The Bahama Journal Editorial
That we live in a time and in a place where some who lead can be petty; can be vindictive and where there is more bile spewing than even the law should allow is today self-evident.
And for sure, that we also live in a time when Bahamians should come together in order to pull themselves up from under is also as clear as day. But as clear happens to be the fact that, there are still so very many Bahamians who – for whatever reason – relish in the politics of personal destruction.
As a direct result of this penchant to see politics as some kind of infernal blood-sport, there are those in parliament who routinely hurl invective and slander-tainted innuendoes at others; all in aid of supposedly winning in a debate.
Much of this is rooted in the fact that some of these people are simply ignorant of the fact that this is just not the way it should be in Parliament.
Here we take some little comfort in the fact that, where ignorance is bliss; ‘tis folly to be wise.
Notwithstanding our current chagrin, there is –yet- some comfort to be found in some of what is about to happen in the House of Assembly.
Here, the good news we have today concerns what seems a dawning consensus to the effect that, the Baha Mar Project should proceed.
We suspect that it will proceed precisely because it seemingly has the potential to help the Bahamas in this dread hour; when things are clearly set to pose any number of other challenges.
Evidently, the principals behind this Baha Mar project are to be given their kudos for having the fortitude to persist in a time and in a place where the going –as they say- was rough.
But yet again, in a world where all’s well that ends well, we are happy to report that, the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham seems agreed that the Baha Mar project should and indeed, will proceed.
As this nation’s Chief notes: “...As a result of candid discussions with the Chinese Export Import Bank, the China State Construction Company, and following upon discussions between those companies and their partner, Baha Mar, I can advise that consensus has been reached on a number of significant issues related to the proposed Baha Mar Cable Beach Development...”
And as Mr. Ingraham went on to explain, “First, the construction value of works to be subcontracted to Bahamian contractors and subcontractors has been doubled from $200 million to $400 million. Bahamians will also work on elements of the Core Project... Second, China State Construction and Baha Mar have agreed to an extensive and comprehensive training and retraining programme...”
We also note that, “ Baha Mar has also agreed to establish a Training and Service Academy which will provide extensive training prior to the opening of the various hotels and other amenities. The Academy will be permanent, offering ongoing training opportunities for employees and prospective employees...”
This is surely some very good news for the Bahamian people, writ large. But even while all of this is well and good, we wonder why this eminently worthy project attracted so much venom and so much bile from so very many quarters.
Indeed, even as we send out praise-thanks for what has transpired concerning Baha Mar in the aftermath of the prime minister’s Asian foray and in particular, his visit to Beijing, we remain discomfited by some of what now emanates from Parliament as this matter is debated and digested by the nation’s law-makers.
Indeed, like lots of other Bahamians who routinely tune into some of what passes for debate in parliament; we are not impressed. Like others who believe that the people’s business should be handled with the highest degree of decorum and civility; we are just not impressed with speakers who believe that the essence of debate is to be found in making personal attacks.
And for sure, like lots of other Bahamians who seriously believe that there are times in life when the governing party and its parliamentary opposite should work together – united in service and love – for the achievement of the common good.
We make these few comments as prologue and preface to a more nuanced comment on the current debate concerning the Baha Mar project; with such a commentary coming in when the dust has settled, so to speak.
At that juncture, Baha Mar would be consigned to the category: Done Deal. And yet again, we insist that this project is a good one for the Bahamas, for Baha Mar’s investors and for the governing Free National Movement and Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, the Progressive Liberal Party.
November 19th, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sir Sol Kerzner says: The proposed deal between the Government of The Bahamas and Baha Mar violates previous agreements between the government and Kerzner International
Sol Kerzner hits out on Baha Mar
By BRENT DEAN
The Nassau Guardian
Deputy News Editor
brentldean@nasguard.com
Says Baha Mar deal violates agreements made with his company
The proposed deal between the Government of The Bahamas and Baha Mar violates previous agreements between the government and Kerzner International, charged Sir Sol Kerzner yesterday.
“Baha Mar proposes employing thousands of foreign Chinese workers, which would represent far more than 30 percent of the total labor force.
Approval of this arrangement by government would be a clear breach of an investment agreement with a developer that has become its largest private employer, and an investor who took a risk on The Bahamas when its economy was struggling far more than it is today,” said Sir Sol Kerzner, chairman and chief executive officer of Kerzner International in a statement.
The House of Assembly is scheduled to conclude debate on the Baha Mar resolution today. The company is seeking 8,150 work permits for Chinese workers to help construct the $2.6 billion resort. The government is seeking the blessing of the House as it grants the work permits. The opposition has said it supports the deal.
In previous heads of agreements between Kerzner and the government, it pledged to grant Kerzner most favored nation status, meaning no investor would be granted concessions greater than Kerzner.
However, in a rare public statement, Kerzner, who is the largest private sector employer in the country, said Baha Mar is being granted much more than his company received.
“When we made our largest single investment of approximately $1 billion for Phase III, we did so based on a heads of agreement signed with the PLP government in 2003. Among the many requirements that government imposed on Kerzner under this and prior agreements was a strict rule that at least 70 percent of the total construction labor force would be Bahamian,” said Kerzner.
“As was the case with the two previous agreements with government, our 2003 agreement included a most favored nation provision that assured Kerzner that our investments would be protected from subsequent investors receiving more favorable terms. These agreements represented a solemn promise by The Bahamas to us that any subsequent investor would only compete against us on a level playing field.”
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said on Sunday that the Baha Mar deal would be approved by the end of the month. It is unclear if Kerzner’s intervention will have any effect on that pronouncement.
Yesterday Baha Mar was not pleased with Kerzner’s public intervention.
“We are not going to comment on Mr. Kerzner’s public relations statement. The Baha Mar project has been well vetted with the public, the government and its investors. We are happy the Baha Mar resolution is being debated in Parliament today,” said the company in response to Kerzner.
Kerzner International said it intends to discuss with the government how to address its concerns. As a result of the deal, Baha Mar is to receive on the labor and land components of the proposed deal, Kerzner can argue it is entitled to the same.
The government is transfering 265 acres of public land at Cable Beach to Baha Mar as a part of the deal.
Kerzner International emphasized that the heads of agreement for each of the three phases of development on Paradise Island required that at least 70 percent of the total construction labor force had to be Bahamian.
Bahamian labor is more expensive than labor from countries such as China and Mexico.
The company and its chairman argued that the deal Baha Mar is to receive “would represent a material breach” of its agreement with the government.
“When Kerzner first invested in The Bahamas by acquiring what is now the Coral and Beach Towers out of bankruptcy in May 1994, we made our investment on the basis of agreements with the government that gave us contractual assurances regarding our investment. Although we were confident in our abilities to re-establish the Bahamian tourism industry at that time, we did so in the face of truly dire economic conditions,” said Kerzner in his remarks.
