| 6th August |
| 13th August |
| 20th August |
| 27th August |
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.
| CLIMBING THE GREASY POLL | FRED MITCHELL ON THE FNM & FOX HILL | |
| WHAT THE US AMBASSADOR WANTS | THE LAUNDRY LIST OF THE U.S. AMBASSADOR | |
| IMF HAS A DIFFERENT TAKE ON BLACKLIST | WHO'S BETTER GEORGE BUSH OR AL GORE? | |
| BAHAMIAN AMBASSADOR ON US RELATIONS | NEW DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION FOR US | |
| HOLBORN COLLEGE EXEC VISITS FRED MITCHELL | THE MURDER COUNT IS UP AGAIN | |
| PRIVY COUNCIL RULES ON METHODIST CASE | AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLASTS THE BAHAMAS | |
| MIRIAM CASH DIES | SOL KERZNER IS MARRIED | |
| PAULINE DAVIS-THOMPSON BOWING OUT | MISS BAHAMAS PROBLEM | |
| NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA... | ||
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NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
THE BAHAMAS REELING OVER BLACKLIST
The talk about the creolizaton of The Bahamas having exhausted itself, the talk of the town is now the blacklist on which The Bahamas finds itself as a result of the work of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United States Government. We have been talking about it for weeks. The offshore sector in the country is facing its greatest challenge ever. The OECD and the U.S. Government both consider The Bahamas a harmful tax jurisdiction. There has been pressure on The Bahamas to reform its financial services sector laws, requiring stricter enforcement of existing rule and more openness about the beneficial owners of bank accounts in the country.
There are two schools of thought in the country about this. The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie staked out the ground when at the opening of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's regional conference on Monday 31 July, he asked delegates to consider whether or not in the present climate our sovereignty was not under siege. You may click here for the full text of his address.
Later in the week at the Rotary Club of West Nassau on Thursday 3 August, the Ambassador for Trade James Smith tried to calm the waters by saying that The Bahamas should admit that it has problems with its financial services sector that need to be reformed. He argued that it should not just be seen in sovereignty terms. Further, he believed that the problem was not so much money laundering as it was so-called harmful tax competition.
The U.S. Ambassador made a remarkable intervention published in the press on Monday 31 July stating quite bluntly what the U.S. Government wanted. We publish it below. We happen to know that the principle preoccupation of U.S./Bahamian relations to this moment is the question of the blacklist.
Some argue that we should simply capitulate as we have no choice. One delegate from the CPA conference said that we are too weak to resist and we should simply change like an amoeba, adapt into something else to survive.
The question one must ask though, is: What does this sovereignty mean for the Caribbean nations. When we fought for independence, our leaders a generation ago knew that Britain, and the U.S. were more powerful. They knew that if it were a question of pure might, we could not prevail but they fought anyway to make us the masters of our own destinies. The question is are we going to just let that a scant one generation later?
Last month, we surpassed for the first time the 50,000 hits per month mark. We had
54,025 hits for the month of August. This is remarkable to us. We have hits on this site up to midnight the 5 August for the month of August. Thank you for reading and keep reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
| The PLP Position on Clifton | |
| www.johngfcarey.com | Thought provoking columns |
| http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/ | Canadian contacts Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links |
| http://members.tripod.com/~xtremesp/wolf.html | Bahamian Cycling News |
| http://www.bahamiansonline.com | Links to Bahamians on the web |
| http://www.bahamanet.com/JujuTree.cfm | Politics Forum |
CLIMBING THE GREASY POLL
The Fox Hill Village is the only area in The Bahamas that still actively celebrates Emancipation day. That day which is celebrated on the first Monday in August marks the anniversary of the freeing of the slaves throughout the then British Empire. It is also a celebration of the African heritage of the society. All eyes will therefore be on Fox Hill for this the 166th anniversary of the freeing of the slaves. It will be marked by festivities in the village including the climbing of the greasy pole. There will be a national
service attended by the Governor General at St. Anselm's Catholic Church on Monday 7 August. On Tuesday 8 August there will be Fox Hill Day. The old story used to be that Fox Hill celebrated the day separately from the rest of The Bahamas because it took a week for the news of freedom to reach Fox Hill. The real story is that the Anglican priests in the early part of the last century started to encourage a day called party day, the second Tuesday in the month of August for the children. That emerged as Fox Hill day when all other parts of New Providence would go up to Fox Hill. This month the second Tuesday falls right after the first Monday and so the two days are being celebrated one after the next. The park is all trimmed and ready. We show a photo of the Fox Hill parade. We invite everyone to come up for Fox Hill day.
Back To The Top
FRED MITCHELL ON THE FNM & FOX HILL
On Thursday 3 August, this candidate of the PLP for Fox Hill issued a statement on the Fox Hill Festival Committee. The Committee is headed by William
Rahming, an FNM ideologue, who works for Juanianne Dorsette the FNM MP. He crosses the line as a public servant and is politically offensive. Through his conduct he has run every PLP off the Fox Hill Festival Committee. The Committee has become a blatant political exercise. The statement called for public accountability for the funds collected by the Festival Committee and the funds expended by the Committee. It pointed out once again that the FNM's representative for the area Mrs. Dorsette should not be sitting on the committee. She ought to follow the conduct of her predecessor George Mackey and stay off the Committee, although she is free to remain in the background to assist with the work. FNMs were furious. That is good. The PLP remains alive and well in the village. The festival has steadily deteriorated under the hand of the FNM in Fox Hill. Last year there was no greasy pole and no plaiting of the maypole. The participants are getting increasingly fed up at the lack of attention to the state of the parks in Fox Hill. Mrs. Dorsette rushes up to Fox Hill after paying no attention all year round, does a quick paint job and removes the garbage only for those days, then we see her no more. Shame on her!
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WHAT THE US AMBASSADOR WANTS
It's not quite to the level of the activities outlined in the novel "The Ugly American" but it is still a shock on the system - the recent high profile by US Ambassador Arthur Schecter visibly putting pressure on The Bahamas Government to change the laws of The Bahamas to meet the requirements of the United States on drug issues, money laundering and what they call 'harmful tax competition'. The Tribune published a photo of the US Ambassador on the front page of its newspaper on Monday 31 July and we show it. In the business section of that same paper, the US Ambassador revealed to the paper what the US requires with regard to Bahamian legislation if the advisory that they issued on doing business with Bahamian banks is to be lifted. You will remember that in March of this year the Ambassador told The Bahamas publicly that the US was dissatisfied with the laws on bail and money laundering and said that there was evidence of jury tampering in the country. He said the Bail laws needed to be tightened and the money laundering laws changed. So said, so done. The Bahamian Government announced the changes and the laws were then presented to Parliament and passed. Now the US has a new "laundry" list (pardon the pun). The Prime Minister who has been accused of selling out The Bahamas arrived back in the country on Thursday 3 August (See Bahama Journal photo published on Friday 4 August). He had been on a pilgrimage to Washington and Ottawa to plead our cause and to give away every candy in our store. This was confirmed even before he arrived.
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THE LAUNDRY LIST OF THE U.S. AMBASSADOR
Even before Hubert
Ingraham, the mendicant Prime Minister, returned from his overseas pilgrimage, he sent a fax copy of the legislation that he wanted, to allow for the Evidence (proceedings of other jurisdictions) Act, Section 4 to be amended to allow for information to be collected and disclosed to foreign criminal, commercial and civil authorities even when an investigation was just being contemplated, not only when the investigation was active or after a charge was actually laid. Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition found the matter so offensive when it was introduced in its faxed version to the Parliament on Thursday 27 July (see last week's story) that he challenged Government ministers to say whether or not they had seen and approved it before it was laid before Parliament. Nary a peep from the Government side. But this week Janet
Bostwick, the somnambulant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General issued statement in which she denied that the PLP's version of the facts was the correct one. She claimed that it all been decided without reference to the Americans in Washington and the Cabinet had seen and approved it before Mr. Ingraham left for Washington. Janet pull our other leg.
THE LAUNDRY LIST OF THE U.S. AMBASSADOR
In a story written by Neil Hartnell of the Business Section of The Tribune, the U.S. Ambassador told The Tribune what the US government wants with regard to legislation in the Bahamas in order to remove the name of The Bahamas from the blacklist. The list is as follows: Require disclosure of the beneficial ownership of International Business Companies
(IBCs); Eliminate bearer shares; Encourage financial institutions to increase the relatively low number of suspicious activity reports they make to the Government of The Bahamas; Join the Edgemont Group; reduce the burden of proof for money Laundering; Include the proceeds of public corruption as a predicate offence in money laundering cases. Well folks you heard the man!
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IMF HAS A DIFFERENT TAKE ON BLACKLIST
While it is small comfort to the besieged Government, it seems to have a friend in the International Monetary fund
(IMF). According to a report in the Tribune's Business Section of Friday 4 August, the IMF has criticized the blacklist by OECD and its affiliates arguing "that they were not based on well-developed criteria". Eduardo
Aninat, the IMF's Deputy Managing Director and acting Chairman said "Many [IMF] directors expressed concern that some recent public announcements of lists by other fora were not based upon well-developed criteria, nor took into account all the relevant facts... They [the directors] noted that only limited evidence is available thus far on direct risks posed by offshore financial centres and offshore financial vehicles for the global financial system." Now that seems a sensible approach. It seems to bear out the position and theory of this Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs and that is that all of this has to do with taxes. The developed countries believe that revenue which they need and want, but to which we would argue they are not now entitled legally under their laws, is escaping their jurisdictions and coming to places like The Bahamas. We believe as the Prime Minister of Barbados believes that surely whatever the amount of money escaping it must be a drop in the bucket to what is passing through New York and London. Our theory is that you now have socialist Governments back in power in Europe and the US, all nicely prettied up after decades of morphing as a result of electoral drubbings in their countries. The left wing democrats in charge of the U.S. Executive branch, together with right wind ideologues who see every everything south of their country as banana republics; in France, Germany and Britain you have left of centre parties in charge. So these are socialist tax policies being pursued in their foreign affairs. It is a new kind of colonialism which is difficult for us to fight given the level of our resources. But the FNM has been too panicky and they have not stood up for the sovereignty of this country.
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WHO'S BETTER GEORGE BUSH OR AL GORE?
