The move, while widely praised by most people, has prompted charges of "betrayal" in over-the-hill areas where Knowles was a popular figure.
Yesterday, at Fort Charlotte, where Knowles was seen as a 'Robin Hood' character who looked after the poor, there were cries that the government had broken promises in handing over Knowles to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
Knowles, who had been held at Fox Hill Prison for six years, was flown from Nassau to Miami on Monday in a hush-hush operation. For the man called a "cocaine kingpin" by President George W Bush, it was the end of a long legal battle to stay in the Bahamas.
A recent Privy Council ruling brought to an end the appeals process for Knowles, who had spent a fortune hiring top British lawyers to fight his case.
While most welcomed the government's move as right and proper, some grassroots PLP supporters took a different view.
A well-informed political source said yesterday: "This is going to cost the PLP a lot of votes at the general election. In Fort Charlotte, particularly, there will be a major reaction because Ninety did so much for the people there."
Popular
Knowles' largesse in the area around Farrington Road, Baldwin Avenue and Eden Street was renowned, especially at "back to school" time and Christmas.
The convicted drug dealer was noted for buying shoes, books, backpacks and other items for poor families. And at Christmas, his friends were overwhelmed by gifts of hams and turkeys.
The source said: "Those he helped saw him as a great character without taking into account the many families destroyed by drugs.
"In this country alone, there are too many vagrants who are strung out on drugs – the result of drug activities by the likes of Ninety."
The source said Ninety's departure would also have an impact on some over-the-hill churches, which benefited from his generosity. "Some of them were kept afloat by his money," he added.
At an over-the-hill bar yesterday all the talk was of how the government had "messed up" Ninety in spite of donations he allegedly made to certain politicians at the last election.
"This has undermined the PLP in some areas. People are feeling betrayed," said one observer. "At this time of the year, when the kids were getting ready to go back to school, Ninety would pay barbers to cut their hair and so forth.
"Ninety also made loans to people. His extradition has left a lot of people devastated."
Likeliest victims of the Ninety move are Alfred Sears, the PLP's representative in Fort Charlotte, and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, who signed the formal papers allowing his release to the US authorities.
According to one political source, both will lose "plenty votes" in the election. "It's going to be very interesting to see how the Ninety thing plays out when people go to the polls," he said.
"While I expect many PLPs to lose votes, the biggest impact will be felt at Fort Charlotte and Fox Hill."
Knowles was wanted by US authorities to face a number of drugs charges.
Source: The Tribune
