Moontown

By JIMENITA SWAIN ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ jimenita@nasguard.com:

The Parliamentary Registration Department is looking at the possibility of electronic voting for the 2012 general election.

Yesterday Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel said discussions in that regard are at a preliminary stage, but electronic voting is definitely a recommendation he could make.

“Whatever I plan to do, I am sure that I would have to introduce it to the political parties,” he told The Nassau Guardian.

Bethel was speaking to reporters yesterday at the Wyndham Nassau Resort where a two-day voter registration training session was taking place for Family Island administrators.

“We want to make sure that we start the registration of voters process and we start it with everybody on board,” said Bethel.

“We want to know that when we go in and register people we’re using the same guidelines throughout the country, so that we should not be making mistakes as regard where people live and that sort of thing.”

In addition he said, “We have to try and get beyond the point of recording different information for people who live in the same household.”

He admitted that information was not verified, but the department may be considering asking people for a utility bill to verify an address.

“We want to make sure that we get this thing as perfect as possible,” he said. “We get accused of putting people in the wrong place, but we record what information we are given.”

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Parliamentary Registration Department

Sherlyn Hall said, the best way to get an early start on preparation for the general election is to engage all Family Island administrators.

He explained that the Parliamentary Elections Act empowers the parliamentary commissioner to appoint the island administrators as revising officers.

During the election period, he said that administrator is appointed as the returning officer for the election.

“Our aim is to have a register that is uncorrupted. That only Bahamian citizens who are entitled or eligible to vote will be registered on the register,” he said.

He noted that people seeking to be registered must have a passport, a birth certificate or a baptismal certificate in accordance with the act for registration.

Hall said many people have been coming to the department with affidavits, but he said that is not sufficient evidence to prove nationality or citizenship.

Those persons have been referred to the Passport Office to sort out citizenship issues, Hall said.

Some of the areas in which administrators would be trained include examining documents, interviewing applicants, filling out requisite forms and collecting accurate addresses of voters, said Hall.

On the question of boundary lines he said the department has no control over how they are cut.

However he said the department hopes that the cuts do not split a constituency or polling division.

“With all the recent election court matters that we have had, it is extremely important that those persons who are responsible for the process understand exactly who should be registered as Bahamians and who should be able to participate in the election process,” said administrator Gary Knowles.

Central Abaco administrator Cephas Cooper said that with large Haitian communities on that island, it is important to ensure that everyone who registers is qualified to vote.

“It is critical for us to be able to screen persons who present themselves for registration to ensure that they are entitled to be registered and that in fact they are Bahamians,” he said.

Attending the session which ends today were representatives from 32 local government districts, with 51 people from the Family Islands and 36 from New Providence.(Nassau Guardian)

By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ kdl@nasguard.com:

For the first time in almost 40 years, the government is proposing to increase the document filing fee in the Supreme Court, raising it from $9 to a high of $300, another step designed to bring reform to the judicial system.

But Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell yesterday termed the move “a revenue raising measure” that would probably result in poor people being unable to access the courts.

Speaking at a news conference held in the Minority Room in the House of Assembly, Mitchell called on the government to review the proposed increase, hinting that the new measure could be challenged before the courts on constitutional grounds “as driving citizens unfairly from the right to access the courts.”

However, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the government is seeking to reform the rules of the Supreme Court to make them consistent with what happens in developed societies.

“Some people are content to live with the past. The rules that apply in the Supreme Court filing of documents were done by Sir Gordon Brice in 1971 and signed by Carlton Francis, Minister of Finance at the time in 1971,” Ingraham said in the House of Assembly Wednesday evening.

“[The rules] have never, ever been changed in all those years. In fact, they aren’t even properly in the gazette. You look in the book and you can’t find them.”

“They require somebody who goes to the Supreme Court, and who has to file a writ for $100,000 to pay the government $800 as stamp tax, plus $5 to file it. Now with the new rules, instead of having to pay for every document you file in court during the course of a case …we are going to modernize it and when you file a document in court, file an action, you pay one fee and you pay nothing else anymore until the case is heard and determined. That is how you do it in modern societies,” Ingraham said.

