From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
This week in the Bahamas Commentary by Elcott Coleby: Nov 16 - 20
By Elcott Coleby
Nov 20, 2015 - 5:37:04 PM
Prime Minister
Christie weighs in on crime
Foreshadowing
more aggressive anti-crime measures in the coming weeks that could potentially
impinge on the personal freedoms of some people as they move about the country,
Prime Minister Christie insisted that “this extraordinary degree of uncivilized
behavior,” especially in New Providence, simply cannot continue.
“But
this country cannot and must not allow what is happening to happen much longer.
“I
indicated on Saturday when I said to the press it may mean impinging on people’s
freedom as they move about, but there is no circumstance that will allow me to
have The Bahamas, New Providence in particular, to have this wanton display of
disrespect for human
existence – this extraordinary degree of uncivilized behavior.”
He
continued that The Bahamas is not a killing field and that the evidence of his
government’s new anti-crime measures will be seen “in a couple of weeks.”
With
the murder count at 133 on Monday of this week, the Prime Minister said that “we
don’t have the right to allow young Bahamians to kill each other for whatever
reason. It just must not happen.”
These
comments came on the heels of a violent weekend where three persons lost their
lives to gang violence amid the sensationalism of a facebook posting of a so
called “hit list” by a local gang and an island wide police manhunt for fifteen
murder suspects.
In
response to the murders, the Commissioner of Police said he was not surprised
by the increase in murders and believed that the trend would continue unless
there are policy changes. Commissioner Ellison Greenslade took to facebook
recently to publicly complain about the leniency of the courts in their
sentencing that keeps hardened criminals on the streets in the face of the hard
work of the police to get criminals off the streets.
By
Thursday, the Police Commissioner reported that two men were arrested for the
murder of Queens College teacher Joyelle McIntosh and five were captured or
surrendered after the police posted a “Most Wanted” crime bulletin.
The
issue of bail has long been a thorny and prickly constitutional issue for both
the executive and judicial branches of government. Prime Minister Christie
addressed this issue publicly and the judiciary (in the person of former Chief
Justice Barnett) quickly stood up on their hind legs to caution the Prime
Minister against political interference and a potential compromise of the
independence of the judiciary.
The
Bahamas judiciary clearly prides itself on independent judicial discretion even
in the face of legislated sentencing guidelines so the national debate continues
– and it must.
PM confident about Baha
Mar future
“Things
are good, so to speak” with Baha Mar said Prime Minister Christie
on Monday as
he revealed that executives from a leading regional resort were in town to meet
with the financier and new owner of the foreclosed resort, the China Export
Import Bank, over their possible role in the future of the resort. The Prime
Minister was responding to lingering questions in the public domain about
investor confidence in The Bahamas, insisting that “some of the world’s leading
resort entities have expressed continuing interest (in The Bahamas).”
“One
of the Western Hemisphere leading resorts arrives in The Bahamas today (
Monday)
to speak with representatives of the bank all with a view to putting their
interest on the table on being able to manage or purchase interest out there.
So we are optimistic.”
He
made these comments during an address at a Bahamas Institute of Chartered
Accountants (BICA) conference at the Melia resort and spoke candidly and fairly
extensively about the latest developments surrounding Baha Mar.
He
said that he was “happy and gratified” to see Bahamians Raymond Winder,
Receiver and Edmond Rahming, Liquidator at the forefront of the process.
The
Prime Minister reiterated the urgency with which the government feels this
project must be restarted, completed and opened and expressed as much during an
hour long teleconference with the President of the China EXIM Bank
on Sunday
evening.
He
also spoke about the representation he made on behalf of the contractors and the
2,000 displaced Baha Mar workers.
“There
is a compelling urgency for me to have a conference this morning with the
construction company to speak with them about the difficulties the two are
trying to work out, but to let them know that we want all Bahamian contractors
to be paid hopefully dollar for dollar. We want them to resume construction in
the shortest possible time.
