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Volume:116 No.9, JANUARY 4TH, 2019 Friday, January 4, 2019

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Prison officers strip searched Staff forced to undress at start of shift

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

CORRECTIONAL officers are protesting a “demoralising” process that sees officers strip searched before the start of their shift.

Correctional Officers Staff Association chairman Ryan Wilson said officers are seeking an amendment to the Corrections Act 2014 in hopes of streamlining the vague mandatory search

STUDENT MOANS

requirement, which he said “dangles carelessly for misinterpretation”.

The problematic searches are just the latest in a litany of longstanding grievances which have gone unresolved by successive administrations, according to Mr Wilson, who pledged that officers intend to hold National Security Minister Marvin Dames’ feet to the fire over promises he made last year.

THE Minnis administration remains concerned that the goal post continues to shift when it comes to The Bahamas maintaining global tax standards, Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest said yesterday, adding this issue has been argued in international forums. He made the

SEE PAGE SIX

THE Attorney General yesterday warned the web shop industry it was “time for lawful taxes to be collected”, and said of the government’s stance: “We’re ready to go to war.”

Carl Bethel QC told Tribune Business that talks to resolve, or at least minimise, the dispute between the government and web shops over the industry’s increased taxation had “turned out not to be effective”.

Confirming he had “rejected” what he described as a “counterproposal” from Sebas Bastian’s Island Luck group and its attorney, Alfred Sears QC, the Attorney General said he was now awaiting a similar response from the web shops represented by Wayne Munroe QC.

KNIGHTS LEFT FURIOUS AS CHAMPIONS SURPRISED

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE FIVE

comments during a press conference to announce the government is developing a new framework aimed at strengthening industry regulations and protecting revenue in the Public Treasury.

By doing this, the deputy prime minister said it was a demonstration of The Bahamas’ commitment to global standards to ensure the country maintains its

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

TURNQUEST UNVEILS ‘ONE-FIT’ FRAMEWORK

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

WEB SHOPS TOLD - TIME TO PAY UP

PHOTO: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

HUNDREDS SUFFER NINE-HOUR WAIT TO REGISTER

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

HUNDREDS of angry University of The Bahamas students suffered under the sweltering sun yesterday as they queued for hours in an effort to submit payments and complete registration for the spring semester. It marked the second day of registration chaos at the university.

In anticipation of the

long lines and disorganised process, some students arrived on campus to start queuing as early as 4am. However, as The Tribune canvassed the area after 1pm, many were still waiting.

“I don’t even recommend this place as a university,” Victoria Edgecombe, a third-year student, told The Tribune.

“I (still rank UB) as a… college, because it’s not up to standard.”

Ms Edgecombe had

been waiting since 6.45am yesterday, and spoke to reporters as she rushed behind dozens of other students to wait on yet another line.

Images of these lines, which wrapped around buildings, flooded social media, causing outrage from the general public.

Yesterday afternoon, UB officials held a press conference to outline the factors contributing to SEE PAGE THREE

AFTER falling in the standings from first to third place when penalty deductions brought the Superstar Rockers group its first win in six years, Platinum Knights leader Thomas Curry said the group intends to protest the unofficial results of the 2019 New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade in Grand Bahama.

The loss was a major upset for the two-time defending champion, which won in every category and was the clear favourite by Junkanoo fans to win the parade.

SEE PAGE TWO

A COMIC’S VIEW THREE STORIES THAT ALWAYS MAKE ME LAUGH SEE PAGE EIGHT

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

PAGE 2, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Grand Bahama JunkaNO

THE PLATINUM Knights in action at the Grand Bahama Junkanoo. c Photos: Derek Carroll from page one After the results were announced, police reportedly had to be called to the scene to quell the chaos, ZNS’ Northern Service reported.

“A blind man could see who won that parade on Pioneers Way,” Mr Curry said, threatening to pull out of the parade in Grand Bahama. “If this could happen, tell me if it makes sense for the Platinum Knights organisation to be a part of Grand Bahama Junkanoo.”

The unofficial scores, overall totals and the group’s standing were released on Wednesday evening by the Grand Bahama Junkanoo committee at its headquarters in Freeport. Lawyer Kevin Russell, GBJC president, said persons had 72 hours to lodge their complaint with the committee.

According to the unofficial results for the Division A category, Platinum Knights won eight of the ten divisions, including execution of theme, group performance, music, overall costume, banner, choreographed dancers, best individual lead costume, and best off-the-shoulder.

A blind man could see who won that parade, says Platinum Knights leader However, when the overall totals were announced, the celebration for Platinum Knights group members came to an abrupt end when the Superstar Rockers group was announced as the unofficial winner after penalty deductions.

Leader of the Superstar Rockers Chauncey Gray was surprised to learn his group won the parade.

“I am at a loss for words,” he told The Tribune. “You know we worked hard all year in the shack, and we had our trying times, ups and downs, and we had some sponsors come onboard. Oban came in a little late, and they really helped us get over the hump.”

Mr Gray thanked the group’s major sponsor Buckeye Bahamas Hub for its continued support over the past 20 years.

“Every year they show their support to us. We are grateful for this win. I think it has been six years since we won. However, the

Superstar Rockers, we are a major group, and we are always in the running. So year after year we go back to the drawing board and see where we went wrong, and this year we did it,” he said.

When asked how he felt about beating the Platinum Knights, Mr Gray said that the group needs to go over the paperwork and see where they went wrong.

“We saw where they went wrong, so I hope they see it or else the same thing will happen again next year,” Mr Gray said.

But Mr Curry was not pleased with the outcome. “I don’t know what to say about it,” Mr Curry said. “I can’t see you winning every category and coming on a parade flawless – I don’t know what the penalty is, but I know Platinum Knights was flawless on the parade.”

He added: “I heard some talks about the guys who were performing that their pants were decorated too

much, but I know the rules, and it states 75 percent paste, 25 percent anything decoration.

“If this parade is going to be determined by that and by us giving our best foot forward, and you then you still get beat after winning every category, something got to be wrong. And if it continues like this, Platinum Knights organisation will never perform in Grand Bahama again. I can assure you that because for the past two months some things have been going on and we have been watching people from the other groups who have been hating.”

Mr Curry also claimed there was some swapping of numbers that determined parade entry among groups to put Platinum Knight at a disadvantage.

“They put us out the gate first to try to get us to lose the parade, and you could see that clearly tonight,” he claimed. “We swept almost every category, and it has to be impossible for

you to lose a parade in that manner.

“We will be protesting.

The night of the parade that feeling of winning right then is gone and that is really discouraging.”

Mr Curry indicated that the group had been invited to participate in Junkanoo in New Providence and Abaco.

“I am sure the people there would appreciate us.

I know the fans here would miss us, and I talked to our sponsors and I told them if any funny business went on we will be relocating to Nassau and representing Grand Bahama, and that is what it is,” he said.

Pastor Tyrone Thomas, head marshal for the Platinum Knights, said the results disheartened him.

“It is unbelievable to me hearing the results and seeing Platinum Knights dominated almost every category, and to find out we finished third, not even second, but finished third after our performance,” Mr Thomas said.

“We dedicate ourselves to bringing a grand performance in Grand Bahama.

We spend time in the shack making sure costumes were up to par, and persons from Nassau who came down for the parade told us that costumes are on par with Nassau,” Mr Thomas said.

Wellington Wallace, the group’s costume director, said he was very disappointed with the results and is appealing to officials in New Providence to investigate the matter.

Mr Wallace said for the group to drop from first to third does not make sense.

“I rush in Nassau, and I am in charge of the Roots Junkanoo group frontline costumes. I know the rules, and something is wrong, and we will get to the bottom of this,” Mr Wallace said. “I live in Nassau all my life. I don’t care how much points they deduct . . .nowhere you win everything, and you get third, something is wrong with that.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 4, 2019, PAGE 3

STUDENTS ENDURE NINE-HOUR WAIT TO JOIN UP from page one

the pandemonium, which included a recently launched online registration system and the fact that the majority of the roughly 500 students on campus yesterday were either seeking the institution’s deferred payment plan or were being processed for scholarships.

Ms Edgecombe told The Tribune she was among those students seeking a deferred payment plan.

She said her experience was delayed by a short staffed office.

“Well in the building, technically it was only one person for almost four hours and then afterwards they got about three

persons, but the way that they were moving (was) very slow,” she said.

“They weren’t keeping up with the pace. And then someone went on lunch. They had the audacity to go on lunch. And we been out here (for)… almost more than eight working hours. We working overtime.”

Ivanna Gaitor, an alumna who was graduated in the fall of 2013, was present yesterday to help her younger brother, who is about to begin his second semester at UB. She said they had been on campus since 6am, and had actually been there the day before and were faced with the same issue of extreme lines.

Ms Gaitor noted a tumultuous

registration process is nothing new for the institution, saying the experience was the “exact same” during her college years.

When asked if she had faith that the process will be improved by the fall, Ms Gaitor said: “You know, I had faith when I was here four years ago, actually as a student government representative.

“I was a senator for the School of Communication and Creative Arts, and the same issues have been occurring since then. And I’m still keeping the hope, keeping the faith that they will make the necessary improvements.”

Ms Gaitor said the new system has not been “of much significant improvement.”

She noted although the website has implemented the ability to pay online, students have reported difficulties making payments.

“I think that the solution to this problem is really just implementing a proper online system,” Ms Gaitor said. “Students should be able to pay their bills online, they should be able to register, and they should be able to drop their classes all on one platform efficient.”

Nathan Richards, a sophomore, told The Tribune he was on his third hour of waiting and described the experience as “unbearable”.

Mr Richards was there to sort out his scholarship payment, as his grades were submitted late.

He said the previous system used before Banner was “more efficient,” but expressed hope this new method will improve in future semesters.

Taeliyah Fernander, a thirdyear student who began waiting at 7am, told The Tribune another frustrating element of the day was the number of people skipping the line.

“The line really is long and you have persons that (aren’t) honest, that are skipping the lines,” she said. “But I think that they’re (the staff) working as best as they can…and last night I think they worked up until 9pm. So I think they’re doing a pretty good job.

But the lines are really, really long.”

Deadline to register extended

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net UNIVERSITY of The Bahamas officials said increased enrolment, students seeking deferred payment plans and teachers submitting grades late contributed to long registration lines and mass confusion at the institution over the past two days.

As a result, officials have extended the deadline for the payment of tuition and fees to Monday at 4pm.

Yesterday, it was also announced that student services offices will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm for students to complete registration. Additional paperwork that is required for deferred payment has also been suspended, officials said.

The situation drew widespread criticism from the student population and general public. With the UB spring semester beginning Monday, hundreds of irate students stalked across campus yesterday, with many of them expressing exasperation at waiting for more than nine hours in some cases. Dozens of students also criticised the disorganisation of the queues and the overall process.

UB President Dr Rodney Smith explained to reporters that although the university has recently launched a new online registration system, the majority of the roughly 500 students on campus yesterday were either there seeking the institution’s deferred payment plan or were being processed for scholarships.

Dr Smith said while the new system will be adjusted to account for these types of issues, he noted the university “cannot guarantee” that such lengthy lines will not occur in the future.

“Recently, (UB) launched a new online registration system called Banner that is designed to bring about increased

STUDENTS waiting at the University of The Bahamas during the registration chaos yesterday. Right, President of University of The Bahamas, Dr Rodney Smith; below left, Provost Dr Linda Davis. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

efficiency in student processing, chief among which are registration and online bill payment,” Dr Smith said.

Dr Smith added that the new system became operational last summer, but a “number of circumstances” are contributing to the lines. “This semester, there appears to have been an increase in the number of students seeking our deferred payment plan,” he continued.

Dr Smith said these students account for the “majority” of the students standing in lines yesterday. He added that a large number of students were also being processed for the Ministry of Education’s bursary and teacher-education grants.

Regarding the scholarships, Dr Smith noted the Ministry of Education is not at fault for the delays.

He said this past semester was the first time an

online submission of grades was used, and “some faculty members…submitted grades late.”

