I know that I had promised that I was not going to comment on this subject but I am simply amazed and therefore feeling somewhat compelled to bring to light the special type of people that we have here in The Bahamas.

First we had the Minnis administration come into office and within less than six months on the job were asking for a raise, one would figure that from the public backlash from this that other ‘special’ persons would take note but I guess that was far too much to ask for as they have come forth feeling quite pleased with themselves as they make suggestions that would actually impede the progress of the country as they attempt to hold on to an outdated style of thinking.

“PLP MP: BPL should protect politicians – Forbes claims operatives targeting certain politicians for disconnection” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Mangrove Cay and South Andros MP Picewell Forbes yesterday petitioned for politicians to be protected from being disconnected by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) for nonpayment, saying those who serve, or served, should be given a ‘basic respect and courtesy’.

Forbes asserted that ‘some people’ in BPL have disconnected the service of certain politicians to ‘settle political scores’.

‘Mr. Speaker, talking about light bills, and how we are treated, politicians, we have to talk about that.’ He said.

‘That is the reality.  It’s a small amount of persons who would have passed through theses halls, senators, members of Parliament.’

‘…I think there must be a basic benchmark or protocol for persons whose lights are going to be turned off, people who serve in public office or those who would have served.”

Sir, the only reality here is that if you do not pay your electrical bill you will be disconnected, like the many other citizens of the country whom, by the way, you should be setting an example for and the only courtesy that you will be afforded is a notice that your account is overdue and about to be disconnected.

It is simply amazing that while the Member of Parliament pontificates for this ‘common courtesy’ to be extended to his colleagues, past and present, he does not seem to ‘champion the cause’ of the average citizen who is struggling to put food on the table, most likely in the dark; I guess he has forgotten about them as he petitions the government to keep his lights on.

His words and act are nothing less than shameless

END

 

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), while in government, created a false sense of security within The Bahamas when it ‘created’ jobs which The Bahamas’ economy could not afford to sustain but yet as these jobs are being phased out they come to the public and proclaim that the current Free National Movement (FNM) government is failing in the area of job creation.

“Davis rakes FNM on joblessness”  – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article’ “Opposition Leader Philip Brave Davis said yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest’s admission that the government expects some increase in the rate of joblessness in The Bahamas shows the Free National Movement (FNM) ‘deliberately created higher unemployment’ in the country to ‘fulfill their political agenda..’

‘In five years under the PLP (Progressive Liberal Party), unemployment was reduced to single digits with 39,505 jobs being added in the economy,’ said Davis in response to Turnquest accusing the former administration of creating ‘bogus’ contract jobs the government could not afford or sustain.

In the last unemployment survey, the Department of Statistics revealed that 16,000 people were ‘vulnerable’ or temporary workers, with 7,700-plus jobs added in the last six months of the Christie administration’s term.

‘The PLP left the economy on its feet,’ Davis continued .

‘We built a firm and solid foundation on which to build.”

Exactly what “firm and solid foundation” was this?!

From this statement I get the feeling that we all could solve the country’s economic woes by simply marketing whatever the leader of the opposition is on, but I have the propensity to digress.

It is indeed a difficult task to explain to people when they are hurting, why the present government is doing what it is doing and the past Progressive Liberal Party administration is depending on this very fact to push a message of “Is it really the people’s time?” when they push this narrative of the inability of the government to create jobs but one must really look at the past government’s record on job creation when they claimed that ‘things were good’ and ask why were these jobs, for the most part,  in the public sector where money was being spent at a rate that the country was just unable to sustain?

Wouldn’t the economy being severely depleted to the point where it was downgraded to a point where your currency was not worth the paper that it was printed on at some point of the other at this rate?

But then this statement by the leader of the opposition is really not about the government’s inability to create jobs, they know exactly what the current situation is and what has to be done to correct the situation although they did not have what it took to do so, but rather it is more about some deranged conspiracy theory in the mind of Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and only a ‘Brave’ person could talk such nonsense and walk away from it not thinking of the possible consequences.

“…shows the Free National Movement (FNM) ‘deliberately created higher unemployment in the country to ‘fulfill their political agenda”, who was it in the former PLP administration that recommended a psychological examine of those running for public office?  It would have been much more acceptable if he had suggested that this was a sign that the present FNM had no plan for job creation but to suggest that the present government is making the situation worst to be seen as ‘heroes’ when they fix it only suggests that there is a plan in place and that he [the  leader of the opposition] sees the plan but wishes not to acknowledge it out right but attack it from some weird , schizophrenic angle.

Indeed, the former administration created a false sense of security that was bringing the country to its knees financially and has this situation is being corrected, they seek to undermine the work being done with what amounts to nothing more than senseless babble.

END

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) seems to be at it again; showing how dysfunctional they are as a political organization and giving us very good reason to never again return them to office, at least not in this form.

This time they choose to show their ineptitude and in competence by highlighting their failure as a government on crime by attempting to highlight the present government’s failures on crime but it seems that this message they cannot quite agree on as they seek to respond to the latest crime stats.

