BahamasUncensored.Com Archive

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2004

The Prime Minister has now fully embraced foreign affairs as a useful tool of public policy. No other Bahamian Prime Minister before him seems to have taken the matter so seriously. That was the upshot of a pronouncement made by Prime Minister Perry Christie at the Nassau International Airport upon his return from Haiti on Friday 2nd January 2004.

One must be careful, it is easy to get seduced by Foreign Affairs because of the nature of its work, away from the nitty gritty of domestic politics. The Prime Minister in answer to a question about the performance of his Cabinet to date on his return from Haiti and asked further to say what is in store for 2004, said that he expects more visits by foreign leaders to The Bahamas, and he expects to travel more over the next year. He thinks that this is good for The Bahamas. We think he is right.

The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell then has a busy schedule ahead of him as the chief agent for the execution of that foreign policy. By most accounts he has done a fair job in trying to put The Bahamas front and centre on the world stage. Certainly the Prime Minister seems pleased. Over the past year and a half, The Bahamas seems to have been placed just right. The crisis over the difficult US Ambassador was dealt with firmly and now seems squarely behind us, his having left in July of last year. The US president met with our Prime Minister in November 2003. The British Prime Minister met with our Prime Minister in December 2003. The Chinese Vice Premier Madam Wu Yi visited us in January 2003. The Foreign Minister led a delegation to China in September 2003. CARICOM Heads of Government meetings have been attended by our Prime Minister on four occasions in the Caribbean region. The Bahamas has become a big player in trying to solve the Haitian problem. The Prime Minister attended his first Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in December 2003.

The Minister has praised the staff of the Ministry for their work in getting things just right. But he has said that there is much more to be done and has called for a fundamental shift in the way the Ministry carries out its functions so as to better serve The Bahamas.

That part is foreign affairs. But what is more difficult is the domestic political sphere. The Prime Minister gave a technical answer at the airport when asked whether or not he was satisfied with the performance of the Cabinet. He said that so long as the Cabinet is not changed and continues to act under his guidance, the assumption must be that he is pleased with the performance of the Cabinet. He then said that the Government’s work is on course. He also predicted that like other Prime Ministers before him, there would be adjustments in portfolios. He did not give a time frame.

We reported last week that the speculation is rife that there will be major shifts in portfolio allocations within the Government. The Prime Minister told the press that the way he approaches matters of that kind is to begin to discuss with Ministers the reallocations. He said that he had not yet begun that process.

What is also likely to be decided this year is what happens in the Office of Governor General. This will be entering the third year of the PLP's administration and if the actions of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham are anything to go by, a shift in the top post is likely. The present Governor General has done a creditable job and has cemented the image of a country that can get along with persons of another political stripe working together. But year three should see the shift toward more PLP oriented priorities on all fronts.

The hope from us is that whatever happens, we as we continue, all of us Opposition and Government, will continue to work for the common good. As the Anglican prayer says it, let us do the things that make for peace and build up the common life.

James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance in an interview published in The Tribune on Friday 2nd January said that he thought the one problem on the horizon as far as the economy is concerned is the action of the trade unions in settling their dispute in the tourism sector. The news seemed to be in a more positive direction that area as well.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 3rd January 2004 at midnight: 43,439.

Number of hits for the month of December ending Wednesday 31st December 2003 at midnight: 175,472.

Number of hits for the month of January 2004 to midnight 3rd January 2004: 10,269.

Number of hits for the year 2003 up to Wednesday 31st January 2003 at midnight: 1,733,900.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 3rd January at midnight: 10,269.

Prime Minister Christie and Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell reporting to the
Bahamian public on the trip to Haiti at the New Year. BIS photo by Peter Ramsay.

THE MBEKI VISIT—MEMORABLE IMAGES

The visit of the South African President Thabo Mbeki and Mrs. Mbeki with their Foreign Minister Nkososana Zuma to The Bahamas over the Christmas holidays from touch down at 28th December to departure in the wee hours of 1st January 2004 on his way to Haiti was captured in pictures by Bahamas Information Services photographer Peter Ramsay. Many of the images were made available to this column. Today we present many memorable images of the event. Please click here. The couple wowed Bahamians everywhere.
The functions included 28/12, the arrival, a wreath laying at the Nassau War Cemetery, the beat retreat at Rawson Square; 29/12 an official call on the Governor General and the gift of Ventrum Lowe's sailing sloop from Greene Turtle Cay;

a call upon the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, the visit of Mrs. Mbeki to the National Art Gallery and lunch with Mrs. Bernadette Christie; a state dinner at Atlantis; 30/12, breakfast with religious and civic leaders at the British Colonial Hilton, the planting of a lignum vitae tree in Freeport and the lunch there, the tour of the Freeport Container Port, a news conference upon return to Nassau airport, the state reception at Government House; 1/01/04, the visit to Junkanoo including the gifts of a blown glass Junkanoo beller by Freeport’s Sidney Pratt and a Junkanoo painting by Clifford Fernander, the departure at 4 :30 a.m. Top left: Head table at State Dinner - Bottom right: Director of Culture Dr. Nicollette Bethel (left) presents Bahamian Glass Artist Sidney Pratt's Junkanoo beller to the delight of Madame Mbeki at New Year's Junkanoo parade as Mrs. Bernadette Christie, President Mbeki and Minister of Culture Neville Wisdom look on. BIS photos by Peter Ramsay.

THE BAHAMAS & SOUTH AFRICA - KEY PLAYERS

    Some wondered why the South Africans and from an infinitely larger and richer country would expend so much money coming to The Bahamas. The South Africans see themselves as the richest country in Africa and therefore having to take the lead in Africa for democracy and development. They presently see the same in The Bahamas as the richest country in the Caribbean and therefore capable of taking a lead in Caricom's affairs. South Africa wants linkages with the African Diaspora everywhere.
    The South Africans were clearly impressed by the visit. The President and the Prime Minister of The Bahamas have mandated their Foreign Ministers to follow up with concrete steps for strengthening ties in business, in education, in health, in tourism and to follow up on the President's interest in developments in Freeport.
    All in all, it was a good visit. The Prime Minister seemed buoyed by the visit. But for one person in the Government and one alone, it seemed more than a foreign relations success, it can be counted as a personal vindication of years of struggle and ridicule. That Minister shall remain nameless. It doesn’t matter now. All is well.

THE PRIME MINISTER IN HAITI

    Prime Minister Perry Christie said that he had been asked by the Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson of Jamaica to represent Caricom at the 200th anniversary celebrations of the independence of Haiti on 1st January 2004. Prime Minister Christie was energised by the visit. He came back to Nassau saying “The Bahamas can best further its own interests through the pursuit of our own, separate initiatives with the government of Haiti, as we are the state with the most significant Haitian migrant population.”
    While in Haiti, the Prime Minister was briefed on the local political situation in Haiti and announced that Caricom will be sending a fact finding mission to Haiti to investigate matters between the Opposition and the Government, to avoid the further breakdown of a civil polity in Haiti. The South African President Thabo Mbeki also engaged with members of the Opposition for several hours on Friday 2nd January, delaying his departure first to 6 p.m. then 10 p.m. in order to finish the talks. The talks were said to be inconclusive.
    The situation is in danger of spiraling out of control in Haiti but during the celebrations, there were no incidents to affect the celebrations. Tens of thousands of persons turned out to chant for President Jean Bertrand Aristide. The media tended to underestimate the number at the celebrations and over estimate that of those protesting. The Prime Minister also announced that President Aristide might be making an historic visit to The Bahamas to sign the immigration accord between the two countries in the not too distant future.
    You may click here for the full statement by the Prime Minister on Haiti. Prime Minister Christie is greeted by advisors on his return from Haiti's 200th Independence Anniversary celebrations. BIS photo by Peter Ramsay.

SKY MARSHALLS FOR BAHAMASAIR?
    The United States authorities are looking more and more incredible as they expand the inconvenience and danger to the public with a series of alerts and scares in delaying, canceling flights and questioning innocent people as they board airplanes bound for and from the United States. It seems a little more than coincidental that an Air France jet was the first of a series of flights cancelled to the United States on the ground that there was credible evidence of terrorists trying to use it in the United States.
    Was there politics involved getting back at the French for their opposition to the war in Iraq? They have since stopped a British Airways flight, and an Aeromexico flight. The British and the French played along but the Mexicans were apparently livid. The Mexicans told the Miami Herald that the flight was cancelled not because they believed there was credible evidence of a threat, in fact the contrary was so, there was no credible evidence. But Mexico said that they were told by the US authorities that the Mexican plane would not be allowed to land, if it took off for the US.
    Bahamasair like other airlines flying to the US are now to have air marshals, persons with guns and extraterritorial arrest jurisdiction, to fly on board planes and stop anyone trying to take action against a plane. That is another nightmare decision by the US, and brings the wild wild west and Israeli military tactics to civilian flying in The Bahamas. Of course there is no answer to this. The way the US puts things these days is: “You do it or else”.
    The invasion of Iraq was clearly wrong and misdirected, done for political reasons. There is no credible evidence that it has solved any problems related to terrorism. The security alerts now also smell of a Bush campaign for president, rather than real security issues. When this period is examined ten years from now, will it all come out in the wash? From their side, though the argument is better safe than sorry. We suppose there is some logic in that but most people smell a rat.

PEET ORDERS A STOP TO WORK TO RULE

    The Minister of Labour has been a busy man this Christmas. In the middle of all the celebrations and the need to see his family, he had to stop the hotel sector from coming to a grinding halt by irresponsible union leaders and intransigent hotel employers. He did an excellent job especially with such volatile partners on both sides of the divide. The employers threatened to lockout the union. The union took wildcat strike action, even while promising not to do so. Mr. Peet has ordered everyone back to work, and back to the table.
    The question is a long term one, but does the union still have credibility in the country or more correctly does its leader? Some are saying that in the union, the tail is actually wagging the dog. The criticism now coming from the union is that the fact that the Prime Minister was unable to force the employers to accept unconditionally what the union demanded when there is a supposed to be a pro labour PLP Government, shows that the Prime Minister is weak and can’t get the job done. Labour, they argue, have to do it for themselves. That is a grave error in analysis, but of course there is usually no logic involved when you start with a false premise.
    For now both sides said that there has been some progress toward a solution to the crisis. The employees are now back to work and all seems smooth in the hotels.

JACKASS OF THE WEEK

    The Opposition’s Leader outside of the House of Assembly is Tommy Turnquest. Senator Turnquest. He was quoted in the newspaper the Bahama Journal as follows about the visit of the South African President Thabo Mbeki: “I am pleased that the official Opposition was actively involved in President Mbeki’s visit. It displays the democracy we have here in The Bahamas.”
    But never mind that within days of that statement made on Tuesday 30th December, the Chairman of the Free National Movement Carl Bethel, the used-to-be representative for Holy Cross, made a statement that displayed a level of stupidity and ignorance in the extreme. Mr. Bethel claimed that the Prime Minister of The Bahamas owed an apology to the workers of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union because he apologized to South African President Thabo Mbeki for the inconvenience of a go slow during his visit to The Bahamas. Mr. Bethel said: “In criticizing an apparent go slow… and threatening to change the labour laws because he was embarrassed, the flustered Prime Minister attacked the Bahamian workers. This was an international insult to Bahamian hotel workers and to the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union.”
    Mr. Bethel then went on to compare the struggle for a work contract between the Union and the Hotel Employers as similar to that of the Blacks of South Africa struggling for majority rule against apartheid in their country. Mr. Bethel said: “Nothing in the circumstances warranted a public attack of the Prime Minister upon Bahamian workers engaged in lawful industrial action before his South African audience.”
    Yet again, we point out some basics in response to this appalling level of ignorance and petty political sniping. If a guest comes to your house, and this guest came on a public visit, not a private one, and something goes wrong during the visit, and it went wrong publicly not privately, then common courtesy tells you to apologize for the difficulties.
    Further, to compare the struggle of the hotel workers today in a fully democratic society, where there is no Government repression or any interference at all in expressing opinions to fighting apartheid in South Africa is just plain silly. It does not even rise to the level of being stupid or ignorant.
    Further, it was the Nassau Guardian who got the story all cocked up about the Prime Minister attacking hotel workers. It gave the impression in its story that the Prime Minister was attacking workers at the Hilton Hotel who were serving breakfast at the hotel to President Mbeki. That was not true. The prime Minister made general comment about industrial action while a state visit was in progress. The persons served breakfast late on Tuesday 30th December were served breakfast late, because the event was oversubscribed, more people showed up for it than there were seats and extra places had to be set. This was done efficiently and expeditiously by the staff. They did their jobs well.
    So for all of these reasons and more, and to reward the level of ignorance and stupidity in the statement that takes the meaning of those words to new levels, we award Carl Bethel, once again with the booby prize JACKASS OF THE WEEK.

