Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 8 © BahamasUncensored.com 2010
 |
| DAME MARGUERITE REMEMBERS AND SO DO WE - It seems like only yesterday that Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the man whom former Finance Minister William Allen described as bestriding The Bahamas like a colossus, died. Sir Lynden was the country’s founding Prime Minister and one of the fathers of our nation. He has been called “the Father of the Nation”. We agree. Ten years ago on 26th August 2000, a nation was consumed in grief following the announcement that the great man was dead. You can find the pictures of those expressions in the coverage of our predecessor site fredmitchelluncensored.com. The photographer then was the official chronicler of our times Peter Ramsay. Each year Dame Marguerite Pindling, the keeper of the legacy and his widow, gathers with friends and family at St. Agnes Church in Grants Town and then repairs to the St. Agnes Cemetery where the great man is entombed in a mausoleum to lay a wreath and to reminisce. This year was no exception and so our photo of the week is that of Dame Marguerite Pindling with her friends, priest and well wishers gathered around the mausoleum St. Agnes Cemetery on Thursday 26th August 2010, ten years after. The photo is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
HELPING BASRA RESCUE BAHAMIANS
The photograph said it all. The stress was obvious.
The report was that a small plane took off from Walker’s Cay in the Abacos
on Monday 23rd August and was headed to Grand Bahama piloted by Fritz Cambridge.
There were six people on board including the pilot. A husband received
a phone call shortly before the plane took off. His wife said that
she was then leaving for Grand Bahama. The trip takes half an hour.
One hour later, he arrived at the airport in Freeport to find that the
plane had not arrived. Had any one heard what had happened?
Nothing.
It later transpired that the plane developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff from the island and after a warning to the tower, had to put down in bad weather, the water some ten feet deep, ten minutes away from Grand Bahama. The warning went out immediately first to Basra, the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association, a volunteer organization of men and women who use their own equipment and raise public funds, to rescue Bahamians at sea. Then there was a bulletin to the United States Coast Guard and to the Royal Bahama Defence Force.
Shortly after the plane put down, the people were spotted at sea clinging to the wing of the plane. It later turned out that none of the people could swim except the pilot. Three hours later, after working around bad weather and thanks to the skill of the US Coast Guard and the work of Basra and the RBDF, and one must also say the pilot who put the plane down in the water, all was well. The passengers, including a pregnant woman with her two small children all survived and were brought into Grand Bahama’s Dover Sound, all safe and sound.
What then is the purpose of this reflection? The first is the fact that none of the passengers could swim. We heard the shocking stats that in this country which is surrounded by water some 65 per cent of the adults in the country cannot swim. That is scandalous.
The second point is to urge the support of the work of Basra. It is an organization that does not get the support of the black community, but in the main, it is the black community in The Bahamas that ends up having to be rescued. We doubt that any of those rescued passengers ever thought one day of giving a cent to Basra for the work that they do, and yet as soon as the call goes out, the volunteers are on the sea and in the air. It would be helpful if there were a greater level of giving to Basra.
Then there is the US Coast Guard. That agency has no responsibility for helping Bahamians. Yet we know that so many times, they are the agency that we have to call upon to rescue Bahamians at sea or who suffer accidents in the air or on land and have to be airlifted as a result either to Nassau or the United States. In fact, we ought to thank the United States government for the great support that they give to assist our people when we are in trouble, with or without Basra or the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. The Coast Guard does the work.
But the final point we make is one about the preparedness of The Bahamas for emergencies and the steps we take to ensure as a country that we do not have to face emergencies. The Coast Guard, Basra and the RBDF often make the point that Bahamian fishermen and boatmen and women are often negligent in setting out to sea in rough seas or even regular seas and they travel without a life vest, a flare, a radio or a beacon that will help to find them. Death and injury and discomfort can often be avoided by some simple equipment and taking some very simple steps. There is a widespread disrespect for the sea and the air and the elements that can turn unfriendly at a moment’s notice.
