Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 1 © BahamasUncensored.Com
14th December, 2003
21st December, 2003
28th December, 2003
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The people of New Providence have a love /hate relationship with jitney drivers. This unusual word “jitney” describes what passes for a public bus transportation system in The Bahamas. A licence for a jitney is a prized possession. It is doled out to party stalwarts. When the FNM is in power, they give it to their guys. When the PLP is in power, their supporters expect it. But the system is so chaotic and cut throat that the jitney drivers who are paid by commissions rush about the town at reckless speeds, endangering the life and limb of passengers and the general public. Aggressive policing measures have not helped to solve the problem. It is clear that there is the need for a public busing system owned by the state, which will have a monopoly. It is one of the biggest challenges of the Ministry of Transport. Our photo of the week illustrates the perils of riding the jitney. It is a photo from The Nassau Guardian by Patrick Hanna of an overturned jitney on Johnson Road, one of the most winding in New Providence. The bus appeared to be going too fast as it took a curve, the gas pedal stuck and the bus flipped over, hurting 26 people on the bus some of them seriously. Fortunately no one lost their life. The accident took place on Friday 28 November 2003. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
WHAT GOOD IS THE COMMONWEALTH?
A
penny for the thoughts of the Prime Minister Perry Christie portrayed here
in this Peter Ramsay photograph as he left The Bahamas for his longest
official trip overseas since he became Prime Minister in May 2002.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by his peripatetic Minister of Foreign
Affairs Fred Mitchell and the Minister for Financial Services and Investment
Allyson Gibson, stopped in London for two days. While there he met
with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, and expressed his
concern at the disconnect between Britain and The Bahamas and the failure
of the British to keep up their contact with The Bahamas.
But the main event for this trip was to head to Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting from 5th December to 8th December. Bahamians must be entitled to ask the question, and one suspects the PM must be have been thinking so as well. What is the purpose of the Commonwealth? It appears to be an anachronism put together by the British after the end of the colonial period and empire to link the societies that they once ruled together. Yet when one experiences Britain today, it is clear that there is no affection for the Commonwealth in the circles of British public policy, despite the wonderful public expressions of affection for the Commonwealth at the official British level. So one wonders, does the Commonwealth really matter?
Prime Minister Christie thinks so and pronounced so at the summit in Abuja. His view is that it seeks to reaffirm a common set of values and ideas and allows each country while at an international forum to also focus by comparison and contrast on their individual domestic agendas.
While there remain many who question the relevance of the Commonwealth, some people are fighting to be a part of it. Pakistan’s military but secular Government wants the stamp of the Commonwealth’s approval. It gives them they a boost at home, a patina of legitimacy both at home and abroad. Zimbabwe’s worn out tyrant Robert Mugabe says that if the Commonwealth does not change its attitude toward Zimbabwe, he will leave the Commonwealth. So one guesses the Commonwealth must be important.
The African countries are unhappy that Don McKinnon, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and a white man from New Zealand, exercised some leeway and kept in place the status quo with regard to Zimbabwe, meaning that the country could no longer sit on the political councils of the Commonwealth until the Heads of Government made a decision at the meeting in Abuja. One suspects that it is they who put up an Asian candidate in the 75 year old former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka. The candidate was soundly trounced 40 to 11 within the meeting of Heads alone. No one knows for sure who supported whom, but it is clear that South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki was unhappy with Mr. McKinnon and may have led the fight against him. Mr. McKinnon would do well to seek to patch it up.
So one guesses that there was some excitement in Abuja after all. Malta is trying to vie for the meeting to take place the next time around in two years and so is Uganda. There is no shortage of countries trying to be the site of the conference.
The opportunity is also there for Prime Ministers who would not normally meet to talk to one another. They meet in a retreat and they thrash out ideas in an informal setting. That is how the problem of Zimbabwe is likely to be resolved. Secretary General McKinnon has done a creditable job and deserves like most of his predecessors the second term of five years that he now has.
Minister Christie had lunch with the Queen on Thursday 4th December. He met with the South African President Thabo Mbeki who is likely to be headed our way soon as he goes to Haiti for the 200th anniversary of their independence, and as he marks the tenth year of the end of apartheid making that link between the oldest black republic and the youngest.
So one guesses there might be good reasons to stay within the Commonwealth and keep the illusion going that it means something to be there. But one suspects that as time goes on, the younger people are really going to press their leaders in all of these countries as to why they continue to go to these meetings and what they get out of it.
Number of hits for the month of November ending 30th November 2003 at midnight: 228,412.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 6th December at midnight: 39,925.
Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 6th December 2003 at midnight: 30,096.
Number of hits for the year 2003 up to Saturday 6th December 2003: 1,588,524.
HOTEL
UNION STRIKE VOTE
Vincent Peet, the Minister of Labour went to celebrate with his daughter
her 18th birthday last week but before he did, he sent a message to the
hotel industry, both employers and employees. It was blunt: “Get
back to the bargaining table and settle this matter”. For 11 months
the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union headed by Pat Bain
has been trying to negotiate a contract with Robert Sands and Barrie Farrington
of the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association. As usual, the deal is
probably quite close to being struck, but there are some money issues that
divide the two teams and the result is The Bahamas is to suffer. Nassau
Beach hotel worker Alda Grant is shown casting her vote at right in this
Nassau Guardian photo by Patrick Hanna.
We reported in this column last week, that Butch
Kerzner, the hot-headed owner’s son of Atlantis, was exercised about the
fact that the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association of Obie Ferguson had
signed an industrial agreement with the Hotel Corporation. The Tribune
pushes the line on his behalf that Atlantis is next, and if you read carefully
between what The Tribune’s editorials have been saying and what young Mr.
Kerzner had to say last week, it appears that the third phase at PI may
be hanging in the balance because of the Government’s view about the role
of trade unions. The PLP is already in trouble with the Casino workers
at PI because the Minister is, bowing to pressure from the casino employers,
backing off from scheduling a vote on recognition of the casino union for
Paradise Island.
Pat Bain (pictured, left) did not like Butch Kerzner's intervention in
public and made his own statement last week in which he told Mr. Kerzner
to mind his own business. Then Mr. Bain with the support of a 13
percent turn out of union members, got the right on Thursday 4th to take
the members of the Union out on strike. The talk around town is that
is exactly what Butch Kerzner and those want. They want a strike, which
would allow them to take the union out. Mr. Kerzner started an aggressive
public relations programme to show the Bahamian people and others in the
industry just how much the employees at Atlantis make per year. Pool
Attendants: $75,000 per annum. Bartenders: $100,000 per year.
Atlantis' thinking seems to be to let things take
their natural course if the strike takes place. The bet is that not
many employees will join in an actual strike. The strike will collapse
under its own lack of weight. They will hire replacement workers
who want the high paid jobs and they will be effectively rid of the union
once and for all. The question is, if they are right and the Minister
of Labour judges that to be correct on behalf of the Government, would
the Government stand by and allow the destruction of The Bahamas Hotel
Catering and Allied Workers Union? We say that the Government will
not and should not allow this to happen.
Too much capital and goodwill has been built up with the Union to allow
possible bad judgements by Union leaders to cause the whole Union to fail.
The Union itself though should be properly advised and move accordingly.
