...two big stories from the Free National Movement's (FNM’s) first mass rally of the 2012 general election season

A Broader Vision for Over-the-Hill

Front Porch

By Simon

There were two big stories coming out of the FNM’s first mass rally of the 2012 general election.  First, Hubert Ingraham unveiled his party’s agenda for the next five years.  In a nod to the Internet age and to younger voters, the FNM released its manifesto online as Ingraham made the announcement.

It was a PR bonanza reinforcing the image of competence and organization of Ingraham and his government.  It further reinforced the image of tardiness and disorganization of Perry Christie and his party.

Earlier that week Christie announced that the PLP was ready to govern on day one.  Despite this assertion, and an earlier claim that his party was prepared for the campaign, the opposition was caught flat-footed.

Almost a week into a four-week campaign, the opposition failed to produce a manifesto, and this from a party that has been agitating for the prime minister to hurry up and name the date of the election.  If the PLP still has not produced a manifesto by today, nomination day, it does not bode well for the party in the minds of many voters.

The inability to beat or equal the FNM in releasing its manifesto is a major blunder by the opposition.  When it is released, a part of the story will be the question of why it took so long.  Many voters will ask what such a delay may portend of another Christie administration.

Upended

There was another major story emerging from Ingraham’s remarks at the mass rally.  The prime minister effectively upended the opposition’s urban renewal mantra with a broader vision of urban redevelopment, incorporating potentially far-reaching initiatives.

Ingraham pledged a Back-to-the-Island Initiative which he hopes will be the beginning of “the largest migration ever back to the islands”.  He suggested that it might relieve urban congestion and serve as a crime-fighting measure.  The prime minister also pledged to launch, “the most comprehensive youth outreach and social intervention programs in the country’s history”.

He made a down-payment on that pledge on Sunday past by fulfilling a promise he made in his national crime address last year.  That down-payment is an additional $1 million in grants for youth and urban outreach programs.

Urban redevelopment requires a comprehensive vision, a vision long held by community activists such as Rev. C. B. Moss.  Ingraham’s vision includes social, economic and infrastructural development.  He pledged an Urban Gentrification Fund to “help with the restoration of homes in designated historic areas of our traditional Over-the-Hill communities”.

Ingraham also proposed what holds the promise of becoming one of the most significant economic initiatives for Over-the-Hill in the modern Bahamas.  That groundbreaking initiative is the Native Food Market.  He suggested that such a market would offer “real hope and economic opportunities to scores of Bahamians.  It will help to revitalize Over-the-Hill.  It can help to reduce crime”.

He indicated that the market would include “a permanent space to exhibit and showcase the history of Over-the-Hill and of our rich African heritage.  There will also be exhibition space to showcase traditions like ring play and traditional African dances”.

Much of what is being proposed builds on the dreams of cultural leaders like Edmund Moxey and his Jumbey Village, as well as the dreams of cultural icons like the late Kayla Lockhart Edwards and the late Jackson Burnside.

What Ingraham and the FNM are proposing outstrips the lesser vision of Christie’s urban renewal plans.  Essentially, Ingraham has proposed an expansive vision of urban redevelopment.

It is a potentially grand vision with the extraordinary potential to empower individuals and communities Over-the-Hill and throughout the country.  Sir Lynden Pindling’s government demolished Jumbey Village and what it represented.  But it could not kill the dream.

Authentic

It is a dream that is being renewed and revitalized in unexpected ways.  Such is the nature of authentic visions and life-giving dreams.  They have a spiritual force that bends the arc of history towards their ultimate fulfillment.

It may be an irony of Bahamian history that neither Sir Lynden, the proclaimed Moses, nor Perry Christie, a protégé, effectively launched a sustainable program of transformation and redevelopment of Over-the-Hill.

This historic accomplishment may become one of the greater legacies of Hubert Ingraham.  Like the Dissident Eight, and thousands of others, including Edmund Moxey, Hubert Ingraham had to leave the PLP to realize his progressive dreams.

