Bahama Pundit

Bahamian Attitudes Towards the Haitian Migration

by Larry Smith

In the weeks since the catastrophic earthquake that killed an estimated 230,000 men women and children in Haiti, there has been an endless stream of consciousness from Bahamians on both sides of the migration issue.

First we had what I considered to be some extraordinary reactions to the prime minister's remarks immediately after the January 12 event. In a series of Facebook exchanges, several intellectual critics condemned Ingraham for being insensitive and justifying anti-Haitian sentiments by discouraging Bahamians from helping in the wake of the disaster. These were the remarks in question (as reported by the Guardian):

"The government has established a common account at all the country's commercial banks, into which donations to the relief effort in Haiti can be made. We will cause that money to be sent either to the Haitian government and/or to international organizations that are able to provide assistance to Haiti at this time and the government will make a significant financial contribution. It is not appropriate for us to be collecting goods to send to Haiti because there is no means by which we can get there.”

Then there was an equally hostile reaction to the perfectly sensible policy announced at the same time that the government would release Haitians from the Detention Centre and suspend apprehension and repatriation efforts, while seeking to prevent new illegal immigration. This generated howls of vitriolic protest and confused comments from Bahamians upset about the supposed creolisation of the country. In response, the PM had this to say:

Broadcasting Rules and the Regulation of Election Campaigns

by Larry Smith

Whenever an election is in the air, Bahamians seem to take leave of their senses. And the current controversy over political broadcasting rules set by the new utilities regulator (URCA) is a telling example.

This is not to deny that we should pay a lot of attention to any attempt to regulate the media. in fact, this should be the subject of a full-scale public debate going forward - rather than just a closed-door conversation among media moguls.

The question of how we regulate speech during an election has some interesting parallels with the recent US Supreme Court decison on political advertising - the ruling that was sharply criticised by President Barack Obama in his state of the union address last Wednesday. But before we get to those broader questions, a word or two on the local tempest in a teacup is in order.

Words of Our Mouths, Meditations of Our Hearts

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

It was just about a fortnight ago that the government released and granted temporary asylum to 102 Haitian migrants at the Detention Centre.  That decision continues to provoke and inspire the words of many mouths, flowing from the meditations of many hearts.  Except in some cases.

The words from some prominent voices have yet to catch up with the meditations of their hearts and the treasury of their theological traditions.  Religious leaders such as Dr. Myles Munroe and Bishop Simeon Hall have addressed the hysteria surrounding the granting of temporary asylum for the migrants in question.

Other heads of various prominent denominations have yet to match their extraordinary charitable actions with the just words needed to stem a tsunami of prejudice unleashed by the Haitian quake.

Solar Power Consumers Upset by Fossil Fuel Plant on Abaco

by Larry Smith

LITTLE HARBOUR, ABACO - Within sight of the smokestacks rising from BEC's heavy fuel oil power plant under construction at Wilson City just across the Bight of Old Robinson lies a solar-powered community of some 40 homes encircling a picturesque cove.

This unique settlement was founded by a Canadian art professor named Randolph Johnston, who sailed his family to the Bahamas in 1952 and initially housed them in a cave - like a modern-day William Sayle (who sought refuge in Preacher's Cave on North Eleuthera more than three centuries ago).

Johnston set himself up as a charter skipper and sculptor, becoming a local celebrity within a few years. His bronze statue of a Bahamian woman was installed on Prince George Wharf in 1975, while his autobiography, Artist on his Island, was published the following year.

When it was virtually worthless, Johnston acquired land at Little Harbour and over time sold bits and pieces to other vagabonds from varied backgrounds, creating the eclectic community that exists today anchored around Pete's Pub, a famous watering hole run by the sculptor's son. Little Harbour is now an attraction in its own right - drawing thousands of visitors a year.

Among the homeowners are artists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, airline pilots, and boat bums. One of the more recent settlers is Gordon Pearce, whose Cape Cod firm builds high-tech tennis courts and running tracks in Massachusetts. His comfortable 2,200 square foot home sits on a hill overlooking Little Harbour and - like all the houses here - it's powered entirely by solar panels.

Fault Lines Exposed by Haiti’s Earthquake

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

The fault line that triggered the recent horrific earthquake in Haiti also exposed centuries-old fault lines -- which though not as ancient as the geographic one that ruptured weeks ago -- have deep historic roots which have produced more devastation than this tragic temblor, as deadly as it was.

Whatever the final number of the dead, many more have perished over the course of Haiti’s history through war and slavery, brutal rule and neglect, disease and poverty.  The graves of the many who drowned in the ocean expanse extending from the southern Bahamas to the Florida Straits, are marked not by personal signifiers but by the cay or island next to which they are entombed.

Of course, one of the greatest killers of the Haiti revolution, of her sons and daughters and their basic aspirations and longings for peace, has been the punishing isolation and neglect by the world’s powers, along with misrule by successive dictators propped up by a tiny wealthy elite and their foreign allies.

Perry Christie in Wonderland

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

The deep-seated resistance to reform within the PLP notwithstanding, a clue as to when the party is in the throes of a fresh crisis is the resurfacing of Party Leader Perry Christie to assure one and all that there is no crisis. 

