“PM ‘purging’ police of PLPs” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis charged yesterday that Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis is purging the police force of PLP’s”

He was referring to the recent shakeup in the force.  Eight senior officers are expected to retire at the end of their leave.

Davis described the forced vacation leaves for officers as ‘shocking’.

‘There’s no obvious need for vacation to be taken at the time without understanding the exigencies of the service of the police and how taking vacation for such a long period of time for so many senior officers will impact the effectiveness of the organization,’ Davis said.

‘I think all of these things ought to be addressed,’

Davis added: ‘It just shows the ineptness.’

The opposition leader claimed that Minnis is ‘purging the force of PLPs”       

I would like to first point out that the entire statement; “There is no obvious need for a vacation to be taken at the time without the understanding the exigencies of the service of the police and how taking vacation for such a long period of time for so many senior officers will impact the effectiveness of the organization, Davis added”, exactly what “exigencies” does Mr. Davis speak to and exactly what effects will be felt by these officers taking such long vacation leave? 

They are being given their just due and asked to retire, hopefully to make room for the upward movement of younger officers – is this really a bad thing or just to the Progressive Liberal Party?

So while Mr. Davis makes these wild and reckless accusations without a scintilla of proof to back them, something which he seems to have become very common for, he must realize that he is asking reasonable thinking Bahamians to take his word for it and they will not.  He must also answer two questions in case even consider these claims; first, how does he know that these senior officers being asked to retire are Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) supporters and two, is he conceding the fact that he the former administration promoted many officers to their senior position based solely on their political allegiance to the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)?

When the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Senator Fred Mitchell was elected to said position, his first communication directed at the chairman of the Free National Movement (FNM), Carl Culmer, was an appeal to not engage in ‘gutter politics’; but with these latest statements this is exactly what the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) is engaging in – it seems that they know no better way.

What is sad is that many PLP supporters will stand resolute in thinking that Mr. Davis will prove his accusations in time, but given the leader of the opposition’s track record, I would not bet the donkey on it

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is within their nature.

END

 

“Tynes: Govt. wrong not to hold mid-year budget debate” – The Tribune 18.03.2019

Excerpt from this article; “FORMER chief parliamentary clerk Maurice Tynes has criticized the handling of the decision not to hold a debate in the House of Assembly on the mid-term budget statement, telling The Tribune the government does not own parliament.

Mr. Tynes was asked to comment on the government’s decision to not hold a debate – an unprecedented departure from previous administrations that has drawn ire of the Official Opposition, as well as FNM party insiders.

‘You don’t do it arbitrarily like it was done this year,’ Mr. Tynes said, ‘it has to be done with discussion with the opposition.  The government party does not own the Parliament, they may control it but then all civil democracies have a discussion between the government and the opposition, and if you’re going to change the rule it has to be done in discussion, not done arbitrarily.’

For his part, however, Mr. Tynes said he always felt it was ‘stupid’ to hold two debates within a three-month cycle, as no other country had this policy.”

First observation is that if Mr. Tynes finds “it stupid to hold two debates within a three-moth cycle”, then eliminating one is not so arbitrary but that is a totally different story, as it would appear that the opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has ceased upon this opportunity to accuse the government of some more wrong-doing; implying that the Free National Movement (FNM) has something to hide despite the facts that the mid-term report has been tabled for the opposition to review, despite the fact that the government released six-month reports on the country’s finances for all to see; outlining borrowing, debt payment and government liability but even with this being put into the public domain there seems to be other problems as the opposition objects to this move.

First, the debate of the mid-year budget statement is not mandated by any parliamentary rule or law unless there “were supplementary appropriate bills or borrowing”, in this case there was not but there was the issue of a contingency line of credit in the amount one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to be used for disaster relief, the point being that this money does not really affect our finances in a negative or positive way unless this line of credit is accessed for disaster relief, so at this point this money does not ‘exist’ as far as the mid-term budget or the budget to be tabled in the few months is concerned.

What is simply amazing about what the opposition Progressive Liberal Party and others protest at this time is a Free National Movement (FM) government deviating from a precedent sent in place by the Hon. Hubert Ingraham during the 2007/2008 budget cycle, it is odd that before 1992, when the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) governed for twenty-five (25) consecutive years, they never saw fit to inform the people to this extent about the country’s finances but now seek to call the removal of this step a move of non-transparency and lack of accountability; this is simply laughable.

