bahamasuncensored.com
JUNE 2009
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Volume 7 © BahamasUncensored.com 2009
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14th June, 2009
21st June, 2009
28th June, 2009
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| BLOCKED AT THE DOOR:
It
was a chilling scene. Half a dozen police officers, some men, some
women, some in khaki, some in the red stripe, but all of them ominous.
Members of Parliament for the Progressive Liberal Party were headed to
the House of Assembly with Glenys Hanna Martin, the MP for Englerston and
the Chairman of the PLP. Mrs. Hanna Martin had been expelled from
the House of Assembly the day before Wednesday 3rd June. On that
day she rose from her seat to ask for an explanation from the Government
about the death of Michael Knowles, 15, in a police lock up in South Beach
in New Providence. The police said that he died by his own hand,
using the drawstring from a pair of pants which he had on. The mother
of the boy denies that he had any pants with a drawstring. In any
event, what was a drawstring doing in his pants when all of that is supposed
to be removed from the prisoner when he is put in the lock up including
laces from shoes? How is it possible for someone to have the time
to hang themselves without someone spotting it? What was a juvenile
doing in a cell with nine other male adults? These are all questions
that needed answering. It was a matter of critical public importance.
The government did not want to hear it. The Speaker of the House
demanded that she sit down. When she did not sit down, he “named”
her and then ordered her expelled from the House. The government
then moved a resolution, never put, to have Mrs. Hanna Martin removed from
the House. She said that she would not go, and the police were called
to the House of Assembly to remove her but the PLP Members of Parliament
moved to protect her, led by Dr. Bernard Nottage, the Leader of Opposition
business in the House of Assembly. The police were unable to remove
her but the Speaker gave orders that she was not to enter the precincts
the next day. The scene then was set for Thursday 4th June when she
was blocked from doing the people’s business by order of the Speaker and
with the support of the FNM government. Our photo of the week is
the protest at the door of the House by the PLP as they sought to enter
the House on Thursday 4th June.. BIS photo: Peter Ramsay |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE GOVERNMENT’S PROGRAMME
DERAILED
For the first time in the history of the country, since independence
in 1973, the government’s attempt to pass a budget for the country has
been derailed. On the face it, one might argue that it was derailed
by the PLP led by its Chairman Glenys Hanna Martin for insisting that a
matter of public importance be dealt with at the first opportunity on the
agenda (see photo of the week). But the real reason was the stupidity
of Alvin Smith, the Speaker of the House of Assembly who is proving once
again to act like an idiot. The real reason was the arrogance and
intransigence of a government ignorant of history, secure in their omniscience
and reassured in the view that it doesn’t matter.
The response of the FNM to the matter raised by Glenys Hanna Martin
shows the difference between the PLP and the FNM. The PLP raised
an issue about a dead boy, the FNM responded with rules and procedure.
The PLP talks about people. The FNM talks about laws and regulations.
The PLP says people first. The FNM, well we don’t know what they
put first, but it certainly is not the people of the country.
What we found interesting while the whole matter unfolded in the
House of Assembly was that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister and the
leader of this nefarious FNM bunch that runs the country, just sat there
for a time with a vacant stare, as if he was in a drunken stupor, or having
an out of body experience. Then he tried cracking jokes with his
followers in the House, to rally the troops. Then he caught himself
when he realized that clowning was not going to help the situation.
In this regard, a special condemnation must again be directed toward Charles
Maynard, the Minister of Culture, who in fact displays no sign of being
cultured at all. He cracked sick jokes; he attacked Mrs. Hanna.
He tried to make fun. All of it fell flat, although one could hear
the hollow laughter of FNM partisans from the other side of the House.
Mrs. Hanna Martin answered back as good as he gave. In the end, he
looked stupid, but it was probably lost on him.
Then there was the lack of judgment on their part, a lack of judgment
and discretion which results in extreme behaviour, overreach which results
in them having to dig in their heels, set on top of their faulty logic
that what they began they could not undo.
During five years in office of the PLP from 2002 to 2007, the 25
years from 1967 to 1992, no Member of Parliament was expelled from the
House of Assembly under the order of Speaker or with the support of the
majority. The last time such an event transpired was in 1965 when
Arthur Hanna, the now Governor General and the father of the Member of
Parliament for Englerston was expelled from the House and carted out by
the police, preceded by the late Sir Milo Butler. According to The
Tribune that was the first time that had happened in the then 236 years
of the Parliament.
That was in the days of the United Bahamian Party (UBP). The
dreaded UBP with Stafford Sands, Pop Symonette and Bobby Symonette were
thrown out office in 1967. They disappeared from history. They
were replaced by the FNM. So is it any surprise with the FNM being
the successors to the UBP that once again a PLP is thrown out of the House
of Assembly. And the Speaker of the House and the FNM are so ignorant
to those facts that they do not care and act to do so anyway. Why
would Alvin Smith want to go down in history as being associated with the
United Bahamian Party and the hated Speaker Bobby Symonette?
Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
For the first time that anyone can remember, the government of The
Bahamas ended up walking out of the House. Not the Opposition.
The Opposition was there and ready to do business but the Opposition was
prevented from doing the business of the people on Wednesday 3rd June because
the government walked out of the House. The House was suspended for
five minutes to remove the Member for Englerston. The Speaker said
he would not come back into the House unless she was moved or moved.
She was not and did not. He refused to come back so the House was
suspended until the next day at 10 a.m. without a resolution but by operation
of the rules. The government walked out and said they would be back
the next day.
This was a shameful and disgraceful act on the part of the Speaker
of the House. He is condemned again in history for his act.
He has once again shown himself to be partisan and injudicious. He
ought to resign. If he does not resign, Hubert Ingraham should find
a mechanism to replace him. It is as simple as that.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 6th June 2009 up to midnight:
159,308.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 6th June 2009
up to midnight: 121,911.
Number of hits for the year 2006 up to Saturday 6th June 2009 up
to midnight: 4,746,320.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
THE VIDEO
LINK
The PLP Media man was present for all of the action
and drama at the House of Assembly on Thursday 4th June. Visit www.myplp.com
Watch and enjoy
THE
LABOUR DAY PARADE
Nassau
This year Labour Day was celebrated on Friday 5th
June. The first Friday in June is set aside to honour the workers
of the country. It has been celebrated as a holiday since 1962.
Sir Randol Fawkes, the late head of the Bahamas Federation of Labour was
the mover of the resolution to create the public holiday. The day
was chosen because it closely approximates the time of the Burma Road Riots
of 1942, which took place on the 1st and 2nd June 1942. The riots
were the first spontaneous protest by Bahamian labourers for the improvement
of the working conditions in the country.
This year the National Congress of Trade Unions
(NCTU) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), the two umbrella labour organizations
could not agree on a single march. The PLP joined the NCTU march,
fully regaled in their gold shirts, led by Perry Christie, the Leader of
the party and former Prime Minister.
Photos: Peter Ramsay
Photos: Peter Ramsay
Freeport
Fred Mitchell, MP for Fox Hill and Obie Wilchcombe,
the Member of Parliament for West End and Bimini joined the trade union
leaders and the unions in Freeport for the annual parade of the workers
in Freeport. The march took a different route this year. Strangely,
instead of going through the populated areas of the city, the march went
up the East Sunrise Highway, up Seahorse Drive, to Midshipman and then
to Taino Beach. Mr. Wilchcombe spoke on behalf of the Progressive
Liberal Party at the brief ceremony that followed. Again, PLPs both
young and old showed up in their colours, outnumbering FNMs two to one.
Photos: Allyson Smith
Above, Obie Wilchcombe, MP West End and Bimini PLP and Fred Mitchell,
MP Fox Hill PLP with two supporters of the M team, the new leadership team
of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union.
Left, Assistant Secretary General Northern region Michelle Reckley,
with her son James, engineering student…
Right, Allyson Smith, Progressive Liberal Action Network (PLAN)
with tourists on the march joining in the fun...
Left; MPs Mitchell and Wilchcombe with ‘Bumble’, a Fox Hillian who
is FNM, living in Freeport… Right, young PLPs on the march flash
the sign...
PLP Senator Michael Darville with children lining up for Labour
Day.
Photos: Allyson Smith
PLP’S
MOVES IN PHOTOS
It was a day of great excitement for the Progressive
Liberal Party on Wednesday 3rd June. The Budget debate was set to
begin, but Alvin Smith, the hapless FNM Speaker set the cat amongst the
pigeons by refusing to hear Glenys Hanna Martin, the PLPs Chair, who was
speaking out on behalf of the relatives of the dead 15-year-old boy Michael
Knowles. This led to a confrontation with the Speaker who ordered
her removed from the House of Assembly by the police. This is only
the second time in the history of the Parliament that this has happened.
Then it got more bizarre with the Prime Minister and his colleagues leaving
the House, the House resuming the next day at 10 a.m. and Mrs. Hanna Martin
being blocked by the police from entering the House. The PLP chose
not to have confrontation with the police. They had made their point.
PLPs joined their leaders in the public square on Thursday 4th June.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay [Rally photos: Courtesty PLP]
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay [Rally photos: Courtesty PLP]
IT
HAPPENED BEFORE
The expulsion of Glenys Hanna Martin proves the
adage those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
It also shows the FNM’s ignorance of the history of The Bahamas and their
association with the hated and dreaded UBP. With one stroke, it is
confirmed that they are the inheritors of the UBP. How Alvin Smith
could get them into such a mess is beyond us. Here it is, the daughter
of Arthur Hanna who was the last person thrown out of the House by the
UBP, being thrown out of the House by the FNM, inheritors of the UBP.
The UBP agreed to die and amalgamated with the FNM in 1972. There
are people on that side who ought to have known better, and not allowed
themselves to fall into that trap.
Charles Maynard MP (FNM) for Golden Isles is obviously
a lost soul. He is the grandson of the suffragette Georgiana K. Symonette
and he supported what happened in the House. Milo Butler’s granddaughter
Loretta Butler Turner (FNM Montagu) whose grandfather was thrown out on
the last occasion just before Arthur Hanna, sat there and agreed for Glenys
Hanna Martin to be thrown out of the House of Assembly. Hubert Ingraham,
the Prime Minister and leader of the FNM has confirmed his status as the
thickheaded Uncle Tom of the bunch. What a pity.
Tribune file photo
JACKASS
OF THE WEEK
What do you do when a man persists in carrying on
with stupid behaviour? You try to train him. You try to be
civil with him, but he persists in wrongdoing and unfairness. The
situation got so bad this week, that the man who applied the rules of the
House like Dumbo the elephant; Alvin Smith (FNM North Eleuthera) was busy
writing himself into the history books as being connected to the dreaded
racist United Bahamian Party, stopping representatives of the people from
coming into the House and expelling those representatives.
Alvin Smith needs to find a new job. He, like
Elma Campbell Chase (former Senator and now Ambassador removed from the
Senate to China after complaints from FNMs and the public) and Kay Smith
(see story IN PASSING) are an embarrassment to the FNM and Hubert Ingraham
needs to find a new job for him. You cannot keep getting your party
in trouble from embarrassing missteps and then expect to survive politically.
For seeking to expel Glenys Hanna Martin from the House of Assembly this
week, we have no other choice; the unanimous consent of the Board of Editors
is that Alvin Smith is the Jackass of The Week.
A
NEW U.S. AMBASSADOR NOMINATED
We can now confirm the appointment of Nicole A. Avant as Ambassador
designate to The Bahamas for the United States of America. We reported
earlier that a name had been forwarded to The Bahamas government and the
agreement to that name was awaiting approval of The Bahamas government.
It is not known when she will be confirmed and take up her appointment
in Nassau. Here is what information we know about her:
Avant, 41, currently serves as vice president of
Interior Music and Avant Garde Music Publishing. She is a businesswoman,
philanthropist and activist, she has been recognized for her tireless efforts
to mobilize the younger generation towards greater charitable and political
involvement. Avant is the eldest child of Clarence Avant and his
wife, Jacqueline, and the sister of Alexander Avant. Her father is
a music industry executive who served as chairman of Motown Records and
as a board member with PolyGram.
