I am becoming more worried by the leader of the opposition, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), the Hon. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis’ thinking/thought process, as he attempts to do his endeavor best and keep the current Free National Movement (FNM) government’s ‘feet to the fire’ but with each attempts he only exposes even more how poorly the former PLP government, of which he was Deputy Prime Minister, governed the country.

“Davis blasts 2,500 job cuts in public sector as ‘shameful’” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis said he is not surprised by the latest unemployment figures, which highlights a ‘shameful’ public sector shrinkage of more than 2,500 jobs, adding he believes the number will double once the complete picture is revealed.

On Friday, Department of Statistics said the country’s unemployment numbers slightly increased from 9.9 percent to 10.1 percent.  This snapshot into the jobs situation included he government sector decreasing by 2,555 people from 40,990 to 38,435, or by 6.3 percent.

Despite an increase in the number of employed people in the Bahamas – by some 3,575 moving the labour force from 200,155 to 203, 730 – the 1.8 percent growth was not enough to significantly impact the unemployment situation as the number of high school graduates outweighed the net increase in available labour.”

First Mr. Davis, let me point out to you as you seek to chastise the current government for the increase in unemployment numbers, Mr. Peter Turnquest has already pointed this out and explained it in the papers at least two days ago, now the question that you, Mr. Davis, should ask yourself is how did we get to this point?

Mr. Davis, I am worried about you now because it would seem that you did not realize the horrendous situation that your government created in the country by continuously using the public sector as a job agency, to pay back your political favors that you made on the campaign trail; as did other governments before you, but yet you now wish to demonize a government that finally seems to have the intestinal fortitude to correct this practice which the government can no longer sustain.

Mr. Davis, you seem to have no problem with suggesting that if your government had won, then you would have gone about business as usual, bringing the economy; already on life support, to a most certain death as your government was not successful in job creation as you would now criticize the current government of, claiming that they do not have a plan. This point is interesting within itself, because even as your government claimed to have had all of the plans the only plan that you seem to have, as far as job creation, was to over staff an already over burdened public sector. 

As you ‘blast’ the current government, will you state for the record that you are proud of the accomplishment of your party in terms of job creation and if you are then you may want to point them out to the rest of the country.

You and your government created a horrible situation within the public sector that has resonated throughout or economy and as it is being corrected, as it should have been years ago, you cry shame on a government willing to take the necessary steps to clean up your mess, you sir, have no shame about you.

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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

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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.

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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?

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“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.

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In a matter, which at this time, has nothing to do with him or his political organization, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) seems to make what can only be seen as a per-emptive strike, in order to save the reputation of his party, at least that is left of it.

“Izmirlian sues CCA – Former developer’s company accuses firm of fraud” – The Nassau Guardian 27 Dec. 2017

Excerpt from this article; BML Properties Limited which was once the company responsible for the development of the Baha-Mar mega-resort, has used China Construction America (CCA), the contractor of record for almost $3.5 billion, claiming CCA defrauded BML ‘in an attempt to gain leverage over BML properties and Baha Mar Limited’, which amounted to ‘one of the largest construction-based frauds in this hemisphere.”

This ‘rock was thrown’ yesterday, in a battle between BML Properties LTD, owned by Sarkis Izmirlian; and China Construction American, the general contractors, in the state of New York but back home the Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) releases this statement in response.

“PLP urges Izmirlian to ‘give it a rest” – The Nassau Guardian 28 Dec. 2017

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Fred Mitchell yesterday labeled former Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian lawsuit against China Construction America (CCA) as ‘an act of revenge calculated to injure The Bahamas and its reputation and to cast aspersions on the PLP.”

First off let me remind Senator Mitchell that The Bahamas and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) are not one in the same, so if Mr. Izmirlian seeks to suggest in his 268-paged summon, that “…..the bankruptcy of his operation was somehow influenced by dealings by the government, then a PLP administration which was secretive and suspect because the documents were sealed by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas”, this would only be detrimental to the ‘reputation’ of the PLP and not The Bahamas, let us get this straight as this in your party’s burden to bear.

