Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 3 © BahamasUncensored.Com
MR. MEAN AND NASTY IS BACK
It
is the greatest form of political treachery since Brutus stabbed Caesar
in the Roman Senate on the morning of the Ides of March so many millennia
ago. Hubert Ingraham set up Tommy Turnquest for the kill, and Mr.
Turnquest was or is apparently a willing lamb to the slaughter. That
is the only way we can describe the series of orchestrated events that
have taken place over the past months and within the past week.
On Tuesday 27th September, the country woke up to headlines that there was a move afoot by the Members of Parliament of the Opposition Free National Movement who are led in Parliament by the hapless, pleasant but hopeless Alvin Smith to replace both Mr. Smith and Senator Tommy Turnquest, the leader of the Party with Mr. Ingraham. Mr. Turnquest denied that any such move was afoot. He said that he had been assured by Mr. Ingraham that he was not running for leadership of the Party and that he supported Mr. Turnquest. Mr. Smith went further on the radio and said that he had not heard that Mr. Ingraham was coming back but that he would do what was necessary to help move the party forward. That as we say was on Tuesday.
Things went rapidly down hill for Tommy Turnquest, Alvin Smith and the FNM from there. There was extensive reporting in all the press about how the FNM Members of Parliament had met on Monday the 26th September and demanded that Tommy Turnquest step down and accept Mr. Ingraham as leader. Mr. Turnquest refused. He spoke to the press and said that he was not talking about the internal politics of the FNM and that he remained the leader. He said he thought it was a good meeting. Mr. Ingraham, he said, was his friend. The only one who could believe that was he. What a naïve fellow? The fact that all of the details of the meeting were leaked out to the newspapers showed that Mr. Turnquest was done, and that Mr. Ingraham had successfully done him in.
Here is how we see it. Mr. Ingraham practices the politics of worthlessness. He is like one of those old boxing champions that can’t seem to get it. It is time to retire and let another generation have its time. His time is up but he won’t retire voluntarily. He wants to be beaten senseless.
After destroying the FNM in 2002 and adding to its loss because he did not accept that he had to live up to his promise to leave the Government after two terms; after fooling Lynden Pindling, a sick and dying man to step down from Parliament because he needed his money, knowing that Sir Lynden was owed $500,000 which the PLP later had to pay; after double dipping from the Public Treasury accepting a salary and his pension and remaining an active Member of Parliament; he has now stabbed Tommy Turnquest in the back politically speaking. It is a shameful act. It was the same thing that Mr. Ingraham did to Pierre Dupuch, to Tennyson Wells and to Algernon Allen while they were in the FNM. One thing one can say is a snake is snake no matter what guise it comes in.
What is worse is that Tommy Turnquest, and Alvin Smith, and Brent Symonette who is to become the deputy show themselves to be so weak. Mr. Symonette does not have the courage to run for leader, which is the job he really wants, so he wants to get there under the skirt of Mr. Ingraham, fooling people. Alvin Smith and Tommy Turnquest have to stand up and fight. For Mr. Turnquest there is no choice but to stand up and fight even if he only gets his own vote at the convention. His self respect alone demands nothing less.
The morning before the final knife wound was made, Mr. Turnquest orchestrated a vote of his delegates of the convention with the picture of Ricardo Smith, a discredited political figure, voting to support Mr. Turnquest. That did not move the FNM Council who on the night of Thursday 29th September voted 88 to 40 to support Mr. Ingraham coming back to be the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament, completing the betrayal of Mr. Turnquest by Mr. Ingraham’s supporters. What a weak and senseless and disparate group of men and women. The man who caused them to lose is coming back to cause them to lose again.
We have lots of advice for the PLP in the circumstances. But the Chair of the PLP Raynard Rigby said that it was a sad day for democracy in the The Bahamas with the official Opposition fighting about who should be the leader. Prime Minister Christie speaking to the Stalwart Council Banquet in South Andros said it best: “We have one Leader in the PLP. There is no confusion in the PLP”. Could not have said it better!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 1st October 2005 at midnight: 82,625.
Number of hits for the month ending Friday 30th September 2005 at midnight: 345,670.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 1st October 2005 at midnight: 2,855,468.
TENNYSON
WELLS REACTION TO INGRAHAM
Tennyson Wells, the Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town, who sits as an
independent but is really a disgruntled FNM, had plenty to say about Hubert
Ingraham’s return to the leadership of the Free National Movement.
Mr. Wells told The Tribune that the FNM cannot win with Mr. Ingraham at
the helm. His remarks were published on Thursday 29th September.
Mr. Wells ran for the leadership of the FNM in 2002 but opposed by Mr.
Ingraham, he lost. Here is what he had to say in his own words:
“If Mr. Ingraham leads the FNM into the next election
as many as 25 per cent of the diehard FNMs won’t come out to support the
party at the polls.
“No political party in the past few elections have
won with more than 58 per cent of the vote and there is about 20 per cent
of the FNM who will not come out to vote. They will lose.
“If Mr. Turnquest emerges out of Thursday
night’s meeting [29th September] [of the FNM Council] as leader, the FNM
would stand a better chance of winning. The Council is the supreme
authority of the party outside of convention and can indeed elect a new
leader for the FNM. But for the Council to do something like that
would be immoral and almost corrupt because it’s only six weeks to convention
and it would displace what the convention would be there to do.
“The party is rife with mischief makers, always
has been and they are not happy unless they have something that messes
with the smooth flow of the FNM.
“I have heard that [Hubert Ingraham] had meetings
all over the place with people to have him returned as leader. One
of the conditions to him returning was that he get (sic) to choose 26 of
the candidates exclusive of the seven who are there.
“This is a practice totally outside the tradition
of the FNM. What has been happening in the FNM in the past 12 years
would not have happened when Sir Cecil and Sir Kendal because they were
people who operated on principle, not expedience.”
WHAT
HAPPENED IN THE FNM COUNCIL
An insider at the Free National Movement’s Council
meeting told us that Thursday 29th September was a sad day. They
never thought that Tommy Turnquest was as naïve as he turned out to
be, and also so weak. The Free National Movement's Council was badgered
by its Members of Parliament, all seven of them who made it plain that
they were no longer prepared to follow the leadership of Tommy Turnquest
but as a compromise they would accept for the moment that the Council endorse
Mr. Ingraham as their leader in the House of Assembly.
Alvin Smith is said to be set to resign. No
word yet from the Governor General on whether this has been confirmed,
although for the moment the FNM’s propaganda mouthpiece The Tribune reported
on Saturday 1st October that Mr. Smith and Mr. Symonette will continue
in their present roles in the House when it reconvenes on Wednesday 5th
October. The thing is: what is Alvin Smith going to do for income?
He is already suffering, even with the $50,000 per year that he gets as
Leader of the Opposition in name. Some say that an arrangement will
be made with Mr. Ingraham for him to turn the money over to Mr. Smith.
With his return to the post of Leader of the Opposition,
the greedy actions of Mr. Ingraham will see him getting $28,000 as a Member
of Parliament, $100,000 as a former Prime Minister in pension and $50,000
as Leader of the Opposition. He will in fact be paid more than the
Prime Minister. Everyone has been saying that what Mr. Ingraham has
been doing is immoral and an act of cowardice but that has not stopped
him, and will not stop his crazed supporters from pushing their agenda.
The real point here will be how does the PLP react
to this? Will they shake in their boots or will they finally stand
up and say what they believe and fight to retain the office that so many
fought so hard to regain?
PETROCARIBE
IN THE NEWS AGAIN
With the price of gas going higher each week, and
with the price of the electricity surcharge now representing more than
seventy percent of your bill, that has quadrupled in recent months, it
appears that there is more and more desperation in the public policy on
the matter of gasoline.
The Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller,
accompanied by the head of the Petroleum Usage Review Committee, former
Shell Executive Vincent Coleby, have been promising if we sign the PetroCaribe
deal offered by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez that the price of gas will go down
in The Bahamas. That is demonstrably false and leads to false expectations.
Then the pair was forced to contradict a story based
on an unnamed source in the Nassau Guardian which said that one of the
hold ups was that Venezuela wanted to be part of the decision making on
how the money saved from cash flow in the PetroCaribe deal would be used.
That much is clear and true but the gentlemen said that was false.
The pair also raised the expectation that the Government
would adopt what they said was part of the report of the Committee that
the taxes would be lowered on gasoline. That too is false.
A Government must be careful how arguments are framed so that it does not
appear that there is an unseemly personal interest in pushing a particular
policy. One does not want to get into the same trap that the kooks
on the other side of the story like the Nassau Institute that argue just
as lamely that we will offend the Americans, that Chavez is a communist,
that this will spread their ideology into The Bahamas. From our point
of view, it is clear that this is not a deal for The Bahamas but let’s
keep the arguments at a certain level.
RUMOURS
OF A CABINET SHUFFLE AGAIN
The Tribune claims to have a special link to the inner mind of Prime Minister
Perry Christie or so it would appear. On Saturday 1st October, they
led with the incredible headline: RESHUFFLE RUMOURS. These are a
mix of the same rumours that have been circulating for years that the Prime
Minister was to make dramatic shifts in his Cabinet. All of them
have come to naught. It is amazing then that a mainstream newspaper
publishes rumours. The sub head was: MOVE COULD BE DEFENCE AGAINST
ANTIGOVERNMENT ALLEGATIONS. This is the continuance of their campaign
to bring back Hubert Ingraham. Their argument is that the PLP is
panicking because Mr. Ingraham is coming back. That has to be the
biggest joke.
Anyway here is what they say is to happen: Vincent
Peet, present Minister of Labour and Immigration to Financial Services
and Investment, now held by Allyson Maynard Gibson; Allyson Maynard Gibson
is to become Attorney General. Alfred Sears is to remain Minister
of Education. Melanie Griffin is to become the Minister of Housing
and Social Services, Dr. Marcus Bethel is to head the Ministry of National
Insurance. V. Alfred Gray is to become Minister for Local Government.
Leslie Miller is to become Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Fred Mitchell is to remain Minister of Foreign Affairs but also take on
international trade. Well your guess is as good as theirs. BIS
photo: Peter Ramsay
THE
NASSAU GUARDIAN GETTING JUST LIKE THE PUNCH
We are making a strong appeal to the Publisher of
The Nassau Guardian Charles Carter who is a former politician, a PLP Minister
no less, and who is himself a journalist and broadcaster. Something
must be done and done quickly to solve the problems at the Nassau Guardian.
Not only are the staff widely disgruntled with the pay and working conditions
there, but the newspaper has been taking on more and more of the image
of the down market Punch. In too many ways what appears therein is
not worthy of mainstream journalism with its commitment to balance, fairness
and accurate reporting. From a management point of view it appears
that much is desired as well.
It is inexplicable to the people of Freeport for
example that the Nassau Guardian has had a history of almost 20 years of
late arrival in Freeport. There is a flight there every day at 6
a.m. The Tribune manages to get there every day and is distributed
around the island by 9 a.m. Almost invariably, the Nassau Guardian
does not show and is not distributed until the next day. So the paper
is always running behind one day in Freeport. It then becomes irrelevant
as a source of information. One wonders why businessmen don’t sue
the Guardian for not delivering on producing the newspaper to the market
that it promises when they were buying advertising in the paper.
The Tribune manages to get there on time.
There is a history of editors most recently Oswald
Brown who simply decided that they don’t like what someone is saying so
they won't carry what that person says in the newspaper.
Most recently, though, the Nassau Guardian carried
a story on Friday 30th September under the banner headline TONIQUE TO GET
1 MILLION DOLLAR HOME (GOVT PLAN TO BUILD LUXURY HOME FOR STAR).
The story has no basis in fact. On Saturday 1st October, the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, denied the truth
of its content. The Nassau Guardian did not publish any correction
on the Saturday. It did not get an on the record comment from any
spokesman of the Ministry on the day they published the first erroneous
story. Shavaughn Moss, who is listed as the Guardian Sports Editor,
wrote the story. Both the Sports Editor and the Managing Editor of
the paper ought to have their journalistic ethics examined and it is up
to Mr. Carter to call them into account.
The story is based on a report from an unnamed Government
source who said that Ms. Williams Darling who won the Olympic Gold, a first
for a Bahamian as an individual athlete in Olympics; and then later at
the World Championships in Helsinki this year in the 400 metres, was about
to get this house. The source said that the athlete would get land
in an upscale area of the western district of New Providence, and that
the Ministry of Housing was to build her a luxury home. On that basis,
The Guardian then went to Geoffrey Brown, a real estate agent, who said
that land in Westridge, an upscale area of New Providence sells for around
$250,000 for 100 by 200 feet. He then said that to build a home in
the area would cost no less than $800,000 to one million dollars.
With that the Nassau Guardian said that The Bahamas
Government was going to give Tonique Williams Darling a one million dollars
home. From that the radio talk shows took off, badgering the athlete's
name in the airwaves, some saying that she should not get the house, others
going further and saying the proposal to name Harrold Road in New Providence
after her is premature and wrong and over the top.
The road proposal is a difficult one, and those
who object should if the time has not already run out write any objections
they have as required in law before the Minister can change the name of
a road. But we suspect all Bahamians want to do is row, not make
their objections known and force the Government to properly consider whether
this is the right thing. But back to the Nassau Guardian, something
has to be wrong with what they have done with that story. But we
believe that not one blessed thing will be done. Standards are all
out the window and anything appears to go around here.
PASTORS
VEX AS THE STRIPPERS GET OFF
The Tribune reported on Thursday 29th September
that three Bahamian Pastors Allan Lee, Lyall Bethel (brother of FNM Chairman
Carl Bethel) and Cedric Moss have expressed concerned about the acquittal
of “strip dancers” at the Butterfly Club in Nassau. The acquittal
took place on 21st September. The six Russian dancers, their Russian
manager, staff members of the Butterfly Club/ Bahamas Cabaret Limited were
charged with indecent behaviour and abetting indecent behaviour.
It is difficult to see how such a charge can stand in a club that is one
where consenting adults go for entertainment. The Magistrate ruled
in a no case submission that the prosecution had not proven their case,
and the persons were not called upon to mount a defence.
The case has caused the three pastors to be concerned
about the state of morality in the country. They claim that the public
may have misread the arguments of Wayne Munroe the attorney for the defence
to believe that prostitution and other forms of lewd commercial sex in
private are legal. The pastors claim that this is not the case in
The Bahamas. They added: “While we speak as pastors, we believe that
it is incumbent upon the government, all decent minded, law abiding citizens
in all spheres of society, to actively do all they can to resist the efforts
of a few persons who are driven by financial greed and who lack a moral
compass and any regard for the dignity of women and sexuality to continue
to further erode the moral fabric of our nation.”
