BahamasUncensored.Com Archive

WHERE THE PLP IS NOW

Labour Day has always been a day to show the flag of support for the working people of the country. We are not quite sure when the actual celebration of a Labour Day began in The Bahamas but we know from a film shot by the late Stanley Toogood that at least since 1957, there has been a Labour Day march. The official day was recognized by Parliament with the first holiday in 1962. The 1957 film is an interesting one to look at with all of the people dressed for the parade as if they are marching to church. The men are in suits; the women are dressed in good clothes.

Today’s Labour Day parades are horses of a different colour. They are much more disorganized, or perhaps spontaneous is the right word, affairs. People turn up behind their union banners and they are accompanied by loud and jumpy music. The crowds wait along the streets for the parade to pass by as they always have but it is a participatory sport not a spectator one. The parade is a time to see all the political leaders turn out in force. The Prime Minister Perry Christie led the Progressive Liberal Party’s contingent with members of his Cabinet along with Chairman Raynard Rigby. The Free National Movement contingent was led by Tommy Turnquest, their leader and Carl Bethel their Chairman. The PLP’s crowd was by far the larger one.

The big hit is really the Junkanoo groups who long after the official parade has passed by are still coming. So the official parade might end at 12 noon but the Junkanoo groups keep coming well into the afternoon. The crowds on Bay Street swell.

One wonders whether the people who participate in the marches of this era really understand the reaffirmation of freedom that the march entails. The constitution of The Bahamas says that it protects the right of freedom of assembly. It supports the right of freedom of association. It may seem so easy to exercise it today that one can forget that it took the struggle of many people get to where we are. It is in that light that the Trade Union Movement has adopted the view that the late Sir Randol Fawkes should have his name appended to Labour Day officially. This was a move that Sir Randol opposed during his lifetime and while it would not be offensive, it is not necessary. But what is necessary is that we continue to celebrate it, and that we continue to remember the sacrifices of all of those who made the day possible and made the possibilities possible.

No one looms larger in this struggle for Labour than Randol Francis Fawkes. He emerged into the political consciousness of The Bahamas after qualifying as a lawyer under the tutelage of one of the two Black members of the Bar, the late Augustus Toote. Sir Randol as he later became known founded the Bahamas Federation of Labour. He was one of the leaders of the General Strike in 1958 that brought the country to a virtual halt over the practice of how tourists were to be collected from the airport. The Bahamas Taxi Cab Union, which still exists today, led the protests in blocking the airport. Their leader then was Clifford Darling, later Sir Clifford. He was the President of the Union. He later served as the Minister of Labour, Speaker of the House of Assembly and Governor General.

Sir Randol was also a Member of Parliament. He served from 1956 when the first PLP members were elected up to 1977 when he was defeated after a falling out with the PLP. He was the man who gave the PLP the tie breaking vote that led to the formation of the first majority rule government in 1967, and he was the first Minister of Labour under the Progressive Liberal Party. He moved the resolution in the House of Assembly that made the first Friday in the month of June Labour Day in The Bahamas.

The Labour movement on Tuesday 1st June this year hosted a programme and reception in the presence of his widow Jacqueline Fawkes to mark the republication of his book ‘The Faith that Moved The Mountain’. The book is a personal history of Sir Randol about his life’s work. It had been out of print for years but it is well worth reading.

And so we say that Labour Day is a good time to remind the PLP of where it started and also to remind the party to reassert its connection to the working man. It is too easy for a party in power not to know where it is and what the standing of the party is in the mind of the working man. The PLP can congratulate itself for holding this country together in the face of a crisis of confidence in the country under the leadership of Hubert Ingraham.

We are still in the middle of economic crisis, even though the signs are that the crisis is easing. But the young men and women in today’s generation similar to those that Randol Fawkes led in his day to form the Labour movement, and ultimately change the Government, seem very sour and disgruntled, although we are not sure why. Notwithstanding the obvious signs of progress, there is a cry from too many of them that nothing is happening. What that probably means is that they do not perceive The Bahamas as a place that provides opportunities and progress for them. That is the perspective that the PLP has to know and understand.

The PLP is the party with the natural majority. It lost it once. It must never lose it again.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 5th June 2004 at midnight: 41,218.

Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 5th June 2004 at midnight: 25,732.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 5th June 2004 at midnight: 1,164,113.

Labour Day Parade photos - Top; PLPs on the march with Prime Minister and Mrs. Bernadette Christie;
Next; FNM leader Tommy Turnquest & Mrs. Shawn Turnquest, Chairman Carl Bethel and supporters;
Next; Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell with Fox Hill PLP Chairman Larry Wilmott
Bottom; Minister of Transport & Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin.
BIS / Peter Ramsay

THE BUDGET DEBATE BEGINS

    The Budget Debate has been going on now for two days, yet not one speaker has spoken from the Official Opposition. They are making themselves look ridiculous. Their argument is that they want five Ministers of the Government to speak before they speak. This is foolish logic. We call it the Brent Symonette strategy. It is a failed strategy. It is the “I won’t play at all unless I set the rules” strategy. It caused him not to have the leadership of the FNM today. The rules of the House call for a three to one protocol. In other words, there are to be three Government members to one Opposition member.
    The Opposition having taken the position that they have would have left the House in silence were it not for Tennyson Wells, the MP for Bamboo Town who began his debate just after Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell on Thursday 3rd June. The Minister began speaking on Wednesday 2nd June giving a tour de force of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a stout defence of the foreign policy of The Bahamas. He also spoke the next day about the role the public service and the Government’s commitment to public sector reform. Amongst the other matters announced in the Minister’s address:
    The Government is seeking an appeal for cash for Haiti. It is encouraging the collections in churches on Sunday to give money to Haiti. The Government itself will give cash to the Caribbean Disaster Relief Agency for the assistance of Haiti to help with the flood relief.
    The Bahamas Youth Orchestra is to travel to South Africa on 13th June for two weeks. The Minister explained that the visit was arranged as a result of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa Nkosasana Zuma hearing the orchestra during her official visit in December last year and she invited them to come to visit South Africa on the occasion of youth day. The expenses for the visit are to be paid by the South African government for travel from Atlanta and New York on South African Airways (SAA) plus the expenses of internal transportation and the room and board. The Bahamas Government is to pay the transportation costs up to Atlanta and New York, points to which SAA flies.
    There is an increase in the budget of just over two million dollars for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Just over one half a million of that is to pay for the establishment of an office of the Consulate General in Havana within the next fiscal year. The Minister forecast the closing of the office in Hong Kong and the opening of an Embassy in Beijing.
    The Minister announced that there is an increased contribution to the United Nations and its agencies of $200,000 for this year. He also announced that some $46,000 is to be contributed to the Caribbean Justice Trust Fund. He said that while The Bahamas will continue to use the Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal, The Bahamas wants to be in a position to join the court if it needs to do so, so it is contributing to its expenses and shadowing the procedures for its establishment.
    The Minister announced that the bids for machine readable passports have all been rejected and that the matter will be sent out for re-tendering.

MEANWHILE THE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS

    The Governor of the Central Bank Julian Francis (pictured) who has been at odds with the Ministry of Finance on a number of issues over the past year has urged the need for more money to be paid in taxes to the state. Mr. Francis was speaking on Tuesday 1st June at the Margaret McDonald Policy Institute’s annual seminar. Mr. Francis said: “We don’t pay enough money in taxes to make our public system work. We have to pay more money in the form of taxation in order to finance the programmes of the Government”.
    The Minister of Finance in his Budget Communication on 26th May said that he did not want to raise taxes. The Minister instead chose to finance the budget gap of $164 million by resort to the financial markets. Many have argued that every time the Government goes into the market to borrow these substantial sums of money, it leads to crowding out the private sector’s ability to borrow.
    The private sector is already screaming at the Central Bank because of the limits placed on credit. The Government sent a signal in the Budget Communication to the Governor of the Central Bank that it is unhappy with this credit policy, especially given the high levels of U.S. dollar reserves the country now has. No doubt the bank argues that the monies in the reserve are there because of borrowing of foreign currency by the Government and not as a result of productivity gains and so should not be squandered away.
    The Governor of the Central Bank is independent of the Ministry of Finance under Hubert Ingraham's legislation passed in 2000. Some are arguing that there is a need for reform of this and that legislation should come to change the Bank's structure. Bahama Journal photo - Omar Barr

THE FOREIGN MINISTER IN ECUADOR
Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister of The Bahamas, is in Quito, Ecuador for the annual General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). A new Secretary General of the Organization is to be elected at this meeting. Also and more importantly for The Bahamas will be a meeting of Caribbean Ministers of Foreign Affairs with the US Secretary of State to talk about the future of Haiti. The Minister returns to The Bahamas on Wednesday 9th June. The other members of the delegation are Ambassador to Washington and the OAS Joshua Sears; Eugene Torchon Newry, Second Secretary in Washington and Lynette Brennan from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nassau.

GAY CRUISE ARRIVES –NO ARMAGEDDON

    If you believed all the attendant publicity about the so called Gay Cruise ship that was coming to The Bahamas, you would have thought that the end was near. Last week we said July was the time it was coming but there was such a ship that arrived last weekend. The statistics tell an interesting story: 2000 odd passengers in total, only 90 described themselves as gay. The ship coming in July is the more widely publicized promotion led by TV comic Rosie O’Donnell.
    The Bahamas Christian Council has been denouncing gay life in The Bahamas and those who are set to visit the country. The Ministry of Tourism caused some consternation by simply reiterating that The Bahamas does not discriminate against its visitors and once people obey the laws, there is no problem with The Bahamas.
    The Bahamas is a tourist country and as such welcomes anyone who does not break the law, and that should be the end of that.
    The Rainbow Alliance, the group of gays and lesbians that defends the interests of gay and lesbian people in The Bahamas went to the docks to welcome the persons coming to the country. The welcome passed without incident. The Alliance said that they went because they anticipated that there would be public demonstrations harassing the visitors. Nassau Guardian photo of cruiseship 'Fantasy' - Donald Knowles

BOTH TO BLAME FOR SEA ACCIDENT
    As the Wreck Commission looking into the crash of the Sea Hauler and United Star comes to a close, a six page report prepared by Master Captain James Wallace has revealed that neither captain Allan Russell of the Sea Hauler nor Rodney Miller of the United Star measured up to the unexpected emergency situation that preceded the deadly collision of the vessel almost a year ago on 4th August 2003.
    Captain Wallace who testified on Tuesday 1st June said, “Early corrective measures were indeed achievable to avert the collision. However many more lives were at risk on the Sea Hauler who was operating with a special exemption for increased passenger count and this should have caused the master not to conduct business as usual.” He added that there were no proper watches being kept on either vessel, no lookouts posted, and the use of the Sea Hauler’s radar should have detected the United Star that did not have its lights burning.
    The report noted that had there been a human watch, corrective action could have been taken, but it appears that neither Captain got the point of this exercise because each blamed the other in the course of their individual testimony. It is also clear that the accident that left four people dead occurred with unqualified persons at the helm at the time of the accident. We hope the Commission throws the book at both of them.

