LNG Project Approved

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, Bahamas

16th December

 

 

 

 

Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller told the Bahama Journal yesterday that the government has approved in principle the proposal submitted by the AES Corporation to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline in The Bahamas.

 

The minister was asked to respond to reports in the Trinidadian press yesterday, which quoted him announcing the approval at the IBC/Energy Caribbean conference.

"We intend to diversify and expand the economic mix which will enable us to move ahead", he said. "The environment and tourism impacts can and will be addressed and the government intends to provide the clarity and stability necessary to attract these investments."

Minister Miller's announcement came on the same day that the Tractebel and El Paso energy companies and FPL Group Resources were announcing an alliance geared at sealing the government's approval to carry out a similar project in the northern Bahamas.

Some Bahamians, particularly those who are a part of environmental groups, are worried about a possible adverse environmental impact any LNG project could have.

AES officials have tried to placate those anxieties, assuring communities in The Bahamas and South Florida that any negative impact would be negligible.

Company officials continue to point to the significant benefits that such a project would bring to The Bahamas.

According to Project Director Aaron Samson, the AES project for The Bahamas would pay $7 million a year in business license fees.

The project is also expected to create about 450 jobs during the construction phase and 25 to 35 permanent employment opportunities.

"We're convinced that this is a very finance-able project and we won't have difficulties bringing it to fruition", Mr. Samson told the Bahama Journal in an earlier interview.

Company information says AES owns or has an interest in 160 plants in 23 countries.

Local environmentalists like those belonging to the group ReEarth continue to raise concerns regarding such projects.

ReEarth spokesperson Sam Duncombe has questioned whether companies like AES choose The Bahamas for their projects because of "our country's very loose environmental laws."

"I think a lot of it is that if they choose The Bahamas they would avoid the environmental laws that they would have to adhere to in the United States", she has told the Bahama Journal.

But it is a criticism Mr. Samson has repeatedly dismissed as he pointed to the unwavering commitment that AES has to the strictest international environmental standards.

The entire project would include a liquefied natural gas import terminal; a liquefied petroleum gas removal plant; a seawater desalination plant; an undersea pipeline to supply potable water from Ocean Cay to North Bimini; as well as Ocean Cay employee housing and associated facilities on South Bimini, and an undersea natural gas supply pipeline.

Sidney Stubbs, Holy Cross Member of Parliament Legal Team Intends to Request An Annulment of The Bankruptcy Order Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Thompson Issued Against Him

If the court grants an annulment, this essentially means that Mr. Sidney Stubbs would no longer be a bankrupt

No Appeal For Stubbs

 

 

By Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

16th December 2004

 

Attorneys for Holy Cross Member of Parliament Sidney Stubbs are heading back to court today and are expected to report to Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall that Mr. Stubbs has no appeal pending before the Privy Council.

Last month, Sir Burton dismissed an application to have Mr. Stubbs’s bankruptcy order set aside, but he reserved judgment on an alternative request for an annulment of that order until it could be confirmed whether the case was being appealed to the high court in London.

The Bahama Journal has learnt that Mr. Stubbs’s legal team now intends to pursue the request for an annulment of the bankruptcy order Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Thompson issued against him on March 30.

If the court grants an annulment, this essentially means that Mr. Stubbs would no longer be a bankrupt.

The fact that he has no appeal to the Privy Council is likely to raise new arguments over the interpretation of the constitution.

Legal advisors have told the Bahama Journal that an application for an annulment does not technically constitute an appeal.

Some scholars interpret the constitution to mean that Mr. Stubbs can only remain in his seat as long as he has an appeal pending.

But the MP’s legal team is expected to argue that what the constitution is in fact saying on this point is that he is entitled to the extension of time he has secured from parliament as long as he has the “right to appeal.”

This new development in the Stubbs legal debacle may spark renewed political debate over his fate and whether a by election is likely.

One political observer claimed that parliament was misled in September when it passed a resolution to grant Mr. Stubbs a six-month time extension to appeal the matter on the basis that he intended to appeal the ruling.

