bahamasuncensored.com
JULY 2005
Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every
Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 3 © BahamasUncensored.Com
While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of
the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source
of their material from this web site.
10th July, 2005
17th July, 2005
24th July, 2005
31st July, 2005
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The
runway is ready and was ready on time. The Prime Minister had inspected
it just the day before. The FNM had left power with a major headache for
the PLP. The main runway at the Nassau International Airport was
in such bad shape that airlines were threatening to pull up stakes if the
Government didn’t act. It took 40 million dollars to solve the problem.
Virgin Atlantic Airlines wanted to fly a 747 jet aircraft into NIA to serve
their London Nassau route. They would not do it unless the airport
runway was repaired. This also helps with the needed airlift for
the Kerzner Atlantis project on Paradise Island. Virgin was also
concerned as was Kerzner and the Bahamas Government about the state of
the airport itself. The next stage is a new contract to give someone
the management rights over the airport which is quite simply a mess.
But now is the time to celebrate the new runway and the arrival of Virgin
Atlantic for the inaugural flight which Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe
laid at the feet of a lobbying effort of Director of Europe for the Ministry
of Tourism Tommy Thompson. Our photo of the week is an ebullient
Richard Branson, owner of Virgin, shown with the Police Band who greeted
the arrival of Virgin’s first 747 into Nassau on Tuesday 28th June 2005.
The Bahamas Information Services photo is by Peter Ramsay. |
COMMENT OF THE
WEEK
JACK HAYWARD’S OUTBURST
If we didn’t know better, we would have said that the whole thing
was a set up. The Tribune carried in its Tuesday 28th June edition
a front page story, with a banner headline: MYSTERY OF $1M GIFT – SIR JACK’S
ANGER AT NEMA SILENCE. The Jack that they were talking about seemed
to be acting like a “jack” indeed. They were talking about the Co-Chair
of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Sir Jack Hayward, one of two principal
shareholders in that private company which is responsible for running the
city of Freeport.
Those of us who know him from the old days as the eccentric “Union
Jack” would not be surprised at any foolish outburst of his. It appears
that at 82 years old, he has become even more eccentric than in his younger
years. Sir Jack was complaining that he could not get an answer from
the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the agency responsible
for hurricane relief, on the gift of 1 million dollars from Edward St.
George, his late partner, and himself for hurricane relief. He claimed
that they had given the gift of the money with a condition. That
condition was that the money was to be spent on education in Grand Bahama.
Enter into the picture Eileen Carron, the publisher of The Tribune.
The Tribune is the newspaper in The Bahamas that represents the business
and colonial interests in The Bahamas, and believes that anything concerned
with Black people must be suspect. The PLP Government being Black,
it follows that the PLP are prima facie crooks and then have to prove to
The Tribune that they are not. The Tribune’s editorial
attacked the Government siding with Jack Hayward even after it was fully
explained by Luther Smith, the Prime Minister's aide and Bradley Roberts,
the Minister of Works in the House that Sir Jack’s assertion was foolishness.
The fact is that no gift to NEMA can be accepted or could have been
accepted with a condition attached. The fund is a national fund,
and any money donated to it has and had to be used for national hurricane
relief. That was made clear to both gentlemen at the time the gift
was given. The gift then was not accepted with any legal condition
attached to it. Secondly, The Bahamas government has spent over six
million dollars on housing alone in Grand Bahama, and some $1.4 million
dollars on repairs to schools in Grand Bahama. The sum that is expected
to be spent in total in Grand Bahama will be about 20 million since there
is more work to be done.
Sir Jack’s comment and the response of both The Tribune and the editorial
of the Nassau Guardian was to try and send some doubt in the minds of the
people of the country at large and the other donors that something untoward
had happened to the money they donated. The fact is that Deloitte
and Touche are the external auditors of the fund and when the audit is
finished, there will be a full report to the country.
Jack Hayward has a history of opposing the PLP. In the past,
he campaigned at FNM rallies showing up just before the 1992 election supporting
Hubert Ingraham. At public functions in Grand Bahama at various openings
after Hubert Ingraham became Prime Minister he openly touted his support
for Hubert Ingraham. His partner Edward St. George who ran the company
basically kept Jack quiet in later years because it became clear that his
outbursts were a liability to the company. The Grand Bahama Port
Authority has to get along with whoever is the Government, FNM or PLP.
Mr. St. George developed a relationship with both.
What Sir Jack’s outburst brought to the fore is the fact that the
transition at the Grand Bahama Port Authority is very precarious.
Since Edward's death, the company has been in limbo with no clear direction
as to where to head. Julian Francis, the former Governor of the Central
Bank, has been hired as its new CEO without any business experience or
political savvy. He is a quick learner, but what he must also learn
quickly is the vagaries of Grand Bahama politics: the fractiousness and
the
parochial nature of it, as well as the fact that he is working for a family
company, in a company town.
Jack Hayward no doubt has every contact for the Government if he
wished to get answers. He certainly did not have to deal with the
head of NEMA if he couldn't get answers. He could have and can contact
the Prime Minister directly, whose telephone number is openly listed in
the telephone directory. Further Julian Francis should be the person
to find out information for him. Or if in doubt, Sir Albert Miller
who continues to work with the company also has the full range of contacts
with any Government Minister.
The problem with the outburst is both an external and an internal
issue. Externally, the government must look askance at the Port where
it has a principal that can’t control his big mouth, and chooses instead
to make a political attack on the government when he has other means of
addressing it. This means that Jack Hayward is trying to sink the
PLP again. Secondly, it is the internal problem. Henrietta
St. George, the widow of the late Edward St. George is thought to retain
the other major share of the Port. Does this outburst now mean
that there is a family fight coming in the company? Instead of Sir
Jack leaving the company to the professionals and staying in England where
he belongs, he chose instead now to intervene in the daily affairs of Grand
Bahama.
The Bahamians in the company would now get nervous no doubt, if they
see signs that there is to be a struggle for control of this company.
Does this mean that the Government will have to intervene if fighting breaks
out amongst the factions?
Jack Hayward is given to outbursts. He does not think before
he speaks. He did not in this case. He has no idea how this
single outburst has now put everyone on enquiry that the transition at
the Port may not be going as smoothly as most people, thought it
would go, with a professional management finally being able to run the
company without the interference of family members. The jury is still
out on this, but it would be a good idea in the first instance if Jack
Hayward would simply shut up.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 2nd July 2005: 54,910.
Number of hits for the month of June up to Thursday 30th June 2005:
291,244.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 2nd July 2005: 1,885,483.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
BURNING
THE NORTH ANDROS AIRPORT
Vincent Peet has had a hell of a week. First,
the Immigration Department made the smart decision to get rid of two expatriate
pilots who were flying for Western Air for fighting on the tarmac of the
Nassau Airport and for working without the proper permits. Then the
Department told the airline that they had to tell four others to pack up
and go because they too were in violation of the law. The Western
Air people predictably ran off to The Tribune claiming victimization because
they said the female part owner of the airline is running against Mr. Peet
in his North Andros constituency on the FNM ticket. She never disclosed
that they had been in violation of the law on work permits. But in
the FNM’s world enforcing the work permit laws is victimization.
Then guess what happened next. Friday morning 1st July, the North
Andros Airport and the Customs Warehouse burned flat to the ground.
Arson is definitely suspected and the police think they know who did it.
The fire didn’t touch the huge hangar owned by Western Air which is headquartered
in North Andros. Things that make you go hmmm!
LESLIE
MILLER’S OIL DEAL
Leslie Miller flew into Nassau International Airport on the morning of
Tuesday 28th June. He had signed a deal say the newspapers to bring
cheap oil to The Bahamas courtesy of the bad boy of the region Hugo Chavez
of Venezuela. All the Caricom countries signed the deal except Trinidad
and Barbados. They said they needed more time to study the proposals.
The problem is Hugo Chavez makes the Americans nervous and makes the international
oil cartels nervous. Can The Bahamas really take advantage of this?
Mr. Miller says that this deal promises big oil
savings at a time when gasoline is almost 4 dollars a gallon in The Bahamas.
The deal does not provide cheap fuel. Under it Venezuela will subsidize
the price of the oil you buy from them, when the price goes over a certain
level per barrel. If it goes over 40 dollars per barrel you get a
discount in the form of a soft loan over twenty years, the discount being
the equivalent of forty percent of the price over 40 dollars per barrel.
If it goes to one hundred dollars, you get to keep fifty per cent in the
form of a soft loan over twenty years. In order to access it, you
have to negotiate a bi lateral treaty with Venezuela.
The big question for The Bahamas that does not have
central government owned oil importing machinery is why should we get involved
in this when we already have an efficient oil distribution system where
the consumer pays for the gas he or she wants? Some of the Caricom
countries like Jamaica and Guyana already have central government importing
capacity and have used that capacity to intervene in the market when the
private sector refuses to pass on savings in gasoline prices from the world
market. But The Bahamas has price control.
Mr. Miller obviously thinks that this deal is worth
the aggravation to the private sector. He has been arguing that in
order to access it we have to have a National Energy Corporation.
There’s where the private sector gets nervous. What will this actually
mean? Why should the Government be in the oil business?
THE
BENEDICTINES END THEIR TIME
They have been in The Bahamas since 1891.
It was in that year that almost by happenstance, Fr. Chrysostom Schriner
came to The Bahamas. He was a Benedictine monk and took to the islands.
He started a mission. He met fierce resistance but in the best Benedictine
and Minnesota farm tradition from which he had come, he set about establishing
a Catholic presence in The Bahamas. They went after the poor Black
people. The Catholic Church invested in education.
Today, the Church is the largest single domination
in The Bahamas. The Baptists have more members but they are not a
single entity. The Catholic Church is now fully indigenized.
The Monastery at St. Augustine's College first on the grounds of the now
cathedral church and then on its present premises in Fox Hill was the facilitator
of their education drive and the home of some 50 monks at one time.
That number has now dwindled to two. The Monastery closed last week.
The Abbot from Minnesota came to say farewell, and to thank the Bahamian
community at a mass of thanksgiving at St. Francis Cathedral in Nassau.
Archbishop Patrick Pinder who is himself a product of St. Augustine’s College
preached the homily. Malcolm Adderley, a graduate for St. Augustine's
moved a resolution in the House for Assembly that was immediately adopted.
A formal presentation is to be made when the House resumes from its summer
rebar in October. We wish them well and thank them for their service
to The Bahamas. The monastic property in The Bahamas is to be transferred
over to the Catholic Church of The Bahamas.
THE
HOUSE ADJOURNS FOR THE SUMMER
Members of Parliament have had their last do for
the year until they meet again in the Fall. On Wednesday 29th June,
the House of Assembly met to pass several resolutions to assist the Bahamas
Mortgage Corporation. They also passed the Marine Mammals Protection
Bill which will facilitate Kerzner International’s swim with the dolphins
attraction. The environmentalists were outraged saying that no capture
of dolphins should take place. The House then adjourned for the summer,
and MPs will be back after the summer vacation sometime in October.
THE
GUARDIAN KOW TOWS TO INGRAHAM
On Wednesday 29th June, the Nassau Guardian proved
how craven it can be. With all of the news happening in the country
that warranted being on the front page of a Bahamian major newspaper, The
Guardian chose instead to print an apology to Hubert Ingraham. The
apology was because they quoted Keod Smith the MP (PLP) for Mt. Moriah
who accused the former Prime Minister of “double dipping” that is
he was receiving his salary and his pension at the same time. You
know the view is that this should be stopped by law so that Mr. Ingraham
will have to choose to retire from active politics or lose his pension.
Mr. Ingraham was apparently able to frighten The
Guardian, easily frightened as they are since they support the FNM, into
apologizing because he was able to produce a letter in the House of Assembly
from the Treasurer of The Bahamas saying that he has not received his salary
since May 2002. The Nassau Guardian never printed the fact that the
Secretary to the Cabinet wrote the Speaker of the House of Assembly to
say that while Mr. Ingraham had not collected his salary since May 2002,
in fact the salary is owed to him and that a voucher was signed for him
to get the pay which was due him from May 2002 to the present. How
that warrants an apology to Hubert Ingraham one never knows.
