Compiled, edited and constructed by Russell Dames Updated every Sunday at 2 p.m.
Volume 2 © BahamasUncensored.Com
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THE CARIBBEAN IN CRISIS
The hugs and tears all around at the Nassau International Airport
when the Bahamian students arrived in Nassau feeling the feared wrath of
Hurricane Ivan spoke volumes. The budget of The Bahamas will be quickly
busted if it keeps up like this. The budget forecast for the year
was relatively good, with tourism rebounding and with the debt situation
somewhat under control. But even though everyone is being cautious
in what we do, it is clear that it will take over 100 million dollars for
the country to get back on its feet after the Hurricane Frances debacle.
The country's second city is going into its second week of being dead in
the water, with no power and no running water. While there is some
hope now of improvement, the problem of shelter makes the situation worse
as does the looming problem of unemployment.
But the problems of The Bahamas pale in comparison to what is happening elsewhere in the Caribbean. While Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were spared from major damage by Hurricane Ivan, the storm bore down on Grenada and - in a word - flattened the place. Prime Minister Keith Mitchell’s official home was flattened, the prison on Grenada that held the notorious Bernard Coard was destroyed and all the prisoners escaped. Law and order broke down with people reportedly marauding around the town looting and citizens having to protect themselves with cutlasses and knives. Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning quickly came to the rescue with an immediate one million dollars grant to Grenada and promises to give as much as ten million dollars. They and Barbados provided troops on the ground to restore law and order.
For a time, the Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell was living on a British Frigate the HMS Richard that had been diverted from duty in the Turks and Caicos Islands in order to assist with the work in Grenada. Sadly all we heard from the United States was that they were working to evacuate their citizens from Grenada to Trinidad as soon as possible. In The Bahamas, while they gave some immediate short term help with water bladders and some transportation, contribution to a more massive assistance effort is necessary. Thankfully, there is a new US Ambassador John Rood who seems to have better people to people touch than his predecessor, but Bahamians expect that the United States will do much more than has so far been offered in terms of material assistance to the rehabilitation of the areas badly affected by the storm.
It is the same thing that is said about U.S. assistance to Haiti. It is simply too paltry to be acceptable for a country as rich toward a region like the Caribbean that in strategic terms should be so important to them. But be that as it may, the Caribbean luckily is well off enough and small enough that the few relatively well off members like The Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago can help to mobilize resources or seek to take care of their own needs. Indeed, the financial community gave The Bahamas a vote of confidence during the week when according to the Business Section of The Tribune Moody’s announced that the A- credit rating of The Bahamas would continue. It was felt that The Bahamas could well deal with the affects of the storm without a real knock on its economy.
We believe that as well. The problem we see is that the decision making of the government is not transparent enough so that it might well cause people to start saying that the government does not know what it is doing. So it must be possible to get on top of the too many heads and no followers impression that one has. The Prime Minister sought to address that by ordering everything to come through him and his office and to flow from there.
The problem we seek to address here, however, is the question of the wider Caribbean. It is times like these that show how disorganized the Caribbean itself is. The Prime Ministers don' t seem to speak to each other on a regular basis, and the bad decision making with regard to Haiti almost threatened to crack the Caricom alliance apart. The storm will either break the Caricom effort or cause it to work better than it has ever. The thought that Keith Mitchell, the Prime Minister of Grenada, had first to turn to the former colonial master to get that country’s first help from the outside world is the ultimate irony. It was good therefore that Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados went to the rescue with troops to keep law and order.
The Bahamas does have its problems, but it is clear that The Bahamas has to send some material help and money to Grenada. There is no reason why we should not do something. But we will probably be crying poor mouth. The world knows, however, that The Bahamas can afford it.
In a day’s time we shall know the full scale of the disaster that is coming in Jamaica. They have had a rough time with storms in the past decade. They will likely need a lot of help. With Jamaica being so close, we should start now to see what if anything we can do to help them. If we don’t, the Caribbean may well be headed for a crisis from which it will take a long time to recover.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11th September 2004 at midnight: 55,576.
Number of hits for the month of September up to Saturday 11th September 2004 at midnight: 91,103.
Number of hits for the year up to Saturday 11th September 2004 at midnight: 1,836,577.
NOT
A DROP TO DRINK
Since the hurricane passed through The Bahamas,
it has become clear if it were not clear before, how dependent the country
is on ground supplies for potable water to drink. The call went out
from Abaco in the North to Mayaguana in the south east for water to be
delivered. Several of the communities in between were in desperate
need of fresh water to drink and had to have supplies airlifted or rushed
in by boat. The most critical need was in Grand Bahama itself, where the
well field could not be pumped because there was no power in Freeport.
No power, no water.
There are 60,000 people who live on Grand Bahama
Island. The Government rushed in help through the cruise industry
and the help of business people in Nassau and some help from the United
States government. Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell was pictured at
the airport as the first of the equipment donated by the United States
to help with the water effort left for Freeport.
A more pressing crisis seemed to loom in the distance.
The Water and Sewerage Corporation in New Providence announced that there
had to be water rationing in New Providence. The reason is that salt
water bled into the fresh water well fields of Andros from where the water
supply for New Providence comes. The first barge that got drinking
water for the thirsty capital had to dump it all at sea because it was
too salty. When they went back to check that seemed to be the position
all around in the well fields.
An effort was made to get water out of Ft. Lauderdale
on an emergency basis but that was abandoned as too difficult. The
Corporation is hoping that the well fields clear up by weeks end.
But in the meantime, pipes are dry in New Providence during various hours
of the day, and the water supply issues are again critical. It seems
that a long term solution must be worked out for the capital city.
That should be a combination of mandatory rain water catchment tanks for
each household, and the greater investment in reverse osmosis, and then
leave the Andros well fields entirely alone.
SIDNEY
BACK IN COURT
Despite the all consuming nature of the crisis around
the hurricane, there was still some politics going on in the country.
On Monday 6th September, Sidney Stubbs, the bankrupted Member of Parliament
who is struggling to get the matter overturned, was back in court before
the Justice that issued the order.
According to the Bahama Journal, the first issue
that had to be dealt with was not the question of whether or not the matter
should be overturned. The argument of Mr. Stubbs’ lawyer his political
colleague Keod Smith MP is that he has paid the debt and therefore should
be discharged as a bankrupt. It appears, however, that Mr. Stubbs’
lawyer does not have the co-operation of the other side, which he needs
in order to make this matter go away. He did not help matters by
making public comments about the case and the lawyers for the other side;
which the other side has now complained about.
The Bahama Journal is saying that the other side
headed by Bar President Wayne Munroe argued that Mr. Smith is in contempt
of court for the public remarks he made about the case on radio and in
the press. According to the Journal, the other side also raised whether
Justice Jeannie Thompson has the jurisdiction to rehear the matter.
The case has been adjourned to 20th September for further arguments on
the matter.
In the meantime, the PLP's leader has to concern
himself with the stark fact of facing a bye-election in this effort if
a further appeal to the Privy Council does not work. Many PLPs are
unhappy that they have been put in the position that they have by what
appears to be arrogance and bloody mindedness. But the saying is
‘he may be a bad fellow but he is our bad fellow’ and so we have to help
to save him, if we are to save ourselves. That is how it often is
in politics.
In order for Mr. Stubbs to continue to have a chance
to survive, a resolution will have to be passed in the House of Assembly
it appears before the 27th September to extend the time beyond the present
150 days that he has been allowed by the Speaker to prosecute his appeal.
We have said before in this spot that the way the
law is written, it appears that if no appeal is open to the member then
the seat is vacant. The Court of Appeal has already ruled that there
is no appeal open to the member. That will have to be overturned
by the Privy Council.
The only reading that one gets of public opinion
on the matter is the weekly column of Craig Butler, Sir Milo Butler’s grandson,
who writes for the Nassau Guardian. Mr. Butler argued again this
week that the PLP should cut Mr. Stubbs off. The reading that we
get is that this is unlikely.
RIGBY
ANSWERS THE SILLY FNM
One would have thought that in this time of national
concern about the victims of the hurricane that maybe just maybe the FNM
would come together with the rest of the country and help get us out of
this mess. No such luck. While some of its leaders, Deputy
Leader Sidney Collie and Leader of the Opposition Alvin Smith were flying
around the country with the Prime Minister and other Ministers to inspect
the nationwide damage, Carl Bethel its Chairman was busy stirring up politics.
