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THE HARDER THEY COME

Jimmy Cliff, The Jamaican Reggae Singer, had a precious movie made in conjunction with Chris Blackwell in 1973 called "The Harder They Come" It is the story of a boy who comes up from country and tried to make it in urban Kingston only to find all the forces arrayed against him. The movie was such a hit with this columnist when he was a student in the UK, in the days before video tape machines, that he went from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in England and saw the film some seven times in as many weeks.

The film remains poignant today and was on television recently. There is still a great underclass in this country today. And although it appears that there is great wealth and greater social mobility in The Bahamas than in Jamaica, there are still many that believe that there is a problem making it in this society. If you are on the wrong side of the fence, if you don't have friends in high places, then you have problems. Life appears to be very finely balanced for many.

Bradley Roberts is a champion of those on the wrong side of the fence. And this week, you can say that his motto has to be the line from the film “The Harder They Come”. The theme is the more they keep coming, arrayed against you, the greater is your strength to cause them to be defeated. Bradley Roberts landed a bombshell on The Bahamas Government that had them all squawking like chickens all over the place this week. Not the least of them Janet Bostwick, the useless, hopeless Minister of Foreign Affairs. The result of the bombshell that we report below is to cause Mr. Roberts to request police protection since his life was threatened as result of his actions in the House.

We would like to encourage and support Bradley Roberts, MP PLP for Grants Town in his resolute fight against drug trafficking in this country. Never mind the critics. All one has to do is work, work work and in the end we shall overcome.

The PLP is planning its Convention for the year 2000. This is the first convention where Perry Christie will be the undisputed leader of the PLP. No leadership contest is expected. But what is expected is a series of policy challenges and a try at overturning the decision of the Candidates Committee on the South Andros nomination that is likely to test his resolve as Leader of The PLP. In this matter, our support is for the Leader of the PLP. We think that a united organization is most important at this time, and this is not the time for policy challenges and personnel challenges. But as we know ambition is made of sterner stuff.

This week we add the lecture given at the College of The Bahamas 'Pindling & Me' to our permanent links below.

Last month we had 65,740 hits on the site for the month of October. This is down from the high of 96,872 in the month of September. September was boosted considerably by the interest in the coverage for Sir Lynden O. Pindling’s funeral. Nevertheless October turned out to be the second highest in the history of the site. We had 5052 hits up to midnight 4 November for the month of November. Thanks for reading and keep reading.

PERMANENT LINKS
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

For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.

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

e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs

BRADLEY’S BOMBSHELL
The Prime Minister, the country’s chief slave, had called the House of Assembly into session. He had returned with a wish list of Bills that threatens to gut the offshore sector as we know it. He has an uphill battle getting the legislation through the House of Assembly. The legislation is opposed by many in the industry here but their voices are not being heard. At the official level, the voices appear to be in support on the pretext that we have no choice. Lennox Paton’s law firm that makes much of its income from the offshore sector was forthright in opposing the Bill in a letter published in the press in The Bahamas over the past two weeks. It pointed out serious flaws in the legislation. The law on the Financial Intelligence Unit is especially problematic in that it has reporting requirements for suspicious transactions in banks that do not allow as the laws presently do an appeal of any kind from the relevant authority. The PLP and CDR representatives in the House refused to vote for any of the Bills on the grounds that the packages were only half prepared and not properly explained. Philip Galanis MP for Englerston PLP led the debate for the PLP and thought that the legislation was too vague and therefore could not be supported. But things were quite calm until Bradley Roberts charged that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ingraham knew about drug activity in Long Island in 1997 and its connection to the construction and licencing of a hotel project in Morrisville, Long Island and approved the project knowing the drug connection. (See the stories on this site on October 2000 for more details on the project.) The Prime Minister denied it and also denied the charge that the Government had been refusing to cooperate with the US authorities on the question of drug interdiction. Those are fighting words for an FNM Government that has so far managed to portray itself as squeaky clean when in fact they are not. Mr. Ingraham challenged Mr. Roberts to produce the evidence that he had. In response Mr. Roberts laid on the table a heap of documents that had been circulated around The Bahamas to him and other Members of Parliament and citizens of The Bahamas showing that a sting operation had gone on in Long Island in The Bahamas and that the operation had failed to capture any suspects. But it clearly showed drug activity in and around this project in Long Island. The FNM reacted by trying to throw a smoke screen up saying that Mr. Roberts was wrong because he released in the package a list of names of DEA officers in The Bahamas, their cell phone numbers and their telephone numbers. According to the FNM Minister of Foreign Affairs (the fast asleep at the wheel Janet Bostwick) this compromised the security of the officers in The Bahamas. The next day The Tribune, the Guardian, The Bahama Journal and The US Ambassador all got into the fray jumping on Bradley Roberts. Clearly this is a set up. They all missed the point and missed it deliberately. This has nothing whatever to do with compromising any operations of the DEA in The Bahamas. All this is about is whether Mr. Ingraham’s Government knew about drug activity in Long Island, its connection to the hotel project and Long Island and did they condone it. To add to this twist a nephew of Frank Watson, the Deputy Prime Minister is involved in the project in Long Island. Mr. Watson claimed that he knew nothing about it. Yeah Right! The House meeting took place on Monday 30 October and the documents were laid on the table on Tuesday 31 October.
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WHAT THE US AMBASSADOR SAID
The United States Ambassador and what he says in this country has become an acute cause of concern for many Bahamians. His remarks at several times during the course of the year have been broadly interpreted as wilful interference in the internal affairs of The Bahamas. This Senator as Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs wrote a letter on behalf of the party to so inform the Ambassador. Bradley Roberts and this Senator went with him on Thursday 2 November to raise the issues that he raised in the press. Here is what the Ambassador had to say that was considered by many to be patently offensive. He was talking about the documents that were laid on the table of the House of Assembly to support the allegations of Bradley Roberts that the Government of The Bahamas was facilitating drug trafficking. The Ambassador told The Tribune of Thursday 2 November: “In my mind the best thing that can be said [about the release of the information] is that it was thoughtless, mindless and highly improper. At worst, it was dangerous, unlawful and makes me wonder why any Member of Parliament would wish to give comfort to drug dealers… A member of the Loyal Opposition means to be loyal to one’s nation and the violation of national security is not demonstrative of that quality.” Out of respect for the Ambassador who we like personally, stronger language is not used in this column. But really these remarks are totally out of order. First they question Mr. Roberts’ commitment to the effort to fight drug trafficking, as a subject which has touched Mr. Roberts personally through a son who was killed by being involved in the trafficking and a brother who was an addict and subsequently suffered a fatal disease because of it. Mr. Roberts is rabid on the subject. Secondly it questions Mr. Robert's patriotism to this country. All that can be said is that the statements of the Ambassador are inappropriate, and they are without merit, and they are out of line.
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HUBERT INGRAHAM ON THE DEFENSIVE
A problem in politics is that at the first sign of trouble even your colleagues head for the tall grass. One has to wonder why on earth when PLP followers are ecstatic that the PLP has through Bradley Roberts launched a knockout punch against the FNM, we don't hear more in the way of support. Part of it has to do with the way the media is set up with all radio stations and the newspaper fully controlled and motivated by FNMs. It is difficult to get the PLPs side of the story out. In a way the PLP is to blame for this for refusing to implement private radio when they were in office and thus get some of their friends on the radio. So Bradley Roberts is left to appear twisting in the wind without political support. We want make it clear that Hubert Ingraham is on the defensive. Mr. Roberts threw a big rock in the chicken coop and now Hubert Ingraham and his weak Minister of Foreign Affairs are squawking like chickens. What the FNM seems to want is a compliant Opposition. And they will not get it. They keep thinking that the PLP will be killed dead and it does not happen. It is alive and well and about to kick the FNM’s you know what.
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WHAT WAS IN THOSE DOCUMENTS OF BRADLEY
Someone, we do not know who, got ahold of documents which contained a surveillance photograph of the boat owned by a an alleged drug trafficker in Long Island. They also got ahold of some internal minutes of DEA agencies fighting drugs. There was also a list of the names of the DEA Agents and their telephone numbers including their cell numbers. There was also a commentary about the relationship between the sting operation at Long Island, the US and Bahamas Governments and why the operation failed. The authorities deny that the commentary included in the package was authorized by the US. They admit that the surveillance photo was theirs and the names are theirs. They also say that there was a sting operation. So the fact is the central facts about the charges made by Mr. Roberts are true. That has not been denied. What the whole smokescreen is about is Hubert Ingraham’s Government knowing that there were drug trafficking operations in Long Island and doing nothing about it. They cannot answer that question and so they are creating this smokescreen about names from a list that is three years old, and the people on that list have long since left the country. Much ado about nothing.
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THE COUNTRY IN A FRENZY OVER BRADLEY
It is amazing how intelligent people can be diverted by foolishness. The central facts even for intelligent people have been lost in the smokescreen. People are calling this columnist, mainly FNMs, asking whether or not Bradley Roberts was correct in doing what he did. Bradley Roberts was 2000 per cent correct and should be supported 2000 per cent. The FNM’s backside should be roasted for their gross incompetence and their closing their eyes to the obvious drug trafficking going on in Long Island. We have complained in this column for at least a year now that the people of Long Island were increasingly living in a situation of terror because of the activities down there. Nothing was done. The Government granted four million dollars of duty free equipment concessions for a wilderness in Long Island. There is a huge compound, lit up like a stalag at night with heavy equipment worth in the millions. There is earth-moving activity in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are two cigarette type [go-fast speedboats] down there. There is no racing in Clarence Town. What are the boats doing there? There are laws in this country that say you cannot live off the proceeds of drug trafficking. The laws place the onus of proof on the person who has the money to show that it did come from drug trafficking. If someone has no visible means of support, from where does the money come? The Government gave permission for the investment to proceed. The Deputy Prime Minister’s nephew is a partner in the venture. The Government has much to answer. Intelligent people should not be fooled or misled by a smokescreen.
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THE PRIME MINISTER THREATENS BRADLEY ROBERTS
The headline in the Tribune of Thursday 2 November said that LOOSE LIPS ENDANGERED DRUG ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS SAYS PM. Many people wondered about this comment by the Prime Minister delivered in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 1 November. It was from the country’s Chief Slave Hubert Ingraham. He claimed in the House at least on the face of it that Mr. Roberts’ allegations may have endangered the lives of US Drug Enforcement Agents living in The Bahamas. But many saw an underlying and more sinister message and that is a veiled threat about Mr. Roberts and his own life. Since that remark by the Prime Minister, Mr. Roberts has received death threats and his car and that of his son had a white creamy substance thrown on them as they were driving through the streets of New Providence. Mr. Roberts has asked for police protection. Yes Mr. Ingraham you must be careful what your loose lips say and hope that you are not connected in any way with the threats against Bradley Roberts. Remember Henry II of England and the comment of ridding himself of the meddlesome priest. His men then went off and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. We hope that you have no such bout of conscience about which to concern yourself after any unfortunate act done because of your loose lips.
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BRADLEY’S PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE
This is a hot story indeed. So much foolishness has been spewed this week by the Prime Minister and his asleep at the wheel Minister of Foreign Affairs Janet Bostwick that it is difficult to know where to start or stop with them. But how about this? Mr. Ingraham made the novel proposition that despite the fact that Mr. Roberts laid the documents on the table of the House of Assembly in the course of proceedings of the House, because Mr. Roberts distributed the documents to the press the documents lost their privilege. He claimed that Mr. Roberts would have to then answer any questions from the police in connection with the documents. Foolishness! This fellow Ingraham is such a fool. Where does he get such a law? There is no such law, and that is not the position. The documents laid on the table of the House have an absolute privilege. And journalists who print the material have qualified privilege. And that privilege exists so long as they give a true and faithful report of the proceedings of the House and their reports are not actuated by malice. Here we go again. Ingraham, the chief slave making up laws as he goes along.
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GOVERNMENT TO MOVE AGAINST BRADLEY
The Chief Slave Hubert Ingraham has announced that he intends to move a motion in Parliament to formally condemn Bradley Roberts for exposing this corrupt Government. That brought a big laugh from big bad Bradley. Remember, dig one grave and you better dig two.
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REGISTRATION OF VOTERS TO BEGIN
The Parliamentary Commissioner made a public announcement on Thursday 1 November on national television and radio in The Bahamas. He announced that the old register, the one on which the 1997 election was fought is to die, once it reaches its mandatory five-year life. So a new register must soon come into force and in anticipation of that he is beginning registration throughout The Bahamas. We all know that elections are near and of course it is political season. The FNM led by Mr. Ingraham is under severe pressure with Lester Turnquest the FNM MP going to make a run at Deputy Prime Minister Watson at their upcoming convention. Mr. Watson is under fire for his family’s involvement in the drug scandal revealed by Bradley Roberts the PLP MP. Mr. Watson has been unable to satisfy his colleagues that he is up to scratch on his National Security portfolio. Mr. Ingraham himself cannot know what is in store for him when Tennyson Wells MP challenges him at the FNM convention. He is a very nervous man and has been threatening all around to call elections. The PLP is growing in strength. The Prime Minister wants to get rid of all that oppose him by calling a general election. General Elections have been called for Canada on 27 November, in Trinidad for 11 December and of course in the United States the General Election is 7 November. So elections are in the air. Everyone is therefore urged to get registered. It is a pity that Bahamians abroad cannot register and vote while they are abroad. The current register expires on 1 February 2002. The FNM Convention begins on Tuesday 7 November.
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ANGLICAN SYNOD OPENS
The Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez opened the annual Synod of the Church on Monday 30 October at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau. In everyone else’s parlance, the church’s annual convention began. The Archbishop in his charge said that time was running out on a “sick, ruined” society. The Archbishop claimed “we are abandoning our traditional values for the traditional mess of porridge and our society is sick unto death because we are creating a moral vacuum especially in the area of home and family life.” He also talked about a crisis of community and spoke up for those in society who increasingly feel marginalized. He called for a Ministry of Support and Enablement to assist those who feel lost and marginalized. The Archbishop is pictured by The Nassau Guardian’s photo.
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FINANCIAL SECTOR GETS A NEW BLOW
Last week we reported that the Internal Revenue Service of the United States, the intrusive Federal bureaucracy that supports the tax laws in the US was seeking orders for credit card issuers in The Bahamas of American Express and MasterCard to disclose the names of US citizens that have credit cards issued from The Bahamas (See story below). They want to check to see whether those persons have been underreporting their income. Now comes more bad news for this sector. There is a new law in place that calls for a countries to become a Qualified Jurisdiction (QJ). According to The Tribune of 3 November, this is part of the new tax withholding regulations of the US Government under their tax code. It seems to work like this, if you are a QJ for the purposes of the code then all non-US citizens would be able to maintain their confidentiality in the case of those customers in banks in The Bahamas who hold US securities. If you do not have the qualification then when securities income is transferred to customers in The Bahamas they will be subject to substantial withholding taxes at source. The US authorities have put our application for the status on hold because we are on the Financial Action Task Price Blacklist (FATF) . Our legislative agenda has slowed down so much that it will be a press for the Government to get this done by the January 2001 deadline. The Strategic Development Committee of the Financial Services Board released the news. Our retort to all of this is that while the sector was busy making money they did not have any strategic development. Now they are all about the place crying like babies. The only problem is that we are all going to suffer for their lousiness and that of the Government.
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TEACHERS PROTEST AT S.C. MCPHERSON
The teachers of S.C. McPherson high school were livid. The night before they heard and read the next morning in the press that their fellow teacher could be subject to a charge of manslaughter by negligence in the death of Shawn Evans a 12 year old boy with an illness the full extent of which was undisclosed to the school. The illness called Long QT syndrome resulted in his death. That is what the death certificate says and now the counsel for the mother of the child wants the teacher charged with manslaughter. The teachers at S.C. McPherson were outraged. They say that they stand behind their colleague. They say that the administering of corporal punishment is widely condoned by the Ministry and the administering of six strokes in the palm of the boys hand could in no way equate to manslaughter. The teachers held a protest at the school grounds and this columnist, the lawyer for the Bahamas Union of teachers, and Kingsley Black, President of the Union were called out to the school to try to urge calm. The students had no classes that morning. Teachers say that as a result of the court case, discipline has been undermined in the schools. The Minister of Education Dame Ivy Dumont has refused to come to the school to show her support for the administration of the school and to support discipline at the school. The photo of The Tribune is shown of the demonstration on Thursday 2 November.
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BATELCO WORKERS PROTEST
BaTelCo workers were out in the yard of Batelco to protest the policies of Batelco. The Corporation is refusing to pay the families of two riggers for Batelco who died tragically on 28 September when the tower on which they were working collapsed at Staniel Cay, Exuma. The Corporation says that they have been advised that since the men died before the new salary benefit kicked in on 1 October, they are not entitled to the additional $4,000 each to their families. That, says the Union, is stingy and not compassionate. The workers protested on Wednesday 1 November. The Bahama Journal photo of a union executive on the demo.
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AMERICA’S REVENUE SERVICE ATTACKS BAHAMAS
A Miami Judge granted US tax authorities access to the financial records of all American citizens with MasterCard and American Express credit card accounts in The Bahamas. The ruling came from US District Judge Adalberto Jordan. It allows the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue summonses for charge, debit and credit cards issued by banks in The Bahamas in 1998 and 1999. The order affects the card issuers offices in the US and by that means the US authorities circumvent the Bahamian secrecy laws. The Tribune reported the story on Tuesday 31 October.
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REMEMBERING THE GENERAL STRIKE

