01062020 NEWS

MONDAY i’m lovin’ it!

HIGH 74ºF LOW 65ºF

The Tribune Established 1903

24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM

Biggest And Best!

VOLUME:117 No.30, JANUARY 6TH, 2020

HO US E & 16 THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

SPORT: BRINSON TAKES HOME RUN DERBY KING TITLE

PAGES

HOME

Ferguson told - your days are numbered

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday said Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson should by now have identified a successor, as he said the police chief is “nearing the end of his reign” over the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Mr Dames, in delivering a speech during the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s annual church service, said Commissioner Ferguson as well as his executive team should “know by name” the next generation of leaders, adding his focus should

be on preparing the “next crop of leaders” ahead of his inevitable departure.

Mr Dames told reporters afterwards that when that time comes, the police chief, who has served as commissioner for more than two years, should ideally be “ready and excited to move on,” because he, like many others in the RBPF are “all just passing through”.

Mr Dames suggested that the RBPF is just one of the country’s various law enforcement agencies that is “going through some form of restructuring” internally, meaning that “anything is possible” in SEE PAGE THREE

POLICE SHOCKED BY TWO MURDERS ON ONE NIGHT

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were murdered in separate incidents last night. In the first, a man was shot while driving his car and, in the second, a 22-year-old was gunned down by two men as he was out walking.

The killings came hours after National Security Minister Marvin Dames said that, while the country’s murder count has remained below 100 for the second straight year, the government is “still not happy” with a death toll that is “still too high”.

At the scene of the first

killing in the Baillou Hill Road area, Superintendent Dencle Barr, officer-incharge of the southern division, said police received a report after 6pm of an incident involving a vehicle at John Road and Blue Hill Road. Mobile Division officers responded and found a man in the vehicle with apparent gun shot injuries to the body.

Supt Barr said initial information suggests another car - a dark coloured, right hand drive vehicle - may have been following the victim and that shots were fired. The victim is a dark skinned male who SEE PAGE FIVE

PLENTY OF FUN FOR ALL

CYNTHIA “Mother” Pratt, centre, was on hand to lead the Christmas and New Year gift-giving to these youngsters in the former St Cecilia’s constituency.

More pictures and report - Page 2

$40M REPAIR BILL FOR BROKEN DOWN ROADS

AIRLINE’S ‘MISTAKE’ LED TO US FLIGHTS LOCKOUT

THE government must invest $40m in roadworks throughout The Bahamas “just to get through this year” as it aims to plug “a huge hole” in deteriorating infrastructure, Minister of Works Desmond Bannister revealed yesterday.

“Every island I look at,

TOURISM and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said Bahamasair “made a mistake” not acquiring the technology necessary for entry into the United States ahead of a January 1, 2020 deadline.

The Federal Aviation Administration mandated

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

there are major works,” he said of 2020. “I’m thinking of which island does not have these major challenges. The infrastructure has really been left in a condition that is deplorable.

In Long Island, Exuma, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and in New Providence, the major challenge is the condition of the roads.”

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

in 2010 that aircraft be equipped with Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast Out (ADS-B) capabilities by the first of this year. That technology improves safety and efficiency in the air and on runways through its tracking capabilities.

Critics attacked the government after learning SEE PAGE FIVE

PM’S BROTHER IN ASSAULT SUMMONS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CYRIL “Boxer” Minnis, the brother of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, has been summonsed to appear in Magistrate’s Court with a woman with whom he had a recent argument.

The woman, lawyer Tiffany Dennison, accused Mr Minnis of punching her in her face at the Registrar General’s Office in Freeport last month. Mr Minnis,

THE PM’s brother Cyril Minnis and Tiffany Dennison however, claims that it was Ms Dennison who put her finger in his face.

Samuel Butler, assistant commissioner of police, said officers investigated the matter and decided to have both appear in court where the matter can be aired out and dealt with.

“Both made counter complaints,” he said. “Both have been summonsed individually to appear before court so the court could make a decision on the 15th of this month. The police can’t take a position. If you

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FIVE

INSIGHT WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR NEXT DORIAN

SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Monday, January 6, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Plenty of reasons to be happy

THERE’S nothing better than seeing a smile on children’s faces and these youngsters in the former St Cecilia’s constituency have plenty of reasons to be happy.

Thanks to Tribune Media Group, Island Capital Group and Bahamas Aviation, Climate and Severe Weather Network they were all given gifts to help celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia “Mother” Pratt was on hand to help lead the gift-giving to those less fortunate.

Over the last 25 years, thanks to generous benefactors, friends and volunteers The Tribune’s Santa Claus Christmas Committee has provided gifts to 45,971 families bringing a moment of happiness many will have experienced for the first time.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, January 6, 2020, PAGE 3

SHOTSPOTTER CREDITED WITH DETECTING 1,000 GUNSHOTS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE ShotSpotter gunshot detection system has detected over 1,000 gunshots to date, thus improving police response time, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday.

Mr Dames said over 1,200 gunshots have been detected as a result of the gunfire location system. One of those incidents, Mr Dames said, involved a man who had robbed a woman at gunpoint and had decided to “fire a few shots”. That alerted the police, who, upon their arrival at the scene ended up killing the suspect.

In addition to that incident, and contrary to earlier criticism by the opposition party, Mr Dames said the ShotSpotter system has provided officers with a “greater chance” of identifying perpetrators and getting medical care to victims.

He said the system is assisting from page one terms of who leads these agencies. And because of that Mr Dames said, neither Commissioner Ferguson nor his executive team should be “intimidated” to call the name of their successors, and neither should they “be afraid to prepare them for future leadership”.

“That is what good leaders do,” Mr Dames said.

To that end, Mr Dames said the impending RBPF promotion exercise will not be conducted based on politics, nepotism, “or what a junior officer did for a senior officer”, but rather on whether officers possess the necessary “skills and competency” to “hold the ranks to which they aspire”.

Commissioner Ferguson, who enlisted in the RBPF in November 1980, officially became commissioner of police on October 20, 2017, after serving as acting commissioner for several months leading up to that date. He succeeded Ellison Greenslade, who has since been appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and as permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation.

Last year, a police insider told The Tribune that the commissioner and former Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Commodore Tellis Bethel were reportedly among a group of persons slated for preretirement leave in the near future. Commodore Bethel was recently sent on three months’ vacation and is due back to work this month.

And that came after eight senior officers controversially received notice to take accrued vacation leave effective immediately in

the RBPF’s crime analysts with identifying new hot spots for gun activity, inclusive of the time and day of the week, thus allowing police commanders to “shift their resources accordingly”.

Mr Dames added that by the end of this month, the government will sign a contract worth $6,963,853 with a “global industry leader” to provide the RBPF with body and dash cameras.

That comes after the government signed a $5.9m contract with Proficient Business Services for an additional 507 cameras to further expand the government’s closedcircuit television system last October.

Of that number, 100 cameras will be equipped with licence plate recognition capabilities, and another will feature facial recognition capabilities, Mr Dames said. Another 120 will have pan tilt zone capabilities.

It also came after the government signed a $17m contract with the California-based Swift Systems for a multi-agency drone

programme. Mr Dames said that technology will be used to combat crime, as well as migrant, drug and firearm smuggling.

Mr Dames also announced that the government is “exploring” the implementation of tasers to “add to the use of force options” available to police officers. He said law enforcement officials will meet with officials from the Axon company this month to determine the viability of tasers in the Bahamas.

Mr Dames explained that all of those technological advancements will be centralised in a new “real time crime centre” that will provide field officers as well as detectives “instant information” that will allow them to identify patterns and prevent emerging crime trends. Mr Dames said the crime centre is currently under construction at Police Headquarters, and will be completed within the first quarter of this year.

Mr Dames also revealed that the second phase of the expansion of the RBPF’s fleet of vehicles is “just about complete”, as the 35

new police cruisers, SUVs, T-3 Segways and ATV’s will be hitting the streets across the Bahamas within the first quarter of this year.

“As you can see, policing in 2020 and beyond will not be business as usual,” Mr Dames said.

“Guided by the Manpower Audit, the (RBPF) is being modernised and restructured.

“In 2020 and beyond, technology will play a vital role in further reducing the level of crime. Investments in the latest and greatest police technology and equipment have been ongoing and are another key component in supporting the professionalization of our armed forces.”

Last year, the government signed a $1.9m contract with a technology provider, ShotSpotter in an effort for law enforcement agencies to pinpoint the location of gunfire.

Both Mr Dames and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the new programme highlighted their commitment to modernising crime fighting tools and

Ferguson told - your days are numbered March of last year. Some of the officers’ leave was pre-retirement.

In making his remarks during yesterday’s church service, Mr Dames singled out the police chief on the issue of the RBPF being “modernised and restructured,” saying: “Commissioner Ferguson, by now you and your executive team should know by name the next generation of police leaders. You should not be intimidated to call their names, nor should you be afraid to prepare them for future leadership. That is what good leaders do.”

Concerning “all of those officers, senior and junior who are nearing retirement,” Mr Dames then mused aloud: “How do you see your legacy? Have you done your best to bring out the best in those around you? Has it always been about you and you alone? Your answer to these questions will determine the future outlook of the agency you would have had sufficient time to positively impact.”

Mr Dames added: “I contend that your focus should not be about trying to get promoted before you leave.

Rather, you should ask yourself if you did enough to guide and nurture the next generation of senior officers. We will all be the better and safer for it.”

When questioned on the issue by The Tribune after

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames speaking yesterday and, inset, Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson

investigating the actions of the officers seen in the videos, which have since gone viral on social media.

When questioned on the issue yesterday after the service, Mr Dames said he has not gotten the opportunity to scrutinise the videos as he was under the weather.

However, he insisted that the government is “not out to cover for anything or anyone”, and does not condone police officers breaching their oaths.

“We’re not going to condone any law enforcement officer acting outside his or her authority; there’s no room for that, not in the Royal Bahamas Police Force or the Royal Bahamas Defence Force; not in any of these agencies,” Mr Dames said. “That goes counterproductive to what we’re seeking to achieve. “…We will defend officers who were acting in accordance with the law, but not those who are acting outside of it and in breach of the law. And hence the reason why we now have the group set up to review complaints against police officers to ensure that they are being investigated fairly and people are being heard.”

Mr Dames then referred to the government’s intention to sign a $690,000 contract with a “global industry leader” to provide the RBPF with body and dash cameras sometime this month. “…This is. . . an attempt by our government to bring about a higher level of transparency to which we would have never seen in this country before,” he said of the initiative.

“And so this is a clear indication we’re not out to cover for anything or anyone. I often say to officers you have to take your oath seriously. Not because you wear the uniform means that you have special privileges. That’s not so. As a matter of fact, what it means is that you’re held to a higher level of accountability.”

Mr Dames added: “This is the world we’re living in today. One time ago you did something and there was nothing to show for it.

But we’re living in an era now where everybody has a cellphone. And every action, there’s a potential of it being reported. So this speaks to this whole question of judgement.

Knowing that, and still doing nonsense speaks to a

the service, and for him to clarify the significance of highlighting Commissioner Ferguson in particular and his executive team during his remarks, Mr Dames replied: “We’re all just passing through.

“Commissioner Ferguson I believe, he is nearing the end of his reign through time,” he continued. “And I note that whenever that time comes, he would be ready and excited to move on. Because we’re all just passing through, all just passing through.”

Mr Dames added: “…

These are very dynamic agencies. They continue to grow. We have to continue to educate, to train, we have to continue to plan, we have to continue to develop, and these are all agencies that

DAMES: OFFICERS WHO VIOLATE THEIR OATH WILL BE RELENTLESSLY PURSUED

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday cautioned police officers to never mistreat or abuse civilians, as officers who “violate their oath of office” will “continue to be relentlessly pursued” by the powers that be.

Mr Dames, speaking during the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s annual church service, said the government will not “condone” any law enforcement officer “acting outside his or her authority”.

He further charged that the country’s law enforcement agencies have “no room” for rogue officers who not only “betray the public trust”, but put their lives and the lives of their colleagues in “grave risk”.

Mr Dames’ comments comes amidst the the public outcry against a series of videos showing police officers beating civilians with nightsticks at the 2020 New Year’s Day Junkanoo Parade.

Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson has said the RBPF’s Complaints and Corruption Unit is

equipping agencies with the latest technologies.

The technology, implemented in undisclosed areas across New Providence, is strategically placed “outside, in open areas, above the roadways, above ambient noise,” according to ShotSpotter senior project manager Kent McIntire.

At the time, Mr Dames said he had “completed sufficient research” and is satisfied the technology will help reduce the high gun related violence in The Bahamas.

In July 2019, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis criticised the government’s investment in the system following a mass shooting in the Montel Heights community.

At the time, Mr Davis said the system was a bad investment, and questioned how ShotSpotter aided in preventing “that horrific event” from happening. Mr Davis further stated that the government ought to have invested in “prevention rather than detection”.

bigger problem. But we’re not going to condone that; we’re not going to condone that whatsoever.

“We’re not going to condone any actions that go against what these officers would have taken an oath (to uphold).”

Prior to making those comments, Mr Dames admonished police officers to “resist the temptation of being corrupted”, as bad cops “betrays the public’s trust”.

“Police officers serve the public,” he said. “The power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

“Never mistreat or abuse any member of the public at any time. This job is simply about service to the Bahamian people.”

He added: “Remembering whom you work for also means that you must resist the temptation of being corrupted. Bad cops put their own lives and the lives of their colleagues in grave risk. Officers who violate their oath of office will continue to be relentlessly pursued.”

PICTURE SPECIAL ON RBPF’S ANNUAL CHURCH SERVICE - TURN TO PAGE 13

are going through some form of restructuring. And so anything is possible.

“We’re working to build an organisation or agency for the future. All of us have a vested responsibility to ensure that we prepare the next crop of leaders. We have an obligation to do that. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about us individually, although we do look for some individual reward.

“At the end of the day it’s the quality of service we provide to the Bahamian people. And that’s what we’re seeking to do. And that’s why we’re working locally as well as internationally to professionalize these agencies, to bring them in line with international standards.”

Editorial View - Page 4

PAGE 4, Monday, January 6, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday

Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES

News & General Information Advertising Manager Circulation Department Nassau fax Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport fax

(242) 322-1986 (242) 502-2394 (242) 502-2386 (242) 328-2398 (242)-352-6608 (242) 352-9348

WEBSITE, TWITTER & FACEBOOK www.tribune242.com

@tribune242

tribune news network

An uneasy seat for the commissioner POLICE Commissioner Anthony Ferguson could not be blamed if he felt a little uneasy this morning.

After all, National Security Minister Marvin Dames effectively told everyone the police chief is on his way out – and that he ought to have picked out a successor.

Being an officer at the top level doesn’t seem to be a post where you can sit comfortably these days. Whether it’s Defence Force Commodore Tellis Bethel shunted off on leave, or the raft of police officers sent on leave with an unsure future to return to, as evidenced

by Assistant Commissioner returning to find himself reassigned to the Ministry of Social Services, there seems to be at the very least a brusque manner of dealing with veterans.

We can look further back to the way in which Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean said he felt “hurt” by the government’s handling of his pre-retirement leave and felt it should be done “with more respect”.

One wonders how respectful it is for Mr Dames to stand up at the annual church service and effectively tell all those serving under Commissioner Ferguson that he is no longer going to be their leader soon. How does that affect discipline? How does it affect the command structure and the willingness to carry out his orders in a timely manner?

There are of course some sensible things about what Mr Dames said with regard to continuity of leadership, and about preparing those who will follow in your footsteps, to ensure they will be able to pick up where you left off.

But how does that contrast with sending senior officers off on leave prior to their retirement or reassignment? In what way are they able to prepare their successors while they are out of the office or despatched to some make-work post to see them idle out their remaining time?

And taking Mr Dames at his own words, where is the Minister of State for National Security in his own department being groomed to be his own successor?

When Mr Dames talks to a building full of officers and asks them what have they done about their legacy or to bring out the best in those around them, we would not be surprised if a few were looking back at the politician and saying they were around before he was elected and they’ll be around after he’s gone.

The force is made up of young officers on the rise, and older veterans with expertise and who have earned their place in the ranks – but seeing the discomfort some of the senior officers are experiencing as they are left feeling unsettled in their positions, wondering what will come next, is a feeling that can filter down through all ranks.

We hope that if the commissioner is indeed on his way out then he was aware his name was to be called out by the minister, and that he isn’t returning to the office today to an uncomfortable seat of his own.

After all, leadership is about many things, but one thing is for sure – ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction makes it a lot easier to reach the destination.

Focus on safety amid Iran tension THERE are giants in the playground of international politics at the moment, and here at home, we must try not to get stomped.

The decision by the US to kill Iranian general Qasem Soleiani has put the focus of the world squarely on the situation in the Middle East.

Iran has already threatened reprisals over the death of the commander – and even reportedly has put an $80m bounty on President Donald Trump’s head.

How does this affect us here? Well, it’s long been said that when America sneezes, The Bahamas catches a cold. As a destination where the majority of tourists come from our near neighbour, their security concerns are our security concerns.

We should be stepping up our watchfulness, not in expectation that something will indeed happen, but out of an abundance of caution to ensure something does not.

This is not just for our own sake, but out of a duty of care to those who entrust us when they come to our shores.

In the international political world, our voice will be drowned out by the drums of war, but here at home, we must ensure we do all we can to keep ourselves and our visitors safe.

We hope that this morning that is on the desk of the National Security Minister, and that he draws on all the experience available to him to make sure it happens.

Have we 100 years to go?

EDITOR, The Tribune THE annual average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, increased to 405 and 408 parts per million (ppm) in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The total concentration of all greenhouse gases, including cooling aerosols, reached a value of 454 ppm in CO2 equivalents in 2019 — an increase of more than 4 ppm compared with 2016, and 37 ppm more than 10 years ago.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before 1960 was less 300 parts million.

Now it is over 400 parts per million (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). This is a concentration not seen since at least three million years ago –long before humans existed. This environment degradation was produced by communism, capitalism and socialism.

The scientific evidence

suggest that if this continues, it will make the Earth uninhabitable to humans in about 100 years. The Earth has had five mass extinction events all linked to climate change whether caused by asteroids or natural phenomenon.

This situation was created by the philosophy of profit (maintain the system) over people. This is common in both socialist, communist and capitalist economic models.

We cannot stop the global economic system because about 80% of the world population depends directly on it. Before the industrial revolution of the 17th century the situation was reverse. We cannot continue with any present economic model; we can only tame the capitalist version with government regulation and the socialist with more individual rights.

The new economic system will have to insure that all humans can live without struggle for material

survival which breeds crime and disorder. The socialist myopia is to think that government officials will not become the 1% that oppress the people, especially the poor. Private property is important, but not owned by only the few. All present economic systems create a Pareto distribution where 80% of the wealth is owned or controlled by 20% of the population. This is not by talent alone. whether its Huawei (Chinese technology company) or Google(US technology company) government support made them successful by diverting resources from the many to give to the few. An economic system must be kind which come from the word kin( relative) – treat everyone as a blood relative. It is never just to let children go hungry or to let talented people do not develop because they’r not connected.

BRIAN PLUMMER Nassau December 19, 2019

We need to get a grip EDITOR, The Tribune IT MAY take a while to understand what is going on in the politics of a nation, and for those who have an interest in discerning what is going on a good place to start would be to recognise what the opposing political forces do not talk about and what they agree on. The first obstacle in the way of this exercise is the not too obvious fact that these matters are never discussed in any open forum by anyone who is a politician or who has political aspirations.

There is a similar circumstance when it comes to any discussion involving how the money in the Public Treasury is accessed for political campaigning, I was quite amused when I called into a Talk show to speak about the matter of a politician being acquitted of charges after a lengthy trial.

I mentioned that the problem of where the money came from was not being discussed and the host hung up on me and pretended that we were still having a discussion; they tend to do that a lot, you get the impression that some of those who host these programmes are eating from the same table that they pretend to be investigating.

I assume nothing, but the “obviousness” that there is agreement between past and present administrations cannot be overstated enough. The number of UN

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net conventions that we have signed on to, IDB, OECD and EU agreements that all seem necessary to access the funding needed to pay our bills and run this country, comes at a cost that is never discussed by those who have led this nation for the past 70+ years. We even have a Prime Minister who opens his mouth “inadvertently” and we think that he is making a mistake in judgment when the intent may be deflected from the real conversations that should be going on and the local media is like a dog with a fresh bone. Should he have been more concerned about the Saxons than Dorian?

As we proceed into 2020, there must be a shift in focus. I put to my friends of the possibilities that can happen if we spent as much time involved in Nation building as we spend on Junkanoo and, the admonition given to us by the late Jackson Burnside who stated that “we must know what we are looking at”.

Those who lead us have an obligation to take us in a direction that weans us from the necessity of having to bow down to the powers that be in the world, so that the road ahead will lead us to a place of national intentionality, but

this will require making up our minds about what we need to stand for and be as a nation.

Right now the Bahamas can be likened to a parade going in a particular direction. Those who publicly “oppose” each other politically, economically and socially occupy the left and right lanes and the Public is in the middle. Those in the outer lanes steer the parade in a particular direction while simultaneously shouting into the atmosphere over the masses on the middle so that we can know what the parade is all about and what we need to be talking about. When the parade is over those who have guided the parade meet up to discuss what has transpired and perhaps have a meal, from a new business venture, marrying into each others families or stand as godparents. The masses in the middle go to their separate homes and await the next event.

It is time for the persons paying most of the bills and taxes in this nation to meet and greet and get the conversations going that concern what we should be discussing regarding the future of this nation. If we do not, it is going to be on us and our children.

EDWARD HUTCHESON Nassau January 2, 2020

No ‘right’ to an honour EDITOR, The Tribune THE quote written by your Khrisna Russell from ‘Sir’ Godfrey Kelly is precisely what is wrong as to how national honours are given…for this eminent Attorney and past Cabinet Minister to be quoted: “My honour deserved and it’s long overdue” totally violates the premise the form of how donors are given.

Sorry ‘Sir’ Godfrey no one has an absolute right to an honour…as many have alleged for years the Law has been prostituted and candidate sponsorship

abandoned for blatant political nomination by favour because you support the Government in office.

The Act and in the case of the Queen’s Honours there is a process…without the knowledge, note without, a potential recipient is nominated…it is not the recipient pushing his honour. It is my suspicion in many cases recipients get their buddies to nominate them, calling favours of their political friends.

Around July 10th, 2019 ‘Sir’ Godfrey - Rev Carrington Pinder and Hon Tommy Turnquest

received some of the highest honours the Bahamas National Honours can bestow but seems not satisfied over the next weeks they got Cabinet to nominate them for a knighthood in the case of ‘Sir’ Godfrey - CBE’s for Rev Pinder and Tommy Turnquest the message is they don’t award us the rinky-dink Bahamian Honours we want the real stuff the Queen’s honours.

No one has a divine right!

ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau January 3, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, January 6, 2020, PAGE 5

from page one

Bahamasair ‘mistake’ led to US flights lockout

three of Bahamasair’s jets have been blocked from entering the United States because they lack the surveillance technology.

Tommy Turnquest, chairman of the national airline, said though a contract was executed last June for a company to supply tracking kits for its three 737-500 jets in September, October and November of 2019, that supplier reneged on its responsibilities. The airline had already paid the company, Fokker Services, $200,000 of its $600,000 contract. Mr Turnquest said Bahamasair is trying to recoup the payments.

On Friday, Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis said Mr D’Aguilar should have known about the impending deadline and made his Cabinet colleagues aware of the need for provisions.

“Bahamasair is run by a professional group of people with technical

expertise, not politicians who do not have the first clue about how to run an airline,” Mr D’Aguilar responded yesterday. “A politician’s job is to make sure the airline has authorisation and expertise. The experts selected a company and knew which devices were to be installed.

“In hindsight, when Fokker missed the first deadline, that should have triggered them to move to plan B. But they may have been minded to continue because they had already paid the $200,000 down payment and they probably considered the fact that Fokker is a reputable

company. I think they would agree that when that reputable company failed to provide the services, they should’ve gone to plan B, so that’s what I would say if I had to provide some constructive criticism. By the time Fokker informed them it wouldn’t make any of the deadlines it was probably too late to put in place a mitigation plan. They made a mistake.”

