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VOLUME:114 No.141, JUNE 15TH, 2017
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Sands: $25m in unpaid bills Ministry of Health added nearly $10m in contracts before vote By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE former Christie administration left more than $25m in unpaid bills for medical equipment, rent, drugs and salaries at the Ministry of Health and the Public Hospital’s Authority, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands claimed yesterday. During the budget debate in the House of Assembly, Dr Sands said despite owing millions of dollars in salaries and commitments, weeks before the general election the former Progressive Liberal Party
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MINNIS ‘WILL TAKE BACK CROWN LAND’ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis pledged yesterday to take back Crown land from people who are using it for purposes outside the “original intent,” particularly those hoarding it for future investment. After touring the Department of Lands and Surveys, Dr Minnis said: “People will not be receiving the people’s land just to sit on SEE PAGE NINE
TWO FACE COURT OVER RAPE ALLEGATIONS
(PLP) government entered into $9,756,006.64 worth of security contracts, janitorial contracts, generator purchases and other miscellaneous items “to people who may be considered the party faithful.” Dr Sands also claimed that despite a plea from the managing director of the PHA for just under a million dollars to repair the major hospitals in the healthcare system, the money was never made available, resulting in 67 crucial beds “being taken out of commission”. SEE PAGE 11
NATION HAS 11TH HIGHEST HOMICIDE RATE IN WORLD By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas has the 11th highest homicide rate in the world, triple the rate considered by the World Health Organization as an epidemic, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday. Dr Sands also revealed that The Bahamas has the “highest incidents” of diabetes in the world and 79.2 per cent of the population is obese or overweight. Addressing parliamen-
tarians during the budget debate, Dr Sands said the number one cause of death of the Bahamian male is a bullet and a recent crime study shows that between 2012 and 2015, 78 per cent of murder victims in The Bahamas died as a result of gunshot wounds. Dr Sands said between 2012 and 2016, the Accident and Emergency (A & E) Department at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) managed 8,000 assault cases, 1,229 stabbing cases, and 1,078 gunshot wounds. SEE PAGE 11
CLEVELAND ANTONIO MUSGROVE, aged 23, of Kemp Road, left, and Steve Resnick, 46, of Delaware, US, who are accused of separate sexual assaults. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net TWO men—a Bahamian and an American—were remanded to prison yesterday after they were separately arraigned concerning sexual assault allegations. Cleveland Antonio Musgrove, 23, of Kemp Road was accused of allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman
on Monday, June 12. According to initial reports from police, shortly after 1.30pm on the day in question a male Jet Ski operator offered a Canadian woman a ride at Cabbage Beach and took her to Athol Island off Paradise Island, where he is alleged to have sexually assaulted her. The jet ski operator then returned the woman to
Cabbage Beach and the matter was reported to the police who later took a suspect into custody for questioning. Musgrove is scheduled to have his case fast-tracked to the Supreme Court on July 25 and was remanded to prison in the interim. He has retained attorney Bjorn Ferguson to represent him against the charge that was laid contrary to
Section 6(A) of the Sexual Offences Act. Steve Resnick, a 46-yearold American of Newark, Delaware was charged first before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes facing a charge of rape, in which it is alleged that on Sunday, June 11, he had sexual intercourse with a 27-year-old woman against her will. SEE PAGE FIVE
JOHNSON READY TO ACT ON DISCLOSURES, AND SAYS THAT SHANTY TOWNS MUST NOT BE IGNORED By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
MINISTER of State for Legal Affairs Elsworth Johnson insisted yesterday the country cannot continue to “pretend” that immigrant communities do not exist, while suggesting
that dangers to residents abound in shanty towns because of a failure to enforce existing regulations. Mr Johnson also told parliamentarians that he, along with the Attorney General’s Office, stands “ready to do the people’s business” regarding delinquent former and current members
of Parliament who have not disclosed their assets as required by law. He further revealed that the government intends to transfer sensitive matters or the issuance of nolle prosequi to the director of public prosecutions and that legislation will be drafted to make this arm of the judici-
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
ary independent. In this regard, he said the government will also undergo a public education process to engage civil society in such matters as nolle prosequi to remove the “illusive” perception attached to this kind of legal action. SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Island Luck helping entrepreneurs to stand on their OWN
SEBAS BASTIAN, centre, Island Luck CEO with winners of the OWN Bahamas entrepreneurship programme.
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Bastian relayed the benefits of the programme during a press conference. Mr Bastian explained that in addition to receiving between $7,500 to $15,000, winning applicants will receive one year of free newspaper advertisements in The Tribune, one year of free internet and phone services for their businesses from BTC, a six-week business course at the University of The Bahamas, and marketing help inclusive of web and graphic design for products and services. “We give them all the ingredients necessary to really hit the ground running day one,” he said. This year, the programme received over 2,500 applicants. Due to the profuse number of young people applying, Mr Bastian sees the need for venture capital programmes in the Bahamas and is proud that the applicants are going after success the way they should. “The future of the country is in the hands of the youths today.” He added: “As you can see, these persons are taking the bold step of not waiting for a hand out [and]
not waiting for someone to pass them opportunities.” Owning businesses can be considered difficult or out of reach to many locals. Companies face hardships, but Mr Bastian and his team have seen many positive outcomes from past winners. “We’ve been tracking them and we have seen a success ratio of about 75 per cent,” he said. “They’re still in business, still going [and] striving every day.” The programme is open to all legal and eligible Bahamian citizens. The applicants are required to provide a brief biography and business plan that includes an outline of their goals and aspirations. The OWN Bahamas selection committee granted 10 Bahamians the opportunity to reap the benefits of opening their own businesses. The two applicants to win the $15,000 grant are Margaux Blackman owner of Little Prodigies Music & Arts School and Virley McKinney, owner of Asphalt Maintenance Paving & Testing Company Ltd.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 3
Anti-corruption legislation is planned later this year By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE government will table legislation in the House of Assembly to establish an anti-corruption commission shortly after Parliament’s summer recess, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said yesterday. During a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Newbold announced that three persons will travel to Singapore and the United Kingdom to “observe their anticorruption commissions” to help determine how this country’s unit will be set up.
Mr Newbold also revealed that a law reform commission will be re-established to review all “out dated legislation with a view to upgrading them as quickly as possible.” He said currently there is no budget for the anticorruption commission and at this stage the government is unsure how many persons will make up the board. “Cabinet recently discussed the establishment of an anti-corruption commission and a plan to send individuals to the United Kingdom to observe their anti-corruption commission,” Mr Newbold said. “This is, of course, a fa-
vourite of the Minnis government and there will be legislation brought to the Parliament to reflect that shortly after the summer recess of the House...Three people will travel to Singapore and London and depending on what they find they will help determine the makeup of our commission. Once they return and make a report it will also help us develop a budget. So, like I said when the House returns after the summer break you can expect some legislation, some of it will be anti-corruption.” In keeping with its campaign promise to wipe out malfeasance in govern-
ment and increase transparency, the Free National Movement administration pledged last month in the Speech from the Throne to create and enforce anticorruption legislation for parliamentarians and public officers. “My government will ensure that its ministers are held to the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct. Consequently, my government will enact and enforce anticorruption legislation for all parliamentarians and public officers,” the speech, read by Governor General Dame Marguerite, noted. “My government is proud
of the capabilities of the team that you have entrusted with your mandate. As has been noted publicly already, we will ensure that all members of Parliament and all of the senior members of the public service are familiar with all of the practices, principles and tools of good governance as we get to work on your behalf,” the speech continued. For several months ahead of the general election, stamping out acts of corruption was a common theme upon which now Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis capitalised.
TURNQUEST SAYS GOVT AIMS TO STABILISE COUNTRY’S FINANCES By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
THE economic plan being chartered during the ongoing 2017-2018 budget debate aims to stabilise the country’s finances, Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest said yesterday, as he underscored the continued need to reduce “discretionary spending” and bring the nation’s expenditure under control. Responding to questions on the viability of the country’s economy moving forward, the East Grand Bahama MP said the government is currently attempting to grow the economy in a way that does not inflict any additional longterm “harm”. He told reporters gathered outside of the House of Assembly Wednesday that the initial review of resources and spending habits has uncovered a non-productive system of governance. Mr Turnquest, a forensic accountant by profession, said the review also suggests that the government could “squeeze out some of the excess” out of the public expenditure. “As we go through and we understand the numbers and we understand the theories and the assumptions behind the numbers, we may be able to squeeze out some of the excess and some of that fat,” the minister of finance said. Mr Turnquest said it remains the government’s main aim to determine if the country has received “value for money” and that if the government was “maximising” its tax revenues. However, Mr Turnquest said he was of the view that if many of the government’s processes were to be streamlined and specific human and financial resources were strategically reallocated, the Minnis administration could save the Bahamian people some money. “….We have commitments that exist, that seems to be in one silo and the other silo didn’t know that those commits exist; and some of those have significant impact.” To that end, Mr Turnquest said the government would have to “modernise” the structure in which it reports and manages its financial information and resources. He said he believes the acquisition of a $33m loan from the Inter-American Development Bank last year by the Christie administration was done to carryout this process of “modernisation”. When presented to the country in January of 2016, the former administration said that the object of the loan was to help the government to better use fiscal resources by monitoring projects and programmes more effectively and by improving the ability to collect data and provide quality statistics.
