| 3rd September |
| 10th September |
| 17th September |
| 24th September |
 SIR
LYNDEN'S FUNERAL MONDAY - PUBLIC HOLIDAY DECLARED
A state funeral for Sir Lynden Pindling has been announced to take place on Monday, 4 September at 11am at the Church of God of Prophecy, East Street Nassau. The Government has declared that day to be a public holiday. Sir Lynden, the former Prime Minister and father of the nation died just in the early hours of Saturday 26 August at home at the age of 70. He leaves his widow Lady Marguerite Pindling, his children Obie, Leslie, Michelle Sands and Monique Johnson. Sir Lynden will lie in state at the House of Assembly from Thursday and PLP Senators and Members of Parliament will view the body at 10 on Thursday morning. PLP SERVICES - The Progressive Liberal Party will hold a memorial service for Sir Lynden Thursday evening at Mount Tabor Baptist Church and a public service of thanksgiving for the life of Sir Lynden on Friday evening at Windsor Park. Sir Lynden is shown sharing a laugh with this columnist at a recent birthday celebration held in his honour by the Fox Hill branch of the Progressive Liberal Party. |
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
This site is dedicated today to the memory of the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the first Prime Minister of an independent Bahamas and father of the nation. It is mainly a pictorial. WE THANK PETER RAMSAY AND THE BAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PINDLING
Lynden O. Pindling himself said it. We may not know how to treat you while you are alive but we sure know how to bury you. The country is unbelievable at this one week past the death of Pindling in the early hours of Saturday morning 26 August. We are all reflecting, enemies, friends and those who are indifferent.
In the mist of tears, we see him at his messianic best. The television cameras, programmed by the Free National Movement could not help but record the fact that a great man had died. The Ministers of the Government while thinking all the while that the man was corrupt and having said the worst things about him during his lifetime were all singing the praises in death.
You could shout "Hypocrites!" but to no avail. The country reacted with horror when the social misfit Ivan Johnson who runs the weekly rag called The Punch savaged Pindling's reputation in his newspaper. Radio talk show callers were righteously indignant and there were even calls to boycott The Punch, but alas on the Thursday after the Monday of the offending article those readers had a fresh copy of The Punch in hand. And so life goes on.
His political enemies from the old white era, men like Norman Solomon and Geoffrey Johnstone confessed to a certain admiration. Mr. Solomon, who collapsed in tears at the Pindling home when he visited the great man's bedside on Friday 25 August, had to be consoled by the widow Pindling. Mr. Johnstone admitted that he and Pindling used to skylark in London. Now there's an old expression.
The most interesting thing of all though was the kiss or two, depending on who is telling the story which was given with great smacking of lips by the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in the eventide of the Pindling life at the home on Skyline Drive. Mr. Ingraham told the nation that he thanked Pindling for all that he did and told the nation he was satisfied that Pindling understood and accepted what he had said.
For this columnist, just a bit player on the side, it was all fascinating, watching grief unfold, how the young and old marked the occasion. How the nation mobilizes for what will be its largest funeral ever. Not since King Milo Butler was buried on that strange day in 1979 have we seen a time like this.
WE PROMISE TO UPDATE THE SITE AS SOON AS THE PICTURES ARE AVAILABLE
OF THE FUNERAL SERVICE AND PROCESSION. PLEASE KEEP WATCHING THIS SITE AS
FRESH UPDATES SHOULD BE UP BY 6 A.M. TUESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER. IT WILL BE ONE
HELL OF A DAY COME MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER. THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECLARED A PUBLIC
HOLIDAY.
This week we had 34,162 hits
on the site for the month of August. Thanks for reading and keep reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
| The PLP Position on Clifton | |
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The body of Sir
Lynden lay in state at the House of Assembly from Thursday 31 August at
10 a.m. There was the Governor General and Lady Turnquest, the Prime Minister
and Mrs. Ingraham. Then there was the family, the widow, and the children,
sans Obie and the grandchildren. The widow Pindling drove up in a resplendent
white Rolls Royce with police escorts. The people were there in droves.
Stalwart Councillors and PLPs sang songs in the square: Farther Along!
It's All Right Now! The Strife is O'er. The photos are by Peter Ramsay.
WHAT THE GOVT. WILL DO FOR PINDLING
At a special sitting of the House of Assembly, the Prime Minister announced that the Government proposes to do the following in honour of Sir Lynden O. Pindling. There will be a suitable monument in an appropriate public place of prominence. Most people feel that the statue of Queen Victoria in the Public Square ought to be replaced by that of Sir Lynden. The Government will as of next year declare 12 October, now Discovery Day, National Heroes Day. The day will be commemorated either on the first Monday or first Friday beginning next year in October. This is a victory for this columnist who as the founding member of the National Heroes Day Committee has been fighting for National heroes Day for ten years. Sir Lynden's image is to appear on the one-dollar or the hundred-dollar note. The Opposition leader Perry Christie prefers the one-dollar bill. There will be a commemorative stamp in his honor and the naming of a public building in his honour. Some are in favour of renaming East Street after Sir Lynden.
The onlookers described it as a moving speech, a confession and then a solid smack on the forehead. That was delivered by the Prime Minister as he thanked Sir Lynden for his assistance in his political career. Said the Prime Minister in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 30 August: "In my heart I forgave him for whatever he has done to me and I hope and trust he forgave me for whatever I have done to him." Well if you say so!
In his address
to the House of Assembly on Wednesday 30 August, Bradley Roberts reminded
the country of the mean spiritedness of the FNM and the demonizing of the
former Prime Minister just for political gain. You can click here for the
full text of Mr. Robert's address. But in part he said: "The personal attacks
that Sir Lynden was made to suffer at the whim of those members past and
present in this Government were grossly unfair, unjustified and a rank
display of indecency which have in fact set the tone of how Parliament
has been conducted since 1992... And to that, with the least amount of
grace, I salute the Member for North Abaco (Mr. Ingraham) for being able
to apologize to Sir Lynden in his lifetime for all of the many ungodly,
personal and unfair attacks unleashed by them in this place on one who
was a great man." Well said. We are just waiting until all this teary eyed
stuff is finished to unleash our vitriol on the FNM. Brace for it!
ORGANIZED CHAOS AT THE PINDLING OBSERVANCES
The Bahamas is a difficult country to marshal when it comes to officialdom. The protocol people are simply driven mad. No one honours RSVPs, and no one comes on time. So protocol, apologies to them, were beside themselves that two of this columnist's assistants were allowed into the precincts of the House for the great occasion of the viewing of the body of Sir Lynden. Again with apologies to protocol, there is a simple philosophy. This columnist believes that he has an obligation to the young men in particular of this country for them to be able to see history unfold up close and personal. If it takes the coattails of this columnist to do so, then it must be done. The younger people are too often excluded at a young but mature age from witnessing events first hand. Pindling himself made sure that at 23, this columnist was able to work with him up close and personal and so we pass on the tradition. It seemed kind of fun to watch as Judges and diplomats had to mix with PLP Stalwart Councillors in their blue capes and tears. It all seemed peculiarly Caribbean just a jumble and ball of confusion, but a kind of ordered chaos. Further as we grow more security conscious, this Senator has not travelled without aides from 1997 and protocol ought to come to accept that this practice is likely to grow for public figures and must be accommodated. Again a thousand pardons! That's us!
WHO ORGANIZED THE PINDLING FUNERAL
They call this man the consiglieri. He is quiet and unassuming and has been called upon by Prime Minister Pindling and Prime Minister Ingraham to rescue their regimes. He does his work then disappears into the woodwork. He loves the political backroom chat and analysis, and is always there Zelig-like when the moments happened. We are talking about Sean McWeeney who at the advice of PLP leader Perry Christie was the go between the Government of Hubert Ingraham with whom Mr. McWeeney, a former Attorney General, enjoys a good relationship, the Pindling Family and the PLP. Mr. McWeeney spent Thursday 24 August, the day before Sir Lynden's death at the bedside of Sir Lynden talking for two hours about the OECD Blacklist. Sir Lynden exasperated that his party had not taken a more aggressive stand. The next day, the man was in the throes of death. Sean McWeeney was there for it all.
