Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 1 © BahamasUncensored.Com
11th May, 2003
18th May, 2003
25th May, 2003
 PHOTO
OF THE WEEK - Prime Minister Perry Christie and his Government of the Progressive
Liberal Party celebrated on 2nd May 2003, the first anniversary of their
amazing election to Parliament in 2002. One year later, the Prime
Minister and his Ministers began a high level public relations round on
the talk shows and in the press to show that the Government has indeed
made much progress. The photo shows the Prime Minister on Sunday
27th April expounding on the points of importance to him on Island FM.
He was reported in the Bahama Journal as saying that everything is going
according to plan but as this week’s column reports there is a torrent
of criticism that things are moving too slowly that came on the radio talk
shows and in the press as the anniversary was marked. One talk show
gave the government an F on its performance thus far. But at the
rally called by the PLP on Friday 3rd May, the Prime Minister rousingly
struck back. The picture is by Peter Ramsay. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
YOU HAVE LOST ME AS READER
Eric B. Strachan wrote to us last week in a fit of pique.
He was obviously angry about what he had read on the site. We repeat
the words of this e-mail to this site for the edification of our remaining
readers in extenso: “What a boring site! You have reduced yourself to being
a picture book with silly headlines: ‘Ken – the Miserable; Church
and State’. Who cares? I know your stated objective is to show
the PLP in a good light, but because of the lack of imagination from them,
you resort to a dumb down web site – sad. You lost another reader;
well at least until next election.”
It is unfortunate that the writer takes the view that because he disagrees with the opinions expressed here that he has to stop reading the site. This site and its predecessor site have always stood for the plurality of views, notwithstanding the fact that we clearly support the PLP. No other political site tries to present what actually took place in the country on a political level before making its opinions known about the events that transpired.
If you read an FNM website, it is simply a steady diet of diatribes and misinformation about the PLP, competing with the nasty paper The Punch. On this site, you have all the various perspectives given and then a pronouncement of our own opinion. You may disagree with that opinion but surely one can’t be so intolerant and narrow minded as to say that because you disagree with the opinions expressed here that the site is a “dumb down website”. Anyway, you are entitled to your opinion.
The fact is that there was never a pledge on this site to show the PLP in a good light. What we said is that we support the PLP. That support is not foolish support or uncritical support. And readers of the site will know that long before this current chorus of condemnation of the PLP for inaction and indecision by its political opponents, we tried on this site to warn of the possible torrent of criticism that was coming on that subject.
Last week as the PLP prepared to celebrate its first anniversary in office, and as they are in fact marking that first anniversary in office, the criticisms were coming fast and furious. All the dead hack politicians and would be leaders were engaging in an onslaught of criticism, some of it reasonable but most unreasonable. More importantly, the PLP public is expressing alarm and dissatisfaction. But you know; no one begrudges an Opposition party the right to criticize. They are simply doing what the PLP did after their double defeats in 1992 and 1997. You have to keep trying.
Two examples have come to our attention recently where the opponents who ran against Agatha Marcelle in South Beach and John Carey in Carmichael are still busy in the field. The FNM candidates Senator Desmond Banister and Senator Tanya McCartney see themselves in the same light that now Ministers Fred Mitchell and Melanie Griffin were in Fox Hill and Yamacraw respectively. FNM operatives tell this site that Senators Banister and McCartney are copying the styles of Mitchell and Griffin. They are continuing to work, despite their defeat in 2002. Their party has given them the high profile of Senate seats, and they are counting that arrogance will overtake the PLP Parliamentarians in those areas and cause them to stop doing their work, and ultimately they will be defeated at the next general election.
For Mr. Strachan’s information that paragraph will probably cause howls of protest in the PLP’s camp. But the fact is that the PLP had better know what is happening from their friends than wait for someone to rise up from the political grave like former MP Dr. Bernard Nottage desperately trying to make a place for himself in the present political milieu with outrageous condemnations of the PLP that he knows he cannot logically sustain.
One thing should always be paramount in the minds of every PLP politician. Do not believe your own propaganda. Always tell the truth to yourself. But also remember that the PLP is in this for the long haul. It has a thoroughly discredited opposition. But the PLP should not simply dismiss the talk shows as orchestrated by the FNM. Or dismiss the newspapers as simply pushing the FNM line. Some of the criticisms are too obvious to see, and the PLP must know in their hearts that some of it is correct. What the PLP should seek to do however is stay on course, remember how we got out of Opposition and resolve to never let it happen again. A loss for the PLP would be too bitter to contemplate. We think that the Chairman has mounted a valiant defence of the Party. We think Friday night’s head to head rally with the FNM showed that it is still PLP ALL THE WAY! The Prime Minister brought out the troops and from all accounts rose to the occasion.
And so brother Strachan, sorry to lose you as a reader but “dumb down” or not, for better or worse, this site continues to give our opinion on how we think life ought to develop in The Bahamas.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 3rd May 2003: 27,646.
Number of hits for the month of April to Wednesday 30th April 2003: 110,388.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 4th May 2003: 6,203.
Number of hits for the year 2003 up to Saturday 4th May 2003: 436,504.
PLP
FIRST ANNIVERSARY RALLY
The governing Progressive Liberal Party went into
rally mode this past weekend to mark the party's first anniversary in government,
with a gathering held at Arawak Cay in Nassau. Thousand gathered
to hear Prime Minister Perry Christie give an account of his stewardship
over the past year. Please click here for
the Prime Minister's remarks. Photo by Peter Ramsay.
SYMONETTE
SLAMMED BY THE PM
Brent Symonette is the example of the classic colloquialism
of a “smart ass”. His forte as politician is to constantly snipe
at the sidelines although up front and personal he appears gracious and
accommodating. And that was the approach that got the Prime Minister
on his case as the House of Assembly met to debate the Investment Funds
Bill on Wednesday 30th April.
The Prime Minister had had enough of the sniping.
He told Mr. Symonette that he knew that the objections he was making from
his seat were intellectually dishonest, and that it was the old UBP streak
coming out of him. He could not help it. The Prime Minister
told Mr. Symonette that he lacked the courage of his convictions, and that
he had surrendered his chance to speak from the front of the House by not
seeking to run for the Leadership of the FNM.
Mr. Symonette had accused the PM of leading people
to believe that the country would be better off under him knowing full
well the state of the economy when he made those promises. The PM
responded: He [Mr. Symonette] knows of course that he could speak all day
on all sorts of subjects and do so mischievously. I thought he had
the courage of his convictions and would have sought the leadership, where
he did not have to speak from the back, but from the front, but he surrendered
this.”
Our sentiments exactly.
NOTTAGE
WEIGHS IN ON THE GOVERNMENT
Every member of the dead was out this past week, weighing in with their
little bit of criticism on the Progressive Liberal Party and its leadership.
There was no surprise that the chief amongst the dead to come forward was
Dr Bernard Nottage, the so called Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition
for Democratic Reform, a company in chapter 11 bankruptcy that can’t get
the court of public opinion to give it a chance to come back and reorganize.
One last gasp came as follows in a speech to the Rotary Club of East Nassau
on Thursday 1st May 2003.
Dr. Nottage called upon the Prime Minister to do
the following: “Fire the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Neville
Wisdom, over the Junkanoo Bleacher incident; deal with the problems of
Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation and the very serious allegations
made by independent MP Whitney Bastian; explain the double speak of his
Ministers on the Bimini Bay development and the oil exploration and gas
pipeline issues, as well as the grouper protection policy; deal with the
gussimae Cabinet and the parliamentary secretaries, the board chairmen
and the paid consultants, having regard to the PLP’s criticism of the former
Government.”
Now that’s a something eh? The right in a
free country to criticize is one to be upheld. But you know that
these words of Dr. Nottage must have rung hollow as soon as he opened his
mouth to say them. Dr. Nottage is a bright man and he well knows
the facts on the table of all those matters that he raised. It is
only now a matter of political convenience to cause him to say the things
that he did.
GUILTY
VERDICT IN THE STRAW MARKET FIRE
The straw market fire gutted a Bahamian landmark. It put hundreds
of people out of work and cost the country millions of dollars of extra
expense that it did not need. A man was charged and has now been
convicted before a Justice of the Supreme Court. He has been remanded
to Sandilands. They had the goods on him. He was caught with
the gasoline in his hand. The problem is that he is playing crazy.
The jury first found him fit to plead and his refusal to plead was taken
as playing the fool. When the verdict came, he was put out of the
court because he started making animal noises and jumping up and down.
One psychiatrist said that he was a mild schizophrenic but the prison guards
say that he has all of his good sense and is only playing the ass.
Perhaps a stint in Sandilands may cause him to come to his senses.
In any event, he deserves a long prison sentence if he were in his right
mind at the time. Convict Cordney Gardiner is being shown led away from
court last week.
SARS
REVIEW IN THE BAHAMAS
The Consul General of The Bahamas in Hong Kong Freddie Tucker is back in
The Bahamas. He retuned last week after in his own judgment it was
considered unsafe for him to remain in Hong Kong due to the outbreak of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The Minister of Foreign
Affairs at a press conference shortly before the Minister’s departure for
Washington on Monday 28th April said that in accordance with the regime
of the World Health Organization Mr. Tucker would be away from work and
in quarantine for about ten days. He has no symptoms of the disease.
If after ten days there is no sign of any symptoms he will report to work
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As soon as the WHO pronounces
Hong Kong to be safe, the Consul General is expected to return to the office
there.
The Bahamas Government is conducting screening of
passengers from Toronto, Canada as well. Nurses greet the flights that
arrive from Toronto where there is a SARS outbreak. Each nurse presents
a questionnaire to individuals arriving about where they spent the last
days and symptoms of the disease. One tourist commented to the press
that the questioning was not very aggressive, like it was in Canada.
We agree. The Bahamas does not seem to be taking this matter as seriously
as it should given the one crop economy that we have. Donald Knowles'
Nassau Guardian photo shows Minister of Health Dr. Marcus Bethel at right
with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis (centre) and Dr. J.A.
McHardy of the Jamaican Medical Council reviewing the disease SARS during
the annual regional meeting of Chief Medical Officers held in Nassau recently.
MITCHELL
CALLS ON US NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
In what is believed to be the highest political
contact to the US Administration in the year in office apart from the meeting
with Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred
Mitchell met with the National Security Advisor to the President Condoleezza
Rice on Wednesday 30th April. The Minister described the meeting
as a fruitful and friendly exchange of views. The two subjects for
discussion were Cuba and Haiti.
MICHAEL
PINTARD’S NEW BOOK
Since election 2002, Michael Pintard, the FNM’s
Candidate against the Prime Minister in 1992 has become a writer and an
actor. He and former MP David Wallace had a laugh at the expense
of politicians in a number of shows in Grand Bahama and in Nassau.
Now he has a new book out on the same subject called ‘Politricks’.
The Bahama Journal showed a presentation of the book to its publisher Wendall
Jones in its Tuesday 29th April edition. Photo by Otis Forbes
THE
INVESTMENT FUNDS BILL
Allyson Gibson, the Minister of Financial Services
has successfully piloted another financial services bill through the House.
The new Investments Funds Bill assures appropriate supervision of Bahamas-based
mutual funds and was brought with the concurrence of industry. The
legislation has four primary purposes:
-To ensure full disclosure, having regard to the sophistication of
the investor;
-To ensure full compliance with the fit and proper test as it relates
to directors, investment managers and sponsors;
-To encourage further growth of this sector and;
-To ensure that the Bahamas remains at the cutting edge as a major
international centre for mutual funds.
Please
click here for Minister Maynard Gibson's presentation of the Bill in the
House of Assembly.
THE
FUTURE FOR HAITI
The intractable problem of what do about Haiti continues. In a real
sense, people are about to declare Haiti a failed state that has no prospect
of being able to get itself together in the near future. For almost
200 years that has been the case. Some people argue that there was
a glorious triumph over the troops of Napoleon with the revolt of the slaves,
but today many are saying that this is a hollow victory because the country
has never been able to get its act together. It has been a constant
source of migration of illiterate peasants to the countries in this hemisphere.
The Bahamas Government has spent a lot of money
just this past year in seeking to assist Haiti in getting on its feet politically.
The hope seems to be that if we are able to assist in the political problem
we should then get an opportunity to solve the economic problems.
But the diplomats are obviously now at the point of Haiti fatigue.
The special mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) has failed
to get either the Opposition or the Government there to advance its programme
forward. The two sides are as intractable as ever. And the
US Government is now floating unspecified initiatives to try and force
the hand of the Government of Haiti. In the last century, the American
marines were in the country on two occasions. Each time, there was
failure to leave anything lasting in place that would resemble progress.
Everyone seems to disagree with the US sending troops
into Haiti. The question is what can they do? All one can sensibly
say is that to disengage is not an option. We must continue to engage
until we find some light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps, at some
point in the future, only God knows when, the Haitians society will discover
that it has a bright future and will get its act together. Right
now President Jean Bertrand Aristide seems not see himself as the Haitian
hero general reincarnated, and therefore is mired in the history of the
past instead of the politics and realities of the present. It is
a pity that he is unable to rise above all of this and lead his nation
forward to its rightful place in world affairs.
NEW
TELEPHONE RATES COMING
Bradley Roberts, the Minister of Works and that responsible for the Utility
Corporations made an address last week in Grand Bahama in which he outlined
the strategy for the new telephone company even as privatization is going
ahead. Two major initiatives were announced: one is that the rate
rebalancing that was long promised is to come. This is because of
the complaints of our international partners that our long distance rates
are too high. They are to come down considerably although the result
is that the rental rates for telephones in homes and businesses will rise.
The Government has also now given the go ahead for
the cell phone system to be fixed by BaTelCo. The system is in overload
and is about to collapse because the technology has moved on. The
new gsm system is to be installed and this should improve considerably
the service that we get here in The Bahamas. You
may click here for the full address by the Minister.
Meanwhile, privatization continues apace with the
three bidders in and waiting. This site has opposed privatization
from the start. But it is going ahead. Waiting in the wings
is Cable and Wireless, the owners of the telephone systems in most of our
sister CARICOM countries and widely acknowledged to give the worst service
in the world. No one wants them here but like vultures they are sitting
in the air and waiting. They told The Tribune that if the privatization
talks fail, they would be willing to talk to the Government still about
buying BaTelCo.
TOMMY
CALLS TO DISMISS PLP MINISTERS
It is always an easy thing when you have no power to attack the other side
and prescribe medicine that you would not apply for yourself. Here
was Tommy Turnquest the Leader of the Free National Movement, prescribing
in the press that the Prime Minister ought to fire his Ministers.
There is a quote from the Bible that goes like this: “Physician Heal thyself.”
In case he doesn’t get it, Senator Tommy ought to know that the only person
who ought to be fired is himself. He has led a lacklustre, slack
Opposition for one year. He has not inspired a single soul to join
him or to say to themselves: ‘This is the place I want to be’.
