Posted by This Week's Column on January 14, 2002 at 15:42:49:
For more news, go to www.fredmitchelluncensored.com ........ and happy reading:
THE FUNERAL OF C.W.F. BETHELL
On Wednesday 9 January 2002, this Senator and other Parliamentary colleagues including the Prime
Minister attended the funeral of the late C.W. F. Bethell (Peter Ramsay photo of this Senator arriving at
the church) who died at the age of 92 at his daughter’s New Orleans' home the week before last. He was
buried in the Western Cemetery. It was a fascinating exercise in social history to attend the funeral.
Many of us, I am sure, had never visited the Presbyterian Kirk, where only the white and privileged have
in the past been members. The Blacks who are members are the family of the Late Dr. Cleveland Eneas
Sr. and the family of Tim Donaldson, the former Central Bank Governor are amongst the few Black
families that attend today. But in the main, the church is almost like a secret society to Blacks. Dr. Jim
Berger, an American who is its present church leader, has to his credit sought to mix with all sectors of
the community. The old establishment of the minority UBP government turned out in force. Godfrey
Kelly, the former Minister of Education under the UBP; Geoffrey Johnstone, the last Chairman and last
Leader of the Opposition of the United Bahamian Party; C.W.F. Bethell’s brother John, the former UBP
Minister of Works. They were on one side. The new Black leaders of the country were on the other side
of the church. Godfrey Kelly did an excellent eulogy and provided a peep into the life of that class that continues much today. It was a life of
fun and privilege, mixing business and Government. Charlie Bethell, as he was known was an avid hunter and fisherman. He also flew his own
sea plane. Mr. Kelly caused a stir by suggesting that the UBP ministers worked in the days when they did their public service for free. Nothing
could be further from the truth. While they received no salary for their work as Ministers, all of them had contracts with the Government. Sir
Roland had the contracts to fix Government roads for example. He was the Premier. So while they received no salary, they benefited from the
positions in the Government. No where was that clearer than in the scandal of the Port Authority consultancy fees paid to Ministers of the
UBP Government that brought about casino gambling to Freeport and with it the downfall of the Government. Two things on the FNM’s
agenda are dredging up the bitterness and racial divisions of the bygone ear. Their approach to this funeral and their seeking to amend the
constitution of the country. We comment on the latter below.
THE WHITES AND THE BLACKS
Not many people remember the interview. But last week, we spoke of it and perhaps we shall try to get the full story from The Tribune. But
sometime in the 1980s Charles Bethell gave an interview to The Tribune in which he admitted that his father had children outside his marriage
with Black women. He said all of the children were girls. There are many who disagree and say that there are at least two boys. One of the girl
children is the mother of Janet Bostwick, the now Minister of Foreign Affairs. And so in terms of blood lines, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is
the niece of C.W. F. Bethell. Such is the role of sex in the history of The Bahamas. It is not so unusual. Societies like ours and the plantation
societies in the Southern United States and the Caribbean are replete with stories of racial mixtures. One has only to note the controversy over
the Sally Hemmings liaison with former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson. Ms. Hemmings was said to have been a slave concubine with whom
Jefferson had several children. And so it was in The Bahamas, the mixing of the races while officially unsanctioned did not stop the mixing
under the sheets. The story is told of how the women were specially treated. The homes of the Black concubines of white Bahamian leaders
were a cut above the others in the Black neighbourhoods, with running water as an added and unique feature for the homes. After the evening
meetings at the House of Assembly the white members would repair to their sweetheart's places in the Black community. Their wives were
apparently aware of it and turned a blind eye.
MAJORITY RULE DAY & THE TRIBUNE
On 10 January 2002, the anniversary of Majority Rule day in The Bahamas, The Tribune‘s editorial chose not to celebrate the diversity and
success of The Bahamas as a model for racial peace and harmony. Instead they chose to raise a specious and spurious issue about the PLP
dividing families because they refused to give citizenship to the husband of Brenda Barry, Dr. Graham Barry, an Australian. The Tribune claims
that because the PLP refused to give citizenship to Dr. Barry, the Barry marriage broke up. The decision not to give citizenship caused them to
take up their bundle and move to her husband’s country Australia.
JUST SAY ‘NO’
The FNM now proposes to amend the constitution to allow for the male spouses of the Bahamian women to apply and get citizenship on the
grounds that they are married to Bahamians. This is supposed to equalize the position where Bahamian men marry foreign women. Except that
the FNM does not seem quite sure. All the Opposition forces in the Parliament have objected to the bills to amend the constitution on the
grounds that the issues are being rushed and ill considered and that the referendum questions are not being properly and fairly put.
