bahamasuncensored.com
MAY 2007
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 5 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2007
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the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site.
13th May, 2007
20th May, 2007
27th May, 2007
10th
May 2007 FRED MITCHELL PODCAST
Mitchell
Talks About The Future... Answers Ingraham
Please
Click Here To Listen
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was all in a losing effort. The huge crowds on Clifford Park did not convert
into votes. In the end the general election was lost, and several
Cabinet Ministers went down to defeat. The PLP is now back to where
it was in 1992, defeated and simply wondering and pondering its future.
The Bahamas has displayed the Indian problem. How does a country
with full employment, a vibrant and expanding economy and all the economic
indicators going in the right direction end up with the Government losing
the day? The PLPs who lived to see Sir Lynden Pindling defeated and
who lived again to see their PLP come back must now suffer the sadness
and shame of yet another defeat to a wicked and evil United Bahamian Party
resurrected under a wicked politician by the name of Hubert Ingraham as
the FNM. Uncle Tomism is alive and well, the master is back with
a vengeance. We pity the poor Bahamas and its people. Thanks
for the memories though of that magnificent night on Clifford Park when
the people showed up in their masses in gold on Tuesday 1st May to say:
“Forward Ever! Backward Never!” The photo is by Tim Aylen. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
REVIVE AND RESTRUCTURE
Let us be clear. It is a big mistake to reelect Hubert Ingraham
to the office of Prime Minister of The Bahamas. He is bad for The
Bahamas and will cause untold harm to the self esteem of the majority in
this country. He is a stalking horse for the United Bahamian Party
and it is clear that Brent Symonette, who is the son of the former and
only UBP Premier is now to be the number 2 in the Government. The
clear scenario is that Mr. Symonette is to run the country when Hubert
Ingraham steps down from the post of Prime Minister.
The PLP has no one else to blame or look to for the defeat in this
election. There must be a straight up analysis. How could an
incumbent party with full employment, the wheels of government in their
hand, with the economy going great guns lose an election? Something
must have gone terribly wrong. It is important for there to be a
deep huddle to see how in five years, the significant majorities that were
developed in constituencies turned into the defeats of this time.
There are some who are engaged in wishful thinking about the thinness
of a majority in the House. One can recall that in Trinidad and Tobago,
the government there was able to govern for almost a year with an 18 -18
tie, even though they were unable to elect a Speaker of the House.
In the United States, when George Bush was handed the victory by the Supreme
Court, he went on to consolidate his hold on power and wipe the Democrats
out the next time.
In The Bahamas, now you have one of the most wicked and insidious
politicians in the use of state power to bribe voters. If the PLP
is not careful it will find itself in full flight within five years.
It must work and work fast. Now is not the time for crying but to
strategize, regroup and wipe this crew of UBPs and their Uncle Toms out
of office. We pity the poor of The Bahamas, and we are concerned
that they have been so easily sold down the drain by their middle class
brethren, when the programmes to affect poverty were only just now beginning
to kick in.
Some are talking about an election court in some cases where the
results were close. This must be carefully considered by an organization
that does not have the money it needs at its disposal, to lay some of its
already impoverished members into a situation where they are further financially
strained in such an effort. It is clear that all of the Courts are
against the PLP. The ridiculous comments by judges that were clearly
political in nature from the bench and the fact that they went unanswered
by the PLP shows you what you can expect in any action brought by the PLP
in the courts. No PLP can get a fair hearing in a Bahamian court.
It is an absolute mess that we face.
There are some bright spots. One of them is that Shane Gibson
who was vilified and pushed out of office by a biased press is back in
the House with a substantial majority some 650 votes. This shows
that his constituents backed him and thought that he was unfairly run out
office. His departure was the work of a dishonest news media, an
opportunistic Opposition, and a public duped by all of the hoo ha!
We are sorry and mortified by the loss of the seats by Michael Halkitis
and Ron Pinder. These two young men were some of the hardest working
persons in politics. They are the future of The Bahamas, young men, bright
and able. It is quite a shame. Was it money that did it?
There was a thug culture that the FNM employed to intimidate and to threaten.
They marauded around the parks and in the streets to be able to shout scurrilous
remarks wherever PLPs appeared. The viciousness and hostility was
incredible in the face of a PLP that came to office extending a hand of
friendship. It should be recognized now that this was a serious error
in judgment, and that when people are against you, they are against you
and immediately upon coming to office those who oppose you should be removed.
In this regard, we are happy that Joshua Sears who stuck around under
the PLP for five years as Ambassador to Washington, and then quit just
before the elections to run against the PLP went down to defeat in Exuma.
Hubert Ingraham now says he is going after the Exuma seat in the Courts.
Mr. Nasty must be fought at every turn.
The loss to the Parliament of Allyson Maynard Gibson, the Attorney
General; and Leslie Miller, Minister of Agriculture were surprises and
those results must be analysed and we must figure out why they happened.
It seems to us that time must be taken to analyse what went wrong,
but there must also be a frank recognition on the part of all who were
involved in the architecture of this debacle that they must asses their
roles in it, and fall on their swords without ceremony. The party can then
rebuild, and start afresh. It must be able to reinvent itself, reshaping
and frame itself from scratch.
There is no question that we must start up again, and keep going
forward, revive and restructure.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 5th May 2007 at midnight:
278,370.
Number of hits for the month of April up to Monday 30th April 2007
at midnight: 1,105,903.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 5th May 2007 at
midnight: 215,542.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
HUBERT
STARTS HIS THREATS
The Free National Movement will be responsible for the
largest increase in crime within the next two years in The Bahamas.
They have used hooligans and thugs to intimidate, marauding up and down
the streets of New Providence to accomplish their victory and to celebrate
and maintain it. The nastiness in which they have engaged is unprecedented
in the history of our country. The PLP must get the fire in the belly
to fight back.
In the meantime the Bahamian people are now getting
a clear idea of who they voted for. Hubert Ingraham had a victory
rally on Saturday 5th May. At the rally, he immediately began his
threats. He told the country that Steven McKinney was gone from ZNS.
Mr. McKinney who is a live talk show host on ZNS has thus been fired it
would appear. Mr. Ingraham said that Mr. McKinney had his last show
on ZNS last week. Then he said something which was incredible.
He said that he would be coming after the seats Fox Hill, Fort Charlotte,
MICAL, Exuma and a number of others. Presumably this means by way
of an election court case. He said that if he did not succeed, he
would go back to the country. This means that there is to be a General
Election within a short time.
This is a sick strategy. It is quite incredible
that the Bahamian people would be hoodwinked into electing this man with
the mentality of a thug to the Office of Prime Minister again. They
in the FNM have a nerve to talk about no victimization. It has already
begun.