“And that same person with a $100,000 (suit) would now pay $300 to file a document. Nobody is to calculate how much stamp duty is due on the document, and what the filing fee is. One fee in, $300.”

Ingraham questioned how these new rules are against the poor and the middle class.

But Mitchell charged that the proposed increase is not reform, but an attempt to use the courts to raise money.

“Notwithstanding the prime minister’s assertions, the basic problem is this: Right now if an individual wants to start an action in the Supreme Court, the fee is $9. I use the generally endorsed writ as the basic process. When this rule comes into effect that will jump to $300 and will go on from there. This is an enormous and unconscionable jump,” he said.

“While there are provisions for poor or indigent litigants, the procedures for those litigants appear to be a disincentive to starting litigation. The requirement that you must get a lawyer’s opinion before you can qualify for a waiver of the fee is becoming part of an inextricable circle in that if you could afford a lawyer to get an opinion, you would not need to apply to waive the fee as an indigent litigant.” (Nassau Guardian)

By KRYSTEL ROLLE ~ Guardian Staff Reporter ~ krystel@nasguard.com:

The government could appoint up to 50 additional judges and the same problems that exist today are likely to clog the judicial system, according to prominent attorney Wayne Munroe, who said a lack of justices is not the biggest issue facing the over-burdened system.

Noted attorney Damian Gomez said if the appointment of additional judges to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal does not coincide with the facility upgrades to the judicial system as a whole, then any changes to the complement of justices would have minimal or no impact at all on the extreme backlog of cases.

Amendments to the Supreme Court Act and Court of Appeal Act were passed in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The Supreme Court Amendment Bill seeks to increase the number of Supreme Court justices to 13 (not including the chief justice). Currently the law provides for 11. The Court of Appeal Amendment Bill would allow one additional judge.

This move is expected to help speed up the judicial process.

“We’re going to have minimal change until the Supreme Court moves to an acceptable level, both the personnel and the facilities,” Gomez told The Nassau Guardian. “And I am not sure that the Court of Appeal has any further space for an additional judge so I don’t know what the additional judge is going to do.”

He said there needs to be immediate changes to the physical plant, equipment and facilities of the judicial system.

“Adding people to the payroll is not really helping. It may make for good political posturing but in real terms it doesn’t do anything,” Gomez added.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said Wednesday that the government will spend over $20 million upgrading the judicial facilities, a move he believes will contribute to a reduction in the backlog of criminal cases.

That money will go toward the refurbishment of the main Supreme Court Building and the Supreme Court that is currently housed in the Senate building and the purchase and renovation of the Ansbacher House on East Street and Bank Lank.

Ingraham noted that the Supreme Court currently operates from six different locations in New Providence including the court’s main building, the British American House, Saffrey Square, the Senate building, Charlotte House and Ansbacher House.

Munroe said even with the additional judges, the system would still be clogged with deficiencies.

For instance, he said the problem of prisoners coming in 15 minutes late translates to months worth of lost trial time each year.

“With prisoners coming late each day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year, it totals up to two to three months in wasted time,” said Munroe, former president of the Bahamas Bar Association. “Now people who don’t understand the system like the [parliamentarians], who have never practiced before the court, will not understand that just increasing numbers will not do.”

Munroe also said the two additional justices will still have two months of their court time wasted if the basic problems are not fixed.

He added that the government should have consulted the Bar Association, prison officials and others who work in the field every day.

“There are people who may have a view who could contribute something,” he said.

As it relates to the Court of Appeal, Munroe said he does not see the necessity of appointing the additional judge as there is no backlog in appeal cases.

In fact, he said the Court of Appeal struggles every month to fill its schedule.

Munroe said he is interested in seeing who will be appointed as justices. (Nassau Guardian)

By JIMENITA SWAIN ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ jimenita@nasguard.com:

With tar balls likely to wash up in Key West, Florida early this week, Environment Minister Dr. Earl Deveaux said yesterday that scientists will be conducting a second round of tests to determine if oil has reached Bahamian waters.