Although airlines had ten years to prepare for the FAA’s rule, officials say it would have been impractical to acquire the technology too early without knowing what changes may lay ahead for the

airline’s fleet. Mr Turnquest says he expects no disruption to Bahamasair’s US services.

The airline has nine planes: five ATRs, including two 70-seaters and three 5-seaters; three 737-500 planes that can carry 12 people each and one 138-seater 737-790 plane.

One of the 737-500 planes was already scheduled to be out of commission for a maintenance check in Costa Rica expected to last about 75 days, Mr Turnquest said. The remaining two jets, he said, will be used for temporary routes to Grand Bahama, Exuma and Haiti. The ATRs will be used for US routes.

“It can be costly to run an airline but I don’t

expect this to be disruptive,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

“If loads get heavy, they’ll do what they have done in the past. At every point they’ll be able to see what they need and if necessary, other aircrafts could be provided through a wet lease arrangement. The PLP is looking to say, ‘oh the minister screwed up.’

Sure, they will make a mistake from time to time but that has nothing to do with the political directorate. It’s clever for Brave to want to attack the politician but it’s up to management to monitor the contract. Bahamasair has 700 people to sit on top of these deadlines

and install the necessary equipment. I wouldn’t tell you when and what equipment needs to be installed and I shouldn’t have to tell you that because that’s what they are there for.”

For his part, Mr Davis also questioned the financial implications of the jets being put on Family Island routes. “The government expects us to believe that with passenger numbers traditionally down in the first quarter, they are going to burn fuel to fly 10 to 40 people on a 128-seat jet to our Family Islands. How is that financially sensible or sustainable?” Mr Davis asked.

Police shocked by two murders on one night from page one appears to be in his early 30s, Supt Barr said.

A cyclist in the area during the shooting told reporters he heard about four gunshots. He said he saw the victim’s car “come flying” across the street, over the sidewalk and “into a tree”. “Only thing I could do is open the door and let him catch some air. . .,” the cyclist said.

The second murder happened near Prison Lane off East Street. A police spokesperson said: “At around 9.40pm, the police received reports of gunshots in this area. Upon arrival, we found a young man on the ground with gunshot injuries to his body.

He was examined and there was no sign of life. We understand he was walking in this area when a silver car pulled up, two men got out and opened fire on the deceased. He is understood to be in his early twenties.

Two homicides in one night is a concern. It’s something that we never want to happen.”

The victim’s grandmother said: “I was shocked when I get the news because I saw him the day before yesterday. He visited me and said ‘Grammy I haven’t foresaken you and I love you’.

I told him to be careful. We warned him not to come to the area because there had been a disagreement between some guys.”

Earlier yesterday, Mr Dames told reporters that while the country has

KILLING NO. 2

THE SCENE of the second murder near Prison Lane off East Street. Far left, the victim and his grandmother Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff “gotten over the hurdle” of keeping its death toll out of the triple digits, the government and The Bahamas at large still has a “very long way to go” to reducing it to a satisfactory level.

Still, he said the Minnis administration feels “confident” that it is “moving in the right direction” in lowering the Bahamas’ murder rate and that the public can expect to see “additional positive changes” this year.

The country’s murder count in 2019 was pushed to 96, according to The Tribune’s records, a 5.5 percent increase over 2018’s 91 killings.

While this count did not fall in line with Mr Dames’ ambitious goal of seeing the year close out with less than 85 murders, it signalled

KILLING NO. 1

THE CAR in which a man died last night.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

PM’S BROTHER IN ASSAULT SUMMONS from page one

made a complaint and I made a complaint, we can’t resolve it.”

ACP Butler said both produced witnesses to support their claims.

Mr Minnis maintained his innocence yesterday, saying: “The point I made is that you know if you slap a white person, marks will be on them, or if you strike a white person, marks will

be on them. If the police come there, and she called the police, and when they reached her—two witnesses are her two clients—they haven’t seen a Christ thing.”

Ms Dennison, meanwhile, said she is not a finger-pointer. She has said Mr Minnis called her a “white (expletive)”, prompting her to tell him “shut the (expletive) up” and “sit the (expletive) down”. She alleges she was then struck on her jaw.

the second consecutive year that such crimes were less than 100 since 2010.

It is also a considerable decrease of 21 percent from 2017’s high of 122 murders.

In an interview with reporters in late December, Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson said he thought the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) did

“exceptionally” well tackling murders despite having to adjust its policing plan to suit urgent circumstances.

Questioned on his take on last year’s murder count, Mr Dames shared the same sentiments, asserting that the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and the RBPF’s response to the storm played a big role in

2019’s murder count being what it is. “The murder count is still high,” he said on the sidelines of a police event. “We’ve gotten over the hurdle of keeping the murder count under 100; we haven’t done that in a while.

“Last year though was a particular challenge. You can see, around September, when we had to respond

to Dorian, it really put an additional pressure on the resources of our law enforcement agencies.

“And having to rotate 100, 150 officers at a time to get onto Abaco and to support Grand Bahama calls for a significant shift in the scheduling here on the island (of New Providence). And that may have impacted to some degree how September went.

“But after they were able to—the commissioner and his team and the commodore—figure it all out, it was smooth sailing from there.”

Mr Dames continued: “So I mean, we still have a very long way to go. The good thing is that 2020, now that we’ve signed most of the contracts from a technology standpoint, they expect to see the implementation of those during the first quarter or half of this year, that will go a long way too in assisting a lot of them in their efforts. We’re still not happy, we’re not content, but we feel confident that we’re moving in the right direction, and you can expect to see additional positive changes come 2020.”

PAGE 6, Monday, January 6, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Doctors still waiting for overdue payment

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net JUNIOR doctors have not yet been given their promised $1,400 lump sum, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday.

“This is all about the movement of cash back and forth and the issues of messaging between finance (officials) and PHA (Public Hospitals Authority) and the conventional rules of public service,” he said.

“What has happened is a pronouncement was made that certain people would be getting $1,400.

“In the first instance, the funding was not forwarded to PHA in time to make the original pay sheet. We would have said non-consulting doctors and nurses would get the $1,400. The nursing union and the doctors’ union would’ve been given a written assurance of this but as you know the money doesn’t arrive from Public Hospitals Authority or the Ministry of Health, it comes from (Ministry of) Finance.

They’ve had to go back and forth in terms of what the dollar amount is that should be transferred to meet the needs to pay all these staff members. To date, finance says they have gotten the money but PHA says they don’t believe they’ve gotten it.”

Doctors and some of the nurses who haven’t received the lump sum will get it “tomorrow, next week, as soon as it’s resolved,” Dr Sands said.

“Most of the eligible nurses got it already,” he

added. “All eligible will get it even though we will have to make another pass at interpretation issues because some persons got it pro-rated. People that had just started work would have gotten a prorated amount and that was not our intention.”

Some junior doctors are sceptical they will receive the money.

Dr Macumba Miller, the immediate past-president of the Bahamas Doctors Union, said communication between BDU and PHA “is at an all time low”.

“It seems that PHA is of the thought process that we should go to court on every issue,” he said yesterday.

Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson declined to give a timeline yesterday on when doctors will receive the payments.

He said discussions are ongoing between the Ministry of Finance and health officials but he expects the matter will be sorted out from his end within the next day or so. He declined to say how much overall is owed to the doctors.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced government employees would receive a lump sum payment at the end of the December.

“What I can say at this particular point in time is that those in the public service, that is immigration, customs, police, defence force, teachers, PHA, doctors and nurses, they would receive a lump sum payment in their pay cheque the end of this month — $1,400,” he said at the time.

BRIAN MOREE, QC, and Governor General CA Smith

GOVERNOR GENERAL AND CHIEF JUSTICE TO BE KNIGHTS

HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands

HER Majesty Queen Elizabeth has given her approval for Governor General Cornelius Alvin Smith and Chief Justice Brian Moree, QC, to be knighted.

According to a government press release, Mr Smith will receive the honour of Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George while Mr Moree will receive the honour of Knight Bachelor.

“A native of Long Island, (the Governor General) has dedicated more than half a century of sterling service to the Bahamas,” the press release noted. “A committed civic minded individual, his excellency has provided leadership to the Bahamian community, social and civic organisations including the Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis and Rotary organisations.”

Mr Smith is a former ambassador to the United States. His previous diplomatic post was non-resident ambassador to six Central American countries.

Meanwhile, Mr Moree’s knighthood comes after he was appointed as Chief Justice last June. He is former senior partner at law firm McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes.

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

by Malcolm Strachan

O

NE of the best things about a new year is that it serves as a reset to the year before. We entered 2019 optimistic for an economic turnaround marked by a record year in tourism, and hopeful that our streets would be safer after experiencing the lowest murder rate in years. Bahamians, despite a rising cost of living with VAT increasing from 7.5 to 12 percent, were quietly confident that things may be looking up – with lower levels of unemployment and major projects in the pipeline for Grand Bahama on the horizon.

Then, Hurricane Dorian happened, and we got set back what feels like years.

For 20 years, we’ve been waiting for Grand Bahama’s economic turnaround but then the absolute obliteration of one of the country’s most picturesque islands completely altered the country’s outlook by the end of 2019. Bahamians, by and large, have experienced hard times since the 2008 recession and the prognosis, even more so now, looks dire. With thousands of Bahamians displaced and many still waiting on funding from the government to rebuild their homes, much of our optimism feels in vain. Instead, we are left hoping to be spared a sequel in the 2020 hurricane season.

Certainly, the reality of climate change presents a gamble for any resident living in a jurisdiction vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of hurricanes. However, there is still little evidence to show the government has learned its lesson and will be better prepared for the next hurricane season when it arrives as right now, all we have to go by is their words.

Various ministers interviewed by the media on the sidelines of the New Year’s Junkanoo Parade seemed quite optimistic that the government will be better prepared. Others seemed merely hopeful – perhaps the best one can do when negotiating with Mother Nature.

Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell, when discussing plans for his ministry this year, touched on the government’s learnings from Hurricane Dorian. He stated: “Dorian notwithstanding, we’ve learned some lessons. I believe that hurricanes of that magnitude are likely to be more frequent, but we will be better prepared from the lessons that we’ve learned.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest, for his part, expressed his desire to help “improve the lives” of the Abaco and Grand Bahama families devastated by Hurricane Dorian.

“First of all, we pray that there [are] no more storms,” said Turnquest.

“We’ve gone through a tremendous, horrendous, traumatic event that has [led to] long-term consequences for the country and it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”

He added: “The first order, obviously, is to put back those institutions that will facilitate residents coming back and being able to access the services that they need – the police, the healthcare, the financial institutions.

“Then we will see how we can assist them, the best we can, to get back into their homes.”

Between now and June is an incredibly tight timeline so there are no guarantees as to how fast any of what Turnquest purported will take place. However, we certainly hope the government is ready to hit the ground running.

The clock’s already ticking - we can’t afford to be unprepared a second time

A DESTROYED house can be seen in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour So far, we seem to have been at a lull as it relates to the government’s efforts post-Dorian.

Certainly, some of the work being done doesn’t make it to the headlines, but the fact we’ve been recycling the same bits of information for months since the storm gives little comfort to observers within and outside the country that we are any closer to being in a better position to handle another superstorm.

Nonetheless, all government officials - at least publicly - present themselves as confident with our post-hurricane management. However, there continues to be whispers of members of the FNM being very critical of the government’s handling of the storm – a sentiment widely shared by Bahamians throughout the country.

Such agitation has continually been met with a contemptuous refrain – “Look at Puerto Rico.

Look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Look how long they took get back to normalcy.”

No one doubts recovery is going to take some time. However, many are concerned by what hasn’t happened as yet, as well as this idea we should be using Katrina and Maria as benchmarks for how we get back to normal.

Both storms could not be worse examples of the US response to a disaster.

The Cato Institute – a public policy organisation and think tank – litigated the fallout from Hurricane Katrina in a 2015 study and found that among the failings of the government were its lack of disaster preparedness, failure to learn from its past mistakes, supply issues and general confusion over stakeholder roles in the response plan.

Ironically, the same played a role, to some degree or another, in our handling of Hurricane Dorian.

