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Note from the Publisher:
CHECK THIS SPOT FOR ANY EMERGENCY UPDATE ON ARCHDEACON WILLIAM
THOMPSON. WE WILL POST IT BY 12 NOON EACH DAY IF IT BECOMES NECESSARY.
WHAT IS THE COUNTRY COMING TO?
The
question in our headline was one that was being asked throughout the country
as the Archdeacon William Thompson, the senior Anglican cleric struggled
for his life in the Princess Margaret Hospital. The country was shocked
by the fact that he had been gunned down in the church's rectory at 3 a.m.
on Monday 29 May after a would be robber in a ski mask was unable to get
the Archdeacon or his wife to open the safe in the rectory and disgorge
its contents. The fact is that there was no money in the safe. The only
difficulty turns out to have been the nervousness of the two people to
get the blessed safe open. We have a more detailed report below.
But we started out by saying that the country was shocked. But was the country really shocked? Who is the country? Is the country that class of people who surround the politicians like this columnist and those other citizens who read this column, listen to the Bahamian radio and TV news or read our local papers? Is the country those people who gather at Anglican, Catholic, Baptist or other traditional religious bodies to worship or to mourn or to celebrate? Or is the country increasingly a class of people about whom we know little, who are a majority that is unknown to us and has a complete disconnect from our way of life and from our values? The very thought of a gunman going into St. Agnes rectory says something about us as a country.
There was a lot of impotent rage in The Bahamas this past week. Politicians
from the Governor General on down deploring the shooting of the beloved
priest. The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the editorial
writers all got into the act. But the rage is impotent. We can name a host
of similarly outrageous acts of violence in this society within the last
two decades which have drawn similar expressions of outrage, and declarations
to do something about the violence and crime. All to no avail! Nothing
has been done that has impacted crime. We predict that nothing will be
done following this crime as well.
It is clear that we have an impotent Government. A police force that cannot cope and does not know what to do. A society of young people out of control. Adults who lack the will to act or don't know what to do. And so the quagmire continues. Those of us who do know what to do are prevented from acting because of prejudice against us and a rampant anti-intellectualism. So the response from this quarter is a muted one. We must continue to suffer, and until the suffering gets intolerable. Nothing will be done.
We had 41,073
hits on this site for the month of May. This is down from 46,232 for the
month of April. Our students are returning home for summer so there are
less readers abroad. Nevertheless it is great. There are 2,406
hits up to midnight Saturday 3 June for the month of June. Thanks for reading
and keep reading.
e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
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On Wednesday
31 May this columnist with, of all people, Janet Bostwick, the Minister
of Foreign Affairs visited the bedside of Archdeacon William Thompson,
retired rector of St. Agnes Anglican Church in Grants Town. The retired
rector and his wife (pictured in this Nassau Guardian drawing) were terrorized
by a short, stocky gunman in a ski mask who at the point of a shotgun demanded
that they open the safe after bashing down their bedroom door at 3 a.m.
on Monday 28 May. He shot the Archdeacon once in the shoulder and another
time in the back. The Archdeacon took 28 pints of blood and is in stable
though critical condition in the Princess Margaret Hospital. Dreadful business!
Archdeacon Thompson at 66 retired as Rector on 31 December 1999 after 30
years as rector. He was still living in the rectory on the hill opposite
the eastern gate of the C. R. Walker School on Market Street awaiting final
repairs to his private home in Chippingham. With the Minister and this
columnist at the hospital was PLP Senate Leader Dr. Marcus Bethel and Cynthia
'Mother' Pratt PLP MP for St. Cecelia. The sight of the Archdeacon with
all the tubes was simply dreadful. There was the beloved Fr. Willie swollen
beyond recognition, struggling to breathe on a respirator, wounds still
open but covered, in intensive care and clearly struggling for life. Outside
the hospital room door was his beloved cousin Canon Dudley Strachan, retired
rector of St. George's Anglican Church and two other Anglican priests.
Fr. Charles Simmons flew in from his Ph. D. studies at Edinburgh to be
with the man who is like a father to him. The Archdeacon's wife Rose having
come through a grueling ordeal promised that she would not let go. And
so once again, one of our own has been struck down by violence.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THE VIOLENCE?
The
quality of the rage of the community is impotent. We know that not a damn
thing is going to be done, except pound on the table. It was simply pitiful
to see the front page of Oswald Brown's FNM propaganda rag The Guardian
with a picture of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Janet Bostwick talking
to CID Boss Superintendent Marvin Dames (pictured). Mrs. Bostwick is now
a policeman. The list is almost endless: businessmen Billy Godet, Gurth
Dean, Bernard Lundy, Strachan the Esso Dealer; Harry Smith; Audley Miller;
politician Charles Virgill. After each there was rage and expressions of
disbelief. But the killing has continued. Perhaps the Prime Minister may
become less arrogant and more contrite in the face of that stupid statement
he made after 62 murders last year in The Bahamas, that it was only drug
dealers killing their own. The fact is we are all being killed. The usual
call came from the usual quarters for more draconian measures. Allyson
Gibson, the political activist and assistant Secretary General of the PLP
suggested ten points, one of which was that there should be an island wide
curfew. That idea cannot be supported and neither can any other coercive
measures. They are shortsighted and don't get at the root of the problem.
The problem is mindless violence by young men. We must tackle that.
This is a sensitive subject. And it is done at the risk that some fools
out there might misinterpret this as a signal to have open season on Haitians
and those of Haitian descent in The Bahamas. Not so. But the sociologists,
the thinkers must start looking at the fact that we no longer have a relatively
homogeneous society in a cultural sense. The two most important political
cleavages in The Bahamas today are the racial divide and the divide between
the traditional Bahamian and those of Haitian descent. The traditional
Bahamians are a dwindling class. Those of us who surround the society of
Archdeacon Thompson belong to that dwindling class of black people that
began to emerge in the 1940s as the elites. We still live very much as
if the society is still in the 1940s. But that society does not exist.
At the level of elites where we live, we may be able to argue that some
semblance of that life is still there but in the wider society all that
stuff is out of the window. We depended on a Haitian underclass to support
our life styles, wealth at the expense of Haitians. Today a generation
or more of their sons and daughters live in this country, some of them
legally dispossessed of citizenship but here all the same and with nowhere
to go. Some have the regular names like Miller, Mitchell, Smith and McKenzie
and many hide their identities behind those names. Many more are not integrated
at all and live in a semi-literate no man's land, inflicting havoc on the
society. Some teachers argue that often these are the trouble makers in
the school system. In Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama, community leaders
are convinced of it. It is not the fault of those people though. It is
our fault for failing to recognize that integration is a necessary public
policy. That is the theory. Now it is time to test it and design policies
to change it. Does this disconnect of that legally invisible underclass
have anything to do with the violence?
Back To The Top
The other theory that has currency in The Bahamas today about the reason
for the violence is the breakdown of family life in The Bahamas. It is
being said that too many boys are being raised in one-parent families and
don't get the male bonding and discipline that is required to keep male
children socially in check. This has now taken a curious turn in the society.
Preachers have become emboldened to state openly that women are not meant
to lead. The Bible, they say, supports male leadership, that women are
only to lead where men abdicate their responsibility, that it is in the
nature of women to want to follow and be taken care of. Example Bishop
Neil Ellis, the charismatic preacher of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church in New
Providence who at last Sunday's service for Labour Day attacked the Prime
Minister for turning over too many positions in the country to women. Bishop
Ellis thinks that is part of why we are having the social problems we are
having. He said he thought it was particularly "demonic" that the Prime
Minister made Italia Johnson, a woman, Speaker of the House of Assembly,
and men having to bow before a woman when they enter the House of Assembly.
These statements in his sermon were made to wild cheers by both men and
women in the church. Increasingly, a backlash is setting in against female
leadership in the community. However, one male leader in place of a female
does not make such a good example and that is Leon Higgs at the College
of The Bahamas. Bad leadership there!
Back To The Top
The
gray hair on us all, the big tummies of the men, the weighted flesh, the
balding heads but more importantly the happy faces were all there to see.
This was clearly a successful group of people. The St. Augustine's College
Class of 1970 looks alive and well. Classmates of this columnist gathered
at St. Gregory' s Roman Catholic Church in Gregory Town, Eleuthera to celebrate
the 30th year since the graduation from St, Augustine's College in Fox
Hill. 1970 was a hell of a year, and we thought then that we were on top
of the world. And we were. Since that time we have climbed even higher.
Our class valedictorian Teresa Butler is arguably the most successful,
serving now as the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister. But there
are other successes as well: Mike Barnett as an attorney and former President
of the Bar; Gus Roberts as a Captain at Bahamasair; Louis Sawyer as a businessman;
Hugh Tai as a banker; Sonia Knowles as Principal of St. Augustine's; Monsignor
John Johnson as a Roman Catholic priest. 
If you click here, there is a photo spread by Herbert Scott, a member of
the class. We used to ride our bicycles to school together. Congratulations
to the St. Augustine's Class of 1970. Our photo by Herbert Scott on this
page shows from left: Claire Symonette, Vice President of the Student Council;
Blaize Taylor; Monsignor John Johnson; this Senator; and Teresa Butler,
class valedictorian and Permanent Secretary, the Office of Prime Minister.
Back To The Top
It is that time of life for the sandwich generation, those born in the
1940s and 1950s. They have been taking care of ageing parents and taking
care of children. Parents are now beginning to die. It is sad but inevitable.
Godfrey Eneas belongs to that generation. Mr. Eneas, a former Director
of Agriculture and candidate for the PLP in 1997, lost his father William
Eneas last week. Mr. Eneas Sr. was the son of the late William Eneas, founder
of the "jumper church" in The Bahamas. The Church still stands at Lily
in the Valley Corner off East Street. Godfrey's father was called "Bishop"
or "Daddy Bish" after his late father Bishop Eneas. Bishop Eneas was thought
to be the leading mason of his time, and did the original masonry for what
is now the Royal Bank of Canada's Main branch in Nassau. William Eneas
was 81. He will be remembered for his courtliness, his dedication to the
Church of his father, the love of the Over-the-Hill community and for his
contributions to the education of scores of young people. An unlettered
man himself, he nevertheless believed in education as the key to upliftment
and lived out that creed in practical ways. May he rest in peace. The late
Mr. Eneas is pictured. Back To
The Top
Last week, we announced that there would likely be stiff competition from Mark Cox against the incumbent President of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Shane Gibson. This Union represents the workers of BaTelCo, ZNS and the Nassau Guardian. That turned out to be incorrect. Mr. Cox was defeated almost 2 to 1 by Mr. Gibson. Mr. Gibson's entire slate was returned by handsome margins. Back To The Top
ANGELA PALACIOUS, FIRST FEMALE PRIEST
The
1940's society and its descendants turned out in full force to greet and
sanction the ordination of female priests in the Bahamian Anglican diocese.
