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NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

THE USE OF PUBLIC MONEY
The FNM race is in full steam.  Every day the newspapers are filled with pictures of one candidate or the next travelling throughout The Bahamas attempting to capture the views of FNM delegates.  In the country, if you were to bet on a favourite, you would say that it is Algernon Allen.  But rumours out of the Ingraham camp keep saying that Mr. Allen is not a serious candidate; that he is only there to maneuver himself into a better ministerial position. They also say that they have a last minute surprise for Mr. Allen, which will force him to withdraw.  The Turnquest faction is promising that if Tommy becomes the Prime Minister, Mr. Allen will become the Minister of Tourism and that should keep him quiet.

Tennyson Wells who was the first to announce that he was seeking the leadership of the party seems in the country to be coming in as a distant third.  He got some high profile help this week from FNM founder and former Minister, MP and Ambassador Maurice Moore of Grand Bahama.  The two were pictured in North Andros with former FNM candidate Dr. Nigel Lewis. The visit took place on Thursday 2 August.  The Head of the North Andros Council of the FNM pledged his support to Mr. Wells.

That was completely contrary to the story in The Tribune the day before which had Mr. Allen claiming that he had the support of most delegates in Andros.

Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes have been the subject of the most unflattering story in The Punch about their campaign. The story of Thursday 2 August claimed that the “Dream Team’s" visit to Exuma turned into a nightmare when none of the arrangements were in place for their visit.  It was said that they were run out of Exuma.  People swear it’s true.  But you would not know it from the pictures of Dion and Tommy looking on attentively as a woman explained the wonders of growing onions in Exuma.  That picture showed up in The Tribune of Friday 3 August.

Of course, these are all supposed to be young men: Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes, but shed of their coats, the pictures have not been too flattering.  A run around the block would do the would-be Prime Minister a little good (see below).

The other thing is that high profile ads have been appearing in the newspapers for each candidate.  The Turnquest faction calls itself the Dream Team.  Mr. Wells touts his business experience.  They all seem to revile Mr. Allen as too interested in Junkanoo.  The Tribune weighed in and said in its editorial that this is no time for Junkanoo.  This is serious business.

How will all of this eventually play out when the dust settles?  Given all of this, can the FNM really survive as a party?  The PLP is watching and waiting.  Whoever comes must be defeated.

This week, the month of July ended in midweek.  For the month of July we had 100,209 hits on this site. This is fantastic.  It is the first time that we have hit over 100,000 hits in the almost three year history of the site.  It tops the previous high of 96,000 in the month of September 2000, the month of the burial of Sir Lynden Pindling.  This is an unusual number given the fact that most of our students are at home for university.  And then there are the hits from Wednesday 1 August to midnight Saturday 4 August. The total hits up to that time: 8,499.  Thanks for reading and please keep reading.

PERMANENT LINKS
11th Review of the Judiciary
Mitchell Address to Senate: Why the PM is the way he is
Mitchell speech to PLP Convention 2000
Pindling & Me - A personal retrospective on the life and times of Sir Lynden by Fred Mitchell
Address to the Senate Budget Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma / Haitian Issue

Address of Sean McWeeney / Pindling  funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage

Professor Gilbert Morris on the country's blacklisting	Coverage of Sir Lynden's death & funeral

e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs

HOW MUCH IS THIS ELECTION COSTING?
This Senator in the Senate over the past week asked two Parliamentary questions about this campaign.  One was for the Government to list all the contracts that have been given to persons who are delegates to the FNM convention by the Government.  The candidates who oppose Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes have alleged that the so-called Dream Team has been using Government largesse to persuade voters to vote for Turnquest and Foulkes. Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie accused the Prime Minister of giving a contract to Wellington Smith, the former Bamboo Town council member for $300,000 to build bus shelters.  The Prime Minister told Mr. Christie to stay out of the FNM’s business and that it was an obvious untruth.  No one believes his denial.  The fact about this Government is that we will only find out after the PLP wins and has a proper investigation.   Then the other Parliamentary question asked was whether or not the various Cabinet Ministers that have been seen on the campaign trail are getting paid for ministerial duty while they are on the campaign trail.  The situation is quite disgraceful.  You have the Minister Housing, the Minster of Tourism, the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Education, the Minister for the Pubic Services and the Parliamentary Secretary for Health all working in the islands on the campaign.  Yet they are still receiving public moneys.  Even FNMs themselves are objecting to the blatant use of public moneys for this purpose.

THE OBJECTIONS OF THE FNM CANDIDATES
The Tribune led with a story about the FNM candidates and their objections to the use of the party machinery to prop up the candidacies of Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes for Leaders of the FNM.  In its Friday 6 August edition of The Tribune, the paper reported that both Algernon Allen and Tennyson Wells are concerned about the fairness of the party’s leader-elect process.   Mr. Wells said that it was improper for Government ministers to be moving on the campaign trail.  He said they should either take vacation, leave of absence or resign their positions because they are shortchanging the public.  No question about that and we support that view.  Algernon Allen, who would be an offender of what Mr. Wells complains, had another complaint.  He told The Tribune: “The party mechanism, which is in part a paid mechanism by party funds, has developed a bias in this regard and has sought to drive a particular agenda.” The suggestions of both Mr. Wells and Mr. Allen about the party machinery were dismissed vehemently by Party Chair Dwight Sawyer as ridiculous and a blatant lie.  Dion Foulkes, the candidate for Deputy Leader elect was not to be outdone.  He told The Tribune: “There is no funding from the party and there are no individuals who work for the party who are working for Tommy and I [sic]”. Mr. Allen was passing out chocolate bars in Andros on Tuesday 31 July.  The bars (shown in this Tribune picture) said: FOR ME AND COUNTRY ALGERNON ALLEN CARES. Each candidate claims that their candidacy is being funded by their personal resources and the contributions of friends.  The Foulkes/Turnquest team is trying to disabuse the country of the notion that they have a ten million-dollar war chest provided by the Bay Street and Lyford Cay group.  Some are saying that delegates pledged to the Foulkes/Turnquest team will be put up at Atlantis Hotel where the brother-in-law of Mr. Turnquest is a main player. Mr. Foulkes specifically denied to The Tribune that they are spending $50,000 per week on their campaign.  He also denied that they are being funded by special interest groups.  He said that he and Mr. Turnquest would win by a large margin.  They were to visit Bimini on Thursday 2 August, move to Cat Island and Eleuthera on Friday 3 August, and on Saturday they would be in Acklins and Crooked Island and Inagua.  On Monday 6 August they plan to be in Black Point, Exuma. So where is all the money coming from?   The Tribune photo shows Ministers on the campaign trail for their private affairs without leave and with full ministerial pay: from left Carl Bethel, Attorney General, Tommy Turnquest, Minister of Tourism, Dion Foulkes, Minister of Education.  In the background C.A. Smith, Minister of Transport.

FNM SETTLES ELECTION RULES
The candidates for the FNM leadership election settled the election rules for their contest on Friday 3 August.  All candidates are confident, although Algernon Allen and Tennyson Wells continue to insist that the party front office is supporting Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes for Leader and Deputy Leader Designate. Lester Turnquest who is running for Deputy Leader designate is working the phones.  Most people think that he is going to pull off a surprise. There was one main argument.  After successfully disqualifying the delegate Chris Stuart, a supporter of the non-Ingraham side, from the Holy Cross delegation last year, Carl Bethel, AG and MP for Holy Cross, failed to get him disqualified this year. Mr. Stuart is now a delegate.  One less vote for the Foulkes and Turnquest team. As a result of complaints that the party head office is being used to support Foulkes and Turnquest, they have moved their office to a secret location in a room at the Nassau Beach Hotel. But same people, just different location. Folks are saying that if things get to look too bad for the Dream Team (Foulkes and Turnquest) aka the Nightmare Team, the chief slave Ingraham will directly and up front intervene to ensure they get elected.

INGRAHAM TO BE DOUBLE CROSSED?
Hubert Ingraham appears now to be backing away from his earlier assertion that he intends to sit as a backbencher after he loses the Prime Ministership and if he is re-elected to the Parliament after the next general election. He told the press during the last week that he plans to visit his constituency and seek their advice on whether he should run again.  This seems a bit silly.  Since when does he consult constituents? Usually, he just tells them what he will do.  That’s what he did in 1997 when he told them that he was coming to them for the last time to be their representative.  It was he who changed his mind without consulting them and so, as to his running again, there is no need for this phony consultation.  There is continual insult to the intelligence of the people of this country, this kind of dishonest democracy in which Mr. Ingraham engages.  The fact is that he is a lame duck Prime Minister and no one listens to him anymore.  He also knows that with Dion Foulkes he can’t blink his eyes or he’ll be gone.  As a matter of fact, the word around town is that Governor General Orville Turnquest whose son Tommy is up for the Leader’s position in the FNM, is still smarting from being forced out of Ministerial office to take the job of Governor General in 1995.  It is said that he wants to be able to appoint his own son as Prime Minister and should Tommy be elected, he will either pressure Mr. Ingraham to resign forthwith so that he can do the honours with Tommy or remove Mr. Ingraham. Of course, the latter would require a vote of no confidence in the House, which will be difficult to schedule right now since Mr. Ingraham will only prorogue the House and not have it reconvene until he believes he can outwit them.  Things that make you go: Hmmm!

KING ERIC'S CLUB CLOSES
Saturday 28 July was closing night at the King and Knights in the Nassau Beach Hotel.  That was the latest incarnation of King Eric Gibson's famous 1970s eatery, dance club and dinner show place. King Eric said that he had given up because he got no support from the Ministry of Tourism.  This columnist went to see it.  It was a good show.  Needs some little changes here or there but there is no place else to see such a show in Nassau.  King Eric, a formidable campaigner is joining his son Shane Gibson the PLP's candidate for Golden Gates, on the campaign trail to vote the FNM out.

GERRYMANDERING OF GOLDEN GATES
Shane Gibson has been working the area since he was nominated in Golden Gates one month ago.  He is contributing toward the construction of a basketball court for the young men of the area.  But the FNM-dominated Constituencies Commission is indicating that they intend to move the boundary lines so that the basketball court is not even in the new constituency.  This is why the PLP must take a firm and resolute stand on the boundaries.  This is perverse.  No boundaries should change.

FRED MITCHELL ON FTAA AND THE BANKS
Ken Perigord is raving, damn mad about the banks in this country and is ready to demonstrate against them. He has particular opprobrium for CIBC and the Royal Bank of Canada who have stymied his business development.  He has made an official complaint to the Central Bank. He believes that too many Bahamians in the system forget the practicalities of real life business and prostitute their integrity for the bucks they get from their banks that pay them to savage Bahamian businessmen. The Banking sector is in some disarray in The Bahamas.  This columnist sympathizes with Mr. Perigord who is a client of his.  Something is very much amiss in the banking sector.  And so arising out of months of complaints from businessmen about banking practices and from ordinary consumers, this columnist addressed the issue in the Senate on Wednesday 1 August. You may click here for that address.  Further on Monday 30 July, this Senator addressed the question of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and the lack of public information on the issue.  That address also looked at the performance of the Courts and the Government’s attitude toward the Unions as well as the performance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You may click here for that address.

PICTURES OF TOMMY, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING?
Sorry daddy, I just can’t seem to do anything right.  Why can’t I do anything right? (Guardian photo)

Is this a profile of a young and dynamic man? (Tribune photo)
 

EDMUND MOXEY’S LETTER
There is a difference of opinion or shall we say dissension in the camp of the Free National Movement.  The old guard like Ed Moxey, former Parliamentary Secretary and Maurice Moore, former MP, Minister and Ambassador do not like what lame duck Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is doing.  Mr. Moore intervened at an earlier stage to state his unhappiness about the process. He is openly supporting Tennyson Wells.  Now comes Edmund Moxey, who wrote a detailed letter to the press about his concerns on Mr. Ingraham’s style of leadership. Here is some of what he had to say: “I submit too that it is certainly wrong for you to allow the administrative machinery of the FNM to function in a fashion which corrupts and prostitutes the party’s established election process.  I appeal to you, therefore, to see to it that these practices now going on at the party’s headquarters are ceased and made to desist, forthwith… I have personally seen staff coordinating campaigning and strategy meetings and events for the so-called ‘Dream Team’ to the exclusion of other genuine members who had been duly nominated by the Central Council members.  My observations have been substantiated by the admission of no less a person than Mr. Dion Foulkes in an interview last Thursday evening with the media during which time he emphasized the point that the party’s machinery was supporting he and Mr. Turnquest… Those of us who have been down this road are well aware of the intimidating effect the presence of a minister (and the power attached to his office) can have on local party supporters, businessmen, in particular, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is a ploy to manipulate fear into favouritism… I must tell you, it smacks of the old strategy and posture of the United Bahamian Party (UBP) during the period of our political history which we should all want to put behind us.” Well said!

A HISTORY OF EDMUND MOXEY
The letter from Edmond Moxey, excerpts of which are shown in this column above, brings Hubert Ingraham and Edmund Moxey back together again after their first clash in 1977 some 24 years ago.  In our political history it is called the night of the long knives.  Mr. Moxey had a falling out with the Pindling Government in which he served as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Education.  He was relieved of his job there.  He began openly to oppose Pindling; the high point of that formal opposition came in August 1976 when Mr. Moxey voted with the complicity of the then Speaker of the House Arlington Butler to send to Committee the Public Disclosure Bill.  The result was the Government was defeated and the House was prorogued and recalled ten days later so that the bill could be re-introduced.  When it came time for re-nomination Mr. Moxey, Sir Arlington, Oscar Johnson, Carl Francis, Lionel Davis, Cadwell Armbrister and Franklyn Wilson [although for a different reason] all lost their nominations.  Prime Minister Pindling threatened to resign along with then Deputy Prime Minister Hanna if he did not get his way with the nominations.  Who was the Chairman of the PLP at that time, hatching the plots against Mr. Moxey and company?  None other than Hubert Ingraham.  What is interesting is that Mr. Ingraham, formerly a PLP Chairman, is now Leader of the FNM.  Mr. Moxey preceded him to the FNM.  Mr. Moxey now claims that Mr. Ingraham represents the UBP.  And this is correct.  So what is also clear is the cleavage that broke the FNM apart in 1977 is still very much there: the former PLPs under Cecil Wallace Whitfield split in 1977 into the FNM under Cecil and the Bahamian Democratic Party (BDP) under Henry Bostwick (now President of the Senate).   The BDP was the UBP faction.  The FNM was the old Free PLP faction.  Mr. Ingraham now joins the UBP side.  We will see now after this nasty fight is over whether or not the fracture lines will split apart or be healed.

