Click to listen to ZNS report at FCIB Exclusive with ZNS TV news
Nassau, Bahamas: As reported on this blog today FristCaribbean Bank’s Chairman Michael Mansoor flew to Nassau and confirmed reports that FirstCaribbean bank will indeed let go a small number of staff at the Bank.
Bahamas Press reported on last week that, “[A] Press statement will be release from Barbados between now and Monday morning.” However, the Chairman came to the Bahamas to deliver that statement on the position of the bank.
Bank executive Sharon Brown told a ZNS reporter that some areas of the bank will need reduced staff levels and in some an increase. She noted however that the downsizing will in no way be near the large amounts reported by Bahamas Press (160) workers. (AGAIN WE SAVED SOME JOBS)
Last week we noted that this blog might have saved some jobs at the bank and the press conference today confirmed our story on March 4th, 2009 (https://www.bahamaspress.com/?paged=2).
Mansooor also confirmed that the FCIB had made investments in the now failed CLICO Insurance company, however he assured that nothing the bank invested in CLICO will be lost.
Now that the bank executives have confirmed the downsizing, and have made their release public as we warned. Let see if Sharon Brown will now be removed as Managing Director. Two down one more to go.
Bahamas Press, REAL NEWS!
@Drama King
Well as we’ve always said and continue to say, it is YOU the people, THE THOUSANDS OF YOU, that has made Bahamas Press the power base it is today in this country.
You all have their waters on. You guys and girls have made your concerns known to the world. You have the AG, Reporters, their Publishers and the wider society who deflect news in this town waters on.
And their waters are on becausee they don’t know what any of you will say next. Like that FNM former minister who took all his money out of CLICO, whilst the people got the RAT TRAP on their heads. AND NOT A DAMN REPORTER SAID A WORD!
YOU, YOU, YOU ALL HAVE MADE BAHAMAS PRESS this now much talked about anonymous website. And plenty a them know, IF they call our names, WE COMING WILL BE COMING AFTER THEM!
Bahamas Press/editor
Boy BP you surely got these FirstCaribbean people waters on. Whole front page story in the Guardian today. They scared to say the words BAHAMAS PRESS eh? All you can read is “a blog” dis and “a blog” dat. BP you got plenty power.
‘We saved some jobs’. Ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHHAAA
@Rupert
Well Rupert as you know we have not bought the Nassau Guardian since the year rolled in. And the ‘Toilet Paper’ is where ya put us. Everyone including the AG is reading Bahamas Press, and we don’t read a piece of them WUTLESS daily newspapers.
Now we say all this hoping we haven’t offended CANDIA DAMES, it is our view that she is the nearest thing in the business to the word PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST.
But still these days we hardly read a word that is written in the media. For if any of them did their jobs CLICO clients would have their money today. And workers at FirstCaribbean Bank would be NOT be fearing for their JOBS! As you know RUPERT, BP breaking news these days, so why read something we already wrote days ago?
Bahamas Press/Editor
PS: And Rupert have you notice, NONE OF THE PAPERS refer to us anymore? What they scared of? They think we will take a jab at them ech? I mean even the scribe afraid to say Bahamas Press said something. Everyone keep referring to this website, dis webite, an anonymous website, but no one calling the name.
When we refer to some organization we CALL IT BY THE NAME! We don’t say a popular website. CALL US BY OUR NAME BAHAMASPRESS.COM, so we can respond! Be like BODIE said last week, “FIRSTCARIBBEAN BANK responds to Bahamas Press!”
But here’s the news, they didn’t have the nerve to deny what we said was false. For as we said, IF THEY PUSH US, WE WOULD PUBLISH THE LIST OF EMPLOYEE NAMES THAT WAS TO GO LAST WEEK!
THEY KNOW BP GAT THEY NUMBER! WE FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT THE CROOKS!
BP, what u do to Candia Dames?……….Online defamation concerns increase
By CANDIA DAMES
Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com
When a popular blog posted inaccurate information about FirstCaribbean International Bank recently, it created widespread concerns that there could be a run on the bank.