THE HEAT IS ON—NO RAIN COMES
    There is still no rain. To show you how bad it has been, there was only one day of rain during the month of May that most people can recall and that did not last for long. There was no rain in April when the drought normally breaks. There has been no rain in the month of June. The Bahamas is bone dry and forest fires are springing up on all of the islands from north to south.
    The Government has not said anything about the issue. One supposes that is because there is nothing they can do. Perhaps The Bahamas Christian Council might employ its time by praying for rain to the bone dry earth. The irony is poor Haiti, which had a deluge and rich Bahamas with not a drop.
    Each day people look up into the clouds and think that this will be the day when the rains come. But even on Labour Day that traditionally has a downpour in the middle of the day, there was no rain at all, just white puffy clouds and a blue sky. Good for tourists but bad for the plants.
    As we go to upload, Nassau reports some rain Saturday evening. There was lightning; there was thunder and the blessed rain all night. We need even more.

THE BAIL OF KNOWLES GET REVOKED

There was no big surprise in the overturning of the ruling of Justice of Supreme Court Jeanne Thompson that Austin Knowles (pictured) and his co-defendants should be freed on bail. You could see it coming (click here for last week’s story). The difficulty is that the reporting by the daily newspapers was not especially clear but it appears that the Justices of Appeal rejected Thompson J’s ruling on the two grounds: that she did not have jurisdiction to grant bail, and secondly that even if she did she could not ground it on the question of the prison being an example of cruel and inhumane conditions because if that reasoning were followed it would mean that the whole prison would have to be emptied of inmates. It is the latter position that we wish to join issue with the Court of Appeal.
The rulings in the past that confirm that one has to take into account the resources of a society in order to determine whether the threshold has been crossed into inhumane conditions in the case of The Bahamas is foolish logic. There is no doubt that this country has the money to solve the egregious and long standing problems at the prison. The country simply does not have the will do anything about it. Jeanne Thompson's ruling forces the issue, and judges should act if the legislature and the executive refuse or are unwilling to do anything about the conditions at the prison. The courts have therefore failed the Bahamian people by taking the logic that they have. We are not surprised, however. Nothing the Court of Appeal rules surprises us. Nigel Bowe spent seven years fighting his extradition to the United States. He was on bail the whole time. Tribune photo

MITCHELL REFUTES PUNCH STORY
    The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell laid on the table of the House of Assembly a copy of a statement issued by Ralph Munroe, a former client, responding to stories that appeared in ‘The Punch’ that made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him as a Counsel and Attorney at Law. The following is the text of Mr. Munroe’s statement:
    "I have read The Punch newspaper of Monday 17th May 2004.
    "It attributes several actions to me as it relates to Fred Mitchell, my former Attorney, in a matter against the Comptroller of Customs. I wish to set the record straight.
    "I have made no such allegation that $70,000 or any amount was paid to Fred Mitchell that belonged to me that he did not disclose to me or did not pay to me.
    "I have made no complaint to the Bar Association with regard to any such matter, nor did I give instructions for any legal action to be filed against Mr. Mitchell.
    "To the best of my knowledge Mr. Mitchell ceased to be an Attorney in relation to my legal case against the Comptroller of Customs after he became a Cabinet Minister on 10th May 2002 and therefore as a fact he did not have any connection with the passing of any monies from the Government to his former firm.
    "The story in the Punch is false and has no basis at all."
Ralph Munroe
Tuesday, 18th May, 2004
Nassau, The Bahamas

ARISTIDE REACHES SOUTH AFRICA

Former President of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide has arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa where he will reside until it is safe for him to return to Haiti. The former President left Jamaica last Sunday. He has been in Jamaica since his exile from Haiti on 29th February with an interim stop in the Central African Republic where he stayed for two weeks. The South African President Thabo Mbeki, along with members of his Cabinet, met the former President.
The South Africans take the view that it has responsibility to reach out to the Diaspora, and see the ousting of President Aristide as part of the sad and tragic fate of Africans abroad. They have welcomed him with open arms. We think that this is a great gesture on the part of South Africa. We also think that the action of the United States in forcing Aristide out of the hemisphere was most inappropriate. Former Haitian President Aristide (left) is shown being greeted in South Africa by President Mbeki - Reuters photo

PRIME MINISTER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO US
    Prime Minister the Right Honourable Perry G. Christie has expressed condolences to the United States on the death of former US President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Christie said “The Bahamas and Bahamians join the United States and its citizens in sadness over the loss of former US President Ronald Reagan.”
    “Mr. Reagan was an outstanding international leader who left an indelible mark on world affairs for which he will long be remembered.”
    The Prime Minister said that The Bahamas would issue a formal note of condolence to the Embassy of the United States in Nassau on Monday. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is also expected to express the country’s condolences to the US during his meeting Monday with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

STOP THE VIOLENCE INDEED!
    Last week in Grand Bahama there was a concert under the name STOP THE VIOLENCE. Parents in The Bahamas are     terribly conflicted about this. On the face of it the concert is about stopping the violence and so one thinks that this must be a safe place to send your teenagers for good clean fun. The only problem is the type of entertainment promotes the lewd and lascivious, the obscene. In fact, it would seem to be just the opposite of stopping violence. It would seem to promote it. But that is the modern Bahamas, influenced as it is by the culture of Black Entertainment Television (BET). Bill Cosby, the comedian, has gotten himself into trouble for attacking this phenomenon. We take a slightly different tack. Ours is not to stop it. Ours is to understand it and keep on top of it.
    There is a clear dearth of clean, good fun things to do in The Bahamas for teen-agers and young adults. STOP THE VIOLENCE and concerts like it, answer the need to expend the energy and the need for gregarious fun. These concerts are expensive to go to and they demand a lot of money. The concert held at Freeport’s Camelot Room had to be closed to the public at 11 p.m. By that time, the room had reached capacity with 5,800 people in the room at $50 per head. On the outside were about four thousand people waiting to get in who could not get in.
    At Taino Beach in Freeport also on the weekend, you had about three thousand or so gathered at the waterfront. The Port Authority allowed the organizers to fence the beach off so you could only enter from one point. The admission was $35 per head, and $50 for the VIP section. If you wanted to go “properly dressed” in the clothes of the jail house culture that is in vogue you had to shell out anywhere from $150 for a NBA jersey and maybe another $200 for the shoes to go with your outfit. The women, some 15, 16, not many over 25 were wearing outfits so skimpy they could well have had no clothes on at all. That was life at the STOP THE VIOLENCE CONCERT. Clearly parents would think twice before sending their kids there.
    But the story we want to leave you with is that told in a barbershop, which, while it can make you laugh, shows the downsides of elements which exist in the kind of culture we now have. There is a man who is 40ish and thinks he needs some excitement in his life. He innocently gives a ride to a young girl who eventually puts her hand on his thigh. He is taken aback and asks her what that means. Her reply: “I into what you into”. He gives in against his better judgement and ends up spending the day with the young girl. They seem to have a great time (in flagrante delicto) and its time to go home, but as he is driving home the girl starts to cry. He asks her what she is crying for. Her reply: “I need $600”. He is incredulous: “Six hundred dollars? What for?” She cries: “I sixteen and I need six hundred dollars.” He gets the point. He tells her that he has only about fifty dollars and doesn’t know where he could get that kind of money. Her remorseless cry: “I sixteen and I need six hundred dollars”. He calls his friend the barber to get the money.
    What is the moral of that story? Perhaps you can tell us.

SIR RANDOL'S BOOK REPUBLISHED

Sir Randol Francis Fawkes is widely recognised in The Bahamas as the father of the labour movement. His book, 'The Faith That Moved The Mountain' is being republished as part of a special celebration of Labour Day this year. Sir Randol was the first Minister of Labour in the first PLP Government and this year the Labour Day parade was marched in his name. He moved the resolution in the House of Assembly that made the first Friday in the month of June Labour Day in The Bahamas.
Last week, the republication of the book was announced in a ceremony attended by his widow, Lady Jacqueline Fawkes and family. Prime Minister Christie attended and was presented with a copy of the newly republished book by Lady Fawkes. BIS photo - Peter Ramsay

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thoughts on Labour Day...
    A regular correspondent forwarded this speech for publication from Dennis A. Britton Jr., President of the Bahamas Gaming & Allied Workers Union in Grand Bahama.
    "Labour Day is here again! Do we realize the significance of this day or is it just another day off with pay or overtime? I hope that every Bahamian views this day with pride and adoration because it is directly linked with the independence many of us enjoy today.
    Bahamians should take this time to reflect and remember our forefathers who made it possible to have standardized benefits such as holiday pay, minimum wage, and maternity benefits.
    Sometimes we allow ourselves to forget whence we came and the struggle it took to achieve our freedom. Great events such as the Airport Strike, the Burma Road Riot and the General Strike brought the Bahamian people together and which also led to the fight for our independence and the establishment of our own constitution, which guarantees basic rights for all Bahamians.
    Bahamians are now safeguarded from a once predominantly master and slave mentality of the past. We must never allow ourselves to be placed in this predicament again which so many great Bahamians fought to hard to achieve, such as Sir Randol Fawkes (whom we honor today), Sir Lynden Pindling, Sir Clifford Darling, Perry Christie and many others who have worked diligently behind the scenes.
    During my primary and high school years I remember learning more about the Arawaks and the Caribs than current Bahamian history. No emphasis was placed on the great struggles and events ushering in independence and equality for all Bahamians.
    The Struggle continues...
    We’ve been delivered from physical slavery but as Bahamians we must now fight against economic slavery especially in workplaces throughout this country. There are some unscrupulous employers who do not want to compensate employees fairly for their labor while infringing on the benefits that employees enjoy today.
    As a young trade unionist, I’ve experienced many challenges with the Royal Oasis Resort and Casino as the Labour laws seem to provide little or no protection for Bahamian workers or the ‘small man’.
    Many of the Labour laws look good on paper but when put to the test are weak and indecisive. For example, the Bahamas Gaming and Allied Workers Union has been recognized by the government on the one hand but the Industrial Relations Laws of the Bahamas are not being enforced by the government on the other. The Union asks the question ‘who is in charge of the country? Is it the government or the employer?
    But we’re all here today because the Struggle Continues…
    Investments and investors are required in order to expand our economical growth but they must understand and comply with the laws of this great country and deal with their employees justly. The government should protect the rights of Bahamian workers if they are truly the servants of the Bahamian people.
    The Struggle continues…
    Unions are the voice of the Bahamian workers and we will never give up the struggle. Unions will continue to fight for the rights of workers in our Bahamaland so with that I say, let’s not forget our past, let’s build on our forefathers’ visions by pressing forward, upward, onward, and together where harmony, equality and justice prevails throughout the work places in our great country!
    Thank you
Dennis A. Britton Jr.
President
Bahamas Gaming & Allied Workers Union
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
Email: dennisbrittonjr@coralwave.com

OBITUARY

    Dead is Samuel Percival Dillett, born to the late Joseph and Maria Dillett of Augusta Street, Nassau, Bahamas on May 14th 1930. He was 74 years old. The first of twelve children and known affectionately as Sammy, he left school at an early age to pursue work. Sammy was a professional butler until his retirement.
    Sammy was known as a master of manners, exquisite dining, and an excellent chef.
    He is survived by his wife, the former Rosalie Smith of Exuma, four sons: Gregory, Mark, Noel, and Ashton; three daughters-in-law Velincimae, Pauline, and Margaret Dillett, eight grandchildren Damara, Gregory II, Maguel, Khira, Khwan, Khrystia: Shevon, and Marko Dillett; two great-grand children Damaal and Andrew Sands; three brothers Chrispin. Gerald, and Sidney Dillett; four sisters Carolyn Deveaux, Marilyn, and Janet Dillett, and Rosemary Wong; two sisters-in-law Lucille Bain and Effie Sawyer; one brother-in-law Ambrose Smith.
    On the 29th May, Sammy was discovered by his son Mark lying peacefully and breathless with a faint smile on his face. He was buried Saturday 5th June in the Western Cemetery after a service at St. Agnes Anglican church.

