Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames   Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.

Volume 1 © BahamasUncensored.Com

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The photo of the week is a picture of Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell at the annual church service marking World Aids Day. World Aids Day is 1st December but the service was held on Friday 29th November at Salem Baptist Church in Nassau.  Rev. Charles W. Saunders presided.  In his important message, he urged Bahamians to stop the discrimination against people with Aids.  He said that ignorance had led to much of the discrimination.  He preached the virtues of abstinence even though he recognized the recommendation of condom use.  The Foreign Minister attended the services regularly as an Opposition member and continued that tradition in his first year as a Government Minister.  The disease Aids kills more Bahamians in the age group 15-44 than any other. BIS photo by Derek Smith. Front row from left are Minister Mitchell; Ron Pinder, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Mrs. Elma Garraway, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

WORRIES ABOUT THE ECONOMY
Brent Symonette, the FNM’s Member of Parliament for Montagu (pictured) is not known for elegance of language but seemed inspired as he spoke near the end of the debate on a tiny bill put forward by the Government on Thursday 29th November in the House of Assembly to amend the Business Licence Act.  The Bill is to create a new temporary business licence.  It is meant to force contractors to The Bahamas who are foreign to pay one percent of the temporary contract value to the Government in order to get a business licence.  The licence is mandatory.  The mischief it is designed to cure is to stop foreign contractors, mainly in the construction business, from competing with Bahamians.  There are complaints from Bahamian contractors of construction contractors coming into The Bahamas for one big job and then entering the local contracting market with their greater resources.  The debate took a somewhat nasty turn when government backbenchers and some Ministers began what appeared to be a whole scale attack on foreign businessmen coming into the country.

Nothing of course warms the heart of an FNM more than foreign businessmen, but notwithstanding our cheek, Mr. Symonette had a point.  His point was that in an economy that requires foreign investment to survive, one should not be sending out signals from the front bench that the Government does not welcome foreigners to the country.  In this regard, he said that all of us had better pray that there is some big job down the pipeline because when that job comes it creates jobs for Bahamian workers.  And right now he said there was nothing in the pipeline to create projects that will provide jobs.

It was a sobering message, and one that resonates far more than the silly comments made by the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who was called the “Chief Clown” with a dunce cap by Bradley Roberts, the Minister of Works.  The Minister was later reported to have withdrawn the remarks.

The Prime Minister on his feet expressed similar concern to that of Mr. Symonette.  He admitted in the House that we need those jobs in the pipeline.  And he said that the issue of protecting Bahamians is one that the Parliament should not divide on.

We all know of the problems we face with foreign contractors competing with Bahamians.  But the question that was rightly asked is whether or not this was the way forward.  The Bill now goes to Committee.  The Parliament was rightly sobered by Mr. Symonette's warning.  For once it appeared that we had a Parliament that was ready to accept what its true role is and that is enhancing the opportunities and benefits for the Bahamian people.
 It looks like the Bill will go to Committee where the Attorney General Alfred Sears has promised that the suggestions made by the Opposition will be studied.

The number of hits for the week ending Saturday 1st December 2002 at midnight: 32,301.

The number of hits for the month of November 2002: 107,701.

The number of hits for the year up to Saturday 1st December 2002 at midnight: 2,036,626.

ON TRIAL FOR A PRIEST’S MURDER

    Neil Brown is on trial for the murder of Archdeacon William Thompson in the Supreme Court.  Archdeacon Thompson, the former Rector of St. Agnes Anglican Church in New Providence was killed in July 2000 in the rectory of the church.  The killing sparked widespread outrage in the community.  Mr. Brown is defended by Attorney Michael Hanna.  The irony is that Archdeacon William Thompson did not believe in the death penalty that is mandatory upon murder conviction in The Bahamas. Tribune photo by Felipe Major.

US AND CUBA AND THE BAHAMAS
    The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell travelled to Beloit, Wisconsin for the second time in two years to speak to a convocation on matters relating to The Bahamas.  This time he spoke on US/Bahamian relations.  He was hosted by the International Relations Department of the School.  The School is located about one and a half hours from Chicago just over the Illinois/Wisconsin border.  Bahamians have been going there for the past decade due to a scholarship from Harry Moore; the now retired head of the Lyford Cay Foundation.  Keeval Hanna is likely to be the last of the Bahamians going there.  She was the Bahamian who organized the visit.  She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Hanna of Sans Souci in Nassau.
    The Foreign Minister said that The Bahamas is in the midst of a cold war between the US and Cuba.  He argued that this is a national security problem for The Bahamas.  He urged the US to end the embargo against Cuba and to stop pressuring The Bahamas in diplomatic matters that were not of vital interest to the United States.
    The Prime Minister Perry Christie revealed in the House of Assembly that he or the Deputy Prime Minister would be visiting Cuba on 7th December with other Caribbean leaders to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Caribbean big four Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba.  You may click here for the Foreign Minister’s full remarks.
 
 

PROTESTING TAXI DRIVER

    A lone taxi driver caused some excitement this week.  It is the first demonstration against the new PLP regime.  Both daily morning papers carried pictures of Mark Sawyer, the protester, on the front page with Bradley Roberts the Minister of Works speaking to him.  The protester's complaint is that he thinks that the Government should have the customs exemption on taxi cars, livery and tour cars open ended, so that it does not start in 2003 and end in 2005.  He thinks that cars should be duty free for that group once every five years.  He also believes that the Government should exempt cars up to five years old, not three as the law will say when it comes into force.
    It was explained to Mr. Sawyer that the PLP does not want to bind a future Government and so it is not giving a concession beyond its term.  Further, the PLP does not want old taxi cars on the road.  But the protester and his helper would have none of it.  But they could not seem to agree on strategy.  They started to argue amongst themselves about whether the chief protester ought to speak in the language that he did.  Oh well!  The protest took place on Wednesday 27th November in Rawson Square. Tribune photo by Omar Barr.
 

RIGBY’S FIRST STATEMENT
    The Tribune published an interview with the PLP’s new Chair Raynard Rigby.  Mr. Rigby told them in their Monday 25th November edition that the PLP needs white Bahamian support.   This what he said in his own words:

    “In order to ensure the PLP remains the government of The Bahamas, we are going to have to reach across the brow (sic) and invite white Bahamians into the PLP…

    “There is no doubt that the people have been fortunate to bring into the fold, white Bahamians but my objective is to invite them en masse...

    “I am not certain that the PLP has the support of even one per cent of the white voting populace…

    “And so the job of the Chairman between now and 2007 is to at least ensure that the percentage of support that we get from white Bahamians in my mind is closer to ten per cent.”

    In a statement later in the week, responding to an attack by Senator Tommy Turnquest, the Leader of the FNM, Mr. Rigby said that Prime Minister Perry Christie would not be responding to Senator Turnquest's attacks since he is not the Leader of the Opposition.  That post belongs to Alvin Smith MP for Eleuthera.
 
