bahamasuncensored.com
MAY 2007
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 5 © BahamasUncensored.Com 2007
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the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site.
13th May, 2007
20th May, 2007
27th May, 2007
10th
May 2007 FRED MITCHELL PODCAST
Mitchell
Talks About The Future... Answers Ingraham
Please
Click Here To Listen
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was all in a losing effort. The huge crowds on Clifford Park did not convert
into votes. In the end the general election was lost, and several
Cabinet Ministers went down to defeat. The PLP is now back to where
it was in 1992, defeated and simply wondering and pondering its future.
The Bahamas has displayed the Indian problem. How does a country
with full employment, a vibrant and expanding economy and all the economic
indicators going in the right direction end up with the Government losing
the day? The PLPs who lived to see Sir Lynden Pindling defeated and
who lived again to see their PLP come back must now suffer the sadness
and shame of yet another defeat to a wicked and evil United Bahamian Party
resurrected under a wicked politician by the name of Hubert Ingraham as
the FNM. Uncle Tomism is alive and well, the master is back with
a vengeance. We pity the poor Bahamas and its people. Thanks
for the memories though of that magnificent night on Clifford Park when
the people showed up in their masses in gold on Tuesday 1st May to say:
“Forward Ever! Backward Never!” The photo is by Tim Aylen. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
REVIVE AND RESTRUCTURE
Let us be clear. It is a big mistake to reelect Hubert Ingraham
to the office of Prime Minister of The Bahamas. He is bad for The
Bahamas and will cause untold harm to the self esteem of the majority in
this country. He is a stalking horse for the United Bahamian Party
and it is clear that Brent Symonette, who is the son of the former and
only UBP Premier is now to be the number 2 in the Government. The
clear scenario is that Mr. Symonette is to run the country when Hubert
Ingraham steps down from the post of Prime Minister.
The PLP has no one else to blame or look to for the defeat in this
election. There must be a straight up analysis. How could an
incumbent party with full employment, the wheels of government in their
hand, with the economy going great guns lose an election? Something
must have gone terribly wrong. It is important for there to be a
deep huddle to see how in five years, the significant majorities that were
developed in constituencies turned into the defeats of this time.
There are some who are engaged in wishful thinking about the thinness
of a majority in the House. One can recall that in Trinidad and Tobago,
the government there was able to govern for almost a year with an 18 -18
tie, even though they were unable to elect a Speaker of the House.
In the United States, when George Bush was handed the victory by the Supreme
Court, he went on to consolidate his hold on power and wipe the Democrats
out the next time.
In The Bahamas, now you have one of the most wicked and insidious
politicians in the use of state power to bribe voters. If the PLP
is not careful it will find itself in full flight within five years.
It must work and work fast. Now is not the time for crying but to
strategize, regroup and wipe this crew of UBPs and their Uncle Toms out
of office. We pity the poor of The Bahamas, and we are concerned
that they have been so easily sold down the drain by their middle class
brethren, when the programmes to affect poverty were only just now beginning
to kick in.
Some are talking about an election court in some cases where the
results were close. This must be carefully considered by an organization
that does not have the money it needs at its disposal, to lay some of its
already impoverished members into a situation where they are further financially
strained in such an effort. It is clear that all of the Courts are
against the PLP. The ridiculous comments by judges that were clearly
political in nature from the bench and the fact that they went unanswered
by the PLP shows you what you can expect in any action brought by the PLP
in the courts. No PLP can get a fair hearing in a Bahamian court.
It is an absolute mess that we face.
There are some bright spots. One of them is that Shane Gibson
who was vilified and pushed out of office by a biased press is back in
the House with a substantial majority some 650 votes. This shows
that his constituents backed him and thought that he was unfairly run out
office. His departure was the work of a dishonest news media, an
opportunistic Opposition, and a public duped by all of the hoo ha!
We are sorry and mortified by the loss of the seats by Michael Halkitis
and Ron Pinder. These two young men were some of the hardest working
persons in politics. They are the future of The Bahamas, young men, bright
and able. It is quite a shame. Was it money that did it?
There was a thug culture that the FNM employed to intimidate and to threaten.
They marauded around the parks and in the streets to be able to shout scurrilous
remarks wherever PLPs appeared. The viciousness and hostility was
incredible in the face of a PLP that came to office extending a hand of
friendship. It should be recognized now that this was a serious error
in judgment, and that when people are against you, they are against you
and immediately upon coming to office those who oppose you should be removed.
In this regard, we are happy that Joshua Sears who stuck around under
the PLP for five years as Ambassador to Washington, and then quit just
before the elections to run against the PLP went down to defeat in Exuma.
Hubert Ingraham now says he is going after the Exuma seat in the Courts.
Mr. Nasty must be fought at every turn.
The loss to the Parliament of Allyson Maynard Gibson, the Attorney
General; and Leslie Miller, Minister of Agriculture were surprises and
those results must be analysed and we must figure out why they happened.
It seems to us that time must be taken to analyse what went wrong,
but there must also be a frank recognition on the part of all who were
involved in the architecture of this debacle that they must asses their
roles in it, and fall on their swords without ceremony. The party can then
rebuild, and start afresh. It must be able to reinvent itself, reshaping
and frame itself from scratch.
There is no question that we must start up again, and keep going
forward, revive and restructure.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 5th May 2007 at midnight:
278,370.
Number of hits for the month of April up to Monday 30th April 2007
at midnight: 1,105,903.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 5th May 2007 at
midnight: 215,542.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
HUBERT
STARTS HIS THREATS
The Free National Movement will be responsible for the
largest increase in crime within the next two years in The Bahamas.
They have used hooligans and thugs to intimidate, marauding up and down
the streets of New Providence to accomplish their victory and to celebrate
and maintain it. The nastiness in which they have engaged is unprecedented
in the history of our country. The PLP must get the fire in the belly
to fight back.
In the meantime the Bahamian people are now getting
a clear idea of who they voted for. Hubert Ingraham had a victory
rally on Saturday 5th May. At the rally, he immediately began his
threats. He told the country that Steven McKinney was gone from ZNS.
Mr. McKinney who is a live talk show host on ZNS has thus been fired it
would appear. Mr. Ingraham said that Mr. McKinney had his last show
on ZNS last week. Then he said something which was incredible.
He said that he would be coming after the seats Fox Hill, Fort Charlotte,
MICAL, Exuma and a number of others. Presumably this means by way
of an election court case. He said that if he did not succeed, he
would go back to the country. This means that there is to be a General
Election within a short time.
This is a sick strategy. It is quite incredible
that the Bahamian people would be hoodwinked into electing this man with
the mentality of a thug to the Office of Prime Minister again. They
in the FNM have a nerve to talk about no victimization. It has already
begun.
PLPs
IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
The following members of the PLP were elected to
the House of Assembly and will be sworn in as MPs on 23rd May 2007:
Pictured from left are - Perry Christie, Farm Road and Centreville; Cynthia
Pratt, St. Cecilia; Vincent Peet, North Andros and the Berry Islands; Fred
Mitchell, Fox Hill; Melanie Griffin, Yamacraw; Glenys Hanna Martin, Englerston;
Bernard Nottage, Bain and Grants Town; Frank Smith, St. Thomas More;
Kenyatta Gibson, Kennedy; Anthony Moss, Exuma and the Cays; Alfred Gray,
Mayaguana, Acklins, Crooked Island and Long Cay (MICAL); Philip Davis,
Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador; Oswald Ingraham, South Eleuthera;
Obie Wilchcombe, West End and Bimini; Shane Gibson, Golden Gates; Malcolm
Adderley, Elizabeth; Picewell Forbes, South Andros; and Alfred Sears, Fort
Charlotte.
FRED
MITCHELL WINS FOX HILL
There is an expression that it aint over until the
fat lady sings. There is a great deal of satisfaction if not singing
among nationalists in the country that Fred Mitchell, the former Foreign
Minister and Minister for the Public Service managed to survive the most
astounding onslaught on a politician in the history of Bahamian politics.
The hatred that was displayed by FNM partisans, the scurrilous comments,
none of which were condemned by the leaders of the FNM and were embraced
by the FNM’s candidate in the area were all turned back and Mr. Mitchell
came through with a 62 vote majority. There were six seats in the
general election that the FNM won by less than 70 votes. Mr. Mitchell
issued no statement and has refused to talk to the press about the matter.
The press of The Bahamas has simply disgraced themselves
as a bunch of lying, conniving, crooks who for entertainment and political
reasons simply spew one set of lies after the other in pursuit of their
nasty agenda. The fact that Mr. Mitchell was able to survive the
onslaught of the FNM’s money and the attacks by the media was nothing short
of a miracle. Now the mean spirited madam who was the genesis of
all the FNM wickedness in Fox Hill is saying that she intends to go to
court, going to court to challenge the result. This is interesting
since any crookedness was done by the FNM. The PLP had no hand in
any skulduggery, but the nastiness continues.
The PLP has to thank the poor people of Fox Hill
for their support, and those of African heritage. It is clear that
whites voted in droves and in mass against the PLP and the FNM in the election,
and we are right back to where we started prior to 1967, only with Uncle
Toms at the helm but the Master in charge. This is a natural shame
for The Bahamas in 2007.
At a party held by Mr. Mitchell in Fox Hill on Saturday
evening, the village was filled with stories about the FNM’s candidate
in Fox Hill. One story was that when she heard the news of her loss,
she fell out and damaged her knees quite badly shouting as she fell: “Oh
No! Tell me it’s not true.” Another story is that she brought a battery
of FNM, mainly, white lawyers to the recount. Each ballot box had
a different set of lawyers at the recount, each with some novel but stupid
legal point. Twenty five lawyers showed up during the day.
Then Hubert Ingraham himself showed up, followed by Brent Symonette, then
Tommy Turnquest, then Janet Bostwick and some of the other lesser lights.
By midnight when the results were announced, poor doctor doctor was left
all alone. Since then the report in the village is that she has taken
to bed. She does not know how she is going to explain what she did
with that half a million dollars that Hubert gave her to spend in Fox Hill.
Her people were busy buying votes in Fox Hill like crazy. One cousin
had a payroll of two thousand dollars per day to dispense, and he was giving
fellows $50 to simply wear an FNM T shirt. All in vain as it turns
out!
BRENT
A POOR CHOICE FOR FOREIGN MINISTER
The Cabinet has been partially announced – Mr. Decisive
did not quite have his list ready. But he started by naming Brent
Symonette the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
This is an absolute insult to the Bahamian people. The people of
the world will now think that Brent Symonette represents what is Bahamian.
We must quickly disassociate ourselves from this travesty and serious mistake.
WHO’S
WHO IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT?
So far Mr. Decisive aka Hubert Ingraham has announced
in addition to his being the Minister of Finance, Claire Hepburn, an FNM
ideologue who works for Graham Thompson is to become Attorney General,
Tommy Turnquest is to become the Minister of National Security (there goes
the crime rate) and Brent Symonette, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Foreign Affairs.