A caller to a radio show on which the pastors appeared
asked them whether or not they are proposing to legislate morality.
The pastors have their right of free speech but in democratic society,
a secular state, not a religious theocracy, there are certain rights and
freedoms enshrined in the constitution, which despite the preamble that
talks about Christian values, overwhelmingly comes down in favour of a
balance of rights. The pastors, while they can sound the alarm and
keep us on the straight and narrow, need have no fears of any more than
a simple legal ruling within the context of the constitutional right of
each person as balanced against the public interest. It should not
be taken any further or out of its context.
REACTION
TO MITCHELL AT THE UN
The Bahamas is a peculiar country politically. Just over three months
ago, the entire nation seemed in revolt against any possible association
with the people of the Caribbean. It seemed like a full-scale retreat
from the world stage was in order. The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell
seemed the brunt of a co-ordinated campaign by FNM operatives and some
so called free thinkers to sabotage the country’s forward looking international
profile, so long as that profile meant associating with the Caribbean.
The Foreign Minister delivered the annual General
Assembly statement of the country on 22nd September. By all accounts
it seemed to go over like gang busters in the country, with one of the
pundits Andrew Allen suggesting that he might be on to something about
controlling the smuggling of weapons. The public itself seemed to
be quite chuffed that he appeared to tell the Americans that they had treated
the country most unfairly because they had listed the country as a drug
transhipment country. You may click here
for the full statement.
The reaction of the public caught the eye and the
pen of Stan Burnside, the Nassau Guardian cartoonist and we thought that
we should share it with you from their paper of Monday 26th September.
JUSTINE
CLEARE CALLED TO THE BAR
Attorney H. Campbell Cleare III, a partner in the
firm McKinney Bancroft and Hughes and his wife Sharon have a beautiful
and brilliant daughter, Justine. On Friday 30th September she was called
to the Bar of The Bahamas as a counsel and attorney at law. She was
called with one dozen others. Amongst the others called was the daughter
of the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Peter Ramsay was there
and took this photo of the young Ms. Cleare with her father after the call.
NEW
SOCIAL SERVICE OFFICE IN FOX HILL
There is a new office for Social Services in Fox
Hill. As host of the official opening, the Minister of Social Services
and Community Development Melanie Griffin pointed out that the office is
to serve those people who need help and who reside in the entire Eastern
District of New Providence from the constituencies of Fox Hill, Montague,
Yamacraw, Marathon, Elizabeth and Holy Cross. Leading the luminaries
at the opening was the Prime Minister, Perry Christie. Mr. Christie
renewed his pledge to help to find innovative ways to help the poor.
Minister of Housing and National Insurance Shane Gibson was there.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and The Public Service
Fred Mitchell, who is the representative for Fox Hill, used the occasion
to talk about the hard cases that need to be solved in Fox Hill; and the
necessity to be sensitive to the needs of the poor. You may click
here for his address.
100 year old Fox Hill resident Rowena Archer,
centre, cuts the ribbon to officially open the new Fox Hill Outreach Centre
on Thursday, September 29, 2005. Shown from left are the Minister
Shane Gibson, Minister Melanie Griffin, Mrs. Archer, Prime Minister Perry
Christie, Minister Mitchell and Reverend Dr. Carrington Pinder, pastor
St. Mark's Native Baptist Church. BIS Photo: Tim Aylen
D.P.M.
AND U.S. AMBASSADOR READ WITH THE KIDS
It was time for reading classes again, and the children
of Ridgeland Primary school had special guests to come and lead them in
their lessons. The pair of special guests were the Deputy Prime Minister
Cynthia Pratt and the Ambassador of the United States to The Bahamas John
Rood. It was an engaging photo and we thought you should see it.
The photo is by Tim Aylen of the Bahamas Information Services and took
place on Thursday 29th September.
POETRY FEATURE
Who is really the potter and who serves as the clay?
This week’s verse is, ‘MUSE’. Please click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist,
Giovanni.Stuart (www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
I take issues with the statement “However we
make no bones about our unabashed support for him [Fred Mitchell] and for
any PLP”. Journalists have a responsibility to the citizens of the
Commonwealth of the Bahamas for the objective dissemination of information
and accurate fact finding. For as we all know, a better informed
society make informed decisions and as a result, a more productive society.
I hope that this column is paid for by whoever you claim to support.
I find it interesting that many of the individuals who you support and
individuals who you categorically oppose are often seen dining together
and laughing up a storm.
Let me remind you, that at the end of the day,
politicians come and go and even some political parties become irrelevant
but it is the Commonwealth of the Bahamas that must and will stand the
test of time. History will eventually explain anything that is in
dispute or has stirred controversy. How will this column defend itself
when the next generation of ambitious, patriotic and optimistic Bahamians
craving knowledge expose the partisan, unfair and reputation bashing journalism
that has been documented permanently? Short term partisan gain and
political mileage will never in a thousand years be a substitute for genuine
concern, positive contribution and long term development of our country.
Who are you serving?
Concerned Citizen
Clearly, you misunderstand the purpose of this column. This
is an opinion site, not a news site. Its opinion is that the PLP
and those who are PLPs are good for the country on balance, despite the
faults which we ourselves might find. That is why we make it clear
who we support, so you know in advance what you are reading, unlike the
newspapers in our country that all masquerade as being objective but in
fact support the Free National Movement or better yet, anything that is
anti PLP. – Editor
FOOTNOTES
TO TROUBLE
The Trade Unions’ leaders have issued an ultimatum
of the Government. On Friday 30th September, the leader of the National
Congress of Trade Unions Pat Bain announced that unless the Government
responded favourably to certain demands they were making by 5th October
2005, there would be some unspecified serious action taken. Not to
be outdone Obie Ferguson, the leader of the Trade Union Congress said that
there would be three surprises in store for the Government. The House
of Assembly meets on Wednesday 5th October.
The newly reelected President of the Bahamas Public
Service Union John Pinder promised before his election that he would lead
the workers of the BPSU to the streets in a mass demotion for money that
is not there to give. So with Hubert Ingraham set to return with
the rude and nasty tactics to the House from Wednesday, and with the Unions
joining up to create mayhem, it might be quite a party on the 5th October.
By the way, Wednesday 5th October will be the 52nd
birthday of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred
Mitchell. He should plan to have quite a party on that day.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Stalwart Councillors party: This photo is from a
banquet held to honour newly installed Stalwart Councillors of the Progressive
Liberal Party held over the weekend in Andros. Below, the Prime Minister
consults with Ministers Melanie Griffin and Shane Gibson at the official
opening of a satellite centre of the Ministry of Social Services and Community
Development ini Fox Hill.
Peter Ramsay photos
FNM IN CHAOS
Oh what a web we weave when first we practice to deceive
--Shakespeare
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry
-- Robert Burns
The
moments in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 5th October 2005 will go
down in history as full of poetic drama. There were plays within
plays; there was comedy; there was tragedy. Shakespearean moments!
Dickensian Moments! The chickens came home to roost. These
were poetic moments. The PLP was simply on a watching brief, as the
Opposition’s effort at a dramatic comeback turned into a pathetic puff
of wind.
All week long before the House met, the FNM was saying that the PLP had no agenda and that the country was tired of the PLP. They said that the Big Chief, the man who said he would only be king for ten years or two terms, wanted, needed to be king again. His operatives were busy fanning the flames for his return. He was said to be up and down the country encouraging a comeback. The FNM MPs met and plotted and schemed. They betrayed Senator Tommy Turnquest, the man who took the loss for Hubert Ingraham in 2002 and then stayed on despite being embarrassed into having lost his own seat and sitting in the Senate. Now as the election is coming near, and six weeks before their convention would have decided anyway, there was an attempt at a palace coup by FNM MPs and former MPs.
It is difficult to know who delivered the unkindest cut. There were so many. Frank Watson, the former Deputy Prime Minister and party leader savaged Tommy Turnquest beyond measure. He said that Tommy didn’t get it. That Tommy was not connecting with the people. He said that Tommy had a choice to make. This was presumably with the tacit support of Mr. Ingraham, since Mr. Watson does not have an original thought in his head. Then as the strategy failed in the House, one of Mr. Ingraham's other operatives Ossie Marshall said that Mr. Watson should be sanctioned for attacking Tommy.
So today, we print what Mr. Watson had to say in his own words; what Tennyson Wells had to say in his own words; what Pierre Dupuch had to say in his own words; what Tommy had to say in his own words; what Brent Symonette had to say in his own words.
We note that Mr. Ingraham had nothing to say, and in fact took the chicken run as soon as Tennyson Wells raised the constitutional issue of who was the real Leader of the Opposition in the House. Mr. Ingraham picked up his georgie bundle and fled for the tall grass. Shakespeare said a coward dies a thousand deaths, the valiant only once. Judge then for yourself what Mr. Ingraham can be called.
Tennyson Wells made the point that Alvin Smith, the hapless, nice, but hopeless Leader of the Opposition had announced that he did not have confidence in himself and was stepping down in favour of Mr. Ingraham. The other FNM MPs did as well. That meant that the Governor General was bound to take note that there was no one who filled the position of Leader of the group opposed to the Government. Read article 82 (4) of the Constitution. Mr. Wells said it showed disrespect for our institutions.
Prime Minister Christie called the entire matter sad, sickening, disgraceful and immoral.
Arthur Foulkes, excuse us Sir Arthur, who had to postpone his planned attack on this column to respond to Raynard Rigby, the PLP's Chairman, said in his latest column that the PLP’s lament for the FNM was crocodile tears. We wonder what he has to say now. As inventive as he is, he cannot pretend that this kind of democracy is good for his party or for the country. It is sad, sickening and disgraceful.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 8th October 2005 at midnight: 88,896.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 8th October 2005 at midnight: 97,432.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 8th October at midnight:
2,952,900.
WHAT
THEY SAID IN THEIR OWN WORDS
… ABOUT THE FNM’S LEADER
Frank Watson, former Deputy Prime Minister, spoke last Sunday in
a slash and burn interview with Wendall Jones and Godfrey Eneas on Love
97 for the Jones & Co Radio show:
“If I were him (Tommy Turnquest) I would have to think that you can’t continue
to be defeated by motions which you carry or have the Council make decisions
contrary to your wishes. That’s demoralizing and I think it erodes
your moral authority to lead these people, and so I think he has to make
a choice.
“[When FNM MPS asked Senator Turnquest to allow
Mr. Ingraham to take over the Parliamentary Leader’s post] …they were obviously
responding to the cries of their own constituents and hearing the louder
cry in the country and they thought that something had to be done for the
FNM to step up the pace and to appear to be doing the job of representing
the opposition in The Bahamas.
“They did not think that was coming from the
leadership presently. They went to the Right Honourable Hubert Ingraham
and asked him if he would accept the job of leader in the House.
He told them that if they gave him the job he would have no choice but
to take it but that he would wish that they would first speak with the
Leader of the Party Tommy Turnquest and get the consent of the Council.
“[While Senator Turnquest did not think it was
a good idea] the Council felt otherwise. I think it is fair to say that
if one wants to browse around the country, any part, any time; our present
leader is having a difficult time selling himself to the populace and indeed
energizing his own base has become a very difficult thing for him to do.
“[Choosing Mr. Turnquest as leader] did not turn
out the way we thought it would. The first suggestion of that was
that Mr. Turnquest with the support of the Cabinet hardly got 50 per cent
plus one per cent of the vote of the party’s 2001 leadership election.
After that, we were on the campaign trail and we continued to hear people
say, ‘Between Perry and Tommy, I prefer Perry.’ These were FNMs.”
Tennyson Wells, Independent MP and former challenger for FNM Leadership:
“The majority of the sitting members of the FNM, including the Member of
North Eleuthera (Alvin Smith, the present Leader of the Opposition), have
publicly stated that they no longer support the member for North Eleuthera
as leader of the Opposition. They voted to that effect on their national
council and it has been widely reported in the press.
“If this crisis is not resolved by the FNM’s
sitting members, the Governor General may have to exercise his judgment
made under article 82.4 of the Constitution and appoint some other person
maybe the Member for Lucaya (Neko Grant).
“In spite of the vote of confidence by the FNM
parliamentary group, the Member for North Abaco (former Prime Minister
Ingraham) has clearly demonstrated that he did not want the leadership
as he did not get the majority of the FNM council as he had hoped.
“They did not give him the kind of majority he
wanted in the FNM Council and the Member for North Abaco treated his FNM
parliamentary colleagues, the FNM Council, the system, this parliament
and the country with contempt.
“I can’t say that I blame him with respect to
some of his former Cabinet ministers and his FNM Parliamentary colleagues,
but to treat the FNM Council, the system, this parliament and the country
like that is downright uncalled for, disrespectful and contemptuous.
“It is clear that Mr. Smith has disavowed the
position of Leader of the Opposition. It is no longer a matter of
whether he has delivered his resignation letter to the Governor General.
It is a public fact that his parliamentary colleagues have publicly withdrawn
their support for him and there is no such thing as an acting leader of
the Opposition. There must be a substantive holder of the post of
Leader of the Opposition.
“It appears to be clear that neither the Member
for North Abaco nor the Member for North Eleuthera have been in touch with
the prime minister or the governor general or you Mr. Speaker.
“That is the political reality in the country
today. The members who voted for him to be their leader of the opposition
have now publicly stated that they want someone else – the Member for North
Abaco – who appears to be reluctant to take up the post. This is
serious…
“The official opposition of our country ought
to behave in a responsible manner. Members ought to behave in a responsible
manner. Members ought to behave and act in a principled manner and
not out of expedience.”
Pierre Dupuch, former FNM MP, now Independent:
“Prime Minister Christie has brought dignity and integrity back to the
office of Prime Minister…
“The public may be justified in saying that you
(Mr. Christie) make your decisions rather slowly, but the most important
thing is the dignity and integrity, character. People can believe
what you say. I stand here this morning, Mr. Speaker, and I have
seen this Parliament pulled down to the gutter.
“We hear on the radio with no contradiction that
the members of the FNM in this House have recalled their confidence in
the leader. We hear on the radio that the member of North Eleuthera
has appeared here this morning as the acting leader.
