Mitchell: ‘Nothing irregular about’ proroguing Parliament

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS AND LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporters

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the Davis administration wants to prorogue Parliament more often.

His comment came as he and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper defended the recent prorogation after criticism from Free National Movement Leader Michael Pintard.

“The prorogation of the House is something that was routinely done in the pre-independence era,” Mr Mitchell said.

“When we came to office in 2021, we agreed to go back to the position where every year, essentially, you reset the agenda by proroguing the House and starting again. There’s nothing irregular about this. There’s no special need to duck anything, none of that.

“They’re actually making much more out of it than it is. And that’s because it’s just unusual to see it happen. Most of the post-independence prime ministers just had one session. You open Parliament, and it just kept for the five years. We agreed that we would go back to sessions annually if possible. That gives us an opportunity to reset the agenda and to say where we’ve gone.”

Mr Mitchell noted the Minnis administration left many questions unanswered when Parliament was prorogued and dissolved in 2021.

“I think they had something like some 266 questions left unanswered when they dissolved Parliament in 2021,” he said. “So they really can’t talk about who’s ducking who. We set the agenda as follows in 2021: reopen the economy, get things going. And we’ve done that. And now it’s time to reflect and reset priorities, and we’re going to do that.”

He added: “You know, it’s their job, of course to rattle our cages, but be assured that we don’t hear the rattles from them, what we hear is grumbling and noise.

“They need to take care of their own business like, you know, Pintard looking over his shoulder because Minnis is trying to get him. They need to concentrate on that first, instead of troubling us.”

For his part, Mr Cooper said the administration passed dozens of bills during the session.

“There is a reason why Pintard is in opposition and we’re in government,” he said on the sidelines of a Ministry of Education conclave yesterday.

“We are the government of the day and we will lead as we see fit. The prime minister has made a determination that we are going to reset. We are going to return on October 4. It is what it is.

“We’ve accomplished more than 100 pieces of legislation passed in the House of Assembly. We have a great agenda lined up for the future.

BAHAMAS AND TCI ES TA BL ISHING MARITIME boundaries split ‘down the middle’

“We are going to stay focused on the mission. We are humbled that the Bahamian people have given us five years to lead. We have a magnificent blueprint for change. We are making significant headway achieving many of those elements of the blueprint for change.”

“The reality is that our prime minister will lay out in due course the legislative agenda, and you should anticipate a Speech from the Throne that sets out all of the details for the upcoming three years.”

The Office of the Prime Minister said the next session of Parliament will see the government “prioritise legislation and policies which address the high cost of living, lift our people and strengthen our economic and national security”.

The next parliament session will likely coincide with Cynthia “Mother” Pratt’s anticipated appointment as the next governor-general, allowing her to read the Speech from the Throne.

Semi Military Funeral Service For Retired Deputy Superindentdant Of Police Adelbert Rueben MacKenzie, 85

of #169 Morgan Lane, Freeport, Grand Bahama and formerly of Driggs Hill, Andros will be held on Thursday, August 17th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Anglican Church, Soldier Road, Nassau, New Providence. Officiating will be Canon Norman Lightbourne and Canon Stephen Davies (Chaplin of RBPF). Cremation will follow.

He was predeceased by his parents: Rueben ‘Bertie’ and Blanche McKenzie; sisters: Lila McPhee, Ruth ‘Inez’ Taylor and Helen Forbes; brothers: Leslie & James ‘Jimmy’ McKenzie.

By LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporter lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Min - ister Fred Mitchell said

The Bahamas has recommended that the maritime boundary between this country and the Turks and Caicos be split in the middle of the two nations.

He was discussing a pending agreement involving Turks and Caicos that officials met to discuss last week.

Establishing a maritime border between The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos is expected to enhance the successful cooperative security arrangements between The Bahamas and TCI, according to a 2022 maritime security agreement.

This is the third round of formal negotiations to determine a maritime boundary between the two countries. The previous one was held in 1996.

Mr Mitchell told reporters yesterday: “Except that we have to agree formally what the border is, now our position is clear, both with the United States and with the UK. I think Haiti also has a maritime border with us. Our position is in the middle, you draw a line down the middle, and you take that, and we take that. That’s the way it is.

“The conclusion of these negotiations will be to the mutual benefit of our region as another milestone, further cementing our relationship with the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

“There’s another principle which operates called the continental shelf principle. And certainly, in the negotiations with the US, they’ve been advancing the continental shelf principle, which in fact, allows more on their side. But our starting position is down the middle, the median, and that’s the position that we settled with Cuba, and that’s the position that we’ll be maintaining going along.”

