Cholera in The Bahamas: ... ...it reminds us again that the shantytown problem in The Islands is a ticking time bomb

Shantytowns and cholera

thenassauguardian editorial

It was inevitable that there would be cases of cholera in The Bahamas.  There was an outbreak of the disease in Haiti in late 2010 that continues.  Thus far, there have been around 600,000 reported cases and 7,500 deaths in that country from the disease.

The Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed a case of cholera in The Bahamas.  A patient was evaluated at Princess Margaret Hospital on October 18 due to symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.  Laboratory tests confirmed the disease on Monday and the person has since recovered, according to the ministry in a statement on the incident.

The Ministry of Health also said there are no other reported cases of cholera in The Bahamas.

“The Ministry of Health continues its heightened surveillance activities and other necessary precautions to identify cases and prevent the transmission of cholera in The Bahamas,” it said.

“The public is reminded to use clean water, wash hands regularly and otherwise maintain good hygienic practices to prevent cholera from developing and spreading.”

Cholera is a bacterial disease that causes dehydration and diarrhea.  It is mostly spread through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.  Water can be contaminated by the feces of an infected person or by untreated sewage.  Water containing cholera bacteria can contaminate food.  Food can also be contaminated if handled by a person sick with cholera.  Cholera can be deadly.

This confirmed case comes one year after a case of cholera was confirmed when a Haitian immigrant, who contracted the infection, entered the country on a sloop.  He was quickly treated and repatriated.

The Bahamas has a large Haitian population and many undocumented people who travel from Haiti to our country.  Because of the regular flow of people to The Bahamas from that country, there is a strong likelihood that troubles there would spill over to here.

What could make the situation dangerous for The Bahamas is that we have so many shantytowns across the country.  Dozens exist in New Providence.  Large ones exist in islands such as Abaco.  In these communities the conditions are often unsanitary with no indoor plumbing and the indiscriminate dumping of human waste in nearby bushes.

Many Bahamians and Haitians still use untreated groundwater – if this water supply is contaminated by cholera bacteria that would be disastrous in this small country.  We have been too permissive over the years with these illegal communities.  They have grown so large and are so many now that it is a political issue to remove them.

If our politicians want to keep them as they are, it is necessary for the government to ensure that sanitary conditions exists in these places so that a major public health crisis does not emerge.  These people cannot be allowed to live in any manner they choose because the issue of their presence is “too difficult” for our elected officials to handle.

A major cholera outbreak could lead to significant loss of life in The Bahamas and significant damage to our economy.  Who wants to visit a country where cholera is a major problem?

Of course, we are not there yet.  And we hope that this is just an isolated case.  But it reminds us again that the shantytown problem in The Bahamas is a ticking time bomb.  They should not be ignored.

Oct 31, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Constitutional reform - pt. 10... ...The government should commission The College of the Bahamas and the Eugene Dupuch Law School to conduct a scientific study to determine the comparative deterrence between the death penalty and life imprisonment ...to inform public education and policy on the issue of the death penalty... ...

Constitutional reform, pt. 10

BY ALFRED SEARS

The Bahamas has executed by hanging 50 condemned persons from December 1929 to January 6, 2000, pursuant to the sentence of death pronounced by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas.  There is presently one condemned prisoner awaiting execution.  The murder rate is currently at 94 and climbing.  Therefore, the fear of violent crime has elicited a public cry for a solution to crime.  For some the resumption of hanging is the answer, in spite of the compelling evidence that capital punishment is not a deterrent to the rising rate of violent crime and the risk of wrongful convictions.

Professor Ann Spackman, in her book “Constitutional Development of the West Indies 1922-1968” (1975) at page 21, argues that one of the legacies of plantation slavery, colonialism and racial oppression in the Caribbean is the continuing  “emphasis on coercion and control” and the existence of harsh laws enforced in a punitive spirit during most of the historical experience of the Caribbean since 1492.   Lloyd Barnett, Q.C., in an essay entitled “The Present Position Regarding the Enforcement of Human Rights in the Commonwealth” in the West Indian Law Journal (November 1980), counters that the Commonwealth Caribbean, in addition to having legacies of slavery and colonialism, has also been the beneficiary of the common law which flowered into passionate self-determination and aspiring constitutionalism.

However, the challenge facing constitutional jurisprudence in the Caribbean is to move away from the English techniques of statutory interpretation, applicable to ordinary legislation, when interpreting the Constitution that requires a more flexible and purposive interpretation, informed by international human rights instruments and the evolving global standard of human rights, human decency and norm of respect.  The Privy Council, in A.G. of Gambia v. Jobe (1985), held that there should be a liberal and contextual construction of the Constitution to give effect to the intent and purpose of the Constitution.

The tension between the punitive application of the law and restorative justice approach is most vividly illustrated around the issue of the death penalty in The Bahamas.  Articles 16, 17 and 30 of the Bahamian Constitution provide:

16. (1) No person shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offense of which he has been convicted.

(2) A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this Article if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably justified...

17. (1) No person shall be subjected to torture to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

(2) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this Article to the extent that the law in question authorizes the infliction of any description of punishment that was lawful in the Bahama Islands immediately before 10th July 1973.

