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In 1967 Glen Rolle, now deceased decided to adopt in honour of his daughter Glenda a 3.5 mile race along the streets of North Bimini from Porgy Bay to Alice Town now called the Glenda’s Road Race. This year the 44th version of that race was held sponsored by his son Glenrick Rolle and the children and widow of Glen. Fred Mitchell MP has been the marshal of the race for at least a decade but this year he decided to run in the race and ended up coming ninth overall. The photo of the week then is the class picture of the runners as they pose for the start of the Glenda’s Road Race in Porgy Bay, Bimini. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
EVERYTHING IS BROKEN
Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground
Broken cutters broken saws
Broken buckles broken laws
Broken bodies broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath feel like you're chokin'
Everything is broken.
Bob Dylan
You would be forgiven as you travel around this country, in and to this country, if you did not get the impression that everything in The Bahamas is broken. Nothing works the way it’s supposed to work. You will see In Passing below that Barbados is now amongst the ranks of the developed countries. The Bahamas has not even set it as a goal. The closest that we have come is that an internal committee of the PLP has adopted as a goal in its paper Vision 2020 that this country become a developed country by the year 2020.
Part of being a developed country is the reliability of its systems. The ability to deliver goods and services in a fair, certain and rational way and on time. Today’s comment fixes itself on the question of time. It asks the question: how the FNM can fix on the PLP and its leader the bit about being late again when everything in this country is late. Nothing runs on time. The people themselves seem to have an inner resistance to doing anything on time.
This is one politician’s story in the space of 48 hours:
Bahamasair:
Departure is scheduled from Miami on Bahamasair Wednesday 3rd August. This is the first flight out of Miami. The first flight is supposed to leave Nassau at 6:30 a.m., arrive at 7:30 a.m. and turn around and depart Miami at 8:10a.m. That is what the schedule says. There is a meeting scheduled in Nassau on the eastern side of the island of New Providence for 10:30 a.m. If the plane arrives as scheduled in Nassau at 9:10 a.m. with no customs declarations and baggage to clear, it should be possible to make the meeting for 10:30 a.m. with a 45 minute drive from the Lynden Pindling International Airport. Check in is fine. No mention of a late departure, although it must have been known at the time of check in that the departure would have been late. The time of check in is the time of the departure from Nassau to Miami; it is the aircraft on the Nassau to Miami run that will fly the flight back to Nassau. At 8:10 a.m. the time for departure from Miami arrives and the plane is just parking at the gate in Miami. The actual departure time, wheels up Miami, at 9:10 a.m., one hour late. It seems like Bahamasair should have a permanent recording that says “we are sorry for the late departure and any inconvenience caused”. If you have time to spare fly Bahamasair.
Western Air:
This is the airline that Rex Rolle of Andros invented in North Andros to compete with Bahamasair. It had a reputation of flying bang on time, using these little 19 seater planes that resembled bullets and using foreign pilots that could barely speak English. But it got the job done If you wanted to get somewhere on time, just switch to Western Air. Don’t depend on it being minutes late because they would leave you if you did not get there on time. That’s the kind of airline you like. But now several years later, having upgraded to fancy new planes and all, they can’t seem to get anywhere on time. Flight is to depart from Bimini Thursday 4th August Nassau. No sign of the plane at its departure time at 9 a.m. No announcement. Finally one comes at 9:10. The plane is at the gate says the agent and once cleaned and refueled, they will board. Wheels up at 9:45 a.m. Forty five minutes late. The passengers who have only Western Air to depend on for Bimini to Nassau just accept it what can they say or do about it. Next morning. Departure time scheduled Bimini to Nassau for 9:30 a.m. At 8:30 a.m. as passengers arrive for check in there is no agent at the counter. The agent arrives at 9 a.m. The passengers mutter complaints then laugh.The agent was delayed because the boat was delayed getting him there from North Bimini. The plane says the agent will not be departing Nassau until 9:45 a.m. That means that the arrival cannot be before 10:30 a.m. Problem there is a funeral in Nassau for 11 a.m. A 9:30 a.m. departure from Bimini had it been on time, it would have gotten the passenger in at 10:15 a.m. and he could have gotten some of the funeral. But too bad. Wheels up Bimini 10:45 a.m. The plane’s departure is one hour late. Arrival in Nassau 11:30 a.m.
Sky Bahamas:
It appears that there are few complaints about Sky Bahamas save that people are wary that they are expanding too fast and trying to take on Bahamasair with low prices, competing against an airline that has the public treasury as its backer. Then there are the stories about the financial stability of its foreign owner who newspaper reports say may be in trouble over tax evasion in the United States. There is also the decision of its Managing Director Randy Butler to become a politician in a business that requires the support of all people from all parties. Does not seem a wise business move to make. Can he in fact pay attention to the work of running an airline while trying to get elected to the House of Assembly?
Regulatory Oversight
So we have raised here the issue of time. We have raised here the issue of the issue of money and the investment and expansion plans of airlines. We did not mention the concern that there is with Western Air building a four million dollars building in Freeport, the decision to fly to Jamaica which had to be abandoned when Caribbean Airlines came back into the market and knocked the prices out from under them, the decision to expand in all the markets with too few planes that is stretching their schedule and making them late and unable to serve the destinations on time. Is there sufficient, capable and watchful oversight in The Bahamas of the private sector airlines in The Bahamas? This is after all not the kind of equipment that if you have a breakdown, you simply pull over to the side of the road. When something goes wrong, the plane falls out of the sky with disastrous consequences following.
Late again? Politically why would anyone be concerned We are always late. In a country that seems everything is broken, that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 6th August 2011 up to midnight: 133,365
Number of hits for the month of August up to Saturday 6th August 2011 up to midnight:86,904
Number of hits for the year 2011 up to Saturday 6th August 2011 up to midnight: 5,328,190
Please tune in at 4:00pm to hear Rt. Hon. Perry Christie on PARLIAMENT STREET on Island 102.9fm with Patty Beardsley Roker this afternoon . It is a call in show, so be ready with your questions and comments. Steady moves towards the re election of the PLP to PUTTING BAHAMIANS FIRST!
THE UNEMPLOYMENT STORY IS TOLD OR “MIS-TOLD"
The Bahamas government’s Department of Statistics issued its household labour survey data on Friday 5th August. It said that unemployment in The Bahamas was overall 13.7 per cent, down from 14.2per cent two years ago. This is incredulous and no one for a minute believes that it is accurate. The government added that the figure does not represent those who have stopped looking for work, the so called discouraged workers. When you add them to the figure you have 18.7 per cent. The figure in Grand Bahama is 15.4 per cent. We don’t believe the figures. We think that they under represent the facts. We remember the phrase Lies Damn Lies and Statistics. In any event it does not paint a pretty picture. It is counter intuitive to suggest given all that we see and experience that the situation is not more dire than those stats suggest. The Department of Statistics strains its professional credibility by the incredulity of those figures just released. We in this column smelled a rat as soon as the Director of Statistics called a press conference a few weeks ago to explain the details and background of the survey which the Department was doing. She pleaded at the time that she was only doing so because of the extraordinary interest in the figures. We said we did not believe a word of it. Something was up. We think we now know what it is because she knew or suspected that the results would show that they should not be believed so they were softening up the opposition to these incredible figures. No doubt the government can crow and say, we told you things are getting better. But we ask them, better for whom? Not the people at the bottom rung of this society that cannot now even depend on the public service to give an accurate picture of the state of where we are.
ALEX TELLS THE LONG ISLANDER’S STORY
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Rashōmon is a 1950 Japanese crime mystery film directed by Akira Kurosawa. In that film, it demonstrates quite clearly that there can be three sides to every story. That is what you are now getting out of Long Island. Long Island is the island where the founder of the PLP was born. The late Sir Henry Milton Taylor represented Long island when he founded the PLP in 1953. It has always resisted the PLP and today is considered a safe seat for the FNM. But there is no doubt that there is wide spread disgruntlement with the performance of Larry Cartwright, the Minister of Agriculture and the incumbent. Bitter complaints everywhere. Some have said that the FNM will replace him. There is a lot of noise in the market. The noise was so much that the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham decided to make a trip there on 23rd July to give awards to their supporters. The story came back that the turnout was not good. The PLP will field a candidate there for the first time since 1997. Alex Storr is that candidate: a good , solid citizen with great PLP credentials. He is doing patient, quiet work on the island. Larry Cartwright was forced after the reports came back of a poor turnout at the meeting for Mr. Ingraham to issue a statement to the press saying that it was not so. We present reports of what the story is on Long Island from Mr. Storr’s point of view ( click here) and then from Larry Cartwright, the incumbent FNM’s point of view ( click here).
FRED MITCHELL AND THE BIMINI RUN
We present additional photos from the 44th annual Glenda’s Road Race in Bimini sponsored by the family of the late Glen Rolle, led by his son Glenrick. The race took place on Thursday 4th August and is for three and a half miles from the clinic in North Bimini to the Chalk Airlines Ramp and finishing at the Glen Rolle’s All My Children Hotel. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox hill participated in the run and came ninth overall.