“Accordingly, we insisted upon most favored nation treatment, which would ensure that no subsequent investor would be given advantages that we never enjoyed. Since our first investment, we have always found government – irrespective of the party in office – to be a faithful partner who has justified our initial and subsequent confidence in The Bahamas as an investor. We have invested more than $2.3 billion over the course of our build-out of the three phases of Atlantis, increasing our room count from approximately 1,100 in 1994 to over 4,000 today.
“We have grown the Bahamian workforce from approximately 1,200 employees when we commenced operations in 1994 to nearly 8,000 full-time employees today, not to mention the indirect employment that our investment has generated in the community. Furthermore, we have spent millions on training programs to develop and improve the skills and professionalism of our work force, which has allowed Atlantis to be rated among the top resorts in the world.”
Both the governing Free National Movement and opposition Progressive Liberal Party support the Baha Mar deal.
11/18/2010
thenassauguardian
By BRENT DEAN
The Nassau Guardian
Deputy News Editor
brentldean@nasguard.com
Says Baha Mar deal violates agreements made with his company
The proposed deal between the Government of The Bahamas and Baha Mar violates previous agreements between the government and Kerzner International, charged Sir Sol Kerzner yesterday.
“Baha Mar proposes employing thousands of foreign Chinese workers, which would represent far more than 30 percent of the total labor force.
Approval of this arrangement by government would be a clear breach of an investment agreement with a developer that has become its largest private employer, and an investor who took a risk on The Bahamas when its economy was struggling far more than it is today,” said Sir Sol Kerzner, chairman and chief executive officer of Kerzner International in a statement.
The House of Assembly is scheduled to conclude debate on the Baha Mar resolution today. The company is seeking 8,150 work permits for Chinese workers to help construct the $2.6 billion resort. The government is seeking the blessing of the House as it grants the work permits. The opposition has said it supports the deal.
In previous heads of agreements between Kerzner and the government, it pledged to grant Kerzner most favored nation status, meaning no investor would be granted concessions greater than Kerzner.
However, in a rare public statement, Kerzner, who is the largest private sector employer in the country, said Baha Mar is being granted much more than his company received.
“When we made our largest single investment of approximately $1 billion for Phase III, we did so based on a heads of agreement signed with the PLP government in 2003. Among the many requirements that government imposed on Kerzner under this and prior agreements was a strict rule that at least 70 percent of the total construction labor force would be Bahamian,” said Kerzner.
“As was the case with the two previous agreements with government, our 2003 agreement included a most favored nation provision that assured Kerzner that our investments would be protected from subsequent investors receiving more favorable terms. These agreements represented a solemn promise by The Bahamas to us that any subsequent investor would only compete against us on a level playing field.”
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said on Sunday that the Baha Mar deal would be approved by the end of the month. It is unclear if Kerzner’s intervention will have any effect on that pronouncement.
Yesterday Baha Mar was not pleased with Kerzner’s public intervention.
“We are not going to comment on Mr. Kerzner’s public relations statement. The Baha Mar project has been well vetted with the public, the government and its investors. We are happy the Baha Mar resolution is being debated in Parliament today,” said the company in response to Kerzner.
Kerzner International said it intends to discuss with the government how to address its concerns. As a result of the deal, Baha Mar is to receive on the labor and land components of the proposed deal, Kerzner can argue it is entitled to the same.
The government is transfering 265 acres of public land at Cable Beach to Baha Mar as a part of the deal.
Kerzner International emphasized that the heads of agreement for each of the three phases of development on Paradise Island required that at least 70 percent of the total construction labor force had to be Bahamian.
Bahamian labor is more expensive than labor from countries such as China and Mexico.
The company and its chairman argued that the deal Baha Mar is to receive “would represent a material breach” of its agreement with the government.
“When Kerzner first invested in The Bahamas by acquiring what is now the Coral and Beach Towers out of bankruptcy in May 1994, we made our investment on the basis of agreements with the government that gave us contractual assurances regarding our investment. Although we were confident in our abilities to re-establish the Bahamian tourism industry at that time, we did so in the face of truly dire economic conditions,” said Kerzner in his remarks.
“Accordingly, we insisted upon most favored nation treatment, which would ensure that no subsequent investor would be given advantages that we never enjoyed. Since our first investment, we have always found government – irrespective of the party in office – to be a faithful partner who has justified our initial and subsequent confidence in The Bahamas as an investor. We have invested more than $2.3 billion over the course of our build-out of the three phases of Atlantis, increasing our room count from approximately 1,100 in 1994 to over 4,000 today.
“We have grown the Bahamian workforce from approximately 1,200 employees when we commenced operations in 1994 to nearly 8,000 full-time employees today, not to mention the indirect employment that our investment has generated in the community. Furthermore, we have spent millions on training programs to develop and improve the skills and professionalism of our work force, which has allowed Atlantis to be rated among the top resorts in the world.”
Both the governing Free National Movement and opposition Progressive Liberal Party support the Baha Mar deal.
11/18/2010
thenassauguardian
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
...we are much exercised by what is not happening for the masses as the classes go from strength to strength
Beyond Pious Bleating
The Bahama Journal
As one crime-ridden day flows into another, some thoughtful Bahamians have begun a conversation among themselves concerning some of their more extreme conclusions about what is actually happening in our beloved land.
What we are hearing from some of these sources is that, crime –as it is currently being expressed might well have within it a kernel that suggests the early rise of a virulent form of class-driven warfare, assault and insult to person and property in today’s parlous economic times.
Here we are certain that while these conversations are going on, there are Bahamians who would out of hand deny any such class-based set of developments; here we do suspect that they do so to their peril and to that of the wider Bahamian society.
Our thoughts are turned in this direction as we reflect on some of the words and thoughts of the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham. The Prime Minister suggests that, "In a 21st Century Bahamas, if we are to become all that we might be we must aspire to transcend historic prejudices and break loose from the stereotypical bounds of the politics of race and class division that belongs to a bygone era."
He went on to suggest "That is behind us and we must leave it so that we can achieve full unity in our land with government dedicated to serving all Bahamians, black and white, middle class, rich and poor, young and old, able and disabled."
No right-thinking Bahamian would dare quibble with anything the prime minister says concerning this aspiration for the coming of that day when discrimination is no more in The Bahamas.
That will be a great day not only for The Bahamas, but for human beings everywhere. That is because were we to achieve such a feat, our example could provide a template for people all over the world.
The truth of the matter is that race does matter in The Bahamas. Class does matter in The Bahamas. Ethnicity does matter in The Bahamas. Gender and sexual orientation do matter in The Bahamas and so does disability. And for sure, so does poverty and wealth living cheek to jowl in the same society.