Whether it be the government’s failure to produce NEMA’s disaster preparedness plan prior to Hurricane Dorian, not ensuring shelters were built to code to withstand storm conditions, or its failure to plan for the logistical issues of getting relief items to the affected areas ahead of time.

Notwithstanding the fact we have never experienced anything of this

magnitude - and for that reason there has been a little more understanding given to the government there is much we need to see happen within the next six months.

Rather than looking at how disaster preparedness has been done badly, we should be looking at which countries do it well and try to see what we can learn from the international community.

There is perhaps no better example than Japan – a country that has experienced its fair share of natural disasters, leading it to become the gold standard in disaster preparedness and response management.

After Hurricane Katrina caused $100bn in property damage and took the lives of 1,800 people, Japan was eager to lean on the legacy of its own devastation by way of natural disasters and offered to advise the US. Not stopping there, Japan has continued to show itself as a great partner to other nations, having been one of the first countries to send relief items to The Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian.

Hopefully, as the government shows outward confidence, some of that can be instilled in the Bahamian people as this year’s hurricane season closes in. With Japan already expressing interest in assisting The Bahamas, we should take this a step further and invite a delegation of policy makers, engineers and scientists to share with us the knowledge gained from their country’s struggles with natural disasters.

Additionally, there has to be a massive public education and communication exercise on disaster preparedness for families. After our brothers and sisters have lost so much, it has to be the government’s top priority to launch such an initiative well in advance of the hurricane season.

Though there are frustrations with the government’s handling of the storm, the general climate in the country is one of understanding that Hurricane Dorian was a first for many of us.

However, the government’s tendency to let items on their agenda grow cold will be political suicide if their words don’t turn into action very soon.

They won’t have the luxury of not being prepared twice.

PAGE 8 MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Contest for OAS Secretary-General THE CONTESTANTS to be the next SecretaryGeneral of the Organization of American States are, far left, Hugo de Zela, the present Ambassador of Peru to the United States of America; left, the incumbent Luis Almagro whose current term ends in March; and, right, the only female, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, most recently the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Who will be the voice of Caribbean interests?

T

HE contest for the post of Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) is now well and truly joined.

The election for the post will be held on March 20, and there are three contestants whose nominations were submitted by December 15 – the date set by the Permanent Council of the Organization. The rules allow for nomination of a candidate up to the day of the election, although this is unlikely. No one would take

seriously a candidate who has not presented a vision for the Organisation or taken the trouble to solicit the support of its 33 legitimate members states, plus the representative of Venezuela’s Juan Guaido.

The contestants are: the

incumbent Luis Almagro whose current term ends in March; Hugo de Zela, the present Ambassador of Peru to the United States of America (US); and, the only female, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, most recently the President of

the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Two Caribbean countries – Antigua and Barbuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines - nominated Espinosa who is an Ecuadorian; Colombia submitted the Uruguayan Luis Almagro; and Peru proposed de Zela. Apart from de Zela, nominations of the candidates depart from the norm.

Usually candidates are put forward by their own governments. The fact that tradition was not followed for this election demonstrates the state of disorder in the OAS – a condition that has become acute over the last four years. Two things have driven the disruption of the systemic functioning of the Organisation. The first is a movement from consensus building on decisions to imposition by powerful governments of their will through a process of coercion or influence peddling.

The other is Luis Almagro’s arrogation to himself of the authority to use the OAS as a platform for pronouncements that are reflective only of his narrowly held positions and not of the OAS membership as a collective body.

In ordinary circumstances Mr Almagro would be re-elected as Secretary-General with little dissension. Let there be no doubt of his intellectual capacity and his knowledge of Latin America. Had he taken the time and trouble to appreciate the challenges faced by Caribbean countries and their priorities, he could have become a champion of the smaller countries that comprise almost half of the OAS’ membership. Indeed, as the Ambassador, who apart from the Ambassador of Paraguay, has served longest with Mr Almagro as Secretary-General, I urged him to be more conscious of Caribbean concerns.

In February 2015, when he was seeking election, Mr Almagro stated categorically that “On the issue of development, if he is elected as Secretary

General, he would propose three initiatives in the area of development: first, a contingency fund for natural disasters with particular emphasis on Central America and the Caribbean; second, an Interconnectivity Fund for the Caribbean ‘which can overcome structural weaknesses, either in terms of logistics and information and communications technology, and increase the employment potential for youth;’ and third, an Inter-American initiative on climate change “that can reach a consensus on the position of the Hemisphere ahead of Paris 2015”.

Apart from a paltry fund to provide a token sum after disasters, none of this happened.

By several missteps, Mr Almagro managed to alienate himself from the expectations many Caribbean leaders – all of whom supported his 2015 election – had of him.

It is not only among Caribbean countries that Mr Almagro’s controversial posture raised concerns.

This is obvious in the fact that Peru – one of the architects of the Lima Group, an unofficial grouping of countries in the OAS – decided to field Mr de Zela against him.

The Peruvian has long experience as an official in the OAS. Indeed, it is true to say he is part of an OAS culture that many member states firmly believe requires reform to make it fit for new hemispheric challenges and to deliver on them. Apart from the various positions he has held in the OAS, he has admirable but exclusive experience in Latin America which has restricted broader contacts internationally that might have enhanced his appeal.

Since much of Mr Almagro’s support comes from the same Lima Group of which Mr de Zela is the present co-ordinator, the two are contending in identical space.

Regarding Maria Fernanda Espinosa, CARICOM governments could not

Death Notice for Doreen Bertha Major née Allen, 85 of Allen’s Terrace, passed away at Doctors Hospital on Wednesday January 1, 2020.

She is survived by her husband: Pastor Rex Major; four daughters: Jewel Major, Gem Dickens, Jasmin Rodgers and Jade Major Bryan; grandchildren: Brazil, Beijing and Baja Rodgers, Autumn and August Dickens; sons-in-law: Don Bryan and Byron Rodgers; siblings: Dr. David Allen, Paul Allen, Dawn Taylor; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

identify a suitably qualified CARICOM national willing to enter a competition that was not fully and openly backed by all of them. Maria Fernanda had impressed many Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers during her stewardship of the last UN General Assembly.

She showed qualities of consensus building and inclusion the OAS now desperately needs in its Secretary-General.

Contrary to the propaganda directed at her candidacy by supporters of her contenders, she was not nominated because of the “influence of Cuba and Venezuela”. As the representative of one of the governments that nominated her, I can state beyond fear of contradiction that no member of the government of Antigua and Barbuda consulted with any government other than CARICOM ones on proposing her. Indeed, it is her “ideological-free” conduct of the UNGA as President that attracted her to a Caribbean that is driven in free and democratic societies by pragmatism and practicality.

What Caribbean governments want is what Mr Almagro pledged in May 2015 at his inauguration as Secretary-General.

“We are also living in a world of uncertainty in which power is expressed in the most diverse and increasingly less conventional ways, in which we must advance a positive agenda to help the OAS rise to the occasion and prevent the Hemisphere from relapsing into Cold War practices, which we must avoid by every means. To do so, we have to shore up the negotiation, mediation, and consensus-building skills of this OAS, which brings together all countries of the Hemisphere”. That unfulfilled pledge remains the Caribbean’s greatest ambition for the OAS. Ms. Espinosa has served as Minister in several areas: Foreign Affairs, Defence, Cultural and Natural Heritage. She understands the demands on government and the importance of building bridges in international relations. Her experience as Ambassador to several UN institutions and her engagement with regional governments in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Arab States, places her in a good position to try to unlock new resources for the OAS for sustainable development issues, particularly climate change and financing.

The Caribbean has a stake in which of these three candidates leads the Secretariat of the most influential Organisation in our Hemisphere. That is why the region has decided to play an active role in the outcome.

The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020 PAGE 9 MOURNERS carry the coffins of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq on Saturday.

Trump raises the stakes with Iranian assassination

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

by Charlie Harper in Washington

T

HE US men’s soccer team was supposed to begin a three-week winter training regimen yesterday at an impressive facility in Doha, Qatar, where the men’s World Cup is scheduled to be held in 2022. The trip was abruptly cancelled last Friday. This was one of the first announced consequences of the American decision to kill Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike on a convoy in Baghdad. It certainly won’t be the last.

Politicians and observers all over the world sounded the alarm. This dramatic escalation of the long-simmering 40-year animosity between the US and its chief Middle East antagonist raised fears everywhere that a broader war would result.

Well, maybe not everywhere. It’s not hard to imagine that some strategists in Moscow and Beijing may see advantages for them after another American adventure from which it is difficult to see the US emerging in a stronger position. But for most everyone else, yet another broader Mideast conflict would mean economic disruption and political uncertainty that no one wants.

Iran’s leadership reacted to the American action with predictably baleful ferocity. Supreme Leader and senior theocrat Ayatollah

Ali Khamenei said the following: “His (Soleimani’s) work and path will not cease, and severe revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and the blood of other martyrs.”

Iran’s Defence Minister added his country would deliver a “crushing response” against the Americans. The US is once again described as The Great Satan in public Iranian discourse.

American President Donald Trump, who ordered the successful “termination” of Soleimani, spoke to reporters the next day. “Last night,” he said, “at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani.

“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him. Soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the Middle East for the last 20 years.

What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago. A lot of lives would have been saved.

“We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war. If Americans anywhere are threatened, I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. And that, in particular, refers to Iran.”

Speaking later to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “we found an

opportunity and we delivered. We took this guy who you described pretty accurately as one of the worst terrorists ever to walk the face of the planet, and we took him off the battlefield.

“We’re not going to appease any longer. We’re going to take on this challenge. We can’t talk much about the details but suffice it to say the American people can know that the decision that President Trump made to take Qasem Soleimani down saved American lives.”

A subsequent State Department briefing featuring three senior officials dealing with Mideast affairs turned quickly rancorous.

Like the President and Pompeo, the officials were reluctant to share details of the intelligence that led Trump to conclude that assassinating Soleimani now was of urgent priority.

The senior officials reacted defensively and defended the President’s action aggressively and almost caustically at times. Comparisons with the bogus 2003 intelligence supposedly confirming the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were emphatically, if vaguely, dismissed.

This all sets the stage for a high-stakes domestic political debate in Washington which is likely to continue for months. Republicans will probably all fall in line behind Trump eventually, while some will whisper their concerns about the President’s impulsiveness to friendly reporters, as they do now.

Democrats, as always

feeling vulnerable to the charge of being soft on foreign menaces, will not react unilaterally. Centrist candidates like Joe Biden will likely equivocate, while left-leaning Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will fulminate loudly against Trump’s action.

But the world beyond the US will continue to react in its own way, and the American President and his team won’t like much of it. Pompeo is already on the record as feeling disappointed in the UK, France and Germany for their lack of enthusiastic support, despite the fact no prior notice was given to them of the attack on Soleimani.

Murmurs will grow louder from Western Europe, which still supported the Iran Nuclear Deal before the Iranians abrogated it yesterday, and strongly criticized Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the pact a couple of years ago.

Oil through the strategic Straits of Hormuz bordering Iran means much more to Europe than to the US, so as usual, where nations stand depends on where they sit geographically.

Meantime, as the Iranian government uses Soleimani’s death as a rallying cry to deflect attention from the domestic economic hardships inflicted by American and western sanctions, the Iranian general’s death does appear to have evoked sincere grief in Iran and elsewhere in the region.

But however the Iranian general was perceived in the Middle East, his death by remote control will do little to dispel the widespread regional belief that

the Americans regard the Arab and Muslim nations of the region with haughty and ignorant disdain.

The Iraqi parliament voted yesterday to ask American military forces presently in Iraq to leave.

The vote, with Iran-leaning Shia members unanimously in favour and rival Sunnis largely absent, is expected to be signed by Iraq’s President.

It will be interesting to see how this narrative unfolds, but a US troop departure would open yet another power vacuum for Iranians and their proxies to fill.

Back home in the US, Trump is sure to benefit from this massive foreign distraction as the Senate (last week) and the House of Representatives (tomorrow) return to town after their Christmas recess.

While his impeachment remains stalled over important but procedural wrangles on how the forthcoming Senate trial of the President will be conducted, the House Judiciary

Committee and others will be continuing to gather damning evidence against him in the matter of extorting Ukraine for his own political gain.

Out in southern California, there are more Iranians in the Los Angeles area than anywhere else in the world outside Iran.