THE WHITE
BAHAMIAN
With the settling of these elections, there has
never been a more frightening and racist period in the history of The Bahamas
since the days of apartheid in The Bahamas, prior to 1967. Everywhere,
the red flags representing the colours of the Free National Movement are
on the cars of the local conchy joes, the name by which the local whites
are called. They have hatred in their eyes for black people and have
been firing young black men from their job sites if they are to suggest
that they are PLP. They have been threatening black people in the
streets and Blacks are now afraid that the mentality of a lynch mob is
developing in New Providence. The situation threatens to get worse
as their arrogance increases. It is quite an incredible situation
that we have now returned as close as they can get to the days of apartheid
in The Bahamas. That is what the voters of The Bahamas did on 2nd
May 2007. They turned back the clock to an era of racism and discrimination.
We say again, it is a matter of great regret and a total shame that this
country has been set back forty years.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Lessons learned from election 2007
I observed the national developmental initiatives
of the PLP government for The Bahamas over the past five years and the
2007 election campaign with keen interest. A preliminary postmortem revealed
at least three lessons learned:
• A government’s impressive record of performance alone is not enough
to secure a re-election victory.
• It is important to keep the civil servants happy. A good start
would be to expeditiously resolve all outstanding labour issues.
• A political party must have an effective public relations machinery
to market itself and create a desired impression (in the minds of the voters)
of itself and the opposing party.
The PLP inherited a stagnant economy and facilitated
an economic turn around in less than five years that delivered 4.5%
economic growth in 2006, reduced unemployment to around 6%, increased household
income, and contained inflation to 1.74%.
The PLP government secured some $20 billion
in foreign direct investment and modernized the infrastructure in the Family
Islands with internet connectivity, cable television, refurbished airports,
and potable water. In fact 10 reverse osmosis plants were built in
the Family Islands to facilitate this.
The PLP government built 1,500 houses in 5
years compared to 700 constructed by the FNM in 10 years. The
former government further legislated the framework for NHI and made great
strides in creating the University of The Bahamas.
Some may argue that these accomplishments
were not properly packaged and marketed to the Bahamian people so that
the vision of the PLP government was clear. As a result the people
believed the propaganda of the FNM of indecisiveness and that nothing was
being done. The party must assume full responsibility for this failure.
I heard Fred Mitchell warn that noble public policies such as NHI would
not sell themselves and he was correct on this.
As regards the civil service, the mood of civil
servants is generally a good barometer of the general mood of the country.
If morale is low and if civil servants are dissatisfied with the government,
this is a good indication of some erosion of political support from the
governing party. I keep my ear to the ground and teachers, prison
officers, RBPF, and RBDF were generally unhappy as promises of salary adjustments
and promotions were not forthcoming in a timely manner.
The teachers were owed some $7.0 Million by
the outgoing FNM government back in 2002 and that was resolved by the PLP.
The PLP negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement with the BUT
in its 40 year history; this was the richest labour contract ever for educators.
The PLP government addressed the issue of overcrowded class rooms and the
physical plant by refurbishing 149 schools alone in 2006 and building 519
standard class rooms in five years. This compares to 332 class rooms
built by the FNM over 10 years. The reform of education has begun
to address pre-school, IT, and technical education to improve the alignment
of the skill set with the demands of the economy. In the end, the
teachers were apparently not satisfied even though this was more than the
FNM government had done for them in 10 years, but such is life.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force enjoyed the
single largest round of promotions in any given 5 year period.
Further, the Police Act provided for further protection for their families
if officers are either injured or fall in the line of duty. This
too was not enough for the police officers.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force was promised
salaries to bring them on par with the police. Even though there
were promotions and salaries, they were not placed on par with the police
and this was a source of discontent and they may have voted for change.
The prison officers wanted a maximum security
building constructed immediately, promotions approved, and salary adjustments
made, but these demands were not sufficiently met so they too were
not content and may have voted for change.
Even though the PLP can quantitatively prove
that it did more for the Bahamian people in 5 years than the FNM did in
10 years, we must concede that the FNM used their PR to create the
impression that they, the FNM, did more and was a government of action.
They successfully painted the PLP as a “Do Nothing Government”.
The record would show that the FNM literally
destroyed BaTelCo, BISX, and severely weakened the Financial Services sector
with over 300 banks fleeing The Bahamas during the FNM’s tenure.
Further, the FNM’s neglect of the LPIA and the major seaport in Nassau
threatened our tourism industry. All of these problems inherited
by Mr. Christie and the PLP were fixed. BaTelCo was upgraded and
generated $50 million in profits in 2006; runway 1432 was refurbished and
security has been enhanced at LPIA; and tourism arrivals, revenue, and
government revenue are at record levels. Further, BISX is outperforming
the NYSE and the financial services sector is strong and experiencing moderate
growth.
In the face of these magnificent accomplishments,
the FNM was able to use propaganda to convince sufficient Bahamians
that the PLP was lousy, lazy, incompetent, and ineffectual. The record
clearly shows that it was the FNM government that brought several public
institutions and economic sectors to the brink of collapse through pure
incompetence and negligence.
And so we live and we learn. The
PLP should never take it for granted that their good works on behalf of
the great Bahamian people would automatically sell itself. The PLP
should never underestimate the power of propaganda and the spin doctor.
The PLP government must feel a great sense of pride about the accomplishments
they have facilitated during their 5 years of leadership. Kudos to
the Perry Christie and the PLP for a job well done.
Elcott Coleby
Recycled Leadership
I found it quite interesting that this letter was never published
by the Nassau Guardian and the Tribune pre-election. I guess it was
not relevant. Thanks for entertaining me.
Dwayne J. Hanna
April 23, 2007
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your invaluable space in your column.
This is an attempt to assess the devastating
weakness which has now manifested itself in our country. This weakness
at first glance, appears to be trite or of no importance. In fact
some may even dismiss this occurrence as happenstance while others will
herald strategy; whatever the label, this weakness leaves a dubious cloud
over our collective heads as a society.
There has been a lot of information lavished
on the backs of the Bahamian voting public these past few weeks. It is
clear that the voting public will not get a chance to hear political candidates
express themselves in a controlled forum on issues that are relevant to
the country. It is also clear that political rhetoric has again defeated
its archenemy substantive issues.
Most parties have proffered a mixture of concise
and ambiguous statements towards the electorate yet this writer’s concern
transcends even the most well meaning of parties, platforms or policies.
It is asserted here that this concern has not been considered by any of
the parties vying for government; maybe because this is not a political
issue in its strictest sense but in any estimation more a social issue.
Perhaps some sycophants many even call this position vile; whatever the
consequence, free responsible speech should prevail.
It is estimated that this country has approximately
300,000 people and we have been managing our own affairs since independence
in 1973 yet we are faced with this embarrassing task of recycling our leaders.
This, I assert, is incongruent to progress. No matter the cry that
other countries have ventured down this same avenue; this lack of leadership
resource places this country in quite a precarious position. One must be
practical about this. A leader in any organization must appreciate tenure;
they must appreciate seasons; they must appreciate yielding.
However and more importantly, the people of this
country must now ask themselves why there are no viable alternatives to
prime ministership. Could it be that the proverbial ‘bench’ in our political
system is not deep enough? Assuredly this does not speak well about our
mentality, education or other human resource capabilities. Talk about being
on a sticky wicket.
Joking aside, this is not a pleasant position
for a country to be in. In my estimation there are some positions in life
whereby there is no room for the rehashing of personalities and the Office
of the Prime Minister is one of them.
Dwayne J. Hanna
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
"We Will Not Turn Back..."
PLP Leader Perry Christie met with the Party's faithful, massed in
front of the Sir Lynden Pindling Centre at Gambier House Thursday 3 May
to assure them and the country that there will be no turning back by the
PLP. Please click
here for a report from the Progressive Liberal Party's website.
Mr. Christie is pictured during the campaign in North
Andros: photo - www.myplp.com
Wednesday
16th May, 2007
Fred
Mitchell's Thursday Podcast
PLEASE
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was not supposed to be like this. The election result turned out
to be otherwise. There should have been the swearing in of the second
term of Perry Christie as Prime Minister. Instead the PLP had to
make do with the position of Leader of the Opposition. The faithful
gathered at short notice in the grounds of Government House, shouting PLP
ALL THE WAY! This was much to the chagrin of the officials gathered
there. Government House is supposed to be neutral territory.
In fact some PLPs reported that because they were wearing their PLP T shirts
they were turned away at the Government House gate. It was Tuesday
8th May 2007 and the Governor General provided the instrument of appointment
to the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie. Sad though it was,
people held their heads up high and pledged to begin anew the battle to
win the government again. The photo was taken by Peter Ramsay of
The Bahamas Information Services of the new Leader of the Opposition, the
once Prime Minister Perry Christie with his colleagues, the 16 of the 18
men and women who won office under the PLP label in the new House appearing
at Government House. Not pictured are PLP Deputy Leader Cynthia Pratt
and Anthony Moss. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
HUBERT IS BACK WITH VENGEANCE
It is said that a leopard cannot change its spots. That is
a fitting analogy to begin this saga of the second term of Hubert Ingraham,
a man whose deeds are wicked, insidious, hateful and contemptuous.
It is simply hard to believe that this ace man of bull doodoo is once again
the Prime Minister of this country. Uncle Tom is in charge of the
cabin, and the whole Bahamas has to suffer for this egregious error.
Kinder, gentler and straight up has been rejected for crooked, wicked,
and evil. The crooks are now in charge of granary, and what you can
expect is a raid on the national treasury the likes of which we have never
seen.
Our view is that Hubert and his friends have their eyes on the crown
land of The Bahamas. It is instructive that Edison Key, who left
the PLP, left the PLP because he could not get from the Christie government
a crown land grant for his wife to an entire island in the Abaco chain.
When he could not get that, he left; making spurious allegations of wrongdoing
in the Ministry of Tourism. Now Mr. Key is back in the House and
we would guess that the first order of business is for Mr. Ingraham to
hand the land over to Mr. Key.
But it is not just Mr. Key. You have the entire real estate
fraternity, the dreaded conchy joe group, the ones not so behind the scenes
who have their eyes on the prize of The Bahamas, the crown land that remains
in Bahamian hands and which the PLP spent money buying back for the people
of The Bahamas. With Brent Symonette who was raised in a segregated
school and therefore would have no compunction about living in a segregated
Bahamas at the helm and poised to become Prime Minister, when Uncle Tom
leaves, it is not beyond comprehension that Clifton will be on the block
and the Bahamian patrimony sold down the drain. It should not be
beyond belief that the crown land of The Bahamas will generally be made
available for the sale of it by the cartel that controls real estate in
The Bahamas to simply sell off at will. This is what we face: stark,
cold truth.
Mr. Ingraham started off his term like the true leopard that he is.
