“Turnquest, Cooper offer opposing views on Moody’s unchanged rating” – The Nassau Guardian, Business

Excerpt from this article; “Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest said in a statement on Tuesday that credit rating agency Moody’s unchanged rating for The Bahamas at Baa3 with a negative outlook, reflects stabilization in the country’s credit profile.

However, Exuma and Ragged Island Member of Parliament Chester Cooper, who is the opposition shadow minister for finance, said the unchanged rating indicates Moody’s lack of confidence in the government’s efforts to improve the economy in any significant way.

In a credit opinion issued on Tuesday, Moody’s held its existing credit rating, citing the country’s weak economic strength and increased debt and interest burdens as factors for its decision.

The credit opinion warned that the country could face a downgrade in the next year to year-and-a-half if the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts do not ‘reduce deficits to levels that  would reverse the trend of rising debt ratios and lead to a stabilization in the government’s debt ratio.”

So we have one report and two different opinions; of course we all would expect Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; the Hon. Peter Turnquest to see the “glass as half full’, as he defends the efforts of the governing Free National Movement (FNM) to bring the country’s finances under control and yes, we would expect the Hon. Chester Cooper, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) member of parliament for Exuma and Ragged Island and the opposition’s shadow minister of finance to see the glass as “half empty”, as he attempts to discredit the government’s efforts but Mr. Cooper needs to be very careful as in doing so he is possibly exposing the former Progressive Liberal Party government for the inept, incompetent and lazy government that led to their crushing defeat at the polls in the last general election.

Indeed, Mr. Cooper needs to be very careful and first enquire as to why the glass was “half empty” and in need of ‘repair’ (stabilization) in the first place.  I suggest he looks at the country’s finances during the period the 2012 – 2017 where the country went through four downgrades, a period of time that Mr. Cooper seems to be unaware of, to help him get a better understanding of what is actually is going on today.

While both views may be technically correct about the glasses capacity and present state, the fact is  that it is now stabilized at half its capacity and not set to lose anymore of its content if the present government does not stray away from its current path of fiscal responsibility; so while, Mr. Copper may technically be correct in saying “Rating indicates Moody’s lack of confidence in govt’s effort to improve economy”, he must also admit that ‘something’ right has been done to keep the credit rating stabilized and only time can speak to whether his assessment of Moody’s rating opinion holds any merit.

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It appears that Attorney Fred Smith QC and the group “Rights Bahamas” is “hell bent” on creating more problems within the Bahamian society than they seek to solve and the question is, to what end?  What exactly is their ‘end game’?  Because right now their agenda does not seem to be to the betterment of those whom they claim to defend.

“RIGHTS BAHAMAS PLANS TO TAKE SHANTY TOWN CASE INTERNATIONAL”

Excerpt from press statement; “Human rights group Rights Bahamas is planning to take its shanty town case to the International community, attorney Fred Smith QC, told The Tribune on Friday.

Speaking outside the swearing-in-ceremony of Chief Justice Stephen Isaacs, Mr. Smith described the government’s actions against shanty towns as an attempt to ‘ethnically cleanse’ the country of these villages.

On August 5, the Supreme Court ordered the government and utility providers to halt any planned service disconnections or evictions in shanty towns pending a judicial review of the Minnis administration’s policy to eradicate those communities.

Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson granted the interlocutory injunction blocking evictions and service disconnections just days ahead of the government’s August 10 deadline during a telephone conference with human  right attorney Fred Smith QC, and Attorney General Carl Bethel on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Mr. Bethel told the Senate the government has hired a team of high-powered lawyers headed by Harvey Tynes, QC, to take on Mr. Smith and his team in the matter.

The next day, Rights Bahamas, of which Mr. Smith is the former president, released a statement criticizing the government’s intention to pay lawyers outside the Office of the Attorney General, calling it a ‘waste’ of money.

When asked what the next steps are regarding this legal action, Mr. Smith said: ‘Rights Bahamas is going to the United nations Humans Rights Council and also to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to also present to the international world this terrible attempt to ethnically cleanse the Bahamas of villages composed mainly of people whose heritage is Haitian.”

So now Rights Bahamas has to lay out its case; which is that The Bahamas government is seeking to ethnically cleanse the country of these villages which it just may be doing, as Mr. Smith plays his words game with the term “ethnically cleanse”, seeking to suggest that the government is attempting to rid the country of an entire sector of actually persons, while the government merely seeks to regulate these shanty towns and bring them up to standard worthy of human habitation, why is Mr. Smith distracting from this fact?  Is it because it simply does not serve his narrative what is his narrative?

