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Posted by News from Nassau and Freeport, Sen. Mitchell-style on August 12, 2001 at 13:24:39:

The complete column can be viewed online at www.fredmitchelluncensored.com:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: The complete column can be viewed online at www.fredmitchelluncensored.com: : THE STORY OF THE LEAR JETS : People continue to ask the question: where is all the money coming from for the Tommy Turnquest/Dion Foulkes team? They are spending money like water with full page four colour ads and huge billboards all over New Providence in four colour. We in the PLP believe that this campaign is being funded by a 10 million dollar war chest supplied by Lyford Cay and the Bay Street boys. This was supported during the week by Lester Turnquest, the candidate for the FNM's Deputy Leader position, in a frank statement to The Tribune. But spending money is one thing. The level of spending is another. The Turnquest/Foulkes faction is spending at an obscene level and there is a backlash amongst delegates. One youth leader of the FNM told this Senator that he is not persuaded by all the money, in fact he is revolted by it and Hubert Ingraham will not dictate to him. But what we are leading to is a report that the Turnquest/Foulkes team is flying around the islands in Lear jets. There must be some explanation as to who is paying for these jets and where is the money coming from? They further say that one of the jets was used to fly the Minister of Education - that includes sports - to Edmonton, Canada to see the Bahamian athletes perform at the World Championships. It also brings to mind that picture of the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham walking off a jet with the Sandals logo on it as he returned from Jamaica some weeks ago following the meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Kingston. The question is, who is paying for this and is it appropriate for the Prime Minister of this country to be using the private jet of a business operation that is being regulated by the Bahamas Government? Mr. Ingraham foolishly sold the Bahamas Government's plane in 1992 in a begrudgeful but short sighted attempt to attack Sir Lynden Pindling as wasteful. But now he is busy hustling rides on rich people's jets. What price will the Bahamian people have to pay for this? : MICHAEL HALKITIS ON THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR : The PLP's candidate for Adelaide, going up against the FNM's Deputy Prime Minister Frank Watson has issued a statement calling on Government and the Department of Immigration to "vigorously enforce the immigration code especially as it relates to the movement of persons on work permits from one job to the next." Mr. Halkitis, himself a banker and Certified Financial Analyst, says that as a result of the Government's panic response to the blacklisting crisis, the proposed merger of Barclays Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in The Bahamas and other factors, "we may expect to see further reductions in the number of persons employed in the offshore sector... with the possibility of many more Bahamians qualified in the financial services industry, particularly in mid-management positions, being made redundant, the time is ripe (for Government) to scrutinize its policies in regard to the granting of work permits, and to fulfill its repeated pledges to make the work permit approval process more transparent. "It is demoralizing to qualified Bahamians in the financial community," said Mr. Halkitis, "to observe the ease with which permits are granted to foreign workers while equally and in many cases more qualified Bahamians are continually relegated to the background. Mr. Halkitis is pictured. : THE PROBLEM WITH BAHAMASAIR : FNM Leadership candidate Algernon Allen told the nation on Friday 10 August on Love 97 that he agreed that Bahamasair needs to be privatized. We'll say. The airline has never had such bad service. This is the height of the travel season and these old jets that they have (vintage 1969) keep breaking down. Some say there is no reason they should, it is just that Bahamasair does not keep the parts that they need in stock. The past week from Monday 6 August to Friday 1 August was perhaps the worst in its history, with passengers stranded everywhere in its system; Freeport, Miami and Nassau. Some 200 passengers had to be put up on hotels in Miami because Bahamasair could not get them to Nassau before the airport closed. The closure of the airport comes because the Government having fired the air traffic controllers can't keep the airport open beyond 11 o'clock p.m. Bahamasair, with its limited equipment, can't get most travellers anywhere on time much less those from the late flights into Nassau before 11 p.m. The result is a total mess, with in one case police having to be called to control angry crowds at the Nassau International Airport. The PLP will have to overhaul Bahamasair in its entirety. The problem is equipment and spare parts. It will also have to look seriously at starting in the short term a system that will allow for private operators to fly passengers to the islands under a Bahamasair franchise, in much the same way that the mailboats are subsidized for mail and cargo in the Family Islands. It is the only way to go. : SHANE GIBSON GETS THE UNION GREEN LIGHT : Robert Farqhuarson, the Secretary General of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union, has announced that for the first time in the history of the organization a political candidate has been endorsed by the union. The candidate is none other than its dynamic President Shane Gibson. Mr. Gibson is the son of King Eric Gibson, the popular entertainer and sailor. He has headed