Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 8 © BahamasUncensored.com 2010
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
WORRIED ABOUT THE MINISTRY
OF FINANCE
On Tuesday 31st August, the Parliamentary group of the Progressive
Liberal Party, led by Perry Christie met with the country team for the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was doing its annual site visit
to The Bahamas. The visit would have been more useful had it taken
place after the IMF saw the government and talked to them about where
they see things headed and then with the benefit of the PLP's views speaking
with the government again.
There is a problem with governance with which all countries in the region are grappling. The question is how does Parliament, read the Opposition, enter the governance process in a meaningful way? Is the Westminster system actually working for the region? How do non Parliamentary actors get to have a say, more than a say but actually influence policy in between general elections?
The most recent experience in The Bahamas is that the Ministry of Finance has gotten it wrong nine times out of ten. This budgetary year for example, every single tax which they proposed had to be rolled back within weeks of being implemented simply because the mechanisms of consultation did not work or were not employed
One simple mechanism might help. The House of Assembly is supposed to have a Committee on Finance that is supposed to examine the budget estimates before they reach the debate stage in the House of Assembly. The rule has never been utilized. Perhaps, Hubert Ingraham and his colleagues might try it this time coming as a first step toward reforming the processes of governance.
Our point in this intervention is more fundamental than all of the larger reform issues however. It has to do with the actual state of the Ministry of Finance. The way our system works there is supposed to be the technical expert or technocrat or technocrats who advise the politicians on the actual policies which they implement. The problem with the Ingraham administration is that the technocrats in the Ministry of Finance have been debased and relegated to second class status. The word is that the Ministry of Finance is actually being “run” by Zhivargo Laing, the MP, politician and Minister of State who did not finish his Master’s degree because he answered the call to politics. There is a Financial Secretary Ehurd Cunningham who is thought to be competent but he is coming to the end of his tenure and the argument is that his tenure needs to be extended if there is to be some modicum of technical competence left in the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry is in fact becoming more and more dependent on William Allen, a consultant and retired politician, albeit a former Minister of Finance and Central Bank Governor, but politician just the same and Zhivargo Laing, who is a politician. This has the makings of a disaster and the financial sector has made it known to the Prime Minister that this is an unhappy state of affairs.
Simon Wilson, a civil servant who was a favourite of Ruth Millar, the former Financial Secretary, who has his own prejudices about the economy and how it should develop, at least has the respect of the banks and the sector, to have the technical competence to advise the government on policy without fear or political favour. What one suspects is increasingly happening in the Ministry is that politics is dominating advice on the finances of the country and they are going to hell in a hand basket.
In such a politically charged atmosphere as the one in Mr. Ingraham’s government, you will be not surprised that both on the fiscal side and on the monetary side, the trends are worrying.
The simple measure of reducing the interest rates is impatient of debate but no one is willing to venture anything new at all to help in this morass in which we find ourselves.
We call for the Opposition to make more noise about his point. There is a need to strengthen the technical competence in the Ministry of Finance. Zhivargo Laing is not what is needed.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 4th September up to midnight: 87,838.
Number of hits for the month of August up to Tuesday 31st August up to midnight: 570,985.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 4th September 2010 up to midnight: 5,851,010.
NO
RETRIAL FOR PLEASANT BRIDGEWATER
A Nolle Prosequi was entered in the proposed retrial
of former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater in the courts on Monday 6th September.
We will have a full report in our regular update on Sunday, but here present
a statement issued by Ms. Bridgewater after the decision;
“As I stand here today, the words of an old familiar
hymn ring out in my mind, ‘To God be the glory, great things he has done’
“Today’s proceedings mark the conclusion of what
I term the greatest nightmare of my life. Almost two years ago, I
resigned from the Honourable Senate to focus on my defense. At that
time, I declared my innocence. Today, I again maintain and declare
my complete, absolute and one hundred per cent innocence.
“At this time I would like to pause and acknowledge
some persons who have stood by me. I am most grateful to my family,
especially my parents, for their love and unwavering support. Thanks
Mom and Dad.
“I wish to thank the countless prayer warriors
and prayer partners from all over the world – Africa, America, Canada,
Australia, Turks & Caicos, Asia, England, Europe, Trinidad and in fact
the entire Caribbean and of course the thousands of Bahamian people - I
love you and appreciate you. I also offer my sincere appreciation
to the various churches beyond any denominational divide. I wish
also to thank some very dear friends (you know who you are) and the few
loyal staff who remained with me throughout this entire ordeal; many thanks
for believing in me and holding me up over the last 19 months.
“I offer my sincere thanks to my legal team,
Mr. Murrio Ducile and Associate and Mr. Wayne Munroe and Associates, for
their excellent representation and ensuring that the matter was concluded.
“I must add that I am deeply saddened that the
Travoltas had to endure the pain at the loss of their son. It is
my prayer that they will be able to bring closure to this sad chapter in
their lives and open a brand new one, filled with joy and peace.
“This the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in
our eyes.
“Free at last!! Free at last!! Thank God Almighty,
I am free at last!!!”
MAJOR
PROBLEMS AT OLD BIGHT HIGH SCHOOL
Philip ‘Brave. Davis Deputy Leader of The Progressive
Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for Cat Island, Rum Cay & San
Salvador has issued the following statement:
“It was with a heavy heart that I received reports
this morning that Old Bight High School in Old Bight, Cat Island was unable
to open today due to incomplete school repairs and insufficient teachers.
In spite of the Government and Minister of Education’s ongoing public relations
exercise, the children of south Cat Island were forced to stay home and
miss valuable school time today. I am advised that the school is
in disrepair with school repairs having started only one week ago.
This is totally unacceptable and a slap in the face of the children of
Cat Island. The Government was aware for months of the need to get
the school in order for this new academic year. By all
accounts the necessary repairs will remain ongoing for some time.
All children of the Bahamas deserve to go to school in a safe environment.
“In fact, Old Bight and south Cat Island is overdue
for a new high school.
“Additionally, I am advised that there is a serious
shortage of teachers at the Old Bight High School. Up to this past
weekend, the school needed an additional eight (8) teachers to meet basic
education requirement and to effectively provide the standard and quality
of education that Cat Islanders deserve. Such a critical shortage
is deplorable. The children of Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador
deserve better.
“I have also been informed by the residents of
Rum Cay that there is also a lack of teachers at the Rum Cay All Age School.
There was only a principal in place today. The principal expected
teachers this morning but no one arrived. The school requires at
least two assistant teachers to be fully staffed. On the first day
of school there was none. This cannot be right.
“I implore the Government as a matter of urgency
to address these teacher shortages. This is no time for public relations
exercises but rather ensuring that our children return to school and that
there are sufficient teachers in place. The children of Cat Island, Rum
Cay & San Salvador have been victims of Government neglect for far
too long and cannot afford to be left behind. After all, they are Bahamians
too!”
MITCHELL
RESPONDS TO BRENT SYMONETTE
Last week, we reported on Brent Symonette, the Deputy Prime Minister and
how mixed up he is about what he is supposed to be doing. We forgot
that he had done a couple of double takes during the previous week.
First, he said that all Haitians must get out of the country that were
here illegally. We bet that had them shaking in their boots.
Then when asked by the press was he going to start apprehensions to get
them out if they did not move, he said that he was not going to do so,
only to change his mind the next day and say that he was going to start
on 1st September. The whole thing is just a mix up. He has
no interest in the job, but what he does want is to get as many of the
benefits of being in government like the ability of companies in which
he has an interest to get work from the government from which his family
profits handsomely.
But what was priceless last week on Saturday 28th
August was the Minister saying that Fred Mitchell MP was responsible for
the mess that he has created by allowing the government’s information to
be lost on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. The plot thickened
over the week by further questioning by the police of talk show host Lincoln
Bain who worked with C. Allen Johnson in exposing Mr. Symonette’s negligence
as the minister. You will remember that Mr. Allen himself was arrested.
Mr. Symonette said that Fred Mitchell needed to come clean and tell the
whole story about the website. The suggestion was outrageous.
Here is what Mr. Mitchell had to say in reply to the Deputy Prime Minister
in his own words:
“The statements made by the Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Foreign Affairs and published in The Tribune of Saturday
28th August with regard to the loss of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
website are shocking and patently offensive. They are beyond stupid. They
convey ineptitude on his part that is beyond belief.
“The question of how the website was established
is irrelevant to the issue that is before him as Minister. The fact is
on his watch, he allowed the information which is proprietary to the Bahamas
Government on mfabahamas.org to be lost and he does not have an answer
for it.
“The best one can say in this matter is
that Fred Mitchell is not the issue as much as he would like me to be.
The issue is; how did he and officials allow the Government’s information
to be lost?
“When this matter was revealed to the public,
that the Ministry had lost the information, I wrote the Prime Minister
to seek an immediate investigation and to urge the Prime Minister to cause
his Minister to account to the public for his shocking behaviour, that
of allowing government information to go missing and there was no accountability
for it to the public. The Prime Minister has not answered to my complaint.
“For three years on the occasion of the
budget debates, in my monthly press briefings as Shadow Spokesman on Foreign
Affairs, I raised the matter of the website and the fact that the Minister
was simply not paying attention. On each occasion, the Minister would respond
by saying that they were working on a new site.
“At one point, his colleague Zhivargo Laing
floated the absurd idea that the site was actually a Fred Mitchell site
and not a government site. This equally absurd notion has now been adopted
by Mr. Symonette. The record betrays the stupidity of this argument. Why
would a website that is owned by Fred Mitchell continue for three years
after he lost office to post speeches and picture of Brent Symonette on
it?
“So this Member of Parliament has nothing
to say in response to the Minister's challenge that all the facts must
be revealed about how the site was set up. Mr. Symonette has the records.
Ambassador Joshua Sears and Dr. Patricia Rodgers, the now Permanent Secretary,
are aware of all of the facts. Indeed the Ambassador is well aware of all
of the facts and he now works for Mr. Symonette. We urge him to speak the
truth to power. The Minister must step back from this witch-hunt in which
his government is now engaged. The government should not be the police
to lock up citizens of The Bahamas who are simply seeking to get the Minister
to do his job.
“The Minister must say what steps he is
now taking to recover the lost information.
“The Minister must also accept responsibility
for hounding the employees who were connected with the website out of the
Ministry and now after the shocking negligence of the Minister, the information
appears to be lost.
