The Tribune

THE TRIBUNE is the newspaper to which Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell refers in his comments to the House.

The Tribune’s application for the renewal of the permit of one of its editors with special technical skills was turned down on December 5, 2012. The rejection was appealed.

On February 13, the Immigration Department agreed to approve the permit provided: “You are requested to hire a Bahamian under-study for this position and inform this department of the individual’s name. Further, within four weeks from the date of this letter, the under-study must make an appointment to see the Acting Director, Mr William Pratt at 502-0510.”

Mrs Carron agreed to pay the fee of $9,000 for the permit, but refused to agree government’s demand that it should have any say in the hiring or vetting of staff at The Tribune.

“In my opinion,” she wrote Mr Mitchell, “government is crossing the line by dictating the hiring and vetting of staff in the private sector. The owner of a business has the sole right to establish his business standards, and decide the qualifications, experience, desirability and work ethic required for staff to meet those standards. Government should have no say in this.”

The full correspondence between Immigration and the publisher will be printed in tomorrow’s Tribune with Mrs Carron’s comments in her editorial column on page 4.