bahamasuncensored.com
OCTOBER 2008
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 6 © BahamasUncensored.com 2008
While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of
the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site. Click
here for the law on copyright as it applies to this website.
Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com.
The site is compiled and edited
in The Bahamas by Russell Dames, with writer Claire Booth. This site
does not represent the views of Fred Mitchell, the Government of The Bahamas,
the PLP or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
12th October, 2008
19th October, 2008
26th October, 2008
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Today
is the 55th birthday of Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill. Mr. Mitchell
is spending the day in South Andros with friends Een and Charisse Colebrooke
who are now the managers at the Emerald Palms Hotel in Congo Town, set
on the ocean and fringed by tall coconut palms. But the scene was
much less bucolic and idyllic earlier in the week, when in the course of
his debate on an otherwise innocuous bill to incorporate into domestic
law the UN Treaty on organized crime and its protocol on human trafficking,
there was an explosion of words between himself and the government’s principle
advisor on the bill, Carl Bethel MP for Sea Breeze. Mr. Bethel used
to support his case an attack on the PLP claiming that the PLP did nothing
during the five years in office and caused The Bahamas to be put on a list
by the United States Government. The list to which he was referring
was a domestic report issued every year for the US President on the human
rights record of all countries around the world. Mr. Mitchell asked
Carl Bethel how could he use a foreign country’s report to denigrate his
own country. Where was his patriotism? Our photo of the week
is the face off between Carl Bethel and Fred Mitchell. The photo
is by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. The scene
took place on Wednesday 1st October. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
ZHIVARGO PLEASE DON’T CRY
Jesus said to him: “You still lack one thing. Sell all
that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven; and come and follow me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very
rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became sorrowful, He said, “How hard
it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
--The Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 18 verses 22-25
If
you go by the actions of Zhivargo Laing, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s
favourite FNM MP and the Minister of State for Finance, who professes “over
and repeatedly” to be a born again Christian, you will have to come
to the inescapable conclusion that there is a fundamental incompatibility
between being a born again Christian and a politician. Judging from
Mr. Laing’s actions a politician's work is surely the devil’s work and
not that of the Lord.
From his seat in the House of Assembly, he is the most loquacious,
and vicious in his comments about PLPs and in his retorts. He is
a great FNM partisan cheerleader, excelled in vitriol only by Charles Maynard
MP for Golden Isles. There is also not a subject on which he has
not the ability to pronounce and to pronounce with such authority and vigour
that you would think that he is a professor in the subject and that no
one else knows more. Even his own side is annoyed at his self perceived
brilliance.
It was, then, such a great surprise that he would break down crying
in the middle of an intervention in which he started out in the most vicious
manner, seeking to attack the Member of Parliament for West End and Bimini,
the PLP’s Obie Wilchcombe. On Wednesday 1st October, the debate on
a simple bill to incorporate into domestic law a UN treaty on human trafficking
descended into a verbal slugfest on who had the most heart in politics.
Loretta Butler Turner, the FNM MP for Montagu who seems to attack and interpret
every intervention by the PLP’s Melanie Griffin as a personal assault and
has to try as hard as she can to negate anything that Mrs. Griffin has
to say, began it all. In the course of Mr. Wilchcombe’s contribution,
she interrupted him to say that a constituent of Mr. Wilchcombe was not
following the rules and so could not get the fire assistance that he needed.
Mr. Wilchcombe and his fellow PLPs started chanting to the FNM that they
must use their heart.
That inspired Mr. Laing in his rebuttal intervention to give a personal
story in which he accused Mr. Wilchcombe of taking away his job when he
(Mr. Laing) worked as a consultant for the Grand Bahama Port Authority
during the time the PLP was in power and not having a heart. The
reality is that the Board of Directors of the Port fired Mr. Laing because
he was his own worst enemy. He joined the Port at a time when he
said that he was no longer in politics but as soon as he got the job, he
spent his time attacking the then PLP Government at every turn. What
we later found out is that despite Jesus having told Mr. Laing, while he
was staring out to sea, contemplating on a rock one day outside the Xanadu
Hotel, to turn from the ways of politics; Hubert Ingraham was able to persuade
him to come back. In other words, Mr. Laing told Jesus to wait.
The Board of the Grand Bahama Port Authority got tired of it and
simply decided that it was not in their best interests to have a politician
working for them and attacking their main partner the government of The
Bahamas. It should also be clear that the Government of The Bahamas
cannot fire anyone from the Port. It is a private company and it
does what is in its best interest.
It was in the course of his intervention in the House on Wednesday
1st October that Mr. Laing began to cry. His voice broke as he explained
how when he lost his job, it was difficult to take care of his mother.
He said how bread was taken from his mouth. You could hear the crying
coming. The question must be asked; why would such a tough hard nosed
fellow be in the business of bringing his family’s personal business for
the public to scrutinize and to be frank to be laughed at, that he could
not take care of his family? With respect to him, that is nobody’s
business. In politics, you take your licks and move on. Don’t
be a cry baby about it. The PLP didn’t fire him, but the question
must be asked, did he shed tears for all the people and their families
that the FNM fired since they came to office on 2nd May 2007? What
about the family of Abraham Butler from the Water and Sewerage Corporation
or that of Leon Williams of Bahamas Telecommunications Limited. Both
told to pack up by the FNM and leave and they were offered inadequate severance
by the Government.
These tears came off as contrived, crocodile tears. If they
were not crocodile tears and were genuine then Mr. Laing is in the wrong
business. He ought to be in the church and be a real born again Christian
where his nasty and impertinent language is not a stock in trade.
The church is the place for tears, not the public arena of politics.
Jesus reserved his tears for the dead not for the living. In the
political arena once you start crying, you expose yourself as a cry baby,
as a political coward who when he can’t win an argument resorts to tears
as the last refuge of a scoundrel.
There is a broader point to make, one about the approach of the FNM
generally to public issues. The FNM is a cast off from the PLP.
They are a combination of malcontents from the PLP in the 1970s and the
defunct United Bahamian Party. They represent the merchant class
and all the ‘grabaliciousness’ that goes with that. They have no
philosophy or raison d’etre save that of making sure that the PLP does
not succeed and that those whom they perceive as a lower caste remain in
their place. The country is after all theirs and not ours.
This is not a comment about the individual FNM members, but the FNM
in its corporate character too often comes off in that way. Carl
Bethel, for example could have made his case for the Bill, without resorting
to attacking the PLP and what it did or did not do during their five years
in office. It has become a tiresome script. Now when the PLP
strikes back, they want to break out crying.
In 1992, the FNM first came to power and began a vicious campaign
against PLPs. One PLP who was a victim of that attack was Obie Wilchcombe,
the now MP for West End and Bimini. He was forced out as an employee
of ZNS Radio and TV along with a host of his colleagues who were thought
to be PLP. So even if Mr. Wilchcombe was involved in the dismissal
of Zhivargo Laing, perhaps it was justice, the record is now balanced.
One thing we know is that Mr. Wilchcombe did not stand up in the House
or the Senate where he served shortly after his dismissal and break out
crying, in a shameless attempt at sympathy.
Don’t cry, Zhivargo; don’t cry. Instead, resign. Answer
the call of God you have been ignoring all these years and go to church.
You must, after all, be born again.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 4th October 2008 up to
midnight 235,640
Number of hits for the month of September up to Tuesday 30th September
2007 up to midnight: 1,146,817.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 4th October
2008 at midnight: 105,410.
Number of hits for year 2008 up to Saturday 4th October 2008 up to
midnight: 10,128,183.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
WHAT
DO THEY KNOW THAT WE DON’T?
The PLP is preparing for a major push on the economy. They have to.
The government of The Bahamas continues to take the economic situation
for a joke. It is interesting to us that while the PLP and its Members
of Parliament and Senators are entirely serious about the question of the
human suffering brought on by the economic decline we are facing in the
country, the FNM continues to take the whole thing for a joke.
In the House of Assembly, any measure that is discussed
about the economy brings back jokes from the FNM or their men and women
try to be too clever by half in seeking to defend their position.
For example, the man who is now known as the cry baby of the House Zhivargo
Laing, thought that it was entirely clever to respond to the PLP on the
criticism of his government voting for a resolution congratulating themselves
on the management of the economy, by going to the history books and recalling
a resolution that the PLP passed on the work of Neville Wisdom its then
Minister of Culture on Junkanoo.
Mr. Laing said that the PLP criticized them for
voting on their resolution while unemployment is now 8.9 per cent and rising
but the PLP voted for the Junkanoo resolution while unemployment was at
10 per cent. The difference is of course that then unemployment was
falling and the country’s prospects were excellent. The times are
completely different now. But Mr. Laing thought he was clever and
his members including the Prime Minister were banging on the table in approval.
The question we must then ask is; what do they know
that we don’t know? Do they know that deep down behind all the suffering
the economy is doing well? Do they not see the long lines that formed
last week when the government announced the social services increases?
These are increases that they promised to deliver three months ago but
are only now delivering. The report is that the Social Services Department
is at breaking point because its resources and manpower are stretched so
thin. The Department simply cannot cope with the demands now placed
on it. We think that the FNM is simply clueless and bloody minded,
even ignorant. They are simply out of touch. Let them continue,
the rocks will be their home.
PLPs At Work In The House - BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
CENTRAL
BANK WARNING ON THE ECONOMY
On the same day that the FNM was busy reshaping
the PLP’s resolution on the economy in the House of Assembly to congratulate
the FNM on how well they are doing with the economy, the Central Bank of
The Bahamas delivered a body blow to their self praise. The Bank
in a statement issued on Monday 29th September warned Bahamians that the
economy was in for some serious contractions because of the economic situation
in the United States.
The Bank warned Bahamians to be cautious about heir
spending, to save and to not borrow money from the bank or get credit that
was not strictly necessary. This is an unusual warning from an institution
that is known to be extremely conservative. The Bank said that as
a result of the economic crisis in the United States there was likely to
be an adverse impact on our tourism sector and that this would mean less
money coming into our country. It warned that Bahamians must be cautious
in their spending. We ask again, in the face of this, why is the
FNM so jocular and insensitive to the human suffering? What do they
know that we don’t know? Click
here for the full central bank statement.
AQUINAS
GROUNDBREAKING
The Roman Catholic Church is into a building phase
again. This time it is the expansion of Aquinas College. Aquinas
is a Roman Catholic High School in Nassau that has been located in the
Palmdale area of New Providence for at least a generation. Now it
appears that the crowding of the neighbourhood by commercial concerns has
overtaken the usefulness of the campus and they are moving.
The groundbreaking of the new facility took place
on Tuesday 30th September on Gladstone Road with the Roman Catholic Archbishop
Patrick Pinder presiding with assistance of Monsignor Preston Moss and
the officials from the school.
PLP
DISCUSSING THE EPA
The Progressive Liberal Action Network (PLAN) the
activist support group of the PLP in Grand Bahama hosted a presentation
on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) at the Eric Sam Hall at Ascension
Church in Freeport on Tuesday 23rd September. The EPA will usher
in a new trade relationship between Caricom countries including The Bahamas,
the Dominican Republic and Europe. It is to be signed on 15th October
in Barbados. The principal guests were Fred Mitchell Fox Hill MP
and the Opposition’s spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade along
with Senator Jerome Fitzgerald. Mr. Mitchell explained that the PLP
supported the EPA so long as the services offer was acceptable. He
said that the Government’s proposed offer appears to protect Bahamian services
from predatory competition in the short and medium term. He said
if the PLP were in office, it would have signed the agreement. Senator
Fitzgerald added that it was important for the economy to be modernized
and for there to be more opportunities for Bahamians. The photos
of the event are by Allison Smith.
GOLD
IN THEM THERE SAN SALVADOR HILLS
The story seems hilarious but the people are serious.