Pierre Dupuch MP said it right when he said that
we should not fool people. Mr. Ingraham is no saint and he ought
to do what is honourable and give up the pension or resign from the House
of Assembly.
THE
REGISTRAR GENERAL
The saga of Elizabeth Thompson claiming that she
is still the Registrar General of The Bahamas still goes on. It is
clear that there is only one validly appointed Registrar General and that
is Shane Miller, not Elizabeth Thompson. Ms. Thompson despite being
told by the Government to get lost continues to show up to work on the
spurious basis that she has a judgment from the Supreme Court that says
she is entitled to still be the Registrar. She has no such Judgment.
The Judge’s decision to set aside a letter of dismissal is being appealed.
The newspaper headlines were all full of the so
called loss by the Government when Hugh Small, the Judge who started this
whole mess with his decision, compounded the problem by declining jurisdiction
when the Government asked for a stay. The decision of Mr. Justice
Small has implications for the conduct for The Bahamas Government’s contractual
relations if the Government like any ordinary contractor cannot rely on
the terms of a contract between two consenting entities for full capacity.
The Court of Appeal should hear the matter of the
stay quickly and stop this lady who refuses to stay away from the Registrar
General's office and causing bad headlines in the paper. We believe
that the Government is playing softly softly with this and in the process
is making itself look bad. They should have their own version for
the defenestration at Prague and put this matter behind them.
MELANIE
GRIFFIN ANSWERS HER CRITIC
Can you imagine someone who has never been known until recently to be involved
in politics or any form of public commentary on controversial matters suddenly
takes an interest in a pathological way in the public life? You probably
can as this political season gets going. It is absolutely amazing,
and Melanie Griffin ran into just such an individual during the week.
Paul Moss attacked Ms. Griffin, the Minister for Social Services, accusing
her of plotting to sell Cheshire Homes, the volunteer house that was until
recently a haven for the disabled. The home was built on land owned
by the Government, but the volunteer committee wants to get out of the
business. The Ministry does not own the home. Mr. Moss accused
Mrs. Griffin of plotting to pay $650,000 for the home to the volunteer
group. No such thing in the plans said the Minister at a press conference
held on Thursday 30th June to answer the false charges.
Mr. Moss claimed that the disabled persons who were
accommodated by the Ministry in another place were not properly housed
because their wheel chairs could not fit through the new home's door.
Mrs. Griffin said this was false. Mr. Moss also read a line item
in the budget for $650,000 in the Minister’s Budget and jumped to the conclusion
that this means that the money was being paid to someone. When you
don’t know you just don’t know. Mrs. Griffin said that while there
was such a line item, the Government was not obligated to pay anything
strictly speaking because the place was on Government land, but the Government
felt that it was equitable for some payment to be made for the out of pocket
expenses of the volunteers.
What a funny life we lead in this country, when
the uninformed get the play of newspaper headlines, and all for political
effect. One suspects that Mr. Moss has a political agenda that he
has been on since he viciously attacked the Minister of Foreign Affairs
during the campaign against the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
He has also been involved in the Save Elizabeth Thompson campaign.
As we said at the start, when you see things like this happening, you would
be crazy not to ask some probing questions as to what this all amounts
to.
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN ST. LUCIA
ZNS Radio reported on Saturday 2nd July that the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fred Mitchell is in St. Lucia, filling in for the Prime Minister Perry
Christie at the heads of government conference for Caricom. The main
topic is UN Reform. The Minister’s delegation includes Bradley Roberts,
the Minister of Works, the Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith, the aide
to the Leader of the Opposition Gilbert Kemp, Philip Miller, Undersecretary
for Trade and Economics, Leonard Archer, the Ambassador to Caricom.
An historic first; Opposition Leaders and PMs met in conference to discuss
issues of common concern. The meeting got off to a rocky start with Opposition
Leader for Trinidad and Tobago Basdeo Panday, a former Prime Minister now
on a corruption charge in Trinidad, refusing to sit next to the Prime Minister
of Trinidad and Tobago.
POETRY FEATURE
Giovanni returns this week with verse four of 'The
Death of Ayana'. Please click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist,
Giovanni.Stuart (www.nubah.com).
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
PRIME MINISTER INSPECTS NEW RUNWAY - Prime Minister Christie
is shown congratulating Glenys Hanna Martin for the on time delivery of
the main runway 1432 at Nassau International Airport. The runway
was officially opened on the eve of Virgin Atlantic Airways inaugural jumbo
jet service to Nassau from London this past week. At left is the
Chairman of the Airport Authority Anthony Kikivarakis and at right is Minister
for Works Bradley Roberts. Bahamas Information Services photo
- Peter Ramsay
Happy Birthday, Bahamas!
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to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell is back from St. Lucia after having represented
the Prime Minister at the 26th annual heads of Government Conference of
the Caribbean Community in St. Lucia. The Minister had perhaps his
toughest international assignment in seeking to convey to the Caribbean
nations in succinct and non inflammatory terms the decision of the Bahamian
people that they do not want to sign on the revised Treaty of Chaguaramus
including the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). The Minister
issued a tersely worded statement from St. Lucia late on Tuesday 5th July.
It said simply that The Bahamas has indicated that it cannot sign on to
the revised Treaty. That the Government had stopped the national
debate on the issue in The Bahamas. That The Bahamas could go no
further. The statement said that the other countries understood and
that the status quo with regard to The Bahamas position with Caricom will
continue. Mission accomplished for the Minister. Congratulations!
Bahama Journal photo of Minister Mitchell briefing the news media at Nassau
International Airport by Omar Barr. |
COMMENT OF THE
WEEK
INDEPENDENCE 2005
Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Independence of The Bahamas.
We are of course a nation that is relatively well off. Things are
going relatively well. Last year despite the fact that we suffered
two significant hurricanes, the country seems back on the mend.
If you were in The Bahamas on this weekend you would see the spontaneous
outpouring once again of Bahamian flags as the nation celebrates.
People, men and women are dressing in the colours of the flag. There
is the official pomp and pageantry of the ceremony on Clifford Park which
seeks to re-enact the ceremony that originally took place within the view
of Prince Charles when he saw the British flag come down from over The
Bahamas for the last time in 1973.
Times have changed since then. Britain has abandoned its last
official post in The Bahamas, closing its embassy this year with scarcely
a thought of any sentimental ties. It said that it was trying to
save money all though it is not clear how much money it will actually save.
It just adds up to the fact that their colonial days are over and it is
time to put the past behind and concentrate on Europe where the British
really belong.
The United States is of course the great protector of The Bahamas.
It was interesting that during the debate about our relations with Caricom
there was considerable sentiment for becoming a colony of the United States
just like Puerto Rico. One wonders what precisely then are we fighting
for, did we fight for and what precisely our nationhood means.
It was the most appalling display of ignorance.
In the shadow of a great power, it is really hard to define ourselves.
We keep trying but there are great forces arrayed against us. As
you look on the streets, with the youngsters dressed in their American
clothes, speaking more and more with American accents, wanting to be American
by having their own children in the United States, what is the future for
The Bahamas? Is this period of thirty two years or whatever years
we have left as an independent nation to go down in history as an interesting
chapter in a history of being governed by other people, that we ourselves
will one day sing: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
That will ultimately be up to the young people who gathered on the
parks of the nation at midnight last night to witness the raising of the
Bahamian flag at midnight.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 9th July 2005 at midnight:
56,728.
Number of hits for the month of July ending at Saturday 9th July
2005 at midnight: 67,584.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 9th July 2005 at
midnight: 1,942,165.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
JOSEPH
PRATT AIRLIFTED TO MIAMI
The husband of the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia
Pratt Joseph Pratt was airlifted to Florida at the Cleveland Clinic for
medical treatment on Thursday 7th July.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell announced
the airlift by Air Ambulance owned by Dr. Franklin Walkine as he returned
from the Heads of Government Conference in St. Lucia. Mr. Pratt’s
airlift was necessary because the medical equipment at Doctors Hospital
for angioplasty, a procedure to remove the blockage of the arteries of
the heart, was recently installed and not yet properly calibrated.
The procedure was carried out in Florida without incident on Thursday afternoon.
It is not known how long Mr. Pratt will be in hospital.
Mr. Pratt was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and his doctor Dr.
Conville Brown.
FIGHTING
AT THE REGISTRAR GENERAL’S OFFICE
The saga of Elizabeth Thompson, fighting to retain
her post as Registrar General of The Bahamas continues. The woman
should know that she should not show up for work. She is certainly
not welcomed by her employer. Her actions have become an embarrassment
to herself and to the country, yet each day her actions continue to create
confusion in the Registrar General's office.
This week again there are pictures in the newspaper
of the former Registrar General trying to force herself into a situation
where she is not wanted. The staff in the office have been reportedly
told that they are not to accept any instructions from her. Documents
signed by her should not be held to be valid.
The Bar Council riddled with FNMs as it is tried
to get in the mix by calling a meeting, to discuss what we don’t know.
It is none of their business. They came hard on the heels of the
FNM getting into it as well, telling the Prime Minister he must intervene
to stop the madness. The only person who can stop the madness is
the woman herself. The quicker she gets a life and moves on the better.
The whole thing is simply unseemly.
CARL
BACKS OFF SUPPORT FOR INGRAHAM
We have hardly heard a word from Carl Bethel, the
usually voluble Chairman of the Free National Movement. He has been
silent since the Privy Council slapped him in the face with a decision
that Sidney Stubbs MP for Holy Cross had been wronged by the Bahamian courts
when they pronounced him a bankrupt in March 2004. Carl was hoping
he would get a chance to run for office in a bye election in Holy Cross.
This time, the usually cocky Mr. Bethel had to issue
a statement to The Tribune on Friday 1st July saying that he was not endorsing
the return of Hubert Ingraham to be leader of the Free National Movement.
The Tribune reported these statements of Mr. Bethel:
“At no time did I endorse or throw my weight behind
or indicate any kind of personal support or encouragement of Hubert Ingraham
or any potential candidate for the leadership for the FNM.
“It is strange that The Guardian could deliberately
misconstrue a comment to fabricate an endorsement for a person who has
not announced his candidacy and had not even sought my endorsement.”
Way to go Carl! Backstroke!
HOUSING
MOVES AHEAD AGGRESSIVELY
Franklin Wilson’s Arawak Homes opened a new subdivision
on Thursday 7th July. It is the sixth subdivision that they have
opened in New Providence. This subdivision is for homes priced at
$150,000 just east of St. Augustine’s College on land that used to be owned
by the Roman Catholic Church.
The new subdivision is to be called Fr. John Pugh
Estates. Fr. John Pugh was an Anglican priest who came to The Bahamas
as part of the RAF and stayed to be ordained a priest after training at
Codrington in Barbados. He served as the Rector of St. Anne’s Church
in Fox Hill from 1954 to his retirement in 1971. He was made a Canon
of the Cathedral in The Bahamas in 1974. He was the founder of St.
Anne’s Anglican School in Fox Hill.
George Mackey, the former Representative for Fox
Hill spoke about his life and how he considered himself the son of Fr.
Pugh that was never adopted. Also speaking at the function and filling
in for Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt was Shane Gibson, the Minister
of Housing. The Minister congratulated Franklin Wilson, the Chairman
of the Board of Arawak Homes. He also announced that the Government
had completed 850 homes since it came to office in 2002 compared to 750
homes for the entire ten years of the FNM’s term of office.
Minister Gibson said that the Government was also
committed to further building and construction, and to refurbishing rental
accommodation for low income families. He told the public that the
Government would be paying for the temporary accommodation for people who
had to be moved while the rental units were refurbished, and that he guaranteed
that they would be returned to their homes. The Minister was responding
to speculation in the press during the week that once the people were moved
out they would not be returned.
We congratulate Shane Gibson who is perhaps the
most popular of all Ministers in The Bahamas at the moment and we also
congratulate Franklin Wilson.
TUBERCULOSIS
IN ABACO
The Department of Public Health has announced that
there are two cases of tuberculosis in The Bahamas that it is investigating.
