Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames... Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 9 © BahamasUncensored.com 2011
February 5th, 2012
February 12th, 2012
February 19th 2012
February 26th, 2012
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THE SIGN OF A VICTORY: by the estimate of one senior police officer there were 7,000 souls in and out of the hall at the Crystal Palace on Friday 10th February for the launch of the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidates to the nation. This is the group of 38 men and women who will lead the country into the next five years and for a generation if the people of the country as expected choose the PLP to be the next government of The Bahamas. It was an electric atmosphere. The cars were lined off getting there. The buses came in from near and far. People flew in for the occasion. It was helped by people who were startled at the fact that the President of Haiti Michelle Martelly appeared in Nassau during the week and encouraged people of Haitian descent to vote for the party that best protects their interests. It enraged the Bahamian of non Haitian descent because they thought it was political interference in the affairs of The Bahamas. Our photo of the week then was that of the Leader of the PLP Perry Christie as he greeted his followers at the presentation of candidates for the PLP on Saturday 10th February. The photo is by Peter Ramsay.
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE HAITIAN/BAHAMIAN DIVIDE
The Bahamas is a country which is built in part on Haitian immigration. This has been so ever since the Haitian revolution in 1804. French Africans as they were called in the 19th century left Haiti and came to The Bahamas and settled. The names were Anglicized. That is not the normal script that is told by the tellers of the history of The Bahamas but that increasingly we now know is the fact of life.
The traditional script in The Bahamas is that the slaves in The Bahamas came to The Bahamas with the loyalist masters who were kicked out of the United States following the revolution there. That it was those slaves who first caused the population of The Bahamas to become African in character. It was these loyalist and their slaves that shaped the modern Bahamas. That is the traditional narrative.
Indeed that was true but what is equally true is that there was a steady influx of Haitians into this country. Those people assimilated themselves into the life of The Bahamas. Sidney Potier’s family is one of those families. There is an essay by Sean McWeeney, the former Attorney General, which speaks to this and the special laws that were passed in The Bahamas to control the influx of French Africans and to control the social and political affects which the revolution in Haiti might have on the body politic in The Bahamas.
Up to 1973 in The Bahamas, if you were born in The Bahamas you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies. This meant that when independence came you were automatically a Bahamian. That changed in the 1973 constitution because the rulers of the day, many of them including the founding prime minister a first generation Bahamian decided that in order to be Bahamian, at least one of your parents had to be Bahamian if you were born within wedlock and if you were born to a single woman, the woman had to be Bahamian. With that children who were born in The Bahamas were no longer automatically Bahamian. Not like the case of Bahamians who go to Miami to have their children in order to give their kids the advantage of dual nationality both American and Bahamian.
The result is that today anyone born in The Bahamas who does not have Bahamian parents is not Bahamian and must apply to be Bahamian at their 18th but before their 19th birthday. If they don’t they lose the right to be Bahamian. The governments have been unable to keep up with the applications and the result is a whole underclass in the country without citizenship and status. By Bahamian law there are mainly Haitian and must take the citizenship of their parents. This is a volatile situation filled with prejudice and discrimination which has the country in a difficult position today.
Into this mix then came the president of Haiti last Tuesday 14th January. Michelle Martelly known this country as a singer came to The Bahamas and he spoke to cheering thousands of Haitians in The Bahamas waving the Haitian flag. He told them that they ought to vote for the persons who would best protect their interests. The headlines inflamed the Bahamian population and backfired on the government. People accused the President of interfering in the internal affairs of The Bahamas. Bahamians on the talk shows accused the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of bringing in the President to influence the outcome of the election.
Leader of the PLP Perry Christie took up the issue in his statement to the party on Friday night 10th February at his launch of candidates when he reminded people that here are no Haitian Bahamians but Bahamians who vote. He decried the fact of a foreign president making statements which are calculated to interfere in Bahamian elections.
There is now a firestorm in the country about this issue. The refusal of the country to come to terms with the Haitian influence in this country. The dire predictions of people that the Haitians are taking over. The fact is in our history they are already a part of us. Stephen Dillet was a Haitian. He was the first black Member of Parliament in The Bahamas. A school is named after him. In Government House Sir Arthur Foulkes, the Governor General had a Haitian mother. So one asks: what are we talking about when we say that the Haitians are taking over?
This is a country of immigrants. We all live in a crucible called The Bahamas. All immigrants. The fact is will we forge a country together with common future or are we going to disintegrate into an Arab Israel type conflict where we are constantly fighting one another over who is Haitian and who is not. The PLP must lead. Not follow on this. Difficult as it may be. We must protect the national patrimony by ensuring that there is peace in our society and that we forge a country that is known collectively no matter our places of descent as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th February 2012 up to midnight:
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 11th February 2012 up to midnight:
Number of hits for the year 2012 up to Saturday 11th February 2012 up midnight:
THE STATEMENT OF THE HAITIAN PRESIDENT
These are the video and audio clips of the statement made by the Haitian President Michelle Martelly while in The Bahamas on Tuesday 7th February.
STATEMENT FROM HAITIAN EMBASSY
The following statement was issued by the Haitian Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue following the visit of the President of Haiti Michelle Martelly to The Bahamas on Tuesday 7th February and the backlash in the country over his statement about voting:
Press Release.
Nassau, February 9, 2012
The Embassy of Haiti in the Bahamas would like to thank the Government and the People of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for hosting the Haitian delegation lead by the President of the Republic of Haiti, Mr. Michel Joseph Martelly, on February 7 and 8, 2012.
The primary purpose of the visit was to revitalize the relations between The Bahamas and Haiti and to discuss with the business sector about business and investments opportunities in Haiti.
To that end, the delegation was very satisfied as they departed from Nassau in regards with the talks they had with the Government, with the Leader of the Opposition and the business sector of The Bahamas.
The Embassy would also like to clarify what appeared to be a misunderstanding of President Michel Martelly’s statement during this visit. President Martelly’s sole purpose during his stay in the Bahamas was to seek opportunities to improve the lives of Haitians, so they don’t have to migrate to other countries. At any moment, President Martelly did not intend to interfere in any way in the internal politics of the Bahamas.
The Embassy of Haiti wants to highlight the importance of making inroads towards improving relations between the two countries through mutual and respectful cooperation. The Government of Haiti looks forward to working together with the Government of the Bahamas to achieve common goals and objectives and to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
WASTING TIME IN THE HOUSE
Why is the PLP wasting time listening to Hubert Ingraham in the House of Assembly. It is time for the PLP to stand and say that Hubert Ingraham is effectively at the end of his mandate and he needs to dissolve Parliament and go to elections. The time is now for elections. Mr. Ingraham should not be given any further support in passing bills in the House. The House last met for two hours on Monday 6th February. It was a disgrace. There was nothing to do. They could not proceed with the bill on Freedom of Information and are pledged to withdraw it and substitute it. They were not ready with answers to question except for some. It just seems like they are at the end of their tether. They are interested in campaigning only and having the PLP strung along in the House simply does not make any sense for the PLP to be a part of it. Our advice is that the PLP should tell Hubert Ingraham for Christ sake stopping pussyfooting and take this country to general elections.
COB BACKLASH
Last week we showed the video of the arrest of the President of the College of The Bahamas Union of Students Rembert Mortimer. He was later charged with assault before the courts. Mr. Mortimer is to face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday 14th February which may lead to his expulsion from the College of The Bahamas after being there for five years and with two more courses to complete. Reportedly all the hardliners at the College of the Bahamas have been put on the disciplinary board. That would be a mistake by the College. Mr. Mortimer led a demonstration on Thursday 9th February to protest conditions at the school. This led to a lockout by the College of all college buildings and forced the cancellation of an event to which Perry Christie the leader of the Opposition had been invited and was to be the main speaker.
INGRAHAM ON PLP STUDENT VISITS
We have repeatedly said that we think that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, does and says the strangest things these days. The latest was his salvo at the PLP for its visits abroad to speak to Bahamian students who are going to be voting in the next general election at consulates and embassies around the world. The PLP has taken four trips: to London, Kingston, Miami and Atlanta to meet with the students. The Nassau Guardian asked Mr. Ingraham what is his party’s position on the matter. Here is what his reply was:“ I am here. I am here in The Bahamas. I campaign here. I don't do such things. I'm not a showbaoter. I visit all the constituencies and on the 11th of this month we will visit North Andros , on the 18th we will be in Exuma .. that where I am.' There’s a Bahamian saying: “ if you don’t know what to say, you shuld shut your mouth.”.
BRAVE GOES HOME TO CAT ISLAND
(photos to come)
Following the visit of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his candidate Michael Pintard to Cat Island last week, Philip Davis MP for the island went home to Cat Island to hold up the flag. The visit took place on Monday 6th February. He got a rapturous welcome as the photos show.
THE ABUSE OF PUBLIC SERVANTS
The latest report is that there is to be a strike in the public service over the refusal of the Prime Minister to settle the modest wage claims of the public service. Public Services Union leader John Pinder went to press on 31st January announcing that if the matters were not settled there would be a strike in the public service. The Union’s demands are modest. Last year the Union got an assurance from the Prime Minister that as soon as negotiations were settled with the teacher’s union, the general public service would also be settled. He promised to match what the Bahamas Union of Teachers negotiated, reportedly a $700 lump sum payment plus as of the next fiscal year a $53 dollar pay increase per month to the salary of each public servant. The duration of the contract would be three years. Mr. Ingraham has settled the teachers but refuses to settle with the public service. Mr. Pinder says act or we will strike. In the meantime, there is great disgruntlement amongst the public servants in the Customs Department where seven senior officers were supseded by the brother in law of the Minister of State Zhivargo Laing. Mr. Laing's brother in law Milo Stubbs is now an Assistant Comptroller in Customs, promoted three stages in two years. There is also widespread dissatisfaction with the report that Shelia Scavella who left the Walter Parker Primary School in disgrace and caused a work stoppage at the Freeport Primary School because of the bad management practices and a history of abuse of funds at various schools was taken out of the system under protest but it now emerges has been made an Assistant Director of Education. Many teachers consider this a slap in the face of the hardworking teachers and administrators. The hope is that the PLP will reverse this should they come to power.
THE SCANDAL OVER ENGINEERING SERVICES
A group of Bahamian engineers made a bid in an answer to a tender announcement to provide engineering services to monitor developments at Bahamaar. The group was headed by former Director of Works Melanie Roach. It appears that they may have been PLP supporters and the Ministry of Works rejected their bids and then gave the contract to firm headed by the President of the Engineering Board responsible for monitoring and approving the practice of engineers. The narrative appears below. The PLP plans to raise the matter in the House of Assembly.
· Original tender submitted April 2011
· Reiss Engineering was not a part of the original tender exercise.
· Original tenderers offered to negotiate with the Government on a REVISED scope from May of 2011
· Government ignored all offers to negotiate with any of the tenderers.
· December of 2011 Government proceeded to negotiate with Reiss Engineering ( a Water Engineering Firm) for the Vertical Inspections at Bahamar even before notifying the original participants that the tender process had been withdrawn.
· This Reiss contract if received would amount to more than 19 million dollars in fees received from this Government in the past 24 months.
· Original Tenderers ( all Bahamian) have written on numerous occasions to the MOWT seeking an explanation and also openly identifying
participants. Reiss has yet to identify his full team. We suspect that he intends to use his foreign engineering counterparts.
· Original tenderers have since submitted their REVISED costing based on an assumed REVISED Scope. Still no word from the Ministry.
· Process flies in the face of equity and transparency. If they (Government) had an issue shouldn’t the entire process been re-tendered, especially with a contract of this amount.
· As President of the BSE (Bahamas Society of Engineers) who by the way are presently investigating Reiss for unethical procedures he was mandated to seek fairness for his members and should have encouraged the MOWT to retender the entire exercise.
· Despite the advice of the Chief Quantity Surveyor and other senior technical and administrative staff at the MOWT, those in authority seem to hell bent on proceeding with this exercise.
· Again we ask “ WHO ARE THE REAL BENEFICARIES OF REISS ENGINEERING”. Why are they so reluctant to retender this project?
THE HOUSE TO MEET FOR THE LAST TIME?
The House of Assembly meets next tomorrow Monday 6th February. At that time, the Prime Minister and his colleagues are expected to clear the House’s agenda by answering all questions in the name of the Opposition. This is said to be a prelude to the dissolution of the House of Assembly, setting the stage for the next general election. There is one piece of legislation that remains and that is the badly drafted Freedom of Information Act which we are advised is to be withdrawn and substituted with the version of the bill that was introduced in the Senate last week. It looks like the horses are headed to the gate. This is long overdue. The general election needs to be called. Enough of Hubert Ingraham.
He has one of the mega churches in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He was considered a leader in the black religious community of the United States, that is until he was accused two years ago of having sexual relationships with four, then five young men one of them a Bahamian. He settled the law suits which arose out of court. This came against the background of the virulent commentary he often had against same sex relationships. At first his wife stood by her man but last year she filed for divorce. Not to be outdone, a Jewish religious has now been to the church of Eddie Long and proclaimed him a king of sorts. He conducted an elaborate if weird ceremony that was later condemned by the mainline Jewish community. It’s all there on YouTube to see. Some arguing that as the church declines because of the involvement in the sexual scandal, Bishop Eddie Long is trying to create a distraction as an attraction. Thus King Bishop Eddie Long. Things that make you go: hmmm!
PROBLEMS AT BEC
Press Statement:
by
the Progressive Liberal Party
February 5th 2012
Major developing serious issues at the BEC
The Progressive Liberal Party is deeply concerned over the very serious financial state of affairs that has beset the Bahamas Electricity Corporation since May 2007. We are informed that the Corporation is seriously challenged to pay its oil bill. Just recently Chairman Moss confirmed a BEC oil debt of over $120 million which represents a sizable amount of the Country’s Foreign Banking Reserves. We urge the government to disclose why BEC is purchasing Fuel supplies at spot market prices versus forward contracting and the rate of interest being paid by BEC to its oil supplier as result of long overdue delay in payments.
The PLP also demands that the outgoing Minister of the Environment, Earl Deveaux, inform the Bahamian public of the current status BEC affairs inclusive of Abaco new power plant and to assure the Bahamian people that the Corporation will not run out of fuel notwithstanding the diminishing foreign reserves.
Information coming to the attention of The Progressive Liberal Party increasingly paints a very negative picture of the conditions at BEC. We now understand that Station (A) at the Clifton Power Station, was closed last year because of imminent danger to workers (one of whom narrowly escape serious injury), who are adamant about not working under the hazardous conditions there. The closure of Station (A) which housed 4 Ten Megawatts Generators has occurred due to the steady deterioration of the infrastructure. This avoidable condition (at Station A) is as result of Corporation failure or inability to maintain the Building which houses Station A.
Whatever the rationale provided by Ministers Deveaux and or Neymour, or by the Prime Minister, the PLP has been reliably informed that New Providence could be faced with a major BLACKOUTS, if this situation is not addressed immediately.
We are further informed that major maintenance must be carried out on several Gas Turbines at Blue Hill Power Plant.
We are also informed the BEC is obliged once again to seek the return of Stand-By Generators, a repeat of last year’s scenario, which resulted in cost per kwh, resulting in increased customer bills. This contributes to more stresses on its already overburdened customer base of which some six thousands households in New Providence are forced to live without electricity
All indications points to the return of load-shedding (with the stand-by generators) will be at the same level experienced last summer or before.
As we approach the end of this government’s five year term, it is shameful to see that BEC, under the FNM watch, was unable to acquire any new Generators at the Clifton Power Plant, which is designated as the base plant utilizing low cost bunker C Fuel. It is equally shameful and even more disturbing that BEC now intends to purchase another Gas Turbine Generator for its Blue Hill Plant, a move that will not bring relief but drive the cost of electricity up. We are obliged to ask who kidnapped the much talked about alternate program after almost five years.