Sir Clifford Darling, former Governor General and former head of the Bahamas Taxi-Cab Union, visited the airport on Thursday 2 November to mark the occasion when the airport was blockaded by the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union in November 1957. This led to the General Strike of 1958 that shut the airport down and most of the rest of the country. Sir Clifford had a chat with the drivers at the airport, remembering their glory days. These days the Taxi Cab Union is largely ignored. Its membership represents less than a quarter of the total taxi drivers on the road.
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BAHAMAS TOURISM TAX PROPOSAL
The Bahama Journal 1 November reported that the World Bank and the European Union are circulating a proposal for a tourism tax that would seek to recover the external costs of tourism on this country and the region.  The paper is called "Tourism and the Environment in the Caribbean : An Economic Framework". The paper outlines some of these externalities like excess garbage generated by tourists, damage to the environment by tourists; over use and damage to the reefs in our waters, over building in sensitive environmental areas, adverse impacts on sensitive ecological systems; adverse impacts on health care systems by the spread of sexually transmitted and water-borne diseases as a result of tourism.  Several taxes are proposed, some of which already exist like departure taxes and hotel room taxes. But what seems revolutionary is the proposal to eliminate the tax holidays for new construction of hotels.  That is how Sun International justified their new construction here.  So for many Caribbean destinations that will be a real Catch-22 situation. The recommendation is that the departure tax should be increased to $20 throughout the region and that cruise ship passengers should be made to pay such a departure tax.  The idea seems to be that the taxes should be honed directly on tourism and the tourist sector because although the sector is a great contributor to the GDP of the countries of the Caribbean, it also over uses the resources in comparison to other sectors.  We find these ideas extremely attractive and ask those who read this column to write the Bahamas Hotel Association. They want feedback on the proposals and the address is P.O. Box N-7799 or fax: 242-326-5346 or e-mail: bhainfo@batelnet.bs

GOVERNOR GENERAL TO GET HONORARY DEGREE
The University of the West Indies conferred an Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL D) from the University of the West Indies on Bahamian Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest on Friday 3 November.
 

THE OVER 65 COHORT TO INCREASE
The Bahamas Government has tabled a report on the elderly in The Bahamas and it confirms what we have been saying in this column over the last year. By 2015, one in six persons will be over 65. In 1997, the Bahamian population aged 60 and over  numbered 20,611, which was 7.2 per cent of the population. The majority of older persons are females and this is expected to remain the case in 2025.  The median age of The Bahamas today is 26 years old and that is expected to rise to 36 years old in 2025. The report was prepared by Sir Clement Maynard former Deputy Prime Minister under the PLP along with Lady Patricia Isaacs, retired Public Servant and widow of Sir Kendal Isaacs.  The Minister for Social Services Algernon Allen, aka Minister of Idle Poetry, was in the public square on Monday 30 October waxing on about the "Precious Pearls".  But let's hope that this sloganeering Minister will be dumped by the Bahamian people next year so he won't have anything to do with implementing the report.
 

SUN INTERNATIONAL IN FIX
The Atlantic City Casino of Sun International, the owners of the Atlantis resort at Paradise Island has been sold reportedly for 140 million.  Sol Kerzner and his friends seem to be scrapping for cash. The market does not like the look of all of this.  They think that his company is now too dependent on his property at Paradise Island for its viability.
 

NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA

Resort At Bahamia Layoffs - Employees at the Resorts at Bahamia (formerly the Princess Properties) were laid off this week. Hotel, Catering & Allied Workers Union President Pat Bain (pictured at right) fielded complaints from the workers who were let go for "an evaluation period" of ten weeks. Several restaurants are closed for renovation in the Resorts at Bahamia. This adds to problems for hotel union workers in Grand Bahama who also feel that they are being frozen out of new hiring at the Lucaya Strip.

BaTelCo Demonstrations Mirrored - Workers at the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BaTelCo) staged a mirror demonstration in Grand Bahama to the one in Nassau (reported above) to protest the treatment of the families of two colleagues killed in the line of duty. The men's families are being denied lump sum payments made to union members two days after their deaths. Protestors called the denial of funds by management "niggardly and unsympathetic".

Tourists Caught Up in Dispute - About a hundred golfing tourists had no choice but to stand and watch an angry dispute between taxi drivers and a tour company as they waited to get from a Grand Bahama golf course back to their hotel. The tourists waited while taxi drivers insisted that it was their right to transport the golfers. Police and Road Traffic officials were called in to mediate. This was the latest outbreak of conflict between the two sectors of the transportation business over fares and the right to transport visitors to the country from place to place.

Colombian Stowaways Caught - Four Colombian stowaways were caught and turned over to Immigration officials after being found in a forty foot container at Freeport's Container Port this week. The Colombians were discovered after having spent eight days in the container. The find raises questions about the potential for breaches of security at the port. The stowaways were reported in good physical condition.

Second City Politics - Late word in from the FNM's pre-convention boat cruise bankrolled at the last minute by leader-elect hopeful Tennyson Wells and not patronized by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Mr. Ingraham is said to have "beat a hasty retreat" from the cruise. The quote of the week: "This supposed to by @#!**..ing 'FNM country' and yo'all can't get 1000 people on the boat? Man, I gone..."

    A senior FNM party official was observed - unaccustomedly dressed to the nines - boarding Bahamasair's flight to Nassau on Friday morning.  Reports are that he was headed to high level meetings aimed at "smoothing out all the contentious matters" having to do with the FNM's upcoming convention before opening night. Ha! Good luck.

    One close Grand Bahama advisor to the Prime Ministers warns curiously "The rabbit has the gun... if they keep fooling with Ingraham we'll fix them good and the other side better get their house in order".

    One of our correspondents reports this week that he could not find anyone in political circles Freeport who believes that the DEA itself didn't leak the information to Bradley Roberts (see stories in main site above) and also couldn't find anyone who believes that the nephew of Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson was not warned of the sting operation...  Observers are saying that they think Mr. Watson should be encouraged to step down as deputy leader of the FNM "for health reasons". Speculation is that he will not run for deputy leader at this week's convention raising the possibility of a deal in which Tennyson Wells could be Deputy Prime Minister.

    FNM insiders say that a compromise has been offered to the Prime Minister where he would have to check with leadership contenders Tennyson Wells and Algernon Allen before any decisions are made. Proposers of the compromise contend that Mr. Ingraham's national agenda is also the national agenda of Mr. Wells and Mr. Allen, so a danger to Mr. Ingraham completing his agenda does not arise.

Conchman Triathlon - The annual Grand Bahama Conchman Triathlon competition was staged Saturday 4 November. The Conchman comprises a 1k  swim, a 25k bicycle race and a 5k run, all staged as one continuous race. The event is a highlight in the sporting calendar of the island and one well attended by international competitors. Grand Bahama's Andrew Bell, second son of well-known coach Bert Bell just missed victory in the overall event coming second to Stefan Larson of Denmark. The island's elite athletes of all ages turned out for the event. Robert Dillette II (Robby) and sister Alana Dillette (both pictured holding trophies of blown glass conchshells) won their individual age groups with outstanding performances.

A Life Lesson - Ada Lester is a serious competitor. The American elite triathlete has travelled to win the overall women's title in the Grand Bahama Conchman Triathlon for five years in a row. This year in particular, competition was expected to be tough not least from young Alana Dillette, at twelve years old something of an up and comer in the sport. During the main race, Alana's bicycle chain came off. In a move which sacrificed her chances to win, Ada Lester stopped to help the little girl. They spent three minutes of valuable race time fixing Alana's bike. Said Ada, "I just couldn't pass her by - some things are more important than winning". Even so, Ada placed third overall and Alana just behind in fourth overall. Two scant hours later Alana took part in the Iron Kids Triathlon and triumphed over all competitors, both male and female. "I'll never forget the help from Ada" she said, "I guess there's always next year." Congratulations to both Ada and Alana.
 

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

NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

INGRAHAM BEATS BACK THE CHALLENGER
The forces arrayed against the country's Chief Slave Hubert Ingraham have been silenced within the Free National Movement. The votes are in from the national convention of the Free National Movement and the result is that Mr. Ingraham and his forces have vanquished Tennyson Wells and his challenges. There is to be no Leader-elect, as Mr. Wells the challenger wanted. None of the officers supported by Mr. Wells were elected. They have all been wiped out, defeated, vanquished. They are now in a state of depression.

To be sure the convention itself was quite lacklustre but, as we know in politics, that counts for nothing. The fact is that Mr. Ingraham accomplished his political objective and that is to remain the undisputed king of the Free National Movement. He grinned his way through again. He brought out a surplus of funds and pressure and in the face of it all the delegates fell in line.

There was a lot of talk on the FNM's convention floor about unfair tactics and pressure, but that's all post losing talk. It counts for nothing: would have, should have, and could have. The fact is that they lost. They couldn't deliver. Mr. Wells for his part under the burning and careful gaze of the Ingraham forces had to admit from the stage that he had been defeated. He said that he accepted the voice of democracy and that he remained committed to the Free National Movement despite the fact that he had lost and lost badly.

We have a report on some of the ins and outs of the FNM's convention and what all of this should mean for the Progressive Liberal Party which is having its own convention beginning on Sunday 12 November with a prayer breakfast. The working sessions begin on Tuesday 14 November. This Senator speaks on Tuesday night on his shadow portfolio responsibilities; Labour, Foreign Affairs and Immigration.

We have a special report on Algernon Allen, the Minister for Social Services who is now no longer considered an ally of any particular group in the Free National Movement as a result of what happened at last week's convention.

This week we had 14,031 hits on this site up to midnight 11 November, bringing to 19,083the hits for the month of November. Thanks for reading and keep reading.

 PERMANENT LINKS
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

For a photo essay on the funeral of Archdeacon William Thompson. Click here.

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

e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FNM'S CONVENTION
Hubert Ingraham had just started talking when the lights went off in the Cable Beach. Mr. Ingraham's convention was plunged into darkness just as he was talking about the eight great years under the FNM and how things had gotten better. He had forgotten, however, that under his Government labour unrest has been at the highest level ever. Remember that it was just a few short weeks ago that the country was almost at the brink of a General Strike. The arrogant Mr. Ingraham decided that he was going ahead with Labour legislation that is resolutely opposed in the country and the Unions threatened to bring the country to a halt. Upon his return to the country on 14 October, Mr. Ingraham stepped back from the breach and the Unions backed off. There is an industrial dispute between the Bahamas Electricity Corporation's middle management union and BEC now and Mr. Ingraham is being as recalcitrant as ever. And so it was no surprise that the plug was pulled during his speech. The reports to this correspondent from the convention floor came in fast and furious. Mr. Ingraham after a half-hour wait, biting mad, packed up and went home. He was furious and stormed out saying that you could stop the message but not the messenger. He promised to deliver his speech at the banquet the next evening. We shall see how that goes.

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INGRAHAM SURVIVES A LEADERSHIP ELECTION
The perennial opponent of Hubert Ingraham, George Capron nominated against Mr. Ingraham for Leader of the FNM. Mr. Ingraham easily survived, but it is one of the indignities that Mr. Ingraham now has to undergo. Mr. Capron calls Mr. Ingraham any and every name in the book, to which Mr. Ingraham cannot reply. Mr. Capron is a printer and a close ally of sacked former Minister Pierre Dupuch. Deputy Leader Frank Watson was elected unopposed.

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ROSTON MILLER DEFEATED AS SECRETARY GENERAL
We have tremendous regard and sympathy for Roston Miller. Mr. Miller was the first member of the Free PLP to oppose the PLP in a bye-election. That was in 1971 when Clarence Bain died and Darrell Rolle (PLP) ran for the seat and won. Since then he has been a long suffering FNM and his one brief shining moment was the reward of a Senate seat in 1997 following the resignation of this Senator as an independent from the Senate. Mr. Miller was later forced out when it became clear that he was a Tennyson Wells supporter early this year and replaced by now Senator Edwin 'Vikie' Brown. So he has caught hell under both the FNM and the PLP. Now Mr. Ingraham using the tactics he learned when he was PLP Chairman in 1977 has cut Mr. Miller completely off. He has defeated him and replaced him as Secretary General. The control of the former PLP Mr. Ingraham of the FNM is now complete.

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THE FNM OFFICERS THAT LOST THEIR POSITIONS Hubert Ingraham has carried those same tired old dog tricks from the PLP of 1977 that he learned under Sir Lynden Pindling to the Free National Movement. So much so that the so-called real Cecil Wallace Whitfield FNMs are saying that their party has never actually won the Government. It has always been a PLP Government, only in an FNM guise with Mr. Ingraham a PLP at its head. After the results of the officer's elections in the FNM and the defeat of the proposed amendment to have a Leader-Elect in place for when Mr. Ingraham leaves office, the FNMs, the Cecil Wallace Whitfield FNMs are more convinced than ever that a thief has taken their party. The feelings are palpably bitter. The officers that lost are all Tennyson Wells supporters: Nigel Lewis, two-time FNM candidate for political office, was defeated by Dwight Sawyer for Chairman. Randy Conliffe defeated Mike Edwards (of Grand Bahama) for one of the Vice Chair' s positions. This is a friend of ours and this is particularly egregious because for Mr. Edwards the FNM officer's post was very much his life. And he spent considerably to promote his candidacy. People drank his wine and ate his food and voted the other way. Algernon Allen, the Minister of Social Services aka Minister of Idle Poetry, and supposed benefactor of Mr. Edwards was nowhere to be found. (See story below). Anthony Woodside, another friend who served with this Senator in the PLP's National Alliance, a youth organization, was defeated. This is another Algernon Allen friend who apparently could not rely on Mr. Allen's support (see story below). The Nassau Guardian showed a photo of Mr. Wells and his team at the Convention published on Friday 10 November.

