Letters to The Editor

JEANNE THOMPSON THE CONTRARIAN AT IT AGAIN

September 27, 2020

EDITOR, Ordinarily the movement by a politician like Vaughn Miller from the FNM to the PLP would not warrant my attention, but I was forced to note his words ‘‘it is time for me to do what is best for me’’. This made me think of the lack of altruism in politics. In the sixties we were moved by the words of the late US President John F Kennedy when he said at his inauguration ‘‘ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’’ Mr Miller has turned it upside down by

ANDREW ALLEN ON THE PROPOSED BAHAMAS VISA

September 27, 2020

EDITOR, Any doubt that the present crew governing this country have lost all contact with sense and sanity should have been dispelled for anyone listening to Financial Services Minister Ellsworth Johnson expounding the benefits of opening wide our country for anyone wishing to come here and work, study or just hang out like they’re back home. That most of the entrants attracted by this “extended stay visa” will simply busy themselves doing what too many have been doing for years (that is, competing with Bahamians for a piece of our own economic pie) seems to elude the minister. It also

PIERRE DUPUCH SAYS THE COUNTRY IS BROKE

September 27, 2020

EDITOR THE country’s broke. The Bahamas Minister of Finance says there’s lots of money. Some say that there will be a devaluation. Others say they’ll guarantee there will be no devaluation. Many say they’re taking a page about lying out of Trump’s playbook. You be the judge. For those who are encouraging devaluation I hope they know what they are talking about. Talk is cheap. It looks as though facts these days are taking a back seat. There are two types of economies, one made up of tangible assets and the other of intangible assets. Tangible assets, like bauxite, are

RICARDO SMITH MAKES AN ASS OF HIMSELF

September 13, 2020

By Mark KevinsonDundas TownAbaco In his political life, he has developed a bit of a reputation as a troublesome fellow, who is always on the wrong side of a cause or right, nipping at the heels of a lost cause, charging at windmills and raging against the wind. By simply behaving and being quiet he might well have been a parliamentarian next time. Alas by his own hand, he has slayed himself. His timing is so impeccably bad that he always ends up losing but thinks he is winning. He has been PLP at least through the Christie era. Last

A blatant disregard for standards and traditions – Brian Seymore

August 30, 2020

Attorney General Carl Bethel A blatant disregard for standards and traditions that have served us well have been cast aside by Cabinet Ministers. The Honorable Carl Bethel is our Attorney General, and is, also, a Queen’s Counsel, QC. He has been active in front line politics for the past twenty-five years. He is the most senior member of the Minnis administration cabinet. As the sun now begins to set on Mr. Bethel’s career, I wonder if this is how he would wants to be remembered. This perverse and vulgar poster is wrong on, at least, three counts, party symbol included.

THE ORTLAND BODIE LETTER ON THE CABINET

August 23, 2020

Editor, I have long suspected that there is disarray and contention within the Minnis led cabinet. The demonstration/protest led by my colleague and brother, Adrian Francis of Sovereign Bahamas, a few days ago, when female Bahamians were rudely (in my opinion) manhandled by male police officers and piled into a small bus, has now exposed the chinks. Since March of this year, the Competent Authority has acted and behaved like a one man band who has all of the answers and solutions to the ongoing pandemic. We have been subjected to incoherent and instant curfews and

T’SEAN MOTT ONE OF THE V BRAVE MEN WRITES ON CANNIBIS

August 16, 2020

Letter to the Editor by T’Sean Mott 2nd Vice Chairman Progressive Young Liberals. One of the Five Brave Men Dear Editor I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing national dialogue on the legalization and economic impact of marijuana and its by-products. The 12 August 2020 edition of the Nassau Guardian featured an article written by the president of the Torchbearers Youth Association (TYA) which outlines a plan to resuscitate our dying economy through the establishment of the cannabis industry. Firstly, the Progressive Liberal Party and the Progressive Young Liberals support in principle the legalization of marijuana

THE MERVYN SWEETING JR LETTER

August 16, 2020

( The letter writer is the owner of Switcha, the Bahamian drink and is the son of Mervin Sweeting of Bertha’s Go Go Ribs—Editor) PM – Wake up, Please Wake up Dear PM Minnis, Its is hoped you can comprehend this message. Your burden is heavy, we acknowledge that, most even pray for you. The virus is real, we acknowledge that, and most adhere to the rules to prevent its spread. We are in unchartered waters, we accept that. However, what we cannot accept is the way you to talk to The Bahamian people. The tone is very condescending and

