A Voter#39;s Manifesto

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By NICOLETTE BETHEL:

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WITH elections three weeks away and three political parties that apparently have yet to formulate, much less articulate, any new or credible plan for Bahamian development or growth in 21st century (and no, planning to beg more rich people for more money to buy up more of our precious archipelago does not count), I think it#39;s time for the average Bahamian, the voter, to exercise her democratic right and put down in print what will or will not get her vote.

I am a Bahamian who has never really been represented by any party that has held power in The Bahamas to date. I am a woman, middle class, neither black nor white, a cultural worker and intellectual, a citizen and a voter, an ordinary Bahamian who does not campaign, carry a voter#39;s card, attend rallies, or otherwise show her face during the silly season that surrounds politics.

I pay my taxes in every way they are presented to me. I have never sat in a politician#39;s office to beg for anything when doing so was not part of my job as a civil servant. I have been eligible to vote in the past six general elections but in that time I have only once been visited by a prospective MP, who believed that he was making a social call on old friends, my parents. I have never, in my civilian position, called any sitting politician for a job, for a handout, for a favour, for any sort of help. I do not work in the tourism industry, real estate, the construction industry, or any other area that figures in political discussions of quot;jobsquot; and quot;economicsquot; or anything else.

I am one of thousands of productive, independent, patriotic Bahamians who make this country run on a daily basis. I took the opportunities offered to me by the first independent government of The Bahamas and went off and earned a college degree. I came home because I wanted to serve and build my country. To date, my country has not put in place anything to serve and build me; to every politician who has served in parliament in the time I have been voting, people like me have been invisible. In our democracy, we do not count.

And so: a voter#39;s manifesto.

I believe:

• 
  that Bahamians are as intelligent, as resourceful, as industrious, as talented and as deserving as any other group of people on the planet

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[Read on Here]

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By Julie Charles:

It was Saturday morning and visiting hours at the hospital were about to begin. I called out to my mom and told her that we had to hurry up because we needed to go and check on my uncle as soon as possible. To this day, I never understood the urgency in my spirit but I knew we had to leave shortly. For some reason or the other we could not get out the house fast enough but, when we finally did, I drove as fast as I could to get there. I got out of the car and began to hasten my steps. As I reached the corridor, I heard a scream and then saw my cousin on the ground.

My mind did not register that the scream came from her so I continued my journey quickly to my unclersquo;s room. As I walked in, I saw him lying peacefully on the hospital bed and again my mind could not comprehend that he was gone. I sat on the chair next to him and just stared. I felt my motherrsquo;s hands on my shoulder and heard her say, child he is in a better place now and he is in no more pain. What did she mean a better place? Is she really saying that he is dead? Canrsquo;t she see that is he is only resting?nbsp;

Shortly after, a nurse came into the room and begun to wrap him up in white linen. I asked what is she doing to my uncle and I was told that she was preparing him for the hearse to come for his body. I could not understand what they were saying, because to me, my uncle was just sleeping. Preparing him for the hearse, has everyone gone mad? I sat and watched as the nurse continued to wrap him up and then it became evident to me that he was gone.nbsp;



I then got up and walked out of the room and continued walking until I reached the furthest point of the hospital and sat and began to cry. Then, I felt a hug and looked up and saw my adopted fatherrsquo;s smile. He said, my darling child I know you are hurting but only time can heal. He then began his usual way of making me laugh. As I tried to cheer myself up, I realised that they were taking my uncle out in a body bag and I took off running. Where are they taking him? My mother held me and said, ldquo;Let him go.rdquo;nbsp;



I donrsquo;t understand, it was just a couple days ago I lay on his bed chatting up a storm with him. We talked about Carnival and how he enjoyed watching me play mas. We talked about how hard he had worked for his family. We talked about the basketball team, the Chicago Bulls, who would not stop losing their games. Now, I am being asked to accept that he was gone. My head started hurting real bad and it felt like a forty piece orchestra was having a recital in my head. I needed to go home and fast. I looked around and saw my mother who is always serene and calm, especially during difficult times. I then asked her if she was okay, knowing that she had just lost her brother. She said, I am fine and God knows best.