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

The highlight of the Prime Minister's week was undoubtedly his march with the workers through the streets of New Providence on the first Friday in June, recognised as Labour Day in The Bahamas. Mr. Christie is shown greeting some young entrepreneurs set up along the route.
The Labour Day parade was a festive occasion, where the country's workers were joined by political leaders from across the spectrum, including legions of PLPs and their leaders. In the photo at right, Prime Minister Christie is shown with the Minister of Financial Services and Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson well turned out for the sun in her straw hat (right) along with Parliamentary Secretary Ron Pinder (left).

During the week, the Prime Minister received a call from the leadership of the local Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Archbishop Patrick Pinder (right) is due to travel to the Vatican later this month to receive the official trappings of his new post from the Pope. At left is Monsignor Preston Moss.

Also this past week, Minister Allyson Maynard Gibson introduced the popular American gospel entertainer Kirk Franklin to Prime Minister Christie. Mr. Franklin (pictured, with book in hand, chatting with the PM) who is known for his religious work among youth both in the U.S. and internationally, also visited schools along with Minister Maynard Gibson, inspiring students toward a devout and prosperous future. BIS photos - Peter Ramsay

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THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES
On Tuesday 8th June 2004, the United States got its way in two major international crises that started out with everyone against them on the subject. It now reinforces in the mind of the young and the impressionable that no matter what each nation wishes to do, in the end the United States has all the say. For some it is a bitter bill to swallow but those are the facts of life.

Look at what happened in Iraq last year. The Germans and the French stood up loudly and said that they did not agree with the invasion of Iraq, that it did not have a basis in law to support it. The countries of Caricom also said the same thing. But we know that Caricom has small voices so the fact that they were ignored is no surprise. The fact that Germany and France were ignored is a more important thing but in the end it appears that that did not matter either. The United States went ahead and invaded the country, removed its President, killed his sons, captured and killed innocent civilians for various reasons, some of which turned out to be false. The last one, the human rights reason, can no longer be grounded having regard to the fact of the prison abuses in the Iraqi prison discovered weeks ago.

But all of that is past, the French President and the German Chancellor have all pronounced themselves satisfied with the latest resolution at the UN on Iraq that turns over sovereignty to the Iraqi people, a sovereignty that was taken away from them simply as it turns out because the rulers of the Western world decided that they did not like the man in power. The country posed no threat to the United States or the West. There was no civil war that led to the ousting of the leadership. This was a pure invasion and removal of the regime. It now appears that the French and Germans were playing a game all along, and they are all one big happy family again, dividing up the spoils of war.

Over in our hemisphere, the United States Government got its way as well. On 29th February 2004, the embattled former President of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide made a call or was forced to make a call (depending on your perspective) and he left his country to go into exile yet again. The United States facilitated the departure. Then the United States moved post haste at the UN Security Council and found the troops that were necessary to stop the armed rebels from overthrowing the legitimately elected President of the country. Two days earlier the same Security Council told the Caricom leaders that the troops could not be found to stop the attacks on the President.

In retrospect, it appears that the US, Canada and the French all found Mr. Aristide, elected or not, too abhorrent to contemplate and stood by while the remnants of the former army used force to remove the elected President. So much for democracy and the rule of law.

Mr. Aristide later repudiated the resignation, saying variously that he had been kidnapped or simply fooled as to the actual state of rebellion in his country. When the Caricom countries and their leaders reacted negatively to what the US was saying, the U.S. put pressure on those countries to shut up and conform. The Security Council resolution passed hurriedly in the late hours of the evening of 29th March made everyone conform to the American view that there had been a legitimate transfer of power in Haiti.

The Caricom countries said no. Their leaders asked for an investigation. That was blocked by the US. They turned to the Organization of American States (OAS) but that too was blocked and replaced by a cobbled up resolution that some who were there said was absolute torture to craft. The passing of the Resolution at the OAS General Assembly (you may click here for a full copy) effectively puts an end to the request of the Caricom leaders for an investigation.

On 1st July, it would seem only logical that having conceded the expression “transitional government” in the resolution to describe the regime in Haiti, that the Heads of Government will have to recognize the Haitian Government, and Mr. Aristide’s claim to still being the legitimate leader of Haiti will for Caricom purposes fall away. The US said we have to move on, and despite some logical and courageous stenching, move on the Caribbean has to do.

Such is the power of the United States in this day and time. And so much rides on it. The economies of all the countries depend on the US. Belize’s very existence depends on it. That appears to be the case in almost every country whether in Europe, Latin American, Asia or the Caribbean. Some diplomats say it is fascinating dealing with the great Japan for example. They argue that Japan has no independent foreign policy. The diplomats say that all you have to do is find out the US position and you know what the Japanese position is.

That is realpolitik. The next generation of Bahamian and Caribbean citizens no longer have that sure foundation of belief in the sanctity of nationhood and the supremacy of national sovereignty on which to rely. What they now have instead is a legacy of mish mash patriotism, with a seething resentment below at the illogic of the position in which our countries find ourselves.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 12th June 2004 at midnight: 46,051.

Number of hits for the month of May up to Monday 31st May 2004 at midnight: 248,062.

Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 12th June 2004 at midnight: 71,783.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 12th June 2004 at midnight: 1,210,164.

KERZNER SHARES ON THE MARKET

    Minister of Financial Services and Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson ought to be congratulated for bringing to its conclusion the Kerzner share offering. Under the last Heads of Agreement by Kerzner International with The Bahamas Government, it was agreed that shares of Kerzner International would be available so that Bahamians could buy into the company.
    Chief Executive Officer of Kerzner International Butch Kerzner appeared on Monday 7th June at a press conference in Nassau. Mr. Kerzner announced that they were putting one million shares on the market and making them available to Bahamians. There will be a special deal for their employees who are resident in The Bahamas. The employees would be able to buy up to $800 worth of shares at a discount. The company will also offer a course in share trading to its employees. The agent for the sale of the shares is Fidelity Capital Markets. The shares will be listed on BISX.
    This is said to be the biggest offering of shares in The Bahamas. The minimum number of shares that can be purchased is $500. Minister Maynard Gibson said at the press conference: “I am pleased to be here on this historic occasion to join Kerzner International in announcing that one million ordinary shares, that is twice as much as what was committed in the agreement, are being made available to the local market through the issue of 10 million Bahamian Depository receipts. The issue fully subscribed would amount to 20 million dollars.” We think that this is a good idea and we support it. Mrs. Maynard Gibson is shown at right in the Kerzner news conference with Kerzner executives Butch Kerzner, centre and Paul O'Neill, left. Nassau Guardian photo - Donald Knowles.

MITCHELL ATTENDS REAGAN FUNERAL

The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell fresh from his trip to Quito, Ecuador where the Organization of American States (OAS) met in their 34th annual General Assembly was in Washington for the State Funeral of the 40th American President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Mitchell returned to the country on Saturday 12th June. He leaves The Bahamas on Monday 14th June for his annual physical at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Agence France-Presse--Getty Images

SHANE TOUTS HIS HOUSING RECORD

It is important for us to say here again that we are quite proud of the record of Shane Gibson as the Minister of Housing. His transformation from Labour Union leader to Government Minister has been a good and seamless one, and he seems easy in his skin as he explains the work of his portfolio.
You will notice that when Shane Gibson says what he is doing in housing, the FNM has nothing to say in response, even though their Leader Tommy Turnquest has promised time and again to answer Mr. Gibson. The cold hard fact is they can’t match his record. Mr. Gibson has built as many houses or more than the Free National Movement's Government built in their entire two terms in the two years that he has been in office. For that he ought to be commended. If you let him go and provide him with the land and the money, he will do even more. We want to encourage him. Speaking during the Budget Debate in the House of Assembly on Monday 7th June, Mr. Gibson announced that 573 new homes will be constructed by the Government in the fiscal year 2004-2005. We wish him luck with his work.

LAKERS FEVER AND PALPITATIONS

The Bahamas is in a sweat, and half the population almost died when the first game of the annual National Basketball Association’s playoff game was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons basketball teams. Now these are American basketball games, as in the United States of America. But you wouldn’t know it in Nassau. The Prime Minister himself is amongst the Los Angeles Lakers’ most avid fans in The Bahamas. He is also their chief coach in The Bahamas. Some people broke off from official meetings to find out what the score was. And then the heartbreaking news, on Monday 8th June the Los Angeles Lakers lost the first game to the Detroit team. You could have heard a pin drop. No one could believe it. They brought themselves back from the brink when the next game was won by Los Angeles on Tuesday 9th June. But on Thursday 11th June, the country would have died when their favourite team was routed 88 to 68. Stan Burnside the cartoonist was able to capture the anxious mood in the country with his cartoon of Thursday 10th June 2004.