the union since 1997. The union has some 1225 members and they represent the workers of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, BaTelCo and the Nassau Guardian. He is running against Theresa Moxey Ingraham, the Minister for Public Service in the Golden Gates constituency. Mr. Gibson told The Tribune: "The same passion that I use to represent the workers at the union level will be the same passion that I will use to represent the workers at that higher national level." Now Theresa Moxey Ingraham also had a lot to say, including the fact that she did not consider Mr. Gibson a threat. She said nothing about the fact that her party intends to gerrymander the boundaries in her constituency in order to defeat Shane Gibson. Well the very cocksure incumbent says that she will defeat Mr. Gibson. Much of what she said can be put down to trash talking. But what we consider quite seriously is the following comment: "I have successfully defeated two males since 1992 and I look forward to beating Mr. Gibson." What the hell has Mr. Gibson being male to do with it? We thought that women in politics was supposed to end this business of whether or not being a certain gender equipped you to serve in office. Mrs. Moxey-Ingraham needs to apologize for the remark. It is an affront that displays a dangerous bias and portends the real agenda of many of those in her position in politics. Is she interested in substituting a male dominance now for a female dominated agenda? : CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARIES : The Constituencies Commission meets on Monday 13 August. They hope to begin work on the delimiting of constituency boundaries. There is no need at all for the boundaries to change. The PLP has taken a resolute stand that the integrity of communities must be protected. This is the case in particular with Fox Hill, Fort Charlotte and St. Margaret's. In all of these constituencies, the FNM engaged in the most blatant gerrymandering. What is of concern to the PLP is the fact that the sitting representative from Fox Hill Jaunianne Dorsett has said nothing in response to the fact that the persons who sit on the Constituencies Commission from her party Messrs. Foulkes and Turnquest have been indicating through the back channels that they intend to abolish or significantly gut the existing Fox Hill constituency. Just before the last election, Hubert Ingraham so as to cause the defeat of this Senator took a major polling division out of Fox Hill and placed it in Montagu. This was wrong. As a result the people of that polling division in Montagu got no representation. Their MP William Allen had no interest in them and did not need their votes to win the election. This is blatant gerrymandering. That group must be restored to the constituency. The PLP intends to make it clear that there must be no gerrymandering. They also intend to make it clear that there can be no secret deliberations of the Commission. Everything must be done in the light of day. The two would be leaders of the FNM will not be allowed to come with a secret agenda and knife the PLP in the back while grinning in our faces and pleading for secret deliberations from the Commission. The Judge must also take a resolute stand to protect the integrity of the process. Bradley Roberts, Party Chair and Member for Grants Town leads the fight for the PLP's position on the Commission. He has already staked out the PLP's position, and will be at it again on Monday. The registration of voters is just about 86,000 people, 14,000 short of the 100,000 the FNM majority on the Commission said they wanted before they can act. Voters are refusing to sign up. If you read the Constitution clearly it may be that it is wrong to deal with registered voters. In fact, the wording may mean those who are eligible to vote meaning every one over 18 must go into the count, not just registered voters. That means that the census may be what the Commission ought to be acting by. We shall all be watching and waiting. : GAS DEALERS COMPLAIN : The Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association (BPRA) held a press conference on Wednesday 9 August to ask for the Government to remove the present constraints on gasoline prices and make gasoline a breadbasket item under the Price Control Act. This will make the profit margins more flexible and give the dealers a raise that they have been asking for almost a decade without success. In the meantime, longstanding dealers in the sector have been forced out of business, because the oil companies are dissatisfied with their margins. So on the one hand you have the Government being so obstinate, on the other hand the oil companies hiking their charges, they have together squeezed the dealer's profits. These factors have forced older dealers out so that younger dealers will come and accept lower profits. Yet another of those older dealers bites the dust. Dealer Ray Claridge of Texaco was surrounded by his fellow dealers as he announced that he had been forced after investing some $75,000 in his station at Wulff Road to leave the station when Texaco said they were going to tear it down to build their new Star Mart Station. He was forced out of the station at Wulff Road to take on Mackey Street. He is threatening to take Texaco to court to recover the monies invested. He said that he is doing this even though he knows they may now push him out at Mackey Street. He said: "At that stage, I know that they're going to put me out of Mackey Street, but I just want the public to know how these oil companies (operate). I, for one, have had all I intend to take, and I am prepared to close down and take whatever action I have to." He continued that all the oil companies are just alike. He said: "They are just as bad as Texaco when