She has worked as an academic counsellor at The
Neighborhood Academic Initiative, a USC mentorship program for high school
students. Ms. Avant serves as a board member for the Bogart Pediatric
Cancer Research Program, the Center for American Progress and Best Buddies,
and was named one of the American Cancer Society Next Generation Leaders
in 2007.
Avant has acted in a small number of television
shows, including the FOX series JAG, however she is best known for her
political support for the Democratic Party, an interest she shares with
her father. During the campaign for the Democratic Party nomination
and subsequent 2008 Presidential election, Avant was the Southern California
Finance Co-Chair of the Barack Obama presidential campaign.
In addition to her work for Barack Obama’s campaign,
Avant has been involved with fundraising for Al Gore.
Photo: Internet video capture
AIRPLANE
TRAVEL - THE MYSTERY CRASH
When Bahamians travel on those little unstable commuter
planes from Nassau to Miami, they think of the difference between a Bahamasair
pilot and an American Airlines pilot. American Airlines pilots seem
to say to themselves the specifications on the aircraft are “x” and so
whatever weather there is by straight line, they fly through it, to the
discomfort of the passengers and sometimes to screams. Not so a Bahamasair
pilot. They fly over, and around the weather. No bumps, the
comfort of the passengers first. That may be the key to flight 447,
the now ill-fated flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France.
The flight appears to have broken up last Saturday 30th May as it was four
hours into an 11-hour flight at 35,000 feet 400 kilometres off the coast
of Brazil.
The last report is that they spotted and picked
up two bodies and a briefcase containing an Air France ticket. Weather
seems the most likely cause. This is an area of tough thunderstorms.
It appears that the plane’s speed instrument was not working properly,
due to a systemic fault, which is only now to be corrected by replacing
the part on other planes. This meant that the airplane may have been
going at faster or slower speeds than it ought to have and it appears to
have broken up in the sky. The search goes on for clues.
What we say is that all airlines ought to dedicate
themselves to safety first and stop thinking that these planes are indestructible.
They are man made and should fly on the side of safety and pilots and their
bosses should not assume that the tolerances of the airplane should be
stretched merely because the manufacturer says that this is what the plane
can do.
SANDILANDS
GRADUATION
Fred Mitchell, MP for Fox Hill, attended the passing
out ceremony of the Sandilands Primary School on Thursday 4th June.
At the graduation he presented the Member of Parliament’s trophy to the
head boy of the school and valedictorian of the school and the class of
2009 Lorenz Wright. Mr. Wright will be going on to St. Augustine’s
College, the Catholic High School to continue his education.
Mr. Mitchell congratulated Mr. Wright but also advised
his parents of the very special responsibility that they have to ensure
that Lorenz pilots his way through five difficult years in high school,
and the need for his father air traffic controller Gary Wright to be ever
vigilant to ensure that all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
do not set upon him. Mr. Mitchell said that Lorenz was quite a special
young man and needs the full support of the community and his parents to
continue to succeed.
Photo: Miguel Taylor
IN PASSING
TCI Have Three Weeks
The final report of the Commission of Inquiry in the Turks and Caicos
Islands has been presented to the governor. He is now consulting
with London. The Turks government of Galmo ‘Gilly’ Williams has three
weeks before their constitutional democracy is suspended in the Turks and
Caicos. All appeals have been ignored including an appeal to the
United Nations, to Caricom, and to the British government themselves.
The British government has lost any moral right to suspend the constitution
of the Turks and Caicos given the scandals right now in Britain that threaten
to bring down the government of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Finco Income Reversal
The Tribune reported during the past week, that FINCO, the largest
mortgage lender in the country has suffered a 100 percent reversal in its
net profit this year over last year. It is a sign of the bad time
here and to come.
Law Firms Laying Off Staff
The big law firms: Graham Thompson, Callenders and Co., Higgs and Johnson
have all laid off some professional and ancillary staff in the face of
the economic downturn in the country. Colin Callender, the lead partner
in Callenders, says that because of the government’s decision to remove
the cap on real property tax of $35,000 and the acute rise in the tax to
second home owners, there has been a slow down in the high end sales and
building of homes, which has cut their conveyancing business considerably.
The result, the layoffs. Another sign of bad things here and worse
to come.
Kay Smith Leaves For Atlanta
Former FNM Senator Kay Smith has left for Atlanta to take up her position
as Consul General in Atlanta. She is the first Bahamian in that post.
She has resigned her seat in the Senate and as Parliamentary Secretary
in the Office of the Prime Minister in charge of Freeport, ZNS and the
Bahamas Information Services. She was quite unpopular and joins Elma
Campbell Chase, another former FNM Senator, now Ambassador to China, as
having been pushed out because of her unpopularity in Grand Bahama.
Even FNMs thought that she was simply mean to people. The country
now has to pay a price for this including a contract for her for three
years overseas, a brand new house at taxpayer’s expense. Many are
breathing a sigh of relief.
Fifty Three Years Tomorrow - PLP Anniversary
It was 8th June 1956 that the first Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)
representatives took their seats in the House of Assembly. That anniversary
passes on Monday 8th June 2009, tomorrow. The six, known as the Magnificent
Six were the first members of the House to sit as a political party in
the history of the country and the party. The United Bahamian Party
was formed two year later in 1958. The party’s MHAs as they were
then known were Cyril Stevenson, Samuel Isaacs, Clarence Bain, Lynden Pindling,
Randol Fawkes, Milo Butler. We remember them today, all passed on
to glory.
T & T Citizen Judge In Nassau
Justice of Appeal Stanley John has resigned his place in the Trinidad
Court of Appeal and is to take up an appointment in Nassau on the Court
of Appeal of The Bahamas. Mr. John comes straight out of controversy
where he attacked Magistrates in Trinidad for the sentences and almost
caused a strike in the Magistracy there, leading to an apology from the
Trinidadian Chief Justice to the Magistrates. It is not known what
his judicial temperament is and what his philosophical views are.
Practitioners continue to complain about the private manner in which the
Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition appoint judges without
any input from the Bahamas Bar Association.
Ife Sears Resigns Her Crown
Last week, we reported on the Miss Bahamas Universe Pageant.
There was a controversy over the top prize. The organizers have defended
the integrity of the judging, but now comes another surprise. The
second runner up and winner of the Miss Earth Prize, Ife Sears, daughter
of former Education Minister Alfred Sears has resigned the crown after
two weeks to pay more attention to her studies. It immediately started
speculation that there were problems with the judging in the pageant.
Bad Times In Grand Bahama
The city of Freeport seems to be in deep trouble. The city has
lost its clean sheen and there is a great deal of concern over the failing
economy, particularly the dead tourism business. The Grand Bahama
Port Authority seems unable to help and the government is doing nothing
to help.
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Columns
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|
| A GOOD DEBATE:
The Progressive
Liberal Party Members of Parliament had a good week this past week in the
House of Assembly. They scored point after point in the House against
the government and what has been described as a “hopeless” budget.
The team that spoke included Dr. Bernard Nottage, who led the debate.
Others who spoke were Alfred Sears MP Ft. Charlotte, Frank Smith MP for
St. Thomas More and Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill. Later, Glenys
Hanna Martin, Obie Wilchcombe, Picewell Forbes, Alfred Gray, Melanie Griffin,
Anthony Moss, Oswald Ingraham, Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, all spoke. Left
to come, Vincent Peet, Cynthia Pratt and Leader Perry Christie. We
present a photo composite of some of the PLP’s speakers for the week as
our photo of the week.. BIS photos: Peter Ramsay |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE POLICE GET IT WRONG
We have said it before in this column. The police do not have
the leadership that they should have on the Force. The Force is in
a holding pattern and the morale of the Force is going down rapidly because
of a bad decision by the FNM’s Leader Hubert Ingraham to appoint Reginald
Ferguson as Commissioner of Police. Nothing has demonstrated that
more this week than two events: one a ruling by a judge of the Supreme
Court, the other a serious mistake made by the police which caused panic
and outrage in the community and which might have endangered the life of
an innocent man.
In the case Sean Saunders and Warren Ellis vs. the Attorney General,
Justice John Isaacs ruled that the prosecution against them for charges
of murder and conspiracy to commit murder should be stayed. The murder
happened a decade ago and the case was only now coming to trial.
In the case of the mistake by the police, they announced in the press
on Monday 8th June that a five-month-old baby had died of molestation by
a 62-year-old man. The outrage that followed led to crowds gathering
around the courts seeking revenge against someone who they thought would
be charged. It turned out that the baby died of pneumonia.
In the court case, Lorraine Major, an expected crown witness, recanted
her evidence. She said in an affidavit that she had been pressured
by two police officers, then Assistant Commissioner Reginald Ferguson and
one ASP Fernander. She also alleged that her signature had been forged
on the document. The Judge decided that in light of the uncontroverted
evidence on the point, he would stay the prosecution and seemed to adopt
the language of the affidavit in terms of the allegations made against
the police.
The Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson responded with an appeal,
but he also concluded that the statement by the Judge was unfortunate.
The government said nothing save that the Prime Minister rose in his seat
in the House to say that the matter would be appealed. We know that
the Bahamian Court of Appeal is perfectly able to accomplish the most amazing
legal gymnastics, but we find it difficult to see how they will get around
the uncontroverted evidence in this matter. The Crown did not bother
to put an affidavit in reply to say it simply was not true.
Then the startling headline of the death of the baby was generated
from the police blotter. All the newspapers ran with it as did the
radio stations and TV news. The country was upset and outraged.
The Baptist leadership called a press conference to say that this was a
nation in crisis. Most frighteningly of all, the story of the crowds
that gathered outside the court on the rumour that the person was to be
charged, and then the crowd charged a police vehicle with someone in it
unconnected to the matter but they thought that was the person and the
mainly female crowd charged the vehicle. No one was hurt
Then the news came on Thursday 11th June that the child had not died
of molestation after all. The police insisted that they had acted
properly but the fact is they got it wrong and caused panic in the country.
There are those who would argue that this has nothing to do with
the leadership of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. They say that the
Commissioner leaves these things to operational control. The point
we make, though, is that there is a lynch mob atmosphere being perpetrated
within the Force. You have police officers themselves who are being
brought up on charges that they thought had been settled in the criminal
courts and were long ago lost in the bureaucracy. The staff association
of the Force is unhappy about that and are publicly calling for Mr. Ferguson
to go.
But now you add to that an allegation that the Commissioner himself
was involved in seeking to pressure a witness in a case, together with
the condemnation of his conduct by the Commission of Inquiry in the Lorequin
report and you see the problem.
No one knows why the Prime Minister in his discretion has decided
to stick with the status quo. You will remember that when he sent
Ellison Greenslade and Marvin Dames off to Canada as the next most senior
officers, he said that within one year he would decide which of them would
head the Force. We think his difficulty is that he wants to give
the leadership of the Force to Mr. Dames because he is perceived to be
FNM. But the problem is the Force itself does not support that.
Further, he knows that this would be a problem with the PLP. So is
that why he is sticking with the status quo? You add into the mix
the fact that Mr. Ferguson is perceived to be FNM and he is also the brother
of the Chairman of the Free National Movement.
There was a period in the previous history of the Force in an independent
country when people simply said that the Commissioner of Police had stayed
on too long and as a result the Force had lost its modernizing edge.
That was the time of the Thompson/ Bartlett era. Then many argued
that the successor to that group Bernard Bonamy was appointed at too young
a time and stayed too long and again there was a problem. Mr. Ingraham
comes from that school of thought. He has said that there is no circumstance
under which he would countenance appointing someone in the Force who could
be commissioner for 20 years or more. That bars Mr. Greenslade or
Mr. Dames under the present law as it relates to retirement.
Mr. Ingraham changed the law to limit the term of the Commissioner
of Police to ten years. The PLP has argued that this is unconstitutional.
That Act also says the retirement age of a commissioner is 60. Mr.