The Bahama Journal has been reporting for weeks now that there is a serious
feud in San Salvador, the island that used to be called Watlings Island
before 1926 and is now thought the be the site of the original landfall
of Columbus. The fight is about who has the right to prospect for
gold in the hills of the island’s interior. Some families claim that
they have a licence and a set of foreign investors claim that they have
licence. The Journal says this has resulted infighting on the island
threatening public order and serious enough for the Prime Minister Hubert
Ingraham to have to intervene. The Local Government Administrator
Jordan Ritchie seemed to suggest to the paper that their information is
being blown out of proportion and that the digging had stopped as a result
of an order to cease and desist. Reports are however that there is
still quite a lot of tension on the island over the matter.
PLP
CHAIRMAN ON THE ECONOMY
The PLP’s Chair Glenys Hanna Martin has issued a
statement in which she accuses the government of abandoning their responsibility
to help the people of the country through this period of hard economic
times. The statement was issued on Wednesday 1st October. The
full text follows:
"On behalf of our Party and on behalf of Bahamians everywhere
we decry this Government’s failure to address the emerging economic crisis,
which is negatively impacting the quality of life of our people. It is
shocking that this Government has stood by and allowed a crisis to arise
in our country when more than 5,000 homes were disconnected from electrical
supply as a result of people’s inability to meet the sustained rise in
the cost of this essential commodity.
"When the whole world seems to be painfully aware
that global events are threatening the quality of life of people everywhere,
our Government appears to be oblivious and to have no prepared policy approach
to ensure that more and more people are not pushed into the abyss of poverty.As
I speak people are fearful and apprehensive about meeting the rising cost
of all manner of things including bank payments, school fees, the cost
of food.
"While the Government has the power through the
mechanism of Price Control to ensure that breadbasket items are kept at
affordable prices so that in the least, essential food items are protected,
they have taken an apparent laissez faire approach leaving the pressure
to bear on the embattled citizen to face the ravages of what is being described
as the most significant economic crisis in recent memory.
"The Government has a responsibility to stimulate
the economy and one such way is through capital projects which have already
been approved by Parliament and which have been previously announced by
the government: They should now move immediately to commence these
projects so as to keep our economy afloat and create jobs in these difficult
times. The Government’s response to this economic crisis bears no
resemblance to good governance. This is abandonment."
TOURISM
ADDRESS CANCELLED
|
Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' from
The Nassau Guardian of Friday 3rd October, 2008
The first sign that the government does not know what
to do about the crisis in tourism came when word leaked on Monday 29th
September that a planned national address on tourism by the Minister of
Tourism Vincent Vanderpool Wallace was cancelled. The address reportedly
was to tackle the issue of what to do in tourism to combat the crisis coming
in tourism with the collapse of the United States economy. The Ministry’s
explanation was that the crash of the US stock market on Monday 29th September
has thrown off their plans. That seemed unlikely and when a few days
later a sputtering Mr. Vanderpool had to explain to the press who are usually
quite close to Mr. Vanderpool, why they were being excluded from a meeting
of tourist partners in Nassau, he confirmed that indeed the stock market
crash had nothing to do with the cancellation of the speech.
What we have learned is that the speech was cancelled
on the orders of the Prime Minister because he had not seen in advance
what Mr. Vanderpool Wallace was going to say. On Monday 29th September
at one point Mr. Ingraham left the House of Assembly floor and made a call
to Mr. Vanderpool Wallace to call it off. Stan Burnside’s cartoon
captures the government’s state on this issue. The government does
not know what to do.
Mr. Vanderpool must be at his wits end on two things.
The first is that his normal modus operandi is to act in the face of a
crisis, not sit on his hands until a Prime Minister gets in the mood.
Already it has been rumoured that Mr. Vanderpool and Mr. Ingraham have
clashed over policy issues in tourism. Secondly, he simply may not
know what to do and it is beyond his talents to navigate the politics of
tourism policy given the kind of Prime Minister with which he now must
deal.
LEAKED
PUBLIC SECTOR REPORT
Before the PLP left office last year, it commissioned
a compensation study to deal with the vexing problem of salary levels and
adequate compensation within the public service. One of the issues
it was to try to resolve was the issue of parity as it relates to job functions
across the service. The most glaring disparities existed and exist
between the uniformed branches of the services where police officers made
more than defence force officers and prison officers.
Shortly before the election in 2007 in an attempt
to mollify the Defence Force, the PLP called for a speeding up of the recommendation
on the Defence Force. The recommendations brought about parity.
The Defence Force was displeased by the recommendations and despite sending
then Ministers Allyson Gibson and Fred Mitchell down to speak to them on
the subject, the Defence Force voted against the PLP in droves.
Now the final report says that parity was only achieved
in that interim report at the minimum scales of the Defence Force and not
at the maximum scales and that further work needs to be done. The
study also said that the customs services should be put on par with the
uniformed branches of the service. Nothing said about the Department
of Immigration. The entire report should by now have been shared
with the Opposition PLP but it remains a secret report. The report
was leaked to the Nassau Guardian and published on 29th September.
WESTERN
AIR’S SERVICE
The government of The Bahamas in a payback for the
political support it gave the FNM in the 2007 general election has given
the Bahamasair franchise to fly into South Andros and Mangrove cay to Western
Air. One of the owners of Western Air actually ran as a candidate
in the 2007 election for the FNM. The travelling public in South
Andros is now bitterly complaining about the quality of the service from
South Andros and Mangrove Cay. The plane routinely leaves late and
flights are cancelled without warning and without refund. It is a
great inconvenience to the travelling public. The Minister responsible
ought to revisit this.
LETTER
TO THE EDITOR
Greater than a marching army is an idea whose time has come
I watch with interest the happenings in the PLP.
I’m a thirty-something close to forty voter. I like what I see in
regards to the next wave of PLPs. I certainly think that the PLP
is better positioned in terms it's ‘bench’ than the FNM.
My personal opinion is that the PLP failed to
realize last term that the people's interest IS the party's interest.
There seemed to be a divide as to what favored party interest as opposed
to national interest. I would venture, that this way of thinking
is entrenched in some current leaders.
You would certainly get my support if some of
that ‘bench’ would be allowed to start. I say with caution some not
all and some not at all. If these transitions take place and do so
in a timely manner, the FNM even with its current leadership would be no
match. This is from someone who considers himself Joe public, with
no loyalty either way.
Name Withheld
IN PASSING
Bail For Deon ‘Emperor’ Knowles
You don’t know whether the country is outraged or simply in stunned
silence. But just a few months after being caught on the run from
a murder charge Deon ‘Emperor’ Knowles was granted bail in the sum of $50,000
for the killing last year of his nephew. The matter is stayed pending appeal
to the Court of Appeal to the
outrage of his lawyers. The Crown says it must appeal.
The Crown’s appeal comes against the backdrop of society’s outrage at the
granting of bail to people charged with serious offences.
PLPs At Sam Gray’s Funeral
The funeral of Exuma businessman and civic activist Sam Gray was held
in Exuma on Saturday 18th September. The service was attended by
the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and representing the PLP Fred Mitchell
MP for Fox Hill and Anthony Moss MP for Exuma. The photo is by Letisha
Henderson of the Bahamas Information Services.
William Higgs New Methodist President
Rev. William Higgs will take over the Bahamian version of the Methodist
Church in an installation service to be held at the Ebenezer Methodist
Church on Shirley Street, New Providence. Rev. Higgs succeeds Rev.
Kenris Carey who has served in the position since 2002.
Thirty Years Pastor Gary Curry
The PLP’s Leader Perry Christie attended the anniversary service of
the Rev. Gary Curry of the Evangelistic Temple at Collins Avenue on Monday
29th September. Pastor Curry took over the church at a time of crisis
and has been credited with expanding its membership to include more blacks
and with the building of the Temple Christian High School.
Happy Birthday Fred Mitchell
Today is the 55th birthday of the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill
Fred Mitchell (file photo). It follows one week after the birthdays
of his twin brother and sister Marva and Matthew both born on 26th September.
The twins are 48 years old.
Massive Shuffle Of Public Servants
The FNM government is busy but quietly shuffling around middle level
civil servants from one Ministry to another. This is a continuation
of the political purge that has been going on in the public service since
they have come to office. The idea is to fire or alienate all those
who are perceived to be PLP. Zhivargo Laing, the loquacious “cry
baby” who is responsible for the Ministry of the Public Services has described
the charges of a political purge as “delusional”.
Youth Day Today
Desmond Bannister, the Minister of Youth will be hosting the annual
Youth Day March today. It is expected that thousands of youth will
turn out to show their support for the theme. This is Mr. Bannister’s
first time as Youth Minister and host of the parade.
Farewell To Two Former MPs
The country and its elected representatives bade farewell to Norman
Solomon and Harold De Gregory, both died within days of each other last
week. Mr. Solomon was a former Leader of the Opposition, a former
FNM and United Bahamian Party Member. His reputation was somewhat
rehabilitated in the PLP’s eyes when he broke down in tears at the death
bedside of Sir Lynden Pindling in 2000. He also served as the joint
Chair with George Mackey on a special commission appointed by then Prime
Minister Perry Christie to look at the redevelopment of the city of Nassau.
Mr. De Gregory served in the House of Assembly first for three months before
being removed by an election court and replaced by the PLP’s Warren Levarity
in 1960. He was re elected for a full term as a UBP member in 1962
and served until 1967. Mr. De Gregory was buried in a state recognized
funeral on Saturday 4th October in his native West End, Grand Bahama.
Norman Solomon’s funeral takes place on Monday 6th October at 2 p.m. at
Christ Church Cathedral. The photo of Harold De Gregory lying in
repose and viewed by former MP Paul Adderley at the House of Assembly is
by Peter Ramsay.
Bailout Is A Mistake
The United States legislature has passed a 700 billion dollar rescue
package. We think that this is a big mistake that will bankrupt the
United States. It will do little to help the small man and will simply
help the rich and big business. The idea is that banks that have
bad debt will be rescued by the US government buying the debt and stopping
the failure of large banking institutions in that country.
Chinese National Day
Congratulations to the people and government of the Peoples Republic
of China on the 59th anniversary of the founding of their nation on 1st
October.
Ian Strachan On PLP Leadership
This curious writer is at it again, yakking on about leadership in
the PLP. Last week in his column of Monday 29th September, he exposes
someone whom he described as a female friend to contempt and ridicule because
she supports the leadership of the PLP. He may even have violated
a confidence. We repeat a point that we often make. Since he
isn’t a PLP what difference does it make to him who the leader is?
If Mr. Strachan does not like the Leader then as a non PLP he can simply
vote against the PLP, which he has done. So why not butt out, since
it is simply none of his business. What is particularly despicable
though is his compromising his friend’s comments to him and exposing her
to ridicule. Some friend he is!
Changes At City Market
Stephen Boyle, who, reportedly, has been at the helm of the City Markets
stores for four months, has left the company without explanation.
This according to The Tribune’s Business report of Friday 3rd October.
The company lost 10 million dollars last fiscal year and does not have
a clear marketing strategy as to how to recover in the face of a rapidly
changing market. Click here for a previous
Comment Of The Week. The company has not commented on the report.
Jeanne Thompson Reading
Fans of the series ‘The Fergusons of Farm Road’, commissioned by the
Ministry of Tourism and written in part by former Justice Jeanne Thompson
had a revival of sorts at a special reading at the Pompey Museum last month.
Ms. Thompson led a group of thespians in readings from the original script.
Miss Lye the popular character from the series was played by Claudette
‘Cookie’ Allens. Pictured reading from the 1970s era radio soap opera
are, from left: Anthony Delaney, Anthony 'Skebo' Roberts, Jeanne Thompson,
Heather Thompson, Claudette Allens and Clarence Rolle.
Photo: Peter Ramsay
HOME
Previous
Columns
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| GOVERNORS GENERAL CONFERENCE
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: The 13th annual conference of Caricom governors
general took place in Nassau from Monday 6th October to Thursday 9th October.
All Caricom countries were presented save for Trinidad and Tobago’s President
Max Richards and Guyana’s Barrat Jagdeo. No reason for the Trinidad
President’s absence. Mr. Jagdeo attends the Heads of Government conference.