“The site contains information on where visas
are needed for Bahamians to travel, who need visas to travel to The Bahamas,
a list of treaties, policies of the Ministry, addresses and telephone number
of ambassadors and consulates and honorary consuls.
“I did my job competently as a Minister.
I am doing my job competently as the Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Symonette must not be begrudgeful. He must get down now and do his
work. Time is quite short.”
PLP:
TOO MUCH TALK AND NO ACTION ON CRIME
The Progressive Liberal Party has issued
a statement accusing the FNM Government of continuing to “send the wrong
message to criminals”.
“The PLP continues to note with great concern
the record number of murders. Crime is out of control. There is too
much fear of crime. There is too much talk and no action from this inept
FNM Government.
“The persons who broke into the Supreme
and the Magistrates’ Courts have not yet been tried. The persons who broke
into the Passport Office have not yet been tried. The persons who broke
into the First Caribbean Bank have not yet been tried. Those persons who
shot at the home of a police witness have not yet been charged. Persons
who intimidate witnesses continue to roam the streets as if our country
is the wild, wild west of old.
“We refer to the latest brazen attack on the
state where two armed men allegedly robbed the government’s administrative
building of an undetermined amount of cash and assaulted the administrator
in the process. This alleged crime took place on 4th September 2010 on
the island of Acklins.
“The FNM Government continues to send criminals
the message that they can get away with their brazen acts of lawlessness.
The FNM Government seems to be paralyzed and afraid.
“Breaking into the Supreme Court is tantamount
to an act of treason. The persons who were charged weeks ago should have
been tried by now. It is inexcusable that they have not yet been tried.
If this Government were serious about the war against crime, those accused
persons would have been tried by now.
“It is also inexcusable that the persons
who recently murdered two possible witnesses and shot at the home of a
police officer, also a potential witness, have not yet been charged. The
Government must demonstrate to all within our borders that anyone who shoots
at or otherwise threatens a police officer, a witness in a trial, or a
Judge, will be immediately arrested, charged and tried. Perhaps if the
FNM Government supported the Police rather than unceremoniously forcing
seasoned and competent police officers with a wealth of experience to retire
on 48 hours’ notice, the criminals would not act in such a brazen fashion.
“The PLP strongly disagrees with and deplores
the following statement made on 3rd September, 2010 in the editorial of
The Tribune: ‘It would be difficult to criticize anyone who concluded that
-- with a few exceptions - this judicial Bahamianisation has been a colossal
failure.’
“We support and commend the hardworking Judges
of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. We do not believe
that the Bahamianisation of the Judiciary has been a failure. Judges do
not prepare cases. Our Judges sit always ready, willing and able to hear
cases. Regrettably, the Office of the Attorney General too frequently is
not ready to prosecute matters that have been set down for trial. This
is not the fault of Judges. The fault lies solidly at the feet of the Attorney
General. The Attorney General is a colossal failure.
“We condemn the FNM Government for its failure
to conduct the salary review for Judges as is required by the Judges Remuneration
and Pensions Act. We call upon the Prime Minister to lay before the House
of Assembly for its approval the report of the Commission that is alleged
to have inquired into “the adequacy of the salaries, allowances and pensions…and
the adequacy of Judges' benefits generally…”. We call upon the Attorney
General to advise the Government to obey the law.
“Bahamians, everywhere, even FNM’s, are
crying out for the day when they will be able to free themselves from this
nightmarish “jokey” FNM Government.”
LAW
STUDENTS LAUNCH THEIR ASSOCIATION
Barry Griffin, a law student at Kings College, London
has been elected the first President of the Bahamian Law Students Association.
The organization was launched at a reception held on Tuesday 31st August
at Montagu Gardens. The organization is sanctioned by the Bahamas
Bar Association. Present for the occasion were Ruth Bowe Darville,
President of the Bar; Wayne Munroe, former President; Fred Mitchell and
Alfred Sears MPs and Henry Bostwick Q.C. who was the keynote speaker for
the event.
BEGGING
CHRISTIE TO HELP
Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, is a lost soul.
He does not know what to do in the face of an economy that is collapsing.
The only game in town is the Bahamar project to develop Cable beach but
he has been talking the project down. He is a man drowning his sorrows
in a Baillou Hill Road bar, sitting over the hill drinking himself into
joy. That is our Hubert, our Prime Minister. He needs Perry
Christie’s help and does not know how to ask for it. You have the
Bank of Nova Scotia being disgusting s.o.b.s by refusing to move their
first mortgage and giving the Chinese pride of place so this project can
go ahead and Mr. Ingraham, despite the fact that all the people who run
Scotiabank in The Bahamas are FNM, cannot do anything to move the process
along. So perhaps Perry Christie can help and we suggest that he,
the Prime Minister should ask him and ask Mr. Christie quickly before it
is too late.
BACK TO
SCHOOL
PLP Candidate for the Mt. Moriah seat in the next
general election Arnold Forbes started off with a bang this year with his
back to school function. He was joined on Saturday 28th August by
Party Leader Perry Christie in the distribution of the goods and some of
the plain fun. The photos are from Mr. Forbes’ Facebook page.
FR.
THADDEUS PRATT IS BURIED
Fr. Thaddeus Pratt, the former rector of St. Gregory’s
Anglican Church was laid to rest in Nassau following a funeral service
at the Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday 1st September. The service
was conducted by Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd assisted by Archbishop Drexel
Gomez and Bishop Gilbert Thompson. The photos of the funeral which
took place on Wednesday 1st September are by Peter Ramsay.
EXPOSÉ
ON LOUIS BACON
The name Peter Nygard has been bandied about for
the last few weeks as the bad guy in a struggle with the Lyford Cay set.
He and neighbour Louis Bacon, the billionaire have been embroiled in a
power struggle over the use of property in the rich ghetto out west in
New Providence. Mr. Bacon has the better public image of the two.
This gave many people the impression that we side with Mr. Bacon but quite
frankly we don’t care in either case, just get the thing off the front
page of the newspaper and let Lyford Cay be what it is supposed to be out
there in silence hiring some Bahamians and giving them good money.
Now comes an exposé in the Daily Mail of
London about Mr. Bacon [DAILY MAIL ARTICLE REPORTEDLY WITHDRAWN DUE
TO DAILY MAIL LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS - Ed.] He is believed to be
a big contributor to the Free National Movement in The Bahamas.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Honouring Sir Lynden:
It saddens me that we have not yet found the
capacity to leave the politics and celebrate Sir Lynden as a true national
hero - The observances chronicled on your site should be national and not
partisan - Ours cannot be an FNM or PLP recollection - To do so cheapens
his national service and legacy - his and others served The Bahamas and
stood above our narrow conceptions of Bahamian politics - I am optimistic
that we will figure it out and looking forward to our next generation of
leaders that will work solely in service to Country.
Hank Ferguson
[Your note and sentiment is fine as far as it goes, but the question is: will any FNM come to the grave or the church service? So until then, the PLP must use what it has to honour the great man. — Editor]
Jerome Pinder writes about Fred Mitchell in The Tribune:
Published On:Wednesday, September 01, 2010
EDITOR, The Tribune.
On Thursday, August 26th, The Tribune published
an article in which MP Fred Mitchell was calling on Government to intervene
and protect the welfare of City Markets employees.
In the article he was concerned regarding the
welfare of 700 workers who are employed at City Markets, including some
of his constituents who are employed with the food chain. He goes on to
comment about low levels of inventory, failing equipment, etc
So we have an MP going on record, hinting at
the financial failure of City Markets. Is he putting fear in the employees?
Is the company doomed? Does the MP have the correct information to make
such comments?
What is more alarming, whether City Markets is
in financial trouble or not, is that the MP wants the Government through
the Department of Labour to intervene and protect the workers.
So we have to ask ourselves some very serious
questions:
* Is it the role of Government and our MPs to interfere with private enterprise?Why doesn't the MP and others like him use their time to bring proposals to Parliament that will cause businesses to thrive in this country, rather than travelling around trying to police and interfere with private enterprises?
* Is it the role of Government and ultimately the taxpayer to be responsible for the employees if they are laid off?
* Since the recent unemployment assistance programme through NIB was launched, are we now going to shoulder the burden of any private enterprise that fails?
* Is the MP proposing another expansion of Government and the welfare state?
* Why is he teaching his constituents to be more reliant on Government, instead of themselves?
* Whatever happened to saving for a rainy day?
* Doesn't the country already have a bloated civil service payroll?
* Can the Government afford to intervene in this case and others like it?
* Isn't the country itself in financial trouble?
[Mr. Pinder completely misunderstands the import of Mr. Mitchell’s intervention. First, Mr. Mitchell does believe that it is the role of the government to intervene in the market in appropriate cases. Secondly, the case of City Markets is one such case. He does not agree that intervening in City Markets sets a precedent for anything other than if 700 jobs can be saved or the rights of workers protected then the government must do so. At this stage, Mr. Mitchell did not call for the government to save the company. He was arguing that given the noise in the market, the Ministry of Labour could use both its official and unofficial powers to call for the books and have a private chat with them to see what the situation actually is. More importantly, since pension funds in The Bahamas are unregulated and the funds of the employees were used to finance the purchase of the company, it was prudent for some government authority to ensure that if the company goes belly up, the workers monies were protected. Those who think, like Mr. Pinder, that the market should be allowed to operate to the detriment of 700 workers who then go on the dole, are living with their heads in the sand. — Editor]
Pierre Dupuch Has His Say:
By Pierre V.L. Dupuch
September 2, 2010
Sometime ago while going to the office, I stopped
at the gate for the newspaper, opened it and was accosted by this blaring
headline, "Branville lacking Cabinet support" and followed by the comment
that his only followers were not Party supporters, thus giving the impression
that he didn’t have a chance if he opposed Hubert Ingraham as party Leader.
I smiled because this is not what I have been
told. A good portion of the Cabinet is just waiting for the opportunity
to plunge their knives into Hubert's back but because they are beholden
to him for their daily bread there is reluctance to be public about it.
And this makes sense. The people vote them into Parliament and pay them
$28,000 (or thereabouts ) which makes them beholden to the people. And
then comes the Prime Minister (whoever he may be) and, using the peoples'
money pays them $ 60,000 (or thereabouts), with the option of firing them
at a minute's notice, which makes them beholden to him.
But I have learned from being in politics for
virtually all my life not to believe all you read in the papers or hear
in the bar rooms, listen to what is said in the meetings held in the dark
halls or the back rooms hidden away from the public eye.