He gave a speech on Saturday 5th May in which he said that Steve McKinney
and Philippa Russell ought to be let go from ZNS radio. True to his
word on Monday 8th May, the radio shows did not appear. The shows
were suspended. The outcry from the public was such that Mr. Ingraham
came back with the idle response that they were not terminated but that
the show was suspended. In either case, Mr. Ingraham as Prime Minister
has no right to suspend or fire them from ZNS. But he sought to muddy
the water with so much foolishness. The problem is with this man
able to fool the Bahamian public that he was a changed man, a different
man from five years ago, and having run a campaign where his lies were
the truth and the PLP who sought to speak the truth were suddenly not believed,
you can’t put anything past with this gullible public.
Mr. Ingraham told the public that Steve McKinney had three contracts
with the Government of The Bahamas at $45,000 each. Turned out that
was a bold faced lie. Mr. McKinney has two contracts at $45,000 with
different agencies of the Government to perform public relations services.
He got paid $200 per show at ZNS. Ms. Russell $100 per show.
The cost is not out of whack with what a professional would get.
Mr. McKinney himself said that he was better off financially under Mr.
Ingraham’s administration than under Mr. Christie. A lament of many
PLPs. But putting the money in the public domain was simply to muddy
the water from the principle, so that black crabs would immediately say
that he was getting too much money. This accusation coming from a
man who collects $9500 per month just on pension and is not a retired Prime
Minister. He will now in addition to his salary as Prime Minister
continue to get this $9500 per month. It is quite shameful and he
has no shame.
Perry Christie, the new Leader of The Opposition held a news conference
on Tuesday 8th May (you may
click here for his full statement) in which he denounced the victimizing
of Mr. McKinney and Ms. Russell. But what you had in tow was a completely
hostile press at Mr. Christie’s press conference with one of them, a woman
who is up in the very crack of Hubert Ingraham at every turn, who was downright
rude, leading off with a question, how was Mr. Christie’s mental and physical
state because according to her he looked dreadful on the evening of the
election result. Perhaps one day the PLP will learn not to deal with
these ingrates and supplicants and develop its own information dissemination
machinery,
There were promises of more victimization to come. In the same
speech last Saturday on Clifford Park, Mr. Ingraham promised to reduce
the Permanent Secretaries. Remember in answer to the PLP, he said
in the campaign that he would not reduce the public service. It was
also found out at the end of the week that he has stopped the government
hires of 100 persons onto the service. He also threatens to release
those people who were recently hired saying that there was no money in
the treasury to pay them.
The former Minister responsible for the public service was quick
to respond in a podcast made available throughout the country. Click
here for access to the message.
So the PLP has a hard row to hoe. It must defend its constituency
in the face of this devastating loss, the lack of money, the huge campaign
debts that have been left behind and the uncertainty of what is to happen
in the future. One thing is certain though, Hubert Ingraham is back
and he is back with the same vengeance for which he was known when he was
kicked out.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 12th May 2007 at midnight:
346,526.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 12th May 2007
at midnight: 579,353.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
THE PODCAST
We have learned that Fred Mitchell, the former Minister
of Foreign Affairs now intends to do a biweekly podcast and we
link you to that message which will appear on Mondays and Thursdays.
THE
RBDF MARKS A SAD ANNIVERSARY
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force was only six weeks
old when tragedy struck. In retrospect it was perhaps the youthfulness
of the force and its inexperienced crews that led to the great tragedy
but that is for the historians. For us, four young men paid the supreme
sacrifice to defend their young country against an aggressor. As
the HMBS Flamingo was on routine patrol near the Ragged Island chain, they
spotted Cuban poachers. They interdicted the boat and arrested them
and were in the process of bringing them to Nassau when Cuban MIGS unleashed
their fury on the vessel. They sank it, and then strafed the water
with the men in the water. Four never made it. It was a helluva
day that 10th May 1980. Their names are inscribed on the Cenotaph
at the Garden of Remembrance in Nassau. Their families and colleagues
at the Defence Force will forever remember them. Tribute was paid
to them by the Commodore of the Defence Force and the Minister of National
Security Tommy Turnquest. The Government promised that they would
create an effective memorial to the men. The photo of the event appeared
in the Nassau Guardian and is by Letisha Henderson.
THAT
CROWDED FNM CABINET ROOM
The master political deceiver Hubert Ingraham promised
that he would reduce the size of the Cabinet. The Cabinet used to
be 17 under Perry Christie. Mr. Ingraham doesn’t seem to have had
much success. He has been appointing Ministers of State in Departments
that have never had them before. He is like one of those old style
Russian Commissars, making up funny positions to meet specific events.
So far he has appointed 15 ministers, never mind this business of Minister
of State; they get paid the same as a normal minister. Mr. Ingraham
says he proposes to name 4 more by Monday 14th May.
This is the same nonsense he said when he was Prime
Minister the first time. He ended up with what was called the “Gussimae
Cabinet”, the largest in the history of the country. This time he
has to give everyone a job because, three people crossing the floor and
his government is gone. Here is the list of what we know so far:
• Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Tommy Turnquest, Minister of National Security;
• Senator Claire Hepburn, Attorney General;
• Carl Bethel, Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture;
• Kenneth Russell, Minister of Housing and National Insurance;
• Earl Deveaux, Minister of Works and Transport;
• Neko Grant, Minister of Tourism and Aviation;
• Senator Dion Foulkes, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Labour;
• Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources;
• Sidney Collie, Minister of Lands and Local Government;
• Hubert Minnis, Minister of Health and Social Development;
• Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance;
• Desmond Bannister, Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs;
• Senator Elma Campbell, Minister of State for Immigration in the Ministry
of National Security.
LEADER
OF THE OPPOSITION RESPONDS
The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie took
grave exception to what he called the victimizing of Steve McKinney and
Philippa Russell two talk show hosts that had programmes on the public
broadcasting network ZNS. He outlined in detailed
statements to the press on Mr. Ingraham and his unconstitutional and
unlawful action in bringing about an end to the shows of the two individuals.
It is strange when people in the country are against
you. No journalist, no preacher stood up to defend the principle.
What you had was many journalists and others saying that Steve McKinney
was too biased in favour of the PLP and so should have been taken off the
air. But no one defends the principle that this is what a talk show
host does, he is biased, he has his own opinions.
So once again, it turns out that once the tide changes
in the country, the principle goes out of the window and the man in power
is allowed to victimize Steve McKinney for his political ties, and all
but the political side he supports will sit back and say nothing.
Incredible!
WHO
IS TO GO INTO THE SENATE?
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From left
are possible Senators Hope Strachan, Michael Halkitis, Ron Pinder and Allyson
Maynard Gibson.
One of the few gifts in the ambit of the Leader of the
Opposition is that of the four Senate seats to which the PLP is entitled
as a right of the Official Opposition party. The constitution does
however give the Opposition the right to claim other seats.
There are three seats that are appointed by the
Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and
they must reflect the balance of the House of Assembly. The balance
in the House shows that the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats and the
FNM 56 per cent of the seats. So those 3 seats in the Senate should
go to the PLP making it seven in total out of 16 or 43.7 per cent of the
seats in the Senate if the balance is to be properly reflected in the Senate
and according to the constitution. For our money, however, this settles
it.
Hope Strachan is a good candidate in the Senate
together with Michael Halkitis, Ron Pinder and Allyson Gibson. There
are many lobbying for Leslie Miller as well. There should also certainly
be someone from Grand Bahama. Let’s hope that Mr. Christie can juggle
his limited powers to satisfy all the demands.
HOW
THE FAKER OF FOX HILL RAN HER CAMPAIGN
On Saturday 12th May, the FNM’s canvassers in Fox
Hill were back out in the field this time delivering Mother’s Day cards.
Some PLPs refused to accept them. They were outraged by the nastiness
of the FNM’s campaign just a week ago and now wanted no part of them and
their doctor doctor.
The interesting thing about the faker of Fox Hill’s
campaign is that it is being run and advanced by some pretty unsavoury
characters. It is time for the FNMs in Fox Hill to disassociate themselves
from these people.
Since the PLP lost the election but won in Fox Hill,
the FNM and its operatives have been engaged in the most vicious vengeance.
They are threatening to fire the principal of the Sandilands Primary School
and some of the teachers on the basis of a lie that they were engaged in
campaigning for the PLP. If they want a riot in Fox Hill, they should
try that. They are threatening some of the young women whom they
paid to vote FNM and wear FNM T shirts in the Village but the centre of
Fox Hill did not deliver as they thought.
The candidate herself was in the press saying that
she would do anything in her power to ensure that Fred Mitchell was removed
from Fox Hill. Does this “anything” include killing him? Given the
tenor of the times and the people who hang around her campaign, some of
them with criminal backgrounds, the remarks should be taken very seriously.
Reports are coming in how friends close to the Tribune actually paid $100,000
to her campaign to ensure that Fred Mitchell lost.
It is being said that the faker of Fox Hill believed
that she would become Minister of Education and her husband would thereby
benefit from the fat contracts that she would issue to build schools and
classrooms. But never to worry, Hubert Ingraham with his own personal
hatred of Fred Mitchell will soon fix up the doctor no doubt in the senate
to make an even greater political menace to the people of Fox Hill.
This is sad indeed.
CANON
DUDLEY STRACHAN IS BURIED
He was born Nehemiah Wilrow Dudley Strachan some
75 years ago on the quaint island of Rum Cay aka La Isla de Santa Maria
de la Concepcion. Fr. Strachan had a curved spine. It caused
him to have a shortened leg and circulation problems. Archbishop
Drexel Gomez speaking during his homily said that it took a special operation
in Florida to assist in settling the problem and it was very much touch
and go. It never cured a hump in his back. At one time many
thought that he would never get a chance to test his vocation. He
lived to do so and raise a family of four children. He had a full
life but lived with pain throughout that entire life. He walked,
though slowly and walked with a struggle and with pain, but he became a
successful Anglican priest rising to the rank of one of the canons of the
Cathedral and as the Rector of St. George’s Anglican Church, the church
of the Valley where some of the national leaders and leading families were
born and grew up. He was a former Rector of St. Stephen’s in Bimini,
and a former Headmaster of St. John’s College, the Anglican High School
in Nassau.
Fred Mitchell, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Member of Parliament elect for Fox Hill spoke to the congregation at
a memorial service for Canon Strachan. He recalled Canon Strachan’s
support of him when he was head of the People's Democratic Force (PDF)
and his help in building his self-esteem. You may click
here for the full remarks. Mr. Mitchell’s remarks were amongst
many laudatory remarks including those by Archdeacon Ranfurly Brown, now
Rector of St. Agnes, who called him his champion; Sir Arlington Butler,
Head of The Bahamas Olympic Association and who is also Canon Strachan’s
Cousin who also represented the late Canon’s luncheon group The Lunch Bunch,
and Noreen Major who was the Priest’s Warden during Canon Strachan’s time
at St. George's. He was buried on Saturday 12th May following a mass
at St. Agnes Anglican Church in Grants Town in the church’s cemetery.
The photo of Canon Strachan laid out in St. George’s Church on Friday 11th
May is by Peter Ramsay of The Bahamas Information Services.