The cases reportedly showed up in Abaco. The disease is spread by
air and people whose immune system is compromised are especially susceptible.
The disease is not generally known in The Bahamas. The Haitian community
with their greater incidence of tuberculosis may be the source of the disease
in The Bahamas. The disease if caught in time can generally be treated
by a course of antibiotics within six months. There are some strains
that are becoming resistant to any of the present generation of antibiotics.
Dr. Baldwin Carey , the Director of Public Health, said that people ought
to go and get themselves checked out if they suspect that they have been
close to someone who has the disease. No word on whether the cases
have been confirmed.
TRIBUNE
TALKING NONSENSE ABOUT THE PLP
Those of you who do not yet understand that election
time is coming should re-examine the facts. Here is just one example
of how everything gets twisted these days by the mainstream media to ensure
that their political message gets across. The Tribune was supposed
to be writing a supplement for independence that came out on Friday 8th
July. The supplement did indeed speak to the independence of the
country. Of course this is a country that is only a money making
machine for The Tribune, they have no greater affinity to The Bahamas than
to the man in the moon. That does not stop them from talking
foolishness either about the political leadership of the PLP, as if it
is their business.
There was an idle speculative story in The Tribune
about who is going to succeed Perry Christie as if the matter is a live
issue. We have said in this space before that if God forbid something
should happen to the Prime Minister the Deputy Prime Minister will fill
in. But The Tribune wants to speculate endlessly about which Minister
is or is not in favour at the moment. The latest incarnation of their
silly speculation is that there is a political crisis in the leadership
of the PLP because of the PM’s illness. They used the occasion of
the country’s independence celebrations to raise it. How that arises
no one knows? What we know is that it is a figment of the imagination
of The Tribune.
The Prime Minister has returned to good health and
is expected to return fully to work in September. He already chairs
the Cabinet meetings and continues to run the Government. There are
no challengers to his supremacy in the party, so where is the evidence
for a political crisis? Not so the other guys. Hubert Ingraham
wants to come back. Tommy Turnquest wants to run again. Dion
Foulkes, another former Minister, wants to run. Brent Symonette was
described as the “white hope” by The Tribune. He too wants to run.
There are several waiting in the wings to run for leader of the FNM.
So there is no crisis in the PLP but it sure looks like something else
in the FNM.
THE
BLAST IN LONDON
It was a curious thing to see the front page of
The Tribune which is supposed to be a Bahamian newspaper leading on Friday
8th July with the story LONDON ATTACKED. The subhead indicated that
the Bahamas Maritime Office in London had to be evacuated. Of course
the story was about the multiple bomb blasts that killed 50 people in London
on Thursday 7th July on the London Underground. You would have thought
that a Bahamian newspaper would have led with a story about the Bahamians
in London. That is what both the Bahama Journal and the Nassau Guardian
did.
What accounts for The Tribune’s British bent is
the fact that the paper is actually run by Englishmen, who have no more
care for this country than the commercial interest which they have as employees
of the paper. So the story was about the son of the Managing Editor
and how he escaped, and then they spoke to some other Bahamians, and at
the end of it mentioned the issue of how Bahamians generally were affected
in that country as a result of the bombing. No problem.
Each paper is entitled to take whatever approach
they wish. We just want to point out what the problem with The Tribune
is. It is Bahamian in name only. There is another master whom
they have to serve and another country to which it apparently owes allegiance.
Oh by the way, the High Commissioner to London for The Bahamas Basil O'Brien
says that all is well in London for Bahamians. The office functions
normally and all Bahamian official staff are accounted for.
FATHERS
HAVE RIGHTS TOO
We want to congratulate Clever Duncombe for his
advocacy for single men who are fathers. Even though the moralists
amongst us would say their fatherhood is an irresponsible act, there is
no need to compound the error by the way the law is presently worded.
As it stands now, a father who is not married, nor
was married to his children’s mother can only see his children as of right
if the mother of the child wants him to. He can only access the courts
for custodial or visitation rights if there is a court order in place making
him pay maintenance. That is only done if the mother of the child
moves the court for maintenance. If she doesn’t and there is no court
order, the father can be effectively shut out from the life of the child
at the whim of a mother who has a bad relationship with the father.
The Minister for Social Services Melanie Griffin
is pledged to do something about it before the year is out. Mr. Duncombe
should keep up his advocacy. His latest statement was reported in
The Tribune of Friday 1st July. It is the only way the voices are
going to be heard on this very important matter for men in The Bahamas.
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN EXUMA
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell witnessed the raising
of the Bahamian flag in Georgetown, Exuma on the eve of Independence late
Saturday 9th July. This is the second time in two years that he has
witnessed the flag raising there. Accompanying the Minister was the
Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas who toured Exuma’s mainland with the
Minister.
THE
GOVERNOR GENERAL ON CSME
A Governor General rarely enters in matters of public
controversy. But it is refreshing when a Governor General chooses to intervene
in the state of the common debate. The comment of the Governor General
at the annual Independence Day lunch put on in her honour by the Honorary
Consular Corps about the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) on Friday
8th July is worthy of quoting Dame Ivy Dumont, Governor General in her
own words:
“The world is gradually becoming a marketplace
of groupings. The pace of formation of organizations, associations and
unions is accelerating. Because these formal groupings are being driven
largely by economic concerns, they continue to challenge our concept of
sovereignty and independence. More and more we must become comfortable
with the notion of inter-dependence. Recently, in our community there has
been heated and extended dialogue with regard to The Bahamas becoming a
part of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). It may well
be, as stated in a quotation attributed to a Mr. Max Planek:
‘NEW…TRUTH DOES NOT TRIUMPH BY CONVINCING ITS
OPPONENTS, BUT RATHER BECAUSE ITS OPPONENTS DIE, AND A NEW GENERATION GROWS
UP THAT IS FAMILIAR WITH IT’
(THOUGHTS ON ACHIEVEMENT, TRIUMPH BOOKS, CHICAGO, P.94).”
THE
CAC GAMES BEGIN
We congratulate Neville Wisdom, the indefatigable
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture on the spectacular opening and conduct
of the Senior Caribbean Athletic Championships being held at a newly refurbished
Thomas A. Robinson Track at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Nassau.
The games began on Saturday 9th July. The official opening ceremony
took pace on Friday 8th July. Athletes are competing from 35 countries
in the Americas. This includes Cuba.
HOUSEHOLD
INCOME IN THE BAHAMAS
Director of Statistics Charles Stuart reported to
the country on Thursday 30th June the results of an occupational wage survey
of more than 48,000 people in the private sector carried out in New Providence
and Grand Bahama. Apart from the raw fact of the size of the wage
packet, it seems to confirm that there is still a wage differential between
women and men, despite laws that guarantee equality for pay between men
and women. Men continue to earn more in all categories.
The overall salary for all people on average was
$23,751. For men the average overall was $25,869 and for females
$21,675. The differential applied on an hourly basis: for men $13
per hour and women $11 per hour. On a weekly basis, for males it
was $497 per week and for females $417 per week.
The survey revealed that women seem to work shorter
hours than men, with men working on average 39 hours per week and females
38 hours per week. The differential between men and women, with men
being higher paid in each wage category whether senior managers, professionals,
technicians and associate professionals. The basis of this report
is from the Nassau Guardian of 1st July.
ANTHONY
ROBERTS DIES
Rev’d. Fr. Anthony Roberts, a retired politician
and Anglican priest, died at the age of 73 after a brief illness.
Fr. Roberts was ordained a priest in 1987 and served throughout the country
most recently as the Chaplain of the Royal Bahamas Police Force up until
1994. Fr. Roberts prior to the priesthood served as a politician.
He was elected to office in 1968 and served as the Minister of Home Affairs
and then Agriculture from 1968 to 1977. Upon retirement from that
post, he served as the High Commissioner of The Bahamas to London.
Fr. Roberts was son of the late E.P. Roberts, an educator after whom a
school is named. He was also the uncle of Neville Wisdom, the Minister
for Youth, Sports and Culture.
GLENROY
NOTTAGE DIES
Rev. Glenroy Nottage, Director of All Saints Camp
of St John the Devine has died. Rev. Nottage devoted the last years
of his life to running the Camp and assisting those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.
He was a tireless worker in the cause and often chided the public, once
saying “I think we need to have more support from the public… This is the
only place in The Bahamas where someone can come in and really see the
effects of HIV/AIDS. I’m surprised that people are not breaking the doors
down to visit us.”
CHRISTIAN
CAMPBELL ENDS HIS TIME
The boy genius, well not so boyish anymore, but
genius all the same, has ended his stint as the editor for The Weekender,
the Nassau Guardian’s weekend newspaper that was filled with interesting
information about the African and Creole presence in The Bahamas.
It was written with the perspective of young Bahamians in mind. While
there is speculation that with the ouster of his Uncle James Campbell from
the Board of Colina, the parent company of the Nassau Guardian was the
reason for his ending his stint, there was no official word. The
real truth may be far more mundane in that he may simply be returning to
school. In any event, an interesting voice is off the scene for the
moment but we wish him well.
IGNORANCE
FROM BARF
Some people don't seem to know when to shut up and
keep quiet, when the game is up, when there is no more to be said.
A group that calls itself BARF (strange name since it means vomit) was
one of the main progenitors of the anti intellectual thought police that
wanted no further debate on The Bahamas role with the Caribbean Community.
The Government having succumbed to the arguments of ignorance stopped the
debate. There has been no comment from anyone in the Government despite
the fact that the ignoramuses who led the opposition to it have been jonesing
for an argument.
Trying to get a rise out of the Government one of
the BARF members gave a statement to the press on Saturday 9th July responding
to the comments of Owen Arthur, the Prime Minister of Barbados who indicated
to the Nassau Guardian on Wednesday 6th July that part of the misunderstanding
in The Bahamas about the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) had to
do with lack of information on the subject. He said that Bahamians
were uneducated about the subject and that there was a need for further
information.
Such is the bizarre response of the intellectual
thought police in The Bahamas that this truthful message got twisted into
some kind of insult to the Bahamian people. There to take up the
gauntlet was the vomit group saying that they wanted to tell Mr. Owen Arthur
a thing or two. Our response: BARF ought to go get a life!
Blow it out their ears!
MISS FOX
HILL
It’s that time of year again when the beauties of
Fox Hill gather as part of the Fox Hill festival. The festival begins
at the end of the month. This will be the 171st anniversary of the
emancipation of slaves in The Bahamas. We thought that you would
like to see the beautiful ladies who will be vying for the title of Miss
Fox Hill Emancipation this year.
FORMER
AMBASSADOR’S SON COMMENTS
It is always interesting to see how the times and the generations see things
so differently. Nothing pointed out this to us more this week
than an interview published in the Nassau Guardian with a young man Avaran
Collin Rolle.
Mr. Rolle was featured in the Lifestyles Section
of the Nassau Guardian of Saturday 9th July with his locks down to his
shoulder. He is a singer and a recording artist who is Bahamian,
the son of former Ambassador to Haiti Frank Rolle. His father is
also a former Member of Parliament. His grandfather was the pastor
of the Zion Church in Bimini and a pillar of the Christian community.
His father is a great believer as are all of is uncles. No doubt
he was raised in the tradition.
But son takes a different tack from father and grandfather.
When asked by the interviewer whether he considered himself a Christian
or a Rastafarian, Avaran Rolle's reply: “Christianity is tainted.
I am Rastafarian which is just a certain way to live your life. The
Christianity based religion today seems like big business.” Things
that make you go Hmmm!
ALFRED
BRAITHWAITE RETIRES
Dr. Alfred Braithwaite has retired from the Rand
Memorial Hospital in Freeport where he served for many years the sole Pathologist.