Bahamians watched with interest the Republican National Convention in the United States last week. We saw the crowning of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney as the nominees for that party for the U.S. presidential elections in November. George W.'s father George, the former President, is a frequent visitor to Lyford Cay to see his former Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady. The younger Bush and Cheney will campaign on the theme: Compassionate Conservatism. You would think that because the Republican Party is more business oriented Bahamians would feel safer that Republicans might be elected to office. It sure looks that that the Republicans will win the White House and the Congress. However, Bahamians traditionally support the Democrats. That is the party Black Americans support and we go generally where they go. There is a fear, despite their business orientation that there is a residue of racism amongst Republican Party leaders that would cause them to be unfriendly toward a country like ours. Of course, seeing the recent policies about the financial sector in fact it does not matter who is in the White House, the U.S. regardless of party pursues its national interest. Now if only our Uncle Tom in the Churchill Building could learn that lesson.
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BAHAMIAN AMBASSADOR ON US RELATIONS
Newly appointed Bahamian Ambassador to Washington Joshua Sears issued some calming words in the midst of all of this frenetic activity about the blacklist. He told the country that from his advantage point the US was still a friend of The Bahamas. According to Ambassador Sears as published in the Bahama Journal of Thursday 3 August: "The strong ties shared by The Bahamas and the United States remain intact. There are so many areas of positive collaboration. There is a plethora of relationships between our countries. People ought not judge the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas on this one particular issue." We agree, Mr. Ambassador but boy does this piss us off!
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NEW DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION FOR US
Dan Clune first saw a stint as a consular officer in The Bahamas in the 198Os. Now he and his family have returned to The Bahamas. He has returned as the number two man in the Embassy of the United States of America. He paid a courtesy call on this Senator, The Opposition's spokesman on Foreign Affairs, he will see The Leader of the Opposition on Tuesday 8 August. Mr. Clune is pictured at the office of this Senator on Friday 4 August. Welcome back Mr.
Clune. Over the past year, relations between the US Embassy and the PLP seem to have shrunk to nothing. But the US diplomats assure us that it had more to do with their internal situation rather than a deliberate snub. One of the problems was the recall of former DCM Meritt Brown without any public explanation after only months at his post in The Bahamas. We look forward to renewed ties.
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HOLBORN COLLEGE EXEC VISITS FRED MITCHELL
J.S. Williams, Senior Law Lecturer at Holborn College and Director of its Distance Learning
Programmes, paid a courtesy call on this senator after a three-day visit to The Bahamas from 1 August to 4 August. Mr. Williams was in The Bahamas to hold a series of seminars about the external learning programmes of
Holborn. He was hosted by Anthony Delaney, one of the students in the distance learning programme for law in The Bahamas. Mr. Delaney is also an announcer at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. While in The Bahamas Mr. Williams paid calls on Dr. Leon Higgs, President of the College of The Bahamas; British High Commissioner Peter
Heigl; Minister of Education Dame Ivy Dumont and Chief Justice Dame Joan Sawyer. He had a successful visit and high demand for Holborn's law courses. This Senator and Mr. Williams first met during the British Government sponsored visit to London in November of last year. Shown at the office of this senator on Thursday 4 August from left: Anthony Delaney; Mr. Williams; Senator Mitchell; Lee Davis, a student at Holborn College in his second year of the University of London's external degree
programme.
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THE MURDER COUNT IS UP AGAIN
The Bahama Journal of Friday 4 August reported that the 45th murder victim has been found in the bush in the Garden Hills area of New Providence off Soldier Road. Well you know that the FNM said that if you got rid of the PLP you would get rid of crime. The PLP has been gone for eight years. But who is worried about that now? After all we are on the blacklist. And as that well known sage, Ambassador to the UN Anthony
Rolle, said in defence of his FNM on crime: "Apart from murder Crime is Down." Do you think these people hear themselves when they talk?
PRIVY COUNCIL RULES ON METHODIST CASE
Maurice Glinton, the crusading attorney was ecstatic. He has been battling since 2 August 1994 to reverse the forced divestment of the property of the Caribbean Methodist Church in The Bahamas
(MCCA). As part of an election promise, the FNM Government passed a bill in 1993 which took away the property of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas and purported to vest it in the new Bahamian Methodist Church. Mr.
Glinton, a devout Methodist, challenged the law, saying that it was unconstitutional. In the middle of the case the then Chief Justice Joaquim Gonsalves-Sabola accepted citizenship from the Government of The Bahamas did not recuse himself from the case. To no one's surprise, he ruled for the Government and dismissed the applications out of hand without hearing the merits of the case, namely that you can't forcibly deprive someone of property without compensation. The Court of Appeal to which Sabola subsequently graduated, ruled the same thing. Now the Englishmen have decided that the courts below were wrong and have remitted the case to be heard by the Supreme Court on its merits. We hope that the Government of The Bahamas gets busted for costs in this matter. They have behaved high-handedly and foolishly in this matter. Stay tuned.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLASTS THE BAHAMAS
The annual report of Amnesty International about The Bahamas has been published. The news is not good. Amnesty reports that conditions at the prison are appalling. The report further says that persons seeking asylum in this country are repatriated without due process and without The Bahamas allowing the asylum seekers to establish whether they have a well-grounded fear of persecution back in their homelands. A copy of the report can be obtained from the British High Commissioner's office in Nassau.
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MIRIAM CASH DIES
She was a famous and graceful woman in her own right, having been a teacher and a leader in the church community of St. Matthew's Anglican Church. She was also the sister of a famous politician, Sir Gerald Cash, former Member of the House and former Senate President as well as former Governor General. She was the daughter of a Member of the House of Assembly. She was the mother of a famous daughter, the social crusader for women Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson. She died this week at the age of 84. She suffered an acute asthma attack, the very thing that killed her son in 1971 in such tragic circumstances. But she lived a full life and the community paid tribute to her. Attending the funeral at St. Matthews on Thursday 4 August was Governor General Sir Orville and Lady
Turnquest, Cabinet Ministers, this Senator and Members of Parliament. Site Editor Al Dillette was there as well. The service was celebrated by Archbishop Drexel Gomez; the sermon was preached by retired Bishop Michael Eldon. One discordant note, the state of the Eastern cemetery is appalling. The mother of this columnist is buried there. Mrs. Dean is now buried there. Both these ladies in their lifetimes were proud of their yards, and kept them immaculately clean. The Eastern Cemetery is up to one's neck in weeds. This is not a tribute to these two women and the thousands of others buried there. May they rest in peace!
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SOL KERZNER IS MARRIED
It is said that there is nothing like a pretty young woman to get a man up and feeling useful every morning. Sol Kerzner the boss of Paradise Island's Sun International is trying out the formula. In a resplendent and happy picture published in the Bahama Journal on Tuesday 1 August what we said here on this site two weeks ago has come true. Mr. Kerzner is now married. His new bride is Heather. The bride and groom are off on a Caribbean Cruise for their honeymoon. They had matching platinum rings by London jeweller Lawrence Graff. Will it still apply? Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Things that make you go: "hmmm"!
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PAULINE DAVIS-THOMPSON BOWING OUT
The Tribune of Saturday 29 July ran a moving story about the Golden Girl and senior citizen of Bahamas Track and Field Pauline Davis-Thompson. The Olympic trials for The Bahamas took place on the weekend of Saturday 29 July, and Pauline Davis Thompson, now known as the Golden Grandma, ran her last race at the Tommy Robinson Stadium. She has been running there for 25 years, since she started out as a student at the
L.W. Young High School. We show The Tribune photo of her signing an autograph. According to Mrs. Davis-Thompson: "I wanted them to remember me this way. I didn't want them to push me out. That is why I did what I did." What did she do? She ran third in the 100 metres and second in the 200 metres at 10.97 second and 22.48 seconds respectively. She qualified for Sydney that will be her last Olympics. Mrs. Davis-Thompson shows how one can come from small beginnings and rise up and become great by sheer grit and determination. The country thought she was a spent force, and each time we were convinced she come back roaring to international victory. It was capped by the magnificent finishes in Atlanta's Olympics in 1996 and two years later at the World Championships when she won gold with four other Bahamian athletes. The way to go out is on top of the world.
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MISS BAHAMAS PROBLEM
The Nassau Guardian reported that parents were irate about a wet T-shirt contest that reportedly occurred during the swimsuit competition for the contest at Nygard Cay located in Lyford Cay on Saturday 29 July. The event reportedly deteriorated into bared bottoms and g-strings with wet T shirts, groping of the contestants and harassment of the contestants. The Guardian of Wednesday August 2nd said that the contest faced a boycott. Not so said Nikki Reid, the public relations officer for the contest. She claimed that the contestants did not voice any complaints to her. This is a first. It is usually after the contest that the contestants start complaining about how they were cheated. This year Miss Bahamas has the franchise for both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests.
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
December Opening? - Amid a scramble to fulfill the promise of a December 'soft' opening, executives of the Lucayan Hotel and officials of the Department of Labour held a symposium on hotel jobs in Grand Bahama this week. Public statements by Minister of Tourism C.A. Smith and others have promised the December date.
Would be applicants were told that the database of applications received before December 1999 had been discarded and that those persons would have to re-apply.
Canadian Killers Guilty of Manslaughter - A Supreme Court jury has found two twenty-something year old Grand Bahamian men guilty of the manslaughter of a Canadian businessman. The man was killed at his time-share condo in Freeport in 1998. The case attracted the attention of the Canadian media which sent representatives to cover the trial.
Culmer Heads Human Resources at Bahamia - Resorts at Bahamia, the former Princess properties, has announced Mary Culmer as Director of Human Resources, "In an effort to restructure the organization" following the sale to the Driftwood group. Ms. Culmer is pictured.
Outstanding Union Claims Settled - In a news conference this week, Grand Bahama reps of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering & Allied Workers Union announced that the new management of Resorts at Bahamia had moved "expediently" to settle most of the outstanding disputes between the union and the resorts. A union spokesman said that the settlements also came about as the result of the union's new administration.
MacDonald's - Headline news in the Freeport News this week was the opening of a new McDonald's restaurant near Ranfurly Circus. That this was a major headline - and in fact a major story of genuine public interest - tells us all something about Freeport and Grand Bahama. Things that make you go hmmm!
| The PLP Position on Clifton | |
| www.johngfcarey.com | Thought provoking columns |
| http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/ | Canadian contacts Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links |
| http://members.tripod.com/~xtremesp/wolf.html | Bahamian Cycling News |
| http://www.bahamiansonline.com | Links to Bahamians on the web |
| http://www.bahamanet.com/JujuTree.cfm | Politics Forum |
CLIMBING
THE GREASY POLL
This
year Emancipation Day and Fox Hill Day were celebrated back to back on
Monday 7 August and Tuesday 8 August. Here's how it works. You know that
the first Monday in August is a public holiday, marking the emancipation
of the slaves on 1 August 1838. That was 166 years ago. The people of Fox
Hill, the constituency that this candidate is nursing, have their own celebration
which grew up in the twentieth century when Baptist churches had what is
called 'Party Day' in the village. It is a time when the children give
recitations and sing and perform. They are given special treats for each
child. It is a time when adults reminisce. This columnist, as is the custom,
attended all the church programmes at St. Paul's Baptist Church; St. Mark's
Baptist Church; and at Mt. Carey Baptist Church. The congregation which
has hived off from Mt. Carey Baptist Church led by Rev. Dr. Philip Rahming
also held a programme at Dr. Rahming's home in Nassau East. Dr. Rahming
and his new congregation will be building a new church on land which they
are purchasing on Prince Charles Drive in New Providence. The day was a
day of fun for all. The highlight of Fox Hill and Emancipation Days was
the climbing of the greasy poll. The Tribune of Wednesday 8 August carried
pictures of the festivities in Fox Hill.