Locals sometimes refer to part of the megalopolis as Tehrangeles. Iranians are influential there like the Cuban, Venezuelan and other exile communities are in South Florida.

These Iranian exiles are outspoken on issues affecting their homeland.

Perhaps speaking for many of them, the director of the Department of Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University talked over the weekend to reporters. “You can be critical and have feelings of disdain for a regime that murders its own people, and still believe that war isn’t going to be any kind of solution,” she said.

Clinic Opening Dr. Evet Benjamin-Peet (MBBS, DCH, DM, EMBA, MACPE), is pleased to announce the opening of her new Pediatric practice at #3 Fairwind Street (On the top of Hawkins Hill immediately south of the Immigration building) under the name and style of THE CHILDREN’S CLINIC. She brings over 30 years of experience to the new practice.

We are committed to expert, thorough and exceptional quality care.

Our services will be available as of Monday, January 6, 2020 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you and your precious young ones from newborns to age 18 years.

Have a blessed New Year!!

Telephone: 242-323-0266

PAGE 10 MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Why all the rush? As a long-term user, trust me, there’s a dark side to marijuana

By ORTLAND H BODIE JR

I

SMOKED and inhaled my first marijuana joint in 1973 as a young adult. Prior to that I had a disdain for the same and all who were associated with it. No, I am not and have never been a prude nor an overt moralist. I simply do not and still do not believe in the ingestion of mindaltering, self-induced drugs or alcoholic beverages to the point of becoming incapacitated.

The Marijuana Commission has allegedly completed its mission objectives and is now ready to present the same to cabinet for discussion and I suppose implementation.

Weeks before this, members of the commission and several high – pardon the pun – ranking politicians inclusive of the Most Honourable Prime Minister; the Minister of Education and at least one backbench house member, the Hon. Shannendon Cartwright (FNM-St. Barnabas) has come out in favour of decriminalization for ‘small’ amounts, some say up to an ounce, for recreational purposes and across the board for medical usage.

It alarms me that several ranking members of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), inclusive of the Leader, seem to have embraced this position. It is ironic the popularity of marijuana first emerged in a public way under the advocacy of the then-ruling PLP back in the early 1970s during the celebrated ‘Year of the Child’. Several of the then-leaders of the PLP and their wives played prominent roles in this advocacy.

I am able to speak with authority when it comes down to the benefits and negatives of marijuana usage because I was a user for many years. It would be interesting to hear or read whether current Members of Parliament and the Marijuana Commission ever ingested this dangerous

drug or are still imbibing. If they are/were they would, I submit, be too ashamed and fearful of losing societal acceptance to admit it.

Quint McCartney is a former senior police officer. Bishop Simeon Hall is a prominent clergyman where the church he founded is located between Montell Heights (a known drug area) and Soldier Road/ Kennedy Subdivision and the Nassau Village community, all known to be drug areas. They would have both witnessed the negatives of marijuana usage. I am certain that McCartney must have arrested and charged countless Bahamians, of all ages, for illegal possession during his tenure on the force.

On the day that any proposed legislation is introduced in the House may I suggest that a medical doctor and his/her assistants be in one of the committee rooms to take blood and urine samples from ALL members who show up. Is it possible that some of them might be users? I would also want the religious leaders on the Marijuana commission to subject themselves, along with executives of The Bahamas Christian Council, to such a test.

This one draw debate is a distraction by the Most Honourable and his cabal to cause or attempt to cause the average Bahamian to forget, in the swirl of the ganja smoke, the high unemployment rate; sexual promiscuity throughout society; homelessness; pockets of poverty and the hardship of eking out a miserable living on a daily basis. What is the urgency about this timeless debate?

Why now?

The Commission and the government are suggesting economic benefits and the possibility of ‘cures’ for all types of medical conditions, in the absence of any real empirical evidence.

The quality of one’s life far outweighs any potential benefits marijuana might bring to the table or through the Bong. Marijuana, in its natural state, is not a benign drug. It is a gateway drug which

appears harmless. After a visit by the late Robert ‘Bob’ Nestor Marley for the Year of the Child, hosted by the PLP and prominent wives of the then-leaders, the popularity and public consumption of ganja went through the roof .....high as a kite, literally.

Marijuana gives one a feeling of lightness; a sense of invincibility; possibly increased sexual desires; laughter and more.

Some of the negatives are: dependency; hormone secretion; cancer; psychosis; decreased motor skills; infertility and bronchitis to name only a few. Clearly, the negatives outweighs the so-called benefits. Several international studies have demonstrated there are medical benefits and maybe we need to have further studies done. Recreational usage, however, is going to pose a serious societal and economic challenge.

The Commission, allegedly, is recommending a cut off age of 18 years for recreational drug procurement and usage. How will this work in reality? What is to stop an 18-year-old person buying the one ounce of weed and giving half of that to a 15 or 16-year-old individual? Nothing. Where will one access the purchase of the ganja - a pharmacy, a food store, a service station or possibly the foyer of a house of worship? How will it be licensed to cultivate; grow and distribute the same at the wholesale levels? Will the police have to beef up its manpower and related resources? Will a dedicated Drug Court be established?

Both the FNM and the PLP are playing with fire and smoke. The leadership in both parties seem to want to blow smoke right up our collective posteriors instead of tackling and solving the real issues and concerns. Usually, when I would have smoked and inhaled, I wanted to escape reality and just feel good for an hour or so.

When the high came down, the realities still stared me right in my face. This one draw myth over marijuana is a diabolical and spiritual deception.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020 PAGE 11

by Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of Birmingham and Ian Whittaker, Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University

L

AST year was an excellent year for space exploration, with the icing on the Christmas cake the first ever image acquired of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope.

This year, 2020, is set to be interesting too. Here’s what to look out for.

Human spaceflight The year 2020 is set to be quite a big one for human spaceflight, especially for private companies. Both SpaceX’s Dragon 2 and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft are due to conduct their first crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

Both of these projects have been beset with delays, however in recent months both companies have completed a series of successful pre-flight tests.

These include multiple parachute drop tests and the ability of the capsules to rocket themselves free of their launcher in the event of some catastrophic failure. That said, an uncrewed orbital test flight for the Starliner in December failed to reach the ISS as planned, due to a software problem. SpaceX, on the other hand, has already completed an uncrewed orbital test flight of the Dragon 2, and currently expect to launch their first crewed ISS mission in the first quarter of 2020.

Not to be outdone, NASA is scheduled to launch Artemis-1 in November. This will be the first attempted flight of its new Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft built jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

This flight, though uncrewed, will take a

Space missions to Mars and the Moon human-rated spacecraft well beyond the orbit of the Moon, before returning to Earth several weeks later. This will be a vital milestone on the road to returning people to the Moon. It will also, if successful, be the furthest distance from Earth that a spacecraft which is capable of carrying humans has ever flown. The Orion spacecraft is comprised of the crew capsule, built by Lockheed Martin, with sufficient space to accommodate up to six people, and a service module built in Europe, by Airbus.

China is also planning to launch the first section of a new orbital space station in 2020. When complete, China’s new space station is expected to have about the same dimensions as the former Russian Mir,

including a number of orbital laboratory modules and enough space to comfortably accommodate three crew members for extended periods in orbit.

Life on asteroids?

The Japanese Space agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa 2 mission in 2014, which managed to collect a few samples from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

This should be arriving back at Earth this year.

The procedure for achieving this was incredible. As the gravity of the asteroid is tiny, no force can hold a lander to the surface. The first sample of the surface involved firing a small pellet at the asteroid which caused regolith (soil) to be ejected from the surface. At the same time, the satellite

approached the surface to collect the dust.

The mission also collected a sample from the inside of the asteroid – a region that hasn’t been exposed to the interstellar medium or the solar wind.

This trickier task involved firing a 2.5kg object at high speed into the asteroid from a safe distance and then briefly landing to collect the material.

The samples will allow a detailed look at asteroid composition, giving us some idea of where they might have come from and whether they are capable of carrying life. This is important as it could provide evidence for or against the panspermia theory – the idea that life exists throughout the universe, and is spread by asteroids and meteorites.

Magnetic Mars The China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) plans for 2020 are extensive. One of their most ambitious projects is a Mars rover – despite having not sent an orbiter to Mars to date.

The rover is aimed for launch in the summer, and should arrive in 2021. It has ground penetrating radar to give a view of the internal structure of Mars. This type of radar is also planned for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, due to launch in July. A combination of subsurface information from multiple sites and rovers will boost our knowledge of how Mars was formed.

Mars 2020 is set to be the first in a series of missions which will eventually return samples of Martian soil to

Earth. The rover will also be measuring the climate and magnetic conditions of Mars. The planet lacks a global protective magnetic field, which leaves its atmosphere vulnerable to the effects of the solar wind.

ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Rover, Europe’s first ever attempted landing of a rover on the red planet, is also scheduled to launch in July. The rover will carry a suite of instruments designed to look for signs of past and present life on Mars. It will include a large drill which can burrow down to two metres to extract samples from well beneath the surface. Here, delicate organic structures are much better protected from the harsh radiation environment of the Martian surface.

A close up look at our star In February, ESA will be launching a flagship solar mission: Solar Orbiter.

This spacecraft will join NASA’s Parker Solar Probe as a dedicated close range solar observatory.

While not getting as close to the Sun as Parker, the Solar Orbiter will still spend much of its life well inside the orbit of Mercury, enduring temperatures of hundreds of degrees.

It will also, by way of numerous gravity assists from Venus, incline its orbit by up to 30° – enabling its array of instruments to peer at higher latitude regions of our star. It will conduct detailed observations of the sun’s magnetic field, and the outflow of plasma into the surrounding solar system called the solar wind.

These higher latitude observations should help scientists to more fully understand the magnetic solar activity cycle, which is still not fully understood.

It is also hoped that by observing active regions in detail that extreme space weather event prediction can be improved. theconversation.com

PAGE 12, Monday, January 6, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

GRAND BAHAMA TRIO DENY SHOP BREAKING CHARGES

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THREE men were charged in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court last week with several offences, including shopbreaking, stealing and causing damage.

Leonardo Hall, 22, and Ken Barrington Webb, 21, both of Hunters, and

Warren Tracey Taylor, 21, of Pinder’s Point were charged with two counts of shop breaking, two counts of causing damage and one count of stealing from a shop in connection with an incident reported to police on December 23, 2019.

The trio pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the matters were adjourned.

They were remanded in

custody at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until March 16 for trial.

Stephen Archer, aka Warren Johnson, 54, of Pinedale, Eight Mile Rock, was also arraigned on four counts of stealing from a vehicle and three counts of causing damage.

He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to three consecutive months

in prison. Archer was also ordered to pay damages of $305 and to serve six months in prison.

If he fails to compensate the complainants, Archer will serve one year in prison.

In a separate matter, a Freeport woman was charged with receiving.

Immacula Jones, 64, of Hearne Lane, Freeport, pleaded not guilty to three

Obrien Reckley, 26, of Murphy Town, Abaco, appeared before Magistrate Gwendolyn Claude. He was not required to enter a plea to the attempted murder charge.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on Monday, December 23, 2019 in West End, Grand Bahama.

The case was adjourned to March 5.

counts of receiving. The charges stem from an incident reported to police on December 27, 2019 where four government vehicles were broken into and batteries stolen.

The matter was adjourned to April 29.

Meanwhile an Abaco man was recently charged in the Eight Mile Rock Magistrate’s Court with attempted murder.

BAIL FOR MAN ACCUSED OF HELPING ANOTHER KILL

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

12, 2018. In doing so, appellate Justices Jon Isaacs, Roy Jones and Sir Michael Barnett reversed a Supreme Court judge’s decision not to grant McPhee bail.

As part of his bail conditions, McPhee is ordered to be outfitted with an electronic monitoring device and required to report to the Elizabeth Estates Police Station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday before 6pm.

He is also prohibited from coming into contact

A MAN charged with helping another man kill a teenaged father in 2018 has been granted bail ahead of his trial by the Court of Appeal.

The appellate court granted Charvis McPhee Jr $20,000 bail ahead of his trial to answer allegations that he helped Travis Thompson murder Stantavio Ramsey on November

with any Crown witnesses in the matter, be it personally or otherwise.