 

BAHAMIAN VS. FOREIGN
    The news in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas is not good.  The feeling is that despite the rosy picture being painted by some about the economy next year, thing will not go well.  It is already a bad year and it will get worse.  The Government itself will have to get its act together and decide whether it is going to allow this nationalist diatribe to be a death knell for the country or will it manage the nationalism to get benefit for the country.
    Clearly some members of the PLP Government have to get used to the idea that they are no longer in Opposition but a Government.  That seems to be the lesson of the debate over the last week in the Parliament.  It is no longer a case of Bahamians vs. Foreign.   Bahamians have to be able to manage this economy using foreign expertise to help it grow.  So it may be that we have to tone down the rhetoric, leave that to the Opposition party and act the part of what the PLP really is, the Government of The Bahamas.
 
 

KERZNER SENDS A SIGNAL?
    The tongues were a-wagging on both sides of the political divide this week when the startling headline appeared in the newspaper that the Kerzner group, which has nearly one billion dollars in the ground at Paradise Island, announced that it was not going to buy the Sheraton Grand Hotel after all.  The Sheraton Grand is the hotel next door to the Kerzner property at Paradise Island and its purchase was said by many to be a signal of the seriousness of the island’s developers that they were indeed going to carry through with the next 500 million dollars phase of their development.
    No comment came from Government spokesmen but privately business people are said to be worried that there are no new projects in the pipeline that will jump start the economy.  Many are urging the Government to get its finger out from it and make some decisions that will bring jobs to the country.
 

ONE BAHAMAS CELEBRATION

    PLPs are said to be ambivalent about the whole thing; this One Bahamas bit.  It is perceived in many PLP circles that the whole thing was invented by FNM ideologue and former Minister of Culture Algernon Allen in order to counter balance Independence that was achieved under the PLP.  It does not receive widespread participation, and some suggest that next year the whole thing will be dropped.  The Cultural Commission has been asked to review the whole matter of whether it is to continue.  White Bahamians are said to think it is a good idea because during the first PLP administration they felt that they were second class citizens in their own country.   The Government this year was loathe no doubt to cancel the thing lest they face protests from that community that this was the same old PLP.
    Nevertheless the question is being asked why, if we have Independence Day, which in fact means One Bahamas, do we need yet another festival called One Bahamas?  Some say it doesn’t hurt.  Others say it is a waste of money and time.  The One Bahamas celebrations got off to a start with a church service on Sunday 24th November at St. Matthew’s Church.  Attending were Minister for Social Services Melanie Griffin; Minister of Youth Neville Wisdom; Prime Minister Christie; Governor General Ivy Dumont and Lady Marguerite Pindling.  One Bahamas is co-chaired by Sir Durward Knowles, the Olympic sailing medalist and Obie Ferguson, the President of the Trade Union Congress.  Dame Ivy is pictured raising the flag at Rawson Square in this Tribune photo by Felipe Major.
 

PUBLIC SERVANTS PROTEST
    As the Foreign Minister and Minister for the Public Service returned home from Wisconsin, he heard the news that John Pinder of the Bahamas Public Service Union was demanding that the pay anomalies of some 6.9 million dollars owned by reason of an agreement between the FNM Government and the Union in 1999 be paid forthwith.  He was disappointed that the monies would not find their way into the pay packet for November and they did not.
    The Public Service Minister in a statement to the media said that he was surprised that Mr. Pinder would make such statement since he had been informed personally by the Minister that it could not be done.  The Union head later met with the Finance Minister Perry Christie and the Minister of State for Finance James Smith.  A statement was later issued by the PM on the floor of the House.  The 6.9 million would be paid in time for Christmas but it was possible given the dire economic situation of the country that no further increase would come in particular the raise of 1200 dollars across the board scheduled for 1st July next year.  The PM said this might have to be postponed because of the revenue situation.
    Many are dismayed that the Government is even going through with the present exercise given the problems with revenue that the country is now facing.  Clearly though the PLP did not have the stomach to fight the Union just before Christmas.  It seems to many that there is a need to drastically cut back.  The Union ought to be prepared to discuss all options.
 

FEMALE PIONEERS

    The past week in The Bahamas was celebrated as National Women’s Week.  The week marked the fortieth year since women got the vote and universal adult suffrage came to The Bahamas.  Women voted for the first time in The Bahamas on 26th November 1962.  To mark the occasion was a church service at the start of the week but the highlight of the week was when Minister Melanie Griffin hosted women to a luncheon in honour of occasion.
    Five pioneering women were honoured for their contributions to Bahamian public life.  Among them the first female Speaker of the House R. Italia Johnson; the first female Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont; the first woman elected to Parliament former Foreign Minister Janet Bostwick; the first woman to register Ruby Ann Cooper Darling; the first woman Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt. Photo of Mrs. Bostwick marching to Parliament in 1982 courtesy of the FNM website.
 

BRADLEY ROBERTS RESPONDS TO CRITICS
    The Free National Movement in an official statement condemned Bradley Roberts MP for his attack at the convention on the former Leader of the FNM Hubert Ingraham and former Speaker Italia Johnson. They were referring to remarks made at the 47th Convention of the Progressive Liberal Party.  We reported what was alleged last week.  You may click here for that story and for the text of Mr. Roberts address.  For his part Mr. Roberts denied that he called the former Speaker “ugly”. In a press statement, Brent Symonette who is the MP for Montagu for the FNM called for Mr. Roberts to go as a Minister saying that he was not fit to be Minister because of the crudeness of his remarks.  Interestingly, Mr. Symonette can talk about fitness to be a Minister when he was removed as Chairman of the Airport Authority for being in a conflict of interest when he awarded a contract to do repairs at the Nassau International Airport to a company that was in part beneficially owned by himself.  You may click here for the relevant parts of Mr. Robert’s address on video (Windows Media Players is required).
 

THERESA MOXEY ON BRADLEY ROBERTS
    The former Minister for the Public Service and Culture, Theresa Moxey Ingraham was upset.  She did not like what Bradley Roberts MP for Grants Town and Minister for Works had said about her female colleague Italia Johnson.  And so she wrote in protest to The Tribune and it was published on Friday 29th November.  Here is what she said in her own words:

    “[On behalf of the Women’s Association of the Free National Movement]… We want to express our great disappointment and dismay over the negative comments about former House Speaker Ms. R. Italia Johnson, made by Minister of Works and outgoing PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts, in his address on Tuesday night of the PLP’s National Party Convention being held at the Wyndham Hotel this week.  Mr. Roberts made comments to the effect that former Speaker Johnson was “ugly” and that he was happy that he no longer had to sit in the House of Assembly and look at “that ugly face”

    “It is unfortunate that at this time when we are celebrating and commemorating 40 years of women’s ability to vote and therefore, participate in the political process, that Mr. Roberts chose to use his party’s platform as a launching pad from which to hurl abuse, ridicule, scorn and disrespect at one of the women who has made an historic and significant contribution to political life in this country…

    “We call upon the PLP to dissociate itself from Mr. Robert’s remarks (we know it is useless expecting Mr. Roberts to apologize)…

    “And finally since the party in convention (at least those present on the convention floor and visible and audible on national radio and television) endorsed Mr. Robert’s tasteless and vulgar comments with great guffaws of a laughter and approval, we call upon the Progressive Liberal Party to offer a vote of apology to the former House Speaker, Ms Italia Johnson.”
 

