BahamasUncensored.Com Archive

THIS COLUMN’S MISSION
Each week since November 1998, this column has addressed one subject or another related to the politics of The Bahamas. For some it is a clue into the thinking of the official PLP, although it is not PLP. Last week’s column got some interesting reactions to where we think the PLP now stands as it begins to organize for the its upcoming convention. The critics are as usual more fierce within the party than without the party, but some times a necessary although inconvenient truth must be spoken.

One reaction was that perhaps we had swallowed the FNM’s propaganda by accepting in the central premise of last week’s editorial that the PLP needed to sit down with a credible internal process and plot the way forward in terms of the leadership it offers to the country and the policy mix that is more relevant. Another typical reaction on the distaff side is that there is disloyalty. This is all part of the problem of where and how the party moves forward. Each of us would like to be there when the next victory comes, but each of us must be prepared to be frank about where the PLP sits in the mix and where we ought to be.

One argument is that the PLP can simply win the next election by waiting it out without any changes. In other words, the economy of the country and Hubert Ingraham’s attacks on the Public Service have done so much damage that in the end the country will simply turn to the PLP. A part of that thinking is the view that Hubert Ingraham simply said to the country, ‘I am a changed man’ and flooded the country with posters and propaganda in 2007 and the people of the country accepted him, even though there was not a word of truth in what Mr. Ingraham and his party said.

To say simply that is how the FNM won office in 2007 is to deceive ourselves. The FNM won office by a combination of a flatfooted PLP sitting back and saying at each stage of the game as support chipped away that it did not matter because our support was so strong from the last election in 2002. An early mistake was allowing Edison Key to leave the PLP without making a strong attempt to make sure that his concerns were addressed. Instead, the PLP said let him go, there are plenty more where he came from. Eventually we ran out of bodies. The FNM started to make a case for its return in 2006 and the PLP did not answer the case until deep into the election campaign. In fact, the party itself had to be dragged into holding its first rally on the Fox Hill Park in February 2007 with a reluctant leadership in the effort. By that time, the FNM had staged rally after rally that went unanswered in the country.

The point here is no matter what shape the economy is in, the matter of how an election will turn out is how the question is framed for the electorate. Is the PLP in a position to frame the debate? Does the PLP really know what is on the minds of the country and what the people of the country want? Who is it that the PLP are seeking to govern and what is the policy mix that the Party ought to present?

There are strands of answers, but there is a lack of central direction to the task. You have Senator Jerome Fitzgerald now leading the charge on the container port and against the appointment of the Commissioner of Police. But there is no official sanction of what he is doing, so it is perceived that he is acting on his own. Fred Mitchell, with all his splashes of energy and brilliance, is often isolated from the PLP on foreign trade and foreign policy because there does not appear to be any link to the official PLP with what he says. The Chairman issues statements on behalf of the party and has been brilliantly energetic in her politics in the last six months, but again, there is lacking a central theme and connection. The bottom line then is that the PLP is not framing the debate. Individuals in the PLP are important but it is a central and unified party effort that is most important.

The PLP could miss the opportunity of its convention by continuing with business as usual. In other words, all will gather, have a good time and elect exactly who was there before. Or, they could choose a new path. The party in its old age cannot become risk averse. This is typical of an organization that is dominated by people over fifty. When you go to any meeting of the PLP, look at two things: the messaging and the demographics. The messaging is all about the history of the great party and what they did and how Pindling saved the country. Then there is the glimmer of hope for a new message that people must come first and that we are for the down trodden. This does not help with the marginals that swung the election the FNM’s way. So the PLP comes off as singing Abide With Me, that great hymn of the church that we sing at funerals.

We have even examined this column and find that much of what we portray is funerals of deceased members. That is valuable, but what about the future.

In terms of the demographics, the PLP is an over 50 organization with those under 50 fighting for a chance to be heard. You have 1500 stalwart councillors, all of whom have the right to vote at the convention. There are 500 regular delegates. The regular delegates are the ones who are elected from constituencies at large. They should represent the country at large and be reflective of the country, but even there it is probably skewed to over 50 since those are the people who go to branch meetings. You cannot have a party that is dominated by the view of people over fifty, people over 60 in fact and then expect to be relevant to those under fifty. It does not mean that those over fifty cannot govern, lead or be part of the governance process, in fact that is probably better for the party, but the messaging has to be aimed at the under fifty, under thirty demographics in fact.

What you too often see in the PLP is the tendency to be comfortable with the status quo; the Party patting itself on the back for the good job it did in the past. It is easy for a Party over 50 to feel that way.

We do not think then that it is swallowing FNM propaganda to say what was said last week. We again argue for a credible internal process of renewal in order for the PLP to move forward and win in 2012. Nor are we saying that the individuals who lead the PLP, including its Parliamentarians are not now well-meaning and hard working, but there is something else that is needed to win. There must be a look in the mirror and the PLP must change.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 4th July 2009 up to midnight: 117, 872.

Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 4th July 2009 at midnight: 54,397.

Number of hits for the month of June up to Tuesday 30th June 2009 at midnight: 660,751.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 30th June 2009 up to midnight: 5,328,968.

A DASTARDLY DEED AT N.I.B.

    You have never seen Philip ‘Brave’ Davis MP for Cat Island Rum Cay and San Salvador so passionate. He rose to speak on the resolution to transfer land to the National Insurance Board in Freeport from the Government to NIB on Tuesday 30th June. Only it was not about the land that he spoke. The transfer was a de minimus point. In the public domain that morning was a report that five senior staff members at the National Insurance Board had been fired by the NIB in the name of restructuring. Only the day before, Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill had said that one of the hallmarks of the FNM administration is when they use the word structure, reform or restructuring, someone should get ready to pack their bags. The Minister of State Zhivargo Laing denied it on that occasion with regard to BEC but within one day the people at NIB were sent home. Mr. Davis called it a dastardly act in the middle of hard economic times to simply call people in one day and tell them go home by afternoon.
    Some were worried that the PLP had taken this on too soon because the party cannot simply go around defending every downsizing that may be right for the country. But in the face of a tide of bad economic news and the uncertainty that the FNM has brought to the public service, why would an opposition be concerned about that principle now? The greater principle is defending people and their disrupted lives.
    Mr. Davis was soon joined by Dr. Bernard Nottage and by Party leader Perry Christie. Strange exchange by Hubert Ingraham who is now knee deep into the Ingrahamization of The Bahamas, the nastiness and the tribalism. He typically said that he knew nothing of it. He was like Pontius Pilate. He washed his hands of the whole matter. He said he did not know Patrick Ward, Chairman of the National Insurance Board prior to his appointment. We don’t believe him. He did not know his politics, Ingraham said. Now that is disingenuous at best. Mr. Ward supports the FNM. He said that he did not know of the politics of Algernon Cargill, who is a new manager of the Board. In fact, he added, he had always known Mr. Cargill’s father to be a PLP.
    Bernard Nottage immediately jumped up to say that he had called no one’s name when he spoke of people being politically set upon for firing from the Board. Mr. Ingraham was the one who called names. He said he wanted to make it clear that he called no names and directed his comments to no one in particular.
    The next day the Director of the Board came back in the press to say that he was embarrassed and insulted by the comments of the PLP. Interesting. When you get to a position of such a height, it is important to recognize when someone is speaking to others and not to you. This was a political argument, not an argument with the Director of the National Insurance Board. Hubert Ingraham is responsible, not Patrick Ward and not Algernon Cargill. It could not have happened without Hubert Ingraham knowing.
    This is the Ingrahamization of The Bahamas, where power is the only fact. Mr. Cargill should stay out of the row with the politicians. The fact is, the dismissals came off as heartless. They are seen against the backdrop of the dismissal of scores of customs officers, police officers and immigration officers within the last year. These dismissals came from a man who lied to the country that he was not going to downsize the public service and he did just that upon coming to office. The PLP is right to come to the defence of the people at NIB as they came to the defence of the people at the other Government departments. There is a witch-hunt for PLPs and there is the suspicion that this was very much afoot at NIB whether its Board or Director knew it or not.

BAHAMAS WRITERS SUMMER INSTITUTE
    The Nassau Guardian reported that the founders of the Bahamas Writers Summer Institute (BWSI), Bahamian writers Helen Klonaris and Marion Bethel, have created a writing programme which believes in writing as vital to the survival and growth of Bahamian communities. BWSI opened on Monday, 29th June at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (NAGB). Writers Telcine Turner Rolle, Ian G. Strachan and Anku Sa Ra read and performed their works.
    The five-week program is done in collaboration with the College of The Bahamas’ School of English Studies. It is sponsored by the Cable Bahamas Cares Foundation and the National Endowment for the Performing Arts. The idea is to bring beginning and advanced writers together to explore the craft of writing intensively, through five workshops in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting and screenwriting. There will be seminars to study and discuss the particular perspectives of Caribbean critical theory and journey through the deep and wide worlds of the Caribbean literary imagination. Students will read and discuss the writings and ideas of authors in the Caribbean literary canon, including Bahamian writers Marion Bethel, Robert Johnson, Patricia Glinton Meicholas, Patrick Rahming, Ian G. Strachan, Lynn Sweeting and Marcella Taylor.
    Among the teachers and scholars are award winning writer and director Maria Govan, as well as outstanding playwright, poet and scholar Nicolette Bethel, writer and scholar Angelique V. Nixon, writer and scholar Krista Walkes and renowned poet Obediah M. Smith.
    In addition to the workshops and seminars, BWSI has coordinated a series of craft talks and literary readings at The Hub, East Bay Street, to which the public is invited to attend. You may click here for a calendar of events.

CATHOLICS CELEBRATE 50 YEARS IN PHOTOS

On 5th July 1960, the Roman Catholic congregation in The Bahamas officially became the diocese of the Nassau. Heading the new diocese was the first Bishop Leonard Hagarty. He was an American. Bishop Leonard was followed by Lawrence Burke of Jamaica. Today, the church is headed by Patrick Pinder, a Bahamian. The faithful gathered at their cathedral to thank God for the fifty years as a diocese. Above, Deacon Peter Rahming carries the Gospel.
Photos: Peter Ramsay

INGRAHAMIZING THE COUNTRY

Fred Mitchell, the MP for Fox Hill, seemed to be at his rhetorical best when he rose to lead the PLP’s charge on the resolution to borrow money for the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. He charged that the corporation had ill served his constituents. He charged that the power goes off too frequently and has been doing so since he was a little boy. He is now 55 years old. He charged that the FNM had three policies: stop review and cancel, blame the PLP and when that did not work, go back to number one: stop review and cancel.
Mitchell argued that the country had become Ingrahamized under Hubert Ingraham, and he marked that as having the nastiness and the division where we cannot even agree on the truth. The FNM argued that BEC was set on the course of financial ruin that it is now on because the PLP reduced the tariffs paid by BEC’s customers. The PLP says it is not true, that the real story is that customs duties were imposed on BEC by the FNM and they could not pass the cost on to the consumer. Where is the truth, said Mr. Mitchell. Surely, there must be some independent body that can determine the truth. Instead in our Ingrahamized country, there is no truth just PLP opinion and FNM opinion.

JACK HAYWARD’S SON IS LET BACK IN
The soap opera that is the Grand Bahama Port Authority continued last week with a new chapter that we reported in our last edition being taken a bit further. We reported that Rick Hayward, the son of the owner of the Port, Jack Hayward was locked out of his three businesses by the Grand Bahama Port Authority for arrears of rent in excess of 200,000 dollars. Rick was furious. The old man did not relent. It took an intervention in public from the St Georges’ lawyer Fred Smith to plead for Rick to be given some slack. The St. Georges told the press that they thought that the matter ought to have been settled without regard to harsh measures. By week’s end Rick had found the money and the common ground with the Port, effusively thanking Port President Ian Rolle. No doubt Jack his daddy was upstairs in the background laughing his heart away. Come to papa!

INGRAHAM’S POEM BACK IN HIS FACE
This was just too amusing to pass up. You may or may not remember that at the end of his budget statement written by a foreign expert brought in from Ireland, the Prime Minister, a philistine in the best of times, quoted the British poet A.E., Houseman. The poem was to say how well equipped he was for the job of Minister of Finance and Prime Minister. Of course it is always good to do research. Senator Jerome Fitzgerald researched the poem and found that Mr. Ingraham told only half the story. We present Mr. Ingraham’s verse and then we present Senator Fitzgerald's research of the second half of the poem that shows, well; you be the judge:

Ingraham's Quote From A.E, Houseman’s Poem: The thoughts of others - Were light and fleeting, Of Lovers meeting, Of luck or fame. Mine were of trouble, And mine were steady, So I was ready, When trouble came.

Senator Jerome Fitzgerald’s Quote From The A.E. Houseman Poem: I to my perils, Of cheat and charmer, Came clad in armour, By stars benign. Hope lies to mortals, And most believe her, But MAN’S DECEIVER, Was never MINE.