“I don’t know if it is through ignorance or complete
lack of respect for this office or the public, but I don’t know – maybe
I don’t understand – how a man can be deputy to himself. Although
the FNM Council has said that they have no faith in him (Alvin Smith),
he didn’t have the courtesy to submit his resignation.
“Just this morning it was denied in the press,
and I was waiting for the denial to come with something about an accommodation
to be made I understand accommodation to be a little bit of this stuff.
(Mr. Dupuch was rubbing his fingers together to indicate money was the
issue. There was report that Alvin Smith was stalling his resignation
until it could be worked out with Mr. Ingraham how the money Mr. Smith
lost in salary would be replaced.)
“But I want to know how anybody can fix their
face to come in here as an acting Leader of the Opposition when he has
been sworn in as the Leader of the Opposition. The public, not only
the thousands of decent FNM’s have been dragged down, the entire Bahamian
people, the Bahamian system, has been dragged down by these people.
And they say they want to lead this country?”
Brent Symonette, Chief of Opposition Business in the House:
“This is not a constitutional issue. It
is a private one for the FNM. We have no constitutional issue that
exists because the post of Leader of the Opposition is filled by the Member
for North Eleuthera and as such this motion should not have come before
you here today. Now what it is [for the MPs Tennyson Wells and Pierre
Dupuch], is clearly a political trick and a gimmick by using the constitution
because the constitution is very clear.”
Senator Tommy Turnquest, Leader of the FNM in an exclusive interview
with his Uncle-in-Law Oswald Brown in the Freeport News Thursday 6th October
2005:
“I am in this for the long haul. There is no question I am committed,
my focus is sharpened, my resolve is strong to move forward and to move
this party forward… I continue to enjoy tremendous support.
“There has to be a continued progression of generations,
moving forward, coming to the forefront. I can’t hold on to the reins,
when the younger generations come – better equipped, better trained, more
in tune with the vast majority of the people, who are young people.
“There are seasons that each of us are responsible
for, and if we don’t take that calling seriously, we not only put ourselves
and our organization in jeopardy but also our country.
“I firmly believe that I am focused, I am resolved
to continue and I am going into the upcoming convention – in less than
five weeks now – fortified and confident that I will come out victorious.
“[I have spoken with former PM Ingraham] he told
me he has no desire to return. I take him as a man of his word and
hence I am even more fortified in my resolve.
“Like everyone else I have strengths and weaknesses. I believe that
those persons who never accepted the fact that I could lead this party
and lead this country continued to put out propaganda and accentuate those
weaknesses, rather than accentuate my strengths. They never gave
the assistance that stalwarts of our party are mandated to do – to assist
me – so that my weaknesses are minimized.
“And the words that move me most came from my
mother. Although she did not want me to become a politician, she told me.
You are no quitter.”
Prime Minister Perry Christie:
“I have sympathy for the Member for North Eleuthera
(Alvin Smith) and my heart goes out to Tommy Turnquest. It is so
unnecessary, it is so immoral, and in fact, it is one of the greatest obscenities
that have happened in this country. It is sad and it is sickening.
Somewhere along the lines there has to be good order and decency in the
process. We have descended into one of the most disgraceful constitutional
periods in our process. The second generation leader is being challenged
and it is wrong.”
TANYA
McCARTNEY STEPS DOWN
And, as if the day did not go badly enough, Wednesday 5th October was the
day of the resignation of Senator Tanya McCartney from the Senate.
Senator McCartney says that her resignation will take effect on 30th October.
She is the second FNM Senator to resign this year. She said that
while the resignation had nothing to with the present crisis in the FNM,
she determined that sacrificing or compromising one’s reputation and integrity
“ought not to be a prerequisite for public service.” Huh? What
does that mean? Who was compromising her reputation and integrity
and what was being said or done that did so? No word!
Senator McCartney said that she will remain active
in the civic life of the country. But no doubt that was another body
blow for the Free National Movement on the day when the second coming of
Ingraham was to take place. So now three of the bright lights of
the FNM, the party’s future, have chosen to absent themselves; former Senator
Desmond Bannister, former Minister Zhivargo Laing, and now Senator McCartney.
Mr. Ingraham wants to finish off Senator Turnquest. All that leaves
is the Machiavellian Dion Foulkes and the mercurial Carl Bethel.
KOZENY ARRESTED
The notorious Victor Kozeny (pictured) who once
reportedly cussed out the former Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham
and failed to honour a commitment with regard to the development of a cay
in The Bahamas was locked up in the slammer on Thursday 6th October on
a provisional extradition warrant at the request of the United States.
It appears that a U.S. federal grand jury indicted
Mr. Kozeny and two others on charges that they tried to bribe senior government
officials in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. Mr. Kozeny
is alleged to have tried to get a share of the profits of the privatization
of SOCAR, the state oil company there.
Mr. Kozeny is a Bahamian resident but an Irish citizen,
although originally he is from the Czech Republic. Officials from
his native Czech Republic have also had their eyes on him for some time
but the U.S. has gotten theirs in first. He was remanded in custody
following a bail application. Bahama Journal photo
NASSAU
GUARDIAN UNREPENTANT
Last week, there was a detailed and measured and
accurate piece in this column about the state of the Nassau Guardian.
One could have written similar pieces about The Tribune but the Nassau
Guardian is the paper that is most closely associated with the masses of
the population and so they have a special responsibility to be accurate
and crisply run. People forgive the excesses of The Tribune, feeling
that they at the Tribune just can’t help themselves. Not so the Nassau
Guardian. One would have thought therefore that an apology and correction
would have been published for the patently false story that they ran (click
here for last week’s comment) about a one million dollar home for Tonique
Williams Darling, the athlete (see story
below).
Instead of apologizing for the false information
that started a national debate that brought the young athlete’s name into
unnecessary controversy and sullied politically the Government, they compounded
the error. They ran an editorial in which they said that the one
million dollar gift was not appropriate. They then had letters to
the editor which were based on their erroneous story running throughout
the week, without an editorial note that they had made an error.
The closest they got to any form of setting the record straight was an
interview that they published on Tuesday 4th October with Minister of Housing
Shane Gibson who simply confirmed what we had been saying all along that
the Nassau Guardian got it wrong.
Perhaps The Nassau Guardian and its publisher and
editor might take a page from the New York Times, certainly the best newspaper
in the world. The Times is so concerned about errors and about their
reputation in their country as the paper of record that they have now started
a column of corrections everyday which sets the record straight on errors
and incorrect statements of fact or opinion. They publicly explained
this last Sunday in the Sunday Times. They have gone further and
hired what they call a public editor whose responsibility is to be an advocate
for readers at the paper to ensure that the kind of thing that the Nassau
Guardian did does not occur.
One thing that The Times has of course that The
Nassau Guardian does not appear to have in The Bahamas is a public that
acts as if it cares about the truth. There is no commonality of interest
in knowing the truth; viz. the ability of demagogues and nitwit politicians
to get away with printing any nonsense and the public runs away with it
as if it were the truth. All the more reason though why people who
know better should do better. We once again appeal to Charles Carter,
the publisher of the Nassau Guardian.
THE
JOHN PINDER STORY
The Bahamas Public Service Union has re elected as its President John Pinder.
Mr. Pinder (pictured) has been a very public thorn in the side of The Bahamas
Government over the past year and particularly in the past three months
leading up to the campaign. His entire team won the highest number
of votes amongst the 6000 of the 20,000 public servants who are his members.
The election took place on Friday 30th September. Mr. Pinder campaigned
on the theme that he would be able to get an $1800 per year increase for
the public servants who have had a 24 percent increase in salary over the
last six years. Given the rise in oil prices this was a potent theme
that his opponent, former Secretary General Synida Gardiner and her team
did not successfully combat. The election was complicated by the
fact that there were two persons opposed to Mr. Pinder, both of whom were
former officers of the Union. Both went down in flames.
Last Sunday, the Minister for the Public Service
Fred Mitchell speaking at the annual church service to begin public service
week, congratulated Mr. Pinder but warned him not to confuse openness and
civility on the part of the Government for weakness.
Mr. Pinder's blustery style was in evidence again
on Wednesday 5th October when he joined the National Congress of Trade
Unions (NCTU) in Rawson Square, demanding the increase of $1800.
The Minister for the Public Service announced in the House that Mr. Pinder
had sat at the table with the Government’s negotiators and agreed to accept
a $1300 lump sum but this was turned back by his members.
It appears that Mr. Pinder and his Union colleagues
have a political agenda, their noisy demonstration of some 250 coming on
the same day that Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister was to take
over the leadership of the Free National Movement. Ministers including
the Public Service Minister spoke in the House to answer all of the issues
that have been raised by the Unions and all of them are on the way to being
settled. Nevertheless, this is an issue that must be watched very
carefully.
A memo from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry
of The Public Service leaked to the press revealed that those who cut work
to demonstrate will lose their pay for that day and will be subject to
disciplinary action for leaving their posts without authority. Bahama
Journal photo
RUMBLINGS
OVER TONIQUE DARLING
The Bahamas Government, after lawfully publishing
a notice and giving persons time to object, renamed Harrold Road as Tonique
Williams Darling Highway on Monday 3rd October. The ceremony was
led by the Prime Minister Perry Christie. Harrold Road was to the
best of anyone’s knowledge named after an obscure loyalist who came here
after the revolution in the United States who was granted the property
by the Crown. Tonique is perhaps the most accomplished Bahamian athlete
thus far; the only one to win individual gold medals [in the 400 metres]
at the 2004 Athens Olympics and at the 2005 World Track & Field Championships
in Helsinki, Finland. The Highway’s renaming came following its being
completely rebuilt as part of the New Providence Road Development Programme.
It is typical of states to name roads and highways
and buildings after persons who have been successful at the world level.
Somehow though, the renaming of this highway has brought some public criticism
although it appears none of it at the official level where the Minister
would have to take it into account in law. The talk shows and the
newspapers were full of indignation about a false report by the Nassau
Guardian that she would also get a one million dollar home. The callers
to the radio and writers to the press seemed less concerned about the fact
that she was being honoured but more about the scale at which someone who
is still in mid career should be honoured. Some expressed the view
that it should have come at the end of her career.
Anyway, it is done; and one recalls the dissension
over the naming of the gymnasium donated by the Taiwanese to The Bahamas
after Kendal Isaacs. No one could quite figure out how that politician
was connected to sports. That was done. So it appears there
will always be controversy. Tonique Williams Darling, however, basked
in the accolades of her fellow citizens as she led a tour of athletes throughout
the country. We congratulate her. Bahamas Information Services
photo: Peter Ramsay
POVERTY
SURVEY RELEASED
The Minister of Social Services and Community Development
Melanie Griffin announced that the Bahamas Living Conditions Survey is
now a public document. She laid it on the table of the House of Assembly
on Wednesday 5th October. The report is some four years old and so
the information though the first and latest of its kind for The Bahamas
is perhaps badly out of date already. In any event, it establishes
for the first time a poverty line.
In the year 2001, the poverty line in The Bahamas
is the level of $2,863 per year per person. This is the amount of
money needed to buy an adequate low cost diet with allowances for non food
needs in The Bahamas estimated at $7.84 per person per day, which when
annualized translates into the figure just below $3,000. There are
some 9.3 per cent of the people in the country who fell below that line
in 2001.
The Bahamas has committed itself to halving poverty
by the year 2015 in line with the millennium development goals. A
survey should be done every year to see how we are doing.
CULTURAL
FESTIVAL MARKS 10 YEARS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell announced
on Thursday 6th October that the International Cultural Committee will
host the tenth annual fair this year in the Botanic Gardens in Nassau from
Saturday 22nd October to Sunday 23rd October. The fair will feature
presentations of food, clothing and culture from all the various countries
that have nationals in The Bahamas. It was started in 1995 to mark the
50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. This year
the U.N. will mark the 60th anniversary of its founding on Sunday 23rd
October.
NURSES
IN FEAR
The Bahama Journal of Friday 7th October reports
that the nurses in The Bahamas are living in fear of their lives.
This was the sentiment expressed by Cleola Hamilton, the Head of the Nurses
Union about the state of security at the Rand Memorial in Freeport, the
Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau and Sandilands Hospital. Ms.
Hamilton reported that a nurse in PMH had been harassed and the Journal
added that a nurse was slapped by an angry member of the public.
We support the nurses called for increased security
at the hospital. While there have been additional steps taken to
improve the security at the hospital, The Bahamas and Bahamians do not
have
a systemic approach to security concerns and no doubt the system has become
slack since its implementation shortly after the murder in the private
ward of the hospital of Nurse Joan Lunn.
NATIONAL
HEROES
The Bahamas Government has tabled a National Honours
Bill and a National Heroes Bill. The Prime Minister said following
the first reading of the Bills on Wednesday 5th October that these were
the bills that had been promised by him after considerable consultation
with the public through the National Cultural Commission. This month
is National Heroes Month and there are those of us who want 12th October
changed to National Heroes Day. Let’s hope that the Government has
the courage to abolish the British honours and to change the name of so
called Discovery Day to National Heroes Day.
HAITIAN
BORN GG FOR CANADA
A Haitian born journalist has become Canada’s first
Black Governor General, representative of the Head of State of Canada Queen
Elizabeth II. She is Michelle Jean, 48, (pictured) and she was sworn
in on Tuesday 27th September in the Senate Chamber in Ottawa. The
post is for five years. The Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin told
Caricom Prime Ministers recently that he chose Ms. Jean as a symbol of
the changing face of Canada.
Canada is a country that has a negative birth rate
and needs immigration to continue the level of its population. Increasingly,
that immigration is coming from the Far East and the Caribbean instead
of Europe. It would be good if the new Canadian Governor General came to
The Bahamas on an official visit. AP photo from BBC News
BRUCE
SOUDER LEAVES CITY MARKETS
The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday 3rd October
that Bruce Souder, the long serving General Manager of the City Market
Supermarket Chain, owned by Bahamas Supermarkets Limited has left the company
and left unceremoniously. In the interim he has been replaced by
Mark Sellers, the Group Vice President for Winn Dixie, the Florida chain
of food stores that is now in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S.
Mr. Souder was in the news recently (you may click
here for the previous story) when he denied a report in the Bahamian
press that Winn Dixie had put Bahamas Supermarkets up for sale as part
of getting itself out of Chapter 11.