The Attorney General has introduced a bill, which the PLP voted against in the House to shorten the period between the time when the
proclamation is made and the referendum to approve the amendment to the constitution is held to 21 days down from 30 days. The FNM claims
that this will make it consistent with the period between the proclamation of dissolution of the Parliament and a general election.
But the point is this; the PLP must oppose all of these bills regardless of the merits. There has been no constitutional commission or
constitutional conference with the people of the country. There has been no green paper. The mischief about which the Government
complaints on citizenship has been cured with the grant of a spousal permit for all spouses of Bahamians. The Government itself appears to
have backed off their first approach and has now changed their position and brought nine new bills to the House to amend the constitution,
each on a separate issue.
They want instead of granting citizenship to male spouses of Bahamian women upon marriage like with female spouses they now say they
want to grant the right after five years of a spousal work permit. This is a hodge podge and ill considered. They don’t know what they want
themselves. It is not appropriate to treat a constitution this way. The PLP must not agree to this and must urge the population to vote “no” to
the whole package.
We must galvanize public opinion on this and join issue with the Government on it. Let’s have a showdown before the election, defeat them
and finish them off during the General Election. Given this Government’s inability to stand up for our sovereignty, what is to prevent the US
Ambassador from giving our Prime Minister a call and asking him to amend our constitution to correct the ruling of Justice Anita Allen that the
Financial Intelligence Unit cannot freeze a person’s bank account? The FNM has the numbers to do so. The question is not though what the
FNM will do. The question is will the PLP stand on its hind legs and defend the sovereignty of this country?
What Mr. Ingraham proposes to do is bring up all of the old history and old bitterness and divide this country once again on racial lines if he
is not careful. And that will be his legacy, dividing the races.
RUSHING THROUGH LEGISLATION
The high point of the disrespect for the Parliament of The Bahamas by the FNM we thought came last year when the Senate was suspended
indefinitely while we waited for the Government to draft financial legislation so that it could be passed. The legislation was so badly drafted
and rushed through and it was an insult to Parliament by the manner in which it was done. In a few weeks because of the bad drafting, the
Government was right back to correct mistakes made in the legislation. Now they propose to rush through the constitutional amendments.
We have said above that the PLP and all opposition forces should vote no to this abuse of the Parliament of The Bahamas. Another example
of the rush is something pointed out by the Employers Confederation to the Government when they brought into force the recently passed
Employment Act that repeals the Fair Labour Standards Act. The Government forgot to put in certain transitional provisions.
The 40 hour work week is supposed to come into force on 1 February 2002 in the first of two phases. In 2002, 44 hours and then in 2003, 40
hours. Except that when you read Section 10 of the Bill upon the act coming into force on 1 January the work week immediately drops to 40
hours as a consequence of the repeal of the 48 hour work week set by the Fair Labour Standards Act. So for one month employees will be
entitled from 1 January 2002 to 1 February 2002 to a forty hour work week and then the week goes to 44 hours for one year. That means that for
that month over time claims can be made per the forty hour work week.
No spokesman for the Government was able to answer the point. When raised by this senator, they were dumbfounded. Rush! Rush! Rush!
THE COMMISSIONER ON CRIME
On the same day that this columnist delivered the review of the Judiciary Monday 7 January, the Commissioner of Police Paul Farqhuarson and
senior colleagues released the annual crime statistics over the past year.
According to the Police, their statistics show that crime has dropped overall by some 17 percent. Crimes against the person posted a 25
percent decrease with major crimes such as murder decreasing by 42 per cent. Armed Robbery fell by 38 per cent. These are all 2001 as against
2000 figures. The number of murders reported and committed in 2000 was 74. In 2001, the same figure was 44.
The Commissioner said that this was due to the implementation of a policy for the management of crime. Said he: “As a result of this initiative
we are well on our way in bringing crime to more manageable levels than before.”
Not so fast said criminologist and former National Crime Commission member Dr. Elliston Rahming. Said Dr. Rahming: “The sad fact is that
the glowing reports of a 17 per cent drop in crime when placed under scrutiny simply means that the FNM has made no significant dent in crime
since coming to power. The deal was not to lower crime from the year 2000 to 2001. The deal was to ensure that under the FNM serious crime
would fall below where they met it. That was the deal.
Dr. Rahming said that for example in 1993 there were 35 murders but in 2001 there 44. That is a 21 per cent increase. He also compared arrest
rates between 1993 and 2001 on crimes against property. In all those categories the arrest rate is worse when compared to 1993. The FNM came
to office in August 1992. An arrest rate is the rate at which the police catch the person who commits crimes. The Police have admitted that their
success in crimes against the property remains elusive.