The ordination was well attended but not overwhelmingly so. Many male dissidents
stayed at home. The question is whether or not the vestry of churches like
St. Agnes will allow her to serve as a priest, even though the canon law
says she is qualified to do so. No women are allowed to serve around the
altar at St. Agnes. It is an all male affair. Some male Anglican priests
stayed away. The ordination took place on Tuesday 30 May, the Feast of
the Annunciation of Mary. Rev. Palacious who is married to St. Matthew's
Anglican Rector James Palacious was all smiles, after a long and tumultuous
process to be the first woman to be ordained deacon and then priest. The
new priest is pictured. The Anglican Church needs something to boost its
sagging fortunes in The Bahamas. Its influence is disproportionate to its
numbers. That is because most elites are Anglicans. The lower classes tend
to be charismatic or fundamentalist Protestants. Their numbers are growing.
Anglican numbers are declining. Even the Roman Catholic Church is growing,
while Anglican numbers are declining. Add to that the posting of priests
on what appears to be a political or prejudicial basis rather than what
is in the best interests of the church and you have a seething and latent
disgruntlement that saps the church of its energy. The management of the
ordination of female priests was handled in a way that retired Bishop Michael
Eldon at the service of ordination said: "kept the church united". But
ordaining women priests must be only part of a longer term strategy to
keep the Anglican Church in step with the times. It cannot be an end in
itself. Back To The
Top
Friday
2 June was Labour Day in The Bahamas. Thousands of workers and their organizations
turned out to support the day in a march from Windsor Park in New Providence
to Christie Park. The march was led jointly by the president of the two
umbrella organizations: Obie Ferguson of the Trade Union Congress (TUC)
and Duke Hanna of the National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU). Nowhere
to be seen was Thomas Bastian whose leadership had caused the split in
the trade union movement. Mr. Bastian was defeated in his bid for re-election
last month. Pat Bain now heads the Union and is getting about the business
of reform. This columnist as Opposition Spokesman for Labour was
at the head of the march with Labour Minister Dion Foulkes. The Minister
had better take time out from his campaign for Prime Minister and brace
for a furious attack by the Labour leaders against these bad bills that
the Government intends to pass. The PLP led by its leader Perry Christie
had a contingent of some 200, outnumbering the CDR of Dr. Bernard Nottage
almost 3 to 1. Nevertheless, we need these people back in the PLP. Photos
show the march on Labour Day. Back
To The Top
THE BULL SH... BALANCED BUDGET
William Allen, the hapless and hopeless Minister of Finance, was at
it again with political prevarication. There he was trying to convince
the country in his annual budget statement that he expects there to be
a balanced budget in the next fiscal year. Of course he can only be talking
about the recurrent side of the budget. The overall budget deficit will
continue. But he predicts that he will have an overall surplus (both capital
and recurrent of one million dollars). What a joke! This is only balancing
on paper. The National Debt, as we know, continues to rise. Mr. Allen gave
his annual budget statement on Wednesday 31 May. It was a real snore. The
only matter of interest is the fact that imported computers are now to
be duty free altogether. Duty free computers and computer hardware. One
presumes that this means monitors, printers, zip drives and scanners. The
spending will be 949 million, the revenue will be 998 million. The surplus
is expected to be 49 million on the recurrent side. Paper will hold still
for any bulls... to be written on it. The Minister doesn't believe that
himself. There will also be an extension of the duty free provisions for
impoverished family island communities for another two years. This is designed
to try to boost spending on housing in the islands. Other than that, not
much worth talking about. The PLP will have a spirited response to all
of this when the debate comes up in the next weeks in the House and the
Senate. The new budgetary year begins on 1 July. The usual histrionics
took place with the Cabinet Ministers all walking over with the PM and
Bill Allen from the Cabinet office. You remember the expression "as fat
as an FNM Cabinet minister". The annual weight average has gone up again.
Back To The Top
The talk this week by Bill Allen, the Prime Minister and their men about
balancing the budget tells the full story about what the FNM is about.
They lack compassion for people. The budget statement boasted about revenue
rising, spending under control, housing starts, Moody's ratings. But there
was nothing about the misery index: how poverty has increased under the
FNM. How people in The Bahamas can't make ends meet. That businessmen can't
find financing in a country that is supposed to be awash with money. It
does not tell the story of people going to bed without food to eat and
the inability of many to pay school fees, to find the rent to pay to stay
in the poor housing that is available. That is the legacy of the FNM. So
while Bill Allen boasts about balancing his fiscal budget, we ask Bill
Allen to balance the social budget. If he doesn't, then disorder will be
worse than it is. Perhaps that will be good for the PLP but our interest
is not short term political gain. The point is, we support what is good
for the country. Back
To The Top
The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas and TV 13 are now available
on the internet according to a story in The Tribune of Tuesday 30 May and
written by Allyson Sweeting. The address is: www.broadcastmusic.com
and www.newscastnow.com
According to the Corporation's manager Edwin Lightbourn the BCB will soon
supply a local web page which will be accessible at www.znsbahamas.com
Back To The Top
Bahamas Freedom Alliance Leader Halson Moultrie attacked the Government's handling of the report that placed The Bahamas as an offshore centre (see last week's column) in the lowest ranked group for transparency and supervision. Mr. Moultrie said that the Minister of Finance's response to the decision of the G7 group the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) was "dangerous, and nearsighted". Mr. Moultrie said that the Minister is fully cognizant of the fact that the bottom listing and poor showing of The Bahamas was based on the lack of co-operation and poor response to a survey conducted in September 1999 by FSF. Mr. Moultrie's comments were reported in The Tribune on Tuesday 30 May. Back To The Top
The Central Bank reports that company formation of International Business
Companies increased by 18.4 per cent over last year to a total of 100,092.
IBCs are on the American hit list for money laundering activity. The Government
has now agreed to amend the law to outlaw bearer shares and to make it
mandatory to have named directors for IBCs. The bank also reports that
there has been growth in the number of mutual funds doing business in The
Bahamas. They have increased from 584 to 596. The assets under management
fell some 3.75 per cent to 84.5 billion dollars. During 1999, the number
of banks licenced to do business in The Bahamas fell by 3 to 415. The report
of the Central Bank was itself reported in The Tribune of Tuesday 30 May.
Back To The Top
We have been informed that the Union of Central Bankers has now been recognized by the Minister of Labour as the bargaining agent for the Central Bank. This is said to be a first for the Caribbean. The recognition is a major blow for the management of the bank. They have been trying to keep the Union out. However, it is said that there is lack of leadership at the managerial level of the bank, a lack of people skills amongst many managers. The matter is one which faces all sectors of The Bahamas and something must be done fast if the services at the Bank are not to deteriorate. Congratulations to the union. Back To The Top
The President of the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union Charles Rolle predicts that a serious shortage of local qualified professional engineers at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation could signal disaster for the Corporation and local consumers. Mr. Rolle says that the Clifton generating plant, BEC's largest, is now run by a single mechanical engineer. He said that BEC has spent 120 million dollars to pay foreign engineers and has no plan in place to train Bahamians for the positions. The result he said is the annual load shedding which takes place at the expense of consumers. Summer load shedding has already started in Nassau. The report appeared in The Tribune Tuesday 30 May. Back To The Top
Rev. Daniel Small, pictured in The Tribune photo led a contingent of Ferryboat
operators to block the exit of Nassau Cruises at Paradise Island on Monday
29 May. The blockade ended with the detention of Rev. Small and a hurriedly
called meeting at the office of the Minister Dion Foulkes. It appears that
Nassau Cruises has been ferrying passengers direct to Paradise Island from
the Prince George Dock in violation of their licences and Government policy.
Back To The Top
Management for Resort at Bahamia - The new owners of the former Princess Properties in Grand Bahama have announced the appointment of top management. Staying are former Country Club General Manager Tyrone Thurston and former Tower General Manager Donald Archer. Mr. Thurston now becomes Vice President for hotel and food & beverage operations, Mr. Archer is now Vice President in charge of Administration & Strategic Planning. American Lawrence Carballo of the owner's Driftwood Group was named as Vice President of Finance.
Police Search for Gunmen - The week in Grand Bahama began with scores of police on the streets Sunday night checking vehicles. They were looking for two gun-toting criminals who have been reportedly involved in several robberies over the past few weeks. The situation is symptomatic of a rise in crime in Grand Bahama to mirror that in Nassau. The road block was the third by Grand Bahama police in almost as many days.
Mary Star of The Sea School Wins National Arts Festival - In a proud first for Grand Bahama the Mary Star of the Sea School won this year's National Arts Festival. This is the first time that a school outside of Nassau has won the Ministry of Education's Annual Cultural contest among the nation's schools.
House Speaker in Grand Bahama- In a departure from her recent
embattled appearances in the national media, House of Assembly Speaker
Italia Johnson was in Grand Bahama this week to address the Cancer Association
of Grand Bahama. Speaking at the Association's annual ball, Ms. Johnson
told the gathering that 'Life is very good when you have challenges." She
is reported to have inspired her audience with the story of having overcome
cancer of the cheek as a girl.
CHECK THIS SPOT AT NOON EACH DAY IF THERE IS ANY EMERGENCY UPDATE ON THE CONDITION OF ARCHDEACON WILLIAM THOMPSON.
Note from the Publisher:
A MAN
FREAKS OUT
A telephone call came from a friend that a man had flipped his lid
on Thursday June 11. He worked as a tractor driver, and what the newspapers
report is that he mashed up three cars, a police motor bike and a two homes
along Nassau Street in New Providence. It took seven shots into his body
by the police to stop and subdue him. Even when the ambulance came he had
to be strapped down. No late word on whether or not he is still alive but
up to Saturday 10 June he was still alive and the police are promising
to charge him with an offence.
Immediately, the speculation started about what could have been happening to cause it. The incident seemed a metaphor for a town that is on the verge of disorder and madness. The watchword this week has been stress. Phil Stubbs, the Bahamian troubadour from West End, Grand Bahama has a popular song in Nassau these days that goes Monday stress, Tuesday stress and so through all the days of the week. If this columnist did not hear that word a thousand times this week, he did not hear it once. Every one admits that their life is too stressed.
People identified with the man. They thought aloud that sometimes they feel like doing the same thing. Everything and everyone seems against you. It does not help that you have an absolutely insensitive Government. The FNM, with its emphasis on the new religion, materialism, has "de-spiritualized" this country to the point where we have lost our moral anchor and compass.
The Police are hated by the young men of the country. They have good reason since many of them have been abused by the police. That makes the fight on crime ineffective. The people hate the Government that they have and are not quite sure they want to choose the Opposition. People living in these beautiful homes in San Souci and Eastwood and Westward Villas, retire behind their gates afraid that the mountain of debt they have piled up will overwhelm them soon, and they will slide back down the mountain. They also fear criminals breaking in to kill them.