TWO BEC EXECUTIVES SUSPENDED
Bahamasuncensored.com has learned that the Bahamas Electricity Corporation's General Manager Kevin Basden at the instance of BEC Chairman Michael Moss suspended two Assistant General Managers one for Energy Zhavonne Cambridge and the other Mark Hudson, responsible for Family Islands. The two are blamed for the power shut down in Abaco which the Corporation said was because there was no fuel for the machines. That turns out not to be true and staff are wondering what the two men had to do with the issue. The two have hired hot shot lawyer Wayne Munroe and legal action is to ensue. Mr. Cambridge has been suspended for one week and Mr. Hudson for two weeks.
KENDAL MAJOR ON THE MACKEY YARD
The PLP’s candidate for Garden Hills Dr. Kendal Major makes the case for Bahamians first when it comes to land.
EMANCIPATION DAY FOX HILL PHOTOS
We present scenes from the 177th anniversary celebrations in Fox Hill of the emancipation of slaves in The Bahamas on 1st August 1834. The photos were taken on 1st August 2011.
MITCHELL ON EMANCIPATION DAY AND AFTERMATH
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill spoke at the ecumenical service to mark the 177th anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in The Bahamas. Mr. Mitchell expressed his concern that on the day that is called Emancipation Day, few media establishments sought fit to come and see for themselves that Fox Hill is a safe and secure community for the Fox Hill Emancipation Day Festival. The Junkanoo turnout was depressed by the fear of crime, yet no public official gave voice to the safety and security of the public during this Festival. He said that we cannot surrender to criminals and a society ought to fight back at all times and places. He assured the public that the police have at the highest levels given attention to safety and security. He said that Fox Hill is the last community that celebrates the event that gave the day its name. He decried what he called attempts to "De-Africanize" the day. He said: "While it is good to plant trees on any day, that effort should not in any way be part, unwittingly or not, of an effort to De-Africanize the importance of this day or to change history, to make this day something which it is not." The excerpt follows:
Good morning everyone.
It is once again my honour to be able speak to you as representative of the last community with the possible exception of Gambier in the country that celebrates an event which 177 years ago set this country on the path on which we find ourselves today. We are a free people today.
Let me apologise for the absence of the Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes. I spoke to himself and his wife Lady Foulkes they are both suffering the ill effects from dengue fever and regretfully are unable to be here this morning.
Many of our foremothers and forefathers fought for this day. That freedom from slavery came on 1st August 1834. That was a day that started the long march to majority rule in 1967 and to Independence in 1973. Along the way, there was Burma Road, founding of the country’s first political party the PLP in 1953, the General Strike of 1958, Black Tuesday of 1965. But 1st August 1834 began it all.
It was a day of freedom first of all for people of African descent, but we say again that as long as one man is not free, all are slaves. Today we continue to fight to maintain our freedom.
I would also like at this time to pay tribute to all the women of this country who 50 years ago yesterday saw the fight for universal adult suffrage come to fruition, with the coming into force of the right of women to vote on 31st July 1961. That was 50 years ago.
I want to say that today is a day of solemn remembrance for a shameful period in the history of our country. So many of the issues which we face today in our country can be traced to that shameful period: the preoccupation in the country with skin colour; the status of people of colour; the discrimination which wrought so many issues in the nation’s history. Today, I believe that our refusal to integrate the true history of our country into the fabric of the way we raise our children has led to so many of the problems of self esteem in our country today.
I remain concerned about the attempt by some to sanitize this holiday and to turn it into something else. While it is good to plant trees on any day, that effort should not in any way be part unwittingly or not to be part of an effort to De-Africanize the importance of this day or to change history, to make this day something which it is not. There is already too much of that in The Bahamas and we are paying a bitter price for it in so many ways.
The constitution of our country says in part the following:
We Do Hereby Proclaim in Solemn Praise the Establishment of a Free and Democratic Sovereign Nation founded on Spiritual Values and in which no Man, Woman or Child shall ever be Slave or Bondsman to anyone or their Labour exploited or their Lives frustrated by deprivation…
This is one of the few parts of the constitution actually drafted by the Bahamian founders of the country. They did that for a reason. They were painfully aware of the history of slavery in our country. They wanted to be sure that the new country that they were founding would be cognizant of that history and pledge never to repeat it.
History does not dictate what we do. But what we do know is that if we teach the children the history, when they see it coming they will know what it is.
End
He was a traffic statistic perhaps to the general public but Garvin hall who died at the age fo 30 in a car crash seemed to be popular and loved on Facebook among the young set. So much so that they mounted this tribute to the young man. Rest In Peace.
Forrester Carroll writes this week that Zhivargo Laing who is the Minister of State for Finance is living in an air of unreality given the conditions in which people actually live in Freeport. He outlines some specific instances of the living conditions of the people who live in Grand Bahama:
While Zhivargo Laing prances up and down like a “goat on a wooden floor,” with his fancy FNM government spin on how good the economy is improving here in Freeport and Grand Bahama; this city (and Island) continues to plunge deeper and deeper into the doldrums of economic deprivation. “The last man who leaves the city, please turn the lights off” is how one businessman summed it up when giving his two cents, in conversation with me recently, about the prospects (short and long term) for this Island. Following are examples of real life scenarios, depicting true unedited real life stories, of economically bad conditions, which really do exists right here under Laing’s nose.
On the campaign trail a house was visited, in “the back of town” which is in the Pineridge constituency; immediately, upon entering, the condition was obvious, even to the most intelligence-deprived individual. House full of kids; some graduated from school since last year but have not been able to find work. The daddy is the only one working in the family but his job is in the construction field and if he gets two or three days per week is feels lucky. Need I tell you that the electricity, water and telephone services are all disconnected, which also means that there is no garbage collection services either? The family thanks God that their stove operates on propane and not electricity, like most of them do in Freeport.
An apartment was visited, in the Coral Gardens area, and found virtually the same depraved conditions, only this family was worse off. There were a single mother and seven children, most of whom were girls of school age, living in a studio apartment. The mother was the only one earning a little money and she did so by selling whatever she could find to sell, on the side of the street in downtown Freeport. Crabs from Andros, she said, were her most popular item. One of her daughters, who goes to one of the high schools in the general vicinity, told of how she has to sneak her mother’s prepaid cell phone onto the school’s premises (it’s against the rules of the school for the children to bring cell phones with them on campus) have cell phones on them on to have the battery charged in order for them to have some way of communicating from home in the event of an emergency in the family. For this family, they would tell you that living is like going through hell each day; the eight of them are all bungled up in this one open room apartment, on the second floor of this dilapidated building, for which they are obliged to pay rent of $250.00 per month. They have no privacy and for the kids it is difficult for them to concentrate on their school work; and to add insult to injury they have no electricity. As you can well imagine everything is rationing including the girls’ hygiene items. Their mother literally struggles daily to pay the rent and put a little food on the table. These families are wondering if Zhivargo Laing still lives in Freeport.
In South Bahamia, where once only the affluent, middle to upper middle-class resided, a family was found to be living in almost ghetto-like conditions. Father lost his good job about a year ago and hasn’t found any steady work since. The mother, thank God, still has her $285.00 per week job but really doesn’t know, she says, how long it would be before she loses it as she barely escaped the company’s downsizing exercise a few months ago. Mortgage payments of $2000.00 per month are constantly in arrears; two kids had to be taken out of private school and sent to a government institution. When it came to choosing which bills to pay and which to put a hold on; food, gas for the car (which is paid for thank God) water and other bare essentials for the family won out. Consequently they have no electricity and no telephone, except for a pre-paid cell phone which, the wife said is often short on minutes. The family seems to be anticipating, any day now, the mortgage company moving in to re-possess; the only thing they believe is holding them off is the fact that they are paying a little on the bill and that is considered a better arrangement than to evict them and leave the house at the mercy of the vandals.
A family (sorry two families existing together) over in the Marco City constituency (Zhivargo Laing’s area) is barely coping; they are hoping and praying that they will not all be thrown out into the streets. Two sisters, and their grown children, had to come together about a year ago because one of the sisters and her children were evicted from their rented apartment. Her husband, who was the only one working in the family, took ill and died of a sickness that she believes he could have recovered from if he had gone to the doctor when he first felt the pains, in his stomach, months before. When he couldn’t hold out any longer, and scrapped enough money to pay for the doctor’s visit, it was then too late. When the family was ordered to vacate their apartment, the other sister, who is paying mortgage, invited them to move in with her and her children until she could catch herself. They explained that the only one who was working, in this now two family household, was one of the host sister’s daughter. The young lady had what she thought was a good, steady and secured job, at the “Our Lucaya Resort,” until she found herself on the list of 202 persons who the hotel dismissed a couple months ago. Now since all are unemployed, the mortgage on the house is not being paid and all the utilities are disconnected. They are all just waiting to be evicted any day now and put on the streets. While Zhivargo Laing is running around the country talking foolishness, these are the prevailing conditions that exist in his own backyard and constituency. The families claim and maintain that the husband of the one sister, who died, didn’t have to if only Hubert Ingraham and Zhivargo Laing had implemented the national health insurance that the PLP left to be implemented. They said that their loved one died because he just couldn’t afford to attend the doctor any earlier. Needless to say that those two families are cussing Ingraham and Laing and are waiting patiently, they say, for Laing to come to their door with his lies.
