Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 4 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2006
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
FOULKES
DEFENDS THE INDEFENSIBLE - A Comment on Joshua Sears
It never ceases to amaze us what Sir Arthur Foulkes chooses to write
about, to be ticked off about. The man took up a whole column last
week on Tuesday 31st October to defend retired Ambassador Joshua Sears
in the face of a passing comment made on this site in the column of Sunday
22nd October 2006. The site quite rightly criticized Mr. Sears for
biting the hand that fed him during the last four years. Sir Arthur
and a letter writer below were upset and made it plain. The knight
called the writers of this column all kinds of names in the face of those
four lines that appeared here.
Joshua Sears
The retired diplomat who just finished serving the PLP for four
years in Washington has bitten the hand that fed him. Mr. Sears has
announced by a pamphlet being circulated in Exuma that he is the candidate
for the next election for the FNM in the constituency. What a shame!
Disgraceful! Cut behind on the way!
Sir Arthur tried to confuse the issue by mixing it up with the suggestion that Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister had something to do with the comments. Desperation is really setting in.
We stand by the comments made here and go further. While no one impugned Mr. Sears’ technical and professional abilities and capacities, the fact is Joshua Sears is now a politician. He is in the public domain. The PLP and PLP supporters would be stupid to allow Mr. Sears to float into Exuma like a knight on his horse to supposedly rescue Exuma, being represented as some flawless diplomat who has come home to save his country. Nonsense! There is nothing in Exuma that he needs to save. Anthony Moss the present representative is doing a good job. He stuck with Exuma through thick and thin. He lives with the people, knows their pain directly and he will beat Joshua Sears. Mr. Sears does not connect. He will get the traditional FNM votes but the PLPs will stand firm. FNMS are at best 40 per cent of the electorate in Exuma. They cannot win with that.
These are the facts: Joshua Sears was to be the candidate for the Free National Movement in Exuma in the 2002 election. Unfortunately for him, a life long PLP, whose family is all PLP, he did not get the FNM nomination because there was a revolt against imposing him as a choice on the FNM in the face of the incumbency of Elliott Lockhart the then Member of Parliament who was FNM. Most PLPs at the time forgave Mr. Sears and believed that this was a isolated occurrence where a PLP supporter simply got confused because of the ten years of blandishments from Mr. Ingraham, for example a special legislative package was designed to allow Mr. Sears to retire early with a full pension. It is like someone who is kidnapped getting to be sympathetic with his or her captors and crossing over to the other side, the Patty Hearst syndrome. That was what happened to Mr. Sears.
Perry Christie, the Prime Minister who came to office in 2002, should have accepted his resignation as Ambassador in 2002. Mr. Sears was an FNM appointment and it turns out that having retired from the service, he was no longer a civil servant serving in that post but an FNM appointee serving in that post. All FNM appointments should have been removed from office and replaced with PLP appointments. The fact is that under the constitution Article 111 gives the Prime Minister the power to appoint persons to serve overseas. Some have argued that Mr. Christie thought that in deference to Joshua Sears’ family, he would be allowed to continue to work overseas, get his children through their education but also cleanse him of FNM politics.
When such a thing is done, that person owes loyalty to the appointer or the exerciser of the power. It is not expected that you will be sleeping with the enemy so to speak, while working for those in power. It turns out that this is exactly what happened. We do not know, but it is reasonable to suggest that during the time that Mr. Sears was working for Prime Minister Perry Christie, a PLP, he was busy talking to the Leader of the Opposition Hubert Ingraham of the FNM. It means that all of the advice that he gave to the Prime Minister, the execution of his duties as Ambassador, all of it now becomes suspect having regard to what has transpired with him becoming now an FNM candidate. No one says that he cannot be an FNM candidate. No one says that he did not serve his country well, he may have but the fact is he crossed the line of loyalty by giving the impression that he was one thing, not PLP even, but neutral while in fact he was a sleeper cell for the FNM within a PLP administration.
To this day, one must ask the question whether he has ever formally told the Prime Minister or the Minister of Foreign Affairs for that matter, what he is doing or intended to do even as he was coming to the end of the term. He probably spent his time denying that any such thing was happening even as the rumours began to fly that Mr. Ingraham and he were talking and that he was about to become Mr. Ingraham’s nominee in Exuma.
It is clear that the two men Mr. Ingraham and Mr. Sears are close. The attachment has lasted a whole parliamentary term. Mr. Ingraham has reportedly insisted that the only candidate he would consider for Exuma is Joshua Sears and pushed out Anthony Musgrove a generation younger for Mr. Sears. He refused to countenance anyone else but Mr. Sears. Mr. Sears returned home during the term at every instance to work the crowds at regattas and other civic functions. In retrospect, he was clearly simply waiting to launch his campaign. It is simply disingenuous, wrong and disloyal. He should have declined to work for the present Government in Washington and been a real courageous man and simply launched his political career. Now he has left a bitter taste in the mouths of PLPs where he has appeared to have bitten the hand that fed him, misled and fooled them who offered him friendship which he abused. This is the man that the FNM now offers to Exuma. The question is: is this a man you can trust, knowing what we now know? No tears can then be shed for him by PLPs over the remarks made in his column. The situation will only get worse.
Mr. Sears should be defeated in Exuma for all that we have said here today alone. Politics is a tough business. It is not a business for the faint of heart. He was not kind to the PLP and so there is no reason why they should be kind to him. That will undoubtedly offend some but consider this: those who consider themselves to be neutral; how do you trust a fellow like this who looks you in the face pretending to be one thing and then turns out to be another?
This is par for the course for the Ingraham strategy to have sleeper cells in the PLP bosom. For example, William Allen, the former FNM Finance Minister, was a counsellor to Paul Adderley, the last PLP Minister of Finance in the Pindling government. In that capacity of Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors Sir William advised the PLP Finance Minister to raise taxes in the last year of the PLP in office in 1991 and to cramp credit in the economy. Mr. Adderley did that and persuaded the last Pindling cabinet to do so. The PLP lost because of the economy amongst other things. The next day, after the election, it turned out to everyone’s surprise that Sir William was Mr. Ingraham’s choice to be Finance Minister. Why should we as PLPs let Mr. Sears get away with that same trick? No, not this time.
Sir Arthur should spend his time writing about something else.
But we find his crocodile tears over Joshua Sears to be utterly unconvincing
and unwise.
FIRE
AT FOX HILL URBAN RENEWAL
A call went out to the police at 3:31 a.m. Saturday
4th November that there was a rubbish fire in Fox Hill. The engine
reached the scene some ten minutes later to find that what was burning
was the newly renovated Fox Hill Urban Renewal Office.
It appears that someone had broken into the building,
spread kerosene oil about the back room and lit it afire. They then
went around the back and threw a Molotov Cocktail of diesel or gasoline
hoping one guesses that the whole building would burn. The fire was
quickly brought under control saving the building but not before the room
at the back was burnt. The other rooms in the building were covered
in soot. It will take some three to four day to get the operation
back up and running.