30. (1)... Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any written law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of any provision of Articles 16 to 27 (inclusive) of this Constitution to the extent that the law in question –

(a) is a law (in this Articles referred to as ‘an existing law’) that was enacted or made before 10th July 1973 and has continued to be part of the law of The Bahamas at all times since that day.

Saving clauses, such as contained in Article 17 (2) and the general saving clause contained in Article 30 (a), which were intended to be transitional until law reform removed existing laws inconsistent with the Constitution, are sometimes used to limit the enforcement of personal liberties granted by the Constitution.

Chief Justice Telford Georges, in an essay entitled “The Scope and Limitations of the State Machinery” in Human Rights and Development (1978) at page 45, argued, with respect to a similar clause in the Constitution of Trinidad & Tobago, that such clauses “... considerably limits the scope of the machinery of judicial review as a method of enforcement of the rights apparently enshrined in the Constitution.  The judicial view... is that the constitutions create no new rights.  They merely preserve existing rights.”

Article 30 (a) is construed as saving Section 312 of the Penal Code that pronounces that the death penalty is the punishment for murder as being compatible with and not in contravention of any of the fundament rights and freedoms contained in Articles 15 to 27.  Until 2011 the mandatory sentence of death by hanging was applied upon the conviction of murder and treason.

However, the Privy Council, informed by the evolving jurisprudence in Europe, has forced the Commonwealth Caribbean to conform to the evolving standard of human decency and human rights in the application of the death penalty.  In 1993 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in the case Pratt and Another v. Attorney General of Jamaica (1993), held that the execution of the death penalty after five years was unconscionable delay and would constitute a contravention of Article 17 (1) of the Constitution, except where the delay had been the fault of the accused.

This ruling resulted in scores of condemned prisoners in The Bahamas having their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment due to delay.  In 2000 the Privy Council, in Neville Lewis, overturned Reckley v. Minister of Public Safety and Immigration (1996) and held that (a) a condemned prisoner has a right to the secure protection of the law and to due process which would be denied if he were to be executed before the completion of a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; (b) that a condemned prisoner who applied for mercy had a due process right to know what material had been placed before the Prerogative Committee on Mercy and be afforded the right to make representations and know the reasons for the decision of which the process is subject to judicial review; and (c) that the passage of time and their treatment in prison may constitute inhuman or degrading treatment.

In Henfield and Ricardo Farrington v. A.G. of The Bahamas, the Privy Council reduced the period by which The Bahamas must execute a condemned prisoner from five years to three and a half years due to an oversight that The Bahamas is a party to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.  The five-year rule was subsequently reinstated.  The Privy Council, in Forrester Bowe, Jr. and Trono Davis v. The Queen (2006), held that section 312 of the Penal Code Act that declares the mandatory sentence of death for the conviction of murder “should be construed as imposing a discretionary and not a mandatory sentence to death”.  Consequently, the mandatory sentences of death imposed on Forrester Bowe, Jr. and Trono Davis were quashed and the cases were remitted to the Supreme Court for consideration of appropriate sentences.

In light of the Privy Council’s ruling in Forrester Bowe, Jr., the Parliament of The Bahamas amended the Penal Code Act in 2011, by removing the mandatory sentence of death for the conviction murder and setting out the circumstances that will attract the death penalty of a person convicted for murder, such as the murder of a member of the police force, a prison officer, a member of the defence force, a judicial officer, a witness, a juror, the murder of a person during the course of a felony or the murder of more than one person.

Trends in thinking

The trend in judicial reasoning by the Privy Council, informed by the evolving standard of human rights and human decency, will eventually lead, in my opinion, to a judicial finding that the death penalty is contrary to human rights and human decency.  The reaction in The Bahamas and the wider Commonwealth Caribbean to this trend has been a desperate effort to retain the death penalty.  In this context, some advocates have proposed delinking The Bahamas from the Privy Council as the final appellate court for The Bahamas in favor of either the establishment of final appellate court in The Bahamas or by accepting the compulsory original jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The Bahamian society, on reflection, must determine whether the death penalty is a deterrent to crime or cold-blooded killing by the state, which brutalizes the offender and the society.  When the state kills does it lessen its offensiveness and elevate killing into principle?  If the justification is the principle of “an eye for an eye”, should we not also advocate that rape be undertaken by the state as a punishment for rape?

Chief Justice Gubbay of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, in the case Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe v. Attorney General and Others (1993), argued that retribution is not a sound rationale for the death penalty as follows: “Because retribution has no place in the scheme of civilized jurisprudence, one cannot turn a deaf ear to the plea made for the enforcement of constitutional rights.  Humaneness and dignity of the individual are the hallmarks of civilized laws.  Justice must be done dispassionately and in accordance with constitutional mandates.  The question is not whether this court condones the evils committed by the four condemned prisoners, for certainly it does not.  It is whether the acute mental suffering and brooding horror of being hanged which has haunted them in their condemned cells over the long lapse of time since the passing of sentence of death, is consistent with the guarantee against inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.”

The European Court of Human Rights in the case Soering v. the United Kingdom (1989) abolished the death penalty in the European Union.  Similarly, South Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, Namibia, The Gambia, for example, have also abolished the death penalty.  In the United States, 18 states have abolished the death penalty.

