September 1999

While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source of their material from this web site.

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NEW READERS
In addition to the link to John Carey's site, we are joined this week by two new links.  The newest is to Reg and Kit Metcalfe of Ontario, Canada.  They are visitors to The Bahamas who decided to put together a comprehensive collection of Bahamas Web sites plus their own, complete with Caribbean music.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Welcome to the Metcalfes.  This site joins their collection of sites.

DELIRIUM OVER THE WOMEN RUNNERS
It was the topic of every breakfast, lunchtime, and school time, work time conversation. The victory of the five Bahamian women at the World Championships.  Congratulations again to them.  They will be fêted to a victory parade and rally upon their return on 15 September.  The Minister of Youth is warned not to make this a partisan event.  Perry Christie, Leader of the Opposition was first off the mark in congratulating the women in Seville, Spain. Debbie Ferguson is shown at left crossing the finish line in an AFP photo from the Guardian.
 
 
 

APOLOGIES TO OUR CORRESPONDENT FROM TEXAS WHO WROTE ABOUT THE ALLEGED VENDETTA OF THIS COLUMNIST AGAINST THE PRIME MINISTER. THE GENDER WAS WRONG.  THE PERSON IS FEMALE NOT MALE.

Condolences to PLP Vice Chairman Greg Christie of Grand Bahama on the loss of his father, also uncle of the Honourable Perry Christie. Mr. George Kenneth Christie, 78, is survived 13 children of whom Greg was the eldest; two sisters June Archer and Dorothy Fernander; two brothers Charles and Gladstone. Services for Mr. Christie are scheduled for 3pm on Saturday 11 September at St. Joseph's in Nassau.

Condolences to Dr. Baldwin Carey on the death of his brother Alan, a former employee of BaTelCo.

Condolences also to the family of Richardson Campbell (see story below).

Just for Helen Farrington, our chief Secretary of Gwendolyn House we have a spread of staff photos from Gwendolyn House.  We wish her well.

Up to 31 August at midnight we had 12, 881 hits for the month of August.  From 1 September to 8 a.m. today we had 2448 hits.  Thank you for reading.

GOVERNMENT TO APPOINT A FOREIGN CHIEF JUSTICE?
We thought that we had won that battle against the Pindling regime with its succession of non-Bahamian Chief Justices.  It is the view of this columnist that when the Constitution is amended it should be made beyond doubt that only Bahamian citizens can sit as judges of the Courts of The Bahamas.  Now after having come to office on the promise that he would appoint Bahamians to the office of judge, Hubert Ingraham proposes to follow up the tenure of Joan Sawyer with that of a Barbadian Elliot Mottley. Mr. Mottley is a former justice in Barbados and a former Attorney General of Bermuda.  With no disrespect to Mr. Mottley, it is an inappropriate appointment.  The Judiciary of The Bahamas suffers now because of the decisions of non-Bahamian judges.  In the Court of Appeal the non-Bahamians there have absolute contempt for the Bahamians over whom they are adjudicating.  Will there ever be a Bahamian Government that does not subvert justice in The Bahamas by appointing foreign persons whom they can control to the Bench?

OTHER FOREIGN APPOINTMENTS TO COME
At last Joaquim Sabola, the President of the Court of Appeal, with whom we have been saddled for so many years is to end his judicial reign of disdain for Bahamian counsel at the end of September.  He reaches the mandatory age of retirement.  He has done well in this country.  Like a carpetbagger, he has come along, gotten judicial promotion after promotion, made judgments consistently against human rights ideas, made insulting remarks to poor litigants and their counsel in the courts, given judgments consistently in favour of the Executive. His child and wife given status.  He was made Chief Justice and given Bahamian citizenship in the most scandalous way by the Bahamas Government.  Now with his departure, we had hoped we could breathe a sigh of relief but the story is he is to become a consultant at one of the big law firms in town.  But good riddance from the bench.  Not a moment too soon.  The problem is that he is to be succeeded in the short term by Justice Boyd Carey, another non-Bahamian.  That person is to hold on for two months, then it is said that Dame Joan Sawyer is to leave the post of Chief Justice to become President of the Court of Appeal.   Mr. Mottley will then come in to take over.

OSADEBAY TO BE OVERSTEPPED?
Emmanuel Osadebay for all the complaints about his judicial activism when counsel are in court, has developed a reputation as  a hard worker.  He is the senior judge.  He is Bahamian by naturalization, and is married to a Bahamian.  He has Bahamian children.  He has no carpetbag to take up and go anywhere.  But the Prime Minister has taken the position that Mr. Osadebay cannot get the job on his watch.  Interesting.

CHANGES IN THE MAGISTRATES COURT
Mrs. Sharon Wilson, wife of former PLP House Member and Senator Franklyn Wilson has reportedly resigned.  She is fed up with the political discrimination and being jumped over for promotions.  The last straw after decades in the Magistracy was the offer of the Chief Justice to make her Registrar of the Court of Appeal.  In the middle of accepting the job, she heard the Prime Minister announce on the radio that the job was being abolished and it is to become Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court with responsibility for the Court of Appeal.  Can you figure how the Registrar of the Court of Appeal can be answerable to the Registrar of the Supreme Court?  Only by FNM logic of course.

FURTHER MAGISTRATE COURT CHANGES
Mrs. Wilson will be leaving her work in the family courts behind.  She is to be replaced by a Trinidadian judge in the family court of The Bahamas.  There are also two Guyanese judges coming to be Judges of the Supreme Court.  This is nothing short of scandalous and disgraceful.

TENNYSON WELLS TO GO
Meanwhile in the Executive, Tennyson Wells, the Attorney General and would be successor to Mr. Ingraham is on a fast track to leaving the Cabinet or so it is said.  An irascible Hubert Ingraham at this week's press conference on the Commissioner of Police when he was asked whether he was going to stick to his promise to stay said that he will decide if he wants to stay or go and when he is ready he will let the country know.  Sounds like a change of mind to us.  But the story is that Tennyson Wells still has his courage and intends to fight for the leadership. His supporters want him to pitch a battle at November's FNM convention.  But sources says that the Prime Minister has had a quiet word with Mr. Wells and told him to cool it, slow down because too much dissension in the Government has come as a result of his posturing.

THE KNIVES ARE OUT IN THE FNM
Part of the reason Hubert Ingraham has been so ambiguous in his answers about whether or not he is going to go is to try to quiet the fight which is breaking out in the FNM rank and file. At the press conference he did a George W. Bush. He kept saying every answer but, 'no I do not intend to run again'.  Tennyson Wells and his supporters are set to meet this weekend to hash out once and for all where they are headed.  They want Mr. Wells to challenge the Prime Minister for the leadership of the party at November's convention.  Floyd Watkins, the MP for the FNM from Delaporte for whom Mr. Ingraham has a pathological hatred, has served notice of a resolution for the convention that all the modalities for the transition from one Prime Minister to the next should be worked out by Convention time.  None of this sits well with Mr. Ingraham.  His supporters are so alarmed that they were all seen huddling together in one popular Nassau restaurant.  Cabinet Ministers plotting and scheming against their colleagues?  Gentlemen, keep it mild! Keep it mild!

RESPONDING TO THE JOURNAL EDITORIAL
The Bahama Journal continues to spin a pack of lies through its editorial position on the PLP.  The criticism was up to this week that the PLP had nothing to say on anything.  Now the Journal claims that the PLP is not talking about the right things.  Clearly, the newspaper has an agenda of its own.  Like the Guardian that agenda appears to be to employ every device to discredit the PLP and ensure that Hubert Ingraham looks like a good guy.  Fine, but let's not dress it up in fancy words and logic that is really a set of pretty non-sequiturs.  One of these days that newspaper and the Guardian will have to come to terms with the fact that the truth will out.  Until then, tendentious opinions will be ignored.

UNSTABLE TIMES IN THE COUNTRY
The country feels quite unstable.  It is like this Government has no control over itself and over the country.  Anything goes, and anyone can do what they want.  The Government is engaged in the most shameful buyout of a Commissioner of Police, wasting public money.  This must be added to the 66 million they have spent of public money to sell BaTelCo to a foreign strategic partner for 300 million.  The reports are that they are busy but quietly taking back staff for BaTelCo because the service has deteriorated so much since laying off 900 members of the staff.  The talk is that 500 BaTelCo workers will have to be taken back.

HUBERT INGRAHAM RESPONDS ON COMMISSIONER

A press conference was called on Wednesday 1 September by the Prime Minister to respond to the Leader of the Opposition on the demand by the Leader that the public knows the full facts behind the leave of absence of the Commissioner of Police.   Mr. Ingraham said that the Commissioner is to go on study leave beginning 13 September for 18 months.  During that time he will get full pay, housing and uniform allowance and the use of a government car.  He will return to his duties. (Yeah right!).  The Deputy Commissioner Errol Farqhuarson will act until December.  At that time he will retire and become Chief of Security at the new Airport Authority that will run the Nassau International Airport. Legislation is to be passed in October to facilitate this.   The new Deputy Commissioner will be Wilton Strachan who also retires in December.  The word is that Assistant Commissioner Paul Farqhuarson will succeed to the Commissioner's chair.  The absence on leave of the Commissioner is disgraceful.  It is an abuse of the taxpayers money.  Mr. Bonamy should end his career in the service and allow someone else to take the chair substantively.  The review Commission having reported and asked for certain changes, this would be the best time for a transition to new leadership of the Force.  It is an act of selfishness to want to have your cake and eat it too.  The Prime Minister and the Government ought to know better.