Media reports from Florida indicate tar balls and tar patties from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the size of a dime to five inches, have been sighted on the beaches of northwest Florida.

Deveaux said for the next five days scientists will collect samples from a wider area for testing around Bimini and the Cay Sal Bank.

He added that College of The Bahamas students, along with scientists from the University of Miami and the Bahamas National Trust will gather samples and perform tests.

“The last information we had was [that] the tar was expected to hit Key West sometime tomorrow [Monday] or the day after, and based on that we wanted to update our information in Cay Sal as well as Bimini because the manifestations of the oil spill then would be more than likely to enter into the Gulf Stream,” said Deveaux.

The Office of the Attorney General is also compiling data in preparation for claims the government would file against BP, Deveaux said.

He added that a budget is being compiled listing the materials that are needed, the man hours that would be deployed, the fuel which would be consumed, legal costs, labor costs and management costs associated with the collection of tar or oil and the remediation of any beach, mangrove or marine system.

“Those are the kind of claims the AG would prosecute on behalf of The Bahamas,” said Deveaux.

He explained that The Bahamas would not be seeking any compensation from the United States government because there is no qualification to do so under the U.S. Coastal Protection Act.

“We haven’t had any damage to The Bahamas as a result of the Deep Horizon Oil spill,” said Deveaux. “So what the Office of the Attorney General is doing is ensuring that the statistics we’re collecting on the condition of our environment, if it changes, that we have a claim that we could prosecute.”

In addition he said, “If we have to deal with the oil spill consequences or tar calls coming into The Bahamas we would be able to establish what the conditions were in The Bahamas prior to the impact and we would be able to document what the impact caused and costs.”

Oil continues to ooze from the damaged deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.

On April 20 an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which is the cause for the oil spilling into the Gulf. Seventeen workers were injured in the explosion and 11 are feared dead.

According to BP’s website, up to June 19, 7,690 barrels of oil have been collected.

The company has said it has paid out more than $100 million in claims to residents along the Gulf Coast as a result of the spill.

In preparation for the impact of the oil spill The Bahamas will need about 4,000 meters of boom to secure sensitive areas, as well as protective gear and personnel to assist in the clean-up process.

Volunteers are now being sought to receive training on how to deal with collecting tar balls. (Nassau Guardian)

By Staff Reporter ~ Guardian News Desk:

Load shedding by the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) sparked a series of power outages at hundreds of homes across New Providence over the weekend.

For the past several weeks outages have plagued the island. And on Saturday some residents were again without power. In some cases frustrated residents reported being without power for being without power for hours in temperatures that topped 90 degrees.

According to a BEC press statement the failure of several generators led to the load shedding.

“The corporation has been experiencing challenges in attaining the desired levels of generating plant availability due to the fact that four major generators are presently out of service,” said the statement.

“The present generation availability is 223 MW which is some 10 MW lower than the demand needed to satisfy our customers under peak conditions. This has resulted in some customers experiencing outages during peak periods due to load shedding.”

The statement went on to add that BEC technicians have been working feverishly to correct the issue and have all generators back online.

“While every effort is being made to correct this situation, we have encountered issues which have delayed the return to service of three of our larger units,” it said. “Despite these setbacks, the corporation continues to take steps to improve on the level of system availability and reliability and we are presently expediting necessary repairs to the generators that are currently out of service.”

The power issues come at a time when meteorologists report that this month could be one of the hottest recorded in nearly 40 years.

They said temperatures in June usually average about 88 degrees, but so far for the month, temperatures have repeatedly risen above the 90-degree mark.

While apologizing for the inconvenience caused by the power disruptions, BEC management also admitted that the issue may not be solved until the end of the month.

“It is anticipated that the repairs to the remaining units will be completed by the end of June latest, further improving on the level of generation available to service the demands of the summer period,” it said.

“Once the mentioned generators are returned to service, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the generation will be sufficient to meet the summer demands.(Nassau Guardian)

By CANDIA DAMES ~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:

Opposition Leader Perry Christie is urging outgoing Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Grant-Bethell to pursue all steps to defend her good name given the recent comments Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham made about her on the floor of the House of Assembly.