THE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR VS THE FINANCE MINISTER

    In the year 2000, a rushing Hubert Ingraham decided that he would amend the law on the Central Bank in order to satisfy the unlawful demands of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and to escape from the blacklist that the OECD had unlawfully in place. The result was that the Governor of the Central Bank became a law unto himself with no direct influence of the Minister of Finance over the policies of the Bank, even though the Bahamian people are the shareholders of the Bank.
    Most Governors of the Central Bank would act in a way that would at least let the Government know what the heck is going on and try to harmonize what they are doing in order to allow fiscal and monetary policy to be harmonized. The now Governor of the Central Bank obviously does not see it that way, and has been ever more vocal and direct in his criticism of the fiscal policy of the present Government. He has attacked the Minister of Finance's policies directly saying that the deficit is too high and that the debt situation is worrisome.
    Last week, we quoted the Governor of the Central Bank as saying that he believes that there ought to be higher taxes to pay for the Governments budget deficit. The Ministry of Finance sent him a message via the Budget Communication that he is sitting on too much of the reserves and therefore choking off the recovery in revenues that the Government wants to see. If the Central Bank would release the present credit restrictions some 100 million dollars of credit could be released into the economy that would cause increased spending and there will be a concomitant rise in taxes or duties collected by the Government. The Bahama Journal reported this week that the Central Bank Governor says he might do that soon. But in the mean time, it is clear that the Minister of State for Finance is annoyed at the pronouncements of the Governor.
    When the Journal spoke to James Smith on Tuesday 8th June about the Governor’s views, Mr. Smith was quoted as saying: “I think the Governor should stick to monetary policy like the former Governors did. The comments on fiscal policy are not sometimes useful, but I’ll limit my comments to that for the time being.” Things that make you go: “Hmmm!” Minister of State for Finance James Smith, left, and Central Bank Governor Julian Francis in these photos from the Bahama Journal by Omar Barr.

LARRY SMITH’S THOUGHTFUL PIECE
National Health Insurance is going to be a difficult and expensive proposition for the Government to implement. Despite the fine work done by the Chair of the Committee and Dr. Perry Gomez, National Health Insurance is a hard sell. It is going to mean a payroll tax, and it is going to be expensive to do. It was an unpopular idea in the business community in the recession that came just before the PLP left office in 1992. The PLP has to be careful about this again.
Usually we do not think much of anything that Larry Smith, the Tribune columnist has to write. His opinions seem to be filled with unnecessary invective, bordering on bigotry, prejudice and insult. Imagine our surprise then when we read the piece that he wrote in his column in The Tribune of Thursday 10th June. It was actually a piece worthy of a good writer. It was thoughtful and seemed to present all the arguments in a dispassionate way. We thought that we ought to report some of what he said for your consideration in his own words:

“Equitable access to health care is one of the great social and moral dilemmas of our time. And The Bahamas faces profound economic challenges in the form of an ageing workforce in an expanding population.
    “Our little $5 billion economy is faced with the political need to finance a comprehensive social security framework in addition to massive infrastructural investments, and a huge public sector payroll.
    “We are undergoing a demographic transition. Our population has doubled in the last few decades, but the proportion aged over 65 is also rising… more people and more older people. Here are the dry figures from the Pan American health Organization.
    “The 2000 census population was 304,837, 30 per cent is under 15 years and 8 per cent over 65. The dependency ratio was 47.6 in 1998. Life expectancy at birth was 68.8 years for males and 75.3 years for females during 1996 to 2000. The M:F ratio was 94:100 in 2000. The crude birth rate declined from 20.8 per 1000 population in 1996 to 18.0 per 1000 population in 1999. The total fertility rate was 2.1 children per woman in 1999.
    “At present, there are nearly two Bahamians of working age for every dependent (those under 15 or over 65). But projections are that the over 65 crowd will make up almost a fifth of our population by 2025, almost a quarter by 2060. That means more chronic health problems, and an increasing need for elderly care…
    “In about a dozen years, National Insurance will go bankrupt unless we start paying more money (those of us who do pay that is). Outgo has exceeded income since the early 1990s. And the Government’s proposed national health plan can be expected to cost far more than NIB… because it will have to satisfy unlimited demand.
    “As one commentator recently put it: ‘managing such a programme and avoiding disasters will require an efficiency no national institution displays currently.’
    “We can all empathize with the principles of equality and fraternity. And rationing is rationing whether based on income or wait lists. But as a reconstructed socialist, I now appreciate how important it is for individuals to assume a degree of responsibility for their own health and welfare. Not just for financial reasons but for moral and social reasons as well.”

P I WORRIED ABOUT CABLE BEACH

    The Kerzner International executives have now actually gone public with their worries about the new developments possible at Cable Beach. And the public of The Bahamas is none too pleased. Paul O’Neill, the Chief Operating Officer of Kerzner in The Bahamas was speaking to the Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday 2nd June. Mr. O’Neill said in answer to a question that his company was worried about reports that a one billion dollar development was about to be approved by the government for Cable Beach.
    A consortium led by the Izmirlian Group had sought the Government’s permission to go ahead with the Cable Beach project. Stories started leaking in the press that they could not get Government approval and were pulling out the project but now the press is saying that they have been enticed back in. Mr. O’Neill confirms what has been going around for weeks in Nassau that the Kerzners want to continue to be the big and only big show in town. The logic is that they don’t want two properties going after the same upper end market. They argue that there is not enough to go around, and particularly when they look at what happened in the Freeport market where there was a decline of 40 percent in the casino traffic in Freeport after the Our Lucaya casino opened for business.
    Bahamians were incensed and on the radio talk shows told their view. The feeling is that the Government is right not to put all of its eggs in one basket and depend too much on the Kerzner whims. Mr. O’Neill said that he was very worried about the effect that the new Cable Beach project would have on their bottom line. Some say the company is threatening to pull out of the third phase if the Cable Beach project goes ahead. But you can see by the Kerzner’s own statistics why Bahamians would be worried about too much dependency on Kerzner.
    Mr. O’Neill said that when Phase III comes fully on stream its operations at Paradise Island would account for almost 20 per cent of the present gross domestic product of The Bahamas, some 945 million dollars. The present GDP is five billion dollars. He said the hotels at Atlantis and Ocean Club will account for 800,000 stop over visitors or 47 per cent of the nation’s stopover visitor total.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONFLICT

Alfred Gray and his Ministry of Local Government was scrambling to put the pieces together after former parliamentarian Edmund Moxey's daughter who is the Chief Councillor in Freeport stood under the Fig Tree in Nassau where Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell used to give his annual critique of the Judiciary and denounced what Mr. Gray is doing in Local Government. She said that there was anarchy in local government as a result of Mr. Gray’s leadership in the Ministry. According to Ms. Moxey, the system of local government was being undermined by the actions of the Minister who has sided with a group of FNM councillors who refuse to accept the leadership of Ms. Moxey.
Ms. Moxey's overtures to the PLP have been rebuffed and the other councillors seem to get encouragement from the Ministry of Local Government (or so argues Ms. Moxey). They have not attended meetings called by her and their membership has been ruled void as result of their not attending three meetings. Mr. Gray has sided with the other councillors, saying that it is Ms. Moxey who is at fault, angering scores of PLP in Freeport who wonder why he keeps siding with the FNM in the fight. Mr. Gray called a press conference on Monday 8th June to say that contrary to what Ms. Moxey was saying local government was working well. Perhaps that is why the matter is in court in Grand Bahama. Minister Gray at his news conference in this Bahama Journal photo by Omar Barr.

INDECOROUS LEGAL LANGUAGE
    We have expressed concern in this column before about the use of indecorous language emanating out of the Court of Appeal, which many people find patently offensive. Some persons have written us to say that lawyers are filing complaints with the Attorney General about the manner in which Counsel, even Senior Counsel are spoken to in the Court of Appeal. Nothing has happened. Now it is not just a matter of the counsel and attorneys at law but it now comes time for the Judges.
    First we want to stoutly defend Justice Jeannie Thompson. She is neither foolish nor idle. She has neither attacked the constitution nor subverted good government of The Bahamas. She is in our opinion a judge of the highest character, who has given a yeoman's service to this country both as a private Bar advocate and now as a Justice of the Supreme Court. When others were busy making money as public lawyers, not having to put up with the cut and thrust of struggling at the private Bar to make ends meet, Jeannie Thompson was a survivor at the private Bar.
    We may or may not agree with Justice Thompson's rulings but she is a Judge and that is what she is there for, to make rulings as she sees them in law. So imagine the surprise when a letter writer to this column quoted from The Tribune the reports of remarks made about her in a ruling by the Court of Appeal which described her in most “un legal” language. It is not right. She should not be disrespected. She does not deserve it, and justice in the country is not well served by it.
    We believe that the Bar Association should get off its lazy duff, stop playing politics and defend this Judge and her integrity. We support her over some others we know one thousand percent. Nassau Guardian photo of MP Bastian by Patrick Hanna.

ATTACKING THE PUBLIC SERVICE

Whitney Bastian, the Independent Member of Parliament for South Andros is always good for a headline. This time, he has attacked public servants saying that while some of them work hard, the Government needs to bite the bullet and regulate those who he says sit around all day and do nothing. Mr. Bastian said that what was needed was a Public Service Minister who was no nonsense like the former Immigration Minister Loftus Roker. He said that when he visits Government offices, he can see people sitting around chewing gum and having coffee breaks. Perhaps he is right but the reform of the public service needs to be corrected in the culture of the country, not just in further regulation of the public service. We agree that there needs to be a stronger effort to streamline the service and make it more flexible but it is not regulation that is the answer, it is more flexibility in the management of the service to get rid of dead weight when it is necessary.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
    This is one reader's reaction to the increase in the cost of fuel:
I'm Going Solar
    With the high cost of fuel and electricity, I feel it is high time that The Bahamas goes solar.
    I am in the market for a solar powered water heater. Are there any distributors in the Bahamas?
    I've already got solar powered floodlights.
    I feel that solar power is the way to go for this country - and solar powered items should be duty free!

