Bahama Pundit

More Post-Election Notes

by Craig Butler

The suspension of contracts awarded by the former PLP government before the May general election is a dangerous precedent being set by the new FNM government.

It matters not who the government is at the time of the awarding of a contract. What matters is that we must be confident in the fact that the government has the authority to enter into contractual negotiations with whomever they please.

The FNM stated that the PLP entered into some $80 million worth of contracts shortly before the election. They promised to review the same on taking office, and they have indeed attempted to do just that.

However, more accountability is needed for the Bahamian people to be fully informed as to why these reviews are being carried out. Senator Jerome Fitzgerald had accused the new government of creating an atmosphere of intimidation. As long as questions remain unanswered this statement will be seen to be meritorious.

On Images of Savages, Part Three

by Nicolette Bethel

Don't tell me -- the horse is almost dead, and there's no sense in flogging it much more. I know. The thing is, while you may think that I've made my point about race and related subjects (several times over), there's still one more contribution I'd like to make.

I'd like to catalogue the images that were associated with -- and that associated us with -- savages and savagery. The reason? They haven't gone away at all. We use them today. And we use them on ourselves.

A lot of the time, it's not a white-black thing at all. Most of the time, we're so comfortable with the images of savages we've inherited from our slave-ridden, anti-Enlightenment past that we take them for granted and think of them as fact.

By naming them, maybe we can begin to erase them once and for all.

Managing the City of New Providence

by Larry Smith

Government planning expert Malcolm Martini told a group of Rotarians last week that the future of New Providence was at risk unless some tough decisions are made soon.

He said there was very little land left on the island to service a rapidly growing population, and there were physical limits to what could be added to the transportation network.

In fact, if we exclude developed areas, partially built-out subdivisions, conservation sites and wetlands, there are only about 5,000 acres of vacant land left on this 86-square-mile island.

"Bahamians need to shift from a suburban land extensive culture to a land intensive urban culture," Martini said, "because population growth does not stop."

Martini, 66, is a top Canadian planner and economist who has worked on projects in China, Africa and Eastern Europe, as well as enjoying a stint as a Toronto city councillor. For the past 10 years he has worked on and off in the Bahamas, and since 2004 he has been attached to the Office of the Prime Minister as well as the (now disbanded) Ministry of Energy & Utilities.

“We have to think of New Providence as an urban centre – like New York," he told Rotarians. "The alternative is gridlock, and the prospect that this will become an extraordinarily unpleasant place to live."

An Open Letter to the Former Attorney-General of the Bahamas

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

Dear Mrs Gibson:

First of all, I have a public confession to make. It is a confession I have made privately to some of my readers who have accused me of having a soft spot for certain people in the PLP.

They have made remarks like “Why did you go so easy on Allyson?” and “Why do you never criticize Glenys?”

On those occasions when I felt I had no choice but to criticize you -- even if with great restraint -- for your actions in the political arena, someone close to you accused me of wielding a “poison pen”.

He obviously did not know that the definition of “poison pen” is an abusive or slanderous anonymous letter. I took it that he meant I had been too severe in my criticism of you, or perhaps he meant that I should not have criticized you at all.

On Images of Savages, Part Two

by Nicolette Bethel

The thing about writing about race and related stuff, it seems, is that it stimulates considerable discussion. I'm not at all sure that everybody who wants to say something has said it; but the number of comments I've received to my face and on the blogs where my essays appear suggest that there's a need -- if not exactly a desire -- to talk about this stuff.

Even when people claim that there isn't.

The thing is, though I started out by talking about race in the Bahamian context, this topic is far bigger than any of us. The real reason we have to talk about who we are, who we are assumed to be, and who we are expected to be is that what happens here in The Bahamas is one small piece in a huge global jigsaw. It's perfectly true that up to now many of our public discussions about this difficult topic have been politically motivated, and politically motivated on the most destructive level. One party says race is irrelevant, and this gains them points in some circles. The other party says race affects every element of our current life, and this gains them points in other circles. The problem is, a discussion such as this is not a discussion at all; it's a form of political campaigning that doesn't tell us anything at all about who and why we are.

And so back to the images of savages.

The Once and Future City of Nassau

by Larry Smith

"Ya better see what ya looking at" --Emma Ritchie-Burnside

According to Emma's great-grandson, architect Jackson Burnside, "if we could see the value of what we look at every day, Nassau would have the same potential as Charleston, which has exploited its past to the point where even modest buildings are extremely valuable."