YOUNG LIBERALS AGREE
The Progressive Young Liberals obviously agree with our sentiment in naming the ‘Jackass of The Week’ this week. Their chairman Andrew Edwards on Friday 2nd January, issuing a statement accusing the FNM of “attempting to manipulate a young Bahamian electorate who …would not have remembered the trials and setbacks suffered by the trade union movement under …FNM governance”.
The FNM Chairman’s statement, said the Young Liberals, “is indicative of how the Opposition in its desperation has sought to manipulate and exploit the emotions of workers in the hotel industry… The Free National Movement and its usual band of rejected puppets are the last persons who should be demanding an apology on behalf of workers, when they are yet to apologize for the heartless way that party treated workers and unions during their tenure as the Government of The Bahamas. Please click here for the entire Young Liberals’ statement.

PLP CHAIRMAN WEIGHS IN
By our late deadline Sunday 4th January, the Progressive Liberal Party's National Chairman had also issued a statement from the party, calling on the FNM to "show more political maturity". Please click here.

THE BEEF BAN—ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN
    The Nassau Guardian reported last week, and we reported their statement last week that The Bahamas had banned US beef as a result of the finding of a cow with mad cow disease in Washington State in the US. The Guardian did not say where it got its information. It turns out that they had no authoritative source for the information. The story was simply not true. The Ministry of Agriculture wanted to ban beef coming into The Bahamas like most other Caribbean countries but the Minister Alfred Gray announced on Saturday 3rd January that it would not ban the meat but instead continue to monitor the situation carefully. The decision is an interesting bit of gymnastics involving politics and business practicality as against the potential health risk to consumers.
    The fact is that the country moved aggressively against all other countries including Canada that had mad cow disease by banning immediately the supply. What makes the US the exception? A ban of US beef would cripple beef consumption in The Bahamas because there are no other countries readily available from which to import, particularly in the fast food market like Wendy’s, Burger King and MacDonald’s. So business interests have prevailed it appears in a balancing act that sees those interests win out over the small chance that there will be mad cow disease in the meat imported here.
    As a footnote, the Miami Herald of Saturday 3rd January reports that a letter signed by Pedros Alvarez Borrego head of Alimport, Cuba’s primary food purchasing firm confirms that despite the mad cow disease scare, Cuba intends to proceed with the purchasing contracts that they have initiated. The letters says: “We know the US beef processing industry is safe and will remain so in the future.”

INJURED 15 YEAR OLD PRAISES PLP’S HALKITIS
    Fifteen year old Darran Thompson is now paralyzed from the neck down as result of a hit and run traffic accident. He is said to be in a great deal of pain. When the accident happened on Tuesday 22nd December, the driver of the vehicle, a louse of the first order, ran away from the accident, taking the time to take the licence disc off the car before he left. It appears that he has been caught all the same. We think they ought to throw the book at him.
    But this story is about Darran.   He is now regaining some strength and movement in his arms. He is being treated for a broken spine, torn back, broken ribs and a punctured kidney. He is an accomplished boxer and in an interview with The Tribune, he told of his aspiration to be a professional featherweight in the Carmichael Knockout Boxing Club. He is also an accomplished track and field athlete with consistent medals in the 800 metres, 1500 metres, high jump and cross country. But it is his struggle to remain a normal kid that struck us as heroic.
    It was also touching to see the comment about Michael Halkitis, the PLP Member of Parliament for Adelaide, one of the up and coming young men of the future. This is what he said: “I also want to thank Michael Halkitis, the MP for our area, who came to visit me and for the two books he bought me. I really like the one, Heart of a Lion. The other is Psalm 91, the Ultimate Shield. I just want to thank my entire family for all that they have done. I really am very grateful.”

THE JUNKANOO RESULTS    Just when we thought that this year’s Junkanoo parade would be without incident, the New Year’s Day parade is now mired in controversy. The Saxons cannot accept the fact that they lost the contest to the Valley Boys. They lost by 6 points. The Valley Boys with the theme ‘O Perfect Love’ won with 3406 points and the Saxons came second with 3,400 points with the theme ‘Come Worship the Lord’.
    The loss was bitter for the Saxons not only because the result was so close and they won in all the individual categories, but the parade was named after their founder Walton ‘Sax’ Taylor. Mr. Taylor, now 75 said that the naming of the parade was the best thing that ever happened to him in his life. Add to that the fact that they were hoping to win in honour of drummer Chris Moxey who at the age of 44 dropped dead at the start of last week’s parade. A tourist visiting the scene wrote a letter criticizing the Junkanoo Committee for not having emergency assistance at the scene, a fact the Committee immediately denied.
    The Saxons have 72 hours to file an official protest. One member said they had been robbed. But you have to ask yourself the question in this country, will anyone ever be satisfied that they lost fair and square? Someone has to lose and someone will win. But no matter what, whether they agree in advance to the judging system or not, as they have in this case, once you disagree with the result, you say the system is unfair and that you were cheated. It really spoils a fun event.    Here are the other results: ‘A’ category—One Family, third place 1,366 points, theme ‘Morning Has Broken’; Roots, fourth place, theme ‘World Peace’; Prodigal Sons, fifth place, theme ‘30th Anniversary of Independence’. Music Makers were sixth with an Independence Theme; seventh was Barabbas and The Tribe, theme ‘Discipline is the Key to the Nation’.

TAKING COLINA TO TASK
    Colina’s principals appear to now have an ever increasing battle to get regulatory approval for the purchase of the business of Imperial Life and Canada Life in The Bahamas. They sent a letter around to customers of both Canada Life and Imperial Life that seemed to indicate that the approval is a fait accompli. They told customers that they have until 31st December to let them know if they approve the transfer of their business. If they do not respond, silence will mean consent. That is not so in law but the law does not seem to count for much.
    But other issues are surfacing beside the arrogance of it all. One is that there are doubts being raised about the financial adequacy of the present Colina business as well as the question of their ability to manage such an insurance company. Their competitors have all weighed in against it. Colina’s principals have also been busy bad mouthing Ministers of the Government notwithstanding their need for the approval of those same Ministers of their deal. No problem, because business should not work like that but in the real world one has to ask the question whether or not these fellows have their ducks lined up properly?
    The Ministry of Financial Services and Investment issued a statement warning the principals of the insurance companies to cease and desist any actions that make it appear that the approval is a done deal. We agree and you may click here for the full statement by the Ministry.

QUEEN’S HONOURS ANNOUNCED FOR NEW YEARS
    The Colonial Honours have been announced for 2004 New Years' honours. The Queen has made several new Members of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and several members and officers of the British Empire, which, by the way, only exists with Bermuda, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos, Gibraltar, the Falklands and Ascension Island. Yet and still there are many people who like this stuff and accept it, even going to great expense to fly to London to receive it from the Queen.
    Topping the lists are the Commanders of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, just short of the knighthood. Amongst those are founder of the PLP William Cartwright and Bishop Sam Greene, President of the Bahamas Christian Council and Pastor Ed Allen of the Abundant Life Church.
    The Queen’s Police Medal goes to Ellison Greenslade, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in Freeport who helped to solve the murders of the five boys in Freeport and former Police Officer Douglas Hanna, now working at Atlantis.
    The Officer of the British Empire O.B.E. goes to liquor merchant George McKinney, Judy Munroe of Coca Cola and Rupert Roberts of Supervalue Food stores and Pauline Davis for athletic success.
    The Member of the British Empire M.B.E. goes to singer Maureen Duvalier, King Eric Gibson for sailing, Edgar Outten for economic development in Grand Bahama and Pedro Roberts for service to health.
    The British Empire Medal B.E.M. goes to Eloise Colebrook, Granville Colby, Leonard Dames, Rev. George Emmanuel, Rev. Lawrence Laing. Ethelyn Michael, Frederick Morgan and Alma Trotman.
    Congratulations all! But it is time for our own honours. It was a shame for example that The Bahamas unlike both Haiti and Jamaica could not offer President Thabo Mbeki a Bahamian honour on his visit to The Bahamas.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
One letter writer was irate about the grades given Ministers of the Government last week in the column featuring news from Grand Bahama. We do not have the express permission to use the name of the writer, who is a businesswoman who supports the PLP. Here is what she had to say:
“I take some exception to the so called grades given to Ministers for their performance over the past year. I take offence to arm chair politicians and pundits who don't know how anything goes daring to grade someone in public office who faces the daily challenges and complexities of life in The Bahamas. Who do these people think they are? I think that you should think twice about giving space to these people again to run down Ministers. I was particularly interested to see how the female Ministers seem to get the worst end of the stick. I do not agree with the assessments at all. All Ministers have tried their best and not one should get below the grade of B if the truth be told. I think the two persons who did these so called report cards should apologize to the Bahamian people.”

[Well, this is a free country, and we did not agree either but defend the right of the writers to make their own assessment –Editor]

Merry Christmas from someone signing as Peter Carey
    From the same address that threatened to sue us a few weeks ago because he said it wasn’t him, comes Christmas greeting to the Editor:
    “As I reflect on the events of this past year I am moved to offer to all my friends and relatives thanks and heartfelt gratitude for all of your support.
    "For me, 2003 presented lots of challenges, I am here, meaning with God's help and your prayers and support, I was able to over come.
    "I pray God' blessings for you and your family. Merry Christmas.”
Always, Peter

FNM e-mail
A letter writer asked us what we were talking about on our story last week about an e-mail coming from the FNM:
“What are you "guys" talking about. Pray tell!"

CAUTION ON FNM E MAIL
All of a sudden, strange e-mails supposedly from the editors of the FNM’s website have been showing up at the e-mail addresses of PLPs. Be careful with this e-mail. It asks you, if you want to block it and be unsubscribed. When you reply it sends back nasty messages. It raises the suspicion that this might be a sham. We are trying to check it out. But if e-mail comes from the FNM's site be careful and don’t open it. Delete it right away.

MBEKI'S VISIT: A LESSON TO BLACK NATIONS
In The Bahamas, there is an expression that is used to describe a scorched earth policy, i.e., "being a dog in the manger." The white minority government of South Africa had the military might and the economic power to hold on to government; but, that foundation was not a sure one in the long term. The country could quite easily under that arrangement have descended into chaos and anarchy. So, South Africa decided it was time to change.

Ten years ago there was free and open elections and Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress (ANC) became the first black president of South Africa. Today, South Africa is one of the few countries on the African continent that is worth living in, notwithstanding that the continent is blessed with mineral resources of all kinds. When one looks at the rest of these countries they are unable to harvest their resources because of civil strife; or, the governments that run these countries simply plunder these resources. In the aftermath of this dog in the manger syndrome, only the people suffer. So, here was a living lesson of allowing common sense to prevail. We hope that this lesson was digested by our political leaders.

TOMMY'S FATE SEALED
The political fate of the leader of the FNM, Tommy Turnquest, was sealed when he sought to give Tourism's Minister, Obie Wilchcombe advice on how to deal with what seemed to be an impending strike by hotel workers in New Providence. FNM Observers told us that that was it. A meeting was held in Nassau sometime back where it was decided by the power brokers in the FNM that Tommy was not jelling with the Bahamian populace. To deal with this imminent problem, the power brokers decided that his father would be the best person to break the news to him that it was time to go. We are informed that the wheel is now in motion. This meeting was held, according to our source, at the home of a former FNM MP and board chair who is now retired. We are further informed that the transition will not be a messy one.

The names of his successors that keep coming up are Hubert Ingraham, along with a dark horse, Brent Symonette, and B.J. Nottage. Our source is known to be closer to the Ingraham camp and has consisitently been reliable in imparting information.

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA
B.S. and D.M., News from Grand Bahama report card is a volunteer effort by the above. We both share in the belief that the Bahamian people should be the principal beneficiaries of any development. We have said and will continue to say there has to be more than just jobs for Bahamians in the grander scheme of things; otherwise, we are merely selling our birthright. We could remember, as if it was only yesterday, when a Minister shared the same view before being appointed a Minister. So, if we bring to the table an unvarnished portrait and seem harsh on any minister, we say hold on to your seats because we intend to push the envelope to its limit, while at the same time, being fair. Otherwise, if this is not possible, we know the honorable course in which to take when it is no longer possible for us to freely express ourselves.

NEW YEAR'S DAY JUNKANOO PARADE
On January 1st, 2004, the New Year's Day Junkanoo Parade was held for the second year in the cramped quarters of downtown, Freeport which at the end left shop owners bitterly protesting that the junkanoo committee made no provisions for the clean up of their business premises. All in all it was said to be the largest junkanoo parade ever held in Grand Bahama. With the exception of the leader of the Classic Dancers, Ken "Motorboat" Ferguson, who felt cheated that his group was done a grave injustice when the reigning champions finished fifth. Sources tell us that the Classic Dancers were heavily penalized because of unfinished costumes, musicians not properly dressed which explains their fifth place finish.