Later in the week Senator Turnquest was at it again
when he gave the PLP an ‘F’ for their work during the first year in office.
Propaganda again! Here is what the Prime Minister had to say on the
subject: “The people who mark exams of politics in this country are the
people of the country and when Tommy Turnquest came to take his exam in
May last year, he couldn’t qualify to sit in the classroom.” Yes indeed!
HALKITIS
TELLS TOMMY APOLOGISE
The Free National Movement’s Tommy Turnquest has been all around gleefully
talking about how employment has dropped under the new Government.
He might well be right, except that though the Government accepts any responsibility
for it, the factors are outside of its control. But Senator Turnquest
ought to get his facts right. The Department of Statistics published
figures that show that unemployment rose from 6.8 percent of the work force
to 9 percent. The only catch is those figures relate to 2001-2002.
So Senator Turnquest was actually looking at figures during the last year
of his administration.
Michael Halkitis who is one of the brightest guys
we have in the PLP and is the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of
Finance, the department that supervises the Department of Statistics was
able to pick up the Senator’s mistake. But when the matter was put
to Senator Turnquest he still didn’t get it and started telling The Tribune
about loss of investor confidence. If that is the case then, clearly
the investors had lost confidence in the FNM Government of which he was
part. The job of the PLP today is to try to restore that confidence.
Mike Halkitis told Tommy Turnquest to apologize. The silence is deafening.
WHAT
CASSIUS STUART HAS TO SAY TO THE PLP
Now we don't put Cassius Stuart, the leader of The Bahamas Democratic Movement
(BDM) in the category of the Leaders of the Dead as we do Dr. Bernard Nottage
(see story above). But like
Dr. Nottage he too belongs in the big tent of the PLP. He has been
missing in action for some time, perhaps it was the wildness of the Carnival
that had him lost; but thank God he has now been found. Mr. Stuart
whose party went down to a defeat in duck egg form in 2002 (not even their
deposits back) has told the Nassau Guardian that the PLP is visionless.
This was part of the crew who were attacking the PLP on its first anniversary
in office. His vision is he wants an entrepreneurial culture fostered.
Hmmm! That's an original idea, or is it? We think that it was
the
Minister of Financial Services and Investment Allyson Gibson who has been
preaching that gospel. Here is the vision we have for Cassius Stuart.
How about joining the PLP and getting the nomination for a place that you
can win, and joining Messrs Pinder, Rigby, Halkitis, Smith and Carey, competing
for a real prize. If not, it’s only the Carnival that you might be
looking forward to in the coming years. That would be a pity.
THE
CATHOLIC BISHOPS VISIT
The Roman Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Burke will
be the host of his colleagues from the Caribbean including the Papal Nuncio
this week in Nassau. Photos from the Nassau Guardian.
FIRST
CARIBBEAN IN TROUBLE WITH SHAREHOLDERS
Julian Brown of Benchmark has been raising hell for weeks now on the share
value of First Caribbean, the bank that is the result of the merger of
Barclays and CIBC, recently approved by Caribbean Governments. This
site opposed the merger. At the time of the merger the shares of
CIBC were trading in Nassau at $12 per share. After the merger, the
share price fell to $6.10 per share where it now stands. By any account
that is a rip, no matter what First Caribbean tries to say.
Julian Brown told the Bahama Journal that something
stinks. We agree. Always thought it did. He continued:
“My point is if prior to the merger, they were using the consolidated value
of CIBC West Indies Holdings at $12 per share or some price thereabouts
in their consolidated statements being the principal owner of CIBC Bahamas
Limited, then how in the hell could they accept that prior to the merger
and then half the price after the merger?” Good question! Yeah!
How? It’s called Terry Hilts economics 101.
WHAT’S
HAPPENING WITH OUR ECONOMY
The Bahamas has in a way got a good report card for its performance over
the past year, even though in the usual economic world, it is a bad performance.
The Prime Minister tried to explain the facts of life when he addressed
the House of Wednesday 30th April, tired of all the sniping by the FNM
and in particular that rags to riches genius Brent Symonette. He
said that the Government had met 36 million dollars in unpaid bills when
it came to office. He said that the Government had to borrow 125
million dollars in order to keep the country afloat during the past fiscal
year. Despite all of that, however, we have not defaulted on any
of our obligations and the budget deficit outcome this year is expected
to be $140 million which is less than the $186 million originally predicted.
That is what we mean by a good report.
The fact is that this good report has come at a
price. There has been deferred maintenance, which shows on all the
public buildings. There is a difficulty in purchasing new equipment
that is badly needed. However, where it is worst is the fact the
public sector cannot hire new people, and the sector is suffering for it.
In the professional areas, this will become most acute in the future when
the gaps in knowledge start to appear.
This is not an easy time for the country, and the
FNM is in the worst position to criticize. This is the time to work
and to hope and pray that all the initiatives that appear to be on the
horizon in terms of investment will come to some fruition. We expect
another year of slow growth, but with some good fortune we may touch it
out again. This is an important message because the wage pressure
of the public sector unions is likely to create some difficulties for the
Government this year. There is a feeling that because the Government
is getting a good report in one sense, and is talking about the new projects
that all is well and that salary demands can be met. So we strike
here a word of caution, that we are not out of the woods yet. Tourists
walk by the new Ministry of Tourism Welcome Centre on Prince George dock
in this Bahama Journal photo.
THE
PINDLING LECTURE
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell fresh
from a week long official visit to Washington, is to be the guest speaker
at the Distinguished Lecture hosted by the College of The Bahamas and the
Sir Lynden O. Pindling Foundation. The topic of the lecture will
be: ‘What it means to be Bahamian’. The lecture is on Monday 5th
May at 7:30 p.m. at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts.
US
WRONG ON COPYRIGHT LAWS
The United States Trade Office that deals with copyright
matters and intellectual property in its international dimension has put
The Bahamas on a priority watch list of countries that are not cooperating
with the US in protecting US owned intellectual property. The Bahamas
has been in this kind of difficulty for some time and had hoped that by
a letter sent to the office on 15th April this could be avoided.
The Ministry of Financial Services Minister Allyson Gibson has been the
point person on this matter for the Government, trying to pick up the pieces
left by the Free National Movement that negotiated a bill with the US in
2000 but failed to pass it into law. The new Government saw an exchange
of notes between the sides and has concluded that the matter has to be
concluded along the line of the exchange of notes between the two states.
The country is bound by it.
When the Copyright Act of 1998 came into force in
the year 2000, it changed the old Copyright legislation of 1956 in one
fundamental respect. It initiated a concept called compulsory licencing
for the use of programming obtained by satellite and distributed by cable.
That meant that even if you owned the intellectual property, the users
of the property could use it provided they were licenced in the country
that they picked up the signal and they then paid a fee to the Tribunal
established in The Bahamas to compensate the copyright owners for the use
of their material. The Tribunal here now reportedly has some $700,000 in
an account for the copyright owners. The US Government says that
this is contrary to their law and also contrary to the Berne Convention
on copyright. The Bahamas says that it is in complete conformity
with the Convention.
The main problem in The Bahamas is Cable Bahamas.
There are many Government supporters who think that Cable Bahamas has been
unlawfully using the property of others for years, came into the Bahamian
market without properly researching the conditions and found that they
could not legitimately get the signals for programming that they needed.
Then, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham passed a law which seemed only
to legitimize the stealing activity in which Cable Bahamas was involved.
PLPs are angry that the now Bahamas Government finds
itself bound to protect that which under law before 2000 would have been
the unauthorized use of the property of others. Nevertheless the
Minister indicated that she would move ahead with the bill and pass it
into law before the session is complete for the summer. It is unlikely
to be brought into force until such time as the industry in the US complies
with its part of the bargain to have good faith negotiations to licence
Cable Bahamas. The industry refuses to get involved and the US Government
says they can’t force them to do so. The industry in the US maintains
that it will not participate in an exercise that legitimizes the very thing
that they are fighting against.
You may click on to www.ustr.gov, then 2003 priority
report, then Bahamas for the full Monty on this thing. The Bahamas
is in good company of course because the European Union is listed there.
Ultimately if the matter is not resolved, the export of crawfish to the
US from The Bahamas now valued at some 64 million dollars per annum to
our fishermen may be at risk. The argument is that saving Cable Bahamas
is not worth it. Some have also advised that if The Bahamas drops
compulsory licencing all together from the regime of the Bill, the industry
in the US would forget the whole thing anyway because the revenues from
Cable Bahamas and the hotels and private users in The Bahamas are small
potatoes and not worth the time, effort or money. The compulsory
licence law if it succeeds will simply set a precedent for other countries
to follow.
THE
FNM CONVENTION IS COMING
The Chairman of the FNM Dwight Sawyer (pictured) announced last week that
the FNM’s convention will be held beginning 7th May and will end on 10th
May. During that time he says that the FNM will be charting its new
course for the future and repositioning the party to retake the Government
from the Progressive Liberal Party. The FNM’s ads have been running,
quite cleverly in one case during the Prime Minister’s interview on Parliament
Street on Island FM last Sunday. There was the Prime Minister expounding
on his policies while the FNM’s ad was saying how the PLP had deceived
the Bahamian people into voting for them last year. This kind of
sleight of hand does not help. What you need is policies and programmes
that are an alternative to what the PLP proposes.
There is no doubt about what the themes will be
for the FNM convention. It will be that the PLP has fallen flat on
its face. Their leader Senator Tommy Turnquest was in the newspapers
giving advice to the Prime Minister that he must fire his Ministers because
he claimed that the country is simply drifting round aimlessly. We
reply; it takes an aimless drifter to know an aimless drifter. The
fact is that Senator Turnquest is the best of a bad situation for the Free
National Movement at this time. They are in despair, having been
led into the abyss by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, they can’t
seem to escape his clutches. Senator Turnquest is part of the problem
of aimlessness in the FNM. He does not have the ability to inspire
the troops, and in Grand Bahama there is almost a full scale revolt over
the ham fisted way in which Mr. Ingraham and Senator Turnquest forced Brent
Symonette out of the race for leader.
And so during this coming week, you can expect all
kinds of opprobrium and scorn heaped on the PLP. There may even be
some amusing moments. But rest assured it is still too early in the
game and the FNM needs a fundamental retooling that no amount of slick
public relations and ra ra will help them with. The theme of the
convention is ‘The Way Forward…United and Ignited’. We don’t know
about any of the former but ignited possibly. We hope that since
they like the fire imagery so much that their torch has not ignited them
so much that the whole house doesn’t burn down in the process.
FORMER
MINISTERS RUNNING FOR ANY FNM POST
As the Free National Movement’s Biennial convention begins on 7th May,
one can’t help but have a certain sense of amusement at the list and cast
of FNM characters, mostly former Ministers of the Government who are lining
up for FNM party posts. It is clear that in their own minds their
political careers did not come to an end when they were ignominiously defeated
last year by the PLP. And to tell you the truth, it was a mistake
for anyone to have so asserted last year and to still assert. Notwithstanding
that concession, it still smacks a little like desperation as every day
in the newspapers some former FNM Minister is announcing with studied coyness
that he or she intends to run for a post in the party when the convention
comes. The question is just what post. No one seems to know.
Carl Bethel, the former and hapless Attorney General,
who many think will run for Chairman, told the press in April, that he
intended to run but he did not know for what post. Former Minister
for Public Service and Culture Theresa Moxey has indicated that she too
is interested in a post. What post? Well she didn’t quite say.
And then there is the ever voluble and opinionated wonder boy of the FNM
the former Minister for Education Zhivargo Laing, languishing in Freeport
with his eyes on someone else’s seat in Grand Bahama. He too put
his hat in the ring, in a kind of way by saying that he too will run.
What post? He was not sure either.
The only persons who seem to be sure are the ones
already declared and the only one who withdrew from the race before he
even got started. They are; Zendal Forbes, the COB Lecturer who is
set to run for Leader of the FNM, former Senator Sidney Collie who is to
run for the office of Deputy Leader. And finally there is Brent Symonette,
the now Opposition whip and leader of their business in the House, who
withdrew last week from the race over the question of his race. In
the wings of course, is the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who is
busy pulling the strings of Tommy Turnquest hoping to preserve a party
ready for the taking back in 2007 when in his opinion the PLP will implode.
Well dream on my brother!
Late word has it that Carl Bethel (pictured in
this Bahama Journal photo by Otis Forbes) has finally decided to take
on former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s man the incumbent Dwight Sawyer
for the post of FNM Chairman. The latest news from the street is that
Dwight Sawyer will not run again for Chairman and that Zhivargo Laing is
emerging as the competition for Carl Bethel for the post.
THE
KERZNERS UP THE PRESSURE
Paradise Island under Sol Kerzner has never done better. It has made
the largest profits in the history of the company so you would think that
shareholders should be happy and all should be well with The Bahamas.
But as it happens, all is well and then again all is not well. The
project needs to expand and the company has been waiting for a decision
of the Government to go ahead with the expansion. There is a need
for additional concessions. Given the political sensitivity of this
and the PLP's history of public criticism of too any concessions, there
is a tough decision in front of the Government. The question is whether
or not a company that is up and running and making oodles of money should
be provided with concessions to the extent of the last concessions granted.
From the Kerzner side of the equation, the answer is obvious and in recent
weeks, they have not been shy in saying so.
One report after another in The Tribune appears
to be mounting the pressure on the Government to make a decision.
The company’s first quarter earnings report was issued this week to Wall
Street. In it, the Company said that while it beat the revenue targets
over last year, the company lost some 1.8 million dollars in operating
income because of the Iraq war and another $1.2 million because of the
increase in oil prices. They then said that this proves that the
utility costs and labour costs in The Bahamas are high and investors have
to wait a long time before they can turn a profit. Earnings in 2003
for the first quarter were $144.6 million compared with $143.8 million
last year.
Butch Kerzner, the President of the Company said
of the new deal with the Government: “Behind the scenes progress, obviously
very slowly is being made with the Government over the phase III expansion.”
The Government of course must proceed carefully so that it is not hoodwinked
into a deal that costs the country more than its worth. But there are those
who are presenting the compelling argument that given that the unemployment
figures are rising, and complaints are coming fast and furious, there is
a need to create jobs and since Kerzner is the only game in town at the
moment, the answer should be obvious to the Government as well as to what
to say and do. Tribune photo of Sol (seated) and Butch Kerzner.
BACARDI
EMPLOYEES RETURN TO WORK
It appears that the long and difficult strike and
the hard words may be over at Bacardi. The company’s employees went
out on strike and vowed to stay out as long as it takes. During the
last week, Bacardi announced that the striking workers were not welcome
back to the plant. Now the Nassau Guardian reports that after consultations
at the Ministry of Labour, it appears that the workers will be back on
Monday 5th May. We hope so. We certainly need the jobs and
Bacardi is an important employer in this country.