it comes to taking advantage of the dealer. And I'm not prepared to give another inch." It is a hopeful sign that the BPRA has finally found its voice after a bruising battle over the ousting of Doyle Fox from Texaco on Bay Street that was done by Texaco for no other reason than they hated Doyle Fox. The BPRA seems to have been reeling since then and the Government nor the industry seems to have taken them as a serious voice for and on behalf of the dealers. Now that they have started to make their voice heard again, they must keep up the pressure, particularly since they will have lots of worthless politicians coming around trying to get their support as the General Election nears. We hope that this time the BPRA will stick together. The Tribune photo of Ray Claridge and his fellow dealers is shown. : AIDS CONTINUES AS A PROBLEM : The bad news is that AIDS continues to escalate in the Caribbean. The Bahamas is said to have the highest reported number of AIDS cases on a per capita basis. Not surprising given the inability of most Bahamians to articulate a very touchy subject, sex and sexuality. It is not something you talk about. It is something that you do. And so Dr. Perry Gomez, Director the National AIDS programme, who revealed the frightening story of The Bahamas and the Caribbean, has a job in front of him. He was speaking at the Biennial Conference of the Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators on Tuesday 7 August in Nassau. But, said Dr. Gomez, it is a good thing that at the recent Caricom conference, the Heads of Government decided to negotiate with drug companies in order to lower the price of AIDS fighting drugs. He said that the price of drugs was contributing to the continuation of the epidemic. The Bahamas Government has reportedly now agreed after the last UN conference on AIDS to allow pregnant mothers to continue their AIDS AZT therapy at Government expense even after their pregnancy for their lifetime. The previous cutoff time for AZT therapy was up to the time the baby was born. After that, the mothers were on their own. AZT is believed to block the transfer of AIDS from the pregnant mother to her newborn baby. : CONGRATULATIONS TO CLEOMI WOODS : We want to say congratulations to Cleomi Woods on her appointment as Principal of St. John's College, the Anglican High School. The head of the Diocese Archbishop Drexel Gomez announced Ms. Wood's appointment. The appointment becomes effective on 1 August 2001. She is pictured. : WHAT FELIX BETHEL HAD TO SAY ON TOMMY : Felix Bethel is a columnist with the Bahama Journal. He writes an incisive column called Rough Cut. This week he wrote about an ad that the 'Dream Team' Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes ran in the press. The pair is trying to become the leaders of the FNM. In the ad they said that when they succeed to becoming Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (God Forbid!) they will have more experience at governance than Sir Lynden Pindling, the founding Prime Minister of the country, when he became Prime Minister in 1967. They also made similar favoruable comparison about themselves vis-a-vis former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Hanna and the present Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, the former U.S. Vice Presidential candidate speaking to his opponent Vice Presidential candidate Dan Qualye (under George Bush I): "Tommy you're no Lynden Pindling." If you have nothing in your head, it doesn't matter how many years of governing you have. As a matter of fact, it is doubtful whether the years that both of you have served as Ministers can even qualify since Hubert Ingraham made all the decisions anyway during your tenure. At least that is what the country believes. And now for Mr. Bethel's take on the ad: "The public relations firm which has been contracted to manage advertising for Tommy Turnquest and Dion Foulkes is trying to sell the public a bill of goods that their clients are ready... Apparently still reeling from the accusation that they still have milk around their mouths, Turnquest and Foulkes have tried to turn the tables on their critics." Mr. Bethel then repeated what the ads said. He concluded: "When I sat back and tried to digest the suggested favourable comparison between Tommy Turnquest, Dion Foulkes and the monumental likes of Pindling, Ingraham and Hanna, I was caught in a dilemma: I wanted to cry and I wanted to laugh. What gall! What audacity! What magnificent foolishness! Lord God, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, have mercy on all of them." : THE SHARK ATTACK : The wife of Krishna Thompson, a man attacked by a shark on 'Our' Lucaya beach in Freeport, Grand Bahama on Tuesday 7 August, attacked the hotel and The Bahamas. She told the Miami News Media that nothing was done to help save her husband despite cries for help. Mr. Thompson had his leg amputated as a result of the attack. The attack is extremely rare, almost unheard of. Mrs. Thompson, who did not herself witness the attack, was called to her husband's side after he fainted on the sand after being pulled from the waters by lifeguards from the hotel. Lifeguard Teniel Joseph contradicts the reports of the wife who - as we said - was not there on the scene. These shark attacks are all in the news this summer, two from Florida and now this one from The Bahamas. It is all a little hysterical. The point is that the shark belongs in the water. We do not. We have invaded their environment, so periodically if we are not careful we and they are going to clash. Once we are evenly matched up in the sense that we don't have a gun or some overpowering weapon, the shark is going to overcome us. So human beings ought to be careful in the water. Hotels ought to protect