BahamasUncensored.Com Archive

ZHIVARGO’S SAD STORY

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men--extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess’”-- Luke Chapter 18 verses 10-11

“I am not perfect but I did give my life to the Lord Jesus Christ many years ago, striving to follow his practices and his teachings. I value that. I value it tremendously. I’ve put in the public record of this country things that most men in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas would not dare say because I value my sense of duty to the beliefs I hold.” -- Zhivargo Laing M.P.—House of Assembly, Nassau Thursday 28th February explaining how he interfered in reducing the duty on behalf of his brother.

Frank Smith, (see file photo) the PLP’s MP for the St. Thomas More constituency, rose in his contribution to the House on 13th February with a set of questions to the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Zhivargo Laing. This is the same Zhivargo Laing who is now in the Election Court challenged by Senator Pleasant Bridgewater, the latter of whom wants to be declared the winner of his seat in Grand Bahama. He is under plenty of pressure. This is the same Mr. Laing who is like a constant parrot in the House, mumbling, grumbling, interjecting, threatening and harassing others as they speak. This is the same Zhivargo Laing, the born again Christian, who said that God told him to abandon politics, but when Hubert Ingraham came back into the leadership of the FNM, cancelled the call of God in his hearing, took up his bed and walked on with Hubert Ingraham.

The questions were simple ones. Mr. Smith wanted to know what rate of duty was being charged on a particular drink called Mona Vie. He said that this was a product that was sold by Mr. Laing’s sister-in-law in Grand Bahama. Mr. Smith had heard that Mr. Laing had directed the Secretary of the Revenue to reduce the rate of duty on the drink. Mr. Smith wanted to know if the direction was given by Mr. Laing to the benefit of his sister in law. Mr. Laing promised to answer.

No answer came. Mr. Smith challenged Mr. Laing again to answer on Wednesday 27th February. (Click here for Mr. Smith’s statement.) He reminded Mr. Laing that he had promised an answer and had not given one. Mr. Laing was apoplectic from his seat in the House, promising to answer in his time, indignant that his integrity was being challenged, and issuing a threat of his own to Mr. Smith. He told Mr. Smith that he hoped that he (Mr. Smith) was ready for what was coming at him and that he could take what he was giving. Not bad for a born again Christian.

The facts as we know them are that the rate of duty was changed on the drink ‘Mona Vie’, a product sold by Mr. Laing’s sister-in-law in Freeport from 10 per cent to 45 per cent. This was done after the Comptroller of Customs, then John Rolle wrote to the World Customs Organization and they proffered advice on 13th November 2007 that because the drink had fruit puree in it, that it should attract duty of 45 per cent. Mr. Rolle wrote by memo on the 20th November that instead of the drink attracting the 10 per cent duty (tariff head 2009.9090), it would now attract the 45 per cent duty (tariff head 2202.9090)

A further Bahamas customs internal memo dated 19th December 2007 was issued and read: - “further to memorandum dated November 20th, 2007 relative to classification of product Mona Vie. I have been directed to advise that the product "Mona Vie" will now be classified under tariff heading 2009.9090. This attracts Bahamas Customs Tariff of 10%”

In civil servant speak, when you see the language “I am directed”, it means that the public servant disagreed with the advice of his senior and that he is carrying out that advice because he has been ordered to do so, to put the duty back to the 10 per cent.

Now to what Mr. Laing had to say. Mr. Laing said that his brother Julian called him to complain that the duty on the drink had been raised without notice from 10 per cent to 45 per cent. He said that he at first told his brother that this is a family matter and that he would rather not get involved. He later thought about it after he hung up the phone, decided it was unfair, and referred the matter to the Secretary of the Revenue to investigate. The Secretary of the Revenue confirmed that the duty had been changed upwards, but changed without reference to the Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Laing argued that the rate of duty on a product is not changed during mid budget but is left to the annual budget at the start of the fiscal year 1st July when tariff measures are all adjusted. Therefore, the duty was reverted to the 10 percent rate by the Ministry. He found nothing unusual in this because when it was raised there was no consultation with the Ministry, deviating from what he said was the usual practice.

Mr. Laing then went on to praise himself to say that he was a born again Christian, that in taking Christ as his personal saviour, he had decided to follow Christ’s teachings and that he had dared to put into the public domain what some men would never put into the public domain. He said he was not afraid to answer but that he wanted to think about his answer. Thank God, Mr. Laing is not like other men.

Let us give Mr. Laing some advice. He ought to turn himself in. The fact is his first instinct was the correct one. This matter directly benefits a family member of his. His family member ought to have been advised to make a complaint to the Customs Department or to the Secretary of the Revenue. Mr. Laing should not have involved himself in any way in the decision. There is a prima facie case of a conflict of interest, and the fact that it is of general application does not excuse the conflict.

Secondly, the Customs Department was not changing the rate of duty. The Customs Department was simply placing the product in the right duty scale, the one in which it was rightly to be, so, since this was not a revenue enhancement measure or a change in the rate of tariff, why would the Ministry of Finance have to be consulted by Customs, other than to advise them? The tariffs and definitions are a matter of law. The Minister may adjust the tariffs but if a product falls by definition within a particular tariff line, that is matter of fact and of law, which is determined by the Customs Department. What it now means is that the product Mona Vie is in the wrong tariff line as a result of the directive of the Ministry of Finance, and therefore the Bahamian people are being cheated out of revenue, to satisfy the request of Mr. Laing's brother and sister-in-law.

As for the Budget year, the FNM is now engaged in a sham exercise of a mid year budget statement, so Mr. Laing could easily have had the tariff adjusted at the mid year since the FNM's argument is they want to be so strict and within the law.

Mr. Smith has hit a home run here. We expect Frank Smith to take up this matter when the House resumes on Monday 3rd March and explain to Mr. Laing the facts of life and why he ought to resign from office. We should also hear from the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Mr. Laing’s benefactor who as Prime Minister can of course excuse the conflict. We shall see.

We put the unvarnished augments right out, the case that Mr. Laing has to meet.

Another word of advice to Mr. Laing, he should stop with all this sanctimonious religiosity. It does not go down well. It makes him sound like a hypocrite. Mr. Laing is a politician just like the others in the House; no better no worse. He has the same tart tongue, the same viciousness and the ability to go for the jugular, born again Christian or not. If he wants to be in the born again business, then he needs to leave the House of Assembly or if he stays then let him amend his prayer, humble himself, strike his breast and say instead: “Lord be merciful to me a sinner”.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 1st March 2008 up to midnight: 330,599.

Number of hits for the month of February up Friday 29th February 2008 up to midnight: 1,251,839.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 1st March 2008 up to midnight: 2,603,129.

WASTING TIME…WHISTLING DIXIE
    Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign Minister (PLP Fox HILL) spoke on the government’s supplementary appropriations bills and their mid year budget statement on Wednesday 27th February. He helped to set the tone for the PLP’s debate following on a stellar presentation by Frank Smith the MP for St Thomas More (click here for the St. Thomas More address). We loved the play on poetry. Here is some of what Mr. Mitchell had to say in his own words:
    “The research shows that it was Mark Twain the nineteenth century American writer who popularized an expression attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the British Prime Minister: lies, damned lies and statistics.
    “That has to be the starting point of any exposition today with regard to this so called mid year budget statement: lies, damned lies and statistics.
    “The government in its statement sought to use poetry to delude us into thinking this is a real exercise, quoting Shakespeare: ‘Mine honour is my life; both grow in me/Take honour from me, and my life is done.’ Fair enough for we are all honourable men.
    “Nothing but idle poetry. But Mr. Speaker, I have lots of poetry of my own, lines and bits and pieces that can help us through this debate to the Government.
    “How about the line from the movie the Lion In Winter: ‘You’re so deceitful you can’t ask for water when you’re thirsty.’
    “Or what about this line from the same movie: ‘We could tangle spiders in the webs you weave.’
    “How about this one from the same movie: ‘Oh how I love being king.’
    “Or more recently an expression from a king of another kind when the former U.S. President explained away his behaviour by saying ‘because I could’.
    “Or from Sir Walter Scott: “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
    “Or since the government called in aid Shakespeare how about: ‘sound and fury signifying nothing.’
    “Or from the pop group Imagination: ‘Could it be that it’s just an illusion putting me back in all this confusion?’
    “Poetry has its uses indeed. And I prefer on this occasion a bit of poetry from the Psalms of the Bible: ‘We spend our years as a tale that is told.’
    “And today I would like to tell a tale or two about this statement and expose it for what it is; an illusion, the use of statistics and clever language to confuse.
    “It is the continuation of the same kind of gotcha politics that we have criticized since this Parliament began.”

THE ELECTION COURT RECONVENES
The Election Court case brought by Senator Pleasant Bridgewater (PLP) against Marco City MP Zhivargo Laing started on Monday 26th February before Justices Anita Allen and Jon Isaacs. Senator Bridgewater claims that she is the duly elected Member of Parliament, contrary to the declaration at the election time that she lost the seat by 47 votes. The trial was postponed on Tuesday 27th February because Fred Smith, the Attorney for Mr. Laing, could not get to Nassau due to bad weather in Freeport. The case resumed on Wednesday 28th February. Mrs. Bridgewater has begun testimony against 100 witnesses whom she says were not properly registered as voters in the constituency, amongst them an aunt of Zhivargo Laing. The case resumes on Monday 3rd March.

MITCHELL ON THE EPA

Former Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell spoke in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 28th February on the government’s mid year budget statement and the proposed supplementary budget legislation. He described it as “lies, damned lies and statistics”. Mr. Mitchell argued that the budget was an illusion, and an unproductive use of the Parliament’s time. Mr. Mitchell called on the government to disclose fully the meaning and effect of The Bahamas signing on to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. He said that this would mean a fundamental change in the way business is done in The Bahamas and that it also means that what we have offered to Europeans we also have to offer to the rest of the Caribbean. You may click here for the full address.
File photo of Mr. Mitchell at the recent PLP convention by Peter Ramsay

TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR TO THE BAHAMAS

Turkey’s Ambassador Sanivar Kiezildeli presented her credentials to the Governor General Arthur Hanna at Government House on Thursday 28th February. The new Ambassador is resident in Havana, Cuba and is accredited to nine Caribbean countries. Following the formal ceremony was a luncheon at Government House, and in the evening the Honorary Consul for Turkey in the Bahamas Lowell Mortimer hosted a reception for the new Ambassador. Please click here for more Peter Ramsay photos from the reception.
BIS photo / Peter Ramsay

OSWALD BROWN HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?
We don’t know why we bother to read it, or for that matter why anyone bothers to read it. But yet another Chapter of the local version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin has been released by Oswald Brown, the man with the opinions of a twit, who writes a weekly column in the Nassau Guardian. This anti PLP, Fred Mitchell hater has a new one to hate on his list this week. This week he is attacking Alfred Sears, the former Minister of Education and now MP (PLP) for Ft. Charlotte for a completely innocuous line in his speech to the PLP convention on Friday 22nd February in which he credited the late Sir Stafford Sands for the present economic model we have in The Bahamas. Mr. Brown with his perverse imagination claims that Mr. Sears is trying by that to blame Stafford Sands for the state of The Bahamas economy today.
Of course, according to Mr. Brown it’s all the PLP’s fault, and Stafford Sands was such a genius and that the PLP took Stafford Sands off the ten dollar bill because they were racist. The fact is Stafford Sands was not a genius. The tourism sector in this country expanded and transformed under the PLP from 1967 onward. By that time. Sir Stafford has taken like a coward and turned tail and run from this country. He died having abandoned the country because he could not live in a country run by black people. It would take someone with an Uncle Tom mentality to turn that around and start sucking up to Stafford Sands even in death when even his own kith and kin recognize that Stafford Sands was an inveterate racist who cannot be honoured by the present day Bahamas.