“The system is designed so that once the grades are in, the calculations and tabulations take place within the Banner system that would help to assess where they are within their scholarships,” Dr Smith said. “And so because the grades were not submitted on time, that caused some of the transcripts to not be ready, which slowed down the process as well.”

Provost Linda Davis yesterday admitted that there have been “challenges” but vowed that the institution is making adjustments.

“We certainly are committed to doing everything within our power to address the shortcomings of the process and to move beyond to make sure that it is a healthy environment and an experience which students can boast about,” Dr Davis said. “The truth of the matter is that we

MOULD SAMPLES TAKEN FROM SCHOOL

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

MOULD samples taken from CH Reeves Junior High School have been sent abroad for independent analysis, The Tribune was told.

The samples were reportedly taken by an independent contractor, according to a source close to the matter, who noted it was carried out under the supervision of the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Labour, school management and union representatives.

However, Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson yesterday told The Tribune that none of her union’s representatives were present.

Test results are reportedly expected by this afternoon. The outcome is expected to tip the scales of an ultimatum levelled by the union concerning environmental conditions at the school.

The union received in an area has been eraditheir strike certificate on cated and three, that the Monday, and its officials teachers and the students are intent on using it if will occupy the new 12 demands are not met. classroom block in back of Those demands include the school.” an independent assessment She also demanded writthat mould has been elimi- ten proof that mould in nated from classrooms. classrooms has been remeMrs Wilson said earlier diated by a professional this week: “No teachers company, not a “man off are going in the classrooms the street”. at CH Reeves on Monday Up to press time yesterunless and until the Min- day, Mrs Wilson said the istry of Education can union had not received any provide for one, an inde- update on the matter. pendent report that the Education Minister Jefmould has been tested, two, frey Lloyd did not respond that the termite infestation to calls placed yesterday.

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have had challenges. But that we are really taking the bull by the horns and are making some adjustments to ensure that the students get through the weekend and into next week with the beginning of classes.”

When asked if any effort will be made to digitise the deferred payment and scholarship processes, Dr Smith noted it can take a couple years for various modules to become “activated”.

“We have to make adjustments to the system that will also cover deferred payments,” he said. “We have had, beginning, I think, in the fall semester,

more students seeking deferred payments than in previous years. Other factors (include)..in previous years we’ve had an average of about 200 students coming in the spring semester…this semester we have 460.

“I think the system will be adjusted as we grow.

But we have to almost go through these learning processes in order to know how to and where to make these adjustments.”

When asked if students can look forward to seeing shorter lines in the upcoming fall semester, the president replied: “You should look forward to

seeing no lines. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”

He added UB’s new system is the same one used by tertiary institutions in over 40 countries — noting UB has the “most advanced” system available.

However, he could not guarantee that extreme lines will not occur in the future.

“We cannot guarantee anything. Because as we move and implement the system and implement modules, we’ll run into other kinds of issues.

The main issue we ran into this week was not that the system could not handle it.

“The main issue was that we had so many deferred payment students online without the required documentation. And then we also had students who were online, who were not making the online payments because their system came back to say that their cards were declined …whereas they needed to notify their banks to increase the amount that they could actually use to pay their tuition.

“These are not issues related to Banner at all.

But as we go through the process we could communicate better with students, remind them what they needed to do, as we move forward through this implementation.”

PAGE 4, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Gen Z entrepreneurs view higher education as vital to their startups TODAY’S college students – dubbed Generation Z – are beginning to make their mark on the workplace with a distinctly unconventional and often irreverent approach to problem-solving.

In my day-to-day interactions with our students, I find that this group doesn’t only ask “Why?” they ask “How can I fix that?” And their curiosity, independence, energy and assertiveness are transforming the entrepreneurial space.

These post-millennials are less like the bumbling geeks from the cast of the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley” and more in the spirit of a focused problem-solver like a young MacGyver, who would rather invent and innovate as a means to learning and discovery.

What’s energising to a university president like me is watching this transformation take place as more and more undergraduates are partnering with public institutions and fuelling the next wave of ingenuity.

A 2011 survey by Gallup found 77 percent of students in grades 5 through 12 said they want to be their own boss and 45 percent planned to start their own business. Today, many of those students are now in college.

For example, when I first met Hunter Swisher as an undergraduate plant pathology student at Penn State, he was busy turning scientific turfgrass research that he learned about in class into a commercial product and startup company.

Swisher saw commercial potential in his professor’s research and worked closely with him to transfer that knowledge into a possible viable product.

Swisher connected with the university’s startup incubator and vast alumni network, put in the work, and became a CEO of his own small business before he walked across the stage at commencement in 2016. Today, his company Phospholutions has five employees and counting and their treatment is being used on more than 50 golf courses in 10 states, including at the legendary Oakmont and Marion golf courses.

Swisher is not alone in pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams while still in college. He is just one of many entrepreneurs starting their own companies by leveraging resources at their colleges and universities.

Moving scientific discoveries into a breakthrough business opportunity is powering economic growth and creating jobs. Consider that nationally – in 2017 alone – the Association of University Technology Managers reported: $68.2 billion in research expenditures 1,080 startups formed 24,998 invention disclosures 15,335 new US patent applications filed 7,849 licences and options executed 755 new products created

Traditionally, higher education has focused their investment on faculty entrepreneurs, hoping to find a breakthrough like the next Gatorade (University of Florida) or Lyrica (Northwestern University). Since universities don’t own the rights to undergraduate intellectual property, there has been less incentive to support these efforts.

Until now.

While we universities are taking a risk on students without a guaranteed immediate return on investment, we think the potential outcomes – for example in alumni support and building our local economies – are worth it.

With their minds set on this entrepreneurial future, a common narrative has emerged that students are skipping college to start their own businesses. In reality, 8 in 10 students believe college is important to achieving their career goals. Sixty-three percent of those same students – all between the ages of 16 and 19 – said they want to learn about entrepreneurship in college, including how to start a business.

Land-grant and public institutions are contributing the practical education that can contribute to economic growth and development. Indeed, generally speaking talent-driven innovation was identified as the most important factor by the Deloitte-U.S. Council on Competitiveness.

Through skills training and engaged entrepreneurial experiences, students are realizing the profound impact they can have by solving a problem as well as overcoming obstacles, failures and flops – all under the umbrella of university guidance and resource support.

Research and education have always opened doors that benefit the nation we serve. Today, public colleges and universities are well-positioned to transform our economy and infuse it with innovation and energy. As chair of the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (APLU) newly formed Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE), I’m working with universities and our government partners to identify key areas crucial to maximizing the impact of public research universities.

By the end of this year, tens of millions of Generation Zers will enter the workforce. The challenge for higher education will be how to help the world of business to better harness the many talents, energy and inquisitiveness that Generation Zers bring to the table. The many partnerships that universities have formed with entrepreneurial students serve as an important first step toward this goal.

By Eric J Barron, Pennsylvania State University. This article first appeared on The Conversation.

We need to deliver good services so tourists return EDITOR, The Tribune I READ in the newspapers the other day that air arrivals to the country were up 16.5 percent for the year.

That’s extraordinary.

We are a tourism economy. If we have that many more people come to our country, 2018 should be a better year for Bahamians.

While we have this bonanza of arrivals, we need to focus on delivering good service to these visitors so they come back.

Some of these people may be visiting the Bahamas for the first time. If we get it right and show them good Bahamian hospitality, they may keep coming back.

The American economy has been growing, spurred

on by the big tax cuts by President Donald Trump.

Americans have a lot of money. No one knows how long these good times will last, but while they do we must focus on being our best selves.

As taxi drivers, hotel employees, restaurateurs and servers, we each have the ability to enhance the experience of the people who visit our country and drive our economy.

Be courteous, helpful, welcoming.

There is sun, sand and sea all over the Caribbean. The Bahamas is not special. Our one great advantage is we are the Caribbean country right next to America. We must take advantage of that by

being a people who treat their visitors with value and respect.

Tourism is what causes us to be able to get pay cheques; to pay our mortgages; for our children to go to school; for us to go on vacation. Without it we’d be a poor, poor people.

Do not take for granted the good times we are having this year when it comes to tourists. A downturn could be right around the corner. Those in the industry, and those who interact with them, should do their best to make all our guests feel special on this lovely chain of islands.

DARWIN R LUTHER Nassau December 21, 2018

Did Minnis jinx Saxons?

EDITOR, The Tribune THE readership of this newspaper will undoubtedly recall Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ lighthearted comment to the media about his desire for the Shell Saxons Superstars to win the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade. The comment came in response to a question regarding the unprecedented industrial unrest the Free National Movement (FNM) administration was facing in early December. Minnis’ opponents took his joke completely out of context in order to make him look aloof to individuals who were uninformed of what the PM had said leading up to the supposedly controversial comment.

Well, it’s been nearly four weeks since the Minnis joke and the Boxing Day Parade has finally come and gone. Minnis’ Shell Saxons Superstars had failed to win the tournament. In fact, the group placed fifth behind One Family, the Valley Boys, Roots and Genesis Warhawks.

The Saxons with its I Love Music....Any Kind of Music theme, scored a pedestrian 82.81 points – 4.74 points less than One Family, which scored 87.55, and won best offthe-shoulder costume; best choreography, best Shirley Street performance,

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net best overall performance and best overall costume.

Groups such as the Saxons, the Valley Boys and the Music Makers have been in existence for decades and have dominated the junkanoo landscape in the A Category for years.

The success of One Family and Genesis Warhawks suggests that these young groups have finally caught up to the older groups. Be that as it may, I cannot help but wonder if Minnis’ comment to the press influenced some of the judges’ overall appraisal of the Saxons’ performance on Boxing Day. In fairness, it has crossed my mind that the group was jinxed by Minnis.

But I have ruled that out.

I am not attempting to take away anything from One Family’s gutsy performance. The group earned the victory through sheer determination and hard work. Nor am I questioning the professionalism of “all” the judges.

However, politics being what it is in the Bahamas, many individuals tend to view everything with their political blinders on.

Politics permeates every facet of Bahamian society,

and it causes many of us to view national events, no matter how bipartisan they are, with jaundiced eyes.

The Saxons being ranked fifth place is a bit alarming for such an established group with massive financial backing from a wealthy corporate sponsor.

And when one takes into account the disqualification of the Prodigal Sons and the Music Makers, you can make the argument that the Saxons really finished in last place in the A Category of groups that were not disqualified.

In all things considered, it raises the question of whether this group was punished by anti-Minnis Junkanoo judges because it was publicly endorsed by Minnis. We all know that the Minnis administration has stepped on plenty toes since coming to office in 2017.

There are quite a number of individuals who would relish the idea of getting back at this government for any number of reasons.

Maybe the Saxons being ranked in last place was Minnis detractors’ way of punishing the FNM. For these people, 2022 is too far away.

KEVIN EVANS Freeport Grand Bahama December 27, 2018

These roadworks are worth the trouble EDITOR, The Tribune I WAS reading complaints on social media the other day about the paving east of the old Paradise Island bridge.

Some were very upset that the paving was happening during the holiday seasons.

We have to grow up a bit. The road was a disaster. There were potholes and elevations and cannons. Parts of the road appeared unstable.

The government decided to pave the road, and now it is paved. For progress there has to be sacrifice.

I think there are ways the government

could minimise the impact of roadworks on drivers. When possible work should be done at night or on weekends. Also, when schools close for the summer, there is less traffic. That’s a time when major roadwork makes sense.

But for a host of complicated reasons, sometimes it has to happen when it has to happen. We need to stop whining about everything.

The road is much better now in that section. We should all be pleased.

MARTHA S GREENE Nassau December 21, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 4, 2019, PAGE 5

Prison officers forced to strip at start of shift from page one

on a warrant. Also, such standard procedures seek to protect the officer’s constitutional right to an attorney upon being suspected of being in possession of a prohibited article.”

Mr Wilson stressed the critical need for authorities to show “just cause” for their actions.

Over the past few years, several correctional officers have been arrested and charged in connection with smuggling drugs and contraband into the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. For instance last October, one former correctional officer was sentenced to three months in prison after admitting to trying to smuggle drugs concealed in his socks into the Fox Hill compound.