It matters little what people say about their aspiration to create this or that kind of Bahamas. What matters is what they do about it.
Experience elsewhere would seem to suggest that before a problem can be resolved, it must first be recognized as a problem; that being a necessary prerequisite to action, if we - as a people – wanted to be honest about any of these issues that do matter, we would do something about it.
Take for example, the manner in which we deal with people who are so-called ‘disabled’. We further hobble them when we decide that no changes need be made to processes like voter registration that would allow these people their rights to privacy in the sanctity of the booth.
Whoever never thought that in this day and age that voter registration and voting should not be made user-friendly for people, who are blind, crippled or otherwise challenged?
Or for that matter, whoever decreed that Bahamians born of Haitian parents should be forever stigmatized because of the fact that they are Haitians? What ignorance! What rot! What utter nonsense!
Closer to home from a racial point of view, how is it that so-called White people around the world have already acknowledged that slavery was a crime against humanity, while so few in The Bahamas even want to broach the issue.
Here we take little or no note of some of that literary stuff by this or that ‘artiste’ out to make a name by chatting about the issues at hand.
This and other such issues should be encouraged among so very many so-called ordinary people.
Like the late, great and seriously under-estimated Milo Boughton Butler, we are much exercised by what is not happening for the masses as the classes go from strength to strength.
That is why we counsel and caution each and every social observer who would dare think that they could understand a modern Bahamas without taking into consideration the raw reality that class does matter; that race does matter; and that gender and disability are also realities that matter.
The truth is that none of this understanding comes easily. And for sure, this is clearly the urgency in the current moment when things are so very bad for all Bahamians.
And so, we would suggest that, in the ultimate analysis, then, real bridges have to be built between where we are, who we truly are and what we are prepared to do with and on behalf of whom.
Otherwise, brave words about what we wish amount to little more than windy rhetoric and a most pious bleating about social justice.
November 18th, 2010
The Bahama Journal
The Bahama Journal
As one crime-ridden day flows into another, some thoughtful Bahamians have begun a conversation among themselves concerning some of their more extreme conclusions about what is actually happening in our beloved land.
What we are hearing from some of these sources is that, crime –as it is currently being expressed might well have within it a kernel that suggests the early rise of a virulent form of class-driven warfare, assault and insult to person and property in today’s parlous economic times.
Here we are certain that while these conversations are going on, there are Bahamians who would out of hand deny any such class-based set of developments; here we do suspect that they do so to their peril and to that of the wider Bahamian society.
Our thoughts are turned in this direction as we reflect on some of the words and thoughts of the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham. The Prime Minister suggests that, "In a 21st Century Bahamas, if we are to become all that we might be we must aspire to transcend historic prejudices and break loose from the stereotypical bounds of the politics of race and class division that belongs to a bygone era."
He went on to suggest "That is behind us and we must leave it so that we can achieve full unity in our land with government dedicated to serving all Bahamians, black and white, middle class, rich and poor, young and old, able and disabled."
No right-thinking Bahamian would dare quibble with anything the prime minister says concerning this aspiration for the coming of that day when discrimination is no more in The Bahamas.
That will be a great day not only for The Bahamas, but for human beings everywhere. That is because were we to achieve such a feat, our example could provide a template for people all over the world.
The truth of the matter is that race does matter in The Bahamas. Class does matter in The Bahamas. Ethnicity does matter in The Bahamas. Gender and sexual orientation do matter in The Bahamas and so does disability. And for sure, so does poverty and wealth living cheek to jowl in the same society.
It matters little what people say about their aspiration to create this or that kind of Bahamas. What matters is what they do about it.
Experience elsewhere would seem to suggest that before a problem can be resolved, it must first be recognized as a problem; that being a necessary prerequisite to action, if we - as a people – wanted to be honest about any of these issues that do matter, we would do something about it.
Take for example, the manner in which we deal with people who are so-called ‘disabled’. We further hobble them when we decide that no changes need be made to processes like voter registration that would allow these people their rights to privacy in the sanctity of the booth.
Whoever never thought that in this day and age that voter registration and voting should not be made user-friendly for people, who are blind, crippled or otherwise challenged?
Or for that matter, whoever decreed that Bahamians born of Haitian parents should be forever stigmatized because of the fact that they are Haitians? What ignorance! What rot! What utter nonsense!
Closer to home from a racial point of view, how is it that so-called White people around the world have already acknowledged that slavery was a crime against humanity, while so few in The Bahamas even want to broach the issue.
Here we take little or no note of some of that literary stuff by this or that ‘artiste’ out to make a name by chatting about the issues at hand.
This and other such issues should be encouraged among so very many so-called ordinary people.
Like the late, great and seriously under-estimated Milo Boughton Butler, we are much exercised by what is not happening for the masses as the classes go from strength to strength.
That is why we counsel and caution each and every social observer who would dare think that they could understand a modern Bahamas without taking into consideration the raw reality that class does matter; that race does matter; and that gender and disability are also realities that matter.
The truth is that none of this understanding comes easily. And for sure, this is clearly the urgency in the current moment when things are so very bad for all Bahamians.
And so, we would suggest that, in the ultimate analysis, then, real bridges have to be built between where we are, who we truly are and what we are prepared to do with and on behalf of whom.
Otherwise, brave words about what we wish amount to little more than windy rhetoric and a most pious bleating about social justice.
November 18th, 2010
The Bahama Journal
...half of all deaths in The Bahamas are attributed to diseases that are caused by poor lifestyle choices
Historical Perspective on Bahamian Healthcare
by Larry Smith
bahamapundit
Experts say that to address the skyrocketing costs of modern medicine, we have to rely more on preventive and primary care rather than costly hospital treatment.
According to Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, about two thirds of public spending on healthcare goes to treat diseases that are caused by poor lifestyle choices. And half of all deaths in the Bahamas are attributed to these same illnesses.
For example, there are tens of thousands of diabetics in the Bahamas, and complications from the disease include kidney failure, heart disease and blindness. It costs taxpayers $60,000 a year to treat each of the more than 200 people with kidney failure who are currently undergoing dialysis at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
Bahamians spend about half a billion dollars on public and private healthcare today (some 7 per cent of GDP). This represents an incredible transformation from the early years of the 20th century, and it is interesting to take a historical view of this subject.
Back then, there were only three doctors outside of Nassau - at Inagua, Harbour Island and Green Turtle Cay - to serve 42,000 people living in the widely scattered out islands. According to Dr Harold Munnings in his 2005 history of the Princess Margaret Hospital, out islanders "obtained what care they could from untrained midwives, clergymen and herbalists".