We got home and I took to my bed. I wish I could just take off my head and rest it on the dressing table. I started thinking about the first time my uncle called me with a quiver in his voice. I was shocked as I have always heard his voice firm and strong. He said, my niece, I have prostate cancer. I was shaken but I quickly recovered and asked him what the doctor had said and he started to repeat. As usual my spirit said of course we will fight this disease. That is what this family does, we fight and we donrsquo;t give up. So I put on my mental armour and I told him not to worry we will fight.nbsp;



I started to research and ask as much questions as I could about the disease. I needed to arm myself with information so I know what to ask the doctors. For three years, he held on and at one point we really thought we had this disease beaten. He was strong again, he was working, and enjoying life but then it came back in full force and no amount of medication could stop its progress. Watching my uncle roll around in utter pain while tears came out his eyes will always remain branded in my mind. I will never forget him telling me he loved me and that he was proud of me days before he died. It was as if he knew he was leaving and he wanted me to know how he felt.nbsp;



Even then I could not grasp that he was leaving. I kept hope alive in my mind because I could not fathom my world without my uncle in it. He was my father figure since a child; he was my financier for college; he was my cheerleader when I wanted to try something new, and he was my counsellor who was never afraid to speak his mind.nbsp;



The day of his funeral was one of the most painful moments of my life. I prayed all morning that Father would give me the courage to make my tribute to him. As I walked in and viewed him, my heart eased a little because he looked so peaceful. When the time came to give my tribute, I walked past his coffin knowing that there lay my uncle and I would never have the blessing of his counsel again. I delivered my tribute but ended up a tearful, snotty mess.nbsp;



At the graveside, I could not watch them put him in the ground so I stood off while a friend comforted me. I could not say goodbye to him as I could not understand why he was gone. To this day he is always with me in my memories but I will never forget the disease that took him so early in his life.



Therefore, I urge every man over the age of forty to get their prostate checked on an annual basis. What happens in the doctorrsquo;s office is between you and your doctor. The macho and bravado means nothing if you have this disease. It is a disease that if caught early can be treated and you may have prolonged life. However, if not it is a painful and expensive journey that both you and your family can avoid through a yearly check-up. I appeal to the women to urge your men to get their annual check-ups.nbsp;



Too many island men are now becoming afflicted by this disease, and it is a preventable and treatable disease. We need to understand that we are responsible for the health of our loved ones and ourselves. As the old saying goes ldquo;an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.rdquo;

March 10, 2012

caribbeannewsnow

Caribbean Blog International

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By Keith Noel:

MY FATHER-IN-LAW rarely uttered the word #39;Rasta#39; without prefacing it with the word #39;dutty#39;. He loved my younger daughter dearly and as far as he was concerned, she was the perfect child. He must be revolving in his grave now to see her with locks flowing down her back.

This to me images the marked difference in the perception of Rastafari over the past 30 years. I remember in the 1960s the fear with which people spoke of these cultists. They were sometimes described as #39;blackheart#39; men and spoken of as if they were the spawn of the devil. They were berated and scorned from many a pulpit and many parents suffered paroxysms when their children showed even a mild interest in the movement.

From the very outset, Rastafari had a firm commitment to the struggle for black dignity. What particularly fascinated me was their absolute rejection of the idea of white superiority and even their rejection of any values they considered white. They gave the generation of the #39;70s the base on which to build a world view that was not a mirror of that of the metropolis.

Brutalise them

Society saw the threat of the Rasta to the status quo and gave licence to their agents in the police force, the teaching profession, and the civil service to brutalise them physically or psychologically. And the rest of #39;decent#39; society stood by in tacit acceptance of this abuse. I remember one day at a football match in the stadium, seeing a policeman search a Rasta for ganja, forcing him to kneel and cutting a couple of his locks in the process. There was no outrage. In fact, at the time, local pop songs had jokes about policemen beating Rastas for speaking their particular dialect!

Then there was the chilling story of Peter Tosh stepping out into the yard of the studio in Half-Way Tree where he was recording what was to be a classic LP. He was smoking a spliff and a policeman saw him and, although he had flicked the spliff away, began to beat him, and as Tosh said quot;when him lif up de batten to deliver the fatal blowquot; to his head, he parried it with his forearm, which was badly broken. There was no real outcry and, as far as I know, the policeman did not lose his job.

The aggression was psychological as well. Under the guise of #39;proper grooming#39; any efforts by teenage blacks to adopt hairstyles that shouted their blackness to the world were outlawed in schools. There was tremendous opposition to the #39;afro#39;. A young friend of mine was prevented from going to her exams at Immaculate High unless she agreed to forego her afro. A namesake of mine lost his job at Knox College for being too afrocentric in his teaching, and one reason given for my being fired from my post at Haile Selassie Junior Secondary, where I was acting head of English, was that I had become too obviously sympathetic to the Rasta movement (there is an irony there somewhere).