D.M. On Long Island
Usually at the end of the year one takes the opportunity to reflect on the year and do a little introspection as we seek to grow to be a better individual in the year to come. Those of us who are patriotic extend that introspection to the status of our country and where we are able to move.

I had the opportunity of celebrating the Christmas and New Year on Long Island. The island in which I was born and the community that made into the person that I am today. There are many faithful supporters of the governing party on this island. Many voted for the governing party in the previous years even when it was not popular to do so and stood by the party against all odds. However, their support has not shown any harvest…

The poor islanders have nothing to show for their loyalty to the party since it has become the government, and its supporters are not clear of the plans that are in the works. Their votes and commitment to the party is being taken for granted and despite this the loyal soldiers still press on in their resilience.

It is a fact that Long Island has had a long standing with the F.N.M party and before that the U.B.P party. Long Island has an Independent member of parliament and it is no secret that his election was made by many P.L.P. votes. The housing project in Dunmore seems to have been a pacifier for the locals by the government, but the memory of the project is not going to last the entire five years…To the P.L.P government: if you are powerful please be merciful.

The government is asked to remember its devoted supporters on the Family Islands, especially Long Island: the side roads are breaking in pot-holes, the island does not have running water, the southern side (majority P.L.P. supporters) of the island does not have cable access, many government buildings are in poor condition and are still primitive, there is no medical personnel in the southern side of the island – in the event of an emergency, patients have to drive for miles – and those who do not have access to transportation are at a greater disadvantage. Make an effort to make 2004 brighter for Long Islanders and those who have ties to the island.
B.S.
"...just as lightning makes no sound until it strikes, the revolution will be generated quietly..."

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A FIT OF JUNKANOO MADNESS

After a run of bad luck by Neville Wisdom, the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, this Christmas things finally seemed to be going well. No controversy over bleachers for Junkanoo. The country had gotten through Christmas with a wonderful treat, a state visit by an African potentate. The country was proud of itself as it showed off its Junkanoo heritage to an African leader. He seemed to embrace us. And so the New Year was starting off just right. The hotel talks seemed to settle down to behind the scenes wrangling as opposed to open warfare. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. But just when we thought it was safe to get back into the water, the National Junkanoo Committee announced in an unprecedented move on Tuesday 6th January that it was reversing the winning Valley Boys’ victory and awarding it instead to the Saxons who had bitterly complained and threatened to cause mayhem the week before if the result was not changed. Someone immediately smelled a rat.

The Saxons who were bitter, bitter as they were the week before, never actually filed a formal protest. But the Junkanoo Committee in a tortuously worded announcement claimed that it had reviewed the unofficial results as a matter of course, and that in looking at the penalty points that were deducted for various infractions against the Saxons, the chief penalty judge had erred and that too much had been taken off from the Saxons. In the result, the original math was wrong and the Saxons were now really the winners.

Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper, who is the Leader of the Valley Boys, could justifiably now say that he was robbed. The whole thing looked like someone had set out to give the victory to the Saxons and in a result selective exercise had simply found a way to justify the awarding of the victory after the fact. The Committee’s explanation seemed like a legal submission, and was similar to that of the judging at a dive or skating contest at the Olympics where the high scores are thrown out and the low scores are thrown out, then a mean is determined and then that mean is actually deducted from the total scores.

The Valley Boys contended that in 2002, they made a similar protest as the Saxons did in similar circumstances, (and a formal one at that) and the Committee never deigned to reply to the protest. Further, they said on the formula of the Junkanoo Committee for dealing with penalties, the Valley Boys if the high points were thrown out and the low points thrown out and the mean taken of that, the prize still went to the Valley Boys. The Junkanoo Committee said that they would review the matter and then revert to the public. But it looks like unless the Baptist church leader Bishop William Thompson is able to cobble together a compromise, the matter will end up in court and in acrimony.

Fortunately, and so far none of this appears to have rebounded on the Minister of Culture Neville Wisdom. We hold our breaths because the judging is independent of the Minister and the matter is really a matter for the judges. The Ministry should not be involved and it would be a mistake to be so involved. Let Junkanoo take its course.

Gus Cooper told the press that he would give up the prize “over his dead body” and asked the authorities to prepare a cell for him. That rhetoric cooled down by the week’s end, but he and his group cannot be happy campers.

We said last week that someone has to lose. We said last week that the decision of the judges should be final on that day. It’s like bad calls in an NBA game in the US. Too bad! Too sad! We think that Junkanoo judges and the National Junkanoo Committee have made themselves the laughing stock of the country. Before Junkanoo, all seemed agreed that the judging would be the fairest ever. The thing is now in disarray again. Jackson Burnside, who leads the One Family group that broke away from the Saxons, said that he and the public simply don’t trust the judging as being fair and transparent. His brother Stan also with One Family drew a cartoon that showed the state of the nation with the two groups fighting over the one trophy.

What we say now, though, is that no matter what these mere mortals do, no matter how they now have tried to turn Junkanoo into a political occasion for speech making and ceremony, Junkanoo is at its essence a festival of celebration and fun of our African ancestry and our very Bahamianness. We do not think that you can ever kill Junkanoo. We believe that this too will pass, and that the festival, which lives in the hearts of Bahamians, will continue to thrive. Not high ticket prices, not bleachers, not Ministers of Culture, nor Governments nor fights over prizes can kill Junkanoo at its essence.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 10th January 2004 at midnight: 31,208.

Number of hits for the month of January ending at 10th January 2004 at midnight: 41,477.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to 10th January 2004 at midnight: 1,775,377.

Saxons group leader Percy 'Vola' Francis is hoisted by supporters in the Tribune photo by Tanya Cartwright
'Sideburns' Cartoon from the Tribune, courtesy of Stanley Burnside

THE ISOLATION OF POLITICIANS
    The Progressive Liberal Party now enters the year 2004 with a lot on its mind. This is the year for politics. Pure politics! In the minds of many PLPs, the time for being Mr. Nice Guy is over, and we need to start kicking butt. The pace of change is too slow, and our supporters are still saying that enough has not been delivered for them. But what is interesting is the ruminations of many of the politicians on the scene today in the PLP, who as time goes by realize what a lonely place the political position actually is.
    The hard decisions have soon to be made about hiring new people, some of them blatant political appointments, but notwithstanding that, the stamp of the PLP must be put on the Government. And then some people must go, even some who soldiered into the election of 2002 and certainly some from the other side. There is call for change all around. Their time is up.
    But this piece is actually about those who do not sit in the Government but who have been friends and confidants of those who attained power. They had and have a difficult job. They are the ones who supported with the tacit understanding that when their allies got to where they got, they would receive some benefit either psychic or actual. It does not necessarily mean positions on statutory boards or corporations, but the ability to make a call and get things to happen. The complaints are now coming from them that things are not happening for them, and the third year is coming up fast. Not even an invitation to a Government function have they seen. That is the message that all PLP politicians could do well to remember.
    But on the other hand as times progress and stresses and strains in relationships come, it would do for all to remember that one day there will be a return to the status quo ante. The politicians will no longer have their power and the question will be: “How will the old relationships survive?” They will survive by the quality of how the relationships are treated during the time in power. The politicians therefore must be conscious of this.
    There is also a concomitant necessity to remember the isolation of positions of authority and the value of friendship and alliances. Often old friends and allies make demands and ultimatums that are really not necessary but make it seem that friendships and alliances are easily dispensable. No ultimatums belong in friendships and alliances. But then again, all is fair in love and war, they say. We say friendship and alliances are precious, and as the PLP goes into its third year, it should bear that in mind if it hopes to continue to progress. It must not forget how it got to where it got.
    Hubert Ingraham as Prime Minister forgot where he came from, forgot who his friends and allies were, and seemed to go through a psychological double flip denigrating and attacking those who were his friends and allies, like the Emperor Jones contemptuous of the people who got him to be Prime Minister. For that he paid ultimately by losing his job and wrecking the career of many a young bright politician. The PLP must never forget that lesson but the friends and allies of the PLP must not forget it either.

HUBERT INGRAHAM ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL
    The rumours keep coming fast and furious about the fact that Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister, is about to make a come back as the next leader of the Free National Movement. The Free National Movement ideologues are busy planning their next convention with that in mind. They want to use the now popular tune in The Bahamas ‘You Get Swing’ as their theme at the next FNM convention. There are those who are encouraging the FNM to bring Mr. Ingraham back again so that the PLP can use the theme song ‘Drunk Again’ for its next convention. Such is the fervour that is lining up for this so called comeback trail.
    If the signs were not there before that he was trying to make a comeback, after the Junkanoo picture of Hubert Ingraham in Mason’s Addition congratulating the Saxons on snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, it must be clear. The story is that he congratulated the Saxons and then went to the Valley Boys and told them not to accept the loss but to challenge it. They say that he has been spending a great deal of time in Prime Minister Perry Christie’s constituency of Farm Road sitting down with the youngsters and having a good gaff and a few drinks. No hard pressure, just on the face of it having fun. But the only fun in the life of Hubert Ingraham is politics, and he is travelling a road he knows well.
    Mr. Ingraham's build up to being Prime Minister came in a tour of the country from Abaco to Inagua meeting people in small groups and getting to know them and their problems. At Christmas time 2003, you will recall, he was in Grand Bahama with small parties of his old supporters. He did not resist when they said that he must come back. Now he is at work in the bowels of Nassau that he knows he must convince to vote his way again. He must be resisted. He must be defeated. He must be told to repay the pension that he is wrongly getting from the Government even as he continues actively in politics. We shall see, but the PLP is warned.

MEANWHILE AT INGRAHAM'S BOILFISH PARTY
Hubert Ingraham was said to have had one hell of a boilfish party at his home in the Grove (no, not the real [Coconut] Grove, but that other one out west) on Saturday 10th January… All the former ‘mucks’ were there and some would-be muck-a-mucks. So the comeback trail continues. The themes: the Government can’t even get Junkanoo right; ‘Gus’ has blood in his eyes; the Colina deal should not be approved, no way in hell; and of course, “when you coming back, Chief?”

IS HUEDLEY MOSS IN TROUBLE AND PAT BAIN?

    Huedley Moss, the President of the Water and Sewerage Corporation’s line staff union was met by demonstrations last week on Wednesday 7th January as he held a press conference to talk about his plans for the union. Some 30 people were at the demonstration, mainly men, and they attacked Mr. Moss accusing him of not showing them the books and of squandering the Union’s money. They said that they did not support a proposal by Mr. Moss to increase Union dues. Mr. Moss does not want all persons to pay dues at the same amount regardless of the level of their salaries. At the moment that is $25 per person per month. He believes that the dues should be set as a percentage of income and those who are paid higher should pay more. It will require a majority of members to agree to change their constitution to permit it.
    But it appears that Mr. Moss has run into trouble with his members. He was defiant at his press conference. He said that he wants to be able to increase the benefit to some members who have been receiving the same pension for 15 years and need an increase in their pension cheques. But the young workers of today are hearing none of it. Nor are they hearing the calls for restraint of which Mr. Moss has been a part in the last six months.
    Mr. Moss is an advocate of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. He has called for Unions to be responsible and recently has come off as the darling of the employers on the Unions side of the table. As they say in The Bahamas, the union members appear not to be playing that, and a noisy group is now saying that he must go. We have no way of knowing whether he is really in trouble.

    We looked too at what is happening in the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union where the press speculated this week that Pat Bain, President of the Union (pictured at right), was also in trouble. The Journal said that members are saying that Leo Douglas and Quebell Rolle, both Vice Presidents of the Union have split with Mr. Bain on tactics. Mr. Bain wants a more softly, softly approach and they say Mr. Douglas is trying the old radical tactics of the 1960s and 70s. Mr. Douglas denied there is any split. But what he did say spoke volumes and seems to indicate that there might be a problem. He said that each President has his style and that Mr. Bain’s style is different from the previous president Thomas Bastian.
    Pastor Douglas also said that Prime Minister Perry Christie was “talking nonsense” when he apologized to the South African President for the industrial action during his visit. The talks in the sector continue. Pat Bain has said nothing in line with an order issued by Labour Minister Vincent Peet that nothing should be said to the press. But Leo Douglas did not stop talking, and that as they say speaks volumes about what is actually happening.
    The report of Mr. Douglas' comments came in the Bahama Journal 9th January 2004. At week’s end, the Prime Minister was said to have been called back into the hotel talks, which must mean that some further movement has come to try to settle the issues. Huedley Moss is pictured at top left trying to hold his press conference in this Tribune photo by Dominic Duncombe. Pat Bain is shown at centre, right, while addressing disgruntled civil servants in this staff file photo.