I am told that some of those who the Prime Minister
may think are beholden to him have already been bought. All I can say is
that this will be an interesting one with blood dripping from plenty knives!!!!
Good reading, eh? Interesting to say the least.
All facts. But, like the computer, garbage in; garbage out. Whether Branville
McCartney has the support of Cabinet or not has no relevance if there is
a leadership contest. This whole sordid affair, especially the spin reporters
put on it, pricked my curiosity and so I dug out my FNM Constitution. Believe
it or not, I did not see the word "Cabinet Minister" mentioned in it once!!
The choice of the FNM Leader (and as such a possible
Prime Minister) is not made by the Cabinet, the Parliamentarians, or the
Council. The choice of the "Leader" is the sole prerogative of the FNM
in Convention where everyone there has one vote, be he/she a Member of
Parliament or a simple delegate.
Under the head "Convention", section 49 it says
"The Convention shall consist of the Parliamentary Members, National Officers,
Members of the Central Council, and not less than three nor more than seven
delegates from each Constituency Association."
Among other things section 50 of the Constitution
states that the "Convention shall be the ultimate authority of the Party"
and section (e) of the same constitution, says the Convention is responsible
for the "Election of officers of the Party". The "Leader" is at the top
of the list of Party Officers elected. Nowhere does the positions of "Leader
Elect" or "Deputy Leader Elect" appear.
That, my friends is parts of the FNM Constitution.
And now how does all this affect the selection
of the Prime Minister? To answer this question we turn to the "Constitution
of the Bahamas", which in Chapter VI, section 73 (1) we read: "Whenever
there shall be occasion for the appointment of a Prime Minister, the Governor-General
shall appoint as Prime Minister.(a) the member of the House of Assembly
who is the Leader of the party which commands the support of the majority
of the members of that House..." Unlike the British Parliament where the
person "who" commands the support of the majority of members becomes the
Prime Minister, in the Bahamas the Leader of the party "which" commands
the majority in the House becomes Prime Minister. "Which" refers to the
party, not the person. It is said that it was worded like that because
Sir Lynden felt more comfortable with his party than he did with his parliamentarians.
And there's the rub. Ingraham was the "Leader"
of the FNM throughout the election of 2002 and would have been asked to
form the Government if the FNM had been elected the majority. The positions
of "Leader Elect" and "Deputy Leader elect" did not exist in either the
FNM constitution or, more importantly, in the Bahamian Constitution!
The posts that Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes
held did not exist. It was a sham! Ingraham made people believe he was
not going for a third term, but positioned himself to be appointed for
a third term if the FNM had won. Remember, "the Governor-General shall
appoint the Leader of the Party which commands the majority". And Ingraham
was the Leader.
The thing that amazes me is that leading lawyers
in the FNM knew this was a sham, but went along with it.
So there it is folks, the facts.
I have just received some rather interesting
and disturbing information about the organization known as the Government-Bay
street Partnership. I will soon write about that!! Those revelations may
blow your socks off!!!
A
Factory For Failure...
Despite all the political rhetoric to the contrary,
the public school system, under successive FNM Administrations, has been
a dismal failure.
An impartial and up-close examination of this
administration’s oversight of the public Education System, or the lack
thereof, between 1992-2002 and again from May 2007 to date, would reveal
an unbelievable lack of appreciation for, and a very callous approach to,
what should have been done and what needs to be done presently, to ensure
that by the time each child meanders through the system and graduates from
primary; from junior high and then from high schools, they would have obtained
a good grounding on all fronts, which would give them the kind of confidence
they need to face the outside world.
As a matter of fact, during the administrative
periods of the FNM governments, the system, at work, would best be described,
by any reasonable, non-partial expert, as a “factory for failure” which
conditions, I might add in essence, seemed to exist and flourish, for all
that time, for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to feed the
“life line” of our prison system, given the expansion of the crime rate
during this (FNM) administration’s several terms in office.
The FNM is, and has always been in my view, big
on buildings and lack lustre on results. In fact the sole defence
of their educational achievements, to date, is on the amount of school
buildings constructed during their times in office and, of course, bragging
rights over the PLP on that score. With them, it is never about “Academic
Excellence.”
Academics and the degree of the quality of the
same, have both taken “way- back- stage” positions on their list of priorities.
Whether these are ignored intentionally, on their part or otherwise, I
will reserve my right to say and hesitate to pass judgment at this time.
For instance, this government’s decision to build
and relocate the new college of the Bahamas’ campus from within the industrial
area of the heart of Freeport to beyond Freeport’s bridge, about ten miles
outside the environs of the city of Freeport Grand Bahama proper; who made
this stupid decision and what was their rationale for doing so, when in
fact most of the Institute’s students, especially those who attend in the
evenings presently (most of whom are young girls) have no way of getting
to and from school except to hike rides, walk or get to and from by whatever
means available, to them? Will they be able to hike or walk, at nights
no less, if the campus is 10-12 miles away on an almost deserted dangerous
highway or does the college intend to implement and maintain its own private,
daily, efficient Bus schedule? I seriously doubt it.
This move, I submit, will not produce the kind
of participation and net the kind of results some of us wish to see.
Obviously, the FNM government is only concerned about building concrete
monuments to itself. As I said before, the FNM’s only objective in
education is to be in a position to brag about the many buildings they
construct while on watch; nothing more. Positive results in academics
and continual improvements in the system on the ground are not priorities
for them. They care very little if the nation’s children are moulded
and grounded, with a fair degree of the basics by the time they get through
the various stages of basic schooling. I am told that there are no
funds left for new furniture for the new campus, even; that the used smelly
old furniture from the existing campus will be moved to the new facility.
Seems to me that the Bahamian people are more
tolerant and are prepared to accept far more chafing and bad treatment
from the FNM government than they have shown to accept when the PLP is
in office; why is that? Bad treatment is bad treatment, no matter
what quarter it comes from and we should not accept third best from anyone.
Recently the government have taken the decision
not to grade and or publish national school averages, suggesting that the
averages published to date have never reflected the true picture of where
the country was or is, in terms of our actual achievements nationally.
I disagree with this notion, as national averages, in my view do, in fact,
give a true picture, on the whole, for how we are doing and what it is
that we are achieving if anything.
What the minister, and by extension his government,
wishes to do by not publicizing the national averages, I submit, is to
keep undercover his government’s educational failures. If the whole
truth were known, however, the “D” national grade average, recorded and
published for last year, would have reflected a far worse position had
the results from the private sector schools not been included.
We need to face the situation, as a country,
expose all our dirty linen and grade only the public schools so that we
can really get a true picture of this broken system that we continue to
prop up with good taxpayer’s money “school year after school year.”
It is no secret that I am of the view that the
next PLP government should consider a pilot project for a national system
of privatized education. Among all the other obvious benefits, (which are
not the subject of my writing today). Such a system could afford
every single Bahamian child, without exception, the same private school,
safe atmosphere and environment, and the same quality tutoring. The
results would be a whole lot different, I submit. I challenge this
government, to grade both the public and private school systems separately
the next time around and see if my predictions of a “B” average for the
private schools and a big fat “F” for the government school system isn’t
realized. We are indeed an “F” rated system-plain and simply-and
have been all through the FNM’s years of governance, no question about
that; notwithstanding their rhetoric.
A huge chunk of the problem, in my view, is that
the entire ministry of education -encouraged and supported by FNM bigots-
is staffed with a mine field of political cutthroats who spend their entire
careers stroking the backs of these lousy FNM politicians; politicians
who they feel could help them in their efforts to gain that one little
advantage - one little edge - over their more deserving colleagues for
the chance to move past them and one more rung up the ladder they call
success. For that, these cutthroats are content to spend their entire
work lives languishing in those, small, smelly, ill-equipped cubicles they
call offices; housed in those old run down, insect-infested, leaky roof
buildings, with no air condition, in most cases. They get to hold
those undeserved positions, for a while, but they offer nothing new - no
new learning techniques; no new ideas - to a system that is broken and
beaten down; a system which, sadly, has responsibility for the 60,000 children
who ride, run and walk to the various class rooms throughout the country,
school year after school year.
The kids, (most of them unchallenged and uninterested),
mark time, therefore, year after year without ambition until graduation
day when they are expelled from the system with a piece of paper which
says only that “Joe Billy” was here, he successfully bided his time and
has now passed on, leaving a vacant seat for the next unsuspecting sucker/
victim. A total waste of the country’s time and talents and resources,
indeed. This, mind you, while the FNM brags about the many buildings
they construct, while on their watch, to house these societal misfits.
It is criminal what they are doing to the nation’s youth, but the FNM don’t
give a damn about those wasted minds, so long as they get to show the voters,
in the next election campaign, how many more buildings, compared with the
PLP, were constructed while they were in office.
What the FNM will not tell you, though however,
is that while school buildings and classroom spaces may increase under
their rule so does, simultaneously, the amount of criminals who they end
up assigning to jail cells designed to house far fewer of the misfits than
are actually housed in them.
School opening this year has happened no differently,
apparently, from all the other previous years, under the Free National
Movement government. No differently in that press reports, circulating
already, indicate that the same old tired unforgivable deficiencies will
be the hallmark once again during this school year. Brave Davis,
I see, is the first MP to complain about the situation in his constituency
of Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador, where teacher shortages and school
repairs, or the lack thereof, have taken centre stage. School could
not open, he said in a press statement, in Cat Island because building
repairs only started a week ago and the kids were ordered to remain at
home for another week or so; this cannot be right. Can we continue to tolerate
such blatant tardiness? Everybody in The Bahamas knows when school
opens each year; doesn’t the FNM minister know?
School building repairs, Davis said, started
only the week before the kids were scheduled to be in school and therefore
they would have to remain at home until such time as repairs are complete.
In addition, he said, they are short eight teachers in Cat Island alone,
and two of the three teachers needed at Rum Cay School did not turn up,
among other complaints. This is sure shaping up already to be a stormy
school year re-opening.
Forrester J. Carroll J.P.
IN PASSING
Maurice Glinton Hospitalised
Late word that Freeport-based constitutional attorney Maurice Glinton
is "resting comfortably" in hospital following a fall at home.
Will Pleasant Face A Trial?