In The Bahamas, without an adequate public defender’s system, there is a significant risk that innocent persons may be wrongly convicted for murder, since most defendants in capital cases tend to be poor African-Bahamian men, sometimes with mental problems and background of abuse.  There needs to be a more disciplined focus on the causes of crime in The Bahamas and the comparative deterrence of the death penalty in relation to life imprisonment.

Recommendation

1. The government should commission The College of the Bahamas and the Eugene Dupuch Law School to conduct a scientific study to determine the comparative deterrence between the death penalty and life imprisonment to inform public education and policy on the issue of the death penalty.

2. The law reform commissioner should be directed to conduct a comprehensive review of all “existing laws” that may be saved under the “existing law provisions” of the Constitution and recommend amendments to ensure consistency of all laws with the Constitution.

• Alfred Sears is an attorney, a former member of Parliament and a former attorney general of The Bahamas.

Oct 25, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Constitutional reform pt. 9: ... ...The current development strategy in The Bahamas, industrialization and modernization ...by inviting foreign direct investment by large multinational resorts and financial institutions, some of which employ thousands of Bahamian workers ...require a redefinition of trade unions in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 ...in order to achieve a better balance of power between capital and labor in The Bahamas

Catholic Archbishop - His Grace The Most Rev Patrick Pinder on Web Shops, Illegal Gambling in The Bahamas, Decriminalising the Numbers Business for Bahamian Operators of Gaming Business and their Patrons ...and the Upcoming Referendum on Gambling

Catholic Church Wants Clear Web Shop Laws

By Tribune242



BAHAMIANS need to know exactly what happens in web shops if they are to make informed decisions in the upcoming referendum on gambling.

That’s the verdict of Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder, who says it is vital to know where the law now stands when it comes to web shops.

In his pastoral reflection ‘Illegal Gambling in The Bahamas’, he aims to further the national conversation on decriminalising the numbers business for Bahamian operators of gaming business and their patrons, and to present a reflection on the need to bring about a more beneficial relationship between the Church and the culture.

He says that to craft worthwhile responses to national challenges, the country must begin with an honest assessment of where it is.

To that end, the rules on web shops must be cleared up, he says.

He said: “How many Bahamians frequent these establishments to play games of chance? Who are they? How much do they spend per day, per week, per year? Is it disposable income, or does the spending contribute to domestic challenges in terms of stressing family relations or finances?

“Is it, or is it not, time to change the law in order to effectively regulate a behaviour which is illegal, lawless, long-standing and unregulated?

“This activity continues boldly and publicly without apparent regard and respect for or fear of the current law?

“What would be the nature of the proposed law intended to regulate the illegal lottery. Surely we deserve to be assured by public authority that the law will be enforced regardless of the outcome of the referendum,” he said.

Emphasising that games of chance, in themselves, do not constitute an evil, Archbishop Pinder said that the Catechism goes on to make it abundantly clear that games of chance however “can lead to evil.”

The Catechism, he said, also explains that such activities become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs or for those of others.

A passion for gambling, therefore risks “becoming an enslavement.”

“The truth of the latter statement is clear when many Bahamians spend days sitting before computers in web shops, at work or at home for the slim chance of winning a fortune that will help them to rise above their troubles. That many of those who wager on games of chance are often single, unemployed mothers gives rise to further concern. Such activities are wrong for both women and men, if they play numbers to the neglect of their homes and families, their jobs, their personal and civic responsibilities. This is the real problem,” he said.

The Archbishop said that no matter how small someone’s income is, it is far better to “save regularly than to gamble regularly.”

“Gambling in excess has a great potential for generating intemperate behaviour and for many, addictions. It is from intemperance and addiction that many societal ills arise. Therein lies the real danger of permitting gaming that is an unregulated, free-for-all. It is our duty to take whatever measures lie in our power to help Bahamians avoid the potential and dangerous pitfalls of gaming or any activity that could lead to harm for the individual or society.”

Bahamians must be armed with the facts, said the Archbishop.

This, in his estimation, is the most productive course of action otherwise a referendum becomes an “empty exercise.”

“Armed with statistics, our decisions or commitments regarding gambling become more defensible. This is the kind of democratic action that accords well with a Christian perspective. After all, faith is the friend of reason,” he said.

October 23, 2012

Tribune 242 

Caribbean Blog International

Constitutional reform pt. 9: ... ...The current development strategy in The Bahamas, industrialization and modernization ...by inviting foreign direct investment by large multinational resorts and financial institutions, some of which employ thousands of Bahamian workers ...require a redefinition of trade unions in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 ...in order to achieve a better balance of power between capital and labor in The Bahamas

Constitutional reform pt. 9

By Alfred Sears

The freedom of assembly and association are two fundamental rights which have shaped the contemporary political culture of The Bahamas.  The right of every person to assemble and demonstrate in public places and the right to associate with others by forming and joining political parties and trade unions are seen as basic aspects of democracy in The Bahamas.  The Constitution guarantees these rights under Article 24 which provides that:

1. Except with his consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of peaceful assembly and association, that is to say, his right to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular to form or belong to political parties, or to form or belong to trade unions or other associations for the protection of his interests.

2. Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this article to the extent that the law in question makes provision –

(a) which is reasonably required –

(i) in the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality or public health;  or

(ii) for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons; or

(b) which imposes restrictions upon persons holding office under the Crown or upon members of a disciplined force, and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.

 

Right to assemble

In the Caribbean we have long appreciated the right of coming together in public meetings, processions, marches, demonstrations, picketing to express our views and make political, social and cultural representations.  In The Bahamas these methods of collective representation were pivotal means of political expression during the anti-colonial struggle, the struggle for majority rule and protest by trade unions against the privatization of BTC.  These methods of representation have been recently used by political parties, trade unions, women’s organizations, churches and religious organizations and youth association to express public protests and petitions on various issues.

The guarantee of Article 24 includes the right of every person in The Bahamas to engage in collective or individual public demonstrations as a method of expressing political views and influencing others.  Thus, we have the right individually and collectively to use the roadways for the purpose of passing and repassing, for the exercise of this right of assembly, provided it is exercised reasonably and without reckless disregard for the rights of others.

Restraint by the state in the exercise of the fundamental right of assembly usually takes the form of public order restraint or regulation of public meetings and public places, through a system of permits or licences, usually obtained from the commissioner of police.  Usually, the requirements of obtaining permission or giving notice of public meetings are not applicable prior to and during elections.

The commissioner of police does not have an unfettered discretion in determining whether to grant an application or not.  In exercising this discretion, the commissioner of police may prohibit the meeting if he reasonably apprehends a breach of the peace, public order or national security.  The factors to be considered are the time, purpose of the meeting and the circumstances in which it is to be held.  These criteria are the objective bases for the exercise of the discretion to grant or refuse an application.  It would therefore be improper for the commissioner of police to refuse an application purely on the instructions of the prime minister or the minister of national security or on the basis of any partisan political consideration.

 

Right to form or belong to a trade union

Article 24 of the Constitution guarantees the right to every person in The Bahamas to form and belong to a trade union for the protection of her or his interests.  This right has been construed by Chief Justice Hugh Wooding, under a similar provision of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, in the case Collymore v. A.G. (T & T) (1967) 12 W.I.R. 5 as follows: “Freedom of association means no more than freedom to enter into consensual arrangements to promote the common – interest objects of the associating group.  The objects may be any of many.  They may be religious or social, political or philosophical, economic or professional, educational or cultural, sporting or charitable.  But the freedom to associate confers neither right nor license for a course of conduct or for the commission of acts which in the view of the Parliament or inimical to the peace order and good government of the country.”

This restrictive judicial construction of the right of association appears to subject the right of association to legislative judgments of which are in the best interest of the country.  This definition also fails to clarify whether the objectives of association and the means of achieving them are protected as part of the meaning and function of the right of association.  Therefore, there is no constitutional right to strike, even though there is an actual enjoyment of the power to strike, based on the immunities created by the Industrial Relations Act, 1970.  Further, common law strikes were not treated as criminal action, Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed Co. v. Veitch (1942) 1 All E.R. 142.

On the other hand, the freedom not to belong to a trade union is also a part of the freedom of association, TICFA & A.G. v. Seereeram (1975) 27 W.I.R. 329.  Every person has the liberty to freely exercise her or his conscience in determining whether to join a trade union or not.

 

Restrictions on the right to form or belong to a trade union

Under Article 24(2)(b) of the Constitution, public officers and members of a disciplined force may be restricted in their enjoyment of the freedom of association.  Article 30(1)(b) of the Constitution defines “disciplined force” as including “a naval, military or air force; the police force of The Bahamas, the prison service of The Bahamas and any other force or service specified by act of Parliament to be a disciplined force…”.  Under Section 3 of the Industrial Relations Act, the right to register a trade union and engage in collective bargaining does not apply to members of a disciplined force.

It is instructive to note that in Europe, the United States as well as other parts of the Caribbean, police and prison officers are allowed to form and belong to trade unions which has resulted in the improvement in working conditions and increased professionalism on the police and prison services in these countries.  Given the present challenges on the police and prison services in The Bahamas, is it good public policy to maintain the present blanket prohibition on collective bargaining rights to police and prison officers?

In spite of the clear constitutional guaranteed right to form or belong to a trade union, and the right of collective bargaining contained in the Industrial Relations Act, it is not uncommon for employees in The Bahamas to meet subtle and sometimes not so subtle obstruction and intimidation by some employers to the exercise of this right by employees.

The Code of Industrial Relations Practice, at Code 55, states that, “It is in the best interest of employees that there be strong and effective trade unions”.  Notwithstanding the law and clear public policy in favor of trade unions and the tripartite partnership of capital, labor and government, there is still a perception amongst employers and senior managers in both private and public sector enterprises that trade unions should be avoided or discouraged.

Perhaps the negative perception of trade unions among some employers is due to the almost total reliance of the past generation of trade union leadership on public demonstrations, pickets and extravagant public salary demands as the means of negotiation.  The current group of union leaders, most of whom are also qualified labor advocates, are more skillful at the bargaining table, utilizing economists, accountants and lawyers as consultants.  Also, today the bargaining issues are more broadly defined to include training, health care systems, skills enhancement, retooling, social programs for workers, worker productivity and security.