The PLP demands that this outgoing FNM government be frank and honest with its customers about the affairs of the Corporation and the constant foolish mistakes wrought under its watch.
A new PLP government will move with urgency to restore the luster of this this vital Bahamian asset, speedily introduce alternate energy, restore rates to the affordable level set by the previous PLP government and generally position the corporation to once again provide quality services to its customers. A PLP will place the interest of Bahamian first.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Forrester Carroll writes this week from Freeport about Hubert Ingraham’s role in the collapse of the Freeport economy and the silence of the FNM’s representatives in the face of the actions of the Prime Minister.
The Friday (13th January) before the FNM held its Sunday (15th January) evening event here in Freeport (for the purpose of naming their candidates) Hutchison Whampoa’s Lucayan Harbor, Airport and their Our Lucaya Resort facilities dismissed a total of 76 employees. While all 600 of them in attendance were jumping up and down waving their red pom-poms and shouting obscenities at the Hon. Leader of the PLP (on that blessed Sunday evening) the Old Bahama Bay resort, in West Grand Bahama, were preparing letters of dismissal for 29 of their employees effective for Monday the day after the FNM’s silly event. Now we are told that the remaining employees, of Hutchison Whampoa’s facilities, were told during a meeting subsequent to the 76 layoffs that they are to agree a 5-10% pay cut or more of their colleagues will have to be let go; all these negatives occurring and Ingraham comes to Grand Bahama talking his CRAP about red roses and blue violets? We are now told that, notwithstanding the pay cuts, 150 more are scheduled for dismissal but will be let go in increments of three’s and four’s each weekend; they started last weekend with three being let go. These were in addition to the general manager, of the Our Lucaya resort, who was dismissed Friday evening January 27th while the PLP was having it Grand Bahama candidates launch; she was escorted off the property by the police we were told.
During a meeting with the press, following the opening of the new operating theater at the Rand Memorial Hospital, Ingraham was quizzed on the Hannes Babak affair. They asked the piss-head for a reason (or some reasons) why Hanne’s work permit was refused; he couldn’t give them one and for good reason; he has no legitimate reason. What he has, against Babak, is very personal and has nothing to do with the Bahamian people and or the good governance of the country. I have very strong suspicions that the piss-head’s wife may have good reason for wanting to know what her piss-head husband has against Babak. The only argument Ingraham advances for refusing the Port’s Chairman’s permit is that (as he said); “Babak is unacceptable;” Babak is u-n-a-c-c-e-p-t-a-b-l-e? Well I’ll be damned; what in the hell does he mean (in the context of what we are talking about) when he used the word unacceptable? Did Babak break some law? Did he commit some unforgivable sin? Does Ingraham know when someone is unacceptable? I don’t think so; we’ve been telling him for at least 10 years now that he is unacceptable but he hasn’t gotten it as yet. He continues to hang around the place unloved, unwanted and UNACCEPTABLE, so I don’t know what qualifies him to decide that Babak or anyone else is unacceptable.
The stubborn mule has attempted to use Babak as a scapegoat. Consider this for a moment, Babak was nothing more than an employee of the Port Authority; to put it bluntly he was a glorified manager so how come he figures so prominently in the destruction of Freeport’s economy? Besides Babak has been gone from the Port for more than two years, so if Ingraham’s argument is to hold any water at all then why hasn’t the economy gotten any better since Babak left? Its election time folks and Ingraham is prepared to put the blame for his government failures on anybody else but himself. He blames the PLP; then the world recession; the feud between the St. Georges and the Haywards but never himself for our dilemma.
Thousands of Jobs lost; more than 50 businesses closed down within the last 18 months alone; house foreclosures by the hundreds; property re-possessions too numerous to mention; massive electricity disconnections resulting in whole families resorting to living in their vehicles and a misery index never before experienced on this island; all this while Hubert Ingraham pontificates with 8 parliamentarians representing this island in the Hon. House of Assembly. This has been the hallmark of FNM representation during these last four years and eight months and no amount of blaming others will get the government off the hook. The die is cast; the Bahamian people know who is to be blamed for their problems and they will show their anger, at the polls, in the next election; talk is cheap but money buys land.
Ingraham never gave the press his reason for Instructing Branville McCartney to reject the approval of Babak’s work permit; he simply said that Babak was “Unacceptable.” I submit, however, that the clown had good reason for not revealing his reason because it would have proven awfully embarrassing for him, I am told, if he admitted the truth. Allegedly the whole affair revolves around a personal vendetta that Ingraham holds against Babak for something he perceives Babak to have done when he (Babak) first assumed the post as chairman of the Port. Babak allegedly fired a very close lady friend of the PISS-HEAD and this is said to be the sole reason for Ingraham’s disgusts and intolerance of Hannes Babak; nothing more I am told. He attempts now to convince us that it was Babak’s fault that Freeport is in the state it is? I would remind the clown that the morning, at the Lynden Pindling airport, when he declared (to the shock of all) that Babak’s work permit would not be renewed Babak, as chairman of the Port Group, was in the middle of serious negotiations with at least four investment groups who were planning on relocating major parts of their investment portfolios to the Island. One such investment was a 100 room, state of the art, hospital. It wasn’t just a regular run-of-the-mill hospital like the Rand but one where foreign patients would come for very specialized medical treatment, as we do when we go to the various hospitals in Florida. Every single one of these projects went away when Babak did. Who do we blame for that; Babak or the piss-head? Kenneth Russell talked about a project that the piss head refused to approve and so they to eventually left town; who is to be blamed for that one leaving Babak or the piss-head? And by the way this project, that Kenneth Russell was referring to, was one that the PLP government had initiated negotiations on prior to the loss of the elections in 2007; Ingraham didn’t want it because it would have been seen as another one that the PLP could claim credit for. To be putting the blame, for the failure of Freeport’s economy, at the feet of Hannes Babak instead of where it rightfully belongs at the feet of the FNM government, is tantamount to viewing our precarious situation through the key hole of a door rather than the wide open door itself. For the past five years we’ve had nothing but excuses after excuses, given us, for the inaction of this FNM government; all this despite the fact that a disproportionate percentage of the total number of cabinet ministers represents constituencies in Freeport and Grand Bahama. There is no other logical reason for us to be in this state except for the government’s inability to attract investments to the area. I say that their inability to attract any kind of investment to the country is due, for the most part, to their “stop, review and cancel” policy-a policy they adopted on coming to office in 2007.
Hannes Babak is now the most recent punching bag being used by Hubert Ingraham to try and fool voters, in Grand Bahama, into believing that it ain’t his government’s fault; but guess what; according to the feedback I’ve been getting, the people are not falling for his lies and deceit anymore (except for the few real diehard blind Bartimaeus supporters among their dwindling ranks). “Now that Sir Jack has divorced himself from one Hannes Babak (said Hubert Ingraham), Sir Jack and I can now talk about the way forward for the recovery of Freeport and Grand Bahama;” well I’ll be damned; we really didn’t know that Hannes Babak was so powerful a component, in the scheme of things, here; we, in this town, didn’t have a clue that Hannes Babak held such powerful sway over Freeport and Grand Bahama’s economic matters; certainly not to the point where he could (by and of himself) frustrate both the Port Authority and the FNM government’s agenda for this island. Apparently Mr. Babak was able to prevent Freeport’s growth both while he was chairman and, as well, for the two years since he’s been out of the Port; if we are to believe what Hubert Ingraham says about him. It is incomprehensible that an employee of the Port could bring to a halt the FNM government’s economic recovery plans for the Whole Island and not just Freeport. All this while three cabinet ministers; the deputy speaker of the house of assembly and three Senators (representing and residing in constituencies on the island) appear totally helpless; it’s just unbelievable. Ingraham gives Babak too much credit; he (Ingraham) wants voters in Grand Bahama to believe that because Mr. Babak was the chairman of the Port, and not someone else, that his government’s economic plans for Freeport (and the whole of Grand Bahama) were frustrated? Come on man; give us credit for having a little more common sense than that. What pisses me off is that these backside-kissing puppets are now actually going around the island begging Bahamians for another five years to govern?
I’ve said this before but it is worth repeating (for those who haven’t gotten it); at the time Mr. Babak’s work permit was denied the gentleman (Babak) was in the middle of serious negotiations with the principals of at least four major foreign investment giants who were just about to sign on the dotted line to relocate major parts of their foreign operations to Freeport; when Babak was no longer able to continue with the negotiations the potential investors left town. The man couldn’t go to his office so he couldn’t continue negotiations. This was Ingraham’s fault; not Babak’s; what surprised me, more than anything else, was the fact that not one of the damn eight backside-kissing FNM representatives (for the island) had the testicular fortified to tell Ingraham “approve the work permit or else;” these sleeze-balls held the reins of power for all these years, and could have brought Ingraham to his knees anytime they wanted but not one had the guts to do so; if they crossed the floor of the house and became “Independents” Ingraham would have become old news. Grand Bahamians are fed-up and are prepared to give Ingraham what the duck has at the polls when the elections are called.
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
February 2012.
Dion Smiths Motorcade Picture 27th January
Dion Smith, the PLP’s candidate for Nassau Village is shown on parade through his constituency on 27th January. Mr. Smith is a PLP newcomer and is expected to defeat DNA candidate Chris Mortimer and the FNM’s candidate .
Elaine Pinder With Daughter Ghandi Beautiful!
Elaine Pinder nee Williams is the owner and developer of the Bamboo Shack brand in Nassau and the shop La Rose, an upscale women’s clothing boutique. Here she is pictured with her daughter Ghandi, who is a radio presenter at the Gems radio station. Simply for the joy of looking at two beautiful women.
Cobus President Arrested
The video below is disturbing in that it shows what bahamaspress says is the arrest of the President of Cobus Renbert Mortimer II. You will remember that Ryan Pinder MP and Fred Mitchell MP attended his Inauguration ceremony last year. The report is that he is to face disciplinary charges for violating the alcohol ban on the campus of the College. Some explanation is needed as to what this about by the President of COB. The event took place on 3rd February. The Tribune reports that the student has now been charged with assault and use of abusive language. He pleaded not guilty and is to reappear in court on 28th September.
Issa Takes Issue With The Vatican
John Issa, the Jamaican businessman who owns and operates Breezes Superclubs in The Bahamas and around the region, in a signed article in The Tribune has taken issue with the Vatican’s edict to replace the mass that has been in use in English since the 1960s with a new English translation. The Vatican argues that it is a more faithful translation of the Latin missal of the Catholic Church. One example is that the church has returned to the use of “And with your spirit” in answer to the call: “The Lord Be With You”. It used to be: “And also with you”. The Vatican says this is a more faithful interpretation of the Latin: “Et cum spirtuo”. Mr. Issa says that the replacement by the Vatican is a monumental waste of money in a time when there is so much poverty around the world. Mr. Issa is a Roman Catholic.
Ingraham Loses It In Inagua
It was supposed to the opening of the Inagua clinic. This from the man who says that others dream but others build. Hubert Ingraham the Prime Minister on the campaign trail on Friday 3rd February. He had been boasting about how unlike the PLP, the FNM invites the MP for the area even though that MP is from the other side (see last week’s photo of Alfred Sears and the Prime Minister in the Comment of The Week). That is what he said when the House of Assembly last met on 26th January. Well we will see if any other PLP MP gets invited anywhere after the latest incident. Bahamaspress is reporting that Mr. Ingraham took issue with Alfred Gray as he spoke about the clinic and the delays in opening the clinic in Inagua. Mr. Ingraham did not wait and interrupted the MP while he was giving his address, saying that Mr. Gray was not speaking the truth.. The website said that Mr. Ingraham had to be restrained by his wife. The MP got loud applause from his people.
Food Wasted At Public Functions
The report is that on Friday 27th January, not even the FNM council members showed up to the renaming of the S G Hambros Building to the Cecil Wallace Whitfield Building the new home of the Office of Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance. The new building was bought because of the Bahamar project on Cable Beach requiring the destruction of the old building. What observers say is that Mr. Ingraham spent $40,000 on the reception for this re-naming and so much food was wasted because no one turned up to the ceremony. This happens at a time of austerity in the country.
Ryan Represents PLP At Abaco Conference
Ryan Pinder MP was the representative for the PLP at the Abaco conference of the Bahamas Financial Services Board held in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on Friday 3rd and 4th February. The annual conference is designed to review the events in the development of the financial services sector in The Bahamas.
FNM Dissension In The Ranks
While Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister and leader of the Free National Movement, was having a good time with his launch of FNM candidates on the inside last Sunday, this time so, on the outside, dissension was in the ranks. The young crew of FNMs are pissed at some of the choices which he has made for candidates of the party. One choice that really grates is that of Heather Hunt for Marathon. Michael Turnquest, the long suffering officer of the party, was supposed to get the nomination for Marathon replacing the disgraced Earl Deveaux. However, that was not to be. He was the wrong gender. Did not have what it takes to please the leader. He was unceremoniously yanked from the seat and replaced by Ms. Hunt. Some of the young fellows in the party walked out on Mr. Ingraham last week.
General Election In Belize
Dean Barrow who defeated former Prime Minister Said Musa in Belize has called general elections for 7th March in that Central American, Caricom state. Mr. Barrow goes into the general election with a step up to win despite resurgence of the Opposition party.
Running Ms Daisy In Fox Hill
There is a character in Bahamian cultural folklore called Ms. Daisy. She is Madam Malapropism, with bad English and a homespun philosophy that creates laughs in the Bahamians in the country. Ms. Daisy is a popular comic figure in The Bahamas. When Shonnel Ferguson, the FNM candidate for Fox Hill, came onto the stage, she ran on the stage, froze, then ran again. She was dressed as they say all hitched up like Ms. Daisy. She went onto embarrass herself by praising Hubert Ingraham as the greatest thing since sliced bread. She was led by Dr. Jacinta Higgs, her predecessor nominee for Fox Hill, who even though dumped by Mr. Ingraham also gave a fawning support to the Prime Minister. What many don’t understand is why these educated women disgrace the reputation of women in public life by their public supercilious conduct. One FNM commented as Ms. Ferguson took to the stage: “ Oh look they running Ms. Daisy in Fox Hill.”
International Law Moot In D.C.
Students of the Eugene Dupuch Law School are in Washington D.C. for the the Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court. The school is one of the participants. The students are competing against several law schools of North. America and the Atlantic. The students in Washington are Viraj Perpall, former Chairman of the Progressive Young Liberals and Olivia Robinson, Shanell Rolle and Latoya Greene - All graduates of UWI's faculty of law in The Bahamas. The coach for the Bahamian students is attorney Ian Winder. Sadly the team was limintaed in their debate with Georgetown University and di not make it to the semi-finals. Well done anyway. Safe journey back home
Congratualtions To Patrick Hanlon
He first came to The Bahamas as a policeman in 1963 from his native Jamaica. He has given a lifetime of service to the Bahamian people and raised his family here. He served as a policeman, as a banker, a Kiwanian and he was appointed in 1986 as the Honorary Consul for Jamaica. His name is Patrick Hanlon and the Jamaican community in The Bahamas led by the Humming Birds Association which he helped to found to look after Jamaican interests in The Bahamas honoured Mr. Hanlon for 25 years as Honorary Consul at a banquet held at Superclubs Breezes on Saturday 4th February. Congratulations for a job well done. The Dean of the Honorary Consular Corp Anders Wiberg and Mrs. Wiberg attended the event. Fred Mitchell MP Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs represented the PLP as did Senator Jerome Fitzgerald.
Yamacraw PYL At Work
The Progressive Young Liberals of Yamacraw were out in full force helping Melanie Griffin MP who
is the PLP's standard bearer in the Yamacraw constituency on Saturday 4th February. The photo appeared on the Facebook page of Davin Beneby, a Yamacraw Young Liberal.