That same month, another officer was arrested for trying to smuggle a cell phone into the facility.

And last April, an overnight operation involving more than 200 law enforcement officers searching the BDCS found homemade shanks, cell phones, marijuana and other contraband in inmates’ cells. This came after a video went viral of prisoners, suspected to be

“The most recent and demoralising disservice being imposed upon officers are searches conducted by senior staff where subordinate staff are required to remove clothing upon reporting for their tour of duty,” a press statement from the association said.

“Officers are aware that we are subject to a search but to our disadvantage, the Corrections Act 2014 lacks clarity on the extent to which a search can be conducted.”

It continued: “We should be treated according to the accepted standard adhered to by Correctional Departments the world over. The accepted standard speaks to steps that should be taken, including obtaining warrants and legal representatives being present due to the nature of a search being conducted on an officer.

“These steps exist to retain the dignity of the officer who by the way, is not a ward of the state and not being detained at the facility

from the Fox Hill compound, preparing to roll what appeared to be marijuana joints, while music played in the background.

The Ministry of National Security and BDCS officials have pledged zero tolerance to corruption.

“At the commencement of my tenure as acting commissioner I met with all rank and file of the department and I enunciated my plans,” Acting BSCS commissioner Charles Murphy said at a press conference last October.

“I also stressed my no tolerance for corruption in any form, shape and fashion. However, there are always those minute portions of the staff who seek to get ahead financially, by carrying out their devious and corrupt practices. “…Let me stress not only to the staff, to those persons who seek to bring in illegal items in the department, but also the public… we have no tolerance, a zero tolerance (policy) for any type of illegal activities in or around our department,” Mr Murphy had said earlier.

Yesterday Mr Wilson also

renewed demands for wage increases and the resolution of outstanding issues, stating members of his association were irate over their treatment, and questioned how the facility could be expected to grow and transition from punitive to correctional when best practices are not followed.

He insisted officers could not afford to see issues like stalled promotions, and excessive delays in confirmation for trainees and officers returning to active duty, continue to languish in 2019. “(Mr Dames) mentioned 2018 would be our best year ever,” Mr Wilson said in an interview with The Tribune.

“We want to hold his feet to the fire in ensuring most of those issues are resolved. We in 2019,” he continued, “we don’t need those issues to be dragged along any further. It’s been 12 years now without a salary increase, and we have a myriad of issues unresolved.”

In his statement yesterday, Mr Wilson took issue with the new career path for officers, which,

he claims, seeks to disenfranchise correctional officers due to its academic requirements and “stagnated years in a single rank.” He also called for the formal confirmation of acting commissioner and deputy commissioner posts.

“Education not negated,” the statement read, “corrections officers know that experience and tact survives a hostile situation in a housing unit any given day over a degree in criminology.

“Promotions are still pending for deserving officers and we await salary adjustments that meet correctional standards. A salary increase is long overdue with the ever-increasing cost of living.

“Civilian staff receive $200 monthly for risk allowance, some of whom rarely have any contact with inmates, yet corrections officers are sidetracked with the excuse that our risk allowance is included in the salary.”

Attempts to reach National Security Minister Marvin Dames for comment yesterday were unsuccessful up to press time.

ANOTHER 54 HAITIANS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

A JOINT operation between the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Bahamas Immigration Department and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force resulted in the apprehension of 54 Haitian nationals in the Abacos on Thursday afternoon.

Some 29 migrants were apprehended aboard a conventional sailing yacht near the entrance of Man O War Cay, Marsh Harbour, Abaco around 4:30 p.m.

The 27 foot sailing vessel was at anchor

The Tribune A1MAIN

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PLP fired as

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By AVA TURNQUES to sources Reporter of According .net Tribune Chief matter, as tribunemedia close to the Wells has since aturnquest@ Mr Progres- Monday his accounts FOUR former Cabinet paid $9,000 on balParty an outstanding ARNOLD sive Liberal more than with $8,600.

FORBES ministers owedat Bahamas ance of some also said as $62,023 The source Forbes was one $20,000 each Mr Light, with Power and in arrears of Monday the company former minister as of July, in talks with balance over settle the Mr for some $60,000 a list obtained to three-month period. to a according PLP Mount

by The Tribune.and Collec- Forbes, former MP, was appointed The Credit 2015, listing of Moriah in January the tions Department and board to Cabinet served as MPs, senators the period and previouslythe Bahamas of for members 31, revealed chairman and Industrial ending July State Minister Agricultural . that former of Works Corporation the “do not Others on are: former in the Ministry owed BPL list Dr disconnect” Arnold Forbes of Health Tall $62,023.14.

by The Minister former The list obtained delin- Perry Gomez, Leslie Miller, Tribune contains of six Pines MP Youth Minister of former quent accounts Cabinet minis- former Johnson, Dion former PLP PLP MPs, Dr Danny Village MP ters, two former Tourism DR DANIEL entities, and Nassau , two private Cabinet min- Smith, former JOHNSON Obie Wilchcombe one sitting $24,413 Town MP Minister South Beach MP and former ister: Bamboo Hamilton State Renward Wells. who owed Cleola of Mr Wells, $3,703.96 at former Minister Damian Affairs $9,277.07 and locations - for Legal two separatetotal – did not Gomez.

SEE PAGE EIGHT $12,981.03 in yesterwant to comment former other day, and the

DR PERRY GOMEZ $24,498

LESLIE MILLER $42,219

DION SMITH $9,275

RENWARD WELLS $12,980

BPL WHO RUNS is quite willCRUNCH DAY OVER utilityto operator from it “walk away”

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By NEIL HARTNELL Editor $25m, five-year maximum t contract et Tribune Business ibunemedia.n BPL managemen nhartnell@tr and Minnis if the board wish it to go. on Power & BAHAMAS board will administrati which will The meeting,PowerSecure Light’s (BPL) by meeting” hold a “crunch e today, be attendedand their attorneys key with PowerSecurlikely crit- executives is viewed as the from the US, with the outcome whether the to determining whethermake and ical in decidingas manager. sides will “kiss latter remainsTribune Busi- two separate. up” or Multiple - SEE BUSINESS yesterday US FULL STORY ness sources that the confirmed

HUMILIATION FORAFTER 4O YEARS LOSES HIS SEAT

seats: Encaptured four Island and Cat were spent under to South Aners’ dollars administration. glerston; 1,900 votes and San Salvador; Christie the win with is evidence 2017 the as well as Exuma DORSETT Mr Christie’s 1,875.

He said if there”, the new dros VIRGIL ELECTION Islands.

By SANCHESKAReporter to the unofBy KHRISNA Reporter seat, Fox According the the Ragged of “criminality et Tribune Staff from the Parwill allow SPEAK An additional being reDeputy Chief bunemedia.n ficial results Registration government course.

THE PEOPLE nemedia.net sdorsett@tri PAGE 4 was still its kvirgil@tribu his Hill, law to take to press time. and liamentary , Mr Chipman after ON’ decounted up his parMoments DNA ‘TO GO PAGE 5 IN a surprisingat the Departmentout of 12 pollas the na- This marked the worst in AFTER leadinglandslide defeat party won seven maiden speech MinLOSE humbling leader, Dr Prime Min- ing divisions in the former ty to a stunning feat for a governing Mr tion’s next PLP BIG NAMESPAGE 7 dealing a parapolls, outgoing that under recent history. victory and to the ProgresChristie lost PLP stronghold, while will nis promised victory came MPS ister Perry Bahamians The FNM’s won five. lysing blow Party last night, years the Centreville his watch, YOUR PROJECTED his seat in last night by Christie PAGE 9 to fear from despite a rocky five Mr Christie sive Liberal nothing Minister challengto In 2012, have conPrime constituency representing , pointing FAR included two incoming the Centrevilleeighth said that Dr Minnis’ leadership, the government RESULTS SO PAGE 14 Minnis declared 25 votes aftermore than 40 won the n, which he Dr Hubert of a fracstituency for time with have abused victimisatio tional” “im- es to the area for to unofthat those who trust “have continued reports ultimately consecutive He defeated is “unconstitu MORE COVERAGE of years, according party and the post “wrong”.

PAGES 2-18 positions tured and votes.

2,950 moral” results. to fear”. ficial to unofficial his removal from candidate Ella has held Opsomething to thousands of According able at the Mr Christie 1977 and the FNM’s of the Official FNM was Speaking by 1,349 votes at the Q House today. results, the stunning defeat of leader in the House of won all the Lewis the seat since a pledged that jubilant supporterslast night, ment Mr Christie leader of Dr Minnis on will give to pull off securing a mas- position has been Liberal Party time. polling division in E Sports Centre but one administrati Terrance of the PLP, constituencies. Assembly. a long fought National MoveProgressive 39 “This was victory is not the Free also announced his General it sive 34 of ry Regsince 1997. released a but the Prime 2012. ment leader be sworn in as Auditor the resources former is yours,” Although he the loss, The Parliamenta did battle, The about his seat to that he will fourth prime Bastianto probe how taxpay- istration Department re- mine - the victory thousands Minister lost Movement statement did not speak full election last Dr Minnis told on the carThe Bahamas’ at Govern- needs Christie release Mr National not the 5pm Free packed with and pominister at SEE PAGE SIX sults last night, in from the of FNMs (FNM) candidate Reece nival grounds. people’s time numbers coming litical newcomer agency around “This is the and I who secured government from the and I am your servant Chipman, 11pm. However it apSEE PAGE THREE unofficial numbers, the PLP only of the conpeared that “The outcome trust according to vention did not inspireBahalast Mark Humes in the results, said coming afor confidence that’s “obvious” mian electorate but think sweeping defeat residents unofficial that it is I ROLLE have stood behind us now and they night ter Fort Charlotte

By RASHAD Reporter told him party would winning the the party has a wonderful repeatedly lead- the Tribune Staff stand the any a better chance rebuild and emedia.net could not he been victori- opportunity to rrolle@tribun of the country per- election had itself,” he said. leadership for for- ership despite their ous in the PLP’sadding that reengineer longer, him.

AS HE called SEE PAGE SIX RASPBERRY Minister Perry sonal affection for was pro- race in January, made a mistake” mer Prime ICED TEA Sears, who Free Na- “the party Mr Christie. resign as leader Mr to Christie Liberal in choosing to lose to the Al- jected Movement’s (FNM) of the Progressive last night, the tional Party (PLP) said he saw fred Sears

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By AVA TURNQUES Reporter t Tribune Chief ibunemedia.ne aturnquest@tr Sewerage WATER and Chairman Corporation yesterday Adrian Gibson existence the confirmed disconnect” of a “do not by scores list populatedthe governof elites at utility owned to ment he pledged as provider on initiate a crackdown accounts. delinquent told The Mr Gibson l “confidentia , the Tribune 221accounts list” held total of with a combined the period $175,000 for2017. ending June he plans He said that corporathe to direct all persons tion to notify arrears excessive owing debts or face to resolve n. disconnectio a list confi“There is the Long list,” dential Island MP said. would think “In fact, I s corporation that all the year or two, in over the last and more particularly year, there May of thisclose attenhas been that list by tion paid to t with the managemen changing the a view to lists usually way those operate. this con“As it stands, a number has fidential list on it, and of persons it’s being really and trulypersons by used to notify or letters. courtesy call that as the I can say toothe corporachairman of to direct tion I am going owing that all personswho are excessive arrears EIGHT SEE PAGE at the end of

DAMIAN GOMEZ OBIE $3,413 WILCHCOMBE CLEOLA $4,911 HAMILTON they owed $6,118 list and the amount since that date. disconnect” BPL “do not made or further debt incurred named on the NINE individualsdo not include any payments July. The sums

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FOR THE CURE Page 21

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Watch the film - every agonising, wrenching, awful second.

