01132023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

$170M RESORT PLAN IN EXUMA

Hundreds of jobs are expected in Torch Cay project

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Davis Administration signed a heads of agreement yesterday with PMR Bahamas for the development of an upscale resort and residential community for Torch Cay on Exuma’s southern tip, with a $170m investment planned.

The eight-to-12-year project is expected to provide hundreds of jobs in both its development and operational phases.

Planned features for

the mega resort include a marina, over 160 residential lots, an environmental research facility, an equestrian centre with 25 horse stables, a sustainable farm of over 50 acres, a beach club and spa, and an 18-hole golf course, all on the 707acre Torch Cay, also known as Hog Cay.

Prime Minister Philip Davis spoke yesterday at the Office of The Prime Minister about the specific impact this project will have on Exuma and the island’s residents.

PHARMACIES HOPE FOR END TO PRICE CONTROL AMENDMENTS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

PHARMACIES are voicing cautious optimism that their lower-margin price control regime could end as early as next Tuesday with the industry also pushing for a reduction in work permit fees.

Shantia McBride, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) president, yesterday said the

tone emerging from government this week was that the existing regime “should cease” by January 17, as set out in the mid-October order that implemented it. A similar message was delivered to association members and pharmacists yesterday, suggesting the agreement reached on November 3 was likely to end in line with its three-month lifetime.

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said yesterday the latest COVID-19 variant may be in the country, adding officials are still waiting for confirmation.

Dr Darville stressed that there is no need for “major panic” with COVID-19 currently or the implementation of any new restrictive measures. However, he said

SOAR

BERMUDA PLP TRIP COST ‘PAID IN FULL’

THE Progressive Liberal Party has fully reimbursed the Public Treasury for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ controversial trip to Bermuda last year, Press Secretary Clint Watson said yesterday.

“Yes,” he said, when asked about the issue during yesterday’s press briefing at the Office of the Prime minister. “That’s behind us.”

Mr Davis’ trip drew scrutiny in October after it was revealed that he spoke at a political convention for Bermuda’s ruling Progressive Labour Party.

He travelled to Bermuda with a delegation, including former Prime Minister Perry Christie, on October 19 and returned on October 20.

TAX CHIEF: MOST BUSINESSES NOT TELLING TRUTH ON TURNOVER

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Chinese

MISS Bahamas Angel J Cartwright takes part in the evening gown competition during the preliminary round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, in New Orleans, on Wednesday. The Miss Universe pageant takes place tomorrow.

Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP

THE GOVERNMENT’S tax collection chief yesterday voiced scepticism that fewer than 20 percent of businesses meet the VAT registration threshold, and demanded the private sector “be truthful”.

Shunda Strachan, the Department of Inland Revenue’s acting controller, said it will “this year be asking questions” amid suspicions that “most businesses don’t really report their true turnover” for Business Licence valuation purposes.

that COVID-19 still exists even if some restrictions have been lifted in the past.

Dr Darville made these observations after the

People’s Republic of China donated $170,000 worth of medical supplies to the Public Hospitals Authority yesterday to assist in the ongoing fight against COVID.

Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli presented the donation which included supplies of masks, oximeters, hospital trolleys, and shoe covers in three 40-foot container loads.

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Michael Darville.

in Exuma

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“A groundbreaking new residential community and the latest of so many exciting developments slated for our splendid and prosperous archipelago, located at the southernmost tip of the Exuma chain. Torch Cay represents a promising journey and 350 annual jobs throughout its two phases construction period, and a further 250, once operational,” Mr Davis said.

“I cannot wait to see this project and all its facilities come to fruition over the course of the next decade. This distinct forward-thinking community will serve as a valuable economic stimulus for the residents of Exuma and indeed the entire nation,” he said.

“Valuable jobs will be created, where they are

needed most. More visitors will flock to our shores and witness the magnitude of what we have to offer.

Local businesses will be bolstered, tax revenue will be generated and increased competition will raise our tourism product to even loftier heights,” he said.

“Partnerships with the private sector continue to play a key role in national development and Torch Cay is no exception,” he said.

“My administration means business. And in the midst of the multiple global crises, we are busy ensuring only the most outstanding and responsible enterprises take root. Tourism is the most crucial pillar of Caribbean economies like us. So I welcome the benefits of this multimillion-dollar development that it will bring to our number one industry to

the people and reputation of The Bahamas,” Prime Minister Davis said.

Chester Cooper, Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Investments, also present at the signing added: “This is for me, a personally gratifying day. Thirty years ago, there were more people living in Little Exuma than (there are) living there today. And this development will help us to get the critical mass that we need for the surrounding area.

“Thirty years ago, there were more students attending the Williamstown Primary School than (are) now attending that school,” Mr Cooper, Exuma and Ragged Island MP, said.

“Thirty years ago, when I attended the Forbes Hill All Age School, it was actually open, today it’s closed. So you see that there has been much movement. This

is going to create jobs. It’s going to create business opportunities. It’s going to allow people to come back to the island of Exuma, Little Exuma in particular, but it’s going to be good for the community and good for the social development of the area,” he said.

When asked about concessions made to the project developer as private partners for the project, Mr Cooper said: “There hasn’t been any exceptional concessions as it relates to this project. The property has been privately owned.

“There are standard incentives under the Hotels Encouragement Act, which will apply to this investment as it applies to every other investment. This developer has not asked for anything significant or exceptional outside of what the standard guidelines are under

the Hotels Encouragement Act,” Mr Cooper said.

Jay Penske, principal investor in the development from PMR Bahamas, broke down the timeline of the development project.

“The start date is now. There’s going to be multiple stages to the project. The goal is to have the marina built in the first three years, the golf course completed in the first 30 months. So that’ll be the full completion of the entire project. But there’ll be stages of multiple milestones much earlier after probably the three-year target is what we’re currently looking at,” Mr Penske said.

“We’ve seen the projects that have had a lot of talk in the Exumas and Little Exuma that have not gotten off the ground. We want to be one that sets a new

standard for this entire area and also that it gets done on a timeframe that gets people working and gets this economy restarted,” he said.

Mr Penske said that this development will use mostly solar power.

“It’d be one of the most ambitious solar projects, certainly in the Exumas and also in The Bahamas, generating over four megawatts of solar power. They’ll have standard diesel generators as backup, but the primary focus will be solar power generation and storage,” he said.

In addition, Philip Simmons, managing partner for PMR Bahamas, said: “The goal is, obviously, to have as many Bahamians in as many positions as possible.”

He added that preparation for the project started over a year ago.

from

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper at yesterday’s Heads of Agreement signing.

Freedom of Information ‘not on the shelf’ but no date yet

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRESS secretary Clint Watson said the Davis administration is still committed to full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, which, he said, is “in the process of being launched”.

“It is being implemented,” he said yesterday.

“The pilot stage is launching, and training is underway in the government agencies right now as we speak so it is in the process of being launched.

“It’s not just sitting on the shelf. The process is

taking place, training is taking place, the first stage is being launched. Yes, there is will power to do, it is something the prime minister said when I spoke to him this morning. He has the will power to see it fully implemented.”

Asked if he expects this to happen before the Davis administration completes its current term in office, Mr Watson was unable to say.

He added: “But, it’s happening. It’s not on a shelf. I repeat, it’s not on a shelf. It’s being implemented, but there are stages to the implementation before it’s

absolutely complete and that has started so this administration is actually beginning to bring freedom of information into play.”

This follows recent calls from Bahamas Bar Association president Khalil Parker for the government to move forward with fully implementing the Freedom of Information Act.

While Information Commissioner Keith Thompson said last September that Bahamians could expect to start making freedom of information (FOI) requests “soon”, this has yet to come to fruition.

Yesterday, Mr Watson was also asked when legislation to criminalise marital rape will be tabled in Parliament.

However, he could not give a timeline, noting that consultations on the proposed legislation are still ongoing.

On Wednesday, Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe told reporters officials are hoping to have consultations wrapped up regarding marital rape legislation in the next several weeks.

“The reason there’s no time frame on it is because we want to exhaust all

UDA PLP T IP COST ‘PAID IN FULL’

The travel later caused questions to surface, mostly from the opposition, as to who paid for the trip.

Responding to the FNM, Foreign Affairs Minister and PLP chairman Fred Mitchell said there was

nothing unusual about the trip and also insisted that it was a standard official visit to another country at the invitation of the Premier of Bermuda E David Burt.

But Communications Director in the Office of the Prime Minister Latrae Rahming had said earlier the

travel costs were covered by the PLP.

Days later, the party released a copy of a $24,000 cheque to the Public Treasury it said reflected payment from the organisation for the trip.

However, it did not cover the trip’s full cost, which

was estimated to be just under $60,000, according to Mr Watson yesterday.

“We’re trying to finalise the total amount. I think it’s close — from the records I have received — it’s just under $60,000 in total for the entire thing,” Mr Watson said.

O A ST D AFT UNS OTS AL T

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy was arrested after he was found with a high-powered weapon on Wednesday.

Shortly before 5pm, ShotSpotter technology alerted police that gunshots were being discharged in the Wilton Street area. Additionally, concerned residents notified police of a young boy armed with a firearm discharging gunshots.

“Officers sprang into action, saturated the surrounding area and arrested the teen in the area of West Avenue off Collins Avenue, without incident,” police said.

He was found with a loaded highpowered weapon containing over 20

rounds of ammunition.

“It is reported that prior to the 15-year-old being arrested, he was involved in a physical altercation with another male student.”

Police said their quick response prevented the loss of a life.

Officers are actively investigating and are urging parents to be more engaged with their children’s interactions.

Police are also searching for two male suspects responsible for the latest armed robbery that occurred sometime around 12.10am yesterday in the Carmichael Road area.

According to initial reports from

police, a woman was accosted by two armed men when she arrived home. They stole her handbag containing an undisclosed amount of cash and personal items. The suspects fled the area on foot through a nearby track road.

Police are also asking for the public’s help in locating a silver coloured 20-foot Scully boat that was stolen from Lighthouse Point after being secured sometime between 1am and 5am on Sunday and Wednesday.

Police appeal to anyone who may have information regarding the location of this vessel to contact their local police station, or 911/919.

avenues in addressing and looking at this proposed legislation,” Mr Watson added.

“He (Mr Wilchcombe) did say that they have another meeting with the Baptist community. They have called and requested another meeting, so that’s expected to happen. They also want to meet with the Christian Council to make sure there is clarity on the proposed legislation. That hasn’t happened as yet - so that’s why there’s no framework attached to it.”

He also responded to criticism that the government was relying too heavily on

the church for their views on marital rape.

“The meetings are not just with the church,” Mr Watson stressed. “Those are the meetings that are upcoming, but they are not the only meetings that they have met with. They have met with organisations. They have met with women’s groups. They have met with civic organisations so it’s not just lopsided as it appears by saying the Christian groups. Those may be the meetings that they have concluded with or having next, but it’s not only in the church. It’s been a well-rounded approach.”

Temple Christian High School will hold its Entrance Examination on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at the school on Shirley Street from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon for students wishing to enter grades 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Application forms are available at the High School Offce. The application fee is twenty-fve dollars ($25). Application forms should be completed and returned to the school by Friday, January 13, 2023.

For further information, please call telephone number: 394-4481/394-4484.

PRESS secretary Clint Watson speaking yesterday.

Photo: Moise Amisial

New COVID variant may be in country

When asked if the new Omicron variant called XBB 1.5 is in The Bahamas, Dr Darville said he suspected it was, however, he said confirmation is still needed.

“Well, samples have already been sent off for gene sequencing. It’s in the Caribbean, we have a very robust rebound of our tourism sector. I suspect that it is here, confirmation will be on the way because the samples were sent off to either Panama or Brazil,” he said.

In recent weeks more than a dozen countries, including the US, UK and other European nations, have announced new testing measures for passengers from China as the nation battles an outbreak of COVID-19.

US government officials have cited concerns over a lack of data on infections in China and fears about the possibility of new strains emerging, according to international reports.

Dr Darville said the government still has no plans to impose COVID-19 testing requirements for travellers coming from China after a surge in cases there.

“A few weeks ago, I made a statement as it relates to no restrictions for travel for the people from China or those coming from China. And our EOC and our technical team at the ministry still feel that there is no need to execute any major testing, or restrictions for travel coming into

the country,” he said.

“We are monitoring all the situations very closely at New Providence at our ports, our airports, as well as our Family Islands.

“And I can say that even though we’re seeing some cases here at the Princess Margaret Hospital. There’s no need for any major panic at this time or the implementation of any new restrictive measures,” Dr Darville said.

For her part, PHA Managing Director Dr Aubynette Rolle said the COVID-19 cases were currently under control in the hospital.

Ms Rolle said: “It is under control, we have moved those in isolated spaces that we call cohort spaces, so that there is control. And the reason why we had to open up (the) legacy (unit) to our colleagues, if you remember that we’re doing infrastructure works. And because of that now we have to open up that space. But, like the minister said, very shortly, the modular unit specific for any infectious disease will be here. The contractors are actually working to get those enabling civil works done.”

In terms of the bed shortage and limited space at Princess Margaret Hospital, Dr Darville explained that the hospital renovations are ongoing, adding that patients will soon be able to receive the care they need.

On January 3, Dr Darville said renovations at Princess Margaret Hospital were on target to be completed in the next several weeks.

O T ‘ O IN ON FA IL ISLAND FACILITI S’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said yesterday that officials are working actively to build and renovate health facilities in the Family Islands.

“We have pretty much

completed all of the architectural renderings for the new clinics that we plan to construct. And we have a very robust renovation plan for the existing clinics. The whole thing is to improve the quality of health care services throughout our Family Islands.

“By expanding services at the clinics, repairing those

clinics that are in disrepair. Bring in the proper highspeed internet access for fibre optic connectivity for telemedicine, and also to be able to deploy additional physicians and healthcare professionals throughout the Family Islands,” Dr Darville said.

Dr Darville told reporters that the ministry is using

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loans to facilitate the infrastructural upgrades throughout the Family Island clinics.

He explained that renovations are currently ongoing on the islands, adding that residents in due time will be able to benefit as far as health care is concerned.

Dr Darville said: “Renovations are ongoing as we speak on many of the Family Islands, there’s a few more that I intend to execute very shortly. And after those remedial renovations

are completed a lot of the renovations that are tied in with the new IDB loan will kick in. And once they kick in, the residents throughout the Family Islands could rest assured that we at the Ministry of Health, particularly with the delivery of primary health care services, intend to improve what exists.”

Dr Darville added that as officials begin to finalise purchasing ambulances for the islands people are being trained to be deployed to the Family Islands.

“PHA academy now is

training new ambulance specialists that we intend to deploy throughout the Family Islands. And the residents of the Family Islands could expect similar services for ground transportation that exist in New Providence and Grand Bahama, all a part of integrating it properly.

