http://odeo.com/channels/417033-The-Podcast-of-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Nassau-Bahamas FredMitchell no <p>The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP,Fox Hill Constituency, Nassau Bahamas.</p> The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP,Fox Hill Constituency, Nassau Bahamas. The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP,Fox Hill Constituency, Nassau Bahamas. en-us 40 Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:05:37 -0700 Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:05:37 -0700 http://odeo.com/episodes/14478343-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-2nd-July-2007 tag:odeo.com,2007-07-03,14478343 Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:05:37 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13366573-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-28th-June-2007 tag:odeo.com,2007-06-28,13366573 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:47:54 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13347453-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-25th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 24th June and I’m glad you could join us. Hubert Ingraham arrived back in The Bahamas, following his first trip abroad as Prime Minister last Thursday. He came back in a feisty mood. He told the country that he had no fear of the election court petitions filed by the PLP. “Bring it on”, he said. He also reminded the country that he has the power to call elections. This is a clear threat that if the election court cases go against him, he will indeed call a general election. PLPs therefore have to be ready and I am again urging all who have not registered to vote to go out and do so. I would also like to urge all PLPs to begin regular financial contributions to the party. Contact Senator Jerome Fitzgerald if you want to contribute on a regular basis. The party is in need of funds to continue its works throughout the country. Following the Confer... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 24th June and I’m glad you could join us. Hubert Ingraham arrived back in The Bahamas, following his first trip abroad as Prime Minister last Thursday. He came back in a feisty mood. He told the country that he had no fear of the election court petitions filed by the PLP. “Bring it on”, he said. He also reminded the country that he has the power to call elections. This is a clear threat that if the election court cases go against him, he will indeed call a general election. PLPs therefore have to be ready and I am again urging all who have not registered to vote to go out and do so. I would also like to urge all PLPs to begin regular financial contributions to the party. Contact Senator Jerome Fitzgerald if you want to contribute on a regular basis. The party is in need of funds to continue its works throughout the country. Following the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean, the U.S. White House issued a statement that it described as a joint statement between the U.S. and Caricom. The statement listed the Prime Minister of The Bahamas as one of the Heads of Government who joined the consensus. Paragraph five of that statement has the Prime Minister of The Bahamas joining in with his other Caricom heads that the Caricom Single Market and Economy are a critical part of the development of the region of which The Bahamas is a part. This flies in the face of what the FNM has told the country; that it will not sign onto the CSME. In fact it was a foolish boast anyway since in February of 2006, I signed an agreement with Caricom which exempts The Bahamas from the CSME. There is no need for the FNM to do anything. But I point out now that Hubert Ingraham has joined the consensus that says the CSME is critical to the development of the region. So if it is critical to the development of the region why is The Bahamas not joining the CSME? This is a government of contradictions. The lesson Mr. Ingraham and his hapless and know nothing Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette now know is that The Bahamas cannot function in the real world without Caricom. Mr. Ingraham will be joining his fellow Heads at the Heads of Government Conference in Barbados from 1st to 4th July. The BBC has reported that Mr. Ingraham wants Caricom to change its CSME focus to a focus on social issues. Good luck. He and Owen Arthur, the Barbados Prime Minister, have a good friendship and he thinks that maybe that can help him but Owen Arthur is the lead Prime Minister for CSME in Caricom. It is therefore most unlikely that there will be any change in focus. Trade is the most important issue for all Caricom economies including that of The Bahamas. Let me turn to a more domestic matter and that is the state of the internet in The Bahamas. I raise this because I recently saw a set of ads by Cable Bahamas, the monopoly cable provider in The Bahamas advertising their ‘Coral Wave’ service. They ask the question: how fast do you want it? Blinding fast should be the answer. But Cable Bahamas simply cannot deliver what it promises. If you try to access their service on a Sunday in particular, it is incredibly slow. What is even worse is that the company does not offer any support when there is a problem of the kind I have described. The same can be said for their competitor in the DSL business; BTC, the former Batelco. Many times BTC is down and there is no explanation from them and you cannot get anyone from their so called support department to help. The much broader point is that something needs to be done by some private provider to make sure that these services improve. The Bahamas cannot continue to depend on these deficient services. Further, there are complaints in this country about the lack of service in the public sector but the Coral Wave example is but one example amongst many in the private sector where the service is just as lousy as that in the public sector. Thank you for joining us and for now good bye. - end - Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 24th June and I’m glad you could join us. Hubert Ingraham arrived back in The Bahamas, following his first trip abroad as Prime Minister last Thursday. He came back in a feisty mood. He told the country that he had no fear of the election court petitions filed by the PLP. “Bring it on”, he said. He also reminded the country that he has the power to call elections. This is a clear threat that if the election court cases go against him, he will indeed call a general election. PLPs therefore have to be ready and I am again urging all who have not registered to vote to go out and do so. I would also like to urge all PLPs to begin regular financial contributions to the party. Contact Senator Jerome Fitzgerald if you want to contribute on a regular basis. The party is in need of funds to continue its works throughout the country. Following the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean, the U.S. White House issued a statement that it described as a joint statement between the U.S. and Caricom. The statement listed the Prime Minister of The Bahamas as one of the Heads of Government who joined the consensus. Paragraph five of that statement has the Prime Minister of The Bahamas joining in with his other Caricom heads that the Caricom Single Market and Economy are a critical part of the development of the region of which The Bahamas is a part. This flies in the face of what the FNM has told the country; that it will not sign onto the CSME. In fact it was a foolish boast anyway since in February of 2006, I signed an agreement with Caricom which exempts The Bahamas from the CSME. There is no need for the FNM to do anything. But I point out now that Hubert Ingraham has joined the consensus that says the CSME is critical to the development of the region. So if it is critical to the development of the region why is The Bahamas not joining the CSME? This is a government of contradictions. The lesson Mr. Ingraham and his hapless and know nothing Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette now know is that The Bahamas cannot function in the real world without Caricom. Mr. Ingraham will be joining his fellow Heads at the Heads of Government Conference in Barbados from 1st to 4th July. The BBC has reported that Mr. Ingraham wants Caricom to change its CSME focus to a focus on social issues. Good luck. He and Owen Arthur, the Barbados Prime Minister, have a good friendship and he thinks that maybe that can help him but Owen Arthur is the lead Prime Minister for CSME in Caricom. It is therefore most unlikely that there will be any change in focus. Trade is the most important issue for all Caricom economies including that of The Bahamas. Let me turn to a more domestic matter and that is the state of the internet in The Bahamas. I raise this because I recently saw a set of ads by Cable Bahamas, the monopoly cable provider in The Bahamas advertising their ‘Coral Wave’ service. They ask the question: how fast do you want it? Blinding fast should be the answer. But Cable Bahamas simply cannot deliver what it promises. If you try to access their service on a Sunday in particular, it is incredibly slow. What is even worse is that the company does not offer any support when there is a problem of the kind I have described. The same can be said for their competitor in the DSL business; BTC, the former Batelco. Many times BTC is down and there is no explanation from them and you cannot get anyone from their so called support department to help. The much broader point is that something needs to be done by some private provider to make sure that these services improve. The Bahamas cannot continue to depend on these deficient services. Further, there are complaints in this country about the lack of service in the public sector but the Coral Wave example is but one example amongst many in the private sector where the service is just as lousy as that in the public sector. Thank you for joining us and for now good bye. - end - tag:odeo.com,2007-06-25,13347453 Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:49:35 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13321903-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-22th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Friday 22nd June 2007 and I’m glad you could join us. I want to talk about two matters today: one has to do with my constituency Fox Hill and the other with the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean. First the bit about Fox Hill. During the debate on the Budget in the Senate on Wednesday 20th June, the FNM’s defeated candidate for Fox Hill who is now a Senator spoke in the Senate. There were many calls from PLPs who were watching the address. In it I understand certain accusations were made about the PLP ‘s conduct in Fox Hill and my conduct in particular during the elections. I find this quite stupid really. The FNM has to realize in Fox Hill they got beaten. They had a candidate who was going around boasting about how much money she had and how she was a Fox Hillian as if this would automatically entitle her to a seat for Fox Hill. Her own peopl... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Friday 22nd June 2007 and I’m glad you could join us. I want to talk about two matters today: one has to do with my constituency Fox Hill and the other with the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean. First the bit about Fox Hill. During the debate on the Budget in the Senate on Wednesday 20th June, the FNM’s defeated candidate for Fox Hill who is now a Senator spoke in the Senate. There were many calls from PLPs who were watching the address. In it I understand certain accusations were made about the PLP ‘s conduct in Fox Hill and my conduct in particular during the elections. I find this quite stupid really. The FNM has to realize in Fox Hill they got beaten. They had a candidate who was going around boasting about how much money she had and how she was a Fox Hillian as if this would automatically entitle her to a seat for Fox Hill. Her own people rejected her and rejected her badly. The accusations that I understand were made were that T shirts were given out by the PLP to school children on the Sandilands Primary School grounds. That is an absolute lie. But what I suspect is that this is a part of a scheme on her part to get the Ministry of Education to move the teachers at Sandilands Primary School because of a vendetta which she holds against the teachers. The PLP did not distribute T shirts on the Sandilands Primary School grounds. It was also fanciful for the FNMs candidate to suggest that the PLP attacked her parade during the election campaign. That is a lie and a figment of her vivid imagination. It is also a lie to suggest that any PLP at the behest of the PLP pulled down any FNM posters in Fox Hill. What we do know is that the PLP put up posters in Fox Hill and the next day they were all down. One guess as to who did it. The PLP complained to the police and they did nothing. But all of that has nothing to do with anything. The fact is the FNM lost the seat in Fox Hill. Their candidate was a lousy candidate and what we have now is an attempt at someone who simply will not accept that she got beaten in the election and is jonesing to be the representative. So we shed no tears for the FNM candidate. She was a bad candidate. Making her a Senator is merely an attempt by the FNM’s leader the harass me, part of his campaign of hate Fred Mitchell but PLPs will stand their ground against the attempts by the FNM through that senator to victimize the people of Fox Hill. You can see her coming a mile off, pushy, aggressive, disgusting in the way she practices her politics, nasty in fact. Simply doesn’t know her place. Pretending to be nice but not nice at all. Sad but true. Meanwhile Hubert Ingraham and his Foreign Minister Brent Symonette have gotten their fifteen minutes of fame and the photo op with US President George Bush. The Conference on the Future of the Caribbean is now over. The most important development is that of the extension of the Caribbean Basin Initiative which is set to expire September 2008 because it is in violation of the World Trade Organization rules. The US President says that he will extend it but there are no particulars on the matter. We need to know the details. We also need to know what commitments we have on investment in the region and on security matters and on education. I hope that it simply did not end up being a talking shop. One sign of the way Caribbean issues are generally often treated was the report that of the US Secretary of Commerce who came to a meeting with Prime Ministers of the region, delivered his speech and promptly left so that he did not even hear the opening remarks of Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur. That happened many times in conferences that I attended for The Bahamas. The countries would invite our Heads of Government, their senior Minister would come in and then leave the chair for the Vice Minister to deal with our Heads of Government. In one case involving the British, Tony Blair the British Prime Minister did not even bother to show up. He sent a message by video to the conference. We understand that many of the heads of the dependent territories like Bermuda. Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands did not show up because they were relegated to the sidelines . They sent officials instead. It is important that the meeting took place and the conversation with the United States must continue. The CBI development is a good one. No doubt the Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister will come back crowing like roosters about what was accomplished but in reading the minutes from the meeting, it is clear that whatever was accomplished Brent Symonette and Hubert Ingraham had little to do with it. That’s it. Thank you until next time and good bye. end Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Friday 22nd June 2007 and I’m glad you could join us. I want to talk about two matters today: one has to do with my constituency Fox Hill and the other with the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean. First the bit about Fox Hill. During the debate on the Budget in the Senate on Wednesday 20th June, the FNM’s defeated candidate for Fox Hill who is now a Senator spoke in the Senate. There were many calls from PLPs who were watching the address. In it I understand certain accusations were made about the PLP ‘s conduct in Fox Hill and my conduct in particular during the elections. I find this quite stupid really. The FNM has to realize in Fox Hill they got beaten. They had a candidate who was going around boasting about how much money she had and how she was a Fox Hillian as if this would automatically entitle her to a seat for Fox Hill. Her own people rejected her and rejected her badly. The accusations that I understand were made were that T shirts were given out by the PLP to school children on the Sandilands Primary School grounds. That is an absolute lie. But what I suspect is that this is a part of a scheme on her part to get the Ministry of Education to move the teachers at Sandilands Primary School because of a vendetta which she holds against the teachers. The PLP did not distribute T shirts on the Sandilands Primary School grounds. It was also fanciful for the FNMs candidate to suggest that the PLP attacked her parade during the election campaign. That is a lie and a figment of her vivid imagination. It is also a lie to suggest that any PLP at the behest of the PLP pulled down any FNM posters in Fox Hill. What we do know is that the PLP put up posters in Fox Hill and the next day they were all down. One guess as to who did it. The PLP complained to the police and they did nothing. But all of that has nothing to do with anything. The fact is the FNM lost the seat in Fox Hill. Their candidate was a lousy candidate and what we have now is an attempt at someone who simply will not accept that she got beaten in the election and is jonesing to be the representative. So we shed no tears for the FNM candidate. She was a bad candidate. Making her a Senator is merely an attempt by the FNM’s leader the harass me, part of his campaign of hate Fred Mitchell but PLPs will stand their ground against the attempts by the FNM through that senator to victimize the people of Fox Hill. You can see her coming a mile off, pushy, aggressive, disgusting in the way she practices her politics, nasty in fact. Simply doesn’t know her place. Pretending to be nice but not nice at all. Sad but true. Meanwhile Hubert Ingraham and his Foreign Minister Brent Symonette have gotten their fifteen minutes of fame and the photo op with US President George Bush. The Conference on the Future of the Caribbean is now over. The most important development is that of the extension of the Caribbean Basin Initiative which is set to expire September 2008 because it is in violation of the World Trade Organization rules. The US President says that he will extend it but there are no particulars on the matter. We need to know the details. We also need to know what commitments we have on investment in the region and on security matters and on education. I hope that it simply did not end up being a talking shop. One sign of the way Caribbean issues are generally often treated was the report that of the US Secretary of Commerce who came to a meeting with Prime Ministers of the region, delivered his speech and promptly left so that he did not even hear the opening remarks of Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur. That happened many times in conferences that I attended for The Bahamas. The countries would invite our Heads of Government, their senior Minister would come in and then leave the chair for the Vice Minister to deal with our Heads of Government. In one case involving the British, Tony Blair the British Prime Minister did not even bother to show up. He sent a message by video to the conference. We understand that many of the heads of the dependent territories like Bermuda. Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands did not show up because they were relegated to the sidelines . They sent officials instead. It is important that the meeting took place and the conversation with the United States must continue. The CBI development is a good one. No doubt the Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister will come back crowing like roosters about what was accomplished but in reading the minutes from the meeting, it is clear that whatever was accomplished Brent Symonette and Hubert Ingraham had little to do with it. That’s it. Thank you until next time and good bye. end tag:odeo.com,2007-06-21,13321903 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:16:25 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13303263-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-18th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 18th June and I’m glad you could join us. Well the interminable budget debate is over for another year. What was interesting is the extent to which questioning by the PLP members of the House showed up the lack of knowledge and the lack of capacity of the Ministers of the FNM. It also showed the crudeness and crassness of Hubert Ingraham, the leader of the FNM, and his pure irritation at being at the other end of the stick. He has to answer the questions now. It now appears that at least three election results are to be challenged by the PLP. On Friday we learned that leave had been granted for at least two petitions to file in Court that in Pinewood where Allyson Gibson was the incumbent, the other in Marco City, the seat where Pleasant Bridgewater was the incumbent. Two others were expected to be filed. Leslie Miller the former MP PLP for Blu... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 18th June and I’m glad you could join us. Well the interminable budget debate is over for another year. What was interesting is the extent to which questioning by the PLP members of the House showed up the lack of knowledge and the lack of capacity of the Ministers of the FNM. It also showed the crudeness and crassness of Hubert Ingraham, the leader of the FNM, and his pure irritation at being at the other end of the stick. He has to answer the questions now. It now appears that at least three election results are to be challenged by the PLP. On Friday we learned that leave had been granted for at least two petitions to file in Court that in Pinewood where Allyson Gibson was the incumbent, the other in Marco City, the seat where Pleasant Bridgewater was the incumbent. Two others were expected to be filed. Leslie Miller the former MP PLP for Blue Hills is challenging the result of that election as well. I again urge all persons who are not registered to go out and get registered to vote. We have to prepare for a snap election given that a ruling in an election court may change the balance in the House. So encourage all those who turned 18 after the election to register and all PLPs who did not get to register before to go out and get registered. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Brent Symonette his Minister of Foreign Affairs are off to Washington this week for the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean. This is a conference that I worked hard to promote during my time as Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is an important opportunity for dialogue at the highest levels of the US government and those of the Caricom region of which The Bahamas is a part. It was clear from the answer given in the House of Assembly to parliamentary questions during the budget debate that Mr. Ingraham and his Foreign Minister have no clue of the importance of the meeting. For them it is simply a time for them to smile for the cameras with the U.S. President and with the U.S. Secretary of State. However, it is more important than that. Two countries in the region Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have determined that by the year 2020 they will be developed countries with all that this means. They have begun to make the adjustments to their economies and the investment in the future that will make this a reality. The Christie administration had the same thing in mind for The Bahamas. No such commitment has been made by the FNM. They have no trade policy. Out of this conference should come an understanding between the US side and the Caricom side of the need for continued dialogue between Caricom and the United States. Secondly, there must be a commitment on the part of the United States on drug security issues, not the narrowly defined terrorism agenda that they are most concerned about. Security in this region means a fight again the drug barons and the drug culture overcoming our countries. It also means support for education and for health care to ensure that the populations can survive into the future. Finally, there should be a commitment to a free trade agreement with the region, with special and differential treatment for the small island developing states that make up Caricom. It should include visa free access for Caricom citizens into the United States. Finally, The Bahamas should make a special push for the development and security for Haiti. It should also push for a discussion on Cuba, post Castro and the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other nations. The embargo by the U.S. against Cuba should end. We doubt that you will see any of these high minded discussions come from our own leaders. What you will see are pictures of a grinning Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister just happy to be there in the presence of the US President and the US Secretary of State. You must really weep for our country. That’s it for today. We hope you can make it next time. Goodbye End Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Monday 18th June and I’m glad you could join us. Well the interminable budget debate is over for another year. What was interesting is the extent to which questioning by the PLP members of the House showed up the lack of knowledge and the lack of capacity of the Ministers of the FNM. It also showed the crudeness and crassness of Hubert Ingraham, the leader of the FNM, and his pure irritation at being at the other end of the stick. He has to answer the questions now. It now appears that at least three election results are to be challenged by the PLP. On Friday we learned that leave had been granted for at least two petitions to file in Court that in Pinewood where Allyson Gibson was the incumbent, the other in Marco City, the seat where Pleasant Bridgewater was the incumbent. Two others were expected to be filed. Leslie Miller the former MP PLP for Blue Hills is challenging the result of that election as well. I again urge all persons who are not registered to go out and get registered to vote. We have to prepare for a snap election given that a ruling in an election court may change the balance in the House. So encourage all those who turned 18 after the election to register and all PLPs who did not get to register before to go out and get registered. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Brent Symonette his Minister of Foreign Affairs are off to Washington this week for the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean. This is a conference that I worked hard to promote during my time as Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is an important opportunity for dialogue at the highest levels of the US government and those of the Caricom region of which The Bahamas is a part. It was clear from the answer given in the House of Assembly to parliamentary questions during the budget debate that Mr. Ingraham and his Foreign Minister have no clue of the importance of the meeting. For them it is simply a time for them to smile for the cameras with the U.S. President and with the U.S. Secretary of State. However, it is more important than that. Two countries in the region Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have determined that by the year 2020 they will be developed countries with all that this means. They have begun to make the adjustments to their economies and the investment in the future that will make this a reality. The Christie administration had the same thing in mind for The Bahamas. No such commitment has been made by the FNM. They have no trade policy. Out of this conference should come an understanding between the US side and the Caricom side of the need for continued dialogue between Caricom and the United States. Secondly, there must be a commitment on the part of the United States on drug security issues, not the narrowly defined terrorism agenda that they are most concerned about. Security in this region means a fight again the drug barons and the drug culture overcoming our countries. It also means support for education and for health care to ensure that the populations can survive into the future. Finally, there should be a commitment to a free trade agreement with the region, with special and differential treatment for the small island developing states that make up Caricom. It should include visa free access for Caricom citizens into the United States. Finally, The Bahamas should make a special push for the development and security for Haiti. It should also push for a discussion on Cuba, post Castro and the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other nations. The embargo by the U.S. against Cuba should end. We doubt that you will see any of these high minded discussions come from our own leaders. What you will see are pictures of a grinning Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister just happy to be there in the presence of the US President and the US Secretary of State. You must really weep for our country. That’s it for today. We hope you can make it next time. Goodbye End tag:odeo.com,2007-06-19,13303263 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:45:39 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13268593-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-14th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I am glad you could join us. This is Thursday 14th June. I hope that you have registered vote. Go out to register if you are PLP. Some PLP candidates seem about to file election court cases, and few people believe that Hubert Ingraham will wait for the Court result. He will go to the country and that means PLPs should be registered. So if you are PLP and turned 18 since the election you should go register. If you are an adult and did not register before the election and you are PLP register now. We must help to save our country. Alfred Sears, Bernard Nottage, Shane Gibson, Vincent Peet all spoke on Tuesday 12th June in the House of Assembly in the budget debate. They all made compelling cases against the FNM as a government that railed against the policies of the PLP when they were in Opposition but now find themselves having to embrace everything that the PLP... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I am glad you could join us. This is Thursday 14th June. I hope that you have registered vote. Go out to register if you are PLP. Some PLP candidates seem about to file election court cases, and few people believe that Hubert Ingraham will wait for the Court result. He will go to the country and that means PLPs should be registered. So if you are PLP and turned 18 since the election you should go register. If you are an adult and did not register before the election and you are PLP register now. We must help to save our country. Alfred Sears, Bernard Nottage, Shane Gibson, Vincent Peet all spoke on Tuesday 12th June in the House of Assembly in the budget debate. They all made compelling cases against the FNM as a government that railed against the policies of the PLP when they were in Opposition but now find themselves having to embrace everything that the PLP did and they did it uncritically. It was quite embarrassing for the new Minister of Tourism Neko Grant to be told by the old Minister of Tourism that it was clear that he did not understand what was going on in his Ministry. Mr. Grant was advised by Obie Wilchcombe to listen to the professionals at his ministry. One remarkable address was that of the former Road Traffic Controller who is now the Member of Parliament for Garden Hills. If you heard this FNM member speak, you would have thought that he had invented the Urban Renewal programme. This is the programme that his leader Hubert Ingraham had pledged to stop. This is the revolutionary and award winning programme that led to what Dr. Bernard Nottage called the inner city being given priority for the first time. It helped the police with information. It helped the communities with issues, social and financial that they were unable to deal with before. Now the FNM says that they are embracing it and even suggesting that they are going to put more money in it than the PLP. Melanie Griffin, who was the Minister responsible for Social Services under the PLP, put the lie to any suggestion that the FNM will put more money into Urban Renewal than the PLP. Urban Renewal is a PLP programme and they wanted to scrap it simply because of that but they have now had to back track. Shane Gibson went right to the heart of the matter when he told them that they were in charge now. He didn’t want to hear any excuses. They needed to fix the problems. He ridiculed the FNM as a government that was fault finding in everything the PLP did. He was particularly savage on them with regard to their record in housing. He said that there is no perfect house, and there will always be faults in any house that is built. He added that since the FNM is so perfect that he will be watching to see them build perfect houses. Shane Gibson was all over them for their continued victimization of Bahamians. You all know the story of how Steve McKinney and Philippa Russell were fired by the new Prime Minister. Mr. Gibson gave the case of Rory Higgs who was fired from the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. The FNM’s presentation in the House has really been nothing short of pathetic. It is gotcha politics at its best. You almost want to say to them that they really need to start a detective agency. All they seem to spend their time doing is investigating, reviewing and stopping projects. Dr. Bernard Nottage said what their reviewing and stopping projects really means is that they are putting people out of work. He said Bain Town men and women were put out of work as result of the policies of the FNM. The Bahamas will not have an easy time under this group of people who are out to prove what we don’t exactly know. What we do know is that the PLP must keep focused. It must continue to hold their feet to the fire. The FNM by their early actions have simply lost the moral right to govern. I want to offer my congratulations to Mark Knowles and his Canadian partner for winning the French Doubles in tennis this week. This is again a signal accomplishment for a Bahamian and it deserves honourable mention and to add our voice to the pride in his accomplishment. - end - Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I am glad you could join us. This is Thursday 14th June. I hope that you have registered vote. Go out to register if you are PLP. Some PLP candidates seem about to file election court cases, and few people believe that Hubert Ingraham will wait for the Court result. He will go to the country and that means PLPs should be registered. So if you are PLP and turned 18 since the election you should go register. If you are an adult and did not register before the election and you are PLP register now. We must help to save our country. Alfred Sears, Bernard Nottage, Shane Gibson, Vincent Peet all spoke on Tuesday 12th June in the House of Assembly in the budget debate. They all made compelling cases against the FNM as a government that railed against the policies of the PLP when they were in Opposition but now find themselves having to embrace everything that the PLP did and they did it uncritically. It was quite embarrassing for the new Minister of Tourism Neko Grant to be told by the old Minister of Tourism that it was clear that he did not understand what was going on in his Ministry. Mr. Grant was advised by Obie Wilchcombe to listen to the professionals at his ministry. One remarkable address was that of the former Road Traffic Controller who is now the Member of Parliament for Garden Hills. If you heard this