Then our concern is for the regulation of the commercial aircraft industry in The Bahamas. There are too many in our view incidents that happen with these small planes that carry people up and down The Bahamas: the engine failures, the putting down in the water. There is a major incident waiting to happen and it could get worse with the new private airlines and the pressure that they have put on the regulatory authorities in our country. The pilots who work for these airlines have gathered themselves together into an organization to work for more effective regulation because they believe that they are being pressured to fly unsafe aircraft. So the appeal here is for the airlines to take safety seriously and for the regulators to take their jobs seriously. Those people who made it when the plane put down in the water last week, could easily have been casualties or deaths. We must avoid that from happening if we can.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 28th August 2010 up to midnight: 118,398.
Number of hits for the month to August up to Saturday 28th August up to midnight: 517,035.
Number of hits for the year 2010 up to Saturday 28th August up to midnight: 5,763,171.
NYGARD
THREATENS TO SUE AND SUE
Last week, we reported on this site that agents
of Peter Nygard, the controversial fashion designer, who lives at Lyford
Cay, the ghetto for the rich and famous in western New Providence, were
out in the highways and byways of The Bahamas to lobby the country that
he was a good guy and that his next door neighbour billionaire Louis Bacon
was the bad guy trying to bully everyone in The Bahamas into submission
in a kind of anti Nygard conspiracy. We think that is a bit fanciful,
but everyone is entitled to their view of the facts we suppose.
We also reported that Sherman Brown, the reporter
for ZNS, was interdicted and placed on administrative leave, being accused
by his employers of being a PR agent for Mr. Nygard. Mr. Brown resigned
last week from the Corporation last week before the issue could be resolved.
We further reported that Mr. Nygard’s attorneys had filed a law suit against
Mr. Bacon and one of them former MP Keod Smith wrote a letter which appeared
in this column to criticize us for taking what he considers to be an anti
Nygard stand.
There is now a new thing in the mix. It appears
that Peter Nygard’s international attorneys are going after selected websites
in The Bahamas. A letter was written by the lawyers for Mr. Nygard
it appears to those who own the domain server for bahamaspress.com and
copied to bahamasissues.com to warn them that if they did not remove certain
objectionable material (objectionable of course to Mr. Nygard) they would
sue. They wanted the material removed or the domain taken down.
Click here for the letter purportedly
from Mr. Nygard’s lawyers.
Of course, most people would just have told them
what they could do with themselves. But this is quite a curious development,
so sensitive is the man now to public criticism that his lawyers are now
threatening to shut down the voices and sources of information in The Bahamas.
We wonder what his Bahamian lawyer, a fighter for rights in The Bahamas
would say to that.
PLP
STICKS TO ITS GUNS ON BAHAMAR
The Nassau Guardian tried to confuse the issue of
what the PLP is going to do with regard to the Bahamar project at Cable
Beach by a misleading headline on Monday 23rd August.
The PLP’s position is clear to us and has always
been clear. The party supports the project but the question of work
permits for 5000 Chinese is a matter for the government and not for the
Parliament. That simple message can only get garbled by the Nassau
Guardian and Hubert Ingraham’s chief scribe Candia Dames. Part of
the problem we think is Perry Christie, the Leader of the PLP, continuing
to confide in her by granting her interviews and comments. Every
time, he does so, it ends up with the Nassau Guardian making a complete
mish mash and cock up of what the PLP believes on a particular subject.
After speaking with Mr. Christie, the Nassau Guardian
led on Monday the 23rd August with the headline that PLP was changing its
mind on Bahamar. How the fact that the PLP was holding a meeting
to decide its position at a regular meeting of its MPs which takes place
every Sunday evening becomes the PLP changing its mind, only the Guardian
can explain.
Then when the PLP sought to clarify it, the next
thing you know people including the press then say the PLP is confused.
It is of course, the press that is confused. It might be wise for
him to refuse to deal with her and maybe the PLP would fare better in getting
its message out on this and other issues.