He is an executive president, not the titular or ceremonial Governor General
or Head of State. The Governors also took a trip to Freeport while
here. They all seemed to enjoy themselves at the meetings, opened
by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of The Bahamas. The final public
event was that of the ceremonial changing of the guard at Government House
in Nassau hosted by Bahamian Governor General Arthur D. Hanna. Our
photo of the week is that of Bahamian Governor General Arthur Hanna (centre)
hosting his fellow Governors General at Government House for the changing
of the guard on Thursday 9th October. The photo is by Peter Ramsay
of the Bahamas Information Services. See more photos below. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
BURYING NORMAN SOLOMON
In
death, Norman Solomon ended up with the funeral much like that of a black
Bahamian man. His funeral was two hours and ten minutes. One
hour longer than the typical funeral for white Bahamians in The Bahamas.
It is admittedly a strange place to start but the theme from the funeral
forces this beginning, where almost everyone got up with the mantra that
Mr. Solomon, the United Bahamian Party (UBP - last minority government),
Social Democratic Party (SDP - his invention of the middle ground of the
1980s that did not last), Independent politician who rose to become the
Leader of the Opposition, was colour blind.
It seemed to many that it was said too many times to in fact be so.
If it were so obvious, why did it bear repeating? The funeral at
the Christ Church Cathedral (and no one was quite sure why it ended up
there) was part testimonial, part history lesson, part speech contest,
also by its construction part demonstration of the Bahamian pastiche.
To say it was very interesting is an understatement. The political
cleavage of race in The Bahamas is alive and well despite the many voices
in the last election and at the funeral that seemed to want to dampen down
any such claim.
On television after his death, the favoured clip was the interview
with Mr. Solomon in which he said that he thought that ultimately the resolution
to the colour problem in The Bahamas would be that everyone would become
brown. It presupposes of course that there is something wrong with
being black or white.
The funeral had an interesting divide. All the whites (well,
mainly) sat on one side of the church, admittedly family many of them,
but also friends, and the blacks, mainly officials were on the other side
of the church. But one thing that bears stating that is also obvious:
they were all there, blacks and whites, and those in between, which one
supposes reinforces the fact that we are all in this boat together for
better or worse. The funeral could have been written out of the national
playbook on race and politics, Colin Hughes seminal work of the same name
published in 1977.
What did the funeral tell us or show us? First, that we are
still every much separate nations, black and white and different people.
Secondly, that we have an alliance of interests because we can’t do without
each other, although our life experiences and perspectives are entirely
different. That despite the abolition of slavery and the advent of
majority rule, the relationships are still very much the same. John
Wanklyn, speaking about Mr. Solomon, gave the story that was supposed to
show how blind to colour and integrated Mr. Solomon was. He said
how there were three people who worked for Mr. Solomon, all of whom, presumably,
were black. One was his cook and nanny to the children. Another
was the driver who retired after 25 years and then returned on the following
Monday morning to start work again. The third, well, you get the
point. Where Mr. Wanklyn saw affection and loyalty, the other side
of the divide saw how the relationships of history were simply reinforced
in that telling. Mr. Wanklyn also claimed that, with the death of
Mr. Solomon, P. Anthony White is now the nation’s best writer. Hmmm!
There were ten tributes and this is where the thought of the white
funeral like a black funeral was most clear. Most white funerals
in The Bahamas are quite Spartan, spare affairs, no crying and little emotion
public emotion to them. It is has a ‘this is something we have to
do, and let’s get it done and go home’ quality. Black funerals, on
the other hand, have lots of prostration, weeping, histrionics, plenty
of drama, public emotion and are usually very long. The white funerals:
one hour, maybe one hour and fifteen; the black funerals two, three, four
hours. Sir Lynden Pindling’s funeral, for example, was five hours
long.
The speeches at this funeral were pretty good. Sean McWeeney,
the former PLP Attorney General was his lawyer and spoke to his uniqueness.
Jeanne Thompson, who followed Mr. Solomon into the now defunct Social Democratic
Party, spoke to his political courage. The Prime Minister spoke to
his wading ashore at Norman’s Cay to confront drug traffickers. But
for our money, the winner of the speech contest and incontestably the smartest
of the ten speakers was Vincent Vanderpool Wallace, who, speaking without
notes, reeled off from his head Sonnet
no. 94, no doubt straight from his A level GCE English class, but at
his age and with all that he has now on his plate and mind, impressive
all the same. He simply wowed the crowd.
The greatest of all the addresses though was the homily by the Anglican
Archbishop Drexel Gomez. He was unusually brief and quite succinct
in his address about the confluence of the spiritual and material world.
One cannot exist without the other, he warned. He argued that no
matter how rich you are, you need the spiritual to survive. A poignant
message at a funeral for Norman Solomon whose religious views we did not
know but whom from all accounts was quite the philanthropist, a result
we were told by Dianne Philips, the PR executive who was his friend, of
his thought that the wealth he acquired required it. Archbishop Gomez
said that he prayed that Mr. Solomon would before God find peace and comfort
and redemption in death. Amen.
For the PLP, Mr. Solomon’s redemption came with his valued assistance
in working along with his former Parliamentary colleague and former PLP
MP George Mackey who predeceased him, in managing the redesign of Nassau,
a city that we were told at the funeral that he loved dearly. His
business success came first with Mademoiselle and then Wendy’s and others.
The greatest line from the obit was that Norman Solomon believed that the
greatest political mistake that he made was not joining the PLP in 1956.
He appeared in 2000 at the bedside of a dying Lynden Pindling, whom Mr.
Solomon had fought all his life, and burst into tears.
So there they all were black and white, the leaders of the country,
some whom he opposed, others whom he supported and who supported him, saying
farewell in the cathedral. His body was marched down Bay Street from
east to west from the House of Assembly where undoubtedly he made his greatest
contribution to his country. In that there is no mistake, he was
one of the captains of the modern Bahamas. For that, and for his
tenacity, he ends up with the undying affection of the Bahamian nation
and its political upper class in particular and for those who write this
column.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th October 2008 up
to midnight: 267,126.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 11th October
2008 up to midnight: 387,762.
Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 11th October 2008
up to midnight: 10,395,309.
Norman Solomon's
casket is borne from Christ Church Cathedral by Police and Defence Force
Officers - BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
THE
SO CALLED TOURISM PLAN
Well, if anyone can turn the tourism product around, now in the doldrums,
it will have to be Vincent Vanderpool Wallace. Mr. Vanderpool
Wallace was called out from service as the Secretary General of the Caribbean
Tourism Organization (CTO) by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham two months
or so ago after Mr. Ingraham’s disastrous first appointment of Neko C.
Grant as Minister of Tourism in the first year of the term. The tourism
figures plummeted, and they continue to do so under Mr. Vanderpool Wallace,
with a recession clearly on in the United States.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas has warned that
the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Mr. Vanderpool
Wallace is supposed to be the boy wonder of Bahamian tourism, its saviour.
He steps into the shoes of Stafford Sands and Clement T. Maynard.
His plan, the announcement of which was first cancelled by a nervous Prime
Minister (click here for last week’s
story) Hubert Ingraham who did not want any doom and gloom to come
from the Minister, finally came last week.
According to the press, the plan is as follows:
“From negotiating lower airfares to The Bahamas, to re-branding the Family
Islands and making it easier for visitors to learn more about the country,
the Ministry of Tourism’s plan to boost tourist arrivals to The Bahamas
entails a multi-layered approach.”
Mr. Vanderpool Wallace’s approach does not seem
to be revolutionary in any way. It sounded nice. The Bahamas
was going to get 24 hour access by the internet. Let’s hope the server
keeps working, given the lack of reliability of all systems emanating from
The Bahamas. On airlift, it remains to be seen whether he can get
cheaper fares as he promised in order to take advantage of the proximity
to the US. It is claimed that two airlines have already signed on,
and that he is talking to American Airlines, our major link to the outside
world. He said that emphasis must be put on the beaches of The Bahamas
and on the people. He also thought that the individual islands should
be promoted more.
This does not seem the stuff of policy but rather
stuff that ought to come from Vernice Walkine, the Director General of
Tourism and indeed it was where she was already headed. That is the
difficulty in putting a technician like Mr. Vanderpool Wallace in a political
job; he usurps the function of the other and may not fully appreciate the
difference. This talk about the internet is vintage Vanderpool Wallace;
but has he really with his talk and energy transformed the industry?
The answer is no. During his time as Director General, while the
public relations was good, the number of rooms fell in The Bahamas, and
the number of tourists fell in The Bahamas. Not a good track record
in a sector where numbers count.
Then there is the fact that Jamaica, in spite of
all the crime there, has announced that they have a 12 percent increase
in stopover visitors to their country this year. Barbados is said
to be choc-a-bloc with visitors.
Why is The Bahamas suffering a decline? The
press reported the following from the Central Bank:
“Tourism statistics for the first half of the
year showed a 2.2 percent contraction in arrivals to 2.37 million compared
to the same period a year ago.
“This development reflected a 3.8 percent reduction
in sea passengers, which outpaced the 1.1 percent improvement in air traffic.
“Both New Providence and Grand Bahama experienced
declines in visitors of 5.9 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively, whereas
arrivals to the Family Islands strengthened by 11.7 percent.”
We think that this is not a time for public relations
and chat by themselves but for facing some cold hard realities about our
product. The tourism product in The Bahamas is poor: poor service,
poor amenities, poor attractions, nothing to do. These need to be
fixed and sustained before we can do anything in either the short term
or the long term to improve tourism. We won’t condemn his programme
but we certainly think that no congratulations are in order at this point.
We are not like other politicians or the mealy mouthed press. We
will wait and see.
AND
ALL YOU COME UP WITH IS HANGING
On Tuesday 7th October, the headline in the press was
that the National Advisory Council on Crime, also known as the Crime Commission,
headed by Bishop Simeon Hall and part of the FNM’s strategy for fighting
crime, had reported and they want hanging to resume. So after all
the studying, and analyzing, and the hearings and the taking of public
and private advice, all this Commission could do was come up with hanging
as the solution to the crime problem. The man on the street is entitled
to say, “You could have asked me that and I could have told you to start
hanging.” Let’s put it another way, the report broke no new ground,
and cannot even pretend to be a salve to the problem of crime that has
escalated this year in The Bahamas.
Up to press time, there were 56 murders in the country
for the year. The report is a disappointment. It may have other
recommendations but the whole thing is now coloured by the senseless and
largely rhetorical recommendation that executions should resume.
Everyone knows why executions can’t resume. They are prevented by
the courts. The experts have already told us that executions are
unlikely to do anything to stop crime. For our money, the FNM has
to go back to the drawing board because you have to question whether this
report is worth anything more than the expostulations of the man on the
street.
The other members of the Commission were in addition
to Bishop Hall, Kemp Road Ministries Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Ivan Butler;
Director of Operation Redemption Carlos Reid; Executive Director of the
Bahamas Hotel Association Frank Comito and Acting Assistant Commissioner
Hulan Hanna. Other council members are Arlene Nash-Ferguson, Director
of Educulture Bahamas; COB’s Director of Campus Life Vicente Roberts; Managing
Director of IBM Bahamas Felix Stubbs; Anastasia Huyler, president of the
College of the Bahamas Union of Students; Dr. Michael Neville, consultant
psychiatrist, and Maria Scott, a representative of victims and families
of crime.
CELEBRITY
READING IN FOX HILL
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill joined the grade five
class of Miss Adderley for the Ministry of Education’s celebrity reading
programme at the Sandilands Primary School in his constituency Fox Hill.
Celebrity guests are called in to read to the children. Mr. Mitchell,
who as MP for Fox Hill invests heavily of his time, money and energy in
the Sandilands Primary School was happy to oblige and read Chapter Five
of ‘Morning Girl’. The chapter described a child at age ten trying
to establish and seek her identity. The children were riveted and
engaged. Shown at the reading on Wednesday 8th October is Mr. Mitchell
in the grade five class at Sandilands Primary School Fox Hill.
STRUGGLING
IN SOUTH ANDROS
The people of Picewell Forbes’ South Andros constituency
are entitled to ask why the government of Hubert Ingraham is trying to
starve them of resources. Why isn’t the dock in Fresh Creek fixed?
What has happened to the promise of the cable in South and Central Andros?