THE
PARADISE ISLAND DEVELOPMENT
The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie issued
a statement on Friday 11th May 2007 to congratulate Sol Kerzner and the
Kerzner operation on the occasion of the grand opening of their third phase.
The text reads:
"As Leader of The Official Opposition, I publicly
wish the Kerzner organisation well on the grand opening of Phase III of
its landmark development here in The Bahamas. While in government, the
Progressive Liberal Party’s administration recognised the value of the
Kerzner product to the national tourism industry and took care to ensure
its continued success.
We note by the grand opening of Kerzner’s Phase
III that our efforts have contributed to the positive impact of that success
and we offer the best wishes of the Official Opposition to the Kerzner
Organisation now and into the future."
Sol Kerzner, the owner, spoke to the press earlier
in the week and told them that as soon as the third phase was clearly successful,
he could be looking toward a fourth phase. Kerzner International
is getting bigger and bigger in The Bahamas. It is a successful market
machine. It employs almost 8000 people, making it perhaps the second
largest single employer in The Bahamas. The government is the largest.
It is certainly the largest private sector employer. Perry Christie
issued the statement it appears in absentia. He was not invited to
the party. The irony then is having ensured that Mr. Kerzner's investment
in Phase Three went head with all the best concessions the country could
allow, his successor Hubert Ingraham gets to take the credit for its opening
and the praise for its success. This is the great irony of the whole
electoral loss to the Free National Movement. The sound policies
of the PLP will provide the benefits to the FNM. It is nothing less
than tragic.
The talk around town of course is that the Kerzner
operation at Paradise Island was hostile to the PLP. That was certainly
not the case when Butch Kerzner, the son was alive. He worked well
with the new PLP administration, had a friendly access to the halls of
power. That all changed in a fiery helicopter crash one sad day in
October last year in the Dominican Republic. With that death it appears
the relationship with the PLP went up in flames. All the careful
work gone to naught.
When the election took place on 2nd May, the reports
came back of how employees were being encouraged not to support the PLP
because they were told the PLP did not want Mr. Kerzner in The Bahamas.
This harks back to the time pre 1992 when sanctions were in place against
South African investments, and the PLP followed the line of the Commonwealth
on the matter, quite correctly. But never let the truth interfere
with a good story, and it appears that your Bahamian voter does not care
about the principle of these things. The only point appears in too
many cases to be who has the money to pay. The Kerzner operation
provides big bucks, and anything that seemed to threaten that ends up being
sacrificed. So while the PLP got its share of the votes at Paradise
Island, the impression is that the ruling diktat at Kerzner and the majority
opposed the PLP. It is reflected in the results around the country
in many constituencies where those workers live. The PLP has itself
to blame in some senses.
When the government changed, the question was whether
the FNM operatives at Kerzner in high level sensitive places should change.
The PLP said no, that it wanted to inculcate a new culture. The end
result is that the PLP itself is now gone. Those people did not change
their ways, and they worked unceasingly even as they were smiling up in
the PLP's faces to ensure that the party lost. Now as they celebrate
their grand opening, the leader of the country who gave them the agreement
that led to this present success was not even present at the ribbon cutting.
Strange way that life takes its twists and turns, and we don’t think that
anyone is losing any sleep about it. However, we hope that the PLP
has learned something again about the nature of power. There are
no friends, just alliances. Once your usefulness is over, that’s
it and you are done. Amen!
IN PASSING
PLP Leadership
The Nassau Guardian quoted Obie Wilchcombe, the PLP’s Member of Parliament
elect for West End and Bimini and former Minister of Tourism as saying
that Perry Christie is the Leader of the PLP but whenever he makes up his
mind to leave, he, Mr. Wilchcombe will be throwing his hat in the ring
for the job. Bernard Nottage, the MP for Bain and Grants Town when
asked the same thing simply said that Perry Christie is the Leader of the
PLP period.
A Government Of Trust
A young woman is going up to the counter to buy an airplane ticket.
The lady who is serving her asks: “How are you paying?” The lady
replied: “The whole Government is trusting so I must be can trust too.”
Bahamar Project Now In Doubt?
The talk about town is that the Bahamar deal for the redevelopment
of Cable Beach may be dead in the water. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham
was hostile to the development in Opposition. Now that he is in charge,
they at Bahamar have been unable to get an appointment to see him.
The PLP did not finalize the deal before they left office, one that promises
8,000 jobs. But it also promises competition for the Kerzner operation
at Paradise Island. The talk now is that with the Kerzner operation
having so much sway over Mr. Ingraham, and Kerzner opposed to the Bahamas
deal, the deal is sunk.
Bar Association Case Dismissed?
The folk who are lawyers who brought you all the trouble on the part
of the judges to say that the PLP had acted unlawfully on the salary question
have had a surprise of their lives from the new FNM government. Never
mind all the talk in Opposition, it appears that the new FNM led Government
have moved to strike out the Bar Association’s action. These people
thought the FNM would support them. One of the judges even said in
open court before the elections that when the FNM was returned, legality
would return to government. And the PLP proposes to trust these folk
to adjudicate their cases?
Questions On St. Lucia and China
The new government of St. Lucia headed by John Compton decided against
all the evidence and the weight of history to re establish ties with Taiwan,
the breakaway province from China. The decision did not make sense
what with all of the public funding that China gave to St. Lucia and the
fact that China is clearly the proper country with which to deal.
What accounts for it? The Opposition there in St. Lucia should be
investigating the reports that the Cabinet of St. Lucia was badly split
on this decision which has led to China suspending ties with St Lucia.
Further, the talk is that some elements in the Government were expecting
personal contributions shall we say in exchange for maintaining ties with
China. The Chinese government made it clear that they contribute
not to individuals but to institutions. That sealed their fate and
St. Lucia now supports Taiwan, the breakaway province. The level
of pedalling the sovereignty of Caribbean countries is quite disturbing.
But this matter should be investigated.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
This week we had to do a lot of heavy editing
of the letters to the editor. Many of them can best be described
as hate mail. Many of them came from white Bahamians who were to
say the least outraged at the reports of their behaviour during and after
the general election. We stand by the stories.
The more interesting and measured comments came
from Black Bahamians who insist that this era of racism is behind us.
Fascinating really: in a situation where the white Bahamian support of
the PLP was next to zero, where a white Bahamian family who owns a major
business in The Bahamas who was once part of the UBP government personally
raised 3 million dollars to fight the PLP, raised it out of Lyford Cay;
where we are tracking evidence that those close to The Tribune, again white
Bahamians, contributed one hundred thousand dollars to the campaign of
the FNM's candidate in Fox Hill; where one of the owners of a tour company
in The Bahamas, a white Bahamian, reportedly told employees as they went
to vote that if the PLP won again, he would close the business down.
This occurs in a situation where you have the best economy in the history
of the country and so these folk made more money than ever before but that
was not good enough.
The hand of friendship of Mr. Christie was extended
but it appears the response was to chop it off as it was said elsewhere.
Some have talked about racism but that’s always what they say. It
is impossible for black people in this situation to be racist. Some samples
of the letters and the invective follow - Editor
Dear Editor,
You make me sick with your references to the UBP, a party that has
not contested an election in The Bahamas since 1968, 39 years ago. You
lost and unfortunately, you have survived to fight another day. Get over
it. The UBP was not just the white merchant class' party. There were a
lot of black persons who supported the UBP, including my grandparents who
could never be considered Uncle Toms or Aunt Jemimas…
Vaughn Scriven
a bunch of…
YALL WEB SITE SUCK PLP LOVER ALL UP IN PERRY STINKING…, IM GLAD
BUSH CRACK PERRY… GONE. YALL PLP'S AND BIAS. CANT EVEN SPELL HEALTH
DUMB IGNORANT…
Joel Higgs
This site is totally disgusting. You people are portraying
the Bahamas IN A NEGATIVE light.
The PLP has no "divine" right to run this
country, neither does the FNM. It is earned or lost & given by the
people. The racist remarks are a total turn off. The PLP will never get
my vote again because of sites like this.
Sherwin Johnson
What's your angry racist spin on this?
Romans 13, where it is written: "Everyone must
submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have
been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority
is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will
bring judgment on themselves."
What's your angry racist spin on this?
John Lightbourn
Hello,
I am a regular reader of your site and was very
disappointed with your story labeled 'The
White Bahamian'. I know that some may be very upset about the
change in government but we must be careful of the false picture we paint
of our country because whether we are FNMs, PLPs or BDMs this is our home
and we have to take care of it. I am sure that if a tourist was to
read this story they will not want to come to the Bahamas just out of FEAR!
What lynch mob are you talking about??? Why are you blaming the voters
for sending the country back to the days of apartheid? When were
blacks threatened in the streets? I beg you to STOP this negative
writing.
Laurie Dames
What is a BAHAMIAN?
Why shouldn't the people of the world think that
Brent Symonette represents what is Bahamian? He is a Bahamian! It’s
perfectly fine for people around the world to know that Bahamians come
from different ethnic, political, social and religious backgrounds. We’re
all mixed up like conch salad and like conch salad it’s the mix that makes
for the tasty dish!!!
Stop the hate toward your own people! Its
ok to suck up and drool over every potential investor who looks like Brent,
but when its one of our own they become the "enemy". Maybe some of us really
want to be a part of the country we love too! Black Bahamians don't have
the monopoly of loving the Bahamas.
And the commentary about hatred in white
people's eyes toward blacks and lynch mob mentality is just downright disgusting!
I live in a community where there is probably a slightly higher percentage
of white BAHAMIANS and I assure you every one is getting on just fine!
No one is getting fired for their political choice! You are spreading nasty,
filthy, hate filled LIES! STOP THE MADNESS and let our country get back
on track after the election frenzy!
Abaco Potcake
[Name withheld]
Please change your stance, Defeat is not forever
As a Bahamian living in the US, and reading your
column every week, I must say that I am very disappointed in the stance
that you chose after the defeat of the PLP. You make it appear that
things are really bad in the Bahamas, and that racism is alive and well
(which you seem to be perpetuating), and that the Bahamas have gone back
to the "old" days. No right thinking Bahamian believes this, but
you seem to be making it a big issue on your site, and we know that this
is not true.
Of course you have the right to say anything
that you want because it's your site, but, I would think that you would
be more responsible in your views and voice the facts, rather than your
bitter disappointment of the PLP losing this election. Because I
can tell you over the past several years, you have built up somewhat of
a credibility. But with your present racism stance you have lost
a lot of that, whether you care or not. All PLPs are disappointed, no doubt,
just like the FNMs in the previous election, I'm sure. But we are
known for peaceful transitions, so why spoil it by voicing these bitter
and racist comments, as if to stir-up something.
I know Fred Mitchell very well, and I started
reading this column because of him. And I know that he was shocked
and hurt that the support wasn't what he thought it was in Fox Hill, but
I don't think he would stoop to this level. He won, congratulations go
out to him, even though it's bitter sweet, because of losing the government.
