Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 2 © BahamasUncensored.Com
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - On Monday 28th July, the Government of The Bahamas and the Government of the United States signed a comprehensive maritime agreement. This was the culmination of years of tortuous and often testy negotiations between the two sides. The Minister laid the agreement on the table of the House of Assembly. There is really no new ground in the agreement, since the parties have been operating on a series of ad hoc notes and procedures since at least 1964 when the then Governor of the colony Sir Ralph Grey signed a letter permitting the United States Coastguard to enter Bahamian waters for search and rescue. Now search and rescue, drug interdiction and capturing illegal migrants are all incorporated in one text. The two sides appeared to be all smiles on Monday 28th July as Robert Witijewski, the Chargé of the United States, shook hands following the signing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas Fred Mitchell. The photo is by Derek Smith of the Bahamas Information Services. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
A NATIONAL CULTURE OF DITHERING
The Public Service in The Bahamas has been under attack by both
PLPs and Independent members of the House over the past few months.
There is a feeling that they are expressing an exasperation with the state
of how things are decided, how slowly and how inaccurately. It is
a matter that the Government has to deal with almost three years into its
term. The faithful are being affected by policies of the Government
that the Government says it is deciding but the evidence of execution leaves
much to be desired. Try even the situation of getting a letter from
a Government office. The Minister might write it and sign it, but
does it ever reach its destination?
The man on whom the main responsibility for this falls will be the Minister for the Public Service Fred Mitchell. Ever since the Government came into office the Prime Minister has been talking about public sector reform. From all indications one vendor after the next has been to The Bahamas trying to sell their services in this area. So far, the Government has made no decision. The Minister in his early days identified two areas that he hoped he could tackle that would lead to some lasting change. One was to get a human resources track and career path for public servants. In this he has not been successful. There are powerful forces within the service that block the effort. The other is to ensure that the public receives reasonably quick service while encountering the ‘front of house’ in various government departments or when trying to reach the offices by telephone. That has not improved either.
It is clear that talking about the need for public sector reform does not help either. The Prime Minister gets ever more exasperated when he thinks of the way public services are delivered. Too many things fall between the cracks. And so the Minister in his address to the House of Assembly during the budget debate put his finger on what he thought was the real problem. He described it as a cultural problem, in other words there is something in the way we live, the way we are trained, the way we are raised that has so affected the national psychology that we have problems communicating what we hear, executing what we decide, and responding in a timely fashion to events that carry deadlines.
The Minister said that this occurs both in the private sector and the public sector. On a radio programme he gave the example of Cable Bahamas, that is a private sector company, which has the monopoly to provide cable television services for The Bahamas. One customer complained to him that he had paid his money for an installation and he was told that it would take two weeks for them to show up to install the service. When the men showed up two weeks later, they stayed at the premises for fifteen minutes after discovering that there was not the necessary link to complete the hook up. The team said that the link would take another week to come to fix that and then they would come again. That meant that Cable Bahamas had the money of the customer for three weeks but no service was delivered. Once the Minister mentioned the fact on the radio, the service was delivered the next day.
And this is the story in the public service. The public service responds when it has a deadline to meet but only under pressure. The way the public service works is that with most things it waits until the last minute to get decisions or to carry out decisions. And so the public servant might know in February that the matter has to be executed in time for a deadline in July. But you can bet that one day before the deadline in July, they are scrambling around trying to get it done in time. And that is the normal course of things. We call it here a national culture of dithering.
Politicians cannot escape the criticism either. The same cultural phenomenon that strikes the public service at large, strikes the political class. This column has always argued that many people think that it is the politicians themselves who are the ultimate drag on the economy through the slowness of their decision making, and the attempt to always be in control. There is an argument made by some that this retards economic growth and progress.
Whatever the cause, it is clear that The Bahamas is still trying to run itself like the village it was in the 1940s. The systems are clearly inadequate for the demands of this modern country. The problem is that there is a great inertia in doing something about it. The curious thing is that everyone is for public sector reform, but no one wants to actually reform.
And so it will be interesting to know whether the Minister’s ideas about stopping all permanent and pensionable employment for new workers and everyone working on contract will succeed. There is a need for greater management flexibility, and the contract work will help to that end. It will have the added benefit of the Government ceasing the present non contributory pension, and all pensions will be dealt with by National Insurance, or a contributory pension scheme.
The time to move is now. The Government does not have long to make an impact in this area before they are swamped by resistance, swamped by this national culture of dithering. Stall! Delay! Defer! The rule in the public service is similar to that line from The Lion in Winter when Queen Eleanor tells her husband Henry II: “I don’t have to stop you. I only need to delay you.”
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 3rd July 2004 at midnight: 40,616.
Number of this for the month of June up to Wednesday 30th June 2004 at midnight: 180,268.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 3rd July 2004 at midnight: 11,762.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 3rd July 2004 at midnight: 1,334,966.
A DRUG
MAN SURRENDERS
Now here is a curious thing to report. Pedro
Smith, who according to the Americans is supposed to be the mastermind
behind the Smith/Maycock drug ring that they and The Bahamas police busted
up week before last, decided that he would waive his rights to resist extradition
to the United States, and instead surrender into U.S. custody.
According to a report in The Tribune Tuesday 29th
June, Mr. Smith was arrested when he was trying to leave The Bahamas by
private plane on Thursday 24th June. His court appearance came in
Miami on Monday 28th June. He was remanded in custody. It is
reported that one other defendant has also waived his right to extradition.
Everyone else is set to fight the extradition. You may click
here for last week's story.
The community has been reflecting on what the real
reason is behind the alacrity of the surrender to the United States.
While, he was denied bail in Miami because he was said to be a flight risk,
many will be watching to see how the two who surrendered conduct their
case hereafter and the relationship if any that they exhibit to the authorities
in the U.S. Things that make you go: “Hmmm!”
ONE
BOY, 9, DEAD AND TWO MISSING AND FOUND
The community in Nassau was alarmed this week by the apparent murder of
a little boy 9 years old who set off early one morning to play basketball
on the St. George’s Park in the eastern part of New Providence. He
was last seen on Wednesday 23rd June and he set off to play ball at 6 a.m.,
after a restless time in the house. He was never seen again, until
the discovery of his partly decomposed body on Saturday 26th July.
It was being speculated that he had been sexually assaulted. Dead
is Devon Knowles, pictured.
The case of the missing boy itself set off alarms
bells but when it was also reported that two other male children had also
gone missing, there was panic in the air. The two boys were later
found safe and sound at the Children’s Emergency Hostel. They are
the children of Haitian immigrants: Stephen Delles (10) and Dario Joseph.
(8). The nine year old of course was a tragedy that has occurred
all too often in the society.
The police immediately announced with the Social
Services Department a special unit to deal with children and the issues
which arise with them. The Bahamas was traumatized by the murders
of six children in Grand Bahama last year. Those murders have been
solved but the question remains why this is a phenomenon in The Bahamas.
What can we do about it?
You have to ask yourself as we asked ourselves with
the cases of the missing boys in Grand Bahama: why would you allow a 9
year old to leave your house on a school day at 6 a.m. to go play basketball,
unaccompanied, given what you know is the tenor of the times? It
raises the question about parenthood and whether people are as prudent
as possible in exercising concern about the fate of their children.
FREEPORT
STILL HAS A CONTAINER PORT
The people of Freeport (we suppose) can breathe a sigh of relief now that
they still have a container port. Last week, we reported (You may
click
here for that report) that the owners of the Port were threatening
to close the Port down because of the walkout of some 400 members of the
staff after a union organizer was fired. We said then that while
the workers might not be justified in contract in walking off their jobs,
the fact that an explosive incident of this kind happened meant that something
was seriously wrong with the employment practices of the container port.
They should have seen it coming. The managers who are in charge of
this area should see their career’s end.
The representatives of the container port's management
in their public pronouncements were also unhelpful as well. They
seemed to be promoting the closure of the Port as an act of vengeance against
the men, instead of promoting its reopening. They issued a statement
of gloom and doom, in particular that they were about to lose their major
customer, which was responsible for 85 percent of the traffic through the
port.
We think that the container port's owners should
stop the gloom and doom. So much gloom and doom that they inspired
The Tribune’s gloom and doom specialist Eileen Carron to write long pieces
about how the workers of The Bahamas threatened the very survival of our
economy. That is the line The Tribune always takes. Mind you
even though there are these disruptions from time to time, it is clear
from the history of The Bahamas that social progress comes as a result
of this. It is the management that does not seem to get it.
They seem always to think that you can plan the people factor out of the
business.
The Port has now fired some 40 people since the
incident. The talk around Freeport is that they wanted to fire all
of those and more in order to change the terms and conditions of work at
the Port. It is also said that the Department of Labour dropped the
ball on this one. The matter of a conflict brewing came to the attention
of the Department in Freeport but they did not act swiftly enough to get
on top of the issue. And so we have the mess that we are in now.
We want the container port to reopen and stay open.
We want the employees to know that they should not walk off a good paying
job. In the face of the unemployment out there and the ready pool
of alternative labour, many Bahamians think it is foolish to walk off a
job for something that can be dealt with in another manner. Aerial
photograph of the Freeport Container Port.
HARAJCHI
LOSES HIS COURT CASE
What will Mohammed Harajchi (pictured) do now? (Click
here for last week’s story). The Suisse Security Bank has lost
the appeal to the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of the Governor
of the Central Bank to wind up the bank. The unanimous decision was
made by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday 29th June. It gave no written
reasons.
Will Mr. Harajchi who has been making threatening
noises at the PLP claiming that the PLP promised to give him his licence
back in exchange for political contributions, now go to the Privy Council?
We believe that Mr. Harajchi on that score is a stranger to the truth.
The Central Bank itself has announced that it is
now going ahead to liquidate the bank and distribute its assets.
Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, the lawyer for the bank said that he was awaiting
further instructions on the matter.
HIGGS
OF COB CONFIRMS HE’S OUT
As you know, this column has always opposed the departure of the now President
of the College of The Bahamas Dr. Leon Higgs (pictured, left). Our
feeling was that he was never given the tools for the support to do the
job that he was required to do. But the Board of the College in its
wisdom advertised the job, clearly sending the signal that he was no longer
wanted.
It appears that some kind of compromise has been worked out. And
so after months of uncertainty and behind the scenes negotiating, the president
of COB has announced that he is withdrawing his application to succeed
himself at the College. This should clear the way for the Board to
make another appointment.
We would be opposed to anyone from the College itself
getting the job of President. The speculation is that the new President
will be Dr. Rodney Smith, a Harvard PH.D and a Bahamian (pictured, right).
Dr. Smith has served as the President of a college in New Jersey and the
press has been saying that the negotiations are in the final stages.
Once again, we regret Dr Higgs’ departure and thank him for his work at
the College but hey, that's life.