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JANET BOSTWICK PUTS DELEGATES TO SLEEP It is generally agreed in Nassau that the FNM convention was a real snore. The thing was so boring. There was low turnout for general audiences. People were not interested. Speakers had to struggle for applause. Among the worst speakers were Senator Darron Cash and Janet Bostwick. Mrs. Bostwick has good public relations but most people who know the real story know that there is absolute emptiness behind the pretty pictures. Her words are almost as idle as Minister Algernon Allen. Her contribution to the party debate: "If it ain't broke don't fix it". This is the champion of women speaking. Her opponents say that she is one of the principal reasons behind Tennyson Wells' defeat. Many say that FNM leaders like Janet Bostwick are jealous of the wealth that Tennyson Wells has been able to accumulate and despise him for it. They think Mr. Wells is a bumpkin who should not have what he has. Covetousness is a sin, Foreign Minister. The Tribune showed a picture of a holier than thou Mrs. Bostwick at the convention published on Thursday 9 November.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO NADENE ROLLE
Our classmate at Eastern Junior School and friend from Hawkins Hill Nadene Rolle has won a position as Assistant Secretary General for the Free National Movement at this year's convention. Congratulations and best wishes!

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WHAT IS ALGERNON ALLEN'S POSITION?
Algernon Allen is known with some affection in this column as the Minister of Idle Poetry. Of all the ministers of Hubert Ingraham, he is the one that Mr. Ingraham has kept at arm's length. He is an entirely capable and smart man but he represents the worst part of politics. He has a slipperiness about his politics that causes people not to want to rely on him. Mr. Ingraham has given him small Ministries without anything to do and the result is that Mr. Allen has had to rely on television and newspaper promotion in order to keep himself in work. Thus at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, his first Ministry, while he bitterly complained that his Ministry had no actual government department only an agglomeration of divisions, he put himself on TV every day. He is the most inventive sloganeering Minister, recalling his days as a poet and dramatist in high school who used to charge his friends to watch the little lunchtime plays that he wrote. Many people thought though that there were some people who were his friends that he would not abandon. Two of those persons were Michael Edwards, defeated as Vice Chairman of the FNM and Anthony Woodside. Mr. Woodside helped Mr. Allen bring down former PLP Minister Ervin Knowles, forcing Mr. Knowles' resignation when Mr. Woodside worked in Mr. Knowles' Ministry. So the two had a strong bond for a long time. Anthony Woodside was bombed out, shocked out of himself when Mr. Allen did not nominate him for the Post of treasurer of the FNM. He expected Mr. Allen's support. Mr. Allen's friends say that he did not want to get involved. Now people are wondering what kind of man Mr. Allen really is.

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TENNYSON WELLS AND ALGERNON ALLEN
No one yet knows what Tennyson Wells thinks of Algernon Allen. But given the results of the convention it is difficult to see how Mr. Wells could be pleased with his erstwhile ally. First Mr. Allen differed with Mr. Wells on the question of whether he ought to have left the Cabinet to run for Leader of the FNM. But when Mr. Allen reportedly saw Mr. Wells succeeding beyond imagination, he decided that he had to express an interest. Mr. Allen so declared at an FNM Council meeting two weeks ago (see column of 22 October 2000). He later told The Tribune that when Mr. Ingraham left office he, Mr. Allen intended to run for Leader of the FNM. Mr. Wells and his allies were surprised when Mr. Allen then supported the measure in Council that an amendment be moved to allow for a Leader-elect position at the Convention. Mr. Allen again supported the measure. But on Sunday 5 November one day before the convention was to begin and the amendment was scheduled for debate, Mr. Allen suddenly was unavailable. His allies called everywhere and left messages but to no avail. They finally caught up with Mr. Allen at around 11 p.m. on the 5 November. Present at the meeting of his allies who were then planning their final strategy were Mr. Wells, Floyd Watkins FNM MP, Maurice Moore, former MP and UN Ambassador, Lester Turnquest FNM MP. They asked Mr. Allen to come to join them for the strategy session. He pleaded that he was tired and had just got home. They insisted and went to get him from his home. It took them 45 minutes to rouse him. He came to the session and asked them what they were worried about. He supported them. But the results did not bear it out the next day. Mr. Allen sat off in a corner and said nothing, did not participate in the debate, and it is believed that he did not support the amendment. Now all camps in the FNM are said to be concerned about him. The Ingraham camp is furious for his abandoning them and the Wells camp is doubly furious for what happened. What was Mr. Allen to do? Well, true to form he showed up with plenty of warm words and slogans in his mouth at the convention for his address. He was surrounded by a group of senior citizens and disabled people. He will use anything to promote himself. The Guardian showed a photo of Algernon Allen published on Friday 10 November at the convention.

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IS INGRAHAM TO RUN AGAIN?
It should now be clear for even the blind to see that Hubert Ingraham now intends to break his promise and run again in the next election. He is the man who came to office saying that he would run for two terms. That was because he did not realize how sweet it would be in office, and he did not appreciate that he would still be a young man at the height of his powers and it would be difficult at the age of 55 to give up power. And yet that is precisely what he has to do. But now the word is that he intends to stay, and he intends to take the party through the next general election. And he plans to win at any cost again. His excuse will be that he does not have a leader who is ready to take his place and he does not want his successor to be from his generation. He wants to put in place someone of Tommy Turnquest's generation to run the party. So the word is that he will stay on for two years after the General Election, assuming he wins and then pass it on to a younger man. It is up to the PLP, we of the PLP, to stop him. And stop him we will.

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THE BUTLER FAMILY AND THE FNM
One of the principal speakers at the Free National Movement's convention was Loretta Butler Turner. Ms. Butler has declared herself openly an FNM. The FNM was crowing about it as a great victory over the PLP because her grandfather was Sir Milo a PLP and a founding PLP House member and the nation's first Bahamian Governor General. And so it gives the FNM a bona fide connection to the black community that they did not have before. The word is that the family itself is sending a signal to the country of their general support of the FNM. Indeed at least one other member of the family agreed to serve on an ad hoc committee appointed by the Prime Minister to report to the Government. The lead Butler man, who is believed to be the wealthiest Black Bahamian, Franklin Butler is said to be a supporter of Mr. Ingraham, ever since the days when Sir Lynden Pindling threw Mr. Ingraham out of the PLP. And so we have a different world. Mrs. Turner who is married to attorney Ed Turner and is a businesswoman in her own right (she runs the family's funeral establishment) is quite a catch for the FNM. The PLP had been trying to woo her but obviously it was not successful. This is a great pity and a shame. But more's the pity that Mrs. Turner could not see that the PLP was the better way. Genuinely sorry about all of this we are! It is a great disappointment. But we must continue as they say "irregardless".

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LESSONS FOR THE PLP
Organize! Organize! Organize! The PLP has a real chance of winning the next election. If only we had a proper organization in place. The keys to this have got to be the party's headquarters Gambier House and the administration of the Party that is in an absolute shambles and the question of finding money to meet expenses. The question of keeping lines of communication open with members of the party. All of this will lead to cohesion. There were plenty of empty seats in the FNM's convention, even for the Prime Minister's speech, so if there is anything that the PLP can learn from the FNM's disastrous and boring convention, it is COHESION. The handwriting is on the wall for the FNM. But we must not sleep because people in his country are easily persuaded by money. There is no moral conscience when it comes to votes and money. We can only overcome that by hard work and organization. Despite all the noise in the market, people can once again fool the PLP, to the extent that we run out there trying to help people who say they are fed up with the Government but in the end they still support the FNM. All the more reason to keep in touch with constituents.
 

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LADY PINDLING TO LAUNCH HUSBAND'S BOOK
There is to be the official launch of the book of speeches by the late Sir Lynden Pindling on Monday 13 November at the home of the Pindlings at Skyline Drive. The book was begun by the late Sir Lynden before his untimely death and is done in collaboration with radio talk show host Patty Roker.

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THE STRANGE STORY OF A THE RAPE OF A MAN
Yes you read it right. And these days the criticism of The Tribune is that it is becoming more and more like The Punch. In other words that is one of the market effects of The Punch, the major papers in an attempt to compete, engage in salacious or gossipy stories to titillate the readership. And so it was on Tuesday 7 November 2000. The headline said: MAN RAPED BY GUNMEN. It went on to say that an anonymous middle aged Caucasian man with a wife had been abducted at East Street and Soldier Road in New Providence on Sunday 5 November at about 7:50 p.m. He said that he was taken to a wooded area of South Beach , stripped of his clothes and raped by the two men wearing hoods and ski masks for some two hours. He told the Tribune: "They took the barrel of the gun and beat over the head of my penis. It was all bruised. I never slept a wink all through the night from the pain… After they got through with all this, they said to me - and I was fighting of course, but they were so rude and beastly with it - they said both of them were going to have anal sex with me and I said "You're not". According to The Tribune, the man told the two rapists that he was a clean Christian man. Again The Tribune said that the man begged them to "please give me a break." The men said they wanted to kill some preachers in the city. The man continued: "I fought and fought but they were able to penetrate. They showed me that they would be using condoms both of them and they showed me the thing they would use to numb the area and I just about died." The man is said to be 53 years of age. The police spokesman Hulan Hanna said the police had no report of the incident. The next day, the gentleman who The Tribune said is from Eleuthera complained that no one was taking him seriously. He said: "My body is hurting, it seems to be like I'd have been better off not coming to The Tribune because people are believing what they want to believe. Is it because I'm a white man they don't believe me?" The Police spokesman later told The Tribune that they had a report of an attempted rape and a robbery in that area at about the same time. A strange story indeed.

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BASIL SMITH HOTEL ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE The Bahamas Hotel Association has announced that Basil H. Smith is to become the Executive Vice President of the Bahamas Hotel Association as at 1 January 2001. This was announced by BHA president Dion Strachan. Mr. Smith is a former Deputy Director of Tourism of Jamaica. He has a long history of tourism-related appointments in The Bahamas. He is a Bahamian citizen, the son of Claude Smith, a former Director of Agriculture. Mr. Smith is pictured. Most recently Mr. Smith served as Honorary Consul for The Bahamas in Jamaica. Congratulations to Mr. Smith! We served together as writers at the Bahamas Tourist News Bureau in the early 1970s.