THE VENUE FOR THE PINDLING FUNERAL
When the week started out, they said that the funeral would be held at Christ Church Cathedral, the Anglican Church. After Sir Lynden's latter day re discovery of his religious faith in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, it was kind of surprising. But they said no Seventh Day Adventist Church was big enough. In any event, his wife is a devout Anglican and Christ Church is the church for the big shots. Then it all changed as it emerged that Sir Lynden's last wish was for the service to be held in the Church of God of Prophecy on East Street. It is bigger than the Cathedral and Sir Lynden would be with his people. The building seats 2500, not the 4000 at first announced. The funeral is by invitation only. The PLP has been allocated some 500 invitations. It will be organized chaos again. People bursting the church at its seems. We who are public officials, have seats but only just. The only ones who can count on proper seating are the family, the Prime Minister, the Governor General and the Leader of the Opposition. All the rest of us are in trouble, scrunched up in seats with too many overweight people to a pew. But then that's the organized chaos of The Bahamas.
THE BURIAL SITE Of SIR LYNDEN PINDLING
The workmen
were busy all week building and putting the finishing touches to the grave
of Sir Lynden. Henry Dean, gatekeeper of the graveyard for St. Agnes was
supervising the clean up and construction. Sir Lynden is to be buried in
the same grave of his father in St. Agnes graveyard. Lady Pindling is a
St. Agnes member. It appears that it is a two-vault mausoleum being constructed
so that she will join him when it comes her time. Why St. Agnes, many people
have asked? It was Sir Lynden's wish to be buried with his father. The
owners of the private cemetery Lakeview had offered a discrete section
of the family graveyard in their hill top cemetery for the Pindling family,
but St. Agnes it is. Like the Bahamian tradition, the workmen were out
in full force cleaning up and painting the cemetery. The Catholic Cemetery
next door, which was also overgrown with weeds, got a cleaning as well.
Workmen are shown constructing the mausoleum at the gravesite before the
funeral. The photo is by Peter Ramsay.
WHAT THE PRESS HAD TO SAY ABOUT SIR LYNDEN
The Bahamian press in their editorial stands were quite restrained and respectful, even the mealy- mouthed Nassau Guardian. The undercurrent though was that they could not bring themselves to say he was a great man. The foreign press was less restrained, they spoke nothing about what he had accomplished for black people in the country but in the New York Times, The Miami Herald, the London Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph, they spoke about drug corruption. The point about it all is that no allegation of drug corruption was proven against the man. But never let the facts interfere with a good story. The Bahamian people in the main were outraged by The Punch who savaged Sir Lynden's reputation. They thought Ivan Johnson, the publisher of The Punch, could not be a Bahamian. Alas he is!
FRANK RUTHERFORD ON SIR LYNDEN PINDLING
Olympic bronze medallist frank Rutherford credits the moral support of Sir Lynden Pindling for assisting him in winning a medal for The Bahamas at the 1992 Olympics. Mr. Rutherford won the medal in the triple jump competition. He said that earlier in his career a telephone call from Sir Lynden inspired him to go onto the Olympics and win. He said: "After the telephone conversation with Sir Lynden, I was excited and totally motivated because I received this call from the chief executive of my country... That call inspired me for the rest of my career and made me proud to be a Bahamian and win for The Bahamas." The story was reported in The Tribune Thursday 31 August.
JUNKANOO GETS INTO SIR LYNDEN ACT
Barabbas and
The Tribe, its leader simply known as Barabbas with Perry Christie the
Leader of the Opposition, a well-known Junkanoo himself organized a massive
Junkanoo parade. The Leader of the Saxons Super Stars of Mason's Addition
have lost another friend so close after the tragic death of their supporter
Archdeacon William Thompson. Sir Lynden supported all Junkanoo. He rushed
with a scrap group called The Pigs but his heart was in Junkanoo. And so
the revelers had a parade to commemorate him. There was a moment of silence
in Rawson Square, followed by the playing of the national anthem and they
rushed down to Windsor Park, where the PLP organized a singspiration on
the park to commemorate Sir Lynden. Pricilla Rollins, Ezra Hepburn, Anwar
Seymour and Leon 'Rooster' Taylor all volunteered to sing.
INGRAHAM THE DOG IN THE MANGER
It only goes to show that some people you just can't trust. Just when you feel that you can trust this fellow Ingraham, he turns out to be as niggardly as you remember him. The Prime Minister supported the decision of ZNS to refuse to televise the PLP's service at Mt. Tabor Full Baptist Church to commemorate Sir Lynden. Why? Who knows? Just to be niggardly. We call that a dog on the manger.
BUCKINGHAM STUDENTS SEND CONDOLENCES
Shannelle Smith who is the President of the Bahamian Society at the University of Buckingham sent condolences to the family of the late Sir Lynden Pindling and to the Progressive Liberal Party on the passing of Sir Lynden. In an e-mail message to this columnist Ms. Smith said: "It has been a touching and sad time for us as well... In honour of Sir Lynden we have arranged a flag raising ceremony for Monday 4 September at 9am and would like for yourself and others concerned to know that we have you all in our thoughts."
NEIL ELLIS CONGRATULATES THE GOVERNMENT
Bishop Neil Ellis of Mount Tabor Full Baptist Fellowship Church in Pinewood Gardens, speaking at the memorial service for Sir Lynden organized by the PLP Thursday 31 August, Bishop Ellis congratulated the Government on the way they are handling the memorial observances for Sir Lynden. He said that there is a "breath of fresh wind blowing through the country." In particular he mentioned Carl Bethel who has been one of the most vitriolic attackers of Sir Lynden during Sir Lynden's lifetime, calling Sir Lynden "My hero" and "The Greatest Bahamian". Bishop Ellis said he called the Prime Minister and personally thanked him for the way he was dealing with Sir Lynden's observances.
CRIME DOWN DURING PERIOD OF MOURNING
According to the police, crime seems to have lessened during the time since Sir Lynden has died. They must obviously agree with the FNM that apart murder crime is down. There were two murders since last week. That brings the total to 53 murders for the year 2000. The FNM said that if you got rid of the PLP you would get rid of crime. One wonders what they say now.
We reported two weeks ago on the condition of the men at Shell who were injured in a blast while cleaning one of the Shell fuel tanks at Clifton Pier. James Been 64 died last week. Now the other man Robert Garland Elliott age 46 has died. He was a neighbour and friend and we feel for his mom and dad, his sister and brother. This is a great tragedy for a man who leaves behind a young family. He was quiet and unassuming. He was a steady worker. Shell needs to explain how this happened. There needs to be a criminal investigation into the matter, and Shell cannot investigate itself. We need to hear from CID. Two men are dead and for what?
TWO
POLICE PROMOTIONS
We want to congratulate new Inspector Keith Bell and Acting Inspector
Donovan Dorsett from Corporal to Inspector and Constable to Inspector respectively.
This was announced last week by Government House. Mr. Bell is the first
Bahamian to get a first class honours degree in law from the University
of The West Indies and recently passed his bar finals at the Eugene Dupuch
Law School in Nassau. Mr. Dorsett is also a graduate of UWI and also passed
his bar exams in the last sitting of the Eugene Dupuch Law School.
Last week we promised Mr. Morris a place on the site for his great article on the blacklisting of the Bahamas. That has again been pre-empted due to the death of Sir Lynden.
Sir Lynden Pindling's public life since the 1970s has been chronicled perhaps more than any other photographer by Peter Ramsay. He got a job with the Bahamas Information Services through Sir Lynden. We thank Mr. Ramsay for chronicling that career over the years and for the photo spread courtesy of BIS that we have on this site today.
SIR LYNDEN WAS SECRET HERALD COLUMNIST
When this writer was the Managing Editor of the PLP's newspaper in 1981-83, he worked with Sir Lynden every day, privy to the inner most workings of his mind as the election campaign unfolded, as the Cabinet was being chosen. Shortly after, we left for law school. Sir Lynden was a columnist for The Herald and he wrote under the nom de plume Q.E. Thomas. Now that he has passed we can give away this open secret. The Herald was owned by the late Everette Bannister. The staff included Paul Drake, Mark Beckford, Val Martinborough, Peter Ramsay and this columnist. Every one is now dead except Peter Ramsay and this columnist.
