Bad Management, WUTLESS leadership the people who has overstayed their time in government has brought the country to its knees. Keep ya eye on him the real barefoot bandit.
Oswald Brown
Oswald Brown Writes
There can no longer be any doubt about the hatred which Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham apparently holds for the residents of Grand Bahama, if what fired Minister of Housing Kenneth Russell said at a press conference on his return to Grand Bahama on Friday afternoon is true.
Russell confirmed that a project planned for East Grand Bahama was turned down four times by Ingraham, and if I’m correct in assuming that the project in question is a major hotel development planned for Barbary Beach, then it is absolutely disgraceful that Ingraham would have extended his personal feud with Sir Jack Hayward to this level.
Can you imagine what impact this multi-million dollar project would have had on Grand Bahama’s ailing economy? By now that project would have been completed or very near completion, which would have meant that hundreds of Grand Bahamians would have been gainfully employed and the unemployment rate in Grand Bahama would be no way near the estimated 25 percent it currently is.
But because of a major differences of opinion with Sir Jack Hayward, one of the principal owners of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), Ingraham launched a personal war against Sir Jack and the refusal of permission to allow the Barbary Beach hotel complex to get started appears to have been one of the weapons he used in his personal war against Sir Jack.
Of course, the most damaging decision that he made aimed at hurting Sir Jack and the GBPA was the denial of a work permit in December of 2009 to Hannes Babak, the then chairman of the GBPA. Following the death of Edward St. George, who was an equal partner with Sir Jack in the ownership of the GBPA, St. George’s widow, Lady Henrietta St. George, and Sir Jack agreed that Babak was the best person to continue the remarkable job Edward St. George had done to lure big-time investors to Freeport.
But for purely personal petty reasons, Ingraham announced that Babak’s work permit would not be renewed during a press conference held at the Sir Lynden Pindling International Airport shortly before he left for a conference in Europe. Indications that this may have been a spur-of-the moment decision surfaced when it was reported that the then Minister with responsibility for Immigration, Branville McCartney, knew absolutely nothing about Babak’s work permit not being renewed.
Further evidence of Ingraham’s disdain for residents of Grand Bahama is reflected in his decision to discontinue nightly broadcasts of ZNS-13 news from Grand Bahama for the totally ridiculous reason that the $70,000 annually to continue the broadcasts was too costly. When you consider the fact that this is less than the annual salary of a member of his over bloated cabinet, then the conclusion can easily be reached that this decision was yet another arsenal in his war against Sir Jack, with the given objective being to diminish the importance of Freeport as the second most populous city in The Bahamas.
Although the shabby manner in which he treated Kenneth Russell today may not have been a part of his organized plan to downgrade the importance of Freeport, it is nonetheless undeniable evidence that he does not particularly like residents of Grand Bahama.
This being the case, how can he possibly expect FNMs in Grand Bahama to support his personal choices as candidates for the FNM in the next general election. We will just have to wait and see how FNMs, particularly in Kenneth Russell’s stronghold in East Grand Bahama, react to the candidates that Ingraham will attempt to push down their throats.
It will certainly be interesting to see the end results of this intriguing chain of events, in the aftermath of the Gestapo-like treatment of Kenneth Russell, who was one of Ingraham’s closest allies in the FNM government.
Indeed, on his arrival in Freeport this afternoon after being fired, Kenneth Russell had this about Ingraham’s decision to fire him: “If he can do this to me, he can do it to you; he (Hubert) thinks he is God, but I have God on my side.”
I went to Mary Star and Freeport High. Freeport was very beautiful and full of kind souls. It is a shame what has become of the island. I had always hoped for a rebound so that as i may invest in a piece of property for weekend getaways now from Florida but have found the trips there to be less that average. There are still alot of wonderful people and more than anything i really feel for their plight. Not only are there no jobs due due a lost tourism industry, but the cost of living for basic necesseties are outrageous. My house was broken in 4 times as well as i have been heldup at gunpoint. Even more distressing is the amount of dead coral and otherwise lifesless sea which surround the immediate city.
A study was done recently where it was found that over 70percent of the conch that are being harvested are still “Rollers” which only means that the conch harvest will, not sustain much longer.
I thank the writer of this article for shedding some light on an already foregone conclusion.
@ Finley, this is the same knuckle head idea of Hubert Ingraham.
Yes, the same Prime Minister, who, not too long ago, extended the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, extending the arrangement with the Port for another fifty years, at the time.
Well, that’s foresight and vision and experienced leadership.
Now, the solution is to drive drive Sir Jack out of the country.
Let’s be reminded, this is not the era of Piracy and bootlegging. We are players on the world stage and the world is watching.
Hubert Ingraham is the biggest loser this government has ever come in contact with. He disgusts me to the highest capacity of the word. All that matters to them is money in their pockets nice rides and homes for their wives and multiple sweetharts and they need you to keep buying their dreams to upkeep their style of living while the country and its people pay the price by suffering.
The government is paying the salaries of workers at Our Lucaya today. It is absolute foolishness to build another hotel on Grand Bahama in this environment (Grand Bahama). Sir Jack needs to sell and go. I would never side with any foreigner against the Bahamain government, whether PLP, FNM or other! Mr. Brown needs to be investigated and tried for giving aide and comfort to enemies of The Bahamas.