PLP CHAIR ANSWERS WATSON

    Last week, we reported on this site an interview with The Tribune by former Deputy Prime Minister under the FNM, Frank Watson. Mr. Watson claimed that the current government is opposed to the practice of hiring party supporters to fill the role of consultants in its administration. Mr. Watson claimed that this was the practice of the PLP and that as such, it was wrong and something his party does not engage in. This said while Mr. Watson himself serves in a politically appointed position.
    Glenys Hanna-Martin, Chair of the PLP blasted Mr. Watson and set the record straight in the statement below:
    “This response is made to remarks published in yesterday’s (Thursday's) Tribune attributed to Mr. Frank Watson. Mr. Watson is reported as claiming that the Progressive Liberal Party abused the Public Treasury by giving out “consultant jobs and contracts for non-existing jobs” in its tenure as Government of The Bahamas.
    “His claims are outrageous and untrue and are most interesting coming from Mr. Watson, someone who as a then Minister of the Government might be able to give further details about the disbursement of public funds in the amount of $135,000 allegedly paid out as a deposit for the purchase of 2 aircraft for Bahamasair which apparently never materialized.
    “Perhaps Mr. Watson could advise whether that sum was ever returned to the Public Treasury.
    “And while he speaks about the sanctity of public funds and the obligation of trust to our people he might wish to share with the public the details surrounding the construction of the Welcome Centre, the contractor involved, and the astronomical cost overrun in the construction of that facility which was never completed under his Government’s watch.
    “In fact while the former F.N.M. Minister speaks perhaps he would be gracious enough to share with our citizenry the details surrounding the engagement on the public payroll of a foreign journalist as a consultant in the Government who also happened to have been previously and privately involved in the Free National Movement’s campaign in the preceding General Election.
    “And if he wishes to talk about consultants perhaps he will reveal to our people the details surrounding the abundance of consultants appointed by a Free National Movement government when he served as Minister, and the job descriptions of those consultants and the consultants on top of consultants, in single ministries.
    “Really, all he need do is to explain to the public whether his own appointment since the elections of 2007 as Chairman of the Airport Authority represents such a political contract, to which he claims to be opposed to as a mater of principle.
    “Mr. Watson should now know that we are poised to continue this debate should he wish to. The P.L.P will no longer sit idly by and allow the political faces of the FNM or their disciples to distort the legacy of the P.L.P., which pioneered the liberation process of our people and allowed for Mr. Watson to serve in high political office.

BRITISH DIG IN THEIR HEELS IN THE TURKS
The British governor of the Turks announced on Thursday 2nd July that he is still intent on suspending the local democracy in the Turks. He cited the report by the lone Commissioner of Inquiry delivered to him on 31st May. The Commissioner said there was systemic corruption and that the only solution was direct rule from Britain. This is going ahead notwithstanding the protests from the local government, Caricom, and the common sense of it. The British lost their moral authority to act when their own government found themselves in the midst of scandal that is likely to sink Gordon Brown’s government. But there is one rule for one and one rule for another. In this case the British have the power and they are going to act. You may click here for the full statement by the British Governor.

CARICOM ON TCI

    The Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community met in summit at Georgetown, Guyana from 1st July to 4th July. While immigration matters dominated the conference, the conference did issue a statement in connection with the Turks and Caicos Islands. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham represented The Bahamas at the conference. They issued this statement:
    “The Member States of the Caribbean Community reiterate their view that respect for the rule of law, representative democracy and integrity in public life are fundamental elements of good governance to which they all strongly adhere. Accordingly, they were deeply disturbed by the adverse findings of Turks and Caicos Commission of Inquiry into possible corruption or other dishonesty in relation to past and present elected members of the Legislature.
    “The Caribbean Community continues to hold fast to the view it expressed in its statement on the situation in the TCI on 24 March 2009 that suspending the Constitution of TCI and its democratic institutions and resorting to direct rule by the colonial power are not the most effective tools to bolster good governance and effective administration in the territory.
        “The Community therefore regrets that the intervening period was not used more profitably to find solutions that would avert the threatened constitutional and democratic dislocation. In this regard, the rejection by the governor of the proposal of the new Premier to allow the people of TCI to elect a new government which could have adopted and implemented the measures required to improve the administration of the territory and strengthen integrity in public life was, regrettably, a lost opportunity. The people of the Turks and Caicos Islands and their ability to govern themselves in the long run will benefit far more from strengthening their administrative and good governance processes through their own efforts than by the administrations through the governor under direct rule.”
Caricom photo: Heads of Government in attendance at the summit in Georgetown, Guayana

PASTOR’S QUARTER MILLION DOLLAR CAR
Nassau is such a small town that when a brand new spanking and unfamiliar car shows up on the road, the ostentation jumps out at you. Turns out that this is what Bishop Kirkwood Murphy of the Temple Fellowship Ministries of Davis Street, Nassau had in mind, to show off God’s material blessing on him and the good bargain that he struck. The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday 3rd July that the good pastor had bought a 240,000 dollar Bentley, 2005 for just $68,000. The pastor defended himself saying that he and his wife give to the poor and the church helps people so what is the big deal? Why are people complaining about it?, was his cry. The problem is that it sends the wrong signal in a time of economic crisis and it is just the wrong thing to do. Why would a pastor invite such controversy?
Here is how the Nassau Guardian reported the story.

US INDEPENDENCE DAY

The United States of America celebrated its 236th year as an independent country following its breakaway from Britain in 1776. This year it marks the occasion with a black president and with a special emphasis on the work of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves in the US and who is said to have preserved the union by prosecuting a bloody civil war. He ultimately lost his own life to a southern secessionist when he was assassinated on 15th April 1865. Lincoln impersonators Larry and Mary Elliott were in town to mark the occasion.
The Governor General Arthur Hanna represented the country and helped to cut the cake with US Charge d’Affaires Tim Zuniga Brown. Fred Mitchell MP and Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs attended on behalf of the PLP. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Paul Adderley also attended.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

By the time the next column of this site appears, The Bahamas will have marked its 36th anniversary of independence. It came on 10th July 1973 within the living memory of many Bahamians. The country continues to struggle, but the flags can be seen everywhere, signalling a pride in what is often described as the best little country in the world. The official observances began with the beating of the retreat by the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Christie Best in 15 Years
It is apparent that you have a preconceived notion of Mr. Perry Christie's thoughts of what he should do as as leader of the PLP. Maybe Mr. Christie does not want to show his hand to the enemy within and without and thus exposing his agenda. This should be left for convention so as not to weaken the Party’s position. This is the mark of a true leader.
On the outset you mentioned Sir Lynden’s record and Mr. Christie, they have contributed immeasurably to the success of this country, more so Sir Lynden than Mr. Christie. But when you consider the state of our economy now compared to three years ago, then Mr. Christie was the best for The Bahamas in fifteen years.
Angelo Bowe

IN PASSING
More Gold!

Team Bahamas' men's 4x400 metre relay team in the 2001 IAAF World Championships has belatedly received a gold medal. The team was elevated from the second-place silver received on the night, after a member of the American team admitted using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Sprinter Debbie Ferguson McKenzie also received a gold medal for the 200 metres at that meet after American Marion Jones was retroactively disqualified for drug use. Pictured are four of the six member Bahamian 4x400 squad who were on hand to receive their medals at the Bahamas Association of Athletics Association's (BAAA) National Championships Saturday 27th June. From left are Chris Brown, Timothy Munnings, Troy McIntosh and Avard Moncur. Not shown are Carl Oliver and Troy McIntosh.
Photo: Peter Ramsay

Censorship In The House - Deputy Speaker on “Ingrahamization”
Deputy Speaker of the House Kwasi Thompson ruled that the worked “Ingrahamize” had to be withdrawn by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill. Mr. Mitchell coined the word to express the state of nastiness and the lack of objective truth in our country’s politics. He said that the country had been “Ingrahamized”. What is there unparliamentary or offensive about the word? He was speaking on Monday 29th July on the resolution to guarantee the debts of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The Deputy Speaker ruled that Mr. Mitchell could not say the word in Parliament. This practice of the arbiters of House rules to cause members to withdraw words in the House is becoming a form of censorship. You cannot have the House of Assembly being a less free forum than the country at large. So the PLP will have to adopt “Ingrahamize” as a word and try to stop the further Ingrahamization of our country. When the PLP comes to power it will have to engage in the deingrahamization of our country. In other words, returning the country to a civil polity.

Anthony 'Fatback' Marshall
We mourn the passing of Anthony ‘Fatback’ Marshall. At the age of 45, he died following a brief illness. Mr. Marshall made a reputation for himself as a DJ at More FM and as a promoter for children’s causes. He will be missed.

Bank Of The Bahamas 74 Per Cent Down
The Nassau Guardian reported on Tuesday 30th June that the Bank of The Bahamas has suffered a 74 per cent drop in its profits for the first quarter of the year compared to last year over the same period. This confirms a trend. We reported on this site that Royal Bank of Canada’s Mortgage arm Finco suffered a 100 per cent drop in their profits last year over this year for the first quarter.

Ryan Pinder New NGC Member For Clifton
Ryan Pinder, Attorney at Law and son of former PLP cabinet Minister Marvin Pinder has won a place at the National General Council of the PLP as its NGC member designate. Branch elections were held at the Clifton Branch on Wednesday 1st July.

Branches Organized At South Beach And Bamboo Town
Branch elections for the newly constituted South Beach branch were announced at a meeting by PLP Chair Glenys Hanna Martin on Tuesday 30th June at a meeting of the combined branches of Bamboo Town and South Beach. The elections are scheduled to be held on 14th July. Ricardo Smith is to offer for NGC member for the branch. The reconstitution of branches is being done in the run up to the Party’s convention slated for 18th October this year.

Gaius Bethel Dies
He was the son of Philip Bethel and his wife Yvonne of Palmetto Point, Eleuthera. His father was the Minster of Transport in the Pindling administration and a dominant figure in Eleuthera’s politics. Gaius, who helped run his father’s businesses and was known in the fashion world died following a battle with lymphoma at the age of 45. He was buried in a ceremony in Governor’s Harbour on Saturday 4th July. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie led a delegation of PLPs to the funeral. Our condolences.

Insults At Harl Taylor Murder Trial
Troy McNeil the 22-year-old son of a former partner of luxury bag designer Harl Taylor is now on trial for the murder of Mr. Taylor, which took place last year on 17, and 18th November 2007. This is one of the murders of reportedly gay men that took place in rapid succession in that year. Beverly Taylor is the mother of Harl Taylor and is there to see that justice is done for her son. It is not reportedly without its problems. Relatives of the accused have been shouting insults at her as she walks to the trial every day. The crown should investigate this as interference with the family. The trial resumes tomorrow.

Chief Justice On Judges
As he is going out the door, Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall has been talking to the press. He told the Nassau Guardian on Friday 3rd July that he has no concern or interest in who his successor will be. He said that it is entirely for the executive. He believed that appointing more judges will not help to ease the backlog of cases before the courts. The appointment of two new judges has been confirmed. Bernard Turner, the Director of Public Prosecutions is to fill the post on 1st October. Rhonda Bain who runs Hubert Ingraham’s law firm is to take up the post at the end of the year. According to the press, she is to replace Cheryl Albury who will reach the age of 65 and Prime Minister Ingraham is refusing to extend her time in office.

Tommy Didn’t Make The List
Last week, we reported Frank Watson’s cryptic comment on the leadership potential in the FNM. We thought that it was interesting that he gave a list of the potentials: Brent Symonette, Dr. Hubert Minnis and Branville McCartney in that order. Where were Tommy Turnquest, Dion Foulkes and Carl Bethel? Missing from Frank Watson’s list.

NAD Knows How To Charge Higher Fees
Since the Canadians took over the management and control of the Lynden Pindling International airport formerly Nassau International, you can notice the changes: there is a Wendy’s and Dunkin Donuts, there are advertising signs everywhere and the parking lot fees have gone up. Not to be outdone, the airport company has now decided that it will also raise the landing fees for aircraft. The Tribune reported on Thursday 2nd July that British Airways amongst other airlines are not happy at all about it. This raising of the fees comes at the same time that the Government has forced the Grand Bahama Port Authority to reduce its airport fees in Freeport because of complaints from the airlines.

Senator Gibson On Container Port Plans
It appears that the PLP is finally galvanizing itself to fight the movement of the container port in Nassau to Arawak Cay. The government has already begun to extend Arawak Cay and it is the start of the causeway across from Arawak Cay to the island of New Providence that will ruin the public swimming area of Saunders Beach. In his present don’t care mood, something must be done to stop Ingraham and this madness. Senator Allyson Gibson, Leader of Opposition business in the Senate led the charge last week against the port as she spoke of the cruise ships incentives legislation. Senator Jerome Fitzgerald has announced a group that will fight the movement of the port through an advertising blitz in the country.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

THE MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE
The time of our anniversary of independence should be a time when we all draw together in a national explosion of patriotism. But this year there is an underlying tinge of bitterness in the air. The bitterness is because the economy is so bad and the feeling is that it did not have to be this way. There is a bitterness in the air because the leadership in the country has unleashed a streak of meanness that has left The Bahamas more divided than ever.

It is fine to sing, “All a we is one family!” It is not so fine to conduct public policy in the country in a way that shows that the government of the country does not believe it. What do you say to the scores of police officers, immigration officers, customs officers and now National Insurance Board employees who have been given their walking tickets at a time of national recession? The Prime Minister goes to the House of Assembly and washes his hands of the decisions taken to send the employees home from NIB by saying to the House that he had no say in what happened. This is clearly not the government of Pindling, Christie and the PLP. This is the government of the market forces UBP/FNM.