Referring to Ingraham’s statement that he withdrew his support for Grant-Bethell’s appointment to fill the chief prosecutor post, Christie told The Nassau Guardian, “It’s unfortunate.”

“I think the prime minister allowed himself to speak without really thinking about the implications of what he is saying. Clearly, he was being asked to be accountable for what was happening.”

Lawyers for Grant-Bethell expect to file legal action by Wednesday seeking a judicial review of the rejection of her application for the position, which will be filled by Jamaican lawyer Vinette Graham-Allen in August.

Christie suggested that Ingraham was meddling in the affairs of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, which makes recommendations to the governor general for judicial appointments.

The post of director of public prosecutions has been vacant since Bernard Turner left the Office of the Attorney General late last year to take a seat on the Supreme Court bench.

Great national focus is being placed on the new appointment, not only because a foreigner will fill it, but also because there is grave concern about the administration of justice in The Bahamas and a worsening crime situation.

“I think the way in which he (Ingraham) dealt with that was a poor exercise of his judgment and I really believe that it has caused untold damage to the reputation of the lady, Cheryl Grant-Bethell. And I think all the principles of dealing one to the other, and most certainly the principles of natural justice, ought to have required the prime minister himself to put to her and give her an opportunity to defend herself publicly on the issue,” Christie said.

While Ingraham said he obtained information that led him to withdraw his support of Grant-Bethell for the position of director of public prosecutions, he has not publicly revealed what the information is.

Christie said, “It is very clear to me that she is prepared to defend herself on any issue that he brings up.

“I therefore feel that the only way she is going to be able to vindicate her name really is to pursue this matter further with a view to ensuring that the public is made aware that she has done nothing to deserve the kind of treatment that she is now receiving from the establishment.”

The former prime minister added, “In politics and in our constitutional democracy, prime ministers who are head of the executive, who lead the legislature, must be very, very careful with the separation of powers, and that is not being seen to interfere with judicial appointments.

“Now he has certain constitutional roles to play with how the Judicial and Legal Services Commission is appointed, but once they are appointed they are the responsible body for ensuring that the appointment is made.”

“This is a very serious matter because a woman who has given distinguished service to the country, who has demonstrated a tremendous capacity to really run the office and be responsible for it is suddenly now, after 20 years of service [is being] challenged in terms of her integrity in public office,” he added.

“In addition to that, what is very confusing to me is that notwithstanding the prime minister being armed with information that goes to the root of her being promoted to director of public prosecutions, clearly it must not go to the root of her being appointed to be [deputy law reform commissioner].

“And we therefore need to know exactly what is involved here and we encourage Mrs. Bethell to pursue her good name and her honor toward ensuring that it is protected.”

Speaking in the House of Assembly last week, Ingraham advised that he had communicated to Grant-Bethell that he supported her to become DPP.

“Information came to my attention subsequent to that and I also told her that I was withdrawing my support, that I could not and would not as prime minister of The Bahamas support her appointment, and I do not support her appointment and I do so for good and valid reasons.” (Nassau Guardian)

By Martina Johnson

Opposition Leader Lester Bird

Leader of the Opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) Lester Bird said his party will, within the next few days, challenge the amendments to the Representation of the People Act.

Bird, in his weekend press statement, accused the ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) administration of “changing the law in an attempt to frustrate the findings of the Court and the will of the people of this country.”

He opined that the reason for the change in the law is because, “They (the UPP regime) are evidently convinced that the Court of Appeal will uphold Justice Blenman’s order.”

The order to which the senior politician referred is the March 31 ruling in which Justice Blenman invalidated the seats of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and his two ministers Dr Jacqui Quinn-Leandro and John Maginley.

The debate on the Representation of the People Act Amendment Bill 2010 continues on Tuesday and, if concluded, may go before the Senate on Wednesday during an already scheduled sitting.

If the Bill is passed, Commonwealth citizens who have been living in the twin island state for less than seven years will not be eligible to vote — a change from the current law which allows persons living here three or more years to cast ballots.