Lawd have mercy. Thomas F, you are so correct. Maintain the hotels that are down there before venturing off into hazy pastures. I mean, create an environment and reduce those crazy costs associated with doing business down there.
Even the tourists avoid Freeport GB like the plague. The GBPA and their sister heir the Freeport Power comany is gasping for breathe as they have nothing left to take from anybody. They have killed Freeport dead with their croyism and stupid fees. If a business does well down there, they strike at the heart at that business, especially a black owned business because in the minds of those GBPA personnel, nobody should be doing well down there in these tough times, and if a few persons are doing well they must be taxed! Modern day slavery. Their model is no longer working. They have taken monies from all, and in the end, as it is now in Freeport, we see a breakdown of government officials over there because they are clueless and hopeless. Everyone wants whats left of a bed ridden dying Freeport, even Customs who are now trying to poke holes in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement looking for flaws so that they too can charge the poor people down there stamp duty and custom fees.
Freeport is finished. Doomed by greed, and I would encourage any foreign investor to take your dollars to Abaco in the North. Don’t take it to Nassau as it is overdeveloped and there is no longer any room for a profitable return on foreign investments. Take your dollars to Abaco. If you do go Freeport, you will be greeted by Fred Smith and his team of cronies from the GBPA who anxiously await your exit from the stairs of the jet that you arrive on so that can greese your pockets.
Any question of missappropriation by the GBPA and Fred Smith, QC takes to the media holding the one peice of document that protects the rich in GB and he crys shame and foul on anybody who challenges those agreements. The same document that keeps the few rich elites in power for another 90+ years. The doomed and flawed Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
Freeport is indeed dead. Rest in peace, and you will be remembered Grand Bahama. You will be remembered…
I went to Mary Star and Freeport High. Freeport was very beautiful and full of kind souls. It is a shame what has become of the island. I had always hoped for a rebound so that as i may invest in a piece of property for weekend getaways now from Florida but have found the trips there to be less that average. There are still alot of wonderful people and more than anything i really feel for their plight. Not only are there no jobs due due a lost tourism industry, but the cost of living for basic necesseties are outrageous. My house was broken in 4 times as well as i have been heldup at gunpoint. Even more distressing is the amount of dead coral and otherwise lifesless sea which surround the immediate city.
A study was done recently where it was found that over 70percent of the conch that are being harvested are still “Rollers” which only means that the conch harvest will, not sustain much longer.
I thank the writer of this article for shedding some light on an already foregone conclusion.
@ Finley, this is the same knuckle head idea of Hubert Ingraham.
Yes, the same Prime Minister, who, not too long ago, extended the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, extending the arrangement with the Port for another fifty years, at the time.
Well, that’s foresight and vision and experienced leadership.
Now, the solution is to drive drive Sir Jack out of the country.
Let’s be reminded, this is not the era of Piracy and bootlegging. We are players on the world stage and the world is watching.
Hubert Ingraham is the biggest loser this government has ever come in contact with. He disgusts me to the highest capacity of the word. All that matters to them is money in their pockets nice rides and homes for their wives and multiple sweetharts and they need you to keep buying their dreams to upkeep their style of living while the country and its people pay the price by suffering.
The government is paying the salaries of workers at Our Lucaya today. It is absolute foolishness to build another hotel on Grand Bahama in this environment (Grand Bahama). Sir Jack needs to sell and go. I would never side with any foreigner against the Bahamain government, whether PLP, FNM or other! Mr. Brown needs to be investigated and tried for giving aide and comfort to enemies of The Bahamas.
Lawd have mercy. Thomas F, you are so correct. Maintain the hotels that are down there before venturing off into hazy pastures. I mean, create an environment and reduce those crazy costs associated with doing business down there.
Even the tourists avoid Freeport GB like the plague. The GBPA and their sister heir the Freeport Power comany is gasping for breathe as they have nothing left to take from anybody. They have killed Freeport dead with their croyism and stupid fees. If a business does well down there, they strike at the heart at that business, especially a black owned business because in the minds of those GBPA personnel, nobody should be doing well down there in these tough times, and if a few persons are doing well they must be taxed! Modern day slavery. Their model is no longer working. They have taken monies from all, and in the end, as it is now in Freeport, we see a breakdown of government officials over there because they are clueless and hopeless. Everyone wants whats left of a bed ridden dying Freeport, even Customs who are now trying to poke holes in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement looking for flaws so that they too can charge the poor people down there stamp duty and custom fees.
Freeport is finished. Doomed by greed, and I would encourage any foreign investor to take your dollars to Abaco in the North. Don’t take it to Nassau as it is overdeveloped and there is no longer any room for a profitable return on foreign investments. Take your dollars to Abaco. If you do go Freeport, you will be greeted by Fred Smith and his team of cronies from the GBPA who anxiously await your exit from the stairs of the jet that you arrive on so that can greese your pockets.
Any question of missappropriation by the GBPA and Fred Smith, QC takes to the media holding the one peice of document that protects the rich in GB and he crys shame and foul on anybody who challenges those agreements. The same document that keeps the few rich elites in power for another 90+ years. The doomed and flawed Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
Freeport is indeed dead. Rest in peace, and you will be remembered Grand Bahama. You will be remembered…
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