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NEW ACT HAS BEEN TABLED
The Government tabled two new financial bills designed to placate the international community, intent on ruining our financial offshore sector. Ian Fair, the former Chairman of the Financial Services Board, was in the press this week trying to tell us that the Government was not selling out to the international multi-lateral organizations on this one, but we don't believe him. The new acts introduced on Tuesday 11 November are the Central Bank of The Bahamas Bill and the Banks and Trust Companies Bill. These bills will replace existing legislation, and will give more authority to the Central Bank and allow cross border regulation of banks where those banks are subsidiaries or branches of banks in the developed countries. Not a good idea. Bad idea! But you know you can't tell the sell-out king anything.

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ANOTHER GOLDEN GIRL TO RETIRE?
We knew that Pauline Davis Thompson was retiring. We knew that Eldice Clarke Lewis was retiring but what we did not know was that Debbie Ferguson was soon to join them. The Tribune Sports reported on Wednesday 8 November that the anchorwoman on the relay team for The Bahamas at Sydney is about to take medical exams for medical school. If she passes and gets into a school, she intends to quit and concentrate on that career. Good luck to her!

NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
A quiet week in Grand Bahama this week, with most of the news coming from the political fallout after the FNM convention…

The Saga of Maurice Moore - It was Maurice Moore that first brought the news that Cecil Wallace-Whitfield (so Moore insisted) decreed from his deathbed that a young Hubert Ingraham was to lead the FNM. Now in a cruel twist of fate, one of the original dissident eight, founders of the FNM has become a victim. 'No more appointments for him' Mr. Ingraham is reported to have said at the convention. The former Grand Bahama MP, former Government Minister and former UN Ambassador was a mere floor member at the convention. Even his old comrade Arthur Foulkes was said to have suggested that Mr. Moore was misguided on the issue of leader elect. Mr. Moore now finds himself marginalized; on the outside of a party that he had helped to create, just looking in.

Iron’ Mike Goes Down – ‘Junior’ Grant and other well-known and ardent supporters of the Prime Minister within the FNM was quoting Shakespeare this week about the warnings given to ‘Iron’ Mike Edwards, late of the office of FNM National Vice Chairman.Mike was among those defeated in his effort to retain his post after supporting the losing side in the battle over the establishment of an FNM leader-elect. He was defeated by Alex ‘Fire’ Pratt, a 1977 graduate of Freeport High School, whose budget for his campaign was reported at less than a hundred dollars. Said Junior, “The Merchant of Venice was entitled to his pound of flesh, but not one ounce more… it was not a good thing for Mike to challenge the prime minister.”The now former vice chairman threw big parties at the convention in his quest for re-election with reports of sumptuous feasts featuring the finest wines. One hotelier with long experience in food and beverage said “his bill must be in the thousands…” The night after the party elections former allies of Iron Mike are said to have knocked on his hotel door looking to finish off the wine but were greeted by a note saying he had gone to Harbour Island with his real friends to re-evaluate his position in the FNM. Iron Mike’s friends say he was double crossed by not only all the Grand Bahama MPs (with the exception ofNeko Grant) but also by the Nassau ‘Young Turk’ MPs who promised him support. Still, his Grand Bahama friends and others have vowed to look out for him and not let him fall.

No More for 'Boxer' - Whitfield loyalist and Ingraham supporter Cyril 'Boxer' Minnis of Grand Bahama says he's finished with elective office in politics after running in numerous elections for party posts and losing. Boxer ran against 'Iron' Mike and 'Fire' Pratt for Northern Region Chairman  of the FNM and lost. Grand Bahama MP and Minister David Thompson is said to have had some words of encouragement for Boxer, though: "Don't give up - that last hit was a foul ball and not a strike, so you should persevere..."

Talmadge Pinder In Shock - Talmadge Pinder, the Grand Bahama FNM general noted for telling anyone who would listen that Hubert could kiss his… was still in shock up to news time… Talmadge, however, remains unrepentant in his dogged support of Tennyson Wells…

Political Survivors – Grand Bahama politicos are saying that the only two people who survived Hubert Ingraham’s ‘night of the long knives’ were Rodney Brennen and Scotty Pinder – both deemed “too valuable to the organization to throw overboard”. Scotty is well-known and liked in both the black and white Bahamian communities in Grand Bahama and it is said that “It’s just not in the nature of someone from Abaco like Hubert to go against someone of European descent likef Scotty Pinder”.

Hotel Workers Back on the job – More than one hundred employees from the Resorts at Bahamia (formerly Princess hotels) were back on the job this week Monday after being abruptly laid off.As luck would have it, Hotel, Catering & Allied Workers Union President Pat Bain happened to be in Grand Bahama getting his hair cut when the news came. Mr. Bain rushed to the workers support with an impromptu demonstration and weekend meetings with management. Reports say that during the meetings, Bain whispered intothe ear of the senior Resorts investor. By Monday the people were back at work. Thinks that make you go hmmm!

 Ups & Downs for Resorts at Bahamia – In addition to this recent flap over layoffs, since Resorts at Bahamia took over Princess, laid off employees were given monies due over a twelve week period instead of in a lump sum and service charge increases of sixty percent were announced for property in the company-owned subdivision. All this has led to speculation that there are money problems and that the investors “fooled Government like so many others”, but company insiders say that the new owners are just ‘fiscally responsible” unlike the last “big spenders” who owned the properties.

 ‘Our Lucaya’ Donations – The Hutchison Whampoa owned Lucaya Strip hotels, ‘Our Lucaya’, has given various charitable donations around Grand Bahama this week. The move is seen as an attempt to give credence to its name and to soften the public for upcoming battles with the hotel union. The union continues to complain that its members are being discriminated against in the hotel’s rehiring practices.

Computers at West End School – West End Primary School has opened a computer lab with machines donated by the ‘Old Bahama Bay’ resort project in that settlement. Old Bahama Bay is working on its image after failing to get the project off the ground in a timely fashion. Local observers suspect slow moving finances again.
 

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A PLP CONVENTION

Boston, Massachusetts---The Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party has ended his first convention as the undisputed Leader of the PLP. The convention began on Tuesday 14 November and ended on Thursday 16 November. Hundreds of delegates travelled from throughout The Bahamas to attend the convention. It was the first convention without the presence of Sir Lynden Pindling, the founding Prime Minister of The Bahamas. It was the 43rd convention.

Mr. Christie sought to have a new order put in place and to create a new image for the party. He presented the party to the country with the theme: ‘A Fresh Wind is Blowing’. Those words were taken from a homily by Bishop Neil Ellis of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church in Pinewood Gardens in New Providence. He spoke the words during the observances for Sir Lynden. The Government seemed to be acting as a proper Government in the national observances and not the petty, spiteful people they are normally known to be. The people of the country seemed to rediscover what the PLP had really done to protect the national patrimony. Bishop Neil Ellis said that a fresh wind was blowing.

The big news from the Convention was the victory of Bradley Roberts and his elevation to the position of Chairman of the PLP. In doing so, he defeated incumbent Senator Obie Wilchcombe who had served since 1992 in the position. It was time to make a change. Mr. Roberts brings with him the vigour, chutzpah and aplomb that are needed for the job. He will also have the time and dedication, the administrative skills and the contacts to establish a proper administrative party machinery. It was an important strategic move. Mr. Roberts has the support of this columnist.

Now that the convention is over, the smoke has cleared; Mr. Christie is now preeminent in his party. He should now have in place all of the tools that he needs to get the job done in the next election. We shall do what we can to ensure that the next time around the PLP is the Government of the country.

This week we had 11,579  hits on this site up to midnight 18 November, bringing to 30,663 the hits for the month of
November. Thanks for reading and keep reading.
 

Address of Sean Mcweeney/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.

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

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PERRY CHRISTIE SLAMS THE GOVERNMENT
Our friends in Nassau say that you could not believe the electricity in the room that final night of the PLP convention. It was an unorthodox way to get there but get there we did. The crowd spilled out into the halls. The room was jammed at the Crystal Palace on the final night. There were so many people. The Party Leader Perry Christie had the Chairman that he wanted and the team that will lead the party into the next election. Mr. Christie predicted that he will win the next election and that he will defeat Hubert Ingraham or his successor. In Bahamian terms: it doesn’t matter who comes, he will be defeated by the PLP. He has a set of new candidates that he introduced to the public like Michael Halkitas, Ron Pinder, John Carey and Glenys Hanna-Martin. When people compared the PLP’s convention to the dead atmosphere and the rancour around the FNM’s convention the week before, they felt that the PLP is way ahead. It seems that people are simply tired of the FNM. The FNM was so shocked by the response to the PLP’s convention that they are now talking about holding a northern convention to counteract what the PLP had to say. This is from the organization that spent $60,000 additional dollars because the Prime Minister wanted their convention held over for an additional day because the electricity was cut off in the middle of his speech. Perry Christie was nothing short of smashing say the reports. He scorched the Government for its lousy performance, ranging from an allegation that 3.8 million dollars of parts sold on consignment to Bahamasair without a receipt to allegations of complicity in drug related operations in Long Island. We will a have a full report next week. Mr. Christie told his opponents not to confuse his compassion for weakness. He spoke about a tale of two cities. On the one hand there was Mr. Ingraham’s city for the fat cats, on the other was the city of the PLP for the poor and the dispossessed. The most touching moment of all was his address to the disabled who the FNM’s Minister Algernon Allen had shamelessly used the week before to show that the FNM cares for the disabled. Mr. Christie went down into the audience and spoke to the disabled gathered there directly. Mr. Christie told the disabled that he did not have to use them as political props. He said that he lives with the disabled every day. Mr. Christie has a ten-year-old son who has attention deficit disorder. The end result is that the PLP is energized and rearing to go. Congratulations on a great convention.

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CHRISTIE LAYS DOWN THE LAW
The address of Perry Christie, Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party on the final night of his convention on Thursday 16 November laid down the law in many ways. But chief amongst them was an unremitting stand in favour of integrity. Mr. Christie laid down the law that integrity was his watchword and that he would have nothing whatsoever to do with drugs and drug trafficking nor anyone associated with it. He told the audience that he supports Bradley Roberts one hundred per cent in his allegations against the drug trade in Long Island and called for the Government to answer Mr. Roberts questions on the issues. PLPs were pleased by the Convention’s outcome. Meanwhile, it was reported by the Nassau Guardian that Dwight Major believed to be the person behind the alleged drug connected tourist facility in Long island was picked up by the police on a charge of death threats to the police. More to report on this next week.