Ferguson is 62. So if the law were brought into force could Mr. Ferguson
be forced out? There are so many contradictions in the present stand
of the government. The whole point is that the Force itself is in
a state of flux once again. It does not have the right leadership.
Neither does the country for that matter. And we certainly know that
even if you disagree with all of that, last week the Force got it wrong.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 13th June 2009 up to
midnight: 184,695.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 13th June 2009
up to midnight: 306,606.
Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 13th June 2009 at
midnight: 4,931,015.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
MITCHELL
TO SPEAK AT COB POLITICS CLASS
Fred Mitchell will be the special guest of the College
of The Bahamas Politics and Government class on Thursday 18th June.
The class is taught by Professor Felix Bethel. The class will be
held at Choices Restaurant at the College. The first hour will be
a showing of the address of Mr. Mitchell to the House on the Budget.
This will be followed by comments by the students. The class begins
at 8 p.m.
SEARS
SAYS INGRAHAM MUST GO
Alfred Sears PLP MP for Ft. Charlotte, in a scorching address to the House
on the Budget on Monday the 8th June, told the House that Hubert
Ingraham should do what Sir Lynden Pindling did in 1991 and relinquish
the office of Minister of Finance. He said that Mr. Ingraham has
no vision and is a failure. You may click
here for the full address by Mr. Sears.
FRANK
SMITH SEES THE FLAWS IN THE BUDGET
Frank Smith MP St. Thomas More made a comprehensive
address to the House on the budget on Monday 8th June. He said that
the Prime Minister showed a lack of leadership in his presentation.
He took a long hard look at agriculture and showed how the government had
failed to put the money into making sure that agriculture worked.
You may click
here for the full statement of Mr. Smith.
MELANIE
ON THE BUDGET: RESPONDS TO THE SPEAKER
Melanie Griffin is the Opposition’s Shadow Minister
of Social Services. It used to be her portfolio before the PLP lost
office in 2007. She reviewed the work of the government and showed
that the programmes that they say they have are not working and have simply
not delivered in these harsh economic times. Mrs. Griffin was particularly
concerned about the protection of children. She said that she had
repeatedly called for the Child Protection Act that was passed when she
was minister, to be brought into force. She said that the government
had refused. She said that the problem was particularly urgent given
the increased reports of child abuse in the country that seems to be getting
worse. At the end of the address, she took on the Speaker of the
House for attacking her for not standing up when he was leaving the House.
She called his comment unfair. The Speaker ordered her remarks in
part struck from the record. You may click
here for the full statement.
MITCHELL
SCHOOLS SPEAKER
The following is the statement of Fred Mitchell
MP in response to the comments made by the Speaker of the House of Assembly
on Monday 8th June. Mr. Mitchell held a press conference on Thursday
11th June in the Committee Room of the House of Assembly.
“On Monday 8th June when the House of Assembly
suspended its session for the luncheon break the Speaker of the House made
a comment from his chair that two members defiantly refused to stand as
his procession was leaving the House chamber for a break. He named
me and the Member of Parliament for Yamacraw Melanie Griffin as the two
members. He went on to issue what I took to be a threat dressed up
in the garb of advice, not to repeat sitting down while his procession
was leaving.
“First, I wish to say I do not take kindly to
threats. If the Speaker perceives there is an infraction of the rules,
then he must act in accordance with his conscience but do not threaten
me.
“Secondly, and more importantly, this provides
an occasion to put into context the entire range of events which form the
background to the Speaker's comments, and that is the injudicious, ill
considered and intemperate decision by the Speaker to expel Glenys Hanna
Martin from the House. By that single ill considered decision, he
derailed the Government's business and he should be ashamed of himself
for embarrassing the Government. Instead, he threatens me.
“The fact is the honour of rising as the Speaker
leaves is a tradition of the House not a requirement. I use the word
honour deliberately and I say generally that honour and respect are given
to whom honour and respect are due. If you do not yourself give honour
and respect then you are due none.
“The occasion of the unfair expulsion of Mrs.
Hanna Martin from the House has also provided fodder from one commentator
after the next. These Monday morning quarterbacks are the usual suspects
for whom the PLP can do nothing right.
“One commentator said that Mrs. Hanna Martin
was using the death of a young man for politics. How cynical and
simple minded.
“The fact is that the PLP, all political parties,
including the FNM and indeed Alvin Smith himself have engaged in forms
of dissent, civil disobedience and non violent resistance where they perceived
wrongdoing. What the PLP did was part of that tradition of civil
disobedience. The ignorance of that tradition by the Speaker and
the present ruling group allowed them to do what the UBP last did in 1965:
to call the police to stop Members of Parliament from speaking. Alvin
Smith now has the dubious distinction heretofore reserved unto former Speaker
R. H. Bobby Symonette of the United Bahamian Party of having ordered the
police to expel members of parliament.
“As for the question of rules, where rules are
not fairly applied, they must be resisted. There is no court to which
one appeals; this is about power and politics. Justice here depends
on the fairness of the majority and how they exercise power. Clearly,
all sense of proportionality was lost on the Speaker and the ruling group
last week. Apartheid in South Africa was set up by laws and rules.
If we had listened to the critics then, Apartheid would have been left
in place. Slavery was also set up by laws and rules. If we
had listened to these same critics, slavery would still exist.
“I intend to continue to represent the people
of the Fox Hill constituency to the best of my ability; to stand up for
my principles and to work on behalf of the PLP; just as Alvin Smith wants
to do justice for the people of North Eleuthera.”
GLENYS
RETURNS TO THE HOUSE
Glenys Hanna Martin, the MP for Englerston was wrongly
excluded by the Speaker of the House of Assembly last week because of a
bad decision he made to prevent her from speaking about the death of 15-year-old
Michael Knowles in police custody. The policy say that the boy died
by his own hand. See our editorial
of last week on the subject. The House on Thursday 11th June
passed a resolution expelling Mrs. Martin for two days, even though the
Speaker had originally suspended her for two days. That means she was suspended
twice for two days and was prevented from being in the House for three
days.
All of it was unfair but there was nothing that
could be done but protest. The press went into overdrive criticizing
the PLP but essentially, it was silly commentary from what Fred Mitchell
later called the usual suspects. The youth arm of the PLP, the Progressive
Young Liberals, issued a statement in
support of Mrs. Hanna Martin's invervention.
Mrs. Hanna Martin returned to the House on Wednesday
10th June and she and Minister of Education Carl Bethel were captured in
this Peter Ramsay photo.
MALCOLM
ADDERLEY ON THE BUDGET
Last week, if you looked carefully at the picture
we displayed at the PLP’s rally, you will see from the back a familiar
body and head. It is that of PLP MP Malcolm Adderley being embraced
at the PLP's meeting held at Gambier House. Mr. Adderley was called
to the stage but he indicated that because of recent surgery, he would
not be addressing the crowd. The crowd enthusiastically responded
to his presence there. This week, if you look on the PLP’s website
myplp.com you will find the address of Malcolm Adderley PLP Elizabeth on
the website. This is a remarkable event, considering what has transpired
between the party and Mr. Adderley over the past two years.
Mr. Adderley’s was a comprehensive address that
reviewed his work on the banking committee and the reform he asked for
there to be in the last administration from 2002-07. He urged the
parties to stop finger pointing and work together to resolve the problems
on the economy. He defended Cynthia Pratt and the now National Security
Minister against personal blame for the crime situation. He reviewed
his work on legal aid when he formed the Bahamas Law Guild in the 1980s.
He called for a joint position on lotteries in The Bahamas, urging a change
in the law. You may click
here for his full address.
SHADOW
MINISTER’S QUESTIONS ON CG HOME IN ATLANTA
Speaking on the Budget debate in the House of Assembly
late Monday evening 8th June, Fred Mitchell, MP for Fox Hill and Shadow
Minister of Foreign Affairs asked pointed questions of the government about
the purchase of a home for the new Consul General in Atlanta.
Mr. Mitchell said that the PLP had no issue
with the purchase of a house for the CG in Atlanta but the house was a
public house not a private one. He said that the house should therefore
be appropriate for the use of Bahamian diplomats. He pointed out
that most diplomats homes are in a particular area of Atlanta. He
asked whether the government was satisfied about the expenditure on the
home some half a million dollars and another half a million dollars reportedly
to repair the home to make it liveable and where the home was located.
He asked the minister to say where the home was and whether or not he was
satisfied about the expenditure on the home.
It was one of a range of issues in Foreign Affairs
and Foreign Trade covered by Mr. Mitchell and included:
-
A request for an explanation on the expenditure on the passport office
in Nassau and Freeport, where it is still taking too long to get passports
and where it is clear there are not enough machines to reduce the passports...
-
A request for the Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime submitted to the World
Trade Organization by the government and not disclosed to the Opposition...
-
A Request for the full contents of the services offer by the Bahamas Government
under the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union...
-
A criticism of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its failure to keep
its website current with information about the Ministry...
-
An explanation was demanded of the minister on the Government position
on the re-entry of Cuba into the Organization of American States (OAS).
The BIS photo by Peter Ramsay shows Mr. Mitchell addressing the House
THE
FOREIGN MINISTER SPEAKS
Brent Symonette, the Foreign Minister, spoke in the House of Assembly for
the first time since last year’s budget debate. He spoke for just
about one hour and sought to say what the policy of the government was
in foreign affairs. Essentially, he continued the blueprints settled
by the PLP before it left office. He did not address the lack of
information being made available to the public on foreign affairs.
He sought to clear up the purchase of the home in Atlanta for the new Consul
General Kay Smith which was purchased for half a million dollars and some
two hundred thousand in repairs. He defended the purchase on the
grounds that it was a foreclosure, valued at one million but which was
obtained for half the price.
Mr. Symonette was responding to comments made by
Fred Mitchell, shadow minister of Foreign Affairs who asked whether or
not he was satisfied that the house was a proper house. Mr. Symonette
said that when the Consul General has settled down in Atlanta, he would
provide an asset register to the House, which will show exactly what is
owned in Atlanta. The explanation may not go far enough and no doubt,
Mr. Symonette and the FNM will hear from Mr. Mitchell again on the subject.
Mr. Symonette also said that the government has
decided that instead of an embassy in Brussels, which they announced last
year, they will open an embassy in Geneva to service the World Trade Organization.
This is a mistake. More needs to be said about this. He said
even that has been put on hold due to budgetary constraints.
MILO
BUTLER JR. DIES
The late Milo Butler Jr. greets former MP George
Weech of Bimini when a special lunch was put on for former PLP MPs at Christmas
2008. Mr. Butler died on Friday 12th June. He served the PLP
as a Senator, as a House Member and as Speaker of the House. He was
the son of the first Bahamian Governor General Sir Milo Butler. The
photo shows him with his son Milo Butler III in the background. He
was 72 at the time of his death.
PARENTS
DAY AWARDS AT SANDILANDS
On Thursday 11th June Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill
made a special appearance at the Sandilands Primary School for the presentation
of the first, second and third prizes in the essay competition for Parents
Day put on for the Fox Hill Constituency by the Member of Parliament.
Pictured with the children who won are Vice Principal Esther Cartwright,
Fred Mitchell MP and Angela Neymour, Secretary to the Principal.
FOX
HILL PARENTS DAY PHOTOS
The Fox Hill Branch of the Progressive Liberal Party
held its second annual Parents Day celebration this past week in the Fox
Hill Constituency. The photos by Miguel Taylor show, above left;
the Halls, honoured for their leadership in the Church of God on Bernard
Road; above centre, former MP Frank and Clementina Edgecombe, honoured
for their many contributions to the community; and above right, Fox Hill
MP Fred Mitchell receives a presentation from Deidre Rolle, Branch Secretary.
LAST
STAND IN THE TURKS AND CAICOS
The events in our neighbour Turks and Caicos Islands
are moving fast and furious. The British are unmoved, even as they
themselves are involved in a nasty scandal. Former Foreign Minister
Fred Mitchell MP speaking in the House on the Budget Debate on Monday 8th
June called for a statement to be made by The Bahamas government on what
it intends to do to help the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands whose
democratic institutions are in danger of being suspended by the British
in approximately three weeks time.