First let us address the person that seems to know the future but did not seem to know much about anything when he held the office of deputy prime minister, Philip ‘Brave’ Davis; as he makes the claim that the Free National Movement (FNM) government has failed to lessen crime but making this announcement one day before the release of the crime figures, he is simply amazing.

“Davis: FNM failed to lessen crime – Former DPM claims closing the NIA has led to increased crime” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Suggesting there could be some correlation between the disbandment of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and an increase in certain categories of crime, opposition leader Philip Brave Davis said yesterday the Free National Movement (FNM) claimed to have the answers to reduce crime in The Bahamas, but has not demonstrated this.

However, new crime numbers are not yet out.

Davis called the Minnis administration “hypocritical” and “disappointing.”

Then as the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party goes on to make these statements that were proven erroneous by the crime stats released the very next day, maybe his crystal ball is a bit cloudy and in need of a tune-up, the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Senator Fred Mitchell goes about and off on a totally different rant which clearly contradicts those being made by his leader as he claims that the country has to thank the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) for the fall in crime.

“Mitchell says fall in crime is thanks to PLP” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Fred Mitchell yesterday criticized the media, the Free National Movement, and Minister of National Security Marvin Dames for what Mitchell perceives to be an in accurate narrative surrounding who is responsible for the reported decrease in crime in the country.

Mr. Mitchell is adamant that ‘the PLP put in place the programmes that the country is now benefitting from in seeking to lessen violence in the society.’ He also accused the media of ‘adoring’ the Free National Movement in view of recent police statistics revealing that overall crime declined by 14 per cent in 2017, though there was a 10 per cent increase in murders.”

Now let me warn you Senator Mitchell, if you are going to take credit for the decrease in crime overall then you are going to have to take credit of the uptick in the murder rate as well but this is like talking to a brick wall in this regard and probably a waste of time.

So someone is hedging their bet here; if the crime figures are accurate then they are were made possible by the previous PLP administration and its policies that they left in place and have already accused the current FNM of reviewing and cancelling and they are not accurate, then the Free National Movement has failed in crime.

The entire situation reminds me of the when the Progressive Liberal Party, when in power, claimed for years that the economy was ‘turning the corner’ despite the figures to prove the opposite and despite the economic downgrades that seems to follow each and every one of these announcements. 

Who would believe a word that comes out their camp of chaos and confusion anymore?

END

“Former BAIC employees sue government” The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Attorney Wayne Munroe has taken legal action against Attorney General Carl Bethel on behalf of four employees of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) over their alleged ‘unlawful’ arrest and false imprisonment’, last May.

The plaintiffs in the matter, Ricardo Smith, Latorna McPhee, Branado Smith and Andrea Moss are seeking ‘costs and such other relief as the court deems just and fit.’

‘The plaintiff’s claim is for the unlawful arrest and false imprisonment on the part of the defendant, its servants and or agents in consequence whereof the plaintiff suffered loss and damages from the 16^th day of May, 2017 to the 17^th day if May 2017’, the writ of summons said.

‘The plaintiff were unlawfully arrested at their place of employment, namely the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation and subsequently unlawfully detained without reasonable cause at the South Beach Police Station and the Cable Beach Police Station.”

Don’t you just hate it when they be moving from station to station like that?

Seriously; where is the merit in this law suit?

First let us begin with the fact that attorney Wayne Munroe QC has taken legal action against the government on this matter; was there even a government in place when these arrests were made?  I take it to believe that the Queen’s Council in attempting to force the hand of the attorney general to get this case moving or resolved or maybe to just get his name in the papers and remain relevant until the next general election; I really do not know what his motives are don’t care but I do care about facts.

These are facts; former BIAC Chairman and former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament for Nassau Village was arrested the night of the election when they were observed moving certain equipment from the government-owned Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation buildings.

It is my understanding that government buildings are normally under surveillance on the night of elections to avoid thief and or/vandalism; so the police believing that they were observing suspicious behavior, intervened and took into custody all that were present, which is normal procedure.  It would seem that by the mere virtue of who he was at the time, still being the Executive Chairman of the corporation in question, that he [Dion Smith] and others were supposed to have been given a ‘free pass’ to do as they please without the police conducting a proper investigation, as their lawyer goes on to claim “….that their arrest and detention overnight was directly linked to their perceived political affiliation.”

 So today we have what is nothing more than a frivolous lawsuit filed against the government who was not in power at the time and not the Royal Bahamas Police Force who would be responsible for what is being called an “unlawful detention during [the] police investigations into complaints of thief by reason of employment”, which would have never occurred if the Mr. Smith had done what normal politicians did and watched the election returns at his campaign headquarters with his poll workers and campaign workers, but instead he choose to take a select few into this office at the time and create a “Super Bowl” party type atmosphere for what he and others in the Progressives Liberal Party (PLP) saw as an election that they could not loose.

It is time that the Wayne Munroe and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) just let this whole thing go and just be satisfied to prove that the electronic equipment being removed was indeed the property of the defendants and not the property of the government, so that the charges can be dropped.  I would also encourage the Attorney General, whose hand they wish to force, to release his findings in this case and either drop the charges or press on so that Mr. Munroe can find another opportunist hole to climb into, as far too much time and resources are being wasted on this case.

END