ROW AT FNM COUNCIL
Mike Edwards, FNM Vice Chair, was reportedly furious.  He had two copies of fredmitchelluncensored.com in his hand .  He waived them at the FNM Council and told them that they were lazy.  He asked the Prime Minister why the FNM's site could not be updated every week like this one.  It is simple; lazy people and nothing to report.  Anyway, it seems that Iron Mike had his way.  The Chair of the Party Dwight Sawyer announced that from now on the site will be updated weekly.  We shall see. By the way the real story why the FNM brass won't do anything is because they claim that no one reads this web site.

ADVICE FROM FNMS ON THE PLP
It seems that the FNM wants to run the PLP as well as the FNM.  Every week there is some FNM leader who is busy trying to advise the PLP how to run its business.  Chief amongst them is those who are trying to spread the rumour that there is division in the PLP's ranks re Dr. Bernard Nottage.  They want the Leader of the PLP to say that Dr. Nottage is out.   Advice to FNMs: mind your own business. What about Tennyson Wells and Hubert Ingraham?  How close are they?

THE GOLDEN GIRLS - WINNERS IN SEVILLE!

The country was in the thrall of victory.  It was a rare moment of patriotic pride as the country swelled its collective chest when the five young ladies brought home the gold in the 4x100 relay in the World Championships in Seville, Spain.  The Tribune gave the best coverage.  ZNS was hopeless.  The Guardian was behind the eight ball.  A sample of The Tribune photos - From left, Debie Ferguson sprints to victory; the four parade in triumph with the national flag and Eldece Clarke limbers up.  Congratulations!

CONGRATS TO HAWK FINLAYSON

We are pleased to announce that Alpheus "Hawk" Finlayson was elected to the Council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation( IAAF).  Tommy Robinson and Winston Marshal worked hard in their campaign for Hawk who is pictured.

MARGO BLACKWELL (COB UNION) SWEARS COMPLAINT
On Monday 30 August, Margo Blackwell, Vice President of the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas (UTEB), the College of the Bahamas faculty Union,  swore a complaint against her employer for a criminal action for violating the Industrial Relations Act.  A decision may come as early as Monday on whether the Magistrate will issue a summons against Hugh Sands, Chairman of the Council.

PLP CONVENTION CHAIRMAN
The talk is that Philip 'Brave' Davis may be announced as the Chairman of this year's PLP convention.  Congratulations!

A NEW MISS BAHAMAS
Michael Moss, who is the GM of the Freeport Power Company, and his wife Willie Moss, Deputy Chair of the Grand Bahama Port Authority are proud parents this week.  Their daughter Mikala has won Miss Bahamas.   Congratulations to the new Miss Bahamas. She is said to have blown the competition away when she answered her question in French. Congratulations to the parents, two smart people and well, Willie Moss has always been a stunner.  The daughter is a chip off the block as they say.  The Tribune photo at right.
 
 

MINISTER OF FINANCE ADDRESSES OECD FORUM
The hapless Minister of Finance William Allen flew off to Europe to address a special conference of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  The OECD countries - mainly European countries - have decided that tax havens are enemies of their states.  The Bahamas has been lumped in with them.  The countries may be proposing tax changes to eliminate havens like The Bahamas.  The hapless Minister of Finance tried to make a special case for The Bahamas, stating that qualitatively we are no different than Switzerland.  That we are not just created to help avoid taxes but that we are a legitimate offshore centre.  Fat lot of good his pleadings will do, but maybe it's worth a try.  The whole address which was published in the press seemed too much like the work of a mendicant.

NEW BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER
This columnist who is also the spokesman on Foreign Affairs for the PLP will pay a courtesy call on the new British High Commissioner Peter Heigl on Tuesday 7 September.  Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Heigl. Mr. Heigl's last  post was Nepal.  The temperature difference as you can guess between there and Nassau is immense.

CUBAN AMBASSADOR CALLS ON PLP LEADER
Hon Perry Christie , Leader of the Opposition received the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, during a courtesy call on Friday 3 September.

SCHOOLS MAKE A FAILING GRADE
This report needs no commentary.  The disaster that is the Ministry of Education schools is apparent on the face of it.  Following a cheating scandal which caused students to have to re-sit some 16 exams again, the results were abysmal across the board.  Iris Pinder, the Director of Education tried to put a brave face on things by suggesting that there were improvements.  But that has to be intellectually dishonest.  Read the results for yourself.  Is it any wonder then that when you try to sell complex intellectual ideas to the Bahamian public, no one understands what you are talking about: Jack Hayward High in Freeport: E plus last year to D minus this year; Governors Harbour, Eleuthera D minus to D plus; Preston Albury (Rock Sound, Eleuthera) E to D; Southern Andros E+ to D+. The Director called these notable improvements. What about what she did not tell us. She went further: In BJCs, DW Davis E minus to D minus; CR Walker F plus to E; Jack Hayward E plus to D; St. George's High and Eight Mile Rock E plus to D; Man-O-War Cay F plus to D plus; Old Bight E minus to C minus; Governors Harbour E minus to C. "We are not happy with the results, but we are seeing progress",  Mrs. Pinder said.  Imagine.  That's what you call progress!

REBUILDING OUR MOTHER'S HOUSE IN ARMSTRONG ST. It will be a $50,000 or so project.  The Government stopped construction last year and took 13 months to approve the permits.  No doubt a political decision, since it is part of Mr. Ingraham's Ministry.  Now the Royal Bank of Canada has refused to okay the financing for the project.  The Bank of The Bahamas earlier refused.  Unfortunately because of the Government's sloth and bloody mindedness, our mother did not get to see the project completed.  But with the help of God, with Charles Rolle the contractor, his workers and the architect Mike Foster, we shall finish the project in her honour.  And this despite the Royal Bank of Canada.  Photo by Brandino Brown.

HELLO FROM THE STAFF AT GWENDOLYN HOUSE

These photos are the friendly faces of Gwendolyn House, law chambers of this columnist who wish Ms. Helen Farrington, our chief secretary, well in South Carolina where she is convalescing with her daughter. From left are Mrs Calisse Barry, Mrs. Agartha Lynes, Miss Janielle Pinder, Mr. Brandino Brown, Mr. Lee Travis Davis, Mr. Stan Smith.

DEATH OF RICHARDSON CAMPBELL

Richardson Campbell, 45, the former Editor of the Freeport news died on Friday 3 September following a long illness.  Mr. Campbell was suffering from cancer of the pancreas.  We shall miss him.  God Bless him!  He was a good supporter of the Progressive Liberal Party in that difficult part of the PLP's vineyard. The family has set the funeral service for 11am Saturday 11 September at First Baptist Church, Freeport.

BREAKFAST AT KRISTY'S IN FREEPORT
The whole of the Kristy's breakfast crowd was in shock when David Thompson, the Minister for the Public Service showed up saying that he was on the way to getting a haircut on Friday 3 September. It seemed that he had come to make peace after the declaration earlier in the day in full vent by one of J.M. Pinder's generals that Hubert had had his two terms and he should "carry his ass". J.M. Pinder is the former FNM member for the Eight-Mile Rock constituency. Well we know that the general said that we could quote him directly, but we decided for his own good to protect him.  We know Mr. Ingraham better than he does and there is no point in placing him unnecessarily in harm's way.  According to J.M.'s general, he learned at the farewell party of Ambassador Maurice Moore that a man ought to leave before his time while people are begging you to stay rather than be pushed out of the way.  He said Hubert's time was up.  He also had a few choice words for Senator Ronnie Knowles, the Minister of Health and Earl Deveaux, the Minister of Dead Banana trees aka Minister of Agriculture.  After that fracas David Thompson who hardly every comes, shows up.  Things that make you go: " hmmm!"

MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER According to David Thompson some of the traditional FNMs who think that they will be delegates to the convention may find themselves relegated to the sidelines at this upcoming FNM convention.  A warning to the Wells' forces, could this be the way Hubert Ingraham intends to get his way at the convention, by stacking the deck?

SWITCHING SENATORS
The Kristy's crowd had a message for Hubert Ingraham about changing senators too. You will remember our concern that Senator Pauline Cooper-Nairn may be pushed out for Kay Smith because she no longer lives in Grand Bahama.  Well the message is Hubert can do what he wants too, but there is a price to pay.  As they say, let's stay out of those Grand Bahama people's business.  Mr. Ingraham, you know, was born in Pineridge, Grand Bahama.

FNM COUNCIL RESULTS
The Freeport Council of the FNM has elected Carl McPhee instead of Alex Pratt JP to be its chair.  There are some FNMs who are angry that a certain Minister of the Government sought to obtain a bus contract over FNM stalwarts Junior Grant and Max Quant. Things that make you go: " Hmmm!"

GEORGE WILSON CONVICTED
The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday that George Wilson former head of the FNM Action Group was convicted in the United States of 19 counts of bilking insurance investors. Sentencing is to be done later. This is a very sad development.

While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source of their material from this web site.

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Note from the Publisher:
PHENOMENAL INCREASE IN READERS
Between 8 a.m. on 29 August and 8 a.m. on the 5 September, we had 5714 hits on this site.  That is a phenomenal increase over the average readership in any of the weeks before.  On average, it has been closer to two thousand, and on good weeks three thousand.  We are absolutely amazed.  We encourage you to keep reading.