Hello From Ted Maude
    Hello from a Canadian who not only lived in your country (in another era!), but who religiously checks your website every week to keep up with happenings in a place I remain very fond of!!
    I still stay in contact with many of the people in the article (those who are still with us!!)
    Two of my 3 children, (all out of the nest now) were born at The Princess Margaret Hospital on Shirley St. They are very proud of their Bahamian heritage!!! My 25-year-old daughter Reagan even has a tattoo done here in Toronto, that is only a business card size, but contains YOUR flag! How 'bout dat, eh? I said to her “What happen to you Mon?”
    As I have said, I keep in close touch with all the people I became close with back in the decade of the seventies, and early eighties. My tenure (in the old PLP days) was Director of golf at the South Ocean Club, which at the time was the pride of the Caribbean as a premier golf course and tourist destination.
    I have closely been monitoring what has happened to the property over all the years, and I am ‘appalled’ as to the state of it today. I say this because it has so much potential, but 4 different ownership groups have come in since the mid eighties, all of which have failed miserably! Divi Hotels, Ramada International, Winfair Hotels, and now a Canadian Pension Fund, who for the most part have closed the property down, including the best laid out golf course on New Providence! How many jobs have been compromised because of this? And how long will it last before those people are earning a living again, because of so-called ‘corporate politics’ (Hidden Agenda's perhaps???) up here in Toronto!
    Do me a favor and contact people like ‘King’ Eric Gibson; contact Wilfred Horton. These Bahamian families are part of my family here in Canada!
    I am so very proud of your Minister of Housing, who I had a part of raising (in golf circles) in Nassau, and when Shane was attending school here in Toronto when he was part of our family. They all still call me ‘uncle’ and I am also proud of that!
    Here is another one for you. If she is still active in the PLP, call Donna Smith and talk about her son Leroy who my family acted as ‘guardian's’ for as he attended private school up here too! His Grandmother at the time was the Bahamian Ambassador to the United Nations. (Dame McDonald)
    Call Clement Maynard and ask him about myself and my family. I could go on and on here, but I will leave you with this… I remain an ‘authority’ on the golf and the tourism industry here in Canada. A 6 Billion dollar a year economic impact!
    However, I learned a great deal of what I am doing now, thanks in large part to my years in both Freeport and Nassau. In my semi-retirement, I am puttering away at a book that I am in the processing of writing. Many chapters are dedicated to the Bahamas, all of which are very positive to say the least!
    I forgot to mention, if he is still active, please say hello to another good friend for me, Idris Reid, former Bahamas High Commissioner to Ottawa. I used to assist him on issues on Canadian / Bahamian matters up here.
    Lastly, it is kind of fun when your Bahamian born kids excel in winter sports up here in Canada and even get to the professional ranks in hockey, skiing, and snowboarding!
    As parents, you have to fill out all kinds of forms which include ‘birthplaces’. You cannot believe the reaction when Nassau appears on the forms!
    Keep the website alive, I check it every Monday morning!!!

A Canadian / Bahamian!
If you are interested, I have my own website ----- www.golfplus.net
Best to all ---
Ted Maude
Golf Plus Inc.
(905) 888-5387

OBITUARY

Dead is Georgiana 'Anna' Victoria Ingraham. Anna married Robert Ingraham at 16, but the union was short lived. She relocated to Nassau shortly after and met the now deceased John Audley 'Unc' Munnings. Together they produced 13 children. She is survived by Genevieve Harper, Ralph Munnings, Philip Munnings, Lorraine Forbes, Richard Munnings, Leanora Munnings, Marjorie Knowles, Donald Munnings, Cheryl Seymour, Derry Strachan, Erece Munnings, 45 grandchildren and 35 great grandchildren. She was buried in the church cemetery after a funeral service at Bethel Baptist Church on Meeting Street, Saturday 12th June. She was 82 years old.

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

The Prime Minister this week presided over the signing of a revamped Heads of Agreement for the 'Bimini Bay' development in that island. Cuban American developer Gerardo Capo's Bimini Bay is now downsized by more than fifty percent to more closely meet the small island's environmental and developmental goals. The Prime Minister lauded Mr. Capo for paying more attention to his legacy and that of his family in the Bimini Bay project than to pure profit.

Noted US attorney John O'Quinn was in The Bahamas this past week, and paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister. Mr. Christie is shown with Mr. O'Quinn.
During the week, the Prime Minister also received a courtesy call from the group, Eyes Wide. From left are Ms. Sonia Black, Ms. Linda McCaulsky, Prime Minister Christie and Ms. Betty Rolle.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl+home to return to the top of the page.

THE QUESTION OF A WHITE PRIME MINISTER

Brent Symonette as an FNM Senator once tried to sponsor a resolution in the Senate that would have condemned the PLP and specifically persons associated with former Senator Franklin Wilson for being racist because of an ad that some PLP supporters were running in the press. He was later persuaded not to proceed with it by his FNM colleagues. Someone reminded him that the last person to sponsor such a resolution should have been him. After all he - through no fault of his own - had attended St. Andrew's School when St. Andrew's was a segregated all white school and unapologetically so. Many people remember the day when St. Andrew’s first desegregated with the acceptance of one of Sir Milo Butler’s grandchildren as the first black person in the school. This was only possible after majority rule came to the country in 1967.

Fast forward now to 2003, Mr. Symonette who was ninety nine percent certain that he would run for the leadership of the Free National Movement last year, suddenly announced last year that the point one per cent had won out and he was no longer going to run for leader. Instead, he was frightened by his own colleagues into not taking the top spot from Senator Tommy Turnquest and the lame duck, nice but hapless Alvin Smith. He could well have been the leader of the FNM but he was persuaded by his own side, the FNM side, not the PLP side, that because he was white that would have made him unacceptable to the country.

The PLP has always believed that is foolishness. Brent Symonette, like any other Bahamian has a right to be the Prime Minister of this country. What it takes is not whether you are black or white but rather whether you are relevant to the times. It is on that latter score that Brent Symonette has a problem. But he ignores that; the question of competence and keeps raising the bogeyman of race, subtly seeking to blame the PLP when the only side that raises race as an obstacle for him is his own side. And Hubert Ingraham's men know why they raise it, because with Brent’s money in good use, they can be thoroughly defeated. They have to keep Brent Symonette off base by constantly reminding him of his colour, and he believes it. What a great pity. When will he get over it?

Viz. now the appearance of Mr. Symonette on the radio show Parliament Street of Island FM last Sunday 13th June as we were going to print.

“If John Doe is saying that this white person can be prime minister, but Brent Symonette can’t be Prime Minister, I have a problem with that. If I take my parents and the era I grew up in, we’re past that…

“The issue in The Bahamas is not minority rule anymore. There have been generations of children born after that era. I think we need to move on, or is it a question of where you live or what kind of car you drive? Is that what is the distinguishing factor?

“I think that there is no question that the political rhetoric of the question will be the whole question of colour. The issue will be the question of my colour and my economic background, the whole question of my political background, and very high on the list, fortunately it has gone off the radar screen but I’ll bring it back on is the whole question of my role at the Airport Authority and resigning as the Chairman and possibly I don’t have a grasp of the needs of the common man. I equate just as easily with the fellows on Step Street, as I do with the fellows on the Eastern Road. That’s me.”

We say again, none of these is an insurmountable obstacle. The only thing that is of importance in this matter is competence and one’s relevance to the times. On that score, without some major changes, we don’t think he has chance.

Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 19th June 2004 at midnight: 248,062.

Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 19th June 2004 at midnight: 1,256,215.

THE BUDGET PASSES

Prime Minister Perry Christie rose to his feet some time in the evening of Friday 18th June to wrap up debate on the third budget that he has presented as Minister of Finance. It has been a long one again. No matter how well the PLP tries to manage the debate, it simply gets to be too long, with too many long speeches and always not enough time. But it is an important ritual that is undergone each year. One hopes the country benefited from it.

As usual the bugaboo in the system was Hubert Ingraham who decided that he would speak for five hours non stop and not co-operate with the House leadership on when and how long he would speak. The PLP was ready for him this time. Usually, he tries to capture the morning times in the House by getting on late in the afternoon and speaking away to his hearts content to the 7 p.m. usual adjournment so that he could reserve a spot to resume speaking the next morning. But the Leader of the House insisted that he would sit straight through until Mr. Ingraham was finished. And so five hours droning on later, he was finally forced to sit down in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Mr. Ingraham did manage to say a few ungracious things. He got the goat of Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna Martin who had to tell him a thing or two about his comment about “sissy laughter”. But he says silly things too often as former Prime Minister. This time he said just one silly thing, not bad for an otherwise boring address. After yawning through the whole thing, the House was relieved when he finally, finally sat down.

But the Budget now goes on to the Senate where there will be yet another long debate. The matter will have to become law before the 1st July so that the Government can continue to have spending authority. The Senate will get the Budget Bills on Monday 21st June.

RETRIAL IN ARCHDEACON'S CASE

Wayne Munroe is apparently on a roll. Having bankrupted a PLP MP, he has now caused the reversal of a popular murder conviction. Appearing before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday 15th June got them to reverse the conviction of Neil Brown who was convicted in December 2002 of murdering the late Archdeacon William Thompson who was shot in his home at the Rectory of St. Agnes on 29th May 2000 and who died as a result of his injuries on 23rd June.

Mr. Brown is to get a second trial because the Court of Appeal ruled that the first conviction was unsafe and unsatisfactory because the trial judge allowed in hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence is evidence that is not within the own experience of the person who is a witness that is used for the truth of its content. Mr. Brown was represented by a public defender Michael Hanna.

It is a great pity that this whole thing has to be done all over again. One thinks of Archdeacon Thompson’s widow and other members of his family who now have to relive this whole horrible event over again in the courts. The widow was the principal witness to the murder.

This all reminds us of the trial for the murder of Dr. Meyer Rassin, founder of the Rassin Hospital later Doctors Hospital and the late father of the CEO of Doctors', Barry Rassin. The trial’s guilty verdict was set aside four times, and eventually the persons were acquitted when the child witnesses grew sick and tired of going into court over and over again. The crime remains unsolved.

THE TRIBUNE GETS IT WRONG
Just when you thought that political dishonesty had reached its heights at The Tribune, they go and do something worse. It was always a belief by most that at the very least Eileen Carron, the Publisher of The Tribune if not anyone else in that institution, understood the meaning of a conversation between journalistic professionals and the meaning of off the record. It is done all the time. The profession cannot function in any other way. It helps the public interest and it makes the job of the journalist much easier.

It is a hell of a thing when one party undermines the trust of confidential conversations by printing them in the press as if they were gospel and on the record. We have no idea what the position of Al Dillette is on this matter or in fact what the truth of the matter is but that is the first response that we had to what appeared to be nothing more than an egregious and flagrant breach of normal journalistic practices dressed up to help substantiate unconfirmed information.

The Tribune clearly has a vendetta against the PLP and against Perry Christie, its Leader in particular. On Thursday 17th June, under the headline; PM IN US SECURITY CHECK – CHRISTIE TAKES OFF SHOES IN AIRPORT, The Tribune reported a story in which it said amongst other things that the Prime Minister, like Governor General Ivy Dumont, several months before him had been embarrassed by US authorities when without a security detail, he was subject to a secondary search at a US airport. The paper did not say when this happened other than to say week before last.

Then within the story it repeated what it said was an attempt to get a comment from Al Dillette, the spokesman for the Government who was on vacation in Canada. Mr. Dillette, they said, did not as he had promised respond with a comment from the Government. This seemed to be accepted in some quarters as the gospel truth, and the further allegation by the paper that Mr. Dillette attempted to cover up the story. Nowhere does anyone recognize first that the version of The Tribune’s story might not be correct. That because Mr. Dillette is a public servant he is unable to defend himself and say what the true story is without getting caught in forces beyond his control, who would easily throw him to the wolves without conscience.

