We do not support value added tax (VAT)

Some Family Is. residents “clueless” about VAT

By ROYSTON JONES JR.
Guardian Staff Reporter
royston@nasguard.com

With fewer than five months before the implementation of value-added tax (VAT), several residents on two Family Islands said they have been left in the dark about the planned tax.

Iris Charlton, an English teacher at Abraham's Bay High School and a member of the Coalition for a Better Mayaguana, said many residents are “really afraid” that VAT will significantly reduce their standard of living.

Noting the high cost of living, and “exorbitant” charges on mail boat services, which bring food and other supplies to the island, Charlton said, “As a result, the things that customers have to buy in the local convenient stores are really, really high.

“It is tough. We do not support VAT.

“We do not see how it is going to work for us because we are struggling already.”

The government has said it will introduce VAT at a rate of 15 percent in most cases and 10 percent for the hotel sector.

Huel Williamson, a retiree, said the majority of residents are struggling to get by and many of them are unemployed.

Mayaguana has fewer than 300 residents, according to the Department of Statistics.

It is unclear what the unemployment rate is on the island.

“The economic situation here in Mayaguana is stagnant, very stagnant,” Williamson said.

“The I-Group wants to employ approximately 80 people, but right now they have a very limited number of people [on the project].”

According to I-Group officials, around 30 Bahamians are employed on the airport redevelopment project.

Asked whether residents have been adequately informed about VAT, Charlton said, “The way they had the forums for the (gambling) referendum, and the constitutional forums, something like that is needed...because a lot of people are clueless.”

Williamson said residents have been expecting government officials to visit the island to explain VAT, but that has not happened as yet.

Johnie-Mae Colebrooke, a mother of two and business owner in Andros, also expressed concern about VAT.  She said many residents are challenged to provide for their families.

“I feel very bad because I am a business woman, me and my husband George Colebrooke,” she said.

“We are praying for something to move in Andros where everyone can work because we have a lot of bills and there are no jobs.”

Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said the government will cover all Family Islands before July 1, having already visited Grand Bahama, Abaco and Andros.

Mount Moriah MP Arnold Forbes said in a recent interview that on average nine out of every 10 people in his New Providence constituency do not understand VAT.

He said the government must get its education campaign to the “grassroots people”, something government officials have said they are in the process of doing.

“We will have the business owners who will have their say, but it is really the regular guy on the street, who is in the majority, that I believe we need to educate them on this in a major way,” Forbes said.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he can still be persuaded by the private sector to introduce an alternative tax model if it proves to be viable.

Christie also said the Ministry of Finance is in an “advanced” stage of preparation for VAT and is moving ahead with its implementation.

February 17, 2014

thenassauguardian

Can anyone imagine two Romanian women landing on Columbus’ island of San Salvador ...scooping up 13 frightened iguanas, stuffing them in socks, then into a suitcase ...and getting as far as London on their way to deliver them to an unknown accomplice in Dusseldorf, Germany ...without some kind of local assistance?

Investigating Theft Of Iguanas

Tribune242:

AS Deputy Prime Minister “Brave” Davis said in a press statement yesterday, it is important that the mysterious appearance of 13 Bahamian iguanas — one dead— discovered in luggage at Heathrow Airport, London, should be thoroughly investigated.

Can anyone imagine two Romanian women landing on Columbus’ island of San Salvador, scooping up 13 frightened iguanas, stuffing them in socks, then into a suitcase and getting as far as London on their way to deliver them to an unknown accomplice in Dusseldorf, Germany, without some kind of local assistance? No, we can’t, nor can Mr Davis.

“This story is troubling in many ways,” said Mr Davis. “These animals are an endangered species, living in isolation from regular human contact. They run away from intruders. To secure 13 animals and to remove them from San Salvador in secrecy would seem to be a daunting task.”

Quite rightly, Mr Davis was concerned that these foreign ladies “probably had assistance from someone or others resident on San Salvador as well as in Nassau before boarding the flight to London”.

