Process is everything

Process is everything

On January 28^th, 2013, the people of the Bahamas out rightly rejected gambling in all forms as presented by the Bahamian government. They voted loud and clear and they voted no.

Opponents and proponents alike will now ask the question why? Why did Bahamians vote against a thriving web shop industry that some say employ thousands of people? Why did Bahamians not support the possible 20 million dollars being added to the public treasury annually, especially given that the Bahamas is on the brink of financial collapse?

The government of the Bahamas said it had no horse in the race, yet it gave numerous statements to the contrary. On the surface, it was abundantly clear that the government by its actions wanted most Bahamians to vote yes. But a lot of Bahamians in their stubbornness believed otherwise. And a great many Bahamians I believe were confused about the government’s position; many of them still are.

You see the whole gambling referendum process lent itself to a blue hole of confusion. One minute the prime minister was saying that he had no horse in the race and the next minute he was saying that the web shops employed a great many Bahamians and that our social services would be stretched if Bahamians voted no. Even the Chairman of the gaming board, Dr. Andre Rollins said that the process was awkward and untidy. He seemed very much out of his element as I believe he was put in a position to support something that his inner convictions did not believe in.

The no vote on January 28^th, 2013 was a culmination of several factors, but we can’t deny that the excessive administrative blunders by Perry Christie and his government contributed to the referendum not being supported by the majority of Bahamians. It is still mind boggling to me the juvenile tactics that the government used in this whole gambling referendum process.

Bahamians saw right through the government’s incompetence and they demand and deserve to know what they are voting for and the pros and cons of their vote. The government did not even make an attempt to educate the masses on this issue and they may have gotten what it deserves.

I hope that going forward the government of the day would see the wisdom in showing more respect to the Bahamian people and convey a well thought of process, with studies done and actual facts to the country. We are now 0 and 2 on referendums in the last 11 years. Bahamians are not going to accept any haphazard, half ass process that is whipped up like fast food and allow it to be pushed down their throats.

Get the process right and maybe the people will follow.

Dehavilland Moss

The art of compromise

The art of compromise

In the epic novel Animal Farm, the true motives and behaviors of the pigs were summed up in the concluding statement. This was a most powerful expression of character which always manifests itself when you are in a position of power or when you have an insatiable lust for money.

The final paragraph of Animal farm states, “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”.

This to me is what has happened with some members of the Vote Yes campaign and the once thought of esteemed Bahamians who lead the charge. In my view, they haven’t even convinced themselves that what they are doing is right.

I have listened to the comments by Reverend Simeon Hall, Reverend Dr. Philip Mcphee, Theresa Moxey-Ingraham and Philip Galanis and I have not been convinced that their intentions are pure. Here are men and women who see nothing wrong with a number of questionable government decisions during the gambling referendum process.

First of all the question of the regularization of web shops is a slap in the face to all right thinking Bahamians. Many of us still don’t see how an industry can be regularized when it is in fact illegal.

Secondly, the fact that the “numbers men” are breaking the law and the fact that none of the aforementioned persons have unequivocally acknowledged this is indeed remarkable.  If you listen carefully to the arguments presented, you will find an abundance of flaws.

Furthermore, I had to stop and think when I heard the prime minister’s statements after the Vote Yes march. He said that it was “a wonderful expression of democracy”.  He was gleaning from ear to ear and if you were sober, you could very easily see which horse he supported in this race.

It will be very difficult for Hall and Dr. Mcphee to be viewed in the same light by church goers, given their conduct as this gambling referendum unfolds. These men of God have sadly been tainted and they have openly supported an unlawful entity. I am of the view that you must wear your hard hat at all times especially when you have been charged with being a gatekeeper of morality and the rule of law.

As for Moxey-Ingraham and Galanis, it is clear to me that they have been equally compromised. When you have well educated and “esteemed” and “honorable” persons supporting a cause that they themselves can’t justify, one must ask the question why.

When bad men do good things, are we to just look at the good and forget about the bad?  What will be your selling price before you compromise?

Dehavilland Moss

School Bus Danger

(This article was first published in February of 2012 and it is still relevant in January 2013)

 

The movie “Forest Gump” starring Tom Hanks is one of my best movies. I never tire watching this movie. One of Tom Hanks lines in the movie reads, “Stupid is as stupid does”.

Students on the Carmichael Road strip are riding on a large yellow school bus daily. They get dropped off after school to certain points. What is horrifying is that the exit is on the right hand side of the bus. Yes, the exit is on the right hand side. This means that students exit the bus onto the main road. Are we serious? This is a disaster waiting to happen.