Our team campaigned in the Hanna Hill area of the eight mile rock constituency, last week. Among other horrible, inhumane conditions they found a single unemployed mother with two young children and really no way to care for them financially. She claimed that she was unemployed for months, since being laid off from her job. She told, as well, how she called on her representative (Verna Grant) to assist her in trying to find something to do. Verna promised, she said, to get back to her but never did. She claimed she kept calling Mrs. Grant but never got a response. She saw Mrs. Grant a couple times at different places in the Eight Mile Rock area but she (Mrs. Grant) acted as though she didn’t know her. Thank God one of our team members was able to employ the lady, in his business, and she was extremely grateful for the opportunity to work. She is one of the lucky ones from among the thousands who are tonight in similar situations.
Four years into Laing’s FNM Administration (2007-2011) already more than four hundred licensees (businesses) have discontinued doing business in Freeport, with a number of them being fairly large enterprises. Many of the former proprietors would tell you that their problems started just after the FNM took office and Ingraham began his carnage on signed contracts and Heads of Agreements consummated by the Christie Administration. Investors saw that Ingraham’s Administration had no intentions of honouring deals made by Christie, for whatever reason, and they began phasing out their operations and leaving Freeport, albeit, some of them very quietly. As the slow process of decline took effect, it was suddenly realized that not enough was coming in to meet the companies’ recurrent expenditure demands and so, it became most apparent that staff had to be reduced and so the layoffs began and hasn’t stopped. For many, after cutting staff members to the bare minimum and could do no more, then the light bills became the focus of their problem. Draconian measures had to be employed and so, instead of running air conditions, and burning all their lights all day, business establishments began cutting off all unnecessary lights and air conditions. When walking around, or visiting many of the establishments, you would find them with their doors and windows opened for ventilation. Those in the food and restaurant businesses would maintain only the freezing/cooling capacity necessary to prevent their stocks from going bad and even then for only a minimum amount of hours in the day. All this in an effort to reduce power consumption to try and remain open for business; however over the years 400 have succumbed to the hardships experienced under this FNM government. The $2 store on Logwood Road and the dozens of roadside vendors, who litter the sidewalks in Freeport, nowadays, selling crabs and anything else one can find in the food stores, shoe stores and dress shops, are the busiest places in this once proud and sophisticated city. Everybody, especially those with children, are out looking for bargains every day, in an effort to make ends meet, while Laing and Ingraham feed, at the public trough, sumptuously daily.
These are but a few examples of what life and business is like in Freeport and Grand Bahama, for thousands of families and businesses, since the FNM government came to office in 2007. Ours is a deepening and widening, chronic problem, with no relief in sight anytime soon, and it is very obvious to me that Sir Jack Hayward is not prepared to lift a finger so as long as Hubert Ingraham is in place as prime minister. He has lost confidence in the mongrel and is not prepared to move a step further with activities at the Port Authority until this cookie monster is gone off the scene. This is the way of rich British Aristocrats and Laing and the rest of the FNM dudes are out of touch, to say the least, with understanding the reality of the situation on the ground here.
Hubert Ingraham and Zhivargo Laing have brought shame, scandal and disgrace on the FNM family and will pay for miss-management of the country’s affairs with the loss of their seats in the North Abaco and Marco City constituencies respectively.
Thank you.
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
August 2011.
Immigration Matters
Pierre Dupuch, the former FNM Member of Parliament and minister of the government writes about the current policy of the FNM to grant citizenship to immigrants:
Every red blooded Bahamian should be alarmed at the Government's actions!
Some years ago a PLP member of the House of Assembly employed a large number of Haitian Nationals and every five years, it was alleged, he saw that they got citizenship so that they could vote for him.
The FNM, then run by Sir Kendal Issacs and Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield, expressed concern that this was creating a dangerous precedent. Based on the Constitution we all accept that a child born of a Bahamian father is a Bahamian, and that a child born abroad of an unwed Bahamian woman is also a Bahamian.
It was also recognized that the section of the Constitution that provided that a child born of a Bahamian woman who is married to a foreign man carried the Nationality of the father should be changed.
There was no cynical reason for this provision; it had been modeled after many other countries where the bread winner was the father and the wife followed her husband.
This is no longer the case. Women are often, especially in The Bahamas, the sole bread winners in the family. It only makes sense, therefore, that the child should be entitled to take the Nationality of the father or mother. A simple law could fix this discrepancy.
With the FNM Government's naturalization of Haitian nationals, it seems as though the Government is trying to muddle legal with illegal and conclude that their recent immigration actions are "humanitarian". Being humanitarian is utter hogwash, and Brent Symonette knows so. He should be ashamed of himself. What is going on now is raw, nasty politics being played just before an election hoping that it will give them victory.
Any red blooded Bahamian should be alarmed at the Governments actions. Almost everyone knows that birth certificates are easy to come by. I am told that a number of JPs, especially one somewhere in Hawkins Hill (not in Immigration) are prepared to supply the witnesses and sign birth certificates for the right price in order to facilitate a citizenship application for an undocumented foreign national. While I am not certain that this is true, I assume that members of the Government are aware of it.
So, as it stands any government, the FNM, the PLP or some government twenty years from now could do this. It could test the waters and if found wanting it could grant citizenship to the irregulars here so they can vote, and then visit a downtrodden country and invite thousands more to come here with the promise of a better life and grant them citizenship so that they also can vote. And no matter what a bad job the government has done and no matter how the real Bahamians want to get rid of them at the polls, the government will win. And there goes democracy!!!
It is said that this can't happen because this will get out and somebody will end up in trouble. Not true. The government that has just won unfairly could have Immigration arrest those very people that were granted citizenship on the grounds that their documentation was fraudulent, confiscate their Bahamian passports and deport them. Voila!!! By the government winning, the deed has been done, and the evidence has been sent out of town!!!!
It becomes a revolving door!!!
It can’t happen? Why not?
The Government can't be allowed to do with Immigration what they are now doing. Brent Symonette says that it is hard in many cases to get proper information on applicants because of the devastation in Haiti which at the best of times did not have good records.
But he says that he has ways of finding out the background of a person even if the earthquake in Haiti destroyed the individual's papers. Again, hogwash, utter hogwash!! If he has a way, tell us how. Or does he think the Bahamian people are not mature enough to understand?
Especially since the earthquake in Haiti has destroyed most personal identifications the process of giving citizenship should be slowed down, not speeded up. In fact, it should be put on hold until after the elections.
The government seems to forget that there is a category in The Bahamas called "Permanent Residency". This gives a person the right to reside and work here, but does not extend the right to vote. In fact, most people get Permanent Residency before they get citizenship.
If they're interested in being "humanitarian" why don't they grant Permanent Residency rather than Citizenship?
Ah, the Government believes we're stupid.
Brent, cover yourself ... your tail is showing!!!!
IN PASSING
The Death of Stan Smith, Assistant Director Of Agriculture
Stanley Smith, Assistant Director of Agriculture, died Thursday after a long battle with diabetes and kidney problems. The Tribune reported the death on Saturday 6th August. The paper described him as a strong supporter of local farming and sustainable agriculture. It said that Mr. Smith, an agronomist, oversaw agricultural development of the southeast Bahamas and research at the Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre. "He has been totally committed for a long time to the degree where he spent more energy on work than may have been good for him, and I mean that in a good way. "He was extremely well liked by all the staff which is a rarity. There was never a question of his commitment to the job and the Agricultural Centre," said Simeon Pinder, Director of Agriculture. He was a graduate of St. Augustine’s College in Nassau. He later went abroad to study agriculture on a government scholarship and obtained a bachelor’s degree in plants and soil. He worked as a crop research and demonstration officer for 10 years at the Gladstone Road research facility and the Bahamas Research and Training Development Project in North Andros before becoming a senior administrator in the ministry.
The FNM Can’t Help Its Own
We won’t call his name but it should be clear to Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister and Zhivargo Laing, the Minister of State that they are in problems when one of their favourite and firm supporters in Freeport, the one who keeps the champagne coming makes a complaint to this column. He has a niece who has been out of work for almost a year, laid off from a well known insurance company. He has appealed to his government for help but been met with deaf ears. So the supporter asked: what is the use in supporting a group of men who will not respond in your time of need? It reminds us that Hubert Ingraham did not attend the funeral of his bosom boyhood friend Leonard Knowles of Abaco who died suddenly earlier this year. He went fishing instead. This is the same Leonard Knowles whose pot he used to share as a boy when he did not have anything. Things that make you go: “ Hmmm!” Insensitive! Uncaring! Boorish! Obtuse!
Stopping Scrap Metal Sales
They got themselves on the front page of the newspaper. The scrap metal dealers in The Bahamas. They were summoned to a meeting with Minister of the Environment Earl Deveaux . The government using a cannon for the job of a fly swat has banned for 90 days the export of scrap metal striking a blow again at small people trying to make an honest living. In this they join the phone card vendors who have lost their living as a result of the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless. The scrap metal dealers join the list of the deprived under the FNM. After the ban, they are now trying to scrap together a regulatory framework for the export of the metal. The government says that the export is responsible for the theft of copper from government property which crippled both the Broadcasting Corporation and BEC, the power company.