Fred Mitchell, the MP for Fox Hill was on the scene
by 6 a.m. He told the press that Urban Renewal is not a building
but a spirit and that it cannot be stopped by burning the building down.
No idea about the motive for the arson but some people are suggesting that
politics may be the motive. Who knows? It is silly season.
THE
PORT AUTHORITY SOAP OPERA
The sad and plain fact is that the St. Georges and the Haywards are now
at war. It has come to this and is a natural consequence of last
week’s silly announcement by Sir Jack Hayward that he is the 75 percent
owner of the Grand Bahama Port Authority. Click
here for last week's report.
We predicted that Edward St. George’s widow would
be forced to take legal action against Sir Jack Hayward given the
developments. We did not understand why even someone as thick as
Jack Hayward would take to undermining his company like that. What
now transpires is that it appears that the widow St. George was not comfortable
with all the bad publicity and adverse developments in and around Hannes
Babak, the Chairman of the Port who was appointed following the ouster
of Julian Francis as Chairman. She may have wanted to force the point
that Mr. Babak had to go.
Sir Jack on the other hand is adamant that Mr. Babak
is to stay. His public statements suggest that he thinks Mr. Babak
is the smartest thing since Einstein. He made his statement it now
appears to show that the St. George estate could not overrule him as the
principle shareholder. He would have his way.
The next chapter in the saga unfolded quickly with
the mercurial attorney Fred Smith, who Edward St. George had hired as general
counsel for the Port, announcing with great flourish that he was resigning
from the Grand Bahama Port Authority. This announcement that came
on Tuesday 31st October was filled with his usual disingenuous flourish
about how he could no longer trust Mr. Babak and that he could no longer
do business with him, that he was uncomfortable with Mr. Babak's methods.
Anyone who knows Fred Smith would know however that there is no way in
life that a point of principle would move him away from a great source
of money. It was some secret advantage that he was not disclosing
or there was some other problem. The problem was apparent in his
own announcement. He was conflicted. He is also the lawyer
for the St. George Estate and with contentious proceedings coming, there
is no way he could represent both. He does not get along with Jack
Hayward, so there was no question in any event of him staying on with Jack
Hayward firmly in charge, so the answer is he got the boot. He simply
rushed out and resigned before he got the boot.
Jack Hayward went to the press and disabused the
public of the supposed high minded motives of Mr. Smith. He reminded
us all that the Port was about to give Fred Smith the boot anyway because
of the conflict. The next chapter unfolded with the police being
called to the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s headquarters in Freeport to
keep the peace because Mr. Smith had obtained on the afternoon of Thursday
2nd November before Justice Lyons an ex parte order to give the estate
of Edward St. George and to Lady Henrietta St. George access to all documents,
computers, ledgers and other information about the state of affairs of
the company, to stop the destruction or disposal of any documents and to
restrain Hannes Babak from working as Chairman of the company until an
inter partes hearing resumed on the 20th November.
The question is how a shareholder can choose a Chairman
for his company and how a court, ex parte, could give such an order?
It is quite incredible and quite another thing, but they got the order.
Further why did the Judge not tell Mr. Smith that he had to remove himself
from the case because he had a further conflict. He could not step
out of the Port one day as their General Counsel and the next day represent
a party as an adversary of his former client. That is wrong.
Mr. Smith has now joined up with Damien Gomez who
represents the St. George daughter Caroline and who in a few months is
to become a Judge of the Supreme Court, his resignation from the Senate
being officially acknowledged on Wednesday 1st November by Senate President
Sharon Wilson.
Senator Philip Galanis who has been leading a crusade
on behalf of the people of Freeport to rid the Port Authority of
Mr. Babak said that this showed why Mr. Babak had to go. Certainly
if one of the affidavits submitted to support the case is to be believed,
the matter is very serious indeed. You may click
here to view that affidavit.
And so Freeport is further in drift, with Jack Hayward
pretending that he has no problems and staying to soldier on in a company
that he has no vision for and no idea how to run. Edward St. George
clearly saw to it that Jack Hayward stayed out of the company for good
reasons it seems.
It would be in the best interests of the Hayward
clan to calm this down and settle with the St. George estate and remove
themselves from the day to day running of the company. Mr. Babak
should step down to allow a new Chairman to be appointed. If this
is not calmed down, then trouble will brew with Hutchison Whampoa, the
major investor in Freeport that runs the airport and the harbour
and owns the container port and the hotels at Our Lucaya, the major functioning
tourism product in Freeport. Failing that the company’s now owners
should be warned that intervention from the Government would not be a step
too remote to be contemplated.
A footnote: the report is that when Messrs. Smith
and Gomez showed up at the Port, Jack Hayward immediately called Hubert
Ingraham, who called his boys Neko Grant and Ken Russell, the Grand Bahama
FNM MPs who came running to Sir Jack’s rescue. Not sure what they
could have done but if this is true, its clear whose side Jack Hayward
is on.
TOP: Attorneys Fred Smith, left and Damien Gomez, right, shown leaving
the Grand Bahama Port Authority building in this Nassau Guardian photo
by Derek Carroll.
Sir Jack Hayward, right, joins in the Grand Bahama Port Authority's
'Keep Grand Bahama Clean' campaign Saturday 28th October. Freeport
New photo.
MITCHELL
AT POLICE GROUND BREAKING
Inspector Bradley Sands, the Chairman of the Police Staff Association presided
over the breaking of ground for a new complex to be owned by the Staff
Association in Grand Bahama. The complex will include offices for
the Association, a laundry and dry cleaners and a day care centre for the
children of police officers.
The ceremony that took place on Thursday 2nd November
in Freeport was attended by Fred Mitchell, the Minister responsible for
the public service, officials of the Grand Bahama Port Authority who donated
the land, Members of Parliament from the Grand Bahama area and police officers.
The Minister congratulated the officers on behalf
of the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt who is also the Minister of
National Security. A group then moved to turn the shovel. The photo
of the event was taken by Van Dyke Hepburn of the Bahamas Information Services.
CHANGEOVER
AT RBDF
It was a moving ceremony what with all the assembled
political dignitaries and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers in their
ceremonial whites. This was only the third hand over in the history
of the Force that began in 1980.
Commodore Davey Rolle greeted the Governor General,
the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister as they arrived and escorted
them over to the dais for the Governor General to take the general salute
and inspect the guard.
The Commodore conducted his last inspection of the
divisions before taking his leave. He said that he was proud to have
served the RBDF and that when he started his career, never in his wildest
dreams did he think that he would end up being the Commodore of the Defence
Force.
The instruments of appointment were turned over
to the new Commodore of the Defence Force Clifford ‘Butch’ Scavella.
Mr. Scavella said that he was proud to become its Commodore and pledged
to do all that he could to ensure that the Force was restored to its glory.
Outgoing Commodore Rolle, left, is pictured congratulating Commodore Scavella.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
SHANE
STRIKES BACK AT CALLENDERS AND CO
The question that Colin Callender, Senior Partner
of Callender's and Co, should be asking himself this very morning is how
after all he has done, has his firm come to this? Mr. Callender has
allowed an FNM ideologue to put his firm in jeopardy of losing its reputation
in an unseemly row with The Bahamas Government and its Immigration Minister
over the granting of a residency permit for Anna Nicole Smith, the B rated
movie star from the United States. You may click
here for last week’s story which lays out in some detail the facts
so far.