The PMH began life as a poorhouse in 1809 and entered the 20th century as a place of last resort for those in need of medical care. According to a 1905 account It had four sections - for the sick, indigent, lepers and insane. Treatment was free, but patients were referred to as "inmates", and those who could afford it arranged for medical care at home - quite the opposite to current practice.
In 1925 several American visitors contracted typhoid fever in Nassau - a killer disease transmitted by dirty food and water, so the British authorities dispatched a senior public health expert to investigate.
He deplored the filth of heavily populated communities not included in the city's new water-works and sewerage system, then under construction. He also noted the prevalence of tuberculosis, venereal disease, gastroenteritis and tetanus, and strongly criticised public indifference to Nassau's dreadful sanitary and housing conditions.
Unfortunately, these conditions did not begin to change until the middle of the century, when a British official was still able to write that "Behind Nassau's picturesque old-world streets and the princely mansions along the East and West shores are slums as bad as any West Indian Colony, and far worse than anything Bermuda can show."
In 1953, two thirds of the homes on New Providence still had no running water. And preventable diseases were due mostly to overcrowding, ignorance, poor nutrition, and lack of public hygiene.
An unpublished medical memoir written by Dr Malcolm Hale about a year before his death in 2003 at the age of 77 offers a useful perspective on this period of modern history. Hale arrived in Nassau in 1954 on a three-year contract as a medical officer for the new Bahamas General Hospital (which was renamed after a visit by Princess Margaret in 1955), and stayed on in private practice.
"I arrived by boat from England on December 16," he recalled. "We anchored outside the bar and a tender came out to carry us in. On it was a reporter from the Guardian to interview the new doctor, and a photographer to take his picture...the effort hinted at the state of medical needs of the community."
He identified the new Emerald Beach Hotel on Cable Beach, the redeveloped Bahamas General Hospital and the first City Market food store as emblems of changing times for Bahamians. They represented a dramatic break with the economy of the past, he said, and were a sign that prosperity was beginning to trickle into the general population.
Shortly after his arrival Dr Hale was put in charge of the TB and geriatric wards at the Prospect Hospital, as well as the Lazaretto off Carmichael Road, which was no more than a narrow dirt track. This was in addition to his out-patient and casualty duties, as well as occasional out island clinics.
Prospect Hospital was a collection of wooden buildings on Prospect Ridge built for the American and British air forces who trained in the Bahamas during the Second World War. Like Windsor airfield it was handed over to the Bahamian government in 1945.
"The general health of the population was poor," Dr Hale recalled. "Tuberculosis was rife; new cases were discovered almost daily, many from out island settlements, some of which like Rolleville (Exuma) and Moores Island (Abaco), were heavily infected. Fortunately, my entry to the medical profession coincided with the discovery and availability of a whole range of effective medications...Now patients came to be cured, not to die."
He described the geriatric wards as pathological museums. "Especially impressive were cases of elephantiasis and the whole spectrum of tertiary syphilis. The leprosarium was a collection of small wooden cottages (with) about 20 patients when I took over, most in advanced stages of disfigurement, especially of hands and face.
"The few new cases I admitted were diagnosed in the early stages and so far as I know all were cured and returned undisfigured to society. The old cases stayed at the Lazaretto and died off over a period of several years. Most of the cases were white."
In the out-patient clinics, Dr Hale treated many malnourished children with intestines bloated with Ascaris worms. Vermicide was probably the most heavily prescribed drug at the time, and he credited it with making the greatest single contribution (except for penicillin) to the health of the community.
Dysentery was also common, as were sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. But the popular remedy for VD at the time, Dr Hale noted, was to have sex with female infants. "It took a major educational effort by the profession to disabuse the population of this idea, and I wonder today if we fully succeeded."
Although HIV-AIDS was unknown at the time, Hale suspected that "the occasional cases of multipathology which responded to no treatment, and which were unsolved diagnostic puzzles, and invariably fatal, may have been AIDS. Interestingly, as AIDS increased, the other STD’s declined and have become rare."
Epidemics of whooping cough were devastating, Hale said. "I remember Kenneth Eardley, an older private physician, telling me he had signed two or three hundred death certificates due to this illness in one outbreak just a few years previously. And how many times have I heard older women say 'I born 13 but I bring up three'?"
In the 1950s there was relatively little obesity and much less diabetes than now, Dr Hale reported. But one serious health condition has remained constant. High blood pressure was, and is, a common problem amongst Bahamians of all ages, together with its deadly complications of stroke and heart disease.
in fact, while he was a resident at the PMH, Dr Hale and others contributed data to a US hypertension study. In their 1958 report, the American researchers noted that:
"Almost everyone on the Islands has a relative that has 'the high blood,' died of hypertension, or has had a stroke...An analysis of the water supply in Nassau and several of the outer island groups revealed that the well water was significantly high in sodium content."
The study reported salt levels of less than a milligram per millilitre in the drinking water of major US cities, whereas drinking water at the PMH contained 129 milligrams and on Eleuthera 210 milligrams. This meant that Bahamians were ingesting up to 10 grams of salt per day from water alone. And that was in addition to the sodium found naturally in foods, or added in cooking. Nor did it account for the fact that salt pork was a common ingredient in most dishes at the time.
Currently, the American Heart Association recommends an intake of less than 2.5 grams of salt per day for the general population - that's about a teaspoon - and even less for high-risk individuals. I can testify from personal experience that this guideline is as difficult to achieve in today's fast food-dominated diet as it was back in the 1950s when we all drank salt water.
Hale was one of a growing band of doctors who participated in the vast expansion of medical skills and services in the Bahamas over the past half century. His assessment of how things had changed over that time?
"Today the general health of the population is excellent," he wrote in 2002. "except for self-inflicted conditions, principally obesity (and its complications), HIV-AIDS, and gunshot wounds."
In fact, the current level of violent crime is straining our healthcare system. There were 51 cases of knife and gun attacks treated by the PMH in October alone, and ER doctors treated more than 160 other assault cases, as well as 94 traffic accident victims last month.
Apart from these walking wounded, most of the patients who crowd the PMH emergency room don't need to be there - they just don't know any better. Preventive medicine and affordable drugs are important, but public education to improve compliance or avoid problems in the first place is just as critical.
There is a growing awareness in government that we will never have enough money to solve our healthcare challenges using costly tertiary care approaches. Cancer, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and stroke, heart attack and kidney failure top the list of modern medical problems in the Bahama - and they all are preventable with education, diet and drugs.
For the time being plans have been shelved for a new $600 million public hospital, which surveyors were staking out only months ago on acres of prime forested land at Prospect Ridge. The enormous investment that would be required to build a new hospital has led successive governments to content themselves with redeveloping the PMH at its present site.
"I would love to work in a new, state-of-the-art hospital," Dr Munnings told me recently, "but a properly funded programme to prevent chronic disease has to be the priority."