Mr. Mitchell said: “There needs to be an update
from The Bahamas government on the Turks and Caicos Islands. What has the
government done since they joined the Caricom statement in support of the
continuance of the democratic institutions? What has Caricom done
now that the report of the Commission of Inquiry in the Turks has been
sent to the British governor there?”
Mr. Mitchell said he believed that there was
a need to make an appeal directly to the British government to change their
position on the suspension of the democratic institutions in the Turks
and Caicos particularly in light of the events in London where its own
[British] institutions are under severe scrutiny by its public but the
response has not been to call the equivalent of a state of emergency and
suspend its Parliament.
Mr. Mitchell said that the events in London
have led to the resignation of several Cabinet ministers but their democracy
had not been suspended. Instead, the institutions are made to work to solve
the problem, he said.
Mr. Mitchell added that the PLP believed that just
as the British as the colonial ruler had the responsibility to help with
the economic development of the Turks and Caicos, it had a responsibility
for its political development and should assist in bringing an all party
solution to the country instead of seeking to suspend its institutions.
Mr. Mitchell said that the PLP’s position should
not be confused with supporting corruption. He said that the PLP does not
support corruption but it does believe that the democratic institutions
should be preserved in the islands.
In the meantime, the Premier of the Turks
Galmo Williams issued his own statement calling for elections. The
Governor Gordon Wetherell said that he would not accept the call and that
things would remain the same until the suspension of the constitution in
response to the findings of the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations.
Here is Mr. Williams' full statement:
“My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders, pursuant
to Article 55(1) of the Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution Order 2006,
I have today advise His Excellency the Governor to prorogue the House of
Assembly effective August 21st, 2009, and to dissolve the House of Assembly
pursuant to Article 55(2) of the Constitution on October 1st, 2009 and
set October 22nd 2009 as the date for the next General Elections.
“I understand that setting a date for elections
in October may seem far off, but I assure you that this was only done so
as to ensure that new laws governing political parties, funding of election
campaigns and laws governing elections generally, are in place before these
elections are held.
“In my meeting this morning with His Excellency,
the Governor, I have asked him to request that the United Kingdom Government
provide us assistance in drafting these bits of legislation and setting
up these important institutions so that we could go into these elections
with these new pieces of legislation and new institutions in effect.
“His Excellency the Governor has indicated
that he shall have to consult with his bosses in London before he accedes
to this advice, and I urge him to make every effort to ensure that a speedy
reply is made.
“Rest assured that this move is in the
best interest of democracy in our country as it is my view that anyone
who hopes to govern this land should first face the people in an elections
campaign and seek and receive their mandate to govern.
“I thank you for your support, and pray
God’s blessings on our Turks and Caicos Islands .”
LETTER
TO THE EDITOR
Eldin A. Ferguson Jr. Dies
My Hero, My Friend, My Mentor, My Teacher, the greatest and most
brilliant man I ever knew, the man who had everything in the world that
was most important except for riches.
My Father Eldin A. Ferguson, Jr. died on June 9th 2009 of a Massive
Heart attack in his sleep. A part of me died with him and a part
of me has come alive because of his Death. My father did not fight
death, he looked death in the face, and I shall do the same for the rest
of my life.
WE ARE BUT DUST AND TO DUST WE SHALL RETURN!
Erin A. Ferguson
See our piece below - Ed.
IN PASSING
Queens Honours
Special congratulations to outstanding Bahamians George Cox and Lowell
Mortimer, both of whom are featured on this year's prestigious Queens Honours
List. Mr. Cox, an engineer and Mr. Mortimer an attorney-at-law are
now elevated to the status of Officers of of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire, OBE.
Pasadena Wedding
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill attended the wedding of Troy Johnson,
music producer, and Aziza Harris. The new Mrs. Johnson is the daughter
of Antioch College classmates of Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell graduated
from Antioch in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1974. Louis Harris is an
insurance broker in Pasadena, California and his wife, another classmate,
is a speech pathologist, also in Pasadena, California. The Harrisses
have visited The Bahamas with their children several times. Aziza
was engaged to Troy in The Bahamas. The wedding took place on Saturday
14th June at the Pasadena City Hall. The service was conducted by
Rev. Yvonne Williams of the Altadena Methodist Church, the pastor of the
Harrisses. The photo shows Mr. Mitchell at far left and from left
Pamela Harris, mother of the bride, Aziza Harris Johnson, Troy Johnson,
the Bridegroom; and Louis Harris, the father of the bride.
The Minister On Parade
Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes and Minister of Education Carl Bethel
joined the head of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on the Labour Day parade.
The parade was one of two held on Labour Day. The TUC and the other
umbrella union the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) could not agree
on one parade. The photo shows the Ministers with TUC head Obie Ferguson.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
Changes At The Telecommunications Union
Bernard Evans has defeated long serving President of the Bahamas Communications
and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), the union that represents workers at
BTC, the telecommunications company; at the Broadcasting Corporation (BCB);
and at the Nassau Guardian in elections held on Thursday 11th June.
Graduation At L.W. Young and Dame Doris Johnson
The Classes of 2009 of the L.W. Young Junior High School and the Dame
Doris Johnson Senior School that serve the Fox Hill Community have had
their graduation exercises. Graduation took place on Thursday 4th
June for L.W. Young and for Dame Doris on Thursday 11th June. Fred
Mitchell MP Fox Hill spoke at the graduations and repeated to them a phrase
made famous by Winston Churchill, the wartime British Prime Minister “Never
give up!”
Contempt Charges For John Pinder
The Nassau Guardian reports that John Pinder, head of the National
Congress of Trade Unions (TUC) and President of the Bahamas Public Services
Union is to be brought up for contempt charges in the courts. He
reportedly is to be charged for contempt because he, in making a comment
about the ruling of Justice Jon Isaacs in a case involving a dispute in
the Airline Airport Allied Workers Union alleged that the judge was activated
by bias.
Boys Missing In Andros
It seems that there is a never-ending stream of bad news about children.
After the false news that a five month old was molested and had died from
the molestation put the country one edge, and all the news about teachers
molesting youngsters at school, now comes the news from Andros that two
boys one 5 one 9 are missing after going out crabbing on Thursday 11th
June. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force has now joined the search for them
British High Commissioner Visits
Jeremy Creswell, High Commissioner to The Bahamas from London, resident
in Jamaica, visited The Bahamas last week. He paid a courtesy calls
on the government and on the Leader of the Opposition.
Eldin Ferguson Dies
He was a PLP all the way. He was from Fox Hill. He had
a tough life. But he successfully crafted together a strong family
and a business and made his way in The Bahamas and overseas. It was
a struggle. He married a former beauty queen Sharon Smith.
They had two boys Eldin III and Erin. He was 57 years old.
His last struggle after packing the boys up with his wife and moving back
to Nassau from trying his hand at a Bahamian restaurant in Florida, was
a clash with the Greek owners of the Coconuts building, the last restaurant
he operated in Nassau. He lost that battle and was out of the building,
but the matter continues in the courts. His son Erin posted on the
web the great admiration that he had for his father whom he described as
his hero. He did so because early on Tuesday 9th June, Eldin Ferguson
Jr., the man whom we describe, the friend and contemporary of many of us
who were raised in the 1960s died suddenly from a heart attack. This
loss has engendered a great deal of affection. He is survived by
his wife Sharon and children Alicia Ferguson-Ward, Eldri Ferguson, Eldin
Ferguson III, Erin Ferguson and his sister, Arabella Ferguson-Cambridge;
nephews Derrick Cambridge, Jr., Keino Cambridge; niece, Dericka Cambridge
and granddaughters Rinicia Rolle and Keana Ward.. The funeral service
will be held at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church on Saturday 20 June at 10
a.m.
Nurses On 5th Day Of Sick Out
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced in his budget statement
to the House of Assembly on Wednesday 28th May that he would not pay the
nurses the health insurance that was negotiated for them by the PLP government.
The nurses rejected the Government’s position. They started a sick
out last Monday 8th June. By Friday 12th June, the sick out was on
its fifth day despite the Minister announcing that the public health was
being put at risk by the nurses’ actions and that their pay would be cut.
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| GOVERNOR GENERAL SAYS FAREWELL
TO MILO JR.:
To his friends he was simply Junior. He was MB to
others. The latter was the name that his father was called by his
father’s contemporaries. To most, he was simply Milo. He was
the son of a famous man. He had big shoes to fill. His father
had joined the PLP as one of its first Members of Parliament when the party
first sat as a party in the House in 1956. But Milo senior, later
Sir Milo had been in the House before the PLP and was a political figure
of note before the PLP in 1956. In fact, he had been the man to calm
the rioters in 1942, who refused to co-operate with the official House
inquiry led by Stafford Sands. Later he, Milo Senior, was thrown
out of the House of Assembly at the orders of the Speaker in 1965.
Milo Senior was locked in the bathroom to stop him from speaking on behalf
of his people. Milo Senior ended up being Minister of Agriculture
in the first PLP government and then he became the country’s first Bahamian
Governor General upon independence in 1973. So even though Milo Jr.
served as Consul General in Miami, Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation,
Member of Parliament for Pinedale and Speaker of the House of Assembly,
nothing he did in his lifetime could exceed that of his father’s contribution.
It was a difficult role to fill, being the son of a national hero and carrying
his exact name, but he did it with equanimity, with smoothness, an easy
personality, and with his integrity intact. Last week, when he died,
the second generation of the name passed into history. There is a
Milo III. The country awaits his future. Until then, we extend
our condolences to the Butler family on the loss of this public servant.
Our photo of the week by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services
is Governor General Arthur Hanna paying his last respects in the lobby
of the House of Assembly where Milo Butler Jr. was laid out on Friday 19th
June. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
BIGGETTY LOUD FAT DUMB AND
HAPPY
There is no question that the PLP won the day in the Budget Debate.
But in order to get the benefit of that victory, you would have had to
have been watching it all the day or most of the day. While the press
at least seemed disposed to providing some balance with extensive coverage
of the PLP leader’s remarks, it scarcely paid attention to what PLPs had
to say during the debate. But at least the attention to Perry Christie
was something. What we say though, is the way the whole thing was
constructed at the end the day, the country was exposed yet again to the
nasty crudeness of its Prime Minister who gave his final address on the
budget on Wednesday 17th June. He just cannot help himself, dumbing
down the country with his inelegant rhetoric, his plain pretend stupidity,
not actual but calculatedly so, his manipulating the truth to the point
of lying habitually, his attack on a judge, the Speaker took no exception
based on sub judice. Ugh!
Yet this is the Prime Minister we have. Amongst the more potent
lies this time in his address is that the FNM learned stop, review and
cancel from the PLP. You know the phrase invented largely in this
column to describe the public policy of the FNM since they came to office:
“Stop! Review! Cancel!” Mr. Ingraham was ballistic over it, claiming
that the PLP invented the doctrine and that the FNM had learned from the
PLP while it was in office. He is a plain out and out no good liar
for saying that. This is ex post facto patching up if you have ever
seen it. It took him two years and two months to come up with this
lie to seek to discredit the PLP. The point is that “Stop! Review!
And Cancel!” it has resonance in the country. The PLP must continue
to say it over and over again. It is the truth. But we are
not surprised that Hubert Ingraham would try to find a way to blame the
PLP. That is the second part of his public policy: Blame the PLP.
Then there was the bit about the Commissioner of Police. Jon
Isaacs, a Justice of the Supreme Court, against whom the Prime Minister
and his colleagues and the Commissioner of Police have a grudge, attacked
the Judge. The reason: the Judge made a decision in which he ruled
that based on the uncontroverted evidence in a civil action brought by
two defendants accused of murder, the Commissioner and another officer
were guilty of tampering with evidence and possibly forging the signature
on a witness statement. The Prime Minister who had earlier said in
the House that he would not comment on the case because the matter was
on appeal to the Court of Appeal, last week changed his mind. He
launched into a tirade of vituperative rhetoric in which he said the Judge
got it wrong and that when the appeal was decided, it will be seen that
the Judge got it wrong. But kudos to the Judge, kudos to the PLP
for their stand on this matter. The result of the decision for the
Commissioner of Police is clear.