their guests. The hotel guest at 'Our' Lucaya was from most accounts well taken care of by their Bahamian rescuers. It is unfortunate that when an incident of this kind comes up an hysterical wife is able to sully the name of a country when her version of the facts appears to be far from the truth. : BIMINI BAY CONCERN : Environmentalists are raising concerns again about Gerrado Capos's development at North Bimini. He has destroyed the fish habitat by dredging the bay. The shark station at South Bimini reports that fish stocks have fallen off dramatically since the dredging started. Mr. Cappo must be stopped. Sam Duncombe, the environmentalist, is to be invited to come down and see for herself. Bimini residents are sore at environmentalist Senator Lynn Holowesko, who recently was honoured by the Queen for her work on the environment. The residents say Senator Holowesko ignored their pleas for assistance on saving Bimini's environment. This Senator was in Bimini for the 34th annual Glenda's Road race on Thursday 9 August. : SCHOLARSHIPS ANNOUNCED : In a bid to shore up the sagging fortunes of the so-called 'Dream Team', Minister of Education Dion Foulkes was at the microphone on Tuesday 6 August to confirm what we already knew. The Government had left so many students out of their scholarship programme, that they had to revisit the question. This time they gave everyone a loan. What disturbs us is that this thing is being called a scholarship. In fact it is a loan from the bank, which the students and or their parents have to repay. What is worse though is that separate sections were taken out in the press giving the names of all the 1500 recipients. This seems an abuse of power. It comes in the middle of campaign and is clearly designed to make the FNM look good, trying to turn the bad fortunes of the Foulkes/ Turnquest team around. The fact is they messed up badly and were embarrassed by this Senator's questions in the Senate about this scheme that was biased against non-FNMs. The listing of names also seems a terrible invasion of privacy, even though the public ultimately pays and may be entitled to know who got their money, this does seem rather invasive of the privacy of these individuals. : AVARD MONCUR WINS A GOLD MEDAL : We congratulate Avard Moncur who is the champion of the world in the 400-metre race. He won the race at the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada on Monday 6 August. It was a magnificent feat. And it has a greater dimension to it than just his victory alone and for the country. Now it finally looks like we have a male national figure that can accomplish something. It looks like there is at least one young man who is willing to exercise discipline, hard work and perseverance to accomplish a goal. Maybe now the little boys in this country can take heart that there is hope out there for them. Congratulations to him again,. He is shown in this Tribune photo on the night of the victory. : SILVER MEDAL FOR DEBBIE FERGUSON : Bahamian sprinter in the 200 metres Debbie Ferguson won a silver medal for second place in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. Ms. Ferguson joins Avard Moncur as the other medalist at these games. Ms. Ferguson is one of the so-called Golden Girls who won gold medals for The Bahamas at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and at last year's World Championships in the women's 4x100-metre relay. Congratulations to her. : AC FOR XAVIER'S LOWER SCHOOL? : Xavier's Lower School, the up-market primary school for Catholics in New Providence, is a in a bit of a tizzy. It seems the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) got leave or so they thought from the principal of the school last year to raise money to put in air conditioning for the school. But the $62,000 expenditure did not please the Catholic Board of Education. According to the Bahama Journal, the Catholic Board of Education that runs the school thinks that it will give the wrong impression: a two class school system, with rich kids getting a/c and poor kids having to suffer in the heat. Then the Board is also concerned about the additional electricity bill. As to the latter, the PTA President Algernon Cargill seems to think that parents will help raise the money to defray the cost of the power. But, said the head of the Board when contacted by the Bahama Journal, her name Sister Mary Benedict Pratt; "The only thing I have to say is that the units are to be removed by 15 August." Well that will hold us. The PTA says they plan to appeal to the Archbishop on the issue. : NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA : SHARK ATTACK : The Emancipation Day Shark Attack (see story above) has left hoteliers and the general public in Grand Bahama wondering and concerned over the impact of the negative international news coverage on the island's tourism. "Just this week, I have had several of my hotel guests change water-based activities to island tours and other land based attractions," said one hotel manager "and they directly cited the shark attack... I think 'Our' Lucaya might be affected for a while, maybe the rest of us as well." Some Florida stations carried interviews from local Florida lifeguards saying that as far as they were concerned, the Bahamian lifeguards are heroes: "Our standard procedure in that situation, where you can't see the shark and have no way of knowing what further danger might exist, we would have thrown the man a line and pulled him in. To enter the water under those circumstances was an act of bravery." Most people think that comments by the victim's wife that her husband's cries for help went unanswered are aimed at strengthening a base for legal action against the hotel.

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