It is clear that because they voted PLP Mr. Ingraham is punishing the district.
Do better Mr. Ingraham.
PHOTOS
OF THE SOLOMON FUNERAL
The additional photos we promised of the funeral
service of the late Norman Solomon, former Leader of the Opposition who
was given the funeral recognized by the state at the level of a former
Minister at the Christ Church Cathedral on Monday 6th October. Mr.
Solomon’s wife Cathy and family are shown outside the Cathedral after the
service; Dame Marguerite Pindling with now Leader of the Opposition Perry
Christie; PLP parliamentary pall bearers march along with the casket
of Mr. Solomon on George Street: Cynthia Pratt MP, Fred Mitchell MP, Obie
Wilchcombe MP and Picewell Forbes MP.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay
PHOTOS
OF THE GOVERNORS GENERAL CONFERENCE
We present a photo essay of the ceremonial changing
of the guard that brought the curtain down at the Government House in Nassau
on Thursday 9th October on the 13th annual conference of Governors General
held in Nassau last week. The photos show (above) the Royal Bahamas
Defence Force and Royal Bahamas Police Force as they go through their paces.
Also inside following the ceremony Jamaica’s Governor General Sir Kenneth
Hall and Lady Hall (above, right) pose with Bahamian Governor General Arthur
D. Hanna.
There was a reception for the GGs at the Crystal
Palace, Fred Mitchell Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs attended
on behalf of the PLP, shown above with Chamber of Commerce President Dionysio
D’Aguilar and below with Appellate Judge Emmanuel Osadebay and Mrs. Osadebay;
with Sir Kenneth Hall, Governor General of Jamaica.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay
PLP RALLY
HELD
The Progressive Liberal Party is seeking to frame
the debate around the economy and in doing so held a political rally in
the courtyard of its headquarters Gambier House in Nassau on Thursday 9th
October. It is clear that the FNM does not have a feel for poor people
and the middle class. The FNM is simply ignoring the problems, like
an ostrich with their heads in the sand about the suffering of Bahamians
in this bad economy. Mr. Christie spoke with passion about it.
He also used the opportunity at the rally of the PLP along with other speakers
on Thursday 9th October to attack the government’s plans to put a new container
port at Arawak Cay. We link you here to the speeches of Mr.
Christie, Dr. Bernard Nottage (video
or text), Leader of Opposition
Business in the House of Assembly, and Melanie Griffin, the MP for Yamacraw
(video or
text).
PLP Leader Perry Christie Addresses Economic Forum - photo: www.myplp.com
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Tertullien Correction
I was pleased to note that you finally ackowledged
the death of Mr. Egbert Tertullian ‘Bertie’ former Director of
Statistics. He was a great man, who truly cared for the Bahamian
people, and who was always interested in imparting his knowledge to Bahamians
so that their lives would be more meaningful and productive. I always
regarded he and his wife Mizpah as my parents for the caring and supportive
way they had treated me. The Bahamas will miss him. Personally,
I am happy to have known such an interesting man.
However, there were some corrections that ought
to be made: Mr. Tertullien did not hail from Grenada nor is Mrs.
‘T’ maiden name ‘Duncombe’. I am sure as a good journalist you would
ascertain the corrections to your mistakes.
Thank you.
E. Albury
Thanks for your sentiments, however, according to our fact check,
Mrs. Mizpah Tertullien was indeed a Duncombe before marriage, but her husband
was from St. Lucia not Grenada.
Apologies.
Editor
--------
Obama Is Not Out Of The Woods Yet
The latest USA Today and Fox polls show Senator
Barak Obama with a double digit lead over Senator John McCain nationally,
but Obama is not out of the woods yet. This presidential dog fight could
be déjà vu of 1988, given the ties McCain’s campaign manager,
Rick Davis, has with Carl Rove and the late Harvey LeRoy Atwater (universally
known as Lee Atwater). Lee trained Carl and Carl trained Rick.
Twenty years ago Lee Atwater was the Republican
National Committee Chairman and directed the campaign of George Bush Sr.
Twenty years ago Democratic presidential candidate Governor Michael Dukakis
had a comfortable lead over the Republican candidate, George Bush Sr. weeks
before the election when Mr. Dukakis suddenly became the target of a campaign
advertisement about Willie Horton, a black convicted murderer who escaped
from the Massachusetts prison system while on a weekend furlough and raped
a white woman and stabbed her husband. The advertisement became a central
focus of the 1988 campaign. We all know the rest is history.
"In 1988, fighting Dukakis, I said that
I 'would strip the bark off the little bastard' and 'make Willie Horton
his running mate,' " Mr. Atwater said in the Life article.
Mr Atwater’s deftness at avoiding the pertinent
issues and skillfulness at the use of race and fear mongering cannot be
understated. Even from the grave he continues to influence the tone and
tenor of the Republican campaign through his disciple, Rick Davis. The
Republican rallies have the feel of an angry lynch mob as shouts of “terrorist”
and “kill him” can be heard coming from McCain supporters. Rick Davis said
that he wants to “turn the page” from the economy and pursue issues of
character. This is just a politically correct way of saying that the campaign
would go negative with personal attacks and smear by making sixties radical
William Ayers the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Obama’s running mates.
While I appreciate that the economy is foremost
on the minds of the American voters, given history with the 1988 presidential
campaign and the infamous “Bradley” effect, I cannot help but think that
Obama is not out of the woods just yet.
Elcott Coleby
IN PASSING
An ANC Split In South Africa
The former Defence Minister of South Africa in a press conference last
week announced his view that there will be a split in the African National
Congress (ANC), the ruling party of South Africa as a result of the ousting
of former South African president Thabo Mbeki. No word from Mr. Mbeki
about whether or not he supports what most people think is a trial balloon.
The guess is that he does not because of his likely business success now
that he is a former president. He would not want the new government
to interfere with those possibilities. Most people feel it won’t
make any difference if there is a split since the ANC is so powerful, it
will still win the next general election scheduled for next year.
FNM Rumour Mill On The PLP
The FNM rumour mill started during the week a story first heard on
a radio talk show that there was a PLP Member of Parliament who was to
be arrested before the month was out. The Tribune then published
a story in which a police officer went on record saying that the story
was false and that no MP was in custody, had been in custody nor was there
any investigation. That did not stop the rumour from going around
or stop PLPs from helping to spread it. This is part of the continuing
smear campaign of the FNM.
Happy Birthday Marina Rolle
We want to extend best wishes to Marina Rolle formerly of Farmers Cay,
a Bain as in a relative of Canon Harry Bain of Freeport, and mother of
Nadine Rolle on the occasion of 70th birthday. She is the grandmother
of Noelle studying to be a doctor at Mona in Jamaica.
EPA Signing
The long to and fro over the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements
(EPA) may be coming to an end. The signing ceremony is scheduled
to take place in Barbados on 15th October. All Caricom countries except
Guyana and Haiti have announced that they will sign. Late news even
has it that Guyana will sign and so they should. Congratulations
to all our negotiators for a job well done.
Long Lines At Social Services
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill announced at the PLP’s rally at Gambier
House on Thursday 9th October that if you pass by his constituency office
in Fox Hill starting from 6:30 a.m. you will find long lines of people
waiting to get access to the new government assistance programmes.
This is a sign of the degradation in the economy. People have to
wait all day for services and some never get served, Mr. Mitchell told
his audience. He said that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister announced
the new programmes without providing the level of personnel to deal with
the fresh demands. He said it showed that the FNM were not interested
in people, because of the disrespect it showed by the way people accessed
these eservices. In a related development, the press reported that
residential electricity consumers of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation
(BEC) and the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) whose services have been
reconnected under the government’s social assistance initiative now have
until 31st October, 2008 to set up payment plans to settle their
account arrears. BEC customers previously had until Friday 10th October
and GBPC customers until Friday 17th October to establish payment plans
or face re-disconnection of their supply. “The government has made
arrangements to extend the payment plan deadline for these customers” a
Government statement said. It shows you how much pressure the FNM is under
with the economy.
Ruby Bows Out
As a token of their affection for her the Judiciary gave a farewell
lunch for Ruby Nottage, the Justice of the Supreme Court who served for
just five months after Hubert Ingraham reneged on a deal to have her serve
beyond the age of 65. Mrs. Nottage turned 65 on Tuesday 6th October.
She is unable to serve beyond that time unless the Prime Minister agrees.
Mr. Ingraham at first said yes, enticing Mrs. Nottage to leave her job
but then the Prime Minister changed his mind and her appointment had to
end. It is, again, a crying shame.
Hotels Attack Obie
Last week, the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) expressed disappointment
in former Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, who recently accused the association
of seeking to infringe on the rights of businesses to freely conduct business
with hotels. According to the Nassau Guardian, last June, the Bahamas
Hotel Association announced its plans to explore the options of endorsing
an in-room publication, preferably with the Dupuch Publications Welcome
Bahamas book, which is already in a number of hotel rooms at no charge
to the publisher. It is BHA’s intention to assess a small fee in
exchange for the exclusive right of distribution inside member hotel rooms
throughout the country. Mr. Wilchcombe said this was wrong and Prime
Minister Hubert Ingraham said that he agreed. We agree as well.
Nonsense.
Miller Murder Jury Can’t Get A Verdict
The prosecutors in the case of the two men accused of murdering the
son of PLP MP Leslie Miller have to try one more time to get a conviction
in the matter. The jury met on the case and could not determine a
lawful verdict for either guilty or not guilty. They came back ultimately
7-5 for acquittal but 8-4 is needed. The case is to be retried in
February 2009. This is quite an ordeal for the family. Their
son Mario was brutally murdered in June 2002.
Ingraham Attacks Public Servants
Hubert Ingraham speaking at the launch of Public Service Week last
Sunday 5th October scorched public servants for their bad service.
He told the outgoing public servants that they were the repositories of
the good values and that in these days there were not many like them.
This is foolishness. Why is it that politicians who are in power
feel the need to describe a problem like helpless bystanders when they
are in a position to do something about it, and have to do it in a way
that denigrates the people who work for them? Fred Mitchell MP for
Fox Hill and spokesman for the PLP on the public service for which he had
ministerial responsibility from 2002-2005 told the PLP rally on Thursday
9th October that there is a political purge going on in the public service.
He asked PLP civil servants to stand strong against Mr. Ingraham’s intimidation.
NIB Crisis
The National Insurance Board was in the news during the week, with
the Board lamenting the fact that employers and employees won’t pay their
contributions. But also sounding again the alarm that there is a
need to fix the NIB before it goes broke. The fund needs adjustments
to make sure that when the population of people over 65 increases after
the year 2026 there is enough money to pay for the group of retirees.
With the Bahamian birth rate falling, and the population growing older
and living longer, there is problem looming down the road. Contributions
need to be increased and better returns on investments are amongst the
solutions proffered. One kind of political note, the actuary who
hails from Montserrat claims that National Insurance has too many staff
and that needs to be cut down as a first step before any reform.
He went out of his way to point out that while some staff were offered
packages to leave and did, that downsizing was more than outweighed by
increases in hiring during the last year of the PLP. Translation,
he is saying the PLP padded the staff. Is he against us or what?
Down With Discovery Day
The PLP passed an act to bring into being a system of national honours
and a new public holiday called National Heroes Day for the second Monday
in October. The FNM has refused to bring the act into Force.
They should do so without delay. This is yet another sign of their
being out of step with the times and with the people they govern.
Closure Of Pepsi
Shock waves through the business community when it was announced on
Friday 10th October that Pepsi is going to stop manufacturing their product
in Nassau and will layoff 79 people from their staff at the end of December.
The company said after 20 years they still can’t make a profit. It
is believed that they will now import the product from Miami and sell it
through a distributor here in The Bahamas. A sign of the times.
Corene Thompson Dies
Mrs. Corene Thompson, mother of Bishop Gilbert Thompson of the Anglcian
Church, took place at St. Agnes in Grants Town on Saturday 11th October.
The late Mrs. Thompson was 95 at the time of her death. Her son Archdeacon
William Thompson predeceased her in 2000 and she is also survved by Dr.