Alex 242’s Debut Soon
The daughter of PLP Leader Perry Christie and his wife Bernadette is soon to have her musical debut under the name Alex 242. Her proper name Alexandra Christie. She is said to have finished her promotional shoot for the new album in Los Angles and is expected to debut sometime this fall. She will be The Bahamas’ answer to Barbados’ Rihanna who performed in her home country to a packed stadium on Friday 5th August.
Low Registration In Bimini
Reports are that with just about 1200 people eligible to be registered in Bimini, only 300 are registered to vote. This should set off alarm bells. Reports are that the FNM’s lack of attention to the island and difficulties which people perceive about getting registered is the cause. The Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel was quoted in the Nassau Guardian of 6th August as saying that some 119,000 people nationwide have registered to vote.
Bimini Needs Infrastructure Work
When you land in Bimini, the complaints start. The FNM government is neglecting Bimini. The FNM has control of the local government council through the leadership of Chief Councilor Lloyd Edgecombe aka “Douda”. They say that he has the garbage contract and should not since he is the chief councilor and has the job of awarding the contact. They say that the airport building is too small, inadequate parking for the planes that land there, the sea walls are deteriorating on North Bimini, and that the school is inadequate. The tourism product is declining. There appears to be no political leadership from the government on the island. Another complaint the Department of Social Services is only allowing its coupons which are used to assist the under privileged to be used only at one store on Bimini The other store owners are quite upset.
Ingraham Promises Spanish Wells
We reported last week how Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, went to Spanish Wells, the almost all white Bahamian enclave of fishermen off the coast of the island of Eleuthera to shore up his political support in the face of a political challenge by the PLP’s Clay Sweeting who is a 25 year old fisherman. Mr. Sweeting and PLP MP Ryan Pinder who also has Spanish Wells roots issued a statement last week in this column challenging the government’s record of support for the Bahamian fishing industry. Mr. Ingraham took the Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette who is also the Minister for Immigration. He accepted that there were genuine complaints of foreign fishermen fishing on Bahamian boats and promised he would do something about that. He said that the Royal Bahamas Defence Force had too much territory to police but that he was not deaf to the cries of the fishermen.
Long Island Big Disappointment For Ingraham
The look in the photograph in the newspaper of Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, at the FNM Meritorious Councilor banquet in Clarence Town said it all. He had the look of a vacant stare as he faced the crowd of his supporters in the normally safe Long island FNM seat on 23rd July. It was the look of “what am I doing here?” Not so fast. There are credible reports that there was not such a crowd and that people are widely disgruntled with Larry Cartwright the FNM incumbent (see story above). Mr. Cartwright was so concerned about it that he issued a statement to the press saying that the reports that the banquet was poorly attended were incorrect. He said that the FNM’s support in Long island was strong.
Alex Morley To Run In Englerston
Attorney Alexander Morley, former Tribune reporter, announced that he will be a candidate in the next general election for the Englerston constituency as an independent. Mr. Morley has never run for office before. He said that he has established his practice in Englerston and has done pioneering work assisting the people of the community. Mr. Morley will be opposing the incumbent PLP Glenys Hanna Martin. The FNM has not announced a candidate yet in a usually safe PLP seat.
K.D. Josey Way
The photos below show the widow of the founding Prime Minister of the country Dame Marguerite Pindling and former Governor General Arthur Hanna as they attended the renaming ceremony of Crooked Island Street in the PLP’s Cynthia Pratt’s St. Cecelia Constituency on Sunday 31st July. Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill also attended the ceremony. Bishop Lindo Wallace preached the sermon and reminded the audience of Bishop Josey’s pioneering work in establishing the Coconut Grove community where the Highway Church of God is located that he founded. The widow of the late Bishop did the honours. The late Bishop Josey was a strong supporter of the PLP independence and the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling.
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Murder Count This Week
With three more murders since last week, we are now at 87 on the watch of Tommy Turnquest, the Minister of National Security for the year 2011. That makes 392 murders up to 13th July 2011 since Tommy Turnquest was the Minister of National Security.
Barbados Is A Developed Country Says UN
A report from the United Nations circulated on July says that Barbados is part of an elite club of nations in world that are classified as developed countries. Barbados is the only country in the Caribbean and Latin American region to be part of that club. The Bahamas has not even set that as a goal. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves as a country that we cannot meet that limited objective. It is a sign of failed leadership and lack of discipline that we cannot do it. You may click here for the full story.
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This past week was Fox Hill’s week. The Emancipation of the slaves in the British Empire took place on the 1st August 1834. That was 177 years ago. There were two celebrations one for the day itself and the other called Fox Hill Day which is also called “Party Day” for the Baptist Churches in Fox Hill. The four churches Mt. Carey, Macedonia, St. Paul’s and St. Mark’s. The tradition of Fox Hill Day came not because the people of Fox Hill got the news late but it is simply a separate celebration that has been going on since at least the 1890s. The photo of the week then is Fox Hill celebrating their day on Tuesday 9th August 2011 with the civic leaders and with the people of The Bahamas at Mt. Carey, the original and oldest Baptist church in the village. The civic leaders present were Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie, Deputy Leader Philip Davis, MPs Melanie Griffin, Ryan Pinder and Fred Mitchell; PLP candidates Cleola Hamilton and Jerome Gomez. The photo is by Tim Clarke. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
As the time gets closer to the general election which most people expect will be sometime between October 2011 and March 2012, the conventional wisdom is the PLP gat this one. That means that things are trending the PLP’s way; it’s the PLP’s to lose. The PLP itself is acting more and more like a government in waiting in the sense that its internal preparations are pretty advanced, anticipating the question: what will you do on day one?
An advance team has been quietly put together to try and settle these issues. The idea of such a team is to avoid the mistakes of the term 2002 to 2007 where it took ten days to appoint a Cabinet, with burning questions awaiting to be settled in the country. The other pressing question will be the number of projects that have to be started or reversed and what the cost of doing so will be? Another issue will be how does one communicate to the public that the Hubert Ingraham administration will have left the country broke, having maxed out the country’s credit card, and deliberately putting in place policies to hamstring the new administration.
Amongst the time bombs which Mr. Ingraham will leave are civil servants who are loyal to him and his cause. There are also secret bombs in place in the deal to set up the new port for the city of Nassau and for the recapture of the board of directors of BTC. In the case of the Port, the now Prime Minister had put public monies at risk in the project some 26 million dollars; he has also put in penalties which if they withstand a court challenge will mean tens of millions of dollars having to be paid to the families to whom he handed the port. It will take a skilful new government to surmount these issues and that is why the PLP is looking now at what will have to be done.
It becomes more urgent as the new owners of the Port float the shares to the public. A team of people headed by Mike Maura and Deon Bethel were on television touting the fact that there will be an initial public offering (IPO) of the Port’s shares by October of this year. The idea is to make the share base so much wider that the PLP will think twice about moving against it. The only thing is that there is no money in the country to take up an IPO so there will be little danger in that. Further, the PLP should issue a warning that the buyer ought to beware to all who would want to subscribe to that offering.
The PLP has already issued a warning that the buyer beware in the case of the BTC purchase. But like the owners of the Port, the new owners of BTC are moving ahead like the PLP and its warning be damned. The fact is the PLP is pledged to regain the ownership of the majority of the shares in BTC. It is to take over the Board and put it back into the hands of the Bahamian people. The costs, the methodology are all being worked out in advance so that the decision can be promulgated on day one.
The signs are there in the conventional wisdom of a PLP victory. Nothing assured however without work. The cracks are beginning to appear in the Hubert Ingraham armour. They have now decided that they will dump Carl Bethel as their chairman, having dumped him as a Minister following the scandal of the molestation of the boys in the Eight Mile Rock School. Mr. Bethel fired back after a speculative story appeared in The Tribune, that he will decide what is going to happen to him and only he can decide what will happen to his career. Famous last words?
Lastly, the PLP’s team is looking at what must be done to put Grand Bahama back to work. Certainly public works must be a part of it. Certainly, the reform of the Grand Bahama Port Authority must be part of it. Further, there must a grand project to reopen the hotels that have been closed by using public funds if necessary but certainly economic incentives to reopen and redevelop the Xandau Hotel and the Oasis properties. Grand Bahama must be put back to work. How does one integrate Grand Bahama with Abaco? Should the PLP commit to building a bridge between Grand Bahama and Abaco? The PLP is working.
