EDITOR, The Tribune.
I BELIEVE it was the fictional character and nihilist Yevgeney Vasilevish Bazaro who stated in the 19th century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev’s classic novel Fathers and Sons that death is a stale joke, but it comes fresh to everybody. The country continues to moan the passing of Dr Bernard Nottage, former Progressive Liberal Party MP and National Security Minister in the former Christie government. Nottage has gone on to his eternal reward. May his soul rest in peace.
I applaud the Free National Movement government and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for rising above partisan politics in their handling of the fallen PLP MP and his family. I believe that the Minnis government has bent over backwards in its treatment of Nottage.
Despite informing the nation that the PLP government left the “cupboard bare,” the FNM has graciously increased the budget for Nottage’s official funeral from $10,000 to $50,000.
While the government is only obligated to assume costs up to a maximum of $10,000, the Minnis government has allotted an additional $40,000 towards the funeral, much to the chagrin of some critics who are screaming for the implementation of austerity measures.
In addition to funding Nottage’s funeral, the government covered the costs of his medical bills in Florida, despite the fact that Nottage was a very wealthy physician.
The government had even paid for the repatriation of his body. Minnis should be applauded for keeping in contact with Nottage’s family throughout this trying process.
His eulogy statement that was issued to the press was most honourable and diplomatic. Yet despite all that Minnis has done, there are some PLPs who prefer to scrape the bottom of the barrel in an effort to find fault with the FNM’s handling of Nottage’s remains.
Some of them have complained that the box containing the remains of Nottage was not draped with the Bahamian flag when it arrived from Florida.
According to them, this intentional blunder was the FNM’s slight towards Nottage.
Granted, the box should have been draped with the Bahamian flag. But I believe it was a simple oversight. There’s nothing more to it than that.
Rather than engage in petty politics, these people should use this time to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr Nottage. After all, that is what the FNM government is doing.
KEVIN EVANS
Nassau,
July 12, 2017.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 6 years, 9 months ago
Minnis was dead wrong in allowing in excess of $500,000 of medical costs and $50,000 of funeral costs to be added to our country's national debt for the benefit of the family of a former cabinet member (and long serving insider) in the most corrupt government we have ever had...to date. We will now have to pay interest to lenders for these borrowed amounts at a compound annual rate for untold years to come. Just like his corrupt brother Kendal Nottage, who was a long serving cabinet minister under past Pindling-led governments, BJ served for many years as cabinet minister (an insider) in corrupt Christie-led governments. BJ chose to play the role of loyal soldier to Christie and the PLP party notwithstanding his inside knowledge of all the corruption that was going on around him and that no doubt he too personally benefitted from. He therefore had no loyalty to the Bahamian people and it is the height of hypocrisy for Minnis to have saddled the taxpayers with these significant costs. One must ask why did Minnis do this? Is it because Minnis's own OBG medical practice, that is presumably being cared for by other medical practitioners in Minnis's absence as PM, stands to benefit from picking up a sizable portion of the medical business that BJ and his younger partners have enjoyed over the years? Who knows? But something does not smell right here. BJ's estate surely had the means to pay his U.S. medical costs and his funeral costs. The $550,000 plus dollars should have been spent towards fixing water fountains and restroom facilities that are in a deplorable (often non-functioning) state in so many of our public schools. Minnis and his cabinet members need to get a grip on the reality of our country's situation and stop throwing "feel good" money around that our country does not have to spend and must borrow at the end of the day!
DDK 6 years, 9 months ago
Not to mention the PMH A & E facility!
OMG 6 years, 9 months ago
So its the "peoples time" ???????? I have to go to A & E, be surrounded by thugs, mentally unstable, aged, sick, dying people and wait for hours waiting to maybe attended by an overworked staff but a wealthy politician who probably had but could well afford private care is given special treatment. ????????????? IStupid Stupid Mr Minnis when every dollar counts or is austerity only for the unwashed masses.
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