They need an effective public relations strategy of their own and a proper
legal strategy. A union with the resources of the Hotel Union should
not be run like a petty shop but as the sophisticated and wealthy organization
it is. It should be able to match resources with Kerzner without
resort to the old fashioned strike vote and the threats of it. Butch
Kerzner is pictured, right.
The union needs to appeal to the broader themes
they are trying to accomplish for their members. One is the fact
that Kerzner has made so much money over at Paradise Island and there is
a need to share his good luck. The other is that people in other
parts of the sector are suffering and Paradise Island is not the only property
for which they are negotiating. We say let’s get this matter settled
this week. Let’s sign the contract. Let’s not disturb the industry.
Let’s also not give Thomas Bastian, former Union president who is said
to be waiting in the wings and nipping at his successor Pat Bain’s heels
and hoping for failure, a chance to get back in. That would be retrogressive.
Let us at Christmas time have peace on earth and
goodwill to men, and that means no strike, no destruction of the union,
and of course the furtherance of Mr. Kerzner’s investment into Phase III
as he is legally bound to complete.
PRIME
MINISTERIAL KUDOS FOR MITCHELL
In a report from Abuja, Nigeria where he is attending the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Conference, Prime Minister Perry Christie told ZNS
NEWS that he was extremely pleased with the international profile of The
Bahamas wrought by his 19 month old government and its Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Fred Mitchell. The Prime Minister is on his longest trip
outside the country since the political victory of May, 2002 and spoke
against the backdrop of low-level, but constant rumblings over the frequent
travelling of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The praise by the Prime Minister was widely interpreted
as a public vote of confidence in the effective work of the Foreign Minister
in establishing The Bahamas as a serious player in its niche on the international
scene. The Foreign Minister has said that he is committed to carrying
out the PLP's promise to raise the presence of The Bahamas in the world.
Alluding to the ignominious blacklisting of the country's financial services
industry and the consequent unseemly rush to change the national laws with
ones said to have been "drafted overseas and handed to the [then] Prime
Minister", Minister Mitchell said, "We've seen what happens when we lose
touch with what our neighbours and other countries in the world are thinking."
Foreign Minister Mitchell and Minister of Financial
Services & Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson, herself active in internationally
pursuing positive new investment for The Bahamas, are pictured conducting
the country's business during one of the sessions of CHOGM in Nigeria.
Photo
from CHOGM.org.
FRANKLYN
WILSON ON COB
Franklyn Wilson, the Chairman of the College of The Bahamas Council, made
an interesting address on 5th December to a group that included the Minister
of Education Alfred Sears. Mr. Wilson put the case that the College
needs to advance to University status within three years. He also
put the way forward to get there. One set of suggestions seemed to
doom the forward career of the now President and also condemn the lack
of vision of his predecessors on the Council. He argued that COB
must be modernized and that change must come. He announced a search
for new personnel, and he also announced a reorganization plan. He
argued in favour of real autonomy for the College, which essentially means
cutting itself loose from the financial apron strings of the Government.
We support all of these moves and think that clearly
the role of College President must be fundraiser in Chief. He is
the person with the overarching vision that will get the College the money
it needs to survive. One suggestion is to tap into wealthy Bahamian
families and ask them to build whole buildings dedicated to prominent members
of the family for the future use of the University. Two such examples
that come to mind are Franklyn Butler in honour of his late father Sir
Milo Butler and Brent and Craig Symonette, in honour of their late father
Sir Roland Symonette. You may click here
for the full text of Mr. Wilson’s remarks.
BRADLEY
ROBERTS SPEAKS ON BAHAMASAIR
Bradley Roberts, the Minister responsible for the national flag carrier
Bahamasair, mounted a defence for the policy on the airline and also for
the loan that is needed to buy the two new aircraft purchased by Bahamasair.
There is a Government guarantee required for the loan. The two new
Dash 8s cost 7.5 million dollars. The resolution to guarantee the
loan was passed in two daytime sessions on Wednesday 3rd December and Thursday
4th December. The sessions were unnecessarily lengthened by a long
and rambling presentation by the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham
that spilled over into the second day. Mr. Roberts said that the
airline has to be privatized. He added that the Airline Airport and
Allied Workers Union (AAAU) had acted irresponsibly by inciting the closing
of the airline with a sick out two weeks ago. Mr. Roberts said that
175 employees helped to keep the airline going while those who called in
sick partied at Saunders Beach in New Providence. You may click
here for the full address.
HARD
MOUTH GLENYS SMACKS HUBIGGETY
Hubert Ingraham met his match in Glenys Hanna Martin
in the House of Assembly this week. Mr. Ingraham in his rambling
presentation on Bahamasair spoke on both Wednesday and Thursday of the
past week in the House. In his presentation he accused the Minister
of Transport Mrs. Hanna-Martin of being a Minister of excuses. She
told him that he ought to check himself since his government had awarded
contracts and the money had disappeared for work on family island airports.
She kept taunting him and asking him: where is the money. She told
him that he had no "brought upsy ". That, as they say, will hold
him.
WISDOM
DEFUSING A JUNKANOO MESS
The Junkanoo groups seem now to be at the end of their
row with the Minister of Culture Neville Wisdom on the question of whether
the contract for the bleachers given to a private firm will go ahead.
It appears that the main offence of the Minister, if you can call it that,
is that the leaders of Junkanoo were not consulted with regard to the contract.
The Prime Minister entered the arena and was able to bring peace to the
situation. But following the departure of the Prime Minister to Nigeria,
there appears to have been a series of press conferences called by the
Minister to report that the contract had been signed for the bleachers.
One newspaper report said that reporters were kept waiting five times for
the press conference and each time it did not come off. Just when
that all seemed to be solved, yet another problem arose, this time from
the merchants on Bay Street. They claimed that the bleachers’ presence
on Bay Street for such a long time was going to damage the shopping revenue
in the middle of the Christmas Shopping season. You can't win for
losing. It appears now that that too has been settled with the news
that a separate contract has been entered into to take the bleachers down
and put them back up in between Junkanoo so that there will be a minimum
disturbance of the sale opportunities of the merchants.
PM
LUNCHES WITH QUEEN & GETS A RECIPE TO BOOT
Prime Minister Perry Christie was one of three new leaders for the Commonwealth
who was invited to lunch with the Queen on Thursday 5th December.
No word on the actual conversation, except that it went well. The
Prime Minister told ZNS that he found the Queen engaging and that he had
asked for her recipe for the cauliflower salad that was served as a starter
at the meal. He thought that the Queen had forgotten the matter until
he appeared at dinner hosted by the Queen for all heads on the evening
of the Friday 6th December. The Queen’s man appeared with a copy
of the recipe from Her Majesty. The Beatles said it this way on the
Abbey Road album:
A BAHAMIAN
ABROAD
She is believed to be the only Bahamian living in
Nigeria. She is the former Joy Carey, now Jibrilu and she is the
daughter of the President of the Bahamas Methodist Church Rev. Kenris Carey.
She and her husband Daniel have three children. The Prime Minister
paid a call at a private party held for the Bahamian delegation by the
Jibrilus in Nigeria on Saturday 6th December. The Prime Minister
expressed himself pleased to see her and asked her when is she coming back
home with her husband and children.
