THE HOUSE PASSES A BAD IMMIGRATION BILL

Last week about two days before the debate in the House of Assembly on the Government’s Amendment to the Immigration Act which would allow doctors, lawyers, accountants and consultants to come into The Bahamas to work at Board meetings without work permit, so long as they are not gainfully employed, the FNM Government circulated a set of amendments to the act which would have eliminated that provision for those persons. The amendment did not survive.  The Government abandoned its own amendments.  We mention that because, it is clear that they themselves knew that something was fundamentally wrong with the bill.  They must have heard the howls of protests from the public about the bill and were responding to it.  In the end though the author of the Bill Brent Symonette, the Bay Street puppet master of this FNM Government, had his way and the Bill was passed with 19 voting for it, 17 absent, 1 abstention and 1 no.  That no being the PLP’s MP Philip Davis.  There is a slow boil out in the country and this FNM government will not stop until there is open revolt.