Letter Writer Cries Nepotism of the Highest Order

Dear Editor,

In June he declared, in parliament, a moratorium on all hiring, all promotions, and the suspension of all increment payments, in the civil service, for the 2010/2011 fiscal year, but in July he promoted Nicole Campbell, his sister-in-law; Is this nepotism or not? Why in the hell would we, Bahamians, continue to accept and allow this “box fish head” man to get away with killing every one of the rest of us, daily, while he takes good care of his own family members at our expense? Taxes paid, by all of us, which go into the consolidated fund, are to be disbursed, by the government, for the benefit of all of us taxpayers; not just Ingraham’s family members and cronies.  If that were Perry Christie who was caught red handed committing similar acts of nepotism as was done in this case with Hubert Ingraham, the press (especially the Tribune) would have had him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for at least a week of front page headlines.

I interpret a “moratorium” as meaning a complete stop to additional spending for a specified period; as meaning making no moves which would cost the public treasury additional spending for that said period and, further, as meaning( and for further emphasis) hold the line on all additional and unnecessary expenditure. But, obviously, the word has some other cock and bull meaning to this, “lame brain dunce” of a prime minister.

I predict, notwithstanding, that by October 1st, when the second quarter of this fiscal period begins, the country will witness another shortfall of at least 10% of the revenue projected and budgeted. It is bound to happen, given the difficult times and the huge increases in customs duty rates and vehicular licensing, among other things. I was in conversation, recently, with a heavy equipment operator who informed me that his company has a fleet of 17 dump trucks. He told me that at last year’s licensing period, his business had declined to such an extent that he needed only to renew the licenses of 10 of those 17 vehicles; this year, he said, he will probably need only to renew the licenses of 3 of those 10, as his business has gotten progressively, and far, worse since last year. The revenue which Ingraham expects to take in from all the vehicles registered, to date, on the books at road traffic, will not be realized because, I further predict, many thousands of automobile owners will find, when the time comes around for them to license their trucks and cars, that they simply cannot afford to pay the huge increased fees and they will opt (forcibly) to leave the vehicles unregistered until they can find the financial means to do so. Many will, out of necessity I am quite sure, take their chances in driving their unlicensed vehicles sometimes; in the process creating a dangerous hazard on our streets.

I am amazed and grieved at the same time at how Ingraham can simply declare that the struggling janitresses who are employed in the government service will not be getting their increments this year and, like the dictator he is, he clarified the point by telling them that they will not be getting this year’s increment ever; “hear me good” he said, “I will not owe you the increment; I said you will not be getting it” said the dictator. “The  government will not owe you anything and that’s that.” While he was taking these peanuts from those Janitresses he was, at the same time, promoting his sister-in-law from her position as under secretary at the ministry of works to acting permanent secretary at the ministry of youth, sports with a huge increase in her salary. It seems to me that Hubert and Charles have a very special thing going on but I hope and pray, in the name of Jesus, that it isn’t what I think it is; for if the relationship is what am feeling it might be, then God help Bahamaland.

There is another lady here in Freeport (it is widely reported on the streets) who Ingraham allegedly has a very strong affinity with. She was dismissed from the employ of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, recently, and while the rumor mill has it that she, too, was a very special, intimate lady friend of one Hubert Ingraham’s, I, personally, don’t know that to be a fact. I do know, however, that within a couple months of her being dismissed from the employ of the Grand Bahama Port Authority she landed a nice $50,000 a year job, I am told, in the office of the prime minister here in Freeport; her job description? To go from house to house, in the Pinder’s Point-Hunters areas, interviewing the residents and getting their feedback on the widely talked about relocation exercise, for the residents in those settlements. Quite frankly I believe the whole exercise is a hoax being perpetrated on the good residents of the Pinder’s Point/Hunters/Mack town areas. They were complaining about the hazardous chemical plants, which surround that community, so Hubert came up with this re-location ploy to appease the people. I submit, humbly, that they have no intentions of doing a damn thing about the matter, for where will the money come from for such a mammoth undertaking? It seems to me that Ingraham has an unremorseful, ingrained, bad nepotism habit which he practices at will.

…and then there is the unresolved case of the “Mona Vie” matter where the customs duty rates were, illegally, ordered to remain at lower rates than they should be, under law, essentially for the financial benefit of a junior cabinet minister’s family member(his sister-in-law, no less). In that matter Ingraham made it abundantly clear, in the parliament, that he instructed his junior, lackey, minister to pen, as was said, those instructions to the comptroller of Customs, instructing the comptroller to maintain the illegal lower rate of duty, for which both the substantive finance minister and his junior (since by their own admission they were both complicit to the offence) ought to have been made to account, to the Comptroller, for this breach of the customs management act. This, I’ve always maintained, beyond a shadow of doubt, given that this is my area of professional expertise, was a clear breach of the customs laws; and a clear case of nepotism of the highest order, to booth.

Given the above examples of favorite and nepotism practices in this FNM Administration, how does Ingraham explain his disgraceful behavior in his handling of Cheryl Grant-Bethel’s” matter? After all those years working, diligently, her way up the ladder to within one promotion from the top position in her department, she is being humiliated and treated like a dog. To punish her for being the wife of a former cabinet minister in the PLP government (I submit) is a shameful and despicable act, especially after promising her the post. Ingraham declared in parliament that he had good reason for changing his mind and breaking his promise to her and that a female Jamaican lawyer will now be given the substantive post of DPP in the Attorney General’s office, effective 1st August. So Mrs. Bethel has now been locked out of her office and relegated to some clerical post, purportedly, to review laws which are already on the books and which might need some fixing, thus clearing the way for this Jamaican female to move in. What would you call it , if after acting in the substantive post for months, and doing a great job in the position, it is then snatched away from her and given to a foreigner-a Jamaican woman no less? And then to ad insult to her injury, she was actually locked out of her office without being given the courtesy of some time to clean out her desk. I suggest that Ingraham, being the spineless, spiteful, selfish grizzly beast that he is, planned her demise all along and went out of his way to humiliate this career civil servant. Sadly it will be the tax payers who will end up, obliged to pay the damages which the courts will award her, I submit, for Ingraham’s nonsense. That creature (Ingraham) should be made to pay personally for his recklessness. I would like to see this distressful “house nigger” locked away and doing time for all the damage he has done to the civil service and the many Bahamian lives he has destroyed. He is, without a doubt, a very sick individual.

This man has wrecked the civil service and the country, but alas the time will come-and it ain’t long now-when civil servants and all other voters in this country, in 2012, will exact their vengeance from this lousy Free National Movement Government of Hubert Alexander Ingraham.

Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
17th July 2010.