THE
PUNCH ADMITS, IT LIED ON MITCHELL
The Punch is a lying rag. Now it confirms
what we always known. It is a paper that purveys lies, distortions
of the truth, and thrives off the prurient and salacious. The paper
itself now admits that it tells lies.
On 17th May 2004, the newspaper (if you can call
it that) published a set of defamatory lies about the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Fred Mitchell in his capacity as a counsel and attorney at law.
The Minister himself in the House of Assembly called persons who write
articles of that type as something just above scum. The Punch has
now in a remarkable development completely retracted the story, and unqualifiedly
apologized. Their apology reads as follows:
“The Punch is satisfied that the thrust of the
allegations should not have been directed at Mr. Mitchell and The Punch
apologizes to Minister Mitchell for publishing the allegations and for
the embarrassment or injury to his reputation caused by the publication
of the article.
“Although Mr. Mitchell represented Mr. Munroe
when the action was brought against Customs, Mr. Mitchell gave up the practice
of law upon his appointment as Minister in May 2002. After Mr. Mitchell
left the law firm the matter was dealt with by other persons. And
any complaint by Mr. Munroe was directed at other lawyers and not Minister
Mitchell. The Punch is pleased to announce that the matter is now
being dealt with in a satisfactory manner.
“Mr. Mitchell’s good name remains untarnished.
The Punch is satisfied that there was no wrongdoing on the part of Mr.
Mitchell.
“And any apparent negligence in the matter was
due to the unintended oversights by other lawyers after Mr. Mitchell gave
up practicing law.”
The problem with this is that even though there
is an unqualified apology, the damage is done with a lot of ignorant people
going round picking up on lying trash and garbage like this newspaper and
its publisher seek to purvey. It won't stop and no doubt the publisher
will be back at it again. He obviously can't help himself.
INDEPENDENCE
FOR THE BAHAMAS
The Bahamas will celebrate the 31st anniversary
of its independence on Saturday 10th July 2004. The country is now
awash with flags and festive bunting in the national colours. We
wish the country well, and a happy birthday. This year Ministers
of the Government are being assigned to go to the Family Islands to take
the salute for independence. Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell
has announced that he will travel to Georgetown, Exuma for the ceremonies
there. Young Clinton Clarke sells Bahamian flags on Jerome Avenue
Monday. (Bahama Journal Photo by Omar Barr)
THE
U.S. AT 228
The United States celebrates the 228th anniversary
of its break from Great Britain under King George III. There will
be a reception to mark the occasion at the Ambassador’s home now vacant
in Nassau. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Robert Witijewski will host
the event. The Governor General will attend as will Acting Foreign
Minister Vincent Peet. Mr. Witijewski speaking in Nassau on Thursday
1st July said that the new Ambassador designate John Rood has not yet been
confirmed but that no adverse political implications go with that fact.
LIBRARY
RENAMED FOR MRS. COAKLEY
The Southern Public Library was the domain of a demure and tiny woman named
Lillian Weir Coakley from 1955 until she retired almost four decades later.
She herself was armed with a Master’s Degree in Social Science from Hampton
University but not being able to find a job when she returned home to her
field, she succeeded her aunt at the library that had earlier been established
through the advocacy of the late Claudius Walker who was then the representative
for Grants Town, part of the old Southern District.
Ever since Mrs. Coakley died, civic leaders have
been saying that the library should be renamed in her honour. During
this season of the 31st year of our independence, the Prime Minister stood
under the bandstand on the Southern Recreation ground in the spot where
Sir Randol Fawkes, Sir Lynden Pindling, and Sir Milo Butler all stood to
deliver their evocative orations that led to majority rule in 1967 and
the Prime Minister officially renamed the library the Lillian Weir Coakley
library. It was an emotional time as her protégés came
up and paid tribute to her. We think that this was a good decision.
Bahamas
Information Services montage of Southern Public Library and Prime Minister
Perry Christie by Derek Smith.
PM
OFF TO HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
Prime Minister Perry Christie will head off to Grenada in the southern
Caribbean for the Heads of Government meeting of Caricom from 4th July
to 7th July. He is expected to return to the country on Wednesday
8th July. He will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred
Mitchell, Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna Martin, Minister of State
for Finance James Smith, Ambassador Leonard Archer (Caricom) and Ambassador
Eugene Newry (Haiti). It is expected that Haiti will be fully readmitted
to the Councils of Caricom at this meeting.
WENDALL
JONES EXPANDS LOVE 97
On Wednesday 30th June, the Minister of Financial
Services Allyson Maynard Gibson officially launched the northern service
of Jones Communications’ Love 97. The owner of the station and publisher
of the Bahama Journal is Wendall Jones. Mr. Jones has come far in
the long years since a stormy termination from the Broadcasting Corporation.
He is these days very much the media tycoon. Mr. Jones promised that
the station would be used to try and bring the populations of New Providence
and Grand Bahama closer together. The PLP gave Mr. Jones a national
licence, which was denied him under Hubert Ingraham and the FNM. Bahama
Journal photo of Mr. Jones and Minister Maynard Gibson at opening.
GET
YOUR ANNUAL PHYSICAL
Prime Minister Perry Christie officially launched the ten million dollar
facility of Dr. Conville Brown (pictured) on Collins Avenue in New Providence
that is to provide state of the art radiation therapy and treatments for
cancer patients in The Bahamas on Thursday 1st July. The facility
is backed by some of the best talent from hospitals in Detroit, Michigan.
The whole radiation therapy field in The Bahamas got a bad name under a
previous clinic during the FNM's time that was closed down because of allegations
of gross negligence. One hopes that this facility fares better.
People who are cancer patients are desperate for cures and it is a cruel
fate, if the facility itself turns out to be the thing that kills you.
The Minister of Health has promised that the facility has the back up to
make that not a possibility.
The Prime Minister’s comments were important for
another reason and that is the Prime Minister asking men to go and get
annual physicals. Here are some statistics from articles on health
in The Tribune of Tuesday 29th June. Women have a life expectancy
at birth of 75 years of age, men of 67. According to Dr. Robin Roberts
as quoted in The Tribune men have higher death rates than women.
They have elevated incidents of high blood pressure, more cancer, more
alcohol related problems, more illegal drug abuse, and more men are imprisoned,
homeless and are the victims of job fatalities than women. He adds
that good health is no accident.
Dr. Roberts spoke of the need to deal with prostate
cancer in men. Between 1987 and 2000 there have been 534 cases of
prostate cancer in The Bahamas reported. In 2001, there were 84 new
cases. Men should get an annual prostate exam if they are over 50.
He explained that erectile dysfunction (as in not being able to get an
erection of the penis for sex) is also a problem for men as they age, but
only 10 per cent of the men seek treatment for it. A survey of the
Bahamian population between 15 and 64 showed that nine per cent of them
have hypertension. These are only reported cases. Bahama
Journal photo of Dr. Conville Brown at the official opening by Omar Barr.
OBIE
WILCHCOMBE ON GAY TOURISM
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe made a sensible and defensible statement
on the question of gay people visiting The Bahamas reported on Saturday
3rd July in The Tribune. We have said it here before; The Bahamas
is in the tourism business and should not discriminate against anyone provided
they follow the laws. Homosexual conduct between adults in private
is not an offense in this country. The statement of the Minister
came in response to the news that Pastor Mario Moxey is to mount a demonstration
against Rosie O’Donnell who is leading a gay family cruise to The Bahamas.
Here is what the Minister had to say in his own words:
“The handling of this protest is extremely important.
“The Bahamas has run an extremely successful
campaign in recent years to invite visitors to our country and Bahamians
must embrace all those that come to enjoy what we have to offer.
With steadily increasing visitor numbers there will always be people we
do not approve of.
“I understand there are strong opinions on this
matter and I respect all positions, but we must be mindful of the message
we send
“We have to learn to appreciate each of our visitors
and stop placing them and their lifestyles under such microscopic scrutiny…
“Pastor Moxey has a chance to speak to Christian
values even to those indifferent to them.”
File photo of Minister Obie Wilchcombe addressing the Caribbean
Tourist Organisation of which he is chairman.
CONGRATULATIONS
TONIQUE WILLIAMS DARLING
There is a new Bahamas record holder for the 400
metres. She is Tonique Williams Darling. She set the record
of 49.25 at the IAAF championships in Italy on Friday 2nd July. This
overturns the record set by Pauline Davis in the 1996 Olympics. Congratulations
Tonique. The picture is from The Tribune, Saturday 3rd July.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Prime Minister Christie joined Marguerite, Lady Pindling and Senator Pindling
Sands for the Pindling Foundation's Legacy Ball this past weekend.
The Foundation honoured the country's founding Deputy Prime Minister, the
Honourable Arthur Hanna.
It wasn't all official duty, though, for Prime Minister
and Mrs. and Mrs. Christie shown at bottom right, enjoying a dance.
Earlier in the week, the Prime Minister was joined
by Attorney General and Minister of Education, the Honourable Alfred Sears;
Minister of Foreign Affairs and The Public Service, the Honourable Fred
Mitchell and Mrs. Miriam Curling at the renaming of the Southern Public
Library. (See story above).
| 11th
July, 2004
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|
| PM IN CAR ACCIDENT IN GRENADA... | CHANGING THE EXTRADITION ACT... |
| SOME GOOD NEWS ON HIV AIDS?... | THE ARCHBISHOP & THE POPE - PHOTOS... |
| PROTECTING CHILDREN... | JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER COMPLAINS... |
| FOREIGN MINISTER IN EXUMA... | JACKASS OF THE WEEK... |
| INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS... | THIS WEEK WITH THE PM... |
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 | |
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - Saturday 10th July was Independence Day for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The Bahamian people showed forth their patriotism and general love of country by a turn out at all of the important national functions promoted by the Government. They also displayed that love of country in their own spontaneous ways. Flags were everywhere: on the cars, on the buildings, in the hands of the people both young and old. The most inventive was clothing that matched the colours of the flag. Bahamas Information Services' Peter Ramsay was at Government House where Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont held a state reception to mark the day. Dame Ivy is shown sharing the first piece of the official Independence cake with Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of the Prime Minister as he looks on with Mr. Dumont, Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt and Mr. Pratt. Official celebrations are scheduled to take place Sunday 11th July at Clifford Park. HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY, BAHAMAS! |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
CREAKY CARICOM DECISION MAKING
There is a movie title from the old days: STOP THE WORLD I WANT
TO GET OFF. One can’t help but think of that title as the decision
of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean was announced with regard to
Haiti. The rest of the world has accepted that the situation in Haiti
has changed dramatically since Jean Bertrand Aristide left his country
on the morning of 29th February 2004. Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary
of State, says that the departure was voluntary. Mr. Aristide says
that the departure was forced by the Americans. No one in the Caribbean
believes the story of the Americans.