It is not known what the reason for Mr. Souder's
abrupt departure is but some are connecting it with the fate of another
former vendor of City Markets who is said to be serving a jail term in
the United States and possible conflicts of interest. Mr. Souder
had nothing to say but the newspaper reports that he picked up the Winn
Dixie investigative team from the airport and never returned to the company.
He reportedly informed his secretary by telephone that he was no longer
with the company.
POETRY FEATURE
This week, Giovanni invites us to open the creaking
iron gates for a foreboding foretaste entitled ‘End of Days’. Please
click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist, Giovanni.Stuart
(www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Sir Arthur To You
I take serious issue with the lack of respect
shown to Sir Arthur Foulkes in your recent editorial. I take note
that you referred throughout the article to the British civil servant (undoubtedly
a white man) as Sir Foley Newns, but sought to denigrate Sir Arthur by
saying “Sir Arthur to some”.
While I enjoy your weekly website – in fact,
I never miss it – there is no excuse for this kind of disrespect.
We all know the position of the people at BahamasUncensored.Com that national
honors ought to be instituted immediately. However, it is still the
case even now that the highest honor that this country can give is the
title of Sir. Criticize Sir Arthur if you must for his dalliances
in the realm of politics. I actually agree with you on this, but
give him the respect which he deserves as a Knight of the Realm!
Jocephus Moss
No disrespect was meant to Sir Arthur – Editor
Salute to Leslie Miller
I have to say that I have followed all your articles
on Minister Leslie Miller. Cut the man some slack! I happen
to think he is a good Minister and serves the PLP well. He should
be praised for sticking hard to his guns to try to get the best deal for
The Bahamas. He is getting a rough time particularly at a time when
his son was murdered and we don’t see any effort being made to resolve
the case. I think you ought to stay thank you to him. And don’t
forget, no matter what they say, all of us in Blue Hills love and support
this man.
Jason T. Weir
Certainly it was not the intention to say that Mr. Miller was not
a good Minister. Indeed he has a heart of gold and it is in the right
place. We find the murder of his son to be inexplicable and why the
delay is beyond belief and inexcusable – Editor
Pastors Not “Vex”
Your October
2nd edition referred to comments made by me, Allan Lee and Lyall Bethel
regarding the recent court matter of employees of The Butterfly Club.
Attached, please find our press conference
script which you might wish to make available for your readers in the
interest of giving them the whole truth.
Regarding the outcome of the case, we are
not "vex" that the strippers got off. We had and still have no desire
that those poor ladies from Russia be penalized. Instead they need
to be rescued and protected so that they will cease to be victims of commercial
sexual exploitation by their Russian "owner" and the other immoral operators
of The Butterfly Club. It is actually their "sexual slave masters",
the Russian "owner" and those operators of The Butterfly Club, who we are
saddened to see get off. We say this knowing full well that had those
men faced the maximum penalty our laws allow it would not have been sufficient,
which goes to show that those who make our laws take commercial sexual
exploitation lightly.
While I have no way of verifying it, I've
been told that prostitution does indeed take place at The Butterfly Club
and offsite...the strip/topless dancing offered is an “appetizer” for it.
And, yes, I have shared this information with the police.
Also, I've been advised that the Russian
strippers at The Butterfly Club range in age from 21 through 35 years old,
and I'm deeply saddened to know that these poor young women will leave
our country (according to the Department of Immigration, their permits
expire on October 8th, 2005) with their Russian “owner”, and be thrust
deeper into the horrific world of commercial sexual exploitation.
And Bahamas government issued work permits would have aided and abetted
their sexual exploitation and suffering wherever and however they progress
in the “sex industry” beyond our shores.
This should make all right thinking Bahamians
sad.
Cedric Moss
FOOTNOTES
TO HISTORY
Cassius Vida Stewart & Charlene Raquel Gray were married
on Saturday, 8th October at Christ Church Cathedral. Charlene is
the daughter of Minister V. Alfred Gray; Cassius the leader of the extra
parliamentary Bahamian Democratic Movement (BDM). Prime Minister
Christie, Lady Pindling, Ministers Roberts, Leslie Miller and Shane Gibson
were among those who attended. CDR CEO Bernard Nottage was also present.
Photo:
Peter Ramsay
Mr. Truman & Fredericka Butler have been wed in Austell,
Georgia. Mr. Butler is the son of former SIB officer and Superintendent
of Police and Mrs. Ralph Butler of Gleniston Gardens North. He is
also the nephew of Henry Wemyss, the Managing Director and President of
Wemco Securities. Held at St. John’s Catholic Church is Austell,
Georgia. The wedding was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell MP to the family of the groom.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also visited with Chief Superintendent
Marvin Dames and Mrs. Dames at the Yale University campus in New Haven
Connecticut on Tuesday 15th September. Mr. Dames is on a special
three-month world fellowship programme for leaders from around the world.
He returns to The Bahamas in December. Shown from left are Ed Bethel,
Bahamas Consul General in New York, Minister Mitchell and Superintendent
Dames.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
The United States Ambassador His Excellency John
Rood, centre, confers with Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and
Global AIDS Co-ordinator Ambassador Randall Tobias, right, at the opening
ceremony of the 4th Caribbean Regional Chiefs of Mission Conference on
HIV and AIDS on Monday, October 3, 2005 at the British Colonial Hilton.
BIS
Photo: Tim Aylen
Prime Minister Christie inspects the guard of honor, accompanied by
Commodore Davy Rolle, during a tour of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force
Base on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. BIS Photo: Tim Aylen
THE COUP COLLAPSES
Change and decay in all around I see;
Oh Thou, Who changest not, abide with me
--Anglican Hymn
Those
who thought that Senator Tommy Turnquest, the leader outside of the House
of Assembly for the Free National Movement was going to be a pushover had
a another thing coming. Senator Turnquest, who was perceived by many
as a weakling and a novice in politics, did what his mamma told him to
do. In a quote used last week this column she told him he was not
a quitter, and quit he did not. With his back to the wall, he virtually
had no choice but to stand up and be a man.
If you were sitting in his place two weeks ago, and as recently as last Sunday, the reports were dire. The bad rap was not coming from the expected quarter, the Progressive Liberal Party, but from his own Free National Movement. One of the party elders Frank Watson said that Tommy just didn’t get it (click here for that statement); that choosing him for leader was a mistake; that he did not connect with the people.
The first sign for the public that Tommy Turnquest was fighting back came in an article that appeared under the name of Candia Dames in the Bahama Journal on Monday 10th October. In it she listed from a press release from the FNM’s action group a host of wrongs that Hubert Ingraham had done. Mr. Ingraham who was slated to become the saviour of the FNM was attacked in a way that sounded almost like the Progressive Liberal Party would have written it.
Through it all Hubert Ingraham remained in the tall grass, peeping out from behind. He even arranged a high profile travel around with Senator Turnquest to show that the two were still bosom political buddies. But when the formal meeting was held during the past week, Tommy Turnquest made it clear to the group of Members of Parliament that he was going nowhere. In consequence of that Mr. Ingraham had to back down. He told the MPs that he would not accept their leadership choice for the House. In doing so, he bowed to the inevitable. The announcement was then made that Alvin Smith would remain the Leader of the Opposition. Carl Bethel, the Chairman of the FNM said that this matter would be revisited as soon as their convention was over this November.
Ken Russell, one of Mr. Ingraham's main instigators, was biting mad. The United Bahamian Party rump that is headed by the millionaire crew from the Eastern Road, were not hearing it. They continued throughout the week to put pressure on Mr. Ingraham to save their party. Mr. Ingraham’s allies are going around now saying that they intend to nominate him for the post of leader of the Free National Movement when the convention takes place in November, and then he expects to defeat Tommy; he will then take over the reins. They say that Mr. Ingraham is furious with the blistering attack on him by the Action Group as printed in The Journal. The group is thought to be controlled by Mr. Turnquest's forces.
Meanwhile, Dion Foulkes, the former Education Minister, who has very much been the also ran in this battle announced that he is in it for the long battle, and that he will run as Leader and that he too will win. Now boys, only one can win. It will be interesting to see after all this fighting, cutting and back stabbing, whether the Free National Movement will be able to mount a credible campaign to win over voters and make them the Government again.
Prime Minister Perry Christie has already said that the pension laws will be changed if Mr. Ingraham comes back. It is our view that if he runs for the position of Leader of the Opposition and wins again, he ought to be stripped of his pension rights as Prime Minister. He must be made to go to work again for a living. It is inexplicable that a man who has served two terms and almost ten years in office gets a full salary and a pension plus benefits. He collects almost $150,000 per year plus all the other perks including a car supplied by the state and a police detective everywhere that he goes. Why would he want to come back to lead a party and try to become Prime Minister in the face of the young PLP Backbench that has no fear, and worst of all no respect for him?
And now to top it all off, the PLP has a campaign set of slogans, which it can have for any leader that the FNM chooses. If it is Mr. Ingraham, they have the Action Group’s language, which blames Mr. Ingraham for the collapse of the financial services sector (click here for footnotes to history) amongst other things. If it is Mr. Turnquest, we have the former Deputy Prime Minister under the FNM saying that Mr. Turnquest does not connect with the Bahamian people. What a mess!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 15th October 2005 at midnight: 94,106.
Number of hits for the month of October ending Saturday 15th, 2005 at midnight: 191,538.
Number of hits for the year 2005 ending Saturday 15th October 2005
at midnight: 3,047,006.
TOMMY
PREDICTS HE WILL WIN
There is no doubt that Senator Tommy Turnquest, the FNM’s Leader outside
the House of Assembly, was watching his career go down the slippery slope
to oblivion, as the forces gathered to oust him. For weeks, months
and even years, the Hubert Ingraham forces had been rumouring that their
leader Hubert would be back. Tennyson Wells publicly peeped the card
by announcing months ago that Mr. Ingraham was not being a man but was
instead skulking around from island to island, from community to community
behind closed doors on a listening tour of sorts.
Ostensibly the 'listening tour' was to hear but
the reports say that Mr. Ingraham did most of the talking. The talk
led to people asking him: “spontaneously” of course to come back and lead
them. The Members of Parliament got that fever too and Brent Symonette
went on radio after the attempted putsch of two weeks ago to say that once
Mr. Ingraham was back, he would in his words “put the fear of God back
into the Government”. Knowing of course that our dear Deputy Prime
Minister Cynthia Pratt and at least half a dozen other Cabinet Ministers
are born again believers, and they all visibly and obviously have the fear
of God and they are in the government, one wondered why that same Government
would need Hubert Ingraham to put the fear of God in the Government.
The Prime Minister fired back when the House met
on 5th October to tell the FNM MPs that no, not one PLP MP was frightened
in any way by the prospect of the return of Hubert Ingraham. Hubert
Ingraham was fired as Prime Minister while he had all the levers of power
in his hands by the same PLPs now in office. Judge what they will
do now that he has no political power.
We think Pierre Dupuch said it right when he congratulated
Tommy Turnquest for in his words showing some “gristle”. He was at
last standing up for himself. And so it was that the Nassau Guardian
on Tuesday 11th October came to publish the headline: I’LL BE THE NATION’S
FOURTH PM’. That was quoting Tommy Turnquest, who said that he was
not going anywhere that he was standing for leadership at their convention
in November; that he was polishing off some of the initiatives he would
offer in his first administration. Well you know each man is entitled
to dream, and dream on. You go Tommy! Run Tommy run!
Just don’t get carried away, and don’t let Hubert Ingraham catch you in
a dark alley.
TOMMY'S
PEOPLE ATTACK INGRAHAM
The Bahama Journal published two sets of quotes, one from Oswald Marshall,
a member of the FNM Council, the other from a letter, which it said was
written by supporters of Tommy Turnquest. Here is what the quotes
are in their own words:
Oswald Marshall:
“I don’t expect Ingraham [to return]. They had
some kind of idea that they would push Ingraham to the front of the party
by getting him to take over leadership (in the House). I think they
polluted the process and I understand that he is not doing that anymore.
The Council members [who voted against the move] felt that this was a prelude
to Ingraham taking over the party.”
Letter from Tommy Turnquest’s supporters:
“It was Hubert Ingraham who botched the referendum
in 2002.
“It was Hubert Ingraham that promoted and left
PLPs in office while the FNM controlled the Government.
“It was Hubert Ingraham that destroyed the financial
services sector through the enactment of ill advised legislation.
“It was Hubert Ingraham that bludgeoned BaTelCo
by giving packages to existing management and staff who were performing
and performing well.
“It was Hubert Ingraham that had all the major
unions up in arms through his policies and action.
“It was Hubert Ingraham who expelled senior men
in the FNM who had been with the party way before he was on the scene.
Men such as Tennyson Wells and Pierre Dupuch, loyal supporters of the ideals
of the party, were discarded by Hubert Ingraham.
“He did not listen and the people just as they
fell in love with him in 1992 and 1997 hated him in 2002 and consequently
voted the FNM out. That is why we lost by the margins we did.
“Now Mr. Ingraham seeks to use the FNM once more
for his own selfish gain by sending his hatchet men such as Frank Watson,
Hubert Minnis, Brent Symonette and those less than men parliamentarians
to say the party needs him.
“No way do we need Hubert Ingraham to lead this
party. We have a leader of our own, one bred in the party who paid
his dues and has risen to the leadership position.”
WHAT
WILL INGRAHAM DO?
The Parliamentary group of the Free National Movement
met this week on Wednesday 12th October. On that day they met with
headlines in the press all about them that were bad for the Free National
Movement. They had the public seeing them as a party in complete
confusion and disarray. Against that background then the whole effort
to replace Hubert Ingraham as Leader of the Opposition, heading the team
for the House of Assembly had to collapse. The effort to remove Tommy
Turnquest failed. The unrest has been put down. An announcement
by Carl Bethel, the party’s Chairman confirmed it the next day.
Hubert Ingraham the man who would be king has still
said nothing publicly but he is said to be biting mad, and that he has
informed Tommy Turnquest that he will allow his name to be entered in the
race for Leader of the FNM when the party’s convention takes place in November.
Now that’s the way Tennyson Wells says that a man is supposed to act.
He is supposed to be up front, run the race, and win or lose fair and square.
We think, however, Mr. Ingraham will lose, and even if he wins the party
will be so badly fractured, they will be further crushed by the PLP juggernaut
at election time.
DARRON
CASH IN HIS OWN WORDS
Darron Cash, the Treasurer of the Free National Movement, a former senator
and student firebrand, had not been heard from publicly for months.