The Tribune claims a distinction between the way that the government handled the similar security situation with Dame Ivy, the Governor General and this one with the Prime Minister. The reason they accuse Mr. Dillette of a cover up is because they were, according to them asked by Mr. Dillette not to publish the material in the newspaper. In doing so, could it possibly be that Mr. Dillette as spokesman for the Government was doing precisely his job, which is to act on behalf of the Government? Mr. Dillette cannot and surely does not make policy. So a no comment from him surely means as the Government’s spokesman, ipso facto, that the Government did not wish to comment on the matter. No cover up was involved. But beyond that is the more fundamental question of the ethics of a newspaper and its publisher and whether it is right in the circumstances to violate a possible trust that is built up. We think this certainly looks like a case for condemnation on that score against The Tribune. Perhaps we shall never know. But what would be a good thing, if for once someone would come to the defence of the public servant instead of simply throwing them to the wolves.

KERZNER: NOT AGAINST CABLE BEACH PLAN

Butch Kerzner, the scion of the Kerzner family, the head honcho of its operations in The Bahamas, was in the newspaper back pedalling on the question of the company’s opposition to the new development being entertained by the Government at Cable Beach.

Mr. Kerzner's company came under heavy fire from Bahamians including this column for the apparent suggestion that the Kerzner’s group would scuttle its plans for a third phase of its operations in Nassau if the reported billion dollar redevelopment at Cable Beach took place. His COO Paul O’Neill was in the press last week with that comment. (You may click here for last week’s story).

The comments made it look like the Kerzners had a gun to the Government’s head and that they were afraid of competition. This week, the explanations came fast and furious. Mr. Kerzner was quoted in The Tribune of Wednesday 15th June as saying: “I want to make it very clear that we are not opposed to any major redevelopment on Cable Beach. In fact, major investment on Cable Beach is a good thing for The Bahamas, for tourism and even for our company here on Paradise Island”.

What is the catch? He says that he does not know enough about the actual plans for Cable Beach to make a decision whether he is against it or not but what he wants is for the pie to be increased not for the market to be fighting over the same pie. Translation, the Kerzner company believes that the upper end market that they cater to is only a small percentage of the total market and that it would be more beneficial if Cable Beach would go after the next segment of the market just below the upscale which at present is largely untapped, rather than trying to fight for the market that they already have. According to them that makes business sense for the country.

Kerzner adds that they are not afraid of competition. They have already been successful, he says and he expects that they will continue. He may be right but what we all agree on is that Cable Beach badly needs redevelopment, not now but right away, and further it is important that someone lean on Phil Ruffin who has not invested properly in the Cable Beach product to sell to someone who is interested and willing to do so.

KERZNER SHARE PLAN IS STALLED

Butch Kerzner and his company had another bit of disturbing news for them. It appears that they don’t quite have the green light from the Government to go ahead with their share offer to the Bahamian people. They announced last week (click here for the previous story) that they were going to go public with one million shares of the company and sell them exclusively to Bahamians and Bahamian residents. For the government that put up a red flag, not the Bahamians bit, but the Bahamian residents.

It is apparently okay, if the residents were confined to those who are married to Bahamians but some who support the Government’s position argue, what happens when you have foreign residents with permanent or other kinds of residence permits in The Bahamas (essentially rich people who live in The Bahamas for convenience) who descend on the Bahamas Stock Exchange and gobble up all the shares to the exclusion of the Bahamians to whom the shares were really meant to be sold? The Central Bank of The Bahamas went beyond the remit of the agreement. That seems to be what lies behind the words of James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance who told The Tribune that the decision of the Cabinet was pretty close on the issue. Julian Brown, the head of Benchmark a mutual fund, was concerned and said to The Tribune that the Kerzners were still going ahead to shop the shares even though they did not have the necessary approvals. News was the employees of the company who are to get a special deal were none too enthusiastic about the deal, especially when they learned that they would have to rely on capital appreciation to make money, not on the payment of dividends, which the company does not propose to make. Ministers James Smith and Allyson Maynard Gibson are shown in this BIS photo at the initial news conference to discuss the Kerzner decision to issue shares to Bahamians.

OBIE FERGUSON AND TOM BASTIAN
Wonders never cease. Now Tom Bastian, Dr. Tom Bastian if you please and late of the Presidency of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union, has joined forces with the President of the Bahamas Trade Union Congress (TUC).

At a press conference held on Tuesday 15th June, Obie Ferguson, head of the TUC, officially welcomed its newest Board member Thomas Bastian who is now President of the Bahamas General Workers Union. He has been appointed the executive director of the TUC.

Joining Mr. Bastian at the TUC will be Alexander Thompson who Mr. Bastian was instrumental in dumping from the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union in a bitter fight not more than a decade ago. Wonders never cease. Mr. Ferguson was the sworn enemy of Dr. Bastian to the point that when Mr. Bastian was the leader of the hotel union, he would refuse to participate in anything Mr. Ferguson had. Mr. Ferguson took in Alexander Thompson from the hotel union when Mr. Bastian cast him out.

Now that Mr. Bastian has been cast out from the Hotel union, Mr. Ferguson has now taken him in. The dynamic of the struggle against the National Council of Trade Unions (NCTU) is the same as when Mr. Bastian was its main supporter as the head of the hotel workers’ union.

The now hotel workers’ union Chief Pat Bain, just as his predecessor Mr. Bastian before him, does not support Obie Ferguson and claims that Mr. Ferguson has no real members or real union, that the organization is a flam. The NCTU believes they are the true representatives of Labour for the Bahamian people and should be the sole representative at the International Labour Organization (ILO). All we know now is the saying truth is stranger than fiction rings truer than ever.

KILLING SHARKS FOR NOTHING

We meant to comment on this weeks ago. The picture appeared on the front page of The Tribune of a shark that was reportedly 13 feet long and some young Bahamian males with the shark showing off how they had caught and killed the shark because the shark had supposedly been terrorizing the beach in Exuma. This is an egregious wrong. It is foolish and ill advised. What is even more foolish is for The Tribune to promote that kind of idiocy. First, the water is the shark’s environment, not that of human beings. How in the name of heaven does the fact that a shark in the water doing what a shark does justify the execution of that shark, one of God’s creatures that took billions of years to design, and still the beautiful creature continues to survive, only for a few people to come along and end its existence. It is shameful.

The days are long gone when man could believe and support the belief that he and he alone are entitled to the use of the resources of the earth. We are in fact caretakers of the earth and all of its creatures. Nothing gives us the right to take the life of another creature save in very limited circumstances like our own survival. Nothing! We repeat nothing gives us that right.

A real lesson in civics, in environmental sciences needs to be taught to the younger Bahamians so that this kind of shameful episode does not again grace the front pages of our newspapers. It also appears that the newspaper editors need a lesson in public education as well so that they will run people from their doorstep who come with that kind of useless slaughter as an example of something of which they are and ought to be proud.

MINISTER IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell travelled to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday 17th June to attend the meeting of the Community Council which is responsible for the planning of the agenda for the Heads of Government meeting in Grenada from 4th July to 7th July. The main item on the agenda was Haiti. The Minister travelled from Rochester, Minnesota where he completed his annual physical at the Mayo Clinic.

JAMAICAN CRIES FOUL
Jamaican citizen Fabian Colley made some disturbing claims against Bahamian Immigration officials that require immediate investigation. Some of what he said sounds over the top but there are enough reports of discrimination against Jamaicans by Bahamian immigration officials that this needs investigation. Add to the fact that one immigration officer went to jail for assaulting a Jamaican citizen who was visiting the country. The man happened not be well connected and a lawyer and he took his case to the Government in Jamaica who protested and the result was the charge and jail sentence. The Bahamas Government also had to pay compensation for the injury. But the practice continues.

According to The Tribune Mr. Colley was nursing an aching jaw and a buzzing ear as a result of the treatment he received from Bahamian immigration officers when he arrived at the airport in Nassau. He alleges that he was used like a mop to cleanup his own vomit. And that he was “stomped” in the stomach by an officer. He said that he was taken to hospital for treatment and then to the detention centre. He was kept there for ten days without explanation, then handed his passport and released without explanation Mr. Colley told The Tribune: “I came to The Bahamas because I heard it was a beautiful place. But I will never come back.

“In fact, if I leave Jamaica again, I will go to a white man’s country because blacks don’t seem to like their fellow blacks”. As you would guess, that comment suits The Tribune fine. Our further comment is that The Tribune did not report what the Department of Immigration had to say on the matter. If they have not commented on it, the Department needs to do so.

CHRIS SYMONETTE DIES

Journalist Chris Symonette has died. Mr. Symonette succumbed on Saturday after a long illness. Mr. Symonette was a respected fixture of the Bahamian journalist scene for decades having been at one time an editor of The Nassau Guardian. At the time of his death, Mr. Symonette served as the Director of Bahamas Information Services. Funeral arrangements are to be announced.

FATHER GEORGE WOLF CELEBRATES 66 YEARS

Roman Catholic priest Father George Wolf celebrated 66 years of service to the church in The Bahamas this past week. Church photographer Peter Ramsay was there to capture the scene as Father Wolf expressed his thanks.

THIS WEEK WITH THE PM

Prime Minister Perry Christie did the honours early this week at a conference of Debbie Bartlette's CEO Network. In this BIS photo by Peter Ramsay, Mr. Christie is seen chatting with the daughters of Bahamian artist Eddie Minnis, now famous artists in their own right. The painters' works are on display in the photo.

Click on a heading to go to that story; press ctrl+home to return to the top of the page.

The Role of the Bar President
(By our Grand Bahama correspondent)
Lawyers in The Bahamas must have been shocked out of their sensibilities by the comments made by Bar President Wayne Munroe who seems to have penchant for saying anything that comes to his mouth. He launched an attack on his own members in the face of the attack of some Judges of the Courts on the profession, another Judge and lawyers in general.

This is a debate that has been going on for years ever since Fred Mitchell, now Foreign Minister, launched his one man campaign against Joaquim Gonsalves Sabola, who seemed more interested as a Judge in form over substance.

With the relationship between the Bahamian bench and members of the Bar seemingly deteriorating very week, it would seem incumbent upon the President of the Bar to ensure that the Judges and the profession solve this fractious problem. Instead on Friday 25th June, there was a stream of attacks on lawyers and their conduct by their own President, essentially defending the position of the Judges.

The matter has become an especially live issue in the last month, with the height of concern coming shortly after the reported comments of Dame Joan Sawyer, the President of the Court of Appeal which seemed to personally savage Justice Jeanne Thompson because of decisions that the Justice had made in the case of a bail application for Austin Knowles, an alleged drug trafficker awaiting an extradition hearing. Words like foolish were used. The Court of Appeal suggested that in future the Judge should recuse herself from the case. The remarks seemed unusually sharp and some argued even personal.

Members of the Bar have reacted in various ways, most in outrage. The comments about Justice Thompson have given rise to the latest in a string of complaints to the Government about the conduct of Judges in the courts of The Bahamas. Some lawyers are circulating a petition for the removal of some Judges because of their conduct in the courts. Some Members of Parliament have called for a legislated Code of Conduct for Judges, which would result in their removal if they conduct themselves outside that code.