Though stylized as the party of the poor, there were and remain core elements of the PLP fixed on an elitist worldview in which academic qualifications, social status and high net worth account for more than other qualities of character.

Being labelled as the Delivery Boy and Rude Boy by the PLP elite was an unmistakable dig at Hubert Ingraham’s socio-economic background.  The inference: “How dare this poor boy who went to school barefoot, and who is not of our social standing, dream that he can become prime minister.  He should be grateful for what we’ve done for him and mind his place.”

Today, the PLP remains strong in traditional Over-the-Hill neighborhoods.  This, despite what many see as decades of neglect and betrayal of the residents of these communities.

What the Delivery Boy has accomplished in terms of dramatically improving the public amenities and services for residents of his constituency of Cooper’s Town and North Abaco is in stark contrast to what Christie has, as dramatically, failed to do in Centreville and Farm Road.

The greater the political power one obtains, the greater the obligation of serving the poor.  It is a fundamental obligation of public service that one leaves a legacy of uplifting the poor.  It is a test of a nation’s humanity, “how it treats its most vulnerable members.  The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation”.

Solidarity

Small bore “urban renewal” efforts by any party or the mere application of bandages or tourniquets to the problems of poorer urban communities are insufficient and insulting.  What is required are holistic responses in solidarity with those who live in these communities.

The PLP has too often taken for granted its support in poorer communities.  The FNM has too often taken for granted that it might not find more fulsome support in the very same communities.  The prime minister may be pleasantly surprised when he visits with residents of Bain Town and Grants Town this week.

Because of who he is, in terms of his record, biography and decades of public service, he will find that his message of an Opportunity Society will resonate with young people and residents Over-the-Hill.  He should be equally attentive to the voices and talents, needs and aspirations of those whom he meets.

While some view Ingraham being referred to as Papa as paternalistic, others view it as a sign of affection.  The Delivery Boy has become a father figure.  What is deeply hypocritical is that those who fawned over Sir Lynden as “Moses” and participated in the cult of personality around “Chief” now feign alarm at Ingraham being called Papa.

If The Bahamas ever risked slipping into dictatorship it would have been in the Pindling years aided and abetted by those who served as his courtiers and sycophants as he victimized others and presided over a government of mass corruption.

The two last terms of Sir Lynden’s premiership were not his best.  Indeed, they were arguably his worst.  For Hubert Ingraham, 2007 to 2012 and potentially the next five years may be among his best.  But, this is up to the Bahamian people.  And to the man who has journeyed from a poor boy to the Delivery Boy to Papa, his elevation to statesman is a work in progress.

Apr 17, 2012

frontporchguardian@gmail.com

www.bahamapundit.com

thenassauguardian

Let civility reign in this 2012 general election season...

Remaining civil during the election

thenassauguardian editorial

Passions are rising in anticipation of the general election.  The parties are putting up posters and having mass rallies.  Bahamians are ready to determine who will be the next Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

A hobby in The Bahamas around election time is crowd watching.  Many people tune in to rallies or pick up newspapers just to see how many people attended events.  Bahamians want to get a sense of who has the most momentum heading into voting day.  People pay careful attention to who filled this park, or whose motorcade was the biggest.

Among the passionate base supporters of each party, this is serious business.  Verbal “battles” emerge between rival sides when rallies are taking place over which party has or had the largest crowd.  These arguments are accompanied by other odd arguments over momentum, such as which party’s flags are most visible on vehicles.

With a record 172,085 people registered to vote, clearly there is great interest in the outcome of this election.  With all of this enthusiasm and interest we have kept up our tradition of non-violent elections – by non-violent we mean the absence of organized and widespread political violence.

With all the challenges we have had with crime and violence over the past few years, this is something we should be proud of.  It was a pleasure over the weekend to witness, in various places, Bahamians losing their voices in robust arguments with friends over politics; each side calling the other a failure and a danger to the future of the country.  Even after a few drinks, in some of these situations, the debates only got louder.  None even remotely approached violence.

