bahamasuncensored.com
JULY 2007
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 5 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2007
While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of
the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site.
8th July, 2007
15th July, 2007
22nd July, 2007
29th July, 2007
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
 
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: St.
Matthew’s Parish Church is celebrating this year 205 years as a church,
the oldest church structure in The Bahamas. They started the ball
rolling last Saturday 23rd June with a fair on the Eastern Parade.
The Governor General the Hon. Arthur D. Hanna and Mrs. Hanna are members
of St. Matthew’s, where the parish priest is Rev. Dr. James Moultrie.
The fair was officially opened by the Governor General who had a great
time. The fair was to raise funds for various St. Matthew's projects.
Our photos of the week are a collage of photos of the Governor General
and Mrs. Hanna at the St., Matthew fair with other scenes. The photos
are by Carvel Francis. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
NO MADAM ATTORNEY GENERAL
Last week on Monday 25th June, the Attorney General Claire Hepburn
let us all down by baring her political fangs at the former Attorney General
Allyson Maynard Gibson. Instead of letting the status quo remain
what it is and moving on, she chose to enter into an unseemly debate in
the Senate over the question of the independence of the Judiciary.
She claimed that she was embarrassed under the PLP that the judiciary became
a subject of public controversy. She said that the Judges Remuneration
and Pensions Act had set a procedure for raising the salaries of judges
and that this was not followed under the PLP. She is wrong.
She said that it was unhelpful when the former Attorney General Allyson
Maynard Gibson got into a public row, her words, not ours, with a Judge
of the Supreme Court. She quoted from a comment in this website which
she named and claimed that because this site was associated with the PLP
that this was an example of the PLPs interference with the Judiciary.
You may click here for the original comments from this site - 6th May 'Revive
& Restructure'; 27th May 'The
March Toward Election Court'.
We really thought better of Claire Hepburn. How can you be
so blinded by Hubert Ingrahamitis that you cannot see the forest for the
trees? She would not back down on the comment when she was challenged
by the former Attorney General now Senator Allyson Gibson and came back
at the next meeting of the Senate to try to reinforce the point.
As usual Lynn Holowesko, who is the Senate President, was not into helping
protect Senator Gibson’s rights.
Let us get the position absolutely ‘clear’, if you will pardon the
pun. Senator Gibson is right. Senator Hepburn is dead wrong.
We believe that the independence of the Judiciary is always the subject
for proper commentary. We believe in roundly criticizing Judges and
their decisions if they make wrong and stupid decisions and if they cross
the line. The time when what Judges did was above the fray has long
since passed. Judges make public policy every day affecting the lives
of the people of this country, influencing whether a Government survives
or it does not survive. As one of our public institutions therefore,
the Judiciary must be subject to the most severe scrutiny. Especially
since, once they are appointed, they have security of tenure and cannot
be removed except in the most extreme circumstances which means almost
never.
On several occasions in this column we have had cause to comment
about the conduct, decisions and words of the President of the Court of
Appeal. Lawyers complain constantly about her demeanour in the Courts
and how she addresses members of the Bar. The Privy Council which
is the Court of final appeal for The Bahamas has on more than one occasion
overturned decisions taken by the Court of Appeal on which she sat because
the decisions were a clear miscarriage of justice. One such situation
we recall is a case that was thrown out of Court because the appellants
did not see the notice on the Board in the Court of Appeal and missed the
Court date. The Court of Appeal refused to restore the Appeal even
though it was clear that out of an abundance of caution, out of a need
for justice that this is what should have been done. We know that
several attorneys wrote the last Prime Minister asking him to move toward
a formal procedure with regard to conduct in the Court of Appeal.
These are all rights of citizens.
The situation became doubly worse when a “ruling” was made by Justice
John Lyons in the Supreme Court which said that he was not an independently
constituted court because he did not get a raise in pay in the proper way.
The judgment crossed the line. Was it in fact a Judgment? What
was it? It seemed a judicial rant, getting back at the executive
with the protection of the bench. In any event, the Attorney General
sought to appeal it. In the mean time, the administration appointed
the Commission and the Commission reported.
During that time the then Attorney General now Senator Allyson Gibson
had a right to report to the public what happened in the House of Assembly
from the Government’s perspective. Further, she was entitled to defend
her reputation. She did that in an address in the House that patiently
explained the law and what did happen and what would happen with regard
to judicial salaries.
The Judge did the most extraordinary thing which called into question
whether formal proceedings should not have been issued against him.
He claimed that he was attacked by the then Attorney General in her House
statement and that she was attacking him based on the colour of his skin
and that he now felt unsafe in the country because he was white.
The new Attorney General Claire Hepburn actually now suggests that the
PLP administration and its Attorney General should have stayed silent in
the face of that kind of dangerous and nonsensical language. The
Judge in question knows for a fact that every night he turns in, everywhere
he goes, a representative of the black people that he claimed to fear in
this country is close by and he knows that nothing has happened to him
and no such statement was made about him. It should be clear that
he has no fear of black people or a need to fear them. The statement
was racist and inflammatory, and made no less immune from public criticism
because it was issued from the Bench. It also had a calculating political
effect.
That is what Claire Hepburn defended. That is what Claire Hepburn
said was a row between the former Attorney General and the Judge of the
Supreme Court. We side with Senator Gibson. It takes two to
make a row. The Judge was out of order commenting on a statement
made in the House. The salary issue is now settled and the now Attorney
General should have left the matter where it was but being an FNM ideologue
and her views being a slave to the whims and fancies of Hubert Ingraham,
she could not and did not.
How this column gets up into her politics is beyond us? We
stand by all of the statements that we have made on this matter.
With a judge who makes those kinds of pronouncements still sitting on the
bench, how can we not come to the conclusion that the Judiciary is anti
PLP. We stand by our position from that oft quoted Denning phrase
that justice is not a cloistered virtue. What we think is quite alarming
is the sanctimoniousness and moral rectitude with which these FNMs like
Claire Hepburn speak when they come to Parliament, as if they are the repositories
of all that is morally right in life. No such thing. But there
is the danger with this sanctimoniousness that they will do foolish things.
The Senator who is now the Attorney General, her Prime Minister, all are
part of a vicious, vengeful and vindictive party. We should not be
surprised then if the law is not used to throttle free speech in connection
with the Judiciary, and we will watch for it very closely. Until
then, we say the only way to have free speech is to speak freely.
Dion Foulkes, Lynn Holowesko, Johnley Ferguson and the rest of the
FNMs in that upper chamber will soon find out what free speech is if they
don’t know already.
No Madam Attorney, you have it all wrong, again.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 30th June 2007 up to
midnight: 202,344.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 30th June 2007
up to midnight: 940,061.
Number of hits for the year 2007 up to Saturday 30th June 2007 at
midnight: 3,407,226. (Does not reflect hits prior to 14th February, 2007).
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
A
WALKOUT IN THE SENATE
Dion Foulkes described the conduct on Wednesday
27th June of Senator Allyson Gibson and the PLP when she led a walkout
from the Senate in protest of the Government’s high handed actions in closing
down prematurely the Budget Debate as “disgraceful”. How Dion Foulkes
could fix his mouth to call anyone’s conduct disgraceful is really something
else. The only thing disgraceful in the Senate that day was the conduct
of the FNM. But that is typical of the FNM, they are the offenders
but they start saying it’s the other guy who did it. No more egregious
example of this can be found than their so called trust agenda which is
really an agenda of mistrust.