The scramble is on. The PLP and others ordered thousands upon thousands of tee shirts, all at a moment's notice. The death of Sir Lynden produced that boom. On Friday 2 September many firms saw their employees show up to work in tee shirts with Sir Lynden Pindling's picture on it. Interesting Bahamian tradition.
TAXI-CAB UNION DOES ITS BIT FOR SIR LYNDEN
The Bahamas Taxi-Cab Union has offered to chauffeur for all of the PLP Senators and Members of Parliament during the funeral observances for Sir Lynden.
There were a fair
number of naysayers around this week. The old man is gone, the PLP is surely
going to collapse. The PLP is adrift and did not know how to capitalize
on Sir Lynden's death to make its fortunes rise. We let the Prime Minister
run with the ball and take the initiative. Not so! The PLP rose to the
occasion and if anything its shows how strong the two party systems is
in Bahamian politics. Every other party figure was reduced to bit players.
That does not underestimate their importance in the ultimate election debate.
There is a great deal of pressure on now for Dr. Nottage to return to the
PLP, but those who advance the notion are being unrealistic. The gulf is
too wide. But in politics, truth is stranger than fiction. Mr. Christie
rose to the task and strutted the stage.
This generation of leaders must now take this opportunity as a political benefit and run with it. PLP ALL THE WAY!
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
News from Grand Bahama will be uploaded later
in the week.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
This site is dedicated today to the memory of the late Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the first Prime Minister of an independent Bahamas and father of the nation. It is mainly a pictorial. WE THANK PETER RAMSAY AND THE BAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES.
POST MORTEM ON PINDLING
The country is almost back to business as usual. If you were to
judge by the conduct of Members of the House of Assembly you would not
have known on Wednesday 6 September when they met that there had been such
unanimity of purpose and praise on Monday 4 September. In those two days
before the House met, Sir Lynden Pindling, the national hero was buried.
The PLP's Leader Perry Christie was most concerned about getting out of the gate with a proposal for memorializing Sir Lynden. He held a press conference on Wednesday 6 September at the House of Assembly and the put the Government on notice that the PLP's position is that the Nassau International Airport is to be renamed the Lynden O. Pindling International Airport. Further, Mr. Christie said that the PLP wants a national holiday named specifically for Sir Lynden. There has been no response from the Government.
The real question in everyone's mind though is what now for the PLP? As long as Pindling was around so went the conventional thinking, there was an overarching presence that kept the organization and its purpose together. What is clear is that there is now a gap, but that gap must be filled by the next generation of leaders.
Notwithstanding the FNM's victory over the old time religion so to speak, the themes of Bahamianization, national sovereignty and freedom and equality for all are potent themes that once again emerged following the death of Sir Lynden. PLPs are invigorated and are calling for their party to have a national rally.
This columnist thinks that a national rally is long overdue, so that we can dispense with all the polite funeral talk, and give our supporters and the country what we feel in our gut about all that has happened.
We think that appropriate arrangements ought to be made to ensure that the widow of Sir Lynden is comfortable. The Prime Minister retorted in his private ruminations to that thought that she will get two thirds of the pension payment of Sir Lynden which is two thirds of 100,000 dollars. That is merely the legal requirement but we are talking about more. He said that he thought he could be persuaded to do a little more. Of course, this is all predicated on the fact that there will be no front line political involvement. What a nasty little man! The widow deserves it regardless of her decisions and there is no question of political involvement.
The site had a huge spike in the number of hits this week because
of the picture coverage for Sir Lynden. This columnist would like to thank
Al Dillette and Sebastian Curry, the Editor and sub-editor of the site
respectively for their yeoman's effort, and their co-ordination of all
the pictures with photographer Peter Ramsay. The site had 48897
hits up to midnight Saturday 9 September for the month of September. Compare
that to the total umber of hits for the month of July of 54,025
which was our highest month ever up to this point. In one day, there was
some 23,000 hits between 5 and 6 September
which is higher than we have ever had before in a single day.
Thanks for reading and please keep reading!
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon
William Thompson. Click here.
Click here for the statement
Click here for photos and events
e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
| The PLP Position on Clifton | |
| www.johngfcarey.com | Thought provoking columns |
| http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/ | Canadian contacts Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links |
| http://members.tripod.com/~xtremesp/wolf.html | Bahamian Cycling News |
| http://www.bahamiansonline.com | Links to Bahamians on the web |
| http://www.bahamanet.com/JujuTree.cfm | Politics Forum |
APOLOGIES ON MANDELA
Last week, we reported in the editorial that Nelson Mandela,
the former South African President, was amongst the guests expected for
the funeral of the late Sir Lynden. This was not so. Mr. Mandela was not
in the Bahamas and apparently did not intend to travel here. We apologize
most sincerely for that misinformation.
MORE FUNERAL
COVERAGE
We will leave the column of last week as a permanent click on spot
just below the click on spot for the funeral of the late Archdeacon William
Thompson. We also provide additional photo coverage by Peter Ramsay of
the funeral. You may click here.
INGRAHAM
REFUSES TO SPEAK IN THE CHURCH OF GOD
In 1993, the Church of God of Prophecy invited the new Prime Minister
as they did the old Prime Minister to come to their annual church convention.
Only this time the arrangements had changed slightly. They announced for
the first time that politicians would no longer be allowed on the platform.
All of us who had been used to sitting up top were then told we had to
sit down below. Sir Lynden O. Pindling attended as Leader of the Opposition
and Hubert Ingraham attended as Prime Minister. Mr. Ingraham as given what
he considered to be an inordinately long passage of the Bible to read and
he came down with a dry throat and almost choking for breath. When Sir
Lynden was announced to read the second lesson the congregation broke out
in tumultuous applause. Mr. Ingraham turned to this Senator and said: "
Mitchell! Never again." That was then and since that time he has always
sent Janet Bostwick to represent him at the Church or some other Minister.
When the Pindlings announced that the funeral service was going to be held
at the Church of God, the Prime Minister was furious and it was said that
he did not want to go. But he did one better, he went but refused to speak
at the service. Thus if you look at the programme for the funeral service
of his predecessor in office there will be no reference to an address by
the Prime Minister. Instead he wrote a glowing and uncritical message which
gave the lie to all the propaganda that he had been spreading about Sir
Lynden in the political campaigns of 1992 and 1997. What a guy Ingraham
is?
FIGHTING
WITHIN THE FNM
Part of the problem that Hubert Ingraham faces today in his party is
that an increasing number of persons want him out. He has managed to gather
a cadre of the youngsters around him: Dion Foulkes, Tommy Turnquest and
Carl Bethel who apparently take the position that if it is not going to
be one of them that succeeds Mr. Ingraham as Prime Minister then Mr. Ingraham
should stay. Mr. Ingraham's Council is increasingly hostile to him, and
many of them were openly scornful of his slavish praise of the former Prime
Minister whom they had spent years campaigning against. The cry was from
FNM stalwarts everywhere: " We have to get rid of Ingraham!" One PLP partisan
was able to report that the hatred is so palpable that at the fish fry
at Arawak Cay on Saturday 2 September one of Mr. Ingraham's backbenchers
showed up and was hailing all the fellows with great delight, until he
saw Mr. Ingraham siting there in his rogue disguise. The expression changed
and a knife could cut the pure hatred, said our correspondent. The knives
are therefore out just in time for their convention to be held in the first
week in November. Mr. Ingraham was distressed this week to learn that the
Long Island Delegation was elected without the knowledge of his supporter
Cabinet Minister James Knowles. Mr. Knowles was said to be so out of touch
with what is happening in Long Island that he scheduled an alternative
meeting in a primary school that has long ago been closed. The delegation
is totally a Tennyson Wells delegation. Mr. Wells is opposing Mr. Ingraham
for leadership in the FNM. Mr. Ingraham has now threatened to cancel the
result of the Long Island vote on the grounds that it is illegal. Well
now, we didn't know that laws had been passed to regulate the internal
affairs of political parties.