SCHOLARSHIP FIASCO
Last year when the Government hastily put together its scholarship loan support programme, it promised that every student who wanted to go to university and who needed support could get it.  The programme was patched together just to stop the PLP from claiming credit when it came to office for a loan-underwriting programme. The programme has generally provided much needed relief for parents, if you can get the scholarship.  But students complain about the bureaucracy.  The cheques and notification come late.  The payout centres are too overcrowded. And it still appears that kisses go by favour.  One suggestion is that two children of Minister of Labour Earl Deveaux have received loan support scholarships. No quarrel with that, but what is a problem is when others are left out.  The lame duck Prime Minister received so many complaints about the scholarships that he intervened and made them redo the list.  The result is that when Senator Ronald Knowles was challenged on the issue in the Senate by this Senator, he said that all persons who met the deadline of 27 February for application and who got into an accredited school would receive the financial assistance.  We shall see.

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR
Senator Obie Wilchcombe, the PLP’s candidate for West Grand Bahama and Bimini on Wednesday 1 August called for an investigation into the allegations made by Mohammed Harajchi that his bank, Suisse Security, was closed down by the Central Bank Governor because he refused to do a personal favour for the Governor.  Julian Francis, Governor of the bank has angrily denied the charges.  Minister of Finance William Allen said that while he heard Mr. Harajchi’s complaint, he did not believe Mr. Harajchi.  Privately, Mr. Allen says that he wishes to deport Mr. Harajchi from the country. Senator Wilchcombe argued that Sir Williams’s response was not appropriate and that an investigation ought to be held into the allegations.  He said that Mr. Harajchi had promised to provide affidavit evidence to refute the response of the Governor that he had no personal relationship with him.  The affidavit is said to be going to contain dates and times of a dinner between the Governor and Mr. Harajchi at the latter’s residence on Paradise Island.  There are video cameras at the residence.   Mr. Francis has said that he will take advice from his attorneys on the matter.  But the ante is now raised further and beyond Senator Wilchcombe’s allegations.  The attorney for Mr. Harajchi has said that he will report the matter to the police as an extortion complaint.  The Bahama Journal in its editorial of Thursday 4 August has called for the Central Bank Governor to answer specifically the allegations. On Wednesday 1 August when Senator Wilchcombe delivered his intervention, workers from the bank that was closed by the Central Bank in March with the help of armed police, sat in the gallery with T-shirts emblazoned with logos that said I SURVIVED THE CENTRAL BANK INVASION.   The Guardian photo shows from right Chris Lunn, former CEO of the Bank and Attorney for the bank, Derek Ryan.

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DAPHNE BROOKS AT SUN
Congratulations to Daphne Brooks who has been promoted to Director of VIP/Guest Services for Coral and Beach Towers at Atlantis Hotel at Paradise Island. She is pictured.  Ms. Brookes is a graduate of the College of The Bahamas with an AA in business management.  She was a former student of this senator’s Politics and Government class. Ms. Brooks went on to acquire a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Florida International University in 1991.   Stuart Bowe, VP of Operations for the Coral and Beach Towers said of her: “Daphne is another example of a company of high flyers.  Her engaging personality and focus on guests service will further enhance our operational improvement efforts.”

VOTER REGISTRATION STILL SLOW
The old register, the one used for the 1997 election, is to be revoked on 30 September.  But Bahamians this time are dragging their feet in registering for the new election, the one that is to be used for the 2002 election. Registered voters now stand at just about 84,000 according to the Prime Minister.  There are some 130,000 to 140000 who should be on the rolls.  The lame duck Prime Minister must ask himself why people won’t register.  One thing is that the darn process is too difficult.  The PLP will have to look into the question of automatic registration.  Right now you have to leave your home and make the effort to get registered.  Too much trouble.

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BAHAMASAIR IN MORE DEBT
It has been confirmed by Bahamasair’s Chairman Frederick Gottlieb that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States, the tax collecting agency, has placed a lien on Bahamasair's assets in the United States to the tune of $6.6 million so as to collect taxes owed to the United States Government by the airline.  The Chairman says that Bahamasair can't pay and so the Government will have to fork up the cash. Bahamian passengers should be careful and not fly on an airline that might get seized by the IRS and you may not be able to fly home.

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FOX HILL CELEBRATES
This weekend is a holiday weekend in The Bahamas.  And nowhere is that holiday marked more than in Fox Hill in eastern New Providence.  The old African village comes alive as it celebrates Emancipation Day.  It marks the 167th year since the slaves were freed in The Bahamas.  It will be marked by church services, Junkanoo and a street fair.  In other islands, the occasion is marked by homecomings and regattas. Fox Hill day comes a week later on Tuesday 14 August when the freedom of the slaves is celebrated in a unique festival for Fox Hill residents.

FOX HILL MP EMERGES
No one has seen her weeks.  She does nothing and says nothing as MP for Fox Hill. Yet now that it's Emancipation Day (celebrated 6 August) she has emerged at all the public functions. Juanianne Dorsett has done nothing for Fox Hill since she was elected. But now that she has emerged, it appears she may run again.  She has been sticking up under the Foulkes/Turnquest team. She must answer how she is going to allow Foulkes and Turnquest to cause the Fox Hill constituency to disappear, to have them piece it up and cut it up so that the main part of Fox Hill will disappear just to stop this candidate from winning.  She needs to answer that.

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DEATHS
We extend condolences to the families of the late Harriet Diaz, 50, nee Mckenzie of Fox Hill; Charles Rolle Sr. 84 of Kemp Road; Mae Timothy, 54, nee Nairn also of Fox Hill; and Rupert Demetrius,78, also of Fox Hill.  They were all buried on Saturday 4 August.  Mrs. Diaz may be remembered as the lady who ran the vegetable stall at the Montagu Ramp. She was married to a Cuban émigré in The Bahamas.  Mr. Rolle Sr. is the father of Charles Rolle Jr., a building contractor and Donald 'Nine' Rolle, a former professional golfer.   Mae Timothy was the wife of Edward Timothy of Foxdale.  She is survived by children Sheryl, Sonia and Kevin.  Sonia is an attorney formerly at the Attorney General's office. Mr. Demtrius came to The Bahamas from Jamaica, worked as a carpenter and married a Fox Hill girl the former Margaret Deveaux. Mrs. Demetrius is a part of the Rahming family of Fox Hill. They ran a shop on Wulff Road that sold fabrics to make clothes.  May they rest in peace+

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DR. MAURICE ISAACS WEDS
Our cousin, veterinarian Maurice Isaacs of the Ministry of Agriculture, was joined in holy matrimony on Saturday 4 August at St. Matthews Anglican Church by the Rev. Fr. James Palacious. It was a small family wedding.  The bride is the former Charlene Theresa Smith. The Best Man was the groom's brother Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs. The maid of honour was Arlene Hercules. Congratulations to the couple.

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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Congratulations to Neko and Barbara Grant on the call of their daughter Nikara Grant to the English Bar. Nikara is now off to New York to sit the American bar exams. Congrats to all on the hard work.

PR Disaster At Fishing Hole Road - Half a day of rain Friday past proved too much for the main road leading into Eight Mile Rock and west Grand Bahama. By going home time in the evening, authorities had placed announcements on radio warning motorists not to travel the road unless absolutely necessary. What about those people who had no other way of getting home? The event was a public relations disaster for the Government, the Grand Bahama Port Authority and others who advocated the lowering of the road by some sixteen inches over objections and street protests by residents in order to facilitate the movement of aggregate from the strip mining operation, Dravo Rock. Earlier in the day, Port Authority spokesman Barry Malcolm had taken to the airwaves in a call-in radio talk show to defend the project. "Barry had a hard time of it," said one listener, "caller after caller lambasted the idea."

Mud 12 Inches Deep - A senior correspondent for this site visited the Fishing Hole Road on Friday and reported "Foot-deep mud." Reports are that even the unfinished secondary road being built to supposedly solve this problem was awash and impassable. Police had to intervene to divert traffic onto the property of the neighbouring Bahama Cement Company where motorists encountered even more mud. Amid the chaos, embarrassed FNM politicians tried to put the blame for the fiasco on drains blocked by sabotage, but said one EMR resident: "What we saw was bad engineering and bad planning." The people of the area continue their protest that a proposed conveyor belt to carry strip-mined aggregate over the main road should not go ahead until a satisfactory alternative route is completed and functioning. An irate FNM told News From Grand Bahama "Ken Russell (FNM High Rock MP and Minister for Public Works) should be ashamed."

FNM Parliamentarians In Lockstep - Grand Bahama's FNM parliamentarians gathered for a news photo in support of the Ingraham / Dion / Tommy team in the battle for that party's leadership. "They were all there, in lockstep and unsmiling,” said our correspondent, "including the three woman FNM Senators." The lone Grand Bahama FNM parliamentarian not there and noticeable by his absence was Neko Grant, Member for Lucaya. The Freeport News photo caption was headlined 'Parliamentary Representatives Support 'Dream Team'. Insiders say that despite the photo, at least two of the Grand Bahama representatives "will double-bank Ingraham with the secret ballot. This will give everyone the right to say 'It wasn't me, boss." Asked about his absence, Mr. Grant deadpanned that the race for the leaders-designate was "an internal party matter and should be handled in that fashion".

Rumours On Neko's Nomination - In the midst of this swearing of fealties to one would-be FNM leader or the next, rumours of moves against the renomination of Neko Grant for the Lucaya constituency have resurfaced. Mr. Grant himself is silent on the matter, but one supporter offered, "The party is already split in three and now if you fool with Neko, you'll see what'll happen... " Sources say that Mr. Grant has told his delegates, who seem to be supporting either Algernon or Tennyson Wells, to vote their conscience.

C.A. To Retire? - Grand Bahama politicos are saying that FNM Minister and MP for Pineridge C.A. Smith is privately praying that Tennyson Wells or Algernon Allen will win as leader designate of the FNM. "These are old time FNMs who might remember him old times sake and keep him on as Minister, but its been sipped by Dion and Tommy's people that C.A. should now be ready for retirement and give that seat to someone else." On the face of it, Mr. Smith has been front and centre in the Prime Minister's campaign for Dion Foulkes and Tommy Turnquest. Things that make you go hmmm!

More FNMs Vow Not To Register - More and more this week, reports are that many FNMs across Grand Bahama are refusing to register and therefore to vote in protest at Prime Minister Ingraham's moves to "rule the party through puppets or simply destroy us... If they put those puppets in so that Hubert can have his way, people will stay away en masse and whatever happens, happens."

Container Port Stevedores - Stevedores or 'berthers' at the Grand Bahama Container Port are grumbling seriously over pay and working conditions. According to one 'berther' who says he represents the views of many "Our union leaders have sold us out and our MPs don't want to hear us." The stevedores were reportedly given a lump sum payment of $1500 and a year long contract starting in September of this year in an effort by the Container Port to head off further unrest. "That $1500 should have been at least a thousand more," said the stevedore, "and the contract doesn't deal with how this new manager is treating the people and ignoring the labour law in The Bahamas." Stay tuned.

Driftwood Exec Riles Staff - Two Bahamian resignations from the Driftwood Group's Resorts at Bahamia this past week are being blamed on a new foreign executive vice president. Reports say that one Thomas Rosati has so upset the staffers that they resigned their posts "rather than listen as grown people to someone telling you to shut up and even worse." Sources inside the company say, "He's obviously come here to axe some Bahamians and do what he has to do to bring in his own people."

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

NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

ALLEN BY A SQUEAKER
All of the Free National Movement's candidates for leader of the party, successor to Hubert Ingraham were exuding confidence during the past week.  Algernon Allen, Tommy Turnquest and Tennyson Wells (for Leader) all said that they would win on the first ballot. Lester Turnquest for Deputy Leader was quietly confident that he has the support of the majority of the delegates.  Dion Foulkes for Deputy Leader basked in the glow of Tommy Turnquest's shadow.

Tommy Turnquest  made a press statement on Thursday 8 August in which he denounced the radio station Love 97 for advertising that he was going to appear on a talk show.  He said that he believed that the fight for Leader of the FNM was an internal fight and therefore no useful purpose would be served going on talk radio with the other candidates.  Actually it was just an excuse to duck a debate with the others and the public.  If his argument were correct about it being an internal fight, why then all the ads in the newspaper by the so-called 'Dream Team' and why the boards on the public highways with the pictures of Mr. Foulkes and Mr. Turnquest emblazoned upon them?  Who but the public are they hoping to impress by those ads?

The reports continue to come about the fact that Government money is being used to buy this internal FNM election out from under the other candidates.  Mr. Turnquest and the Prime Minister have not addressed these issues. Instead we keep hearing stories of arms being twisted to turn the tide toward the Foulkes and Turnquest team. It does not appear to be working though.  People are telling them yes and then are going to vote the other way.

We then heard of a proposal by the Ingraham/Turnquest/Foulkes faction to have an open vote in this fashion, if fifty per cent plus one of the delegations would get up in convention and say openly they are for Foulkes and Turnquest that would obviate the need for a formal vote by secret ballot.  Any trick to win.

The quiet word is that Algernon Allen is to be the ultimate winner in a squeaker with he and Wells casting their lots together on a second ballot.

But we say it does not matter to us who comes.  The PLP must oppose the FNM and its policies and that is what we shall continue to do no matter who comes.

This week we had 20,122 hits on this site for the week ending 12 August at midnight.  That makes 28,582 hits on this site for the month for August.  Thanks for reading and please keep reading.

PERMANENT LINKS
11th Review of the Judiciary
Mitchell Address to Senate: Why the PM is the way he is
Mitchell speech to PLP Convention 2000
Pindling & Me - A personal retrospective on the life and times of Sir Lynden by Fred Mitchell
Address to the Senate Budget Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma / Haitian Issue

Address of Sean McWeeney / Pindling  funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage

Professor Gilbert Morris on the country's blacklisting	Coverage of Sir Lynden's death & funeral

e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs

THE STORY OF LORNA NEWBOLD
Lorna Newbold nee Curtis is one of the giants of the FNM in the Fox Hill constituency.  Jaunianne Dorsett of the FNM 'represents' the constituency in the House of Assembly.  Mrs. Dorsett, who has been in virtual seclusion all of her Parliamentary time in the House since 1997, has come out of the shadows to help to ensure victory for Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes. Mrs. Newbold was one of the fiercest campaigners for the FNM in the Fox Hill area in 1997.  But now Mrs. Dorsett reportedly does not think that Mrs. Newbold is acceptable as a delegate in the upcoming convention for the FNM.  The reason: she is not supporting the 'dream team'.  We have learned that Mrs. Dorsett unceremoniously told Mrs. Newbold that if you don't support the 'dream team'; you are off the delegation.  Well the Allen forces swung into action and Mrs. Newbold is back on the team.  Just another example of the hardball that is being played by the Turnquest/Foulkes team in their desperate fight to win the top posts.