SIDNEY
STUBBS STILL DOESN’T GET IT
Last week, instead of bowing out quietly and gracefully,
Sidney Stubbs MP was on the defensive by appearing on a radio talk show
to explain what happened and why he resigned as Chairman of the Bahamas
Agriculture Industrial Corporation. The fact is the matter is at
an end, and it should now disappear from the headlines. Helping that
fact would be no further commentary from any PLP leadership quarter, save
and except that it is about the reform of BAIC. That’s the point
at which we are have arrived.
The old chairman has resigned, the new Chairman
is about to be appointed, and the matter is now squarely within the ambit
of the Prime Minister. Let’s not hear any more of it from the former
Chairman or anyone else in PLP land. It is for the FNM to pursue
if they must. The press reported that notwithstanding the order of
the Minister that the Korean fishing boats must return to Korea, the 200
foot mother ship from Korea was said to have turned up in Freeport.
No explanation as to what that means.
You will remember that Earlin Williams, a consultant
to the Government’s Bahamas Information Services and one of the moving
forces behind what has turned out to be a scandal at BAIC accused the Prime
Minister of victimizing him and promised to fight to get the licences for
the boats to operate in The Bahamas.
More From US Diplomat
The former US diplomat has responded to the column
of last week with a further commentary. The diplomat who when in
The Bahamas was known for being outspoken and frank continues to take issue
with the commentary two weeks ago from this site on the US justice system
and the Michael Jackson charges. We still do not have the former
diplomat’s express permission to use his name but we print his further
response, linking the videotaped beating of a black American by police
there to the handling of Michael Jackson by the US Justice system.
"THE CINCINNATI INCIDENT - As a test of the American
justice system, let watch how the entire story unfolds and who is held
accountable and responsible and in what time frame, without comment, until
all appeals are exhausted. Remember the Inagua incident occurred
over 10 years ago and we still have no idea of what really happened! I
would bet somebody is convicted of violating the man civil rights."
Scathing Student Response
The daughter of a politician, a student in Scotland,
whose grandfather also served in the Government, writes a scathing letter
in response to the former US diplomat’s last week response. We also do
not have her specific permission to us her name. Here is some of
what she wrote:
"I'd like to respond to the two letters from
Americans this week, which sought (laughably so!) to defend the American
justice system, and more offensively to launch an attack on the Bahamian
justice system and The Bahamas in general. I sit here laughing at
the ignorant blindness that I so often see in Americans, and which is so
well exemplified in the silly commentary in these two letters.
"To the diplomat, I would like to extend my sincerest disgust at the notion that the US is the only country that can defend freedom everywhere, including The Bahamas. In your country, Afro-Americans are highly over-represented in the prisons and on Death Row. I could go on and on and on about the inherent bigotry in the American justice system, and in American foreign policy as well if you like.
"The American capitalist system, of which it is so proud, is the greatest cancerous evil on our planet. No Saddam or Osama can match the mire of the hungry American dollar. The American diplomat speaks of freedom. Thomas Jefferson owned many slaves at the precise moment that he and the other hypocritical masterminds of the great Northern behemoth penned clauses that gave the right of freedom, equality and justice for all. But then again money wins over freedom every time in the US if the two don't coincide.
"If you have any integrity, you must lay claim to the rampant beast that is racism, as it sits seething in your police stations, in your courthouses, beneath the judges' robes and in the minds of a sickening many in your midst. It is ugly but the time has come to sniff the foul stench of your country, that everyone outside of America knows so well.
"In short, don't defend my freedom, thank you
very much. I hold it dear to me and the only threat I perceive to
it comes from your shores."
Bahamian in Scotland
Trade Unions
There was also comment on the trade unions and their
role in society from a female letter writer Susan:
"The unions need to butt out of the lives of
Bahamians as in the long run it's only their leaders who benefit by getting
large pay cheques. In the long run the workers themselves get left with
nothing.
"As to the workers at Atlantis, they should thank God that they have full time jobs AND they are very well paid, this I know from personal experience. There has never been another hotel here in the Bahamas that takes care of their staff like Atlantis from free meals to year round awards for services rendered etc.;
"The problem is that the people in this country
are just too ungrateful and greedy. They always want something for nothing
but life does not work that way. In order to get we have to give and that
is the way life has always been."
A proud Bahamian who works for what she gets!
A Gleeful Peter Carey
And there was a great deal of bile from Peter Carey
who was fired from BAIC for a host of reasons and now is set to gleefully
rubbing pen to paper to savage Sidney Stubbs MP, the former Chairman of
Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation and last year’s news.
His friends in the FNM, he claims, were responsible for bringing Mr. Stubbs’
down. Here is some of what he had to say:
"Thank God for Tommy T and the FNM who came to
the rescue of the Bahamian public by exposing this ungodly plan where yet
another Cabinet Minister attempted to put more copper in his pocket than
what he is already being paid. It was a well-organised Free National Movement
machinery that dealt the final blow to an evil plan intended to literally
pull the financial rug from underneath the livelihood of Bahamian fishermen.
"No doubt it was Tommy Turnquest along with his
team that included Robert Sweeting, MP for South Abaco and Shadow Minister
for Agriculture and Fisheries and their strong demand for Mr. Stubbs' termination
that finally lead the Prime Minister to act. The FNM should feel proud
of its leadership that bought about this national victory on behalf of
the hard working people of the Bahamas.
"Even though Sidney Stubbs may be out as Chairman
of BAIC, he still has the privilege to sit as a Member of Parliament for
Holy Cross. However if the Prime Minister felt that Mr. Stubbs was unfit
to serve as head of a government corporation because of his abuse of executive
powers and conflict of interest then he ought to have felt that the Mr.
Stubbs was also unfit to serve in an honourable establishment as the House
of Assembly.
"I now urge the Prime Minister to act without
haste to compel Mr. Stubbs to resign as the Member of Parliament for Holy
Cross and allow the good constituents of Holy Cross an opportunity to re-elect
a trusted friend and MP, Carl Bethel.
"Sidney Stubbs had an awesome opportunity to
do some real good for many small businesspersons in the Bahamas but he
blew it."
Peter Carey
HIV
STATS SAID TO DROP
The Red Ribbon Ball was held to mark World AIDS Day in The Bahamas on Saturday
30th November. There was an engaging photo of the Prime Minister
with the Camille Barnett, the wife of attorney Michael Barnett and the
President of the AIDS Foundation. A good time was had by all, and
it appears that it was a successful fundraiser. To help with the
pot was a donation by Kerzner International of $50,000. That brought
in a total of $100,000 for the fund as a result of this year’s fundraising
effort. Dr. Perry Gomez who is the lead Doctor at the Princess Margaret
Hospital for infectious diseases reported that there has been a drop in
the number of AIDS cases in The Bahamas and that The Bahamas is no longer
number one in AIDS cases in the Caribbean English speaking world.
We have been replaced by Guyana. There is of course no cause for
celebration with some 9000 people have been infected by HIV since the disease
was first tracked in The Bahamas in 1985. It remains the largest
single cause for death for persons in The Bahamas between the ages for
15 to 44. There is no time to relax, and it remains a menace.
The need for public education and awareness is ever more acute. Atlantis'
Paul O'Neill is shown third from right presenting the cheque for $50,000
to Minister of Health Dr. Marcus Bethel (second from left), Mrs. Barnett
(left) and Dr. Gomez, right. Tribune photos by Alan Jones.