Dr. Rahming said that even though there has been a decline in crime against the property since 1993, this while due to some extent to the
police can also be attributed to private security measures including security firms, fencing and welding firms and closed circuit TV and alarm
companies.
Ultimately, Dr. Rahming said that for 2002 the goal must be to raise the arrest rate for personal crime over the 50 per cent benchmark and up to
20 per cent for crime against property. He encouraged the strengthening of the relationship and building of trust between the police and the
public.
CONGRATULATIONS TO JEANNE THOMPSON
Jeanne Thompson is now a Judge of the Supreme Court. She was sworn in as a Judge on Monday 8 January, shortly after the annual review of
the Judiciary by this Senator under the fig tree in front of the Supreme Court. I went up to Government House where we posed for this Peter
Ramsay photo shortly after Ms. Thompson’s swearing in. She was sworn in by Dame Ivy Dumont the new Governor General. Despite my
opposition to the appointment of Dame Ivy as Governor General, I greeted her with the proper respect and even a kiss on the cheek.
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AN HONOUR FOR YVONNE JOHNSON
Yvonne Johnson served as assistant clerk of the Senate for over two decades. She was a friend to
all sides. She died tragically from cancer two years ago next month. The Senate passed a
unanimous resolution to mark the occasion of her passing and thanked her for all the work that she
did in assisting senators. The Senate President J. Henry Bostwick presented the resolution duly
framed to the family. The presentation was made on Monday 8 January. Her children Marlon and
Nadia were there as was her mother Winifred Johnson. Senators posed for this Peter Ramsay
photo to mark the occasion with the family of the late Yvonne Johnson.
CHIEF JUSTICE SAYS NO TO BAHAMIANS
Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall shown in this newspaper photo
(B.I.S. -
Derek Smith) shaking hands with the U.S. Ambassador Richard
Blankenship spoke at the opening of the court year on
Wednesday 9 January. The Attorney General Carl Bethel also
spoke. It is fascinating how they all respond to what is said by this columnist but refuse to acknowledge
who made the criticism.
As you know the annual review of the Judiciary for 2001 was made by this Senator on Monday 8 January
under the fig tree in front of the Supreme Court. The photo by Tim Aylen shows the toast to the legal year
outside the court. Pictured from left are: Jamal Davis, Attorney, Gwendolyn House; Calvin Brown, PLP
Stalwart Councillor; this columnist; Ron Pinder, PLP - Marathon Constituency; Stan O. Smith, Law Clerk,
Gwendolyn House; Koed Smith, Attorney.
The review has become a point of interest to the media because it gives an input into the inside workings of the Court. You may click here for
the annual address. But for me the response is what is most fascinating.
The Chief Justice said the following: “I join my predecessors in declaring that in
The Bahamas the political directorate has never attempted to subvert or direct the
judiciary in the exercise of their judicial function.” One must remind the public that
in 1993 Justice Ira Rowe of the Court of Appeal who lived in Jamaica was denied a
ticket to enter The Bahamas to hear a case before the Court of Appeal at the
direction of the Janet Bostwick who was acting as the Minister of Justice at the
time. The Judge resigned and in his letter he said that the Government had
interfered with his work as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.
Further the Chief Justice went on in his address to agree with every criticism
made by this Senator about the state of the courts, the lack of manpower and
equipment and money. But he disagreed with the Court getting control of its own
budget. The fact is that the Government does not have to undermine or direct the
Courts what to do, it simply has to refuse to give it the resources it needs to do its
job. That is enough to undermine and subvert the judiciary. We expect to discuss
this issue at length when the issue comes to the Senate for amending the constitution to increase the age of retirement for Judges comes to the
Senate.
But what really got us was the comment by the Chief Justice that he does not believe that the Bench of The Bahamas should be fully
Bahamian. Left to me there would be a constitutional amendment to prevent anyone who does not have citizenship from being a Judge of The
Bahamas. Remember that in order to be a member of the House or Senate you have to be Bahamian. The Court is another branch of
Government and the same requirement must be there. Now if we concede that point on Judges, maybe, just maybe we can give Margaret
Thatcher a work permit to be Prime Minister of The Bahamas for a couple of years.