THE
LABOUR BILLS ARE BACK IN THE HOUSE
Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes was back at it with the Trade Union
and Labour Relations Bill. This Bill provides such onerous reporting requirements
for trade unions, and outlaws strikes and sickouts and go slows. It also
will outlaw the use of Union funds to pay for the fines of union leaders
doing union business. The Bill is copied from English legislation passed
by Margaret Thatcher's right wing government to cripple the ability of
the unions to affect her politically. In Britain, they have huge unions.
In The Bahamas the unions are barely a few hundred. The largest is the
Hotel Worker's Union and the only one that will be able to afford many
of the provisions that are being required. The International Labour Organization
(ILO) has warned that the new bill offends the right to freedom of association
because it offends the principle that unions ought to be free to regulate
their internal affairs. Perry Christie led off the debate for the PLP,
and he accused the Government of sloppy drafting, of being anti-union of
union busting. He told the Parliament that the Government had not had a
proper consultation process with the sector that the bill was meant to
regulate and that the Unions oppose its provisions. He also accused the
Government of using Parliament to draft bills. The Government came with
a bill and then immediately announced 24 pages of further amendments to
their Bill. The Minister then announced that the bill will sit in Committee
for even further amendments. What a way to do business.
SCANDAL OVER GARVIN TYNES PRIMARY
SCHOOL
This columnist has obtained a report over the construction of the Garvin
B. Tynes Primary School which was built by the buddy of Hubert Ingraham
and Tommy Turnquest: Maljack Construction. The business has since closed
down and the principle owner reportedly cannot be found. In the mean time,
he was granted a five million dollar contract for the construction of the
primary school which is not ready for occupation. The Ministry of Public
Works commissioned a study and it showed that there was poor quality cement,
there were structural problems which made the building unsafe and unsound.
Prior to the opening of the school on Tuesday 5 September, the workmen
were frantically trying to fix up the school which most experts say should
be condemned and will probably cost about a million dollars to fix. In
the meantime, the Ministry of Public Works has apparently ordered an investigation
to discover how this school could have been inspected and passed so that
the payments could be made to the contractor. The real question is where
is the five million dollars that was given to the contractor. As one political
observer said after getting five million dollars and doing substandard
work, you may well be able to afford to close down your business.
THE CULTURE OF LONG CEREMONIES
This columnist is convinced that there is something dreadfully wrong
in the way we plan ceremonies. No one, no leader seems to want another
leader to speak for him or to let the words simply be said for him or her.
Everyone has to speak, and each has to out do the other. The result is
that national ceremonies in this country tend to last an inordinately long
time. This columnist has made the observation before, even about ordinary
funerals. They tend to be easily three hours or more. But the Pindling
funeral was too too much in that direction. The funeral lasted five hours.
The preacher, though excellent, preached for an hour and half. And each
of the speakers spoke for half an hour at a time. There was a constant
parade of people leaving and entering the church to go to bathroom. Even
the widow had to take a break just as the Leader of the Opposition got
up to speak. In contrast to the funeral of five hours of Sir Lynden was
the funeral of former Permanent Secretary Patrick Erskine Lindop at Lyford
Cay's St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church. That service was forty five minutes
including the communion. So in our view Sir Lynden's service should not
have exceed an hour. This is particularly since the day before, the same
preachers had a service of three and one half hours long at the Kendal
Isaacs Gym. Kayla Lockhart Edwards is now appointed the Director of National
Events. Perhaps she could start taking this point, cut down on all the
crap and shorten these ceremonies. This columnist takes the position that
after one hour and half, he leaves and goes home. It is simply too much.
That rule was broken for Sir Lynden but for few others.
HOW MANY PEOPLE
PINDLING HELPED
One of the consistent themes during the Pindling funeral was the fact
that he had helped so many people. Indeed Perry Christie adverted to this
when he spoke at the mass put on by the Anglican Communion on Wednesday
6 September at Christ Church Cathedral. He said that each person could
reach into their reservoir of old stories and say what Pindling and done
for them. Pastor H. A. Roach of the Seventh Day Adventist Church spoke
about how Sir Lynden helped him establish his identity so that he could
get a passport because there was an error in his gender on the birth certificate.
And a Junkanoo leader told this columnist at the grave site that he would
really miss Sir Lynden because he always helped with providing funds for
his Junkanoo group. Now one sees why in part Sir Lynden always had money
problems while he was an active politician. Basically, he simply gave away
his money to all who would come and ask. How else can a politician afford
to do that but by having to ask any donors who would give to do so to give
the politician money and some time one ends up accepting monies indiscriminately.
Hubert Ingraham put the former Prime Minister through the ringer in a Commission
of Inquiry in 1996 and all it really showed was a man who did not balance
his cheque book. If we did the same thing to Hubert Ingraham it would probably
show the same thing. But that then seems to be the premium by which Bahamian
politicians are judged. Our politicians are essentially middle class people
who have to work for a living going into politics to help people but while
there may appear to be great rewards, the drain on the pocket is substantial.
And in many cases you have to ask the wives, they will tell you what it
costs them. But Bradley Roberts MP Grants Town for the PLP has a philosophy.
He said that you will not carry it with you, so don't worry about it. Give
it away.
GILBERT MORRIS SPEAKS ON
THE BLACK LIST
After three weeks delay we present to you the work of Professor Gilbert
Morris of George Mason University, he is a Bahamian from Hawksbill, Grand
Bahama. He is concerned about the Government's response to the measures
by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to
crimp our offshore sector and offers the comments to help develop sensible
public policy on the issue. It appears that the Government may at last
be getting some stiffening in their spines. Governor of the Central Bank
Julian Francis has announced that the International Monetary Fund ( IMF)
has been asked to investigate the claims of OECD re The Bahamas and make
a report about the matter.
At last! Click here for the statement
of Mr. Morris.
SEAN MCWEENEY'S ADDRESS
One of the speakers at the funeral of Sir Lynden was Sean McSweeney,
the former Attorney General and friend of Sir Lynden. He was with Sir Lynden
in his past hours.
Please click here for Mr. McSweeney's address.
CHRISTIE SPOKE FOR LABOUR
Has something happened to the Labour movement in the country? Have
they lost their voice? The Bahamas Government proposes to enact legislation
that according to the Leader of the Opposition will cripple the trade unions
in The Bahamas. Yet there has been neery a public peep from the trade unions
about these bills. Hubert Ingraham, carrying out the work of his political
masters, treats them with contempt, calls them ignorant to their faces
and behind their backs, and yet nothing. The latest salvo came when in
the House of Assembly on Wednesday 6 September he told them that no " political
wannabees" are going to dictate to him who is run the Government. No response
from the trade unions. The reference by the Prime Minister refers to the
fact that the Trade Union Congress announced earlier this year that they
intend to form a political party and field candidates in the next election.
Further, a number of trade union leaders are known to be openly courting
the FNM and the PLP for nominations. It was Perry Christie, the Leader
of the Opposition, who spoke for Labour in the House and asked the Prime
Minister to come to his senses on the ill-considered legislation to cripple
trade unions.
WHY
SUPPORT TRADE UNIONS?
This columnist supports trade unionism and as the Opposition's spokesman
on Labour, this columnist has urged the PLP to continue its traditional
support for Labour. But make no mistake about it: a trade union is a trade
union and a political party is political party. The two have different
roles to perform and different functions to carry out. No trade union will
control this columnist if he were to become Minister for Labour. The Minister
for Labour must act for every one. However, it is clear that trade unions
perform two valuable functions. The first is the narrow function of improving
salary and working conditions on the job site which is organized by the
union. But secondly, they play a role in the strengthening of democracy
and the general upliftment of the standards in the community. The Bahamas
is the prime example where constitutional changes of great significance
were brought about because of the trade unions and because of Labour. One
has only to took to the Burma Road riots of 1942 and the General Strike
of 1958. In both cases the ruling oligarchy refused to bend to the call
for social and political reform. It took Labour to bring the country to
its senses. After the General Strike in 1958, the constitution of The Bahamas
changed, the franchise was expanded to include women and indeed all persons
over 21. A more representative House of Assembly came into being. The Memorandum
of Understanding in 1977 between Labour and the PLP led to significant
changes in the industrial relations and social policy for the betterment
of the country. That is why we support trade unionism. It is still important
today.