The Christie administration also promoted plans to improve how funds are allocated and to modernise the country’s public procurement system. Mr Turnquest furthered Wednesday: “We are going to have to modernise the structure and that is probably the IDB loan that we have, to modernise our reporting and financial management systems to ensure that we have more timely and accurate information so that we can tell, within reason, what our exposure is, what our cash management structure should be, how ought to be able to manage our debt, what commitments we can make within the parametres of our debt to GDP and our capita ratios.” Mr Turnquest later suggested that many of the administration’s proposed adjustments in this regard could come on stream later this year, but refused to give an exact timeline. “We intend to, as we go along and as I indicated, go through every agency, every commission, every association that is receiving money from the government, to determine whether those funds are being put to a use that is of benefit to the Bahamian people; that we are getting value for money.” When asked about the potential for economic growth, he added: “Absolutely. We have yet to tap the creative ability of our people. We have this insular view on what we can and should be doing. “As we have been saying all along during the campaign trail, we have to figure out how do we get outside of this two pillar economy that we have and start to exploit some of the natural resources that we have; some of the sustainable natural resources that we have. “So we are going to have to invest in some of research and development or incentivise the private sector to engage in some research and development so that we find new uses for these resources that we have that can be commercially viable (and) that came be self-generating without damaging the environment,” he said. During his address to press Wednesday, Mr Turnquest also shot down claims that the Minnis administration was considering increasing value added tax rates from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent this year. Mr Turnquest said the government plans to review the country’s overall tax structure as it looks to consolidate several tax streams to ease the cost of doing business in The Bahamas. Mr Turnquest said the country has done very little to modernise the tax scheme it inherited from its days as a British colony, suggesting that an ease in the cost of doing business could encourage the creation of many new businesses and employment opportunities.
DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest.
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THE TRIBUNE
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Baseball drill becomes assault on Republicans ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — First came the ping of baseball bats, a familiar sound of the leafy neighborhood’s morning. Then the crack of gunfire, which isn’t. It started with a single pop, which for a split second was not alarming to the Republican members of Congress who had gathered for a final practice before a charity baseball game with Democrats this week. As one lawmaker would later note, it could have been a car backfiring. Then, after a pause, the gunshots came in quick succession and the horror unfolded in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, home to many federal workers, lawyers and lobbyists who commute across the river to Washington. Rep Steve Scalise of Louisiana, two Capitol police officers, a lobbyist and a legislative aide were wounded as lawmakers, some fighting back tears, sought to understand what had happened and why. In a hail of bullets, police killed the gunman. “You never expect a baseball field in America to feel like being back in a combat zone in Iraq,” said Ohio Rep Brad Wenstrup, an Army reservist who served as a combat surgeon in Iraq and was on the field Wednesday when the shooting began. “But this morning it did.” They had gathered on this muggy morning, trading suits and ties for sneakers and baseball caps, to practice for Thursday’s annual left-right matchup, a friendly Democratic-Republican rivalry for charity in a capital otherwise poisonous in its partisanship. Alabama Rep Mo Brooks had bicycled nine miles to make the 6:30am start. More than 20 Republican members from the House and Senate showed up. The baseball park, home to the TC Williams High School Titans, sits in a lively part of Alexandria. On weekdays, locals head off to work and school. People come and go at the nearby YMCA. Homeowners stroll the sidewalks, walking their dogs. So it hardly seemed unusual when a man approached Rep Jeff Duncan of South Carolina in the baseball field parking lot. His question was pointed: “’Excuse me sir, who’s practicing today? Democrats or Republicans?’” Duncan recalled. “And I said it’s the Republican team. He said, ‘OK, thanks’ and turned around.” Duncan then left, saying later, “It was the guy they’ve identified as the shooter.” RepSteve Pearce of New Mexico was taking swings in the batting cage along the first base side when he noticed a bystander near the third base dugout. Within seconds, as Pearce left the batting cage and headed toward the dugout, the shooting started. “I saw the shooter clearly with his rifle, aimed and shooting around one corner of a building,” he said in a video statement. Chaos ensued. Lawmakers dove for cover. Gravel bounced as shots hit the ground. From inside Swing’s coffee shop directly across from the field, manager Jon “Scott” Mosel described the popping of gunfire. “Then a wave of players frantically running. It was absolutely frantic. We didn’t know if they were being chased.” The players ran from the first base side of the field across a basketball court and either jumped a fence into a nearby dog park or ran up the hill and crossed the street toward the coffee shop, he said. Brooks hit the ground with a few others behind the batting cage, but quickly realized that didn’t provide much cover. The gunman wasn’t spraying bullets but rather taking aim, so there was a “little bit of time between shots.” He quickly ran with some others to the first base dugout and tried to hide, lying bellydown in the dirt. Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was fielding balls on second base when a gunshot crumpled him, Arizona Sen Jeff Flake said. The 51-year-old Scalise, serving his fifth congressional term, dragged himself 10 to 15 yards into the outfield to try to get away, Flake said, leaving a bloody trail. Marty LaVor, a retired Capitol Hill
worker, was taking pictures by first base when he saw a man holding a rifle behind a chain-link fence by third base. LaVor saw Scalise go down, then a Capitol police officer. “Almost within an instant, and I don’t remember the time, somebody said ‘Get in the dugout.’ And they said it with such authority. You remember when you were a kid, and your parents said something? This was that sound.” LaVor got in the dugout. The 911 call went out at 7:09 a.m. To those in the line of fire, it seemed an eternity before city police arrived, but in reality it took just three minutes. Three officers from the Capitol Hill force were on the scene, two of them assigned to Scalise because of his position in House leadership. When they opened fire, Brooks said, they were so close that he initially feared a second shooter was involved. Brooks said the Capitol officers were armed only with pistols, and “taking on a guy with a rifle from 90-120 feet away. It wasn’t a fair fight.” Three hours after the attack, Brooks still wore a batting glove, with dirt from lying face-first in the dugout still smeared across his navy blue T-shirt, as he and other lawmakers at the scene described the attack to the AP. Katie Filous, an attorney who was walking her dogs near the field, dropped to the ground when she heard “a lot of shots.” A uniformed officer got out of a car, drew a handgun and shouted something to the assailant, she said. She saw the officer get hit with a bullet, and later evacuated by helicopter. Congress members helped apply a tourniquet to the injured leg of Zachary Barth, legislative correspondent for Rep Roger Williams of Texas, as the shooting continued. Scalise, too, was attended to by his colleagues on the field. Peoples, who teaches an exercise class at the YMCA, was walking to her car when she saw a man in shorts and a Tshirt firing. She thought at first it was a drill or a paintball game. “He was very calm,” she said. “He was just walking and shooting as if it was just like he was practicing.” She recalled no other noise until she heard a police officer command, “Get down!” Peoples dropped her belongings and ran back to the Y, banging on the side door until someone let her in. Rep Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee passed the shooter on his way into the dugout to hide. “He decided not to shoot me,” he would later tell CNN. “The fear factor was horrific. There was blood all over, it was horrible.” He said if the gunman had come after them in the dugout, “we would have been sitting ducks”. It was over in a matter of minutes. At least 70 shots could be heard in a video. Members of Congress credited the Capitol police officers with shooting the gunman, though authorities did not immediately confirm who shot him. He died in the hospital. Scalise underwent surgery for a wound to the hip, and was in critical condition. Matt Mika, the lobbyist and a former congressional aide, was also in critical condition, with multiple wounds. Special Agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner of the US Capitol Police, as well as Barth, were expected to recover fully. The attacker was identified as James T Hodgkinson, a Belleville, Illinois, home inspector who is thought to have been in Alexandria since March, with no work, living in his white cargo van and frequenting the YMCA next to the field. He had a history of arrests, including for resisting police and drunken driving, and of speaking out against Republicans. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said on the Senate floor that Hodgkinson apparently was a volunteer for his campaign last year. Hours after the attack, the field was surrounded by crime scene tape and still set for batting practice. A mobile backstop curved behind home plate, near metal bats. A crate full of baseballs sat near the pitcher’s mound, and balls were scattered on the field among medical bags and supplies. Behind first base, next to a large medical bag, sat a single baseball shoe. Off the field on the first base side, a medical gurney.
Challenge of revitalising Downtown EDITOR, The Tribune.