We should be proud of our political tradition of non-violent dissent and we must continue to teach our young people that we can disagree without violence.  When you are tired of a government, a politician or a leader, vote against that person or group.  You can also work to persuade others to vote against them.

This is the beauty of democracy.  We can all have an opinion, struggle for our cause, but do so without seeking to physically harm others.  We must remember that the members of our political class have close ties.  The leader of the opposition and prime minister are former law partners and are close friends.  The families of senior members of the Free National Movement (FNM) and senior members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) intermarry.  The children of our politicians attend the same elite private schools.

These close ties are good.  We differ politically, but not to the extent of contempt and hatred.  This election season we all should seek to remember that all sides care about The Bahamas.  And we should commend all the men and women who offer themselves for service to the country.

Apr 16, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) goons and idiots defacing and destroying the Free National Movement's (FNM's) signs and posters

By Dennis Dames



The defacement and destruction of FNM posters and signs could be noticed throughout the island of New Providence. On my way out of my community of Mt. Pleasant Village today, I have noticed that the sign and posters of the FNM leader, and candidate have been knocked totally out of the ground and smashed.


This is a reflection of the high levels of stupidity and wrong acts that plague our nation today. One must ask the question: Do we really want to elect a party of goons and idiots to lead us for the next five years?

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) refuses to shed its image as a criminal and thug organization which would resort to all manner of illegal tactics to win an election. The more we observe the ruin of the Free National Movement’s posters and signs on the streets of New Providence, the less we should consider the PLP as a viable alternative to govern our great nation.

Yes, anti-social behavior seems to be the PLP’s most desired method to win the government of The Bahamas in this election cycle; and God help us if they succeed. It is this writer’s view that the Bahamian electorate should send a strong message to the PLP on Election Day and vote against their foolishness and outright illicit ploys.

The PLP leader seems as usual to be not in control of his organization and members. Is the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) really serious about being a competitor in this 2012 election? If so, then - they must believe that all Bahamians are azzes.

Mr. Perry Christie, Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party – must publicly and seriously condemn his unhelpful supporters in the interest of good sense and leadership; or else watch his organization descend to the debts of political unattractiveness and public scorn.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

In our current political system, where party politics takes precedence over true representational politics ...where there are few benchmarks to truly differentiate candidates or parties ...we are confronted with several negative side effects: namely, the emergence of a politics of personality ...instead of a politics of ideas and action ...or personal accountability

Overcoming The Party Allegiance


.
TALKING SENSE
By KHALILA NICOLLS

khalilanicolls@gmail.com

tribune242



I STARTED this campaign cycle annoyed by the fact that Perry Christie and Hubert Ingraham's faces were plastered all over my constituency, considering I live far from North Abaco and far from Centreville, where these men, both leaders of their respective political parties, are offering themselves as candidates in the May 7 general election.

I was fighting hard to hold on to the principled view that party credentials should not take precedence over candidate credentials, because in our democratic system of representational politics, my vote is supposed to represent the individual vying in my constituency whom I deem best to represent my voice. That principled view calls me to consider each representative without reference to political party propaganda.

I have resigned myself from that utopian view, once and for all, for the following reasons: members of parliament do not represent the voices of the people, they represent the voices of their party; and members of parliament have no power to affect change, unless they are in the inner circles of influence in their political parties.

Further, we exist in a democracy where choice is a contest between "worse and worser", where most candidates, across party lines, are ideologically identical.

And last, but not least, I have the unfortunate misfortune of finding among all of the candidates, few who identify with critical visions that I have of myself as a Bahamian. I plan to tackle my first two concerns in the first of this two-part series.

In our two-party political system (no offence to the DNA and the rest of them), constituency representatives no more represent my voice than they do the voice of their rivals. How could they, when they barely represent their own voices?

How many times have you seen a member of parliament stand up for a personal belief that conflicted with a party's position? Even where they do so in private circles, rarely do they step into the public spotlight, exposing their party to such scrutiny.