The Senate was engaged in the Heads of the Budget.
This is admittedly is a tedious exercise but it is one where the people
of the country get to see their representatives question the government
on its spending matters and priorities. Dion Foulkes, Johnley Ferguson
and Lynn Holowesko all FNM Senators were obviously getting rattled by it
but more importantly they were getting sleepy because it was getting late.
Mr. Foulkes warned the PLP that he was going to bring the matter to an
end.
There was a visit from one of his bosses, one of
the senior Ministers of the Government, who was dispatched by Hubert Ingraham
to bring it to an end. Minutes later, after the visit, the Vice President
of the Senate, who was in the Chair allowed a vote to be put to bring the
debate to a close, over the strenuous objections of the PLP. The
PLP walked out in protest. The next day, PLP leader of the Senate
Allyson Gibson held a press conference in which she and the other Senators
for the PLP denounced the FNM’s high handed tactics. You may click
here for their full statement. But this is of course the way
the FNM goes; they have no wish for government in the sunshine. Theirs
is a government of darkness.
Bahama Journal photo of the PLP Senators news conference: Stephen
Gay
CARICOM
HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
Biggetty Hubert Ingraham is headed for his first
Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Barbados since he became Prime Minister
again. Let us hope that he does not go down to the Caribbean and
embarrass us again with his pronouncements that he made during the first
such meeting in 1992. At that meeting he said The Bahamas did not
need the Caribbean. Perhaps since he has had an education in international
politics, he and his insular Foreign Minister Brent Symonette will not
now embarrass us with their xenophobia and racism while down in Barbados.
What is interesting about this agenda for Caricom
is that the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and the Prime Minister of Barbados
Owen Arthur both now say they want to change the focus from the Caricom
Single Market and Economy to more social issues and to reach out to The
Bahamas and the Caricom associated states like Bermuda, Turks and Caicos
and the Cayman Islands. Mr. Arthur has said that functional co-operation
has to be increased. This is unlikely given the fact that Caricom
is a trade pact but more importantly those countries that have been interested
in functional co-operation have to push those issues.
Interestingly without calling the name of this column
or that of Fred Mitchell, Mr. Ingraham arranged for a call to be made to
Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington to deny that Mr. Ingraham had
signed on to the consensus on the Caricom Single Market and Economy as
we reported last week. The fact is he did though. Click
here for last week’s story.
The Bahamas has never quite understood its role
in Caricom or why it wants to be there. The issue will get further
clouded under an Ingraham administration that is really hopeless in foreign
policy. The Bush administration has promised extensions to Caribbean
Basin Initiative. The reading in Washington is that this promise
is dead in the water for two reasons. A WTO waiver is unlikely and
so Caricom must negotiate a reciprocal free trade agreement with the US.
Secondly, the recent immigration bill defeat in the US shows that the United
States President is himself really dead in the water in trying to accomplish
any meaningful agenda politically before he demits office next year.
Outgoing Caricom chair Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines declared at the end of the summit in
Washington that the Caricom countries stood firm with regard to Cuba and
Venezuela. No word from Mr. Ingraham what he said or did on that
question. Did he for example make the same declaration that former
Prime Minister Perry Christie made to President Bush that Cuba was our
friend and the United States was our friend; that we sat around the table
with both and it therefore served the interests of both for that to be
so. The practical reality is that Cuba exists in this hemisphere.
It is not an enemy of The Bahamas nor is it an enemy of the United States.
The United States government sees Cuba as its enemy. Perhaps that
is the reason for Mr. Ingraham's silence on the matter, what with his hopeless
Minister of Foreign Affairs pronouncing that The Bahamas has a closer relationship
with the US under the FNM in six weeks than under the PLP, because the
Head of the Embassy of the US in The Bahamas is his neighbour on the Eastern
Road. How silly can you get?
But here is The Bahamas sitting around the table
in Washington. Its closest neighbour is Cuba and it has nothing to
say on the subject of how to reverse the public policy of the US on isolating
Cuba and thereby unnecessarily creating a security problem in this region.
Further, the Ingraham administration has to answer the question of why
it has suspended the programme of eye care that the Cuban government has
been supplying for two years to Bahamian citizens who cannot afford to
get eye care elsewhere. Is this a craven subjugation to private sector
interests or is this part of the foreign policy of The Bahamas toward Cuba.
We add also that Caricom is less than forthright
when it comes to Cuban interests. They are afraid to speak up when
Cuba is wrong. They are afraid to stand up to the US when the US
is clearly wrong on Cuba and so many issues including the slaughter in
Iraq by foreign troops who occupied the country unlawfully, deposed its
President and had him executed by the victors. Just silence.
The Caricom agenda is also deficient in its foreign affairs in that it
does not include a policy toward Africa and in particular the events in
Darfur and in Zimbabwe. The silence of Caricom countries in the face
of events in Darfur and in Zimbabwe is deafening. So as the heads
get together from 1st July to 4th July, Hubert Ingraham ought to think
about all that has been said here, and take that biggetty attitude into
areas of public policy where it might really do some good.
STRAW
VENDORS STOOD UP
The Straw Vendors were told that they were to meet
Earl Deveaux, the new Minister of Works with responsibility for the straw
market on Thursday 28th June at 10 a.m. Mr. Deveaux waited until
the straw vendors were all dressed and ready to go and then without ceremony
cancelled the meeting on the ground that he had to attend a Cabinet meeting.
No further word on the fate of the vendors or another
meeting. But the resistance is growing in the straw market to the
move to put the vendors on the Prince George Dock which requires identification
for each vendor and a security check just to enter the building.
Prince George Dock will be a graveyard for the vendors
and even though the government of review and stopping projects is saying
it will only be a temporary move, the bet is they will move the vendors
from Bay Street and forget them. The PLP again cannot let this happen
and must continue to agitate in the market for the Government to build
the straw market as it was originally envisaged.
PLP
DEFENDS URBAN RENEWAL
There was a murder in Nassau Village on Thursday
28th June right in the yard near where the offices of the Urban Renewal
used to be in Nassau Village. We say used to be because the FNM has
closed down the Urban Renewal offices around the island. The public
complained that if the office had not been closed, the murder would not
have taken place.
The same night that the murder was taking place
near the Urban Renewal office yard, the PLP’s Leader Perry Christie was
heading a host of speakers at the PLP’s Council meeting defending Urban
Renewal. Amongst them was Fred Mitchell, the MP for Fox Hill and
among the places where Urban Renewal has made a difference. You may
click
here for his full remarks.
Hubert Ingraham has to be blamed for the Urban Renewal
mess. He came into office with his vindictive and vengeful streak.
Just because it was a PLP, Perry Christie programme, he decided that it
had to be scrapped. Last week, the police were ordered to leave the
Urban Renewal offices and go back to the police stations. The communities
were furious, and within days Mr. Ingraham had to backtrack and put the
police back. This is pathetic. Every chance the PLP gets, it
needs to bring this home and slam it home. It is Ingraham who is
responsible for the failures of Urban Renewal and for the increase in crime.
