Dear Editor,

Allow me to congratulate Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and the Free National Movement on their tremendous, overwhelming victory at the polls on May 10! To God be the glory!
Although I am a lifelong FNM, I never supported Dr. Minnis for FNM leader. I was always skeptical of his ability to lead the party to victory. I am happy to have been wrong, especially since, as I wrote in a letter to your daily, I came to despise the PLP!
Although I now wallow in the pain of Perry Christie, as I wallow shamelessly in the pain of all his arrogant men, I harbor some concern for Perry Christie, the person. In that regard I wish him well.
That being said, Perry Christie and the PLP treated the Bahamian people with contempt, and on May 10, the people returned the favor, and then some! The people's anger was almost palpable. You could see it in the numbers as the returns rolled in.
One can only hope that we have forever banished the likes of Jerome Fitzgerald, Shane Gibson, Allison Maynard Gibson, Leslie Miller and V. Alfred Gray from our national political life. Not to mention the crass, crude, classless PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts, who has so coarsened our political discourse. And hopefully the immature, intemperate Wayne Munroe never ascends to political office in our country!
It is indeed telling that so many of these despicable people went into this election thinking that they could, should and would win. They actually deluded themselves into thinking that the people loved them. They remind me of the man who, for years, beats on and abuses his wife; and because she remains the dutiful wife, he deludes himself to believe that, in spite of his brutality, she still loves him. She bides her time, and one day without warning, she sticks a knife in his neck and he goes to his grave with that "I thought you loved me!" look of total surprise plastered upon his stupid face!
In a blatant demonstration of total disregard for the Bahamian people and a selfish, desperate, but futile attempt to hold onto power, in the dying days of their administration, Christie and his colleagues heaped debt upon the backs of Bahamians!
In an act as vile and reprehensible as any I have seen, and one in which Police Commissioner Greenslade also finds himself culpable, Christie made a transparent attempt to capture votes mere days before the election by promoting a staggering 1,000 police officers!
Never in the history of a disciplined force has one quarter of its members been promoted in one fell swoop! The police force is now so top heavy it threatens to topple over! But it didn't end there. Christie, at the same time, promoted a mind-numbing 475 defense force officers. That is half the members of that service.
It was as if the man went crazy. Now promotions in those two services have totally lost their value. There is, of course a monetary value, to promotions. How will these officers be paid?
Then there is the case of all of the people being hired into the public service, literally right up to Election Day, many of whom did not even fill out application forms. They include the five who just showed up at the Freeport Post Office one morning totally without warning, during the pre-election week, and said that they had been sent by their MP.
This is without regard to the fact that 20 others had been placed on the Post Office payroll mere months before, as a part of the 52-week program; even before their arrival, there was precious little in the Post Office to be done!
These hirings also totally ignore the fact that, in another week or two, the Post Office reverts to its annual rotation system, where half the staff work the morning shift and the other half the evening, as conditions in the place become unbearable in summer because the air conditioner has been broken for years. It was apparently deemed more essential to find money to hire supporters than to seek to repair the air conditioning system. How about the tens of thousands of dollars in loans given to those with no means to repay them by the Development Bank in the days before the election? People literally flew into Nassau from the Family Islands in some cases to collect these loans.
In the dying days of their administration, Christie and the PLP indulged in acts with the people's money, that were every bit as lewd and obscene as the several lascivious acts they indulged in onstage in full public view! They perceived that they were drowning and harbored no qualms about taking the country down with them!
On another matter, I was happy to hear Dr. Minnis so prominently and emphatically pledge to not victimize Bahamians. We who are responsible for this government coming to office have a special responsibility to ensure that the pledge made by Dr. Minnis is honored by all and sundry.
We are firstly Bahamians -- not FNMs or PLPs but Bahamians! No Bahamian should have any more rights in this country than any other Bahamian.
We must never stand idly and see our brothers and sisters victimized by an administration we helped to put in place. The would-be victimizer must be exposed! That is notwithstanding the fact that PLP supporters have, in the main, stood mute while FNMs were victimized by PLP administrations dating back to the Pindling era.
We must now demand from the FNM that which we never got from the PLP -- honest, transparent, accountable governance.
The Christie administration refused to account to Bahamians while they were in office. The people now demand that they be forced to account. For Perry Christie and his PLP colleagues, the day of reckoning is finally at hand!