DOUBLE TALK FROM TOMMY TURNQUEST
The sound of laugher could be heard throughout the realm.  The reason: Tommy Turnquest told the Tribune and the country that he had turned down an invitation to appear on special programme by Love 97 for all the would-be leaders of the FNM for midday Friday 10 August.  Mr. Turnquest said in a written statement the following: "I wish to make it publicly clear that I have not agreed to serve as a guest on the "Issues of the Day" talk show.  I am extremely disappointed that despite having advised (the radio station) a week ago and just yesterday, that the station continues to run ads informing the public that I will be on the show… My running mate and I, Dion Foulkes, are of the view that the election set for August 16 is an internal FNM matter.  This is a family matter and we intend to treat it likewise." The whole nation must have broken out in laughter.  The statement on its face was patently absurd.  Here you have posters with Foulkes and Turnquest on them all over the island, big full colour pictures.  Then every day we are treated in our newspapers to full page, full colour pictures about the so-called  'Dream Team'.  If the campaign is a family matter why are they advertising to us as a whole?  It was just simply stupid. The Nassau Guardian photo of Love 97's Wendall Jones (centre) with Tennyson Wells at left and Algernon Allen at right is shown.

LOVE SETS TOMMY STRAIGHT
While Tommy Turnquest was claiming that he never agreed to participate in the discussion on Love 97, here is what the Bahama Journal, Love's 97's sister publication, had to say in their editorial about Mr. Turnquest on Thursday 9 August: "Mr. Turnquest has reneged on the promise he made to Love 97 FM that he would take part in such a public discussion on radio, focusing on leadership and vision… By refusing to take part in the discussion of the issue of leadership and vision, Tommy Turnquest has disappointed tens of thousands of Bahamians who were looking forward to hearing him articulate his vision… So instead of getting an open discussion of the issues and an opportunity to see and hear Mr. Turnquest and Mr. Foulkes speak on the issues, the public is being asked to subsist on a fare of press releases, and contrived photo opportunities… Even if he ultimately prevails in his party, Tommy Turnquest still must face the music as regards public discussion of the issues, and, too, he must always remember the power in the words that man is still only as good as his word." Well said.  Most observers think that this confirms that Mr. Turnquest is not  his own man.  The speculation is that he started out wanting to participate, but Hubert Ingraham, the Prime Minister, has him on a short leash and told him to cancel the radio date.

TOMMY TURNQUEST - ALL IN THE FAMILY

This is a picture of the giant billboard, one of many seen throughout New Providence.  The Tribune published the photo.  It is by their staff photographer Omar Barr.   The Tribune picture shows some young boys looking at the poster.  Tommy Turnquest whose picture  appears on the left of the billboard claimed in a statement to the public that the campaign for Leader of the FNM is a family matter so he would not appear with the other candidates for Leader on radio.  So since if it's in the family, are we to conclude that the little boys looking on are his sons? What's going on here?  Things that make you go: hmmm!

INGRAHAM TO ALLEN: I DON'T TALK FOOLISHNESS
The swords are out in the war to succeed Hubert Ingraham.  Each day, the language gets more intense.  Algernon Allen, the Minister of Housing in the Ingraham Cabinet said on radio on Thursday 9 August the following: "Mr. Ingraham... has made a slight error, to put it in my view, in putting his support as he did behind one candidate of this race."   Mr. Ingraham, of course, is backing Tommy Turnquest to succeed him.  The Tribune says that they called the Prime Minister to get a response.  He did not come to the telephone but he told his secretary to say to The Tribune "I don't do or talk foolishness."  How are these people going to get together again?  After 16 August, can Mr. Allen survive in the Ingraham Cabinet anymore?  And if Mr. Allen wins, can Mr. Ingraham stay on anymore as Prime Minister until the end.  It seems to us that if Tennyson Wells or Mr. Allen wins, Mr. Ingraham will have to step down right away.  He won't be able to wait to call a General Election next year and then resign.  If he does not do that, he will have to call a General Election straight away.  But Mr. Allen went further on the radio programme, saying: "As regards whether the popular vote will translate into an electoral victory... let me just say this, that any political party would be foolish to seek to put in place a minority candidate in the case of one, driven by, orchestrated by a party machinery that is very compromised to say the least and that it would do so is a terrible injustice to the people and to the system of democracy."  Here you have a member of the FNM Cabinet saying that his party's machinery is compromised. My! My! What next?

LESTER TURNQUEST - GOES FAR OVER
As the FNM Leadership race winds up to a dramatic conclusion, the candidates are travelling all over the country.  One that has impressed the country is Lester Turnquest MP who is vying for the Deputy Leader's position for the FNM.  He will succeed Frank Watson.  Mr. Turnquest was in South Eleuthera on Thursday 9 August on a one-day tour with the Member of Parliament for the area Anthony Miller.  Leadership candidate Tennyson Wells and former Minister, MP and Ambassador Maurice Moore later joined them.   Mr. Turnquest said that he was running for the Deputy Leader's position to put in place the kind of FNM administration that is going to benefit persons like the South Eleuthera delegates.  Continued Mr. Turnquest: "The Member of Parliament for South Eleuthera has been ostracized and put into the back, not because he wasn't a good MP, or was not competent, but because he refused to kiss the feet of the Prime Minister.  That is the reality. That's the truth.  It is a tribute to his character that he continued during the sessions of Parliament to cry out on behalf of the South Eleuthera and so that kind of person would obviously have a significant role to play, in the administration which we anticipate is going to be led by Mr. Tennyson Wells."  Now this language carries Mr. Turnquest's public views on Ingraham's FNM, further than  ever.  This is very much into the PLP's arguments about the Ingraham administration.  So the question is, after the dust settles; will the FNM be able to patch itself together? Or should the losers of the contest not be thinking of joining the PLP?

RONNIE KNOWLES AND BUYING VOTES
Senator Ronald Knowles was asked by The Tribune Tuesday 9 August what was his response to questions asked in the Senate by this columnist on Wednesday 1 August about the contracts issued by the Government to FNM delegates to the special convention to elect the successors to Hubert Ingraham.  He was also asked to say whether or not the Ministers who are presently running all around the country on Government pay but not doing their work and instead campaigning for Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes, are on leave of absence.  Senator Knowles, who is the Campaign Manager of the Turnquest/Foulkes team, said that the questions would be answered in due time.  But he quickly added also that this Senator is wrong to assume that the Government is using public moneys to fund the Turnquest/Foulkes campaign. The quote of the week should be as follows from Senator Knowles: "This is not the type of Government that buys votes." This is an interesting comment and we have two things of which to remind the Ministers.  First, remember how it was on the day of the police vote in 1997?  The evening before, the Prime Minister held a rally and on that night he told the Police that when they went to the polls the next day they should remember the money.  What money?  On the day of the police vote, the Prime Minister gave the police a $1500 lump sum payment as part of their salary.  What is that if not buying votes?  And then who can forget the hapless Minister of Finance William Allen who in explaining the extraordinary expenditure, in fact the largest deficit in the history of the country (the 1996/1997-budget year) said that it came about because there was unusual spending in an election year. So Senator Knowles, come with another one.  Your real quote should be that this is the Government that can teach us all about buying votes.

THE STORY OF THE LEAR JETS
People continue to ask the question: where is all the money coming from for the Tommy Turnquest/Dion Foulkes team?  They are spending money like water with full page four colour ads and huge billboards all over New Providence in four colour.  We in the PLP believe that this campaign is being funded by a 10 million dollar war chest supplied by Lyford Cay and the Bay Street boys.  This was supported during the week by Lester Turnquest, the candidate for the FNM's Deputy Leader position, in a frank statement to The Tribune. But spending money is one thing.  The level of spending is another.  The Turnquest/Foulkes faction is spending at an obscene level and there is a backlash amongst delegates. One youth leader of the FNM told this Senator that he is not persuaded by all the money, in fact he is revolted by it and Hubert Ingraham will not dictate to him. But what we are leading to is a report that the Turnquest/Foulkes team is flying around the islands in Lear jets.  There must be some explanation as to who is paying for these jets and where is the money coming from?  They further say that one of the jets was used to fly the Minister of Education - that includes sports - to Edmonton, Canada to see the Bahamian athletes perform at the World Championships.  It also brings to mind that picture of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham walking off a jet with the Sandals logo on it as he returned from Jamaica some weeks ago following the meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Kingston.  The question is, who is paying for this and is it appropriate for the Prime Minister of this country to be using the private jet of a business operation that is being regulated by the Bahamas Government? Mr. Ingraham foolishly sold the Bahamas Government's plane in 1992 in a begrudgeful but short sighted attempt to attack Sir Lynden Pindling as wasteful.  But now he is busy hustling rides on rich people's jets.  What price will the Bahamian people have to pay for this?

MICHAEL HALKITIS ON THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
The PLP's candidate for Adelaide, going up against the FNM's Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson has issued a statement calling on Government and the Department of Immigration to "vigorously enforce the immigration code especially as it relates to the movement of persons on work permits from one job to the next." Mr. Halkitis, himself a banker and Certified Financial Analyst, says that as a result of the Government's panic response to the blacklisting crisis, the proposed merger of Barclays Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in The Bahamas and other factors, "we may expect to see further reductions in the number of persons employed in the offshore sector... with the possibility of many more Bahamians qualified in the financial services industry, particularly in mid-management positions, being made redundant, the time is ripe (for Government) to scrutinize its policies in regard to the granting of work permits, and to fulfil its repeated pledges to make the work permit approval process more transparent.  "It is demoralizing to qualified Bahamians in the financial community," said Mr. Halkitis,  "to observe the ease with which permits are granted to foreign workers while equally and in many cases more qualified Bahamians are continually relegated to the background. Mr. Halkitis is pictured.

THE PROBLEM WITH BAHAMASAIR
FNM Leadership candidate Algernon Allen told the nation on Friday 10 August on Love 97 that he agreed that Bahamasair needs to be privatized.  We'll say.  The airline has never had such bad service.  This is the height of the travel season and these old jets that they have (vintage 1969) keep breaking down.  Some say there is no reason they should, it is just that Bahamasair does not keep the parts that they need in stock.  The past week from Monday 6 August to Friday 1 August was perhaps the worst in its history, with passengers stranded everywhere in its system; Freeport, Miami and Nassau.  Some 200 passengers had to be put up on hotels in Miami because Bahamasair could not get them to Nassau before the airport closed.  The closure of the airport comes because the Government having fired the air traffic controllers can't keep the airport open beyond 11 o'clock p.m. Bahamasair, with its limited equipment, can't get most travellers anywhere on time much less those from the late flights into Nassau before 11 p.m. The result is a total mess, with in one case police having to be called to control angry crowds at the Nassau International Airport.  The PLP will have to overhaul Bahamasair in its entirety.  The problem is equipment and spare parts.  It will also have to look seriously at starting in the short term a system that will allow for private  operators to fly passengers to the islands  under a Bahamasair franchise, in much the same way that the mailboats are subsidized for mail and cargo in the Family Islands.  It is the only way to go. Nassau Guardian photo of the confusion at the airport.

SHANE GIBSON GETS THE UNION GREEN LIGHT
Robert Farqhuarson, the Secretary General of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union, has announced that for the first time in the history of the organization a political candidate has been endorsed by the union.  The candidate is none other than its dynamic President Shane Gibson (pictured in this Guardian photo).  Mr. Gibson is the son of King Eric Gibson, the popular entertainer and sailor.  He has headed the union since 1997.  The union has some 1225 members and they represent the workers of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, BaTelCo and the Nassau Guardian.  He is running against Theresa Moxey Ingraham, the Minister for Public Service in the Golden Gates constituency.  Mr. Gibson told The Tribune: "The same passion that I use to represent the workers at the union level will be the same passion that I will use to represent the workers at that higher national level." Now Theresa Moxey Ingraham also had a lot to say, including the fact that she did not consider Mr. Gibson a threat. She said nothing about the fact that her party intends to gerrymander the boundaries in her constituency in order to defeat Shane Gibson.  Well the very cocksure incumbent says that she will defeat Mr. Gibson.  Much of what she said can be put down to trash talking.  But what we consider quite seriously is the following comment: "I have successfully defeated two males since 1992 and I look forward to beating Mr. Gibson." What the hell has Mr. Gibson being male to do with it?  We thought that women in politics was supposed to end this business of whether or not being a certain gender equipped you to serve in office. Mrs. Moxey-Ingraham needs to apologize for the remark.  It is an affront that displays a dangerous bias and portends the real agenda of many of those in her position in politics. Is she interested in substituting a male dominance now for a female dominated agenda?

CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARIES
The Constituencies Commission meets on Monday 13 August.  They hope to begin work on the delimiting of constituency boundaries.  There is no need at all for the boundaries to change. The PLP has taken a resolute stand that the integrity of communities must be protected.  This is the case in particular with Fox Hill, Fort Charlotte and St. Margaret's.  In all of these constituencies, the FNM engaged in the most blatant gerrymandering.  What is of concern to the PLP is the fact that the sitting representative from Fox Hill Jaunianne Dorsett has said nothing in response to the fact that the persons who sit on the Constituencies Commission from her party Messrs. Foulkes and Turnquest have been indicating through the back channels that they intend to abolish or significantly gut the existing Fox Hill constituency.  Just before the last election, Hubert Ingraham so as to cause the defeat of this Senator took a major polling division out of Fox Hill and placed it in Montagu.  This was wrong.  As a result the people of that polling division in Montagu got no representation.  Their MP William Allen had no interest in them and did not need their votes to win the election.  This is blatant gerrymandering. That group must be restored to the constituency. The PLP intends to make it clear that there must be no gerrymandering.  They also intend to make it clear that there can be no secret deliberations of the Commission.  Everything must be done in the light of day.  The two would be leaders of the FNM will not be allowed to come with a secret agenda and knife the PLP in the back while grinning in our faces and pleading for secret deliberations from the Commission.  The Judge must also take a resolute stand to protect the integrity of the process. Bradley Roberts, Party Chair and Member for Grants Town leads the fight for the PLP's position on the Commission. He has already staked out the PLP's position, and will be at it again on Monday. The registration of voters is just about 86,000 people, 14,000 short of the 100,000 the FNM majority on the Commission said they wanted before they can act. Voters are refusing to sign up.  If you read the Constitution clearly it may be that it is wrong to deal with registered voters.  In fact, the wording may mean those who are eligible to vote meaning every one over 18 must go into the count, not just registered voters. That means that the census may be what the Commission ought to be acting by.  We shall all  be watching and waiting.