THE
FACTS ABOUT PRINCE GEORGE DOCK
The week began with a scathing intervention by Glenys
Hanna Martin, Member of Parliament for Englerston and former Minister of
Transport & Aviation. Mrs. Hanna Martin chastised Neko C. Grant
'the first' now Minister of Tourism, who alleged that the PLP "did nothing"
in response to cruise line requests for work on Nassau Harbour. Said
Mrs. Hanna Martin, "You can fool some people some of the time but you can’t
fool all of the people all the time…" Please click
here for the full statement.
NOTTAGE
RESPONDS TO ATTACKS ON NHI
In a comprehensive address to the Speakers Forum
Wednesday 27th June at the Me Ting Place in the Hilton Arcade Dr. Bernard
J. Nottage, the former Minister of Health and Leader of Opposition Business
in the House of Assembly gave a detailed and updated overview of national
health questions in The Bahamas. Dr. Nottage also responded to continued
private sector attacks on the PLP’s proposed National Health Insurance
programme. Please click
here for Dr. Nottage’s full address.
TANYA
IN THE RED BLOUSE
Tongues were wagging in the Senate on Wednesday
27th June when the Senator Tanya Wright who is at the centre of the controversy
over the seat in the Senate that belongs to the PLP showed up in a red
blouse. Red is the colour of the FNM and it is Perry Christie's position
that no FNM should be occupying the three seats that belong to his Party
and that are within his discretion. The choice of colour did not
seem innocent to some and the point was made before the luncheon break
to the Leader of Government business in the Senate. After the break,
the red blouse was still on.
IN PASSING
Rick Lowe
Rick Lowe has the mentality of, well, we shouldn’t say it. Let’s
say he cannot escape his culture and background. So it wasn’t surprising
that the smart ass to end all smart asses was in the newspaper last week
suggesting that the solution to the straw vendors was for the government
to sell the market property to the vendors and let them develop it.
The whole tenor of the sneering letter was that the vendors had rich children
and the government should therefore not build the facility. Observers
say the letter was clearly trying to make a dig at Franklyn Wilson, the
son of a straw vendor and who has two sisters still in the market, and
who is one of the most successful and wealthy black businessmen in The
Bahamas and one of whom many like Rick Lowe is jealous. The fact
is, though, the market is a public good, not a private one and the Government
has an obligation to rebuild the market. But you know Rick Lowe always
has an opinion floating out there. Here’s one for you: how about
the government selling the market to the straw vendors for $1. We
bet Mr. Wilson would have the market built before you can say jack sprat.
The Faker of Fox Hill
The Faker of Fox hill, the juice in dere, has still not gotten over
the fact that she got beaten in Fox Hill in the last election. So
she has her operatives still writing letters to the press. One of
them is a nasty little man who calls himself a preacher who wrote the press
talking about the Fox Hill festival. Ignorance is bliss. They
all just can’t leave this man Fred Mitchell who beat them in Fox Hill so
they have to make up lies and of course the press is willing to print the
lies.
Attacking A Former MP
The nasty rag twice weekly paper in the Bahamas has been running a
vicious lying campaign against a former FNM MP. The people who run
that paper simply sit down make things up in their drunken hazes as they
wander from one bar to the next. It appears that one of them is a
drinking buddy of the former MP’s partner and that partner is hurting from
losing business so now that the FNM is in power he is seeking to, shall
we say; influence the story to ruin the former MP. But most people
know that the newspaper is a lying rag sheet and nothing that is printed
there should be believed.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Truth versus Propaganda
As the FNM government continues to stop and cancel
vitally important and relevant capital projects, both the leadership and
supporters of the FNM alike continue to intentionally mislead the Bahamian
people about the good works of the PLP government. Make no mistake about
it, when the FNM say that the PLP government failed to build one school
in five years, they are intentionally misleading the Bahamian people into
creating the impression, albeit false, that the PLP government failed to
address the vexing issue of overcrowding in the public school system or
the dilapidated state of the education physical plant. We have heard the
“Do Nothing Government” propaganda campaign. Nothing can be further from
the truth. We as PLP supporters must be ever mindful of the FNM's nasty
brand of propaganda and the spin used to undermine the PLP and distort
our accomplishments. We must continuously set the record straight with
truth and facts.
The record will show that the FNM government
built 10 schools between 1992 and 2002 and the Port Authority constructed
two as part of the Freeport Act. All 12 schools amounted to a mere 332
class rooms. If you subtract the class rooms built by the Port Authority,
the number dips below 300. This compares to 519 standard class rooms constructed
by the PLP government in less than 5 years. This translates into 33 class
rooms per year by the FNM versus 100 class rooms per year by the PLP or
three times as much. The PLP did more in 5 years than the FNM did in 10
years and more effectively, aggressively and comprehensively addressed
the vexing issue of over crowding in the public school system. Check the
record.
The Pindling regime of the PLP began the pre-school
initiative in 1990. The first FNM administration continued this initiative
and in 12 years (1990-2002), both administrations built 28 pre-school units.
The PLP government under PM Christie again in just five short years constructed
33 pre-school units and essentially created universal access to pre-school
education. Additionally, the PLP government hired 57 pre-school teachers
and tabled legislation regulating the operation of pre-schools. The PLP
did more in 5 years than the FNM did in 10 years. Again, check the record.
The $60 million school refurbishment program
covered 149 public schools and was the most aggressive and comprehensive
upgrade project in the history of this country in any five year period.
This is evidence that the physical plant was left in a state of disrepair
by the FNM after 10 years of governance. The PLP government clearly demonstrated
a greater commitment to education than the hapless FNM and cleaned up the
mess left behind by the FNM. Check the record.
When one considers the fact that the PLP government
enjoyed these record levels of achievements with a part time education
minister, these accomplishments are all the more remarkable. Under the
FNM, there were two full time ministers in the ministry of education. Clearly
the FNM government who was lazy and unfocused pointed the finger at the
PLP government who was focused, action oriented, and goal oriented.
The FNM has always been long on propaganda and
short on action and execution. Their operatives and allies in the media
do a good job of spin for them and down play the accomplishments of the
PLP. We must know the facts and continue to meet their lies, distortions,
and propaganda with the facts. The FNM cannot and has never been able to
compete with the PLP in terms of performance.
PLP's, we must not lose our voices. We must continue
to write to the editors of the dailies and call and send faxes to the various
talk shows on a daily bases to get our message out and continue to set
the record straight. We must meet the propaganda of the FNM line for line
and word for word and continue to speak truth to power. We must fight fire
with fire and answer the FNM pound for pound and ounce for ounce THE GLORIOUS
WORKS OF THE PLP ON BEHALF OF THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE MUST NEVER BE ECLIPSED,
UNDERMINED OR RELEGATED TO OBSCURITY BY THE UNCARING AND HAPLESS FNM.
Elcott Coleby
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Fred
Mitchell, the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill often tells the story of
George Mackey, one of his predecessors as Member of Parliament, coming
to his law office in the fall of 1996 on the eve of Mr. Mackey’s retirement
to ask him if he would be interested in returning to the PLP and in running
for the Fox Hill constituency. Mr. Mitchell agreed on the spot and
in February 1997 became the official standard bearer of the PLP in the
Fox Hill constituency. He lost that election but stayed and was successful
in 2002 and again in 2007. Each year since that time there has been
a service of thanksgiving by the people of Fox Hill to mark the years of
service given to the community. This year the service was held on
Thursday 5th July at St. Mark’s Baptist Church. Mr. Mitchell in his
address told the congregation that the word should go out that there is
only one Member of Parliament for Fox Hill not two. You may click
here for the full address. Our photo of the week is a picture
of Mr. Mitchell with some of his constituents at the end of the service.