TRANSITIONS
Dr. Offfff Dies

    His work is known throughout The Bahamas as a songwriter and as a Junkanoo aficionado.  He has been ailing for at least a year with cancer of the spine, and fighting a valiant battle.  Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister Perry Christie, the Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and the Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller, all childhood friends were called to his bedside because his family felt the end was near.  He was alert and laughed and talked.  The Foreign Minister reported in a tribute at the House of Assembly that Dr. Offfff told the three of them that no one should cry for him because he knew where he was going and he was ready to go.
    The Prime Minister said that what he remembered was Dr. Offfff saying that he had asked his doctor: how do you die?  He did not know how to die.  Tyrone Fitzgerald, known as Dr. Offfff also as “Rooney”, passed away on Wednesday 28th November at about 6 p.m.  He is survived by four children including attorney Tyrone Fitzgerald Jr.  Mr. Fitzgerald Sr. was the co-author of Funky Nassau, the million selling hit of 1970 and also the popular local hit Get Involved.  Tribune photo.

Nurse Deanna Charmaine Saunders Holland Dies at 50
    The Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith announced in the Parliament on Thursday 29th November that Nurse Deanna Holland nee Saunders had died suddenly from an asthma attack.  She was 50 years old.  She is survived by her husband William Holland Jr. and two daughters.
    Nurse Holland was well known and lived in the Eleuthera community where she moved early in her career as a nurse, married and stayed.  Her life had an earlier tragedy when an infant son predeceased her when he drowned.  She recovered from it and set about the continuing of her community work.  Now she herself has succumbed to an illness that most people no longer think of as life threatening.  The Opposition Leader expressed his condolences and so do we.
 
 

BAD TASTE MR. MP
    There are simply some times when you should know what to say.  There are some times that you ought to simply keep your counsel.  And then there is the saying it is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and confirm it to the public.  Nothing is a better example of this than the interventions made by the Members of Parliament Tennyson Wells MP and Whitney Bastian MP during the tributes being paid to Dr Offfff in the House of Assembly.
    In the middle of the intervention being made by the Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith, the Member of Parliament for South Andros entered the House chamber and interrupted the address on a point of order.  His point, he wanted clarification on the rules as to whether you could pay tribute to someone who is not a former Member of the House.  This broke the ambience in the House and the tribute.
    Mr. Bastian was roundly condemned by members for the insensitivity of his intervention.  Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell pointed out that the House can by unanimous consent change any rule it wishes, even though no rule prohibited the tributes.  And at the time the tributes started Mr. Bastian was not in the chamber and did not object.  Neither did Mr. Wells who tried to defend Mr. Bastian’s action.  In the end both were directed by the Speaker that he had the discretion to allow it, with the unanimous consent of the House.  The tributes continued.
    The Prime Minister roundly condemned Mr. Bastian and Mr. Wells saying that the problem in the country was that we were always so ready to praise politicians as nation builders.  The PM said that the tribute was not about rules but about decency and honour to someone who was a cultural icon and transcended politics.
    No Mr. MP, your intervention was in bad taste.
 
 

Back To The Top
 

THREE BODIES IN THE WATER

    A curious thing happened on Thursday 28th November, three bodies were fished out of the water in the middle of the Nassau Harbour in full daylight.  There was no immediate identity but the police caused more problems on themselves by seeking to stop the cameraman from ZNS TV from taking pictures of the whole exercise.  Later the official police spokesman apologized for the behaviour of the police at the scene.  What was even more curious is that at first the police said that they would release a sketch of the faces so that anyone who knew them could identify them.  But they later said that they had decided that they were Haitians and so they would not release the sketch after all.  Things that make you go: hmmm!
    If indeed these are Haitians who drowned trying to get to Nassau, this is yet another reason why The Bahamas Government must actively work to try to stem the tide of illegal migrants coming in rickety and unsafe craft to this country.  Late breaking news said that another body was fished out of the water on Friday 29th November. Police remove one of the bodies found in waters off Woodes Rogers Wharf in this Tribune photo by Felipe Major.
 

HAITIAN TALKS POSTPONED
    The Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Antonio was to lead a delegation to Nassau this week to start talks on a new treaty with Haiti to try to stem the tide of illegal migration.  But at the last moment, the Government of Haiti postponed the talks until mid December.  Their reason was that the deteriorating situation in Haiti did not allow them to travel.  There have been continuous demonstrations in cities of Haiti including Gonaives and the capital Port-au-Prince.  The demonstrators from Convergence, the Opposition party, have been calling for Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide to step down.  His supporters from Lavellas have been calling for him to stay.  There have been scattered reports of violence.  The Government has also been condemned by university students for interfering in the governance of the Universities in Haiti.  The situation is said to be deteriorating.
    Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said that he was disappointed that talks are not coming off as scheduled and he told The Tribune of Friday 29th November that this would only strengthen the resolve of the Government in its unilateral measures, namely the building up of the base at Matthew Town Inagua for the Defence force.  The Prime Minister has promised that Matthew Town will become a virtual garrison town.
 

THE PM’S CONVENTION ADDRESS
    Last week we reported that Prime Minister Perry Christie invigorated his supporters with his address to the PLP’s 47th National Convention held at the Crystal Palace.  The address was delivered on Friday 21st November.  This week we have the full text of that speech. You may click here for the address.
 

FNM REBEL WEBSITE
    Last week we reported on what appears to be a rebel FNM website, the "FNM United" web site put out by a group calling itself the "Free National Movement Resource Group, a union of young FNM members committed to the Party’s advancement".  Good luck to them. You may click on the following link to visit that website.  http://www.fnmunited.web.aplus.net/
 

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
CDR Calls Revised Budget
    In a news release this week, the Coalition for Democratic Reform called on the Government to tell "the whole truth about the economy and bring a revised budget to Parliament... If the IMF says that we (the country) are doing well financially" said the release "then the IMF does not mean us well."

Sylvia Darling Passes
    Freeport was saddened this past week by the sudden death of one of its outstanding daughters, Mrs. Sylvia Darling on Thursday, November 28th.  Mrs. Darling was the head of the Northern Campus of College of The Bahamas.  Our condolences go out to her husband Thaddeus and the rest of her family and also to the COB family.

FNM Leadership
    The march toward a leadership contest in the FNM has begun in earnest.  This past week Algernon Allen took to the airwaves to try to remain relevant.  He was the guest on Steve McKinney's afternoon talk show.  As usual, Mr. Allen was very dramatic.  Mr. Allen, we believe, has seen the move being played out by Brent Symonette, the man with a plan and purpose to become the next leader of the FNM.
    We have been told that we should watch Brent in the House of Assembly as he goes head to head with the PLP.  We are also informed that Brent has grown tired of the inactivity of his party.  This week, to our surprise, he was reportedly able to pick up two endorsements; one from a local clergyman and another from a high ranking cleric whose view is for our democracy to be strong.