Especially after no more traveling and seeing the world at the expense
of the government. I would be hurt and disappointed myself if I was in
his position. But I would not undermine my Bahamian people, by calling
them poor and foolish and wanting to go back to the days of slavery.
You need to stop this and stop it now. White Bahamians are not the
enemy, most of the ones who were UBP (that DEAD Party) are now dead and
gone themselves.
I had the opportunity to know Pop Symonette,
Bobby Symonette, Craig Symonette and Brent, and I can tell you they have
demonstrated concern and care for the Bahamas and the people black and
white. I personally have benefitted from each one of them, and proud to
have been associated with them. I was not a UBP and never was, but
the fact that these white Bahamians did not treat me like I was less than
them, speaks loudly of their character and their compassion.
The FNM governed the Bahamas for 10 years,
1992 - 2002, and experienced unprecedented growth during that time, much
of what carried over into the years the PLP governed.
To give the world the racist views that
you have is disappointing, and I hope during the next couple of weeks,
you will correct this distorted view of the Bahamas that you are giving
those of us who live abroad.
The world has not come to an end, remember
the PLP went through this 15 years ago, and the FNM went through this five
years ago. Fred is still a young man, and his voice is powerful and
needed. Perhaps he will be able to show the world what he's made
of, and lead by example of what an opposition is supposed to do. Bearing
in mind, that an opposition party is valuable to a country just like the
government, because they are watchful of what the government is doing and
to report to the people.
Be a Sport, support the government because
you are still employed and you can make a difference in what happens in
the future, whether negative or positive, hopefully it's the latter.
I expect better of you, and I will be reading
your column each week to see if you have softened your stance, and start
writing about the good things about the Bahamas and what they are about
to experience.
Sincerely,
Ty O'lander
THIS
WEEK IN OPPOSITION
Perry Christie - Leader of The Opposition
PLP Leader Perry Christie and Mrs. Christie are
pictured with Governor General Arthur Hanna at Government House as Mr.
Christie prepared to accept the instrument of appointment as Leader of
The Official Opposition.
Bahamas Information Services photo - Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: It
was an interesting night in Fox Hill. You would swear by the turnout
at the Branch meeting that the PLP had won the election. The atmosphere
was electric, and there was a charged feeling in the air, that people wanted
to move forward with aggression. This was also the night for Branch
elections, and there was a new slate of officers put forward to take the
local party’s business forward. The team brought in some fresh faces.
It was also an evening to say farewell to the campaign coordinator for
Fox Hill Philip Mortimer. Mr. Mortimer has been working with the
Fox Hill branch since August of last year first as constituency coordinator
and then as the campaign coordinator. Mr. Mortimer will now join
his family’s business the Mortimer Candy Kitchen on East Street.
Fred Mitchell, MP elect for Fox Hill, spoke and thanked Mr. Mortimer for
a job well done. Our photo of the week is the farewell and thank
you by the Fox Hill Branch of the PLP for Mr. Mortimer, following branch
elections on Wednesday 17th May 2007. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE INGRAHAM ATTACKS CONTINUE
There is a saying be careful what you wish for. That portion
of the Bahamian electorate that voted for the return of Hubert Ingraham
the so called changed man should now be weeping in their tea cups or who
knows, they may be rejoicing. Mr. Ingraham, now Prime Minister again,
has launched full scale into attacking poor people and all the support
systems that were put in place for them. He has launched full scale
into attacking the civil service and those of their friends in the disciplined
forces who thought that they would get all they wanted are now facing the
cold hard facts that they’ll get nothing from the FNM crew.
There was news that the Minister responsible for the Prison Tommy
Turnquest turned up at the prison trumpeting prison reform, improved salaries
and working conditions, and looking at the issue of promotions. What
a lost soul. All of these issues were addressed by the PLP but what
you had was a group of FNM officers, openly so, in complete defiance of
the system who were openly campaigning for the FNM to come to office.
They should all have been fired for insubordination when they called a
strike just before the elections but the PLP trying the softly softly touch
allowed them to get away with it. There was nothing new in what Tommy
Turnquest had to say, and the FNM cannot put any new resources in the prison
that were not already allocated by the PLP to the prison. What he
said was simply idle words, and empty promises.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force Staff Association that says it is
ready to defend its insubordination when it refused to carry out an instruction
of the Commissioner and went anyway to vote in red T shirts, clearly signifying
their support for the Free National Movement, will find out what the Ingraham
administration is made of. The Ingraham administration has no interest
at all in being involved in internal police matters. The Commissioner
will as he should throw the book at the lot of them for their misconduct.
There will be no friendly minister to intervene and counsel otherwise.
But this again is what the police voted for.
The reports are that the situation within the police force is more
polarized than it has ever been, with FNMs in the brass pitted against
PLPs to the point where it is making the decision making in the force ineffective
and unenforceable. We have voiced our concern here that the Free
National Movement followed a deliberate policy in Opposition to politicize
the police Force. They made allegations about the PLP interfering
in the Force but that was just a smokescreen for those who were actually
doing the interfering – the FNM. The Commissioner made certain changes
to the structure of the Force just before the election, to prepare the
Force for the future and the rapid expansion of our economy but it will
be interesting to see what the new administration does with regard to that.
There is a report that one of the senior brass of the police force
actually went to an FNM rally in his plain clothes but wearing an FNM hat.
How in the circumstances of that can the public have any confidence in
the neutral execution of the duties of the police force? The Commissioner
himself must act with dispatch to ensure that these people are weeded out,
and the Force cleaned up and made politically neutral. In fact, it
is said that even though the Commissioner gave an order to transfer out
from various posts, the persons never moved offices and remained there.
They simply went on vacation and did not move. Now that the FNM is
power, who know whether they will ever comply? Their boys are in
power.
But the testing of the neutrality of the force came earlier than
we thought. On Monday 15th May, the mother-in-law of the former Prime
Minister Perry Christie thought that she heard shots. The matter
was dismissed and no one paid attention, until morning when it was discovered
that there two bullet holes in the house. Now the house is
one of two houses in a compound which is owned by the former Prime Minister
Perry Christie along the Cable Beach strip. The former PM’s son and
his mother in law live in one, Mr. Christie and his wife, daughter and
other son live in the other house.
When the matter was first reported on ZNS TV, it appeared that the
police were saying that the whole thing did not pan out. That the
evidence did not suggest bullets at all. Once a formal complaint
was made about this characterization, the police commissioner dispatched
officers down to the scene who were able to correct their earlier misstatements.
Yes in fact there were bullet holes and yes there was an investigation
going on. Now what are PLP supporters to think in those circumstances
but that the police deliberately and for political reasons underrated what
happened; the bullets may have in fact been aimed at the Leader of the
Opposition and former Prime Minister.
The fact though is all of these matters have been laid at the feet
of Mr. Ingraham who led a campaign of unprecedented viciousness, drunkenness
and hooliganism in the campaign. He has engendered hatred against
Mr. Christie and his colleagues and will cause people to do foolishness.
We have to report to you that Urban Renewal has been cancelled by
Mr. Ingraham. This award winning community policing programme started
by Mr. Christie which led to the lessening of crime, improvement in housing
for the poor and infirmed, the helpless is to be scrapped. Already
the housing people have been told to head back to their headquarters; the
police have been put on standby to return to headquarters for other duties;
the environmental health people have been told to report back to their
headquarters. The programme has been scrapped.
Hubert Ingraham has scrapped the straw market contract. He
has scrapped the contract to build a new school in Grand Bahama after complaining
that the PLP built no new schools during their time in office. He
has cancelled the employment of a hundred poor workers to the public service.
He scrapped the port that would have stopped containers having to off load
on Bay Street and move them to the south of New Providence. His rich
benefactors from Bay Street said no and so no it was. Later he tried
to backtrack but the damage was done. That is the FNM for you under
this present dispensation. Anything to make sure that poor people
have no chance to make it.
So two weeks into the new administration, poor people are under attack
like never before. We hope that those thousands who said they trusted
Hubert Ingraham now see what they were trusting. He has returned
to the attack and when he is finished with us, God help the nation.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 19th May 2007 up to midnight:
313,273.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 19th May 2007
up to midnight: 906,520.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
FOUR
PLP SENATORS TO BE APPOINTED
The Leader of the Opposition Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie
has announced the appointment of the four senators to which the Opposition
is automatically entitled under the Constitution.
Mr. Christie has appointed former Cabinet Minister
Allyson Maynard Gibson; lawyer and businessman Jerome Fitzgerald, attorney
and social activist Hope Strachan and former Grand Bahama member of Parliament
and attorney Pleasant Bridgewater.
Consultations between the Prime Minister and the
Leader of the Opposition are underway in connection with the appointment
of additional Senators under article 39 (4) of the Constitution.
CONNECTION
TO THE PODCAST
We applaud Fred Mitchell for the podcasts that have
begun from his office defending his record and that of the PLP government
on various matters as they have been attacked by the Free National Movement.
We have been informed that a new podcast is available every Monday and
Thursday. The last of them was Thursday 16th May and a new one will
be put up tomorrow. We carry
the main link here. You can check this site for the link to the
latest Fred Mitchell podcast..
THE
LARGEST CABINET
Last week, we listed the Cabinet of The Bahamas,
the largest in the history of The Bahamas. On Monday 14th May, the
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced another five additional Ministers
of State who get $6000 a year less than the substantive Minister of the
Government. The constitution makes no distinction between a Minister
of State and a Minister and so they are all entitled to sit around the
table. That’s the biggest group in the history of the country.
Hubert Ingraham has provided jobs for all the boys, oh yes and for the
girls.
The Cabinet listed last week is below and followed
in blue are the additional names:
• Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance;
• Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• Tommy Turnquest, Minister of National Security;
• Senator Claire Hepburn, Attorney General;
• Carl Bethel, Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture;
• Kenneth Russell, Minister of Housing and National Insurance;
• Earl Deveaux, Minister of Works and Transport;
• Neko Grant, Minister of Tourism and Aviation;
• Senator Dion Foulkes, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Labour;
• Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources;
• Sidney Collie, Minister of Lands and Local Government;
• Hubert Minnis, Minister of Health and Social Development;
• Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance;
• Desmond Bannister, Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs;
• Senator Elma Campbell, Minister of State for Immigration in the Ministry
of National Security.
• Byran Woodside, Minister of State for Youth
and Sports in Education
• Charles Maynard, Minister of State for Culture
in the Minister of Education;
• Branville McCartney, Minister of State in the
Ministry of Tourism and Aviation
• Phenton Neymour, Minister of State for Public
Utilities
• Loretta Butler, Minister of State for Social
Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Development.
The talk is that Mr. Ingraham facing a revolt from
Mr. McCartney who was insulted that he was not in the first group.
The two other men Mr. Neymour and Mr. Maynard felt that they deserved to
be there because they crossed over from the CDR when Dr. Bernard Nottage
returned to the PLP. Mrs. Butler Turner made the case that she is
after all a Butler, so how could she not be there. They all made
their point, we guess and so they are all there. Twenty in all.