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GAS DEALERS COMPLAIN
The Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association (BPRA) held a press conference on Wednesday 9 August to ask for the Government to remove the present constraints on gasoline prices and make gasoline a breadbasket item under the Price Control Act.  This will make the profit margins more flexible and give the dealers a raise that they have been asking for almost a decade without success.  In the meantime, longstanding dealers in the sector have been forced out of business, because the oil companies are dissatisfied with their margins. So on the one hand you have the Government being so obstinate, on the other hand the oil companies hiking their charges, they have together squeezed the dealer's profits.  These factors have forced older dealers out so that younger dealers will come and accept lower  profits.  Yet another of those older dealers bites the dust.  Dealer Ray Claridge of Texaco was surrounded by his fellow dealers as he announced that he had been forced after investing some $75,000 in his station at Wulff Road to leave the station when Texaco said they were going to tear it down to build their new Star Mart Station.  He was forced out of the station at Wulff Road to take on Mackey Street.  He is threatening to take Texaco to court to recover the moneys invested. He said that he is doing this even though he knows they may now push him out at Mackey Street. He said:  "At that stage, I know that they're going to put me out of Mackey Street, but I just want the public to know how these oil companies (operate). I, for one, have had all I intend to take, and I am prepared to close down and take whatever action I have to."  He continued that all the oil companies are just alike.  He said: "They are just as bad as Texaco when it comes to taking advantage of the dealer.  And I'm not prepared to give another inch."  It is a hopeful sign that the BPRA has finally found its voice after a bruising battle over the ousting of Doyle Fox from Texaco on Bay Street that was done by Texaco for no other reason than they hated Doyle Fox.  The BPRA seems to have been reeling since then and the Government nor the industry seems to have taken them as a serious voice for and on behalf of the dealers.  Now that they have started to make their voice heard again, they must keep up the pressure, particularly since they will have lots of worthless politicians coming around trying to get their support as the General Election nears. We hope that this time the BPRA will stick together.
 

AIDS CONTINUES AS A PROBLEM
The bad news is that AIDS continues to escalate in the Caribbean.  The Bahamas is said to have the highest reported number of AIDS cases on a per capita basis.  Not surprising given the inability of most Bahamians to articulate a very touchy subject, sex and sexuality.  It is not something you talk about.  It is something that you do.  And so Dr. Perry Gomez, Director the National AIDS programme, who revealed the frightening story of The Bahamas and the Caribbean, has a job in front of him.  He was speaking at the Biennial Conference of the Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators on Tuesday 7 August in Nassau.  But, said Dr. Gomez, it is a good thing that at the recent Caricom conference, the Heads of Government decided to negotiate with drug companies in order to lower the price of AIDS fighting drugs.  He said that the price of drugs was contributing to the continuation of the epidemic.  The Bahamas Government has reportedly now agreed after the last UN conference on AIDS to allow pregnant mothers to continue their AIDS AZT therapy at Government expense even after their pregnancy for their lifetime.  The previous cut-off time for AZT therapy was up to the time the baby was born.  After that, the mothers were on their own. AZT is believed to block the transfer of AIDS from the pregnant mother to her newborn baby.  Dr. Gomez is pictured in this Guardian photo.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO CLEOMI WOODS

We want to say congratulations to Cleomi Woods on her appointment as Principal of St. John's College, the Anglican High School. The head of the Diocese Archbishop Drexel Gomez announced Ms. Wood's appointment.  The appointment becomes effective on 1 August 2001.  She is pictured.

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WHAT FELIX BETHEL HAD TO SAY ON TOMMY
Felix Bethel is a columnist with the Bahama Journal.  He writes an incisive column called Rough Cut.  This week he wrote about an ad that the 'Dream Team' Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes ran in the press. The pair is trying to become the leaders of the FNM.  In the ad they said that when they succeed to becoming Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (God Forbid!)  they will have more experience at governance than Sir Lynden Pindling, the founding Prime Minister of the country, when he became Prime Minister in 1967.  They also made similar favourable comparison about themselves vis-a-vis former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Hanna and the present Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, the former U.S. Vice Presidential candidate speaking to his opponent Vice Presidential candidate Dan Quayle (under George Bush I): "Tommy you're no Lynden Pindling."  If you have nothing in your head, it doesn't matter how many years of governing you have.  As a matter of fact, it is doubtful whether the years that both of you have served as Ministers can even qualify since Hubert Ingraham made all the decisions anyway during your tenure.  At least that is what the country believes.  And now for Mr. Bethel's take on the ad:  "The public relations firm which has been contracted to manage advertising for Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes is trying to sell the public a bill of goods that their clients are ready... Apparently still reeling from the accusation that they still have milk around their mouths, Turnquest and Foulkes have tried to turn the tables on their critics." Mr. Bethel then repeated what the ads said.  He concluded: "When I sat back and tried to digest the suggested favourable comparison between Tommy Turnquest, Dion Foulkes and the monumental likes of Pindling, Ingraham and Hanna, I was caught in a dilemma: I wanted to cry and I wanted to laugh.  What gall! What audacity! What magnificent foolishness! Lord God, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, have mercy on all of them."

THE SHARK ATTACK
The wife of Krishna Thompson, a man attacked by a shark on 'Our' Lucaya beach in Freeport, Grand Bahama on Tuesday 7 August, attacked the hotel and The Bahamas.  She told the Miami News Media that nothing was done to help save her husband despite cries for help.  Mr. Thompson had his leg amputated as a result of the attack.  The attack is extremely rare, almost unheard of.  Mrs. Thompson, who did not herself witness the attack, was called to her husband's side after he fainted on the sand after being pulled from the waters by lifeguards from the hotel. Lifeguard Teniel Joseph (pictured in this Tribune photo) contradicts the reports of the wife who - as we said - was not there on the scene.  These shark attacks are all in the news this summer, two from Florida and now this one from The Bahamas. It is all a little hysterical. The point is that the shark belongs in the water.  We do not. We have invaded their environment, so periodically if we are not careful we and they are going to clash.  Once we are evenly matched up in the sense that we don't have a gun or some overpowering weapon, the shark is going to overcome us.  So human beings ought to be careful in the water.  Hotels ought to protect their guests. The hotel guest at 'Our' Lucaya was from most accounts well taken care of by their Bahamian rescuers.  It is unfortunate that when an incident of this kind comes up an hysterical wife is able to sully the name of a country when her version of the facts appears to be far from the truth.

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BIMINI BAY CONCERN
Environmentalists are raising concerns again about Gerrado Capos's development at North Bimini.  He has destroyed the fish habitat by dredging the bay.  The shark station at South Bimini reports that fish stocks have fallen off dramatically since the dredging started.  Mr. Capo must be stopped. Sam Duncombe, the environmentalist, is to be invited to come down and see for herself.  Bimini residents are sore at environmentalist Senator Lynn Holowesko, who recently was honoured by the Queen for her work on the environment.  The residents say Senator Holowesko ignored their pleas for assistance on saving Bimini's environment. This Senator was in Bimini for the 34th annual Glenda's Road race on Thursday 9 August.

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'SCHOLARSHIPS' ANNOUNCED
In a bid to shore up the sagging fortunes of the so-called 'Dream Team', Minister of Education Dion Foulkes was at the microphone on Tuesday 6 August to confirm what we already knew.  The Government had left so many students out of their scholarship programme, that they had to revisit the question.  This time they gave everyone a loan.  What disturbs us is that this thing is being called a scholarship.  In fact it is a loan from the bank, which the students and or their parents have to repay.  What is worse though is that separate sections were taken out in the press giving the names of all the 1500 recipients.  This seems an abuse of power.  It comes in the middle of campaign and is clearly designed to make the FNM look good, trying to turn the bad fortunes of the Foulkes/ Turnquest team around.  The fact is they messed up badly and were embarrassed by this Senator's questions in the Senate about this scheme that was biased against non-FNMs. The listing of  names also seems a terrible invasion of privacy, even though the public ultimately pays and may be entitled to know who got their money, this does seem rather invasive of the privacy of these individuals.

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AVARD MONCUR WINS A GOLD MEDAL

We congratulate Avard Moncur who is the champion of the world in the 400 metre race.  He won the race at the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada on Monday 6 August.    It was a magnificent feat.  And  it has a greater dimension to it than just his victory alone and for the country.  Now it finally looks like we have a male national figure that can accomplish something.  It looks like there is at least one young man who is willing to exercise discipline, hard work and perseverance to accomplish a goal.  Maybe now the little boys in this country can take heart that there is hope out there for them. Congratulations to him again,. He is shown in this Tribune photo on the night of the victory.

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SILVER MEDAL FOR DEBBIE FERGUSON
Bahamian sprinter in the 200 metres Debbie Ferguson won a silver medal for second place in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.   Ms. Ferguson joins Avard Moncur as the other medalist at these games. Ms. Ferguson is one of the so-called Golden Girls who won gold medals for The Bahamas at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and at last year's World Championships in the women's 4x100-metre relay. Congratulations to her.

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SILVER MEDAL FOR DEBBIE FERGUSON
Bahamian sprinter in the 200 metres Debbie Ferguson won a silver medal for second place in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.   Ms. Ferguson joins Avard Moncur as the other medalist at these games. Ms. Ferguson is one of the so-called Golden Girls who won gold medals for The Bahamas at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and at last year's World Championships in the women's 4x100-metre relay. Congratulations to her.

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AC FOR XAVIER'S LOWER SCHOOL?
Xavier's Lower School, the up-market primary school for Catholics in New Providence, is a in a bit of a tizzy.  It seems the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) got leave or so they thought from the principal of the school last year to raise money to put in air conditioning for the school. But the $62,000 expenditure did not please the Catholic Board of Education.  According to the Bahama Journal, the Catholic Board of Education that runs the school thinks that it will give the wrong impression: a two class school system, with rich kids getting a/c and poor kids having to suffer in the heat.  Then the Board is also concerned about the additional electricity bill.  As to the latter, the PTA President Algernon Cargill seems to think that parents will help raise the money to defray the cost of the power.  But, said the head of the Board when contacted by the Bahama Journal, her name Sister Mary Benedict Pratt; "The only thing I have to say is that the units are to be removed by 15 August." Well that will hold us.  The PTA says they plan to appeal to the Archbishop on the issue.
 

NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
SHARK ATTACK - The Emancipation Day Shark Attack (see story above) has left hoteliers and the general public in Grand Bahama wondering and concerned over the impact of the negative international news coverage on the island's tourism. "Just this week, I have had several of my hotel guests change water-based activities to island tours and other land based attractions," said one hotel manager "and they directly cited the shark attack... I think 'Our' Lucaya might be affected for a while, maybe the rest of us as well." Some Florida stations carried interviews from local Florida lifeguards saying that as far as they were concerned, the Bahamian lifeguards are heroes: "Our standard procedure in that situation, where you can't see the shark and have no way of knowing what further danger might exist, we would have thrown the man a line and pulled him in. To enter the water under those circumstances was an act of bravery." Most people think that comments by the victim's wife that her husband's cries for help went unanswered are aimed at strengthening a base for legal action against the hotel.

STRIP MINING CONVEYOR BELT GOES UP - The road was closed. The deed was done. In the middle of the night on Wednesday, foreign construction teams working for the foreign-owned strip mining operation Dravo Rock and protected by a large contingent of Bahamian police, erected their controversial and much-protested conveyor belt to carry mined rock over the main road into west Grand Bahama. Also out in force were protesters from the affected community, led by the PLP candidate for Eight Mile Rock and president of the activist group People United to Make Progress (PUMP) Mr. Caleb Outten.  Mr. Outten had vowed civil disobedience to resist the erection of the belt before the completion of an alternative access route, citing safety concerns. Two protesters crossed the police lines and attempted to stop the construction of the belt. They were arrested. Mr. Outten himself evaded police attempts to prevent him from reaching the belt and climbed atop the 20 foot structure. Reports say that on the way up, he was grabbed at the heel by a foreign worker: "You are a guest in our country," said Mr. Outten, "and I would advise you not to get into our business." The worker let go. Police then brought him down and arrested and detained him for several hours before he was released on Police bail. He is expected to be charged before the courts with trespassing. We show the Freeport News photo of Mr. Outten atop the conveyor belt structure.

TRESPASS ON THE PUBLIC ROAD? - Observers in the legal community are watching the case with interest. "If the charge is trespass," said one lawyer, "the question then becomes, how do you trespass in the public road and by whose authority was the road closed? Certainly, the Grand Bahama Port Authority could not of itself authorise the closure of a Government road and we do not recall any official Government communication that would have properly effected this."  Another legal observer contacted News From Grand Bahama in outrage: "This is the Queen's Highway, the one major road owned by the Government in Grand Bahama and in service for some 47 years... There was no formal resolution by the Parliament for this conveyor belt even to be mounted across the road, so it would seem that the construction of the belt itself was an illegal act.... Yet the police were apparently willing to defend the position of a private foreign concern."

WHO WAS THERE AND WHO WAS NOT - The conveyor belt drama unfolded before the eyes of a reportedly shocked Executive Vice President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Barry Malcolm. According to one onlooker, "When it looked like the police and the people would really clash over this, Barry looked on in utter shock... the Port just isn't used to Bahamians standing up to them like this." Protesting residents of the area cried shame on their representatives who were not present.  "Where are those cowards?" shouted one man, "Lindy (Russell, FNM MP Eight Mile Rock) and David (Wallace, FNM MP West End & Bimini) them sell us out again... the money too big, they don't care about us." Mr. Malcolm is hidden at right in this Freeport News photo of protesters attorney Constance McDonald and Port Authority Legal Counsel Carey Leonard outside the Freeport Supreme Court Wednesday night.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS - The erection of the conveyor belt is drawing the attention of environmentalists to the strip mining operation in Grand Bahama. Larger questions are now being raised concerning the overall suitability of this type of industry to Grand Bahama and The Bahamas. The island of Grand Bahama basically starts off at sea level and people are now asking about the eventual impact of Dravo Rock's 40 million dollar mining plant and 40-year mining rights. "Our very land is being shipped out of the country right from under our feet," challenged one resident, "and other than a few jobs, what royalties or anything else do the Government and the people receive?  They have stopped this in other places in the states and they know why, so here they come in our back yard, digging away the island."  It doesn't take an award-winning meteorologist to know that in a hurricane zone, the more deep water closer to land, the worse it will be during the storm.