THE ECONOMY GREW AT 2 PER CENT LAST YEAR

    James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance, has been in the press quite a bit over the last week. His most surprising and most recent intervention was that despite all of the problems last year in The Bahamas, the country’s economy grew by 2 per cent. He expects further growth this year. This accomplishment could only have come as a result of prudent fiscal and monetary policy. The Government must take much of the credit for this. In the Government, James Smith must take much of the credit for it.
    Mr. Smith said that the one problem in the offing is how the negotiations in the hotel sector will pan out. The demands of the Hotel Union do not seem to be reasonable, and that is being watched with some unease. Hardliner from the Union Leo Douglas said that what the hotel employers were offering was not acceptable. He told the Bahama Journal on 9th January 2004: “12 per cent over 4 years. I don’t think that’s much. That’s only 3 per cent every year. What can that do for the average pot washer or laundry washer?”
    Mr. Douglas said that as far as he was concerned the negotiations could go on for another five years, the Union would never agree to anything that was not in the best interests of the hotel workers. And so Mr. Smith had better get set to be on a hard bed for next few weeks as these negotiations unfold. James Smith, file photo.

JIMMY SHEPHERD, MARY NABB DIE

They were from two different worlds and probably never knew each other. James Shepherd was described by Sir Arthur Foulkes as a hero of the revolution. Sir Arthur, former Cabinet Minister and Ambassador, was so incensed at ZNS Radio and TV that they did not even mention the death of Mr. Shepherd at the age of 84 on Monday 5th January, that he fired off an angry letter to the press.
Prime Minister Perry Christie issued a statement from the Government and the Government is to organize a state recognized funeral on Thursday 15th January.

Mr. Shepherd served in the House of Assembly for two terms, one from 1967 to 1968 and then from 1968 until 1972 when he was defeated with the Dissident Eight led by the late Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield of which he was a part. He suffered economically for it, crossing Sir Lynden Pindling. Before that he was the Parliamentary Whip and Parliamentary Assistant to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling. But before that he was a hero of the General Strike at the side of the former Governor General Sir Clifford Darling when the latter was President of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union. Mr. Shepherd is pictured at top right.
And then there was Mary Nabb. She was from a small town in England but she came to The Bahamas as a teacher. She taught Zhivargo Laing, a former Minister when he was a student at Hawksbill High School. She was a fighter for the children, for the public school system, for the Haitian immigrants, for Grand Bahama. She was a tireless voice for the oppressed. She was indefatigable. She died on Monday 5th January. Grand Bahama will not be the same. Two persons who passed through The Bahamas and left their mark on public policy from two different walks of life. Mrs. Nabb, seated, is pictured at left with her son Robert and his wife Tammy.

GEORGE MOSKO'S WIFE DIES

Mrs. Stella Mosko, wife of well known Bahamian George Mosko has died. Mrs. Mosko, nee Psalidas, passed away on 6th January, 2004 and was buried after funeral services at the Announciation Greek Orthodox Church in Nassau on Saturday 10th January. She is survived by her husband and their children James, Milton, John, Mary and Alexander.

A FAILING IRAQ STRATEGY

    The U.S. Administration under George Bush must have caused howls of laughter (of course you can’t laugh in front of the cameras, you must keep a straight face for the Americans lest you be punished) in capitals around the world when its Viceroy in Baghdad announced that he was freeing 506 prisoners. The people had been rounded up in mass raids by the US indiscriminately and without cause, and locked up for resisting the invasion of their country by a foreign force. The Viceroy Paul Bremer said that he was doing this as a goodwill gesture.
    The conditions for releasing 506 people of the 15,000 or more that they have rounded up are that they had to have a person stand by as a protector for their good behaviour and they had to promise to renounce violence. The answer came back loud and clear with more death and destruction to US troops by rockets and bombs.
    Let us dare to remind the US, without advocation, of lessons of history, object lessons for any imperial power. The US is trying to be good guy and bad guy at the same time. You can’t be half pregnant.
    The plain facts are these. When you invade another man’s country and install a puppet government, the people who you install in power are seen as collaborators and traitors to their country. Remember King Herod of the Jews, a collaborator with the Roman Empire. The invader can’t expect to be liked by the population at large and shouldn’t want to. No matter what the conquered people tell you to your face, they want you out of their country and it rankles them that you are there running their lives. They want you out. You can't expect to succeed without repression and coercion. You can't be half repressive, it simply will not work and they should have admitted this to themselves before this invasion.
    If the US does not make up its mind and recognize themselves for what they are and what they did and stop dealing in false and idle euphemisms such as “Coalition Forces” (there is no coalition), they will be run out of Iraq just as the Vietnamese ran them out of Vietnam. It will take a while but it will be done. And the lives of all those young, faithful Americans will have gone in vain for a temporary fix. The real tragedy of that is that the sacrifice of those lives will have been in vain. Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez is the commander of allied forces in Iraq. "They don't want us here, but they don't want us to leave, either," he said of the Iraqis. "That's our dilemma; that's the problem we have to solve." Photo Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

PM TO MONTERREY
    Prime Minister Perry Christie is to lead a delegation of our country to the Special Summit of Americas in Monterrey, Mexico on 12th and 13th January. He will be joined by Fred Mitchell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs; Joshua Sears, the Ambassador to the Organization of American States; and officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s office. The Summit will include leaders of all the countries in the hemisphere except Cuba. It will evaluate what progress has been made since the last Summit in Quebec, Canada in April 2001. The Summits define the priorities for the region by setting specific goals and targets for business, health care, and education.
    Since the last Summit 14 Heads of state and Government have been replaced. These include those from The Bahamas and Canada. While in Monterrey, the Bahamian PM will meet with his counterparts from the region in Caricom, with Mexican President Vincente Fox, with President George Bush of the United States, with President Largos of Chile and with the President of Costa Rica.
    When the PM returns, word is that he is likely to host a summit of Caribbean Prime Ministers trying to work out a solution with the Haitian Opposition and its Government to end the political discord in Haiti.

THE METHODIST CHURCH CASE

    Lord Bingham, one of the Law Lords from the United Kingdom and a judge of the Privy Council, The Bahamas highest court visited The Bahamas last week. He got a chance to hobnob with the legal fraternity, to speak to judges, students and politicians or more correctly they got a chance to hobnob with him.
    Clever thing the British are up to. This is the third time in as many years that Law Lords have come a calling in The Bahamas. There was Lord Woolf before him, not a Law Lord but a former Chief Justice of the UK. But there was Lord Steyn and Lord Millett before him. It appears that the British are up to a very clever public relations campaign to save the Privy Council by putting a human face on it, even as they say that the Caribbean can keep it as long as they wish or discard it if they wish.
    The thing that strikes you about all this is the attention that the Bahamian judiciary, lawyers, law students, teachers and politicians give to these visiting British judges. You can hardly believe that this is the same crew that reviles the Privy Council for hobbling the death penalty. Like a good former slave society and in that tradition of the slaves, we are not willing to say to the face what we say behind their backs it seems. So Lord Bingham was shown more than an overly polite reaction by a fawning legal crowd. Dame Joan Sawyer, the testy President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall were there in support of it all. No testiness that day, just pure delight was on display. At the luncheon where Lord Bingham spoke, the President of the Bar Wayne Munroe was there. Yes, even he who has come off from time to time as an iconoclast, but who really loves what exists.
    What was even more interesting is who they chose to lead the proceedings. There was Brian Moree of the firm McKinney Bancroft and Hughes and then to give the vote of thanks was Fred Smith, the Freeport based lawyer, formerly a human rights activist but now one of the principal moneymakers for the firm Callenders & Co. Mr. Smith managed to embarrass one half of the group there assembled and cheese off the other half by what some described as a long, irrelevant and rambling presentation that was supposed to be the vote of thanks. Said one person who attended: “It seemed like a promotion for his law firm, rather than a vote of thanks. Even Brian had to bring him up short”.
    Where, asked those gathered, was the role for the Attorney General Alfred Sears who barely got a mention and for that matter, the would be iconoclast President of the Bar Wayne Munroe? Nary a role for him either. But from all accounts the country benefited from the visit. It was simply a fascinating exercise in people watching.
    And so we come now to hard cold reality. The courts of The Bahamas must be able to explain why after three and half years, the time that has elapsed since the Privy Council remitted the Methodist Church case back for hearing before the Supreme Court, the matter cannot be heard. Why pray tell? Why? And no one feels a sense of shame about it.
    We saw the usual blandishments utter forth from Dame Joan Sawyer as she “opened” the Court of Appeal about justice delayed being justice denied, but who will speak up for those who complain abut the manner in which even senior members of the bar who appear in that court are addressed. It is clear that The Bahamas has a long way to go to deliver justice to its people. We can put on a good act for the stranger who comes a calling from England but for our own we still appear to fail them again and again. Peter Ramsay's photo shows the judiciary and members of the bar assembled at St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral with Roman Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Burke following the annual Red Mass held to mark the start of the legal year, Sunday 11th January.

10TH JANUARY COMES ROUND ONCE MORE

    For the fifty something crowd that now have the superintendence of The Bahamas, they were in their teens when Majority Rule came to The Bahamas on 10th January 1967. If you saw a picture of The Bahamas Government before that day, and you knew the ethnic makeup of the country with a 90 per cent African population, you would have had to ask yourself: “What is wrong with this picture?” There was no one of African descent, at least as far as the phenotype is concerned, that one could see in the picture. One wonders what kind of insensitivity could have existed amongst all those men that could have allowed them to think (apparently) that they could continue along that path forever. The people displaced them.
    Now some 37 years later, the day commonly called Majority Rule Day does not quite have a secure place in the country’s history books and in its proper context. Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell and others have been championing the cause of Majority Rule Day. The PLP has routinely celebrated it every year with a church service. But the day has not been embraced for what it truly is, a day when all of the restrictions on the franchise for men and women in The Bahamas regardless of race and gender disappeared. In that sense it was clearly not just a victory for Black people but for all Bahamians. Yet, the day is still seen as a Black man’s cause for celebration.
    The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday 9th January the call of a group called Bahamas In Prophecy headed by Micklyn Seymour, President; Samuel Thompson, Secretary; and Marcello Fowler, Vice President.   The call was for 10th January 1967 to become a national holiday. We support that call or some form of national observance even if there is not a holiday declared on that day.
    The PLP will go to church on 11th January to mark the day. But the FNM should join them as well. They will not of course because they cannot for political reasons attend. That is such a shame. Marguerite, the Lady Pindling, accompanied by little Danielle Johnson and Dr. Danny Johnson are shown at the laying of a commemorative wreath at the mausoleum of the late Sir Lynden Pindling, Father of the modern Bahamas, for whom Majority Rule was a major personal triumph.

US FINGERPRINTING BAHAMIANS

At the start of last week, there was a bit of a kafuffle over will they or won’t they have to submit for the new criminal spotting technology that the US has insisted that visitors to their country have now to undergo when entering the US. Each visitor who comes into the US by visa will have to submit a fingerprint sample and submit to a photo which will then go to the vast US data bank to stop terrorists from coming into the US. Yeah! Right!
The US Embassy said that the system started voluntarily on Sunday 4th January on a test run. They then said Bahamians who use the pre-clearance lounges will not have to submit a fingerprint sample or picture. But if you enter from other ports, you will have to do so. The bottom line is that all Bahamians are now suspected of being terrorists, and only Brazil has had the courage to strike back at this kind of nonsense and indignity by insisting that Americans coming in Brazil suffer the same indignity. Tribune photo by Dominic Duncombe shows US Charge d'affaires Robert Witajewski (right) demonstrating the new system at Nassau International Airport.

DEVARD DARLING TO GO PRO?

The second half of the Darling brother pair Devard (brother Devaughn died suddenly after a training exercise) is at a crossroads. Having left Florida State, following his brother’s death, and now at Washington State where he has seen some success as a football player, he wants to turn pro. So will he or won’t he? Our guess is that he will and good luck to him. We hope also that with the money he makes, he finishes his education. The photo of him was taken from the Sports Section of The Tribune by Tanya Cartwright on Tuesday 6th January which photo helped to promote the Hamlet like speculation.

