... madam senator, are you from eleuthera or is that a joke (LIE) howevr you want to state it ?


only half-kidding, sir. do you know how many local "industrialists", central administrators, politicos have jamaican nannies around here:footmouth?!? no lie, no lie.

only half-kidding, sir. do you know how many local "industrialists", central administrators, politicos have jamaican nannies around here:footmouth?!? no lie, no lie.

... things that make ya go uuuummmm, uuummmm.... :jawdroop:

hmmm.. i was expectin more from this document.. not exactly a bombshell

hmmm.. i was expectin more from this document.. not exactly a bombshell

lol...its a standard book ledger..how much of a bombshell could a department ledger be? :bouncy:

lol...its a standard book ledger..how much of a bombshell could a department ledger be? :bouncy:


oh i know.. but with all the hype that preceeded this document.. made ya think it was something concrete

doesnt appear to be nothing but circumstancial evidence to me.





unless dey holdin back :gi:

What's the big surprise? A Bahamian politician accepting money to expedite an otherwise convoluted process? Imagine my shock.



Been there, done that.


I recognise this for what it is. A political hit piece, pure and simple. A scapegoat news story to have us wrangling about into our different camps come election time.

We'll bitterly fight and ravage our opposition, all the while ignoring the real issues.


Internal subterfuge at its finest.

The document could be authentic ... Are we to believe that a person that would go to that length to implicate The Minister and attempt to make him look bad ... it seems to me that ... incriminating documents would also be ... incriminating documents.


Poor Fred... He can't help it.... He was born with a silver boongee in his mout.:footmouth

Visa scam row intensifies in House

By TAMARA McKENZIE, Guardian Political Editor

tamara@nasguard.com

In order to complete any thorough investigation into the alleged "visa scam" at the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the police must interview Senator Carl Bethel, suggested Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell on Wednesday.

But when Minister Mitchell was pressed in the House of Assembly by the leader of the Opposition on whether he had been interviewed by the police about the ongoing investigation, Mr Mitchell did not respond and only noted that he had "briefed" the police on the allegations that were brought to his attention.

Yesterday marked the second time this week that Minister Mitchell warned Mr Bethel to produce the evidence to prove that there was an ongoing visa scam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Last week at the FNM's mini-rally in Fox Hill, Mr Bethel claimed that Mr Mitchell spearheaded the "hundred-fold" increase in the number of visas issued to Haitian and Chinese nationals by his ministry from just over 200 per year in the final year of the FNM government to more than 2,000 per year over the first three years of the PLP government.

Mr Mitchell said he was unaware of any PLP operatives who had improperly or unlawfully obtained visas at his behest, or at the behest of any member of the PLP, but on Tuesday, Mr Bethel in a press release attached a copy of a ledger of various individuals who had obtained visas from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002.

Mr Bethel claimed that the document was prepared by the visa section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had outlined that on November 13, 2004, five visas were issued to five Chinese nationals on behalf of Holy Cross MP Sidney Stubbs "as instructed," and were personally approved by someone described as "Minister." The former Holy Cross MP also called on Minister Mitchell to explain the entries in the ledger and his involvement in the alleged visa scandal.

Mr Mitchell on Wednesday told Parliamentarians that Mr Bethel's findings were nothing new and "does not break any new ground." Mr Mitchell, for a second time, also asked Mr Bethel to explain the letter that he wrote to his then colleague, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Janet Bostwick, who, reportedly at his request, personally intervened and granted visas for six Haitian nationals in March 2002. In response to such claims, Mr Bethel told The Guardian that he was doing a "favor" like any other MP would, for a Haitian-Bahamian constituent who was a fisherman, blinded by diabetes. He noted, however, that he was not paid for granting the visa.

But in a new twist to the back and forth wrangling between Mr Mitchell and Senator Bethel, the Fox Hill MP said examination of the files of the person matching Mr Bethel's description of the individual to whom a "favor" was granted, revealed that a visa had not been granted to this individual because the Royal Bahamas Police Force had suspected them of being involved in human smuggling, and the individual was placed on the Stop List of the Consular Division.

According to Minister Mitchell, this individual reportedly received a visa at the request of Senator Carl Bethel in March 2002, while he was serving as the MP for Holy Cross and Attorney General.

"I trust that in these circumstances and having regard to Carl Bethel's 'favor' for his constituent - known to the police to be involved in alien smuggling - that Carl Bethel will fully co-operate with the police to say what he knows,"

Meanwhile, Mr Mitchell said he had been briefed by the Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson about the ongoing visa scam investigation, and had been informed that the investigation is continuing, but, to date, insufficient evidence had been gathered to charge or prosecute any persons within or outside the Consular Office.

Opposition Leader Hubert Ingraham, on the other hand, said he would visit the Commissioner of Police himself because he found his letter about the "supposed" investigation to be very "strange."

Oh Avenger, that's ruthless indeed. Don't do poor Fred like that. Afterall, he got rid of Blankenship.