“You have time limits to lodge appeals and prosecute them and if the time has passed, and he has not lodged the appeal, that is the end of the matter,” the observer said.  “The moment he fails to lodge it in a timely manner under the constitution his seat became vacant.”

But government and Progressive Liberal Party officials who continue to express open support for Mr. Stubbs view the situation another way.

They believe that an annulment is enough to get Mr. Stubbs back in his seat when the House of Assembly convenes next month after its Christmas recess.

Mr. Stubbs has been out of the House for nine months now and has until March to have the matter cleared up.  It would be a full year since he would have been out of the House.

The MP has insisted that he continues to work in his constituency and has claimed that he still has the support of the majority of his constituents.

A group of them even went as far as filing a summons in the Supreme Court in support of Mr. Stubbs, but Sir Burton asked the constituents to desist from interfering with the judicial process and said what they did could amount to contempt of court.

Even though Mr. Stubbs has said that his former creditor, Gina Gonzalez, has been repaid all that is owed to her, he cannot return to parliament as long as he is still a bankrupt.

The Blue Telecom group Makes New Bid For The Bahamas Telecommunications Company - BTC

Blue Making New Bid For BTC

 

 

 

 

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, Bahamas

29th November 2004

 

 

One year after it was kicked out of the race to purchase a minority stake in The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), the Blue Telecom group has made adjustments to its bid to try to meet the government's expectations and the reality of the existing value of BTC.

Blue's President Lindbergh Smith, in an interview with the Bahama Journal on Sunday, said his company still has the right ingredients to become the long-awaited strategic partner in the state-owned telephone company.

The Bahama Journal contacted him after Minister of State for Finance James Smith indicated that while there is no 'formal privatisation process' in place, the government is still open to favourable bids.

Mr. Smith, the Blue executive, also said the need to privatise BTC is even more urgent at this time.

"I think it's a necessity now based on the competitive forces that exist in the market place in The Bahamas", he said.  "It's evitable that the government has to get out of the telecom business in order for the company to be on good footing to compete against entities like SRG (System Resource Group) and Cable Bahamas."

SRG recently announced that it is starting its business and residential services and intends to compete head on with BTC.

SRG President Paul Hutton-Ashkenny said his company's entrance into the telecom industry is an indication that the government sees the liberalization of the telecommunications sector as a critical pre-condition for achieving economic development in the country.

Industry sources say that it is most urgent that the government recognize the extreme dilemma that the entire telecom industry and the financial and business community would suffer if the government does not move quickly to relinquish its control of BTC and put it into the hands of an entity that has the financial capabilities, management and technical know-how to allow the company to be able to compete in the local market against SRG, Cable Bahamas and other competitors that are soon to come.

They say that based on the contract proposal issued to The Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union last week, it is clear that the board and executive management team of BTC recognize that the company has to be repositioned for competition.

The proposal calls for the benefits now enjoyed by BTC employees to be slashed up to 60 percent.

"We are sure that the shareholders of Cable Bahamas and SRG are laughing all the way to the bank because of the government's reluctance and procrastination in the privatisation process of BTC", said one industry insider.

Minister Smith, meanwhile, said the move toward privatisation is an ongoing exercise.

"It's just that it's not going to be done in the way it was done originally", he said.  "If a prospective buyer came along with the right attitude and the right price, I'm sure the government would be obliged to entertain the bid.  So the process may have come basically to a halt, but not the intent."

He said that BTC has to "continue to do things to develop and expand its managerial capabilities, develop its staff, while at the same time look for efficient ways of government having to divest its interests."

Mr. Smith (Blue President) believes that now is the time for the government to move ahead with the privatisation process.

"For the board and management of BTC to assume that they are in a position financially and futuristically to compete in a smaller entity like SRG or Cable Bahamas is very fool hardy", he said.

In his budget communication to parliament in May, Prime Minister Perry Christie made it clear that the recent termination of the privatisation process does not mean that the government has abandoned the privatisation of BTC.

"On the contrary, the privatisation of BTC remains an important item of my government's economic agenda", he said.  "Accordingly, the privatisation will be re-launched as soon as circumstances reasonably allow and on a basis, moreover, that will take adequate account of the lessons that were learned in the earlier process."

