First published in The Tribune on Friday, July 4, 2008 under the byline, Young Man’s View.

THIS week, tongues were wagging throughout the country following the sudden resignation of former Lands and Local Government Minister Sidney Collie in the face of a possible firing and Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s reshuffling of his Cabinet.

Whether his resignation was initiated by his conscience or privately sought by the prime minister, Mr Collie accepted responsibility for his mistakes and set the bar high for other parliamentarians.

However, overall Mr Collie was a flimsy minister who performed dismally.

Last week, a court ruled that the proper processes were not followed in the run-up to the local government elections. This led to elections not going ahead in nine areas.

In my May 5, 2008 column, where I graded the FNM government, in discussing Mr Collie I said:

“Having grown up on an island, I am also aware that local government has numerous deficiencies, including empowering certain persons in small communities to victimise or repeatedly grant jobs/contracts to a favoured few. This must be carefully monitored!”

We now know that neither that advice, nor the opposition PLP’s, was accepted.

According to The Tribune, in Wednesday’s parliamentary session, PLP chairman Glenny’s Hanna-Martin claimed that she wrote the former minister (Collie) on June 1 to advise him of her concerns and urge him not to act contrary to the law.

The letter was copied to the PM and Parliamentary Commissioner Errol Bethel. She also asserted that she had spoken to Mr Collie on several occasions and had personally alerted the PM about the brewing fiasco. So, why would Mr Collie and his underlings at the department of Local Government stubbornly charge ahead with a flawed poll?

If these blatant blunders had occurred during a general election, the perception of the Bahamas having fair electoral and democratic procedures would have been tainted and consigned to the trash bin, while possibly subjecting our elections to intense UN/international observation.

In this instance, the tenacious Mrs Hanna-Martin truly performed as opposition chair, and detected and questioned certain erroneous conduct some of the elections slated to be conducted throughout the Family Islands last week.

Frankly, the former minister should have simply postponed the elections rather than risk giving the impression of an undemocratic ballot or suffering the consequences in not being reappointed to Cabinet or, as he honourably did, resigning.

At last, a parliamentarian has lived up to the “honourable” title that precedes his given name! Mr Collie, whose integrity remains intact, has set a precedent and, unlike ministers of the previous administration, has lived up to the trust and accountability agenda his party espoused and promised to the electorate.

While the PLP’s questioning of the constitutionality of the local government election is commendable, they too would have conducted—without complaint—local government elections using the same faulty procedures.

According to the PLP, “the resignation of Sidney Collie alone was not enough” and that “the government must accept responsibility for these serious errors.” Could this shady cabal, who were scandal-ridden during their term in office, be serious? Would they prefer to ruin the former minister’s family and livelihood for it to be enough, or are they living in a fantasy land and suggesting that the government should resign in favour of a general election?

Honestly, former Prime Minister Perry Christie should be the last to talk about accountability and ministerial resignations, given that if he had decisively dismissed the disgraced ministers that wrecked his government he may have still been prime minister.

Mr Christie’s Cabinet could only be likened to a runaway train and his term in office reminded me of a tired yawn. In this regard, it is utterly insincere for the ‘same old’ PLP to disingenuously apply standards to the FNM for which they didn’t adhere, particularly since Mr Christie didn’t request the resignation of a scandal-ridden minister until his picture was splashed across the front page of this daily and broadcast around the globe, even though his minister had committed an egregious act by pompously fast tracking the residency permit of his friend—a soft-core porn star.

In the wake of Mr Collie’s resignation, there house-cleaning must be undertaken at the Parliament Registrar’s department, which was criticised for botching the registration process during last year’s general elections.

Parliamentary Registrar Errol Bethel should tender his resignation along with the civil servants (Permanent Secretary, Deputies) and top policy advisers at the Ministry of Local Government, who no doubt counseled Mr Collie and should have sought to correct any misgivings about the recent elections.

It’s high time we adopt certain governmental policies of the US, where newly-elected governments bring in their officials to carry out their policies unlike in the Bahamas where politically-biased civil servants could sabotage a ministry, or impede the execution of the government’s policies.

Kudos to Mr Collie for having the gravitas to do the right thing! Now he can completely focus on his ministry and become a “groundhog” in his constituency while aggressively lobbying for his constituents without the added burden of a ministerial portfolio.

THE SHUFFLE!

Owing to the closeness of the general election outcome, it appears that PM Ingraham has had to allot Cabinet posts to certain persons whose brain-power seems to be of the lowest possible wattage and, who regularly wouldn’t have been the first choice for Cabinet, all because he wanted to please them and hold on to his government by ensuring that certain MPs wont walk across the floor or stand as independents. Frankly, while Mr Ingraham’s deck has a few aces, kings and jacks, as he has been playing with a deck full of jokers.

Again proving his political genius, Mr Ingraham scored a coup when he lured Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace from Barbados, where he served as the secretary-general of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation. Under former minister Neko Grant, morale at the ministry of tourism was at an all-time low and the Bahamas has drastically lost market share. Hopefully, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace, who is said to be brilliant and innovative, will reinvigorate the ministry’s approach to marketing and developing our tourist product.

Earl Deveaux, one of the brightest sparks in the Cabinet, has been reassigned to the ministry of the environment where he holds on to the utilities aspect of his former portfolio. Larry Cartwright, my hometown boy and the minister of agriculture and marine resources, is performing impressively and seemingly has earned the confidence of the prime minister as he now has co-operatives added to his portfolio.

In the reshuffle, the underperforming Neko Grant was assigned to the ministry of works where he has the uncomplicated task of overseeing the construction of roads, and Kenneth Russell, who lost the National Insurance Board but retains his portfolio as housing minister, can finally set about building houses.

I was dissatisfied to see that the aloof minister of national security wasn’t reassigned. When it comes to combating crime and a much promised strategic crime fighting plan, Mr Turnquest seems to be on Pluto. He lacks the common touch and, in the Cabinet deck, is a joker.

Brent Symonette, the uncharismatic minister of foreign affairs is also a joker and should have been reassigned. Mr Symonette has performed grimly as minister and has yet to form a plan of action to relieve the deplorable overcrowding at the passport office.

Mr Ingraham appears to have adopted an optimistic view with this Cabinet, seemingly projecting the image of at least having his glass half full. However, he’s likely to overwork himself by taking on lands and local government and NIB, in addition to his responsibilities as PM and finance minister.

THE MISUSE OF GOVERNMENT VEHICLES!

Of late, I’ve seen far more government vehicles being driven willy-nilly than usual. With gas prices currently at $5.65 (Shell), $5.77 (Esso) and $5.71 (Texaco) in Nassau and Bahamian taxpayers flipping the bill, it’s offensive when public servants are seen gallivanting about town on personal business and paying weekend visits to sweethearts, attending private parties/clubs, collecting children from schools/events or parked at beaches on public holidays.

When Bahamian taxpayers are paying to license and maintain these vehicles, why are permanent secretaries, directors and other civil servants allowed to drive these vehicles on unofficial business on the weekends or after working hours? Who monitors the use of these vehicles?

Recently, I’ve seen unmarked police vehicles parked in peculiar environs, where the driver is unquestionably sweet-hearting or engaging in an activity that has no relation to policing. Do these unscrupulous individuals who take these cars home and use them for much more than government affairs—instead of their private vehicles and their own gas—have a conscience?

E-Mail Adrian.