So it would appear that the opposition stormed out of Parliament to protest a contingency fund for disaster relief and it is astounding that it would also appear the this Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) opposition party does not seem to understand the country’s finances; which leaves a lot to be questioned and desired  but answers a lot of questions as to the dismal state of the economy under the Progressive Liberal Party government and Philip ‘Brave Davis.

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is within their nature.

END

 

“Majority of Bahamians believe in the PLP” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “OPPOSITION leader Philip Brave’ Davis said yesterday he thinks the majority of the country believes in the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) brand and that the party is for the people.

When asked if he feels the opposition party has shaken the negative perception which led to the Christie administration’s chorusing defeat at the polls in 2017, Mr. Davis said ‘yes’.

At the PLP’s monthly press conference, he also said the PLP is now on its way to reshaping, retooling and lifting up the Progressive Liberal Parry Brand.

He said: ‘I’m satisfied that majority of the Bahamian people still believe that we are the party of the people.’

In the 2017 general election, nearly all of the PLP’s Cabinet ministers and senior members lost their parliamentary seats following a landslide victory for the Free National Movement (FNM).”

It Is clear that Philip “Brave” Davis is clearly delusional or just plain out of touch with reality if he actually believes that the opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has shaken the negative perception which led to the Christie administration’s ‘crushing defeat at the polls in 2017’. 

As he attempts to thrown the former leader of the PLP and former prime minister, the Hon. Perry Christie ‘under the bus’; essentiality blaming him and his brand for the defeat, what he [Davis] fails to realize is that the current leader and current chairman, Senator Fred Mitchell are also seen as being as a part of that “Christie brand” which he now wishes to attempt to distance himself from and until both are gone the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) will always been seen as that which  the Hon. ‘Brave’ Davis suggests it was seen as under Perry Christie.

My advice to Philip ‘Brave’ Davis is to not take the public’s discontent with the Free National Movement (FNM) government as a belief in the Progressive Liberal Party’s ‘brand’; this is a very dangerous and egregious assumption to make but making dangerous and egregious assumptions seems to be the PLP way; that and walking out of the House of Assembly when they can’t get their way.

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is within their nature.

END

Just as the leader of the opposition the Hon. Philip Davis made the declaration that he does not support corruption in any form, in furtherance to his appeal to have Prime Minister, the Hon. Hubert Minnis ‘do the right thing’ and have National Security Minister, Marvin Dames and Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands resign or be fired, it would appear that maybe he [Mr. Davis] may need to step down himself.

At the very least a case can be made to have him step down.

“How STB’s emails were given to PLP” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “A FORMER Nygard employee is claiming he knows Save The Bays emails and financial records ended up in a former MP’s ‘political garbage can’ in 2016.

Vivian Whylly, reportedly a former public relations consultant for the Canadian fashion mogul, alleges the emails and financial information were given to then Progressive Liberal Party deputy leader Philip Davis, who in turn passed them on to-then Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald.

He further claimed a former employee at Mr. Davis’ law firm kept the information on a red USB drive and shopped the STB emails to Nygard asking for $10m.

Based on his claims, a former STB employee and her husband – former Davis and Co. attorney – are also facing legal action.”

This case began with Jerome Fitzgerald, then PLP MP for Marathon and PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, then PLP MP for Fox Hill; attempting to invoke parliamentary to read the private emails of Save The Bays and several of its consultants in the House of Assembly, the problem being they could not adequately explain how they came into the possession of these emails with Jerome Fitzgerald claiming that he had found them in his “political trash can.”

Save The Bays, subsequently was able to file an injunction to have the emails remain private and won a court case against the former PLP member of parliament for Marathon against the further sale and publication of documents relating to STB’s and those that were in support of the organization.

Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles declared Jerome Fitzgerald was not legally justified when he tabled in the private emails of the environment group in Parliament and therefore could not be protected by parliamentary privilege.

Fitzgerald was ordered to pay $150,000 in damages for the breach.

Now it is being alleged that it is was Philip Davis, then Deputy Prime Minister, who was the ‘political garbage can’ that Jerome Fitzgerald referred to, it is no concern of mine how the members in this party refer to one another but rather the fact that it would seem that the deputy leader of the party, now leader of the Progressive Liberal Party was complicate in this act to violate the privacy of other citizens of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and if these allegations are indeed true then is just as guilty or even more so than Jerome Fitzgerald.