Then give up Eugene’s killer

TO RESIGN AS PARTY

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Covering The Bahamas for 40 years.

safeas well as of homicides A DORSETT guarding the residents

By SANCHESKReporter in Fox Hill. et Tribune Staff walkabout bunemedia.n During a Acting prepared. live national sdorsett@tri er Fox Hill on Tuesday, ROLLE During a Ferguson Commission his office

By RASHAD Reporter ACTING Fergu- Commissioner and address from Dr Minnis Tribune Staff Anti-Gang of Police Anthony emedia.net yesterday said the Inveslast night, Maria is rrolle@tribun Tracing and announced dev- son establishment of two Firearms Unit will operate fore- said: “Hurricane the potentially Bahamas tigation WITH we the DetecMaria another hurricane that separate Royal anti-crime out of the Central the cast for Hurricane Force storm to pass astating monitor.”

(CDU) while projecting the Baha- must carefully Though most Police aimed at eliminating tive Unit SEE PAGE 11 units counHe added: near the Southeast was spared gang activity in the morning, Prime of mas Friday Hubert Minnis of the Bahamas the number try, reducing Minister Dr of those SEE PAGE TWO residents urging and is be vigilant islands to

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Dr Hubert MinPRIME Minister Kendera Woodside, nis meeting murdered Eugene the mother of

this Yes I feel for y our countries.than I can say.” more ensure has a responsibilit one mother said he will Each citizen information Dr Minnis provided to and whatever that forward. medical attention is is pregnant. the composure. said he felt the fam- has we must bring among us.” who after feel live Dr Minnis Mrs Woodside, the grieving and days makes me Three These criminals who emphasised country’s he “You can see of those pushed the ily’s pain. “What through,” Mrs Minnis, that her appearis that most during murder that violent crime into ROLLE she’s going someI, even worse

By RASHAD Reporter not a pain “I assured her that the family the yard, struggle with spotlight yet again, them was doctor, to will have we see in Tribune Staff ance before called on women said. today (Friday) we to look the national as a medical emedia.net acute. rrolle@tribun come my my years political move,one day this week time her pain remained live a life, medical personnel she’s pregand comforting cried.

“He ain’t even to wear blackfor murder victims.

Dr THE hugs her because sure that Prime Minister wife God,” Mrs Woodsidegive my upon after in mourning I’m calling words of I have to make infant are and his a baby. I could my really nant.

“As a mother, Hubert Minnis couldn’t answer “He’s right now just for because I this,” her and her unborn also make take all mothers stop and we will sure the can Patricia Minnis that consumed breath be right here. They well both to believe mothers who was tearful ts to make the questions yesterday as babyheart out my body. who arrangemen medical personnel They said Mrs Minnis, eight- my Kendera Woodside have our sons on a only son. for her son, killed times. “We birth and as they necessary her and see her “This my my daughter too she grieved of them at from look after the safety who was almost shoot (the house) with would’ve delivered most knowing we cradle are still with regular basis to ensure we year-old Eugene, men me infant.” to with they inside four days ago. people ain’t tell- and What they do to my family? so they are closer patients,” Dr becomeWe have to speakshould of her and her unborn PAGE TWO SEE them. are my former “Why these bringing my son me. they do to us? st by pro- them. I think all women week me? I they we ain’ carry one day this ing me they she cried between What Minnis, a gynaecologi “The message “Why they wear black what’s happening in a baby.” tried to right now?” fession, said. the entire Bahamas 29 years, He’s Dr Minnis and mourn Eugene’s Rose- live screams as must send to this alone.

Tonio Woodside, family at theirEugene wife even is the police can’t fight console the consoled his home where on father, struggled to maintain bud Road a stray bullet as he was shot by did his homework. he Monday as

Nassau & Bahama

Islands’ Leading

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OMY AG WARNS ECON ER’ IN ‘GRAVE DANG

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gardening art theatre music film books fashion food culture RACE

PLP CASUAL HIRES COST EXTRA $10M

he told Parto In June, cost the ROLLE such liament of

By RASHAD Bahamians $10,149,738. by the Carib- Tribune Staff Reporter so alarmed Action Task rrolle@tribunemedia.net increases was comes after bean Financial draft The revision more than

By NEIL HARTNELL Editor Rolle, minForce’s (CFATF) BRENSIL et Tribune Business services he included that were not The Bahamas ibunemedia.n report on his staff ister of public nhartnell@tr 1,700 workers Gen- that he instructedaddressing and National Insurance, in his original count.

December Progressive THE Attorneyslammed to begin work on June.

Amid the said between 2017, the criticism May flaws from early eral yesterday

by Liberal Party’sadministrablasted the 2016 and in the nation’s the ballooned Mr Bethel deficiencies adminis- public purse laundering of the of the Minnisof its firings anti-money former Christie to tackle $16,532,738 because on’s tion because “entirely unacadministrati had tration for failing with the Christie regime as SEE PAGE SIX they service public ceptable”, warning “in great known weaknesses hiring of new that period. during put The Bahamas necessary urgency.

BUSINESS workers danger”. told Trib- FULL STORY - SEE Carl Bethelhe had been une Business

Newspaper

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Islands’ Leading

Newspaper

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FIREFIGHTERS TACKLE MAJOR NEW BLAZE AT LANDFILL

A DORSETT

By SANCHESKReporter et Tribune Staff bunemedia.n sdorsett@tri

TERS yesFIREFIGH a large blaze terday battled Providence at the New three weeks Landfill, nearly a massive that after tackling city dump fire at the nearly a month. burned for Charge of Fire Officer in Chief SuperinServices, Evans said tendent Walter is “not confire the the current any way to this nected” in and at previous blazedo not know time officials the fire. Howwhat caused t Minister reever Environmen sett told

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Picture perfect Seniors go big for

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SEASO N ARRIV

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Christie denies

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prom Fashion, pages 14&15

FORMER PM TELLS OF LAST TALK WITH NOTTAGE

WELLS

By RICARDO Reporter Tribune Staff nemedia.net rwells@tribu

G concern ADMITTIN Bernard Notin over what Dr have battled last tage may his isolation during Prime Minisdays, former yesterday for ter Perry Christie admiration the expressed forth by the effort put security to former national the build-up minister in election. the May general from his Breaking away since being public silence office in hisof

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IT’S MAY 10

SPORT S: REGUL

ATORS TAKE THE

Prime Minister rings the bellrace for election

LEAD IN MPBA

traditions. just a short ROLLE “Earlier today,present ParBy RASHAD Reporter the while ago, Tribune Staff officially disemedia.net liament was Christie said. rrolle@tribun Mr of Perry solved,”seat in the House “Every PRIME Minister the prover- Assembly is now vacant. the to you, Christie rang morning, “It is now left beloved bial bell yesterday that the 2017 citizenry of our who will announcing be held on nation, to decide in the next election willMay 10. fill those seats In doWednesday, address, givof Assembly.

His televisedOffice of the House you will also be demo- ing so, who will form the en live at the came Prime Minister, Commis- ciding of the BahaPolice government five years. ments after Greenslade, for the next that mosioner Ellison as provost mas “You will make in what ns in his capacity ad proclamatio ntous decision ay

CHAM PIONS HIP

SERIES

when authorities were alerted by local residents to Haitian nationals being ferried ashore by a speed boat with an additional 25 undocumented Haitians aboard.

A total of 54 Haitians were subsequently apprehended and taken into custody as of Thursday evening by Immigration authorities for further processing.

Photos show Haitian migrants on board their vessel.

PAGE 6, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

FINANCE MINISTER TURNQUEST UNVEILS ‘ONE-FIT’ FRAMEWORK from page one competitive edge as a global leader. The move also follows broad consultation with industry stakeholders from the private and public sector.

Under the new framework, all financial institutions will now be permitted to offer services to both domestic and international clients, provided that the financial institution meets the prescribed regulatory requirements in respect of the services offered.

Mr Turnquest said: “It will remove any difference in the fiscal treatment of financial institutions that cater primarily to the domestic markets and those financial institutions that cater to international clientele. This is essential to removing the preferential treatment of specific businesses as implemented under the recently passed Removal of

Preferential Exemptions Act 2018.

“The new framework, which is intended to take effect as of January 1, 2019, proposes that financial institutions, including banks, insurance, trust companies, investment advisers, mutual fund administrators, broker/dealers and other regulated financial services entities, will be exempted from paying a business licence fee when renewing or applying for a licence, starting January 2020.”

He also said: “It is intended that these changes will . . . remove the appearance of preference for one sector over the other and so now you have a total level playing field between the offshore sector and the domestic sector in respect to the average Bahamian business person.

“They will find no changes in respect to the way that they do business and the cost of their

doing business. In fact, some may find that there is actually a reduction in the business licence fee but at the end of the day it really is intended to be revenue neutral with very little impact on the local business community.”

Instead of business licence fees, financial institutions will be subject to a three-tier system.

The system will mandate that all financial institutions pay a flat registration fee, which will be set on a sliding scale between $2,250 and $250,000 per annum, although smaller institutions like credit unions will pay much lower fees, as is currently the case.

The applicable fee will be determined primarily by the operational complexity of the institution, which aligns with the level of resources expended to regulate financial institutions based on their respective size and complexity.

Financial institutions that are deemed systemically important, as determined by their degree of integration into the domestic financial system, also will be subject to an additional fee in respect of Bahamian dollar liabilities and contingencies.

This reflects the need to mitigate the threat that any domestically systemically important institution can pose to the entire Bahamian financial system.

Also, any bank wishing to access the domestic payments system, and/or wishing to operate as an authorised agent for Bahamian dollar transactions, will be charged fees reflecting the substantial supervisory and management costs of these arrangements for the Central Bank of the Bahamas and other public-sector agencies.

Mr Turnquest said companies

incorporated in the Bahamas under either the Companies Act or the International Business Companies Act – with the exception of those financial institutions already mentioned – will be required to register under the business licence Act and pay a value-based business licence fee.

As a result of recent amendments made to the Business Licence Act to streamline the application process, companies will be able to apply for a provisional licence that can be processed in a matter of days.

Moving forward, a company’s business licence fee will be calculated by reference to the value of any positively rated taxable supplies made in that year, charged at a rate of between zero per cent and 2.5 per cent of that value, as may be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance, Mr Turnquest said.

‘A number of audits have been completed’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest said yesterday “a number” of forensic audits into government corporations and departments have been completed and tabled in the House of Assembly.

However, he could not say definitively which audits were finished and laid in Parliament.

“I think you are aware that a number of the audits have been completed and they have been laid at Parliament and so I believe, I’m not sure whether there are any further ones that are outstanding at the moment, but we have certainly fulfilled our commitments in that regard and, of course, as situations arise we may do other things,” the deputy prime minister said when he was asked by reporters for a

status update on the promised audits.

Further questioned on whether this meant audits on the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute, Urban Renewal, Bank of the Bahamas, the General Post Office and the Hurricane Relief Fund were complete, he responded: “The ones that we considered priorities have been done and tabled, or they are still in process but they haven’t been finalised.”

Asked to differentiate between the audits that are in process from those that have been completed, he said: “You just named them.”

The Minnis administration announced early in its term in office that several forensic audits would be conducted. Among those announced in a statement from Cabinet following its first meeting in May 2017, were probes into Urban

Renewal, BOB and BAMSI. The statement was released by Bahamas Information Services and said other departments and programmes were to be audited.

It also said a decision had been made that all ministers were to conduct audits within their respective ministries of people hired on contract, their job titles, salaried and periods of contract.

Last October, an audit was tabled in the House revealing that web shop boss Pete Deveaux, CEO of Island Game, had received a large contract from the Ministry of Finance. It said a $1.46m computer supply contract had been awarded to Mr Deveaux who earned a 30 percent profit margin on the deal.

The revelation was made by former Ministry of Finance Financial Secretary Simon Wilson and disclosed

FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest could not say definitively which audits were finished. to the auditor general, exposing multiple internal control and procurement failings in the Ministry of Finance.

A report into Urban Renewal was also tabled in October covering fiscal years July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017. It revealed that 22 contractors in the small home repairs programme under Urban Renewal’s Grand Bahama arm did not have

the supporting documents to ensure they were verifiead as licenced operators.

There were also more than 20 instances where supporting documents for small home repairs did not include evidence of a bid from the contractual awardee. In these instances, the supporting document from the awardee was an invoice.

