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On multiple grounds, Bahamians should roundly defeat the upcoming referendum question on legalizing web shops. First, there is a stunning and insulting lack of transparency.
Moreover, the PLP that cried foul over a lack of process during the last referendum has been breathtakingly hypocritical and cynical in terms of the lack of process in its rush to give certain numbers houses an early Christmas gift. This referendum involves both a perceived conflict of interest and a betrayal of the common good.
A part of the back-story of the PLP’s decision to hold a referendum solely on the question of legalizing the current criminal enterprise of selected web shops involves a bizarre statement recently made by Prime Minister Perry Christie.
When asked if his party accepted campaign donations from various illegal numbers houses for the recent general election, former prime minister and FNM Leader Hubert Ingraham said that while individual candidates may have, he did not accept such donations on behalf of the party.
By stunning contrast Christie said he didn’t know whether the PLP received donations from such illegal enterprises. Bahamians will have to judge whether they find credible Christie and his stated ignorance on this matter.
Well, if social media, the press and personal conversations are any guide, there has been a noticeable turn away from the previously favourable or indifferent view towards the upcoming gambling referendum on the part of most non-evangelical Bahamians.
And playing the central role in this shift has been the confusing and contradictory statements from the prime minister who, if ZNS is anything to go by, spends all his time flitting around the country making portentous and convoluted statements on every issue under the sun, as he basks in his political glory.
But supporters of the measure still believe that a well-funded campaign will carry the day. And the promotional machine funded by the web shop operators is only just beginning to kick in.
T-shirts and other paraphernalia urging a 'yes' vote are being given away in all sorts of places, from PLP block parties to government offices, and a Facebook contest has been launched offering cash prizes for videos, songs, poems and dances promoting the legalisation of web shops.
The Vote Yes campaign's Facebook page has more than 2800 fans and says it represents "the thousands of Bahamians who believe the Bahamian gaming industry is worth fighting for." It argues that too much is at stake for indifference to prevail on this issue.
The kick-off event of the 40th independence anniversary was announced recently at the Cabinet Office. It was a bumbling and incoherent affair provoking many questions while providing few considered answers.
Two days later, Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans for the centenary commemoration of World War I by the United Kingdom. What a study in contrast between the envisioning and planning of the two commemorations by the respective heads of government and policymakers.
In a carefully-crafted address at the Imperial War Museum, the transcript of which is available at 10 Downing Street’s website, Cameron articulated the vision and values intended to guide the commemoration.
Characteristically, Prime Minister Christie has failed to do likewise on at least two occasions. He failed to do so at the announcement of the committee spearheading our 40th. He failed again at last week’s announcement of the renaming of the newer Paradise Island Bridge in honour of Sir Sidney Poitier, and related activities.
Last week I attended the Bahamas Petroleum Company's travelling road show at Bradley Ferguson's Crab House and Seafood Emporium on Collins Avenue - and, in the interest of full disclosure, enjoyed some marvellous free crab cakes after the show.
Before the crab cakes arrived, BPC chief Simon Potter and others spoke about the British company's plans to drill for oil about 200 miles southwest of Nassau, on our maritime border with Cuba. A day later, they made the same presentation to the Caribbean Contractors Association.
Potter is a former British Petroleum geologist from Wallingford, England who joined BPC last year. He has worked on oil operations in the North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia and Russia, and was backed up by Roberta Quant, BPC's environmental officer (who previously worked for the BEST Commission) and Jobeth Coleby, a lawyer who is responsible for compliance and risk management.
Their presentation coincided with publication of the company's environmental impact assessment, which was produced by Acorn International and is now available on the BEST Commission website. One of the key takeaways from the presentation was that although the Bahamas already faces significant environmental risks from oil production, it does not enjoy any of the benefits.
North Abaco voters were unable to resist the blandishments of the new PLP government on Monday. The by-election was a replay of what happened when former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling resigned in 1997. Voters in a small out island constituency elected a little-known freshman from the other side to replace one of the all-time heavyweights of Bahamian politics.
Just as South Andros voters repudiated Pindling, Abaconians disowned Hubert Ingraham - who had represented them for 35 years before stepping down in August - by rejecting his hand-picked successor two to one. This only goes to show that once considered out of power for good a politician becomes as irrelevant as yesterday's wet newspaper.
In time Ingraham may metamorphose into an elder statesman - whose experienced advice is sought after. But for now he is on the wrong side of history, and his North Abaco swan song will be recorded as one of a number of key by-elections that helped shape the political development of the modern Bahamas.
In the summer of 2009 I went to Abaco to seek out a top-secret government construction site deep in the pine forest.
