At last the Immigration Department has bestirred itself long enough to reply to The Tribune’s application for the renewal of the work permit of its Managing Editor, John Marquis.
As the department publicly informed The Tribune of its decision through the columns of The Nassau Guardian on Monday morning, we shall reply to them publicly in this column today.
On Sunday, a member of The Guardian’s staff telephoned Mr Marquis for a comment on Immigration’s decision about his work permit. Mr Marquis had no comment. In fact he did not know what they were talking about.
Hours after reading the early morning Guardian yesterday, a buff coloured envelope from Immigration arrived at The Tribune. A Tribune staff member clears The Tribune’s post box every morning, except Saturdays. On Friday when the box was cleared the envelope with the Immigration stamp on it was not there. When the box was cleared Monday morning, there it was. Inside was the information about Mr Marquis that we had already read in the Guardian.
If our readers would note the dates of this envelope’s slow journey, they can get a measure of this government’s efficiency.
The letter deferring Mr Marquis’ permit was written on July 18. It was stamped on July 20 as having left the Immigration Department. It was stamped by the Post Office on July 24 – we are not certain whether that stamp indicated receipt, or departure from the sorting room.
It eventually found its destination, The Tribune office, on July 30. That’s efficiency for you!
Government can’t even deliver a letter from the walking distance of its Hawkins Hill office, down the hill to The Tribune’s offices on Shirley Street, under 12 days! Nor can the post office process letters any faster.
But late Sunday night Fred Mitchell’s former website expressed a hope that what had been requested in Immigration’s letter to The Tribune οΎ - which at that time had not yet been received by The Tribune – had been accomplished.
“Right now,” said the former Mitchell website, which seems to exist solely for the promotion of Mr Mitchell and his thoughts and ambitions, “we hope that the Department of Immigration has gotten an explanation from The Tribune of why they cannot have a Bahamian as the Managing Editor of the newspaper and why the need for all the foreign editors that they have, to do the work at the paper. What is the training programme that they have in place to replace Mr. Marquis and the others?”
The following is what Immigration wrote in its letter dated July 18:
“I’m directed to inform you that the application has been considered by the Immigration Board, but was deferred to ensure what efforts have been made to Bahamianize the position.
“Further, you are requested to submit a staff list indicating names, nationality and positions held.”
We feel sorry for Labour Minister Shane Gibson, caught between Mr Mitchell’s determination that “John Marquis’ work permit should not be renewed”, and the inevitable outcry that such a decision is going to bring from the press – and all this just before an election!
However, if the Immigration Department really wanted an answer to its question it could have had it long ago. In January this year the Minister instructed the Labour Department to send an officer to The Tribune to interview Mr Marquis and his replacement. The Tribune was not informed of this until March. We have been in touch with the Labour Department. We are still waiting for them to make an appointment for that interview.
We no longer intend to keep this behind closed doors- it will now be played out in full view of the public.
We shall return to this subject tomorrow.
Source: Editorial from The Tribune
