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 paper