“And to be able to ensure that we get better medical outcomes when we integrate ground and air transport to bring those who do not have tertiary facilities to the capital or Grand Bahama to ensure that they are taken care of,” Dr Darville said.

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said there is a need for more health facilities on Exuma. Mr Cooper’s comments came after a boating accident occurred in the Exuma Cays on Monday that left eight people injured. He said the passengers were a group of employees who were on their way back to work. Five of the passengers were taken to New Providence for treatment and were currently doing well, he said.

Mr Cooper, the Exuma and Ragged Island MP, said the boating accident pointed out the need for the expansion of healthcare on the island, adding that he has been in discussions with the Minister of Health.

“Just like there are sometimes traffic accidents on the street, we sometimes have these most unfortunate accidents on the seas. We’re going to look to see what we can do to provide more lighting in some of these potentially dangerous areas. But I think it also highlights the need for more healthcare,” Mr Cooper said.

“And I’m already speaking, for quite some time now, with the Minister of Health about the development of new clinics in Black Point and Staniel Cay — those are actively on the drawing board. But the time has come where we need a doctor resident in the Exuma Cays,” Mr Cooper said.

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville.

Govt investigates after Abaco workers unpaid since September

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE government has launched investigations into allegations that a number of Bahamian workers contracted by an international company to do work at Baker’s Bay, Abaco, have not been paid since last September.

Press secretary Clint Watson confirmed that the matter is being probed during a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

He also said Prime Minister Phillip Davis was notified of the reports Thursday morning and immediately decided to get to the bottom of the issue.

The company in question is “doing some construction work for Bakers Bay, (Abaco)”, Mr Watson said.

But sources allege that the company was actually

contracted to do work for some homeowners at the exclusive resort.

The press secretary was unable to say how many workers in Abaco are allegedly owed money or confirm the amount that’s still outstanding.

“The Office of the Prime Minister has been in touch with representation from (the company in question) related to Bahamian workers not being paid for a significant period in Abaco,” he said.

“This is a story coming out of Abaco out of a company that has been operating there, but apparently has not been paying its staff since sometime last year. Today (Thursday), the prime minister was made aware of the complaint, but they can rest assured that the matter is being investigated.”

Mr Watson said he was told the company had

partnered with a local and a foreign investor for the project, but they were also assured that the government will not allow Bahamians to be taken advantage of if wrongdoing is found.

“This government will not allow foreign investors, or anyone for that matter, to take advantage of Bahamian workers and vendors,” he added, “and so the Prime Minister in a conversation this morning says now that he has been made aware today of what has been transpiring, he will intervene to ensure that there is resolution so we will continue to follow on this story and give an update on that.”

The Tribune reached out to the company in question about the allegations, but their representatives could not be reached for comment up to press time yesterday.

REPAIR

TO START THIS MONTH

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

DISASTER Reconstruction Authority executive chairman Alex Storr confirmed that the Small Homes Repair programme is set to begin this month with some 200 homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco.

“The next phase should be 100 homes on Grand Bahama and 100 homes in Abaco; those two combined, we are applying to the Ministry of Finance for about $1.6m,” he said, when contacted by The Tribune on Wednesday.

According to Mr Storr, DRA is hoping that all home repairs will be completed in the country before the next hurricane season.

Nearly 1,600 homes combined on both islands were identified for repairs as a result of assessments that were conducted by DRA.

“Our intention or goal

is to have all house repairs finished before the start of the next hurricane season,” Mr Storr said.

“We have an active plan - to get that achieved, and we should start implementing that in the next couple of days, if not weeks.

“After we went through and did our new assessment, I think the total is close to about 1,600 Abaco and Grand Bahama combined that have not been helped as yet.”

In addition to home repairs, Mr Storr also gave updates on other DRA projects on Sweeting’s Cay, Grand Bahama, and on Elbow Cay, Abaco.

He revealed that Sweeting’s Cay residents can expect a new septic system on that island.

“In Sweeting’s Cay, we are getting ready to install a septic system that has stopped so far those persons in Sweeting’s Cay from gaining their occupancy certificate, even though

some of them have already completed their repairs.

“So, we are hoping that would commence within another few days, and a contractor has been assigned to that,” Mr Storr said.

On Elbow Cay, he said that DRA has signed a contract for debris removal that will pave the way for the start of a major tourist development there.

“Right now, the debris site that was there is being cleared which is going to allow the investor who owned the property to begin his multi-milliondollar investment on that island.”

Regarding the Abaco community centre, Mr Storr added that a contract has been signed and work repairs have begun.

“I don’t know if they have resumed since the Christmas break, but we hope to have that completed by this summer,” he said.

ALEX STORR, executive chairman of the Disaster Reconstruction Authority.

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2022 among hottest years on record

EARTH’S fever persisted last year, not quite spiking to a record high but still in the top five or six warmest on record, government agencies reported yesterday.

But expect record-shattering hot years soon, likely in the next couple years because of “relentless” climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas, US government scientists said.

Despite a La Nina, a cooling of the equatorial Pacific that slightly reduces global average temperatures, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculates 2022’s global average temperature was 58.55 degrees (14.76 degrees Celsius), ranking sixth hottest on record. NOAA doesn’t include the polar regions because of data concerns, but soon will.

If the Arctic - which is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world - and Antarctic are factored in, NOAA said it would be fifth warmest. NASA, which has long factored the Arctic in its global calculations, said 2022 is essentially tied for fifth warmest with 2015. Four other scientific agencies or science groups around the world put the year as either fifth or sixth hottest.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said global temperature is “pretty alarming... What we’re seeing is our warming climate, it’s warning all of us. Forest fires are intensifying. Hurricanes are getting stronger. Droughts are wreaking havoc. Sea levels are rising. Extreme weather patterns threaten our well-being across this planet.”

Berkeley Earth, a non-profit group of independent scientists, said it was the fifth warmest on record and noted that for 28 countries it was the hottest year on record, including China, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany and New Zealand.

Another group, whose satellite-based calculations tend to run cooler than other science teams, said it was the seventh hottest year.

Last year was slightly toastier than 2021, but overall the science teams say the big issue is that the last eight years, from 2015 on, have been a step above the higher temperatures the globe had been going through. All eight years are more than 1.8 degrees warmer than

pre-industrial times, NOAA and NASA said. Last year was 2 degrees warmer than the mid-19th century, NASA said.

“The last eight years have clearly been warmer than the years before,” said NOAA analysis branch chief Russ Vose.

In a human body an extra 2 degrees Fahrenheit is considered a fever, but University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Renee McPherson, who wasn’t part of any of the study teams, said the global warmth is actually worse than the equivalent of a planetary fever because fevers can be treated to go down quickly.

“You can’t take a pill for it so the fixes aren’t easy,” McPherson said. “It’s more what you consider a chronic illness like cancer.”

Like a fever, “every tenth of a degree matters and things break down and that’s what we’re seeing,” Climate Central Chief Meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky.

The likelihood of the world shooting past the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold that the world adopted in 2015 is increasing with every year, said the World Meteorological Organization.

The United Nations weather agency said the last 10 years average 1.14 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times. Vose said there’s a 50-50 chance of hitting 1.5 degrees Celsius temporarily in the 2020s.

Vose and NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies director Gavin Schmidt both said there are hints of an acceleration of warming but the data isn’t quite solid enough to be sure. But the overall trend of warming is rock solid, they said.

“Since the mid-1970s you’ve seen this relentless increase in temperature and that’s totally robust to all the different methodologies,” Schmidt said.

The La Nina, a natural process that alters weather worldwide, is in its third straight year. Schmidt calculated that last year the La Nina cooled the overall temperature by about a tenth of a degree and that last year was the hottest La Nina year on record.

“The La Nina years of today aren’t the La Nina years of yesterday,” said North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello.

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer

Whitewashing Majority Rule

EDITOR, The Tribune

RECENTLY, I listened attentively as a 5th grade student gave the meaning of the colours in the Bahamian flag. She said that the black in the flag stands for the strength of the Bahamian people. I was surprised by this. When I attended school during the tumultuous 1980s, we were told by our teachers that the black stood for Black Bahamians. Nothing in the flag represents the White minority.

As impressionable students, we were informed that the Free National Movement was dangerous for The Bahamas simply because the opposition party had aligned itself with the White United Bahamian Party. I was under the impression that Sir Lynden O Pindling and Sir Milo B Butler had founded the Progressive Liberal Party. Our Black educators, to the best of my memory, never informed us that White Bahamians, Sir Henry Taylor, Cyril Stevenson and William Cartwright, founded the PLP. I commend a PLP Cabinet minister for admitting this

important historical fact to a government school on Grand Bahama recently, although in the age of social media any attempts to engage in historical revisionism would prove futile. White Bahamians should not be made to feel alienated or marginalised during the Majority Rule holiday, as many of their forefathers also suffered under minority rule.

The PLP’s January 10, 1967, general election victory was made possible when Labour Leader Sir Randol Fawkes and the White Independent MP Alvin Braynen decided to throw their weight behind Pindling. Deadlocked at 18 apiece, both the UBP and the PLP worked feverishly behind the scenes to woo over Fawkes and Braynen.

The untimely death of PLP MP Uriah McPhee afforded Pindling the opportunity to call a snap election the following year on April 10, 1968, with the aim of increasing the PLP’s slim majority. The PLP would win 29 of the 38 seats in the House of Assembly.

Maybe historian Michael Craton was engaging in sensationalism when he wrote

in his A History of the Bahamas regarding the 1968 general election, that the PLP had “purged itself of its white or near-white candidates - would now claim to be unequivocally the party of the black majority”.

Perhaps this anti-white sentiment, which was pervasive among Black Bahamians, is why my Black educators purposely indoctrinated us with a nascent form of Woke ideology, which is really reverse racism. Majority Rule should not imply that the largest Bahamian racial demographic controls the reins of political power instead of White Bahamians.

I view marginalised White Bahamians as also being a part of the majority. We must bear in mind the tens of thousands of Black Bahamians supported the UBP and that only a small clique of privileged White and Black Bahamians enjoyed the spoils of victory while the overwhelming majority of the population, inclusive of underprivileged White Bahamians, suffered.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama, January 10, 2023.

Whose business is this?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

RECENTLY the print media has been reporting, albeit anonymously, divorce/family proceedings held in the Supreme Court. Such reporting appears to be novel as over the years one rarely expected to read about proceedings held in the family division of the Supreme Court.

The underlying word or adjective here is “family” and one wonders whether such news, not being of a public nature, should be reported in the newspapers as these cases relate solely to the parties involved in the family proceedings save to be used as references in supporting authorities as doctrine of precedent used by judges or attorneys in future cases.

Some members of the public regard the reporting of the proceedings or facts of the case as invasive and traumatic for those parties who, by virtue of having to commence divorce proceedings, already are experiencing distress due to having had to commence these proceedings.

The concern perhaps is that the world needs not know about what has transpired between two persons who have freely entered contractual relations, the moral consideration of which the parties must not “depart from the normal standards of conjugal kindness toward each other” during the subsistence of the marriage. And should that “contractual” relationship fail where one party’s behaviour has changed, for example, of wanting to have sex without the other party or spouse’s consent is nobody’s business, especially the legislature (members of Parliament), the Bahamas Christian Council or the women’s advocacy groups. None of these was present when the spouses declared their marriage vows of love, through sickness, health, etc. to each other, so none of them ought to be interfering in the “marital” affairs by creating an offence called “marital rape” involving “the contract of marriage” between a man and a woman who freely signed a marriage certificate. It is between those parties, and if one of those parties discovers that the person she/ he married turns out to be a person whose behaviour has departed from conjugal kindness by insisting

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on “forced” sex upon the other, then that particular spouse can resort to the Supreme Court by petitioning it on the ground of cruelty to have the marriage dissolved as provided under the Matrimonial Causes Act.

That ground involves facts/circumstances comprising both physical and mental cruelty. Obviously, the framers of the aforesaid legislation foresaw and foreshadowed that parties or spouses may breach the marital contract, and they, therefore, provided those parties a remedy by dissolving the marriage on the ground of cruelty should either party quit showing the conjugal kindness behaviour during the subsistence of the marriage by forcing sexual intercourse upon the other without her consent or permission to so engage when the other party does not want to have sexual intercourse.

The legislature has already intervened on behalf of the public by the creation of the MCA, and it is not now their business to interfere in two grown adults’ marriage affairs. So, why should the politicians or members of Parliament take precious time away from doing the electorate’s business in the House of Assembly to discuss or debate the passing of legislation of something called “marital” rape, the interpretation of which is seemingly confusing.

There are those activists who want this to become law so that the legislature can intervene to protect women who may be raped while there may be a separation order obtained in the lower courts between the parties. But the spouse or party did not see fit to have the union between themselves dissolved by the Supreme Court. That seems quite irresponsible on the part of either party to the “contractual marriage” and seems to leave the door to the matrimonial home and the vagina open for possible reconciliation with force of taking the vagina.

Incidentally, recently a Supreme Court judge in a divorce proceeding where both parties petitioned the court to terminate/dissolve the marriage on the grounds of cruelty were

both granted decree nisi on that ground of cruelty. Surely, raping a party to a marriage is cruelty by virtue that it is not part of the conjugal kindness expected of parties to a marriage. So, again, whose business is that of so-called marital rape, but the business of those parties who said “I do” during the celebration of their marriage. It is simply between them and the divorce courts.

The question is: are there sufficient cases of these types of complaints made to the police to warrant it being of such great importance for our politicians to debate in the House of Assembly?

It is especially noteworthy that the President of the Council said that his members were divided on the issue of marital rape. It seems the women’s group are vigorously advancing their voices that the government makes marital rape an offence. Perhaps, it is high time that these activist groups focus more on prevention of their causes, for instance, we only hear their voices when a child has been abused, whether physically or sexually, or killed, but we never hear about the group publicly admonishing their gender (female mothers) to cease and desist from randomly and negligently bringing men, their boyfriends, into their homes and not protecting their small female or male child who could be physically and sexually harmed by their boyfriends or lovers. It’s deeply concerning to observe the silence on such prevention by the women’s advocacy groups.

There are so many more pressing issues that the legislature needs to be addressing as Members of Parliament, not issues like ‘marital’ rape which simply is none of their business or anyone else’s except for those parties to the marriage. The offence of rape is appropriately covered under the Penal Code for ALL offenders, married or not, and to further discuss may result in the invasion of married persons’ privacy, the consequence of which may be regarded as senseless abuse of the parliamentarians role and duty to its constituents.

ELEANOR ALBURY Nassau, January 6, 2023.

A WOMAN shops for Chinese New Year decorations at a market in the Chinatown area of Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday. People are preparing to celebrate the lunar New Year Year of the Rabbit on January 22.