Tourism In Grand Bahama
    The hotel and tourism sector in Grand Bahama is in serious trouble despite the glowing reports given by the Minister of Tourism at the recent PLP convention.  The facts on the ground are as follows:
    Discovery Cruises' daily ferries between Fort Lauderdale and Grand Bahama are reporting low bookings.
    'Our' Lucaya resort is operating only two of three hotels, with the Reef Village still closed. Staff report working only an average three days a week due to low occupancy.
    Royal Oasis Resorts (the old Princess Properties) reports that business is down and Royal Oasis Tower remains closed from Monday to Thursday.  Financial losses at this property are said to be staggering in the battle to keep it open along with approximately nine hundred jobs.
    Running Mon Resort and Marina which employed twenty people has closed, leaving only the docks and boat yard open for service.
    Merchants in the Freeport International Bazaar and Port Lucaya Marketplace are holding on for dear life in the hope that the Christmas season will bring them some local business.  Reports are that if business does not improve high numbers of closures are on the horizon.
    The Minister should now move without delay to try and turn the situation around.  Sweet talk and wishful thinking will not bring us out of this dilemma, but careful planning and a sound business approach with all the tourism partners working together might turn our situation around.

A Sad Story
    Last week, a former CDR candidate was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay back the Grand Bahama Port Authority $140,000.00 with interest.  We say that this is an unfortunate turn of events.  We wonder why the ordeal was not handled differently.  It is a pity.
BS

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The photo of the week is a picture of Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell with U.S. Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship.  The Minister and the Ambassador appeared at a Royal Bahamas Defence Force Ball in the presence of the Governor General and the Prime Minister on Friday 6th December at the Sheraton Grand Hotel.  The picture takes on added significance by the fact that a harsh set of words were exchanged between the two persons on behalf of their respective countries earlier in the day when the Ambassador made a statement that was interpreted as insulting to The Bahamas as a country and seemed to accuse the RBDF of being corrupt.  The photo is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

FOREIGN AFFAIRS TURMOIL
Under Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell what happened on Friday 6th December should not have happened.  The man has bent over backwards in the face of public criticism to defend the interventions of the US Ambassador in the country.  The country was saying that the Minister had gone soft.  The Foreign Minister’s view was that the U.S. Ambassador conducts the diplomacy of his country at the behest of his president and in the manner that his President requests.  He has said often that J. Richard Blankenship, unusual though his style might be, had the right in a free country to say what he wanted to say.  Bahamians, he argued, had the right to say in response what they wanted to say.  He had apparently hoped to leave it there.

The difficulty now is that egg is on his face.  According to the press present at the occasion of the official opening of the scheduled bi-annual talks between the two countries on drug interdiction matters, the mood turned sour as soon the Ambassador read his statement at the meeting.  The Bahamian public officials that included the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Commodore of the Defence Force, the Head of Customs all bowed their heads and kept fidgeting throughout the intervention.  The essence of the intervention was that Royal Bahamas Defence Force was corrupt and that it was not now a reliable partner in the drug war.  Further, that there had been a politically motivated sloppy investigation into the alleged disappearance of some drugs from the HMBS Inagua in 1992.  The allegation made by the Ambassador said that the investigation into the loss of drugs from a controlled operation in Nassau Harbour in 1992 was poorly handled and seems to have had some institutional and political motives.  This is no attack on the PLP alone.  This is also an attack on the FNM since the investigation was never completed during the ten years of the FNM.

The question that must now be asked is, what is behind this attack?  The Prime Minister speaking at the RBDF banquet where the Ambassador and the Foreign Minister attended said that the Ambassador had spoken to him and had assured him that he never intended to call the RBDF corrupt.  But the question of etiquette and comity must be raised.  And this is all the more so since the Foreign Minister had gone out of his way to ensure that the people of The Bahamas saw a particularly close relationship between the two men.  They must surely now ask him: how could Ambassador Blankenship do this to you?

The Foreign Minister is obviously embarrassed by this.  He is now struggling, having put his career on the line for this relationship, to bring some semblance of order back to the process.  His release said that he expects to propose a new date for the adjourned hearing of the talks that he abruptly adjourned within six weeks.

We think that it is important to put this behind the two countries.  Most of it must lie on the US and its Ambassador.  An Ambassador simply does not say things in public unless he can clearly demonstrate to his capital that there is no other means of dealing with the matter.

The country is now in a serious dilemma about where to go from here, having been slapped in the face because it thought that being compliant would assist The Bahamas in its international relations with its greatest neighbour.  That now seems a failed strategy and one for which the US shows only contempt.  What now Mr. Foreign Minister?

You may click here for the full statement of the Foreign Minister, and here for the statement of the US Ambassador to the Joint Bahamas / US Task Force meeting.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 7th December at midnight: 20,794.

Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 8th December at midnight: 20,794.

Number of hits for the year 2002 up to Saturday 8th December at midnight: 2,057,420.

THE TRIP TO CUBA
    It was left to the Cuban Consul General Felix Wilson to confirm to the Nassau Guardian that yes indeed it would be the Prime Minister who would travelling to Cuba with the other Heads of Government of the Caribbean to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the big four of the Commonwealth Caribbean: Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.  That was a bold step in that day.  The Bahamas followed in 1974.  It was also another era.  The Cold War was its height and the US government proceeded to destabilize one Caribbean regime after the next because of the move by those states.  Nevertheless, the decision has turned out to be correct.  You have a population of ten million people sitting astride the Caricom nations and there ought to be practical co-operation with Cuba.
    The Bahamas is the only one of the Caribbean states that does not have a resident Ambassador or Consul General in Cuba.  This is strange since we are the country that is closest to them.  We have a number of issues: Bahamians travel there for tourism, business, health care and education.  There are Bahamians in jail there.  There are those who are Cuban who wish to travel there.  It is simply untenable for the British to continue to conduct our consular affairs on our behalf.  We are 30 years old as a nation next year.  It is simply time to get going with doing it ourselves.
    What causes great reluctance and should have gone into the planning of this trip by the Prime Minister, the first for a Bahamian head of Government was the reaction of the United States.  In fact, the news was rife with rumours that the reason why the US Ambassador was pushing the envelope on all the other issues was the fact that they were uncomfortable with the Prime Minister’s proposed trip to Cuba.
    The Foreign Minister has been saying for weeks why the relationship between The Bahamas and Cuba was developing the way it was, and said in as many words that the US should stop being so sensitive about it.  The Cubans must be aware also that while they celebrate the fact that all the Caribbean leaders are visiting, The Bahamas deplores their system of Government, which has an ageing tyrant at its head who runs on with speeches of five hours in duration or more.  It is really time for him to give it up and for there to be pluralistic elections in Cuba.  But the die is now cast.  Perry Christie should by now be the first Bahamian Prime Minister to ever touch down on Cuban soil.  Going with him will be other Ministers of the Government.  We hold our collective breaths.

WHAT IS THE FOREIGN MINISTER TO DO?
    For many many months now since the PLP returned to office, there has been a carefully orchestrated minuet between the Foreign Minister of The Bahamas and the US Ambassador.  The idea seems to have been to create the image that there was a partnership between the countries that was reflected in the personal relationship between the two men.  Where does that now stand, given the direct and deliberate embarrassment to the Minister at the hands of the Ambassador?
    The facts show that every time someone would attack the Ambassador, the Foreign Minister came to his aid, explaining how he thought things worked in US diplomacy, defending the Ambassador’s right to speak on behalf of his country.  This was so even as columnist after columnist, newspaperman after newspaperman begged and pleaded with the Minister to attack the Ambassador, even to send him home.  That was not on and still is not in our view in the cards.
    Somewhere in the back of the minds of all Bahamians was the feeling that at some point the Ambassador would learn the value of a quiet diplomacy, that his term could be so much more effective if he worked quietly to bring about change in a proud, small society.  Instead, he has chosen to use the big stick policy.  It is simply inexplicable.
    The Foreign Minister has plenty to answer for to his colleagues for a failed strategy but we urge him to continue what he is doing.   There must continue to be balance and nothing should get in the way of the relationship between the countries.  We need to find out first of all whether this is a policy of the US Government or the personal policy of Mr. Blankenship.  We think it is the former.  Then we need to find out why it is that this very public strategy is being used, and what is intended to be accomplished by it.
    There are difficult times ahead.
 