At least that is what most people thought when an article appeared in the
Nassau Guardian on Monday 6th September in its regular spot attacking the
effort of the Government to help with the hurricane, and arguing that the
shelters were inadequately prepared.
Of course, the FNM forgot to mention that the FNM
government was in power through three hurricanes and left no structure
in place to address the myriad issues involved in hurricane relief.
That it was the PLP that put into its platform the creation of a National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to get hurricane relief and other
disaster relief on a sound footing. The PLP answered in its column
the next day denouncing Carl Bethel and the FNM for being divisive in the
middle of the hurricane. You may click
here for the full PLP response to the matter.
GRAND
BAHAMA GETS BACK ON LINE
When the storm hit, communications to Freeport and
Grand Bahama were knocked out. Batelco lost its line connection when
the roof of its building collapsed in Eight Mile Rock. The system
then shut down. There were frantic efforts to get the cable link
restored, and within forty eight hours after the hurricane some circuits
were up and running. Now the cell system in Grand Bahama has been
restored, and all the land line links appear to have been restored.
The water situation was also quite critical.
The Grand Bahama Power Company was able to supply
standby generator power to the well fields of Freeport and that allowed
the pumps to power up the supply intermittently to Freeport and other parts
of Grand Bahama. People who have running water are beginning to get
less harried. The question of wider power is problematic. The Port
announced that it will take about three weeks to get back up to full power.
Some critical areas like the Rand Hospital have already been put up to
full power. Over one hundred linesmen from the United States and
from the Caribbean are in Freeport to help reconnect the lines and replace
some 400 poles that were downed in Freeport alone.
Shelter is another serious issue. Some people
have been sharing with relatives and friends. The Government is trying
to get emergency shelter out to the communities of West End and Eight Mile
Rock. There appears to be a need for emergency shelter in Freeport
as well where many people lost their homes. Food is also a critical
issue. The food stores in Freeport are unable to keep their shelves
stocked for people who wish to buy food. The banks are now open but
the food on the shelves is in short supply. Winn Dixie has been unable
to get its trailers in because the port in Miami has been closed because
of the various storms there this past month. The problem is expected
to ease during the week. Prime Minister Perry Christie has been in
touch with the food suppliers to ensure that they are on top of the matter.
The Prime Minister has been to Grand Bahama several
times during the week personally superintending the relief effort.
The community of Hawksbill had many heroic stories to tell of the rescue
effort when their homes were swamped with six to eight feet of water.
People had to be rescued in boats and jet skis. Now they sit outside
their homes in the heat with no power, their personal goods all ruined.
But many express thanks for their lives.
It would be helpful if insurance adjusters would
come en masse and help people process their claims quickly. But most
people do not have insurance and it appears than it may be the Government
who will have to come to the rescue of the people with public funds.
The Department of Social Services will be establishing a programme to do
just that.
THE
LATEST UPDATE ON HURRICANE DAMAGE
The National Emergency Management Agency prepares
a daily bulletin, which updates the country on the state of the disaster
and the disaster relief effort. You may click
here for the latest update available to this site. There is also
an effort now being made to deal with the trauma that people are experiencing
psychologically in their lives as result of the damage inflicted by the
hurricane. This includes assistance given to police and Defence force officers
who have been working continuously to assist others while they themselves
have suffered damage.
A
DISASTER RELIEF FUND IS OPENED
The Bahamas National Disaster Relief Fund has been
officially reactivated at the Royal Bank of Canada in Nassau. The
Co-Chairs are James Smith, the Minister of State for Finance and Ross MacDonald,
the head of Royal Bank in The Bahamas. Donations may be made to the
fund by depositing in the Royal Bank or by contacting embassies of The
Bahamas abroad. You may click
here for further details.
The fund was kicked off with donations from Imperial
Life and from British American Bank. But the largest donation came
from the Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Island Michael Missick
who flew to Grand Bahama on Saturday 11th September for a first hand look
at the damage to the Grand Bahama community, where thousand of Turks Islands
and their descendants lives. He donated $200,000 from his country
before leaving The Bahamas on Sunday. The Prime
Minister accepted the donation on behalf of the country.
WHILE
MOST PRAISE, THE TRIBUNE FINDS FAULT
The Nassau Guardian led on Friday 10th September
with the story of the return of the students from Jamaica and how they
had been evacuated from Jamaica. The students themselves were grateful
to the Government. There is another story as well, that of the students
in Grenada who were airlifted by the Bahamas government via LIAT and Barbados
to come back to The Bahamas. But The Tribune could find nothing good
to talk about. Their lead story was the fact that generators were
not getting duty free treatment to come into The Bahamas because of some
bureaucratic snafu. The moral in this is, if you want to find the
bad news about what is going on in The Bahamas, read The Tribune. Fault
finding is the stock in trade of Eileen Carron. The rest of the country
is trying to move on.
TONIQUE
DARLING WINS 500 K
The darling of the Olympic Games for The Bahamas
Tonique Williams Darling, the only gold medal winner for the country in
this last Games, has won her share of the 1 million dollar prize for being
undefeated for the year. The prize from the Golden League is 1 million
dollars. But there is another undefeated athlete and so her share
is $500,000. Not bad change. Prime Minister Christie, who got
the news at a news conference with the Chief Minister of the Turks &
Caicos Islands, congratulated Tonique on the win. We hope to have
photos in our next edition.
MARK
KNOWLES WINS THE U.S. OPEN
Mark Knowles, The Bahamas Tennis player dominated
the headlines of the Bahamian newspapers on Friday 10th September. He and
his partner Daniel Nestor won the U.S. Open Doubles Final at the Arthur
Ashe Stadium in Flushing meadows in New York. This is the second
Grand Sam title for the pair who first won the Australian Open in 1998.
The country was over the moon and so was Mr. Knowles. This comes
hard on the heels of the defeat of the pair at the Greek Olympics.
It must be some 'golden' age of Bahamian sports. How sweet it is!
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Arthur Foulkes gat to be joking!
Where was he when all the questions were flying
to Dion, his son, during the last government's term?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Name withheld
Good question! - Editor
Kudos
Thank you for managing in these difficult times
to upload your weekly report in such a timely fashion. Congratulations!
I am sure Bahamians and others with emotional attachment to the Bahamas,
who are living abroad, will appreciate being kept up to date with the effects
of Hurricane Frances. All the other online news regarding this terrible
storm focuses on its effects on Florida.
When we are able to sit back and analyze
how we all dealt with the onslaught, I hope we remember the stellar job
done by the radio stations, particularly ZNS, in keeping the nation informed...
it was so helpful, though scary at times (thanks to Darrold!!) to have
some idea of what to expect and when. The work done by BEC during and after
the storm has been amazing and we need to thank the crews who braved dangerous
conditions to secure broken lines and posts. Likewise, Batelco who were
able to maintain and repair telecommunication until the last few hours
when we could no longer know what was happening in Grand Bahama. That really
brought it home to me how important it is to know how others are faring.
We need to praise too the Police, the Defence Force and the Department
of Social Services, Water and Sewerage and so many others who left the
comfort of their own homes to carry out their civic duties.
As to the Harajchi affair... how nice that
we did not have to think about that for a few days! Might I suggest that
ceasing to read the Source might go a long way in reducing his sense
of power. We cannot on the one hand talk about his treachery and then run
out to purchase a document that sets out to destroy individuals and their
families by lurid gossip, which benefits none of us and perpetuates a degrading
practise of taking pleasure in reading about the misfortunes, misadventures
and poor choices of some of us.
Keep up the good work!
Alison Hamilton
Thank you. We agree about The Source. - Editor
CAT ISLAND
How can it be that you give an island by island
report about Hurricane Frances and leave out Cat Island
No wonder Cat Island feels forgotten by the rest
of the Bahamas
You should apologize to the people of Cat Island.
This is obviously an oversight and is corrected this week.