Minister of Health Dr. Marcus Bethel, among the dignitaries paying tribute
at the retirement banquet for Dr. Braithwaite, described the night as “a
wonderful occasion, an exemplary celebration for an exemplary doctor who
had contributed much to Grand Bahama. Dr. Braithwaite, a native
of Grenada, has a long and distinguished career as an educator, scholar
and scientist. He and his wife of 30 years, Vivian (nee Isaacs)
have three children – Nanika, Ricio and Chandre. Dr. & Mrs. Braithwaite,
left, are shown with Minister Bethel and Mrs. Bethel at the recent Retirement
Dinner for Dr. Braithwaite. Bahamas Information Service photo - Vandyke
Hepburn
POETRY FEATURE
Independence Numerology
This week, Giovanni asks us to “Ponder how these
figures play up”…
Consider this numerology, a fun study of
The occasion marking our nation’s birth-date
You are 32 years more brilliant, more blessed
Likewise, at 32 I am a product of independence
Three and two is five and two equals the lucky 10
Hence, we are gathered here this day, to wish our
Island commonwealth all the best of fortune, plus
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BAHAMAS!
Recording and literary artist, Giovanni Stuart – www.nubah.com
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
CAC Games opening - Prime Minister Perry Christie (third from
left) joined dignitaries at the official opening of the Central American
and Caribbean (CAC) Games this past week at the Queen Elizabeth Sports
Centre. The Games took place in a spruced up facility and their hosting
is considered in the region to be quite a coup for The Bahamas and its
Minister of Sports Neville Wisdom. Also pictured (second from right)
is Dr. Bernard Nottage, one of the principal organisers of the games in
The Bahamas. Bahamas Information Services photo - Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl+home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The
Prime Minister, looking trim, fit and relaxed, is pictured arriving with
Mrs. Christie to attend Independence celebrations at Fort Charlotte.
In the background is Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture Neville Wisdom,
whose Ministry engineered and spearheaded the extravaganzas. This
engaging picture by Bahamas Information Services Peter Ramsay is our photo
of the week. |
COMMENT OF THE
WEEK
NOT ONE RED CENT
You all know that this column does not believe that there should
have been any negotiations, discussions or otherwise with Elizabeth Thompson,
the now former Registrar General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
She is now “former” because by all accounts from the press and latterly
out of her own mouth she has resigned from the job. The press said
that the resignation became effective on Thursday 14th 2005. The
press says that she was paid some $260,000 in compensation to settle the
dispute with the government on her appointment. She says that she
is relieved and can now move on with her life.
According to The Tribune of Saturday 16th July, Mrs. Thompson says
that she believes that our democracy has been strengthened by the stand
that she took. She believes that she fought for a principle and that
in standing up to the Government the nation is far stronger for it.
The notion is preposterous. It is hyperbole; self-serving hyperbole
of the worst kind. We can not agree with her. We think that
no settlement should have been negotiated, and that she ought to have been
fought in the courts all the way up the Privy Council. There ought
to have been a hard fought defence of the position of the Judicial
and Legal Services Commission that would have resulted we are certain in
pulling back from a ruling in law that was not acceptable.
But we also have another view. The political party that this
column supports does not in these times have the stomach for such a battle.
Having no stomach, it seems for any controversial fight, it did not make
sense for an Attorney General to continue in this vein. The way this
whole thing has developed is that there is this weak female victim being
set upon by the great Government. The reality bears no resemblance
to those facts, in our opinion. It was therefore sensible to put
a quick end to this situation, even at the cost that has been printed in
the press.
What we think is that the only person who has benefited from this
is Elizabeth Thompson. We see scarcely any public benefit, save and
except that we will not now have to see the embarrassing spectacle of a
grown woman's actions at a work place where she was clearly not wanted.
She can go on with her life, but the public is entitled to ask, how many
basketball courts could have been built for that $260,000? How many
poor persons could have been helped with food aid with that $260,000?
How many wheel chairs could have been given to the disabled with that $260,000?
So while Mrs. Thompson can talk about how her children can now be fed and
how she and her family can now rest comfortably and feel relieved, many
other people should remind her what other things could have been done with
the money which she has now negotiated with the Government to settle her
legal dispute.
The whole matter was exacerbated by a clear political agenda on the
part of those who supported her. The same voices that “barf” in the
political action group BARF, including a relative of hers were at work
politicizing the CSME debate, politicizing the work of the Minister of
Social Services. So it seemed that the whole matter was extended,
and twisted and extended because there might have been other considerations
at work. Everyone thinks that it is open season on the Treasury.
We too hope that the matter is history, and that the Government has
learned its lessons from this. Chief amongst them is that when people
are brought on in contract that in future it is absolutely clear that the
terms of the contract are to be followed, and that there is no appeal to
any court in matters where the Government needs the desired management
flexibility to run its offices. We hope also that there is more circumspection
is exercised when hiring people in these jobs in the future. There
is only one victim here; that victim is certainly not in our view Mrs.
Thompson, but the Bahamian people whose Treasury now has $260,000 less
than it did this time last week.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 16th July 2005 at midnight:
67,896.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 16th July 2005
at midnight: 135,480.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 16th July 2005 at
midnight: 2,010,061.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
WHITES
COME IN FOR CRITICISM
The headline in the Nassau Guardian was quite surprising.
Most people would have thought the theme was dead. The headline said:
WHITES SLAMMED – C.B. MOSS WANTS TO SEE MORE WHITE FACES AT NATIONAL EVENTS.
Hmmm! Rev. C.B. Moss was speaking in the Senate as Senator of the
Progressive Liberal Party and the Vice President of the Senate prior to
a debate on the Marine Mammals Protection Bill when the Senate met on Wednesday
13th July. Senator Moss claimed that when he looked around at the
national events held over Independence, there were no white faces in evidence.
It is a continuation of the theme that the white Bahamian does not participate
in the life of The Bahamas. We do not think that it stands up to
examination but on the face of it we can understand why people say it.
Not a new theme, but one that most people had stopped talking about.
Pierre Dupuch, who is a white member of parliament,
well mixed ancestry but in this country white, responded by pointing out
that half the Cabinet did not show up to the national events. That
too was profound. He also made the point that the events are too
protracted in any event. We are with him there. Who wants to
be sitting in one spot for three or four hours at a time in the midst of
the summer heat? We say again these celebrations really ought to
be cut down in their formal character to one hour or less, then let's get
to the beach!
THE
BOYS WIN BIG AT CAC
The Senior Central American and Caribbean Championships
ended on a great note for The Bahamas when its men triumphed in the men’s
4x400 metre relay. The four who participated won the race above an
impressive field in a time of three minutes, 1.08 seconds. This is
a repeat for The Bahamas. The four were happy as larks, and posed
for the finishing photo that was published by the Bahama Journal on Tuesday
12th July. Congratulations to them. Congratulations to the Minister
of Sports Neville Wisdom for pulling off a well organized games.
Kudos also to Dr. Bernard Nottage, who was the chief organizer of the games.
From left: Chris Brown, Nathaniel McKinney, Aaron Cleare and Andre Williams.
AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS SIGN A CONTRACT
There was a happy picture on the front page of the
Bahama Journal of Wednesday 13th July of the Bahamas Air Traffic Controller’s
Union following the signing of a contract with the Government which brought
to an end ten years of negotiations. The agreement calls for pay
and benefits amounting to some 1.7 million dollars according to the Minister
of Transport Glenys Hanna Martin. The signing took place at the offices
of the Minister of Labour Vincent Peet. Sitting in the wings was
the Minister of Public Service, the former Attorney for the Air Traffic
Controllers Fred Mitchell. We congratulate both the Minister of Transport
and the Air Traffic Controllers, especially their President Roscoe Perpall
for the hard work in bringing the matter to this conclusion. The
photo is by Omar Barr, showing union president Roscoe Perpall at left,
hugging Senior Radar Controller Percival King.
GAS
PRICES TO TOP 4 DOLLARS
Leslie Miller was quoted in the press on Thursday
14th July as saying that the price of gasoline in New Providence is expected
to go up $4.05 within two weeks and may well hit five dollars per gallon
by the end of the summer. At present the Nassau Guardian reports
that gasoline which is price controlled sells at Esso $3.59 per gallon,
Texaco $3.64 per gallon and Shell at $3.69. The price hike has been
the subject of some controversy out of the Ministry of Trade because the
Minister has been saying that through co-operation with Venezuela he would
like to start an Energy Corporation which would intervene in the market
to lower the price of gasoline. This is not something which this
column approves of. The market price of gasoline is what it is, and
maybe this will force the public away from its over reliance on the automobile.
Somehow, despite the rise in the price, neither on the fiscal side nor
the monetary side does there seem to be any cause for concern to the economy.
Demand is as brisk as ever.
CONFUSION
OVER VENEZUELA DEAL
The speculative stories continue apace in the press
about the Venezuela deal and what it means. You know that we reported
on this site (you may click here
for the original story) about the Memorandum of Understanding that
was signed with the Government of Venezuela to sell petroleum to The Bahamas
and other Caricom countries at a supposed discount. Despite the public
statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell on the matter,
The Tribune continued this past week with the idle speculation on the issue.
Once again for their benefit we will repeat what
the Minister said. The Memorandum of Understanding is not a binding
agreement on any country in Caricom. It is a framework agreement
and in order for its provisions to be effected, there needs to be a bilateral
agreement worked out with the Venezuelans. The Bahamas has to consider
whether this is good for us. As we said before, the key issue is
whether or not The Bahamas Government should be in the business of petroleum
distribution and its infrastructure when the present system works quite
efficiently.
ISLE
OF CAPRI CASINO DOWNSIZES
The Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said that
he was blindsided by an announcement made by the Isle of Capri casino that
it was downsizing the workforce at its casino operation in Freeport at
Lucaya. The incredible thing about this is with the hotel full of
people, demand greater than ever for Freeport hotel rooms and Isle of Capri
decides that because it did not get a tax break from the Government, it
would downsize its operations. The matter needs to be investigated,
and one thing especially should be investigated is whether this company
should continue to have a licence in Freeport, and whether a more high
brow and dynamic operator needs to be chosen that can keep the place open
with a full staff complement. Minister of Labour Vincent Peet is
shown at a Grand Bahama conference after meeting with executives of the
Isle of Capri to express the government’s concern on the layoffs, which
he said could have been better handled. At right is Parliamentary
Secretary Ann Percentie. BIS photo / Vandyke Hepburn
SENATOR
CYPRIANA MCWEENEY RESIGNS
Senator Cypriana McWeeney announced her resignation from
the Senate after three years in office on Wednesday 13th July. She
said that she is pursuing various private interests but those interests
do not include a consultancy with the Prime Minister's office. Here
is what she said in her own words:
“This is not the time and place to announce what
these new ventures are. They will be revealed in the fullness of
time and in the appropriate setting. What I can reiterate, though,
is that I will not be taking up a job or consultancy in the Prime Minister’s
office or in any other part of the government. Those rumours as I
have said before are completely unfounded.
“I believe in the PLP and I believe in the government
of the Right Honourable Perry Christie. I believe that the PLP and
Perry Christie are still the best hope for this country of ours.
I believed that when I agreed to serve in the Senate back in May 2002 and
I believe it even more passionately now in July 2005 as I leave the Senate
to pursue new ventures.
“I am truly grateful for the confidence that
he placed in me. He is truly a great leader and he knows that he
will always be able to count on my full support. I am a Bahamian
patriot to the core. You can therefore be assured Madam President
that I will continue to serve my country.” Photo from the Bahama
Journal
ANTHONY
ROBERTS’ STATE FUNERAL
The nation’s leaders turned out at a state funeral for the late Rev. Fr.
Anthony Roberts on Saturday 16th July. Rev. Fr. Roberts was also
a retired politician, having served as a Parliamentary Secretary, Member
of Parliament; a Minister of the Government from 1968 to 1977. Following
his stint in Parliament, he served as a High Commissioner for The Bahamas
to London. Fr. Roberts before his career in politics was a trade
unionist, the founding President of the Airline, Airport, Allied Workers
Union (AAWU). He came into the Progressive Liberal Party from the
trade union movement.
There was a military salute at the end of the funeral.
The body lay in state for viewing by the public on Thursday 14th July at
the House of Assembly. The funeral was attended by the Prime Minister and
Members of the Cabinet. A tribute was delivered by the Hon. A.D.
Hanna, former Deputy Prime Minister who served with Mr. Roberts.