November 17, 2010
bahamapundit
by Larry Smith
bahamapundit
Experts say that to address the skyrocketing costs of modern medicine, we have to rely more on preventive and primary care rather than costly hospital treatment.
According to Health Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, about two thirds of public spending on healthcare goes to treat diseases that are caused by poor lifestyle choices. And half of all deaths in the Bahamas are attributed to these same illnesses.
For example, there are tens of thousands of diabetics in the Bahamas, and complications from the disease include kidney failure, heart disease and blindness. It costs taxpayers $60,000 a year to treat each of the more than 200 people with kidney failure who are currently undergoing dialysis at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
Bahamians spend about half a billion dollars on public and private healthcare today (some 7 per cent of GDP). This represents an incredible transformation from the early years of the 20th century, and it is interesting to take a historical view of this subject.
Back then, there were only three doctors outside of Nassau - at Inagua, Harbour Island and Green Turtle Cay - to serve 42,000 people living in the widely scattered out islands. According to Dr Harold Munnings in his 2005 history of the Princess Margaret Hospital, out islanders "obtained what care they could from untrained midwives, clergymen and herbalists".
The PMH began life as a poorhouse in 1809 and entered the 20th century as a place of last resort for those in need of medical care. According to a 1905 account It had four sections - for the sick, indigent, lepers and insane. Treatment was free, but patients were referred to as "inmates", and those who could afford it arranged for medical care at home - quite the opposite to current practice.
In 1925 several American visitors contracted typhoid fever in Nassau - a killer disease transmitted by dirty food and water, so the British authorities dispatched a senior public health expert to investigate.
He deplored the filth of heavily populated communities not included in the city's new water-works and sewerage system, then under construction. He also noted the prevalence of tuberculosis, venereal disease, gastroenteritis and tetanus, and strongly criticised public indifference to Nassau's dreadful sanitary and housing conditions.
Unfortunately, these conditions did not begin to change until the middle of the century, when a British official was still able to write that "Behind Nassau's picturesque old-world streets and the princely mansions along the East and West shores are slums as bad as any West Indian Colony, and far worse than anything Bermuda can show."
In 1953, two thirds of the homes on New Providence still had no running water. And preventable diseases were due mostly to overcrowding, ignorance, poor nutrition, and lack of public hygiene.
An unpublished medical memoir written by Dr Malcolm Hale about a year before his death in 2003 at the age of 77 offers a useful perspective on this period of modern history. Hale arrived in Nassau in 1954 on a three-year contract as a medical officer for the new Bahamas General Hospital (which was renamed after a visit by Princess Margaret in 1955), and stayed on in private practice.
"I arrived by boat from England on December 16," he recalled. "We anchored outside the bar and a tender came out to carry us in. On it was a reporter from the Guardian to interview the new doctor, and a photographer to take his picture...the effort hinted at the state of medical needs of the community."
He identified the new Emerald Beach Hotel on Cable Beach, the redeveloped Bahamas General Hospital and the first City Market food store as emblems of changing times for Bahamians. They represented a dramatic break with the economy of the past, he said, and were a sign that prosperity was beginning to trickle into the general population.
Shortly after his arrival Dr Hale was put in charge of the TB and geriatric wards at the Prospect Hospital, as well as the Lazaretto off Carmichael Road, which was no more than a narrow dirt track. This was in addition to his out-patient and casualty duties, as well as occasional out island clinics.
Prospect Hospital was a collection of wooden buildings on Prospect Ridge built for the American and British air forces who trained in the Bahamas during the Second World War. Like Windsor airfield it was handed over to the Bahamian government in 1945.
"The general health of the population was poor," Dr Hale recalled. "Tuberculosis was rife; new cases were discovered almost daily, many from out island settlements, some of which like Rolleville (Exuma) and Moores Island (Abaco), were heavily infected. Fortunately, my entry to the medical profession coincided with the discovery and availability of a whole range of effective medications...Now patients came to be cured, not to die."
He described the geriatric wards as pathological museums. "Especially impressive were cases of elephantiasis and the whole spectrum of tertiary syphilis. The leprosarium was a collection of small wooden cottages (with) about 20 patients when I took over, most in advanced stages of disfigurement, especially of hands and face.
"The few new cases I admitted were diagnosed in the early stages and so far as I know all were cured and returned undisfigured to society. The old cases stayed at the Lazaretto and died off over a period of several years. Most of the cases were white."
In the out-patient clinics, Dr Hale treated many malnourished children with intestines bloated with Ascaris worms. Vermicide was probably the most heavily prescribed drug at the time, and he credited it with making the greatest single contribution (except for penicillin) to the health of the community.
Dysentery was also common, as were sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. But the popular remedy for VD at the time, Dr Hale noted, was to have sex with female infants. "It took a major educational effort by the profession to disabuse the population of this idea, and I wonder today if we fully succeeded."
Although HIV-AIDS was unknown at the time, Hale suspected that "the occasional cases of multipathology which responded to no treatment, and which were unsolved diagnostic puzzles, and invariably fatal, may have been AIDS. Interestingly, as AIDS increased, the other STD’s declined and have become rare."
Epidemics of whooping cough were devastating, Hale said. "I remember Kenneth Eardley, an older private physician, telling me he had signed two or three hundred death certificates due to this illness in one outbreak just a few years previously. And how many times have I heard older women say 'I born 13 but I bring up three'?"
In the 1950s there was relatively little obesity and much less diabetes than now, Dr Hale reported. But one serious health condition has remained constant. High blood pressure was, and is, a common problem amongst Bahamians of all ages, together with its deadly complications of stroke and heart disease.
in fact, while he was a resident at the PMH, Dr Hale and others contributed data to a US hypertension study. In their 1958 report, the American researchers noted that:
"Almost everyone on the Islands has a relative that has 'the high blood,' died of hypertension, or has had a stroke...An analysis of the water supply in Nassau and several of the outer island groups revealed that the well water was significantly high in sodium content."
The study reported salt levels of less than a milligram per millilitre in the drinking water of major US cities, whereas drinking water at the PMH contained 129 milligrams and on Eleuthera 210 milligrams. This meant that Bahamians were ingesting up to 10 grams of salt per day from water alone. And that was in addition to the sodium found naturally in foods, or added in cooking. Nor did it account for the fact that salt pork was a common ingredient in most dishes at the time.
Currently, the American Heart Association recommends an intake of less than 2.5 grams of salt per day for the general population - that's about a teaspoon - and even less for high-risk individuals. I can testify from personal experience that this guideline is as difficult to achieve in today's fast food-dominated diet as it was back in the 1950s when we all drank salt water.
Hale was one of a growing band of doctors who participated in the vast expansion of medical skills and services in the Bahamas over the past half century. His assessment of how things had changed over that time?