In our political system, power is confined to a small inner circle of people with influence. Anyone with status, outside the circle, is a mere puppet, and all others are mere pawns. It seems like a cynical view of our democracy, but experience proves it every time.

Is this healthy for our democracy? No. Is this our reality? Yes. Members of parliament pledge an unspoken allegiance to their political parties, and they take that vow more seriously than any responsibility to be a true representative of the people who put them in office.

Very few MPs, if any at all, organise meaningful community engagements on issues of national importance before they stand up in the House of Assembly to spout off impassioned party positions. How exactly do they represent the voices of the community, if they have no relationship with their communities?

Members of Parliament are infamously absent from constituency offices. In fact, outside of the election cycle, constituency offices are inactive black holes.

It is not that members of parliament serve no purpose; they simply serve a purpose other than that which we wish they would or should.

As private citizens, at some point we need start questioning this notion of representational politics, so we can collectively figure out a better way to extract value, not ham and turkey, from the political leaders who form our government and claim to represent our voices. Because, quite frankly, I am tired of smoking the dreams they are selling.

Members of Parliament, and not just those in opposition, constantly cry about their inability to access the resources of the government to affect change at the constituency level. It is not entirely their fault: our MPs have been trained to be professional beggars of government hand-outs in a system that was not designed to support that sort of representation.

On the other hand, our MPs make themselves impotent, because they have no other concept of their own capacity to represent.

Our political system only supports our development at the constituency level when our community interests are already aligned with the political plans of those with power and influence. If a constituency priority is on the government's agenda, all is well, and you can be sure that initiative is advancing the agenda of a political party, in some form or fashion. If not, then 'dog nyam ya supper'.

V Alfred Gray, MP for MICAL, is a case in point. He routinely comes to the House of Assembly with impassioned whining, and he calls that representation. Most times, his cries fall on deaf ears. And even when the government acts in the interest of Mr Gray's constituents, more than likely, it has nothing to do with Mr Gray, and everything to do with the government's own agenda. The recently passed the Mayaguana Development Bill is a prime example.

For our democracy to grow and to work for its people, we need to develop a new concept of representational politics: one that does not involve delusional ideas that our members of parliament actually represent our voices, or have any real power.

Members of Parliament are instruments of political parties, seeking to acquire and maintain power to satisfy their own interests. We get lucky when those interests align with our own, and when they serve the greater good.

For the sake of imagining, I propose a more practical and useful concept of representational politics that envisions members of parliament more as community organisers and accountable community leaders, which would require no hand-outs from the government, or huge capital investments. It would require vision, leadership, commitment, concern, community engagement and the capacity to mobilise resources in the interest of communities.

I envision a system where our idea of democracy is bigger than our concept of a vote every five years in a general election; where our political representatives are accountable to their communities and not their political parties.

In our current system, where party politics takes precedence over true representational politics, where there are few benchmarks to truly differentiate candidates or parties, we are confronted with several negative side effects: namely, the emergence of a politics of personality, instead of a politics of ideas and action, or personal accountability.

Candidates hide behind parties and parties hide behind their leaders, which leaves party leaders to engage in childhood play to prove who the best is. Our candidates and the parties have an important characteristic in common: they both have an impoverished vision of democracy and national development; and sadly, their equality shields them from scrutiny.

The country believes it is gearing up for a general election, but what is really taking shape is a personality contest, a battle of two politically savvy wits.

More next time, as I continue my examination of voting for the party or the person with the case of Nassau Village.

Talkin Sense explores issues of race, culture, politricks and identity. Pan-African writer and cultural scholar Noelle Khalila Nicolls is a practising journalist in the Bahamas.


April 12, 2012

tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

To those who did not register to vote in the upcoming general election: ...It is clear that you never really wanted to... The politicians, public officials, the media and everybody else, urged you to register... Yet, you did not... The ability to vote is a privilege many fought and died for

It is now voting time

thenassauguardian editorial

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced yesterday at his party’s beach event that he will inform the country today of the election date.