It is obvious that there is a local racket going on — if it’s not drugs, it’s our endangered species.

The question is what else and how many more of our rare species are being smuggled out? Were these the first iguanas to leave our shores, or were there others that unfortunately missed detection?

We are certain that all concerned Bahamians, in the words of Mr Davis, are “anxious that this criminal act is fully investigated and that all parties involved in this despicable attack on our natural heritage are dealt with by the law in all relevant jurisdictions. We must all play our part in protecting our natural heritage.”

Not only should any Bahamian who aided and abetted in this despicable act, all along the transit chain, be held accountable, but so should the two Romanian couriers, and whoever was to receive them at their final destination.

“I have been in contact with our security organisations and other agencies of the Government, to ensure that The Bahamas is intimately involved in finding a resolution to this theft and, hopefully, to arrange the safe return of the still living iguanas to their habitat in San Salvador,” said Mr Davis.

He called on “citizens everywhere to be mindful that there will always be those who try to use our islands for trafficking of drugs, people and our natural treasures to other jurisdictions. We must all be vigilant and play our individual parts to the fullest to protect our Bahamas from criminals of all sorts.”

“With only a few of these creatures native to the Bahamas in existence, the San Salvador rock iguana is considered extremely rare and is near extinction. All rock iguanas in the Bahamas are protected by the Wild Animals Protection Act,” The Tribune reported in “The Big T” over the weekend.

With all the publicity that this ugly escapade has attracted in Europe these are certainly 13 of the world’s best known iguanas. They will probably be delighted to return to the warmth of their own sandy shores.

However, Bahamians should take the protection of their heritage seriously. We recall that as a child — many, many moons ago — the delight we took in gathering the most beautiful shells from our beaches.

These precious pieces were in such abundant supply that no one ever thought that they could disappear — we believed that shells were washed ashore with every incoming tide. And then, over time they were no longer there. The only time that we see anything resembling these shells is in special shops in other lands.

Every summer we watched as American tourists walked our beaches, collecting the shells. We remember one gentleman in particular.

Every summer barefooted with rolled up trousers on Montagu Beach, he collected the shells for sale in the US. We watched him grow old on this beach and eventually take Bible in hand and establish a small church here.

He was not the only one. The desecration was happening before our very eyes, but no one realised what it meant for future generations until it was too late.

The only one who seemed to notice enough to take it seriously and warn Bahamians through these columns that they should protect their possessions was the second editor of The Tribune. He predicted that soon there would be a generation of Bahamians who would never understand the treasures they had lost — thanks to an earlier generation that did not protect what nature had bestowed upon them.

The busy pen was that of the late Sir Etienne Dupuch —nicknamed by many as the “Voice of Doom” – who daily through these columns told Bahamians truths that they did not want to hear. It is now up to this generation to become aware and protect what is left of our heritage for future generations.

February 12, 2014

Tribune 242

Serious concerns over endangered iguana smuggling

DPM expresses concerns over iguana smuggling

By TRAVIS CARTWRIGHT-CARROLL
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com

Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis yesterday expressed concern that 13 rock iguanas were stolen from San Salvador and smuggled into the United Kingdom.

“I am anxious, as are all concerned citizens, that this criminal act is fully investigated and that all parties involved in this despicable attack on our natural heritage are dealt with by the law in all relevant jurisdictions,” said Davis, the Member of Parliament for Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.

“We must all play our part in protecting our natural heritage.”

According to the BBC News, a customs team at London’s Heathrow Airport seized 13 iguanas on February 4.

The report said the iguanas, which were stuffed into socks, were found in a suitcase after officers stopped two Romanian women who had arrived from The Bahamas.

Twelve of the endangered lizards survived the voyage, according to the report.

Davis expressed concern that the women may have had assistance from residents on San Salvador as well as New Providence before boarding the flight to London.

“This story is troubling in many ways,” said Davis in a statement.