Section 3 of Part II of the First Schedule of the Industrial Relations Act restricts membership in a trade union to a person who has been “regularly and normally employed in the industry, or as a member of the craft or category of employee, which the union represents.”  This definition of unions by craft or category of employment has led to the creation of many small unions.

Sir Lynden Pindling, in the Colloquium on Political Reform, Constitutional Change and national Development, sponsored by The College of The Bahamas on June 23, 1998, stated that, “I think national trade unions need to be encouraged now so that they may better balance the scale with the conglomerates and monopolies, not all of which are avoidable in a small archipelagic country.”

Many trade unionists have advocated that Convention 87 and 98 of the International Labor Organization should be adopted and fully implemented in The Bahamas which would allow the creation of national trade unions in which membership is not restricted to craft or category of employment in order to balance the power between capital and labor.

 

Recommendation

The restriction on the exercise by police and prison officers of the right to form and belong to a trade union should be removed from the Constitution and the Industrial Relations Act.  Police and prison officers should be able to exercise the right of association, including the right to form and belong to a trade union, even if the right to strike is conditioned or withheld.  The exercise of this right by police and prison officers will lead, I believe, to an improvement of working conditions and professionalism in both services which will better secure public order and the security of the Bahamian state.

The current development strategy in The Bahamas, industrialization and modernization by inviting foreign direct investment by large multinational resorts and financial institutions, some of which employ thousands of Bahamian workers, require a redefinition of trade unions in accordance with International Labor Organization Conventions 87 and 98, in order to achieve a better balance of power between capital and labor in The Bahamas.

 

• Alfred Sears is an attorney, a former member of Parliament and a former attorney general of The Bahamas.

October 18, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Constitutional reform, pt. 8: ... ...The right of a citizen to good health and a clean environment

The Looming Gambling Referendum: ... ...President of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC), Dr Ranford Patterson has accused the government of failing to take a position on the issue of legalized gambling for Bahamians in The Bahamas... ...he felt it was because government members fear that the impending gambling referendum could fail

PM: Gambling Referendum Will Have Many Components

By Sasha Lightbourne
The Bahama Journal



The gambling referendum, which is expected to be held before the end of the year, will have many components to it, according to the prime minister.

Perry Christie told The Bahama Journal recently that he is considering a lottery component as well as casino regulations, which will all be part of the referendum when announced.

“I’m having detailed discussions with my advisors and we are doing this on all fronts with respect to improving and strengthening casino regulations and the kind of games they play and making us more competitive,” he said.

“At the same time we are focusing on the web operations as well. When I make the next communication it’s going to be a very serious one based on the concerns that my advisors have with respect to web operations especially if they are not regulated. I most certainly want the referendum to be held before the end of the year as well. I’m not changing that.”

Mr. Christie added, however, that he is concerned about the lottery component of the referendum.

“The only question I have is whether I have a working situation with the lottery,” he said.

“Is it feasible, given the size of our population and having to depend on the Americans, to do it because if it does that would mean they would take the money back to the United States. There is a compelling necessity though to do something about this issue and it will happen before 2013.”

President of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC), Dr Ranford Patterson has accused the government of failing to take a position on the issue of gambling.

He said he felt it was because members fear that the impending gambling referendum could fail.

So far, the government has declined to publicly state a position on the matter.

All it has said is that the Bahamian people will be allowed free choice to vote for or against gambling.

Rev. Patterson has said, however, that in the lead up to voting, the BCC plans to clearly repeat its anti-gambling argument.

“The government needs to make a decision and state their case,” Rev Patterson said a few weeks ago.

“Let’s say this referendum is a disaster, who is going to take the responsibility for wasting taxpayer dollars and wasting time that could have been used on other more important things in this country. If this is such a major issue just do it.”

The BCC president said the government should also take note of the long term implications of gambling that could cause thousands of Bahamians’ regrets if the referendum did return more “yes” than “no” votes.

19 October 2012

Jones Bahamas

Caribbean Blog International

The Bahamas 2010 Census Report: ... ...the census report makes note of the first census in 1722 ...whereby 74 percent of the population was white and 26 percent black... compared to the 2010 census ...whereby 91 percent identified themselves as black, five percent white, and two percent as of mixed race... ...Such an extreme reorientation of the racial makeup of a country identifies the need to reexamine assumptions about who we are

The Bahamas in numbers

thenassauguardian editorial

Our census, a vital and complicated undertaking, describes the identity of The Bahamas through numbers.  It is also indicative of trends and analysis of data based on successive census reports.

For The Bahamas this not only means comparison on a regional scale, but also between our islands.  Remarkably, this is the 19th decennial census to be conducted in The Bahamas.  Early census counts are not likely to be comparable to recent data due to likely discrepancies in survey methods, but they nonetheless provide value to the history of The Bahamas.