BLACKOUTS
AND THE WATER SHORTAGE
The utility companies in The Bahamas are famous
for one thing. They can always tell you why the utility companies do not
deliver the services and products that they are supposed to deliver.
The only trouble is they can’t keep the supplies going. This has
been so in living memory and of course this column has not been shy in
saying what the solution is to the Bahamas Electricity Corporation whose
management defy the Government’s directives, who don’t seem to give a hoot
about the Bahamian pubic that they serve, and who have taken the company
from bad to worse.
Despite all the glowing promises from the management
of BEC about no load shedding this summer, those promises have proven to
be lies, just like last year’s promises. There is now load shedding
again this year, just as the country faces a hot summer. The Corporation
will be load shedding for three hours at a time in New Providence, and
there are large swaths of blacked out areas in the capital city.
This is ridiculous. We won’t even go into all the idle stories about
why it is happening, the fact is that it is happening. The PLP government
is being embarrassed by incompetence.
Switch now to the Water and Sewerage Corporation.
They too have a tale of woes to tell. One is a little more sympathetic
to them because they have been under capitalized from the start, but not
much sympathy. There is not enough water being delivered to serve
the people of New Providence. Lots of stories about broken down barges,
and water pumps leaking and lack of storage capacity, and even BEC is at
fault in this one since there is an electrical problem with one of the
pumps. But Lord have mercy on us. Here we are living in a modern
country supposedly and still toting water because there is nothing coming
through the pipes.
KYESHON
PAINTS THE PRIME MINISTER
Kyeshon, the local artist of some note and her husband
were on hand with a school student Friday night 2nd May, 2003 at the PLP's
first anniversary celebration rally at Arawak Cay. Kyeshon presented
Prime Minister Christie with a portrait of himself in honour of the government's
first anniversary in office. Photo by Peter Ramsay.
CONDOLENCES
Condolences to our friend Louis Hanchell,
former General Manager of ZNS and current Chairman of the Licencing Authority
on the loss of his mother, Effie May Archer. She was 98. Funeral
services will be held at Ebenezer Methodist Church, Shirley Street, Nassau
on Wednesday 7th May at 4 p.m. Our deepest sympathies to Louis and
the rest of the family.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Condolences to our friend Kelly Burrows - on the death of his
mother, Catherine Burrows, age 90. Mrs. Burrows died on Wednesday
30th April and will be buried on Saturday at the Church of God in Nassau.
Our deepest sympathy to son Kelly and the rest of the family.
HAS ANYTHING REALLY CHANGED?
Matthew 25:24-25 "Then he which had received the one talent came and
said, Lord I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast
not sown and gathering where thou had not strawed: And I was afraid
and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine."
The above-mentioned parable aptly describes the position the new PLP finds itself in one year later as it reflects in its first anniversary as government. Before being sent in to political exile, the PLP was government for twenty-five consecutive years under the able leadership of the late Sir Lynden Pindling.
It was generally believed that the PLP had become indulgent and corrupt and was unresponsive to the needs of the masses and was unable to police itself. And so, in 1992 the people had to police themselves and sent the PLP into political exile.
For a nine-year period the FNM was in office, it is generally believed that they did a good job in its first five-year term as government. They were rewarded by the people with an even greater margin of victory and with this victory they immediately became intoxicated with the power that was given them. Along the way in that second term corruption was allowed to rear its ugly head. There was a general belief that the government was looking out for foreign interests first as opposed to the interests of the Bahamian people. So, the people at the first opportunity voted them out en masse. With that went every seat in New Providence save that of Brent Symonette, the MP for Montagu.
To the credit of the Bahamian people, not one blow was struck, nor a shot fired, nor a life lost in carrying out the change that was deemed necessary.
When the people elected the PLP on May 2nd, it was their expectation that they were voting for a new PLP; but this was not the case when Mr. Baltron Bethel and George Smith were given key appointments in the new PLP administration. To its shame there was not found one dissenting voice in the PLP among its Parliamentary group to object to these appointments.
Now the question must be asked, “Has the party learn anything from its past experiences?” Secondly, the complaint was made that the FNM did not consult with the people on any major issue, but in this new administration, we find the extreme to the other end with the appointment of endless commissions. For this reason, no major initiative has been advanced keeping in mind that 20% of the allotted time has now elapsed. At some point, the government will have to lead and not follow.
Finally, if one looks at the makeup of this new PLP cabinet given the
academic qualifications and business experiences of its members, one would
have thought that we have a 'DREAM TEAM'. The old people in the Bahamas
have a saying that 'education ain't sense'. So unless we have some
major movement and less posturing, the Bahamian people will continue to
feel that not enough is being done to propel the country through these
trying times.
In conclusion, the Bahamian people will judge harshly their leaders
if they return to them the one talent that was given. “Lo, there
thou hast that is thine.
At some point, the government will have to lead and not follow.
BS
  |
| PHOTOS OF THE WEEK - We thought that this week we ought to try something a little different in this feature. The photos of the week are a compare and contrast between the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and our now Prime Minister Perry Christie. We ask you to e mail us and tell us who looks the best. We think that a safe guess is not Hubert Ingraham. The Ingraham photo was taken when he was presented by the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom with an Honorary Degree. Perry Christie was taken in his robes as he gave the commencement address to the West Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the address, he urged those of average academic achievement to succeed. But while we were interested in what we had to say, the positive comparison in favour of Mr. Christie as against that horrid picture of Mr. Ingraham was just too much to pass up. The photo of Mr. Christie is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. The Ingraham photo is a file photo from the University. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE NEXT YEAR
Hopefully all the rah rah connected with the PLP’s first year in
office is over, and the real serious work of Government now begins in earnest.
There is still a bit of a disconnect between voter and leadership over
the changes that were supposed to take place and the pace of that change
but the PLP’s leaders were still able to bring out a crowd when called
upon to do so on the evening of the first anniversary of their return to
power. The hard work of Government has taken some of the glow off,
and there are rumbles in the Prime Minister's camp of a Cabinet reshuffle
but the crowd on Arawak Cay for the rally on Friday 2nd May showed that
the old magic is still there.
Thank goodness that dreadfully boring convention of the Free National Movement has ended. The FNM started their convention in the middle of the basketball championships in the United States. Poor old Senator Tommy Turnquest who won his re election in what must have been an infra dig skirmish with Zendal Forbes, the lecturer at the College of The Bahamas, had the distinction of speaking on the final night of the convention opposite a basketball game involving the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are The Bahamas’ favourite team because Bahamian Rick Fox plays for them and before him Bahamian Michael Thompson was their centre.
The Lakers were in a desperate fight to survive but all is well there but Bahamians were riveted to that rather than listening to Tommy Tucker sing for his supper.
The FNM clearly timed their convention at a time when the PLP would be celebrating its first anniversary. The convention had all the has been ministers on the platform, dissing the PLP about one thing or another. None of them owned up to the fact that what we are experiencing in economic terms today, they are largely responsible for. The smartest of the bunch is of course Zhivargo Laing, too smart if you ask us for his own good and still trying to play economist.
But back to Senator Turnquest. Here he was on the talk show circuit all last week, trying to show what a great guy he was and how fit for the job he was. The best one liner of the week was out of his mouth: “I am my own man”. Well thanks for telling us, one wife and two children later, almost fifty years old and he has just discovered that he is his own man.
Alvin Smith, the Leader of the Opposition, who can’t normally climb his way out of a one foot hole with a map, was busy attacking Perry Christie and asking the country: “Where is the beef?” Huh?! Other one-liners about Mr. Christie’s alleged indecisiveness may have gotten a good laugh but where does that take the Opposition party? It had no programmes to offer the Bahamian people. No wonder the grim faced, miserable faced Ken Russell, the MP for High Rock said that he had nothing to smile about.
There was the FNM, cut loose from Mr. Ingraham, at least publicly, not making much of a ripple, unable to say where it ought to go. Sad indeed.
The PLP now has its work cut out for it. No more head in the sand. The efforts to put the PLP’s people in place must continue. The pace has been too slow. But we want to make it clear that at the end of the day, the PLP is clearly the better choice than that rag tag bunch that put on that sorry show last week that they called a convention.
The next year will be challenging but the challenges must be met by the PLP or face the wrath of voters and its supporters this time next year.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 10th May 2003 at midnight: 37,172.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 10th May at midnight: 43,366.
Number of hits for the year up to Saturday 10th May at midnight:
473,667.
THE
FNM’S BORING CONVENTION
The PLP watched in silence and in horror as the usual suspects rounded
themselves up into a frenzy during the week of their convention last week.
The FNM ought to be ashamed of themselves. They offered no future
for the country, just a pile of lies and misinterpretations and an attempt
to rewrite history.
It cannot be that the party that is one year out
of Government could seek to exonerate itself by simply saying that the
economy is bad now because they are not there; that they left the economy
in good shape when they were defeated in the year 2002. Let’s take
one simple fact. The FNM keeps talking about the drop in employment.
The PLP does not dispute that there is a drop in employment, but the fact
is that the drop in employment that they are talking about began in the
last year of their term of office. So if any one is responsible for
what is going on now in the economy, the rot started when they were there.
The fact is that 2002 was a difficult year for the
FNM. The economy of the US was clearly going into a recession.
What did the FNM do? They tried to do what they did in 1997 when
they ran up a deficit of $147,000,000, the largest in the history of the
country to purchase the 1997 general election. Their attempt to purchase
the 2002 election failed. The country rejected the politics of purchase.
Now the purchase kings are back, trying to hoodwink the Bahamian people
that they really have their interests at heart.
First, people who passed by the Crystal Palace should
not be fooled. All those cars were there for the Drifter’s concert,
not the FNM convention. Secondly, when you look at this team Leader
and Deputy Leader, just where does the FNM expect that team to take us?
Certainly nothing at the convention gives us any comfort that there is
any future in that party, no visions, no ideas. What they are interested
in is PLP bashing, settling old scores.
Here is a question we pose to the FNM: if the FNM
did all the things they said and left the country in such good shape, how
come the people voted against them in 2002, and why are they not the Government
today? Workers finish the FNM convention hall in this Tribune photo
by Felipe Major.
THANKS
TO KEN RUSSELL
Ken, the miserable as he has been dubbed, was one
of the stars of the FNM convention. That shows how desperate things
have gotten. Mr. Russell, the MP for High Rock, took time out from
his busy speech, to tell the public how bahamasuncensored, this site, had
said that he does not smile. He said that he wanted to inform this
site that since the PLP has come to power, he has nothing to smile about.
Thanks for nothing Ken. But we can say how we are all the more wise
as to why the title Ken, the Miserable so aptly fits. Bahama Journal
photo of Kenneth Russell by Otis Forbes.
THE STEAM
TEAM
What can you say about that team that is now to
lead the Free National Movement back to electoral victory? Senator
Tommy Turnquest is the Leader of the FNM. He does not even have a
seat in Parliament. Sidney Collie (pictured in this Guardian photo)
is the Deputy Leader, unopposed. That should tell you something.
He does not have a seat anywhere but in his law office. And then
there is Carl Bethel. Well what can you say about Carl Bethel - absolutely
nothing. And this is to be the team that will lead us into the Promised
Land? There must not be much to look forward too in that promised
land. We have dubbed them the “Steam Team” all hot air, puffs of
smoke, sound and fury and no action. This surely can’t be the FNM’s
Dream Team, unless it’s a nightmare.
ZENDAL
FORBES NOMINATES
You have to give him ‘A’ for effort and ‘B’ for bravery. We are talking
about the lecturer at the College of The Bahamas Zendal Forbes for challenging
the status quo at the Free National Movement’s convention. With all
the other challengers dropping out like flies and despite considerable
odds against him, he stuck to his guns was nominated and ran against Senator
Tommy Turnquest for the Leadership of the FNM. Given the dry alternatives
available in that party for leadership, he would have been a breath of
fresh air.
According to the Nassau Guardian Mr. Forbes got
32 votes to Senator Turnquest’s 320 votes. That Senator Turnquest
should suffer the indignity of having to submit to a contest must have
been excruciatingly embarrassing. But he put a brave face on it,
by posing for a mug shot in the Nassau Guardian with Mr. Forbes.
Once again we congratulate Mr. Forbes for his bravery. We feel sorry for
the FNM that they missed their chance to get a fresh new leader. Nassau
Guardian photo of Mr. Forbes and fellow candidate Senator Turnquest.
BEC
BLACKOUTS: AN EXPLANATION
The Minister responsible for the Bahamas Electricity
Corporation (BEC) and the General Manager of the Corporation happen to
have the same names: Bradley Roberts. Both Roberts (not related)
were on the hustings over the past week with explanations as to why BEC
failed the Bahamian public for three days in the first weekend in May and
left New Providence reeling from blackouts and load shedding. The
Minister made it clear that there were historic reasons for the difficulties
and a combination of back luck in the present. Three machines were
down in one day and the result was disaster. Two were out because
of scheduled maintenance and one simply broke down even after a maintenance
bill of $250,000 by the manufacturers.
The background is that the previous Government despite
the advice of the Board of Directors and the management at the time bought
a machine that was not adequate for the job. A second was even ordered.
The machines have never worked properly. The other Mr. Roberts, the
General Manager, told a radio audience that scheduled maintenance caused
the problems. He said that the machines had to go out of commission
to get maintenance overhauls. The problem, said the unions, with
that is that the scheduled maintenance should have happened during the
off season and not during the beginning of the peak season as we head into
summer. Who knows?
What we do know is the lights are now back on.
For how long they will be on only God knows. But the Minister should
expose the FNM for their folly at BEC. As they say in The Bahamas:
“Bark their behinds”. The story is one of a breach of trust of the
Bahamian people and public monies by the previous administration.
It should be exposed for all to see.
MITCHELL’S
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
It was quite a scene at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts when
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell spoke on the topic ‘WHAT IT MEANS
TO BE A BAHAMIAN?’ The Minister spoke at the Distinguished Lecture
series put on by the Sir Lynden O. Pindling Foundation on Monday 5th May.
The lecture looked at the legal definition of Bahamian and the social and
cultural definitions including race, social class and national origin.
Dr. Gail Saunders who has written extensively on
the subject and is the Director of the Archives was present. In the
question and answer period she pointed out that money could purchase your
colour in one sense in The Bahamas. She told the story of Sir Roland
Symonette who was a brown man from a poor Family Island community who came
to Nassau, made money and then turned from brown to white. Sir Roland
was the country's first Premier and the father of the now Opposition whip
Brent Symonette.
BIS photo by Peter Ramsay.
You may click here
for Minister Mitchell's full lecture.