I am beseeching the powers that be to please desist with this dangerous and irresponsible practice forthwith before we have another tragedy on our hands. Surely there must be an emergency fund somewhere that can be used to replace this bus or construct the exit on the left side.

And how can the Road Traffic Department sanction such a vehicle to be used for this purpose? The end certainly can’t justify the means. We need to protect our youth, not expose them to obvious risk.

Dehavilland Moss

No horse in the race – a letter to the PM

No horse in the race – a letter to the PM

The prime minister of the Bahamas has been stating since last year that the government has no horse in the race as it relates to the gambling referendum. Many Bahamians were skeptical of this view but the economic state of the country and some of Prime Minister Christie’s actions have proved otherwise.

Mr. Christie, please consider the following items.

(1)    The Bahamas was downgraded in December of 2012 by Standard’s and Poor’s (S&P), who says our economic outlook, is now negative. This was our fourth economic downgrade since 2008. Our debt service is now on par with the annual education budget and it is increasing.

(2)    Unemployment is still over 14% nationwide.

(3)    The Bahamas Development Bank has suspended small business loans until further notice.

(4)    Michael Halkitis has suggested that the government may need to borrow an additional 100 - 200 million dollars to cover this current budget’s shortfall.

(5)    You yourself sir said that if Bahamians vote no, unemployment would be in increased and the burden on our Social Services would be more stretched. You said that the government would have to see if it could find ways to employ persons now working for web shops.

(6)    Much needed revenue would be at the government’s disposal if the Bahamian people vote yes in the upcoming referendum.

In your most recent interview sir you said that the referendum is non-binding. I believe that you sir and the Vote Yes campaign realize that it is patently clear that Bahamians will vote no. You have now realized that a lot of people who gamble in this country will not vote yes because of this botched process or can’t vote yes because of their legal status. It is desperation time now.

I would conclude and agree with you sir that indeed you don’t have a horse in the race on the gambling referendum. I submit that you have a herd of horses in this race and you took a calculated step to take this vote to the Bahamian people, but it has blown up in your face. I believe that you should have made the government’s position clear as opposed to issuing confusing policy statements to the electorate. Your tactics have backfired and this flawed process will cost you thousands of yes votes. Additionally, many Bahamians who gamble will not vote because they see it as a mute exercise. They don’t believe that any government has the will to make a concerted effort to stop gambling in web shops.

If the electorate votes no, are you seriously going to see to it that the law is enforced? You will definitely need a strong horse to do that.

Dehavilland Moss

Bahamians have a slave mentality – “Master still knows Best”

Bahamians have a slave mentality – “Master still knows Best”

(First published in 2011) 

Crime is out of control; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. Illegal immigration is out of control; it is the master’s fault, aka the government. The economy is bad; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. The Master will fix the problem. He knows best.

 

But what are “You” doing about it? We should know by now that the change starts with us. During the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, Africans were illegally sold as slaves. Many of these Africans ended up in the Caribbean and thus were forced into a new way of life.

 

The indoctrination of Africans (Blacks) into mental slavery and the European culture continues even today. The celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, Halloween and that “foreign is better” are just a few examples of the former in the Bahamas. We as Black Bahamians are mentally enslaved and even though we are free physically, we face some of the most dangerous times in our history. 177 years after the proclamation was read to free slaves in the British colonies, Bahamians still continue to have a slave mentality.

 

Slaves in the Bahamas worked on small plantations when compared to other Caribbean islands and the treatment of Bahamian slaves was much better than their Caribbean counterparts. James Stephen, an abolitionists wrote, “the provisions and stock raised on the plantations did not provide the remuneration received by planters in other colonies, ‘but to slaves the effects were ease, plenty, health and the preservation and increase of their numbers, all in a degree, quite beyond example in any other part of the West Indies”. (Source from The Story of The Bahamas by Paul Albury, chapter 14, p126). In my view, this explains the basis of the way that we act toward our “Master” today.

 

Bahamian slaves accepted their master as a good person and viewed him favorably. Our Caribbean counterparts were treated more harshly than us and as a result they had a fundamental distrust of their Master. Could this explain why they are more aggressive than us and the fact that our attitude is more laissez-faire?

 

Since 1967, in the Bahamas, the black master (government) replaced the white master (government). There was a changing of the guard, but most Bahamians have not seen the kind of progress that is to be expected. Black Bahamians in particular still do not possess the majority of the land; we still do not own a major hotel and we are still second-class citizens in our own country. We now have Black Masters as our gatekeepers but they are continuing the historical trend of our demise, albeit in the same subtle nature. Yet we elect the same people over and over. When will the cerebral revolution come?

