Posted by PM: Please crawl back into your hole. on July 08, 2001 at 22:41:03:
In Reply to: News from the other islands posted by Sen. Fred Mitchell on July 02, 2001 at 17:39:28:
: PARTYMAN: Your responses are stupid, lacking in
courtesy and reflect a self-centeredness beyond
compare. If you are going to continue comment on this
board, why not try some constructive comments that
are at least courteous and respectful if not, by some
stroke of Divine Providence, half way intelligent?
Otherwise: do all of us a favor and return to your hole
and leave the rest of us without your sarcasm and imbecilic
supercilious comments.
: From Sen. Fred Mitchell's column this week:
: THE HAITIAN TRAGEDY CONTINUES
: Edward Carrington, the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) has
: been in The Bahamas for two weeks in the run up to the Heads of Government conference
: being held in Nassau starting 3 July. Last week, we ran a story about the death of Haitians
: on the high seas. This week we are able to report that the remote island of Rum Cay in
: The Bahamas had the sad task of dealing with the burial of 11 Haitians who were drowned
: at sea near their Island in the southern Bahamas. (See Tribune photo) The community has
: about 70 souls that live there, and was said to be stunned by the events. On Sunday 24
: June at about 8 p.m. two partially naked men stumbled on to a marina in Rum Cay. They
: sounded the alarm that their fellow countrymen were to perish on a 30-foot wooden
: sloop. The sloop was designed to carry 15 persons but had 93 aboard. Eleven persons
: were already dead when found, six others feared dead. Rescuers were prevented from getting at the persons in the water
: because of sharks in the waters. The useless Minister of Immigration Earl Deveaux had this to say about it on Tuesday 26
: June: "While the country sympathizes and acknowledges the plight of the Haitian immigrants, The Bahamas' first priority lies
: elsewhere, first to The Bahamas and to the Bahamian people. Haiti has had billions of dollars fraudulently abused, but unless
: this issue is addressed these people will continue to leave home." There is nothing like the obvious to sound so profound out of
: the mouth of an FNM Minister of the Government. Caricom has no more important issue than the Haitian problem to discuss.
: This is all the more so since Haiti is a member of Caricom. President Jean Bertrand Aristide is coming to The Bahamas for the
: conference. All Bahamian political groups should attempt to see President Aristide and impress upon him the need for a
: political and economic solution in Haiti. The U.S. and other aid donors have made it clear that unless there is some movement
: toward true political pluralism in Haiti there is going to be no aid to his Government. One can't be sure if this is shooting us in
: the foot. The Bahamas needs the assistance of the international community to solve this problem. Both the Immigration
: Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister can't be stating the obvious. They must together work assiduously and actively to keep
: this issue on the front burner, otherwise we will continue to see the kinds of tragedies unfold like we had in Rum Cay.
:
: THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE MEETS
: In our system when Committees of the House are appointed, whether standing committees or
: select committees, the Government has a built in majority on those committees. That means on
: a usual five-member committee, the Government will usually have three members and the
: Opposition two members. Not so the Public Accounts committee. The Public Accounts
: Committee has a built in majority for the Opposition. It was used to good effect in the past
: when the FNM was in position, it called Richard Demeritte, the then auditor general for the
: position on the Government accounts. Now Perry Christie, the Leader of the Opposition who
: sits with Bradley Roberts MP PLP Grants Town and Philip Galanis (PLP) Englerston as a part
: of the Public Accounts Committee have convened the Committee. The FNM members are two
: dissident FNMs, Elliot Lockhart the Member for Exuma and Anthony Miller, the Member for South Eleuthera. The
: Committee met on Tuesday 25 June. They met for four hours to examine the allegations against Frank Watson, the Deputy
: Prime Minister. You will remember that Bradley Roberts the MP for Grants Town made certain allegations about Mr.
: Watson. He said that Mr. Watson's company had bounced cheques with the Customs Department. The cheques were signed
: by Mr. Watson. He said that the cheques were not made good until Mr. Watson became the Minister of Works in the new
: FNM Government in 1992. It was done by giving contracts to various cronies of Mr. Watson and then the moneys deducted
: from those contracts to make good the bounced cheques. Mr. Roberts called on Mr. Watson to resign. Inside the FNM,
: there is great consternation about this. Backbenchers share the view that if Brent Symonette had to resign, then Frank Watson
: who is alleged to have done something much worse cannot continue to stand as a Minister of the Government. Of course, we
: know that Mr. Watson is the 's man. Remember Mr. Ingraham said that Frank was the only man he could trust.