No - it wasn't the Bahamian equivalent of Area 51. It was a BEC power plant. I use the word "secret" because there was no real public communication of what was planned at the site, although the government had decided on its course of action four years earlier - in 2005.
Following my visit, I reviewed the environmental impact assessment for the project at the BEST Commission office on West Bay Street, and then wrote an article entitled The Great Wilson City Power Plant Mystery. That article laid out most of the available facts surrounding this $105 million public sector project for the first time.
My 2009 article underscored the main issue which the Court of Appeal recently ruled on - transparency in government, or rather the lack of it. In short, how can a state agency spend tens of millions of public funds without any accountability whatsoever? In fact, BEC wouldn't even answer even the most basic questions until it was forced to.
That lack of transparency carries over to the current operation of the plant, pollution of the environment, waste of financial resources, inappropriate planning, and other public interest issues. And based on BECs track record, as outlined in the 2009 article, we know what lack of transparency means. According to the record, the corporation is the nation's worst polluter.
The quadrennial US presidential marathon is a contest to elect a head of state and head of government who combines many roles including that of commander-in-chief and national myth-keeper in chief.
As it was from the beginning of the American Republic, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are battling over who best represents and who may best interpret the patriotic narratives of America for his contemporaries.
The frustration for Romney and company is that his often poorly-tuned invocation of “America the Beautiful” has failed to drown out the ruffles and flourishes of “Hail to the Chief” which accompany Obama as he navigates the demands of the presidency with a confidence and cool driving his haters to distraction.
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a stirring speech at last week's Republican National Convention in Tampa that focused on education in America. As a top foreign policy expert, she noted that "strength begins at home." Although in American terms this refers to leadership in military technology, we thought her more general message would be a useful one for Bahamian policymakers to hear.
Along with Barack Obama, Rice is a key role model for the African-American community. Born in 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama - the only child of a Presbyterian minister and a schoolteacher - she grew up surrounded by racism in the segregated South, but went on to become the first woman and first African American to serve as provost of Stanford University. In 2001, she was appointed national security adviser by President George W. Bush, and became the first black woman to serve as secretary of state (from 2005 to 2009.)
Rice earned her bachelor's degree in political science in 1974; a master's in 1975; and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies in 1981. After leaving her government job, she became co-chair of the Independent Task Force on US Education Reform and National Security, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. The task force includes 31 prominent education experts, national security authorities, and corporate leaders.
This group of experts has warned Americans that "Educational failure puts the United States' future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk. The country will not be able to keep pace—much less lead—globally unless it moves to fix the problems it has allowed to fester for too long."
And education reform is not a question of money. The United States invests more in K-12 public education than most other developed countries, yet American students rank 14th in reading, 25th in math, and 17th in science internationally. More than a quarter of students fail to graduate from high school in four years; and for African-American and Hispanic students this number approaches 40 per cent.
Does that sound familiar? It should, because both sides of our political divide have recently acknowledged the failure of the Bahamian public school system in the face of even worse statistics. This is after many years of political stonewalling and prodding by private sector leaders and commentators. The business community in particular has long complained that a large percentage of Bahamian students leave school functionally illiterate - in other words, unable to compete for a decent job.
Prime Minister Perry Christie was elected on promises about fixing the country’s main social problems: crime and education. Any solutions for these deep-seated dilemmas will be long-term, and changes will only appear incrementally.
But he also stakes his reputation on three critical issues that will be resolved promptly: re-taking a majority position in Bahamas Telephone Company (BTC); a referendum on “numbers” gambling and a national lottery; and allowing oil exploration in Bahamian waters. Each of them is a high-stakes gamble that could make him appear brilliant or inept, determined or vacillating.
There is considerable discussion on a national lottery and whether the numbers business should be legalized. Yet, a compelling issue has been given short shrift. It concerns whether most of the proceeds from this lucrative trade will be used for public purpose or private gain.
Bahamas Information Services issued a story last week on Prime Minister Perry Christie’s communication to the House of Assembly confirming the government’s intention “to hold a referendum on the issue of a national lottery and/or web cafes.”
He was quoted as advising: “I wish to confirm that it is my Government’s intention to proceed with a referendum on the issue of a national lottery and/or web cafes as soon as practicable following the anticipated by-election in North Abaco later this year.”
The story noted: “The referendum will seek to ascertain whether a national lottery should be instituted and or whether the popular web cafes or web shops be legalised, regulated, licensed and taxed.
“He [Mr. Christie] also reiterated that the Government would maintain a position of complete neutrality on the referendum issues: ‘We will not campaign for, nor will we encourage the adoption of, either a yes or no position on any of the referendum issues.’ ”
The communication obscured more than it revealed. Given that this is a debate on the numbers business it is ironically fitting that the government’s statements seem less like a serious policy discussion and more like a confidence or shell game.