CABINET SHUFFLE TALK
Arthur Foulkes, the newspaper columnist and the former diplomat, was at his political best in his column Tuesday 6th January. He said that the country cannot wait for a Cabinet shuffle. No sign that Mr. Christie is heeding him. But according to Sir Arthur, Leslie Miller, the Minister of Trade is not liked by his colleagues and should go. Wonder where he got that from? How is it possible to dislike such a good old boy as Brother Miller?
Sir Arthur also has his sword out for Neville Wisdom, the Minister of Sports. As for Allyson Gibson and Fred Mitchell, Ministers of Financial Services and Foreign Affairs respectively, Sir Arthur says that though they are good fakers by putting on a public face of loyalty to the Prime Minister, they probably should stay. Well thank you Sir Arthur, we don’t know what Mr. Mitchell might say but knowing the ‘don’t take no last’ Minister of Financial Services she is likely to say: “Who asked you anyway?”

PINDLING FOUNDATION 100K FOR COB

The Lynden Pindling Foundation continues to make its presence felt with gifts of tremendous significance in the country. This past week, the Foundation presented a cheque in the amount of $100,000 to the College of The Bahamas Endowment Fund, the results of the Foundation's 'Legacy' Ball. The College of The Bahamas was but one of the vital national institutions created under the administration of Sir Lynden, father of the modern Bahamas. Marguerite, the Lady Pindling is shown second from left, with daughter Senator the Honourable Michelle Pindling Sands, second from right, along with bank and College officials. Photo by Peter Ramsay.

BAHAMIAN CHRISTMAS ABROAD

The Bahamas is a small country and that – ever more often in this new ‘global’ world – means that Bahamians must travel for one reason or another; often for higher education. And sometimes, that means Christmases away from home. Our photo shows hairstylist Nadene Rolle (seated at centre), who spent the Christmas holidays with her daughter Noelle (standing centre), and the family of her roommate. Noelle is a student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Western is the alma mater of Bernadette Christie and also that of Raynard Rigby, Progressive Liberal Party chair and Michael Halkitis, MP for Adelaide. No doubt the warmth of this holiday photo in Canada belies the deathly chill outside.

MICHAEL JORDAN GOLF TOURNAMENT

International celebrities where everywhere on Paradise Island this past week as they flocked to attend and participate in the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational Golf tournament held at the Ocean Club. Among the constellation of stars were many immediately recognizable names. The tournament seems to have been a major success. Bahama Journal photo by Tim Aylen / Vision

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

The Prime Minister, as reported above, is off to an international meeting in Mexico, and much of the week was spent at his desk, ensuring the smooth running of the country in his absence. The PM and Mrs. Christie this past week attended the opening of the convention of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in The Bahamas.

GOODBYE, CHRISTMAS!

Many of us remember as children the dread with which we contemplated the coming of the Feast of Epiphany. No matter what ‘Father’ said at church about the “manifestation of the child Jesus to the Gentiles”, we knew that the bottom line was that the Christmas tree and all its attendant trappings would disappear. Not only did it mean no more ham, turkey, egg nog and fruitcake until next year, but also the bleak reality of one’s place in the family as an indentured servant at hard labour in the packing away of the family’s Christmas things. Ahh, the good old days. In that vein, we present this Nassau Guardian photo of St. George’s Anglican Church at Midnight Mass.

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…
The News From Grand Bahama will return next week.

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THE ART OF COMPLAINING
They say that neither the Ministers nor those of the distaff side were happy with what Bishop Neil Ellis had to say at his church last Sunday 11th January. There are plenty of PLPs who agree with what he says. Plenty of PLPs who think that he has really gotten beside himself. Plenty of PLPs who think that if you are a close confidant then you don’t offer frank advice of that kind in public but you give that to the ready, listening and willing ear that you have. It is only when that process fails and there is a breakdown that you actually go public.

Be that as it may, Bishop Neil Ellis, powerful in his own right and internationally well known and recognized, said some uncomfortable things last week as the PLP celebrated the passing of what is now known as Majority Rule Day. On 10th January 1967, the PLP came to office and that was the first time that black men were able to run the Government. The PLP is back in office and the thrust of Bishop Ellis’ remarks is that the PLP is taking too long to do for its people what it should do. He told the party that if they don’t stop, recognize why they were elected, and act, then they will be pushed aside again.

That message must have brought cheer to the faithful who laboured with the PLP during the ten years of FNM misrule. They have been asking themselves and they ask themselves: “Why am I continuing to support a party that refuses to give me certain basic things that I need and want?” They argue that in the realm of taxi plates, bus licences, liquor licences, crown land, jobs and scholarships for themselves and their children, the FNM still seems in charge of the country. They can't even get invited to functions by their Government is the argument that they make.

On 2nd May 2004, the PLP will mark the second anniversary of its coming back to power. It thinks that the year 2004 will be a good year. The job market should pick up. The Bahamian economy by piggy backing on the recovery in the United States should be well into recovery by the middle of the year. The hope is that this start up will relieve the pressure on the Government for jobs.

The Government has not expanded its workforce in the two years that it has been in office. This was largely a response to the fact that the PLP was accused in its first incarnation of being profligate and inclined to cronyism and political patronage. No one could beat the FNM at that game during their time in office but somehow the reputation did not stick. The other part of it was advice from the financial people that that was the responsible thing to do. The result is that the workforce has contracted by retirement and attrition and no replacement. And when the Government contracts, everything contracts.

You have only to look at the lack of maintenance of public buildings. The fall in productivity in Government offices from the Attorney General's office where the Judges are now in open revolt along with the staff of the AG’s office; to the inability to keep the streets clean; to the janitresses unable to cope with cleaning the schools. There are not enough bodies. There is not enough equipment. There is not enough money. There just isn’t enough. PLPs are saying that enough is enough, and Bishop Neil Ellis' comments played to that audience.

What was more quizzical, however, was the comment by Bishop Neil Ellis that some PLP Ministers are riding around in big cars like “hully gullies”. We wonder who that is. He also reminded the Cabinet that there could only be one Prime Minister at a time and that was Perry Christie. Duh! But he went on to say that some Ministers were blocking Mr. Christie’s vision. Again we wonder who that could be. He also praised Sir Geoffrey Johnstone, the UBP Leader of the Opposition for admitting that the whites in the Government did not treat Black Bahamians with sensitivity before 1967. Bishop Ellis thought that was an indication of an attempt to come to grips with the racism in the country’s politics.

In the aggregate, and allowing for his getting carried away because he was before this large and adoring audience it appeared that Bishop Neil Ellis got to say something that PLP supporters have been wanting to say to their leaders but couldn’t. It is really the art of complaining, and complaining in the PLP context is an art. It is the art of how you say that you are dissatisfied in a culture that does not like to hear bad news and reacts badly to criticism.

No one could make out the expression on the faces of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as all this stuff was being said. But Bishop Neil Ellis is beyond their ability to sanction. He told the Cabinet assembled before him that there are many people who are still waiting for the fresh wind. This was a phrase coined by Bishop Neil Ellis in 2000 when he was eulogizing Sir Lynden Pindling. He said it as he thanked the FNM government for recognizing Sir Lynden’s contributions to the nation upon his death. It was that phrase that the PLP used to go on to win election 2002.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 17th January 2004 at midnight: 42,308.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 17th January 2004 at midnight: 83,785.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 17th January 2004 at midnight: 83,785.

CHRISTIAN COUNCIL ON GAY CRUISES AGAIN

    You will of course remember all the controversy in The Bahamas over the fact that tourists who are homosexual chose to come on a cruise that was dedicated just to them. The Government of Hubert Ingraham faced a mini crisis when the news of this was heard. They issued a policy statement on the matter saying that they would not interfere with people’s choices and that provided everyone who came acted in conformity with the laws of The Bahamas; the Government did not intend to interfere. The PLP acquiesced in that matter. It was a sensible policy that reaffirmed that The Bahamas is first and foremost in the business of tourism.
    When the cruise ship arrived here, Pastors of various Christian churches met them on the docks and asked them to stop sinning and to leave The Bahamas alone. In the years since that time, gay cruises have come to Half Moon Cay a.k.a. Little San Salvador (actually off Cat Island). The employees there at first refused to work for the gay cruise passengers claiming that they saw people having sexual intercourse on the beaches. This turned out not to be true. They were all fired for refusing to work, then six weeks later they went to the press looking for their jobs back saying that they realized that The Bahamas is a service economy.
    You will remember that Bishop Sam Greene stood up at the 30th anniversary celebrations at Zion Baptist Church, denounced the possibility of gay marriage, an impossibility in the present Bahamas and not one planned anyway, and said that if it came he would be the second Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes was the Catholic conspirator who was executed for trying to blow up the English Parliament in the 17th century.
    Fast forward to this past week when it came to light that Rosie O’Donnell, the former talk show host from the United States, is to lead what is called a family gay cruise to The Bahamas. It is reported that the cruise is to emphasize how to raise children and how to conceive children when you are not male and female. Hmmm! The Bahamian press, smelling another imbroglio and a good story, went to the President of the Bahamas Christian Council, the very same Sam Greene and asked him if The Bahamas Christian Council or he had a view on the matter. This time, it appears, the cat may have gotten someone’s tongue. The President of the Christian Council told the daily newspapers that he had appointed a committee to study the matter and that he would get back to them. File photo of Bishop Greene.

THE MEANING OF ‘D’ GRADE IN BGCSE
    On Wednesday 14th January, the Ministry of Education’s Testing and Evaluation Unit called together representatives from the business sector to the National Centre for the Performing Arts to get a briefing on just what the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (B.G.C.S.E.) is and what the grading system means. No doubt this is to try to recover from a serious gaffe made by the now Director of Education Iris Pinder who just before election 2002 was lauding the fact that the average grade for the students who now take the exam is ‘D’. The country was shocked. She seemed pleased. But like a scene from George Orwell’s’ Animal Farm, instead of correcting the problem by ensuring that students improve their grades, the Testing and Evaluation Unit has decided to cause the business community to reorient their thinking toward the ‘D’ grade. The Assistant Director of Education Levan Sands seemed to be saying this to the ZNS news people.
    The argument of the technocrats in the Ministry of Education seems to be that the B.G.C.S.E. that replaced the British General Certificate of Education (G.C.E.) as the school leaving high school certificate in The Bahamas has a standard that is so high that actually the “D” grade in the B.G.C.S.E. is the equivalent of the “C” grade in the G.C.E. Say what? If that was not enough though, he went on to say that ten years ago when the G.C.E. existed, some 5000 students were eligible for the exam but only 20 percent, or 2,000 students, took it. That figure, he said, has changed to 40 per cent of the students today. Fine!
    But wait...? Twenty percent of 5,000 was 1,000 when we went to school. The editor checked and it is still the same today. So we ask the question: “No wonder these kids can’t pass their exams, if the officials can’t even get simple math right. What hope is there?” The Minister of Education Alfred Sears has a difficult job before him, but he must press on.

JUNKANOOS ASK FOR POLICE PROTECTION

The National Junkanoo Awards presentation will be held in February as usual. That is the time when all the Junkanoo groups and their leaders will attend the annual banquet to award the prizes for the parades which took place on Boxing Day 2003 and New Years Day 2004. As you know the present result is mired in controversy, with the National Junkanoo Committee first awarding the prize for New Year’s to the Valley Boys by six points and then reversing that result and saying that the Saxons had actually won the parade (click here for last week's comment 'A Fit of Junkanoo Madness').
Winston ‘Gus’ Cooper who is the Head of the Valley Boys said that would happen over his dead body and that the officials should prepare a cell for him. Now we come to the news of the week on Junkanoo. Well first, the National Junkanoo Committee has not decided whether to uphold the protest filed by the Valley Boys and reverse the result again of the parade. Secondly and get this, the Junkanoo groups have now called for police protection at the presentation of awards ceremony. Wonders never cease! Stanley Burnside, himself a Junkanoo, has provided ongoing and particularly trenchant comment on the matter in his daily Tribune cartoon 'Sideburns'. We show the edition of 13th January, 2004.