The auditor general also

found in a probe of the Post Office Savings Bank’s 2014-2015 fiscal year that the entity did not know how much money it held in customer deposits.

This report was also tabled in October 2018 and found that Savings Bank staff were unable to determine the amount of funds held in both active and dormant accounts.

KINGSWAY ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION Will be held on Saturday, January 12, 2019 – at 8:00 a.m.

Grades 7 through 10 Parents are asked to collect application forms from the school’s Administration Building on Bernard Road, Monday - Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Application forms may also be accessed from the school’s website at www.kingswayacademy.com (Click on ‘About Us’ and select Forms and Applications) For further information contact the school at telephone numbers: ELEMENTARY: 324-5049 or 324-2158 HIGH SCHOOL: 324-8811 or 324-6269 Applications for Elementary School are now being accepted. Space is limited.

APPLY NOW Join the school that is helping your child fulfill his/her God given purpose to be the difference

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 4, 2019, PAGE 7

By RIEL MAJOR THE Water and Sewage Corporation held a commissioning ceremony yesterday for the opening of a new San Salvador branch and the completion of the Water Supply Improvement Project on the island which gives more residents access to fresh, potable water.

Adrian Gibson, Long Island MP and executive chairman of WSC, said this project in San Salvador was an investment of $1.7 million and has been successfully completed.

Mr Gibson said: “In order to complement the system upgrades, a new Water and Sewerage Corporation office has been opened to improve the service to the residents of San Salvador. This new office will facilitate customers and residents being able to have easy access to the corporation.

Now customers can address their concerns and pay their bills, and I emphasise pay their bills… no more payment of bills deep in the bush behind the airport.”

Mr Gibson spoke about his life growing up on Long Island without basic utilities.

“I didn’t see light into the ‘90s and water was only something I saw when I went to Nassau because we had our well, we had our pumps and you know with all that salt, every three or six months you have to change that pump, your fixtures always had to change and so even now in Long Island where my grandparents lived I’m still changing fixtures, but I’m working on that,” the chairman said.

He continued: “The corporation is executing the Caribbean Development Bank’s Water Supply Improvement Project funded by a $28.33 million loan from that bank and $13.3 million in counterpart funding from the government of the Bahamas.

“This project includes two projects in New Providence and six on different islands. We are reviewing various parts of that project and rolling out portions of it, allocating portions of it as we speak. When you are looking around you can now see that works are complete on San Salvador and we are approaching substantial completion in South Andros and the South Andros (project) cost us $5.5 million.”

Official Opposition leader and MP for Cat Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador Phillip “Brave” Davis attended the ceremony yesterday where he expressed his appreciation for Mr Gibson’s “political maturity.”

Mr Davis said: “I’d like to acknowledge the executive chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, Mr Adrian Gibson, the MP for Long Island. Just let me express my appreciation for the political maturity that you have shown and are showing because many don’t. There are some amongst us that still have that political immaturity. I say that to you because I want you to also appreciate and I hope that other members of the government take a page out of your book because

POLICE SEIZE MARIJUANA WORTH $2,000 POLICE seized two pounds of suspected marijuana from the streets of New Providence on Wednesday.

Shortly before 6pm, Mobile Division officers, while on patrol of Baillou Hill Road, observed a man walking behind a building. Upon seeing the officers, the man began acting in a suspicious manner and started to run.

Officers chased him and saw when he threw a package to the ground, jumped a fence and escaped arrest.

The officers recovered the package and found it to contain suspected marijuana. The drugs weighed two pounds and have an estimated street value of $2,000.

An investigation is ongoing.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

ADRIAN GIBSON, Long Island MP and executive chairman of WSC, with PLP leader Phillip Davis. Below, Adrian Gibson says a few words.

Photos: Patrick Hanna/BIS

Gibson delighted with another improvement in the water system at the end of the day we are still all one.

“There are many islands that make up the Bahamas, each has its distinctive features, but at the end of the day we are still one Bahamas. We all have to adhere to ensuring that the common good is promoted . . .rather (than) those things we can dwell upon that keeps us divided. I take my hat off to you, Mr Gibson, for the demonstration of maturity.”

Dynell Williams, an island resident, expressed thanks for the water supply project, saying it will make life on San Salvador easier.

“I stand as a proud and thankful recipient of the water supply commissioning here today,” the resident said. “As a resident of Hall’s Landing we no longer have to wait for the power to come on to take a bath. Amen…we no longer have to worry about our pumps being burned up or when the power cuts back on go and prime (the pump.) We no longer need to purchase fluorine tablets for our wells.

Funeral Service

William Morley Pinder, 78

of Blair Estates, Nassau, The Bahamas, who died at Doctors Hospital, Collins Avenue, Nassau, on Thursday, 20th December, 2018, will be held at Ebenezer Methodist Church, East Shirley Street, Nassau on Saturday, 5th January, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.

Reverend Milton Lightbourne will officiate.

He was predeceased by his wife, Judith Katherine Pinder and his sister, Cara Cecilia Higgs.

He is survived by his daughter, Michelle Pinder; granddaughters, Katherine Lee and Rachel Lee; brother, Kenneth Beauman Pinder; sister-in-law, Margo Deann Pinder; nephew, Milton Eugene Higgs; niece, Vanessa Ann Pinder and many other relatives and close friends including the Lee family, the Birding Association, the Royal Bank Of Canada family, Ebenezer Methodist Church family and the Focus Group.

Instead of flowers the family request that donations to the Cancer Society of The Bahamas, P.O. S.S. 6539, Nassau in memory of Mr. William Morley Pinder.

Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited.

“We are indeed grateful and today I can truly say that better days are not on the way for the residents of San Salvador, but better days are here right now.

Today we have clean, fresh saltfree water and on behalf of the island’s administrator and the residents of Hall’s Landing, Long Bay, Sugar Loaf, Sandy Point and the entire community of San Salvador, we say a big great thank you the Hon. Phillip “Brave” Davis, our MP, and to the water corporation family.”

Jermaine Johnson, from the Ministry of Tourism, said from the tourism perspective he is excited about the project and it would be appreciated by visitors and second home owners looking to build or buy homes on San Salvador.

The ceremony concluded with Mr Gibson thanking Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Minister of Works Desmond Bannister for their unwavering support for WSC and Mr Davis for what he has contributed to the execution of this project.

PAGE 8, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

The three stories from my life that make me laugh every time I think about my younger days IT’S AMAZING what stories end up being told, or resurrected, when real stand up comedians are at the bar trading ‘life stories’ downing shots of their favourite libation in abundance. Here are three stories from my life, that make me laugh every time I reminisce about my younger days. I’m quite sure, they will give all of you a chuckle.

Present Teacher

Owww! My Shin!!

WHEN I was a kid, I was always excited to learn new vocabulary. When I was in first grade, my teacher taught me that “shin” was another word for leg.

Later that day, I was playing in the yard at home while my mom was gardening, when I tripped and hit my leg on the ground (concrete to be exact) and really hard I might add.

Upon impact, I instantly yelled out “OW, MY SHIN!” Somehow, my mom heard, “OW, MY...(some other word that sounds close to shin but that I definitely did not say)!”

My mom went in on me, faster than Nancy Pelosi on Trump, yelling about how that was a filthy word and we don’t say that word period, and, of course, she was going to wash my mouth out with soap.

I was a crying, bawling mess of tears and snot. I even got to the point where I was doing that weird cry-stutter-hiccup noise.

My mom paused briefly from chastising me and said, “Who taught you that word?!”

Of course, I told the truth and said “M-m-my teacher t-t-t-taught me that word!”

Instantly, my mom started ranting about how she was going to call the school and get that teacher fired!

I tried to explain, “T-te-teacher said that shin meant leg I’m SO SORRY ILL N-NNE-ne-never say it again.”

My mom got quiet and realised her mistake. “.......What did you say.”?

At this point I started using psychology, I started crying harder and said “NO it’s just a test, you’re going to wash my mouth out with soap again.”

When I finally calmed down enough to say it again, my mom apologised, and up until the day she passed away, whenever something dramatic happened I would always shout “Shin!” loudly just to see the look on her face.

ONE time in 8th grade we were at recess, and while I was running to my friends, I just so happened to kick a HUGE rock (keep in mind, it was uniform release day, and I was wearing flip-flops so it hurt like in a major way) and without thinking, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “MUUDDA...FADDA!” (Except, since I’m being honest, I didn’t say ‘fadda’ that day. Instead I did drop the biggest ten-pound word I knew).

And with my awesome luck, my English teacher, Mr Gordon Mills, was sitting on the bench right beside me.

He then took me inside to what I thought was going to be a detention, but once indoors he just couldn’t stop laughing, and then sent me back outside with a candy bar.

To this day, he’s still my favourite teacher.

Gas could kill some of ‘yinna’ I HAVE a friend, who I’ve known since I was knee high to a grasshopper, who also happens to be well known in the community, so shall remain nameless.

One day, when we were both ten, I was at his house when he got this absolutely wretched stomach pain.

I mean, he was literally writhing in pain.

So, his mom took him to the doctor’s office, where the doctor took one look and told her to take him to the ER. She feared something along the lines of an intestinal issue or a ruptured appendix.

About half way to the hospital, on Shirley Street, opposite what used to be ‘Sabre Drug Store’ and the Post Office, my boy let rip the loudest, most powerful ‘carbonic wind‘ any of us had ever heard.

As God as my witness, my boy levitated, from the air pressure build up.

I thought for sure that the upholstery in the car seat had ripped.

After a good thirty seconds of an intense fit of flatulence, he looked at his mom and said, “I feel all better now!”

SIX FOREIGN NATIONALS DISCOVERED ON BOAT OFF FREEPORT UP IN COURT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net SIX foreign nationals discovered on board a vessel in waters off Freeport on December 26, 2018 were charged in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court with breach of the Immigration Act. Five Romanians and one Jamaican appeared on December 27 in Court Three before Magistrate Rengin Johnson for overstaying, illegal embarkation and illegal landing.

Jamaican Kirk Wayne Smith, 51, was charged with overstaying and illegal embarkation.

According to the particulars, Smith entered The Bahamas legally from Jamaica on November 18, 2018, and was admitted for a period of 14 days.

Smith did seek to extend his visitor’s status which had expired.

He pleaded guilty to overstaying and was fined $3,000 or in default, he will serve nine months in prison.

On the charge of illegal embarkation, Smith was fined $300 or six months imprisonment. Smith was unable to pay his fine. Magistrate Johnson said the sentences are to run concurrently and ordered Smith to be deported on completion of the prison term.

Romanians Stefanita Madalin Firu, 27, and Raducu-Niscusor Firu, 26, were charged with overstaying and illegal embarkation.

SOME of the foreign nationals discovered on board a vessel in waters off Freeport in December.

The men had entered the country legally as visitors, having been admitted on December 13. They failed to seek an extension of their visitor’s status.

They pleaded guilty to overstaying and were fined $3,000 each or, in default, will serve nine months imprisonment. The men also pleaded guilty to illegal embarkation and were ordered to pay a $300 fine or serve six months in prison.

Three other Romanians - Florin-Laurentiu Oprea, 36; Liviu Sfetcovici, 43,

and Nicolas Barbulescu, 32 – were charged with illegal landing and illegal embarkation.

Immigration officials found no evidence that the trio entered the country legally.

They pleaded guilty to the charges. Magistrate Johnson ordered each of the men to pay a $300 fine on each count or serve six months in prison.

The five Romanians paid their fines and were flown to New Providence to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre to await deportation.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, January 4, 2019, PAGE 9

Grand Lucayan sale still likely in second quarter of 2019

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net OFFICIALS are still eyeing a second quarter 2019 sale of the Grand Lucayan resort with “April to June” pegged as a timeline for the sale, chairman of Lucayan Renewal Holdings Michael Scott told The Tribune yesterday.

The Hotel Corporation chairman gave the update yesterday while declining to comment about the payment of voluntary separation packages to managerial and line staff of the hotel.

However, Finance Minister K Peter Turnquest told reporters yesterday the government ensured the packages were funded, adding they should be settled “shortly”.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Scott again defended the government’s decision to have the property renovated at a maximum cost of $3.5m before it is sold.