He has been spending his time turning the Doctors Hospital group around,
and doing a good job as its controller. Now he has entered the political
fray again and his PLP friends can’t figure why, particularly in and around
the race for Leader of the party, which as far as most could see, does
not touch and concern him. He supports Hubert Ingraham, strange choice
since Hubert Ingraham does not from the last we checked support him.
It is an interesting choice to launch an attack
against Tommy Turnquest, Mr. Cash’s contemporary, in favour of a man from
another generation (and we think not in age alone but in his thinking –
Ed.) who has nowhere to go but down. But Mr. Cash is a survivor and
he must know why and what for. Here is what he had to say in his
own words in his press statement of Monday 10th October:
“We must accept the reality that it is time for
new leadership… Most regrettably, they (the people of the country) do not
see it in Tommy Turnquest, the present leader of the Free National Movement.
Therein rests the problem of my party…
“We in the leadership of the party would be deluding
ourselves if we pretended that this were not true. Indeed, Hubert
Ingraham is not the only person who can lead the FNM — there are others
with ability…
“When in polite company people would speak euphemistically
about the leadership question. Privately they would be very explicit
in expressing doubts about Tommy Turnquest's ability to gain sufficient
public confidence and support to carry the FNM to victory in a general
election.
“The vast majority of us who voted for and supported
Mr. Turnquest wanted to give him a fair opportunity to prove himself.
We knew that as leader he had to inspire and motivate others based on the
strength of his vision. We believed that given time he would be able
to do this, and at the right time we would evaluate his performance.
This is now the time to do so. Unfortunately, many people do not
believe that he has succeeded in proving his leadership abilities during
this period of testing.”
ARTHUR
FOULKES IS WRONG AGAIN
Arthur Foulkes, excuse us Sir Arthur, did not get around to attacking this
column again this past week. His column comes out on Tuesdays and
we search it voraciously looking for any tidbit of attack on this column.
But he had other things to do with his last Sunday afternoon and the afternoon
before that. But we have to say that this past week, he was again
dead wrong. His response to the Prime Minister Perry Christie’s intervention
on the troubles of the Free National Movement and the leadership of the
party was that the Prime Minister should mind his own business.
Sir Arthur is wrong to suggest that the state of
the Opposition in the country is not the business of every citizen including
the Prime Minister. A vibrant Opposition is better for good governance,
and for the development and stability of our country. If the Opposition
is weak, diffuse and directionless then we are indeed in great trouble.
The Prime Minister could not ignore it, both for reasons of politics and
for reasons of state. You are wrong again Sir Arthur!
FOR
THE PLP A WARY EYE
The PLP cannot rejoice too much, or pat itself on
the back too much over the troubles of the Free National Movement as it
deals with the question of leadership. There is no doubt that there
is no confusion on the PLP’s side as to who the Leader of the PLP is.
We would all do well as PLPs to watch and inwardly digest lessons in what
not to do.
The country itself will go with the PLP again because
we still have the right message and it is clear that leadership is a problem
on the other side. However, we must not forget that supporters are
still complaining that they cannot see the difference in their lives for
voting to give us power. It is not true but the stories resonate
too easily. So while we rejoice that our political opponents are
suffering, we must also be equally wary of our own destinies lest we suffer
the same fate in time.
RAPES,
MURDER, ROBBERY — A SOBER SET OF FACTS
The week started on Monday 10th October with a startling
interview by the U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas which appeared in the St.
Petersburg Times. In it, the Ambassador said that he was aware of
rapes of American tourists who come to The Bahamas and that there did not
appear up until his recent complaints to be a system in place for reporting
the necessary information to the U.S. Embassy and for the follow up.
That can’t be true. The Bahamian public was extremely upset over
this intervention. The Police themselves while muted in their public
response were privately aghast. The feeling was that all that could
be done was being done to deal with the rape allegations, many of which
the police later said publicly are Americans on Americans who come to The
Bahamas, leave and do not want to return to follow up on the cases.
The Ambassador himself admitted to the fact that
many young Americans come to The Bahamas on holiday at spring break without
the necessary adult supervision and warnings about getting involved in
sexual liaisons. Nevertheless, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is
highly sensitive to this issue, not wanting to get into the three ring
circus that the disappearance of Natalie Holloway in Aruba has become.
The Bahamas is still known as a place for fun and relaxation and all of
us are dedicated or should be to trying to keep it that way. (Click
here for photo of the week and the story on the murder rate)
We must take this matter seriously.
NATIONAL
HEROES DAY
In The Bahamas, there are those who are dedicated
to change, and those who are not. Every time there is a national
call for change, the forces of backwardness then come and say there ought
to be no change. The National Heroes Day Committee, headed by Rev.
Fr. Sebastian Campbell, has been campaigning since 1990 for a National
Heroes Day. They set upon the so called Discovery Day of 12th October
which has no relevance to The Bahamas of today. In fact the National
Cultural Commission of The Bahamas has indicated that October should be
celebrated as the month to honour our national heroes with the second Monday
in the month as an Encounter Day. This more properly reflects the
views of the modern Bahamas, which should not want to celebrate the coming
of Columbus. But as you would expect there are those who are opposed
to it.
First there are sensible people like former Minister
of the Government George Mackey and the now Head of the Bahamas Christian
Council and Baptist Missionary and Education Convention Dr. William Thompson.
They say it is rewriting history and another day should be chosen.
We do not agree. It is not rewriting history; it is putting our own
imprint on the history of The Bahamas, a new nation, with a new identity.
Then you had the nitwits from a group called Bahamas In Prophecy, whose
claim to fame is that God ordained 12th October 1492 to discover The Bahamas
and bring Christianity to The Bahamas, presumably God also ordained killing
off the native populations and enslaving the Africans who came here later.
Well you can make an argument for God on anything. This kind of hocus
pocus, we reject.
To the surprise of the public, this Bahamas In Prophecy
was able to get according to the Nassau Guardian of Saturday 15th October,
a statement from the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister that
the holiday will not be in October. So the patient work of a Cultural
Commission and the hard lobbying of Fr. Campbell and his group which at
one time included Cabinet Minister Fred Mitchell, who founded the group,
have now gone down the drain in favour of some nitwit Black magic men and
for clarity we are not talking about George Mackey and Dr Thompson here,
but rather the group Bahamas In prophecy; clearly out to lunch.
JAMES
SMITH ON TAX ON GASOLINE
There is another nail in the coffin delivered to
the PetroCaribe initiative. Minister of State for Finance James Smith
announced that the idea of reducing the taxes on gasoline was a non starter
to reduce the cost of gas to the consumer. He pleaded that the Government
had already predicated its revenue stream on the gasoline tax and so it
could not be countenanced.
KOZENY
STILL IN JAIL
Magistrate Carolita Bethel is still pondering over
whether to grant bail to the so called Pirate of Prague Victor Kozeny.
Mr. Kozeny, a Czech citizen of origin, was arrested two weeks ago on a
provisional warrant issued by the Attorney General at the behest of the
United States Government. There was a U.S. federal indictment of
Mr. Kozeny for trying to bribe (allegedly) officials of the Government
of Azerbaijan.
The prosecution said Mr. Kozeny is an Irish citizen.
They say that he has seven passports. He is also supposed to be an
Ambassador at Large for Grenada. The Magistrate said that she had
to ponder the evidence before she could make a decision.
For Mr. Kozeny’s side, his Attorney Philip Davis
said that Mr. Kozeny had an agreement with the U.S. to co-operate in the
criminal investigation and therefore he posed no flight risk; that he had
not in fact travelled since 1999 out of The Bahamas. The prosecutor
said that there was no such agreement with the United States Government.
Mr. Kozeny cools his heels in jail as he awaits the decision of the Court.
MITCHELL
IN GRAND BAHAMA
On Thursday 13th October, the Minster of Foreign
Affairs had a busy day in Freeport, Grand Bahama hosted a seminar and spoke
to the police and law enforcement officers on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the way forward in Grand Bahama. You may click
here for his full address. Later in the evening he presented
the retirees from the public service in Grand Bahama, their awards upon
retirement. You may click here
for that address. Photo of Minister Mitchell addressing the
Police seminar by Derek Carroll
FOOTNOTES
TO HISTORY
Kathleen Dorothy O’Brien, formerly Clarke of Stapledon
Gardens and formerly of Mason’s Addition, New Providence and of Cat Island,
aged 92 was buried on Saturday 15th October. She passed away following
a short illness. She was a pillar of St. Agnes Anglican Church, and
a well known figure in Grants Town and Mason’s Addition. She was
married to the former real estate agent Cyril O’Brien. She is survived
by two daughters Yvonne Bethel, Janet Cox, seven sons: Charles, Basil (now
Bahamas High Commissioner to Britain), Kenneth, Edmund, Gregory, and Neil.
Attorney General Alfred Sears announced on Friday
14th October that The Bahamas has been removed from the Financial Action
Task Force’s watch list (FATF). This is five years after The Bahamas
was placed unfairly on a black list by this group of civil servants, who
arrogantly assumed jurisdiction over the financial services industry of
The Bahamas. The patient work of the Attorney General, the Minister
of Financial Services and Investments Allyson Gibson and our diplomats
overseas has paid off. Congratulations to all.
POETRY FEATURE
This week, Giovanni offers extracts from the verse,
‘Belle’. Please
click
here.
POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist, Giovanni.Stuart
(www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
The Best Newspaper…
I often read some incredible (and unsubstantiated)
claims on your site that make me smile or laugh out loudly due to the normative
style of reporting which exposes a blatant lack of awareness of basic facts,
time after time...
This time I am compelled to drop you a quick
line because the captioned statement, though reported as fact, is again
a subjective evaluation based on incomplete information and which borders
on irresponsibility (e.g. have you read regularly all newspapers in the
world? Considering this simple question exposes the abject ridiculousness
of your claim). Another two matters to consider:
* Would the best paper have to carry a daily
column of corrections?
* And how did an award-winning reporter get away
with fabricating a story for so long whilst working to produce 'all the
news that's fit to print'?
In closing, I would suggest strongly that you
read a few more newspapers before selecting one as 'certainly the best
newspaper in the world' ... :):) Having spent 5 yrs in NYC, I certainly
have a lot of respect for the NYT but here are two recommendations that
you may consider for your personal aggrandisement: the FT and Toronto G&M
for fair, objective, comprehensive and well-researched reporting...
[Name Withheld]
This column does not pretend to be objective. It is a column
of opinion. In our opinion while the FT, the Globe and Mail are both
fine papers, the New York Times stands above them all. The question
of any newspaper being fair and objective, now there is a cause for laughter.
Editor.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Prime Minister Christie is pictured at the podium
during the opening ceremony of the Mt. Horeb Baptist Convention this past
week.
Farm Road youth excel in business - By Bahamas Information Services
Fourteen youngsters from the Farm Road community
were awarded National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship certificates
during recent ceremonies at the Prime Minister’s office.
Participants in the Farm Road Urban Renewal (FRUR)
summer business programme, the youngsters were recognized by the Foundation
and the international financial management company Merrill Lynch for successfully
completing the investing component of the programme.
“I truly believe this is the right approach we are
taking - exposing young Bahamians to all these important issues that will
enable them to have a start in life that they can build upon and truly
use it for the benefit of themselves and their families,” Prime Minister
Perry Christie said.
He commended FRUR’s co-ordinator ASP Stephen Dean and his team for
“the sustained work they are doing in empowering our young people to believe
in themselves.”
Tutors for the programme included certified entrepreneurship
teacher Raymond Oriakhi, formerly with the College of the Bahamas, and
officers Natasha Williams and Stacy Capron.
“We knew the urban renewal programme would have
far reaching effect on the people of the various areas where it is based,”
said Mr Christie. “We knew that we had the opportunity to create opportunities
for the old and the young.
“So it is a wonderful development to see that these
young people have been exposed to the principles involved in taking care
of themselves through life, understanding and being exposed to the principles
of saving, investing, managing money, and being able to, most importantly,
connect the use of money to their own well being.”
He observed that there were only three boys among
the graduating group. “This is an extraordinary challenge to our country,”
Mr Christie said. “I am mandating, as forceful as I can, you in the urban
renewal offices, to look at this phenomenon where at every certificate
presentation, the good preponderance of persons receiving certificates
are females.
“Our country cannot continue with this. And the
way we must wage battle is at the beginning of the lives of these youngsters.
The way forward for us is to be more aggressively committed to ensuring
that our young men are able to see the importance (of academic pursuit)
as do our young women.”
Youngsters graduating from the Farm Road Urban Renewal business
programme show off their business certificates in this photo with Prime
Minister Perry Christie, Farm Road constituency Member of Parliament, FRUR
co-ordinator Stephen Dean, and tutors Raymond Oriakhi, formerly with the
College of the Bahamas, and officers Natasha Williams and Stacy Capron.
BIS photos by Peter Ramsay
TRANSITION IN THE ANGLICAN
CHURCH
In
days not so long ago, maybe as recently as twenty years ago, the opening
of the Synod of the Anglican Church used to be a very big deal indeed.
The Anglican Church, Church of England to some, Episcopalian to Americans,
was still considered the closest thing to the state church. In fact
it was disestablished by a Methodist led House of Assembly in 1867.
The Methodists had enough of paying Anglican priests. Today, while
the largest denomination in the country is Baptist, the largest chunk of
the elites as represented in the House of Assembly and Senate still list
themselves as Anglicans.
But it is a long, long way from even as recently as twenty years ago, when the Anglican Synod, the church’s equivalent to a party political convention, made that kind of national splash, with the elite hanging on every word from the Bishop’s charge. In the old days, the Prime Minister and almost the entire Cabinet would have been there. This year, the only Government Minister was the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell. The Leader of the Free National Movement Tommy Turnquest came but left just after the sermon. Larry Cartwright, the Independent MP was there. He too left after the sermon. And contrast the congregation at that church service at the opening of the Synod on Monday 17th October to the massive parade and march staged by the Baptists on Baptist Recognition day last Sunday, just the day before. Strangely enough, only two politicians showed up on that march once again the Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and Ron Pinder, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health.
