Dear Editor
“Those of you who cannot remember your past. will be condemned to relive it!” This is a saying that far too many Bahamians have forgotten. One of the great fears of the Bahamian voter in the election 2002 was that should the PLP be elected, would they return to the evil and oppressive ways of the past. To alleviate those fears almost the entire election campaign was a deception focused on the fact that this is a NEW PLP, distancing itself from its shadowy past. Indeed nothing can be further from the truth. One just has to look at the Board and other appointments, it can only be described as a page out of the shameful PLP past. Rather than taking the Bahamians forward as promised, Prime Minister Perry Christie has taken the Bahamas back to some of the darkest days in the post Independence day history of the Bahamas, an era that proved that evil flourishes when good men sit by and do nothing!
The first appointment that came as a shocking surprise was when Mr. Calsey Johnson was appointed Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation. This man was part and parcel of the propaganda team under the OLD PLP, when politicians and not professional journalists determined the news headline of the day. With an exclusive monopoly and an iron fist censorship approach, the opposition parties were essentially shut out of any avenue of broadcasting. Consequently opposition parties, in particular the FNM, had to broadcast to the Bahamas from either Florida or the Turks and Caicos Islands. Persons such as Lionel Dorsett risks detention and interrogation by the U.S. State Department officials, etc. To deter such activity, the OLD PLP took an even more oppressive stand by criminalizing such activity in 1991 under the Election Petition Act. Clause 98, essentially silencing any opposing or contrasting voice in the Bahamas. Provisions in the Constitution guaranteeing free speech were ignored and the Bahamas along with Communist Cuba under Fidel Castro remained the only two countries in the entire Western Hemisphere with only one Radio/TV station and media completely controlled by government. Hopefully, Mr. Johnson has learned something about fundamental rights and freedom of people during the ten years the FNM were in power.
Another surprise came when Mr. Basil Sands was appointed Chairman of Bahamasair. Rather than being called our national airlines, Bahamasair has been referred to as our national nightmare. During the Commission of Inquiry in 1994, Mr. Sands in his capacity, as Chief Auditor for Bahamasair, could not satisfactorily explain inconsistencies or lack of the availability of several years of an audited statement of Bahamasair’s financial affairs. Now we go and put him in charge of Bahamasair. Man you must be joking!
Just as ridiculous was the appointment of Darrell Rolle who was prominently featured in the 1994 Commission of Inquiry where obvious facts of events could not be recalled. Or Mr. Franklyn Wilson who was appointed Chairman of the Board of the College of the Bahamas. Mr. Wilson (who former Prime Minister had referred to as “snake”) claimed that he had assisted Sir Lynden Pindling in raising a significant amount of money for his personal use, but could not easily name other persons he had assisted to such an extent including those at his church in need.
The appointment of the Honorable Paul Adderley as Chairman of the Constitutional Committee proves that the NEW PLP government is clearly stuck in the past. No one individual has done as much damage to law and order as Paul Adderley in the Bahamas. As one of the authors of the Bahamian constitution, he must be aware that very little effort if any was made by his committee to educate the Bahamian people of its content. Yet, despite months of incredible efforts to educate the Bahamian people on just a few amendments, Paul Adderley led the charge against it claiming that not enough time has been given to understand these amendments. How much time did his committee give the Bahamian people to understand the constitution?
For almost 15 years in a post-independence Bahamas, Mr. Adderley was the Attorney General. This was the period when law and order broke down in the Bahamas. Corruption and influence peddling was the order of the day. To the extent that it was rocking the foundation of the Bahamian society. A PLP Commission of Inquiry 1984 revealed that high ranking person(s) were fronting for the mafia, the most notorious criminal organization in the world. Furthermore, at least one island of the Bahamas had been annexed by foreign nationalist when the Colombian flag was raised over Norman’s Cay. Even Mr. Norman Solomon, MP for North Eleuthera, with all of his parliamentary immunities was prevented from landing on the island. After putting his personal safety at risks to get the facts in Parliament, the findings and alarm raised by Mr. Norman Solomon was ignored by Mr. Paul Adderley and his PLP government.
At a PLP mini-convention in 1987 in Freeport, Attorney General Paul Adderley shocked many decent Bahamians when he echoed the racial rhetoric of the PLP’s platform by proclaiming that “the Commission of Inquiry was only a white man’s plot to discredit a small black government.” What a bunch of rubbish! How can someone so intelligent talk such hogwash? Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Hanna resigned his cabinet post in disgust and demanded of Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling that ” in the name of common decency we should both resign.” This was a time when it was said that the Bahamas had lost a generation of young people. Now we sit and wonder why today the young have no respect for their elders. Paul Adderley’s priorities was prosecuting innocent people like Lionel Dorsett for libel and allowing the hardcore criminals to operate unimpeded.
Then there was the contemptuous way Paul Adderley handled the Darcy Ryan case. How could Paul Adderley ignore a unanimous ruling to award Mr. Ryan and his family Bahamian citizenship as provided for under the constitution. After all Mr. Ryan had been married to a Bahamian women whose lineage goes back to the Eleutheran Adventurers in 1648 and the Ryans have resided in the Bahamas for almost 30 years. AG Paul Adderley blatantly disregarded the authority of the Constitution. Now he wants to direct the Constitution. In the name of anything decent, Paul Adderley should resign within the public interest.
The final outrage though not yet official is the appointment of George Smith as Chairman of Hotel Corporation. For God’s sake, this man was FIRED by Sir Lynden Pindling for corruption after having accepted gifts from a fugitive drug lord, Carlos Lehder, including a luxury, duty-free, BMW. Amazingly nothing has been heard from big mouth Bradley Roberts who during the thanking of the governor general for the speech from the throne while hiding behind the shield of privilege, cowardly and viciously attacked the character of Abner Pinder from Spanish Wells and Roosevelt Curry of Grand Cay. Mr. Pinder has certainly paid retributions to society for any indiscretion he may have committed against society and is now a role model in the community of North Eleuthera. He is heavily involved in local government and took heroic efforts in the wake of Hurrican Andrew to assists others without regard for his personal safety. Also with great disappointment, nothing has been heard from the Church, in particular, Bishop Gomez, Ellis and Green who are supposed to be the moral watchdog of our society.
Finally as these appointments will mold the government’s policy, it is most regrettable that unlike the FNM, there is no leveling of the playing field as all appointments so far are hardcore supporters of the PLP. Under the FNM, PLP’s and FNM’s were appointed including chairmanship With complaints about victimization now rampant and being reported almost on a daily basis from Grand Bahama to Crooked Island, it appears that the NEW PLP is back to their same old, wuthless, good-for-nothing, nasty, dirty ways.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Lea Percentie
Freeport, Bahamas
September 10, 2002