So this is The Bahamas of Hubert Ingraham now. Sir Lynden Pindling
has been dead since 2000. Mr. Ingraham has been in charge of this
country for most of the past 15 years. His stamp of crudeness is
everywhere to be found. He has no compunction about sending people
home from their work in the public service, their obligations be damned.
He has no feel for the real problems of people. It is simply whatever
is politically expedient. That is why it is possible for him to lie
with such ease. It means nothing to him to spin one lie after the
next. He calls it changing his mind because of new facts but to us
it is quite simply telling lies.
It has gotten to the point where he is unreliable. There is
nothing that he tells you that you can believe. He has a whole set
of co liars that support him in his nonsense. Remember, it was the
PLP’s fault that the straw market was not built for the straw vendors,
even though if he had not stopped reviewed and cancelled, the market would
have been finished by now. Remember, it was the PLPs fault that the
Cable Beach project was not finished and completed even though he was the
one who signed the deal and he was the one who called the investors unreliable
and he was the one who was blamed by the investors for their pull out of
the funds. It seems that lying is simply a way of life for Hubert
Ingraham. He is pathological and cannot seem to help it.
We think that the members of his Cabinet ought to think again about
whether they want to be a part of a group that is seen as fat dumb and
happy simply to sit in Cabinet, that is run by a man who is a pathological
political liar.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 20th June 2009 up to
midnight: 146,847.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 20th June 2009
up to midnight: 453,453.
Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 20th June 2009 up
to midnight: 5,077,862.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
AUSTRALIAN
JUDGES
Now we have heard everything. According to
the visiting High Commissioner to The Bahamas for Australia last week,
who did not pay a courtesy call on the PLP while he was in town, he has
been asked by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas to provide rent-a-judges
from Australia to help The Bahamas reduce the backlog of cases in The Bahamas.
You may remember that we just had a huge heap of trouble from a judge from
Australia named John Lyons. We have just gotten rid of him and now
the Prime Minister is asking for another.
This asking for rent-a-judges is a practice that
was started before under the FNM when they brought in a loud mouth fast-talking
Australian Judge who started kicking cases out of court in the name of
efficiency. No doubt, this is what Mr. Ingraham proposes again.
The Bar Association should get involved quickly in this matter and say
no dice to it. It is not acceptable.
THE
PM AND THE NURSES
It appears that maybe, just maybe, our Prime Minister
Hubert Ingraham has met his match in the nurses and their leader Cleola
Hamilton. This country that has been in a state of torpor when it
comes to standing up for the rights of themselves and their families in
the face of the intimidation of Hubert Ingraham has now seen a spark in
the Nurses Union. Mr. Ingraham unilaterally announced in his budget
statement that the nurses were not going to get the insurance that they
were promised and negotiated for.
The government just before the weekend went so far
as to say that they did not have to honour the nurse’s contract because
it was not registered under the Industrial Relations Act. They quickly
had to back off that foolish comment because they knew that the nurses
are not playing. The nurses have been off on sick leave for almost
week, reportedly duly supported by sick certificates. This led to
the Attorney General Michael Barnett himself going into court to argue
successfully for an order that the nurses go back to work or face contempt
of court hearings. This was ridiculous. The government’s answer
was coercion not negotiation.
Hubert Ingraham then went to the House and told
the nurses go back to work or there will be no talks. He said if
they went back to work, then the government was able to meet with them
on Monday 22nd June. Nothing so far has happened. It appears
that Cleola Hamilton the Nurses Union’s President is resolute, and the
nurses are even more resolute than she is. The Minister of Labour
Dion Foulkes is to enter the picture come Monday, assuming the nurses go
back to work.
There were the ritual stories of how the nurse’s
actions had crippled the hospital and how the patients were suffering.
That may or may not have been true. Employers try to make it out
to the public that things are worse than they are and at the same time
seek to pretend that they can get along just fine on a skeleton crew.
We hope the nurses can go back to work. But we also hope that they
stick to their guns on the question of the insurance. The insurance
is vital and the government should find the money. It is as simple
as that. We wish Cleola Hamilton and her nurses the best in their
struggle for justice.
CHRISTIE
BRINGS HOUSE DOWN
In wrapping up the PLP's contribution to the 2009
Budget Debate, PLP Leader the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie urged the Free
National Movement Government to reconsider its approach to the many problems
facing
this country by putting the concerns of Bahamians first. The former
Prime Minister told the government very bluntly that they are in need of
help and that they should be wise to seek and accept it all sides.
Mr. Christie even offered a simple solution to Mr.
Ingraham, that the Government itself could insure the Nurses in the interim.
Mr. Christie chastised the Prime Minister for his “astounding” refusal
to address the Nurses outstanding issues. “You cannot treat people
in a dismissive way simply because you have the power.” You may click
here for Mr. Christie's address from www.myplp.com.
BAHAMAS
PRESS: INGRAHAM A SELL OUT
We have always had doubts about the commitment of
Hubert Ingraham to the principles of loyalty, fidelity and faithfulness
to a cause. He has always seemed to us to be a man so entirely pragmatic
as to be devoid of any ideology, philosophical beliefs or moral principles
from which he will not deviate. At the time of his departure from
the PLP, we thought that he had been done a bad turn. In the context
of the time, he represented a voice for dissent, which ought to have been
heard and acknowledged. The reaction of the then Prime Minister Lynden
Pindling was immediate and direct. Hubert Ingraham had to go.
That decision has led to the creation of the albatross that is around the
necks of the Bahamian people today. He is a vicious, ungrateful,
insecure lout of a Prime Minister and should be voted of office at the
earliest opportunity. The country should not have another five years
of this kind of pain inflicted upon it.
The website bahamaspress.com has now uncovered a
document that gives a window into the conduct of Hubert Ingraham.
It shows that even as he was subscribing to the principles of fidelity
and loyalty in the Pindling cabinet, he was being disloyal. He was
writing the American government to find a leg up on the group and the men
under whom he served. You may read the evidence for yourself,
but this is our Prime Minister. What a great shame and disgrace!
On September 21st, 1983, Hubert Ingraham (then a
Minister in the Pindling government) wrote Andrew Antippas, US Deputy Chief
of Missions at the US Embassy in Nassau as follows:
INGRAHAM’S
MEN OVER THE TOP
Now we have heard it all. Desmond Bannister
who is usually known for being sober of tongue has caught the disease of
conceit that infects Hubert Ingraham and the FNM. Mr. Bannister in
making his contribution to the debate on the budget, instead of sticking
to the facts tried to be propagandist. He like the other FNM ideologues
who venture into matters where angels seldom tread went over the top in
his remarks. Mr. Bannister claimed that the PLP in taking up the
mantra of “Stop! Review! And Cancel!” were like Hitler’s propagandists.
In other words, he was comparing the PLP to Hitler.
Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition immediately
responded, saying that Mr. Bannister "stands condemned for such an unacceptable
and unaccountably vicious attack" and noting that "It is yet another sad
example of the fact that in doing the job of an Opposition, the Progressive
Liberal Party and its standard-bearers must expect that no truth is sacred"
and that nothing "is exempt from the most destructive, self-serving and
vulgar attacks."
How could Mr. Bannister in all good conscience compare
the
PLP to Hitler who was perhaps the most odious single figure in modern political
history, a man who wiped out six million Jews in Germany as part for his
theory of racial superiority? This is not just over the top; it is
not even an intelligent comment. It is deeply disappointing when
you see someone become so FNM in this country that they have to extend
themselves into unintelligent commentary to make a point. The fact
is the FNM’s policy is to stop, review and cancel the PLP’s projects.
The other policy is to blame the PLP for everything. That cannot
be denied. It is not an invention of the PLP. But you only
do discredit to yourself by simply going over the top.
TOMMY
TURNQUEST’S MYTH MAKING
The FNM’s Minister of National Security continues
to misspeak and to state that which is not the truth. Mr. Turnquest
speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 17th June told the House
that the PLP caused the problem of prison officers not being able to be
regularized because they were promoted without qualifications. This
is a myth that has been debunked so many times one sees why the FNM is
not a credible government any more. Tommy Turnquest knows better
and should stop saying these untruths.
The fact is the PLP met the issue of the prisoner
officers unresolved. Frank Watson, Mr. Turnquest’s predecessor who
was the last FNM in the job before Cynthia Pratt of the PLP allowed prison
officers who were not yet complete with their training to take up the jobs
as acting prison officers because there was a shortage of officers at the
prison. The PLP met the problem and tried to resolve the salary issues
before they left office. There was an FNM ideologue in charge of
the Prison Staff Association who refused to conclude the matter and called
an illegal strike at the prison. However, Cynthia Pratt agreed with
the association to settle the issue by regularizing the people involved.
There was also a group of prison officers who were
recommended for promotion by the FNM but whose promotions were turned back
by the Public Service Commission. In that case, Fred Mitchell, the
Minister for the Public Service and the Chairman of the Commission appointed
by the FNM Teresa Butler, worked out a course with the Prison Staff Association
that would have qualified all those who successfully completed the course
to be promoted. Others were allowed to join the course that the prison
staff association complained had been overlooked. They successfully
completed the course. Their promotions were revisited and confirmed
on 1st May 2007. It is these latter promotions that Mr. Turnquest
said were done for political reasons. Mr. Turnquest is wrong.
They should simply do what they are supposed to do and settle these issues
and not seek to blame the PLP again for something that is of the making
of the FNM, not the PLP.
MUSGROVE
BACK IN THE SENATE
Anthony Musgrove, the FNM Exuma native who is a
banker, who lost his seat in the Senate as a result of the challenge to
the position by the PLP’s leader of the Opposition Perry Christie, has
been reappointed to the senate following the resignation of Kay Smith from
the Senate to take up the position of Consul General in Atlanta.
This is one of the rare moments that Hubert Ingraham has actually kept
a promise to one of his fallen soldiers. The new Senator took the
oath of office on Friday 18th June. He is back this time as a full
fledged FNM appointment and not one of those that require consultation
with the Leader of the Opposition and that is to reflect the balance of
the House of Assembly. The photo of the taking of the oath is by
Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
LYNDEN
PINDLING III REGISTERS TO VOTE
When his grandfather Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the
father of the nation, died in August 2002, he was only 9 years old.
It was the first time that the country actually heard the third generation
of the Pindling family speak. The young Mr. Pindling, son of Lynden
Obafemi Pindling (Obie - Lynden O. Pindling Jr.), is now fully of age.
His grandmother Dame Marguerite Pindling took the occasion to accompany
her grandson to the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner to register
to vote. The Commissioner Errol Bethel personally greeted Dame Marguerite
and her grandson as the younger Pindling continued the tradition of civic
involvement started for their family by his late grandfather’s political
leadership.
Photo / Peter Ramsay
WE
BURY OUR FRIEND ELDIN FERGUSON
If the Lord is ever to have mercy on anyone’s soul,
we hope that he has mercy on the soul of Eldin Alexander Ferguson.
He was, quite simply, a good man. He left behind too soon two loving,
grown daughters, two wonderful, competent sons; loyal young men, a beautiful
wife. He left behind the love and admiration of his friends.
The PLP’s leadership, the party that he served from
behind the scenes turned out in full force. Its leader Perry Christie
led the party’s mourners. Members of the church that he helped to
build in Freeport, the Anglican Church of the Ascension came down in large
numbers including the Archdeacon Cornell Moss and the choir, former Minister
of Health Marcus Bethel also came. Al Dillette, the childhood friend
gave a moving tribute, speaking of
their time together at the ‘Moonglow’ in Fox Hill.
