by Larry Smith
Justice System Vicious Circle.
The lack of a decisive response to our deterioriating judicial system lies at the root of the country's problems. We risk everything with this. And moreover, since the country is run by lawyers they know exactly what the problems are, what the solutions are, and what is at stake.
According to chief lawyer Wayne Munroe, the controversy over granting bail to those accused of serious crimes is symptomatic of the breakdown of the entire system. The average citizen naturally wants these people kept behind bars until their guilt can be determined. But that raises serious constitutional as well as logistical issues.
The scale and scope of the problem is by now familiar. Former police chief prosecutor Keith Bell outlined it for us last year:
"There are 100,000 matters before the courts, including 11,000 criminal cases and 48,000 traffic cases," he said."That's about a third of the total population before the courts, and it is getting worse and worse...Our murder rate is higher than the US and three times higher than Canada...If this spreads to the out islands we will be unable to control it."
More than two thirds of the total prison population of 2,556 are awaiting trial. And insiders say the only way to address the problem is for the political class, as a priority, to agree on a common agenda for comprehensive legal reform. But don't hold your breath on that one. Cynics say there will never be a solution until the politicians and lawyers themselves are targeted.
We have addressed this issue in the past with unassailable logic. There is no need for any further figuring in the form of crime commissions or social studies. There is no mystery about the causes, and the solutions are not rocket science. Decades of research has identified all the contributing factors, which can be divided into three broad categories - socialisation, enforcement and justice.
Socialisation covers all the things that produce new entrants to our society - the family, home life, schooling, moral codes and work. Enforcement is the way in which society's rules are applied or not applied. And justice refers to the way we process those who break the rules.
What must we do in terms of enforcement? Well, first and foremost our leaders need to set examples and make examples. If corrupt politicos, slackers and thugs see that they can get away with spitting in everyone's face, it sends a clear message that we can all get away with murder.
But improving enforcement is no solution by itself. It will only lead to gridlock unless the justice system is fixed. And that is probably the easiest of the three categories to deal with, because it is perfectly clear what needs to be done. It requires only money to make it a reality. A single budget exercise could resolve most of the bottlenecks in our courts and prison within a year.
We know the prison is overcrowded, so if we want to keep more criminals locked up and deal with all the backlogged cases we obviously need a bigger prison - or new jails for various types of offenders - and more prison officers. Once we have places to put offenders we can set about processing them - and that simply requires more judges (preferably foreign), more courtrooms, more prosecutors and more support facilities.
To those who say we can't afford all that, here are two suggestions: earmark a special crime tax to pay for prosecutors, courts, judges and a judicial secretariat. Or sell Bahamasair with the expressed goal of committing the proceeds to fixing the justice system. The liquidation of a non-performing state asset is a small price to pay for salvaging the rule of law.
The third category - socialisation - is more difficult to address because it requires long-term investments in education, family counselling and social health programmes. But over the years experts have produced some agreed guidelines.
Education, joblessness, anti-social activities and poverty are all closely linked, and international experience shows that at-risk youth benefit most from improving basic literacy and numeracy. This is something that the private sector has been seeking to convey to government officials for years. But it takes political leadership that is willing to listen and set a long train in motion.
So we already know the answers. And we certainly know what the consequences are if we don't address these issues. It all boils down to how stupid we can be.
The Eastern Parade and Other Parking Lots.
Every day many of us drive by Malcolm's Park on Dowdeswell Street - one of the most historic areas on New Providence. For hundreds of years the Eastern Parade and the Western Parade (where the British Colonial Hilton stands today) set the boundaries of the city of Nassau.
St Matthew's Church on one side of the road was built in 1802. The graveyard on the other side dates back even earlier. And the old Pan Am terminal across the street is where the first scheduled flights arrived from Miami back in the 1920s. And this whole scenic district provides the backdrop for the entrance to Paradise Island.
But these days the park has become a private parking lot - expropriated by one or two businesses that now occupy the old homes lining the eastern end of Dowdeswell Street. The most egregious offender is a private school whose customers happily block traffic and dig up the parade grass daily.