"Today the general health of the population is excellent," he wrote in 2002. "except for self-inflicted conditions, principally obesity (and its complications), HIV-AIDS, and gunshot wounds."
In fact, the current level of violent crime is straining our healthcare system. There were 51 cases of knife and gun attacks treated by the PMH in October alone, and ER doctors treated more than 160 other assault cases, as well as 94 traffic accident victims last month.
Apart from these walking wounded, most of the patients who crowd the PMH emergency room don't need to be there - they just don't know any better. Preventive medicine and affordable drugs are important, but public education to improve compliance or avoid problems in the first place is just as critical.
There is a growing awareness in government that we will never have enough money to solve our healthcare challenges using costly tertiary care approaches. Cancer, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and stroke, heart attack and kidney failure top the list of modern medical problems in the Bahama - and they all are preventable with education, diet and drugs.
For the time being plans have been shelved for a new $600 million public hospital, which surveyors were staking out only months ago on acres of prime forested land at Prospect Ridge. The enormous investment that would be required to build a new hospital has led successive governments to content themselves with redeveloping the PMH at its present site.
"I would love to work in a new, state-of-the-art hospital," Dr Munnings told me recently, "but a properly funded programme to prevent chronic disease has to be the priority."
November 17, 2010
bahamapundit
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Baha Mar project is good for The Bahamas
Forward with Baha Mar
The Bahama Journal Editorial
By way of this commentary, we reiterate a point previously made to the effect that this Baha Mar project is good for the Bahamas and that as such, its approval should be put on the fast track.
We base our conclusion in our conviction that –as designed- this project promises to double the marketing this country now enjoys.
This in turn, promises any number of ancillary benefits.
As Stephen Wrinkle, Bahamas Contractors Association underscores: "Remember what an impact we had when they built phase three of Atlantis. What they’re doing with Baha Mar is equal to all of the phases they did at Atlantis and they’re doing it one phase. This is a big deal…"
As regards the question concerning labor and its role in the realization of the Baha Mar project, Mr. Wrinkle said they were sorely needed.
Here Wrinkle notes that, “…They are calling for 8,000 workers out there; 4,000 workers have got to be found; we can’t provide 4,000 workers. We’d be hard pressed to provide half of that. On these big international projects it’s just a fact of life. We’ve sat at the table; the BCA has tried to represent the interests of Bahamian contractors and workers and we’ve had some success with Baha Mar; they’ve been receptive."
For our part, then, we are very optimistic concerning the goods that come packaged in with this initiative. And so today, we can go no further except to note that, Baha Mar is apparently well on its way to becoming a done deal; this because the current administration has apparently been satisfied with the outcome of prime minister Ingraham’s talks in Beijing on the matter in hand.
This is eminently good news for the Bahamian people.
We wish all well who worked so long and so hard to bring this matter to this state of high resolution. Parenthetically so to speak, this venture yet owes a debt of gratitude not only to the current administration; but also to its predecessor.
And so today we note that, time, reason and commonsense having been congealed into something akin to real understanding are apparently working their magic in a Bahamas where petulance, spite and nit-picking sometimes wreak havoc.
And for sure, as we have consistently lamented, these are surely some of the hardest days experienced by most Bahamians alive in what some of them might deem a ‘modern’ Bahamas.
It is just as true that, some of these Bahamians –having grown accustomed to relatively prosperous times – are beside themselves in distress.
While these hard times might well persist for an indefinite length of time, there is reason for some optimism as certain storm clouds recede; with some of these once shadowing the Baha Mar project with a veil of uncertainty.
Mercifully, things seem to be going in the right direction as the government now signals its intention to move forward with this singularly important venture.
Yet again, we reiterate that, we would very much like both the governing party and its Opposition to know that each has done itself a world of good by working together so as to bring about an optimal resolution as regards this Chinese funded initiative.
Incidentally, all of these groups and interests support the Baha Mar project and recognize the immediate and real benefits they will gain from its going forward.
Here we are also quite certain that, in the fullness of time, both parties would come to the conclusion that, each was guilty of making a mountain of a mole-hill as regards the Chinese request for thousands of expatriate workers who would assist in constructing the resort complex.
In this regard, we advise all and sundry that, this matter is not the biggest in the world and that, we all stand to gain tremendously once the Baha Mar project is off and running.
As we have previously suggested and explained, “…Let there be no mistake about the matter at hand – the Baha Mar project is a very big deal; it is not only a big deal to the investors who are putting their money on the line; but for sure, it is a huge deal for both the government and the people of The Bahamas.”
And we also went on to explain, “…“And here, let there be no mistake about another aspect of the matter involving this project – this project brings with it a large chance that – once completed – tens of thousands of Bahamians will benefit, either directly or indirectly…”
This remains our view.
November 17, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
The Bahama Journal Editorial
By way of this commentary, we reiterate a point previously made to the effect that this Baha Mar project is good for the Bahamas and that as such, its approval should be put on the fast track.
We base our conclusion in our conviction that –as designed- this project promises to double the marketing this country now enjoys.
This in turn, promises any number of ancillary benefits.
As Stephen Wrinkle, Bahamas Contractors Association underscores: "Remember what an impact we had when they built phase three of Atlantis. What they’re doing with Baha Mar is equal to all of the phases they did at Atlantis and they’re doing it one phase. This is a big deal…"
As regards the question concerning labor and its role in the realization of the Baha Mar project, Mr. Wrinkle said they were sorely needed.
Here Wrinkle notes that, “…They are calling for 8,000 workers out there; 4,000 workers have got to be found; we can’t provide 4,000 workers. We’d be hard pressed to provide half of that. On these big international projects it’s just a fact of life. We’ve sat at the table; the BCA has tried to represent the interests of Bahamian contractors and workers and we’ve had some success with Baha Mar; they’ve been receptive."
For our part, then, we are very optimistic concerning the goods that come packaged in with this initiative. And so today, we can go no further except to note that, Baha Mar is apparently well on its way to becoming a done deal; this because the current administration has apparently been satisfied with the outcome of prime minister Ingraham’s talks in Beijing on the matter in hand.
This is eminently good news for the Bahamian people.
We wish all well who worked so long and so hard to bring this matter to this state of high resolution. Parenthetically so to speak, this venture yet owes a debt of gratitude not only to the current administration; but also to its predecessor.
And so today we note that, time, reason and commonsense having been congealed into something akin to real understanding are apparently working their magic in a Bahamas where petulance, spite and nit-picking sometimes wreak havoc.
And for sure, as we have consistently lamented, these are surely some of the hardest days experienced by most Bahamians alive in what some of them might deem a ‘modern’ Bahamas.
It is just as true that, some of these Bahamians –having grown accustomed to relatively prosperous times – are beside themselves in distress.