 

TRYING TO SMEAR THE PLP
    The conspiracy theorists are busy at work on why Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship did what he did on Friday 6th December.  In both PLP and FNM circles it was widely thought to be a slap in the face to the Bahamian people but most of all to Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell.  The idea, say these theorists, is to try to link the present PLP with the old PLP under Pindling.  They want to try to paint the PLP as a party that is linked to drug corruption.
    The Punch started the ball rolling at the start of last week by publishing the news that several PLP Ministers travelled to Bimini for the funeral of Glen Rolle, a well known PLP in Bimini.  They said that Glen Rolle was a drug baron.  Mr. Rolle had not been convicted or arrested for a drug offence during his lifetime.  The attendance at the funeral was a routine attendance at a service for a prominent member of the Bimini community and a prominent PLP out of respect for his family.  No explanation really is needed for that.
    Then came the blindside on Friday in which the Ambassador said that the US said that they were willing to forget an incident in 1992 involving the HMBS Inagua.  He said that the investigation was sloppy and incomplete.  He said that this is probably due to “institutional and political motives”.  Now the attack took place in the face of a PLP Minister with public officials who have been serving for at least ten years.  The incident happened in 1992.  That means that the incident was investigated during the tenure of the Free National Movement.  So the attempt to smear the PLP really is a smear on the Ingraham administration.
    The PLP is now bound to investigate the matter to find out the truth of the allegations of the Ambassador on behalf of his country.  Oh what tangled web we weave…
 

IT’S CHINA!
    In all the months since the PLP came to office and Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell has held office, no more intense lobby has existed than that of Korea and China for the vote of The Bahamas at the Bureau of International Expositions, the agency that decides who holds the World’s Fair of the year 2010.  Most Bahamians don’t think that far but the Chinese have that proverb about the journey of a thousand miles beginning with the first step and they kept up the pressure.  The Koreans had an intense lobby themselves, expertly organized.
    In the end, The Bahamas Government chose to vote with China on 3rd December 2002 in Monaco.  The winner China came on the fourth ballot with Mexico, Russia and Poland all dripping off on the previous ballots.  The vote: China 54; Korea 35.
 

WHAT THE FNM’S RESPONSE SHOULD BE
    We hope that the Leaders of the Free National Movement have been provided with the statements of the Foreign Minister and the Ambassador for the US to The Bahamas on Friday 6th December. If they have not received them, they should ask for them and have them examined carefully.
    We believe that this matter crosses party lines and is in fact an attack on the country.  Together, we have to decide what to do.  Even if the FNM wanted to say that it was a matter that the PLP had to deal with, the Ambassador’s attack relates to a specific incident that happened in 1992 and was largely investigated over the ten years of the Free National Movement regime.  The PLP cannot claim that was the FNM and not the PLP.  It has the obligation now to answer for the Bahamas Government.
    Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and former Defence Force Minister Frank Watson ought to examine all of this very carefully before they make any political response.
 
 

GUILTY - MURDERER OF THE ARCHDEACON
    A jury found Neil Brown guilty unanimously on Thursday 5th December in Nassau of the murder of the late Archdeacon William Thompson, the former Vicar General of the Anglican Diocese of Nassau, The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands and rector of St. Agnes Church.  The trial lasted just over a week and the jury did not take long to reach a verdict.  Mr. Brown was seen on videotape confessing to the murder.  He said that the whole thing was not to have gone down that way.
    Here is what he had to say in his own words: “I feel so bad I had to shoot the man; that was not suppose to happen like that… And when he see me, he come running back in my direction and I fired the gun and I hit him; and he run pass me like he bump me, and I fired the gun and I hit him…[Brown then said he went to burn his clothes and found out later that day that he had shot a priest from the radio news]…a suck vibe, that aint suppose to happen like that.”
    The robbery was planned when he and man named Barry were in jail.  They heard that there was a house on market Street with a safe and money and they planned to rob it when they came out.  They did just that.  Following the playing of the videotape, Mr. Brown had another story.  He and his lawyer of course had another story in the Court.  The lawyer insisted that Mr. Brown had been beaten to confess.  The doctor said that there were no signs of injury when he came to be examined.  From the dock were he could not be examined as if he had made a sworn statement, Mr. Brown said that he did not do it and he was innocent.
    The verdict was guilty, on all counts; the murder the armed robbery.  Anyway the judge droned on about suffering death as prescribed by law, hanged by the neck until dead.  It will be quite a long time before that sentence can be carried out if at all.  But the fact is the police have gotten their man, and the community is relieved that justice appears to have been done.  It was a great tragedy and another sad time for the widow of the Archdeacon to have to relive the whole thing in the witness stand.
 

PLP CHAIR GETS TO WORK
    Raynard Rigby, the new Chairman of the PLP has gotten off the ground running.  The hard part comes with discovering the actual nuts and bolts of running a party.  The branches are in a state of disarray throughout the country, but building themselves back.  Election and other debts are mounting.  The one bright spot is that the annual Carnival has come to town, and the proceeds are to go to the PLP for its operational expenses.  Mr. Rigby was in Grand Bahama on Saturday 7th December trying to organize the branches of the Progressive Liberal Party for the young liberals.  This is a good idea.  If you can energize the young people of the party, then you are on the right path to ensure the survivability of the party.
 

HUBERT INGRAHAM’S BEHAVIOUR
    More and more people are getting frazzled by Hubert Ingraham's behaviour in the Parliament.  Mr. Ingraham who had come to be known as the ten minute wonder for the brevity of his stays in the House of Assembly during the past week showed up for two days of the week, Monday 2nd December when he spoke to the Bill before the Parliament on Stamp Tax and refused to end, just wandering from one topic to the next.
    M. Ingraham seemed on top of his political game, except that he had to be reminded every once in a while that he was after all a former Prime Minister and should be setting the example of more responsible language.  But his act is a fizzled act, and is becoming more replete with errors.  He tries to pretend that he still has a handle on what is going on in the public service but while at first he could say that, he no longer has a firm grasp on what is going on.  He had to be corrected on several points.  But the point of this piece is not what he said on any of the issues; mainly it was drivel.
    The fact is that there is now a rumour going on that the ex-Prime Minister is trying to make a comeback of sorts.  He has been commanding the Opposition into a certain performance, even cancelling a deal that the Leader of the Opposition made for the conduct of the debate in Parliament.   Where precisely this can all go, no one knows.  There cannot be much future in the FNM supporting a discredited leader as the new leader of the FNM.  Mr. Ingraham must be careful that his currency does not devalue.  The better thing for him to do is to retire and disappear into the sunset.
 