According to police reports, shortly after 5pm on November 12, 2018, Ramsey, 19, was walking on Watlins Street off Andros Avenue when he was approached by a man with a firearm, allegedly Thompson, who opened fire before running away.

Ramsey, who was shot in the process, was taken to hospital by paramedics, but later died.

FAMILY REVEAL THAT BODY OF FISHERMAN HAS BEEN FOUND

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

Force Superintendent Shanta Knowles reported on Friday that police on Andros found a body of an adult male and a 19ft Mako boat, about 18-20 miles off Morgan’s Bluff, Andros.

Superintendent Knowles said: “The police are awaiting an autopsy report to confirm the identity and exact cause of death.”

Authorities reported that on Christmas Day Mr Fitzgerald and Ryan Russell from Lowe Sound,

FAMILY of fisherman Harold Fitzgerald have reported that his body has been found, The Tribune understands.

A source close to the family said the 49-yearold’s body was found on Thursday evening. The source added the family is “doing okay”, but it was “a big loss for everyone”.

Royal Bahamas Police

Andros left on a fishing trip. Mr Fitzgerald’s stepson, Kortney Cartwright, told The Tribune the men were last seen leaving for the Northwest Channel Light on a 25ft white open hull Mako, single engine 200 HP. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force was assisting in the search.

The two were expected to return by 6pm on the holiday.

Investigations are continuing.

POLICE HUNT FOUR ROBBERS

POLICE are looking for four men who broke into a home on Kemp Road on Saturday morning and stole cash, hair weave and other items.

The robbery occurred shortly after 7am Saturday when the four armed men entered a home at Taylor Alley, Kemp Road, held the occupants

at bay and robbed them of cash, hair weave and other items, before running away, police said.

The next day, shortly before 1am, Sunday a woman was walking on East Street South when she was approached by two men, one armed with a firearm, who robbed her of her hand bag containing

cash and other items before speeding away.

Mobile Division officers quickly responded to this incident and intercepted a white Suzuki Swift on Sapodilla Boulevard. One man escaped however, the driver, a 29-year-old male resident of Faith Avenue was taken into custody.

‘NO NEW TRAVEL WARNING’

THE United States Embassy in Nassau has issued a statement refuting social media reports of a new travel warning for the Bahamas, stressing there has been no change since previous advisories.

“The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a global measles outbreak notice on January 3, which

triggered an automatic update to the CDC’s travel warning for the Bahamas and other countries,” a US Embassy spokesman said.

“We are aware of messages circulating on social media and WhatsApp characterising this notice as a new travel warning. These messages are misleading.

Actually there is no change to the CDC’s September

The Tribune

travel warning for the Bahamas.”

The January 3 notice from the CDC warned travellers that parts of the Bahamas, including the Abacos and Grand Bahama, “have been severely affected by Hurricane Dorian” noting “US residents should avoid nonessential travel to affected parts of the Bahamas.”

A1MAIN

Established 1903

WEDNESDAY

SUSPECTED PROBE ged The privileDROWNING The Tribune Established 1903

i’m lovin’ it!

HIGH 88ºF LOW 73ºF

4 No.118, MAY

VOLUME:11

TRIBUNE NEWS ON REAKING

4 No.208, SEPTEMBER

11TH, 2017

THE PEOPLE’S

PAPER: $1

20TH, 2017

VOLUME:11

242.COM

t!

Biggest And Bes

24/7 B

242.COM

t!

Biggest And Bes

HIGH 92ºF LOW 78ºF

A1MAIN

THURSDAY

TRIBUNE EWS ON AKING N 24/7 BRE

i’m lovin’ it!

OBITS

$1

BUSI NESS

: KARA WAN

AS ATLA NTIS LEAV ES ROLE

CEO

The eeTrikbenudne arrived. The man was taken to paramedics

OFFICIAL SOURCE

INSIDE

A1MAIN

TORCHED!

CLASSIFIED TRA

DER: CARS, CAR

S, CARS & TECH

OH, AND THERE’S AN ELITE WATER LIST TOO

FRIDAY

NEW Providence police are investigating the circumstances surrounding an alleged drowning.

Shortly after 2pm last Thursday, an adult black male was rescued from waters ide win roars to landslBay, West Bay Street, by onPLPGoodman’s fired as FNM concerned citizens who begin CPR until Photo: Terrel

es Revealed: Nam list and on the eliteowed what they

not be officials could T to press time. reached up

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 period. Mr to for some $60,000 obtained a list a three-month PLP Mount according to

by The Tribune.and Collec- Forbes, former MP, was appointed The Credit 2015, listing of Moriah in January the Cabinet to tions Department as board and served MPs, senators the period and previouslythe Bahamas of for members 31, revealed chairman and Industrial ending July State Minister Agricultural . not that former Works Corporation “do of the 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, Miller, Leslie 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 other former day, and the

T

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 provider as on initiate a crackdown accounts. delinquent told The Mr Gibson l “confidentia Tribune the 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 owing excessive or face debts to resolve n. disconnectio a list confi“There is the Long dential list,” 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 being it’s 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

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”

e Staff

W. Carey/Tribun

ing

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

CHRISTIE AS HE 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 The FNM’s won five. lysing blow Party last night, years the Centreville PROJECTED watch, Bahamians his from 9 YOUR his seat in last night by Christie a rocky five PAGE to fear Mr Christie sive Liberal challengIn 2012, have nothing , pointing to despite conPrime Minister constituency representing 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 “unconstitu ultimately according consecutive is MORE COVERAGE and of years, party He defeated “wrong”.

PAGES 2-18 positions the post 2,950 votes. moral” and to unofficial tured to fear”. ficial results. candidate Ella removal from has held Opsomething to thousands of According able his 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 to that he will fourth prime Bastianto probe how taxpay- istration Department re- mine - the victory lost his seat thousands statement about speak told needs Minister not election full Movement Mr Christie did carThe Bahamas’ at GovernDr Minnis not release 5pm Free National packed on the with the last 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 they night us now and ter Fort Charlotte

By RASHAD Reporter told him wonderful the party wouldwinning the behind a has Staff repeatedly leadTribune the party 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 who ICED TEA “the party resign as leader Mr Sears, Mr Christie.

Free NaChristie to Liberal in choosing to lose to the Al- jected Movement’s (FNM) of the Progressive last night, the tional Party (PLP) said he saw Sears fred

DAMIAN GOMEZ $3,413

OBIE 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

PUT SOUTH ISLANDS T ON MARIA ALER

POLICE LAUNCH E FOX HILL OFFENSIV

i’m lovin’ it!

HIGH 91ºF LOW 80ºF

W

THE PEOPLE’S

No.215, SEPTEMBER

29TH, 2017

MEAL

65 9

SANDWICH

Incl. VAT

KING.BS

ASSAU

/BURGERKINGN

29, 2017

FOR THE CURE Page 21

Living the dream

From Andros to the

WEEK END: A

JOUR NEY WHIC

H FULFI LLED

A MAN’ S DREA

boardroom Interview, pages 4&5

MS

TO RESIGN AS URGES CHRISTIE

HURRICANE

PARTY LEADER

INSURANCE:

?

Are you Covered

Covering The Bahamas for 40 years.

Nobody Does it

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 Detecwe the Maria 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 Prime was spared gang activity in the morning, of mas Friday Hubert Minnis of the Bahamas the number try, reducing TWO PAGE Minister Dr those of SEE and is urging residents be vigilant islands to

Better!

MENT INSURANCE MANAGE (BAHAMAS)

LIMITED. INSURANCE

BROKERS &

AGENTS

om

ntBahamas.c

ceManageme

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

Photo: Yontalay

Nassau & Bahama

Islands’ Leading

Nassau & Bahama

Islands’ Leading

Newspaper

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 unacfailing administrati regime as SEE PAGE SIX they had tration for with the Christie public service ceptable”, warning “in great known weaknesses hiring of new that period. put The Bahamas necessary urgency. workers during danger”.

Trib- FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS told Carl Bethelhe had been une Business

Newspaper

Nassau & Bahama

Islands’ Leading

Newspaper

r s of no maste The Tribune

ma ar to the dog e sw to d n u o Being b The Tribune The Tribune A1MAIN

Established 1903

t!

Biggest And Bes

i’m lovin’ it!

HIGH 84ºF LOW 70ºF

4 No.103, APRIL

VOLUME:11

The Tribune

242 TRIBUNE NEWS ON REAKING

24/7 B

FRIDAY

.COM

20TH, 2017

OBITS

Established 1903

i’m lovin’ it!

HIGH 91ºF LOW 81ºF

4 No.202, SEPTEMBER

t!

Biggest And Bes

24/7 B

THE PEOPLE’S

PAPER: $1

12TH, 2017

VOLUME:11

N

UNLIVEABLE

WOME N OF SUBST

ANCE AND BEAUT

Y TAKE ON

- SEE WOMA THE UNIVE RSE

TRADER: CAR

S, CARS, CAR

INSIDE

S & TECH

Fitzgerald sought millions from Baha Mar

CLASSIFIED

2.COM

SEE LEAKED EMAILS INSIDE

ated Minister’s repe contracts requests for sed and deals expo

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 ever Environmen told rehe Kenred Dorsett the site that porters at “sabotage” in said suspected He the fire. relation to the team he “instructed”to have the of firefighters “before and blaze extinguished today day” nomination Baha Mar’s certainly before Friday. opening on started shortly The blaze and Wednesday after 3am officEvans said Chief Supt battle the fire to but ers expect another day for at least “huge” a is wind he said the factor.

SEE PAGE SIX

ROBERTS: PEET A ‘POLITICAL ENEMY’ FOR ANDROS BID

GATION SPECIAL INVESTI A TRIBUNE medical treatment.

SIVE Liberal were obtaineda from a ther’s PROGRES The emails Bradley EMAILS leaked following of China Con- by The Tribune Party Chairmanout at his highdata breach (CCA) Roberts lashed story in December of CCA struction America’s colleague Vinthat from the breach former party night, accusservers show2013, Jerome lighting by a San Francisco cent Peet last North Anto servers China Construction as early as was seeking ing the former Islands MP hacker.

Fitzgerald of dollars eventually paid 24 bitcoins dros and Berry enemy” $24,000) secure millions trucking, and (the equivalent of of being a “political an independin brokerage, to their servat Baha who mounted because he to have access it aplimousine contracts showing a resat in Cabinet ers restored; however, ent campaigna nomination forwarded leaked emails Mar while he of Educathat emails ONE of the Education, Sciwas denied party.

Minister of as the Minister and Tech- pears relating to personnel quest from or d, Jerome Fitzgerald. from the governing tion, Science Tribune has to, to PLP supcompromise ence and Technology Speaking at CCA were in The in North at Baha nology, The top officials for Limolink encour- porters at a rally Mr Robnot his agent the despite learned. night, they were at You are last which contradict saying with Andros Bahamas. from is war” as faThe emails this week de- Mar clientele a reference by the hack if erts said “this writes, “I limousine company was vote aged to get of Viacom Minister, who his office to concerned the crowd toPerry Mr Fitzgerald matime. the president feel free he urged Dr nied ever using to himself the an email dated May 18, am aware that interior arrive miliar. with regard the you wish. Please In for incumbent that a vote “Also Izmirlian terials have began to really we direct contracts me personally adding business from the mul- 2013, sent to Mr the to contact with contact Gomez, hotel. I would or his family resort. is a vote for be limousine meet with or have your agents Mr Fitzgerald, Cur- for the for Mr Peet Movement. it if we couldbro- are ready to he ti-billion dollar - the Pro- by our Managing Porter, Shelly appreciate anytime,” Free National Mr Porter Mr Fitzgerald Party MP QuentinAlarice Fill copied, appointed your official your people SEE PAGE SIX his Director directly.” tis and 1st 2013.” writes. gressive Liberal we really & THREE ker for June appears also Mr Fitzgerald indicates request a TWO indicated “As cusSEE PAGES for Marathon start brokerage $20,000 He then makesfor limouto highend for readiness to only cater to be requesting official Baha Mar’s and trucking services and of Mr Izmirlian Baha Mar, tomers and are the project a month from Sarkis services at of Baha Mar of re- sinehe touted the level original developer the ex- the as the brokers citing remain Izmirlian, were necessary for the property. penses that cost of his fa- cord to cover the Healthcare hisMarsh Harbour a tortured ROLLE Centre has missed deadBy RASHAD Reporter tory, one of of shoddy Tribune Staff emedia.net lines and claimsall without rrolle@tribun ip, ity. of- workmansh ENT clear accountabil GOVERNM ed the anyThe facility’s original bankrupt. ficials commissionHealththe contractor went of Marsh Harbour n in Abaco yesConstructio care Centre centre began it as a longIngraham terday, touting to the island healthcare under the former awaited boost on. adminisin and the Christie Health administrati Christie adhealth centre When the e Staff tours the new tration’s National came to power, RASPBERRY Perry Christie the W. Carey/Tribun Insurance plans. and Ado- ministration renovating Photo: Terrel ICED TEA PRIME Minister it spent $1m Like the Child SEE PAGE SIX Abaco yesterday.