We don't know why Town Planning would give approval for a school with no parking facilities in an already congested area, but this problem has been getting worse incrementally over many months with not the slightest attention being paid to finding a solution. There is no doubt that eventually, the entire parade will be converted into an unsightly car park and dust bowl, and Nassau will have lost yet more of its historic value.
Why we should turn a blind eye to a public asset that is being confiscated by a few private individuals as we speak is quite beyond me. I assume it is because the authorities are just as incapable of dealing with the vexing issue of city parking as they are of fixing the judiicial system.
The Haitian Problem.
Recently, both John Marquis (the Tribune's former managing editor) and Rupert Missick (the newspaper's chief reporter) have written lengthy Insight articles about the Haitian migration and the assimilation of illegal immigrants with barely a glancing reference to the facts.
Both articles simply repeated unsubstantiated claims, jingoistic cliches and racist fears based on sheer hearsay or opinion - a dangerous thing to do where communal conflicts are involved. Neither writer attempted to put these important issues into any historical context, and nor did they make use of the Tribune's extensive archives.
For example, Missick this week quoted a radio talk show host referring to "subversive" efforts by Haitian "invaders". He also expressed the opinion of a Haitian-Bahamian activist that over 60 per cent of Bahamians are of Haitian descent. Such exaggerations and slurs should not be presented without qualification - even if they are comments from other people.
In January, Marquis claimed there were inherent differences between Bahamians and Haitians, and insisted that Haitians are intrinsically violent: “(Haiti’s) people are from a different tribal background than most Bahamians and they are notoriously volatile in settling their political and domestic differences.” He went on to compare Haitians to “pit bulls” and Bahamians to “potcakes”.
Such simplistic treatment of a complex and potentially explosive situation is all the more deficient when we consider that the government commissioned a comprehensive study on the Haitian migration to the Bahamas in 2005. The resulting 98-page report is readily available online and has been the subject of several articles in this space - one written by Bahamian social scientist Dawn Marshall.
The study by the International Organization for Migration was partly funded by a grant from the United States and conducted by researchers from the College of the Bahamas. It had the backing of both the government and the Haitian Embassy, and it collated all the available data while creole-speaking interviewers surveyed 500 Haitians on four Bahamian islands. For the first time ever the true outlines of the Haitian migration in the Bahamas were revealed, and a number of myths were dispelled.
In its review of local media coverage of migration issues, the IOM report noted that "Most of the opinions reported on (in the press) were negative and focused on problems created by Haitian nationals for the Bahamas. Rare were any feature articles exploring the issues with any significant degree of depth and reflection. Rare also were any reports on individual Haitian nationals’ situations such as might give them a human face.
"There is no elaboration on the migration phenomena or the meaning of the Haitian diaspora. These important issues need to be understood when living in a global, multicultural, multilingual world, and the media does not attempt to help the average Bahamian to understand the problem," the IOM rightly concluded.
Montagu Outdoor Toilet.
In recent weeks you may have noticed gangs of government workers clearing the verges on a number of roadways, particularly in the Montagu area. But have you noticed that the unkempt island of tall weeds and bush opposite the Montagu fish market remains uncleared?
The reason is simple.
That's the public toilet for the fishmongers and others who hang out at this market and boat ramp which operates in the middle of a major arterial intersection. But don't worry, I am sure the toilet-goers wash their hands in the sea at the bottom of the ramp. Of course, this water is heavily polluted from the Sailing Club's septic tank as well as from storm water run-off, fish guts and motor oil from the boats and jet skis that use the ramp. But don't worry - it's only raw fish they are handling after all.
Cable Bahamas Dis an' Dat.
Phil Keeping, the Canadian entrepeneur who launched Cable Bahamas in 1994, sold out in 2004 to another Canadian-led group which still owns 30 per cent of the shares through Columbus Communications, with special rights that include boardroom control.
Columbus also owns regional fibre-optic networks that stretch from Ecuador to Florida and CBL recently agreed to a buy-out. This would make the company 100 per cent Bahamian, and remove the red flag of foreign ownership and control that has dogged it for years.
But every so often there is a barrage of repetitive attacks on CBL that, based on the company's track record, are simply not justified These charges are unsubstantiated by the critics who level them, and often go uncorrected in the press.