And so we have a report of that man who freaked out and the damage he did this week. We also report on the rather lame debate in the House of Assembly on the so-called balanced budget.
This week we have 12,344
hits on the site up to the 10 June at midnight for the month of June. Keep
reading. Thanks for reading.
e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
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SPIDER MASHES
UP NASSAU STREET
Not
since Reuben Rolle shot dead seven people starting his rage in the 1960s
on an ice cream man who stole his woman and then on to the Fountain of
Youth on East Street south has there been that kind of excitement in Nassau
town. The man truly went crazy. A fellow named 'Spider' (so The Tribune
of Friday 9 June called him) worked as a tractor driver for Big Ju, the
former police officer now in land clearing. 'Spider' snapped sometime around
9:30 a.m. Thursday 8 June and started smashing cars and houses with the
payloader including a police motor bike. He was stopped by seven police
bullets and taken away to hospital. All the newspapers carried the excitement
on the front page but The Tribune did the best coverage and photo spread
in pictures by Felipe Major (See pictures). Someone suggested that where
he ought to have started was the House of Assembly at that time wasting
time debating the annual budget of the country. The Government claimed
that it was a balanced budget
71 YEAR.
OLD RETIRED JUDGE GETS SCHOLARSHIP
Boyd Carey, the former Judge of the Court of Appeal in The Bahamas,
who came here from Jamaica must be leading a charmed life. He has retired
from the Courts and was immediately offered a job as a consultant to the
Attorney General's office where he now works. It is interesting that no
one took issue in the Courts with any of his decisions since he must have
negotiated the Government job while sitting as a Judge of Appeal. That's
seems on the face of it a conflict of interest. Now Mr. Carey appears to
have surpassed former President of the Court of Appeal Joaquim Gonsalves
Sabola in Bahamian Government perks. The talk is that he has been offered
and will accept a scholarship from the Government of The Bahamas to go
and study how to train people at the AG's office to be better prosecutors.
There's a first. He is neither Bahamian, nor a young man. Why are resources
being expended on him? Also Bahamian prosecutors are up in arms as the
Department falls apart. Six Crown Counsel have been brought in from Trinidad
to supersede the prosecutors from The Bahamas who are there. There is going
to be a riot up there soon. Oh by the way, the news is that Gonsalves Sabola
who continued for months to use the Government car given to him as President
even after he retired has finally been stripped of the car by the Prime
Minister and told that he has to move into his own house from his government
owned accommodation. Sabola's house is in Highland Park. Not bad for a
fellow who came with a carpetbag from Guyana two decades ago. Maybe he'
so ashamed that's why we don't see him on the streets.
Back To The Top
BATTLE WITHIN
THE FNM CONTINUES
One Minister, a young and ambitious turk has decided that he will be
running against Frank Watson, the Deputy Prime Minister for Deputy Leader
of the FNM. This we have to see: two Ministers fighting for the post. With
the already declared candidacy of Lester Turnquest MP, this will make a
three-way race for Deputy Leader. The rumour is all around that the Prime
Minister told one of his young turks in front of all cabinet colleagues
that he was being warned for the last time to back off his ambitions to
be Prime Minister. The young turk denies that the Prime Minister said any
such thing. He said the Prime Minister does not have "the balls" to speak
to him that way. He accused the Minister of Idle Poetry Algernon Allen
(in real life the Housing Minister) of spreading rumours on him. Draw it
mild gentlemen! Draw it mild! Interesting!
Back To The Top
ELEUTHERA
MP ATTACKS HIS OWN FNM GOVT.
Anthony Miller who was fired by Hubert Ingraham last year as Chairman
of Bahamasair is speaking out. In April, during the opening of the Bahamas
Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union Building in Eleuthera, he was left
off the programme even though he is the representative for the area. Well
he got up in the House of Assembly during an otherwise tepid debate on
the balanced budget. Mr. Miller said that he was speaking for his constituents
who have been missed in all the economic activity. He complained that docks
and roads were in urgent need of repair. He said: "We refuse to believe
and will not accept the thinking that nothing can be done to improve the
economic inactivity in South Eleuthera." Not only is South Eleuthera dead,
so is the north. Phil Bethel, the former rep is still the most powerful
politician on the island. He dwarfs the elected representatives Alvin Smith
and Mr. Miller on any platform on which they appear together. Conventional
wisdom is that both Mr. Miller and Mr. Smith are siting ducks for the PLP.
Mr. Miller made his comments on Thursday 8 June in the House of Assembly.
Back To The Top
THE
SO CALLED BALANCED BUDGET
Guess how much the great William Allen, hapless Minister of Finance,
is predicting he will have as a surplus in the budget for the year 2000/2001.
He predicts a surplus of one million dollars. Give me a break. Can you
imagine on a budget of 900 million or so in revenues that he can only eke
out a surplus of one million? That is a statistical error point. One interesting
fact is this so called balanced budget is predicated in part on the donation
of some five million dollars by the European Economic Community (EEC) and
other international donors. So that means that the surplus is based on
a donation. So if the donations don't come, then the budget can't be balanced.
The Government of The Bahamas is therefore no closer to a balanced budget
than the Red Cross. Both have their hats in their hands asking for donations.
So much for the smarts of the great Bill Allen.
Back To The Top
U.S.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT JANET BOSTWICK
One thing you can say about Janet Bostwick is that she likes to travel.
It's a good thing she is the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is the only
thing that she does well in that Ministry: travel up and down. The U.S.
authorities are said to think that she travels so much that she does not
have a grasp of her job either as Foreign Minister or Attorney General.
She does neither job well. Both jobs are going wanting and she does not
seem to have a grasp of what the job entails. Privately they are saying
that this is why the A.G.'s office can't get the convictions that they
want and need in the area of drug trafficking and money laundering. Well
we are not surprised at that assessment. We continue to say that her somnambulism
as Minister of Foreign Affairs is clearly the cause of her ineffectiveness.
By the way Janet Bostwick had two trips last week. First she was in Toronto
at an Organization of American States (OAS) Meeting and then she headed
to the special session of the UN on Women 2000 in New York. Presumably
she stopped long enough to sign the fiat to prosecute Craig Major, formerly
of S.G. Hambros. Her critics are wondering whether she knew what she was
signing when she did that.
THE
PLP AND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
It does not appear from back channel sources that the view of the U.S.
Government and its operatives has changed about the PLP in The Bahamas.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, and despite significant changes
in personnel and policies of the PLP, it appears that the views of the
PLP are fixed in the FNM propaganda of the 1990s: that Pindling is still
in control of the PLP and that the FNM will win all the seats in the next
election. The difficulty is that the U.S. authorities have no sustained
contact or very little contact between the PLP and themselves. Perhaps
it does not matter to them. There used to be a time at the U.S. Embassy
in this country that U.S. diplomats were in contact on a formal and informal
basis at regular intervals with representatives of the PLP. Not so
at this time. Some have blamed it on budgetary constraints, but for example
even the simple cocktail parties and dinners that they hosted for arriving
or departing diplomats have been cancelled as far the PLP is concerned
or so it appears. The new Deputy Chief of Mission who replaced one
who was recalled after six months has not yet paid any formal calls on
anyone from the PLP. Yet as strange as it may sound to the U.S., it is
entirely possible for the PLP to win the next election. But of course,
that may not matter either and it may be like a red flag to a bull.
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CRAIG
MAJOR STORY IN COURT
The news was quite shocking. You remember last year, we anonymously
identified a banker who had been dismissed from a senior position at S.
G. Hambros for an alleged attempt to bilk a substantial sum of money from
that bank. The story on this site was itself attacked by many of his allies
as unfair. We attempted to get the other side which suggested that the
charges were all trumped up. Since that time, Craig Major the banker has
been involved in a civil suit to clear his name to no avail. Now the bank
has raised the ante and had him charged for attempting to fraudulently
credit the amount of $700,000,000. Everyone has done a double take at the
number, that is, the seven hundred million. We find it incredible. Clearly
the case seems like a lot of nonsense, and a bit vindictive said many observers.
Further observers say the odds on bet of most is that if this had been
a foreign banker and a Caucasian, we would not have ever heard about it.
The bank would have quietly dealt with the matter. But many argue that
it is a deliberate effort to ruin the reputations of Black bankers in The
Bahamas - in other words racist. Mr. Major appeared in Court on Wednesday
8 June before magistrate Marilyn Meeres.
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO VIKI HALL & OTHER STUDENTS
The Lyford Cay Foundation announced last week that it was honouring
seven students who had excelled in the pursuit of their university education
abroad. The persons were Vanessa Knowles formerly of St. Andrews; Reginald
Ferguson, formerly of Kingsway Academy; Shaun Lightbourne formerly of St.
Anne's; Viki Hall, now a student at Beloit College in Wisconsin; Kevin
Treco of NGM Major High School in Long Island; Raymond Darcy formerly of
St. Augustine's College (Fox Hill). The pictures of Reginald
Ferguson, Shaun Lightbourne, Viki Hall and Kevin Treco are shown from the
Bahama Journal of Monday 5 June. We especially mention Miss Hall who was
one of our hosts at Beloit College when we visited in April of this year.
She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hall of New Providence. Mr.
Hall is an executive at CIBC in Nassau. (For speech delivered in Beloit
see link at the end of the site below).
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SYBIL
PRATT - JACKASS OF THE WEEK
Some people need to be called that word for being so stupid. Such is
the feeling about someone who signed the name Sybil Pratt in The Guardian
dated Wednesday 7 June, under the headline SENATOR MITCHELL STOP DAY DREAMING.
Of course, one is not surprised to see it in The Guardian a newspaper run
by that sycophant Oswald Brown. The supposed letter writer had these comments
to make about the fundraising dinner of this Senator at Lyford Cay on Friday
26 May: "But boy, here is the biggest one of all. In a Tribune article
he claims he had a full house at his recent banquet. Ha, ha, ha! Well I'll
be! That's a good one, because there are only a few persons there and it
was not a banquet, and no one paid $1,000. At least two of the seven persons
in the photo are as broke as the Ten Commandments so how the heck the $1,000
paid for a banquet?... My young sister and I attended the last opening
of Parliament and saw you yawning, slouching, misbehaving." We don't believe
that there could be someone as stupid as Sybil Pratt so we believe its
one of those FNM writers sitting in Mackey Street with nothing better to
do. The other thing is how interesting it is that people have the time
to sit and concentrate on someone that they dislike so much as to write
a letter to the press. If this Senator is day dreaming then time will surely
tell. For that the alleged Sybil Pratt is JACKASS OF THE WEEK.
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TOURISM
TAKING A DEEP SIX
The PLP parliamentary team and candidates were briefed extensively
by former Senator and MP Franklyn Wilson on the budget of the FNM Government
and the holes in it. One of the more interesting things to discover is
that the Central Bank has been showing that expenditure by tourists has
been declining in The Bahamas for the past two years. In fact total tourism
expenditure is just slightly above where the PLP left it in 1992 at some
1.3 billion. There has been virtually no growth since the PLP left office.
