VZCZCXRO6386
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHBH #0362/01 1621249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111249Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NASSAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6440
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000362 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO ECON PGOV PREL BF
SUBJECT: BAHAMAS MONTHLY -- MAY 2009 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a monthly report on a variety of topics of interest 
which do not merit full reporting cables. 
 
-- Opposition Leadership Digging in as Economy Sinks? 
-- Continuing Criminal Justice Crisis:  Bad Guys Doing the Crime, 
Not Doing the Time 
-- Another Temporary Hotel Closure, More Job Cuts Feared 
-- Heavy Rains Soak Thirsty Island, Preview Upcoming Hurricane 
Season as Embassy Readies 
-- Bahamas.com Reels in More On-line Tourists 
-- Pageant Tempest:  Miss Bahamas Universe Crown Disputed 
 
----------------------------- 
Opposition Leadership Digging 
in as Economy Sinks? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The incumbent leadership of the opposition Progressive 
Liberal Party (PLP), with ex-Prime Minister Perry Christie at the 
helm, appears to be digging in its heels as the economy sinks. 
Political observers now expect that the Deputy Leader of the PLP, 
ex-Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia "Mother" Pratt, will seek to remain 
in office beyond the next party convention in October 2009.  She had 
previously signaled her intent to leave front-line politics for 
personal reasons, leading to a poorly-disguised and sometimes 
unseemly public competition among her would-be successors. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Deputy Leader post is thought to be a stepping-stone 
to the party leadership still tightly gripped by the former PM.  If 
Pratt too remains in office, the door will be all but closed to 
ambitious activists aspiring to climb the PLP leadership ladder 
without challenging Christie directly.  Despite the PLP's continuing 
infighting and poor reviews of its effectiveness in government and 
out, including the leak of an embarrassing report analyzing the 
reasons for their shock May 2007 election defeat, change may not be 
coming to the PLP anytime soon after all.  The top PLP incumbents 
may now calculate that daunting economic troubles provide a 
favorable backdrop for a 2012 rematch with the governing Free 
National Movement. 
 
 
--------------------------- 
Continuing Criminal Justice 
Crisis:  Bad Guys Doing the 
Crime, Not Doing the Time 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A daily newspaper published figures in mid-May from a 
government report showing how many accused violent criminals were 
being released on bail -- possibly to commit more violent crimes -- 
leading to another outcry over the poor functioning of the criminal 
justice system and more criticism of the government's law 
enforcement performance.  After a court of appeal ruling May 21 
overturned a law denying bail to accused violent criminals, 
reactions from beleaguered anti-crime campaigners, church leaders, 
and ordinary citizens sharpened.  Lawyers pointed out that judges 
retain the discretion to deny bail, but citizens fear that more 
violent offenders will pour into the streets as courts fail to try 
them in a timely manner. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Bahamian public is also beset by a seemingly endless 
spiral of crime and violence juicily reported in the daily news 
cycle.  May was no different.  Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Pratt 
witnessed a daylight bank hold-up while waiting in line for the 
teller.  A "Wild West-style" street shootout ensued after bystanders 
intervened to stop a purse-snatching in progress:  when the would-be 
mugger pulled a gun and began firing, another passer-by returned 
fire with a shotgun!  In other demoralizing items, a 19-year old 
woman was killed and dumped in an open grave, while the head of 
airport security was shot during an apparent robbery attempt.  With 
across-the-board budget cuts looming, Bahamian criminals are likely 
to keep doing the crime without much fear of doing the time. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Another Temporary Hotel Closure, 
More Job Cuts Feared 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) In the latest in a series of closures or layoffs resulting 
from the global economic downturn, Hotel Riu management announced 
they will close the hotel for renovations from August to December, 
the traditional slow season.  The move will hit 300 hundred workers 
at the hotel, many of whom will be forced to use three to four weeks 
of paid vacation while the hotel is closed.  The temporary closure 
follows in the footsteps of similar plans by the Wyndham and other 
hotels in The Bahamas.  While Hotel Riu has not laid off any 
employees so far, many fear that staff reductions are the next step 
for the Paradise Island resort. 
 
------------------------ 
Heavy Rains Soak Thirsty 
 
NASSAU 00000362  002 OF 002 
 
 
Island, Preview Upcoming 
Hurricane Season as 
Embassy Readies 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (U) Sun-seeking tourists were disappointed but at least some 
rain-starved locals celebrated a two week-long series of sometimes 
violent thunderstorms bringing heavy downpours in late May.  At 
first the rain brought much-needed relief to parched lawns and 
gardens, but the island was thoroughly sodden by the end of the 
month.  Lightning reportedly struck the airport control tower May 
25, temporarily disrupting flight operations, and the sustained 
rainstorms flooded roads, complicated already congested traffic, and 
caused power outages again May 29. 
 
¶8.  (U) All of it amounted to a preview of the upcoming hurricane 
season, which kicked off June 1.  Embassy Nassau preparations are 
well under way.  Post hosted the visit of a senior USAID Office of 
Foreign Disaster Assistance official, who met with local emergency 
agencies and the Hurricane Action Committee May 27.  Post also 
hosted two hurricane preparedness town hall meetings, separately 
providing employees and American citizens with guidelines and 
encouraging everyone to begin preparations now.  The National 
Hurricane Center predicts a normal Atlantic hurricane season in 
¶2009.  As always, Embassy Nassau is hoping for a quiet season but 
preparing for the worst. 
 
------------------------- 
Bahamas.com Reels in More 
On-line Tourists 
------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation said the new tourism 
website -- www.bahamas.com -- has been a huge success.  The ministry 
reported a 24 percent increase in the number of hits to the website 
in April 2009 compared to April 2008, and a 10 percent year-to-date 
increase in visitors despite the economic downturn.  The website was 
launched in October 2008 and includes the ability to book trips to 
The Bahamas directly from the site.  It also boasts interactive maps 
of all the diverse Bahamian islands, which the ministry hopes to 
individually brand as travel destinations.  The Tourism Ministry has 
also begun promoting special events on-line -- the promotion of the 
filming of the U.S. television show "Scrubs" in Abaco earlier this 
year brought 17,000 visitors to the website.  Ministry 
representatives said visitors that booked vacation packages on 
bahamas.com average 64 percent more in value than those booking in 
other ways. 
 
------------------------------ 
Pageant Tempest:  Miss Bahamas 
Universe Crown Disputed 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (U) In perhaps the least consequential yet most heated of 
current social controversies, the title of Miss Bahamas Universe 
2009 -- not to be confused with Miss Bahamas World, also chosen in 
early June -- is being disputed by backers of disgruntled 
contestants, as well as by many ordinary viewers of the event who 
immediately concluded that the fix was in.  The much-coveted crown 
was taken by a well-known vocalist and front-woman of a local band, 
but many cried foul at the outcome as suspicions of a rigged process 
reverberated throughout the country.  The judges' justifications 
appeared to do little to assuage the outrage as the final tally was 
upheld.  Nota bene:  the Miss Universe pageant will take place at 
Atlantis, Paradise Island this August, showcasing the new Miss 
Bahamas Universe -- as elected -- on a global stage without ever 
leaving home. 
 
ZUNIGA-BROWN