NASSAU--DECEMBER MONTHLY

UNCLAS NASSAU 000024 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BF ECON EFIN SUBJECT: NASSAU--DECEMBER MONTHLY REF: 09 NASSAU 775; 09 NASSAU 773; 09 NASSAU 764; 09 NASSAU 533 09 NASSAU 461; 09 NASSAU 452 ¶1. This is a monthly report on a variety of topics of interest which do not merit full reporting cables. -- Key Opposition Party Resignation Causes Outrage and a Possible Runoff Election -- Government Corruption Focus of Special Committee Probe And On-Going Investigations -- PLP Purports to take Moral High Road In Reaction To Ambassador's Human Rights Op-Ed -- Bahamas Debt Reaches nearly 55 percent of GDP, Credit Rating Suffers -- Bahamas Moves Forward on Trade Deal with Haiti -- U.S. Trade Representative's Report Grabs Front Page Headlines -- Future of Marital Rape Ban Uncertain as Parliament Session Ends -------------- -------------- Key Political Resignation Causes Party Outrage and a Possible Runoff Election -------------- -------------- ¶2. Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Member of Parliament Malcolm Adderley resigned his position in the House of Assembly, gave up his Chairmanship of the Gaming Board and resigned from his party January 1. Speculation had been mounting for weeks that Adderley was being courted by the Free National Movement (FNM) for a Supreme Court position. Adderley will indeed take up a post on the Supreme Court which prevents him from continuing to have a clear political affiliation as a sitting judge. The move outraged the PLP leadership who now face the possibility of losing the seat they currently hold in the constituency of Elizabeth. PLP leader Perry Christie has been criticized by his own party for failing to expel Adderley from the party or demand that he resign. Rumors within the PLP suggested that Adderley had been disgruntled since the 2002 PLP election victory when he failed to receive a cabinet position. Media reports claim that Adderley knew he was unlikely to get a nomination from the PLP in 2012 if they were to win the election. Adderley's court appointment will ensure that he collects his pension from the House of Assembly and also a significant pension from the judiciary when he retires from his judgeship. -------------- -------------- Government Corruption Focus of Special Committee Probe and ; On-Going Investigations -------------- -------------- ¶3. The House Special Committee on Crown Land heard testimony in November from The Tribune newspaper reporter that exposed a nepotism scandal in the Department of Lands and Surveys. The committee was established to investigate corruption surrounding the alleged inappropriate transfer of government owned land which also included allegations that various officials within the Department expedited applications for family members and friends. The testimony continued in December as members of the Department and real estate agents were summoned to appear before the committee. The Department of Customs also continued to be the focus of on-going corruption investigations. A superintendent allegedly received thousands of dollars in unofficial fees for assessing the manifests of a ship (on 13 separate occasions) at an Exuma Cay where such assessments are not normally conducted. The ship's owner, who reported the incidents to authorities, said that the ship was charged for whatever duties were applicable, as well as a USD 2,300 "appearance fee" for the superintendent. Police have said that the shipping company did not intend any wrongdoing, and will not be criminally liable in the case. -------------- -------------- PLP Purports to take Moral High Road In Reaction To Ambassador's Human Rights Op-Ed -------------- -------------- ¶4. Ambassador Avant's op-ed on The Bahamas human rights votes during the United Nation's Third Committee session has continued to garner significant media coverage. Fred Mitchell, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, broadcast an announcement on JCN TV Channel 14 in which he used the controversy to highlight a political point of contention between the PLP and FNM. Mitchell claimed the PLP was criticized by the FNM when it voted against or abstained on country specific resolutions which it believed to be in The Bahamas best interest while it was in power. Mitchell asked "Does The Bahamas government under an FNM administration that two years ago called the PLP anti-American now consider itself anti-American?" He said that the PLP could take advantage of the controversy for political gain but would not do so. Mitchell also rebuked the Embassy for not privately discussing the matter with the government. He remarked that the issue had caused "legitimate speculation about what this means for the relationship between the two countries" while adding that he did not believe any fundamental change would result from the disagreement. Mitchell used the broadcast to point out that the PLP publicly engaged the Bahamian people in its foreign policy deliberations when it was in power, while the FNM did not. Other articles contained