As the leader of the opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Philip ‘Brave’ Davis objects to term limits for the prime minister post, the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Senator Fred Mitchell announces the party’s upcoming convention for the PLP as the party seems to seek to change it public perception/image by making it seem to be democratic.

“PLP convention set for November” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis yesterday confirmed the party will host a convention ‘before the end of this year’ in alignment with the party’s constitution.

Davis said the details are expected to be discussed at the party’s leadership council this week, but PLP chairman Senator Fred Mitchell told The Guardian that the PLP will host a convention November 14-16 with all leadership positions up for grab”.

 

It is interesting that a political organization that held a convention in January 2017, months before the 2017 general election, its first convention since 2009, now seeks to have a convention almost every six months in order to seem democratic, while conceding to operating in an undemocratic manner for over eight years. 

What is more interesting is the fact that the people who seek to control this new and strange activity in the party are the very ones that were present the entire time as they violated their very own constitution; violating the rights of members of the party but isn’t this the very reason as to why the leader of the opposition objects to term limits for the office of the prime minister; “To legislate term limits may well be depriving the citizens of what they desire?”

Really, how do you now as the most undemocratic political organization in the country, now seek to pull the veil of democracy out at your convenience? 

We do not buy it.

So there we have it, a tale of a political organization which now attempts to dabble in democracy after having deprived its very own elected and paying members of their constitutional right to choose its leaders for years. 

As the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) sets yet another convention date, proclaiming “all leadership positions up for grabs”, many still wonder about the democracy of this process where the stalwarts far outnumber the delegates.

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“Sands ‘deviated’ from contract procedure – Minister denies the was ‘out to get’ Frank Smith” – The Nassau Guardian – Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Excerpt from this article; “Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands admitted yesterday on the stand that he ‘deviated’ from normal procedure when he approved the award of a 1.8 million cleaning contract to Magic Touch Company which is owned by Barbara Hanna.

Sands made the admission during cross examination in the briery and extortion trail of former Public Hospital Authority (PHA) Chairman Frank Smith.

Hanna has alleged that Smith demanded and received $60,000 from her, from 2016 to 2017; after he allegedly helped her company win a contract to clean the Critical Block of Princess Margaret Hospital.

Smith has denied the charges.

It was previously revealed in court that Hanna was awarded a second contract in 2017, valued at $1.8 million, three months after Smith was charged.

The contract was awarded, according to the minutes from the PHA board, without approval from the board.  The board did approve it later.

Last Tuesday, it was noted that Sands approved the second contract for Hanna following a recommendation from PHA’s tender analysis committee and a legal opinion from the Attorney General.

During his testimony last week, Sands said Hanna who donated $300 to his election campaign to 2016, alleged she was making monthly cash payments of $5,000 to Smith and that she asked for help.  Sands said he told Hanna to go to the police.”

What I have found amazing about the way in which this trail has unfolded is the manner in which the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has been able to shift the focus of this case from the allegations of bribery and extortion by former PHA Chairman Frank Smith to one where we now have Dr. Duane Sands, the present Minister of Health services being “bought” for the sum of three hundred dollars [$300].

So a donation of $300 was made during the he lead up to the last general election and from this we are being asked to connect the following dots; one, that Dr. Sands had foreknowledge that he would win the Elizabeth seat, that the Free National Movement (FNM) would win the general election and that he would be made Minister of Health because only with these three things happening would he ever have the opportunity to ‘go after’ Frank Smith.

Then we look at this $300 dollars that the minister is said to have sacrificed his political and medical career for, we wonder what about the money that brought this case about in the first place, the $600,000 [six hundred thousand dollars], a quick look through Ms. Wilson’s financials would easily prove this but then there has been an objection by the defense to the introduction of Hanna’s banking information, imagine that.

But then there is this lie that the health minister has been caught in right?

While the Dr. Sands admits to deviating from contract procedure, I ask two questions;

1. Did he have the authority to ‘deviate’ from contract procedure? And
2. Did he do anything illegal when he did, given the circumstances? The circumstance as explained by him but which has been totally glossed over was the immediate need for someone to clean the hospital.

At this point, the major issue is that Dr. Sands has proven to be a horrible witness, it is that simple and there are two things at play here.  The allegations of extortion and bribery by Frank Smith of Barbara Hanna and Dr. Sands deviating from contract procedure; one of these issues has been answered with a plausible explanation while the other has been answered by attempting to make this deviation more nefarious that it is really is and to make it seem more salacious than the claim of bribery and extortion.

The funny thing about the entire situation is that only the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) would even consider being brought for $300 because this is something that they would do, as it is their nature.

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“Govt. Purchases Grand Lucayan Resort” – The Tribune 22. Aug. 2018

Excerpt from this article; “The Minnis administration has purchased the Grand Lucayan resort in Grand Bahama, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced after a tour of the property on Wednesday.

During a press conference on the island, Dr. Minnis said the government made a deposit of $10 million on the property. The full purchase price is $65 million on the property, Dr. Minnis said.

Dr. Minnis said it is not the government’s intention to run the hotel, saying it is his administration’s intent to save jobs, saying if the three-property would close, it would have a ‘devastating’ impact on Grand Bahama.

He said the government was ‘holding’ the property to preserve the island’s economy and as soon as possible, the hotel would be sold.”