FNM member speak, you would have thought that he had invented the Urban Renewal programme. This is the programme that his leader Hubert Ingraham had pledged to stop. This is the revolutionary and award winning programme that led to what Dr. Bernard Nottage called the inner city being given priority for the first time. It helped the police with information. It helped the communities with issues, social and financial that they were unable to deal with before. Now the FNM says that they are embracing it and even suggesting that they are going to put more money in it than the PLP. Melanie Griffin, who was the Minister responsible for Social Services under the PLP, put the lie to any suggestion that the FNM will put more money into Urban Renewal than the PLP. Urban Renewal is a PLP programme and they wanted to scrap it simply because of that but they have now had to back track. Shane Gibson went right to the heart of the matter when he told them that they were in charge now. He didn’t want to hear any excuses. They needed to fix the problems. He ridiculed the FNM as a government that was fault finding in everything the PLP did. He was particularly savage on them with regard to their record in housing. He said that there is no perfect house, and there will always be faults in any house that is built. He added that since the FNM is so perfect that he will be watching to see them build perfect houses. Shane Gibson was all over them for their continued victimization of Bahamians. You all know the story of how Steve McKinney and Philippa Russell were fired by the new Prime Minister. Mr. Gibson gave the case of Rory Higgs who was fired from the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. The FNM’s presentation in the House has really been nothing short of pathetic. It is gotcha politics at its best. You almost want to say to them that they really need to start a detective agency. All they seem to spend their time doing is investigating, reviewing and stopping projects. Dr. Bernard Nottage said what their reviewing and stopping projects really means is that they are putting people out of work. He said Bain Town men and women were put out of work as result of the policies of the FNM. The Bahamas will not have an easy time under this group of people who are out to prove what we don’t exactly know. What we do know is that the PLP must keep focused. It must continue to hold their feet to the fire. The FNM by their early actions have simply lost the moral right to govern. I want to offer my congratulations to Mark Knowles and his Canadian partner for winning the French Doubles in tennis this week. This is again a signal accomplishment for a Bahamian and it deserves honourable mention and to add our voice to the pride in his accomplishment. - end - tag:odeo.com,2007-06-17,13268593 Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:23:58 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13221363-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-14th-June-2007 tag:odeo.com,2007-06-15,13221363 Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:22:13 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13196653-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-11th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I’m glad you could join us again today. The Budget debate continues. On Friday 8th June Brent Symonette, the Foreign Minster and Deputy Prime Minister gave his intervention on Foreign Affairs in The Bahamas and its budgetary allocation. Mr. Symonette announced nothing new, and embraced everything that I did as the PLP’s Foreign Minster. He is even traveling now and told the country that he will have to travel to do his work. So after all their stupid propaganda about traveling, we are right back to that fact: a foreign minister must travel. What I take strong objection to, and what I find offensive is his assertion that since he became Foreign Minister the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas is much better than it was under the PLP. They have been in power for just about five weeks and there is nothing they have done that demonstrates the lo... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I’m glad you could join us again today. The Budget debate continues. On Friday 8th June Brent Symonette, the Foreign Minster and Deputy Prime Minister gave his intervention on Foreign Affairs in The Bahamas and its budgetary allocation. Mr. Symonette announced nothing new, and embraced everything that I did as the PLP’s Foreign Minster. He is even traveling now and told the country that he will have to travel to do his work. So after all their stupid propaganda about traveling, we are right back to that fact: a foreign minister must travel. What I take strong objection to, and what I find offensive is his assertion that since he became Foreign Minister the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas is much better than it was under the PLP. They have been in power for just about five weeks and there is nothing they have done that demonstrates the logic of what he says. His statement is inane, silly and childish. The fact is there has been no change in the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas since the 2nd of May. Mr. Symonette is to be condemned for this patently silly statement. It proves in m view why he is not a fit person to represent this country abroad. He just doesn’t get it. The fact that the Head of Mission of the U.S. is his neighbour and his friend as he suggests has nothing to do with the interest of countries. It was certainly improper for Mr. Symonette to bring the US diplomat into a matter which is purely domestic, making him the subject of controversy and compromising his independence of action in The Bahamas. Mr. Symonette just doesn’t get it. Mr. Symonette’s statement in the House embraced all of the foreign policies of the PLP. It was interesting to see how he wangled his way through his thoroughly dishonest presentation, giving credit to the Ministry but not to the Minister. It as not the Ministry that accomplished the signing of the Comprehensive Maritime Agreement with the United States or the Ministry that accomplished the Megaports Initiative. It was not the Ministry that accomplished the accord with India. It was the Minister and that Minister was Fred Mitchell. You can compare and contrast this dog in the manger attitude of Brent Symonette with that of Dr Hubert Minnis, the new Minister of Health who paid tribute to his predecessor Dr. Bernard Nottage for the good work he had done as Minister of Health. Brent Symonette’s attitude of snarl, sarcasm and gracelessness is typical of his ilk and kind. To the manor born, raised in a racially segregated school, lacking exposure and lacking intellectual depth, his view of life is that money can buy all things. He has now used his money to get himself to the House, appointed to a position of prominence and he has no clue what to do except to sit back and enjoy the fruits of the hard work done by others. In my own presentation in the House of Assembly, I deliberately asked him whether or not his Government was committed to the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean and to the Diaspora Conference. These are two important conferences on how The Bahamas will survive into the future with its relationship with the rest of the world. The Conference on the Caribbean was a major push by me as Minister because there needs to be a commitment by the United States to this region and an understanding on the development plans of the Caribbean. The Bahamas cannot stand apart from the Caribbean and the economic development of the region. The continued repetition of the mantra we will not sign onto the Caribbean Single Market and Economy is shortsighted because it is clear that the US and The Bahamas and its relations will develop within a Caricom context. It is also clear that the Bahamian economy will continue for the foreseeable future to need Caricom labour in order to develop. Mr. Symonette has now agreed that they will support the Diaspora Conference co sponsored by South Africa to be held in Nassau in August. The first conference was held in Jamaica in March 2005. The PLP made sure that there was a bi partisan effort represented at the conference. We await to see what the FNM does. The connections with the African Diaspora are important. I wanted to see whether or not the FNM and Mr. Symonette in particular given his ethnic background has any interest in the African traditions, heritage and culture of Bahamians. I shall be watching this very carefully. Mr. Symonette did not have the grace and the decency to acknowledge that the PLP got it right in Foreign Affairs. He did not change one thing. He did not find that there was anything amiss. It means that the PLP was right all along, and it was only the lying propagandists of the FNM that got it wrong. Unfortunately too many of the Bahamian people accepted the nonsense the FNM spoke and this country’s future is now at risk because Brent Symonette and others like him in the FNM now have the levers on the political power in The Bahamas. Hope you can join us the next time. Thank you for listening and watching. end Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] I’m glad you could join us again today. The Budget debate continues. On Friday 8th June Brent Symonette, the Foreign Minster and Deputy Prime Minister gave his intervention on Foreign Affairs in The Bahamas and its budgetary allocation. Mr. Symonette announced nothing new, and embraced everything that I did as the PLP’s Foreign Minster. He is even traveling now and told the country that he will have to travel to do his work. So after all their stupid propaganda about traveling, we are right back to that fact: a foreign minister must travel. What I take strong objection to, and what I find offensive is his assertion that since he became Foreign Minister the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas is much better than it was under the PLP. They have been in power for just about five weeks and there is nothing they have done that demonstrates the logic of what he says. His statement is inane, silly and childish. The fact is there has been no change in the relationship between the United States and The Bahamas since the 2nd of May. Mr. Symonette is to be condemned for this patently silly statement. It proves in m view why he is not a fit person to represent this country abroad. He just doesn’t get it. The fact that the Head of Mission of the U.S. is his neighbour and his friend as he suggests has nothing to do with the interest of countries. It was certainly improper for Mr. Symonette to bring the US diplomat into a matter which is purely domestic, making him the subject of controversy and compromising his independence of action in The Bahamas. Mr. Symonette just doesn’t get it. Mr. Symonette’s statement in the House embraced all of the foreign policies of the PLP. It was interesting to see how he wangled his way through his thoroughly dishonest presentation, giving credit to the Ministry but not to the Minister. It as not the Ministry that accomplished the signing of the Comprehensive Maritime Agreement with the United States or the Ministry that accomplished the Megaports Initiative. It was not the Ministry that accomplished the accord with India. It was the Minister and that Minister was Fred Mitchell. You can compare and contrast this dog in the manger attitude of Brent Symonette with that of Dr Hubert Minnis, the new Minister of Health who paid tribute to his predecessor Dr. Bernard Nottage for the good work he had done as Minister of Health. Brent Symonette’s attitude of snarl, sarcasm and gracelessness is typical of his ilk and kind. To the manor born, raised in a racially segregated school, lacking exposure and lacking intellectual depth, his view of life is that money can buy all things. He has now used his money to get himself to the House, appointed to a position of prominence and he has no clue what to do except to sit back and enjoy the fruits of the hard work done by others. In my own presentation in the House of Assembly, I deliberately asked him whether or not his Government was committed to the Conference on the Future of the Caribbean and to the Diaspora Conference. These are two important conferences on how The Bahamas will survive into the future with its relationship with the rest of the world. The Conference on the Caribbean was a major push by me as Minister because there needs to be a commitment by the United States to this region and an understanding on the development plans of the Caribbean. The Bahamas cannot stand apart from the Caribbean and the economic development of the region. The continued repetition of the mantra we will not sign onto the Caribbean Single Market and Economy is shortsighted because it is clear that the US and The Bahamas and its relations will develop within a Caricom context. It is also clear that the Bahamian economy will continue for the foreseeable future to need Caricom labour in order to develop. Mr. Symonette has now agreed that they will support the Diaspora Conference co sponsored by South Africa to be held in Nassau in August. The first conference was held in Jamaica in March 2005. The PLP made sure that there was a bi partisan effort represented at the conference. We await to see what the FNM does. The connections with the African Diaspora are important. I wanted to see whether or not the FNM and Mr. Symonette in particular given his ethnic background has any interest in the African traditions, heritage and culture of Bahamians. I shall be watching this very carefully. Mr. Symonette did not have the grace and the decency to acknowledge that the PLP got it right in Foreign Affairs. He did not change one thing. He did not find that there was anything amiss. It means that the PLP was right all along, and it was only the lying propagandists of the FNM that got it wrong. Unfortunately too many of the Bahamian people accepted the nonsense the FNM spoke and this country’s future is now at risk because Brent Symonette and others like him in the FNM now have the levers on the political power in The Bahamas. Hope you can join us the next time. Thank you for listening and watching. end tag:odeo.com,2007-06-11,13196653 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:52:50 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13173243-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Elect-Fox-Hill-Constituency-11th-June-2007 tag:odeo.com,2007-06-10,13173243 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 18:56:31 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13158153-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-7th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us on Thursday 7th June. On Tuesday 5th June, the debate on the country’s annual budget began in the House. This is a tiresome never ending ritual that occurs each year. We simply take too much time on something that few people will remember by next week. It is not the most efficient use of the Parliament’s time. The ritual will be worse this year and more unending because you have a Cabinet of 20 , each with a new responsibility and so each new Minister wants to have his say, and have their say they are, too much in fact. Promising the world and all, all as a result of the good economy that the PLP left for them. I have been asked by the PLP’s leader to shadow my old portfolios Foreign Affairs and the Public Service. Elsewhere on this site you can click into the presentation made in the House and see it on video. My major concern is the st... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us on Thursday 7th June. On Tuesday 5th June, the debate on the country’s annual budget began in the House. This is a tiresome never ending ritual that occurs each year. We simply take too much time on something that few people will remember by next week. It is not the most efficient use of the Parliament’s time. The ritual will be worse this year and more unending because you have a Cabinet of 20 , each with a new responsibility and so each new Minister wants to have his say, and have their say they are, too much in fact. Promising the world and all, all as a result of the good economy that the PLP left for them. I have been asked by the PLP’s leader to shadow my old portfolios Foreign Affairs and the Public Service. Elsewhere on this site you can click into the presentation made in the House and see it on video. My major concern is the state of the public service today. I did not give the name in the House and I will not today but I want to bring to the attention of the listeners and viewers here the consequences of the rash actions of the now Prime Minister in dismantling the Ministries and in scattering the staff to the four winds. It was reported to me that some staff were sent to report to a Permanent Secretary who did not know they were coming and had nowhere for them to sit, and they were told to go home and report back in four days. The more egregious case though is that of a public servant with thirty years experience as a public officer and that officer has been sent to a place where the officer would have nothing to do. The gossip around the FNM is that the public servant helped one of our candidates in his office in the after hours and that the officer was seen at a PLP rally. The result is that the officer was identified as a PLP and was sent to a place where she was told that she would either have to sit in the kitchen or in the conference room when the senior man was not in. This is clearly a constructive dismissal. I cannot understand how John Pinder of the Bahamas Public Services Union has not been brought into the matter to resolve it. This is a case that I am inclined to take personally, since this seems clear evidence of victimization and in more legal terms a constructive dismissal. The public service is governed by public law and the contractual agreement between The Bahamas Public Services Union and the government. This means that the contract with the civil servant cannot be breached willy nilly. This matter has to be brought to the attention of the country. Why? Hubert Ingraham during his campaign claimed that he was a changed man, not a victimizer. Yet this is what has happened. It is not surprising since the first act of the new administration was to fire Steve McKinney and Philipa Russell from ZNS in what seemed a clear violation of the terms of their contract. There has not been an effective political response to this. The officer that I am talking about should be returned to a job that is equivalent to her standing and rank in the service with real work to do and forthwith. The Bahamas Public service Union cannot be silent in the face of this victimization of public servants. This is but one case of the victimization and displacement of alleged PLP supporters since Hubert Ingraham has come to office. There may be many many others. When I spoke yesterday in the House, I asked the country to go out and get a copy from your favorite video store of The Last King of Scotland, starring Forrest Whitaker. It is the story about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada. So much of what is happening now in The Bahamas reminds me of what I saw there. The Ugandans thought they were getting a savior instead they had embraced a monster. Go see it. Juts a word about these pod casts, some people say that they have difficulty accessing the spoken word without downloading additional software. If you have DSL that should not be. Once you link to the site, the sound should come up right away and if not allow it to buffer for a few seconds and it starts. If it doesn’t start then you can click the start stop button that appears with the written message. You should have one of the programmes like Real Player in order to hear or see it. Alternatively to the sound, you can link into the video on youtube, which also has a link in the written message. Until next time. Good bye. Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us on Thursday 7th June. On Tuesday 5th June, the debate on the country’s annual budget began in the House. This is a tiresome never ending ritual that occurs each year. We simply take too much time on something that few people will remember by next week. It is not the most efficient use of the Parliament’s time. The ritual will be worse this year and more unending because you have a Cabinet of 20 , each with a new responsibility and so each new Minister wants to have his say, and have their say they are, too much in fact. Promising the world and all, all as a result of the good economy that the PLP left for them. I have been asked by the PLP’s leader to shadow my old portfolios Foreign Affairs and the Public Service. Elsewhere on this site you can click into the presentation made in the House and see it on video. My major concern is the state of the public service today. I did not give the name in the House and I will not today but I want to bring to the attention of the listeners and viewers here the consequences of the rash actions of the now Prime Minister in dismantling the Ministries and in scattering the staff to the four winds. It was reported to me that some staff were sent to report to a Permanent Secretary who did not know they were coming and had nowhere for them to sit, and they were told to go home and report back in four days. The more egregious case though is that of a public servant with thirty years experience as a public officer and that officer has been sent to a place where the officer would have nothing to do. The gossip around the FNM is that the public servant helped one of our candidates in his office in the after hours and that the officer was seen at a PLP rally. The result is that the officer was identified as a PLP and was sent to a place where she was told that she would either have to sit in the kitchen or in the conference room when the senior man was not in. This is clearly a constructive dismissal. I cannot understand how John Pinder of the Bahamas Public Services Union has not been brought into the matter to resolve it. This is a case that I am inclined to take personally, since this seems clear evidence of victimization and in more legal terms a constructive dismissal. The public service is governed by public law and the contractual agreement between The Bahamas Public Services Union and the government. This means that the contract with the civil servant cannot be breached willy nilly. This matter has to be brought to the attention of the country. Why? Hubert Ingraham during his campaign claimed that he was a changed man, not a victimizer. Yet this is what has happened. It is not surprising since the first act of the new administration was to fire Steve McKinney and Philipa Russell from ZNS in what seemed a clear violation of the terms of their contract. There has not been an effective political response to this. The officer that I am talking about should be returned to a job that is equivalent to her standing and rank in the service with real work to do and forthwith. The Bahamas Public service Union cannot be silent in the face of this victimization of public servants. This is but one case of the victimization and displacement of alleged PLP supporters since Hubert Ingraham has come to office. There may be many many others. When I spoke yesterday in the House, I asked the country to go out and get a copy from your favorite video store of The Last King of Scotland, starring Forrest Whitaker. It is the story about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada. So much of what is happening now in The Bahamas reminds me of what I saw there. The Ugandans thought they were getting a savior instead they had embraced a monster. Go see it. Juts a word about these pod casts, some people say that they have difficulty accessing the spoken word without downloading additional software. If you have DSL that should not be. Once you link to the site, the sound should come up right away and if not allow it to buffer for a few seconds and it starts. If it doesn’t start then you can click the start stop button that appears with the written message. You should have one of the programmes like Real Player in order to hear or see it. Alternatively to the sound, you can link into the video on youtube, which also has a link in the written message. Until next time. Good bye. tag:odeo.com,2007-06-07,13158153 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:18:51 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/13156293-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Elect-Fox-Hill-Constituency-7th-June-2007 tag:odeo.com,2007-06-07,13156293 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:48:13 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12740243-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-4th-June-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us again. Today is Monday 4th June and I’m back in The Bahamas after my annual physical and all is well. I told my doctors that I will live until I die. Last night in the late hours of Sunday 3rd June, the PLP headquarters caught fire, burned and was extensively damaged. I joined the leader of the party Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and other colleagues including Melanie Griffin, Frank Smith, Glenys Hanna Martin, Shane Gibson, B. J. Nottage and Leslie Miller at the scene of the fire. There were large crowds of ordinary citizens, PLP supporters gathered. There was a large contingent of police officers. The press was there in full force. The question is immediately: was this arson? The whodunits have begun. In light of the shots fired into the home of the PLP leader’s mother in-law Trixie Hanna a few weeks ago, and the Leader’s own comment on Satur... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us again. Today is Monday 4th June and I’m back in The Bahamas after my annual physical and all is well. I told my doctors that I will live until I die. Last night in the late hours of Sunday 3rd June, the PLP headquarters caught fire, burned and was extensively damaged. I joined the leader of the party Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and other colleagues including Melanie Griffin, Frank Smith, Glenys Hanna Martin, Shane Gibson, B. J. Nottage and Leslie Miller at the scene of the fire. There were large crowds of ordinary citizens, PLP supporters gathered. There was a large contingent of police officers. The press was there in full force. The question is immediately: was this arson? The whodunits have begun. In light of the shots fired into the home of the PLP leader’s mother in-law Trixie Hanna a few weeks ago, and the Leader’s own comment on Saturday before last about the attempted arson at the PLP headquarters also a few weeks ago, PLPs are entitled to ask what is going on? There is no secret that Hubert Ingraham ran one of the nastiest campaigns in the history of the country in this last election. The question is whether or not the evidence will show that this is the same situation of the famed comment made by Henry II of Anjou, the King of England who is alleged to have made the careless comment: “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” His men took that to mean that they ought to eliminate Thomas Becket and that led to a murder in the cathedral at Canterbury. So is someone unwittingly doing Hubert’s doing. Inquiring minds will wonder. Mr. Ingraham presented the government’s budget last week on the 30th June. It was remarkable. He gave no thanks to the PLP for inheriting a well ordered and buoyant economy, with positive growth in the future. The press didn’t bother to mention that this was only possible because of the hard work and structure of the Government of the PLP under Perry Christie. Franklin Wilson has pointed out that when you look at the actual budget and the figures, it is clear that there is evidence of the FNM’s hypocrisy. They talked all during the campaign about how they were going to change the land policy because the PLP was supposedly selling land to foreigners. Never mind the fact that the PLP had the biggest buy back of Bahamian land in the history of country. But Mr. Wilson points out that when you look at the buoyancy or the rate of reliance that the FNM’s budget has on stamp duty and the increases they expect from stamp duty alone, it is clear that there will be no change in the land policy. There can be none even if he wanted to because his benefactors are all in the real estate business. It is a core belief of mine that the reason why so many of them were willing to spend their millions to get Mr. Ingraham back in office is because they want to get their hands on Bahamian land. I can guarantee you that they will under Mr. Ingraham’s watch. This is hypocrisy of the first order. I looked at the budget estimates for spending on the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. That Force was established under the PLP, stripped of its dignity under the FNM, and its dignity was restored under the PLP. But it appears that Defence Officers did not think that the PLP gave enough and they voted it appears in large numbers for the pig in the poke that we now have as Prime Minister. He announced that he will spend 50 million dollars on the RBDF and its equipment. This is great but he forgot to mention that the PLP had planned to do it anyway because the study done by the Canadian and Bahamian experts said that this was an investment that was absolutely important to make. Yet Mr. Ingraham stood in Parliament and gave no credit for any of it to the PLP. The hard part about it, is that the RBDF officers who voted FNM will never even think that it was the PLP that did all of this. The same comment can be made about the salary increases that they will get. All of this done by the PLP. Promotions have been announced in the public service. Again, all done by the PLP. But the letters did not get out to many people until after the election was over. In the coming weeks and days, it will be important for there to be some kind of listening tour by the PLP leaders about where we ought to go from here. Certainly, I’ve already told my friends in Grand Bahama, Exuma, Eleuthera, and Andros that I will stop by to see them and that also includes Long Island. It is important that old friends stay in touch and we make new friends. Right now there might be a period of scrambling; some settling has to be done. The psychologists tells us that this loss to many of us will be like a death in the family or an event of equally catastrophic personal proportions. It will take time for us to recover. There is depression and anger and restlessness. But all of that is a part of life. The good thing is there will be recovery. This is normal. The loss is unsettling. It is embarrassing to many. It is disgraceful to others. It makes many people angry that people could be so blinded by the trickster that we now have as Prime Minister. They do not want the PLP to be polite in his face but to show him the same rudeness and discourtesy that he showed us while he was in Opposition. Whatever happens, it is important that we all stick together. The motto on the Haitian Coat of Arms is Union Fait L’force; Unity is strength, That is the most important thing to remember, The burning of Gambier House has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. They believe that there is a conspiracy afoot to discredit the PLP and to destroy its legacy. The fact is a building can burn down but the PLP lives on in the hearts of the many men and women that gave so much to get us to where we are. Those in this generation owe it to those who have gone before to keep moving forward in the spirit. Thanks for joining us and we hope you can join us next time. End Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Glad you could join us again. Today is Monday 4th June and I’m back in The Bahamas after my annual physical and all is well. I told my doctors that I will live until I die. Last night in the late hours of Sunday 3rd June, the PLP headquarters caught fire, burned and was extensively damaged. I joined the leader of the party Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and other colleagues including Melanie Griffin, Frank Smith, Glenys Hanna Martin, Shane Gibson, B. J. Nottage and Leslie Miller at the scene of the fire. There were large crowds of ordinary citizens, PLP supporters gathered. There was a large contingent of police officers. The press was there in full force. The question is immediately: was this arson? The whodunits have begun. In light of the shots fired into the home of the PLP leader’s mother in-law Trixie Hanna a few weeks ago, and the Leader’s own comment on Saturday before last about the attempted arson at the PLP headquarters also a few weeks ago, PLPs are entitled to ask what is going on? There is no secret that Hubert Ingraham ran one of the nastiest campaigns in the history of the country in this last election. The question is whether or not the evidence will show that this is the same situation of the famed comment made by Henry II of Anjou, the King of England who is alleged to have made the careless comment: “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” His men took that to mean that they ought to eliminate Thomas Becket and that led to a murder in the cathedral at Canterbury. So is someone unwittingly doing Hubert’s doing. Inquiring minds will wonder. Mr. Ingraham presented the government’s budget last week on the 30th June. It was remarkable. He gave no thanks to the PLP for inheriting a well ordered and buoyant economy, with positive growth in the future. The press didn’t bother to mention that this was only possible because of the hard work and structure of the Government of the PLP under Perry Christie. Franklin Wilson has pointed out that when you look at the actual budget and the figures, it is clear that there is evidence of the FNM’s hypocrisy. They talked all during the campaign about how they were going to change the land policy because the PLP was supposedly selling land to foreigners. Never mind the fact that the PLP had the biggest buy back of Bahamian land in the history of country. But Mr. Wilson points out that when you look at the buoyancy or the rate of reliance that the FNM’s budget has on stamp duty and the increases they expect from stamp duty alone, it is clear that there will be no change in the land policy. There can be none even if he wanted to because his benefactors are all in the real estate business. It is a core belief of mine that the reason why so many of them were willing to spend their millions to get Mr. Ingraham back in office is because they want to get their hands on Bahamian land. I can guarantee you that they will under Mr. Ingraham’s watch. This is hypocrisy of the first order. I looked at the budget estimates for spending on the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. That Force was established under the PLP, stripped of its dignity under the FNM, and its dignity was restored under the PLP. But it appears that Defence Officers did not think that the PLP gave enough and they voted it appears in large numbers for the pig in the poke that we now have as Prime Minister. He announced that he will spend 50 million dollars on the RBDF and its equipment. This is great but he forgot to mention that the PLP had planned to do it anyway because the study done by the Canadian and Bahamian experts said that this was an investment that was absolutely important to make. Yet Mr. Ingraham stood in Parliament and gave no credit for any of it to the PLP. The hard part about it, is that the RBDF officers who voted FNM will never even think that it was the PLP that did all of this. The same comment can be made about the salary increases that they will get. All of this done by the PLP. Promotions have been announced in the public service. Again, all done by the PLP. But the letters did not get out to many people until after the election was over. In the coming weeks and days, it will be important for there to be some kind of listening tour by the PLP leaders about where we ought to go from here. Certainly, I’ve already told my friends in Grand Bahama, Exuma, Eleuthera, and Andros that I will stop by to see them and that also includes Long Island. It is important that old friends stay in touch and we make new friends. Right now there might be a period of scrambling; some settling has to be done. The psychologists tells us that this loss to many of us will be like a death in the family or an event of equally catastrophic personal proportions. It will take time for us to recover. There is depression and anger and restlessness. But all of that is a part of life. The good thing is there will be recovery. This is normal. The loss is unsettling. It is embarrassing to many. It is disgraceful to others. It makes many people angry that people could be so blinded by the trickster that we now have as Prime Minister. They do not want the PLP to be polite in his face but to show him the same rudeness and discourtesy that he showed us while he was in Opposition. Whatever happens, it is important that we all stick together. The motto on the Haitian Coat of Arms is Union Fait L’force; Unity is strength, That is the most important thing to remember, The burning of Gambier House has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. They believe that there is a conspiracy afoot to discredit the PLP and to destroy its legacy. The fact is a building can burn down but the PLP lives on in the hearts of the many men and women that gave so much to get us to where we are. Those in this generation owe it to those who have gone before to keep moving forward in the spirit. Thanks for joining us and we hope you can join us next time. End tag:odeo.com,2007-06-03,12740243 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:48:21 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12718933-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-31th-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 31st May and I’m glad you’ve been able to join us again. By the time you hear this, I should be just starting my annual ritual of the full medical at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This has been a ritual since 1995 and it is one of those unpleasant things in life that is good idea. It is clear that one of the things that leads to a longer life all things being equal is access to proper medical and health care. Add to that a good education, good nutrition, and access to financial support. That is why the PLP passed a bill before it left office to implement a comprehensive National Health Insurance Programme. This insurance would pay for all medical costs from the cradle to the grave and cover all people in the country. Sadly with the coming of the FNM, that is now to be cancelled and instead it is to be replaced by an as yet unrevealed p... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 31st May and I’m glad you’ve been able to join us again. By the time you hear this, I should be just starting my annual ritual of the full medical at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This has been a ritual since 1995 and it is one of those unpleasant things in life that is good idea. It is clear that one of the things that leads to a longer life all things being equal is access to proper medical and health care. Add to that a good education, good nutrition, and access to financial support. That is why the PLP passed a bill before it left office to implement a comprehensive National Health Insurance Programme. This insurance would pay for all medical costs from the cradle to the grave and cover all people in the country. Sadly with the coming of the FNM, that is now to be cancelled and instead it is to be replaced by an as yet unrevealed programme of subsidies for the poor and the aged. They announced in the speech from the throne on Wednesday 23rd May that they will begin to subsidize medicines from the public purse. The only thing is the medicines are free right now, so we can’t figure out quite what that means. All the more reason why they ought to debate the Speech From The Thorne so we can know what it is they are talking about. While Foreign Minister, I attended a conference of Caricom at which Sir George Alleyne, the former head of the Pan American Health Organization and now Chancellor of the University of The West Indies reported on a Caricom wide health initiative. Caricom includes The Bahamas. He reported that there was a major problem in the Caricom region with obesity and allied to that was the lack of proper exercise and diet, and a huge jump in adult diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases rob people of their productive years, and they are entirely preventable with the right nutrition education, discipline and money. What is also frightening is the rise in cancer cases in the region. Prostate cancer is a major problem for men and the Americans are saying that in their country one in six men will get prostrate cancer in their lifetimes. For black men it appears to be even more serious. Since we live the same lifestyle and eat the same foods as the Americans, the region can expect similar issues. In the case of women, the cases of breast cancer are also frightening. From an anecdotal point of view, it appears that every time you turn around a woman is reporting that she has breast cancer. I know of two cases in my own constituency: one a woman of 27 and another woman of 35. Both are aggressive tumours. Consider that in one case the woman has to have six applications of chemotherapy at $2,200 per shot, and then this is to be followed with radiation. Pray tell without insurance, how someone of ordinary means will be able to pay for this. National Health Insurance must come, and the FNM should be ashamed of themselves, a party of rich men who do not care whether poor and working people can take care of themselves is now canceling national health insurance. So I would encourage all men to go out and get an annual physical. The public health clinics in Nassau will do them for free or a nominal charge. They tell us that prostrate cancer caught early enough is almost entirely curable. We the men of today should help to ensure that when the little boys of today become our age that prostrate cancer is a fear of the past. The women should make the same vow with breast cancer. Caught early enough, they can really do well to slow it right down. The PLP is dedicated to the health of this nation. We will continue to hold the FNM’s feet to the fire for National Health Insurance. To let it go would be to miss this political generation’s major contribution to the well being and the future of our people and country. Well that’s it for today. I hope you can join us next time and as I wish you good health. Wish me the same. End Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 31st May and I’m glad you’ve been able to join us again. By the time you hear this, I should be just starting my annual ritual of the full medical at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This has been a ritual since 1995 and it is one of those unpleasant things in life that is good idea. It is clear that one of the things that leads to a longer life all things being equal is access to proper medical and health care. Add to that a good education, good nutrition, and access to financial support. That is why the PLP passed a bill before it left office to implement a comprehensive National Health Insurance Programme. This insurance would pay for all medical costs from the cradle to the grave and cover all people in the country. Sadly with the coming of the FNM, that is now to be cancelled and instead it is to be replaced by an as yet unrevealed programme of subsidies for the poor and the aged. They announced in the speech from the throne on Wednesday 23rd May that they will begin to subsidize medicines from the public purse. The only thing is the medicines are free right now, so we can’t figure out quite what that means. All the more reason why they ought to debate the Speech From The Thorne so we can know what it is they are talking about. While Foreign Minister, I attended a conference of Caricom at which Sir George Alleyne, the former head of the Pan American Health Organization and now Chancellor of the University of The West Indies reported on a Caricom wide health initiative. Caricom includes The Bahamas. He reported that there was a major problem in the Caricom region with obesity and allied to that was the lack of proper exercise and diet, and a huge jump in adult diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases rob people of their productive years, and they are entirely preventable with the right nutrition education, discipline and money. What is also frightening is the rise in cancer cases in the region. Prostate cancer is a major problem for men and the Americans are saying that in their country one in six men will get prostrate cancer in their lifetimes. For black men it appears to be even more serious. Since we live the same lifestyle and eat the same foods as the Americans, the region can expect similar issues. In the case of women, the cases of breast cancer are also frightening. From an anecdotal point of view, it appears that every time you turn around a woman is reporting that she has breast cancer. I know of two cases in my own constituency: one a woman of 27 and another woman of 35. Both are aggressive tumours. Consider that in one case the woman has to have six applications of chemotherapy at $2,200 per shot, and then this is to be followed with radiation. Pray tell without insurance, how someone of ordinary means will be able to pay for this. National Health Insurance must come, and the FNM should be ashamed of themselves, a party of rich men who do not care whether poor and working people can take care of themselves is now canceling national health insurance. So I would encourage all men to go out and get an annual physical. The public health clinics in Nassau will do them for free or a nominal charge. They tell us that prostrate cancer caught early enough is almost entirely curable. We the men of today should help to ensure that when the little boys of today become our age that prostrate cancer is a fear of the past. The women should make the same vow with breast cancer. Caught early enough, they can really do well to slow it right down. The PLP is dedicated to the health of this nation. We will continue to hold the FNM’s feet to the fire for National Health Insurance. To let it go would be to miss this political generation’s major contribution to the well being and the future of our people and country. Well that’s it for today. I hope you can join us next time and as I wish you good health. Wish me the same. End tag:odeo.com,2007-05-30,12718933 Wed, 30 May 2007 18:55:24 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12706793-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-28th-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Whit Monday. In the Anglican tradition it is the day after Pentecost. Glad you can join us again. Last Saturday in Nassau, the PLP had a super thank you meeting for its followers. It was long overdue. There is now a need for the party’s national leaders to call a retreat first of the Parliamentary group and then of the wider PLP to discuss what went wrong in this election and where we go from here. The point is that the leaders of the party must understand that the faithful want no more softly softly approach. In Hubert Ingraham, we are dealing with the most vicious politician that this country has ever produced and he must be dealt with accordingly and at each turn. Mr. Ingraham has now gone ahead and appointed people to the Senate for the three additional seats that belong to the PLP. He has appointed who he wanted to and not who the PLP’s leader wa... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Whit Monday. In the Anglican tradition it is the day after Pentecost. Glad you can join us again. Last Saturday in Nassau, the PLP had a super thank you meeting for its followers. It was long overdue. There is now a need for the party’s national leaders to call a retreat first of the Parliamentary group and then of the wider PLP to discuss what went wrong in this election and where we go from here. The point is that the leaders of the party must understand that the faithful want no more softly softly approach. In Hubert Ingraham, we are dealing with the most vicious politician that this country has ever produced and he must be dealt with accordingly and at each turn. Mr. Ingraham has now gone ahead and appointed people to the Senate for the three additional seats that belong to the PLP. He has appointed who he wanted to and not who the PLP’s leader wanted to, and this is impermissible and unconstitutional. The Leader of the PLP has promised to file a court action on the first possible working day in the week. In The Bahamas this is one of those weeks where the Monday is a holiday and the Friday is a holiday. This Friday is Labour Day, celebrated on that day which is the anniversary of the Burma Road Riots of 1942, a spontaneous uprising by working people for social justice in The Bahamas. The list of people fired or transferred by the Free National Movement’s leader Hubert Ingraham continues. We reported before how the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments has been dismantled and how there is no announcement on how the functions have been reorganized. What we do know is that one of its most talented civil servants has now been transferred to the Public Disclosure Commission which is the equivalent of Napoleon’s Elba in civil service terms. A number of permanent secretaries have either been given their walking tickets or are about to be told to go home. This is what these people voted for: victimization, vengeance and viciousness. How do you spell those words but H-U-B-E-R-T. The contractor in Grand Bahama who was awarded the contract to build the new Heritage School has now been formally given a written letter to suspend all construction work on the school. This is the same thing that the FNM has done to Ashley Glinton, the young Bahamian contractor who was given the contract to construct the long awaited straw market. Both projects now come to a halt. The Free National Movement’s Vice Chairman Johnley Ferguson made a chilling statement to the press this week that all projects signed by the PLP in the last three months will be put on hold, reviewed and ultimately cancelled. So the long suffering students of Grand Bahama, Salina Point, Acklins and the straw vendors will continue to suffer. It is most inappropriate for a party hack to be making statements which are really the province of government ministers. In the face of all of this, it is vitally important for the PLP to stand its ground. This is no time to fall down and play dead or to go into reverse. It is necessary to thank all PLP supporters for their strength and fortitude even when it appeared that the leaders were going wobbly. You kept us strong, and I say keep it up. Never give a quarter. One FNM man said to me at the airport in the Freeport that he does not like how the PLP is handling the transition, that I must encourage a peaceful transition. Not in the face of the viciousness of the FNM. There can be no political peace because it takes two to make peace. The FNM must atone for what it has done and how it has destroyed the political civility in this country. Only then can we talk political peace. Well that’s it for today. I just want to say happy birthday to my friend George Curtis of Freeport Grand Bahama, formerly of Kemp Road. He and his wife Anne put on a wonderful party on Saturday last in Freeport. Most of his many friends were there including our old lunch group Maurice Glinton, Rawle Maynard and Brian Seymour. It was also good to see Earle Godet, Jim White, Dr. Doweswll Coakley, Mike Edwards and Skipper Woods. Happy birthday George. End Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Whit Monday. In the Anglican tradition it is the day after Pentecost. Glad you can join us again. Last Saturday in Nassau, the PLP had a super thank you meeting for its followers. It was long overdue. There is now a need for the party’s national leaders to call a retreat first of the Parliamentary group and then of the wider PLP to discuss what went wrong in this election and where we go from here. The point is that the leaders of the party must understand that the faithful want no more softly softly approach. In Hubert Ingraham, we are dealing with the most vicious politician that this country has ever produced and he must be dealt with accordingly and at each turn. Mr. Ingraham has now gone ahead and appointed people to the Senate for the three additional seats that belong to the PLP. He has appointed who he wanted to and not who the PLP’s leader wanted to, and this is impermissible and unconstitutional. The Leader of the PLP has promised to file a court action on the first possible working day in the week. In The Bahamas this is one of those weeks where the Monday is a holiday and the Friday is a holiday. This Friday is Labour Day, celebrated on that day which is the anniversary of the Burma Road Riots of 1942, a spontaneous uprising by working people for social justice in The Bahamas. The list of people fired or transferred by the Free National Movement’s leader Hubert Ingraham continues. We reported before how the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments has been dismantled and how there is no announcement on how the functions have been reorganized. What we do know is that one of its most talented civil servants has now been transferred to the Public Disclosure Commission which is the equivalent of Napoleon’s Elba in civil service terms. A number of permanent secretaries have either been given their walking tickets or are about to be told to go home. This is what these people voted for: victimization, vengeance and viciousness. How do you spell those words but H-U-B-E-R-T. The contractor in Grand Bahama who was awarded the contract to build the new Heritage School has now been formally given a written letter to suspend all construction work on the school. This is the same thing that the FNM has done to Ashley Glinton, the young Bahamian contractor who was given the contract to construct the long awaited straw market. Both projects now come to a halt. The Free National Movement’s Vice Chairman Johnley Ferguson made a chilling statement to the press this week that all projects signed by the PLP in the last three months will be put on hold, reviewed and ultimately cancelled. So the long suffering students of Grand Bahama, Salina Point, Acklins and the straw vendors will continue to suffer. It is most inappropriate for a party hack to be making statements which are really the province of government ministers. In the face of all of this, it is vitally important for the PLP to stand its ground. This is no time to fall down and play dead or to go into reverse. It is necessary to thank all PLP supporters for their strength and fortitude even when it appeared that the leaders were going wobbly. You kept us strong, and I say keep it up. Never give a quarter. One FNM man said to me at the airport in the Freeport that he does not like how the PLP is handling the transition, that I must encourage a peaceful transition. Not in the face of the viciousness of the FNM. There can be no political peace because it takes two to make peace. The FNM must atone for what it has done and how it has destroyed the political civility in this country. Only then can we talk political peace. Well that’s it for today. I just want to say happy birthday to my friend George Curtis of Freeport Grand Bahama, formerly of Kemp Road. He and his wife Anne put on a wonderful party on Saturday last in Freeport. Most of his many friends were there including our old lunch group Maurice Glinton, Rawle Maynard and Brian Seymour. It was also good to see Earle Godet, Jim White, Dr. Doweswll Coakley, Mike Edwards and Skipper Woods. Happy birthday George. End tag:odeo.com,2007-05-29,12706793 Tue, 29 May 2007 06:28:50 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12686833-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-24th-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Thursday 24th May and it is good you’ve been able to join us. Just a quick observation about these podcasts. There have been some comments about the video quality. We want you to know that it was important for us to get started and not to tarry about getting our message out. As time goes on, there will be improvements in the quality ofvideo and the production. So just hang on: change is on the way. In the mean time, spread the word. Yesterday, the Parliament had its official opening. Those who you who know me also know that I object to holding these ceremonies in the public square. I find it undignified and it takes away from the seriousness ofthe occasion. The ceremony should be returned to the actual senate chamber where they used to be held. It was also an occasion for the unseemly behavior of FNM partisans who simply used the occasion to hurl insu... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Thursday 24th May and it is good you’ve been able to join us. Just a quick observation about these podcasts. There have been some comments about the video quality. We want you to know that it was important for us to get started and not to tarry about getting our message out. As time goes on, there will be improvements in the quality ofvideo and the production. So just hang on: change is on the way. In the mean time, spread the word. Yesterday, the Parliament had its official opening. Those who you who know me also know that I object to holding these ceremonies in the public square. I find it undignified and it takes away from the seriousness ofthe occasion. The ceremony should be returned to the actual senate chamber where they used to be held. It was also an occasion for the unseemly behavior of FNM partisans who simply used the occasion to hurl insults and abuse at PLP members of parliament as they passed by. Let me say also that three Senate members have not been appointed. You will remember that the last time we spoke; I said that the PLP should have the three additional seats called for under the Constitution as reflecting the political balance of the House. Go visit the earlier pod cast of 2 1 St May for the legal explanation. Hubert Ingraham has decided that he wants to appoint who wants to appoint and has advised the Governor General to appoint persons ofhis choosing without apparent regard for the views of the Leader ofthe Opposition. So in other words Hubert Ingraham wants to pick the PLPs that he wants, not those after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. I urge Mr. Christie and the PLP to stand their ground. This is not a matter for negotiation but to stand on the principle. A court action will be necessary once the Governor General acts. The Governor General’s speech from the throne covered no new ground. As usual Mr. Ingraham does not know when to take political rhetoric out of a national speech. The whole bastardization of the governmental process continues under his watch. The Speech from the throne was filled with the stupid buzz words about leadership and about trust; the rhetoric of the FNM’s deceitful campaign. When you actually listen to what they have proposed in the speech, they are simply continuing with the policies started by the PLP. The irony ofthis situation is that the FNM will profit from the good policies ofthe PLP in this next term, and then will claim that they did it. The PLP should not let them get away with it. National Health Insurance is scrapped, so the FNM have now bowed to their business masters. There is no mention of anything to assist the poor. And of course the FNM wants to duck the debate on the speech from the throne with the spurious argument that they have to get their budget done. The PLP must continue to oppose the attacks on poor people by the FNM, their viciousness, their nastiness and their ugly aggression. The PLP must be direct, forceful and vigourous. PLPs must continue to move ever forward in returning to government in the quickest possible time. A witch-hunt has started throughout The Bahamas, with selective prosecutions of PLPs in the courts, with firing PLPs who are legitimately hired in the public service and with attacking PLPs as they walk on the streets. This ugliness must be beat back and they must be stopped dead in their tracks. Thank you and hope to visit with you again next Monday. In the meantime, we have uploaded on this website courtesy of Jones Television Cable 14 a replay of my appearance on the pubic affairs show The Platform. Have a look through the link on this podcast site. Goodbye. Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] Today is Thursday 24th May and it is good you’ve been able to join us. Just a quick observation about these podcasts. There have been some comments about the video quality. We want you to know that it was important for us to get started and not to tarry about getting our message out. As time goes on, there will be improvements in the quality ofvideo and the production. So just hang on: change is on the way. In the mean time, spread the word. Yesterday, the Parliament had its official opening. Those who you who know me also know that I object to holding these ceremonies in the public square. I find it undignified and it takes away from the seriousness ofthe occasion. The ceremony should be returned to the actual senate chamber where they used to be held. It was also an occasion for the unseemly behavior of FNM partisans who simply used the occasion to hurl insults and abuse at PLP members of parliament as they passed by. Let me say also that three Senate members have not been appointed. You will remember that the last time we spoke; I said that the PLP should have the three additional seats called for under the Constitution as reflecting the political balance of the House. Go visit the earlier pod cast of 2 1 St May for the legal explanation. Hubert Ingraham has decided that he wants to appoint who wants to appoint and has advised the Governor General to appoint persons ofhis choosing without apparent regard for the views of the Leader ofthe Opposition. So in other words Hubert Ingraham wants to pick the PLPs that he wants, not those after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. I urge Mr. Christie and the PLP to stand their ground. This is not a matter for negotiation but to stand on the principle. A court action will be necessary once the Governor General acts. The Governor General’s speech from the throne covered no new ground. As usual Mr. Ingraham does not know when to take political rhetoric out of a national speech. The whole bastardization of the governmental process continues under his watch. The Speech from the throne was filled with the stupid buzz words about leadership and about trust; the rhetoric of the FNM’s deceitful campaign. When you actually listen to what they have proposed in the speech, they are simply continuing with the policies started by the PLP. The irony ofthis situation is that the FNM will profit from the good policies ofthe PLP in this next term, and then will claim that they did it. The PLP should not let them get away with it. National Health Insurance is scrapped, so the FNM have now bowed to their business masters. There is no mention of anything to assist the poor. And of course the FNM wants to duck the debate on the speech from the throne with the spurious argument that they have to get their budget done. The PLP must continue to oppose the attacks on poor people by the FNM, their viciousness, their nastiness and their ugly aggression. The PLP must be direct, forceful and vigourous. PLPs must continue to move ever forward in returning to government in the quickest possible time. A witch-hunt has started throughout The Bahamas, with selective prosecutions of PLPs in the courts, with firing PLPs who are legitimately hired in the public service and with attacking PLPs as they walk on the streets. This ugliness must be beat back and they must be stopped dead in their tracks. Thank you and hope to visit with you again next Monday. In the meantime, we have uploaded on this website courtesy of Jones Television Cable 14 a replay of my appearance on the pubic affairs show The Platform. Have a look through the link on this podcast site. Goodbye. tag:odeo.com,2007-05-24,12686833 Thu, 24 May 2007 22:04:31 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12653003-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-21st-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] In this week’s first podcast for Monday 21st May, 2007, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell reveals Hubert Ingraham’s campaign of vengeance and his continued attack on the poor… “Under Hubert Ingraham we are in for a season of weeping and gnashing of teeth”. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is continuing his attack on the poor and the policies put in place by the PLP to protect the poor. The latest is that the FNM administration has decided to halt all the moves by the PLP to ensure that long serving members of the public service who have been temporary workers are put on the permanent and pensionable establishment. Mr. Ingraham’s government now takes the view that those that have not yet been put before the Commission are in bad luck. This affects hundreds of low level workers in the service. It is yet another nail in ... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] In this week’s first podcast for Monday 21st May, 2007, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell reveals Hubert Ingraham’s campaign of vengeance and his continued attack on the poor… “Under Hubert Ingraham we are in for a season of weeping and gnashing of teeth”. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is continuing his attack on the poor and the policies put in place by the PLP to protect the poor. The latest is that the FNM administration has decided to halt all the moves by the PLP to ensure that long serving members of the public service who have been temporary workers are put on the permanent and pensionable establishment. Mr. Ingraham’s government now takes the view that those that have not yet been put before the Commission are in bad luck. This affects hundreds of low level workers in the service. It is yet another nail in the coffin for poor people. Let’s summarize what Mr. Ingraham’s campaign of vengeance has wrought for The Bahamas: - He has fired Steve McKinney and Philippa Russell from ZNS. He has stopped the hiring of 100 entry level workers that are needed in the service under the Operation Second Chance programme. He has threatened to send home those who are already hired. Mr. Ingraham has scrapped the Urban Renewal programme that was designed to lessen crime, uplift people from poverty by improving their housing and the physical and social surroundings in their neighbourhoods. Mr. Ingraham has stopped all executive decisions by the PLP government made within the last three months, unlawfully so; affecting pensioners, civil servants and others who expect redress from the Government. That is what the people of The Bahamas wrought when they elected the so called changed man who has not changed at all to be the Prime Minister of this country again. Under Hubert Ingraham we are in for a season of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The PLP though must prepare for Parliament on Wednesday 23rd May. Let’s hope that we mount a full court press on that day with our supporters in tow to demonstrate that the PLP is not a party down for the count that it is very much alive. One key fact must be established by the PLP and that is the Party’s absolute right to the three seats in the Senate that are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. In exercising that advice the Prime Minister must seek to ensure that the political balance in the Senate reflects the political balance in the House. The PLP’s lawyers have advised that this means that the three seats should belong to the PLP. Their reasoning is that if the Senate is to reflect the political balance of the House as the constitution requires then one must look at what the political balance of the House is. At this time, the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats in the House and the FNM 56 per cent. In the Senate the four seats that the Opposition has as of right and the three seats about which we are speaking add up to 7 seats. There are 16 seats in total in the Senate. The seven seats that the PLP should have amounts to 43.7 per cent of the seats in the Senate. Remember that the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats in the House. Clearly then the three seats in the Senate belong to the PLP. The matter may end up in Court because Mr. Ingraham is refusing to acknowledge the rights of the PLP. But it is important for the PLP to fight for their constitutional rights on behalf of all of our supporters. The seven seats belong to the PLP. I hope to see you all in the public square for the opening of Parliament and let’s all say: PLP ALL THE WAY. Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] In this week’s first podcast for Monday 21st May, 2007, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs & The Public Service Fred Mitchell reveals Hubert Ingraham’s campaign of vengeance and his continued attack on the poor… “Under Hubert Ingraham we are in for a season of weeping and gnashing of teeth”. The Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is continuing his attack on the poor and the policies put in place by the PLP to protect the poor. The latest is that the FNM administration has decided to halt all the moves by the PLP to ensure that long serving members of the public service who have been temporary workers are put on the permanent and pensionable establishment. Mr. Ingraham’s government now takes the view that those that have not yet been put before the Commission are in bad luck. This affects hundreds of low level workers in the service. It is yet another nail in the coffin for poor people. Let’s summarize what Mr. Ingraham’s campaign of vengeance has wrought for The Bahamas: - He has fired Steve McKinney and Philippa Russell from ZNS. He has stopped the hiring of 100 entry level workers that are needed in the service under the Operation Second Chance programme. He has threatened to send home those who are already hired. Mr. Ingraham has scrapped the Urban Renewal programme that was designed to lessen crime, uplift people from poverty by improving their housing and the physical and social surroundings in their neighbourhoods. Mr. Ingraham has stopped all executive decisions by the PLP government made within the last three months, unlawfully so; affecting pensioners, civil servants and others who expect redress from the Government. That is what the people of The Bahamas wrought when they elected the so called changed man who has not changed at all to be the Prime Minister of this country again. Under Hubert Ingraham we are in for a season of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The PLP though must prepare for Parliament on Wednesday 23rd May. Let’s hope that we mount a full court press on that day with our supporters in tow to demonstrate that the PLP is not a party down for the count that it is very much alive. One key fact must be established by the PLP and that is the Party’s absolute right to the three seats in the Senate that are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. In exercising that advice the Prime Minister must seek to ensure that the political balance in the Senate reflects the political balance in the House. The PLP’s lawyers have advised that this means that the three seats should belong to the PLP. Their reasoning is that if the Senate is to reflect the political balance of the House as the constitution requires then one must look at what the political balance of the House is. At this time, the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats in the House and the FNM 56 per cent. In the Senate the four seats that the Opposition has as of right and the three seats about which we are speaking add up to 7 seats. There are 16 seats in total in the Senate. The seven seats that the PLP should have amounts to 43.7 per cent of the seats in the Senate. Remember that the PLP has 43.9 per cent of the seats in the House. Clearly then the three seats in the Senate belong to the PLP. The matter may end up in Court because Mr. Ingraham is refusing to acknowledge the rights of the PLP. But it is important for the PLP to fight for their constitutional rights on behalf of all of our supporters. The seven seats belong to the PLP. I hope to see you all in the public square for the opening of Parliament and let’s all say: PLP ALL THE WAY. tag:odeo.com,2007-05-21,12653003 Mon, 21 May 2007 10:35:39 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12621433-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-16th-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 16th May and the attempt to reverse all of the good that the PLP has done continues. The press of The Bahamas is reporting that the Urban Renewal programme established by the Progressive Liberal Party is to be cancelled and abandoned. The new administration under Hubert Ingraham has decided that they will not support Urban Renewal or its goals. They have called all the police officers back to headquarters and they are to be placed on other duties. This is reprehensible. Urban Renewal was one of the most successful programmes of the government under Perry Christie. It was designed to try to tackle the housing and other social problems of areas infected by poverty and to see if in the process it could lessen crime. It worked because it saw the police officers as heroes of the neighborhoods, organizing both young and old people. Amongst the noted su... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 16th May and the attempt to reverse all of the good that the PLP has done continues. The press of The Bahamas is reporting that the Urban Renewal programme established by the Progressive Liberal Party is to be cancelled and abandoned. The new administration under Hubert Ingraham has decided that they will not support Urban Renewal or its goals. They have called all the police officers back to headquarters and they are to be placed on other duties. This is reprehensible. Urban Renewal was one of the most successful programmes of the government under Perry Christie. It was designed to try to tackle the housing and other social problems of areas infected by poverty and to see if in the process it could lessen crime. It worked because it saw the police officers as heroes of the neighborhoods, organizing both young and old people. Amongst the noted successes were the marching band organized in various constituencies. Another success was the senior citizens associations. But Mr. Ingraham now says all of that is to go. The PLP should condemn this and should continue to fight for its legacy. What is clear is that Mr. Ingraham is doing what he always does. He did it in 1992 when he organized a whole Commission of Inquiry to demonize the late Sir Lynden Pindling. Now he is seeking to do it to Perry Christie. What is especially laughable though is the appointment of his 20 person Cabinet with two Parliamentary Secretaries. If this isn’t a gussimae Cabinet I don’t know what is. Twenty members of the Cabinet and two Parliamentary Secretaries and he claims that this going to cost less by 27,000 dollars than the PLP cabinet of 17. This is a man living in cloud cuckoo land. The fact is a Minister of State gets the same pay as a substantive Minister. Calling someone a Minister of State does not change the cost to the Public Treasury. So what we have now is Mr. Ingraham fought an election to provide jobs for the boys and girls of the FNM. Each of the 23 is now in the Cabinet save Alvin Smith whom we gather is to become the Speaker of the Assembly. Mr. Ingraham has announced his team of Senators as well. One of them is the preacher who used the scurrilous and scandalous language on Clifford Park during the election to denigrate the PLP Members of Parliament in the most nasty way. Having sung for his supper he now gets his reward of a senate seat. Another FNM senator appointed is the losing candidate in Fox Hill who will no doubt now be making herself a perfect nuisance in Fox Hill. So what we have to say is this, the political deceiver is at it again. Having fooled the Bahamian public that he is a changed man, he is now setting about on a spending spree in the government the likes of which we have never seen. He has insulted the Bahamian public by making Brent Symonette the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Setting the clock back 40 years. The saying is he who pays the piper calls the tune. Just a word again to all PLPs to hold their heads up high. This too shall pass but we must fight and fight until this wicked man is gone. End Footnote: I would like to talk about National Health Insurance next time that too as you know has been cancelled. The public is getting increasingly concerned about the police force and how political it has become. It is said that Tommy Turnquest the new Minister of National Security was given a heroes welcome by the top brass of the Force. If the reports are correct about promises on insurances for the police. That was decided by the PLP and ordered before it left office. But the police must be a neutral force to an FNM force. Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] It’s Thursday 16th May and the attempt to reverse all of the good that the PLP has done continues. The press of The Bahamas is reporting that the Urban Renewal programme established by the Progressive Liberal Party is to be cancelled and abandoned. The new administration under Hubert Ingraham has decided that they will not support Urban Renewal or its goals. They have called all the police officers back to headquarters and they are to be placed on other duties. This is reprehensible. Urban Renewal was one of the most successful programmes of the government under Perry Christie. It was designed to try to tackle the housing and other social problems of areas infected by poverty and to see if in the process it could lessen crime. It worked because it saw the police officers as heroes of the neighborhoods, organizing both young and old people. Amongst the noted successes were the marching band organized in various constituencies. Another success was the senior citizens associations. But Mr. Ingraham now says all of that is to go. The PLP should condemn this and should continue to fight for its legacy. What is clear is that Mr. Ingraham is doing what he always does. He did it in 1992 when he organized a whole Commission of Inquiry to demonize the late Sir Lynden Pindling. Now he is seeking to do it to Perry Christie. What is especially laughable though is the appointment of his 20 person Cabinet with two Parliamentary Secretaries. If this isn’t a gussimae Cabinet I don’t know what is. Twenty members of the Cabinet and two Parliamentary Secretaries and he claims that this going to cost less by 27,000 dollars than the PLP cabinet of 17. This is a man living in cloud cuckoo land. The fact is a Minister of State gets the same pay as a substantive Minister. Calling someone a Minister of State does not change the cost to the Public Treasury. So what we have now is Mr. Ingraham fought an election to provide jobs for the boys and girls of the FNM. Each of the 23 is now in the Cabinet save Alvin Smith whom we gather is to become the Speaker of the Assembly. Mr. Ingraham has announced his team of Senators as well. One of them is the preacher who used the scurrilous and scandalous language on Clifford Park during the election to denigrate the PLP Members of Parliament in the most nasty way. Having sung for his supper he now gets his reward of a senate seat. Another FNM senator appointed is the losing candidate in Fox Hill who will no doubt now be making herself a perfect nuisance in Fox Hill. So what we have to say is this, the political deceiver is at it again. Having fooled the Bahamian public that he is a changed man, he is now setting about on a spending spree in the government the likes of which we have never seen. He has insulted the Bahamian public by making Brent Symonette the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Setting the clock back 40 years. The saying is he who pays the piper calls the tune. Just a word again to all PLPs to hold their heads up high. This too shall pass but we must fight and fight until this wicked man is gone. End Footnote: I would like to talk about National Health Insurance next time that too as you know has been cancelled. The public is getting increasingly concerned about the police force and how political it has become. It is said that Tommy Turnquest the new Minister of National Security was given a heroes welcome by the top brass of the Force. If the reports are correct about promises on insurances for the police. That was decided by the PLP and ordered before it left office. But the police must be a neutral force to an FNM force. tag:odeo.com,2007-05-16,12621433 Wed, 16 May 2007 11:34:36 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/12392463-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-14th-May-2007 Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] The response to the first of the pod casts was phenomenal. Some people did not know that a pod cast is not a text message but that you can actually hear my voice delivering the message. Strange as it may seem to some younger listeners, this is a new technology and some persons are not familiar with its use but I would encourage those who are now reading the text message to click on to the audio or video as you read this message. In the coming weeks, we’ll try to make it simpler for you to access. We also want to get into a regular cycle with pod casts on Monday by 2 p.m. and Thursday by the same time. Well it is necessary to respond to Hubert Ingraham again as he has returned to office not a changed man at all but the same old person. I have been informed that an instruction was forwarded from the cabinet office that all executive decisions taken by the previo... Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] The response to the first of the pod casts was phenomenal. Some people did not know that a pod cast is not a text message but that you can actually hear my voice delivering the message. Strange as it may seem to some younger listeners, this is a new technology and some persons are not familiar with its use but I would encourage those who are now reading the text message to click on to the audio or video as you read this message. In the coming weeks, we’ll try to make it simpler for you to access. We also want to get into a regular cycle with pod casts on Monday by 2 p.m. and Thursday by the same time. Well it is necessary to respond to Hubert Ingraham again as he has returned to office not a changed man at all but the same old person. I have been informed that an instruction was forwarded from the cabinet office that all executive decisions taken by the previous government in the last three weeks should be put on hold. This is most unwise. While on the face of it this may seem reasonable, the fact is that decisions lawfully taken should be carried out forthwith. I am very concerned that the now Prime Minister has indicated that he stopped 100 hires from coming on to the service. Again, this could only be stopping the people who were hired on the Operation Second Chance programme, a programme to allow entry level workers with no or little qualifications to come into the service. It was a carefully thought out and developed programme, properly funded and reversed a long standing and bad decision of both governments to have a moratorium on hiring in the public sector. A moratorium was put in place by Mr. Ingraham when he left the government the last time. The PLP foolishly followed that policy and ended up out of government with the number one complaint from the electorate being lack of jobs, not crime or immigration as it was in the summer of 2006. The Inter American Development Bank in one of its studies told us that a moratorium is a bad idea; it is blunt instrument and does not accomplish the savings that governments think. While it is catchy politically, it causes serious problems in the service in that the needs that are required cannot be met and you end up having in the end to take emergency measures to fill the gaps. For example, at one time, there was an emergency need to hire scores of janitresses and janitors into the service because the moratorium had striped the schools of those employees. Further, each year the service ought to get its share of the people from each birth cohort or age group. This keeps the service up to date with the latest talent and ideas and helps to renew the service. Because of the moratorium, there is something like a four year gap of employees that has to be filled. What is so wrong about Mr. Ingraham’s present decision is that it affects adversely the people at the lowest rung of the ladder. These are the young men and women who have been unable to find work in the private sector in the main, who are unskilled and who I saw had their lives transformed by jobs that pay just over 200 dollars per week. Why would he deny this benefit to them and the country and their families? It is mean, mean spirited but entirely in keeping with his philosophy. The eight hundred pound gorilla has spoken. There are others who are going to suffer as well: the officers of the Civil Aviation Department who were granted a 12,000 per annum certification allowance after careful negotiations and consideration; the Customs and Immigration officers were granted a special shift allowance; numerous individuals who give good service to the government by contract but whose contracts had expired, some of whom had been working month to month awaiting signatures on contracts; the retired prison officers who were granted their pensions that had been unlawfully taken away from them; the road traffic offers who were granted a settlement of their dispute following their dismissal, some of whom were to rejoin the service. While Mr. Ingraham is reviewing, these people are suffering and the proverbial horse is starving. I urge him to resile from his position and carry out the lawful decisions of the previous government. Surely hatred and politics should not go that far. Mr. Ingraham has brought the politics of hatred back in to the fore. In contrast one has only to remember that the FNM administration hired 300 people just before the election in 2002 on three month contracts. It was clearly calculated to bring short term political gain. The hires in 2007 of the PLP are permanent and pensionable, permanently on the establishment. This was no short term fix. Now Mr. Ingraham has ruined the lives of these individuals who expected to come and those who are now on the payroll think that at any moment they will be fired. This is wrong. As for the PLP itself, I wish to ask all supporters to hold your heads up high. The FNM is the first minority government in the country since 1962. That does not strip them of the legal authority to govern but they must always have regard for the rights of PLP and the majority of the people who oppose them in the country. That will be the job of those of us who were elected to Parliament and all citizens who love their country. As we think back on the election, there are several questions we must ask: where was the church that was so courted by the PLP and its leaders throughout the five years. It was as if they went absolutely silent, allowing scurrilous accusations, sleaze, vote buying and intimidation by the FNM and stood by while a man who paid no attention to them, who insulted them for much the past five years was able with their blessing (it appears) to walk back into office. Interesting! The first day of rebuilding started for the PLP when the election was lost on Wednesday 2nd May. A day that will live in infamy. A sad day for this country but there is always opportunity in some mishap and the idea is not to mope about it but to work and work until we are back. Next time I would like to talk about National Health Insurance. Before ending though a matter has been brought to my attention that written about me in The Tribune by an Englishman who I will not dignify by calling his name. It is well known that he cavorts with people who are next to scum and he should not be in this country. Please be advised that whatever you read with regard to me in those columns is patently false and is a total figment of that writers lying imagination. Thank you for listening. End Click the circle above to begin the audio of this podcast. Looking for the video version? [CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION] The response to the first of the pod casts was phenomenal. Some people did not know that a pod cast is not a text message but that you can actually hear my voice delivering the message. Strange as it may seem to some younger listeners, this is a new technology and some persons are not familiar with its use but I would encourage those who are now reading the text message to click on to the audio or video as you read this message. In the coming weeks, we’ll try to make it simpler for you to access. We also want to get into a regular cycle with pod casts on Monday by 2 p.m. and Thursday by the same time. Well it is necessary to respond to Hubert Ingraham again as he has returned to office not a changed man at all but the same old person. I have been informed that an instruction was forwarded from the cabinet office that all executive decisions taken by the previous government in the last three weeks should be put on hold. This is most unwise. While on the face of it this may seem reasonable, the fact is that decisions lawfully taken should be carried out forthwith. I am very concerned that the now Prime Minister has indicated that he stopped 100 hires from coming on to the service. Again, this could only be stopping the people who were hired on the Operation Second Chance programme, a programme to allow entry level workers with no or little qualifications to come into the service. It was a carefully thought out and developed programme, properly funded and reversed a long standing and bad decision of both governments to have a moratorium on hiring in the public sector. A moratorium was put in place by Mr. Ingraham when he left the government the last time. The PLP foolishly followed that policy and ended up out of government with the number one complaint from the electorate being lack of jobs, not crime or immigration as it was in the summer of 2006. The Inter American Development Bank in one of its studies told us that a moratorium is a bad idea; it is blunt instrument and does not accomplish the savings that governments think. While it is catchy politically, it causes serious problems in the service in that the needs that are required cannot be met and you end up having in the end to take emergency measures to fill the gaps. For example, at one time, there