“These animals are an endangered species, living in isolation from regular human contact. They run away from intruders. To secure 13 animals and to remove them from San Salvador in secrecy would seem to be a daunting task.

“Further, the atrocious act was compounded by taking endangered animals out of the country into a foreign country by two women, with the explanation, apparently, being offered by them to British officials that they were in the process of delivering them to a third party in Germany.”

Davis said he has been in contact with Bahamian security organizations to ensure that The Bahamas is “intimately involved in finding a resolution to this theft and, hopefully, to arrange the safe return of the still living iguanas to their habitat in San Salvador”.

February 11, 2014

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Endangered Iguanas Intercepted in London

Endangered Iguanas Intercepted in London

The Bahamas High Commission London:




Endangered Bahamian Iguanas in London

The High Commission can confirm that thirteen endangered iguanas were identified and seized from two arriving passengers from The Bahamas at London's Heathrow Airport on Monday 3 February 2014. Two Romanian women, aged 24 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of importation offences and are being held without bail.

On instruction of the Government and in order to assess the animal's welfare and potential for repatriation, the High Commission dispatched an Officer to Heathrow's Animal Reception Centre to meet with Customs Officers where the twelve surviving iguanas are being cared for by Officials from the UK Border Force and City of London.

The High Commission can confirm that the animals were inspected and micro chipped by a specialist veterinarian on Thursday afternoon and the initial results are positive. The High Commission will continue to monitor the welfare of the iguanas while awaiting official test results, before a time frame can be set for their potential return to The Bahamas. A number of partners have offered their assistance in repatriating these animals and the High Commission wishes to express its gratitude to these partners.

The High Commission wishes to further express its gratitude for the assistance received by UK Officials and will continue to provide updates to the public when available.

Photo Caption: The twelve surviving iguanas which were intercepted on Monday are being cared for at Heathrow's Animal Reception Centre by Officials from the UK Border Force and City of London.

Photo Credit: BHC London

The lingering legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery in Caribbean societies

 World Structure May Not Bring Reparations Justice

By RUPERT MISSICK Jr:

THE Caribbean’s claim for reparations over “the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade” is so fundamental to the current world structure that there may be no real, just way to respond, social anthropologist and College of the Bahamas professor Dr Nicolette Bethel told The Tribune.

CARICOM maintains that Caribbean societies have been built upon transatlantic slave trading and chattel slavery. It encouraged the slave-owning nations of Europe – principally Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark – to engage Caribbean governments in reparatory dialogue to address the “living legacies of these crimes”.

This dialogue took place on a smaller level recently in one of Dr Bethel’s classes at COB. She was joined by Dr Gilbert Morris who discussed with the students, via Skype, among other things, the legal foundations of a reparations claim.

Dr Bethel said she invited Dr Morris to lecture her class because she and Dr Morris have different positions on the question of reparations.

“The students need to know that scholars don’t always agree and need to learn how to think for themselves,” she said.

One of the issues surrounding the debate is the question of whether it is possible or even realistic to believe that reparations could take the form of dollars and cents.

Dr Bethel believes the debate should involve both the tangible and intangible.

“For me, the main point is the intangible, immaterial, and fundamental issue – that fundamental issue that when crimes are done to human beings and the world takes note, reparations are paid.

“The fact that people of African and indigenous descent have not been treated the same way suggests that the same lie that was invented to justify the slave trade still holds: that we are somehow less than human, and don’t rate the same respect.

“But the monetary side is also fundamental. The modern capitalist world was built on the forced labour of the people of the ‘new world’ and that debt has yet to be paid.

“Rather than Europe and North America paying back the Caribbean, Caribbean countries’ debts are being multiplied under the current world economic system, which, despite all mouthings to the contrary, is in no way ‘free’, unless the ‘free-ness’ is still free, forced, unwaged, underpaid labour,” Dr Bethel said.

Dr Bethel said that Bahamians have a difficult time addressing the issue of slavery because they were mistaught their history.