Black assumption

There seemed to be a reason for this fear. Rastafari, with all its apparent strangeness, delivered a message of black assumption of full personhood and of rejection of the perception of himself as inferior. This would mean a revolution in thinking that would result in the white world relinquishing much of its power over the black man. And who wants to relinquish power?

The Rastaman#39;s message was delivered through his music. Bob Marley, its leading exponent, was a creative genius, but his creativity found its roots in his Rastafarianism. His message is possibly the most important delivered to the world by any entertainer, maybe any man, in the 20th century.

It is a tribute to the steadfastness, the courage, the vision, the clearheadedness and the creativity of these #39;ancient Rastas#39;, as Morgan Heritage calls them, that they are now a prominent part of our society. We owe them a great deal. Their vision of Jamaica#39;s and the black man#39;s quot;emancipation from mental slaveryquot; has not been fully achieved, but we would have been so much further back were it not for them.

Keith Noel is an educator. Send comments to columns@gleanerjm.com.

February 9, 2012

jamaica-gleaner

Caribbean Blog International

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Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin are Russiarsquo;s most unpopular leaders of the past century, according to a survey by Russiarsquo;s state-run VTsIOM pollster published on Thursday.

Only 14 percent of respondents named Soviet President Gorbachev and 17 percent mentioned his successor, first president of the Russian Federation Yeltsin, when asked whose policies in the past 100 years made Russia develop in the proper direction. Their results are largely similar to a VTsIOM survey held in 2007.

A total of 61 percent of Russians described Vladimir Putinrsquo;s policies during his two presidential terms in 2000-2008 as ldquo;generally positiverdquo;, down six percentage points from 2007. About 54 percent of respondents were positive about incumbent Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Russiarsquo;s last Tsar Nicholas II received a positive assessment from 31 percent of respondents.

Leonid Brezhnev, who presided over the ldquo;stagnation periodrdquo; with a ruling group characterized as a ldquo;gerontocracy,rdquo; was the most popular Soviet leader with the support of 39 percent of respondents.

Best-known Communist Leaders, 1917 October Revolution architect Vladimir Lenin and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, gained 28 percent each. Nikita Khrushchev, who steered Soviet Union through the Cold Warrsquo;s peak, the Cuban Missile Crisis, received the support of 24 percent of respondents.

The survey, involving 1,600 respondents, was held on October 29-30, 2011 in 46 Russian regions. The margin of error is below 3.4 percent.

13:58 02/02/2012

rian.ru

Caribbean Blog International

On Monday, 10 October, we celebrated the 9th World day against the death penalty officially recognised by the Council of Europe and the European Union in 2007.

The death penalty is not justice, but rather bears witness to the failure of justice. It serves no useful purpose in combating criminality. The loss of life that it induces is irreparable, and no legal system is safe from the risk of an error of justice.



It is now thirty years since France banished this cruel, inhuman practice. Since then, it has not ceased to employ its best endeavours to abolish the death penalty once and for all and on a universal basis.



Much ground has been covered in the meantime. So far, one hundred and thirty-nine countries have adopted an abolitionist legal position or a de facto moratorium. The majority of UN member states have discarded this form of punishment and further progress continues to be made.



To me, this is evidence of veritable awareness on a world-wide scale, and reaffirmation of the universal nature of human rights.



But I cannot lose sight of the fact, despite the progress achieved, that the struggle for universal abolition must be continued on all the continents of the world.



I applaud the determined efforts of the defenders of Human Rights and the NGOs, the involvement of which is essential in the combat in which we are together engaged.

October 11, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Caribbean Blog International

thenassauguardian editorial

Nassau, The Bahamas

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Two of the indispensable ingredients necessary for a childrsquo;s successful education are a home life conducive to learning and good teaching in school.

Improving the quality of family life is a rather complex matter, admitting no easy or short-term solutions.

Our concern today is the quality of teaching in our public school system.

There are many excellent teachers in the system who have dedicated their lives to the education of generations of young Bahamians.

Through mastery of their subject matter as well as a passion for imparting this knowledge, these teachers have contributed significantly to national development.

Today, many teachers find themselves in the position of having to act as surrogate parents for studentrsquo;s whose home lives are extraordinarily difficult.

Indeed, the range of disciplinary problems confronted by teachers makes an already challenging profession even more difficult.

Still, the quality of much of the teaching in our public schools is poor and weak.

Why is it that some of our students in Family Island schools with small classroom sizes and a superior student teacher ratio, still leave those schools with weak literacy and numeracy skills?