The point that many have now reached is that even if the Americans’ story is not true, how do we best help the people of Haiti? The world at large at the United Nations and at the Organization of American States have all decided that notwithstanding the controversy, if we want to help the Haitian people, we have to engage with the Government installed by the United States. Such is the role of power in world affairs.
There are two groups in the world community that have not yet come to accept the de facto situation on the ground in Haiti. One of them is the Caricom group of countries of which Haiti is a member. Then there is the African Union. The African Union is following the lead of Caricom. The Haitian interim administration has been craving the legitimacy of Caricom, even though their interim Prime Minister Gerard La Tortue said some unfortunate things about Caricom, calling it small and insignificant and seeking to identify it as an organization that propped up Jean Bertrand Aristide.
But the Caricom position has gotten a bit tiresome, and some countries within the Caricom region have been fighting to have the position reversed. The argument led publicly by Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister of Trinidad, is that the question of who or who is not the Prime Minister of Haiti is an internal matter for the Haitian people. He believes that the matter has taken up far too much of the time of Caricom leaders, and Caricom needs to put the issue behind it. We think that he is right.
The Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie has repeatedly said that The Bahamas must engage with Haiti. He argues that The Bahamas has any number of reasons to remain engaged with Haiti, the chief of which is the fact that there are immigration issues between the two countries that have to be resolved from day to day. The Bahamas dealt with the Duvalier dictatorship as well as all the other military and civilian Governments. It has to engage if its bilateral issues are to be resolved.
Some countries are more ideological than others on this. Some countries are farther away geographically than others from Haiti, so they can afford to take stands which are more ideologically pure. Their argument is that the Haitian Government, such as it is, is a puppet of the United States. Purely and simply, it has no democratic mandate, and the civil society charter of Caricom does not permit a government that is not democratically elected to sit in the councils of Caricom.
That’s fine and good. But what undermines the position of the ideological purists is that they signed on at the OAS to a resolution sponsored by Caricom countries, including Haiti, and which passed without dissent calling within its terms Haiti’s interim administration a “Government”. The resolution urged the OAS and its member states to do all that they could to help Haiti. So as they say: “what exactly is the problem of Caricom?”
In fairness to some members like Grenada, they do not want a situation to exist where it can be said that they supported a Government that came to power as a result of a military coup. They see the ousting of the Aristide administration as one brought about by military force. But even in Grenada, Governments changed by military force, but eventually one had to move on and accept the new status quo. The only question is when and on what terms.
There were still some holdouts when the meeting of Heads convened in Grand Anse, Grenada on 4th July. They did not deal with the matter with dispatch. It was not until the day of the retreat on Tuesday 6th July that the leaders considered the Haitian issue. They decided not to decide, yet again. And so with the world's press waiting and the people of the region wondering what their leaders were doing, the leaders decided that they would postpone the matter of recognition within the councils of Caricom for yet another day.
The matter was referred to a committee of Foreign Ministers. Five foreign ministers headed by that of Barbados Foreign Minister Billie Miller with the Foreign Ministers of Antigua, Trinidad, Guyana and The Bahamas are all headed to Haiti for Tuesday 13th July. There they will meet the interim Government of Haiti as well as the Opposition Lavalas party. There are certain preconditions that the Government of LaTortue must meet in order for them to be able to rejoin the Councils of Caricom. No decision is to be made on the issue until the Heads meet in a special meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in October.
The United States, the Europeans, the Canadians and some of Caricom's own citizens must be at the end of their ropes on this issue. But the ideological purists have won the day. We hope that the mission of the foreign ministers goes well. We hope that they are able to recommend that if the LaTortue government agrees to move forward to democratic elections, and to ensure that Lavalas is able to freely engage in elections that the process can move forward. We think that it will be best for the region, and we believe that there is nothing to stop Jean Bertrand Aristide from coming back to Haiti and standing for the position of Prime Minister of his country. He is a free Haitian citizen and should be able to return if he wishes. Let us hope that when next this subject is visited, Haiti will be back sitting in the Councils of Caricom and creaky old Caricom will have decided to decide.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 10th July 2004 at midnight: 52,246.
Number of hits for the month of July up Saturday 10th July 2004 at midnight: 64,008.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 10th July 2004 at midnight: 1,387,212.
PM
IN CAR ACCIDENT IN GRENADA
The accident turned out not to have been a serious one. The Prime
Minister was the guest of the Government of Grenada in a car provided by
them during the Heads of Government meeting from 4th July to7th July.
This is standard operating procedure during official visits of heads to
another country. That country provides the transportation and security
arrangements from the time you arrive to the time you leave.
Some time after nine a.m. on the morning of the
Prime Minister’s expected departure from Grenada on Wednesday 7th July,
the Prime Minister was being taken in convoy to the meeting site.
On his way across a junction, another car cut across the convoy causing
his driver to have to swerve and put on brakes. The backup car could
not stop in time and bashed into the back of the Prime Minister's vehicle.
He was badly shaken but otherwise uninjured. His protocol officer
seems to have suffered some whiplash injuries.
X rays were taken of the Prime Minister. No
broken bones were discovered. He was discharged. The issue
caused concern in the country in the sense that there is a need to know
whether or not adequate provisions are made for the security of the Prime
Minister during his travel abroad.
There are reports that these convoys in foreign
countries dash around at breakneck speeds, dangerous to the persons they
are transporting. Also is there enough public service backup being
taken overseas for the various functions which he has to perform on these
official trips? Further, if there is some emergency what are the
procedures that should be followed? Bahamian officials tend to take
the whole question of security too lightly, and it is only when something
happens that we begin to get concerned.
Perhaps this small incident and the concern that
it raised might cause a proper review to be made of the Prime Minister's
travel arrangements, who goes with him and under what circumstances he
should travel including the type of aircraft and who pilots him and to
where.
CHANGING
THE EXTRADITION ACT
The Government has announced that it is moving to reverse the effect of
the decision of Mr. Justice Hugh Small regarding extraditions in The Bahamas.
You will remember that some weeks ago Justice Small shocked the Government
by ruling that he did not think that Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles (pictured)
should be extradited from The Bahamas because he would be unable to get
a fair trial in the United States.
The result of Justice Small's decision is that if
the other extradition proceeding now winding its way through the Privy
Council results in a reversal of the decision to extradite Mr. Knowles,
Mr. Knowles will then be free to go from Bahamian prisons. This of
course would cause a huge political problem for the Government of The Bahamas,
even though it would be the result of a fair judicial process. The
U.S. would no doubt start threatening sanctions. The United States
has no respect for the ruling of courts in small jurisdictions. They
will probably then move to kidnap Mr. Knowles.
The Government has now decided that just in case
a similar situation happens again, they ought to be in a position to appeal
the matter. As the law stands now it does not allow for an appeal
of the dismissal of the habeas corpus application. Attorney General
Alfred Sears announced during the meeting of the House on Wednesday 7th
July that the bill to amend the act should be passed by the House on Wednesday
14th July. Once it becomes law, the Crown will in future be able
to appeal such cases. We think that the matter is being done with
unseemly haste and should be thought out carefully before proceeding any
further.
SOME
GOOD NEWS ON HIV AIDS?
Dr. Perry Gomez who is head of the infectious diseases
area of the Princess Margaret Hospital has some interesting, yes, even
good news to report on the situation re HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas.
Well, good news and bad news.
Speaking on Monday 5th July at the opening of a
three day ‘Focus on Youth’ training workshop sponsored by the Ministry
of Health, Dr. Gomez reported that to date some 10,000 HIV infections have
been reported in The Bahamas. Four thousand plus individuals have
full blown AIDS and another 6000 individuals are HIV positive.
The good news is that The Bahamas leads the region
in scaling up its response to the problem. Dr. Gomez reported that
40 per cent of the individuals are getting treatment. This has resulted
in a dedicated hospital ward empty of AIDS patients. The mortality
rate has dropped fifty percent in 2003.
Last year no child died from AIDS and no mother
who received treatment during pregnancy gave birth to a child with AIDS.
Only two children were born with AIDS last year and that was because the
mothers did not receive ante natal treatment. But as usual, we have
to warn that The Bahamas should not slacken its resolve. This is
a dangerous and deadly disease and we have to be ever vigilant to fight
its spread because it continues to kill, and to kill young people.
THE
ARCHBISHOP & THE POPE - PHOTOS
The photos are finally in! Archbishop Patrick Pinder, the first Bahamian
Roman Catholic Archbishop of The Bahamas received the ceremonial pallium
from Pope John Paul in Rome on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday
29th June. The pallium is made of lamb’s wool and worn around the
neck as an insignia of the office of the Archbishop. It symbolizes
the Archbishop's role as a shepherd of the church and his relationship
with the Pope as Bishop of Rome.
Scores of Bahamians travelled to witness the historic
event. Bahamas Information Services' Peter Ramsay was among the Bahamians
in Rome and we present a full photographic essay of the occasion. Please
click here for the photo essay. Archbishop Pinder is shown at
centre in procession amidst his colleagues on the steps of St. Peter's
in Rome (top photo).
Minister of the Cabinet Bradley Roberts travelled
to Rome on behalf of the Prime Minister and presented Archbishop Pinder
with a portrait commissioned for the occasion by The Bahamas Government.
PROTECTING
CHILDREN
We are good at rage when the children are already dead but are we protecting
them while they are alive? That again is our sentiment as we viewed
the anguishing picture of an anguished relative of the nine year old boy
Devon Knowles whose body was found in bushes near St. George’s Park in
New Providence week before last. The relative, whose picture appeared
on the front page of The Tribune on Tuesday 6th July, cried that the blood
of Devon is crying out.
The point we make is not to be unsympathetic, but
one keeps asking the question whether or not people in this country live
in the real world. It is clear how dangerous these times are, and
while no child should have to concern himself with his own protection,
the fact is the world is what it is.
Last year after all the anxiety of dealing with
children with the loss of the five boys in Grand Bahama, it appears that
people are still too casual and cavalier, allowing young children to roam
unaccompanied at times of the day when they ought to be at home.
In this case, the report is that the child was allowed out on his own to
go and play basketball at six o’ clock in the morning.
The relative claimed that the blood of Devon was
crying out. We think so ourselves but it is crying out not for vengeance
but for people to take greater care of their children, then perhaps there
will be less of a need for anguished public rallies that make us feel good
but do little to protect the children. Tribune photo by Dominic
Duncombe.
JAMAICAN
PRIME MINISTER COMPLAINS
Prime Minister Perry Christie reported to the press of The Bahamas upon
his return to Nassau on Wednesday 7th July that the Jamaican Prime Minister
P.J. Patterson (pictured) had complained about the treatment received in
The Bahamas by retired cricketer Courtney Walsh. Mr. Walsh who was
travelling on a diplomatic passport through the Nassau International Airport
last month was manhandled and treated rudely by police officers and security
personnel as he passed the through the airport on his arrival into The
Bahamas.