The photo is by Al Dillette. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
IS LEADERSHIP AN ISSUE?
There is a strange phenomenon in play in The Bahamas with the PLP
that we simply don’t get. It often starts like this. A telephone
rings early in the morning and someone is reporting some startling headline
or story in The Tribune, The Punch or The Nassau Guardian. All of
these newspapers are against the PLP yet PLPs read them, support them even
though the newspapers refuse to give credit to the PLP and misrepresent
PLP positions in an unacceptable way.
The question we ask is why does the PLP continue to do this to itself?
By all accounts the PLP is still the dominant force in the country, even
though by the quirks of election laws, the FNM now has the majority in
the Parliament. Even if they did not have the support that they now
have, there has hardly been a time in the history of the country when the
PLP support has fallen below 35 per cent. The question is why has
the PLP not used its political support to break these media houses?
The Tribune requires the support of PLPs in order to continue to make it.
Yet each week it engages in the most biased and slimy stories about the
PLP. This week in its Independence edition, it claimed that the PLP
was voted out because the people believed that the PLP was an ill disciplined
rabble. Who says? Where does that come from? It comes
only from the subjective pen of the king of jerks John Marquis who needs
to be kicked out of this country. Why then should PLPs continue to
buy and support an instrument that continues to denigrate the PLP and its
legacy in this country?
Who can forget what was done to Shane Gibson, the former immigration
minister through the selective use of purloined photographs and tendentious
writing? It led to the Minister’s resignation on the grounds that
there was something wrong with the relationship that he had with the B
movie actress Anna Nicole Smith as demonstrated in those pictures.
The PLPs were just as responsible for spreading the news as The Tribune
itself. Yet another example of inflicting damage on themselves.
There are other examples of how the PLP continues to support businesses
that refuse to support them. You have Kelly’s the hardware store.
They have built up a fortune in The Bahamas. Their owners are said
to have raised some three million dollars to help defeat the PLP.
This after the PLP’s Leader went out of his way to court the Kellys and
other UBP families with a view to seeking to show them that the PLP had
their interests at heart. That was not enough clearly because one
example is how in the early years of the term of Mr. Christie he was invited
to their summer programme to congratulate the youngsters hired there.
But once Hubert Ingraham returned to the position of Leader of the Opposition,
the invitations to Mr. Christie stopped and Mr. Ingraham was invited instead.
It is clear that they determined where their greater interests were and
it was not with Mr. Christie. As it was said in the aftermath of
the election results, Mr. Christie extended the hand of friendship to Bay
Street and his hand was chopped off.
The question is even more compelling when it comes to businesses
like Kelly’s. Why would PLPs not boycott Kelly’s and simply stop
shopping there and buying their products? What is it that prevents
the PLP’s leadership from leading such a boycott? It can be complete
and effective and modelled after the actions of Jesse Jackson’s Operation
Push in the United States. The request would be simple either stop
your racially biased and politically biased efforts against the PLP or
suffer economic defeat. It may well be the only lesson that they
understand.
After forty years of continually pushing their racism and political
bias, the United Bahamian Party is back in another guise, with their Uncle
Tom at the helm, and the son of the United Bahamian Party’s Premier at
number two, who denies his African heritage but has aspirations to become
the Prime Minister of The Bahamas. The UBP has succeeded and some
of them who were there at the end are right back in the mix. For
example, it was announced that Barrie Farrington, the last Chairman of
the UBP, is now to be the Chairman of Bahamasair.
Into the mix of all of this then, one must ask the question, if the
UBP/FNM can continue to spew out racial prejudice and racial stereotypes
against the PLP, why then should the response of the PLP be a gentle response.
We have seen where that response has gotten us, right back in Opposition
after only five years in office. It is a disastrous result.
It is bad for The Bahamas. It must be reversed.
The question is how? Can you reach this younger generation
of people? Do we know who their movers and shakers are? We
have to find out.
In the mean time, it would behoove all those in the land of the ambitious
to hold their horses within the PLP. It would be a great shame if
it is The Tribune that PLPs use to determine who the next leader of the
PLP is to be. On Friday 6th July, they ran a speculative story
about the PLP’s leadership. PLPs were quoted on the record in it.
What is the matter with us? It is none of their business and our
job should be to try to stop reading their paper and run The Tribune out
of business. Why PLPs continue to even talk to them on or off the
record is a mystery? We would simply tell them bug off.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 7th July 2007 up to midnight:
169,501.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Friday 30th June 2007
at midnight: 940,061.
Number of hits for the year 2007 up to Saturday 7th July 2007 up
to midnight: 3,576,727. (Does not reflect hits prior to 14th February,
2007).
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
HAPPY
INDEPENDENCE DAY
This week the country will celebrate 34 years as
a nation. The old Union Jack came down just before midnight on the
evening of 9th July 1973 and the new Bahamian flag went up at midnight.
The official observances began in Nassau on Saturday 7th July with the
Beating of the Retreat by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band. Other
observances include an ecumenical service later today, Sunday; and on Monday
evening a cultural presentation, tattoo by the police and a re-enactment
of the flag raising. The photos of the beating of the retreat are
by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
KEN
RUSSELL, HEAD OF THE FNM BRAIN TRUST
The Free National Movement called a press conference
on Thursday 5th July 2007 to defend its record on Urban Renewal, all eight
weeks of it. The head of the FNM brain trust that gathered to defend
this programme was Kenneth Russell, the Minister of Housing and National
Insurance. By his side were Loretta Butler Turner, the Minister of
State and Brensil Rolle, the civil servant who played Bo peep, while the
PLP was in power, then quit to run against the PLP. Mr. Rolle
is in charge of the Urban Renewal programme.
Ken Russell and the FNM made the most amazing statement.
They now claim that the Urban Renewal was not started by Perry Christie
but by Hubert Ingraham. That really is a new twist. Up to now
they were saying that they were going to scrap it. Now that the public
has come out and accused them of allowing a murder to take place because
they closed the Urban Renewal office in Nassau Village, they want to take
credit for the programme.
There are also reports that young men who have mentors
in the police at the Urban Renewal offices have lost those mentors and
are now at sea. There are reports that AIDS patients who used to
get their medication from the Urban Renewal offices have lost that.
Hubert Ingraham, vicious, vindictive and vengeful, has to take the fall
for this mayhem that has been created.
Loretta Butler Turner sat at the press conference
in a red blouse as if the campaign is still on and as if we need to be
reminded by a Minister of the Government that she is FNM instead of a servant
for all of the people of The Bahamas. What most concerned us though
was the Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames sitting in this clearly
partisan forum. Was it appropriate for Marvin Dames, an Assistant
Commissioner of Police to be put in the position where he is sitting in
and appearing to condone the partisan political comments at the FNM's press
conference? Something seems wrong.
Bottom line. The government has reversed itself
and the police are to go back into Urban Renewal. Apart from this
most outrageous attempt at revisionism, which is now a trademark of the
FNM, it seems a little silly to us to be arguing about who started it rather
than making sure that the programme continues to work. Then you can also
ask the question if Hubert Ingraham started the programme why would he
want to scrap it? Is this another example of Mr. Decisive leaping before
he looked? Of course, the Bahamian people know who conceived, established
and nurtured Urban Renewal, but the point is that a government does not
or should not act against the best interest of the people.
