Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham says: ...Bain and Grants Town MP Dr. Bernard Nottage failed to use more than half of the $100,000 allowance Members of Parliament were given access to for constituency projects... ...In Centreville and Farm Road, during the height of the global recession ...their MP Perry Gladstone Christie couldn’t get around to spending his full allocation of money

Ingraham says Nottage failed to access full constituency allowance

By Krystel Rolle
Guardian Staff Reporter
krystel@nasguard.com

Bain and Grants Town MP Dr. Bernard Nottage failed to use more than half of the $100,000 allowance members of Parliament were given access to for constituency projects, according to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.

Ingraham previously made a similar revelation about Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Perry Christie.

The prime minister reiterated that claim at a Free National Movement (FNM) rally on Wednesday.

“When we made available $100,000 to each MP to spend to improve their constituency, most MPs got to work for their people,” Ingraham said.

“In Centreville and Farm Road, during the height of the global recession, their MP Perry Gladstone Christie couldn’t get around to spending his full allocation of money.

“He left more than one half of that money unspent. His sad excuse is he was still planning a whole year after the money was made available. I tell you he’s never ready.”

Ingraham added: “The same thing could be said for B.J. Nottage. He couldn’t figure out what to spend his money on either so he left more than half of his money unspent. It seems Bain Town and Grants Town don’t need any small capital project.”

Christie acknowledged in 2010 that he had some difficulty with his constituency allowance.

He explained that after consultation with his constituents he was determining how best to spend the funds.

He said he had plans to expand three parks in the constituency and construct bathrooms at two of the parks.

Calls to Nottage were not answered up to press time last night.

Apr 21, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

As bad as things are for the FNM, voters will not automatically flock to the PLP just for the hell of it... For the PLP to win, someone must find Perry Gladstone Christie and tell him, “Wake up.”

Where is Perry Gladstone Christie?

thenassauguardian editorial



Oppositions are supposed to oppose. The opposition leader is supposed to lead this charge. He is the prime minister’s constitutional rival. He is supposed to want that job so badly that he challenges the PM and his government on points of policy and achievement frequently in the public sphere. The public should see the fire in the eyes of the opposition leader.

Perry Gladstone Christie is not this type of opposition leader. He is rarely seen or heard when it comes to issues of national importance. Even in the Parliament, Christie has little presence. He often speaks outside of the prime time period and does not add anything new or challenging to the debate.

Without Bradley Roberts, who has a compulsion for sending press releases, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) would have almost no public voice. Statements from Christie on matters of national importance come as frequently as Chickcharney sightings in the forests of Andros.

We all know that Christie has no interest in being opposition leader. He was stunned at being unseated as PM in 2007. Nonetheless, he has the role and should do more on the national stage to look like someone who should be PM again.

The Free National Movement (FNM) is in freefall. The roadwork in New Providence, crime, the Mackey Yard Haitian issue and the frequent power outages have made this a summer of discontent for much of the population.

With all this ammunition, Christie says little to nothing. Absence from commentary on national issues conveys apathy. And who wants to elect a leader who appears so disinterested that he says almost nothing.

Christie must remember that he and Hubert Ingraham no longer have a duopoly on power with the premiership going from one friend to the other. Others have entered the political arena and people are at least listening to them.

The default position previously was to vote for the ‘other’ party when the governing side ran out of gas. But with the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) menacing, Christie should realize that some anti-government votes will go that way if he keeps on looking like the missing leader.

A general election will be called in less than a year – in fact, sooner than that. A vibrant opposition leader would be doing interviews, on talk radio, hosting televised town meetings and much more to demonstrate his interest in the issues and to bring forward the solutions his government would implement.

Sadly, the few times when Christie makes an utterance he only talks about the past. If he is talking about crime he mentions his government’s old urban renewal program; if he talks about the economy he mentions the anchor project deals his government signed; if he talks about housing he mentions the homes built under his administration’s watch.

As bad as things are for the FNM, voters will not automatically flock to the PLP just for the hell of it. For the PLP to win, someone must find Perry Gladstone Christie and tell him, “Wake up.”

Jul 22, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Philip ‘Brave’ Davis - Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader: “I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,”...

Davis affirms commitment to Christie


BRENT DEAN
NG Deputy News Editor
thenassauguardian
brentldean@nasguard.com



Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) deputy leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis yesterday publicly affirmed his commitment to assisting Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie in his bid to become prime minister again after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told Parliament on Thursday that Davis recently told Free National Movement (FNM) supporters Christie is not his leader.

“I am committed to ensuring that Perry Gladstone Christie is the next prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and that the PLP is returned to power,” said Davis in a statement.

“No political mischief, false accusations, fabricated stories or propaganda will change the widely held public view that Hubert Ingraham must go and must go now.

“Our country deserves better than Hubert Ingraham and the FNM and their lame attempts to distract from their failures in every major area of governance.”

Ingraham also said PLP Elizabeth Member of Parliament Ryan Pinder, who was also on the recent trip to Cat Island where Davis’ alleged remarks were made, said that he is allied to Davis.

“Mr. Ingraham is politically desperate. He can see the writing on the wall. It is sad that of all the serious matters facing our country and the important matters discussed and debated in Parliament over the past few days that such utterances could find a place of prominence in the news cycle,” said Davis, who is also the Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP and the PLP’s national campaign coordinator.

Referring to a United States Embassy cable from 2003 published by The Nassau Guardian via WikiLeaks, Davis said Ingraham and the FNM have their own divisions.

“What is factual and supported by evidence though is that Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette does not have the support of his leader, Hubert Ingraham,” said Davis.

Ingraham told the Americans, according to the cable, that the best thing that could happen would be for Symonette to challenge for the FNM leadership, because he “would be beaten so soundly that it would shatter all his illusions.”

But at the FNM convention more than two years later, Symonette did not challenge for the leadership. He went for deputy leader and won. He was made deputy prime minister when the party won at the polls in 2007.

It is known within the PLP that Davis would someday like to be the leader of the party. However, based on Christie’s overwhelming victory at the PLP’s October 2009 convention, it appears that Christie will hold on to the post of PLP leader until he decides to give it up. More than 80 percent of voting PLPs supported Christie at that convention.

Jun 11, 2011

thenassauguardian