The under talk is that there will be no trial for Pleasant Bridegwater
when she appears in court tomorrow Monday 6th September. That was
the speculation on this and other sites last week. But then The Tribune
ran a headline which said that it was not so. That was written after
they spoke to a very mixed up Attorney General John Delaney who said that
he had not entered a nolli prosequi; a writ to stop the prosecution.
He quickly issued a statement the next day to say that what he meant was
that up to that point he had not any evidence before him to suggest a nolli
would be entered. He said that did not stop the parties from reaching
an accommodation. This is sophistry at the FNM's best. The
expectation is that the parties who made the complaint will withdraw and
the whole damn mess should come to an end. It was ridiculous in the
first place. Let us pray for Pleasant.
Basil Neymour Can’t Get A Job From His Son’s Government
One of the best road contractors in the country has reportedly been
unable to get a contract to build a road in the country since the PLP left
office. Basil Neymour, who is believed to be FNM, but generally supports
country first, is a good road builder and is known as someone who gives
back to his community. He is the father of FNM Minister Phenton Neymour,
but that has apparently worked against him. No contracts from the
FNM.
Vinette Graham Allen Not Welcome Here
The new Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham Allen is getting
her feet wet, fresh in from Jamaica. She spoke to the press last
week to say along with the Attorney General John Delaney that she intends
to put a management system to get the court matters moving quickly to court.
This is the reason she was brought to The Bahamas, to clear up the backlog
of criminal cases, but most people feel that the real agenda is for
Hubert Ingraham to accomplish the prosecution of at least one PLP MP before
the general election. The problem with this is that her comments
have an air of unreality about them. She is not welcome in The Bahamas
or the office of the AG and to pretend as if there is no dispute about
her presence is like sticking salt in the wound. She ought to leave
and go home.
Western Air Promotes Itself In Jamaica
A crew from Western Air was in Jamaica over the past week with the
media and with travel agents from Freeport promoting the Nassau/Kingston
route and meeting Jamaican hoteliers to encourage tourism from The Bahamas
to Jamaica. The planes leave every day for the flight from
Nassau to Kingston and from Montego Bay.
Dengue Fever In The Caribbean
Dengue fever is raging through the Caribbean including Jamaica and
Trinidad and Tobago. One Bahamian who travelled to Jamaica caught
the disease and had to be hospitalized in Nassau. There are two types,
the regular one that causes weakness, bad stomach and fever and four days
bed rest and the other is the hemorrhagic fever that can kill you.
The disease is spread by mosquitoes.
Registering To Vote… Lack Of Confidence In Commissioner
Errol Bethel, the Parliamentary Commissioner, has announced that
registration to vote is to start for the next general election. This
is part of Hubert Ingraham’s effort to make himself and his government
look more organized than the previous PLP administration that conducted
a registration campaign that did not end until right up to the last general
election resulting in what many thought was widespread confusion in the
2007 election. Mr. Ingraham says this will not happen on his watch.
Trouble is that the PLP has many issues with the criterion that the Commissioner
intends to use for identifying Bahamian citizens duly registered in the
constituencies given the criticisms of the various election court cases.
The PLP also has a problem with Errol Bethel himself as Parliamentary Commissioner.
They believe he needs to retire and be replaced by someone with no adverse
track record.
Independence For Trinidad and Tobago
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago celebrated the 48th anniversary
of the country’s independence from Britain on 30th August.
Mitchell In Jamaica
Fred Mitchell MP of Fox Hill and the Opposition’s spokesman on Foreign
Affairs was nominated by PLP Leader Perry Christie to attend the Organization
of American States (OAS) consultation on model legislation on campaign
finance reform. The consult took place from 2nd September to 3rd
September in Kingston. Attending from the FNM was Michael Foulkes,
the party’s Secretary General and Leslie Miller from Civil Society Bahamas.
BTC To Be Sold
The latest report is that the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd
(BTC), the Bahamian telephone company, is to be sold to Cable and Wireless,
the British owned telecommunications company that dominates the Caricom
area. The price is 200 million dollars. This is considerably
below the 260 million that the PLP agreed to sell the company for.
Word is that Cable and Wireless wants the government to reduce the staff
by at least 40 per cent immediately. Due diligence is reportedly
still to be done. If this is so, this will be remarkable because
Hubert Ingraham started off the privatization process of BTC 10 years ago,
spent nearly 200 million downsizing the company to get it ready for privatization,
swore he would not sell it to Cable and Wireless because he said it was
the worst telephone company in the area, and now he is selling it to Cable
and Wireless. BTC’s sale will be a monument to the failure of the
FNM administration and the legacy of Hubert Ingraham. It will be
a fitting graveyard for his career.
Arawak Cay Port Goes Ahead
The press reports that the work has begun on the new Port of Nassau
that was given to a group of Bay Street merchants for twenty years.
The PLP opposed the project but never found its voice in resisting the
moving of the port to the wrong area of town. A study during the
PLP’s time in government said that Arawak Cay was the least desirable spot
and the port should go to the south of New Providence. The official
PLP never took a stand but left it to one of its Senators and a group of
dissidents to make the protest. The issue never took fire and now
the work has begun without any prospect of a court case to stop the work.
The PLP ought to have said that it will be reversed when they come to office.
Although this was a subtext behind the public discussion, that never materialized
and so the Port goes ahead.
David Thompson Back In Barbados
Prime Minister David Thompson of Barbados came back home last week
to Barbados after two months of medical leave in New York for an undisclosed
illness that some say is stomach cancer and others say is pancreatic cancer.
Mr. Thompson did not give any further details but does not look well and
the nation is still guessing what is wrong.
Cell System Down Again
There was a massive failure of the cell phone system in The Bahamas
on Friday 3rd September. This is the second time in weeks.
BTC said this was a result of a power failure.
Kamari Charlton Held In Singapore
The young former athlete Kamari Charlton (now 34) was reportedly arrested
in Singapore for allegedly overstaying his time. He is also reportedly
being held on a gambling charge. Mr. Charlton has been in one bit
of trouble after the next since the time he was quoted in the New York
Times as an example of the success of black athletes in the face
of racial discrimination. He had to leave the state of Florida where
he went to school because of a sexual assault charge against him.
He fell off the radar and now this.
Police Chief Accuses Jamaican PM Of Corruption
Sergeant Raymond Wilson, the Chairman of the Jamaica Police Federation,
spoke at their annual conference in Kingston on Thursday 2nd September
at Ocho Rios and said the following about the Prime Minister of Jamaica
Bruce Golding and his government: “We are forced to contend with an employer,
the Government of Jamaica, whose motive seems hell-bent on destroying the
police force in an effort to steer away the nation's attention from their
blatant political corruption and clear support for (a) criminal terrorist
under the cloak of party support rather than they being the Government…
We are police officers who are alerted one way or another to wrongdoing
wherever it is and so to hear the employer of the police through the voice
of the prime minister of Jamaica, declare that certain support for fugitive
Dudus Coke was party support and not government support, it can only be
concluded that the Government, or might I say, a political party, has openly
declared that they offer support to the creation of mayhem and years of
bloodshed - the snuffing out of over 1,000 lives each year over the last
couple of years.”
IMF Meets With PLP
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has met with the PLP to get their
views about the state of the economy. The meeting would have been
more useful had it taken place at the end of the consultation instead of
at the beginning. The PLP reportedly is concerned about the state
of the Ministry of Finance and the erosion of the technical capacity of
the Ministry of Finance.
Contractors Meet With PLP
The PLP continues to develop its position on the proposals that the
government intends to bring to the House of Assembly on the Bahamar project
that will see a multi-billion dollar development at Cable Beach on the
western end of New Providence. To the consternation of the PLP, the
Government intends to bring a resolution at this time not drafted that
will cause the Parliament to approve what the government intends to do.
PLP House Leader Obie Wilchcombe seemed to rule out abstention when he
said to the press on Wednesday 1st September that there was not a chance
in hell that the PLP would abstain on the vote. This is unfortunate
since abstention is still one possibility, particularly since the PLP does
not know what the FNM intends to bring to the House. In developing
its position, the PLP met with the Bahamas Contactors Association
(BCA) headed by Stephen Wrinkle.
TUC And NCTU Meet With PLP
As part of the programme of developing what to do about the potential
vote on the Bahamar project at Cable Beach, the PLP has met with the National
Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) and expects to meet tonight with
the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Following that, the party will make
its position known about the project by the development of a position paper.
Two Men Missing After Last Week’s Comment Of The Week
The words were not even cold on the paper before the press reported
that two men went missing on the high seas and have not been found.
They went out with three others to test a boat with an engine that went
bad. They tried to swim back to shore but did not make it.
The family members are angry with the authorities because the search was
given up before they believed that it should. Last week we made the
point about people going out to sea without taking the necessary steps
to protect their own interests. Now two perfectly healthy young men
are gone due it appears to their own negligence.
Murder! Murder! Murder!
Up to Tuesday 31st August 2010, there were 65 murders in The Bahamas
The Storm Passes By
Hurricane Earl missed The Bahamas after threatening the southeast of
The Bahamas for most of last week. It fizzled out in the north Atlantic.
On Thursday 2nd August, there as wind and rain damage at San Salvador and
Eleuthera.
Romie Is Attacked
Romauld Ferreira, the TV Host of Bahamas At Sunrise was attacked over
the weekend on 1st September. He was attacked just before 8.30 a.m.
at his law chambers of Ferreira and Company on East Street north.
Mr. Ferreira was walking in the parking lot when a man unknown to him approached
him asking if he would like to purchase some breadfruit. He told
the man no, then Mr. Ferreira turned to walk away from the man, who then
charged at him with a cutlass. Mr. Ferreira suffered slight bruises
and cuts. What complicated matters was that Mr. Ferreira was to represent
one of the co-accused in a murder trial that same day which also was to
have involved Raymond Bastian. Mr. Bastian was murdered in his car
the weekend before with his baby and girlfriend in the car. The talk
is that this was to stop Mr. Bastian turning state’s evidence. So
the speculation is that the attack on the lawyer might have been an attempt
to get at him as well in connection with the case. It remains speculative.
Bishop Simeon Hall Calls For Gay and Lesbian Ban
The following statement was issued 27th August by Bishop Simeon Hall
of new Covenant Baptist Church:
“The Ministry of Education to ban all homosexuals,
lesbians, and heterosexual predators" from the nation's classrooms ahead
of the opening of the new school year. The ministry should assure the public
that these sexual deviants would not be allowed into the nation's classrooms.