INGRAHAM
CLOSES THE HOUSE UNTIL 18 OCTOBER
The House of Assembly has suspended until 18 October after brief meetings
on Wednesday 6 September and Thursday 7 September. The excuse: the Prime
Minister says that he is going to Europe to chase after the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development and the other European driven
initiatives to blacklist The Bahamas Financial Sector. There is nothing
there that the Governor of the Central Bank can not do, or for that matter
the hapless Minister of Finance William Allen. So as far as we are concerned
the Prime Minister is going on a one month vacation to Europe, all expenses
paid by the people of The Bahamas
AIDS IN THE WORKPLACE
The Government has been persuaded or so it appears to include anti-AIDS
discrimination provisions in the legislation now before the House to regulate
employment practices. To this end, the AIDS Secretariat has had a conference.
On 16& 17 August, the Secretariat had an open forum to consider the
questions. They have made several recommendations and wish for the public
to respond. They recommend: No person shall be subjected to an HIV test
as a prerequisite for obtaining employment; Government should provide a
national health insurance scheme as a matter of urgency; and medical coverage
for HIV/AIDS infected persons be comparable to any other illnesses covered
in The Bahamas. Further, the Secretariat recommends: No employee shall
disclose to a third party any medical information about any employee obtained
from or in relation to that employee by reason of that person's employment
without the prior written permission of the employee. This is on pain of
a fine of $5,000 or imprisonment for three months or both. It will be a
summary offense. The Secretariat asks persons to send their responses to
aidsect@batelnet.bs or by fax to 242-325-5113 or P. O. Box N 3729, Nassau,
The Bahamas.
NICHOLAS
REES 18YRS AND READY
Nicholas Rees, the son of former Shell executive Olvin Rees, is to
be the youngest swimmer for The Bahamas at this year's Olympic Games in
Sydney, Australia. Mr. Rees ( pictured in Nassau Guardian photo) will swim
the 100 metres butterfly. In a show of patriotism, Mr. Rees has a Bahamian
flag tattooed across his chest.
THE
GOLDEN GIRLS ADJUSTING TO DOWN UNDER
The Tribune reports that according to Bahamas Coach Frank "Pancho"
Rahming, the athletes including the Golden Girls of The Bahamas Pauline
Davis-Thompson, Savatheda Fynes and Debbie Ferguson are all faring well.
This despite colds that everyone seems to have gotten. Good luck to them
all. Andrew Tynes, the male Bahamian quarter miler and Chandra Stirrup,
a part of the Golden Girls team, have not yet arrived in Australia. The
report was carried in The Tribune of 8 Septmebr,2000
CHESTER
COOPER ON PENSION REFORM
The Tribune has reported
that Chester Cooper ( pictured) , head of the corporate services at SG
Hambros Bank & Trust( Bahamas) has welcomed the new draft Occupational
Retirement Scheme as a step forward over its predecessor. But he said that
it needs strengthening, particularly in the areas of regulation and investment
guidelines. Mr. Cooper told the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants
that the Act should empower a Pensions Commission to regulate the industry
and act as an arbiter with regard to the complaints, rather than leave
this function to a government minister. Pensions are a sore point in The
Bahamas. There is said to be some half a billion dollars of pension monies
in The Bahamas, all unregulated. A number of pension plans have been abused
by the employers. The story was reported in The Tribune 6 September 2000.
NEIL
STRACHAN AT COMMONWEALTH BANK
It has been announced that Neil Strachan is now Senior Manager Operations
at Commonwealth Bank. His previous employer was CIBC at Freeport. Mr. Strachan
( pictured) will be responsible for the overall supervision of the bank's
Mortgages and Commercial Lending Department.
NEWS ABOUT
SHELL BAHAMAS
First the bad news. Robert Garland Elliott Jr. was buried on Friday
8 September. He was the second of two employees killed in an explosion
on the Shell premises at Clifton Pier some three weeks ago. Shell closed
its offices early so employees could attend. This columnist spoke and advised
Sehll that Bahamian will be watching to see how the wife and children are
treated by Shell after the funeral is over. Now the good news. Shell's
campaign that most people predicted would ruinous, i.e. we made a mistake
about gas, seems to be working. Esso admits that it has casued some trembling
in the market. Shell's share has increased by some three per cent since
the campaign. Esso says that their market share was probably over valued
because of Shell's troubles in the market. Esso does not expect there to
be a huge problem for them and they do not have any special plans to react.
They expect to continue to be the leader. Texaco is not so smug any more.
Shell has since the campaign introduced a new gas. Some kudos for this
must go to Jerome Gomez, the Marketing and Sales Manager of Shell who stuck
with the programme even as dealers voiced their doubts. One thing that
is working well is the Shell Shops. They are outselling the convenience
stores at the Texaco and Esso stations. Now the dealers are crying for
some relief. They say, the rents for the shops are too high. Let's hear
from Shell.
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
The Editor is away in the United Kingdom on business
and will return next week.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
THE U.S. AND HUMAN RIGHTS
We have come to accept, most of us, that the west and particularly
the United States, Britain and Canada are the places to be if you want
to feel safe and secure in your person. Those countries are thought to
be the repositories of individual freedom and human rights. This week the
Indian Prime Minister addressed a joint session of the United States Congress,
part of a state visit to the U.S. Throughout the visit U.S. lawmakers praised
the U.S. as the place where freedom reigns.
So one is totally shocked, surprised and outraged then at the treatment of a Chinese born scientist, now naturalized as a U.S. citizen, by the name Wen Ho Lee. Mr. Lee was accused of downloading classified information about the nuclear programme of the United States from a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory. They charged him with 59 felony counts of downloading the information and in the end he pleaded guilty to one count, and was sentenced to time served. The Judge in the case apologized for his treatment while incarcerated, and although the Attorney General refused to apologize, President Clinton apologized for his treatment.
What was his treatment? The man was kept in solitary confinement for nine months. There is a deep suspicion that there was racism involved in his being charged and in the way he was incarcerated. It reminded one of the sordid chapter in U.S. history when the U.S. Government under Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans simply because of their ethnic background, declaring them security risks.
It is times like this that we cannot be proud of the United States as an ally. It is good, however, that the U.S. president has apologized and one hopes that Mr. Lee will be compensated for what has been done in terms of the cruel and inhumane treatment.
It is particularly important for the U.S. to set this right given the fact that each year, the U.S. has its embassies abroad review the human rights records of every country and report to their Congress on what they find. If a similar exercise were conducted on the U.S., would it pass muster?
This week, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas was hobnobbing with
a foreign guest, the President of Botswana Festus Mogae and his wife Barbara.
We report below.
We have surpassed the 60,000 hits mark for the month of September. This is absolutely an amazing number of hits, and we can only say that the huge spike is due to the photo coverage of Sir Lynden Pindling's death. The previous highest number was for the entire month of July 54,025 hits. Compare this to up to midnight, 16 September, we had 68,752 hits on this site for the month of September.
Thanks for reading and keep reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
Address to Sean Mcwenny/Pindling
funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.
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PRIVY COUNCIL RULES AGAIN
ON DEATH PENALTY
In a case on appeal from Jamaica, the Privy Council has done
another flip-flop. This time, they have reversed their previous decision
in Reckly No 2, and now they say that an appellant who has been convicted
of murder, and presents a petition to the Committee on the Prerogative
of Mercy has a right to be heard. You will remember that Thomas Reckly
was executed by the FNM and the court refused in that case to accept that
he had a right to be heard before the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
In other words, the same procedural requirements for natural justice imposed
on other inferior tribunals are now to be applied to the Committee that
has the responsibility of advising the Minister on the commutation of the
sentence. This is a landmark decision. The decision goes further and says
that the appellants have a right to be heard before the United Nations
Committee on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Further, the state cannot execute appellants while those petitions are
being considered. This latter ruling reverses the decision in the most
recent hanging in The Bahamas. The public is now sick of the Privy Council,
even its supporters in the human rights movement. The bloodthirsty public
thinks that this ruling is going to delay the hangings they want . They
wrongly believe that hanging will stop crime. The Human Rights community,
while grateful for the latest ruling, is concerned about the flip-flops
of the Court. One judge dissented in the ruling, saying that he was concerned
about the stare decisis doctrine, with the court changing its mind so soon
after its last ruling. Alfred Sears, the Human Rights attorney, was ecstatic
about the decision. So was Attorney Maurice Glinton who was attending a
conference of anti-death penalty lawyers in Belize. Mr. Glinton from Belize
said that this ruling confirms that Caribbean countries have to conform
to internationally accepted standards of behavior. This columnist's own
view is that the Privy Council should abolish the death penalty altogether.