THE Hon Minister of Tourism, Dinisio D’Aguliar (FNM-Free Town), and the Minnis Administration have their collective work cut out for them when it comes to the revitilisation of the downtown environment and The Festival Place at Prince George Dock. With the relocation of many traditional businesses and merchants from Bay Street, decades ago, to the inner city and suburbs, that main strip, from East Street up to the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge, has become an eye sore of no small order. In fact, Bay Street as we used to know it has become a ghost town and an area where Bahamians pimp out themselves and sell illegal drugs, according to the police. The PLP administration (maladministration) under the benign leadership of the former Minister of Tourism, Obie Hercules Wilchcombe, literally wasted millions of tax payers’ dollars on The Festival Place and tourism’s headquarters on George Street with very little to show for the expenditures. It is my sincere hope that an audit will be done on these two elephants and
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net made public. When people travel as tourists they are expecting to experience the vibrancy; culture cuisine and, of course, the ambience of the capital city. Bay Street is no longer a draw for visitors or indigenous Bahamians. We locals tend to shun it except for the most urgent of business. The night life, such as it is, is more of a nuisance than an attraction. Once upon a time there were at least 10 night clubs and countless ‘high end’ restaurants and bars. Not so today. The Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Works must get a handle on downtown and the surrounding areas. The Festival Place, our premier greeting port for the cruise ships, should be completed as quickly as possible via a private/public sector partnership. It is a joy to travel into the port of Kingston, Jamaica or even into the Everglades and Miami Beach. The PLP and Obie Wilchombe ‘jacked’ us right up while wasting millions of dollars on what I perceive to be phantom renovations and
so-called upgrades. I fully realize that most of the Bay Street property is owned by wealthy white and black Bahamians who may have no financial incentives to develop the same. The Minnis Administration will have to find the political will power to grant substantial incentives to these people and corporate entities so as to encourage them to get on with what sorely needs to be done. The current board of The Down Town Revitalisation Committee, appointed years ago, seems to be ineffective and a repository for political hacks and cronies because it escapes me to point to a single thing that it has done to bring a clear cut and an affordable plan of action to the table. Who appoints the members thereof and are they paid a stipend? If they are being paid that is, in my view, wasted money. Minnis and his crew have their work cut out for them and the erstwhile Minister of Tourism, must hit the ground running. To God then, in all things, be the glory. ORTLAND BODIE, JR Nassau, June 14, 2017.
A necessary expense? EDITOR, The Tribune. ARE Bahamian consulates and high commissions abroad really necessary in this day and age of instant communication? What is the cost associated with operating foreign missions in terms of office leasing, housing, salaries, entertainment allowances and air fare? Sure, we have students in Ottawa, London, Beijing and Cuba (not sure about Haiti), Miami, New York, Washington and Atlanta, but what about the many other students scattered many, many miles away without access to Bahamian missions? They
seem to get on ok. What purpose do these missions actually serve that can’t be achieved over the internet, by courier, by an honorary consul who resides in the area or, in special cases, by a lawyer…and at far less expense to the Bahamian taxpayer? I mean, do we really need a press, cultural and information manager in DC or elsewhere? Can we get some clarity on how “work hours” are actually filled? Then there are the postings to the international organisations in Washington (OAS), New York (UN) and Geneva (?). Isn’t this a bit much given
the financial quagmire the PLP left us in? If a permanent presence abroad is necessary, why not partner up with CARICOM members to share rent and housing and rotate existing foreign affairs staff? What about the Bahamas tourist offices in Canada, the US, UK, Europe, and Asia? What exactly do the staff do eight hours a day, five days a week? Have these offices not lived out their usefulness in this age of instant communication? JUST ASKING Nassau, June 14, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 5
Water sports veteran laments lack of oversight in industry
By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
A VETERAN water sports operator has criticised the lack of oversight in the industry, telling The Tribune yesterday that at least 75 per cent of the persons involved in the sector could be described as “gangsters with no respect for rule or law.” The operator, who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said problems in the industry stem from inaction by government and law enforce-
ment over the years, which has allowed a serious issue to fester into a “catastrophic problem.” He spoke to this newspaper as concern grows about how poorly the sector is regulated. “The Port Authority has two Jet Skis and (Royal Bahamas) Defence Force has two but they don’t patrol, if the port people were doing their jobs, those men would not be able to move out that zone (on Cabbage Beach) with the tourists,” the operator said. “Half of the men on these beaches with Jet
Skis are not even Jet Ski operators. They come out there and hustle with no licence and they give us who work hard a bad name. We want this industry to be regulated because all these funny characters need to go. “I can only speculate that there is some under the table deal going on. Here you have it, for years you have had people complaining about this issue and nothing has been done. I am shocked that the country is shocked. These things don’t pop up,” the operator claimed.
“Now again, while the spotlight is on the industry, I am begging everyone from the prime minister to any concerned citizen to take this matter seriously because if it isn’t corrected, we will lose our tourism product,” the operator concluded. Earlier this week, police said they arrested a Jet Ski operator after a Canadian woman alleged she had been raped after he took her on a ride from Cabbage Beach to a nearby cay. A man was arraigned in court yesterday in relation
to the matter. Police have since said the suspect in question was not a licenced water sports operator, but frequented the beach to solicit work. “He is not a (licenced) Jet Ski operator. He does not have a licence to work as such. He was just out there soliciting work,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander told The Tribune. Monday’s report also led to calls by Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar for the government to “get serious”
on its plans to regulate the industry or risk an erosion of the country’s tourism product. “We can no longer run from this or step around this particular problem,” Mr D’Aguilar told The Tribune when contacted for comment on Tuesday. “We need to get a handle on this now, not later,” he said. Mr D’Aguilar went on to call for an immediate “plan of action” to prevent similar alleged cases from occurring; a plan he said he was prepared to organise himself.
CLEVELAND ANTONIO MUSGROVE, 23, of Kemp Road, being led into court yesterday.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff
TWO FACE COURT OVER RAPE ALLEGATIONS from page one
Police received reports that before 5am on the date in question, an American man allegedly sexually assaulted an American woman in a hotel room at a resort on Paradise Island. The matter was reported to the police who took a man into
custody for questioning. Due to the nature of the allegation, Resnick will not be allowed to enter a plea until his case is transferred to the Supreme Court through the presentation of a voluntary bill of indictment scheduled for July 25. He was remanded to the Department of Correctional Services to await trial.
However, he can apply for bail in the higher court. Resnick was not represented at yesterday’s proceedings although he sought to profess his innocence of the allegations which were also brought under Section 6(a) of the Act. A person convicted of rape could face up to life imprisonment.
AMERICAN MAN DROWNS IN ABACO POLICE in Abaco are investigating the death of a 54-year-old American visitor who died on Tuesday. Reports are that shortly
after 1am, the body of a male was discovered in water near a residence in Eastern Shores in Marsh Harbor, Abaco.
Foul play is not suspected in this matter; however, an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.
PAGE 6, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Residents unhappy with safety risk assessment
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
THE residents of Pinder’s Point and the surrounding communities in Grand Bahama are not happy with the final draft of a safety risk assessment and e-nose studies that were undertaken by the previous Christie administration. They believe the studies do not adequately address the actual extent of the safety risks and the dangers to residents about the chemical emissions from the nearby industrial businesses and a possible catastrophic event. “A lot of what is in the re-
port we disagree with,” said Grand Bahama Environmental Association President Bertram Pinder. The GBEA held a town meeting Tuesday evening at the Upper Zion Church in Pinder’s Point to share the details of the reports with the residents, who packed the church hall to hear the findings of a safety risk assessment conducted by the Antea Group, and the enose assessment study by Common Invent BV. The new Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson provided the reports to the GBEA, the Grand Bahama Port Authority, and to the various industries in the Indus-
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SHUFFEL Hepburn puts questions to PAHO Advisor Dr Marcelo Korc at a town meeting last year. trial Park. The association said that it was very grateful to Mr Thompson for doing so, and would be requesting a further meeting to discuss with him their concerns about the reports. “We will make our recommendations because a lot of what is in the report we disagree with, and we are not surprised because we anticipated that, but we are not deterred by it,” Mr Pinder said. Mr Pinder said that the GBEA believes that the results of e-nose assessment are flawed. He noted that the devices were not installed
at the height recommended by the Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO). “The monitors are…not measuring the level of the air at the human level and so the results are flawed,” he said. E-noses have been installed in the communities of Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, Hunters, Wellington Pinder Heights Subdivision, at the NEMA warehouse, and other locations. According to GBEA member Shuffel Hepburn, the devices are supposed to be installed at the height of four and a half feet but are
instead placed at heights of 12ft and 16ft. “These monitors do not give a proper, accurate reading of the air quality of the residents, “ he said. “We are thankful that Minister Thompson invited us to a meeting and gave us a copy of the report, along with the industries and the Grand Bahama Port Authority, and that is all we expect. We have not been getting that kind of respect in the past (from the former administration), and we look forward to continued dialogue and achieving our goal,” Mr Hepburn said. He stated that the group’s goal is the relocation of the residents, but also noted that individuals want redress for the impact the pollution has had on their lives. “They feel they have been disadvantaged and that damages are owed for lost loved ones, and some of them are not well,” he said. Mr Hepburn stated that during the end of the Ingraham administration’s third term discussions were held between the Grand Bahama Port Authority, government, and the industries of providing another location for all the residents as opposed to everyone going in
different directions. The purpose of the safety risk assessment was to assess the related threat of fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, and explosions to residents of Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, and Hawksbill. Some ten industries were included in the study – Polymers International, Pharmachem Technologies, Grand Bahama Power Company Generation Plant, Bahama Rock, Bahamian Brewery, Bradford Marine, Grand Bahama Shipyard, Freeport Oil Company Ltd (FOCOL) and Buckeye Bahamas Hub (formerly BORCO). Antea Group used PHAST modeling software. Researchers visited the site on February 14-18 and met with GBEA President and former Ambassador Maurice Moore. They made a second visit March 22-26. Mr Hepburn said the study did not cite the presence of gasoline tanks near the homes of residents and did not give more information about risks of smoke to residents in the event of a tank fire. Mr Hepburn also said that there is no mention of Seaco Town and the Hawksbill communities in the report.