A
CARICOM STATEMENT ON CUBA
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell pronounced himself
pleased at the successful efforts of The Bahamas Government to ensure that
a strong statement was issued on Cuba out of the CARICOM Foreign Minister’s
conference in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The Foreign Ministers were
meeting from Thursday 8th May to Friday 9th May to fashion the agenda for
the Heads of Government conference coming up in Montego Bay, Jamaica in
July. On 4th July CARICOM will celebrate the 30th anniversary of
its founding.
CARICOM had never before issued a public statement
that was even remotely critical of Cuba, even though it is always able
to muster up strong statements against the United States. The statement
struck a balance that shows notwithstanding the inveterate and irrational
policy of the US Government toward Cuba, that is no excuse for CARICOM
to shirk its responsibility to stand up for the values of democracy, openness
and justice. Cuba stands rightly condemned for the action of executing
three hijackers of a ferry in Cuba and in imprisoning 78 dissidents for
long prison sentences simply because they spoke to American diplomats or
got money from persons abroad to support the opening of political debate
in Cuba. Their actions are reprehensible and up to now, so was the
silence of CARICOM. It took too long to make a statement but better
late than never.
Please click here
for the full CARICOM statement.
McEWAN
LOSES HIS APPEAL
The campaigner for the secret ballot has lost his
appeal in the final Court of Appeal the Privy Council. It was announced
this week that his petition for appeal was dismissed by the Privy Council
on 27th February. No reason was given for the dismissal. Mr.
McEwan won round one against the Government just before the last General
election when he got a preliminary injunction to stop the election from
going ahead because the numbering system on the ballots may have compromised
the secrecy of the ballot. That order was overturned. The matter
was then dismissed on the merits at first instance and in the Court of
Appeal.
No word on what he plans to do next, but we agree
with him that the ballot is not secret and the law needs to be changed
to eliminate the numbering system. The whole point was demonstrated
when the Court went into the ballot box during the Election Court case
against MICAL MP Alfred Gray. The Court removed the ballots of all
those persons who it said were not properly registered voters and then
recounted the ballots instead of holding the election again. Nevertheless
the Court has spoken and Mr. McEwan must now go back to the drawing board.
ZHIVARGO
THE ECONOMIST
If you let a fellow get away with something, then it continues to repeat
itself in the public domain as if it is the truth. That is the situation
that faces us with Zhivargo Laing, the would be economist, who tried to
mislead the Bahamian people at his party’s convention on Thursday 8th May.
Mr. Laing has obviously not learned one thing from
his defeat last year. He has turned tail and run to Freeport to hide
out from the licking he received in Ft. Charlotte. The lesson that
he ought to have learned is that arrogance does not pay. When he
jumped up from a $23,000 a year job as a lowly senior clerk in the Prime
Minister's office to a Minister of the Government overnight, he obviously
thought he had died and gone to heaven. This is amazing really for
man who was supposed to have been a born again Christian and guided by
Christian principles. He promptly appeared to forget all that and
became a willing mouthpiece for the god Hubert Ingraham. In between,
he made a nuisance of himself in the House of Assembly in the puerile acts
of interfering with speakers in the House from his seat in the benches.
Now Mr. Laing is furthering his career as a would
be economist from the sidelines. We say would be because the last
time he called himself an economist, there were howls of protests from
his contemporaries. Mr. Laing told his convention that the International
Monetary Fund warned the PLP that investments are falling off and that
the deficit needs to be reduced. This he says will mean cuts in services
and subsidies for the public corporations. He said it could also
mean that the teachers will not get the $1200 increase in salary slated
for 1st July.
Now; some facts.
The IMF uses information in its analysis supplied
by the Government. The Government was therefore aware of the facts
well before the IMF came. In that respect, the IMF told the Government
nothing that it did not already know. Mr. Laing knows that the deficit
is a lingering one from the spending patterns of the FNM in 2000, 2001
and 2002, in order for the FNM to buy the election of 2002. That
effort failed. They knew that the revenue was falling and that the
US economy was going into recession but refused to cut back public spending,
and negotiated inflationary contracts with the public sector unions.
For his information, the Prime Minister informed both the Bahamas Public
Services Union and the Bahamas Union of Teachers that the $1200 salary
increase was unlikely to be paid as early as Christmas 2002. He did
this as he agreed to the increases in salary at that time.
Mr. Laing ought to stick to what he knows best,
praying.
Bahama Journal photo of Zhivargo Laing by Otis Forbes.
SEX
IN THE BAHAMAS—A QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Craig Butler, one of the Sir Milo Butler grandchildren,
writes an interesting weekly column in the Nassau Guardian. It continues
his family’s tradition of public service. This week, he wrote about
Sex in The Bahamas and referred to the anti AIDS campaign in the Bahamas
with its new signs and slogans “ Protect ya tings”. But in the context
of a discussion on sex etc. etc., we found the juxtaposition of this quote
interesting from Mr. Butler:
“I am a large man, extra extra large as a matter
of fact but because of that I know what I should and should not wear.”
The quote of the week.
Hmmm!
ALVIN
THE HATCHET MAN
One time the FNM had a problem in the Senate.
A resolution that they proposed to bring was going to cause trouble and
they needed a strategy of delay to empty the public galleries that had
come to put pressure on them. Solution! They asked Alvin Smith,
then a Senator to speak. Within fifteen minutes the whole gallery
of the Senate was empty. One FNM Senator called it their Smitty strategy.
So that must be the strategy they had in mind when the FNM put the FNM’s
Leader of the Opposition, not Leader of the Party to speak at the Convention
last week.
Here is what Mr. Smith was quoted as saying: “Each
time the present Prime Minister speaks, I listen attentively to him with
the hope that he would say one sentence that could be used to substantiate
his claim to dynamic leadership and after he has spoken ad nauseum, I find
myself asking the Prime Minister: Where is the beef?”
Now some facts.
First of all: Where is the beef is a line he stole
from the Presidential campaign of Walter Mondale who went down to smoking
defeat against Ronald Reagan in 1980. So he can’t even come up with
an original line. Secondly, who can speak more ad nauseum that the
Leader of the Opposition?
Let’s not forget the Smitty strategy of his own
party, it was a strategy devised to run people out of the Senate.
We hope for the FNM's sake they rethink the Smitty strategy, and put him
to rest before they run the rest of the public away from their party.
RESPONSES
TO THE COLUMN
This thoughtful piece from Dana Braynen on the
FNM Convention -
The first year under the PLP Administration is
now history and while there has been any number of criticisms, the constitutional
mandate remains five years. One would recall that during the greater
part of the first five year term, the former government was continually
described as an interim government. We all know what in fact transpired.
One of the problems that will continue
to bedevil the Official Opposition is that while their duty is to constructively
oppose, one gets the clear impression that there is a lot of intellectual
dishonesty in their opposition which is why so frequently rather than advancing
the cause of Bahamians, they are continually suffering the embarrassment
of being rebuffed when making contributions in parliament. The result
is that The Bahamas suffers, because somewhere along the way we seem to
have forgotten that the Opposition forms a part of the government. Certainly,
if the Leader of the Opposition is being paid from the public purse, then
we should require better than we have seen thus far in that position.
Unfortunately, as is seen below this amounts to a circular argument.
What also seems to have escaped attention
is that history is repeating itself right before our eyes in that the Opposition
is right to back to where it started with respect to the leadership question.
Yet again we all know what was required to get over that road bump, and
unless thoughtful introspection is to be had at the convention, despite
what may be perceived as the government's deficiencies, they had better
be prepared to spend another quarter century in the wilderness. In
this regard, those who like to quote the Bible should be aware of the fortunes
of the Hebrews after exiting Egypt or history will once again have to repeat
itself by providing for an Independent with ties to other side to lead
them to victory.
A comment from R. Waskew of Mt. Pleasant
Village on Dr. B.J. Nottage –
First, I would like to remind the former Member
of Parliament for Kennedy of a few things. When you ran in 1997 you
almost didn’t get your seat. But God gave you a second chance and
put you back in place to help the constituents. Somewhere along the
line, you forget that GOD sets up and HE takes down. Against the
wishes of many you left the Progressive Liberal Party and formed your own.
I ask you to be honest with yourself and exam the course YOU choose.
Was it what God called you too??? Surely when you got the results,
it must have crossed your mind that you didn’t do your job in Kennedy.
As one of 4 candidates for that area, YOU SIR came in dead last.
Now as an intelligent man, do you think your time now should be spent criticising
the government of the day??? I might be better spent asking how you
can help.
Secondly, listening to the talk shows one wonders
how intelligent we are as a people?? I vividly recall in 1992 when
the Free National Movement came into power, the first thing they told us
was, they couldn’t get going on the promises made in their manifesto because
they first had to clean up the mess left by the former administration.
Then came the hurricane. For FIVE years they kept using the excuse
of either the “mess left by the PLP” and/or “recovering from the
hurricane”. We the public bought into that and gave the FNM another
FIVE years to get on with not only the first manifesto but the second one
as well.
So why do we expect the new PLP to have completed
a task [that the FNM had yet to complete themselves] in ONE YEAR???
I must commend the lady on Five Cents who intelligently said, “they just
got in, they no more time, give them a chance”.
It is becoming sickening to hear persons say
things like “they aren’t doing anything”, “all they did was make promises”
and, “all the PM doing is talking, He can’t make a decision, too
many committees”. One ‘smart’ person gave the government an
“F”; when asked why they said “I don’t’ know, I just give them an “F”;
what utter foolishness!! If less time were spent on idle talk
and more on assisting the government [no matter which party] with policymaking
we would be better off.
And finally to the former MP’s, you should be
ashamed to open your mouths and talk about what should have been done by
now. You know very well that when one administration leaves office,
the other is expected to carry out the policies put in place prior to an
election. This is true in all democratic countries of the world.
An administration doesn’t take office and immediately move on their own
agenda, they must as good stewards allow the business of the country to
make a smooth transition. This means contracts, Heads of Agreement
and the like still need to be signed on behalf of the PEOPLE OF THE BAHAMAS
not a political party. So please assist with constructive criticism
or SHUT UP!!!
To all BAHAMIANS, stop criticising and instead
find out how you can help to move things along. We so love to quote
John F. Kennedy “ Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you
can do for your country”. Maybe it’s time to LIVE IT rather than
QUOTE IT.
EXPULSIONS
COMING IN THE FNM
It appears that all hope of reconciliation between
the Independent Members of Parliament Tennyson Wells and Pierre Dupuch
has been lost. Both men were refused nominations by the Free National
Movement in last year’s general election because they did not support the
leadership of the FNM that they claimed had corrupted the party.
Now the FNM instead of trying to get them back has passed a resolution,
amending their constitution that will expel them from the party.
The resolution says that any member of the FNM who runs against the Party
in an election shall be expelled. That’s just great. A party
that needs members is now going to expel members. Keep it up boys!
AND
WHAT’S WITH DENNIS DAMES
Mercurial is not quite the word, but we can think of nothing better.
Dennis Dames withdrew from the race for Chairman of the FNM against Carl
Bethel, the former MP. Mr. Dames who is a dyed in the wool FNM can’t
seem to find himself a niche in public life. His own party does not
take him seriously and perhaps this most recent decision is one reason
why. He announced that he was running for chairman and then at the
last minute according to the Nassau Guardian, he was “yanked “ from the
race.
Here is what Mr. Dames told the Nassau Guardian:
“I
woke up Wednesday morning, the start of the FNM convention, with every
intention of being nominated for the position but was advised to wait until
the party’s next convention to contest the Chairmanship. It was a
collective decision between myself and those who wanted to nominate me.
We just feel like we will give the party a chance to get back to the level
that it ought to be at and better prepare ourselves for the party’s next
convention.” Now that on the face of it seems quite nice of him.
First, Dennis Dames would make a better Chairman
of the FNM than Carl Bethel any day. He knows and likes ordinary
people and he has ideas and does not shirk from hard work. Secondly
though, he has to be careful he does not come off as a publicity hound.
He managed to get his picture in the paper on this one. So was this
all a publicity stunt, a bargaining chip and for what? Guardian photo.
OFFICERS
OF THE FNM – LET US PRAY
Party Leader is Senator Tommy Turnquest
Deputy Leader is Sidney Collie
Carl Bethel is the Chair
Johnley Ferguson and Loretta Butler are Deputy Chairs
David Wallace, Desmond Edwards, Erma Wallace, Karen Shepherd and Senator
Gladys Sands are Vice Chairs
Darron Cash is the Treasurer
Theresa Moxey-Ingraham is Secretary General
These were the results of elections at the FNM convention from 7th
May to 9th May.
CLIFTON
TO BE PURCHASED
The Prime Minister’s Blue Ribbon Commission has
reported and made recommendations to the Government on the purchase of
Clifton Point, the last undeveloped plot of land that developers wanted
to use as a high end gated community. The Commission has said that
the area ought to become a national park and that it should be purchased
in trust for the people of The Bahamas. Next week more details.
Senator C.B. Moss who is head of the Coalition for Clifton said that he
welcomed the report, although he was disappointed that his group was not
consulted in the process. BIS photo by Peter Ramsay shows from right,
Commission Chair Sean McWeeney, Prime Minister Perry Christie and Commission
members MacGregor Robertson and Franklyn Wilson.
DPM
PRATT ON PATROLS
The public was titillated by two wonderful photos
of the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt as the Minister of National
Security at work. On Thursday 8th May Mother Pratt as she is affectionately
known was shown putting on a flak jacket as she toured New Providence in
a police patrol car. Then the next day she was pictured on a Defence
Force boat, donning the life jackets of the Defence Force. It is
that kind of hands on approach that has the country fully engaged to and
with the Deputy Prime Minister. As they say: “Who wants to argue with Mother?”
Guardian
photos.
RIGBY
KEEPS WATCH
The Progressive Liberal Party has announced that it now has a web site.
The site is www.myplp.com. You
may click here for it and we are placing a link to the site and to the
FNM site in the box of permanent links. PLP Chair Raynard Rigby was
on guard all week as the PLP endured a week of PLP bashing by the FNM.
Here is some of what Mr. Rigby had to say in response to the PLP bashing:
"The FNM has to explain why it wasted the
public's money buying two generators for BEC when it knew that they were
prone to problems. Much of the over 40 million dollars that were
spent by the FNM in 1999 to purchase the No. 11 generator has resulted
in chaos for BEC and the consuming public. And to demonstrate a greater
degree of incompetence the FNM agreed to the purchase of the No. 12 generator
at a cost of some 36 million dollars from the same Spanish company against
the advice of BEC and the then Board of the Corporation.
"The FNM will not be able to forget the
acts of incompetence, gross negligence and the many foolish decisions that
they made that continue to plague this nation.
"The FNM must explain the 14million dollars
spent on the Welcome Centre, the neglect of the Family Islands and the
mismanagement of public funds. The people are waiting to hear the
answers and for the FNM to explain their mishandling of the Bahamian economy.