 

Look at the way that our country is run with little or no objection from Bahamians. The government sold BTC and there were only about 1,000 marchers on Bay Street. In fact, Minister of Labor Dion Foulkes literally squawked when asked about the effectiveness of the march for BTC. Lawyers illegally sold land owned by Arawak Homes to unsuspecting Bahamians. Due to the large scale of Bahamians who were defrauded, there should have been major campaigns initiated by Bahamians in protest of this. The government refuses to do all it can to help curb our crime and immigration problems and its policies have failed miserably, specifically over the last two decades. Additionally, government policies have caused the price of land in the Bahamas to soar so high that the average Bahamian can no longer afford to buy land (except for those in Mackey Yard); and yet Bahamians sit back and do nothing. Sadly, we still believe in the old slave adage that “Master (aka the government) knows best”.

 

Listening to the talk shows daily, concerns by Bahamians appear to be on the rise. They call in and seem to expect more accountability from the government elect representatives. This is a good thing and this type of activity on a wide scale can certainly help break this slave mentality that we continue to be suffering from. I feel proud as a Bahamian when callers suggest that the issues affecting us should be looked at for what they are worth. Forget party lines. For too long, we have been using our party biases and not looking at issues from a nationalistic point of view. We must realize that when our ancestors were enslaved, the underlying tone would have been to regain freedom for all in the British colonies and this bode well for all involved.

 

Bahamians by heart are not a fighting people when it comes to challenging “The Master”. In fact, the only time I can say with certainty that Bahamians would come together and fight the Master is when he “messes with their pay”. From the Burma Road Riot on June 1^st, 1942 to the teacher’s general strike in the mid 80’s, Bahamians came together in solidarity to protest wage disputes. In fact, before the Burma Road Riot, even the American workers who were earning higher wages were agitating for the Bahamian workers wages to be increased. Foreigners were given preferential treatment even back then. Does this sound familiar? In the case of the general teacher’s strike, the government of the day said that the treasury was broke. Yet, after the teachers’ salary was increased, Prime Minister Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling and his cabinet increased the salary of all Members of Parliament.

 

If the government had told BTC workers that they would be receiving pay cuts you would have seen a different outcome from the employees. Contract after contract can be given to foreign contractors without a whimper of dissatisfaction from Bahamians. Let me go on record as saying that I was utterly surprised that the present government was able to take overtime pay away from Customs and Immigration officers with virtually very little opposition from the Bahamas Public Service Union membership.

 

The recent debacle of the government in the Mackey yard subdivision speaks again to our slave mentality. Here we are as Bahamians just sitting back and allowing the government to do what it wants to. Let the “Master” handle it is the conclusions of many Bahamians. There are Bahamians though, whose minds have bypassed this slave mentality, but these numbers are infinitesimal.

 

Just as the slave trade was supported by Africans themselves who helped capture their own countryman for a few dollars more we have replication going on in the Bahamas in 2011. Many in the remaining middle class in the Bahamas are utterly quiet as to the state of affairs because they are still getting their hefty salaries. They are still able to live their lives, buy what they want and travel when they want. In their eyes because they are not directly affected by these adverse policies, they choose to turn a blind eye. They are not speaking out and are allowing their “brothers” to be further humiliated and defrauded. In the same vain, thousands of people turned a blind eye to the Slave Master during the slave trade because they were thinking about self and not country.

 

The slave mentality in the Bahamas is alive and well and the time has come for Bahamians to open their eyes. We cannot just leave it in the hands of “The Master” and hope and pray that the correct decisions will be made and take for granted that we will always have bread to eat. Bahamians, we need to change our sorry, lethargic and lackadaisical attitude towards the myriad policy decisions that affect us. We will continue to suffer as a people in our own country if we don’t.

 

As Disraeli, the great English Statesman said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than you think”.

 

Dehavilland Moss

dehavmoss@live.com

 

Questioning Dr. Simeon Hall’s actions

Questioning Dr. Simeon Hall’s actions

Dr. Simeon Hall is a prominent pastor in the Bahamas and he is also a towering social activist. I am not a member of his church but I had the pleasure of attending a service when he pastored a few years back. I must say that I was not disappointed and he lived up to the billing of being a great preacher.

Bishop Hall has never been one to hide his views on a particular subject and though controversial at times, you can rest assured that he will stand by what he says. Bishop Hall has retired from his post as pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church and seems to have more time on his hands to speak about matters affecting the public.