Clay Wows Them In Eleuthera
The photo shows the opening of the Lower Bogue PLP branch on Saturday 4th January in North Eleuthera. North Eluthera is PLP all the way it appears with Clay Sweeting who at 26 is the youngest PLP candidate
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THE SIGN OF A VICTORY: by the estimate of one senior police officer there were 7,000 souls in and out of the hall at the Crystal Palace on Friday 10th February for the launch of the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidates to the nation. This is the group of 38 men and women who will lead the country into the next five years and for a generation if the people of the country as expected choose the PLP to be the next government of The Bahamas. It was an electric atmosphere. The cars were lined off getting there. The buses came in from near and far. People flew in for the occasion. It was helped by people who were startled at the fact that the President of Haiti Michelle Martelly appeared in Nassau during the week and encouraged people of Haitian descent to vote for the party that best protects their interests. It enraged the Bahamian of non Haitian descent because they thought it was political interference in the affairs of The Bahamas. Our photo of the week then was that of the Leader of the PLP Perry Christie as he greeted his followers at the presentation of candidates for the PLP on Saturday 10th February. The photo is by Peter Ramsay.
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE HAITIAN/BAHAMIAN DIVIDE
The Bahamas is a country which is built in part on Haitian immigration. This has been so ever since the Haitian revolution in 1804. French Africans as they were called in the 19th century left Haiti and came to The Bahamas and settled. The names were Anglicized. That is not the normal script that is told by the tellers of the history of The Bahamas but that increasingly we now know is the fact of life.
The traditional script in The Bahamas is that the slaves in The Bahamas came to The Bahamas with the loyalist masters who were kicked out of the United States following the revolution there. That it was those slaves who first caused the population of The Bahamas to become African in character. It was these loyalist and their slaves that shaped the modern Bahamas. That is the traditional narrative.
Indeed that was true but what is equally true is that there was a steady influx of Haitians into this country. Those people assimilated themselves into the life of The Bahamas. Sidney Potier’s family is one of those families. There is an essay by Sean McWeeney, the former Attorney General, which speaks to this and the special laws that were passed in The Bahamas to control the influx of French Africans and to control the social and political affects which the revolution in Haiti might have on the body politic in The Bahamas.
Up to 1973 in The Bahamas, if you were born in The Bahamas you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies. This meant that when independence came you were automatically a Bahamian. That changed in the 1973 constitution because the rulers of the day, many of them including the founding prime minister a first generation Bahamian decided that in order to be Bahamian, at least one of your parents had to be Bahamian if you were born within wedlock and if you were born to a single woman, the woman had to be Bahamian. With that children who were born in The Bahamas were no longer automatically Bahamian. Not like the case of Bahamians who go to Miami to have their children in order to give their kids the advantage of dual nationality both American and Bahamian.
The result is that today anyone born in The Bahamas who does not have Bahamian parents is not Bahamian and must apply to be Bahamian at their 18th but before their 19th birthday. If they don’t they lose the right to be Bahamian. The governments have been unable to keep up with the applications and the result is a whole underclass in the country without citizenship and status. By Bahamian law they are mainly Haitian and must take the citizenship of their parents. This is a volatile situation filled with prejudice and discrimination which has the country in a difficult position today.
Into this mix then came the president of Haiti last Tuesday 14th January. Michelle Martelly known in this country as a singer came to The Bahamas and he spoke to cheering thousands of Haitians in The Bahamas waving the Haitian flag. He told them that they ought to vote for the persons who would best protect their interests. The headlines inflamed the Bahamian population and backfired on the government. People accused the President of interfering in the internal affairs of The Bahamas. Bahamians on the talk shows accused the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of bringing in the President to influence the outcome of the election.
Leader of the PLP Perry Christie took up the issue in his statement to the party on Friday night 10th February at his launch of candidates when he reminded people that here are no Haitian Bahamians but Bahamians who vote. He decried the fact of a foreign president making statements which are calculated to interfere in Bahamian elections.
There is now a firestorm in the country about this issue. The refusal of the country to come to terms with the Haitian influence in this country. The dire predictions of people that the Haitians are taking over. The fact is in our history they are already a part of us. Stephen Dillet was a Haitian. He was the first black Member of Parliament in The Bahamas. A school is named after him. In Government House Sir Arthur Foulkes, the Governor General had a Haitian mother. So one asks: what are we talking about when we say that the Haitians are taking over?
This is a country of immigrants. We all live in a crucible called The Bahamas. All immigrants. The fact is will we forge a country together with common future or are we going to disintegrate into an Arab Israel type conflict where we are constantly fighting one another over who is Haitian and who is not. The PLP must lead. Not follow on this. Difficult as it may be. We must protect the national patrimony by ensuring that there is peace in our society and that we forge a country that is known collectively no matter our places of descent as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th February 2012 up to midnight:144,041
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 11th February 2012 up to midnight:223,131
Number of hits for the year 2012 up to Saturday 11th February 2012 up midnight:1,004,268
THE STATEMENT OF THE HAITIAN PRESIDENT
These are the video of the statement made by the Haitian President Michelle Martelly while in The Bahamas on Tuesday 7th February.
STATEMENT FROM HAITIAN EMBASSY
The following statement was issued by the Haitian Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue following the visit of the President of Haiti Michelle Martelly to The Bahamas on Tuesday 7th February and the backlash in the country over his statement about voting:
Press Release.
Nassau, February 9, 2012
The Embassy of Haiti in the Bahamas would like to thank the Government and the People of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for hosting the Haitian delegation lead by the President of the Republic of Haiti, Mr. Michel Joseph Martelly, on February 7 and 8, 2012.
The primary purpose of the visit was to revitalize the relations between The Bahamas and Haiti and to discuss with the business sector about business and investments opportunities in Haiti.
To that end, the delegation was very satisfied as they departed from Nassau in regards with the talks they had with the Government, with the Leader of the Opposition and the business sector of The Bahamas.
The Embassy would also like to clarify what appeared to be a misunderstanding of President Michel Martelly’s statement during this visit. President Martelly’s sole purpose during his stay in the Bahamas was to seek opportunities to improve the lives of Haitians, so they don’t have to migrate to other countries. At any moment, President Martelly did not intend to interfere in any way in the internal politics of the Bahamas.
The Embassy of Haiti wants to highlight the importance of making inroads towards improving relations between the two countries through mutual and respectful cooperation. The Government of Haiti looks forward to working together with the Government of the Bahamas to achieve common goals and objectives and to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
WASTING TIME IN THE HOUSE
Why is the PLP wasting time listening to Hubert Ingraham in the House of Assembly. It is time for the PLP to stand and say that Hubert Ingraham is effectively at the end of his mandate and he needs to dissolve Parliament and go to elections. The time is now for elections. Mr. Ingraham should not be given any further support in passing bills in the House. The House last met for two hours on Monday 6th February. It was a disgrace. There was nothing to do. They could not proceed with the bill on Freedom of Information and are pledged to withdraw it and substitute it. They were not ready with answers to question except for some. It just seems like they are at the end of their tether. They are interested in campaigning only and having the PLP strung along in the House simply does not make any sense for the PLP to be a part of it. Our advice is that the PLP should tell Hubert Ingraham for Christ sake stopping pussyfooting and take this country to general elections.
COB BACKLASH
Last week we showed the video of the arrest of the President of the College of The Bahamas Union of Students Renbert Mortimer II. He was later charged with assault before the courts. Mr. Mortimer is to face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday 14th February which may lead to his expulsion from the College of The Bahamas after being there for five years and with two more courses to complete. Reportedly all the hardliners at the College of the Bahamas have been put on the disciplinary board. That would be a mistake by the College. Mr. Mortimer led a demonstration on Thursday 9th February to protest conditions at the school. This led to a lockout by the College of all college buildings and forced the cancellation of an event to which Perry Christie the leader of the Opposition had been invited and was to be the main speaker.
INGRAHAM ON PLP STUDENT VISITS
We have repeatedly said that we think that Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, does and says the strangest things these days. The latest was his salvo at the PLP for its visits abroad to speak to Bahamian students who are going to be voting in the next general election at consulates and embassies around the world. The PLP has taken four trips: to London, Kingston, Miami and Atlanta to meet with the students. The Nassau Guardian asked Mr. Ingraham what is his party’s position on the matter. Here is what his reply was:“ I am here. I am here in The Bahamas. I campaign here. I don't do such things. I'm not a showbaoter. I visit all the constituencies and on the 11th of this month we will visit North Andros , on the 18th we will be in Exuma .. that where I am.' There’s a Bahamian saying: “ if you don’t know what to say, you should shut your mouth.”.
BRAVE GOES HOME TO CAT ISLAND
Following the visit of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his candidate Michael Pintard to Cat Island last week, Philip Davis MP for the island went home to Cat Island to hold up the flag. The visit took place on Monday 6th February. He got a rapturous welcome as the photos show.
ZHIVARGO APPEALS TO FT. CHARLOTTE
The polling of the Free National Movement revealed that Zhivargo Laing the embattled FNM Minister of State, simply could not win in Marco City which he barely won by 27 votes in the last general election. What with all the scandals about the Mona Vie drink surrounding him and all the reputation he has developed for being no manners in Freeport and uncaring. Mr. Laing fled to Ft Charlotte where he lost the election in 2002. The PLP’s André Rollins is waiting for him. Mr. Rollins is supported by the former representative Alfred Sears. We thought it was interesting to see what Mr. Laing is saying to the people of Ft. Charlotte to get them to vote for him. At least two people have communicated to this column that they have specifically moved to Ft. Charlotte from Freeport so they can give Mr. Laing his reward for his bad stewardship in Grand Bahama.
MITCHELL ON WITNESS PROTECTION
RICARDO SMITH AND UTAH TAYLOR DEBATE POLITICS
PHOTO SPREAD OF THE PLP'S LAUNCH
We present a photo spread of the view at the PLP's launch of its candidates for the next general election. on Friday 10th February. It was an exciting nightas 7,000 souls packed into the hotel room and its environs to hear the PLP's candidates talk about their plans for The Bahamas. One set of images is from the PLP's Facebook page. The other set of images is by Peter Ramsay.
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COLLIE BUDDZ "PLAYBACK" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
R.I.P. WHITNEY HOUSTON 1963-2012
The following story appeared in The Tribune on Friday 10th February, quoting the Opposition's spokesman on Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell MP on the party's response to the visit of the Haitian President to The Bahamas.
By KHRISNA VIRGIL
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
FORMER foreign affairs minister Fred Mitchell yesterday insisted that no "artifice or trick" by the government will prevent the PLP from winning the 2012 general election.
His words follow Haitian President Michel Martelly's call for Bahamians of Haitian descent to unite and identify who will protect their interests ahead of this year's general elections.
Mr Mitchell said the president's remark did not damage the PLP's chances of becoming the next government - and he does not believe it was intended to have that effect in the first place.
He said: "If this is a plan of the FNM government, I don't think it worked. To be honest, I don't think they are that smart.
"We believe we are poised to win the next general election.
"We will be working to put the best case forward to the people.
"No artifice or trick will change that."
People's personal convictions will determine who they vote for whether or not they are Bahamian or of Haitian descent, Mr Mitchell said.
Based on the discussions between Mr Martelly and PLP leader Perry Christie, there is no reason to believe the Haitian government would encourage support for the FNM, he said.
"When we met with the president yesterday, that was certainty not what he communicated to us in those discussions.
"We made ourselves clear that we want to make sure our border prevents illegals from coming in and committed ourselves to a special unit of the Defence Force for that effort," Mr Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell said the PLP is now calling on the government clarify its position on Mr Martelly's remarks.
"The PLP is looking to the Prime Minister for a clarification.
"The Bahamas government must explain what was meant because it was under their invitation that he came and made his address," he said.
This trip is Mr Martelly's first official visit to the Bahamas since he was elected last April.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Forrester Carroll writes from Freeport about the remarks of the Prime Minister about health public policy in Freeport and he defends the record of former Minister of Health Dr. Marcus Bethel under the PLP
I didn’t think that anyone could rattle Dr. Marcus Bethel’s cage nor did I think that anyone could make him sweat but Hubert Ingraham sure did; rattle his cage I mean. He did it with his untruths and deception when, at the official opening of that over-priced addition to the Rand Memorial Hospital on the 18th January, he accused Dr. Bethel, Minister of Health 2002-2007 under the Christie Administration, of not doing a damn thing to improve the medical facilities here in Freeport and Grand Bahama.
In giving his remarks (which are usually littered with innuendo toward the PLP) the Hubert Ingraham fired a scud at Dr. Marcus Bethel when he accused him of “lack of performance as health minister while he served in Christie’s cabinet.” Dr. Bethel, of course, fired back, with a patriot, and refuted the statements. This brain-dead fellow simply cannot admit truth; Ingraham is simply incapable of telling the truth. He referred to the “Dorsett Report” and accused the former Minister of Health of total inaction in addressing any of the findings and recommendations in the report. Dr. Bethel went on, in his media response to list what actions he took and to show just how many untruths were told by the FNM leader. This was the same thing as in the case of the Brookfield/Kerzer/Atlantis matter when he just couldn’t accept the fall-out situation and deal with it without blaming someone else for what happens on his watch. He accused the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie for Atlantis’ failure saying Christie shouldn’t have approved the re-financing of the property; that it was another bad Christie deal; well I have a few questions for the deceiver; (1) tell me then, if you thought Christie’s decision or lack of one in this case was a bad omen for the country why didn’t you, on coming to office, “stop, review and cancel” the arrangements as you did in so many other cases involving PLP projects? (2) Are you with, a straight face, seriously trying to convince the Bahamian people that you would have refused such a request, from Sir Sol Kerzer, had you been prime minister at the time? (3) If you were the prime minister at the time and really had the testicle fortitude to say “NO” to Sir Sol, what do you think would have been Sol’s reaction? Please stop talking bull; we all know you would never have refused a request from Sir Sol for anything; we know, as well, that if Ingraham were in power 2002-2007 Bah Mar would not have happened if Sir Sol told him not to approve the project. But Christie’s focused leadership and attention to what is best for the country dictated that we should never place all our eggs in one basket.
The former (very meticulous) Minister of Health listed each pertinent recommendation made in the Dorsett report and detailed his ministry’s response to the same. A major recommendation in the report suggested that, instead of refurbishing an old inadequate institution, like the Rand Memorial, a new hospital should be built which would accommodate the expectant increased population growth of Grand Bahama. In addition it was pointed out that the area on which the Rand sits was/is inadequate space for the kind of building expansion which would be necessary to accommodate our future growing demands. To this end, Dr. Marcus Bethel pointed out that; the Christie Administration accepted the report’s recommendations and proceeded, post haste, to address the matter by first securing 30 acres of Property, from the Grand Bahama Port Authority Ltd, in the area of the Sir Jack Hayward High School, for the proposed site of the new hospital. What the former minister didn’t say, but what I know to be a fact, is that the actual plans for the new proposed hospital were in fact drawn and can be found presently, either in the foyer of the Rand or in some back office at the medical institution. The Prime Minister knows this to be the truth yet he stood there behind that podium feeding his gullible listening audience with those bold-faced untruths. They believed his accusations, against Dr Marcus Bethel and the Christie Administration, that there was a “lack of performance” on their part in addressing the recommendations in the Report. If Jehovah God were like man he would have brought judgment, immediately, upon that wicked, lying, devilish prime minister and strike him dead but God, thank God, is a merciful God.