Educating Women on The Deadly Disease HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas

The HIV/AIDS transmission rate in The Bahamas is an important success story

Rapid Growth Of HIV In Females

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

29th November 2004

Women in The Bahamas have caught up with men in new HIV cases, prompting serious concerns for health officials.

Although the number of new HIV infections declined for a third consecutive year in 2003, the fact that more and more women are being infected with the virus that causes AIDS means that there needs to be renewed focus placed on educating women on the deadly disease, according to Nurse Rosa Mae Bain, director of the HIV/AIDS Centre.

Last year, 289 cases of HIV were reported. This compares to 332 in 2002- 385 in 2001 and 404 in 2000, according to health officials. Around the world 38 million people are infected.

In the early years of the epidemic, men far outnumbered women in new cases.

But that has changed.

The ratio of males to females is now 1:1. The disturbing trend is a global one, according to health officials.

So it is no coincidence that women and girls are the focus of this year’s World Aids Day on December 1.

“We as women have caught up with and in some countries have even past the men,” she said.  “Consequently, we need to focus in on women being able to negotiate safer sex practices.  That is crucial.  We need not to be getting infected.”

She said, “Women, because they account for all these single homes are the people out there providing that nurturing to the bulk of our children.  So the message that we want to give is ‘look, you men support our women.  Provide them with the support so that they can use preventative methods so that they do not become HIV infected’.”

Nurse Bain said women are particularly vulnerable because they tend to allow their partners to take the lead in safe sex practices.

Around the world this week, it will be a time of remembrance for the millions of people who have died from AIDS.  It will also be a time to focus on the 14 million children who have been orphaned by the disease.

Nurse Bain said AIDS orphans are also a serious concern in The Bahamas, but she said new drugs are making it possible for people to live longer, which means that the numbers of orphans are getting smaller.

Because of antiretroviral medications, she said, there are also fewer and fewer babies who are becoming infected with HIV from their mothers.

The percentage is now down to 3 percent, according to Nurse Bain.

“If we look at the statistics closely we would find that not one mother who attended the clinic, who took her medication, who kept all her appointments had a baby born HIV positive,” she said.  “That three percent was because we had a cohort of pregnant persons who did not attend so consequently they did not receive the medication and their baby was born positive and that’s why we’re still at three percent.”

She said the reduction in the transmission rate in The Bahamas is an important success story.

Another success, she said, is that the children who were born with the virus are living to see their teen years.

“Yesteryear, most of our children died before their first birthday, but with the use of anti-retrovirals or the use of AIDS medication as we call it- these children now look good, they feel good, they’re in school and we need to go to another level and provide them with a home setting.” 

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in The Region

Caricom Secretary-General Calls HIV/Aids 'Clear And Present' Danger

Bahamas Information Services

29th November 2004

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts/Nevis - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, His Excellency Edwin Carrington, says the region is locked in a 'deadly stranglehold' by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is likely to annihilate a sizeable portion of its workforce if something 'radical' is not done to reverse the trend.

Mr. Carrington said the epidemic has already cost regional economies more than $50 million directly and indirectly, in addition to the large numbers of nationals who have died as a result of complications from the disease.

(The monetary figures were obtained from a survey conducted by the Health Economic Unit).

According to the latest UNAIDS figures, the Caribbean is the second-most affected region in the world, trailing only sub-Sahara Africa.  Statistics further show that AIDS has become the leading cause of death among persons aged 15-44.

The UN AIDS report also shows that there have been 53,000 new cases of adults and children infected with the disease in 2004.

"We are entering times of clear and present danger and this is particularly threatening and disturbing, especially now that we in this region are optimistically poised to implement the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)," said Mr. Carrington.

"HIV/AIDS is a destructive force that can undermine the whole edifice of the CSME.  The epidemic of stigma and discrimination fuels human and economic disaster if not checked as a matter of urgency," he added.

Mr. Carrington said there is an accumulative 500,000 infected persons living with the disease, including the 53,000 persons who acquired the virus in 2004.