We are in such a phase now, as the government seeks major regulatory reforms that will dramatically change our communications landscape as well as spin BTC - Cable's top antagonist - into the private sector.
First of all, the record shows that CBL has invested over $260 million to build a world class telecoms infrastructure for the Bahamas in just a few years - and not a single cent was public money. And at the same time, it created new wealth for thousands of Bahamian shareholders (including the government), and a whole new industry for hundreds of Bahamian workers and technicians. The company now has 76,500 video customers and 43,000 Internet subscribers.
As to the company not living up to its obligations, that old saw is patently false. Cable provides services to 90 per cent of Bahamian households on 20 islands, as per its original agreement with government. And although ZNS is carried on its network for free, it is not CBL's responsibility to ensure that ZNS reaches every household in the country - no matter how remote they may be. That is clearly the responsibility of ZNS, if the government chooses to make such coverage a requirement of nationhood.
It's time for the political nonsense regarding CBL to end. The fact that Cable is a successful and efficient Bahamian company making good returns for its shareholders and employees is nothing to be ashamed of. If you have a sensible complaint, let's hear it. Otherwise, shut up and stop talking fool.
CLICO, the Central Bank and Columbus Communications.
Last Friday there was a story about the CLICO liquidation which said that a court action had been filed in Florida to protect the $73 million that the company had invested in real estate ventures in that state.
The liquidator (Craig Gomez) was quoted as saying that CLICO had loaned this money "to affiliated companies" and it ended up in two Florida land developments. He said there could be other CLICO (Bahamas) assets in the US that had not been identified as yet.
Well, we have yet to hear from the government or the central bank as to how $73 million of Bahamian policyholder money was able to be exported to the US. Was exchange control approval given for this siphoning of funds? Was the foreign exchange premium paid? Is anybody there?
We note that the Ministry of Finance is currently reviewing Cable Bahamas' plan to buy out its controlling shareholder, Columbus Communications for some $80 million - money that would be partly financed by preference shares. Did the Ministry similarly review the CLICO proposal to invest Bahamian money in speculative Florida real estate deals?
"If you have a sensible complaint, let's hear it. Otherwise, shut up and stop talking fool."
OK, here we go.
1. They have a monopoly. I just don't like those things.
2. The monopoly could have been "handled" better.
3. They make me buy and pay for TV which I don't want in order to get internet which I do want.
4. Their customer service at the home level leave a good bit ot be desired.
I could probably think up more if I tried. That was just a quick list off the top of my head.
That said, I am thankful we have them.
all the best,
drew
Posted by: drew Roberts | May 27, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Kudos for your courage in criticizing poorly researched articles written about the Haitian population by both Missick and Marquis. Well done.
Posted by: Heather Thompson | May 27, 2009 at 09:53 AM
More later but Doesn't Cable Bahamas bootleg programming?
Oh, that's right, there isn't any agreement with U.S. signal suppliers to pay for some of the signals they use. Kinda like the Imcome tax evasion law doesn't apply cause we don't recognise income tax.
Hmm. But that makes some of the U.S. channels they provide for us pure profit centers.
Hmm.
Wish I could sell stuff I haven't paid for, it sure would improve my bottom line.
Unethical at best, but you know, we buy in so I can't fault them.
Posted by: C.Lowe | May 27, 2009 at 06:44 PM
I doubt they can pay the US providers. The US guys probably can't legally sell it to us either.
This is just a guess, but it is probably illegal for Bahamian music stores to buy CDs in the US and bring them here to sell. It is also probably illegal for Bahamian bookstores to buy books, say like the King James Bible, in the US and bring them here to sell.
Can someone who actually knows, confirm or deny my guess and explain either way.
all the best,
drew
Posted by: drew Roberts | May 27, 2009 at 08:57 PM
You are right to a degree.
Basically, HBO ect buy domestic movie rights from the Screen writers guild, the clearing house for movies etc.
HBO doesn't bother with buying Int'l rights, because it is too much bother for them especially for such a small market in our case. there are other reasons also i'm sure.