MORE VIOLENCE IN THE SCHOOLS
With the violence continuing in the schools, the Minister of Education announced that he will be putting metal detectors in the schools. The government is still stubbornly refusing to put the police back in the schools. The PLP had the police in the schools. The Minister of Education Carl Bethel spoke in the House of Assembly on Thursday 28th February. Mr. Bethel said that the Ministry will also be expanding the SURE programme, which exists to help those young people who are discipline problems in the school system. He said that Dr. David Allen is helping to design a programme in conflict resolution. This is a belated attempt by the FNM government to deal with youth violence. Last week we reported the murders of three high school students since the start of the year. In the latest bout of violence, three Government High School students were charged with the stabbing of a fellow student. They were remanded in custody. The three were charged with causing grievous bodily harm. The incident took place on Tuesday 27th February.

CARL BETHEL SHOULD STICK TO EDUCATION
    Carl Bethel was sounding forth on economic matters as he addressed the House of Assembly on Thursday 28th February. What he should be talking about is how he and the lame FNM have lost control of the schools with bouts of violence and fighting breaking out everywhere. Mr. Bethel claims that the PLP displayed what he termed navel gazing, when it took a year to approve Phase III of the Atlantis Project. He claimed that during that time the GDP of the country declined.
    It is interesting how the FNM are so interested in old history instead of getting on with the job they now have to do. The economy today is in decline and unemployment is up. The President of the Contractors Association says 60 per cent of his members are out of work. Yet Mr. Bethel has time to talk nonsense about what was done with Phase III of Atlantis, long out of the ground and hiring thousands of Bahamians.
    The fact is the Kerzner Group increased the size of the Project it had originally asked the Government for and the concessions that it had asked of the FNM. The PLP was concerned that the level of tax concessions did not exceed a certain level. In fact, the study that was done by a professional group on the matter showed that Atlantis did not need concessions to be viable. The Bahamian public itself was getting concerned about the giveaways of Bahamian revenues versus the benefits reaped. The PLP did not dawdle. It made a sound decision that resulted in a thorough economic and environmental impact study, reasonable concessions and we see today a successful investment. Now Carl Bethel needs to get back to the business of education and leave what he does not know to others who know.

THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY SAGA
We wanted to keep you up to date with the events in the dispute between the estate of the late Edward St. George and the interest of Sir Jack Hayward, his former partner in the Grand Bahama Port Authority. A group called the Fleming Group, financiers and bankers from the United Kingdom have been publicly touting a proposed buyout of the St. George Estate’s interests and a development plan for Freeport.
The St. George Estate’s attorney Fred Smith has been saying equally as loudly that the St. George Estate does not want to sell to the Fleming Group. Behind the scenes, the reason is thought to be that the beneficiaries of the Estate suspect that Hanes Babak, the ousted Chairman of the Port who was placed there by Sir Jack Hayward’s interests and who is reviled by the beneficiaries of the Estate is associated with the buyout. During the past week, the Fleming Group announced that Mr. Babak would have nothing to do with their buyout of the Port. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced last year that the dispute was close to being settled, but nothing so far has materialized and the Port’s Authority continues to limp in Grand Bahama. The company is drifting and the city is going down hill in the absence of clear, defined leadership.

MELISSA SEARS

The new Vice Chair of the PLP and the woman whom Shane Gibson PLP MP Golden Gates describes as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the PLP’s 50th National General Convention has released this new portrait photo. The younger politicians would all be wise to follow suit with proper portrait photos and biographies and they ought to be posted on the PLP’s website as well. Congratulations Ms. Sears! You may click here for Ms. Sears' address to the 50th PLP Convention in February.

IN PASSING
Rolly Gray Buried Saturday
Captain Rolly Gray of Staniel Cay was a legend in his own time. Mr. Gray was the dominant winner during the 1970s and 1980s of the Family Island Regattas, held annually in Georgetown, Exuma. His sloop, the Tida Wave is also the stuff of legend. He was a quiet unassuming man, and in real life a mail boat Captain. He was an icon in the Exumas and in The Bahamas because of his sailing. His picture adorns the Wall of Fame in the Lynden Pindling International Airport. Mr. Gray sadly passed away and was buried in his beloved Staniel Cay on Saturday 1st March. The service was attended by former Prime Minister Perry Christie, PLP Representative for Exuma Anthony Moss and former representative for Exuma George Smith. Our condolences to his family. Members of Parliament paid tribute to Mr. Gray on Thursday 28th February describing him as a National Hero.

Vincent D’Aguilar

PLP leader Perry Christie attended the funeral service of Vincent D’Aguilar who died at age 75 after a bout with prostate cancer. Mr. D’Aguilar is former Chamber of Commerce President, one of the foremost collectors of Bahamian art, and the founder of Super Wash, the largest self service laundry service in The Bahamas. The memorial service took place at St. Francis Roman Catholic Cathedral on Wednesday 27th February and not on Thursday 28th February as incorrectly reported on this site last week. He is survived by his wife Marina and two sons Dionisio and Zane.
Photo / Peter Ramsay

Leslie Miller Recovering
Former Member of Parliament Leslie Miller is recovering following a short stint in hospital for some corrective surgery on his leg. We wish him well.

GG Sees Exuma Kids
The Children of the Moss Town Primary School in Exuma spent their mid term break here in Nassau to see the Parliament and visit other sights of civic interest. While in Nassau on Wednesday 27th February, they paid a courtesy call on Governor General Arthur Hanna at Government House in Nassau. The students were accompanied by their principal Virginia Clarke; fifth grade teacher Eleanor Hield; janitress Virginia Deveaux-Clarke and parent, Corporal 2349 Rolle. Head Boy Kevin Forbes of grade six presented His Excellency with a gift made out of coconut bark, and thanked him for welcoming the students, who were on a three-day social studies field trip. The students also visited the House of Assembly and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Base, Coral Harbour.

Fox Hill Treats Exuma

During the course of the PLP’s 30th Convention from 20th to 23rd February, the Exuma delegation was hosted to lunch by the Fox Hill delegation and their Member of Parliament Fred Mitchell. The luncheon was held at Coconuts at the Western Esplanade managed by Eldin Ferguson and his two sons. Mr. Mitchell is pictured on Wednesday 20th February in two photos one with the delegation at the luncheon and with the sons of the proprietor and PLP MP Anthony Moss.

Two Temporary Judges
Thomas Evans Q.C. and Elliott Lockhart, former MP (FNM) for Exuma have been appointed to serve as Acting judges of the Supreme Court to try to deal with the backlog of cases on the criminal side of the court. According to the Bahama Journal Mr. Lockhart will serve for six months beginning 1st April and Mr. Evans for nine months beginning 1st October.

Anthony Musgrove Sworn In As A Senator

The FNM’s new Senator Anthony Musgrove was sworn in as a Senator when it met on Wednesday 27th February. Mr. Musgrove is a banker and is 35 years old. He hails from Exuma. The appointment is being contested by the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie because he argues that given the composition of the House of Assembly under the Constitution all three appointments under the provisions of Article 36 should be for the Leader of the Opposition. Senator Michael Halkitis of the Progressive Liberal Party spoke on the occasion of the swearing in of the new Senator welcoming the new Senator.
Photos of Senator Musgrove and Senator Halkitis - BIS / Peter Ramsay

Grouper Season Opens Again
With the end of February, the three months of a closed season for fishing the Nassau Grouper have come to a close.

Warning On Lionfish
Fisheries Minister Larry Cartwright has expressed concern about the proliferation of Lionfish in Bahamian waters. The fish is not native to this region and therefore has no natural predators in the region. The fish is proliferating and causing concern to ecologists that it will destroy native species. The fish is in Bahamian waters as a result of having escaped from exhibits in aquariums in this part of the world. The fish is poisonous. The Minister while speaking in the House on Wednesday 28th February said that while he does not think it can be eliminated from these waters, some fishermen have taken to catching them, filleting them and selling the meat. The meat is not poisoned by the poison in the spines of the fish.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW IS “OVERKILL”
    The recent debate on the midterm budget tabled in Parliament is the third time Parliament has debated various elements of this budget in the nine last months. While I welcome transparency and accountability in government, all of the information revealed during the debate could be easily gleaned from the Central Bank’s Quarterly Digest. Further, there is a view that those critical national issues such as crime, the fear of crime, the state of and prospects for the economy should occupy much of the Parliament’s time as legislators vigorously pursue solutions to these national issues.
    On the issue of transparency, there still remain many questions surrounding the behavior of this government. In light of the much hyped Crown Agent audit report and continuous reference to the Financial Administration and Audit Act of 1988, why did the FNM award $23.5 million in no-bid negotiated contracts for the repair of public schools? A proper accounting of the monies, the scope of works, and whether the people received value for money were never publicly disclosed.
    Mr. Laing’s refusal to clarify his role in the reduction of customs duties, contrary to law, to accrue unreasonable benefits to a family member suggest that the FNM has something to hide. The concept of collective responsibility places the reputation and credibility of the Prime Minister on the line. The apparent conflict of interest of the Deputy Prime Minister in the relocation of the container port also raises further questions about transparency and accountability in this government.
    There still remain clouds and suspicion, cynicism and reasonable doubt regarding the Government’s expressed intent and general handling of the Urban Renewal workers in Grand Bahama, the suspended and canceled contracts totaling some $90 million, termination of duly hired workers, and the hiring of consultants at huge salaries. Perhaps more time could be spent clarifying these issues to the satisfaction of the general public.
    Editor, I wish to comment on an incredible statement attributed to the Prime Minister during the budget debate concerning this much talked about surplus: "On the basis of the data for the first six months of the 2007/2008 fiscal year, that is for the period July to December 2007, expenditure was some $75 million less than forecast, whereas revenue was only $53 million less than forecast," he said. "Thus, there is a surplus of revenue of expenditure emerging of $22 million."
    This is akin to Bahamians giving up their homes, cars, and withdrawing their children from private schools in order to save money. Since this not a viable option for individuals, it cannot be a viable option for running a country as it is not sustainable. The FNM must stop their grandstanding and start governing as nobody is impressed.
    The record will show that the FNM inherited a strong economy that enjoyed over $700 million in foreign direct investment in 2006 (the highest ever) and they managed to reverse this economic momentum, downgrade our international credit rating, hurt our reputation by holding foreign investors hostage, and putting thousands of Bahamians out of work. This downward spiral was done in a record ten months. The social consequences are immeasurable as crime is out of control, the fear of crime is rising, and the country limps toward the status of, failed state.
    The Bahamas needs a government with the vision and political will to tackle these challenges facing our country, not one preoccupied with public relations and numerical shuffling. Debating a budget three times in nine months while Rome is burning is a case of overkill.
Elcott Coleby

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Just before 5 p.m. on Friday 7th March and two days after the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham opened his big fat mouth to talk down the deal, the unthinkable happened. The Bahamar deal at Cable Beach seems to be in deep trouble. The press release from the developers issued on Friday 7th March said:

BAHA MAR TAKES ISSUE WITH RECENT HARRAH’S ACTION
NASSAU, BAHAMAS, March 7, 2008 – Baha Mar Resorts (“Baha Mar”) today said that it has received a notice from Harrah’s Entertainment (“Harrah’s”) purporting to terminate their joint venture arrangements. Baha Mar has notified Harrah’s that it disputes Harrah’s ability to unilaterally terminate the arrangements. Those arrangements were affirmed by Harrah’s as recently as January 31 when Harrah’s, as Baha Mar’s joint venture partner, signed the latest Heads of Agreement with the Government of The Bahamas.