HIGH QUANTITY OF CHEMICAL ODOURS DETECTED NEAR PINDER’S POINT By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
AN electric nose analysis in the Pinder’s Point area of Grand Bahama earlier this year revealed the presence of chemical odours that were high compared to Eu-
ropean standards, Cabinet Press Secretary Anthony “Ace” Newbold said yesterday. Residents of Pinder’s Point/Lewis Yard have long been concerned about their health given the activities at industrial plants nearby. The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a health risk assessment of the area and surrounding areas close to Grand Bahama’s industrial park and their study was completed in November 2015, Mr Newbold said. “Two of the five conclusions called for an emissions monitoring system and a safety assessment. The former government contracted Common Invent BV to install and commission the e-noses monitoring system
and the Antea Group was contracted to carry out a safety assessment. A progress report dated April 5, 2017 concluded that the e-noses recording levels in Pinder’s Point were high and compared to European standards the odour was also high. “Cabinet agreed that the Ministry of Environment and in conjunction with the Grand Bahama Port Authority, the Office of the Prime Minister in Grand Bahama and the Office of the Attorney General will assemble a project team to prepare an action plan based on the findings of the report. It is also agreed to the implementation, where practicable of the most immediate actions recommended in the draft report of April 21, 2017.” Mr Newbold said the
report will be released to the public after the Grand Bahama Authority has reviewed it. Mr Newbold also said the Ministry of the Environment cleaned up “some diesel spilled on Adelaide Road” last week. He said the ministry will seek reimbursement for that spill. “The Cabinet was also informed of traces of oil outside the boom area at Clifton Pier, which is the area designed to catch any oil spillage. This led to a discussion about the remediation needs of the Bahamas Power and Light plant at Clifton Pier.” He said Environment and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira will lead further discussions on this matter as the government seeks to solve the problem.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 7
Henfield: Govt to streamline ministry to cut overspending, travel expenses By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net FOREIGN Affairs Minister Darren Henfield has suggested that the government plans to streamline the operations of his ministry, as he pinpointed key areas where there was apparent overspending, among them travel expenses. The minister was also adamant that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will no longer be a place of “free lunches” where there are people ill-equipped to carry out duties related to foreign policy. Speaking to the operations of his ministry yesterday in the House of Assembly, Mr Henfield said all of the overseas offices have been experiencing budgetary short falls because of an increase in staff. As a result, he said a review will be done to determine whether employees in each office hold the necessary skill sets and have undergone the needed prereq-
DARREN HENFIELD uisite training to ensure the Bahamas obtains its goals and objectives. In line with this move, Mr Henfield said there also will be a rotation of skills and experiences. This way, the minister said, persons who have been posted abroad for three years or more will return to headquarters and others who have met all of the requirements for service oversees will get an opportunity to be posted internationally. He told Parliament that there were many talented young people who had invested greatly in their education, only to be made to sit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while contract-
ed workers were sent to foreign missions abroad. The ministry has a budget allocation of $36,738,190 for the 2017-2018 budget cycle and of this figure, $8,221,412 is earmarked for contributions to international organisations, the minister said. “Mr Speaker, less I am misunderstood by anyone I truly appreciate the inevitability that the minister and officials at the foreign ministry will have to undertake a considerable amount of travelling during any fiscal year,” the foreign affairs minister said. “(But) you know I say to my PS (permanent secretary) and director general that I represent (the constituency of) North Abaco and I am not interested in flying all over the world unless it is absolutely necessary. And so we do not have to attend every meeting that takes place in every corner of the globe. “Instead we will make better use of modern technology to participate in
meetings by video conferencing and so on to cut down on the cost and the waste that we have seen.” He added: “Moreover, Mr Speaker in determining travel plans during the fiscal year, I have instructed that when we do travel to meetings there will be several criteria that I’ve put into place. “We don’t have to travel in first class and so the meetings that we attend, they must accord to our national development and strategic goals. Mr Speaker, the delegation must have a critical role to play and we must ensure that Bahamians are getting value for their taxpayer dollars.” While in opposition, the now governing Free National Movement repeatedly criticised former Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell and former Prime Minister Perry Christie for travel expenses. FNM leader Dr Hubert Minnis at one point described their traveling habits as “extravagant”.
Speaking to the issue of staffing and skills, Mr Henfield suggested a clampdown in this regard. “We have a lot of young people sitting in the Ministry of Foreign affairs who invested greatly in their education burning the midnight oil and we found it prudent to contract individuals and send them oversees while our young people, bright individuals, just sit languishing. Not on my watch, Mr Speaker. “These offices and appointments will no longer be used as a place where persons who do not even possess the basic education requirements to lead in a foreign service office (are allowed to serve) at the expense of those who worked hard to qualify themselves for the service, no more.” The minister said he has also ordered a comprehensive review of ministry owned properties abroad to ensure resources are being used effectively. “Looking at the funding for overseas offices I
was struck to note that the budget for the consular annex in Washington, DC is higher than that of the embassy. The budget for the annex in the 2016-2017 fiscal year which is $490,000 is in fact higher than that for all of the other offices with the exception of the offices in Geneva and in London. “Half of the budget for the annex is for the rent of the consular premises while an entire floor sits unused in the government owned embassy building in Washington. I am advised that it was determined that the annex was needed because the government of The Bahamas was not meeting the needs of the Bahamian diaspora and often missed critical opportunities to promote culture and economy and the people of the country with a critical diplomatic help. “Mr Speaker, I have asked my technical officers to advise that if those resources were reverted to the embassy (if) they would be able to meet those critical needs,” Mr Henfield said.
TWO YEARS AND NO SOLUTION FOR STUDENTS OF COLLEGE WITH NO ACCREDITATION
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
NEARLY two years after Sojourner-Douglass College lost its accreditation and closed its doors in Maryland, former students of its satellite campus in Nassau are no closer to resolving outstanding allegations of erroneous transcripts, gross negligence and fraud. Tempers boiled at a town hall meeting on Tuesday at BCPOU Hall, where irate former students and parents demanded the name of anyone that could be held accountable for thousands of dollars and invaluable time and effort spent pursuing an academic degree. Tuesday’s meeting was organised by a small group of concerned students under the theme “Justice for Sojourner-Douglass students,” for which there is a Facebook group under the same name. Lead co-ordinator and former student Toni Ingraham told The Tribune yesterday that the initial group of about five students has swelled to include some 60 persons. They have retained legal counsel. Ms Ingraham said there was an active police investigation into suspected fraud in connection with the issuance of at least three degrees from the institution this year. The Tribune was unable to confirm the status of the investigation with police but received copies of the disputed certificates. Ms Ingraham was among the list of students that had completed their respective programmes and were awaiting their degrees. Like many others, Ms Ingraham told The Tribune that both her academic and professional careers have been stunted by the ordeal as she is unable to meet requirements of a promotion that she was tapped to receive on the completion of her degree. She said that the group met with Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd, but were reportedly told to exhaust all avenues before seeking assistance from the government. Sojourner-Douglass’ US campus closed its doors in 2015 after it lost its accreditation in July and could not
afford to reopen without the federal funding that was hinged on that validation. However, its Bahamas campus did not close until the following July, when students were told that there would be no registration for the fall semester, and were advised to settle their accounts in order to receive official transcripts. The building on East Bay Street was shuttered by property owners in August 2016 and is now reportedly in liquidation. At that time, The Tribune understands there were some 130 active students. At Tuesday’s town hall meeting, former academic advisor Gail Johnson was bombarded with questions from former students that settled their accounts and paid for transcripts but did not receive the official documents, and others that said they received transcripts that were filled with errors like incorrect grades and missing courses. Former students repeatedly questioned why administration allowed registration and courses to continue after the institution lost its accreditation, and also took issue with the failure of education officials to monitor its activities to ensure the protection of Bahamian students. On the defensive as she pushed back at attempts of those present to assign culpability, Ms Johnson reiterated that she was not an executive and could not answer those questions. Speaking to the issue of transcripts, she said: “All of the grades for every transcript are still in the building, all of the grades from back in 1994 are still in the building.” Sojourner-Douglass (Bahamas) was in operation from 1988. The college also had satellite campuses in other areas in Maryland – Owings Mills, Lanham, Cambridge, Annapolis and Salisbury. A company search undertaken by former students revealed that the institution was registered as a Bahamian company and had not paid company licence fees since 2008. There were also no annual statements filed, which would identify members of the board of directors.