The idea that a Prime Minister of The Bahamas could say that he had nothing to do with it and that he told the heads of the corporations to run their corporations without interference seems disingenuous. We all know that Mr. Ingraham is a control freak and that in practice he does not work that way. No matter what he says behind the scenes, the country knows and believes that the moves are orchestrated by him and his government. It speaks to a philosophy of not caring for people.

You will remember that Mr. Ingraham lied to the country during the campaign. He said when he was confronted by his statement that the public service would be cut that this was not so and that public servants need not fear. It turns out that fear was just one of the emotions to which they needed to become accustomed. Within days of becoming Prime Minister, he threatened Steve McKinney’s job at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. The PLP swung into action with protests. Then the FNM under Hubert Ingraham began a campaign of stop, review and cancel, which led to him laying off of thousands of workers from various programmes that the PLP had started. The latest in the public service is that the people who worked at the Urban Renewal programme on contract have now all been laid off on the basis that the contracts that they had have not been renewed.

Perhaps the FNM government has no idea how desperate many people in the country are just to get food to eat. As the economic meltdown gets worse in the United States, the economy in The Bahamas has been descending into an abyss. The poor are indeed getting poorer and there does not appear to be any relief in sight.

Consider the island of Exuma where the Four Seasons Hotel closed its doors at the end of May. Some 500 jobs were lost with the stroke of a pen. An island that was flourishing during the time of the PLP is now in the doldrums. The leader of the country does not have a clue what he is going to do. The market for rental properties, for land sales, for construction have all dried up in Exuma as a result of his policies toward that island. The first thing he did when he came to office was to cancel the exemption allowing duty free concessions for homes on the island. Construction came to a dead stop. Job opportunities started to dwindle. He could not be turned back. He simply went barrelling ahead. He knew it all. The loss of the jobs at the hotel was the final nail in the coffin. Exuma is like a graveyard on this our 36th anniversary of independence. This is all because of the policies of hatred and bitterness sowed by Hubert Ingraham.

We have only to consider what is happening in Grand Bahama where the Royal Oasis property remains closed with 1200 people out of work. Again, the Ingraham administration washes its hands at a time when people are suffering. In Nassau, what excuse does the government have for its stop, review and cancellation of the Bahamar project? You will remember that it was Mr. Ingraham’s big mouth that he did not have faith in the financial ability of the investors in the project that resulted in the plug being pulled by one of the major partners in the enterprise. The result is a project that could have provided 8000 jobs for Bahamians has now produced more misery and unemployment, with the existing hotel closing its doors for two months in August and September. It is closing its doors despite the fact that the government secured the rights to the Miss Universe pageant for the month of August. That, it turns out, will help only the Atlantis property.

So the Bahamians, the young Bahamians who were not around 36 years ago when the flag came down and the new flag went up are entitled to ask themselves: what is in this for them? So far, what they have gotten is pain and misery inflicted by the government that is supposed to be looking out for their interest. Each week, there is a report of some new slaughter by young men against one another. It is a cycle of bitterness and death that needs to stop but again the government does not have a clue. The older generation that helped to bring in independence is depressed. Is this what we helped to bring about? Can’t we do better?

We say that we can do better. Part of that must be ridding ourselves as soon as possible of Hubert Ingraham by any legitimate means necessary. He has to go. He is not to be trusted with the legacy of Pindling and the modern Bahamas. He is a nation destroyer, not a nation builder. He has sowed the seeds of hatred and division in our country and we must begin to heal the wounds.

This does not mean that we are not proud of our country and our independence but we are not happy with the government we have on this 36th anniversary. Quite simply, they need to go.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th July 2009 up to midnight: 133,188.

Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 11th July 2009 at midnight: 187,585.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 11th July 2009 at midnight: 5,462,156.

Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell and Senator Hope Strachan are show in the audience at the national service 5th July in commemoration of the 36th anniversary of Independence at the Diplomat Centre. BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

WHERE STANDS THE PLP?
    It now seems almost certain that there will be a challenge at all levels of the Progressive Liberal Party including that of party leader when and if a convention is next held. The current thinking is that a convention is to be held on 18th October, 2009. This most recent surmise comes from mining the treasure trove of stories with points and counter points from sources within the PLP on the web and in the print media over the past two months in particular.
    The latest salvo was reported on this site in the column two weeks ago under the headline THE CHOICE OF THE PLP ESTABLISHMENT. That story revealed that the establishment of the PLP has not come to the conclusion that there is a need for a new leader of the PLP take it into the next general election. The current thinking of the establishment is adopting the view of the current leader of the PLP that no matter how the Opposition is organized, if the country continues the way it is, the people of the country will turn to the PLP. In some circles, this causes a complete dismissal of any thought that the readings out of the Greenburg report in the last general election about leadership and its weaknesses have any relevance in the politics of 2009.
    Some have written this column to ask, who are the PLP establishment and what do we mean by that? We prefer not to call names. By the PLP establishment, we mean those persons who so personify what the PLP is today that their thinking is central to any shift in official policy of the party. They would include, but not be limited to, the academics, lawyers, business and religious leaders who are turned to when the party needs help. It is this crucial group that still believes in Perry Christie, even though one of them has publicly said that since leadership is an issue it must be discussed openly.
    In contradistinction to that group are the agglomeration of forty somethings with a few fifty somethings who are dispirited about the pace of change but who cannot agree on what tactic is necessary to force the changes that are needed and indeed to centre their support behind one man to mount a challenge, although to many the choice is obvious who it should be. But the column reported the following chronology.

MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE
    Michael Joseph Jackson, the pop musician and icon of popular culture was laid to rest in an impressive and sober ceremony, which was broadcast on television throughout the world on Tuesday 7th July at the Los Angeles Staples centre, home of the Los Angeles Lakers. People were surprised that it did not turn into a circus. Some were impressed by the words of the young Jackson daughter, Paris, who said at the end of the ceremony that her father had been the best daddy ever and that she loved him so very much as she collapsed into the arms of Auntie Janet Jackson. This was good theatre and quite a production, what with all the celebrities like Usher and Mariah Carey exposing their raw emotions to the world.
    No doubt, millions will be made from the DVDs.
    Underlying it all, though, is a tragic death that the dignity of the service and the soothing words of the preachers cannot hide. Mr. Jackson appears to have lived a pretty sordid life by his own hand, engaging in the world of prescription drugs that were supplied to him by people willing to please for a price and to be attached to his fame.
    The problem, however, with the U.S. media is that you never know what is truth from fiction. Their commentators have crossed the line from being informants to creating news where there is none. The will is going to be contested, they say. No evidence surfaces that the will is to be contested. There will be a fight for the children. Where is the evidence? So far, only in Nancy Grace’s vivid imagination. So when they say that this may now be a homicide investigation and doctors are being questioned for supplying Mr. Jackson with an unauthorized substance which puts you to sleep, you don’t know if that is the truth or fiction.
    What we know is that Michael Jackson was a great talent. He died too young and falls tragically into the same category as Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Marvin Gay; where they die and their deaths are sudden and inexplicable even though we know why.

HOPE SLAYS THE HARBOUR PROJECT
    Senator Hope Strachan of the Progressive Liberal Party, when she spoke in the Senate on the Cruise Ship Incentive legislation, discovered some interesting information which might make the whole project of dredging the harbour seem, well, a bit useless.
    Senator Strachan said that the government was hinging its expansion of the harbour on the fact of a contract between Carnival Cruise Lines and the government to bring in their new class of mega cruise ships into Nassau Harbour. These ships are so massive that they cannot be docked at the existing facilities. But, said Senator Strachan, she had visited the Carnival website and discovered that Carnival said that the building of the ship that was to come into service in December 2009 has been put on hold.
    There is no contract with Norwegian Cruise Lines, the other cruise company that serves The Bahamas. So Senator Strachan asked the question, why is the government pursuing this when the pretext upon which the whole expansion is being done no longer exists? There was no answer from the Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool Wallace who also sits in the Senate.

INDEPENDENCE AT 36 IN PHOTOS

The chronicler of the events of our times for over a quarter of a century in political terms has been Peter Ramsay of Bahamas Information Services. From film to digital, he has been there, from 1973 to the present. This year then was no exception as he chronicled in digital form the celebrations for the 36th anniversary of the independence of our country. This year the government, pleading lack of money, cut back on the scale of the events. But the people themselves did not hold back on the celebrations even though their government was being cheap about it. We present the photos of the beating of the retreat which took place on Saturday 4th July and the National Service at the Diplomat Centre of Bahamas Faith Mission on Sunday 5th July and the cultural show and inspection of the guard on Fort Charlotte on Thursday 9th July.

CARICOM – AN IMPERFECT UNION
    Even as the leaders of the Caricom region signed on to reaffirm their not-so-union union of nations, in the tortuously worded wrap-up to their summit in Guyana of 1st to 4th July, the regionalists were expressing grave concern that the 30-something year old experiment in regional integration, the longest in a long line of previous tries, is in deep trouble.
    Former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson who said he was an unapologetic regionalist appealed to the leaders to save Caricom. They gave him a medal, the Order of Caricom, the region’s highest honour, but they ignored his pleas. Instead, the recriminations continue.
    Attacks on Barbados for their immigration policies and David Thompson, the Barbadian Prime Minister, taking grave exception to the comments of the President of Guyana Barratt Jagdeo about Barbados’ immigration policies. Meanwhile, Bruce Golding of Jamaica says that the Caricom project must continue but says that Trinidad is pursuing its own policy of drawing the small Caricom neighbours into its orbit.
    There are so many cross currents. The result is in part, stalled talks on trade, stalled talks on integration, and stalled talks on the free movement of people and on governance issues. In short, Caricom is stalled. What a pity!

TREEMONISHA

    Talking to a young kid the other day and asked him did he know who Scott Joplin was? Answer: no. Scott Joplin has gone into obscurity again perhaps? He was rediscovered in 1972 when Paul Newman and Robert Redford starred in The Sting and used one of his ragtime songs as part of the score. Mr. Joplin was a popular black musician in the United States and popularized Ragtime. Ragtime in the early 20th century was the rap music of the day. In 1972, there was whole hullabaloo about this lost black artist, and in the frenzy to resurrect him, Treemonisha, his opera was discovered and completed and staged on Broadway for the first time.
    A Bahamian St. Augustine’s College graduate named Cora Johnson starred in the Broadway version of Treemonisha. In another revival in 1978, Cleveland Williams was part of the cast and this brings us to today’s Bahamas. Mr. Williams, trained in voice and music production, is now a producer and director himself, just back from a stint with the Ministry of Tourism in Europe and produced Treemonisha in The Bahamas with an all-Bahamian cast of musicians and actors. The performance was, in a word, delightful, superb, professional, a great evening of live, decent entertainment with all the right themes of goodness and light. In an Ingrahamized Bahamas, it is rest for a weary soul.
    Congratulations to the cast, which includes soprano Candice Bostwick, good actress, excellent singer; and Kermit Fernander of the Dicey Doh Singers and Allen Butler. By the time you read this, the performances will be over. Franklyn Wilson, the former Senator and Member of Parliament and now Chairman of Arawak Homes, was so wowed over the opera that he sent out an e-mail to the PLP list telling everyone that they must go and see it. Pity that you won’t be able but to enjoy the pictures of a great night's entrainment. The photos are by Peter Ramsay. The entire cast is above and producer / conductor Cleveland A. Williams is shown bottom right.
    The story line is about the orphan Treemonisha, raised by an adopted family without knowing that she was adopted. She is the only educated one in the village in a post slavery American society. She has to fight the forces of conjurers and superstition, and is kidnapped for her devotion to the education of her people. She is freed. She preaches forgiveness to her captors and then is asked to lead the village. A great story and the song “Wrong is Never Right” was for us the highlight of the evening.

SAUNDERS BEACH PUSHBACK

    A committee has been formed called the Committee to Protect and Preserve The Bahamas for Future Generations. It conducted video interviews with Bahamian families on Independence Day at Saunders Beach and were “…surprised not just at the outrage of Bahamians to the proposed development at Arawak Cay but also how little they knew about it and some were simply unaware of the government’s plans”. The committee found that the public expressed deep concern and outrage.
    A spokesman for the committee said that the video interviews are presently being edited and will be placed on the facebook page “save saunders beach” which already has over 200 members after only being launched 4 days ago.
    “The website ‘Savesaundersbeach.com’ will be launched this week and the video interviews, facts and reports concerning the extension of Arawak Cay will populate the site.
    “The is the beginning stages of a National campaign to educate the Bahamian people and force the government to address the concerns of all Bahamians who care about the future of our Country.” Pictured are four of the six committee members from left to right, Ken Dorsett, Jerome Fitzgerald, Romauld Ferreira and Ricardo Smith. Missing members are Madeline Sawyer and Ryan Pinder.

IN PASSING
Chargé Says US Ambassador In The Fall
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Timothy Zuniga Brown told the Bahama Journal that he believes that the new U.S. Ambassador Nicole Avant will be in place by the fall of this year. He told the Journal that she has not yet been confirmed by the Senate of the United States but expects that all the processes should be done by the end of the summer.