BRIAN SEYMOUR FROM FREEPORT SAYS: PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY

August 9, 2020

Minister Quasi Thompson gave new meaning to the children’s game of Pin the tail on the donkey. The Bahamian people play acting as the Donkey. Minister Thompson disclosed that the Government was about to purchase the Hurricane damaged Grand Bahama International Airport which was severely damaged by hurricane Dorian in September 2019. Under the terms of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, the airport remains the responsibility of The Grand Bahama Port Authority until 2054 when the 99-year Lease agreement comes to an end. It is believed that the airport was insured, but the Port Authority’s managing partners, Hutchison Port Holdings refuse

ANDREW ALLEN WRITES MOCKINGLY OF THE FNM – 27 July 2020

August 2, 2020

It’s da people’s fault! Dear Editor, From the start of their present term, there has been a pattern of the Free National Movement (FNM) blaming both their critics and even the public itself for the consequences of their own incompetence and downright stupidity. This has often been tinged with a cavalier and condescending attitude toward Bahamians in general. Two years ago, in the midst of a meltdown at Bahamas Power and Light, Minister of Works Desmond Bannister got on television to excoriate the chairwoman with a nasty personalized attack, suggesting she used corporation funds on makeup. Since then, he has

ATTORNEY DECRIES THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMENT OF PM

August 2, 2020

Ryan Brown Dear Editor, Yes, the prime minister may make “discriminatory or unconstitutional decisions” to fight COVID-19. But no, he is not authorized by law if he does so and should avoid them at all cost. There is a distinction between whether he may make such decisions and whether they will be enforced in the courts. We have courts, in part because people conferred with authority have made and will make unlawful decisions. The PM made the following statement during his address in Parliament on July 23, 2020 that should frighten every Bahamian: “What that demonstrates, Mr. Speaker, is that

BRIAN SEYMOUR WRITES PLAYING WITH FIRE

July 26, 2020

Playing With Fire Below is the last paragraph of a statement posted by myself on my Facebook page, June 8th, under the heading, Vision. If after 1st July 2020 opening of the economy without rigorous protocols in place that will keep the population safe from Covid-19, we will see, by August, a surge in numbers because we threw caution to the wind. The Minnis administration is playing with fire and, I fear, will become the authors of their own destruction. Today, the country from Inagua in the south, to Walker’s Key, Abaco in the North is on lockdown as covid-19

REV KEITH RUSSELL ON FREEPORT CAMPUS OF U B

July 19, 2020

Dear Editor, The University of Bahamas (UB) is prominently in the news again; and this time the news is troubling. There is talk being bantered about in the undercurrents of society that the university’s board is considering discontinuing the northern campus. If this is the case, it would be a colossal mistake. It would be inconceivable that the board would consider such a thing. The idea is foolish and myopic. The northern campus has such great potential. Of course, for UB North to come even in the vicinity of achieving any of its potential, the stranglehold of the Nassau-centric vision of the

REV KEITH RUSSELL WRITES ON POLICE KILLINGS

June 21, 2020

On policing I don’t believe the police’s version—on hardly anything. I certainly don’t believe them on the killing of those three young men on Cowpen Road, on Saturday June 13, 2020. Did we hear any compassion from any of the police spokespersons so far? Is there any hint of remorse or empathy in their narrative that in the course of executing their duties unfortunately three young men lost their lives? Instead, what we heard is that the police were ‘ambushed’. Three young men are sitting in a car, supposedly with a pistol. Three officers are outside with firearms approaching. Ambush

THE FIVE BRAVE MEN ON COLUMBUS

June 14, 2020

Donneldo Harris, T’Sean Mott, Amad Burns, Duran Saunders and Jerad Darville, aka The V Brave Men all appeared before the Columbus Statue 10 June 2020 at Government House and demanded its removal. The five men were joined in their campaign by an unlikely ally, The Tribune who argued that the statue had lost its relevance. We agree that it is time for it to go and that the statue ought to be replaced by statues of the four marines who were killed on the HMBs Flamingo. This was their letter to The Tribune: The EditorThe Tribune Dear Editor, The 5 Brave