RIGBY
SMACKS THE FNM
Last week, we reported from this site how the FNM’s Leader out of the House
of Assembly Senator Tommy Turnquest had called for the resignation of Government
Ministers Neville Wisdom and Leslie Miller. Mr. Wisdom, he said,
for making a mess of Junkanoo and Mr. Miller for being part for what happened
at Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Coronation. No evidence that this
qualifies for a Minister to fall, just a bare assertion that a Minister
must go. We thought that we provided a good response to the Senator,
but the PLP’s Chairman had more scathing words than even we could muster.
He called the comments by the FNM “…laughable, asinine and utterly ridiculous”.
Here is some of what he had to say in his own words:
“This past week the Free National Movement and
its Leader, and its seatless Tommy Turnquest, have engaged in the most
brazen and untruthful character assassination and political mischief ever
seen in our modern political history. All of their efforts have been
targeted at creating in the minds of the public a view that the PLP and
its leadership are corrupt and that there is a lack of a clear direction
for The Bahamas. This is a bogus lie and the record must be put to
the people who are the final arbiters of the truth.
“Mr. Turnquest should recall that he is still
submerged neck deep in scandals. In fact, the public is still waiting
for the former prime minister to report on the findings of his investigation
that was launched in respect of the grant of the air condition contract
when Mr. Turnquest was Minister of Tourism.
“Time may be long but the Bahamian people will
not forget these allegations of impropriety that were levelled against
Tommy Turnquest that he has yet to find the moral courage to respond to.
He cannot demand anybody’s resignation because he does not possess the
moral authority to do so.”
THE
BAHAMAS GOOD CREDIT RATING
There is a report out this past week that Standard
and Poor's the credit rating company has given a good credit rating to
The Bahamas. We thought that we should share the report with you:
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 3, 2003--Standard
& Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A-' long-term and 'A-2'
short-term sovereign credit ratings to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
The outlook on the long-term rating is stable.
“The ratings on The Bahamas reflect its political stability, prosperous
(though narrow) economy, and steady macroeconomic stance,” said sovereign
analyst Olga Kalinina. “The Bahamas has a prudent fiscal posture (despite
some deterioration following September 11) that supports the fixed parity
with the U.S. dollar, which has been in effect since 1973.”
According to Mrs. Kalinina, the ratings
are constrained by The Bahamas' external liquidity position. “The
Bahamas has run high and persistent current account deficits, funded partly
by foreign direct investment but also by cross-border bank borrowing,”
Mrs. Kalinina said. “As a result, the net external debt of the banking
sector will approach 30% of current account receipts this year. However,
as 85% of the cross-border bank funding comes from related parties, which
reduces the risk that external finance will be cut off, Standard &
Poor's views the Bahamian banking system as sound,” she concluded.
The stable outlook balances ongoing achievements
in attracting investment in tourism and financial services and the expectation
of progress in tax reform and privatization against the challenges of managing
a narrowly based economy.
NIGERIAN
FOOTNOTES
There are some funny stories being reported out of Africa. The conference
of Heads of Government is a huge undertaking for a country that has 75
percent of its people living below the poverty line. It sometimes
bordered on the comic. In a valiant attempt to put in place adequate
security, reporters told funny stories of how the delegates seemed to get
the brunt of the security nightmare that was actually meant to protect
them.
The Ambulance Story
In the International Conference Centre, there is a door reserved as
there was in all venues specifically for Heads of Government. It
was the widest door and replete with a brand new red carpet. No other
persons were allowed to go through that door and, when it was not being
used by a Head of Government, it was sealed with a red rope barrier.
Suddenly one of the delegates, a bit overweight it seems, collapsed to
the floor. An ambulance had to be called. In rushed the emergency
response team with a stretcher. They put the man on the stretcher,
revived him and then tried to take him out, except that they tried to take
him through the door reserved for Heads of Government. 
An
argument ensued with the security at the door and the EMR people.
They were told they could not go through the doors reserved for Heads of
Government with the man on the stretcher. So there was this scene
of the poor man lying there on a stretcher unable to be moved, though gravely
ill because he was being taken through the wrong door. In the end,
the EMR people simply brushed the security man aside and got the man into
the ambulance.
The Trials of the South African
Foreign Minister
South Africa's Foreign Minister is quite a lovely and calm lady. But
not calm and lovely enough for the security guards in Nigeria. She
was waiting for her official car to arrive on the outside of the hotel,
only to be told that she could not wait for her car there; she had to wait
inside. She was ushered through the door and shoved back inside the
hotel by one security guard. On the other side she was met by another
security guard who told her that she could not come through that door.
It was the wrong door. That was only the door for exiting the hall
not for entering the hall. Photos from CHOGM.org
SMILEY
BUTLER HONOURED
The PLP has honoured Granville ‘Smiley’ Butler,
the PLP Stalwart Councillor and Trustee, with a lying in state attended
by the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt. Mr. Butler who
was originally from Green Castle, Eleuthera, died on Thursday 27th November
in Nassau after a brief illness. He was buried on Saturday in Ebenezer
Cemetery after a funeral service at Bahamas Faith Ministries. He
was a popular bus driver who supported the PLP from the start in 1953 from
the Kemp Road or Ann’s Town area of New Providence. He was a strong
supporter of Arthur Hanna, the PLP's former Deputy Prime Minister. Photo
by Peter Ramsay.
THE
WEEK WITH THE PM
Our photo from The Bahamas Information Services
and Peter Ramsay, tells the story of the week with the Prime Minister,
shown here giving a final briefing to the Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson
at left and the Secretary to the Cabinet Wendal Major at right before leaving
Nassau for the ultimate stop in Abuja, Nigeria. The Prime Minister
and his delegation are set to return to the country on Wednesday, 10th
December. Expect a full report on the trip, including stops in London
and Miami, in next week's BahamasUncensored.Com.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA -
There have been scheduling difficulties with this week's news from Grand
Bahama.
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - “That’s a pretty wife, eh?!” One politician as he introduced his wife on a party political platform. But no one can say that like Perry Christie, about his wife Bernadette: smart in all the right senses of the word and pretty. Peter Ramsay of Bahamas Information Services captured this wonderful picture of the Prime Minister’s wife dancing to the sounds of Junkanoo drums as she officially began the Christmas season in Nassau by turning on the tree lights for the Canadian Men’s Club. Each year, they donate tree to the Bahamian people as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries. That is our photo of the week. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
WHATEVER ARE THEY THINKING?
You
have to wonder what is going on in the minds of the PLPs who are continuing
to protract the saga of the fishing boats from Korea. All of the
past week, the Free National Movement has been pounding away, flailing
away at what is essentially a dead horse. The issue is now squarely
a legal one. The Prime Minister, on his return to the country from
the Commonwealth Heads meeting in Nigeria, told the press that Customs
has control of the boats and there is a procedure, which has to be followed
before the boats can be removed from the country. The notice of seizure
has in fact been served on the directors. They now have 30 days to
have the matter reviewed. One expects the FNM to try to find fodder
in those cold, hard and incontrovertible facts.
But it is the supposed PLPs who are involved in this that take a curious position. The main one is Earlin Williams who worked as a publicist during the last campaign. He is the main aide to MP Sidney Stubbs and he is also said to be the principal of the company that owns the Korean fishing boats. He has been waging a campaign in the press to undermine the very Government that he helped to build up. One would have thought that if there were an interest in the Government being successful that all of them would have gone to ground. Bob Marley sang: He, who fights and flies away, lives to fight another day. Instead, Mr. Williams preaches defiance and claims that the sham mortgage on the boats that everyone saw through like glass is no longer an issue because the boats are now owned by his company free and clear. In other words a gift has been given of the boats. Does this have the ring of truth?