Education Tax To Come
Carl Bethel who is the Minister of Education hosted a national summit on education during the past week. Coming out of it was a proposal to create an education tax to pay for the continued funding of education in The Bahamas. Also present at the summit was Hubert Ingraham, the most divisive Prime Minister in the history of the country, who made the remarkable statement that the policies of education should transcend political parties.

Brave Davis Says He’s Made Up His Mind

Philip ‘Brave’ Davis MP for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador has announced that he will make a formal announcement about his bid for the Deputy Leadership of the PLP at the end of the month. Mr. Davis has been campaigning for the job informally but with elections coming up at the convention in October 2009, he is now taking the formal steps to do so. The report appeared in the Nassau Guardian.

Raising The Airport Fees
The Civil Aviation Department has announced an increase in fees, which amounts in some cases to a 10,000 percent increase on the fees now charged. Many say that the background is with the government desperate for money and unable to raise taxes, they are seeking to get additional money out of various fees and charges. The private airline industry in The Bahamas is crying foul. Sky Bahamas, the carrier that competes with Bahamasair on the runs to Freeport, Exuma, and Abaco say that they will have to increase the ticket prices from 40 to 60 per cent because of the increase in fees. The report appeared in the Nassau Guardian.

Chief Of Protocol Retires
We say farewell to the country’s longstanding Chief of Protocol Andrew McKinney. Mr. McKinney has been a fixture at every event in the country since independence. He ultimately got the job of Chief Protocol during the administration of Perry Christie. He has reached the mandatory retirement age. He has written and designed countless ceremonies for state visits, official funerals, and other state ceremonies. He was the man who kept the new diplomats on the straight and narrow. He is to be succeeded by Melvin Seymour who is now the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing. We wish Mr. McKinney well in his retirement.

Groundbreaking For New Terminal

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his ministers took part in the groundbreaking at the Lynden Pindling International Airport for the new airport terminal for U.S. departures on Thursday 9th July. This is beginning of what is believed to be a 400 million dollar development effort at the airport. The first phase will be an expenditure of some 256 million dollars. The general contractor is a Canadian company with Woslee Dominion, headed by the same Ashley Glinton that Hubert Ingraham dissed when he came into office, calling him an inexperienced contractor. Mr. Glinton was the contractor for the straw market and Mr. Ingraham cancelled that contract and attacked the PLP and Mr. Glinton over it. No mention at the airport of Mr. Glinton being inexperienced and unqualified. Frank Watson, responding to criticism by Contractor’s Association Head Stephen Wrinkle that the Bahamians were being left out of the deal, said that there is still some 43 million dollars of work to be allocated.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

Yama Bahama Buried
Famous Bahamian boxer William Butler aka Yama Bahama was placed in a grave on the hillside in the public cemetery in Bimini on Saturday 11th July. Mr. Butler was a fighter, but not only in the boxing field where he excelled with an enviable record 76 wins, 14 losses and 3 draws. He fought for the reputation of our country in the boxing ring from 1953 until he retired in 1967. He fought as far afield as New York's Madison Square Garden where for his efforts he is enshrined on their Wall of Fame. But it was in the field of civics that Yama really excelled. He transferred his celebrity status to raising money for charitable causes, including the Princess Margaret Hospital, which built its east wing off monies in part from a charitable fight that he had, only in the later years of his life to be turned away from the hospital because he did not have the money to pay for the operation. He was a Stalwart Councillor of the Progressive Liberal Party. Party Leader Perry Christie led a delegation to the funeral, which included former Ministers Obie Wilchcombe, Bernard Nottage, Fred Mitchell, Alfred Sears, and MPs Philip Brave Davis along with party officers. Mr. Butler was 77 years old at the time of death from pancreatic cancer. He was eulogized by George Weech, former MP for Bimini and a life long friend. Rev. Dr. Stanley Pinder was the officiant. Fred Sturrup represented the Commonwealth Boxing Council and the Bahamas Boxing Commission and Minister of Sports Desmond Banister. Frank Watson former Deputy Prime Minister under the FNM also attended.

William Of Grants Town

Archdeacon William Thompson has been declared by the present Archdeacon of St. Agnes Church (Anglican) Grants Town as a saint. In pursuance of that on the ninth anniversary of his death, the church held a lecture by the former Governor General of The Bahamas Sir Orville Turnquest who is also a member of St. Agnes and a life long friend of Archdeacon Thompson. The photo of the lecture on Wednesday 8th July is by Peter Ramsay. You may click here for the full text of Sir Orville’s lecture.

The British Throw Everything At TCI Government

The Director of the Caribbean Section of the Foreign and Commonalty Office, the boss of the Governor of the Turks and Caicos visited the Turks last week to see that all is in place for the British direct rule of the Turks and Caicos. The British are unmoved by arguments that they have no moral authority to suspend the democratic organs of the Turks government. The Director said notwithstanding the legal challenges to the Commission of Inquiry report, they intend to move ahead with those matters that they can while the legal actions are settled. They are putting in place a team to review and revamp the public finances of the Turks. They are bringing in a special team to begin investigation of possible crimes against Michael Misick, former Premier and several of his ministers. You may click here for a press release on the subject. In the photo from left, Phil Mason, Head of the Overseas Territories at the Department for International Development to the Turks and Caicos publics; Colin Roberts, Director for the Overseas Territories at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and TCI Governor Gordon Wetherell.

Congratulations Mark Knowles

He finally did it, a winner at Wimbledon in the mixed doubles with partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld as the tournament wound to a close. This is a wonderful accomplishment for Mr. Knowles and a great happy birthday present for The Bahamas.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

THOSE WHOM THE GODS WOULD DESTROY
If you didn’t know better you would think that you are dealing with a sick man. The state of things in The Bahamas today reminds you of the time when Henry VIII of England or Elizabeth I of England governed, or at least how they are portrayed in the movies. They were simply mad. There were rash executions, crazy decisions that wrecked the national treasury on the simplest caprice. Personal choices seemed to dominate public policy. They seemed to be surrounded by a talented group of advisors who, notwithstanding their talent, were simply officious toadies who carried out whatever these crazy people asked.

But this is not 16th century England and governance is not supposed to be like that. We are supposed to be a sophisticated generation of people, well trained, civilized with a government that makes logical decisions and with a man who is supposed to have a logical head on his shoulders. We should not be governed by a mad man.

At the end of the debate on Wednesday 15th July, a day that was to be the day for an Opposition resolution to call for the appointment of a Select Committee of the House to look into all matters touching and concerning the disposition of publicly held lands, the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham rose to his feet to give notice that he intended to make a communication at the next sitting of the House of Assembly on Monday 20th July on the subject of crown land. Mr. Ingraham did not participate in the debate on crown land moved by the Opposition. He wanted to be the last speaker and have the final say in the debate and when that could not be agreed, he decided he would call the House back for the singular purpose of his making a communication on crown land.

The usual practice is that the last speaker of a debate is the Member of Parliament who moved the motion. That was the MP for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell.

Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition was apoplectic. He stood to his feet to protest. He asked the House: “Do you see what is going on here?” Mr. Christie explained that what we have just had is a debate in the House on the subject of crown land in which the Prime Minister refused to participate but he will come with his own communication on the subject and bring the House back for something that is already debated.

Mr. Ingraham rose to protest himself. He said that he did not intend to make the communication controversial but he intended to answer the questions that were put to him by the Member for Fox Hill and lay some documents on the table. He said he would accommodate another debate on his communication if the Opposition so wished. Then from his seat, he said that he wanted to have a debate where he would dictate the terms of the debate. Interesting.

Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill issued a statement the next day saying that the actions of the Prime Minister were cowardly and petulant. One supposes that is one of the first differences between 16th century England and the modern Bahamas. No executions have taken place yet. But isn’t it a strange thing: this man wants to have it his way all the time.

It is always interesting as well to see the reaction of people to what he says. One correspondent to this column warned that the PLP ought to brace for it. They said, “You don’t know what Hubert Ingraham has”. But who cares what he has? This is part of the concern we have about the psychology of being PLP today; too much of a concern about what Hubert Ingraham thinks, says and does and not enough about what the PLP says, thinks and will do. There is nothing that Hubert Ingraham can come up with that changes the fundamental dynamic of this. The fact is there has been abuse of the disposition of crown land under him as Prime Minister. As the cartoons of Stan Burnside from the Nassau Guardian of 16th and 17th July show, the accusations land on both sides of the divide.

In fact, the mother-in-law of Tex Turnquest obtained the grant of the crown land given to her which was then sold for a whopping profit (bought from the crown for $1550 in 2003 and sold in 2006 for $550,000)) from the PLP’s Prime Minister not from Hubert Ingraham. The three other conveyances in the same area were signed by Hubert Ingraham.

Mr. Ingraham tried during the statement of Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill to introduce a red herring into the debate. He asked the question why did Mr. Mitchell sit in the government and agree to the sale of the land in Exuma to a foreigner when it came to the investment board. Mr. Mitchell rightly responded that this was a red herring and that it was the principle of the matter.

Our point here though is that what happened in the House was vintage foolishness by Hubert Ingraham. If is not his way it is the highway. So he picks up his marbles and goes home because he has lost the game. We say kudos to the Leader of Opposition business in the House of Assembly Dr. Bernard Nottage in not giving in to the threats and intimidation of the Prime Minister. There is time to every purpose under the heavens and then was not the time.

The next question that faces the PLP is whether or not they will come to the House of Assembly on Monday to listen to the Prime Minister speak about crown land. Our own view is that they should monitor the events but not join him in the chamber; let him speak to himself. It is simply disgraceful and yet another sign of the oft heard saying that those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 18th July 2009 at midnight: 140,662.

Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 18th July 2009 at midnight: 328,247.

Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 18th July 2009 up to midnight: 5,602,818.

THE REPORT ON THE PLP
Since the article last week on where the PLP now stands, much as transpired. Again, we rely entirely on public sources. The Bahama Journal has reported that Dr. B. J. Nottage Member of Parliament for Bain and Grants Town is considering running for leader of the PLP. The article did not quite say that, nor does it have it in direct quotes but the headline was quite direct on the point. You will see this week that there is an article in great detail on this site by someone signing their name B.A. Thompson. This letter has taken much time to go over the past editorial comments on the site about the state of the PLP. It makes the case for their being no change in the PLP. There is in general a push back noticeable in the press on the view that there needs now to be change in the PLP. The argument is summed up that the PLP was right in its policies from 2002 to 2007, and that the policies were the best for The Bahamas. We agree. There is only one point: we lost the election in 2007.

SHANE CHALLENGES MPS ON LAND

    Shane Gibson, MP PLP for Golden Gates, spoke in the House of Assembly on the resolution to grant the request for a select committee to look into the issue of the disposition of crown lands on Wednesday 15th July. Mr. Gibson said that he wholeheartedly supported the resolution. He said that for too long people who have applied for crown land could not get it. He said that an investigation was needed as to why only certain people could get crown land and others could not. Then he made this plea:
    “I [also] believe that all ministers responsible for land should declare if they’ve granted land to any of their clients, potential clients, former clients or represented persons after granting them land, and what fees they or their firm were paid after persons or companies they granted land to become their client.
    “The bottom line is we need total transparency and objectivity in the granting of land owned by the government and public officers should not be fixing up themselves with land while acquiring people’s land and not compensating them for it.”
    Mr. Gibson said such problems did not develop overnight and would not be immediately resolved. He noted, however, that it is incumbent on the government to begin immediately a process of land reform.
    Mr. Gibson said he believes that the biggest offenders to the crown land granting exercise are those persons charged with the responsibility of recommending whether or not persons applying for land should be granted it or not.
    “For example,” he asked, “one would have to ask the question as to why would the person responsible for making recommendations to the prime minister, visit the Attorney General’s office several times per week when one administration is in place to ensure that all paperwork is prepared as quickly as possible, but when another administration is in office, he simply sends out the request by slow mail.”
    Mr. Gibson was the Minister of Housing under the last PLP government. He said that under the former Perry Christie-led government, a plan was designed to assist persons who were given crown land grants but were unable to receive their conveyances because they could not get a surveyor to survey the land in order to prepare the conveyance.
    “A decision was then made to identify certain parcels of land on various Family Islands, identify all persons who were given grants but could not get their conveyance and grant the entire parcel of land to The Ministry of Housing, who would in turn grant the land to these individuals thus giving them good title”, Mr. Gibson said.
    We await the declaration that Mr. Gibson asked for. There are only two Ministers who have been responsible for crown lands in the last decade: Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie. Mr. Christie has no law firm so we want to hear Mr. Ingraham’s confessions on crown land if any.

