Laing puts both feet in his mouth

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Oswald Brown

Dear Editor,

According to Zhivargo Laing, Grand Bahama is the “best kept secret in the Americas.” ZNS News reported last night that Laing made this startling statement to a group of businessmen at a meeting held in Canada yesterday. 

Laing went to Canada in his capacity as the Minister of State for Finance along with Prime Minister Hubert “THE DICTATOR” Ingraham, Minister of Finance, for the annual meetings of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), but they decided to turn the trip into a promotional tour for The Bahamas and were accompanied by Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and a group of Bahamian business persons. They are scheduled to return to The Bahamas on Thursday.

Obviously, Laing must have been totally unaware of the implications of his remarks about Grand Bahama being the best kept secret in the Americas; otherwise, he would have adhered to the advice implicit in a “Thought For Today” that I posted on Facebook yesterday, which said: “Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.”

Zhivargo Laing

Isn’t Lang intelligent enough to realize that his remarks were a total indictment of the FNM government? Didn’t he understand that what he was saying is that the FNM has totally neglected to promote Grand Bahama to the outside world? Didn’t he realize that the FNM government’s decision to halt ZNS national broadcasts from Grand Bahama could be interpreted as meaning that the FNM wanted to keep Grand Bahama as the best kept secret in the Americas?

As the Member of Parliament for Marco City, a constituency in Grand Bahama, he should hang his head in shame for having the audacity to make such an admission. That’s like rubbing salt into the gaping wound inflicted on the people of Grand Bahama by the neglect of the Ingraham administration.

What I suspect is that Laing was reacting to widespread criticism of his failure to even mention Grand Bahama’s name in his address at the FNM’s mass rally on Clifford Park on Saturday, March 19; instead, he used that occasion to brag about what a great leader The Bahamas has in Ingraham, clearly indicating that praising Ingraham was more important that suggesting solutions to the high unemployment and other problems facing his constituents and, indeed, Grand Bahamians in general. So given the opportunity to “promote” Grand Bahama to the Canadian people, he ended up putting both feet in his mouth.

With a general election not far away, voters in Marco City must remind Laing of his poor representation when he comes knocking on their doors seeking their support for his re-election bid. Fortunately, residents of Marco City are being offered an outstanding candidate by the Progressive Liberal Party in Gregory Moss, who has demonstrated that a humble beginning in life is no barrier to what one can accomplish through hard work and a determination to achieve. As a successful Grand Bahama-based lawyer, Moss proved that he has strong leadership skills during his recent two-year tenure as president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, and because he comes from a humble background (his mother was a maid who struggled to provide him with a good education), he understands the plight of the small man.

In all fairness, though, Laing also comes from a humble background (his mother was a straw vendor), but he has allowed his blind devotion to Ingraham to prove that John Morley, the late British Liberal statesman and writer, was absolutely correct when he made this profound statement: “No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his character.”

 Yours sincerely,

Oswald T. Brown

Freeport, Grand Bahama

14 COMMENTS

  1. Good article Mr. Brown, however this isnt the first time Cry Baby Sour Laing has put both of his paws in his mouth! Ever listen to his speeches, he sounds like a mule of the highest order. If Mr. Laing is the best Marco City or The Bahamas has to offer, then we are all in deep trouble as we in Marco City deserve better.

  2. Bahamians are a bunch of fools I did not go to college
    but I hear the dumbest things come out of the mouth of smart people the government does the people no favors
    their job is to see everything is in place and bring their people standard higher

  3. Noting the Minister for Marco City says surprises me, nor does it include knowledge or fact, this appointment by the Prime Minister is just following with his mode of operation, which is to throw his ‘dogs’ a bone (no knowledge, experience, tact, professionalism required). My issue with it is, what these international bodies must think of Bahamians if these are the best and brightest that we can export for representation? Tragic!

  4. There’s a good chance Ossie that you’ll set off a chain reaction of yawns? This is 2011 so modernize your comments to suit today’s Bahamians?

  5. This is expected from him, every one but Grand Bahamiams could see the suffering the FNM has put Grand Bahama (FNM City) Through. Yes They are my brothers and sisters over there but what they get they take I een feeling sorry for someone who know the fire burning them but continue to put their hand in it!!!

  6. Mr. Brown’s comments are certainly justified, i watched Laing also and thought to my self, what the hell is this man talking about! he is so lost in HubertIngraham, oh what damaging influences this leader has on his puppets.