BRENT SYMONETTE ON LYFORD CAY
    Prime Minister Perry Christie was furious with the Member of Parliament for Montagu Brent Symonette (pictured).  He was debating the Amendment to the Stamp Act, which provides relief for those who are buying first homes on Monday 2nd December.  The regime of the bill is that if you are buying a first home, you do not pay any stamp duty on the conveyance or the mortgage if the value is under 250,000 dollars.
    The FNM took umbrage at the comments of some PLP members about foreign persons investing in The Bahamas in a previous debate and sought to say that the PLP had an anti foreign bias because the stamp act discriminates between foreign purchasers and Bahamians.  What brought the Prime Minister to the House was a comment by Mr. Symonette that some 75 people had resigned as members of the Lyford Cay Club.  The Prime Minister said that by leaving the matter hanging as it was Mr. Symonette was giving the clear impression that it was the policies of the PLP that had led to the resignations of the Lyford Cay Club members.  Later Minister for Financial Services Allyson Gibson revealed the figure was the regular attrition rate for the Club.  It turns out the Club only has 1258 members.  It also has a deficit of some six million dollars and the fees for the Lyford Cay Club were recently raised by some 4000 dollars to ten thousand dollars a year.  That led to some additional people leaving.
    My Symonette did a quick mea culpa after the Prime Minister’s objections but the comment left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.
 

TAX RELIEF ON THE WAY
    The PLP has now honoured two of its campaign promises by passing through the second reading stage the Bill to provide real property tax relief for persons by raising the ceiling for a tax exemption up to 250,000 dollars.  It has also passed the Amendment to the Stamp Act that provides for relief from stamp duty on conveyances for people buying first homes up to a value of $250,000.  The only naysayer was Hubert Ingraham who did not stay around the House long enough to vote for or against.
 

STUART AND SMITH MACE ANNIVERSARY
    Cassius Stuart and Omar Smith held a press conference on    December to mark the first anniversary of their seeking to throw the Mace out of the House of Assembly on 3rd December.  The two reminded the country of their stellar event last year this time.  They were prosecuted under the FNM regime by then Speaker Italia Johnson.  The PLP Attorney General Alfred Sears stopped the prosecution.
    The two men said that their issues remain the same and threatened mayhem against the PLP if it did not bring about constitutional reform as it promised.  They reminded the country that the Prime Minister has said that he would appoint a constitutional reform commission within 90 days of coming to office and nothing had yet been done.  Their protest last year was against the rigging of boundary lines for constituencies by the FNM administration.
 

SAN SALVADOR OPENING FOR CLUB MED
    Tuesday 9th December is the day when Club Med is scheduled to reopen for business in San Salvador.  The country’s eastern most island and the site most people accept as the landing of Columbus in the new world gets a jump start from Club Med, the French resort company.  The Government is in the midst of negotiations to ensure that Club Med gets the support it needs to get the San Sal community going again.  No word on what is to happen to the Eleuthera property that has been closed since Hurricane Michelle put it out business one year ago.  There is now said to be full employment in San Salvador.
 
 

DR. OFFFFF IS BURIED
    Our friend and brother Tyrone Fitzgerald Sr., known as Dr. Offfff was buried on Saturday 7th December Nassau.  The funeral service was an extravaganza of music and was held at the Mt. Tabor Full Gospel Baptist Church.  It was presided over by Bishop Neil Ellis and the sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Stuart.  Half the Cabinet showed up for the funeral.  Prime Minister Perry Christie, Ministers Bradley Roberts, Fred Mitchell, Leslie Miller, Glenys Hanna Martin, Alfred Sears and Neville Wisdom were all there.  A tribute was paid to Dr. Offfff by his son Tyrone Jr. You may click here for a eulogy by the Honourable Fred Mitchell delivered at the funeral.
 
 

Back To The Top
 

ANCELLA EVANS MARRIES
    She is now an Attorney, called recently to the Bar of The Bahamas.  The former COB Student Council president Ancella Evans tied the knot with Magistrate Franklin Williams on Saturday 7th December in Nassau.  Congratulations to the couple - two very decent people.
 

FINANCIAL CONSULTATIVE FORUM
    Brian Moree, the Senior Partner at the law firm McKinney Bancroft and Hughes, a traditional FNM supporter, was announced by Prime Minister Perry Christie and Financial Services Minister Allyson Gibson on Thursday 5th December to be the Chair of the Financial Services Consultative Forum.  Some 35 other persons are on this Board that is meant to help the Government keep abreast of developments in the sector that need tracking.  This is hopefully to avoid the pitfalls of the former Prime Minister’s administration where The Bahamas was constantly caught with its pants down with new developments in law and new products coming on to market.
 

MARK KNOWLES IS NUMBER ONE
    We say congratulations to Mark Knowles and his partner Donald Nestor for being ranked the number one doubles tennis players in the world.  Mr. Knowles is a Bahamian of whom we are all very proud.  Congratulations again!
 

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
Bahamas / US Relations
    The imperial governor of The Bahamas, US ambassador J. Richard Blankenship fixed our business for us this past Friday.  No one was surprised at Mr. Blankenship's statements.  In the past he has commented on drug cases before the courts, he has intimidated members of the press and insulted parents and faculty at the College of The Bahamas.  At no time was he rebuked publicly in any official way for overstepping his bounds.  For our part we believe that the Government has turned a blind eye publicly and continued to suck up to our neighbour and friend the United States.  We believe that this time, the ambassador is interfering in the internal affairs of our country.
    We are told that the Americans have three main concerns that caused them to make their statement, in essence demanding that we do certain things, by a certain time.  Word around is that the first perceived thorn was the dropping of a case against a Grand Bahama drug lord, where the Americans were having difficulties producing a witness, so the case was dropped.  The second issue, said our sources, is the attendance of high-level Government officials at last Sunday's funeral of Glen Rolle in Bimini who at the time of his death was blind and confined to a wheelchair.  Again, according to several sources, the third concern is the visit by the Prime Minister and delegation to Cuba this weekend.
    Our advice to the Government is to engage the Americans intellectually and express to them that we are still a sovereign country and we share common values.  We also suggest that this is a good time to bring to the table the fact that the Americans will reportedly be engaged in test firing of missiles off Andros and what compensation if any is The Bahamas to receive?  But in any event the public ought to be brought up to speed on that matter.
    Reaction on the streets to the flap in relations with the US ambassador have been swift and unanimous.  "We should have put him in his place long time", said one Bahamian.  Another widely held point of view holds that if anything is lacking in the success of the war on drugs in The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, the Americans have only themselves to blame.  Said one source, "They handle the boats they pilot the aircraft and they police the waters... the level of co-operation with the United States is so high now that the only thing left for The Bahamas to do is to lower the flag and hoist the stars and stripes."
    The consensus from one group of seasoned observers was expressed this way "With a shortfall in national revenue that is already at twenty million dollars a month, if The Bahamas were to do just half the things that the Americans are demanding it would bankrupt the country... Where is the money going to come from to pay for all of these things... The ambassador should remember his own words and 'get a life". Mr. Blankenship is pictured leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday 6th December in this Bahamas Information Services photo by Derek Smith.