BRIAN SEYMOUR WRITES WHEN LEADERS LACK VISION

June 14, 2020

When leaders lack vision, poor people suffer. Today, as the government of The Bahamas celebrate the impending 1 July reopening of the Bahamas to the world, and as the government dismantles all the mechanisms and protocols that were put in place to protect its people from covid-19; the individual citizen of this country must now take personal steps to secure themselves and their loved ones from a pandemic who’s only just beginning. Lord, have mercy on your people. 47% of the Bahamian population have underlying health conditions that make our people vulnerable in fighting off covid-19. The Bahamas has limited

REVEREND KEITH RUSSELL SAYS HE HAS HAD ENOUGH | 22 May 2020

May 24, 2020

I am the Pastor of First Baptist Church, Freeport Bahamas. Some nine weeks ago, in compliance with the order of the competent authority, I shut down services at this local church. Now I have had enough. When I discontinued services nine weeks ago, I did so in good faith. It was to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19, to protect my congregation and by extension protect others in Grand Bahama. However, the curve in Grand Bahama has long been flattened; still, the church is on lockdown. Hardware stores, automotive stores, department stores, gas stations, selected eateries, now even liquor stores

TRUMP UNMASKED

May 17, 2020

While his experts all have masks around him and preach that all should wear a mask in the face of the wild spread of Covid 19, killing almost 100,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands more around the world, the President of the United Sates Donald Trump stands alone unmasked at the White House on 14 May 2020. An idiot or a genius. You take your pick. According to the experts, he is endangering his own life and those around him. His co-author on the book The Art of The Deal says that Mr. Trump is without a conscience and in

WE NEED THE FULL STORY ON THE BAHAMASAIR TRIP

May 17, 2020

There is a swirl of rumours that surround the first flight of returnees to The Bahamas by the Bahamas Government who had been stuck overseas in the United States. The Government botched the first flight and the Prime Minister announced on Sunday 10 May 2020 that someone was let on the plane who tested positive for the virus but was allowed to get on the flight. Curiously the Consul General Linda Mackey found herself on the flight to Nassau. She claimed that she was trying to make sure things went well. The Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs pointed out that

REV KEITH RUSSELL WRITES ON THE DOUBLE STANDARDS ON RACE AND CLASS IN THE BAHAMAS

May 10, 2020

About original sins It is amazing to me that many Bahamians are still reluctant to have a discussion about the place of class, race and privilege in this country. Moreover, it is astounding how many Bahamians are infected with a collective amnesia about or are historically ignorant of the fact that the FNM party has ingrained in its DNA the putrid poison of white supremacy, inherited from the UBP (United Bahamian Party) who remains an integral part of its patrimony. This is not to say that all FNMs in leadership are similarly contaminated; some have been vaccinated. Still, many of

LETTER TO THE EDITOR BY IVOINE INGRAHAM ABOUT THE SPEAKER’S CONDUCT

May 3, 2020

EDITOR, The Tribune. The Bahamas and indeed the world watched in horror while the inept speaker of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas, Halston Moultrie scuttled what we know to be the Halls of Parliament, where laws are made in the best interest of all Bahamians. Yesterday, the awkward behaviour of Moultrie politically assassinating democracy was done, in broad daylight for all in the Bahamas to see, while the whole world watched in shock. The Speaker is supposed to be impartial, he also is expected to conduct the proceedings to make sure that no one is disadvantaged. The mental

ALLYSON GIBSON WRITES: TOGETHER WE CAN

April 5, 2020

BE BOLD BAHAMAS Heartfelt thank you to the frontline team. “… I am not a scientist, but it is the right and duty of every citizen to look and see what the scientists have said and to analyse it for themselves and to draw common sense conclusions. We are all perfectly capable of doing that and there’s no particular reason why the scientific nature of the problem should mean we have to resign our liberty into the hands of scientists. We all have critical faculties and it’s rather important, in a moment of national panic, that we should maintain them.”