Amazing! Hey! Hey! The gang’s all here.
TOMMY
ON PRISON REFORM - SAY WHAT?
The new Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest
went to visit the prison during the week and the press reported that he
promised that the new government would review the salaries of prison officers.
This is quite curious since the salaries of prison officers have already
been reviewed by reason of a compensation study for which the government
has paid some one million dollars. That review was completed with
regard to the prison, the Defence Force and the police at the end of March
and recommendations were made and carried out with regard to the salaries
of prison officers. Within the past six months the salaries of prison
officers was increased by $1200 per annum. Other increases were given
to provide for parity of ranks in the prison system with that of the police
force.
The question, we have is why would the Minister
not know this, and what further adjustments are needed in the salaries
of prison officers that would not irresponsibly and adversely affect the
Treasury? It appears that this new crew came into office without
knowing what was going on in the government and are just busy pandering
to any group that they perceived voted for them without regard to the national
consequences.
THE
POLITICS IN THE DISCIPLINED FORCES
The Commissioner of Police Paul Farqhuarson is responsible
in law for the issuing of vendors’ permits. There is a newspaper
vendor who sells newspapers in Rawson Square. The police have been
trying to get him to move for years. The previous administration
by the former Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt forbade them to do so,
because it was believed that it would be inhumane to deprive the man of
his living. That was clearly the PLP’s position. The FNM came
in however and said they don’t interfere with the decisions of the police.
The police were definitely against it. The Tribune reports that the
vendor was asked to move by the police. Tommy Turnquest, the new
Minister of National Security also ordered the man to move. Off the
vendor went to Hubert Ingraham who countermanded the police commissioner
and his Minister and told them “don’t mess with the man”. This is
very serious because it shows that the FNM does indeed interfere with the
work of the police. The PLP would never have embarrassed the Commissioner
of Police in such a way.
THE
PLP’S FORWARD PLANS
The House of Assembly opens on Wednesday 23rd May.
The PLP needs to show its colours on that day and not concede it to this
rowdy group from the FNM that will no doubt be there. The PLP ought
to show up in its colours and in numbers. We hope that there is a
rally on Tuesday night, the 22nd May, the day before the opening takes
place. We think that the Members of Parliament for the PLP should
galvanize all their supporters and march to Parliament to send a message
that the PLP is here to stay.
THE
ECONOMY IS GRINDING TO A HALT
With the government taking the position that all
contracts are on hold while they review decisions taken by the previous
administration, the economy is grinding to a halt. The straw market
contract for example has been suspended although most people believe it
has been cancelled. They are looking for wrong doing where there
is none. Then the new FNM administration has refused to meet with
the Bahamar group which is anxious to begin its project construction which
will mean the demolition of several structures along Cable Beach, the rerouting
of the road and the rebuilding of several buildings. They cannot
get an appointment with the new government. There is no other project
in the country that can produce or promise to produce as many new jobs
as Bahamar. But as we promised last week, (click
here for the previous story) the new administration is in favour of
scrapping the project because they believe that it will cause too much
competition for its benefactors at Paradise Island. The result is
that the Bahamian economy is going to suffer.
IN PASSING
Mr. Brown Should Count His Lucky Stars
It’s been reported to us that the Nassau Guardian carried an editorial
in its columns that was most likely written by Oswald Brown that advised
former Prime Minister Perry Christie that he should dissociate himself
from what was termed “the sick individuals” behind the column bahamasuncensored.com.
This gentleman with the mentality of an Uncle Tom needs to get a life.
We thought that it was important to acknowledge that anyone who can so
authoritatively call the individuals behind this column sick must themselves
be sick indeed. Coming though from the Nassau Guardian and particularly
if it’s the person whom we think, that is a blessing and high praise indeed.
The Abaco Christian Council
The Church has finally found a voice it appears and up in Abaco.
In response to comments on a podcast by Fred Mitchell that the church stood
by an allowed the FNM and its leader to get to office with unprecedented
use of sleaze, insults and personal attacks and said nothing. The
church did not answer when the attacks on the PLP took place during the
campaign but now they have found a voice. The interesting thing is
they don’t attack those who purveyed the sleaze but want the messenger
who pointed out their inaction to be condemned. They are condemning
Fred Mitchell. This must be The Bahamas. What a brave bunch!
Brent Symonette’s First Mistake
Hubert Ingraham made a big mistake by appointing Brent Symonette to
represent this country abroad. We just imagine the contracts now
that he will be obtaining for himself as he travels to represent this country’s
interest abroad. But while scoffing at the point made by former Minister
of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs
a building to house itself, Mr. Symonette now plans to move the Ministry
to the Goodman’s Bay Corporate Centre. This is a mistake. The
government should build an all purpose built building specifically for
the Ministry, put some money into the economy and create a signature building
for the Government. But no doubt one of his friends has some interest
in the centre and so off to the centre we go.
Ministry of Financial Service Dismantled
With all the careful and nuanced work done by the PLP to create a Ministry
of Financial Services and Investments to speed up approvals and to promote
the financial services sector, the FNM has come along and scrapped the
ministry. No one knows where the functions for investment approval,
promotion and protection of the sector will go. The staff are sitting
in the offices literally looking at the computers and the computers looking
at them, and no one says anything. But the interesting thing is the
sector itself has been silent in the face of this decimation. Brian
Moree whose big mouth is up in all kinds of nonsense that he doesn’t understand,
who the PLP mistakenly thought was an ally in seeking to broaden the consensus
again, has gone back to his FNM roots and is silent in the face of this
decimation of the promotion of the sector. We hope the PLP has learned
a lesson that once again leopards cannot change their spots.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Abuse of power is not Strong Leadership
The victimization of Ingraham continues. He hired
more than 300 people just before the 2002 general elections on short term
contracts. This was done simply to improve the FNM's lot in the 2002 general
elections. Even though at that time the economy had stalled and government
revenue was declining, the then PM Christie, found creative ways to accommodate
these new hires. The general public did not know about these new hires
because Christie chose not to make it a public or political issue. He and
the Minister responsible for the public service kept those workers on after
the expiration of their contracts and sought to regularize their positions
within the civil service. That is what I would call a caring government!
PM Ingraham today is faced with a similar situation. The differences are
that now, the economy is strong and robust and government revenue is at
an all time high and increasing. He chose to both politicize and publicize
these new hires by the PLP and claims that there is no money in the treasury
to pay these people. That is simply not true because some three million
dollars were approved in the current budget to finance the ‘Second Chance”
Program. PM Ingraham can help these people if he chooses to but up to this
point he has chosen not to.
Since successive governments have hired persons
on contract just before a general election, talking about the act and seeking
to demonize a political party because of the act are both immaterial. The
material issue is the way leadership was demonstrated in dealing with the
situation. Christie showed compassion and demonstrated that he genuinely
cared about those workers; they are still with the civil service today.
Ingraham, in stark contrast, is threatening to fire these workers. He is
in fine form as governance is clearly not about the people but about him,
his ego, and the use of power. He is fresh off his well publicized and
ill-conceived victimization of Steve McKinney and Phillipa Russell and
is turning his attention to these entry level workers, all of whom are
poor and desperately in need of their government jobs. Many of them are
probably unskilled. Ingraham should show true strength of leadership and
provide opportunities for training and personal development to these workers
and others like them. Another observation and side note about the McKinney
and Russell debacle: This is the first time in my lifetime that the Fourth
Estate has sided with the government against one of their own. Reasonable
Bahamians appreciate and accept the fact that PM Ingraham intimidated two
members of the media and sent a clear message that he is prepared to use
the power vested in him by the constitution to violate the unalienable
rights and personal freedoms of other Bahamian citizens guaranteed to them
under this seem supreme constitution. The refusal of the Fourth Estate
to collectively condemn PM Ingraham is frightening. Their visceral hatred
of the PLP cannot be so extreme that they are prepared to throw out the
proverbial baby with the bath water. I say to the Fourth Estate the same
message of the Editor of the Guardian as he opined in the wake of the baggage
handlers’ controversy: Today McKinney and Russell, but tomorrow it could
be you if the Prime Minister does not agree with the tone, tenor, and general
manner in which you chose to express yourself, politically, or otherwise.
If I am wrong in my observation, I welcome clarification and edification
from the esteemed editor.
Now back to the new hires as part of the ‘Second
Chance” program. The PLP has started a national training program that will
target secondary and post secondary students. The program seeks to develop
and align skill sets with the demands of an expanding economy. The people
that Ingraham is threatening to fire will benefit greatly from this program
or even from BTVI.
Prime Minister Ingraham must be reminded that
strong leadership is not just firing people and making light of it as throngs
of FNM lackies cheer him on and a bias media props him up and turn a blind
eye to his wrong doing. Strong decisive leadership is using the instruments
of government to continuously improve the lives of the Bahamian people.
Christie and Mitchell used the obstacle of the FNM hires in 2002 as an
opportunity to empower those people and improve their lives. This is the
role of government. Mr. Christie understands this but I am not sure that
Prime Minister Ingraham does.
Elcott Coleby
Nassau, Bahamas
13th May 2007
THIS
WEEK IN OPPOSITION
Christie Residential Compound Attacked
The week in Opposition began with word of a gun
attack against the Cable Beach residential compound of the Leader of the
Opposition. PLPs and right thinking Bahamians were outraged.
Please click here
for a full report from www.myplp.com.
Christie Chats Online
Progressive Liberal Party Leader Perry Christie
spent three hours online Sunday afternoon, chatting with supporters and
other interested Bahamians on the PLP’s website www.myplp.com in the ‘Have
Your Say’ section. “I am fascinated to be introduced to this new
technology now at our disposal”, said Mr. Christie, “I could never have
spoken directly to so many people otherwise. The exchange of views
was frank and useful. The level of thought put into the questions clearly
shows that Bahamians are more interested in politics now than ever.
It is just a continuation of the PLP’s commitment as the party of the Bahamian
people to hear and to actually listen."
PLP Web Administrator Andy Burrows controls the
data flow as Mr. Christie responds to the online posts. There were
over three hundred posts within the first two hours. Mr. Christie
will again be available for online response next Sunday 28th May, 2007
at 2.00 p.m.
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: After
running a vicious, lying campaign of deceit and falsehoods, the Free National
Movement is now in office. The FNM MPs all ran over to Pat Paul’s
clothing store at Paradise Island to shop and so were all of them enrobed
in tails and cravats and formal morning shirts. Well you know who
has tails in the natural order but we won’t go there. Carl Bethel,
the Minister for Education was Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s valet for
the day. Mr. Ingraham must have gotten an ill fitted shirt and Mr.
Bethel’s job was to straighten the collar which he did on three occasions.
That deserves a promotion. The PLP showed up for business in their
normal business suits. Former Prime Minister Perry Christie and his
colleagues marched from the Southern Recreation Grounds to the House of
Assembly. Along the way they were greeted with wild cheers.