No growth in the numbers of tourists and no growth in spending. Tourism
Minister C.A. Smith also has to explain why it is the number and rate of
expansion of hotel rooms in The Bahamas have remained stagnant under the
FNM. Despite Sun International and the British Colonial, the numbers have
remained stagnant, while in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and The Turks
and Caicos, the growth in hotel rooms has been explosive over the same
period. Some of the companies here like Sandals have built more hotel rooms
in other places over the FNM's term of office, even though we have greater
variety to offer in our country. The question is why has the FNM fallen
down on the job? Our best guess is that they have not been proactive enough
in courting those investors to build in the country. They have been content
it seems to sit here and let people come to us. During the PLP's regime,
Club Med was actively courted to build in The Bahamas. Now Club Med in
Eleuthera is closed since Hurricane Floyd last year and there is no telling
when it will reopen.
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TOURISM'S
VANDERPOOL SAYS LATIN AMERICA
The Tribune reported on Wednesday 7 June that Vincent Vanderpool Wallace,
the Director General of Tourism is suggesting that The Bahamas look to
Latin America as an additional source of tourists. Mr. Vanderpool Wallace
says that failure to target the continent could be costly and warns that
the nation will have to intensify its efforts with non-English speakers
to compete with Cuba once it opens up.
MURDER NUMBERS
CONTINUE TO RISE
The Tribune reported this week on Thursday 8 June that the country
had 32 murders for the year. The last one reported was the killing of a
woman in a failed hold up at Eddie's Electrical Sales and Service in the
Grove. Remember Janet Bostwick said in the 1992 campaign that if we got
rid of the PLP and we would get rid of crime. What has she got to say now?
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SKILLED
WORKERS IN SHORT SUPPLY
We were having a conversation with one of the nation's top newspaper
publishers about the recent change in editors at the paper and how the
new editor was doing. The publisher said that the new editor was doing
fine because of the training programme of the newspaper, but the publisher
added: "Our problem is finding news reporters. There are not enough of
them being trained in the country." The publisher added that she hoped
she would not hear any "foolishness" from the Opposition when they had
to bring in staff from the outside. Well that got a hearty laugh from this
quarter. On Monday 5 June, there was a survey published on the front page
of all the daily newspapers in the country. The survey was done for or
by the Nassau Tourism and Development Board, the Bay Street merchants.
They surveyed 50 businessmen who claimed that there was an existing skills
shortage in the country which could have a negative impact on the economy
in the near future. We smell a rat. This Bay Street group is clearly setting
up the pretext for them and the Government that represents them, the FNM,
to grant more work permits to non-nationals to come into the country and
displace Bahamians. No true Bahamian believes this nonsense. What we do
know is that for eight years the FNM has neglected our people, their training
and advancement to the detriment of the country and for the benefit of
the small group of merchants and the investors who come to the country.
We have a broad underclass of under trained and de-motivated people. Who
is going to rot in hell for that? It certainly won't be Pindling. Maybe
it will be his political son, the Chief of all Uncle Toms: Hubert Ingraham.
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PRAYING
FOR ARCHDEACON THOMPSON
The
congregation of St. Agnes and the people of the country have been praying
ever since Archdeacon William Thompson was gunned down (see story in last
week's column) in the St. Agnes Rectory. He is in stable but critical condition.
Members of St. Agnes have been taking turns watching the door to the room
at the intensive care unit of the hospital. The doctors have not closed
him up because the skin is not able to grow over the wound. Special efforts
have to be made to close the wound. Further, he is still on a ventilator.
The Archdeacon was scheduled to get a heart by-pass just before this shooting.
He is 66 years old. The level of sedation has been reduced, and he has
responded to the conversations with his doctors with smiles and tears.
We continue to pray for his full recovery. Felipe Major of The Tribune
took this photo which was published on Monday 6 June of the congregation
of St. Agnes at prayer.
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COMPUTERIZATION
OF THE SCHOOLS
They call him 'the echo' in PLP circles in Parliament because he spends
all his time in the House echoing from the back benches what his political
master says. But this time Zhivargo Laing was at front stage as the Minister
of State for Education giving away 9 million dollars of the Bahamian tax
payers money to a foreign concern to computerize Bahamian schools. You
don't think a Bahamian company could have been given that job? Just another
sign of how anti-Bahamian this Government is.
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WILLIAM
ALLEN AND CARICOM
Now the brilliant Minister of Finance, (hapless man that he is) is
saying that The Bahamas is studying the possibility of joining the customs
protocols of Caricom. This would give duty free access to goods from all
countries within Caricom. The Bahamas is a member but does not subscribe
to the labour, customs and money protocols. It is has been the view of
this Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs that this step is long overdue.
The Government has been myopic on the point. The story was reported in
the Tribune of Monday 5 June.
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO RICK FOX
He is only the second Bahamian in the National Basketball League. The
first was Michael Thompson who played centre for the Los Angels Lakers.
Mr. Fox is a guard for the Lakers. He too is now in the finals, and stands
a good chance of winning an NBA ring. Mr. Fox is the son of Ulrick Fox
the owner of Holiday Ice in The Bahamas.
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A DOG'S
LIFE
We found a story in The Tribune published on Tuesday 6 June extraordinary.
It was the story of a potcake named Sandals, who was rescued from the streets
of Nassau by an English couple Mr. and Mrs. Richard Morris. The couple
who visited The Bahamas spent $4,500 to have the potcake they befriended
on the Nassau streets flown to their home in the UK. Gosh, would they do
that for a young person or an indigent who needs help? The Tribune carried
it on the front page. Of course, the public policy we need on stray dogs
in this country is a campaign to eradicate them from the streets of New
Providence period.
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AND FINALLY
HIV WOMAN ON THE LOOSE
Philip Ingraham (no relation one hopes to Hubert Ingraham) told The
Tribune in a story published on Wednesday 7 June that there is a woman
who was infected with HIV some eight years ago in a gang rape who has in
turn infected some 50 Bahamian men. Mr. Ingraham claims that the woman
intended to deliberately take down as many men as she could with her. She
died in January. The story seemed a bit sensational for The Tribune. Mr.
Ingraham was asking for the Government to set up a half way house for AIDS
victims.
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NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Busses Set To Stop Tuesday - The bus drivers union in Grand
Bahama is threatening a complete stoppage of bus service on the island
Tuesday, unless some accommodation is reached with the Road Traffic Authority
over a new route system due to come into effect then. The bus drivers
disagree say certain routes in the new system will bring them to ruin.
This has been going back and forth for some time. Stay tuned.
Big Boat Show - As the English organizer of a big boat show currently under way at Port Lucaya gushed thanks to Minister of Tourism C.A. Smith for "believing in" him and Minister of Local Government, Sports & Culture David Thompson hailed the event as "another important step in revitalizing Grand Bahama", local Bahamian businessmen involved in the tent rental business were furious over having been left out and passed over in favour of foreign workmen. Three Established local entrepreneurs were asked to quote for the work some months ago. After hearing nothing from the boat show company, they saw between 60 and 70 tents erected by Florida workers, issued - overnight it seems - with work permits. A complaint to the Immigration Department produced no respite. The outraged entrepreneurs have taken to the newspapers to complain, pointing out that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham gave a recent news conference stating that any breach of the Immigration Act would lead to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
KKK Man Here? - Allegations have surfaced in a letter to the newspaper by PLP now CDR activist Forrester Carroll that a senior employee on the jobsite at the Lucaya hotel project was found to have been a leader in the Ku Klux Klan, the infamous American racist group. The letter further alleges that the individual in question was given time to wrap up his affairs and leave. This needs no interpretation in what it says about the state of things in The Bahamas and more particularly in Freeport.
M&M Water Back in Business - Congratulations to our friend Roger Pinder whose business was devastated by hurricane Floyd. The hurricane ripped the roof off Mr. Pinder's large manufacturing plant where he produced water and cleaning chemicals and marketed water conditioning products. After 30 plus years in business, resilience is a given.
The High School Prom That Wasn't - Those out of the loop wondered
what was happening. Which unannounced celebrity had snuck into town?
The cause, however for all the police and barricades and the crowds of
hooting, screaming schoolchildren outside a local gourmet restaurant was
the 'unofficial' Freeport Anglican High School prom. The line of
frightened-lookng 12th graders seemed to stretch forever. Each one in clothes
worth more than a breadwinner's month's salary and being chauffeured in
late-model limousines either begged or borrowed. A similar sight
unfolded at another location where the official prom of St. Paul's
Methodist College was underway. In the interest of disclosure, this
writer should say that our adopted niece Barbara Zá Franks was crowned
St. Paul's Prom Queen. Congratulations Zá! The main
point though is that certainly in the case of Freeport Anglican High, the
schoolchildren organized the whole event themselves without the sanction
or help of the institution. One hopes that they took the rampant
materialism displayed with a grain of salt and further that they apply
the skills which it took to bring off such an event to their upcoming lives
in the real world.
| It was announced around noon today Friday 23rd June, 2000 by the Anglican Diocese that the Venerable Archdeacon William Thompson had died in hospital. A full report will follow on Sunday in our regular 2pm update. | ||
THREE
MURDERS AND A SUICIDE
It's as if the town has actually gone crazy, falling apart. In the House of
Assembly was silly Algernon Allen, the Minister of Idle Poetry aka, Minister of
Housing and Social Services, waxing eloquent about this 900 million dollars that
we will spend and collect as a country over the next year. Peanuts! Compare for
example the budget of the New York City School system at 8 billion dollars. But
while the Government pats itself on the back about their bogus balanced budget,
there were four murders this week.
Felix Bethel, the COB lecturer, asked perhaps the most probing question:
"How low are we going to go?" Two children lost their lives by murder.
The two had their throats slashed, and the man then tried unsuccessfully to kill
himself. That was in Nassau. In Abaco, a man bludgeoned his wife to death then
killed himself. A manager of SuperValue Food Store was shot on Friday 16 June
and up to the time of this was in intensive care at the hospital.
On Thursday 15 June, this Senator attended the official opening of the new out
station for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Wulff Road. Nice
place as far as it goes. The Police seemed genuinely excited about the new
Acting Commissioner and his efforts to put new methods in place. But it all
seems like palliatives. The resources being expended are too small, and even
small time hoods have the potential so easily to overwhelm the resources of the
lowly police inspector or corporal.
One example was some small time hood-types of no name significance who were
apprehended with hundreds of thousands of dollars on them. They got caught last
week trying to enter The Bahamas at Nassau International Airport. Where do they
get such sums of money? Compare and contrast that to the barely $30,000 an
inspector makes on the police force? The task is monumental, and the police are
not even making a dent in crime.
And so that is how the week went, with Bahamians despairing about our so-called
Paradise. The tourists seemed to be having a good time, but obviously for us to
produce this Paradise it is taking a heavy toll on the population, and it
doesn't help that we have a silly and worthless Government fiddling while the
country is burning.