PLPs
IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
The following members of the PLP were elected to
the House of Assembly and will be sworn in as MPs on 23rd May 2007:
Pictured from left are - Perry Christie, Farm Road and Centreville; Cynthia
Pratt, St. Cecilia; Vincent Peet, North Andros and the Berry Islands; Fred
Mitchell, Fox Hill; Melanie Griffin, Yamacraw; Glenys Hanna Martin, Englerston;
Bernard Nottage, Bain and Grants Town; Frank Smith, St. Thomas More;
Kenyatta Gibson, Kennedy; Anthony Moss, Exuma and the Cays; Alfred Gray,
Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island and Long Cay (MICAL); Philip Davis,
Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Oswald Ingraham, South Eleuthera;
Obie Wilchcombe, West End and Bimini; Shane Gibson, Golden Gates; Malcolm
Adderley, Elizabeth; Picewell Forbes, South Andros; and Alfred Sears, Fort
Charlotte.
FRED
MITCHELL WINS FOX HILL
There is an expression that it aint over until the
fat lady sings. There is a great deal of satisfaction if not singing
among nationalists in the country that Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign
Minister and Minister for the Public Service managed to survive the most
astounding onslaught on a politician in the history of Bahamian politics.
The hatred that was displayed by FNM partisans, the scurrilous comments,
none of which were condemned by the leaders of the FNM and were embraced
by the FNM’s candidate in the area were all turned back and Mr. Mitchell
came through with a 62 vote majority. There were six seats in the
general election that the FNM won by less than 70 votes. Mr. Mitchell
issued no statement and has refused to talk to the press about the matter.
The press of The Bahamas has simply disgraced themselves
as a bunch of lying, conniving, crooks who for entertainment and political
reasons simply spew one set of lies after the other in pursuit of their
nasty agenda. The fact that Mr. Mitchell was able to survive the
onslaught of the FNM’s money and the attacks by the media was nothing short
of a miracle. Now the mean spirited madam who was the genesis of
all the FNM wickedness in Fox Hill is saying that she intends to go to
court, going to court to challenge the result. This is interesting
since any crookedness was done by the FNM. The PLP had no hand in
any skulduggery, but the nastiness continues.
The PLP has to thank the poor people of Fox Hill
for their support, and those of African heritage. It is clear that
whites voted in droves and in mass against the PLP and the FNM in the election,
and we are right back to where we started prior to 1967, only with Uncle
Toms at the helm but the Master in charge. This is a natural shame
for The Bahamas in 2007.
At a party held by Mr. Mitchell in Fox Hill on Saturday
evening, the village was filled with stories about the FNM’s candidate
in Fox Hill. One story was that when she heard the news of her loss,
she fell out and damaged her knees quite badly shouting as she fell: “Oh
No! Tell me it’s not true.” Another story is that she brought a battery
of FNM, mainly, white lawyers to the recount. Each ballot box had
a different set of lawyers at the recount, each with some novel but stupid
legal point. Twenty five lawyers showed up during the day.
Then Hubert Ingraham himself showed up, followed by Brent Symonette, then
Tommy Turnquest, then Janet Bostwick and some of the other lesser lights.
By midnight when the results were announced, poor doctor doctor was left
all alone. Since then the report in the village is that she has taken
to bed. She does not know how she is going to explain what she did
with that half a million dollars that Hubert gave her to spend in Fox Hill.
Her people were busy buying votes in Fox Hill like crazy. One cousin
had a payroll of two thousand dollars per day to dispense, and he was giving
fellows $50 to simply wear an FNM T shirt. All in vain as it turns
out!
BRENT
A POOR CHOICE FOR FOREIGN MINISTER
The Cabinet has been partially announced – Mr. Decisive
did not quite have his list ready. But he started by naming Brent
Symonette the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
This is an absolute insult to the Bahamian people. The people of
the world will now think that Brent Symonette represents what is Bahamian.
We must quickly disassociate ourselves from this travesty and serious mistake.
WHO’S
WHO IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT?
So far Mr. Decisive aka Hubert Ingraham has announced
in addition to his being the Minister of Finance, Claire Hepburn, an FNM
ideologue who works for Graham Thompson is to become Attorney General,
Tommy Turnquest is to become the Minister of National Security (there goes
the crime rate) and Brent Symonette, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Foreign Affairs.
THE WHITE
BAHAMIAN
With the settling of these elections, there has
never been a more frightening and racist period in the history of The Bahamas
since the days of apartheid in The Bahamas, prior to 1967. Everywhere,
the red flags representing the colours of the Free National Movement are
on the cars of the local conchy joes, the name by which the local whites
are called. They have hatred in their eyes for black people and have
been firing young black men from their job sites if they are to suggest
that they are PLP. They have been threatening black people in the
streets and Blacks are now afraid that the mentality of a lynch mob is
developing in New Providence. The situation threatens to get worse
as their arrogance increases. It is quite an incredible situation
that we have now returned as close as they can get to the days of apartheid
in The Bahamas. That is what the voters of The Bahamas did on 2nd
May 2007. They turned back the clock to an era of racism and discrimination.
We say again, it is a matter of great regret and a total shame that this
country has been set back forty years.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Lessons learned from election 2007
I observed the national developmental initiatives
of the PLP government for The Bahamas over the past five years and the
2007 election campaign with keen interest. A preliminary postmortem revealed
at least three lessons learned:
• A government’s impressive record of performance alone is not enough
to secure a re-election victory.
• It is important to keep the civil servants happy. A good start
would be to expeditiously resolve all outstanding labour issues.
• A political party must have an effective public relations machinery
to market itself and create a desired impression (in the minds of the voters)
of itself and the opposing party.
The PLP inherited a stagnant economy and facilitated
an economic turn around in less than five years that delivered 4.5%
economic growth in 2006, reduced unemployment to around 6%, increased household
income, and contained inflation to 1.74%.
The PLP government secured some $20 billion
in foreign direct investment and modernized the infrastructure in the Family
Islands with internet connectivity, cable television, refurbished airports,
and potable water. In fact 10 reverse osmosis plants were built in
the Family Islands to facilitate this.
The PLP government built 1,500 houses in 5
years compared to 700 constructed by the FNM in 10 years. The
former government further legislated the framework for NHI and made great
strides in creating the University of The Bahamas.
Some may argue that these accomplishments
were not properly packaged and marketed to the Bahamian people so that
the vision of the PLP government was clear. As a result the people
believed the propaganda of the FNM of indecisiveness and that nothing was
being done. The party must assume full responsibility for this failure.
I heard Fred Mitchell warn that noble public policies such as NHI would
not sell themselves and he was correct on this.
As regards the civil service, the mood of civil
servants is generally a good barometer of the general mood of the country.
If morale is low and if civil servants are dissatisfied with the government,
this is a good indication of some erosion of political support from the
governing party. I keep my ear to the ground and teachers, prison
officers, RBPF, and RBDF were generally unhappy as promises of salary adjustments
and promotions were not forthcoming in a timely manner.
The teachers were owed some $7.0 Million by
the outgoing FNM government back in 2002 and that was resolved by the PLP.
The PLP negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement with the BUT
in its 40 year history; this was the richest labour contract ever for educators.
