn in Grants Town celebrating this bad fortune for the PLP. It looks like the PLP by its own hand will give the next election to the FNM. The argument is that the party has been successfully smeared as corrupt and unable to shake this undeserved reputation. But who can blame the other side when the PLP’s response to its own legacy has often been tenuous, tepid and weak, to fall back and not fight back. The prime example is how it failed this year to mark Majority Rule Day on 10th January. Then there are these lapses in judgment and it appears a swirl of other conflicts that led to the present situation.

Fred Mitchell, the Fox Hill MP, who is often the object of derision within his own party for speaking out on its behalf, warned the party that his would happen. He started those warnings last year as the Prime Minister appointed Reginald Ferguson, the brother of the FNM Chairman to be Commissioner of Police. He continued the warning when Messrs. Ellison Greenslade and Marvin Dames were sent unnecessarily on a training course to Canada. He became more vocal when there was an orchestrated campaign of leaks by the FNM and the Government to the press about an investigation into a sitting MP of the PLP. He warned again that there would be an attempt by the Prime Minister and the FNM to use the machinery of the state to destroy the PLP. He warned again, when Tommy Turnquest the Minister of National Security said that the police would be investigating public figures during the year.

The question then is why the PLP is so languid in its response to protecting its own reputation. The question would then be is the PLP so struck by stars that it is unable to steer clear of these situations.

One point must also be made here, however, and that is the fact that no matter what is portrayed in the press, no matter what is said or what the perception, these peccadilloes if indeed any are proven, are the instances of individual behaviour. This is not PLP behaviour. It only becomes PLP behaviour if the PLP refuses to do what is right and quickly to protect itself from any lapses in judgment.

The real is issue is the economy of the country. Hubert Ingraham has not been able to do anything about the economy. What is happening now with the PLP is simply a convenient distraction from the issue. As Bill Clinton said in his campaign: “It’s the economy stupid!”

The PLP must refocus its attention to that. Again; to do that, it must have the discipline and the focus to bring matters to a head quickly on this one.

We have no doubt at all that Pleasant Bridgewater did not seek to extort anyone. We are confident that the police in their anxiety to please the Travolta family and seeking publicity for themselves, in their anxiety to please their political masters they have moved too quickly and they do not have the evidence to succeed on any such charge. How a lawyer client relationship is violated by the police, how the Bar Association does not express its concern, all of these factors must be reviewed by this society as this case unfolds.

We have no doubt that the case brought against Pleasant Bridgewater is politically motivated and engineered and designed with the help of a possible lapse in judgment. Hubert Ingraham is to blame, the author and the finisher and no one can disabuse us of that notion.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 24th January 2009 up to midnight: 101,199.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 24th January 2009 at midnight: 686,853.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 24th January 2009 up to midnight: 686,853.

File photos: Pleasant Bridgewater; Rt. Hon. Perry Christie MP

THE STATEMENT BY THE POLICE
ROYAL BAHAMAS POLICE FORCE
PRESS RELEASE
23RD JANUARY, 2009
RE: COMPLAINT BY JOHN TRAVOLTA
    At approximately 4:30 pm on Thursday 22nd January, 2009, Police Officers in Grand Bahama arrested Senator Pleasant Bridgewater while at her office following a complaint of alleged “Attempted Extortion” made by Mr. John Travolta. Bridgewater was taken to Central Police Station, Freeport, where she was detained overnight.
    On Friday 23rd. January 2009, at approximately 10:30am, Ms. Bridgewater was interviewed by Police in the presence of her Lawyer, in connection with allegations of “Attempted Extortion”.
    As a result of further inquiries Ms. Bridgewater was charged by Police with the offences of ABETMENT TO EXTORT and CONSPIRACY TO EXTORT. Bridgewater was released on $40,000 Police Bail and is expected to be formally arraigned early next week in New Providence.
    Acting on information Mr. Obie Wilchcombe was arrested by Police at Grand Bahama at approximately 2 p.m. on Friday 23rd. January 2009 in connection with a complaint of alleged “Attempted Extortion” made by Mr. John Travolta. Mr. Wilchcombe was questioned by police and released pending further investigations.
    Mr. Tarino Lightbourne was arrested at Police Headquarters in Grand Bahama, after being accompanied to the Police by his Lawyer. Lightbourne remains in Police Custody and is assisting Police in their inquiries. Investigations into this matter are continuing.

