Gonsalves reflects on SVG’s success
Members of the United Vincie Cultural Group of Brooklyn get front row seat
at town hall meeting. Garnes Byron
Caribbean L BQ ife, October 4 - 10, 2019 3
week noting that “the applicant for
a new work permit, or the renewal
of an existing work permit, by a prospective
employer of a non-Bahamian
worker, will be required to satisfy
immigration officials that satisfactory
living accommodations have been
arranged by that employer on behalf
of the prospective worker, and that
the said worker will not become a
charge on the state or be permitted
to live in sub-standard housing,” the
statement noted. It also threatened
arrest, criminal charges, detention
and deportation” of persons contravening
these rules.
The latest missive from government
seems to signal a hardening of
positions against some categories of
immigrants. The island had already
been battling with an exponential
population growth thanks mostly to
thousands of Haitian boat people who
have washed up on their shores over
the decades. Immigrants are thought
to account for up to a third of the
Bahamiam population. The other
category there include teachers and
other professionals from the Caribbean
and those in the service sector.
As the new set of rules go out, Deputy
Prime Minister, Peter Turnquest
appeared to take the role of “good
cop”, suggesting that cabinet should
be “very sensitive” in dealing with
immigrants, undocumented ones
especially. This is as calls for mass
deportation increase and as officials
grappled with the relief efforts post
Dorian.
“We have to handle the matter
with sensitivity because there has
unfortunately been so much social
media misinformation and sensationalism
that has gone out that it has
raised the ire of the Bahamian community.
Unfortunately, sometimes we
make some statements in anger that
may have an incorrect impression on
who we are as a people and our concern
about these people as humans.
We have to ensure that the international
community understands our
response, understands that we are
responsible members of the global
community and we appreciate our
obligation to ensure that human
rights are respected in all the things
that we do in managing this situation
that we have.”
He argued that cabinet does not
want the international community to
get the wrong impression about The
Bahamas and its attitude towards
immigrants, noting that authorities
will still have to be “resolute with
respect to illegal immigration.
Haitian shanty towns in Abaco
were among the hardest hit. Predictions
that the death toll will rise
By Nelson A. King
As Democrats in the US House of
Representatives on Wednesday strategized
in plotting the course of their formal
impeachment inquiry into President
Donald J. Trump, Brooklyn Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke has wholeheartedly
welcomed the probe, saying that
she’s been an early proponent of the
president’s impeachment.
“With Donald Trump in office our
democracy remains at stake. It is unconstitutional
and completely unacceptable
for this president to contact foreign
governments in an attempt to tarnish
presidential candidates to interfere with
and attempt to puppeteer our elections,”
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants,
told Caribbean Life.
“I’ve been a vocal proponent of
impeaching Donald Trump since 2017,
and this latest law-breaking incident
only validates my beliefs that we must
move forward in impeaching Donald J.
Trump from the highest office in our
country,” added the representative for
the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn.
“The American people deserve transparency
in our government,” Clarke continued.
“The American people deserve a
president who truly works for the people.
The American people deserve a president
who abides by our Constitution. Simply
put, Americans deserve much more than
Donald Trump.”
On Tuesday, House of Representatives
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) announced
on national television that the Democratic
controlled House would initiate
a formal impeachment inquiry against
Trump, charging him with betraying his
oath of office and the nation’s security by
seeking to enlist a foreign power to tarnish
a rival for his own political gain.
As America observed the anniversary
of the adoption of the Constitution on
Sept. 17, Pelosi said, “sadly, on that day,
the Intelligence Community Inspector
General formally notified the Congress
that the administration was forbidding
him from turning over a whistleblower
complaint on Constitution Day.
“This is a violation of the law. Shortly
thereafter, press reports began to break
of a phone call by the President of the
United States, calling upon a foreign
power to intervene in his election. This
is a breach of his constitutional responsibilities,”
she said, stating that the Intelligence
Community Inspector General,
who was appointed by President Trump,
determined that the complaint is “both
of urgent concern and credible, and its
disclosure, he went on to say, relates to
one of the most significant and important
of the Director of National Intelligence’s
responsibility to the American
people.”
By Nelson A. King
As St. Vincent and the Grenadines
next month celebrates 40 years of political
independence from Great Britain,
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves
Saturday evening reflected on the country’s
attainment to date and outlined
plans for economic advancement.
A day after addressing the 74th Session
of the United Nations General
Assembly Debate, the Vincentian leader
told a well-attended town hall meeting,
at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational
Center in Brooklyn that the multi
island state will, on Oct. 27, celebrate
“the 40th anniversary of reclamation of
our independence.”
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
obtained its political independence
from Great Britain on Oct. 27, 1979.
Gonsalves said that, in 1763, when
the British assumed “suzerainty of our
country, the Kalinago / Garifuna were
already independent.
“We can teach these large countries a
lot of how we can build ethnicities,” he
said, speaking on the theme, “Reflections,
Introspection Updates, Investment
Opportunities and Renewal at
40.”
“We’re the sounds of a symphony,”
he added, using a musical analogy, in
his speech that lasted one hour and 40
minutes. “In every symphony, there are
always dissonances, but you have to
make sure the differences don’t shape
the symphony.
“Some countries tell people to go
back where they come from,” continued
Gonsalves to loud laughter, alluding to
the Trump administration’s increased
deportation policy. “We don’t do that in
our country.”
The prime minister said, when the
incumbent Unity Labor Party (ULP)
assumed office in 2001, “it was the first
time that an agriculture economy was
not dominant in our country.”
At the same time, he said, 26 percent
of the population lived in “dirt poor
poverty,” stressing that he was “only
giving you the facts.
“So, if you’re going to change the
economy, the agriculture market was
not conducive for it,” Gonsalves said.
“Therefore, first and most important
was to embark on an education revolution,
and this is where the future lies.
“And if tourism was to be central, you
need a jet airport in the Grenadines and
an international airport in (mainland)
St. Vincent),” he added.
“They said they had some inkling that
Ralph was crazy,” the prime minister
continued, referring to the main opposition
New Democratic Party (NDP).
“Between now and when I call the
next general elections, I (am) ready for
them, and am going to give them more
licks than before.”
The Gonsalves-led ULP was narrowly
returned to government in the last general
elections, winning eight of the 15
seats in Parliament. The NDP captured
the remaining seven seats.
Since taking office, Gonsalves said
his administration has made myriad
accomplishments, noting that, on Jan.
7, during a UN General Assembly vote
for a non-permanent seat on the Security
Council for St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, “185 countries out of 193,
representing seven billion people, say
they trust Ralph to deal with war and
peace.”
Clarke welcomes Trump’s impeachment
Immigrants in
The Bahamas
face uncertainty
Continued from Page 1