He chastised the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) for being homophobic after they set up a campaign to encourage Bahamians to vote no in the gambling referendum set for January 28^th, 2013. He said that there were a myriad of other issues that they should be focusing on. He did not do this privately as would have seemed the proper thing to do, but rather he had a press conference and basically brought the BCC to its knees. Bishop Hall was president of the BCC at least two times and for him to now openly criticize the council leaves many Bahamians, especially Christians perplexed.

Just recently, Hall was invited to hear firsthand the referendum questions by Prime Minister Perry Christie, a move to this day that for me is still inexplicable. Hall purports to be neutral, but this act certainly does not help his position.

Many might not agree with Hall’s actions so far on the gambling issue, but if you look at it from a Biblical perspective, he may not be in violation of God’s teachings. I have yet to see a pastor show any proof in the Bible where God said gambling was wrong.

Last week, Hall said that pastors need to stop demonizing gays and lesbians and that pastors who still practice this act may themselves have these tendencies.

His last criticism against pastors who say that gays and lesbians are not practicing God’s wishes to me is mind boggling. In a world today, where liberal views are being put in the forefront, I cannot support Hall’s disdain against pastors who see the need to preach Biblical facts whether it may be popular or not.

It would be ungodly of pastors if they said that a murderer was not committing a sin when we all know that this is in contravention of one of God’s 10 commandments. How is it then that when pastors speak about gays and lesbians activities being wrong, Hall wants to castigate them?

We must always love our brothers and sisters but I believe that we must not encourage acts that are sinful. Involvement in murderous acts and gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual activities in my view are sins in God’s eyes, no matter who says otherwise. Even heterosexuals who engage in sex before marriage are committing a sin, but the fact that this has widely been accepted as the norm does not make it right in God’s sight.

I call on the great reverend to use his influence not to down those who stand for God’s will, but to help keep our moral and Godly beliefs intact.

Dehavilland Moss

A Nolle Prosequi

A Nolle Prosequi

According to Wikipedia, a nolle prosequi is a legal term that means “unwilling to pursue” and “do not prosecute”. It is usually made after an indictment against an individual or individuals. A nolle prosequi is a withdrawal of the claim against a defendant by the prosecutor, but the charges can be filed again at a later date.

The most famous nolle prosequi case I remember in the Bahamas involved former Attorney General (AG), Sir Orville Turnquest. He did not prosecute defendant John Moscow who was accused of discharging a weapon and killing a male who I believe was fleeing the Moscow family property at the time.

Just last week, the Attorney General’s (AG’s) office was unwilling to prosecute a case involving the discovery of a 380 pistol and 19 rounds of ammunition in the home of John and Janice Hayes. The interesting thing about this case is that the present AG, Allison Maynard Gibson, was the defense lawyer for the Hayes under the Free National Movement (FNM) administration in 2010. Senator John Delaney was the AG at this time.

Now hear this, when the nolle prosequi was re-filed last week, Gibson was conveniently out of the country. Acting AG Jerome Fitzgerald signed the order. He said that he will not go into details as to why the AG’s office moved in this direction, but he did say that it was a matter of national security.

Fitzgerald’s statement caused my curiosity to be heightened. Former AG Delaney who brought charges against this couple certainly did not see this as a national security issue. If he did, he and the former government had ample time to take this course of action. How is it that the new Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government now sees this as a national security issue after two years? Was the FNM that incompetent?

I submit that on the surface there appears to be an abuse of power by the present AG’s office. An illegal 380 pistol and 19 illegal live rounds of ammunition found in a draw certainly leaves Bahamians wondering how is it that this decision was made. I have several questions for the AG’s office.

(1). Was this couple involved in a sting operation for the government of the Bahamas and if so why wasn’t the weapon and ammunition registered.

(2). Why weren’t the police and the national security minister aware of this? Obviously the commissioner of police, Ellison Greenslade and former national security minister, Tommy Turnquest had no knowledge of this case providing a security threat to the Bahamas.

(3). Why did it take so long for the present government to realize that this was a matter of national security? Or is this just a matter of someone’s friend cousin uncle being in trouble and requires a favor?

(3). Will these type of cases be made public under the Freedom of Information Act?

I wonder if we will hear from former attorney general, Anthony Delaney on this matter. He certainly did not have any information that this was a matter of national security because I believed that he would have acted accordingly. We all know that Hubert Ingraham would not have allowed this matter to drag on had he believed that this case was a threat to the security of the country.

I think the AG’s office has some more explaining to do. On Maynard’s return to the country, the fourth estate really needs to dig deeper and question her extensively on this matter. This act does not maintain the faith that citizens have in the AG’s office, but rather it erodes it. They say that the truth will set you free and in this case Bahamians wants to know the truth behind the Hayes being set free.

Dehavilland Moss