There have been charges and counter charges between
the Minister and the law partner Michael Scott. Mr. Scott charged
that there is a mortgage on the property that Anna Nicole Smith bought
that grounded her permanent residence in The Bahamas and that her having
refused to execute the mortgage he had cancelled the conveyance and asked
Ms. Smith to leave the property. Ms. Smith and her lawyers say that
the property was a gift. The Government takes the view that on the
face of the transaction they relied on representations by Callenders &
Co and the copy of the conveyance to the Government that showed Ms. Smith
as the absolute owner of the property, thus qualifying her for Permanent
residence. There is a lot of ‘you say and I say’.
Ms. Smith has now gotten another lawyer herself.
Wayne Munroe the ubiquitous President of the Bar, who finds himself wherever
there is trouble, is representing Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith is also alleging
that Mr. Scott violated her attorney client privilege which she had not
waived. Mr. Munroe made a compelling case on the radio for Ms. Smith
and for the Minister.
The Minister himself came out with both guns blazing
at the end of House proceedings on Wednesday 1st November. He denied
that he ever accepted any cheque from Ms. Smith or from Ms. Ferguson the
Callenders lawyer as the law firm now alleges. He laid on the table
of the House the documents that showed a conveyance and a letter from Callenders
advising Ms. Smith to go and see the Minister. It is all quite sordid
but the Minister comes out quite ahead as we knew he would.
Michael Scott has a lot to answer. Tracey
Ferguson, his partner, daughter of former Assistant Commissioner of Police
Avery Ferguson and former Magistrate Joan Ferguson has to ask herself how
she got herself in the middle of this mess with her name being bandied
about in public.
We end where we started. We do not understand
how a law firm that is supposed to be doing business with the Government
on a daily basis gets into row with the Government. That cannot be
good for its clients. It cannot be good for its reputation no matter
who is right. One would have thought that they should seek to settle
this matter and with a minimum of fuss.
The problem for Colin Callender is that Michael
Scott is an FNM wild card and is using the law firm to push FNM politics
when that is not the business of a law firm. But perhaps we should
not be surprised since this is the same firm that allows Fred Smith, the
head partner in Freeport to step out of the Port as General Counsel one
day and into court on the other side against the Port the next day without
recognizing that it is wrong because he is conflicted. But back in
Nassau, a hard decision has to be made about Mr. Scott’s future with the
firm.
PLP
CHAIRMAN DEFENDS SHANE AND NEVILLE
Raynard Rigby, the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal
Party, made a ringing defence of the Minister of Immigration Shane Gibson
and the Minister of Youth Neville Wisdom exposing The Tribune for its "muck-racking
and negativism aimed at this successful government".
Let’s deal with Shane Gibson first. Mr. Rigby said
that the PLP stood behind him and rejected the claim of the FNM dominated
Tribune run by the slimy writing John Marquis who claimed that the PLP
was in a meltdown. Mr. Rigby said that the only meltdown was in the
minds of The Tribune’s writers.
Last week we devoted part of the column to the low
life work of the press and this week it was no better. The toady
Oswald Brown in the Nassau Guardian tried but failed miserably to make
the case that Shane Gibson was fighting for his political life.
The Tribune was involved in the unlawful use of
a private conversation between the Minister of Youth and his Permanent
Secretary. All week they were promoting this as if there were some
major scandal involved. It turned out to be absolutely nothing.
The Minister is refusing to allow them access to the private and confidential
files of the Ministry. The Tribune has simply become an out and out
propaganda sheet.
You may click
here for Mr. Rigby’s statement.
IN PASSING
Child Protection Bill Becomes Law
The House of Assembly passed the Child Protection Act that amongst
other things repeals the Affiliations Proceedings Act. Fred Mitchell,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs speaking in the House on Wednesday 1st
November made the point that the bill will now give single men the right
of access to their children notwithstanding the fact that the mother has
not asked for maintenance. This changes the existing law where single
women could deny fathers the right to see the child if they decided not
to ask for maintenance from the court.
Alvin Smith Loses it
Alvin Smith, the hapless former Leader of the Opposition, ended up
with egg on his face in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 1st November.
He decided at the end of the House day that he would attack personally
the Minister of Immigration saying that the Minister accepted a cheque
for $10,000 from Anna Nicole Smith and should go to jail. The Minister
denied it promptly on his feet. The Speaker citing a rule about quoting
from newspapers asked that the remark be withdrawn. Mr. Smith refused
to withdraw the remark against Mr. Gibson. The Speaker told
him that he would not be allowed to speak in the House until the remark
is withdrawn.
Ken Samuels aka Zeus Dies
We extend condolences to the family of Ken Samuels. Mr. Samuels
also known as Zeus, a former BaTelCo worker and a resident of the Valley
died in Nassau on Thursday 26th October. The Prime Minister Perry
Christie and the Minister of Foreign Affairs both from the Valley were
at the home shortly after Mr. Samuels died. He is survived by his
father Leroy Samuels and his siblings.
Zhivargo Laing And Uneconomics
A message to Zhivargo Laing. You can’t have it both ways my boy.
Last year when the unemployment statistics were released at 10 percent,
Minister of Immigration Vincent Peet said that he did not think the figures
were accurate. You jumped all over the Minister saying that he was
attacking the professionals at the Department of Statistics. Now
this week when the figures are out that unemployment is down nationwide
to 7.3 per cent, you are jumping all over the Department of Statistics
saying that the figures can’t be believed. Perhaps you need to pray
again. But then we remember how you prayed to God who told you to
leave politics and then Hubert Ingraham came and preyed upon you and you
answered his call to get back into politics. As Pleasant Bridgewater
says: “Prayer changes things”.
They Believe They Can Win
Delusions! The Free National Movement actually believes that
they can win. In the face of all the evidence of disarray in their
ranks, in the face of the good news about the economy, in the face of their
refusal to engage the society generally and boycotting every public event,
in the face of the surveys being done that show that the PLP is far ahead
in the polls, the FNM MPs in Grand Bahama especially think that they have
won the country. Dream on brothers!
Chalk’s Does Not Have Permission
We reported in an earlier column that Chalk’s Airlines was promoting
flights to The Bahamas starting 9th November. They have obtained
regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration of the United
States. Not so fast said Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna Martin.
They do not have permission to fly into The Bahamas by the Civil Aviation
Authority of The Bahamas.
Whitney Rolle on Deacon
Jeffrey Lloyd
The press has been carrying a letter from someone calling himself Whitney
Rolle. The letter attacks radio talk show host and Roman Catholic
deacon, youth advisor Jeffrey Lloyd. It accused the Catholic Church
and the deacon of selling out the pioneering youth programme to the PLP
government. This was as a result of the Deacon Lloyd appearing at
the launch of the government’s own youth programme. The letter has
caused ripples in the church. It was a most unfair attack and the
writer should be roundly condemned. A pastoral letter is to be written
to clarify the church’s position on the matter. This is not the Whitney
Rolle, the former St. Augustine’s athlete, but someone who is an FNM operative
using that name. Disgraceful!