I wish to welcome as readers Clarence and Diane (nee Castro) Stukes classmates
of mine from Antioch College, Yellow Springs Ohio. Clarence has just gotten a
brand new job on promotion in Maryland and we wish him well.
This week we had 18, 751 hits on the site
for the month of June up to midnight 17 June. Thanks for reading and please keep
reading.
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SIR
RANDOL FAWKES DIES
We
send out condolences to the family of Sir Randol Fawkes who died at Lyford Cay
Hospital on Thursday 15 June. Sir Randol was 76. He had been treated for heart
problems. Sir Randol was among the first six representatives of the Progressive
Liberal Party elected to the House of Assembly in 1956. He was also the founder
of the now defunct Bahamas Federation of Labour forerunner of today's Trade
Union Congress. Sir Randol was undoubtedly the mostly popular labour leader of
his time and in the minds of today's Bahamians there is a fondness for him as
the working man's friend. He helped to organize and led the General Strike in
the country in 1958 which led to the expansion of the franchise to women, the
expansion in the number of seats in the House of Assembly. His finest hour
though was throwing his lot in with the PLP in 1967 when that General Election
produced a deadlock of 18 PLP and 18 UBP. He chose to become PLP and the first
PLP Minister of Labour. He later became estranged from the PLP. He was knighted
by the Queen in 1977. Sir Randol is survived by his wife Jacqueline and four
children. PLP Leader Perry Christie said that Sir Randol will be greatly missed.
He called Sir Randol "a force for social and economic justice in our land
for nearly half a century." As Opposition spokesman for Labour, this
Senator issued a statement on behalf of the PLP honouring Sir Randol for his
life of service.
MITCHELL
ELECTED HARVARD ALUMNI CHAIR
This columnist has been elected the Chairman of the Alumni Executive Council of
the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University for a one year
term. He is the first international chair to have been elected. More next week.
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BRADLEY
ROBERTS SMASHES FNM
This week we have a full report of the speech in the House of Assembly Budget
Debate by Bradley B. Roberts, the PLP MP for Grants Town. He has told Frank
Watson that he is doing such a bad job on fighting crime that many feel that he
needs himself to be in a facility paid for by the Ministry of National Security.
He again made the charge in the House during his contribution to the Budget
debate that James Knowles the FNM MP for Long Island has a family involved in
drugs. Click here for more on Mr. Roberts' speech.
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ARCHDEACON
THOMPSON WORSENS
The
family and friends of Archdeacon William Thompson have been told to prepare for
the worst. He has now contracted pneumonia and his condition is weakening.
Doctors are working as hard as they can to stop the reversal after nearly two
weeks of stability in guarded condition. We have been told to prepare for the
worst but we pray for the best. The Archdeacon was shot twice at the rectory of
St. Agnes after 30 years of stellar service to the church. He retired on 31
December last year. The shooting took place in the early hours of Monday 29 May.
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MARIANNE
BURROWS LEAVES THE BAHAMAS
She left The Bahamas to go to Washington three years ago to complete her studies
for a Masters Degree. With these upgraded communication skills she felt that she
could return to her country and make a contribution. Not so simple. Even though
she had friends at court - connections which enabled her to get a job right away
- she soon found out that ZNS (the state owned broadcasting facility) is not
supposed to be a real news organization. Because of the stories that she carried
on ZNS at Freeport, she was victimized by the station's management, relegated to
the graveyard shift and frustrated. Well, they have won this round. Ms. Burrows
has left The Bahamas to return to the U.S., which will be able to utilize her
talents. People should now understand why so many Bahamian students refuse to
come back home. Even now, there are students who have come back home with good
degrees and can't find a job anywhere. This is just the beginning of the summer.
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EMERALD
PALMS IN ANDROS TO BE SOLD?
The rumours have been going around now for at least a month. One of the Hotel
Corporation's last remaining properties in Andros is to be sold for a song. Arne
Peterson, good friend and confidant of the Minister of Tourism C.A. Smith is to
get the bargain. The hotel will go to him for $500,000 with the promise from him
that he will build another ten rooms. The hotel has 20 rooms now. The property
sits on the beach in the middle of a coconut grove. It was developed to its
present state during the tenure of Sir Lynden Pindling who used to be the
representative for South Andros. The Government needs to come clean on this one.
The FNM takes the position that they simply want to off-load properties to stop
the public expense, but to give away a property is quite another thing.
LOSING
TRACK OF THE MURDER COUNT
Each
morning in The Bahamas, one reaches for his newspaper or for the radio news to
hear about the latest carnage on the streets of Nassau. No! We are not talking
about road traffic accidents. Those are bad enough. We are talking about the
deliberate killing of other human beings by human beings. The count is now 36
for the year, but one often loses track of the actual numbers, because they
happen with such rapidity. The community was numbed by the tragic shooting of
Archdeacon Thompson 29 May. Just when we seemed to be getting used to that came
the slashing of the throats of two children on Tuesday 13 June. 
The man who has been charged for the murder is Hubert Huey Johnson. He
apparently tried to take his own life shortly after the incident. He was
arraigned in the courts in Nassau on Friday 16 June. There was a mob outside the
courtroom. A major police exercise had to be mounted as people pressed in to
attack the man charged for the murder of the children (See Tribune photos
with Johnson in belt at top). It is like the community has just gone wild.
They even started to attack another man charged for murder in the false belief
that he was the one charged for killing the children. When the police explained
that he wasn't, the crowd calmed down. The church community has responded with
calls for prayers, national prayer services have been held, and a prayer rally
in Rawson Square. While prayer is useful, in these circumstances, it seems a
pretty lame response. The Government had no new public policy initiatives.
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THE
PRAYER RALLIES TO STOP MURDERS
The
Christian Council, one would have thought, should know by now that their prayers
are not enough. Someone facetiously suggested this week at the prayer rally on
Thursday 15 June that perhaps a foreign preacher like Billy Graham ought to come
and offer prayers because there might be a cloud which is blocking the prayers
of the Bahamian clergy. The fact is that the Council seems to have forgotten
that prayer without works accomplishes nothing. The criticism of many church
leaders is that they like to jump in front of the first TV or newspaper camera
that appears on the scene, helping to stir up impotent rage in the community.
There have been so many prayer vigils, rallies, all night services over the
thirty year growth in crime and all to no or little avail. The latest round of
rallies was kicked off by the shooting of one of their own the Archdeacon
William Thompson. On the night of the prayer rally, observers say that one
Minister or Bishop, as the case might be, arrived after the next in their late
model luxury cars. Many were chauffeur-driven. They too live a life in comfort
like that of the politicians they sometimes revile. But throughout the life of
our public officials, both elected and religious, there is a quality of cynicism
and disingenuousness that one finds, that makes their pronouncements lack any
credulity. The crime problem is a public policy problem which only the
Government can ultimately fix, and which this Government does not have the
intellectual capacity to fix. The Nassau Guardian's picture of the prayer rally
on Thursday 16 June shows the Reverend Simeon Hall, President of The Bahamas
Christian Council.
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FNM
SENATOR CASH'S SOLUTION
When
it's silly season, it comes with a vengeance. The latest in the season of
silliness is the call by FNM Senator Darron Cash to execute drug traffickers and
money launderers. Incredible! It is always the source of some regret that people
who are on the face of it intelligent and ought to know better seem to be
pandering to the lowest common denominator, trying to please their political
masters or seeking to get votes. This is just casting around for trying to find
answers as to why the best amongst us lack all conviction. Beside the death
penalty being an absolute immorality, the public policy question would have to
be: why if the death penalty is not stopping murder in The Bahamas would it stop
money laundering and drug trafficking? One wants to simply throw one's hands up
in the air at all the foolishness ranging around this town, masquerading as
public policy suggestions. What one is increasingly coming to the conclusion is
that we have a dangerous group of young Black professionals who will do and say
anything for money and power. You have to watch them like hawks for they cannot
be trusted and will stab associates in the back, undermine friends, cherished
beliefs, cheat --- anything to get where they want to go. One keeps hoping
against hope that Darron Cash is not part of such a group. We'll reserve
judgment for now.
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BULGIE
ALLEN VS. TOMMY TURNQUEST
Not
since the Prime Minister threatened to fire Senate President Henry Bostwick by
writing a note to the Governor General on toilet paper has there been such a
contretemps between allies in the House of Assembly. Observers say last week in
the House of Assembly, one could hear more m.f. this and m. f. that being hurled
from a voice that sounded like Tommy Turnquest at a muted reply from one that
sounded like Algernon Allen. The reason the argument may exist say observers is
that Mr. Allen has a mother who needs a live-in helper and who has to have a
work permit and Tommy (now Minister of Immigration) following the Prime
Minister's immigration policy has been trying to give everyone who applies for a
permit a hard time. That means that even Mr. Allen's 82 year old mother would
have had to come in to immigration to show that she was indeed the applicant.
Bad feelings left apparently after Mr. Allen was thoroughly cursed out. Mr.
Allen refused to shake his fellow Minister's hand, even after a reported attempt
at an apology. If this is true: "Gentlemen! Draw it mild! Draw it
mild!"
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WILLIAM H.
KALIS DIES
Bill
Kalis as he was known to most people in The Bahamas, arrived here from New York,
shortly after the PLP came to power in 1967. He was part of the Interpublic
Group of Companies that replaced Hill and Knowlton as the PR agent for the
Ministry of Tourism and the Government of The Bahamas. Hill and Knowlton were
Sir Stafford Sands' PR appointees. Arthur Foulkes was then the Minister of
Tourism. Mr. Kalis served in The Bahamas for 20 years. He founded The
Counsellors Limited with the late Joseph Edwards. Bill was head of the Bahamas
Tourist News Bureau and former Chief Government Information Officer. He was a
close advisor of former Prime Minister Sir Lynden O. Pindling. This Senator was
trained as a writer under Bill Kalis. We first met in the summer of 1969. This
writer was then 16 years old and just out of high school. Bill died on Friday 9
June after complications from diabetes. He was buried in a graveside ceremony on
Tuesday 14 June. He is survived by his wife Mable, two children and five
grandchildren. His wife wishes us to pass on the deep affection which Bill had
for The Bahamas and the Bahamian people up to the end. He was 83 years old. Bill
Kalis is pictured in this Tribune file photo.
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PATRICK
ERSKINE-LINDOP DIES
It
must be the season of renewal. It is always the season of renewal. This week it
was reported that another prominent public servant passed away. Mr. Lindop was
born in Antigua. He was 79 years old when he died suddenly in Miami, Florida on
2 June. He came to The Bahamas first with his father known as Colonel Lindop
when the senior Lindop was appointed Commissioner of Police in 1937. Mr. Lindop
served in Burma during the war. In 1965, he returned to The Bahamas to become
Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Out Island Affairs and Electricity who
was then the Hon. Donald D'albenas. The mother of this columnist the late Lilla
Mitchell also started her public service career at that Ministry in 1965. He
remained in The Bahamas ever since. He served in numerous positions as Permanent
Secretary and retired as CEO of the Hotel Corporation in 1986. A private service
for Mr. Lindop was held on Saturday 17 June. The late Mr. Lindop is pictured.