The PLP supports the Bahamar project, but the matter
of work permits for 5000 Chinese is a matter for the government and not
the PLP. Amen!
ALVARDO
LAMONT ADDERLEY ORDAINED
We send congratulations to the newest Anglican Deacon
Alvardo Lamont Adderley who was ordained deacon on Thursday 26th August
at All Saints Parish Church in South Beach, New Providence. The ordination
as deacon was conducted by Bishop Laish Boyd and he was joined by retired
Archbishop Drexel Gomez and retired Suffragan Bishop Gilbert Thompson.
Also congratulations to Deacon Letha Strachan who was ordained Deacon on
Tuesday 24th August at St. Barnabas. The two are shown together at
Deacon Adderley’s ordination.
Peter Ramsay photo
THE
FREEPORT DILEMMA
Freeport is a magic city. It sprang up out
of the pine forests of Grand Bahama Island, a quiet sleepy island in 1995
and is now a metropolis with some 60,000 people. But the economy
of Freeport is in trouble. There are five MPs for the Free National
Movement in Freeport; the city is suffering the worst of the recession
with its population moving to other parts of The Bahamas order to find
work.
Fred Mitchell, the Fox Hill MP was in Freeport to
mark the tenth anniversary of the passing of Sir Lynden O. Pindling who
issued the famous speech that if the social order of Freeport did not bend,
it would be broken. He spoke those words in 1969. Mr. Mitchell
told the supporters of the party at the special meeting of the Pineridge
constituency that if the PLP won they could expect tens of millions dollars
to be spent by the PLP in the city putting people back to work in cash
or in kind.
Click here for Mr.
Mitchell’s full remarks.
BRENT
GETS HIMSELF MIXED UP
On Saturday 28th August Brent Symonette, the Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded to an inquiry
from The Tribune about his dereliction of duty as Minister in allowing
control of the information on the government’s website mfabahamas.org to
be taken from the government. Mr. Symonette said a most remarkable
thing. He accused Fred Mitchell his predecessor in office, now out
office for three years of knowing the facts behind the website established
by the Ministry.
What the establishing of the website has to do with
Mr. Symonette allowing the information on the site to be lost is not clear
but it is simply sickeningly stupid for Mr. Symonette to continue to act
like a nitwit on this issue. It is the most asinine thing.
In the old days, we would have named him Jackass of the week, for surely
he must jest.
For three years, at each budget time, Mr. Mitchell
has raised the fact that since he left office, the Ministry has paid no
attention to the site. Mr. Mitchell has said that the site was established
in 2003 in answer to the frequent queries from Bahamians about the need
for visas, the treaties that The Bahamas has signed and what the Ministry's
policies are on various issues.
Mr. Mitchell is on the record as noting that the
government’s offices in the Ministry of Finance which ran all of the other
government websites simply did not have the capacity to create and run
the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So the decision
was taken to start a website which was paid for out of the Washington D.C
office on the credit card of the then Ambassador Joshua Sears. It
is known. It is documented.
Both Joshua Sears and Dr. Patricia Rodgers, the
now Permanent Secretary were there when the decision was taken and executed
and the facts are known to both of them. How this Minister can make
himself sound like a fool and a total idiot by suggesting that his predecessor
knows what the facts are is beyond comprehension. In any event, the
issue is not what happened in the past. The question is how did Mr.
Symonette allow the information to be lost.
This is government information which is proprietary
and should be recovered. As Minister, he has a responsibility to
say how it got lost and what he is doing to recover it. His answer
was to turn the matter over to the police. The police are making
themselves look like fools chasing after a political vendetta.
Mr. Symonette has been a failure as Minister.
He doesn’t understand his a… from a bullfrog’s foot in foreign affairs.
He is a lost soul. He began in a fit of jealousy about what Mr. Mitchell
accomplished and sought to hound everyone who was connected with Mr. Mitchell
in the ministry out of the ministry. One of them was the man who
had the codes for the website. He forced him out and the simple answer
might then have been to get the codes from that employee before he left
the office. But no ‘Mr. High and Mighty’ has lost that opportunity.