We are happy to hear it. We hope that the conventional wisdom proves to be correct.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 13th August up to midnight: 106,748
Number of hits for the month of August up to Saturday 13th August up to midnight: 205,101
Number of hits for the year 2011 up to Saturday 13th August up to midnight: 5,446,387
AT LAST THE MINISTER IS TRUTHFUL ON DEATH PENALTY
Increasingly, the propaganda war continues as the countdown to Election Day moves toward single days. As it does the message is becoming clearer. On Branville McCartney, the FNM hates him with a passion and are going around saying that he is simply not bright. On Hubert Ingraham, the word is that he is simply mean, spiteful and uncaring. The rumour mill is fast and furious with the news now denied (see In Passing below) that he has prostate cancer and is lying to the public about why he is traveling to the United States. The orgy of violence that is devouring the country continues very week. We will soon reach 90 murders for the year what with three more during the last week. The public is exasperated in the face of a bad economy and government that is lying about the state of the economy; that it is lashing out in every direction. Marches, taking back the night idle demands, fasting, days of prayer. Then you have the perennial gadfly of Bahamian politics Rodney Moncur who is running around calling for people to be hanged even though he started his career calling for the abolition of the death penalty. Tommy Turnquest, the Minister of National Security said a remarkable thing during the past week. He said he was not concerned about the number of murders. He could not have meant that. But he said it. But we also thought that Tommy Turnquest’s remarks to the neighborhood policing conference were also interesting and we quote as they were published 10th August 2011
“The point I make is whether it’s those foreign white men in London, or those old Caribbean men down in the Caribbean or elsewhere - you’re finding, in my view, that more and more jurists will find more and more obstacles to put in the way of governments for carrying out capital punishment."
“That’s the reality of life. I believe that while I’m a strong proponent of capital punishment - not because it will deter any more murders but because it’s a proper and fitting punishment - what we ought to now concentrate on is getting those prolific killers and prolific offenders behind bars and off of our streets. Then I think much of this talk about capital punishment will go away.”
So then our point is why the government doesn’t do something about it. Since that is in their hands.
ANDRE ROLLINS INTRODUCES HIMSELF
PLP Candidate Andre Rollins made this video and posted it to You Tube introducing himself to his potential constituents:
RYAN HOLDS A PRESS CONFERNCE ON JOBS
Wednesday 10th August 2011
PLP Member of Parliament for Elizabeth, Ryan Pinder and PLP Senator, Michael Halkitis say that after careful review of the numbers used by the Department of Statistics, the country’s true unemployment figure is at least 17.6%.
They referred to a presentation to the IMF in January 2011 that estimated the unemployment rate in The Bahamas to be 19% in 2010 and 18% in 2011.
“The FNM claim of 13.7% is Voodoo Economics at its best,” they said.
The PLP representatives made a joint statement in front of the National Insurance Board’s Baillou Hill Road headquarters, supported by a group of disgruntled Bahamians.
“Even the ILO warns that data on informal sector employment or informal employment obtained for a short reference period may not be representative for the whole year,” Mr. Pinder said.
He added that the “informal sector” includes Bahamians who have been forced to create or accept non-conventional modes of employment because the Government has failed to create sufficient jobs for the workforce.
Mr. Halkitis pointed out that a senior official in the Department of Statistics said they did not carry out the survey in some areas where unemployment is high due to the incidence of crime in those areas.
Mr. Pinder and Mr. Halkitis also expressed concern that the government’s figures released on August 5th do not include the significant number of “discouraged workers”, adding that during the interview process, anyone who had not looked for a job seven days prior, was considered to be “a discouraged worker” and not counted as unemployed.
BOB MARLEY’S MUSIC USED FOR FAMINE APPEAL
Somalia and Ethiopia are in crisis. There is no food to eat. This new video using the music of Bob Marley of Jamaica is being utilized to raise awareness of the plight of East Africa.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/videogaga/71453/new-bob-marley-video-raises-awareness-of-east-africa-crisis/
7th August 2011
A quick poll of my constituents in the Fox Hill area shows that the statistics released by the Bahamas Government on unemployment in The Bahamas are not received or perceived as credible. The feeling amongst many of my constituents is that the figures do not accurately reflect the real picture of the unemployed in The Bahamas. It is not an accurate reflection of the misery index in the country. The Free National Movement administration should not take any comfort in these figures lest they be accused of deliberately cooking the books. It is imperative that the government comes to understand the level of human suffering that exists in The Bahamas today with life being a hustle and hassle for so many people just to find a meal, to pay their rent or mortgages and to keep their children fed and in school. The unemployment stats to do not reflect the reality which many Bahamians face today. The situation is even worse in Grand Bahama. In Fox Hill, we face a situation where many people are cashless in a society where cash is needed for so many of life's ordinary expenses. Something must be done to put the country back to work at a livable wage. I renew my pledge as the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill to work to do so: putting people back to work at a livable wage.
END
Things are getting to be tough for the FNM. They know that they have lost New Providence all things being equal and if something does not change. So what is happening now is typical of the Commissar style of governance that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister favours. He is like one of those old style Soviet Communist leaders, moving people around in a game of musical chairs and rewriting history as it suits his purposes. And so we have learned that former Senator Darron B. Cash is to replace Desmond Bannister MP and Minister who is to move to North Andros; FNM Senator Anthony Musgrove is to get South Beach with Phenton Neymour MP and Minister to leave South Beach to go to Exuma which is the nomination Mr. Musgrove should get. Mr. Ingraham is still trying to push Neko Grant out of Lucaya and give that seat to Zhivargo Laing who is in big trouble in the Marco City seat in Grand Bahama. He is trying to push Verna Grant MP for Eight Mile Rock out and put in Kay Smith, the former Senator and now Consul General in Atlanta. He is trying to push Ken Russell MP and Minister out of East Grand Bahama and replace him with another Ingrahamite. There is an expression: when you did one grave; dig two.
FOX HILL DAY TURNS OUT JUST ALRIGHT
Ivan Johnson, the editor of The Punch, fresh from rubbing the wounds of the handcuffs cutting into his delicate pale wrists, was at it again over the past week attacking the PLP and Perry Christie and Fox Hill. It appears that this latest effort is a part of the general a shakedown effort of The Punch to get the PLP to advertise in its newspaper. The Punch does not influence any one in electoral politics. It is simply a medium for entertainment but it should be taken seriously and dealt with. We digress though. The point here is that The Punch did all it could to try and stop people from coming to Fox Hill. It did not work. People came and the vendors were quite successful on Fox Hill Day. The public officials were also there for the day on Tuesday 9th August. We present a photos spread of the day’s activities which is the climax of a ten day festival that began on 29th July. The festival marks the Emancipation of the slaves 177 years ago on 4th August 1834. The photos of Fox Hill Day 2011 are by Tim Clarke.
Click Here to view the full photo Gallery
CONGRATULATIONS TO ROSEL WILSON
Rosel Moxey, who is Vice President Sunshine Holdings Ltd and Eleuthera Properties Ltd, has been selected to be a participant in the 2011-2012 Fellows Program of the International Women’s Forum. The selection process is quite rigourous as there are only 35 young women from all over the world. The Foundation says that it seeks to have young women of “enormous talent, promise and potential” to pursue this program designed “to sustain, prepare and promote tomorrow’s women executives and principal leaders”. Mrs. Moxey is the former Rosel Wilson, daughter of Former Senator President Sharon Wilson and Franklin Wilson CMG. The announcement read as follows:
The International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation is proud to unveil its 2011-2012 Fellows Class. From the largest and most competitive pool of candidates in Fellows Program history, 35 rising women leaders from 14 nations were selected. The new 2011-2012 Fellows Class is the most global in Leadership Foundation history with nearly two-thirds of the participants hailing from outside of the United States. In addition to robust corporate and NGO representation, the governments ofCanada, Denmark, Mexico and the United States are participating. The Fellows Program is the world's most prestigious leadership initiative featuring creative partnerships with the Harvard Business School (HBS) and INSEAD, along with one-on-one mentoring with IWF members around the world. The new Fellows will begin their program year with orientation and training in conjunction with the 2011 IWF World Leadership Conference in Washington, DC this October, followed by programs at HBS in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and at INSEAD's global campus in Singapore. Together, the IWF and its Leadership Foundation are promoting better leadership for a changing world.
NEWS ABOUT GOD’S BANK
The following statement was issued in Nassau about the liquidation of Banco Ambrosiano which used to be the Vatican’s Bank. The branch here in Nassau went under when the parent bank was put into liquidation. There was murder, mayhem, suicide and intrigue involved in its closing and it cost the career of one Archbishop. The movie Godfather III was loosely based on the real events including Robert Calvi, the Chairman of the Bank, hanging himself on Black Friars bridge in London on 17th June 1982. Fred Mitchell MP and former Foreign Minister was interviewed by Italian television about the judicial processes.
STATEMENT BY LIQUIDATORS BRANCO AMBROSIANO
"This preservation and recovery effort was a massive operation on the part of all of the Liquidators and Receivers, including the Court Appointed Liquidators of the Bahamian entity, Banco Ambrosiano Overseas Limited ("BAOL"). These Liquidators, as Officers of the Bahamian Court, took every effort to recover all of the monies rightfully belonging to the creditors of the Bahamian Bank. To date 94.5 cents in the dollar has been recovered and distributed to creditors of BAOL.
"In the Bahamas the local Liquidators have exhausted every effort to trace and recover all of the funds transferred through the Bahamian subsidiary and return those funds to the creditors. Despite assertions by the Italian investigators made to the press that they 'have traced several hundred million of the missing funds to assets in the Bahamas,' no tangible or other evidence has been brought to the attention of the Bahamian Liquidators which would identify any assets remaining in this jurisdiction or, for that matter, in any other jurisdiction which might be pursued in the interests of creditors.