It comes back to the quality of the teaching.

Contract negotiations between the Bahamas Union of Teachers and the government usually cover salaries, conditions of service and related matters.

What the country would like to see are more discussions on the improvement of teaching in our primary and secondary schools.

This may include matters ranging from teaching materials to classroom size.nbsp; But more importantly is the quality of preparation and instruction by the teachers themselves.

One of the toughest battles Minister of Education Desmond Bannister may have to fight is the development of a more rigorous protocol for teacher evaluation.

This includes better assessment of the productivity and overall performance of teachers, utilizing a range of transparent and fair metrics.

If other jurisdictions are any indication, it is likely that the union establishment and many teachers will steadfastly resist a more rigorous evaluation of the performance of the latter.

The public increasingly wants to know what measures are being taken by the Bahamas Union of Teachers to help in the development of more rigorous evaluation mechanisms of its members.

For successful reform of public education, tackling this complex and potentially thorny issue will require deft politics and public support.

We will repeatedly return to this issue.

The campaign to improve the quality of teaching in our public school system must be joined by the public at large.

This is critical if those battling for reform within the system are to have any chance of success.

Oct 01, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

HAVANA.mdash;The United States, the principal violator of international law, will never appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in spite of its policy of aggression, interference and expansionism, stated Nicolaacute;s Fernaacute;ndez, member of the Cuban International Law Society, speaking at the 5th International Summer School, Havana 2011 and the 7th Humanitarian International Law Symposium.

Washington has signed 96 agreements with different countries to avoid its troops involved in conflicts being brought to trial at the ICC, he noted.

quot;At present, ways of arresting real criminals are nonexistent, and so we cannot try the former President George W. Bush, or former British Prime Minister Tony Blair,quot; he said.

Both politicians were to a large extent responsible for unleashing a military conflict which cost the lives of thousands of civilians.

Impunity in the world is a given dating back to the very genesis of the United Nations, which was born with genetic flaws and whose functioning has now become complicated, the professor of Public International Law at the University of Havana noted.

quot;Impunity is the same as injustice and thus this negation of injustice promotes war criminals, crimes against humanity, genocide and forced disappearances,quot; he added.

All the courts established to address the issue of impunity are adjusted to a concrete and personal norm, and do not try violations such as interference, thus it is justice of a selective nature, the expert emphasized.

quot;In practice, the law of impunity has emerged, which invalidates justice, manifested in amnesties, pardons, due disobedience and universal jurisdiction,quot; Fernaacute;ndez explained.

quot;We could add that the International Criminal Court is not impartial, nor independent, that it is directed by the Security Council, which decides what proceedings to initiate and when they will end.quot;

Today there is impunity in the so-called war in terrorism, and an alleged protection of persons and humanitarian missions mask what is interference. (PL)

Translated by Granma Internationalnbsp;

Havana.nbsp; Junenbsp;23, 2011

granma.cu

Caribbean Blog International

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thenassauguardian editorial

Nassau, Bahamas:

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The debate over the Privy Council and whether The Bahamas should retain it as its final court of appeal was thrust back into the spotlight last week, when Law Lords in London ruled that Maxo Tido, convicted of the brutal murder of a teenage girl, should not have been sentenced to death for his crime.

In its ruling handed down on June 15, the Privy Council said that the crime did not warrant execution.nbsp; ldquo;This was, in short, an appalling murder but not one which warrants the most condign punishment of death,rdquo; wrote the Law Lords.

The case has now been sent back to the Court of Appeal for the imposition ofnbsp; ldquo;the appropriate sentencerdquo;.

Execution remains the most severe punishment prescribed by the state for the crime of murder.

And it is frustrating to many that it is virtually impossible to carry out that punishment due to the appeals process, which normally takes years to complete.

Despite the regularity of the issuance of the death sentence, executions are uncommon. There has not been a hanging in The Bahamas since David Mitchell was executed on January 6, 2000.

In the 1993 Pratt and Morgan ruling, Her Majesty#39;s Privy Council ruled that it would be cruel and inhumane to execute a murder convict more than five years after the death sentence was issued.

This ruling slowed the execution process.nbsp; Murder trials take a long time to come up in this country and the appeals process after the death sentence is issued also takes years.

The country hanged 50 men since 1929, according to records kept at Her Majesty#39;s Prison.nbsp; Five of them were hanged under the first two Ingraham administrations (1992-2002); 13 were hanged under the 25-year rule of the Pindling government (1967-1992); and the remainder were executed between 1929 and 1967.