Now the only answer is to go to the owner of the domain name and get them
to release the information, since they have lost the right to own the domain
name. C. Allen Johnson who now owns the domain name is not the issue
and arresting him is not the answer. We think that Mr. Johnson should
sue Brent Symonette and personally make him pay for this action of starting
a prosecution against him which led to his arrest and the harassment from
the police. It is a crying shame.
LAING
ANSWERS CRITICS ON C. ALLEN JOHNSON’S ARREST
The Facebook pages have been all abuzz with allegations
against the government for arresting C. Allen Johnson in connection with
the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website going missing. The writers
Ethric Bowe, community activist and Andrew Burrows, webmaster for the PLP,
accused the government of using the police to intimidate Mr. Johnson.
Minister of State Zhivargo Laing did not take too kindly to it and called
the notion absurd. Here is the thread of the exchange from Facebook
on the issue:
Ethric Bowe: C. Allen - this government is on the way out
and they are still intimidating people. Be afraid but let’s do what
we have to do anyway. One of the first things we have to do is make
the police force free of politics. We also need a police for the
police. When they do foolishness on the direction of politicians,
they should be sanctioned.
Zhivargo Laing: I have no difficulty with you suggesting we are on our way out because opinions come a dime a dozen. But you are absurd to be suggesting that we are using the police for politics. I thought you were an intelligent man. This (is) offensive, untrue and not becoming of a man who loves his country.
Andrew J. Burrows: Minister, are you aware of the justification the police used for picking up Mr. Johnson? The timing of it all lends to the growing public perception that the police are under an authority separate from the COP. Your colleague Mr. Turnquest ...has done very little to diminish that fear in his handling of the Nygard issue and the DPM's comments and attitude toward this whole website affair makes you wonder.
Now whether this is in fact what is happening is a matter that we'll never know but from the outside looking in, it sure doesn't look as unthinkable as you would hope it is.
Zhivargo Laing: My Friend, trust me when I say, I am deeply
offended by any suggestion that we could use the police for political purposes.
It is simply absurd. If anyone feels aggrieved by police action, I strongly
advise that they seek redress, either by filing a proper complaint with
the Government or by putting the matter before the courts. I do not serve
in an administration that uses the police for political purposes and unless
you have evidence of the same, you should not put forward such suggestions.
Forget the government, it can be seriously damaging to our nation.
10
YEARS SINCE SIR LYNDEN’S PASSING
There was a special service held at the Greater
Bethel Cathedral Church to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the passing
of the founding Prime Minister of the country Sir Lynden O. Pindling on
Thursday 26th August. We share pictures from the service which appeared
on the Facebook page of the now leader of the PLP Perry G. Christie.
THE
TROUBLES ON CITY MARKETS
The food market chain City Markets finally made
the mainstream news in The Bahamas when Fred Mitchell Fox Hill MP issued
a press release on Tuesday 24th August speaking up for his constituents
whom he said feared that the company was collapsing and might fail.
He listed a host of issues including the apparent inability of the company
to pay its suppliers; reports of the taking of US dollars out of the stores
by foreign managers and the breakdown of equipment which the company does
not repair. He said that employees feared for the long term security
of their jobs.
Following is Mr. Mitchell’s statement issued on
24thAugust:
I have a concern for my constituents who work
at City Markets who are extremely worried that this company has such financial
issues that it may not survive.
They have seen the inventory in the store
declining. There are issues with suppliers. They have seen managers collecting
U.S. dollars from the stores. Equipment breaks and is not repaired.
Something as commonplace as sliced deli meats is not available in most
of the stores.
I have toured all the stores in Freeport where
I am today and in Nassau and the fears expressed by employees are the same.
They fear that having regard to what happened with Clico, the government
and the Ministry of Labour in particular need to intervene to protect the
interests of the 700 workers of this company.
I agree with them that the Government needs to
be proactive and seek to protect the interests of the 700 workers at the
company.