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A VISIT TO
THE ALMA MATER
Kathryn Leary, her daughter and teaching assistant Diana Burrows were our
gracious hosts during a visit of this senator and assistant Lee Davis for
a three day stint of speaking engagements by this Senator. The photos were
taken by Lee Davis and show the panelists on the discussion about the development
of web and its use in commerce and business. Thank you to Kathryn Leary
and to Robert Devine, the President of Antioch (pictured with this columnist
at right) for such a warm welcome. You can click at the top of this site
for the full text of the address by this Senator at Antioch on Friday 11
August. One hopes to come back again soon!
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FOX HILL DAY
AND IT FULL POTENTIAL
We caused an informal survey of the vendors at Fox Hill day to determine
whether or not the day actually fulfils its full potential. First you are
aware that Fox Hill is the only community in The Bahamas that celebrates
the Emancipation of the slaves. The fact is that apart from the Junkanoo
celebrations at Christmas time, this is the only salute in our country
to our African heritage. And yet the FNM's representative Juanianne Dorsett
has been an absolute disaster for the festival. She and her political ideologue
friend William Rahming have turned the matter into a complete FNM platform.
She has excluded PLPs from the Festival Committee and made a mockery of
what the day is all about. Just before the day, she and her team rushed
up and cleaned and painted the Park. It is a disgrace. The problem then
becomes the fees charged to the vendors to participate in the Festival.
Vendors complained that some of them did not even make their money back.
So they lost money all around. This columnist has been saying that there
is a need to set revenue goals for the Festival. There is no reason why
within the week of Festival activities the Fox Hill community should not
see one million dollars in revenue from the Festival. But to do that we
must get rid of Juanianne Dorsett and the FNM. She is absolutely hopeless,
doesn't have a clue. Nice person and all that but simply hopeless.
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BLACK AND WHITE FIVE
GENERATIONS LATER
The official service for Emancipation Day was held at St. Anselm's
Roman Catholic Church in Fox Hill. Monsignor Preston Moss, Priest in Charge
and himself a descendant of Fox Hill, was the host. The sermon was delivered
by the Rev. Joseph Tozosoho, a Nigerian missionary in charge of Coke Methodist
Church, Fox Hill. It was interesting for an African brother with no history
of slavery talking to descendants of Africans in Fox Hill with a history
of slavery. What this columnist pointed out to the Reverend is that we
have been free in this country for 166 years, that is slightly more than
five generations. The point is that slavery is responsible for the social
profile of The Bahamas today. When you think about it, while there has
been some material progress, the structure of the society in terms of race
is exactly the same as it was five generations ago: a small white elite
of rich people at the top and the poor masses of blacks down at the bottom.
It permeates our thinking, our views about life. What is especially regrettable
is that the Government that is in office is content to let things remain
the way they are and are promoting anti-black feelings in the country.
For this the FNM is to be roundly condemned.
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INGRAHAM
AND THE BLACKLIST REPORT
The Prime Minister returned to the country last week on Thursday 2 August.
One assumes by now that most people know the story of the blacklist. The
country faces a crisis in its second largest industry in the offshore banking
sector because the U.S. Government and the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) have attacked The Bahamas for having a slack regulatory
system that facilitates money laundering and tax evasion. The U.S. has
issued a
warning to their banks about dealing with The Bahamas. The Bahamas
has to change its laws or the U.S. will add sanctions. The OECD has a blacklist
and The Bahamas has twelve months to get off that blacklist or face sanctions.
The Prime Minister when he returned from his US/Canada trip reportedly
ordered the Bahamas Information Services to keep the press far away from
him upon his return. He headed straight for home. One imagines he must
have had a huge headache, just thinking about how to explain his giving
away the candy store while on his trip to the United States and Canada.
Lynden Pindling, the Prime Minister before him and his mentor, gave the
country independence. Now the political son has given up the country's
independence without a fight. In the House of Assembly on Wednesday 9 August,
the Prime Minister came up with the ingenious explanation that the changing
of the laws at the request of the U.S. Government and the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development are in the best interest of The
Bahamas. He said that we cannot survive without it. Most people in public
life support that view. That is unfortunate because it seems like an entire
country has had its rights sold out from under it without a fight, and
no one has asked the Bahamian people about it. The House of Assembly was
presented with the first chance to change the law, the amendment to the
Evidence (request by foreign jurisdictions) Act. Section 4 of the act is
being amended to allow for requests for information to be honoured where
an investigation in the foreign state is merely contemplated. You can hear
the silent screams throughout the country.
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THE HOUSE
IS SUSPENDED
Perry
Christie, the Leader of the Opposition challenged the Prime Minister on
his approach to the blacklist question. In the absence of the Prime Minister,
Frank Watson, then Acting Prime Minister promised the Opposition Leader
that before matters were brought to the House of Assembly the Prime Minister
would brief the Opposition on what had transpired in Washington and Ottawa.
The matter soon turned into a political affray with Dr. Bernard Nottage
and Pierre Dupuch joining in. Dr. Nottage called the Parliament of The
Bahamas "the worst run in the region, with a Government led by a Prime
Minister with no respect. Mr. Dupuch accused the Government of taking orders
from Washington. He told the Government that they misled the country. This
caused the somnambulant Minister of Foreign Affairs Janet Bostwick to get
up and say that no such thing was the case. This is repeating the lie that
was told by the Government in a press statement last week. Frank Watson
got up and apologized for not following through on what he had said and
the House was suspended so that a private briefing for the Opposition could
take place.
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HOW
INGRAHAM BEHAVED IN WASHINGTON
Giving away the entire candy store takes a special talent or so it
seems. The Prime Minister has developed how to take orders from the bigger
bosses to a fine art. Some have said this is because of his growing up
in the black townships of Abaco. He is used to taking orders. And so he
met with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers. He also met
with Janet Reno who was said to be sympathetic but unmoved about The Bahamas
situation. Mr. Summers was reportedly cordial. The U.S. Ambassador Arthur
Schecter was extremely helpful and eased the passage, and was reportedly
more of an advocate for The Bahamas than the Bahamian Prime Minister. But
at the end of the day, as they say, in the first five minutes of the meeting,
Mr. Summers told the Prime Minister, the changes must be made to the Bahamian
laws or the advisory by the US will not be lifted and The Bahamas will
face sanctions. What will sanctions mean? The banks in the U.S, will then
be prohibited from dealing with Bahamian banks. That as they say would
be an absolute disaster.
Back To The Top
BRADLEY
ROBERTS ON THE BLACKLIST
PLP MP Bradley Roberts speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday
9 August called for the Government to quit. Mr. Roberts said that the Government
should "hand in its resignation or risk having Bahamians fire them with
extreme prejudice". He added: "The love affair that the Member for North
Abaco (Hubert Ingraham) believed he had with the United States is over.
One could easily characterize this bill as being the results when two promiscuous
lovers finally fall out. Click
here for the full text of his speech.
Back To The Top
TENNYSON
WELLS ON THE BLACKLIST
Poor Mr. Tennyson Wells. He is no longer in the Cabinet and can't quite
get himself to attack the Government. He is clearly disturbed about the
actions of the Prime Minister on this blacklist. You will remember that
Mr. Wells is the insurgent would-be leader of the FNM, and is about to
face Mr. Ingraham down at the FNM's convention in the fall. In his address
in the Parliament on Wednesday 9 August, he criticized the Prime Minister
for the handling of this crisis and reluctantly supported the change in
the law.
Back To The Top
THE SENATE
TO MEET ON NEW BLACKLIST LAW
The Senate last met in early July, and at that time the Senate adjourned
sine die. Its last bit of business was to give away the land of The Bahamas
at Clifton to a private developer. This was done over the protests of the
Opposition and this Senator. The Senate then adjourned sine die. This is
the only legislative House in The Bahamas that does that. Imagine that
the Government with a host of legislation that it wants to pass cannot
arrange its legislative business in such a way as to give the Senate a
steady stream of work to do. The Senate has now been called back. The House
finished its debate on the Evidence (proceedings of other jurisdictions)
Act on Thursday 10 August at about one p.m. The Senate met at 3 p.m. on
Thursday, two hours later. The Bill is to be debated on Monday 14 August.
And that, as they say, will be that. The Prime Minister wants to jaunt
off to France next where he will bow down before the OECD authorities there.
He wants to have this new amendment in hand to show the goodwill of the
Government. The French Government led by Laurent Fabius is leading the
charge in the OECD. We have asserted before that this is a problem of tax
revenue being lost to the developed countries including those larger countries
in South America like Chile and Argentina. Meanwhile tiny Liechtenstein
in Europe has announced that it is amending its laws to abolish anonymous
bank accounts. This is also in response to the initiatives against tax
and money laundering by the OECD.
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NORMAN SOLOMON
ON INDEPENDENCE
Paul Adderley, the last Minister of Finance for the PLP, was livid
one day in the House of Assembly during a session in the late 1970s. Norman
Solomon was then the Leader of the Opposition. He was interrupting Mr.
Adderley. Mr. Adderley shouted back: "Now you shut up. When I want to know
how to sell pink pants, I speak to you." Mr. Solomon is a clothing merchant
amongst other things. But Mr. Solomon, who is no longer in frontline politics,
is a frequent writer to the newspapers. People look forward to his comments.
The latest came in a letter to the editor about the remarks of the Leader
of the Opposition reported on this site to the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association's regional conference on the question of sovereignty. Mr. Christie
asked the delegates to consider what kind of sovereignty the countries
of the Caribbean now have, given the blacklist by the OECD and the demands
to change our national laws. Wrote Mr. Solomon in The Tribune of 8 August:
"In the months before our attaining independence, I spoke in many places,
not the least of which was the House of Assembly, and over and over again
I categorically stated that The Bahamas would always be as independent
as the United States allowed it to be. No more no less. Perhaps, Mr. Christie
and others now understand what I meant. Where there is no vision the people
perish." Mr. Solomon as you know campaigned against independence for The
Bahamas. The leopard does not change its spots.