JUSTICE? - An attorney for the protesters to the erection of the conveyor belt went before Mr. Justice John Lyons late into the evening of the scheduled construction in an attempt to get an injunction to stop the project. They were unsuccessful. This is the same Justice Lyons who set the court system in Grand Bahama on its ear recently, by refusing to hear cases involving the interests of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, citing that  through the Port's contributions to Government, it may have been paying his rent. We wonder what became of his reservations?  Things that make you go hmmm!  We shall wait and see what Justice Lyons says in the written ruling on the matter and the public is waiting to hear what made him change his mind about taking cases concerning the Port Authority. Mr. Outten is pictured in this Freeport News photo along with attorney Constance McDonald. Shown at right is Mr. Justice Lyons.

ROSATI 'THE KNIFE' - Bitter complaints from senior staff at Driftwood's Resorts at Bahamia continue to pour in over the actions of one Thomas Rosati, the company's new executive vice president. "You wouldn't believe the number of Bahamians in senior supervisory positions who have quit because of how this man talked to them," said one insider. "The staff has started calling him 'Rosati the pruner', but I call him 'Rosati the Knife." News From Grand Bahama has independently confirmed that no less than five resignations among the Bahamian supervisory staff have occurred in this past week alone, including longtime employees from accounting and food & beverage. According to one of the departing employees, "It began some weeks ago with Mrs. (Vernell, Head Housekeeper and Training Officer) Butler, who was first made redundant then replaced by a foreigner related to the ownership." Driftwood is losing almost one hundred years of aggregated experience through these resignations. Some reports charge that by forcing Bahamians in supervisory positions to resign, the company is able to transfer moneys left in escrow by Princess, the former owners, to capital expenditure to help in the cash-starved renovations. There have been persistent reports that Driftwood is under serious financial pressure.

C.A. INTERVENES? - In the midst of all this, Minister of Government and Grand Bahama FNM MP for Pineridge C.A. Smith was seen having breakfast (no doubt complimentary) with the principals of Driftwood. Minister Smith was said to be pleading on behalf of the departing employees, some of whom are valued campaign generals of the FNM. "I don't know what C.A. said, but it didn't make one bit of difference. That man was shouting at people again just a few minutes later... carrying on just as bad as ever."

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NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

TURNQUEST DECLARED THE WINNER
The votes are now in from the 398 delegates to the FNM’s special convention.  The count was perilously close, but like George Bush was able to steal the election from Al Gore, Tommy Turnquest was able to steal a victory from his opponents Algernon Allen, Minister of Housing and Tennyson Wells, the former Attorney General.  Mr. Bush had the Supreme Court of the United States, but Tommy did not need the court, he had the FNM party machinery.

The new party leaders tried to patch it up by talk of passing to a new generation and that there must be unity and a stress on the young.  But there has to be a residue of great bitterness.  The most bitter of the opponents is Algernon Allen whose full comments to The Tribune of Friday 17 August are published below. Mr. Wells was more sanguine but has to be bitterly disappointed.  We report below what Felix Bethel had to say about the race to what he called the bone yard.

Our only comment again is this. The PLP has to prepare itself to fight a General Election almost instantly.  The FNM at this point in time is an unstable organization.  They cannot hold it together too long before the fissures begin to show and so they must go to the country earlier rather than later.  But no matter when, or no matter who comes, the PLP must win the election.  It must rescue this country out of the hands of a set of Uncle Toms who are willing for money to do anything to get their hands on power and are willing to act as surrogates for the racists that controlled this country before 1967.  That is where we are.

This week we had 27,871 hits on this site up to midnight 18 August 2001.  That makes a total of 56,477 hits on the site for the month of August.  Please keep reading and thanks for reading.

The photo of this columnist and the Prime Minister is by Ephram Jones photographers and was taken during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Nassau in July.

PERMANENT LINKS
11th Review of the Judiciary
Mitchell Address to Senate: Why the PM is the way he is
Mitchell speech to PLP Convention 2000
Pindling & Me - A personal retrospective on the life and times of Sir Lynden by Fred Mitchell
Address to the Senate Budget Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma / Haitian Issue

Address of Sean McWeeney / Pindling  funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage

Professor Gilbert Morris on the country's blacklisting	Coverage of Sir Lynden's death & funeral

19 AUGUST ANNIVERSARY
Today is a day that will live in infamy.  This is the ninth anniversary of the coming to power of the national ogre and Chief Slave Hubert Ingraham.  We will soon be rid of him, but his adopted party is still with us.  The party has now been safely returned by the Chief Slave to its UBP masters.  We must not go back to Egypt.

THE TURNQUEST MARGIN OF VICTORY
The night before the 16 August was party time at the Turnquest mansion on Harold Road.  The house sits on top of some 20 odd acres of land, with an adjacent 20 acres to the east.  There are tennis courts and a huge swimming pool.  That is the life of luxury into which Orville Alton Thompson (thus Tommy) Turnquest was born.  The cars stretched for yards along the road, way past midnight and blocking the access to the public along the public highway.  The results should have been more convincing given all the money that passed hands.  The Prime Minister tried to convince us that the campaign cost $50,000.  We don’t believe him.  Most observers say that this figure is only related to the official spending by the FNM on helping get delegates to town and the paraphernalia for the conduct of the election.  The presiding officers for the election were Claire Hepburn and Michael Barnett, both partners in the law firm of former UBP Minister Peter Graham. There should have been no doubt then about the results.  The United Bahamian Party is now fully in control of the Free National Movement. Total expenditure is said to be in the hundreds of thousands and just a small dent into the ten million that the so-called Dream team has at its disposal.  Mr. Turnquest, for example, confirmed that he and Mr. Foulkes had been operating their HQ out of the Nassau Beach Hotel in Room 810 for the duration of the campaign. Mr. Turnquest won with 191 votes, just enough for the required number of votes to get fifty per cent plus one, in order to avoid a run off with the next highest vote-getter.  Algernon Allen polled 116 votes and Tennyson Wells polled 73 votes. That shows also a party badly split right down the middle.  And while Mr. Wells was gracious in his defeat, and was to have met the new Leader designate on Friday 17 August at 10am. Algernon Allen’s words were bitter and reflective.   The FNM appears then to be in trouble and after the thrill of the victory; the Turnquest/ Foulkes/Ingraham/UBP faction will now be pulling out all the stops to consolidate their victory by going on a vote-buying binge.  Their calculation will have to be whether to offer an olive branch to Mr. Allen or to exclude him and force him out, taking the gamble that he is finished as a force in the FNM.  Mr. Wells seems to have made that calculation about himself - that his career is finished.  Or have both Mr. Allen and Mr. Wells to take the calculation that the best thing for them to do is to ensure that the FNM as it is presently constituted loses, allowing the PLP to win and the FNM ‘s leadership can then be displaced and they have a second chance at leading the party. A long shot! Of course the truth is stranger than fiction. One must be careful that all of this is not wishful thinking on the part of PLPs, but there does seem to be a crack in the façade of the FNM. Tribune photo by Omar Barr.

ALLEN’S BITTER WORDS
Algernon Allen lost his bid to become the Leader designate of the FNM on 16 August.  Here’s what he had to say in response to the victory of his opponents and his loss.  He told The Tribune 17 August that he intended to take a vacation away from politics for a week and upon his return he would make “very fundamental decisions with respect of my life and my political career. Having served 25 years as an official member of the Free National Movement, I was aghast at the very personal, very vindictive, very scurrilous attacks and the character assassination on me, by colleagues whom I fought with, stood for and championed their interests and their careers.” Mr. Allen was asked by The Tribune whether he would support Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes and replied: “I said coming into the elections that the process being fair I will support whoever wins.  I say no more at this time.” If you read what we said last week, we are loath to ask the question again: how can the present Cabinet survive?  Will Mr. Ingraham fire Mr. Allen?  Will Mr. Allen resign?  Mr. Ingraham can’t help himself.  He will now systematically try to eliminate anyone who opposed his will.  The last gasps of a dying lame duck. Guardian photo.

SUN'S ROLE IN TOMMY'S VICTORY
The talk is that Sun International, where the brother-in-law of Tommy Turnquest works, supplied all the food for the victory party of the Turnquest/ Foulkes team.  They said Sun was not to be outdone by Crystal Palace owner Phil Ruffin. He kicked in the food the night before. Comments anyone?!

ALLEN'S PEOPLE SMELL TOO BAD
The FNM has gone to great lengths to cultivate an image of a party that is upper class and correct.  It is the party of white rich Bahamians. It is also the party of the upper-class blacks and their compatriots.  Algernon Allen is said to have threatened to destroy that image by bringing in grass roots people.  Some of the Turnquest/Foulkes faction complained that the people Allen was bringing in smelled too bad.  “Where have they come from?” they asked.  Comments anyone!

WHAT TENNYSON WELLS HAD TO SAY

The remarks of Tennyson Wells, the former Attorney General, following his defeat were far more sanguine than those of Mr. Allen. He congratulated the victors and pledged to move forward with them to defeat the PLP in the next General Election.  This is an interesting approach given the lame duck Prime Minister’s remark to the press when asked what he thought of Mr. Wells’ assertion that the Prime Minister should not have backed any candidate in the race.  Mr. Ingraham said that Tennyson Wells is the last person in the world who could give him advice.  Things that make you go hmmm!

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE?
Questions are now being asked about what role Government House played in the election of Tommy Turnquest.  As you know, the Governor General is the inhabitant of Government House and has promised to step down on 31 October so that it would not look like favouritism when as he expects Tommy becomes the next Prime Minister (in his dreams!).  But that did not stop Government House from working the delegates as in inviting the delegates to official functions at Government House for dinners in groups of ten or so. Further there are reports that at least one delegate was collected in the Governor General’s official car.  Other delegates talk of being offered and given $1,000 to vote for Tommy and Dion, although they did not say by whom the offers were made. Imagine that: a vote for just a visit to dinner at the nation’s premier official house, of course for a nice chat with the Governor General. Can you hear him now: Do you know my son Tommy?

DR. MARY RITCHIE DIES
She worked with this Senator pre 1992 during the Peoples Democratic Force days (PDF). She was a member of the New Providence Human Rights Association.  Strange! The use of the word “was” with regard to her.  Dr. Mary Ritchie, a faithful FNM, a good doctor, a kind and good person, died after a valiant struggle against cancer on Thursday 16 August.  We send condolences to her family.

PUBLIC MONEY AND SPORTS
The Bahamian World Championship team is back in Nassau.  There was a heroes welcome for the team and for the President of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association (BAAA) Desmond Bannister for the success of the team.  We captured two individual medals (one sliver and one gold) and one team medal for the 4 x 400 metre relays.  The anchor leg was run by 37-year old Tim Munnings to the absolute delight of his parents Harold Munnings Sr. and Gwenyth Munnings and the Bahamian public as a whole. The Government announced that from now on a gold medal winner at such a competition will get $40,000 and that those who had already won would have their previous awards raised to match the present award. Avard Moncur received $55,000 as a result of his gold medal and silver medal finish at the World Championships. Gold individual medallists will receive $40,000, silver $30,000 and $15,000 for bronze. Team gold medallists will receive $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and bronze $7500. Anyone who makes the finals will get $5,000 and the team managers and coaches $3500. That means that with raises in the silver and bronze categories as well, Frank Rutherford, Pauline Davis-Thompson and other retired winners will be collecting additional moneys.  The athletes are absolutely enthralled.  Pauline Davis-Thompson sounded a sombre note when she said that the question of funding of sports more generally has to be addressed.  And we agree.  We also think that the Government has to be careful not to let things get out of whack as far as this prize money is concerned. It simply appears that no thought is going into the matter and they are simply throwing money around at a time when an election is near in an attempt to bribe the athletes and their families and friends to vote for the FNM.  The idea is to persuade the athletes that the FNM is providing them with money.  We believe that the athletes are smarter than that. We don’t begrudge them the well-earned money, particularly since they have contributed more to this country than the crew who governs it.  The question is not how much money the Government throws around but what is the sports policy of the FNM?  We know that the PLP created the Ministry of Youth and Sports, including culture in it as a portfolio.  That Ministry has been destroyed and the Sports responsibility subsumed in the portfolio of the Minister of Education.  Education should really stand on its own.  The question is does the Government put enough attention on sports policy?  The answer is no.  What the FNM is good at is jumping on these athletes and using them for all the political capital they can get out of them.

THE BAHAMAS GAMES CAFETERIA SCANDAL
You will remember the story of Erma Williams and the contract to provide food at The Bahamas Games. (See previous stories in July).  Well the games are over and are thought to have been successful.  Except for one story. Remember that the dispute was that students at the hotel training school at the College of The Bahamas would not get a chance to get exposure in food preparation as Chefs by being denied by the Minister of Education the chance to supply The Bahamas Games athletes.  So it was resolved that instead of the FNM stalwart getting the entire contract, she would get one third of it.  Part went to Dominic Dean at Duff and Stuff, part to Erma Williams and part to the students at the school.  The students now complain to this site that they have not been paid.  But Erma Williams who was a delegate for the leadership election of the FNM has been paid.  The Minister needs to say why the students have not been paid.

ANOTHER SCANDAL AT THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
There is a fresh report that Government Leader in the Senate Ronnie Knowles needs to check while he is preparing his answers to the questions posed by this Senator about contracts given to FNM delegates to the special leadership convention. The report is that some 30 contracts were given to FNM delegates for the special convention alone in the Ministry of Education.

DION FOULKES NEXT MOVE

We wonder if Dion Foulkes has any shred of independence left now that he has seen the results of the special election.  He is clearly more popular than Tommy Turnquest in the FNM. Mr. Foulkes defeated his rival Lester Turnquest for the position of Deputy Leader with 246 votes to 131.  We wonder if he wonders whether or not he should not have continued his run to be number one, and left little Tommy ducker to sing for his supper. Photo by Peter Ramsay.

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CIBC MUST ANSWER
We are reliably informed that Terry Hilts, the General Manager of CIBC Bahamas Ltd. was a guest at the home of Tommy Turnquest on Harrold Road at the party for delegates to the convention Wednesday 16 August.  Now what is the GM of a major bank doing at such a party?  If it is true, PLP’s who bank with CIBC have to wonder whether or not they will be able to get loans from the bank.
 