He said an estimated 40,000 persons have died from the disease, with more than 20,000 children expected to be left orphaned by the year 2020, as a result of the disease.

The Secretary-General said Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) represent a significant part of the labour force between the ages 15-44, considered the most productive years.

"These trends raise alarm bells for us in the Caribbean," said Mr. Carrington.  "All the indications are that we are locked in a deadly stranglehold by an epidemic that is likely to annihilate a sizeable portion of our workforce if something radical does not happen to reverse the trends.'

Mr. Carrington said HIV/AIDS is a complex, developmental issue that is not confined to any one sector, organization, agency or individual and that no single ministry, organization or agency can successfully combat the disease or the stigma and discrimination attached to it.

He said those countries in the region that have achieved successes in the war on AIDS ‐ The Bahamas is recognized as having one of the greatest success stories in the Americas with regards to treatment and education ‐ have achieved those results because of multi-dimensional approaches to the epidemic that combine the human and financial resources of government, the private sector, the public service, religious organizations and civil society groups.

"Do we truly believe in the multi-dimensional approach or are we so caught up in defending our programmes and positions that we fail to be honest with ourselves and more importantly to those who really matter, people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS?" Mr. Carrington asked.

"We are dealing with real people, humanity, and a condition that is primarily spread by the most intimate of acts.  People will deal with this differently and we must be prepared, in keeping with our respective callings and mandates, to offer assistance and more important, to offer leadership as individuals and as organizations.

"We must not be consumed with fighting over turf, status, ideologies and philosophies because while we are so consumed, people are dying, children are suffering, our economies are collapsing," the Secretary-General added.

Meanwhile, UNAIDS Executive Director, Dr. Peter Piot, said there are signs that stronger prevention efforts in The Bahamas and Barbados since the late 1990s, could be nudging HIV-infection levels lower.

Dr. Piot warned, however, that the lack of good-quality HIV-surveillance data in most Caribbean countries is hampering the ability to design and run potentially effective prevention programmes and will almost certainly undermine efforts to expand access to antiretroviral treatment.

"As the region with the second-highest rate of HIV-prevalence in the world, AIDS is already having a major economic impact in the Caribbean," said Dr. Piot.  "But AIDS is more than just a disease, it's a threat to human security and development (that is) unique in human history.

Dr. Piot said social, not just technical challenges will need to be addressed if the countries of this region are to bring their epidemics under control.

"The stigma and discrimination drive AIDS underground.  The increased vulnerability to HIV can hamper our efforts to reverse its spread.  If children with HIV are turned away from school as happened in Guyana last month and if men who have sex with men are killed as happened in Jamaica, then fear rather than fight will reign and whole communities will suffer," he said.

Sidney Stubbs can Only Hold On to His Holy Cross seat in the House of Assembly as long as He has An Appeal outstanding in His Bankruptcy Matter

Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall indicated that if there is an appeal before the Privy Council, Mr. Sidney Stubbs needs to pursue that before he can ask the Supreme Court to annul the bankruptcy order issued against him in March

Stubbs Appeal In Doubt

 

 

 

By Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

29th November 2004

 

 

Nearly one week after Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall adjourned the Sidney Stubbs bankruptcy matter, officials of the Progressive Liberal Party say they have still not been able to confirm whether the Holy Cross Member of Parliament has an appeal before the Privy Council.

His attorneys could not say last Tuesday whether there was in fact an appeal and have not yet given an indication that there is one.

While the legal team filed a notice to appeal to the Privy Council in September, it still remains unclear whether it moved ahead with that intent.

A PLP official told the Bahama Journal that the uncertainty surrounding the alleged appeal is creating frustrations for the party, which is seeking to speed up the legal matter.

When he adjourned the case last week, Sir Burton indicated that if there is an appeal before the Privy Council, Mr. Stubbs needs to pursue that before he can ask the Supreme Court to annul the bankruptcy order issued against him in March.

When asked on Sunday whether he has an appeal before the Privy Council, Mr. Stubbs told the Bahama Journal that he does not speak to the press and any statement in this regard would have to come from his attorneys.

Up to last week, attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents Mr. Stubbs’s former creditor, said he had received no notice from the MP’s counsel that an appeal was indeed active.