Apologies. - Editor
Caribbeanness
Hey…need some help quick…..we (Bahamians/Bahamas)
are being excoriated down in Barbados (radio talk shows live with it) and
Jamaica for sending a charter plane down to Jamaica to pick-up Bahamian
students - and not sending down the empty plane filled with supplies for
those who may need it after the this new storm comes through - to get them
out of possible danger with this storm.
The impression those pushing this story are trying
to leave with their listeners is that we again are showing our lack of
"Caribbeanness".
Nonsense I say…but I need the facts I know we
have been good citizens to the Caribbean but I need to document this
Stephen Stuart
Our Prime Minister has been in touch with all Caribbean capitals
before during and after the storm including P.J. Patterson of Jamaica.
No offence was taken. - Ed.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
Prime Minister Perry Christie spent this past week managing the fallout
from Hurricane Francis. Mr Christie is shown at top during one of
the daily briefings of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
From left are David Cates, NEMA; Lt. Comdr. Herbert Bain, NEMA; Carl Smith,
National Co-ordinator, NEMA; Prime Minister Christie, Minister of Education
Alfred Sears, Minister of Foreign Affairs and The Public Service Fred Mitchell
and Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture Neville Wisdom. Mr. Christie
was also present at the presentation of a cheque for $50,000 from Imperial
Life Assurance Company to the Hurricane Relief Fund. Imperial's Guy
Richard is shown presenting the cheque to Minister of State for Finance
and Co-chair of the Fund Mr. James Smith. At left are Imperial executives
Dashwell Flowers and Keith Major. BIS photos by Peter Ramsay.
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - The tiny Turks and Caicos Islands with 20,000 odd citizens gave The Bahamas the gift of 200,000 dollars. Their Chief Minister Michael Missick, a dynamic 38 year older with a cherubic smile, came to deliver the gift himself and to see for himself the damage wrought by Hurricane Frances. He flew directly into Freeport, Grand Bahama. He was hosted by the Prime Minister Perry Christie on Saturday 11th September all day. He then flew for the night to Nassau and upon his departure at Nassau International Airport on Sunday 12th September, he announced that he was moved by all the devastation and the stories of survival and that the Turks would give the gift. This is the largest single gift to the hurricane effort to date. The US has given $50,000 and the Chinese $100,000. The Prime Minister saw his guest off at the airport with profound thanks. Peter Ramsay was there as the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister toured the devastation in Grand Bahama and that is our photo of the week. From left are Chief Minister Missick, Prime Minister Christie and Independent MP Tennyson Wells. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
(A Guest Editorial by Sharon Zoe Smith)
THREE CHEERS FOR KOFI ANNAN
Ye shall know the truth
And the truth shall set you free
Hip!Hip!Hip! Hooray! That is how we would have done it in The Bahamas in the old days to cheer what the English would have called “a jolly good fellow”. It is perhaps a little too late but the consummate diplomat has like the boy in the story of the Emperor's New Clothes finally come out and said what everyone has been thinking all this time. He has said that what the United States, Britain and Australia did in Iraq was illegal. It was contrary to the United Nations charter. The denunciations were immediate. The Australian Prime Minister who seems to harbour hostility to poor and dispossessed people said that the legal advice that they got and that of the US and Britain was that the invasion of Iraq was perfectly legal. We all know that in a world where power is the only fact, the powerful define what is legal. Might is right.
As odious as Saddam Hussein was and is, there is something which must surely rankle every Iraqi at the absolute cheek of another country to presume to march into someone else’s country, that country posing no threat to the invaders and then deposing the government and setting up a new government, claiming all the while that it is acting in the best interests of the people of that country. Clearly they cannot be doing so, either in their own best interest or in the interests of that country. A small but determined band, that they call terrorists or militants, the same nomenclature that the Israelis use to dehumanize the Palestinian freedom fighters, are resisting the will of the United States and the developed world in Iraq. We have seen this scenario before with a puppet Government established in Vietnam, while the U.S. killed thousands of people they called Viet Cong guerillas, when the reality was that these were people fighting for the liberation and independence of their country from outside hegemony.
It is interesting that the U. S. culture, which promoted the Star Wars trilogy, does not seem to quite understand the realities of life. In the Star Wars Trilogy, a small but determined band of fighters overthrew the juggernaut of the Emperor and defeated the empire. Presumably a new and freer order was created but the empire was gone. Within our lifetimes, we have seen the United States bungle into one catastrophe after the other, putting the lives of its young soldiers at risk for exactly what, most people do not know. The problem is that in the current atmosphere all the voices of dissent have been stifled. This is so even as they tout the fact in their political campaign that they are a free nation.
Free for whom though? Certainly not free for a woman who got up in a speech being delivered by Laura Bush, the wife of the President George W. Bush, who demanded to know why her son was killed in the war in Iraq. The wife did not stop talking. The woman was bundled away and was arrested and charged with defiant incitement. Now there’s a new one.
The political leaders of the Opposition in the United States have not yet given effective voice to the Opposition forces in the United States to prevent further disaster in the country. It appears that the Opposition candidate John Kerry is too polite for his own good, allowing the debate to be switched around to the point where people are arguing about whether he who served and was given medals for bravery, actually committed brave acts. It appears that the two who did not serve, one the now President and the other the Vice President got clean away with this kind of savage attack on the brave man’s personality. The problem is that John Kerry seems to let them get clean away with it.
The countries of this hemisphere have to ask themselves all sorts of questions about their futures. Last week, we reported how close the Caribbean societies were to crisis when we looked at the possibility of civil disorder and breakdown in tiny Grenada. The first time the disorder came, there was a military coup in the country, followed by the murder by other coup plotters of the then coup leader. That brought the U.S. in who left Grenada precisely nothing. Now the weather has precipitated another crisis in the region, and the question is again: where is the moral authority of the United States in all of this? Their first action was the offer of $50,000 of aid. This is the same $50,000 which Cuba turned down as insulting and derisory following the storm damage in that country in August.
The Caribbean does not feature anywhere in the landscape of the present administration. It does not feature in its speeches. Its national leaders get not more than a smidgen of time with the national leaders of the United States. The U.S. clearly has bigger fish to fry. If it were not for the individual citizens of goodwill in the U.S., and those of our own citizens who live in the United States, some of our countries would be worse-off than they are. The prospect of a victory by George W. Bush is troubling to may people in the Caribbean, and yet that is what it looks is going to happen.
We in The Bahamas should actually rejoice one supposes, because traditionally it is the Democratic Presidential incumbents who have done the country in. We have always done better under Republican administrations or so it is said. Some shake with fear if John Kerry wins the U.S. race because they say Kerry has it in for The Bahamas as a result of something that happened of a criminal nature to one of the members of his staff. A Kerry victory does seem unlikely, so one supposes we can all rejoice.
But coming down the road, there is going to be the need for leadership in this region and hemisphere to pull our societies back from the brink which they will face all sorts of challenges, the latest of them being the challenges of the weather. That is what all the people of the Caribbean will expect from Washington come what may. And that true leadership will not be possible unless the Kofi Annan spirit and that of the woman who demanded to know why her son had to die is allowed to flourish. The likelihood is that we will fall deeper and deeper into the abyss of silence of dissent, and the vilification of those few brave souls that dare to speak the evil that they see. Meanwhile three cheers for Kofi. He is a good man for speaking the truth.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 17th September 2004 at midnight: 40,617.
Number of hits for the month of September up to Saturday 17th September 2004 up to midnight: 131,720.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 17th September 2004 at midnight: 1,877,194.
THE
STUDENTS FLY BACK TO JAMAICA
Prime Minister Perry Christie, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell,
the Minister of Education Alfred Sears, the Minister of Financial Services
and Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson and the Minister of Youth Neville
Wisdom were all gathered at the airport to see the 97 students of The Bahamas
back to their campus life in Kingston, Jamaica. The students arrived
in The Bahamas just ahead of Hurricane Ivan’s arrival in Kingston, Jamaica.
It was a moving thing. There was praise for
the Government on radio and in the press. Students who had no interest
in politics suddenly saw the light on day on the subject. One student
said that before he did not have anything to defend the Government for,
but with the evacuation of the students from Jamaica and then later from
Grenada, he could now defend what the Government had done. This is
a curious warning of perceptions in the country about what the PLP is doing.