Robert Smith lescent and that was the (CARS) Complex year, ed last commission

OPENS AT LAST HEALTH CENTRE MARSH HARBOUR

be abandoned.

it must Hurriis so devastated the island as Ragged Island remained on home has with those whohomes last week. “Every The en Rag- discussion battered their has been destroyed. has been health facility WIPEOUT: on storm-strick Min- cane Irma Prime teachers’ residence no water. destroyed. The and safety conditions to deteriorate, urged the 18 been has been destroyed. The is no light. There is HEALTH he smell the 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 stench of dead of the individuals remaining residentsIrma, which has them REPORT that we get of rubble and SPECIAL health conditions Russell, math of Hurricane it’s essential there to piles Words: Khrisna W Carey teriorate and Dr Minnis said. most structures the only Pictures: Terrel island unlivable. Dr Minnis off this island,” reluctant to leave here,” endered the n for Dr Hubert Prime Minister

Weekend

i’m lovin’ it!

$1

OFFICIAL SOURCE

A1MAIN

24 TRIBUNE NEWS ON REAKING

A1MAIN

Established 1903

WEDNESDAY HIGH 85ºF LOW 69ºF

HIGH 92ºF LOW 79ºF Volume:114

No.152, JUNE

30th, 2017

W1WEEKEND

THE PEOPLE’S

4 No.99, APRIL

VOLUME:11

PAPER: $1

Friday, June 30, 2017

entertainment puzzles film fashion gardening art books theatre

Weekend

BAHAMIAN PROJECT Pages 20&21

Picture perfect Seniors go big for

RS IN WEEK END: SENIO

N ARRIV ES

prom Fashion, pages 14&15

Christie denies ai cl ms on spending

THE SPOTL IGHT

AS PROM SEASO

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 a voted out last month, toric fashion Mr Chrishis visibly troubled of portions tie detailed with his last conversation and longfriend childhood colleague on time political Thursday.

Centreville The former Nottage as Dr MP saw “fought tehis someone who throughout naciously” he loved and life for thosetrait he said he a supported, up to their saw on display . last conversation PAGE SIX SEE

IS • FORMER PM BY DAVIS TRIBUTE TO LEGACY OF ‘DISAPPOINTED’ FNM ALLEGATIONS COLLEAGUE • SAYS GOVT DID NOTHING WRONGT OVER $8M PAYOU REVIEW • CALLS FOR ENTS OF DOCUM

ROLLE

By RASHAD Reporter Tribune Staff emedia.net rrolle@tribun Nottage’s DR Bernard forever be will “footprints the Bahamian etched on tal landscape” developmen work as a forthrough his of the Bahamer president of Athletic mas Association s, the Bahamas Association , the Medical Association and as a afMinDoctors’ Union for consumer and FORMER Prime rethe minister health to accept ister Perry Christie a defeat, was as I did when I fairs, education, Opposifor it arrears, into pictured yesterday. W. national security, who was in sponsibility response to Photo: Terrel Philip “Brave” airport tenant described recent resigned,” he said in levelled e Staff tion Leader Carey/Tribun Wednesday. died Mr Christieby the government as questions on the criticism said on from accusations recent Davis in misfeaon 71, administrati e spending, moves made by a party pandering at his administrati Dr Nottage, the Cleveof irresponsibl WELLS at a “misstep” thought

By RICARDO Reporter Wednesday He will receive sance and cronyism. that weeks. never any he was “disap- to its base. acceptmaintained Tribune Staff “There was land Clinic.

He also said allegations being in arrangenemedia.net that I was degree relating Mr Christie by the rwells@tribu gova state funeral announced, documents s would on my part y for any Per- pointed”around by the new be a review of irrements to ing responsibilit Prime Minister tossed matters that to these two controversie the press secon of any whatsoever of criminality, FORMER as according to Office of the the notion administrati yesterday condemned ernment concerning his last term absolve his and prove that much sponsible spending andbare’ is just ry Christie retary for the Minnis administra- transpired during Minister, Anthony wrongdoing rhetoric is as noth- that ‘the cupboard is efforts by the his government in minister.

Prime from prime at accusations of the FNM’s “political slogans.” tion to portray as he challenged Newbold. political slogans.”

Hitting back Minnis adminislight, SEE PAGE SIX ing more than challenges I have the SEE PAGE THREE a negative leader to carry out a members of the controvergovern“One of the the nation’s te examination of the who led the $8m to tration concerning of more thanclean up as the person led the government “dispassiona sial pay out and who record”. interview at one vendor for hurricane to an ment off of $1.2m During a lengthy home on Thursand the write his Cable Beach defended his day, Mr Christie

- BUT SOME DEADLINE TODAY NDING DISCLOSURES OUTSTA

$

20

ANY LARGE PIZZA SPECIALTY

(INCL. VAT)

TASTE INDULGE YOUR

BUDS.

UNE ON TRIB G NEWS

242.COM

t!

Biggest And Bes

i’m lovin’ it!

A1MAIN

THURSDAY

TUESDAY

Bowe

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 are I have to make and his a baby. I could my “As a mother, I really nant.and her unborn infantmake Hubert Minnis couldn’t answer “He’s right now just for because her also will take all mothers can stop this,” Patricia Minnis that consumed breath be right here. They well and we sure the to believe mothers who was tearful both 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 after she grieved of them at from the safety who was still with look almost shoot (the house) with would’ve delivered most knowing we cradle basis to ensure infant.” year-old Eugene, men we are to me with regular 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 a gynaecologi we day this ain’ carry one ing me they she cried between What Minnis, message in they black “The “Why wear a baby.” tried to what’s happening 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 bullet a stray as he was shot by did his homework. he Monday as

VIDEO OF PM’SAT VISIT ONLINE OM TRIBUN E242.C

EXUMA ELEUTHERA 242.336.2304 ABACO 242.332.3211 GRAND BAHAMA NEW PROVIDENCE 242.350.3500 242.367.4204 242.394.5555

www.Insuran

Then give up Eugene’s killer

OMY AG WARNS ECON ER’ IN ‘GRAVE DANG

799

Friday, September

Weekend

e n u b i r T e h T

ALFRED SEARS

WWW.BURGER

PAPER: $1

gardening art theatre music film books fashion food culture RACE

hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. the Watch Foul play is not suspected at this time, - every filmhowever, an autopsy will be performed to agonising, determine the exact cause of death, police nching, wre ful second. awsaid.

Volume:114

AKIN 24/7 BRE

THE PEOPLE’S

PAPER: $1

12TH, 2017

IT’S MAY 10

SPORT S: REGUL

ATORS TAKE THE

LEAD IN MPBA

CHAM PIONS HIP

SERIES

Prime Minister rings the bellrace for election

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 Perry solved,”seat in the House of “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 dethe ing so, en live at the came mowho will form Prime Minister, Commis- ciding of the BahaPolice government five years. ments after Greenslade, for the next that mosioner Ellison as provost mas make “You will what ns in his capacity decision in pray proclamatio marshal, readHouse of As- mentous hope and fair elecoutside the Governor Gen- I earnestly be free and Pin- will following a spirited sembly from Marguerite Let tions eral Dame Parliament. peaceful campaign. dling dissolving said he is but the forthcoming Mr Christie election will us contestwith all the vigour confident the and will fol- elections command.” fair at our be free and and peaceful SEE PAGE TWO low a spirited is consistent campaign that political with this country’s

TERED 170,000 HAVE REGIS NG DAY AHEAD OF POLLI

with correctnow engaged the voter ROLLE ing and editing it of its

By RASHAD Reporter register, ridding Tribune Staff ised errors. emedia.net much-public enough staff to rrolle@tribun “We have “We 170,000 peo- do this,” Mr Hall said.certiJUST over sure it’s to vote have to make after tople have registered 10 general elec- fied some 14 daysdate.” for the May ry Com(Tuesday’s) tion, Parliamenta Hall said day’s accordance with the In Elections missioner Sherlyn ry pubParliamenta yesterday. what he de- Act, Mr Hall will give of This follows election in a “mad rush” notice of the week, statscribed as to vote lic this connewspapers people registering last day of ing the date, place in when the on Monday, and times registration. 172,000 peo- stituencies papers must be There were to vote in the nomination delivered. ple registeredelection.

THREE PAGE SEE 2012 general ry Regis The Parliamenta Department istration

THE ELECTION

race is under

ARCHER PLP IS OMAR CONVICTED ARCHDEACON SAYS ITS LIFE’ OVER THREATS ‘FIGHTING FOR

way - as pictured

MINNIS CALLS FOR ON DECK ALL HANDS VIRGIL

in this cartoon

from Jamaal

Rolle.

host JOHNSON Deal” with

By LAMECH Reporter “The Real

By KHRISNA Reporter A BROWN Ortland Bodie, Archdeaet Tribune Staff Deputy Chief bunemedia.n

By SANCHESK said this elecnemedia.net Reporter con Palacious “difficult” for ljohnson@tri kvirgil@tribu et Tribune Staff Sr was tion will be and the FNM Move- sdorsett@tribunemedia.n of OMAR Archer both the PLP is no FREE National convicted Dr Hubert N Archdea- and at this point there how yesterday senment Leader to harm a ANGLICA gauge said said the threatening way to “properlygo.”

Minnis yesterday“all hands con James Palacious officer through need that the Progres- the results will came one ior police his social media FNM will vote the Pro- yesterday Party appears a post to two years ago.

His comments on deck” to Party gov- sive Liberal its life” Deputy Prime nearly he to be “fighting for neither day after Phillip “Brave” page 45-year-old Nassau gressive Liberal of office as that The ernment out Day, May and predicted party nor the Ministerpredicted that the Village resident appeared the Davis in governing heralded Election bring seats the SEE PAGE SEVEN Movement that will will win 30 10, as a day Free Nationalseats in next PLP SEE PAGE TWO 30 change. spoke dur- will wingeneral election. at month’s Dr Minnis on conference as a guest ing a press Appearing THREE SEE PAGE

ES OVER BPL BANNISTER WORRITHE LIGHTS ON ABILITY TO KEEP

energy. solar, to produce of agreeof Works The heads the governMINISTER said challenges, Desmond Bannister ment requires to “address concerns” pressed certain and BPL delayed today marks which he suggestedof docu- he has “serious Power and ment and consistent WHILE with Bahamas to “keep the reliable of electricity on the for both sitsubmission the deadlineformer parlia- the tell- supply Providence, Light’s ability are chal- lights on this summer,” of island of New ting and to file financial ments. the abiliAmong these the lack will include finans mentarians Public Discloing The Tribuneprevent the whichmeet the requirement with obtaining may ty to disclosures, Chair- lenges from spouses, cial records in situations reliability from fulfilling of the project.” sure Commission the instalLaroda told requireoper- government This involves supporting man Myles yesterday that particularly Mar all the necessary they may have all to lation “of The Tribunestill some that wherebank accounts prior ments in the Baha re necessary ated there were He said there heads of agreement.he is al- infrastructu g”. that SEE PAGE FIVE are “outstandin yesterday, to marriage. some unwilling-n He added new, alIn an interview in his dis- was also “looking at apprehensio ready and said ways,” including Mr Laroda some persons ness SEE PAGE THREE ternative cussions with to make who are required they exthe disclosures,

Nassau & Bahama

Islands’ Leading

A1MAIN

Minnis warns

Newspaper

une Established 1903

799

MEAL

65 9

SANDWICH

Incl. VAT

.BS

ASSAU

/BURGERKINGN

lands’ Leading

Newspaper

MONDAY

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, January 6, 2020, PAGE 13

PICTURE SPECIAL ON RBPF’S ANNUAL CHURCH SERVICE Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

PAGE 14, Monday, January 6, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Trump threatens war

President vows to strike back hard as Iran puts $80m bounty on his head

WASHINGTON Associated Press

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has warned that the US will ‘strike back’ harder at Iran if it retaliates against over the killing of military leader Qasem Soleimani.