FEATURE STORY:
This week's feature story is about the Bahamas Electricity Corporation.

THIS WEEK AT KRISTI'S
We intend to start this week a feature with the name of the headline.  Kristi's is a  small deli in Freeport where the politicos now gather every morning.  It is an interesting part of the culture of Freeport.  Both FNMs and PLPs have a spot to gather where they discuss the political business of the day.  We hope you like it. Photo by Tim Aylen.

RESPONSE ON CAT ISLAND
A reader from the U.S. wrote last week that he was appalled by the arson committed in Cat Island some two weeks ago.  The Cutlass Bay resort was burnt to the ground.  The talk is that it is a vendetta by drug kingpins who want to move in on the resort.  Bahamians have also said that the owners of the resort were not well liked and were discriminatory on a racial basis, thus the lack of public sympathy for the owners.  However, even if that is the case, it does not justify what happened.  A man is entitled to his opinions and beliefs, and each person has a right to private property in this country.  Let us hope that justice is done on all sides. One should not also take what happened in this incident to be of general application to the rest of The Bahamas.  It is an isolated incident and the country is largely peace loving and friendly.

THE FNM IN FOMENT
It is clear that the knives are out in the FNM.  It appears to some that despite the efforts of many to help Ingraham stay on, the reception has been so hostile and frosty to the idea that Ingraham has finally given up the idea.  But that does not stop him from wanting to put his man in place.  Some thoughts below.

This month we have had 10,754 hits up to 8 a.m. this morning.

BEC PLUNGES INTO DARKNESS: AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN!
At week's end the public had apparently had enough of BEC.  Each time the power went off in this island of New Providence during the week, this columnist made a note.  On Sunday 5 September, the power failed twice for more than two hours each time.  The failures were island wide and followed within minutes of a thunderstorm.  BEC is the national joke.  People call it one clap BEC.  The first clap of thunder and BEC plunges the island into darkness.  The power was off on Thursday night 9 September for three hours and again on Friday 10 September in the afternoon for three hours. The General Manager has his usual explanations and promises.  But the words lack credibility.

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION TO RESPOND
Perry Christie, the Opposition Leader, is to hold a press conference on Monday 13 September to deal with BEC and to announce the date of the PLP's convention and the new Convention Chair Philip Brave Davis.

HOW TO DEAL WITH BEC
The first thing is that political responsibility must be accepted by the Government for the failures with this Corporation. We have two Ministers for BEC; Anthony Rolle and the Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson.  They have been as silent as church mice.  Not a word!  We do not accept that the Management of BEC should be allowed to twist in the wind and left hanging, to take the fall for what is happening at BEC.  The Government must accept the blame for old equipment, under investment in equipment and poor labour relations.  That is why the company is in its present state.  The Opposition will be careful to distinguish.

BEC OVERCHARGES FOR BILLS
During the summer when the work to rule was at its height, meters were not read on a timely basis.  Now a correspondent suggests to us that BEC instead of reading the usual 30 days as in the past period, they read the meter over 47 days.  This causes the billing period consumption to increase and allowed BEC to charge more than you would normally get on your bill.  So if bills are unusually large this month, look at the bill carefully as that might be the reason.

GM TO RETIRE
Freeman Duncanson, the BEC GM is set to retire in October of this year.

LOVELY MISS BAHAMAS

Mikala Moss, the beautiful daughter of Mike Moss and Willie Moss of Freeport, Grand Bahama has begun her work as Miss Bahamas in earnest.  She announced at the pageant that she will be concentrating on education.  This week she began with a tour of H.O. Nash High School in New Providence.  There was an engaging picture of her giving a young man a hug after a presentation.  Many would have loved to have been in his shoes.  Miss Bahamas is pictured during the contest in The Guardian Photo.
 
 
 

DAMIEN GOMEZ CONVICTION OVERTURNED
A Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate heard the appeal from a Lay Magistrate's conviction of Damien Gomez, the Archbishop's son and former Senator for assaulting his wife.  The Magistrate overturned the conviction and set aside the verdict.

SENTENCING FOR GEORGE WILSON
The country is shocked at the rapid conviction of George Wilson, the former head of the FNM's Action group.  Mr. Wilson was convicted last week of all but one of 19 counts of bilking insurance investors.  Commentators on the trial suggest that the jury took about one hour to deliberate and were heard laughing and joking in the room.  The jury had a high proportion of blacks  and women.  But Texas is a conviction-minded state and Mr. Wilson was a foreigner and black at that so it was easy to make him the villain of any piece.  Sentencing is due for 20 December.  He is free on bail pending sentencing.  Motions were to be filed to stay the verdict during the past week. The fine is $250,000 on each count and 20 years in prison.  The sentencing guidelines are said to call for ten years, which if the judge follows them will all run concurrently.  We wish Mr. Wilson the best.

CHERYL ALBURY'S COURT CLOSED
The membership of the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas who are engaged in a struggle with the College of The Bahamas their employer were disappointed on Monday 6 September to find the court where Magistrate Cheryl Albury adjudicates was closed.  Mrs. Albury was to make a ruling on a criminal complaint filed against the College of The Bahamas. The reason: the Department of Environmental Health has closed the court for two weeks because there is a fungus in the Court that is causing discomfort to the eyes of the workers in the Court.  Justice is now delayed.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS LAID AGAINST COB
Meanwhile before another magistrate other members of the Union filed complaints.  Summonses are expected to be issued against the College shortly. If convicted the College can be fined up to $1,000 on each count and the officers of the College go to jail for up to a year or both.

OSWALD BROWN MARRIES
Ozzie Brown, editor of the Nassau Guardian has married again. He married the former Dr. Jean Turnquest, sister of the Governor General Sir Orville.

PAULINE DAVIS-THOMPSON SAVORS THE VICTORY
The country is still celebrating the victory of the 'Golden Girls'.  The women are to be treated to a national demonstration of affection on 15 September when they return home - a motorcade and a national rally at the Q.E. Sports Centre. The quintet are also to be presented with a special resolution by the House of Assembly and ten thousand dollars each.  The Opposition has not been officially clued into what is going to happen.  The PLP is planning its own celebration for the women. This week The Tribune ran a touching interview with Mrs. Davis-Thompson who at 32 was told she should quit because she was too old to run.  She told the country that her philosophy is to pick yourself up and keep trying.  We agree.

ROGER SMITH AND THE TENNIS ESTABLISHMENT
Julian Lockhart of The Tribune attacked the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of tennis in The Bahamas as a group of hypocrites.  He said they opposed Roger Smith's applying for a liquor license at the National Tennis Centre because Roger Smith himself was applying. Roger Smith is the retired Bahamas ace who defeated Ivan Lendl.  Mr. Lockhart seemed to think that the tennis establishment has a  problem with Mr. Smith.  He pointed out that the BLTA has liquor served at other venues and some of its programmes are sponsored by liquor companies.  He said their objections that youth might be corrupted by serving liquor at the Nation Tennis Centre were hypocritical.  It sounds right to us.

CARLTON WILLIAMS RETIRES FROM FINCO BOARD
When you reach 70, apparently the FINCO Board has no more use for you.  Or to put it mildly, one is forced to retire at the age of 70 from the Board.  Mr. Carlton Williams, who recently sold his stake in McDonald's and is one of the country's most successful Black businessmen has reached that magic age, and was treated to a Lalique Crystal Bowl as a going away present from the Board of FINCO.  He served since 1972.  When he joined the Board, Mr. William's good friend and benefactor Carl Francis, was the Minister of Finance. Dr. Keva Bethel, former College of The Bahamas President, joined the Board of FINCO earlier this year.  George Cox , the Civil Engineer is also on the Board.  The Managing Director of FINCO is Al Jarret.  FINCO, the country's premier mortgage corporation, is owned by the Royal Bank of Canada.  Some of its shares are publicly traded.   It is the most valuable share listed on The Bahamas Stock Index, trading now at 30 dollars per share.  Best wishes to Mr. Williams.

RND BUYS GOLD'S GYM
It was a curious marriage.  The Nassau Guardian carried a photo on its front page with Jerome Fitzgerald, head of the RND Group and John Sitomer, the owner of Gold's Gym.  They announced that the two companies had merged.  That seems to mean that RND have bought Gold's Gym and the rights for the name in The Bahamas and the Caribbean.  RND just did a successful public offering and has expanded to build new cinemas in Western New Providence, in Freeport, Grand Bahama and in Abaco.  They also expect to open cinemas in St. Lucia.  They have now announced plans to expand Gold's Gym in New Providence and also the Caribbean.  Gold's is the premier gym in The Bahamas.  John Sitomer will sit on the Board of RND.  No public reaction on how this marriage will work.  Mr. Sitomer has been largely a one man band since he came to The Bahamas and opened the gyms and other businesses.  How will he react to working now within a corporate structure? Gold's Gym wanted to float its shares, but they were prevented from doing so at the last minute by the Securities Board.  No explanation was ever given for that.  Mr. Sitomer says with the merger the expansion plans that should have been done after their own share offering can go ahead.  We will be watching the stock price of RND.  While expansion is good, one wonders if this company may not be growing too quickly.  But these are bright men who run the company.  They have an enviable record of success.  Keep watching the stock price.