The Prime Minister of The Bahamas told the press
that an investigation was to be conducted into the matter. The press
did not seem interested in the matter. In fact many of the public
officials noted at the press conference that the press of The Bahamas lacks
the penetration that is required for keeping a modern public well informed.
The press conferences of the Prime Minister and other public officials
seemed to be of very little interest to them.
We think that the manhandling of Mr. Walsh and the
manhandling of another Jamaican citizen just a few weeks ago, leads to
the point that we have heard report after report of the mistreatment of
Jamaicans at the Nassau International Airport.
We remember all too well the conviction of a former
immigration officer for slapping a Jamaican lawyer whom he was processing
at the Nassau International Airport. The officer went to jail for
three months for doing so. Now there are the reports of constant
mistreatment of Jamaicans. There must be a full investigation by
both the police and immigration and whatever needs to be done to correct
it must be done.
We cannot have a situation where The Bahamas is
engaged in discrimination against citizens from the Caribbean.
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN EXUMA
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred Mitchell visited
the islands of Exuma and Long Island on the Independence weekend.
The Government agreed this year for the Minister to take the Independence
salute in Georgetown, Exuma. Last year, he took the salute in Marsh
Harbour, Abaco. The Minister then travelled on to Deadman's Cay,
Long Island to visit with the local leadership of the Progressive Liberal
Party in Long Island. The visit to Exuma was Friday 9th to Saturday
10th July. The visit to Long Island was Sunday 11th July.
On Monday 12th July, the Minister will join fellow
Caricom Foreign Ministers in Haiti. He will then fly on to Cuba for
the biennial Cuba/Caricom meeting of Foreign Ministers. On 17th July
he will then visit Miami for Independence celebrations with Bahamians in
Miami. Minister Mitchell will then fly on to South America from 18th
July to 26th July to Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay to help Caricom to promote
Port of Spain as the headquarters for the Free Trade Agreement of the Americans
(FTAA) headquarters. He returns to The Bahamas on 26th July.
JACKASS
OF THE WEEK
This feature has been missing from this column for
months. One of our regular readers has been petitioning for its return.
But the political season is really over, and it was not really necessary
to point out with regular, political sharpness, the stupidity of the other
side. But election time or not, some people just seem to fit the
category. One of those persons is this week’s JACKASS OF THE WEEK.
The Chairman of the Free National Movement seems
to have special penchant for using half baked ideas and theories, mixed
up with a little knowledge and playing on the fears and ignorance of himself
and those who will listen to create a special blend of problems.
Such is the proper response to the assertions made this week at the Blue
Hills Constituency Association meeting of the Free National Movement on
Friday 9th July.
The Tribune on Saturday 10th July reported that
the FNM Chairman told the FNM Association’s members that the Government
did an about face on the question of recognizing Haiti’s provisional government,
after initially refusing to do so following the ouster of former President
of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide. Then he said that the Prime Minister
made a state visit to Cuba, which meant that he had to spend valuable time
during a meeting with U.S. President George Bush explaining away his visit
that would have been better spent in advancing the national interests of
The Bahamas. Oh what a web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
We could tangle spiders in the webs he weaves.
The truth is that the Prime Minister and the Government
of The Bahamas have maintained from the day that Mr. Aristide left Haiti
that whoever the Government of Haiti was The Bahamas had to engage with
Haiti because of the immigration issues between us. That does not
mean that we did not forthrightly disagree with what happened in Haiti
re Mr. Aristide. The two are not mutually exclusive. Secondly,
the Prime Minister made no state visit to Cuba. He went to Cuba in
December 2002 to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the diplomatic
protocol establishing relations between Caricom countries and Cuba in 1972.
He was there with fellow Prime Ministers of the region. Mr. Bethel
obviously does not know the difference between a state visit and a visit
within the multilateral context.
It is interesting to note that this is the same
Carl Bethel who boasted that it was the FNM that brought Haiti into the
Caricom fold. Yet, he gave no explanation as to why they never brought
The Bahamas into the Caricom fold, since we pay the bills but have not
yet signed the Treaty. The FNM decided that. Mr. Bethel as
usual is mixed up saying that he agrees that there ought to be a consular
presence in Cuba because there are Bahamians in need of services.
That means that the PLP and the FNM agree on this subject. So why
raise this bit about putting an Ambassador from The Bahamas there because
it may damage relations with the United States? The only reason could
be political.
In fact, no one is proposing to put a resident ambassador
in Cuba, even though there would be nothing wrong with that. The
Bahamas Prime Minister did not have to spend time explaining away the trip
to Cuba. He simply told George Bush that The Bahamas is both a friend
of the United States and a friend of Cuba. Both states are on our
borders, and it behooves us to have good relations with both.
And so for all the reasons listed above, we name
Carl Bethel, the mixed up and ill informed Chairman of the Free National
Movement our JACKASS OF THE WEEK.
INDEPENDENCE
DAY CELEBRATIONS
This year independence took place with a twist.
The celebrations were expected to come off on Friday 9th July into the
morning of Saturday 10th July. The Christian Council insisted on
having us all out in the hot sun on Saturday 10th July even after a long
night of tattoo, flag raising, parades and Junkanoo. They claimed
to be able to get an audience out at a 9:30 a.m. start time for a church
service on the Saturday morning. The fact that it would have stretched
the security forces to breaking point seemed to mean nothing to them.
God had other plans. It poured rain on Friday
9th July in the evening making it possible for anything to take place either
on the Friday night or the Saturday morning.
The ceremonies were kicked over to Sunday evening
11th July for the church service and then the tattoo, march-past and Junkanoo
in the early hours of Monday morning.
Monday 12th July is a public holiday in The Bahamas.
Peter Ramsay is expected to chronicle the events for Bahamas Information
Services and we will have these pictures of Independence 31 for The Bahamas
in our next week’s edition.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Prime Minister Christie and Mrs. Christie along with Deputy Prime Minister
Pratt and Mr. Pratt joined Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont and Mr. Dumont
for an official state reception at Government House in celebration of the
country's 31st anniversary of Independence.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Christie declared officially
open E. Clement Bethel Estates, a housing subdivision by Franklyn Wilson's
Arawak Homes in west New Providence named for the late Director of Culture.
Mr. Christie's week of official rounds also included
a visit to the Pompey Museum on Bay Street for the travelling exhibition
of a slave ship (below). Bahamas Information Services photos by
Peter Ramsay.
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - What will the PLP do now? The Free National Movement has called for the PLP’s Sidney Stubbs to resign from Parliament and for the Prime Minister to call a bye-election. This betrays their lack of knowledge of the law. The fact is that once Mr. Stubbs has run out of appeals his seat is vacant by operation of law. He does not have to do anything more. The lawyers are no doubt huddling to see if he can be saved. But the verdict is in from Joan Sawyer and the other two Judges who sat with her in the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal of Sidney Stubbs that he should not have been made a bankrupt. Mr. Stubbs was declared bankrupt by Justice Jeannie Thompson on 30th March, 2004. Since that time he has not been able to carry out his duties as a Member of Parliament pending an appeal. The Court of Appeal turned aside his appeal saying they had no jurisdiction to hear the matter. That ruling came on Wednesday 14th June. The Nassau Guardian published a photo of the Member of Parliament and his lawyer Charles Mackay, with MP Keod Smith in tow with a cell phone to his ear as they went to receive the bad news in the Court. Mr. Smith later claimed on a radio talk show that the National General Council was one hundred per cent behind Mr. Stubbs. That photo by Donald Knowles is our photo of the week. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
A CALL FOR CIVILITY
By Sharon Z. Smith (guest writer)
Once
again this country is caught up in one of these periodic cataclysms over
the question of homosexuals in The Bahamas. Every few years there
simply comes an explosion of vitriol and hate in response to the fact that
there are homosexuals in The Bahamas or that homosexuals propose to visit
The Bahamas. A group of Bahamian Ministers of religion have an ad
hoc coalition that has engaged in the most vile statements about people
of that orientation that seems to have crossed the border of civility that
is required of them as preachers, and that is required of public commentary.
The reason this time is a ship of homosexual visitors on a family cruise
to The Bahamas led by the American film and television star Rosie O’Donnell
on 16th July.
The language had become so inflammatory that the United States Embassy for the first time in any of these situations wrote to the Ministry of Tourism to express concern for the safety of the passengers on the ship whom the Embassy felt would in the main be American citizens. The newspapers, television and radio stations did man on the street interviews.
On street corners throughout The Bahamas, there were groups of people gathered, and they joined the preachers denouncing what they claimed was the fact that “sissies” were taking over The Bahamas. Some argued that it was time to get the “sissies” out of the country. They were echoing the statements of the preachers who claimed that the reason why the visits were taking place was because there were “sissies” in Parliament. One preacher is said to have libelled several persons by name, although that did not make it to the airwaves. The preachers led a group of persons denouncing the visitors as they left the ship on Friday 16th July 2004. This was filmed by the American network HBO and will no doubt be a great source of embarrassment to our country.
In the man in the street interviews, there was a great deal of embarrassment evidenced that the country could be engaged in such an unseemly spectacle of ignorance. Yet in a country with all the educated persons that we have, no one seemed to be able to articulate the fact this spectacle was unbecoming, and roundly condemn the inflammatory language, and the incivility of the public dialogue.
The closest that anyone came to it in public was the Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe who warned that the country had to respect and embrace people who we had invited here as visitors. That brought him a sharp condemnation from the President of the Christian Council Dr. William Thompson. No preacher of religion seemed able to step in and suggest to their fellow ministers that this kind of dialogue was gravely disordered.
This is a very difficult subject for this society, and other societies in the Caribbean. Homosexuality is a phenomenon that few people understand or want to understand. There is outright public denunciation and an atmosphere that engenders physical attacks on people suspected of being homosexual. There is the over reliance on biblical verses, taken out of their context, overly literal and without proper interpretations of what they really mean. It is a selective approach to biblical teaching. Some of the man on the street interviews pointed this out.
To us, the issue of homosexuality is less the issue than the incivility. The country is embarrassed by this unseemly behaviour. The incivility is uncalled for, and the persons who engage in it do no justice to their cause. In fact, the young people of the country are deeply disturbed by this frightening level of ignorance. This is because we have a society that generally says live and let live.
Several years ago, there was a similar outburst when a cruise of gay persons came to Little San Salvador renamed Half Moon Cay. The employees went on strike because they said that it was immoral for them to serve homosexual people on the cay. They all lost their jobs. Six weeks later when they had all been replaced because they had refused to work, they went to the press to beg for their jobs back saying that they had finally realized that they we re in the service business, and that their job was not to question what their guests were but to serve those guests so long as they behaved with decorum and within the laws of The Bahamas.
It is too much to expect that this will stop any time soon. But the response is probably symptomatic in a way of how well the country is doing. The fact that with all the problems the country has, this is what its religious and moral leaders find time on which to consume their passions, means that The Bahamas is really doing very well indeed. As one of the interviewees said, what about the incest, the adultery, the poverty, the dispossession, the abuse of children, the theft from businesses, the children born out of wedlock? Silence!