The PLP government addressed the issue of overcrowded class rooms and the
physical plant by refurbishing 149 schools alone in 2006 and building 519
standard class rooms in five years. This compares to 332 class rooms
built by the FNM over 10 years. The reform of education has begun
to address pre-school, IT, and technical education to improve the alignment
of the skill set with the demands of the economy. In the end, the
teachers were apparently not satisfied even though this was more than the
FNM government had done for them in 10 years, but such is life.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force enjoyed the
single largest round of promotions in any given 5 year period.
Further, the Police Act provided for further protection for their families
if officers are either injured or fall in the line of duty. This
too was not enough for the police officers.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force was promised
salaries to bring them on par with the police. Even though there
were promotions and salaries, they were not placed on par with the police
and this was a source of discontent and they may have voted for change.
The prison officers wanted a maximum security
building constructed immediately, promotions approved, and salary adjustments
made, but these demands were not sufficiently met so they too were
not content and may have voted for change.
Even though the PLP can quantitatively prove
that it did more for the Bahamian people in 5 years than the FNM did in
10 years, we must concede that the FNM used their PR to create the
impression that they, the FNM, did more and was a government of action.
They successfully painted the PLP as a “Do Nothing Government”.
The record would show that the FNM literally
destroyed BaTelCo, BISX, and severely weakened the Financial Services sector
with over 300 banks fleeing The Bahamas during the FNM’s tenure.
Further, the FNM’s neglect of the LPIA and the major seaport in Nassau
threatened our tourism industry. All of these problems inherited
by Mr. Christie and the PLP were fixed. BaTelCo was upgraded and
generated $50 million in profits in 2006; runway 1432 was refurbished and
security has been enhanced at LPIA; and tourism arrivals, revenue, and
government revenue are at record levels. Further, BISX is outperforming
the NYSE and the financial services sector is strong and experiencing moderate
growth.
In the face of these magnificent accomplishments,
the FNM was able to use propaganda to convince sufficient Bahamians
that the PLP was lousy, lazy, incompetent, and ineffectual. The record
clearly shows that it was the FNM government that brought several public
institutions and economic sectors to the brink of collapse through pure
incompetence and negligence.
And so we live and we learn. The
PLP should never take it for granted that their good works on behalf of
the great Bahamian people would automatically sell itself. The PLP
should never underestimate the power of propaganda and the spin doctor.
The PLP government must feel a great sense of pride about the accomplishments
they have facilitated during their 5 years of leadership. Kudos to
the Perry Christie and the PLP for a job well done.
Elcott Coleby
Recycled Leadership
I found it quite interesting that this letter was never published
by the Nassau Guardian and the Tribune pre-election. I guess it was
not relevant. Thanks for entertaining me.
Dwayne J. Hanna
April 23, 2007
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your invaluable space in your column.
This is an attempt to assess the devastating
weakness which has now manifested itself in our country. This weakness
at first glance, appears to be trite or of no importance. In fact
some may even dismiss this occurrence as happenstance while others will
herald strategy; whatever the label, this weakness leaves a dubious cloud
over our collective heads as a society.
There has been a lot of information lavished
on the backs of the Bahamian voting public these past few weeks. It is
clear that the voting public will not get a chance to hear political candidates
express themselves in a controlled forum on issues that are relevant to
the country. It is also clear that political rhetoric has again defeated
its archenemy substantive issues.
Most parties have proffered a mixture of concise
and ambiguous statements towards the electorate yet this writer’s concern
transcends even the most well meaning of parties, platforms or policies.
It is asserted here that this concern has not been considered by any of
the parties vying for government; maybe because this is not a political
issue in its strictest sense but in any estimation more a social issue.
Perhaps some sycophants many even call this position vile; whatever the
consequence, free responsible speech should prevail.
It is estimated that this country has approximately
300,000 people and we have been managing our own affairs since independence
in 1973 yet we are faced with this embarrassing task of recycling our leaders.
This, I assert, is incongruent to progress. No matter the cry that
other countries have ventured down this same avenue; this lack of leadership
resource places this country in quite a precarious position. One must be
practical about this. A leader in any organization must appreciate tenure;
they must appreciate seasons; they must appreciate yielding.
However and more importantly, the people of this
country must now ask themselves why there are no viable alternatives to
prime ministership. Could it be that the proverbial ‘bench’ in our political
system is not deep enough? Assuredly this does not speak well about our
mentality, education or other human resource capabilities. Talk about being
on a sticky wicket.
Joking aside, this is not a pleasant position
for a country to be in. In my estimation there are some positions in life
whereby there is no room for the rehashing of personalities and the Office
of the Prime Minister is one of them.
Dwayne J. Hanna
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
"We Will Not Turn Back..."
PLP Leader Perry Christie met with the Party's faithful, massed in
front of the Sir Lynden Pindling Centre at Gambier House Thursday 3 May
to assure them and the country that there will be no turning back by the
PLP. Please click
here for a report from the Progressive Liberal Party's website.
Mr. Christie is pictured during the campaign in North
Andros: photo - www.myplp.com
Wednesday
16th May, 2007
Fred
Mitchell's Thursday Podcast
PLEASE
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was not supposed to be like this. The election result turned out
to be otherwise. There should have been the swearing in of the second
term of Perry Christie as Prime Minister. Instead the PLP had to
make do with the position of Leader of the Opposition. The faithful
gathered at short notice in the grounds of Government House, shouting PLP
ALL THE WAY! This was much to the chagrin of the officials gathered
there. Government House is supposed to be neutral territory.
In fact some PLPs reported that because they were wearing their PLP T shirts
they were turned away at the Government House gate. It was Tuesday
8th May 2007 and the Governor General provided the instrument of appointment
to the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie. Sad though it was,
people held their heads up high and pledged to begin anew the battle to
win the government again. The photo was taken by Peter Ramsay of
The Bahamas Information Services of the new Leader of the Opposition, the
once Prime Minister Perry Christie with his colleagues, the 16 of the 18
men and women who won office under the PLP label in the new House appearing
at Government House. Not pictured are PLP Deputy Leader Cynthia Pratt
and Anthony Moss. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
HUBERT IS BACK WITH VENGEANCE
It is said that a leopard cannot change its spots. That is
a fitting analogy to begin this saga of the second term of Hubert Ingraham,
a man whose deeds are wicked, insidious, hateful and contemptuous.
It is simply hard to believe that this ace man of bull doodoo is once again
the Prime Minister of this country. Uncle Tom is in charge of the
cabin, and the whole Bahamas has to suffer for this egregious error.
Kinder, gentler and straight up has been rejected for crooked, wicked,
and evil. The crooks are now in charge of granary, and what you can
expect is a raid on the national treasury the likes of which we have never
seen.
Our view is that Hubert and his friends have their eyes on the crown
land of The Bahamas. It is instructive that Edison Key, who left
the PLP, left the PLP because he could not get from the Christie government
a crown land grant for his wife to an entire island in the Abaco chain.
When he could not get that, he left; making spurious allegations of wrongdoing
in the Ministry of Tourism. Now Mr. Key is back in the House and
we would guess that the first order of business is for Mr. Ingraham to
hand the land over to Mr. Key.