But what is happening here is a scorched earth policy by the PLPs who perceive themselves the losers. Clearly the Government did the right thing and brought his matter to a halt. But there is, it appears, a deep seated resentment and hatred for Perry Christie because he did just that; the right thing, trying to protect (vainly it now seems) not only the Government but also trying to protect these very PLPs from their own folly. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in the future to let the chips fall where they may. And so the idea is now to try and bring Mr. Christie down by any means available. It is like a festering sore. The PLPs involved in this project, whether they know it or not, appear to have made a pact with the devils in the FNM to keep whipping this matter up in the press, spreading confusion and lies, muddying the water. The end result is to try to undermine the PLP. One supposes in their actions, they will get some glee in getting back at Perry Christie. And ultimately they may hope for some glee at causing the whole PLP to fail because of their greed and indiscretion.
Then there are those who simply don’t seem to know when to keep their mouths shut in public. There are those always sounding off about one policy or another, giving the impression that the PLP is an undisciplined force and that no one is control. Again, this seeks to undermine the very institution that allows them the privilege to pontificate. A little discipline would help us all.
We can say that there is no way in Hades that the policy on the Korean fishing boats is going to be reversed. That matter is like a turkey. Stick a fork in it. It is done. And if the enemies within and without want to see resolution in Perry Christie, try seeing if they can reverse that business with the Korean fishing boats. Fishing is reserved exclusively for Bahamians by law and by policy. That is that.
The problem we have is that the PLP is inflicting wounds on itself. Its message is not getting out. The Prime Minister returns home and is sandbagged by waiting reporters who asked him not about all the things accomplished while he was away but about Korean fishing boats. Not a mention of the state visit that the country is planning for South African President Thabo Mbeki. In the country, constituents are quizzing MPs about Korean fishing boats. It is non-story, story.
We think that some people ought to put a muzzle on their mouths and discipline their behaviour. Any politicians who are still involved with this thing in professional capacities should disengage themselves from it forthwith. Further, the Government itself ought to get a grip on the information process including how it handles matters in the House of Assembly. Otherwise, we are going to continue to go down this spiralling road of confusion on something that is basically a non-issue. But let these FNM people keep going at it, without stopping them dead in their tracks, and then you have a problem. One must remember that North Andros is a marginal seat, and Earl Deveaux, the former MP, is waiting in the wings, no doubt encouraging the dissent in North Andros to undermine the now representative Vincent Peet. The word is that the so-called fishermen of North Andros who are objecting to this have not gone fishing in decades. And wouldn’t know a sinker from a hook if you told them what they were.
A word to the wise!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 13th December at midnight: 42,219.
Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 13th December at midnight: 72,315.
Number of hits for the year up to Saturday 13th December at midnight: 1,630,743.
SEA
HAULER’S CAPTAIN GOES TO JAIL
Captain Allan Russell, the Captain of the ill fated ‘Sea Hauler’ that was
slammed by the ‘United Star’ on 2nd August 2003 on the high seas between
Eleuthera and Cat Island is spending the end of his first week in jail.
His three year sentence by a Magistrate for peddling drugs was upheld after
12 years by the Court of Appeal. The events took place in 1984. The
charge was laid in 1989. He was convicted in 1990. Mr. Russell
should have been testifying before the Wreck Commission headed by former
Justice Joseph Strachan but instead his statement had to be read out for
the Commission.
The Commission has heard lots of evidence about
the horror of that night. But what seems clear is that there were
two unqualified persons at the helms of both boats at the time of the accident.
It will be up to the Wreck Commission to assign blame. As for Captain
Russell as he eats his prison porridge, he might also add the nightmare
of jail to the nightmare of that fateful night on the high seas. The Court
of Appeal’s words upon upholding the conviction were criticized.
They said that the boat captain single-handedly corrupted and controlled
with apparent ease sections of the police, immigration, customs and air
traffic controllers to carry out illegal activities. Many observers
believe that their words were too harsh and all encompassing of the security
forces and therefore out of line.
Mr. Russell is 63 years old and if he is unable
to pay the additional $100,000 fine, he is to spend an additional two years
in jail.
BATELCO
PRIVATIZATION OFF FOR NOW
To loud cheers by the retired employees of BaTelCo,
the telephone company on Thursday 11th December, Bradley B. Roberts, the
Minister responsible for relations with the Telecommunications Corporation
announced that the end of the exclusivity period with the Blue Group was
upon us. You will remember this crazy saga to privatize BaTelCo by
the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. He was defeated in the
General Election in part because of the foolish policy to privatize BaTelCo.
The Government started to privatize BaTelCo in 1998
and could not do it. The people of The Bahamas were clearly not for
it. Now it is clear that the market is not for it either. No
one could come up with the money and the business plan that would allow
the Government to sign off on the sale of 49 per cent of the company and
management control of the assets. The Bahamatel Group headed by Tom Bain
and allied with J.P. Morgan is said to have been rejected because they
did not have an adequate business plan. The second highest bidder
Blue has now been rejected. No word on why.
No word on what to do now, except that Minister
of State for Finance James Smith told the press that the process would
continue because BaTelCo could not remain a public company, as it is losing
value every day. Perhaps, people will now listen to the ideas of
the Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell who when in Opposition told us that
the simple way to privatize BaTelCo was to sell shares in tranches to the
Bahamian public and then allow phased in competition. Hubert Ingraham
tried to do it the other way. That way ended up costing us in excess
of one hundred million dollars, lay offs of staff and the country being
used by every con man in the business to make money. The end result
is angry investors, sour relations with former staff, no privatization
and no map as to where we go for now. But we are happy the thing
is not being sold under these conditions.
NEW
GAMING BOARD SECRETARY
The Gaming Board is to have a new Secretary to the Board as of 1st January
2004. The new Secretary is a familiar name to most of us. Not
so long ago, he was the Commissioner of Police. The name is Bernard
K. Bonamy. Mr. Bonamy left the force after he was called to the Bar
of The Bahamas and began practicing out of the former chambers of the Attorney
General Alfred Sears. He now rejoins the Public Service. The
Chairman of the Gaming Board, the body statutorily responsible for the
regulation of gambling in The Bahamas, is Kenyatta Gibson MP for Kennedy.
He made the announcement on Tuesday 9th December. Mr. Gibson said
that one of the responsibilities of the new Secretary will be to help supervise
the coming of a new Gaming Act. The photo appeared in the Nassau
Guardian on 10th December and is by Donald Knowles. Mr. Gibson is
at the left and Mr. Bonamy on the right.
THABO
MBEKI COMING TO NASSAU
The President of the Republic of South Africa is
to make a state visit to The Bahamas from 28th December to 1st January.
He will be accompanied on the visit by Madame Mbeki. The Foreign
Minister of South Africa will also fly to Nassau for the visit along with
the High Commissioner for South Africa to London and the High Commissioner
for South Africa to The Bahamas. Mr. Mbeki was invited to The Bahamas
by Prime Minister Perry Christie while the Prime Minister was in Jamaica
in July marking the 30th anniversary of Caricom. Mr. Mbeki will visit
the Junkanoo Parade on New Year’s Day and leave after that morning for
Port au Prince, Haiti where he will observe with the Haitian President
Jean Bertrand Aristide, the 200th anniversary of Haitian Independence.