Interestingly, the census report makes note of the first census in 1722 whereby 74 percent of the population was white and 26 percent black, compared to the 2010 census whereby 91 percent identified themselves as black, five percent white, and two percent as of mixed race.  Such an extreme reorientation of the racial makeup of a country identifies the need to reexamine assumptions about who we are.

Population statistics are perhaps the most widely recognized outcome of a census.  For those living in New Providence, it is all too obvious that the island accounts for 246,329 people or 70 percent of the total Bahamian population.  With an additional 35,497 people since 2000, it is all too apparent that the roads are more congested, lines a bit longer, and the housing prices just a bit higher.

But herein lies the importance of data availability.  While New Providence may have experienced the greatest increase in people, several other islands had a much higher percent change in population growth – take Abaco, which experienced an increase of 4,054 people or nearly 31 percent to a population of 17,224 compared to 2000.  Though such an increase would be nominal for New Providence over 10 years, in Abaco the additional people stress local infrastructure from power generation to road maintenance.

The Bahamas’ greatest challenge is providing and maintaining basic infrastructure across the populated islands.  Even with all the controversy, Abaco needed a new power generating facility and still suffers from countless power failures.  While the population congregates in New Providence, growth and a retraction of growth on some islands must guide government expenditure and planning.

Likewise, the government must accept the diversity of residents living in The Bahamas and amend its immigration policies.  Seventeen percent of the population claims citizenship elsewhere, the majority or 64 percent were from Haiti.  Though the census claims to account for residents regardless of immigration status, it is difficult to imagine that the census was able to account for all residents of known Haitian communities such as those found in Abaco.

The Nassau Guardian has reported on specific data tables such as Internet access and usage, health insurance, and access to toilets at private dwellings.  There are numerous other tables where trends can be extrapolated on for use in education planning, the looming retirement of baby boomers and their future health care needs, marriage trends and reproduction rates.

A copy of the Census 2010 Report became publicly available online on Monday, October 15.  Such data provides innumerable opportunities for government agencies, private researchers and the general public to better understand our Bahamas.

Oct 17, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Say no to capital punishment in The Bahamas

NO TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT


By The Bahama Journal



Human rights do matter; and so does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Clearly, then, the right to life should be considered and described as the world’s number one right thing owed every human person.

This is why – and here closer to home – we pray for the soon-coming realization of our hope which tells us that, we should and must work with all who would in the first instance, obtain a legal moratorium on capital punishment and thereafter, work for the abolition of the death penalty in The Bahamas.

In this regard, take note that this Wednesday past [December 10th. 2008] marked the sixtieth anniversary of one of humanity’s truly great discoveries; to wit, the revelation and recognition that all human beings do have certain inalienable rights.

It is also to be noted that this initiative was spearheaded by former U.S. first lady and U.N. delegate Eleanor Roosevelt, the UDHR guaranteed the political and civic rights of all people, including the right to freedom from torture, slavery, poverty, homelessness and other forms of oppression.

Note also, this Wednesday past marked an important occasion which – regrettably – went unnoticed by practically anyone in media who could have and should have known that, billions of people around the world were – even then- marking the tenth anniversary of the “World Day Against The Death Penalty.

Here we are reminded that this celebration was launched by the “World Coalition Against the Death Penalty” in 2002.

In truth, even though more and more countries are abolishing capital punishment, 57 countries still adhere to the practice. Amnesty International says 20,000 people worldwide are currently on death row.

Sadly, some who now languish in this tormented state are born and bred products of states and peoples in our region.

Sadder yet, there remains a hue and cry from Guyana and Trinidad in the south to the Bahamas in the north for the resumption of this barbaric practice.

But yet [and notwithstanding the blood-curdling cry for blood coming fro the lips of hundreds of Bahamians, we remain confident that – when all things are said and done – this barbarism will be brought to an end.

We are also confident that, those who now run things will – sooner rather than later – join in with that growing majority of mankind who has decided to put an end to this vestige of utter backwardness and depravity.

We remain ever optimistic.

And yet, the truth remains which so ably demonstrates that, Bahamians from practically all walks of life have been transfixed by what they describe as a so-called crime wave.

Most of these people are becoming more and more appalled by the spiraling rate of murder, rape and other instance of carnage and social mayhem.

But as bad as these things now seem, on examination and closer scrutiny they pale in significance to what we would deem the real crime menace in The Bahamas. That real menace being the social rot that provides the breeding ground for those instances when — as they say — things get out of hand.

It is this rot that provides the ground for the efflorescence of those offences that grab public attention, matters like murder, rape and bloody robberies.

We have previously suggested that the crime rate is little more than the fever chart of a sick society.  By extension, we would wish to suggest that the current focus on policing might well be an exercise in futility.

As the street-wise know so very well some of these deals would involve the trade in guns, drugs, other contraband and certain counterfeit goods.

We make this point in the same breath as we note that there is an abundance of evidence that strongly supports the conclusion that The Bahamas is home to tens of thousands of people who routinely flout the laws of the land.

These offences range from the crimes committed by those people who routinely smuggle goods into and out of The Bahamas to those offences that are routinely committed by rogue police officers and other thugs in uniform.

And so, things become ever more foul as the state gets in on those practices which – taken in their entirety – not only lead from deprivation that ends in poverty but which also conduces to producing criminals and any number of cut-throats; thence the cry that these people should be killed.