"Throughout the process of this deposition no evidence was produced by the Italian Magistrates which would suggest that there were any funds remaining in this jurisdiction, or indeed any other funds which were not pursued by the Bahamian Liquidators.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Click here Forrester Carroll, Mario Carey, Gary Christie
Forrester Carroll writes this week about the lack of decorum in what should have been the national address of the Prime Minister on Independence Day. He reminds the FNM that the Prime Minister deceived the nation when he suggested that he had been working to help keep the country on track:
They were against independence; they were against the colony becoming a nation; so much so that many fought, tooth and nail, to remain a dependent territory of Great Britain. Ingraham wasn’t with those crows back then but, I submit that, since joining forces with the Bay Street scoundrels (after the death of Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield) he and his FNM crew (which is actually the old UBP-Bay Street Mongrels disguised in wolf’s clothing) have since been suffering from a terrible case of lack of “NATIONAL PRIDE” each year the 10th of July rolls around. The problem that bothers them is that it is impossible for them to celebrate the Bahamas’ Independence Day without paying tribute to Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling and his Progressive Liberal Party. You are all aware that up until last year the FNM’s biggest celebrations, each year since winning the government on August 19th 1992, were August 19th and the so-called “one Bahamas” thing which was one of Algernon Allen’s bright ideas. They avoided, at all cost, celebrating Independence Day because to have done so would have meant that honour, respect and proper tribute would have had to be paid to both Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, and the PLP, for the foresight in charting our nation’s course to independence; notwithstanding the obstacles Sir Lynden and the PLP had to climb to get us there. The FNM is a nasty little bunch of history re-writers.
On this our 38th year of our independence, the hedge-hog couldn’t even deliver a simple congratulatory message, to the nation, void of politics; he had to make it a tasteless FNM campaign speech, filled with lies and deceit. Stale campaign rhetoric saturated each line, phase and sentence; the bully could not speak to the nation, on the occasion of our independence, without making a pitch for the FNM’s reelection which will never happen again, of course. His was the inaugural speech of the 2012 general election campaign, nothing more. “We preserved public sector jobs” he said. Can you believe this bold-faced LIAR? What public sector jobs did they (the FNM government) preserve? On the first night, following the general election results of 2007, Ingraham fired two persons from ZNS who he suspected were PLP supporters; he fired them during his victory speech at the park, remember? Since then, of course, he has been dismissing public servants regularly at will. In the process, to date, he dismissed about one hundred top senior police officers; thirty four top senior customs officers; about fifty top senior immigration officers; a number of defense force officers; eighty-five ZNS radio and television staff members; persons from the antiquities and monuments department; water and sewage department personnel; shut down the Hotel Corporation and let go many other civil servants and government corporation employees. Preserved public sector jobs my foot; are you kidding?
In his Independence day message (disguised as his first FNM campaign speech for the silly season) Ingraham bragged about the amount of money the government budgeted to social services for food stamps and rental assistance; well what I would say to this is that if the brute beast didn’t kill the economy and cause so many people to lose their jobs, there would be no need for increased budget allocations to social services so, instead of bragging, Ingraham should be hanging that big box fish head, of his, in SHAME. Besides any government that is worth anything would never actually brag on the amount of social assistance it is forced to render to its country’s citizens. Prudent governments brag when they have no forced reason to come to the aid of their citizens in this way; it is more desirable when citizens are able to live and or to exist, independent of the State. The man went on boasting about his government’s short-term jobs program; and unemployment assistance payments; and job re-training program but, I repeat and suggest that, all these things became necessary only because of how badly the FNM government managed the economy. He bragged about these government hand-outs as if Bahamians should be grateful to have to stand in those long lines, at the social services department in the hot sun no less, waiting for the morsels-the CRUMBS if you will- to be handed out to them. The Bahamian people are a proud people who don’t want hand-outs; they want a hand-up; they want stability in their careers and in their lives, not uncertainty. They don’t relish the thought of having to worry, from week to week, whether they will have a job or not or when or if they will find a job. What can a six-month or even a twelve-month temporary job do for those just entering the job market and looking to begin their careers? These are the things that the FNM government, and Hubert Ingraham, are asking you to be grateful to them for; so grateful, they wish you to be, that you should run to registered and when the election comes around, race down to the polling station, stand in the hot sun for hours and re-elect them to govern for the next five years; they’ve gat to be joking, right? I should like to remind you that every one of those government ministers, including Zhivargo Laing, Brensil Rolle, Phenton Neymour and Baron Woodside, take home each month, from the public treasury, salaries and perks around $10,000 to $15,000. In addition to their salaries they get a chauffeur-driven car (at the taxpayers’ expense) and full, comprehensive medical insurance, paid for by us taxpayers. But they want you to be satisfied and grateful for the CRUMBS and HANDOUTS you get from social services.
Ingraham also claimed that his government protected private sector jobs; well if God was like man He would strike this monster dead. Protected private sector jobs? The only hotel located here in Freeport is the Our Lucaya Resort and it is on the verge of closing its doors. They’ve been downsizing for the last several months. At first they were letting go staff members, incrementally, at three to four employees per week, then they got very bold and let go 202 one Friday afternoon; then a couple weeks later they let go most of the executives and then a week later they let the comptroller go; last week they dismissed the engineer. The hotel is now being managed by executives from the Freeport Container Port who are also managing the affairs of the International Airport. Does this sound like a situation which can go on indefinitely? Absolutely not; the hotel, in my view, is on the verge of closing its doors. Ingraham is just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, bull-skater; he has not protected private sector jobs but on the contrary, the private sector took the cue from his government and dismissed staff members, by the hundreds, as his government has been doing. That is why there are so many Bahamians out of work in the country, as a whole, but especially here on Grand Bahama.
But what was most laughable was when Ingraham suggested, in his speech, that his government “targeted initiatives to support small business;” what are those initiatives, may I ask you bone-fish head? What are those initiatives? Nothing has ever happened, to help small business, under this FNM regime and I am including the period when they governed, 1992-2002 as well. If I am wrong then tell me the reasons why small businesses have been crying out for years for some relief? Businesses in Freeport and Grand Bahama have had roadblocks intentionally put in their way of operations, by this FNM government, within the last two years, which have directly impacted them to the point where all have complained about losing at least forty per cent of their normal gross activity. More than four hundred small businesses have failed, in Freeport alone, since this FNM came to govern in 2007.
The speech, which was supposed to have been an address to the nation on the occasion of our 38th year of independence, was laden with campaign rhetoric. The mullet-head mentioned something about his government’s “multifaceted response to the crime problem.” Pray tell me what did that collection of empty words mean; and please answer me in the Queen’s English? The newspaper headlines, just yesterday (Wednesday 13th July) read; “Three more murders;”the reason for the publisher using the word “more” was because they had just reported on another three murders which were committed on the independence weekend prior. Yes between Friday 8th and Tuesday 12th six young Bahamian men were murdered and Ingraham brags about his government’s “multifaceted response to crime?” They are clueless as to what they should do to combat this menace. If they did, the murder count would not be what it is presently-as I pen these words-seventy-two (72) compared to last year’s count, for the same period, of about forty-three (43).
The PLP has been imploring the FNM government for months to bite their lips; bite the bullet of foolish pride and re-introduce Perry Christie’s Urban Renewal which, according to the official records, had a profound affect on the reduction of criminal activity (especially murder) prior to Ingraham dismantling the program. When Christie’s Administration worked the program, it worked extremely well for us in reducing the statistics in every area of criminal activity in the country, especially heinous crime. Whether the FNM likes to hear us say it or not, Christie’s Urban Renewal program had a handle on the criminal situation and we were getting places but, don’t take my word for it; search the records for yourself and see what the stats were, from the time Christie started the program until Ingraham dismantled it and then compare the stats every year since, to date.
This FNM bunch is such a dismal failure and disappointment; the damn loggerheads. When they are questioned on their stewardship of the country’s affairs, they seem so hostile and defensive; they are so angry all the time; it appears that anger consumes them.
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
July 2011.
Mario Carey’s Letter from The Tribune. How to create real estate sales in a soft market? Published originally in The Triune On: Tuesday, 9th August, 2011
EDITOR
Recently Sir Sol Kerzner, owner of The Reef Condo/Hotel project located on Paradise Island, saw the need to stimulate sales activity in a soft market by reducing the established asking prices of the condos by 40 per cent. This represents prices at pre-construction levels when The Reef was being built. Why do this? In a soft real estate market tough decisions that make fiscal sense need to be made to stimulate buyers to take the risk to invest.
My question is what has our recent Government done to stimulate real estate sales for our economy? The government has done the complete opposite.
(1) They have increased the Stamp Duty across the board by 2 per cent with the high end properties totaling 12 per cent.
(2) They have increased the annual Real Property Tax burden by almost double.
(3) They have also stated they will decide what the proper sales price should be when conveying a property even though the market determines market value when there is a willing buyer and a willing seller.
I refer to these three points as a bad cocktail. One that has shown to discourage sales and one that continues to stifle sales activity. The Real Estate industry plays a critical role in any economy's financial success. The domino effect of not making sales is quite obvious and need not be addressed in this article.