There seems to be a sudden case of guilty conscience here, as the chairman seeks to ‘nip this in the bud’ before it mushrooms out of control, but the damage has already been done and the only thing that the chairman and his party can do now is wait until they are formally called upon and asked to answer the burning questions of whether they were complicit in the alleged fraud or just ignorant/unaware to it and all else that was going on around them the time.

As he [Senator Mitchell] seeks to label others as being vindictive and suggesting that they are ruining the reputation of The Bahamas; I would like to recall one of his most infamous rants shortly after the last general election; “IF the Free National Movement loses the next general election, National Security Minister Marvin Dames ‘will understand what it-for-tat means”, this from a seasoned and mature political figure.

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“Activists call for Rolle to step down” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “RIGHTS Bahamas (RB) has condemned the ‘shockingly insensitive comments’ of Minister of Social Services Lanisha Rolle on marital rape and called for her immediate resignation.

RB said as the only woman in Cabinet and particularly in light of her official role in providing for the welfare of the vulnerable, Mrs. Rolle ‘should be ashamed of promoting a perspective that encourages assault against women.”

First question who is “Rights Bahamas”? And secondly, how is Minister Rolle “promoting a perspective that encourages assault against women”?

It seems painfully obvious that Rights Bahamas’s perspective is much different from that which many of us share and is not based in reality.  It is my opinion  that the activist group is either confused in its message or attempting to confuse the public; and most defiantly confused in its interpretation of the minister’s comment as it draws this erroneous conclusion.

The group says that “all forms of non-consensual sexual activity should be outlawed in any society that seeks to call itself a democracy” but the last time I checked these acts were, at no time have I seen marriage being successfully used as a justification for the rape of a spouse; I could be wrong and I always stand to be corrected.

The group continues on to build its case to have the Minister of Social Services and Urban Renewal fired on, what I see, as the misinterpretation of her statement on marital rape being a private matter; how they have reached the conclusion which they have reached is amazing for a group of “intelligent” persons; making an assumption.   Nevertheless, it would seem that they have reached the conclusion that the minister is advocating that a married woman that has experienced the trauma of marital rape not report it and not speak about it, all this from the statement “Marital rape is a private issue””.  This conclusion is not only erroneous; as it is a lie within itself, but is also an asinine intimation.

What I am finding truly amazing is that this “intelligent” group (still working on assumption here), would/could come together over this issue, misconstrue the comments of the minister to fit their agenda; whatever that may be, while claiming to seek to protect one segment of society while putting another segment of the very society at risk; disenfranchising them and further minimalizing their rights; this makes no sense and is plain stupid, there is no other word to describe this reckless and irresponsible action, and does not move the issue which they seek to address forward at all .

The definition of rape in The Bahamas now is; Rape is the act of nay person under fourteen years of age having sexual intercourse with another person who is not his spouse;

1. Without the consent of that person
2. Without consent which has been extorted by threats or fear of bodily harm;
3. With consent obtained by personating the spouse of that other person.

My first suggestion would be to remove the words “…who is not his spouse” from the definition and work from there, because then it should then automatically makes the act of rape a crime.

Finally Rights Bahamas, no one is going to fire anyone under the direction of a face-less, fringe group; which seemed to have formed over night, in a social vacuum, which seem to have no solutions to the serious issue to which they wish to address.

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I said two days ago that our vision is limited only by our ability to reason and to reason; the reactions to the headline in Wednesday’s Guardian by Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Lanisha Rolle, I feel proves this point.

The media printed the headline “Rolle: Marital rape is a private issue” and they did so to sell papers, as is their right, but it would seem that most of us never got past the headline itself, even as the minister went on to explain her comment and the result of this is the current uproar that we have, which in my opinion, has been brought about due to the minister’s poor choice of words and by a set of people that seem determined, due to their desire to be politically correct, to now condemn the minister or anyone else that they see as being as indifferent to the matter of marital rape.

“Rolle: Marital rape is a private issue – Minister says law must have wide support of public” – The Nassau Guardian 20^th December 2017

Excerpt from this article; “Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Lanisha Rolle said yesterday that marital rape is a private issue and before the government considers legislation in relation to it, a public discussion must take place.

UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Dubravka Simonovic suggested last week that The Bahamas is out of step with the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as it has failed to criminalize the act.

“Well certainly we do not support any form of violence against women,” Rolle told reporters outside Cabinet.