Next year South Africa will observe the 10th anniversary of the end of
Apartheid and the establishment of a representative republic.
DOES
THE PM GET HIS MESSAGE OUT?
It has been a long standing lament of PLPs both in the rank and file and
in the establishment that the party has too few information mechanisms
at its disposal to get its message out. Here we are after all this
time as a political party, fifty years, and still no voice of the PLP.
Nothing demonstrated the importance of the PLP’s
information strategy as a government than the reports of the Prime Minister's
press conference when he returned home from Nigeria on Wednesday 10th December.
All the press wanted to talk about was the Korean fishing boats and that
is virtually all they carried from the press conference. All of the
other important work done on the trip – not a word.
We wonder how long it will take the PLP to get the
point. Since its inception, this column, following the lead of its
previous incarnations, has exercised itself about this issue. And
this week, we take several stabs at trying to break through into the psyche
of the PLP that there is a need for a comprehensive information strategy
that is at present failing abysmally. Nassau Guardian photo of
Prime Minister Christie on his return to The Bahamas from CHOGM by Donald
Knowles.
BAHAMASAIR
WORKERS DISCIPLINED
We congratulate the Board of Bahamasair for docking
the pay of the Bahamasair workers who stayed off from work in an industrial
action, pretending that they were sick. We said when we reported
on the sick out that the airline should have been closed down forthwith.
It is a galling fact that workers in an airline losing money hand over
fist, staying alive at the expense of the Bahamian taxpayer could cripple
that airline for two days on fake sick leave and then argue that they should
not have a cut in pay for their actions.
The Government must take a stand on this one.
The Union is clearly confusing patience with weakness. There was
no need for any sick out, and what it did was simply worsen Bahamasair's
problems and its record. The Union’s leadership has announced that
it is going to take Bahamasair to court to recover the money that was deducted.
They are also going to pay the workers from the money that they lost from
the Union's kitty. The Attorney General should seek to injunct the
Union from using their funds for that purpose. This is time to play
hardball with irresponsible people. There is no public support for
them. And if it happens again, the Government would have the support of
the country to simply close the darn airline down.
A NEW
BAIC CHAIRMAN
Michael Halkitis, the Parliamentary Secretary in
the Ministry of State for Finance and the Member of Parliament for Adelaide
is the new Chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation.
He succeeds Sidney Stubbs MP, who was forced to resign two weeks ago.
The Corporation has now been switched to the portfolio of the Minister
of Finance. James Smith, the Minister of State will have direct Ministerial
responsibility for the Corporation. Mr. Halkitis will bring a lower
profile to this tiny corporation that has brought nothing but grief to
the Government and the PLP since 2002. It might also get some work
done under Mr. Halkitis with the lack of distractions about the honesty
of its efforts. We wish him well. He is a smart guy with a
stable mind.
A
BAHAMIAN IN NIGERIA
Joy Jibrilu nee Carey is the Bahamian in Nigeria.
Last week we talked about how she entertained the Bahamian party at the
Heads of Government Conference in Abuja, Nigeria. She and her husband
Daniel were excellent hosts. The next day she and friends in the
Nigerian Government, the Minister of Power and Steel Senator Liyel Imoke
and Mrs. Obioma Imoke, hosted Minister Fred Mitchell and Minister Allyson
Gibson to lunch at their home in the official Government housing compound.
This week we have pictures of the events. Top, Mrs. Jibrilu is
shown with Prime Minister Christie at left and top right, Mr. Jibrilu with
Foreign Minister Mitchell. At left Minister of Financial Services
& Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson is shown with Mr. Jibrilu.
KEN
RUSSELL – A DEAD HORSE WHIPS A DEAD HORSE
We have always called him Ken the Miserable. He appears to be a deeply
unhappy man or perhaps sad is a better word. The loss of the General
Election was apparently a bitter blow indeed, not just another part of
life but a bitter blow. Then along comes Mr. Russell, who is the
MP for High Rock constituency, into the House of Assembly on Wednesday
10th December spreading his mirthlessness in this Christmas season for
all who would hear. He was supposed to be speaking on the Amendment
to the Financial Reporting Transactions Act. Instead, he was beating
a dead horse, flailing away with all the miserable energy that he could
muster. That dead horse was the Korean fishing boats and the sham
mortgage that was used in the transaction.
Mr. Russell sought to be relevant by suggesting
that an amendment to the act should include mortgage transactions of that
kind. What he engaged in was what is called by Mays Parliamentary
Procedure, “tedious repetition”. Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell objected
and told him that he was not speaking to the bill and being irrelevant,
and that if he persisted then the Speaker should direct him to discontinue.
The Minister read the relevant provision in Mays. Then it appears
that the Minister had enough. He asked the Government benches to
fill up, and then moved for closure of the debate with immediate effect.
He moved that the question now be put. The Speaker obliged after
saying that the Government side had spoken for two hours and fifteen minutes
and the Opposition side two hours and forty five minutes. He put
the vote and the bill passed, and with that Mr. Russell’s boring monologue
passed into history. File photo of Mr. Kenneth Russell MP.
TIT
FOR TAT PLPS
Some PLPs are concerned about reported comments
in the press attributed to Leslie Miller, the Minister of Trade and Industry
that appeared to attack Keod Smith, the Ambassador for the Environment.
Thankfully, there has been no response from Keod Smith. Let’s hope
he keeps his counsel.
PUBLIC
SERVANTS GET PAID
John Pinder, the President of the Bahamas Public
Service Union has a penchant for engaging in hyperbole. He told the
Nassau Guardian on Monday 8th December that if the civil servants did not
get their pay on 9th December as promised by the Government, the “town
would close”. The town did not close. The language was unnecessary.
The payments were made. You will remember the background to this.
Civil servants were promised under a contract signed by Hubert Ingraham's
administration that they would get a 1200 dollar increase in monthly instalments
to their base salary beginning 1st July. The Government said that
it did not want to tax to do so and wanted to wait six months until the
economy was in better shape. There was much “toing and froing”, but
in the end the Minister of the Public Service Fred Mitchell was able to
convince them to accept the 9th December. So on 9th December, the
Treasury delivered. Merry Christmas everybody. Now comes the
hard part, civil servants must work hard for their money.
THE
VALUE OF THIS SITE
From time to time we get letters to the editor about
this site and its connection to the PLP. Some argue that the site
is too biased toward the PLP. Many people stopped reading when the
site changed from fredmitchelluncensored.com to its present incarnation
following the General Election of 2002. They argued that it lost
its sting from the times that the column appeared in Opposition.
Our view is that one must recognize that things have changed but we believe
that notwithstanding our obvious support of the PLP, the integrity of the
site remains.
This site has been going since 1998 and it has over
time built up a reputation for regularity and for consistency. The
writing is thought to be incisive by many and informative. Who benefits
from it? It is true that Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister, has
benefited from it. The Prime Minister also has a high profile on
this site. But we think that the greatest beneficiary is the PLP
itself.
What we cannot understand is why, in the scheme
of things, better use of the information on the web is not being utilized
as a matter of policy by the PLP. People are still talking about
investing in a newspaper. We think that is old technology.