The eulogy was delivered by his Grace the Archbishop of the West Indies
Drexel Gomez. He was buried in St. Matthew’s Cemetery. May
he rest in peace! The widow Roberts is seen receiving the national
flag from Prime Minister Christie after former Minister Roberts' burial
and at right, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister among the mourners
at the gravesite. Bahamas Information Services photos by Peter Ramsay.
CIVIL
SOCIETY TACKLES IMMIGRATION
There was a town meeting this week sponsored by the Civil Society Group
that found its genesis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Freddie
Munnings Jr., is now its head, succeeding the late attorney Reginald Lobosky.
Its first foray into the national dialogue came in the form of a national
discussion on Immigration. It was an emotive topic and the scores
turned out. Maurice Glinton, who is normally not a public speaker
in this way, showed up at the podium to talk about the failure to Bahamianize
the Judiciary. The real treat for the audience was everyone's favourite
in this jingoistic time but controversial in his own time, A. Loftus Roker,
the former Minister of Immigration, who sought to purge the country of
the illegal immigrants half a generation ago. He lost the political
support of his party, and left office. But today, his name is a famous
one for someone who tried to get on top of the issue. The discussion
took place at the College of The Bahamas on Wednesday 13th July.
Attorney Glinton is shown at the podium with A. Loftus Roker sitting and
looking on with former Member of the House of Assembly Elwood Donaldson.
Bahamas
Information Services photo / Tim Aylen
IMMIGRATION
POLICY IN THE NEWS
The country is going thorough yet another spasm or cataclysm, call it what
you like, on the issue of immigration. What happens is that periodically
the country gets in a frenzy on illegal immigration. The Government
responds by rounding up scores of Haitians that are sent back in a high
profile manner to their homes. It usually turns out to be a public
relations exercise and once the public gets tired of talking about it,
the press moves on to other things. Now the public is exercised about
it again. This time, they brought out all the voices of “throw them
out”. Chief amongst them was the Hon. A. Loftus Roker (pictured in
this BIS photo) who led the charge back in the 1980s to oust the Haitians
from the country. He predicted that country of eight million, with
unrestricted flows into The Bahamas would swamp us, a country of 300,000.
That is certainly true but as with all things, there is in fact an effective
programme of interdiction. It needs to be beefed up, but it is not
like the borders are completely unprotected. More needs to be done,
but we have to be concerned that we don’t lead this country into one of
these ethnic cleansing exercises that many seem to be urging. Bahamas
Information Services photo / Tim Aylen
PM
IN ELEUTHERA TO BREAK GROUND
Congratulations go out to Franklin Wilson (pictured,
with Mrs. Sharon Wilson applauding) who with the other leading officials
of The Bahamas broke ground in Eleuthera for the revival of the Cotton
Bay Club in Eleuthera. It is a 300,000,000 dollar investment by a
Bahamian group. One of the main progenitors of the investment was
the late Albert Sands who sadly died of cancer several weeks ago.
The project is dedicated to Mr. Sands. On Friday 15th July, the Governor
General and the Prime Minister joined Mr. Wilson and his partners to break
ground for the new hotel construction. Bahamas Information Services
photo / Peter Ramsay
MINISTER
MEETS WITH CHAMBER
There is a new generation of leaders at The Bahamas
Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber, which used to be a staid organization
for older white men of the post 60s age vintage, is now headed by the young
dynamic female Tanya Coakley Wright. Ms. Wright is the head of the
Bank of The Bahamas Trust International. She brought her team of
fellow Chamber leaders to pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Fred Mitchell on Friday 8th July. The new generation Chamber is
pictured with the Minister, whom we believe himself to be a man of the
future. Bahamas Information Services photo / Tim Aylen
BURYING
ED WHITE
Ed White, a popular business man from Fox Hill,
Step Street in particular, was committed to the waters of Exuma on Saturday
16th July. It was his wish to be returned to the place where he was
born. His wife and family were joined for the committal by the representative
for the Fox Hill area Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Bahamas
Information Services photo / Tim Aylen
FOREIGN
MINISTER BACK IN EXUMA
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell has the additional political
responsibility given to him by Prime Minister Perry Christie of working
with the Representative for Exuma Anthony Moss, the Deputy Speaker.
For the second time in a week, the Minster was in Exuma. This time
he was filling in for the Prime Minister as the guest speaker of the Exuma
Chamber of Commerce at their inaugural dinner. The Minister urged
the audience and the new officers to embrace the future for Exuma and The
Bahamas, and not to be afraid of the future. Minister Mitchell is
shown with officers of the Exuma Chamber as he cuts the ribbon to officially
open the Chamber's offices. Please click
here to read the Minister's address or click
here to listen to the Minister's address. Bahamas Information
Services photo / Tim Aylen
30TH CPA
CONFERENCE
Parliamentarians attended the 30th Regional Conference
of the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association in Bermuda, July 10 – 16. Head of Delegation
was Parliamentary Secretary John Carey, MP, MP Pleasant Bridgewater, Senator
Tanya McCartney and Chief Clerk Maurice Tynes. The Bahamas delegation
led the discussion on the Role of Parliamentary Committees in a Parliamentary
Democracy. From left are Parliamentary Secretary John Carey, Barbados House
Speaker Hon. Ishmael Roett, MP Pleasant Bridgewater, Bermuda Senate President
Senator the Hon. Alfred Oughton, MBE, Senator Tanya McCartney, and Chief
Clerk Maurice Tynes
MISS
FOX HILL CONTESTANTS VISIT MP
Contestants in the Miss and Little Miss Fox Hill
Emancipation Beauty Pageant are shown during a courtesy call on the Member
of Parliament for Fox Hill, the Hon. Fred Mitchell Thursday. Minister
Mitchell told the young ladies how proud he was over their participation
in the pageant, which “honours Fox Hill’s unique position in the history
and culture of The Bahamas and celebrates 171 years of emancipation… When
we develop a sense of who we are, and from whence we came, we can more
easily see how much more we can aspire to achieve,” said Mr. Mitchell.
Saturday, the contestants will take part in a judging of their costumes
and a float parade at the Fox Hill Parade, with the Pageant to take place
on Sunday 17th July at the Wyndham Nassau Resort. At centre with
the contestants from left are Mrs. Janet Davis, Pageant Co-ordinator, Minister
Mitchell and Dashanique Poitier, outgoing Miss Fox Hill Emancipation.
POETRY FEATURE
Please click
here for this week's contribution 'Aquatic Phantasm' from recording
and literary artist, Giovanni Stuart – www.nubah.com
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Sir Jack's comments. [10.7.05]
I was delighted to read that Sir Jack is still
vigorous enough to generate an 'outburst' and, from the other information
I have to hand, he was quite entitled to do so. He and the late Edward
St. George had every right to ask for the money to be 'targetted' and your
Government appears to have 'dropped the ball'.
To bang on and on about 'colonialism' after you
have had the destiny of your country in your hands for so long is regrettable...
and ... if my memory serves me right, Sir Jack has Bahamian citizenship
and has as much right to reside there, with you, unlike a few names that
come to mind!
Remember the words of Abraham Lincoln..." if
you have a heart to help, you have a right to criticise!"
As always, and on this special day, the 60th
anniversary of the end of WW2, here’s honouring the part played by your
Islands…
John Hinchliffe
With respect to Captain Hinchliffe, whose contribution to Grand Bahama
we admire, we think it is fair to say that unfortunately, some Englishmen
have a problem. It is the knee jerk reaction to the word colonialism.
It is almost a guilt complex. The thing has nothing to do with colonialism.
Jack Hayward and his partner both knew that the gift could not and was
not accepted with conditions. The facts are that work far in excess
of his gift was done in Grand Bahama to the schools. The fact is
he could have called the PM directly if he had a concern. His was
a pure political inspired act of spite. - Editor
THE
COLOUR OF THE FLAG
The talk about town is that the Ministry of National Security of The Bahamas
is going about quietly enforcing flag protocol. This usually happens
around the time of independence 10th July 2005. It is at this time
when people think that they can use the symbols of the country for commercial
purposes. Under the present laws, you have to get permission from
the Ministry of National Security to use the symbols of the country for
commercial purposes. Many people have become concerned about the
colours that have been showing up in Bahamian flags.
The official colours are black, gold and aquamarine.
It is usually not hard to get the first two. It is the last that
is the most difficult. You see deep blue to nearly green, and all
shades in between. Someone in the upper circles must be fed up and
the word has gone out that the law is going to be enforced about the use
of the flag. So this year, the flags seemed to be truer in their
colour. Let us hope that this is a trend to continue. As a
footnote to history, it is said that the Government of the day which chose
the flag back in 1972 was warned that aquamarine was going to be difficult
colour to keep true for replication. They went ahead any way. Bahamas
Information Services photo / Peter Ramsay
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
STATE
RECEPTION - Prime Minister Perry Christie and Mrs. Christie joined
the Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont and Mr. Dumont for the official state
reception marking the 32nd anniversary of Bahamian Independence.
Among the other many events on the Prime Minister's schedule this week,
was a courtesy call from a special envoy from the government of Cuba.
Below right, Mr. Christie is pictured with the Consul General of Cuba Felix
Wilson, the special envoy and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell.
Bahamas
Information Services photo - Peter Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl+home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The
residents of Bimini have much to cheer about. This week on Thursday
21st July, their representative Obie Wilchcombe who is also the Minister
of Tourism came to Bimini with a team of Ministers. Bradley Roberts,
the Minister of Works and Glenys Hanna Martin the Minister of Transport
were both with him. They led the delegation that announced the dredging
at long last of the Bimini Harbour to a depth of 14 feet, which will allow
access to all of the vessels to the harbour. Bimini is built on a
huge sand bar and that natural feature prevents the largest vessels from
getting into the Bimini docks. Bimini is the fishing capital of The
Bahamas and yachts are getting larger and larger. This should be
a great boost for Bimini’s tourism. It is expected to take four weeks
from start to completion. It is just the kind of news that is needed
now that the celebrations for the Native Fishing Tournament are about to
get underway. You may click
here for the full address of the Minister of Works. The photo
of the happy group of Ministers and the contractor is shown and was taken
by Tim Aylen of the Bahamas Information Services. |
COMMENT OF THE
WEEK
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
There are two startling statistics that barely got a notice when
published at the start of the week. The Tribune in its business section
on Monday 18th July reported that the Department of Statistics extrapolating
data from the National Labour Force and Household Income Survey from 2004
of 3500 Bahamian households, reported that the youth unemployment rate
is 34.6 per cent. It also found that of the 10.2 per cent of the
general work force that was unemployed, 40 per cent of those were under
25 years of age.
If this is a true report of what was collected by the Department
of Statistics, then this must give the government pause for thought.
What it means is that one in three persons under the age of twenty-five
does not have a job or have given up looking for work. This comes
despite the fact that overall employment has dropped in the year from 2003
to 2004. Again, we are making an educated guess but it would seem
that the drop in unemployment has been caused by older workers going back
into the work force.
The figures should alarm the PLP. There is no quick answer
save and except that the government has to continue to push along with
its plans to cause more direct investment in the economy both foreign and
domestic. The prediction is that when the construction starts going
in earnest, there will be a shortage in the economy of skilled labourers
because of the lack of training of the very young people who need work.
In fact there is a suspicion that this is the case today. The
job opportunities in the economy that are available can’t go to young people
because when they come out of school they are not skilled to do anything
in particular. What the school system seems to train people to do
(and not very well at that either) is to become clerks for the government
service. Every other young person it appears is lined up in their
MP’s constituency office asking for a Government job. The public
service already has 20,000 workers, some 15 per cent of the total work
force. Why would we want to put more people onto that force?
The public service might be a workforce to look to but one policy
in particular has exacerbated any room that might have been able to make
way for new employees. The decision to increase the retirement age
to 65 from 60 has had the affect of clogging the top and not allowing younger
workers into the work force. This was seen as a policy to stop age
discrimination when workers who were often healthy and productive were
being forced out of the system. But the weight of the ability to
survive in the private world would surely be better at the top age bracket
with their experience than with those who have no experience or training
down at the bottom. It is a difficult set of choices.