He said “limited” work

was being done to make the resort “operable”.

Initially, Mr Scott said it was estimated the renovations would cost the government a maximum of $20m, but this was scaled back because there was no justification for expending large sums of money that were unlikely to be recouped in the sale.

However, just last September Mr Turnquest told the House of Assembly the government could spend nearly $39m on the undertaking.

“It’s very simple,” Mr Scott said yesterday. “We are doing limited renovations in order to make the hotel operable. That’s all we are doing.

“Initially there were suggestions that we might spend as much as $15m (to) $20m that was pared down to I think the figure is $3.5m or I think $3m because it could not be justified.

“When you sell the hotel, no one is going to reimburse you for all of that extra money that you spent on renovations. So all we are

doing is carrying out necessary repairs like repairing A/C coolers, like repairing the roof to the Lighthouse Pointe which is the one part of the hotel which is operable at the moment – which is taking paying customers, clients, guests and also some limited cosmetic work and things like repairing the coolers (and) the condensers in the A/C system and also doing some repairs to the roof of the convention centre which is a money earner because it’s the only facility of its size in Grand Bahama to accommodate large scale functions, that sort of thing.”

Asked about a revamped timeline for the sale, Mr Scott said: “April to June of this year.”

The government initially set a six-month timeline from September 2018 to offload the hotel.

However, that timeline was changed and last November Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said it was expected that the resort would be sold by the second quarter of 2019.

AMERICANS ARRESTED AFTER FAILING TO DECLARE CASH AN American man and woman were arrested at Lynden Pindling International Airport on Tuesday after they failed to declare a large sum of US currency.

Police said shortly after 4pm, the couple presented themselves to a US Border Control officer at LPIA for

travel into Florida and failed to declare the true amount of cash in their possession. The officers conducted a search of the couple and found them to be in possession of more than $10,000 in US cash.

They are expected to face formal charges in court soon.

GRAND Lucayan resort should be sold around next April to June.

PAGE 10, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMASAIR WORKERS HAVE TO EVACUATE OFFICE

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMASAIR workers were forced to evacuate their headquarters after the building’s air-conditioning system began smoking due to an electrical shortage. The airline confirmed its flight schedule was not impacted by the early morning incident; however, staff at its head office on Coral Harbour Road were asked to leave for the day.Â

“At no time, were staff members in any danger as they were immediately asked to evacuate,� a press statement noted. “Initial assessments indicate a power surge, resulting in an electrical shortage in the condenser/ blower of the air conditioning system. This resulted in smoke being pulled into the building and giving the impression of a fire. “As a result of the incident, we have released all head office personnel for the remainder of the day to ensure all health and safety precautions were taken. They

have been asked to report to work in the morning – pending any unforeseen developments. “The public is further advised that the airline is fully functional and this incident has in no way impacted our schedule.�

The incident follows a disastrous holiday season for the airline, marked by a series of flight delays and cancellations for both international and domestic flights.

Last week, the airline’s managing director Tracy Cooper blamed the airline’s recent failures on several “mitigating circumstances�

that were compounded despite the company’s best efforts to right itself.

Mr Cooper said while the airline had prepared for various scenarios which included aspects of what transpired, none of its contingencies could address the issues that arose collectively.

Among those circumstances: two of the airline’s planes were grounded due to repairs and maintenance, and the stand-by aircraft the airline had subleased, a MiamiAir 168-seater, was unable to render assistance due to weather.

Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar blamed the airline’s “vexing business model� after 17 passengers - and virtually all bags - were recently thrown off a flight to Marsh Harbour.

Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that Bahamasair’s “lack of scale�, with a fleet featuring just eight planes, meant “customer service disasters� such as those that have occurred repeatedly over the Christmas period are bound to “persist� with no good options available for resolving them.

Crew of caped crusaders visit Summit Academy SUMMIT Academy students donned their capes and masks during a Be-A-Hero school visit. like Shaunae MillerUibo and Buddy Hield to leaders in the business community like Nancy Kelly and Ed Fields and even Bahamian music power couple Dyson and

Wendi, the message is the same – protecting and preserving the beauty of this country is everyone’s responsibility.

Creating cleaner communities is the ultimate goal

for the team at Bahamas Waste Ltd. “With decades of experience and a longstanding commitment to partnership and strong corporate citizenry, the company jumped at the opportunity to take part in the programme as it makes its rounds among schools spreading the word and inviting others to join,� a press release noted. “This programme really fit well into the mission of Bahamas Waste which is to encourage proper waste disposal and create cleaner and safer communities,� said Bahamas Waste Managing Director Francisco de Cardenas. “As a company, we’ve tried to always support initiatives

teachers, will compete for a chance to receive national recognition for their project, a visit to Government House and a chance replace the national heroes on billboards.

Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira spread the campaign’s message at a recent school visit to Summit Academy. The campus already has a strong connection to the programme as one of the initiative’s model heroes is Sebastian Major, a 4th grader. “The response to the programme has so far been incredible,� Mr Ferreira said. “I’m excited to see what programmes our young people come up with.�

which improve the lives of residents in the communities we serve. Each year, we allocate a significant portion of our annual budget to doing just that, whether it be educational programmes, sporting events and of course community cleanups.�

As part of the initiative students, with the help of their parents and school

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EMAILS leaked from a ther’s The emails were obtained data breach of China ConThe Tribune following a struction America’s (CCA) by in December highservers show that from story the breach of CCA as early as 2013, Jerome lighting by a San Francisco Fitzgerald was seeking to servers China Construction secure millions of dollars hacker. paid 24 bitcoins in brokerage, trucking, and eventually equivalent of $24,000) limousine contracts at Baha (the have access to their servMar while he sat in Cabinet to restored; however, it apas the Minister of Educa- ers that emails forwarded tion, Science and Tech- pears relating to personnel or nology, The Tribune has to, at CCA were compromised, learned. top officials at Baha The emails contradict the despite saying they were not Minister, who this week de- Mar by the hack at nied ever using his office to concerned time. direct contracts to himself the Mr Fitzgerald writes, “I In an email dated May 18, or his family from the mulam aware that interior ma2013, sent to Mr Izmirlian have began to arrive ti-billion dollar resort.

Mr Fitzgerald, with terials hotel. I would really Mr Fitzgerald - the Pro- by Porter, Shelly Cur- for the gressive Liberal Party MP QuentinAlarice Fill copied, appreciate it if we could be and your official brofor Marathon - appears also tis Fitzgerald indicates his appointed 1st 2013.� to be requesting $20,000 Mr to start brokerage ker for June a month from Baha Mar’s He then makes a request McRib readiness is trucking services for original developer Sarkis and of Mr Izmirlian for limouex- the Baha Mar project and sine services at Baha Mar, Izmirlian, citing the Back! the brokers of repenses that were necessary remain as he touted the level of i’mthelovin’ property. for it! to cover the cost of his fa- cord

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Covering The Bahamas for it must be abandoned. as Hurri40 years.

Island is so devastated on the island has

Ragged remained “Every home The Nobody Minnis warns with those whohomes last week.

Does it Better! their NEW PROVIDENCE Minister Dr Hubert en Rag- discussion battered has been destroyed.

GRAND BAHAMA facilityABACO has been health on storm-strick Min- cane Irma 242.394.5555 residence Prime ELEUTHERA destroyed. The 242.350.3500teachers’ There is no water. and safety conditions EXUMA to deteriorate, urged the 18 been has been destroyed. The is 242.367.4204 no light. 242.332.3211 HEALTH the he smell242.336.2304 school will only continue destroyed. There about, you can yesterday as The in the afterged Island Minnis said to evacuate “As we walkcarcasses, dead animals. deister Dr Hubert on the island reduced will of dead stench(BAHAMAS) of the individuals remaining residentsIrma, which has REPORT LIMITED. INSURANCE we get them that of rubble and SPECIAL health conditions Russell, BROKERS & math of Hurricane it’s essential said.

AGENTS there to piles Words: Khrisna W Carey www.Insuran ceManageme teriorate and most structures Dr Minnis the only ntBahamas.c Pictures: Terrel island unlivable. Dr Minnis to leaveom off this island,� for rendered the bly reluctant stay here,� saw for the understanda home, expressing concern “They cannot as A1MAIN Many were and a delegation and days ever known through said after he damage left by Irma place they’ve hurricane ripped of their residences, first time the Five monster will have about the safety personal belongings. behind. We by the smell after the Category island. “They are concerned may have lefthere and the Defence they exacerbated southern esall of materials the small a vessel the same physical condition, the destruction still whatever Force dispatch the cleanup and at The island’s carcasses and strongly urge those the Defence said.

Dr Minnis of rotting animalled Dr Minnis to small community can Force will try to commence security,�Established SEE PAGE 1903THREE that there is sential services, to leave until the time ensure Island been has on Ragged Ragged Island and be restored. to the residents; a walk through “I’ve spoken Minnis said following i’m lovin’ it!

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By AVA TURNQUES T Tribune Chief aturnquest@tr Reporter ibunemedia.ne t WATER and Sewerage Corporation Adrian Gibson Chairman yesterday confirmed the existence of a “do not list populateddisconnect� by scores of elites at the government owned utility provider as he pledged initiate a crackdown to on delinquent accounts.

Mr Gibson told The Tribune the list� held “confidential 221accounts with a combined , total $175,000 for of ending June the period 2017.

He said that he plans to direct the corporation to notify all persons owing excessive arrears to resolve debts or face disconnectio n. “There is dential list,� a list confiIsland MP said.the Long “In fact, I that all the would think over the last corporations year or two, and more particularly May of this in year, there has been tion paid toclose attenthat list by the managemen t with a view to changing the way those lists usually operate. “As it stands, this confidential list of persons has a number on it, and really and truly used to notify it’s being courtesy call persons by I can say too or letters. chairman of that as the the corporation I am going that all personsto direct excessive arrears owing who are SEE PAGE EIGHT

POLICE LAUNCH FOX HILL OFFENSIV E

By RASHAD Tribune Staff ROLLE prepared. rrolle@tribun Reporter

By SANCHESK During a emedia.net A DORSETT address fromlive national Tribune Staff Reporter homicides WITH as his office sdorsett@tri the guarding the well as safefore- last night, Dr cast for Hurricane bunemedia.n residents of et Minnis Fox Hill.

Maria said: “Hurricane projecting the ACTING Maria is Commission storm to pass another During a near the Southeast of Police Anthony potentially er walkabout dev- son Fergu- Fox Hill on Tuesday, Baha- astating hurricane in mas Friday that we the announced yesterday Commission Acting Minister Dr morning, Prime must carefully monitor.� establishme Hubert Minnis Ferguson nt of two said the er He added: is urging residents Though most separate Royal Anti-Gang Bahamas Firearms of those of the Bahamas and islands to was spared Police Force anti-crime tigation Tracing and Invesbe vigilant units aimed and Unit will operate SEE PAGE TWO gang activity at eliminating out of the Central Detectry, reducing in the coun- tive Unit (CDU) the number while the of SEE PAGE 11

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Revealed: on the eliteNames list and what they owe d

By AVA TURNQUES T Tribune Chief officials could Reporter aturnquest@ not be reached up tribunemedia to .net According press time.

FOUR former to sources Progres- close to the sive Liberal Party Cabinet Monday Mr matter, as of ministers owed Wells has since more than paid $9,000 on $20,000 each his accounts at Bahamas with an outstanding Power and Light, balformer minister with one ance of some $8,600.

The source for some $60,000 in arrears also said as ARNOLD as of July, of Monday according to FORBES a list obtained in talks withMr Forbes was

by The Tribune. $62,023 to settle the the company The Credit and Collec- a three-monthbalance over tions Department period. Mr listing of Forbes, former MPs, senators PLP Mount and board Moriah MP, members for the period to Cabinet was appointed ending July in January that former 31, revealed and previously served 2015, State Minister chairman as the in the Ministry of the Bahamas Arnold Forbes of Works Agricultural and Industrial owed BPL Corporation. $62,023.14.