Why the elaborate preamble? There is a transition that is going on in the Anglican Church. What is its role in Bahamian society? Where is the dynamic preacher, the equivalent of a Myles Munroe or Neil Ellis in the church today or on the horizon? Bishop Michael Eldon, the first Bahamian Anglican Bishop, is comatose and is dying. The Archbishop Drexel Gomez, who brought pride to this country by being elected the first Bahamian Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies, announced on Monday 17th October that his Suffrugan Bishop Gilbert Thompson is to retire at the end of the year, having reached the age of mandatory retirement. But further, the Archbishop has announced that a coadjutor Bishop will be elected next year to help him run the diocese. That coadjutor will then succeed him as Bishop. The Archbishop is expected to retire within two years at the mandatory age of 70.
In the old days that would have been banner headlines, that our first Anglican Archbishop was preparing to retire and demit office. Following his announcement, there was no mention of it at all in any of the press of the country. Is it ignorance of the Anglican system, which elected a coadjutor not even ten years ago as Michael Eldon prepared to demit office to Drexel Gomez? Is it that it just doesn’t matter? Is it a sign of the Anglicans diminishing influence and importance as a church?
The Anglican/Episcopalian Church also seems to be a church in search of identity, and seems to be suffering more than the other mainstream churches. In the local case, the involvement in the international schism over the ordination of a homosexual Bishop in the United States; in fact fully three quarters of the Charge of the Archbishop at this year’s Synod was spent poring over every detail of that international fight; all of this has led to bad publicity for Anglicanism. In The Bahamas some have argued that it is self-inflicted bad publicity. The issue does not on the surface touch and concern The Bahamas in any way since the province is clear that it does not support or condone same sex marriage, same sex union blessings and ordaining homosexual priests. But some argue that despite the level of discomfort some might have over discussing issues of sexuality in a church service, with such detail, there are strong marketing reasons for doing so. That is to confirm the mainstream nature of the Anglican Church in The Bahamas, in the face of the extreme hostility of same sex issues in the charismatic and evangelical churches and in the society generally. Those other churches are raiding the Anglican congregations. But others argue that such a defence often has the exact opposite reaction; that of painting a picture of a church that is in fact in trouble.
The fact is the church is not in trouble. The large number of new priests, priests in training and their involvement in the general community clearly show that it is not. However, some argue that a return to basics is what is needed; that Anglicanism is participatory, democratic, live and let live, and the present canons, rules and relations with other provinces allow for just the kind of permissiveness that is now being publicly denied in some quarters. In fact, it is argued by some of its greatest scholars that it is a church that is legally set up to allow each province to govern itself, coming to God in its own way, while coming together every ten years at Lambeth to celebrate under the titular head the Archbishop of Canterbury. No more; no less!
Later in the week, the Anglican Archbishop went further on the homosexual issue to say that he was aware of the talk of homosexuals in the church and in the clergy. You may see this in his own words below as reported in the Nassau Guardian.
Drexel Gomez’s period as the leader of the Anglican Church in The Bahamas together with the twenty years that he led the Church as Bishop of Barbados will go down as a great period in the history of the Anglican Church in The Bahamas. He has brought an intellectual fervour, a focus on internationalism in contradistinction to what was up to his coming, a parochial approach to Ministry. His approach has been less pastoral, and more philosophical, intellectual, international. There is a lot of speculation now as to who will succeed him when the election takes place on 20th February 2006. Will it be someone in the same tradition or it will be someone in the pastoral tradition of Michael Eldon? Will there be a builder, or will we get a firebrand preacher? Does the church now need both?
We think that the choice of successor to the Anglican leader in The Bahamas is a most important choice, and the members of the church ought to take their jobs seriously, and act with wisdom and sagacity. In pure marketing terms there has to be the Anglican answer to Bishop Neil Ellis and Dr. Myles Munroe somewhere on the scene. When Archbishop Gomez retires, the title of Archbishop will likely be gone from The Bahamas for some time, leaving the Roman Catholics with the only Archbishop here. That makes the choice of successor even more important in marketing terms for the future of the church. We wish the electors well in their deliberations in February.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 22nd October 2005 at midnight: 85,486.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 22nd October 2005 at midnight: 277,024.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 22nd October 2005 at midnight: 3,132,492.
GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCES DRAFT PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT
The Minister of the Public Service, Fred Mitchell, Sunday announced
that the Government has completed a draft agreement for presentation to
The Bahamas Public Service Union. In making the announcement, Minister
Mitchell said that he expected to reach “a successful and reasonable conclusion
by Christmas”. Flanked by members of the Ministerial sub Committee
dealing with the issue, the Minister said that the Government had a “responsibility
to the other 160,000 working Bahamians who pay taxes and ultimately the
salaries of the public servants... No government can be irresponsible
for the taxes which these hard working people pay to run the machinery
of the Government.” Please click
here for the full text of the Minister’s remarks. Pictured in
the photograph from left are Government Industrial Consultants Frank Carter
and Keith Archer; Minister Mitchell and Ministers Bradley Roberts and Shane
Gibson.
LATE
BREAKING NEWS ON BILLY SAUNDERS
The Tribune of Saturday 22nd October reports that
Dr. Judson Eneas and his wife Marcheta who live as neighbours to the Majestic
Tours owner William Saunders, have reported that he made threatening gestures
to them with a shotgun in his hand on Friday 21st October. The report
is that Mr. Saunders was annoyed at his gate being blocked. He reportedly
pointed a shotgun at the Eneases saying: “I am tired of you niggers blocking
my gate.” Mr. Saunders is a Bahamian white or in our lexicon a conchy
joe.
Dr. Judson Eneas, one of the nation's foremost kidney
specialists and his wife, reportedly now feel unsafe in the area.
The Eneases are also the promoters and founders of the Gentleman’s Club.
The police are said to be looking for Mr. Saunders. Mr. Saunders
has a reputation for caustic behaviour particularly toward Black people.
He hates the PLP and is a big supporter of Hubert Ingraham. The last
time he made a splash was when ordered by a court to pay thousands of dollars
in compensation to two employees he fired, he went to the bank and collected
the money in cash, all pennies, and paid them in two Heineken cardboard
beer boxes (You may click here for that story).
TOMMY
GETS HARD
Let’s hear it! Three cheers for Tommy! Senator Tommy Turnquest
stood up on his hind legs again last week and sent out a signal to all
and sundry that he will not be moved. Ingraham be damned! What
are we talking about? It is the fact that Hubert Ingraham’s friends
have been saying in some rather uncharitable terms: “Tommy had better carry
his a#* or be embarrassed at the Convention.” The Ingraham forces
are predicting that Tommy Turnquest will be routed at the convention.
The also ran Dion Foulkes was claiming that he was the one who could unite
the party, and end the confusion but people really don’t take him seriously.
Everyone knows that if there is a showdown, the showdown will be with Mr.
Ingraham and Mr. Turnquest. We predict that Mr. Ingraham would not
dare set his foot. He will not upset his protégé, and
Tommy Turnquest will get his chance to fight an election as his own man
and take his defeat like a man on his own and on his hind legs.
Senator Turnquest was heard on the radio news telling
the country that he had heard certain people going around saying derogatory
things about him. He ordered them to cease and desist. Then
on Thursday 20th October, the startling headline in the Nassau Guardian:
INGRAHAM WILL SERVE ME – TOMMY SAYS HE EXPECTS LOYALTY FROM THE FORMER
PM. Now that’s a bold statement. Stand up Tommy, still stand!
Senator Turnquest was speaking to a group of his supporters at the Bahamas
Union of Teachers Hall. Here is what he said in his own words:
“There are those who are seeking to put a wedge
between me and the former leader and the former Prime Minister. We
must not allow this to happen.
“Under the leadership of Mr. Ingraham, I was
faithful beyond reproach and served him and the people of The Bahamas to
the best of my ability and moving forward, I equally expect that he would
serve me well, under my leadership as the nation’s next Prime Minister.”
Well we will see what Hubert Ingraham does.
Senator Turnquest was in Fox Hill on Wednesday 19th
October, helping out Danny Ferguson, the former BaTelCo accountant and
brother of athlete Shonel Ferguson, the retired athlete. Mr. Ferguson
is seeking the Free National Movement’s nomination for the Fox Hill constituency.
Some say he will have to kill John Pinder, the Bahamas Public Service Union
leader first. Mr. Pinder’s brother Larry Pinder, Brent Symonette’s
henchman, is threatening to nominate his brother to run against the Public
Service Minister Fred Mitchell. Anyway, at least one person in Fox
Hill was happy to see Tommy Turnquest and Mr. Ferguson. He got her
support for that few minutes on that night, for the proudly reported princely
sum of fifty dollars though. The song says: “Don’t love you no more
since the money gone!” Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' from The Nassau
Guardian of Saturday 22nd October, 2005.
TEACHERS
ON WILD CAT STRIKE
The present leadership of the Bahamas Union of Teachers
will have to rethink their positions about how they run union business
if they are not to go down in history as being responsible for ruining
the learning and teaching of an entire generation of children. This
year, since September, you can no longer count the number of times the
Bahamas Union of Teachers has walked off the job in wild cat strikes and
unlawful industrial actions, leaving the children who are in their care
unattended and untaught. The teachers are women in the main.
How then can they ask why the country is consumed by murder mayhem, rape,
robbery and assault? It may well date back to the same kind of irresponsible
leadership in which they have been engaging over the past few months.
When the new pair Ida Poitier and Belinda Wilson took office, their idea
of industrial relations was simply to destroy and to walk out on every
occasion that they could. It is not surprising since Ms. Wilson is
an FNM activist and was once looking for an FNM nomination.
On Friday 21st October, they called an emergency
meeting of teachers at 8 a.m. and they did not go to their classrooms until
well after 1 p.m. on the pretext that they had come to an impasse with
the government’s negotiators over the salary package they were being offered.
What the scenario revealed is that the teachers were misinformed by their
union leaders who themselves seemed ignorant of some basic facts about
trade unionism and their own union’s history. First, they have a
separate recognition agreement with the Government, and secondly, they
themselves have said that their proposals won’t be ready until the 4th
November. No government offer has been made to them, and the Government
is awaiting their proposals.
The Minister of Education will soon have to learn
to fight fire with fire here. It seems to us that the beginning is
docking the pay of every one who walked off their jobs. There should
be a letter of reprimand on every file. There should disciplinary
action including dismissal for those who walked off their jobs. When
our country has a future that is being jeopardized by irresponsible behaviour
the only sensible course is the iron fist. Teachers are shown
massing outside their union hall on Friday 21st October in this Tribune
photo by Mario Duncanson
THE
BOYS FROM FOX HILL
While some COB class members were in the House of
Assembly visiting the session of Wednesday 19th October, all girls from
the criminal justice programme, someone asked where are the boys?
At that same time, that same age of boys (19-24) was being arraigned, four
of them on murder charges resulting over fighting over a girl at the Waterloo
Club between 12 midnight and 3 a.m. on Friday 14th October. Last
week, we reported that the homicides in the Bahamas had reached 41.
This past weekend it reached 42. The profile is the same, either
a young male is the victim or a young male is the perpetrator. The
newspaper printed the usual parade of young Black faces on trial now for
murder, with bushy heads and faces that can’t even shave properly being
led off in chains by the police. Mothers crying, with tears streaming
down their faces.
The question that everyone asks is why is this continuing
to happen? Why don’t these young kids learn from the mistakes of
others? That it is not enough to say: “I didn’t do it,” when the
other more basic question must be asked: “what were doing there on the
scene in the first place?” It is very sad. The other matter for the
representative for the Fox Hill area Fred Mitchell is what does he do to
help? This will make six young men from Fox Hill just there locked
up for murder. The police are said to be looking to charge several
others, all from Fox Hill, all within the same age group. There are
plenty of theories but one that sticks is that perhaps we have to get to
the point were we just realize that some people just won’t learn; can’t
learn
and that the only solution for them is to punish them by long periods of
incarceration, up to twenty years, and then perhaps they will learn how
to control their behaviour. It will also give us time to help save
the younger ones coming behind us. The four accused, from left
are Ozone Thompson, Corrodon Cockburn, Anton Clarke and George Neil Deveaux
in these pictures from the Bahama Journal.
WHAT
THE ARCHBISHOP HAD TO SAY
The Nassau Guardian of Friday 21st October reported
that the Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez had an exclusive interview with
him and he talked about homosexuals and homosexual acts in the Anglican
Church in the Bahamas. Here is what he had to say in his own words:
“I have heard about it but no one has come to
me and proclaimed to be that way.
“Yes we do have people in the church who are
homosexual. Some are very faithful. But as far as clergy being
homosexual is concerned, people say things and this is not something that
you go just on hearsay.
“There is a difference in homosexuality and homosexual
acts. This must be made clear. My stand is not against homosexuals,
because there have been homosexual people around for centuries. My stand
is against people engaging in homosexual acts.
“What the Bible condemns is not the people but
it condemns the acts and things that they do. That is the distinction
that a lot of people do not make. Some people simply put it, ‘God
loves the sinner, but hates the sin.’ We offer pastoral care to homosexual
persons. We give them counselling but at the same time we maintain
our stand that certain things are wrong in the yes of God.”
HURRICANE
WILMA IS COMING
The 21st hurricane of the season is now somewhere
north of the Yucatan Peninsula off Mexico, having wrought havoc there with
up to 140 mile per hour winds. At the start of the week it was said
to be the most powerful storm ever in recorded history. It is now
moving toward the southwest Florida coast, resulting in evacuation of the
Florida Keys. The cities of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are likely to
feel the brunt of it, as will the northern Bahamas when it emerges on the
other side and starts its journey north. The people of the northwest
Bahamas, including Grand Bahama, especially West End that were hit twice
last year by powerful hurricanes and Abaco are bracing again for flooding,
heavy rain and powerful winds come Monday and Tuesday of this week. Please
click
here for the latest Government release on Hurricane Wilma. Prime
Minister Perry Christie briefs the media on Hurricane Wilma as Director
of Meteorology Arthur Rolle looks on at the Office of the Prime Minister.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
HEALTHY
LIFESTYLES
During the Prime Minister Perry Christie’s recovery
from his transient ischemic attack on 3rd May 2005, he promised his doctors
that he would become a poster boy for the lifestyle that is needed to avoid
what happened to him. He would watch his weight, lose weight, keep
up an exercise regime and eat properly in order to avoid problems in the
future. He lost 20 pounds and true to his word has been watching
his weight, diet and trying to get rest, exercise and relaxation.
Now another promise has been kept. The Prime Minister launched the
official Healthy Lifestyles programmed of the Ministry of health on Thursday
19th October.