a rehash of the op-ed and GCOB response, while one in particular highlighted what it believed to be the hypocritical stance of the U.S. and Canada in criticizing The Bahamas when they purportedly have their own significant human rights issues. The op-ed continued to receive coverage as recently as January 8 in a prominent opinion piece in the Nassau Guardian. This piece again made the allegation that the change in vote was due to the strengthening relationship between China and The Bahamas, stating that "China has big plans for the Caribbean islands as satellite little communistic nations." However, the author said that the U.S. "simply would not allow that to happen to the extent that it becomes detrimental to the democratic principles that young Americans continue to die to protect around the world." -------------- -------------- Bahamas Debt Reaches nearly 55 percent of GDP, Credit Rating Suffers -------------- -------------- ¶5. Standard and Poor's downgraded The Bahamas long-term sovereign credit rating to BBB+ as a result of falling revenues of 9.2 percent and an "overall weakened fiscal profile." A recent Central Bank report noted that The Bahamas debt-to-GDP ratio is over 50 percent, and attributed the falling revenues to weak consumer demand. The Standard and Poor's report added that The Bahamas has been particularly vulnerable due to its dependence on taxes and international trade, which account for more than 50 percent of tax revenue. Expenditures in the latter half of 2009 increased the deficit by 76.7 percent, relative to 2008. In its report, Central Bank officials noted that the Bahamian economy in 2009 will have contracted by 4.5 percent, an increase of 0.5 percent from initial projections. The report suggested that a return to growth was not anticipated until the latter half of 2010. -------------- - Bahamas Moves Forward on Trade Deal with Haiti -------------- - ¶6. Returning from a recent trade mission to Haiti, Minister of Agriculture Larry Cartwright confirmed that the GCOB has been moving forward on trade negotiations to begin importing agricultural products directly from its southern neighbor. Cartwright noted that a major complication of the negotiations was the GCOB's ability to certify fruits, such as mangoes. However, The Bahamas may import foodstuffs from packing houses already certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. -------------- -------------- U.S. Trade Representative's Report Grabs Front Page Headlines -------------- -------------- ¶7. The print media has very recently given front-page attention to the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) section of the annual U.S. Trade Representative's report on the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA). The IPR section of the report specifically notes that "enforcement is lax and anecdotal evidence suggests that the police are complicit in the buying and selling of pirated movies, songs and fabricated high-end purses to residents and tourists." Media outlets reported that "no substantive evidence was provided to support the allegations." The media contacted post for comment and the resulting coverage noted that one example of pirated materials can be easily found at the local stores and at the tourist oriented "Straw Market", where fabricated high-end purses and sunglasses, pirated DVDs and music CDs as well as luggage are easily available and sold to residents and tourists every day. The article noted that the Embassy has worked closely with the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the U.S. Department of Justice to provide a series of IPR-enforcement workshops to assist law-enforcement agencies in The Bahamas in protecting the rights of international and local artists. In addition, it cited the GCOB's recent repeal of the compulsory license law that allowed the local cable provider to rebroadcast encrypted content (HBO, Showtime) without paying fees to the provider. -------------- -------------- Future of Marital Rape Ban Uncertain as Parliament Session Ends -------------- -------------- ¶8. Parliament was prorogued at the end of the year leaving the future of the amendment to the Sexual Offenses Act, known as the "marital rape ban" uncertain. The new session of Parliament will begin with new and additional business. The bill was presented to Parliament in July and led to fierce debate across the country as several religious leaders claimed that it would destroy marriages. Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly, Tommy Turnquest, said he did not know if the bill would be reintroduced. Human Rights activists appealed to the government not to let the amendment die. The most outspoken opponent of the bill, Kingdom of Life Church Pastor Cedric Moss, said he believes the government's proposed bill would "break the whole house down regarding sexual offences and build one big room and lump everybody in that room." He has consistently claimed that sexual violence within a marriage should not be treated like rape between unmarried people. AVANT