- Cornell Stuart

Dear Editor,
The swearing in ceremony for the Cabinet ministers was a jubilant occasion. Many Bahamians are optimistic that there will be change. Prime Minister Minnis' speech reinforced this belief, but there was one moment that I felt demonstrated our desire for change. The crowd applauded and cheered when he stated that he will shuffle permanent secretaries. I too applauded and cheered in front of my television but wondered if the audience and I were ecstatic for the same reason.
Since returning home from completing my master's degree last year, I have had serious challenges with senior officials within the ministry that I am employed. Prior to my return, I wrote a letter to my permanent secretary (PS) asking to be transferred to another ministry. I felt that this ministry was better suited for my qualification. Surprisingly, she responded by saying the transfer would be considered once I was completed. So, I returned home ready to go back to work. But I continuously called and wrote letters to follow up on the request. Unfortunately, I got no indication of where and when to report to work. Eventually, the director from my ministry wrote a letter to me that said no consideration could be given until I resumed the duties of my current position. Finally, I returned to work.
I had hoped that this would speed up the transfer process. Instead, I have been working for five months and have yet to be paid. I've written my PS and have even met with her and the former minister to determine when I'll be paid. Of course, they gave me a date but that date has come and gone without any payment. To add insult to injury, despite writing letters and calling to follow up, no official has reached out to me. I was not offered a salary advance. I was not offered vouchers. I was not offered anything.
Fed up with the lack of concern from my ministry, I stopped going to work and devoted my energy to getting this resolved. Interestingly enough, I've had family members plead with me to return to work to avoid having my salary cut. They seem more concerned about me being punished, even though my basic rights have been ignored.
I'm sharing this matter for one reason. It seems that rules, order and common courtesy do not apply to permanent secretaries, directors and human resource personnel. Based on The Bahamas government's website, a request for transfer is sent from the PS to the Ministry of Public Service. To my knowledge, my request, that I initially made a year ago, hasn't made it there yet. Furthermore, I'm often reminded by older public servants that my salary is guaranteed and I just have to be reinstated to the public service. I always respond by asking how long that process is supposed to take. Would this be acceptable if I were working for a private company? One would think that after letters and calls at least one senior official would offer a definitive response, even if it is via email. I'm assuming they do have email addresses and internet access.
So, I wonder how many persons in that audience, in particular young Bahamians like me, have received similar treatment on their government job. How many others are afraid of being cut when they seek to fight for what is right? How many others feel punished for desiring to pursue higher education? I admire the prime minister's desire to revamp the public service by shuffling permanent secretaries, but I feel that more has to be done. If getting cut is my punishment, what is theirs?

- The Frustrated but Dedicated Public Servant

Dear Editor,
The Bahamian general election of 2017 is now over with the Free National Movement (FNM) being the victor. The party soundly defeated the incumbent Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) at the polls.
Official results show that the FNM won 35 seats and the PLP won only four seats.
For the first time in the history of The Bahamas, a sitting prime minister was unseated. Yes, Perry Gladstone Christie at, 73 years old, has seemingly been forced into retirement. For the first time in my memory, grassroots areas that predominantly voted for the PLP gave them the shock of their lives on Election Day, as they resoundingly voted for the FNM.
Political giants like Shane Gibson, Fred Mitchell, Dr. B.J. Nottage and Melanie Griffin all lost their seats. In fact, the official results show that Englerston is the only constituency on New Providence that the PLP won.
Sitting at home watching and listening to the election results was almost an out of body experience because I never imagined that the FNM, would put such a lopsided beating on the PLP.
Even PLP Chairman Bradley Roberts, who always displays confidence when interviewed, seemed visibly shaken when he was congratulating the FNM on its victory. Perry Christie, who never misses an opportunity to be on camera, conceded by sending an unsigned two-page letter to the media.
Christie lost by four votes, and media houses reported that the ballots in the Centerville constituency were recounted again and again. Leslie Miller, in a recent statement to the media, said that he was concerned for Christie's mental state, given that, for the first time in 43 years, he will not be in frontline politics.
And now Christie's legacy is tarnished forever. He can't even give a farewell speech in Parliament without the mercy of the new FNM government.
I don't believe many Bahamians predicted such a massive defeat for the PLP, despite the barrage of scandals that occurred under its governance.
Dr. Hubert Minnis, who ran for prime minister for the first time, decimated a political giant in Christie who either did not see the writing on the wall or chose to ignore it. It is unclear if Christie will ever heal from such a political beat down, but this should serve as notice to other leaders who are so mesmerized and drunk with power to know when it is time to pass the baton. It should also serve as notice to followers who knowingly support leaders who have served past their time. Minnis has decimated Christie and has forced him into a long overdue retirement.

- Dehavilland Moss

Dear Editor,
Allow me to congratulate my fellow Bahamians for once again conducting themselves in a civilized and peaceful manner during the recently held general election.
I am calling on all political parties and their candidates, both those elected and rejected, to do their civic duty and remove and responsibly dispose of all of their election paraphernalia (banners, posters, flags etc.), which is a huge eyesore throughout the community, rather than leaving them to Mother Nature to dispose of, which up until now has been the norm.
Might I also humbly suggest that the new government, at some point during their term, consider making recycling mandatory. Aside from providing entrepreneurial opportunities it would help enormously in relieving some of the pressure on the already overburdened and poorly managed Harold Road landfill as well as on those in many of the Family Islands similarly afflicted.
They might, at the same time, update our antiquated litter laws to include stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties, including public shaming through community service if we are to rid ourselves of the scourge of illegal dumping and littering in general.
Let's make a new start on cleaning up our country, New Providence in particular, which over the years has sadly become a dump in its own right.

- Ian Mabon