Photo: Tatan Syuflana/AP

JAILED FOR 18 MONTHS OVER $400K OF MARIJUANA

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday after admitting to having $396,000 worth of marijuana in his home.

The drugs were found during a police search last week.

Kevin Rolle, 25, of Munnings Drive, represented by Tonique Lewis, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a charge of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

Rolle’s co-accused in this matter were Donovan Taylor, 25, Wilson Capita, 31, Jesson Cela, 28, Garret Bain, 27, Deangelo Wright, 31, and Bosfield Butler, 35.

According to police reports at around 1.30pm on January 8, officers acting on a search warrant, entered Rolle’s residence. In one of his bedrooms authorities uncovered 15 crocus sacks containing a suspicious grassy-like substance. An analysis of the seized drugs confirmed it to be Indian hemp with a collective weight of 369lbs and an estimated street value of $396,000.

In a subsequent police

interview, Rolle admitted ownership of the drugs.

In court, Rolle pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the facts stated in his case. With Rolle admitting to the offence and his remaining co-accused pleading not guilty, the charges against them were withdrawn.

His attorney stated that her young client is a father and did the honourable thing by admitting to the crime from the onset.

She further said that the accused had seen the error of his ways before explaining that he found himself in difficult times and he was just trying to survive. While admitting that that was no excuse for his actions, Ms Lewis asked for leniency on Rolle’s behalf.

It was then revealed by the prosecution that Rolle had an earlier firearm conviction in 2018.

The magistrate sentenced Rolle to 18 months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. The accused was ordered to pay a fine of $12,000 by the end of his prison term or risk an additional six months in custody.

Rolle can appeal his sentence within seven days.

$3,500 FINE FOR BREACHING CURFEW

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was fined $3,500 by the court yesterday after admitting to breaching his curfew while on bail for the alleged shooting of an off-duty police officer in a botched mugging in 2016.

Tahnarze Ferguson, 28, represented by Alphonso Lewis, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on seven counts of violation of bail conditions.

This is in connection with bail granted to him by the Supreme Court on charges of attempted murder and attempted armed robbery.

It is alleged that on September 5, 2016, on Olde Corner, Ferguson and a male accomplice, while armed with handguns, attempted to rob then Sergeant Brent Dixon in the driveway of his home. It is further said that during this incident Sgt Dixon was shot

after confronting his attackers, but was able to shoot one of his assailants as well.

While on bail for these charges between November 2, 2022 and January 8, Ferguson was found in breach of his court imposed residential curfew on seven separate occasions.

In court, the accused pleaded guilty.

Mr Lewis stated that his client is a father and employed in a family business. After citing his client’s early plea of guilty and remorse for his actions, Mr Lewis asked the court to temper justice with mercy and show leniency by only imposing a fine.

In view of this, Magistrate McKinney fined the accused $3,500 for the offence. He faces nine months in prison if the fine is not paid.

He was also placed on probation for 18 months, if he violates this, he faces a year in prison.

MAN ADMITS STEALING $22K FROM BUSINESS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison after admitting to stealing over $22,000 in cash from a business in the Berry Islands earlier this week.

Tyson Smith, 44, faced Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on charges of shopbreaking, stealing and receiving.

Around 12.24am on January 9, Smith broke into the White Waters Shop,

Restaurant and Bar in Bullocks Harbour, Berry Islands. There Smith stole $22,181 in cash belonging to White Waters Enterprises contained in three blue pouches.

After pleading guilty to the shop-breaking and stealing offences in court the receiving charge was withdrawn. The chief magistrate then deferred sentencing to January 18.

Smith will await judgement on remand at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

TWO MEN ACCUSED OVER STOLEN IMMIGRATION STAMP

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were granted bail after denying having a stolen Bahamas Department of Immigration stamp.

Christopher Williams, 48, and Shawn Feaster, 50, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a charge of receiving.

It is alleged that between June 11, 2021, and January

4 the pair came into possession of the stamp belonging to the Bahamas Department of Immigration knowing it was obtained by an offence.

In court, both accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. With no objection to bail by the prosecution it was granted to the accused at $2,500 with one surety each.

The trial in this matter will begin on February 13.

‘We will crack down on illegal alcohol sales’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

CUSTOMS Comptroller Ralph Munroe yesterday warned that his department will be going after people who do not have distribution rights to sell alcohol after receiving several complaints that some businesses have been selling the beverages illegally.

Mr Munroe said he was informed by local proprietors that a lot of alcohol now on the market is being sold by companies that did not have the right to sell the beverages.

He called on those taking part in such illegal activity to “cease and desist” immediately as he warned that the Department of Customs will not tolerate people “who have run afoul of the law”.

“We have had some complaints recently from the major distributors from alcoholic beverages in The Bahamas and that complaint is that it is come to their attention that there are a lot of products on the Bahamian market that they have sole distributorship for that they are not responsible for selling to the public,” he said during a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

“We say here at this press conference, so that those persons who have run afoul of the law and may have imported them whether they were smuggled or whether they did so simply without the permission, because it is an intellectual property that the sole distributor has. We’re saying to them to cease and desist and that is an area that customs are going to pursue vigorously.”

Mr Munroe said his department had a duty to protect those businesses’ intellectual property and committed the agency to doing just that.

“A lot of beers we understand that are out there and the sole distributor informed us that it didn’t come through them. There is other hard alcoholic liquor that is out there and they have informed us that they are not responsible for them being in the country,” he continued.

“We’re not saying that the duty hasn’t been paid. We’re saying that persons who have an intellectual property, they have a right to regard that. They pay for that. It is their property, and we have a duty as a department to protect that property so all persons who may have run afoul of the law in that regard, we are putting them on warning at the customs department. We will be coming after you.

“After all, we are a country of

laws.”

He also made similar warnings to firearm and drug smugglers as he pointed out recent seizures by the department in partnership with other law enforcement agencies.

“I believe the results would’ve been seen in recent weeks, you would’ve seen where customs have been responsible for seizure of firearms and, of course, of drugs and I just say it’s a different day and, of course, we also give warning to those persons who have been engaged in those trades to cease and desist,” Mr Munroe also said.

“We have a duty. We have a commitment to the Bahamian people to work along with law enforcement officers to ensure that we have a safe and a just society. We stand by that commitment and we are willing and ready to take on the challenge, of course, working with other law enforcement and agencies.”

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe.

Photo: Austin Fernander

MINISTER PAYS VISIT TO ISLAND SCHOOL

MINISTER of the Environment and Natural Resources Vaughn Miller and a delegation from the ministry recently toured the Island School in South Eleuthera.

The school incorporates systems and design principles that minimise its ecological footprint through the conservation of energy, water, and waste.

Mr Miller encouraged school officials and students in their pursuits, noting that as stewards of the environment, “it is important to maintain a delicate balance between sustainable development and prevention of wasteful use of resources”.

The school’s green power initiatives include a biodiesel production plant to run all campus vehicles; cisterns for rainwater collection; solar panels to capture energy and heat water; wind turbines to harness wind energy; invasive

Casuarina wood repurposed as campus furniture; an aquaponics system providing leafy greens for the dining hall; a garden to process waste and fertilise; a biodigester for fertiliser production; and pigs, goats, ducks and chickens that recycle food waste.

Mr Miller said: “The school can be designated as an asset for Eleuthera and by extension, the entire Bahamas. This project is very important for the survival of a lot of our native species, especially those that live in the ocean. The school has a large aquaponics facility, with their main focus being the lifespan of the tilapia. Research is also being done on how climate change is impacting our grouper. This would allow for the grouper’s life to be enabled/preserved in The Bahamas to ensure sustainability.”

Stop looking at immigration as a problem that needs to

solved instead of an opportunity that needs to be seized

EVERY day, thousands of people desperate to escape persecution, war, famine, violence or just in search of a better life flee their home countries. They pile into overcrowded makeshift boats or rafts. They cross harsh terrain with whatever possessions they can carry on their back, many with young children at their side, even in below freezing temperatures.

They are the driven, the ones who like a man from Cuba who told The Miami Herald last week “I would prefer to die to reach my dream and help my family.” We will never know how many take that risk and don’t make it.

But one thing we do know – immigration has hit countries that are magnets for a better life with a gutslamming punch and the response is a closed door in the face of hope. Conservatives yell ‘Send them back where they belong.” Liberals yell “Give them a home and a chance.” Until that home is in their back yard.

Immigration strains resources in places that are overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Places like Texas and South Florida and The Bahamas.

Skills

But what if we looked at immigration with different eyes? What if, instead of dreading the droves we looked at who we really are ourselves, where our skills gaps are and what would make our nation richer in talent, ideas, culture and yes, diversity?

What if we stopped looking at the colour of skin and could see in black and white the difference folks from other parts of the world could make? What if, instead of a person’s wealth entitling them to permanent residency, a person’s wealth of knowledge and willingness to share it did so?

What if instead of stopping those 4200 Cubans at sea since last October and turning them around, U.S. authorities had processed and relocated them to areas of large land mass and small populations? Canada has done it with remarkable success and along with Switzerland and Germany is generally regarded as the trendsetter in handling immigration.

And there is a very good reason why Canada leads the world. Canada views the desire to relocate as an opportunity to import talent, skills, capacity. Canada -- yes, the same Canada that successive Bahamas governments turn to for specialists in nearly every field from mass real estate appraisals to finance, from running the country’s largest and busiest airport to dealing with taxation advice – yes, that Canada has an open immigration door with specific requirements for standard or express entry. Have a skill that is badly needed in one area of the country? Come on in, the weather’s cold in winter, but the welcome is warm year-round.

How can we learn and benefit from Canada’s immigration example? We, too, have underpopulated areas and a dearth of skills and resources that could propel us in new directions,

slow the brain drain and spread the population throughout the islands.

First, when we speak of foreign and local, we have to stop kidding ourselves saying who is Bahamian and who is not. Unless you can trace your roots to the Lucayans, your ancestors came here from somewhere else, mostly from Africa, but many in the 1790s escaping the Haitian Revolution. According to Bahamian history, it

“If we seize the opportunity to import talent and skills not in Nassau, but in the Family Islands, particularly in the southern Bahamas, we could gradually grow the lesser populated islands and raise the standard of living without creating instant culture shock.”

was that influx that gave us names like Deleveaux and Moncur. Given that The Bahamas and Haiti share similar backgrounds of slavery, colonization and victimization, though disparate present-tense stories, it is somewhat surprising that there is so little empathy across cultures. Haiti was, after all, the first free black nation in the Americas and today our cultures are so intertwined that we refer to Haitian-Bahamian as if it were an official category of citizenship.

It’s time we stopped looking at immigration as a problem that needs to be solved instead of an opportunity that needs to be seized.

If we seize the opportunity to import talent and skills not in Nassau, but in the Family Islands, particularly in the southern Bahamas, we could gradually grow the lesser populated islands and raise the standard of living without creating instant culture shock. Note the key elements – gradual and by design, island by island, with a plan for each that creates a distinct identity.

Here are the facts. The land mass of The Bahamas is more than 5,350 square miles yet more than twothirds of the 400,000 or so people who call The Bahamas home are squished into the 79 square miles of New Providence. And too many of those roughly 300,000 people are cooped up in the inner city where green space is far too rare and crime far too common.

Why do they remain when there is so much land elsewhere? Two underlying reasons. The same thing that brought families to the small island where the capital of Nassau is located keeps them there – economic activity. The second reason is harder to quantify though equally important. Inertia is a powerful stabilizer, lulling those existing in cramped, even undesirable or violent communities, into remaining where they are. They may install stronger locks, pray louder and more often, but absent the powerful lure of the promise of a better life, they are likely to stay right where they are, adding locks and prayers.

So how do we generate economic activity attractive enough to overcome the natural tendency toward doing nothing? And can we do it by the novel concept of inviting and capturing untapped resources of available migrant talent, financial capacity, cultural acumen and labour to build out a series of new economies throughout the family of islands?

Strengths

First, we create a series of identities that best match the strengths of each island. If we set out to design an island that in time would be known as the healing place, and we posted a search for individuals trained in wellness, physical fitness, nutrition, meditation, music, dance, even medical research, we would transform that island inside a decade. Eleuthera, Cat Island or Ragged Island would be perfect.

For movie, commercial and music video production, build a studio complex on Rum Cay where the scenery is dramatic and the natural light is magical. That, in turn, would create a demand for more airlift and accommodations. For

research in forestry and farming, import skilled and unskilled labour for Andros and Abaco.

But don’t make immigration automatic. With every immigration application approved comes a set of requirements to be met – the candidate must speak English or learn to speak English within one year or face deportation. He or she must understand the Constitution of The Bahamas in layman’s terms.

Status

They must perform a nominal number of hours of community service in the community in which they seek or are offered residency. They will have status, be able to bank the revenue they generate or wages they earn. Their children may attend the local school.

Past immigration patterns have become

unintentional architects of closed communities – the wealthy behind the gates of Lyford Cay, Old Fort Bay, Albany, Ocean Club Estates. The poor in places like The Mud.

The proposed immigration pattern is one that encourages a new kind of community.

While some decry we are selling out, selling the beloved Bahamas to foreigners, I would happily ask them to trace their ancestry and see if they did not find traces of foreign in their DNA. I will take the hit and the verbal abuse

on radio, but we need to have a national conversation about the rights and wrongs of treating people as if they were less than human just because they had less of a life than we did.

We can institute basic cultural adoption requirements while celebrating the differences.

If the heart of the home is the kitchen, it’s as simple as trading Grammy’s recipe for chicken souse with another’s for paella. When we all sit down together, it’s a pretty amazing round table.