Philip Thompson.
Peter Ramsay photos
HOME
Previous
Columns
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| GG MAKES A POINT: The
Olympic athletes that did us so proud are home. For the past week,
the Government of The Bahamas and the people they lead have been paying
tribute to the athletes, with a motorcade round the island of New Providence,
flying visits to all of the islands of the country, and capped off by a
visit to have lunch with the Governor General. There was a banquet
on Saturday 18th October at which the Prime Minister announced what the
country would give to the athletes as gifts for their stellar performances
at the Olympics in Beijing. There was the silver medal performance
in the 4 by 400 and then there was Leevan Sands in the triple jump who
got a bronze. Not bad for a small country. Avard Moncur part
of the silver medal team for the 400 metre relay gave the vote of thanks
on behalf of the athletes at Government House. Our photo of the week
is the Governor General Arthur D. Hanna, surrounded by Olympians, shown
with Minister of Sports Desmond Bannister making a point, no doubt of pride,
in the drawing room of Government House just before they sat down for lunch.
The athletes surround them. To the left of the Governor General is
Bahamas Olympic Association president Wellington Miller. BIS photo:
Peter Ramsay |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE FNM’S ELECTION STRATEGY
Christ you know it aint easy
You know how hard it can be’.
The way things are goin’,
They’re trying to crucify me.
--John Lennon
We don’t really know who they’re talking about, although we do know.
We know all of the facts but we don’t know. Without falling prey
to the FNM’s propaganda trap, we leave it to the individual concerned to
decide what serves his or her interest best about identifying themselves.
Up to Thursday 23rd October, the day the story broke only one Member of
Parliament for the PLP Fred Mitchell had identified himself as not having
been interviewed by the police but in doing so on Jeffery Lloyd’s afternoon
talk show, he blasted the Free National Movement, the Police and Hubert
Ingraham for their campaign of smearing PLP MPs by innuendo.
One set of facts: on Thursday 23rd October, The Tribune reported
on its front page that a sitting PLP MP had been interviewed by the police
in connection with a ‘construction scam’. The story went on to outline
in detail why the interview occurred and what the background was to the
investigation in the so called construction scam.
The question is, assuming it is true, that a police interview took
place with a sitting Member of Parliament of the PLP, how did that news
get to be in The Tribune in such detail and within hours of such an alleged
interview taking place? The story is written by Paul Turnquest, who
is intrepid in one sense but appears to be easily manipulated by his over
zealous, anti PLP editors, and by the police who leaked the information
and by other politicians for their own purposes. He has to watch
out for his political integrity being sullied in this way.
Mr. Turnquest followed up his story the next day with a story that
said that the PLP had called an emergency meeting to discus the allegation.
There was no such emergency meeting. Perhaps there ought to have
been one but there was not one, but more importantly from our point of
view is the oft made point, the stone cold silence of the PLP and its leaders
- like deer steering in the headlights - in the face of such a pointed
allegation.
The allegation was clearly designed to attack the former PLP Government
and a former PLP Minister. The person is clearly identifiable.
Certainly, the PLP is identifiable, yet up to the time of this upload,
no one save the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill has had a word to say.
And this is important enough for the PLP to say, enough already.
Mr. Mitchell made the point that the PLP must stand up and denounce this
smear campaign to the high heavens.
It is the duty of any citizen of The Bahamas to engage in assisting
the police in any lawful investigation into wrong doing. When a citizen,
Member of Parliament or not, engages in doing his civic duty, he or she
does not expect to have their privacy violated, the investigation sullied,
by leaks of information from the very people who are pledged to investigate.
What we know about this matter is that there is a pattern of conduct
on the part of the police in this investigation that demonstrated that
they are not fair and impartial. There have been leaks and innuendos
cast throughout the press from the start of the investigation. The
investigation is being carried out by a special unit of the Security and
Intelligence Branch of the Police Force, a branch that is answerable to
the Prime Minister. The special unit set up by the Prime Minister
when he came to power. This is straight from his playbook of 1992
and 1997. Mr. Ingraham has begun the campaign for the 2012 general
election.
His play book goes like this: just as the FNM used the Commission
of Inquiry in 1992 to smear the name of Sir Lynden Pindling without finding
any wrongdoing, the FNM is now using the police to conduct a witch hunt
against PLPs in order to smear the PLP and its members as corrupt in order
to win the general election of 2012. The fact that there is no corruption
anywhere to be found is irrelevant. The idea is to smear the PLP
and its members with innuendo, half truths and lies.
The difficulty we have is why the PLP is complicit in its own destruction
by the singular, amazing and unique ability to remain silent in the face
of the most damning campaign of propaganda against it.
Here you have the party of Pindling and Hanna, crippled and unable
to decide what to do, just fumbling around in the dark. If the organization
does not act, then some individuals must get up and act to save it.
The country is presently going to hell in a hand basket. The FNM
must be defeated. Only the PLP can do that. So the PLP must
get it’s act together and fight the power.
The PLP must call for the Attorney General to conduct an investigation
into the pattern of conduct on the part of the police that has led to these
leaks and innuendos in the press. The Attorney General must say how
these leaks are connected to the conduct of the Prime Minister and his
electioneering campaign. This is similar to what is now going on
in the United States with regard to the McCain campaign and the use of
the FBI to investigate a voter registration operation in the US that Mr.
McCain says is connected with Barack Obama. The Obama campaign has
asked how the investigation by the FBI is connected to the McCain campaign.
We want to know in Nassau, how is the campaign in the press now connected
with the Hubert Ingraham campaign?
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 18th October 2007 up
to midnight: 256,171.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 18th October
2008 up to midnight: 654,944.
Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 18th October 2008
at midnight: 10,651,480.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
UNREST
IN SOUTH ANDROS
For over a year now, the people of the Central Andros
education district have been suffering over the education of their children
because two teachers refused to accept transfers from their respective
schools to other schools in North Andros. The teachers argued that
the principals of the schools were victimizing them and that they were
not going to go. The situation was most difficult in the high school
where the principal, a resident of Eight Mile Rock in Grand Bahama, has
been in a running battle with a teacher who simply refused to move and
refused to teach.
The matter came to a head two weeks ago when the
Department of Education ordered the teachers in the primary school and
the high school, both of the same family to leave and depart for new assignments
in North Andros. The teachers went to Nassau, met with the Minister
of Education, then came back to the school the next day, and announced
that they were back. One of the relatives of the teachers got into
an altercation with the senior master at the Central Andros High School.
The parents decided that they would boycott the
school until the matter was resolved, particularly since the principals
both decided that they would resign from the schools rather than continue
in the untenable situation in which they found themselves. Picewell
Forbes, the MP for the area, has been on top of the matter, urging the
Minister of Education to resolve the problem. As we upload, the report
is that the teachers have agreed to move and the principals will be back
in the schools on Monday 20th October. The parents promise that their
children will be back as well once there is a full return to the status
quo ante.
INGRAHAM’S
PIECEMEAL APPROACH
James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance in
the last PLP administration has criticized the decision of Hubert Ingraham
on the economy and the ad hoc social safety net that he has put in place.
When the PLP pressured him on power bills, he came up with a programme
for power bills. When there was a problem with food, he came up with
an extended food stamp programme. Then he went up to Washington to
announce that he is going to pay off delinquent mortgages. He made
the announcement so suddenly he had not even checked with the banks who
knew nothing about it. Mr. Ingraham’s response, we will work out
the details by the end of the month. Mr. Smith called this a piecemeal
approach.
AT
LAST THE EPA IS SIGNED
It is a done deal. There is no turning back
now. The deal caused much consternation and discussion in the Caricom
region. It was signed in Barbados by all countries with the exception
of Guyana and Haiti. Guyana says that it will sign after all before
the end of the month, again bowing to the inevitable. Here in The
Bahamas, Paul Moss and Fayne Thompson have still not accepted the evident
and the inevitable and are still along with their fellow traveller, the
all knowing Brian Moree, flogging the dead horse of the anti EPA campaign.
It is time to let it go and move on.
The question now is: what can we get out of the
EPA and how can we benefit? Bahamian businesses can benefit by seeking
to spread their wings and their expertise abroad. Now that it is
signed, we hope that the Bahamian public sees that there is no doom or
gloom accompanying it. The Economic Partnership Agreement is a successor
to the Contonou and Lomé Treaties that provided duty free access
for Bahamian goods into Europe, mainly 48 million dollars worth of crawfish
per year. Without the EPA, the crawfish industry would not survive.
The crawfish industry supports some 15,000 workers in the country.
The intellectuals say that the Europeans have imposed
a new colonialism upon us and that it will culturally destroy us.
We do not think so. The PLP agreed in their Cabinet to support it
once the services sector was protected to the maximum extent possible.
The PLP had to push the FNM to sign this, and to stop its stop, review
and cancel approach or The Bahamas would have been left behind the eight
ball. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent
Symonette went to Barbados to sign the agreement.
OLYMPIC
ATHLETES ARE FETED
The Bahamian Olympic athletes were feted to lunch
at Government House and driven around town in a motorcade. Last night
they were treated to a banquet at which the Prime Minister announced the
rewards that the country will give to its successful athletes. Our
photos by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services shows the entire
group feted for lunch with the GG; some of the athletes on the motorcade;
with the prime minister at the banquet.
--------
BREAST
CANCER STUDY ON BAHAMIANS
A front page story in Saturday's Miami Herald
reports
that University of Miami medical researchers say they are close to solving
the medical mystery of why Bahamian women tend to get breast cancer earlier
in life, and in a more aggressive form, than other women. The lead author
of the study is reported to believe that the exercise has uncovered certain
"bad genes in The Bahamas" after studying eighteen Bahamian families in
south Florida. The study team is now seeking to expand seeking two
hundred volunteers with breast cancer in Freeport, Nassau and the Family
Islands. You may click
here to read the Miami Herald report.
SAN
MARINO’S AMBASSADOR
The small republic of San Marino now has a resident
Ambassador to The Bahamas. She is Giulia Ghirardi Borghese and she
is shown above presenting her credentials to the Deputy to the Governor
General Sir Arthur Foulkes. The presentation of credentials took
place at Government House on Thursday 16th October in the presence of the
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette.
Also present was Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs and former Minister
of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, below right with Lady Connery.
Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery was also present, shown below at left during
the loyal toast.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay
THE
PLP CHAIR IN HER OWN WORDS
The swirl of speculation about the future leadership
of the PLP continues it appears. Glenys Hanna Martin, Chairman of
the PLP sought to quiet any speculation over the issue with remarks printed
in the Bahama Journal on Wednesday 15th October. Here is what she
said in her own words:
“Political parties are dynamic organisms, and one thing we seek
to encourage in our party is a sense of free speech and vitality in our
observations of what is happening in our organization and in the country
at large. The dynamism that comes with a political entity involves
the issue of leadership all the time. That is why you have succession.
We don’t put you in a case and call you ‘leader’.
“At this point, however, the individual who led
us into the 2002 election and the 2007 election, who was prime minister
for five years, continues to enjoy the support of his party. He is
not imposing himself on the organization.
“I think it would be difficult for him to do
that. He wouldn’t survive five minutes. He is there because
he enjoys the support of the rank and file membership. It was established
in unanimity of the convention floor, and it was established with his Parliamentary
colleagues.
“There is no premise that our leader is not equipped
– in any shape or form – to lead this party.
“Our (party) constitution mandates (an annual
convention). It also anticipates circumstances where a convention
would have to be deferred. We’ve done it before, when there have
been devastating hurricanes that have hit the country [for example].
“Conventions are very important because it is
the converging point of your delegates nationwide, and it helps to gain
an appreciation of the issues that are happening throughout the country
and it allows for the opportunity to engage in dialogue on issues of policy
and platform and the way forward. So it’s critical to the health
of an organization.
“The circumstances are such that we just feel
that it would be – it might be – requiring a lot of delegates at this time
to pack themselves up and to travel to New Providence to engage in that
expense. We will have a convention, but just at this moment [I can’t
say].