THE HAITIANS ARE COMING

The Bahamas’ Prime Minister Perry Christie was quoted by the BBC as saying that Caricom does not support the violent overthrow of President Jean Bertrand Aristide and that the Opposition leaders of Haiti have to accept that the only way to change a Government is by constitutional means. He said that all Caricom could do is to try to move the process forward and invite the Opposition leaders to come to Nassau for discussions and if they did not come then “the world will see”. The Prime Minister was referring to a special meeting that is being called for Nassau by the Chairman of Caricom Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
The meeting is fraught with minefields. The Opposition in Haiti is said to have laid down one precondition. They would not come if Mr. Aristide or his party were present. Officials say that is done and Mr. Aristide understands that fact. The Bahamas Minister for Foreign Affairs told the press that the session is also not to be seen as a negotiating session but rather a confidence building session, where Caricom that has a low stock with the Opposition gets a chance at the highest levels to discuss ideas with the leaders of the Haitian Opposition. The US is sending observers and so are the Canadians

and the Organization of American States. Once more the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas and its Minister are at centre stage of Caribbean affairs. The meeting is to take place at the Wyndham Crystal Palace at Cable Beach on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st. January.
Meanwhile on the migrant front, slow trickles of Haitians have been coming here by boats from the north of Haiti and being interdicted by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. While the numbers were down last year for landings, there is still the concern of the Bahamian public that the country is being swamped by migrants. The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell told the press in a briefing on Thursday 15th January that the business of migrants coming to The Bahamas is increasingly a commercial venture where relatives and friends in Nassau are encouraging others from the north to come here for opportunities. The boat captains charge a fee for the journey here. This appears to be borne out by interviews with the migrants. But while the flow today is not directly related to the political instability in Haiti, there is no doubt that ultimately, political instability causes the bad economic conditions that - if they lead to an implosion in Haiti - can destabilize the whole region and especially The Bahamas. The Foreign Minister advises that we have no choice but to engage with Haiti to try to stop that from happening. Top, BIS photo by Peter Ramsay of Prime Minister Christie and Foreign Minister Mitchell during a news conference at Nassau International Airport talking about the Caricom meeting with Opposition leaders in Haiti; bottom right, AP photo of Opposition demonstrators in Haiti marching on Port-au-Prince to demand the resignation of Haitian president Aristide.

PM BACK FROM SUMMITRY

Prime Minister Perry Christie arrived back in The Bahamas on Wednesday 14th January from his first appearance as the Head of The Bahamas at a Hemispheric Summit. The Special Summit of the Americas called by Mexico and hosted in their industrial capital, Monterrey, took place from 12th to 13th January. The meeting was an opportunity for the 14 new Heads of State or Government including The Bahamas and Paul Martin of Canada to sign on to the objectives of the Organization of American States on economic growth with equity, social development and democratic governance. Cuba was not invited to the party.
The Prime Minister addressed the summit on Social Development and the need for a balancing act when dealing with sensitive migrant issues. You may click here for the full address. At the airport in Nassau on Wednesday 14th January, he summed up his feelings about the visit and announced the special meeting with Haitian Opposition leaders. You may click here for that statement. The Prime Minister was accompanied to the summit by Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister and by James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance. Prime Minister Christie is pictured at the Summit in Monterrey, Mexico in the front row fourth from right in this AP photo.

CABINET RESHUFFLE TALK

The Prime Minister was asked at his press conference when he returned form the Mexico Summit: “What about the cabinet shuffle?” That seems to be on the minds of reporters these days, and every chance they get to speak to the PM about it, they ask him. His answers are clever but evasive. He told this reporter that he would, in the normal course of things, make adjustments. But he said that one thing that heartened him was that the two Ministers who went with him to Mexico, Messrs. James Smith and Fred Mitchell enjoyed a good reputation abroad. He was loathe, said the Prime Minister, to move them; especially Mr. Mitchell, even though he believes that Mr. Mitchell should have more to do, until they have accomplished certain goals in their now Ministries. Hmmm!
The Nassau Guardian then had its own story by one of its reporters that ignored what the Prime Minister said and went asking questions to Ministers about whether or not they were going to move. According to The Guardian’s reporter, the list of those to move included Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt, Attorney General Alfred Sears and others. The Guardian said all Ministers answered the same. They knew of no plans to move them but wherever they were sent, they were ready to serve. The Guardian can be such a simple paper sometimes. Prime Minister Christie, centre, is shown at the news conference upon his return from Mexico with Minister of Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell, left, and Minister of State for Finance James Smith, right, in this BIS photo by Peter Ramsay.

SHANE’S HOUSING DILEMMA

Shane Gibson is undoubtedly the best Housing Minister since Perry Christie, the now Prime Minister was Minister of Housing from 1982 to 1984. That was the year when Mr. Christie said he would have houses popping out of the ground. Well they may not be popping but Shane Gibson has certainly got them up and started all over The Bahamas. And he takes the press wherever he goes from Exuma, where the economic heating up has caused a huge demand for affordable housing to Grand Bahama to New Providence.
Last week, Mr. Gibson was on the television touting the proposed development of a new housing development off Carmichael Road and once a part of the well fields. He now has permission to develop this six acre plot. When he and his team got there with the press though they found that squatters were on the land. So back to the drawing board. Mr. Gibson said they would move ahead but with sensitivity to the needs of those who are squatting there. He said that there are eighty homes there and each had about five persons per household. Now that’s a lot of people. If he pulls this off with sensitivity and doesn’t get exasperated and simply puts the bulldozers in there, then we will applaud him further for a fine job indeed.

JAMES SHEPHERD BURIED

James Shepherd was called by the Prime Minister: “A freedom Fighter” and by Sir Arthur Foulkes “A hero of the Revolution”. Mr. Shepherd who died last Monday 12th January after a brief illness at 84 was one of the original 18 MPs who formed the first PLP administration in 1967. He was Party Whip. Before that he served as an officer in the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union. Later, he parted company with Sir Lynden Pindling and helped to form the Free National Movement. Senator Tommy Turnquest spoke on behalf of the party. The funeral took place at St. Anselm’s Church in Fox Hill. Monsignor Preston Moss presided. He was interred in the church cemetery. Peter Ramsay was there and took the pictures at the scene. At right, Prime Minister Christie is shown receiving the flag that covered the casket for presentation to Mr. Shepherd's daughter.

COLINA THREATENS TO SUE –YEAH RIGHT!

There is such a thing known as a “Gag Writ”. The lawyers know at the time they issue the writ that the whole matter is going nowhere but given the rules on sub judice in countries like The Bahamas, it effectively stops the press from commenting on a matter before the courts. That is what one suspects is up with Colina, whose President and CEO James Campbell with righteous indignation demanded that the Bahama Journal retract a story that said in effect that Colina was using the premiums of the companies that it was proposing to buy to pay for the new companies, running down the reserves and using creative accounting. In the present climate where there is scandal after scandal in the US and in Europe of accounting fraud, though no one has yet suggested that with Colina, it would do well for the regulators to be sceptical about Colina’s intentions.
James Campbell cuts a very convincing figure and has a lot of credibility in the marketplace so his rebuttal of the charges has to be carefully considered. What has also come out in the last week is that the Ministry of Financial Services, which is responsible for insurance regulation, earlier issued statement urging that Colina and Imperial not act as if the Imperial portfolio had been sold already. This was done after Imperial issued a letter that seemed to make the deal out to be a fait accompli (click here for our earlier story on the matter). It turns out now that the letter was not issued before the permission was obtained from the Registrar of Insurance. But given what is happening in the world, and the self destruction of Abaco Markets that gobbled up everything in sight and has lately had share prices in the tank and multimillion dollar losses, no one should agree to the Colina merger without very, very careful examination of what those folks propose, no matter who asserts their bona fides. If it doesn’t smell right, don’t approve it.

The Bahama Journal’s publisher Wendall Jones smells a rat and was unrepentant. He said that his newspaper had tried to get James Campbell to react to their story but he was unavailable. In their latest edition of the paper just before this site went up, they reportedly went further and published the contents of a letter from some competitors that went to the Government outlining the case against Colina’s purchase. There is hardball being played here, and someone wants this deal to sink.
We are against the buyout and have said so before. But the stakes are very high here. Mr. Jones has now put his own personal reputation on the line and dared them to sue. The gamble is that they will sue but only to stop his newspaper from talking and that’s why he went ahead and published all that he had. Colina has to worry about whether in a legal action for libel they don’t end up having to expose all their business, and in the public arena they may win as they say on a technicality but their credibility will come out so damaged that it won't be worth it. They should remember the story of Oscar Wilde. Some things you should just leave alone. Colina principal James Campbell is shown at top left along with Anthony Ferguson in this Nassau Guardian photo by Donald Knowles. Wendall Jones is pictured at right in a file photograph.

MICHAEL JACKSON SAYS NOT GUILTY

You have to wonder about this guy Michael Jackson. Is he a nut case or what? We are with him on this matter of these trumped up charges against him, and the circus that is sometimes US justice. But after seeing the stupid spectacle on Thursday 15th January when he was arraigned, his mom, dad, sisters and brothers and thousands of fans descending on the court room, chanting, singing. Then afterwards, he jumps up on the car. The Judge had to scold him for being 20 minutes late. Is this thing a joke or what? He comes off as not serious and just missing the point that his you-know-what could end up in the slammer and marred for life as a child molester. His buddy on his legal team ought to tell him a thing or two. But what we thought is a plus is that his family is sticking by him. It is good to have family: when all else fails, they are for you. Jackson is shown standing to be frisked on his way into court in California. Photo Kevork Djanezian/AFP

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

Prime Minister Perry Christie joined mourners this week at the state recognised funeral of former Member of Parliament James Shepherd. Mr. Christie spoke at the funeral, and referred to the sentiments of Mr. Shepherd's colleague Sir Arthur Foulkes, whom he followed to the podium, saying how appropriate Sir Arthur's comments of non partisan honour were to Mr. Shepherd. See story above.

The Prime Minister is shown greeting Sir Arthur Foulkes, former Minister of Government and former Bahamas Ambassador to the United Kingdom at the graveside of Mr. Shepherd.

The wife of the Prime Minister Mrs. Bernadette Christie, along with her husband, attended the service of celebration commemorating the anniversary of Majority Rule Day. We show this delightful Tribune photo of Mrs. Christie by Dominic Duncombe.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
    A regular reader and correspondent, writing anonymously, had this reaction to last week’s piece ‘The Isolation of Politicians’:
    "The gist of your article seems to be advocating cronyism and political patronage. While I understand that patronage is inherent in politics one should not strive to lend it legitimacy and validity by openly promulgating it. It is that mindset that inevitably led to the loss of the government for the PLP in 1992. In time it becomes difficult to reign in cronies who've become accustomed to unbridled impunity. Politicians need to possess some fortitude when it comes to appointments and one can appreciate the need for loyalty and synergy. A balance has to be struck between patronage, skill, professionalism, ethics and integrity.
    "Remember the electorate of 50's and 60's are not the same as today. There is a need to separate supporters from friends. Political supporters and cronies are not necessarily friends and inversely friends do not necessarily have to align and merge themselves politically. The following quote I feel therefore is untrue ‘...The politicians will no longer have their power and the question will be: “How will the old relationships survive?” They will survive by the quality of how the relationships are treated during the time in power. The politicians therefore must be conscious of this.”
    "Reference was made to the former Prime Minister and his relationship with friends while in power. Politically it really is inconsequential the point of how you treat your friends. What is important is that when you leave, your integrity, conscience and character are not impugned to any great degree, bereft of friends or not."

We agree with much of what you say. But the real message was to the “friends” who may not realize what their responsibility is in the context of their relationship with politicians. They have to not make the demands and realize that while they may benefit, they may not. The relationship itself should be sacred. But the recent experience seems to be that friends and allies put the politicians in the invidious position of ultimatums; either you do this or else I am gone. That is wrong. Ed.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE IN REVOLT

The Government must be wondering whatever has gotten into the Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall. It appears that he has issued a full broadside against the Government in the presence of the Attorney General Alfred Sears about the state of the courts. The reps in The Bahamas did not fail to pick up on the point. The annual ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court took place on Wednesday 14th January. Sir Burton said that there was a need for improvement in the Court buildings and that there had not been improvement in 2003 because of the lack of support from the Government. It was left for Attorney General Alfred Sears to repeat that the Government intends to build a new complex.
What was also interesting is that suddenly, the president of the Bar Council Wayne Munroe, who heretofore had basked in the glow of the riches of his private practice, is now a reactionary and calling into question the Government’s commitment to the Judiciary. No word from him, of course, about how under the FNM they let the courts slip into disrepair. When Fred Mitchell, Alfred Sears and Jeanne Thompson went under the fig tree every year to protest the state of the courts where were the Wayne Munroes then, and the Chief Justice for that matter? Now suddenly it’s the PLP's fault that the courts are in the state of disrepair. We agree that the courts are in shambles and that justice is delayed and denied to the people of The Bahamas because of it. And it should not matter who says it, if it is true. But some things simply are galling in the face of a long history of neglect and silence as that neglect happened. Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall is pictured inspecting the Royal Bahamas Police Force guard of honour during the official opening of the Supreme Court's legal year in this Nassau Guardian photo by Donald Knowles.

YEAH FOR YOUNG LIBERALS SEMINAR
Three cheers for the Young Liberals for organizing a seminar for high school students in The Bahamas on Majority Rule Day. We have criticized the Young Liberals for being too passive but there are some good leaders there who need to find their way. The seminar in Florida with the Bahamian students at Florida Memorial College was a good example. And now this seminar. Let’s have more of it. The students seemed to appreciate the history lesson given by Rev. Fr. James Moultrie about what the change in government meant on 10th January 1967.