The Bill also deals with overseas-based Antiguans who want to participate in elections. Such persons must first return to and reside in the country for at least one month before they can be allowed to vote.

At the same time, electors who wish to transfer from one constituency to another must reside in that constituency for at least six months before the transfer can be done.

Once the six-month period passes, that person can register to vote in the new constituency.

Another area being debated is the complete over-haul of the register of electors, while steps are being taken to legalise the photo list which the judge had said was illegal and ought not to have been used in the election.

The debate on these and other related issues continues in the House of Representatives tomorrow. (Antigua Observer)

By Martina Johnson

On World AIDS Day Dr Prince Ramsey, KGCN; MB; BS; OD; OM, clinical care coordinator discusses one of the more technical aspects of HIV and AIDS

Clinical Care Co-ordinator for HIV/AIDS Sir Prince Ramsey is calling for mandatory HIV testing for people entering the prison system, pregnant women, sex workers and police recruits.

These groups, he said, should be targeted in an effort to protect them and others from the spread of the HIV virus.

Speaking first about prisoners in an interview with The Daily OBSERVER yesterday, Sir Prince said, “I think they should be isolated before they are placed in the general prison population until their results are in. You get a test on the day you arrive and if six weeks after, your results still show negative, then you go into the general population. If you are positive, you should be isolated … be with other HIV patients.”

Explaining the reason behind his view, Sir Prince said, “Once you have an all-male institution, there will be homosexual activities and although a man may not be a homosexual he may be forced into it. He may be raped or he may rape someone with HIV and he becomes positive.”

Making it clear he does not support homosexuality, the doctor said it would be wiser to distribute condoms in prison or do the mandatory HIV/AIDS test followed by the necessary action based on the inmate’s test result instead of doing nothing, because many prisoners have to return to society.

“People go in negative and come out positive. Yes, persons are saying don’t give them condoms but when they are exposed to it and they come out, they have families, a girlfriend, a wife or a male partner and those persons are then exposed to it,” Sir Prince said. “I am not telling them to go into the prison and practice homosexuality but people have to realise that these people come back into our society and then others are exposed to the virus.”

Sir Prince said there are more than one ways to conduct the tests and it’s free through the AIDS Secretariat.

In the case of prisoners the Rapid Test (an oral test from saliva) can be done where there might be need for urgency in obtaining the results.

“There is no doubt the prison is overcrowded and there isn’t the required space to do things the way we’d prefer, but there is the rapid testing where one can get the result of a test within a day,” he said. “We have the equipment over five years now. I have been doing rapid testing, over 35,000 tests and you can get the result in as little as seven minutes.”

Sir Prince added, “we’re always putting the cart before the horse,” which he explained meant, “persons enter the prison with the illness and we don’t know and sometimes they don’t know until they become ill and by that time they would have already been exposed to other persons by will or by force and that is exactly what we need to avoid.”

Just last week Minister of National Security Dr Errol Cort announced that there are four HIV/AIDS patients in the prison.

The HIV/AIDS clinical care co-ordinator also feels that sex workers should do compulsory testing and though the trade is illegal, those who ply it underground ought to ensure that their employees are tested to prevent the spread of the virus.

Pregnant women and police recruits, he said, should have mandatory tests. He said pregnant women should do the tests and commence treatment once found to be positive to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

All cases in Antigua where HIV-positive expectant mothers began treatment to prevent transmission of the virus to the baby have been 100 per cent successful, Sir Prince said.

“The cases where there was a transfer from mother to child are the cases where persons refused to get tested or refused treatment,” he noted.

In the case of police recruits, Dr Prince said the strenuous exercise that officers in training undergo, coupled with the HIV virus breaks down the immune system and the infected person becomes ill more often. People who are HIV positive ought to abstain from such strenuous activity, alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, among a number of other things.

Currently the Defence Force is the only group that carries out mandatory HIV/AIDS tests across the region.

Last year in Antigua & Barbuda, there were nine HIV/AIDS-related deaths, while in 2008 there were 16 such casualties and according to Sir Prince “those persons who died were not taking medication at the time.” (Antigua Observer)