“It is incredulous that some incidences of sexual
abuse could exist in some schools without someone making an outcry. It
is my humble opinion that the Ministry of Education could be liable if
it allows 'known' sexual deviants to remain in the nation's classrooms.
“You don't put 'the fox to tend the chickens'.
Parents themselves must do more and recognize that theirs is the responsibility
to protect their children. Some parents knowingly prostitute the innocence
of their children for a couple of dollar.
“All efforts by gay and lesbian groups to further
infiltrate the country's schools should be met with an instant defence
and resistance.”
Latrae Rahming PLP Youth Leader Responds To Simeon Hall
“I do not support homosexuality; I believe homosexuality
has its religious and social connotations, however, every person deserves
equal treatment and ought to be secure (from) any form of discrimination.
They should be treated in the same manner as any citizen of this country.
As a country we need to do more to foster tolerance and an acceptance of
diversity. It is my strong belief that the government has to treat
all citizens equally. As a country we have an obligation to keep
the promise of liberty, freedom of choice and equality for all of our people.
“The minority are entitled to their equal rights
and they must be protected by law. To violate their rights would
be oppression. When any citizen of this country’s rights are threatened
and unjustly denied, it is the responsibility of the government to have
those rights restored. When we decide to judge one another, it prevents
us from seeing the common good we share as a country. This discriminatory
statement made by a senior pastor may only lead to (adversity). We
should never confuse someone’s sexual choice with the passion of teaching.”
Young Liberals Dissociate Themselves From Their Member’s Views
The PYL’s statement was issued after a Bahamian website accused them
of harbouring “fairies” in the organization:
“As the nation embarks on another new school
semester the Progressive Young Liberals supports any initiative that protects
our nation’s treasure it’s YOUTH. In that light the PYL denounces
the recent Press Statements released by one of our executives, in which
he rebuked Rev. Simeon Hall for his comments relating to the proper vetting
for teachers to ensure that ‘Sexual Predators’ are kept far from our Classrooms.
The press release was not an official PYL statement on this matter.
In fact our position not only supports Rev. Hall’s sentiments, the arguments
also should be to protect our students from any negative element that would
affect their growth and development.
“Our mandate as the youth organ of the Progressive
Liberal Party is cantered on the uplifting and empowerment of our nation’s
youth. We will always support any initiative that develops our youth
as we have done in the past on numerous occasions whether it is speaking
about this present government’s decision to cut back on the guaranteed
education loan scheme, supporting our former chairwoman, Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin
calling for a proper investigation regarding the death of a minor while
in police custody.
“PYL is working continuously to build our branches,
strengthening our numbers and providing youth in all constituencies a chance
to express their views on their country. As we continue to grow we
urge all Young people to join us, speak up and let your voice heard; only
then the change we seek for the betterment of our beloved country can be
realized.”
Footnote To History
Latrae Rahming, who made the statement, was made to apologise to the
Young Liberals and was forced to resign his position as a Young Liberals
Officer as a result of his statement. Mr. Rahming who was born on
29 January 1993 is 17 years old and is the great grandson of PLP stalwart
the late Leon ‘Doc’ Rahming.
Prostate Cancer Month
The Us Too Foundation in The Bahamas begins its month of special screening
for prostate cancer in The Bahamas. The group headed by Robert Lightbourne
and Val Maura is urging all men to be tested for the PSA by blood and the
digital rectal exam which is physical. The results show that
there are in the tested group 22 per cent of men with elevated PSA levels
in their blood which is an indication of prostate cancer. This
is a painful disease in its end stages.
City Markets Reprise
Fred Mitchell MP met with the City markets CEO last week according
to the Nassau Guardian of Wednesday 1st September. The paper says
that Mr. Mitchell is to issue a statement as a result of the meeting.
One is expected by Tuesday 7th September.
Join K Renaldo Collie and Andrew Burrows
Renaldo Collie has a radio programme on the web every night.
Among his guests last week were Rodney Moncur and Senator Michael Halkitis.
Tune in at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-zone
between 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Andrew Burrows resumes his show this week.
Amongst his guests will be Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill. Tune in to
Andrew Burrow at http://www.unscripted242.com/.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
INGRAHAM TRIES TO SINK BAHAMAR
The
great day finally arrived, with the Prime Minister and his promised resolution,
which was to facilitate the deal for Bahamar to be able to proceed to build
the 2.6 billion dollar facility on Cable Beach in Nassau. On Wednesday
8th September, Mr. Ingraham tabled a resolution that seeks the approval
of the House for the job which he already has the power to do. Mr.
Ingraham said that this was would be the biggest project ever in the country.
He also added words that were calculated to scuttle the deal. It
is remarkable how diffident he has been with the whole process, when having
stopped, reviewed and cancelled so many things; this is now the only game
in town.
Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition, who put the deal together when he was Prime Minister, said that Mr. Ingraham’s tone was negative. Mr. Christie is shown in this Peter Ramsay photo responding to the media on the matter outside the House of Assembly. Let us put it more directly. Mr. Ingraham was being treacherous. There is no one in The Bahamas today who does not believe that this is not a script being acted out by Mr. Ingraham for and on behalf of Sol Kerzner and the interests at Paradise Island, to ensure that the Cable Beach project fails and that Kerzner continues to be king of the roost in The Bahamas, with him being fully in charge of The Bahamas tourism product. Mr. Ingraham would be content to allow that to continue, having knighted Mr. Kerzner and having been sumptuously feted in the social scene in South Africa at Mr. Kerzner's expense.
Mr. Ingraham concentrated on the fact that land will have to be transferred over to the Bahamar entity before the Chinese will provide the money. He also said that it was a condition precedent for the deal that the Bank of Nova Scotia gives up its security over the project so that the Chinese lenders can have the first lien over the property.
These are all standard provisions in any deal. It is not handing land over to the Chinese government and it is not any more onerous that any other lender would ask for if they are giving their money to a project. We believe that the project is a good project. If it does not succeed, put it down to Mr. Ingraham’s account.
The real reason for the resolution, though, is to get political cover. Mr. Ingraham is nervous because the government will have to grant work permits for 8150 Chinese workers. The emphasis on Chinese workers is of course racist and designed to frighten people that something unusual is going to happen with this project. The fact is that all the major projects in this country have been built by foreign labour. Mr. Ingraham used the spurious reasoning for the extraordinary resolution that in the Hotels Encouragement Act there is a limitation of 25 percent foreign labour. But he neglected to point out that this could be waived by the government if the Bahamians were not available and in all projects in the country including Kerzner’s Paradise Island; it has been in fact waived.
So the point of bringing the resolution to the House is not for it to succeed, but to rope the PLP into the pain of granting the 8150 work permits and hope that it is scuttled. Then he will have served his Paradise Island masters. That is it plain and simple. What a silly fellow.
You may click here for the full statement of Mr. Ingraham to the House and the resolution from the government's website.
Number of hits for the week for the week ending Saturday 11th September 2010 up to midnight: 91,618.
Number of hits for the month of September ending Saturday 11th September up to midnight: 154,277.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 11th September up to midnight: 5,971,398.
THE
MINISTER ACCUSED OF LYING
Ethric Bowe, who is a civic activist and heads the
lobby that is taking the government to court for reversing the Blue Hill
Road traffic in New Providence was quick to jump all over Neko C. Grant,
the Minister of Works when he said in the House of Assembly on Wednesday
8th September that his Ministry had not done an economic impact study when
they decided to reverse the road. Mr. Bowe pointed out that the Minister,
when asked the same question at a town meeting held in the area he said
that such a study had been done. The photo shows Mr. Grant at the
meeting making the point. Here is Mr. Bowe’s full statement issued
on Thursday 9th September:
“What is the consequence for a cabinet minister
lying to the public or lying to parliament? The Minister of Works
in a public meeting broadcast on radio and TV claimed that his ministry
had done an economic impact study of the roads on the businesses and community
of Coconut Grove. When he was challenged to produce the document
at the time he said it was a big document and it would be “too cumbersome”
to turn over to the public even though the group volunteered to pick it
up. Yesterday in the House of Assembly Mr. Grant confessed that there
was no economic impact study. This overturns the lies that were told
to the public directly in town hall meetings, on the radio, and on TV.
Many supporters repeated the lies because they believed Neko Grant.
Now he collapses with the truth.
“The press knew what the truth was but in many
instances facilitated Neko Grant.
“What a mess we weave, when at first we do deceive?”
PLP
CALLS FOR URBAN RENEWAL REVIEW CITING JAMAICA RESULTS
The Progressive Liberal Party has again called for
the Free National Movement Government to seriously alter its position and
the current structure of the Urban Renewal Programme (URP) in The
Bahamas after Jamaica is reporting that its community policing programme
is yielding results in that Country. You may click
here for the PLP’s full release by Chairman Bradley Roberts.
SEARS
AND MITCHELL IN GRAND BAHAMA
Alfred Sears MP is the Opposition’s spokesman on
Education; Fred Mitchell MP PLP for Fox Hill had been to Grand Bahama on
26th August and spoke to education issues. Both were back in Freeport
to meet with the teachers at the Freeport Primary School and the Walter
Parker Primary School to talk about the issues of administration of the
school. There is great tension in the school over the removal of
the former headmistress at the Walter Parker School and her replacement
by Sheila Scavella. The teachers met with the two MPs and Senator
Michael Darville of the Grand Bahama Council of the PLP on Thursday 9th
September.
Mr. Mitchell issued a statement on behalf of the
pair which answered certain allegations that FNM Minister Desmond Bannister
made about charges made earlier by Mr. Mitchell about the furniture shortages
in the schools. Mr. Mitchell also said that the decision to create
a junior high school at Jack Hayward in Freeport without adequate planning
was disastrous. The Minister had accused Mr. Mitchell of bringing
politics into the school. He accused both Mr. Sears and Mr. Mitchell
of disrupting the school and of letting him know by text message before
the visit when they had planned the visit sometime well before the actual
visit. Here is Mr. Mitchell’s
full statement.
As we went to upload, Messrs. Mitchell
and Sears responded specifically to the Minister's allegations.
Photo/Greg Christie
THE
ELEMENTS OF THE DEAL AT BAHAMAR
Here is how we describe the Bahamar deal that is
about to come. Make no mistake where we are. Our backs are
to the corner. This is it. It is the only game in town.