DOMINICA'S PM LAID TO REST

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell travelled to Dominica in the eastern Caribbean to represent the Prime Minister at the funeral services for the late Prime Minister of Dominica Pierre Charles on Saturday 17th January 2004. This is their second PM to have died in office in three years. The previous one also died of a heart attack.

Mr. Pierre has left a nation in crisis. Dominica is a beautiful place but a bad blow came to it under Bill Clinton’s presidency in an attempt to protect Chiquita bananas from the preferential treatment given Dominica’s bananas to Europe’s markets.
The new Prime Minister is 31 year old Roosevelt Skerritt, who looked very much like a bewildered boy, in a strange place as he led his country in mourning the passing of their leader. The problem is what does one do in Dominica? There is no airport to tap the potential tourism potential, and the unemployment has left a sense of hopelessness in a lush, green, mountainous land. Mr. Skerritt is going to need all the help he can get. Prime Minister Christie is shown at left with world leaders during a moment of silence at the Special Summit of the Americas for the Dominican Prime Minister Pierre Charles, who is shown at top left. AP photos.

B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S IN FREEPORT…

Mary Nabb, the Englishwoman who moved to The Bahamas, and taught many of today’s leaders in Grand Bahama was laid to rest during the past week. She was eulogized as a fighter for children and for human rights and for Grand Bahama. She will be sorely missed. Some of her former students including former Minister Zhivargo Laing served as pallbearers at the funeral. Former MP C.A. Smith joined others in a tribute to the late Mrs. Nabb in planting a yellow tabebuila tree, a "tree of gold" on the campus of the Grand Bahama Catholic High School where Mrs. Nabb taught at the end of her career. Tribune photo by Derek Carroll.

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A SUCCESSFUL MEETING… CAUTIOUSLY SO
Haiti celebrated its 200th anniversary of independence on 1st January 2004. On that day, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas for the first time travelled to Haiti. He joined President Thabo Mbeki, the President of the world's youngest black republic, South Africa. Haiti is the oldest. But to most of the world that is not saying much because Haiti is also the poorest country in the region, a proverbial basket case that brings engagement and then disgust, and then despair and now it is being called “Haiti Fatigue”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said that the exchange of views was frank on all sides. After getting over the suspicion of the Caricom side, an accord of sorts seemed to have been hammered out. The plan includes President Jean Bertrand Aristide of Haiti taking some steps as a precondition to any movement by the Opposition. They are sick of his promises to carry out certain agreements and then nothing happens. The Opposition said that they would continue their street demonstrations. They believe that this is the only way to force President Aristide to reform his conduct. They will not agree to elections until he resigns.

Haiti has been a graveyard for many a policy maker. The Americans, the Canadians, the European Union and Caricom had largely given up on them. It is the intellectuals in the Caribbean and in the United States, Canada and Europe, together with the left leaning Black leadership in the United States that refuse to let Haiti go. For them, there is no such thing as Haiti fatigue. The Foreign Minister of The Bahamas has been one of the prime leaders in this movement. He has said on a number of occasions that Haiti is not a subject that has a solution in the sense that a guillotine can be dropped down on the matter and it is solved. He says that it is a problem that requires constant management. “We cannot afford to disengage,” he has said. “Disengagement is not an option.”

And yet engagement is so complicated. Haiti has never had an opportunity to get off its haunches. They have had bad leadership, military coup after military coup. They were made to pay huge reparations to the French to keep the Napoleonic army from attacking them again. They have had interventions by the United States that destabilized the country. They have simply had bad leadership. There is a strong educated class. In the midst of the poverty, there is a strong sense of culture and art. They have been an example of what black people can do when they strike out for freedom. They are still an energetic and enterprising people with many millions of its people spread throughout the world building other people’s countries.

Engagement will cost but for The Bahamas disengagement will cost even more. With disengagement comes the spectacle of collapse in the Government of Haiti and tens of thousands more refuges swamping the whole western hemisphere but mainly The Bahamas as they head for the United States. There is no country in the hemisphere that is more at risk. But no country is immune. Even tiny Dominica, itself a basket case, now has a problem with Haitian migrants, using the common Creole culture and language as a means of assimilating and then slipping into nearby Martinique and onto France. Canada, which has no land border, has a large Haitian migrant population in Montreal.

The meeting in The Bahamas was pronounced a successful one by all of its participants. The Opposition leaders agreed not to anything more than taking back the ideas to their principals in Haiti and then there has to be a meeting again. The Prime Minister of The Bahamas is to travel to Haiti today to speak on a confidential basis with President Aristide. Then there is to be a meeting in Kingston with all the other Caricom Prime Ministers to speak frankly to the President about what he must do. Then we shall see.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 24th January 2004 at midnight: 51,644.

Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 24th January 2004 at midnight: 135,429.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 24th January at midnight: 135,429.

* Formal photo of Nassau talks with Haitian Opposition leaders includes all delegations;
Caricom, Haitian Group of 184, Convergence Democratique, OAS observers, Canada observers, US observers. BIS / Peter Ramsay
* Jamaican Prime Minister P..J. Patterson with Haitian Opposition leaders Gervais Charles and Lionel Delatour. Bahama Journal
* Bahamas Foreign Minister Mitchell with Prime Ministers Manning and Christie;
* Bahamas Foreign Minister Mitchell with Prime Ministers Patterson and Christie. BIS / Peter Ramsay

HOTEL UNION SETTLES THE DISPUTE

    Kudos and praise to the Hon. Vincent Peet, the Minister of Labour for a yeoman’s job in seeking to settle the dispute between the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and the Hotel Employer’s Association.
    The Prime Minister was called to intervene. Harsh words were said. The employers threatened a lock out. The employees pulled a wildcat strike. The Government was embarrassed by the Union during the state visit of Thabo Mbeki if South Africa and the Prime Minister apologized. The Union said that the Prime Minister did not need to and he was talking nonsense. The Prime Minister threatened to change the law to outlaw sickouts.
    The employees had their eyes on the success of one property Atlantis. All the others except Comfort Suites are in the red. The employers at Atlantis said that employees should have no complaints since bartenders were taking home $100,000 per year and pool attendants $75,000. The employees said that the properties not making money needed their employees to be treated better than they were in their base pay.
    Here is the deal announced on Tuesday 20th January. It is a five year contract. During the first year hotel workers who fall under the tip category will receive a lump sum payment of $400. Non tip workers will receive $500.   In the second year, workers will receive no increase in salary or lump sum. In 2005, workers will receive a four per cent increase on their base pay. Another lump sum of $400 will be given to tip and non-tip category workers in 2006. By 2007, salaries will increase again by four and half percent. This will mean that over the five year period $17.1 million will be added to the current $72 million payroll.
    The Minister says that the deal will be signed soon. Well that puts paid to that, and we hope the industry now progresses. The Government and the Hotel Union need to have a powwow now on how they go forward. The Government and all the Unions need to enter into some kind of permanent consultative dialogue so that this kind of threat to the industry does not repeat itself.

SAM GREENE ATTACKED BY THE GAYS

    The Rainbow Alliance of The Bahamas, the ad hoc group that represents Gay and Lesbian Opinion in The Bahamas has made a full frontal attack on Bishop Same Greene because he is getting an award from the Queen. It has been announced that he is to become a Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG). The group in a letter to the Editor published on Saturday 24th January said the following: “Has Bishop Greene forgotten his terrorist threat? That he will succeed where Guy Fawkes failed and blow up Parliament if they [The Bahamas’ Parliament] consider same sex marriage.”
    The Alliance pointed out the Queen’s speech on behalf of the British Government in which they announced that gay and lesbian marriages will be legalized in the United Kingdom. By this reasoning they say that Bishop Greene accepting an award from the Queen who supports gay and lesbian marriages is like a Jew accepting the Nazi Iron Cross.
    Their logic is a bit off in the sense that what the Queen says has nothing to do with her beliefs. It has only to do with what the British Government’s programme is. She has no active role to play in the matter. Bishop Greene himself had earlier told The Tribune that he had no part in the Queen giving him the award and that the Alliance should speak to the Queen if they wished to know why.

THE HAITI TALKS ATTRACT INT'L PRESS

The talks with Haitian Opposition Leaders dominated the headlines in The Bahamas and elsewhere internationally, from the arrival of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, met by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell; Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell meeting P.J. Patterson, Chair of Caricom; the Minister also met the leaders of Civil Society and then the Opposition political party leaders; the meetings began and adjourned and went on and then there were the press conferences and the farewells. Please recheck this website on Wednesday for a full photo essay of the talks. Bahamas Foreign Minister Mitchell is shown advising the three Prime Ministers at a news conference held at the end of the two day talks. In addition to local and regional press, the world's leading news agencies were camped out at the talks. BIS / Peter Ramsay

THE HAITI OPPOSITION IN ITS OWN WORDS

    The Convergence Democratique came and the Group of 184 came. They are both Opposition groups in Haiti. They were invited to The Bahamas to meet with the Prime Ministers of Jamaica, The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago to discus the future of their country. The meetings took place on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd January. At the end of the talks Gervais Charles, an Attorney spoke to the media. Here is some of what he said in his own words as reconstructed from indirect speech reported by the Nassau Guardian:
    “We are pleased with the two days of talks here and we are leaving with a new perception of Caricom, a body which we believe respects us.
    “A major sticking point that we still do not see eye to eye to with Caricom on is the role of President Jean Bertrand Aristide. We believe that Jean Bertrand Aristide is the source of the problem and should resign. However, Caricom believes that Aristide should remain and both sides should work out their differences.
    “Previously, the Opposition believed Mr. Aristide was the only person in Haiti who was a part of Caricom, while the rest of Haiti was not. The talks in the presence of Caricom heads and international observers were groundbreaking and the fact that we were invited to participate in discussions is an important step. We were never extended such a privilege in previous international talks… ” Photo Nassau Guardian / Donald Knowles

PM OFF TO PORT-AU-PRINCE

Prime Minister Christie jetted off to Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, Sunday 25th January, for talks with Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Mr. Christie is to familiarise President Aristide with the latest details of the Caricom Initiative laid out at the Nassau talks Tuesday and Wednesday. The Prime Minister is accompanied by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, Attorney General Alfred Sears and several senior officials of The Bahamas Government. He was expected to return to the capital, Nassau early Sunday evening. Cartoon - Sideburns / Tribune Saturday 24th January, 2004

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Value of This Site:
A letter writer was incensed at speculation in the press over this site and wrote to defend it. He was especially concerned about the sensitivity to PLPs who sometimes are criticized on the site. We do not have express permission to use the name:
“Suddenly this site has become an area of contention within the press. Why? It obviously is being effective. It is the only active site that defends the PLP’s positions in the country. This is the closest that the PLP has to The Herald, which published PLP news during the glory years in Opposition and then the glory years of Sir Lynden Pindling. The site is kept going with that in mind. It is a credible site with information from all sides and with contrasting opinions. That is part of its credibility and authority. We are now in the sixth year of publication and going strong. PLPs would do well to remember it. The FNM certainly does.”

Productivity & Economic Growth

An anonymous correspondent sent us this article on productivity and economic growth from the Bahamas Issues Bahamian Web Community (http://www.bahamasissues.com/). The article is by the FNM's former Member of Parliament for North Andros, Dr. Earl Deveaux. Please click here.

JULIAN FRANCIS: CURB UNIONS & LAWYERS

    The thing that caught our attention about the address at the Bahamas Outlook Seminar this past week is that Julian Francis, governor of the Central Bank, unleashed an unbridled attack on trade unionism. He called for laws that would enforce reasonableness in the industrial relations culture. The thrust of his address is the fact that the trade unions by their behaviour threaten the economic well being of the country. We do not agree. We think that trade unions offer a sense of balance to a culture that does not believe that workers have a right to say how their terms and conditions ought to operate. Without trade unions in the hotel industry, the workers of that industry would suffer greatly.
    Then Mr. Francis went after everyone's favourite whipping boy: lawyers. He said that lawyers were holding back the progress of the economy by the insistence of maintaining a monopoly where they controlled who could come into The Bahamas and practice law. He said that the Government should break the monopoly and allow foreign lawyers to practice in The Bahamas at the Bar.
    The President of the Bar responded that Mr. Francis was mistaken because foreign lawyers come into The Bahamas all the time to argue cases, and in any event the Bar was not the only group that had a say over whether lawyers come in or not. The Government had to give them a work permit. He also said that within ten years The Bahamas government would decide about joining a currency union. He thought that this together with scrapping Exchange Control would benefit the economy. You may click here for the full text of Mr. Francis address.