CARL BETHEL, THE POLITICAL AG
Carl Bethel is a junior to almost every lawyer in the Office of the Attorney General both in terms of years of call and in terms of actual experience
before the Bar. Yet as he says as a result of a political decision, it falls to his lot as the Minister of Justice to defend the Government and its
policies as they subvert the courts. It seems to have escaped the poor Attorney General that the Chief Justice did a good job defending the
Courts himself on the same day of his speech and therefore needed no help from the Attorney General.
The Government does not provide the resources and personnel to support the courts. It plays musical chairs with the appointment of
Judges. In his address to the Court on Wednesday 8 January, the AG claimed that he had to respond to the attacks on the Court in the
newspapers. He meant responding to me about the criticism that the Government subverts the Courts. He claimed that this is not so, and that
the attacks have been malicious and slanderous. Nonsense Attorney General! The facts speak for themselves.
On the day that Cassius Stuart and Omar Smith were arraigned as a result of a purely political decision by you, the Magistrate refused at first
to arraign the men because the case was brought before her at the last minute. She pointed out that she is unfairly singled out for the allocation
of cases and that she agreed with this Senator's report about the state of the Magistrates' Courts. Perhaps the A.G. should visit the Magistrates
Courts' and see the appalling conditions. There is no justice in those conditions.
Further, the Attorney General has injected himself into another row by seeking to line up his political friends as Queen’s Counsels before the
FNM gets tossed from office. The list includes Claire Hepburn and Michael Barnett of Peter Graham, the former UBP Minister's law firm. To try
and confuse, he has added PLPs Philip Brave Davis, Paul Adderley and Sean McWeeney. Of course Paul Adderley will refuse it. But the
Attorney General would have us believe that there is no politics involved. Yeah pull my other leg!
The problem with this Attorney General is that he does not have the standing in the legal community, or the respect of the Prime Minister to
be able to restrain or influence the Government in its unlawful and unconstitutional behaviour in so many areas.
THE GUARDIAN ON JUDICIARY REVIEW
The editorial of the Nassau Guardian on Thursday 10 January read as follows: “Regardless to whether the government wants to listen because
of who the messenger is, the message that Fred Mitchell continues to bring concerning the courts and the judiciary is relevant today as it has
been in past years, and it needs to be positively addressed… Senator Mitchell may not be everyone’s favourite person but he does speak to an
issue that should be of concern to everyone because at some point what transpires in the courts will have an effect on the total fabric of the
society. There are innocent persons going through the court system who invariably are steered toward criminality because of a let down for
them in the administration of justice. These problems will not go away and they will not solve themselves. The sagacity of the message should
not be ignored because of personal differences with the messenger.”
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A LETTER ON THE JUDICIARY REVIEW
Stan O. Smith is a law clerk at our firm, Gwendolyn House and an attorney in training. Stan was with us under the fig tree and was struck by a
reporter's question as to whether the annual Review of the Judiciary is useful to the public. The Tribune of 10 January 2002 published a letter
on the matter from Stan under the heading 'Why fig tree address is important' and we republish it here. It stands on its own. Please click here.
MATTHEW MITCHELL CASE
The Government has moved to apply to the Court or Appeal for special leave to overturn their decision in the case of my brother Matthew
Mitchell (click here for previous story). The Court of Appeal is to be asked to give special leave to appeal the overturning of the conviction.
The case is to be heard on 23 January. I believe that this is a personal and politically motivated spiteful action by the Attorney General and his
political colleagues. Our family is deeply distressed that the Government would do this when persons convicted of murdering people have been
set free by the Court of Appeal and no action of this kind has been taken.
EXTENSION ON KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER RULES
The Central Bank Governor Julian Francis went a begging on behalf of the Clearing House Banks because they are unable to comply with the
reporting requirements of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act. The deadline was supposed to have been 31 December 2001. As a result
of the inability to make the deadline, the Government had no choice but to extend the deadline to 30 May 2002. Paul McWeeney who is the
Chair of the Clearing House Banks Association, and Managing Director of the Bank of The Bahamas could not say that even then the act will
have full compliance. But he told The Tribune on Thursday 10 January that by now the high risk accounts - those over $10,000 - have been
dealt with. Thank God! I have no account over ten thousand dollars.
LADY PINDLING ON MAJORITY RULE DAY
Lady Marguerite Pindling, the widow of former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling, laid a wreath at the grave of her late husband
commemorating the day that Sir Lynden came to office 10 January 1967. The photo is by Peter Ramsay.