BAY STREET GARAGE PULLS ADS FROM LOVE 97?
Felix Bethel and Oscar Johnson were brilliant on the Love 97 analysis of the results of the FNM Leadership race.  They castigated the FNM for being under the complete thumb of the UBP that was displaced in this country some 40 years ago.  Bay Street Garage is a firm owned by white Bahamians.  The news is that they were so offended by the show that they have threatened to withdraw their advertising contract from the show.  Strange, one would have thought that the company advertises for an audience who will buy their products. Surely Love 97 delivered the audience.  Didn’t really think the advertiser cared about content.  But in the days of the UBP that’s exactly how it was.  You were victimized for your opinions.  Same tricks.  Different time.

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CONSTITUENCY LINES TO BE SET 17 SEPT.
The Constituencies Commission met on Monday 13 August.  Bradley Roberts, the Chairman of the PLP, and the PLP’s representative on the Commission, issued a reply to the majority’s views on the question of constituency boundaries.  You can click here to see the reply.  In brief, the PLP wants lines to remain as far as possible the same, no changes in the number of constituencies, now pegged at 40.  There are 24 in New Providence and 6 in Grand Bahama.  The rest of the country has the others.  Further, the PLP wants 4000 electors per constituency.  In addition, the PLP says that it will not agree to keep the results of the meetings of the Commission secret as the FNM wants.  The Commission meets again on 17 September. At that time, the FNM proposes to produce its first draft of the new boundary lines that party proposes.

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RAPE OF YOUNG MALE AT THE PRISON
This site has learned that there may have been a rape of a 17-year-old male at Her Majesty’s prison in Fox Hill. The perpetrator is said to be an AIDS patient. The news is that the young man complains that he was awakened on Wednesday 15 August during the process of being molested and had been penetrated.  He tried to escape but was held down by the three other inmates in the cell.   The case was referred to the prison infirmary but up to Saturday 18 August the police had not been called in.  This is a criminal offence. The question that is being asked is how could a 17-year-old be mixed in the maximum-security unit with hardened adult criminals. This is apparently contrary to a practice that all inmates under age are supposed to be kept together and discrete from adult prisoners.  We are trying to secure a name and next of kin in order to have this matter fully investigated.

FELIX BETHEL ON THE FNM ELECTION DAY
Felix Bethel is in the wrong business and probably living in the wrong country.  In another country, he would be able to make a full living just poking fun at the political establishment.  This is the third occasion that we have felt that something that he has written incisively shows the state that we are in.  Here we have elected to head one of the major parties in the country, a pair who have no idea what they are doing and no idea of a vision for this country. We have an empty future under them.  But, by calling themselves a dream team, by using money from the public treasury, they have bought themselves a victory.  Felix Bethel wrote on Thursday 16 August in the Bahama Journal under the headline: SWEET TALK & LIES. Here’s what he had to say: “This is the day they were all waiting for… Many of the delegates would have I am convinced promised each man their vote, and when they did they would have been sincere. Now that the sweet talk and lies have ended, these same delegates will go into the voting booths, make their real choices and afterwards swear on a stack of bibles that they kept their word to Algernon Allen, Tommy Turnquest, Tennyson Wells, Lester Turnquest and Dion Foulkes.  The triplicitous King George VI Negroes would have kept their own counsel, eaten the boiled fish and mutton souse, spent their bribes given them by an assortment of crooked generals and voted for the candidate of their choice. These same triplicitous Negroes are now sitting back and waiting for the next time the wonderfully ambitious men come calling…  This country’s political landscape is littered with the bones left behind by a long line of men and women who dared dream that they could lead this wonderful country of ours.  This litter heap is fated to become strewn with even more bones as the Free National Movement convenes and concludes its search for two leaders-designate. Few Bahamians wish to remember that just a few weeks ago, practically every monkey and his uncle thought they too could lead the Free National Movement and they believed it, that they had what it takes to lead this nation. On the Opposition side, they too have their share of dreamer-men and women who believe that they have been uniquely called to be Prime Minister of this wonderful country of ours.  Indeed, as we look back in time, we can see the illustrious careers of other dreamers who believed that they too had what it takes to be the Prime Minister of this wonderful country of ours.  Three come to mind just now: Randol Fawkes, Kendal Isaacs and Cecil Wallace Whitfield. One after the other lived to see his dream of greatness dashed on the hard rock of political reality.  Today another generation of dreamer men and women are embarked on the same slow trek to their political doom… The names of those whose dreams have already been shattered are the likes of Carl Bethel, Cornelius Smith, Frank Watson, Theresa Moxey-Ingraham, Janet Bostwick and Zhivargo Laing... As ambition comes up against reality, some of these men and women in the Free National Movement might yet come to appreciate the truth in the old adage that politics makes for the strangest bedfellows.  This applies too for the likes of Perry Christie and Bernard Nottage.  These two erstwhile brothers are prime candidates for this nation’s political bone yard. If they go into the next general elections and lose, Delia write the note: Bone Yard here they come.  This fate awaits Allen and Wells if they should lose to the Ingraham-Turnquest-Foulkes forces…”

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POLITICALLY: WHERE TO NOW?
Something has always puzzled me about the political actions of Bahamian politicians.  Last year when Tennyson Wells was rebuffed by his party, the FNM, when he called for a Leader-elect, I called upon Mr. Wells and his supporters to leave the FNM and become PLPs.  They did not. They could not. There is a huge psychological gap apparently between being FNM one day and PLP the next.  The fact that you have Hubert Ingraham, without conviction mind you on anything, a man who was successful at doing so, is not example enough. And there are numerous others.  This should be a lesson enough for the dissidents of the FNM.  Politics is not religion, nor does it have in practice the moral and ethical concerns of religion in this Bahamian community that applies no rules to political behaviour. So it should be relatively easy to make the necessary political calculations.  But it apparently does not work that way. For me in 1996 once it became clear that Hubert Ingraham was a liar and a political cheat without political or other ethics, it was time to leave.  And it was time to leave before he could move against me. So the counsel one still has in all of this is that what will happen to Messrs. Wells, Allen and Turnquest now that they have lost is clear.  Mr. Ingraham cannot help himself, even if he wanted to.  He is simply vicious and without principles.  He is like the kid who likes to pull wings off butterflies. His true home will of course be damnation and hell but in the meantime, we urge Allen, Wells and Turnquest to take up their Georgie bundles and leave without delay and join the PLP.

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MICHAEL HALKITIS ON ABSENTEE VOTING
The PLP’s` standard-bearer for the Adelaide constituency up against Frank Watson, the FNM's Deputy Leader Michael Halkitis has issued another statement.  This time Mr. Halkitis is calling for reform of the electoral laws to allow for absentee balloting. Click here for the full release.

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FOX HILL DAY
Large crowds turned up in Fox Hill, that old village of Africans in the eastern district of New Providence to celebrate Fox Hill day.  The day which has been celebrated in the Village since 1880 used to be called party day.  It is celebrated on the second Tuesday in the month of August, usually one week after Emancipation Day.  Last year the two days fell one after the other.  Visiting the village for Fox Hill day were several of the PLP candidates and the Leader (Perry Christie) and Chairman of the PLP (Bradley Roberts). So what happens on Fox Hill day? The Baptist churches in the area: Mt. Carey, St. Marks, St. Paul’s, Macedonia and the Rev. Philip Rahming’s church, the breakaway from Mt. Carey all hold what are called programmes on that day beginning at 11 a.m. We who are the politicians visit each programme, see a bit of the performance of the children and some adults.  The programmes include solo singing, choruses and recitations of poems. It is quite fun.  The politicians leave and move onto another church after they give a short address of congratulations to the children and the congregation.  At the end, the congregations are treated to limeade and cake.  The day then becomes one for sales in the park.  There is plaiting of the maypole and climbing the greasy pole.  A great day is had by all.  Joining PLP standard bearer Fred Mitchell in Fox Hill from the event shown in a photo by Lee Davis is from left: Ron Pinder, PLP candidate Marathon; Veronica Owen, PLP candidate Garden Hills, PLP Leader Perry Christie, Senator Fred Mitchell; Agatha Marcel, PLP candidate South Beach, Michael Halkitis, PLP candidate Adelaide, Bradley Roberts PLP Chairman.

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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Rosati Gets Half-Work Permit - Informed sources report that Driftwood's new executive vice president Thomas 'The Knife' Rosati has been given a trial 6-month work permit by Immigration officials, half the usual term of one year. Rosati has made News From Grand Bahama several times for his 'colourful' manner of speaking to employees, which has reportedly been the cause of several key resignations among Bahamian staff from Driftwood's Resorts at Bahamia. Indications are that the executive has now agreed to attend 'sensitivity training' to learn how to behave.  Immigration officials were alerted by local politicians who have been fielding complaints after reports on this site. Stay tuned to see whether the work permit is renewed.

Bad Luck Shark Attack - A second tourist to Grand Bahama has been bitten by shark. The encounter, in waters off East End, came less than ten days after another tourist lost his leg after being attacked while swimming off Lucaya beach. In the latest incident, the man - said to be a professional diver - was spear fishing and had just hit a hog-nosed snapper. Local spear fishermen say that while the first attack was a terrible coincidence, in this case common knowledge dictates no spear fishing while sharks are in the area.

Construction Of 100 Rooms On Hold - Viva Club Fortuna, an Italian-owned Club Med style resort in Grand Bahama which caters almost exclusively to Europeans has reportedly decided to put on hold its project to add another hundred rooms to their resort. Viva is weighing its options after getting no satisfaction from complaints over some bothersome construction activity near its property. Virtually next door to Viva Club Fortuna large tractors are working around the clock into the sea to reclaim land for a housing / time-share project. A source told News From Grand Bahama "Viva's guests are complaining that there is noise and smoke from the machines and that they leak oil into the water. The hotel has complained to everyone they can think of, including the Port (Grand Bahama Port Authority) and the various Ministers and MPs on the island, yet no one can seem to do anything about it." Well, join the line. News From Grand Bahama questioned the environmental safety of the project some time ago, but nothing was done. Said our source "Tommy's the Minister of Tourism and he's obviously too busy".

14 Win Track Scholarships - Grand Bahama this year sends off to university the largest number of local students ever to win track and field scholarships to various colleges and universities in the United States. Congratulations to assistant coach Dwayne Jennings who spearheaded the project for the island's various track clubs. Obviously The Bahamas is now seeing some of the rewards for the recent Olympic and World Championship Medal performances. We offer a word of caution to those children going off to make the most of the academic opportunity.

POLITICS...
David Wallace Delivers - But For Whom? - Word around town is that David Wallace (FNM MP / West End & Bimini) has made himself scarce after a revolt among his delegates to the recent FNM leadership convention. It seems Wallace pledged his team's support to the Turnquest/Foulkes faction, but faced open revolt by generals who remembered low-income houses from Algernon Allen's Ministry of Housing. A word to the wise David: don't promise what you can't deliver.

Major Slippage for Turnquest/Foulkes - Strategists for the Turnquest/Foulkes faction now pondering how they came so close to defeat from their projected sixty percent are focusing on Grand Bahama. News From Grand Bahama can help. There was major slippage in the Marco City constituency where David Thompson failed to deliver. It is safe to say that any chance for his renomination is now history. C.A. Smith's Pineridge voted for Foulkes, but rejected Turnquest in large part, despite proudly wearing the free T-shirts. Neko Grant's Lucaya predictably split three ways after being told by their MP to "vote your conscience", and High Rock FNMs also had problems when it came to Turnquest. The common thread: residual anger over Turnquest's actions as Minister for Immigration when he publicly rebuked and humiliated Immigration officers in Grand Bahama for arresting illegal foreign workers at 'Our' Lucaya for being on the job without valid work permits. Said one FNM delegate: "To us, that was an unpardonable act."

Poor Neko - Now that the Turnquest/Foulkes/Ingraham faction remains, rumours have resurfaced about the possible departure of Neko Grant (FNM MP/Lucaya) before the next General Election. The murmurings now say that it will be suggested to Grant that perhaps he is "too busy" and should step aside to give a lady a chance.

Delegates Ride Blue Plates - Grand Bahama's FNM delegates to that party's recent leadership convention were greeted in grand style at Nassau airport by Ministers of Government and official Cabinet cars to collect them and take them straight to the baronial Turnquest mansion on Harrold road. We offer no comment.

The FNM's Aftermath - "At least we know what Allen is thinking now" said one FNM, "but Tennyson had his concession speech ready." We say, remember the old Bahamian saying: Every bye ain' gone, and every shut eye ain' sleep. We wait to see who will and who won't attend the FNM's service of thanksgiving for its 9th anniversary of power in The Bahamas. That day that will live in infamy.

Post Mortem At Geneva's - Ambassador for Investment David Thompson, attempting to preside over a post-mortem by FNM politicos at Geneva's restaurant Saturday morning, ran head on into hard feelings from a wide array of the party's generals. "I don't care who win," said one "young people are saying we're selling the country out!" Thompson time and again advised the group to keep it down because not everyone in the place was FNM. Retorted the general "You think they don't know?"

JACKASS OF THE WEEK - This week, the Fred Mitchell Uncensored.Com Jackass of The Week award again goes to a worthy recipient from Grand Bahama. Kenneth Russell, FNM MP for High Rock and Minister of Public Works receives the award following the almost complete washout of the foundation for a new road supposedly being constructed to circumvent the Queens Highway conveyor belt. The road was to have been constructed on a base consisting of cement dust and sludge. Medium to heavy rain has now washed it away. The Minister was "assured" by foreign engineers that this would not be the case. Common sense ain' always common.

Congratulations to recently installed Anglican Deacon Mario Conliffe at the Christ The King Pro Cathedral in Freeport. Deacon Conliffe preached this morning on 'Running The Race With Patience', quoting Hebrews. Many left the church in quiet thought.

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NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

THE FILLIP FALLS FLAT
This was supposed to be a week of celebration for the new FNM team of leaders.  The pictures that the FNM’s propaganda bulletin published in the Nassau Guardian shows happy faces all around.  The faces are telling a lie.  The propaganda is a lie.

All week long Tommy Turnquest has been trying to get ahold of Minister of Housing Algernon Allen whom he defeated last week in a poll for FNM leader-designate that was stacked against Mr. Allen with the financial largesse of the Public Treasury and the FNM party machinery against him.  The party is split down the middle, with Mr. Turnquest barely winning by 1 vote over the fifty percent plus one required by the FNM’s constitution.

Mr. Allen himself held a political rally that titillated the public.  We report on the results below. It was being advertised all week.  The political community was trying to guess what he was going to say.  Most people thought that he wouldn’t have the stomach to say that he was leaving the FNM.  It would seem to be a dead end street for Mr. Allen’s political career. The rally was a let down.  Mr. Allen broke no new ground and for the most part seemed to be trying to spit in the face of the Prime Minister, daring him to fire him.  Where that will lead no one knows.