The issue arose again last week in the House of Assembly when Tennyson Wells spoke during debate on the Bill to Amend the Court of Appeal Act. Mr. Wells criticized the lack of proper transcripts in the courts, and he intimated that he had heard that some Judges edited what they say in the Courts from the transcripts. If it is true, this is significant since some of the comments said by them are clearly prejudicial and it would mean that they are fixing up the transcripts in order to avoid being overturned in the higher court. He said that lawyers are often made to suffer because transcripts of cases are not ready.

Earlier Mr. Wells had been criticized in unusual intervention by the President of the Court of Appeal because of his remarks in the House of Assembly about the conduct of Judges. During the Budget debate Philip Davis, the Member of Parliament for Cat Island also complained about the conduct of judges and their insulting demeanor toward attorneys particularly with clients sitting in the courts.

Oh how we miss Fred Mitchell, the activist who would taken up all of these challenges under the Fig Tree. The Bar Association itself seems dead and gone, with no one advocating independent confirmation about what is now alleged in the Courts of The Bahamas.

It has reached the point in some Courts that lawyers determine that they will not appear in such a court because their arguments are not heard or allowed by bullying and uncivil behavior.

Into this mix then comes Wayne Munroe, the President of the Bar who is supposed to be the leader of the Bar and the defender of the rights of attorneys. Instead of defending attorneys Mr. Munroe says that he believes that lawyers are just being tested by the Judges to see the strength of their cases by the Judges’ contentious comments. There is a great difference between being probative and being uncivil. It is the incivility that is the concern. And certain men like Paul Adderley former Attorney General and Philip Davis need no testing of their arguments and skills and the incivility has happened toward them. Mr. Munroe went on to say that the Courts are not grade school or kindergarten and that lawyers should not be thin skinned and should go to court prepared. The comments appeared in the Bahama Journal of Friday 25th June.

Mr. Munroe has one year to go on his term of office, and perhaps he will over the year change this kind of adversarial approach toward the attorneys whom he is supposed to defend. He must be careful that he does not come off as someone who has a vindictive streak against his fellow attorneys, and no compassion for people. He has ambitions for the bench himself, and the essence of being a good Judge is judicial temperament. The litigant and his lawyer must have an opportunity, a fair opportunity to put his case and not be blocked by uncivil and indecorous conduct by Judges.

The Courts of The Bahamas are in more trouble than they have ever been with this matter. Never before has a judge of the Court been attacked in this fashion by another Court. It is for that reason that some members of the Bar Association are seeking the removal of the Judges involved. That is a great pity, and we hope that Mr. Munroe is able to defuse this before the matter gets any further out of hand.

Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 26th June 2004 at midnight: 38,135.

Number of hits for the month of June up to Saturday 26th June 2004 at midnight: 151,414.

NINETY SHOULD GO FREE?

The Crown must have been apoplectic. In the middle of all the ‘you say and I say’ and contention about extraditing Bahamians to the United States, came a surprise this week. The United States Ambassador, the former one, had been cocksure that The Bahamas would extradite Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles from The Bahamas without a hitch or a second thought. One case is winding its way to the Privy Council, but another case is being contested on the grounds that to extradite Mr. Knowles to the United States, he would not be able to get a fair trial because President George Bush has designated Mr. Knowles a drug kingpin under U.S. law before a trial has taken place. Mr. Knowles’ lawyers argued that this designation would not allow him to get a fair trial in the U.S. The Court, Justice Hugh Small agreed. Lawyers then began scrambling for the Crown to prevent his release on that matter. In fact, he remains jailed because of the second matter on its way to the Privy Council. Remember that that the decision to extradite Mr. Knowles in the Privy Council was a split decision with two judges dissenting from the majority view. File photo

THE BAR PRESIDENT ABOUT HIS COLLEAGUES
    In our guest commentary written by a Grand Bahama correspondent, there was a strong exception taken to certain remarks made about Attorneys by President of the Bar Wayne Munroe. The remarks were published in the Bahama Journal of Friday 25th June. Here is what Mr. Munroe said in his own words:
    “Attorneys who show up to court unprepared and thin skinned deserve to be berated by judges …
    “The reality is that it is not an ego thing. Lawyers ought not to appear before the courts concerned with ego. The system is very simply set out. The Judge is in charge of his court and the lawyer is there seeking to persuade him. And so, there is no point in getting in an argument with the person you are intending to persuade.
    “It’s like any other human relationship. Personally, the only thing I think a Judge is required to do is be fair. They sit and listen to you, but they don’t have to sit and listen to you talk any old thing.
    “The thing that must be remembered is that we’re not in grade school, neither kindergarten. This isn’t a church field trip, but the administration of justice and we have rules, which we were taught when we were called to the bar. Once you rely on those, you shouldn’t have a problem… We don’t discipline Judges, but lawyers. And if someone feels that they have been treated in a way that they haven’t been able to advance their case, there is a legal remedy.
    (Speaking about the proposed resolution on the removal of certain Judges)
    “The so called resolution is inadmissible. Quite frankly it boggles my mind. Lawyers behaving as if they are in grade school and I don’t think that that can enhance the reputation of the profession. It’s causing me concern that lawyers are doing things that are not in accordance with the law. We can’t make ourselves a laughing stock. Any lawyer should understand independence of the judiciary and security of tenure.
    “The Bar Association has nothing to do with this. If you have a complaint then you take it to the Prime Minister, not us. What is disappointing are people who are supposed to be learned in the law, not reading it. I don’t want a few members to give the impression that all of us don’t know what we’re doing.”

WHAT PHILIP DAVIS MP HAD TO SAY

    The issue of the conduct of Judges in their courts is a matter of serious concern as the editorial comment from Grand Bahama points out. The Bar President has attacked the lawyers he represents instead of representing their interests claims today's guest editorial out of Grand Bahama. We published above what Mr. Munroe had to say, here is what Phil Brave Davis MP had to say to the House of Assembly on the matter on Friday 12th June in his own words. Mr. Davis has been practicing for 30 years in The Bahamas:
    “There must be some semblance of peace between the Bench and the Bar following ongoing complaints about the abuse and insults meted out at the hands of some Judges.
    “The country’s jurisprudence is the poorer today because of its resistance to criticism.
    “Constructive criticism is always good as it permits us to take the necessary steps to make improvements for the betterment of the system. But it is my view that the Judiciary has been resistant to criticism and as a result there has been an erosion of the cordiality, respect and professionalism, which should exist between the Bench and the Bar.
    “There are several cases that I know of where lawyers fell into tears following much embarrassment all dealt out in front of their clients.
    “This, in my view, is not good at all for our system of jurisprudence. And the problem as I see it is that this type of behavior on the part of Judges will slowly erode the confidence of the public in the legal system and towards those of us who are practicing members of the profession.
    “This type of behavior is demeaning to all concerned. The justice system rests on public confidence and once this is gone, then chaos follows. Without mutual respect between the Bench and Bar we will continue to ebb into the blue hole of despair.”

TENNYSON WELLS MP ON JUDGES’ CONDUCT

    The Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town Tennyson Wells has been a vocal critic of the conduct of Judges in the Courts, so much so that Dame Joan Sawyer the President of the Court of Appeal sought to answer what he said about it. Mr. Wells while speaking in the House of Assembly and as reported by the Bahama Journal said the following in his own words:
    “Every member of the Bar in the House of Assembly excluding the former and present Prime Ministers have talked to me about the way they have been treated before the Supreme Court and in some cases the Court of Appeal.
    “And many members of the profession have said that they are dissatisfied with the way cases have been handled and the way some judges speak to them, trying to embarrass them in front of their clients in public… If a Judge doesn’t give respect to a lawyer, in time, that lawyer will not give respect to the Judge. And I believe that is the point we have now reached.
    “The Bar Association has reportedly resorted to calling on the Governor General to deal with unfit persons or matters of misbehavior.
    “When it reaches this stage, it’s not good for the system. Too many people are now questioning whether they are actually getting justice before the courts. Furthermore I think Mr. Munroe (Bar President, click here for his comments and editorial) should be careful with his statements because a lot of questionable things have happened before the courts and maybe some independent person should do an audit.”

STING OPERATION NETS ACCUSED BAHAMIAN DRUGGIES

    As you know in this column we have said before that we have absolutely no sympathy for any of the characters guilty of drug offences. The public policy on this is clear; people who engage in drug trafficking undermine the meritocracy of the country, and they undermine society in general and jeopardize relations with the United States. They should be rooted out. There has been plenty of warning on why one should not be involved in this, yet the lure of money continues to entrap people in this vicious business. And so we congratulate the police force on its sting operation of Wednesday 23rd June.
    We remain concerned of course about the ability to get a fair trial in the United States of any black man and any Bahamian but the law presently allows for extradition, and we would support the extradition of these people if they are found to be as alleged by the indictments handed down in the United States.
    The arrests occurred on Wednesday 23rd June. The arraignments took place on Friday 25th June. The names of the persons who are arrested are: Bryan Lionel Deal, 38, Lynden Deal, 39, Sheldon Moore, 33, Trevor Roberts, 40, Torrey Lockhart, 19, Avery Humes, 27, Melvin Maycock Jr., 19, Shanto Curry, 28, Delroy Moss, 33, Gordon Newbold, 33 and Wilson Ferguson, 39. Also wanted are Pedro Smith, Melvin Maycock Sr. and Police Constable Cyprian Wilson. Here you have again the crop of Bahamian manhood, in their prime, all now in jail.
    Pedro Smith has reportedly waived his right to fight the extradition and will surrender to U.S. authorities. One other person is already in the custody to the U.S. The others were arraigned Friday 25th June and are now in custody in the Fox Hill prison. That brings the number of persons awaiting extradition from The Bahamas to the U.S. to over a score. If they go, they will join the other nitwits who find themselves in jails in the U.S. for being involved in this stuff. Tribune photos

THE GEORGE MYERS DEAL

It appears that George Myers who has been circulating a Bahamian made deal to buy the Government’s hotel at Cable Beach has now decided to go public. The Government has not been able it seems to make up its mind about what exactly is going to happen at Cable Beach. The Izmiralian Group put a proposal that is said to be worth over a billion dollars. But reports say that Phil Ruffin will not sell to that group and he owns the largest hotel out on the Beach, the Crystal Palace. It is true that he does not invest in the property and it is run down but it is his and he won’t sell. Cable Beach has clearly seen better days and there is a need to do something with the strip.
George Myers, a Bahamian and a hotelier of longstanding (he used to be GM of Paradise Island) decided that he would put together a bid inducing Bahamian pension funds from the Unions, his own funds, those of other Bahamian entrepreneurs and bank financing. He has gone public it appears in exasperation. But the rumours going around the community is that since the Kerzners at Paradise Island are opposed to the Izmiralian deal (click here for last week's story) they need a stalking horse to protect their interest. So there is a lot of wondering aloud about what connection there might be to the Myers deal and the Kerzner’s interest in keeping out the competition.