We will be watching to hear the truth and any attempt by the party to distort
the truth, to lay bogus and frivolous accusations at the feet of the Bahamian
people will not go unanswered."
Well said Chairman.
JEFF RODGERS
Every year in the summertime, Jeff Rodgers puts
on a basketball camp for youngsters to occupy their time. It costs
them nothing, and it is a great training ground and inspiration for them.
He has maintained good relationships with basketball stars and they come
to contribute every year. We think he does a good job and is a good role
model. That is why we thought we ought to share a spread that one
of the local papers did this past week in salute to his work for your viewing
edification. Congratulations to Mr. Rodgers and thanks a million
for all the kids you have helped.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY CASSIUS
Somewhere in the Shakespeare play about Julius Caesar,
Caesar says looking into the distance: "Yon' Cassius has a lean and hungry
look". As it turned out, it was the look of ambition. Cassius
Stuart is the leader of the Bahamas Democratic Party, one of the extra
Parliamentary parties in The Bahamas. No mistake that he is a bright
and articulate person who belongs in the mainstream. This past week
he celebrated birthday no. 34 and we wish him well.
ALL
FUN AND JOKES ASIDE
The FNM's convention has left some in the PLP feeling
a bit battered. If the FNM convention is a call to arms that is good
and it demonstrates how in a democracy, you need to have vibrant Opposition.
Chances are they will all be asleep next week but for now, it has focused
the country and the Government’s attention on the themes that resonate
out there in the political silence, not death bearing news, but wake up
call stuff. Never count the Opposition out. The politics of The Bahamas
is alive and well.
REMEMBERING
THE SINKING OF FLAMINGO
On 10th May 1980, the HMBS Flamingo was out on patrol
in the shores off Ragged Island. They spotted a Cuban fishing boat
with fishermen violating Bahamian fishing laws. They arrested them
and were taking them back to shore when Cuban MIG jets appeared on the
scene, fired missiles into the boat and sank the boat. The jets then
passed over the waters and strafed the waters, killing four of the marines.
We remember the passing of those marines. And we say at the same
time why we so closely identify with the condemnation of Cuba’s human rights
record by CARICOM ministers. They should have been condemned long
ago. The four marines were Able Seaman Fenrick Sturrup, Marine Seaman
Austin Smith, Marine Seaman David Tucker and Marine Seaman Edward Williams.
The Cuban government eventually apologized and paid $100,000 compensation
to each of the families of the Bahamian marines. But let us never
forget this disgraceful incident.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
United or Ignited?
What was supposed to be an FNM convention to unite
all forces behind FNM leader Senator Tommy Turnquest to show that he is
in charge of the FNM may have backfired this week in Nassau. Reports
have reached us that in the election of national officers of the FNM; Tommy
broke one of the cardinal rules of politics. He made the same mistake
that former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham made by casting an overbearing
shadow over the election of some of the national officers to the exclusion
of the rest. 'Tommy' slates which left out some of his key generals
were proposed up until the last minute. This has left some of Tommy's
staunch supporters with a bad taste in their mouth and asking the question,
what are the prerequisites for holding a national office in the FNM?
Blind loyalty to its leader, it seems, is the answer.
In Grand Bahama the moves have already caused some
setbacks in the High Rock constituency where internal war is going on and
now comes word that a rebellion has broken out among FNMs in another constituency
in 'FNM country'. Harsh words and criticisms have been levelled at
the leadership many to scurrilous to repeat here. Some advice for
Tommy: work with whoever the people elect.
Elder Statesman Hubert
The 'phones rang off the hook Friday evening when
former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham entered the FNM convention hall:
"Turn on your TV and look at Hubert; his hair is curlier than Paul Adderley's".
Another was quoted: "He actually looks like an elder statesman!"
"He gelled down his hair". For the most part, viewers after collecting
their thoughts and laughing said that the former PM's hairdo looked good.
In another Kodak moment when party leader Tommy
Turnquest paid tribute to elder statesman Ingraham reports are that at
least one convention goer said they saw a small tear drop from Mr. Ingraham's
eye. Others insisted that while he may have been fighting back the
tears, he didn't actually cry. News From Grand Bahama believes that
this was just a scene being played out by a master politician who might
be thinking about making a comeback.
FNM Convention
Most television viewers believe that a golden opportunity
was missed this week by the FNM in their three day convention in Nassau.
We believe that the convention should have been the launching pad to enunciate
the party's vision for the country, but instead it turned into three nights
of bashing the PLP Government. We believe that a clear vision should
have been given by the FNM leader who firstly should have made a case for
the error in judgement of his party's last five years in office.
That clearly was not done. It seems that no co-ordination was made
for speakers to deal with general themes each night. Only Senator
Tanya McCartney and Desmond Bannister have any idea about where the country
should be headed. Cochise Hanna was quoted as saying "the easiest
thing in the world for an opposition party to do is to run the government".
We agree. The precious TV time was wasted on problems that everyone
already knows exist. We hope that as the FNM leadership finds its
bearings, this first misstep would not be repeated.
Close Down the Ministry of Agriculture
ZNS TV this week ran a story featuring an Andros
farmer in Nassau by the name of Rev. Godet, who said that he expects this
year losses in the amount of forty five thousand dollars because he had
reached his nine thousand dollar quota in goods that the government would
purchase per year. The report showed watermelons and bananas sitting
in boxes in Nassau beginning to rot.
We believe in free enterprise, but we also believe
in food security; that is Government must ensure the viability of local
farmers in that sometimes they must be subsidised and allowed to stay in
business. In the event of a national security food crisis large scale
farming in The Bahamas would be able to be started in a relatively short
space of time. Most developing countries have to subside their farming
industry, but we in The Bahamas are only prepared to pay lip service in
this regard through nice speeches while people like Rev. Godet are forced
to give up and the industry continues to die.
If this is the position of the PLP, they ought to
close the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and make it a department
under the Ministry of Health. This way we could save the money now
being paid to a Minister who seems clueless and who is not prepared to
stand up in any great measure for the farmers.
BS
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - TAll the press and indeed the country were taken aback at the wave after wave of migrants from Haiti that came to The Bahamas over the last week. Each time you looked around or read the papers there was a report of hundreds more coming up from Haiti to Nassau. The Tribune carried a picture by Felipe Major on its front page on Thursday 15th May that showed the loneliness and despair of the position of these people. The picture showed the hopelessness of their situation, the importance of the Bahamian public policy on the issue and in some sense a failure of intelligence. We report on it below. But for our money this is definitely the photo of the week. |
THE HAITIAN PROBLEM
Once again the Haitian people appear to have chosen The Bahamas
as a target for a new home. Or could it be as it is traditionally
said they are on the way to the United States? Whatever the position,
The Bahamas faces yet another crisis in its relations with the republic.
Haiti’s Government appears to have no effective mechanism for stopping
economic migrants from leaving their country without documentation and
coming to The Bahamas where they wreak havoc on our resources.
Standing in the wings is the United States of America. This is the magnet country. Their entire public policy seems consumed by the need to fight drugs and what they blanketly call terrorism. Their pubic policy is an in your face power game and displacing regimes that they do not like. It does not seem to focus on the need to solve this and other more subtle underlying crises that face the western hemisphere.
In Haiti you have eight million people, most of whom are living in dire poverty and whose Government is unstable and who have no hope. They desperately put to sea in rickety wooden boats without adequate food and water. Inevitably many get away. You can see the results in Nassau with sturdy twenty something young men who hardly speak English joining the Bahamian work force. There is no credible attempt to dislodge them from the work force. Even in a time of economic recession in The Bahamas, it appears that there is still space for labourers from Haiti, with or without work permits.
But this week some 600 hundred undocumented Haitian migrants were caught by Bahamian and US authorities. They have already been returned and the country is simply bracing for more. What is the explanation for this latest deluge? The best explanation most people have, aside from the general economic situation in the north of Haiti, is the weather. It is said that whenever the weather is exceptionally good and calm and there is a full moon out, then the boats put out to sea. The weather was excellent all week last week.
There is intelligence gathering going on now amongst the migrants to determine what the cause of the most recent exodus is and who is responsible. But if is it is the weather and the full moon that allows you to see on the high seas, then surely the authorities could have and should have known to be more vigilant and seek to box them up in Haiti itself before they reach our shores.
While you can’t specifically predict the weather, generally we know that apart from localized thunderstorms, this is a pretty calm time of the year. We certainly know when there is going to be a full or new moon lighting up the ocean. It all seems pretty simple to predict, if only someone turned their mind to the problem.
The whole migrant issue is dealt with in too passive a way. It is true that negotiations are ongoing with the Government of Haiti to settle the migrant issues but the defence capabilities of the country ought to be supported to the fullest in order to bottle this problem up and stop the incursion. Right now, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force craft are stretched to capacity. The Force is in desperate need of equipment including an airplane and they are said to be short on manpower with too many of the personnel deployed in land jobs.
What then should the Government do? Clearly, it must continue in its negotiations with the Haitian Government to stress that they must do something to stop this incursion. Secondly, the Defence Force and law enforcement arms of the Government must be involved in intelligence gathering and proactive approaches to bottling up the problem in Haiti before it reaches The Bahamas. Lastly, the United States and the international community must be told that this is a matter of life and death for our country, and one which requires urgent financial assistance on all fronts – to help the migrants as well as to assist The Bahamas to ease the economic stresses that come with these undesirable inflows.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 17th May 2003 at midnight: 26,362.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 17th May 2003 at midnight: 69,728.
Number of hits for the year2003 up to Saturday 17th May 2003: 500,029
DPM
ON HAITIAN INVASION
The situation in The Bahamas was grave. Haitians
seemed to have taken leave of all restraint and had put to sea. Each
time the phone went off in the newsrooms around the country, there was
some fresh report of Haitians sighted at sea. The United States Coastguard
and the beleaguered Royal Bahamas Defence Force were out on the seas sighting
and picking up Haitians scattered throughout The Bahamas chain. One
newspaper said that the count was 739. But the Government revealed
that the count was just over six hundred. Small though this may seem
to the outside world, for a country with 300,000 people, six hundred migrants
in two days is a destabilizing force. The repatriation exercises
were begun almost immediately. The Deputy Prime Minister flanked
by the Foreign Minister held a special news conference on Wednesday 14th
May to inform the country of just what was happening. The sad pictures
of migrants, caught, turned back and headed back home only reinforced how
the policy now in place just isn’t working and something more needs to
be done to stop the problem.
A
NEW RESORT FOR ABACO
The Government has high hopes for the newly announced
140 million dollar project in and around Cherokee Sound, Abaco. The
all white settlement of Abaco is about to get a boom from Peter de Savary’s
investment in a links golf course. Translated into plain English
this is said to mean a golf course that is environmentally friendly similar
to the original and home of all golf courses at St. Andrews in Scotland.
The Minister for Financial Services Allyson Gibson and the Minister for
Tourism Obie Wilchcombe flew to Abaco to meet with the developer and the
people of Cherokee Sound. Their representative Robert Sweeting was
also present and he pledged his support. The resort will have nature-like
trails, no paved roads. It will have all the amenities but it is
meant to blend into the environment. Mr. de Savary is the developer
of the famous St. James Club in Antigua where the rich and famous meet.
He has had a home in Lyford Cay in New Providence for many years but this
is his first investment in a Bahamian resort. The Government is quite
keen in the face of the accusations by the Opposition that it is doing
nothing but making excuses on the economy to show that jobs are on the
way.
MOTHER
PRATT GETS HARD ON CRIMINALS
The newspapers reported that the police had rounded
up and charged some 53 persons over the weekend of 10th May. The
crimes were all kinds from rape, drug possession, robbery, to gun and ammunition
possession, to fighting. But it was another good PR week for Cynthia
‘Mother’ Pratt who the Opposition’s former Member of Parliament Algernon
Allen said was not quite up to the job. He said a good man was needed
for the job. Mrs. Pratt, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, has
been on a high profile blitz throughout the inner city neighbourhoods,
on patrols with the police and the Defence Force, and has been working
on a weekly basis with the Commissioner of Police to crack the crime habit
in The Bahamas. The operation of the last weekend was code named
Operation High Intensity. According to a police spokesman, the operation
will not be announced in advance. It is a secret operation.
The spokesman said that they want the operations to come as a complete
surprise to the public. The police have also been engaging in a similar
exercise with the bus drivers. The drivers are generally considered
a menace on the roads of New Providence, and the police have a special
campaign going all this month to deal with infractions by the bus drivers.
We hope that the campaign gets good results overall.
FNM
FALLS FLAT IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
You would not have believed that this was the same
FNM party that last week was all in a swoon following their biennial party
political convention in Nassau from 7th May to 9th May. If you heard
them last week, you would have thought that they had died and gone to heaven.
The party was said to be united and ignited. They were all ready
now to do battle with the PLP and get the Government back, just one year
after their defeat in 2002. We tried to warn the public last week
that it was all smoke and mirrors, puffs and illusions. We dubbed
the leadership of the FNM Messrs Tommy Turnquest, the Leader, Sidney Collie,
the Deputy and Carl Bethel, the Chair as the ‘Steam Team’. That team
can’t take you anywhere. But nevertheless they were happy campers.
So this week now after all that guff they put out
about how energized they were, you would have thought that in the House
of Assembly on Wednesday 14th May there would have been a sparkling, ignited
and united performance. No such luck. The PLP had two important
resolutions to present. One of them had to do with conveying land
in Grand Bahama for the disposal of the Minister of Housing. Shane
Gibson scorched the FNM over its convention rhetoric. You will remember
that the Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith asked the PLP: “Where’s the
beef?” As Mr. Gibson listed all that was done by the PLP in housing
since he became Minister, he pointed at the Opposition in the House: “Taste
the beef”.
The other resolution was one by the Minister of
Education Alfred Sears to solicit bonds to support the work of the Education
Loan Authority. This is the authority that was set up by the PLP
in the face of the scholarship loans disaster it discovered last year when
it came to office. The PLP again scorched the FNM for the way it
established the loan fund and virtually bankrupted the scheme from the
start. On neither score was there an effective response from the
Opposition. If you reviewed the press you would not have found a
single word from them on any issues this week. So much for ignited
and united. The puffs of wind have blown away. The smoke has cleared.
One week after their convention, the fire seems to have gone out.
THE
BATTLE OF THE CHAIRMEN
Carl Bethel, the new Chair of the Opposition Free
National Movement, was hopeless as the Attorney General and now he is turning
out to be hopeless as the Chair of the Free National Movement. He
had not gotten out of the gate properly yet when the PLP’s chair Raynard
Rigby struck back at some of the more silly things that Mr. Bethel has
been saying. Leave it to Mr. Rigby to deliver a scorcher. Of
course we think that it doesn't matter to Carl Bethel, he would not know
a cut behind when he feels one. But nevertheless we think that we ought
to let the PLP's Chairman speak to you in his own words:
“It is dishonestly misleading of Carl Bethel
to say that the cap on consumer spending was placed during the PLP’s administration.