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BAHAMAS STOCK
EXCHANGE AN ALTERNATIVE
The Tribune's business section of Tuesday 8 August reported that Brian
Taylor the CEO of the Bahamas Stock Exchange believes that the listing
of mutual funds on the international section of BISX will provide a part
of the answer to the concerns of the OECD and the U.S. authorities. He
says that in order to list mutual funds on The Bahamas Stock Exchange,
you will have to disclose fully and frankly. That is precisely what the
OECD and the US authorities want.
Back To The Top
WHO IS
ADVISING THE GOVT. ON BLACKLIST
We are concerned about the way this Government is developing the public
policy on the issue of the blacklist by OECD and the U.S. The Government
does not appear to have any independent advice. You have a mendicant Prime
Minister grovelling around from forum to forum and apparently accepting
any and all changes being suggested by the foreign authorities. The Financial
Services Board, the promotional arm of the offshore sector, has now put
together what it calls a Strategic Development Committee. That committee
is to advise the Government on changes that are needed, and changes that
should be agreed, and generally how to keep the industry on the up and
up. The committee includes the following according to The Tribune of Wednesday
9 August: Ian Fair, Chairman (banker); John Delaney, Deputy Chairman (lawyer);
Bruce Bell from Oceanic Bank and Trust; Gregory Cleare from KPMG; Larry
Gibson of Colina Financial Advisors; Patricia Hermanns from Global Life
(insurance); Lynn Holowesko (FNM politician and lawyer); Ishmael Lightbourne
(accountant); Gregor Maisen (banker); Barry Malcolm from the Board; Brian
Moree (attorney); Betty Roberts (banker); James Smith, Ambassador for Trade;
Judy Whitehead (attorney) and Ray Winder (accountant). These are all good
people but the problem is that we are in the problem of the blacklist while
these persons were at the wheel running the private sector. These are the
same persons who were giving the Government advice all along. Surely, there
must be an independent group of advisors or other advice that can be obtained
to give us the eye on the industry that we require. This is like the mouse
being put to watch the cheese.
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ATLANTIS
HAS FINANCIAL BLUES
Sol Kerzner must have still been on honeymoon as the financial bad
news continued for Nassau's largest resort operation. Standard and Poors
(S&P), the international credit ratings agency has revised its outlook
for Atlantis parent company, Sun International Hotels, to negative over
certain concerns about management's longer term financial policy. S&P
was concerned about the failure of Sol and his son Butch to take the company
private. They are concerned about their plans, even after that failure,
to buy back some five million dollars in common stock at 24 dollars per
share. It also noted the postponement of plans by Sun in the US and at
Paradise Island. The rating has been dropped to BB, while its subordinated
debt went to B. S&P is concerned about the amount of debt by the company
and the aggressive financial tactics of the Kerzners. Well, we are watching.
But of course old Sol has always been gambler, except with a public company
you have to be concerned about whose money you are using to gamble. Sun
has announced that its earnings at Paradise Island will fall this year
by some two to three million because of the renovations at the Paradise
Towers during the fall of this year. This story was reported in The Tribune
of Wednesday 9 August.
Back To The Top
MURDER RATE
IS UP AGAIN
Last week, we reported that the murder rate had risen to 43. Now it
has gone to 49 for the year. The latest murder victim died on Monday August
7. He was a Sandilands Village resident. Darrell Rolle, the former Minister
of Home Affairs remembers when he was Minister and the murder rate went
up to 8 for the year. There were calls for his resignation. But the country
was fast asleep as number 49 passed away. What has the FNM to say now?
Remember what they said? "If you get rid of the PLP you will get rid of
crime."
Back To The Top
REMEMBERING
MYRTLE BROWN
When this columnist was a student at Antioch College from 1970 to 1974,
he met a woman who as a short order cook at the cafeteria. Her name was
Myrtle Brown. She was about to visit Nassau and so this columnist gave
her the name of his mother. Ms. Brown and her friends had a fine time being
toured around the island. We became fast friends. This columnist last visited
Yellow Springs in 1984 just to see her, attending church with her. And
then we never met again, but this columnist has never forgotten the many
nights that she hosted our friends and ourselves to dinner and the many
kindnesses she showed. Myrtle Brown passed away in 1995 at the age of 94.
As a mark of respect this columnist visited the site of the grave at Yellow
Springs and laid roses on the grave. The photo by Lee Davis is of this
columnist and Ohio octogenarian Ruth Jefferson Wright who kindly took us
to locate the grave. May the soul of Myrtle Brown rest in peace! We shall
never forget her.
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SUBDIVISION
TO BE RENAMED FOR SIR LYNDEN
Rumours were going around the town of Nassau fast and furious that
Sir Lynden Pindling had died. The Nassau Guardian spoke to Sir Lynden and
published a report that denied the death with actual quotes from Sir Lynden
on Friday 3 August. That did not stop the rumours. So at the Emancipation
Day church service this columnist was being bombarded by telephone calls
and inquires about Sir Lynden's death. So we called Sir Lynden on the cell
phone from outside the church. He spoke to one of the women. That calmed
fears. There is no doubt, however, that Sir Lynden is gravely ill. But
up to press time he was still alive and kicking. Franklin Wilson, the Chairman
of Arawak Homes Limited has announced that on Monday 14 August the Cedar
Groves Housing Estate owned by the company will be renamed in honour of
Sir Lynden. Sir Lynden was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he is in
the end stages of the disease. We pray God's richest blessings upon him.
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NIGEL BOWE
LOSES HIS APPEAL
Six years after his conviction in a biased Miami court on drug conspiracy
charges and after being sentenced to 15 years in jail, Nigel Bowe, the
once prominent attorney has had his appeal dismissed. The conviction and
sentence have been upheld by a U.S. Appeals Court. Bahamians are generally
bitter about this conviction. Most think that Mr. Bowe did not get a fair
trial. Mr. Bowe may be freed on parole as early as next year.
Back To The Top
PARLIAMENTARY
SECRETARY RESIGNS
Gregory Williams, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
has resigned. This was reported by the daily press on Saturday 12 August.
He is being investigated by the police on a domestic violence charge.
A
VISIT TO THE BARNES IN OHIO
Dr. Eugene L. Barnes and Mrs. Barnes are shown with Senator Fred Mitchell.
Dr. Barnes used to fly to The Bahamas in the annual Bahamas Flyout started
by the late Hans Gruenhoff and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, now
discontinued. During the Senator's time at Antioch College, Dr. Barnes
provided hospitality, home-cooked meals and r&r. Dr. Barnes, now semi-retired
and Mrs. Barnes are shown at their home in Clayton, Ohio. It was wonderful
to see them.
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Disney
Wonder Inaugural Voyage - Police and security presence was reported
high at the harbour in Freeport Tuesday, 15 August as the Disney cruise
ship 'Wonder' made its inaugural voyage to Grand Bahama. Taxi drivers were
on their best behaviour as the nearly 4000 passengers disembarked, some
to board Grand Bahama Taxi Union buses. The buses have been at the heart
of an ongoing conflict between the taxi drivers and tour operators in Grand
Bahama. The Disney Wonder is scheduled to ply to Grand Bahama for twenty
five more visits, every other Tuesday.
Industrial Tribunal Call - Trade Unionist Hurye Bodye, president of the Commonwealth group of unions has called on the Government to keep the Industrial Tribunal functioning in Grand Bahama. Mr. Bodye pointed out that the six-month tenure of Tribunal Vice President Kelphene Cunningham is coming to an end. He revealed that he had written Prime Minister Ingraham with his concerns.
Quarrel Over Monopolies - A letter writer to the Freeport News this week raises questions about the distribution of licences and contracts by the Grand Bahama Port Authority to foreign businesses coming into Freeport, charging that 80% of the wealth in the city is shared by just 20% of the people.
A Wish
Come True - Miss Bahamas 1999/2000 Mikala Moss lunched with 10-year
old Avandi Wallace this week in Grand Bahama. Avandi graduated at the top
of her 6th grade class at Discovery Primary School. Miss Bahamas presented
Avandi with a signed trophy of congratulation on her academic performance.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
SHOULD
THE PRIME MINISTER HAVE GONE?
There is a fair degree of embarrassment about Hubert Ingraham these
days and his performance as Prime Minister in the wake of the so-called
blacklist by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD). We have been reviewing this situation for weeks, and you may click
below on previous columns to see what has been said about the issue. Briefly,
The Bahamas has been told to change its bank secrecy laws by the U.S. Government
and by OECD or face sanctions within a year.
The Prime Minister's response was not a considered response. Instead he ran off like a groveling mendicant with his cap in his hand begging the leaders of the free world to tell him what to do in The Bahamas. Many ask the question: is it appropriate for a Prime Minister to go knocking on the door of someone of lower rank in another Government? The protocol of it all seems wrong. Certainly, if his Minister of Finance Bill Allen was worth two cents, he would have done a credible job in trying to find out what needed to be done without needing the PM there to hold his hand.
What adds a little bit of humour to all of this is the fact that Senator Obie Wilchcombe was able to report in the Senate on Monday 14 August that the Prime Minister was shopping in Bloomingdale's when he was supposed to have been representing us abroad. But as one of his FNM Senators said justifying the trip to Bloomingdale's: "Everyone knows that Bahamians always use a business trip to do some shopping."
So this week again, The Bahamas is all up in arms about the blacklist, The Prime Minister and his party rushed through the Senate a law allowing evidence to be released to foreign courts even if there is only the contemplation of an investigation. We report how that all ended in the Senate.
This week we had 26829 hits up
to midnight 19 August for the month of August. Thanks for reading and keep
reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon
William Thompson. Click here.
| The PLP Position on Clifton | |
| www.johngfcarey.com | Thought provoking columns |
| http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/ | Canadian contacts Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links |
| http://members.tripod.com/~xtremesp/wolf.html | Bahamian Cycling News |
| http://www.bahamiansonline.com | Links to Bahamians on the web |
| http://www.bahamanet.com/JujuTree.cfm | Politics Forum |
A WALKOUT
IN THE SENATE
No
PLP senator could support the Bill that the Government brought to the Senate
on Monday 14 September. Someone had to stand up for the sovereignty and
independence of this country. And so it was that the issue was joined in
the Senate that fateful Monday. Marcus Bethel the PLP's Leader in the Senate
was clear and unremitting. The Government's position could not be supported.