‘BRAVE’ DAVIS SPEAKS

Philip ‘Brave’ Davis responded in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 15th July to the comments made in a letter to the editor by Peter McPherson Christie, nephew of the late H.G. Christie. Peter Christie was upset that Mr. Davis challenged the process by which the late Uncle of Mr. Christie, H.G., got land in Cat Island from poor itinerant farmers. He called on the Christie estate to compensate the poor farmers from whom they got the land. Mr. Christie claimed that Mr. Davis abused the privilege of the House. Mr. Davis said that he would not respond to the allegations made by Mr. Christie but he challenged him to a debate on the issues. You may click here for the full statement.
Philip 'Brave' Davis in the House of Assembly - BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' - from The Nassau Guardian of Tuesday 14th July, 2009

THE BOYS RETURN
The country needed some good news and good news is what it got. Two young boys were lost for one month in the wilds of Andros. The official search had stopped for them. They were discovered emaciated and wandering along the road in South Andros last weekend. According to the first story they told their parents, they fell into a cave and could not get out. They became too weak to answer to the cries of the search parties. They told their parents they survived off eating berries and drank from pools of water to survive. They were emaciated, but otherwise fine. The stories then started to circulate about whether what they said was true. The boy’s mother said she did not quite believe the story. One of the boys’ fathers said that his son told him that an old white man with a beard supplied him with food. The mother of one boy suggested that they might have been kidnapped. The boys were taken to hospital in Princess Margaret for observation in Nassau. The police say will question the boys once they get back on their feet again. Whatever! It is a joyous end to a story that seemed headed for sadness as usual. The boys are Marcel 5 and Deangelo Clarke 9.

MITCHELL ON CROWN LAND

The request by the MP for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell on Wednesday 14th July was for the House to appoint a select committee to inquire into all matters touching and concerning the disposition of all publicly held lands. The House granted the request, but not before Mr. Mitchell demanded that the government say what its policy is on public servants receiving land and what the position is on the resignation of Tex Turnquest as Director of Lands and Surveys. Mr. Turnquest resigned following allegations that his mother-in-law received a crown grant from the government in 2002 for 1550 dollars and later sold the unimproved land for 550,000 dollars, a practice called flipping. Mr. Turnquest protested his innocence in the press and said it was not he who was responsible but the Prime Minister. Within days, he was gone. You may click here for Mr. Mitchell’s full remarks. Also, click here for Mr. Mitchell’s statement on the refusal of Prime Minister Ingraham to participate in the debate.
Fred Mitchell explaining the overview provided of the islands of The Bahamas to allow for spatial identification of land during the crown land debate 15 July 2009 in the House of Assembly - BIS photos: Peter Ramsay

PLPS GATHER STEAM AGAINST THE PORT

    Senator Jerome Fitzgerald’s committee to save Saunders Beach has gathered up a full head of steam. During the past week, he appeared on a radio talk show to defend his Committee’s work. He accused the government of not fully disclosing all of the information. He held a press conference on Thursday 16th July. At the press conference he called on Earl Deveaux, the Minister of the Environment who has been driving the project to move the port from Nassau to Arawak Cay, to fully disclose what the government is doing. He challenged the minister’s competence. He also questioned the bona fides of the firm that did the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study.
    In the senate, Leader of Opposition business Allyson Maynard Gibson joined her fellow senator to question the creation of the port at Arawak cay. Mrs. Gibson raised the following issues:
    “In summary, the (EIA) which has not yet been made available on line to all citizens, confirms what we have been saying, it says:
    o People who now drive on West Bay St. and enjoy the wonderful vistas of our pristine Saunders beach and were comforted by God’s creation, and enjoyed one of the last areas preserved for
       generations of Bahamians now released for the benefit of FNM special interests. Soon you will see containers, not the wonderful vista that you now experience
    o The fish fry will be affected by the project
    o No more shady rest spots on Saunders Beach. The trees will be cut down.
    o Vessels will moor on the southern side of the extension. Would you swim around the mail boats and other boats at Potters Cay? The southern side is on top of Saunders Beach.
       Expect a Potters Cay type experience at Saunders Beach
    o Your children will be swimming in the effluent from the vessels
    o Expect plenty noise
    o There will no longer be crystal clear water, so clear that you can see your toes on the sand. There will by murky water.
    This is what the EIA says.”
Jerome Fitzgerald & Allyson Maynard Gibson debating in the Senate - BIS photos: Peter Ramsay

HOW THE BANKS TREAT CUSTOMERS
Imagine that you have a loan which is more than adequately collateralized. You get into a financial tight. You have the collateral to get an even larger loan, which would ease your financial issues. So you go to your bank of choice only to be told that they don’t like the way you have been conducting your affairs and so they are not lending you the money. You suspect that its all prejudice, something that the manager did not like that you did to them or said to them, but you can’t prove it. So what you do is you shop your more than fully collateralized loan to another bank and another bank. Guess what each says well if your first bank turned it down; we can’t take it on or we won’t take it on. This sounds like blackballing to us. There probably needs to be legislation to deal with this. But this practice goes on in The Bahamas today. All the banks are party to these actions.
Further, the banks still have to put in place a cheque clearing mechanism. They keep local cheques uncleared for three days. US cheques on local US accounts uncleared for five days. They keep US cheques that clear overseas for six weeks. In no case does it take more than one or two days to clear a cheque even in the present antiquated system. This is nothing short of a rip off by the local banking system. What do we do? Look for demonstrations soon. One correspondent to this site is livid and says that he and his family have had enough.

A GUILTY VERDICT IN ONE; A HUNG JURY IN ANOTHER
The murderer of Khodee Davis, the 16 year old who was killed on Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island on Whit Monday 2008 was convicted of the charge on Thursday 16th July. Andy Francis is to be sentenced in August for the murder. The murder came at the end of a day of aimless wandering around by groups of young men. They landed at Cabbage Beach and ran into a group headed by Andy Francis who ended up stabbing Khodee Davis. The mother of Mr. Davis, Sonia Dill, pronounced herself satisfied with the verdict and she called for the death penalty.
The other high profile murder case is that of the murder of Harl Taylor, the fashion designer who was killed in November 2007. The trial of Troyniko McNeil for the murder ended with a hung jury 8-4 guilty. There must be a unanimous verdict for murder. The Judge Anita Allen ordered a retrial. The father of Mr. McNeil, former partner of the deceased Mr. Taylor was livid and said that the case against his son was a political one. Our concern was that the crown adduced no evidence of a motive and we thought that no jury would convict without such a motive, especially since the evidence was only circumstantial.

EXUMA INDEPENDENCE

Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell has since 1998 spent Independence Day with the people of Exuma. He was there again this year and participated in the service of thanksgiving at St. John’s Baptist Church, Georgetown. Then there was the march to Regatta Park for the flag raising followed by the salute on the evening of 9th July 2009, marking the 36th anniversary of Bahamian independence. Above, Heads of Department, including Administrators, Chief Councillor, MPs Moss and Mitchell, take the salute.
Photos: Randolph Curtis II

FOX HILL CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE

Four years ago following a request by then Chairman of the national celebrations Winston Saunders that local communities should celebrate independence in their own way, quite apart from the national celebrations, the community of Fox Hill began to stage its own independence observances one week after the national observance. Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell was joined by the pastors of Fox Hill and the MP for Yamacraw, his colleague Melanie Griffin, shown with the Independence cake. At right, Fox Hill PLP Branch Chair Charlene Marshall with Mistress of Ceremony, Nurse Celestine Lockhart.
Photo: Miguel Taylor

FEAST OF DEDICATION FOR ST. AGNES

The rector and members of St. Agnes Anglican Church have marked the 164th anniversary of the feast of dedication of St. Agnes in Grants Town. Last week Sir Orville Turnquest was reported on this site delivering a lecture about William of Grants Town, in honour of the second longest serving rector of St. Agnes, Archdeacon William Thompson. Archdeacon Thompson died in 2000 at the hands of an armed gunman intent on robbing the church rectory.
Peter Ramsay photos

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
TREEMONISHA - A CORRECTION
The role of Ned was played by my Dicey Doh colleague, Kermit Strachan. I also know Kermit Fernander, who was my Spanish teacher in GHS in the 1960s.
The alternate cast that included Portia Barnett as Monisha and Nikita Wells as Treemonisha was also brilliant.
Dwayne A.Curtis

A DEFENCE OF PERRY CHRISTIE
This letter writer sent this generally to the press it appears. The letter first appeared on the site bahamaspress.com. The e-mail sent to us with the letter attached came from another address and name. We assume it is a nom de plume but it having appeared on the web, we publish it in its entirety with an editorial comment following.

    I readily accept that no one is indispensable. Times change, people move on and the notion of the irreplaceable individual is a myth as noted in Charles De Gaulle’s grim reminder, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men”.
    Yet there are times in history or institutions that are so shaped by the extraordinary contributions of a single person that it is hard to imagine one without the other. That is my current feeling on Perry G. Christie and the Progressive Liberal Party. Prior to 2002, the PLP was “on the ropes”, “of no significance”. Mr. Christie was successful in leading a crusade of sorts to re-establish the party in the minds and hearts of the Bahamian electorate. Then, as now, he had detractors and doubters all around him. Irrespective of the “slip and fall” in 2007, I am one of those PLP’s who believe that Mr. Christie can lead us to victory again, because defeat does not drive him to sulk in dark, hidden corners, but rather it emboldens him to come back better prepared, wiser, and stronger. Mr. Christie’s life story in academics, athletics, junkanoo and politics is a testimony to his “bounce back” mentality.
    It is therefore with perplexed interest that I have followed the reports – “The Choice of the PLP Establishment” and “Where Stands the PLP” in recent on-line Bahamas Uncensored reports. I say up-front that I have absolutely no difficulty with any open, legitimate challenge to Mr. Christie’s leadership of the PLP, because when I last looked, the party was still a fully democratic institution. What troubles me however is the expressed opinion of Bahamas Uncensored that Mr. Christie is the “Choice of the PLP Establishment”, suggesting perhaps that his support is a narrow base of “PLP muck a mucks” (whoever they are). They are grossly mistaken. Mr. Christie enjoys broad political support across all strata of PLP supporters, island to island. If Bahamas Uncensored is right on a leadership challenge, then in time we will find out if others do.
    Another troubling aspect is this unyielding focus on findings in this Greenburg Report, of public perception of Mr. Christie as being “weak and indecisive”. Well let’s examine it objectively and fairly. It appears that Mr. Christie’s “weakness” is attributed substantially to his not dealing harshly (strongly) enough with perceived acts of poor judgment on behalf of certain elected PLP members. As Mr. Elcott Coleby succinctly pointed out in a recent article, PM Ingraham’s response to his so-called FNM members scandal was one of “do nothing” and he eventually rewarded them with high Cabinet posts. Yet, Ingraham’s action was not classified “weakness”. This is not to support the notion that our political leaders turn a “blind eye” to indiscretions of their party colleagues. Rather, I wanted to show the hypocrisy in the public perception of Christie/Ingraham actions relative to “scandals” of their members. What is disappointing is that Bahamas Uncensored knows who and what drives public perception in the country, as they always comment on it.
    Mr. Christie as Prime Minister being “indecisive,” is a rather foolish argument. It would mean that his Government was indecisive. The response can only be that the Christie Government presided over the country’s most successful housing program, attracted over $20 billion investment projects while driving the economy to unparalleled heights, settled on an acceptable buyer for BTC at an attractive price after years of (and still) FNM Government indecision. “Tongue in cheek”, the Christie Government would have blown the country wide open with opportunities for Bahamians I guess, if they were only decisive, (as look what they accomplished being indecisive).
    We have to realize that Leaders bring their personalities and life experiences to their decision-making process. Pres. Obama is considered uncomfortable making decisions quickly. He is deliberative, prides consensus and relies on research and others’ expertise. In John McCain’s memoir “Worth Fighting For”, McCain called his decision-making style “instinctive, often impulsive”, saying “I don’t torture over decisions. I make them as quickly as I can and quicker than the other fellow if I can”.
    In the context of the Bahamas, one leader is called decisive and the other indecisive. It’s really a concoction of a jaundiced local press with clear political objectives. They have very successfully made these false labels stick, driving people’s perception in the process. Again, objectively, reasonably and fairly, Mr. Christie’s decisions in office were obviously deliberative, focused and had staying power. His successor in office, Mr. Ingraham erratically decided to cancel the Straw Market contract in favour of a park, then “undecided” it, to scrap the Bay St. re-development with the departing Christie administration, then “undecided” it, to kill the Urban Renewal Programme, then “undecided” it, to remove the container port to Arawak Cay, without any tangible research or reliance on independent expertise and we wait to see if public opinion pressures him to “undecide” that.
    The above reflects my response to the perceived “weak and indecisive” traits of Mr. Christie as mentioned in this Greenburg Report. If Bahamas Uncensored has a different view, then it should say so in clear concise language to its loyal readership.
    As the PLP moves forward to its fall convention and beyond, I believe it must welcome with open arms and hearts its more youthful voices clamoring for leadership and change. In their quest for both however, these “youthful voices” must always be mindful that politics is a “power game” and also a “team sport” and cannot be approached with a foolish degree of naiveté to say as you like, do as you like, without consequences.
    I believe that in the next election as before, the FNM will attempt to smear the PLP as a party of corruption and misdeeds. Whether Bahamas Uncensored likes it or not, there is no better person to lead the charge against that smear campaign, than Perry G. Christie – a Bahamian politician, with over 30 years continuous public service and a record of unimpeachable integrity in Government. The issues of weakness and indecisiveness in a Christie leadership are non-issues and are easily addressed. Let’s move on to more substantive matters in preparing our party to re-claim the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
B.A. Thompson