But it is not just Mr. Key. You have the entire real estate
fraternity, the dreaded conchy joe group, the ones not so behind the scenes
who have their eyes on the prize of The Bahamas, the crown land that remains
in Bahamian hands and which the PLP spent money buying back for the people
of The Bahamas. With Brent Symonette who was raised in a segregated
school and therefore would have no compunction about living in a segregated
Bahamas at the helm and poised to become Prime Minister, when Uncle Tom
leaves, it is not beyond comprehension that Clifton will be on the block
and the Bahamian patrimony sold down the drain. It should not be
beyond belief that the crown land of The Bahamas will generally be made
available for the sale of it by the cartel that controls real estate in
The Bahamas to simply sell off at will. This is what we face: stark,
cold truth.
Mr. Ingraham started off his term like the true leopard that he is.
He gave a speech on Saturday 5th May in which he said that Steve McKinney
and Philippa Russell ought to be let go from ZNS radio. True to his
word on Monday 8th May, the radio shows did not appear. The shows
were suspended. The outcry from the public was such that Mr. Ingraham
came back with the idle response that they were not terminated but that
the show was suspended. In either case, Mr. Ingraham as Prime Minister
has no right to suspend or fire them from ZNS. But he sought to muddy
the water with so much foolishness. The problem is with this man
able to fool the Bahamian public that he was a changed man, a different
man from five years ago, and having run a campaign where his lies were
the truth and the PLP who sought to speak the truth were suddenly not believed,
you can’t put anything past with this gullible public.
Mr. Ingraham told the public that Steve McKinney had three contracts
with the Government of The Bahamas at $45,000 each. Turned out that
was a bold faced lie. Mr. McKinney has two contracts at $45,000 with
different agencies of the Government to perform public relations services.
He got paid $200 per show at ZNS. Ms. Russell $100 per show.
The cost is not out of whack with what a professional would get.
Mr. McKinney himself said that he was better off financially under Mr.
Ingraham’s administration than under Mr. Christie. A lament of many
PLPs. But putting the money in the public domain was simply to muddy
the water from the principle, so that black crabs would immediately say
that he was getting too much money. This accusation coming from a
man who collects $9500 per month just on pension and is not a retired Prime
Minister. He will now in addition to his salary as Prime Minister
continue to get this $9500 per month. It is quite shameful and he
has no shame.
Perry Christie, the new Leader of The Opposition held a news conference
on Tuesday 8th May (you may
click here for his full statement) in which he denounced the victimizing
of Mr. McKinney and Ms. Russell. But what you had in tow was a completely
hostile press at Mr. Christie’s press conference with one of them, a woman
who is up in the very crack of Hubert Ingraham at every turn, who was downright
rude, leading off with a question, how was Mr. Christie’s mental and physical
state because according to her he looked dreadful on the evening of the
election result. Perhaps one day the PLP will learn not to deal with
these ingrates and supplicants and develop its own information dissemination
machinery,
There were promises of more victimization to come. In the same
speech last Saturday on Clifford Park, Mr. Ingraham promised to reduce
the Permanent Secretaries. Remember in answer to the PLP, he said
in the campaign that he would not reduce the public service. It was
also found out at the end of the week that he has stopped the government
hires of 100 persons onto the service. He also threatens to release
those people who were recently hired saying that there was no money in
the treasury to pay them.
The former Minister responsible for the public service was quick
to respond in a podcast made available throughout the country. Click
here for access to the message.
So the PLP has a hard row to hoe. It must defend its constituency
in the face of this devastating loss, the lack of money, the huge campaign
debts that have been left behind and the uncertainty of what is to happen
in the future. One thing is certain though, Hubert Ingraham is back
and he is back with the same vengeance for which he was known when he was
kicked out.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 12th May 2007 at midnight:
346,526.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 12th May 2007
at midnight: 579,353.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
THE PODCAST
We have learned that Fred Mitchell, the former Minister
of Foreign Affairs now intends to do a biweekly podcast and we
link you to that message which will appear on Mondays and Thursdays.
THE
RBDF MARKS A SAD ANNIVERSARY
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force was only six weeks
old when tragedy struck. In retrospect it was perhaps the youthfulness
of the force and its inexperienced crews that led to the great tragedy
but that is for the historians. For us, four young men paid the supreme
sacrifice to defend their young country against an aggressor. As
the HMBS Flamingo was on routine patrol near the Ragged Island chain, they
spotted Cuban poachers. They interdicted the boat and arrested them
and were in the process of bringing them to Nassau when Cuban MIGS unleashed
their fury on the vessel. They sank it, and then strafed the water
with the men in the water. Four never made it. It was a helluva
day that 10th May 1980. Their names are inscribed on the Cenotaph
at the Garden of Remembrance in Nassau. Their families and colleagues
at the Defence Force will forever remember them. Tribute was paid
to them by the Commodore of the Defence Force and the Minister of National
Security Tommy Turnquest. The Government promised that they would
create an effective memorial to the men. The photo of the event appeared
in the Nassau Guardian and is by Letisha Henderson.
THAT
CROWDED FNM CABINET ROOM
The master political deceiver Hubert Ingraham promised
that he would reduce the size of the Cabinet. The Cabinet used to
be 17 under Perry Christie. Mr. Ingraham doesn’t seem to have had
much success. He has been appointing Ministers of State in Departments
that have never had them before. He is like one of those old style
Russian Commissars, making up funny positions to meet specific events.
So far he has appointed 15 ministers, never mind this business of Minister
of State; they get paid the same as a normal minister. Mr. Ingraham
says he proposes to name 4 more by Monday 14th May.
This is the same nonsense he said when he was Prime
Minister the first time. He ended up with what was called the “Gussimae
Cabinet”, the largest in the history of the country. This time he
has to give everyone a job because, three people crossing the floor and
his government is gone. Here is the list of what we know so far:
• Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Tommy Turnquest, Minister of National Security;
• Senator Claire Hepburn, Attorney General;
• Carl Bethel, Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture;
• Kenneth Russell, Minister of Housing and National Insurance;
• Earl Deveaux, Minister of Works and Transport;
• Neko Grant, Minister of Tourism and Aviation;
• Senator Dion Foulkes, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Labour;
• Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources;
• Sidney Collie, Minister of Lands and Local Government;
• Hubert Minnis, Minister of Health and Social Development;
• Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance;
• Desmond Bannister, Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs;
• Senator Elma Campbell, Minister of State for Immigration in the Ministry
of National Security.
LEADER
OF THE OPPOSITION RESPONDS
The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie took
grave exception to what he called the victimizing of Steve McKinney and
Philippa Russell two talk show hosts that had programmes on the public
broadcasting network ZNS. He outlined in detailed
statements to the press on Mr. Ingraham and his unconstitutional and
unlawful action in bringing about an end to the shows of the two individuals.
It is strange when people in the country are against
you. No journalist, no preacher stood up to defend the principle.
What you had was many journalists and others saying that Steve McKinney
was too biased in favour of the PLP and so should have been taken off the
air. But no one defends the principle that this is what a talk show
host does, he is biased, he has his own opinions.