THE YOUNG LIBERALS SPEAK UP FOR THE HOMELESS

March 29, 2020

For Immediate Release 26th March 2020 It was reported in the media recently that the persons prosecuted by the state for violating the Emergency Powers Orders (EPO) in the wake of the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 were homeless. It appears that the government has used this policy issue as an opportunity to target the poorest and most vulnerable of our society. So again, we ask, whose time is it? We have reached a new low in our judicial system under the current Minnis administration where we see homeless people arraigned before the courts for violating the curfew hours. It is heartbreaking

IT WAS THE FNM THAT LOCKED US UP IN OUR HOUSES!

March 22, 2020

1. ATLANTIS CASINO – closed; Many jobs lost? Who knows? 2. YARDIE BAR, KFC & Wendy’s dem – closing 7:30 pm Two shifts of employees gone! 3. BARBER SHOPS – who cares. They closed too! 4. MINNIS DOCTOR FRIENDS – Open straight thru 5. JITNEY DRIVERS – no money, no honey. They make money daily. How they will buy food, sweetheart money, weed money? 6. CHURCH – closed. How will Pastor dim get paid? 7. GAS STATION – close 5 pm. Those on 4 -12 now have job 8. In the USA, the government giving away $250 billion. NO RED

THE PLP MUST NOT GO WEAK IN THE KNEES (The country depends on the PLP)

March 22, 2020

There is an active debate in the country on this issue of the corona virus. One group wants the party to sing kumbaya and agree and support wholeheartedly the government. The other says we have seen Hubert Minnis pull a fast one on us before with his careful eye always on the next general election. We think there is a middle course. The PLP must provide critical support to ensure the health of the nation but the PLP must also monitor what the government is doing. They cannot have a blank cheque. These FNMs and their Prime Minister Hubert Minnis

THE NASSAU GUARDIAN FINDS RELIGION

February 2, 2020

The National Review piece last week in the Nassau Guardian tore a stripe off the FNM and Hubert Minnis for leading the Bahamian people down the garden path in the last general election. You would have sworn that Candia Dames who was single handedly responsible for more misinformation and propaganda against the PLP had found religion and was now born again, following a Damascus moment. We doubt it but there must be repentance, apology before there can be forgiveness. Candia Dames must apologise for all the untruths she told on the PLP before she can be accepted as genuine in

PASTOR KEITH RUSSELL ON HENFIELD FOREIGN MINISTER

December 15, 2019

Darren A. Henfield, Member of Parliament for North Abaco, Minister of Foreign Affairs and part of the Prime Minister’s loyal cabal and ride or die crew, is a reprehensible fellow. I applaud his unwavering devotion to his friend, but I am surprised and disturbed by his blind commitment to vigorously uphold wrongdoing.

ANDREW ALLEN’S LETTER ON THE JUDICIARY

December 8, 2019

The following letter first appeared in The Tribune by Attorney Andrew Allen. He called for the removal of Justices Carolita Bethel and Indra Charles from the bench both of them are accused of not stepping up to the plate in the Shane Gibson case: 1 December 2019 EDITOR, The Tribune Anyone doubting that the present government is engaged in the systematic degrading of our country’s vital institutions need only read the media reports of the Shane Gibson case. Mr Gibson’s speedy acquittal on all counts comes at the end of a shameful process that began with the FNM’s irresponsible promises

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE GIBSON CASE

December 1, 2019

Supt. Deborah Thompson botched the Shane Gibson case After the Gibson case, there ought to be a review of all cases involving Superintendent of Police Deborah Thompson. Ms. Thomposn testified in the case that she tampered with the principle witnesses statement by altering it after the fact and by coordinating the testimony of two witnesses in the room together. She added that it happens on the time. Cases in which she was involved have to be reviewed and if there were convictions, they must be set aside as unsafe. Then there is the Attorney General’s office and in particular the

Letter To The Editor On Homophobia And LGBTQ Discrimination (From The Nassau Guardian)

November 24, 2019

There’s no place for gays: three perspectives Dear Editor, Some may disagree that gay-based discrimination exists on the basis that gay people hold professional careers. However, this may mean that there ought to be a re-consideration of what discrimination means. Take for instance these anecdotal perspectives on the way gay-based discrimination is institutionalized in The Bahamas. The police The police are generally thought to be professionals employed by the taxpayer to both uphold the law and protect citizens. Indeed this they do. Notwithstanding this is the sheer threat gay men often face when being handled by the police. I, and