THE EVIDENCE
    The government of The Bahamas has put the weakest possible charge against Senator Pleasant Bridgewater, who resigned from the Senate on Saturday 24th January, following her being charged by the police and released on $40,000 bail. Conspiracy charges and abetment charges are difficult to prove. The evidence is also reportedly flimsy.
    Senator Bridgewater was reportedly a lawyer in the exercise and much of what took place would be covered by lawyer/client privilege. There are reportedly no photographs involved but reportedly a document that showed that a possible violation of the law or at the very least an impropriety might have involved one of the family members following the death of the young Travolta. The question many lawyers are asking is why Senator Bridgewater was kept overnight on Thursday 22nd January when she could have been interviewed in her office about the matter. She was apparently not released on the basis that she could have interfered with a police investigation. The claim is nonsense since the charges were conspiracy and abetment both of which had to have been complete by the time the police arrest took place.
    What seemed clear is that someone was determined to ensure that the maximum embarrassment was visited upon the PLP in the matter and Ms. Bridgewater. The press were immediately alerted, the matter leaked to the press and pictures of Obie Wilchcombe the PLP MP in the police station were carried on the front page of the Nassau Guardian.
    The case was led by detectives from Nassau, which really ticked off the local police in Grand Bahama. The man who led the investigation was said to be Ricardo Taylor, a former bodyguard of the now Prime Minister. He was said to have been sent in on the grounds that he was some kind of expert on extortion.
    Given the failure rate of convictions in The Bahamas, it seems further unlikely that this case can get off the ground. But this is the typical modus operandi of the now Commissioner of Police. His view seems to be no matter the tenuousness of the evidence, send the case to the courts and charge the individual and let the court decide. It will likely lay himself and the police force open to very serious damages as a result of their actions in this matter.
    What we do know is that every PLP MP and Senator now has to be extremely careful because it is now clear that wiretaps of all PLP officials are entirely possible under this FNM regime and that the arrest of PLP MPs and Senators is also entirely possible, not to obtain convictions but to embarrass to the highest degree.

WILCHCOMBE SAYS IN HIS OWN WORDS

    The following is taken from the report of the Nassau Guardian dated Saturday 24th January of an interview with Obie Wilchcombe MP West End and Bimini about the investigation into the alleged extortion attempt against John Travolta:
    “I was the one who alerted everyone about it, which led to where we are today...
    “I was asked questions and detained for two and a half hours and I was just there giving evidence and answering questions. They questioned me about the initial phone call I would have made to alert the Travolta family of the circumstances of the situation. That was the basis of their discussions with me. But of course, it’s an ongoing investigation and there not much I can say about it.
    “I have been in contact with PLP Chairman Glenys Hanna Martin, who offered her support. I have not been in contact with PLP Leader Perry Christie.
    “I became involved in the events that took place after Jett Travolta’s death out of concern for the country’s reputation. That was always my concern. That was the basis of my concern. That was why when the incident happened when Jett passed away, I played a pivotal role in ensuring that the world saw and heard the character, the generosity and the concern and care of the Bahamian people. When I got news of the matter, I alerted the Travolta family and their attorneys to ensure that the country did not have to go through this kind of nonsense.”
Photo: Obie Wilchcombe (centre) with supporters outside the Police Station in Grand Bahama

MITCHELL MAKES A PLEA FOR GRAND BAHAMA

    Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill has argued for sometime that special efforts have to be made to look out for and support Freeport and the people of Grand Bahama. He spoke again on the subject when he addressed the Advanced Toastmaster’s Club on Thursday 22nd January.
    The photo shows President Jevon McIntosh of the Advanced Toastmasters Club International 7108 gesturing to guest speaker Fred Mitchell MP, at centre, as Roderick Colebrooke, Vice President for Education, at right, looks on during the Club's meeting at Luciano's Restaurant. Mr. Mitchell address to the Toastmasters was entitled ‘A National Call For Change’ and promoted his vision for the PLP to lead The Bahamas to developed country status by 2020. He noted, “...the country’s media seems preoccupied by the leadership of the PLP, and in their preoccupation seem surprised that there would be those who are seeking to position themselves as an eventual alternative leader in the PLP.”
    Mr. Mitchell has also done his latest podcast from Grand Bahama. You may link to the podcast here.
Photo: Miguel Taylor

MITCHELL ADDRESSES THE HOUSE ON LIBRARY BILL

Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill addressed the House on Wednesday 21st January on the debate on the National Library Legislation. Mr. Mitchell supported the bill. He told the story of how long the legislation has been coming, recalling that it was around 1978 when he was called to a meeting with Allan Butler, husband of one of Harry Oakes’ daughters, Shirley Oakes Butler, to work on a national library. It was only now that the legislation was being approved by the House.
Mr. Mitchell said that there ought to be a special building constructed in honour of Sir Milo Butler, the late Governor General. He said that tribute ought to be paid to Dr. Gail Saunders for her work on the project over the years. Dr. Saunders is retiring from the public service on 10th March of this year. He also praised Dr. Nicolette Bethel for her work as Director of Culture and recalled that as she left the office on 31st December 2009, she decried the FNM government’s lack of attention to cultural policy.
BIS photo of Fred Mitchell speaking in the House/Peter Ramsay