(We assume that this is a nom de plume like the one Q.E. Thomas that was used by the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling. We do not know who the real letter writer is. The answer to the letter writer is that this is not quite logical. If only the energy used to write this letter and defend a personal position were used to reorganize the PLP then the PLP would be in good shape. There is a fundamental misunderstanding about the point of the article The Choice of the PLP Establishment. The point was not about Mr. Christie's support being narrowly based at all. In fact, the Greenburg report, which is now being denigrated, says that of the people who voted PLP in the 2007 general election 73 percent of them want Mr. Christie to remain leader of the PLP. Clearly, that is not a narrow base. But change in the PLP comes not from the bottom, it comes from the top and it is only when the top has said that they have had enough is there going to be any change in the PLP. That is the importance of what the PLP establishment wants. The article was descriptive, not prescriptive and was based on public sources not insider knowledge. What the letter writer wants us to do is to cross the line into a prescriptive action and support the status quo, which on an objective basis, was an issue in the 2007 general election. It mistakenly suggests that this is about the fight for or against one individual. Clearly, the PLP has the potential to win again. It has the potential to win under its present leader, but much work has to be done if it is going to win. There is a Chinese proverb that says that if you keep doing the same thing and expect a different result something must be wrong with your head. The usefulness of this column to the PLP is its integrity and that it must continue to have, otherwise it has no credibility and then we would not be having this discussion. If the PLP had a credible internal process of renewal, we also would not be having this discussion. Discussion is good for the soul. Anger, threats and emotion is not in this case what will carry the day. Logic and rationality will. Much has been said about what the Greenburg report says on leadership but the report also says what can be done to solve that issue and it does not require getting rid of the PLP’s leader but it prescribes certain actions. Has the PLP done anything to implement its conclusions? You be the judge. Read the report: Part 1; Part 2 - Editor)

IN PASSING
Ingraham Makes Charles Maynard Sit Down
Hubert Ingraham, Leader of the FNM, boasts how he has control over his MPs. Perry Christie, Leader of the PLP, reportedly complains about how he does not have control over his. But there does not need to be control over any Mps, so Mr. Christie’s position is the preferable one. Just consider during the recent debate on land on Wednesday 15th July Charles Maynard, the Minister of State for Culture wanted to get up to speak on the debate. Mr. Ingraham told him to sit down and he did. This can’t be the same Charles Maynard, son of Andrew ‘Dud’ Maynard.

Candidates Committee And More Stalwart Councillors
The PLP’s National General Council, the highest body outside of the Convention met on Thursday 16th July. At the meeting, the Candidates Committee was announced. The Committee is headed by the Leader of the Party Perry Christie. It is not known who its members are. The Party also announced a Committee headed by Stalwart Councillor Charles Major Jr. Mr. Major a supporter of former Prime Minister Perry Christie will be responsible for recommending the stalwart councillors to fill the positions of those who have died since the last appointments during the last PLP government. Convention time is coming.

Elections In South Beach And Bamboo Town Branches
The PLP Branches in Bamboo Town and in South Beach are now fully constituted. The branch executives were elected on Tuesday 14th July at meetings held in the C.V. Bethel School. This sets the stage now for delegate selection for the upcoming convention of the PLP scheduled for 18th October to 24th October.

The Final Turks Report Is Published
The British Governor Gordon Wetherell is marching inexorably toward the suspension of the democratic institutions of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The British government which lost the moral authority to do any such act following its own MPs scandal is intent on moving ahead. Now they have released the full report by the single Commissioner of Inquiry Sir Robin Auld. Many parts of the report are redacted for legal reasons. The governor said that he has redacted more than the Commissioner thought necessary but he wanted to do so out of an abundance of caution. You can read the full report by clicking here for www.tci-inquiry.org.

Allyson On Phone Taps
Speaking in the Senate on Thursday 16th July senator Allyson Gibson accused the government of tapping the phones of politicians. Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest did not deny the allegations in his response in the press on Saturday 18th July.

The Police Poison The Well Again
The American practice of outing those of high profile who are charged before the courts before they are actually charged continues to develop here in Nassau. You know the issues we had with the attack on PLP MPs during the last year with the police saying how they were questioning an unnamed PLP for corruption offences. Last weekend, they leaked to ZNS radio news that a high profile lawyer was to be charged with stealing and receiving. During the week, they brought Eliezer Regnier, a lawyer of Haitian ancestry who is prominent in the community for advocacy for Haitian migrants in handcuffs to the court. Contrast that to the special treatment they often give their colleagues. Mr. Regnier was no flight risk or security risk. Then during the week, they were at it again with a leak that another lawyer of a firm with a Cabinet minister as his partner was arrested on Tuesday 14th July and held until Wednesday 14th July. The police have reportedly told the press that the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are reportedly missing according to complaint from a client was said to have been used for the campaign of the politicians involved and not replaced. The police were at it again on Friday 17th July with the view that they will have to interview the Cabinet minister. Things get curiouser and curiouser.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

THE MURDER OF LESLIE MAYCOCK
By all accounts, a decent man trying to make his way in the world. A former Security and Intelligence Branch officer. Worked with the late Sir Lynden’s detail. His name, not one you would know; Leslie Maycock. At the age of 50 shot down as he was closing up his shop on Wednesday 15th July in Freeport at the Hawksbill Mini Mart. He contacted his wife and the police by phone and then attempted to drive himself to the hospital. He didn’t make it. His car overturned. Passers by spotted him and called the ambulance. After several surgeries and the loss of a lot of blood, he died on Thursday 23rd July at the Rand Memorial Hospital. Gone too soon.

If you read Colin Hughes’ book ‘Race and Politics In The Bahamas’, he writes about the year 1974. In that year, Members of Parliament were exercised about the spate of crime in the country and the randomness of the killings and the society’s inability to stop it. That was 1974. We were still as a country feeling superior to Jamaica where crime was then out of control. Many Jamaicans warned us that the direction in which we were headed was the same pattern of added security to our homes, with burglar bars and eventually as we now have electronic security. But we were smug. Not so now, with a trail of dead Bahamian businessmen shot and killed while being robbed.

In 2009, it is worse. In 2008, there were officially 78 murders, but the number of suspicious deaths that were never classified exceeded 80. The FNM has presided in both their terms over the highest number of annual murders in The Bahamas. Yet it was always the PLP when murders were at their lowest that was pinned with the responsibility for crime. The FNM in Opposition said it was the fault of the PLP’s Minister of National Security Cynthia Pratt. Today, who is then to blame? Tommy Turnquest, the Minister of National Security says it has nothing to do with him. His Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is equally lost on the subject.

According to the Freeport News, the death of Mr. Maycock makes it 45 murders since the start of the year and murder number 6 for Grand Bahama. Something is quite wrong with this picture. You cannot continue to invite people to this country on the basis that this is a paradise; only for them to find that it is a killing field.

For Bahamians at large this is a most frightening development. There seems no end to the guns. There does not even seem to be the safety net of age or class or social standing. Everyone appears to be a target; everyone appears to be at risk. So many people today express the view that they will not go out after dark because of the risk that they may be shot or stabbed.

What is also interesting is that the deaths have come so fast and furious that the society is almost numb to them. Even the most egregious cases don’t raise an eyebrow. Perhaps people simply say thank God it’s not them and move on.

The murders and armed robberies that are reported in the press are some say not even half the story. Interviews with businessmen reveal some shocking information about the risks they run because they are in business. One restaurateur spoke about the occasions when he was followed home and had to high tail it inside or drive to the police station in order to get safely home. One story is that a group of two men, one armed with a shotgun, the other armed with a handgun, actually accosted a businessman outside his restaurant at close up time and made him drive. As he drove along the Prince Charles Drive, fate would have it that the axle of the car broke and the car overturned. This led the men to flee but not before threatening to shoot him if he looked up. This is on a main thoroughfare. He delivered his story as if it were just another “Once upon a time.”

The stories of escape pale next to the stories of the housebreakings that take place where people who live in the bedroom suburban communities of Nassau come home and find themselves cleaned out of their house and home. Little is said, done, or reported.

Businessmen now have to take extraordinary steps to protect themselves. Handguns are not given to them but the criminals have the handguns, too many of them.

During the past week, the public was reminded hard on the heels of the hung jury in the case of the alleged murderer of designer Harl Taylor of another murder where a husband was shot to death in bed next to his wife. The assailant simply walked up to the window and fired six shots into the room killing her husband. The crown was unable to get a conviction, despite a dying declaration from the victim. He left behind three small children and a void in Butler’s Funeral Home where he was its mainstay. We move on.

Something says that there must be something that can be done about it. But we go back to the story of 1974 and it is clear that the situation has gotten worse and we have done nothing about it or perhaps better said, nothing has been done about it. Every day we look to rise and find that some other famous person, or not so famous person has been killed or found dead in suspicious circumstances. We expect the government to say something or do something, but the government does nothing. Meanwhile what is coming behind from the school system is a shockingly dysfunctional group of young people, unconnected to our country. The good guys seem now to be fast outnumbered by the bad guys.

This is the FNM’s time. This is Ingrahamization. This is what we voted for in 2007.

A note to readers: Our statistics engine is down. Please visit next week for updated site statistics.

COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO LOOK INTO CROWN LANDS

    Fred Mitchell’s request in the House of Assembly to look into the disposition of all publicly held lands was agreed by the House of Assembly on Wednesday 15th July. The Speaker appointed the Committee on Wednesday 22nd July.
    The Members of the Committee are Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill (PLP), Philip Davis MP (PLP) Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador, Branville McCartney MP (FNM) Bamboo Town, Charles Maynard MP (FNM) Golden Isles, Kenyatta Gibson MP (FNM) Kennedy. The mover of the motion is by convention the Chairman even though the FNM has the majority on the Committee. In this case that is Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill.
    The PLP MPs issued a statement to the press as follows on the appointment of the Committee:
    “Philip Davis MP for Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador and I welcome the appointment of the Committee to investigate the disposition of all publicly held lands. My colleague and I from the Opposition side want to get to work with dispatch and forthwith. We intend to engage in a serious effort to carry out the will of the House. We look forward to working with our colleagues from the FNM in a similarly serious effort.
    “With hard work and determination, the country should know the full story in this matter in short order including testing the integrity of claims made in the House by the Prime Minister and others about the abuse of crown land by former staff members at the Department of Lands and Surveys.
    “The trail of evidence should be followed wherever it leads and let the chips fall where they may.”
Fred Mitchell MP addresses House of Assembly - BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns'
...from The Nassau Guardian of Tuesday 21st July, 2009

LAND ISSUES IN THE PUBLIC EYE
The issue of crown land was in the public eye again this week, as the country pondered what policies should now apply to the disposition of crown land going forward. Mr. Ingraham charged in the House on Monday 20th July that it was the PLP’s fault. The former Prime Minister Perry Christie said he and the PLP were blameless. The cartoonist Stan Burnside saw it this way in The Nassau Guardian of 21st July.

INGRAHAM’S PERFORMANCE FLOPS
    When in doubt, Ingrahamize. That is the philosophy of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham. It is a word coined by Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill during his contribution to the debate on BEC in the House of Assembly, to mean Balkanized in the context of The Bahamas. Mr. Ingraham simply seeks to set one group of Bahamians against another. The camps have never been so divided whether in the police force or in the public service generally and out in the country over politics. There is no truth. There is only FNM truth and PLP truth. Mr. Ingraham has sought to change the Bahamian reality.
    That is an appropriate starting point to describe Mr. Ingraham’s scorched earth performance in the House of Assembly on crown lands on Wednesday 22nd July. He launched into a shameless tirade against the PLP, saying essentially that it was not his fault that the crown lands were distributed to friends and cronies of his but the PLP’s fault. He denied that his government had corruptly agreed to give land to its supporters to flip the land and then received part of the windfall. Mr. Ingraham used the point on the agenda reserved for communications by Ministers, more properly abused the communications time on the agenda to attack former Prime Minister Perry Christie because Mr. Christie in his statement to the House on Monday 20th July dared to say that he was entirely blameless with regard to the scandal surrounding the granting of Crown land at Forbes Hill, Exuma.
    Land under Mr. Ingraham was granted to the mother-in-law of Tex Turnquest, the former Director of Lands and Surveys. She later flipped the land, selling the land she got from Ingraham’s FNM in 2003 for $1550 for half a million dollars three years later. Mr. Ingraham claimed that Mr. Christie was not blameless because he said the matter could have been stopped at the Investments Board on the basis of lack of due diligence which he says is holding up the sale of the last of the five parcels of land in Forbes Hill today. Mr. Ingraham knows that no such authority exists in law. And what would an accusation of lack of due diligence have uncovered? The law then allowed the sale of land under 5 acres to a foreigner once it was for a residential purpose. In any event, it would have been difficult to refuse to register a land purchase when a Bahamian had an asset and wanted to sell their property. It was just Mr. Ingraham’s foolish clutter.
    What was most nasty of Hubert Ingraham, slimy in fact was his attack on the Golden Gates Church. With the permission of Prime Minister Perry Christie, Golden Gates Church was granted a change of use of the land granted by Mr. Ingraham from an old folk’s home to a subdivision, which was developed for low cost housing by Arawak Homes. Mr. Ingraham sought to muddy the water by this red herring. Nothing was done wrong by the church. What Mr. Ingraham did not do was to talk about the change of use that was granted to New Covenant's Pastor Simeon Hall by the same Prime Minister Christie. Of course, the Pastor at Golden Gates is perceived to be PLP; the other pastor is an FNM. That is Ingrahamization. Perry Christie did not call Pastor Hall’s name when he responded to Mr. Ingraham and that shows the difference between the two men. This nasty man Mr. Ingraham has pushed everything into an FNM/PLP divide. Golden Gates did nothing wrong and should be congratulated for their effort. Hubert Ingraham on the other hand should be condemned for yet again talking fool.