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BRADLEY’S BIG WIN
There were some who argued that there was no need to have a fight while we were attempting to be unified in public. But sometimes a fight is necessary to prove a point. Sometimes a fight is necessary to have peace. There were clear attempts by some elements in the country who are believed to be connected with drug trafficking to influence the direction of the PLP. This attempt had to be resolutely turned back. The difficulty is that some of our friends had to be stopped in the process. It appears that unwittingly or otherwise some of our friends just would not see the right way. The PLP could have been crushed had we gone the direction of nominating a candidate that was believed to have connections to drugs. The FNM would have had a field day. Bradley Roberts won the election for chairman a convincing 258 votes to 194. The vote took place on Wednesday 15 November. We need now to move forward.

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SIR LYNDEN’S BOOK IS LAUNCHED
The week of Convention activities for the PLP began with the launch of the book of speeches by Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the former and late Prime Minister of The Bahamas. Lady Pindling hosted some 200 persons to the launch of the book at her home on Skyline Drive on Monday 13 November. Her children: Michelle, Leslie, Obie and Monique were all there for the launch. The Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie was there. He wrote the foreword to the book. The then party Chairman Senator Obie Wilchcombe was also there as were all other Parliamentarians of the Progressive Liberal Party including this Senator. Amongst the other guests were George Barber, the Jamaican businessman who now lives in Boca Raton. Edward St George and Albert Miller, co-chairs of the Grand Bahama Port Authority were also there. The book contains speeches of Sir Lynden from the earliest start of his political career to the end. It retails for $25 dollars and is available at local bookstores. It was edited and compiled by Sir Lynden working with Patty Roker, the talk show host and social commentator. Congratulations to Patty on a job well done. The highlight of the launch was the announcement by Lady Pindling of the Sir Lynden Pindling Foundation. This is a foundation that will provide scholarships for Bahamians students. The first cheque for the foundation was a $25,000 cheque by Sol Kerzner, the head honcho at Sun International’s Atlantis Hotel at Paradise Island. Peter Ramsay's photo shows Patty Roker, Lady Pindling, Sol Kerzner and Mrs. Kerzner.

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REACTION TO SOL KERZNER’S GIFT
One of our lawyer friends who has a yacht that can take this columnist to Harbour Island, who shall remain nameless, was amusing our friends at the book launch of Sir Lynden’s book of speeches. He told the public relations rep of Sun International Ed Fields who was also there that he was surprised at the size of the gift. He told him that when he spied that he was there he thought to himself: “Oh Yeah, this is at least $100,000.” But then he said he looked up and saw Sol Kerzner and his wife and he thought to himself : This gatta mean at least a quarter of a million” Alas our friend and many others were disappointed by the size of the gift. But one supposes that you don’t turn back a gift, but really Atlantis’ gift should have been at least a quarter of a million.

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MOTHER PRATT RE-ELECTED AS DEPUTY LEADER
Cynthia 'Mother' Pratt, the Member of Parliament for St. Cecelia and the Deputy Leader of the PLP, won her re-election to that post at this year’s convention, overwhelmingly. She defeated her opponent Senate Leader Marcus Bethel for the position. She defeated him three to one. The election was a no contest in a way and persons were surprised that the position was contested. But on the opening night, Mrs. Pratt gave an electrifying, religious address which brought the crowd to its feet and brought her tears. That as they say was that. Congratulations to Mother Pratt on her re-election. Photo by Peter Ramsay.

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BEC OFFERS A REWARD ON THE BLACKOUT
Last week on Friday 10 November just fifteen minutes into the Prime Minister’s address, the screens went black. There was a power failure in the Cable Beach area where he was speaking. The Prime Minister left in a huff before the lights came back on. He scheduled the speech the next night. Some of his allies say that it was a good thing there was that power outage otherwise the Prime Minister who was good and tanked up intended to launch a broadside against his FNM detractors and those who opposed him in the party, led by Tennyson Wells. One person predicted that a fight would have broken out had he gone on with the speech he actually intended to deliver. As it stands the police had to be called to part a fight in the early days of the FNM’s convention. In any event, there was an investigation launched into the blackout. And given the fact that there is an ongoing industrial dispute with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s middle management union, it was not surprising that the screen went black. Mr. Ingraham and his Deputy Prime Minister both thought that there was sabotage involved. So it wasn’t long before Frank Watson, the Deputy Prime Minister was in the press claiming that sabotage was suspected. The police and BEC management got into the act by suggesting the same thing. What is alleged to have happened is that the high-tension wires touched and caused a unit to trip out and the place plunged into darkness. It took them 30 minutes to rectify the problem but they say that their investigations reveal that the lines touched not by any accident of nature but by mortal hands which simply threw a piece of wire across the two high tension wires, causing the two wires to short circuit and tripping out the system. On Friday 17th November, BEC’s management announced that there is a reward of $15,000 for anyone who gives information leading to the culprit. They should immediately give the reward to Mr. Ingraham because he is the reason why the place went dark.

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MITCHELL CHAIRS FIRST ALUMNI MEETING
The Alumni Executive Council is the body that is elected from amongst the 20,000 alumni of the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. This year this Senator was elected the first ever international chair and the first meeting was chaired on 16 and 17 November. So this column is being written from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The picture shows Senator Mitchell with the officers and members of the Kennedy School of Government. At centre is Dean Joseph Nye of the Kennedy School. From left at the front are: Joel Whitehead, Valerie Forti, Senator Mitchell, Dean Joseph Nye, Karen Ford-Warner, Andy McLeod, Wendy Feldman and Natalie Keng. On Friday 18 November the Kennedy School hosted a public service dinner and honoured three former Kennedy School students who had excelled in public service around the world. Senator Mitchell introduced Dean Nye to the audience and in that introduction presented him with a copy of the collection of speeches by the late Prime Minister of The Bahamas Sir Lynden Pindling. The photo by Al Dillette shows the presentation of the book.

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GOVERNMENT TO PRIVATIZE TWO RADIO STATIONS
The Prime Minister and his FNM colleagues are always boasting about how the FNM freed the airwaves in The Bahamas. By this they mean that they allowed private broadcasting for the first time in the history of The Bahamas. What they don’t tell you of course is that they still own the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas which is still the only effective national radio in The Bahamas. They don’t tell you that they control tightly the political content and character of what is played on the national radio station. They also don’t tell you that they own the only private television station in town. Now the promoters of the so-called free market economy are saying that they plan to sell two of the radio stations that are owned by the Broadcasting Corporation: the religious station on AM and the pop station on FM. They also plan to licence another television station. We shall see if this is done fairly and not sold to some of their political cronies. But of course the entire Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas should be sold. There is no need for the Government of The Bahamas to own any radio or television station. The announcement about the sale of the radio stations was made by the Prime Minister at his convention on Saturday 11 November.

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BRIBING CIVIL SERVANTS AGAIN
The most infamous and shameless act of the campaign of 1997 must have been the day before the police and defence force officers went to the polls, the Prime Minister had a rally. He reminded the officers that they were due a pay raise on the day of the vote. On the next day after the PM’s speech, they were due to get and got a lump sum payment from the public treasury of $1500. The Prime Minister got up on the platform and told them to remember the money. It was a shameless act of the political bribery, using public funds. Now the Prime Minister is dipping into the Treasury again. This time he says that civil servants will get another pay raise in the year 2003 . That is the year after the General Election. The not so subtle subtext is that if the PLP wins, the civil service will not get the raise. This is the same Prime Minister who said that his Government would not seek to do any action that would bind a Government beyond its mandate in office. His mandate ends in April 2002. This is the man who says what he means and means what he says.

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VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE IS SLOW GOING
We reported on this site two weeks ago that the Parliamentary Commissioner has begun registering voters in The Bahamas. The law calls for a new register every five years and the existing register dies in February 2002. The Parliamentary Commissioner is starting early the process of getting the new voters on the rolls. Every one is therefore being asked to go out and register. The are several stations being set up. But the going is slow. The Tribune reported on Tuesday 14 November that only 1500 persons have so far registered to vote. The Commissioner expected some 3000. The office has decided to step up its registration drive.

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YET ANOTHER MURDER
The theme of the FNM’s Convention the week before the PLPs convention was: IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU… LOOK AROUND. In the Prime Minister’s address he repeated that slogan ad nauseum. The only thing that was strange is some of the things that he took credit for. One was that the reversal of the traffic on Bay Street had relieved the congestion on the streets. What a joke! He obviously does not ride on the same streets that we ride on. But the PLP made a lot of jokes at its convention about this business of look around and see. The PLP pointed out that there were 66 murders in The Bahamas so far this year with an 18 year old Ricardo Spencer of Coconut Grove being the 66th victim on Tuesday 14 November.

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NEW BANKING LEGISLATION
The Government has tabled and passed two new pieces of financial legislation designed they say to remove The Bahamas from the so called financial blacklist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The two pieces of legislation are the Central Bank Act that will remove from the Minister of Finance certain regulatory powers and give them to the Governor of the Central Bank. By this the Government hopes to convince the international world that there is no political interference or favour in how they administer the banking laws of The Bahamas. Then there is a new Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act which will replace the existing act. This new act will give authority for cross border inspections of banks. That means that banks that have branches here will be able to have their branches inspected by the inspectors from their home countries to ensure that their practices comport with the laws in their home countries. This is revolutionary and would seem to erode completely the principal that the banks here are in an independent jurisdiction. The US authorities are causing great problems for banks in The Bahamas by refusing to make The Bahamas a qualified jurisdiction that would allow the transfer of securities income from the US without withholding taxes in the US for non-citizens of the US who own securities and want the income transferred to The Bahamas. Banks that went through the problem a few years ago of incorporating locally so that they had a subsidiary instead of a branch are now reversing that since The Bahamas does not have the status. So for example Switzerland is such a qualified jurisdiction under the US laws so the branch of a Swiss bank as opposed to a subsidiary can use the Swiss designation even though the branch is in the Bahamas. The new IRS regulations come into effect on 1 January 2000.

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SENATOR SPEAKS AT PLP CONVENTION
 

This Senator gave a comprehensive address at the PLP’s convention on his shadow portfolio responsibilities of Labour, Foreign Affairs and Immigration. The full text of the address can be found by clicking here.
 
 
 

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CLARKE LEWIS OFFICIALLY RETIRES
The Tribune reported on Monday 13 November that Eldice Clarke Lewis has officially retired. The retirement was marked by a farewell reception at the Montagu Gardens in New Providence on Sunday 12 November. Ms. Clarke Lewis said that for everything there is a season. She said like the day of winning the gold medal at Sydney, she would never forget the day of retirement. She was surrounded by her friends and family including husband Iram Lewis and her son. She is 35 years old. Mrs. Clarke Lewis plans to help Bahamian youngsters by coaching.