New money needs to come in and this is the only thing that promises to
bring in substantial new monies in the foreseeable future. The elements
of the deal are listed below. You can link here for the full statement
of the Prime Minister and the resolution which he proposes to bring to
the House. The real issue is: why is this a matter that needs to
be brought to the House? It does not. The government has the
authority to grant the work permits and if it believes that this is a good
project for The Bahamas then it should go ahead and proceed. The
PLP will then have its say on the matter:
A SUMMARY OF THE DEAL
In 2005 the Government of The Bahamas, while Perry
Christie was Prime Minister, agreed that Sarkis Izmirlian, the Chairman
of BahaMar Ltd., would become the owner of land owned by the government
in Cable Beach; Phil Ruffin agreed to sell his resort property and Casino
to the same people. Other private property owners sold land to Mr.
Izmirlian. Mr. Izmirlian said that he would acquire appropriate partners
to operate the casino and the hotel facilities.
The 2005 Heads of Agreement clearly pointed out
what was to be developed in the BahaMar project negotiated while Mr. Christie
was Prime Minister, as below:
“F. As the first phase of the redevelopment of
the Cable Beach Area, Baha Mar is committed to the renovation, rehabilitation,
redevelopment and/or replacement and operation of, and associated capital
expenditures for a world class tourist destination with a minimum of 2,700
guest rooms including suites and casino, and which may also include a retail-entertainment
village, marina, residential resort offerings including condo-hotel rooms,
condominiums, residential club facilities, time-share facilities and associated
attractions and for other related purposes,“
“1.7.1 Construct or refurbish world-class international
resort-quality hotel rooms, with the current program including (1) a new
or substantially new and completely renovated and expanded 1000-room casino
hotel (the "Casino Hotel"), (2) a completely renovated and expanded 1000-room
convention hotel at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort, (3) a new 300-room
luxury hotel and (4) 400 renovated tourist rooms at the Nassau Beach Hotel
(the rooms described in 1-4, collectively, the "Luxury Hotel Facilities").”
“1.7.7 Redesign, expand and/or redevelop the
existing Radisson Golf Course into a first-class I8-hole resort course
with a new clubhouse,”
“1.7.8 Provide a new world class casino with
a minimum of 75,000 s.f. (the "New Casino"). Baba Mar undertakes to identify
and reach agreement with a "World Class Casino Operator" partner for the
New Casino”
“1.7.13 Design and construct a new world class
golf facility (the "Second Golf Course'') on a 400 plus acre site at Lake
Killarney”
All of this means that The Crystal Palace
was to have 500 rooms taken out of their inventory by demolishing two beach
side towers and the 500 rooms replaced to go along with the renovation
of the remaining 500 rooms (the Casino hotel?); the Radisson (or Sheraton)
was to have 300 new rooms added to the existing 700 rooms to be renovated;
the 400 rooms at the Nassau Beach hotel was to be renovated; and, ONE NEW
300 room luxury hotel was to be built.
This is a project very much in the interest
of The Bahamas and Bahamians. Bahamian contractors would have been very
serious contenders for the renovation jobs and possibly even the two 300
room and the 500 room new building projects as well as the support facilities.
Following the general elections of 2007 the Government
of The Bahamas, while Hubert Ingraham was Prime Minister, said the 1,100
new hotel rooms and refurbished 1,600 hotel rooms, called for in the 2005
Heads of Agreement was not enough; that a 65,000 square foot casino was
too small and had to re-crafted to become a 95,000 square foot casino,
etc.
The NEW 'EXPANDED' PROJECT SHALL:
1.1. Increase the aggregate number of hotel rooms
at the project from a minimum of 2,700 to a minimum of 3,450;
1.2. Increase the size of the Village from a
minimum of 30,000 square feet to a minimum of 60,000 square feet (exclusive
of the straw markets);
1.3. Increase the size of the Convention Facilities
from a minimum of 100,000 square feet to a minimum of 200,000 square feet;
1.4. Increase the size of the new casino operations
from a minimum of 75,000 square feet to a minimum of 95,000 square feet
of gaming floor area; and,
1.5. Increase the number of permanent jobs to
be created for Bahamians by approximately 5,000 in addition to the number
of permanent jobs currently existing as part of the Sheraton Cable Beach
Resort (formerly the Radisson Cable Beach Resort), the Wyndham Nassau Resort,
and the Crystal Palace Casino, that is to say, from the present approximately
2,000 jobs to approximately 7,000 jobs.”
The 2008 HOA called instead for a series of
new hotels as per:
· a Westin Hotel Baha Mar with a minimum
of 700 rooms... to be operated by an affiliate of Starwood;
· a St. Regis Hotel Baha Mar with
a minimum of 200 rooms... to be operated by all affiliate of Starwood;
· a W Hotel Baha Mar with a minimum
of 300 rooms... to be operated by an affiliate of Starwood;
· a Caesars Baha Mar hotel with a
minimum of 1,000 rooms (the "Caesars Hotel") to be operated by Caesars
Bahamas Management Corporation. 500 rooms were to be demolished from the
Crystal Palace inventory and 400 rooms from the demolishing of the Nassau
Beach Hotel. 1,200 renovated rooms between the Sheraton and the Crystal
Palace were to be complimented by 2,200 new hotel rooms and a Casino 50%
larger than envisaged in 2005; Convention facilities increased by 100%.
MITCHELL
ADDRESSES INTERNET CONCERNS
There is a problem with the services provided in
The Bahamas over the net. It does not receive attention and it appears
to be deteriorating, leaving our country behind other Caricom countries
in the information technology race. These were among the concerns
listed by Fred Mitchell Fox Hill MP as he spoke to the Kiwanis of Montagu
on Tuesday 7th September at the Nassau Yacht Club. Mr. Mitchell criticized
the newspapers for failing to update their sites on time and in the case
of the Nassau Guardian for refusing to carry material submitted to their
newspaper from him. You may click
here for the full text of his remarks.
PLP
ON TAXI PLATES
Glenys Hanna Martin, the PLP’s spokesman on Transport and a former Minister
of Transport issued the following statement on the news that FNM Minister
Neko C. Grant has issued taxi plates and other public service licences
throughout The Bahamas. There was a publicly announced moratorium
and the Minister said in the House on Wednesday 8th September that the
moratorium has been lifted since September of last year. The problem
is that no public announcement was made about it.
The FNM government have been sneakily giving out
livery plates and they admitted to that, but the fact that they have actually
been giving out taxi plates shocked the House. Court action is now
expected to force the public disclosure of this process and make the government
act according to law.
According to the Minister, “Since the industry was
opened up to New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Cat Island, Eleuthera,
Inagua, Long Island and San Salvador, 25 livery franchises were granted;
one private charter omni-bus franchise was granted; and one taxi franchise
was granted.”
Mr. Grant said that the Controller of Road Traffic
has a listing of persons who submitted applications for Livery franchises,
with records of the date the applications were made. He added, “Prior
to lifting the moratorium, the amount of Livery franchises issued in New
Providence was 127. The ceiling for livery franchises for New Providence
has now been raised to 152 effective September 2009. The ceiling
for livery franchises for Grand Bahama is 30, Abaco 15, Cat Island 5, Long
Island 5, and Exuma 15.”
Here is Mrs. Hanna Martin’s full statement in response
on behalf of the PLP:
“This statement is issued consequent upon answers
given by the Minister of Public Works and Transport in the House of Assembly
today in response to questions raised by this Member several months ago
in that Honourable House.
“The Minister’s answers reveal that hundreds
of licenses and franchises have been issued by this Government across the
length and breadth of this Country- in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco,
Long Island, San Salvador, Eleuthera, Cat Island and Inagua, all during
the last twelve (12) months.
“These franchises have been issued in the face
of a publicly declared moratorium which we are today told was lifted in
September 2009 by this Government without any public notice, discussion
or dialogue.
“The Minister today admitted that licenses have
been issued behind the scenes in a manner which to right-thinking people
appears to lack transparency and to be veiled in secrecy. It appears that
there has been no public hearing for any of the applications that no application
has been gazetted and no objective criteria as to the suitability of the
applicants could be articulated by the Minister.
“It seems most incorrect that with hundreds of
Bahamians now involved in the Public Transportation Industry and hundreds
more now wishing to be involved, many with applications still pending at
the Road Traffic Department, that economic opportunity through a licensing
process would be afforded or denied to citizens in a manner which lacks
transparency and fairness as exhibited in this exercise.
“This is truly bad governance.
“Bahamians should take note.”
THE
FOLLOW UP ON CITY MARKETS
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill issued the following statement on Tuesday
7th September in which he followed up the matter of his constituents complaints
on City Markets:
“In The Tribune 28th August, the CEO Derek Winford
said that City Markets is in business to stay in business. I welcome
that statement. Aside from Mr. Winford’s response, there were two
other responses in the press to my intervention. Mine was a simple
intervention that expressed concern for my constituents who work at City
Markets, noted the issues in the store about inventory and equipment, and
in the face of those fears of my constituents who are employees of the
store, I asked the Ministry of Labour to intervene both in a formal and
informal way to seek to protect the rights of the workers at the store.
“There is a history in this country of
companies that are foreign owned promising that all is well right up until
the day they shut the doors and the owners abscond, leaving the workers
swinging their hands.
“The Minister of Labour has the authority
to intervene to protect the workers in law, not for the government to save
the company but to protect the workers.
“I think the two responses by Rick Lowe
of the right wing Nassau Institute (6th September) and Jerome R. Pinder
(1st September) are perverse and knee jerk. My simple intervention
got translated by these two unbridled market forces men to mean that I
was interfering in business in The Bahamas and advocating that City Markets
be saved by the Government. Wonders never cease from the usual suspects.
There are times when such an intervention by the government is appropriate,
but we are not there yet with City Markets.
“My simple intervention was for the Minister
of Labour to ask the company what is going on and to seek assurances that
the rights of workers are being protected. I did meet with Mr. Winford.
It was a good meeting, which reviewed the difficulties that the company
faces. It appears that they are suffering from a bad market, some
issues relating to the management choices made by the company when it was
first bought by the Barbados cum Trinidadian company and from pilferage,
euphemistically called ‘shrinkage’.
“The Bahamas Supermarkets CEO assured me
that money is not being taken out of The Bahamas, but is in fact being
put into The Bahamas by Neal and Massey, the ultimate owners of the company.