The Prime Minister wished them well, and told them not to let their parents
down. He promised that at the earliest opportunity he would seek
to visit the students at their places of education in Jamaica. Minister
of Education Alfred Sears at NIA with Bahamian students departing for Jamaica.
BIS / Peter Ramsay
GRENADA
STUDENTS ARRIVE
The Nassau Guardian Tuesday 14th September carried
on its front page the students who are medical students in Grenada from
The Bahamas coming home. Again, it was The Bahamas Government who
came to the rescue, concerned as it was about the reports of social disintegration
in Grenada. Ambassador Leonard Archer, the High Commissioner to Caricom,
was mandated to find a way to get the students home.
LIAT, the airline of the Eastern Caribbean, began
flights to Grenada again and working with the Honorary Consul of The Bahamas
in Barbados Selwyn Smith, the students were returned to The Bahamas at
Government expense. The Prime Minister took the position that this
was the future of the country and that we ought to take whatever steps
we could to ensure that the students saw that the country was theirs and
that it believed in them.
The campus in Grenada is scheduled to open on 27th
September with some luck. The medical school in Grenada at St. Georges
is now a recognized medical institution by the Medical Council of the West
Indies.
HURRICANE
JEANNE
Just when Bahamians thought that it was safe to take their storm shutters
down, the met office said that another storm was coming. This time
it was an off again on again Hurricane named Jeanne. The hurricane began
as a tropical depression near the start of last week, even as Hurricane
Ivan was wrecking the southern coast of the United States of America.
Bahamasair went so far as to announce that all flights to The Bahamas and
within The Bahamas would be suspended on Saturday 18th September at noon
until further notice. That turned out to be unnecessary, since the
Hurricane dissipated over the Dominican Republic and then turned in a northerly
direction away from The Bahamas.
It all goes to show that you simply cannot predict
what will happen with Mother Nature. But the people of The Bahamas
sure breathed a sigh of relief. Grand Bahama, Abaco and San Salvador,
some communities in Eleuthera have not yet begun to recover from the effects
of Hurricane Frances. The thought of another hurricane and a very
wet one at that made people shudder and think, what next? But at
least for the moment there is no tropical storm activity in the Atlantic
that even threatens to come this way. NOAA image 11a.m. EDT Sunday
19th September
FNM’S
FALSE ALLEGATIONS
You can always trust the Free National Movement
to come up with some false alarm just when you thought that the country
was pulling together in a national emergency. But with people like
Carl Bethel in the leadership of the FNM what can you expect but wild cards?
Bahamians woke up to their morning paper on Tuesday 14th September to find
that the FNM had made an allegation that the PLP had padded contracts for
the repairs to be effected as a result of damage from Hurricane Frances.
The FNM’s website claimed the following: “What Mr.
Roberts [Bradley Minister of Public Works] did in Acklins the other day
was a total abuse of his ministerial powers. We wish to put both
Bradley Roberts and Alfred Gray [MP for Acklins] on notice that this is
not the end of this story. As soon as the country returns to normalcy,
the corruption within the government will be exposed”.
Now what the FNM claims is that Mr. Roberts awarded
a contract for the immediate repair of a leaking clinic roof in Acklins.
This, the FNM argued was awarded to a PLP contractor and with a padded
price. The Minister called the allegations by the FNM scandalously
incredible. He said that he had acted to stop the leaking of the
roof, which needed immediate repairs. You may click
here for the full response by the Minister.
FOOLING
WITH THE RIGHT ONE
The Minister for Trade and Industry Leslie Miller is known for making comments
that are forthright on many a subject. More often than not he is
the brunt of criticism for his blunt style and frank opinions on matters
of public policy. But there was no criticism this time. Most
people were saying that the Prime Minister sent the right one to deal with
the straw vendors. Mr. Miller is the Minister responsible or the
straw vendors.
The weeks have gone by since the passing of Hurricane
Frances and the straw vendors are pretty upset that their tent has not
been restored. The tent was damaged and needs either to be replaced
or repaired. The repairs have been ordered. But in the meantime,
the market women want their tent back and they confronted Mr. Miller on
television about it. Mr. Miller gave as good as he got. People
were sitting at home watching their television sets cheering as he told
the vendors off about their selfishness in the face of the unmitigated
disaster in some other places of The Bahamas. Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns'
in the Nassau Guardian's Tuesday 14th September edition seemed to capture
the sense of it.
EILEEN
CARRON GETS IT WRONG
She is the most incredibly politically dishonest
woman in the country. Never can get it right. Always deliberately
gets it wrong. Once it is something to do with the PLP, she cannot
see straight. She will wangle, and twist it and contort it until
it comes out that it is always the fault of the PLP. That is how
we begin our attack on Eileen Carron who is the Publisher of The Tribune
and therefore responsible for its editorial comment.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke to the reporter
from The Tribune with a simple comment that he was travelling to visit
Trinidad and Tobago as the representative of the Prime Minister at the
emergency Heads of Government Conference there to tell the story of The
Bahamas and the damage that had been done here. That comment got
twisted by The Tribune's publisher in the editorial of Wednesday 15th to
mean that because of false pride The Bahamas is not getting the aid that
it requires from the outside world. By her reckoning, if the Prime
Minister had simply declared The Bahamas a disaster area then aid would
come rushing into The Bahamas. But that is simply not so.
What is the excuse for Grenada's situation where
a formal declaration was made and where it is clear that there is a disaster
out of all proportion to anything that we have experienced in modern times
in the Caribbean region? The United States responded with the usual
$50,000. The British responded with a ship and that ship has left.
Where is the aid that has come rushing in? If it were not for Caricom
countries, the situation in Grenada would be dire indeed. Declaring
a state of emergency should not make a difference and would not make a
difference when the need is so great and so obvious.
Most people these days get their news from the media.
And while the official agencies like CDERA that is responsible for disaster
management in Caricom countries were aware of the damage, the people of
the Caricom countries were not aware because the media did not hear The
Bahamas story. That was because the reporters who came to The Bahamas
were largely based in Nassau and did not bother to tell Grand Bahama's
story.
The Minister returned to The Bahamas on Saturday
18th September saying that Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and
Tobago will be visiting The Bahamas during the week to tour the damage.
He also said that he had accomplished his mission. You may click here for
his statement to the Caricom heads meeting.
One thing should be clear: a country before seeking
resources from the outside often tries to see whether or not it can help
itself. Nothing wrong with that particularly when other countries
are worse off than your country.
MINISTER
IS HONOURED IN FLORIDA
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service
was honoured at a banquet at Florida International University along with
Janet Reno, the former US Attorney General and Professor Lawrence Howard
of the University of Pittsburgh as community builders. Mr. Mitchell
received the award on Friday 17th September for building international
community. Earlier in the day he gave a lecture at the Florida Memorial
Campus in Miami on the subject Fostering International Community. In it
he thanked the people of the United States and Florida in particular for
“their extraordinary generosity” in helping the victims of the hurricane.
You
may click here for the full address.
SCHOOL
REOPENS, LIFE GETTING BACK TO NORMAL
The Bahamas’ school system primary, secondary and
tertiary is up and running again. The only schools that could not
open on Monday 13th September were the schools in Grand Bahama, some schools
in Abaco and in San Salvador. All of the other schools were open.
It was an exciting first day for many students, with the opening having
been delayed because of Hurricane Frances. A curious affect that
the storm has had is that bees seem to be swarming all round some schools.
Some argue that the hives were disrupted as a result of the high winds
and the bees are simply disoriented.
There were reports of shortages of one kind or another
and the need for some additional repairs but in the main the opening appears
to have gone well despite the setback of the hurricane. Even in Grand
Bahama, the announcements are beginning to be made as of Friday 16th September
that some schools would be open for limited enrolment. Students were
asked to bring along their own supplies of water and lunch.
AN
INQUIRY INTO THE INQUIRY
The Tribune is apparently upset that it can’t get
its hands on the report of the Commission of Inquiry that appeared to have
been leaked to the Bahama Journal before even members of the Government
have read it. So to do the Journal one better they ran a story in
which they complained or reported complaints that the leaking of the report
should be investigated because it serves to prejudice the rights of the
clients of Wayne Munroe, the loquacious President of the Bar, who represented
some of the Defence Force officers before the inquiry. Just how that
follows is not clear.