Ingraham said he will first meet with his Cabinet this morning and a statement will be made by 1 p.m. regarding the next election.  The prime minister also said he will make a national address at 8 p.m. about his party’s term in office and the upcoming election.

“The real bell will ring tomorrow,” Ingraham told thousands of Free National Movement (FNM) supporters yesterday at Montagu Beach.

Ingraham said he hopes voters will be satisfied with the performance of his party this term.  The FNM led the country through the financial crisis of 2008, which led to the worst recession since the Great Depression.  The effects of that recession are still being felt in The Bahamas.  The country’s unemployment rate remains above 15 percent.

“We did the best we could in very difficult circumstances and we believe that the population will accept that we did as much as was possible,” Ingraham said.

In this election the FNM’s main challenger is the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).  Its leader last night at his party’s beach event told PLPs not to “slacken up” but to continue to push hard for a victory after Ingraham calls the next general election.

“For us to win, we must demonstrate that we are prepared to work and to work hard,” said Christie at the Western Esplanade near Arawak Cay.

Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel said recently the number of registered voters has exceeded 170,000 – the largest voter register in Bahamian history.

In the weeks to come in the official campaign, Ingraham and Christie will push with all they have left to be declared winner on Election Day.  The veteran leaders are likely in their last election campaign and neither wants to retire a loser.

Branville McCartney and his Democratic National Alliance (DNA) will do all they can to play spoiler.  The DNA is seeking to create a third way in a country that has essentially only welcomed two parties at a time in its independent history.

What Bahamians must remember in the weeks to come is that this is the people’s time.  After five years of evaluating the government and the opposition, it is time to choose.  No party has the right to be in power.  They must earn our trust.  No leader has the right to lead.  He must prove he is good enough to be in charge and make tough decisions in tough times.  The country needs strong decisive leadership to help resolve many of the problems that make The Bahamas dysfunctional at this time.

For those who did not get to register and who will not get to vote, it is clear that you never really wanted to.  The politicians, public officials, the media and everybody else, urged you to register.  Yet, you did not.  The ability to vote is a privilege many fight and die for.

Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma has spent much of her life in jail fighting for democracy in her country.  Yet we have people here who will not even register to vote.  This is sad.

We must take seriously our democratic responsibilities and participate.  For those who are registered, read a little more these next few weeks; have debates with friends and family; listen to the politicians.  You must be the judge in this contest.  Be informed so you can make an informed decision.

Apr 10, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

CircleVision Financial Planning (CFAL) on the Progressive Liberal Party's (PLP’s) plan to tackle the mortgage ‘crisis’ in The Bahamas

On the PLP’s plan to tackle the mortgage ‘crisis’

CFAL Economic view

At the center of the 2008 global crisis was the mortgage debacle. The U.S. government funded mortgage agencies that provided funding for residential mortgages, which in most cases, the mortgagee was not able to afford. The end results were foreclosures and a depressed housing market — now headed into its fifth year.

As we all know, in the absence of a holistic economic plan The Bahamas continues to depend on the success — or lack thereof — of the U.S. economy.  The Bahamas is now experiencing what the U.S. experienced back in 2008 in the mortgage market as a result of lenient lending practices. To fix the core of this problem we need policies that are realistic, achievable and measurable.

After reading the article “PLP to tackle mortgage ‘crisis’” in Monday’s Nassau Guardian, we felt compelled to provide some thoughtful analysis on the matter.  We hold no political brief for any party, but as a financial research and investment company we have a professional and civic duty to opine on ideas which may impact our clients in particular or, as in this case, ideas which we think could adversely impact the Bahamian economy in the short and long term.

While the idea of providing relief for peoples having a difficult time meeting their mortgage obligations is arguably a good one, and one which we support, we have serious questions on some of the specifics outlined in the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) proposal as reported in The Guardian.

In order to place our argument in context, you may recall that our company argued against the loose monetary policy back in 2005-2006, when financial institutions and developers were very lax in their lending policies. We saw double digit credit growth and warned this would come back to haunt us in a very negative way. The loans default crisis (including mortgages) of which we spoke has arrived.