He assured me that his company has a long term commitment to the success
of City Markets. It appeared to me that there was a communications
problem internally with the staff, which he also assured me he would seek
to correct by visiting all stores and speaking to the employees.
I am advised that he has done so.
“It is not an easy decision for a Member
of Parliament to decide to intervene in matters of this kind, because the
question is - where does the greater public interest lie: in trying quiet
diplomacy or in making the matter public and risking further harm to the
company that you really hope to save? I chose the route of public
intervention. One of the roles of a Member of Parliament is to shape
the public debate and to air issues that would normally not see the light
of day. I hope that in making the intervention that I did, I have
served the larger public interest.
“There are thousands of Bahamian shareholders
of City Markets who are waiting for a return to profitability. A
half hour meeting with a CEO is not a forensic audit, so one never knows,
but the meeting seemed a sincere effort to correct some impressions and
to urge continued patience as the company works its way back to profitability.
“I want to thank Mr. Winford for the seriousness
with which he has dealt with this matter and his commitment to making things
work. I will continue to monitor the situation. I hope for
all of our sakes that the company succeeds, including for the sake of the
naysaying Rick Lowe, who may well not have had General Motors vehicles
to sell but for the intervention of the US Government and who, I assume,
sells some of his cars to those same City Market employees. It should
go without saying that if those employees are without work then they won’t
be able to buy any cars from Nassau Motors, which, after all, is presumably
a main aim of his life.”
PLEASANT
IS A FREE WOMAN FOR TRUE THIS TIME
There was a big build up for a great big court case for Monday 6th September.
What happened instead is what we predicted on this site last week that
Pleasant Bridgewater, the former Senator for the PLP and her co-accused
Tarino Lightbourne, a hapless former ambulance driver, were discharged
by Justice Jon Isaacs following the submission of the Attorney General’s
office of a writ of nolli prosequi. This meant that the complainant
John Travolta, the American actor, had gotten cold feet changed his mind,
whatever you want to call it but was simply not proceeding with his allegation
that the two people had tried to extort money from him upon the death of
his son some 19 months ago.
We have said consistently that this is not a case
that should ever have been brought. The case was foolishness from
the start. Now Mr. Travolta after having caused all the problems
for the former Senator including her political career has simply decided
that because his wife is pregnant and they are expecting another child
that they don’t want to go through the trauma of another trial and he will
simply walk away.
The American media were all cooing and sympathetic
to Mr. Travolta and talking as if the two people charged were guilty anyway.
This is the great unfairness of it all. There is an agreement between
the parties that they will not sue one another and will not talk about
what they agree between them so that the matter is now effectively dead.
We hope that the former Senator can now start to
rebuild her life. The irony is that with all the anxiety about the
fact of having a retrial because of the discharge of the jury last year
after MP Picewell Forbes announced during the jury deliberations that Ms.
Bridgewater was a free woman, that it was in fact that faux pas that led
to what happened in court last week.
Pleasant is a free woman for true, true. You
may click here for the full statement of Ms. Bridgewater following the
acquittal.
“As I stand here today, the words of an old familiar
hymn ring out in my mind, ‘To God be the glory, great things he has done’
“Today’s proceedings mark the conclusion of what
I term the greatest nightmare of my life. Almost two years ago, I
resigned from the Honourable Senate to focus on my defense. At that
time, I declared my innocence. Today, I again maintain and declare
my complete, absolute and one hundred per cent innocence.
“At this time I would like to pause and acknowledge
some persons who have stood by me. I am most grateful to my family,
especially my parents, for their love and unwavering support. Thanks
Mom and Dad.
“I wish to thank the countless prayer warriors
and prayer partners from all over the world – Africa, America, Canada,
Australia, Turks & Caicos, Asia, England, Europe, Trinidad and in fact
the entire Caribbean and of course the thousands of Bahamian people - I
love you and appreciate you. I also offer my sincere appreciation
to the various churches beyond any denominational divide. I wish
also to thank some very dear friends (you know who you are) and the few
loyal staff who remained with me throughout this entire ordeal; many thanks
for believing in me and holding me up over the last 19 months.
“I offer my sincere thanks to my legal team,
Mr. Murrio Ducile and Associate and Mr. Wayne Munroe and Associates, for
their excellent representation and ensuring that the matter was concluded.
“I must add that I am deeply saddened that the
Travoltas had to endure the pain at the loss of their son. It is
my prayer that they will be able to bring closure to this sad chapter in
their lives and open a brand new one, filled with joy and peace.
“This the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in
our eyes.
“Free at last!! Free at last!! Thank God Almighty,
I am free at last!!!”
Nassau Guardian photo/Tony Grant Jr.
BTC
SALE SHOULD BE HALTED
We have reported here that BTC, the Bahamian telephone
company, is about to be sold to the British telephone giant Cable and Wireless,
despite the earlier vow of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham that he would
never do business with Cable And Wireless. What we do not understand
is why the whole sale of BTC is not halted. The sale of BTC for 200
million dollars as is being reported would be a travesty and a giveaway
of Bahamian resources at a fire sale price. Our view is that such
a halt should come to the sale and the company should now be sold to the
Bahamians who now run BTC, with a mandate by the Government for the company
to do an IPO selling tranches of shares 20 percent at a time to the Bahamian
public and making the company a publicly traded company. This will
keep the company in the hands of Bahamians.
PM
DOES NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS ON PILOT SAFETY
Fred Mitchell MP of Fox Hill posed several questions
in the House of Assembly about the safety of the private airlines in The
Bahamas. The parliamentary questions were put in the face of certain
allegations being made by the pilots who fly those airlines and who are
awaiting the decision of the government on the pilots’ unionization.
Mr. Ingraham’s government answered all questions
on the order paper except the questions posed by Mr. Mitchell. At
the time the questions were asked at the end of the summer session, Mr.
Ingraham said that he was unaware of a safety issue with the private airlines
and would check to see what the position was. It appears that he
is still unaware of what is happening.
The issue becomes more critical with the news that
the airline that crashed in the waters off Grand Bahama on Monday 23rd
August was not licensed for commercial traffic and was not insured.
It also appears that the licence of the pilot was not up to date.
It is precisely this kind of loose regulation that the private pilots are
concerned about and the Bahamian public ought to be concerned as well.
THE
PLP KEEPS UP THE PRESSURE ON CRIME
The Progressive Liberal Party issued the following
statement on crime, saying that the government is not doing enough to solve
the problem of crime:
"The FNM Government is demonstrating, in the
face of this serious crisis gripping the nation, that it is inept, paralyzed
and afraid.
"The Progressive Liberal Party, Her Majesty’s
Loyal Opposition, joins all caring Bahamians, who like us, continue to
be gravely concerned about the growing trend of naked and brazen attacks
upon important State institutions and the record number of murders which
are being perpetrated by lawless elements in our society. The PLP is also
deeply concerned about the apparent inability and incompetence of the FNM
to curtail and prevent crime."
You may click
here for the full statement.
SANDILANDS
PRIMARY SCHOOLCHILDREN GET BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIFTS
The children of Sandilands Primary School have again
received their books for the start of term, thanks to Fred Mitchell MP,
the representative and the Fox Hill Constituency Office. The distribution
takes place on the first Friday in the fall term. In all each
of the school’s 632 children receives a gift of books and pencils for use
in school. At right, Progressive Liberal Party Branch Chairman Charlene
Marshall (standing) and Branch Secretary Diedre Rolle are shown resting
under one of the large trees in the schoolyard after the presentations.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
US Economic Implications For The Bahamas - Catchin Cold...
Professor Gilbert Morris discusses
- please click here:
For The Sake Of Our Children...
Please allow me some room in your next website
publication to "vent" a little on something I find to be quite perplexing.
Do you remember the days when teachers used to
have students form a line and check their uniforms, fingernails, hair,
ears, and even body odour; and if they were not ready for school, they
were sent home - sometimes not without a proper lashing, of course!
Whatever happened to the days when we couldn't
enter the classroom without our assignments in hand and reciting our timetables?
Where are the days when a student from my community, or church was absent
from school and teacher would give the child a letter addressed to their
parents to find out what happened... why that child was absent? Which
followed with a call to make sure the letter was delivered.
Nowadays, the boys have the hems of their pants
tucked in their socks, leaving home not properly dressed for school (shirt
not tucked in, tie not on, etc), every other female student is sporting
false hair of every colour and length, bearded faces in classrooms and
even tunics resembling full-body suits. The only thing well groomed
about some of these future men are their eyebrows, neat Clarks, and a recent
common trend adopted from some of our regional brothers - their hairlines
are highlighted by shoe polish and hair colouring. There is also
the issue of students on the roads walking to school (I assume) at 9:30
in the mornings, as if they are on time. In my day, such child would've
been picked up upon being spotted and taken to the school, and the necessary
courses of discipline would follow suit. Bring back the yesteryear!
A teacher friend of mine, after becoming tired
of the criticism hurled at colleagues, commented with merit that, "We would
love to do our jobs but without the support of the parents and society
on a whole we can't. Teachers have to worry about what's going to
happen to us if we try to discipline some or most children, and that shouldn't
be the case. If parents would step up and stop allowing children
to control them, and the Ministry of Education would allow us to do our
job, then we would implement change. Until then, it is going to stay
the way it is, or get worse."
A solid and most accurate point, one which highlights
the inconsistencies that exist within the present educational and social
framework. In essence, we were used to a number of checks and balances
from home to school and in-between. The society played its part in
nurturing everybody's children.
Where now are the real role models, who preach
family values, morality, education, respect? I had them when I was
growing up! Where are they now? If you are out there, please
stand up, for my sake, if not for me, at least FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN.
Miguel D. Taylor
for responses: mdctaylor@excite.com
Rev Simeon Hall's statement…
All this talk of him (Rev. Hall) advocating a
ban on gays and lesbians - Am I the only one who sees that he also denounces
heterosexual predators - not only those who are gay or lesbian?
Why is there always this selective vision when
homosexuality is involved?
Name withheld
[You may be right but the problem must be his sentence construction or syntax. It did not read lesbian and homosexual predators. It appeared that he was suggesting that because someone was homosexual or lesbian, that person was a predator. That is what the response was to. He did not clarify it even though an intelligent man like him could surely not mean what the sentence actually said. That is what we think was the problem. --Editor]
What
Of The Bahamian Middle Class?...
Where has the country’s “middle class” gone?