CHRISTIE RESPONDS TO INGRAHAM

“Based on the right honourable member’s (Ingraham) now intervention, I have to determine whether that committee (on crown lands) will ever be given life to report. …I am now very curious as to whether or not there will be prorogation during this summer and that committee will die.”
That is a quote from former Prime Minister Perry Christie as he responded to Hubert Ingraham’s diatribe in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 22nd July. Mr. Christie interrupted Mr. Ingraham’s address. His view was that Mr. Ingraham is trying to fool the public with so much information, hoping that they form the view that he has already done all the investigations that needs to be done into the Crown Land scandal. There are rumours that the House will be prorogued before the end of the summer and that the Committee will then die and never do its work. Mr. Christie himself gave a detailed response to the comments of the Prime Minister in the House of Assembly. He spoke on Monday 20th July. You may click here for Mr. Christie's full statement.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

CONFUSION IN THE FNM GOVERNMENT
    The FNM government is quite simply lost. Hubert Ingraham came home from Haiti to tell us to expect more job losses. That was Monday 20th July when the Guardian reported it. The same day the Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes was saying that he does not expect any further job losses. Tells you what he knows. A few days later, we had 24 laid off from Ansbacher Bank, recently taken over by the Colina behemoth. Then you had 85 reportedly laid off from Old Bahama Bay in West End, Grand Bahama. Looks like the Minister of Labour was out of the loop.
    Then the Ministry of Education put together a team that came up with a ten-year plan for Education in the country. They suggested that funding education through a lottery was one way forward. It did not take long for the Minister of Education’s own brother Pastor Lyall Bethel to attack the plan saying it was wrong on moral grounds. The Prime Minister then weighed in and said that the Ministry had overstepped its bounds. But the Education Committee stuck to its views and said that it still supported a national lottery to fund education. What’s going on here?
    Mr. Ingraham told us that on his Haitian trip he had told Rene Preval the Haitian president that he expected that by the end of the year mangoes would be coming into The Bahamas directly and not through Miami. No word from his Minister of Agriculture who when the question was posed to him just smiled. Another Minister said: “Just don’t hold your breath!”
    Meanwhile the Governor of the Central Bank Wendy Craigg says that liquidity in the system is quite good so that there is a pool of 489 million dollars to loan. Only thing is the reason why there is so much liquidity is that the banks will not lend any of the money. Perhaps these public officials do not really know how people in this country are suffering without any money in circulation. This is Hubert Ingraham’s Bahamas.

THE BRITISH GET HACKED IN TCI
    The British Governor and his bosses in London were so anxious to get at former Premier Michael Misick and the Turks and Caicos Government that they could not wait for the legal processes to unfold to put the proper Commission of Inquiry report up on the web.
    Last week, we reported that the British Governor Gordon Wetherell issued a statement saying that he was going to publish the full Commission of Inquiry report with certain bits redacted because of ongoing legal challenges in London. Well, he did; and guess what? The report was not redacted at all. The full report was there, all 266 pages of it, and it was of course downloaded by others before the British got on to it and pulled the whole thing from the web. Too late though!
    The British tried to stop the unredacted report from being circulated but one website went to Court and challenged the decision and the Courts agreed that the whole report is now in the public domain. So you don’t have to read the redacted report, you can see the whole report. Search the web. The report has recommended criminal investigations into Mr. Misick and four other Ministers in his government. You think it was really an accident or one of those things done on purpose?

FRED SMITH SHOULDN’T GET A DIME
The Nassau Guardian has reported that the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court Ernie Wallace has determined that Fred Smith, the lawyer, is owed one million dollars in fees from Pleasant Bridgewater for winning the case that’s she brought against Zhivargo Laing the FNM MP in the Election Court. The bill is outrageous and should not be paid. Our view is that Fred Smith should not get a dime. There is no work that he did that is worth one million dollars notwithstanding what any court judgment says.
Tennyson Wells when he was in the House of Assembly would constantly complain about lawyers bills and how they are far out of proportion to the work that they actually do. Former Senator Bridgewater, who has faced a raft of legal troubles over the last year, including a criminal prosecution that comes up in September, was sanguine. She said she did what she thought was best and would deal with whatever the bill was. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie was quoted in the press as saying that the PLP would stand by Ms. Bridgewater.

FRED MITCHELL ON SPORTS FUNDING
    Thomas Augustus Robinson was from his given names a man from whom much was expected. As a black man in a colonial Bahamas, you would not have thought in his birth that he was destined for greatness. But greatness is what he achieved. He has lived a full life and represented The Bahamas at four Olympics: 1956 in Melbourne by himself carrying the colonial flag for a country where he was not considered a full man and in a country where he was not considered a full man; 1960 in Rome, 1964 in Tokyo and 1968 in Mexico.
    Tommy Robinson never won medals in the Olympics, but in the Commonwealth Games, he won medals in 1958 and got silver in the games in Jamaica in 1966. The track stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre is named after him. He is not well and in the circumstances that have been revealed, he is to be honoured by his friends and the country today at a special banquet at Sandals in New Providence.
    Fred Mitchell raised these comments as he spoke on legislation before the House to adopt into domestic law the anti doping convention of the United Nations Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday 22nd July. Mr. Mitchell argued for more to be spent on sports because it was a way to help lift young people out of poverty. He said he spoke for all the non-athletes in the country. He said he himself had not understood why physical education was a class in school until he reached university level. You may click here for Mr. Mitchell's full statement.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay

INGRAHAM CRIES: 'MITCHELL DON’T LIKE ME!'
    Hubert Ingraham, big grown man, Prime Minister of the country, gets up on national television in the middle of his address on crown land on Wednesday 22nd July in the House of Assembly to cry and complain that Fred Mitchell does not like him. According to Mr. Ingraham, every time he starts to speak, Fred Mitchell who so dislikes and disregards me that he cannot even stay inside to listen to me answer questions that he (Fred Mitchell) asked. What a strange thing for a Prime Minister to do. In the middle of a term of office, to stand up and cry that a Member of Parliament from the Opposition does not stay in the chamber to listen to him.
    Mr. Ingraham took it further once Mr. Mitchell returned to the chamber and said from his seat, “You must stay in the chamber and listen to what I have to say.” Mr. Mitchell said from his seat “Why are you raising that when you spent four years walking out of the House when you were last here?” Fred Mitchell spoke later in the day to say that Mr. Ingraham was certainly mischaracterizing his behaviour. He repeated what the late Sir Milo Butler said: “I don’t hate you. I hate your ways!”
    Mr. Mitchell did not comment on whether he walked out or not during Mr. Ingraham’s statements, but said he remembered that for four years Mr. Ingraham treated the whole House with contempt when as an MP he would simply come in for two minutes and leave the house after being marked present, such was his contempt for the House and the Bahamian people. Mr. Mitchell said now Mr. Ingraham has found out that you need someone to call you Mr. Prime Minister in order to be Prime Minister. He added that a Prime Minister that treats the people with contempt can expect to be treated with contempt. Imagine that: Ingraham has his feelings hurt because Fred Mitchell wouldn’t stay in the House and listen to him. Boo! Hoo! Hoo!

NEW COLUMBIAN AMBASSADOR

The new Ambassador to The Bahamas from Columbia, Emelio Diaz Mejia, resident in Jamaica, presented his letters of credence to the Governor General Arthur D. Hanna on Thursday 23rd July at the Government House Ballroom. During the ceremony, the Governor General asked for Columbia’s support for The Bahamas’ membership in the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and for support at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for Dr. Davidson Hepburn to be President of UNESCO for the next term. Present for the occasion was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette. There followed a luncheon at Graycliff hosted by the Governor General. The Government House kitchen is being repaired. Spokesman on Foreign Affairs for the Opposition Fred Mitchell attended the function. Above, Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell MP congratulates the Ambassador with Minister of Agriculture Larry Cartwright and his wife Anne in the background. Below left, Mr. Mitchell talking to Archbishop Patrick Pinder of the Roman Catholic Church before lunch; below right, the luncheon table with Deputy Prime Minister Symonette at centre left next to the Governor General, the Opposition spokesman Fred Mitchell is on the right side with the Ambassador at the Centre; and next to the MP Mitchell is Justice Claire Hepburn.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay

FNM CHAIRMAN ON FIRE FROM THE INSIDE
    Senator Johnley Ferguson, the Chairman of the FNM who has so much to say about the PLP had better start looking inside his own organization and talking about that. On Saturday 25th July, The Tribune quoted an anonymous source said to be a high-ranking FNM official who lambasted Mr. Ferguson for his inaction as FNM Chair. For those in the PLP who attack this column, it proves what we have been saying; when you don’t have a credible internal means to approach an issue that is of importance, then people turn to the outside to influence the result. What is quoted here needs no further comment:
    “This position [FNM Chair] is simply too important for anyone to be pussy footing around with…
     “His role is to keep the party relevant in the country. He is to organise constituency associations and to keep the message of the FNM in the country interesting and timely and attract new members to the party. In other words, his mission should be to help foster party unity. However, since he has been in the chair, he has caused disunity in several constituencies. He has abandoned some of the basic polices that would level the playing field in constituency election of officers."
(The source then says that the rule that you must attend three meetings before you can vote was waived in elections in Bamboo Town, South Beach and Golden Isles and in the Women's Branch--Editor)
    “His attention is scattered between his activities in South Eleuthera and his position. Therefore the Chairmanship is not getting the attention it deserves. While Mr. Ferguson has a good education, he certainly is not capable of galvanizing support for the FNM. We need a ‘hands on’ aggressive, politically astute chairman that can reach out and touch people."
(Need we say anymore--Editor)

A NEW COACH OR JUST MORE PRAYERS?
    Coach Bernard Nottage MP looked the part as the game started between the Pastors and the Politicians. This is a reprise from the defeat last year by a collective team of Pastors against a collective team from the House of Assembly. This time, the coach has help from overseas, with a politician from the US, Julian Brown. If this were the NBA, Coach would have been in trouble.
    Missing in action was last years MVP for the politicians Zhivargo Laing. He injured his Achilles tendon and so sat it out. Missing also was Obie Wilchcombe MP for West End and Bimini. But what the team lacked in manpower, they made up for with enthusiasm. Charles Maynard, the Minister for Culture, put on a great show and was the best at enthusiasm. Tommy Turnquest, the Minister of National Security even fell down a few times, never lost his glasses and made a few baskets. Good thing, because for a time there, the Pastors had an unanswered 12-point run. The coach looked worried.
    In the end, the politicians side rallied with Hubert Minnis MP for Killarney, Anthony Moss MP for Exuma, Senator Michael Halkitis, Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. Phenton Neymour, the Minister of State for the Environment said he was on injured reserve, but was ready, willing and able to do the interview with the press.
    Where was former basketball standout Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt? Melanie Griffin MP Yamacraw and Senator Allyson Gibson all promised to cheer the squad. Where were they?
    All was in good fun at the Nelson Cooper Basketball Classic, trying to promote peace on the streets. Carlos Reid is its progenitor and he is seeking to show that you can have profound differences, but still enjoy a good game together, without killing one another and fighting. Next year, though, the coach has one last chance; if life lasts and of course, you know that the preachers would say: if the Lord allows. The final score of the game at the Kendal Isaacs Gym on Saturday 25th July was Pastors 34; Politicians 23.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Weather Radar Not Working
I would like you to investigate that since January 22nd the Doppler weather radar that was purchased under the former PLP Government is not working and has not been working since January 22nd of this year. This is a vital piece of equipment and for it not to be working for such a long time is a disgrace. Many persons, especially pilots and staff members have complained that this radar is down, but so far the Management of the Department of Meteorology has been slow to try and get this radar fixed. Since this weather radar has been operating, it has been plagued with many periods of it being down for months at a time. This is relatively new equipment and I don’t feel the government got its money’s worth from this new piece of equipment. This is the hurricane season and to not have this equipment working is a disgrace and would put the lives of many Bahamians at risk especially pilots and weather forecasters who have to rely on this instrument.
Name withheld
(This adds to our concern that the airport, despite being turned over to the professional Canadian airport management company, is not up to scratch. The Air Traffic Controllers are saying that the ILS system that guides planes in for landing is also not working. The Director of Civil Aviation Pat Rolle has said that the ILS will be up in time for Miss Universe. The government should explain why the radar is not working and when they expect it to be back in operation. -- Editor)

IN PASSING
Commissioner Threatened?
The Tribune reported on Friday 25th July that the nuts on the front left tire of the Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson’s car were loosened. The paper says that this happened with the car right in the compound. They should not be surprised; the security in the compound is the slackest it has ever been. The report says Assistant Commissioner of Police Raymond Gibson is investigating whether this is a threat to the Commissioner. Insiders report that this may be a sign of the widespread disgruntlement in the Force at the Commissioner and the way the Force has become so politically divided. We warned the Government about this appointment.