We cannot see how the British Judges can continue to act out the role of
executioners from the society in which they live, that no longer supports
executions. Further, is their role in this process not in and of itself
a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights? Some one ought
to challenge them on it. Now the Bahamian and other Caribbean authorities
are no doubt scrambling to see who they can defy this latest ruling. The
predictable calls for the abolition of the Privy Council as the final Court
of Appeal can be heard. But we shall see if these so-called Caribbean leaders
have the balls to do it.
CHANGING
THE PRIVY COUNCIL
The Caricom countries including The Bahamas have been studying a new
court to replace the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal for our
countries. This is to be called the Caribbean Court of Justice. However,
we in the human rights community particularly this writer have little faith
that the so-called Court will be a Court of Justice. It is likely to be
a court of hangers and floggers who despise poor people, replete with the
West Indian class prejudice against people of darker skin. So we have the
ironic twist that a nationalist, like this writer, is arguing in favour
of keeping the Brits as the final Court of Appeal. Bahamians who hate the
Privy Council's rulings on the death penalty have predictably called for
the removal of the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal. What gives
us pause as a country though is the usefulness of the Privy Council as
the final court on civil matters. We promote this as a part of the infrastructure
to police our offshore banking sector. It gives a level of comfort to the
foreign investor. The white guys are superintending us, so if the black
fellows get it wrong in the Nassau courts at least the Englishman in the
Privy Council will get it right. That is the conventional wisdom. Racist
but true. There is no need to amend the constitution to replace the Privy
Council as the final Court. The Parliament can do it with a simple Act
of Parliament. So let's see if big bad Ingraham has the balls to do it.
Let's see if his masters will allow their slave to act.
AND
WHAT ABOUT THE UNITED STATES
So while most of the rest of the western world is arguing for the abolition
of the death penalty, we have the barbarian lobby in the United Sates killing
people almost one a week, and it still does nothing to stop the crime.
The most egregious of these is the state of Texas where the would be President
of the United States George W. Bush now is the Governor. The Black Caucus
in the U.S. ends it annual meeting today, and they will no doubt call for
an end to the death penalty throughout the United States. The irony is
even Clinton and Gore, who the Caucus supports, argue for the death penalty.
But with it being clear that the justice system is fraught with problems
in the U.S. and that the death penalty is disproportionately applied to
Blacks in the states, who can continue to support the death penalty with
any logic.
FIVE
MORE BAHAMIANS IN CUBAN JAILS
Five Spanish Wells fishermen are in the custody of the Cuban Government
for allegedly violating the Cuban territorial waters without permission.
The five were confirmed as being held in Camaguey, a city some nine hours
away from Havana, the capital of the country. The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign
Affairs has confirmed through a diplomatic note that the five men are being
held. The men went missing last weekend on a fishing trip near Cay Lobos.
They have been detained by the Cubans for illegal entry. We shall see how
fast the Government of The Bahamas acts for these men from Spanish Wells.
The other persons in Cuba are Black Bahamians and some have made the same
claims as these fishermen, that is, they were simply fishing and not trafficking
drugs. But little action has been taken by the Government of The Bahamas
to obtain the release of the former group. Yet as soon as the Spanish Wells
incident occurred, the Government was scrambling to help. And so they should,
but the treatment should be equal for all Bahamians, not because the group
supports you politically do you go out of your way to help them but not
help others. But such is the FNM in office. We hope that all Bahamians
including the Spanish Wells fishermen are home soon. It only underscores
our call for a consular presence by The Bahamas Government in Cuba. The
Cubans now have a Consul General resident in The Bahamas . The five are
all listed as crawfishermen. They are Myron Underwood, Andy and Jonathan
Higgs, Stephen Newbold and Garfield Sawyer. Abner Pinder, Chief Councilor
of Spanish Wells said that this was simply an adventure gone wrong. Cay
Lobos is quite close to Cuba and the men are thought to have wondered close
to a Cuban lighthouse when they were picked up. Spanish Wells is said to
be a somber mood awaiting the arrival of the men. Most family members report
that generally speaking persons are well treated in Cuban jails. The food
is bad but they live.
KEN FRANCIS
LOSES CASE AGAINST THE GUARDIAN
Kenneth Francis who was summarily dismissed as the Publisher of the
Nassau Guardian after 17 years in that position on 13 October 1998 has
lost his case before the Industrial Tribunal. The court supported the dismissal
for cause and so no compensation is payable to Mr. Francis. This ruling
while legally correct on the face of it, is a disgraceful and shameful
act by the Nassau Guardian for which they will all pay in hell. The Guardian
must give Mr. Francis something for the time spent at that institution.
Their hardhearted legal strategy will backfire on this wicked company and
the present crop that now manages it. The decision was reported in The
Tribune of Tuesday 12 September.
OFFICIAL VISIT BY BOTSWANA'S PRESIDENT
THE PRIME MINISTER STUCK IN
AN ELEVATOR
Hubert Ingraham, while showing off in Freeport with the President of
Botswana, got stuck in an elevator in the old Princess Tower hotel which
he allowed to be sold for some eight million dollars including the property
across the road that used to be called the Princess Country Club. It took
an hour to free the Prime Minister from the elevator on Thursday 14 September,
the last day of the visit of the President of Botswana. In the elevator
with the Prime Minister was Minister of Youth Zhivargo Laing. The Prime
Minister should of course be totally ashamed of the Princess property.
The group that has bought the property apparently has no capital and is
seeking to gouge the Bahamian property owners of the real estate that they
own in Grand Bahama by increasing the service charges a whopping 60 per
cent on the land. The company needs to raise 42 million dollars to do a
proper facelift on the hotels that are falling apart. The situation is
so bad that the General Manager Donald Archer literally has to count employees
and pennies in order to make the weekly payroll. Mr. Archer is therefore
key to their operation. And of course, the biggest laugh was the facelift
that has never come. In the King James Room of the Country Club, the rain
came down and the buckets had to be brought out to catch the water leaking
through the roof. So much for the great Freeport comeback.
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS
MADE IN SECRET
Jeanne Thompson and Jon Isaacs have been appointed Acting Justices
of the Supreme Court. The Appointments took place some weeks ago but no
formal announcement has been made by the Government. Jon Isaacs previously
served as a prosecutor and then as Chief Magistrate for three years. No
word on who has replaced him as a Magistrate. Ms. Thompson has been in
private practice since 1964. She makes an excellent judge. Meanwhile, people
are complaining about the fact that Justice Moore who arrived here from
the British Virgin Islands in controversy last spring, a retiree from the
BVI ( originally from Guyana) and a month shy of his 65th birthday , has
been given leave to fly off to Bermuda where he is serving on a Commission
of Inquiry. Question : Is Mr. Moore being paid by the Bahamas Government
while he is away in Bermuda?
FIGHTING IN THE FNM
The knives are out for the Ingraham forces, and the Ingraham
forces have the knives out for the Wells forces. They are the opposing
factions within the FNM. War broke out in Kristi's the breakfast Cafe this
week between the two forces. The cussing and carrying on made you think
that this was the PLP fighting the FNM. The final word was the voluble
Eight-Mile Rock man who told the Ingraham forces, they could all kiss his
ass. Temper Temper!
CALLING GLEN PICARD
Has any one seen our old friend Glen Picard, the former Manger of Bahamasair
and friend of Frank Watson. Can you tell us where he's gone? We thought
we saw our old friend Glen walking into an establishment connected with
friends of the Deputy Prime Minister in Freeport, grand Bahamas. Glen is
that you?