STUART AND SMITH CHARGED FOR MACE ACT
Cassius Stuart and Omar Smith were charged before Magistrate Marilyn Meeres on Tuesday 8 January. They
were charged with causing a disturbance in the House of Assembly. A constitutional motion was filed by
this Senator on their behalf claiming that the offence was unconstitutional. The matter will therefore have to
be determined by the Supreme Court before the Magistrate can hear the case. The Nassau Guardian photo
by Farreno Ferguson shows the pair after their release from Court. Bail was set in the sum of $2000 with one
surety. Mr. Smith’s wife stood bail for him and Bishop Ross Davis stood bail for Mr. Stuart. If convicted,
they can be fined $600 or sent to prison for six months or both. The charges arose out of a political act when
the pair shackled themselves to the Speaker’s mace on 3 December 2001 to protest the gerrymandering of
constituency boundaries by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
SIR ORVILLE SAYS IT AINT SO
Last week on this site we reported a contretemps aka bust up between the Prime Minister and former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest re
the keys to Government House.
On Tuesday 8 January the Bahama Journal published a reply of Sir Orville.
The reply from Sir Orville in his own words: “This entire story is a brazen lie, concocted by a malicious mind with the obvious intent of
making prejudicial character smearing a factor in the forthcoming General Elections, rather than dealing with national issues.” Sir Orville also
defended the Prime Minister’s remarks in the radio interview on Island FM on Sunday 30 December. The Prime Minister listed a number of
attributes for Tommy Turnquest son of Sir Orville and said that when he compared them to the father he would still chose Tommy. The words
were interpreted to mean that Sir Orville did not have the qualities of integrity, strength of character, which the Prime Minister found in Tommy.
Again Sir Orville struck back: “If the Prime Minister’s remarks are taken as inferring [sic] that Tommy’s qualifications and personal attributes
when compared with mine make him more suitable to become a better Prime Minister than I might have been then I most certainly agree with this
also because otherwise his mother and I, as his parents, would have failed to train and prepare him to attain a higher level than I have done.”
Now he said that not us. Unbelievable!
JUNKANOO PHOTOS
As promised, some photos of the belated New Year's Junkanoo parade, held Friday 4 January and won by the Valley Boys. The photos are by
Patrick Hanna of the Nassau Guardian. Best Costume, entitled 'Bird Watching' and a horn player helping to provide the Valley Boys 'Best
Music' award. Congratulations again to the venerable Valley Boys for their overall win. The Saxons were second, Roots third, One Family
fourth, Barbabbas & The Tribe fifth, and the Music Makers sixth.
THELMA WILLIAMS DIES
Thelma Williams, a former nurse and the wife of Alfred Williams, attorney at law, was buried in Nassau on Wednesday 9 January from St.
Barnabas Church. Mrs. Williams died of cancer. She had a long struggle. This Senator was privileged to be a speaker at the funeral. She lives
in the Fox Hill constituency. In addition to her husband she is survived by her daughters Stacie and Tami and a son, Mark. She is pictured.
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NEWS FROM GRAND BAHAMA
Bahamian Business In Danger - News From Grand Bahama has learned that BHICAM, a Bahamian engineering firm in Grand Bahama is in
danger of being put out of business by the Chinese conglomerate owned Grand Bahama Container Port. BHICAM, under Bahamian engineer
Larry Russell constructed and maintains the giant cranes, which lift containers on and off ships at the container port. Sources say that the firm
has been given notice that its contract is not to be renewed. Meanwhile sources say that workers at the firm who have reportedly benefited
from hundreds of thousands of dollars of BHICAM training for the container port job have been secretly courted to work directly for the
container port. Friends of Mr. Russell tell News From Grand Bahama "Larry is a faithful FNM and a true blue Valley Boy who was lured back to
The Bahamas from a good job in the States by the FNM and now they're stabbing him in the back... If this is how this Government treats its
Bahamian loyalists, then God help the rest of us." Meanwhile, Grand Bahama's FNM MPs and Government Ministers remain mute, apparently
more concerned about the fate of their potentially large election donations from the container port than looming disaster for this Bahamian
engineer and his family.
Store Closings - Colombian Emeralds, the Freeport based jeweller that is one of the largest in the Caribbean has closed a store in the Freeport
International Bazaar leaving fifteen people out of work. Easy Drug mart, a significant retail pharmacy has closed two stores in Freeport one in
the new RND plaza and another in the Freeport International Bazaar, putting ten more people out of work. Unconfirmed reports have it that the
Big Game Fishing Club in Bimini has laid off 45 of its employees in what would be a major blow to the economy of that island. Big Game was
bought from the Bacardi Company by new foreign investors who have reportedly run out of money and are looking for additional investors.
Signs of the dying days of the FNM administration in the northern Bahamas.