In today's market most agents are discounting their fees, as are lawyers and bankers. The one constant that has not changed is the Government's policies. In recent news releases it has been reported of the constant decline in stamp tax revenue due to a lack of sales activity. This number speaks volumes for the need to change the current Governmental policies favorably in order to stimulate the Real Estate market.
We can all agree that Sir Sol is a very smart business man. For a short time he is offering this 40 per cent reduction which already has resulted in nearly $20 million in sales of which the Government is due to make over $2 million in revenue. Perhaps, our Government will consider offering a short term policy that will stimulate the real estate market and encourage buyers to buy. Our country needs real estate transactions. They are a very important part of or nation's financial well-being.
With the up and coming General Elections I am very interested to know what the policies of each party will be for our industry moving forward. I encourage all voters, especially realtors, bankers and service providers to take this matter seriously.
MARIO A. CAREY,
President and CEO,
Mario Carey Realty,
Nassau,
July 28, 2011.
The PLP Leader’s Brother Gary Christie defends the Urban Renewal programme in a letter first published in The Tribune
Published On: Friday, August 12, 2011:
EDITOR, The Tribune.
I would be appreciative if you printed my response to a recent Nassau Guardian editorial.
Dear Nassau Guardian Editor,
Please forgive me, for any considered impudence, but I have to query whether you read newspaper articles at all, including those featured in your own publication? In your August 2nd editorial, you opined "Bahamians know Christie's (Hon Perry G Christie) repeated references to urban renewal only make him appear out of touch with the realities of the modern Bahamas when it comes to crime."
Your admonition that Christie's urban renewal initiatives are "stuck in the past" clearly illustrates that you do not have a clue of current policing programmes that are being implemented in today's world in various global neighbourhoods to mitigate the impact of crime against persons in their communities. I am no criminologist, but I do read. In your own paper August 9 and The Tribune, US Ambassador to the Bahamas, Nicole Avant penned an article, "Building safer neighbourhoods through community based policing."
She wrote: "It will require a whole government approach in conjunction with civil society, churches and the business community to rebuild local trust, break the cycle of violence and foster the growth of safer communities throughout the Bahamas."
Unlike you Editor, I am not obliged to be politically correct in the current climate, but that certainly sounds like a page out of Mr. Christie's urban renewal playbook to me.
Urban renewal, community policing, whatever you want to call it, is even more relevant today to combat crime in our Bahamian. There was a prior view expressed in certain circles that former Minister of National Security, Hon Cynthia "Mother" Pratt was no match for the criminal elements in our society as she was simply a "prayer warrior." In the words of Christine Lagarde, former French Minister of Finance and now IMF chief, there is a danger in too much "hairy chested, testosterone" decision-making to solve countries' social problems. Five years after the so-called soft touch of Mother Pratt, tough talk alone has only resulted in local criminal elements producing bigger guns, bolder initiatives and higher crime statistics.
Some months ago, a NY Times article headlined, "In rough slum, Brazil's police try soft touch." Brazil is implementing its own urban renewal initiatives to combat crime in communities as they prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games - addressing the future, not the past. They have taken their most vicious and fearsome neighbourhood, City of God in Rio de Janeiro and parked new "Peace Police" in the confines of the slum areas whose job is part traditional policing, part social work. They devote themselves to winning the confidence of the residents, who in turn help with identifying the criminals in their midst. Children now play street soccer, sometimes with police officers joining in the games, without fear of random violence. City personnel, garbage trucks and medical professionals who once shunned the area due to safety reasons now come in due to a visible and daily police presence. School attendance has increased, with one school showing a 90 per cent rise in attendance since the community police arrived. Police control the dances popular with youth, and have eliminated the alcohol consumption among minors. Police officers visit day care centres, playing with the children. Some officers have been pulled off patrol duty to teach karate, guitar, piano and English lessons. One 22-year-old City of God resident, who is taking karate classes, said he intended to go into drug trafficking to gain access to guns. Since bonding with his police officer karate instructor, he now helps other residents conquer their fear and dislike of the police.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousef proposed expanding the model to other cities. Millions of dollars from corporations like Coca Cola pour in to support the programme with equipment for police. Police have recorded a reduction in violent crime in City of God since Peace Police moved in - six homicides in 2009, compared with 34 in 2008. Jose Mariano Beltrane, Rio's Secretary of Public Security said that the success of City of God's urban renewal programmes would make it difficult for future politicians to dismantle.
Even closer to home, urban renewal initiatives are reaping crime reduction rewards as noted in a Miami Herald article. In 2009, there were 59 murders in Miami Florida, second lowest total since 1967. This is a 73 per cent decline from the 220 murders in 1980, the deadliest year in Miami history. In 2009, 2,094 robberies were recorded, lowest since 1966. The 2009 numbers represent a 13 per cent drop from 2008 and 75 per cent drop from 1991. The Miami decline in crime is made more dramatic in that it occurred while Miami's population grew by approximately 100,000 over the past decade. The record declines are a direct result of a philosophy and strategies of reforming and modernising the Miami Police Department (MPD). These strategies focused on three principal areas - traditional crime fighting, quality of life issues and restoring public confidence in the MPD. Quality of life issues relate to those matters that plague inner-city neighbourhoods - unsafe structures, abandoned cars, cleanliness and garbage dumping, proper sanitation. All city of Miami agencies partnered with the MPD to enhance the quality of life in these areas. The end result was improved public confidence between the MPD and the community.
Have you not heard someone say all of this before in the context of the Bahamas, Editor? I have. The Hon Perry Christie has passionately preached for years until our ears rang, about similar urban renewal initiatives in the Bahamas, as are now taking place in Brazil and Miami. His urban renewal ideas to break the back of crime in our communities are very much relevant today as they were yesterday. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
GARY CHRISTIE
Nassau,
August 10, 2011.
IN PASSING
The Mix And Mingle Of The Young PLPs
Young PLPs (Progressive Young Liberals) and college students gathered at the home of Deputy Leader Philip Davis and his wife Anne on Friday 12th August. They were joined by Leader of the Party Perry Christie, MPs Ryan Pinder, Fred Mitchell and Shane Gibson. Candidates Renward Wells and Arnold Forbes were also present. A great time was had by all. The reason: to say farewell to the students and urge them to register to vote PLP.
Did Ingraham Have To Run From Fox Hill?
Jacinta Higgs who is a Senator for the FNM and the Candidate for Fox Hill for the FNM has built a building in Fox Hill on family property. She has volunteered its use for the FNM’s Council meetings since the FNM's headquarters had a fire earlier this year. One night, a report says, the Prime Minister and Leader of the Party Hubert Ingraham was present for a meeting when shots were allegedly fired in the Fox Hill vicinity, a nightly occurrence in that part of Congo Town. The report says that Mr. Ingraham was quickly hussled out of the building for his own safety.
Police Made To Change The Topic Of Their Conference
It appears that the Americans were sponsoring a Caribbean wide conference last week in The Bahamas about security in neighbourhoods. All the top brass from around the region and The Bahamas law enforcement apparatus were present. Talk is that originally the Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade wanted to centre the conference around Urban Renewal, the award winning programme pioneered under the PLP. The FNM government nixed that idea and it was changed instead to neighbourhood policing, the programme they invented as an answer to Urban Renewal.
Denial That Ingraham Is Sick
Last week as we were uploading the sight, there was a report circulating on bahamaspress.com that the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was headed toward the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, USA for a medical checkup. There has been speculation for weeks in Nassau that Mr. Ingraham is facing a serious illness, prostate cancer. There was no comment from the Office of The Prime Minister. But on Monday 8th August after the week end of speculation, the Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette described the reports of Mr. Ingraham's illness as “absolute rubbish”. He said that Mr. Ingraham was taking his annual holiday boat cruise to the Caribbean. He was stopping in Nassau to host a meeting at the Cabinet office said Brent Symonette and then would be on his way again. Mr. Ingraham celebrated his 64th birthday on 4th August. No one in the PLP feels sorry Mr. Ingraham because he is rumoured to be ill. He treated the late Sir Lynden Pindling shabbily during his illness and so whatever comes to him most PLPs feel he deserves all the ill will and more sick or not.
Glass Bottom Boat Owners Complain To The Prime Minister
The Ferry Boat Owners Association have complained to the Prime Minister about the fact that they cannot use the dock that was assigned to them by him for the use of their passengers when they ply their boats between Paradise Island the Prince George Dock. The dock was supposedly condemned last year in August but the Ministry of Works has been refusing to allow them to see the report that condemns the dock. In the mean time a row has broken out with the Bridge Authority over whose property the passengers of the Ferry Boat operators have to traverse. The Operators say that the Bridge Authority is trying to shut them down and drive them out of business. No response from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Privy Council Overturns Another Death Sentence
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the nation’s highest court based in London, has once again struck down a death sentence. It reaffirmed the position of the Court in Trimmingham on appeal from St. Vincent in 2008 and Max Tido in 2011 from The Bahamas. In order for a judge to pass a sentence of death, the Judge has to be sure that the case is the worse of the worst or the rarest of the rare. It said that in addition the second limb of the test was whether there was no reasonable prospect of reform of the offender. The court laid down the criteria for determining that and said that it cannot be done without the report of a psychiatrist and also in some cases a psychologist’s report. Earnest Lockhart was convicted of the murder in a drug deal revenge killing. The victim was killed by a single bullet in the back of the head. That did not qualify as the worst of the worst. You may click here for the full ruling.