Funeral Service for SALLY MAE NEWBOLD, 82

of #5 Orchard Terrance off Village Road and formerly of Orange Creek, Cat Island will be held at Sunrise Ministries, Vendal Drive off Carmichael Road (Traveling west on Carmichael Road, you will come up to the Carmichael Road police station, make the right immediately across from the police station. The corner between the old Proud Mary and Post Office. Turn through that corner and the road will fork left and right...fork left, follow the bend around... you will go over at least 4 speed bumps, you will come down to a park on your left hand side and immediately in front of you will see the church yard with the sign Sunrise Ministries) on Saturday, January 14th, 2023 at 10:00a.m. Officiating will be Bishop Shawn S. McKenzie, assisted by other Ministers of the Gospel. Cremation will follow Left to cherish her memories are her, Children: Tina Major, Ormond and Nicole Newbold, and Mary Culmer; Grandchildren: Marco Marcel and Mateo Major, Kevin Sands Santiago, Antonio Hanna Sisters: Ophelia Newbold, Aseneth Russell, and Clara Gray; Sister-in-law: Dianne Newbold; Brother-in-law: Roderick Gray; Nieces and Nephews: Joseph and Chapelle Cooper, Caedellos Newbold, Juliette Woods, Vyonique and Sandy Newbold, Tano, Rodney, Tamik and Samia Gray, Theresa Depew, Lisa and Jason Newbold, Tristan and William Newbold; Great Grandnieces: Brianna, Avery, Jacob Jr. Depew, Adrianne, Isiah, Ridolle, Shanice Gray, Tramez Cooper; Great Grandnephews: Bryan, Adjani, Clifton, Kyron, Darien, Caden, Tremeko, Afwon, Jayden, Ranaejaha Edwards, Romeko; Special friends: Ms. Arlene Wilson, Ms. Dorothy Butler, Ms. Bettymae Holmes, Ms. Dorene Clarke, Mrs. Stephany Major and family, Ms. Gloria Smith and family, Mr. Andrew Conliffe, Mr. Huckle Bonaby; Other Relatives and Friends: Ms. Christine Rolle, Mr. Perry Pinder, Stephany Bowleg and family, Dion, Lindsey, Amelia and Celina Peterson, Rosamae Cambridge, Altimese Carey, Melton Newbold, Gloria Riley and family, Ruby Cambridge and family, Rose and Junior Newbold, Sharon Cleare, Renald Newbold, Enith Cambridge, Ruth Newbold, Mr. and Mrs. Macmillan, Irene Cambridge and family, Levina Campbell and family, Rosemary Newbold, Barbara and Tony Newbold, Melany Aman, Michelle Small, McNeil Newbold, Dwayne Newbold, Freddie Newbold, Minister Elvin, Debbie Fowler, Victoria Oliver, Shavana Wallace and family, Patricia Gibson, Selina Adderley, Mark Gomez and family, Gia Alexandria, Pod Road family, Camilo and Jan Gibson, Kandice Cartwright and family, Andy and Louise Gomez, The Johnson family, Valentino Davis and family, Tony Burrows and family, Jerry and Udean Stubbs, Larry and Jewel Sawyer, Cathy Carey and family, Ormond, Gregory, Bernadette, Lawrence, Kayla, Tanya and Stephano Saunders, Antoinette Peterson, Raytino Strachan and family, Dion, Albertha Rolle, The Armenteros family, Alexis, Alex, Amaris Thompson, Barbara Curtis and family, Melderese Newbold and family, Sebastian Lewis and family, Hawkins Hill and Canaan Lane Family, Orange Creek Cat Island Community, Jan Sawyer and family, Vanessa Brice and family, Lenor Williams.

Viewing will be held at the Serenity Suite at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Limited, Robinson and Soldier Roads on Friday (TODAY) from 10:00 a.m. at 6:00 p.m.

be

US Coast Guard members pull up alongside a sailboat carrying a large group of migrants off Virginia Key near Key Biscayne, Florida on Thursday. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)

HAITIAN migrants boarding a bus to be transported to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. Photo: RBDF

“What if we stopped looking at the colour of skin and could see in black and white the difference folks from other parts of the world could make? What if, instead of a person’s wealth entitling them to permanent residency, a person’s wealth of knowledge and willingness to share it did so?”

Inaugural Phoenix Awards to be held

THE inaugural Government High School Alumni Phoenix Awards will be held tomorrow at the University of The Bahamas Performing Arts Centre.

A total of 29 alumni will be recognised, with Glenys Hanna Martin, Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training, due to be in attendance.

During the ceremony, the association will recognise several outstanding alums whose families will receive posthumous Phoenix Awards. The awards will be received by the families of the following:

• Rev Dr Robert Bailey and Louise Millicent Symonette, two of the first students.

• Sir Lynden Pindling, Prime Minister of The Bahamas.

• Arthur D Hanna, Deputy Prime Minister.

• Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, Cabinet Minister and founder of the FNM.

• Zoe Maynard, the

youngest student enrolled and to graduate from GHS.

• Dr Cleveland Eneas.

• Sir Randol Fawkes, father of the Labour Movement.

Meanwhile, Hugh Gordon Sands, former GHS headmaster, and Ruth Rosalie MaycockMillar were scheduled the Government High School Alumni Phoenix Lifetime Achievement Award.

Also nominated for the Government High School Alumni Phoenix Lifetime Achievement Award were:

• 101-year-old Centennial Coral Fawkes Taylor, the oldest known living Government High School Alum.

• Sir Orville Turnquest.

• Dame Ivy Dumont.

• Sir Baltron Bethel.

• Archbishop Drexel W Gomez.

• Pastor Rex Major.

• Beryl Elva Sands-Campbell.

• Peter Ivan Bethel.

• Cyprianna Bethel-Fleisher.

• Marjorie Davis.

• Robert Garland Elliott.

• Ruby Rockwood-Major.

• Katherina Pinder-Williams.

• Mary Demeritte- Sweetnam.

• Roberta Turnquest-Sands.

• Beverley Wallace-Whitfield.

• Langton Hilton.

• Cyril Fountain.

• Dr Cyril Vanderpool.

The Government High School Alumni Phoenix Lifetime Achievement Award has been dedicated to recognising former students for outstanding achievements in their professional lives, for personal integrity and stature and service to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the global community.

For more information about the GHS Alumni Association, visit tghalumni.com or tghsalumni. org.

ARTHUR D HANNA SIR BALTRON BETHEL CORAL FAWKES TAYLOR

CYRIL FOUNTAIN MARJORIE DAVIS RUBY ROCKWOOD-MAJOR

DR CYRIL VANDERPOOL DAME IVY DUMONT ROBERT GARLAND ELLIOTT

DR CLEVELAND ENEAS ARCHBISHOP DREXEL GOMEZ

LANGTON HILTON

HUGH GORDON SANDS

LOUISE SYMONETTE

PASTOR REX MAJOR

PETER BETHEL REV DR ROBERT BAILEY RUTH MILLAR

CYPRIANA BETHEL-FLEISHER BERYL SANDS-CAMPBELL

SIR CECIL WALLACE-WHITFIELD

SIR LYNDEN PINDLING SIR RANDOL FAWKES MARY DEMERITTE-SWEETNAM

SIR ORVILLE TURNQUEST

KATHERINA PINDER-WILLIAMS

ZOE MAYNARD

Special counsel to prove Biden docs

WASHINGTON Associated Press

ATTORNEY General Merrick Garland yesterday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president.

Robert Hur, a onetime US attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, will lead the investigation and plans to begin his work soon. His appointment marks the second time in a few months that Garland has appointed a special counsel, an extraordinary fact that reflects the Justice Department’s efforts to independently conduct high-profile probes in an exceedingly heated political environment.

Both of those investigations, the earlier one involving Trump and documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, relate to the handling of classified information, though there are notable differences between those cases.

Garland’s decision caps a tumultuous week at the White House, where Biden and his team opened the year hoping to celebrate stronger economic news ahead of launching an expected reelection campaign. But the administration faced a new challenge Monday, when it acknowledged that sensitive documents were found at the office of Biden’s former institute in Washington.

The situation intensified by yesterday morning, when Biden’s attorney said an additional classified document was found at a room in his Wilmington home — later revealed by Biden to be his personal library — along with other classified documents in his garage.

The attorney general revealed that Biden’s lawyers informed the Justice Department of the latest discovery at the president’s home on Thursday morning, after FBI agents first retrieved documents from the garage in December.

Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with the Justice Department’s investigation into how classified information and government records were stored.

“We have cooperated closely with the Justice Department throughout its review, and we will continue that cooperation with the special counsel,” said Richard Sauber, a lawyer

for the president. “We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”

Garland said the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter required Hur’s appointment, adding that the special counsel is authorized to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law. Federal law requires strict handling procedures for classified information, and official records from Biden’s time as vice president are considered government property under the Presidential Records Act.

“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law,” Garland said.

Hur, in a statement, said: “I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial and dispassionate judgment. I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor and will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service.”

While Garland said the Justice Department received timely notifications from Biden’s personal attorneys after each set of classified documents was identified, the White House provided delayed and incomplete notification to the American public about the discoveries.

Biden’s personal attorneys found the first set of classified and official documents on November 2 in a locked closet as they cleared out his office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, where he worked after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until he launched

his presidential campaign in 2019. The attorneys notified the National Archives, which retrieved the documents the next day and referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Sauber said Biden’s attorneys then underwent a search of other locations where documents could have been transferred after Biden left the vice presidency, including his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Garland said that on December 20, the Justice Department was informed that classified documents and official records were located in Biden’s Wilmington garage, near his Corvette, and that FBI agents took custody of them shortly thereafter.

A search on Wednesday evening turned up the most recently discovered classified document in Biden’s personal library at his home, and the Justice Department was notified yesterday, Garland revealed.

The White House only confirmed the discovery of the Penn Biden Center documents in response to news inquiries on Monday and remained silent on the subsequent search of Biden’s homes and the discovery of the garage tranche until yesterday morning, shortly before Garland announced Hur’s appointment. Biden, when he first addressed the matter on Tuesday while in Mexico City, also didn’t let on about the subsequent document discoveries.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that despite the public omissions, Biden’s administration was handling the matter correctly.

“There was transparency in doing what you’re supposed to do,” she said, declining to answer repeated questions about when Biden was briefed on the discovery of the documents.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY DIES, AGED 54

WEST HILLS, California Associated Press

LISA Marie Presley — the only child of Elvis Presley — died yesterday after being hospitalised earlier that day, her mother said in a statement. The singer was 54.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement last night. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

The announcement came just hours after Priscilla Presley had confirmed that Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to the hospital earlier Thursday.

Los Angeles County paramedics were dispatched to a Calabasas home at

10.37am following a report of a woman in full cardiac arrest, according to Craig Little, a spokesperson for the county’s fire department. Property records indicate Presley was a resident at that address.

Paramedics arrived about six minutes later, Little said. A subsequent statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said paramedics performed CPR and “determined the patient had signs of life” before taking her to a hospital in nearby West Hills immediately.

The city of Calabasas is nestled between the foothills of the Santa Monica and the Santa Susanna Mountains, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

News of Presley’s hospitalisation was first reported by TMZ and

later confirmed by People magazine.

Presley, 54, attended the Golden Globes on Tuesday, on hand to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father in “Elvis”. She called his performance “mind-blowing” during a red carpet interview with “Entertainment Tonight”.

Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate her father’s birth anniversary on January 8.

Presley had recently penned an essay published in People about “the horrific reality” of her grief following her son Benjamin Keough’s death by suicide in 2020.

Presley is also the mother of actor Riley Keough and twin daughters.

ASSASSINATION SUSPECT ON MURDER CHARGE

TOKYO Associated Press

JAPANESE prosecutors are expected to formally charge the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder on Friday, his lawyer said.

Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested immediately after allegedly shooting Abe

with a handmade gun as the former leader was making a campaign speech in July outside a train station in Nara in western Japan. Later that month, Yamagami was sent to an Osaka detention centre and given a five-month mental evaluation, which ended on Tuesday.

Yamagami is now back in police custody in Nara after

reportedly being deemed fit to stand trial.

One of his lawyers, Masaaki Furukawa, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he expects prosecutors to charge Yamagami with murder and gun control law violations.

Given the complexity of the case, it will take months before his trial begins, he said.

ATTORNEY General Merrick Garland speaks yesterday.

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

GHS Magic slow down RM Bailey Pacers 39-33

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While the RM Bailey Pacers senior girls prevailed over the Government High Magic, the Magic senior boys avenged the defeat by knocking off the Pacers in their Government Secondary Schools Sports Association double header at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium yesterday.

RM Bailey doubled up Government High 56-24 in the senior girls opener, while GHS prevailed with a 39-33 win in the senior boys’ feature contest.

Vincinique Dames canned a game high 21 points and Janea Ariste had 17 points to pace RM Bailey to victory. Chadanay Knowles helped out with seven.

Teajah Johnson, the captain for the Pacers, said their coach Keisha Pratt had them clicking on all cylinders.

“I think we did good. We can work on some things, but we were able to get the ball where we needed it to go,” said Johnson, a 17-year-old 12th grader.

“We’ve been practicing well, so we just have to perfect our craft by playing more defence and getting the ball in the paint.”

Dames, their major benefactor when they did get the ball in the paint, said it was a good feeling to get the first game under their belt. “Our defence was a bit slack. I’m sure we could do better,” Dames said. “Once we can work on our defence, we will be much better.”

Dames scored nine and Ariste had five in the first quarter as RM Bailey raced out to an impressive 19-7 lead and they were never challenged. They took a 33-14 lead into the half as Dames connected on six and Ariste had four in the second period.

Things slowed down a bit in the second half for the Pacers, who held onto a 47-21 margin at the end of the final break. They went on an 8-6 run in the fourth to preserve the win.

Roshan Ingraham scored 13 points and Rihanna Ferguson had four in the loss for Government High, whose coach Bernice Penn said they knew they had their work cut out for them.

“I guess the kids were nervous, but we came in here knowing that we are going to be working on

our development,” said Penn, who was assisted by Salathial Dean. “I’m proud of the girls. We got a little

nervous and were shaky out there, but this is just day one. Our next game is on Monday, so hopefully we will get it together and play much better.”

With two of their starters not playing, Lens Dolcine led Government High to victory in their senior boys’ match-up with 10 points.

Rasheed Brennen had eight, Lathario Babbs had six and Peter Tilusnord added five to help preserve the win.

Government High doubled up the score at the end of the first quarter with a 12-6 lead, but RM Bailey cut it down to two (23-21) at the half.

The Magic stayed out front 31-27 at the end of the third and they outscored the Pacers 8-6 in the fourth to clinch the win.

Coach Elkin Sherman gave his team a grade of C-plus.

“Honestly, we could have played better. We were missing two starters, but with this air-conditioning in here, it was killing the boys, but we just had to thug it out,” Sherman said. “Our two starters were out

T-Bird Flyers Track Classic this weekend

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE T-Bird Flyers Track Classic will be the first meet out of the gate as the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ 2023 season officially gets underway this weekend at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

And according to the T-Bird Flyers Track Club’s head coach Foster Dorsett, they are anticipating a grand time as the meet starts at 6pm today and wraps up on Saturday, starting at noon.

“With this being the first meet of the year, what we do is we give the kids an opportunity to see where

they are going into the season,” Dorsett said.

“We have some great expectations from them because this is the CAR IFTA year and we want to have a really good showing.

“So we feel that the coaches have been doing a great job getting the kids ready and I know the kids are eager to compete in their first meet of the year.

“We anticipate that we might have some qualifiers for the CARIFTA Games because the kids have their sights of competing for the Bahamas.”

The Bahamas is playing host to the 50th Golden CARIFTA Games April 7-11 as a part of the 50th anniversary of the nation, so Dorsett said this year’s

meet is going to be very special.

