Things They Didn’t Report

The Jumper’s Red Shirt

Just a week or so ago, a young man sat above the 18th floor of Casa Bahama, one of, if not the tallest building in the Bahamas and was moments away from ending it all. The press gave coverage only after the word of mouth network kicked into action, spreading the news even as firemen tried to manage the situation.

 

 

 

The story wound up being the young man was depressed, out of work, had just been evicted and had no money to buy food for him or his mother and was just ready to end it all.

 

What they didn’t say was that the young man symbolically chose to wear a cherry red “Its a Matter of Trust” FNM tee shirt. Symbolic because this young man and his family were said to be supporters of the governing FNM, the so called party of Freeport. Things are tough and people are ready to leap off of buildings. Its time the government recognized the errors of their ways and move at breakneck speed to fix things, even if it means borrowing some old PLP ideas. When people are hurting, it doesn’t matter where the help comes from.

 

Victimization Continues 

 

We overheard the other day that the FNM is really pushing the envelope on government firings. Just the other day, it is alleged, aformer FNM Senator and now chairman of of a government financial institution, walked into the office of the managing director and told him to pack up his things, and be out by the end of the day. 

 

The defiant GM shot back at the chairman that if he wanted him gone, he’d better bring a letter from the PM himself. Concerned staff couldn’t help huddling around the cooler wondering what the hell is this country coming to. By all accounts, the managing director had managed to stabilize the company after years of uncollected debt and out of the blue, the Government sends its henchman to do it’s bidding because the managing director is believed to be a supporter of the PLP. 

 

We understand that the chairman was left a bit embarrassed by the response he got and will no doubt have  a difficult time in the office if he doesn’t get the firing in black and white from Hubert. The Managing Director was smart to demand the dismissal in writing from the office of the Prime Minister. What better way to confirm he was victimized.

 

Another Scandal Brewing in Freeport?

 

We also heard that another scandal is brewing under the FNM in Grand Bahama and fortunately for the Laing clan, it doesn’t include them. We heard that a certain MP and a certain Senator have found a way to use the government constituency allocation for their own personal benefit.

 

There are reports that the young MP has paid for the repaving and some other reconstruction work to some roads in his area out of the 100 Grand given to MPs yearly. That on its own is admirable, especially since the young MP promised on the campaign trail to deliver paved roads. The problem is these roads are in a private subdivision that is owned by the FNM senator. Furthermore, it appears the area in question sits in the boundaries of the city of Freeport and are actually the responsibility of the GBPA. 

 

We hear that the amount of work done came in well under the amount claimed and the Senator got off with having the tax payers pay for road repairs to his development. Either because he is naive or just that brazen, the young MP then went on to give newspaper interviews in The Freeport News bragging about the deal. The question was raised by a Freeport News reporter not assigned to the story and she was sharply criticized by Oswald Brown and told to focus on her own stories. 

 

That’s why you won’t find it reported anywhere else.

Son of AG Staffer Wanted

The son of a senior officer in the Attorney General’s office is wanted by the courts to give testimony in the murder trial of the men accused of killing Mario Miller, son of former PLP MP Leslie Miller.

 

The mother works in a very sensitive area of the Attorney General’s office and her son is allegedly the last person to see Mario alive before he met his death. As the story goes, the son was the one who lured Mario out of his home and took him to what would be his final place on this earth.

 

Now the son is missing.

 

The mother has a long reputation of using her influence and sensitive post in the AG’s office to frustrate cases, make files disappear and make the impossible possible. We heard this lady was also instrumental in covering up the sins of the sons of another senior civil servant in law enforcement.

 

Now that her boy’s day has come, the mother is going to have a difficult time of working her magic act in making yet another of her son’s sins disappear.

More Questions for the FNM

On Monday, the House of Assembly met and it was Opposition Day. Lost in the back and forth over what is and what isn’t “sissy talk” was a very interesting line of questioning by Shane Gibson involving ongoing investigations into criminal cases involving people related to FNM members.

 

The first involved the female relative of the PM who was caught up in a cocaine bust on Abaco. When the police reported the matter to the press, it included the gal and her male co-conspirator but somehow, in between being caught and being charged, the gal was let go. Is it any coincidence that the gal who gets off free is a cousin to the chief? While we feel no pity for anyone in the drug trade, hanging a $10 Million bust around the neck of this one guy while the gal gets off has got to suck. It also suggests that maybe, just maybe, some other little under the table deal is afoot.

 

Equally disturbing is the fact that not one word has been mentioned about the case of Sidney Collie’s brother who was caught on camera ripping off the Chines embassy’s safe. This was reported extensively online and in the mainstream media but since then, not one update. The last word was that the brother was at the Coral Harbour Base under watch while the matter was being investigated. It should have been a short stay as the Chinese had the whole incident on tape. They got the brother sneaking in and doing the deed and were reportedly extremely upset over the matter.

 

Will it be any surprise if the Chinese are still upset that it had to take Shane Gibson asking about it to get it back in the public domain? They should be because this is likely the only place you’ll see the question repeated. What happened to the FNM being the answer to crime?

Busts Up on PI: Big Cover Up?

For some people, its good to have friends in high places. This past weekend, another politician was caught in the middle of an embarrassing episode involving the abuse and battery of a woman. 

We hear from reliable sources that a PLP turncoat and new found friend of Hubert Ingraham was involved in a confrontation with a young lady over PI that escalated to the point where the 6′5″ 250lb plus sized fellow had to be pulled off of the lady. What makes this even more shocking is where it took place: under the stairway of Club Aura at Sol Kerzner’s Atlantis Resort. Security personnel rushed to the scene when onlookers were alarmed to see this big gorilla of a man going at it physically with the young lady right in plain sight of Atlantis guests. We hear the couple were taken aside but as with most things, because of who was involved, no police were called and no report filed.

 

We hear that the troll has a long history of this kind of behaviour. A few years back, he almost got his head handed to him while a member of the PLP when he got into a row with the son of a Bahamian business giant in the old Club 601 over a girl they were both denying having an interest in. Finding no fear in his rival, as the story goes, the troll took to the gal with his hand before bouncers stepped in. Then there was the fight that wasn’t a fight fight with a former feisty yet diminutive colleague at work.

 

For the causal observer, and that is all we are in this case, it seems this guy has issues with women and can only resort to violence when dealing with them. For someone so big and imposing, it is ironic that in his two reported brush ins with men, he froze and shrunk like a dried up prune. One opponent is only about 5′8″ and 210 soaking wet and the super rich son of the Bahamian business man is about 5′10″ and 200 on a good day. It seems Mr. Big is a bit fearful of a fair fight and shows off by beating on defenseless women and not a word of it was put in a police report despite the Paradise Island police branch being fully aware and discussing it amongst each other.  How do you think we heard about it? Okay then.