The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

Re: It’s time to regulate all Justices of the Peace, in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas

I have returned by popular demand…I have been asked to write this particular piece by someone being burdened by the caption and so here is what she had to say:

1. It is time to have a system to recall and regulate all JPs – Justice of The Peace – for breaches of established code of conduct and regulations…and have them assigned certain districts, areas and/or constituencies to work from.

2. Justices of the Peace should only be allowed to perform marriage ceremonies for people known to them…and not based on spur-of-the-moment-requests

3. Those people with language barriers, ought to require more vetting, because these marriages of convenience are actually circumventing the system…shows signs of a weakened system…we pay later.

4. This sector must be regulated and gazetted in newspapers and be identified.

5. Immigration must have a role to play in accepting these documents from J.Ps and the Passport office.

6. Laws need to be tightened in this regard; J.Ps must only be of Bahamian heritage.

7. Foreigners must not be allowed (as is now) to participate in the justice of the peace designation and are able to marry other foreign individuals (what kind of slackness are we allowing to go on in this country?)

8. We are in a battle to save the very core of this country and what makes us Bahamians and a sovereign country.

9. Matters involving the internal affairs of our country are not matters up for discussions.

10. Justices of the peace when presenting documents must fill in a particular mandatory form about certain questions whether the content of what was being presented meets the required standard and are not fraudulent in nature…and should it be proven that a crime occurred, then the matter ought to be handed over to the police for further investigations.

11. When these people are presenting the documentations we must demand that Haitian passports and/or birth certificates be presented also…one ought to cancel out the next…and not have both at the same time.

12. These immigration matters involving Haitians and Jamaicans or other nationalities have taken its toll on the system and have noticeably dominated the daily schedules…every day the local newspapers have been carrying stories of an immigration nature and this is taxing on the Courts, law enforcement and civil society.

13. This movement of illegal immigration to our shores are a problem and continues to be a load on our economy.

14. Do not tell me that the immigrants are /were here seeking a better way of life (that’s garbage), but they have not sought to come in via the legal and right way…and while here they try to demand right that they left in the country from whence they came…this better way of life, means that they were prepared to fight the now-country-judicially in order to gain a foothold here, but that cannot happen.

The question of Deed poll and immigrants applying in the daily newspapers must post a photograph of themselves…the same as those applying for Citizenship

In the Deed poll, Haitians should not be allowed to assume Bahamian names when they are French Creole ought not to be ashamed of their nationality…or is it something else? Because-converting to regular Bahamian names will confused the system and we must know who is who residing among us.

Only when the general public brings these things/points of view/actual facts occurring in the country to the government’s attention are they able to have the queries addressed politically and the much needed change done.

Recently there was a fire in Bimini and from what I saw on the newscast, there was only one fire truck seen in that frame…I think that every island must have at least two fire trucks…I do not believe that the authorities are aware of just how destructive fires can become…I will try to point them partially in that direction…if a fire were in progress, say in a closely knit community...numerous wooden houses/or other structures and the wind began a gust of about 15 to 20 miles per hour…and only one fire truck on the scene, now tell me what do you suppose would happen to that community and possibly the lives of those people, especially if it were to occur during the wee hours? Government must seek to protect its citizenry from electrical and technology apparatus as part of our daily lives.

I would like to see every Budget year the Government of the Bahamas include in its Budget or Grants, from private partnerships, to help address some of these shortfalls in equipment, especially during the hurricane season can cause electrical fire damage and will need special-fire trucks for these types of fires.

ANONYMOUS

Nassau

June 1, 2019