“Mr. Ingraham (said Dr. Bethel) on coming to office in 2007 cancelled the PLP’s plans for the new hospital and reportedly said that the construction of a new state-of-the-art hospital in Freeport was not a priority of his FNM government.” The former minister claimed that Ingraham said he would concentrate his efforts on the Princess Margaret Hospital instead. This is very clear evidence that Ingraham and his FNM government never gave a damn about Freeport and Ironically, according to Mr. Philip Thomas former candidate for the DNA for the East Grand Bahama constituency, this is also the view and mindset of Branville McCartney who reportedly told Mr. Thomas, as well, that a new hospital to replace the Rand would not be a priority of a DNA government should his Green Party be successful and become the government after the next general election; this, of course, would be wishful thinking on Branville’s part.
And so it’s not the Christie Administration that should take the blame for not building the hospital but Ingraham’s. The FNM government shelved the development plans for a modern hospital complex in Grand Bahama which has left us pumping millions and millions of dollars into an outdated, aged and inadequate Rand Memorial. Ingraham shelved those plans just like he shelved 90% of the projects and programs Christie left in place, including the proposed new fire station which Mother Pratt had on the drawing board for Freeport when she was the minister responsible for the police.
Dr. Bethel went on to accuse Hubert Ingraham of being “disingenuous and deceitful.” The former Minister of Health challenged Ingraham to visit the Eight Mile Rock clinic which his administration left incomplete when they were thrown out of office in 2002. In addition Mr. Bethel asked Ingraham to go east and inspect the solid waste transfer depot developed and opened by the Christie Administration; the regional ambulance service provided to west Grand Bahama; the multiple health clinics which were renovated and upgraded following 10 years of neglect by his FNM Administration 1992-2002 and that Ingraham should take note, as well, of the many nurses who were trained, during Christie’s tenure, and who are now working at clinics throughout the country. Oh and (by the way continued Dr. Bethel) don’t forget to tour the upgraded X-RAY, ICU and CAT SCAN facilities, at both the Rand and Princess Margaret Hospitals, which are a credit to the care and compassion of the Christie Administration . All these are improvements made to our health care facilities during the short five years of the Christie Administration.
Dr. Bethel called on Ingraham to speak truth, while on the campaign trail, even though it may be, for him, an inconvenient truth at times. I am afraid, though Dr. Bethel, that for Hubert Alexander Ingraham, speaking truth is a “mission impossible.” The man is indeed delusional; he thinks himself a god; he has promoted himself the reincarnation of a Papa Doc Duvalier; a god above of all gods who cannot lie but to him, although he speaks lies, they are not lies at all. I don’t know about you guys but I am truly very tired and weary (and the country should be as well) of the damn deceptions and lies. Should he (Hubert) apologize to the Bahamian people for his failed representation, of their interests instead of begging them for votes as Mr. Christie suggested he should?
Absolutely; his government has failed us so miserably that they cannot even keep Princess Margaret Hospital’s ambulances serviced and on the road. You would have read a Tribune front page story (3rd February) where it was reported that there were only two of the fleet of ambulances which were in some kind of working order on February 2nd, but when they dispatched one of them to collect a patient, that one broke down and they had to dispatch the other in order to rescue the patient before he or she died. Doctors advised residents in Nassau shortly after that unless their loved ones were at deaths door (dying) please don’t call for an ambulance. This is the Administration that is managed by the chief of suckers, which can find and budget $600,000.00 to squander on a one-day opening ceremony of the sports stadium but cannot find the money to ensure that the fleet of ambulances is constantly road worthy. Funds for the official opening of the stadium could be provided for in Christie’s budget for 2012/2013 and the official opening left for the summer of 2012 but Ingraham wants to cram all these openings in before the general elections. In the meantime the opening of the stadium could very well be put on hold until the summer while being utilized in the interim. Say what you like; do what you like jackass, the Bahamian people know very well that the stadium is a PLP project and not yours.
Thank you
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
February 2012
Reading With Khaalis Rolle
The children of the Cleveland Eneas Primary School were treated to PLP candidate for Pinewood Khaalis Rolle reading to them on 8th Febraury. Reading is fun.
Motivational Talk
Well its nothing like seeing someone who used to be just like you giving to inspiration to become just like they are. Teej Grant spoke to the Doris Johnson Senior School inspiring them to achieve. It’s from his Facebook page.
The Ides Of March
The current suggestion is that the general election is to be held on 15th March. For those history students (Hubert Ingraham is not one) that is the Ides of March which is the day that Julius Cesar was murdered by his colleagues. We encourage Mr. Ingraham to choose that date. The PLP will have a lot of fun with that one. Starting with: beware of the Ides of march!
Ingraham Orders BEC Just In Time For Elections
Just in time for the general election. The briber in chief has announced that those people who have their lights off because they cannot pay the bill can report to BEC to get their lights turned back on. The details of the deal are that you must pay the current bill. The lights will be turned back on and then you have three years to pay. The announcement was made at the opening of the headquarters of Dr. Duane Sands, the FNM candidate for Elizabeth on Thursday 9th February by the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. People see this stuff for what it is. This is shameless electioneering.
Manning Airlifted To Washington D.C.
Patrick Manning, the former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who suffered a debilitating stroke in Trinidad two weeks ago has been airlifted at government expense to the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. for specialized care and rehabilitation. Mr. Manning cannot speak properly and is paralyzed on one side reportedly. The family of Mr. Manning was critical of the early care he received in Trinidad. Mr. Manning’s expenses are being picked up by the Trinidad Government reportedly around $900,000.
PLP Meets With BTC Executives
Perry Christie MP, the Leader of the PLP and other PLP MPs reportedly met with the Chairman of the Board of BTC and the Managing Director both from the company Cable and Wireless on Tuesday 7th February. Mr. Christie reportedly made it clear to the company that the PLP should it will is pledged to regain control of BTC from Cable and Wireless.
Double Standard
People are talking about the double standard that is employed by the Ingraham government when it comes to who can run for office and keep their government job. When Renardo Curry announced that he was running for the PLP against Mr. Ingraham in Abaco, he was made to resign forthwith from the public service. Meanwhile Theo Neilly, the FNM candidate for North Eleuthera, continues to receive a pay cheque from the public purse as an employee running the airport in North Eleuthera. Interesting. It aint long now.
Senator Michael Halkitis Comments
This comment from PLP Senator Michael Halkitis appeared on is Facebook page. We agree that FNM MPs are living in a fantasy world:
Do government MPs sit in their constituency offices and see constituents? If they did, surely they would not be bragging that things are getting better!! I sat in my campaign office on Carmichael and Bacardi Roads yesterday and for hours people filed in with the same complaint: no job, light off, water off, rent behind, gas gone, no one is listening!! Meanwhile our government is all set to spend a cool million dollars to open a stadium when the budget for the school lunch programme for the ENTIRE country is two million dollars!! What we need is a national reality check and re-ordering of priorities!!
North Andros FNM Derailed
The FNM's leader Hubert Ingraham ever desperate for votes took his FNM campaign train to North Andros on Saturday 11th Feb. It was a sad night for him. First he reportedly had to call Rex Rolle of Western Air who is now supporting the PLP after being dumped on by the FNM. Mr. Ingraham reportedly invited Mr. Rolle to cause his (Mr. Rolle's) wife the former candidate for the FNM to introduce Desmond Bannister, the Minister of Education who fled his seat in Carmichael to run in North Andros for the FNM. Mr. Rolle was reluctant but was reportedly reminded by the Prime Minister that Mr. Rolle's company Western Air owes the government a lot of money. Then the report is that in order to ensure the audience, the police were dispatched to a huge party being held by the Fowler family in North Andros for Dr. Perry Gomez the PLP candidate. The police were overhead imploring people: " You all don't want to hear the Prime Minister speak." But the PLP's ignored them at their grill and chill.
Melanie's Opening Day
The PLP's MP for Yamacraw and the candidate for the PLP in that seat for the next general election will officially open her headquarters on Monday 13th February. The Leader of the Party Perry G. Christie will attend and do the honours.
| 19th. Feburary ,
2012 Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com |
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YAMACRAW HAS ITS OPENING: the PLP is now on its game. The campaign has started in earnest. Each week now there are official openings of the various headquarters throughout the country. Last week it was the turn of Melanie Griffin’s Yamacraw, Michael Halkitis’ Golden Isles, Obie Wilchcombe’s West End and Bimini and Arnold Forbes’ Mt. Moriah. In each case thousands of people turned up to show their support for the PLP and to urge the country to vote the FNM out. We show pictures below from each of the various openings. For our money though the photo of the week is that of the crowd at Melanie Griffins’ official opening and thus you see and say: LOOK AT THE PEOPLE.
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COMMENT OF THE WEEK
(THIS WEEK YOU HAVE TO TAKE AN EXTRA STEP TO READ THIS COMMENT. PLEASE CLICK HERE IF YOU WISH TO PROCEED. THE LANGUAGE IS EXPLICIT AND SOME MAY FIND IT OFFENSIVE)
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 18th February 2012 up to midnight:142,432
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 18th February 2012 up to midnight: 381,378
Number of hits for the year 2012 up to Saturday 18th February 2012 up to midnight:1,162,515
Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour laid on the table of the Senate a cable purportedly from Wikileaks which alleged that Fred Mitchell the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002-07 pressured a public servant to issue visas to Chinese in case of a visa scam. Fred Mitchell issued two releases during the week to deal with the matter. They follow:
STATEMENT BY FRED MITCHELL MP FOX HILL
ON ALLEGATIONS MADE BY SENATOR DION FOULKES
IN THE SENATE TODAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15th February 2012
Today I am shocked that in so high a place as the Senate in which I once served could be used to purvey useless, trashy and untested hearsay information allegedly from a disgruntled employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about me in my capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs. I served in that office for five years. That this nonsense was perpetrated with the complicity of a Minister of the Government is a black mark on the Bahamas government. There is not one scintilla of evidence to suggest any malfeasance by me in public office. In fact the record shows that with regard to both passport issuance and visa issuance I never issued any visa or passport to anyone or caused such an issuance. All passport and visas issues were dealt with by the Permanent Secretary and her staff at the ministry. Whenever complaints were made to me by any Bahamian citizen I caused the appropriate complaints to be made to the officers concerned. My view was that wherever visas or passports could be issued lawfully they should be done without delay. This is in accordance with well known principles of public administration and international best practices.
This matter now raised again by Dion Foulkes were raised before by then Senator Carl Bethel and were discredited by a thorough police investigation, a management audit by the Public Service Commission and by the Auditor General. No malfeasance in public office was attributable to me. Now having lost the argument, for partisan political reasons, the Minister seeks to raise this information. It is simply untrue. It is false in every material particular. This will not help him to win Yamacraw where he is sure to lose.
I am astounded that the Minister of Labour would use a scandalous, unsupported tendentious, untested hearsay document under the cloak of Parliament to try to besmirch my character. This is a new low in the public affairs of The Bahamas. I demand an apology and retraction of these defamatory statements and the untested innuendoes. What a sad day.
It is clear that in the rush to the general election anything will now be used to try and get at the Opposition, even to the point of untested untruths and innuendo, just dirtying up, besmirching the character of individuals who are unable to properly defend themselves from baseless hearsay. The details and history of the alleged source of this information will show that this is the complaint of a disgruntled employee who was being moved as a part of a departmental shakeup on the advice of security personnel in the country at the highest level.
I intend to take all appropriate lawful action to ensure that I receive redress for this outrage.
End
STATEMENT BY FRED MITCHELL MP FOX HILL
ON ALLEGATIONS MADE BY DION FOULKES IN THE
SENATE ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2012
Yesterday I issued a statement in response to unsupported and baseless allegations which were tabled in the Senate regarding my conduct as Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am now before the Bahamian people with clear eyes and I want them to see the whites of my eyes. What Dion Foulkes has done is a blood libel from which there can be no coming back. Politics is one thing and you can do all sorts of foolishness for political reasons but this is carrying things too far.
Raynard Rigby who is with me today is the Attorney of record for a series of actions in this matter. One is a writ against the alleged cover of this false information to a U.S. Foreign service officer. I have a copy of that writ which was filed yesterday. Other steps will be taken to safeguard my reputation. The immediate issue is whether or not it is appropriate for a Bahamian Foreign Service officer to be conveying information to a foreign government. That speaks volumes about the loyalty of that officer to The Bahamas. She ought to say very quickly whether or not she remains loyal to The Bahamas. She must be compelled to say what she knows and produce the evidence of any malfeasance on the part of this former minister. I invite her now to go to the police and report any such information forthwith. Do not sit on it if you have information and let the chips fall where they may.
The Bahamian public can be assured that not even in her wildest dreams or that of the FNM have I ever been involved in any corrupt enterprise.
Secondly, I lay the responsibility for this at the feet of Lynn Holowesko who is the president of the Senate who in a shocking dereliction of duty allowed to be tabled in the Senate untested , unsubstantiated hearsay which was calculated to damage my reputation and which was done maliciously by the Minister concerned. In other words, the Minister knew that these allegations were untrue and still repeated those allegations and the Senate President allowed it. She ought to be thoroughly ashamed of herself. We are exploring an action in judicial review to determine whether or not the President discharged her responsibilities in accordance with the rules of the Senate and best practices.
I repeat in a clear and unshaken voice today: these are baseless lies.
The facts when they come out will show that there is a police intelligence report with extensive supporting information about who the corrupt officer was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will also show that this MP as a Minister repeatedly ordered the Permanent Secretary to remove the officer on the advice of the Commissioner of Police and that the Permanent Secretary refused to carry out those instructions.
I charge the Prime Minister with complicity in these acts. His hands are all over it. He will pay for it. I can promise him.
Lastly I have words for Dion Foulkes. You will lose in Yamacraw. No amount of trick, slime ball tactic can help you win in Yamacraw. You are a loser. You have run from the people of Acklins and Crooked Island, Mayaguana and Inagua to Yamacraw. But you will be beaten. This blood libel by you has now set enmity between me and your house. I take it personally and will deal with you accordingly. There will be no retreat and no surrender. You can take that to the bank.
End
REPORT OF THE POLICE ON MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
THE ROLE OF CANDIA DAMES
The Nassau Guardian of February led with the headline MITCHELL ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION. The Tribune’s headline of the same day: MITCHELL FURY AT VISA SCAM ALLEGATIONS. The difference in the headlines are inexplicable or are they? The story is about the Wikileaks cables that were laid in the Senate on 15th Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour in which it is alleged that there was a visa scam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that Mr. Mitchell was complicit in it. The Nassau Guardian made an egregious error in that headline. The rule in the act which governs the immunity of publications from law suits says that the protection exists only in so far as it is a faithful reporting of what transpired in the Senate. It is a qualified privilege. It does not licence the publication to say whatever it wants. Further, the publication cannot act maliciously in printing the material. Malicious means that it must not print something knowing that the truth of the contents and printing that something to the country any way. The Nassau Guardian had the Wikileaks cables in their possession. They printed everything which they could because they knew that the information contained in the document tabled by Mr. Foulkes was false and defamatory. Yet they printed an inflammatory headline knowing that the headline was false in every material particular using the Parliamentary immunity as protection. Their printing it was malicious. This is the problem when you have someone like Candia Dames who is at the helm of a publication making responsible decisions about how matters ought to be printed. We have challenged her ethics in this space before. Reporters and headline writers ought to be very careful that they do not find themselves the subject matter of legal actions because of the irresponsible decisions they make.
SHONEL BEGGING FOR MONEY IN FOX HILL
We now know what the campaign of the FNM is in Fox Hill. Their campaign is to try and smear Fred Mitchell with a corruption allegation. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was overhead saying that Dion Foulkes was going to table something that would blow Fred Mitchell out of the water. Brent Symonette, the Deputy Prime Minister and Zhivargo Laing speaking at FNM headquarters at a meeting the day after Dion Foulkes tabled the Wikileaks cables making the allegation were chuckling to themselves that the country now sees who was selling out the country. Never mind that Brent Symonette had to have known from the police report in his possession that the author of the lies against Mr. Mitchell was herself under investigation for selling visas to the Haitians at $1500 per time. But they have to do something to help their weak candidate for Fox Hill Shonel Ferguson. Today we publish a letter which she has written to supporters of her cause. She is trying to raise $150,000 by the 29th February. This shows you the amount of money they are seeking to throw against Fred Mitchell. This at a time when people are going to bed hungry in Fox Hill.