: We will see when the Public Accounts Committee has reported how far he will trust him from then. The first witness was the
: Treasurer for the country. The committee adjourned after four hours and is to meet again when the Treasurer returns with more
: information for the Committee. The Treasurer was asked to explain the procedure on how cheques are processed in the
: Treasury. Also to come before the Committee is acting auditor general.
: NIKI KELLY ON BRENT'S RESIGNATION
: The Opposition political community is more and more pleased with Niki Kelly. She is relentless in her
: investigative reporting. We keep wondering when The Tribune who hates the PLP editorially will try
: to clip her wings. So far Tribune Publisher Eileen Carron has defended Ms. Kelly's right to say what
: she wants, although the Carrons do not agree with what she writes. But we want to make it clear that
: should the PLP become the Government we would expect the same thorough examination of the
: PLP's public policy. What Ms. Kelly does is absolutely essential to good public policy. That said,
: Ms. Kelly had an interesting take on the Hubert Ingraham's double standard when it
: comes to the resignation of Brent Symonette who is white and Frank Watson, who most people
: believe is Black. Said Ms. Kelly: "In view of the recent revelations involving Nassau Transfers, it is
: hypocritical of Mr. Ingraham to demand a level of accountability from Mr. Symonette that he is not prepared to demand of Mr.
: Watson." Then Ms. Kelly quotes from the Prime Minister speaking of Mr. Symonette's resignation. The said that
: it was "a reality and a requirement that those who are involved in public life be and appear to be, above reproach in the
: conduct of the people's business and interest, and duty must not appear to conflict." Ms. Kelly concluded: "I don't know how
: Mr. Ingraham could utter those words with a straight face. Or is this yet another example of our double standards - this time
: based on race?" Well said. And the irony of the comment is that the that he is would only use the fact that he has
: fired Brent Symonette who is white to try and fool the Bahamian public that the PLP's stories about him being overly pro-white
: are not true. The reality is that a day after accepting Brent's resignation, Mr. Ingraham showed his true colours by saying that
: Brent's action was not a bar to return to public life.
: MISS BAHAMAS PAGEANT IN TROUBLE
: After such a stunning success in the most recent Miss Universe pageant with our contestant, Miss Bahamas Nakera Simms
: winning Miss Congeniality, it came as a shock to the country the news that the Miss Universe licence or franchise has been
: withdrawn from the Miss Bahamas Beauty Pageant Committee. Up to Tuesday 26 June, Agatha Watson who chairs the
: beauty pageant committee could only confirm that the franchise has been withdrawn but could not say why, except that it might
: be related to a dispute over fees.
: INGRAHAM ON AIDS
: The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday 25 June.
: This time it was as a contributor to the important forum on HIV/AIDS and what to do about it. Mr. Ingraham on behalf of The
: Bahamas endorsed the call of Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, for a world fund to deal with the disease. We agree that the
: funding is important. But what is Mr. Ingraham going to do for The Bahamas? Will the Bahamas give money to the fund?
: There was no sign in the speech. But he also has to work on public education in The Bahamas and more aggressively. The
: society continues to bury its head in the sand on this issue. AIDS must also be at the top of the agenda after the Haitian
: problem with other Caribbean leaders who must work to curb the homophobia in their societies, the principle obstacle to
: tackling AIDS as a problem. The disease is still seen as mainly a homosexual man's disease or as the Jamaicans say a disease
: for "chi-chi men". While they believe that, the fact is that teenage girls in our societies are the ones who suffer the most from
: the disease on the basis of proportional representation with a five per cent threshold. Let us know what you think about the PLP's
: proposals.
: SENATOR MELANIE GRIFFIN ON DUMP SCANDAL
:
: The Government finds itself in another scandal in the Ministry of Health. Senator Melanie Griffin, speaking in the Senate during
: the Budget debate last week, accused the Ministry of Health of endangering the environment of the country by using unsafe
: practices at the dumpsite. Senator Ronnie Knowles must be made to fully account
: for misleading the Senate in denying Senator Griffin's claims.