If the report is faithfully being reported, leaked
or not, that is the report. The words and conclusions of the report
won't change because it was leaked. Even if the words from the leaked
report are not correct, how can a report, not libellous, by a newspaper
of what they say is in the report be charged to the Tribunal of fact in
the Inquiry as being prejudicial? A strange logic indeed! Mr.
Munroe and The Tribune should come again.
COURT
OF APPEAL ON SIDNEY STUBBS
The Court of Appeal, headed by the enigmatic Joan
Sawyer, has given its’ final decision in the matter of Sidney Stubbs MP
and his appeal to the Court of an order of Bankruptcy handed down by Justice
Jeanne Thompson on 30th March 2004. The Justices of Appeal confirmed
on Thursday 16th September that they did not have jurisdiction to hear
the matter and that the best alternative they could see was for Mr. Stubbs
to go before the judge who handed down the ruling and get it discharged.
That is what Mr. Stubbs is doing. He also, we understand, has appealed
the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Privy Council. The matter is
to come before Justice Jeanne Thompson 22nd September.
If Mr. Stubbs is successful, then the matter should
go away. If not, there is only the Privy Council left. Parliament
has to pass a resolution to extend Mr. Stubbs right to be a Member of Parliament
while he prosecutes his appeal by 25th September. If it is not done
by then, then he has to vacate the seat. So the PLP is watching and
waiting. No one wants a bye election right now. The matter
has been further complicated by unfortunate remark by the attorney for
Mr. Stubbs Keod Smith who the other side in the matter now accuses of contempt
of court.
BRADLEY
ROBERTS ASKS QUESTIONS
The Minister of Works asked the question at a seminar
on National Anti Terrorism Legislation on Thursday 15th September of the
experts who were gathered there. He wanted to know why the concentration
on the war on terror world wide without answering the question of whether
or not the war in Iraq was not a contributor to world wide terrorism.
The seminar was sponsored by the Organization of American States, the United
Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Office of the Attorney General
in The Bahamas.
Mr. Roberts was quoted by the Nassau Guardian as
saying: “We are in the dark, especially about observing the continuing
crisis, and the wanton loss of life. And we are just perplexed that
the United Nations which is supposed to be the umbrella body for the countries
that make up this world of ours - declaring that as being illegal
and seeing what is emanating from there and the ongoing loss of life -
as to how the devil are we going to get out of that mess.”
LAYOFFS
IN GRAND BAHAMA AND IN NASSAU
The Royal Oasis, aka Princess Hotels, in Grand Bahama have announced that
they are laying off of its employees, some 1300 save for the Gift Shop,
Security and Engineering staffs. They promise to reopen the hotel
in February. This is a great blow to Grand Bahama, and one of the
hidden stories of the effects of the Hurricane. Unemployment is silently
soaring.
In New Providence, Bahamas Food Services, the largest
food wholesaler, laid off one hundred workers saying that the purchases
from the hotels have fallen off drastically as a result of the storm and
they could no longer keep the employees on staff. The Government
now faces the question of what to do about the greater hardship that is
now being inflicted on people: no home, no food, little water and now no
job. Freeport News photo of Royal Oasis employees waiting for
word of layoffs by Lededra Marche.
PLP
CONVENTION POSTPONED
The Progressive Liberal Party has announced that
after a unanimous vote of its National General Council on Thursday 15th
September, the 39th annual convention has been postponed until a later
date. The convention was scheduled to be held in Grand Bahama from
11th November to 20th November. It was felt that having the convention
would not be a good signal to the people of Grand Bahama, partying while
the hurricane just passed over and caused destruction.
PERRY
TURNER DIES
Perry Don Turner, an immigration officer and the
brother of attorney Michael Turner and Edward Turner, died on 29th August
after a brief illness. He was 51 years old at the time of his death.
VOTING
FOR TONIQUE
E-mails flew fast and furious throughout the online Bahamian community
urging one and all to cast electronic votes for Olympic star Tonique Williams
Darling. Gold medal winner of the women's 400 metre Olympic race
and winner of $500,000 for going undefeated all year, Tonique was among
those up for ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ and ‘Best Women's Performance
2004’ at the International Athletic Association’s website www.iaaf.org.
The results were due out today, Sunday 19th September, but as we go to
upload, the voting is closed, but the results not yet published.
Good luck, Tonique. Image of Tonique in the final 'Golden League'
race courtesy of www.iaaf.org / Getty Images
ALPHONSO
BOWE OFF TO THE RACES
Bahamian businessman Alphonso Bowe has announced
a foray into the world of thoroughbred horse racing. Mr. Bowe, who
is involved in several businesses in South Africa, among which is a world
famous winery, is circulating a brochure detailing 'Arrowpoint Racing'
and its 2004 Bahamas International Thoroughbred Racing Teams. We
thought it made interesting reading. Please click
here.
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Bahamian Students
The government exercised an amazing expression
of responsibility by evacuating the 80 plus students from Jamaica and Grenada
while Hurricane Ivan approached. However in the long run, this is
not the solution and I am sure our leaders are aware of this.
Because there was no real contingency plan in
place to ensure the safety of our Bahamian students in these countries,
the government had to make a decision and it was indeed the correct one.
Now the government should sit down with the governments and the schools
throughout the region and work out a system so that our students may have
comfortable and efficient safety in the event of a natural disaster.
I believe we shouldn't have to evacuate people
unless there is a severe health epidemic or civil unrest that is to a degree
that the safety of our students is not satisfied to our standards.
I am sure that when the Prime Minister or the
Minister of Foreign Affairs sit down with their counterparts throughout
the region, to assess the situations that have come about as a result of
this hurricane season, that this issue amongst others will be addressed.
If left as is, expectations of evacuation to safety may be high, while
the availability of funds to carry out this operation, possibly multiple
times during a hurricane season may be very low.
The government in light of the circumstances
made a sensible decision.
Serfent Rolle
Hurricane Relief
I live in Exuma but have family and friends in
Grand Bahama. One family member has said that the relief at the Harbour
in Freeport has been very disorganized. It was fantastic that the
Grand Bahama Port Authority placed Sir Albert Miller in charge of their
team. I do not know if he is charged with organising relief at the
harbour. I would not be surprised if he is, seeing that he has military
training. My advice would be that planning of relief be under military
auspices in times of crisis. They have the technical training to
deal with crowd control and logistics.
I am sure that we have all learned from this
experience. It could have been worse yes, but we can perform better
in the future with proper planning. We also need to deal with the
building code and the corrupt building inspection process throughout the
country. We need to place low tension power lines underground for
all new subdivisions. These are much more important matters to be
dealt with when things settle down rather than focusing on the nonsense
about ‘mandatory evacuation legislation’
Steve Saunders
Ironic
It is ironic that you bash the U.S. week after
week in your tabloid paper and then yell, “Why don't they help us”.
You can't have it both ways. Respect breeds respect. You also
have to remember that each hurricane this year has hit different Caribbean
islands, but every one has hit The U.S., disrupting the southern U.S. economy
and causing billions of dollars in damage. They are currently
evacuating millions of people in preparation for IVAN landfall tonight.
Do you expect them to drop that and run to the aid of other countries?
I, for one, love Grand Bahama and the people
of Grand Bahama, but when the U.S. is overwhelmed with thousands of homeless
and billions of dollars in damage, you can't expect them to make other
countries their top priority.
Cal Morrison
HURRICANE
PHOTO ESSAY IN 2ND EDITION
For readers who may be interested, we present a
photo
essay of images from Hurricane Frances in The Bahamas by Bahamas Information
Services Peter Ramsay.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
In the midst of managing the government's continuing response to the effects
of Hurricane Frances, Prime Minister Perry Christie spent must of this
past week lending his presence to significant donations to the national
Hurricane Relief Fund. Principal among this past week's contributions
was $100,000 from the People's Republic of China. The Chinese Ambassador
to The Bahamas saying that his country and this were both "developing nations"
and that China considered it a "bounden duty" to help. Mr. Christie
is shown at top looking on as the Minister of State for Finance and Chairman
of the Fund James Smith receives the Chinese donation.