TONI INGRAHAM, who was a student at Sojourner-Douglass and is co-ordinating action with other former students. Yesterday, former Executive Director and Dean Theresa MoxeyIngraham explained that there was only an advisory board established locally, but declined to provide the names of those members. Mrs Moxey-Ingraham was appointed last week as executive chairman of the National Training Agency. She explained to The Tribune that she was fired from the school in August 2016 and could not speak to decisions made after that time.
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PAGE 8, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Bastian optimistic about gaming under the FNM
By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net ISLAND Luck CEO Sebas Bastian yesterday expressed “optimism” in the gaming sector’s prospects for progress under the new Free National Movement administration, adding that its approach to governance is “all in line with the way I think as a business person”. Mr Bastian, in an interview with The Tribune, said he is “not concerned at all” about the Minnis administration, stating that it’s a collection of “reputable, competent individuals that in their own rights have become successful in various businesses that they might have been involved in”. Mr Bastian also said he was “overly impressed” by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ decision to not follow in the footsteps of previous prime ministers in automatically assuming the minister of finance role, as well as Dr Minnis’ decision to appoint someone else to serve in that position. Mr Bastian said in doing so, Dr Minnis demonstrates himself to be “a man that understands the importance of placing the right person in a (particular) job”. “I don’t have any concerns,” he told The Tribune when questioned on the matter yesterday. “I trust that the new administration is here for the people. After all, they said it was the people’s time, and I’ve seen some of the things that they had on their platform, I read the Speech from the Throne, and it’s all in line with the way I think as a business person.
ISLAND Luck CEO Sebas Bastian, left, with then Prime Minister Perry Christie in 2015. The businessman says he is optimistic about the future of the gaming sector under the new Free National Movement. “I think clearly the coun- the country. And when you Bastian said. “So that kind much intact,” he said. “All this specific industry if they try shouted out loud and want a business ran prop- of strategic move and think- of the heavy lifting has al- want to lead it.” clear that they needed erly it’s no better person to ing really has me optimistic ready been done, and the He added: “Mr D’Aguilar change and wanted change run it than a business per- as a citizen and as a busi- Gaming Board did a very obviously is a very successness person in the country.” good job in transitioning it ful business person, seems and change is what we got,” son.” Mr Bastian went on to Mr Bastian, in stating from an informal economy to be a very smart indihe continued. “And I’m optimistic that from where we say that he is “not a propo- that he has become the new to a part of the formal econ- vidual so I have no doubt are right now it is only one nent of a plumber doing a president of the Bahamas omy and getting the regula- he would acclimatise to way to go and that’s up. I’m carpenter’s job,” and com- Gaming Operator’s Associ- tions in place. So what you the environment of gaming mending Prime Minister ation (BGOA), said the as- see now is they are just fo- very quickly. There’s a lot of very optimistic. “I’m not concerned at all Minnis for not outfitting sociation will call a meeting cusing on enforcement and great resources and consultwith the new administra- himself with a Cabinet post shortly with Tourism Min- enhancement of the regula- ants that the Gaming Board tion. I think it’s a compila- whose responsibilities lie ister Dionisio D’Aguilar to tory process. has that has all the proper “So a lot of the heavy information and guidance. tion of reputable, compe- outside of his own realm of “bring him up to speed” on matters pertaining to the lifting has been done. It’s a So as it relates to the intent individuals that in their expertise. “Obviously his expertise sector. skill based industry. Unfor- dustry I’m not concerned own rights have become “What he (Mr D’Aguilar) tunately it’s not like other at all, I think it’s steady as successful in various busi- lies in the health profession nesses that they may have and other various business is inheriting fortunately and industries where you can she goes. We will continue been involved in, which places and his strength may like most other ministries in just change a person here to offer our input to further is refreshing because I al- not be finance, and as you the country, he’s inheriting and change a person there enhance the industry going ways look at government saw that he elected some- an industry that has evolved because they really have forward but outside of that as the biggest business in one else to do finance,” Mr tremendously that is very to know their way around it’s business as usual.”
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THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 9
NEW DATE FOR APPEAL OF ACID ATTACK PENALTY
By LAMECH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
AN appeal against the punishment imposed on a woman who threw acid on her lover, his wife, and the couple’s son will now be heard in September. The Crown has lodged an appeal against the $8,700 compensation or-
der levied against D’Nika Mackey who pleaded guilty to three counts of use of deadly means of harm, arguing that it was unduly lenient, as the magistrate attached no consequences if the restitution was not made. However, Mackey who was reportedly not feeling well, was unable to attend yesterday’s scheduled hear-
ing with her lawyer Craig Butler resulting in the matter being adjourned to September. A substantive date will be published on the appeal court’s website at a later date. Mackey, 28, of Sandilands Village Road, admitted to the crimes before Magistrate Samuel McKinney in September 2016.
She had had an affair with the woman’s husband for two years, but he made amends with his wife of six years in October 2015. The couple still lived apart with their parents, despite the move to salvage the marriage. The attack occurred on December 13, 2015, the day after the married couple
celebrated their wedding anniversary at Paradise Island. Mackey confronted them and their three-year-old son outside the man’s home in Fox Dale around 1.30pm. Mackey called out to her lover, who ignored her, and, in anger, she threw acid, causing injuries. The wife’s injuries were the most severe as she re-
ceived acid burns to the side of her face and arm. At the time of her arrest, Mackey took responsibility for her actions and said she was angry because she was still in a relationship with the married man. Despite the court order, less than 10 per cent in restitution had been paid by Mackey who claims she is unemployed.
Minnis ‘will take back Crown land’ from page one it, believing that they can use it as investment later, just hoarding the land for speculation. “That won’t happen, so those who got land and are not utilising it and doing what they are supposed to, I will take it and put it in the bank of the people so it can be given fairly.” The leasing and granting of Crown land has been a notoriously non-transparent process throughout Bahamian history. Dr Minnis vowed that as the minister responsible for Crown lands he will ensure both transparency and “that land is placed in the hands of the people and used for what it is supposed to.” In speaking of hoarding land for future investment purposes, Dr Minnis was likely referring to people who are conveyed Crown land as opposed to those who are leased it. However, legal experts say Crown land has rarely been conveyed subject to conditions, so it’s unclear what Dr Minnis could do to people who “hoard Crown
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis touring the land and survey department on East Bay Street yesterday. Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff land” but don’t use it with- applied with conditions they out exercising eminent do- issue a grant. Once you get main, something that itself the grant you could do what could spur fierce legal chal- you please unless there is lenges. a further restriction in the Crown land is usual- conveyance, but in most ly granted as fee simple, for- Crown grants they just give mer State Minister for Le- fee simple and you go on gal Affairs Damian Gomez your merry way,” he said. said yesterday, meaning it’s Attorney Fred Smith, QC, not usually granted with who heads a non-governclaw back clauses. ment agency seeking relief “Typically, you first apply and legal redress for people and you are given a Crown who have applied for Crown lease specifying what has to land but have not received be done during particular a response to their applicaperiods,” he said. “At the tion, also said reclaiming end of completion you ap- Crown land from people to ply for the conveyance. The whom it has been granted land is inspected and if the would be a challenge. inspection proves you have “Sometimes conveyances
contain restriction clauses, saying it is conveyed only for residential purposes or only for commercial purposes, but not most of the time,” he said. “If conveyed for residential purposes and it’s used for commercial purposes then the Crown can get an injunction that can restrain you from using it for that purpose. But if the government stood by for 15 years and allowed land to be used for reasons not conveyed, then it’s going to be difficult to enforce that. It’s very much based on individual circumstances and it’s better to look forward than backward,” Mr Smith added. Meanwhile, Mr Gomez said Dr Minnis could boost oversight of Crown leases to ensure that the conditions of the leases are complied with. “The lands department is not that big,” he said. “I don’t know that they have resources to chase up and down the Bahamas to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to be doing when leased Crown land. But there are ways of dealing with that. You can use different government departments with represent-
atives on the Family Islands to give regular reports about that and an administrator of a district could be asked to ensure that lands subject to Crown lease are being managed consistent with the lease requirements.” The government is said to receive thousands of applications for Crown land per year, with most applicants never receiving a reply to their application. Richard Hardy, the director of lands and surveys, did not speak to The Tribune yesterday about the matter after the prime minister’s tour of his department, saying he had a meeting. Mr Gomez and Mr Smith said the government should establish clear criteria for which Crown land can be leased or granted and ensure the criteria is disclosed to the public. “It should form the basis upon which anyone who makes an application will have a transparent, accountable and due process opportunity for the consideration of their application,” Mr Smith said. “The Local Government Act should be amended so
all Crown land in family Islands should be vested in the district councils so that in conjunction with the responsible minister, Family Island local governments would have an effective say in the development of their islands and use of Crown lands.” Tex Turnquest, the former director of lands and surveys, was forced to resign from his post in 2009 by then Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham after The Tribune revealed that five parcels of Crown land in Forbes Hill, Exuma had been granted to his friends and family. Shortly after being granted, the parcels of land were ‘flipped’ to foreign buyers for significant profits. Tribune Business also previously revealed that the first Christie administration granted well-known Bahamian contractor and PLP supporter, Edward Penn, some 7.366 acres of prime commercial land on Gladstone Road for $221,000 in 2006. The same property was turned into mortgage security for a $7m loan within three months.