“We have deep shame about that history and we have not faced it or discussed it. I think this is by design. We imagine that it might be dangerous to our social relations to do so. Our social relations, whether we talk about the enslavement and dehumanisation of our past or not, are endangered. Perhaps one way of fixing that is to re-humanise us all, and one way of doing that is sitting down and reasoning together,” she said.

Slavery, Dr Bethel said, has created a society in which brutality is still the most accepted way of functioning.

“If we are not brutalising one another in every way, little and big, physical and psychic, we wish to brutalise those people on whom we place the label of ‘brute’ – our poor, our disempowered, the criminals.

“The institution of slavery dehumanised everyone, no matter what their origin. The process of beating down the enslaved dehumanised the enslavers. We have only to look at how we have designed our city and our public institutions to understand that we don’t really believe in our full humanity, our people-ness yet,” Dr Bethel said.

While there are many who feel something should happen in terms of reparations, it is doubtful that anything will.

One recent reparation claim levied against Lloyds of London in 2004 by a coalition of Rastafarian groups argued that European countries formerly involved in the slave trade, especially Britain, should pay 72.5 billion pounds to resettle 500,000 Jamaican Rastafarians in Africa.

The claim was rejected by the British government, which said it could not be held accountable for wrongs in past centuries.

So, in a perfect world, how should the Caribbean’s claim for reparations be answered?

Dr Bethel says she doesn’t know but feels that the Caribbean’s claim is so fundamental to the current world structure that there is no real, just way to respond.

“...So I cannot imagine a perfect world. However, let us look at what the Caribbean, what the new world lacks: we lack a real, fundamental connection to and agreement that our humanity is worth celebrating.

“What we lack is the luxury of spending money on things we deem ‘unnecessary’ but which are critical for the development of democratic and civil society, and that is what we need now.

“A fund for the creation of that kind of infrastructure? I don’t know. A return of all that we have lost – all our ancestral knowledge, our ancestral civilities? Can they be returned? Can they be rebuilt? Can we fund the healing that is necessary?

“Even if it is not possible, the gesture, the foundation, the funding must be provided somehow, somewhere, now,” she said.

February 04, 2014

Tribune 242

What's the precise meaning of the death penalty test imposed by the London-based Privy Council?

Call To End Confusion Over Death Penalty

Tribune242:



ONE of the country’s top judges has called for an end to the confusion surrounding the imposition of the death penalty.

 

Amid escalating crime and growing calls for capital punishment, Court of Appeal President Justice Anita Allen said the precise meaning of the death penalty test imposed by the London-based Privy Council must be made clear.

 

“We’ve considered these decisions, listened to and appreciate the concerns of the public and what the Constitutional Commission has recommended. I suggest that the time has come to bring clarity to the dispensation of justice in these cases,” Justice Allen said.

 

Speaking to politicians and members of the judiciary yesterday during the annual special sitting of the Court of Appeal, she noted that a 2006 Privy Council decision outlawed the mandatory death sentence for murderers then on the books, and made capital punishment discretionary.

 

But, Justice Allen said, the high court’s definition of a capital case as the “worst of the worst or the rarest of the rare” has caused “consternation in the ranks of legal scholars and the general public at large.”

 

“The test,” she said, “even appears to confound judicial thinking as (Privy Council member) Lord Kerr himself admitted in the case of Maxo Tido, when he said that the epithet ‘worst of the worst and rarest of the rare’ gave rise to conceptual difficulty as to which cases qualify for the death penalty.”

 

Responding to calls for the Privy Council to be replaced by the Caribbean Court of Justice, the government-appointed Constitutional Commission warned last year that this move would not necessarily lead to a different stance on capital punishment, or eliminate concerns about “foreignness”.

 

“In reality, London is not much further away from Nassau than Port-of-Spain (Trinidad),” the commission said.