“If the economic conditions prevail for an unrelenting
period of time, we will find ways to do what we have to do, and we’ll be
creative with that, but we will meet. It’s just a very, very temporary
[deferral].”
POLICE
COMMISSIONER ON HANGING
The book of Proverbs says there is a time of talk
and a time to keep silent. Perhaps the Commissioner of Police (Actg.)
Reginald Ferguson ought to take that to heart, particularly since when
you are silent people can guess about your perspicacity. Now is the
time to keep silent.
Last week, we were critical
in this space of the report of the National Advisory Council on Crime
headed by Bishop Simeon Hall that placed too much emphasis on hanging people
as the way to stop crime. After three months of investigation, they
came up with a solution that the man on the street could have told them
on day one. Now the Commissioner speaks to support it and speaks
in such anti intellectual terms. The problem with this Commissioner
is that he just does not care about the fact that he is perceived to be
a political ideologue.
The country has the experience of Mr. Ingraham’s
government executing people for political reasons. We sense it coming
again, with the Bishop, who is an FNM, calling for hanging and with the
police commissioner, who is perceived as an FNM political ideologue, saying
he does not think that people who commit murder can be rehabilitated.
That is strike three and another reason why he should not be the commissioner.
Here is what he had to say in his own words as reported in the Bahama Journal
on Thursday 16th October:
“Once the death penalty is enforced properly,
the yearly crime statistics will decrease.
“Whether or not it helps to eradicate crime,
the death penalty is part of our laws that governs our country. It
is what it says it is, it is a penalty and once someone takes the life
of another and goes through all the judicial proceedings and we arrive
at the point that we’re satisfied that this person is responsible, then
the penalty applies and I am all for that.
“All this talk about rehabilitation and other
things for me doesn’t apply. It’s a penalty. You kill somebody,
and then your life is for that life.
“If we are consistent with hangings then it probably
will serve as a deterrent because certainly persons, who are inclined to
get themselves in situations of a criminal nature, will have one more thing
to consider the possibility that I can be losing my life as well.”
MISS
CULTURAL BAHAMAS
The straw market is a place where thousands of Bahamian
women have gotten their start in business and these women have contributed
to the development of The Bahamas. This year Reggie Dillette is hosting
the third annual Miss Cultural Bahamas Pageant at the Rain Forest Theatre
at the Crystal Palace on Sunday 26th October. The contestants participated
in a motorcade throughout New Providence on Saturday 18th October to showcase
their looks and talents.
The patron of the contest is veteran straw vendor Telator
Strachan. Ms. Strachan is also the mother of PLP MP Melanie Griffin.
The motorcade started in Fox Hill because the original straw vendors were
Fox Hill women. Present to see them off was Fred Mitchell MP for
Fox Hill. Chea Bethel (above, right) was one of the contestants and
is pictured. Mr. Mitchell is also pictured with contest organizer
Reggie Dillette (top) and with Ms. Strachan (above, left).
HOUSING
STARTS
There’s no friend like the lonely Jesus
No! Not one!
No! Not one!
--- Baptist Hymn
They say I did not build one house. Yes it is true that I have not
built one house. No not one.
Ken Russell
Minister of Housing
Such is the reputation of Ken Russell for having
done nothing as Minister of Housing this is how Tamara McKenzie of the
Bahama Journal started her story on Friday 17th October to describe the
announcement of the government’s housing programme:
“After failing to build a single home during its
first year in office, the Ingraham administration has gotten its housing
programme up and running and 129 new homes are now being constructed in
New Providence.”
According to the government’s statement, the government
plans to build 3,000 homes and service lots within its first five-year
term. This is misleading. It does not say what the percentage of
service lots will be. The fact is that most of them will be service
lots. The government will not be building homes. They expect
the people who want to build homes to build themselves. They are
also intent on running small contractors out of business by insisting that
no contractor can get a contract unless they are able to perform a “turn
key” job. In this economic climate no small contractor can do that,
so they plan to line the pockets of their rich friends. That is what
will amount to.
The Minister was speaking to Rotary and here is
what he said in his own words:
“We have so far put people in homes, regularized
those who were living without documentation, regularized property sales
to some 179 households, 67 lot owners, and we have commenced the construction
of 129 new homes in New Providence, 39 in Abaco, and in the next two weeks
we will commence the construction of 40 homes in Grand Bahama.
“Those new homes in New Providence are being
erected in Ardastra Estates [Perpall Tract] and Pride Estates III.
“As of 31st July 2008, the Mortgage Corporation
has been allocated $500,000 each month to spend on housing. A total
of $75 million in bonds was also allocated to be sold at a certain rate
and $15 million of this amount has so far been converted to cash.
“The Ministry and Department of Housing owed
the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation $24 million. Approximately $10 million
of this amount was owed to contractors, landowners and service providers.
“We met approximately 70 houses finished but
unoccupied due to a lack of infrastructure. We met almost 100 persons
in homes with no conveyances, no mortgages, and no legal permission to
be in these homes. We also inherited a huge amount of deficiencies
and defects in the homes built over the past five years. I am duty
bound to correct these deficiencies and bring these poorly constructed
homes, some 90 percent, up to standard.
“As it now stands, the government, under its
housing repair programme, has so far repaired 198 homes since coming to
office. A total of 270 homes were approved for repairs, and 154 homes
are still waiting to be assessed.
“This has cost the government in excess of $1.7
million. The government continues to embark on its ambitious housing
program to build 3,000 homes and service lots during its first five-year
term in office. I believe that we can do it; I believe that we have
the technology, the skills and the manpower to do this.
“The demand for homes will always outstrip the
supply. In this vein, the government will move toward allowing prospective
homeowners to purchase lots to build their own homes using the services
of the Ministry of Housing.”
DENTAL
ISSUES IN SCHOOLS
The Bahama Journal followed up on a shocking story
that was first broken by Obie Wilchcombe MP PLP for West End at the PLP
Rally on Thursday 9th October. He reported that 65 children of the
Martin Town Primary School had to have their teeth extracted. Dr.
Catherine Adderley, Senior Dental Officer with responsibility for Grand
Bahama Dental Health Services in the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) said
she did not know the exact number of students with the chronic childhood
disease called Caries Disease, but agreed that the figure could be around
60.
“But given the school population it’s not an unusual,
inaccurate or inflated number,” Dr. Adderley said. “The number isn't high
due to a deficiency on the part of the public service. We don't have
a problem with the availability or quality of care.”
“The government has a very good system in place
for screening children at various stages. We have a specific dentist
assigned to the government to service and treat schoolchildren, and they
screen grades one and six and in the high school they school grade 10.”
Untreated Caries can infect the tooth pulp and eventually
spread to the supporting tissues and the jaws.
Dr. Adderley said most parents do not make their
children's dental health care a priority.
“But the problem we find is two-fold. We have
a great difficulty with parents following up despite the public education
and in-school education programs that we have. The parental responsibility
is not there so we do see a good number of kids who need tooth extractions,
fillings and other things,” said Dr. Adderley.
“It's poor dental hygiene because of lack of follow-up.
After students get their check-ups they usually wait until something hurts
or swells up before they do something. We make appointments for the
kids who need urgent care. But we have a very high failure rate amongst
those kids given appointments. When we see them in the clinic, we
speak to them and their parents.”
Dr. Adderley said it's not just a cosmetic problem.
“Sometimes the situation is so bad that we have to admit them to hospital
and remove their teeth. It can result in systemic problems.
But, it’s a lack of attention. It’s generally not a priority for
the parents, especially for poorer parents,” she said.
Dr. Adderley said she has removed a maximum of 12
teeth at one time. However, she said there were several cases where
two kids had to have 15 teeth removed. Children have 20 teeth.
This is a serious matter and one which all PLP MPs
should seek to follow up in their constituencies. The story was published
on Thursday 17th October.
YOUTH PARLIAMENT
These photos were taken at the annual Youth in Parliament
event, where youngsters adopt a constituency and act as the Member of Parliament.
They actually get to do so in the House of Assembly.
BIS photos: Peter Ramsay
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Police should question sitting FNM MPs
I refer to a front page headline in the Tribune
indicating that the Police had questioned a sitting PLP MP. In the
body of the article, a contractor was interviewed on procedural issues
surrounding contract administration. This struck me as odd because
the Auditor General is constitutionally mandated to conduct such investigations
under the Financial Administration and Audit Act. This investigation has
the feel of a politically motivated witch hunt. The FNM government
would probably argue that the investigation is in the interest of accountability,
transparency, and public trust. I agree with such an argument.
Since the reputation of all sixteen members of the PLP’s Parliamentary
Caucus was called into question in the Tribune article, here is my view
on how the organization should respond.
Firstly, it is important for the PLP to file
a writ in the Supreme Court for an injunction against this apparent abuse
of government power. This government has demonstrated glaring deficiencies,
weak supervisory oversight, and continues to bypass established regulations
in the administration of contracts involving huge amounts of tax payers’
money with little or no accountability or transparency. They (the
FNM) vigorously pursue their political opponents under the themes of accountability,
transparency, and public trust. The PLP must vigorously challenge
this pattern of behaviour by the executive branch of government.
Secondly, the PLP must request that the Attorney
General conduct an investigation into the behaviour of the executive branch
of government to remove any suspicion of abuse of government power in the
use of a government institution such as the Police for purely political
purposes. Further, the PLP should request an investigation
into the findings of the audit report from the Auditor General, dated December
6, 2000. This audit report outlined glaring weaknesses in the way
the contract was administered in the construction of the Garvin Tynes Primary
School.
The findings on that occasion included the following:
-
The contract was awarded for the sum on $3,697,166.
-
The Ministry of Works (MOW) ordered an investigation following
the discovery of many structural defects, some of which presented serious
safety problems, which included defective beams, corrosion of reinforcement
beams and complementary deterioration of the concrete.
-
The amount spent at the time of the audit had reached $5,234,342
-
A certificate of final completion was never issued to the contractor
-
The contractor failed to complete the outstanding works
-
The MOW had to negotiate contracts with a second contractor for
completion of the building including electrical works and modification
to the beams to the sum of over $269,000
-
The Ministry’s file on the school contract had gone “missing”
-
There were no written guidelines for selecting a contractor
-
There was no assurance that the contractor had complied with the
provision in the contract to purchase insurance.
There should be a third request. In light of
the requirements of the Financial Regulations 1975, all negotiated contracts
totalling some $49 million ($23 million in 2007 and $26 million in 2008)
that were awarded for the repairs of public schools should be investigated.
These regulations were put in place to safeguard against process corruption
and to inspire public confidence and trust. The regulations stipulate
that all contracts awarded for supplies, works and services required by
the Government for amounts in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars up Two Hundred
and Fifty Thousand Dollars must be referred to The Tenders Board for its
recommendations to the Minister of Finance and for amounts in excess of
Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand to the Cabinet for approval. Contracts
for Fifty Thousand or less require Ministerial approval. No payments
would be made by the Public Treasury if the above procedure is not complied
with. The record shows that these regulations were ignored by the
government in the above cases.
These investigation should determine whether
corrupt practices on the part of the government were involved in the administration
of these contracts and would involve questioning a sitting FNM MP.
These investigations are necessary as they are in the interest of accountability,
transparency, and the public trust. It gives the appearance of balance,
fairness, and freedom from political partisanship. Failure to do
so will only deepen cynicism and suspicion about the government’s intent
in its current investigation. Truth be told, if the government is
truly serious about restoring public trust in government, then the police
should have cause to question several sitting FNM MPs.
Elcott Coleby
--------------
Following is a news release from iamsmartbahamas@gmail.com
A New Non-Profit Organization Created To Eliminate Childbirth
among Teens In The Next Five Years
The statistics are startling. In the Bahamas, Medical Experts have
discovered that most female teenagers who deliver babies come from households
headed by single female parent low-income families, whose mothers were
also caught in this age-old dilemma. Additionally the numbers are
consistent and in fact in 2007 showed a dramatic increase. Thirteen
and fourteen year olds delivering babies, a 15-year-old girl bearing twins,
17 and 18 year old females unable to accept their high school diploma because
they’re lying in a hospital bed preparing to give birth. While these
stories are the norm around the world, in a small country like The Bahamas,
teenage childbirth is on the increase. For some reason though, there isn’t
much being said about it…until now.