We hope that in the great beyond there is joy in
heaven that Eldin is there. We think that his sons, wife, and daughters
did a credible job on their father’s behalf in the funeral as they adjust
to his death. The photos of the funeral, which took place at his
home church of St. Matthews in Nassau on Saturday 20th June, are by Peter
Ramsay. Wife Sharon, daughters Alicia and Eldri and two sons Eldin
III and Erin survive him. He was buried in St. Margaret’s Church
cemetery.
TRIBUTES
TO MILO BUTLER JR.
Milo Butler Jr., the former Speaker of the House
of Assembly will be buried in the Eastern Cemetery in New Providence following
a religious rite at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau on Monday 22nd
June. Mr. Butler was 72 years old when he died on Friday 12th June.
PLP Chair Glenys Hanna Martin issued a statement
on behalf of the PLP for the man who served in the House of Assembly as
a PLP representative from 1977 to 1992. On Friday 19th June, he was
laid out in the lobby of the House of Assembly. The House met upstairs
and paid tribute to him.
The Governor General (see photo of the week) and
Government officials paid their respects to the family. Leader of
the Opposition Perry Christie was amongst those greeting the family.
The photo is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
The PLP Chair’s statement follows:
“The Progressive Liberal Party mourns the loss
of Milo B. Butler Jr., a comrade and brother in the political struggle
which has culminated in the creation of a modern Bahamas.
“His service to his country and to his party
has been one of committed and exemplary involvement.
“He served as National Chairman of the Progressive
Liberal Party, as Member of Parliament for the Pinedale constituency and
as Speaker of the House of Assembly. He also served as Chairman on a number
of Public Boards.
“He hailed from a distinguished Bahamian family
whose patriarch was a political champion and National Hero, his father,
Sir Milo Bolton Butler, Sr. Clearly this provided him with the grounding
sufficient to understand the mandate of public service and the necessity
of the pursuit of justice and freedom in our Bahamaland.
“Although he was quiet in his demeanour, he was
strong and uncompromising in his involvement at every level, respected
by all for his commitment to principle and his insistence on integrity
as an absolute standard for all those who pursued public life. He displayed
in all that he did and in every community that he touched a quiet respect
for his fellow man and an unwavering love of his country. For this, he
is remembered as a guiding spirit to many who remain in public life and
as an example for all those who seek to enter the political arena.
“We in the Progressive Liberal Party salute the
wonderful life of Milo Butler, Jr. a fine Bahamian son and political warrior.”
SEVEN
BAHAMIANS GET OAS SCHOLARSHIPS
Seven Bahamians received Organization of American
States scholarships to pursue studies aimed at further developing The Bahamas.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minster of Foreign Affairs
the Hon Brent Symonette presented the recipients with their certificates
during a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 18. OAS representative
Yvette Treco assisted him.
The OAS scholarship recipients in the graduate programme
are Marcellus Taylor, education and planning; Latoya Johnson, international
trade and finance; Indira Adderley, management science; Kenton Burrows,
geographic information systems; and Jason Carey, molecular biology. Students
in the undergraduate programme are Mikhail Bullard, criminology and political
economics; and Lesvie Clare, international hospitality and tourism.
The candidates had between January and March this
year to apply online to the OAS, which submitted the applications to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A selection committee met with and interviewed
the candidates and the scholarships were granted based on their area of
study. The OAS Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarship Award programmes
date back to 1958. It is financed by the governments of member states as
a means of contributing to their integral development.
The Bahamas became a member of the OAS on March
3, 1982 and since 1984, seventy-nine Bahamians have been awarded scholarships.
Organization of American States scholarship award winners are pictured
with officials Thursday. From left, front row, are Marcellus Taylor, recipient;
Azaria Clare, representing recipient Lesvie Clare; Latoya Johnson, recipient;
Indira Adderley, recipient; Yvette Treco, OAS representative; Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs the Hon Brent Symonette; Dr Patricia
Rodgers, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Angela Bullard
representing recipient Mikhail Bullard; and Kenton Burrows, recipient.
BIS photo.
LETTER
TO THE EDITOR
Justice Jon Isaacs on Police Conduct
As it relates to the comments
made by Justice Jon Isaacs. To those who know, the matter may
be less an issue of police misconduct than it is of witness tampering;
tampering abetted by attorneys. It is not the first time that it
has happened where eyewitnesses recant with affidavits that are delivered
to the AG's office. Affidavits which are facilitated by defence attorneys.
In this case, I think the probability tends more that way than the other.
I may be wrong on this one but I doubt it.
Name withheld
That may well be the case and we think that the decision is unusual,
but what is clear is that the Crown did not take the matter seriously and
made no obvious effort to provide affidavit evidence to contradict the
evidence of the applicants in the matter. Thus the judge had only
the evidence before him on which to decide. That is shocking negligence
on the part of the Crown.
Editor
IN PASSING
Turks And Caicos Islands Revisited
You will know that the official position of the Government of The Bahamas
and the Progressive Liberal Party with regard to events in the Turks and
Caicos Islands is that the British government should not interrupt the
organs of democratic governance in the Turks as a result of the publication
of the report of the Commission of Inquiry. You also know that the
British have ignored every entreaty on the subject even as their own home
government has lost the moral authority to govern as a result of scandals
at home. Part of the reason why the British feel so confident is
a weak Opposition party in the Turks that supports the intervention of
the British because they cannot win a general election if it were called
today. A letter writer in the Turks published a work in which she
said that Fred Mitchell’s request on behalf of the PLP for the British
not to intervene is denied. She claimed that the only way for things
to be set right is for the British to step in and save the situation.
The writer misses the point entirely about the need to craft for their
own a future based on a Turks and Caicos Islands solution.
Bermuda Is Next
Premier Ewart Brown of the PLP in Bermuda survived a vote of no confidence
in the Bermuda Parliament on Friday 19th June 22 votes to 11 votes.
No PLPs voted for the resolution although members of parliament from the
PLP including former Premiers Jennifer Smith and Alex Scott denounced the
actions of the Premier for allowing in the four Uyghurs of China from the
Guantanamo Base prison from the United States. Mr. Brown decided
on his own without consultation with his Cabinet to allow the men in at
the request of the United States. The British are now put out as
well because they consider that his action breached Article 62 of the Constitution
of Bermuda, which says that the British are responsible for Foreign Affairs,
Defence and National Security. Mr. Brown apologized to the country
for acting on his own but he said it was the right thing to do. It
is not known whether he will survive as Premier following a convention
of the PLP. In any event, the British government is reported to have
their eye on Mr. Brown and are openly saying that now that they have taken
care of Michael Misick in the Turks and Caicos, Mr. Brown in Bermuda is
next. One PLP Minister resigned as a result of Mr. Brown’s decision
but he did not support the vote of no confidence.
Paul Moss Speaks
It is clear that come hell or high water Paul Moss intends to run in
the next election in the St. Cecilia seat of Cynthia Pratt of the PLP.
Mrs. Pratt has said that she does not intend to run again in the next election.
Mr. Moss has been nursing the seat even as Mrs. Pratt has reportedly opposed
his nomination and his tactics. According to The Tribune of Saturday
20th June, there has been some talk in the PLP of sending him into another
seat. That would be a good idea, really, because it would allow the
party to put a well-financed candidate with a high profile into a marginal
seat and save a safe seat for someone else who might be of greater priority
to get elected. Mr. Moss is having none of that if the reports in
The Tribune are true. He told The Tribune that he would run in St.
Cecelia even if he does not get the PLP’s nomination. Take that!
Dame Marguerite Visits The Fergusons
Dame Marguerite Pindling visited the home of the late Eldin Ferguson
Jr. to offer condolences to the widow of Mr. Ferguson Sharon and their
two sons Eldin III and Erin. The photo was taken on Thursday 19th
June by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
Archbishop Gomez Confirms
Archbishop Drexel Gomez (retired) administered the Sacrament of confirmation
Sunday morning 14 June at Christ Church Cathedral. Confirmation is
a rite in which one expresses a mature commitment to Christ and receives
strength by the indwelling of the Holy sprit through prayer and the laying
on of hands by a Bishop.
Photo / Peter Ramsay
Correction
In the 7th June edition of this column we reported that the anniversary
of the PLP first sitting in Parliament as a party came on the 8th June,
with them having taken their seats on that date in 1956. That was
incorrect. In fact, the general election began on that date in 1956
and it was only the members for New Providence that were elected on that
day. The elections in the islands took place over a number of weeks
and not on one day as they are now. The election period ended in
July. House members did not take their seats until November of that year.
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|
| MICHAEL JACKSON DIES:
Not
since the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales has there been such wall
to wall coverage of someone in death. The death of the musician and
entertainer Michael Jackson shocked so many. When he passed way unexpectedly
on Thursday 25th June, he became even larger in death than he was in life.
His end was tragic. Here was a man who spent his entire life seeking
to please other people. He was rich. He was famous. He
was talented, but all the commentators talked about the inner sadness,
the troubled mind that he was, the strange man that he was. Many
talked about his inner loneliness, the inability to trust anyone, how his
childhood had been robbed from him. It goes to show that wealth and
fame is not all that it is cracked up to be. For a couple of generations,
even down to the very young today, Michael Jackson loomed large.
His music is in our collective memory, more than the Beatles, more than
Elvis. He was the King of Pop. And so today, we join the rest
of the world as we salute a genius who is gone tragically and too soon
with Michael Jackson as our photo of the week. May he rest in peace! |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE CHOICE OF THE PLP ESTABLISHMENT
The issue of who will lead the PLP in the 2012 General Election
has been joined. The Tribune’s Paul Turnquest has been soliciting
and writing story after story about where the PLP is in terms of its choice
for leadership. The major headline of The Tribune on Thursday 24th
June was a quote attributed to now Party leader Perry Christie ‘I WILL
LEAD THE PLP IN 2012’. With that single headline, all of the equivocation
up to now by Mr. Christie that there was a possibility of transitioning
to new leadership before the next election went out of the window.
The next day there was a story by Paul Turnquest again which said that
Mr. Christie’s so far unknown challengers were unmoved by what he had said.
It is a bit curious how all of this has come about in the past week.
It has no doubt been bubbling below the surface for months as the party
moves toward its first convention since February 2008. The party
at that time with a wink and nod without a contest and without putting
the question of the responsibility or the loss in 2007 squarely before
delegates reaffirmed Mr. Christie’s leadership. At the time, there
seemed the promise that it was too soon to dump the man who had brought
the party back into government after ten years, even though he ran in 2007
an unfocused and irresolute campaign. There was an implicit suggestion
that after a period of mature reflection, a strategy for transition would
be employed.
Words have been spoken about transition but up to last week, no clear
strategy had emerged. In fact, what some have argued is that the
strategy that has always worked for Mr. Christie is being employed: stall,
delay, defer, and fetch to the finish line when it will be too late to
do anything about it. The closest talk of transition was again speculative
stories in the press, which suggested that once the Deputy Leadership race
was decided following Cynthia Pratt’s demitting office, Mr. Christie would
look to that person to determine that person’s fitness to succeed him as
leader. Now even that slight possibility of a transition has been
shut with the completeness of the headline in The Tribune and the added
quote that anyone who seeks to run against him is engaging in “an exercise
in futility”.
Many PLPs remember the 1997 campaign when Sir Lynden O. Pindling
could not be persuaded that he needed to retire and let someone else head
the party. He was its best asset and at the same time its worst demerit.
The country went with Ingraham in part because the PLP had not shown a
new face. That new face was shown in 2002 when Mr. Christie emerged
as its leader. Now the PLP faces the same dilemma and many argue
it has not drawn any lesson from the 1997 defeat or the 2007 defeat.
An electorate, as distinct from your party, in a defeat sometimes seeks
to send you a message which (nothing personal) it is important to grasp,
that is may be time to try something new. The failure to get that
message could lead in the direction of going down in flames again in 2012.