VIOLENCE REACHES COB
A student was stabbed by a group of male students at the College of The Bahamas.  So all the newspapers reported.  It made front page news.  That means that the violence has now reached COB.

MURDER CAPITAL OF THE ATLANTIC
The Bahamas suffered its 38th murder for the year this week.  A distraught relative was shown in this Tribune photo following the death ritual; in Yellow Elder a low cost housing area of New Providence.  The people of New Providence are simply becoming numb to this weekly spectacle of death.

LAWYER PETER GRAHAM ATTACKED
The Tribune reported that on Thursday 9 September at 7 a.m. as Peter Graham was starting his day at the law offices of Graham Thompson and Co, two men burst in and robbed Mr. Graham of $100.  He was gun butted and struck about the body, he was treated at the hospital and discharged.  The country does not know what to do about this mindless violence.  It gets worse, and closer and closer to home. Well a Government Minister has been murdered under the FNM.  They said the PLP was responsible for crime.  Mr. Graham is no PLP. The FNM is now in power.  Who is responsible for that?

CUBAN UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS
Wesley Campbell, formerly of the now defunct Vanguard Nationalist Socialist Party, is now the contact in The Bahamas for the distribution of scholarships from the Cuban Government.  During recent meetings with the Progressive Liberal Party, the Cuban Ambassador revealed that the Cuban Government provides some 14 scholarships to Bahamians annually, including in the field of medicine.

BATELCO SERVICE DETERIORATES
Try getting an overseas operator, filing a complaint about a telephone.  You cannot find any one to help you.  That is what the Bahamas Government has caused by firing 900 workers.  The Corporation is demoralized.  All the employees want to go. They simply refuse to answer the telephone.

BATELCO CELL NETWORK GOES DIGITAL
Analogue subscribers to the cell service have until 15 September to get digital service and have it programmed for free.  The service for analogue will become more expensive after that and you have to pay $75 for programming.  The analogue service will end totally on 31 December 1999.

BATELCO UNION DUES HIKED
The Union executive using its constitutional power to hike dues without reference to the members has increased dues to 40 dollars per month.  Some members are grumbling and threatening to go to court.  The Union says that with half its membership gone, it needs the revenue to keep it programmes alive.  The dues used to be 25 dollars per month.

LYNN HOLOWESKO BLASTS NIKI KELLY
Temper! Temper! Lynn Holowesko, who used to be a Pyfrom, who ran for the House on the FNM ticket in 1992 and lost, and used to be President of the Bahamas National Trust and is now the Ambassador for the Environment, used to be the paragon of charm and diplomacy.  She seemed like a finishing school product.  But this week on Thursday 9 September, Mrs. Holowesko blasted Tribune Columnist Niki Kelly who attacked Hubert Ingraham in her column of Tuesday 7 September  for giving developers carte blanche to destroy the environment.  Mrs. Holowesko obviously put on her partisan hat, and can't see that what Mrs. Kelly has said is absolutely true.  Just ask Victor Kozeny who took a tractor and bulldozed the coral structures on his private island in the Exuma chain.  The Prime Minister went down said tut tut, but nothing happened,  the destruction is still there.  Rich men can do what they want under the FNM.  Mrs. Holowesko says anyone who makes a statement like Mrs. Kelly has insulted the Prime Minister and should be laughed at.  Perhaps Mrs. Holowesko herself should look in the mirror and see who needs to be laughed at.  The Black community was somewhat amused by all of this.  In this country most Black Bahamians feel that there is a code of silence among white Bahamians.  They do not attack their own.  Well clearly that has gone out of the window.  But Mrs. Holowesko ought to be more careful .  The Trust which she used to head and the Bahamas Environmental and Science Commission which she now heads have no credibility with the Bahamian people.  That is simply because they are too close to Ingraham and only see what they want to see through purely political eyes. Photo of Niki Kelly at right.

MEANWHILE IN BIMINI
Gerado Capo, the Cuban American developer of Bimini Bay out of embarrassment has to pay George Weech the money he owed him, every cent of it. But he still continues digging up the marsh lands in Bimini and destroying the tree cover.  A red alert has been sent out to the Bahamas National Trust and to Lynn Holowesko, but of course Mrs. Holowesko may have been too busy laughing at Niki Kelly to respond or return Bimini Captain Jerome Stuart's telephone calls.

GREEN SHUTTERS PUB REOPENS
It was good news for former patrons.  The English style Pub Green Shutters is open for business with new owners.  The private club is being reopened as well and they are looking for members at the rate of $335 per year.  Major credit card required for all new members.  Michael Fowler and Sophie Wong the owners.  They are pictured in this Tribune photo. Green Shutters is located on Parliament Street.

AMERICANS HAVE A NEW DCM
The new US Deputy Chief of Mission is Meritt Brown.  Mr. Brown succeeds Pamela Bridgewater.  He met the Governor General and was introduced by Ambassador Arthur Schecter.  The Guardian photo by Donald Knowles.  Mr. Brown is at left shaking the Governor General's hand.

BILL ALLEN WANTS WTO FOR THE BAHAMAS
As they say in Nassau, when the World Trade Organization was being put together, The Bahamas was slunking.  The PLP administration did not have the foresight to be involved.  William Allen, in his previous incarnation, was the PLP's principal adviser.  Now the hapless bungling Bill is calling for observer status in WTO.  He thinks that it's a good idea.  He was speaking at the anniversary of the launch of the Bahamas Financial Services Board on Wednesday 8 September.  What the real deal is that you cannot participate in the Free Trade Area of the Americas unless you are a part of WTO.

NEW VICE PRINCIPAL AT ST. AUGUSTINE'S
The Roman Catholic High School in Fox Hill has a new Vice Principal. He is Benedict Dorsett, a graduate of the Class of 1971.

COMMONWEALTH BANK SPECIAL DIVIDEND
Tim Donaldson, former Ambassador and Senator and now head of the Securities Board and Chairman of Commonwealth Bank, has announced a special dividend of four cents for the Bank's shareholders.  He says that this makes 28 cents in dividends paid out for this year, a 12% increase on the dividend of 25 cents for 1998.  He predicts that the economy is healthy and will continue to grow.  Of course, Commonwealth provides a valuable service as a lender of last desperate resort.  They have aggressive collection procedures.  They will literally take your dining table from under your plate while you are eating.  Their shareholders have done well.  The interest rates are high.  Among the shareholders; the Symonettes as in Brent and Lady, Franklin Butler (Sir Milo's son) and Rupert Roberts of Supervalue.

NEW HEAD OF PETROLEUM DEALERS
Peter Roker has been elected to head the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association (BPRA).  He succeeds Doyle Fox.  Mr. Roker takes over at a troubled time for the Association, having suffered a tough battle with Texaco.  Mr. Roker is a tough cookie and takes no nonsense.  Ken Perigord, who is now out of the gasoline business, was unanimously elected an honorary member.

WHO WILL SUCCEED B.K. BONAMY
Mark Symonette, the best political writer the Nassau Guardian has, wrote a speculative piece on the succession in the Royal Bahamas Police Force, now that B. K. Bonamy is on study leave from his post as Commissioner and his two deputies are about to retire.  All bets are on Paul Farquaharson to succeed Mr. Bonamy.  No one  except Mr. Bonamy believes he is coming back.  Other names headed for senior posts. Supt. Ellison Greenslade, Supt. Douglas Hanna, Supt. Marvin Dames and ASP Arnold Josey.  See photos - From left are ASP Josey, Assistant Commissioner Farquaharson, Superintendent Hanna and Superintendent Dames..

INGRAHAM FETED BY LADIES
In a last ditch effort to save himself, the Prime Minister has organized his own Committee of FNM Women to rally around him. They call themselves the Millennium Women's Committee.  They praised him to high heaven and gave him gifts.  See The Tribune photo.  Hopeless.  Mr. Ingraham tried to put a brave face on it talking about what he did for women, but of course, he uses women to promote himself.  One suspects that he prefers women in positions of power because he thinks that he can tell them what to do without opposition.  One can't help but be cynical about all of this. The PLP is the leader in women's rights.

DRUG SMUGGLING AT NASSAU AIRPORT
The U.S. media apparently erroneously accused Bahamasair this week of  helping to import drugs into the United States.  This after U.S. authorities arrested another 15 U.S. ramp employees for smuggling drugs into the U.S.  Not so said Bahamasair. But The Tribune reported that drug smuggling has increased multifold at the airport this year.  It was the FNM who said the PLP was responsible for drug smuggling.  Who is responsible now?

RICHARDSON CAMPBELL LAID TO REST
Richardson Campbell, 45, the public relations executive and former Editor of the Freeport news was buried in Freeport on Saturday 11 September. Friends and family from across The Bahamas packed the 1st Baptist Church to bid the popular writer good-bye. At the funeral, this columnist delivered a personal message of condolence from Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie to Maureen, the widow Campbell. Mr. Christie was in Nassau attending the funeral of his uncle, George Kenneth Christie. Mr. Campbell was suffering from cancer of the pancreas. In addition to Mrs. Campbell, he is survived by two sons, Richardson Jr. and Maurice, a daughter Richeena, his parents Leon and Helene Campbell, eight sisters and five brothers.