“I
gave them a proposition of my preparedness to work with them in finding
employment for the 2,000 people who were laid off on the basis that they would
reimburse the government of The Bahamas.”
Program R.I.S.E. officially
launched in Eight Mile Rock
Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon.
Melanie Griffin, was in Eight Mile Rock
on Monday evening to officially launch Programme
RISE.
Stressing the slogan "Together We RISE", Minister
Griffin indicated that there are people in the system who have been on Social
Service benefits for many years, and the new programme is a way of reversing that
cycle. RISE (Renewing, Inspiring, Sustaining, Empowering) Programme has
been launched in New Providence and North Andros already.
She said in 2004, following a study of the country's safety net by
the Inter-American Development Bank, dialogue on the need for reform began. In
2012, the government entered into an agreement with the Inter-American
Development Bank for the implementation of social safety net reform in The
Bahamas.
The reform includes: strengthening the institutional capacity of
the Department of Social Services; installation of a state-of-the-art
Management Information System to ensure the smooth processing of requests from
registration to payment; improved targeting through a Proxy Means Test (the
Proxy Means Test is an instrument that ensures those in need are objectively
assessed); and a new payment delivery system for approved beneficiaries.
Those on the Social Services food assistance programme in Eight
Mile Rock are already in possession of the Bank of the Bahamas Debit Card, the
first phase of the reform.
Minister Strachan proposes
financial services ‘Center for Excellence’
Continuing
her campaign to strengthen, modernize and build capacity within the Financial
Services Sector, Minister of Financial Services, the Hon. Hope Strachan, proposed
'progressive' initiatives to achieve this objective.
One
such progressive initiative is the establishment of a ‘Centre for Excellence’
for financial services.
The
Minister announced this plan at a ceremony to celebrate Accountants' Week 2015,
November 17, at Melia Nassau Beach Resort. The event was hosted by the Bahamas
Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA).
“This
Centre for Excellence will not only provide us with a model institution which
will educate and certify professionals to international standards but it can be
used to assist with training for government and private sector professionals in
the delivery of services and in instilling and inculcating a spirit of
excellence into our industry,” said Minister Strachan.
Quality
training methods, new data and modern day research and development tools are
'vital' in ensuring the relevance of the sector in dynamic global environment. She
believes this Centre would have the potential to serve as a 'beacon' to the
wider Caribbean region, as a premier financial services centre for learning,
research, product development and networking.
She
urged broad participation and input from the members of BICA.
Cooperative League and
ILO host co-operative workshop.
In
its ongoing efforts to strengthen the local cooperative societal movement and
empower its membership, the Bahamas Co-operative League Limited partnered with
the International Labour Organization to host a three day train-the-trainer
workshop on the history, principles, establishment, bylaws and management of
cooperatives.
The opening ceremony took place at the Cancer Center for
The Bahamas on Tuesday, 17th November 2015.
Facilitating the instructional and interactive workshop
modules were veteran regional credit union official, Melvin Edwards; Stephanie
Missick-Jones, General Manager of The Bahamas Co-operative League Limited and
International Labour Organization (ILO) representative, Kelvin Sergeant, a
sustainable enterprise and jobs creation specialist.
In her keynote address, President of the Bahamas
Co-operative League Limited Sonia Cox-Hamilton stressed to delegates from
across The Bahamas the need for the Family Islands to become fully integrated
into the national economy and co-operatives provide a viable commercial vehicle
to achieving this goal. Pointing to the relatively high levels of unemployment
among Bahamian youth, Mrs. Hamilton explained that the pervasive thrust of
diversified non-financial cooperative societies can create opportunities for
economic empowerment, especially for our youth. Co-operatives the world over
are renowned for their success through the power of numbers, its proven
business model, its ability to lower the barrier to trade and the obvious
shared risks.
Touting the fact that the local co-operative movement is
“making history” with this inaugural train-the-trainer workshop, the League
president challenged her colleagues to cause more co-operatives to be developed
and ensure that these institutions become principal drivers in the economic
life of The Bahamas in industries such as fishing, agriculture and
agri-business, purchasing, hotel operations and marketing.