 

Justice Allen’s call for clarity comes on the heels of anti-crime activist Rodney Moncur’s claim that his upcoming march to “remove impediments to capital punishment” will attract thousands of participants.

 

“The society is tired of the number of murders and mayhem which are taking place in the Bahamas and we believe these murders can be reduced through swift justice,” said Mr Moncur.

 

“We are marching once again to bring pressure on the Parliament of the Bahamas to remove all of the impediments which prevent persons charged with murder from getting bail and to move all of the impediments which prevent murderers from being executed.”

 

The last person executed in the Bahamas was David Mitchell in January 2000.

 

He was convicted of stabbing two German tourists to death.

 

Mitchell’s execution was controversial because it was carried out while he had an appeal pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

 

International criticism of the move was followed by a moratorium on capital punishment which lasted until the Privy Council’s 2006 decision in the case of Maxo Tido.

 

January 31, 2014

 

Tribune 242

Bahamians are now engaged in a journey towards economic empowerment and freedom ...the final struggle in the centuries-long voyage from enslavement ...to full freedom for generations to come

The march to Majority Rule, pt. 4

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.” - Senator Edward M. Kennedy

As we noted in the first three parts of this series, the march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas can be characterized by two words: Sustained struggle.

Earlier this month, we celebrated the first public holiday to commemorate the day that Majority Rule came to The Bahamas on January 10, 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  We began the march to Majority Rule with the discovery of these islands by the Europeans in 1492 and the subsequent accelerated population growth, aided as much by the American Loyalists who sought sanctuary here following the American Revolution, as by the trans-Atlantic slave trade which engendered numerous attempts by those slaves for freedom from their masters.

We also reviewed how the Burma Road Riot, Bahamians who were “on the Contract” and participants in the General Strike helped to create the framework for the attainment of Majority Rule.

In the final installment of this series, we will continue to Consider This… what were some of the major final milestones that contributed to the centuries-long march to Majority Rule?

The Women’s Suffrage Movement

The 1950s was a decade of tremendous activism by Bahamian women who were deprived of many of the benefits of citizenship.  Women could not vote, could not be elected to Parliament, and could not serve on juries, on public boards, as justices of the peace or in many of the established institutions in the colony.  Much has been documented about the women who led the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the leading “Suffragettes” included Mary Ingraham, Eugenia Lockhart, Georgiana Symonette, Mabel Walker and Althea Mortimer. The Suffragettes petitioned Parliament for the right to vote and were largely supported in their efforts by the Progressive Liberal Party.

Through Doris Johnson, the Suffragettes asked permission to address members of the House of Assembly in 1959, which was refused. However, Magistrate Maxwell Thompson allowed them to use the Magistrate’s Court for their presentation. The Suffragettes’ activism also included a petition to the governor of the colony to change the law for universal suffrage, which, having failed, resulted in them (along with Henry Taylor, then chairman of the PLP) travelling to London to seek assistance from the British government.

The movement sent another petition to the government of the Bahama Islands in 1960 which was also rejected. The PLP took up the cause and held rallies in Nassau and the Out Islands.  Following a relentless, focused and sustained struggle, on February 23, 1961 Parliament passed a bill, which came into effect on June 30, 1962, to allow women to vote and to serve in Parliament.  Registration of women immediately followed and on Monday, November 27, 1962, women voted in The Bahamas for the first time. That election marked a tectonic shift in the body politic.

The general election of 1962

The general elections of 1962 were historic because it was the first general election in which women voted, the first time that the property and company votes were not allowed to vote and an election in which the PLP actually polled a majority of votes cast although it won significantly fewer seats than the incumbent United Bahamian Party (UBP).  In that election, the PLP polled 32,261 votes or approximately 44 percent, winning only eight seats, compared to the UBP which polled 26,500 votes or 36 percent, but winning 18 seats. The Labour Party polled 3,049 votes which represented four percent, winning only one seat.