So once again, it turns out that once the tide changes
in the country, the principle goes out of the window and the man in power
is allowed to victimize Steve McKinney for his political ties, and all
but the political side he supports will sit back and say nothing.
Incredible!
WHO
IS TO GO INTO THE SENATE?
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From left
are possible Senators Hope Strachan, Michael Halkitis, Ron Pinder and Allyson
Maynard Gibson.
One of the few gifts in the ambit of the Leader of the
Opposition is that of the four Senate seats to which the PLP is entitled
as a right of the Official Opposition party. The constitution does
however give the Opposition the right to claim other seats.
There are three seats that are appointed by the
Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and
they must reflect the balance of the House of Assembly. The balance
in the House shows that the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats and the
FNM 56 per cent of the seats. So those 3 seats in the Senate should
go to the PLP making it seven in total out of 16 or 43.7 per cent of the
seats in the Senate if the balance is to be properly reflected in the Senate
and according to the constitution. For our money, however, this settles
it.
Hope Strachan is a good candidate in the Senate
together with Michael Halkitis, Ron Pinder and Allyson Gibson. There
are many lobbying for Leslie Miller as well. There should also certainly
be someone from Grand Bahama. Let’s hope that Mr. Christie can juggle
his limited powers to satisfy all the demands.
HOW
THE FAKER OF FOX HILL RAN HER CAMPAIGN
On Saturday 12th May, the FNM’s canvassers in Fox
Hill were back out in the field this time delivering Mother’s Day cards.
Some PLPs refused to accept them. They were outraged by the nastiness
of the FNM’s campaign just a week ago and now wanted no part of them and
their doctor doctor.
The interesting thing about the faker of Fox Hill’s
campaign is that it is being run and advanced by some pretty unsavoury
characters. It is time for the FNMs in Fox Hill to disassociate themselves
from these people.
Since the PLP lost the election but won in Fox Hill,
the FNM and its operatives have been engaged in the most vicious vengeance.
They are threatening to fire the principal of the Sandilands Primary School
and some of the teachers on the basis of a lie that they were engaged in
campaigning for the PLP. If they want a riot in Fox Hill, they should
try that. They are threatening some of the young women whom they
paid to vote FNM and wear FNM T shirts in the Village but the centre of
Fox Hill did not deliver as they thought.
The candidate herself was in the press saying that
she would do anything in her power to ensure that Fred Mitchell was removed
from Fox Hill. Does this “anything” include killing him? Given the
tenor of the times and the people who hang around her campaign, some of
them with criminal backgrounds, the remarks should be taken very seriously.
Reports are coming in how friends close to the Tribune actually paid $100,000
to her campaign to ensure that Fred Mitchell lost.
It is being said that the faker of Fox Hill believed
that she would become Minister of Education and her husband would thereby
benefit from the fat contracts that she would issue to build schools and
classrooms. But never to worry, Hubert Ingraham with his own personal
hatred of Fred Mitchell will soon fix up the doctor no doubt in the senate
to make an even greater political menace to the people of Fox Hill.
This is sad indeed.
CANON
DUDLEY STRACHAN IS BURIED
He was born Nehemiah Wilrow Dudley Strachan some
75 years ago on the quaint island of Rum Cay aka La Isla de Santa Maria
de la Concepcion. Fr. Strachan had a curved spine. It caused
him to have a shortened leg and circulation problems. Archbishop
Drexel Gomez speaking during his homily said that it took a special operation
in Florida to assist in settling the problem and it was very much touch
and go. It never cured a hump in his back. At one time many
thought that he would never get a chance to test his vocation. He
lived to do so and raise a family of four children. He had a full
life but lived with pain throughout that entire life. He walked,
though slowly and walked with a struggle and with pain, but he became a
successful Anglican priest rising to the rank of one of the canons of the
Cathedral and as the Rector of St. George’s Anglican Church, the church
of the Valley where some of the national leaders and leading families were
born and grew up. He was a former Rector of St. Stephen’s in Bimini,
and a former Headmaster of St. John’s College, the Anglican High School
in Nassau.
Fred Mitchell, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Member of Parliament elect for Fox Hill spoke to the congregation at
a memorial service for Canon Strachan. He recalled Canon Strachan’s
support of him when he was head of the People's Democratic Force (PDF)
and his help in building his self-esteem. You may click
here for the full remarks. Mr. Mitchell’s remarks were amongst
many laudatory remarks including those by Archdeacon Ranfurly Brown, now
Rector of St. Agnes, who called him his champion; Sir Arlington Butler,
Head of The Bahamas Olympic Association and who is also Canon Strachan’s
Cousin who also represented the late Canon’s luncheon group The Lunch Bunch,
and Noreen Major who was the Priest’s Warden during Canon Strachan’s time
at St. George's. He was buried on Saturday 12th May following a mass
at St. Agnes Anglican Church in Grants Town in the church’s cemetery.
The photo of Canon Strachan laid out in St. George’s Church on Friday 11th
May is by Peter Ramsay of The Bahamas Information Services.
THE
PARADISE ISLAND DEVELOPMENT
The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie issued
a statement on Friday 11th May 2007 to congratulate Sol Kerzner and the
Kerzner operation on the occasion of the grand opening of their third phase.
The text reads:
"As Leader of The Official Opposition, I publicly
wish the Kerzner organisation well on the grand opening of Phase III of
its landmark development here in The Bahamas. While in government, the
Progressive Liberal Party’s administration recognised the value of the
Kerzner product to the national tourism industry and took care to ensure
its continued success.
We note by the grand opening of Kerzner’s Phase
III that our efforts have contributed to the positive impact of that success
and we offer the best wishes of the Official Opposition to the Kerzner
Organisation now and into the future."
Sol Kerzner, the owner, spoke to the press earlier
in the week and told them that as soon as the third phase was clearly successful,
he could be looking toward a fourth phase. Kerzner International
is getting bigger and bigger in The Bahamas. It is a successful market
machine. It employs almost 8000 people, making it perhaps the second
largest single employer in The Bahamas. The government is the largest.
It is certainly the largest private sector employer. Perry Christie
issued the statement it appears in absentia. He was not invited to
the party. The irony then is having ensured that Mr. Kerzner's investment
in Phase Three went head with all the best concessions the country could
allow, his successor Hubert Ingraham gets to take the credit for its opening
and the praise for its success. This is the great irony of the whole
electoral loss to the Free National Movement. The sound policies
of the PLP will provide the benefits to the FNM. It is nothing less
than tragic.
The talk around town of course is that the Kerzner
operation at Paradise Island was hostile to the PLP. That was certainly
not the case when Butch Kerzner, the son was alive. He worked well
with the new PLP administration, had a friendly access to the halls of
power. That all changed in a fiery helicopter crash one sad day in
October last year in the Dominican Republic. With that death it appears
the relationship with the PLP went up in flames. All the careful
work gone to naught.
When the election took place on 2nd May, the reports
came back of how employees were being encouraged not to support the PLP
because they were told the PLP did not want Mr. Kerzner in The Bahamas.