ANOTHER PRISON INAMTE FOUND
DEAD
A twenty-two year old prison inmate has been found dead. Foul play
is again suspected. This is the second inmate to have been found dead in
as many months in the prison. The prison is clearly not a safe place. The
man's name is Jermaine Brenan. Meanwhile, an inquest is to begin into the
death of Mario Seymour, former police officer, who died on 23 August after
being found wounded in his prison cell. Foul play is suspected in that
case, although the rumours coming out of the prison are that the wounds
of Mr. Seymour were self-inflicted in a failed attempt to get himself moved
to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre.
PHILIP MILLER AT THE JORDAN RIVER
THE
SCHOOL CONTRACTOR SURFACES
Last week we reported that Jack Andrews, the buddy of The Prime Minister
, who was given a $5.2 million dollar contract to build the Garvin Tynes
Primary School had gone missing in the midst of controversy. The controversy,
the fact that the school he built was built with deficient cement and was
structurally unsound. The school ought to have been condemned and was not
ready for the use of the children this fall. Mr. Andrews was not to be
phased by the accusations against him. He told The Tribune in its edition
of Tuesday 12 September that he had to laugh when he saw the Government's
report on the school. He claimed that he brought to light some of the wrongdoing
by the Ministry of Works' inspectors. In short, he claims he did nothing
wrong and the Ministry ought to look to its inspectors to spot the trouble.
What a hell of an answer, when whether the Inspectors messed up or not,
it is his reputation as a builder that is at stake. The question still
is: what happened to the 5.2 million dollars? Who has it? It certainly
doesn't look like it went into the school.
AMERICAN ENVOY ON OECD BLACKLIST
WHAT
DOES ONE ADVISE OFFSHORE CLIENTS
It is difficult to know what to say to clients who want to put money
in The Bahamas but who have been scared to death by the reports circulating
overseas about The Bahamas being put on a blacklist. We do not know how
many opportunities we have lost as a result of these OECD initiatives.
But those who take the time to come will discover that business is really
going on pretty much as usual. The proposed changes in the law have not
been settled, and that is the problem. The Prime Minister does not know
what he is doing. He and his lame group of advisors are leaving the country
for a month to go to Europe. Basically they will be ensconced in Switzerland,
and taking forays from there to try and convince OECD countries that we
are not such bad guys. This does not require a Prime Minister. And it is
the view here that this is just a paid vacation by the Prime Minister at
the expense of the Bahamian taxpayer. The Prime Minister started the panic
by saying to the sector that bank secrecy was finished That is clearly
not the case, and it will not be the case. The same confidentiality rules
will apply. What these changes in policies will affect will be at two levels,
that of identification procedures and records of identification for customers
of banks and the owners of IBCs, and the reporting of suspicious transactions
in banks. In the area of the International Business Companies, the law
appears to be headed to bring the IBC legislation into conformity with
the existing Bahamian company legislation so that there must be at least
one resident director, a registered office in the Bahamas, and the abolition
of bearer shares,. Customers must still have the right to private property.
The sector itself has now hired a public relations firm to help them out
with this overseas. It is about time they get some spine in their backs.
THE TEAM IS
IN SYDNEY
The Tribune carried this wonderful photograph of the Bahamian team
being led into the games village in Sydney, Australia for the Olympic Games
that began on Friday 15 September. Pauline Davis-Thompson, the grandma
of Bahamian sport and one of the Golden Girls, says that the American team
is scared of The Bahama relay team. Awesome! We wish all the athletes well.
A WORD ON
LACK OF LEADERSHIP
The Bahamas right now is drifting along in a sea of indifference. The
persons with ability are indifferent and perhaps frustrated by the inability
to do anything to influence what is going on in our country. We have the
feeling that this place could be more organized, richer, with a better
quality of life. But instead, we have a lout for a Prime Minister and an
Opposition that does not quite seem to be able to rally people against
these fellows. Some one put it this way at a labor meeting during the past
week. When are we going to get a government that actually listens to the
people they govern. We thought that this summed it all up. The FNM is blissful
in their arrogance. They are racist in their polices. The only time they
react to anything is if white people tell them, and not white Bahamians
either. These must be whites from abroad, and they must be threatened to
act. Such is the lack of leadership in The Bahamas today.
NEWS
FROM GRAND BAHAMA
The editor of this site is still away on business
in the United Kingdom.
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
THE U.S. AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Last week's editorial comment was a departure from the usual because
it dealt with a subject that had nothing directly to do with The Bahamas.
That was the case of Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese American scientist held in
solitary confinement by the U.S. Government for nine months. The treatment,
given what ultimately happened in the case, seemed rather discriminatory
on a racial basis. The President of the United States Bill Clinton seemed
to think that the treatment meted out to him was improper. He rebuked his
own Attorney General for the way in which she acted in the case. The injustice
seemed so clear.
But there is always another opinion. One of our readers sought to argue that this columnist because of his opinion was somehow ungrateful to the United States. The writer expressed the sentiment that if the United Sates were so bad then this columnist would not have gotten his education there. This kind of misguided comment is certainly unwarranted. The facts are the facts. The United States is in many ways a great country but there is a reason we continue to live in The Bahamas. The Bahamas is a better country in which to live in ways that maximize the satisfaction of this columnist. The criticism of the US in no way denigrates the ultimate greatness of the place. The comment of the writer was therefore narrow-minded.
Similarly, there was a former resident of Spanish Wells who wrote an e-mail accusing this columnist of being racist. The offence: simply pointing out the double standard of The Bahamas Government when it came to the treatment of white Spanish Wells fishermen captured by the Cubans coast guard, two weeks ago and Black Bahamian fishermen languishing in Cuban jails without the same alacrity and interest. Indeed, the five fishermen were released without charges. The Spanish Well's leadership thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for what they did to effect the release. We still ask the question why the double standard?
The former Spanish Wells' resident, now lives in Ohio, is part of that crew who still can not accept real racism for what it is. The comments of this columnist simply pointed out a fact. There is a double standard in the treatment of citizens of The Bahamas of different races. Those facts are incontrovertible. How that gets to be racism by this columnist, we will never know. But such is the state of life in the year 2000. Narrow-mindedness is a problem in so many areas.
This week we surpassed for the first time in the history of the column 80,000 hits in a single month. We are willing to bet we won't see numbers like this for a long time to come. The death of Sir Lynden introduced many people to this column who had never seen it before. Let's hope they keep reading. Thanks for reading. The site had 81,264 hits up to midnight 23 September.
Thanks for reading and keep reading.
Address to the Senate Budget
Debate / Haitian Issue
Address to the Senate Clifton Cay Debate / Haitian
Issue
Address to PLP Leadership meeting in Exuma
/ Haitian Issue
Address of Sean Mcwenny/Pindling
funeral
Gilbert Morris on OECD Blacklist
Fred Mitchell Antioch College speech
The funeral coverage
For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.
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e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs
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| http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/ | Canadian contacts Reg & Kit's Bahamas Links |
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| http://www.bahamanet.com/JujuTree.cfm | Politics Forum |
PAULINE DAVIS-THOMPSON WINS OLYMPIC SILVER
CONDOLENCES FOR FORMER CANADIAN PM
CLEOPATRA
CHRISTIE LEAVES THE AG'S OFFICE
They say that there are seven FNM MPs who are trying to sabotage the
work of the Tenneyson Wells forces. The group was named by the gossip rage
The Punch. They were accused of being traitors to the cause. Among the
seven named were C.A. Smith, Tourism Minister; Janet Bostwick, Minster
of Foreign Affairs and Teresa Moxey, the Minister of Agriculture; and Frank
Watson, Deputy Prime Minister. An FNM backbencher confirms that the thrust
of the allegation is correct. He says that the seven are accused of trying
to stop Tenneyson Well's effort by manipulating the make-up of their delegations
to the convention planned by the FNM for the first week in November. One
delegation in Long Island is already elected and opposed to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister has reportedly threatened to cancel that result. Now
it is reported that the delegation of Teresa Moxey in Golden Gates is in
a virtual state of revolt because the Minister of Agriculture wants to
cancel her delegation and replace them with pro-Ingraham forces. Which
then caused the backbencher to make another argument, that of the women
chosen by the Prime Minister as FNM representatives and Ministers. The
feeling is that while Mr. Ingraham touts that he supports women, he chooses
women with weak personalities that will simply do as he says without question.