THIS WEEK AT KRISTI'S
The telephone rang.  Who could that be early in the morning at the breakfast hour calling for FNM general Junior Grant?  It was the Attorney General on the line.  Tennyson Wells, the man who would be Prime Minister, was calling to find out why Mr. Grant and the fellows were opposing him.  Perhaps let's make a deal.  But Mr. Grant is a Hubert man.  He did, however, agree to keep the peace.  Keep it up Tennyson.
    THE FNM's backbenchers were all called and asked why they did not attend the luncheon for the Prime Minister by the Millennium Committee.  The Hubert faction heard a lot of curse words this week.

    OUR MAN, J.M. PINDER'S GENERAL WAS INSPIRED TO REPEAT HIS WORDS REPORTED LAST WEEK: "Hubert got to carry his ass."  We agree.

    HUBERT'S FORCES  HAVE ALREADY STRUCK AT ELIMINATING TENNYSON Wells' potential delegates from  the Grand Bahama delegation.  Ethlyn Stuart lost the election  and will have to sit out the Convention from the sidelines. Also slated to be knocked out are Kendal 'Jit' Culmer and Nesbitt Higgins. Word is they've been marked by the Ingraham forces to be sidelined... Cover your backs, guys.

    JUNIOR GRANT SPEAKS - Well the story is this.  Mr. Grant supports Mr. Ingraham.  According to him Mr. Ingraham says Lindy Russell, the FNM rep for Eight Mile Rock has to go; then he has to go.  If Mr. Ingraham wants Ronnie Knowles, the Senator for his Deputy, then it is deputy it will be.  That caused quite a furore.

    FINALLY JUNIOR GRANT SAYS IT THIS WAY: Hubert is a winner and if he wants to stay, then I support him.

    MIKE EDWARDS TO BE OPPOSED - The talk is that Iron Mike, the voluble Vice Chair for the North of FNM, is to be opposed by a popular man in the transportation business for the job of Vice Chair.  Watch this space.

    Trouble, as they say, in the camp!

While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source of their material from this web site.

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

Supplies:    Contact the National Disaster Hurricane Committee
                    Fax the office of the Prime Minister [242] 327.5807

Financial Assistance:
                    Bahamas National Disaster Relief Fund
                    Account at Royal Bank of Canada Main Branch, Nassau

Note from the Publisher:
There is no other story in The Bahamas this week than Hurricane Floyd.  That is what everyone was talking about and that is what we will talk about.  Hurricane Floyd raises an interesting discussion about the meaning of the word disaster. Diana Swan, reporting from the middle of the destruction in Marsh Harbour, Abaco described the scene as a disaster.  And in one way it is.  But would you not call the situation in Turkey after the earthquake a disaster?  There 15,000 people lost their lives.  In The Bahamas there were possibly two deaths.  We therefore have a lot about which to be thankful.

We have a full photo spread of the scenes in the various islands as far as we could get them.  The islands of San Salvador, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and Abaco were directly hit by the storm.  The eye of the storm passed over each of those islands.  In New Providence which has not seen this kind of property destruction since Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the eye passed 80 miles to the north of us. Photo of Attorney H. Campbell Cleare III's ruined state of the art electronic gate in Nassau.

The storm brought out the best of people and the worst of people.  People seemed interested in helping their neighbours get ready and to share their provisions.  Then there was a mainly young crew that was arrested for looting stores.  Someone had to spoil the party.

The storm was also a test of our preparedness as a people.  When you look at the public policy behind this, we were not very prepared. The disaster relief is even more scattered.   It is not going very well.

Hubert Ingraham's reign was ushered in on Hurricane Andrew.  The PLP ought to mark this as the end of Hubert Ingraham's reign, out with Hurricane Floyd.  The lame duck Prime Minister was busy hopping about on an American Coast Guard helicopter with Ministers in tow and the Leader of the Opposition as his guest assessing the damage.  One wonders what could have been done by him that technical people could not have assessed.

We were able thanks to the intrepid work of Al Dillette to update the reports on the hurricane as it progressed through The Bahamas.

THIS WEEK WE HAD 19,763 HITS ON THIS SITE UP TO A.M. THIS MORNING FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.  THANK YOU FOR READING.

A PUBLIC INQUIRY NEEDED
This columnist issued a statement in his capacity as a Senator to call for a full public inquiry into the conduct of The Bahamas Government on preparing this country for the storm and for getting it back on its feet after the storm.  The performance in the country was limping at best.  The Prime Minister spent most of the week grandstanding.  He turned down offers of international help.  At week's end there were reports of boats and planes returning from The Bahamas full of hurricane aid relief supplies because of bureaucratic bungling or perhaps foolish pride. Those whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad. Pride goes before a fall. He was apparently supported in this nonsense by the General Manager of BEC who thought that we did not need international help to restore power in the capital.  In Freeport on the other hand, the privately owned power company had technical people standing by to fly in from overseas to provide help and there are still areas of Freeport without power. BEC was doing a bad job of coping before the storm, you can imagine the problems this week.  At week's end, most of New Providence and all the family islands hit were without power and running water.  It is an absolutely  miserable experience.

TELEPHONE SERVICE LOST
In the middle of the storm, the telephone system failed in New Providence and the link with the southeastern Bahamas went down.  It has still not been restored.  The reason for the loss of telephone service in New Providence - not the lines or the poles, but the sheer negligence of the management of Batelco.  They allowed the batteries to go dead in the Poinciana Drive Centre in New Providence because their generator was not working after BEC's power failed.  The batteries need electricity to keep them up to their level.  After the storm was over people sweated, without any adequate information as to when their power and water would be restored.  The courts, the business community was plagued by massive stay aways, people could not bathe nor sleep properly.  This is four days after the storm and the place is still not back up to an acceptable level of conduct.  Nothing less than a full investigation is required.   At one point the Broadcasting Corporation also went off the air in the middle of the storm.  They too were without information calling over the air for the head of the National Hurricane Committee to contact them with information on what to do after the storm.  We are indeed lucky that we did not get the full brunt of this.  We would have been in serious trouble.

PLP CONCERNED ABOUT POLITICS IN STORM RELIEF
The Leader of the Opposition has promised the Government that he will be vigilant in seeing that there is no politics involved in giving out disaster relief.  During the distribution of hurricane relief after Hurricane Andrew PLPs were discriminated against in the distribution of public funds.  The Government has announced an emergency grant of up to $750 each to help people get back on their feet.

ABACO THE WORST HIT

We will let the pictures from The Tribune's reports tell the story.  But clearly, Abaco has suffered major damage.  One report says that Elbow Cay, the island on which Hope Town is located has been cut in half as a result of the storm.  Some towns like Crossing Rock in Abaco (pictured at top left) were literally flattened.  Sandy Point and Moore's Island were extensively damaged. (See Photos)

FREEPORT IN BAD SHAPE
The pictures told a thousand words.  The story is that at the height of the storm, as the eye of the storm passed near Freeport, the tide surged over the north shore, across Queen's Cove, the upscale residential canal area, over the airport and swamped both areas in six feet of water, mud and sea weed.  The storm surge continued into Freeport's civic industrial area leaving four feet of water in its wake. Among the major businesses affected were Thompson Wholesale and Five Wheels of Grand Bahama. The list reads like a who's who of business in Freeport. One young lady's wedding dress was ruined by the mud as it sat in a local dry cleaners. She hand laundered the dress and got married anyway, even with the rusty zipper. Perhaps the hardest hit individually owned business was Roger Pinder's M&M Water which lost the entire roof during Floyd. Roger stayed open to serve the public up until the last minute. Cars in the airport parking lot and the interior of the main terminal including the Bahamasair ticket counter were covered in water, then mud and seaweed.  The airport had to be shut down, and up to this time has not fully recovered.  Avis and other rent-a-car agencies lost their cars.  The private parking lot had cars in it that were ruined.  The staff of the weather service had to be rescued by jet ski in the middle of the storm.  Their generating equipment failed.  The weather service in Freeport went down for the duration of the storm.   People were frightened out of their wits.

PRINCESS TO CLOSE DOWN
Because of the storm surge at the airport, the runway is still not available at night time.  The Princess Casino, which depends for customers on the Laker Airways jet flights to the US and the pre-clearance lounge for US customs, is holding on for dear life.  The Casino is closed because there is no business.  The Princess Country Club, larger of the two Princess properties, has also closed. This has Freeporters concerned.  The Government does not seem to be taking this as seriously as they should.  Princess is the last tourism lifeline in Grand Bahama.  Without it, so many economic activities in the city will collapse.  The priority ought to be getting that airport open, and getting the US customs pre-cleared facility up and running as quickly as possible.  Some are speculating that Princess may use this as an opportunity to shut down entirely.  They have been looking for a buyer without success for at least two years. Now may be the chance to chuck it all, however, late word from insiders is that a deal has been struck with the airport company to bring enough of the facility online for Princess to reopen Monday 20 September.

ELEUTHERA IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
The weather forecasters called the eye well organized.  It was some 25 miles wide.  It would take two hours, they said, to cross.  During that time, it would be sunny and dead calm, and then the backlash.  Eleuthera, as with Andrew before it, suffered.  Roofs from Government buildings in Governor's Harbour, old trees in Harbour Island, six foot waves surged throughout. Cupid's Cay had its road washed out.  Tarpum Bay lost its roads.  Some churches lost their roofs.  The Methodist Church called anxiously to its members in a relief effort.  Julian Gibson, the ZNS local correspondent in Eleuthera reported that some cemeteries were washed out.  Bodies could be seen floating out to sea, he said.   Thankfully, no loss of life.  The clean up is beginning.  Frantic relatives who cannot reach Eleuthera by telephone have been flying over and sending relief supplies by telephone.