They were followed by hundreds of supporters in their gold T shirts as
they shouted PLP ALL THE WAY. People ran out from their stores and
flashed the hand sign of the crab as they passed by. Once the police
stopped the PLP supporters from reaching inside the barriers, the supporters
ran up to the corner of Parliament and Bay Streets just outside the entrance
to the House and there they stayed. From inside the House of Assembly,
Members could hear the sound of PLP ALL THE WAY. As the PLP MPS entered
and exited, there were huge crowds of PLPs cheering the old Prime Minister
and booing the new Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. A great time was
had by all and no the PLP is not dead. Out photo of the week shows
the PLP front bench being sworn in following the march to Parliament on
Wednesday 23rd May. BIS photo is by Tim Aylen |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS?
Every week, the racist thoughts of men like Rick Lowe and John Marquis
become more and more current. The Tribune helps to promote it with
its owners own insecurities about race. The central question of the
century in The Bahamas is the colour line, and no amount of revisionism
by racist businessmen with nothing in their heads can change that, or newspaper
columnists for that matter.
If you read all the books about the history of The Bahamas, you will
find that the Europeans came here, decimated the local native population,
and then brought African slaves here to do their work. The slaves
outnumbered them, and eventually were freed. However, following the
freedom of the slaves, there came into force a rigid apartheid system enforced
not by law but by an unbending social order. Dr. Gail Saunders points
out that at the top of the pecking order of power and wealth were the colonial
whites and their local counterparts, followed by a small brown skin middle
class and then there were the masses of those of African descent whose
skin colour was you know what. That is still the system today.
One party and one party alone was pledged to change that; to bring equity
to centuries of discrimination. That party is the PLP.
The old order changed, we would have said passed away, but you will
see why not later. In 1967, 133 years after the abolition of slavery,
the descendants of the slaves were finally able to get into the government
and run things for themselves. In the 25 years that they and their
representatives ran the country, there was a period of unprecedented growth
in the country, but the wealth continued disproportionately to go into
the hands of the same group that had had the wealth over all the centuries.
The problem is the group, the Bay Street boys, the oligarchs, did
not go away. They fell back. They disappeared as a separate
political entity but they morphed themselves into a new force when several
PLPs left the PLP and the nationalist movement and joined up with the descendants
of the former slave masters and formed the Free National Movement.
No doubt there were good reasons for it. There were governance issues,
corruption issues, and there was just plain fatigue with a leader who needed
to move on, having served his time. The country needed a strong opposition.
In 1992, that party was able to take the reigns of the Government.
The slave masters were back, and they had employed a skilful overseer to
make sure that things went well for them. One just has to see who
got the benefits of the change in Government. The Tribune became
the first to get a private radio station licence, further strengthening
their power of information management in the country, further allowing
them to purvey their brand of hatred, racism and disrespect for national
identity. No matter, they had done well for the FNM’s puppet and
so they got their reward. Later they even got a telephone licence
to allow them to compete with the national telephone giant, again further
concentrating their hold over information. You will see from a story
in this column today that they have now been promised or given a television
licence which will further give them a stranglehold over Bahamian pubic
opinion.
Look who became knights and got the Queen’s honours, now it is rumoured
that one of them is to become the Governor General in and over us.
The descendants of the former slave masters became even richer during the
period 1992 to 2002.
By a miracle, following the death of the nationalist leader, the
PLP, the descendants of the former slaves came back to office. During
that time between 2002 and 2007, the economy again grew in an unprecedented
manner. (You may click here
for frequently asked questions and their answers.) By any measure
the country became wealthier and its people better off, but it appears
that the people of the country were not satisfied. The Tribune and
the oligarchs put together a huge treasure chest of money, and then created
this image that suddenly something was wrong with being poor and black.
Poor and black! A lethal combination! Anything associated with
it went down to defeat. But the common factor in all of this was
during that time the descendants of the former slave masters became richer
than ever, made more money than they ever did before but the PLP had to
go. No former slave could run them.
This time they brought back, procured, however you want to put it,
the services of the overseer that they had hired in 1992. He was
back again, and with the cruellest of streaks. He was expert at misleading
the public so that even PLPs thought that maybe, just maybe something was
wrong with them. But there was nothing fundamentally wrong with them.
They had only one major ‘problem’ and that was something they could not
change being black, and something which they failed to change; poor.
While in office they fattened the fowl for a snake and impoverished themselves,
so they went into a general election depending on goodwill, good memories
and thinking that people would vote for good policies. Instead, the
overseer has won; the descendants of the former slave masters are back.
They are cracking the whip everywhere: firing left, right and centre, stopping
contracts that will help to transfer technology to young black Bahamians;
anything to stop the forward march. The idea is to kill the PLP,
make sure that the former slaves know their place. This to them is
the natural order of things.
So out of the 359 years of the settlement of our country, the slaves
have had 30 years. The slave masters have had 329 years. The UBP
is now safely back in power with a good disguise. They now have another
five in what they regard as the return to the natural order of things.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 26th May 2007 up to midnight:
270,474.
Number of hits for the month of May up to Saturday 26th May 2007
up to midnight: 1,189,612.
Number of hits for the year 2007 up to Saturday 26th May 2007 up
to midnight: 3,630,265 (Does not reflect hits prior to 14th February, 2007).
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
A
LIMP SPEECH FROM THE THRONE
There was nothing new in the Speech from The Throne,
delivered by the Governor General on Wednesday 23rd May. The speech
is essentially a continuation of the policies of the PLP established in
the period 2002 to 2007. The FNM has no new ideas. What they
spent their campaign doing is denigrating the PLP but now have come to
office to steal their ideas and to adopt the PLP’s plans. We cannot
expect the fourth estate to do its job. It appears that too many
of them are right up in every crack of Hubert Ingraham, quick to defend
him and quick to jump on the PLP. For example, despite the nastiness
of the FNM’s campaign in 2007, all the newspapers are criticizing the PLP
because they brought their followers to Bay Street. What should the
PLP do, lay down and play dead?
No word yet on the nastiness by that low down dirty
preacher who now sits in an exalted place who defamed the members of the
PLP. That’s fine and good but the PLP must not respond?
The FNM also want to duck the debate on the speech
from the throne. They say they do not have enough time to get the
budget through if the debate on the speech takes place. The PLP must
hold their feet to the fire on this one, and ensure that the public is
aware of the games they play. The PLP held a rally on Saturday evening
26th May. They were saying thank you to the faithful. It was
a huge attendance, and Perry Christie outlined where the PLP will go for
the future. No the PLP is not dead.
ABOVE: PLP supporters make their presence felt during the opening
of parliament. BIS photo: Tim Aylen BELOW: Part of the crowd
of supporters outside the doors of Parliament. BIS photo: Derek Smith
THE
MARCH TOWARD ELECTION COURT
In 1987, the FNM was stunned that they lost to Pindling
again. In a rush to judgement Cecil Wallace Whitfield then Leader
of the Opposition dashed off to court saying that there had been a massive
conspiracy to defraud Bahamian voters. It made the faithful FNMs
feel good but in the end it came crashing down to nothing and costing hundreds
of thousands of dollars in costs by the FNM to the PLP.
There is a continued reference in the press to a
forensic examination of the results of the election by the PLP and the
fact that the PLP lost six seats by at least 70 votes. The talk is
that the PLP is to take these matters to the election court, winning in
the courts what was not on the battle field. If the PLP succeeds
then given the closeness of the elections results, the PLP could become
the government. That would be an interesting turn of events.
The results in the research are said to be good that there are many irregularities
found on the rolls. But still it would be prudent for the PLP to
approach this with extreme caution in a situation where you can count the
judges on one hand who are PLPs. Certainly if for example John Lyons
was chosen to be part of an election court, the PLP would have to object
straight away to that.
The fact is also that there is no appeal but it
is clear that where there is an egregious finding the matter must be reviewable
and certainly ought to find its way up to the Privy Council. The
wider issue is this: what will be the general public’s reaction politically
to the PLP taking such steps? Further, given the power of the incumbency
is the PLP ready to face another general election immediately and who is
preparing the party for that eventuality within 12 months to two years.
Think about it!
Members of the PLP's back bench being sworn into the House of Assembly
- BIS photo: Tim Aylen
THE PODCAST
We link the
general pod cast address of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred
Mitchell here. There is a new statement each Thursday and Monday.
THE
POLICE FORCE DETERIORATES
Since the General Election the Commissioner of Police
Paul Farqhuarson has had a hard time trying to resolve the inner conflicts
on the Force. Some say it has never been this bad. The FNMs
are at the throats of PLPs and the PLP are fighting back. No one
is backing down. FNM senior officers are throwing jeers at PLP senior
officers and the result is the Force is split right in two. Add to
this the defiance of the Commissioner’s order that the officers of the
Staff Association were not to wear Red T shirts on the day of the advance
poll when they went to vote.
The public is also complaining now of selective
prosecutions. One report has it that the Force is going down the
list and picking out complaints against PLPs and bringing them to court
as a form of harassment. The Commissioner must get on top of this.
Tommy Turnquest and Hubert Ingraham are directly to blame for this and
they are continuing to promote it by promising to increase police salaries
even in the face of a compensation study arranged by the government that
will report on that matter.
The Commissioner should if necessary call in outside
help to bring this political division in the force under control.
If he does not stop the attacks of FNMs on PLPs and the selective prosecutions,
there will be hell to pay in the country with the ensuing disorder and
lack of respect for law and order.
Police Commissioner (centre) with Deputy Commissioner (left) and
Defence Force Commodore - BIS photo: Kris Ingraham
THE
NEW GOVERNOR GENERAL
Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister, Lynn Holowesko,
President of the Senate, and now Geoffrey Johnstone Governor General?
What do these three have in common? We leave that to you.
Anyone who doubts that the UBP is back and that
this country has slipped back 40 years needs to have their eyes and their
heads examined. We are poised at the political level for the son
of the former Premier of the United Bahamian Party who was ousted in 1967,
forty years later to become Prime Minister of this country. That
would be like allowing the son of De Klerk to become President of South
Africa, after the years of apartheid.
The Governor General Arthur Hanna is said to have
left the country on leave on Friday 25th May and Sir Arthur Foulkes was
sworn in as a Deputy to the Governor General. Sir Arthur will no
doubt finish the business that Mr. Hanna was unable to do. But the
longer term talk is that Mr. Hanna is soon to be invited to leave office
and Sir Geoffrey Johnstone, the last Leader of the Opposition under the
United Bahamian Party (UBP) is to be invited by Hubert Ingraham to become
the Governor General. Forty years on, we are back to where we started.