COMMENTARY
ON THE DEATH OF KALIS AND ERSKINE-LINDOP
The death of Bill Kalis and Patrick Erskine-Lindop harks back to an era of a
different Bahamas, to a time of transition and great anticipation in the
community. Majority rule had just come. They were among the last of the senior
public servants brought into the country because there was a lack of Bahamians
for the jobs in the public service. The PLP implemented a Bahamianization
programme but did not push out those persons who helped when The Bahamas did not
have the talent to run the place on our own. Former Prime Minister Sir Lynden O.
Pindling was pushed in two ways on the question. Many Black Bahamians thought
that he moved too slowly in disengaging himself from the foreign talent. The
white Bahamian community thought that Sir Lynden was racist for advancing the
Bahamianization policy. In the end, and with hindsight it has all worked out for
the best. And may they rest in peace!
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BAHAMAS
ELECTRICITY AT IT AGAIN
The summer has barely started and almost every day in this island of New
Providence there is a power cut by the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. We have
come to call them "one thunderclap" BEC. It just takes one thunderclap
to go off and there is a power failure in Nassau. Last week, there were at least
three power cuts, one of them island wide . No explanation from BEC. The
emergency line is always busy as soon as there is a power cut and on Friday 16
June when the power went off in Dowdeswell Street, there was no answer on the so
called 24 hour hotline. What a hopeless company!
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THE
REWRITING OF INGRAHAM'S HISTORY
The
Bahamas Baptist Bible College held its annual commencement exercises on Thursday
15 June at the Radisson Cable Beach Hotel. The commencement speaker was Hubert
Ingraham, the Prime Minister. This columnist ensured that he arrived after the
Prime Minister had left. We had heard enough foolish talk for the week. We just
missed him. Perfect timing! Congratulations to all the graduates. What proved to
be a source of great fun at the ceremony though was reading the biography of the
Prime Minister. He claims that he was the senior partner at Christie Ingraham
& Co. There's a big laugh. Then he also claimed that during his time in
office infant mortality rates in The Bahamas declined. So he is also responsible
for a decline in infant mortality. The best one though was the phrase describing
Mr. Ingraham "as the child of working class parents". La de da! Ha!
Ha! Ha! He must be the only one of us, we suppose. Then get this:
"Notwithstanding his strong identification with and ties to the working
class of the society, Mr. Ingraham has cultivated important relationships with
the business community of The Bahamas". Translation: Mr. Ingraham is the
Chief Uncle Tom.
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SOL
KERZNER'S STARTLING STATEMENT
Both
daily morning papers have reported that the proposal to take Sun International
private has failed and that it will no longer happen. Sol Kerzner also said that
he will not start the third phase of his Paradise Island project as he promised
the Government he would. The Government of The Bahamas has suspended the tax
incentives which came with that promise. But there were curious reasons given
for not proceeding with the project, one of them is that they were concentrating
on rebuilding after Hurricane Floyd and so could not plan properly Phase 3. The
other was that the shareholder returns on phase 2 have not been at the level
expected so they have to concentrate on getting that right. But the real kicker
was this: the challenge of running a resort the size of Atlantis
"particularly given the current labour environment." Ah! Ha! Now what
precisely does that mean? Several conclusions are being drawn. Maybe there is a
falling out between themselves and the Government. We don't buy that because Sun
has nowhere else to go since they hate the PLP. Then there is the thought that
tourism is now back on the downswing again. That may be so because the American
economy is on the down turn once more. But as for the labour environment: is Mr.
Kerzner suggesting that we don't have all the talent available and our
immigration policies won't allow him to bring in all the talent he wants? Is he
suggesting that there is labour unrest on the way? We would love to know. We
want that resort to succeed but it's hard to feel sorry for Kerzner. Then again
the whole statement may just be a scam. The story was reported on Friday 16
June.
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THREE
NEW PRIESTS FOR THE ANGLICANS
His Grace the Archbishop Drexel Gomez has ordained three new priests to the
Anglican Church at Christ Church Cathedral. They are Dwight Rolle, Mervyn
Johnson and Enrique McCartney. They were ordained on Thursday 15 June. The
Tribune photo of the event is shown. Congratulations to them. The picture shows
Fr. Rolle; Fr. Johnson and Fr. McCartney (from left to right at the front).
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FR.
CAMPBELL ANNOUNCES COMMUNITY CENTRE
Fr. Sebastian Campbell has announced the building of a new one million-dollar
community centre in South Beach. He is the rector of All Saints Anglican Church
in South Beach, New Providence. Fr. Campbell will break ground late today. This
is the kind of outreach in which the church should be involved not those useless
exercises in breast beating in public to try to solve crime.
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GLOBAL
REPORTS A GOOD YEAR
Patricia
Hermanns, President of Global Bahamas Holdings Limited, announced at the recent
shareholders meeting at the Nassau Beach Hotel that Global Life recorded strong
earnings of $2.3 million or a 34 per cent improvement in 1999 over year-end
1998. Earnings per share for its subsidiary Global Life Assurance Bahamas
Limited increased form 14 cents at the end of 1998 to 18 cents at year-end 1999
resulting in a return on equity of 14.8 per cent in 1999 compared to 11.7 per
cent in 1998. Ms. Hermanns is pictured in this Nassau Guardian photo. The story
was reported in the Nassau Guardian of Wednesday 14 June.
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IAN
FAIR HAS SOME GOOD ADVICE
This
columnist has criticized the Bahamas Financial Services Sector for being a bunch
of cry babies when it came to protecting their interest against the onslaught.
All they usually do is raise the alarm after the horse has already bolted. Now
comes Ian Fair (pictured) who suggests that instead of trying to attack the
problem on a multi-lateral basis, we need to have bi-lateral contacts.
Translation, let's be pro-active. The Minister of Foreign Affairs could surely
help. But she is too busy travelling up and down to notice. The story of Ian
Fair's comments as Chairman of the Bahamas Financial Services Board were
reported in the Tribune of Friday 16 June.
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ANOTHER
GOVT. CONTRACT GIVEAWAY
Last week, we slapped the wrists of Minister of State for Education Zhivago
Laing for giving away a nine million dollar contract to computerize the schools
to a non-Bahamian. The Government just continues to dis Bahamians. This week
they announced a 15 million-dollar contract to put water in the Family Islands.
What happened to the Bahamian contractors? The situation is going from bad to
worse.
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QUEEN'S
BIRTHDAY HONOURS
Government
House announced that Eileen Dupuch-Carron has been awarded the Companion of St.
Michael and St. George Award (CMG), topping the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
For those who are not aware of this arcane and quaint practice, each year the
Queen gives national honours to citizens of the Commonwealth on the
recommendation of the Prime Ministers of each country that retains the honours.
The awards are given at New Years and at the summer on her official birthday.
Each country is awarded a certain number of knighthoods and other awards. The
most quaint of these is the Order of the British Empire and its various
divisions. The British Empire exists only in the form of seven or so little
scattered territories around the globe. But Bahamians seem to love it,
particularly those of a certain generation. And so you have Eileen Carron
(pictured), not getting the knighthood that her father got, but getting the next
best thing. She has been a crusader for the FNM since 1972 when she became
Editor of The Tribune and she continues to be their stout and unrepentant
defender. Others getting honours were James Smith, former Governor of the
Central Bank and Julian Francis, the now Governor of the Central Bank. They got
CBEs. That is Commander of the British Empire. Then Officers of the British
Empire (OBE) Juanita Butler, Rev. Simeon Hall, Rev. Garnet King and Sister Annie
Thompson. MBEs (Member of the British Empire) went to Theo Farqhuarson and
former Senator Lawrence Glinton and Althea Sands, Roscoe Thompson, Mildred
Turner and C.H. Turnquest, former Director of Labour. The awards are given out
on a purely political basis. If you are PLP you don't get, if you are FNM or not
perceived to be obstructionist, then you get. It has gotten worse under the FNM.
Many are questioning whether these awards are worth anything at all, given who
ends up getting them. There seems to be a general lowering of the standards. It
debases the value to those who are actually deserving. But what more can you
expect from Hubert Ingraham - a goat prancing on a board floor.
Congratulations to all the deserving, and we are certain it has value to those
to whom it has value.
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RICK
FOX PERFORMS FOR LAKERS
The
whole Bahamas is now in a throwback to the time when Michael Thompson was an
L.A. Laker's star in the U.S. National Basketball Association. Rick Fox, the son
of a Bahamian father and a Canadian mother is getting more than his share of
playing time and seems to provide real leadership for the team. The Tribune
published this AP photo of Rick Fox (#17 being embraced by Shaquille O'Neal
and teammates) during game three of the series. The Lakers are widely
believed to be headed to an NBA championship. CORRECTION from last week Dexter
Cambridge also played in the NBA. We suggested last week that there were only
two: Fox and Michael Thompson.
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NEWS FROM GRAND
BAHAMA
Queens Honours Question - Some citizens of Grand Bahama are incensed at
the grant of an honour from the Queen to a pure FNM ideologue. The person, who
is known around Freeport as an irrepressible FNM who has a good heart but
offends many by his unbridled volubility, received an M.B.E. from the Queen in
the birthday honours list. Many are asking for what did he get the MBE.? Well as
the FNM likes to say: "This is our time now".
Victory In Crime Fight - A small but significant victory this week in the increasingly serious fight against crime in Grand Bahama. Police caught one of two young men who led them on a high speed chase while driving a stolen Honda Accord car. Ski masks and camouflage clothing were recovered from the car, leading to the conclusion that these may be the men responsible for a spate of robberies and armed holdups which have plagued the island of late. The recent history of this type of crime in Grand Bahama has been that after such an arrest, things die down... for a while.
Boat Show Work Permits Revisited - The public relations agent for the recent Grand Bahama Boat Show was in the newspapers this week, responding to allegations that work permits had been granted to foreigners to erect tents for the event over willing and able Bahamians. "We didn't think, because they were not erecting the tents or doing any installation work" he was quoted as saying "that they would need work permits". The Bahamian professionals who lost the job of renting and erecting some seventy tents for the show remain outraged.
Note from the Publisher:
WHAT DO WE DO
NOW THAT HE IS DEAD?
This site reported on Friday 24 June that Archdeacon William Thompson MBE died
at the Princess Margaret Hospital at the age of 66 just around noon on that day.