THE
MINISTER MUST APOLOGIZE
It has been reported to this site that Vonqiue Toote,
the ZNS reporter was reportedly put in a difficult position recently by
a Minister of the government. It is alleged that Ms. Toote worked
on a story involving that minister. He was not happy to leave it
there but instead called her and asked her not to run the story and when
the phone call did not produce the result desired, he actually went to
the station and demanded to see her, review the story and further demanded
that the story not run at all. In the end the story did run, and
the reporter has asked for a conference with management at the station
about it.
What was that about the PLP interfering with ZNS?
This never happened during the PLP’s time. The press in this country
has given this government a soft time and they need to investigate this
report about one of their own. Next week, if there is no further action
on this matter, we will call the name of the Minister.
THE
BOARDS ARE ANNOUNCED
The Free National Movement is proceeding to help
wipe out the PLP with the appointment of Boards and Committees that run
the nuts and bolts of the country. The PLP supporters must have had
a reality check when these new appointments were made. Frederick
Gottlieb, former MP for Abaco who is an FNM, is to be head of Bahamas Electricity
Corporation. Barrie Farrington, the last Chairman of the UBP, is
to be the Chair of Bahamasair. Julian Francis, the former Governor
of the Central Bank under Mr. Ingraham when he was last Minister of Finance
is to be Chair of BTC. The Faker of Fox Hill is to help to murder
the Clifton Heritage site. The FNM's candidate for Fox Hill became
the Chairman of that entity. This is like putting the mouse to watch
the cheese. No doubt her mandate is to make sure it does not succeed.
Those who know her record on the Fox Hill Festival Committee know that
she never finishes anything. She always falls out with the people
who are on the Committee before she can finish what she is doing.
We live in hope.
THE
FOUL SMELL ON BAY STREET
There is a foul smell in many of the shops on Bay
Street. The unpleasant odour is affecting business and cannot be
healthy. It is said to have persisted for some time to the annoyance
of shoppers and business people alike. Businesses blame the sewage
system. Phenton Neymour, Minister with responsibility for the Water
and Sewerage Corporation must address the issue. We shall watch and
wait.
MITCHELL
TO EXUMA AND LONG ISLAND
Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign Minister, will
travel to Exuma for the annual participation in the Independence Day observances
there. Beginning tonight at 8 p.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The flag
raising ceremony and cultural show will take place on the evening of Monday
9th July at the Regatta Park beginning at 8 p.m. and ending at midnight.
While in Exuma Mr. Mitchell will meet with party members and supporters.
From there he will go onto Long Island for several days to meet with party
members and supporters before returning to Nassau.
MITCHELL
VISITS THE STRAW MARKET
Opposition Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell visited the
Nassau Straw Market yesterday Monday 2nd July, 2007 in a follow up to vendors’
meeting with Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie. Mr. Mitchell’s
visit was an expression of the Progressive Liberal Party’s continued support
of the Straw Vendors for the reconstruction of a proper Straw Market premises.
A spokesman for the Party said that from time to time these walkabouts
will be done to put the party's position to the Straw Vendors. A
meeting for the Vendors was held recently with the Leader of the Opposition
at the British Colonial Hilton. Party Leaders at the meeting said
they saw no reason that the government should not go ahead with the construction
project of the new straw market as “finances, engineering, architecture,
and quantity surveying were all secured”. Also at that meeting, the
PLP confirmed that the US Ambassador did object to resiting the market
to the Prince George Dock.
Photo: Fox Hill PLP / Dennis Fountain
CHRISTIE'S
SECURITY COMPROMISED
In the midst of legitimate and widespread concern
over security at the family residential compound of Progressive Liberal
Party Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition Perry Christie, Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham has directed that police sentries at the Christie
residence be taken away. The move is inappropriate and flies in the
face of common sense, given that twice in recent months, the Christie compound
has suffered gun attacks that left buildings in the compound riddled with
bullet holes. Hubert Ingraham; vicious, vindictive and vengeful,
will have to take the blame for whatever happens as a result of this decision.
URBAN
RENEWAL FORUM
The Progressive Liberal Party is on a winning wicket.
They have caused the Government to backtrack on its hasty and “decisive”
decision to scrap the Urban Renewal Programme. The public has been
loud and clear on this. They want Urban Renewal and they want it
with a police component.
Many of those who benefited and saw the benefits
of the Urban Renewal Programme showed up at a forum, broadcast live on
the radio; and sponsored by the PLP, Chaired by Glenys Henna Martin, former
Minister of Transport, whose constituency Englerston was affected by the
shutdown of the Urban Renewal Programme. The meeting took place on
Wednesday 4th July at the BCPOU Hall. As we upload the Government
had effectively reversed itself and has said that the police were going
back into to the Urban Renewal offices.
A press conference (see
story above) was led by the Minister Ken Russell and his Minister of
State Loretta Butler Turner and the Parliamentary Secretary responsible
for Urban Renewal Brensil Rolle. They claim now that Urban Renewal
was not started by Perry Christie but by Hubert Ingraham under the FNM.
The final speaker was the leader of the Party Perry
Christie. Please click
here for the Leader's full address.
CRY
BABY JOHN MARQUIS
Get this: John Marquis, the editor of The Tribune
with slimy, racist views, is suing the Nassau Guardian. It appears
that the suit is based on the repeat of an article that appeared on bahamasuncensored.com
17th March of this year. Mr. Marquis takes offence that his views
were called racist. He also takes offence at those who suggest that
he was less than forthright in an interview he did with a man who could
not defend himself. That smacks of unethical practices. But
never mind poor John Marquis, boo hoo hoo. He hopes that his cries
will soon turn to laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of the
Nassau Guardian. It serves the two of them right.
A
LEOPARD CANNOT CHANGE ITS SPOTS
Trouble is brewing west of the Creek in Grand Bahama.
David Wallace was considered the front runner for the FNM nomination in
the Eight Mile Rock Constituency in the last General Election; a seat FNMs
believed he could have won hands down. Wallace let is be known was
prepared to walk away quietly if he did not get the EMR nomination.
But Hubert 'It's a Matter of Trust' Ingraham persuaded Wallace to be the
FNM candidate in the West End & Bimini Constituency, a seat Ingraham
knew that Wallace could not likely win.
FNM insiders say the rationale was that David Wallace
would be the only candidate that could keep the PLP's Obie Wilchcombe pinned
down in his constituency for the duration of the campaign. If David
Wallace did not win, which obviously he did not, he was promised a Senate
appointment and the chairmanship of a board. That was the deal.
This past week, after the Senate appointments were made and Board appointments
published, Wallace clan members from West End to Bartlett Hill were outraged.
Politicos were surprised that Wallace wasn't made chairman of the National
Insurance Board. What went wrong?
We say a leopard cannot change its spots and here
is yet another example of a double cross. In the meantime, Wallace's
old friends are trying to make contact to seek common ground.
THE
CASE OF THE MONKEY TAMARIND
The FNM's look before you leap government; the stop,
review and cancel government, has made another error. They stopped
the construction work on T.G. Glover School saying that it was built on
a toxic dump. They ordered a report after rashes appeared on
some construction workers from the site. The report has been given
to them and it turns out that there is no toxic dump at the site.