: JAMEICA DUNCOMBE ON THE GOLF ASSOCIATION
: The young golf pro Jameica Duncombe is angry and upset with the Bahamas Golf Federation. She is now 18 and
: says that she is sick of being treated like a child. Her response was published on 27 June. The response was
: quoted by Brent Stubbs, The Tribune sports reporter. Ms. Duncombe was upset because of a seemingly casual
: remark made by Ambrose Gouthro, President of the Golf Federation. He was asked why Ms. Duncombe was
: not selected to play for this year's Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship on the Bahamian team. He said that
: she did not seem to have any interest in playing with the team. Ms. Duncombe's response: "I don't appreciate the
: comments they made at all. If they would have contacted me, they would have found out why I won't be able to
: play this year. Firstly, right now I'm in summer school and I have sessions all summer long. I decided to concentrate on my
: studies this year and play less golf because I want to play more golf next year. And secondly, when I came home during spring
: break, I brought a guest with me and I found it most embarrassing that I couldn't get the opportunity to play on one of golf
: courses and nobody stood up for me. Ms. Duncombe was referring to an attempt to play on the Paradise Island Golf course,
: newly refurbished, where she played as junior. She was refused because she did not have membership, said to cost $50,000.
: She was not allowed to practice there. This is an interesting matter. You see we as a country always rally around these folk
: when they win and bring glory to the country, but we do not want to make the necessary sacrifices to help them along the way.
: Ambrose Gouthro probably meant no real harm with the comment but it bears trying to heal these wounds. (Tribune photo)
: CHARLES CARTER'S NEW RADIO STATION
: The Tribune says that former PLP MP, Minister and Senate Leader Charles Carter has started test broadcasts of his new radio
: station Island Broadcasting at 102.9 FM. Mr. Carter said that his station is expected to appeal to a more mature audience and
: will not be a 'teeny bopper' station. We wish Mr. Carter well. Full time broadcasting begins in August. Charles Carter
: resigned his seat in the Senate in 1993 because he was prohibited in law from getting a licence to broadcast as long as he was
: an active politician.
: ROYAL WEDDING TO RICHA SANDS AND AFRICAN KING
: The Bahamas Faith Ministries has reportedly written to the Richa Sands and her fiancé King Francois Ayi Foli- Bebe of Togo
: and told the couple that that the wedding of the couple could not be accommodated at Bahamas Faith Ministries Diplomat
: Centre on Carmichael Road. The wedding is now to take place on 7 July at Golden Gates Church of Bishop Ross Davis. The
: move of site reportedly is related to the fact that a donation of million dollars was to be given to Bahamas Faith Ministries by
: the King and the donation never materialized. The news was said to have devastated Miss Sands. It should be noted that the
: letter from Bahamas Faith Ministries spoke of "not enough planning," and "not enough time" but one would think that because
: Ms. Sands is a tithe-paying member of BFM surely she should have privilege of being married there, independent of anything
: he husband to be did or did not do for the church.
: RAINY NASSAU
:
: The weather office called it a 'tropical wave' which produced a line of squalls. Whatever you call it there was a lot of rain in
: Nassau this past week. 6.75 inches of rain fell on New Providence Wednesday 27 June. The following day, electricity was off
: for long periods across the island. One clap of thunder BEC did not disappoint. The Tribune showed this photo of a
: Dowdeswell street shopkeeper sweeping out the rain.
: NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
: Immediate Response - As promised top ZNS newsman Darrold Miller took his popular call-in show 'Immediate Response'
: on the road to Grand Bahama this past week. Callers to Thursday and Friday's shows left no doubt whatsoever: the FNM is in
: serious trouble in Grand Bahama and the words 'economic boom in Freeport' are a political no no.
: They Just Wouldn't Say It - Despite many tries, Darrold just couldn't get any of his guests to utter the words "Yes, there is
: an economic boom in Freeport." Not Eight Mile Rock FNM MP Pastor Lindy Russell, not Chief Freeport City Councillor
: Burton Miller, not even Grand Bahama Port Authority spokesman and heir apparent Barry Malcolm. The callers were just too
: mad. Just too outraged at the many wrongs now going on against Bahamians in the 'magic city'.
: C.A. Bashed - On one of the shows, the suggestion was made that Minister C.A. Smith might be potential leader of the
: FNM. A well-known and respected FNM general immediately called up to say "C.A. better not lead anything because he
: would sell this country out from under the feet of the Bahamian people…" As if Hubert Ingraham is already doing just that.
: Maurice Moore, a guest on that show (see following story) tried to quiet the FNM general who replied: "I will shame C.A.
: anywhere I catch him because he doesn't look out for Bahamians." Later in the week, one of C.A. erstwhile generals contacted
: this site to say "Let all the people who he has been helping vote for C.A. because none of them can even vote!... if Hubert don't
: take that [expletives deleted] out then the people of Pineridge will do it."
: No Unnecessary Baggage - Our insiders tell us that while meeting with his MPs just hours before his address to the nation,
: Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham warned them that he would go into the General Election with no unnecessary baggage. We
: wonder what that means...