CAT ISLAND, SAN SALVADOR AND RUM CAY
There was no argument this time about who was first discovered by Christopher Columbus.  The country was truly concerned when communications went down and these islands had not been heard from for 48 hours.  A good Samaritan who happened to have a satellite telephone called from Rum Cay to say that although there had been extensive property damage, there had been no loss of life in San Salvador or Rum Cay.  The story is still unclear about Cat Island but late word is in that the Bridge Inn and Fernanders Bay, both hotel properties were destroyed by the storm..  Rum Cay had extensive property damage but no loss of life. Club Med survived but because there is no water or power, all guests are to be airlifted from San Sal to Florida immediately.  Riding Rock Inn, owned by Bahamian Carter Williams in San Sal, was reportedly destroyed.

NEW PROVIDENCE

The capital was spared the full brunt of the hurricane. Good thing it was.  There was still extensive property damage.  There was flooding, and the western foreshore was broken up. Attorney H. Campbell Cleare III lost his state of the art electronic gate (see photo at top) and his front hedge.  The house that used to be Banana Boat owner Teddy Foster's (top right), now Dr. Patrick Roberts had its high wall breached in several places.  The road at the Go Slow Bend was washed out.  Saunders Beach lost significant portions of sand.   We have photos of the damage.Top left is go slow bend; bottom left is bridge to Coral Island, right Nassau Harbour.

FOX HILL PLP ORGANIZES CLEAN UP
Branch Chair Larry Wilmott and supporter Gary Ferguson led a team with a tree cutter. The services were paid for by this columnist who is nursing the Fox Hill constituency. Mr. Wilmott began the clean up of the Fox Hill area.  Government services were nowhere to be found.  Up to this time, Fox Hill is still without power.  A survey found that there was minimal damage, no loss of life.  Many trees in Fox Hill were felled.  One family saw four of their cars damaged when a tree fell in the height of the storm.  See photos of Fox Hill clean up.

PARADISE ISLAND
The Atlantis Hotel moved all of its guests into their new convention room.  Dr. Franklin Walkine, the former MP and the house doctor camped on the premises just in case.  There were no injuries.  Power was up during the whole time at Paradise, and the company comped the rooms.  People seemed to take it good naturedly.  There was no loss of life.

WIND DAMAGE IN NEW PROVIDENCE
The main problem was that terrible wind.  At the height of the storm as the eye passed some 80 miles to the north of us in New Providence, the wind at Nassau's International Airport was clocked at 67 miles per hour.  The forecaster said they expected gusts up to 90 miles an hour.  It was reported that a boat in the Harbour clocked a gust of 100 miles an hour.  Whatever the miles per hour, it knocked over trees throughout the island.  The place looks like a vegetation wasteland.  The yard of Government House is almost unrecognizable with all the old trees knocked over and the wall breached in several places.

COMMUNICATION IS  A SERIOUS PROBLEM
It is unbelievable that in this day and time the islands being as physically close as they are that communication links would go down.  All the official channels went off line at some time during the storm.  This includes the police radio system.  The General Manager for the Bahamas Electricity Corporation went on the radio to ask for his manager to try and connect with him because he had not heard from them in the family islands.  BEC with all its money should have an independent system of communicating.  Further in the age of satellite telephones, each island should have at least one and a reliable power pack.  The weather reports were often garbled and histrionic.  One minute the eye of the storm was here, the next minute it was there.  One minute the winds were 70 miles an hour, another they were 190 miles an hour.  It all seemed a jumble.  The Government must be blamed.  The lame duck Prime Minister must be blamed for this mess. There needs to be a national agency that is permanently responsible for disaster relief and preparedness.

THE RED CROSS
The coverage on Radio Bahamas was funny at some points.  One of the highlights was Marina Glinton, Director of the Red Cross in her characteristic candor fussing Sherman Brown the ZNS reporter on air.  "What kind of reporting y'all doing," she said, "y'all don't know Bahamas Academy roof blow down?  What you all doing?"  "Oh!" responded Mr. Brown, "We'll send a team out straight away."  Mrs. Glinton told him that the people were evacuated to other shelters.  Mr. Brown asked her where were they taken.  Her reply, she did not know. Things that make you: "hmmm!"

WHAT IS AN ISLAND?
How about the reporter who was standing on North Bimini and expressing concern for the safety of the residents. Bimini, it was said is "an island surrounded by water". No doubt, the stress of the excitement.

THIS WEEK AT KRISTI'S
Well, the talk was all about the Hurricane at the favourite deli of the politicos in Freeport.  Some thought the Prime Minister was doing a good job, others thought that he was wasting his time. But most of the talk went without earshot of the PLPs in the house.  When Minister David Thompson called to visit, he called the FNMs outside to talk to them. FNM MP for West End & Bimini David Wallace also graced the corner table at Kristi's this week. Amazingly, the normally verbose Mr. Wallace who has something to say about everything, was as quiet as a church mouse.
    The talk is that Talmadge Pinder will not get elected to be a delegate at the upcoming convention of the FNM which is to begin on 1 November.  He is to be removed as the FNM Council Representative for Eight Mile Rock. Word has it that Talmadge has since moved out of the area and is no longer eligible. They say he opposes Mr. Ingraham and the Ingraham forces say that Tennyson Wells must be stopped at all costs. We told Talmadge we knew Ingraham better than he did.
    Meanwhile Iron Mike Edwards, national Vice Chair of the FNM picked up several key endorsements for his purported upcoming battle for that post. Among those now endorsing Iron Mike is a Cabinet Minister and an extremely influential FNM advisor to the PM who is also an avid reader of this site. Iron Mike was galvanized into action when rumours surfaced that he would be challenged at the next FNM convention. We wish him well.
    People were saddened by the apparent death by drowning of  a Freeport man as he was traversing with a friend across the Fishing Hole Road causeway during the storm. This is the road which links the Eight Mile Rock Settlement across the creek to Freeport. Five days prior to that activist Caleb Outten demonstrated at that causeway and at that time warned the Government that there could be loss of life during a storm because of their lack of action. There have long been calls to raise the road to an acceptable level or construct a proper bridge.

GOLDEN GIRLS CELEBRATION DELAYED
The day after the storm 15 September was the day that the Golden Girls were to be fêted by The Bahamas Government. That's what the winners of the 4x100 meter relay team of the World Championships are called.  It did not materialize.  The Government has delayed their plans until a later date. Debbie Ferguson, one of the quintet is from Abaco, and anxiously awaits word from home.

WILLIAM ALLEN THE BEGGAR MINISTER
Last week saw reports of  the mendicant like performance of the hapless Minister of Finance William Allen at an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development  (OECD) Inquiry.  We now know the inside scoop.  Mr. Allen should not have gone to the conference at all.  It was a conference of civil servants and they have been summoning Ministers from the Caribbean to come and speak to them, even as their minds are a made up that the tax haven countries are intrinsically evil.  Mr. Allen should have sent a civil servant if we went at all.  The fact is that the group before which he spoke cannot be convinced.  They are set to make recommendations to their Ministers to try and eliminate places like The Bahamas from the financial services area.  Maybe Bill just needed a free trip to Paris.

LETTER TO THE TRIBUNE'S EDITOR
We thought that this letter by Wade Thompson about Hubert Ingraham and the FNM was an excellent letter and in a way answers the critics about whether this columnist is too harsh on the Prime Minister.  It is no secret that this columnist believes that Hubert Ingraham is a mistake, a disaster and a national embarrassment. The PLP must get its act together and win this next election, otherwise we are doomed to further economic and political degradation by another generation of half-wit leaders from the FNM.  We have scanned the letter in for your edification.
 
 

NEW SBARRO
The popular Italian eatery, for slightly upmarket fast food has opened another branch in the middle of town in Nassau, next to the Island Book Store.  It seems strange to have yet another fast food chain in the middle of downtown Nassau.  The Tribune photo shows Jeffrey Armbrister, the new Manager.  The Sbarro eatery is connected to Jimmy Knowles, the MP's family.
 
 
 
 
 

MEANWHILE MALCOLM HOUSE DESTROYED
The Central Bank ought to be roundly condemned for allowing their renovations of the beautiful old house the Malcolm Building to go so slow that finally the storm destroyed the home.  The Tribune showed this photo.

COURTNEY STRACHAN PRESENTS
The Nassau Guardian showed a photo of Courtney Strachan presenting a one thousand dollar cheque on behalf of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity to the father of Dawson Ferguson.  Mr. Ferguson is shown receiving the cheque.  The fraternity hopes to encourage other young men like Mr. Ferguson an L.W. Young graduate to excel academically.

PETER ROKER PREPS EMERGENCY GAS PLAN
During hurricane Floyd, motorists in Nassau were able to get gasoline right up until the storm, but Peter Roker, Chair of the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association said Floyd has left some valuable lessons.  He pledged to establish a roster of stations with stand-by generators and the capacity to serve gas and diesel fuel which will be available during emergency situations.  Mr. Roker commended the oil companies and the petroleum dealers for their co-operation during hurricane Floyd.

While material on this web site can be used freely by other sections of the press, as a courtesy, journalists are asked to attribute the source of their material from this web site.