He said the athletes will find out that there will be events in all age group categories that will enable them to compete at their best.

While they are expecting close to 600 athletes to compete, Dorsett said they are aware that some of the athletes from Queen’s College, who hosted their inter-school track meet on Thursday and St Augustine’s College, whose inter-house meet is today,

may not have all of their athletes compete.

“The meets are just too close in these instances, so we know that not all of the athletes from these two schools will compete,” Dorsett said.

“They are some of the top athletes who could be vying for spots on the CARIFTA team, but we still expect some of their athletes to compete.

“We also still have a lot of athletes who are eager to compete in the meet, so we expect that there will

Manchester, north London derbies add intrigue to title race

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

THE stage has been set for a straight shootout between Arsenal and Manchester City for the English Premier League title and that scenario will become more of a reality if they win their respective derby matches this weekend.

Don’t be so sure on that happening, though.

Indeed, by Sunday night, the number of teams potentially involved in the title race could easily have grown to five heading into the second half of the season.

First up is the Manchester derby on Saturday, when City — looking increasingly unconvincing as the season progresses — faces a Manchester United team riding its best run of results in four years. Eight straight wins in all competitions. Nine straight wins at Old Trafford. United, no longer

burdened with the baggage that came with having Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, is brimming with confidence under Erik ten Hag and out to make amends for an embarrassing 6-3 loss to City in early October.

Closing the round of weekend games is the north London derby on Sunday when Arsenal — five points clear of second-placed City — heads to fifth-placed Tottenham, for whom in-form striker Harry Kane has another scoring record in his sights.

Kane has netted four times in four games since returning from the World Cup and needs one goal to tie with the late Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham’s leading scorer on 266.

No player has scored more in the derby than Kane with his 14. In fact, no player has scored more goals against Arsenal than Kane since the Premier League started in 1992.

HARRY KANE (AP)

If Arsenal and City win, they’ll leave United and Tottenham in their wake, with only third-placed Newcastle — which hosts Fulham on Sunday — in touching distance.

If they lose, then the top five would suddenly be separated by eight points.

On current form, City is the team that should be most fearful. Back-to-back

wins over Chelsea last week, in the league then the FA Cup, seemed to put City back on track, but a loss to Southampton in the League Cup on Wednesday not only ended the team’s hunt for a quadruple of trophies but raised questions about the strength in depth of Pep Guardiola’s squad in certain areas.

City has dropped points in two of its last four league games — both at home, in a 2-1 loss to Brentford and a 1-1 draw with Everton — and, currently, does not look like the machine that can go on a long winning run to take control of a title race, as Guardiola’s teams have done in the past.

Worryingly, a frail-looking City didn’t even have a shot on target against Southampton, despite sending on Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the second half. City midfielder

be some keen competition. We have some athletes coming in from Grand Bahama and some of the Family Islands, so the meet should be an exciting one.”

Additionally, Dorsett, who now serves as the first vice president of the BAAA and a member of the Bahamas Association of Certified Officials (BACO), said they will be honouring two fallen members of BACO.

“We will be remembering our past president Courtney Wallace and our senior official Ivy Charlton,” Dorsett said. “We will be honouring and recognising them posthumously during the meet for their contributions to the sport of track and field.”

COACH Wilton Johnson and his Mt Carmel Preparatory Academy Cavaliers senior boys’ basketball team’s winning streak came to an abrupt halt yesterday at the Hope Centre.

However, the Cavaliers are still holding their own, strong atop the Bahamas Scholastic Athletic Association basketball standings at 3-1 after Thursday’s 37-32 loss to Genesis Academy.

“I know what it is. Yal worrying about too much girls, that’s what it is,” coach Johnson shouted at his players on the bench yesterday as they were trailing by four points.

Nathan Wallace, no. 9 of Genesis, scored 24 points in the win.

Dorien LaRoda, no. 1 of Mt Carmel, had nine points in the loss.

A number of games were played on Thursday as the BSAA continued basketball action inside the Hope Centre located on University Commons and Games Boulevard.

Mini Division Temple Christian School 10 def Kingsway Academy 2

Joshua Taylor no. 8 of Temple Christian had five (5) points in the win. David Fraser no. 8 of Kingsway had two (2) points in the loss.

Primary Boys Freedom Baptist Academy 18 def Kingsway Academy 2

Dedrick Johnson no. 5 of Freedom had ten (10) points in the win.

Shiloh Smith no. 17 of Kingsway had two (2) points in the loss.

Junior Boys International School of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology ISBET 28 def Genesis Academy 15

FIFA

ZURICH (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo was left off the the 14-player shortlist for the annual Best FIFA Men’s Player award for the first time, with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé among those selected.

Ronaldo, who was released by Manchester United and benched by Portugal during the World Cup, won the FIFA award the first two times it was handed out — in 2016 and 2017 — and was among the three finalists the following three years. This was the first time he was not even selected as a contender by a FIFA-appointed expert panel. The award was rebranded in 2016 following a six-year period where the former FIFA World Player of the Year Award had merged with the annual Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo finished seventh in the voting last year, when Robert Lewandowski won for the second time in a row ahead of Messi and Mohamed Salah.

The 37-year-old Portuguese star joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr last month, seemingly marking the end of his European club career.

Aside from Messi, the only member of Argentina’s World Cup-winning team to make the list of nominees is forward Julián Álvarez.

Lewandowski is also on the list, which includes just four players who did not play at the World Cup.

Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, and Sadio Mané were injured ahead of the tournament in Qatar, while

SENIOR girls in action during the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association basketball regular season at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Photo: Austin Fernander/Tribune Staff

NBA-leading Celtics beat Nets 109-98 for 5th straight win

NEW YORK (AP) —

Jayson Tatum had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Brooklyn 109-98 last night in the Nets’ first game since losing Kevin Durant to a knee injury.

Marcus Smart added 16 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who played without Jaylen Brown because of an injury.

Malcolm Brogdon also scored 16 points as the NBA-leading Celtics won their fifth straight.

Brown had right adductor tightness, a night after scoring a season-high 41 points in a victory over New Orleans. Interim coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown could miss a week or more.

Derrick White, starting for Brown, scored 15 points.

Kyrie Irving scored 24 points for the Nets, who were right with the Celtics until getting outscored 12-2 to open the fourth. T.J Warren added 20 and Joe Harris, starting for Durant, had 18.

HEAT 108, BUCKS 102

MIAMI (AP) — Gabe Vincent scored a careerbest 28 points, Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Miami beat Milwaukee in a matchup of short-handed teams.

Jimmy Butler had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who got 14 points,

eight rebounds and seven assists from Victor Oladipo.

Max Strus had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Miami (23-20), which moved a season-best three games over .500, even with starters Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin sidelined.

Jrue Holiday had 24 points and 11 assists for the Bucks, who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Grayson Allen, Khris Middleton, Serge Ibaka and Joe Ingles.

Jevon Carter scored 18, Jordan Nwora had 16, AJ

Green scored 15 and Bobby Portis had 12 for the Bucks.

THUNDER 133, 76ERS 114

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and Josh Giddey had 20 to lead Oklahoma City past Philadelphia.

The Thunder won for the fourth time in six games. Oklahoma City was a solid 13-9 at home, but won just their sixth road game of the season.

Jaylin Williams and Tre Mann each scored 14 points

as Oklahoma City avenged a 19-point loss to the 76ers on December 31. Joel Embiid had 30 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden had 24 points and 15 assists.

RAPTORS 124, HORNETS 114

TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 35 points, Scottie Barnes added 21 and Toronto beat Charlotte for its first threegame winning streak of the season.

Gary Trent Jr scored 19 points and O.G. Anunoby had 15 as the Raptors

swept a pair of home games against the struggling Hornets.

Toronto led by as many as 18 points and never trailed. The Raptors have won five straight home games against Charlotte.

Fred VanVleet scored 11 points and Precious Achiuwa had 10 points and a career-best five steals.

LaMelo Ball scored 32 points before fouling out, and Terry Rozier had 21 points as Charlotte lost for the sixth time in seven games.

SPIETH, KIRK SHARE EARLY LEAD ON GORGEOUS DAY AT SONY OPEN

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

HONOLULU (AP) — Jordan Spieth played about the way he expected yesterday, another sign of growing confidence in his game, as he opened with a 6-under 64 for an early share of the lead with Chris Kirk at the Sony Open.

Harris English had a 65 on a gorgeous day at Waialae Country Club, with a blazing sun and just enough wind to make players think every now and then.

Spieth ended nearly four years without a victory when he won the Texas Open in 2021, and then added another win at Hilton Head last year. Missing on this day was the slow

swing rehearsal to ingrain the changes he made to his swing.

His key word is freedom, and it sure looked that way at Waialae.

He had three birdies in a a four-hole stretch around the turn, and outside of his lone bogey on 13th hole, his only disappointment was having to settle for par on his final hole at the par-5 ninth.

PGA Tour start age 52, was in the group at 66 that included Stewart Cink, who turns 50 in May. stood out to Spieth, it was his drive on the 426-yard 12th hole that rolled along the dry turf and finished 83 yards away.

It wasn’t so much the distance, that left him a lob wedge to 12 feet for birdie, but the swing.

“I call it ‘in front of fade,’ meaning just my sequence was fantastic. It was on plane. It was just exactly what I’ve been working

“And I just hit this 5-yard fade that held the wind up

“When I hit that shot I walked off saying, ‘This could be a really good day if I keep pressing how that

And it turned out to be

Waialae holds happy

Two years ago, after stepping away to deal with alcoholism and depression,

he had one last start on a medical extension to keep his card and shot 65 on the last day to tie for second, regaining full playing privileges.

Now he’s in a good spot, and he made birdies against two bogeys.

Kirk, like the majority of the first full-field tournament of the year, has not played in seven weeks since the RSM Classic at Sea Island.

But he worked plenty hard in the offseason, especially on his fitness, and he has hit the ground running.

Kirk’s hard work included some fun times. He hired a new trainer, Jake Crane, who has a baseball background and Kirk said he would pitch or

take swings from a pitching swing during some of the downtime.

There isn’t much of a chance for a career change. His fastball tops out at about 65 mph, though he is proud of his breaking pitch. But mostly, it’s about his condition.

“I always kind of show up to this tournament feeling good and fit,” Kirk said.

“That’s my No. 1 goal this year, is to try to maintain it and work harder in the gym when I’m home in the off weeks.”

Among those playing in the afternoon were Adam Scott and 20-year-old Tom Kim, among the 19 players who were at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui last week.

NPBA BASKETBALL: GIANTS TOP REBELS 105-58

THE Commonwealth Bank Giants almost doubled up the Rebels in winning their men’s division one feature contest played in the New Providence Basketball Association at the AF Adderley Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

In the men’s division II opener, the Rebels got the best of the Mekaddish Millionaires, winning 68-60.

Giants 105, Rebels 58: Dylan Musgrove and Chrisoff McKenzie provided a 1-2 punch for Commonwealth Bank as they lifted last year’s runners-up to a huge rout.

Musgrove finished with 25 points and eight rebounds, while McKenzie had 24 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Jackson Jacob was the only other player in double figures with 14 points.

Michael Bain had nine points, five assists and three rebounds, Adam Johnson had eight points, six rebounds and three steals and Eugene Bain (10 rebounds and four assists), Salathiel Dean (10 rebounds, four assists and four steals) and Jordan Wilson (nine rebounds and six assists) all contributed seven points.

For the Rebels, Lance Posey had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Martin Conliff had 14 points and six rebounds, Robert Carey had 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals and Deniro Kemp added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Rebels 68, Millionaires 60: Marcian Pickstock scored 21 points with five rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Rebels. Giano Fowler had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Kriston Munroe had 14 points, 22 rebounds, three assists and two steals and Shavanno Johnson added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Tonight’s schedule 7pm - Cyber Tech vs Your Essential Giants (DII)

8pm - Caro Contractors Shockers vs University of the Bahamas Mingoes (D1)

Saturday 7pm - Rebels vs RC Liquors Eagles (DII) 8pm - Tucker Boys vs TMT Giants (D1)

GSSSA

FROM PAGE 12

Zhyon Thompson no. 8 of ISBET had thirteen (13) points in the win.

Alex Braunlich no. 6 of Genesis had seven (7) points in the loss.

Freedom Baptist Academy B 27 def Akhepran International Academy 25

Stephanson Dormauille no. 23 of Freedom B had twenty (20) points in the win. Adisa Eneas no. 9 of Akhepran had fifteen (15) points in the loss.

Senior Boys

Akhepran International Academy 40 def C. V. Bethel Senior High 34

Evan Hanna no. 0 and Delroy Mackey no. 10 of Akhepran both had twelve (12) points in the win.

Alfred Lloyd no. 8 of C. V had twenty (20) points in the loss

Wednesday Results

Primary Boys

Temple Christian School 20, Teleos Christian School 2: Theo Bethel of Temple scored nine points in the win. Khari Ramsey of Teleos scored two points in the loss.

Junior Boys

Freedom Baptist Academy A 37, Akhepran International Academy 10: Joevardo Wright of Freedom scored 27 points in the win. DeAlverez Carter Akhepran scored five points in the loss.

C.V Bethel

High 21, Teleos Christian School 10: Danielle McCoy of CV

scored 12 points in the win. Azariah Anderson of Teleos scored four points in the loss.

of Akhepran scored 11 points in the win. Amarri Bethel of Genesis scored

with the flu going around, but I had to keep the rest of our team strong.”

Bryson Rolle also scored 10 in a losing effort for the Pacers, who also got seven from Kendrick Emilien and six from Isaiah Williams. Coach Devon Miller said they still have a lot of work to do.

“Today, we didn’t follow the game plan. We missed one or two others. Other than that, we did fairly well,” he said.

“This is their first time out. We didn’t have a scrimmage. “We had a short pre-season to prepare. I think the next time out, we will be much better.”

Looking back at their performances, Miller said the most important thing they have to work on is their “defence, lay-ups and free throws.”

Today’s schedule

CI Gibson Gymnasium

4pm - HO Nash vs DW Davis junior girls and boys.

Kendal Isaacs Gym

CV Bethel vs CR Walker (senior girls).

CI Gibson vs Anatol Rodgers (senior girls).

CV Bethel vs CR Walker (senior boys). CI Gibson vs Anatol Rodgers (senior boys).

CELTICS forward Jayson Tatum, right, goes to the basket past Nets guard Ben Simmons yesterday in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Senior Girls

Senior

Academy 47, Genesis Academy 31: Evan Hanna

International tennis teams to join Bahamas for IC Caribbean Doubles Week Championship

INTERNATIONAL tennis teams from USA, Barbados and Canada will be joining The Bahamas team for the sixth bi-annual International Tennis Clubs (IC) Caribbean Doubles Week Championship from Monday, January 16 to Friday, January 20.