FirstCaribbean quickly re-sponded by releasing information assuring that it was financially sound and that there was no truth to reports that had been published on the online site about the institution.
The FirstCaribbean matter is just one of many stories published on various Baham-ian online “news sites” where anyone writing in has the freedom to report on all manner of things – some of it factual; much of it not.
Perhaps not surprisingly, politicians are often the ones written about, but so are other people who are named. On the blogs, there is no end to the range of opinions people express. Some of the writers are named, but many are anonymous, using online names with their frequent postings.
One site steals legitimate news stories published in the local press and changes headlines and sometimes lead paragraphs – often making them defamatory – but leaves the name of the newspaper and the reporter on those stories. The impression anyone reading the changed stories could get is that the legitimate newspapers and their reporters are defaming people.
With these blogs growing in popularity, there are rising concerns that they could be doing more harm than good.
Attorney General Michael Barnett said there’s a fine line between exercising one’s constitutional right to freely express opinions, and defaming people.
“From an attorney general’s point of view, you have to be concerned about whether the publication amounts to a criminal libel,” Barnett said yesterday, “bearing in mind the balancing act in terms of the constitutional right of freedom of speech. You don’t want to be able to suppress legitimate criticism and legitimate comment, but when it borders on criminal libel then it becomes an issue for criminal law and that’s something that you have to carefully look at.”
Delroy Meadows, the own-er and administrator of the hugely popular and highly dynamic website, baha-masissues.com, said there’s no way anyone can police the Internet.
Meadows’ site has hundreds of postings daily from Baha-mians at home and all over the world. He said he tries his best to police the site, but admitted that because it’s extremely active some inappropriate comments do slip through.
“The site is a forum that allows Bahamians to find solutions to various problems that take place in the society on a daily basis,” Meadows said yesterday. “The goal is to create dialogue among Bahamians.”
He said freedom of the press and freedom of expression are important to the site, but admitted that some comments posted are defamatory.
“We don’t support any kind of defamation on the site; it’s not the purpose of the site,” Meadows said. “The difference between print media and online media is that (with online media) you have an open forum that’s dynamic.”
“The web is different (from other media),” added Mea-dows, whose site is registered outside The Bahamas. “You can’t legislate the Internet. It’s really up to the administrators to try their best (to police it).”
But Barnett said regardless of where these sites are registered, their information is still published in The Bahamas, and in order to prove defamation one has to first prove that the information was published. He said defamation laws apply to online publication.
Former Minister of State for Legal Affairs Desmond Bannister said he has had personal experience with this issue.
“Someone went on a website and they posted something about me being a bagman for a politician somewhere back in history,” Bannister said. “And I had to speak with the person who puts that site up and ask him to take it off because it was untrue. I was in high school when these things were alleged to have occurred. So people go on the Internet; they smear others; they do a lot of things that are indecent and they hide behind this huge Internet that has been so anonymous, but the good thing is that our police have an amazing amount of technology and there are a lot of things that they can do that people don’t even know they can do. The police have the ability to trace, many, many crimes.”
But there are many challenges associated with trying to address this complicated problem, Bannister recognized.
“One of the challenges that we will face, I’m sure, is determining where servers are, where something is posted and what is the jurisdiction,” he said.
“Those are issues that lawyers consider. But we have to be able – no matter how wide ranging and all encompassing the Internet is – to review acts that are done that cause public outrage, that are regarded as indecent. We have to be able to find ways to criminalize and punish them.”
Media, I have to mention something off topic….WHY DOES JOHN MARQUIS have a voice in our country? For his latest antics, he should definitely be cast out… He doesn’t respect Bahamians and plays a huge role in mainstream Bahamian media.
I just heard from another source that this Bank is truly in jeopardy. I heard that their stocks were not doing good for a long time now. Was a little speculative of BP’s report but now I see that it’s not far at all from the truth.
I have info from a reliable source that a small amount of persons begun receiving letters yesterday.
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