I write this not to plead anyone’s case or to point fingers.  I do not write this to suggest that one wrong is not greater than another or to suggest that ‘they did it’ but rather to see if there will be a call for equal treatment.  It is my view just as Dames and Sands are being asked to resign or be fired for behavior labeled as inappropriate, then the leader of the opposition along with his chairman Senator Fred Mitchell also should be called on to resign and be labeled unfit for service, all to stem the evil that is attacking our democracy.

END

“PLP will boycott Parliament until ‘point is made” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Days after Attorney General Carl Bethel called the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) boycott of Parliament unacceptable’, PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell said Bethel has no say in what the party does and that it will continue with its boycott of Parliament until the ‘point is made’.

Mitchell said the PLP is boycotting Parliament over the ‘judicial condemnation’ of two Cabinet ministers in the Frank Smith extortion and bribery trail.

Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands and Minister of National Security Marvin Dames were called to testify during the trail.  In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt was critical of Sands’ and Dames’ conduct in relation to the case.  The PLP called on the men to either resign or be fired.

In a statement yesterday, Mitchell said, ‘The PLP makes this gesture of defiance to say that there cannot be business as usual.

‘The attorney general has no say in what the PLP does or does not do.’

He added, ‘When it is judged in the best interests of the country and the point is sufficiently made, our leader will lead his colleagues back into Parliament and not before.’

PLP senators withdrew from the Senate last Thursday after the PLP Leader Philip Brave Davis announced that the party will boycott the House of Assembly.

At the time, Mitchell said the boycott was in protest on the ‘prosecution’ of PLP supporters by the government.”

So the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has put the pursuit of democracy on hold for either until two FNM members of parliament are fired or in support of “PLP supporters” accused of “several fraud-related offenses.”

Let me first make the observation that the opposition Progressive Liberal party (PLP) ‘conveniently’ became enraged with the entire system and walked out to ‘support PLP supporters’ being taken before for the courts on fraud charges, this after the night before a message was sent out requesting PLP supporters to meet with their leader at the house courts in support of the former Urban Renewal workers, it is funny how that just worked out.

Chairman Fred Mitchell suggests first that because PLP supporters were being charged and brought before the courts is why they are staging a boycott but it can also be for the reason of two members of parliament not either resigning or being fired; maybe it is both?

The leader of the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) recently stood before a group of supporters and told them, as he defended the former Urban Renewal workers, who Chairman Fred Mitchell labels as “PLP supporters”; “Accusation is not the same  as proof” but yet the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party has rallied the troops and boycotted Parliament for the firing of two ministers based on accusations, as nothing in the magistrates ruling(condemnation) points to any illegal act by any of the ministers.

Then there is the leader of the oppositions utterance that he does not support corruption and that there must be evidence, but even in the absence of any evidence he and his party sees fit to boycott parliament in support of ‘PLP supporters’ presently before the courts on fraud charges; exactly what message is the leader of the opposition sending here?  If they are found guilty how will he account for his present actions?

Indeed, this is nothing but political posturing at the expense of the people and most likely to their detriment, because while they have convinced their supporters to come and ‘dance with them’ in this reckless act, these very same supporters have NO voice in parliament.

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is within their nature.

END

“Davis: I do not support corruption” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis told a crowd  of supporters last night that he does not support corruption in any form.

‘Friends, let me say something about the issue of corruption,’ he said during a joint PL branch meeting.

‘I’m not here to defend anyone, ever who takes money from the Bahamian people.

‘As far as I’m concern, if you take a dollar from the public treasury, you’re taking it from our kids, from our hospitals, from our future.’

‘So you show me evidence of corruption, I stand ready to condemn you, no matter your party, but you can’t skip over the evidence part.”

‘An accusation isn’t the same thing as proof, no matter how loudly you make it.”

So if you take it before it gets to the public treasury then is it okay?  I am just asking a general question for clarification.

Indeed it takes a very special person, with a very special mind to stand before a group of people and tell them that they do not support corruption in any form given that this very same person sat by a seemed to facilitate corrupt practices, in government and even within his own party.