He was a panelist on Island FM's Sunday Conversation (hosted by Patti Roker) this past weekend. Other guests included fellow architect Mark Henderson, who is seeking to revitalise the Bahamas National Trust's historic preservation committee; financial consultant Dick Coulson, who is a member of the Nassau Tourism Development Board; and amateur historian Paul Arahna.

The discussion was sparked by a mini-supplement written by yours truly, which ran in the Tribune a couple of weeks ago. It was called: "Whatever Happened to Historic Nassau?" and most of the photos were by Dick Coulson, who had the idea of trying to shame the owners of some of Nassau's most valuable - and most disgusting - real estate.

Time to Leave the 2007 Election and Debate Burning Issues

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

Two friends – one Bahamian, one foreign – worked together for a while in a downtown office. At the end of every work day the Bahamian noticed that his friend cleared his desk and put everything into his briefcase. Nothing was left on the desk and nothing in the drawers.

The curious Bahamian questioned his friend, a peripatetic Jew, about this daily ritual, and he replied something like this:

“Perhaps it’s my genes or my cultural orientation, or maybe it’s just me. I don’t know. I do know that when I leave this place I may not be welcomed back the next day, and that will not be a problem for me. There’s nothing I have to come back for. I can easily walk away and never look back.”

Indeed, he was able to do just that. Despite his passionate involvement in certain aspects of Bahamian life, he would frequently over the years unceremoniously absent himself and, with equal lack of notice, simply re-appear months later.

Bahamas Post-Election Notes

by Craig Butler

I have noted now on a few occasions that there appears to be a serious carry-over since the May 2 general election. Specifically, I’m speaking about the ill feelings that exist in our society.

Ever watch a science fiction movie and see how the good guy becomes bad because he is infected or engulfed by a skin of evil? Well, that appears to be the case in the Bahamas. The difference is that here it seems as though a veil of anger and resentment is floating about and causing us to say and do things that we normally wouldn’t.

The Progressive Liberal party's headquarters in Nassau has experienced three fires within a few weeks. The last one apparently can be easily explained as an electrical fault. The other two are still in doubt as to their cause. Consequently the authorities have had to call upon the services of arson investigators from Florida to make a determination.

On Images of Savages, Part One

by Nicolette Bethel

Recently I've been exploring the idea of race. It's not because I want to cause trouble. It's because I believe I don't have much choice. Despite the happy-talk about there not being any real problem any more, ours is a society plagued by self-loathing. As "blacks", we hate ourselves for being descended from enslaved Africans; as "whites", we hate ourselves (or our ancestors) for our involvement in the slave trade. We have all, for worse and for better, been impacted by the institution of transatlantic slavery; and yet we refuse to discuss in any meaningful way the consequences of that fact.

I'm going to suggest that part of the reason for our silence on this matter -- and it's a silence that's as thick and as ominous as a summer day before a hurricane -- is that we have all been taught to believe the lies that supported the institution of slavery. These are the lies that were told to justify the enslaving of other human beings, and they are also the lies that were taught to the enslaved to keep them from fighting their state.

In Pursuit of OTEC in The Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Well-known shipping expert Bill Bardelmeier spoke to a group of Rotarians last week about getting power from the sea. It's something he's been touting since the 1960s.

A retired marine consultant, Bardelmeier has lived here for half-a-century and was a director of the Bahamas Maritime Authority for over a decade. One of his pet interests is something called ocean thermal energy conversion, and, curiously, there's a lot of local lore behind it.

OTEC is a 19th century idea that uses the sea as a gigantic solar collector, but it has proved difficult to implement - for both technical and economic reasons. Some experts are now saying that its time may have come.

They argue that technical advances and economic changes have made OTEC a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels for many tropical island communities. And in addition to electricity, these systems offer the bonus of producing fresh water and hydrogen, as well as nutrients for mariculture and agriculture.

The FNM Cabinet and the Speaker's Salary

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

A few months ago a PLP friend suggested I was wasting my time writing about how our system of government is supposed to work, particularly how ministers of government are expected to behave, and the rules and conventions they are expected to honour. Nobody was listening, he said.

He was obviously right, up to a point, because some ministers of the previous administration continued to abuse the system and to act as if they had no idea of what was expected of them as ministers, or as if they simply did not care.

Sometimes politicians get good advice from those they regard as opponents and for that very reason the foolish ones can be counted on to ignore it.

On Race

by Nicolette Bethel

Before I begin, let me make one thing quite clear. I'm writing about race, not racism. The first one is the idea that human beings, like animals and plants, are members of different groups that are physiologically and genetically different. The second one is making distinctions — social, political, economic and otherwise — based on these differences.