Shonel Ferguson_Campaign Fundraising Letter
PHOTOS WEST END OPENING OF PLP
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PHOTOS YAMACRAW OPENING OF PLP MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY
PHOTOS GOLDEN ISLE OPENING PLP ON THURSDAY 16TH FEBRUARY PHOTOS MT. MORIAH OPENING PLP ON SATURDAY 18TH FEBRUARY
Bran McCartney had more people when they launched the Democratic National Alliance last year than when he introduced his candidates to the county on Wednesday 15th February. He must have looked around the room on that fateful Wednesday and said to himself: where are all the people and what the hell have I gotten myself into? It was clear to the television audience in the country that the green star is fading. What was really fascinating was the expression on the face of Dr. Johnny Rodgers, the eye surgeon, who is one of the founders of the party. Just a bit of advice to Dr. Rodgers. He owes it to himself and to his party to not be so transparent in how disappointed he was about the lack of crowd at Wednesday’s event. He was looking around for the people. Not enough showed up. That was the expression on his face and every time the camera went on him, you could see him looking around for the people. Unlike the PLP and the FNM, the DNA only used a fraction of the Crystal Palace ballroom in order to conceal the size of the crowd. This was clearly for the optics on TV. Another trick they used was the high flags to hide the paucity of the numbers. Johnny Rodgers look was no apparent. He did his party a disservice
HUBERT TALKS ABOUT HIS PLATFORM
R. KELLY SINGS AT WHITNEY'S FUNERAL
GLENYS HANNA MARTIN ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
YAMACRAW OPENING MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY
PLP STALWART WRITES FROM FPO ON HUBERT'S LAUNCH
ROLLINS TO OFFICIALLY LAUNCH FT. CHARLOTTE
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR Loretta Butler-Turner’s, social (security) services ministry’s operations have been nothing short of a damn dismal failure (during the five years she’s been in charge) under this inept Ingraham Administration. The IDB has reported that less than 17% of poor folk, in the country, are actually benefitting from the social services programs; this means that more than 83% are not; can you believe this? After listening to Loretta Turner and Dion Foulkes boast about the increased amounts of money their government has budgeted for social security benefits, for the rapidly growing numbers of poor folk among us, you mean to tell us that less than 17% (of those most in need) are benefitting? In addition the IDB revealed that less than 45% of the food stamps, which are issued monthly, go to about 20% of the poorest in the country? These Stats are mind-boggling, to say the least; obviously the conditions that lend to this continuing deteriorating state-of-affairs exists because of the FNM’s petty political actions. They cancelled “The conditional cash transfer program” when they came to office in 2007. This was a program funded by the IDB and was in the process of being fully implemented in 2007. The PLP government commissioned a social study, by the IDB, on the social safety net system in the country. The report revealed that some 28000 Bahamians were living below the poverty line and that a conditional cash transfer was a major part of the social safety net reform. The PLP government followed the IDB’s recommendation and allocated approx. $402,000.00 in the 2007/2008 budget to fund the program; the FNM government; (Butler-Turner’s government) came to office in 2007 and cancelled the allocation essentially ignoring the IDB’s recommendations. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that our social problems have been exacerbated by FNM government political shenanigans. Thank you Bahamian Heads Power Plant In Jamaica Clarence Stukes With Alma Powell Condolences To Stephen Sherman We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Stephen Sherman who shot to death execution style in front of his home at Yamacraw Shores in New Providence on Friday evening 17th February. His makes the 17th homicide in The Bahamas since the start of the year. Mr. Sherman took care of his mother who is ill and an invalid at his home and leaves behind a wife and two children. DNA Says They Have Crowd Too Ambassador Elma Campbell An Explanation Needed Bahamaspress.com FT. CHARLOTTE OPENING: they turned out in their thousands to hear their leader say that Andre Rollins is the man for Ft Charlotte. The official opening of the Ft. Charlotte campaign headquarters of the PLP took place on Monday 20th February. Farrington Road was closed to accommodate the people. Dr. André Rollins, a Boston trained orthodontist, is the PLP’s standard bearer and a great example of the next generation PLP leadership. He is slated to succeed the PLP’s MP Alfred Sears who is retiring from politics and will defeat the FNM’s Zhivargo Laing, the Minister of State for Finance. Our photo of the week then is that of the leader of the PLP Perry Christie announcing and supporting his candidate in Ft. Charlotte Andre Rollins. COMMENT OF THE WEEK THE STRANGE CASE OF DOROTHY LEFLEUR Fred Mitchell MP, the former Foreign Minister, and the subject of a vicious and false attack by a disgruntled foreign service officer who was suspected by the police of selling Bahamian visas said this in a letter to the editor of the Nassau Guardian printed on 21st February: EXPLANATION DEMANDED FROM MINISTRY OF SPORTS
The Ministry of Sports must say whether or not it is true that the whole soccer field at the new Chinese built Thomas A. Robinson stadium has to be dug up because it is not approved by FIFA, the international soccer body. Also that the track is not certified by the IAAF and so it too ill have to be dug up. We are told that the Prime Minister is to be informed after the official opening of this latest debacle. Last week, we wrote a scathing column on Dion Foulkes, the Minister of Labour, who attacked the former Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell in the Senate accusing him of malfeasance in public office. The response to the commentary was overwhelmingly positive and we thank people for the support of the column. Senator Jerome Fitzgerald rose to his feet last week and attacked Mr. Foulkes based on the report which was placed in the public domain by Mr. Mitchell which showed that the woman who is his accuser was in fact making a preemptive strike because she herself was under investigation for selling Bahamian visas at $1500 per time. Mr. Foulkes stood to his feet in the senate on Wednesday 22nd February to say that he had not read the police report and was unaware of it when he spoke in the Senate. We agree with Senator Fitzgerald that this is shocking negligence on the part of Senator Foulkes for which he ought to be condemned. Where is the Nassau Guardian now? We show the Tribune’s story below of the Senate meeting and exchange with Senator Fitzgerald: Published On: Thursday, February 23, 2012 MURDER MOST FOUL IN THE SHERMAN CASE PLP PROTESTS CLOSING THE HOUSE 21st February 2012 You can hold your breath for that apology. You will see the second coming first. Help me understand the logic here. Here I am minding my own business. I have conducted myself with all decorum and responsibility in every public office which I have had the opportunity to have in this country. Suddenly and without warning, a minister of the government whose government had in its possession a report which discredits the very accusations he is about to make, puts into the public domain comments which injure me in my character and reputation. The attacks were unwarranted; the allegations are false and defamatory. They were investigated and the issues settled five years or more ago. The Minister knew this at the time he laid the document in the Senate last week. The Nassau Guardian based on these reports in the Senate carries a headline which says that I am accused of corruption. This goes to the heart of my existence as an individual, as a public figure. It imperils my job and my living. It threatens my ability to travel and makes me a target of physical harm. Yet the Nassau Guardian in its editorial is now saying that I must sit back and be a punching bag for every Tom Dick or Harry because I am PLP and in public life and allow these persons without penalty to make allegations of corruption against me. I must simply sit back and say nothing. Worse, and in the most perverse logic I have seen in my career, I must now apologize to Dion Foulkes. You have got to be joking. It’s only my mother’s home training that has not caused me to do worse. The charges of fomenting violence are so contemptible, I hesitate to respond. Obviously, we all speak a different language. Those who know me, know if that is what I wanted to say I would have said so. Dion Foulkes, Hubert Ingraham as Prime Minister, Brent Symonette as Foreign Minister and Lynn Holowesko as President of the Senate are all complicit in this matter. I hold them personally responsible for the consequences of their official actions. Let me make that abundantly clear. This is no joking matter to me. The police report now in the public domain speaks volumes about the accuser. I ask these public officials this however: a Bahamian Foreign Service officer by a document which they have now clothed with Parliamentary immunity initiates a meeting with an agent of a foreign government; she makes to that foreign government agent an allegation or corruption against a Bahamian minister, her boss at the time. She admits she has no evidence but makes the allegation anyway. Before doing so, she did not complain to the Permanent Secretary of her ministry, the Bahamian Commissioner of Police, the Bahamian Leader of the Opposition, then Hubert Ingraham, nor the Bahamian Prime Minister then Perry Christie. She did not even go to the Bahamian press. This is an officer who is sworn to uphold the integrity of the Bahamian state, who by the government’s own document has provided information to a foreign state, yet by all accounts that officer is still sitting in office. Messrs. Foulkes, Ingraham, Symonette and Mrs. Holowesko all have sworn to uphold the constitution and uphold the sovereignty of The Bahamas. They have done nothing to deal with the foreign service officer. Rather what they have done is to revel in the discomfort they have caused me for political purposes. I can assure you it is only a joke to them and perhaps to the Nassau Guardian. Not to me. The Nassau Guardian has had nothing to say about that dereliction of duty on the part of those named officials. It is even more egregious since the charges made by the officer are false. And the Nassau Guardian says Fred Mitchell must apologize. In this forum I cannot tell The Guardian the words I would like to say. Yours sincerely, Fred Mitchell MP
THE STADIUM OPENING
The photos of the Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie and his party at the stadium opening are by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services. THE PHOTOS OF THE FT. CHARLOTTE OPENING
ANGLICAN BISHOP ISSUES A PASTORAL LETTER ON THE ELECTIONS THE BISHOP OF THE BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS The Rt. Rev'd. Laish Zane Boyd, Sr. ADDINGTON HOUSE Sands Road Telephone: (242) 322·3015, 6 or 7 Fax: (242) 322-4670 (Private) (242) 322-7943 (General) P.O. Box N-7107 Nassau, N.P, Bahamas www.bahamas.anglican.org Email: bishopboyd@bahamasanglican.org A PASTORAL LETTER TO THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF THE BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS FROM THE RT. REV’D. LAISH Z. BOYD, DIOCESAN BISHOP ON THE GENERAL ELECTIONS (To be circulated in every congregation on Sunday, 26th February, 2012. It should be reproduced in bulletins or as a separate flyer for dissemination.) My brothers and sisters of the Anglican family, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Calendar Year. It is my prayer that 2012 will bring to you every blessing, peace, fulfillment and lasting joy in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, National General Elections are approaching. This season affects all of us, and should be the concern of every Bahamian citizen and resident, because its outcome has direct bearing on the quality of life in this country and on the availability of opportunity. The Bible speaks to us on this matter in a well-know story. Jesus is asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor or not. He responds with His timeless utterance: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s (Mark 12:17)”. This was not simply a response to the particular question about whether or not taxes should be paid. Of course, Jesus’ advice was: “Yes, you should pay taxes”. It is also regarded as Jesus’ teaching that His followers should hold due regard for, and apply themselves to, spiritual and temporal (civic and national) things. The Anglican Church has always taught her members to believe and to practice this. As the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese, as your Chief Pastor and Spiritual Friend, I therefore call on all Bahamians to exercise your true stewardship of the gifts, rights and opportunities that God has given to us by doing the following: 1. Ask questions. Read. Listen. Acquaint yourself with the issues. Standing on this foundation, prayerfully draw your own conclusions about what is happening in your country. Each one of us has a right to our own opinions. All of us have different capacities for, and interest in, national issues (as we would with any other sphere of life). However, we have a responsibility to be aware, to make a responsible assessment for ourselves, and to have some hope for, and vision of, what we want for this country. 2. Contribute sensibly to discussions that you may come across on politics, on issues and on “the season”. Concentrate on what builds up rather than on what is destructive. Discuss issues rather than personalities. Already there is far too much discussion of personalities in the current campaign and too little debate on issues. 3. Register! Register! Register! If you are eighteen years of age or older, register to vote. This is a part of the privilege of reaching the “legal age” and of being a “young adult”. 4. Vote! Vote! Vote! On election day, make sure that you go out and vote. Your “voice” is important in the national chorus. 5. Some persons may argue that they only have one vote and that that one vote is not important. I disagree, because elections are decided by the sum total of many “one votes”. Therefore, your one vote is vital to the overall process. If enough “one votes” stay home, we end up with poorer voter turnout and with a less than accurate representation of the views of the majority, that is, the consensus of our nation. 6. Let your decisions and behaviour result from an honest look at the issues rather than from what someone paid you or promised you. Too often in our electioneering, money, goods and favours determine outcomes. 7. Some people are simply not interested or inclined toward being involved in the “nuts and bolts” of the political process, and that is fine. However, I encourage lay persons who are so inclined: (a) to be involved in political parties (b) to be involved in branch activities (c) to get involved in planning, organising, campaigning, working the polls on Election Day, and all other related activities. Some people say that a “Christian” should not be involved in these kinds of things. However, I disagree. If “Christians” are not involved in this process, how will the Gospel be able to influence the process? How can we expect to help to bring morals, ethics, right behaviours, right procedure and an elevated standard if we absent ourselves. The Gospel cannot influence the society unless Christ’s followers seek to Christianize their environment by taking Christ into the “highways and byways.” The problem is that often some of us who claim to follow Christ do not take His values with us everywhere we go. We have one behaviour for Sunday, or for when we are attending church-centred activities, or for when certain persons are “watching”, and another behaviour for elsewhere. Shame on us. I also call on Anglicans and citizens in general, to look honestly at our beloved Bahamas. This is a wonderful place to live. We have our challenges like any other country, but we are blessed and fortunate in so many ways. We face many issues that are not the fault of any one political party. They are simply issues in our reality. These same issues do not call for a petty, partisan, or mud-sling approach, but for a sustained and continuous national effort by the leaders (government and opposition) of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, her agents and agencies, in collaboration with, and supported by, the people. At some times and in some areas, successive governments of this country have seen themselves and have styled themselves as “undoing” what their predecessors have done rather than collaborating on a sustained, broader and seamless vision for the real well-being and advancement of this country. It takes immense political will and political maturity on the part of all concerned to rise above “party” and to think “country”. Too often in recent times, political parties have not displayed enough of this maturity. It is of particular importance when we think of a number of critical issues that we now face for which there are no simple solutions. A number of them are: 1) The Economy The global economic recession continues to impact our country. I can think of few other matters that will take every sector of the society to combat and to manage. It will take the public and the private sectors, businesses, families and individuals all cutting back, prudently managing available resources, while looking out for and helping those who are in need of help. 2) Crime Crime remains a concern, as it should be. The police have a job to do and must always be equipped, challenged and given the authority to do it without undue interference or obstruction from government, politicians or citizens. We commend the police for their valiant effort in their fight against crime. But the most effective law enforcement agency of all is the citizens. We must be honest and uphold the law. We must not tolerate others who commit offences and we must report crimes. 3) The Judicial System We have to commend the efforts of successive governments to speed up the process by which criminal matters pass through the legal system. However, it will take the government, the judiciary, the police and the legal profession to continue this process. Justice delayed is justice denied. No one of the above groups should be able to stall inordinately or unreasonably the resolution of a case before the court. 4) Education Education remains a big challenge for this country. Too many parents and homes are not stressing the importance of education to their children. The Ministry of Education cannot solve this. However, the Ministry can make sure that teachers and other staff are in place and that they perform. Teachers must have the tools and the authority to do their job. They must be in charge of their class. No child should be socially promoted without having the skills that he/she really needs to advance. On the other hand, we must find some educational experience and an environment in which such students would be able to learn at their pace and become productive citizens. 5) Health Any government of The Bahamas has the tremendous and thankless task of providing healthcare for a diverse society. Demands upon, and expectations of, the system are increasing at a rate with which human and material resources almost cannot keep pace. Stakeholders continue to work hard to keep this machinery moving, and we urge those who work in the system to continue to rise to the task. I commend the government and the National Insurance Board for their implementation of the drug prescription program whereby thousands are being assisted. I look forward to the day when even more people, especially the uninsured, could be covered by some form of a national health insurance scheme. In the meantime, I urge Bahamians to take better care of their bodies by engaging in a better diet and regular exercise. Remember, in the final analysis, we are our own primary health care givers. It is irresponsible for us to mistreat our bodies and then to expect the government – or the medical profession - to be responsible for ‘picking up the pieces’. 