Others on The list obtained the “do not Tribune contains by The disconnect� list are: former delin- Minister of Health quent accounts of six Perry Gomez, former Dr former PLP Cabinet minisPines MP Tall ters, two former Leslie Miller, PLP MPs, former Minister two private of one sitting entities, and Dr Danny Johnson, Youth former Cabinet min- Nassau Village ister: Bamboo MP Dion Renward Wells. Town MP Smith, former Tourism Minister Obie Mr Wells, Wilchcombe DR DANIEL , $9,277.07 and who owed former South Beach MP JOHNSON two separate $3,703.96 at Cleola Hamilton $24,413 $12,981.03 in locations - former Minister of and total – did not for Legal State want to comment Affairs Damian yester- Gomez. day, and the other former SEE PAGE EIGHT

CRUNCH DAY OVER

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WOMA N

: KARA WAN LEAV ES ROLE AS ATLA NTIS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business utility operator Editor nhartnell@tr ing to “walk is quite willibunemedia.n away� from et maximum $25m, five-yearit BAHAMAS BPL Light’s (BPL) Power & if themanagement contract board and hold a “crunchboard will administrati Minnis on with PowerSecur meeting�

The meeting,wish it to go. with the outcome e today, be attended which will ical in deciding likely crit- executives by PowerSecure and their attorneys latter remains whether the from the US, is viewed as manager.

Multiple Tribune CLEOLA as key to determining Business sources whether HAMILTON OBIE yesterday two sides will “kiss and the confirmed $6,118 make up� or WILCHCOMBE that the DAMIAN US FULL separate. $4,911 STORY - SEE GOMEZ BUSINESS NINE individuals $3,413 July. The sums named on the BPL “do HURRICANE not disconnect� do not include any payments list INSURANCE: made or furtherand the amount they owed at the end of debt incurred since that date.

Are you Covered

L ATES

Marsh Harbour Healthcare Centre has a tortured history, one of missed deadlines and claims of shoddy of- workmanship, all without GOVERNMENT clear accountability. ficials commissioned the any The facility’s original Marsh Harbour Healthwent bankrupt. care Centre in Abaco yes- contractor the of Construction THURSDAY, terday, touting it as a longDECEMBER began centre 29, 2016 awaited boost to the island healthcare the former Ingraham TheTribune PRICE – $1 (Family and the Christie adminis- under Islands $1.50) tration’s National Health administration.

When the Christie adInsurance plans. came to power, Like the Child and Ado- ministration renovating the $" ) (0-% Ĺš $1m the new health centre in lescent and Robert Smith it spent PRIME Minister Perry Christie tours SEE PAGE SIX Abaco yesterday. was Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff that (CARS) Complex commissioned last year, the

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ROBERTS: PEET A ‘POLITICAL ENEMY’ FOR ANDROS BID

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FIREFIGHTERS yesterday battled a large blaze at the New Providence Landfill, nearly three weeks after tackling a massive fire at the city dump that burned for nearly a month.

Officer in Charge of Fire Services, Chief Superintendent Walter Evans said the current fire is “not connected� in any way to the previous blaze and at this time officials do not know PRIME Minister what caused the fire. HowDr Hubert Minnis meeting ever Environment Minister Kendera Woodside, the mother of Kenred Dorsett told remurdered Eugene Woodside. he RASHAD porters at the siteBythat TribuneinStaff ROLLE suspected “sabotage�

Three Reporter rrolle@tribun He said emedia.net Photo: Yontalay relation to the fire. after murder that days the Bowe team he “instructed� the struggle withpushed the country’s composure.

THE the hugs and have Dr Minnis said of firefighters towords comforting the national violent crime into he felt the fam- Each citizen has of Prime ily’s spotlight yet “before a responsibilit blaze extinguished Minister Dr her pain remained and again, even pain. “What makes Hubert y our countries.

Minnis and today and me feel has whatever information worse is that nomination day� “He ain’t even acute.

Patricia we must bring Yes one most we see in Minnis couldn’this wife God,�

Baha Mar’s live a life, certainly beforethe that forward. mother more than I feel for this the yard, of those These criminals my answer Mrs I can say.� questions Dr Minnis opening on Friday. that consumed “He’s a baby. Woodside cried. my years as a medicalI, during Mrs Minnis, live among us.� said he will Kendera shortly Woodside yesterday medical attention doctor, to ensure The blaze started breath right I could give my the family who emphasised Mrs she grieved is provided andfor as baby now just for that Woodside, after 3am Wednesday her to her ance appearyear-old before said officEugene, whoson, eight- my to be right here. They my “You can see who is pregnant.

Chief Supt Evans political move,them was not a heart out my take was killed four theago. the grieving fire body. ers expect to battledays to wear black called on women pain she’s going through,� and “This my “Why but daythese for at least another he people ain’t almost shoot only son. They in mourning one day this week said. “I assured her ing a “huge� tellthat somefor my daughter time today they he said the wind isme “As a mother, murder victims.

(Friday) too right now?� bringing my son and they inside (the medical personnel we will have I’m calling factor. house) with she cried between me. What all mothers screams they do to come because I upon after her as SIX SEE PAGE Dr Minnis my family? believe mothers because she’sto look really console the tried to What they do to us? would’ve delivered nant. can family at their “Why they most of them said Mrs Minnis, who stop this,� her I have to make surepregbud Road home where Rose- live 29 years, ain’ carry me? I so they are closer to and that was at her times. tearful unborn me knowing was shot by “We have our Eugene they are my He’s a baby.� former patients,� a stray bullet we cradle sons who both well and we will infant are Tonio Woodside, Monday as Minnis, a gynaecologi also make on father, arrangemen Dr become from birth and as he did his homework.

Eugene’s ts to make they consoled men we are st by fession, said. sure the as he struggled his wife even still with necessary medical “The messagepro- them. We have personnel we them. to speak with look after her to maintain must send to the entire I think all is the police Bahamas women should regular basis and see her on a can’t fight this wear alone. and black one day this of her and herto ensure the safety week mourn what’s unborn infant.� happening in SEE PAGE TWO PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Chairman Bradley Roberts lashed out at his former party colleague Vincent Peet last night, accusBy NEIL HARTNELL ing the former North AnTribune Business so alarmed dros and Berry Islands MP Editor by the Caribnhartnell@tr bean Financial ibunemedia.n of being a “political enemy�

Action Task By RASHAD ROLLE et Force’s (CFATF) Tribune Staff THE Attorney who mounted an independreIn June, Reporter ONE of the leaked emails showing a draft rrolle@tribun Gen- report on The he told Pareral yesterday ent campaign because he Sciliament Bahamas emedia.net quest from Minister of Education, slammed that he the deficiencies was denied a nomination cost Bahamians to in the nation’s to begin instructed his staff ence and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald.

BRENSIL party. anti-money governing the of work from Rolle, min- increases such laundering the flaws from on addressing ister of public was $10,149,738. regime as Speaking to PLP supfor Limolink in The The revision “entirely unacservices and clientele with which his agent Mr Bethel early June. ceptable�, warning You are encour- porters at a rally in North blasted the said National Insurance, he included comes after limousine company was fa- Bahamas. between put The Bahamas they had former Christie more aged to get a reference from Andros last night, Mr Robmiliar. “in great tration for failing adminis- 2016 and May December 1,700 workers that werethan if erts said “this is war� as danger�.

2017, the in his original not regard the the president of Viacom “Also withA1MAIN known weaknesses to tackle public purse count.

Carl Bethel wish. Please feel free he urged the crowd to vote ballooned Amid the told Trib- necessary urgency. with the $16,532,738 because limousine business we you by une Business contact me personally for incumbent Dr Perry Liberal Party’sProgressive of he had been FULL Christie are ready to meet with to administrati the of the criticism have your agents contact Gomez, adding that a vote STORY - SEE on’s Minnis your people anytime,� he or the BUSINESS hiring of new public Mr Porter our Managing for Mr Peet is a vote for service tion because ofadministraworkers during writes. its firings Free National Movement. directly.� that period. “As indicated we really Director SEE PAGE SIX SEE PAGE SIX only cater to highend cusSEE PAGES TWO & THREE tomers and are the official

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NEW Providence is being invaded by a crew of caped crusaders – students on a mission to become neighbourhood heroes, serving and protecting their environment at every turn.

With the help of the Ministry of Environment and Housing and corporate Bahamas, thousands of students in public and private schools around the island have been working diligently on plans to make their neighbourhoods cleaner and greener through the Be A Hero campaign.

The initiative, which encourages community cleanliness, has received support from scores of the country’s national heroes. From sports icons

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Friday, January 4, 2019, PAGE 11

WORRIES GROW ABOUT IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WASHINGTON Associated Press

WITH President Donald Trump warning that it “could be a long time” before the partial shutdown of the government ends, concerns are rising about potential economic damage given that the shutdown is coinciding with other threats.

Most analysts don’t regard the shutdown alone as severe enough to imperil an economic expansion that has lasted nearly a decade.

But should it drag into February, the slowdown in government activity could help shake confidence and cause businesses and consumers to stop spending.

“The shutdown is coming on top of lots of other problems — the

trade war, the slump in the stock market, Brexit, Trump’s political problems,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

“By itself, the shutdown may not be a big deal, but if you add it up and mix it with all this other noxious stuff, it could become a real problem.”

Though he still foresees only a minimal impact from the shutdown, Zandi said that “if the trade war isn’t settled soon, that will be a real problem, and if it conflates with a prolonged shutdown, that could be fodder for a recession.”

The shutdown has already suspended the government’s release of some economic data, making it harder to fully assess the state of the economy. And the risk is growing that tax refunds could be

delayed if furloughed IRS workers aren’t around to process returns.

The shutdown, which began December 22, will mark its twoweek point today, and Trump and Democrats in Congress remain far apart over Trump’s demand for funding for a wall along the Mexican border.

Economists at Macroeconomic Advisors have lowered their forecast for economic growth by a scant 0.1 percentage point for both the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 — to a solid 2.7 percent annual rate for the October-December quarter and a tepid 1.5 percent rate for the January-March period.

Analysts had already expected the economy to slow this year as a boost from tax cuts and increased

HOUSE Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

government spending last year begins to wane. But the longer the shutdown persists, the more it could erode consumer and business confidence, compounding troubles for an economy that was already slowing.

If the shutdown lasts into February, Zandi said he would lower his growth forecast for the current quarter from a solid 2.6 percent to just above 2 percent, with further downgrades for each week the shutdown lasts beyond that point.

The Trump administration has sounded a more optimistic note about the shutdown’s impact while agreeing that the risks will grow the longer that 800,000 federal employees — roughly half of them working, for now, without pay — remain furloughed.

Pelosi sees a new dawn as 116th Congress begins WASHINGTON Associated Press THE 116th Congress gaveled into session yesterday, swathed in history as lawmakers returned Nancy Pelosi to the House speaker’s office and ushered in a diverse class of Democratic freshmen ready to confront President Donald Trump in a new era of divided government.

Pelosi, elected speaker 220-192, took the gavel saying voters opted for a “new dawn” in the November election and are looking to “the beauty of our Constitution” to provide checks and balances on power.

She invited scores of lawmakers’ kids to join her on the dais as she was sworn in, calling the House to order “on behalf of all of America’s children.” She faced 15 dissenting votes from fellow Democrats.

The new Congress is like none other. There are more women than ever before, and a new generation of Muslims, Latinos, Native Americans and African-Americans in the House is creating what academics call a reflective democracy, more aligned with the population of the United States. The Republican side in the House is still made up mostly of white men, and in the Senate Republicans bolstered their ranks in the majority.

In a nod to the moment, Pelosi, the first female speaker, was broadly pledging to make Congress work for all Americans — addressing kitchen table issues at a time of deep economic churn — even as her party is ready to challenge Trump with investigations and subpoena powers that threaten the White House agenda. It’s the first new Congress to convene amid a partial government shutdown, now in its 13th day over Trump’s demands for money for a wall along the US-Mexico border.

“This House will be for the people,” Pelosi said. She promised to “restore integrity to government” and outlined an agenda “to lower health costs and prescription drugs prices, and protect people with pre-existing conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure -- from sea to shining sea.”