“That is the stance the country has taken. Certainly I am one that supports that.

“In relation to marital rape, I’ve always said it is an issue that is private.

“It can become public, but we want to start where marriage is sacred and marriage is private, and so if we are going to legislate any type of law to affect marital couples and relationships between those parties, it is proper to have a conversation with the wider community to get their perspective on how they feel about it.

“Certainly there are existing laws that deal with domestic violence, that deal with sexual offenses; there are laws that are on the books at this time.

“The Penal Code covers several offenses in relation to acts and rape is one of them; assault is another.
“But when we get into the sanctuary of marriage, it’s very, very important, I feel, because this relates to both parties, and nobody else would be there other than those two parties.

“So if we are going to legislate something like that, it must be something where we have the wide support of the community, because we want to protect the privacy of individuals and of marriages and that’s very, very important.”

First, I would like to address the subject of the minister’s use of language; in the very paragraph if she had said “…….that rape was a PERSONAL issue and before the government considers legislation in relation to it, a public discussion must take place”, would we have had this uproar?

Indeed, the issue of marital rape and the act itself is a very personal one and I feel this is why most cases may go unreported, so now to bring about legislation to cover matters that may be private/personal, like the minister says “….and if we are going to  legislate any type of law to affect martial couples and relationships between these parties, it is proper to have a conversation with the wider community to get their perspective on how they feel about it.”

It would appear to me that the Minister of Social Services and Urban Renewal is suggesting that we need to strike a balance between a very sensitive subject, matrimonial affairs, the crime of rape and the legislation of person’s personal lives.  But it would seem that total lack of vision, as to what she is attempting to suggest is being misinterpreted, intentional or unintentionally by those that lack the ability/capacity to comprehend or reason out exactly what would be the ramifications of blind legislation i.e. simply criminalizing marital rape without the necessary safeguards.

It is my personal belief that marital rape as with any other type of rape is wrong but indeed in this instance, which crosses over into the private and personal lives of many persons in a way that many may not understand; bear in mind you now have someone you have trusted enough to exchange marital vows with inflicting violence upon you and violating you in a way that you would have never imagined, there is so much more to now take into consideration which cannot be solved by a ‘catch all’ law that criminalization of marital rape would bring about; there is no vision in that type of legislation and a need, as recommended by the Minister of Social Affairs and Urban Renewal, to have a conversation with the community at large as to a way forward.

END

“Cooper: Junk status nothing to celebrate” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Shadow Minister of Finance Chester Cooper charged yesterday that while there is some relief to The Bahamas avoiding a further downgrade from credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the maintained junk status is not much to celebrate.

Copper once again urged the government to communicate a clear path for growth and economic recovery.

‘It is hoped that the government is receptive to S&P’s advice and analysis on the need to focus on economic growth’, he said in a statement.”

You know there is only so much that anyone in the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) should have to say about the present economic state of the country, unless you are willing to sit down and answer some serious questions; and this is if you were a part of the last administration or not, in active politics or not.

First, let me say that while Chester Cooper MP, now calls for the Free National Movement (FNM) government to ‘communicate a clear path for growth and economic recovery,’ I must suggest that he must have been quite pleased with those communicated by the former Progressive Liberal Party government which led to four economic downgrades, because I never heard his voice raise up in objection or criticism to them, even as the country meandered down the disastrous economic path blazed by the Hon. Perry Christie’s PLP government, and this was as Prime Minister Perry Christie continued to tell the country that the ratings agencies just did not understand what his government was doing; well apparently a lot of us did not know what was being done and we doubted that the Minister of Finance at the time knew, as we were even further downgraded.

So as shadow Minister of Finance, Chester Cooper says, “….while there is some relief to The Bahamas avoiding a further downgrade…., the maintained junk status is not much to celebrate.” And he is correct that junk status is nothing to celebrate, he should acknowledge two things; first, how did we [The Bahamas] get to ‘junk status’ and second, that the Free National Movement (FNM) government was able to arrest the downward spiral that the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) had the country in.

Of course, he will not acknowledge these two facts and probably label this as an attack on the former prime minister and his administration but Mr. Cooper you did put it out there and probably sho0uld be a bit more careful of what you say in this effort just to be heard or because someone puts a microphone in your face.

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