6) Red Tape Heavy bureaucracy, slow processes and inefficiency continue to be an issue in too many of our public institutions. This is, in part, a reflection of the attitudes of some people who work in these areas. On the other hand, I am also cognizant of the fact that many public servants and public corporation workers toil extremely hard to deliver prompt service to the general public. I salute them for this. It is still up to leaders and citizens to demand and to agitate for improvement. Unfortunately, this attitude of mediocrity in the work place is also reflected in the private sector. If we as a country are planning to compete in a global environment, our national work ethic has to improve. 7) The Number of Vehicles The number of vehicles on our streets is increasing month by month. We are approaching gridlock, a small part of which we experienced with the recent road works in New Providence. This vehicular increase cannot continue unchecked indefinitely without some concrete plan for limiting the number. Government and other sectors must dialogue to find a fair and workable solution before the network grinds to a halt. 8) Public Transportation This leads to a related concern about the lack of a safe, reliable, coordinated public transportation system. Poor people, children, the elderly and citizens in general suffer inconvenience, limitation and danger because of this. Young people, women and those who must transport small children early in the morning or late at night are severely disadvantaged. We cannot have a situation where the persons who need our protection most are left unprotected. This is a matter that must be addressed. 9) Constituency Boundaries There is a pressing need for an independent boundaries commission. This would ensure that political constituencies are determined by a non-partisan, scientific, transparent method that can withstand objective scrutiny and that is not controlled by the whim and will of the government of the day. Successive governments have been guilty of this. Conclusion This selection of varied yet critical issues drives home the point that even in the election season, there are many, many national priorities that call us to have a wider, non-partisan view of national well-being and to have a vision of our country’s future that is not principally party-centred. Keep Christ in the campaign by saying and doing what Jesus would do. Please join me in praying for safe and high-quality National General Elections. Yours in Christ, The Rt. Rev’d. Laish Boyd Sr. BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF THE BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS +LB/jdng 22nd February, 2012 STALWART COUNCULLOR B WRITES FROM FREEPORT THE ISLAND PALMS FORMERLY FREEPORT INN Ingraham, in a recent meet the press moment, denied that his government even knew of the Haitian President’s visit; what kind of fools does this man think we are? Does Ingraham really want us to believe that his government knew nothing about the Haitian President’s visit until just before his plane landed? My God this FNM government really does take us for jackasses. It is my view, I submit, that Ingraham arranged for the man to come here and no doubt asked him to appeal, albeit subtly, to Bahamians of Haitian ancestry to support his FNM party. He did something similar in the 2007 general elections when he used Ms. Jetta Baptist at his party’s rallies to get on stage and speak to them in Creole; the man is a desperate Negro at this time. Absolute power corrupts and Ingraham, right now, is corrupted with absolute power; he doesn’t want to let go. He will do anything; resort to any measure; throw anyone under the bus; accuse Christie and the PLP for everything that’s wrong in the country (notwithstanding it is he and the FNM who have been in power for 15 of the last 20 years) and he will employ any trick (as he has done in the case of Mr. Martelly’s visit) to hold onto political power. The man is so corrupt with power that I don’t believe he will survive physically when he awakes on the morning after the general elections and find that he is no longer prime minister. I am dead serious about this; I believe he will go completely bananas (crazy). Animals in the wild would always stay near (or migrate for days) to where there is a watering hole; it contains that all important life-saving liquid; humans do the same. At the official opening of Obie Wilchcombe’s campaign headquarters, in West Grand Bahama, on Friday night 17th February there were (without contradiction) far more than 10,000 persons in attendance; all of them dressed in their yellow regalia. The FNM followed on Saturday night 18th February with the opening of Norris Bain’s headquarters in the Marco City constituency; they tell me that the crowed was estimated at no more than 2000 but more realistically 1300. Now we all know that crowds at rallies do not vote but certainly the crowds in this case proves that the people of Grand Bahama do not want to hear anymore of Ingraham’s lies. By the way the man was dressed, I am told, in a black suit; getting ready for the FNM’s funeral maybe? He said, during his speech I am told, that quote; “I did my best for you hear in Grand Bahama and if you not satisfied with that you can VOTE me out” unquote; that we will do you BASTARD; that we will do. Running Ms. Daisy Henry Kissinger In Town
This must be troubling to Mr. McCartney. It suggests that those on the first night of the DNA last year were mere curiosity seekers who had not bought into the ra ra of the DNA.
Whitney Bastian, who had been rejected by both the PLP and the FNM as a candidate, and was hoping to be the DNA’s candidate for South Andros is reported to have caused the launch night crowd last year to swell. Since last year’s launch, Mr. McCartney and Mr. Bastian have fallen out. Mr. Bastian brought in hundreds from Andros to the launch last year. Last Wednesday, there was no Mr. Bastian and no people.
As to the performance on the night of the event on Wednesday last, what is interesting is the selection of Chris Mortimer, the cinema owner, over Wayne Munroe, the attorney for Deputy Leader of the party seems to be lending credence to the view that Mr. Mortimer has been more generous with financial support for the party. The old saying is: “he who pays the piper plays the tune.”
As for Mr. McCartney, the leader of the party, clearly in his speech it became certain the more he went on that he is not ready for prime time. In terms of substance and content: long stuff about immigration about which he is obviously comfortable. He offered again a referendum on citizenship. The offer would if successful lead us to be in breach of our international treaty obligations.
Then he went into the economy. His only point was lowering the prime rate. He argued that the banks must take a haircut on loans and outstanding on mortgages. This is hardly the way a Prime Minister in a democracy approaches changes of public policy.
Perhaps Mr. McCartney does not know or appreciate that in lowering the prime rate, it has implications for the country’s largest saving fund the National Insurance Fund. If you wipe out fifty per cent of their interest income, there is immediately a problem. This may require funds from the Treasury to make up the shortfall. How does that make any sense? Leading bankers as they listened to him were asking: whose advising him?
Then the sophomoric idea that unions must be a part of the negotiating team for the international investments coming into the country.
Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, must have been sorely disappointed in the crowd that showed up at his opening in South Beach last week. You could have thrown a rock in the place and it would not have hit a soul in the place save some old folk sitting at the front. Mr. Ingraham’s point in these openings that he has been having is to foreshadow his platform. It is clear that he has no new ideas. The South Beach opening was the second of his major forays in policy matters on the stump. He claims that in the next term, the FNM is going to build 3000 houses. This is supposed to be a big show stopper. It is not. He has no credibility on that score. Presumably and clearly Mr. Ingraham is smarting from the fact that the PLP asserts truthfully that they built more houses in five years than he did in his first ten year. That is why in his last platform he said he would build 2000 home . He did not even match the 1400 built by the PLP. So who can believe him know that he says he will build 3000. Not even his mother would believe him.
So this is just a numbers thing. In public policy terms, Hubert Ingraham is still stuck in the 1960s style, the government does housing. Today there is a private sector that can build houses. When the policy of government building began, there was no such possibility in the private sector. Today there must be arrangements made for the poor who cannot qualify for any house. He is ignoring a whole underclass. There is a new thinking needed in housing. Mr. Ingraham simply does not have it.
Algernon Allen when he was minister under the FNM to his credit thought up some new things in Ross Corner and in Kemp Road: building homes for those who could not afford to buy a house or qualify for a loan.
Memo to Mr. Ingraham: before the government (the FNM) can build 3000 new houses they have to try to allow people to keep what houses. They have got to stop the record foreclosures. No Mr. Ingraham, no one is fooled by you. In any event, do not hurt your big head, the PLP will do the job when they win later this year.
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE –FREEPORT’S RALLY
After the death of Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield in May of 1990, Hubert Ingraham was elected leader of the FNM that same year. Ingraham immediately set up a headquarters at the Sunrise Shopping Centre as a base of operation from which the fight, the by-election to retain the Marco City which was held by the fallen former leader, Sir Cecil.
So it was fitting for the FNM to start its 2012 Freeport campaign in Marco City at the Sunrise Shopping Centre headquarters. The Sunrise parking lot spanned from Sunrise Highway to the service road at the rear. This spot had brought Ingraham so much good political fortunes in the past. It was also from this spot that phrase was coined “Grand Bahama is FNM Country,” that was 1990.
Last night we saw a game of political smoke and mirrors being played out for the television audience. At the opening of the headquarters for the first time the stage was set to the rear of the building and the service road. Not the center of the parking lot as was the custom from the 90’s. The little side street was then shut off and barricaded to give the impression that a large crowd was assembled. In the end, fewer than nine (900) people attended this rally.
The look on Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s face telegraphed the story that he knew that his political fortunes had changed for the worse. Using a biblical term, he must have thought, “how have the mighty fallen.” As he sat in the front of the stage last night waiting to go on and give his speech, he must have asked himself, how did we get to this?
Mr. Ingraham’s Free National Movement administration has for the past four and a half plus years have neglected the economy of Grand Bahama. This has led to most of the major churches on the island appealing to their members to help restock the various pantries. In most cases because of the distress of the economy, these churches are overwhelmed by the request for food. Recently a church had a day of celebration in a local parking lot where they gave gifts of all sorts along with food. And, when the choice was given to the children as to receiving toys or food items, in most cases, the children opted for food. When small children opt for food over toys, you know you have a community in distress.
I predict, the FNM on Election Day by 1:30 p.m., would have lost every single seat on Grand Bahama. This would have come about not because any sophisticated campaign by the opposition, but because of the way the government ignored the poor among us.
The government in the end would have failed the people because they lost sight of what is important to the human family that being food, clothing, and shelter. From these necessities all other life necessities follow.
In the end 2012, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham would have come full circle back to Marco City where he began as a champion of the poor and downtrodden. And in the process ending his political career in Marco City because of his neglect of the poor, and conducting himself in a manner not consistent with the high office that he holds.
Stalwart Councilor B
Forrester Carroll writes this week from Freeport on the failures of the FNM administration in social services. He says that Loretta Butler Turner the State Minister has been a failure. That poverty has increased under the FNM’s watch and that an IDB repot shows that the social safety programmes left in place by the PLP are not getting to the poorest in the country. Finally, he predicts that Loretta Butler Turner will lose in her attempt to win a seat in Long Island.
The IDB’s report exposed just how dysfunctional the social services department has become, since Melanie Griffin left it in 2007, under the Ingraham Administration led by Loretta Butler-Turner. No one could deny that Melanie Griffin would never have allowed the ministry to fall into such a dysfunctional, chaotic state-of-affairs, as cited by the IDB. I’d like to borrow a phase from Godfrey’ Eneas’ notebook and say that the social services department, under the direction of the FNM member of parliament for the Montagu constituency, has been obviously operating in a “Vortex of Ignorance (stupidity).”
The report, submitted by the IDB, went as far as to suggest that the Ingraham Administration has failed to put in place a “means testing” of applicants who would have determined the needs and or benefits required. It also accuses the FNM government of having little or no knowledge of even the basic of information on the welfare programs. Information (they say) such as the total number of persons benefitting from the various social services programs is non-existent; evaluations of the various initiatives, to determine whether they are functioning in an efficient manner or not, are “virtually non-existent” opined IDB officials.
An in depth overview of the management of the various social services programs, under her ministry, reveals that Loretta Butler-Turner (for the last five years) lacked the astuteness necessary to manage the ministry with any degree of efficiency. The report suggested that “the Bahamas’ social security/welfare system is failing ABYSMALLY, where it is most needed, in providing help to the poorest in our society.”
While applications for assistance go through a series of processes, (to determine genuine need) before final approval, still only around 45% of food coupon issuances end up in those poorest of needy households; it shows (certainly) a grave lacking in follow-up procedures by Butler-Turner’s ministry. Allegedly the social services minister spends too much of the company’s time, for which we pay her a decent salary and perks, at her private place of business? I say let the dead bury the dead (for God’s sake woman) and you should carry your large carcass back to the ministry where you can be found when needed. Thank God, Melanie Griffin will be back on the job very soon to deal with these problems.
The IDB, in response to a request from the Ingraham government for a loan of $15 million to carry out certain improvements to the general delivery of social security services to the needy in the country, initiated a full investigation of the current system employed and found, among a number of others, the above anomalies which no doubt will be targeted for improvement as a pre-requisite condition before consideration of any loan approvals.
Loretta Butler-Turner, state minister responsible for the day to day management of the system, offered a most silly and telling response to the IDB’s findings. She said that “with the exasperation of persons coming to the ministry for assistance, it is clear WE are not capturing in a timely fashion those individuals who would be most vulnerable.” “Because of the large number of people in need, she continued, sometimes the most vulnerable would be obliterated by other persons,” she said. This statement (admission) bothers me to the extent that the minister has actually admitted to being helpless and incapable of controlling the situation of widespread, blatant abuses; that is in fact what she has admitted. Well the PLP will solve that problem for her, and the nation, when we win the next general election and re-appoint Minister Melanie Griffin to resume her position as the substantive minister of that most important of portfolios.
Butler-Turner talked about her government wanting to zero in on societal conditions and INTER-GENERATIONAL DEPENDENCY; but it is her government which drove the middle-class out of business and thrust those poor, who were being helped up by the PLP out of their dilapidated conditions, back into the dumps, and back under the bus from where we (PLP) were trying to extricate them. It is her government’s policies which have made it a virtual impossibility for a middle-class to exist in the Bahamas nowadays. Their policies of catering to foreigners, by removing the roadblocks put in place by the PLP to protect certain categories of businesses for exclusive ownership by Bahamians, have had a devastating affect on the ability of Bahamians to compete with foreigners. In the USA they had their “affirmative action;” in the Bahamas we had our “no foreigner enter zone” but the FNM saw fit to abandon that protection for reason or reasons still unknown. Under the FNM, Bahamians have been totally abandoned; foreigners have been preferred over qualified Bahamians for all worthwhile civil service appointments; foreigners have been preferred, over well qualified Bahamians, for worthwhile business acquisitions and foreigners have been preferred over very qualified Bahamians for any worthwhile government contract. That has been the stinking attitude of this foreigner (too) friendly FNM government.
Turner said that her government doesn’t want Bahamians to become welfare dependent; well I’ll be damned; It is, in fact, your FNM government, I repeat (state minister), which is responsible for putting Bahamians, by the thousands, on the unemployment lines and causing them to become dependent on state-sponsored hand-outs. I have yet to meet, madam minister, even one of those Bahamians who would tell me that he/she enjoys standing on those long lines (in the hot sun no less) waiting for your ministry’s hand-outs; not a damn one. Everyone I talk with wants to find employment but there are no jobs to be had and so they are forced to abandon their pride and stand patiently in line, rain or sunshine, until their number is called. You guys should be ashamed of your damn selves for what you’ve done to this once proud people. Unlike the Free National Movement (FNM) the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) feels it has a GENERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY to the struggling poor and needy in our society; we feel that, that responsibility is to pursue governance in such a way that the poor and needy would be helped out from under the bus rather than be crushed by it and that’s our constant goal.