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 17th July 2004 at midnight: 54,150.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 17th July 2004 at midnight: 118,158.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 17th July 2004 at midnight: 1,441,362.
THE
ARGUMENTS FOR SIDNEY STUBBS
Sidney Stubbs MP is said to be in a kind of no man's land of the law.
This column has taken a strong position on what needs to be done with this
issue. The matter should have been put behind the PLP long ago.
Instead it continues to fester and create problems where there should be
none. There are some who are afraid of a bye-election but such an
election would be won hands down by the PLP. The FNM simply does
not have the courage to put into the race who should be in the race, and
the retread that they are proposing will go down in flames.
The politics of the matter aside, Mr. Stubbs had
his day in court on 14th June, and the Court of Appeal ducked the bullet.
They dismissed the appeal on the narrow and easy grounds of jurisdiction.
They did not even get to the substance of the case. They suggested
that since they did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter of an
appeal, since it was not clear that Parliament had provided for one, the
only recourse for Mr. Stubbs would be to go back to the Supreme Court and
ask that he be discharged as a bankrupt. That then takes you back
to what the constitution says. The constitution talks about an appeal
being open to the Member who has been declared bankrupt. So when
Mr. Stubbs was declared bankrupt: was an appeal open to him? If the
Court of Appeal is saying that there is no appeal and they are right, then
it appears that the seat was vacant as at the declaration of bankruptcy.
What now lies open to Mr. Stubbs? His supporters
are going all out to save him in that old PLP way of sticking to the bitter
end when it is clear what the right thing to do in the circumstances would
be. It is clear, despite the declarations of one of his parliamentary
colleagues, that the party is treading carefully on which way to go.
The party that won the middle class by sticking to the middle in the last
election cannot afford to anger voters in Holy Cross, the heart of the
middle class, by dithering over this issue when it is clear what to do.
There are other ways to take care of Mr. Stubbs and the PLP ought to be
thinking about that and about who the candidate should be. Indeed
the Prime Minister has already said that politics being what it is he was
not waiting to the end to consider who if anyone should run. The
PM's personality is such that he wants to give Mr. Stubbs every opportunity
to exhaust all legal avenues to save the seat without a bye-election.
Perhaps Mr. Stubbs can consider in his legal arsenal
an appeal to the Privy Council by special leave. But that may be
difficult to do successfully given the concessions made by his lawyers
in the Court of Appeal. Or of course, he can try the route suggested
by the Court of Appeal, which is to go back to Jeannie Thompson and see
if he can get the order discharged. The constitution does say that
if the circumstances that obtained cease to exist during the time when
the appeal is being prosecuted, then there is a return to the status quo
ante.
CUBA’S ANALYSIS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell travelled to Cuba for a one
day meeting on Thursday 15th July with Foreign Ministers of Caricom and
the Cuban Foreign Minister. They also got to meet with El Commandante
Fidel Castro who kept them up well into the hours of the night on one topic
to the next. The photo shows the Foreign Minister shaking Mr. Castro’s
hand on the evening of Thursday 15th July.
Cuba finds itself where it has been for at least
four decades. It is in a hostile place vis-à-vis the United
States of America. All of the support of Caricom and the rest of
the world has not changed the official United States view. It appears
that if the Bush administration returns to office in November that they
intend to invade Cuba and take out the old man. This has rattled
the cages of the Cubans, and it seems from their public pronouncements
that they are preparing their public for it. The U.S. State Department
issued a statement during the week saying that the Cubans were wrong.
The Bahamas has Cuba as it neighbour to the southwest. The last thing
we need is for the instability in Haiti to spread to Cuba, because of some
American misadventure in that country.
Cuba has done well. Despite all the unremitting
hostility of the United States, by any measure Cuba’s health care, education,
the ability to feed its people, and its standard of living is relatively
good for a country its size. No other country has to put up with
the foolish and anachronistic policy of the United States that it has to
endure. The Caricom countries support the lifting of the US embargo.
This column also thinks that it is unlawful. The only hope is that
if John Kerry wins the election in the fall in the United States, which
is certainly no sure bet, that the embargo will be lifted and life will
be returned to normal in Cuba.
Once the embargo is gone, the Caribbean needs to
tackle the governance issues. The state apparatus in Cuba that they
have organized around the embargo must be dismantled. Such matters
as the elimination of exit visas for its people to travel abroad, the right
to public dissent and freedom of expression, regular elections to say whether
people support the Government ought to be the sine qua non of continued
interface between Cuba and Caricom.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs told the Bahamian
public that The Bahamas appears to be the leading trading partner with
Cuba from Caricom with some 22.7 million dollars of commerce between the
countries. This does not include the value of services. He
also reported that some 20,000 Bahamians visited Cuba last year, which
means that we lead the region in tourism to Cuba as well.
Clearly, there is a need for a consular presence
in the country to serve the needs of Bahamians. That is why we agree
with the Minister who denounced Carl Bethel, FNM Chair, for his statement
seeking to cause mischief about whether or not there ought to be a resident
Bahamian presence in Cuba. Last week Mr. Bethel was the JACKASS OF
THE WEEK (You may click here for that
story).
WHAT
IS THE STORY IN HAITI?
Fred Mitchell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has
also just returned from a one day visit to Haiti and a meeting with representatives
of the Government installed by the United States of America, the Canadians
and the French. The visit took place on Tuesday 13th July.
The Foreign Minister joined four other Ministers of Foreign Affairs from
Caricom; those of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Guyana.
The purpose of the mission was to carry out a mandate of the Heads of the
Government of Caricom to seek certain assurances from the Haitian Government
about their commitment to democracy and the return to normal democratic
activity in Haiti, if that is ever possible.
The Ministers pronounced themselves impressed by
the commitment of the interim administration but remained disturbed by
the reports of the Lavalas party of former President of Haiti Jean Bertrand
Aristide now without a leader. The party claimed that they are prevented
from organizing countrywide and their leaders are being arrested.
The chief amongst those who were targeted are former Prime Minister Yvon
Neptune who is in jail but should not be in jail. The interim Prime
Minister Gerard La Tortue said that he visited Mr. Neptune and assured
him that there will be a fair, quick and expeditious judicial process.
The point is that Mr. Neptune should not be in prison at all.
The American benefactors of the interim administration
seemed to back the view of Caricom on Mr. Neptune. Roger Noriega,
the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere told the Miami
Herald reported on Saturday 17th July that he thought that the interim
Government should not be arresting former President Aristide’s supporters
and expressed concern about the arrest of former Prime Minister Neptune.
The stage now seems set for Caricom to accept the interim administration
into the Councils of Caricom. The Americans are pressing Caricom
and the interim administration to get this matter concluded.
We think that the interim government should be allowed
to return to the Councils of Caricom and quickly but the message has to
be frank to them, they need to get on with elections, they need to find
the money some say 75 million to get them done. Further, those elections
should be done freely and fairly and with transparency, most of all allowing
Mr. Aristide's party to participate. The fact is that Mr. Aristide
may return if his party wins as Haiti’s new Prime Minister after this so
called technocratic administration has finished its term.
AMENDING
THE EXTRADITION PROCEDURES
Against the counsel of several senior advisors, the Government hurriedly
passed in a late night session on Thursday 15th July a bill to amend the
Extradition Act to allow for an appeal by the Crown against an order of
the Supreme Court granting habeas corpus applications. This was brought
sharply into relief by the decision of Justice Hugh Small who had earlier
ordered the release of Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles on the grounds that he cannot
get a fair trial in the United States (click
here for previous story) having already been declared a drug kingpin
by the U.S. President. The Crown disagreed largely because the U.S.
wants this man and the country will suffer an onslaught of bad publicity
about being run by drug traffickers if Mr. Knowles is not extradited to
the U.S. But the Crown has no right of appeal, so they had to fill
a lacuna in the law. This was a lacuna that was pointed out in a
minority decision of the Privy Council in February 2004 in the Samuel Knowles
case.
The minority judges said that Parliament had made
a mistake by not granting a right of appeal to the Crown when the Act was
first passed in 1994. Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham denied
that it was mistake. He said that it was deliberately done by his
administration because the liberty of the subject was a serious matter,
and there had been no clamour for it with other serious matters like murder
robbery or rape. The Supreme Court's decision was always believed
to be final in habeas corpus matters.
The Government wanted to pass the bill amending
extradition procedures on Wednesday 14th July but they had to stop after
backbenchers mounted a revolt and the Opposition said that it was uncomfortable
with the retroactive effect of the proposed legislation with an automatic
stay of the decisions of the Judge without any right of bail once appeal
was filed. That caused a major rethink and the bill is no longer
retroactive to 1994 which had it passed in its original form would then
have reversed the decision of Justice Small. Everyone was resolutely
against that.
Then there was the more vexing question of the pending
applications, that is, those that are already in the pipeline. The
legal opinion is that there is nothing unconstitutional about affecting
those. But Tennyson Wells, a former Attorney General argued that,
this was most unfair, changing the rules in the middle of the game.
It would mean that with all the pending applications of habeas corpus before
the courts, the Crown will now have a right of appeal once the matter goes
through the Senate and is passed into law.
The geopolitics won the day. The fear of what
the Americans will generally say and do, blacklisting the country as not
co-operating in the drug war, is a spectacle that the PLP did not relish
fighting anytime soon. The lawyers said that it was not unconstitutional,
so off to the races went the Government. The act was passed by Parliament
and now it’s on to the Senators. Whitney Bastian, the MP for South
Andros who was denied a nomination from the PLP because of a previous arrest
for drug possession, was livid. He said that the act was only being
passed at the behest of the US and that he could not support it.
Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister, sought a division after the
vote to formally record who voted yes and who voted no. Of the 20
people left in the chamber at 9 p.m. when the vote was taken, all twenty
voted aye including Mr. Ingraham. Attorney General Alfred Sears
is shown contributing to the House debate on the change in extradition
procedures in this Bahama Journal photo.
THE
ANTI GAY CRUSADE - WHAT THE REVS HAD TO SAY
One of the persons interviewed on the streets by
the newspapers over the past week described the protests against the visit
of the Rosie O’Donnell led gay family cruise to The Bahamas as a disgraceful
display of religious intolerance and invective. We thought that no
commentary was really necessary since the words speak for themselves.
The commentator said, “You could hardly believe that you were in The
Bahamas, so much intolerance was displayed.”
Here is what the various people had to generally
say in their own words. We believe that at base the Bahamian society is
still a tolerant society as witnessed by the many young men and women who
rejected the imposition of the threats at our visitors. The value
of tolerance must be preached and bigotry rejected. That is the essence
of a civil polity. Nassau Guardian photo by Patrick Hanna of protest.