This is dreadfully wrong.

11 October, 2012

Jones Bahamas

Caribbean Blog International

Constitutional reform, pt. 8: ... ...The right of a citizen to good health and a clean environment

Constitutional reform, pt. 8


By ALFRED SEARS


Sir Lynden Pindling, one of the founding fathers of our Constitution, in an address at the Colloquium on Political Reform, Constitutional Change and National Development at The College of The Bahamas on June 23, 1998, advocated that we expand the fundamental rights protected under the Bill of Rights of the Bahamian Constitution to include: “The right of a citizen to good health and a clean environment.”

Protection of the environment

The Bahamian Constitution, as a living document, should be amended, like the United States Constitution which itself has been amended 27 times, to reflect the shared expectations of and experiences of succeeding generations of Bahamians.

Today, due to the lack of a rational development strategy, we are faced with the rapid loss of aspects of the natural environment and cultural heritage of The Bahamas.  The current national development strategy of development, based on attracting large foreign direct investments in resort tourism, has transformed the physical landscape and way of life of communities throughout the archipelago of The Bahamas.

There needs to be a firm balance between development and preservation of physical and cultural environment.  While the current development strategy has created jobs for Bahamians, it is having an adverse impact on the environment, the quality of life of future generations of Bahamians, who will have to live pollution filled lives, without easy access to the beaches, historical and cultural sites, damped waste in our waters from cruise ships and others in the Bahamian territorial waters, the destruction of marine life and the coral reefs.

The patrimony of future generations of Bahamians will be destroyed, unless we treat the right to good health and a clean environment as fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.

The right of every Bahamian community to preserve its quality of life and be consulted before any public decision is taken to approve the construction and operation of projects that may adversely affect a Bahamian community was affirmed by the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas in the case of Responsible Development of Abaco (RDA) Ltd v. The Right Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham and Others SCCivApp. No. 138 of 2010.

The issue related to a decision of BEC to construct a power plant at Wilson City, Abaco, and the right of the community to be adequately consulted before the decision was taken.  In a judgment by the Justice Allen, president of the Court of Appeal, in which Justices of Appeal Blackman and John both concurred, she observed, at paragraph 15, that, “It cannot be doubted that the exercise of that power was subject to the rights or legitimate expectations of residents of The Bahamas generally, and in this case to the rights and legitimate expectations of residents of Wilson City, in particular, not to have their quality of life adversely affected by the construction and operation of the power plant in their neighborhood.”

At the hearing of the appeal, the power plant had already been constructed, nevertheless the Court of Appeal ordered BEC to conduct a process of full and proper public consultation with the community of Abaco on the operation of the plant going forward.  The court held that “the appellants had a legitimate expectation to be adequately and meaningfully consulted in the decision-making process relative to the location and construction of the power plant at Wilson City, Abaco, which was breached by the respondents.”

United States experience

The United States federal regulation of the environment is based on the National Environmental Policy Act, 1970, under which is established the council on environmental quality, which advises the president.  The Environmental Protection Agency was also created in 1970.  The Common Sense Initiative Council, comprising representatives of government, business and environmentalists take an industry specific approach to solving environmental problems.

One feature of the United States legislations which is instructive is the “private attorneys general” provision which enables an individual to challenge government’s environmental decisions such as the grant of a permit and generally to demand both government and private sector compliance with the law.  For example, the Endangered Species Act contains a provision which states that “any person may commence a civil suit” to enforce the provisions under the act.

In rejecting the secretary of the interior’s position that the petitioner lacked the requisite standing, Justice Scalia, writing for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Bennet v. Spear 117 S.Ct. 1154 (1997), held: “That the overall subject matter of this legislation is the environment (a matter in which it is common to think all persons have an interest) and that the obvious purpose of the particular provision in question is to encourage enforcement by so-called ‘private attorney general’.”

These private attorney general provisions in environmental laws in the United States have enabled environmentalists to ensure a more equitable balance between development and preservation.  For example, environmentalists have been able to influence the United States federal government to protect the habitats of the northern spotted owl, the Mexican spotted owl and the grey wolf by limiting development on nearly 18 million acres of land.

In The Bahamas, the government is often compromised when regulating foreign direct investment, given the practice among the political parties of relying on secret campaign contributions from foreign investors who are proposing or conducting foreign direct investment, with environmental implications.  Therefore, the regulation of business should not be left exclusively to the initiative, monitoring and enforcement by the government.  I suggest that, like the United States, every Bahamian should be able to act as a “private attorney general” in the preservation and protection of our environmental laws.

Public access to beaches

Access to the beaches for recreation, exercise and leisure is important part of the Bahamian culture and traditional way of life, as island communities.  However, due to the lack of a rational development strategy, public access to the beaches on New Providence has been severely restricted over the past 30 years, due to the public policy of unrestricted touristic and other development, primarily by foreign investors.

Due to this pattern of development, we have seen, notwithstanding recent beach restoration projects, restriction to Governor’s Beach, Delaporte Beach, Cabbage Beach, Yamacraw Beach and Montagu Beach.