In attempting to justify its actions, Harrah’s referred to comments made two days ago in the House of Assembly questioning the ability of the project to proceed ahead. However, just yesterday, the House of Assembly voted unanimously to approve all of the Government’s sale agreements for key parcels of land to be transferred to Baha Mar, accompanied by numerous positive comments about the Baha Mar project from several key Members of Parliament.

Baha Mar is committed to moving forward with the Baha Mar project and if necessary will explore all options, in partnership with the Government of the Bahamas, to complete the project in a responsible fashion that will benefit the people and economy of The Bahamas.

The PLP needs to jump on this right away and drive the stake into the proverbial heart of the infidel.

This matter has come about because on Wednesday 5th March, the House of Assembly began to deal with three resolutions to turn over land that is part of three different deals that have finally been approved by this government. Fred Mitchell, the lead spokesman for the Opposition PLP on the matter said, “this government has finally put something before the House which is productive”.

The three resolutions would give the authority to the government to fulfil its commitment to Bahamar on Cable Beach, Albany on the South West Road of New Providence and to the developers of Norman’s Cay in the Exumas.

What was strange though about the Government’s presentation led by Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, is that he signed the agreement, touted what it promises, the biggest investment ever in the history of The Bahamas, yet he and his Members of Parliament kept pronouncing doubts about the project. First the mover Mr. Ingraham and then the seconder Dr. Hubert Minnis, both said that they had doubts about the project.

Opposition lead spokesman on the matter Fred Mitchell warned them that they should not be talking down their own project. If they wanted the project to succeed, why would you talk down the project? In The Bahamas we say, a fisherman does not call his own fish stink.

Imagine, if the Bahamar bankers were in Nassau that day and they were flipping through the channels, about to sign the financing pact, and they saw on TV, the Prime Minister of the country where they hope to lend hundreds of millions of dollars, saying that he did not think that the deal they were about to support could go through. Yet that is what Hubert Ingraham did.

Not only did he do that, he infected all of his men and women with the same battle lines. The Minister of Education Carl Bethel went further than his boss Hubert Ingraham who had earlier revealed confidential correspondence by the government to the developer. Mr. Bethel revealed confidential correspondence by the developer to the government.

Imagine again, an investor looking at this spectacle. In negotiations, you say and write all kinds of tough things to get a deal. But you never imagine that this correspondence is going to end up in the press and part of political fodder. Yet it did, and it gave not a clear picture of what was going on. It told only part of the story. It was done by Mr. Ingraham and his party for purely selfish, political reasons, simply to try to discredit the PLP and its leader Perry Christie who had put together the largest deal ever in the history of the country. Others are suggesting that Mr. Ingraham did this to help out his friends at Paradise Island who were opposed to the project and so it might well have been deliberately scuppered by the government to remove the competition from Atlantis.

The PLP took the position that no matter what doubts it had, this was the biggest potential deal in town. The developers were reputable people, Permanent Residents of this country and the deal should be encouraged. There was nothing else on the horizon that would produce the 10,000 jobs that the project promised. They have already spent some 440 million dollars, equal to, perhaps surpassing the early investment of Sol Kerzner at Atlantis, yet the Ingraham administration was talking down the project, saying that they doubted the financial ability of the company.

Yet Mr. Ingraham and his government who accused the PLP of being indecisive took ten months to approve it, and then when they came to the House they denigrated the agreement. The result is the Harrah’s pull out from the project.

Harrah’s is a huge casino group working out of United States. It was the centrepiece of the project, and with it, the marketing would be hugely successful. So if Harrah’s pulls out, the deal is in deep trouble. The fact that Bahamar would go to the extent of putting in their release that the Harrah’s people took note of the comments of the government about the project speaks volumes about the damage that having a big fat mouth, being too biggety and talking too much can cause. Hubert Ingraham is to blame. It is Hubert’s fault. No more. No less.

So if this deal goes down in flames and we hope that it does not, then we have only Hubert Ingraham to blame, not Perry Christie this time. What a stupid thing for this man to do? We are not surprised. Stupid is as stupid does.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 8th March 2008 up to midnight: 286,456.

Number of hits for the month of March up to Saturday 8th March 2008 at midnight: 307,701.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 8th March 2008 at midnight: 2,894,830.

PLP DEEPLY CONCERNED & ALARMED
    The Progressive Liberal Party Sunday issued a release saying it has taken note of the statement issued on Friday, 8th March, by the developers of the $2.6 billion Baha Mar Project on Cable Beach. The PLP's statement said:
    "The news was not good. The PLP is deeply concerned and alarmed at the news from the developer.
    "It appears that comments made by the government in the House of Assembly may have caused Harrah’s Casino, a key partner in the development, to withdraw from the project. Notwithstanding Baha Mar’s assertion that there is no right to unilaterally withdraw from the project, the statement signalled to us that the investment is in deep trouble largely as a result of negative comments made in the House of Assembly by prime minister Hubert Ingraham and his Members of Parliament.
    "The loss of an investor of Harrah’s stature, the largest, most powerful gaming resort company in the world, is incalculable. Harrah's would have attracted other investors. Instead, their pullout will now serve to discourage other investors.
    "It is troubling that the prime minister did not seem to understand that his ill-considered and gratuitous remarks in the House of Assembly put the economic future of the country at grave risk.
    "At the time of the debate in the House, the PLP warned the government and the prime minister that it was not wise for him to have signed an agreement and then make public statements denigrating that agreement. That warning was ignored. We also warned the government about the one sided use of confidential documents from a government file about the project, which would bring the project and the developer into public controversy. That warning was also ignored.
    "The PLP supports the Baha Mar Development at Cable Beach as good for the country and in the national interest.
    "Thousands of jobs hang in the balance. The government must say quickly what this statement by Baha Mar means. The public interest demands that a full and frank statement be given to the House of Assembly when it next meets on Monday 10th March.
    :Quick action must be taken by the government to establish the extent to which the project is in trouble. The government must say what it intends to do to keep this project on stream. If Baha Mar fails, the government has only itself to blame. Failure must not be an option."

ZHIVARGO LAING PANICKING
    It was incredible to see and hear. Zhivargo Laing, the Minister of State, was beside himself, livid, could not contain himself. Quite simply, he lost it. He later apologized to the Speaker for his behaviour in the House, but it is too late. This same born again Christian was threatening Frank Smith PLP MP St. Thomas More because Mr. Smith made an allegation of corruption against the Government.
    The link here to last week, will show that Mr. Laing is in plenty of trouble because of the words of his own mouth. It all surrounds a bad decision on his part to intervene at the request of his brother in a matter of lowering duty on a good, which was sold by his sister in law. Frank Smith has been assiduous in the matter and is getting under Mr. Laing's skin. On the side of Mr. Laing is of course the Speaker of the House of Assembly Alvin Smith who struck Mr. Smith's comments from the record. But the public knows that there can be no cover up in this matter, and Mr. Frank Smith should not be silenced.
    Mr. Laing ran out of the House without bowing for the Speaker’s permission, shouting at Frank Smith that he must come outside and repeat what he said on the inside. This is a favourite and idle trick of FNMs when they can’t face the music. Questions are being asked about corruption in high places and Mr. Laing ought to answer these questions.
    What is astounding is the absolute silence of prime minister Hubert Ingraham. Mr. Ingraham who joined the chorus of naysayers because of the way Perry Christie when he was Prime Minister dealt with the fight of two of his political colleagues, has not said a word. This matter of the revenue being adjusted for the private purposes of a Members of Parliament is serious, and the prime minister must answer or be condemned with the same brush.

ANTHONY FERGUSON ON INCOME TAX
    The President of Colina Financial Services Limited Anthony Ferguson appearing on the More 94 FM radio programme the Last Word on Sunday 2nd March said that he favours income tax. Income Tax is a dirty word in The Bahamas. It has been argued by the business and political community as being inimical to the lifestyles of Bahamians. Mr. Ferguson’s company ran an ad in the press warning the country that it needed to take steps to improve its revenue collection.
    The last government was seeking to prepare the country for Value Added Tax (VAT), given the coming of a series of trade agreements that will cause customs duties to disappear. The Bahamas gets most of its revenue form customs duties. We do not agree with income tax. We find that the bureaucracy that it requires is too intrusive and is a violation of the right of privacy of the individual. However, we would support the PLP’s nascent idea of a Value Added Tax to solve the problem, and particularly its extension to services so that we can get more government revenue. Still, we think that Mr. Ferguson has made a valuable contribution to an important debate. Now all we have to do is change the government back to PLP again.
    The report of Mr. Ferguson’s remarks appeared in the Nassau Guardian of Tuesday 4th March.

MITCHELL ADDRESSES THE LAWYERS

Fred Mitchell, the Opposition’s spokesman on Foreign Affairs, spoke to lawyers in training at the Eugene Dupuch Law School's Symposium at the British Colonial Hilton on Tuesday 4th March. He spoke about the lawyer as public advocate. In it, he urged the lawyers to speak out more forcefully on matters of public interest. He also called for the abolition of the common law contempt of court jurisdiction, support for the right to criticize judgments and judges of the courts, for the abolition of criminal libel as an offence and for a right to privacy law. You may click here for the full address.

THE CARICOM OPENING

Peter Ramsay of The Bahamas Information Services was present for the Caricom conference in The Bahamas from 7th to 9th March. All the Heads of Government of Caricom states gathered in The Bahamas for the meeting save Haiti’s President Rene Preval and the Prime Minister of St. Vincent Ralph Gonsalves. The new Prime Ministers were Dean Barrow of Belize and David Thompson of Barbados. Also above, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell greets Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
BIS photos / Peter Ramsay

THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY
The Courts have now discharged the receivership of the Grand Bahama Port Authority that effectively hobbled the day-to-day running of the company. The receivers were appointed as a result of the application of the Estate of Edward St. George. Fred Smith, attorney for the St. George Estate went before Madam Justice Jeanne Thompson and obtained the receivership order. Something seemed quite odd about hobbling someone's property because shareholders were having a dispute. Nevertheless it was done.
Justice Neville Adderley in the case heard on Thursday 6th March discharged the receivers and said that he did so because there was a material non disclosure by counsel appearing before Justice Thompson. This is quite incredible and it shows how the wheels of justice can work an injustice. Leave aside the fact that this involves Sir Jack Hayward whom we do not support and deal with the principle. How can a lawyer come and tie up your assets based on a material non disclosure, ex parte and there is no disciplinary action against that lawyers for doing so? Something is very wrong here.