This harks back to the time pre 1992 when sanctions were in place against
South African investments, and the PLP followed the line of the Commonwealth
on the matter, quite correctly. But never let the truth interfere
with a good story, and it appears that your Bahamian voter does not care
about the principle of these things. The only point appears in too
many cases to be who has the money to pay. The Kerzner operation
provides big bucks, and anything that seemed to threaten that ends up being
sacrificed. So while the PLP got its share of the votes at Paradise
Island, the impression is that the ruling diktat at Kerzner and the majority
opposed the PLP. It is reflected in the results around the country
in many constituencies where those workers live. The PLP has itself
to blame in some senses.
When the government changed, the question was whether
the FNM operatives at Kerzner in high level sensitive places should change.
The PLP said no, that it wanted to inculcate a new culture. The end
result is that the PLP itself is now gone. Those people did not change
their ways, and they worked unceasingly even as they were smiling up in
the PLP's faces to ensure that the party lost. Now as they celebrate
their grand opening, the leader of the country who gave them the agreement
that led to this present success was not even present at the ribbon cutting.
Strange way that life takes its twists and turns, and we don’t think that
anyone is losing any sleep about it. However, we hope that the PLP
has learned something again about the nature of power. There are
no friends, just alliances. Once your usefulness is over, that’s
it and you are done. Amen!
IN PASSING
PLP Leadership
The Nassau Guardian quoted Obie Wilchcombe, the PLP’s Member of Parliament
elect for West End and Bimini and former Minister of Tourism as saying
that Perry Christie is the Leader of the PLP but whenever he makes up his
mind to leave, he, Mr. Wilchcombe will be throwing his hat in the ring
for the job. Bernard Nottage, the MP for Bain and Grants Town when
asked the same thing simply said that Perry Christie is the Leader of the
PLP period.
A Government Of Trust
A young woman is going up to the counter to buy an airplane ticket.
The lady who is serving her asks: “How are you paying?” The lady
replied: “The whole Government is trusting so I must be can trust too.”
Bahamar Project Now In Doubt?
The talk about town is that the Bahamar deal for the redevelopment
of Cable Beach may be dead in the water. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham
was hostile to the development in Opposition. Now that he is in charge,
they at Bahamar have been unable to get an appointment to see him.
The PLP did not finalize the deal before they left office, one that promises
8,000 jobs. But it also promises competition for the Kerzner operation
at Paradise Island. The talk now is that with the Kerzner operation
having so much sway over Mr. Ingraham, and Kerzner opposed to the Bahamas
deal, the deal is sunk.
Bar Association Case Dismissed?
The folk who are lawyers who brought you all the trouble on the part
of the judges to say that the PLP had acted unlawfully on the salary question
have had a surprise of their lives from the new FNM government. Never
mind all the talk in Opposition, it appears that the new FNM led Government
have moved to strike out the Bar Association’s action. These people
thought the FNM would support them. One of the judges even said in
open court before the elections that when the FNM was returned, legality
would return to government. And the PLP proposes to trust these folk
to adjudicate their cases?
Questions On St. Lucia and China
The new government of St. Lucia headed by John Compton decided against
all the evidence and the weight of history to re establish ties with Taiwan,
the breakaway province from China. The decision did not make sense
what with all of the public funding that China gave to St. Lucia and the
fact that China is clearly the proper country with which to deal.
What accounts for it? The Opposition there in St. Lucia should be
investigating the reports that the Cabinet of St. Lucia was badly split
on this decision which has led to China suspending ties with St Lucia.
Further, the talk is that some elements in the Government were expecting
personal contributions shall we say in exchange for maintaining ties with
China. The Chinese government made it clear that they contribute
not to individuals but to institutions. That sealed their fate and
St. Lucia now supports Taiwan, the breakaway province. The level
of pedalling the sovereignty of Caribbean countries is quite disturbing.
But this matter should be investigated.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
This week we had to do a lot of heavy editing
of the letters to the editor. Many of them can best be described
as hate mail. Many of them came from white Bahamians who were to
say the least outraged at the reports of their behaviour during and after
the general election. We stand by the stories.
The more interesting and measured comments came
from Black Bahamians who insist that this era of racism is behind us.
Fascinating really: in a situation where the white Bahamian support of
the PLP was next to zero, where a white Bahamian family who owns a major
business in The Bahamas who was once part of the UBP government personally
raised 3 million dollars to fight the PLP, raised it out of Lyford Cay;
where we are tracking evidence that those close to The Tribune, again white
Bahamians, contributed one hundred thousand dollars to the campaign of
the FNM's candidate in Fox Hill; where one of the owners of a tour company
in The Bahamas, a white Bahamian, reportedly told employees as they went
to vote that if the PLP won again, he would close the business down.
This occurs in a situation where you have the best economy in the history
of the country and so these folk made more money than ever before but that
was not good enough.
The hand of friendship of Mr. Christie was extended
but it appears the response was to chop it off as it was said elsewhere.
Some have talked about racism but that’s always what they say. It
is impossible for black people in this situation to be racist. Some samples
of the letters and the invective follow - Editor
Dear Editor,
You make me sick with your references to the UBP, a party that has
not contested an election in The Bahamas since 1968, 39 years ago. You
lost and unfortunately, you have survived to fight another day. Get over
it. The UBP was not just the white merchant class' party. There were a
lot of black persons who supported the UBP, including my grandparents who
could never be considered Uncle Toms or Aunt Jemimas…
Vaughn Scriven
a bunch of…
YALL WEB SITE SUCK PLP LOVER ALL UP IN PERRY STINKING…, IM GLAD
BUSH CRACK PERRY… GONE. YALL PLP'S AND BIAS. CANT EVEN SPELL HEALTH
DUMB IGNORANT…
Joel Higgs
This site is totally disgusting. You people are portraying
the Bahamas IN A NEGATIVE light.
The PLP has no "divine" right to run this
country, neither does the FNM. It is earned or lost & given by the
people. The racist remarks are a total turn off. The PLP will never get
my vote again because of sites like this.
Sherwin Johnson
What's your angry racist spin on this?
Romans 13, where it is written: "Everyone must
submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have
been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority
is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will
bring judgment on themselves."
What's your angry racist spin on this?
John Lightbourn
Hello,
I am a regular reader of your site and was very
disappointed with your story labeled 'The
White Bahamian'. I know that some may be very upset about the
change in government but we must be careful of the false picture we paint
of our country because whether we are FNMs, PLPs or BDMs this is our home
and we have to take care of it. I am sure that if a tourist was to
read this story they will not want to come to the Bahamas just out of FEAR!
What lynch mob are you talking about??? Why are you blaming the voters
for sending the country back to the days of apartheid? When were
blacks threatened in the streets? I beg you to STOP this negative
writing.
Laurie Dames
What is a BAHAMIAN?
Why shouldn't the people of the world think that
Brent Symonette represents what is Bahamian? He is a Bahamian! It’s
perfectly fine for people around the world to know that Bahamians come
from different ethnic, political, social and religious backgrounds. We’re
all mixed up like conch salad and like conch salad it’s the mix that makes
for the tasty dish!!!