After screwing up, in her ministry and in her constituency, Butler-Turner has now abandoned Montegu and has trekked off to Long Island where she thinks she will have an easy time of it; well there is some news waiting for her in Long Island and it’s not good news. Long islanders are not as stupid as she and Hubert Ingraham think they are. For the last five years the FNM has not seen fit to renovate even the little 2’x2’ Deadman’s Cay airport terminal building. The little shack, at Deadman's Cay Airport, hasn’t had a drop of paint spread on it for years and all the agitation that Long Islanders have been doing for the past five years have fallen on deaf FNM ears. I really don’t know what kind of message Butler-Turner could possibly be taking with her to Long Island but I’ll tell her one thing, Long Islanders will not listen to any more of Ingraham’s FNM lies and garbage. Long Islanders might be seen through the eyes of the FNM leadership as being solidly in the FNM corner but my advice to all of them this time; don’t bet on that. I’ll tell Ingraham, like someone told the Edgecombe girl running for the FNM in West Grand Bahama; “West Grand Bahama is one cheque you would be well advised not to take to the bank because it is bound to bounce on you.” If Long Islanders are going to allow anyone to take them on a train ride it surely wouldn’t be jackasses like Hubert Ingraham and Loretta Butler-Turner; how do I know you ask? I know my people; I am a Long Islander.
Long Islanders will reject Loretta Butler-Turner just like they rejected Jimmy Knowles, before her, when they told Ingraham not to send him back to them. We long islanders move with once voice, usually, and this time that voice is calling for ALEX STORR, a son of the soil, all the way. There are no more UBP/FNM strongholds in this country; Hubert Ingraham has seen to that and you can thank him for it.
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
February 2012.
Just a photo of Dan Theoc, a Bahamian who is the head of the power company in Jamaica who made the news in the Jamaica Gleaner warning the new PNP government that they have to make the deadline to get natural gas available if the construction of a new power plant for Jamaica at US 610 million dollars is to go ahead and get started on time.
There’s Another Dengue Outbreak
We have received a report that there is a dengue fever outbreak in the Carmichael Road area of New Providence. The fever which is spread by mosquitoes cut a swath through The Bahamas last year resulting in several deaths. It subsided after the summer rains. Now we are told that leave has been cancelled for all environmental health sprayers and they have been called in to work overtime on tomorrow to spray the area in Carmichael Road. The Minister of Health must give an explanation to the country.
A friend of this column and a school mate in college of Fred Mitchell MP Clarence Stukes had the honour of reading of children in the District of Columbia in the United States with the wife of Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State. Mr. Stukes is himself a specialist in education and travels around the world at the behest of the United States State Department advising countries on their education systems.
Flash Art Commentary
Hubert Ingraham's Gay Strategy
The most recent intelligence coming out of the FNM is that Hubert Ingraham is traveling around with his wife. This is to contrast with the PLP which he wants to portray as a party of homosexuals. The interesting things is that many are questioning how it is that the school principal, even though the wife of the Prime Minister is on a public platform with an FNM T shirt on. Mrs. Ingraham as a principal should not be engaged in any political activity. t is prohibited for people at her administrative level in the service. Others have speculated that the real reason for the accompaniment though has nothing t do with the PLP but everything to do with quelling the stories of extra marital assignations and to ensure that the distaff side keeps a check on this behavior.
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) posted this photo of their meeting in Sea Breeze on Facebook on 18th February. The picture was posted to show that the numbers of supporters of the DNA are not dwindling.
Ingraham In Freeport
There was a launch in Freeport on Saturday 19th February for the campaign of Norris Bain. the campaign poster describes him as a man of integrity. This is a man who applied to the PLP for a nomination, then pulled out and ran to the FNM for a nomination. Integrity? Interesting. Then Hubert Ingraham when he was speaking accused the PLP of starting crime because the lawyers in the PLP represented drug criminals and all they were thinking about was money. Interesting, he forgets of course that Philip Davis and he was partners. In that partnership Mr.Ingraham made money, shared in the profits to the extent of sixty per cent of everything that Mr. Davis earned.
The Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette must explain this recent photo of a sitting
ambassador of The Bahamas dressed in party paraphernalia of the Free National Movement
on a public platform in The Bahamas last week. Please explain this.
The masters of Bahamaspress.com the most popular news site in the country have reported that their site has been hacked and when you put in the address it takes you to a site which is not theirs. It si believed that someone previously associated with the site's development has hacked the site at the behest of the Free National Movement. The developers are working to correct the problem. We at this site are seeking to take measures to protect ourselves against similar issues. you may see bahamaspress.com on Facebook or by using this new address:
http://205.186.134.176
26th. Feburary ,
2012
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CHRISTIE CALLS INGRAHAM LIAR IN CHIEF
ANGLICAN BISHOP ISSUES A PASTORAL LETTER ON THE ELECTIONS
STALWART COUNCULLOR B WRITES FROM FREEPORT
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… a Bahamian Foreign Service officer by a document which they have now clothed with Parliamentary immunity initiates a meeting with an agent of a foreign government; she makes to that foreign government agent an allegation or corruption against a Bahamian minister, her boss at the time. She admits she has no evidence but makes the allegation anyway. Before doing so, she did not complain to the Permanent Secretary of her ministry, the Bahamian Commissioner of Police, the Bahamian Leader of the Opposition, then Hubert Ingraham, nor the Bahamian Prime Minister then Perry Christie. She did not even go to the Bahamian press. This is an officer who is sworn to uphold the integrity of the Bahamian state, who by the government’s own document has provided information to a foreign state, yet by all accounts that officer is still sitting in office.
This is a fundamental issue which needs to be addressed. In the wake of the police report being published about Dorothy LeFluer last week, the public has the evidence of malfeasance in public office on her part. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette must say why it is that Dorothy Lefluer is still working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not now the subject of disciplinary action for dismissal from the public service.
We are advised that on the day the story broke about her alleged complicity in selling visas, she left the office and went into hiding. However, she soon returned and told people not to worry about it because it will blow over in ten days and no one will remember it. This is an amazing bit of check on her part.
It can only come of course because she has high level protection in this matter. She is protected by the same Permanent Secretary who refused to comply with a lawful ministerial order to remove the officer from her duty where it was first alleged that she was selling visas. That Permanent Secretary Patricia Rodgers is still at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and continues to offer protection to this allegedly corrupt officer.
The public must be now asking the question since the Minister knows, the Prime Minister knows why are they continuing to allow this go on without some action?
The central point of Ms. LeFluer to the Americans, an act of a traitor, is that the Minister was pressuring her to issue visas to Chinese that were not bona fide. However, the law gives the Minister the power, not Ms. Lefluer. She has no power. It is the Minister's power. She has no say in the matter. So it is impossible for the Minister to pressure her, since she is only carrying out his power. She has herself mixed up like conch salad.
We are calling for disciplinary action for her dismissal from the public service for being a traitor and for being corrupt.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 25th February 2011 up to midnight: 247,305
Number of hits for the month of February up to Saturday 25th February 2011 up to midnight:646,596
Number of hits for the year 2012 up to Saturday 25th February 2012 up midnight:1,427,733
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL: placid_point@yahoo.com
We found the comments of Duane Sands, the heart doctor and FNM Senator to be absolutely amazing. On Wednesday 22nd February when the Senate met, the press reported that Dr. Sands was complaining that he had been the victim of vicious gossip in pursuit of a political motive. He blamed as most FNMs do the PLP for his problem. There were stories circulating that his wife had packed up and left him and that he was going with a woman Sarah Friday. Dr. Sands also said that he does not condone character assassination. He apologized to his wife Sakina and to Sarah Friday a colleague at the Princess Margaret Hospital and her husband Andrew Davis for blows which Dr Sands said were intended for him. He called it “the lowest form of hate speech, character assassination and putrid public utterances”. Now we find this absolutely amazing. This fellow Duane Sands sat in the senate and watched his colleague and leader in the Senate attack Fred Mitchell in the lowest and basest terms and said nothing and now he says he does not condone character assassination. The truth is not in him. These are crocodile tears.
By CELESTE NIXON
Tribune Staff Reporter
cnixon@tribunemedia.net
PLP Senator Jerome Fitzgerald accused Senator Dion Foulkes of negligence in his presentation of allegations against PLP MP Fred Mitchell.
This came during Mr. Fitzgerald's contribution to the Senate debate on amendments to the Parliamentary Election Act, during which Mr. Foulkes admitted he was not aware of the police investigation into the foreign affairs official who accused Mr. Mitchell, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, of attempted visa fraud.
Mr. Fitzgerald said he is "offended" by the way the Senate has functioned over the last two sessions.
He said rather than debate important legislative matters before Parliament on the eve of an election, the governing party is using the Senate for political purposes.
Mr. Fitzgerald said: "It appears to me that unfortunately the Senate is being manoeuvred and used to play a political game."
Referring to the visa fraud allegations, Mr. Fitzgerald said Mr. Foulkes should have been aware of a report on the police's investigation into Mr. Mitchell's accuser, issued on May 8, 2007, which showed who was at fault and where the corruption really lay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He added that based on the report's findings, the civil servant who accused Mr. Mitchell was removed from the department by the newly appointed FNM Foreign Affairs Minister.
On a point of order, Mr. Foulkes rose to say he was unaware of the police investigation or its findings at the time he tabled the Wikileaks cables in which Mr. Mitchell is accused.
He said: "I never knew about the report from the police, as a matter of fact the first time I read the report was when it was revealed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Fred Mitchell, and that's the first time I read the report," he said.
Either Mr. Foulkes knew about the report, or neglected to research the matter properly, Mr. Fitzgerald said.
"It was a dereliction of duty on his (Mr. Foulkes') part to come and talk about an incident without speaking to the minister responsible to get the facts," he said.
Mr. Fitzgerald said the Fox Hill MP nor his colleagues were given an opportunity to defend the allegations made against Mr. Mitchell prior to the suspension of the Senate.
He said the Senate should not be a place to scandalize members or attack their reputation.
On February 15, Mr. Foulkes tabled a US Embassy cable released by Wikileaks, in which it was claimed the Fox Hill MP pressured Foreign Affairs staff to grant visas to 30 ineligible Chinese nationals.
The document details a conversation between a former US consular chief and a senior Foreign Affairs official, who claimed the visa applicants were sponsored by former PLP MP Sidney Stubbs.
The civil servant accused Mr. Mitchell of "complicity in visa fraud by pressuring his staff to issue visas to ineligible visa applicants and, specifically, to unqualified Chinese nationals," the embassy official wrote in his cable to the State Department.
Denying the claims, Mr. Mitchell produced a police report showing his accuser was herself suspected of issuing visas in return for cash.
A statement issued by Mr. Mitchell called the allegations "well worn stories" issued by a "disgruntled employee."
He said: "The allegations are in every particular untrue, false and misleading. I demand a retraction and apology from the minister (Mr. Foulkes) from forthwith for repeating these false statements in public if he has any decency."
Coderro Bethel 21 was charged on Thursday 23rd February with killing Stephen Sherman, a former banker with the Royal Bank of Canada and from all accounts a fine and upstanding family man. We reported the story on this site last week. The case has now been solved. According to the newspaper however, some excellent work by The Tribune’s Paul Turnquest, there is a sordid under story to the matter. The newspaper reported that the wife of the late Mr. Sherman may have been involved in a plot to kill her husband. It is said that she took out a life insurance policy of $500,000 on him a short time ago and the person who is now charged with the murder in his confession statement said that he was offered some $30,000 to $40,000 by the wife to kill her husband. The news was that the wife was also to be charged with aiding and abetting the murder. The fact is charge or no charge, this is a shocking story that the newspapers obviously feel so confident in that they are willing to risk the defamation laws to print the story. The question all Bahamians must be asking yet again: is how is it that life in The Bahamas has become so cheap? How is it that that we are so morally depraved that you cannot even trust the woman that you are sleeping with in your own house? The report is that she has lived continuously above her means, always in debt for things and bill collectors were everywhere. Mr. Sherman deceased would complain quietly to friends but was staying in the marriage because he believed in marriage and the sanctity of his family. Now the man is dead. This was a man that not only took care of his children but he was caring for his ailing mother who is an Alzheimer’s patient. Now who is going to take care of her? He personally did this by taking her into his home and personally caring for her. This is simply morally depraved. His wife ought to be ashamed of herself. So we hope that this is a case of swift justice; that this matter is dispensed with in the courts quickly so that the case can be closed. The young man who did this must spend the rest of his natural life in jail and Mr. Sherman’s wife there with him.
The House of Assembly met on Monday 20th February and what a colossal waste of time that was. The meeting was called ostensibly for the government to answer questions of the Opposition. These questions have been outstanding on the order paper for two years. When you read behind the lines however it was clear from the long rambling answer of the Minister of Works to the two year old question on the roads that the government was trying to sing a song about the road works and how they were not really giving all the road contracts to Brent Symonette’s Bahamas Hot Mix. What a profound lie that is? Secondly and just as importantly, the government also knew that next on the agenda for the House of Assembly was the presentation of reports from Committees. One Committee that has to report is the Public Accounts Committee which is the only Committee headed and dominated by the Opposition. Dr. Bernard Nottage, Messrs Frank Smith and Ryan Pinder are committee members for the PLP. The government’s representative on the Committee is Deputy Speaker Kwasi Thompson. Mr. Thompson rarely came to meetings of the Committee during its deliberation stage and was responsible for the delay the last time the House met because he had not read or signed the report. It now appears that he does not support the majority report and wants to read his own minority report. The government therefore suspended the House after answering the questions so the agenda could not continue and again, the report of the Public Accounts Committee will not be read. After the House suspended, PLP representatives lead by Perry Christie, their leader met in the Committee room to explain their position. The Leader of the PLP indicated along with the Committee Chairman that come what may the report will be put into the public domain. The House of Assembly meets again on 5th March. The photo of the press conference by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services.
MITCHELL RESPONDS TO NASSAU GUARDIAN DEMAND
We like to connect the dots with things. Last week in this column we wrote a piece in which we again criticized the ethics of Candia Dames who as a journalist at the Nassau Guardian appears to be serving two masters: her politics and her profession. The immediate issue last week was the fact that the Nassau Guardian carried a headline in the newspaper which accused the former Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell of corruption. The headline however was not justified as accurately reflecting what the news was on that occasion. The Tribune’s headline accurately reflected the news which was the response of the former Foreign Minister to trumped up recycled charges by a Minister of the government who now admits that he did not read the reports from his own government on the matter. See the story above. The Nassau Guardian then did an extraordinary thing and we again believe was motivated by Candia Dames who remains an editor at that paper with an influence beyond her talent. On 21st February, they published an editorial, so this means that this is the official position of the Nassau Guardian that in the face of the trumped up charges by the Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes against Mr. Mitchell, he, Mr. Mitchell that is, should apologize to Dion Foulkes for defending himself. A colleague of Mr. Mitchell called up and said jokingly: “ I see Candia has answered the comment on the website in this morning’s Guardian editorial.” Mr. Mitchell immediately answered the editorial and to the newspaper’s credit, they published his rely in its entirety which we repeat below:
The Editor
The Nassau Guardian
Dear Sir:
I wish to respond immediately to the Nassau Guardian’s editorial of 21stFebruary in which it called for me to apologize to Dion Foulkes for words spoken by me in my own defence last week.