YOUNG LIBERALS IN WASHINGTON

    Jamal Moss - President of the Torchbearers Association & Viraj Perpall - Chairman of the Progressive Young Liberal as they prepare to leave on the Bahamasair special flight to Washington Statement for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America on Sunday 19th January. They issued this joint statement:
    We are pleased to represent the youth of The Bahamas and the two political parties of our great nation at this historic Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Surely Mr. Obama symbolizes a change in the world and in the way politics is perceived and carried out. He embodies the hope of a rising generation who believe indeed all men are created equal in the sight of God. On Tuesday the world will rejoice at this remarkable achievement. We note that this day is especially significant to those of African descent who have endured and acknowledged the struggle of black people in the United States and in various parts of the world and we share in their joy as Tuesday will historically mark the end of an era and signal the beginning of a new one. Barack Obama's rise to power means so much of the world that through endurance and fortitude change can truly occur for the good for mankind. We do not celebrate this event however over our own historic moments such as Majority Rule and the attainment of Independence in 1973 but we join in with the US and the world as this day is a day of celebration for all people.
    From left to right are the PLP Young Liberals Chairman Viraj Perpall and the FNM Torchbearers President Jamal Moss boarding Bahamasair for Washington DC on Sunday past.

CROSSING THE FLOOR

Kenyatta Gibson, the PLP MP for Kennedy, announced formally in the House of Assembly that he was crossing the floor to become an FNM. He had left the party last year, scorching the earth as he left and making the most derogatory remarks about the Leader of the PLP and the former Prime Minister who fought to save his nomination against the wishes of the PLP’s Candidate’s Committee. It was a sad thing to witness. His future has gone down the tubes for who knows what.
Politics is often opportunistic but many are trying to figure out what does he get out of this move that he could not have gotten had he stayed as an independent. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill speaking in the House on Wednesday 21st December said that he remembered when there was a coup brewing in Haiti against the then dictator Jean Claude Duvalier. When asked about whether or not he was threatened, Mr. Duvalier said, “I am as strong as a monkey’s tail”. The next day he was on the plane to Paris and exile. Mr. Mitchell said that no matter what Hubert Ingraham tried to arrange, if the facts on the ground do not match up they mean absolutely nothing. Crossing the floor was an idle and useless move.
Photo: Nassau Guardian/Donald Knowles

PICEWELL FORBES STILL STANDING

    The down market rag The Punch was overly excited. They thought they had gotten it right. This time they said that Picewell Forbes, the PLP MP for South Andros was going to join the FNM. Mr. Forbes responded with the following formal statement:
    “There is no truth to a story that appeared in the press today that I intend to cross the floor and join the FNM. That is fiction.
    “It is tiresome, this continued campaign of untruths and propaganda, which seeks to destabilize the PLP and members of parliament simply seeking to do their jobs. People are putting two and two together and making it five. I deny it and defy anyone to produce evidence to suggest otherwise.
    “I reserve the right to speak to anyone on behalf of my constituents. I am not intimidated by the campaign of untruths and falsehoods. I am a PLP and I intend to remain a PLP.”
    Mr. Forbes also told The Tribune that he had been offered a job at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, a job which he had turned down because he did not think that it was in the best interest of the party. In addition, he met with the Prime Minister during the week and has spoken to the Prime Minister about government investments in his constituency’s infrastructure. He thought people were speculating about that.
    We congratulate Mr. Forbes for his statement. There is a great deal of economic and political pressure being put on PLP MPs and where they do not buckle under to that, the government appears to be using the police to get their way in these days and times. Mr. Forbes is still standing.
File photo: Picewell Forbes addressing PLP Convention

MITCHELL WATCHES OBAMA WITH KIDS AT SANDILANDS

Students of the Sandilands Primary School in Fox Hill were treated to an historical morning Tuesday 20th January, 2009 by Fred Mitchell, Member of Parliament for Fox Hill. Mr. Mitchell set up two big screen televisions in the school's quadrant for the students to witness live coverage of the inauguration of US President Barack Obama. "I thought it was significant for these young Bahamians to be aware of the important moment in time", said Mr. Mitchell; "Fox Hill, being an historic African village, shares in the pride which all of us feel for the success of Mr. Obama as the first man of African descent to head the most powerful country in the world.
Photo: Fox Hill PLP