It is really just a case of monkey tamarind, the wild plant that gives
off a dust that itches beyond belief. Simple as that. Once
that is cleared from the site, it will be fine. Former Minister
of Works Bradley Roberts issued this statement.
ARTHUR FOULKES
Arthur Foulkes who is Deputy to Governor General
continues to write his column in the newspapers attacking the PLP when
he is supposed to represent all. Congratulations though on his new
job $80,000 per year and a car as head of The Bahamas Information Services,
where all PLPs have been purged. Wonder what he thinks of that.
Great news for him personally though. This is more than just jobs
for the boys. Well deserved for the good propagandist and deserving
son of the movement.
ORIGINAL
CONGOS SAY THANKS
The junkanoo group of Fox Hill Village, the Original
Congos, held an awards presentation and dinner this past week in the Village
on Freedom Park to thank its sponsors for their support during the year
end parades. Group leaders ran the ceremony and promised even more
development of the group in parades to come. Among the sponsors with
the group and its leaders are Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, and officials
of the Clipper and Dockendale shipping companies. Also receiving
a plaque of appreciation for his and his country's support was the Chinese
Ambassador.
IN PASSING
The Coral Wave Problem
Carvel Francis, the PR executive, is a most patient man usually.
But he has supplied this column with a response to a notice sent out by
Coral Wave, the internet service provided by Cable Bahamas, the monopoly
cable provider in The Bahamas. The service is lousy and they have
been advertising for more people to use it, claiming that it was blinding
fast. We who use this medium for our information to get out know
that this has not been the case for some time but it has not stopped Cable
Bahamas from lying about the service they provide. It appears from
the copy of the correspondence that Mr. Francis provided this column that
they have finally admitted that which we all did know. They have technical
problems. We print the letter and Mr. Francis’ response. Bravo Mr.
Francis!
Dear CoralWave Subscriber,
As you may be aware, over the past few weeks the CoralWave e-mail
service has been experiencing some technical difficulties. The most recent
of which is with the e-mail retrieval service known as POP3. This
service has been intermittently available on the mail system in general,
and has had notable performance faults on Mail Server 1. We would
like to apologize for the level of service being experienced with the CoralWave
Mail servers and want to assure you we are doing everything possible to
bring this to a final resolution. .
In an effort to achieve resolution to the issue, we have been working
very closely over the past week with the key software vendors to diagnose
and determine appropriate changes to improve overall performance and service
availability. Despite the tireless efforts by the support team, this process
is taking longer than anticipated and we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences
this may be causing. Again, rest assured that we are doing everything
we can to resolve this problem
In an effort to further stabilize the service, we will be performing
maintenance on the mail system from July 6th through July 8th. These steps
are being taken as a best measure suggested by our vendors to further isolate
any possible faults and ensure that our mail server environment remains
stable and accessible in order to meet your needs. Please check the CoralWave
website for any further updates.
We thank you for your patience as we diligently strive to resolve
this issue.
Sincerely,
CoralWave Internet Support Team
Fixing the problem is 3 months LATE!
For me these critical problems have been happening before April
1st. Its July 7th some 3 months later and to hear that you guys are trying
to fix the problem is just laughable.
Carvel Francis
-----------------
Congratulations to Donald Thomas
5 July 2007 - Salamanca, Spain – Bahamas' Donald Thomas highlighted
at the '35th Gran Premio Diputación de Salamanca' - EAA meeting
- held yesterday (4 July) by clearing a PB of 2.35m in the men's High Jump
which is also a new world season best performance.
Four Seasons In Receivership
There is a report that the Four Seasons project, the land deal side
is in receivership. While this is not good news, it is not bad news
either. The question really is what affect will this have on the
hotel project which hires so many Bahamians and was responsible for uplifting
the economy of Exuma. The critics took the news as an opportunity
to attack the PLP's philosophy of anchor projects in each of the islands
to help transform their economies.
Construction Prices
There are dark clouds forming over the economy. One reason is
the FNM’s unreliability what with cancelling contracts already negotiated.
The investors are getting spooky that their investments might not be safe
in The Bahamas. The other is said to be the runaway costs of construction
in the country. This has caused many investors to put their projects
on hold until the pricing in construction returns to some normalcy.
The costs have simply made these projects uneconomic. It is said
that this is affecting the future of the Ginn project in Grand Bahama and
the project in Mayaguana.
Teachers Talking Doo Doo
The leadership of The Bahamas Union of Teachers has been in the press
lately praising their FNM friends. If there was any doubt that the
two sister ugly attitudes that dominate the Union were FNM, all doubts
must now be dispelled. Every week these two birds are out cooing
away about how great the government is. The government's policies
are those implemented by the PLP that are now being carried out.
The BUT got the best contract in its history, a first ever for the country,
yet no thanks, just carping from these two ingrates. Now they are
up in every crevice of Hubert Ingraham saying what a good guy he is.
Good our…
Problems with the Podcast
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill has indicated in a press statement that
there is a problem with the podcasts because of technical issues.
The podcasts are expected to return to the regular rhythm during the course
of the week. The last one recorded was 2nd July. You may read
the text of the current podcast as released by Mr. Mitchell.
He says the audio will not be available until later in the week. Click
here for other podcasts.
The US Celebrates its Independence
Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign Minister, turned out to be the only
PLP official at the function for the independence for the United States.
Brent Symonette was also absent, what with representing The Bahamas at
the Heads of Government conference where Hubert Ingraham refused to attend.
So Mr. Symonette is doing the same thing that Fred Mitchell used to do;
travel on behalf of the country. No criticism of that from the FNM
or the press. But what we can say is that the FNM could have held
a cabinet meeting at the U.S. Embassy on 4th July, all of them were out
in force in the Embassy’s yard to celebrate the U.S. Independence.
We will see if they do the same thing for the independence of The Bahamas
this afternoon. The photo of Mr. Mitchell and the US Ambassador is
by Derek Smith of the Bahamas Information Services. Former U.S. Ambassador
John Rood was also at the party, visiting The Bahamas for the event.
Fred Mitchell - 10 More Years
Fred Mitchell, the MP for Fox Hill marks ten years of service in the
Fox Hill constituency. Mr. Mitchell is pictured above receiving presentations
from executives of the Fox Hill Branch of the Progressive Liberal Party
during a special service of thanksgiving at St. Mark's Baptist Church on
Romer Street in Fox Hill. A special collection was taken at the service
to assist in the completion of the Fox Hill Community Centre. From
left are Mr. Mitchell, Branch Administrator Altamese Isaacs and Branch
Secretary Deidre Rolle.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Musings on the latest CARICOM Meeting
I wish to comment on the meeting of CARICOM heads held in Barbados
this past week. Because very little was said by our representatives in
the way of public policy, well actually nothing was said regarding foreign
or trade policy, I am left to comment on what was not done or said and
what the foreign minister seemed not to know. The hallmark of our relationship
with CARICOM is functional co-operation and Symonette insults the Bahamian
people by pretending that this is some new ground he is trying to break.
Editor, firstly I was very disappointed that our Prime Minister did
not see fit to attend the latest CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in
Bridgetown, Barbados. If for no other reason, PM Ingraham should have attended
just as a courtesy seeing that he will assume the chair in February 2008.
That is what a true statesman and diplomat would have done.
Secondly, Our Foreign Minister, who has very little to say on foreign
policy and international trade, claims to have just bought into the idea
of functional co-operation and was quoted as saying, "We’re trying to establish
a whole network that we can all buy into," Well this is quite embarrassing
because functional co-operation with CARICOM is nothing new for the Bahamas.