It is clear that the private sector must become more dynamic, and
that means that in the policy of promoting individual and private investment
amongst Bahamians, especially those in the small business sector must be
pushed and pushed even more.
The Parliamentary Commissioner must in a few weeks announce when
he is going to start registration for the next electoral roll, which expires
every five years. He starts before the roll expires so that there
will always be a roll from which he can work to have an election, a bye
election if necessary. The PLP has only 15 months effectively left
to govern, and we all know that it will be the young people who will determine
the election. If that statistic of 34.6 per cent does not alarm and
startle, we don’t know what will.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 23rd July 2005 at midnight:
79,058.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 23rd July 2005
at midnight: 214,538.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 23rd July 2005 at
midnight: 2,089,119.
Last week, this site passed another significant milestone; more than
2 million hits in a single year and barely six months gone. Thank
you to you readers for your continued and growing support.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
DEATHS
IN BIMINI
As we went to press today there were reports of
two murders in Bimini. It was reported that the bodies of two persons
a man and woman believed to be in their 30s and Austrian tourists to the
island of Bimini were found shot to death in their rooms at a Bimini hotel
on Saturday 23rd July. Reginald Ferguson, the Assistant Commissioner
of Police for Crime is said to be in Bimini leading the investigation.
More details as they become available. Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe
in whose constituency Bimini is, flew immediately to the island as did
the police in furtherance of the investigation.
THE
NORTH ANDROS AIRPORT
There has been a back and forth in the marginal
seat of North Andros that was won by the PLP’s Vincent Peet in 2002.
Mr. Peet is the Minister of Immigration. North Andros has been in
the news continuously for the past four weeks.
First, one of the owners of Western Air which does
a good job as an alternative to Bahamasair around the country challenged
the Minister politically, telling the FNM women’s convention that she would
be running against him in the next election.
The Department of Immigration sought to regularize
the work permit status of Western Airlines pilots. Bahamians say
they won’t work for Western Air because the owners won’t pay for the training
of the pilots. The result is that Western had been granted a series
of temporary work permits for their foreign pilots to fly Bahamians across
their country including into North Andros.
The Immigration Department threw two pilots out
of the country for fighting on the tarmac of the Nassau International Airport,
plus revoking the permits of four more for violations of their immigration
status. The owners of Western Air claimed it was victimization.
Then the North Andros Airport burned down. Arson was suspected.
No arrests made. The owners of Western Air said they did not burn
down the airport.
Then the Tribune came with a story that someone
died on the runway waiting for three hours for an emergency flight from
Nassau to take a sick person in. Both the Ministry of Health and
the Ministry of Transport said that no such thing occurred or existed.
The Tribune said residents were concerned about it, when they only quoted
one resident who also is an opponent politically of the Minister and representative.
On the face of it, the story had to be nonsense.
Why would someone wait three hours for an ambulance, knowing that the airport
was closed and the Fresh Creek Airport was only 45 minutes away by car
and remained open? Further, no opening of the airport is required
for the emergency landing or takeoff of an aircraft. But such is
the silly season of politics that The Tribune throws all the rules out
of the window.
By midday Friday 22nd July, the Ministry of Transport
announced that the airport was once again open for normal traffic.
Thanks and kudos go out to the U.S. Government who, it is said despite
objections from the stodgy British, got the temporary structures up and
moving for use as a temporary airport.
PETROCARIBE
IN THE NEWS AGAIN
The Nassau Guardian’s Raymond Kongwa has been having a field day with the
Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller. The week started on
Monday 18th July with a bare denial by the Minister of Trade and Industry
that he did not have the permission to sign the Petrocaribe Agreement which
is supposed to be the gift of Venezuela to the region to help it through
the present oil crisis. The trouble is the deal is so darn complicated,
we wonder why The Bahamas would want to fool with it. In any event,
there is a need for a bi lateral agreement to be worked out with the Venezuelans
and it is unlikely that the thing will go any further. (You may click
here for previous stories).
Mr. Kongwa grilled the Minister on whether or not
he did have permission to sign the agreement. His answer finally
was he did not have time to deal with foolishness. Then he scheduled
a press conference for Thursday 21st July to tell all to the press.
Thursday came and the press conference was cancelled, citing other important
matters. The cartoonist Stan Burnside seemed to accept the
point in his cartoon that the Cabinet of The Bahamas was uneasy about the
whole thing. He got that from the speculative stories that have been
running in all the dailies The Journal, The Tribune and The Nassau Guardian.
The Stan Burnside Cartoon appears.
STORM TRAVELLING
The fifth named storm of this season Franklin sprung
up overnight at the start of the week, just on the eastern flank of The
Bahamas. A strange season indeed. While in the vicinity of
The Bahamas it never got up beyond thirty-five mile an hour winds near
the centre but was expected by today to develop into a hurricane but it
is well north of The Bahamas. People looking at it from the satellite
pictures, however would have been very concerned for The Bahamas since
the storm appeared to hover over Abaco and Grand Bahama. These are
the same two islands that were hit last year by hurricanes Frances and
Jeanne. People here are praying since the country is still digging
out but so far everyone is safe from the latest storm. But it is
very hot in The Bahamas; scorching hot.
THE
DEBATE OVER NATIONAL HONOURS
The Chairman of the National Heroes Day Committee Rev. Fr. Sebastian Campbell
told the press last week that he was disappointed that Winston Saunders,
the Chairman of the Cultural Commission (pictured) would accept the British
Colonial honours, the very same honours that the Commission was pledged
to abolish. The fiery priest said that if Mr. Saunders rejected the
honour that he was recently given in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List
that of Companion of the order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG), just
next to a knighthood, then it would go a long way toward sending a signal
to the country on the coming of local honours.
Truth be told we cannot understand what is taking
the local honours so long to come into being.
A Nassau Guardian’s editorial the same week took
Mr. Saunders to task as well. The facts are though that the Cultural
Commission was not established with a remit to do anything other than make
recommendations on the subject, not to abolish the British honours.
The Commission did a report in which it argued that the honours should
coexist with local honours and the British honours eventually fading out
as their acceptance falls into disuse as the nation progresses.
The fact is there are many who still find that they
have more value and currency than any local honours, and in truth and in
fact up to now they are the only national honour you can accept since the
Government has not brought into being any others. It is time then
for the Government to move on the matter and let’s leave Mr. Saunders and
his personal preference on this matter alone.
BOMBS
EXPLODE IN LONDON
There were three new explosions in London during
the past week. This time no one was hurt by the would be killers.
The police in London are searching for those who did it. But in the
meantime, they shot and killed someone at point blank range that had nothing
to do with it. The backlash is now setting in where a country is
so nervous about this problem that the police start seeing evil on everyone
with a dark skin and a heavy coat.
The Bahamas Embassy in London and its tourist office
and maritime offices were all safe and the personnel there unharmed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell issued a travel advisory
during the week saying that Bahamians travelling to London should exercise
the appropriate level of caution for the risk that is attendant to the
place
that you are visiting. He said that in visiting London, if you have
to, then you ought to exercise extreme care.
COLINA
UNDER SCRUTINY
We don’t quite know how to interpret this but it
does not look like good news for Colina. You know all of the heartache
that the Government went through before it could issue permission to Colina
to buy Imperial Life’s business in The Bahamas. Now the management
of Imperial Life is in control of Colina. There was a bust up in
the boardroom and James Campbell who put the deal together with his 45
per cent stake in the company is out, ousted by the Emmanuel Alexiou and
Anthony Ferguson who together have 55 per cent of the company.
Now comes the news that the external auditors are
not happy about fees that have been paid to what are called related parties.
That means transactions in this publicly traded company with entities that
have someone connected to Colina. There is also the question of explaining
certain large fee payments. The one that most comes to mind are legal
fees charged for example and The Tribune speculates that almost one million
dollars may have been paid to a firm in which the principle Mr. Alexiou
is a law partner.
The question of related transactions was one of
the matters raised by opponents when the deal went through, and the question
is whether given the criticisms by the auditors this is not enough to raise
the concern of policy holders about how this company is managed.
The Minister responsible for Insurance Allyson Gibson should be taking
a very eagle eyed approach to this company with millions of dollars of
Bahamian pensions riding on this matter.
The Tribune speculated in its story of Friday 22nd
July: “Colina’s financial statements are also likely to be seized upon
by the company’s critics as proving that Colina Financial Group and its
principles are continuing to take large sums out of the insurance company,
with the latter helping to prop up the rest of the group in an atmosphere
where there is not transparency or disclosure.” The Tribune continued:
“Colina's view is that the company is engaged in a cleaning up exercise
on its balance sheet following its recent acquisition spree and bitter
feud that saw Mr. Campbell removed from both Colina Financial Group and
his position as Colina Holdings President earlier this year”.
THE
COLINA AUDITORS IN THEIR OWN WORDS
PriceWaterhouseCoopers had this to say as quoted
in The Tribune Friday 22nd July 205 about the financials of Colina:
“Despite having significant arrangements and
transactions with related parties, the company does not have adequate procedures
in place to ensure that such arrangements and transactions are identified
and reported to the Board of Directors on a periodic basis. Consequently
the company’s records may not provide sufficient and appropriate detailed
information regarding these transactions. Accordingly, we were not
able to satisfy ourselves that all related party transactions were properly
accounted for and disclosed.”
JOHN
MORLEY DIES
A prominent businessman and realtor John Morley
died on Monday 18th July of brain cancer. He had been battling the
disease for ten months. He is survived by his widow Diane Cole Morley.
He was buried on Saturday 23rd July at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church.
Mr. Morley in this present generation is better known for his business
acumen that saw him become a wealthy man beyond his wildest dreams.
He was a part owner of the Mall at Marathon, and a developer of much of
the old Oakes Estate which he purchased with his former partner Geoffrey
Brown, selling lots to middle and upper class Bahamians.
The subtext of this of course is that in the black
and white politics of The Bahamas of the 1960s John Morley featured prominently
being a former Chairman of the Licencing Authority under the UBP, and member
of and defender of the United Bahamian Party, the minority rule government
that ran The Bahamas up to 1967.
John Morley was a big supporter of the Free National
Movement. He never seemed to accept that Blacks had the right to
run The Bahamas, even though he admitted to making more money than ever
under the late Sir Lynden Pindling and even at the end was involved in
a revisionist interview on television in which he refused to accept that
majority rule had been good for the country. However, he revelled
in his belief that it was Stafford Sands who really invented the modern
Bahamas. On Sir Lynden Pindling who most people describe as the father
of the country, he had an attitude of noblesse oblige as in “I did quite
a number of things for him. He used to come to me all the time.”
Mr. Morley was also a past President of The Bahamas
Chamber of Commerce. The Free National Movement issued a statement
lamenting his passing.
PUBLIC
SERVICE UNION ELECTIONS ARE SCHEDULED
The Bahamas Public Service Union and it mercurial
President John Pinder has scheduled elections for the last Friday in September.
Nominations for the offices that become vacant took place on Wednesday
20th July. The present officers are running against one another.
John Pinder, the incumbent claims that he will win because he has accomplished
all of his goals save and except 15 per cent of them. Mr. Pinder
though faces stiff competition from Synida Dorsett, who is now the Secretary
General. Ms. Dorsett was elected three years ago on the slate of
William McDonald, the predecessor of Mr. Pinder. She was so popular
that her re-election came against the tide that swept John Pinder into
office. Mr. Pinder has been at loggerheads with Ms. Dorsett ever
since.
There is a swirl of rumours around Mr. Pinder who
appears headed for a FNM nomination for the Fox Hill seat against the Minister
of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred Mitchell. Many are
questioning then whether a politician should be getting into the race for
BPSU Chair. Mr. Pinder denies that he is interested in a political
race.
The nominees for the office of President are: John
Pinder, Synida Dorsett, and Michael Stubbs. Executive Vice President:
Katrina Marche, Sloane Smith, Alexander Burrows, Edward Moncur and Kenneth
Christie. Vice President: Solomon Hilton, Godfrey Burnside.
Vice President for the Northern Region: Roosevelt Newbold, John Curtis
and Rudy Stubbs. Treasurer: Philip Greenslade, Craig Bethel.