It was abject surrender. Government by knee jerk. PLP Senator Obie Wilchcombe
pointed out the fallacy of the Government's argument that this was something
being imposed upon us from the outside. He was able to show by clear, irrefragable
evidence that the Government voluntarily agreed in November of 1992 in
Kingston at an international conference, to carry out the very things they
are now being forced to do. So all that was happening is that the U.S.
and OECD were asking us to live up to what we had already agreed. In that
set of agreements, one of the provisions said that bank secrecy was not
to be a reason for The Bahamas refusing to co-operate on money laundering
and drug matters. Yet Mr. Ingraham would have us believe that it was the
big bad developed countries that have us doing this.
Back To The Top
WHY PLP
SENATORS WALKED OUT?
Senator Marcus Bethel was furious. There is a convention of the Senate
between the Opposition and the Government that because of the numbers in
the Senate 12 for the Government and 4 for the Opposition, there would
be a two to one ratio of Speakers. Two for the Government followed by one
for the Opposition. This makes for a more balanced debate. The Government
has been ignoring this, by sitting on their fannies and letting all Opposition
speakers respond one by one and then getting up at the end to rebut everything
the Opposition has said. Marcus Bethel had had enough. Just before this
Senator was about to speak, he rose on a point of order to bring the matter
to the attention of the Government leader Dame Ivy Dumont. Her response
was that she owed no explanation to the Leader of the Opposition in the
Senate, and the Government did what it wished. The PLP left the debate
and walked out. We have had enough of this. The result was that we were
able to demonstrate the callous disregard for democratic fairness by Ivy
Dumont and the FNM. A press conference was held afterwards to explain the
PLP's position. The Tribune photo is shown.
Back To The Top
PUTTING
LYNN HOLOWESKO IN HER PLACE
The PLP is sick and tired of Senator Lynn Holowesko and her patronizing
attitude toward the PLP. She has been heard making off colour remarks about
PLP speakers from her seat but the limit for us was her comments in the
Senate while waffling to enable Senator Darren Cash to come in to do a
hatchet job on the Opposition in the debate on Monday 14 August. She claimed
that the PLP was manufacturing the truth. We quote from the Nassau Guardian
story by Vanessa C. Rolle what happened next: "The members marched out
of the Senate soon after the dispute arose between PLP Senator Fred Mitchell
and FNM Senator Lynn Holowesko during which Mitchell became infuriated
with her for adamantly suggesting that the Opposition's contributions and
allegations against the government were total fabrications and that "it
[Her Majesty's Official Opposition] would do its job better if it stuck
to the truth and if it would not mislead the Bahamian people.
Back To The Top
MORE
ON THE FIGHT IN THE SENATE
We continue with what The Nassau Guardian had to say following Senator
Lynn Holowesko's allegation that the PLP was manufacturing the truth: 'At
this point Senator Mitchell responded: "Go outside. You don't have to stay
here. Go in the next room. If you don't like it, carry your 'you know what'.
Go outside." These remarks provoked an immediate uproar among Government
Senators who demanded an apology from Mitchell whereupon Vice President
Geneva Rutherford put her hand down and called for order. PLP Senator Melanie
Griffin interjected, saying, "I've heard the member indicating that Opposition
Senators don't speak the truth. I sit on this side and I take grave exception
to that. I speak the truth as I see it. Now her truth is as she sees it.
I take grave exception to being called a liar or a manufacturer of the
truth."
Back To The Top
SHAME ON
IVY
The country was surprised that the mild looking grandmotherly Dame Ivy
Dumont would be able to rule with an iron fist. The performance in the
Senate on Monday 14 August revealed why the PLP has been saying all along:
never mind that calm exterior, inside is a will of steel. And it came out
in the dictatorial way that she handled her duties as Government Leader
in the Senate on Monday 14 August. She told Dr Marcus Bethel that she is
tired of him talking to her in what she considers a condescending manner,
translation because I am a mature woman you cannot speak to me as an equal,
you are a boy to me. Dame Ivy has actually had the temerity to complain
to Perry Christie, Leader of the Opposition about Dr. Bethel, asking Mr.
Christie to change the PLP's Leader in the Senate. Whether she realizes
it or not, the Opposition should not, cannot and will not be compliant
to her will and if that view continues there are more problems coming down
the road. Dame Ivy Dumont is pictured in the Nassau Guardian photo.
Back To The Top
WILLIAM ALLEN
MUST GO
The Opposition's Leader in the Senate Dr. Marcus Bethel has called
for the Minister of Finance William Allen to go. Dr. Bethel said that William
Allen ought to turn in his knighthood because of his failures as Minister
of Finance over the blacklisting of The Bahamas. He made his call in the
Senate on Monday 14 August. But in a separate development, Opposition spokesman
on Finance Philip Galanis accused Bill Allen, the hapless Minister of Finance,
of misleading the country. He revealed the following. He said that in the
September of 1992 and shortly after the FNM came to office, the Government
met with the U.S. Government and the U.S. Government outlined the same
concerns and made the requests for changes that we are now being forced
to make. The Government did nothing. In November of 1992, the Government
of The Bahamas agreed to implement the 40 recommendations of the Financial
Action Task Force of and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. There
were some 40 recommendations, all of which we are still being asked to
do today. The Government agreed to make the changes in 1992 in the Kingston
Declaration at a meeting in Jamaica. Then in October of 1996, The Bahamas
Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding affirming their commitment
to the 40 recommendations. Mr. Galanis argues then that our Government
agreed to all of this, but the Bahamian people were not told. Now the Minister
of Finance says that the Government deliberately did nothing because it
would have removed our competitive advantage in the offshore sector, so
the Government decided deliberately not to act until they were forced to.
These people are incredible. Have you ever heard such foolishness in all
your life. Bill must turn in his knighthood.
Back To The Top
PLP
TO ANNOUNCE NEW CANDIDATES
It is no secret that this Senator believes that the Opposition in the country
appears to be too compliant. We have to stand up on our hind legs and oppose.
We must draw the line in the sand and say this far and no further. This
is particularly so since the country is now listening to the PLP and its
spokesmen for the first time in 8 years. In this connection, the Leader
of the PLP Perry Christie has announced a series of public events. First
there is the announcement of four new candidates at a special meeting at
the Marriott Crystal Palace Hotel today Sunday 20 August. The candidates
are shown after the announcement with Party Leader Hon. Perry Christie,
Deputy Leader Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt and Chairman Obie Wilchcombe. From
left Kenyatta Gibson (Attorney) for Kennedy against Dr. Bernard Nottage;
Michael Halkitas (Investment Broker) for Adelaide against Deputy Prime
Minister Frank Watson; Veronica Owens for Garden Hills against Speaker
of the House Italia Johnson and Senator Melanie Griffin (Hotel Executive)
against Janet Bostwick, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is the representative
for Yamacraw. On Monday 21 August, there will be a town meeting at the
Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Hall in Farrington Road
at 8 p.m. to discuss the blacklisting of The Bahamas Financial Sector.
Special guest will be former Foreign Minister and Minister of Finance Paul
L. Adderley. Shadow spokesman on Finance Philip Galanis will also be a
speaker. The public is invited. And finally on Thursday 24 August, the
road show goes to Grand Bahama for a another public meeting at the Towers
at Bahamia Hotel in Freeport. The PLP will announce some of its candidates
for the constituencies of Grand Bahama. Amongst the candidates; Dr. Marcus
Bethel (MD) for High Rock against Ken Russell, the FNM MP; Anne Percentie
(Secretary) in Pineridge against Tourism Minister C. A. Smith; Senator
Obie Wilchcombe (Journalist), PLP Chairman against David Wallace in West
End and Bimini.
Back To The Top
THE PRIME
MINISTER THREATENS A GENERAL ELECTION
The knives are now out. It is clear what the strategy of Hubert Ingraham,
the chief slave of our country, is to get around his promise not to run
for a third term. After having come from Washington, having received the
terms of the surrender of the sovereignty of The Bahamas, he has told his
members of Parliament that he has more bills that he wants to bring that
will fundamentally changed the landscape of the Bahamas Financial Sector.
He says that he will present them as a package to his Parliamentary Committee.
If the Members of Parliament of the FNM do not approve those changes, then
he intends to hold a General Election. Of course there was a lot of salivating
at the mouth in the Parliamentary group. They have lost so much respect
for him that he has to threaten to keep them in line. The threat will make
no difference to the plans of Tennyson Wells who intends to oppose Hubert
Ingraham for the leadership of the FNM. Most people thought the Prime Minister
had reduced himself to a national joke.
Back To The Top
TENNYSON
WELLS' PLANS
The political tension within the FNM is palpable. You can cut it with
a knife. This is so even though on the surface they are happily celebrating
8 continuous years in power as of Saturday 19 August. They are supposed
to gather at St. Gregory's Anglican Church on Sunday 20 August to thank
Almighty God for their victory. And thank him they should because their
time is fast coming to an end. The FNM has announced that it will hold
its convention in November of this year. Mr. Wells says that he will launch
his campaign in earnest when the FNM holds its first convention in six
years come this November. He told The Tribune's Gerrino Saunders in the
Friday 18 August edition that that he expects at least five more senior
FNM politicians to challenge him for the position which the Prime Minister
intends to vacate in 2002. He said that as a Deputy, he expects Lester
Turnquest the MP for Malcolm Creek to run against Frank Watson, now Deputy
Prime Minister. Mr. Wells said that the Prime Minister has said that he
will not be seeking a third term in office: "I take him at his word and
I expect that he will live up to his word, and I expect that he will live
up to that."
Back To The Top
WHAT WILL
PIERRE DUPUCH DO?
The only politician in the House of Assembly to oppose by his vote
the pernicious amendment to the Evidence (Proceedings in other Jurisdictions)
Act 2000 which would allow foreign tribunals who are merely contemplating
civil or criminal proceedings to request information from our courts about
bank accounts in The Bahamas was Pierre Dupuch. Mr. Dupuch has been on
a roll since he was unceremoniously sacked by the Prime Minister in December
1999. He first accused the Prime Minister of withdrawing television from
the House of Assembly in an undemocratic fashion earlier this year and
hiding behind the skirts of the Speaker to defend himself. Now in the House
of Assembly on Thursday 10 August he accused the Prime Minister of misleading
the country and selling the country out to Washington. Observers and friends
say that Mr. Dupuch is so upset about what the FNM has become that he is
on the verge of resigning as a member of the FNM. He has reportedly told
friends that it is not the same party that he helped to build. You will
remember that after faithful years as Shadow Minister of Health Mr. Dupuch
was overlooked for a Cabinet position in the Government from 1992-1997.