UNITED
NATIONS DAY BELATEDLY
The Minister of Foreign Affairs led the country
in official observances for United Nations Day at the Ministry’s headquarters
on East Hill Street on Friday 3rd November. Attending the ceremonies
to mark the day were the diplomatic corps in The Bahamas, the children
of St. Anne’s School and the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Mitchell reminded the country about the history
and role of the United Nations and reaffirmed the country’s commitment
to multilateralism. He said that the country should take note of
the theme for 2006 Deserts and Desertification. He called on developers
to protect the tree cover in The Bahamas as they develop the land.
You may click
here for the full address.
A
BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR VINCENT PEET
Last weekend on Saturday 28th October, the Fox Hill
Branch of the Progressive Liberal Party visited Central and North Andros
in a retreat to plan strategy for the next election. While there
the delegation headed by Fox Hill Member of Parliament Fred Mitchell joined
MP for North Andros Vincent Peet for his birthday celebration and a mini
rally. We present a photo essay of the scenes from that event.
The photos are by Darron Pickstock.
CARMICHAEL
PLP AT SDA CHURCH
Member of Parliament for Carmichael and Parliamentary
Secretary at Tourism John Carey along with his family and executives of
the Carmichael Branch of the PLP visited the Good News SDA Church in Flamingo
Gardens to worship where the host Pastor is Dr. Hugh A. Roach.
As a part of his ongoing church visitation program
in the constituency, MP Carey says, “Collaboratively the church and the
community can produce the desired outcome that will consist of the proper
quality of life all citizens hope for, given the framework that has been
put in place by a caring PLP government today”. The Carmichael team
continues next week at another church in the community.
Photo: front Row - 2nd from Left: Mrs. Khichala Carey along with
Khalil Carey, Branch Executives, MP John Carey. Back Row - 3rd from
left: Dr. John Carey and Pastor Hugh Roach, other committee members.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Joshua Sears
Why is it shame or a disgrace that Joshua Sears
has decided for whatever reason to contest the election on the FNM ticket?
Are you suggesting that because the PLP government re-appointed him Ambassador
to the US he owes them something? Was it not the FNM that appointed
him initially? Does that mean that he owes them more?
You say he is biting the hand that fed him.
The way I see it, he was fed because he worked hard and performed well
in his post, as he has always done! Is it not also true that diplomatic
appointments are supposed to be in the best interest of all of The Bahamas
and therefore the best person for the job should be selected rather than
merely a political crony?
I was hopeful that when Josh was re-appointed
that we were finally moving closer to becoming more mature in our politics!
However, given what was written in this column, perhaps my hope was merely
wishful thinking!
When will we allow all people to make choices
without being attacked simply because those choices differ from that of
others. I know Joshua Sears personally and know that he is an honest,
humble and intelligent human being and will do good in whatever arena he
finds himself, and will treat all people equally, despite their stake in
life, including their political preferences.
Junkanoo Princess
The Unemployment Rate
The Department of Statistics recently released
(preliminarily) the latest labour statistic and the rate of unemployment
has declined from 10.2% to 7.3% nationally, and New Providence was pegged
at 6.6%. The decline in Grand Bahama from 11% to 8% suggested that many
of the displaced workers from Grand Bahama, some 700 of them, clearly migrated
to other islands in search of better economic opportunities.
One key and compelling economic indicator that
supports the new unemployment rate is the huge increase in the NIB contribution
revenue from $10 million to $12 million per month or a 20% increase. Given
the per capita income of the Bahamas of around $18,000, this indicates
the creation of at least 6,700 new jobs in the economy over the last twelve
months even though the unemployment figures released by the Department
of Statistics suggests the creation of about 5,600 new jobs. This is a
conservative estimate given the traditional rate of contribution compliance
to NIB of about 60%. I estimate that 9,200 jobs were created since the
last household survey was conducted.
Another general barometer that supports this
new labour statistic is the unemployment rate in United States of 4.4%,
the lowest in five and one half years. We all know and accept that the
Bahamian economy is inextricably linked to and highly integrated into the
U.S. economy and our unemployment rate has traditionally been 3 to 4 percentage
points above that of the U.S.
Record numbers in annual tourist arrivals and
expenditure (5 mil and $2 bil respectively), record levels of construction
activities and new housing starts (at least 1,500 per year), and record
levels of government revenue ($1 bil) all support a robust Bahamian economy
and a slack labour market. This is bolstered by the solidifying of several
anchor resort developments throughout the Bahamas.
This preliminary revelation did not sit well
with certain political personalities who openly questioned the unemployment
figures for Grand Bahama as incredulous at best. Zhivargo Laing, a former
minister in the FNM, insisted that the figure is around 11%. He provided
no statistical data or scientific analysis to defend his position and was
unwilling to accept the fact that many of the displaced workers from Grand
Bahama were absorbed into the workforce elsewhere in the Bahamas. All of
Mr. Laing’s explanations were based on the premise that all of the displaced
workers remained on the island of Grand Bahama. I wish to remind Mr. Laing
that the resilient workers of Grand Bahama migrated in a similar fashion
in 1998, when the Atlantik Beach and Grand Bahama Beach hotels were razed
to make way for the construction of Our Lucaya.
Robert Sweeting, the FNM representative for South
Abaco, also expressed skepticism at this Grand Bahama figures, but did
relate an anecdote that he had spoken to people in Abaco who had migrated
from Grand Bahama in search of job opportunities. While he and Mr. Laing’s
stories are congruent on published figures for Grand Bahama, he contradicts
himself and Mr. Laing in his anecdote. In one sentence he expresses incredulity
at the 8% rate for Grand Bahama, then proceeded to explain how the 8% was
probable. This clearly contradicts Mr. Laing’s premise that the workers
remained on Grand Bahama.
I encourage Mr. Laing to attempt to be intellectually
honest. He cannot accept the Department of Statistics figures of 10.2%
which he believes favours his party politically, and then questions the
competence of the statisticians within the department when the results
of their objective work are not consistent with his party’s political agenda.
While he served as minister for Economic Development in the FNM administration,
he repeatedly scoffed at the work of the Department of Statistics when
he felt that the department’s data did not serve the purpose of the FNM
government. He gave some flimsy excuse about the IMF model being more reliable
than that of his government.
Mr. Laing and Mr. Sweeting should simply accept
the fact that the Bahamas is on firm economic footing and is poised for
full employment within the next twelve to eighteen months. The anchor resort
development as a strategy for sustained economic development is a huge
success and the concept of an enlarged Bahamas is an idea whose time has
come. Kudos to the Christie administration for a job well done.