  7. Mr. Brown’s comments are certainly justified, i watched Laing also and thought to my self, what the hell is this nut job talking about! he is so lost in HubertIngraham, oh what damaging influences this leader has on his puppets.

  8. Why in God’s name does everything have to be so political??? I would think, as a Bahamian, you should applaud the efforts of Minister Laing in his attempts to generate interest in Grand Bahama! I assume you are a member or a strong supporter of the PLP. When that party was in power, what in the hell did it do for Grand Bahama???? It did Ginn, which continues to experience severe financial issues? Why is it that the PLP is the best thing now since sliced bread but when all was good economically, as your Party always claimed, your Party didn’t complete much for the economy. I heard Leslie Miller on More FM the other day talking about the fuel prices, LNG, etc. However, when that government was in power it did nothing to bring his ideas to fruition. The PLP was boasting about the significant amount of foreign reserves, which was a result of “foreign” investments (remember, the PLP thinks less of foreigners). However, in less than 5 years, it has taken the FNM, under the umbrella of one of the worst economic times, in history of the Bahamas and the world, to complete the Straw Market, the airport, the road improvement project (including water mains), the schools, the revitalization of downtown Nassau, the BahaMar deal, the sale of BTC (finally) just to name a few. I get so annoyed at your Party sir, when you attempt to lay blame on the FNM when your Party could have completed major projects during its term governing, which could have prevent the conditions of today! COME ON MAN!!!! Your Party is expecting Bahamians to support it when it brings back Bradley Roberts as Chairman and now Leslie Miller as a candidate for Blue Hills!

    • @WHAP
      Yea…they did “ALL” that, that the PLP left on the table, because the FNM campaignedon a bunch of “half truths”, which the Bahamian people got sucked into ..and is now REGRETTING!” And most of all they did “ALL” that by burdening the Bahamian people with a national debt the largest ever (over 1.4 Billion $)! You seem so proud …wow!!

      • I have had my fill of PLP’s talking about what was “On the table” and what was “stopped, reviewed and cancelled”. Firstly, if a plan is drawn up and is never ACTED upon, it remains , just that, a plan! Draw a house plan and leave it sitting on the table and talk about how you going to build the house and see if your house gets built!. As far as stopping reviewing and cancelling, Thank God that this was done, otherwise we would have been paying 20Million plus for a straw market that is nearing completion for more than $10 Million less. That alone was worth stopping and reviewing and that was just one! then PLPs have the nerve to talk shaving cream about the national debt! You see once their croonies can bilk (that means tief) the public money, all is well, no one hears a peep about the national debt then, because they too busy wallowing in gravy. There is a saying, repeat a lie long enough and you begin to believe it is true, the PLP has perfected this! and unfortunately there are some who swallow it hook, line and sinker! Unfortunately for them, there are those in this country who can see through their hypocrisy and will not fall prey to their BS. I for one will not! Step to me with some logic or step back! empty rhetoric and the them against us crap has long been played out! Tell me what you going to do, not what the FNM is not doing. Can anyone seriously say that The Bahamas would be better off with a party whose leader is MIA when a decision is being made to sell off a prime national asset to an unknown entity? you gat to be jokin! talk to people stupid enough to swallow that BS, but those among us with some intelligence ain’t buying it!

      • So I guess the government of the day should have laid off government workers and not allowed the 400+ young men to have an opportunity to be employed under the road improvement project in order to allow the national debt to remain at pre recessionary levels? By the way, Bahamians made a decision to remove the Christie administration in 2007 because with all of the talk of how good things were, not much was done. However, as a PLP supporter, you would never admit that that administration was keyless in its managing of the government’s affairs. The Bahamian people clearly voiced their dissatisfaction in 2007 and have the same opportunity to vote the FNM out if they are not pleased. All I know is that in good times nuttin’ much was done by your PLP government!

    • Whap, you are such an FNM boot licker! Why don’t you list the accomplishments realized under this FNM government that were actually the brain child of this administration. The only two that come to mind are the unpopular road work and the BTC sale to Cable & Wireless; both of which have angered masses of Bahamians. More could have been accomplished under this administration if they were more about the advancement of the Bahamian people rather than being preoccupied with the PLP performance. Instead of trying to forge ahead with the projects that were on the table, they came to office with the mindset to stop, review and cancel. Take ya head out of the sand; ya @$$ is exposed!!!

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