It was only after the last General Election that a Ministry was cobbled
together for him. It was just as quickly dismantled after he was fired
in December. Further Mr. Dupuch feels that the Prime Minister is engaged
in a vendetta. He was recently made to pay $24,000 in duty to the Government
on imported paper which he believes was supposed to be duty free. He complained
to the Minister of Finance who said it should not be so but his print business
was nevertheless made to pay the $24,000. Look to hear more on the Dupuch
front.
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TAX EXCHANGE
TREATY IS COMING
You will remember that the PLP was fighting the U.S. Government during
the PLP's last years in office on the question of an information exchange
treaty on taxes. As we understand it, this will allow the Internal Revenue
Service of the United States to get their hands on income information about
U.S. citizens living in The Bahamas. The Bahamas has always resisted because
we have no income tax in The Bahamas and have no information to exchange.
We have resisted up to this point. Our refusal on the treaty damaged our
tourist industry in that most convention business from the U.S. dried up
after the Government refused. But the tourism sector continues to be healthy.
The U.S. position has always been that if we gave them the tax treaty then
they would allow conventions to come here and write off their expenses
against taxes. Sol Kerzner of Sun wants the treaty because it will help
fill his hotels with convention business. Barbados reportedly has had the
treaty in place for four years and they are still awaiting the designation
for convention business. Now the U.S. has raised the ante. They say that
if we want the advisory which they issued against our banking sector lifted,
we have to give them the tax information exchange treaty. So it is no longer
a passive position. They are now getting aggressive about it. That means
no tax treaty, then sanctions against our banking sector, that's what the
Prime Minister told 250 bankers gathered at a meeting called at his behest
on Wednesday 16 August. This news has sent shock waves through the industry.
The question many people are asking is what kind of industry will we have
by next year this time? Indeed will there be any?
Back To The Top
POTENTIAL
SHOCK WAVES IN THE ECONOMY.
Everywhere you travel in New Providence there are shiny new buildings
going up which will house private banks and offshore banks that come to
these shores for tax reasons. The new buildings have pushed land values
through the roof. The housing market has become so inflated because there
are so many foreigners coming looking for housing, and prices have skyrocketed.
That has put inflationary pressure on housing and land prices throughout
the island. The bank's portfolios have swelled as a result of these land
values and business for banks is booming. Every publicly traded bank this
year has recorded record profits: FINCO; British American, Commonwealth
Bank and CIBC. What happens then if this real estate market collapses,
as well it might if banks start moving out of here and the rents are no
longer there to sustain these brand new buildings. Ingraham ought to think
about all of that as he sells us down the drain. The U.S. itself ought
to think about the ripple effect of all of this on our economy and whether
or not this is in their best interests. What does the Florida business
community have to say with all the wealth of Bahamians now imperilled,
and all the money Florida merchants make from us each year?
Back To The Top
CONGRATULATIONS
TO ANTHONY WOODSIDE JR.
The Nassau Guardian published a front page photograph of Anthony Woodside
Jr. shaking hands with the Chairman of the Bahamas National Committee of
the United World Colleges former Ambassador L. B. Johnson. Mr. Woodside
the younger is the beloved son of Anthony Woodside Sr. and his wife Willidale
Woodside nee Roberts. His dad's nickname for us is 'Booba'. Mr. Woodside
Sr. works at The Bahamas Development Bank. He is a decent and hard working
man. Mr. Woodside Sr. is also the Treasurer of the FNM. This columnist
and the recipient's dad served in the National Alliance a precursor to
the Young Liberals, youth arm of the PLP. Mr. Woodside the younger was
also a participant in the Gentleman' s Club. We wish him well and he is
saying the right things. He plans to study at the Lester Pearson College
in Canada. He is looking at the business area. The College will take him
to grade 13 and will prepare him for university in Canada. He says that
society seems to be trying to push young males in the wrong direction,
and he hopes that more young males will head in the right direction. The
story was reported in the Nassau Guardian of Friday 18 August. Congratulations
again to the young Mr. Woodside and his parents.
Back To The Top
LEROY ARCHER
SUCCEEDS AT THE BREWERY
We remember when Leroy Archer started at the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau,
the bottlers of Kalik, Heineken, Guinness and Vita Malt. He started out
in the early days of the brewery as an accountant for the company. He has
now worked himself up to the point where he is the Financial Controller
for five breweries in the Caribbean. He resides in Florida to do his work.
He is the son of Grace and Leroy Archer. Both his parents were good friends
of the parents of this Senator. We both attended the same church as boys.
So it was especially pleasing to see Mr. Archer receive the Heineken Financial
Award for 1999. This was reported in the Nassau Guardian of Friday 18 August.
Mr. Archer is the 7th recipient and the first Bahamian. The award was presented
at the annual Heineken Financial Conference recently held in Greece for
financial managers in the Heineken network. Mr. Archer with great humility
said: "I owe my success to the team around me. Without them, it would not
have been possible." He was chosen for meeting the following criteria:
on-time reporting; original mind set; openness to new ideas; accuracy;
professionalism; possessing a helicopter view; showing initiative and demonstrating
superior analytical skills. We know that his fun loving mother who passed
away during the last year will be looking down and smiling, extremely proud,
Congratulations to him. The Nassau Guardian photo is shown.
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DROWNING
AT ATLANTIS
The family of a 12 year old boy who drowned in the lagoon at the Atlantis
Hotel, Paradise Island on Tuesday 8 August has retained attorneys in Florida
and has announced that they intend to sue Atlantis. The boy somehow got
into a part of the lagoon that should have been cordoned off, and was able
to displace a grate that he should not have been able to displace. At about
11:30 a.m. he did displace the grate and the result was suction of air
through the grate that trapped him in the vent which the grate protected.
He was unable to escape and he drowned. It appears from press reports and
sip sip that Atlantis was a ball of confusion in the face of the emergency.
No one knew what to do. It took a long time to get help and when help arrived
it was too late. The boy could not be freed. The reports say that it took
until 4:30 p.m. to actually free the boy from the vent. No one knew what
to do. Observers say that it was the saddest thing to see the mother of
the child weeping inconsolably at the side of he lagoon waiting for the
release of her son's body. Well as they say: "pay the people".
Back To The Top
MURDERS
UP AGAIN- THIS TIME IT'S 50
A Haitian man was murdered in front of a Laundromat at East Street
and Balfour Avenue. The victim was killed on Tuesday 15 August. His name
Lexian Paul Francois 34 years old. This brings the murder count to 50 for
the year. Some tried to suggest on a radio talk show, that this columnist's
remarks about the creolization of The Bahamas may have led to attacks on
Haitians. However, the employer of the person murdered called the talk
show on which this columned appeared on Friday 18 August and suggested
that his former employee was involved in the drug trade and it was selling
cocaine that got him in the problem of death and destruction. Nevertheless
the FNM did say that once you got rid of the PLP you would get rid of crime.
The PLP has been out of office for eight years. What do they say now?
Back To The Top
AIDS CASES
ON THE RISE
According to the Bahama Journal of Thursday 17 August a total of 500
HIV infections are predicted for this year marking an increase of 150 cases
when compared to last year, These statistics were given at an AIDS workshop
this week by Dr. Perry Gomez, the Director of the National AIDS programme.
Some 125 new HIV infections have been recorded for the first three months
of this year. This is again an alarming trend. It indicates that younger
people are relaxing once again abut this epidemic. We are concerned. Meanwhile,
the Government has announced that anti-discrimination legislation for AIDS
infected persons is soon to come.
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US HUMAN
RIGHTS REPORT ON THE BAHAMAS
The U.S. Embassy has released to this Senator a copy of its annual
human rights report mandated by the United States Congress on The Bahamas.
The report is generally favourable, except for criticisms of the jail which
it says continues to be overcrowded, reports of police brutality; and the
backlog of cases in the courts. What is of most interest is the following
from the report: " ...In 1996, the Government established a specific minimum
wage of $4.12 per hour for all hourly and temporary workers throughout
the public sector. In view of the high cost of living, this wage alone
would not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family."
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BAHAMAS
OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES THE TEAM
The Tribune of Thursday 17 August reported that a total of 43 athletes
will travel to Sydney, Australia for the 2000 Olympic Games. These will
include a total of 21 track and field athletes, including the husband and
wife team of Iram Lewis an Eldice Clarke-Lewis. The hope is that our one
hundred metre and relay teams will get gold medals at this year's Olympics
after the women won the silver in Atlanta four years ago and the gold at
the world championships.
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EXPLOSION
AT SHELL LEAVES 2 INJURED
An explosion at the Shell Bahamas Clifton Pier plant Saturday 19 August
has left two people badly burned. One of the two is Garland Elliott, a
close friend and neighbour of this columnist. He is the son of Robert and
Eleanor Elliott of Collins Avenue. The other person is 64 year old James
Been who is a contractor for Shell. The two have been airlifted to the
Burns Unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital. The explosion occurred
while they were cleaning one of the fuel tanks. It is not certain what
caused the explosion, but there was a lightning storm around a the time,
or there is speculation that there may have been some spontaneous spark
from scraping metal in the tank.
BAD BOY
DENTRY MORTIMER BANNED AGAIN
The Tribune Friday 18 August reported that Dentry Mortimer, the talented
but hot-tempered young tennis player will be prevented from competing in
the next two Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association sanctioned tournaments for
a fight at a tournament this summer. This is the result of an altercation
at the Esso Junior Nationals 2000 with Sean Sands, who will also be denied
entry into two tournaments. Mr. Sands is alleged to have made a derogatory
remark about Mr. Mortimer's mother. You will remember that Mr. Mortimer
was suspended for one year after previous disciplinary problems.
Back To The Top
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Unions Study Blacklisting - Grand
Bahama Shop Stewards of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering & Allied Workers
Union joined counterparts from New Providence and other islands at the
beginning of an week long union training programme in Nassau this week.
The programme is being run by the Hotel Union to bring the Shop Stewards
up to date on the impact of The Bahamas Financial Services Sector blacklisting.
Multiplying Mosquitos - The Department of Environmental Health on Grand Bahama has stepped up its anti-mosquito campaign in the face of rising public complaints about the pests. This year, the flying biters are causing concern across the island. The problem is being blamed on little rain which, when it did fall, triggered the hatching of dormant mosquito eggs.
Prominent Grand Bahama Tennis
Girls - Two thirds of the three member Bahamas National Tennis Team
at the World Junior Tennis Championships in the Czech Republic this year
is from Grand Bahama. The Freeport News pictured Shari Dillett and
Jessica Sweeting. Nassau's Alana Rodgers is the third member of the team.