IN PASSING
Daylight Saving Time
The infernal Eastern Daylight Time began this morning at 2 a.m. It is ridiculous. It does not save energy and simply upsets the equilibrium. Why don’t these people simply leave the time alone?

Sir Clement Wheel Chair Bound
The Nassau Guardian reported on Tuesday 4th March that Sir Clement T. Maynard, the former Deputy Prime Minister under the PLP who suffered a stroke in February of this year is convalescing in Florida. By the report, he is bound to a wheel chair but is making progress. We wish him well.

The Tourism Product In Trouble
Obie Wilchcombe, the Opposition spokesman on Tourism told the House of Assembly on Monday 2nd March that the Bahamas tourism project is ill and slipping into a coma. Some people at the nation’s top facility Atlantis at Paradise Island are working two days a week, and the same thing is happening at the Crystal Palace in Cable Beach.

A Case on Dower
Mr. Justice Neville Adderley has delivered a landmark ruling on the nature of dower. Dower is an interest in land that accrues to a wife when her husband dies. It entitles the widow to a one-third life interest in the land. In modern days, it became quite a nuisance because any married man could not mortgage his real property without getting his wife to renounce her dower interest. The legislature purported to abolish it with a hastily passed Inheritance Act back in 2001. The law was ambiguous however. It abolished all rights to dower after the commencement of the act but left in place dower rights before the act. This caused confusion in the coveyancing practice of the country where the Chief Justice appeared to take the view that renunciations of dower were still necessary. The case clears up the confusion as it relates to those dower rights after the commencement of the act. Nevertheless, it may raise other issues because it appears to say that the law governing the renunciations of dower rights has been abolished. What then of those dower rights that exist before commencement of the act that were not renounced? Perhaps the Privy Council will have to settle the matter. You may click here to read the full judgment delivered on 26th February 2008.

Malcolm Adderley
Speaking in the House of Assembly, the PLP MP for Elizabeth said that the diehard FNMs and diehard PLPs are a dying breed. He decried the partisan politics of yesteryear and argued that all parties ought to act in the national interest. We do not agree that diehards are a dying breed, nor is it a desirable event. Political parties are necessary to run the country and it is important that you have strong supporters on both sides. One thing we know is no matter how people argue this point about dying breed, when election time comes; you vote either FNM or PLP. All who should, take note. The Nassau Guardian reported the remarks on Tuesday 4th March from comments made in the House of Assembly the day before.

Kenyatta Gibson
Former PLP MP Kenyatta Gibson and Chair of the Gaming Board under the PLP argued in the House of Assembly for some form of gambling to be allowed to Bahamians, his view is that the government is losing thousands of dollars in revenue by not being able to tax gambling if it were legitimate. We agree. Now he needs to rejoin the PLP. The Nassau Guardian reported the remarks on Tuesday 4th March made in the House of Assembly the day before.

Arlene Albury
Funeral services for the late Arlene Albury 59 years old will be held at St. Michael’s Methodist Church in Nassau on Wednesday 12th March. Mr. Albury, formerly Wisdom, is the sister of the former Minister of Youth Neville Wisdom. She is survived by her three sons. Mrs. Albury trained and nurtured a generation of student leaders at the College of The Bahamas as head of the student services programme, succeeding Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt MP in that capacity. Mrs. Pratt paid tribute to Mrs. Albury in the House of assembly on Monday 2nd March. The College will pay tribute to Mrs. Albury at a special convocation on Monday 10th March at 11.00 a.m.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The case for an independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
    The celebration of legal week by the Eugene Dupuch Law School and the Marco City election court challenge together have elevated the question of electoral reform into the national debate and consciousness. Editor, with your permission I would like to focus on the need for a truly independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
    At present, I am not convinced that the present Boundaries Commission ensures fairness as all of the members of the Commission are appointed by either the Prime Minister (3 members) or the Leader of the Opposition (2 members). Under this arrangement, it is obvious that all of the members of the Commission could be under the influence or work in the interest of groups that have a vested interest in the election. However, no such privilege is given to parties not represented in the House of Assembly or parties that have representation in the Assembly, but which are not either the governing party or the official opposition.
    I believe that the Electoral and Boundaries Commission should be composed of a senior member of the Judiciary, the Clerk of the House of Assembly and three distinguished persons who are well respected as fair by the community. I perceive this Commission, in addition to determining the constituency boundaries, having oversight of the entire voting process including the registration of voters, hearing and ruling on allegations of electoral fraud resulting from the nomination and voting process. In cases where the Electoral and Boundaries Commission cannot adequately rule on any election matter that is in dispute, then the Election Court should then serve as that body to hear any appeals emanating from the Commission.
    This Commission should be vested with the authority to:

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THE ENVIRONMENT
Commonwealth Day in The Bahamas passed last Monday 10th March with hardly a whimper or a whisper. However, there was a message from the Queen read at most of the schools and where assemblies were held they dealt with the theme of the environment. Fred Mitchell, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs was the guest speaker at two assemblies on Monday 10th March: one at St. Andrew’s Middle School and the other at St. Anne’s Anglican School. He spoke about the environment. You may click here for the full address.

The Bahamas has one of the most beautiful and spectacular environments in the world. The whole world is beautiful but there is special beauty in The Bahamas. The point we make is that Bahamians are so cavalier with regard to our environment, its use and preservation. This is so even though it is the environment that is primarily responsible for the livelihood of thousands of Bahamians.

In Mr. Mitchell’s address, he was concerned about the fact that there does not appear to be a culture of preservation built into our way of life in The Bahamas. We agree. You simply have to see the deluge of paper, plastic containers, aluminium cans and glass bottles that is strewn over the country from north to south. The garbage collection is fitful and when the garbage is collected, there is no organized recycling programme or any proper way of disposing of waste.

The other indicator from Mr. Mitchell is the way we treat the trees in the country. One remembers the story of the principal of a school who moved into a new district known for its trees and she decided that a tree was a nuisance so the tree was cut down and lost forever. Everywhere you go, the contractors and developers of a subdivision simply take all the trees down, along with the top soil and build homes in their places, only for the homeowners to have to go to the stores and buy other trees to replace the ones that were taken away.

Up to recently, New Providence was still pretty much covered in pine forests and hard wood, broadleaf trees in what we call the coppice. That has changed dramatically in the last twenty years. The Oakes Estate that owned much of the hardwood area east of the Lynden Pindling International Airport sold the lands and the developers immediately moved in and started moving the tree cover. In this country once the native tree cover is removed, it is replaced quickly by the aggressive and ubiquitous Australian pines or casuarinas.

The interesting thing about all of this is that Parliament passed an act back in 1994 to prohibit the cutting down of trees without a permit provided they were on the list of protected trees. This list includes wild tamarind, horseflesh, the pine tree and the silk cotton tree. Yet the trees continue to come down. The worst offender is the government itself. In one case when the Bahamas Electricity Corporation was constructing its high power lines for the Paradise Island Project, they created a new strip along the John F. Kennedy Drive in New Providence and simply took down the trees. We venture to guess there was not one thought about any permit.

There is a similar prohibition with regard to taking down the hills in New Providence. With construction and development moving apace over the past thirty years, the hills have been used to create quarry for the land reclamation and redesign and building that has been taking place. Where there were once hills in the public domain, there is now scarified white earth and despite the prohibition in the act not to do so without a permit, the hills continue to come down. This only shows that legislation by itself is not an answer. Legislation is only enforceable if there is a culture of enforcement on a particular matter in the country. You get the view that Bahamians just don’t care.

They don’t care and don’t seem to listen even as this country’s land height is just barely five feet above sea level in most places. That means that global warming should be of prime concern to The Bahamas and Bahamians. Not a flicker. There are some who predict that we will under water within fifty years. The attitude seems to be don’t worry, be happy. Cars are imported into the country without any care for their environmental impact. There is no effort to mandate bio fuel use to stop the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere. There is no public policy on the environment.

There are a few intrepid fighters at the game of protecting the environment. We have to mention Eric Carey and his soldiers at The Bahamas National Trust, which finally has come out of its torpor after being dominated by the owners of the development sector for decades. Then there is Sam Duncombe a single minded and determined activist for the environment. She spoke once at the PLP convention prior to the 2002 general election. She was in the press again last week criticizing the new Albany developments on south New Providence and how they will manage the environment. Again, there appeared to be very little public support for it.

We think that the public policy on this issue must be reformed. We think that, clearly, classes on the environment and the need to protect the trees and the environment generally, ought to be taught in the schools. Unless, we get it inculcated into the culture then the destruction and damage will continue.

The effort by the Commonwealth to put the issue front and centre should be applauded.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 15th March 2008 up to midnight: 244,459.

Number of hits for the month of March up to Saturday 15th March 2008 at midnight: 566,626.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 15th March 2008 at midnight: 3,153,755.

Top - Fred Mitchell is shown accepting a gift of appreciation from the students of St. Anne’s Anglican School. From left are Special Assembly Moderator Trevann Thompson, Mr. Mitchell; Tyrea Palmer who presented the school’s token of appreciation and Cynthia Wells, Principal. Photo / Dennis Fountain. Above: Mr. Mitchell with St. Andrew’s School Principal Robert Wayde Photo / St. Andrew's School

ZHIVARGO MUST TELL THE TRUTH

Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' from The Nassau Guardian 14 03 08

Zhivargo Laing is quite an arrogant young man. He came to the House of Assembly with a statement to explain his improper behaviour as a Minister of the Government. This was the long awaited “full report” that he promised ever since Frank Smith (PLP St. Thomas More) raised the question of his interference in lowering the duty on the drink ‘Mona Vie’ to the benefit of his sister-in-law and brother. No new ground was covered in the statement to the House on Monday 10th March. If anything he entrenched himself even further. He tried to muddy the waters by saying that during the PLP’s time, there was a benefit bestowed in terms of reducing customs duties in the same way for Executive Printers, a company that is believed to be owned by former Member of Parliament Pierre Dupuch. This was an unsuccessful attempt at muddying the waters.
Mr. Laing clearly misses the point of his egregious error. By the end of the week, the PLP issued a statement saying that it was studying Mr. Laing’s answers. The PLP said that Mr. Laing’s parliamentary statement raised more questions than it answered and that they would be coming back to the country with a full report of their own. Two newspapers then led with the headlines that the PLP was keeping the heat on Mr. Laing. More importantly, cartoonist Stan Burnside seemed to reflect the mood on the issue with him lampooning PLP Frank Smith chasing Mr. Laing and threatening to squeeze the truth out of him.