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

Supplies:    Contact the National Disaster Hurricane Committee
                    Fax the office of the Prime Minister [242] 327.5807

Financial Assistance:
                    Bahamas National Disaster Relief Fund
                    Account at Royal Bank of Canada Main Branch, Nassau

Note from the Publisher:
The talk in Nassau is still about hurricane Floyd and its aftermath.  The Government cannot resist playing politics with human suffering.  The reports were coming in fast and furious about the way persons interested in relief efforts were being treated.  The Prime Minister was all around trying to deny it, but he is using his work at the head of hurricane relief to spur himself into a third term.  He thinks that people will forget that he said that two terms and that would be it.

Happy birthday to Marva and Matthew Mitchell born 26 September in Boynton Beach, Florida in 1960.  They are my sister and brother. Marva a dentist. Matthew runs the East Bay Street restaurant 'Natives'. They were born during the hurricane Donna.  This columnist remembers being in the dark when my our father got the call. We were all battened up. Time flies.

The Progressive Liberal Party and its leadership were in mourning this week as Alfred T. Maycock, Cabinet Minister up until his defeat in Parliament in 1992, died.  Mr. Maycock was elected to the Fort Fincastle constituency in 1972, succeeding Jeffery Thompson. A report on his funeral. Just as people were recovering from that, into the PLP council came a report that Cadwell Armbrister (pictured) had died in his car a short drive from his home from an apparent heart attack. Mr. Armbrister was a Senator from 1967 to 1972 and a Member of Parliament from 1972 to 1977.  Clifford Rahming, a PLP Stalwart Councillor was also buried this week.  The PLP must not allow these facts to cause an unfavourable analogy to get around, namely that we are spending too much time in the graveyard.

Condolences to our friend Kelly Burrows of Freeport who buried a sister yesterday in Nassau.

The PLP's convention, is appears, may be on hold pending a review by the leadership on whether or not it will seem insensitive to human suffering from the hurricane.

The country is far from normal.  Power has not been restored fully to New Providence.  Fox Hill's lazy representative Juanianne Dorsett did not have power restored to all parts of the constituency by week's end. The telephone service has been lousy and you do not know who to call to help.

Bahamian thinker Dr. Doswell Coakley showed up in the news this week. Dr. Coakley, currently Consul-General to The Bahamas United Nations Mission in New York, is pictured at right during a United Nations International Cultural parade with Parade Director Byron Outten, Sunday 19 September. (photo Sharon Lowery)

We add another link this week to http://www.bahamasnet.com  Notice in particular the Abaco notice board and the complaints about the Government of The Bahamas.  We did not write those.

We continue to advance in the readership of this space.  This week we had 31,579 Hits on the site up to 8 a.m. this morning.  That exceeds by more than 11,000, the number of hits up to last week.  This is phenomenal growth.  Please keep reading.

THE POLITICS OF A HURRICANE
The Prime Minister is using Hurricane Floyd for political purposes.  He has announced a series of town meetings and has been flying up and down over the affected areas handing out largesse.  One report says that he has been paying particular attention to PLP generals in hard hit areas.  He has stopped public officials from dispensing the materials and has ordered them to be distributed by him personally.  The story is, for example, that Mr. X, PLP General in Abaco is summoned to the Prime Minister's side and told by the PM that he, the PM, has personally gotten a generator for Mr. X.  The idea is to break the will of the remaining PLPs.  On the flip side of that, if you do not co-operate, you get no assistance.  He has reportedly vowed to break the will of  the people of Moore's Island.  Moore's Island is PLP through and through.  Mr. Ingraham sees the hurricane as his chance to wreck the PLP in Moore's Island.  Of course, we are not surprised.  That is the action of a pig in a poke. Mr. Ingraham's friends are saying that he plans to give away Development Bank loans to PLPs without application forms to break the will of PLPs.

PM SNUBS MITCHELL
It is always amusing how the Prime Minister, everyone's favourite Uncle Tom, spends a great deal of energy trying to snub this columnist.  Last week Wednesday 22 September at 10:15 a.m., as the Leader of the Opposition, this columnist and Bradley Roberts were reporting to the House of Assembly for the official viewing of Alfred T. Maycock, deceased Cabinet Minister, the Prime Minister was just leaving.  The Leader of the Opposition went over to speak to him.  Mr. Roberts and this columnist kept walking.  Mr. Ingraham raised his hand: "Hello Bradley," he said.  As the old people would say: " He wouldn't breath and I wouldn't say boo!"  What childish stupidity from a man who is Prime Minister.  One thing it confirmed to this columnist and that is that in the Prime Minister's eye, this columnist is higher on the totem pole of hate than Mr. Roberts.  That is a major accomplishment of which this columnist is extremely proud.  No accommodationist here.  A goat on a board floor as they say will prance.  A pig in a poke is simply a pig in a poke. Unfortunately for him the Prime Minister does not like to hear it but hard luck on him.  That is how we see it.

MADAM SPEAKER NOT TO BE OUTDONE
It appears that this columnist has a certain affect on these people who have gotten themselves into positions that they never thought in their wildest imaginations they would ever have.  Again, minding one's own business, this columnist was standing in front of the statue of Queen Victoria in the public square in front of the House of Assembly waiting for the Leader of the Opposition to arrive for the official viewing of the body of Alfred Maycock, Wednesday 22 September at 9:20 a.m. Along comes Madam Speaker Italia Johnson.  Well you know, she comes wafting along like she is walking on cloud nine, head in the clouds and looks me straight in the face and eyes, and without so much as word or even a blink of eye, passes this columnist by as if he were glass.  No problem.  You see glass, glass is what you become. As a courtesy, this columnist was just about to raise his hand in a hail, but then again; why waste an unwanted gesture? Later though as the official line to the body was set up, the Speaker had to shake the hand of this columnist and say good morning.  As the old people say: " that will hold her".

HOW THE PLP SHOULD RESPOND TO HURRICANE RELIEF
It is tragic that the Bahamian people are not being given an alternative view about hurricane relief. Apparently, the Government, the FNM are all perfectly willing to be overtly political about the game of hurricane relief. The game is to say let us all unite for hurricane relief. That is another way of making the PLP go silent.  The Opposition must not be hoodwinked into that game.  The fact is that a political party should shape public opinion.  The population should be encouraged to rise up against the  Government for the lack of preparedness by the country for a hurricane, and for the scale of the devastation.  This Government can and should have its knuckles rapped for not being able to get the country going back to normal, and not being able to get relief to the suffering quickly enough.

MR. INGRAHAM THE INQUISITOR
Everyone heard it for themselves.  Mr. Ingraham got on the radio and television and told the international community that we did not need their help.  Now he says he never said it.  Everyone in Abaco knows the stories of customs sending back goods at the Abaco airport that were destined for hurricane relief.  At a Town Meeting, staged by Mr. Ingraham in Abaco it was reported by the Tribune of 24 September that he asked the people in the meeting if they knew of such a story.  No one came forward.  He concluded that the story was a lie.  Yeah right!  If Mr. Ingraham read The Tribune editorial of the same day, he would have seen a report by his favourite editor about such an event.  Then again, just look at the traffic on the Abaco Notebook on bahamasnet.com

EVEN THE GOVERNOR GENERAL GETS INTO THE POLITICS
On Wednesday 22 September, the Governor General left Alfred Maycock's casket at the House of Assembly and went off to the Government House Ballroom.  There he had a date with the press and four other gentlemen.  One was the Minister of Social Services aka Minister of Idle Poetry Algernon Allen, the other was President of the Bahamas Christian Council Rev. Dr. Simeon Hall, the other was the media tycoon Wendall K. Jones and the last but not least was the M.A.C. daddy Dr. Bernard Nottage, head of the Centre for Positive Change and PLP MP for Kennedy.  This the GG announced was a National Restoration Committee. They are holding a rally on 3 October on the R. M. Bailey Park and asking the citizens to turn out with money in their hands for hurricane relief.  This is supposed to restore the spirit of the nation.  They are going to have speeches and singing.  Sounds political to anyone who can see.  And what is more, why was the Leader of the Opposition not consulted about the Committee?  It is clear that Dr. Nottage's invitation to join was meant to cause a mischief  with the PLP.  The Guardian photo of the Committee shows from left Mr. Allen, Sir Orville, Rev'd. Hall, Dr. Nottage and Mr. Jones.

IT'S ALL POLITICS
The FNM is trying to hoodwink the PLP into believing that by objecting to the political favouritism in the distribution of hurricane goods that the PLP is being disloyal and unpatriotic.  It is a political ploy to silence the Opposition.  We must not fall for it.

THE WRATH OF GOD AND OF MAN
Rev. Simeon Hall, the President of the Christian Council was first off the mark to say that the hurricane was not an occasion to use for politics.  No one knew who he was addressing but that should be told to the FNM since they are the ones who are practicing it and they are the ones who he supports.  Then he attacked Rev. Dr. William Thompson, Head of the Baptist Convention, who in San Salvador last week while inspecting the damage there said that God was trying to send us a message by this storm.  This must have hit a raw nerve with Dr. Hall and with the mealy-mouthed Nassau Guardian.  They both attacked Dr. Thompson for his statement.  The statement of Dr. Thompson is his opinion to which he is entitled, and further it is nothing more than what preachers have been saying for years.  When disaster strikes perhaps God is trying to send us a wake up call.  Who knows?