The workshop concluded on Thursday, 19th
November where the President of the Bahamas Cooperative League, Sonia
Cox-Hamilton, presented participants with their certificates of participation.
Staniel Cay Airport
reopens with brand new runway.
The
Ministry of Transport & Aviation advised the general public this week of
the reopening of the Staniel Cay Airport in Exuma to air traffic.
According
to the statement, “a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued by the Department
of Civil Aviation, advising that the new runway is classified as a Code 2b
airport, with a newly paved runway 3,000 ft. long and 75 ft. wide. The airport
will be opened during the hours between sunrise to
3 pm daily. These hours of
operation will remain in effect until final construction on the Runway End
Safety Area (RESA) has been satisfactorily completed. It is anticipated that
this process will be completed in two weeks time, allowing for regular
operational hours to be re-introduced
that is from
official sunrise to official sunset.”
The Transport and Aviation Ministry thanked the residents
of Staniel Cay “and other visitors to the Exumas for the patience they have exercised
while this very necessary repair process was undertaken.”
Road Traffic Department
refutes Punch claims
“The
allegation published in the November 16 edition of the tabloid newspaper “The
Punch” that an audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Department in Nassau
for the period 2010 – 2015 revealed that six million dollars were stolen from
the Road Traffic Department, is untrue” retorted the Controller of the Road
Traffic Department to the Punch article.
“Further,”
said the statement, “it is categorically denied that there has been any
political interference or otherwise in any administrative matter in the Road
Traffic Department, and in particular, as it relates to any alleged acts of
malfeasance within that Department.”
The statement reiterated the department’s zero tolerance
policy toward acts of malfeasance, pointing out that “acts of malfeasance will
be dealt with swiftly and uncompromisingly.”
The radical transformation in the operations at that
Department through the implementation of a fully automated operational system
demonstrates the department’s commitment to rid itself of this negative
behavior. The statement said that this new automation “will bring about a higher
degree of accountability and greater efficiency.”
15 sports legends inducted into 2015 Sports Hall of Fame
As Sports Heritage Month under the auspices
of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture draws to a close, f
ifteen Bahamian
sports legends were inducted in the National Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 during
a ceremony at Government House
on Thursday evening, November 19, 2015. Among the sports notables, five were inducted
posthumously.
The Sports
Hall of Fame committee was established by former Youth and Sports Minister the
late Hon. Peter Bethel in 1989 after the inaugural Bahamas Games. Its remit was
and still is to commemorate the accomplishments of Bahamian athletes, past and
present, whose sports exploits have inspired our youth to strive for excellence.
The
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture selected and recognized them for their
contributions to the field of athletics -- either as coach, sports writer or
athlete.
Inductees
were: Foster Bethell, softball; Kim
O’Kelley, tennis; Sydney “Butts” Outten, baseball; Jim Duncombe, golf; Judy
Lundy-Miller, track and field; Oralee Fowler, track and field; Linda
Woodside-Major, track and field; Leslie Miller; track and field; Neville
Wisdom, sports administration; Shonel L. Ferguson, track
and field; Hubert Alexander Dean, sports journalism and sports administration (deceased); Anthony “Bando” Bostwick,
baseball/basketball (deceased); Kenneth “Six” Francis, sports
journalism and sports administration (deceased); Mizpah
Archer, bowling (deceased); and Kenneth Rolle, Sr., sailing (deceased).
The
Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, congratulated
the 2015 Class on behalf of the people and government of The Bahamas.
The ‘Hall
of Famers’ were hosted to a Reception by the Governor-General, who also
presented them with citations during the ceremony.
The 15
members of the 2015 Class bring the total number of National Sports Hall of
Fame inductees to over 120 persons.