I'm writing about race.

It's an idea that has been around for a while, but not forever. It's an idea that can be traced back to a specific political point in history — and by history, of course, I mean the history of the world, and not of the Bahamas. The idea of "race" was invented, and its invention had a function. That function: to conquer the world.

You see, it's a fundamental human trait to organize in groups and to create some cohesive group identity. It's also a fundamental human trait to look at other groups and define them by how they are different from our own group. Anthropologists call that ethnocentrism, the belief that every group does things in the best way possible, and every other group's way is inferior.

The idea of race, however, takes this tendency and solidifies it, makes it universal in application. No longer does the idea of each group doing things its own best way have currency. Different groups are categorized according to their physical appearance, and slotted into place on a ladder of superiority. And of course the people who do the slotting (who happen to be Europeans) put themselves at the top. By doing so they are exercising the fundamental human practice of ethnocentrism.

But it doesn't mean they're right.

Whatever Happened to Historic Nassau?

by Larry Smith

"The city is a complex thing. It is a place where people meet, live, shop, and find recreation, entertainment and cultural fulfillment...It is more than the commerce of the time, more than the cleanness of the streets or the number of parking spaces. It is where the community meets to celebrate special occasions. It used to be the market." –Patrick Rahming (Essay on the City)

This article features a selection of buildings in the heart of Nassau that, by any measure, are eyesores that grossly disrespect our heritage and damage our tourism industry.

Some are invaluable historic relics. Others contribute much to the character of the built environment. All are derelict. And most are owned by the government or wealthy individuals with the resources to do something about their condition.

The Opening of the Bahamian Parliament

by Craig Butler

I attended the opening of parliament for the first time since childhood, and I can tell you it was nothing like I remembered. In fact I really did not remember much, but what I observed at this one will cause me never to attend one of these things again if proper procedures are not put in place.

The organization, or rather the lack thereof, was a complete embarrassment. Trying to adhere to the rules we arrived well before the stated time to be seated. It was clear from the onset that this was going to turn out to be a fiasco. First of all we were supposed to present our admission tickets to a protocol officer who would then guide us as to where we were to sit.

It took about three minutes to locate one and then she really was of no help - she did take us to the area where we were supposed to be seated but there was no collection of the tickets to ensure that everyone was indeed supposed to be there. That, however, was only the tip of the iceberg.

Think Tanks and Political Change

by Larry Smith

Larry Reed, the 53-year-old president of a Michigan-based free market think tank called the Mackinac Centre, gave a speech on public policy in Nassau last week to about 60 business and professional people.

In a throw-away line he mentioned an association with a Mongolian leader who had helped end communism in that central Asian country and went on to privatise the country's yak herds in the 1990s.

Well, that seemed a little more interesting than our struggles with inefficient state enterprises like BTC, ZNS and Bahamasair, so I took the time to learn more.

Yaks are hairy cattle prized by the nomadic Mongols since the time of Genghis Khan. In 1924 Mongolia became the second communist nation in the world - after the Soviet Union - and that was when the yak herds were nationalised.

Elbegdorj Tsakhia (the son of a herdsman, whom we will refer to as EB) has been prime minister of Mongolia twice since the end of communist rule. Today he runs a libertarian think tank and has become a poster boy for the free market movement, having attended the Mackinac Centre's leadership training programme.

A Footnote in the History of Bahamian Political Journalism

by Sir Arthur Foulkes

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers …

It was not as grand as the enterprise upon which the king was embarking in Shakespeare’s play, Henry V, but it was of some significance for the history of politics and journalism in The Bahamas as a happy few, a band of brothers, gathered in a small house on Wulff Road in 1963.

Dudley Nathaniel Gilbert was one of them. Mr. Gilbert’s recent passing was hardly noticed except for the grateful congregation of Our Lady of All Souls Catholic Church on Deveaux Street where he was for many years acolyte, and a few in the newspaper fraternity who remembered him from past years.

The story started in 1960 when a group of activists in the PLP decided to add a new dimension to the political debate raging in the country at the time. Warren Levarity, a young, newly-elected Member of Parliament (MHA in those days), went to S. J. Amoury’s store on Bay Street and negotiated the purchase on credit of an electric Gestetner copying machine.

So a 12-page typewritten and stapled political journal called Bahamian Times started to publish once or twice a month and immediately attracted a small but devoted readership. The new publication found its way onto the shelves of Moseley’s Bookstore on Bank Lane, which in those days was notable.