The follow up story in Tribune from the unnamed sources again said
it was not a question of whether or not Mr. Christie could be defeated
within the PLP but whether or not he can defeat Mr. Ingraham. The
story suggested that such an eventuality is counterintuitive in the face
of the evidence of an insurgent Hubert Ingraham defeating an incumbent
PLP in 2007. And now an insurgent PLP without any financial resources
or access to those resources facing an incumbent Hubert Ingraham with not
only private resources but with the Government’s machinery behind him.
Mr. Ingraham is using the instruments of the state to pursue PLP
oriented businessmen. He is using intimidation of the government
machinery to stop every PLP in their tracks, firing PLPs from the service
and ensuring that PLP MPs have no resources to fight back. There
does not even seem to be a plan in evidence to fight back against this
Ingraham strategy.
There comes a point in time in the lives of all politicians when
they have to know when it is time to hang up their hat. You can go
at a point when people are saying please don’t go, or you could go after
an ignominious defeat and people are telling you, in the name of God go
now.
Within the PLP, Mr. Christie is greeted with warm applause.
Those who are perceived as challengers to his leadership are shouted down
and abused. Mr. Christie is therefore right when he said in an earlier
interview with The Tribune that it will take courage to run against him.
It is unlikely in the face of such venom that anyone will challenge for
the leadership at its convention in 2009. But some argue it is always
the mark of good leadership to know when enough is enough and seek despite
the fear of transition to try something new.
As the PLP’s leaders walked with the FNM following the funeral of
the late Milo Butler, there was a chorus of cries “PLP! All the way!”
This is indicative to some of the party’s popularity which some argue means
that no matter how the party is organized in 2012, with people so fed up
with the government, the PLP does not need any other strategy but patience
and waiting in order to get back into government.
The Tribune also reports that a survey is being done about the candidates
for the Deputy Leadership race. Amongst the questions being asked
is whether people would vote for Perry Christie be PLP leader again and
whether or not he should step down. It did not say who is sponsoring
the survey but it is believed to be one of the candidates in the race.
Mr. Turnquest, the writer, puts those down as Dr. B.J. Nottage, Obie Wilchcombe,
Cynthia Pratt, Philip Davis and Jerome Fitzgerald.
It is also interesting to many that it is the much reviled Tribune,
the mouthpiece of the enemy that is letting PLPs know what is happening
in their own party’s future not within the PLP itself or its public relations
instruments.
The judgment of the country is now that notwithstanding all that
you hear to the contrary, the establishment of the PLP still stands with
Perry Christie and that means in 2012, the race looks right now to be round
three Hubert Ingraham vs. Perry Christie.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 27th June 2009 up to
midnight: 133,234.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 27th June 2009
at midnight: 597,276.
Number of hits for the year 2009 up to Saturday 27th June 2009 at
midnight: 5,211,096.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
SURVEY QUESTIONS
The Tribune published a story on Tuesday 23rd June
in which it said that one of the candidates for the Deputy Leadership Race
of the PLP had initiated a survey of the public on the question of who
they would support for Deputy Leader. Here are some of the questions
the paper said appeared on the survey:
-
Would you vote for Perry Christie to be PLP Leader again?
-
Should Perry Christie step down as leader of the PLP?
-
What issues are most important to you, cost of living, crime, fighting
corruption?
-
Would the fact that Mr. [Obie] Wilchcombe’s [MP West End and Bimini] name
was called in an extortion case influence your decision to vote for him?
-
Do you feel that this has hurt Mr. Wilchombe’s chances to run for Deputy
Leader?
-
Would the fact that Mr. Davis [Philip Brave Davis Cat Island MP] has represented
drug dealers influence your desire to vote for him?
-
Have you read anything in the newspaper recently about either candidate?
Does that influence your decision?
This column pointed out that the swirl of public point
and counterpoint on this leadership issue is a result of the failure of
the PLP to put in place a credible internal process on the question of
the future of their party. Because there is no credible internal
process the whole thing is playing itself out in front of the country.
In the end, the stubbornness on this issue, demonstrated by the reported
about face on a discussion of the Greenburg report [a survey commissioned
in 2009 about why the party lost and suggesting a way forward] by the party,
will also mean that in the end the country will have to resolve any leadership
issues, if indeed there are any.
CUBA
DENIES INTERFERENCE
The Tribune reported in its Tuesday edition of the
paper that the Cuban Embassy in Nassau has denied that Cuba has any plan
to sabotage the nurses’ industrial action in The Bahamas by assisting the
government to replace nurses on sickout. The Embassy said that Cuba
does not interfere in the internal affairs of The Bahamas. The Cuban
authorities released the story in response to an article that appeared
in The Punch saying that the Cubans were going to help the Government sabotage
the ongoing industrial action of the nurses. The nurses have been
engaged in industrial action, mainly a sick out to pressure the government
to pay for the health insurance of the nurses. Cleola Hamilton, Nurses
Union president went to court last week to seek to get an injunction lifted
on the grounds that the statements on which the government relied to get
the injunction against the nurses were hearsay (click
here for last week’s story). It appears that Mrs. Hamilton continues
to have the full support of the nurses and certainly this column in her
fight for justice for the nurses.
ALLYSON
GIBSON ADDRESSES THE SENATE
In a wide-ranging Budget address, the Opposition’s
leader in the Senate and the author of the Swift Justice programme attacked
the FNM for incompetence and ineptitude. Mrs. Allyson Gibson laid
out her vision for 2020 in The Bahamas and also how the issue of the backlog
of cases in the courts could be addressed. You may click
here for the full address.
MICHAEL
HALKITIS ON THE DANGERS OF BORROWING
The Senate debate on the budget is complete and
now the budget bills move on to be assented to by the Governor General.
Michael Halkitis speaking in the Senate on the bills on Thursday 25th June
counted up all the borrowing that the Ingraham administration has done
since it came back to office in 2007. The amount is staggering: one
billion dollars if you count the monies they will have to borrow to get
us through the upcoming year. That is simply staggering. You
can read it all by clicking here for the
Senator’s full address.
JEROME
SAYS NO TO REGINALD FERGUSON
Finally, it has been said publicly by a PLP politician,
the choice of Reginald Ferguson for Commissioner of Police was wrong.
Speaking in the Senate on the budget bills on Friday 26th June, Senator
Jerome Fitzgerald attacked the choice of Commissioner of Police.
Mr. Fitzgerald said that the government had sent two young qualified officers
away to Canada for training with the expectation that within a year one
them would succeed to the top job. He said that instead Mr. Ferguson
had been appointed. He argued that its simply makes no sense for
a 64 year old man to be leading the Force. You may click
here for the full address. Mr. Fitzgerald also attacked the government
over the choice of the container port on Arawak Cay saying that the studies
show that the government is choosing the wrong spot.
WATSON
BEGINS INGRAHAM’S CAMPAIGN
Those of us who read this week the comments of Frank
Watson the FNM former Deputy Prime Minister, who is now in charge of the
Airport Authority, must have said here is déjà vu all over
again. You will remember that it was Mr. Watson who cut the legs
out from under Tommy Turnquest when he was leading the FNM prior to Hubert
Ingraham’s return to the FNM in 2006. Mr. Watson was heard on the
Jones and Company radio programme in that year saying that while he liked
Tommy, the fact is Mr. Turnquest was ineffective and simply could not cut
it as leader of the FNM. He began a relentless draft campaign for
Mr. Ingraham to come back. He was successful and Mr. Ingraham came
back and defeated the PLP in 2007.
Now Mr. Waatson is starting the drum beat all over
again. This follows Mr. Ingraham’s own statement in the House when
he was wrapping up the debate on the Budget. Mr. Ingraham, speaking
to Perry Christie told him “I ga be right here the next time”. We
take that to mean that he intends to run again. There was never any
doubt in our minds that this is what he intended to do. He intends
to stay on and on as long as he can manipulate the system to allow it.
Now that Frank Watson in The Tribune of June is saying that there are FNMs
who are praying that Mr. Ingraham stays on for another term, it is official.
WATSON
ON JOBS FOR FNMS
Blaming the PLP for everything is the national pastime
of the FNM. The Tribune spoke to Frank Watson, the former FNM Deputy
Prime Minister and now chairman of the Airport Authority. Mr. Watson
was defending the FNM’s position (according to him) not to grant jobs to
FNM supporters for politics sake. He said that the FNM could not
be like the PLP when it was in office hiring PLPs and putting them into
consultancies. This is incredible. The authors of the consultancies
game was the FNM.
Right now, the FNM government is hiring FNM supporters
at a faster clip in the Department of Environmental Health on contract
than at any other time in our history. These contractors then hire
FNM supporters. This is done just so they can say as Mr. Watson is
now saying that the government is not hiring FNM supporters. Everyone
knows that the FNM are the experts at this. They are also experts
on the ability to lie right in front of your face; and without blinking
an eyelid.
MITCHELL
SET RECORD STRAIGHT ON PRISON
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill was clearly incensed by the comments of Tommy
Turnquest, the Minister of National Security with regard to the prison.
The FNM and their propagandists are constantly spinning stories blaming
the PLP for one thing or another that is really the fault of the FNM.
This was the story according to Mr. Mitchell with regard to the Minister’s
comments in the House on the budget debate on the hiring and promotion
of prison officers. Mr. Mitchell who was out of the country at the
time of the Minister’s statement said that he had personally confronted
the Minister on the matter upon his return. Here is what Mr. Mitchell
said in his own words:
“In my absence from the House of Assembly in
the latter stages of the Budget debate, the Minister of National Security
made certain assertions about the PLP and its culpability for the state
of the prison promotions in which the government now finds itself.
In another context, I have described this as myth making. I confronted
the Minister with this personally on Friday 19th June outside the House
of Assembly upon my return to the country to ask him to cease and desist
blaming the PLP for a situation which was entirely FNM created at the prison
and one which we tried to settle before we left office.
“My recollection is that there were three
sets of issues with regard to the prison promotions. The first was
that during the term of Frank Watson, the Minister of National security
and then Deputy Prime Minister, prison officer trainees had their training
cut short by executive order and they were made acting prison officers
due to a shortage of manpower in the prison. When we came to office
in 2002, we met this untenable and unsatisfactory situation. The
Public Service Commission, then headed by an FNM appointee, refused to
confirm the officers because their training was not complete. They
were unable to get the salary that was due to them as officers as a result
of that issue being unresolved.
“We were also faced with a second set of
officers who were recommended for promotions by the Prison Service.
Half of those recommended for promotions were refused promotions by the
FNM appointed Public Service Commission. The reason given was that
they did not fulfil the criterion for promotions laid down by the FNM,
which gave academic qualifications as one way to be promoted; and alternatively,
years of service. The criterion had been agreed with by the Prison
Staff Association. Representations were made by the Prison Superintendent
who said that there was a morale problem at the prison as a result of the
Commission’s actions. The then Chairman of the Commission Teresa
Butler and myself with the then Minister of National Security visited the
prison to speak to the affected officers. It was agreed that a special
course would be designed for all those who had not been promoted and that
those who were successful in that course, all other things being equal,
would be promoted.
“That course was designed and done.
The Prison Staff Association made representations to me as minister of
the public service that several people had been overlooked and requested
inclusion of other people to have an opportunity for promotion. I
agreed and this was facilitated.
“The Minister claimed in the House of Assembly
that the PLP hired prison officers for political reasons and promoted them
for political reasons and by reason of political affiliation. That
is again myth making and I urge him to cease and desist.
“From the PLP’s point of view, the only
unfortunate event about his whole matter was delay. The story of
the delay is one for my memoirs, not for today’s purposes. The FNM
and their partisans will have much to answer for delay and sabotage of
the system. I add the Minister's own statement in the House of Assembly
on this matter at an earlier occasion when he was challenged on these same
assertions. He read into the record the position of the Prison Superintendent
on the much FNM reviled promotions of 1st May 2002.
“According to the Minister’s statement,
the Superintendent received a call from the Chairman of the Public Service
Commission asking him to publish the promotions. He said that the
Superintendent called the Permanent Secretary of National Security for
advice on the matter and was told to proceed to publish the promotions.