The Secretary General: Stephen J. Miller, Helena Rolle, Gwendolyn Charlow,
Sherman Stevens and Ivan Thompson. Assistant Secretary General: Frederick
Hamilton, Deborah Colebrook, Fredericka Ellis and Paula Johnson.
Election for three trustees, eleven are vying: Stephen Douglas, Stephanie
Braynen, Vanwright Murphy, Antoinette Bowe, Anthony Robinson, Shelia Dames,
Joy Tucker, Bernadette Davis Smith, Tyrone Coakley, Alburn Rolle and Roland
Fawkes.
RAYNARD
RIGBY FOR THE SENATE
The Nassau Guardian wrote a speculative story on
Tuesday 19th July on who will fill the senate seat left vacant by Senator
Cyprianna McWeeney (PLP) who resigned last week. The Guardian reports
that there is speculation that Raynard Rigby, the now Chairman of the Progressive
Liberal Party, will be chosen. Mr. Rigby refused to comment but said
that if asked he would be willing to serve. We think that such an
appointment, were it to happen, would be a credit to The Bahamas and to
the PLP.
PLP FAIR
The Progressive Liberal Party staged a fine fair
Saturday 23rd July in Nassau at the R.M. Bailey park. Tuning up for
challenges to come, branch organisations of the Party from the various
constituencies all came out to market their specialties and raise funds.
Our cameraman caught up with national chairman Raynard Rigby as he visited
with the Fox Hill branch at their stall. Among those pictured with
Chairman Rigby (at right) are Branch Secretary Deidre Rolle, Administrator
Altamese Isaacs, Laverne McPhee, Vice Chair Charles Johnson, Evangelist
Rev. Irene Rolle, Chaplain, Fred Mitchell MP and Assistant Secretary Millie
Bethel.
A
TIZZY OVER JUNKANOO
The Grand Bahama Port Authority is celebrating the
fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Freeport and on Sunday 31st July
on the eve of Emancipation Day, they plan a mass Junkanoo parade in Freeport.
They have reportedly offered a $75,000 first prize and they have reportedly
paid for 200 persons each of the main groups to come to Freeport to rush.
Enter the Christian Council of Grand Bahama or one
of its former Presidents who denounced having Junkanoo on Sunday.
He called Junkanoo the work of the devil. Imagine people still saying
that in this day and time. Anyway, the Bahamas Christian Council
intervened and the Bahamian compromise has been worked out. You know
the kind that allows you to call it a victory while sticking your head
in the sand. The compromise is that it will still take place
on Sunday but only later in the day, so that God forbid it does not clash
with the church hours.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Whites Come In For Criticism...
[14.7.05]
C.B Moss wants to see more white faces at national
events... If you watch ZNS, you wouldn't think any white people live in
the Bahamas!! But, maybe in his capacity as a Reverend he should
try to bridge the gap! Rev. Moss, like many others think Nassau is
the Bahamas... For his info there are places in the Bahamas where
white and black Bahamians co-exist in harmony!!! They go to school,
work, church, nightclubs, retaurants... wherever TOGETHER! They have
worked together to build some of the most beautiful communities in this
country! And they celebrate independence together! The independence
celebration I attended was well attended by Bahamians of all colours.
And not only did the white ones attend, THEY ACTUALLY PARTICIPATED!!
Imagine that!! So maybe Rev. Moss can work over the next months to
see if he can plan national events that INCLUDE his white brothers and
sisters. Ask a few (hopefully he knows a few!) to PARTICIPATE and
see what happens!!!! He maybe surprised!!
'Abaco Potcake'
Some have made the point that many national leaders don't come.
Editor
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKSHOP - Prime Minister Perry Christie delivered
the closing address this pasts week at a dinner marking the end of a training
workshop and annual conference for the newly elected leadership of local
government in The Bahamas. Mr. Christie is pictured during the event
at the Crystal Palace hotel.
Bahamas Information Services photo - Peter
Ramsay
Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl+home to return
to the top of the page.
|
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - Last
week on this site, we spoke in our editorial comment about the fact that
there was a report from the Government on 34.6 per cent unemployment amongst
people under 35. The PLP is facing a General Election in 15 months
and so if the PLP is to win employment must clearly be in the cards.
So you can imagine the delight of the Prime Minister as he officiated at
the official launching of the Marina Village at Sol Kerzner’s Paradise
Island Resort at Atlantis on Tuesday 26th July. The Marina Village
is a shopping and restaurant complex. There is a Carmine’s there.
Café Martinique, the famous restaurant for the high end that Kerzner
closed when he took over the resort is to be revived. The idea is
to provide more amenities for guests in an expanded resort. Next
step the conference centre, a contract was signed with Cavalier for 50
million dollars to start that. Then there is the big daddy, the new
1500 room condominium hotel. The Marina Village hires 500 Bahamians.
More jobs seem to be on the way. So our photo of the week is the
opening of the Marina Village by the Prime Minister Perry Christie, flanked
by his wife and by Sol Kerzner and his wife. The Bahamas Information
Services photo is by Peter Ramsay. |
COMMENT OF THE
WEEK
NASSAU INSTITUTE NINCOMPOOPS
During the aborted battle over the Caribbean Single Market and Economy,
there was a group that we described in fairly negative terms. They
claim to be an economic institute but they are a stalking horse for the
FNM, run, driven and developed by an FNM ideologue who acts like he has
a tenth grade education who is masquerading as an expert on everything
under the sun. The newspapers continue to give play to this group
of idiots and nincompoops who wouldn’t know economic theory if it stared
them in the face. What they are is a group of ideologues who are
intent on destroying The Bahamas, at least in its African incarnation.
Strong words! But what else can we say to the utter claptrap
and foolishness which they continue to publish, week after week, year after
year. This committee of two: the one who sips tequilas at the Lyford
Cay Club after a few hours on the back nine, and the other a retired banker
(and believe us that is a euphemism) his great emphasis is on making a
good deal of showing his Lyford friends how well connected he is.
They both know nothing about international relationships. They are
so blinkered that nothing outside of the European, colonial theatre can
pass muster with them.
Over the past week, the Nassau Institute, the nincompoops about which
we speak, published a letter to the editor in which they sought to explain
to the Bahamian people that the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Leslie Miller and Fred Mitchell, respectively
were steering the country in a direction away from our traditional friends.
In support of this they claimed was the attempt to sign on with reservations
to the single market and economy and the most recent signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding with the Government Venezuela,
This is a case of adding two and two together and making five.
First, it is entirely stupid and plain wrong to describe the attempt to
sign on to the single market and economy as turning away from our traditional
friends. Our traditional friends have been the Caribbean people since
the turn of the twentieth century. We have pointed out before and
the Foreign Minister has pointed out that this is a country which was invented
by the children of West Indians who came here and married Bahamian women.
You may click here for the essay by the Minister ‘What
It Means to be Bahamian’.
Secondly, The Bahamas already buys petroleum products from Venezuela.
The United States does as well and so does everyone else in the Caribbean.
The fact that the Minister of Trade thought that it might be in the best
interests of The Bahamas to negotiate some kind of protocol which might
lead to cheaper prices for oil in The Bahamas does not translate into turning
away from our traditional friends.
What does the Nassau Institute mean when they say what they have
said? They mean that we do not stick with our eyes firmly planted
north and firmly in the grip of the European colonial tradition.
Anything outside of that is wrong as far as they are concerned. They
can’t help their racism. It is difficult to escape the upbringing
of superiority inbred over the generations to the point where they don't
even realize it. If you confront the pair of nitwits they will probably
say they are not racist, and react with complete incredulity, and then
accuse the accuser of racism.
But as they say, if it quacks like a duck, and it walks like a duck
it must be a duck.
We think that the Bahamian people must be merciless in rejecting
this group of sour grape losers and these Eurocentrics who cannot see the
forest for the trees. A country like The Bahamas has to use all of
its voices and choose friends and allies wherever we can find them.
That does not mean in any case that we are turning aside from traditional
friends. We are simply enhancing our international relationships.
We think the Government is on the right track. We encourage
the Government to continue on this path.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 30th July 2005 at midnight:
65,394.
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 30th July at
midnight: 279,932.
Number of hits for the year 2005 up to Saturday 30th July at midnight:
2,154,513.
CONTACT US AT E-MAIL:placid_point@yahoo.com
ART
TEELE’S DEATH
We were saddened this week to learn that Art Teele, a former Miami Dade
County Commissioner had shot himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald.
His demise at his own hand came following the most recent disclosure in
the Miami New Times about allegations of corruption and other alleged nefarious
activities. He had been deteriorating in his mind for years as he
mulled over the disgrace of being removed from the Commission because of
indictments on corruption, and apparently because of mounting debt including
debt from legal bills. It was a terrible end to a great career.
Art Teele was the toast of the town of Miami just
three years ago, full of life and people believed that no matter what they
threw at him, he would survive. They were wrong. People have
a tendency when things like this happen to say that they thought he was
stronger than that. One thing we know now that we didn’t know or
appreciate before and that is that suicide is a sickness or disease.
It is not natural to want to kill oneself. It is the end of the slide,
the low point of depression which is a chemical imbalance of the brain
to cause you to want to turn on yourself. It takes a lot of care
to spot the signs and a huge effort by loved ones to intervene, if the
person is to save themselves. So Mr. Teele did nothing wrong in taking
his own life, in the sense that he was not mentally capable or culpable.
That is why it is appropriate in the new Christian tradition to pray for
the repose of his soul. This is simply a tragedy.
The newspapers have to accept some blame as well
with the relentless attacks on the character of individuals who have no
way of defending themselves adequately. We have our problems with
that here too. One reporter at the Miami Herald Jim DeFede has already
been fired for taping a conversation with Mr. Teele without following the
guideline which is to let the person know that you are taping him.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell speaking from Panama extended
condolences behalf of the The Bahamas Government to the widow of Mr. Teele,
the former Stephanie Kerr of West End, Grand Bahama. You may click
here for the full statement by the Minister and a report
from the Miami Herald of what happened. Photo of Art Teele
from the Miami Herald
STAFFORD
SANDS OFF THE NOTE; HURRAH!
The Bahamas Government must have taken a decision months ago to stop the
production by the Central Bank of The Bahamas of ten dollar notes with
the likeness of Sir Stafford Sands, the first Minister of Finance and Tourism
of The Bahamas. The Bahamian economy is often called the Stafford
Sands model, built as it is on financial services and tourism. For
his troubles and for his pioneering efforts, the government of the Free
National Movement under Hubert Ingraham, the successor to the white minority
United Bahamian Party Government, put Stafford Sands’ likeness on the ten
dollar bill. The PLP objected to the matter at the time but the FNM
persisted.
The PLP made it clear at that time that if the PLP
ever got into a position to do something about it, the note would be history.
Here you were honouring someone who abandoned his country because Black
people took it over; who despised Black people and who even his allies
admit was a racist and couldn’t get over it. Not to be proclaimed
a hero in the modern Bahamas. No announcement was made about it but
somehow, the Nassau Guardian got a hold of the news and it was formally
announced by a low level bureaucrat at the Central Bank who said that he
did not know why the Government made the decision but they follow the Government’s
decisions and the Queen is to go back of the ten dollar bill.
We think that a proper announcement ought to have
been made by the Government explaining to the young people of the country
why he was taken off the note. We don’t think the Queen is much better.
Our view is that the country ought to be a republic and we should be done
with the Queen. The Nassau Guardian in its rearguard action to attack
the Government on the question did a man on the street poll in which some
claimed that the Queen was not the appropriate person because she was not
a Bahamian. Oh but she is! She is the Queen of The Bahamas,
and that seems ridiculous in this day and age but there it is. Now
all we need is for these nitwits at the Nassau Institute to weigh in and
the public opinion will no doubt be complete. Stan Burnside, the
cartoonist had his say in the cartoon that we show from the Nassau Guardian
of Thursday 29th July.
MOTHER
CLAIMS HEALTH LIED - HMMM!
Last week, we reported the fact of the contretemps,
politically motivated, over the opening of the North Andros airport.