“These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any US person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner,” Trump tweeted yesterday afternoon.

“Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!”

The president broke his silence after returning to Mar-a-Lago from his golf resort and took a hit at lawmakers and politicians who have criticised him for not notifying or consulting Congress before directing the attack.

Trump ordered an air strike on an Iraqi airport in Baghdad, which took out Soleimani – who was classified by the Obama administration as a terrorist.

The attack came just days after protesters who support Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia raided on New Year’s Eve the US embassy in Iraq, which has never been breached before.

Several US politicians have questioned whether the attack was warranted and have said they haven’t seen enough intelligence to warrant the action. Trump said he ordered the killing because Soleimani had ordered attacks on Americans in the Middle East.

Iran has since placed an $80m bounty on Trump’s head and threatened to attack the White House in response to the president’s warning that any strike on American interests in the region will bring massive retaliation.

An organiser for a funeral procession for General Qassem Soleimani called on all Iranians to donate $1 each ‘in order to gather an $80m bounty on President Trump’s head’.

Iran has also announced it they will no longer abide by any of the limits of its 2015 nuclear deal. A statement issued by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s administration said the country will not observe limitations on its enrichment, the amount of stockpiled enriched uranium as well as research and development in its nuclear activities.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conducted a round of TV interviews yesterday to explain President Trump’s action, saying the administration would have been “culpably negligent” in its duty to protect the United States if it had not killed Soleimani.

“We watched him continue to actively build out for what was going to be a significant attack – that’s what we believed – and we

IRAQ VOTES TO EXPEL US TROOPS BAGHDAD Associated Press

A US Marine, part of a quick reaction force, carries a sand bag during the reinforcement of the US embassy in Baghdad. Top right: Iranian exiles in Washington show support for US airstrike. made the right decision,” he said, adding later: “We continue to prepare for whatever it is the Iranian regime may put in front of us within the next 10 minutes, within the next 10 days, and within the next 10 weeks.”

Congressional Democrats were skeptical. “I really worry that the actions the president took will get us into what he calls another endless war in the Middle East. He promised we wouldn’t have that,” said Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate’s top Democrat.

Schumer said Trump lacks the authority to engage militarily with Iran and Congress needs a new war powers resolution “to be a check on this president.” To which Pompeo said: “We have all

the authority we need to do what we’ve done to date.”

It was unclear whether the administration would attempt a back door communication with Iran in pursuit of its stated goal of “de-escalation” of tensions.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus, an ex-CIA director and former commander of US forces in Iraq, said he believes the administration needs a strategy for tamping down the chances of all-out war.

“The real question for the US is, will there be a diplomatic initiative that says, OK, look, this is not headed in a good direction.

We want to de-escalate. Everyone is going to lose if this continues to ratchet upward. Can we now sit down and talk,” Petraeus said.

Joe Biden said Trump was illprepared for the repercussions of the strike on Soleimani and had alienated allies by not alerting them of the plans. “I think we need a president who could provide steady leadership on Day One,” he said. “The next president is going to inherit a divided nation and a world in disarray.”

Pete Buttigieg said: “When you’re dealing with the Middle East, you need to think about the next and the next and the next move. This is not checkers. And I’m not sure any of us really believe this president are “really going through all of the consequences of what could happen next.”

Charlie Harper - Page 9 and Tribune View - Page 4

‘US MILITARY WILL PAY THE PRICE’ THE leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, said the US military across the region “will pay the price” for killing a top Iranian general, saying US bases, warships and soldiers in the Middle East were all fair targets. “When American troops return in coffins, when they come vertically and return horizontally to the United States of America, then Trump and his administration will

know that they lost the region and will lose the elections,” Nasrallah said. He added that US civilians in the region should not be targeted, because attacking them would play into President Donald Trump’s hands. Nasrallah spoke from an undisclosed location, and his speech was played on large screens for thousands of Shiite followers in southern Beirut, interrupted by chants of “Death to America!”

THE US military presence in the Middle East was thrown into jeopardy yesterday, as Iraq’s parliament voted to expel US troops from their country. The parliament voted in favour of a nonbinding resolution calling for the expulsion of US troops from their country in a move that could pave the way for a resurgence of the Islamic State group.

Asked whether the US would comply with a request for American troops to leave, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not answer directly, saying the US was watching the situation. But he added: “It is the United States that is prepared to help the Iraqi people get what it is they deserve and continue our mission there to take down terrorism from ISIS and others in the region.”

American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of the government to help battle IS after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.

A US-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces, including Iran-backed militias, regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign.

A pullout of US troops could could cripple the fight against the Islamic State and allow it to make a comeback. Militants affiliated with IS routinely carry out attacks in northern and western Iraq, hiding out in rugged desert and mountainous areas. Iraqi forces rely on the US for logistics and weapons.

AUSTRALIAN PM DEFENDS RESPONSE SURPRISES AS BIG-SCREEN EPICS TAKE TO FIRES AS WEATHER BRINGS RESPITE THE TOP HONOURS AT GOLDEN GLOBES SYDNEY Associated Press

CALIFORNIS Associated Press

COOLING temperatures and calmer winds yesterday brought some relief to Australian communities raked by wildfires, but the heat stayed on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to accept responsibility for the crisis and take action.

“There has been a lot of blame being thrown around,” Morrison said at a news conference. “And now is the time to focus on the response that is being made. ... Blame doesn’t help anybody at this time and over-analysis of these things is not a productive exercise.”

Morrison announced on Saturday that he would dispatch 3,000 army, navy and air force reservists to help battle the fires. He also committed 20 million Australian dollars to lease fire-fighting aircraft from overseas.

But the moves did little to tamp down the criticism that he had been slow to act, even as he has downplayed the need for his

THE 77th Golden Globes were meant to be a coronation for Netflix. Instead, a pair of big-screen epics took top honors Sunday, as Sam Mendes’ technically dazzling World War I tale “1917” won best picture, drama, and Quentin Tarantino’s radiant Los Angeles fable “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” won best film, comedy or musical.

The wins for “1917” were a surprise, besting such favorites as Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” (the leading nominee with six nods) and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”

Both are acclaimed Netflix releases but they collectively took home just one award, for Laura Dern’s supporting performance as a divorce attorney in “Marriage Story.” “The Irishman” was entirely shut out.

“1917” also won best director for Mendes. The film was made in sinuous long takes, giving the impression that the movie unfolds in one lengthy shot.

MILDER weather brought hope of a respite from wildfires government to address cli- flames. Nearly 2,000 homes mate change, which experts have been destroyed. In say played a key role in New South Wales alone, the supercharging the blazes. fires have killed nearly 500 As dawn broke over a million birds, reptiles and blackened landscape yester- mammals, Sydney Univerday, a picture emerged of sity ecologist Chris Dickman disaster of unprecedented told the Sydney Herald. scale. The New South Wales Australians know to Rural Fire Service said expect summer wildfires.

150 fires were active in the But the blazes arrived early state, 64 of them uncon- this year, fed by drought trolled. The fires have killed and the country’s hottest at least 24 people, includ- and driest year on record. ing a 47-year-old man who “It’s not something we died Saturday night while have experienced before,” trying to defend a friend’s New South Wales Premier home from encroaching Gladys Berejiklian said.

WINNER: Sam Mendes Though set around the 1969 Manson murders “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” was classified a comedy and thus had an easier path to victory than the more competitive drama category. Brad Pitt won for best supporting actor, his first acting Globe since winning in 1996 for “12 Monkeys,” padding his front-runner status for the Oscars. “I wanted to bring my mom, but I couldn’t because any woman I stand next to they say I am dating so it’d just be awkward,” Pitt said.

Netflix won only two awards: Dern’s win plus one for Olivia Colman’s

performance in “The Crown.” It was a definite hiccup for the streaming service, which is aiming for its first best-picture win at the Academy Awards next month. Instead, the awards were widely spread out among traditional Hollywood studios, indie labels like A24, cable heavyweights like HBO and relative newcomers like Hulu.

As always at the Globes, there were surprises. Taron Egerton, a regular presence on the awards circuit this year, won best actor in a comedy or musical for his Elton John in “Rocketman” — an honor many pegged for Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”).

But no upset was bigger than the one by “1917.” The timing was fortuitous for Mendes’ film. It expands nationwide on Friday.

Mendes appeared especially surprised winning best director.

“There is not one director in this room — not one director in the world — that is not in the shadow of Martin Scorsese,” the British filmmaker said.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, January 6, 2020, PAGE 15

PARK SET TO REOPEN

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE Lucayan National Park in East Grand Bahama could reopen in the next 10 days, according to a BNT official who reported that repair work has now started at the park which closed because of hurricane damage in early September.

Eric Carey, BNT executive director, said it will take about $250,000 to fully restore the LNP and the Rand Nature Centre in Freeport – the two most popular nature parks on Grand Bahama.

Although the Rand Nature Centre has undergone some repairs since Dorian and is now open for tours, the park’s furniture, appliances, and contents were destroyed by flooding during the storm.

On Friday, The Tribune received an update on the status of both parks. The 40-acre LNP consists of the longest underwater cave system in the world, elevated boardwalks through vast mangrove wetlands on the southern shore, and Gold Rock Beach – which was ranked among the top 10 beaches in the region.

According to Mr Carey, LNP sustained infrastructural damage to the pavilion on the north side where the guest reception centre was located. The boardwalks and signage were also damaged. “Lucayan National Park is a highly visited park in The Bahamas and visitors go there to see the caves and experience Gold Rock Beach,” he said.

Mr Carey said infrastructure of the caves and caverns are fine, but cleanup and debris removal are needed from the pavilion. “We also need power (out there) because we have compost toilets, and we are going to look at solar or generators,” he said.

He indicated that getting the boardwalk access restored to Gold Rock Beach is important as it is the main attraction for visitors. “We are repairing the mangrove boardwalk loop.

It has been uprooted in sections and we are making repairs and we expect to have it repaired in the

Photos: Ken Williams

next 10 days,” Mr Carey said. However, there is a major issue at the bridge boardwalk which is now cut off from the beach.

According to Mr Carey, a large area of forest that provided a transition zone between the broad walk and sand dunes has been washed away. “Where there was once a forest, there is now a lagoon that has cut off access to the beach,” he said.

Ellsworth Weir, BNT park manager for Grand Bahama, reported that the water level there is about 10ft at high tide. “At the bridge end of the boardwalk we lost the sand dune and access to the beach is now limited,” he explained.

“Our focus is now on LNP and the broad walks up there, he said. We are doing work now putting the informational displays back up and we are about

to start on the broad walk,” he said. Following preliminary assessments, BNT plans to extend or reroute the bridge to provide access to the beach east or west of the bridge, which is critical for tourists who visit the park.

Mr Carey stated that LNP is a vital ecosystem to the environment in Grand Bahama, but is also an important part of the island’s tourism product.

“We appealed to the government for funding, and have launched a video on our Facebook page,” he said. A Hurricane Dorian Restoration page has been established to attract donations to help with the recovery and restoration of the parks.

In Freeport, Mr Weir said the Rand Centre is open

and is now accommodating tours again. “At the Nature Centre we had flooding, but we have since changed all the Sheetrock and electrical outlets and painted it because we wanted to get it ready and open in time for Festival Noel, which was held on December 6,” he said.

“Since then, we’ve been having Bahamas Adventure come for tours with sometimes 60 to 70 people who walk the nature trails, view the animals, and learn about native flora and fauna,” he said. He added that furniture is needed to display items for exhibits.

Lucayan National Park receives some 30,000 guests a year. The Rand Nature Centre is home for the BNT’s operations in Grand Bahama and houses natural history exhibits and consists of 100 acres of pine forest.

Happy 75th Birthday To Teddy

From: All who love you.

Enjoy Your Day To God Be The Glory