Water Running Low, Water Corporation To Strike
The Water and Sewerage Corporation says that people in New Providence will be having low water pressure or no water pressure because they cannot provide enough water to the island. The excuse is that the water barging was affected by the bad weather associated with Tropical Storm Emily. Tropical storm Emily did not hit The Bahamas. Imagine what would have happened if the storm did hit. The corporation is supposed to be switching to reverse osmosis water entirely and stopping barging from Andros but we guess it’s not time yet. The excuse might well be true but it just rings of another aspect of incompetence by the FNM administration. No water. No phones. No power.
Take Back The Night March
The Women’s Crisis Centre hosted a march on Saturday 13th August with the theme Take Back The Night. The idea was to march against violence and the murders that seem to be consuming The Bahamas in this year 2011. The question we have is whether this stuff is effective. We have this knee jerk response from well meaning groups with marches, fasting days and calls for prayer but the actual problem remains unaddressed. The problem is how the little boys are raised in the country. The society seems blind, deaf and dumb when it comes to that. Photos by Rodney Moncur
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Vendors To Be Banned From The Straw Market
The FNM is again going after the small men and women. First it was the phone card vendors, then the scrap metal dealers, now it’s the straw vendors. They are being told that unless they pay up their national insurance arrears and their business licence fees they will not be able to operate their businesses in the new straw market. The Lord giveth; the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Erin Ferguson’s Story
Erin Ferguson who hosts the TV show Citizen’s Review, was in a spot of trouble again it appears. According to this Facebook page he was facing the prospect of 5 days in jail for failure to pay an amount ordered for arrears of rent in a dispute with a former landlord. The matter was later resolved by the intervention of a friendly lawyer who got a fine substituted for the jail term.
Dengue Fever Rages On
The Government of The Bahama can be accused of the most shocking negligence in the raging dengue fever epidemic that has hit The Bahamas. The disease is spread by mosquitoes. Some 1500 people have reported ill to Nassau’s public facilities according to the Minister of Health. Residents throughout the island of New Providence have complained that the spraying programme of the government is ineffective or nonexistent. They also say the government has contributed to the problem by not picking up the garbage on time. Garbage is piled up in Bahamian neighbourhoods everywhere. The government has trenches in the road everywhere in New Providence and they are filled with water. With no spraying, the mosquitoes abound. Then you have reports that at least three people have died in the country from dengue fever. One was a six year old Fox Hill girl who died with asthma complications. Another is a Church of God member who died en route to the U.S. in an air ambulance. Another who was airlifted from Nassau by a local company and died in hospital in the U.S. The public officials are lying about the situation. They must come clean. Last week the Ministers of Health Hubert Minnis and the State for Enviroment Phenton Neymour had a press conference to defend what the government was doing. The Health Minister said that clinics would be open on a sustained daily basis to meet the demands of the public. The doctors have told the Minister to go fly a kite. They are paid to work forty hours and they do not intend to work another minute over unless by law the Minister declares a national emergency. This is another sign of the lack of care and concern by the FNM government. When the last epidemic hit here in the 1980s, Perry Christie was the Minister of Health and he ordered aerial spraying to kill the mosquitoes. It worked.
The Power Still Going Off
Bahamas Electricity Corporation can’t keep the power on. They have been promising all summer long to stop the power cuts. The power cuts are worse than ever. It has gotten so bad that they now have taken to announcing in advance which neighbourhoods will be without power. What defies logic to many people is how it is that Kevin Basden, the GM of the corporation, continues to survive as head of that company in the face of all the obvious and shocking negligence and failure on the part of BEC. We repeat some of the speculation which appeared on Facebook about it.
Archie Moree Loses His Wife Pamela
PLP Stalwart Councilor Alphonso Moree known also as Archie and wife Pamela, a well known school teacher have been a pair as long as anyone could remember in Long Island. Mrs. Moree died unexpectedly in hospital in Nassau last week. She was suffering from sepsis as a result of an operation performed to correct a hernia. Some are concerned that medical negligence may be involved. She is to be buried in Hamilton’s following a service at the Roman Catholic Church there on Saturday 20th August at 10 a.m.
All The Talk On Facebook On BEC
I know one thing said one facebook user," Kevin Basden, the GM at BEC must have the names of all the sweethearts and outside children of Pindling, Ingraham, and Sir Harry Oakes cause this dude can't get fired!!!
28 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
on Reuno Joel Pratt's post in CrossFire.
Reuno Joel Pratt
Leon Willams turned BTC around and he was fired for it. Kevin Basden has taken BEC, and all of us to hell, and he has yet to join the informal sector of the workforce?
Ivan Johnson At The Punch Continues His Criminal Ways
We show a sarcastic comment about the down market rag called The Punch which continued its unseemly and salacious and libelous attacks on the Leader of the PLP:
Gary Hutcheson
I just hope that someone from the Intelligence Unit of the RBPF would invite, or go and see Ivan Johnson of the Punch newspaper as he seems to have an abundance of information that could assist them. Once they don’t send Supt Bethel of Central they should be ok. Failing to immediately speak with Johnson is dereliction of duty as he seems to know all that is happening prior to the act being committed.
In war resolution..
A Sign Of The Times
The story is told about a Cruise Director on a ship in the southern Caribbean talking to his passengers about what they should do next. He tells them that he hopes they laugh at his jokes. That if they don’t laugh at his jokes, their punishment will be he will turn the ship around and drop them off in Freeport. Serious thing. Freeport is in deep trouble. We have already reported the statistic from the air traffic controllers that there is more air traffic going into Marsh Harbour than Freeport. The latest report 40 people to lose their jobs at Freeport Flight Services. The governing party has five MPs and two senators from Freeport. Yet they do nothing for that city. Shame! Shame!
Tax Policy
This weekend is a tax holiday in Florida. That means that on school supplies and items associated with it, there is no sales tax. Bahamians we are told have been flocking to the Florida stores even though the plane ticket costs close to 300 dollars each way. Together with the family vacation crowd it’s been impossible to get a flight over to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale last week or this coming week. Gets us to thinking about tax policy and how this government in Nassau did the opposite. They raised taxes violating the cardinal rule of economics which is when you add costs you suppress demand. So there was a fall of in revenue instead of a rise in revenue as a result of the increases they heaped on the Bahamian people last year. See the letter to the editor today from Mario Carey. You may remember how people used to come to The Bahamas just to buy their five bottles of liquor because the tax break here made the liquor cheaper. Lower prices drive consumers. You wonder why The Bahamas government under Hubert Ingraham can’t get that simple point. Latest disastrous news. Commonwealth Building Supplies have laid off eight workers as a direct result of the tax policies of the government. They raised the taxes on the ingredients for hurricane shutters but lowered it on the finished product. The result eight people out of work. You go figure.
Director Of Stats Confronts Shane Gibson MP And Fred Mitchell MP
Shane Gibson and Fred Mitchell MPs PLP were trying to help the women take back the night when up came the Director of Statistics Kelsie Dosett in Rawson Square to take issue with the PLP’s criticism of the PLP about her report on unemployment in The Bahamas. See stories above. The PLP does not believe that the figure are credible. The intervention in the square was the latest salvo of Mrs. Dorsett who went to the press to claim that the PLP has a convenient memory and that they should not attack the figures because one day they will have to rely on the same department to support their government. Point we suppose. But if the party does not believe the figures are credible then it does not. Her report is her report. She does what she does. The PLP does what it does. Let’s come to a clear understanding on that.
Fred Mitchell And The Greasy Pole
It was Fox Hill Day Tuesday 9th August and Fred Mitchell MP poses with the fellows after they had finished climbing the greasy pole, rained delayed and finished at 11:30 p.m. The prize $1000 in cash. Photos by Kishan Munroe.
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Attending Funerals In Fox Hill
Fred Mitchell MP attended the services of Deon Knowles aka Emperor and that of Dessalines Nicols aka Limbo who were murdered in a hail of bullets by person or persons unknown within the past two weeks in his capacity as MP for Fox Hill where both men and their families lived. Their deaths sparked unfounded rumours that there would be violence in Fox Hill and it suppressed the turnout at the Fox Hill Festival occurrences. The services took place on Saturday 13th August without incident and in a heavy police presence.
John Pinder Says Ingraham Doesn’t Like Bahamians
Speaking to Love 97 News, John Pinder who is in the fight of his life to survive the challenge to his presidency in September told them that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham does not like Bahamians. Welcome to the club! Mr. Ingraham has decided that he will not support Mr. Pinder for re-election going instead with his opponent Katrina Marche. He has also decided not to support John Pinder for the nomination for Fox Hill but to go instead with Jacinta Higgs who ran and lost the last time.
Bishop Randy Fraser Awaits The Verdict
Now the matter is in the hands of the Magistrate Carolita Bethel. Bishop Randy Fraser’s re-trail on sexual assault charges has come to an end. The verdict is to be delivered on 4th October.
Leon Stanley Smith's Funeral