He is survived by his wife Rose, his brothers Suffragan Bishop Gilbert Thompson
and Dr. Philip 'Slimy' Thompson. The Archdeacon, who retired on 31 December
1999 after 32 years as Rector of St. Agnes Church in Grants Town, New
Providence, was shot in the early morning hours of Monday 29 May. He never
recovered from his injuries.
This has been a roller coaster week for the ruling class in The Bahamas. We say it like that because we have the perception that although thousands are shocked in the upper reaches of society, polite society; below is an underclass that outnumbers us to whom these events mean little. But we are shocked that a man of such stature, grace and humility can be so defencelessly shot down and there is nothing that we can do. The Prime Minister promised when it happened that the Government would do all in its power to ensure that the shooter was caught, but so far no one has been charged. So we do not even have the satisfaction of that. The police have said that they have found few leads. And so it appears that another of these murders will go unsolved.
On Thursday 22 June the day before the actual death, our class was plunged into despair when the news came out that the Archdeacon had died. False alarm! Hundreds went up to the Princess Margaret Hospital weeping as the Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Rev. Fr. Charles Simmons and Rev. Father Tyrone McKenzie prayed and prayed. The Archdeacon was revived. He began to suffer from more heart arrhythmia, kidney collapse, pneumonia. The doctors told us from last week to prepare for the worst.
The worst came and the end came on Friday 24 June. And so that, as they say, is that. What do we do now?
W.H. Auden:
May the beloved Archdeacon, friend to us all, and lover of The Bahamas rest in peace!
This week we had 31, 764 hits on this site up to 24 June midnight for the month of June. Thank you for reading and keep reading.
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FUNERAL SERVICES FOR ARCHDEACON THOMPSON
Archdeacon William Thompson's funeral will be held on Saturday 1 July at 10 a.m. in the Christ Church Cathedral. Members of St. Agnes are disappointed that the service will not be held in St. Agnes. However we support the decision to hold the service at the Cathedral. Archdeacon Thompson is, as we say, a
'bigger boss'. He is a bigger boss of the church and of the country. His whole life was a symbol of rising up from what was in the last era considered the depths of Grants Town as the descendant of a dispossessed African slave to become a Prince of the established, colonial master's church. Having reached the top, he deserves the honour which all who reach the top get: the service at the cathedral. We can do our cultural bit in St. Agnes, an African salute. But the ceremony of the Cathedral is the proper way to do this.
While an official announcement has not yet been made, there is serious talk of
burying the Archdeacon in the floor of St. Agnes after the Cathedral service; it
would be a great honour, well deserved.
GILBERT
THOMPSON BECOMES SUFFRAGAN BISHOP
Gilbert Arthur Thompson, the younger brother of Archdeacon William Thompson was consecrated Saturday 24 June at 10am at Christ Church Cathedral as Suffragan Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Nassau & The Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands. He is the second Suffragan Bishop in the history of the Diocese, the first one being Michael Eldon in 1971. The new Bishop's consecration comes one day after the tragic death of his brother Archdeacon William Thompson. The service was an emotional one, the high point of which was the blessing of the new Bishop's mother by Bishop Thompson.
Photos of the consecration by Peter Ramsay.
WHAT THE ARCHDEACON STOOD FOR
The Lunch Bunch is a group to which this columnist was invited by Archdeacon Thompson. It is a group of mature men only who meet every Tuesday at some member's home
who hosts all the others to lunch. You have seen it featured on this site. It was founded in the 1970s by the late Dean William Granger, the late Coburn Sands and the late Dr. Cleveland Eneas Sr. It is coordinated by Dr. Cleveland Eneas Jr.,
H.O. Nash Jr. and Henry Dean. It is a good and stimulating way to spend the afternoon with like-minded persons. Ed Bethel of Love 97 News is one of its
principals as well. The Lunch Bunch announced (see Nassau Guardian photo) on Tuesday 20 June that it was offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot Archdeacon Thompson. Archdeacon Thompson was the centre of this group and he is now the second one to have been shot down in cold blood. Four years ago John
Strachan, an Esso dealer, and member of the group was shot down in similar circumstances. Both murders remain unsolved. But the Archdeacon was a resolute believer in today's Bahamas. He was a PLP supporter who helped us all get over the disappointment and loss of 1992 and the devastation of 1997. He helped us to understand and accept the transition. He believed that Black men had finally taken over completely the politics
of The Bahamas. He was a firm believer in the African presence in the country and its traditions, but that did not stop him from railing against sweethearting and children being conceived and born out of wedlock. In a personal way, he was responsible for shepherding this columnist in a difficult transition from adolescence to mature adulthood. He encouraged the study of law. Much of what there is today for this columnist can be laid at his feet. We shall miss the Archdeacon more than anyone could know.
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THE ARCHBISHOP WEPT
Archbishop Drexel Gomez is said to be devastated by the death of his friend, contemporary, and advisor Archdeacon William Thompson. He wept when the Archdeacon died. He led the body to the morgue. We remember when Archdeacon Murillo Bonaby died during the episcopate of Bishop Michael Eldon. It shook the church to its foundations. No doubt the same will happen here. A wise and stable
counsellor has been lost to the Archbishop.
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THE CONDITION OF ROSE THOMPSON, THE WIDOW
If it has been an emotional roller coaster for us, then imagine what it must have been for Rose Thompson, the Archdeacon's beloved wife of
thirty two years. Mrs. Thompson is a nurse by profession. The couple were just about to move into their newly renovated home in
Chippingham, New Providence when the robbery, violence and death occurred. She herself was hospitalized on Thursday 22 June in intensive care suffering from stress and hypertension gone awry. She is now out of hospital and up to press time was resting comfortably at her Chippingham home.
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LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION PAYS TRIBUTE
The Hon. Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition paid tribute to the fallen Archdeacon. He issued a statement shortly after the death on Friday 24 June. Mr. Christie's wife and mother-in-law are members of the church. It reads in part as follows:
"...that this wonderful and eminent leader of our society should have to
complete his earthly passage at the hands of such ruthless evil is a tragedy
from which our nation will not soon recover."
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THE PRIME MINISTER PAYS TRIBUTE
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham issued a statement in connection with death of Archdeacon William Thompson on Friday 24 June. In part, the statement reads as follows:
"The Government and people of The Bahamas are crushed with sadness by the
tragic death of one of our country's finest sons."
SENATOR OBIE
WILCHCOMBE JAILED AND RELEASED
The Court of Appeal heard the appeal of Senator Obie Wilchcombe (PLP) on Tuesday 20 June and then the three-man court unanimously committed him to prison for four days. This upheld the ruling of the Coroner Winston Saunders in one of the worst decisions made in the recent history of The Bahamas against journalists. Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience and called for immediate release. The last time a journalist was locked up in this country was 1898 when Mosley, the editor of The Nassau Guardian was jailed by the courts. In a photo by Peter Ramsay of
Bahamas Information Services Senator Wilchcombe is shown behind the gates of the Fox Hill prison. Senator
Wilchcombe was sent to jail by the Coroner for refusing to answer a question about where he received a letter sent to him by John Higgs. Mr. Higgs was a convicted murderer who was to be executed but cheated the hangman in February of this year by taking his own life the night before the scheduled execution. The Supreme Court Judge Ricardo Marques and now the Court of Appeal led by Burton Hall and some gentlemen with names that are unpronounceable upheld the decision.
In the history of
The Bahamas when it comes to a contest between the Courts and the journalist, the courts always rule in favour of themselves. The judges were not moved by arguments that in a democratic society one needs for a journalist to be able to protect his source. A press conference was held outside the prison gate by this Senator who acted with Glenys Hanna Martin as
attorney for Senator Wilchcombe. The statement said that Senator Wilchcombe promised a full report to the Bahamian people on the prison and the conditions there. The Coroner can still call Senator Wilchcombe back again and
- if he refuses to answer - send him back to jail. But that would be an abuse. Observers have said that the decision of the Coroner may have jeopardized his chances of being elevated to the Supreme Court bench.
From left in the photo of the news conference are Attorney Glenys Hanna Martin,
PLP Deputy Leader Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt, this Senator, Senator Wilchcombe and
Philip Galanis MP.
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SIR RANDOL FAWKES IS BURIED
A visit to the coffin of Sir Randol
Fawkes, national leader, the father of labour in The Bahamas as he lay in state at the House of Assembly on Wednesday 21 June. Sir Randol was buried in Lakeview
Cemetery (see picture of Lakeview at the bottom of the column) on Thursday 22 June. The funeral service took place at the Christ Church Cathedral at 4 p.m. on the 22 June. The sermon was delivered by his brother-in-law Fr. John Taylor. In many senses again, this was a black Bahamian aristocracy, if you can call it that, burying one of its own. The ruling class
which emerged out of the struggles of the 1940s and 1950s was burying one of its
own at the age of 76. Sir Randol died suddenly of what was at first believed to have been a heart attack but it turns out to have been a ruptured pancreas on 14 June. Their were tributes all around. The leaders of the country turned up to a state funeral, complete with an open carriage, the police band, a march down Bay Street to the church accompanied by the police and the national labour leadership. One would have expected the church to be packed but there were plenty of seats. Not sure why that was. One controversy, in that the family did not want the Government to be involved at all in the service but after the request was made for the police band, and gun carriage, the Prime Minister did some horse trading of his own and negotiated the Government's state funeral. This put the PM himself front and
centre. In other words, the Government paid for it. Flags flew at half-staff at all Government buildings on the day. There was the boom of 21 shots of the cannon at the start of the service. The Acting Governor-General Geoffrey Johnstone who was the last Leader of the Opposition for the white supremacist United Bahamian Party in 1967 attended the service. It was a great irony to many, since
Fawkes put Mr. Johnstone's party out of office in 1967 by casting his tie breaking vote with the PLP. The photo shows this Senator viewing the remains. The photo by Peter
Ramsay is presented with apologies to our Canadian friends especially who have
objected in the past.
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NO POLITICIANS SPOKE AT FAWKES FUNERAL
At the request of the family, only trade unionists marched in the official parade from the House of Assembly to the church service on Thursday 22 June. No politician spoke, only family member Rosalie Fawkes and Obie Ferguson, head of the Trade Union Congress and Duke Hanna, head of the National Congress of Trade Unions. Hypocrisy was kept to a minimum. Everyone remembers the undignified fight that Sir Randol was forced to undergo by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his government in order to get his pension. Then we remember also how Sir Randol was fined $1000 for contempt by suggesting that the President of the Court of Appeal Gonsalves Sabola was less than
honourable. The fact that it was true was neither here nor there. So great job to Lady Fawkes that no politician spoke. Rosalie Fawkes gave a touching portrait of her father at home. No politics discussed. She said that whenever he was asked about helping with the
housework he would say to them: "Can't you see I'm thinking. I have bigger things to think about. I am thinking great things." The Tribune photo shows Lady Fawkes with son David viewing the remains.