PRIME MINISTER FACES THE NATION

In place of the tiresome annual New Year’s Day address that Hubert Ingraham used to make, the Prime Minister has now come up with a programme called “The Prime Minister Speaks”. He is to do it quarterly. It will be a report to the nation. The first one was shown on television and heard on radio live on Monday 19th January.
It was a good performance. In it the Prime Minister laid out answers to questions on policies from four journalists: Erica Wells, The Tribune’s editor; Darrold Miller of ZNS; Jeffrey Lloyd of Love 97; and the host of the programme Michelle Malcolm. Mr. Christie said that he was concerned about the continued drift of Haitians into The Bahamas and confirmed that a programme to recruit labour in Haiti was being developed. He said that he had taken over the policy decision on whether Colina will get to buy Imperial Life’s portfolio. He said that trade unions should not be allowed to hold a country to ransom. He added that national service was being planned for The Bahamas and would be announced soon. He predicted that there would be a change soon in the leadership of the prison as a result of the reform efforts of the Government. Photo Nassau Guardian / Donald Knowles

THE OPPOSITION RESPONDS TO PM

The Opposition political machine of the Free National Movement was in overdrive. Shortly after the Prime Minster’s address, Tommy Turnquest, the Leader outside the House of the Free National Movement was in the press saying that the Prime Minister had engaged in a passionate sing song, and that he had missed an opportunity to address issues important to the country. Sounds like the same old song from the Opposition to us. Senator Turnquest said: “Mr. Christie failed to be upfront and accountable to the Bahamian people after what was a disastrous year of governance by committees, commissions, consultations and little if any direct and deliberate leadership and decision making.”

TOMMY TURNQUEST SKULKING ‘ROUND FOX HILL
Reports are that Senator Tommy Turnquest and a delegation of Free National Movement supporters were seen in the depths of the Fox Hill village skulking around. No word on why they were there, except they might have been looking around for a candidate to place against Fox Hill representative Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell. Stay tuned!

JAMES SMITH ON THE ECONOMY

Minister of State for Finance James Smith gave a cautiously optimistic outlook on the economy of The Bahamas for the year 2004 as he spoke to The Bahamas Outlook Seminar on Tuesday 20th January. He said that there was a need for restraint by the hotel unions in their labour negotiations. He added that there was a need for tax reform given the international trading relations that were likely to come for The Bahamas at the end of the year. He said that he regretted that BaTelCo was not privatized because he had been counting on that to reduce the national debt of The Bahamas. He predicted that 100 million dollars would be spent on the development programme of the Government over the next year. He added: “Our major macro-economic indicators over the past year are for the most part on favourable positive trends.” You may click here for the full address.

PROPAGANDIST IN OVERDRIVE
Ever since Sidney Stubbs, the MP for Holy Cross resigned from the Bahamas Agricultural Industrial Corporation (BAIC), Earlin Williams, Mr. Stubbs’ sidekick at BAIC and the master mind behind the Korean fishing boat scandal has been on the warpath. He has been in the press attacking the Prime Minister. He has attacked the Government. Mr. Williams is a paid consultant to The Bahamas Information Services reportedly at $100,000 per year. Up to the resignation, he was seconded to the BAIC from Bahamas Information Services. No one knows where his services are being used at either BIS or BAIC. Perhaps the Opposition would want to add that question to the list of the thousands of Parliamentary questions of which they are enamoured.
Events now seem to have taken a more ominous turn. All of sudden, anonymously, attacks against Government Ministers on a personal level, and a campaign against this site with various lies and other inaccurate allegations are showing up in the gutter press. There are very few sly political writers around so the evidence only points to the dirty work of one individual who shall remain nameless. If it were, that would fit into a pattern of seeking to use gutter tactics in order to achieve an objective. The fellow of which we speak is much too clever and should be old enough now to end such childish and ineffective behaviour.

HIGGS AT COB - WHAT NOW?

The Bahama Journal carried a story on its front page on Thursday 22nd January speculating that Dr. Leon Higgs is about to be given the boot at the College of The Bahamas after serving for one contractual term as the President of the College of The Bahamas. Dr. Higgs succeeded Dr. Keva Bethel. At the time he was awarded the job, the Government decided that the College needed male leadership to take it where it was to go. The Government did not strip away those who were competing for his job. They kept them all in place not allowing him to assemble his own team. The result is that some observers say that this is the reason the College has not grown.
Now the Board has advertised all the top jobs of the College, so once again a situation is set up where those who are under Dr. Higgs are again competing for a job that he both wants and should have. The Seventh Day Adventist Church that is made up of amongst the finest trained young male leadership in the country is looking on with studied interest. Dr. Higgs is a Seventh Day Adventist. No word yet on what the position of the Minister of Education is on all of this but we support the continuation of Dr. Higgs at COB.

MEANWHILE NEWS OF A FIGHT AT COB
Politics and Government Lecturer Felix Bethel was in the press this week explaining the fact that he had been suspended from the College of the Bahamas for a term as a result of a verbal altercation with Dr. Linda Davis his supervisor. Mr. Bethel said that he spoke some angry words that he regretted to Dr. Davis because she refused to okay a double increment. He has since apologized and Dr. Davis has reportedly refused to accept the apology. He told The Tribune that the penalty was too harsh and that he has instructed lawyers to take the College to court if they do not rescind the penalty.

BAHAMAS PREPARING FOR US ELECTIONS
    In the halls of the powerful in the region, there is more than a curious interest in what is going on with the Democratic Party in the United States as they try to choose a nominee for the Presidency of the United States. The outsiders look at the fact the Democrats almost chose a non entity in Howard Dean, a former Vermont Governor. That was a sure sign of disaster even if he were twinned with former General Wesley Clarke as his Vice Presidential running mate. The voters of the state of Iowa chose John Kerry, a Senator from Massachusetts, and John Edwards as the top two candidates after their primary last week. That shook up the race and should give a greater level of comfort that an attempt is being put together candidates that can rival the formidable George Bush.
    Mr. Bush, armed with almost 140 million dollars and the incumbency that many people believe he robbed in 2000, but also seen as war time conquering President, seems assured another term in the White House. And while Mr. Dean seemed to be the probable nominee, throughout capitals in the hemisphere most were preparing for four more fractious years with an unbridled conservative administration that does not respect anyone or any other country. They are sure to be four difficult years.
    The Kerry choice offers just a glimmer of hope of some relief to the problems of a second term of a President who will have to pay no attention to re-election prospects. Mr. Kerry is not a friend of The Bahamas. He is said to have soured on The Bahamas after the murder of an aide to him went unsolved. He also led the way in hearings on drug matters accusing The Bahamas of some pretty nefarious matters. One isn't sure that it isn’t better for this country under a Republican administration. One thing is sure, we have no say over the matter and we will just have to wait, watch and pray.

CONDOLENCES

Paula Theresa Moxey Ranger
Our condolences to the Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Cynthia Pratt on the loss of her sister Paula Moxey Ranger who died of cancer. She was buried on Saturday 24th January. The funeral service was attended by the Prime Minister and Cabinet members.

Herbert Carl Charles Saunders
Another stalwart of the Valley has fallen. Mr. Saunders was married to the Doris Brown, the daughter of the legendary Bertha Brown and a general of the late Sir Stafford Sands in the straw market. Mr. Saunders was 89. He is survived by 5 sons and 7 daughters. One son is the Director of Civil Aviation Charles Saunders.

RED CROSS BALL
The annual Red Cross Ball was held in Nassau this past Saturday evening, 24th January. This year, the ball was in honour of the wife of former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest, Edith, the Lady Turnquest. Photographer Peter Ramsay recorded graceful images of the event and we will present an essay in next week's edition.

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

Despite striding the world stage at the Nassau talks for a Caricom solution in Haiti, forecasting the state of the nation in 2004 on ZNS and successfully shepherding a behind-the-scenes conclusion of the hotel talks, Prime Minister Christie still found the time to solicit overseas investment for The Bahamas at the prestigious Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, then to dance the night away at the annual Red Cross Ball. Peter Ramsay captured the Prime Minister at the podium in Florida and also the Christies 'on the floor' in Nassau. Photos BIS / Ramsay.

NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Explosions at Grand Bahama Shipyard
Early Saturday morning, Grand Bahama was rocked, both figuratively and literally, by two explosions at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in the greater Grand Bahama Harbour area. Reports are that a team of welders was working to repair a ship when the explosions went off. One man is dead and and two others escaped with minor injuries. But the real story, observers say, is the impact that the explosion will have on the community, now considering whether or not to support the installation of one - or maybe two - liquid natural gas (lng) transhipment plants on the island. "When I heard the bangs and felt the ground shake, I was more than a mile away," said one observer... "all I could think of was what happened in India, when all those people were killed in that gas accident."

4^th January, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *Happy New Year!*
THE MBEKI VISIT—MEMORABLE IMAGES...	THE BAHAMAS & SOUTH AFRICA - KEY PLAYERS...
THE PRIME MINISTER IN HAITI...	SKY MARSHALLS FOR BAHAMASAIR?...
PEET ORDERS A STOP TO WORK TO RULE...	JACKASS OF THE WEEK...
YOUNG LIBERALS AGREE...	PLP CHAIRMAN WEIGHS IN...
THE BEEF BAN—ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN...	INJURED 15 YEAR OLD PRAISES PLP’S HALKITIS...
THE JUNKANOO RESULTS...	TAKING COLINA TO TASK...
QUEEN’S HONOURS ANNOUNCED FOR NEW YEARS...	LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...
	B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S FREEPORT...





The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

11^th January, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
THE ISOLATION OF POLITICIANS...	HUBERT INGRAHAM ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL...
MEANWHILE AT INGRAHAM'S BOILFISH PARTY...	IS HUEDLEY MOSS IN TROUBLE AND PAT BAIN?...
THE ECONOMY GREW AT 2 PER CENT LAST YEAR...	JIMMY SHEPHERD, MARY NABB DIE...
GEORGE MOSKO'S WIFE DIES...	A FAILING IRAQ STRATEGY...
PM TO MONTERREY...	THE METHODIST CHURCH CASE...
10TH JANUARY COMES ROUND ONCE MORE...	US FINGERPRINTING BAHAMIANS...
DEVARD DARLING TO GO PRO?...	CABINET SHUFFLE TALK...
PINDLING FOUNDATION 100K FOR COB...	BAHAMIAN CHRISTMAS ABROAD...
MICHAEL JORDAN GOLF TOURNAMENT...	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...
GOODBYE, CHRISTMAS!...	B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S FREEPORT...



The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

18^th January, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
CHRISTIAN COUNCIL ON GAY CRUISES AGAIN...	THE MEANING OF ‘D’ GRADE IN BGCSE...
JUNKANOOS ASK FOR POLICE PROTECTION...	THE HAITIANS ARE COMING...
PM BACK FROM SUMMITRY...	CABINET RESHUFFLE TALK...
SHANE’S HOUSING DILEMMA...	JAMES SHEPHERD BURIED...
COLINA THREATENS TO SUE –YEAH RIGHT!...	MICHAEL JACKSON SAYS NOT GUILTY...
THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...	LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...
THE CHIEF JUSTICE IN REVOLT...	YEAH FOR YOUNG LIBERALS SEMINAR...
DOMINICA'S PM LAID TO REST...	B.S. NOTES FROM GENEVA’S FREEPORT...





The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

25^th January, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
HOTEL UNION SETTLES THE DISPUTE...	SAM GREENE ATTACKED BY THE GAYS...
THE HAITI TALKS ATTRACT INT'L PRESS...	THE HAITI OPPOSITION IN ITS OWN WORDS...
PM OFF TO PORT-AU-PRINCE...	LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...
JULIAN FRANCIS: CURB UNIONS & LAWYERS...	PRIME MINISTER FACES THE NATION...
THE OPPOSITION RESPONDS TO PM...	TOMMY TURNQUEST SKULKING ‘ROUND FOX HILL...
JAMES SMITH ON THE ECONOMY...	PROPAGANDIST IN OVERDRIVE...
HIGGS AT COB - WHAT NOW?...	MEANWHILE NEWS OF A FIGHT AT COB...
BAHAMAS PREPARING FOR US ELECTIONS...	CONDOLENCES...
RED CROSS BALL...	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...
	NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA...



The Official Site of the Progressive Liberal Party...	The Official Site of the Free National Movement...
PLPs On The Web...	Interesting Places...
Bradley Roberts / PLP Grants Town	Bahamas Government Website
Neville Wisdom / PLP Delaporte	Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links
Alfred Sears / PLP Fort Charlotte	Bahamians On The Web
Melanie Griffin / PLP Yamacraw	Bahamian Cycling News
John Carey / PLP Carmichael	FredMitchellUncensored.Com ARCHIVES...
Grand Bahama PLP

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

Volume 2 © BahamasUncensored.Com

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