In 2006, the Privy Council also issued a ruling stating that the section of the Penal Code requiring a sentence of death be passed on any defendant convicted of murder quot;should be construed as imposing a discretionary and not a mandatory sentence of death.quot;

The government has acknowledged that hangings are unlikely considering the five-year rule and the amount of time it takes for the appeals process to take place.nbsp; However, despite this acknowledgment, capital punishment remains a legal punishment.

This commentary is not intended to offer an opinion on whether or not capital punishment is a fair or reasonable punishment.nbsp; There are good arguments for and against hangings.

What is clear is that it is virtually impossible for the death sentence to be carried out.nbsp; And appeals against the sentence add to the backlog of cases before various courts.nbsp; The appeals waste time and money.

Anecdotally, the majority of Bahamians appear in favor of executions.

But what is the point of having the death penalty on the books if it is virtually impossible to carry out?nbsp; Either we end the death penalty or divorce ourselves from the Privy Council.

As we all consider ways to reduce the number of matters before the court in order to make the criminal justice system more efficient, we must put this issue up for debate.nbsp; Emotionalism is useless.nbsp; The facts are the facts.nbsp; Hangings, though desired, are unlikely.

We must now at least start the discussion of the post-hanging period in The Bahamas.

If we are to retain our relationship with the Privy Council mdash; and there are a number of sound reasons why we should mdash; new laws are needed, creating categories of murder.nbsp; A proper definition of life in prison must also be brought forward along with a proper system of parole.

These are the issues that need to be debated when it comes to dealing with those who murder.

Either we accept the reality that our relationship with the Privy Council amounts to an end to the death penalty, or we seriously consider what it would mean to end our relationship with the Privy Council.

Jun 20, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

quot;I#39;ve always said that it would not be surprising to find out that civilization existed on Mars, but capitalism got there and finished the planet,quot; the Venezuelan leader said in his speech on the occasion of the World Water Day.

Chavez, widely known for his trademark anti-capitalist rhetoric, warned that water resources are running out on Earth, too.

quot;Beware! Here, on planet Earth, deserts are where forests used to be centuries ago. And deserts are now where rivers used to be,quot; he said.

MOSCOW, March 23 (RIA Novosti)

00:59 23/03/2011

rian.ru

nbsp;

Caribbean Blog International

quot;The reports say that during air raids on Libya strikes were also delivered on non-military facilities... As a result, 48 civilians are reported dead and over 150 wounded,quot; the ministry said in a statement.

#39;In this connection, we are calling on the respective states to halt the indiscriminate use of force,quot; the statement said.

The military operation against Libya#39;s strongman Muammar Gaddafi who has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 40 years began on Saturday, involving the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and other countries.

A new UN Security Council resolution on Libya adopted on Thursday encompasses a no-fly zone and quot;all necessary measuresquot; against forces loyal to Gaddafi.

Libyan television reported citing military officials that at least 50 civilians were killed and over 150 wounded in military attacks of the coalition forces, adding that many health and education facilities were ruined.

MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti)

16:06 20/03/2011

rian.ru

Caribbean Blog International

The Nassau Guardian Editorial:

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The recent ldquo;allegedrdquo; police related shooting that took place in Eight Mile Rock, where at least two people were injured, was just another police public relations nightmare.

The particulars surrounding the incident are not the issues up for grabs. It is the fact that the police department has been forced into the public limelight again, on a bad note.

It is evident that the police department has a number of challenges it has been contending with for some time.nbsp; Accusations of police corruption, police brutality and even reports of police officers committing crimes have all tarnished the forcersquo;s image.

Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police in Grand Bahama Quinn McCartney, along with Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade, both have their hands full not just in dealing with the crime issue, they also have to deal with their own police force.

Perhaps a part of the issue the force faces is internal. Perhaps, the high standards that once guided the hiring of members of the public to the police force has been lowered to where it should not have been.

There was a time when one could not even take the police exam, much less join the police force unless, certain criteria were met. Some of those requirements included being no shorter than 5rsquo; 7rdquo;, having graduated from school with at least a 2.5 GPA, and prospective candidates could not have a tarnished police record.

How many of those criteria have been ldquo;excusedrdquo; or relaxed in the hiring of officers over the past 10 years?nbsp; Is it possible that the police force is shooting itself in the foot?

No one can really appreciate what it means to be a police officer in these times except those who put on that uniform everyday and put their lives in jeopardy.