The Bahamas cannot afford a failure that would
leave 700 workers out of jobs and without proper protection.
I hereby call on the Ministry of Labour
to so intervene.
Days later, City Markets CEO Derek Winford
issued this statement:
I hasten to assure the Bahamian community that
despite the rumors that abound the demise of City Markets is not imminent.
The company just like many others enterprises,
locally and internationally, is having to fight through hardships created
by the meltdown of world economies and the impact upon all business sectors
in the Bahamas".
In addition to the difficulties caused by a poor
economy, the company suffered a series of serious maintenance problems
with refrigeration in a number of stores. I am now pleased to say
that the problems have been corrected and we are back to normal.
Further, to restore customer confidence in our business we are about to
embark upon an impressive promotional campaign".
On the question of the status of jobs for our
employees We have no immediate plans for reducing the workforce however;
as we continue to manage and control our operating costs, some employees
may be affected.
On another note the company has been forced to
face another daunting problem and that is one related to "shrink" of inventory.
We know that 'shrink' should be in the range of 2% or lower, but our 'shrink'
size is about 6% of sales. The cost to the company is substantial.
We have instituted much stricter inventory and
financial controls and are hopeful that this financial drain will be substantially
reduced. Additionally, we have put in place an incentive programme for
our employees which has been well received.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
In
Defence of Truckers...
Mediterranean Shipping Company, better known
as MSC, has now taken the ill-advised decision, effective 20th September
2010, to commence delivering, within Bahamian territory, all those containers
arriving by their shipping line for and on behalf of clients within the
Commonwealth. This back-firing, ill-advised and not so smart, corporate,
decision will mean the demise of most, if not all, of the independent truckers'
(certainly in Freeport) business. The government should now step in to
save the Truckers' business and not allow this corporate giant to come
here to this country and do as they please. These independent truckers
have been performing this "docks to client's premises" service, very efficiently
I might add, for years; besides all the domestic services industry, including
all local domestic trucking, should be exclusively, by policy if not by
law, reserved for Bahamians ; even under this Bahamian-unfriendly FNM government.
What pray tell me will be next?
In making this decision, it should be noted that,
they are proposing, in addition, to increase the delivery fees, certainly
within the environs of the city of Freeport, by $45 per unit from $150
to a whopping $195.00. Outside of the city limits of Freeport, it is my
understanding that the fees to East End is being proposed to be increased
to at around $500 from the now $300-$400 and to West Grand Bahama at around
the same. I would venture to suggest that MSC, in following the FNM government's
lead, has concluded that since the government can increase all their fees
on the littlest Bahamians, so can they; and throw us under the proverbial
bus besides.
2010 is turning out to be a real dozy of a year
and a nightmare for the small man trying to make ends meet here in Grand
Bahama. It's a hell of a nightmare, as well, for Grand Bahama's business
community which has been hard pressed, since experiencing all the increases
in government taxes, to keep track of all the price adjustments which had
to be made, in an effort to ensure their businesses suffer no unnecessary
losses.
The PLP will, I am sure, flush out all the dirt
and expose all the FNM scoundrels, in Grand Bahama, who we suspect are
cohorts with MSC in this screwing exercise of the Bahamian truckers. We
shall be monitoring very closely which, of them, opens up a new trucking
company within the next few weeks and ends up with the exclusive contract
for transporting MSC's domestic cargo; we shall not rest until we have
the information and expose the suckers. This is a good piece of business
which, heretofore, all the Freeport truckers shared and it would be a windfall
for one trucking firm with the monopoly. So we shall not rest until we
have the goods and expose the bastards.
A word to my valuable readers; I shall be away
for another four or five weeks before I am back in full form (lord willing).
When I received the e-mail on this matter, however, I had to come to the
defense of my friends in the trucking business; many of whom I've done
business with over the years. This is simply not right what is happening
to them but will this FNM government intervene and respond to their plight?
I doubt it, as I am fully convinced that some of them have cooked up this
scheme and are blackmailing MSC into giving them an exclusive contract.