Nobody Move
    While reaction to this website from ordinary people on the streets was strong and everywhere you spoke or listened, notably no one of any official status had any comment to make.  According to one friendly reporter, "Except for the Foreign Minister, everyone official on both sides, including the independents is silent about this so far, I believe for fear of upsetting the Americans and maybe losing their travel visas... They're all running for the tall grass."

What Is Ingraham Up To?
    Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was in Grand Bahama yesterday, Saturday to attend the funeral of the late Vincent DeGregory.  One underlying reason - some say the 'real' reason for Mr. Ingraham's visit to Grand Bahama was to meet with the movers and shakers of the FNM here.  We understand that he was given an earful from the party's heavyweights here about the present state of the FNM.  We wonder whether this is not setting the stage for Mr. Ingraham to be invited back to take over the leadership of the FNM, perhaps being called an "interim leader"... Our friends on that side tell us that the whole thing smacks of a staged job.

The Race Question
    Can a white Bahamian become the Prime Minister of The Bahamas?  One Grand Bahama FNM power travelled to the 'Same Ole Place' restaurant in Nassau this week with his message of Brent Symonette for leader of the FNM:  "They have had there time," he was told.  Another party rank and filer protested, "We are not going back there."  Still another disagreed, "The only thing we need from them [white Bahamians in the FNM] is their money."  We are informed that from the highest levels of the FNM the Symonette supporter was instructed to stop his campaign or risk losing his place in the party.  Meanwhile, Raynard Rigby the new Chairman of the PLP was inviting white Bahamians to sit at the table and become a part of the party and yet the FNM who historically could claim 95% support from white Bahamians was running an underhanded campaign to discriminate against our white brothers.  We say, how times have changed!

Local Government
    It seems that the problem of underage drinking has gotten out of control on Grand Bahama.  At every public function nowadays we can see young people whom we know are not of age engaged in the drinking of alcoholic beverages in plain view.  We call on the local government authorities to step in and warn liquor merchants through its licencing authority to intervene in this matter.  We further call upon the Government to enact strict laws to try and arrest this problem which seems to go unnoticed.

Reef Village
    In response to our assertion in last week's column that 'Our' Lucaya's Reef Village is closed, a reader wrote to inform us that not only had he stayed at the property twice in recent times, but had also recently reconfirmed bookings at the hotel.  Yes, we agree that may be the case, but even though the public areas of the hotel remain open - the bars, restaurants and the like - at the "back of the house" the maids and other staff know that the property is in fact, closed.  Still, we had and have no intention of affecting 'Our' Lucaya's bookings.  Guests should know that if and when they come, there are many empty rooms (too many in fact) available.
BS

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The photo of the week is the Cabinet of The Bahamas with the Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont at Government House on Friday 13th December.  The lunch is an annual event and is meant to mark the Cabinet that led the country for the year preceding. Dame Ivy Dumont is the Governor General.  Members of the Cabinet seated with the Governor General (centre) are from left Bradley Roberts, Prime Minister Christie, Deputy Prime Minister Pratt and Fred Mitchell.  Standing, from left: Dr. Marcus Bethel, Leslie Miller, Obie Wilchcombe, Alfred Sears, Vincent Peet, Glenys Hanna Martin, Allyson Maynard Gibson, Melanie Griffin, Neville Wisdom, Alfred Gray, James Smith and Shane Gibson.  The photo is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

THE BACKLASH TO BLANKENSHIP
If it were the intention of the United States Ambassador to The Bahamas to destabilize The Bahamas by his comments about corruption in Bahamian society last week on Friday 6th December, it did just the opposite.  Apart from the Tribune’s racist inspired words in the Editorial of Monday 9th December, there was unanimous support for the Foreign Minister of the country Fred Mitchell.  The country felt generally that the US Ambassador had had it coming for his continued interference in the affairs of The Bahamas.  Many called for his recall.  By midweek, the Government itself was clearly trying to settle the country down so that it could be clear that this did not go to the essence of the relationship between the countries.

The Minister spoke to Parliament on Monday 9th December on the adjournment and he told Parliament that the relationship between the US and The Bahamas remains intact.  The question many people asked was whether or not this was the Ambassador’s mission, or was it the mission of the United States?  The Ambassador’s words were counter productive, and all week long the radio talk shows were going with denunciations of his actions.

It is clear that we ought to draw a distinction between the issues that he raised and the forum in which he raised them.  The Bahamas clearly has no problem with the United States representative responding or raising any issue with The Bahamas government.  But it is also clear that you raise issues with friends in a certain way, you do not embarrass them if that is not what you intend to do.  When you do so, it then must be taken that you intended to embarrass the country.  The country then has no alternative but to respond.

That is all that happened last week.  The Foreign Minister defended the country from an attack by a diplomat who is not diplomatic.  The US Ambassador started off his address by saying how much he enjoys controversy.  Controversy sometimes has a place but not in the relationship between The Bahamas and the United States.  The envoy has done tremendous damage to the American cause in The Bahamas.  It behooves his advisors at the embassy to have a quiet word in his ear and have him cease and desist.

The Ambassador spent the last week in Washington on a routine visit for Ambassadors of the Western Hemisphere to meet with the State Department.  In the news release in The Bahamas about the trip, the Embassy tried to give the impression that it was the Foreign Minister’s response that caused the Ambassador to go to Washington to report what happened.  This kind of ham fisted diplomacy is unnecessarily difficult.  We trust that it will stop.

This week, we show the reaction across the country to what happened last week.  And we report on a strange melee in the St. James Road, Kemp Road area of New Providence that saw one man shot dead by the police and a constable seriously injured.  Six police cars and a fire engine were destroyed.

You may click here for the addresses of the Foreign Minister and here for the US Ambassador.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 14th December at midnight: 15,218.

Number of hits for the month of December up to Saturday 14th December at midnight: 36,002.

Number of hits for the year up to Saturday 14th December 2002 at midnight: 2,072,638.

A SUMMARY OF THE US/BAHAMAS EVENT
    For those who did not follow the controversy between The Bahamas and the United States Ambassador on Friday 6th December, we give this summary of the events.  There is a joint task force between The Bahamas and The US Governments and their law enforcement agencies to deal with anti drug matters.  This has been going since 1985.  The meetings of the task force are held formally every six months, and are said to be mandated by the laws of the United States where monies are being given by the US.  Bahamian law enforcement officials have been unhappy about the format of these meetings for years.
    The meetings are meant to be an exchange but they have tended to be a reporting relationship of ‘inferior’ police officers to ‘superior’ US officials.  The Foreign Minister appears to have been struggling with trying to change the format since he took office following upon reported complaints from Bahamian officials.  The public format is that the two political representatives, the Minister and the Ambassador give a speech in public which is largely ceremonial.
    On 6th December 2002, the US Ambassador departed from that format and launched a public attack on the Bahamas Government and its law enforcement agencies.  The Foreign Minister adjourned the meeting and issued a press statement in response to the attack.