While these hard times might well persist for an indefinite length of time, there is reason for some optimism as certain storm clouds recede; with some of these once shadowing the Baha Mar project with a veil of uncertainty.
Mercifully, things seem to be going in the right direction as the government now signals its intention to move forward with this singularly important venture.
Yet again, we reiterate that, we would very much like both the governing party and its Opposition to know that each has done itself a world of good by working together so as to bring about an optimal resolution as regards this Chinese funded initiative.
Incidentally, all of these groups and interests support the Baha Mar project and recognize the immediate and real benefits they will gain from its going forward.
Here we are also quite certain that, in the fullness of time, both parties would come to the conclusion that, each was guilty of making a mountain of a mole-hill as regards the Chinese request for thousands of expatriate workers who would assist in constructing the resort complex.
In this regard, we advise all and sundry that, this matter is not the biggest in the world and that, we all stand to gain tremendously once the Baha Mar project is off and running.
As we have previously suggested and explained, “…Let there be no mistake about the matter at hand – the Baha Mar project is a very big deal; it is not only a big deal to the investors who are putting their money on the line; but for sure, it is a huge deal for both the government and the people of The Bahamas.”
And we also went on to explain, “…“And here, let there be no mistake about another aspect of the matter involving this project – this project brings with it a large chance that – once completed – tens of thousands of Bahamians will benefit, either directly or indirectly…”
This remains our view.
November 17, 2010
The Bahama Journal Editorial
...it appears that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has very little to say about Grand Bahama
Is Grand Bahama being ignored by PM?
thenassauguardian editorial
They say looks can be deceiving, and from all indications it appears that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has very little to say about Grand Bahama.
That was made clear during the Prime Minister’s national press conference, which was held in Nassau on Sunday. The intent was to first brief the press on his recent trip to China and what came out of the visit, in terms of how it could benefit The Bahamas.
The press conference was also to answer any questions the media may have concerning issues related to The Bahamas. With that in mind members of the media who do not live in Nassau were invited to call in and ask questions about their respective islands.
It was interesting to listen to the prime minister talk on and on about Baha Mar, about road works in Nassau, about the straw market, even about his plan to run for office again in the next general election. The prime minister spoke in length about activities and development plans in Exuma.
However, when questions about Grand Bahama came up, the prime minister was very short and concise in his answers. In reply to questions about Hutchison Whampoa, Royal Oasis, and the proposed new cruise port, the prime minister had very little information to offer.
He said that he had to have a meeting with all of the people concerned in all of those areas, and then get back to the press with answers.
While one can respect the fact that the prime minister was willing to admit he didn’t know and had to seek out the information, it proved the point that when it comes to Grand Bahama, the prime minister either knew very little about what is going on, or chose not to say publicly what he knows of what is taking place in Grand Bahama.
With six representatives, three of whom are Cabinet ministers from Grand Bahama, the prime minister should have more insight into what is really taking place in Grand Bahama.
Besides that, the people of Grand Bahama deserve more than just a one-sentence answer to issues that they face and are concerned about.
Perhaps the prime minister is so well acquainted with Grand Bahamians’ laid-back and lackadaisical attitude, that he may feel it not necessary to go into any details.
But the truth is, Grand Bahamians would like to know when things are going to turnaround in their economy; they would like to know what will be done with the Royal Oasis Hotel that has been sitting there for years; they would like to know when and how many more visitors can be enticed to come to Grand Bahama; they would like to know what’s going on with Ginn and they would certainly like to know the status of the proposed sale of the Port Authority.
Yes, Grand Bahamians would like some answers to questions that have been plaguing them for years.
Instead, during a national press conference, which was a prime opportunity for Grand Bahamians to get some answers, the prime minister chose to be vague and short in his replies about questions concerning Grand Bahama.
Whether he knew it or not, the prime minister’s responses sent a strong message to the people of Grand Bahama.
11/16/2010
thenassauguardian editorial
thenassauguardian editorial
They say looks can be deceiving, and from all indications it appears that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has very little to say about Grand Bahama.
That was made clear during the Prime Minister’s national press conference, which was held in Nassau on Sunday. The intent was to first brief the press on his recent trip to China and what came out of the visit, in terms of how it could benefit The Bahamas.
The press conference was also to answer any questions the media may have concerning issues related to The Bahamas. With that in mind members of the media who do not live in Nassau were invited to call in and ask questions about their respective islands.
It was interesting to listen to the prime minister talk on and on about Baha Mar, about road works in Nassau, about the straw market, even about his plan to run for office again in the next general election. The prime minister spoke in length about activities and development plans in Exuma.
However, when questions about Grand Bahama came up, the prime minister was very short and concise in his answers. In reply to questions about Hutchison Whampoa, Royal Oasis, and the proposed new cruise port, the prime minister had very little information to offer.
He said that he had to have a meeting with all of the people concerned in all of those areas, and then get back to the press with answers.
While one can respect the fact that the prime minister was willing to admit he didn’t know and had to seek out the information, it proved the point that when it comes to Grand Bahama, the prime minister either knew very little about what is going on, or chose not to say publicly what he knows of what is taking place in Grand Bahama.
With six representatives, three of whom are Cabinet ministers from Grand Bahama, the prime minister should have more insight into what is really taking place in Grand Bahama.
Besides that, the people of Grand Bahama deserve more than just a one-sentence answer to issues that they face and are concerned about.
Perhaps the prime minister is so well acquainted with Grand Bahamians’ laid-back and lackadaisical attitude, that he may feel it not necessary to go into any details.
But the truth is, Grand Bahamians would like to know when things are going to turnaround in their economy; they would like to know what will be done with the Royal Oasis Hotel that has been sitting there for years; they would like to know when and how many more visitors can be enticed to come to Grand Bahama; they would like to know what’s going on with Ginn and they would certainly like to know the status of the proposed sale of the Port Authority.
Yes, Grand Bahamians would like some answers to questions that have been plaguing them for years.
Instead, during a national press conference, which was a prime opportunity for Grand Bahamians to get some answers, the prime minister chose to be vague and short in his replies about questions concerning Grand Bahama.
Whether he knew it or not, the prime minister’s responses sent a strong message to the people of Grand Bahama.
11/16/2010
thenassauguardian editorial
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's announcement that he planned to remain at the helm of the FNM, and fight the next election was indeed welcome news
Prime Minister Ingraham – we shall carry on
tribune242 editorial
PRIME MINISTER Hubert Ingraham's announcement over the weekend that he planned to remain at the helm of the FNM, and fight the next election was indeed welcome news.
Welcome news because the whole future of this country hangs in the balance and cannot at this point in its development be entrusted to inexperienced leadership.