Later in the week, the Prime Minister accepted the
emotional enthusiasm of Bahamian students being returned to university
in Jamaica following their evacuation by The Bahamas Government but struck
a sober noted. Mr. Christie reassured the students that they were
loved, but cautioned them to make the most of their opportunities in higher
education for themselves and the country. BIS photos by Peter
Ramsay.
 |
| PHOTO OF THE WEEK - It was an emotional and moving moment for all sides both PLP and FNM, the independents too – they were all one side; the Bahamian side. It was a moving experience too for the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Patrick Manning. True to his promise to Prime Minister Perry Christie he came to The Bahamas on Tuesday 21st September to inspect the damage in Grand Bahama and then he flew to Nassau. The next morning, the House of Assembly granted the Prime Minister an honour that no one in living memory could recall. He was allowed by the unanimous consent of the House to Address the House of Assembly. Mr. Manning said that this was the first time in his entire political life that such an honour had been bestowed upon him, and that he had never addressed another Parliament in session other than that of Trinidad and Tobago. He called for greater regional co-operation and integration in the face of the hurricanes that have so badly affected the region. The MPs pounded on the table. The House then suspended for fifteen minutes to allow Members to meet the Prime Minister. Mr. Manning said that Trinidad and Tobago would give The Bahamas $500,000 to its hurricane relief fund. That then is our photo of the week: Patrick Manning at the Bar of the Bahamian House of Assembly addressing the members. The Bahamas Information Services photo is by Peter Ramsay. |
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
THEY JUST DON’T’ GET IT
Last week there was a pretty angry letter to the Editor from an
American citizen who lives in The Bahamas. He writes to the column
from time to time. One must guess that after last week’s guest editorial,
if he read it, he must be especially livid. The thrust of his letter
was that we [The Bahamas, Bahamians or this column] are always bashing
the United States but when we run into trouble, we call to the US for help.
He just doesn’t get it.
No one is bashing the United States. Speaking the truth frankly about the United States is not bashing the United States. At least no more than the insulting words and phrases often used to talk down to Caribbean leaders by US public officials of lesser rank is bashing those leaders. But we can see how he could see it that way. The United States and many of its citizens feel a great sense of injury since 11th September 2004. They cannot understand why others do not feel that sense of injury. Of course, the first thing is that it did not happen to any other country in quite the same way. But the other thing is that notwithstanding the great and acknowledged injury to the United States by the events of 11th September, the response by the United States has now coloured people's responses. The hassle to travel there. The insults from their national leaders toward other national leaders. The sense that only they have been wronged which gives them a divine right to crusade. It goes on and on.
There is a distinction to be drawn, however between the people (citizens) of the United States and the people who presently occupy the Government and who appear to be on track to be the Government again. The individuals that you meet from the United States, including some of the very persons in the Government who pursue vicious anti foreign polices in the US government, are the very pictures of decorum and graciousness. The Foreign Minister has said in a recent address that the people of the state of Florida have shown extraordinary generosity toward the people of The Bahamas in their time of need in the hurricane.
The response of the Government of the United States on the other
hand to the region's difficulties, one that feeds off the US and from which
the US feeds has been inadequate. The response of officials to the
scale of the destruction by the hurricanes does not match the moral responsibility
which a country of the wealth of the US has. Further, this is exacerbated
when one sees the absolute waste of resources in Iraq bombing a people
back into the Stone Age without any apparent success otherwise. The
resources put into Iraq – spent wisely - could cause the region to blossom
and bloom. Of course that aint gonna happen, and the US at the official
level has only a marginal interest in this region. Since there is
unlikely to be a change politically in Washington any time soon, that attitude
of indifference is unlikely to change.
There is a further distinction that we mean to draw. That is that The Bahamas in our view does not need to call upon the United States or any other developed country for aid to help with the hurricane. All the aid and grants are appreciated. There was clearly some emergency assistance needed and after Hurricane Jeanne that emergency assistance is needed more than ever. But in our view, this country has the capacity within its own resources and given time and assistance to access cheap money, to recover from what the hurricanes throw at us. Not so Grenada, not so Haiti. The response of the US to those two countries is pitifully inadequate. If that is bashing the US, then so be it.
Bahamians should be giving something to Grenada, Haiti and Jamaica. Bahamians should be contributing manpower and materials and even some finances to the international effort. As a relatively well off country, we must not get into the beggar bowl syndrome of Caribbean politics, while we know that we can do most of this on our own, properly planned and properly getting our economy back up and running.
Even Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada had the same thing to say to the BBC about Grenada, which was that even his country must first and foremost try to re-establish itself from its own resources before relying on others. That is the essence of independence and sovereignty. It is something that another letter writer to this website, this one British, seemed to miss when he criticized our comment in an earlier editorial about the irony of a Grenadian Prime Minister having to rely on the British, the former colonial power to save himself when his house collapsed in Grenada during the storm.
Both the British and the US writers seemed to miss the point. No one is saying that we are not thankful for the assistance, but the fact is the Caribbean itself should have been more and better prepared. But quite apart from the own lacking in our national leaders and the lack of preparedness of our countries in these emergencies, US and British policies in the international arena have tended to undermine the economic progress of Caribbean countries. Not complaining but just stating the fact. Dominica and bananas is just one example.
The fact is that the Caribbean region, The Bahamas included, is joined at the hip to the United States. The US is joined to us. What we have to do is to translate this extraordinary outpouring of affection that the Foreign Minister ascribed to individual citizens in the US into official policy from the US. Until then, there will always be this idle complaint that we are US bashing and we will always be saying but you just don't get it.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 26th September 2004 at midnight: 50,242.
Number of hits for the month of September up to Saturday 26th September 2004 at midnight: 181,962.
Number of hits for the year 2004 up to Saturday 26th September 2004 at midnight: 1,927,436.
SIDNEY
STUBBS R.I.P.?
Hubert Ingraham, the former Prime Minister, is now a doctor. He has
pronounced Sidney Stubbs, the bankrupted MP for Holy Cross politically
dead on arrival. He is also a priest and a prophet. He told
the House of Assembly on Thursday 23rd September that no matter what the
PLP said or thought Sidney Stubbs was finished and he wasn’t coming back.
You know what this column’s advice has been on this matter. Too much
valuable time and capital has been wasted on this matter. It should
have been dispensed with when it happened and we should have been on to
other things. But that is history. The leadership of the party
made the decision to stick by the fellow to the bitter end and allow him
the opportunity to save his seat and prevent a bye-election.
We took the position of the old adage, which we
quote again: ‘he may have been a bad fellow, but he is our bad fellow’.
Mr. Ingraham took the opportunity in the House to
play lawyer. Mr. Stubbs now has a review of the matter before Justice
Jeanne Thompson, who has adjourned the matter to 9th November while she
goes on vacation. He changed lawyers. Keod Smith MP is out
and Thomas Evans Q.C. is in. Mr. Stubbs has also reportedly appealed
for special leave to the Privy Council. We shall see what happens.
Helping to dance on the grave of Sidney Stubbs on Thursday was the Leader
of the Opposition out of the House Senator Tommy Turnquest. He and
his sidekick Carl Bethel, the Chairman of the FNM and former Attorney General,
with visions of a return to the House dancing in his head, were on the
pavement, sweating in the sun in an FNM demonstration on Thursday 23rd
September, and making the point that Mr. Stubbs should go and that the
PLP was abusing the process of Parliament by engaging in the constitutionally
laid out exercise of extending the time for Mr. Stubbs to appeal his case.
Inside the House tempers were flaring over the subject
as well. Ken Russell, part of the FNM's brain trust, aka Ken the
miserable, never one to stick to the point, was agitated by the Government
for even bringing the subject up. He said that while others were
suffering from the hurricane, the Government was using valuable time and
resources to protect one of its own. The extension is necessary because
the Speaker had run out of the authority to extend Mr. Stubbs' right to
stay on while an appeal is being pursued. After 150 days, the House
must pass a resolution agreeing to the extension.
Whatever the outcome of the matter, at least for
now the PLP has some time to pursue what options might be available to
the party, including the expensive thought of a bye-election should it
be necessary. TOP: Tommy Turnquest (right) and Carl Bethel
(left) during the FNM demonstration outside the House of Assembly.