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CAMERAS BACK IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
Hubert Ingraham is in many respects, like a child with a toy as his tenure in office runs out. You remember the decision about a month ago to take the cameras out of the House Assembly after
Bradley Roberts PLP MP Grants Town attacked James Knowles, the FNM MP for Long
Island. The Prime Minister announced without consultation that the cameras
would be out of the House until rules could be put in place about the TV cameras. The spineless Speaker of the House claimed that she agreed with the decision. They tried to get the Opposition to
agree - not from us. They took the cameras out anyway. Then they came to the Opposition at the start of the budget debate and asked if we would agree to have the cameras back for the debate. They wanted the PM to have unlimited time on TV, the Ministers one hour each, the Leader of the Opposition one hour and everyone else thirty minutes each. The PLP's position was gavel to gavel coverage as before or no cameras. So there were no cameras. But Ingraham wanted to show off what he had done for Sir Randol Fawkes so he got up and said he wanted the TV cameras back in the House for the occasion of the special sitting for Sir
Randol. This is the same man who said no cameras until new rules were in place. The Opposition disagreed, but the Speaker and the Prime
Minister said that there was nothing preventing the Speaker from allowing the cameras in despite the previous ruling. And so she suspended the House and ten minutes later the cameras were back in. Bradley Roberts refused to stand for her exit as the tradition demands. He shouted behind the Speaker as she left
"Ingraham speaks and she does his
bidding". Government Leader in the House Algernon Allen was embarrassed by the Prime Minister's actions. He felt that Ingraham had usurped his authority, and peremptorily overstepped the mark by showing that Mr. Allen's contacts and agreements with the Opposition on running House business mean nothing when the PM decides otherwise.
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WHAT THE MINISTER SAID IN GENEVA
Six Bahamians were fêted to dinner in Geneva to dinner by the Minister of Labour and Maritime Affairs Dion
Foulkes. Mr. Foulkes
travelled to Geneva for the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conference just after Labour Day. He reports that at the end of the meeting there was, shall we say, a lively discussion about what was said on this web site. The Minister said that he
was told
by those gathered that this web site is a PLP propaganda tool. Well! Certainly that is not the case. It is clear that this is a site written by a senator for the PLP. But the information here is strictly the opinion of one man Fred Mitchell. Further, nothing on this site has been proven to be untrue. We challenge any one to say truthfully otherwise. All information is properly reported and is appropriately qualified by the sources upon which it is based. This is not propaganda.
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THE FNM AT PLAY AS BOOZIE LEAVES
Friends of Anthony
'Boozie' Rolle
(pictured) had a farewell party for Boozie, wife and family at the club house at
Sandyport, the exclusive timeshare and condo complex on the western New Providence coast on Tuesday 20 June. Mr. Rolle is the new Ambassador to the United Nations. It was a good party, mainly FNM Ministers and supporters. This senator was the only PLP there that we could recognize. Lots of back slapping by the FNM ideologues about welcome back home and all that. It is conveniently forgotten that at no time did this Senator ever join the FNM, but let's not let the facts interfere with a good story. The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, former Ambassador Sir Arlington Butler and present Ambassador Arthur Foulkes were also there, as were
Ministers Dion Foulkes, Algernon Allen and C.A. Smith. Prime Minister-in-waiting Tennyson Wells was also there. It was an interesting event because the clear fact is that although there are these reports of bickering and fighting going on in the FNM, they seem still to be united in the idea of
the FNM and its supremacy. As one former PLP MP put it some of these fellows never had it so good in their life
as under Ingraham and will do nothing to jeopardize that. That means that while they want Ingraham to go, so far it does not appear that they are prepared to break up the whole kit and caboodle and give the Government to the PLP. It is a sobering thought for the PLP that
we must properly organize in order to win. The country is fed up with the FNM. That is the part which was also clear. They don't seem to know it. The FNM is simply having a good time, saying that the country is doing well and they expect to win all the seats but two in the next House. We shall see but the PLP should work, work and work. We cannot have another five years under these men and women.
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LESTER TURNQUEST BARKS ZHIVARGO LAING
Mr. Turnquest
(pictured) is the backbencher of the FNM, forced out of his job as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Health in December 1999. Since that time he has been unbridled in his criticism of some of the FNM's policies. This time he has taken umbrage with the Minister of State for Education who in his address in the House of Assembly during the budget debate attacked those who support National Youth Service as a solution to the crime problem. The Minister said that those who supported National Youth Service were ignorant. That, as they say,
'put hell up' in Mr. Turnquest who sees the Minister as a newly jumped up neophyte with little to recommend himself. In his weekly article in the Bahama Journal on Tuesday 20 June, Mr. Turnquest dripping with sarcasm asked the Minister to forgive those who are not as bright as he, the Minister. The piece was entitled: THE ROAD NOT TAKEN, after the famous Robert Frost poem. Said Mr.
Turnquest: "It is indeed comforting to contemplate that our beloved Minister will lend us the benefit of
this singular and powerful intellect as we grapple with some of our nation's problems." Within FNM circles, Mr. Laing is seen as an intellectual lightweight who owes his position entirely to Hubert
Ingraham. In Parliament, Mr. Laing is known as "the echo" because he echoes everything that the PM says.
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LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
Last week we reported that Hubert Ingraham in a biography claimed that during his time in office he was responsible for a decrease in infant mortality rates in The Bahamas. Well now he needs to work on life expectancy at birth during his last months in office. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that The Bahamas is still stuck at 67 years old for men and 73 years old for women. Compare this to the U.S. at 73 for men and 79 for women; Haiti with 50 for men and 55 for women; Cuba 72 for women and 77 for women and the Dominican Republic with 71 for women and 72 for men. The report was carried in The Tribune of Wednesday 21 June.
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RICK FOX WINS NBA RING
The Los Angles Lakers wrapped up the championship of the U.S. National Basketball Association
(NBA) on Monday 19 June in Los Angeles. Their defeat of the Indiana Pacers gave Rick Fox, a Bahamian, a championship ring. He is the second Bahamian to win such a ring. There was jubilation in The Bahamas. Congratulations. While many are unhappy about a perceived lack of patriotism toward The Bahamas by Mr. Fox, they nevertheless glory in his accomplishments as if it were the success of his father Ulric Fox, a Bahamian who pulled himself up by his bootstraps. No word on when Mr. Fox will visit his parents in Nassau. It also shows that Mr. Fox, the younger, has a good head. He made
what was to many a mercurial decision when he turned down big bucks at Boston to go to Los
Angeles for a lower salary. His argument was that he wanted to be on a team that had a shot at the championship, and now he has been proven right. See AP photo as published in The Tribune Wednesday 21 June.
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G-7 COUNTRIES ATTACK THE BAHAMAS AGAIN
Last week, we sat next to William Allen at the funeral service for Patrick Erskine Lindop at St. Paul's Lyford Cay Church. A penny for his thoughts as his precious image as a Minister of Finance is being shattered every day by the onslaught of the developed countries against the offshore sector in The Bahamas. We have always called him the hapless Bill Allen
(pictured learning to 'e-trade') and so it seemed again last week that this was a prophetic appellation.
Now for the avoidance of doubt and those with soft hearts, remember that these appellations are political designations and commentaries.
They do not reflect on the person individually. The OECD countries are about to blacklist The Bahamas for money laundering and slack regulation of the financial sector; the G-7 Financial Stability Forum
(FSF) has already done so. Now comes another one from the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF) of the G-7. The G-7 as you may know is the group of developed countries including the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the U.K. The Bahamas has now been listed by the FATF as among 15 jurisdictions that failed to co-operate in the fight against money laundering. The Minister of Finance was caught flatfooted on the point again : "I am surprised that they are yet to be convinced of our stance on money laundering." Well if he's surprised, then what about
us? The problem is that the FNM believed their own propaganda about what a good job they were doing. They thought that the attack by the developed world was only against the PLP. What does the blacklist
mean? French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said sanctions against countries on the list could go as far as ending all financial relations, whatever they be.
Things that make you go: "Hmmm!" The report was made in The Tribune of Friday 28 June.
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PHIL STUBBS PERFORMS
The troubadour from Cat Island by way of West End, Grand Bahama gave a concert last night in Nassau at the Marriott Crystal Palace Hotel on Friday evening 23 June. It was much anticipated. Bahamians love his songs because they give that down home feeling. He played rake and scrape and made what he called West End Moves. A good time was had by all.
He appeared on the talk shows to promote the concert saying that while he wasn't
criticizing modern Bahamian music, every time he listens only one question comes
to mind: "Where the rake?"
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YEAH KEN PERIGORD AND THE OLDIES
The talk of the town these days is the new show on ZNS Network by Kenneth Vernon Perigord, aka
KP. Mr. Perigord, a Valley Boy and successful businessman, lately of Shell Dealerships, has a show called KP's Golden
Oldies. You can tune into it every Saturday night on Radio Bahamas ZNS 1540AM
and ZNS POWER 104.5FM from 8 p.m. to midnight. He plays the music of the 1950s, 60s and early 70s and by special request he'll even play songs from the 40s. If he doesn't have it, he'll get it within thirty days or you get a prize. Earl Thompson Sr., former MP and now Manager of the Bridge Company, called up last week on the 24-hour request line at 242-364-0327 to identify the mystery song from a movie High Noon. It obviously brings back good memories to a lot of people. If you are in the Family Islands you can contact KP by toll free number 1-242-300-6469. The programme is into its fourth week. Mr. Perigord says that if you guess the mystery song, you get a gift certificate ranging from 25 to
50 dollars. He thanks Brad Hanna for helping him think through and develop the idea. His personal collection of golden oldies is extensive and he loves music. Tune in. Congratulations KP.
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NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Taxi
Union Supports Bus Drivers - Grand Bahama Taxi Union President James Kemp
(shown at right) was in the newspapers this week with the President of the Bus
Drivers Association Timothy Nottage (left). Mr. Kemp expressed his union's
support for the bus drivers in an ongoing clash over new bus routes between the
drivers and the Road Traffic Authority. The Authority this week apologized to
the public for the stoppage by the bus drivers 13 June. The dispute
continues with the drivers running the routes, but withholding their full
co-operation to pressure for fare increases. Carped an official, these are "mere
stalling tactics". Freeport News photo.
Workers Strain & Distress - The bus drivers tiff with road traffic over routes and fares comes amidst the feeling that all is not well in the trade union movement in Grand Bahama. Recently, National Congress of Trade Unions Vice President Felton Cox said that "Workers are under strain and labour is in distress." Speaking during Labour Day celebrations, Mr. Cox cited the Grand Bahama Taxi Cab Union and its struggle to survive in the face of plans "a diabolical plot" he called it to drive them out of business.
Police Commissioner Visits - Acting Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson conducted an official walkabout in the Garden Villas area of Freeport Friday 16 June, meeting with residents of the community known locally as 'the ghetto'. The Freeport News reported that "contrary to popular belief the police presence was welcomed." The Commissioner's visit was aimed at improving the practice of community policing.