SUN PROFITING FROM HURRICANE PR BONANZA
Everyone was getting into the act.  One company CEO after another was in the newspaper with cheques in hand to give hurricane relief money.  No talk about those who had hiked prices to take advantage of the hurricane purchases.  Sun International, the Grand Bahama Port Authority both gave $250,000 each.  That meant in each case a smiling photo with a Minister grinning from ear to ear.  The PLP must be vigilant to see that PLPs will benefit from some of this relief. Sun also made a big hoopla about helping to clean up the place by volunteering its staff of gardeners and maintenance men to clean up New Providence after the storm. But just when we were trying to find something good to say about Sun came the news from one of its staff that Sun was hiring Cubans to clean up paradise while the Bahamians were cleaning up New Providence. Since this columnist is the Opposition spokesman on Immigration, he went over to see.  One of the men asked "Que pasa ?" to this columnist.  No doubt, Spanish speaking.  We took photos of the foreign workers sweeping and cutting trees on Paradise Island.

GOLDEN GIRLS DONATE MONIES
Of all the donations given, surely the most genuine and heartfelt public donations had to have been that of $5,000 donated by the Golden Girls, the five winners of the first prize in the four by one hundred relay at the World Championships in Seville, Spain.  It was a magnificent gesture for which they ought to be congratulated.  Now that's class.

MEANWHILE OVER AT PARADISE ISLAND
The people at Sun, led by PR Ed Fields were not missing a trick.  Not only were they giving away money to get positive PR, but they offered a package of 85 dollars per night– usually 360 dollars per night– to Bahamian residents until 24 September.  One father who took up the offer because there had been no light or water in parts of the Eastern District since the hurricane said it cost him much much more than that to eat and drink in Paradise.  How about $2.50 for a coke soda?  So Sun made out like bandits from the hurricane.  Guardian photo shows Minister of Public Works Tommy Turnquest accepting a cheque from Sun International executives.

AND SUN HAD A GO AT THE UNION AS WELL
While reaping all the positive PR from the hurricane, Sun also mounted a campaign to attack the Union's effort to renegotiate the five year no strike contract between the hotel and the Union.  Sun leaked to its favourite paper The Tribune that pool attendants were taking home as high as $70,000 per year.  That is why Sun claimed the Union can't get support.  We need to hear the Union's side.  That is probably only one per cent of the employees.  The rest are probably making sweat wages.  But its not only wages that workers complain about at Sun, it is the general disrespect for Bahamians in the place. The emphasis on wages is consistent with the philosophy under this dispensation that we shall be hewers of wood and drawers of water.  In other words, once you have a job you should be happy. It is an insult.

GENERAL POWELL VISITS SUN

The Hurricane could not have been better for Sun.  Former US Joint Chief of Staff Chair General Colin Powell showed up for a holiday and posed with the Sun executives. What a catch.  The photo is from the Bahama Journal. General Powell is second from left.

THE SITUATION IN ELEUTHERA
We have exclusive pictures of the damage in and around Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera.  The situation is dire, and we need to get donations over there. Top left, the airport in Governor's Harbour; top right, the best part of the road to Cupid's Cay after the storm.  Bottom left, mounds of debris in Cupid's Cay, Eleuthera and bottom right, another view of the devastated airport.

HURRICANE FLOYD AFFECTS THE COURTS
While the Prime Minister and his Attorney General Tennyson Wells were busy using Hurricane Floyd to campaign for office, the courts were left wanting following the storm. For an entire week following Hurricane Floyd, there was no power in the Magistrate's Courts in Nassau street. The Government allowed the term of a magistrate to expire on Friday 10 September without appointing another magistrate. The result was when persons were able to access the courts on Monday 20th September no magistrate was available in the evening court and there was absolute bedlam throughout the week. Over the weekend of 18th and 19th September, it was discovered through a back channel that the Government used its emergency powers to appoint Magistrate Renee McKay to office, supposedly to begin on the 20th September. This is the same Renee McKay who so upset the Government with her decision to acquit Peter Kugler for allegedly shooting at an aircraft over Paradise Island earlier this year. They victimized Ms. McKay by refusing to renew her contract, now they have to eat humble pie and call upon her again. But on Monday September 20th, the paperwork was still not in place, so Ms. McKay did not appear. Scores of people stood outside the magistrate's court screaming at clerks for dates in court. It was left to a police officer to simply take down names and tell people to return the next day for new dates. Such is the state of the courts of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Our photo shows crowds of disgruntled people outside the courts. (Lee Davis)

THIS WEEK AT KRISTI'S
Everyone was seeking to defend Hubert Ingraham's go slow approach to hurricane relief.  While people are suffering, Mr. Ingraham was busy politicking.  The Freeport Airport is still not open to night flying, and the pre-clearance lounge is not yet open.
    At least one of the six Grand Bahama MPs has apparently decided that the Prime Minister is a lame duck, no longer capable of inspiring fear in his backbenchers. Sources say that the six were all summoned to the crippled Freeport International Airport for a photo opportunity when Mr. Ingraham flew in on his American Government helicopter to inspect hurricane damage. The MP - not a Minister - who is known for his superb organizational and managerial skills dutifully went down to the airport. After waiting for hours, he remarked "I'ain got no time for grandstanding and doing *&#@." The MP was concerned about fifteen of his company's employees who live in Abaco, so rather than wait for Mr. Ingraham, he chartered a plane, bought a load of emergency supplies and flew to Abaco himself.
    The MP now understands what everyone else already knows - that Ingraham is a lame duck. However, the Prime Minister obviously still strikes fear into the hearts of other Grand Bahama MPs, notably one in the east who is said to have ignored five miles of standing water in the road in his constituency. A tractor was badly needed to aid in the water's runoff and save the road. According to that MP "The Prime Minister is in a bad mood, and he talking to everybody bad, so I'ain gon ask him right now."
    The Bahamas Princess Country Club is up and running again, after having been shut down supposedly due to the effect of hurricane Floyd on its business. As we suspected at least part of the closure was a pressure tactic for more favourable concessions from the Government. Notwithstanding the reported swearing and cussing of the Minister of Tourism who was caught off guard, word is that the Government caved in and acceded to Princess' demands.
    The week began at Kristi's with FNM politicos blaming the PLPs for all of the blunders now coming to light in the aftermath of hurricane Floyd. The PLP was blamed for the generator not working at the command centre in the National Insurance Building when the power failed. The PLP was also blamed for that generator running out of fuel during the height of the storm. The PLP was further blamed for the Government not having hand-held radios for the command centre and begging BaTelCo over ZNS to bring some in. It turns out that the person left in charge of the National Insurance Building was not even informed that this was the site of the island's hurricane command centre and had to be summoned - again over the airwaves - to come and bring the keys. The Manager was said to have been on three weeks vacation. We want to know, how did the PLP manage all this? Things that make you go Hmmm!

MIAMI HERALD FEATURES FREEPORT
The Miami Herald today, Sunday 26 September,  publishes a feature in its business section on the city of Freeport. The piece is so one-sided that this columnist was moved - in the capacity of the Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Labour & Immigration - to remind the Herald and its writer that the political climate of a country can and must change. It is amazing that a writer can come to The Bahamas, write a piece and purport to report on the situation in The Bahamas without reference to the other side. The articles read like promotional pieces for the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the other investors.  They contain uncritical acceptance of their views.  No reference is made to the malaise which is felt in Freeport about the public policy of the Government on investment.  It is a source of great contention.  There are many people who feel that the Government is selling out the country for money, and without regard to the rights of Bahamians. The pieces are therefore deficient.  No mention is made that Hutchison has a credibility problem amongst some in Freeport. The articles contain two gratuitous attacks on the PLP but nothing was reported about the PLP's views. Foreign investors do themselves a disservice when they invest in a country and make no attempt to know the other side.

THE STORY OF ALGERNON ALLEN
Was that the Minister's car we saw in the vicinity of Sanford Drive, near where the U.S. Ambassador lives?  This can only fuel the rumours that Mr. Allen in a desperate bid to secure the Prime Ministership may be seeking to find out from the Americans what would make him acceptable to succeed Hubert Ingraham.  After Bradley Roberts the PLP MP made the drug allegations, Mr. Allen was considered dead in the water as a Prime Ministerial prospect.  Now, his friends are making overtures reportedly with the US.  But the fear is that some important figure in the country may have to be sacrificed in exchange for any deal over Mr. Allen.

TOO LONG A FUNERAL
The funeral of Alfred T. Maycock, the deceased former Cabinet Minister at St. Agnes Church on Thursday 23 September, was simply too long.  We can't go on this way.  It is too inefficient a way to honour the dead heroes.  Three hours is simply too much.  The men and women who led the PLP in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s are all in their late sixties and early seventies, that means death (all things being equal) must be near.  You must be able to pay respects to the memory of the persons without imposing on the valuable time of mourners in this way.  Cut out all of the speeches in church and leave it as a religious ceremony.  The irony of it all is that all the speakers at the service kept saying what a humble man Mr. Maycock was, and how he eschewed pomp and ceremony.  Yet his funeral was overkill. Reports say that he simply wanted to be cremated right away and his ashes stored in a mayonnaise jar. That only goes to show, you can't rule from the grave, people will change your instructions anyway.  But we are grateful to Mr. Maycock for his life of service to our country. May he rest in peace.