This week-long event features top older players from these countries playing men’s, ladies and mixed doubles in combined age pair categories from 105 to 125 years.

The Bahamas team is captained by Neil Mactaggart. Among his players will be former top Caribbean, Davis Cup Captain and player John Antonas. Also on that team will be the No.1 ITF ranked lady in the world in the 75+ age category. This is Sue Kimball who for many years was a teacher here and has kept up strong contact with The Bahamas and its International Tennis Club (IC) ever since those days.

The event is being hosted at Nassau Lawn Tennis Club on Market Street.

The Nassau Lawn Club was established in 1880 and is one of the very oldest clubs in the whole Americas region. It is almost exactly the same age as Wimbledon.

There will be two inter country matches each day starting at 9.30am and 1.30pm with all teams playing every other team over the five days to decide the eventual champion team.

The USA are the current holders of this title.

Each inter country match consists of two men’s doubles, one ladies’ double and two mixed doubles matches.

The International Tennis Clubs (IC) are made up of

40 countries around the world. They consist of top international players and national title holders in their country who respect the IC Tradition of “Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean”.

As well as organising many international tennis events around the world for member countries, they sponsor The IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge.

This is held bi-annually on every continent with the winning teams going to the World-wide Finals which

recently has been held in Wimbledon, Monte Carlo and Japan.

This is fully sponsored by the IC organisation at no cost to the juniors.

The IC also has a philanthropic section that runs and sponsors many projects around the world for juniors in poor areas.

This is part of the IC tradition of top players who are invited to join and give back to the world of tennis. For more information on IC activities, go to www. ictennis.net

The Council of International Lawn Tennis Clubs

In 2009, IC Philanthropy was established by the IC Council to teach tennis to disadvantaged children.

In some communities, the sport provides an alternative path from life on the streets and the dangers of drugs and crime.

Bahamas IC President, Kit Spencer, who will be playing in the event, thanked sponsor Winterbotham Trust for not only helping with staging this

international event but also for their great help in sponsoring The Winterbotham IC Junior Series over recent years.

This has enabled many young Bahamians to get in to tennis competition in an enjoyable way and help the BLTA develop junior tennis.

So from this junior activity to this Caribbean event for older players, tennis is “a game for life.”

For more information, contact Kit Spencer @ 363-2930 and 395-8258.

DJOKOVIC, NADAL CAN ONLY MEET IN FINAL AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN

By COURTNEY WALSH Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw yesterday, meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic, a nine-time champion in Australia, returns to the hard-court tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19. He also couldn’t compete at the 2022 US Open.

Fourth-seeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins Monday.

Iga Swiatek, the women’s No. 1-ranked player, takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No.68, in the opening round.

The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022, a year in which she won the French and US Open titles.

But the main first-round focus will be on Nadal, who faces a potentially challenging match against British player Jack Draper.

Draper, who is 21, was a semifinalist in the Next Gen Championships in November and will also play in a semifinal of the Adelaide International today.

Another opening-round highlight has five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray against Italian Matteo Berrettini, a former Wimbledon finalist who is the No. 13-seeded player.

Murray defeated Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-3 in an exhibition match yesterday and is pleased with his form.

JUNIORS in two age categories, U14 and U16, participated in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) New Year’s Tournament from January 7-10 at the National Tennis Centre.

A group of talented juniors headlined the opening tournament of 2023.

President Perry Newton, vice-president Chilean Burrows and immediate past-president Darnette Weir were on hand to present the trophies.

The winners’ circle consisted of:

U14 Girls

Champion: Briana Houlgrave

Runner Up: Tatyana Madu

U14 Boys

Champion: Patrick Mactaggart

Runner Up: Chase Newbold

U16 Girls

Champion: Briana Houlgrave

Runner Up: Tatyana Madu

U16 Boys

Champion: Jackson Mactaggart

Runner Up: William McCartney

The BLTA congratulates all the winners and participants. Special mention is made of Brianna Houlgrave who captured two age divisions in U14 and U16. 12-year-old Briana played for the first time in the U16 category winning over the #1 and #2 seeds and emerging victorious.

“Continue to shine,” the BLTA wrote. “We thank the tournament director and officials for their hard work.”

Ballon

The

Alex Morgan is the only player nominated from the United States team which will defend its World Cup title this year.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is among five nominees for the men’s coaching award, a list that also includes Walid Regragui after Morocco became the first team from Africa to reach the World Cup semifinals.

The other coaches nominated are Real Madrid’s Carlo

Ancelotti, France’s Didier Deschamps and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.

England coach Sarina Wiegman, who is from the Netherlands, is among six nominees for the coaching award in women’s soccer.

The 11 goals competing for the Puskas Award include two scored at the World Cup –Mbappé’s volleyed second goal against Argentina in the final and Richarlison’s bicycle kick for Brazil against Serbia.

Voting is done by national team captains and coaches worldwide along with selected journalists, and there is an online vote by fans which runs through February 3.

The winners are expected to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on February 27.

EPL

FROM PAGE 12

“so

No Man United manager has reached 20 victories at the club quicker than Ten Hag — he has achieved it in 27 games — but the recent winning run should be put into context given the opponents United has faced, including two lower-league teams in the cups and four of the current bottom six in the Premier League.

City represents a massive step up in quality, though fourth-placed

“It is always difficult in exhibition matches to play like it is the first round of a Grand Slam but I wanted to try to leave everything out on the court to give my body the best preparation, to see how I was moving, to see how I was serving, and it went well,” Murray said.

The potential men’s quarterfinals by seeding are: Nadal vs. No. 7 Daniil Medvedev in what would be a rematch of last year’s final at Melbourne Park, won by Nadal after dropping the initial two sets, and No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the top half; and Djokovic vs. No. 5 Andrey Rublev, and No. 2 Casper Ruud vs. No. 8 Taylor Fritz in the bottom half.

Nadal has a leading 22 Grand Slam singles titles, one more than Djokovic.

Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, who faces Roman Safiullin in the opening round, will play Djokovic in an exhibition match today in Melbourne.

“I am one of the best players in the world, so I am definitely going to go into the Australian Open and any Grand Slam with confidence,” Kyrgios said.

United has already beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham at home this season.

Indeed, that remains Arsenal’s only loss in the league in what has been the fifth-best start to a Premier League after 17 games.

Losing Gabriel Jesus to a knee injury hasn’t slowed Arsenal, especially with captain and playmaker Martin Odegaard in such great form. As it stands, Odegaard and Haaland — two Norwegians — might be leading the race to be the league player of the season.

Tottenham has won the last three north London derbies played at its home stadium but did lose there against Aston Villa on January 1.

Any dropped points by Arsenal would raise the stakes even further given its next game in the league is at home to United.

SHOWN above is Team Bahamas at a previous championship tournament.

Sportsmanship Boy: Panagiotis Mousis Sportsmanship Girl: Claudia Drgon

Ilkay Gundogan said their selfbelief took a hit. “This United side is probably stronger than ever, at least in the recent past,” Gundogan said,

they are full of confidence, will play great football and we’ll need a much better performance than (against Southampton).”

Erling Haaland and Salah were not there because their countries, Norway and Egypt, respectively, did not qualify.

The other players nominated are Jude Bellingham, Kevin De Bruyne, Achraf Hakimi, Luka Modric, Neymar and Vinícius Junior.

d’Or winner Alexia Putellas is among 14 nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Player prize.

list also includes Beth Mead, Keira Walsh and Leah Williamson from European champion England. Putella, the Spain playmaker, missed the tournament in England because of an injury.

RUNNER-up Chase Newbold and champion Patrick Mactaggart receive their trophies from past president Darnette Weir and current president Perry Newton.

BRIANA Houlgrave and Tatyana Madu receive their champions and runners-up trophies from Chilean Burrows. At left is Andrew Burrows Jr.

By STAN CHOE AND DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writers

WALL Street closed higher Thursday after a report showed inflation slowed again last month, bolstering hopes the Federal Reserve may take it easier on the economy through smaller hikes to interest rates.

While the report on U.S. inflation was clearly encouraging, stocks had already rallied earlier this week in anticipation of exactly such data. The numbers were in line with forecasts on many points, and analysts warned investors not to get carried away by them.

The S&P 500 rose 13.56 points, or 0.3%, to 3,983.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 216.96 points, or 0.6%, to 34,189.97. The Nasdaq rose 69.43 points, or 0.6%, to 11,001.10

Small company stocks outpaced the broader market. The Russell 2000 rose, 32.01 points, or 1.7%, to 1,876.06. Every major index is on track for weekly gains.

The nation’s painfully high inflation has been at the center of Wall Street’s wild movements for more than a year. Recently, stocks have been rising and bond yields have been falling on hopes inflation’s cooldown

from a summertime peak may get the Federal Reserve to ease off its barrage of rate hikes. Such increases can stifle inflation, but they do so by slowing the economy and risk causing a recession. They also hurt investment prices.

In the bond market, Thursday’s inflation report sent yields falling further as traders grow more convinced the Fed will downshift the size of its next rate increase. They’re now largely forecasting a hike of just 0.25 percentage points next month, down from December’s half-point hike and from four prior increases of 0.75 percentage points.

Many traders are betting on the Fed to follow that with perhaps another quarter-point hike, but to then potentially take a pause, according to data from CME Group.

Analysts cautioned that while Thursday’s inflation report did show inflation at its least debilitating level in more than a year, it still leaves room for continued pressure on the economy from high rates. They warned more big swings may still be to come for markets.

“While we can safely say that we are past peak inflation, it is too early to call victory on the battle against

NOTICE is hereby given that ROSEMARY OCTAVIEN PIERRE of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that MARCKENSON DORVAL of P.O. Box SS-6360 Sea Breeze Lane, Nassau, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 6th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that SHALINDA PIERRE of Murphy Town, Abaco, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given

Nassau,

Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for

as a citizen of The Bahamas, and

any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

higher inflation,” said Gargi Chaudhuri, head of iShares Investment Strategy, Americas.

Analysts also warned investors not to think of slower rate hikes or a coming halt to increases as the same thing as cuts to interest rates, something some investors hope may happen later this year. Such cuts can act like rocket fuel for markets.

Inflation has been easing for six straight months. Even though it slowed to 6.5% last month from its peak of more than 9% in June, it’s still far too high for the Fed’s and U.S. households’ liking. The central bank has been adamant that it plans to continue raising rates this year and that it sees no rate cuts happening until 2024 at the earliest.

Of course, its forecasts have proven to be very wrong in the past, such as when officials called the initial burst of inflation coming out of the pandemic a “transitory” problem.

Some areas of the economy remain strong, threatening to keep up the pressure on inflation. Chief among them is the labor

market. A report on Thursday showed fewer workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That’s an indication layoffs remain low even though some big tech companies have made high-profile announcements on job cuts.

A strong job market is of course good for workers, particularly when their raises have been failing to keep up with inflation. But the Fed has been saying it does not want wage gains to get too high. That could create a vicious cycle where companies raise prices to cover their higher costs and only worsen inflation.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that SONI DUSOUS of Lazaretto Road, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CARLO ANTHONY HYLTON of Murphy Town, Abaco, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

6.30 6.300.00 1.7600.000N/M0.00% 9.808.78Bahamas Waste BWL 9.75 9.750.00 0.3690.26026.42.67% 4.502.90Cable Bahamas CAB 4.26 4.260.00 -0.4380.000-9.7 0.00% 10.657.50Commonwealth Brewery CBB 10.25 10.250.00 0.1400.00073.20.00% 3.652.54Commonwealth Bank CBL 3.58 3.580.0014,0000.1840.12019.53.35% 8.547.01Colina Holdings CHL 8.53 8.530.00 0.4490.22019.02.58% 17.5012.00CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank CIB 15.99 15.990.00 0.7220.72022.14.50% 3.251.99Consolidated Water BDRs CWCB 2.93 2.90 (0.03) 0.1020.43428.414.97% 11.2810.05Doctor's Hospital DHS 10.50 10.500.00 0.4670.06022.50.57% 11.679.16Emera Incorporated EMAB 9.61 9.700.09 0.6460.32815.03.38% 11.5010.06Famguard

A CURRENCY trader walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, boosted by a rally on Wall Street that came ahead of some potentially market-moving reports due later in the week.

Photo:Lee Jin-man/AP

NOTICENOTICE is hereby given that ROLANDA KNOWLES of Cowpen Road, Nassau, Bahamas, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 13th day of January, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

that DONELLE KENICHARA JEANBAPTISTE of P.O. Box SB52453 #8 McCartney Lane,

The

registration/naturalization

that

Customs chief: Entry reforms are ‘better than sliced bread’

FROM

fail” as a result of its procedure, he acknowledged that Customs can only collect revenue - and the country grow - if companies are generating economic activity.

Addressing the recent EDI controversy head on, the Comptroller said: “There was much ado about requiring this mandate, in particular for brokers, to have submissions done electronically. I say it’s much ado about nothing.

Customs has been going electronic for 20 years. It’s been a slow process, and we’ve done it incrementally over the years. We’re having everybody coming on board to submit documents electronically.”

Mr Munroe said this applied to persons importing/exporting goods by both air and sea, and added: “We want you to interface with us electronically. It’s more efficient and cheaper at the end of the day. It eliminates mistakes, and we can have

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data readily available at all times” for both the likes of the Ministry of Finance and international bodies.

Further justifying Customs, and the Ministry of Finance’s, digital push, the Comptroller continued: “Time is money. In the system that is being proposed, and it has not been perfected yet, it will save everyone time, and when you save time you save everybody money.

“The Government of the Bahamas has made a commitment, where persons are financially challenged, they can access it for free. The process hasn’t been completed and no one has been blocked from anything. January was just another day at the office for us.

“We are pushing people to get into this 21st century, and let’s do things the way the rest of the world is doing it. While persons may be stubborn, and people seem to be reluctant to change, and they are afraid of change, I am convinced

The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods.

that at the end of the day they are going to find this is the best thing since sliced bread.”

Customs brokers have previously complained about both the cost and inconvenience of acquiring the third-party software that will enable them to complete the EDI interface with Click2Clear. The Ministry of Finance, though, has denied it is mandating, or forcing, brokers to use a particular vendor or product, such as ISL or GAACS.

However, some brokers are arguing that limited time, as well as the associated complexity, means they have little choice but to use one of the ministry’s recommendations. The Comptroller yesterday said one of these vendors has developed a system where “no less than 3,000” brokers are able to interface with Click2Clear at any one time.

“We’re asking them to sit back, to relax,” Mr Munroe told brokers in yesterdays message of reassurance. “Nothing is going to adversely affect you. The cost involved will be borne by the Government of The Bahamas. The Customs Department has made a commitment to train brokers who are not prepared.” Customs IT section will be available for such purposes.

