The Tribune

A READER of this column on The Tribune's website - Tribune242.com - commented that although he was "not a supporter of the PLP, at least their members are able to voice dissent. To not be able to do so," he wrote, "leads one down the slippery slope to a de facto dictatorship, which is where we unfortunately are as a country -- a dangerous cross roads indeed."

The writer was commenting on the articles we have been writing on the destruction of Ed Moxey's dream of a cultural centre over the hill to help bring Bahamians - through their own efforts - into the mainstream of the country's cultural and commercial life. Jumbey Village in the heart of Coconut Grove was stillborn because of the petty jealousies of PLP leaders.

At the time, Mr Moxey warned that if something significant were not done to help struggling Bahamians in the poorer areas the "country would end up on the rocks, or with very serious challenges". It was a slow and steady erosion, resulting in the dysfunction for which Bahamians today are trying to find solutions. Today's problems did not start yesterday, they started way back then.

Our observer thought it was good that at that time the PLP were able to voice dissent - "not to be able to do so leads one down the slippery slope to a de facto dictatorship..."

That is true and that is exactly what happened under prime minister Lynden Pindling. It is obvious that our observer did not live through those days, or he could not have approved of their manner of dissent.

In those early days -- 1967 -- the PLP were so surprised at winning the government, albeit by the narrow margin of one, that they had not planned their cabinet. For several days, the squabbling behind the scenes continued as to who were to be ministers, while a confused populace watched the ship of state tossed to and fro with no direction.

For most of that administration, there was obvious behind the scenes dissension as one got the distinct impression that there were those more concerned in protecting their power base than governing the country.

If the commentator to our editorial had lived through those times, he would have known that to contradict the edicts of "the Chief" was the end of a dissenter's political career -- as it was for Mr Moxey, and Carlton Francis, the former finance minister, who followed his conscience in voting against gambling. Many others suffered the same fate.

In the case of Mr Francis -- a gifted educator -- when he fell afoul of "the Chief", not only was he tossed into the political graveyard, but he could no longer teach in a government school.

Dying of cancer, Mr Francis crossed the public square one day when prime minister Pindling was holding forth from a public platform. Spotting the emaciated former minister, Mr Pindling paused, pointed to the dying man's shrunken frame, and remarked that there went Carlton Francis, but all he could see was a three-piece suit. Not only was "the Chief" vindictive, but he was cruel.

After 25 years, which included the socially destructive drug years, Bahamians were indeed a frightened society.

Goon squads prevented opposition politicians and their supporters from expressing their views from public platforms; persons wanting to express their opinions stopped signing their letters to the press, Bahamians who objected to the drug trade were terrified to inform the police, so they phoned us instead.

In the end, we were so unsure of dealing with our own police force that we started to pass on information to the US drug enforcement agencies.

And so we can tell our commentator to our editorial that it was not all peaches and cream in those days -- there was no freedom of speech, and to dissent from "the Chief" meant political suicide for many.

When we read Opposition Perry Christie's comments in Exuma about when he sees "Bahamians out of work, or stuck in low-wage dead-end jobs they can't even depend on, I know we can do so much better," we think of Jumbey Village and how different it could have been today if the PLP of that era had had the wisdom to invest in Bahamians then.

Mr Christie told Exumians that a bright future for the Bahamas depends on whether or not the government "invests in the people." We think the PLP missed the boat a long time ago on this one.

And, said Mr Christie, at his Exuma rally: "When we say 'Believe in the Bahamas,' we mean changing the Hotel Encouragement Act to require hotels to engage Bahamian entertainment..."

We suggest that Mr Christie has come to that conclusion rather late. On May 15, 1974, when the musician's union objected to Tourism Minister Clement Maynard engaging foreign entertainers for his Ministry's plans for Fort Charlotte in direct competition to Jumbey Village, Mr Maynard told reporters, when asked to explain the decision: "I feel Bahamian artists and entertainers are not so poor that bringing in foreign entertainers would hamper them."

Bahamian entertainers can take their story from there...

We agree with Mr Moxey's conclusion that many Bahamians are where they are today because the Pindling government lost its way early in its administration.

They had forgotten that they had promised a government - in the words of Abe Lincoln- "of the people, by the people, for the people."