Several reasons were given for the PLP’s defeat, notwithstanding its decisive plurality.  Clearly there was considerable gerrymandering of seats, allocating a larger number to the Out Islands where it was much easier for the governing party to influence voting behavior by economic threats and political intimidation. In addition, many voters were still out of the colony “on the contract” and, finally, there was a level of trepidation and concern about the ability of black government to govern and maintain the level of political and economic stability to which the colony had become accustomed.  The victory by the UBP resulted in deep-seated racial polarization for the next five years.

Black Tuesday

The next five years would witness considerably greater political activism in anticipation of the general elections in 1967.  The PLP organized and orchestrated its activities with pin-point precision to maximize its political agenda.  On February 4, 1965, during the debate on the report of the Constituencies Commission to which the PLP objected, Milo Butler and Arthur D. Hanna, both PLP members of the House of Assembly, were named and ejected from the House when they refused to take their seats after having exhausted their 15 minute time limit.

Several months later, on April 27, 1965, Lynden Pindling, then leader of the opposition, stated that Premier Symonette and his government appeared to be intransigent on the issue of boundary changes and, given the gerrymandering experience of the 1962 general elections, determined that more radical recourse was required.   Regarding the government’s intransigence, Pindling stated that he could have “no part in it” and picking up the mace (the symbol of the authority of the House), said that “the mace is supposed to belong to the people of the country and the people are outside”. He then threw the mace through the second-floor window to the people below. Milo Butler followed Pindling’s lead by tossing the hour glass, which was used to time speeches, out of the window.

That event, which came to be known as Black Tuesday, stirred the emotions of the people, so much so that the police had to be called to quell the fervor that had been excited by Pindling who left the House to join the people outside.

Over the next two years, the PLP accelerated its political activity including the appeal to the United Nations Committee on colonialism, a boycott of the House of Assembly and the enlistment of support from noted American freedom fighters and celebrities, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. The PLP also galvanized the support of the unions, churches, and lodges.  The stage was set for the general elections of 1967.

General election of 1967

In addition to the domestic political activism that preceded the elections of 1967, the PLP was successful in exploiting the specter of corruption and conflicts of interest by the UBP government which arose out of several Wall St. Journal articles late in 1966 which alleged the involvement of underworld figures in the casinos in Freeport. Lynden Pindling and Paul Adderley called for a Royal Commission to investigate these allegations and Sir Roland Symonette, the premier, responded by calling a snap general election for January 10, 1967, over 10 months before an election was due.

When the votes were counted, there was a tie: 18 seats for the incumbent UBP and 18 for the PLP with two additional seats: one for an independent, Alvin Braynen, and one for the Labour Party’s Randol Fawkes.  The stage was set for both parties to invite the two individuals to break the tie.  Randol Fawkes, who was more closely aligned with the PLP, threw his support behind the PLP. The story is told that Mr. Braynen had wanted to be the speaker of the House of Assembly but was snubbed by the UBP in 1962, just five years earlier. So when Pindling called Braynen to offer him the speakership, Pindling began the conversation with “Hello, Mr. Speaker,” to which Braynen responded: “Hello, Mr. Premier”.  And the rest is history.  The PLP, now with 20 seats in its voting block, formed the first majority rule government, with Pindling as the nation’s premier, going on to be prime minister for the next 25 years. Fawkes became the minister of labour and Braynen served his remaining years in Parliament as speaker of the House of Assembly.

Conclusion

The long march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas was a sustained struggle that started with Pompey and culminated with Pindling.  Six years later, the Colony of the Bahama Islands joined the community of nations and became the independent Commonwealth of The Bahamas.  The sustained struggle that marked the way to a majority-ruled, independent nation still continues as Bahamians now engage in a journey towards the economic empowerment and freedom that Pindling identified as the final struggle in the centuries-long voyage from enslavement to full freedom for generations to come.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 27, 2014

thenassauguardian

- The march to Majority Rule, Part 3

- The march to Majority Rule, Part 2

- The march to Majority Rule, Part 1