Elcott Coleby
Thank you for this clear and concise explanation. – Editor
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Geographic Information Systems Conference
Students from Sadie Curtis Primary School sing the
National Anthem during the opening ceremonies of the URISA 2006 3rd Caribbean
G.I.S. Conference at Atlantis, Paradise Island on Tuesday, October 31,
2006. Shown at the head table from left are Carolann Albury, chairperson
URISA conference program committee and Pete Croswell, URISA; Prime Minister,
Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for Urban Renewal the Rt.
Hon. Perry Christie and Rev. Dr. William Thompson,
president of the Bahamas Christian Council.
BIS photo: Tim Aylen
Prime Minister Christie addresses the assembled
company of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force as they welcome their new Commodore
Clifford 'Butch' Scavella.
Private Wealth Management
The Central Bank this past week held a dinner forum
at Old Fort Bay aimed at promoting private wealth management in The Bahamas.
The Prime Minister attended and briefed the gathering.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
A JUDGE SAYS: “...HE IS OFF HIS ROCKER”
Imagine this: you are a civil litigant, an architect who had to
sue former clients because they refused to pay your fees. After months
of trying to get the matter to trial, you finally appear in Court, only
for the Judge to announce that he of his own motion has joined the Attorney
General to the case. He then proceeds to read a long, rambling judgment,
filled with non- sequiturs about the state of the judiciary, the end result
of which your case is adjourned to who knows when, and you have gotten
no justice. It is left to you to appeal a matter that is not of your
making.
That is the situation that Charles Moss now finds himself in because of a ridiculous ruling by a Judge that seems to have been more of a political diatribe delivered in the Courts of The Bahamas in Freeport on Monday 6th November.
But that was not the real problem, the Judge also delivered another “judgment” “ruling” “set of rambling observances” – no one is quite sure – in a set of criminal cases that were set down to begin a trial before him on that same day. He ordered “the criminal trials referred to herein: [Cases listed] are ordered to be returned to the Criminal Registry to be brought on when they are ready for a fair trail by an impartial and independent tribunal as our Constitution guarantees. This does not mean a trial weighted in favour of the prosecution, (prepared to the disadvantage of the accused), before a tribunal entirely dependent on the will of the government for the amount of its salaries.”
The judgment's logoc is plainly and on its face foolish. The Judge’s argument was that because the Government, the Cabinet failed in his words to follow the law on appointing a Judicial Commission to review the salaries of Judges of the Supreme Court within the parameters of the act, then the time having been missed until October 2009, no judge could act because the Judiciary was no longer fair and impartial because the salaries depended on the will of the executive. Clearly this should be appealed and it is beyond patience why the Government has not already appealed the matter.
In the course of these rambling and disgusting words came this further statement: “The sole responsibility for this fiasco sits firmly at the feet of the Cabinet. I am just the messenger. I know my lot. Like most messengers, I will surely be shot. The messenger can expect to be pilloried in the Parliament, on cue no doubt to a non-aligned member of the House, who will launch the attack during the debate on a bill that has nothing to do with the Judiciary. The messenger can expect to be untruthfully scandalized in the tabloid press. The messenger can expect to be patronized by the rumour mill – “he is off his rocker”. The phone taps. The covert National Security observation, but breaking into visibility just often enough to unnerve. There will be problems at the Immigration gate, with remittances to family overseas. The few close friends are targeted. Some attacks will be subtle. Some vicious. I know of this. I previously lived and presided as a Judge in a place where the government had no regard for the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary. In that place the Attorney General, a good man, was beaten by the marauding mob and left in a pool of his own blood on the floor of the Parliament he was courageously fighting to protect. It has to be understood that the rule of law is that delicate thread that holds the fragile form of democracy together. If it is disregarded and disrespected at the top, that attitude flows down expanding exponentially until it reaches the bottom. By then it is like a runaway train on a collision course. And violence is never beyond the realm of possibility. This country has recently witnessed that manner of dispute resolution – in the very room where the seeds of this affair were sown.”
Mr. Justice Lyons is an Australian judge. It is arguable whether or not a non Bahamian can be legitimately a Judge of the Bahamian courts. Some argue that this is unconstitutional because a non Bahamian can be subject to pressures that he suggests and so ab initio an appointment of him as a Judge should fail. Yet he has come into The Bahamas and delivered judgment after judgment and accepted the salaries supplied by the taxes collected by the Executive and supported by the Parliament of The Bahamas.
What was incredible is that every smarty pants, and genius after that was busy promoting in the press and elsewhere that there was some sort of constitutional crisis in The Bahamas as a result of these patently intemperate and insulting words. The policy court to which this must ultimately go would not in our view support such rambling nonsense. If this Judge wishes to become a politician, then he should try to become a Bahamian citizen and then run for Parliament where those who are in politics have to take the risk of public opprobrium for their actions.
The Bar President Wayne Munroe who has been going around in the wake of these foolish words speaking about the House being on fire and that the Judiciary of the country can shut down should really find himself a life. He is the example of what Paul Adderley the former Attorney General has said in another context is a peripatetic political jack in the box. He is everywhere, with irresponsible statements spewing forth, in pursuance of a clearly political agenda. The fact that former Senator Damien Gomez, a man who is about to become a judge, is also pursuing this is worthy of note. His involvement is inexplicable.
Having made the order that he has, Mr. Justice Lyons is now on his own. No other Judge or Magistrate is bound by his ruling or has followed his ruling. Mr. Lyons having entered the political realm must ask himself whether in the face of people who are struggling to get by on the Government's minimum wage at $175 per week, he would wish the Judiciary to get involved in a row in Parliament where the salaries have to be approved to increase by one hundred percent the existing salaries of Judges who easily make $90,000 per year with benefits. The words are simply folly. The Judiciary cannot win such an argument, and it is counter productive to start such a public row.
Mr. Lyons even chose to pick on a Member of Parliament in his Judgment, the independent Tennyson Wells "the non-aliged member". How does he expect now not to be the subject of the wrath of Mr. Wells in Parliament and not further bring himself and the Judiciary into controversy? The Chief Justice must act and lead the Judiciary out of this situation.
We believe that all that needs to happen is that the Commission needs to be appointed under the relevant act, and review the question of the salaries of Judges. We do not believe that any Judge should get a raise in pay but that is for the Commission not us. The country’s salaries are simply out of whack as they are and despite the bullish economy, the Central Bank is already showing disturbing signs of a draw down in the reserves that call for caution, particularly with the passport initiative in the United States and the possible effects that cannot now be calculated on the tourism product.
The words follow a pattern of political developments in the silly season as we get close to an election and every constituent group is in the business of blackmailing the Government for money. The only people who suffer are the Bahamian taxpayers who have to fork over the cash for this largesse.
We think that the language of these observations by the Judge is the language of a persecution complex. The Judge said it himself, within the terms of his judgment said it best, we can say it no better and we have only to quote him that people might say “he is off his rocker”.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th November 2006 at midnight: 100,605.
Number of hits for the month of November up to Saturday 11th November 2006: 145,418.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Tuesday 31st October 2006 at midnight: 442,320.
Number of hits for the year 2006 up to Saturday 11th November 2006 at midnight: 4,167,383.