There is nothing novel or esoteric about it and Mr. Symonette should quit
acting as if he stumbled across functional co-operation serendipitously.
He sounded as if he just bought into the idea during July 2007 while in
Barbados. Where has Mr. Symonette been for the past twenty years, and especially
in the past five years when he was “supposed” to be the shadow minister
for Foreign Affairs.
Editor, just for the record I wish to edify our Foreign Minister
on the extent of our functional co-operation with CARICOM and this “network”
that we have bought into long, long ago. It is indeed a deeply integrated
relationship.
The Caribbean Environmental Health Institute.
The Caribbean food and nutrition institute.
The Caribbean epidemiology Centre
The Caribbean Tourism Organization
The Caribbean drug testing lab
The Caribbean centre for development administration
The Caribbean Health research council
The Caribbean council for science and technology
The Caribbean telecommunications union
The council for finance and planning.
The council for trade and economic development.
The council for foreign and community relations
The council for human and social development
The University of the West Indies.
The Caribbean development Bank.
The Council of Legal Education
The Bahamas participated in some of these programs for more than
twenty years and Mr Symonette never bought into the idea of functional
co-operation until NOW. This is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Or maybe he is trying
to flam his way through. He should be very aware that Bahamians are observing
and some of us are knowledgeable about our country's foreign policies and
international relations. If we perceive that he is a FLAM or simply not
up to the task, we will not hesitate to expose and challenge him. I say
this because more and more Mr. Symonette is coming across as a minister
who is not committed to or interested in his portfolio and by extension,
not interested in governance. Come on minister, raise the bar of governance.
The least you could do is outperform your predecessor and present shadow.
We shall continue to watch, albeit without bated breath.
Elcott Coleby
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The
country celebrated formally the 34th anniversary of its national independence
on 10th July last week. There was a spontaneous outpouring of affection
for the country, with people on the streets selling clothing and other
effects in the colours of the national flag. Last year the National
Independence Day Commission asked local communities to do something in
their communities to mark the independence of the country. Fox Hill
began by having a flag raising ceremony on the Saturday after the official
celebrations. This year, the celebrations were done again in Fox
Hill by way of Flag Raising. The Royal Bahamas Police Force did the
honours. An address was given by the Member of Parliament for the
area Fred Mitchell. Please click here
for Mr. Mitchell's full address. Our photo of the week taken
by Clifton Miller is that of the flag raising in Fox Hill marking the 34th
anniversary of the country’s independence. See
more pictures below at Fox Hill Flag Raising. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
INGRAHAM ON INDEPENDENCE
When
you look at the photo taken by Peter Ramsay of the Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham you find a man who appears smug and happy. He must be in
hog heaven. He cannot believe his luck. After being kicked
out ignominiously in 2002 as Prime Minister, he is now back and in charge
of the bull run. The smugness is too much for us, particularly after
such a nasty, wicked and evil campaign at his instance. Further,
in the history of our country, his governmental acts have never been more
vicious, vengeful and vindictive. Yet it was amusing to note the
temerity, really, of Hubert Ingraham to suggest in his statement to the
country on independence that despite our political differences, we must
all pull together.
Pull together where, how and for what reason should we pull together
with a man who has destroyed the civil polity of our country, and is now
in the process through his governmental actions of dismissing the poorest
people from the civil service, ruining their lives and those of their families.
Surely, those who voted for trust did not expect that they would suffer
this fate so soon after the general election. The man who said that
he had changed has not changed at all. He is the same man, capable
of the same vindictive, vengeful and vicious actions that he conducted
while he was Prime Minister for ten years. There is no doubt that
Hubert Ingraham must go. He must be driven from the seat of power.
The PLP and its supporters must know what their job is. He must go.
In the Department of Environmental Health, the PLP had a policy,
too slow as it was, of ensuring that those who had been working for a long
time as temporary workers would get an opportunity to migrate onto the
permanent and pensionable establishment of the public service. This
is usually something that a Permanent Secretary can do once there is the
budget for it, and the necessary paperwork has been supplied for the officers
concerned. The reports are that the Ingraham administration has now
stopped that process. That means that hundreds of workers now face
the uncertainty of being in their jobs and of being fired at any moment.
Within days of the government coming to power, the FNM administration
led by Mr. Ingraham ventured into reviewing all contracts with anyone signed
during the last three months with the PLP administration. They
have also stopped some contracts from being executed. Chief amongst
these is the straw market contract and a school contract for a new Junior
High in Grand Bahama. They are looking for crookedness where there
is none to be found. Yet with all this reviewing and stopping, there
are reports are that the FNM is busy giving out contracts without bids
to their supporters to build additional classrooms in Grand Bahama and
throughout the islands. There is clearly one rule for PLPs and another
for FNMs.
This is the modus operandi of the Free National Movement, to say
one thing and do another. They are the masters of lying, misinformation
and propaganda. The latest example of this is the attempt by the
Free National Movement and surprisingly Dion Foulkes, a Minister of the
Government, to give the FNM the credit for bringing the country to independence
in 1973. Aiding in this is of course the revisionist Tribune who
in its supplement on Independence showed no pictures of the PLPs going
to the independence talks but only the FNM delegation. Just
when you thought things could not get any worse, you now have the FNM claiming
credit for Independence, a policy that they opposed in the general election
of 1972. They did not want independence for the country. Hubert
Ingraham was not part of that and at the time but the fact is he has joined
that band now and must suffer as one who did.
Then the other bit of revisionism is to be quiet about the role the
United Bahamian Party played in the underdevelopment of the country.
After forty years, these men and women are back. Lynn Holowesko,
a Pyfrom, is the President of the Senate. Brent Symonette, the son
of the first Premier of the country under the United Bahamian Party, is
now the number two man in the government and angling for number one.
Hubert Ingraham has sanitized his image and made the frightening spectre
of the revenge of the UBP possible in 2007.
The FNM’s typical response to all of this is: why does the PLP keep
bringing it up? We bring it up because the facts must never be forgotten.
What the FNM wants is for these facts to be forgotten so that they can
run roughshod over this country, continue to subjugate black talent and
ability, and keep control of the economy. The PLP must use its political
strength to shake off this yoke.
Why would the Kellys who have made more than they ever had before
continue to oppose the PLP and then go out and raise reportedly three million
dollars in Lyford Cay in order to defeat the PLP? This is inexplicable.
And so if The Tribune and Eileen Carron can continue to push racist philosophies
in their newspaper every day that God sends a week along, then the PLP
and we who run this column have a responsibility to ensure that the other
side is told. It is as simple as that.
As you contemplate what the national independence of this country
means let us remember then those gallant leaders of the PLP who took the
country to independence and brought us to the level of unprecedented prosperity
in the history of our country. The PLP deserves the credit for it
all.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 14th July 2007 at midnight:
202,981.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 14th July at
midnight: 382,043.
Number of hits for the year 2007 up to Saturday 14th July 2007 at
midnight: 3,789,269. (Does not reflect hits prior to 14th February,
2007).