Pastor
Mario Moxey (As reported in The Tribune Saturday 17th July on the site
of the protest meeting gays as they left the ship):
“The homosexuals are fighting to be the authority
on right and wrong. They want to remove God and put themselves as
the awesome almighty, but that cannot happen.
“If you let it pass then tomorrow they bring
civil unions. And if we let that pass, they’ll bring same sex marriage.
We cannot be fooled. They’re not coming here to pick sides they’re
coming here to take over and they will change everything. But The
Bahamas is still a nation that is based on moral values and they do not
compromise.
“The Government is listening and we are trusting
them to make the right decision and they’re gonna have one or two choices.
Either they will look at this and comply with the wishes of the majority
of the Bahamian people and that which is decent and moral in this nation
or they will have to vacate their office because they refuse to do as God
commands them to do.”
Pastor Christopher Russell of the Christian Tabernacle, Robinson Road:
(At a rally at Rawson Square Sunday 11th July. There is some confusion
in the media about whether his last name is Wallace or Russell)
“We’ve got to fight this thing in Parliament
because we got too many sissies in Parliament. We’ve got to start
in Parliament…amen. Next election we cannot vote for sexually confused
parliamentarians…
“I question Parliamentarians that claim they
can’t find a wife. Fifty one year old man can’t find no wife… All these
gorgeous brown-skinned Bahamian women and you can’t find a wife?
You nasty good for nothing you, you want a man.
(As reported in the Nassau Guardian Saturday 17th July)
“During the previous administration, I engaged
in verbal duels with both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister
over a number of issues, with the only other clear voice raised being that
of another minister who dealt with other issues. I never stopped
until the individuals lost their positions and by God I am not going to
ease up until I see some changes or they get out of power. I guess
if I can raise hell under the Free National Movement then I can raise hell
under the Progressive Liberal Party.”
Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt:
(As reported in the Nassau Guardian Saturday 17th July)
“The Government does not support homosexuality,
nevertheless, it does not dissuade tourists who may be of that sexual orientation
to visit the country…
“The Government put its position in a statement
issued by the Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe. We live in a democracy
where everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and expression thereof.
Bahamians must embrace all those that come to enjoy what we have to offer.
“I support the church’s stance against homosexuality
and I do not support the homosexual lifestyle. At the same time,
we have laws in our country and as long as people behave themselves according
to the laws of our land, we cannot say to persons “You cannot come to The
Bahamas.”
(As to the accusation against a 51 year old unmarried presumably male
Parliamentarian. [There is no such person—Ed] who according to Pastor
Christopher Wallace or Russell above who can’t find a wife):
“That’s his views. You cannot make a broad
statement like that. It’s not fair, not right. If that’s his
views then that is his view but I know that if you were to judge people,
be careful that you are not judged. That’s what the Bible says.”
Senator Tommy Turnquest, Leader of the FNM
“We cannot have a case where we have cruise visitors
coming to The Bahamas and being confronted in the manner that is envisaged
and I think it is incumbent of the government to take leadership in this
regard.
“I do not know who Apostle Wallace was referring
to when he mentioned a 51 year old parliamentarian who cannot find a wife.
This harsh statement ought to be clarified. I am only 44 years old
and I am married. I don’t know how many parliamentarians we have
that are not married. I can’t understand it, but I don’t fall in
that category.”
U.S. Government’s Expression of Concern
(Letter to the Minister of Tourism by the U.S. Embassy, Nassau published
in The Tribune on Friday 16th July 2004)
“It is believed that the vast majority of the
passengers on the Norwegian Dawn will be U.S. citizens and the Embassy
takes a special interest in the protection and welfare of U.S. citizens
living or visiting The Bahamas. The right of citizens to peaceably
assemble to express their opinions is one of the cherished fundamental
rights of a democracy. A similar corresponding right is that of citizens
and visitors to be safe and secure.”
Erin Greene of the Rainbow Alliance in The Bahamas:
(As reported in The Tribune Friday 16th July)
“We will make sure that the passengers see friendly
and accepting faces when they step off the ship. We hope it will
send a message to the GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bi Sexual and Transgender)
community
[in
The Bahamas] that there is no longer a need to remain invisible… All
who support human rights should honk their car horns at 9 a.m. if they
are yet not prepared to come and stand openly with us.”
Bill Swanson and William Sawyer, a same sex couple from California as
quoted in The Tribune as they disembarked in the face of protests, reported
on Saturday 17th July 2004:
“With all people who tend to protest against
the rights of gays and lesbians it’s really reflective of the fact that
they are not very intelligent. And then trying to find biblical references
to reinforce their phobias about gays is just not right. We don’t
hate them. Why should they hate us?”
INGRAHAM’S
PROPAGANDA
Nothing can be straight forward with Hubert Ingraham,
the former Prime Minister. He said that he was supporting the Amendments
to the Extradition Bill, which would give the Crown a right of appeal if
a judge of the Supreme Court allowed a habeas corpus application by someone
who was the subject of an extradition order. The bill was passed on Thursday
15th July by the House of assembly. That should be the end of the
story. A former Prime Minister supports what is the right thing to
do for the country in very difficult circumstances. But nothing is
that simple with Mr. Ingraham.
The ex prime minister first had to start to pollute
the issue in the halls of the Parliament by suggesting that if the PLP
did not pass the act retrospectively that this would show that Samuel ‘Ninety’
Knowles paid off the PLP. He knows that is foolishness but that does
not stop him from circulating it around. Then he goes into the House
of Assembly and in his arguments in the debate, he says that he hopes the
country now sees that while they thought it was the FNM who was anxious
to extradite people to the U.S., they should see now that the PLP has extradited
even more people to the U.S. and proposes to extradite more.
Now if the PLP had not followed the obligations
imposed by a law passed by his Government in 1994, he would then have said
how the PLP is a drug tainted party; that the old boys are back in power.
Only goes to show, that he is not credible.
Mr. Ingraham took the additional step after the
vote of asking for a division. This is the procedure where the ayes
and the noes are recorded of the vote. No excitement there, 20 persons
were absent. Twenty who were there, all voted in favour, including
Mr. Ingraham. Mr. Ingraham said he wanted to do this so that the
Bahamian people could see who voted for the bill. Big deal!
WHY
TOMMY WON’T RUN
The Free National Movement’s Leader outside the House of Assembly Tommy
Turnquest is all anxious for a bye-election. He wants that bye-election
to be held in the seat that Sidney Stubbs now has, but in which he cannot
perform his duties because of the declaration of bankruptcy (See
story above).
The question is who will the Free National Movement
put up as its candidate if there is a bye-election? Well you would
think that the answer is obvious. The person that they would advance
is Tommy Turnquest, since he is the leader and he does not now have a seat
in the House of Assembly. If he won the seat in a bye-election he
could kill two birds with one stone. He would then become the real
Leader of the Opposition with all the perks of the job provided by the
state. He would also show his party that he is a real leader and
can take them to victory in the general election. But Tommy won’t
run.
The word on the street is that he does not want
to risk a confrontation with Carl Bethel, the Party Chairman who is already
out in the constituency canvassing voters. But some are suggesting
that the real reason is that he is afraid that he will lose, then it will
be the PLP’s turn to have killed two birds with one stone. They would
have shown the FNM that Tommy can’t win a seat and he can’t lead them anywhere.
He would have given up his Senate seat and not have a House seat.
That would be the end of his leadership. Senator Turnquest does not
want to risk that.
RIDING HIGH
It was the beginning of a great achievement.
The reconstruction of the main runway at Nassau International Airport.
Simple repaving was not an option due to the long neglect of the previous
government. Minister of Transport & Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin
is shown with a paver atop this massive machine. An interesting photo
and one which we thought we'd share. BIS / Peter Ramsay
JUNKANOO
LEADER SAMMY THOMPSON DIES
It is with deep regret and a great sense of loss that we announce the death
of Sammy Thompson, the Junkanoo leader of the Music Makers. Mr. Thompson
died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida on Friday 16th July
after a long fight with what was reportedly liver cancer. Mr. Thompson
was 48 years old. Mr. Thompson was a Grants Town man, and as a young
man he took to Junkanoo design over 27 years. The group the Music
Makers was first named the GM and Sons and was headed by Winston Churchill
Rolle. The name was changed in 1976 to the Music Makers. Mr.
Thompson became its chief designer.
Two years later, the Nassau Guardian reports that
the group became the first in history to win three consecutive Boxing Day
parade titles. Mr. Thompson then became its leader. According
to its Deputy Leader Gary Russell, under Mr. Thompson's leadership the
Music Makers became the first to introduce music and also choreographed
dances by women. The Minister of Culture Neville Wisdom expressed
his sadness at the passing of Mr. Thompson. Mr. Wisdom said that
he would be sadly missed.
FAREWELL
MOTHER NATURE
Louise Greene, affectionately known as ‘Mother Nature’,
was laid to rest at the age of 84 on Saturday 17th July. Mrs. Greene
is survived by her two sons John of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation
and Garth of Bahamas Customs. Mrs. Greene was a stalwart councillor
of the PLP. She was a career chef for homes in Lyford Cay before
her retirement. She was haled at her funeral by Sir Clement Maynard,
the former Deputy Prime Minister as one of the heroes of the PLP.
Prime Minister Perry Christie spoke at her funeral at St. John's Native
Baptist church to a full turnout of the party leadership including party
Chair Raynard Rigby, family and friends. May she rest in peace!
INDEPENDENCE
PHOTOS
Independence Day this year came on a Saturday, but
the official holiday was Monday, with celebrations taking place last week
Sunday. These are some images captured by Bahamas Information Services'
Peter Ramsay. Mrs. Bernadette Christie and Minister Allyson Maynard Gibson
sport matching Harl Taylor bags in patriotic colours; Senator Paulette
Zonicle and Mrs. Sharon Wilson in Independence hats and (below) Prime Minister
Perry Christie dispenses a small flag to a young patriot. (Please
click here for more photos)
FOREIGN
MINISTER MARKS INDEPENDENCE IN MIAMI
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell is in Miami today,
Sunday 18th July, where he addressed a service at St. Agnes Anglican Church
marking the 31st anniversary of Bahamian Independence for Bahamians in
Miami. Later Sunday, Minister Mitchell will fly on to South America
from 18th July to 26th July to Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay to help Caricom
to promote Port of Spain as the headquarters for the Free Trade Agreement
of the Americas (FTAA) headquarters. He returns to The Bahamas on
26th July. Please click here
for the Minister's address to Bahamians in Miami.
Prime Minister Christie turned the earth this week on what he characterised as "the most significant project in the history of the independent Bahamas". It was the reconstruction of the main runway at Nassau International Airport. The initial cost of project is $35 million dollars, but it is expected to be the start of a transformation of the ageing and run down airport, long needed and promised by successive governments. Mr. Christie is shown -shovel in hand - with Minister of Transport & Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin and Minister of Works Bradley Roberts.