A
MANUFACTURED CRISIS – Justice Lyons and His Beef
The Judgment of Justice Lyons (see
Comment of the Week) can be divided into three issues: an attack on
Cheryl Grant, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions; an attack on the
Attorney General for the swift justice initiative that he called headline
grabbing; and an attack on the Cabinet for not appointing a commission
to adjust the salaries of Judges. He claimed to have the support
of other Judges, and he claimed that as a result of the failure to appoint
the commission and lack of preparedness of cases for criminal trials by
the AG's office, the trials could not be heard by a fair and independent
tribunal the judges for whom were not subject to the will of the executive
for their salaries. Mr. Justice Lyons is an Australian and is reportedly
twice divorced and reportedly supports families overseas.
Wayne Munroe and Damien Gomez
Like Twiddle Dum and Twiddle Dee, these two gents
are up and down the country on the radio in the press touting the Judgment
of Justice Jeffrey Lyons. They both said that there was a constitutional
crisis, parroting the words of the judgment, suggesting that the courts
would shut down. The courts did not shut down. Not one.
In fact, the Government issued a statement on the matter, headlined NO
CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS. Please click
here for that statement.
Mr. Munroe said that the House was on fire.
Mr. Munroe, the Bar President, said that he was filing an action on behalf
of the Bar. God knows what standing the Bar has in the matter, to
force the Government to appoint the Commission under the Judges Pension
and Remuneration Act. He wanted an order to force the payment of
new salaries to the Judges. The salaries listed were $125,000 for
the Chief Justice with a $15,000 duty allowance, a car, a house or a housing
allowance.
Now which Court would order a Parliament and the
Cabinet to pay funds that the country may not have? Can you in fact
order the Parliament to do anything? The fact is there is no constitutional
crisis. All the courts are functioning and the one Judge who is not
working presumably is Justice Lyons, following his own ruling one supposes.
Justice Lyons should resign or the appropriate action
should be taken by way of the Constitution to relieve him of his responsibilities.
Further, if the Bar President really wanted to help the Judiciary he would
quietly seek to get the matter resolved and stop engaging in histrionics
with another lawyer who is about to become a Judge and who should not in
our view be engaging in this kind of public proselytizing which comes off
as an attempt to feather his own nest before he gets on the bench.
No Discipline in the Public Service
Within the Judgment of Justice Lyons, the Judge made an unfortunate attack
on a civil servant Cheryl Grant who happens to be the Deputy Director of
Public Prosecutions. That was wrong of the Judge. He took exception
to a document that seemed to grade judges on their effectiveness in terms
of their conviction rate. We do not disagree with such a review of
the conduct and performance of Judges. They must be made to perform
up to a particular standard. The judge took exception on the grounds
that courts are not there for convictions but for justice.
The Attorney General is responsible for the defence
and conduct of public servants. That is the convention and in line
with that Attorney General Allyson Gibson defended Ms. Grant in a stinging
attack on the Judge’s statements calling them vicious. She must not
have known that Ms. Grant a civil servant, smart as she is according to
the AG’s statement, does not understand or know the elementary rule of
the public service. Keep your mouth shut and go through the system
to seek redress. You are not a public figure.
Ms. Grant could not wait and issued a public statement
in the press in which she attacked the Attorney General for her swift justice
initiative, saying that the AG was wrong for publishing the document that
the judge took issue with, and disassociating herself from her boss the
AG. She asked to see Justice Lyons to explain. Further, like
the Judge in his ruling by suggesting that because of what he ruled he
would be attacked even killed by the Government (a suggestion so outrageous
it must be treated with contempt. See Comment
of the Week) as a means of very seeking cleverly to forestall such
an attack, she sought to telescope what should inevitably happen to her
by saying that she hoped that as a result of what she said, swift justice
would not be visited upon her.
If Ms. Grant is to do the honourable thing, she
should now resign. She no longer supports the actions of her employer.
If she does not, we know what the proper course for the Judicial and Legal
Services Commission should be toward her conduct.
Cheryl Grant is shown in this Bahama Journal photo.
A Back Bench Member Steps Out
The Progressive Liberal Party must be concerned
about the discipline of its members. Keod Smith, the MP PLP for Mt.
Moriah, has been in one hot spot after the next since his election.
Just recently he resigned from his post as Ambassador for the Environment
as result of a fight in the Cabinet room with PLP MP Kenyatta Gibson.
One would have thought that both gentlemen would simply take a low profile
from now until elections. Not so.
Mr. Smith called a press conference on Thursday
9th November to express concern about the Judgment of Mr. Justice Lyons
(see editorial comment above). He called for a joint select committee
of the House to investigate the findings of the Judge. The Cabinet
is unlikely to support such a call. You know our view is that the
Judgment is not of serious import in any event.
MILLER
ON THE WARPATH
The Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Leslie Miller (pictured)
is on the warpath. He started out on Wednesday 1st November in the
House of Assembly exposing companies who had expired products on the shelf.
His ministry is responsible for food safety.
The Minister produced in the House a bottle of Similac
a formula used to feed babies that he said was months out of date.
He said that he and the Minister responsible for Consumer Inspectors Alfred
Gray would be coming to food stores and looking to see whether the expiry
dates had passed. He followed up and during the past week uncovered
some 200 goods that had past expiry dates. Mr. Miller said that prosecutions
would follow. The maximum fine is $5000.
Mr. Miller said that what is happening is that in
the US you are to remove products from the shelves at least three months
prior to the expiry date. Bahamian merchants then go to the US and
buy these products and sell them here in The Bahamas and pay no attention
to when the date actually expires. We think that this is good wicket
Mr. Miller is on and he should be encouraged.
ACCUSATIONS
AGAINST AN MP
Kennedy PLP MP Kenyatta Gibson, having resigned
recently as Chairman of the Gaming Board as a result of a fight between
himself and Mt. Moriah PLP MP Keod Smith finds himself in the news again.
This time it is an allegation of paternity that he denies. Mr. Gibson
was pictured in the process with Wayne Munroe, a man who hates the PLP
and wishes the PLP ill, and is working to destroy the PLP.
Mr. Munroe as the lawyer of Mr. Gibson said that
he would not allow his client to take a paternity test. The young
lady involved has been summoned to court for harassing Mr. Gibson.
The lady claims that Mr. Gibson issued death threats against her because
she is seeking support for a child which she claims Mr. Gibson fathered.
Mr. Gibson denies it. The lady’s name is Demeka Jones.
Attorney Wayne Munroe (left) with his client Kenyatta Gibson MP
in this Nassau Guardian photo
CYRIL
STEVENSON DIES
PLP Founder Cyril St. John Stevenson LVO died on
Monday 6th November at the age of 92. He was one of the three men
credited with founding the Progressive Liberal Party in 1953. Henry
Taylor, the former Governor General, is dead and William Cartwright still
survives.
Mr. Stevenson ran the party’s newspaper The Herald
and was its first Secretary General, holding the post for ten years until
1963. He was known as a tireless champion of the people’s cause.
He represented Andros in the House of Assembly with Clarence Bain until
1967 when he lost the seat to the late Sir Lynden Pindling.