The Ministry is promoting the good lifestyle, and
providing a healthy lifestyle passport, which shows you the numbers within
which you ought to operate your body if you are to be healthy. It
tells you how to maintain those numbers. Meanwhile over on Christie
Park in Over the Hill Nassau, there was a cookout going on that night.
They had delicious Okra Soup for sale, filled with salt beef, fresh pork,
and spare ribs. Yum! Yum! Don’t forget the generous helpings
of salt. And for those who didn’t like the Okra Soup, there was plenty
of pig foot souse to go around. People were buying it in droves.
There is obviously a long way from Cable Beach and healthy lifestyles conferences
and Christie Park. After unveiling the Healthy Lifestyle Passport,
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie along with his wife, Bernadette
Christie, and the Minister of Health and Environmental Services Senator
the Hon. Dr. Marcus Bethel, right, pose for a photograph at the official
launch of the Ministry of Health's National Healthy Lifestyle Initiative
on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at SuperClubs Breezes. (BIS Photo: Tim Aylen)
SANDILANDS
SCHOOL SEES THEIR REPRESENTATIVE
Fred Mitchell, who in addition to being the Minister
of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service is the Member of Parliament for
Fox Hill visited the historic Sandilands Primary School in Fox Hill on
Monday 17th October for the annual induction of environmental monitors
and prefects. He encouraged all in the school to work hard to maintain
the reputation of the school that has existed on the site in Fox Hill since
1898. The school had a surprise for him. They provided a pina
colada cake courtesy of Denny Burnside to sing happy birthday. Mr.
Mitchell celebrated his birthday on 5th October this year when he turned
52 years old. Norma Dean, the new Principal of the Sandilands Primary
School was there for the presentation. Happy belated Minister! The
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service and Member of Parliament
for Fox Hill the Hon. Fred Mitchell hands out birthday cake to prefect
Britney McCartney, 11, and environmental marshal Obinson Clecidor, 11,
as Principal Norma A. Dean looks on during a special Installation Ceremony
at Sandilands Primary School on Monday, October 17, 2005. (BIS Photo: Tim
Aylen)
CUBAN INTERFERENCE?
PetroCaribe, the controversial Venezuelan sponsored oil financing deal
has largely been a local matter, or a bilateral matter between The Bahamas
and Venezuela. It is not a matter for the comment of any other state
it would seem, except they are commenting on what the deal means for them.
Comments should not be inserted in the Bahamian public domain, which are
or appear to be calculated to influence the domestic debate. People
would call that interference. It is a sovereign decision for The
Bahamas. There was a great deal of umbrage taken when the U.S. Ambassador
deigned to give his personal opinion on the matter several weeks ago.
Now it appears the Cubans want to get into the act as well. Felix
Wilson, the Ambassador to The Bahamas from Cuba was quoted in The Tribune
Saturday 22nd October as saying that the Venezuelan oil deal was an excellent
deal. Hmmm! It would seem that there needs to be umbrage taken
there
as well. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!
QUOTE
OF THE WEEK
From the Tribune of Wednesday 19th October in the
Business Section: “Shareholders also raised concerns over the independence
of three non executive directors on the Colina holdings Board. Proxy
documents for the AGM showed that Dr. Miles Munroe, the religious leader
and Zhivargo Laing, the former FNM MP have outstanding loans from Colina
in the amounts of $510,596.00 and $628,292.00 respectively” Things
that make you wanna go hmmmm...
FOOTNOTES
TO HISTORY
It is quite a surprising thing to see the Hon. Loftus
Roker, an icon in the eyes of many, to be sitting on the same platform
with Dr. Elwood Donaldson, a man of a different stripe, who specializes
in rousing up the people of The Bahamas in what is really a false alarm
over alien issue in the curry. Indeed, as a result of one of the
interventions by Paul Moss, an attorney who led an organization with the
unfortunate acronym of BARF, and now has an Operation Rescue Bahamas [These
all seem to be political front organizations to run for Parliament, although
having attacked the FNM it’s difficult to see who will offer him a nomination
there] - there was an act of violence where one Alexander Fitzgerald Morley
voiced his dissent to what Mr. Moss was saying about demanding pass laws
similar to that in South Africa under apartheid where everyone would be
called upon to have an identity card and subject to summary arrest if they
didn’t carry it. Loftus Roker who fought against the pass laws of
apartheid does not, cannot support that.
Mr. Morley was attacked by a person in the audience,
which demonstrates the kind of violence that these people sponsoring these
functions and speaking in hysterical terms are whipping up in the country
over immigration. When it gets out of hand, all of them have the resources
to flee the country, and none of them will have the responsibility for
cleaning up the mess they create. As for Mr. Morley in a separate
incident, he has now been charged with defacing the base of Queen Victoria’s
statue with red paint with the words: FREE HAITI. The statue sits
in the Public Square just outside the House of Assembly in Nassau.
Who knows what is in Mr. Morley’s mind? The statue was a gift to
the Bahamas in 1905 by then governor of the islands Sir William Grey –Wilson.
Each year on the anniversary of the Queen’s birthday 24th May, the Imperial
Order of the Daughters of the Empire put a wreath to commemorate the date
of the Queen’s birthday.
POETRY FEATURE
This week, Giovanni says of his offering “tis a
remembrance” , called ‘Upstream’. Please
click
here.
POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist, Giovanni.Stuart
(www.nubah.com).
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
FOR THE PLP A WARY EYE
I too agree that what has taken place and what
continues to take place in the FNM should serve as a clear lesson in what
not to do regarding leadership election and succession. To go a bit
deeper, I think a particular helpful lesson is found through firstly understanding
that the FNM’s present dilemma emanates from its inability to define itself.
The FNM has not been successful in branding itself
- in fact the only brand that it can legitimately bear is that as the anti-PLP
Party. Indeed, it was their visceral hatred and opposition to the
PLP and (Pindling himself) alone that resulted in its genesis (the joining
of the Free PLP and UBP). From this union the FNM, in true Potcake
form, does not have a set of characteristics or core values in regards
to anything that might resonate with the average voter - they are driftwood.
As such they don’t elect leaders based on their representation of values
but more so on perceived electoral success.
We must not fall into this trap. In my
in view we in the PLP must not forget the core values that so richly define
us and which enable us to proclaim that we are the Nationalist party.
No matter how sexy perceived electoral success may be, we must not allow
our tent-expansion to threaten the pillars that define us. Bahamians
must continue to always be first and we must continue to amplify the voice
of the marginalized and downtrodden. Resultantly our leaders should
be elected on the basis of how well they represent these views and not
so much on perceived marketability. After all, what good is the PLP
winning if a PLP agenda is not pursued?
Another obvious lesson that we can learn from
the FNM is the critical importance of instituting (constitutionally) a
procedure governing the transition of power from a sitting Prime Minister
(and Party leader) to the democratically elected successor. Their
failed experiment in August 2001 should serve as enough impetus to get
us moving.
Kele Isaacs
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
The House of Assembly met this past week. On the agenda was a
major debate on the Government's Bill to formally establish the National
Emergency Management Agency. In a wry twist of irony, Prime Minister
Perry Christie decided to postpone the debate in order to allow Family
Island Members of Parliament to return to their constituencies in advance
of Hurricane Wilma. Bahamas Information Services photographer Peter
Ramsay caught this image of the Prime Minister in conversation with the
leader of Opposition business in the House, Brent Symonette.
THE PROBLEM WITH JOHN PINDER
There
was a cartoon drawn by Stan Burnside, the Nassau Guardian cartoonist, a
few weeks ago, shortly after the re election of John Pinder to the
office of the President of the Bahamas Public Service Union. The
picture was an unflattering one of a sumo wrestler type figure sitting
picking his teeth and burping as he sat looking fat and stupid, having
eaten up his union opponents, and asking : “Where Fred?” The “Fred”
of whom he was speaking is the Minister responsible for the public service
who is now seeking to bring order into the public service and to conclude
contract negotiations with Mr. Pinder and his Union.
The cartoon seems now to be prescient. Mr. Pinder during the past week has shown himself to be a strange egg, a hot headed union official who simply wants money at all costs, and to hell with the country. On the day after people were left homeless and hungry in Grand Bahama, he was demonstrating in the streets looking for a raise in pay. It was the height of crudeness and insensitivity. He rented a crowd from the electricity works, because he couldn't bring out his own crowd on Wednesday 26th October in front of the House of Assembly. He claimed that the Minister was not settling the issues. Never mind the fact that he received a proposal from the Government last Sunday (you may click here for last week's announcement). Never mind that it was his own fault that he did not read the proposal before congratulating the Government on giving him a good proposal. What do you call that? Certainly not smart. Try just plain dumb!
The Minister of Public Service described it in the House of Assembly on that evening 26th October as John Pinder being one whose mouth engages before his brain gets in gear. Mr. Pinder has been on the radio calling Mr. Mitchell all kinds of names because he was caught misleading his members. Mr. Pinder sat down and agreed to accept a lump sum payment of $1300 from the Government way back in September so that the families of public servants could get their monies for the opening of the school year. He allowed eighty members of the BPSU to scuttle acceptance of that agreement, and the result was he was repudiated. He later sought to blame the Government for his ineptness.
On Friday 28th October as he appeared on the Geoffrey Lloyd Radio Show on More FM, he libelled the Minister of Public Service. Some are predicting that a writ will be issued against the radio station and Mr. Pinder for his crude remarks. He also on that radio show said that he would run against the Minister in his Fox Hill constituency.
This is yet another sign of a man whose mouth engages before his brain gets in gear. He now has revealed what people were saying all along, that he is an FNM operative who sought re election to the Presidency of the BPSU to set up a run for Parliament. He has a brother Larry Pinder who is in the employ of a leading Free National Movement Member of Parliament, and together they hope to make a team by winning the Free National Movement's nomination in the Fox Hill area. The members of the public service union and the service generally should now know that it is not their welfare that drives John Pinder; it is the fact that he is interested in an FNM nomination that drives him. So politics is what is involved here. That is why his behaviour is not rational, that is why all the histrionics in the newspaper. He simply can’t bridle his mouth. He wants to get in the newspaper every day because he believes that helps his profile.
Public Servants should now know that they have been duped by John Pinder, and that the unflattering portrait of Mr. Pinder by Stan Burnside is the real and absolute truth of his actions: greedy, selfish, and simply full of himself or full of something else.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 29th October 2005 at midnight: 90,955.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 29th October 2005 at midnight: 367,979.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 29th October 2005 at midnight: 3,223,447.
A
CALL TO THE BAR
On Thursday 27th October and Friday 28th October some
25 persons became members of the Bahamas Bar, raising the total number
of lawyers in this country of 300,000 to over 800. There will be
yet another crop coming in December. Every time it happens people
talk about how there are too many lawyers but if the laws of economics
are to be believed then the market is not yet saturated because the perceived
demand is that there is still room in the country for more lawyers.
And indeed given the complaints about the poor level of service from lawyers,
there is indeed room for more lawyers.
Today we highlight the call of two lawyers at the
Bar, Christopher Frederick Douglas Francis and Stan O. Smith. Mr.
Francis is the son of former Minister of Finance Carlton Francis.
He was born in 1970 and is the last son of Mr. Francis. He has come
to law from a career in environmental landscaping. Stan O. Smith
is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stan Smith. His father works as an agricultural
officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. He worked at
the law firm Gwendolyn House, the now inactive practice of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred Mitchell.
But the call to the Bar ceremony isn’t what it used to be in the old days.
Just twenty years ago if you got called to the Bar, it was front page news
in the press of The Bahamas. These days it is barely a passing footnote
unless there is some really important bigwig. And on Friday the first
set of persons called were presented by the now Prime Minister Perry Christie
and the former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Both were in court
at the same time. Mr. Christie presented the petition of his cousin
Wayde Christie Jr. and Mr. Ingraham presented the petition of Darnell Dorsette,
the former Tribune reporter. Some observed that Mr. Ingraham presenting
the petition of Mrs. Dorsette said many things about what people suspected
of her politics while she was a reporter.
One important observation that many make is the
tone of these matters by the persons addressing the Court to welcome the
new lawyers, who are often too full of themselves. The worst offender
of this was the President of the Bar Wayne Munroe. They speak to
these mature people as they all are these days, not young people just out
of school, as if they need advice from them. All the foolish talk
about discipline and hard work and how their families are proud of them,
as if they need to be reminded of it. Some of them have families,
grown children in fact, own businesses, what could they be doing listening
to some man who has only worked in a law firm since he came home from school
as a youngster, and has a post that no one else wants? It just seems
a lot of pomposity and guff for nothing.
We believe one thing that was said at that ceremony,
that the Bar Call ceremony just like everything in this country should
be considerably shortened to take account of the new realties in The Bahamas.
This is no longer a village where people have nothing to do and no place
to go but sit around listening to boring speeches all afternoon.
The ceremony should be one hour and finished. But congratulations
to all these new lawyers and we hope they find work. The photo at
top is of the Chief Justice with all the persons called in the afternoon
at 2:30 p.m. Friday 28th October. At right, the photo shows a light
moment during the call as Prime Minister Perry Christie addresses the court.
Photos by Peter Ramsay.
A
REPORT ON THE HURRICANE DAMAGE
The reports are that on Monday 24th October, Hurricane Wilma delivered
destruction on Grand Bahama that no one in living memory could remember
or countenance. It left the communities stunned. It left the
Government looking once again at a gaping hole in the Budget. There
is nothing one can do about Mother Nature.
There was not only devastation in Grand Bahama but
also eight homes were flattened in Grand Cay in Abaco, a scene of destruction
last year as well. Then there was Bimini where the seawalls were
knocked out, one of its hotels is out of commission and thirty jobs with
it, all the second homeowners have lost their homes and personal belongings.
The water system was off for a time as well, and power was knocked out.
But by far the greatest devastation was in west Grand Bahama. It
was utter devastation.
At top, a stunned group of media and government
emergency responders stands in front of a destroyed home as the Prime Minister,
joined by Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith and Minister of Housing
Shane Gibson survey the damage. The Prime Minister invited national
religious leaders to Grand Bahama to offer prayers of support, at right,
some of them comfort the dispossessed and the bereaved young mother of
a 17 month old baby who floated away and died in the storm surge.
We present more photographs by Bahamas Information Services' Peter Ramsay,
showing just how bad it was as the Prime Minister Perry Christie and his
team visited on Tuesday 25th October, one day after the storm. Please
click
here for his essay of Wilma in Grand Bahama.