Fox Hill
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham rushed the Ministry of Works and the Chinese government four months before its due date to open officially the new Thomas A. Robinson stadium in an elaborate and expensive ceremony on Saturday 25th February. This was a gift negotiated by Perry Christie, the last Prime Minister under the PLP during a state visit to China in 2004. The stadium was built by the Chinese at a cost of 50 million dollars. The infrastructure put in by The Bahamas government cost some 48 million dollars. This includes the road which are to run up to the new facilities, the parking lots and the water and sewerage connected to the project. The opening ceremony cost the government some 600,000 dollars. The project was advertised widely by FNM partisans are an FNM project and the faithful for the FNM were urged to come. There are a couple of problems. The report is that the opening was rushed by the FNM to fit into their trust agenda for the general election. Secondly, there are several regulatory agencies that have not signed off on the occupancy for the new stadium. Chief amongst these are the Ministry of Works who have not signed off on the plumbing and electrical work. The report is that the facility is not built consistent with the codes of The Bahamas and that significant remedial work has to be done to the stadium in order to bring it up to code. This is likely to be difficult since some of the practices of the Chinese were not what would be acceptable in The Bahamas. We await to see how this is worked out. A story above which is posted as a separate item explains the report that the track and field has to be dug up because the track and field is not officially certified by the IAAF and that the soccer field is not officially certified by FIFA. Both have to be dug up and reportedly have to be redone before it can be accepted so that the new track can be used for any internationally officially sanctioned meets. If that is the case, it again shows that the Prime Minister who says that he is decisive is also showing how quick actions lead to mistakes. The mistake of course has to be paid for by the Bahamian people from their taxes not out of his pocket. That is the problem with all these decisions rushed by the government.
The Progressive Liberal Party official opened its office in Ft. Charlotte with a massive crowd on Monday 20th February. The Leader of the party called on the voters of Ft. Charlotte not to vote for Zhivargo Laing, the FNM’s candidate for Ft. Charlotte. He said that Mr. Laing is to blame for the state of the economy where there is record unemployment. The photos are by Peter Ramsay.
THE PHOTOS OF THE GARDEN HILLS OPENING
The PLP’s candidate for Garden Hills Dr. Kendal Major has proven himself to be one of the most energetic and successful of the next generation of PLP leadership. He is making his mark in Garden Hills. Dr. Major was introduced formally to the people of Garden Hills on Friday 24th February. Party Leader for the PLP Perry G. Christie was there for the formal opening of the constituency office together with thousands of PLP supporters from across the country. The photos are from the PLP’s Facebook page.
THE PLP ISSUES STATEMENT ON STADIUM OPENING
The following statement was issued by the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal party Bradley Roberts on the occasion of the opening of the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium on Saturday 25th February.
Saturday February 25, 2012
“BAHAMIANS, ENJOY THE STADIUM OPENING: YOU PAID FOR IT”
Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party Bradley B Roberts said today that Bahamians should enjoy every minute of the stadium opening, pointing out it was their money paying for the celebration.
“Bahamians might not have chosen to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a party when so many of our people are in deep trouble and could use some help. But, as usual, the FNM didn’t consult with the people. So Bahamians might as well celebrate the new stadium – it’s our money they’re spending for the party.”
Roberts said that the Progressive Liberal Party was proud that Perry Christie had negotiated for the stadium. “We have a stadium today because of Perry Christie. It was his idea, his negotiations, and his plan for improvements.”
Roberts saluted the legendary Tom Robinson, for whom the stadium was named, noting that Robinson had won the first two medals for The Bahamas in Commonwealth Games history, and competed for The Bahamas on the world stage, including in four Olympic games.
“I believe Bahamians can compete on the world stage in all areas, including athletics, when they are given opportunities and support. So I’m very pleased a new generation of Bahamian athletes will have the facility they deserve in which to train and display their talents.”
Noting the timing of the stadium opening, just prior to elections, Roberts expressed confidence that Bahamians would still remember years of FNM mismanagement. “Underneath the big show, the FNM is a party that cannot keep Bahamians safe, a party which never puts Bahamians first, and a party which has no clue how to create jobs or invest in people. I think Bahamians know the difference between a party which can put on a big show and a party which knows how to govern.”
Roberts pointed to the ways in which FNM policies had deepened the impact of the recession: “The FNM raised taxes on Bahamians when other governments were reducing tax burdens to help people through tough times. The FNM hired foreigners — again and again — when Bahamians needed jobs. The FNM delayed projects and contracts only because they were started by the PLP — they held up projects for political reasons – when the local economy needed the investment and people needed the jobs. They made the recession so much worse. The middle class has lost ground — people are losing their homes, can’t keep the lights on. Families are struggling with the basics. Bahamians will celebrate the stadium opening, thank both the PLP and the FNM for the new stadium, and then vote for change and a new direction — they’re going to vote gold this year.”
CHRISTIE CALLS INGRAHAM LIAR IN CHIEF
It was a hard hitting address by the Leader of the PLP at his Garden Hills launch on Friday 25th February. He named Hubert Ingraham, the Prime MInister as Liar in Chief. We agree and we say its about time. You may click here for the full statement of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Anglican Bishop of the Bahamas, The Turks and Caicos Islands Laish Boyd has issued a pastoral letter to the faithful just in time for the general election. We show the letter in its entirety below:
Last week, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced that the government of the Bahamas was planning on purchasing the now closed Island Palms Hotel formerly Freeport Inn for the expansion of the Rand Memorial Hospital. This misguided idea was supported by three of the FNM candidates: the candidate for Marco City; Pineridge; and East Grand Bahama. They though it a good enough idea to go in front of the building for a photo opportunity to show their support.
According to the FNM web site, Mr. Norris Bain is the Prinicipal of a local high school and an Associate Pastor of a local church. According to the same web site, Mr. Bain holds a Master’s Degree; Mr. Peter Turnquest has an MBA and is a Certified Public Accountant; Mr. Quasi Thompson is the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and a practicing Attorney with 15 (fifteen) years called at the Bahamas Bar. These three men boast of impressive credentials in their varied fields. So why would these men support an idea to purchase a fifty-year old building on a two-acre parcel of land for two million ($2,000,000.00) dollars for the expansion of the Rand Memorial Hospital with monies from the public purse? If it were their personal funds, would they consider this a wise investment?
Freeport is the industrial capital of the Bahamas and as such should have a modern hospital. The recent tragic accident at the Container Port resulted in three persons losing their lives when a tornado touched down. This incident showed us how inadequate our health care facility is: On that day, the hospital ran out of bed space which is a common occurrence on any normal day. The government’s response to this accident was to add on to the accident and emergency area; and a new operating theater. This renovation, however, had the net effect of leaving the Rand with less bed space than before the additions.
The Rand was built some forty-five years ago to service the new city of Freeport. The Freeport clinic as it was called in those days was projected to have a life span of fifty years for the building. Over the years, a series of additions were made to the structure until today, the site is completely landlocked. There is not enough parking space and no more room for further expansion hence the idea to purchase the old Freeport Inn. This structure is older than the Rand with cast iron plumbing and outdated electrical, so for the government to invest two million dollars would be a waste of the tax payers money.
The Port Authority made available to the government of the Bahamas a thirty-acre tract of land just of Sunrise Highway near the Lucayan circle for a modern hospital. This would give the government the ability to plan in a stage approach and develop a new hospital. Given our current economic crises, no one expects the government to expend one hundred million dollars to develop a new health care facility; but, if we created a master plan and use a phase approach, we would receive value for money instead of investing in a building that have come to the end of its useful life. To refurbish this old building it will require large sums of tax payer money, and it will still be inadequate.
When parents invest huge sums of money in higher education for their children they expect to see a return on their investment. They expect that their children would be able to stand before kings, princes, or prime minister and say to these leaders where their ideas are not sound that they will not support them. Instead what we see here are three highly educated individuals in Mr. Bain, Turnquest and Thompson following the prime minister in supporting a bad idea that is not in the interest of Grand Bahama. Could it be that the lust for power has caused them to go against their better judgment…….a sad state of affairs.
Stalwart B
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Forrester Carroll writes from Freeport about the visit of the Haitian President Michell Martelly to The Bahamas. He says that it was Hubert Ingraham who invited the President here to speak to the Haitian community in a desperate bid to win the general election. He says that the President overstepped his bounds and that Mr. Ingraham is taking us for fools by denying that the President came here with his blessing.
Cognizant of the strong ebb tide, of political power, flowing away from him, and feeling the swelling adrenalin of the Bahamian people’s anger and hatred mounting against him (for the years of FNM government abuse and neglect), Ingraham (like a wounded Lioness in a desperate move to defend her cubs from being killed by the new king of the pride) brought in the big guns from Haiti to appeal to those Bahamian voters (of Haitian decent) for their support. Realizing that his FNM party has already lost the majority indigenous Bahamian support Hubert Ingraham, like any desperate tyrant would do, sought to sure up some support from this block of new Bahamians; but guess what, it all back-fired on the sucker big time. Bahamians immediately saw the nasty, dirty trick he was attempting play on them and they certainly called him out on it. Talk shows were bombarded with calls for the sucker (and his FNM government) to go. Christie’s army of yellow shirts and wrist bands are coming down on him like a ton of bricks (a tsunami if you will) with lightening speed and the sucker is afraid he will get run over; so the watermelon head will resort, now, to any tactic in an effort to stay alive, politically; am afraid, though, his efforts are too little; too late.
One would have thought, after the bashing his government received with the Mackey yard tragedy; when the FNM government made the decision, subsequently, to accommodate those squatters with fire sale prices on lots and houses, that the FNM would have taken note of the volatile sentiments of ordinary Bahamians who themselves would have been delighted to take advantage of those very attractive property prices but no lessons were learned. No sooner we had gotten somewhat pass the Mackey Yard fiasco the Deputy Prime Minister started another ethnic crisis with the mass issuance of Bahamian citizenships to this selective one group. That issue has been on the minds of Bahamians for months and now comes this episode of the unwise utterances of this visiting Haitian Head of State. It seems like Ingraham has no shame and the total disregard he has shown for the Bahamian people will be repaid (in kind) when the Bahamian people use the only tool they have at their disposal, in the next general elections, to throw the rascal FNMs out of power for good. Make no mistake about it, Ingraham wants to win (at any cost) because absolute power (for him) is sweeter than life itself and he will not go down without a fight to the death.
Martelly came here, I submit, at Ingraham’s behest and made an ass of himself. I submit further that Martelly followed, precisely, Ingraham’s request and in the process breached all international protocols by interfering in our country’s internal affairs for which he should be sanctioned. There is no question that President Martelly, unwisely, sought to encourage Bahamian citizens, who may be of Haitian extraction, to band together in a block and vote for the political party which (he said) best serves their interest (meaning the FNM). The man was out of order and he crossed the line of all diplomatic international norms. The president’s conduct, in this regard, warranted an exchange of diplomatic notes; these things are just not done, not even by ordinary diplomats in the Foreign Service of countries posted overseas. We should all vividly remember the racist, US Ambassador Blankenship, who was quietly recalled by President George W Bush for meddling in our politics, in a similar fashion, a few years ago. It was during the time the Hon. Fred Mitchell was foreign minister, in the Christie Administration, that the racist was thrown out of the country. Mitchell had the sucker sent back to his home in the USA, where he can practice his racism freely, never to be heard from again. What’s up with these foreigners and the FNM? Every last one of them seems to favor an FNM government, in the Bahamas, and I keep wondering why? I know the reason (and you know it too) but that’s a subject for another time.
*****To compound his nastiness, Hubert Ingraham shot down all his critics by telling reporters that what Martelly said, he had a right to say; that what Martelly said, he was perfectly entitled to say; well I’ll be damned, I’ve heard it all. Everybody knows that if Christie were prime minister and Martelly, or any other foreign Head of State or ordinary diplomat for that matter, came here and did what he did Ingraham would have had a cat baby. This Ingraham guy is just not to be trusted; he says what best suits his own interest at any given moment. The man really reminds me of Mitt Romney, the flip-flopper of all flip-floppers, who is presently engaged in the battle for the Republican nomination for president of the United States.
In defense of Martelly, some FNM supporters have even been reminding that we shouldn’t expect very much from an entertainer; I belligerently disagree. Diplomats come from many backgrounds; they are taught these basic protocols prior to performing any official duties, on behalf of their respective countries. Martelly wasn’t just elected last week; he was on the job for sometime now and he certainly knows better than to come to this (or any other foreign) country to campaign in our general election. I maintain that he was asked to come here to deliver the speech that he did and that he was coached by none other than Hubert Ingraham himself.
The piss-head, in his usual way of not so subtly implicating the leader of the official opposition, said in response to the harsh criticisms he has been receiving that; “ well the man met with Christie as well and Christie did not tell him he was wrong to have said what he said.” To this my only response would be that “misery likes company.” Ingraham knows, and all of you should know as well, that the Leader of her Majesty’s loyal opposition, in circumstances, is obliged to entertain diplomats who wish to make courtesy calls on him. For the sake of proper protocols Christie could not refuse, even if he wanted to, to see Martelly (notwithstanding Ingraham’s screw-ups) for if he did it would have made the headlines around the world and the fallout, from that act of refusal (snob), would have sent shock waves throughout the diplomatic community, worldwide. Our citizenry must begin to learn about these things and not continue to allow political deceivers, like piss-head Hubert Ingraham, to lead them around like dogs on leashes; you must learn some things for your selves (my brothers and my sisters) and not allow these politicians to always think for you.
Thank you
Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
February 2012.
The FNM has run three different female candidates against Fred Mitchell in Fox Hill in 15 years. First they ran Juanianne Dorsett, then they ran Senator Jacinta Higgs, now they are running Shonel Ferguson. They run the same campaign each time. They are Fox Hill girls, they love the people of Fox Hill and they their people have called them to lead them against this stranger from over town. The message has fallen flat. So we wonder when will the FNM get the message that it’s the PLP that is strong in Fox Hill. That’s why Dion Foulkes is trying to smear Mr. Mitchell.
Ingraham Disappointed In Grand Bahama
The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is looking like an ever more desperate man as he seeks to get himself re-elected to office. The meeting in Freeport to introduce the Marco City candidate Norris Bain was such a flop that he has begun attacking the leaders in Freeport of the FNM. The report is that Kay Smith has been stripped of the official car that she had to use and is now a mere mortal. It is said that Cyril “Boxer” Minnis is being blamed for the lack of organization of the meeting but those in the know say the real reason for the meeting flopping was that the people came from Nassau to organize it and the FNMs in Freeport simply sat on their hands. Add to that the fact that the economy is the tank and they have an candidate in Norris Bain who is perceived not to have any integrity and it is a lethal mix for a good campaign.
KFC On Strike
On Tuesday 21st February, all the Kentucky Fried Chicken stores in The Bahamas closed their doors. The reason is that the owner of the franchise in The Bahamas George Myers announced that he was unilaterally renouncing his voluntary acceptance of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union as the bargaining agent for the workers at KFC. At the heart of the matter is that KFC in The Bahamas argues that as a union shop their labour costs are out of line with the businesses they are running and have to be less than they are. When the Union refused to accept the offer of the company, the company sought to unilaterally impose the conditions on the workers. They blame the union for those costs. The Union shut the places down and applied for a certificate of recognition from Labour Minister Dion Foulkes who immediately announced that he would grant the certificate without holding a poll. We advise George Myers, the owner of the franchise to settle this matter forthwith. He has been in The Bahamas too long to try this kind of power play. He should not allow his association with Butch Stuart the anti labour Jamaican owner of Sandals to influence what he is doing at KFC. He should settle this matter and not let Ferron Bethel his attorney run him into error. The Labour Minister Dion Foulkes ought to get his finger out from under and have the parties come to the table to settle this matter.
Ash Wednesday
This photo of a Young Liberal pilgrim of the Anglican church appeared on Facebook, marking the start of Lent in The Bahamas. This is the six week season which leads up to Easter and is to commemorate the six weeks or forty days that Christ spent in the wilderness prior to his death and resurrection. The palms which the church uses on last Palm Sunday are burnt and the ashes used to mark the foreheads of the believers as the priest says: “ Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return”.
Not Easy Being Green
Former U.S. Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon Henry Kissinger was in town over the weekend. Fred Mitchell MP former Foreign Minister for The Bahamas attended a private dinner at the home of Lady Eugenie Nuttal in Old Fort Bay for Dr. Kissinger.