CHRISTIE: ‘IT’S INGRAHAM’S FAULT’
    The merchant business community, having bought Hubert Ingraham’s support for thirty pieces of silver, is between consternation and apoplexy at the foolish behaviour he has exhibited over the past month with regard to Baha Mar. That behaviour scuttled the deal at Baha Mar (see last week’s editorial).
    Mr. Ingraham came back to the House this past week Monday 10th March squirming and twisting to get out of the major blunder. Of course, he said it was the PLP’s fault. The letter from the developer published in the press clearly shows that it was his comments in the House that caused Harrah’s to pull out of The Bahamas. The PLP did not take advantage of the difficulty and flubbed it in the House on Monday 10th March. Later on Tuesday 11th March, the Leader of the PLP Perry Christie came back with a full statement that blasted Mr. Ingraham for sabotaging the Baha Mar project. The Party pledged its best efforts to make sure that the deal succeeds. Mr. Christie urged the developer to stay the course.
    Tim Wrinkle, the Head of the Contractor’s Association, was clearly disappointed by the decision predicting that there would be hardship because of it. He and the Chamber of Commerce President Dionysio D’Aguilar had been urging the approval of the project. Now with the U.S. economy in the doldrums and nothing else on the horizon, the business community does not seem to be positive. Add to that Senator Kay Forbes Smith who, like her mentor Hubert Ingraham, is always blaming the PLP for something, and was in the press saying that it was the PLPs fault that the pension fund at ZNS was under funded.
    What next? This is the most negative bunch of people you have ever met. Is there anything that the FNM can’t find something wrong with? They remind you of the secret police, always looking into private matters to find fault. When will the FNM start to govern and get its act together instead of wasting time looking into old history? The economy is going down the tubes, people are out of work; when will the FNM do something and stop blaming the PLP? You may click here for the full press statement of Mr. Christie delivered on Tuesday 11th March.

THE SENATE MEETS

    The Senate met on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th March. They first disposed of the Government’s supplementary bills. Senator Allyson Maynard Gibson Leader for the PLP challenged the FNM to say which figures were correct on the budget. The Government was arguing with their false figures that there was a 22 million dollar surplus at mid year when the Central Bank was in fact asserting that the budget deficit was actually 48 million dollars. In other words, the Ingraham budget has fallen far short of the mark.
    When Mr. Ingraham put the supplementaries forward, he simply cut the estimated expenditure figures in half and then said there was a surplus because the half way mark had not been reached. That is entirely false since there was no legal or other mandate to spend half by the halfway mark. The budget is an annual budget. The Central Bank reports by quarters and clearly states that the revenue and expenditure are behind projections. This means that Mr. Ingraham’s boast of a surplus of 25 million dollars by budget year’s end is fanciful.
    PLP Senator Jerome Fitzgerald (pictured) warned the FNM stop all the loose talk about the Baha Mar project. He said that the PLP thought that it was now time to save the project because the project was much too important to the country for the FNM to speak so loosely about the project. You may click here for his full address.

US ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE BAHAMAS
    Each year the Government of the United States prepares on each country a human rights report. The report is actually compiled by the political officer in the country at the U.S. Embassy and is assembled from both public and private sources from within and without the particular country. The report causes a considerable stir in most countries of the region who believe that the United States has an unbelievable cheek to write reports that are generally condescending in tone, and which cause local political problems for the government at home. Inevitably, some local spokesman for the U.S. Embassy has to quickly dive in to say that the report really should not take the exceptions and make them the rule.
    There is also an international narcotics control report. These two annual reports are mandated by the U.S. Congress and are to be sent to the U.S. president who is to decide for certain purposes whether the U.S. ought to continue to do business with a particular country. One example of taking the exception to be the rule is the drug report, which identifies The Bahamas as a major drug transhipment country or a major money laundering country. This causes great umbrage in The Bahamas. The local press here draws on this usually as a way of discrediting a government when the PLP is in power. The U.S. Embassy spokesman then comes along as he did this year and says the report does confirm that The Bahamas helps significantly in the drug and money laundering fight.
    At one point, these reports had become so contentious that several Caricom countries at a Heads of Government meeting mooted the idea of Caricom doing an annual report on the United States on human rights and on narcotics control. In such a report, it would have to be pointed out that the major drug importing country in the world is the United States and it is the demand in the United States that drives the whole business.
    The U.S. has been unable to reduce demand for illegal drugs in their country. Further, the largest money laundering country is the United States. In the human rights area, there is still considerable discrimination against Black people and other minorities in the arrests of people for crimes in the U.S. and in the jailing of individuals. The United States has the highest percentage of its population in jail of any of the countries in the world it is argued. The U.S. also faces considerable criticism for its treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo. None of this particularly affects the general fact that basically, the U.S. is a good country. No Caricom country has ever had the courage of its convictions to issue such a report.
    This year The Bahamas in human rights is being criticized by the U.S. for its social attitudes toward homosexuals and toward Haitians. The report says there is intolerance toward these groups. They cite in support the public commentary by the local gay and lesbian groups and in particular, the rumours that suggested that two murders in the country were of homosexuals, even though there was no proof of that. They also note the issues relating to the integration of those of Haitian descent into the country. These are all true but it does not in our view make The Bahamas a bad country. It is simply one that needs improvement in some areas. So we ought to be quite sanguine about the report: in an open society like ours, anyone is free to write what they want about us. We are also free to write what we want about them.

CARIFESTA TO COME IN 2010
    One of the decisions taken at the recent Caricom meeting in Nassau from 5th to 7th March was that The Bahamas will host the Carifesta Cultural Festival in The Bahamas in 2010. This comes following last year’s embarrassing decision by the FNM to cancel the Carifesta Cultural Festival that should have been hosted in Nassau in the summer of this year. No explanation was given for the change of heart.
    The conduct of the FNM administration in the matter of the hosting of the premier cultural festival of the Caribbean has been disgraceful. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his Minister of State for Culture embarrassed this country by misleading the Heads of Government of Caricom about why they cancelled Carifesta in The Bahamas. The government of stop review and cancel was too busy trying to discredit the PLP. That was the real reason it was cancelled. Now they come and try to slip on the Bahamian people that they are going to do something for the artistic community.
    The artistic community has been let down by this government by a lie before. We must hold their feet to the fire this time.

IN PASSING
Former Minister of Government Jeffrey Thompson Dies
Another one of the old soldiers of the PLP has faded away. Jeffrey Thompson the former Minister of Development in the PLP’s first administration from 1967 to 1972 died at the age of 76 on Thursday 13th March. Mr. Thompson was lauded by former Prime Minister Perry Christie, the Leader of the PLP. Mr. Thompson now leaves only three members of the original Pindling Cabinet alive: the Hon. Sir Clement Maynard, the Hon. Arthur Hanna and Warren Levarity. Mr. Thompson served as an articled clerk in the Chambers of the late Sir Lynden before they came into government in 1967. He was a member of the National Committee for Positive Action that moved the party into a more activist phase in the 1960s. He left the Cabinet to study law in 1972. Upon his return to The Bahamas he served again in the Senate and ultimately as a Supreme Court Justice. The PLP owes a debt of gratitude to him. We extend condolences to his three daughters Tracy, Camilla and Cristal.

Dame Marguerite Out Of Hospital
Dame Marguerite Pindling, the widow of the late founding Prime Minister of The Bahamas Sir Lynden, is at home recuperating following another stint in hospital. Earlier this year it was announced that Dame Marguerite was suffering from acute pancreatitis.

Christie at The Church of God of Prophecy
When the former Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell spoke to the PLP convention in February, he used the Church of God of Prophecy to buttress his view that the PLP should have a convention every year. He told the convention that every year the Lord sends, the Church of God of Prophecy is in Convention in March. Last week was no exception. The Church gathered in Convention from Sunday 9th March and will end with its usual parade of public witness for immersion Baptism in the Atlantic Ocean later today. The former Prime Minister Perry Christie and Leader of the PLP attended the service on Tuesday 11th March with colleague PLPs.

Mike Smith Appointed Canadian High Commissioner
Mike Smith, the former Parliamentary Secretary in the previous FNM administration, former Director of News at the Broadcasting Corporation and former MP for South Beach FNM has received his letters of credence from the Queen and on Monday 17th March, he will be winging his way to Ottawa, Canada as the country’s new High Commissioner there. Mr. Smith retired from active politics in 2002. This confirms an earlier story on this site. Other appointments made by the FNM administration are: London, former Commissioner of Police Paul Farqhuarson; Irene Stubbs, Deputy High Commissioner to Canada; C.A. Smith, former Cabinet Minister in the FNM government Ambassador to Washington. Carl Smith, Under Secretary in the public service and former FNM Senator Gladys Sands are to be named Consuls General to New York and Miami respectively. No formal announcement has been made with regard to those posts.

Arlene Albury Is Buried
Former Director of Student Services at the College of The Bahamas and sister to the former Minister Neville Wisdom Arlene Albury was buried on Thursday 13th March in the Woodlawn Cemetery following a funeral service at St. Michael’s Methodist Church in New Providence. Mrs. Albury is survived by her three sons. Mrs. Albury was lauded by speaker after speaker including former Prime Minister Perry Christie, former Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt, the latter of whom worked with her at the College and former Senate President Sharon Wilson who credited Mrs. Albury with arranging for her to meet her husband Arawak Homes Chairman Franklin Wilson. Mrs. Pratt credited Mrs. Albury with arranging her nomination by Sir Lynden Pindling to run for office. Mrs. Albury was 59 at the time of death. Perhaps the most moving and incisive tribute paid to her was by one of her former students and former PLP Chairman Raynard Rigby. You may click here for the full statement.

The Situation In Tibet
We are deeply concerned about the reports of unrest in Tibet. This is a country that the Chinese government claims, but their claim to it is contested by the indigenous and ethnic Tibetans who say their country was invaded by China and their cultural and political leader the Dalai Lama forced into exile. The Chinese are said to rule with a heavy hand and there is now political unrest as there was in Burma several months ago, led by the monks. The protests are being put down with the same heavy-handed tactics as they were in Burma. We believe that these issues must be settled peacefully and with regard to the wishes of the majority of the people of Tibet freely and democratically expressed.

Welcoming New PLP Team

Glenys Hanna Martin, the first female Chair of the Progressive Liberal Party presided over her first NGC meeting on Thursday 13th March. She announced the appointment of five Vice Chairs of the Party pursuant to the constitution and the responsibilities of those Vice Chairs who were elected at the last convention. The photo of the first evening at the NGC under Mrs. Hanna Martin is taken by Andrew Burrows of PLP Media. The appointments are: Rosel Wilson of the National Progressive Institute (NPI); Juanita Percentie, North Eleuthera; Janice McKinney of Inagua; former Senator Paulette Zonicle; Nicki Bethel also of NPI; Melissa Sears of Grand Bahama, elected Vice Chair, appointed for branches; Patrick Davis of Grand Bahama, elected Vice Chair, appointed for environmental matters; Constance McDonald of Grand Bahama, elected Vice Chair, appointed in charge of PR in Grand Bahama; Darrin Rodgers, elected Vice Chair, Young Liberals.

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BARACK OBAMA

When Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign Minister of the country, spoke at the PLP’s convention in February, he laid out the official position of the PLP, if there can be one, on the Presidential elections in the United States. He said: “Tonight, those Bahamians who are not watching us this evening are probably watching U.S. Senator Obama. Mr. Obama holds the weight of the African world, the non Caucasian world upon his shoulders. The African Diaspora including the sons and daughters of Africa are proud of him and his success. His mantra for change crosses party, ethnic and ideological lines. It is of course not the usual business of a foreign parliamentary party who ends up being the president of a friendly state. But what rides on this election result in the United States argues for an exception to the general rule.