JOHNSON READY TO ACT ON DISCLOSURES, AND SAYS THAT SHANTY TOWNS MUST NOT BE IGNORED from page one A nolle prosequi is a formal notice to drop a case. During his maiden address in the House of Assembly as a Cabinet minister, the former Bahamas Bar Association president delivered a comprehensive review of both the state of the judiciary and the “robust” legislative agenda that has been adopted by the Minnis administration. He said there were 19 cases in which the government’s priorities explicitly require either new or reformed legislation. On the issue of shanty towns, he said: “There are certain persons in our community now, Mr Speaker,
that we can no longer, as we clean up the city of Nassau (and) as we look to improve the human dignity of the woman and the child, we can no longer pretend as if we don’t have immigrant communities.” “We cannot walk around that,” he told members of parliament yesterday. “I live on Cowpen Road and let me give you a scenario. We have lights. We have police officers. We have everything that goes around, (but) can you imagine in communities where the ho uses are built onto each o ther there is no light. There is no social services. There are no police o fficers and yo u have a yo ung girl at age 16 fully developed (in a) transient community in the
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night? That goes to speak to o ur dignity and sense o f urgency. We have laws in terms o f ho w we sho uld build and construct homes (and) we have to enforce them.” He continued: “And when we speak o f latrines ando utside to ilets, if it’s no t goo d for Bahamians and it must no t be no t goo d anywhere. Ano ther thing (is) we must do it in a humane and respectful way. “But it can’t be when we are loo king to give ho using to police o fficers, to teachers and garbage men that we co uld have persons who just come to the co untry and decide to build anywhere. We have to address this pro blem. It is the elephant in the room and everyone kno ws
abo ut it and some o f them in that community vo te for us.” Disclosure Mr Jo hnson commended Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis for mo ving to ensure that politicians disclose their assets. He said the go vernment will also amend the Public Disclosure Act to bro aden the scope to include campaign finance reform and to make pro vision for direct referral to an independent prosecutor. He said: “In the past administration there was this whole accusation that some persons saw service in go vernment as an opportunity to benefit. And we must be acco untable to the Bahamian people by speaking
to issues such as campaign finance reform. “I quite recall when I was campaigning there were persons who o ffered me funds,” the Yamacraw MP said. “I said I can’t accept it because I have an o bligation to the Bahamian people and it keeps us acco untable and it’s no t no thing strange. “I want to commend the go vernment o f the Commonwealth o f the Bahamas that in 2017 we are go ing to bring legislation to the Bahamas. “I have a leader who has already started and he has said all parliamentarians must disclose and I want to say publicly that the attorney general and the minister stands ready to do
the people’s business,” Mr Jo hnson also said. Last week, Press Secretary Anthony “Ace” Newbold said former and sitting parliamentarians who are delinquent on their filings have been given three weeks to file disclosures or face co urt for breaking the law. Addressing the matter again yesterday, Mr Newbold said the respective letters were sent o ut late last week. He wo uld no t release the names o f the persons who have no t disclosed but said: “Will they be revealed at some po int? Yes. We will see who decided to disclose and I presume, I sho uld no t speculate but I presume they will all file.”
PAGE 10, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Clearing up the myths regarding schizophrenia
T
HIS brain disease can be devastating for both the patient and their families. It is very common affecting over one per cent of the world’s population. This is not as common as anxiety or depression but because of the difficulties in managing the illness it is far more devastating. It is unclear what causes schizophrenia, there is a vulnerability to the illness which runs in families but
the various things that can trigger the illness are widespread and at times unclear. Schizophrenia is an illness surrounded by myths, fear and ignorance; it is not
a split personality, it is not a character flaw caused by bad upbringing and people suffering from schizophrenia are no more likely to be dangerous than the general population. Schizophrenia
does not affect intelligence, symptoms can affect ability to function, but when symptoms are controlled it is possible to lead a productive life. The symptoms of the illness are best understood by looking at them under different headings. Disorders of perceptions These are problems with our senses it creates the experience of hearing voices, seeing things or strange smells. These senses are as clear as normal perceptions it is just that no one else can hear or see these things. The most common are voices that can talk about anything, they can speak to you or speak about you, they can be pleasant but are more likely to be rude, sexual or irritating. They can cause extreme distress. Disorders of thought The most common problems are delusions which are fixed, unshakeable, false beliefs. They can be paranoid or grandiose, no one else believes what you believe and they try to tell you that you are mistaken but you are convinced of your beliefs. They may even seem bizarre and impossible to your family and friends but despite all the evidence “You know better.” Disorders of self This group of symptoms describe changes with boundaries with the rest of the world, there is no insight into the illness, no idea that something is wrong; there is a loss of drive with little or no motivation to do anything. They may appear lazy but in fact it is the illness robbing them from the normal interests of life the drive that gets most of us out of bed each day is missing. They can be happy wandering around town talking to themselves and living on nothing. They may feel controlled by outside forces, compelled
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SCHIZOPHRENIA is not a split personality - but an illness that can affect ability to function or lead a productive life. to carry out bizarre rituals. These hallucinations and delusions are often culture bound, in some countries radio waves are blamed in The Bahamas it is more likely to have a spiritual explanation with complex religiosity. I struggle with the belief that demon possession is somehow more acceptable than a diagnosis of mental illness. Treatment has improved, it used to be long admissions to a mental hospital where the help was primarily humanitarian; then the advent of medication transformed psychiatric approaches. The first wave of antipsychotic medication was very effective at controlling the hallucinations and delusions but did little for the apathy; they also caused tremors, stiffness and drooling, a zombie like effect. The newer atypical antipsychotics are much better in many ways but tend to cause serious weight gain with all the cardio vascular complications that come with the added weight.
The illness is chronic and treatment improves functioning but does not cure the underlying illness. It is important for families to develop a relationship with their mental health team, the patient is often oblivious to the fact that they have a serious illness so only a team approach can work. The only mental hospital Sandilands has had serious overcrowding problems for a long time; so families and professionals must struggle to work together to achieve the best outcomes possible. The next time you see someone homeless on the streets instead of saying “Look at him, he is crazy,” remember he is probably mentally ill and once had a job and a home just like you and wonder instead what as a nation we should be doing about mental illness. • Dr Mike Neville is a forensic psychiatrist who has practiced for more than 40 years in The Bahamas, working at Sandilands, the prison and in private practice. Comments and responses to mneville@ tribunemedia.net.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 11
Sands: $25m in unpaid bills from page one “On arriving at the Ministry of Health shortly after May 10, what I discovered was distressing,” Dr Sands said. “There were fiscal decisions made that had a decidedly negative impact on the ability of the public health institutions to provide care for patients. There were professionals working for my ministry that had not been paid for years. I found that we owe vendors for drugs, vaccines and medical supplies. As we approached the end of the year, the suppliers of drugs and vaccines were owed by the PHA $2,896,714. We owed an additional $2,170,937 for medical and surgical supplies,” Dr Sands said. “In addition, PHA had $9,314,629.48 of outstanding commitments. Included in that amount, Mr Speaker, was roughly $5m promised by the Ministry of Finance to recruit nurses and other health professionals to staff the Critical Care
MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands during a tour of the Princess Margaret Hospital. “Additionally, what I Princess Margaret Hospital.” Block. That money which He said in total, he found was promised by Finance found was that projects was never paid. The extra on the Children’s Ward, that $16,426,156 was owed. He added: “I wish that was money to pay interns, prom- Male Surgical Ward, and ised but never paid. We now Chest Ward at the Princess the end of the story. I got anhave Critical Care beds in Margaret Hospital were other accounting of the Minthe Critical Care Block that stopped midstream, para- istry of Health’s unpaid bills, cannot be filled because of lysing the heart and soul of that was another $9m. “The nurses serving on lack of staff. The bills for our healthcare system bethe Nursing Council, not patients needing and re- cause of a lack of funds, “Sixty-seven beds out of paid for years. The Health ceiving dialysis, radiation 400 beds at PMH had been Professions Council not therapy were in arrears. “Let me recap, Mr Speak- taken out of service, beds that paid for as much as five er. We have a short fall in were needed for sick patients, years owed $228,000. “Rent for clinic staff in recurrent expenditure at patients that had to wait in the the PHA of almost $16.5m Emergency Room for days various islands not paid. which was needed for medi- for a bed. . . because construc- In Palmetto Point, Rock cines, dialysis, vaccines and tion and renovation had been Sound, and Gregory Town stopped on three wards in the rent not paid. In Red other ongoing costs...