It is an indisputable fact that the freeze was implemented during the FNM’s
term in office and that the Central Bank’s position was effected by the
Governor after the 11th September terrorist attacks and was fully implemented
on 20th September 2001.
“No such position was effected after the 2nd
May elections and it is both ridiculous and patently mischievous for the
FNM to suggest otherwise.
“It is also dishonest to suggest that the increase
in the unemployment rate occurred since 2nd May 2002. The Department
of Statistics made it very clear that the increase of 2.3 per cent
(from 6.8 to 9.1) was recorded during the FNM’s final year in office and
such facts, the FNM should not try to remove from their record.
“Carl Bethel has already displayed the same signs
of arrogance that was rampant during the FNM’s tenure as the government.
He should demonstrate a degree of maturity and humility that has been lacking
during his days in office.
“In the unlikely event that Mr. Bethel has opted
to forget he must be reminded of the facts. As Attorney General Carl
Bethel presided over the most poorly drafted laws in the history of The
Bahamas and one need only review the new Employment Act and the Inheritance
Act for cases in point.
“Carl Bethel also acted outside the spirit of
the constitution and the constitutional role as Attorney General, by acting
in concert with others to put before the Governor General an Act (the Status
of Children) that had not been passed by Parliament. It would be
wise for Carl Bethel to remember that he took his leader Tommy Turnquest
to task after the defeat of the FNM and called for his resignation as party
leader.
“The Bahamian people would like to know what
has changed. The FNM and its rejected Chairman would be wise to note
that the PLP will not allow the FNM to conceal the truth from the people,
as the time for games ended on 2nd May 2002. The people want politicians
who are honest. Carl Bethel and the FNM will do well to remember
this.”
That’s pretty good! But do you think Carl
Bethel learnt anything from all of that?
US
AMBASSADOR PUSHES BAHAMAS ON CUBA
Last week the Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell came
back to The Bahamas from St. Vincent fully armed with a carefully worded
statement on the CARICOM response to events in Cuba in March and April.
During those months Cuba executed three people who had highjacked a local
ferry in a desperate attempt to leave their country. The executions
were carried out after three days of a trial and appeal. They sentenced
ordinary political dissidents to scores of years in prison. The CARICOM
statement said that the severity of the sentences disturbed Caribbean leaders.
The statement also called for greater transparency in the criminal justice
system of Cuba. The statement also said that the CARICOM Ministers
held the view that the OAS was not the appropriate forum for a judgment
or pronouncement on Cuba since Cuba was excluded from defending itself
in the OAS.
Fast forward to Tuesday 13th May, the US Ambassador
J. Richard Blankenship is giving as speech in Freeport in which he attacks
the Cuban Government with a degree of severity unseen in this country.
The Cuban envoy in The Bahamas has had two press conferences to defend
his country’s actions. One supposes that they are even. But
this statement by the US Ambassador was curious: “The Bahamas must do the
right thing” in relation to an OAS resolution sponsored by the United States
to condemn Cuba. The Caribbean statement clearly says that the OAS
is not an appropriate forum and so a call for support of a resolution would
seem to have little chance of success nor any chance of Bahamian support.
BACARDI
FINALLY SETTLES
The Bacardi company has finally settled with the trade unions in an industrial
agreement that will see all the men return to work and bring peace back
to the workplace. All were smiles when Vincent Peet, the Minister
of Labour sat and watched as the two sides penned the final agreement.
Bacardi is an important industrial leader in The Bahamas and one of the
proponents of The Bahamas signing on to the single market and economy in
the Caribbean. If we sign this will allow them to compete with rums
made in the Caribbean which they cannot now do.
The Nassau Guardian showed a photo on Monday 12th
May of the Minister of Labour and the two sides in the dispute at the signing.
The signing took place on Sunday 11th May. The PLP has been proactive
in seeking to settle labour disputes. Minister of Labour Vincent
Peet is to be congratulated. So must labour consultant to the Bacardi
Union Huedley Moss who has had two successes so far this year with the
signing of the Water and Sewerage contract and now Bacardi. Francisco
Carrera of Bacardi deserves congratulations as well for the patience in
seeing his company’s position through to the end.
PM
ON GOVERNMENT PR
Appearing on Jones and Co, the radio programme last
week, the Prime Minister had this to say: “The Government is not sufficiently
responsive and therefore had a colossal failure in its ability to inform
Bahamians of its efforts since being elected to Government May 2002.
I announced recently the reorganization of the Bahamas Information Services,
with a view to trying to find the formula, not only to have the people
of our country know what we are doing, but also to sensitize people about
certain issues and special needs of the country.”
PM
OFF TO ST. KITTS & NEVIS
Prime Minister Perry Christie accompanied by the
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe and Minister of Transport & Aviation
Glenys Hanna Martin is flying back from St. Kitts and Nevis at this hour
where he delivered an address to the annual convention of the ruling party
of Prime Minister Denzil Douglas on Saturday 17th May. You
may click here for the full remarks.
Every Minister of Utilities has come to be known as the Minister of darkness.
Bradley Roberts was determined not to be labeled with that sobriquet.
He has worked assiduously on behalf of the Bahamian people to make sure
that BEC stops load shedding and lying to the public about it. So
it was a major shock two weekends ago when the system seemed to be in total
collapse and electricity was going off in New Providence three hours at
a time. Mr. Roberts told the story to the nation how the FNM simply
made a mess of BEC by buying bad machines and buying them for dubious reasons.
The installation of one machine from Spain has been bad from the start.
The other one that was bought knowing of the problems of the first is one
year and one month behind its installation schedule. The result is
breakdown.
The Minister made a statement to Parliament on the
matter on Wednesday 14th May. [Please
click here to read the Minister Statement] The statement came
after Frank Watson who is the former Minister and was last known as the
Minister of Darkness made a statement to the press on Monday 12th May that
defended the purchase of the generator, saying that the generator worked
“pretty well”. It seems that all Frank did by that statement was
confirm that he was pretty much still out to lunch. A board member
resigned in protest at the purchase of the bad machine.
DEVARD
DARLING THE 3 MILLION DOLLAR MAN
You remember the Darling twins who started out in
American football with such promise at Florida State. One of the
twins Devaughn Darling died after a practice tragically two years ago.
The whole thing disintegrated into a bitter row with the school and the
other twin left and went to Washington State where he resumed playing.
Now it has been announced in The Tribune sports page on Monday 12th May
that Devard Darling, the other twin, is now so sure to be a first round
draft pick for the National Football League play that he has obtained a
three million dollar contract with Lloyds of London to protect him against
something catastrophic in his last year as a senior at Washington State.
The contracts are only offered to players that are thought to be sure to
be first round draft picks, the process by which players get recruited
and chosen for National Football League play in the US. Good luck
and congratulations!
PM
SPEAKS TO BUSINESS IN ORLANDO
Prime Minister Perry Christie was on the trail last
weekend in Florida. He spent Monday 12th May in Orlando speaking to the
Gray Harris community leader forum. Mr. Christie told the group of
lawyers and their clients in Orlando that “Opportunities abound in The
Bahamas. Investors should be confident that The Bahamas is open for
business and my government is friendly to business.” Mr. Christie
was accompanied by Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, Attorney General
Alfred Sears, Senator Cyprianna McWeeney and her husband Sean, Executive
Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board Wendy Warren, Allyson
Gibson, the Minister for Financial Services and Investment and Willie Moss,
the President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
D
PAUL REILLY OFF ZNS AGAIN
Some battles never seem to cease. D. Paul Reilly who is a relic of
the old days of public broadcasting in The Bahamas has one of these motivational
type short pieces on radio. Well not quite because he has been shut down
from ZNS radio in Nassau. He claimed in the press that he was shut
down by Calsey Johnson, now the chairman of ZNS, because Mr. Johnson did
not like certain things he said. He called the act of being shut
down victimization and censorship. The Tribune carried the story
on its front page. It fit right into their political agenda.
Mr. Reilly said that amongst the things that Mr.
Johnson did not like was an attack on Bishop Neil Ellis for being unchristian
because he threatened to expel certain members from his church who did
not vote PLP. When The Tribune first contacted Mr. Johnson, he said
he had nothing to say on the point. But on Friday 16th May, Mr. Johnson
was quite forthcoming to The Tribune. He said that the programme
had been taken off the air because it lacked sponsors. He said the
ZNS sales team was having trouble finding sponsors for the programme.
He said he did call Mr. Reilly about the comments made about Bishop Ellis
to find out if he had checked with Bishop Ellis to find out his side of
the story before airing the comments. Mr. Johnson said that the remarks
about Bishop Ellis were made last year so if he intended to pull the programme
because of that it would have been done at the time of the remarks.
D. Paul Reilly was last on ZNS in 1982. Mr.
Johnson was then the General Manager. The PLP was at the height of
its power and he crossed swords with Mr. Johnson then and was dropped from
the air. And so Mr. Reilly felt moved say that this time again it
was PLP victimization. Now that Mr. Johnson has said what he said,
we wonder what D. Paul Reilly says now.
The problem though with the explanation of Mr. Johnson
is that it does not take into account the larger picture and the action
notwithstanding the explanation falls too easily into the victimization
trap. Our view would be to let the fellow have his radio programme, if
you want to have PLP voices you can get someone to have an alternative
programme.
FOREIGN
MINISTER AT THE CHAMBER
The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell had a busy week
this week. He addressed the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce at their annual
Chamber Week luncheon as the guest speaker. He spoke about preparing
the country for changes in foreign trade relations. It was delivered
in the presence of a private sector CARICOM group in Nassau to interface
with the private sector on joining the Caribbean Single Market and Economy
(CSME). Mr. Mitchell also spoke to the human resources managers and
heads of departments in the public service about the introduction of a
new performance appraisal instrument for public servants. Please
click here for the Minister's address.
MINISTER
OFF TO BERMUDA AND LONDON
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Foreign
Minister Fred Mitchell left the country on Thursday 15th May en route to
Bermuda where he met with Premier Jennifer Smith to discuss the forward
progress into CARICOM by Bermuda. Bermuda’s Parliament made the decision
in February 2003 to join CARICOM as an associate member. The PLP’s
platform calls for closer relations with Bermuda and to encourage Bermuda
to join CARICOM. The dependent territory of Britain is expected to
join formally in July of this year at the Heads of Government conference
in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
From Bermuda, the Minister travelled to London on
Saturday 17th May as a Member of the Caribbean Ministerial Action group
that is reviewing developments on democracy in the Commonwealth.
Pakistan and Zimbabwe are trying to return to the councils of the Commonwealth.
Neither is expected to return having failed the tests of democracy set
down in the Harare Declaration on Democracy. The Minister leaves
London on Wednesday 21st May for Haiti where he will head The Bahamas delegation
to complete the talks on migration between the Government of Haiti and
The Bahamas.
CARICOM
PRIVATE SECTOR GROUP VISITS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell and
The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce’s Second Vice President Keith Glinton announced
on Monday 12th May that an advance CARICOM Sector Mission was coming to
The Bahamas for three days from Wednesday 14th May to Friday 16th May to
interact with the private sector in The Bahamas about joining the Caribbean
Single Market and Economy or CSME. Prime Minister Perry Christie
has promised to declare The Bahamas position on CSME at the meeting of
Heads of Government of the Caribbean in July in Kingston, Jamaica.
There is a considerable lobby against CSME in The Bahamas. The CSME
would mean agreeing to a common external tariff for goods coming to The
Bahamas. The provision that most frightens Bahamians is the free
movement of people. But gradually the ideas are turning around on
the issue in The Bahamas.
The Minister told the press conference that it is
important for The Bahamas to prepare for the future. He said: “We
are not just looking at just where The Bahamas is positioned today because,
of course, the model which we have today has served us well. The
question is as the world changes, where is The Bahamas going to be positioned
10 years from now. You have to start putting in place those things
today.”
CONGRATULATIONS
TO BISHOP BURKE
Bishop Lawrence Burke, the Archbishop of The Bahamas,
Turks and Caicos and Bermuda for the Roman Catholic Church has been named
Chair of the Episcopal Conference of the Caribbean. The Bishops were in
Nassau for the past week at their conference. We congratulate Archbishop
Burke.
PROTECTED
CELL BILL COMING
The Financial Services Industry has been reeling
from the effects of those 11 acts that were brought into force in a rush
by the Hubert Ingraham Administration in 2000. The PLP pledged in
their election platform that they would review the legislation and seek
to make changes so as to bring The Bahamas back in line with its competitors.
The industry is still reeling from the legislation and each week, the industry
is on pins and needles for the news that some other part of the sector
has decided to pack up and go to the Cayman Islands or Bermuda. Financial
Services Minister Allyson Gibson has been working overtime to reverse the
trend, having traveled to Bermuda, Europe and the US in order to staunch
the flow. But the troubles still continue and there are snide remarks
being made about The Bahamas and the ability of the country to get its
decisions made in a timely fashion.
Owen Bethel, the President of Montague Securities
International, said in an interview in The Tribune on 14th May that it
was the hasty response of The Bahamas to the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
that left us in the pickle in which we now find ourselves. Only one
man is to blame for that and that is the bull in the china shop Hubert
Ingraham. There is also considerable criticism about its communications
infrastructure. Brian Moree is the Chair of the Financial Services
Consultative Forum and he has been in the press almost every week announcing
some new initiative or other. Now says Mr. Moree, the Forum expects
to provide a draft Protected Cells Bill for the consideration of the industry.
This yet another step toward The Bahamas trying to catch up with the rest
of the world. The draft bill is to be circulated shortly.
According to The Tribune 14th May, “protected cells
legislation allows financial services providers to segregate assets and
liabilities into individual cells, enabling them to manage and segregate
risk by ensuring all assets are not lined up behind every liability.
If the service provider becomes obligated to meet a liability, only the
assets in the same cell as the liability will be affected, meaning that
the entire asset base will not be jeopardized.” Haven’t a clue what
that all means but we assume that those who read this from the sector will
be pleased. Everyone we know says that the darn thing is way overdue.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Johnson / For the Good of the Order
The actions of Mr. Calsey Johnson, former ZNS General
Manager and now Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Broadcasting
Corporation of The Bahamas in dealing with D. Paul Reilly will mot certainly
come back to haunt the new PLP Government in the days ahead. Johnson
by his overzealous action (see above story) has put his party in a position
that no modern political party or government should ever find itself in.
that is having to defend itself against the charge of victimization, censorship
and tampering with freedom of expression.