Who or what is responsible for its rapid demise? When will it return
to shore-up our rapid declining standard of living? These questions
are easily answered, seeing that the assault on the country’s middle class,
to this degree, only came within the three years and four months since
this new “trust agenda” FNM government took office on 2nd May 2007.
We often talk about the “middle class,” but do
we know who makes up that grouping and why that segment of our society,
and the role that it plays in our free enterprise system, is so important
in the economic scheme of things?
My opinion is that those we classify as the middle
class among us, are not really accounted for in the two groups we often
like to refer to as the “Haves and the Have-Nots”. The countries
where these two groups of persons dominate are countries that are generally
seen as being deprived, economically, and areas in which, year after year,
there seem to be little or no significant signs of economic improvement.
Their significance is magnified in communities where class-consciousness
and social status are the order of the day. They dominate in countries
where “class” is most important and is the dominant factor in determining
one’s status in the particular society and how much one can achieve.
Usually those states where “class” and social
status are the only factors in achieving anything tend to have a very small
percentage of wealthy persons who, by virtue of their financial standing
in the society, rule with an iron hand at will. Hence, they control
the economies of those states and they influence, greatly, the governance
of the legislature, while the remaining larger percentage of the population
makes up a greatly deprived poor underclass who are dependent and exert
no influence on legislation or the government whatsoever. A
Middle Class group, as we know it to be, is practically non-existent in
such a society; at least to any extent where it would make an impact on
what goes on in the affairs and economy of that society.
In all our economic struggles, since the FNM
party took the reins of governance on May 2nd 2007, the importance of our
middle-class has been down played and left completely out of the equation;
out of all our important national economic discussions. It seems
to me that we have forgotten an important, widely accepted truth, that
as the middle class shrinks and goes, so goes the economy of that society.
We have certainly seen the results of the FNM
government’s assault on, and the brutalization of, an increasingly shrinking
Bahamian middle-class within these past, almost, four years of their mismanagement
of the country’s affairs. They took office and inherited a vibrant
economy, on May 2nd 2007; an economy driven by a huge middle-class, as
was the case in 1992 when they then inherited governance of this country
for their first term in office. I should state here, as fact, that
the larger the middle class, the better the economy and any country where
the poor and struggling grossly outnumber the middle class, that country
has either failed already or is in the throws of becoming a “Failed State.”
Prior to May 2nd 2007 the Christie Administration
having just - during their five-year term in office - rescued the nation
from the brink of failed FNM government management and policies between
1992-2002, vacated office leaving behind a vibrant Bahamian economy with
billions of dollars of foreign investment inflows. The Christie government
had already projected full employment in the country by the end of 2008.
Christie’s government was minded that since Nassau was already bursting
at the seams with developmental projects, that no other project would be
approved, by his government, for the nation’s capital. The PLP’s
policy, then, was about to shift its focus to the Family Islands with any
and all other additional foreign investment capital dollar inflows.
The country was doing well, as a huge middle-class sector was steadily
created and built up, during Christie’s five years, and the economy was
bursting at the seams.
The middle class can be described, essentially,
as that group of persons who are working at top-notch jobs and who are
operating numerous thriving small businesses. Consequently, that
group would be the ones who spend the bulk of the money within our communities,
acquiring mortgages; sending their two or three children to private schools;
employing maids, gardeners and paying for various services provided to
them and their children by suppliers within the various communities.
They fuel the economic engine that drives our economy forward, avoiding
stagnation and decline in the GDP.
In these three years and four months, since the
FNM took office, we have a completely different picture where our middle
class has lost all and has, for the most part, been relegated to an underclass
status, right before our eyes. The very few survivors who are left,
of that grouping, who have not lost their jobs and or their small businesses
are literally frightened into seclusion and are no longer willing
to spend as they did before. This has resulted in a rapid decline
in the Bahamian economy.
The middle class spend money liberally, usually
because they feel that they are in a position to do so. The rich
folk, who are usually a very small percentage of the population, are not
spenders as in most cases they are hoarders who have already attained their
stations in life with no minor children to school and are relaxed and living
conservatively off what they have acquired during a lifetime of hoarding.
The poor, well, have nothing to spend and are usually beholden to the social
structure for handouts for survival. Ingraham, with his dastardly
FNM polices, killed off the middle class’ chances of survival with his
“stop; review and cancel” demeanour on coming to office.
I submit that the world wide meltdown, or recession,
would have had little negative impact on the Bahamas’ economy and the middle
class, had Ingraham and the FNM not destroyed investor confidence in the
Bahamian government’s commitment to honour approved contracts and concessions,
awarded by its predecessors in office.
It was neither the elite rich nor the struggling
poor Bahamians, who defaulted on the $20 billion, or so, of mortgage loans
within the banking system since the FNM took hold of the government; it
was the middle class. The poor are hardly ever able to qualify for
mortgages and the rich are not the borrowers - they don’t need to - but
rather they are the lenders. Who are the ones removing their kids
from the private schools and sending them to the public schools because
they no longer are able to afford to pay for private tutoring? Certainly
not the elite rich or the struggling poor.
I believe that I’ve made the case for the importance
of the middle class in any economy but especially in ours, which is a totally
service-oriented and driven economy. It is that group which was responsible-almost
exclusively-for fuelling and driving the engine of our economy, but the
FNM’s counterproductive, bad economic polices have driven our economic
bus into the ditch.
We need to appreciate the role of the middle
class in the economic scheme of things in our communities and learn to
appreciate the fact that they can make us or break us financially.
I hope the Ingraham administration learns this fact and soon.
At the rate we are proceeding, I predict that
by 2012 there will be no more middle class in this country; Ingraham and
the FNM are seeing to that.
Forrester J. Carroll J.P.
Freeport, Grand Bahama
IN PASSING
The Shark That Ate The Man
Pictures are doing the rounds on the web of a twelve-foot shark landed
by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, which was cut open and had inside it
the leg and torso of a human being. DNA tests are being conducted
to see if the body parts belong to people who have gone missing in The
Bahamas at sea over the past two weeks.
BEC Men Charged With Stealing Copper
Two mature men, both employees of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation,
were arraigned in magistrate’s court on Thursday 9th
September and charged with stealing copper wire from the ZNS transmission
station at South Beach in New Providence. Copper is in high demand
and people have been getting it by fair means or foul. But this seems
a bit incredulous that two mature men would risk their jobs and careers
and pensions for $1500 worth of copper wire and be so easily caught.
ZNS did not know that the wire was missing until their transmission went
off the air. When they investigated, they discovered to their embarrassment
the theft.
The Rape Accusation
Erin Ferguson and Lincoln Bain, both radio personalities; civic activists
Ethric Bowe and Rodney Moncur led a march to the police commissioner's
office on 6th September to confront the police over the reported case of
rape by a woman named Cindy Williams. The group claimed that Ms.
Williams was raped by two police officers and the rape was reported weeks
ago and no action has been taken by the police. They met with Marvin
Dames Deputy Commissioner and Hulan Hanna, the Assistant Commissioner of
police. No word on whether any action is to be taken.
Bahamas And Cuba Maritime Talks
Two days of talks between Cuba and The Bahamas were held in Nassau
on 6th September to settle the boundary lines between the two countries.
A sticking point reportedly is the claim of Cuba for traditional fishing
rights in Bahamian waters for their fishermen.
Maurice Glinton Now In Doctors Hospital
The constitutional law attorney Maurice O. Glinton has been airlifted
to Nassau for further treatment at the Doctor's Hospital. Mr. Glinton
who is the lead attorney in the case against the government for reversing
the traffic flow on Baillou Hill Road is scheduled to be in court again
on 21st September. He has been in hospital for two weeks following
a fall at his home and is being treated now in Nassau. He is said
to be resting comfortably.
Latrae Rahming Runs For Student Council President
Latrae Rahming, who was forced out by the Young Liberals as an officer
because he stood up against Bishop Simeon Hall for the rights of lesbians
and gays in the society, is now running for Student Council President,
at his school Temple Christian.
Kamari Charlton To Be Caned?
Last week we reported that Kamari Charlton, the 34 year old former
football standout at Florida State University was reportedly been held
in Singapore for overstaying his time. Now the report gets worse,
he is reportedly to be caned by Singapore authorities and then deported.
Events Over The South Beach Nomination
The press is reporting that there is disquiet in the PLP over who is
to be the candidate for South Beach. Up until recently, the lead
candidate was said to be Attorney Myles Laroda. Lately though Cleola
Hamilton, the Nurses Union president, has emerged as a dark horse.
There was a showdown between their forces on Thursday 9th September at
the branch meeting. There was disorder and the meeting had to be
adjourned without a choice being made. PLP leader Perry Christie
has denied that he is behind the move to replace Mr. Laroda with Ms. Hamilton
Chief Justice Blames The Lawyers
Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett speaking at a seminar of lawyers
put on by the Bar Association on Friday 10th September seemed to have put
the blame on lawyers being unprepared for the delays in the court system
and the backlog of cases. He said that lawyers were coming to court
unprepared for the cases and have such bad relations that they would not
co-operate with one another to set timely appearances. Yes!
Let’s blame the lawyers. Yes! Let’s kill the lawyers.
Sheesh! He did admit, though, that the court had to accept some responsibility
but it seemed an afterthought. Friends of the Chief Justice who attended
the seminar, though, say that he never blamed the lawyers for the delays
or the backlog, but rather in talking to the Bar about the draft Rules
of Civil Procedure, made the point that co-operation was needed to change
some habits in order to succeed. He addressed some things that lawyers
could change about themselves. You may click
here for Sir Michael's remarks.
Guardian To Lose Scott Armstrong
Scott Armstrong, the Nassau Guardian’s business writer’s days are numbered
at the newspaper it seems. He is unable to find work for his wife
in the jurisdiction and has had a more generous job offer elsewhere.
So after less than a year in The Bahamas as the Nassau Guardian's business
writer, he is gone. The field is then clear for Neil Hartnell at
The Tribune to be king of the bull run.
Sir Baltron Supports The Bahamar Project
Former Director General of Tourism Sir Baltron Bethel has announced
his support for the Bahamar project, which he helped to negotiate when
he was an advisor to the last PLP government. Sir Baltron said that
the transfer of 264 acres of land should not be a concern if the project
proves to be successful. It will be good value for money, he argued.
He said that the Cable Beach project was tired and in need of refurbishment
and so the Bahamar project was a boon for The Bahamas.