 I read this article and thought while the government’s intentions may be good; the holistic approach to the goal of preserving ‘the islands economy’ could not be realized by the simple act of buying the resort.  So I waited for the opposition Progressive Liberal Party to interject a more viable solution to the issue and got the leader of the PLP, Philip ‘Brave Davis’ suggesting that the purchase of the resort would be a ‘a waste of money’ without giving any viable solution to the economic woes that face the island of Grand Bahama but then why should I expect vision from a set of people that only increased the cost of government on that island during their last years in office, which did nothing to lessen the problems of that island, really not surprised by their lack of vision but then enters Maurice Glinton with his opinion, with most of us being like, “WHO?”

“Lawyer says resort’s purchase unlawful” – The Tribune 6 Sept 2018

Excerpt for this article; “ATTORNEY Maurice Glinton QC believes the Minnis administration’s purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort is unlawful.

In a recent written opinion price, he described the purchase as evidence that the government’s ‘decision making process-making process (or lack thereof) is critically impaired’.

‘By that’, he noted, ‘I mean ‘flawed’ for not obviously being informed as such process must be by views of proximate stakeholders consulted on the practicality and legality of an acquisition that will make The Bahamas government a licensee of Grand Bahama Port Authority Limited entitled to enjoy the benefits and privileges in virtue of the 1955 Hawksbill Agreement and the subsequent 1960 and 1966 amended agreements, all statutory in nature as enabled by Acts of the Bahamian Parliament.”  As I listen to Mr. Glinton’s contribution I first wonder where did he come from but at the very least he brought to the forefront what I feel may the problem here, which in my opinion is the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

Although I understand why the Minnis administration has committed to the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort, I do not feel that it was the most prudent move in this case because of the economic strangle hold that the Port Authority has on the Freeport area; my solution is a simply this, if the Port continues to be the problem as it pertains to the economic advancement of Grand Bahama, then put them out of business or just work them out of the equation and the only way that I can see this being done is by shifting the economic focus of Grand Bahama from the city of Freeport to East End or West End, preferably West end.

It has been speculated that the purchase of the resort will be financed by the Chinese government, who currently own the resort; so borrowing from them to buy and fix a property that they seem uninterested in makes no sense to me, so I simply suggest that the government take that money to build a new hotel and casino with airport in the east or west and allow the current owners of the Grand Lucayan to unload the property while they continue to pay extra  taxes to the Port Authority.

There was a recommendation by former Prime Minister, the Hon. Hubert Ingraham for the government to buy the Port Authority instead of the resort but are the Haywards and St. George families even willing to sell, I doubt it, it is a sure ‘pay check’.

I say then force the families into a timey ‘death’ and go in and purchase the Port for pennies on the dollar and then dismantle it because it has long served its purpose for the island of Grand Bahama and the Freeport area and only now serves to make the ease of business in that area that much more difficult and another advantage of building a new hotel with its own airport, beside shifting the economic focus of the island, would be that if you are serious about selling the resort because you do not want to be in the hotel business, would be that the allure of a new resort is much more attractive to an investor.

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“Anger On The Roads Over New University Crossing” – The Tribune, 31^st August 2018

Except from this article; “MOTORISTS stuck in long lines of traffic were confused and angered yesterday by the newly installed HAWK pedestrian signal crosswalk on University Drive.

As several students have been hit crossing the street between the Michael Eldon Building and the main University of The Bahamas campus, officials said it adds a safety mechanism for students who need to cross the street.

But because the new system’s traffic light does not ever change to green to signal when they could go, some driver did not know if and when it was safe to drive through the crossing.

Others did not acknowledge the system’s flashing lights and drove through the pedestrian’s markings as some students were crossing.

On the other hand, most students were not using the system properly and did not wait for the ten second system countdown for the walk signal.

The chaos this created yesterday led many motorists to voice their frustrations and honk their horns, telling reporters they had no idea how the new system was to work.

Generally, they all agreed this would create a daily nightmare in the area.”

I find it disheartening that in this day and age we are even having this conversation of how do we get university across the street safely and if my commentary seems to be insensitive then maybe it is supposed to be.

I have always found this area to be an area to avoid when the university was in session because the entire situation could make the most ‘saved’ lose their religion because it is as if the university students treat that section of street as if it is ‘pedestrian only’, having no consideration for motorists, so there is already a certain level of animosity between the driving public and the students and the only way that I feel that this situation can be resolved is by the students first having some common sense on how to use a crosswalk in the first place because until they are able to grasp the concept of how to use a simple crosswalk; the more advanced system of HAWK (High-Intensity Activated crosswalk) is lost on them, as it has already been reported that there is some level of confusion on how the system works.

“As several students have been hit crossing the street…”? Really? I don’t mean to sound insensitive, or maybe I do, but even the ‘potcake’ has seemed to figure out a way to safety cross the street but then many of them are running when they see a chance to get across ,so could this be the solution?  Does the University of The Bahamas have to introduce a course on how to cross the street; “Crossing the Street 100 – How to Safely Cross the street”

Before I leave, driving down Carmichael Road this morning I saw a school child attempting to cross the street where there is NO crosswalk; she came to a STOP, waited until the traffic STOPPED and HUSTLED across the street; maybe I should have videotaped it for the university students.

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