“It is important for the Bahamian people to let our neighbour friends know what is riding on this upcoming election. We will work with whomsoever is elected president as we must and draw no adverse conclusion if he loses, but if Mr. Obama wins, our friends should know that his victory will fulfil the prophetical injunction in that famous exhortation by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that one day America will live out its creed ‘we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal.’ And so we watch with some dread and at the same time utter fascination to see if America can indeed elect a man of African descent to run its country.”

That is the sentiment that we wish to express today, against the backdrop of the extraordinary address that was forced upon Mr. Obama by the political events in his country as he struggles to get the nomination for his party. He spoke in Philadelphia on Tuesday 17th March. In the speech he was forced to defend being part of a congregation in Chicago whose pastor the Reverend Jeremiah Wright spoke words that reflected the anger that still seethes in the United States over unanswered question on racial injustice.

Politics forces you to do some difficult things. The pundits in the United States, most of them white, and including such venerable institutions as the New York Times felt that this was the speech of a lifetime and compared it favourably to the soaring oratory of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Had A Dream Speech’ in 1964. Let’s not get carried away. Mr. Obama’s address was a good speech but it cannot be compared to Martin Luther King’s address. That was delivered in a whole other time and place.

Perhaps a poll ought to be taken about how blacks responded to the speech and how whites did. Few blacks we would think would compare that speech to Martin Luther King’s address. In the different responses, lies a good example of how the races still see issues in the United States from entirely different perspectives.

What is argued here is that one day, the whites in the United States, as must the whites in The Bahamas, come to accept and respect the different perspectives as reality and not try to bludgeon blacks to conform to the perspectives of the dominant culture in our societies.

What is certainly praiseworthy is the fact that Senator Obama stepped up to the plate at a difficult time and tried to deal with the hard place in which he was put. No parishioner should have to defend what his pastor says. Pastors say all kinds of things: some you agree with and others you don’t agree with. Half the time, you may not even hear what the pastor says. For someone to go and take an old tape of a retired pastor and pin his words on a member of the church is just bizarre. Yet that is what happened and one has to deal with the realpolitik.

Such is the state of U.S. politics. That is a country founded on the creed that all men are created equal: but slavery existed there until 1865. That is a country that denied women the right to vote. That is a country that to this day will it seems deny a place in the White House to man who has a Christian denomination that is outside of the mainstream Protestantism; a country that has enshrined in its constitution the freedom of religion. That is a country where because a man was Roman Catholic, he had to fight to establish his right to run. That is a country where a Jew has not been elected President, even though Jews in a phenotypical sense look no different from any other white American. So you see what faces Barack Obama, a man who regards himself as black, whom his country regards as black, but who in fact has a claim to both races: white and black. But the telling fact remains that in the country in which he grew up; he could not embrace his white heritage and be white as he now does his black heritage.

This is not to complain so much as to observe. The speech was a difficult one and artfully crafted together. For our money, it spent too much time denouncing a man, a pastor and his words that did not need denouncing. The realities of the two racial parts of America is such that Rev. Wright expresses some deeply held beliefs and values of the dispossessed in the United States for which Mr. Obama need not have made any apology. They are clearly not Mr. Obama’s views, but his Pastor’s views. The Senator said that he did not agree with those views but that was apparently not enough, the ‘conservative’ establishment then picked away at it, like a scab, you have not said this about it and so on. Just as, after the speech, the Senator made another comment about his grandmother being a typical white woman who is afraid of black men walking on the streets. Now for Fox News that has become another issue.

It is almost as if they are simply seeking to find a way to say a black man is not fit to be President of the United States. While they can’t say that because race is not an issue that can be used overtly, it appears that every excuse in the book not to vote for him is being manufactured except what they are really thinking - no black man in that White House. Enough already!

Mr. Obama is certainly more than qualified for the job. His experience in getting the nomination is not new, however, and it comes with the territory. The Clintons before him have faced the same barrage of unfair criticisms over the years of their public service. John Kerry, the Senator who ran for President for the Democratic Party in the last election was unfairly attacked by a group of cowards who tried to question his patriotism and heroism while he served in the war zone in Viet Nam. Neither the occupant in the White House at the time and today or his Vice President ever went to war. The now President is often accused of using the influence of his father’s wealth and power to duck out of serving in the military at war.

Politics is not fair, but we end where we began. There is something different riding on this election. The whole world is watching to see if the United States will live out the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 22nd March 2008 up to midnight: 215,894.

Number of hits for the month of March up to Saturday 22nd March 2008 ending at midnight: 794,440.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 22nd March 2008 at midnight: 3,381,569.

HUBERT GOES TO WASHINGTON

Why is it that you always think when Hubert Ingraham goes to represent this country aboard that somehow he is going to embarrass us? When you hear him speak, you are somehow on the edge of the seat that he is going to say something foolish like he usually does here in The Bahamas. Last week on Thursday 20th March, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham went to Washington D.C. for a visit with the President of the United States George Bush. According to Mr. Ingraham, this was his fourth such visit. He used the word grateful one too many times in thanking the U.S. President for the meeting.
Mr. Ingraham went in his capacity as the Chair of Caricom. We always find this strange when he reviles the association with Caricom so much, that is, until its time to go and stick under the great father in Washington, he is then busy running up there and being grateful for the meeting. The other Prime Ministers who accompanied him are the two new Prime Ministers Dean Barrow of Belize and David Thompson of Barbados. The photo is from the U.S. State Department website and you may link to the video of what was said at the after meeting press conference from that same site. These meetings are in fact routine. They should be since the Caribbean borders the United States. We think that the meetings are not frequent enough but that is to some extent Caricom’s fault since there is not enough done to simply regularize the contacts with our neighbour and largest trading partner to the north.
CAPTION: President George W. Bush and Caribbean leaders Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of the Bahamas, Prime Minister David Thompson of Barbados and Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow meet in the Cabinet Room Thursday, March 20, 2008, at the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper

LAING MUST RESIGN

    It has been an interesting week in the saga of Zhivargo Laing, the embattled Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance who admitted that he had the rate of duty changed on the importation of the drink ‘Mona Vie’ to the benefit of his relatives, his brother and sister-in-law. Mr. Laing made a statement on Wednesday 19th March that he would have no further public comment on the matter. He said that he had given a full statement to Parliament and there the matter would rest.
    Zhivargo Laing did not count on the comments of the Comptroller of Customs John Rolle, however from his retirement home in Exuma who said in a Bahama Journal interview that the order to lower the rate of duty on the Mona Vie drink was illegal. He also said that the changing of a classification by Customs in midyear was not unusual. He said that it did not require Customs to check with the Ministry of Finance. So Mr. Laing is in a stew. Mr. Rolle’s comment knocks the underpinnings of the thin defence that he had managed so far to mount.
    Mr. Laing at first tried to stick to the comment that he would not comment any further, except he had to admit to the Nassau Guardian on Thursday 20th March that he would comment on the Comptroller's intervention at some other time. Then he went on the radio on Thursday 20th March on Jeff Lloyd’s radio show to attack Frank Smith, the PLP’s MP who first raised this matter on the 13th February. He called him names instead of dealing with the issue. But within that interview, he showed that he misled the Parliament on a number of matters. The more he talks, the more inconsistencies in his so called full statement show up.
    It is clear that this minister is like a cooked turkey. He is done. Someone need only stick a fork in him. Hubert Ingraham, the man with the ‘pure motives’ and the ‘clean heart’, the supervising Minister and the Prime Minister has strangely been silent and leaving Mr. Laing to soldier on alone in defending what is indefensible. We say it now and will say again and again; Zhivargo Laing must resign. He used his authority in the Ministry in which he was the authority to change the rate of duty for the benefit of a relative. That is called a conflict of interest and for that, he must go and go now, not later.
Photos: Laing from The Nassau Guardian; Rolle from The Bahama Journal

TIBET

    The Chinese government has a lot of explaining to do about the situation in Tibet. When we last commented on this issue, the question was how to deal with the protest over Chinese rule in Tibet. More has come out about what is going on in Tibet and what happened over the past two weeks since the protests began. The Chinese government itself released footage of the protests and riots that ensued. They are now engaged in a campaign to persuade the world that this whole matter was master minded by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet who has lived in exile in India since he fled for his life in 1959. The Dalai Lama himself has been only conciliatory.
    We cannot know the details and the nuances, but this much seem clear. Both China and Russia are great players on the world stage. Somehow, their political life does not match up to their economic influence on the world stage. There is right now a disconnect between a country that is so powerful generous and helpful outside its borders, but at the same time showing a heavy hand because of protests at home over governance issues. Their public commentary would suggest that the western countries that criticize them are wrong. But it causes you to wonder and perhaps understand now why the Chinese refused to criticize the military junta in Burma when they crushed the protest there last year.
    Clearly, there is a problem with China’s understanding of its new role in the world. This means that China’s place in the world demands an accounting to the world of the facts and showing that the country is great enough, mature enough to have dialogue with its own people and with the Dalai Lama. This is no more than the world, for example, has demanded of the United States with regard to its mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo. Countries of the size and importance of China and the United States have a responsibility to account for their behaviour to the lesser mortals. The United States seeks always to do so. China must do so as well.
    It is too much to ask The Bahamas Government to raise this matter with local Chinese diplomats in The Bahamas. The foreign policy of The Bahamas is right back to the torpor of the days from 1992 to 2002. This government raises nothing with anyone except when it comes to the United States. The entire foreign policy of our country revolves around what the U.S. says and does. No one else matters. The local diplomatic corps both resident and non resident feels the effects of that indifference every day. Nevertheless, The Bahamas Government ought to ask them to raise the issue of the treatment of the citizens of Tibet with China and to explain their government’s reaction over the recent protests as a gesture in the direction of arguing for freedom of speech in China. The Bahamas under Perry Christie insisted on a similar accountability by Cuba when it summarily executed a group of returned asylum seekers in 2003.
    The Bahamas supports the one China policy, which must be accomplished peacefully and is designed to see the peaceful reunification of Taiwan into China. The Taiwanese held elections over the weekend and have a democratic tradition over twenty years that is admirable. The developments in Tibet must be worrying to those in the region and with the Olympic Games coming, it is important that China knows from its friends that there should be nothing that disturbs the image of China as anything more or less than a responsible player on the world stage.
Internet photo

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THIS ECONOMY?