Mr. Davis makes the statement; “So you show me evidence of corruption, I stand ready to condemn you, no matter your party, but you can’t skip the evidence part.”  Indeed, you cannot skip the evidence part but it light of poorly produced evidence, even Mr. Davis should seek to distance himself from perceived corruption; unless you live by the creed, “It is not what you know it is what you can prove.”

Mr. Davis says he needs evidence to support claims of corruption but if a bucket leaks but you cannot see the leak, then by his rational, the bucket is not leaking.

Mr. Davis, points to the Frank Smith case to prove a pattern of an attack on democracy and ‘persecution’ on PLP supporters, as he seeks to justify his support of former Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley, who now stands accused of defrauding the government of $1.2 million, and seems quick to point out that Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt in her ruling on the Frank Smith extortion case said that there was not a scintilla of evidence to support the charges [“There is not a scintilla of evidence to support the fact that there was meeting between Barbara Hanna and the accused prior to the award of the contract.”  Based on this Mr. Davis and supporters have called for the immediate resignation of Dr. Duane Sands, minister of health and Marvin Dames, minister of national security for alleged ‘wrong doings’, and all of this without a scintilla of evidence; let us also bear in mind that nowhere in her ruling did the chief magistrate suggest that the either Dames or Sands did anything criminal or even that former PLP senator, Frank Smith was innocent of the charges brought before him.

Indeed, Mr. Davis is a very special person with a very special mind and while many may suggest that he himself may be corrupt or not corrupt; his seeming wiliness to facilitate corrupt practices by turn a blind-eye to them leaves a lot to be thought about.

 END

Statement form the Leader of the Opposition [the Hon. Philip Davis]

Responding to The Prime Minister

28 January 2019

Except from this statement; “Bahamians were treated from their Prime Minister to a litany of non-performance.  What a travesty this address was.  A nothing burger trying to pass for sensible public policy and accomplishment.

Mr. Prime Minister, after twenty months I office you must surely know you cannot simply pronounce something as truth – that which is clearly false.  You have fallen short.

The Prime Minister stapled together every piece of paper he could to try to make the government look ‘busy’. It’s the kind of thing that children do when the teacher walks into the class.  But nothing he said tonight can hide the fact that this government is failing.

I wonder who is the ‘the teacher’ in this situation.

Mr. Leader of the Opposition; the Hon. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, I label your entire response to the prime minister’s address as “non-responsive”, as it really does not state exactly how you see the government as failing but rather runs off on a tangent only understood by the person(s) that wrote it and the person that presented it.

The question that I have for you is do you really believe anything that you said or do you see the possibility for the further erosion of your base and would do and say anything to prevent this?

As you speak to others of stapling “together every piece of paper’….to make the government look busy”, many now wonder if this was the tactic that was employed by the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government when it came to the polices of the country; which was seen in its total lack of coherent and competent governance which subsequently led to them being fired the electorate.?

I must then go on to ask you exactly what has been stopped, cancelled and reviewed by the present administration when there was nothing left in the place of any substance to stop, cancel and review.

It is truly said, ,the manner in which you and your political organization has responded to change and actual progress and have brought most to the realization you either never wanted it  [progress] for the people because you feared that which you did not know – like our early ancestors that feared the sun itself.

END

“2018 murder count lowest in nine years” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “With 90 murders recorded in 2018, The Bahamas has seen the lowest murder count since the 85 reported in 2009.

Murders decreased by 26 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 when there were 122 murders.

Police reported last year that while rape increased by 12 percent, murders, shootings, armed robberies and stolen vehicles saw  significant decreases compared to 2017.

Minister of National Security Marvin Dames attributed the decrease to the police force’s adjustment of operational strategies.

During the budget debate last June, Dames said when the Free National Movement came to office Bahamians were tired of high murder rates and ‘demanded that this administration get to work.’

‘We did’, he said. ‘We initiated and executed our short, medium and long term goals in our crime plan.  And while we are certainly not resting on our laurels, we are making inroads in reducing crimes.”

First allow me to say that it is never a good idea to make crime a political issue, because it entails much more than the legislators and the police but it also involves the people at large, but at the same time to not acknowledge that maybe that something positive may have been done is very disingenuous; because if the crime rate had escalated beyond the statistics of the previous years many, if not all of us,  would look to the government to shoulder the blame.