The hierarchy of the PLP is reportedly concerned that the matter may be dragging on too long and was considering whether to indicate to Mr. Stubbs formally that the party needed to start preparing for the eventuality of a bye-election.

Mr. Stubbs can only hold on to his seat in the House of Assembly as long as he has an appeal outstanding in his bankruptcy matter.

It could be why he and his legal team are for now keeping quiet on whether they actually have an appeal active.

In September, the House of Assembly approved a resolution granting him an additional six months to pursue an appeal.

Last Tuesday, Sir Burton made it clear to the court that there was no appeal presently before him as it relates to Mr. Stubbs’s bankruptcy matter.

The Free National Movement has insisted that the Holy Cross-seat became vacant the moment Supreme Court Justice Jeannie Thompson declared the MP bankrupt in March.

When contacted on Sunday, the FNM’s candidate for Holy Cross Carl Bethel told the Bahama Journal that he wanted to steer clear of making too many public comments at this time on the matter which is still before the courts.

But he reiterated the position of his party as it relates to the latest debacle involving Mr. Stubbs.

“The government really has to decide whether they are going to honour and uphold the constitution or whether they’re going to play politics with it,” said Mr. Bethel, who is also the party’s chairman.

“They know that Sidney Stubbs has no appeal to the Privy Council.  His seat is vacant under the constitution and it is really an abuse of the constitution…the fact of the matter is if there is an appeal, the other side ought to have received concrete evidence of such a thing.”

Holy Cross Constituents in Support of Their Member of Parliament (MP), Sidney Stubbs Flirts with Contempt of Court in Mr Stubbs' Bankruptcy Case

The Bahamas Chief Justice, Sir Burton Hall dismissed Member of Parliament Sidney Stubbs' application to have his bankruptcy order overturned and indicated that the Supreme Court was not hearing an appeal in this matter

Holy Cross Voters Warned

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

24th November 2004

Constituents of Holy Cross who filed a summons in the Supreme Court in support of their Member of Parliament Sidney Stubbs could be in contempt of court, Chief Justice Sir Burton Hall determined on Tuesday.

The summons was actually filed by three constituents seeking to intervene in the proceedings, who also presented what purports to be a petition signed by 180 voters.

The current register has 3,912 registered voters in Holy Cross.

Sir Burton said in each case, the constituent describes himself as a “registered voter in the Holy Cross constituency” and “professes his satisfaction with the judgment debtor (Mr. Stubbs) as his representative.”

He said the application from Mr. Stubbs to have his bankruptcy order set aside or annulled arises out of a private matter and has nothing to do with the constituents.

“The filing of the summons on 17 November and the supporting affidavits raise serious questions as to whether it is an attempt to interfere with the due administration of justice by intimidating the court or the other party to the litigation by the demonstration of the popular support the judgment debtor has in his capacity as a Member of Parliament, irrespective of the merits of his case,” Sir Burton said.

He added, “I trust that parties to actions, and their counsel, would consider carefully the correctitude of documents which they think to file in court.  In this case, I choose not to pursue further the question of contempt and take the course of striking out the summons and affidavits as irrelevant to any issue now before the court and an abuse of its process.”

Mr. Stubbs has insisted throughout the legal fight to have the bankruptcy order against him set aside that he continues to have the full support of his constituents.

He has said that he continues to work in Holy Cross as its MP, although the outstanding case is preventing him from taking his seat in the House of Assembly.

On Tuesday, Sir Burton dismissed Mr. Stubbs’s application to have his bankruptcy order overturned and indicated that the Supreme Court was not hearing an appeal in this matter.

Sir Burton, however, said that if Mr. Stubbs’s counsel can say that he does not have an appeal active before the Privy Council, the Supreme Court would be in a position to consider an application for annulment.

An annulment of the order would acknowledge that Mr. Stubbs has paid his debt and is no longer a bankrupt.

But he can only hold onto his seat if he has a pending appeal.

Attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents the MP’s former creditor, Gina Gonzalez, has insisted that Mr. Stubbs does not have any active appeal.