Forrester J Carroll
Ft Lauderdale Fla.
IN PASSING
Kenyatta To Run In Eleuthera
The Tribune reported in its Tuesday 24th edition that the now
MP for Kennedy Kenyatta Gibson who was elected as a PLP and then crossed
the floor to become an FNM is to leave his Kennedy seat and run in the
next general election as an FNM in South Eleuthera. The incumbent
there is Oswald Ingraham of the PLP. Many believe that Mr. Ingraham
will be stepping down and the PLP is thinking about Damien Gomez, the lawyer
who is the son of the retired Archbishop of the West Indies Drexel Gomez.
Mr. Gibson has reportedly opened a law office in Eleuthera. He is
married to a woman who hails from Eleuthera.
Crystal Palace Closing Again
Despite what some say are good occupancy levels and forward bookings,
the Wyndham Crystal Palace on Cable Beach in Nassau has closed its doors
this year for six weeks, two less than last but closed all the same. Staff
are to take vacations and the company says it will save significantly by
closing. The owners of the hotel are seeking to develop Bahamar,
a new and more comprehensive upscale resort at Cable Beach but are in the
midst of a fight with the Bahamian government for approvals. The
final approvals for the money which they sought from the Chinese government
appear to have been obtained. The problem they have is that the Bank
of Nova Scotia does not want to give up their first mortgage on the property
in favour of the Chinese because Scotiabank reportedly thinks that they
were misled in the past by the owners of the project. See related
story.
Govt Appeals Road Injunction
Last week, we reported that Attorneys Maurice Glinton, Wayne Munroe
and Raynard Rigby, were able to obtain an injunction which the government
interpreted as compelling them to stop work on the roads. It turns
out they misinterpreted the judge's decision. Mr. Glinton told the
Court of Appeal where John Delaney, the Attorney General appeared in a
full bottom wig and silk gown, looking like a character from a Gilbert
and Sullivan play, on Thursday 26th August, that it was never the intention
of his clients the business owners on the Blue Hill Road strip to shut
down the road work. The injunction was meant to stop the process
of permanently changing the road and thereby seeking to compel the minister
to properly consult the business owners along the road. The Court
of Appeal with its antipathy to Mr. Glinton would have none of it and discharged
the injunction and the road work now continues. The point we make
is that John Delaney as AG appeared in court obviously to intimidate the
Court, or shall we say more delicately in these times to make the point
that the government wanted the injunction lifted. Now that the Court
of Appeal has appeared to lift the injunction, he can put another one down
in his résumé which makes him look like he is a good lawyer.
Nassau Guardian Website Inadequate
We continue to complain about the national newspapers. The dailies
and their websites. Today we are on the Nassau Guardian that simply
does not seem to be able to get a handle on the new format which they have.
The PDF version of the paper only shows up in bits and pieces. The
electronic paper comes out too late in the day. They do that so that people
will be forced to buy the paper but for the modern age, it simply comes
out too late to make any difference. What concerns us though is that
they often don’t update it at all. It is simply a sloppy product.
Meanwhile over at The Tribune, Jessica Robertson who runs the Tribune's
site has written to bahamasissues.com and threatened them in a note for
infringement of copyright. Of course, there was no infringement of
copyright but everyone is getting really touchy these days.
It’s Hotter In The Bahamas
Perhaps we need to amend the famous tourism slogan for our country,
"It's Better In The Bahamas" with the expression: "It’s Hotter In The Bahamas".
Hotter than ever before say the Bahamas Met office. The summer has been
sweltering and the Met office in The Bahamas says that the three last summers
in The Bahamas are the hottest on record. The story was reported
in The Nassau Guardian of Tuesday 24th August.
Brave Denies Million Dollar Story
The liar who runs the down-market Punch was at it again by running
a headline that said that the PLP’s Deputy leader Philip Brave Davis had
paid one million dollars to do a survey which shows that the PLP will defeat
the FNM in the next general election. Mr. Davis issued a statement
on Tuesday 24th August denying any such thing. He said that no right
thinking organization would spend that amount of money in these hard times
on a survey. He really has good time to respond to Ivan Johnson,
the publisher of The Punch and his lies.