In passing
On
Monday of this week, the Urban Renewal Foundation hosted a National Symposium
at the Holy Trinity Community Center. The theme of the symposium was “Building
stronger and safer Bahamian communities.” A number of national leaders
delivered presentations and participated in a large panel discussion. Invited
guests included Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie; Deputy Prime
Minister the Hon. Philip Davis; National Security Minister the Hon. Bernard
Nottage; State Ministers the Hon. Arnold Forbes and Senator Keith Bell; senior
government officials; students and the wider public. The Urban Renewal Band and
the H.O. Nash choir were among the groups that performed for the crowd.
Minister
of Social Services and Community Development the Hon. Melanie Griffin was the
guest speaker at the Saint John’s College monthly Parent Teachers Association
(PTA). The meeting was held
on Thursday night at the school house in Stapledon
Gardens.
Minister
Griffin also announced the upcoming Women’s Week in a press conference on
Thursday of this week. The theme for 2015 is “Women and the environment:
Creating Partnerships for Sustainable Development.” Organized by the Bureau of
Women’s Affairs, Women’s Week will be observed from
22 – 28 November 2015 where
the roles women play in managing the environment will be highlighted. Events will
include a service of thanksgiving at St. Mark’s Native Baptist Church in Fox
Hill; an exhibition on the environment in the foyer of the Ministry of
Education; a panel discussion on women and the environment and a webinar on “Adaptation
to the Climate Change.”
The
Department of Corrections announced this week that Correctional Services
Recognition Week will be celebrated from the 29th November to the 5th
December. Activities will include the Wall of Remembrance at the compound of
the Department of Corrections; a parade to the Myles E. Munroe Diplomat Center
where a service of thanksgiving will be held; participation in school assemblies;
community outreach; retirees awards luncheon; an Art and Craft Exhibition in
Pompey Square complete with the pomp and pageantry of drills by the marching
band and performances by the Correctional Choir and pop band; an old school
dance at the junior officers mess hall and the battle of the grill by various
sections within the Corrections Department.
Captain
Stephen Russell, director of NEMA, stated that all structures and homes on
Acklins in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin have been assessed and quantities of
building materials assigned for distribution to residents accordingly. Also,
temporary homes bought by the government have been shipped from Nassau to
Acklins and Crooked Island.
A
Memorandum of Understanding on health was signed between the governments of The
Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China. Under the agreement, the second
Bright Journey Project, 116 Bahamians suffering from the ill effects of Cataracts
will benefit from free eye surgery. The MOU was signed on Thursday.
A
special meeting of the Court of Appeal (COA) was held on Thursday morning to
recognize and honour Appellate Justices Abdulai Conteh and Neville Adderley as
they both retire from the bench. Newly appointed COA Justice Stella Maureen
Crane-Scott was welcomed by colleagues. The legal fraternity, politicians and
senior government officials turned out to say farewell to their professional colleagues.
The
ASUE Foundation in conjunction with Four Point Group Limited held a job fair at
Workers House
on Thursday. Participating was the Royal Bahamas Police Force,
the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, the Water and Sewerage Corporation, and the
Department of Labour. The job fair attracted scores of young people.
A
Heads of Agreement was signed today in the office of the Prime Minister for another
tourism based development on Bimini.
The Bahamas Press Club will honour luminaries in the
field of journalism at a Gala Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 21st,
2015 at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel. The honourees are as follow: Mrs.
Eileen Carron, Publisher of the Tribune (Lifetime Achievement Award); Mr.
Kenneth Francis, former publisher of the Nassau Guardian will be honoured posthumously;
Mr. Wendall Jones, CEO of Jones Communications International; Mr. Anthony Ferguson
(Guardian Radio); ZNS Radio & Television Network; MORE 94FM and Silbert
Mills of Abaco Radio will be presented with the Pioneer Awards in recognition
for their contribution to media.
About the author: Elcott Coleby is a Deputy Director at the
Bahamas Information Services. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry (B.Sc) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He provides
frequent commentary on public policy and communicates the works of the
government. Address all comments to the following email:
egcoleby44@gmail.com
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