THE CHRISTIAN COUNCIL SAYS RECALL
    Bishop Samuel Greene, President of the Bahamas Christian Council, has called for the United States Ambassador to stop interfering in the affairs of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.  The Bishop issued his statement following the adjournment of the Joint Bahamas/US Task Force on Friday 6th December in Nassau.
    Here is what the Bishop had to say in his own words:
    “Of all the diplomats representing the United States over the many years since the US Embassy was established in The Bahamas, this is the first time we are experiencing undiplomatic interference in the internal affairs of our country.  Foreign Diplomats are guests of this country and as such must understand that any attempt to dictate openly, criticize or interfere in the governance of The Bahamas, is contrary to diplomatic conventions, which govern the exchange of diplomatic arrangements between countries.  We admonish the good Ambassador to emulate his predecessor and allow us to accord him the friendliness and co-operation for which Bahamians are well known and at all costs to cease and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of our Bahamas… Bahamian Ambassadors in the United States do not interfere in the internal affairs of the U.S., and if they do, they are likely to be thrown out; therefore The Bahamas expects no less from Ambassador Blankenship.”
 

THE NASSAU GUARDIAN’S RESPONSE
    The Nassau Guardian supported the Government and the Foreign Minister’s response to the actions of Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship of the United States to The Bahamas when the meeting was adjourned by the Bahamian Foreign Minister.  Here is what the Guardian had to say in their own words in the Editorial of Friday 6th December 2002:
    “Well once again United States Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship has shown that despite whatever criticism comes his way, he will continue to put his foot in his mouth and say whatever he feels…  No matter what, the Ambassador never apologizes for anything and continues to step on toes.
    "The fact that the US Ambassador is in the middle of the new controversy comes as no surprise to many persons, considering he has made controversial statements since he has entered this country, causing upset to many different persons and organizations.  People were just wondering what next would come from the Ambassador’s mouth…
    "Minister Mitchell said that he acknowledged that there needs to be some changes in the fight against drugs.  However, as the Minister also said, there is a time and place for all things to be discussed and planned.”
 
 

THE TRIBUNE’S RESPONSE
    Well you guessed it, The Tribune and its anachronistic publisher Eileen Carron was the only one who was out of step with the rest of The Bahamas.  Needless to say, The Tribune will argue like the mother watching her child march out of step with the other soldiers: “Look at how my Johnny is the only one marching on time.”
    Eileen Carron has a problem with black people – their existence and the fact that they must know their place.  That is then projected on to the Progressive Liberal Party, the party that traditionally represents Black people.  And so to The Tribune’s editorial of Monday 9th December.  She too was commenting on the adjournment of the meeting with the US Government’s Anti Drug Task Force in Nassau on Friday 6th December.  Here is what she had to say in her own words:
    “In our opinion Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell did untold damage Friday to US-Bahamas Relations when he lost his cool with US Ambassador Richard Blankenship, and prematurely ended a US Bahamas Joint Task Force meeting…
    “The PLP has been returned as the government.  It calls itself 'new' but there are too many old faces around to remind us of our past.  Also in view of the bold boasts of some drug operators during the run up to this year’s election of their plans to go back into business should the PLP win the government, one would have thought that instead of calling The Tribune a liar for having reported their intent, the new Government would have immediately launched an all out public war on drugs to prove to the world that the Bahamas dignity and honour was still intact…
    “The Ambassador spoke frankly as a man addressing equals.  Obviously, he did not realize that he had to mince words because he was in the presence of little colonials. We would have thought that by now Bahamians would have outgrown this ridiculous inferiority complex.
    “If Mr. Mitchell expects to move in the international world, he has to be made of sterner mettle.  It would seem that his over sensitive sensibilities have taken The Bahamas beyond its depth.
    “We see Mr. Blankenship’s visit to Washington as ominous.  And we do not think it will end, as did Andrew Antippas, who became persona non grata with the Pindling government especially after he testified in the Joe Ledher case and told of The Bahamas’ unwillingness to co-operate…  No from Mr. Blankenship’s Washington visit we predict serious fallout.”
    Dishonest and is how you aptly describe the claptrap that is contained in this Tribune article.
 

THE STORY OF TRENT LOTT
    In an earlier article on this site, we analyzed the results of the mid term elections in the United States. You may click here for that previous analysis.  We expressed the concern that we did not understand the ethics or morality of the new people running the United States.  One person we singled out was Trent Lott who appeared to us to be a racist.  The words were hardly cold on the press when the controversy now brewing in the United States over Mr. Lott began.  Mr. Lott’s words clearly show that he supported segregationist policies in the United States and that he still harbours anti black thoughts.  So we feel especially vindicated by the turn of events.
    Mr. Lott has tried through formulaic ‘apologies’ to rid himself of what he has done but the only answer is for him to step down as one of the leaders of the United States Congress.  His credibility and that of his nation is shattered so long as he remains.  Mr. Lott said the following words at a birthday bash for 100 year old Strom Thurmond, a US Senator who is retiring this year and who ran for President of the United States in 1948 on a segregationist platform: “I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for President, we voted for him.  We’re proud of it.  And if the rest of the country followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all of these problems over all these years either.” There was said to be stone cold silence in the room after he said the words.  Now he must resign.
    Bahamians who watch what is done and said by the US President’s present envoy in the Bahamas have a sneaking suspicion that much of what we see transpiring in The Bahamas is a secret manifestation of a deeper disrespect for Bahamians in his private discussions, a la Trent Lott. That is the reason why Trent Lott should resign, because so long as he is there every Republican will be suspect as harbouring those thoughts.
 

TENNYSON WELLS COMMENTS
    No one was sure where Tennyson Wells was going with his intervention on Wednesday 11th December.  He started as if he were supporting the Minister of Foreign Affairs in his decision to adjourn the talks with the US Ambassador.  Then he suddenly started talking about no matter how much we dislike the messenger, we ought to listen to the message.  What was that all about?
    Mr. Wells’ curious and meandering path in speaking to the issue of the statement made by the US Ambassador appeared ultimately aimed at trying to smoke out Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister who had remained silent.  Mr. Wells called for an investigation into the matters raised by Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship. He was particularly concerned about the allegation made about a “sloppy” investigation into the events of the arrest by the crew of the HMBS Inagua on 20th June 1992 of a drug-laden ship near Nassau Harbour.  Here is what Mr. Wells had to say in his own words:
    “Now think ladies and gentlemen, we are now in December of 2002 and this is an incident that took place back in June 1992.  The US Ambassador is prepared to go in front of the press and say that the investigations were poorly handled… I believe that a lot of games are being played in what has been going on during the past 35 years or more.  On both sides: the PLP Government and the FNM Government.  Games…
    “People who are trying to protect their friend and associates and so forth and I believe that it is time for us in this Parliament to stand and speak for what we believe.  Citizenship imposes a duty on the individual to be of service to his country.  That is what it does to us all and it is something we should not play games with…
    “I do not believe that 70 per cent of the persons in the FNM cabinet back in 1992 to 1993 knew anything about this incident… [Mr. Wells said he knew nothing about it and he was Attorney General from March 1997 to 15th December 1999]… Somebody in the previous PLP administration knew about it, and someone in the previous FNM Administration knew something about it.”
 

FOREIGN MINISTER ON HIS FEET
    The Foreign Minister clearly had had enough of the meandering when Mr. Wells took the position that the Minister overreacted to the Ambassador’s statement.  Further Mr. Wells said