The Comptroller also promised that the Customs Department’s ethos has changed. “Our whole business is trade facilitation,”

he pledged. “Gone are the days when we were a big stick. We are not a big stick... Our business is to grow the economy, and work along with importers, work along with businesses to grow the economy. The more business grows, the more the country grows. We don’t want anybody to fail.”

Promising that Customs officers are “servants of The Bahamas”, Mr Munroe said this nation should be a “blue chip” jurisdiction able to compete with any Caribbean rival. He also defended the moving around of Customs personnel, arguing that it was not good for personnel development for officers to remain in the same post for eight to nine years, and that it could also breed corruption, tax evasion and revenue losses.

“It’s not good for revenue,” Mr Munroe explained. “The Customs Department, like any law enforcement agency, if you keep one person in one place too long it can breed corruption. We don’t want that to happen..... We want to move them around, have freshness. It’s good for them, good for the department and good for the country.”

Kwasi Thompson, former minister of state for finance, has argued that the Customs regulations must first be amended to mandate that all brokers connect to Click2Clear via EDI. This

has been rejected by the Ministry of Finance, and Mr Munroe yesterday argued that the Customs Management Act’s section nine gives him powers to determine how information and entries are to be submitted.

Explaining the rationale for the changes, the Ministry of Finance said this week: “The Click2Clear system is designed to facilitate electronic data interchange or EDI. EDI or the sending of an electronic file for processing dramatically lowers the cost of operation for both the broker and Customs. As of June 2022, less than 10 percent of the transactions submitted to Click2Clear were by EDI.

“Instead, they were submitted by way of the user interface (UI). A UI entry is a time consuming and error prone way of submitting entries. Independent estimates have placed the potential annual revenue loss from errors in submitting entries by UI at more than $50m.

“The most recent estimate was provided by a consultant firm engaged by the previous administration, so the need to improve Customs processes to eliminate leakage is non-political and has bipartisan support.

The Government must act to recover this lost revenue, and recovering this revenue loss by administrative means, in a high inflation environment, is more practical than simply

just increasing import duty rates.”

Suggesting that EDI “integration” will also produce greater efficiencies and reduce the cost associated with clearing imports, the Ministry of Finance said: “EDI submissions, while reducing revenue losing errors, are also quicker, which means that the importer can get his goods released by Customs much faster. A submission, which can take days to prepare under UI, can be done in hours through EDI.

“This is why Bahamian software vendors have been building EDI systems for Customs brokers and importers for a number of years prior to the full automation of the Customs processes. Many of these systems are now so sophisticated that no manual intervention is required for the import clearance process with invoices being submitted into the company or broker’s EDI electronically.

“As part of this transition, the Ministry of Finance previously advised the broker and import community that it would be making available free two different versions of an EDI system. A version for licensed brokers, which is now being rolled out, and a simplified version which would focus on commonly imported consumer goods, which is designed for persons who seek to do their own customs entries.”

A SIGN outside the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, on May 4, 2021. The official start date of the 2023 tax filing season begins Jan. 23, when the IRS will begin accepting and processing 2022 returns, the agency announced Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

IRS ANNOUNCES JAN. 23 START DATE FOR TAX FILING SEASON

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

THE official start date of the 2023 tax filing season is Jan. 23, when the IRS will begin accepting and processing 2022 returns, the agency announced Thursday.

The news comes after the National Taxpayer Advocate reported Wednesday that the IRS watchdog is seeing "a light at the end of the tunnel" of the IRS' customer service struggles, thanks to the hiring of thousands of new workers and

tens of billions of dollars in new funding provided to the IRS in the Democrats' climate and health law.

Agency leadership says taxpayers should expect a smoother filing season this year.

"We've trained thousands of new employees to answer phones and help people.

While much work remains after several difficult years, we expect people to experience improvements this tax season," said Acting IRS Commissioner Doug O'Donnell.

The IRS has most recently added 5,000 new customer service representatives who were trained in taxpayer rights and technical account management issues and is chipping away at the hundreds of thousands of unprocessed returns from last tax season.

The House Republican majority has promised to rescind the nearly $71 billion that Congress had provided the IRS, even though the bill they approved Monday is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-run Senate.

The filing deadline for most taxpayers to submit their 2022 tax returns, file extensions and pay money owed is April 18.

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Photo:Patrick Semansky/AP

‘Go-to’ contractor faces worker payment probe

Endeavor as a situation that the Prime Minister’s Office is investigating. Suggesting that worker grievances, which involve some allegedly not being paid “going back” as far as September 2022, had first surfaced on social media, he added that the Prime Minister had sought to intervene in the matter with his office reaching out to company officials.

“This government will not allow foreign investors or anyone for that matter to take advantage of Bahamian workers and vendors,” Mr Watson said, although he was unable to provide any details such as how many workers have been affected and the total sum owing. This newspaper understands that the nonpayment may stem from a dispute between Endeavor and some of its sub-contractors, although that could not be confirmed before press time last night.

Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk publicly, yesterday suggested that Endeavor was a Bahamas-domiciled entity

that was licensed to operate in this nation even though its website shows a Miami headquarters. Efforts to reach the company through contacts listed on its site proved fruitless, as the e-mail address bounced back while the phone number went straight to an unknown voice mail.

Baker’s Bay’s switchboard told this newspaper that the company was no

longer operating at the project. Endeavor’s website says it was founded in 1995, and now has offices in San Diego and The Bahamas. No contacts were provided for either office, with The Bahamas’ address listed as 123 Queen Elizabeth Drive, Marsh Harbour, Abaco.

It is thought that Endeavor’s Bahamian operation is a joint venture with

locals. A government press release, dated November 30, 2021, hailed the company for creating “sustainable employment and an economic shot in the arm for Abaco” as it met Keith Bell, minister of labour and Immigration, at his East Bay Street offices.

“The Endeavor team spoke of [their] ongoing commitment to build high end and luxurious homes on Abaco, and recruiting efforts to have talented and highly-qualified Bahamians join the world class company,” said the release, which is still available on the Government’s website.

“Minister Bell commended Endeavor for its demonstrated confidence in the Bahamian economy and relentless pursuit to train and engage Bahamians at all levels. Endeavor’s delivery of an excellent product that continues to place Abaco on the world stage as a second home mecca has created sustainable employment and an economic shot in the arm for Abaco.”

The photo accompanying the release hinted strongly at Endeavor having joint ventured with Bahamians.

Edward Hanna was named as its president, and shown in the photo, while Trevor Carey was said to be the logistics chief. Tribune Business sought to contact Mr Hanna for comment but, while the voice message identified the number as his, no one answered and this newspaper’s messages were not returned.

Endeavor’s website says of the company: “Endeavor is a general contracting firm that specialises in the construction and renovation of new luxury homes, hospitality and commercial projects. Endeavor’s combined experience of over 50 years has included the completion of hundreds of projects from $500,000 to $15m in project value.

“Endeavor projects have included custom luxury homes in the continental US, as well as Caribbean islands, such as The Bahamas and Cat Cay. Hospitality projects have included select and full service properties such as Hampton Inn, Marriott, Hilton, Springhill Suites, Hyatt, LaQuinta, Homewood Suites, Home2 and other major brands.”

Scotia chief’s ‘Outlook’ on technology solutions

FROM PAGE B22

Thursday’s event: “I think it is going to be extremely insightful, exciting and very, very important.”

Amber Carey, Cable Bahamas and Aliv’s vicepresident for consumer solutions and marketing, said she will next week discuss ways this nation can

progress in technology and communications during her presentation. “We are significantly invested in our Family Islands because we think that investment is key to growth,” she added.

Vivian Moultrie, one of the composers of The Bahamas’ national motto, will recount how this was developed during the

lunch session plus discuss the future of Bahamian educational, scientific and technological advances in a fast-evolving world.

Also speaking will be George Smith, special advisor to the 50th anniversary celebrations; Christel Sands-Feaste, partner, Higgs & Johnson; Toni

B. Seymour, chief operations officer, Bahamas Power & Light; Neko Meicholas and Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, principals, Guanima Press; Erik Rolland, president and chief executive, University of The Bahamas; Robert Sweeting, chief executive, Fli Drone; Dion

Cunningham, pianist and educator; Dennis Deveaux, chief financial officer, Doctors Hospital Health

As to the present, the website added: “Endeavor’s ability to overcome the challenges of working in an international market has made us a well-regarded and in-demand contractor. We are able to compete with other contractors, and we are fast becoming the go-to contractor in Baker’s Bay, Bahamas. Our performance in getting our crews mobilised and materials in these remote locations exceeds our clients’ expectations.” Tribune Business sources yesterday said Endeavor was contracted by various homeowners to construct residential properties at Baker’s Bay and not by the developer itself. They added of the worker payment situation: “This has been going on for a while. It has been brought to the Government’s attention. The Government has been aware of this for a while.

“It’s unfortunate it has happened. It is a real situation, but I don’t know how many are involved and the sums. I hope the subs get paid. If they’ve done the work they ought to be paid.”

Systems; Karen Panton, executive director, Bahamas Protected Areas Fund; Karlos Mackey, chief executive, MoneyMaxx; and Haldane Chase, professor emeritus, University of The Bahamas.

FROM L to R: Trevor Carey, logistics; Edward Hanna, president; Michael Campian, Endeavor’s vice-president of construction; Keith Bell, minister of labour and immigration; Erin Alberte, Endeavor’s human resources manager; and senior officer, Ernest Burrows.

Photo:Kristaan Ingraham/BIS

Businesses are warned: Stop ‘lying’ on turnover

that the Department of Inland Revenue will take a keen interest in verifying the accuracy of gross turnover figures that all businesses - regardless of size and topline revenue - must provide in less than three weeks’ time by January’s end.

Warning that the tax authorities will “say ‘hmmmm’” to the likes of liquor stores and fast-food restaurants reporting annual revenue below six figures, she added that the Department of Inland Revenue will be conducting both “desk” and field audits to verify turnover submissions, and request information such as monthly electricity bill payments to determine how active companies are.

Revealing that Business Licence fees collected for the 2021-2022 fiscal year were 9 percent below target, coming in at $91m as opposed to the $100m goal set by the Government as the economy emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Strachan voiced

optimism that the compliance crackdown will enable it to achieve this year’s $124m objective.

“What we’re finding is that most businesses don’t really report their true turnover,” Ms Strachan argued.

“The challenge the Department of Inland Revenue is having is verifying what that is that turnover. Just under 50,000 businesses registered last year. We expect to have more than 50,000 businesses” registered in 2023.

Of the near-50,000 Business Licence fee paying companies from 2022, she added: “Only about 9,000 registered for VAT. That tells us we have more than 40,000 businesses saying they generate less than $100,000 a year. I don’t know about that. This year we’re going to be asking questions. We’re going to be having dialogue with businesses as they submit their applications.”

Giving a liquor store reporting annual turnover of $20,000, and a fast-food restaurant asserting a $40,000

top-line, as example, Ms Strachan added: “We’re definitely going to say ‘hmmm’ to that. We’re going to come back and ask you questions.”

Pointing out that companies with annual turnover of $100,000 or less were earning, on average, weekly revenues of less than $2,000 ($1,923) based on a 52-week year, the Inland Revenue chief added: “The majority of businesses say they generate less than $100,000 a year. The focus of the Department of Inland Revenue will be on verifying turnover. That will be the focus.

“We’re coming to you. What’s your utility bill like monthly? That gives us an idea. If you’re generating less than $2,000 a week, no way your light bill for the month will be $1,000 or $500. Certain questions give us an indication as to what direction your turnover is going. Be truthful about your turnover. If we can verify the turnover, we know we can meet the Government’s target for Business Licence.”

Some $14m in Business Licence fees have been collected for the first six months of the 2022-2023 fiscal year. However, Ms Strachan acknowledged that the “lion’s share” of these fees will be received in the run up to, and around, the March 31 deadline for when companies are legally obligated to make the payments.

“But, again, we need businesses to be truthful about the turnover you bring in,” she reiterated, warning that the Department of Inland Revenue has numerous data reference points it can use to check companies’ turnover submissions for accuracy. These include Customs and major wholesalers, which allow the tax authorities to assess how much an individual business is importing and purchasing locally. “We have ways to verify the numbers,” Ms Strachan said.

“If we have a suspicion that something is not right about your turnover, we perform an audit, whether that’s a desk audit or a field audit where we come to you.

A A AS A IATION INCO ‘ UST AND UITA L ’

FROM

fees scheme on August 31, 2020. The $176m figure was derived by the time The Bahamas unveiled its “notice of imposition”, confirming the levy would take effect, on December 22, 2020, following consultation with aviation stakeholders including the US airlines complaining so bitterly now.

The never-before-seen submission to the FAA, released as part of the Government’s bid to ensure US

airline complaints against the overflight fee charges are dismissed, for the first time gives insight into how much The Bahamas expects to earn from its new revenue stream that will finance local aviation infrastructure and regulatory capacity.

It also discloses that international, and especially US, opposition and concern to the overflight fee regime has been building since at least 2020 when The Bahamas first gave notice that it planned to impose the

COMERNERGY LTD.

LIQUIDATOR’S NOTICE

Pursuant to Section 138(6) of the International Business Companies Act

NOTICE is hereby given that COMERNERGY LTD., a company registered under the International Business Companies Act, has been dissolved and struck off the Register as of the 16th day of December 2022.

Sterling (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

charges. The latest dispute, which in a worst-case scenario could result in Bahamian-owned airlines such as Bahamasair and Western Air being barred, or severely “curtailed”, from flying to the US, is the latest phase in a long-running dispute.

The CAAB’s FAA submission also reveals that the latter’s agreement to cease charging air navigation services fees would slash the Bahamian regulator’s “external services

provider costs” from $23.7m to $5.6m per annum. “The FAA’s waiver of air navigation services fees results in the $18.1m reduction of the CAAB’s annual operating costs from external service providers,” the document states.

“The update of the CAAB’s investment plan implies an extra annual cost of $3.2m [in] internal costs associated with further personnel, maintenance and utilities, cost of amortization and depreciation, and

PETROLEO DEL CARIBE LTD.

LIQUIDATOR’S NOTICE

Pursuant to Section 138(6) of the International Business Companies Act

NOTICE is hereby given that PETROLEO DEL CARIBE LTD., a company registered under the International Business Companies Act, has been dissolved and struck off the Register as of the 8th day of December 2022.

Sterling (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

If we have doubts we’re going to verify, and penalties and enforcement will come after the fact. If could be we decide to garnish. It could be we do other things. The law allows us to do a number of things, but the first step is to verify.”