Prominent Gynecologist Dr. Madlene Sawyer has delivered hundreds
of babies in the country, unfortunately, a significant number of the mothers
are teenagers who wished they had taken a better route in life. Dr.
Sawyer’s insatiable thirst to make a change in the lives of these women
established the organization I AM S.M.A.R.T., BAHAMAS CHAPTER. S.M.A.R.T.
is the acronym for Starting Mother (or Father) hood At the Right Time.
Dr. Sawyer’s dialogue with these girls proves that appropriate contraceptive
education and abstinence are missing in the Bahamian family circle.
These teen mothers believe that if someone spent quality time teaching
them about sex education, pregnancy would not be a factor in their lives.
Dr. Sawyer’s long-term goal is to eliminate teenage pregnancy in
five years thereby breaking the vicious cycle. She has assembled
a group of high caliber of professionals to help her accomplish this goal.
The organization will get to the root of this problem and spread the word
to future generations. The group will visit schools, hold town meetings,
produce an aggressive media campaign, create blogs, establish a toll free
line and employ councilors who can speak directly with teens – male and
female – who are being pressured into sexual activity. A significant
amount of time will be spent in listening and sharing with our country’s
youth. I AM S.M.A.R.T. Bahamas also wants to influence the country’s
political voice, hopefully, to establish legislation that would regulate
Bahamian families to create more awareness on teenage pregnancy.
The work of this group is spreading rapidly. The organization’s passion,
determination and dedication will produce results. Get ready Bahamas!
IN PASSING
Michael Halkitis Speaks At Fox Hill Meeting
Senator Michel Halkitis PLP was the special guest speaker at the monthly
meeting of the Fox Hill Branch of the PLP held on Wednesday 15th October
at the Sandilands Primary School. Senator Halkitis spoke about the
economy. He told the group how Hubert Ingraham is presiding over
a downgraded economy because of his policy of stop, review and cancel.
Also there was PLP MP for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell
TDMA Ends
The first generation cell phone service that most Bahamians to this
day felt was the most reliable has been turned off in Andros and Exuma.
The other parts of the country are to follow at the end of the month.
The TDMA system is being replaced throughout the whole country by GSM.
Most people think that BTC is not up to the GSM challenge: the dropped
calls, bad circuits and circuit overcrowding, drives you up the wall.
There is now a row with Blue Water who wanted to buy BTC under the PLP
and to whom the PLP agreed to sell BTC. That deal has been scrapped
by Hubert Ingraham, only God knows why. Blue Water will reportedly
sue Mr. Ingraham’s government because of it. Mr. Ingraham scuttled
the deal by announcing without reference to the Committee for the sale
of the company or his Ministers that the exclusivity period for cellular
service will be cut from three years to one year. That was a deal
breaker, reportedly.
Marquis Goes
The Tribune announced on Thursday 16th October that John Marquis, Mr.
Slime himself, who has been Managing Editor for The Tribune and chief FNM
propagandist, is to retire as a journalist. Not a moment too soon.
This is the anti black, the one with the racist friends and ideology who
has been running The Tribune through all of the PLP years (2002-2007) and
who the PLP did not have the courage to kick out of the country.
Perhaps the standard of journalism will now improve at that paper.
Of course, we believe it is a trick and all that will happen is that he
will continue to work in another guise. Hubert Ingraham’s government
gave Mr. Marquis permanent residence as a thank you to Eileen Carron, the
owner of the paper for getting them back in office.
Captain Leonard Thompson Dies
Former Member of Parliament Captain Leonard Thompson of Abaco died
on Friday 17th October. Mr. Thompson served as the Member of Parliament
for Abaco from 1949 to 1968 when he was unseated by Sherlyn Bootle, who
was responsible for bringing Hubert Ingraham, the now Prime Minister into
the PLP.
BEC Blackout Again
At a short time after 5 a.m. on Saturday 18th October, the power went
off on the Eastern Road of New Providence including the Fox Hill constituency
for no reason and without explanation from BEC. There was neither
rain nor a cloud in the sky but it just went off. BEC has a terrible
reputation in this country for not being able to keep the power on.
They are expert at describing why it went off, when they even bother, but
they can’t keep the power on.
This Is Serious
The Acting Commissioner of Police is Reginald Ferguson. The PLP
objected to Mr. Ferguson’s appointment to the job because it had doubts
about Mr. Ferguson’s impartiality given his support of the FNM. Mr.
Ferguson’s brother is Johnley Ferguson, the Chairman of the FNM.
Mr. Ferguson, Chairman of the FNM, told a PLP MP that before the end of
the month, the FNM had a big surprise in store for the PLP. Now a
sitting PLP MP has been hauled before the police for questioning in connection
with an alleged construction scam. The unit in the police force is
in the Security and Intelligence Branch of the police force, a unit established
with the SIB at the behest of the government and which ultimately reports
to the Prime Minister. You connect the dots.
HOME
Previous
Columns
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl + home to return
to the top of the page.
|
ST. GEORGES 60th ANNIVERSARY
MASS: The Lord Archbishop Drexel Gomez concelebrated a mass of thanksgiving
on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the parish
church of St George in the Valley in New Providence on Thursday 23rd October.
The Church was resplendent and filled to capacity and included special
guests former Prime Minister Perry Christie, a Valley Boy, Minister of
Education Carl Bethel, Valley Boy Fred Mitchell the MP for Fox Hill and
the representative for the area Frank Smith. The church was described
by the former Prime Minister as the centre of the life of the Valley.
It was founded to serve the new population moving into the New Providence
area to find work from Long Island and Eleuthera in what was known as Sears
Addition. It was founded as a part of the St. Matthew’s Parish by
the late Bishop Donald Knowles. The Bishop Michael Eldon used to
be the priest in charge through much of the fifties and early sixties.
The first Rector was Canon Collingwood Cooper. The now Rector is
Rev. Fr. Kingsley Knowles. The celebration ended with a Junkanoo
Rush Out by the world famous Valley Boys, headed by Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper.
Photo: Peter Ramsay |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
Last week, we wrote about the campaign that is afoot by the FNM
and its operatives straight out of the playbook of Hubert Ingraham from
1992 to 1997 when he used a Commission of Inquiry to sully the name of
Sir Lynden Pindling. We made the point that the PLP was not doing
anything to defend itself against the charges appearing in the newspaper,
leaked out of the police force. It appears that having lost the general
election, following death by a thousand cuts, the same pattern is emerging
against today’s PLP. Something needs to change, but don’t count it
any time soon.
The FNM’s campaign continues however in the media. On three
separate occasions during the week, there were front page stories, one
with no by-line but most likely written by Paul Turnquest, about the sitting
PLP MP who had been questioned by the police about a so called construction
scam. Mr. Turnquest writes with the authority of a sure source that
may be inside the PLP for all we know and certainly a source that is either
in the police or is closely connected with the police.
The most remarkable story came on Thursday 23rd October, the day
after the House of Assembly met, when Mr. Turnquest put in quotes, that
is purporting to be direct speech, portions of a conversation that is alleged
to have taken place between this sitting MP and the former Prime Minister.
In direct quotes, the person is said to have uttered the words “they think
me and (name omitted) are involved.” The story claims that a meeting
was held in the House of Assembly, in the Opposition’s Committee room where
Mr. Christie sought assurances from the individual that there was no truth
to the rumours.
It never occurred to the author of the story that such a meeting
never took place. That those words were not uttered. He had
the assurance of someone who was either at the purported meeting, or of
someone who was eavesdropping on the purported meeting either by electronic
surveillance or by listening through the partitions. No allowance
was left for the fact that the whole thing might have been a fiction.
The PLP does not have to concede that there was any meeting or that
any such words were spoken to make the larger point to the House of Assembly
and to the Speaker that a newspaper that appears to have eavesdropped on
the private conversations of Members of the House of Assembly itself needs
investigation either by the police or by the House to see what measures
need to be taken to protect the privacy of Members of the House.
The House of Assembly building as it is has far outlived its capacity
to deal with the modern Bahamas and the needs of its Members of Parliament.
There is no privacy, with Members using the same bathrooms as the public,
with the public freely allowed to enter and leave the House with no security
checks, with the public coming to the smoking room of the House, eating
the food reserved for Members, with the Committee rooms and their computers
open to all and sundry to enter. There is certainly a need to improve
the security and privacy at the facility.
While you can rail all you want about journalistic ethics, that is
likely to get nowhere in the cutthroat of Punch journalism that exists
in The Bahamas today. Respect by reporters for things like the confidentiality
of sources, not recording people when you are talking to them without asking
their permission, eavesdropping on conversations and putting those conversations
in the press, are not important in the present dispensation and it is not
likely to change. What should change is that the Members themselves
ought to protect their right to privacy.
There has been no official response from the PLP. It was left
again to the MP for Fox Hill to respond on the matter and he can only carry
it so far. He is now likely to become a target for rogue police and
press investigations and perhaps even from enemies within his own party.
Some official response from the institutional PLP is required in the face
of this obvious political onslaught.
Some have suggested that the so far limited responses by Senator
Allyson Gibson and Mr. Mitchell have led to the story getting more traction
in the press. The evidence is not there to support it. What
is there is that every day, there appears to be a new allegation.
On Friday 24th October, The Tribune was at it again with a new allegation
that the so called ‘sitting MP’ is wanted for questioning in connection
with a subdivision in Freeport. An earlier story said that the police
want to question the MP on some 20 matters. So it appears that every
week there is to be a new allegation in the press, as we said death by
a thousand cuts.
In the meantime, the FNM has no agenda. They have no legislative
plan. The House of Assembly is shut down again until 3rd November.
The country is drifting into economic collapse. That is the real
story. The PLP should be helping to frame the debate around that
and not the foolishness about a sitting MP being questioned by the police.
But if the party is not careful, it will allow its supporters to get carried
away with the titillation of who is the sitting MP and what did he or she
do, instead of keeping one’s eye on the real issue, the economy and getting
the PLP back in government to rescue this country.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 25th October 2008 up
to midnight: 254,894.
Number of hits for the month of October up to Saturday 25th October
2008 up to midnight: 909,838.
Number of hits for the year 2008 up to Saturday 25th October 2008
up to midnight: 10,906,374.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
DOOM
AND GLOOM IN THE ECONOMY
While the FNM members of parliament were busy being
smart asses in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 22nd October, cracking
jokes and laughing as the PLP described the plight of the people, there
was real sorrow and hardship going on outside in the country.
The news started the week with the Managing Director
of Atlantis saying that layoffs were likely and that their business was
as bad as they had ever seen it. He described the situation as worse
than 9/11. This is remarkable in the face of the fact that the other
Caribbean destinations are seeing rises in their tourism figures.
The figures for The Bahamas are in the tank. Vincent Vanderpool Wallace,
the new Minister of Tourism, who was hired to turn things around, has so
far not been able to impress anyone. He has only ended up offending
everyone.
A strange comment came from the Director General
of Tourism Vernice Walkine who said that she would want to open up the
entire tourism business to non Bahamians, including the line staff jobs.
She admitted that it would be controversial. Of course, the real
thing we want to know is whether this FNM government sanctions that comment
and if it does then we know what their story is on the matter. Bahamians
have no place in this economy if the people who are running it don’t believe
in protecting the market for Bahamians.
Glenys Hanna Martin MP (PLP) told the House that
the FNM was laughing and joking while people could not pay for food, school
fees, electricity bills, and their mortgages. She asked where the
plan to cope with all of these negative developments is. All she
got was the class clown Charles Maynard MP (FNM) Golden Isle cracking jokes
and more jokes.
NO
PERMIT TO OCCUPY AT GB SCHOOL
We report today a serious infraction of the law
and the regulations governing buildings in The Bahamas by the government
in Freeport. The new junior high school already mired in controversy
because the contract to build it was taken away from PLP supporters and
given without a bid to an FNM supporter by the FNM government is now occupied
by the government with students in it without a permit to occupy from the
Grand Bahama Port Authority. Here is what our correspondent from
Grand Bahama reports:
“The school does not have an occupancy permit.