Nassau Guardian / Patrick Hanna. RIGHT: The day following the House
of Assembly debate, Stan Burnside's 'Sideburns' in the Nassau Guardian
published this screamer.
HURRICANE
JEANNE RETURNS
In The Bahamas, we should be asking ourselves; did we rob the church?
The same areas that were hit by Hurricane Frances not a month ago were
hit and hit hard yesterday by Hurricane Jeanne. We thought that Jeanne
was gone, but the darn thing seemed to have a mind of its own and turned
back and hit the northern Bahamas. The islands of Abaco and Grand
Bahama experienced the eye of the Hurricane measuring 25 miles right over
their communities.
The eye of the hurricane passed over Pelican Point
in Grand Bahama, and Marsh Harbour, Abaco. West End, Pinder's Point,
Freeport were all soaked wet again. Roofs were off, and flooding
occurred. Early reports are that eastern Freeport was also hard hit
by the flooding from the tidal surges. The Bahamas government has
a lot to account for now in the way it handles this crisis. Its term
of office could well be determined by how it responds to this double crisis.
People are severely traumatized and need help quickly.
We know that there have been criticisms of delay in dealing with repairs
and customs free products coming into The Bahamas. The whole process
of hurricane relief by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
starts now all over again. Thankfully, there was no loss of life.
NOAA
image of Hurricane Jeanne; AP image of a resident with jelly coconuts to
ride out the storm from BBC Caribbean.
WHAT
THE MANNING VISIT MEANS
The visit of Patrick Manning signals a stronger link with the Caricom countries.
The Foreign Ministry has engaged in a concerted effort over the past two
years in trying to sensitize Bahamians to the need to have good Caricom
relations. Mr. Manning came bearing a gift of $500,000 for hurricane
relief. Before him the Turks and Caicos Island Chief Minister came
calling with a gift of $200,000. These were important signals to
the Bahamian people from our neighbours, that they care for us and want
us to be a part of them.
There has been no talk in The Bahamas about not
having a relationship with Caricom now. Let us hope that people remember
that when the chips were down, our Caricom partners came to be with us
and stood with us. All of those leaders who spoke at the United Nations
came to our support, asking for assistance to the region and to our country
as a result of the hurricane. 
The
Bahamas must become part of Caricom formally. We should wait no longer.
The region requires a more integrated and common approach to the problems
that face us.
We agree with Andrew Allen who wrote in his column
last week in The Tribune that the region must be able to better prepare
for this kind of emergency and rely first on its own resources. It
is a point that Prime Minister Perry Christie sought to make that seemed
to exasperate his officials. The Prime Minister believes that in
the first instance The Bahamas must be able to rely on our own resources
before calling on the resources of other countries. As you know from
our editorial position, we support that view.
We are glad that Mr. Manning came and we hope that
the visit inures to the benefit of better relations between ourselves and
our Caricom neighbours. TOP: Prime Minister Manning, accompanied
by Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell is shown being greeted on arrival in
Grand Bahama by the Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of The Prime
Minister, Ann Percentie MP and other senior officials. RIGHT: Opposition
leaders Alvin Smith, centre, and Brent Symonette, left, meet Prime Minister
Manning during the recess of the House. Bahamas Information Services
photos / Peter Ramsay
THE
FOREIGN MINISTER IN WASHINGTON
Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister of The Bahamas,
travelled to Washington at the start of the week for a meeting with the
Caribbean Congressional Caucus. This is a group of bi-partisan members
of the United States Congress who want to help lobby for Caribbean issues.
The members of the caucus are: Donald Payne (D New
Jersey), Co-Chair and Rep. Bob Ney (R- Ohio), Co-Chair; Donna Christensen,
(D Virgin Islands); James Clyburn (D South Carolina); Alcee Hastings (D
Florida); Barbara Lee (D California); Kendrick Meek (D Florida); Gregory
Meeks (D New York); Charles Rangel (D New York); Stephanie Tubbs Jones
(D Ohio); Steve Chabot (R Ohio); Phil English (R Pennsylvania); Tom Feeney
(R Florida); Katherine Harris (R Florida); Pete Sessions (R Texas); John
Sweeney (R New York).
Discussions are to centre on trying to get aid for
Caribbean hurricane relief. Leaders of the Caribbean have been lobbying
all the developed countries to assist with the relief efforts particularly
those in Grenada and in Haiti. The Bahamas is also making a case
for the damage to be known, particularly as it has had a second strike
on the same areas that Hurricane Frances struck not even a month ago.
The meeting with the Caucus was on Wednesday 22nd
September. The next day the Minister represented The Bahamas at the
inauguration of the new Secretary General of the Organization of American
States.
THE
US - FRIEND OR FOE?
Prime Minister Perry Christie is scheduled to make
a major address 1st October in Miami at a conference of the Miami Herald
newspaper, entitled the US - Friend or Foe? Mr. Christie is expected
to lay out in detail the way forward for relations and the historic friendship
between the countries of the Caribbean and the United States. Mr.
Christie is to be accompanied by Fred Mitchell, the Foreign Minister of
The Bahamas.
ARTHUR
FOULKES DOES A NUMBER ON US
We keep saying to the PLP that they need a voice
out there that will provide the antidote to the unremitting propaganda
and misinformation that it being spewed forth in the public domain.
From Ivan Johnson and Chris Lunn, from Eileen Carron to Michel Harajchi,
there is a stream of negative news and commentary which is directed at
the PLP. Arthur Foulkes and Andrew Allen, while in a different class
from that first crew, do quite a number on the PLP. The cast of old
characters is at it again, and they are having, together with the new cast,
a field day. It was interesting in that light to see the comments
of Sir Arthur Foulkes, who writes a weekly column for The Tribune.
In his column of Tuesday 21st September, he described this site as a propaganda
site invented by Fred Mitchell and proceeded in a clever way to ascribe
the views of this site as close enough to the Minister’s.
On another page of The Tribune, and on another day
Andrew Allen, the son of another knight, Sir William Allen, described this
site as Fred Mitchell’s champion site. He would have been more correct
to describe us as the PLP's champion site, and unabashedly so. It
is our good fortune that truth and cause often coincide.
Sir Arthur said that what was written on this site
about the hurricane relief, in defence of the Government was in part a
big fat lie, namely that the FNM left no structure in place to deal with
hurricane relief. He took issue of why there were delays in relief
efforts as being the fault of the bureaucracy. He conveniently forgot
the fact of the public outcry in 1992 when goods arrived from the United
States into Abaco and were turned away at the airport in 1992’s hurricane
relief effort for Hurricane Andrew when the Customs officers demanded that
duty be paid on the hurricane relief items. Surely no one would say
that the Government deliberately did it. It was a bureaucratic snafu,
and it is clear that customs has still not learned its lesson from that
time to this.
Sir Arthur also believed that The Tribune was doing
its job by pointing out the Government’s shortcomings during the hurricane.
We are sure it was doing its job but we disagree on what that job is.
Their job is to promote the FNM and its interests and so there is a certain
suspicion about their lack of editorial objectivity. Eileen Carron
cannot see good in the PLP even if it were right in front of her nose.
Well, he is entitled to his opinion but it is the PLP that we need to address
on this issue and his criticisms. Find your voice! Even Foulkes
and Allen, enemies of the PLP, recognize that in this world of politics
there must be an argument made. In other words, the other side must
be heard. The politics of the country is nonsense without it.
So where is the information to get to supporters
about what the PLP's polices are and why the decisions are being made the
way they are? Right now we would venture to say that it is this site
that dares to provide the answers, and Arthur Foulkes’ condemnation is
to us the perfect backhanded compliment for which we thank him that indicates
that this is so. Walk into any PLP MP’s constituency office, what
material is there to put in the hands of supporters?
We repeat what we said in a previous column and
it is not a big fat lie, the FNM left no structure, in fact no records
of what was done and why it was done on hurricane relief. All of
that was apparently taken with Hubert Ingraham in his head when the Bahamian
people dispatched him into semi-retirement in 2002.
PREPARING
FOR THE WORST IN US ELECTIONS
When the year started, there was some quiet hope
amongst Caribbean leaders that perhaps, just perhaps there might be a change
in the regime in Washington that might make it easier to deal with the
authorities in Washington about Caribbean issues. The feeling was
amongst many that if the administration changed in Washington, they might
just get the Caribbean on the agenda of the United States, and have a better
time at trying to make a case for good relations. There would no
longer be the policy of poking people in the eye as a substitute for good
international relations.