Nurses Still Plan To Strike
The Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes has refused to set a time for a strike vote to be taken by the Bahamas Nurses Union. The Minister says that he cannot do so because the industrial agreement between the nurses and the government has not been registered with the Industrial Tribunal. We reported earlier on this site that the government was using this tack to say they will not honour the nurse’s contact. The government quickly backed off that suggestion. They need to back off the present suggestion and schedule the strike vote before the nurses simply go on strike. Nurses are seeking to overturn the unilateral decision of the government to renege on paying for their health insurance.

Lutheran Minister Calls For Referendum On National Lottery
Dr. Emmett Weir, Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Freeport, Grand Bahama has called for a national referendum on gambling in The Bahamas. He was speaking to the Rotary Club of Freeport on Thursday 23rd July. His comments came amidst the controversy where the Ministry of Education’s policy group has called for a lottery to fund education and pastors in Nassau have attacked the idea. The Prime Minister has said that the policy group overreached itself.

Another Hung Jury
There was a hung jury (could not reach a verdict) in the murder trial of Dudley Moree, 23. He is charged with fatally shooting Dorneil Ferguson, with whom he worked at Butler's Funeral Home, and making an attempt on the life of Mr. Ferguson’s wife, Yuzanne, during an early morning ambush at their apartment on Family Street, off Soldier Road, on June 26, 2008. He was also accused of endangering the life of the couple's infant daughter Dorneisha. The crown said the motive was revenge for an argument that took place two days before. The defence argued that despite the dying declaration, the dead Mr. Ferguson could not have seen his assailant because it was too dark. At least half the jury agreed and now the matter has to go back to trial. The hung jury came on Thursday 23rd July.

Jerome Fitzgerald Ups It A Notch
Jerome Fitzgerald is not only working to get Earl Deveaux, Minister of Environment’s seat but also working on his last nerve. The usually calm, above the fray, unflappable Earl Deveaux lost it this past week when he tried to sully the reputation of Mr. Fitzgerald a PLP senator who is leading the charge against the movement of the port of Nassau to Arawak Cay. The press said that Mr. Deveaux himself delivered material that seemed to show that Mr. Fitzgerald had a conflict of interest because he was part of a group that entered negotiations with the government of Perry Christie to put a water plant at Arawak Cay. Not so said Mr. Fitzgerald. You may click here for his statement. Further, said Senator Fitzgerald, "All of this is not really the point here: I have put questions to the governmnet which they have yet to answer:
1. Where is the EIA for the rxtension of Arawak Cay?
2. Where is the traffic impact report of new port on West Bay Street?
3. What is the cost of the port? We have read in the dailies 175M, 150M and 80M.
4. Where is the financial feasibility report on the port?
5. Why has the government chosen the loaction which was ranked 6 out of 7 as the worst possible site by Coastal Systems International in Nov.2005?
6. Where is the causeway to connect Arawak Cay to West Bay Street to be located?
7. Why would the PM during the election promise the Bahamian people that Arawak Cay would be a tourist and cultural centre and now turn it into a container port? What would make him change his mind?
The PLP decided from the start that there would be no industrial uses on Arawak Cay so the question never arose. It must be a pretty desperate situation for the Minister to try to pollute the issue with the release of half the information. Meanwhile Mr. Fitzgerald was on the scene with residents of the Vista Marina subdivision, which is being wrecked by the government’s plans to put a road right through the subdivision. The road will lead from the container port to the interior assembly area for containers.

One Of Sir Milo’s Grandsons Is Shot
Allen Butler, one of the grandsons of Sir Milo, was closing up shop at the Butler’s Bargain Mart store in Baillou Hill Road, Nassau Saturday 18th July when he was accosted by robbers. He was shot in the leg and had to be hospitalized where he is reportedly recovering.

Raynard Rigby and Wife Alex Have A Son Zane
There used to be a time when the birth of a child was announced over the community announcements of Radio ZNS. No more. But Raynard Rigby who is the former Chairman of the PLP and now an activist in civil society and his wife Alexandria gave birth to a baby boy called Zane. The birth came at 11:53 p.m. on Tuesday 21st July at the Princess Margaret Hospital. It was announced in the House of Assembly on 22nd July by Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell. He welcomed a new PLP and asked the House to welcome the new Bahamian into the world. Mother and baby are doing fine. He joins three other female siblings. Congratulations!

The Also Ran Has Something To Say On Crown Land
The Leader of the political party Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) Cassius Stuart has once again risen from the grave to have something of importance to say. This time it is on crown land. Having not been heard from for months, he is again back in the news, this time to say what he has always said “A Pox On both your Houses.” Mr. Stuart claims that the PLP and the FNM are to blame for giving away Bahamian Crown Land. He says that the politicians have been putting the land in the names of their friends, sweethearts and family in order to hide the fact that they have been giving away the land. He promised that if his party is elected to office, he will change all of this.

Scotiabank New Branch But Amidst Rumours Of Dismissals

The Minister of State and former FNM parliamentarian and now Scotiabank Boss Barry Malcolm were looking pretty and smiling as they opened the Scotiabank Branch in the shopping centre at the Caves in western New Providence. This opening comes against the backdrop of reports that the sister-in-law of former Prime Minister Perry Christie, Cleopatra Christie was separated from the bank for what many believe are political reasons. The talk is also that Wayde Christie, another senior manager was on the hit list but the Prime Minister intervened to stop it. These two reports follow the departure in rapid succession of Joanna Bowe, Michael Rolle and Ed Curry all senior managers from the bank. Presumably, this is the direction that Canada wants to take. We say it smacks of Ingrahamization of the banking sector to us. FNMs are in place everywhere. No loans being granted. From left are Central Bank Governor Wendy Craigg; Scotiabank Group Head Rod Pifield; Scotiabank Bahamas Managing Director Barry Malcolm; Mrs. Malcolm (cutting ribbon) and Zhivargo Laing, Minister for State in the Ministry of Finance.

Sandals To Buy Emerald Palms
Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool Wallace faced with sagging tourist numbers and desperately hoping that the Miss Universe Pageant will boost the tourist arrivals, had some good news to announce. Sandals, owned by Butch Stewart of Jamaica has signed a contract to buy the old Emerald Bay resort, once run by Four Seasons in Exuma which is now in receivership and closed its doors on 31st May of this year. That is good and bad news. There will be good news for Exuma that an operator will open the hotel and employment will return to the island. But Sandals comes with a price. There is little outreach into the community for an all-inclusive resort. No one ventures out once they arrive. Also, Butch Stewart tends to be anti union and in addition likes to get involved in the politics of the country. Some claim he helped to sink the government of St. Lucia under former Prime Minister Kenny Anthony by firing staff at his resort in St. Lucia in the middle of their last campaign. Mr. Vanderpool's announcement was made on 21st July and reported in the Business Section of The Tribune the next day.

Police Change Their Minds On Questioning The Minister
It is extraordinary. Last week, we reported how the police have now begun openly poisoning the well of investigations and criminal actions they are bringing against individuals. The press was full of stories about how a minister of the government was to be questioned in connection with missing funds from a former law partnership in which he was involved. The web is full of stories that the Minister’s partner was questioned and said the money was taken by the Minister for his campaign in 2007 and not replaced. No names were called in any article. The press is really to blame. If this had been a PLP, the name would have been all around. No one from the press sought to call the putative Minister and ask him if it were so. No denial was issued by any minister of the government. Even more remarkable, the Prime Minister whose big mouth is usually up in everything was silent as one of his ministers was being accused of criminal behaviour. Then the press reported that the Minister had given a sworn statement in the matter saying, “I did nothing. I did not take any money. In fact, I sued my former partner and got a judgment against him.” You would have thought that with that the press would go to the registry and find out who these nameless faceless people are. But nothing. This is Ingrahamization at its best. The country suffers in silence in the face of FNM truths and the FNM’s leader’s writ runs large at the moment. The police have now changed their minds and told the press that they no longer want to question the Minister. Now there’s a big surprise. Next week, we may have to call names if the press does not do its job.

FNMs Take Over The Accounting Profession
Now that the FNM has captured the Bar Association and the lawyers, they have moved on to the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants. Reece Chipman, the FNM’s candidate in the last election for St. Thomas More, who was defeated by Frank Smith of the PLP, is now leader of the accountants. Another example of the Ingrahamization of our country.

Corruption In Customs

The Acting Comptroller of Customs Glen Gomez has upset his officers by telling The Nassau Guardian in its Tuesday 21st July edition that 100 million dollars or 15 percent of the annual take of Customs is lost to corruption. He said that there is widespread corruption in Customs and he vows to root it out. This is yet another example, of the Ingrahamization of our country. Here you have a public servant, appointed specifically by Mr. Ingraham who has adopted the language and tenor of Hubert Ingraham where everyone is crook beside themselves. We will watch to see what John Pinder, the President of the Bahamas Public Services Union, the bargaining agent for customs officers has to say on this. He is a tight buddy of Mr. Ingraham and the FNM who agreed that workers hired by the PLP before 2007 should be fired by the FNM. Can you hear Mr. Pinder’s the silence? Ingrahamized! Gomez is pictured in a Nassau Guardian photo by Tony Grant Jr.

New Bridge For GBI
The Grand Bahama Port Authority with Jack Hayward now fully in control has announced that a new four-lane bridge will be built to join Freeport with east Lucaya. This will be in addition to the two-lane bridge that has been in use for 40 years. The bridge will take more weight. The St. Georges, the other part owners of the Port who are engaged in an intense legal fight with Jack Hayward were nowhere in evidence at the press conference. This was reported in the Nassau Guardian of 22nd July.

You Can Now Be Charged With Raping Your Wife
Well not quite yet. But Minister of State for Social Development Loretta Butler Turner told the House on Wednesday 22nd July that the government was laying before the House a bill that will criminalize sex without consent within marriage. It will mean that a man can be charged with the rape of his wife. At the moment in Bahamian law, such a charge can be brought only if you are in the midst of divorce proceedings or separated. Mrs. Turner said that following the Universal Periodic Review of the Bahamian position on the UN Convention on Discrimination Against Women, the recommendation came that The Bahamas needed to criminalize that behaviour without the limitation of separation or being in the midst of divorce proceedings. The bill is to remain on the table over the summer for public discussion. No doubt the Bible scholars and born again Christians will take umbrage at the very notion that a wife can say no to her husband. We will see what happens.

Crawfish Season
Fishermen will be setting out to sea at the end of the week to set their traps for crawfish. The closed season ends on Friday 31st July.

5^th July, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THIS COLUMN’S MISSION...
A DASTARDLY DEED AT N.I.B....	BAHAMAS WRITERS SUMMER INSTITUTE...
CATHOLICS CELEBRATE 50 YEARS IN PHOTOS...	INGRAHAMIZING THE COUNTRY...
JACK HAYWARD’S SON IS LET BACK IN...	INGRAHAM’S POEM BACK IN HIS FACE...
PLP CHAIR ANSWERS WATSON...	BRITISH DIG IN THEIR HEELS IN THE TURKS...
CARICOM ON TCI...	PASTOR’S QUARTER MILLION DOLLAR CAR...
US INDEPENDENCE DAY...	INDEPENDENCE DAY...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	IN PASSING...






The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

12^th July, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THE MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE...
WHERE STANDS THE PLP?...	MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE...
HOPE SLAYS THE HARBOUR PROJECT...	INDEPENDENCE AT 36 IN PHOTOS...
THE MURDER TRIALS...	CARICOM – AN IMPERFECT UNION...
TREEMONISHA...	JAY MITCHELL ON MICHAEL JACKSON...
	IN PASSING...








The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

19^th July, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THOSE WHOM THE GODS WOULD DESTROY...
THE REPORT ON THE PLP...	SHANE CHALLENGES MPS ON LAND...
‘BRAVE’ DAVIS SPEAKS...	THE BOYS RETURN...
MITCHELL ON CROWN LAND...	PLPS GATHER STEAM AGAINST THE PORT...
HOW THE BANKS TREAT CUSTOMERS...	A GUILTY VERDICT IN ONE; A HUNG JURY IN ANOTHER...
EXUMA INDEPENDENCE...	FOX HILL CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE...
FEAST OF DEDICATION FOR ST. AGNES...	LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...
	IN PASSING...






The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

26^th July, 2009 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THE MURDER OF LESLIE MAYCOCK...
COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO LOOK INTO CROWN LANDS...	LAND ISSUES IN THE PUBLIC EYE...
INGRAHAM’S PERFORMANCE FLOPS...	CHRISTIE RESPONDS TO INGRAHAM...
CONFUSION IN THE FNM GOVERNMENT...	THE BRITISH GET HACKED IN TCI...
FRED SMITH SHOULDN’T GET A DIME...	FRED MITCHELL ON SPORTS FUNDING...
INGRAHAM CRIES: 'MITCHELL DON’T LIKE ME!'...	NEW COLUMBIAN AMBASSADOR...
FNM CHAIRMAN ON FIRE FROM THE INSIDE...	A NEW COACH OR JUST MORE PRAYERS?...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	IN PASSING...






The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.

Volume 7 © BahamasUncensored.com 2009

While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source of their material from this web site. Click here for the law on copyright as it applies to this website.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return to the top of the page.