Salary For Top Policeman In Trinidad and Tobago
Not only is the hire of a Canadian to be Commissioner of Police and
Deputy Commissioner of Police in Trinidad and Tobago causing a major upset
but now the salary has been announced and it adds up 1.2 million dollars
T & T dollars, divide by six to get the US figure. That is what
the new Commissioner will get. No Trinidad Commissioner has ever
gotten that amount of money.
Bolt To Earn 10 million US
The Jamaica Gleaner of Wednesday 25th August reported that Usain Bolt,
the 100 metre world record holder, has signed a contract with Puma, the
German shoe company which will earn him a possible 10 million dollars US
for eight years. Not bad for the fleet of foot.
Leadership Race In Bermuda
Paula Cox, the Deputy premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda seems
set to become the next Premier of Bermuda succeeding outgoing Premier Ewart
Brown. She appears to have the support of most MPs in her party but
the field of people wanting the job is crowded. There are some six
contenders in all.
Govt. Moves Against Website Man
The Bahamas government has moved against the web man C. Allen Johnson
for having the temerity to buy the domain name of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs website mfabahamas.org. The police arrested Mr. Johnson on
Thursday 26th August when he insisted while being questioned that he would
record everything that they asked him. They then confiscated
his recording device while under arrest. He was later released without
charge. The Tribune asked Brent Symonette, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs about it, and he blamed his predecessor in office Fred Mitchell
for it, saying that Fred Mitchell ought to come clean and give all the
facts about the website. Mr. Symonette is an idiot. Mr. Mitchell's
response is unprintable. The Tribune claimed that he simply laughed
it off and said that he would issue a more detailed statement later.
Pleasant To Go Free
The speculation is in The Bahamas that the case against Pleasant Bridgewater,
the former PLP Senator who was charged with extortion against the actor
John Travolta and his wife following the death of their son in West End
, Grand Bahama, may not be retried. It appears that lawyers for Mr.
Travolta have decided that their client will not proceed. If
this happens, another travesty of justice will have ended and perhaps Ms.
Bridgewater can then get on with her life. The first trial ended
in a mistrial in November last year and the matter is to come again on
20th September.
The Chinese Work Permits
Amidst all the hurrah about the issuing of 5000 work permits to Chinese
labourers to build the new Cable Beach Hotel properties, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs took time from his busy schedule to tell us last week that
he had issued 88 work permits for Chinese to build the embassy in Nassau
and to repair the home of the Ambassador. His point we guess is 88
or 5,000 same difference was we say in The Bahamas.
BEC Warns More Cuts
There were power cuts aplenty in New Providence last week. We
reported here last week that a BEC engineer had warned us that there would
be at least three weeks of load shedding in New Providence because they
simply did not have the capacity to meet the demand. Last week BEC
announced that they simply can't afford to fix the equipment, they have
no money and the machines have broken down and there will be blackout after
blackout for two hours at a time for some time. Same old excuses.
The point is that the power is off and they can’t keep the power on.
Phenton Neymour, the BEC Minister, showed again how clueless the FNM Ministers
are by the priceless comment in the Nassau Guardian last week that he was
not aware that there were power cuts. Duh!
PLP Delegation In Long Island
PLP Deputy Leader Philip Brave Davis accompanied by Fred Mitchell MP
Fox Hill and party officials Vice Chair Randy Rolle, PLP Fox Hill Tammi
Ferguson Culmer and former Senator Audley Hanna paid a visit to Long Island
to help organize the branches in Long Island. Mr. Davis and Mr. Mitchell
then went on to Exuma for the funeral of the wife of Pastor Cedric Smith
and then Mr. Davis went on to Cat Island for the funeral of the mother
of Melvin Seymour the former administrator and now Chief of Protocol.