But back to Tommy Turnquest.  He is the leader-designate.  At the Sunday church service for the victory team, the FNM leader-designate said that he and his partner Dion Foulkes would go on a listening tour of The Bahamas.  That’s the first indication that they have no agenda and no idea what to do.  Then he said that the FNM was unified.  That’s a big fat lie.

Tennyson Wells was in the press last Monday 20 August.  He said that he had cut short his vacation to deal with reports that he had received saying that the Government issued scores of contracts to FNM delegates to vote for the so called ‘dream team’.  He said that he had spoken to the Prime Minister the previous Friday 17 August.  He expressed his disgust over the situation to the Prime Minister.

The talk is that Tommy was being blocked by the distaff side of Mr. Allen's family from contacting Mr. Allen directly.  So Mr. Turnquest had to go through a mutual acquaintance, a close confidant of the Minister of Housing.  He reportedly pleaded: “Please tell Bulgie (Mr. Allen’s nickname) we can’t win without him.  Tell him please don’t leave the FNM.  Don’t do this to us.  What is it that he wants?”

We report on the unhappiness of the distaff side of Mr. Allen's family over the recent developments.  And we know from the case of Dr. Bernard Nottage that when your wife makes up her mind that she has had enough, you had better come along.

And so the victory party paid for by Sun International has fallen flat.  The fillip that they expected out of the so-called dream team’s victory was as flat as a pancake.  Mr. Ingraham did not appear at the FNM Fair on Saturday 18 August.  There was no Marathon stall there.  There was no Bamboo Town stall and no Malcolm Creek stall.  Mr. Ingraham, the lame duck Prime Minister was seen with his buddy Minister of Health Senator Ronnie Knowles having drinks at the Fish Fry on Arawak Cay.  Could those drinks be the reason he did not show up to the church service to celebrate his 9th and final anniversary as Prime Minister of the country?

Curiouser and curiouser: some 174 copies of an e-mail from the address ‘tommy@batelnet.bs’, purporting to come from  “O.A.T. Tommy Turnquest” were sent to our e-mail address. This appears to be a virus of some kind and people are warned not to open it.

This week we had 17,454 hits on this site up to midnight 25 August.  That makes 73,897 hits on this site for the month of August.  Thanks for reading and please keep reading.

PERMANENT LINKS
11th Review of the Judiciary
Mitchell Address to Senate: Why the PM is the way he is
Mitchell speech to PLP Convention 2000
Pindling & Me - A personal retrospective on the life and times of Sir Lynden by Fred Mitchell
Address to the Senate Budget Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma / Haitian Issue

Address of Sean McWeeney / Pindling  funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage

Professor Gilbert Morris on the country's blacklisting	Coverage of Sir Lynden's death & funeral

IN MEMORIAM OF SIR LYNDEN

It is hard to believe that one year has passed since the founding Prime Minister of the country Sir Lynden Pindling died.  Sir Lynden passed away in the early hours of 26 August 2000 at his home in Skyline Drive.  The nation was moved like never before.  The pictures from those days and time have been carried on this site as they were carried during those days and times as a permanent record.  We ask you to mark this occasion by revisiting all of the sites of that sad time. PLPs will gathered to remember Sir Lynden at Mt. Tabor Full Baptist Church in Kennedy Subdivision today.  May he rest in peace. Sir Lynden is shown dancing with the headmistress in this Tribune photo of a visit to a Nassau primary school. Pindling & Me - A personal retrospective on the life and times of Sir Lynden by Fred Mitchell

LATE NEWS ON ALGERNON ALLEN
This site has learned that Algernon Allen, Minister for Housing and Social Development was to be dismissed at twelve noon today from the Cabinet of The Bahamas. This follows his address on Friday night 24 August at the R.M. Bailey Park. He said that the FNM’s party machinery was corrupt and said that the whole Cabinet worked its will against him.  In the circumstances it now appears (see story below) that Mr. Allen’s real intention on Friday night was not to declare the way forward, but rather to say goodbye to his FNM colleagues by directly spitting in the Prime Minister’s political face.  The move, therefore, forced Mr. Ingraham to act to dismiss Mr. Allen who was up until now, the Leader of the Government’s Business in the House. Mr. Allen was relaxed and at home as the news spread around Nassau. Friends say that he now intends to make overtures to the PLP, or propose a national coalition of Opposition interests to the Foulkes/Ingraham/Turnquest faction.

WHAT ALGERNON ALLEN HAD TO SAY
It was a long night.  It was an usually pleasant night for August in Nassau – low heat and low humidity.  Mr. Allen chose as the site of his rally on Friday 24 August - billed as a thank you rally - the R.M. Bailey Park that has special significance for FNMs.  The gamble was could he draw the crowd?  The vendors must have known something because they were out there early in the afternoon setting up their conch fritter stalls and jerk pits.   Mr. Allen provided entertainment with Ronnie Butler and Sweet Emily.  There were about two thousand people there at its height. There were armed policemen, Security and Intelligence Branch officers sprinkled liberally throughout the crowd.  There was a sea of PLPs.  There were Mr. Allen's close buddies and friends.  All were curious as to what Mr. Allen was going to say.  In the end he said nothing more than he had said before, except he now plainly says that the FNM party machinery was corrupt and corrupted the election.  He said that Mr. Ingraham and the entire Cabinet conspired against him to defeat him.  He said that after a lifetime of contributions to the FNM and the country, he felt he was as disposable as toilet paper.  But he did not resign from the Cabinet, or from the FNM.  He did not join the PLP nor did he say he would join Bernard Nottage’s CDR, even though he said he felt the same pain of Dr. Nottage.  He claimed that Dr. Nottage got rejected from the PLP in the same way that he (Mr. Allen) was being treated by the FNM.  Mr. Allen took a long time to get to his point and by the end of the one and half-hour speech that started at 10:30 p.m. he had lost fully half of his audience.  It was long and maudlin.  It was overly emotional and too sentimental for politics.  It was licking one’s wounds in public.  The crowd just kept drifting off.  At the end, the best he could say was that he would be engaging in a listening tour across the country over the next three weeks, trying to form a consensus on what to do.  There’ll be plenty of listening because the ‘dream team’ of Tommy and Dion that defeated him are also embarking on a listening tour. The problem with this is that Mr. Allen will not be able to get another audience like Friday’s audience again.  You cannot take your supporters up to the line, then draw back.  Further, the ball is now clearly in Mr. Ingraham's court. He cannot continue to have a Minister who attacks him from a public stage, refuses to attend Cabinet meetings.  The House of Assembly meets on 5 September, just about a week from now.  Mr. Allen is the Leader of Government business in the House. Now how pray tell, is this all going to work?

MR. ALLEN’S WIFE IS FURIOUS
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! The political talk is that Supreme Court Justice Anita Allen is furious with Mr. Allen’s colleagues.  Mr. Allen himself, the political observers say, only scratched the surface of the ire that he and his family feel over what their friends describe as scurrilous attacks by his colleagues in the FNM, led by the Prime Minister and supporters of the team of Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes.  The distaff side has been acting as a praetorian guard and blessing each colleague with a few choice words by telephone. Friends say that Mr. Allen is never called to the telephone.  One who was blessed was Janet Bostwick.  And the talk is that C.A. Smith, the outgoing Minister of Transport who is headed for the political dung heap was asked why he was calling the house.   Mr. Smith had apparently not called the house for weeks.  Now after engaging in and helping the Dream Team and the scurrilous campaign, Mr. Smith was calling to renew acquaintances.  No thank you was the polite reply! You know what they say, the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.

CALLING FOR THE SPEAKER’S HEAD
In the aftermath of Algernon Allen’s Friday night rally, we have also learned that Prime Minister Ingraham intends to move against the Speaker of the House of Assembly Ms. Italia Johnson who, up to now, Mr. Ingraham was boasting of as the first female Speaker in the history of The Bahamas.  Our understanding is that Mr. Ingraham intends to ask the speaker to resign or face a vote of no confidence in the House of Assembly when it convenes on 5 September for having appeared on the platform as a speaker at Mr. Allen’s rally.  We would advise the PLP to oppose any such vote of no confidence and the Speaker should not resign.  We believe in the Constitution and notwithstanding her behaviour, the Constitution builds in protection for the Speaker so that she can be independent and we will not support her being bullied out of office.  The Constitution gives the Speaker a protected position.  She cannot be moved by the mere whim of a majority once she has been chosen. She continues in the position until after the dissolution of Parliament for a General Election until the House of Assembly first meets after that General Election.  The only way she can leave office is by voluntary resignation.  Those who wish to check can see article 50 (2) of the Constitution.  Mr. Ingraham has no right to call at this stage for the Speaker’s political head, having not done so when he allowed her to nominate Mr. Allen for FNM leader-designate in the first place. It is outright bullying and we cannot support it. These are interesting events. Clearly there is no unity in the FNM.  The dollhouse has all broken up.

TOMMY TURNQUEST CALLS FOR UNITY
There they all were, the leaders-designate of the Free National Movement.  They were in the Rev. Dr. Simeon Hall’s New Covenant Baptist Church, thanking God on Sunday 19 August, that day that will live in infamy. They are now in the process of shedding the leader that they stole from the PLP and are putting in place second generation FNMs in power, who are in fact surrogates for the defunct United Bahamian Party.   Mr. Turnquest spoke.  The Prime Minister whose anniversary in power it was had had a hard night at the Fish Fry the night before and maybe that was the reason he could not make it.  The wives were there.  Their noses all powdered and pretty.  It was a pretty picture.  Loveable! Adorable! Except that something was wrong.  We give you a hint.  Mr. Turnquest out of his own mouth said this about the FNM in it’s now state: [The party] must be unified undivided, harmonious and indivisible”.  Interesting comment.  Missing from the service were those fellows whom he said had called him to congratulate him on his victory, namely Algernon Allen and Tennyson Wells.  Clearly then the FNM is not unified or harmonious.  Could that be the reason he was on the telephone begging and pleading for Mr. Allen not to go? Tribune photo.

TOMMY NOT THERE YET… BUT CABINET DEALS
Even as they live on the fruits of a stolen election, the so-called ‘dream team’ Dion Foulkes and Tommy Turnquest the deputy leader-designate and leader-designate respectively of the FNM were busy doling out Cabinet appointments.  The FNM is very much a family business you know.  The first major appointment we gather is that Carl Bethel, now the Attorney General is to become the Minister of Finance under a Tommy Turnquest administration. Mr. Bethel is the brother in law of Dion Foulkes.  God help the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. We’ll be broke in a week.  Then we have heard that Jaunianne Dorsett who has been languishing in silence on the backbenches of the FNM under Mr. Ingraham is to be made Minister of Housing.  So even as Tommy Turnquest is pleading with Algernon Allen not to go, they are busy giving his Ministry to someone else.  Mrs. Dorsett will be the opponent of this Senator in the upcoming election.  She has been lousiest FNM representative of all time.  And until recently had not a word to say about anything or anyone.  We wondered why she was sticking up under the Turnquest/Foulkes faction. That’s because they plan to stack the deck in her favour so that she can win the Fox Hill constituency.  This is from the same pair, one of whom claims to be a friend, but who for political purposes will stab me in the back for a representative who has been a disgrace to the Fox Hill constituency and the good people of that constituency.  Their backstabbing won’t work.

SINGER AALIYAH DIES IN ABACO CRASH
The singer Aaliyah and eight other members of her party have been killed in airplane crash in Abaco. The U.S. charter flight on which they were passengers crashed shortly after leaving Marsh Harbour, Abaco.  Marsh Harbour has a short and difficult runway.  The plane was thought to be a 402 Cessna.  Early reports say that the aircraft couldn't make it into the air because it was too heavy with equipment from a filming that the flying party had been doing in Abaco. Other early eyewitness reports say that the plane seemed to have “lost power from one engine”. There were nine people on board.  All perished.  This is very sad.

UPDATE ON AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS DISPUTE
This Senator updated the public this week on the air traffic controller’s dispute.  The case is headed toward the Privy Council.  On Wednesday 15 August Acting President of the Court of Appeal Burton Hall gave conditional leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal made on 25 July.  The Government is opposing the granting of leave on the ground that the appeal does not raise points of public importance.  Because the matter raises constitutional issues, we will argue that there is no need to meet that test.  The air traffic controllers are still not back at their posts.  The statement reveals that the Government has spent over a million dollars fighting the air traffic controllers.  They are not serious about settling the dispute.

JANET’S RESIGNATION IS ALREADY PREPARED
Even though Hubert Ingraham, the lame duck Prime Minister said that he would consult Perry Christie the Leader of the Opposition on who will become the Governor General, it appears that Mr. Ingraham is going ahead without keeping the promise.  You know that Tommy (the leader-designate of the FNM) has a father in Government House who has promised to demit office on 31 October.   We have learned that it is now the plan definitively for Janet Bostwick to be named the Governor General on 1 November to succeed Orville Turnquest.  This appointment would be inappropriate since she is a politically divisive figure and further no appointment of a Governor General should be done until after the next General Election.  That appointment should be left to the next Prime Minister and Cabinet.  In the normal course of things that Prime Minister will be Perry Christie not Tommy Turnquest. Mr. Ingraham wants to pre-empt Mr. Christie’s choice and also lay claim to a legacy that he made a woman Governor General for the first time in the history of the country. We have learned that Janet Bostwick has already prepared her letter of resignation for the Speaker of the House effective the day that Sir Orville demits office. The Bahama Journal also reported the resignation is soon to come in its Friday 24 August edition.  We have also learned that Mr. Ingraham plans to offer the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, now held by Mrs. Bostwick to Joshua Sears, the now Ambassador who is retiring from the public service to run as an FNM candidate for Exuma.  This after a lifetime as a PLP.  Not so fast lame duck Prime Minister! Bahama Journal photo of Mrs. Bostwick at left and file photo of Mr. Sears at right.

PLP CANDIDATES DO WELL
The newspapers and the radio and television were dominated for the first time in a long time by the PLP.  PLP candidate Koed Smith for Mt. Moriah and PLP Candidate for Garden Hills Veronica Owen both acquitted themselves well on Issues of the Day on Love 97 on Monday 20 August. Then on Tuesday, PLPs were well pleased by what they say was a stellar performance by PLP candidates Veronica Owen, Koed Smith and joining them Agatha Marcel of South Beach on the radio opposite Darrold Miller of ZNS’ Immediate Response.  Congratulations to them all.