We think that the faster way is to change the way we receive and disseminate
information by use of the electronic medium. There is a need for
a PLP perspective on radio, on the web and in print. For example,
there is no one credible television or radio programme that has the level
of consistency and regularity that this column has. Given the resources
of the PLP the electronic would seem to be the way to go.
This is yet another stab at trying to break through
the need for a comprehensive information strategy for the PLP, not the
Government but the PLP. Without it, we can win but the job is infinitely
more difficult if you are unable to get your message out. We will continue
to do our bit in the months to come on this site. Perhaps all PLPs should
encourage other PLPs to read it. Too many people do not know about
it, and do not consult its pages. Within its pages, PLPs can find
information about the policies of their own party, right there in front
of their very eyes. It is easy and simple.
THE
PLP AND INFORMATION POLICY
Ever since the days of Sir Lynden Pindling, information
policy for the PLP has been a sore point. During the first 25 years
in power, there was only one broadcasting facility. The PLP and the
Government depended on it to spin their side of the story. There
are some who would want to depend on that Corporation to do the same today.
We think that is not right. We think that there is no reason for
the Government to own a Broadcasting Corporation, and that the entire kit
and caboodle should be sold to the private sector. Broadcasting should
be a privately run affair.
There are two kinds of information needed.
There is information about the Government and its work. That should
be provided by the Bahamas Information Services. But that agency
is mired in do nothingness. The staff appears de-motivated or down
right hostile to the Government. Some politicians misunderstand what
its role is, and there is institutional resistance to PLP Ministers making
requests that FNM Ministers would gladly have gotten them to oblige and
do.
Then there is pure political information.
That has to do with the machinery of the party. No resources are
being placed in that direction. Sir Lynden toyed around with an Information
Ministry. That never came off. Some suggested that there ought
to be an Information Czar. For us, while those decisions have to
be made, what is more important is the mindset of those who are the designers
of public policy. They have to come to accept that the public has
a right to know, and to develop that into their daily political and governmental
responsibilities. The Government and the party must find a way to
institutionalize that mindset, but that is the easy part.
THE
COMMONWEALTH A BIG BOYS CLUB
Before the Commonwealth could make the news official from Abuja, Nigeria,
last week Robert Mugabe, the one time freedom fighter, now tyrant President
of Zimbabwe, announced that he was leaving. No Commonwealth cobble-up
for him, with benchmarks for democratic guidance. Mr. Mugabe himself
(pictured) was once the host of a Commonwealth summit but this time he
was snubbing his nose at the Commonwealth because he claimed that the Commonwealth
was acting unfairly at the behest of the “old white” Commonwealth.
By that he was talking about the countries of Canada, the United Kingdom,
New Zealand and Australia. Mr. Mugabe has had some pretty harsh things
to say about them. Of Australia he said that they were mutant prisoners
now running a nation. For the UK he has said that the country is
run by a gay mafia.
But the bottom line is Zimbabwe under his leadership
is out. The fact that Africa wanted him in and thought that he was
being held to a double standard did not count for much. Britain and
Australia made it plain that they were out if Mugabe was in. When the rich
boys say something, notwithstanding the numbers, they get their way.
That is how it is in so much of the world. Europeans and their descendants
still very much dominate the world, deciding policies without regard to
the wishes of the vast majority of the people of the earth. Their
money and their technology negate any thoughts to the contrary.
We should not be too worried about Zimbabwe leaving,
however. They will be back. Nigeria was suspended once and has only
been back since 1995. Pakistan and South Africa were out.
South Africa is now back. Pakistan is out again but will probably be back
sometime soon. The fascinating thing about the Commonwealth
is that it virtually does nothing but there is this mad dash to be involved
in it because it seems to confer some legitimacy on the leaders and on
their countries. Strange how things with psychic value still seem
to count.
The British like the Commonwealth because it still
gives their Queen the idea that she is the head of something. The
developing world likes it because it gives them a chance to meet at the
same level with the rich countries. We all know the game and we all
play it well, even as we all protest that it does nothing.
A look back at the pageantry in Nigeria, reminds
one of those old movies about Africa. The great white Queen came
to black Nigeria. They built a special place for her and her entourage.
She sat at the head of a mixed world of mainly dark skinned people watching
the African dancers beat their drums, dance and sing. But hey, this
is the 21st century and we are not supposed to say or see things in that
way. We stop!
FRED
MITCHELL WITH THE CHILDREN
Last year on World AIDS Day 1st December, there
was as service held to mark the day at the Salem Baptist Church in Grants
Town. On that occasion boys from Uriah McPhee Primary School played
their violins. They were so good at it that as special treat afterward,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell sat down with them for this
picture, taken with their teacher Bernese Forbes. The photo is by
Christine Campbell of the Ministry of Health. We thought that you
would like the photo. We support the efforts to eradicate and control
AIDS throughout the world. The youngsters are from left: Marcus Roberts,
Dalton Hanna, Donshannon Ferguson, Neville Moree, Padillion Moxey and their
teacher Ms. Forbes.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
More Outrage At Former US Diplomat
A leading columnist for a daily Nassau newspaper
and the son of a former politician and top banker was incensed it appears
at the comments of the former US diplomat who is no longer in The Bahamas.
That diplomat was himself incensed that we would dare criticize the American
system of justice. He was the subject of controversy when he lived
here. The newspaper columnist sent a letter to the editor by e-mail
in response to the former US diplomat and we print here. We do not
have the express permission of the writer to use his name.
"Regarding the letter supposedly penned by a
former 'diplomat', if such crass and twisted ideology really does exist
among high ranking diplomats of the US government, then that in itself
is sufficient to demonstrate the danger the US now poses to freedom and
the rule of law internationally.
"For a representative of a country which keeps uncharged 13 year olds in cages for over two years without access to lawyers (and which does so in Cuba, precisely to escape either the US' own legal protections or the Geneva convention) to actually buy into that old tired 'faith-based' propaganda about being the protector of the world is a sick joke.
"Is there any way for readers to respond to such ignorance?"
Peter Carey?
Peter Carey or someone purporting to be him, using
the address that he has always used for his letters to this site wrote
a letter saying that he was defamed and that he did not write the letter
published by us last week. He is quite the publicity hound. Here
is what his protest said.
"I am simply outraged over the reckless way to
attribute a letter I had no knowledge of writing to me on your web site.
I want you to make an immediate retraction and apology. If this is
not done forthwith, I will have no other choice but to sue
you on grounds of misuse of the internet and character demolition.
"One more note, as a Bahamian, whenever I put pen to paper, I use my name, I have nothing to fear. The PLP days are numbered, Sidney is just the first, many more will come.
"I therefore urge all “not afraid of the government.