On the other hand, Showtime does buy Int'l rights for the movies it buys.
Just like DVD regions and rights, the world is carved up by the screen writers guild. We fall into the caribbean which would get us Spanish speaking stuff for the most part, and we don't want that, and if an exception was made for us, well, they won't.
Not to mention our copyrights record of enforcement.
Supposedly Cable Bahamas has been escrowing the royalties that they should be paying into an account which, they have said they will pay as soon as they can.
Hold your breath.
If anyone can add or correct, feel free......
Posted by: C.Lowe | May 27, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Great articles Mr.Smith. As much as folks hated Urban Renewal it was still a socially good program. Investing in the social development of inner city kids and their environment is the way to stave off the growth of future negative crime statistics.
As for illegal immigration, it also has a symtom that no one likes to talk about-CORRUPTION!! For years wicked public officials, greedy business people, parsimonious homeowners and drug dealers have made huge profits because of illegal Haitian immigrantion.
When inner city citizens were complaining about the large numbers of illegals residing in their neighborhoods the political and middles classes laughed and never responded(except for Loftus Roker).
Now those same illegals procreated and a lot of their kids have formed their owned class-a criminal class.
Sadly, Mr.Hywell Jones was executed the other day and no one has been arrested even though the police have a good idea who did it. No beefed up patrols in business and tourist districts even after a schoolboy was killed downtown a few years ago!!
There is now no criminal difference between Nassau and Cape Haiti.
Its only a matter of time before these criminals start venturing into suburbia. I know I live among them.
All of the highly educated arguments are not going to change anything until the rule of law is enforced and the punishment is severe. Also the present laws need to be much more severe than they presently are.
One law should be that any naturalized individual found or conspiring to harbour, smuggle or employ another illegal should lose their naturalization.
Posted by: Sean Rolle | May 28, 2009 at 02:25 AM
I am working on an article about the content/copyright issue now. Stay tuned.
Posted by: larry smith | May 28, 2009 at 06:16 PM
To the detractors of Cable Bahamas. Your criticisms have validity, but just keep some perspective. What did we have before Cable Bahamas came? Nuff said!
The government should aim to unload BTC and then let BTC run (without favour) head to head with Cable Bahamas. Both could be our 'media' companies. Cable Bahamas should be allowed to enter the cellular market and BTC should be allowed to pursue the DirecTV market full force. It could then be Cable Bahamas with Cable Internet, Cable TV, fixed phones and mobile phones vs BTC with Satellite Internet, Satellite TV, fixed lines and mobile phones. These two companies could vie in the Bahamas and then seek markets outside of the Bahamas as well. The trick is, the government cannot 'protect' BTC over Cable Bahamas. It has to be fair.
On the other matters: Love your ranting Larry. Keep at it. You rant as effectively as Bill Maher it seems.
Posted by: Erasmus Folly | May 28, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Good rant Larry, might you be getting as incensed as we all should be?
On the courts:
...If this spreads to the out islands we will be unable to control it."
Believe me, we have tripe for a court system in Grand Bahama also, have for years, courts which are supposed to serve the Northern Bahamas. What the penultimate joke.
I hope my future, my life or my family are never subject to the sort of "justice" that emanates from these hovels, and I feel for those who find themselves before them through no personal fault.
They are nothing short of organized crime in my opinion.
I act in accordance with the written laws of the commonwealth of the Bahamas precisely to avoid having anything to do with them.
The solution?
Re-allocate the Ministry of Tourisms budget of $96 Million for a few years to:
1) Build a great big Prison.
( capacity, 10 thousand to start) perhaps a second in Grand Bahama to support the courts of the Northern Bahamas. (We have this unused hotel actually….)
2) Seriously equip the court system with premises, staff of caliber and qualifications, equipment and
3) Get some real judges and pay them properly, not just judges who come here for our judicial pension plan.
If the court systems are not fixed, the Ministry of tourisms budget money will become a total waste, instead of the 70-80% waste it currently is.
Haitian problem?
Short lived as we are becoming a country more like theirs every day because of our own lawlessness, and our own phobias of them don't help. We don’t have a Haitian problem, we have a Bahamian problem!