His feeble attempt at damage control on the Steve McKinney Drive Time talk show only served to reinforce Reilly's claim. He further demonstrated how he (Johnson) as Chairman was overstepping his role by interfering in the day to day operations of ZNS. Would someone please tell Mr. Johnson that he is not an executive chairman, but just plain chair to make policies for the corporation and it is left to the general manager to implement those policies.
The story of Henry II comes to mind, when one looks at this whole incident: "who would rid me of this meddlesome priest?" and those of us who follow history would recall that the king's minions beheaded Thomas Becket. We call it the Becket syndrome that was in play with Mr. Reilly. Johnson should know that the Bahamian people since 1992 have a low tolerance for that type of behaviour. Mark my words, some MPs will surely fall because of his actions and by his actions Johnson has put the Bahamas in company with Cuba and Haiti, the only two countries in this region that suppress freedom of expression.
It is very unlikely that anyone will ask for his resignation, but for the good of the order having regard for the goodwill and political capital that was wasted there is only one course of action for Johnson.
Government Schools Face Possible Overcrowding
Two weeks ago, the Anglican Central Education Authority
that operates the Discovery Primary and Freeport High Schools sent home
letters to parents advising them that school fees were to be raised by
as much as two hundred dollars per term in September. The cite the
reasoning for this raise in fees as losses and they claim that there are
three sources from which they get their fees the first being school fees,
a grant from the Anglican Authority and finally grant in aid from the government
and in that regard they claim that the grant in aid has not been raised
in some time. Grand Bahama's economy has been in a tailspin since
the end of the construction boom some two and a half years ago so some
parents are left with no choice but to pull their children out of the private
school and send them into the public school system that is already experiencing
some degree of overcrowding with class sizes numbering between thirty and
thirty five. We also understand that the other private schools are
contemplating following the path of Freeport High so we call upon the government
to do a cost benefit analysis of whether it will be more feasible to build
a new high school or just simply increase the grant in aid but we are in
any event advising the government that we could in September face serious
overcrowding problems in the public school system because of the economy.
Tommy T Beware
Backstabbing is the most dishonourable thing in
Bahamian politics. It is within that context that leader of the Free
National Movement Tommy Turnquest be made aware that there is a move afoot
to undermine his leadership. To that end, one of his supporters last
week was hounded to the point where he threw up his hands in disgust and
simply walked away. He was advised by a friend of this site that
maybe people did not like him because he lives too large, but we say there
seems to be something more sinister afoot and warn the leader to simply
get to the bottom of what is going on and bring an end to it.
GB Police Headquarters
Finally the trailers could be seen outside the new
Grand Bahama Police headquarters that has remained unoccupied for the past
two and a half years because of no furniture. Well the furniture
is here and we are informed that the building should be occupied shortly.
We hope so.
BS
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The photo by the Bahamas Information Services' Derek Smith shows the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Fred Mitchell paying a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti Yvon Neptune. Mr. Mitchell was joined by his Ministerial Colleagues in the Cabinet of The Bahamas in Haiti to negotiate a treaty deal with the Haitian Government to try to stem the tide of illegal migration. In the past two weeks, some 902 persons were interdicted at sea trying to enter The Bahamas illegally from the north of Haiti. The intelligence shows that there is a combination of good weather and near starvation conditions in the north of Haiti that is driving the present crisis. The Government of The Bahamas now hopes that with the legal framework in place, there might be some effort on the part of the Haitian Government to stem the tide. From left: are Dr. Marcus Bethel, Minister of Health; Attorney General Alfred Sears, Minister of Transport & Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin, Foreign Minister Mitchell, Bahamas Ambassador to Haiti Dr. Eugene Newry, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Consular Affairs Carlton Wright and Haitian Prime Minister Neptune. The photo was taken at the office of the PM of Haiti on Friday 23rd May 2003. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE BUDGET IS COMING
Ministers of the Government have had their heads deep into budget
papers all during the past two weeks. The civil servants began gathering
the data at the start of the year, and watched with alarm as the revenue
of The Bahamas headed toward the tank. The signal went out from mid
budget year that there had to be a five per cent across the board cutback
in the allocations to Ministries. Spending was severely cramped,
yet the demands of the country expanded.
During the year, it has become apparent just how profligate the Free National Movement administration had been. One example is former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who went on a buying spree for land that he did not adequately have the funds to pay for, and he left office without giving one hoot about how the Bahamian people would pay for it. More is being revealed every day.
The problem with the blame the FNM game, true as it is, is that one year has gone and the Bahamian public is getting increasingly tired of hearing it. The FNM did make a mess, they are out now and this year is the PLP's budget year. What are Ministers to do?
Ministers are faced with a stark set of choices it would seem. On the one hand you have the International Monetary Fund telling the government it must hold the line. On the other hand, you have the ticking time bomb of the public sector unions who negotiated with a profligate Hubert Ingraham, trying to buy political peace who promised an across the board raise for the public service that will amount to another 24 million dollars increased costs to the Treasury over the next fiscal year.
The Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell spoke to the public sector Unions one month ago and advised them that it would probably not be possible to pay the monies. But the situation is now urgent and we think that the Government ought to formally communicate to the unions that the raise can't be paid, and that the Government will need at least a one year postponement of any claim with perhaps some proviso that if things improve dramatically, the Government will attempt to pay. During the past week Kingsley Black of the Bahamas Union of Teachers told the country that he was giving the Government a deadline to say whether it will pay or not. In short, the teachers want their money.
Notwithstanding the economic projects that the Government is announcing and its seems that with the Abaco project with Peter De Savary, the Exuma project set to open its doors in November, and the upcoming projects in Grand Bahama and Paradise Island, it appears that there is going to be slow economic growth next year. The American economy is growing at a snail’s pace and people are not happy about their lives in the US with all the threat of terrorism (real and imagined) and it is simply depressing spending.
The Bahamas has to be cautious. That means that the Finance Minister faces a set of bad choices. He has falling revenues looking him in the face for the foreseeable future, rising costs looking him dead in the face, and he does not want to raise taxes. There is some doubt that if you raise taxes aside from obvious ones like petroleum that you could collect those taxes anyway. The collection rate of the Government is not as vigorous as it should be and citizens routinely refuse to pay taxes.
This then will be the first real test of the Prime Minister Perry Christie as the Minister of Finance. James Smith who has spent all his years as a public servant advising on fiscal and monetary policy is now the Minister of State for Finance, doing the nuts and bolts work of keeping the country’s finances going. He startled the country last week by suggesting that the whole tax concession regime will have to be reviewed. This of course will have to be done anyway since the FTAA, WTO, CSME are coming on-stream. The country looks to the two named gentlemen for some hope and direction in this current morass. We think they are up to the task and we wait with bated breath for the Budget Communication on Wednesday 28th May. The Communication will be made available on this site as soon as it is delivered on that date around 2 p.m. EDT.
The statistics for the week will be uploaded late today, Sunday 25th
May.
THE
HAITIAN AGREEMENT IS SIGNED
The country was almost kept at the edge of its seat on the question of
just what was going to happen in Haiti between The Bahamas and Haiti.
The pressure is on the government of The Bahamas to do something about
the mass influx of Haitians into the country. In the PLP’s National
General Council meeting on Thursday 15th May, Minister of Immigration Vincent
Peet was assailed by Council members calling for the Government to do something
to expel Haitians from the country. There is a desire to get back
to the days of Loftus Roker, the Minister of Immigration in 1985 who conducted
mass round ups and expulsions from the country. The PLP is not likely
to return to that but clearly the country is exasperated.
Last week some 902 persons were picked up on the
high seas and on various Bahamas cays. The Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell was joined in Haiti by a delegation of Bahamian Ministers.
They included Dr. Marcus Bethel, the Minister of Health, Glenys Hanna Martin,
the Minister of Transport and the Attorney General Alfred Sears.
There was an equally arrayed delegation of Haitian Ministers. The
Ministers of The Bahamas also went to see President Jean Bertrand Aristide
of the Republic of Haiti.
The negotiations were supposed to have been finished
on Friday 23rd May in time for the Haitian Cabinet ministers to go a funeral
of a well known Haitian priest but that was not to be. Through a
series of hard and tough negotiations, they went well into the night and
finally the agreement was initialled for the Governments to review at 9:30
p.m. on the 23rd May. The Minister pronounced himself pleased with
what had been accomplished and said he would report to the Cabinet on what
had been settled.
Now comes the hard part. Even before the ink
is dry, the Governments must begin to act on the provisions. The
Bahamas must continue the policy of repatriations of new arrivals.
Further, it must begin the work of beefing up the diplomatic and intelligence
presence in Haiti itself. It must stop the smugglers at the source.
The latest group to come in pictured in this photograph from the Nassau
Guardian as they left on board a chartered Bahamasair flight said that
they were simply desperate. They had no food. They stole the
boat and set out to sea. They felt they had no choice but to do so.
That means that humanitarian aid must be increased. Food must be
supplied to Haiti.
The observation of many members of the delegation
was that Haiti is still a dynamic society, despite all the poverty and
the problems. The people are proud and industrious. There is
something that we can learn from them. But we must control the illegal
migration. Yet the PLP must know that in the back halls of the party, somewhere
deep in the dark recesses of the psyche of the PLP and the Bahamian people
is the thought that the Government of The Bahamas is only wasting its time
talking
to the Haitian Government. There is this view that Haiti has no incentive
and no will to do one single thing about the problem.
BIS photo of Bahamian
negotiators in Port-au-Prince by Derek Smith; Nassau Guardian photo of
migrants being repatriated aboard Bahamasair by Donald Knowles.
THE
STORY OF HAITI
Jean Bertrand Aristide was restored to power as the President of Haiti
by an American led UN mission that saw 20,000 troops occupy Haiti and force
the army general out of office. It was a remarkable achievement on
his part. He spent the years from 1991 when he was ousted to 1994
cooling his heels in Washington D.C. and seeking the help of the Clinton
administration. He got it and was restored to power.
Now one gets the feeling that Mr. Aristide sits
in splendid isolation in the Presidential palace of Haiti as he contemplates
what happens next. Mr. Astride served out the remainder of the 1994
term and then demitted office. Under the constitution of Haiti, you
cannot succeed yourself as President of the Republic. And so René
Preval was elected president largely a surrogate for Mr. Aristide who was
waiting in the wings to return to office. He has now served two years
out of his new four year term and under the Haitian constitution he cannot
ever serve again. He is trying the way of a constitutional amendment
but the law is written in such a way that only allows the next Parliament
to approve it. But his administration is bogged down in a serious
fight with the international community over the refusal of the international
community to accept the results of flawed Parliamentary elections in 2001.
The Organization of American States has been trying to work on solving
the political impasse.
Today, the President of the Republic is as far as
ever from a settlement with his political opponents. The country
is mired ever deeper in poverty and there are even deep dark suggestions
that he may have surrounded himself with drug traffickers and that this
is what really is keeping Haiti afloat today. Haiti was invaded and
occupied by the United States in the year 1919 and the US marines left
in 1934. Could that happen again? It is unlikely but in the
present mood that the US is in they may begin to take other measures to
make it difficult for Mr. Aristide and his cabinet to survive.
The OAS General Assembly is coming up in Chile in
June and that will be the next test of what will happen to Haiti.
Could it lead to Haiti's suspension from the OAS in the same way that Cuba
has been suspended? The Haitian President is pictured in this
file photo.
LESLIE
MILLER IN THE NEWS AGAIN
The PLP’s Council and the PLP’s back bench were said to have been in a
mood to ask the Prime Minister for the resignation of Leslie Miller, the
Minister of Trade and Industry. That is what the newspapers had to
say in the country and Mr. Miller responded to it in the press under the
headline that he was still standing. The latest speculation came
as a result of reports in the newspaper that seemed to have been fed by
informants close to the Government that Mr. Miler had again countermanded
instructions of the Board at the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation
(BAIC). This Corporation has been in the news month in and month out since
Mr. Miller became the Minister, and it has all been negative.
BAIC has been trying to downsize since Mr.
Miller became Minister but it has all backfired. The problem is that
while all of the to and fro has been going on, nothing of substance has
been accomplished in terms of the core objectives of the Corporation.
That objective is to help fund micro financial projects of small investors
and businessmen. The rumour all around the place is that Sidney Stubbs
who is the Chairman and Parliamentary colleague of Mr. Miller is again
about to resign. And that one of Mr. Stubbs’ allies is busy fighting
a rear guard action through his connections in the press to sully Mr. Miller’s
name.
In cases like this where you can't seem to win for
losing, it might be prudent for the Minister to simply step back from the
public stage and not act too quickly because even though the Prime Minister
was able to stop his Council from going after Mr. Miller this time, after
a while not even the PM may not be able to do anything to stop the onslaught.
It is important for Mr. Miller to keep the Prime Minister on his side and
that is by not calling attention to himself and avoiding any further controversy.
The PM after all is his best supporter.
JAMES
SMITH ON TAX CONCESSIONS
James Smith is the Minister of State for Finance. He runs the Ministry
of Finance. He would have been the Minister but for the fact that
the constitution of The Bahamas requires the Minister of Finance to sit
in the House of Assembly and Mr. Smith is not elected to office.
Some say that might have been the reason why the startling headline was
freely generated by Mr. Smith in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce at
their annual banquet held on Saturday 17 May.
Mr. Smith told the Chamber that the time had come
for the Government to review the concessions that it had been giving to
investors on normal taxes due. Mr. Smith said that the Ministry had
done a study to determine the value of duty free and other tax concessions
granted to investors during the period 2001 to 2002. He said that
the Ministry had found that some $350 million investment concessions were
given, including $206 million through the Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
He said that his team had found that some 35 million dollars in concessions
had been granted in that period under the Hotels Encouragement Act, 11
million dollars under the Electricity Act, and some 78 million dollars
under the Water and Sewerage Corporation Act. According to Mr. Smith,
when juxtaposed against $880 million in revenues that were collected during
the July 2001-June 2002 period, $350 million dollars conceded to investors
as tax breaks amounted to almost 40 per cent of Government’ annual revenue.
Mr. Smith said that the study was a superficial
one and that one had to acknowledge that the concessions had brought many
other benefits. Clearly, however as the budget comes around and the
country has been asked to reduce its budget deficit to 2 per cent of GDP,
the Minister is seeking ways to raise revenue for the Government.
Some worry that talk of this type at such desperate
time for capital investment in The Bahamas may scare away potential investors.
But others quickly add that with the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas
coming on stream and the World Trade Organization measures coming into
effect, the concessions will have to disappear anyway, so at the least
the question of the elimination of concessions ought to be discussed.
We commend the Minister for starting the discussions but again we say you
have to be careful on this one.
THE
TRIBUNE ON SOL’S P.I. INVESTMENT
This column has been predicting for some time that
an agreement between the Bahamas Government and Sun International would
be struck that might give a much needed boost for employment in the country.