There are many amongst us that would say that to ‘celebrate’ a low murder rate is a poor barometer of the state of a country but while I really do believe that anyone is ‘celebrating’; as the Minister for National Security suggests, we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, there must be some acknowledgment that maybe the Ministry of National Security, along with the Royal Bahamas Police Force and all other branches of national security are indeed making some progress and should be encouraged in their efforts if they are not going to be commended.

END

 

First let me give a definition of “undeliverable mail” for all the persons who seem to either not understand the term or wish to mislead others who do not understand the term.

“Undeliverable Mail” is usually mail that CANNOT be delivered because of incorrect or incomplete addresses or just illegible addresses.  This mail, being deemed undeliverable, if it cannot not be returned to sender because  of no return address then becomes property of the Post Office and is usually labeled ‘dead mail’ and stored away.

“Minister confirms undeliverable mail was shredded” – The Nassau Guardian

Excerpt from this article; “Minister of Transport and Local Government Renward Wells confirmed that the postmaster general authorized the shredding of undeliverable last month.

‘Customers can be assured that the post office department takes the security and delivery of mail very seriously and that operations remain within the ambit off the law.’ Wells said in a statement.

‘To assist our efforts, all customers are encouraged to clear their private boxes regularly’

‘The Minister of Transport and Local Government has resolved that the standard of the post office will be restored to one that will regain respect of our international partners.’

He said the last deliberate destruction of undeliverable mail occurred on November 1 and 2.”

So what has been going in is a return to normal procedure but if this is the case then what is the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament for Englerston complaining about?

It would appear that former Minister and Aviation; Ms. Hanna-Martin, was alerted to claims of mass shredding that was taking place at the General Post Office and instead of taking the matter to the police to report the ‘illegal act’, she [Mr. Hanna-Martin] found it more prudent to raise the matter in the House of Assembly and I ask her and others that should be more aware of what is going on; how are you not embarrassed all the time as you lose your personal credibility when you offer such foolishness as grand malfeasances by the current Free National Movement (FNM) government and it turns out to be nothing out of the ordinary at all?  Is your reputation really worth that little to you?

Surely there must come a time when you feel some sort of shame about yourself but is seems that each and every time the people have thought that they have heard the last stupid statement from Her Majesty’s Royal Opposition; they double down and out do themselves and attempt to deliver them another undeliverable message.

THE END

 

This week has been primarily dominated by comments made by the prime minister when he suggested that he was not very concerned about a national strike threat.

“PM dismisses nat’t strike threat” – The Nassau Guardian – 05.12.2018

Excerpt from this article; “Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said yesterday he is not concerned about any threat of a national strike, but more concerned about how the Saxon Superstars will perform in the approaching Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade.”  Even after it was suggested that these comments were taken out of context by a seasoned news reporter, the feeding frenzy continued.

It was my opinion that these comments, in their proper context, suggested that the prime minister was and is confident that the matters were being competently dealt with by those responsible for their resolution but what I find truly interesting is while is while most found this issue to actually be ran issue, there does not seem to be the same ‘appropriate’ outcry over issues which actually seem to be more important and pressing, in my opinion.

“Cameras broken at murder scene” – The Tribune NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday law enforcement will ‘go vigorously’ after those responsible for the two double homicides that occurred in the capital this week.  As Monday’s shooting occurred at Sandilands Rehabilitation Center, Mr. Dames also said he is working with a team to create a ‘robust policy’ to improve security at ‘all government properties’.

Mr. Dames also confirmed that Sandilands’ surveillance cameras were not working at the time of Monday’s incident.  He made the remarks yesterday following a graduation ceremony for inmates at [The] Bahamas of Correctional Services.  On Monday morning, Neil Deveaux and Ashlee Hilton were ambushed in their car as they attempted to leave Sandilands following a physical therapy session for Deveaux, who was shot several months ago.”

So let me just ask, if the CCTV system is outside the very gates of The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services are “not working” or were not at the time of this incident; then realistically what are my expectations in the rest of the system being operational?  While these may not save the lives of the two persons killed in this incident this should be a very real concern for all of us but yet we rather rant and rage about the prime minister not being overly concerned over labour disputes which are being addressed.

We as a nation are not really serious.

THE END