    Before Hubert Ingraham flew off to see the great father in Washington DC on Thursday 20th March, he made sure that he had blazing across the front pages of the compliant Bahamian press the news that he had signed a 1.2 billion dollar deal. What hypocrisy! Apart from the fact that this was, we believe, a PLP initiated deal, this is the same Hubert Ingraham now who criticized the PLP not a week before that of inflating and blowing up numbers while in government, and who cautioned the nation not to believe or accept as he said the PLP did what the investors say when they come with the high numbers. There was only one reason for Mr. Ingraham’s change of heart: desperation. He took it on the chin for wrecking the Baha Mar deal on Cable Beach. No matter what spin was put on the issue; Mr. Ingraham wrecked that deal and put the jobs of 10,000 people at risk in the process. We know that he wrecked it because the Harrah’s people said in the letter that his comments in the House of Assembly caused them to pull out of the deal. So he needed some deal to show that he was still working for the Bahamian people.
    Mr. Ingraham thanks his lucky stars that the Albany project at southwest New Providence is still to go ahead. That was a real fright because Joe Lewis, the currency trader who lives in Lyford Cay and who is the money behind the project, reportedly lost 800 million dollars in value with the collapse of Bear Stearns in New York earlier in the week. Mr. Ingraham seemed to have dodged that bullet. But dodging bullets is one thing. The underlying Bahamian economy is going south.
    Compare and contrast this with one year ago when the signs under the PLP were bullish, yet the Bahamian people were fooled by this pied piper into voting him back into office. He was described this week by former Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell as a “one man wrecking crew”. Instead of dealing with the sensible objections made by the PLP about the FNM badmouthing the Baha Mar project and releasing the confidential letters of the developers, they had Johnley Ferguson, the Vice President of the Senate and the Chairman of the FNM issue a statement for which he had no political competence. Mr. Mitchell reminded Mr. Ferguson that he is not a Cabinet minister and so has no authority to speak on the matter.
    The news continues to get worse. Atlantis, the flagship property in The Bahamas did not make budget last year. It is losing money this first quarter; the volume is not there. The Food and Beverage staff is being furloughed. Layoffs amongst the management staff seem to be increasing. The Nassau Guardian has reportedly laid off ten people within the last month. Seventy percent of the building contractors are now said to be without work according to the President of the Chamber of Commerce. The country at midyear was running a 99 million dollar deficit, which the FNM tried to lie to the country about as being a 22 million dollar surplus. The prospects at Atlantis and other tourist destinations after Easter 2008 seem abysmal. The place will be a graveyard someone argued. Freeport is in worse shape. So Mr. Ingraham and his colleagues can duck, feint, and try and to public relations their way of out this one but there is a lot of sorrow in store for the country under the FNM administration.
File photo of the Atlantis resort

SIR LYNDEN'S BIRTHDAY

Dame Marguerite Pindling, widow of the nation's founding father and first Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, yesterday, Saturday 22^nd March, visited the mausoleum on what would have been Sir Lynden's 78th birthday. Sir Lynden was born 22^nd March, 1930. Dame Marguerite is accompanied by Fred Mitchell MP.
Photo: Peter Ramsay

IN PASSING
Sheldon Beneby Now A Bishop
One of the sons of the late Bishop Nathaniel Beneby of the Church of God of Prophecy was ordained Bishop at the national convention of the Church of God of Prophecy this year. Mr. Beneby who is a Deputy Permanent Secretary with the government of The Bahamas was ordained by Elgarnett Rahming the National Overseer of The Bahamas and by the General Presbyter of the Church of God of Prophecy for the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean Islands Brice Thompson on Friday 14th March. Present for the ordination was Minister of State for Sports Byron Woodside and the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell

Bishop Randy Fraser Faces Retrial
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday 19th March set aside the decision of Magistrate Marilyn Meeres and ordered a retrial for Bishop Randy Fraser in the sexual assault case brought against him by a young woman in his care. This seems very much a case of double jeopardy. The Court seemed to say that the Magistrate did not acquit Mr. Frazer but she instead said only that the persecution did not prove their case and simply washed her hands of the matter. The press said that Mr. Fraser’s lawyer agreed with the Courts decision that the Magistrate made the wrong order. Now the matter will come up before another Magistrate and here we go again with the circus and of course, this time the Crown will have an opportunity to deal with any problems in the first case. Something seems off about this.

Arthur Barnett Sr. Retired P.S. Dies
Arthur Barnett, the former Permanent Secretary in the old Ministry of Home Affairs, has died. Mr. Barnett had been ailing for some time. He also served as a Chairman of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation. He was a former Out Island Commissioner and just before his death was Deputy to the Governor General. Mr. Barnett was 82 years old when he died last Monday 17th March. He was made a Papal Knight in 2003 by Pope John Paul II. He was awarded the rank of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty the Queen in 1994. Funeral Services will be held for him on Saturday 29th March at St. Francis Roman Catholic Cathedral at 10 a.m. He is survived by his widow Beryl and nine children including Michael Barnett, FNM candidate in the General Election of 2007 and former President of The Bahamas Bar Council.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
What are the parameters of “Cabinet Minutes?”
    It was recently reported in the local press that a private and confidential letter was tabled in the House of Assembly that revealed doubts Mr. Izmirlian had about investing billions of dollars in the Bahamas. This touched off a firestorm of criticism between the PLP and FNM about the issue of confidentiality and transparency in public affairs.
    The member for Fox Hill argued that this revelation sent a “chilling” message to any future investor that they cannot in fact put their negotiating postures in writing [to the Free National Movement government] because somebody is going to pick it up and violate that confidence, and it is very concerning.” I would take it a step further and argue that all correspondence between Cabinet and investors are part and parcel of cabinet minutes and therefore protected by law for thirty years. The tabling of these confidential letters is a violation of that law. Further, it is a violation of the oath of secrecy taken by a minister when he or she is sworn in as a minister of the government.
    In a press release to respond to the Honorable Member from Fox Hill, the chairman of the FNM stated that the confidential letter released by the FNM indicated that the PLP was "incompetent, ineffective and untrustworthy" during those negotiations. I beg to differ as the letter from the principals from Harrah’s clearly indicated that the FNM government was “incompetent, ineffective, and untrustworthy” and was partly responsible for their withdrawal from the joint venture. The letter states:
    “When coupled with Prime Minister Ingraham's comments to the House of Assembly yesterday, we do not believe that the land will be delivered to the joint venture as planned.”
    The letter further states the following:
    “As of today, several conditions remain unsatisfied and the Prime Minister has now publicly stated that he questions your financial wherewithal and ability to meet the deadlines imposed by the government both of which are crucial to the success of the project.”
    The record showed that when the Prime Minister signed the amended heads of agreement with Baha Mar, he publicly stated that the project was good for the Bahamas. He then went to parliament and talked down the project thereby clearly shaking the confidence of the principals involved in the project; this kind of behaviour has to raise questions of trust.
    In the press release, Mr Ferguson indicated that “any confidentiality that may have been required at any point has long since fallen away, and the FNM government rightly decided to give the Bahamian people a full accounting after picking up the pieces and trying to straighten out the mess left behind by the PLP”. I disagree that a mess was left behind by the PLP. Again, the record shows that the Baha Mar deal became a mess after the FNM government renegotiated it and made certain public and ill-advised statements about the project. As for the FNM government’s decision to “give the Bahamian people a full accounting,” I urge the FNM government to put those words into practice and give the Bahamian people a full accounting of the role of the Minister of State for Finance played in the reclassification of the Mona Vie drink. This action was described as both “inappropriate” and “illegal” by the former Controller of Customs.
    Mr Ferguson is well advised that governments cannot be selectively transparent and accountable as it deepens cynicism and weakens trust and confidence in government by the citizenry.
    The tabling of the documents does raise a legitimate question about the parameters of cabinets, what is protected by law, and what is fair game. A more constructive public engagement is necessary to reach a consensus on the legal interpretation of “Cabinets Minutes” and the rule of law.
Elcott Coleby

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LOW DOWN AND DIRTY
Hubert Ingraham, this illustrious country’s not so illustrious Prime Minister, took offence because he is being questioned about the condoning of the behaviour of his Minister Zhivargo Laing. His was a typical performance on Thursday 27th March in the House of Assembly. He is so predictable. The PLP set a trap for him and he walked right into it.

The FNM came to the House of Assembly on Thursday 27th March with no agenda. They suspended the House on 10th March at the point of resolutions on the agenda, and following a disingenuous statement by Zhivargo Laing that he hoped would quiet the gathering storm over his lowering the rate of duty to help his relatives in Freeport in the sale of the drink Mona Vie. This was supposed to have killed the issue dead. The PLP saw to it that it did not die. It immediately promised a comprehensive review of all of the statements of the Minister and said that it would issue its comprehensive report of the issue.

That report was completed and released in a news conference on Wednesday 26th March. The report was released by the PLP’s Parliamentary Caucus headed by its Chair Dr. Bernard Nottage. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie attended the news conference and said that he supported what was being done and that at the point at which Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham engaged, he would engage. The scene was now set.

The day in the House started with tributes to the late Jeffrey Thompson for which there was unanimity. That did not last for long. Frank Smith PLP MP for St. Thomas More got up at the point on the agenda of notices for subsequent meetings and gave notice that at the next session of the Parliament he would be asking certain questions. When he listed his questions, the great bull in the china shop, Hubert Ingraham, went ballistic. The PLP had him. The story has legs. Mr. Ingraham squirmed and twisted and turned, slashed and burned. His language became more and more disrespectful and nasty.

His position is that Mr. Laing did no wrong. Mr. Laing acted within the ambit of the law in exercising his discretion that was delegated in writing to him by the Prime Minister who is the Minister of Finance, the Minister responsible for customs. He then lashed out at John Rolle, the Comptroller of Customs who in an interview in The Bahama Journal on Wednesday 19th March said that what was done in ordering the drink Mona Vie to stay in the wrong classification, attracting the lower rate of duty was illegal and improper.

Mr. Ingraham said that it was unfortunate that John Rolle raised the matter. He said that he had a lot of respect for John Rolle as Comptroller of Customs. He said they fished together and he was going to be careful what he said about Mr. Rolle and his comments. He said that if Mr. Rolle was right then what about the monies that have not been collected if the Mona Vie was in the wrong category. In other words, it was Custom’s fault.

Then the FNM press went into overdrive. The Nassau Guardian sought to suggest that Mr. Rolle was simply angling to run for political office in Exuma. The Punch led with a story that said that Zhivargo Laing was launching an investigation into corruption at the Customs Department.

When you have no defence, the last refuge of a scoundrel is to attack the messenger.

The government and Mr. Ingraham have no defence in this matter. Zhivargo Laing is involved in a conflict of interest between his public duty and that of his personal interest. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie in his response to Mr. Ingraham’s statement that Zhivargo Laing did no wrong, asked for Mr. Ingraham to explain what was different between this situation with Zhivargo Laing and that of Brent Symonette who was made to resign as Chairman of the Airport Authority back in Mr. Ingraham’s first term.

Mr. Ingraham claimed in response to the PLP’s charge that he had been silent in the face of the unfolding scandal that he wanted to see what fools the PLP would make of themselves. He immediately withdrew the remark but the word was out. When Melanie Griffin objected to what he was saying, he took a shot at her by saying that she could only talk to him about food. What a nasty little man, seeking to make fun of her physical stature.

This from a man, who came up in a party that fought against all forms of discrimination, now uses someone’s physical stature, god given, to denigrate a Member of Parliament. This from a man who if you look at his pictures when he became Prime Minister in 1992 has blown up like a bull frog, and is suffering from coronary heart disease as a result of his eating habits. Shame on him again. He has the mentality of an Uncle Tom, true slave mentality.

The PLP must deal with this nastiness and this nasty little man in particular. It certainly will mean forcing the Speaker to protect the integrity of the House. This was the point made by Dr. Nottage in response to the nastiness of Hubert Ingraham. It may be that other measures will have to be taken to ensure that it stops.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 29th March 2008 up to midnight: 253,982.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 29th March 2008 at midnight: 1,059,503.

Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 29th March 2008 at midnight: 3,646,632.