YOUNG PLPS ON THE MOVE
Andrew Edwards, the grandson of Eugene Edwards, former PLP Grand Bahama Treasurer and owner of Volume Wheels and GM of Avis in Freeport, has been appointed to head the youth arm of the co-ordination committee of the PLP’s election effort.  Mr. Edwards’ appointment by PLP Leader Perry Christie has turned out to be quite a boon for the PLP.  He organized on Thursday 23 August at the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Hall, a public forum for young people.  Helping with the organization effort was a committee that included Mr. Edwards as Chair, Kevin Bowe (a doctor in training); Nicola McKinney (a lawyer in training); Raymond Congwa (trained in international relations); Donavan Gibson (a lawyer in training); Shenica Smith; Dale Rolle; Syann Thompson. Congratulations on a job well done.  By the way amongst the stars of the show that evening were the children of Franklin and Sharon Wilson.  The three Wilson siblings were there.  Their grandmother would have been proud of them, as we are sure their father and mother are.  What seems to have come out of the session is that the young PLPs are more nationalist than the central party is today.  That would seem to bode well for the future of the country.  There was plenty of talk about diversification and about protecting the country for Bahamians. Mr. Edwards and Ms. McKinney are pictured in this Guardian photo.

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THE PRISON IN THE NEWS

Bradley Roberts, Chairman of the PLP, held a press conference at PLP’s Headquarters in the newly refurbished Gambier House on Thursday 23 August. This Senator joined him.  Together we spoke about the need for prison reform.  You can click here for Mr. Roberts' statement and here for the statement of this Senator.  Mr. Roberts called for a Blue Ribbon Commission to inquire into the state of the prison.  See what raised the furore about the prison in the story about Dr. Ricky Davis below. Mr. Roberts and this Senator are pictured in the Guardian photo of the news conference.

PRISON PERM. SEC HEAD IN THE SAND
Last week, this Senator carried in this column the news that a 17-year-old male was raped at her Majesty’s Prison on Wednesday 15 August.  We have the name and the name of the alleged perpetrator.  There has been no official response to the allegation.  But The Tribune called Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Security that is responsible for the Prison and asked him about the report.  Here is what Mark Wilson, P.S. had to say: “If it happened Mr. Mitchell is an officer of the court, if information of that nature comes to him he should not just put it in an obscure journal. He is aware of where he should go to raise the matter – to the prison superintendent, myself or the Minister.  Mr. Mitchell is a Senator; he has access to all the relevant people.  He could go to the Prime Minister if necessary.  I shouldn’t have to hear about it from you and ferret it out in a publication on the Internet.” It is always interesting how one can hide one’s head in the sand.  It is always interesting to attack the messenger instead of dealing with the message.  Does it really matter how the message got to the Permanent Secretary?  The Permanent Secretary has the message now he must act on it.  That is what is important.  Is it true or not true?  That is all we need to know.  Our source is insisting that the story is absolutely correct.

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DR. RICKY DAVIS SMASHES THE PRISON
There is a Coroner’s Inquest going on at the moment. An inmate at the prison died and the suspicion is that it is suicide.  But what has come out in the hearing is fascinating stuff for those interested in public policy and prison reform.  First the Superintendent of the Prison admits that their staffing and equipment are inadequate and that is how it is possible for a man to kill himself and go unnoticed.  The question is whether or not the Minister or the Superintendent is criminally culpable in situations such as this. The question may have to be put to the jury.  This Senator feels that the Minister should be called on the witness stand and made to justify the policies at the Prison. But what was the real smasher were the comments of Dr. Ricky Davis who was fired from the prison as the prison doctor because of his outspokenness.  We quote Dr. Davis and congratulate him for speaking out: “Can you imagine being locked up for 23 hours and 45 minutes a day.  See I tried to change things when I got there, but I was a threat, so the head people moved me… If you are full of ideas and want change you are a problem for them… Mr. Saunders (the Coroner) let me tell you, the kitchen alone. If I had a hog, I would not let my hog eat out of the prison kitchen and you know hogs eat whatever they find.  The inmates who work, empty the slop bucket no more than a few feet from the kitchen.”
 

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FRANK WATSON RESPONDS ON THE PRISON

Frank Watson, the Minister of National Security aka the Minister of Murders and Jail Breaks responded to the criticism of the PLP without calling our names.  He was speaking at the passing out ceremony of 30 recruits to the Prison Service on Friday 24 August.  He promised that a new kitchen was being built.  That there will be 30 new recruits to join this class shortly.  He said there is a recruitment exercise going on to hire 100 new officers.  He also said that they tried to put plumbing to get rid of the slop buckets in the prison but the building can’t be modified.  He pleaded expense.  We do not accept that business on the internal plumbing.  That needs to fixed and fixed right now.  It is a disgrace. Mr. Watson inspects Prison Officer recruits in this Guardian photo.

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REPLY TO JULIAN LOCKHART OF THE TRIB
Julian Lockhart has it all wrong.  He wrote a piece on Thursday 23 August in The Tribune in which he accuses this Senator of denigrating or degrading the performances of the athletes who performed at the recent World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.  He based his column on last week’s story on the money being pushed at the athletes. Let’s be clear that there is no argument with the athletes. We are especially happy now that Frank Rutherford has been properly recognized and compensated for his breaking the barriers of track medals for The Bahamas in the Olympics. I have met all of the athletes, with the exception of the most recent male winners.  They know my personal views about sports and their contribution to The Bahamas.  They are entitled to what they get.  What we repeat is that the FNM is trying to buy the votes of the athletes and their families by offering money in such large amounts at this time. I do not think that it will work, but I repeat that the FNM has no genuine interest in sports. Remember Mr. Lockhart, how the FNM fired Frank Rutherford and Pauline Davis Thompson, shortly after they came to power. The FNM thought that Sir Lynden was wasting the public money for giving those two jobs, which allowed them to train in the United States. What you ought to be checking, Mr. Lockhart is whether the Prime Minister has fulfilled his promise of crown land to the Golden Girls. My information is that he has not.  The FNM is the worst form of ad hocracy.  They just make up sports policy, as it is politically expedient to do so. And they are doing it without designing a sports policy that is rational and comprehensive.  It is unfortunate that Mr. Lockhart seeks to pollute the issue by saying that this Senator is involved in denigrating the athletes. He says that I am using them for political purposes.  Mr. Lockhart should know that all decisions in this country that have to do with the spending of public monies are political decisions.  He certainly does not think that Hubert Ingraham was seen in a picture grinning up with Avard Moncur on slack.  Mr. Ingraham was trying to gain popularity and votes by basking in the accomplishments of Mr. Moncur.  Certainly, Mr. Ingraham has none to boast about so he has to use the ones of Mr. Moncur. Further, if the acts of the Government were not political, why wasn't the Leader of the Opposition or our Spokesperson on Sports Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt invited to participate in the presentations?  No sign of anyone from the Opposition. It was done without regard to us.  So Mr. Lockhart ought to think carefully before attacking me.  We have more to agree on than we disagree. Mr. Lockhart is pictured in this stock Tribune photo.

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DEU CHIEF GIBSON ON LEGALIZING DRUGS

Despite the advice of world renowned conservative economists like Milton Friedman that the war against drugs is an expensive failure and that it makes more sense from an economic point of view to legalize drugs, legalization of drugs is a non-starter in The Bahamas and in most other countries.  Commander of the Drug Enforcement Unit of The Bahamas Acting Superintendent Raymond Gibson says that he had no indication that the Government of The Bahamas intends to legalize marijuana. He was speaking to a Rotary Club and was quoted in The Tribune Friday 24 August. Mr. Gibson went further: “I have attended quite a bit of conferences for the Caribbean and this question comes up on every occasion.  And I can say that most of the Caribbean region's position is not to decriminalize this drug.”  We draw the Superintendent's attention to the report of the Ganja Commission in Jamaica that recently recommended to the Jamaican Government that because of the endemic use of marijuana in that country, the weed should be decriminalized. Mr. Gibson also expressed concern that marijuana is being grown in greater quantities right here in The Bahamas. Tribune photo.

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CONTROVERSY OVER PINDLING NOTE
The Central Bank of The Bahamas issued a note with the image of Sir Lynden O. Pindling on its one-dollar bill.  The problem is that the bank used the photograph of Sir Lynden without the permission of the photographer who owns the copyright. Antoine Ferrier and his colleagues from the Association of Photographers are furious.  Mr. Ferrier and the Bank both said that their lawyers are in negotiations to settle the matter.  Andrew Allen, son of Finance Minister William Allen, represents Mr. Ferrier. Rochelle Deleveaux represents the Central Bank. The photographers say that the Government passed new copyright laws to protect against infringement of just this type and now they are a major violator of the right.  The Central Bank said that they thought that they had the permission of the person who owned the copyright.  Person should note the following, when professional photographers take your pictures, like wedding pictures or portraits; the copyright in the images resides in the photographer unless you specifically ask for the purchase of the negatives.  Be forewarned.

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BATELCO BLOCKS CHEAP PHONE CARD
BaTelCo has blocked those who were buying the Blackstone calling card in Nassau.  BaTelCo claims that the 800 number assigned to Blackstone is actually an ATT, Sprint, MCI number that was being traded by ATT to Blackstone for a purpose that was not intended.  They have now blocked the number. This is lousy on BaTelCo's part.  BaTelCo is charging 99 cents per minute for its cheapest call into the States, Miami.  Blackstone charges 27 cents.  That’s all the public cares about. BaTelCo should stop being a stick in the mud.

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ZHIVARGO LAING AND GOBBLEYGOOK
One time in this column the Minister of Economic Development aka the Minister of Uneconomic Development, Zhivargo Laing was described as an economist. That brought howls of protest from his contemporaries who are readers to this column.  So every statement that he makes now is examined to try and shore up that description.  But, we have to tell you, life is difficult. Now comes the Minister's statement fresh from a visit to Switzerland to deal with the accession of The Bahamas to the World Trade Organization.  While he was gone, this Senator led a debate on FTAA (click here for the address). Mr. Laing made the startling statement that FTAA will not affect sovereignty.  Said Mr. Laing: “As a nation we choose sovereignly to use the tools of globalization to keep us connected to the world for our benefit.” He is getting more poetic than Algernon Allen.  Unfortunately poetry is not what we need.  We need realspeak.  This week, the IMF’s annual review revealed that the Government is about to begin a study on how to wean us off customs duties and implement value added or sales tax on goods.  That is part of the preparation for WTO and FTAA.  Guess what, we had to find out from the IMF, not from our own Government Minister.  The Minister ought to stop baffling us with his words and explain something more mundane.  Sir ‘Sonny’ Ramphal, the head of the regional negotiating machinery for the FTAA in the Caribbean has shut down all travel and is about to lay off staff in the United Kingdom because the Caribbean countries have not paid their bills to keep the thing going.  Some $700,000 is owed.  Is The Bahamas one such country and what is The Bahamas’ position on the point?

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FUNERAL FOR DR. MARY RITCHIE

Funeral Services for the late Dr. Mary Ritchie were held were held at St. Anselm’s Roman Catholic Church, Fox Hill on Wednesday 22 August.  Dr. Ritchie died following a long struggle with cancer.  She is survived by her husband and two daughters.  Peter Ramsay took this photo of Dr. Robert Ramsingh, Dr. Ritchie's husband. Dr. Ritchie was buried in St. Anselm's cemetery. May she rest in peace!

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CONGRATS TO J. CARL RAHMING

Congratulations to the Reverend Dr. J. Carl Rahming of ST. Paul's Baptist Church in Fox Hill. Dr. Rahming has been named as chair of the Bahamas Auxiliary of the Bible Society of the West Indies.

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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Kelly Burrows Fired?
Driftwood's Resorts at Bahamia is making news again over its treatment of Bahamian employees. Word is rife in the Grand Bahama community that Kelly Burrows, a longtime executive at the resort has been fired. Friends of Mr. Burrows earlier voiced strong exception to his treatment by Resorts at Bahamia executive vice president Thomas 'The Knife' Rosati, who by all accounts "don't know how to talk to people". Burrows was said to have taken Rosati 'to the woodshed' over the matter and told Rosati not to be threatening him. News From Grand Bahama has learned that Resorts at Bahamia General Manager Donald Archer has denied reports of Mr. Burrows' dismissal. Friends of Mr. Burrows are saying, "His self esteem is intact and come what may, he will deal with it."

Bahamians Trampled Underfoot
This news comes amid months of talk of Bahamians being trampled underfoot with the aid and comfort of policies under the FNM Government. Independent sources now report that Resorts at Bahamia has three high-level foreign employees working in the Food & Beverage and Golf departments without the benefit of valid work permits. Several other mid and high-level Bahamian employees have either been fired or resigned under pressure in recent weeks. One Resorts at Bahamia employee asked News From Grand Bahama "Where are our representatives when we need them?"

Neko Is Out?
As we have reported for weeks on this site, the nomination of the popular FNM MP for Lucaya, Neko Grant is in grave danger. FNM insiders Sunday morning 26 August report that the talk is now certain: Neko Grant will be denied the nomination and in his stead will be placed woman FNM Senator Kay Forbes Smith. Said the insider: "If that happens, Neko will run and defeat the FNM's candidate... FNMs will vote for Neko."

C.A.'s Lacklustre Start
Government Minister, FNM MP for Pineridge and 'dream team' loyalist C.A. Smith kicked off his campaign at the FNM headquarters in Freeport this past week. Sources tell us that the event was not only poorly attended, but that many of C.A.'s major generals refused to show up. This is a strong indication that C.A. is in real trouble.

Bradley Calls PLPs To Register
PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts visited Grand Bahama recently and called on all party members on the island to register to vote. Mr. Roberts reminded Grand Bahama PLPs attending a party prayer breakfast that in more than seventy percent of cases, a person's vote goes to whomever took him to be registered. Words to the wise.

PLP Candidates Highlight Issues
The PLP held a candidates forum this past week in Grand Bahama. Crowds flocked to the auditorium of Christ The King Anglican church to hear the party's candidates, led by Dr. Marcus Bethel, address the issues. In addition to Dr. Bethel who will offer for the High Rock constituency, attorney Pleasant Bridgewater spoke from the position of her candidacy for Marco City, Ms. Ann Percentie who will run for the PLP in Pineridge and Stephen Plakaris, the PLP's chosen standard-bearer in Lucaya also addressed the gathering.

No Sharks
The Grand Bahama community has been captivated by the close incidents of shark attacks in waters around the island recently. Discussion of any water-borne activity is now interspersed with references to sharks. Newspapers headlines about the recent annual Bahamas Air Sea Rescue ocean marathon swim read 'No Sharks At BASRA'.  Even the Ministry of Tourism got into the act, issuing a statement saying that no impact on tourism was expected from negative international press coverage of the shark attacks. We hope this is not wishful thinking.