BRADLEY ROBERTS OFF TO ROME

Patrick Pinder, the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of The Bahamas is to receive the pallium from Pope John Paul in Rome on the steps of St. Peter’s Cathedral on Tuesday 29th June. The pallium is a ceremonial robe made of lamb’s wool that the Pope gives his Archbishops symbolizing the role of the Archbishop as a shepherd and also linking the Archbishop to the Pope in Rome. Some 139 Bahamians are going to witness the effective installation of the new Archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese. He is the first Bahamian to get the post. Representing the Government for the occasion will be Bradley Roberts MP, the Minister of Public Works. He will be accompanied by Mrs. Roberts.

EILEEN CARRON’S SILLY ARGUMENTS
“You’re so deceitful, you can’t ask for water when you’re thirsty.”
---Richard III to his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter

    What more scorn can you heap on Eileen Carron. No matter how much scorn you heap on her, she continues to be unrepentant in her schoolmarmish ideology and hatred of the PLP. Over the past week she has been running editorial after editorial attacking a friend of this column Minister Glenys Hanna Martin about her work on the Nassau International Airport. The Tribune was parroting the line that the PLP has done nothing and is taking too long to fix the Nassau International Airport. Then there is the question of how close she is to the Kerzner family, and the line about the airport is suspiciously similar to the line that is being run across at the island.
    The Minister answered her in a communication in Parliament in which she pointed out that the real delay on the airport is the neglect of the Free National Movement under Hubert Ingraham who was told that the airport runway needed to be fixed but did nothing about it. The result was that the PLP had to fix it. The neglect by the FNM was so bad that the whole substratum of the airport runway was undermined making the repair more expensive than it ought to have been.
    The Minister was reminded by Shane Gibson, Minister for Housing while speaking in the House that The Tribune is run by foreign editors. That struck a raw nerve so the next day Thursday 24th June, Mrs. Carron struck back saying that yes she was foreign only that her family had been in The Bahamas for four generations. News for Mrs. Carron, Glenys Hanna Martin’s family has been in The Bahamas for eight generations. So there. But the response was simply weak claptrap. And that is typical of the Carron approach, when you are losing the argument change the subject.

HARAJCHI TRIES TO BLACKMAIL THE PLP

The Tribune in its constant attempt to do a hatchet job on the PLP led with a story on Wednesday 23rd June HARAJCHI THREAT FOR PLP. This is the same Mohammad Harajchi who gave political donations to the PLP. He claims that those donations amount to ten million dollars. He is full of bull you know what. Arthur Foulkes, the former Ambassador and newspaper columnist called on the PLP in one of his columns to deny that fact. No doubt the Prime Minister will deal comprehensively with all of the allegations. But we are certain that ten million dollars was not given to the PLP by Harajchi.
The man who runs the Confidential Source that has been criminally libeling one Cabinet minister after the next says that he will go to CNN with a bombshell against the Government. The PLP will no doubt assure Mr. Harajchi to do what he must. He will not get his licence for his bank back by blackmail, that is, suggesting that the PLP said that it would give him a licence back in exchange for political donations and so he will blackmail the PLP and its leaders if he doesn’t get what he wants. Get the licence back the best way you can and that’s it. Blackmail is not appreciated. As for The Trib.: “Go fly a kite!” File photo

FREEPORT CONTAINER PORT CLOSES

    A wild cat strike by 400 employees of the Freeport Container Port has caused the closure of the Port indefinitely. The Chinese owners of the facility Hutchison Whampoa are said to be diverting traffic to their facility in the Dominican Republic. The ostensible reason for the walk out is the dismissal of Joseph Rolle, a Union organizer for insubordination. Mr. Rolle and others accuse the company of abusing Bahamians on the job. This has been denied by the company’s lawyer Robert Adams. The men vow to continue the work stoppage until Mr. Rolle is rehired. FNM MPs Ken Russell and Lindy Russell have been on the scene encouraging the men.
    The Minister of Labour Vincent Peet and former trade unionist and now Minister of Housing Shane Gibson have been involved in trying to defuse the situation. The situation is said to be quite grave in that the company does not plan to reopen the facility, and if it is reopened the men may have to agree to some new terms and conditions. The Prime Minister is believed to have met with the employee’s representatives on Saturday 26th June. It is not known when the employers will meet with the Government. The Grand Bahama Port Authority is said to be extremely concerned about the matter since there is some suggestion that a major expansion of the Port was in the works. That now appears to be in jeopardy.
    The pattern of walk outs and wild cat strikes continues in The Bahamas at a time when the PLP government is seeking to show the world that The Bahamas is a stable law abiding place. The PLP fought the last FNM administration tooth and nail to prevent severe individual financial penalties against Union leaders for taking unlawful action of this kind that jeopardizes the economic well being of a company. The hope was that the PLP could manage through negotiations and contact and goodwill to stop this kind of action. Clearly, the pattern begun under the FNM has continued.
    So the question is does the Government again have to look at laws to stop this kind of thing? Just imagine 400 well paying jobs gone from an already bad Grand Bahama economy. But the history of this kind of thing is that, as with the Burma Road riots of 1942, people become so disgruntled that they do not care what happens. The problem here is why, like the earlier case of the wildcat strike at the Grand Bahama Shipyard, does it have to come to this? You have blind employers who cannot see that there is a need to ensure industrial peace and harmony by being respectfully proactive in the labour area. Instead employers come to this country and think that they can simply run roughshod over the rights and feelings of workers, pay no attention to their concerns and then close down in anger. The Government has a real hard job on its hands with this one. Bahama Journal photo of protest outside the Container Port on Thursday 24th June by Sharon Williams.

SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR ENDING
The Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell has told the country that the tour of South Africa by the Bahamas Youth Orchestra is about to end. The last performance was given in Johannesburg on Saturday 26th June. The first of the group arrives on Tuesday 29th June and the rest on Wednesday 30th June. The group has given outstanding performances in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. They also met with Alphonso Bowe the Bahamian entrepreneur who has significant investments in South Africa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa Nkosasana Zuma is said to have been pleased at the progress of the tour. The tour was arranged by the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries arising out of an invitation by South Africa’s Foreign Minister during the state visit to The Bahamas of the President of South Africa last year.

'SHARK LADY' DIES

    This correspondent to our site remembers Gloria Patience, the 'Shark Lady' of Exuma.
    Are you aware of the passing of Gloria Patience of the Ferry, Little Exuma, famous for many years as "The Shark Lady"? She passed June 19 at 12:20 AM at the age of 86.
     Gloria was a lifelong promoter of the Bahamas and Bahamian tourism and was presented many awards for her efforts by different Bahamian governments. She was featured in various publications worldwide including The National Geographic, Outdoor Life and others, and she was often featured in TV specials on The Discovery Channel and others.
Dave Dewey
We are saddened by her loss---Editor. Ms. Patience was also eulogised in Parliament and remembered for her inimitable style.

FRED MITCHELL SPEAKS AT ST. AGNES MIAMI
Thanks to Canon Richard Marques Barry, Rector of St. Agnes Episcopal Church of Overtown, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell gave the principal address at St. Agnes Morning service in Miami at 10 a.m. Sunday 27th June. The theme was: TO GOD BE THE GLORY. The church was founded by Bahamian immigrants to Miami in 1897. Today it is still a church for thousands of persons of Bahamian descent in Miami.
You may click here for the Minister’s full address. This is the third time that he has been invited to deliver a homily at church. The first was in Altadena, California at the Methodist Church there in January 2003, the second time was at Bishop Simeon Hall’s church on African Heritage Day in April 2004 and now in Miami. You may click here for the Altadena address and here for the address at Bishop Hall’s church.

6^th June, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
THE BUDGET DEBATE BEGINS...	MEANWHILE THE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS...
THE FOREIGN MINISTER IN ECUADOR...	GAY CRUISE ARRIVES –NO ARMAGEDDON...
BOTH TO BLAME FOR SEA ACCIDENT...	THE HEAT IS ON—NO RAIN COMES...
THE BAIL OF KNOWLES GET REVOKED...	MITCHELL REFUTES PUNCH STORY...
ARISTIDE REACHES SOUTH AFRICA...	PRIME MINISTER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO US...
STOP THE VIOLENCE INDEED!...	SIR RANDOL'S BOOK REPUBLISHED...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	OBITUARY...
	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...





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

13^th June, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
KERZNER SHARES ON THE MARKET...	MITCHELL ATTENDS REAGAN FUNERAL...
SHANE TOUTS HIS HOUSING RECORD...	LAKERS FEVER AND PALPITATIONS...
THE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR VS THE FINANCE MINISTER...	LARRY SMITH’S THOUGHTFUL PIECE...
P I WORRIED ABOUT CABLE BEACH...	LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONFLICT...
INDECOROUS LEGAL LANGUAGE	ATTACKING THE PUBLIC SERVICE...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...	OBITUARY...
	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...






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

20^th June, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
THE BUDGET PASSES...	RETRIAL IN ARCHDEACON'S CASE...
THE TRIBUNE GETS IT WRONG...	KERZNER: NOT AGAINST CABLE BEACH PLAN...
KERZNER SHARE PLAN IS STALLED...	OBIE FERGUSON AND TOM BASTIAN...
KILLING SHARKS FOR NOTHING...	MINISTER IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO...
JAMAICAN CRIES FOUL	CHRIS SYMONETTE DIES...
FATHER GEORGE WOLF CELEBRATES 66 YEARS...	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...







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

27^th June, 2004 *Welcome to bahamasuncensored.com* *How do you do today? It's great to have you as a reader. We have the most incisive political news about and from The Bahamas!* *Please tell all your friends about us.*
NINETY SHOULD GO FREE?...	THE BAR PRESIDENT ABOUT HIS COLLEAGUES...
WHAT PHILIP DAVIS MP HAD TO SAY...	TENNYSON WELLS MP ON JUDGES’ CONDUCT...
STING OPERATION NETS ACCUSED BAHAMIAN DRUGGIES...	THE GEORGE MYERS DEAL...
BRADLEY ROBERTS OFF TO ROME...	EILEEN CARRON’S SILLY ARGUMENTS...
HARAJCHI TRIES TO BLACKMAIL THE PLP...	FREEPORT CONTAINER PORT CLOSES...
SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR ENDING...	'SHARK LADY' DIES...
FRED MITCHELL SPEAKS AT ST. AGNES MIAMI...	THIS WEEK WITH THE PM...






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

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

Volume 2 © BahamasUncensored.Com

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