Mr Mitchell said negotiations with the Turks and Caicos Islands have been slow because of difficulties with geographical mapping and getting the locational data needed to determine exact boundaries.

“There’s a lot of geospatial data, which has to be supplied,” he said.

“We have the equipment and the technical capacity to do so. But you know, as a small country, it’s a little difficult wrapping up all of this to meet the requirements of these various meetings, and that’s why it’s taken such a long time to get it all sorted out. But we’re hoping to move the project along.”

Adelbert is survived by his wife of 61 years: Elsa ‘Lassie’ MacKenzie; four children: Troy, Trevor (Gina), Shira (Dr. Kenworth Newbold) and Delareese MacKenzie; his other children: Keith, Bernadette, Anishka, Adalbert; grandchildren: Devany, Trevor Justin, Reagan, Elijah and Chase; sisters: Rose Miller, Juanita Hamilton, Dorothy Curtis, Janet (Daniel) Simmons and Ivadell McKenzie; aunts: Doris Albury, Dame Marguerite Pindling and Priscilla Williams; uncle: Sidney McKenzie (Gwen); sisters-in-law: Peggy Roker, Jackie Bethell & Harriet Johnson; brother-in-law: Samuel ‘Bookie’ Johnson (Inez); nieces and nephews including: Dareo Ferguson, Darren Knowles: Clifford Darling Jr. (Judy) Beverley Pintard, S. Andrea Darling Thompson, Sharlene Hanna-McPhee (Edgar), Theresa McPhee (Frederick), Dr. Anthony Taylor II (Kaayrn), Jonathan ‘JC Forbes’ (Vandrea), Roy Forbes, Vanria Smith, Janice Arthur, Jillian Meeres and Edsel Armbrister, Nikita Curtis (Sharon), Tanya Bullock (Kevin), Lynden Curtis, Monalisa Adderley, Anthea and Terran Curtis; Ericka Barr (Willard) and Monique McKenzie; Neil McKenzie (Jackie) and Kimberley Forbes (Dr. Anthony), Roshann, Corey and Peter Miller; Ricardo, Royal Jr. and Adrian Hamilton, Gayle Bowleg; Damon Dames (Iris), Crystal Mercedes, Cherelle Stuart and Chernecia Campbell (Xavier); numerous cousins including: Rodney Flowers, Leoma Burke, Sheila and Stephanie Forbes, Sidne McKenzie-Stubbs, Kellie, Alex and Peter McKenzie, Brenda McKenzie and Hillary Smith; Ivamae Simmons (Roger), Patricia Robinson, Stephanie Higgs, Orthnell McKenzie, Elijah McKenzie, Neville, Alfredo and Aaron McKenzie, Predensa Clarke, Jazelle Hall; Janice Weech, Cheryl Murphy, Philippa and Everette McKenzie Jr., Lynn Rolle, Obi Pindling (Diane), Leslie and Monique Pindling and Michelle Sands (Robert); Abdul Armbrister; Selwyn McKenzie (Rose), Andy, Gail and Kevin McKenzie and Devon Williams; grandnieces/nephews including: Diara Ferguson, Kirkwood, Adrian & Adrianna Knowles; Dominique Johnson, D’Vaughn & David Dean, Brandon, Lamon and Lawren Pintard, Syann Thompson-Wells (Matthew), Sharrana Matulka (Michael), Shonari & Shenaniah Thompson, Ebony Beneby (Lauren), Edgar Hanna Jr., Ehren Hanna (Giselle), Freda Seymour (Vincent), Anthony III, Andrew & Ann Taylor; godchild; Wade Riley and a host of other relatives and friends including: Dean Harry Bain & Mrs. Bain, Canon Norman & Mrs. Lightbourne and the Pro Cathedral of the Christ the King Anglican Church family, (Grand Bahama) Ellen Major, Ivan and Florence Deveaux, Ashley Smith, Eugene Cartwright, Layton Roberts, Wellington and Carnetta Edgecombe, Geneva Munroe, Jenny Colo, Alice McKenzie, Rudy Stubbs, Eddie Johnson, John Penn; Cliff Moree, Bishop Roberts; Annamae Sands, Max Sweeting, RH Culmer; Dashie Williams, Alice Stuart and family, Sonia Dames and family, Donald Williams, Dorothy ‘Dory’ Francis, Kendall and Ruby Nottage, Sandra Nottage, Sheila Martin and family, Allison Campbell, George McPhee, Basil Green; Royal Bahamas Police Force, PLP Stalwart family, GB Darts Association, Pastor Dave and Angela Burrows & Bahamas Faith Ministries family and a host of other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.