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THE DARLING BROTHERS OF FLORIDA SEMINOLES

The Tribune sports highlighted the work of two brothers that are part of the Florida State Seminoles in the big game against the University of Florida Gaitors. The game took place on Saturday 18 November. The brothers were not expected to get much playing time but the newspaper said that they were ecstatic to be part of the team. We congratulate the brothers Devard and Devaughn Darling who are pictured.
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TEN MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD CASE
Barrington Smith, 53 years old, was charged in the Magistrates Court on Tuesday 14 November of obtaining by fraud the sum of $10,273,018 by fraud with a forged Lloyd’s Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines certificate of a fixed deposit account. He was granted bail with two sureties in the sum of $50,000 and the matter is adjourned to 28 November.
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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
News from Grand Bahama will return next week, with an update by Tuesday 21st November. Publisher and Site Editor travelling on business.

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

THE MIDDLE CLASS POOR
 

Drive into one of the most well heeled neighbourhoods of New Providence. Call any name. Let’s try Winston Estates. You will find gargantuan homes. Some of the most beautiful homes in the country. There is a two-car garage, and sometimes there are four cars in the yard. The yard is immaculately fenced in and the grass trimmed to neat perfection. From all accounts the middle class in The Bahamas are doing well. From outward appearances they are flourishing. But check the inside story.

Since the FNM has been in power, the middle class of The Bahamas has been punished by the policies of the FNM. They have been slowly squeezed and relegated from traditional areas of work, salary and benefits that the PLP protected for them while in office. And so the irony is that the Government that they helped to put in power is putting them in the poor house.

Inside many of these homes, there are worries beyond compare. How are they going to pay the school fees? Will they have money enough to buy the groceries for the table? Is that telephone call from Royal Bank, Finco, Imperial Life or Commonwealth Bank coming? Will they meet the 30-day rule of BaTelCo? Can they get down to BEC before they send out the disconnection people? Will they be able to buy furniture for the house in which they live? Can they invite friends around: who see a beautiful house on the outside, only to find there is nothing on the inside.

The question in these circumstances is what is the middle class to do? The news from the PLP’s convention of last week was generally good for the PLP and good for the middle class. First, it tells the country that there are the signs of a real Opposition party in the country for the first time in years. Secondly, it says that if the PLP returns to the Government, then there will be a return to policies that protect the middle class, policies that will keep economic growth going, but distribute it more evenly. But the meanness will be taken out of public policy.

Thus the invitation from this senator in his address to the middle class to consider the PLP as their party of choice in the next general election whenever that election is called.

We had 45,665 hits up to midnight Saturday 25 for the month of November. Thanks for reading and keep reading.
 
 
 

Address of Sean Mcweeney/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.

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

e-mail timbuktu@batelnet.bs

BRADLEY ROBERTS WAS ON THEM AGAIN

Bradley Roberts the PLP Member of Parliament for the Grants Town constituency and the new Chairman of the PLP was on the Government again. This week the House of Assembly met on Wednesday 22 November to debate the new Central Bank Act. Mr. Roberts charged that the Government had been weak and ineffective trying to combat drug trafficking in The Bahamas. He said that the government should resign. Mr. Roberts pointed out that the Government was congratulating itself on how well the economy was doing, when the reality was that the money in the economy was being pumped up substantially by drug money from the unbridled drug trafficking in the country. The Government was stunned and the hopeless, hapless Frank Watson, Deputy Prime Minister was quick to jump to his feet to defend himself. The full text of Mr. Roberts’ remarks can be found by clicking here.

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FEEDBACK ON THE PLP CONVENTION
The general feedback on the three-day PLP convention was that it was a great success. People from all walks of life were pleased that the PLP showed a united front and the bogeyman of corruption seems finally to be eliminating itself from the organization. There were overtures made at the convention to the leader of the Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR) headed by Dr. Bernard Nottage, the PLP elected MP for Kennedy. Dr. Nottage, speaking at what the Bahama Journal called a sparsely attended rally at Golden Gates in New Providence rejected any such overtures. He said that he was already home in the CDR. That effectively seems to put an end to any hope that persons had to bring Dr. Nottage back into the PLP. The remarks were made on Wednesday 22 November. There are many, however, who are still working behind the scenes to make that happen. But for now it appears publicly to be a dead issue. What a pity!

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LYFORD CAY SHUTS OUT ORDINARY BAHAMIANS?
There was no official announcement from the Lyford Cay Club, the exclusive club at the western end of New Providence, but the Bahama Journal reported on Wednesday 22 November that a new policy effectively bars persons who are neither immediate family members nor personal friends of club members from dining or holding business meetings at the facility. This is to preserve club privacy. The Journal says that the decision comes just before the Christmas season when many companies try to hold their Christmas functions at Lyford Cay. The letter was signed by the Chairman of the Board of Governors, former UBP Minister Peter Graham. Well one argument is that its serves us right for trying to get into a place where we are not wanted. Things that make you go: hmmm!

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LYFORD TAKES WITH ONE GIVES WITH ANOTHER

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NASSAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN TROUBLE
The Minister of Tourism was as silent as a lamb to the slaughter as his Government got one body blow after the next this week at the Nassau International airport. The Bahamas Professional Pilots Union, headed by Captain Roderick Darville withdrew their goodwill from Bahamasair the national flag carrier, causing cancellations of flights to the United States. The dispute arose because the pilots disagree with a decision by Bahamasair without checking with the pilots to wet lease aircraft to fill in for the shortfall of flights to and from the Bahamas. The shortfall came because the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is not allowing Bahamasair to expand its fleet on to US flights until another dispute with the Civil Aviation Department and its failure to promulgate an updated International Air Navigation Order. Wet leasing an aircraft means that a foreign crew comes with the aircraft, and shuts out jobs that Bahamasair pilots can do. At week’s end, the dispute seemed on the way to resolution. But it was one more sign of instability at the airport.

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AIRPORT SAFETY COMPROMISED
Enter the report from the Bahamas Professional Pilots Union that the Nassau International Airport is considered unsatisfactory from a safety point of view and the international pilots association have given NIA a red star, which is to turn into a black star on safety if measures are not taken by April of next year. The Bahamasair pilots also say they will not fly into family island airports at night because those airports are unsafe, and do not have proper navigation aids. The Minister of Tourism had nothing to say that we can remember, When you think about it, the FNM blamed the PLP because of failing infrastructure. What in the hell do you call this? This a national embarrassment.

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ARRIVING HOME FROM NEW YORK ON DELTA
The Tribune’s editorial of Friday 24 November has a horror story to repeat about travelling on American Airlines from Miami. In this columnist’s address to the convention of the PLP, it was recounted what a horrible experience it is to travel within this country and from this country. Using the Nassau International Airport is a great headache and inconvenience. Using Bahamasair and American Airlines is just terrible . The planes are cramped and uncomfortable and delays occur on both airlines, more often than not. They are both a disgrace. But get this story: the site editor and this columnist arrived back in Nassau from New York city Sunday 19 November bang on time at 11 a.m. on Delta. There we were in a 757, packed with people. We had to wait 45 minutes on the tarmac while the Delta officials and the airport staff figured out when we could get to a gate. Mind you this is a flight, which comes in every day from New York at the same time. That was not the half of it, what was embarrassing for this columnist as a public official of The Bahamas was the feeling of a rinky-dink operation and a Mickey Mouse country. The pilot of the aircraft gave a running commentary on what was happening. First he told us that there was only one jet way gate working and that was being used by Continental, even though Delta rented the gate. Then, he said we would be deplaned by stairs but we had to await the departure of another aircraft. Then he came back to tell us that the aircraft couldn’t start and the people had to deplane and that aircraft had to be towed. Then, he came back again to tell us in his words the island mystery continues that the ground crew wanted him to back the plane up using its engines, but he refused on safety grounds and told them to tow the aircraft. Then he said we were in luck we would be towed to a jet way after all, then he came back again to say no we would have to deplane by stairs. Inside the terminal, there was that famous revolving door from the entry hall to customs that no one knows why it is there. That door stuck because a little child was playing in the door. No one from the airport was around to help. Passengers panicked, there was a sign saying in emergencies call 2130, only problem was that the telephone is on the other side of the revolving door so that in an emergency you can’t get to it. And so no matter how successful your trip as a returning Bahamian, no matter how much you anticipate your arrival as a tourist that is your first interface with this country. It has a lousy airport, with lousy equipment and staff that don’t seem to know what they’re doing. On your way out it’s is the same thing, a lousy airport with lousy airplane service. What has the Ministry of Tourism to say about this increasingly lousy destination?
 

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KERZNER CONCENTRATES ON P.I.
There was a picture of Sol Kerzner in the newspaper this week, taking German reporters around Sun’s premier property Ocean Club on Paradise Island. Last week he was in the newspaper, trying to mend fences with the PLP that increasingly seems to be about to become the political masters of The Bahamas again. He gave a measly $25,000 donation to the Pindling foundation. But it’s a start. Note that no Bahamians have followed suit, so he is better than us in that respect and there are plenty of rich Bahamians. But our point this week is that a Sun International spokesman told The Tribune (printed on Thursday 23 November) that it is going to take a 235 million dollar loss on its property in Atlantic City, that it plans to sell for $140 million in a deal next year. The Sun official told the Tribune that the idea is to concentrate all their efforts on P.I. That got Moody’s (the ratings specialists) a little antsy and confirmed our earlier report that the credit rating of Sun has turned negative because Moody’s thinks that too much of Sun’s earnings will be concentrated in The Bahamas and on one property. Well, it looks like we will have to deal with Sol Kerzner for some time to come.
 

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CONGRATULATIONS TO HOTEL UNION

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BRADLEY ROBERTS ON BIAS IN THE MEDIA
It is about time that someone else in the PLP makes some noise about the bias in the media toward the PLP. The Tribune and the Bahama Journal, their affiliate Love 97, Cool 96 and the staff at ZNS Freeport try to make an effort but in the main nothing is happening for the PLP in the media. Mr. Roberts launched a blistering attack on the Managing Editor of the Nassau Guardian Oswald Brown. Mr. Brown, who is widely believed to be a social climber, has now reached the pinnacle of his ambitions by marrying into the family of the Governor General (his brother-in-law) and also the family of the Minister of Immigration (the son of the Governor General). Mr. Brown has been unrepentantly biased toward the FNM. He is a supporter of the FNM an unabashed Hubert Ingraham toady and a political ideologue that wouldn’t know balance if it hit him in the face. He is obnoxiously ignorant and several times he has been named the JACKASS OF THE WEEK in this column for his stupidity. The problem is that there is no Court of Appeal save that of public opinion. Mr. Brown continues to suppress the news about anyone who is opposed to him politically. The Nassau Guardian had the nerve this week in the face of this obvious bias to celebrate 157 years of publishing and trumpet themselves as balanced and fair. They are a set of liars. No one can say that the Guardian truly believes in balance nor fairness. The newspaper is a vehicle of political prostitution and cannot be relied upon as a safe source of news.