Mikala Farewell - Miss
Bahamas, Grand Bahama's own Mikala Moss is nearing the end of her reign.
We shall miss her constant and photogenic presence on the national stage.
Pindling Family
Views Sir Lynden: Click Here.
 SIR LYNDEN'S FUNERAL MONDAY - PUBLIC HOLIDAY
DECLARED
A state funeral for Sir Lynden Pindling has been announced to take place on Monday, 4 August at 11am at the Church of God of Prophecy, East Street Nassau. The Government has declared that day to be a public holiday. Sir Lynden, the former Prime Minister and father of the nation died just in the early hours of Saturday 26 August at home at the age of 70. He leaves his widow Lady Marguerite Pindling, his children Obie, Leslie, Michelle Sands and Monique Johnson. Sir Lynden will lie in state at the House of Assembly from Thursday and PLP Senators and Members of Parliament will view the body at 10 on Thursday morning. PLP SERVICES - The Progressive Liberal Party will hold a memorial service for Sir Lynden Thursday evening at Mount Tabor Baptist Church and a public service of thanksgiving for the life of Sir Lynden on Friday evening at Windsor Park. Sir Lynden is shown sharing a laugh with this columnist at a recent birthday celebration held in his honour by the Fox Hill branch of the Progressive Liberal Party. |
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
(WE WILL UPDATE THIS SPOT WITH LATEST INFORMATION ON SIR LYNDEN O.
PINDLING)
SIR LYNDEN PINDLING DIES
The former Prime Minister and father of the nation Sir Lynden O. Pindling died just after midnight 25 August. He died at home at the age of 70.
He leaves his widow Lady Marguerite Pindling, his children Obie, Leslie, Michelle Sands and Monique Johnson. We are saddened by this untimely
passing of a great hero of this country. The Prime Minister visited his bedside yesterday and kissed him good-bye. In a statement issued at 3
a.m. on the 26 August, the Prime Minister called him his mentor and described himself as Sir Lynden's protégé and the object of his largesse.
The scene in Nassau is an emotional one as the country is plunged deep into mourning. Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie described Sir Lynden as the greatest Bahamian, a friend confidant and the father of the nation. He was at Sir Lynden's side at his passing.
Former Leader of the Opposition Norman Solomon visited the bedside 25th
August and immediately burst into tears. And so it was all day. It is truly a sad national occasion. This site will be updated almost daily as funeral
arrangements are made known.
It was a heart-wrenching and difficult experience for this columnist to stand by the side of his mentor and friend and watch him draw what were amongst his last breaths. The day was Friday 25 August, and in the room was the Rev.
R.E. Cooper, Pastor of Mission Baptist Church, Hay Street New Providence; Lady Marguerite
Pindling, wife of Sir Lynden; Sir Lynden's daughters Michelle Sands and Monique Johnson and law clerk at Gwendolyn House Lee Davis.
The grandchildren could be heard in the distance, fun loving but oblivious to the seriousness of the time.
One could not be sure that Sir Lynden, temporarily roused out of sleep, could recognize that this columnist had come to pay his respects but he seemed to acknowledge that fact. It was clear that the end was coming fast.
Sir Lynden's passing marks the end of an era. He is considered by all to be the father of the modern Commonwealth of The Bahamas, having led the country peacefully through majority rule in 1967 and independence in 1973.
He served as Premier then Prime Minister from 1967 to 1992. He retired from the House of Assembly, undefeated as a Member of Parliament after 41 years dating from 1956 to 1997. He suffered three defeats as Leader of the PLP-1962, 1992 and 1997. He leaves behind one hell of a legacy.
His finest historic hour was throwing the Speaker's mace from the House of Assembly on Black Tuesday 27 April 1965. He led a peaceful crowd of thousands to the Southern Recreation grounds. That demonstration led to victory in the poll of 1967.
And we were led in prayer by Rev. R. E. Cooper. We prayed for recovery but we also prayed that the Lord's will be done. It was a mind-boggling experience for this columnist who remembered the first day we met; lunch at the British Colonial with him in 1969 as a student, through working with him as Prime Minister; opposing him as a dissident and then negotiating a return to the PLP in 1996 in Baltimore as he began his valiant fight against prostate cancer. Shakespeare wrote: " What a piece of work is man? " But in the end as those immortal words at Anglican funerals say: "We are dust and unto dust we shall return."
This week we had 34,162 hits on the site for the month of August.
Thanks for reading and keep reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
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Last week we announced the names of the four new PLP candidates that
were named at last Sunday's press conference. The announcement has gone over well with our supporters and friends. This week, we show their
pictures again. The photos appeared in the Nassau Guardian of 21 and 22 August together with a story commenting on the number of female
candidates being offered by the PLP. What was surprising about the story is the fact that Mark Symonette who wrote it did not know that it was the
PLP who had a woman first serve in the Cabinet. He claimed that it was the FNM that did it. No Mr.
Symonette, and no to your political master
at the Nassau Guardian. The Late Dame Doris Johnson served first as Minister without portfolio and then as Minister of Transport in the
Government from 1967 to 1972. The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie wants the PLP to have at least 12 female candidates for office in the
next general election. If there are persons whether male or female who are interested in running for the PLP, we are interested in hearing from
you. The photo shows Kenyatta Gibson (left), PLP candidate for Kennedy, the seat now held by Dr. Bernard
Nottage and Michael Halkitis, the PLP
candidate for Adelaide, now held by Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson. Also, there is Senator Melanie Griffin, PLP candidate for
Yamacraw,
the seat
now held by Foreign Affairs Minister Janet Bostwick and Veronica Owens, the PLP candidate for Garden
Hills, the seat now held by the Speaker of
the House Italia Johnson.
Back To The Top
DEPUTY PM SPEAKS OUT ON HAITIANS
The Tribune carried a headline on Friday 25 August which read: CALL FOR
COMPASSION. The story went on to say that Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson advised Bahamians to treat Haitians in the community legal or
illegal with compassion and understanding. That is fine as well as it goes. Certainly, if the reports are true and we say if, that there has
been a spate of attacks on Haitians living in The Bahamas, then this must be stopped and stopped quickly. Who is responsible for that is Frank Watson, the DPM and the Minister of National Security? The question is:
what is he doing about it? What we do not need is mealy-mouthed dishonest and politically motivated statements of sympathy. What he is trying to do is set up his statement about compassion which he does not believe for one minute against the calls for enforcement of our immigration
laws in The Bahamas by this spokesman for immigration. Mr. Watson has failed as Minister of National Security to fight crime. He has failed
to stem the tide of break-outs from the prison over which he has charge. His colleague the Minister of Immigration has not been able to stop the flood of illegal refugees into the country. So Mr. Watson don't
come with these crocodile tears in your eyes. You never spoke a word for compassion in all the time you have been Minister as the refugees
suffered in the detention centre in the most appalling conditions. Now you would have us believe that you have compassion for the refugees. Give us a break!
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MITCHELL ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
This columnist was the guest speaker at Rotary of West Nassau on
Thursday 24 August. The topic: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. While much of the speech concentrated on the underclass of economic refugees, this columnist
identified a new threat, the illegal immigrants from the developed world. Here is some of what was said: " Then there are the thousands who
simply come in with their tools of the trade in their bags to fix printing machines and computers, sell goods and services, design systems and jump
on the plane the next morning and leave. In the construction industry, you have persons who come in as tourists, live as tourists, actually
run architectural firms, construction firms and engineering firms. To protect their tourist status, they simply leave on the weekends and
return on Mondays... The problem is that this group [Europeans and North Americans] is indistinguishable from your average
tourist to the country, and so is able to melt into the wood work, while making hundreds of thousands of dollars at the expense of Bahamian
professionals. There is also the significant loss of revenue to The Bahamas Government of the fees and taxes that may be collected from
licensed activities by Bahamians..."
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CHRISTIE TOURS GOVT. SCHOOLS
The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie, the Deputy Leader Cynthia
'Mother' Pratt and Bradley Roberts, PLP Leader in the House, took a tour of Government schools to review the state of readiness for the
opening of the schools. What they found at the Garvin Tynes Primary School was appalling. The story is that the school just built during the past
year by Maljack Construction, buddies of the Prime Minister, was condemned as unfit for use by the Ministry of Works. The Leader's visit
confirmed that even as workmen scrambled to put in place new structural, electrical and plumbing work during the Leader's tour. The Government
was caught red handed on this one. The Tribune photo shows the Leader with Deputy Leader Cynthia "Mother" Pratt on Thursday 24 August.
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CHAOS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LOANS
You know that the Ministry of Education cobbled together a programme to
beat the PLP to the punch on supporting College students to pay for their tuition and
expenses while abroad at university. They came up with the loan scheme that would allow students to borrow from the Bank of
The Bahamas money which the Government would underwrite. The impression one got was that students needed to apply at the Bank of The Bahamas
for what they wanted and the monies would be granted. Not so! The applications still had to go through the Ministry of Education. The Ministry
was hopelessly late with processing some 1000 applications. Two hundred students were accommodated, not all as they gave the impression, and others were turned down. The students who got loans did not get what
they wanted nor needed. One case some one asked for 16,000 and got 9,000. The mealy- mouthed Minister of State for
Education Zhivargo Laing claims that it all went smoothly. The picture published in The
Tribune shows chaos and students were quoted bad-mouthing the Ministry of Education for their tardiness, sloppiness and general disorganization.
Back To The Top
PM ON EARLY
ELECTIONS MAYBE?
Poor chief slave. He is a worried man. With Tennyson Wells, his
former Minister and the would be FNM leader pressing him at every turn, he is now seeing conspirators around every corner. A very worried looking,
bloated and overweight Prime Minister was pictured (see Guardian photo) "celebrating" the eighth anniversary of their long and dreadful night
in power. In his address to those gathered at St. Gregory's Anglican Church at Carmichael Road he said the following on Sunday 20 August: "Having been entrusted with a mandate which expires in April 2002, I hope and trust that, God willing, I and you, will find ourselves in the
House of God to celebrate our 9th consecutive year as the governing party in August 2001... Should events, circumstances or personalities conspire so that such a reality does not eventuate, I wish now to say how
grateful, how satisfied, I am to have been one of the instruments by and through which so much good has been accomplished for so many during my
years of service." Of course this is all namby-pamby self-serving bulls... What he has done is given up the sovereignty of this country, sold
out the land for a mess of porridge and underneath it all is a legacy of over extended consumers neck-deep in debt and infrastructure and
governmental systems that do not work. But he is practices in the art of self-congratulations. Don't be fooled by this kind of mawkish nonsense.
