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



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Key Political Resignation Causes Party Outrage and a Possible

Runoff Election

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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.



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Government Corruption Focus of Special Committee Probe and

On-Going Investigations

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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.



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PLP Purports to take Moral High Road In Reaction To Ambassador's

Human Rights Op-Ed

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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."




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Bahamas Debt Reaches nearly 55 percent of GDP, Credit Rating
Suffers

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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.

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Bahamas Moves Forward on Trade Deal with Haiti

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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.



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U.S. Trade Representative's Report Grabs Front Page Headlines

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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.



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Future of Marital Rape Ban Uncertain as Parliament Session Ends

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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