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
A
FALSE PRETEXT FOR ELECTIONS
If you have been watching the headlines in The Tribune
over the last week, you will see that there is this constant drumbeat about
how there has been massive fraud in the elections. They have been
quoting the PLP’s cases in the election court. You will know that
the PLP in the three cases that it has brought to the courts believes that
there were scores of people who voted in the last election that were not
qualified to vote. It appears that the Parliamentary Commissioner’s
office was allowing people to register by using less than satisfactory
documentation. For example there are reports that the staff of the
Parliamentary Commissioner allowed people to register using their driver’s
license or a birth certificate. None of these are proof of citizenship
of The Bahamas. The result is that many young Haitians who were born
in The Bahamas ended up on the electoral rolls and tipped the balance in
some constituencies. The FNM ran a sustained campaign amongst young
Haitians that they would be deported en masse from The Bahamas under the
PLP. In the case of Pleasant Bridgewater, Leslie Miller and Allyson
Gibson, the Members of Parliament who brought election court cases, their
cases turn on these very facts.
You will remember that Hubert Ingraham's first response
was bravado. He told the country when he came home from his meeting
with George Bush that the PLP should bring it on, that no court was going
to change any government, that he had the right to call a general election.
We have reports that up in Grand Bahama, the FNM is working over time to
try and discredit Pleasant Bridgewater’s assertions of people on the register
who should not have voted. They are again using nasty tactics like
going to people and saying that the PLP is trying to send them to jail.
Ms. Bridgewater is certain that she is on solid ground in this matter.
The brave words of Zhivargo Laing, the verbose Minister of State in Finance
and the declared winner in the Marco City seat, once held by Pleasant Bridgewater,
have begun to look hollow in the face of the evidence.
What this all adds up to is the belief in political
circles that Hubert Ingraham is looking to call a general election sooner
rather than later. The Tribune beating the drum of massive voter
fraud in their headlines is not coincidental. What it is designed
to do is to give Mr. Ingraham the pretext to call a general election on
the grounds that the PLP allowed the registration list to be so polluted
that the election has to be called all over again. He will seek to
blame the PLP for the mess. The fact is the PLP as a government provided
the resources for the Commissioner. It did not do the registration.
That was for the Commissioner and his staff without interference.
The question is: if there was massive voter fraud then was it deliberate
or was it inadvertent? We won’t give an answer now but we are very
suspicious.
THE
MURDERS WERE TO STOP
There are now 43 murders in The Bahamas for the
year 2007. If the murders keep on this track, then they will exceed
the 70 murders that were the highest in the history of the country when
the FNM was last in power in 2000. But wait: was it not the FNM who
said that once they got into power the murders would cease? We are
sure of it; crime was to come to a stop when the FNM came to power.
We wonder what happened.
There is of course no easy answer to crime.
First, the FNM overreached themselves as usual. The crime in the
country has little to do with who is the government of the day. The
police statistics show that most of the murders are domestic in nature,
young people who cannot control their impulses. We understand that
the President of the Bar Wayne Munroe has said that one of the reasons
why the young men can’t control their impulses is they see the leaders
in the FNM who have just come into office and they can't control their
impulses either. That is why the PLP started the Urban Renewal programme
to be able to intervene directly into family situations and help with this
very problem. The first impulse acted on by the FNM was to kill Urban
Renewal. Young people have to learn that there are times when you
must walk away, rather than stab or kill someone for simple disputes.
As much as the society has talked about it, the point does not seem to
be getting across.
The last two men who were murdered within days of
each other last week were both teen-agers, barely into their young adulthood.
One was shot because he was dating a young woman who used to date the alleged
murderer. The alleged murderers are the same ages as the victims.
In one case, there was a dispute about the age and whether he was in fact
under 18. These are sad statistics. The Christian Council has
issued its usual statement in ignorance of the law that the government
must start hanging people in order to cut down on crime. The fact
is the government can’t hang anyone until the courts say that they can.
The government’s minister Tommy Turnquest made the same ignorant statement
when he first came to office that they proposed to resume hanging.
This of course is the same cynical Hubert Ingraham government at work.
Just hang some people to stop the criticism, not to stop the crime.
Anything for political reasons even if it means killing some people.
In that sense he and his government are just like these young men in the
streets, can’t control their impulses.
TOUR
OF EXUMA AND LONG ISLAND
Each year with but one exception since 1997, the
Member of Parliament for the Fox Hill constituency has joined the people
of Exuma for their independence celebrations. He also takes time
to visit with the leadership of the PLP in the area during that time.
This year was no exception. Mr. Mitchell joined MP for Exuma Anthony
Moss for the independence church service and the flag raising on Regatta
Park. The church service was conducted at the Ebenezer Baptist Church
in Rolleville, Rev. Adam Brown presiding. The homily was delivered
by the Rev. Fr. Mario Conliffe, the Anglican Rector of St. Andrew’s Church
in Georgetown. The festivities were organized by Administrator Alexander
Flowers. One of the highlights of the evening was old story time
by Barbara Conliffe, nee Franks (pictured, above left). From Exuma,
Mr. Mitchell flew on to Long Island where he was met by Stalwart Councillor
Captain Alphonso Moree. While there he met with leaders of the PLP
there including Mario Simms and Lockhart Turnquest. The photos by
Dennis Fountain are from the tour.
HENRY
WOOD VINDICATED
We need to start popping the champagne corks.
Henry Wood, the now Managing Director of Bahamasair, has been vindicated
by the Supreme Court. You will remember that shortly after Hubert
Ingraham came to office in 1993, he held a Commission of Inquiry that was
responsible for investigating the conduct of the affairs of Bahamasair
where Mr. Woods was the manager of the engineering department. The
Commission of Inquiry was simply an example of Hubert Ingraham’s vindictiveness.
It was to investigate what the FNM said was wrongdoing by Sir Lynden Pindling
in a number of governmental matters. The result of the Commission
was that it found nothing worse than a man who could not balance his cheque
book, but in the process the Commission was used effectively to sully the
reputation of the former Prime Minister. It was one of the more disgraceful
episodes in the history of this country and Hubert Ingraham will go down
in history as the most vindictive, vicious and vengeful Prime Minister
in the country’s history.
Now the year is 2007 and the findings of the Commission
against Henry Wood that were adverse to him have been successfully challenged
in the Supreme Court. Remember that these findings came in 1995 and
here we are 2007, twelve years later, and they have seen the light in court.
Justice Vera Watkins has quashed the findings.
The Commission had said that Mr. Wood was a senior
manager in Bahamasair when he utilized company resources for his own personal
endeavours on company time and at no cost to himself.
The Commission declared "As we have tried to make clear in the appraisal
of this manager, the record of suspensions, reinstatements, salary cuts,
demotions in job level, distasteful incidents with subordinates and the
like is indicative of a very unsatisfactory performance over the years.
"We note also that all these events took place in
a highly inefficient engineering department, as well as an on-time performance
that was consistently below acceptable standards. The combination
of poor ethical standards, the instances of impropriety, lack of initiative
to put matters right that were obviously wrong, and the widespread and
costly inefficiency that pervaded areas under his control were sufficient
reason for his dismissal."
The Judge said while there was an abundance of evidence
of probative value on Mr. Wood, the finding of the Commission could not
be made unless the Commission first notified Mr. Wood that they intended
to make an adverse finding and gave him an opportunity to be heard on those
points. That means that the Commission violated the rules of natural
justice by failing to give Mr. Wood the right to be heard. That is
the current state of the law.
The irony of the FNM's position is that they rehired
Mr. Wood at Bahamasair following the Commission’s fi