Bays and Bowen Sound the rent not paid. Mangrove Cay, rent not paid.” “We dig deeper, Mr Speaker, and we find that NHI had unpaid bills of $799,116 for customer service reps and $1,305,000 for two consultant firms who were costing the Bahamian people as much as $500,000 a month and $250,000 per month respectively.” Dr Sands said rather than pay “mothers, fathers and grandmothers” the money they are owed, the PLP government, found the money to award “$90m dollars” of lucrative contracts to people who might be considered “the party faithful”. The reason given, he said, was because the country’s clinics had to be upgraded to meet National Health Insurance standards. “The Cabinet directed that $9,778,304.86 be paid as a down payment for new contracts for health projects throughout The Bahamas. This was conveyed by the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister Creswell Sturrup to the per-
manent secretary of the Ministry of Health on April 27, 2017,” Dr Sands said, adding that he would table this letter. “So even though the treasury could not pay millions and millions of obligations affecting thousands of ordinary Bahamians – many of whom were suffering extreme financial hardship because of the government’s delayed payments, they were authorised, they were directed, Mr Speaker, to make what some would call a political down payment. In addition, Mr Speaker, the side opposite entered into $9,756,006.64 worth of security contracts, janitorial contracts, generator purchases and other miscellaneous items weeks before the general election,” Dr Sands said. “We have contracts here, monthly cleaning services for the Exuma mini-hospital—$424,638.84. Monthly cleaning Abaco clinic— the Abaco clinic has not been opened Mr Speaker—$500,000. Monthly landscaping services $26,000,” he also revealed.
NATION HAS 11TH HIGHEST HOMICIDE RATE IN WORLD from page one
Just last year, the health minister said the Emergency Room saw 1,272 assaults, 246 stabbings and 216 gunshot wounds. “We are in the world leaders in ways that are destructive to our social and economic well-being. We are one of the leaders in trauma due to gunshots and stabbing. The probability of dying from these types of injuries far exceeds the risk of death from cancer of HIV/Aids in The Bahamas,” Dr Sands said. “From 2012 (to) now, The Bahamas holds the distinction of having the 11th highest homicide rate in the world. We are one of
the most violent countries in the world; we beat, stab, shoot and rape each other at an unacceptable rate. Our homicide rate is triple the rate considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an epidemic. It is largely due to the professionalism of our health care team that our murder rate is not dramatically higher. In the last few years the number one cause of death of a Bahamian male is a bullet, not a stroke, not diabetes, but a bullet. He said the country’s infant mortality rate had hovered between 18 and 23 per 1,000 live births over the last four years - which are the highest in the non-Latin Caribbean. “In 2016, preliminary
data show an infant mortality rate of 19.2 and just so you have an idea of the standard in the United States, the infant mortality rate is six deaths per thousand live births, in Barbados its 11.6, in Cuba its 4.5 and in Haiti it is 59,” Dr Sands said. “...We are a part of the Americas. The world is divided into six regions, we are a part of the Pan American Health Organisation. The Americas are the heaviest region in the world and The Bahamas is the heaviest country in the Americas. Most startling, overweight and obesity among school age youth have rocketed to 436 per cent since 1988 from 6.4 per cent to 34.2 percent.
“In an important study, 90 per cent of Bahamians eat less than five servings of fruit and vegetables a week as compared to 47.3 per cent in 2005. If we look deeper the problem starts from birth. Breastfeeding rates in The Bahamas are low and have varied between 10.9 per cent and 29 per cent. Breastfeeding for the first 16 weeks is considered a good start to a lifetime of healthy nutrition and has been shown to protect babies from diseases but we don’t believe in breastfeeding. “Between 2005 and 2012 our nation saw a 13 per cent increase in overweight (people), a 14 per cent increase in obesity, a 55 per cent increase in hy-
pertension and 160 per cent increase in diabetes. The Bahamas has the highest incidents of diabetes in the world. Women in The Bahamas, we have the highest incidents of a set of genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 which is 800 per cent higher than the world average and what this means is that women in The Bahamas with these genes are three to five times to get breast and ovarian cancer than those without those genes.” Dr Sands said at last tally, in December of 2014, there were 8,630 people living in the Bahamas with HIV/ AIDS, representing 2 per cent of the population and one of the highest incidences outside Sub Saharan Africa.
“While we have dropped our national prevalence from three per cent to two per cent, far too many people are being diagnosed late and we are still seeing increasing cases among our youth,” he said. “We have committed to a vision of zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths and zero HIV-related discrimination in a world where people living with HIV are able to live long and healthy lives.” Dr Sands said it is because of these reasons and other factors that the country’s health care costs are so high. He said many persons are well on their way to the development of catastrophic complications of illnesses, violence and trauma.
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PAGE 12, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
Britain’s hung Parliament in shock election result In the wake of the shock result in the British election, Peter Young looks at what lies ahead for the troubled Prime Minister Theresa May after seeing her majority slashed.
L
AST week’s General Election in Britain produced a drama which was unprecedented in modern political times. This was a contest that sitting Prime Minister Theresa May was widely expected to win with an increased majority. She wanted this in order to strengthen her hand in obtaining a good deal for the United Kingdom in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations in Brussels about the terms of the nation’s departure from the European Union. But it all went wrong for her in a shocking result of seismic proportions. In the highest turnout for 20 years, the Conservatives won the most votes, 42 per cent of the total, and the most seats – 318 against the opposition Labour Party’s 262. But this was short of the 326 seats required for an overall majority which has resulted in a hung parliament, with the smaller Scottish National Party, Liberal Democrats and others making up the difference in a 650-seat House of Commons. One of those others is the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland. With its ten seats, the DUP will prop up the Tories in an arrangement called “confidence and supply” which means support of major legislation, including issues like the Queen’s Speech setting out the new government’s programme, and in relation to budgetary matters. This will give them a working majority in Parliament but falls short of the sort of coalition government which the Tories formed with the Liberal Democrats when the 2010 election likewise produced a hung parliament. Mrs May called a snap election in mid-April when her party was 20 points ahead of Labour in the polls. With a working ma-
jority of only 17, she felt that, as an unelected Prime Minister – having been chosen as leader by her party colleagues after David Cameron’s resignation on losing last year’s EU referendum – she needed her own mandate from the electorate. The indications at the time were that she would win in a landslide or at least with a comfortable majority, not least because the Labour Party had been taken over by the hard Left and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was widely considered to be unelectable. However, this turned out to be a catastrophic misjudgment and a gamble which failed spectacularly; and those Tories who lost their seats will be understandably bitter given that there was no need to go to the country until 2020. In the event, despite winning more seats than Labour, the Prime Minister’s loss of her absolute majority has substantially diminished her authority so that, as a politically damaged figure, her position could have been fatally weakened. Nonetheless, as the largest party in the House of Commons, the Conservatives have the constitutional right to form a government and Mrs May has already appointed a new Cabinet after securing the DUP’s support. So, less than a week after the election, it seems almost to be back to business as usual though it remains to be seen what price the DUP will demand for its continued backing and how long this new government can last. Snap elections in Britain can backfire for different reasons – for example, in 1974 the then Prime Minister Edward Heath called an election in face of a miners’ strike which ended up in a hung parliament and his resignation. In this latest case, there have been reports that the elector-
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BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a meeting with the Leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Arlene Foster at 10 Downing Street after the general election in London, Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Britain’s prime minister has begun talks with the Northern Ireland-based party to see if they can create an alliance to push through the Conservative Party’s agenda after a disastrous snap election left her short of a majority in Parliament. Photo: Frank Augstein/AP ate might have considered Mrs. May’s move to call an election -- after having earlier stated categorically that she had no intention of doing so – as complacent and overconfident opportunism in face of a demonstrably weakened opposition. But her failure has been attributed to a fundamentally flawed manifesto, whose content on social care and taxes was enough to terrify old people and on which, too late, the Tories had to back track, as well as a poor and lacklustre campaign now labelled perhaps the worst in recent Tory history. Whereas the Conservatives came across as arrogant, self-satisfied and self-serving, with the Prime Minister herself accused of being wooden and unimaginative on the campaign trail, the evidence suggests that Mr. Corbyn inspired young people, in particular, by offering – in the name of
the poor in society – a realistic socialist alternative to the Conservative government’s austerity measures (including a recent substantial cut in police numbers) which have been seen by many as unnecessary. His popular anti-establishment stance – comparable, perhaps, to Bernie Sanders’ prospectus in last year’s US election – resonated with many people and he tempted them with commitments to higher public spending and abolition of tuition fees. In addition, his folksy, down-toearth approach makes him an authentic political figure who can relate to the manin-the-street, and he managed to galvanize the young to vote in droves to stop what was seen as the Tory juggernaut. Despite Labour’s euphoria in exceeding preelection expectations, they still lost the election and
trail the Tories, who polled nearly 14 million votes (3 million higher than in 2015), by 56 seats. Already, people are recalling that Mr. Cameron’s coalition with the Liberal Democrats survived for a full 5-year term, but this time around the Lib Dems are unwilling to support the new Conservative government. Historians also point to the minority Labour government from 1974-79 so there is ample precedent for the Tories to hang on to power and govern effectively. Most importantly, the nation needs a swift return to stability, not only because political uncertainty affects business confidence but also to enable Mrs. May to pursue the vital Brexit negotiations, which are due to begin on June 19, with certainty and strength. Above all, she will need to adopt a more collegiate style and
consult her parliamentary colleagues more readily and more extensively. If not, despite DUP support, her position may become untenable in the longer term. These are early days, but the Prime Minister has shown remarkable composure and resilience in the face of a massive political setback. She seems to have steadied the ship for the moment and has, reportedly, told her parliamentary backbench colleagues that she had “got us into this mess and would now get us out of it”. But, even though there appears to be no appetite at the moment for another Tory leadership election, the knives will still be out for her within her own party which has a reputation for treating its failed leaders in brutal fashion. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, whom she sacked last year, has already displayed schadenfreude – or what in this case might be more accurately termed vindictive triumph – in calling her “a dead woman walking”. But the most infamous recent example of Tory ruthlessness was the treatment of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who won three elections but was ousted by her own parliamentary colleagues in 1990. The coming weeks and months will be crucial. If the new Conservative government finds itself unable to govern even with the DUP’s support, there could be another General Election before the end of the year. Peter Young is a retired British diplomat living in Nassau. From 1996 to 2000 he was British High Commissioner to The Bahamas.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 13
A STUDENT dabs as he walks from the stage with his diploma.