was an emergency need to hire scores of janitresses and janitors into the service because the moratorium had striped the schools of those employees. Further, each year the service ought to get its share of the people from each birth cohort or age group. This keeps the service up to date with the latest talent and ideas and helps to renew the service. Because of the moratorium, there is something like a four year gap of employees that has to be filled. What is so wrong about Mr. Ingraham’s present decision is that it affects adversely the people at the lowest rung of the ladder. These are the young men and women who have been unable to find work in the private sector in the main, who are unskilled and who I saw had their lives transformed by jobs that pay just over 200 dollars per week. Why would he deny this benefit to them and the country and their families? It is mean, mean spirited but entirely in keeping with his philosophy. The eight hundred pound gorilla has spoken. There are others who are going to suffer as well: the officers of the Civil Aviation Department who were granted a 12,000 per annum certification allowance after careful negotiations and consideration; the Customs and Immigration officers were granted a special shift allowance; numerous individuals who give good service to the government by contract but whose contracts had expired, some of whom had been working month to month awaiting signatures on contracts; the retired prison officers who were granted their pensions that had been unlawfully taken away from them; the road traffic offers who were granted a settlement of their dispute following their dismissal, some of whom were to rejoin the service. While Mr. Ingraham is reviewing, these people are suffering and the proverbial horse is starving. I urge him to resile from his position and carry out the lawful decisions of the previous government. Surely hatred and politics should not go that far. Mr. Ingraham has brought the politics of hatred back in to the fore. In contrast one has only to remember that the FNM administration hired 300 people just before the election in 2002 on three month contracts. It was clearly calculated to bring short term political gain. The hires in 2007 of the PLP are permanent and pensionable, permanently on the establishment. This was no short term fix. Now Mr. Ingraham has ruined the lives of these individuals who expected to come and those who are now on the payroll think that at any moment they will be fired. This is wrong. As for the PLP itself, I wish to ask all supporters to hold your heads up high. The FNM is the first minority government in the country since 1962. That does not strip them of the legal authority to govern but they must always have regard for the rights of PLP and the majority of the people who oppose them in the country. That will be the job of those of us who were elected to Parliament and all citizens who love their country. As we think back on the election, there are several questions we must ask: where was the church that was so courted by the PLP and its leaders throughout the five years. It was as if they went absolutely silent, allowing scurrilous accusations, sleaze, vote buying and intimidation by the FNM and stood by while a man who paid no attention to them, who insulted them for much the past five years was able with their blessing (it appears) to walk back into office. Interesting! The first day of rebuilding started for the PLP when the election was lost on Wednesday 2nd May. A day that will live in infamy. A sad day for this country but there is always opportunity in some mishap and the idea is not to mope about it but to work and work until we are back. Next time I would like to talk about National Health Insurance. Before ending though a matter has been brought to my attention that written about me in The Tribune by an Englishman who I will not dignify by calling his name. It is well known that he cavorts with people who are next to scum and he should not be in this country. Please be advised that whatever you read with regard to me in those columns is patently false and is a total figment of that writers lying imagination. Thank you for listening. End tag:odeo.com,2007-05-14,12392463 Mon, 14 May 2007 13:03:41 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas http://odeo.com/episodes/11325133-Statement-by-Fred-Mitchell-MP-Fox-Hill-Constituency-10th-May-2007 I am seeking to use this relatively new technology to get my message across in an atmosphere where the public media of The Bahamas has demonstrated a bias that is so extreme that they cannot be relied upon to impart a message that is accurate. It is therefore important for you to hear it from me directly. I am proud and privileged to have been re elected as the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill. I deeply regret the turn of events, that led to the PLP losing the election but that’s life and we live with the result. It is not a good result for The Bahamas. I am reminded of the saying those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. Nowhere is that more clear than two days into the Government, a man who was kicked out five years ago for his bad governance, has now fooled the Bahamian public that he is changed but has now shown that he is worse than ever by immediately beginning to fire those who oppose his will. The former Prime Minister and now Leader of the Opposition Per... I am seeking to use this relatively new technology to get my message across in an atmosphere where the public media of The Bahamas has demonstrated a bias that is so extreme that they cannot be relied upon to impart a message that is accurate. It is therefore important for you to hear it from me directly. I am proud and privileged to have been re elected as the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill. I deeply regret the turn of events, that led to the PLP losing the election but that’s life and we live with the result. It is not a good result for The Bahamas. I am reminded of the saying those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. Nowhere is that more clear than two days into the Government, a man who was kicked out five years ago for his bad governance, has now fooled the Bahamian public that he is changed but has now shown that he is worse than ever by immediately beginning to fire those who oppose his will. The former Prime Minister and now Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie tried a noble experiment of reaching out a hand of friendship to his political enemies. They rewarded him by chopping his hand off. I believe that we must thank Mr. Christie for trying to inculcate a new culture in The Bahamas but it appears that we are now to return to era of unprecedented harshness in public life, with the viciousness that we remember from 1992 to 2002. I intend to follow all the events and decisions of the new government. I will particularly follow the events in Foreign Affairs and in the Public Service including the disciplined forces: the Prison, the Police and the Defence force. These were the portfolio responsibilities that I had when I was a Minister in the Government. I was very concerned this morning when I read reports of what the now Prime Minister had to say about the PLP hiring persons on to the public service payroll without monies to pay for them. That is false. All persons hired in the public service had the requisite monies allocated to pay for their services. Mr. Ingraham appears to be setting up a situation where he intends to fire wholesale those who were hired under the Operation Second Chance programme, designed to allow persons into the service who did not have the requisite skills and get them on a clerical path, and provide them with the training for an equivalency certificate which would allow them to be promoted up the command of the service. Mr. Ingraham now threatens that. Almost two million dollars was approved for the programme and a further one million on top of that when the demand for the programme increased. The government should be injuncted by Court action if it proceeds on this false basis. In addition, it appears that contrary to what was done by all previous governments save his, Mr. Ingraham has now put a stop to the executive decisions taken by the last Government that conferred certain benefits on public servants that were negotiated in good faith with various bodies in the public service, among these allowances to the Immigration and Customs Departments and to the Department of Civil Aviation. If he continues down this path, this will be an egregious act of bad faith. I am not surprised, and I will continue to monitor these events and keep the public abreast of what the new government does. I ask Mr. Ingraham to refrain from this partisan viciousness and act against his character. I believe that there needs to be a public investigation into the extent to which the disciplined forces have been undermined by the deliberate politicization of those forces by the now administration. The fact that you had members of the disciplined forces and their reserves openly displaying party political paraphernalia associated with the Free National Movement undermines the confidence in these bodies. The public must be concerned that in light of the politicization of the Forces by the FNM, they will be unable to discharge their duties dispassionately, without fear or political favour. The public must watch these events carefully. The Forces themselves must not allow themselves to become the unwitting political tools of a political party, and thereby subvert our national institutions. There is a larger concern for the public service on this. In the area of foreign affairs, I will be watching most carefully to ensure that there continues to be the highest level of engagement with the outside world on matters important to Bahamian citizens. The completion of the negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreements, the Visa Free Access to Europe are all important. The machine readable passport project must be completed. There must be continued good relations with the United States and with all of our neighbours including our Caricom partners, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands. There is a need for a new and all encompassing Foreign Affairs building. I have my doubts about the dedication of the new Minister to these issues. During his time as Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, he hardly if at all availed himself of any briefings on Foreign Affairs matters, and never seemed engaged in any way in matters concerning foreign affairs. Now that he is Minister, he must not be allowed to drop the ball. The choice of Foreign Minister must be a complete slap in the face to former Ambassador Joshua Sears, the defeated FNM candidate for Exuma, who could have been appointed to be Senate and given the job as Minister instead of giving the job to someone who is a complete novice at the business of foreign affairs. My reflections on the general election are not many save that there must not be too much analysis on what happened. The fact is we are where we are, and I am dedicated to rebuilding the PLP to return to the Government. Michael Manley once told me upon his defeat by the JLP: “We routed them before we can rout them again.” The nastiness, viciousness of the Free National Movement’ s campaign is well known. In my own local case in Fox Hill, there was a great deal of bitterness engendered against me from FNM partisans, motivated by money in many cases. Thankfully, the people of Fox Hill rejected the nastiness and I am once again their member of parliament. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart and will continue to serve to the best of my ability over the time that I have to serve in this office. End I am seeking to use this relatively new technology to get my message across in an atmosphere where the public media of The Bahamas has demonstrated a bias that is so extreme that they cannot be relied upon to impart a message that is accurate. It is therefore important for you to hear it from me directly. I am proud and privileged to have been re elected as the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill. I deeply regret the turn of events, that led to the PLP losing the election but that’s life and we live with the result. It is not a good result for The Bahamas. I am reminded of the saying those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. Nowhere is that more clear than two days into the Government, a man who was kicked out five years ago for his bad governance, has now fooled the Bahamian public that he is changed but has now shown that he is worse than ever by immediately beginning to fire those who oppose his will. The former Prime Minister and now Leader of the Opposition Perry Christie tried a noble experiment of reaching out a hand of friendship to his political enemies. They rewarded him by chopping his hand off. I believe that we must thank Mr. Christie for trying to inculcate a new culture in The Bahamas but it appears that we are now to return to era of unprecedented harshness in public life, with the viciousness that we remember from 1992 to 2002. I intend to follow all the events and decisions of the new government. I will particularly follow the events in Foreign Affairs and in the Public Service including the disciplined forces: the Prison, the Police and the Defence force. These were the portfolio responsibilities that I had when I was a Minister in the Government. I was very concerned this morning when I read reports of what the now Prime Minister had to say about the PLP hiring persons on to the public service payroll without monies to pay for them. That is false. All persons hired in the public service had the requisite monies allocated to pay for their services. Mr. Ingraham appears to be setting up a situation where he intends to fire wholesale those who were hired under the Operation Second Chance programme, designed to allow persons into the service who did not have the requisite skills and get them on a clerical path, and provide them with the training for an equivalency certificate which would allow them to be promoted up the command of the service. Mr. Ingraham now threatens that. Almost two million dollars was approved for the programme and a further one million on top of that when the demand for the programme increased. The government should be injuncted by Court action if it proceeds on this false basis. In addition, it appears that contrary to what was done by all previous governments save his, Mr. Ingraham has now put a stop to the executive decisions taken by the last Government that conferred certain benefits on public servants that were negotiated in good faith with various bodies in the public service, among these allowances to the Immigration and Customs Departments and to the Department of Civil Aviation. If he continues down this path, this will be an egregious act of bad faith. I am not surprised, and I will continue to monitor these events and keep the public abreast of what the new government does. I ask Mr. Ingraham to refrain from this partisan viciousness and act against his character. I believe that there needs to be a public investigation into the extent to which the disciplined forces have been undermined by the deliberate politicization of those forces by the now administration. The fact that you had members of the disciplined forces and their reserves openly displaying party political paraphernalia associated with the Free National Movement undermines the confidence in these bodies. The public must be concerned that in light of the politicization of the Forces by the FNM, they will be unable to discharge their duties dispassionately, without fear or political favour. The public must watch these events carefully. The Forces themselves must not allow themselves to become the unwitting political tools of a political party, and thereby subvert our national institutions. There is a larger concern for the public service on this. In the area of foreign affairs, I will be watching most carefully to ensure that there continues to be the highest level of engagement with the outside world on matters important to Bahamian citizens. The completion of the negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreements, the Visa Free Access to Europe are all important. The machine readable passport project must be completed. There must be continued good relations with the United States and with all of our neighbours including our Caricom partners, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands. There is a need for a new and all encompassing Foreign Affairs building. I have my doubts about the dedication of the new Minister to these issues. During his time as Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, he hardly if at all availed himself of any briefings on Foreign Affairs matters, and never seemed engaged in any way in matters concerning foreign affairs. Now that he is Minister, he must not be allowed to drop the ball. The choice of Foreign Minister must be a complete slap in the face to former Ambassador Joshua Sears, the defeated FNM candidate for Exuma, who could have been appointed to be Senate and given the job as Minister instead of giving the job to someone who is a complete novice at the business of foreign affairs. My reflections on the general election are not many save that there must not be too much analysis on what happened. The fact is we are where we are, and I am dedicated to rebuilding the PLP to return to the Government. Michael Manley once told me upon his defeat by the JLP: “We routed them before we can rout them again.” The nastiness, viciousness of the Free National Movement’ s campaign is well known. In my own local case in Fox Hill, there was a great deal of bitterness engendered against me from FNM partisans, motivated by money in many cases. Thankfully, the people of Fox Hill rejected the nastiness and I am once again their member of parliament. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart and will continue to serve to the best of my ability over the time that I have to serve in this office. End tag:odeo.com,2007-05-10,11325133 Thu, 10 May 2007 10:05:50 -0700 no The Podcast of Fred Mitchell, MP, Nassau Bahamas