As regards the solution to the ‘crisis’ proposed by the PLP, there are several points that we support: the idea of extending “first time homeowners” stamp duty exemption to people who have lost their homes to foreclosure and are trying to purchase a new home; the argument for some form of review of finance charges and related fees; the regulation of “unregulated lenders”; and the proposal to, “bring under stricter control and supervision the system of salary deduction”. We agree with the PLP that this is being abused by some lending institutions.

Concerns about the plan

Our greater concerns are related to the other recommendations in the proposal.

In a democracy it is not prudent for the government to mandate any financial institution to do anything. The shareholders, directors and management decide what course of action should be taken.

Governments and financial services regulators (central banks) sometimes resort to “moral suasion” in a credit crisis in order to try and persuade financial institutions to provide relief to mortgage payers. Alternatively, monetary policy initiatives by the Central Bank in the form of interest rate deductions are applied to solve the issue of mortgage delinquency.

That course of action, particularly with respect to our current predicament, is likely to be ineffective in and of itself.  It is our view that a holistic plan is needed.  A plan that will examine the likely outcomes and impact on all stakeholders in order to avoid unintended consequences.

By way of example, the recent reduction in prime rate caused serious issues for pensioners, insurance liabilities and National Insurance in terms of matching long term liability obligations.

While the government’s debt obligations may have benefitted from the reductions, the real intended beneficiaries — those who are already in significant arrears — did not and will not benefit from the initiative. The unintended was the increase liability obligations by National Insurance, insurance companies and defined benefit pension plans.

What people need are jobs. Merely dropping interest rates or guaranteeing interest payments will not cause lenders to extend credit, especially since the creditworthiness of many borrowers was and still is slipping.  In the case of new or revised loans at the lower rate, the average monthly benefit will not make much of a difference to the borrower.

The suggestion that a financial institution would simply write off 100 percent of the provisions is impractical at best.

Financial institutions are in business to return a profit to its shareholders. Further, the fact that these amounts are written off today does not preclude the financial institution from attempting to collect on the amounts written off sometime in the future when the circumstances of the borrower might have changed more favorably.

Provisioning for bad debts is an accounting requirement — nothing more, nothing less. As regards the suggestion that the government would take a lien over the property, we do not see how this is possible given that the financial institution already has a lien over the property.

As for the government paying the interest of the delinquent mortgages, while this is a noble idea it is also not practicable and could encourage irresponsible future behavior.

Why would anyone who is current on their mortgage continue to pay if the government would step in and pay the interest for five years? This could have far-reaching consequences unless, of course, we have misunderstood this suggestion.

We are concerned about whether anyone attempted to do the math and cost-out the proposal to see if we, an already debt-laden country, could afford this ambitious proposal.

Has anyone given consideration to the moral hazard?

The cost

Let’s see how much this will cost the people of The Bahamas.

Total Bahamas domestic credit was approximately $7.103 billion at the end of February. Loans or mortgages with maturity over 10 years stood at $4.639 billion. Mortgages outstanding was $3.090 billion with total private sector loans in arrears of $1.159 billion. Total mortgage arrears stood at $619.6 million.

Assuming the estimated proposed interest rate of 5.75 percent (again we do not know how the government proposed to do this in a capitalistic society, but accepting the proposal as is) this would translate into an additional annual commitment by the government of $35.63 million or $178.14 million over five years.

With what is essentially “free money” until 2017, those who are current on their mortgages would elect to stop paying since the government would be obliged to pay their interest until 2017.  They would receive two benefits: a reduction from the average rates of 7.77 percent to 5.75 percent (an immediate savings of over two percent); and to have the government pay the interest until 2017.

It would be logical and indeed quite smart for everyone to stop paying their mortgages for the next five years and have the government pay on their behalf. This would translate into an annual cost of over $266.7 million per year in interest payments (more than the government’s current debt service commitments) or $1.335 billion over five years.