Stop the hate toward your own people! Its
ok to suck up and drool over every potential investor who looks like Brent,
but when its one of our own they become the "enemy". Maybe some of us really
want to be a part of the country we love too! Black Bahamians don't have
the monopoly of loving the Bahamas.
And the commentary about hatred in white
people's eyes toward blacks and lynch mob mentality is just downright disgusting!
I live in a community where there is probably a slightly higher percentage
of white BAHAMIANS and I assure you every one is getting on just fine!
No one is getting fired for their political choice! You are spreading nasty,
filthy, hate filled LIES! STOP THE MADNESS and let our country get back
on track after the election frenzy!
Abaco Potcake
[Name withheld]
Please change your stance, Defeat is not forever
As a Bahamian living in the US, and reading your
column every week, I must say that I am very disappointed in the stance
that you chose after the defeat of the PLP. You make it appear that
things are really bad in the Bahamas, and that racism is alive and well
(which you seem to be perpetuating), and that the Bahamas have gone back
to the "old" days. No right thinking Bahamian believes this, but
you seem to be making it a big issue on your site, and we know that this
is not true.
Of course you have the right to say anything
that you want because it's your site, but, I would think that you would
be more responsible in your views and voice the facts, rather than your
bitter disappointment of the PLP losing this election. Because I
can tell you over the past several years, you have built up somewhat of
a credibility. But with your present racism stance you have lost
a lot of that, whether you care or not. All PLPs are disappointed, no doubt,
just like the FNMs in the previous election, I'm sure. But we are
known for peaceful transitions, so why spoil it by voicing these bitter
and racist comments, as if to stir-up something.
I know Fred Mitchell very well, and I started
reading this column because of him. And I know that he was shocked
and hurt that the support wasn't what he thought it was in Fox Hill, but
I don't think he would stoop to this level. He won, congratulations go
out to him, even though it's bitter sweet, because of losing the government.
Especially after no more traveling and seeing the world at the expense
of the government. I would be hurt and disappointed myself if I was in
his position. But I would not undermine my Bahamian people, by calling
them poor and foolish and wanting to go back to the days of slavery.
You need to stop this and stop it now. White Bahamians are not the
enemy, most of the ones who were UBP (that DEAD Party) are now dead and
gone themselves.
I had the opportunity to know Pop Symonette,
Bobby Symonette, Craig Symonette and Brent, and I can tell you they have
demonstrated concern and care for the Bahamas and the people black and
white. I personally have benefitted from each one of them, and proud to
have been associated with them. I was not a UBP and never was, but
the fact that these white Bahamians did not treat me like I was less than
them, speaks loudly of their character and their compassion.
The FNM governed the Bahamas for 10 years,
1992 - 2002, and experienced unprecedented growth during that time, much
of what carried over into the years the PLP governed.
To give the world the racist views that
you have is disappointing, and I hope during the next couple of weeks,
you will correct this distorted view of the Bahamas that you are giving
those of us who live abroad.
The world has not come to an end, remember
the PLP went through this 15 years ago, and the FNM went through this five
years ago. Fred is still a young man, and his voice is powerful and
needed. Perhaps he will be able to show the world what he's made
of, and lead by example of what an opposition is supposed to do. Bearing
in mind, that an opposition party is valuable to a country just like the
government, because they are watchful of what the government is doing and
to report to the people.
Be a Sport, support the government because
you are still employed and you can make a difference in what happens in
the future, whether negative or positive, hopefully it's the latter.
I expect better of you, and I will be reading
your column each week to see if you have softened your stance, and start
writing about the good things about the Bahamas and what they are about
to experience.
Sincerely,
Ty O'lander
THIS
WEEK IN OPPOSITION
Perry Christie - Leader of The Opposition
PLP Leader Perry Christie and Mrs. Christie are
pictured with Governor General Arthur Hanna at Government House as Mr.
Christie prepared to accept the instrument of appointment as Leader of
The Official Opposition.
Bahamas Information Services photo - Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was an interesting night in Fox Hill. You would swear by the turnout
at the Branch meeting that the PLP had won the election. The atmosphere
was electric, and there was a charged feeling in the air, that people wanted
to move forward with aggression. This was also the night for Branch
elections, and there was a new slate of officers put forward to take the
local party’s business forward. The team brought in some fresh faces.
It was also an evening to say farewell to the campaign coordinator for
Fox Hill Philip Mortimer. Mr. Mortimer has been working with the
Fox Hill branch since August of last year first as constituency coordinator
and then as the campaign coordinator. Mr. Mortimer will now join
his family’s business the Mortimer Candy Kitchen on East Street.
Fred Mitchell, MP elect for Fox Hill, spoke and thanked Mr. Mortimer for
a job well done. Our photo of the week is the farewell and thank
you by the Fox Hill Branch of the PLP for Mr. Mortimer, following branch
elections on Wednesday 17th May 2007. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE INGRAHAM ATTACKS CONTINUE
There is a saying be careful what you wish for. That portion
of the Bahamian electorate that voted for the return of Hubert Ingraham
the so called changed man should now be weeping in their tea cups or who
knows, they may be rejoicing. Mr. Ingraham, now Prime Minister again,
has launched full scale into attacking poor people and all the support
systems that were put in place for them. He has launched full scale
into attacking the civil service and those of their friends in the disciplined
forces who thought that they would get all they wanted are now facing the
cold hard facts that they’ll get nothing from the FNM crew.
There was news that the Minister responsible for the Prison Tommy
Turnquest turned up at the prison trumpeting prison reform, improved salaries
and working conditions, and looking at the issue of promotions. What
a lost soul. All of these issues were addressed by the PLP but what
you had was a group of FNM officers, openly so, in complete defiance of
the system who were openly campaigning for the FNM to come to office.
They should all have been fired for insubordination when they called a
strike just before the elections but the PLP trying the softly softly touch
allowed them to get away with it. There was nothing new in what Tommy
Turnquest had to say, and the FNM cannot put any new resources in the prison
that were not already allocated by the PLP to the prison. What he
said was simply idle words, and empty promises.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force Staff Association that says it is
ready to defend its insubordination when it refused to carry out an instruction
of the Commissioner and went anyway to vote in red T shirts, clearly signifying
their support for the Free National Movement, will find out what the Ingraham
administration is made of. The Ingraham administration has no interest
at all in being involved in internal police matters. The Commissioner
will as he should throw the book at the lot of them for their misconduct.
There will be no friendly minister to intervene and counsel otherwise.
But this again is what the police voted for.
The reports are that the situation within the police force is more
polarized than it has ever been, with FNMs in the brass pitted against
PLPs to the point where it is making the decision making in the force ineffective
and unenforceable. We have voiced our concern here that the Free
National Movement followed a deliberate policy in Opposition to politicize
the police Force. They made allegations about the PLP interfering
in the Force but that was just a smokescreen for those who were actually
doing the interfering – the FNM. The Commissioner made certain changes
to the structure of the Force just before the election, to prepare the
Force for the future and the rapid expansion of our economy but it will
be interesting to see what the new administration does with regard to that.