Toward the end of the week, the Prime Minister
relaxed with Minister of Financial Service & Investment and Pinewood
MP Allyson Maynard Gibson at a Fun Day in the Minister's constituency.
These two young men were not shy about approaching the PM, to the apparent
delight of their Member of Parliament. Bahamas Information Services
photos by Peter Ramsay.
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - For the leaders of trade unionism in a certain generation, there is a powerful picture that must loom in their minds. There was a full strike by the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) at what was then called BaTelCo, the monopoly telephone company. The police were ordered to clear the compound. They did and the image that went into the public domain was of Keith Archer, then Secretary General and then President Charles Bethel being lifted out from the workplace by the police. Obviously the BCPOU never forgot Keith Archer as their leader. He later became President and took the Union to unprecedented heights until he was deposed by Idena Burrows in a surprise defeat. But today as we go to print, the bad times have been forgotten and the good times remembered. The Prime Minister showed up at the BCPOU Hall on Monday 19th July to officially open the renamed hall as the Keith Archer Hall. This is a fitting tribute to a great trade union leader and we congratulate him on it. The PM is shown at the ribbon cutting in this Nassau Guardian photo is our photo of the week. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE POLITICAL BACKLASH
By Sharon Z. Smith
Guest Political Commentator
Prime Minister Perry Christie speaking at the ceremony to rename the BCPOU Hall (see photo of the week) the Keith Archer Hall, spoke out forcefully at the religious critics who have been after the Government for the last few weeks on the question of gay tourists coming to The Bahamas. This is what he said: “Don’t march down Bay Street and curse me for one moral deviance or segment of immorality. Examine what contributes to the vulnerability of this country and show me the consistency on a sustained basis to help remove it from the country.”
That was pretty strong for the Prime Minister. He later went on to describe himself as a conservative on questions of faith and morals. He is known as a hanger and a flogger, supporting both sets of laws on the books.
But it is about time that someone spoke to put these wayward persons in their place. It appeared to us by the silence that uttered forth in the face of the most extreme intolerance that we have witnessed in this country over the last two weeks, that the Government condoned the intolerance.
Further, it appeared that the Government was blind to one glaring fact that seemed to jump out at this columnist and that is that the words and statements of the parsons against gay people had little to do with the morality of the issue but much to do with the politics of the matter. In other words it seemed to us that the parsons have decided that they want to replace the Government. Both Christopher Wallace or Russell whichever name it is and Mario Moxey have a political agenda. The others are being dragged into it. It is especially surprising to see Miles Munroe, the Pastor of the BFM Church there with them.
If you visit the quotes on this site last week, it shows quite clearly that these parsons need to get out of the pulpit, form a political party and not use the church as a cover for trying to remove the Government. Choose ye this day whom you will serve!
The Prime Minister would be entitled to remind them that the name of his political party is the Progressive Liberal Party and ask them what is the name of theirs.
It appears that there is a bipartisan agreement on the matter of gay tourists visiting The Bahamas. The policy of both governments is the same: FNM or PLP. This despite what we thought was a supercilious attempt by the FNM Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Tommy Turnquest to answer the allegation that there was a 51 year old Parliamentarian who is not married and can’t find a wife. Mr. Turnquest’s response was to say: “it aint me”. We are all relieved.
On that silly point made by the man who calls himself Apostle, we have examined the list of the Parliamentarians both in the House of Assembly and in the Senate and there is no one who is 51 years old, and cannot find a wife. He went on to make the assertion that there are all “these gorgeous brown skinned women in the country and he can’t find a wife.” The general statement is silly. The bit about the brown skinned women is racist. What about the gorgeous black skinned women presumably they are not good enough for this theocrat. It is also alleged that this same Pastor libelled a former Deputy Prime Minister on a Radio Bahamas programme.
But the main issue is the question of calling these people down on their political motives. The PLP itself must not be sleepy to this fact. And what Senator Turnquest’s statement shows you is that you cannot expect the bipartisan consensus to hold on this matter. The FNM will use whatever advantage it can.
The conclusion then for us is that we are happy that the Prime Minister has spoken out on the issue. In our view this has nothing to do with the morality or immorality. This is pure politics. Once we see it with that motive then we will know how to deal with these parsons who want to take over the country.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 24th July 2004 at midnight: 51,050.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 24th July 2004 at midnight: 169,208.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 24th July 2004 at midnight: 1,492,412.
PLP
IN A QUANDRY OVER SIDNEY STUBBS
Last week we made our views
known again about what is being regarded by many as a crisis within
the PLP as to how to deal with the Sidney Stubbs matter. It isn’t
really a crisis because there is no recall pressure on the PLP to resolve
it.
This week, the PLP's Chairman was in the press quoted
in the Bahama Journal as saying that the PLP stands behind Sidney Stubbs.
Just in case, for those who don’t know, Mr. Stubbs is the first time MP
who managed to be bankrupted as at 30th March 2004. The constitution
says the seat should be vacant save and except there is an appeal open
to the Member of Parliament. In that case, the member shall cease
to perform his functions until the appeal is resolved.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Stubbs’ appeal
saying they had no jurisdiction to hear the matter. Mr. Stubbs' lawyers
have said they are still considering their options. Mr. Rigby’s statement
shows that the PLP is for the moment allowing the legal part to play out
which must either be an appeal to the Privy Council or going back the Judge
of the Supreme Court and asking for the bankruptcy to be discharged.
Mr. Rigby said that Mr. Stubbs has effectively until
September to get the matter sorted out in the Courts. It is at that
time that the House of Assembly will have to vote by resolution to allow
him to continue as a member until the matter gets resolved. That
will be one hell of debate and it is unlikely that the Prime Minister would
want to have that argument in Parliament. But the question is whether
the PLP is ready for a bye-election.
We say ready or not here we come and we believe
Mr. Rigby’s assertion that if the bye election were held, no matter who
the candidate is, the PLP will win against Carl Bethel, who is simply,
well, hopeless.
ILO
REPORT ON AIDS IN THE BAHAMAS
On Saturday 24th July, a young man 34 years old
was buried. He died of AIDS. He was probably one of a number.
The news is that in The Bahamas, AIDS is the leading cause of death amongst
Bahamians between the age 15 and 44. This death comes in the middle
of the artificially whipped up crisis of gays coming to The Bahamas on
a cruise ship. The tidal wave has passed for now on gays but you
can bet it will come back to life again when someone sees the need again
to make cheap political capital.
The reason we mention the young man and the preachers
is that these reckless preachers with their irresponsible words have to
realize that they may be frightening off their congregations, men and women
who are suffering like the man who was buried on Saturday but who are afraid
to come forward to get needed help because of the condemnatory attitude
of these parsons.
The story of the young man that we are talking about
is that 18 months ago, he suddenly started to lose weight and withdraw
from his friends and from the church. Then the whispers started.
He never in fact communicated to his friends that he had AIDS. What
we know also is that he had to work overtime hours and extra jobs to try
to get extra money to pay for the medication. So many problems still
with AIDS as an issue after we have been dealing with the disease in the
country since 1985.
Preachers should know that they are there to uplift
people, provide saving grace, help people, not condemn them and drive them
away. By harsh words, you have no idea what injury you may be causing
and to whom. These actions are the very opposite of Christian charity.
But the preachers are one thing. The other thing is the report of
the International Labour Organization about our country that says that
the work force of the country is being sapped by AIDS at a time when it
needs young people to keep this society going.
We always crow about how the stats are going in
the right direction with regard to AIDS but the stories of death and the
secrecy and shame and the destruction of AIDS still exists. The church
and particularly these reckless leaders of late have to take their share
of the blame for this.
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN SOUTH AMERICA
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell has ended a week long tour
of three South American countries on behalf of the Caricom group of countries.
The tour took him from last Sunday to today from Lima, Peru to Asuncion,
Paraguay and finally to Montevideo, Uruguay. At each stage of the
way the Minister reported in to the country about what had transpired.
The trip was organized by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad is promoting Port of Spain, its capital city, as the headquarters
city for the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas secretariat.
In Lima, the Minister said that the Peruvians had
not yet made up their minds but said that Caricom could say that Peru will
keep an open mind on the matter. In Paraguay, there was the same
response. However, the Minister there Liela Rashid Cowles made it
clear that she was advancing her name to succeed the Assistant Secretary
General of the Organization of American States. She suggested that
her country would want the support of Caricom for her candidacy.
This is complicated by the fact that Caricom has already endorsed the candidature
of Suriname for that post.
Uruguay has already announced that it is supporting
Miami, one of three cities vying for the headquarters. The other
is Panama. The Government of Uruguay said, however, that they would
keep an open mind with regard to Port of Spain if there were a second round
of voting on the matter.
The Minister also said that the trip was an opportunity
for discussions on broader relations within the hemisphere. There
was a frank discussion and coincidence of views on a number of issues including
relations with the United States, Cuba and the question of Haiti.
Each of the South American countries is providing troops to Haiti for the
peacekeeping mission. We think that this latter point is quite important.
None of the Caricom countries are providing troops. Haiti is a member
of Caricom. It seems quite disgraceful that Caricom cannot get its
act together.
Just the week before this trip, the Minister joined
several other Ministers in a fact finding mission to Haiti. The Bahamas
has said that it is of the view that Haiti should be fully reengaged in
the Councils of Caricom. The report is now being prepared for the
Caricom Heads of Government so that they can make a quick decision.
The photo shows from left: Anibal Casal, the Honorary Consul for The Bahamas
in Paraguay, the Foreign Minister of Paraguay, the Foreign Minister of
The Bahamas and Ambassador Luis Ramirez Boettner, Senior Advisor to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay. The photo was taken on Tuesday
20th July at the Paraguayan Foreign Minister’s home in Asuncion.
THE
SEARCH OF THE HIGHJACKERS
The international community saw the eerie pictures
in stop motion of three young men of Middle Eastern appearance who the
United States government claims were the hijackers of the planes that crashed
into the United States Pentagon Building, the headquarters of the Ministry
of Defence of the United States on 11th September, 2001. No one has
yet questioned how the US knows these were the people but we will pass
on that argument for now. The only observation we make is that since
their intelligence has been so faulty on these questions, what gives any
confidence in their investigative powers? Their whole country just
seems to be so quick to judgment on so many things. And that is in
part the wider point we make today.
The fact is that the systems that were already in
place at the airports in the United States stopped the men when the metal
detectors went off. They were searched using the hand held devices
that they use at today’s airports, and once searched they were sent on
their way. Within one hour, the US claims these same men, properly
screened, crashed planes into the Pentagon. What this shows us is
that the screening measures at the airports in the United States today
and the ones that they have forcibly imposed on other countries do not
add any additional and discernible measure of security for the trips on
airplanes.