In his later years, Cyril Stevenson served as the
Director of the Bahamas Information Services. Prime Minister Perry
Christie issued a statement extending condolences to his family.
He called Mr. Stevenson “a man utterly without fear in his daily battles
with the political oligarchy.” Here is the PM’s full statement.
Cyril St. John Stevenson 1914-2006: A Freedom Fighter of the First
Rank
It is with profound sadness that I have
learned of the passing today of Cyril St. John Stevenson.
Mr. Stevenson became a founder of party politics in The Bahamas
when, in 1953, he joined with William (“Bill”) Cartwright and the late
H.M (later Sir Henry Milton) Taylor to form the Progressive Liberal Party.
Cyril Stevenson was an influential member
of this founding triumvirate, not only because of his oratorical skills
and charismatic appeal but also because of the courage, intelligence, ingenuity
and passion he demonstrated so brilliantly as the Publisher and Editor
of the Party’s newspaper, The Herald.
Mr. Stevenson was the Party’s “Great Communicator”
at a time when the voices of resistance and protest in The Bahamas were
in desperately shortly supply. He was a man utterly without fear
in his daily battles with the political oligarchy of the period.
Whether on the floor of the House of Assembly as Representative for Andros,
or in the editorials of the Herald, or on public platforms, Mr. Stevenson
was a fiery apostle for progress and an uncompromising opponent of the
racism, political tyranny and economic oppression that constituted the
order of the day in The Bahamas of the 1950’s and early 60’s.
It is particularly noteworthy that in 1956
Mr. Stevenson formed a part of the very first group of men ever to be elected
to the House of Assembly under the banner of the PLP. Known as the
“Magnificent Six”, Mr. Stevenson was the last surviving member of this
group. Now they are all gone.
Although differences with the leadership
of the PLP led to Mr. Stevenson’s alienation from the Party prior to the
attainment of Majority Rule, there can be no denying that the groundwork
that he helped lay proved indispensable to the success of the movement.
It was therefore a source of great satisfaction for Party supporters when
Mr. Stevenson returned to the Party fold in the early 70’s. He would
go on to serve as head of Bahamas Information Services and to perform other
important work for the Government and people of The Bahamas.
With Mr. Stevenson’s death, yet another
hero of the struggle for political and social justice in The Bahamas has
passed away. He was a Freedom Fighter of the First Rank and there
are now very few of them left.
On behalf of the Government and people
of The Bahamas and on my personal behalf, I extend deepest condolences
to Mr. Stevenson’s widow and children.
Cyril St. John Stevenson was a great Bahamian.
May he rest in peace.
Perry G. Christie MP
Prime Minister
6th November, 2006
SUPER
VALUE’S NEW EMPLOYMENT POLICIES
The Tribune of Wednesday 8th November reported that
Super Value has some new employment policies. They have told their
employees that before their probation period all of those with gold teeth
in the front of their mouths must remove them. This is a response
to the latest fad imported from the US where working class black males
stick a gold cap over one of their front teeth. The company said
that the customers consider people who have gold teeth in their mouths
to be low class.
Super Value has also asked persons on probation
who are overweight to lose weight before their three months probation is
up. A manager of the store could not say what the sanctions for not
obeying these rules were but in Bahamian law if you are on probation a
company can fire you without giving a reason. The Manager added that
it was rare to find women over 25 working in the stores who were less than
150 lbs. This is an interesting policy given the alarm that has been
raised about the connection between obesity in The Bahamas and an epidemic
of diabetes and high blood pressure.
ASHLEY
CARGILL LEAVES THE FNM
If anything struck dread in the hearts of the Free National Movement it
must have been the sight of Ashley Cargill, a veteran and founding 34 year
member of the party, and a former candidate saying that he was bidding
the party good bye. But that was the sight in the press and on the
television and he could be heard on the radio. The reason he said
was the fact that Hubert Ingraham was back in charge and that he had the
attitude of a dictator.
Mr. Cargill said that he was satisfied that the
vision of Perry Christie was the one for the times and he was throwing
his support behind the Progressive Liberal Party under Mr. Christie.
Mr. Cargill joins a list of former candidates and Members of Parliament
who have left the FNM for the PLP. FNMs have tried to pooh pooh the
importance of it.
Party Chair Desmond Bannister had no comment.
Former Minister and Ambassador Anthony ‘Boozy’ Rolle was quoted as saying
that he could not believe that Mr. Cargill was a true FNM if he left the
party simply because he disagreed with the leader. Of course the
FNM has to say something, the drain on their membership continues apace.
Ashley Cargill is pictured at a news conference announcing his resignation
from the FNM Monday 6th November, 2006 in this Nassau Guardian photo by
Letisha Henderson.
IN PASSING
Don Saunders against Shane Gibson
Shane Gibson has perhaps the most unassailable seat in New Providence.
The FNM has put up a young lawyer Don Saunders to run against him.
Mr. Saunders is the Head of the Alumni of the College of The Bahamas.
In what appears to be his first public foray into the campaign, he claimed
in the press that the Anna Nicole Smith affair was causing concern in the
constituency of Mr. Gibson. Mr. Gibson told the House of Assembly
that he has received hundreds of phone calls of support from his constituents
over the matter.
The Problem with Rick Lowe
Rick Lowe is an FNM ideologue who tries to appear in the guise of an
interested civic activist in The Bahamas. For the past month, he
has been engaged in a level of harassment in the public media of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs made statements
with regard to the increase in trade with China that Mr. Lowe seeks to
impugn. The fact is the answer is already within his knowledge, but
for political reasons he keeps it up. The latest foray was a letter
to the editor attacking the Minster of Foreign Affairs. He says that
he can’t get an answer to his burning question about the level of trade
with China. As a shopkeeper, it is easy for him to confuse export import
with the wider meaning of trade. He seeks to exclude the figures
attributed in trade by the Chinese for ships on the Bahamian register built
in China. Question: why should you feed a fowl for a snake?
Albertha Hewitt Dies
Albertha Hewitt is probably a name you would not recognize. She
is one of thousands of Jamaicans who have moved to this country from Jamaica
to work in the homes of Bahamians. She was the housekeeper of Foreign
Minister Fred Mitchell and that of former Permanent Secretary Hugh and
his wife June Sands. On Wednesday evening 8th November apparently
on her way to service at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, it is suspected
that she may have been knocked down by a car on Shirley Street and left
dead in the road. No one stopped. There are no suspects.
Another Samuels Dies
Leroy Samuels, 83 years old, has died. Mr. Samuels was one of
the senior citizens of the Valley, home of the Prime Minister Perry Christie
and Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell. Mr. Samuels’ son Ken Samuels
has just predeceased him and the family had planned a funeral for the son
on Friday 10th November. The funeral time has now changed and both
will be buried on Friday 17th November at St. Francis Cathedral at noon.
Mr. Samuels is the father of well known former banker Charlene and Cheryl
who is the Vice Principal of L. W. Young High School. Our condolences
to the family.