All of this would further increase our debt to GDP ratio, which everyone is concerned about. What happens after 2017 if the economy does not turn around and continues to muddle through? We submit that given the current economic climate as well as the projected growth trajectory, it is highly unlikely that The Bahamas could afford this expenditure, unless we are able to grow the economy (provide more jobs) in the order of 10 percent per annum.

With reference to the suggestion that financial institutions extend maturity on the existing mortgages, as far as our research suggests, this is presently being done. With respect to using pension assets, again for the most part, this is being done already.

The reality however, is that less than 30 percent of companies in The Bahamas have a pension plan, so again, while a noble idea in the absence of pension legislation this will not result in any immediate assistance to the people it is intended for. Perhaps the idea of some form of mandatory pension may be considered to reduce the reliance on National Insurance in the future.

We again state, for the record, that this commentary is not politically motivated. We are simply interested in good economic policies which will further enhance the well-being of all citizens and permanent residents of The Bahamas. What we do not wish to see is capital being inadvertently driven away because of some ill-advised economic policy.

The Bahamas has any number of financial institutions which are ready, willing and able to provide advice on economic matters of national importance. This being one such matter, we felt compelled to present our views and to encourage political parties to consider stress testing some of their ideas that have been proposed so that we can navigate the future from an informed position.

CFAL is a sister company of The Nassau Guardian under the AF Holdings Ltd. umbrella.  CFAL provides investment management, research, brokerage and pension services.  For comments, please contact CFAL at: column@cfal.com

Apr 04, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Dr. Victor Cooper of New Bethany Baptist Cathedral urged the nation’s leaders to put the issue of gambling to a referendum ...and determine ways to tax the dozens of numbers houses that are in business throughout The Bahamas

Pastors urge action on gambling

Numbers houses come under fire

By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
taneka@nasguard.com

A Baptist pastor yesterday urged the nation’s leaders to put the issue of gambling to a referendum and determine ways to tax the dozens of numbers houses that are in business.

Dr. Victor Cooper of New Bethany Baptist Cathedral made the call at a press conference with other religious leaders held to discuss crime.

“Let the people make a decision because the reality is, and sometimes we overlook this aspect of it, these gambling houses are making a lot of money and not paying any taxes whatsoever,” Cooper said.

“There must be some serious consideration given again to the whole issue of gambling with the electorate making a decision as to whether or not this is the way we want to go and then how does the country benefit in return from all the money being expended.”

Bishop Walter Hanchell, president of Great Commission Ministries, said it is time for the country to stop being politically correct about gambling and tackle the social issue head on.

“We have developed into a gambling culture where it is now almost acceptable to gamble. We say that gambling is illegal except for the casinos, but these gambling houses have licenses to operate and they are operating right in front of the police blatantly,” he said.

“We must address it because drugs and gambling are related; in my opinion they all are criminal acts. We need to stop trying to be politically correct and deal with these social issues in the right way.”

Hanchell added that while he is morally opposed to gambling he sees it as a discriminatory practice to allow foreigners to gamble legally in the country while Bahamian citizens cannot.

“I stopped gambling 30 years ago,” he said.  “I don’t support gambling in any form, but it is wrong to allow a foreigner to have any rights in a country where the citizens don’t have the same right and privilege. That is discrimination against your own people.”

Earlier on in its current term, the Ingraham administration considered the question of legalizing numbers houses, but eventually shelved the idea, promising instead to hold a referendum if it is successful at the next general election.

The issue has been a prickly one for successive governments, which have faced strong objections from the church at any hint of legalizing gambling for Bahamians.

Yesterday, the pastors also decried the current levels of crime and violence in the country and called on their counterparts from other churches to reach out to troubled members of the community.

“Murders are becoming an epidemic. Our leaders, church [and] community must come up with solutions to bring murders to an end,” Hanchell said.

Senior Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church Bishop Simeon Hall said drugs, gambling, alcoholism and the decay of the family structure are all to blame for the current crime crisis.

So far this year, 31 murders have been recorded in The Bahamas.

Up to this point last year, 37 murders were recorded.

Apr 05, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International