Mr. Smith must realize that ALL residents of these shanty towns are being ‘targeted’ so for him to say “…..this government is targeting an ethnic community and it is an international crime to do this”, is misleading as it would suggest that only persons of Haitian heritage live in these shanty towns and are being unfairly targeted.

Mr. Smith and Human Rights speaks to the basic human rights and due process which must be afforded to any illegal migrant or anyone building illegally in these shanty towns but refuses to speak to any laws being broken by these persons and also glosses over the fact the nowhere has it been suggested that these persons would not be afforded their due process.

They have been given over eight months to prepare their cases, Mr. Smith is quite aware of this and is being extremely disingenuous as he wishes to present a case to save the way of life for people which he must even see and being substandard and even inhumane; even if most of them see this as a step up from where they have migrated. 

I ask Mr. Smith, why doesn’t Right Bahamas attempt to give those in these communities a hand up instead of fighting for them to continue to live a way of life which you would fight against if they were forced to live under these conditions?

As I have mentioned before, Mr. Smith seems to be going about bringing out wars without compromise, which only serves to further foment discord between Bahamians and Haitians, this is being seen in the case of the valedictorian of Doris Johnson High School who has been accepted by a number of colleges and has received partial scholarships and while we all wish to reward his excellence in academics the reality is that he may not get the chance because of his citizenship status.  At one time many Bahamians would have come to his aid and some still have, while others now take the unfortunate stance of “Why help a foreigner, when our own need help?”

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“Long road ahead for Sir Lynden Pindling Estates residents” – The Nassau Guardian 5^th August 2014

Excerpt from this article; “Janet Munroe, a mother of five, has been living in Sir Lynden Pindling Estates for nearly 10 years.

Munroe, like hundreds of other residents in the area, is living on land that the Privy Council has ruled is owned by Arawak Homes.

The court last Tuesday upheld a Court of Appeal judgment, which affirmed Arawak Homes’ ownership of the property.

Last Wednesday, Arawak Homes President Franon Wilson said the company is giving the residents in the area 12 months to sort out their property titles.”

If I remember correctly these persons were native Bahamian citizens who seemed to have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous real estate agents who led them to legally build, to code on, land which the real estate agents had no rights to; did not own, so eventually the homeowners ended up losing their entire investments.  This was after a court battle to save their homes and after having lived in their homes for up to 10 years.

With this fresh in our mind, we will now come to the present; “INJUNCTED – Judge orders govt. to halt all shanty town clearances” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “THE SUPREME Court has ordered the government and utility providers to halt and planned service disconnections or evictions in shanty towns pending a judicial review of the Minnis administration’s policy to eradicate those communities.

Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson granted the interlocutory[1] injunction blocking evictions and service disconnections just days ahead of the government’s August 10 deadline during a telephone conference with attorney Fred Smith, QC and Attorney General Carl Bethel on Saturday.

Leave for judicial review – file on behalf of 177 shanty town residents from both New Providence and Abaco, and non-profit group Respect Our Homes Ltd (ROHL) – was granted on Friday.

Shanty town residents are seeking to ventilate concerns the government’s eradication policy’ and subsequent evictions are unlawful, unconstitutional and motivated by ethnic discrimination without clear title to land ownership.”

So do Bahamian citizens have to form a non-profit group called Respect Our Country Ltd (ROCL) to bring about law and order in these matters and what exactly does “……ethnic discrimination to without clear title to land ownership” actually mean and how are these eviction being seen as unlawful and unconstitutional?

Does this mean that the government has failed to prove that these persons have illegally built on land that is not theirs?  Or that the persons who have built there are being ‘rewarded’ by not adhering to the laws of The Bahamas has it pertains to land ownership? 

Let me say that it is my opinion that if you are an illegal migrant you then no right to any land in The Bahamas, whether ownership is in question or not and also if you are a squatter, whose ownership is in question as is suggested here, just how long can you be allowed to go on because as in the case of Ms. Janet Munroe vs. Arawak Homes, ten years and an established life does not even give one ‘rights’.

So if you assume that these persons, be they Bahamians, legal migrants or illegal migrants, have built on private land as is being suggested by Fred Smith, then these persons must have gotten permission from the land owners to built illegal structures and if they have built on Crown Land without the permission of The Crown, doesn’t The Crown then have the right to bulldoze these homes if it sees fit?

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[1] adjective

1.

LAW

(of a decree or judgment) given provisionally during the course of a legal action.

“an interlocutory injunction”

2.

rare

relating to dialogue.