: FNM's 'First Born' Calls For New Leader - Maurice Moore, founding member of the FNM, former High Rock MP,
: Minister of Government and Ambassador for The Bahamas, has called on his party to choose a new leader before the General
: Election. Mr. Moore, considered in Grand Bahama as the 'first born' of the FNM, raised eyebrows among party faithful in
: Grand Bahama recently when he made no secret of his support for dissident FNM MP and would-be leader Tennyson Wells,
: squiring Mr. Wells around town during several visits here. Moore, who retains considerable support in Grand Bahama and
: within the FNM, has been put out to pasture by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
: Leader-elect Call Gathers Strength - "Prime Minister Ingraham is an honourable and honourable men do honourable things
: and August 2002 is not an honourable thing and totally unacceptable." This from once staunch supporters of soon to be former
: Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in Grand Bahama. News From Grand Bahama was told that Mr. Ingraham is in the habit of
: taking over forty calls early each morning from various generals around the country and that since his address to the nation
: about staying on the phones have stopped ringing. "Many generals see that the people and have started to hitch their wagons to
: new horses."
: Lindy Bails Out - EMR MP Pastor Lindy Russell was so shocked by his reception during the first hour of 'Immediate
: Response' that he refused to return for the second half of the show. His repeated excuse to callers concerns was that he "didn't
: know" or that he "wasn't aware" of Bahamians were being displaced everywhere in the new Freeport economy.
: Bahamians Out - Cubans Stay - A Bahamian band working at the 'Our Lucaya' hotel complex is currently employed for
: one day a week and has now been given notice of termination. Meanwhile, a Cuban band working at the same property
: remains fully employed. Whose Lucaya is it anyway? The musicians complained to no avail that this is The Bahamas and
: Bahamians ought to be first in their country. After 45 years in the hospitality industry glass ceilings are being created over
: Bahamians all around Freeport with many stuck as mere supervisors with glorified names while imports fill the lucrative and
: powerful jobs.
: Severance By The Month - Some weeks ago, we reported the termination of Resorts at Bahamia Training Officer Vernell
: Butler. Downsizing or 'right-sizing' they said. We charged that it was simply a decision to save money of which the hotel's
: owners - the Driftwood Group - were in short supply. Now we can report that Ms. Butler is said to be receiving severance
: pay by the month. And, get this, a new training officer has been appointed; this one an expatriate said to be closely related to
: one of the principals of the Driftwood group. Sources say that this person was brought out of retirement to displace a
: Bahamian. A favourite saying of Minister of Tourism Tommy Turnquest seems to apply: "That cannot be right."
: Gerrymandering High Rock - We reported previously that a piece of the Lucaya constituency was to be taken over to High
: Rock in an effort to gerrymander assistance for High Rock FNM MP Minister Kenneth Russell. Sources now tell News From
: Grand Bahama that the piece in question is an area known as Royal Bahamian Estates. The trouble is that hundred upon
: hundreds of the voters in this upscale community trust the PLP's candidate Dr. Marcus Bethel with their health, indeed, their
: very lives. So what's a vote, compared to a life? Good try, guys.
: How Do We Know? Bitter complaints have been coming from Freeport FNMS into News From Grand Bahama about the
: sources of our information. "You guys have stuff on the website that we don't even hear until weeks later and it turns out to be
: true," carped one FNM insider, "It has got to stop." What can we say?
: Geneva Rutherford Does It Again - Less than two weeks ago, Senator Geneva Rutherford gave a speech at a high school
: graduation exercise in Freeport. The speech was long and pitched way above the heads of the students. Many complained to
: us about the speech, but - figuring that it is the political season after all - we said nothing. Now, would be candidate
: Rutherford has gone and given the same speech all over again at yet another graduation exercise. Someone must take her aside
: and tell her that the voters of Pineridge (if she and Mr. Ingraham succeed in denying C.A. Smith his nomination) won't stand
: still for erudite posturing that doesn't address their concerns. Or maybe she just needs a better speechwriter.
: Coaches Fight - In a disgraceful display in what not to show children about resolving conflict, two track coaches came to
: blows at this past weekend's Bahamas Games trials in Grand Bahama. Student athletes watched in amazement as the coaches
: rolled on the ground in their mindless aggression. The situation developed after interventions from other coaches, parents and at
: least one major financial backer of children's sports were unsuccessful. "All over foolishness and egos," said one parent.
: Unfortunately, Churchill Tener-Knowles, head of the Grand Bahama Sports Council and known as peacemaker, was not
: present during the altercation. No word on whether the Council intends to deal with the incident. We shall see.