BAHAMIANS
MUST BE CAREFUL WITH US ELECTION
There was palpable relief throughout The Bahamas
that the brakes have been put on the arrogance of the Bush Administration
in the United States. The Caribbean region has watched with absolute
dismay the holier than thou attitude which has led to an economic stranglehold
on Cuba, a war without end killing innocent Americans and Iraqis based
on false data, the public hectoring of Caribbean leaders by US Ambassadors
throughout the region leading to a throttling of the views of Caribbean
nations, the banishing of the Haitian president from the Hemisphere by
US dictate and all without any apology but a sense of religious entitlement.
Perhaps with the changes in the legislature of the United States there
may be some chastening that will cause pause. Bahamans must be careful,
however, not to over interpret these results.
The fact is foreign policy is conducted out of the
White House. In that the President of the United States and his party
are still quite powerful. And so one can expect that broadly speaking
the policies of the United States will continue unabated in most spheres
of endeavour in this region. One has only to listen to the pronouncements
of the leaders in the executive since they lost. There is no repentance
at all, no remorse about policies, simply a kind of playing possum in the
face of this stinging defeat. The Bahamas as a country has to be
quite level headed in the face of this, and continue to deal with the United
States as it always does with even handedness, principle and equanimity.
The country is so easily threatened and destabilized that nothing else
will do. The political opposition in the country is still able to
join cause with anything that can undermine a PLP government. Tread
carefully!
THE
FAKER OF FOX HILL
There are reports that the Faker of Fox Hill the
FNM’s candidate for the Fox Hill constituency is commissioning a defamatory
song about the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill. We hope he is on standby
to sue as soon as it is released. We suggest to the PLP Member a
song for the “The Cinta”.
CARL
BETHEL: THE VENTRILOQUIST AND HIS DUMMY
Hubert Ingraham has been told he must stay quiet. The surveys taken
by the FNM show that whenever he opens his mouth, he energizes the PLPs
base. They remember the biggetyness, the meanness and the hard mouth
that helped to send Sir Lynden Pindling to his grave. Carl Bethel,
the Senator, and former Attorney General; by the way the worst one in the
history of The Bahamas, is now the official mouthpiece for Mr. Ingraham
or so it seems.
The Nassau Guardian reported on Saturday 11th November
that Mr. Bethel says that AG Allyson Maynard must resign because of the
response that she made to the judgment of Justice Jeffrey Lyons.
He claims that were she a private citizen that would be considered contempt.
Mr. Bethel should know but he does not so we will tell him that the comments
were not directed at the judge but were directed at the judge’s own comments
in the ruling. That is no contempt. If it were a contempt,
the newspapers would not have printed it. Elementary my dear Mr.
Bethel. He should know but he does not that justice is not a cloistered
virtue and one is free to criticize the rulings of a judge. What
you should refrain from doing is a personal attack on the judge imputing
an improper motive.
The mouthpiece for Mr. Ingraham was back again
in the Nassau Guardian of the same day claiming that as a result of a PLP
poll that showed that Mr. Ingraham was more decisive than Mr. Christie,
the PLP was targeting Mr. Ingraham and making him look like he was dictator.
The PLP Chair Raynard Rigby challenged him to produce the evidence.
What we know is that Mr. Ingraham’s every
word betrays him like when he said following the referendum that he was
ashamed of the Bahamian people, and that he is going to reduce the public
service when he gets back into power. No survey is needed to tell
the PLP what the story is behind Hubert Ingraham, and further, you have
men and women leaving the FNM in droves today who are telling the real
story of what is going on in that party under Mr. Ingraham's leadership.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
In Passing-Minister Melanie Griffin
Recently, I received an e-mail from a relative
in The Bahamas who, in passing, made the following statement about Minister
Melanie Griffin which I would like, if possible, for you to share with
your visitors to your web site:
“I think Melanie is a decent person, and will
help if she can. She is more like Sir Lynden, who is really sincere
about helping Bahamians, and not just talk”.
I thought that was quite complimentary with particular
comparison to Sir Lynden. I personally know the Minister, and fully
echo the remarks of my relative’s statement. Too often, we hear ugly
news about PLP politicians, but there are some of them who are, indeed,
sincere, and fully understand their role as a public servant to the people
who are the owners of the government. Minister Griffin certainly
is exemplary of that role. Mrs. Griffin is a graduate of St.
Augustine’s College (High School).
E. A-D.
Thank you. There is a special place in heaven for Mel. – Editor
Bahamasuncensored.com
November 5th Edition
As an avid and long-term reader of your site,
I thank you for publicly reaffirming comments directed against Jeffrey
Lloyd, his role as a youth adviser and the Roman Catholic Church and attributed
to “Whitney Rolle” did not originate from myself.
The development and advancement of our
young people is of great importance to me and those who are familiar with
my adult life activities understand my passion. I am not in a position
to anyway assess Jeffrey’s work nor the role of the Catholic Church in
Government's youth programme affair. However, drawing on personal
past experiences with both Jeffrey and the Catholic Church, my respect
for their contributions to our society is exceedingly high. I am
relatively certain they will do the right things.
Again thank you and keep up the very informative
and untarnished presentation of events and personalities in our society.
Whitney G. Rolle
Princeton, New Jersey
(Formerly SAC Class of 1968)
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Anchor Development for SouthWest New Providence
Prime Minister Perry Christie officially announced
the $1.3 billion Park Ridge development at southwest New Providence this
past week. The project, led by British billionaire Joe Lewis, also
involves famous golfers Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. At the signing
of a Heads of Agreement for the project, Mr. Christie said Park Ridge represented
“the completion of capacity for major resort development in New Providence”
and touted the Government’s forward-thinking planning and development initiatives
as “a positive impact on the economy of the entire Bahamas for many, many
years to come”. Please click here for
Mr. Christie's full remarks.
Left: Prime Minister Christie superintends as Secretary to the Cabinet
Wendell Major (centre) signs the Heads of Agreement. Right: Mr. Christie
addresses the news conference announcing the Park Ridge development.
Servant Leadership
The Prime Minister visited a global summit on leadership
this past week at Dr. Miles Munroe's Bahamas Faith Ministry's 'Diplomat
Centre' on Carmichael Road. Mr. Christie officially opened the summit
with an address on the theme of 'Servant Leadership', with reference to
the Book of Mark. Left: An animated Prime Minister engages worldwide
religious leaders from the podium of Bahamas Faith Ministries. Right:
The religious leaders pray for the Prime Minister prior to the beginning
of their global summit on 'Servant Leadership'.
| 19th
November, 2006
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN IS LAUNCHED
On
Wednesday 15th November the Prime Minister Perry Christie presented the
signature plan of his administration to Parliament the National Health
Insurance Bill. The Bill lays out the framework in extenso of how
the insurance needs in health care will be met for the Bahamian people
over the next generation and beyond. It is revolutionary in its intent.
It will be the dividing line between the FNM and the PLP in the next General
Election. Please click here for the Prime Minister's
full communication to the Parliament.
Dr. Bernard Nottage, the Minister of Health and his team of advisors on the Bill were all present in the gallery for the presentation of the Bill. The Government intends for the Bill to pass all of the stages of debate in the House by the 6th Decem