One social or economic class, foreign or local, should not be allowed to dominate the use of beaches in The Bahamas.  We must, in our public policy, strike an equitable balance between the accommodation of economic development and the right of all of our people to have reasonable access to the beach resources of our country.  Smart urban planning will protect the natural, historical and cultural patrimony of this country for future generations of Bahamians and visitors.

There is a growing recognition in the Caribbean region generally that the citizens’ right in a healthy and productive natural and social environment should be treated as a fundamental right.  The Constitutional Commission of Jamaica in its final report, dated February 1994, recommended that the Jamaican Constitution should be amended to include, amongst other things, “the right to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage”.

Similarly, the report of the Constitutional Review Commission of Barbados, dated December 1998, recommended that the Barbadian Constitution be amended to include, amongst other things, the duty and responsibility of every person in Barbados “to value and preserve the rich heritage of Barbadian culture” and to “create and maintain a clean and healthy environment and have compassion for living creatures”.

Further, the Barbadian Commission recommended that the Constitution be amended so that the state shall have the responsibility to “ensure that the beaches and public areas are accessible to all and do not become the exclusive preserve of any one sector of the community” and to “give the highest priority in the planning and execution of government policy to the preservation and protection of the natural environment of Barbados, which it shall hold as a sacred trust for future generations”.   The current laissez faire policy of The Bahamas with respect to the Bahamian environment is out of step with the growing regional consensus that we must, through the Constitution, statutes and common law, pronounce a rational policy for the preservation and protection of our natural environment and cultural and historical heritage.

Recommendations

Since our Constitution is the most authoritative statement of the Bahamian community’s aspirations, expectations and policies, I recommend that our Constitution be amended to include the following provisions:

1. Every person shall have the right to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological, cultural and historical heritage.

2. Every community should be adequately and meaningfully consulted in the decision-making process before the approval of any project that may adversely affect the quality of life and welfare of any Bahamian community.

3. The state shall ensure that the beaches and public areas are accessible to all and do not become the exclusive preserve of any one sector of the community.

4. The state shall give the highest priority in the planning and execution of government policy to the preservation and protection of the natural environment and cultural heritage of The Bahamas, which it shall hold as a sacred trust for future generations of Bahamians.

Finally, all future environmental legislations presented to the House of Assembly should contain a “private attorney general” provision which will enable any Bahamian citizen to challenge an environmental decision by a public authority to protect the good health of Bahamians and visitors and the ensure a clean environment.

• Alfred Sears is an attorney, a former member of Parliament and a former attorney general of The Bahamas.

Oct 11, 2012


thenassauguardian

Constitutional reform pt. 9: ... ...The current development strategy in The Bahamas, industrialization and modernization ...by inviting foreign direct investment by large multinational resorts and financial institutions, some of which employ thousands of Bahamian workers ...require a redefinition of trade unions in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 ...in order to achieve a better balance of power between capital and labor in The Bahamas

Constitutional reform Pt. 7: ... ...I, therefore, recommend that we amend our constitution to provide for the public funding of national elections ...with appropriate legislation to establish a system of public campaign financing ...to better secure the right to vote, reduce corruption of the political process and increase competition by independent candidates and small parties

Constitutional reform pt. 6: ... ...I recommend therefore that the recommendations of the disbanded Legal Aid Commission be reviewed ...and used as a guide for the establishment of a Public Defender’s Office and Legal Aid Facility, funded from public and private sources ...to balance the power and resources that the attorney general, the director of public prosecutions and commissioner of police bring to the prosecution on behalf of the state ...and to give the indigent defendant and litigant a fair opportunity to defend her or his life, liberty and property

Constitutional reform, pt. 5: ... ...In interpreting the Constitution of The Bahamas, the Court should give a generous interpretation to the constitutional provisions ...and avoid “the austerity of tabulated legalism”... ...In an open democratic society, the protection of human rights is not just the business of judges and lawyers... ...It is everyone’s business... ...As noted by Professor Lung-Chu-Chan, human rights can flourish, only when every member ...and every sector of the community is vigilant in defending and protecting them

Constitutional reform, pt. 4: ... ...I now offer some recommendations for consideration in the reform of Chapter 2 of the Bahamian Constitution

Constitutional reform, pt.3: ... ...The need for constitutional reform is most dramatically illustrated in the constitutional provisions dealing with citizenship

Constitutional reform, pt. 2: ... ...The preamble of the Bahamian constitution, I submit, has a number of weaknesses... ...First, there is no reference to the historical fact of 300 years of slavery of African people in The Bahamas ...or the genocide of the Lucayan/Arawak people by the European presence ...two critical aspects of the historical evolution of the Bahamian polity and society... ...Second, the preamble mischaracterizes the incorporation and colonization of The Bahamas into the triangular slave trade, initiated by and for the benefit of Europe, as: “...rediscovery of this family of islands, rocks and cays heralded the rebirth of the New World.”

Constitutional reform Pt. 1: ... ...After 39 years of constitutional practice in The Bahamas, it is now time that we examine our constitution ...to determine if it conforms to the demands and expectations of contemporary Bahamian society... ...Does the Bahamian constitution reflect the contemporary shared expectations and experiences of the Bahamian community today?