There is more turmoil to come. The Speaker of the House the pompous Italia
Johnson and the former Senator and now FNM Secretary General Roston Miller
are said to be at loggerheads. Mr. Miller is reportedly threatening to
sue the Speaker if she does not withdraw certain remarks allegedly made
at a contretemps in the FNM women's meeting in the spring of this year.
We shall let you know how this all comes out in the wash.
NO SHOW
FOR AMNESTY SECRETARY GENERAL
The Human Rights community in The Bahamas was greatly disappointed
by the no-show of Secretary General of Amnesty International Pierre Sane
in Nassau. He was scheduled to visit The Bahamas last week at the tail
end of his Caribbean tour. The SG's no-show came because Hubert Ingraham,
our Prime Minister, jumped on the plane to go to Europe to get us off the
financial blacklist. As we show in this columnist that is a complete joke
but the SG was coming here specifically to see him. The Secretary General
made waves in each country, and the visit could not have been at a more
propitious time given the recent decision of the Privy Council on the death
penalty. Caribbean Leaders were all about moaning and groaning about abolishing
the Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal because condemned men now
have the right to be heard before the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy,
and they have a right to petition the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. Further, they
can not be executed while those petitions are pending. Leaders in Trinidad
and Jamaica have said that the Privy's ruling virtually abolishes the death
penalty. The Governments should do the right thing and abolish the penalty
in the legislature. Opposition Leader Edward Seaga in Jamaica taunted the
Government of P.J. Patterson by daring them to abolish the Privy Council,
calling the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice the putative replacement
Court, a kangaroo court. Mr. Patterson disappointed Caribbean intellectuals
with a stupid comment in response to the requests by the Secretary General
for Jamaica to come into line with the civilized world and abolish sodomy
as an offense in Jamaica. Mr. Patterson raised to his full height and took
the opportunity to squash persistent rumours that he is homosexual by telling
the BBC first of all that he is not a homosexual. He said that he abhors
homosexuality, that it is un-natural and that he could not support a proposition
which the majority of Jamaicans abhor. Further, he said that he had to
support the majority opinion. That is of course nonsense, because the majority
of Jamaicans support legalizing the smoking of ganga (marijuana) but Mr.
Patterson is not moving to change those laws in Jamaica.
FIVE
CUBANS FREED
The Spanish Wells community, on that island just to the north of Eleuthera,
is rejoicing because of the release of five fishermen from that community
who were captured by the Cuban coast guard. They immediately reported back
to the mother ship on which they had been fishing. This was reported by
The Tribune on Monday 18 September. The men talked with their families
by satellite telephone from the ship. Later in the week( Tuesday 19 September),
The Tribune reported that the five men had returned home to their families.
The men are: Garfield Sawyer, Andy and Johnathan Higgs, Stefan Newbold
and Myron Underwood. Again, we say we are happy for these men, but there
are other Bahamians who are incarcerated in Cuba and The Bahamas Government
is falling down on the job on doing something to obtain the release of
those men. Janet Bostwick needs to start doing her job as Minister of Foreign
Affairs.
ARTHUR BARNETT
DEPUTY GOVERNOR TO RETIRE
Ever since Hubert Ingraham became Prime Minister, he has deputized
a number of good FNM supporters, many former Senior civil servants to act
as Deputies to the Governor General. The persons are constitutionally empowered
to act in the stead of the Governor General when he is incapacitated or
out of the country. Arthur Barnett, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Home Affairs in the Pindling Government is one such person. Under the
FNM, he has served as Chairman of Batelco, and as a lay magistrate. He
told a gathering at the latest swearing in on 6 September, while the Governor
General went off to the UN to "fill-in" for the Prime Minister that he
was nearing his 75 th birthday. He thought it was time to throw in the
towel and withdraw from all public service. The mother of this columnist
Lilla Mitchell, now deceased served with Mr. Barnett at the Ministry of
Home Affairs under Minister Darrell Rolle. Mr. Barnett's son Michael is
the Chairman of the Water & Sewerage Corporation, a partner in the
firm Graham Thompson & Co, attorneys-at-law. The younger Mr. Barnett
was the classmate of this columnist at St. Augustine's College. Once during
the height of the public debate on capital punishment, Michael write a
letter to the press saying that in defense of my arguments on capital punishment
there ought to be a referendum on the question. A few days later, his dad
wrote a letter to the press, denouncing the idea. He supported capital
punishment wholeheartedly. He added that ever since his son Michael was
at St. Augustine's College he has been following Fred Mitchell around.
All of us including Mike got a good chuckle out of that. We thank Mr. Barnett
Sr. for his life of public service and wish him well in his retirement.
TRAGEDY STRIKES MOTHER OF TRIPLETS
LADY PINDLING THANKS THE NATION
A DAUGHTER
FINDS HER LONG LOST MOTHER
Natasha Mc Phee is a Fox Hill girl, a member of the PLP's branch in
Fox Hill. During the campaign of this columnist in 1997, she always spoke
about her difficulties with her identity. She was born in The Bahamas of
a Jamaican mother who was not married to her father. He mother left for
Jamaica as a child and she was never seen again. The mother and child were
separated when Natasha was only one year old. She is now 26. Since that
time she has been pining for her mother. That sadness was eased a bit last
year in a joyous wedding to her husband Arthur McPhee. It was a great wedding,
a happy couple. Now Natasha's joy is two-fold because the mother and daughter
met in Nassau on 7 September. Natasha said that the joy of the moment was
unspeakable. " I was so excited to finally see her, even though I hadn't
a clue how she looked, " said Natasha.
12
YEAR OLD DIES IN SCHOOL
The country is in a tizzy and a lynching mood following the death of
a 12 year-old boy from an apparent epileptic seizure at the S.C. McPherson
school on Tuesday 19 September. The story is that he had been physically
disciplined by a teacher and that shortly afterward he had the seizure
and died. So now the mob is out for the teacher, without knowing the facts.
This is a periodic kind of reaction to events in The Bahamas. No doubt
when the facts are actually revealed, the situation could well change.
Until then, the talk show hosts are having a field day with accusations
and counter accusations. Lawyer Roger Minnis for the family of the dead
boy says that he will seek proper compensation for the boy's family. This
columnist represents the Bahamas Union of Teachers who in turn represent
the teacher. We ask the press to respect the privacy of this teacher and
let the facts be properly investigated. Mr. Minnis has requested a coroner's
inquest.
BAHAMIAN
STUDENTS LEAVE FOR CUBA
On Thursday 21 September, Bahamian students boarded a flight at the
Nassau International Airport to start their university education in Cuba.
The Cuban Government is said to have offered 50 million dollars in scholarships
to Bahamian students. Hundreds of students were recruited through Wesley
Campbell, former Vanguard candidate to go to school in Cuba. The students
will study a variety of subjects including medicine. The first year will
be spent learning Spanish. No doubt many of them will suffer acute culture
shock. Students from The Bahamas who go to Jamaica are in shock. One could
well imagine Cuba. This columnist understands that there is a huge demand
for students that is being left unfulfilled by this worthless Bahamas Government.
The scholarships are not being provided. The recent scholarship scheme
where every one has to borrow from the Bank of The Bahamas has proven inadequate.
The result is the students and their parents go for the Cuba business.
This columnist does not like it. Cuba's ways of Government and way of life
are not to be recommended. This study programme must ultimately have an
impact on The Bahamas in unintended and unforeseen ways. The Bahamas Government's
only response was to ask each student to register with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. All the more reason for The Bahamas to have a Consul General
in Havana. The other point is that the United States, Britain and Canada
ought to be providing more assistance in the field of education to counter
act this Cuban thrust. But alas with a weak and hopeless Minister of Foreign
Affairs, what can we expect.
OBIE WILCHOMBE FOR FULL TIME POLITICS
DAN CLUNE
US NO. 2 ON BLACKLISTING BY OECD
As we promised last week, we present the full remarks of Dan Clune
to the American Men's Club on the initiatives of the Organization For Economic
Cooperation and Development., the speech was delivered on 2000. Mr. Clune
is pictured.
You may click here. This too will become
a permanent feature on the site.
News from Grand Bahama will return next week.