Remember a kite rises against, not with the wind”. Paraphrasing Hamilton
Mabie"
Peter T. Carey
JUNIOR
JUNKANOO - A PHOTO ESSAY BY PETER RAMSAY
Parents of miniature junkanoos and the public generally
flocked to downtown Nassau this past Thursday to see groups of schoolchildren
strut their stuff as Junior Junkanoo took to Bay Street, parade ground
of the big boys of Junkanoo. Peter Ramsay was there and shares his
visions... Please click here.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
We just could not resist bringing you this seasonal
photograph of 'Mrs. PM', Bernadette Christie, as she lit the Christmas
Tree (see story above) on Bay Street. For Prime Minister Perry Christie,
it was a week of private investment oriented meetings this past week, interspersed
with just a few breaks for courtesy calls. Bahamas Information Services
photographs by Peter Ramsay.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA -
JUNIOR JUNKANOO
The downtown area of Freeport came alive Saturday
evening as the primary and high schools took part in the annual junior
Junkanoo parade. In the high school category, Eight Mile Rock won,
and Walter Parker won in the primary division. The complete results
will be given in next week's report. Honourable mention should be
given to the Grand Cay, Abaco All Age School who we felt gave a good account
of themselves of what we considered to be an original theme. Hats
off to the residents of Grand Cay for making it possible. We also
would like to pay tribute to the Lucayan International School whose theme
we thought was another original, and whose student body comprises the majority
of expats’ children who live and work in Grand Bahama. It was interesting
to see how easily young children can assimilate into the local culture.
They are to be congratulated for a job well done.
We have some concerns with regards to the sale of beverages being served in bottles at these public functions. We feel that these bottles pose a safety hazard. So, we call on local authority through its licensing board and the police department to go on a public campaign advising the public that this will not be tolerated for the upcoming New Year's Day Junkanoo.
OUR LUCAYA CASINO TO OPEN
Isle of Capri, the Mississippi based casino company,
has stated through press releases that they will open the Our Lucaya casino
to the public for business, December 15th, 2003. They say it will
be a soft opening and they further state that the training of staff has
been completed and all systems are go. We wish the new casino operators
every success and we hope that this will increase the occupancy levels
at the Our Lucaya resort.
The opening of the new casino could spell the beginning of the end for the Royal Oasis Resort and Casino. The company from the very beginning, we believe, was under capitalized; by the time the major upgrades were completed coupled with cost overruns and construction delays and a downturn in the tourism industry, the company found itself out of operating capital. It seems from a marketing point of view, the whole island of Grand Bahama has suffered from a less than aggressive marketing system; and, only when the marketing problem is addressed which takes into account our proximity to the United States will we see our tourist industry improved.
TRACTIBEL LNG GAS COMPANY
Tractibel, the natural gas company, was recently
in the local press presenting their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
to the Chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Edward St. George,
and the President, Mrs. Willie Moss. The study was for the proposed
liquefied natural gas plant to be constructed on the old Bahama Cement
site at Freeport Harbour. Mr. St. George, for his part, told the
press that Tractibel is the only company whose finances stand up to scrutiny.
Our translation of that statement is the government ought to give this
company the green light. We know very little about natural gas refining.
Our concerns are mainly for the people of the neighboring communities and
the effect it might have in the event of an accident. Other concerns
include the benefits that would accrue to the Bahamian people other than
the provision of jobs. I believe that a percentage of the profits
should be a part on any deal before the approvals are granted.
SHAME ON INGRAHAM
We waited and watched this week the proceedings
in the House of Assembly for the former Prime Minister, the Honourable
Hubert Ingraham to rise and officially withdraw his remarks that were made
against Mr. Sturrup, a Permanent Secretary in the service of the Bahamas
government. Sadly, none was forthcoming. It is regrettable
that Mr. Ingraham should engage in schoolboy behaviour. We would
like to remind him as the only living past Prime Minister he is considered
the elder statesman of our country and whenever possible, he should conduct
himself in such a manner befitting that of a former Prime Minister, not
for himself, but for the office he has held. This was truly not his
finest hour and we ask him for the sake of the record to either withdraw
his statement about Mr. Sturrup; or, at best, rephrase it.
MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, TURN YOURSELF IN
On numerous occasions, we have made what we believe
are good suggestions to the Minister of Local Government on the City of
Freeport Council. All of these suggestions have to date fallen on
deaf ears. Our last suggestion was the removal of Local Administrator,
Alexander Flowers.
Now it seems that Minister Gray or those close to him are venturing into deeper and deeper waters with regard to his official interaction with the leadership of the City of Freeport Council. We caution the Minister not to embarrass his colleagues in this matter. Mr. Flowers should go and the Council ought to be made to stop bickering and do its work. The taxpayers of Freeport expect leadership in this matter. Exercise some sober leadership, Minister.
FINALLY, "THE REPORT CARD"
News from Grand Bahama contributors BS and DM are
planning a nineteen month assessment of the government ministers.
We hope to upload this report card on Tuesday, 16th December, at 7:00 p.m.
We hope that you will enjoy our unscientific review.
This week, D.M. returns with thoughts ‘On the Police Force’ –
Junior Junkanoo in Grand Bahama was an exuberant display of aesthetics, music, culture, and choreography by the youth of our nation. Many of the customs looked as though they were professionally done and the resounding Junkanoo rhythm left the large crowd of onlookers with nothing more to do than to move the waist or alternatively shake a leg.
Amidst the charade of such a beautiful parade there were one or two incidences that would cause a mild headshake. There were a few seemingly ruthless youth consuming alcoholic beverages in bottles and some who used lewd language in the presence of many children, under aged onlookers, and tourists. There is a need for police officers to be more pro-active (not lazy), but especially on the parade routes during this time of year. They are to make sure that that crowd in is order and enforce the laws so that the show could be appreciated by all.
When I think about the status of our police force in the country, I smirk because there is a need for them to rise up and meet the changing faces of crime in the world. As I looked around the parade route Saturday night and observed the officers on duty, I smiled; many were plainly old and overweight. I know that police officers should be required to maintain the same physical fitness in which they entered to police force. Those officers who are removed from that fitness should suffer financial consequences or else seek the necessary measures to have the correct height-weight contours in the event of the inevitable foot chase.
Additionally, many officers lack human resource training and that delinquency is disabling. Much of the information that occurs in the small communities could be gathered from individuals in the community if they are approached in the correct way. These officers have to remember that many do not fear the uniformed men or women any more and the way that they speak to people determines the reaction of the person of to whom they are speaking. Most officers have a bigoted and bullying attitude and they infringe their approach upon those who are not aware of their rights in this country.
There are a number of people who are aware of criminal acts, but refuse to disclose them to the police for various reasons. As a small community, in order to erase the crime epidemic, we must learn to work together and in order to do this there must be mutual respect.
Many do not have a high regard for our officers in uniform and must prove themselves worthy of our respect and support.
Simply wearing the uniform does not necessarily warrant respect, and simply wearing the uniform does not necessarily state that you are an officer of high quality. Do you look like an officer of the law? Are you trustworthy? Are you respectful? Are you in touch with the people in your community? Are you involved? What have you contributed to the law enforcement field? Are you a part of a fitness program? Are you making the effort to further your education? Are you computer literate?
With another year ending, I suggest that the police force resolve
to take on the mantle of a pro-active approach and incorporate professional
development in their routine.
| 21st
December, 2003
Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com We Wish You A Merry Christmas! |
|
| PREPARATION FOR MBEKI... | THE HOUSE MEETS... |
| SHANE TELLS ‘EM (HUBERT THAT IS)... | BEC LOAN APPROVED... |
| MINISTER GRAY IS CHALLENGED... | NEW MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS... |
| RODNEY BAIN’S WIDOW DIES... | THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM WHO?... |
| BAHAMAS FIRST CELEBRATES... | FINGERPRINTING BAHAMIANS TO THE US... |
| SIR CLEMENT IS ILL... | WAITING FOR GG... |
| PLP DISAPPOINTED IN FNM | |