WHAT’S
HAPPENING WITH THE SENATE SEAT
You know what the position of this column is with
regard to the seats in the Senate. We explained at length in an earlier
column how 7 seats in the Senate should be those of the PLP. When
the Parliament officially opened on Wednesday 23rd May, three seats were
vacant. These are seats that require the Governor General to make
an appointment on the advice of the Prime Minister after the Prime Minister
has consulted with the Leader of the Opposition. It is further prescribed
by the fact that what ever the advice is, it must reflect the political
balance of the House. Those who were at the constitutional conference
in 1972 say that this language was written at the request of the late Kendal
Isaacs so that there would be no doubt that the Prime Minister had to give
his advice in line with the wishes of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Leader of the Opposition has tendered certain
advice but Mr. Ingraham has decided that he wants to appoint the Senators
of his choosing. One of his mouthpieces at the Bahama Journal reported
that the three appointments of Mr. Ingraham are Leslie Miller, the former
Minister, Tanya Wright, the former Chamber of Commerce head, and Michael
Halkitis, the former Parliamentary Secretary. Reports are that amongst
these are only some of the choices of the Leader of the Opposition.
If the Prime Minister does not act in accordance with the wishes of the
Leader of the Opposition, the only recourse is the use of Article 45 of
the constitution to challenge the composition of the Senate. The
PLP should act forthwith in the face of this unconstitutional behaviour.
DINNER
AT EILEEN’S
Hubert was eternally grateful he said as Tommy and
Brent sat sitting in the after dinner glow of brandy and cigars.
He was thankful that she had led the way in causing his party to return
to office. The dinner was held to congratulate the troika on their
defeat of the PLP and their return to office.
Hubert wanted to know what he could do to help them.
Eileen, too, was eternally grateful. She is 74 now and she can say
like Simeon: “Lord now lettest thou thy servants depart in peace.
For mine eyes have seen the salvation of the coming of the Lord!”
But never mind all that, there were some things that she had on her mind.
What about a television licence for her company? That would be a
good thing. So said, so done. What about permanent residence
for her wicked amanuensis, the racist Englishman? So said, so done.
The press of The Bahamas, searching around for proof
they say of what the PLP asserts that this election was bought and paid
for by moneyed interests should start doing their work and find out when
and where this dinner took place, who the personalities were that were
there and what was asked for and what was delivered. Perhaps while
teaching themselves some journalistic ethics they could also teach the
government that it should not be for sale.
JOHNLEY
FERGUSON TALKS TOO MUCH
Johnley Ferguson, who lost his election bid in South
Eleuthera, certainly has a lot of mouth these days, now that he is the
Vice President of the Senate. He is developing the reputation of
being a puppet for Hubert Ingraham.
Mr. Ferguson who claimed that he was speaking as
the Vice Chairman of the FNM attacked PLP Chair Raynard Rigby for suggesting
that the FNM was wrong to cancel the straw market contract. You may
click
here for the full statement of Mr. Rigby, which was published by www.myplp.com.
Mr. Ferguson said in making his point that all contracts will be reviewed
by the Government, placed on hold and ultimately cancelled that were entered
into within the last three months. On the chopping block are two
schools, one in Grand Bahama and another in of all places Salina Point,
Acklins.
Now Mr. Ferguson is an Acklins Islander and
at one time ran for the area and was defeated. We now see why.
Mr. Ferguson claims that a 3.1 million dollar school for the people of
Salina Point is simply too much. He said that at 37 students that’s
$81,000 per pupil. Obviously that’s too good by Mr. Ferguson’s reckoning
for the children of Salina Point. We hope that the people of Acklins
remember him well as a home boy who stopped the Acklins School.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
On the 23rd May, 2007 we will celebrate a transition
from a PLP government to an FNM government. A transition, if the
truth be told, that was most clumsy and crude.
A transition is suppose to reflect a seamless
move from one administration to another, but in our case, what we have
seen is contracts being halted, individuals being terminated, and projects,
outright, being stopped. This is no way for us to do business in
a modern Bahamas, if our country is to be respected on the world stage.
We must tread very carefully on how we deal with contracts, be it FNM administration
or PLP administration.
The prophet Micah spells out a simple course
of action for governments, that is, to do justice, love mercy, and to walk
humbly before our God. Using this recipe, the Prime Minister will
surely be on the right course.
At a celebration rally at Clifford Park, the
Prime Minister told the Bahamian people that there were too many government
Ministry’s and there were too many permanent secretaries. He also said
to his party members that he could not accommodate everyone, but he would
do the best that he can. This seemed a reasonable statement, but
after the announcement of the 20-member cabinet, the largest in the history
our Commonwealth, we now question the sincerity of our Prime Minister.
The government controls 23 out of the 41 seat parliament. When one
takes into consideration, the position of speaker, that leaves only two
back-benchers. This makes a mockery of our system. Can you
imagine taking an average citizen of the street one day, offering him for
election, as a Member of Parliament, and then suddenly propelling him to
one of the highest offices in the land? That is truly a recipe for disaster.
Our judicial system is undermanned, both at the
Supreme Court and at the Appeals Court. It is said that Bahamians
who qualify will not accept the jobs as justices because of the meager
pay scale. Any country that can find the money for 20 cabinet ministers,
with 20 cars with amour bearers to drive and answer the cell phone can,
surely, see its way clear to see that Justices of the Courts are properly
compensated. At this stage of our development, we should have
seen the last of foreign judges being appointed as Justices. The
only thing that stands between us and a Bahamianized court is compensation
commensurate with their experience.
Let us deal now with our nationality problem.
There are scores of Bahamians who are awaiting regularization, that is
to say, that they were born in the Bahamas to foreign parentage and still
have not been given their full citizenship privileges. It seems the
previous government skirted this issue, but it is an issue that can easily
be dealt with provided that leadership has the political will. Justice
demands that we do right by our people. It is believed that a significant
portion of that community voted with the government to deal equitably with
their plight.
Finally, the government of the Bahamas would
be well advised and proceed with great caution in breaking any contracts
made by a former administration. In doing that, it risks setting
a dangerous precedent that the weight of a government contract can not
be counted upon. It may be advisable that the Prime Minister meet
with the former Prime Minister to be brought up to speed and his government’s
rationale on any outstanding business and contracts. In the end,
that might save the Bahamian taxpayers huge sums of moneys.
B. N. Seymour
Comments on the FNM’s so called “Superb Cabinet”
I make reference to the editorial headline of
May 10, 2007 in one of the local dailies with the title, superb cabinet,
and the conclusions drawn in the body of the editorial were shocking to
say the least. How the writer of the editorial could come to such a conclusion
after only one meeting of the cabinet and before the full cabinet had even
been assembled is beyond me. By any yardstick the writer is being biased
and seems to have lost all sense of objectivity. It appears that the editorial
came directly off the press of the FNM propaganda machinery.
In the first place, how could the Prime Minister
have a cabinet meeting before his full cabinet has been named? What do
the ministers of state who were sworn in on Monday past feel about being
left out of the first cabinet meeting? Did the Prime Minister intentionally
leave them out? These are interesting questions for the editor.
I see that the editor had bought into the FNM’s
propaganda hook, line, and sinker and rehashed the oft repeated lie that
Hubert Ingraham restored the good name of the Bahamas and returned the
Bahamas to economic health. How could he have restored the good name of
the Bahamas when under his administration the country’s financial services
industry was blacklisted and remained on the monitoring list when the FNM
demitted office in May of 2002; when the Bahamas was still on the US watch
list as a country that was being used for drug transshipment; and when
under his watch the country’s premier airport, the then Nassau International
Airport (now L.P.I.A.) was blacklisted, and the main seaport was threatened
to be blacklisted by US cruise ships? As a matter of fact, cruise ship
operators personally visited former Primer Minister Christie and threatened
to remove Nassau from its list of Ports of Call if the infrastructure and
other safety concerns were not immediately improved and addressed.
I expected to see such skewed editorial from
another daily editorial writer.
By what yardstick is the Ingraham cabinet being
given such lofty praise? If we judge by past performances of the cabinet
ministers, I do not see how the editor could have rushed to such a conclusion.
Mr. Ingraham was the reason the FNM were kicked out of office in 2002.
He had to be forced by party stalwarts to live up to his promise to serve
only two terms as Prime Minister, and like a spoilt child who could not
have his own way, he preferred to leave the party in shambles prior to
the general election. Lest we forget, it was Hubert Ingraham who brought
havoc to the financial services industry which still has not fully recovered
from his hasty and reckless response to the blacklisting. He was the one
who brought chaos to Batelco in his failed attempt at privatizing the company.
Additionally, it was Hubert Ingraham who completely mismanaged and mishandled
the referendum issue in an attempt to amend the constitution of the Bahamas.
Brent Symonette is the number two man in this
so called superb cabinet. We all remember his conflict of interest scandal
when he awarded a contract to a company in which he had significant interest
while serving as chairman of the Airport Authority. We also recall how
he damaged the tourism industry and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars
by attempting to change the tried and proven marketing slogan, its better
in the Bahamas to its hip to hop.
Tommy Turnquest, another senior cabinet minister
in the superb cabinet, was caught in a most unethical act when, as minister
of works, he awarded a contract to an unqualified contractor and later,
it was alleged that this contractor paid for a victory party on his behalf.
Earl Deveaux too is back. Do the names Martin
Tremblay, Derek Turner, and Victor Kozeny ring a bell to the editor? Did
I mention that the chairman of the committee that grants permanent residencies
is the Prime Minister himself and not the Immigration Minister? I ask,
by what yardstick does the editor rate this FNM cabinet as superb?
Then there was the saga of Dion Foulkes and the
award of contracts to certain party members who submitted ridiculous claims
for materials and labour for the repair of public schools. His boss, Hubert
Ingraham, publicly admitted that the claims were large for the scope of
work executed. The results of his promised investigation into the matter
were never made public. The stories of the indiscretions of members of
this so called superb cabinet could go on and on, but you get the general
idea.
There are also serious concerns about some of
the newly appointed ministers as it relates to questions of special interests.
As an example, I suppose that the Coalition for Healthcare Reform, a composite
of special interests, will dictate what form the National Health Insurance
will now take. We hear that the Prime Minister has already announced that
he will scuttle the plans to remove the freight businesses from Bay St.
Guess who owns those freight companies?
I am not as optimistic as the editorial writer
about the quality or potential of this current Hubert Ingraham cabinet.
My opinion is formed by the ministers’ track record for which they were
kicked out of office. I am not optimistic nor reassured by the Prime Minister’s
early actions toward Steve McKinney and the witch hunt currently underway
in the government ministries and departments.
There is compelling evidence that no fewer than
five of the twenty ministers presently serving in Ingraham’s cabinet are
guilty of political misconduct; this is staggering as it represents one
fourth of his cabinet. This is ironic because the FNM ran an election campaign
based on trust. I am baffled by the yardstick the writer used to arrive
at the point where he could shower such hyperbole on Hubert Ingraham’s
cabinet before they “hit the first lick”, even before the full cabinet
has been assembled, and in light of well documented evidence of incredible
errors in judgments on the part of this cabinet. Superb Cabinet, what superb
cabinet? Gussimae, I agree, but certainly not superb. Surely the editorial
must have been written in jest.
Elcott Coleby
THIS
WEEK WITH THE LEADER
Christie Sworn in at House of Assembly
Progressive Liberal Party Leader Perry Christie
is shown as he was sworn in during the opening of Parliament on Wednesday.
BIS photo: Tim Aylen