You may click here for that report
from last week. What we are concerned with this week, is that
the mother of the 21 year old who died was in The Tribune on Tuesday 26th
July, seeking to refute what both the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry
of Health had said on the subject. Those agencies were not in anyway
responsible for the death.
The man died while being taken back to the clinic.
There was no enforced three hours wait at the airport that caused the death.
The Tribune claimed in their headline that the mother of the deceased refuted
the Government's statement. Except when you read the story what you
have is a situation where the louses at The Tribune really took advantage
of a distraught mother, whose son is dead at a very young age. What
she actually did was confirm the fact that it was not the closing of the
airport that caused the death. The Tribune quotes her as saying that
the son would have died anyway.
What is reprehensible is not the mother’s comments.
One can understand a mother who is distraught over the death of her son.
It is both despicable and reprehensible for The Tribune to use this distraught
mother for their purely political purposes. So bottom line, the closure
of the airport did not cause the death of the young man.
GLEN
NOTTAGE BURIED
Glenroy Nottage who died on Sunday 10th July was
buried on Saturday 23rd July. The family was led in its mourning
by its famous brothers Kendal Nottage and Bernard Nottage, both former
Ministers of the Government. The funeral was conducted at Salem Baptist
Church in Grants Town. The Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie
attended along with the Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt and other Cabinet
Ministers.
This touching photo was published in the Nassau
Guardian, and in our final farewell to Glen Nottage who gave life to those
afflicted with AIDS, we show his brothers Kendal (left) and Bernard in
final farewell. The photo is by Letisha Henderson of the Nassau Guardian.
BTC
PROFITS TO GO SOUTH
The Minister of Works Bradley Roberts spoke to the
country last week when he appeared on a radio programme last Sunday.
He was concerned about the voice over internet protocol (VOIP) that he
said is and will continue to eat into the profits of The Bahamas Telecommunications
Company Ltd, formerly BaTelCo and now known as BTC. BTC is a dinosaur.
Land line telephone companies are all facing trouble around the world.
There has to be some quick thinking about how to get this company off the
Government’s hands and into the private sector and let them try to make
a go of it. It is probably too late for the PLP to do anything now
about it since the government will probably be blackmailed by the trade
unions over it, this close to a general election. However, let there
be no mistake that the handwriting is on the wall.
CHANDRA
LOOKS GOOD
The World Championships of the International Athletic
Associations Federation (IAAF) scheduled for Helsinki, Finland are almost
upon us. The Bahamas has usually had a good spot of success at these
games. They are second in importance only to the Olympic Games.
Looking especially good is Chandra Stirrup, one of our golden girls from
the 2000 Olympics in Australia. She finished ahead of the field at
the Galan Super Grand Prix on the 26th July in Stockholm, Sweden.
We thought you should see her in her finest form as published in the Nassau
Guardian of 27th July. Good luck to Chandra and the whole team.
TONY
BLAIR MORE AND MORE RIDICULOUS
We revisit the controversial subject of the bombings
in London, and most recently the subsequent attempted bombing. You
already know how much we look askance
at the killing by the British police of the Brazilian who was an electrician
whose only crime one suspects was that he had swarthy skin and a heavy
coat. An investigation is being held as to why five to eight shots,
depending on whose account you read were put into the man’s head at point
blank range, even though he was laying on the ground. The officers
should clearly be charged with a homicide. What concerns us further,
is the response of official Britain on the subject. We apologize,
they said. Another said, we are very very sorry. But all of
them added but we must move on. It was like the man's life was absolutely
worthless. And then to start putting out information that his visa
to stay in Britain has expired. That‘s good! It justifies shooting
him dead one supposes.
There is an official report in Britain, by a respected
British think tank that says the British Government has made its country
more unsafe by linking its fortunes to the botched American invasion of
Iraq. This is an invasion that must lead, inexorably to abject withdrawal.
The problem for us is the young lives of American
soldiers who themselves do not seem to understand that this is not about
American patriotism but about their Government placing them in a political
and religious quagmire from which there is no escape except to withdraw.
But then what about the thousands of innocent Iraqi children alone killed
in this conflict? No one counts the thousands of civilians killed
in this conflict, not by insurgents but by the persons who came supposedly
to rescue them. Tony Blair’s British Government has an answer.
He says that it is absurd that anyone would link what is happening in Britain
to their policy in Iraq. He would also say one supposes in the face
of the casualty count of innocent Iraqis; that is price we pay, we are
terribly sorry but we must move on. There are none so blind as those
who cannot see.
SUPRISINGLY
SENSIBLE ANDREW ALLEN
It is a little unusual for us to accept anything
that Andrew Allen has to say on any subject. But his column in The
Tribune was surprisingly lucid and clear on the question of the British
policy on the war in Iraq and its connection to the bombing campaign now
going on in London. In part, he said:
“…[S]elf righteous denial of the context of the
event is based upon a most simple-minded fallacy. That fallacy holds
that the moment some nutcase decides to use an evil, terroristic tactic,
this event breaks the chain of causation between western policy and the
anger, much of it justified, that it provokes around the world.
“For every crazed and imbalanced young man seeking
martyrdom, there are many balanced, intelligent voices calling Mr. Blair
to account for having dragged his country into one of the most disgraceful
and unjustified wars of aggression in memory.”
Please click
here to view the entire column from The Tribune of Monday 25th July 2005.
FREEPORT'S
FIFTIETH
The City of Freeport is celebrating its 50th birthday...
As part of the celebrations a new library was officially opened this past
week. Our Bahamas Information Services photo shows Minister of Tourism
and MP for West End Obie Wilchcombe, centre, with Lady Henrietta St. George
and Sir Jack Hayward of the Grand Bahama Port Authority doing the honours.
JOHN
MORLEY’S FUNERAL
John Morley, the real estate agent was buried last
week in Nassau at St. Matthew’s Church. The service was conducted
with the Anglican rite. Some were surprised however by its length.
Usually, the funerals of white Bahamians are spare and brief. But
the report is that Mr. Morley’s funeral was of three hours duration and
ten eulogies including those of the Archbishops of the Anglican Archdiocese
and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Now there’s an
important man, and a true true Bahamian right up to the end.
FOX
HILL FESTIVAL BEGINS
Glenys Hanna Martin, the Minister of Transport and daughter of the former
representative of the Fox Hill area the Hon. A.D. Hanna filled in for the
now representative for Fox Hill Fred Mitchell at the official opening of
the Fox Hill festival. This year on 1st August Fox Hill with the
rest of The Bahamas celebrate the 171st anniversary of the emancipation
of the slaves.
The festival will have two highlights: on the morning
of Emancipation Day, Junkanoo groups will gather in Fox Hill for the annual
Junkanoo rush out. Then at 11 a.m. the Governor General will join
the representative and the people of Fox Hill for the annual Emancipation
Day service. The second will be the highlight of the Festival when
Fox Hill day occurs on Tuesday 9th August. The traditional climbing
of the greasy pole and the dancing around the May Pole will take place.
At top: The Fox Hill Parade is alive with colour
from the costumes of the winners in the Miss and Little Miss Fox Hill Emancipation
Queen pageant. At rear are pageant organisers Mrs. Janet Davis (left)
and Mrs. Charlene Curry (right). In the photo at right, Minister
Glenys Hanna Martin (centre) is pictured with Festival Committee Chairman
Charles Johnson (right) and Chairman Emeritus Eric Wilmott as she officially
opened the Fox Hill Festival 2005. Photos - Fox Hill Festival Committee.
CALVIN
BROWN LOSES HIS BROTHER
We wish to extend condolences to a friend of this
column Calvin ‘Lady’ Brown. Mr. Brown lost his youngest brother Ed
who was found in the waters off Potter’s Cay on Wednesday 26th July.
May he rest in peace!
CONGRATULATIONS
SIR ALBERT
We wish to extend congratulations to Sir Albert
Miller who was presented with a lifetime achievement award from the Ministry
of Tourism of The Bahamas for his contribution to tourism in The Bahamas
and more particularly in Grand Bahama. Sir Albert is the retired
President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority former Chairman of the Grand
Bahama Island Tourist Promotion Board and the now Co-Chair of the Grand
Bahama Port Authority. The Bahamas Information Services photo
shows Sir Albert modelling the ring, which was presented as an emblem of
his lifetime tourism achievement. At left is Ministry of Tourism
Parliamentary Secretary Agatha Marcelle.
NEW
DOCK IN CAT ISLAND
Minister of Works Bradley Roberts is on the move
again. This time he signed a contract for the construction by Emil
Knowles, the youngest son of former Cat Island MP Ervin Knowles to build
a dock at a cost of 1.7 million dollars in Cat Island. Our photo
shows Mr. Roberts at the signing. This is a welcome relief to the
people of Cat Island.
Mr. Roberts also addressed during the course of
the week the issue of the New Providence Road Improvement project.
There has been some public criticism of the delay in the completion of
the Harrold Road portion of the project. You may click
here for the full remarks of Mr. Roberts on the subject.
POETRY FEATURE
Giovanni returns this week with ‘Eternal Damnation’.
Please click
here. POET FEATURE, by Bahama recording & literary artist,
Giovanni.Stuart (www.nubah.com).
RODNEY
SMITH IS ILL
The special committee that was appointed by the
College of The Bahamas Council to review the alleged plagiarism by the
President of the College of The Bahamas Rodney Smith has its report ready
but could not release it because the President checked himself into a Bahamian
hospital and then out and then according to press reports into a hospital
in Jacksonville. It is not clear whether or not he has been released
or what the nature of the problem was that caused him to check into hospital.
The reports of a hospital stay sent the newspapers
wild with speculation. Chairman of the College Council Franklyn Wilson
said that this was not a time to speculate but a time for payer and reflection.
The Committee delayed presenting its findings until the President is out
of the hospital and back on his feet. The Bahama Journal ran a cartoon
in Wednesday 26th July which seemed to reflect some portion of public sentiment
in the issue.
The Council’s Chairman Franklyn Wilson is infuriated
by the commentary in the press and the connection between the illness and
the report. He told the Nassau Guardian on Saturday 30th July that
he was offended by the preoccupation of the newspapers with gossip.
The country awaits the report.
EDUCATION
CONFERENCE OPENS
The photo was the very picture of charm and rapport.
Minister of Education Alfred Sears and Director of Education Iris Pinder
were on the front page of the newspaper in a sonorous set of comments about
the education conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers which began
in Nassau on Wednesday 26th July. The conference is designed to review
the developments in education worldwide and to look at issues with a view
to making recommendations on how the work in the schools can be improved.
Nassau
Guardian photo of Minister of Education Alfred Sears and Director of Education
Iris Pinder by Patrick Hanna.
FOREIGN
MINISTER IN PANAMA
Fred Mitchell, Foreign Minister of The Bahamas travelled
to Panama as The Bahamas representative at the Summit of the Association
of Caribbean States (ACS). There are some 28 countries that are part
of the ACS which was formed in 1994. The countries all rim the Caribbean
Sea from The Bahamas in the north down to Venezuela on the South American
continent. The Bahamas worked with other Caribbean countries to get
a strongly worded statement in the draft on the transhipment of nuclear
waste through the region including the Caribbean Sea and the seas of The
Bahamas. You may click
here for the Minister’s full statement.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
MARINA VILLAGE OPENING - Prime Minister Perry Christie is caught
by photographer Peter Ramsay being moved to dance as he tours after officially
opening the new Marina Village at Atlantis, Paradise Island. Mr.
Christie offered congratulations to the developers of Atlantis on taking
an area which was "little more than a walkway" and providing jobs, potential
business profits and opportunities for more than 500 Bahamians. The
PM is being led on the tour by Mr. & Mrs. Sol Kerzner.
Also this past week, the Prime Minister attended
and spoke at the first summer youth programme between the Ministry Of Youth
and the Farm Road Urban Renewal Project. The camp was held at the
Evangelistic Temple Campus Collins Avenue. Mr. Christie is seen congratulating
Paige Christie after a touching musical performance from the young lady.
Bahamas Information Services photos - Peter Ramsay
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