INGRAHAM DEFENDS HIS MINISTER’S WRONG

    The week played out interestingly on the question of Zhivargo Laing and his role in lowering the customs duty on the drink Mona Vie for the benefit of his sister-in-law. You will remember that last week
the PLP promised that it would present a comprehensive review of its findings on the matter, with a complete comparison of all of the statements made by the Minister of State Zhivargo Laing on the matter.
    The PLP presented its findings in a news conference on Wednesday 26th March, led by Dr. B. J. Nottage. The review said that the PLP found that there was a clear conflict of interest and that the Minister should resign. You may click here for Dr. Nottage's introduction and synopsis and here for the full review by the PLP.
    PLP Leader Perry Christie was at the news conference. He said that he would have not substantive comment on the matter except to say that he supported the Parliamentary group and would engage in a
further comment once the Prime Minister had something to say on the matter. The word had not left the PLP fully when the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham issued a statement on 26th March saying that the
Minister did nothing wrong and that he supported the Minister. You may click here for the Prime Minister’s statement.
    The week ended with Mr. Ingraham's disastrous performance in the House of Assembly where at turns he attacked the PLP as “fools” and then threatened John Rolle the Comptroller of Customs.
    The PLP’s leader Perry Christie released a statement as promised in response to the Prime Minister in which he said Mr. Ingraham embraced the wrongdoing of his Minister. He called on Mr. Laing to
resign or the Prime Minister in absence of a resignation to do the right thing with regard to Mr. Laing. You may click here for the statement of Mr. Christie.
Photos of the PLP’s news conference are by Dennis Fountain - from left PLP MPs Picewell Forbes, Fred Mitchell, Bernard Nottage, Leader Perry Christie and Frank Smith.

THE MONA VIE ZHIVARGO LAING SCANDAL IN ESSENCE

In September 2007, Tyrone Laing, the brother of Zhivargo Laing, the Minister of State in charge of the Customs Department, called to complain that a product that was being sold by his wife Monique was attracting a higher rate of duty than the 10 per cent they had always been paying. She also wrote a letter of complaint to the Comptroller of Customs John Rolle on the matter. The Comptroller said that while the matter was being investigated, the ten per cent duty would remain. He wrote a letter to the World Customs Organization asking for clarification on whether the drink Mona Vie was placed in the right category by Customs. The Organization wrote back and said since the drink was not a juice it would have to go into the higher category.
Customs put the drink into the right category according to the Tariff Act. This category called for a 45 per cent rate of duty. The Comptroller so informed Mrs. Laing. Her brother-in-law, the Minister of State Zhivargo Laing, intervened so that the Comptroller of Customs would leave the rate at 10 per cent, notwithstanding the fact that the lawful rate for that type of drink was 45 per cent. The story in essence then is that the Minister of State used his authority to lower the tax on the drink for his sister-in-law Monique Laing.

TIBET REVISITED
Since we made our comment last week on the unfolding protests in Tibet, much more has been revealed. The Chinese government has been crushing the protests in the face of world criticisms. We support however the intervention of the U.S. President George Bush in the matter. It is reported that in a private telephone conversation during the week, Mr. Bush spoke to the President of China and urged him to initiate dialogue with the protestors and with the Dalai Lama on the situation in Tibet. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told his country that he would not boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing in the summer as the French President has suggested but that he would seek to present British views directly to the Chinese. We agree with both of them.
There would be irreparable harm and a slap in the face of China to announce any kind of boycott. Our view is simply that crushing the protests is wrong, and China can be made to understand through quiet diplomacy that it is now time to speak with the Dalai Lama and to address the sense of injury of the ethnic Tibetans in Tibet. It is the fair and mature thing to do. If they do so, it will cement their place on the world stage. Further, to deny that there are unaddressed grievances is to relive their history of a retreat to revisionism in times of upheaval. The monks showed that the story does not quite go the way the Government says when they stormed an official press conference to say no it aint so. We hope that China begins the dialogue.

A SMOKE FILLED NEIGHBOURHOOD
Leslie Miller, the former MP for Blue Hills for the PLP, Dr. Bernard Nottage, PLP Bain and Grants Town, and Fred Mitchell PLP MP Fox Hill toured the Jubilee Gardens neighbourhood in Gladstone Road on Friday 29th March. The tour took place against the backdrop of a fire at the dump site in New Providence which is directly to the east of that neighbourhood. The dump fire raged across the landscape and engulfed home sites in the area in a thick smoke. Many residents feared for their lives and their homes as the flames raced through the adjacent forest.
There was no access to water for fire engines in the neighbourhood. The government did nothing. The dump fires have been a chronic problem. By Friday when the tour took place, the neighbourhood was still engulfed in smoke. There was still no statement from the government. Mr. Miller with his colleagues went to offer some comfort to the neighbourhood that reported that they had not seen the elected FNM representative of the area who ousted Mr. Miller just last year come to visit or to comment. This is quite a public health and environmental issue because the smoke can be smelled throughout New Providence. The government must address this.

PHOTO ESSAY - THE THOMPSON FUNERAL

Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services took these photos of the various aspects of the national tribute to the late Jeffrey Thompson, former Minister in the first Majority Rule cabinet in 1967. The tributes began when he was laid out in the foyer of the House of Assembly, and the Governor General Arthur Hanna and Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie greeted the family. The family reviewed the remains. That all took place on Thursday 27th March. The funeral took place at the Christ Church Cathedral on Friday 28th March.

IN PASSING
Arthur Barnett Buried

    There is an advantage and a beauty to dying in one’s own bed in old age surrounded by your family. There is plenty of time to make peace with one’s maker; but even though there is sadness in the death, there is a satisfaction that the individual has lived a full and productive life. That could surely be said about the late Arthur Barnett CBE.
    Mr. Barnett who was born in Grants Town in difficult circumstances made good in The Bahamas. He was the child of immigrants from Jamaica. He excelled in school, qualifying for a berth in Cambridge University but because of finances was not able to attend. He went instead on a Roman Catholic scholarship to St John’s University in Minnesota. St. John’s was the home of the monks who then ran St. Augustine's College in Nassau.
    Mr. Barnett joined the public service and served there for a generation until his retirement as Permanent Secretary in 1979. He was an FNM activist, and saw his party come to power in 1992. He served in various capacities in the party becoming a Meritorious Councillor, the Party’s highest honour. For the country, he served as Chairman of The Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation and later as Deputy to the Governor General, acting several times in the absence of the Governor General from the country. Mr. Barnett died on 17th March following complications from pancreatic cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
    He is survived by nine children, including Michael Barnett, the former President of the Bar Council and his wife Beryl. His funeral on Saturday 29th March was attended by the Governor General Arthur Hanna, and the Prime Minister and Mrs. Ingraham, a host of Cabinet ministers and Parliamentarians.
Photo of the funeral at St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services

Fred Mitchell On Hunger
When the House of Assembly met on Thursday 27th March, Fred Mitchell the Member of Parliament for the Fox Hill constituency made a statement with regard to the state of his constituency. Mr. Mitchell was concerned about what he said was the unprecedented request at his constituency office for food assistance, rent assistance and assistance with power bills. He said that the Government had not addressed what appeared to be an economic disaster unfolding where people were actually skimping on food in order to save their homes and to keep gas in their cars, and also power on in their homes. He asked the Government what they were going to do in the face of the situation. The government provided no answers.

Ambassador To China
The latest scuttlebutt on the FNM circuit is that Elma Campbell, the now Minister of State for Immigration is to become the Ambassador to China for The Bahamas. Colin Higgs, the now Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is to become the Financial Secretary, succeeding Ruth Millar.

Speculation About Atlantis
The word went around like wildfire during the week that Mirage of Las Vegas was in town to buy out Sol Kerzner’s interest in Atlantis at Paradise Island. Mr. Kerzner who is 76 years old lost his son and heir apparent Butch Kerzner in a tragic helicopter crash in the Dominican Republic in 2005. The insiders say he does not have the energy to carry on and if he gets a good offer, he will probably sell. But some others say that the idea is absurd since the principal investors in his company are the Royal family of Dubai and they have no need for money and neither does Mr. Kerzner. They assert further that Mr. Kerzner has an emotional connection to the company here and is unlikely to sell. Meanwhile, everyone is worried both at Atlantis and around the country that the tourism figures are headed into a trough.

2^nd March, 2008 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...ZHIVARGO’S SAD STORY...
WASTING TIME…WHISTLING DIXIE...	THE ELECTION COURT RECONVENES...
MITCHELL ON THE EPA...	TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR TO THE BAHAMAS...
OSWALD BROWN HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?...	MORE VIOLENCE IN THE SCHOOLS...
CARL BETHEL SHOULD STICK TO EDUCATION...	THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY SAGA...
MELISSA SEARS...	IN PASSING...
	LETTER TO THE EDITOR...







The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Vincent Peet / PLP North Andros & Berry Isl.	Bahamas Government Website
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Keod Smith / PLP Mount Moriah [former MP]	Bahamians On The Web
FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...	Bahamian Kayaking News

9^th March, 2008 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE?...
PLP DEEPLY CONCERNED AND ALARMED OVER BAHA MAR...	ZHIVARGO LAING PANICKING...
ANTHONY FERGUSON ON INCOME TAX...	MITCHELL ADDRESSES THE LAWYERS...
THE CARICOM OPENING...	THE GRAND BAHAMA PORT AUTHORITY...
IN PASSING...	LETTER TO THE EDITOR...









The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Vincent Peet / PLP North Andros & Berry Isl.	Bahamas Government Website
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Keod Smith / PLP Mount Moriah [former MP]	Bahamians On The Web
FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...	Bahamian Kayaking News

16^th March, 2008 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...THE ENVIRONMENT...
ZHIVARGO MUST TELL THE TRUTH...	CHRISTIE: ‘IT’S INGRAHAM’S FAULT’...
THE SENATE MEETS...	US ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE BAHAMAS...
CARIFESTA TO COME IN 2010...	IN PASSING...










The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Vincent Peet / PLP North Andros & Berry Isl.	Bahamas Government Website
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Keod Smith / PLP Mount Moriah [former MP]	Bahamians On The Web
FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...	Bahamian Kayaking News

23^rd March, 2008 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...BARACK OBAMA...
HUBERT GOES TO WASHINGTON...	LAING MUST RESIGN...
TIBET...	WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THIS ECONOMY?...
SIR LYNDEN'S BIRTHDAY...	IN PASSING...
	LETTER TO THE EDITOR...









The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Vincent Peet / PLP North Andros & Berry Isl.	Bahamas Government Website
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Keod Smith / PLP Mount Moriah [former MP]	Bahamians On The Web
FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...	Bahamian Kayaking News

30^th March, 2008 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.* ...LOW DOWN AND DIRTY...
INGRAHAM DEFENDS HIS MINISTER’S WRONG...	THE MONA VIE ZHIVARGO LAING SCANDAL IN ESSENCE...
TIBET REVISITED...	A SMOKE FILLED NEIGHBOURHOOD...
TRIBUTES FOR JEFF THOMPSON...	PHOTO ESSAY - THE THOMPSON FUNERAL...
IN PASSING...









The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Vincent Peet / PLP North Andros & Berry Isl.	Bahamas Government Website
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Keod Smith / PLP Mount Moriah [former MP]	Bahamians On The Web
FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...	Bahamian Kayaking News

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

Volume 6 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2008

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