The promotions were then published at the prison in the usual way.
How this can then be turned against the officers by the FNM government
to lead to the revocation of the promotions is a mystery and I believe
unlawful. The difficulty is the officers did not have the recourses
to challenge this in the courts.
“Thankfully and despite all the bluster
of the Minister and his continued myth making this sordid chapter is to
be resolved one hopes when the new budget is in place on 1st July.”
MILO
BUTLER JR. IS BURIED
The official funeral service with all of its pomp
and pageantry took place in Nassau at the Anglican Cathedral of Christ
Church on Monday 22nd June. Attending were the Governor General Arthur
Hanna and the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. The preacher was Rev.
Dr. James Moultrie. He is survived by his wife Rose and his children
from two marriages including Milo Butler III.
Top, Milo Butler III with his mother and Butler family members; above:
Loretta Butler, niece of Milo Butler Jr. and Minister for Social Development;
Perry Christe, Leader of the Opposition; Lynn Holowesko, Senate President
and Dame Marguerite Pindling,widow of the late Sir Lynden Pindling... Branville
McCartney, Minister for Immigration; Leslie Miller, former Minister of
Trade and Sir Arthur Foulkes, DG Bahamas Information Services... Parliamentary
pallbearers: Shane Gibson, Glenys Hanna Martin, Alfred Sears, Earl Deveaux,
Obie Wilchcombe, Tommy Turnquest... Governor General Arthur Hanna leads
the funeral procession. The photos are by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information
Services.
UBP’S
PETER CHRISTIE ATTACKS PLP’S BRAVE DAVIS
Perry Christie, the PLP’s leader, often says that
until lions have authors, the tale of the hunt is told by the hunter.
That is to say that history depends on who writes it. Philip ‘Brave’
Davis, the MP for Cat Island spoke during the budget debate in the House
of Assembly about the case of Adeline Armbrister of Cat Island. She
is now 86 years old. Mrs. Armbrister was dispossessed of her land
by the late Harold Christie in a celebrated case led by Lynden Pindling,
Cecil Wallace Whitfield and Arthur Hanna, the leaders of the PLP in 1964.
The court found that the land that Mrs. Armbrister
and her fellows were occupying as farmers was not theirs and they were
trespassers and they should move off the land. They did not comply
and were found in contempt and were sent to jail. The matter was
appealed to the Privy Council but the appeal was never heard because the
file went missing. Mr. Davis recalled a resolution by former MP for
Cat Island Oscar Johnson in 1968 calling for justice for the women dispossessed.
He called on the those how now own the land, part of a multi million-dollar
development in Cat Island, to do something for the women who were dispossessed
and their families. Mrs. Armbrister was in the gallery as he spoke.
Now Peter Christie, the nephew of the late Sir Harold
Christie (H.G. Christie Real Estate) has written a letter to defend his
late uncle’s actions. He claims that Mr. Davis got the facts wrong
and that Mr. Davis abused his privilege in the House to defame his uncle.
He said that his Uncle got an order of dispossession because the tenant
farmers refused to pay their rent and refused to leave. He traced
the title to a family in Britain and said that his Uncle’s company had
bought it from that family and the families who farmed the land were to
pay rent in the form of crops. It was only when they refused that
he took actions in the court. Mr. Christie said they did not have
to go to jail; they could have purged their contempt by leaving the land.
This is fascinating stuff and we thank Mr. Davis
for bringing it up. The Courts of the day were wrong. Mr. Christie
was wrong as the island’s representative to do what he did and the Mr.
Christie (Peter) is wrong for his skewed view of history today. It
shows how the UBP and their philosophy and point of view has not changed.
These are the same people who now support the FNM and for whom Hubert Ingraham
works so hard. The letter was published on Wednesday 24th June in
The Tribune.
LIFE
AFTER SIR BURTON HALL
Sir Burton Hall has decided to retire and take up
a position as one of the judges on the international tribunal for justice
in Yugoslavia. The court sits in The Hague in the Netherlands.
He succeeds to the position of the previous Caricom judge who is retiring.
Sir Burton who is 62 leaves the Supreme Court bench in August for retirement.
The announcement was made on Thursday 25th June. This will now allow
Hubert Ingraham to further pack the court with his FNM buddies.
The question is who will succeed Sir Burton as chief
justice. The person who should is the Senior Justice Anita Allen,
but given the fact that Mr. Ingraham does not like her husband Algernon,
it is unlikely that he will give it to her. Instead, he is likely hand
it to Claire Hepburn, who used to be his attorney general and one of those
women who supported Mr. Ingraham way back in his Thirds Force days.
Another candidate may be Michael Barnett, the now
Attorney General. Mr. Barnett has long said his ambition was to be
Chief Justice. He would also get a knighthood, which he also wants
as well. That would mean a fitting height to a career that includes
being Bar President, Attorney General and then Chief Justice.
File photo of Sir Burton Hall at the opening of the Supreme Court
MELANIE
GRIFFIN DEMANDS ACTION ON CHILD PROTECTION
Melanie Griffin, MP, Opposition Spokeswoman on Social
Service has issued a news statement calling “absolutely incredible” the
FNM Minister of State inability during the recent budget debate, to put
forward a plan by the Ministry to address the current overwhelming levels
of child abuse in the country today, particularly due to the impact of
the economic recession.
Mrs. Griffin called upon the Minister “to forthwith
put in place the following:
1. National Child Protection Council. The
National Child Protection Council should be mandated and provided with
the necessary resources to increase its programmes to educate the public
about the high incidences of child abuse and what steps they ought to take
to prevent it and report it.
2. Appointment of a Special Task Force.
Realizing that the workload is too much for the current level of staff
in Child Protective Services, the Ministry should activate a Special Task
Force to address the high incidences of reported abuse of children.
While this Task Force be led by Child Protective Services, it should comprise
of retired social workers, social workers who are awaiting employment in
the Ministry, social workers who may be deployed in other government agencies,
social workers who are on study leave at the College of The Bahamas and
elsewhere. It should also include personnel in the Urban Renewal
Offices and other government agencies involved in the care and protection
of children, like the Ministries of Health, Education and the Police.
3. Bahamas Christian Council. Enlist the
assistance of the Bahamas Christian Council and other religious organizations
in reaching into the communities with faith-based initiatives designed
to reach families and arrest this current situation.
4. Business & Other civic organizations.
Enlist the assistance of other business, civic and community-based organizations
and associations as a part of this holistic attack to fight back this current
surge.”
Mrs. Griffin said that we “cannot sit back and
continue to see the kind of reports we are seeing daily in the media about
what is happening with our children and know from the information at our
disposal the incredible levels of abuses against our children and just
continue to narrate the problem. Action must be taken and it must
be taken now.”
IN PASSING
Roman Catholic Diocese Celebrates 50 Years
The Roman Catholic archdiocese is celebrating the Church's Golden Jubilee.
The annoucement of the observance was made at a news conference by Archdeacon
Patrick Pinder and Fr. Glen Nixon, pictured in this Nassau Guardian photo
by Tony. Grant Jr.
Trial Of St. Agnes Rector
The trial of the St. Agnes Rector Archdeacon Ranfurly Brown began in
the Magistrate’s court on Tuesday 23rd June. He is accused of assaulting
a young parishioner. The parishioner testified in courts saying that
the archdeacon slapped her and threw her down and choked her. The
case has been adjourned to September. Archdeacon Brown is represented
by Wayne Munroe. The Defence in cross-examination suggested that
the young girl was engaged in sexual activity in public; fellatio on a
boy and was simply reprimanded by the priest for her misbehaviour.
Stevie S Jailed
The musician Lemuel Smith known as Stevie S was Tuesday 23rd June given
a one-year sentence in jail plus three years of probation for the rape
of a 13-year-old girl. Mr. Smith known for his hit record ‘Hold Your
Head!’ will now have to hold his head indeed. The Crown was not happy
about the sentence given following the guilty plea on 30th April and the
probation report. It is appealing the sentence. Recently, Parliament
increased the penalty for this crime to life imprisonment although Mr.
Smith was charged before the law was changed.
Nurses Fight On
Cleola Hamilton, the Nurses Union President, has rejected the latest
offer of the government on the payment of health insurance for nurses.
Talks are continuing.
Union Leader Guilty Of Contempt
Jon Isaacs, the Supreme Court Justice, was none too happy about an
allegation of bias made by President of the Bahamas Trade Union Congress
John Pinder in response to his ruling in a dispute with the Airport Airline
and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU). He charged the Union leader and
newspaper reporter Kendeno Knowles of the Bahama Journal with contempt
for using the word in a story that appeared on 29th April. Mr. Pinder
was represented by former Cabinet Minister Algernon Allen who apologized
to the court saying that the word biased was used in its colloquial sense
not in the sense of being prejudicial to one side. The Judge would
have none of it and ordered that a public apology in a similar space be
printed duly approved by the Court. He told the reporter that his
craft used words and that words should therefore be carefully used by him.
Court Of Appeal Rules Against Anita Allen
The Court of Appeal has ruled that Anita Allen, the Senior Justice
on the Supreme Court should have recused herself from the case of the Wisefiches.
You may remember the hullabaloo caused when Mrs. Allen refused to step
down and made certain allegations about fellow Justice John Lyons, which
ultimately led to his resignation from the Bench (click here for previous
story).
Edith Turnquest Turns 80
Wife of former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest and daughter
of famed straw vendor Bertha Brown. Edith, Lady Turnquest is celebrating
her 80th birthday on Saturday 27th June. Congratulations. She
is the mother of Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest.
Dame Marguerite At 77
Dame Marguerite Pindling widow of the late Sir Lynden Pindling quietly
celebrated with family and friends her 77th birthday at her home on Skyline
Drive in New Providence on Friday 26th June. With her was her rector Archdeacon
I. Ranfurly Brown. From left in the photograph are Curate, Fr. Bernard
Been, Dame Marguerite, PLP Leader Perry Christie and Archdeacon Brown.
Photo: Peter Ramsay.
Jack Hayward’s Son Locked Out Of His Father’s Property
The son of the Sir Jack Hayward, Rick Hayward, who was leading the
charge to take over the Port totally from the St. Georges, appears to be
in a spot of trouble with his own daddy. The Nassau Guardian reports
that the Grand Bahama Port Authority the ultimate landlord for the Port
Lucaya entertainment complex in Freeport have locked out Mr. Hayward from
several of his businesses in the Port Lucaya complex for non payment of
rent. Now that’s interesting. We wonder who made that decision.
Rick’s father Sir Jack is effectively the owner of the Grand Bahama Port
Authority, the landlord for Port Lucaya.
Bahamas Bar Election Results
Elections for The Bahamas Bar Council were held on Friday 26th June.
Wayne Munroe, the voluble lawyer who has headed the Bar for the past 6
years did not stand for re-election. Some say there is trouble brewing
in quarters close to him that will require his full time. The Bar
is now headed by Ruth Bowe Darville as President with Kathy Johnson Hassan
as Vice President. Joining them on the Council are Sidney Cambridge
returned as Treasurer, and Rachel Culmer as Honorary Secretary with Monique
Gomez and Dwayne Gibson as the two executive council members. By
our count that is three FNMs, two PLPs and one don’t know. The FNMs
have it. You can expect that there will be no commentary from the
Bar on anything relating to the government in the foreseeable future.
FNM No Potential Leaders
Dion Foulkes, Government Leader in the Senate, Carl Bethel and Tommy
Turnquest must be incensed to know that Frank Watson, Hubert Ingraham’s
front man in the campaign for Mr. Ingraham to come back for a fourth term
as Prime Minister does not think any of them have the potential to be leaders
of the FNM. In his discussions in the press over the last week, Mr.
Watson did not mention them as amongst those with the potential.
Brent Symonette made the list but even he, according to Mr. Watson, is
not quite ready. Frank Watson’s list, named on Wednesday 24th June:
Dr. Hubert Minnis, Brent Symonette and Branville McCartney as the front-runners
to succeed Hubert Ingraham.
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