The fact is that Tennyson Wells and company are nipping at his heels. The Prime Minister is universally despised in his party. He is only
talking election to frighten the boys in line. Of course they have made it plain they couldn't care less. His
a..s is out!
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DID INGRAHAM MAKE PEACE WITH PINDLING?
Just as he was busy celebrating his 8th anniversary in power, comes something else with which our Chief Slave Prime Minister has to contend. It is a matter which must rest on his conscience: did he make his piece with
Pindling? We wonder what he has to say?
Back To The Top
AN UNETHICAL TRIBUNE REPORTER
There is a problem in the profession of journalism in The Bahamas. In the main most reporters are honest people, but they don't in
many instances have the role models that should teach them how to behave. One of the few places still left where there is an understanding between what is editorializing and what is news is The Tribune. That is why it was absolutely shocking to see the name of Rogan Smith, a reporter who
works for The Tribune write an angry and bitter letter to the newspaper in which she attacked this columnist saying that she was sick and tired of
this columnist carrying out his responsibilities as a Senator and Opposition politician. She sounds like someone who is the child of a very
bitter FNM ideologue, who is simply blinded by hatred. It is one of the bitterest letters you could ever read, like Shakespeare's proverbial
woman scorned, although this columnist does not know the reporter from Adam. It was of course with no surprise published in the Nassau Guardian
and not in The Tribune itself on Wednesday 23 August. The fact that the Editor of The Guardian is the national example of unethical behavior
in journalism tells us how that letter could be published. It will be interesting to see what The Tribune will now do. The reporter is apparently unrepentant about her comments, mixing up her role as a
journalist with her right to her opinion. For a young person; stupidity and ignorance can be forgiven. And perhaps it is because of stupidity or ignorance or perhaps willfulness that the letter was written.
But whether one is or is not, you have disgraced your profession by
engaging in a clearly tendentious exercise. You now put yourself into the public domain and open yourself to public criticism. One thing we can be sure of is that anything associated with the PLP or with Fred Mitchell you will be unable to report on. You simply do not have the
independence of mind on the question. One further bit of advice, if you don't want read what this columnist writes or hear what he says, shut your ears
and close you eyes. Blindness and ignorance can be fun so we are told. Shame on you!
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NEW MISS BAHAMAS
Nakera Simms was chosen to be the new Miss Bahamas last Sunday night at the 39th annual Miss Bahamas Pageant held at Atlantis Paradise Island.
Miss Bahamas now has the franchise for both the Miss Universe and Miss World contests. The first runner up will go to Miss World and the
winner goes to Miss Universe. The contest (you will not be surprised to hear) was not without controversy. This year, the talk shows were lit up with criticism of what is politely called "the crop of girls". First of all
they are women, not girls and the whole business of a meat market is a bit demeaning. Any way, the crowd loves it and people routinely go to the contest to guffaw at the faux
pas of the women. And there were plenty this year, apparently. The Guardian and Tribune had lively letters
in the newspapers and headlines which suggested that the contest was a disgrace. The Guardian even took time in an editorial to say how
mean-spirited the public was about it. Most people like the choice of the winner. The act is that the young women who enter these contests are
intelligent, beautiful and they do well socially, well after they have ended their time as Miss Bahamas. And so since beauty contests are not
politically correct, one stays from being effusive but the people vote with their feet on the subject. We show the new Miss Bahamas in a
Tribune photo.
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US AND BRITISH AMBASSADORS ON BLACKLIST
Things get curiouser and curiouser as it was said in Alice in Wonderland. There was a joint letter published in all newspapers in the country
on Wednesday 23 August signed by the British and American Ambassadors to The Bahamas. They were defending their country's stand on the
blacklisting of The Bahamas by OECD. The Ambassadors took umbrage at the suggestion of some Bahamians that the two countries through OECD were infringing on the sovereignty of The Bahamas. Not so they said! They were
exercising their own sovereignty and Bahamians were badly mistaken if they thought otherwise. Poppycock.! The letters seemed a bit patronizing
and elementary. Clearly the US and Britain have a right to get taxes to support their states. They are both great countries that provide a high standard of living for their citizens. But The Bahamas has a duty
to do the same for our citizens. Our question is whether in exercising one's right of sovereignty, it is in the national interest of a
powerful country to exercise that right in such a way as to destroy the economy and way of life of another state, which can only be to the detriment
of the developed state who put the pressure on? Further, this whole approach of OECD has taken on the makings of a moral crusade, which it
surely is not. There is no moral dimension to being a tax haven country.
But what we will say is that these two Ambassadors: Arthur Schecter for the US and Philip Culligan for the British did a better job than the
Prime Minister of The Bahamas in explaining to the Bahamian people why we are doing what we are doing to dismantle the offshore sector. Hmmm!
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MURDER RATE UP AGAIN
We are able to report with increasing regularity that there is another murder this week. The total is now 51 for the year. Well you know
what they said: "If you get rid of the PLP, you will get rid of crime." The PLP has been out of office of 8 years, so what have they got to say now? They say: "Apart from murder crime is down".
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ONE IS DEAD AFTER SHELL EXPLOSION
Last week, we reported that James Been, 64 and Robert Garland Elliott, were seriously burned and flown to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital after an explosion in a fuel tank at the Shell tank farm at Clifton. James Been has died following complications from his injuries. Up to press time Garland, this columnist's former
neighbour, is still holding his
own. He has a difficult way to go with burns over 75 per cent of his body, many of them third degree burns. His mother Eleanor was a great help to the mother of this columnist during her long illness. A good neighbour and we wish the family well in these trying times. Shell has announced an investigation.
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POLICEMAN DIES IN CUSTODY
This columnist has sympathy for people who are in custody. They are not responsible for their care and are not in control, of their movements
and security. It is the state's responsibility to ensure that they are safe. It always grieves one to hear therefore of the death of an
inmate in prison especially in suspicious circumstances. Now a policeman Mario Don Seymour who was convicted in October 1999 of raping a woman who
was a suspect in his custody at a police lock up is dead. One supposes that the jury would not have known that they were giving him a death
sentence. There is a lot of talk about how it happened but all we know is that he died with a wound to his head. The talk around the
prison is that it is self-inflicted in a failed attempt to be transferred to Sandilands Hospital. The Minster of National security owes the
country a full and frank explanation. A denial of freedom is enough, no one deserves to be left to die in prison from lack of care and
inattention. It should at least be a safe place to be.
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LABOUR BILLS BACK IN PARLIAMENT
The FNM Government continues on its relentless march to break the labour movement in the country. After having digressed from the avowed
intention to pass these regressive five labour bills into law by 31 July because of the blacklisting problem, the FNM brought the trade union and
labour relations bills back to Parliament. The Bill will force unions in to such expensive reporting requirements and open up their books to
the public. The ILO has raised concerns. The Opposition opposes the bills largely because of the attempt to break unions, it is patently obvious. We believe that trade unionism is fundamental to democracy in this country. The debate was led by Dion Foulkes the Minister of Labour
who claimed that these will strengthen labour in The Bahamas. With friends like that labour does not need enemies. PLP Leader Perry Christie
took another tack, he said the government botched all the bills when he spoke on Wednesday 23 August. The Minister has said that all the bills will have to be substantially amended.
"So," said Mr. Christie "why are we
debating bills that are not in final form?"
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MANUAL DIAZ CHARGED WITH THEFT
Remember Manuel Diaz who was given million dollars of taxpayers money of The Bahamas after last year's hurricane to plant
trees to make this island a veritable garden. So said the Prime Minister. It still looks like a dump to us but anyway we will let that pass. Now comes the report from the Associated Press that Mr. Diaz has
been charged with grand theft in a Miami Court for stealing some 2000 trees,
worth a million dollars from the Miami-Dade Government. Diaz denies the charges and says it is an election year vendetta of the
prosecution. He faces up to thirty years in jail. Let's hope Mr. Ingraham, his friend who gave him our money, will be willing to visit him there if that's
where he ends up. By the way, one hopes that none of those missing trees are in The Bahamas. After all DPM Watson did say that he got the
trees for free but had to pay 200 dollars each to Mr. Diaz to plant them. The story was reported in The Tribune of Friday 25 August.
Back To The Top
CURRENCY DECLARATION ACT ON HOLD
Last week the Prime Minister revealed that he had decided to put the Currency Declaration Act on hold for now because of the objections from
the Association of International Banks and Trusts (ABIT). Bahamians have been making noise about this stupid bill that will require you to declare to Bahamian authorities any monies over ten thousand dollars you are bringing into the
country since
it was put forward. Right now the US authorities require you to declare the amount when entering their country from ours. This bill is patent nonsense and a blatant interference in private property rights. But no Mr. Ingraham
ignored his own Bahamian voters until those who whom he
considers his social and genetic betters told him that they could not support it. We do not know how long it will be on hold, but that explains why
the Government has not moved it forward in the Senate. Bruce Bell, Chair of AIBT says that the legislation could create an administrative nightmare. The story was reported in The Tribune business section on Friday
25 August.
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KEN KERR ON THE BLACKLIST
Ken Kerr, the investment banker, is back in the news again. He started
writing a regular column again in The Tribune's Business Section. Didn't see one this week, but he was in the Nassau Guardian in full flight
criticizing the approach to the blacklisting problem saying that the offshore sector had not been properly consulted. Mr. Kerr is pictured from The Nassau Guardian of Thursday 24 August. Mr. Kerr is a principal
in Colina Financial Advisors Limited.
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ALLAN MURRAY
TRIES FOR A THIRD TIME
The Olympics is coming up in Sydney, Australia. The team is picked.
See our story last week. Alan Murray, the swimmer, has qualified for a third time and he hopes that this is the lucky time, despite his more
developed frame. He has youngsters looking up to him and perhaps it will be good for him to be there to help out. We wish him luck. The
Tribune carried a story in its sports section on Friday August 25 showing Mr. Murray in the pool with younger team-mate Jeremy Knowles. Good luck
to the both of you.
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GILBERT MORRIS NEXT WEEK..
Bahamian Professor Gilbert Morris writes about the blacklist next week. Owing to space problems we hold it over until next week. Look for it!
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NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Technical difficulty with the news from Grand Bahama this week.
On Wednesday night, Ms. Leary assembled a panel of specialized and interesting
speakers to talk about the Internet and the World Wide Web. It is clear
that this is the tool of the present and very much the tool of the future.
We present a picture spread below. What is fascinating is how the growth
of this web site which began with a wing and a prayer in 1998 reflects
the explosive growth of the web itself as a tool for business and communication.