The state of negotiations has been a real hush hush deal with no side saying
anything, almost like there was a bond of secrecy. But The Tribune
always seems to have an in into the camp of the Kerzner International Company
that owns the Atlantis facility at Paradise Island. In the midst
of their story on James Smith’s speech at the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday
17th May came this piece:
“It [Mr. Smith’s speech] may also explain why
the Government has been taking so long to negotiate a Heads of Agreement
with Kerzner International over its 500 million dollars Phase III development
of Paradise Island. The Tribune understands that although talks between
the parties have intensified, the Government remains reluctant to grant
all the investment concessions and infrastructure (airport) improvements
Kerzner International is seeking, because it feels it will effectively
end up subsidizing $300 million of the $500 million costs.
“However Kerzner International is likely to consider
the concessions as being absolutely vital to proceeding with the Phase
III project, due to the relatively low rate of return it will receive on
its initial capital investment because of The Bahamas’ relatively high
cost base.”
The story then goes on to quote the misfit ideas
of Raymond Massey who can now rest comfortably around the table of drink
at Lyford Cay, while he helps to spin ill informed ideas on economics.
Mr. Massey claims that Bahamian resort properties on average make a 59
per cent lower return than competitors in the other nations of the region.
All we say is that some person or persons in the
Kerzner organization seem to have a good influence on The Tribune or should
we put it the other way, The Tribune seems to have a direct line into the
organization. So one must ask oneself the question: is this really
a deal that is wanted by the powers at Paradise Island or is this deal
to be scuppered through series of calculated leaks. Just checking!
JONES
IS THE BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR
The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce has named Wendall Jones, the media tycoon
that owns Love 97 and the Bahama Journal its Businessman of the Year.
Mr. Jones was seen in his own newspaper smiling from ear to ear as he received
the award at the banquet of the Chamber on Saturday 17th May from the President
of the Chamber Ray Winder and Minister of State James Smith. Mr.
Jones fell out with the PLP over his dismissal from ZNS as a reporter.
He never looked back. He started the Bahama Journal as a weekly and
then he got a radio licence from the Bahamas Government under the FNM’s
Hubert Ingraham. The Journal later became a daily afternoon paper
following the decision of The Tribune to become a morning paper.
The admiration with which he is held by many has now found its way into
national recognition with the choice of the Businessman of the Year.
US
ON FINGERPRINTING FOREIGNERS
The Miami Herald’s international edition reported
on Tuesday 20th May that starting 1st January that all foreigners coming
into the United States will have to give fingerprints and have snap photos
when they enter the US. This is being defended on the grounds that
it will protect the country against terrorists. Caribbean and South
American nations must get together and oppose this measure. This
is not a matter that should be for negotiation with the United States.
The matter is simply a non starter, foolish, intrusive, and discriminatory.
Here it is the United States is trying to force
every one into a consensus that is to lead to the free movement of people
in the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and now it proposes to treat
every Caribbean person, every Latin American as if they were criminals.
The US wants Miami to be the headquarters for the Free Trade Agreement
of the Americans and yet it dares to propose these foolish ideas.
We will see what mettle our present crop of Caribbean leaders are made
up of, if they allow this matter to get to this.
A
NEW CHAIR OF THE PLP WOMEN
Cheryl Ferguson has had a hard year, bless her heart.
First Rodney Moncur and band of renegades from the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union
were busy making publicity for themselves and in the process helping to
destroy the taxi cab union by pursuing trumped up charges of dishonesty
against Ms. Ferguson. The police have finally concluded that there
was no intent to steal by Ms. Ferguson and that what happened when some
700 dollars went missing was an act of negligence (apparently giving a
receipt for money without checking it) for which she is not criminally
responsible.
Having had that matter laid to rest, the renegades
are no doubt finding other reasons to upset the applecart and further destroy
the Union. Ms. Ferguson was also the Chair of the Women’s Branch
of the PLP. Well now she has lost that post to Dr. Madeline Sawyer,
a most unusual choice. Dr. Sawyer is the quintessentially aloof Bahamian
professional woman and it is hard to see how that image is going to square
with the popularity politics of the PLP. Also she remains a civil
servant as a consultant to the Princess Margaret Hospital, well we suppose
not technically a civil servant, but here she is being paid from public
funds to do a medical job and she is now the Chair of a political group.
Something is wrong.
The women say Dr. Sawyer brought in a brand new
bunch of faces, registered that night and they voted out the incumbents.
The other side in the taxi dispute says good for Cheryl Ferguson losing
because they took advantage last year of the lapse of attention by party
leaders of the matter and in a blinding rainstorm when few people were
there went ahead and elected Ms. Ferguson anyway. Well let’s hope
something gets off the ground now. Poor Ms Ferguson, the perception
was that she didn’t strike the right profile for the job. Translation,
they wanted someone with more ‘class’ - the snobbish version of class,
that is.
RICK
FOX CRIES FOR THE LOSS
The Los Angeles Lakers have gone down to flaming
defeat in their bid to become the champions of American played basketball
in the professional leagues this year, for the fourth time in a row.
It is like death has come to many households in Nassau, and the playoffs
have now lost their interest. The Lakers have a strong connection
to The Bahamas with two Bahamians having played for the team.
Right now Rick Fox, injured though he is, is still
on the team, and he had to sit on the sidelines watching from TV said his
wife Vanessa Williams in Nassau for the Special Olympics Torch run.
The wife said that he was reduced to tears as he watched from TV and knew
that injured as he is there was nothing that he could do to help the team.
The remarks of Vanessa Williams came in an interview with The Tribune on
Monday 19th May. She said that Rick Fox was not even able to jump
or move around quickly, due to staples in his ankle and doctors order to
keep his leg raise above his heart. She added: “He really wanted
to be there – just on the bench would have been nice, but he wasn’t able
to.”
FOREIGN
MINISTER CALLS IN BERMUDA
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell paid a courtesy call
on Bermuda’s Premier Jennifer Smith at the House of Assembly there. The
Minister was in Bermuda for two days on his way to London on Wednesday
15th May to Saturday 17th May. While in Bermuda he hosted the Bahamian
Club of Bermuda to a dinner reception. He met with the Premier to
talk about CARICOM matters. Bermuda joins CARICOM as an associate
member in July 2003.
CMAG ENDS
From Bermuda, Minister Mitchell travelled to London for the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action group (CMAG) meeting which ended Tuesday with a consensus
statement that the Commonwealth will maintain the suspension of Pakistan
from the Councils of the Commonwealth and Zimbabwe is to suffer the same
fate. The statement came at the end of the two day conference that
began Sunday night with a reception at the home of HRH Prince Charles the
heir to the British throne and ended at Marlborough House.
The Ministers said that they recognised that there
had been some progress in the democratic developments in Pakistan but that
they did not feel that it was sufficient for the suspension to be lifted.
Several matters have to be clarified, one of which is the legal framework
of orders by which the military general that seized the Government in a
coup five years ago still controls the country. 
Ministers
felt that if those Legal Framework Orders are reviewed, rejected or adopted
by the Pakistan Parliament then the matter can be reviewed by the CMAG
when it next meets in New York at the UN in September 2003.
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell who represents The
Bahamas and the Caribbean on the body said that it was a good decision.
He said that it showed that the Commonwealth was sticking by its values
of democracy, pluralism, and the right to dissent and free and fair elections.
With regard to Zimbabwe, the Minister said that
the Caribbean's position is absolutely clear that the suspension ought
to remain in place until the Heads of Government meeting in December.
The Bahamas supports that position.
The Minister said that the situation in Zimbabwe
had markedly deteriorated and was a cause of concern for all people in
the Commonwealth.
MAILBOX
Battle of the Chairmen
This week an interesting perspective on our story
from last week ‘Battle of the Chairmen’ by Dana Braynen who give his answer
to the question of whether new FNM Chairman Carl Bethel learned anything
from his public spanking at the hands of PLP Chair Raynard Rigby.
"The answer to your question is no!
In his response on May 16, 2003 he said that during his short tenure government
secured removal from the FATF Blacklist due to the improved performance
of the AG's office, and the implementation of the reform laws.
Firstly, he must have been talking about an improvement
over his four predecessors in office from 1992.
Secondly, what he didn't admit was that his government
secured placement on the blacklist in the first instance. Indeed,
a very senior government official admitted on national radio that they
were aware of the imminent blacklisting but failed to act in order to avoid
reducing competitiveness, a very peculiar stance when one sees that that
is exactly what was accomplished by rushing through 11 laws within the
last two weeks of December 2000.
Thirdly, he must also now be proud of securing
this country's upgrade to ‘priority’ listing by the United States Trade
Representative with regard to the Copy Right Laws because of the compulsory
licensing amendment enacted by his government in 1998 which they promised
to amend in November 2000 but never did. Maybe that one should also
have been rushed through in December."
Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on FTAA – (BARF)
A group with that unpalatable acronym has been formed
under the leadership of attorney Paul Moss and sent this outline of their
case given at a news conference by Mr. Moss:
"Bahamians Agitating for a referendum on the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (BARF) was formed out of the recognition
of the overwhelming changes which will occur in the Bahamas if we become
a party to this Agreement. So radical would be the changes, we realized
that instead of creating good employment, the FTAA will have the effect
of mass unemployment and underemployment for Bahamians by forcing jobs
to leave this country for other less developed countries where labour is
less expensive and labour laws antiquated. Additionally, things will no
longer be Bahamian and our country and government will lose its sovereignty..."
Please click here
for the entire text of the statement.
BARBADOS
ELECTION VICTORY
The Prime Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur has won re-election for a second
time. This makes his third term in office and is probably his last.
The election was held on Wednesday 21st May. The result never seemed
in doubt with the Opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) weakened by
a leadership fight in the run up to the election and with them holding
only two seats in the 30 seat Parliament.
Mr. Owen's Barbados Labour Party (BLP) majority
in the Parliament was reduced by 5. He now has 23 seats compared
to 28 before the election. The DLP now has 7 compared to 2 before
the election. Former Leader of the Opposition David Thompson won
his seat with an increased majority even though many perceived that he
was the cause of the dissension in his party. Former Deputy Prime
Minister Billie Miller retained her seat but she is to be replaced as Deputy
Prime Minister by Mia Mottley, the Attorney General. Mr. Owen said
that Mrs. Miller would continue to serve in the Cabinet.
Congratulations to the Government of Barbados.
Of all the elections held since 2002 in the CARICOM nations, The Bahamas
is the only nation to have turned out the incumbent Government. The
JLP was returned in Jamaica, the incumbents were returned in Belize in
March and now Barbados has retained its incumbent Government. Elections
are expected to be announced in Bermuda shortly.
SIR
ARTHUR IS ROBBED
While we understand the anxiousness of Dr. Elliston Rahming to provide
rational and logical explanations for the problem of crime and applaud
his valiant effort to say that crime has actually decreased despite the
recent murders, we think that we have to recognise one fact. That
fact is that notwithstanding any statistic, people are in fear of crime.
That has to be addressed not just by statistics but by stopping the random
and capricious nature of crime as evidenced by the story of the armed robbery
of Sir Arthur Foulkes on Friday 23rd May just as he arrived at his home
on West Bay Street near Compass Point.
Sir Arthur was shaken in the robbery. He said
he will begin to be cautious but not change his way of life.
What is startling to the public after the murder
of a Cabinet Minister for robbery, the murder of a well known priest, the
murder of a Cabinet Minister's son, and now the robbery of a well known
citizen and former Minister, Diplomat and Parliamentarian, is the fact
that people could rob this man and not know who he is and pay respect to
who is. The robbery of anyone is reprehensible, but this signals
and suggests that law and order and respect for order has truly broken
down. It simply should not happen, and it is still happening too
often.
UNCLE
LOU ADDERLEY DIES
We are saddened to announce the death of Leviticus
Adderley, the former Principal of St. Augustine's College and a mentor
to many a person. He was a deacon in the Catholic Church that he
served from the time that he returned from school in the United States
in 1953. Deacon Adderley was affectionately known as Uncle Lou to
generations of St. Augustine's students. He was suffering from cancer
at the time of his death. We shall all miss him. He is survived
by his wife and children. Funeral services have not yet been announced.
B.S.
NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Pockets of Poverty
It is 7.15am outside of a fast food restaurant in
downtown Freeport. A little girl aged around 9 with her brother in
tow aged around 7 greet the politicos who meet at the restaurant: "Mister,
would you give me three dollars for breakfast, please?" Immediately,
one of the fellows takes the children into the restaurant and purchases
breakfast for both. The question is asked, "What school do you go
to?" and she replies that it is Bartlett Hill, a school at the beginning
of the Eight Mile Rock community.
The children seem clean and look healthy, but the
little brother's uniform seems somewhat soiled. What is of concern
to us is that everyday in Grand Bahama there are other children who face
the same difficulties of going to school without breakfast. We throw
out this challenge to the various non governmental organisations (NGOs),
Kiwanis, Rotary, Pilots, and Lions etc. to see what private initiative
could be developed at individual primary schools where this problem exists.
Perhaps even an extension of the existing Rotary lunch programme.
We believe that this problem would be better handled through these NGOs.
PM's Defining Moment
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Perry Christie is expected
to give his first PLP Budget after a year in office. With all the
appointments and committees just about complete, here is where the tire
hits the road. His government has now had one year to assess the
state of the Public Treasury and the state of revenue collections.
No doubt some hard and harsh decisions will have to be made. We believe
that they include salaries for the public service, infrastructure for some
Family Islands, work to be done on the prison and immigration. Education
will no doubt lead the way.
We are informed that the CDR headed by Dr. B.J.
Nottage will be the first out of the gate to debate this year's budget
with at least four spokespersons leading the charge in the court of public
opinion. Mr. Christie must be careful that all his ducks are lined
up and that instead of doing the politically correct thing, he should simply
do what is right.
Why Sit We Here Until We Die?
There's a story in the Bible found in 2nd Kings
chapter 7, verses three to four, which describes exactly what the Haitian
people in the north have been experiencing. "If a man is hungry and
under duress, he will agree to anything." In the case of Haiti, this
site has reported a pending food shortage and from all accounts it seems
that the shortage has now materialised. It is with that in mind that
anything the Haitian government formally agrees to will not translate into
co-operation from its citizens.
For our part in The Bahamas, we say that the challenge
for the government is to vigorously patrol the southern borders, but beyond
that it is now high time that this government take the unpopular decision
and regularise the approximately ten thousand Haitians who have lived among
us for the past ten years and bring these undocumented workers into the
mainstream Bahamian culture and economy. Anything else, including
massive roundups and repatriation only to find that these people will find
themselves back in The Bahamas days later, will not do. The challenge
for us is to convince Bahamian people that this is indeed the right thing
to do.
BS