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THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE BAHAMAS

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MCDONALD’S BANS C.C. SWEETING STUDENTS
The young black men (and this time young black women) are apparently in trouble with McDonalds, the fast food restaurant with a branch near the school in Oakes Field. A correspondent at the C. C. Sweeting School says that during the week, the Principal of the School Mrs. Delores Ingraham (aka Mrs. Hubert Ingraham) announced that effective immediately no students from C. C. Sweeting school will be allowed in McDonalds Oakes Field. The reason given is that four students caused disruption in the restaurant last week, attacking a security guard. The restaurant has been having a great deal of trouble with unruly children from the school. This blanket ban is almost certainly illegal. The question is, who in this climate will challenge it? Some parents ought to do so in a court of law. McDonalds should explain whether or not what we have reported here is incorrect.

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FORMER US ENVOY BRIDGEWATER GOES TO BENIN

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PROBLEMS AT SHELL
We thought that Shell had licked its public relations problems, despite a silly campaign to say that their gas once was bad but now its good. Dealers are up in arms again because market share is once again slipping. They say that the rents are too high at the stations and some have been unable to pay. A number of new dealers are getting out of the business because it’s too onerous to keep up. Last weekend, at least two of the major gas stations were allowed to go dry of fuel because the dealers could not pay cold cash or certified cheque for gas. Shell refused to deliver unless they got their money. That’s fine one supposes, but how does that help customers who are just beginning to get confidence once again in Shell? The turmoil doesn’t end there. The strings are still being pulled from Barbados to which place the former GM Peter Snell removed himself and now runs the show from there. There is said to be internecine warfare going on between Barbados and Nassau and amongst the staff here in Nassau. The dealers think; you guessed it, and as predicted in this column, that the man to get dumped on for all the failures is Jerome Gomez, the Shell Marketing and Fuels Manager. Well, we shall keep watching, waiting and we shall see. Looks like Shell will need their lawyer soon.

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DRUG BUSTS IN LONG ISLAND
First the Tribune announced on Wednesday 22 November that there had been a 1.1 million dollar cocaine bust in South Andros. Three men were arrested and charged with that offence. But the big news came the next day when local police and US Drug Enforcement Agents took to South Long Island and busted six men for possession of 720 pounds of marijuana at a street value of $720,000. This was the same day that Bradley Roberts the PLP was again railing about the ineffectiveness of the Government. So they finally caught someone in Long Island, even though they were the only ones who apparently did not know what was going on down there. Perry Christie, Leader of the PLP, thanked the Police Force for a job well done.

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FULL COURT PRESS ON TAX HAVENS
Even the though the mercurial and enigmatic Carl Bethel claimed that it isn’t so (and he is the only one who so claims), there is a full-scale attack on tax havens. We defend our national interests. The Bahamas, is a tax haven and tax havens are good, if they can protect the wealth of individuals who are being unfairly taxed in their home countries. The level of taxation in the developed countries is immoral. People have the right to privacy and people have a right to the money which they earn. Now Oxfam, the British based charity has entered the fray. They claim according to The Tribune’s Neil Hartnell on Thursday 23 November that tax havens are hindering the eradication of poverty around the world. That’s a good tack but we don’t buy it. According to an Oxfam report: "Offshore tax havens represent an increasingly important obstacle to poverty reduction. They are depriving governments in developing countries of the revenues they need to sustain investment in basic services and the economic infrastructure upon which broad based economic growth depends." Now that sounds like a stretch. The propaganda continues.

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MEETING STUDENTS IN FILENE’S BOSTON
We had hoped to have the picture for you by now but it hasn’t haven’t been e-mailed to us. But it was a pleasure meeting three Bahamian students. The site editor was busy shopping in Filenes in Boston for heavy winter clothing for his kids and himself and wife who are to spend the Christmas in Toronto. This columnist was guarding the luggage when up came three faces smiling in recognition, turns out they were Bahamians. And what a great time we had snapping pictures in front of the sweaters. Two attend school in New Hampshire at St. Anselms, which is just a short drive from Boston. The other is in school in Iowa at Mount St. Claire and was just visiting her friends. Elon Joffre was the host together with Janine Outten. The third student was Nadia Sweeting. Hope to get the picture soon.

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CONGRATULATIONS CRAIG GOMEZ

Craig Gomez, one half of the accounting firm Gomez and Gomez, has been appointed the head of the Board of the Bahamas Museum, created under the Museum and Antiquities Act. Congratulations to him. Mr. Gomez is pictured with other members of the Board in this photo by Peter Ramsay.
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POOR, SLEEPING JANET BOSTWICK
The FNMs are saying that everyone thinks Algernon Allen is slick but Janet Bostwick takes the cake. She left nothing to chance at the Convention. She promised her whole delegation to Hubert Ingraham and she meant to deliver. So concerned was she that two of her delegates did not even come from her constituency. All that was apparently important for her purposes was that those delegates voted to save Hubert Ingraham’s hide. Things that make you go: hmmm!
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BAHAMIANS IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Bahamian Eldin Ferguson corresponds with this website and reports from Florida "A great game in Daytona Beach, Florida last night. Dwyer Panthers beat Mainland 37-7. Mainland was picked to win it all now Dwyer will play Kissimmee Osceola for district title next Friday night in Kissimmee, Florida. Both Bahamian starters had a great game. #79 Rashad Butler had a good night playing offensive tackle. #88 Eldin Ferguson III who plays tight end and defensive end had a great game. He started the game with two back field tackles for a loss of three yards each. Ferguson had several other tackles, none more important than two back to back quarterback sacks in the fourth quarter." We can read the story in the Palm Beach Post of Nov. 25, 2000. http://www.gopbi.com/sports/highschools/dwyer.html Congratulations to these Bahamians. Send us some photos.
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PHOTOS FROM THE PLP CONVENTION
A photo retrospective of the dynamic and well-received 43rd convention of the Progressive Liberal Party held at the Marriott Crystal Palace on Cable Beach in Nassau. Photos by Peter Ramsay. Click Here

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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA

Uniroyal Closes After 9 Years - The Uniroyal industrial plant in Freeport is to close after 9 years in operation, imperilling the jobs of about one hundred highly paid Bahamian employees. The plant has accumulated losses of some thirty million dollars. If no buyer is found by January 2001, Uniroyal will begin decommissioning the plant. Sources say the company hopes to have its plant fully decommissioned by the end first quarter next year. The plant was built by SmithKline Beecham subsidiary Franklin Chemicals and began operation in 1980. After SmithKline, the Dutch pharmaceutical company Gist-Brocades ran the facility. The plant’s announcement is a worrisome sign for those who work in Freeport’s industrial sector.

Resorts At Bahamia Management & Property Owners At Odds - Sources in the Bahamia Home & Landowners Association say the new owners of the upscale subdivision seem to be set to renege on commitments to the Association. One insider said that "Since Edward (St. George) came to their aid by attacking the CDR which backs the homeowners, they have stopped co-operating". The Driftwood group which purchased the former Princess Properties including Bahamia raised property service charges by sixty percent, sparking the formation of the Association and setting themselves at odds with its members over the quantity and quality of property service provided. Said the source, "Things are stalled and court action is likely soon if they don’t shape up and follow through with their commitments"

‘Our Lucaya’ Open December 1? - The managers of Hutchison Whampoa’s Lucaya strip hotel project are now projecting that they will have the whole property open by December 1, but hotel insiders say that the effect on the island’s tourism as a whole will be blunted because Resorts At Bahamia are preparing another round of layoffs. Industry watchers are hoping that Grand Bahama won’t have a rough ride again as the winter season opens.
 
 

Gilbert Morris Back In Town - Bahamian Professor Gilbert Morris of George Mason University in Washington DC was back in his native Grand Bahama this past week. Professor Morris was cited in Nicki Kelly's Op Ed column in the Tribune recently as noting that it was unseemly for the Prime Minister of The Bahamas to be negotiating with underlings in foreign governments over The Bahamas' blacklisting. While in Grand Bahama, Professor Morris met with senior officials of various high schools on the island with a view to setting up a series of scholarships for Bahamian students at George Mason. A worthy effort for this son of Hawksbill.
 

Political Talk...
Arne Opens Ritz - Controversial Danish businessman Arne Pedersen presided over the opening of his latest venture this week in Grand Bahama, the Ritz timeshare resort. Sources report to this website that Arne’s ‘best friend’ Minister of Tourism C.A. Smith was nowhere in evidence. "We know he had to be there, but no-one could recall seeing him" said the source. Curious. Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson did the official opening, late as usual and surrounded by a bevy of Grand Bahama beauties. One of the DPM’s aides is said to have whispered to an astonished Arne, "Hurry! Break out the good stuff, Mr. Watson don’t drink 'house' wine."

Bethel Sets Wags To Ponder - Politicos across Grand Bahama were fascinated by the move of senior Grand Bahama PLP Senator the Honourable Dr. Marcus Bethel who lost a not-so-close race for the post of deputy party leader. Dr. Bethel ran against the universally liked MP for St. Cecilia Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt. "Why did he do it?" Asked one, "No one could understand this move" said another. Widespread speculation continues among political observers as to what he was up to.

Ingraham Forces Second Guess ‘Iron’ Mike’s Demise - All week, staunch supporters of FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham were circulating the view that they may have been hasty in replacing ‘Iron’ Mike Edwards as the party’s Regional Vice Chairman for Grand Bahama with Alex ‘Fire’ Pratt. "Now we’re finding out that Alex can’t drag Mike’s old shoes in politics... we went too far with this one." Edwards and others who opposed Mr. Ingraham in the battle to establish a ‘leader-elect’ were summarily dispatched from all party posts a the recent FNM convention. When word of the sip-sip reached ‘Iron’ Mike he is reported to have said that he could have gone in unopposed if he made peace with the "right" team but he has his views and is sticking to them. Way to go Mike.