We do not know how you increase the security on
planes, but the fact is the systems that they have in place now do not
add security but increase the hassle to the travelling public and annoy
people, who have nothing to do with trying to hijack a plane. Diplomats,
Prime Ministers, Crown Princes, Ministers of Government, are all harassed
going through US and other airports.
The airlines have computers that routinely identify
frequent diplomatic travellers who have to change their schedules at the
last moment as security risks that must be searched secondarily.
All it does is create ill will for the United States. In fact, many
countries say that one of the reasons why they would not want the Free
Trade Agreement of the Americas to be headquartered in Miami is because
of the pure hell of passing through the Miami International Airport and
the rudeness of its staff, the harshness and impertinence of US immigration
and customs in Miami.
In fact, if the Latins and the Caribbean wanted
to bring the whole FTAA process to a halt as their populations wish in
many countries, they simply have to put on the table hassle free access,
visa free access to the United States in exchange for opened economies.
The US would never agree to it. That would be the end of the discussion.
As for security at airports and on airplanes, this
requires an intelligent approach that has not so far been in evidence by
US or world officials. The fact is that the hijackers, whoever they
were, used low tech tools to bring down a high tech nation. Yet the
response of the U.S. has been, just more high tech.
The other fact is that the psychology of the hijackers
was not to protect or save their own lives. They were willing to
go down with the ship. Up to that time, the psychology of hijackers
was different. They wanted to negotiate some advantage. It
wasn't until the last plane that was highjacked over Pennsylvania was overtaken
did the passengers realize that fact and acted accordingly to try and save
their own lives.
Someone ought to be sitting down somewhere to figure
out that searching 83 year old grandmothers passing through airports and
diplomats is not going to add to security. Those eerie pictures show
that fact quite clearly.
INTERNATIONAL
WHITEWASH ON IRAQ
The reports are in on the security and intelligence
establishments, their capability and their performance over the 9/11 crisis
and the response to that crisis by going to war with Iraq. Three
countries that led the fight Britain, the United States and Australia have
all had reports made this week. All of them face General Elections
within the next year to 18 months.
The reports have each exonerated the politicians
in the countries but slammed the intelligences services about how they
got the information and what they provided to the politicians. The
British protestors said it best when they decried the British report as
a whitewash. No one who has eyes to see can believe these reports.
They are quite simply incredible. The facts are clear for all to
see. The countries that formed the so called ‘Coalition of the Willing’
were led by a gung ho United States that simply wanted to go somewhere
and “kick ass”. For some reason Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard
of Australia felt compelled to do the same.
There is a subtext of racism driving all of this.
The white powers once again feeling that they can freely dump on an Arab
nation that was impotent to do anything in response. The leaders
are each claiming that they acted on the intelligence that was available
to them that they say indicated that Saddam Hussein was trying to get weapons
of mass destruction or had them and was going to use them against the western
countries. That has all proved false. It is clear that the
intelligence did not say that he had the WMD or that they should go to
war. Going to war was a purely political decision, calculated to
try and win votes in their home countries. We will see whether the
calculation worked as the elections unfold in the countries named.
WHAT
IS JOAN SAWYER CROWING ABOUT?
Dame Joan Sawyer has been appointed one of Her Majesty’s Privy Councillors.
The announcement was made at a special sitting of the Court of Appeal on
Wednesday 21st July. There was praise a plenty from her fellow judges.
She was there accepting the accolades of the humbled judge who had risen
from the depths of poverty to higher heights. At one level that is
true.
Dame Joan said all the right things about being
humble and about lawyers being well prepared when they come to court.
She also said that she was not one who looked for praise but was thankful
for it. That on the face of it is all fine and dandy. The fact
is this elevation will now allow her the right to be invited from time
to time to sit on cases of the Privy Council with the existing law lords
of the United Kingdom that usually constitute the court. On the face
of it that too is praiseworthy for a Bahamian judge.
There is one problem, however. Dame Joan and
the Court of Appeal over which she presides is the subject of adverse criticism
in this country’s Parliament and amongst lawyers about the way the Court
is run. None of those criticisms were mentioned in the too well mannered
form of The Bahamas where once someone gets a foreign honour we are busy
crowing from the roof tops, putting all the bad news behind us.
This column in the last week is replete with stories
of comments by Members of Parliament about this very serious problem.
There is also the attempt by lawyers to circulate a petition because of
comments made in the Court of Appeal about Justice Jeannie Thompson.
So let’s be honest with ourselves over this. The real service the
Dame can give to The Bahamas is to cause those criticisms of the Court
of Appeal to disappear. Then we will say congratulations. BIS
/ Peter Ramsay
THE
US SAYS NO PROBLEM ON CUBA/BAHAMAS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs returned from Cuba
week before last. He announced the Government’s intention to provide
for Bahamian consular services in Havana and possibly the set up of an
Embassy there with a resident Ambassador. The Bahamas must be one
of the few countries that has an Opposition that immediately started crying
that while this was a sovereign right of The Bahamas we must do nothing
to upset the United States by doing this. The fact that we have had
diplomatic relations since 1974 did not seem to occur them at all.
Then the fact that the FNM Government had appointed a non-resident Ambassador
to Cuba Sir Arthur Foulkes who visited the region on a regular basis did
not also seem to occur to them at all. But then again, since it was
Carl Bethel, the party's Chairman who made the statement perhaps that is
the reason that it made no sense at all.
Enter the Nassau Guardian’s intrepid Mindell Small
who was on to scoop nonetheless. He asked the U.S. Charge whether
or not Washington had a view about the matter. The reply came back
a few days later that Washington saw that as Nassau’s business but they
said they would encourage The Bahamas while in Cuba to work with the dissident
community to help bring about change in Cuba. Seeing that the U.S.
despite their harsh words for Cuba has an interest section that is bigger
than the Embassy in which it is housed, what could Washington actually
say? On another front, they asked Cuban citizens not to venture out
at sea for the US. They said that visas are being granted by the
U.S. for Cubans to emigrate at a record pace. For once we say that
US has done and said the right thing. Thanks to Robert Witijewski.
COB
APPOINTS ACTING HEAD
The Chairman of the College of The Bahamas Franklyn
Wilson has announced that Rhonda Chipman Johnson is to be the Acting President
of the College of The Bahamas. While she is a competent individual,
it would not be fair to the institution to allow Dr. Leon Higgs to have
been replaced in a manner which appears to reward one the principal complainants
emanating from his time at the College. The College will benefit
most by bringing in someone from the outside to complete the revolution
that is necessary in its performance.
ELDRI
FERGUSON MARRIES
Eldri Ferguson, daughter of Eldin A. Ferguson jr.
has been married in Washington, D.C. to Mr. Carlos Martin of Alexandria,
Washington. The bride is shown with Dad and Stepmom Mrs. Sharon Ferguson
at left and sharing cake with Carlos at right. Among the guests at
the wedding were Bahamas Ambassador Joshua Sears and Grand Bahama Port
Authority President Willie Moss.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Hating The US?
As an American citizen who loves the Bahamas
and the Bahamian people, owns property on Grand Bahama, and plans to retire
there in a few years, I don't understand all the anti-American bias that
is being published in the Bahamas press, much of it from your news.
Take Haiti, for example. What does the
U.S. have to gain from the situation in Haiti? They have no money,
no resources, no stability, a history of crime and corruption, and an unstable
government. They have had no stability for 100 years, no matter who
ruled the country.
When the rebellion began in Haiti, the U.S. held
back and everyone criticized the U.S. for not doing something to stop the
violence and protecting the Haitian people caught in the middle of the
rebellion. Then, when the U.S. did do something, you criticize us
for stabilizing the situation.
We spend millions of dollars to stabilize Haiti
with nothing to gain in return, and all we get from you is vilification.
I have been visiting Grand Bahama for 16 years
and have met many Bahamian people over the years. None seem to resent
or hat us to the extent that you publish. If you want to hate Americans,
just say you hate us. Don't pick situations like Haiti to hide behind.
Thank You.
Cal Morrison
We think that you are being over sensitive.
No one hates the US. It is a great and wonderful country, with wonderful
people. Bahamians love Americans. -- Ed.
Rice n' peas - Peas n' rice
Salut!
Over the last few weeks, I have read (with
some alarm!), your reportage of the treatment of Jamaican visitors to the
Bahamas. It is of great concern to me because even though I grew
up in the Bahamas, I was born in Jamaica. My odyssey from William
Gordon Primary, C. H. Reeves (formerly Robinson Road Secondary), and Saint
Augustine College has always made me feel more Bahamian than Jamaican!
I grew up in the constituency once represented
by the current prime minister (love him!). Yes! I consider
myself a Valley Boy! There are many other special moments (too many
to enumerate.) and experiences that have transpired uneventfully during
my Bahamian Love Affair.
This anti-Jamaicanism must be a new phenomenon!
Let us hope it is just an aberration. It might help however, if more
is done to illuminate the fact that the late great former prime minister,
The Right Honourable L. O. Pindling was of mixed parentage - Jamaican/Bahamian.
Paul Richards
We think that it is a disturbing trend as well.
Leadership is obviously required on the matter and some sensitivity training.
-- Ed.
PLP FAIR
Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of PLP leader and Prime Minister Perry
Christie is shown enjoying a game of bingo at the PLP Fair on Saturday
23th July at party headquarters. The day was a fun filled excercise
for thousands of PLPs who partied well into the night at the fundraiser.
BIS photo / Peter Ramsay
The Prime Minister began his week worshipping at St. Mary's Anglican church to mark the church's 160th anniversary The parish church of St. Mary the Virgin has a fascinating and rich history. The early seeds for the establishment of the church were planted by Joseph Paul, a free black man who migrated to Abaco from South Carolina along with American loyalists in 1783. In 1790, he moved to Nassau and began teaching Methodist doctrine to black people, but in 1800 after disputes with the Methodists he and others loyal to him joined the Anglican Church.
Also this week, Prime Minister Christie joined Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Grimes [Thelma] who hosted hundreds of family friends to a sumptuous celebration of the entry to the medical profession of their three children, Dr. Valron Grimes, Family Medicine & Public Health; Dr. Valentine Grimes, Orthopaedic / Spinal Surgeon & Dr. Valya Grimes, Dermatologist. Bahamas Information Services photos by Peter Ramsay.
NEW
HOMES IN GRAND BAHAMA – Prime Minister Christie and Housing Minister,
Shane Gibson are pictured centre with members of the Blatch family, new
home owners in East Coral Estate 3. The Prime Minister was in Grand
Bahama Wednesday for the official opening of several government subdivisions.
Pictured from left to right are:- Mr. Trevor Blatch, daughter Tuetesa,
Minister Gibson, Mrs. Tezel Blatch, Prime Minister Christie, Miss Pleasant
Bridgewater, MP for Marco City, and Mrs. Willie Moss, President of the
Grand Bahama Port Authority. - BIS Photo by Vandyke Hepburn