There is a report that one of the senior brass of the police force
actually went to an FNM rally in his plain clothes but wearing an FNM hat.
How in the circumstances of that can the public have any confidence in
the neutral execution of the duties of the police force? The Commissioner
himself must act with dispatch to ensure that these people are weeded out,
and the Force cleaned up and made politically neutral. In fact, it
is said that even though the Commissioner gave an order to transfer out
from various posts, the persons never moved offices and remained there.
They simply went on vacation and did not move. Now that the FNM is
power, who know whether they will ever comply? Their boys are in
power.
But the testing of the neutrality of the force came earlier than
we thought. On Monday 15th May, the mother-in-law of the former Prime
Minister Perry Christie thought that she heard shots. The matter
was dismissed and no one paid attention, until morning when it was discovered
that there two bullet holes in the house. Now the house is
one of two houses in a compound which is owned by the former Prime Minister
Perry Christie along the Cable Beach strip. The former PM’s son and
his mother in law live in one, Mr. Christie and his wife, daughter and
other son live in the other house.
When the matter was first reported on ZNS TV, it appeared that the
police were saying that the whole thing did not pan out. That the
evidence did not suggest bullets at all. Once a formal complaint
was made about this characterization, the police commissioner dispatched
officers down to the scene who were able to correct their earlier misstatements.
Yes in fact there were bullet holes and yes there was an investigation
going on. Now what are PLP supporters to think in those circumstances
but that the police deliberately and for political reasons underrated what
happened; the bullets may have in fact been aimed at the Leader of the
Opposition and former Prime Minister.
The fact though is all of these matters have been laid at the feet
of Mr. Ingraham who led a campaign of unprecedented viciousness, drunkenness
and hooliganism in the campaign. He has engendered hatred against
Mr. Christie and his colleagues and will cause people to do foolishness.
We have to report to you that Urban Renewal has been cancelled by
Mr. Ingraham. This award winning community policing programme started
by Mr. Christie which led to the lessening of crime, improvement in housing
for the poor and infirmed, the helpless is to be scrapped. Already
the housing people have been told to head back to their headquarters; the
police have been put on standby to return to headquarters for other duties;
the environmental health people have been told to report back to their
headquarters. The programme has been scrapped.
Hubert Ingraham has scrapped the straw market contract. He
has scrapped the contract to build a new school in Grand Bahama after complaining
that the PLP built no new schools during their time in office. He
has cancelled the employment of a hundred poor workers to the public service.
He scrapped the port that would have stopped containers having to off load
on Bay Street and move them to the south of New Providence. His rich
benefactors from Bay Street said no and so no it was. Later he tried
to backtrack but the damage was done. That is the FNM for you under
this present dispensation. Anything to make sure that poor people
have no chance to make it.
So two weeks into the new administration, poor people are under attack
like never before. We hope that those thousands who said they trusted
Hubert Ingraham now see what they were trusting. He has returned
to the attack and when he is finished with us, God help the nation.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 19th May 2007 up to midnight:
313,273.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 19th May 2007
up to midnight: 906,520.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
FOUR
PLP SENATORS TO BE APPOINTED
The Leader of the Opposition Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie
has announced the appointment of the four senators to which the Opposition
is automatically entitled under the Constitution.
Mr. Christie has appointed former Cabinet Minister
Allyson Maynard Gibson; lawyer and businessman Jerome Fitzgerald, attorney
and social activist Hope Strachan and former Grand Bahama member of Parliament
and attorney Pleasant Bridgewater.
Consultations between the Prime Minister and the
Leader of the Opposition are underway in connection with the appointment
of additional Senators under article 39 (4) of the Constitution.
CONNECTION
TO THE PODCAST
We applaud Fred Mitchell for the podcasts that have
begun from his office defending his record and that of the PLP government
on various matters as they have been attacked by the Free National Movement.
We have been informed that a new podcast is available every Monday and
Thursday. The last of them was Thursday 16th May and a new one will
be put up tomorrow. We carry
the main link here. You can check this site for the link to the
latest Fred Mitchell podcast..
THE
LARGEST CABINET
Last week, we listed the Cabinet of The Bahamas,
the largest in the history of The Bahamas. On Monday 14th May, the
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced another five additional Ministers
of State who get $6000 a year less than the substantive Minister of the
Government. The constitution makes no distinction between a Minister
of State and a Minister and so they are all entitled to sit around the
table. That’s the biggest group in the history of the country.
Hubert Ingraham has provided jobs for all the boys, oh yes and for the
girls.
The Cabinet listed last week is below and followed
in blue are the additional names:
• Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• Tommy Turnquest, Minister of National Security;
• Senator Claire Hepburn, Attorney General;
• Carl Bethel, Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture;
• Kenneth Russell, Minister of Housing and National Insurance;
• Earl Deveaux, Minister of Works and Transport;
• Neko Grant, Minister of Tourism and Aviation;
• Senator Dion Foulkes, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Labour;
• Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources;
• Sidney Collie, Minister of Lands and Local Government;
• Hubert Minnis, Minister of Health and Social Development;
• Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance;
• Desmond Bannister, Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs;
• Senator Elma Campbell, Minister of State for Immigration in the Ministry
of National Security.
• Byran Woodside, Minister of State for Youth
and Sports in Education
• Charles Maynard, Minister of State for Culture
in the Minister of Education;
• Branville McCartney, Minister of State in the
Ministry of Tourism and Aviation
• Phenton Neymour, Minister of State for Public
Utilities
• Loretta Butler, Minister of State for Social
Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Development.
The talk is that Mr. Ingraham facing a revolt from
Mr. McCartney who was insulted that he was not in the first group.
The two other men Mr. Neymour and Mr. Maynard felt that they deserved to
be there because they crossed over from the CDR when Dr. Bernard Nottage
returned to the PLP. Mrs. Butler Turner made the case that she is
after all a Butler, so how could she not be there. They all made
their point, we guess and so they are all there. Twenty in all.
Amazing! Hey! Hey! The gang’s all here.
TOMMY
ON PRISON REFORM - SAY WHAT?
The new Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest
went to visit the prison during the week and the press reported that he
promised that the new government would review the salaries of prison officers.
This is quite curious since the salaries of prison officers have already
been reviewed by reason of a compensation study for which the government
has paid some one million dollars. That review was completed with
regard to the prison, the Defence Force and the police at the end of March
and recommendations were made and carried out with regard to the salaries
of prison officers. Within the past six months the salaries of prison
officers was increased by $1200 per annum. Other increases were given
to provide for parity of ranks in the prison system with that of the police
force.
The question, we have is why would the Minister
not know this, and what further adjustments are needed in the salaries
of prison officers that would not irresponsibly and adversely affect the
Treasury? It appears that this new crew came into office without
knowing what was going on in the government and are just busy pandering
to any group that they perceived voted for them without regard to the national
consequences.
THE
POLITICS IN THE DISCIPLINED FORCES
The Commissioner of Police Paul Farqhuarson is responsible
in law for the issuing of vendors’ permits. There is a newspaper
vendor who sells newspapers in Rawson Square. The police have been
trying to get him to move for years.