Our Police Commissioners, those brave enough to address reality publicly that is, have spoken realistically at times because they have been exposed to Int'l police conferences in which they and we were warned repeatedly that, the crime levels experienced by Jamaica or Trinidad in the 70’s &80’s for instance would spread to us here, and nothing was done.
Commissioners sat on their hands because Prime Ministers sat on their heads.
Montague:
The poster child for how not to plan a suberb.
Bay St. is the poster child for how not to plan or run a city.
Parliament: the poster child for how not to run a country.
The Judiciary: another poster child.
Anyone see a trend here?
Cable Bahamas:
Phil Keeping, the Canadian entrepreneur....
I have no grudge against him, Cable Bahamas, or any other foreign individual or company who have come to our country, seen the tremendous opportunities that exist, get concessions and preferential treatment from our peanut brained politicians, succeed and profit. This is what they come here to do, if there is a benefit to Bahamians or to the Bahamas it is incidental, no matter what any Prime Minister says.
Wonderful.
Will this ever become possible for the average Bahamian who gets shot at and missed, shat on and hit by his own countrymen?
Until we stop crapping on Haitians (and each other for that matter) and stop sucking up to other foreigners indiscriminately, we will never solve any problems.
I swear, I believe I will have to leave, return in ten years as Lowenstein, investor from (insert foreign land here), to get casinos, golf courses crown land and direct Ministerial access and investment capital in order to fulfill a potential in my own country.
And we wonder where all the frustration and violence comes from.
It is homegrown.
A Bahamian walks into any approvals process or office and the Control Freak Virus has an outbreak.
Don't take it from a foreigner to give it to a Bahamian, let the Bahamian in the same door that they use.
Clico:
"Was exchange control approval given for this siphoning of funds? Was the foreign exchange premium paid? Is anybody there?"
Nuff said.
Apparently the law doesn’t apply to all. Perhaps individual shareholding should be looked into to rule out possible Cabinet collusion by way of personal shareholding.
Mind you, same could be said for Cable Bahamas.
Just asking.
Other than all that, things are fine, thanks Larry.
Posted by: C.Lowe | May 28, 2009 at 09:38 PM
For anyone to invest big bucks in a major infrastructure project there needs to be a monopoly for a specified time - especially in a market with less than 100,000 households/customers.
That period of exclusivity ends in October.
And there is now and always has been an alternative to Cable - satellite TV.
Interestingly, it is also technically illegal for dish owners to receive satellite programming content outside the United States.
More on this subject later.
Posted by: larry smith | May 30, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Your comments about empowerment of Bahamians are widely shared, Chris.
Posted by: larry smith | May 30, 2009 at 08:03 AM
Yes Larry you are right, Satellite Dish users are subject to the same rules, also being broken by degree:
Some pay and shouldn't be able to, some don't pay at all.
Again, it points to no vision for the country, least wise where any Bahamian is concerned.
Again, I hate the connotation that the words "foreigner" or "expat" have been given by Our overlords, phobic connotations at best.
Posted by: C.Lowe | May 30, 2009 at 11:21 AM
RE: lowe
The signal providers, on their end, are not allowed to "sell" anything but Spanish language signals to this "region". Who here speaks Spanish?
Cable has had long, serious, but not "official" meetings about this. They have the money to pay but the providers are not allowed to sell english. If they paid for Spanish we'd have noticeably higher cable bills and nothing but spanish to watch on tv.
Posted by: El Generico | June 02, 2009 at 02:39 PM
re: El Generico
And perhaps we should make an effort along the lines to put ourselves in the North American market / region unilaterally and make it plain that we will not recognize any copyrights where we are placed elsewhere.
Anyone have any ideas on how something like this might be accomplished?
Posted by: drew Roberts | June 03, 2009 at 07:34 AM
@Drew
That is a good suggestion. Trading copyright acknowledgment for 'practical' recognition that lumping us with the Caribbean isn't working...
While we are at it, can we integrate with the North American and/or European mail system better or offer the whole damn system to UPS or FEDEX at a price? A functioning mail system would be nice.
Posted by: Erasmus Folly | June 03, 2009 at 12:11 PM