IN PASSING
A Row Over Cancer Clinic Treatment
Bahamian heart specialist and businessman Dr. Conville Brown has a cancer clinic centre in which he has invested millions. He claims that despite his best attempt no Bahamian doctors would apply for the jobs or join him in sharing the investment. The Medical Council therefore agreed to allow him to bring specialists from the outside. This has caused howls of protests from other Bahamian doctors who are trained in the oncology specialty. The Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis entered the fray saying that he disagreed with the Council’s decision. There is not much he can do about it however. The Council has the authority to grant the licences and the Department of Immigration has already granted the work permits. It was a curious sign of impotence from the Minister and many wondered why he got into what seems a row over money, not over care. Some wondered whether this was part of Dr. Minnis’ larger plan to stake out the ground for possible leadership of the FNM.

It Was Cold Outside

Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt, the Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party was cold. The temperature in Nassau “plummeted” into the upper sixties during the day and in Nassau that means people are freezing. Mrs. Pratt brought out her overcoat to the House of Assembly to make sure that she was warm. The photo of Mother Pratt on the way to the House of Assembly decked out in her overcoat is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.

Customs Lays Off Staff
The Tribune reported during the week that some 60 Customs Officers were to be forcibly retired from the government service. Opposition spokesman on the public service Fred Mitchell said that he had heard that layoffs were coming, but did not know the specific numbers and the timing. Mr. Mitchell said again that this was a purge of the service of everyone who was considered PLP.

Bill To Limit Commissioner’s Term
The FNM Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest has laid on the table of the House of Assembly for first reading a new Police Act. The new act will repeal the massive changes made by the PLP when they left office. The major change is that the police commissioner is to have a two-term limit. Hubert Ingraham told the press that there were no circumstances under which he would appoint a commissioner of police to a post that he could have for twenty years. The PLP has not said what its position will be on the bill but in an earlier statement, it did say that the government’s proposals would undergo the most rigorous scrutiny. Many believe that what the government proposes in unconstitutional.

No Pay Day In The Turks And Caicos Islands
Caribbean Net News has reported that the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands missed the government payday for civil servants of 18th January. It appears they have overspent their budget and the banks are not inclined to allow the overdraft to run any higher. Meantime, the commission of inquiry continues in the islands with the Minister of National Resources taking the stand and having to answer accusations that he bullied a planning commission in the territory that caused a planning commissioner to resign.

4^th January, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...ZHIVARGO DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE...
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TOMMY TURNQUEST MUST ANSWER...	LEADERSHIP SPECULATION...
MITCHELL VENTURES INTO FACEBOOK...	THE GILBERT MORRIS ARTICLE...
PLP CHAIR ANSWERS THE FNM...	NEW YEARS JUNKANOO WINNERS...
JUNKANOO PHOTO ESSAY...	THE S & P REPORT IN FULL...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	CHRISTIES HOST HOLIDAY DINNER... Franklin Ferguson Photos
	IN PASSING...





The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

11^th January, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...GUTTING THE PUBLIC SERVICE...
THE STORY OF ANITA BERNARD...	JOAN! JOAN! JOAN! BE QUIET...
THE POLICE STORY...	WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE HOTEL SECTOR?...
CHRISTIE’S STATEMENT ON THE POLICE...	MITCHELL TO THE YOUNG LIBERALS...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	IN PASSING...









The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

18^th January, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THE COURTS AND THEIR INDEPENDENCE...
INGRAHAM RAILS AGAINST STANDARD AND POORS...	THE DEATH PENALTY...
EILEEN CARRON ATTACKS THE CHIEF JUSTICE...	THE FALLOUT FROM KENYATTA’S DEPARTURE...
WILCHCOMBE AND HANNA MARTIN’S STATEMENTS...	FAREWELL TO THE ARCHBISHOP...
JEROME FITZGERALD: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!...	LETTER TO THE EDITOR...
	IN PASSING...








The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

25^th January, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE...
THE STATEMENT BY THE POLICE...	THE EVIDENCE...
WILCHCOMBE SAYS IN HIS OWN WORDS...	MITCHELL MAKES A PLEA FOR GRAND BAHAMA...
MITCHELL ADDRESSES HOUSE ON LIBRARY BILL...	YOUNG LIBERALS IN WASHINGTON...
CROSSING THE FLOOR...	PICEWELL FORBES STILL STANDING...
MITCHELL WATCHES OBAMA WITH KIDS AT SANDILANDS...	IN PASSING...








The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.

Volume 7 © BahamasUncensored.com 2009

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