THE
STORY ON RAPES IN THE BAHAMAS
The police now report that between the years 2000
and 2004, there were 546 rapes reported in The Bahamas. Interest
in rapes and the incidence of rape in The Bahamas came to prominence following
an article in a foreign newspaper which attributed quotes to the U.S. Ambassador
John Rood about his concern over the rape of American citizens who visit
this country. The statistics show that overall only seven per cent
of the rapes during the specified period were perpetrated upon Americans.
In terms of the incidence of rape, it appears to
peak during the months of March and April. This represents some 37
percent of all reported rape cases in that period. These are the
months when there is the high concentration of American spring breakers
in The Bahamas. The cases many times involve young Americans on other
Americans and are therefore not resolvable either because the parties leave
town or are unwilling to proceed or were too drunk to provide reliable
evidence.
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism remains concerned
about the matter and it is putting in place special programmes to heighten
tourist awareness and safety on the issue.
NEW
PRISON CELLS IN THE BAHAMAS
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National
Security the Hon. Cynthia Pratt and Dr. Elliston Rahming, Her Majesty's
Prisons Superintendent, look on as Minister of Works and Utilities the
Hon. Bradley Roberts, seated right, and architect Leslie Johnson of Axum
Architecture, seated left, sign the contract for the design of a 300 cell
maximum security facility on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at the Ministry
of Works headquarters. Please click
here for Minister Roberts' remarks.
Construction on the new facility will commence in
the first quarter of 2006 and will be completed in approximately 18 months.
Each cell in the two-storey, 100,000 square foot facility, will be supplied
with a toilet and face bowl and will provide acceptable living standards
in an escape resistant environment. (BIS Photo: Tim Aylen)
MITCHELL
RESPONDS TO PROTESTERS
On Thursday 27th October, the day after a public demonstration by a few
of the leaders of the Bahamas Public Service Union using the numbers of
the Electricity Workers Union to boost their numbers, John Pinder, the
President of the Union made the following statement: “ We were trying to
see Mr. Mitchell but apparently he sneaked through the back door.”
Mr. Mitchell issued the following statement in response to the comment:
“I have never sneaked anywhere in my life and
I do not intend to begin now.
“Everyone knows that I am a very punctual person.
The House of Assembly starts at 10 a.m., so I am always at my desk in the
House by 9:30 a.m. ready for the start of business.
“According to my information, the protesters
arrived at 10:45 a.m. I cannot help it if people won’t get out of their
beds to make it to a demonstration which is supposed to begin at 10 a.m.
“When the police officer brought the message
that Mr. Pinder wanted to see me, it was well after midday. The House
was then in session. I asked Frank Carter, the industrial consultant
for the Government who was in the House to go downstairs and inquire of
Mr. Pinder what in particular he wished to discuss since I was working
in the House of Assembly.
“Finally, I would state the obvious there is
no back door in the House of Assembly though which to sneak. Again
I have never sneaked anywhere in my life and I do not intend to begin now.”
TOMMY
IS LINING UP SUPPORT
There is a story circulating around the town that the Scribe, a nom
de plume for a well know writer with an FNM bent, whose article appears
in the down market Punch every Monday was called in by Hubert Ingraham,
the former Prime Minister. The Scribe had written an article which
was favourable to Tommy Turnquest, the man who is the leader of the FNM
out of the House and who is running again and who Mr. Ingraham’s supporters
want to remove in favour of their old coming king. The story says
that Mr. Ingraham called the Scribe, took him around in his car, and told
him that while he is not running an active campaign, he is allowing his
name to be entered into nomination at the FNM’s convention in November
and that the Scribe must begin to act accordingly.
Mr. Ingraham himself has not been seen publicly
for two weeks. Since taking up his papers and fleeing the House of
Assembly on Wednesday 5th October in the face of his abortive attempt to
re take the Leader of the Opposition post, he has been in hiding, peeping
out from the tall grass. He emerged from hiding on Friday 28th October
to present the petition for call to the Bar of Darnell Dorsette, the former
Tribune reporter. Now that was an interesting thing! Friends
say he does not look well at all; his face is puffy, white, sallow.
He looks winded. Some say he has been suffering from the flu for
two weeks, and that he is still trying to lead the life of a 20 something,
even though he is still recovering from angioplasty performed earlier this
year.
Meanwhile you read in the press that Tommy Turnquest
said that he expects to win and that he expects Mr. Ingraham to serve him
loyally. The cartoonist Stan Burnside on Tuesday 25th October showed
what Mr. Ingraham must have thought about that. But the reports are
that Mr. Turnquest is picking up support for his victory at the elections
at the convention.
The report is that Dion Foulkes, former FNM Minister,
is very much on the sidelines and does not really have a prayer. The report
is that the Ingraham forces are very concerned that there is not a level
playing field with Tommy Turnquest’s forces fully in charge of the register
of voters in the convention election and Mr. Ingraham's forces reportedly
being denied access to the Party’s headquarters to get access to the lists.
Well as they say: “What goes around comes around.” Tennyson Wells,
Algernon Allen and Pierre Dupuch, all of whom were shortchanged by the
Ingraham machinery in the FNM leadership elections of 2001 must now feel
vindicated. Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' from The Nassau Guardian
of 25th October, 2005
THE
CONVENTIONS SHOULD PROCEED
There is talk around that in the face of the hurricane
damage in Grand Bahama and in Bimini, it would be unseemly for the two
major parties to hold a convention. If this happens, this would be
the second time in as many years that both political parties have cancelled
their conventions for that reason. Last year, this column was resolutely
opposed to cancelling the PLP’s convention in the name of the storms that
occurred. Even during the height of the Civil War in the United States,
Abraham Lincoln held General Elections. The life of a country goes
on, and there must be as near as possible to normalcy in our business.
PLP supporters from across the country and New Providence
have been looking forward to the convention so that they can have access
to those who govern them in a close and up front and personal way.
To cancel the PLP’s convention now would be slap in the face to those people,
and to the more general business that has to be done. Further, it
is almost certain that short of another Act of God, the FNM will proceed
with theirs and what will that look like, if the PLP cancel theirs in the
name of the hurricane?
SANDILANDS
STUDENTS SEE THEIR MP
We ran this last week but because of a breakdown in the Bahamas Information
Services website, we were unable to provide the photos until later in the
week. So we thought that you might like to see the photos of the
birthday visit made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell to
Sandilands Primary School. The occasion was really for the induction
of environmental monitors and prefects. But the school took time
out to surprise Mr. Mitchell with a birthday cake and to sing happy birthday.
He turned 52 on 5th October 2005. The visit was made on 17th October.
At top, Minister Mitchell hands out birthday
cake to prefect Britney McCartney, 11, and environmental marshal Obinson
Clecidor, 11, as Principal Norma A. Dean looks on during the special Installation
Ceremony at Sandilands Primary School. At right, the Minister attaches
a sash and pin to Britney as a newly-appointed prefect, as Obinson waits
to receive his sash and pin as 'environmental marshal'. The photos are
by Tim Aylen of the Bahamas Information Services.
PM
ON HEALTHY LIFESTYLES
We carried this story as well last week but without the benefit of pictures
because of breakdown in the Bahamas Information Services Website.
We thought you’d like to see a repeat of what we said last week, this time
with the photos. During the Prime Minister Perry Christie’s recovery
from his transient ischemic attack on 3rd May 2005, he promised his doctors
that he would become a poster boy for the lifestyle that is needed to avoid
what happened to him. He would watch his weight, lose weight, keep
up an exercise regime and eat properly in order to avoid problems in the
future. He lost 20 pounds and true to his word has been watching
his weight, diet and trying to get rest, exercise and relaxation.
Now another promise has been kept. The Prime Minister launched the
official Healthy Lifestyles programmed of the Ministry of health on Thursday
19th October.
The Ministry is promoting the good lifestyle, and
providing a healthy lifestyle passport, which shows you the numbers within
which you ought to operate your body if you are to be healthy. It
tells you how to maintain those numbers. Meanwhile over on Christie
Park in Over the Hill Nassau, there was a cookout going on that night.
They had delicious Okra Soup for sale, filled with salt beef, fresh pork,
and spare ribs. Yum! Yum! Don’t forget the generous helpings
of salt. And for those who didn’t like the Okra Soup, there was plenty
of pig foot souse to go around. People were buying it in droves.
There is obviously a long way from Cable Beach and healthy lifestyles conferences
and Christie Park. After unveiling the Healthy Lifestyle Passport,
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie along with his wife, Bernadette
Christie, and the Minister of Health and Environmental Services Senator
the Hon. Dr. Marcus Bethel, right, pose for a photograph at the official
launch of the Ministry of Health's National Healthy Lifestyle Initiative
on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at SuperClubs Breezes. (BIS Photo: Tim Aylen)
PAPAL
NUNCIO PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
The Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See, The Most Reverend Archbishop
Thomas E Gullickson, left, and The Most Reverend Patrick C. Pinder, CMG
Archbishop of Nassau paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister the Rt. Hon.
Perry Christie on Friday, October 21, 2005. The Papal Nuncio
was visiting to present his diplomatic credentials as the representative
of the Roman Catholic Church to The Bahamas. (BIS Photo: Peter Ramsay)
PLP IN ELEUTHERA
The Progressive Liberal Party moved in force into
Eleuthera at the weekend with a delegation led by Prime Minister Perry
Christie and including several Government Ministers to install several
of the party faithful to the honour of the Stalwart Council. The
Prime Minister was accompanied by Party Chairman Raynard Rigby, the Representative
for the area, House Speaker Oswald Ingraham and Ministers Fred Mitchell
and Shane Gibson.
In the first banquet of its kind in Eleuthera, Mr.
Christie thanked the new Stalwart Councillors for their contribution as
part of “a great movement in the history of The Bahamas.
“This movement of the PLP has changed the country
for the better and forever,” said the Prime Minister; “At a time when it
was difficult to be a part of the struggle, you were the ones who helped
to make it possible.”
In his remarks, the Prime Minister promised "dynamic
development, more jobs and greater participation in the economy for more
eleutherans." Mr. Christie said that islanders could expect before
the end of the year the beginning of activity in the development at Cape
Eleuthera and that residents further north in Eleuthera would get a bigger
share of the economic activity. He spoke of projects and proposals
that are fulfilling the Government's promise to "transform The Bahamas
one island at a time."
A total of 101 persons from Eleuthera, many of whom
are shown in this Peter Ramsay photo, were elevated to the Stalwart Council
at the weekend, including the owner of the well-known Cambridge Villas
hostelry in Gregory Town. Chairman Rigby also addressed the occasion
and congratulated the new distinguished Stalwart Councillors, saying "my
generation...grew up in a Bahamas that was materially different in character
from the Bahama Islands of the 1940s and the 1950s. Our experiences
were the end product of your work, your sacrifices and your toils, and
for that we will forever be grateful to you." Please click
here for the full address.
FOX
HILL COUPLE CELEBRATE 50TH
Well known Fox Hill couple Samuel and Essie Ferguson
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary today, Sunday 30th October, with
a special church service and gala reception. Samuel Ferguson, a former
taxi driver and 'Miss Essie' of Miss Essie's Chicken Shack are the parents
of fourteen children, all of whom gathered with their spouses and children
at Mount Carey Union Baptist Church to honour the occasion. Fox Hill
MP Fred Mitchell also joined the celebration and is pictured with the happy
couple.
BILL
MARTIN DIES
William Erskine ‘Bill’ Martin Sr., the owner of
Martin's Trucking & Custom's Brokerage on Mackey Street in Nassau has
died. Mr. Martin was a self-made man from the well known ‘Valley’
area of Nassau who raised himself up “by the bootstraps” to create one
of the most prominent trucking businesses in the country. He was
a pillar of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church and was buried in the Church’s
cemetery on Saturday 29th October, 2005. He is survived by thirteen
children; seven daughters and six sons. His wife Laurie and two other
children predeceased him.
BEAUTIES
FOR AIDS AWARENESS
Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of the Prime Minister
is shown third from left with Miss Universe, Natalie Glebova (in sash)
who was in The Bahamas this past week at the invitation of the Ministry
of Health and the AIDS Secretariat. The beauties attended an AIDS
awareness event at Atlantis and also appeared on the local television programme
'Bahamas at Sunrise. Peter Ramsay photo
FNM
CLASHES WITH CHARITIES
The FNM angered some charity supporters by holding
a cookout this past Saturday, which clashed with charitable events at St.
Thomas More Church and the Ranfurly Homes for Children. A disgusted
charitable supporter complained “They really should know better, especially
when it is the only chance for the whole year when some of these charities
have to raise money for their work in the community.” The FNM said
“It is our hope that the Bahamian public will understand and support as
many events as they can.” We wonder if it wouldn’t have been better
to just direct their members to ‘Grill & Chill’ for charity.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
The Irresponsible Action of Teachers
I have watched for years as this country continues
to go to hell in a hand basket. The latest episode by the teachers in Nassau
and Grand Bahama is indicative of the dangerous collision course upon which
we have embarked.
How many of the teachers, who engage in the kind
of irresponsible behaviour that is being displayed, would like to have
their children’s teachers abandon their classrooms and put their children’s
education and future at risk?
While I am mindful of the Bahamas Union of Teachers
right to take legitimate action in the pursuance of the protection of the
rights of their members, I think the time has come for concerned parents
to take legal action against the Bahamas Union of Teachers for endangering
the education and future of their children. Parents must now let their
voices be heard against the irresponsible actions by those in the Bahamas
Union of Teachers who do not seem to understand that their behaviour is
seriously impacting the future of the children of this nation in particular
and the nation in general.
I have heard it said that “doctors can bury their
mistakes, but teachers’ mistakes come back to haunt them.” Teachers beware!
The nation’s children are watching.
Donald M. McCartney MPA, MSc.Ed. (Hons.), B.A., T.C.
Excellent point-- Editor
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Last Sunday 23rd October, Prime Minister Perry Christie
in emergency management mode, sat in the boardroom of the Office of The
Prime Minister on Cable Beach surrounded by Government first response experts
preparing for the landfall of Hurricane Wilma. Pictured above with
Mr. Christie is the Director of the Meteorological Department as the Prime
Minister addresses the media.
Two days later in the week, after touring the devastation
wrought by Hurricane Wilma in Grand Bahama, the Prime Minister dramatically
demonstrates the impact of the storm in the House of Assembly as he led
a major debate on the Government's Bill to formally establish the National
Emergency Management Agency.