Instead of jockeying for lofty positions within the party, FNM MP's have a duty to put their personal aspirations aside and concentrate on what the people sent them to parliament for -- and for which they are being paid. They have a duty to protect the interests of their constituents and at the same time to learn the workings of government. This is no job for political neophytes.
It has always baffled us that the only field that requires no special training is that of the politician. And yet it is the politician -- especially the uneducated ones -- who presume to make so many important decisions for a nation. They are usually the ones making the most noise and jumping to their feet talking bombastic nonsense to catch the attention of their grassroots base.
There are reports that there has been much political jostling behind the scenes in both parties about the future of their leaders. Aspirants are upsetting daily business as they campaign for positions. In the PLP Mr Christie has made it clear that he will lead his party in the 2012 election. However, he has left the door ajar suggesting that he might not serve out a full term if elected, but would step aside for his successor. Fortunately, Mr Ingraham has stated his position clearly -- as is his custom -- saying that he will not only carry on, but if elected will take his job to full term. This will leave his party free to concentrate on the people -- if elected -- for another five years past 2012. And this is what the country needs at this critical time in its history -- government without distractions.
As a matter of fact, the PLP seem not to have accepted their 2007 defeat at the polls, but have continued their electioneering almost on a daily basis. With problems more pressing -- jobs, crime, an uncertain future -- Bahamians are growing tired of their pin-pricks.
Why, for example, would Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, who had much to say on the Prime Minister's recent visit to China, especially about the Baha Mar deal, go out of his way to try to make the Bahamian people believe that Mr Ingraham had had no meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister while in China?
Mr Mitchell - one MP who knows his way around the web - should have known that on November 1, the same photograph that is published on today's front page with Mr Ingraham and Premier Wen Jiabao shaking hands was also on the web -- and is still on the web. With the photograph is a short article that said that "Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao met with his Bahamian counterpart, Hubert Ingraham on Sunday (Oct. 31)." And the article continued: "Hailing the sound political foundation of their bilateral relations, Wen said China would like to help the Bahamas improve its ability for self-development and deepen cooperation in infrastructure, finance, tourism, agriculture and new energy, among others. The Chinese Premier also called for both sides to step up cultural exchanges and safeguard common interests in addressing climate change and other challenges." There was more to the article of what Mr Ingraham said, but this is sufficient to prove that when Mr Mitchell told the Bahamian people that the two did not meet, he was telling a great big whopper! And to confirm the authenticity of the meeting- if more confirmation is needed - the photo and article were released by China's Xinhua news agency.
Mr Mitchell should remember that when you are caught out in the small ones, no one believes you when you tell the truth on the big ones. And for good measure we suggest that he recall the story of the boy who cried wolf once too often. It's a children's story, the moral of the tale being that what happened to the boy is what "happens to people who lie: even when they tell the truth no one believes them."
It is a little moral tale for children that we suggest every politician should keep in his hip pocket for reference -- especially when he gets carried away on the political podium.
As we were writing this article on Mr Ingraham being the right man with the experience, contacts and so much unfinished business yet to complete for the country that we were pleased he had decided to carry on as party leader, the release arrived in our newsroom about Mr Mitchell's false statement (see front page). It was a temptation that we couldn't resist and so we detoured from our subject and fell for the distraction.
November 16, 2010
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial
PRIME MINISTER Hubert Ingraham's announcement over the weekend that he planned to remain at the helm of the FNM, and fight the next election was indeed welcome news.
Welcome news because the whole future of this country hangs in the balance and cannot at this point in its development be entrusted to inexperienced leadership.
Instead of jockeying for lofty positions within the party, FNM MP's have a duty to put their personal aspirations aside and concentrate on what the people sent them to parliament for -- and for which they are being paid. They have a duty to protect the interests of their constituents and at the same time to learn the workings of government. This is no job for political neophytes.
It has always baffled us that the only field that requires no special training is that of the politician. And yet it is the politician -- especially the uneducated ones -- who presume to make so many important decisions for a nation. They are usually the ones making the most noise and jumping to their feet talking bombastic nonsense to catch the attention of their grassroots base.
There are reports that there has been much political jostling behind the scenes in both parties about the future of their leaders. Aspirants are upsetting daily business as they campaign for positions. In the PLP Mr Christie has made it clear that he will lead his party in the 2012 election. However, he has left the door ajar suggesting that he might not serve out a full term if elected, but would step aside for his successor. Fortunately, Mr Ingraham has stated his position clearly -- as is his custom -- saying that he will not only carry on, but if elected will take his job to full term. This will leave his party free to concentrate on the people -- if elected -- for another five years past 2012. And this is what the country needs at this critical time in its history -- government without distractions.
As a matter of fact, the PLP seem not to have accepted their 2007 defeat at the polls, but have continued their electioneering almost on a daily basis. With problems more pressing -- jobs, crime, an uncertain future -- Bahamians are growing tired of their pin-pricks.
Why, for example, would Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell, who had much to say on the Prime Minister's recent visit to China, especially about the Baha Mar deal, go out of his way to try to make the Bahamian people believe that Mr Ingraham had had no meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister while in China?
Mr Mitchell - one MP who knows his way around the web - should have known that on November 1, the same photograph that is published on today's front page with Mr Ingraham and Premier Wen Jiabao shaking hands was also on the web -- and is still on the web. With the photograph is a short article that said that "Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao met with his Bahamian counterpart, Hubert Ingraham on Sunday (Oct. 31)." And the article continued: "Hailing the sound political foundation of their bilateral relations, Wen said China would like to help the Bahamas improve its ability for self-development and deepen cooperation in infrastructure, finance, tourism, agriculture and new energy, among others. The Chinese Premier also called for both sides to step up cultural exchanges and safeguard common interests in addressing climate change and other challenges." There was more to the article of what Mr Ingraham said, but this is sufficient to prove that when Mr Mitchell told the Bahamian people that the two did not meet, he was telling a great big whopper! And to confirm the authenticity of the meeting- if more confirmation is needed - the photo and article were released by China's Xinhua news agency.Mr Mitchell should remember that when you are caught out in the small ones, no one believes you when you tell the truth on the big ones. And for good measure we suggest that he recall the story of the boy who cried wolf once too often. It's a children's story, the moral of the tale being that what happened to the boy is what "happens to people who lie: even when they tell the truth no one believes them."
It is a little moral tale for children that we suggest every politician should keep in his hip pocket for reference -- especially when he gets carried away on the political podium.
As we were writing this article on Mr Ingraham being the right man with the experience, contacts and so much unfinished business yet to complete for the country that we were pleased he had decided to carry on as party leader, the release arrived in our newsroom about Mr Mitchell's false statement (see front page). It was a temptation that we couldn't resist and so we detoured from our subject and fell for the distraction.
November 16, 2010
tribune242 editorial
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