Students celebrate their
GRADUATION THE STUDENTS of the high school graduating class of 2017.
Photos: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
A STUDENT dances her way from the podium after receiving her diploma.
MINISTER of Education Jeffrey Lloyd with director of education Lionel Sands.
READERS RESPOND TO KEITH BELL FORMER State Minister for National Security Keith Bell this week hit out at the government over the disbanding of the National Intelligence Agency. Readers gave their reaction on tribune242.com. BahamaPundit5 said: “A type of NIA is necessary to protect US tourists and expats, but the agency can be so easily abused that I have little faith in it being used for its rightful, legitimate purpose.” Ohdrap4 had this to say: “The PLP was hoisted by its own petard. They thought they were going in to operate the spy agency for another five years with no legislation. Then they tried to rush the spy bill. How convenient, to have the spy bill and an unregulated spy agency.” After Baha Mar’s former expatriate staff slammed the discriminatory creditor payouts, and warned that the resort and the Bahamas “could face a PR nightmare if word of this leaks out”, Porcupine offered this comment: “The Bahamas wants to be treated as equals on the world stage but can’t understand a basic concept like justice.” TheMadHatter said: “The problem here is that he made it clear they came here with a desire to help the Bahamian people. The Government will not allow that. They know an educated population won’t vote for them . . . so keep the people ignorant is their motto. These trainers had to go.” And there was this from OldFort2012: “I don’t know who is advising these people?? Legally they don’t have a leg to stand on. This is not bankruptcy and has nothing to do with Baha Mar or bankruptcy. The claims of the Bahamian workers and contractors were SOLD by them for the full amount to a third company, which paid them. Nothing to do with Baha Mar. Get this: Baha Mar was NOT INVOLVED. Basically, they devised a clever way to get around the bankruptcy laws and enable only Bahamians to be paid in full.” And it was suggested that the Bahamas had suffered “another shot across the bows” following an InterAmerican Development Bank report which revealed the country has exceeded its sustainable debt limit by more than 20 percentage points. OMG said: “There is no time for rhetoric, it is time to investigate all the
missing money, name and prosecute the thieves and start doing the job in hand. Sorry to say but cancel the 52 week employees who in many cases have nothing to do. Do not rehire. Retire the employees rehired after reaching retirement age, stop expensive projects such as the mini hospital in Palmetto Point and elsewhere. So many expats and Bahamians are getting their money out of the country in anticipation of further downgrading and devaluation. Christie and his rogues have a lot to answer for and have handled the national purse like a kid with his first credit card. Despite record VAT and the many other tax increases we still have a crumbling infrastructure. Take central Eleuthera as an example, where a regular water supply is something of a novelty and no two days go by without a water supply, yet nothing is done.”
MONICA FERJILUS, a student of CV Bethel.
BRENANA MAJOR, a student at Doris Johnson.
HONOUR student Gardenia Bullard, of CC Sweeting.
PAGE 14, Thursday, June 15, 2017
THE TRIBUNE
The Laws of Life
ELISE BARNETT, winner of the College Division. MORE than 2,100 stu- led by Mena Griffiths and dents from around the Ba- long-time consultant Elma hamas submitted entries to Garraway. the 2017 Laws of Life Essay Competition judges were: Competition in hopes of Pastor Allen Lee, the chief garnering recognition for judge, Father Michael Gittheir writing skills, sweet- tens, Patricia Glintonened by one of the generous Meicholas, Pastor Lyall prizes offered at the four Bethel, Harriet Pratt and levels of the contest—pri- Letha Strachan. mary, junior, senior and This year’s essay topcollege. ics focused on laws associParticipants represented ated with gratitude. The public and private schools over-arching thought was in New Providence and the that following the devastaFamily Islands including: tion of Hurricane Matthew Grand Bahama, Bimini, in October 2016, students Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, would wish to express their Exuma, San Salvador, Long thoughts on being grateIsland, Ragged Island, Ina- ful. Competition was fierce; gua and Acklins. among the essays submitLaunched in 2009, the ted, 350 essays scored 90 popular annual event is per cent and above. funded by the Templeton The 2017 winners were: World Charity Foundation Elise Barnett of the UniInc (TWCF), under the aus- versity of The Bahamas, pices of the Ministry of Ed- Michael Miller of Genesis ucation. The Department Academy, Katherine Venof Education’s Writing katagiri of Queen’s College Unit, consisting of Educa- and Mila Sands of Queen’s tion Officers Liesl Wright, College. Linda Collie and AnThe three all won a namaria Smith, organises $1,000 tuition scholarship. the competition each year, Genesis Academy took in collaboration with the home the Dr John TempleTempleton World Charity ton Memorial Floating TroFoundation Inc Committee phy as the top scoring essay
MICHAEL MILLER, winner of the Senior Division. winner and the English departments of the winners’ schools took home a cash prize of $1,000. Cash prizes ranging from $50 to $1,000 were also awarded to: student finalists, schools with the most finalists, and teachers with the most finalists. Attended by finalists, representatives of TWCF and a host of educators, family and friends, the awards ceremony was held was on the June 1 at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel. The principal speaker for the evening was Janice Kaplan, author of the New York Times bestseller “The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life.” Also speaking was Dr Andrew Serazin, president, TWCF. Serethea Clarke, deputy director of education in the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, extended heartfelt thanks to the foundation for its generosity in sponsoring the largest essay competition in the Bahamas. “We at the Ministry of Education, look forward
KATHERINE VENTKATAGIRI, winner of the Jenior Division. to a continued partnership essays,” she said. “It is my with your organisation in hope that each of you will focusing students’ attention pursue a life that upholds on the virtues of living a the law of life that you have good life,” Mrs Clarke said written about for this comto TWCF executives. petition. I encourage you Clarke encouraged the to continue to be a part of students to continue to the generation who will strive for excellence. promote an excellent work “Essay contestants, I ethic on a national level. congratulate you for the I believe that you will beexceptional work that you come productive citizens have done to produce your who will contribute to the
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MILA SANDS, winner of the Primary Division.
sustainable development of the Bahamas.” The evening was enlivened by the ever-popular rake n’ scrape band of the Gerald Cash Primary School. The Laws of Life Essay Competition was founded by John Templeton, legendary financier and author of many books on a subject he held dear and promoted widely.
THE TRIBUNE
Dwight Roosevelt Burrows VP, Scotiabank and Trust (Cayman) Limited. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dwight Roosevelt Burrows as VP, Scotiabank and Trust (Cayman) Limited. In this role, in addition to his country management responsibilities for Cayman, Dwight will have oversight for British Virgin Islands and the Regional Wealth Hub including Fiduciary and Captive Insurance. Dwight has been employed with Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited since 1988. During the early years of his tenure, he held positions of responsibility for retail credit in five branches throughout New Providence and Long Island. His highly developed banking skills positioned him for several supervisory and managerial posts including Branch Manager of four branches; Senior Manager, Marketing & Products; Senior Manager, Scotia Service; Project Lead for the Bahamas Refinance Unit and his immediate past role as Director of Retail Banking, Northern Caribbean Region. Dwight also served as Senior Officer II for Scotiabank (Bahamas) Limited. Mr. Burrows obtained the Associate of the Bahamas Institute of Bankers Diploma at the College of The Bahamas in 1995. He graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Management in 2004 and obtained his Masters Degree in Business Administration in June 2006. Mr. Burrows’ has also received extensive training with Scotiabank, both locally and internationally. He was awarded Scotiabank’s Employee of the Year award for 1998/99. Mr. Burrows is a very active member of Toastmasters, having served as past president of the First Bahamas Branch of Toastmasters Club 1600, the First Exuma Branch of Toastmasters Club 8123 and the Advanced Toastmasters Club 7108. Under his leadership Club 1600 and Club 8123 were awarded Club of the Year. In 2003, DTM Burrows served as Area Governor for Area 35 of Toastmasters International. In addition to public speaking, Dwight enjoys boating and camping.
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Thursday, June 15, 2017, PAGE 15