As a matter of fact, it failed a few inspections on Saturday past.
The school is still noted as a construction site and children are in it,
present every day. You should also take note of the schools in Eight
Mile Rock and also Jack Hayward High in Freeport. There have been
complaints of children who are sick from the environment because of the
mould, rats, roaches and other animal droppings. The schools have
become a health hazard and they are not reporting the extent to the public.
Eight Mile Rock only became public because of the many students and teachers
that were falling ill.
“The amazing thing about the Minister of
Education Carl Bethel is that from the FNM came to office they beat the
former Minister of Education Alfred Sears with his supposed inability to
have the schools ready in time. It was this same Minister in August
who paraded around the schools in Grand Bahama about all the work being
done and boasting that the schools were ready! The Minister of Works
Neko Grant confirmed this to be the case. Now my question is: did
they have cockeyed maintenance guys working on these schools or did they
really check all the schools to ensure that they were truly ready for the
children? What type of maintenance program are they following, other
than a fresh paint job?
“The new junior high school, if a residential
property, could not be occupied if it did not pass the inspection.
With a house, you are talking about a family of four and putting them at
risk. The school houses 400 or more persons. The only question
is what inspections are they failing and in my thoughts, it doesn’t matter
because any little mishap could be troubling due to the great exposure
that exists. Had it been the PLP, the press would have been all over
us and forced us to have those inspections completed if they found this
news out.”
MITCHELL
VISITS THE ASCENSION FREEPORT
Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill paid a one day visit
to Grand Bahama and took time out to visit with the people and rector of
the Anglican Church of the Ascension in Lucaya. Allyson Smith captured
some of the interaction with parishioners.
MITCHELL
ON EPA AT SOUTH EAST ROTARY
The theme of the address was the Economic Partnership
Agreements with the European Union. Fred Mitchell MP, Opposition
Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade delivered the address on
Wednesday 22nd October before the Rotary Club of South East Nassau, headed
by David Moncur. Mr. Mitchell described the day of signing the EPA
by The Bahamas as a red letter day in international trade for The Bahamas
because it signalled the beginning of the decision of The Bahamas to integrate
itself into the world economy. He said that the FNM owes the PLP
a debt of gratitude for the groundwork laid to facilitate this agreement.
He also argued that the EPA will be of great benefit to The Bahamas but
chided the government for seeking to delay the matter. You may click
here for the full address.
In a statement issued today, Mr. Mitchell called
on the government to immediately appoint an implementation unit for the
EPA, in order to facilitate a greater understanding of what The Bahamas
has signed and how Bahamians can benefit from the new agreement.
Mr. Mitchell said it is not good enough for the government to congratulate
itself on doing a good job without the necessary follow up to ensure that
the agreement is thoroughly understood and that in its implementations
Bahamians are able to benefit.
“This should be a matter of priority for the Ministry
of Finance. It may well be that the ultimate solution to this is
to revert to the decision of the PLP before it left office to create a
fully funded Department of Foreign Trade so that the country will not be
caught short as it was under the FNM in October 2007, unable to cope with
the potential changes to the foreign trade regimes.”
Mr. Mitchell said Barbados has already announced
the formation of such a unit and we ought to act quickly to do the same.
NEWS
CONFERENCE ON THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Fred Mitchell MP Fox Hill is the Opposition’s spokesman
on the Public Services and Foreign Affairs including Foreign Trade.
Mr. Mitchell held his monthly press briefing on Tuesday 21st October at
the House of Assembly in the Opposition’s committee room. He took
the opportunity to attack the Prime Minister for attacking civil servants,
for describing the problem without offering solutions. He also criticized
Vincent Vanderpool Wallace, the Tourism Minister, for attacking PLP leader
Perry Christie while at the same time saying that he wants bipartisan support
for his new tourism efforts. You may click
here for the full statement. The photo at the press conference
is by Dennis Fountain.
STRIKING
BACK AT THE FNM
The FNM, The Tribune and sources within the police
have been running a campaign of vilification of the PLP over the past two
weeks, seeking to smear the PLP with the idea of a construction scam by
one of its former Ministers. Unfortunately, there has been no response
from the official PLP but Fred Mitchell MP for Fox Hill (PLP) issued
this statement on Thursday 23rd October.
PHOTO
ESSAY ON ST. GEORGES
The parish of St. George established on 23rd October
1948 is now 60 years old. The rector Rev. Fr. Kingsley Knowles led
the celebrations for the anniversary. The Lord Archbishop of the
West Indies Drexel Gomez concelebrated the mass and dignitaries attended
the service. The photo of the church resplendently lit above and
the essay below are by Peter Ramsay.
|
|
The Governor General and Mrs. Hanna
are bid farewell by His Grace
Former Prime Minister Perry Christie recounts the
role of St. Georges parish, with the Archbishop and the Governor General
looking on...
 |
 |
Left: Former Prime Minister Perry
Christie is joined by Carl Bethel, Minister of Education,
Fred Mitchell, MP for Fox Hill and Senator Anthony
Musgrove...
Right: Fred Mitchell Joins Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper, leader
of the Valley Boys and Roosevelt Godet,
famed jeweller and acolyte at St. Georges outside
the church after mass
 |
Parishioners enjoy themselves in
the Junkanoo rush out after the mass...
 |
Rev. Fr. Don Haynes joins parishioners
in a Valley Boys Junkanoo Rush Out...
 |
The priests led by the Archbishop
and his coadjutor Bishop Laish Boyd celebrate mass.
IN PASSING
UK Police Undercount
The BBC reported this week that the police in Britain undercounted
violent crime, causing the government to have to revise its figures on
the occurrence of violent crime in that country. It caused us to
think that maybe the police are doing the same thing here, seeing that
they are all captive to the FNM’s political agenda.
A Do Nothing House of Assembly
The House of Assembly has now been shut until 3rd November 2008.
This is the second two week gap since the House resumed after the summer
break. The order of business should have resumed at the debate on
the Human Trafficking Bill. Instead, without consulting the Opposition,
the Government proceeded to eat up one hour or more of debate time to praise
the late Captain Leonard Thompson. Then at the end of the evening
at 7 p.m., they shut off the debate to the great anger of Dr. Bernard Nottage,
the PLP’s leader in the House. The Speaker as usual sided with the
government. This bill now will sit in Committee. No new legislation
has been introduced. The previous bill is also sitting in Committee.
The House is suspended for two weeks. This is a do nothing government
and a do nothing House.
Revising History As Capt. Leonard Thompson Eulogized
The former Abaco Member of Parliament who served in the House of Assembly
from 1949 to 1968 was buried following a state recognized funeral today
at St. Francis De Salle Church in Marsh Harbour, Abaco. Captain Thompson
was 91 when he died. The government without seeking the permission
of the House began its session on Wednesday 22nd October by speaking about
the former MP. He was laid out in the foyer of the House of Assembly
on Friday 24th October. The tributes were fine with the usual blandishments.
But Hubert Ingraham had to try to rewrite history by suggesting that in
the 1972 general election when there was at first a tie in the votes, that
after having called the PLP leaders, somehow the PLP won. If you
listened to him, you would get the impression that there was skulduggery
involved, where there was none. Further, you would get the impression
that he had nothing to do with it, when in fact he was the ring leader.
Then Mr. Ingraham had to rewrite the history of racism in Abaco.
Alfred Gray PLP MP when he was speaking about Captain Thompson told how
he was the leader of the Abaco Independence Movement (AIM) that wanted
to breakaway from The Bahamas in 1973 when the country became independent.
He also said that he experienced racism in Abaco when he moved there.
Mr. Ingraham claimed that he, who grew up in Abaco, experienced no racism.
Uncle Tom is alive and well. The BIS photo by Peter Ramsay shows
Dame Marguerite Pindling, widow of the late founding Prime Minister of
The Bahamas Sir Lynden greeting the family of the late Captain Thompson
in the House of Assembly on Friday 24th October.
Simeon Hall: Too Little Too Late?
Bishop Simeon Hall in an interview published in the Bahama Journal
has appealed to the private sector not to lay off people just before Christmas.
He appealed to them to find creative ways to carry workers until Christmas
time. We have no quarrel with that save we ask: when the government
was dismissing workers who were PLP just after the FNM came to office last
year, who from the church appealed for them for the government to be creative
or compassionate? The people were simply fired and only the PLP said
a word. The church was silent.
Franklyn Butler Dies
Franklyn Butler, the leader of the Butler family of the late Governor
General and national hero of The Bahamas Sir Milo, died at his home in
Highland Park on Friday 24th October. Mr. Butler was 70 at the time
of his death. Mr. Butler was a civic activist and successful popular
businessman, heading up his father’s business Milo Butler & Sons Ltd.
after the old man’s death. He was also a major shareholder in Commonwealth
Bank, City Markets and was believed to be one of the richest Bahamians.
Mr. Butler was also a prominent member of St. Agnes Anglican Church in
Grants Town, serving once as People’s Warden. The community in Nassau
is stunned by his death and we are all saddened by his passing. You
may post tributes and condolences to Mr. Butler by clicking on to this
site: http://franklyn-butler.memory-of.com/Tributes.aspx
A Tribute To Pearl McMillan
She celebrated her 100th birthday on 18th September. Originally,
she hailed from Long Cay in the Acklins and Crooked Island chain.
She was a pioneering straw vendor. The Bahamas Agricultural Industrial
Corporation (BAIC) paid tribute to Mrs. Pearl McMillan at her church, Hill
View Seventh Day Adventist Church on Tonique Williams Darling Highway on
Saturday 25th October. Speaking on the occasion were Tommy Turnquest,
Minister of National Security, Edison Key MP, Chairman of BAIC and Fred
Mitchell MP for Fox Hill where Mrs. McMillan lives. You may click
here for his full statement.
Dean William Granger Home Under Pressure
Eugene Palacious, head of the William Granger Centre for Men in New
Providence has sounded the alarm that the Centre faces closing in two months,
if he is not able to get funds to support the effort. Some 55 indigent
men, mostly former drug addicts and those just out of prison with nowhere
else to live, are housed at the facility. Mr. Palacious was just
one of a number of leaders of charitable organizations including the Red
Cross and the Salvation Army who are reporting a serious downturn in charitable
giving as a result of the economic crisis in the country.
Former GG Loses A Granddaughter
Lia Lashley, the oldest of three children of Charles Lashley and Caryl
(Toni) Lashley (nee Turnquest) died in Jamaica unexpectedly. She
was 24 years old at the time of her death. The death came as a shock
to the family, the young community of her friends and her parents and grandparents’
friends. The young Ms. Lashley was studying medicine in Jamaica.
In addition to her parents, she is survived by her grandparents Sir Orville
and Lady Turnquest, her brothers and her Uncle the Minister of National
Security Tommy Turnquest. Condolences to the family.
Farewell To Vernon Burrows
Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette, Minister of State for Immigration
Bran McCartney and former Prime Minister Perry Christie, gathered at a
farewell banquet for outgoing Director of Immigration Vernon Burrows (shown
in background at centre). Mr. Burrows is to retire from the public
service and take up the post of Ambassador for The Bahamas to Cuba.
He will assume the post in November. Mr. Burrows was joined by Debbie
Isaacs for the occasion. The banquet took place on Friday 24th October.
BIS photo: Peter Ramsay
Brent Symonette Announces
E passports can now be issued in Freeport and in Abaco. This
was announced last week by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette.
The Minister also confirmed what was said by former Foreign Minister Fred
Mitchell that a consulate general is to be opened in Atlanta. The
post of Ambassador to Haiti is soon to be announced. Former Royal
Bahamas Defence Force head Davey Rolle is tipped for the post. Vernon
Burrows, the Immigration Director is to be named Ambassador to Cuba. (see
above)
Walkout At Dialysis Unit
We have received a report that there was a walk out by the nurses at
the dialysis unit at the Princess Margaret Hospital on Friday 24th October,
forcing patients to be sent elsewhere for treatment. No announcement
from the Ministry of Health to confirm or deny it.
HOME
Previous
Columns