With the crime rate out of control, whether we want to admit it or not, we need the police department. These are times when we not only need the presence of the police, but we have to all assist the police department if we hope to see a significant dent made in our crime rate.

This is not the time for the police department to have a bad reputation in the eyes of the public, or to spend time having to chastise its own for bad decisions made. nbsp;

Could it be that the Bahamian society has lost faith in the police force?nbsp; Has it lost the respect and confidence in our officers, which results in them holding back information that could perhaps place criminals in jail?

The police public relations campaign does not start at some fancy advertising agency, but rather with the one-on-one meeting between officers and members of the public on a daily basis.

Yes, there is a certain demeanor that may come with the job simply because the police cannot show any level of weakness in carrying out their duties. But, one in a position of authority can still act humanely and with respect.

The Bahamian police department has a task on its hands as it looks forward to 2011. With another record murder rate in 2010, the Bahamian public needs the police department more than ever. nbsp;

Are there ldquo;badrdquo; police officers?nbsp; Well, there are bad carpenters, bad contractors, bad plumbers, bad businessmen, bad teachers, etc.

The police force must re-evaluate its standards, its procedures, its level of respect (or lack thereof) within the community and it must re-evaluate those within its ranks.

1/6/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Tribune242 Editorial:

nbsp;

DESPITE the worldwide crisis many Bahamians seem unwilling to recognise that the Bahamas is a part of the world and that whatever goes seriously wrong with any of its parts would certainly affect the whole -- the Bahamas included.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham fully recognised the impact that a world recession would have - in fact had already started to have - on the Bahamas. In parliament he outlined his plans not only to cushion the immediate blow, but to prepare for the day when the world would turn on its axis and right itself again.

In his austerity budget, delivered in June, Mr Ingraham outlined his government#39;s immediate plans to assist those persons who would surely lose their jobs as downsizing started, and the economic belt tightened. He then laid out plans for capital works -- which in the interim would provide jobs - so that when the turnaround came the Bahamas would be in a position to benefit.

In addition to the National Insurance scheme that benefited about 16,588 unemployed persons, and a temporary six month work programme for about another 2,326, he went ahead with various large scale programmes that will start to come on stream next year -- in fact in a matter of a few months.

For example, the Lynden Pindling International Airport, a $400 million redevelopment and expansion programme, will be opened in March. The $12 million straw market on Bay Street will follow as will the $70 million container port at Arawak Cay. The $150 million New Providence road corridor improvement will have been completed, the National Stadium to which the Chinese government has donated $30 million and the Bahamas $50 million, also will be ready for opening ceremonies. Also ready for opening will be two new government administrative complexes in Freeport and Central Abaco at a cost of $20 million each. The purchase of the Ansbacher building, the renovations of the old post office building on Bank Lane and the current Supreme Court, resulting in the creation of six supreme courts at a cost of about $23 million will also be ready - a tremendous improvement to the public square. The expansion of the Rand Hospital in Freeport is also expected to be completed.

Mr Ingraham told the House that quot;whilenbsp;we act to prevent the burden of today#39;s debt from compromising the future prospects of our nation, we must continue the capital investment which makes a vibrant future possible.quot;

As signs -- albeit slow -- are beginning to indicate an improved 2011 leading into a hopeful 2012, the unions plan to put the brakes on and, according to National Congress of Trade Unions of the Bahamas president Jennifer Dotson, Prime Minister Ingraham will be quot;dismissed from his job.quot; She implied that it was the union movement that could quot;oustquot; him.

quot;We want him to know,quot; said Mrs Dotson, quot;that we are not intimidated, we are not frightened, and a day will come, in the very near future, where he will be dismissed from his job.quot;

What started as a dispute by BTC workers over the sale of BTC, now seems to be a full-blown fight to oust Mr Ingraham.

As this struggle continues, and Mrs Dotson gets bolder with her challenging words, it is now impossible to say that the dispute is not political. With an election due in 2012, a vibrant Bahamas would bury all hopes of a return of the Christie government. And so a re-enactment of the General Strike of 1958 to close down the town, and jeopardize the future of all Bahamians, is now of prime importance.

We hope that the working man and woman, especially those who have had the humiliating experience of being on the bread line this year, will not be so foolish.

We can tell you from memory that after the general strike - over which so many people still harbour romantic memories - that when Christmas came only union leaders had a turkey on their table - the workers were forgotten.

Meanwhile, Mrs Dotson, we advise you to study s. 75 of the Industrial Relations Act.

December 29, 2010

Tribune242 Editorial

Caribbean Blog International