It’s akin to the General Manager of BEC reading a statement by candlelight that the electricity company’s blackouts are a thing of the past.  What blackout? What crisis?  Don’t believe what you see or don’t see, believe what I tell you. 

In the long build-up to the party’s national convention this past October, Mr. Christie was generally out of sight, re-emerging to aggressively fend off the pretenders to his throne as well as urgent calls for reform within the PLP.  Crisis averted, Mr. Christie mostly disappeared again.

The First Six Months of 2010

by Larry Smith

As we start the new year hoping for better times ahead, here is a selective calendar for the first six months of 2010.

JANUARY

Bye-election for Elizabeth constituency. Estranged Progressive Liberal Party MP Malcolm Adderley resigned from the party and from his parliamentary seat, reportedly to become a Supreme Court justice (he acted as a judge from 1999 to 2000). A bye-election to fill the vacant seat must be held within 21 to 30 days from the date the writ is filed, assuming there is more than one candidate—since the cash-strapped PLP opposes a poll. Bye-elections are generally perceived to favour the party in office, but there have been exceptions to this rule. In 1960 the opposition PLP won four new constituencies on New Providence set up as a result of electoral reforms piloted by the British following the 1958 general strike. The PLP's Warren Levarity also won a bye-election on Grand Bahama that year. However, the PLP went on to lose the general election two years later. The opposition UBP's Basil Kelly won a hotly-contested bye-election in 1967 in Crooked Island and Acklins, and the opposition FNM won a 1990 by-election in Grand Bahama held after the death of then FNM leader Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. Hubert Ingraham replaced Sir Cecil as leader and went on to win the 1992 general election.

The World Economic Forum takes place in Davos, Switzerland. This annual, invitation-only meeting has engaged leaders from all walks of life to help shape the global agenda for the last four decades. This year they are being asked to "Rethink, Redesign and Rebuild". Co-chairs include Melinda Gates (of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Erich Schmidt of Google and Joseph Ackerman of Deutsche Bank. Among the 2500 participants are top executives, senior government representatives, academic experts and journalists. Last year, participants agreed with former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan's assessment that "the current architecture of managing global affairs is broken and needs to be fixed...new players have to be integrated and the poor have to be given a voice." His advice was acted upon with the emergence later last year of the Group of 20 nations (including the top developing countries) as the chief global kitchen cabinet.

Bahamianizing the College of The Bahamas

by Simon

•Simon is a young Bahamian with things on his mind who wishes to remain anonymous. His column 'Front Porch' is published every Tuesday in the Nassau Guardian. He can be reached at frontporchguardian@gmail.com.

The decision of President Janyne Hodder to resign her post at the College of The Bahamas after a short tenure provides COB and the country with an opportunity to revisit core issues related to the institution’s evolution towards university status. 

The knee-jerk reaction by some that her departure will harm COB’s transition to university status is based on all sorts of faulty assumptions.  It assumes that Mrs. Hodder is the only person in the world who can lead this effort, and that there are no others who can so do.  Notoriously unscientific newspaper polls notwithstanding, Mrs. Hodder’s retirement is not Armageddon. 

President Hodder has a number of accomplishments and many are grateful for her service and wish her well in her future endeavours.  There are others who remain generally displeased with her presidency.  It is disingenuous to suggest that all of the criticisms concerning her tenure revolve around her not being a Bahamian. 

A Tour of Grand Bahama

by Larry Smith

Standing on the shore at the eastern tip of Grand Bahama you can gaze across the bight at the super-exclusive cottages of Deepwater Cay, an iconic fishing lodge created in the 1950s by Gil Drake and A J McClean - the two Americans who first popularised the sport of bonefishing.

Just beyond is Sweeting's Cay, Grand Bahama's easternmost settlement. This whole area is a patchwork of mangroves, sandflats, creeks, and lagoons. It is not the most attractive part of the Bahamas, but I guess fly fishermen are more concerned with the hunt for what they call the 'grey ghost' than they are with picturesque seascapes.

In fact, nearby McLeans Town (which was laid out in 1835 for freed slaves by an official named Donald McLean) owes its existence to this complicated marine environment. Before the construction of Freeport, this area had the only sheltered harbour on Grand Bahama. And today, this is where the ferries are based that make the 45-minute trip to Crown Haven on Abaco.

Bahamian Leaders Support Action on Climate Change at Copenhagen—For Good Reasons

by Larry Smith

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Environment Minister Earl Deveaux fly to Denmark next week for a landmark world conference aimed at tackling what some have called "the most complex collective challenge humanity has ever confronted."

It's not about the war on terror or the global recession. The challenge is to prevent catastrophic climate change by "de-carbonising" economic growth. In other words, cutting our almost total reliance on the burning of fossil fuels (oil gas and coal), which is pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an alarming rate.

There are significant - yet manageable - costs involved in this effort. But the good thing about action to address climate change is that it presents unprecedented opportunities for the world in terms of energy security, pollution control, technology innovation and sustainable development.

Ingraham and Deveaux will join more than 100 government leaders (including US President Barack Obama) and more than 15,000 other attendees from around the world at the United Nations summit in Copenhagen, which got underway this past weekend and closes on December18. Their goal is to strike a major political deal that will control the world's carbon emissions for the next decade.