The day was unfolding as one of both celebration and impatience.

Newly elected lawmakers arrived, often with friends and families in tow, to take the oath of office and pose for ceremonial photos. The

HARDLINERS CLASH WITH POLICE OVER WOMEN AT HINDU SHRINE NEW DEHLI Associated Press

ABOVE, Nancy Pelosi of California takes the gavel. Left, Lauren Underwood, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar during the swearing-in ceremony of Congressional Black Caucus members of the 116th Congress at The Warner Theatre in Washington.

Democrats planned to quickly pass legislation to re-open the government, but without the funding Trump is demanding for his promised border wall.

Vice President Mike Pence swore in newly-elected senators, but Senate Republicans under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had no plans to consider the House bills to fund the government unless Trump agrees to sign them into law. That ensures the shutdown will continue, clouding the first days of the new session. McConnell said that Republicans have shown the Senate is “fertile soil for big

bipartisan accomplishments,” but that the question is whether House Democrats will engage in “good governance or political performance art.”

It’s a time of stark national political division that some analysts say is on par with the Civil War era. Battle lines are drawn not just between Democrats and Republicans but within the parties themselves, splintered by their left and right flanks.

Pelosi defied history in returning to the speaker’s office after eight years in the minority, overcoming internal opposition from

Democrats demanding a new generation of leaders. She will be the first to regain the gavel since legendary Sam Rayburn of Texas in 1955.

Putting Pelosi’s name forward for nomination, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the incoming Democratic caucus chair, recounted her previous accomplishments -passing the Affordable Care Act, helping the country out of the Great Recession -- as preludes to her next ones. He called her leadership “unparalleled in modern American history.”

One Democrat, Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, cast her vote for Pelosi “on the shoulders of women who marched 100 years ago” for women’s suffrage. Newly elected Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia, an anti-gun violence advocate, dedicated hers to her slain teenage son, Jordan Davis.

HINDU hardliners vandalised shops, shut businesses and clashed with police in a southern state yesterday to protest the entry of two women in one of India’s largest Hindu pilgrimage sites, police said.

Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters who also blocked roads by placing burning tires and concrete blocks in key towns, including Kozhikod and Thiruvananthapuram.

Pinarayi Vijayan, the state’s top elected official, accused supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of triggering violence that reportedly claimed one life.

Most state-run buses kept off roads after several were damaged by protesters.

Supporters of Modi’s party held protest marches in the state as part of a strike call by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of Hindu groups. The two women entered the temple early on Wednesday, triggering protests. They were escorted by police because it is “the government’s constitutional responsibility to give protection to women,” Vijayan said.

Women of menstruating age were forbidden to pray at the temple until the Supreme Court lifted the ban in September. The ban was informal for many years but became law in 1972. Some devotees have filed a petition saying the court decision revoking the ban was an affront to the celibate deity Ayyappa.

Vijayan said that 39 police officers were injured while trying to control the protesters, who damaged 79 state-run buses in the state.The Press Trust of India news agency reported that a 55-year-old passerby died after being injured amid rock throwing by protesters in Pandalam.

2,000 YEARS ON, GLADIATORIAL DANISH TRAIN CRASH TOLL UP TO BUILDING IN POMPEII REOPENS EIGHT AFTER MORE BODIES FOUND ROME Associated Press

A 2,000-year-old building where Roman gladiators in Pompeii trained for combat has opened to the public eight years after its collapse following rainfall.

The Pompeii archaeological site said the public can tour the Schola Armaturarum on Thursdays.

Experts will explain their painstaking restoration of frescoes that decorated the site where gladiators trained before combat in the ancient Roman city.

Its opening was hailed

by Italy’s culture ministry as the “symbolic place of Pompeii’s rebirth,” following years of dismaying news that various ruins had crumbled amid modern-day neglect of the sprawling, once-flourishing city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The building,

A WOMAN looks at a fresco at the Schola Armaturarum building in Pompeii, Italy. which has been previously excavated some 100 years ago, had also suffered heavy damage from World War II Allied bombing. A few years later, reinforced concrete was used to build a protective cover.

A park statement said prosecutors investigating the 2010 collapse didn’t pinpoint responsibility.

But it said there were several “probable” interlaced

factors that were aggravated by days of heavy rain. Those factors included probable malfunction of a drainage system, the weight of the postwar addition of cement and iron and “lack of a planned system of monitoring and maintenance.”

Restoration work after the collapse did, however, bolster knowledge about the building’s use, with archaeologists saying it appears to have served as a home to an ancient military association, which sometimes hosted banquets there.

Excavations carried out in part to shore up the structure revealed areas, apparently used by servants, to prepare for such banquets, as well as amphorae, or storage jugs, containing oil, fine wine and fish sauce imported from Crete, Sicily, Spain and Africa, the archaeological park said.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark Associated Press

TWO more bodies have been found in the wreckage of a crashed train on a Danish bridge, raising the death toll to eight in Denmark’s deadliest train accident in 30 years, police said yesterday.

Police say three women and five men were killed in the Wednesday morning accident, and four of them have been identified. Sixteen others were injured.

All of the dead and injured were on a highspeed passenger train travelling on the Storebaelt system of bridges and a tunnel that link the central Danish islands of Zealand and Funen.

Authorities are investigating if cargo fell off a freight train and smashed into the passenger train as the two traveled in opposition directions on the

RESCUE workers at the site of a train accident on Great Belt Bridge in Nyborg, Denmark. bridge. The Danish Accident Investigation Board has also said that strong gusts on Wednesday could be a factor. At the time of the accident, the 18-kilometer Storebaelt link was closed to road traffic because of high winds but trains could still drive across.

Police said in a statement that the latest bodies

were only found after the wreckage was pulled away from the crash site to a remote area near the town of Nyborg on Funen island.

They said the damage to the passenger train “was so extensive it has hard to properly get into the most damaged area” while it was still on the bridge but added they are certain no more bodies are inside.

PAGE 12, Friday, January 4, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

China lunar probe sheds light on the ‘dark’ side of the Moon BEIJING Associated Press CHINA’S burgeoning space programme achieved a lunar milestone yesterday, landing a probe on the mysterious and misnamed “dark” side of the Moon.

Exploring the cosmos from that far side of the Moon, which people can’t see from Earth, could eventually help scientists learn more about the early days of the solar system and maybe even the birth of the universe’s first stars.

Three nations — the United States, the former Soviet Union and more recently China — all have sent spacecraft to the side of the Moon that faces Earth, but this landing is the first on the far side. That side has been observed many times from lunar orbit, but never up close.

The China National Space Administration said the 10:26 a.m. touchdown of the Chang’e 4 craft has “opened up a new chapter in human lunar exploration.”

A photo taken at 11:40 am and sent back by Chang’e 4 shows a small crater and a barren surface that appears to be illuminated by a light from the lunar explorer. Its name comes from that of a Chinese goddess who, according to legend, has lived on the moon for millennia.

One challenge of sending a probe to the Moon’s far side is communicating with it from Earth, so China launched a relay satellite in May to enable Chang’e 4 to send back information.

The mission highlights China’s growing ambitions to rival the US, Russia and Europe in space, and more broadly, to cement its position as a regional and global power.

“The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger,” President Xi Jinping said after becoming the country’s leader in 2013.

Chinese media and officials hailed the Dec. 8 launch of Chang’e 4 as one of the nation’s major achievements in 2018.

The public was kept in suspense about the landing itself for more than an hour after it occurred, with state broadcaster CCTV announcing it at the top of the noon news. By that time, speculation already had begun spreading on social media in China and overseas.

“On the whole, China’s space technology still lags behind the West, but with the landing on the far side of the Moon, we have raced to the front,” said Hou Xiyun, a professor at Nanjing University’s school of astronomy and space science.

He added that China has Mars, Jupiter and asteroids in its sights: “There’s no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther.”

The landing was “a big deal” because it used an engineering technique of the spacecraft itself choosing a safe place to touch

LEFT and far left are images taken by China’s Chang’e-4 probe after its landing. Above, the Chang’e 4 lunar probe launches from the the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province. The graphic, top left, shows how the Chinese lunar probe on the far side of the Moon communicates with Earth. down in treacherous terrain, something called autonomous hazard avoidance, said Purdue University lunar and planetary scientist Jay Melosh.

He recalled mentioning the idea of such a technique for an unfunded NASA lunar mission about eight years ago, only to be told it wasn’t doable at the time.

“The Moon is more challenging to land on than Mars,” Melosh said. “On Mars, you can pick out smooth areas.”

In 2013, the predecessor spacecraft Chang’e 3 made the first Moon landing since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976.

The United States is the only country to successfully send

astronauts to the Moon — 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing — although China is considering a crewed mission too.

For now, it plans to send a Chang’e 5 probe to the Moon next year and have it return to Earth with samples — also not done since the Soviet mission in 1976.

The Moon’s far side is sometimes called the “dark side” in popular culture because it is always unseen from Earth and is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.

Chang’e 4, a combined lander and rover, will make astronomical observations and probe the

composition of the soil.

The spacecraft landed in the South Pole-Aitken basin, the oldest known impact zone. Scientists want to know how old — somewhere between 3.9 billion and 4.4 billion years old — to better understand a period in the solar system’s history called the late heavy bombardment. That’s when space rocks were careening off each other and crashing into moons and planets, including Earth. Knowing the age and chemical composition of this crash zone would help understand Earth’s ancient history better, said Purdue’s Melosh.

Chang’e 4 could also contribute to radio astronomy. “The far side

SIDE OF THE MOON YOU CAN’T SEE ‘IS NOT DARK, IT’S JUST FAR’

WASHINGTON Associated Press

DESPITE the name of Pink Floyd’s best-selling album, the side of the Moon you can’t see isn’t always dark. But it is far. So scientists call the area where a Chinese spacecraft just landed the far side, not the dark side.

“The other side sees the Sun sometimes. The other side is not dark, it’s just far,” said Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb. “It’s a mistake.”

The Moon is what scientists call “tidally locked “which means the same side always faces us, while another side always faces away, Loeb said. When Earth views a darkened new moon, the far side is lit. When there’s a full moon in our sky, the far side is dark.

Every semester, Purdue University lunar and

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planetary scientist Jay Melosh demonstrates how the far side gets light using a bright light as the Sun and students playing the roles of the Moon and the Earth. But students still get it wrong on the midterm, calling it the dark side.

Melosh traces the myth back to a Walt Disney television special in 1955 that talked about it always being dark on the other side of the Moon and futuristic astronauts dropping flares.

The term dark side really took off in 1973 with the Pink Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

While China is the first to land a spacecraft on the far side, there have been plenty of detailed photographs taken by orbiting spacecraft. The first grainy pictures came from a former Soviet Union craft in 1959. NASA’s Apollo 8 astronauts saw it first when they orbited the moon 50 years ago.

of the Moon is a rare, quiet place that is free from interference from radio signals from Earth,” mission spokesman Yu Guobin said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. “This probe can fill the gap of low-frequency observation in radio astronomy and will provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula evolution.”

Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb said that in the future, it may be possible to see much farther — and thus earlier — into the universe from the far side because the Moon itself will block interfering radio signals from Earth.

From the far side, scientists may eventually be able to peer back to 50 million to 100 million years after the Big Bang, when the first stars were born — or even earlier, he said.

China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, following Russia and the US. It has put two space stations into orbit and plans to launch a Mars rover in the mid2020s. Its space program suffered a rare setback last year with the failed launch of its Long March 5 rocket.

“Building a space power is a dream that we persistently pursue,” said Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the China Lunar Exploration Project, speaking with CCTV at the Beijing Aerospace Flight and Control Center.

“And we’re gradually realising it.”

Moonwalking through history

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ONE of the experiments Alan B. Shepard conducted on Apollo 14 was striking two golf balls.

THE APOLLO 15 was the first mission to use the Lunar Revolving Vehicle.

JOHN Young salutes the US flag at the Descartes landing site in April 1972.

EUGENE A CERNAN, rides the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) during Apollo 17’s mission.

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