It now appears that the John Kerry Campaign of the
Opposition Democrats in the United States is imploding, not because he
does not make a compelling case for change, but the way campaigns often
get structured, the issues don't seem to be surfacing in a way that shows
that the people of the United States are listening. The BBC carried
a headline on their website ‘THE WORLD WANTS KERRY’ it says. Unfortunately,
the world does not vote. Only the people of the United States vote.
It appears that there will not be a close election
this time either. The Democrats don’t seem to have done their homework
in so many areas that there is now a muted sense of despair especially
in the Black community in the United States that the period of mean is
going to continue in Washington. That also spells doom and gloom
in the minds of many of the nations of the Caribbean, that they are in
for another tough four years. The song says: Lord! How long?
DAME
DORIS JOHNSON SCHOOL ON STRIKE
Belinda Wilson is a teacher at the Dame Doris Johnson
High School. She is also a union shop steward who is seeking office
in the next Union elections. Ms. Wilson, without recourse to the
proper procedures of the industrial agreement, called the teachers out
of the school because there are four teachers that are needed to fill the
classes, and there are some equipment problems.
The Ministry of Education was caught unawares when
the teachers decided on Tuesday 21st September to walk off the job in protest
of the fact that were are not sufficient janitors at the school and not
sufficient teachers. We believe that these are serious concerns,
which the Government has to address.
The situation with the lack of teachers is serious
enough but the matter with the lack of janitors across the system is a
scandal, a time bomb waiting to happen if the Government does not act to
solve this problem. School janitresses are being overworked, and
the schools are sometimes having to rely on teachers to clean the schools
because of the lack of janitresses. We do not believe that Ms. Wilson
causing a wildcat strike is the answer. Students outside Doris
Johnson school in this Nassau Guardian photo by Patrick Hanna.
THE
FOREIGN MINISTER TO ADDRESS THE UN
The annual address of The Bahamas at the United Nations will be delivered
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell on Thursday 30th September.
Mr. Mitchell will be in The Bahamas for Parliament to mark the 275th anniversary
of the Parliament of The Bahamas on Wednesday 29th September, he will then
join Prime Minister Perry Christie who is expected to deliver an address
in Miami on 1st October at a Miami Herald conference: The United States
- friend or Foe?
IMPERIAL
LIFE DEAL NIXED?
The news is not good for Colina, which had its eye
on Imperial Life. Imperial Life’s Canadian owners want to get out
of The Bahamas. The name is to disappear after more than one hundred
years of doing business in The Bahamas. The pressure is coming on
the Government to approve the sale or perhaps, just perhaps Imperial might
close the whole operation down and let the Bahamian employees go.
Now comes the news that a study that was commissioned
by the Government to look into whether or not the allegations of the opponents
to the sale are correct about Colina monopolizing the market are correct
is ready. The newspapers say that the study says the deal should
not go through, at least as now structured. The reports of the study's
conclusions is that maybe the company should be broken up and its parts
sold, some might go to Colina. But if it is to be sold in whole,
then it should go entirely to another company or group of companies to
stop the monopoly.
Reportedly, the FNM, Colina and its lawyers take
the position that Imperial does not need the Government’s authority to
sell to Colina. Some lawyers are sure that they are right.
In what the FNM thought was an attempt by Tiger Finalyson to monopolize
the liquor business, the last Government tried to stop him and they lost
all the way up to the highest court in the land. But Imperial does
not want to risk an argument with the Government and then have problems
repatriating its profits.
No official announcement has been made but the newspapers
have been carrying leaks of the study. Colina said that it is extremely
troubled by the newspaper reports, and thinks that the study may have been
biased.
Some usual supporters of this column and its cause
are thoroughly cheesed off with us for not supporting the Colina deal.
Life was never easy though, and the lack of contact is regretted.
THE
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REPORTS
The Attorney General Alfred Sears has tabled the
report of the Commission of Inquiry looking into the interdiction of the
boat Lorequin in June 1992 and how the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and
Royal Bahamas Police Force dealt with the matter. One wonders in
retrospect what the inquiry actually achieved. No prosecutions are
to result. The Commission came to the same conclusion that the Police
did at the time of their investigations. They did not have evidence
to support prosecutions. But the report seemed to do the Defence
Force officers even worse than they were before. It reinforced the
view of the Americans that the Defence Force officers were not fit to get
visas to the US by saying in bold print that the Defence Force officers
were responsible for taking some of the drugs. So the nightmare of
the accused but not charged Defence Force officers continues. Beyond
that there was a condemnation of the leadership of both the Police Force
and the Defence force at the time. This means reform must come in
both Forces. The report was tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday
22nd September.
THE
STORY OF CAT STEVENS
Yusuf Islam is what he calls himself. We used
to know him as the entertainer Cat Stevens. He was an icon for many
of those who came up in the 1960s and 1970s with hits like ‘Morning Has
Broken’ and ‘Wild World’. Now the Americans have deported him from
the United States, stopped his plane on the way to the States and booted
him off under arrest and sent him back to Britain. The ground is
that he was mistakenly let on the plane, when he should have been stopped
because he is on a “no fly” list. This is the same unlawful list Senator
Edward Kennedy, the brother of a slain US President, was put on that took
him 19 days from which to get his name deleted.
The United States has clearly gone overboard.
Mr. Islam is a British citizen. The British response was weak in
defending their citizen's rights. They simply said to Colin Powell,
the Secretary of State of the US that it should not have happened.
The US response was to defend the unlawful decision. Mr. Islam, formerly
known as Cat Stevens, says he is going to take legal action. But
the world should be outraged at this nonsense. You ask yourself what
has gotten into the United States: detaining people without charge in prisons
all over the world. Abducting people and bringing them to trial in
the United States or holding them incommunicado without charge or access
to lawyers or their families. Now deporting people without cause
and without charge and refusing to say why. Is this the land of the
free and the home of the brave?
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Hurricane Response
Your comment that the ultimate irony in Grenada's
storm experience was that the Island's PM had to turn to the “former colonial
master” and receive help from HMS ‘Richmond’ [Capt. MacCartain I believe]
was really dismissive and ill-informed. All the West Indies Guard Ships
[WIGs] depart the UK stocked with relief goods to assist in such emergencies
in the Caribbean and I seem to remember that it was a Royal Navy helicopter
that first flew over the Abacos some years ago after such a storm and gave
help… This was followed by well meaning Americans flying in on their own
initiative to Marsh Harbour bringing relief goods for which the Customs
demanded payment!… They then left I understand!
Let us have less of this carping and some appreciation
for the Royal Navy whose sailors would “move heaven and earth” to help
genuine victims in storm or other emergency situations. They also
do a good job in preventing some of the powdery stuff devastating distant,
foreign communities…
With kind regards,
John Hinchliffe
We think that this is missing the point of the comment (see editorial above). The point is not ingratitude for the service provided. But Caribbean countries say they are independent. Independent means that you can take care of yourself, which is presumably why you separated from the colonial master. You must agree that there is an irony in the Prime Minister of Grenada having to be rescued on a British ship, given the historical circumstances. No insult or dismissal was intended. Captain Hinchliffe is a former top executive of Freeport Harbour, now back in England, and knows the Caribbean well. – Editor.
Kudos for Guest Editorialist
The 'Comment of the Week,' done by Sharon Zoe Smith is an exceptionally
well-written article. This is the first time I have been on the website,
and I was very pleased with the writings. Keep up the good work!
D.R.
You can be sure that Ms. Smith will be again invited to contribute and
that your comments are generally appreciated. Thank you for reading
and please keep reading. - Ed.
THIS
WEEK WITH THE PM
It was an important moment in the development of the country's regional
relations (see WHAT THE MANNING VISIT
MEANS). Prime Minister Perry Christie is shown at top receiving
Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning at the House of Assembly
where Mr. Manning addressed the House from the Bar. At right, the
Prime Ministers are shown addressing the media at Nassau International
Airport upon their arrival from a tour of hurricane damaged areas of Grand
Bahama. BIS photos by Peter Ramsay.