Under-reporting turnover allows companies to avoid or evade their Business Licence obligations because this is what the fee is based upon. Submitting false ‘lower’ turnover figures thus reduces the size of the Business Licence fee payment, and enables firms to pay less than their fair share to the Public Treasury.

Companies with annual turnover above $100,000 are supposed to have their Business Licence submissions certified, and signed-off, by a licensed and qualified accountant so the system already provides some checks and balances.

And The Bahamas does have a sizeable small business sector, with previous research for the Inter-American Development Bank

cost of capital. On average, the annual budget of the CAAB has been reduced by $14.9m thanks to the FAA’s waiver of air navigation services fees, which represents a 29.8 percent reduction of the CAAB’s annual budget.”

The Bahamian regulator is conservatively forecasting that the recovery of air traffic volumes to pre-COVID levels “is postponed to 2024-2025”, leading it to cut average annual estimates by 18.4 percent.

However, it added: “Thanks to the FAA’s waiver of air navigation service fees, the combined effect of the reduction of the CAAB’s operating costs and the traffic figures is still positive.

“The ATC (air traffic control) fees in the notice of imposition are lower than in the notice of intent. Note that the FAA’s waiver of air navigation services fees has reduced the overflight fee by 15.5 percent. The rest of the fees have continued the same...... Since the cost to recover has reduced by 29.8 percent, the CAAB’s “building block” model outcomes that the revenue requirement is 29.8 percent lower.”

The Bahamian regulator said reduced post-COVID air traffic, combined with a more aggressive investment plan for building local aviation safety and oversight capacity, has slightly offset the savings from the FAA waiver. It added: “With the baseline traffic forecast and

(IDB) and Chamber showing more than 90 percent of firms could meet this definition.

Ms Strachan, meanwhile, warned services providers such as attorneys and accountants that reforms to the Business Licence Act passed with last May’s Budget again included “export turnover” in the fee calculation. This means that income earned for work or advice provided to clients based outside The Bahamas must be reported in the turnover calculation and taxed accordingly.

Financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and money lenders also have to resume paying annual Business Licence fees this year, which is likely where a significant portion of the $24m increase in total fee collections is intended to come from. And the legal reforms passed with the Budget also mean that all Business Licences expire at the calendar year end rather than at a company’s financial year-end.

investment plan (notice of intent), the FAA’s waiver would allow reducing the overflight fee to $31.50 per 100 nautical miles.

“However, when considering the new traffic forecast, this figure increases to $45.10 per 100 nautical miles. Additionally, the cost of the FAA’s flight data provider implies a total fee of $45.30 per 100 nautical miles. Finally, the updated investment plan, which includes new features enhancing the safety and the continuity of the air navigation services system in The Bahamas, adds $6.30 per 100 nautical miles more to the overflight fee.

“Therefore, the total overflight fee amounts to $51.60 per 100 nautical miles. Note that the final figure is 15.5 percent lower than the fee published in the notice of intent.” The CAAB added that the FAA’s waiver would reduce its total costs by a combined $90.6m over the five-year period between 2021 and 2025, which is to be partially offset by a total $16.3m rise in its investment. Capital spending over the period is forecast to jump from an initial $14.1m to $33.3m.

“The total costs to recover have reduced by $74.4m (a 29.7 percent reduction) for the period 2021-2025 from the notice of intent to the notice of imposition. The CAAB’s fees are fully reflective of this discount,” the Bahamian regulator asserted.

SHLOSS MANAGEMENT GROUP LTD.

LIQUIDATOR’S NOTICE

Pursuant to Section 138(6) of the International Business Companies Act

NOTICE is hereby given that SHLOSS MANAGEMENT GROUP LTD., a company registered under the International Business Companies Act, has been dissolved and struck off the Register as of the 6th day of December 2022.

Sterling (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

GLOBAL PAYMENTS NOW LTD.

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NOTICE

Pursuant to Section 138(6) of the International Business Companies Act

NOTICE is hereby given that GLOBAL PAYMENTS NOW LTD., a company registered under the International Business Companies Act, has been dissolved and struck off the Register as of the 8th day of December 2022.

Sterling (Bahamas) Limited Liquidator

Pharmacies hopeful new price controls ‘cease’ next Tuesday

Tribune Business understands the meeting was likely attended by Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, who has responsibility for price control and consumer matters.

Ms McBride, in her replies to Tribune Business, said that while there was no explicit “confirmation” that the existing price controls will end next Tuesday, and that the sector will revert to the pre-October 2022 regime, there were signs this would occur.

“Of course no confirmations, but it was stated as if it should cease,” she wrote.

The present price controls were agreed by the Government and pharmaceutical industry in early November 2022 as a means to settle the dispute that erupted after the former, without any consultation, introduced changes the prior month that slashed both retail and wholesale margins in a bid to combat the cost of living crisis.

The sector and the Davis administration ultimately traded-off higher mark-ups with an expanded list of price controlled items that increased by ten medications. As a result, for just over two months now, pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers have enjoyed one set mark-up across the board, at 20 percent and 40 percent respectively, for all price-controlled items in a move that simplified the structure.

It placed the price control mark-ups for wholesalers at a slightly higher level than the Government was initially proposing, between 15-18 percent, but some five percentage points less than the 25 percent they have enjoyed for the past 40 years.

As for retail pharmacies, the agreed 40 percent was at the top end of the range initially proposed by the Government. The Davis administration had sought a cut to between 35 percent to 40 percent, but the markup was ultimately some ten percentage points less (a 20 percent reduction in percentage terms) than the 50 percent that pharmacies have enjoyed for the past decade.

In return for the Government keeping the margins at the upper end of its target range, the pharmacy industry also agreed to expand the price-controlled medications by ten items to include cancer and kidney treatment drugs. However, there was no confirmation yesterday from the Government that the sector’s price control regime will revert to that which existed preNovember 2022.

Mr Halkitis could not be reached, and did not respond to messaged inquiries, for comment before press time last night.

And Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, deflected questions on the issue as discussions between government and private sector were

ongoing. “We’re going to wait to see what comes out of those talks,” he added.

Given that the present regime was only agreed in early November, the Government could argue that the three-month term does not expire until early February 2023 and seek to leave it in place for several more weeks. And it is also possible that the Davis administration could seek to extend it further as it prioritises protecting middle and low income Bahamians from the inflation-driven cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile, the BPA, in its message to pharmacists, said it had also discussed reducing work permit fees for the sector. “BPA made strong requests for the reduction of work permit fees to lessen the burden on our current workforce while reiterating our commitment to public education,” its note to the industry said.

Ms McBride did not comment on this aspect, and the version of the note sent to this newspaper eliminated any reference to work permits. “BPA reiterated our commitment to public education,” it stated.

However, Branville McCartney, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader, whose family owns Wilmac’s Pharmacy, yesterday backed the Association’s call for an easing of work permit fees to help cure “the shortage of Bahamian pharmacists” that the industry has faced for many years.

“The fees went up a few years ago, but we have a shortage of pharmacists in this country which dates back some time,” he told Tribune Business. “The Government had to bring in pharmacists some years back itself. The fees to bring in pharmacists went up tremendously, and certainly if that was a topic of discussion that’s something I hope the Government will look at and reconsider.

“We’ve had a shortage of pharmacists in this country for many, many years and the Government is well aware of that. We simply don’t have sufficient Bahamian pharmacists. It

compromises service to the public, and the company as a whole. If you don’t have qualified personnel you cannot operate. I hope it’s something positive. We could do with something positive for the New Year.”

All businesses need trained and qualified personnel in key positions, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, which by its very nature impacts the public’s health and safety by distributing prescription drugs. The sector’s fear is that high work permit fees act as a barrier to recruiting skilled expatriate staff essential to operational survival when there are

insufficient trained Bahamians available and willing to do the work.

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, also voiced hope that the present price controls will “come to an end soon” and the pre-November 2022 position be adopted. Having previously disclosed that his family’s business is incurring a loss under present margins, he added yesterday: “It has impacted, no doubt about that. We’re hoping it’s just for a few months.....

“We’re just hoping this comes to an end as agreed. At the end of the day, we’ve lived up to our part, reducing the prices as agreed, and hopefully the Government will live up to their part for the time period to do it.”

CREATIVE IDEAS TO BRING NEW BUSINESSES ONLINE

As people survey the world’s current business and political landscape, many are leaning towards entrepreneurial pursuits. And it should not be surprising that most new small business ideas in 2023 will involve an online model.

The advice to individuals still searching for a successful small business model is to choose an idea they are knowledgeable and passionate about, and develop a detailed business plan. Before starting a business, you must determine if there is a demand for the product or service you want to provide. This list of 12 business ideas will help you get started on your entrepreneurial journey.

1. Online reselling

In this season of thrifty thinking, there is a great market for lightly-used

items. Everything is in play, and a small mark-up on the resold items can give you sizeable profit margins.

2. Pet sitting It is estimated that 60 percent of Bahamian homes have pets. A growing percentage of these pet owners care enough to provide extra care for these animals. Market well and see the rewards.

3. Cleaning service Coming out of a pandemic is certainly the best time to make your claim in the cleaning market. Businesses, homes and communities need expert cleaning services now more than ever.

4. Online teaching You are an expert at something. Share your knowledge with well structured virtual training workshops. Your audience

is unlimited and so are your potential profits.

5. Online bookkeeping Many companies are simply unable to secure the services of an accounting firm. If you have this skill set it may just be a winner for 2023.

6. Consulting Human resources, marketing, sales, technology and hundreds of other fields are ripe for business consultants and analysts. Convince ten clients that you are worth the investment, and you will never work in the traditional job market again.

7. App development

If you are knowledgeable and experienced in technology, you may want to consider a career in app development. Smart phones are an everyday accessory for all Bahamians,

which has increased the demand for mobile apps.

8. Freelance copywriting or content writing

If you are a natural wordsmith with a bit of marketing knowledge, you can establish yourself as a freelance copywriter or content writer. Whether you write blogs, web content or press releases, plenty of companies will pay for your services.

9. Home care service A background in care and hospitality can go a long way to supporting housebound seniors who require in-home care.

10. Digital marketing The importance of the Internet grows with every passing day, but it also becomes harder for businesses to cut through the online clutter and properly

market themselves. Digital marketing services are always in demand.

11. Lawn care service

You can grow a small lawn care service into a full landscaping company by offering premium services and establishing a reputation as a brand that does a thorough job with a smile. If you like working outdoors and creating elegant landscapes, this could be the business for you.

12. Personal training

If the gym is like your second home, you might want to share some of your expertise and help others reach their fitness goals. As a personal trainer, you can offer in-home training sessions that cater to each of your clients’ exercise capabilities. You can also help clients build customised nutrition and meal plans

so their diets complement their physical goals.

a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.

Scotia chief’s ‘Outlook’ on technology solutions

By FAY SIMMONS jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Surveillance Offcers (Nassau)

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SCOTIABANK (Bahamas) top executive yesterday said he will focus on technology solutions for the country’s financial services access ills at next week’s Business Outlook conference.

Roger Archer, also the bank’s vice-president and district head for the northern Caribbean, told a conference preview that providing physical banking

services in the Family Islands was especially challenging because of the high costs involved.

“Serving the Family Islands is a challenge because the cost is extremely high to service,” he explained.

Mr Archer said he will discuss using technology to evolve the Bahamas’ banking system and changes that have already been made. “Another key point that we will consider is the impact of technology and

Promotion Board hires new marketing leader

THE NASSAU Paradise Island Promotion Board has named Kim Salter as its new vice-president of marketing with the task of increasing the destination’s profile in key visitor source markets.

“We are overjoyed to welcome Kim to our team, and we look forward to the fresh perspective that she will bring to the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board,” said Joy Jibrilu, its chief executive. “Her expertise will be invaluable as we continue to promote the destination as an unparalleled vacation spot for a variety of travellers. This

year is already gearing up to be one for the books, and we are excited to have Kim on board to help us achieve our organisation’s goals.”

Ms Salter started her career with AnheuserBusch Adventure Parks (now SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment), enjoying several promotions before expanding into corporate, agency and global organisations. She has developed business-driven solutions at Atlantis, Legoland Theme Parks and Daytona International Speedway.

“I am excited to return to paradise and work with the Nassau Paradise Island

communications on financial services. This is a game changer,” he added.

Mr Archer’s address will take place during the conference’s first session, which is titled ‘Forward: Moving ahead with purpose and speed’. It will focus on how The Bahamas can progress in business, banking and technology. Joan Albury, TCL Group’s president, and the Business Outlook’s main organiser, said of next

Promotion Board to support the destination,” said Ms Salter. “There are so many wonderful accommodations, activities and dining options for visitors to experience on the island, and I look forward to using my experience to bring a new point of view to the Promotion Board’s marketing efforts.”

KIM SALTER

CUSTOMS’ top official yesterday pledged to “vigorously pursue” persons smuggling alcohol or selling it without the permission of Bahamian companies who have sole local distribution rights.

Ralph Munroe, the agency’s comptroller, said it had received complaints from unnamed distributors that “there are a lot of products on the Bahamian market they have sole distributorship for that they are not responsible for selling to the public”.

Addressing the first media briefing by the Prime Minister’s Office for 2023, he warned those selling beer, wines and/or spirits illicitly to “cease and desist” given that they were violating the brand exclusivity and intellectual property rights of those Bahamian companies who own them.

“Those persons who have run afoul of the law, and may have imported them whether they were smuggled or whether they did so simply without permission, because it is an intellectual property that the sole distributor has, we’re saying

to them to cease and desist and that is an area that Customs are going to pursue vigorously,” Mr Munroe pledged.

Confirming that Bahamas-based distributors believe there are “a lot of” beer and hard liquors being sold locally that were not sourced through legitimate channels, the Comptroller added: “We’re not saying that duty hasn’t been paid. We’re saying that persons who have [own] intellectual property, they have a right to guard that. They’ve paid for it; it’s their property, and as a department we have a duty to protect it.

“All persons who may have run afoul of the law in that regard, we are putting you on notice that the Customs Department is coming after you. We are a country of laws.”

Established Bahamian beer and liquor manufacturers and distributors, such as Commonwealth Brewery and Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company, as well as their affiliates, have long regarded the so-called ‘grey’ or parallel market for such products as undermining their business.

Commonwealth Brewery, in unveiling its initial

public offering (IPO) in 2011, estimated that the ‘grey’ market accounted for some 15 percent of all alcohol sold and consumed in The Bahamas. The country’s proximity to the US, as well as its multiple ports of entry, facilitate the smuggling of such products. They are also often imported for private parties.

Mr Munroe yesterday said it was hard to prove claims that some ‘grey’ market product was counterfeit, adding: “You may suspect it but how do you prove it” without proper chemical testing and analysis.

Meanwhile, Shunda Strachan, the Department of Inland Revenue’s acting controller, told the same briefing that delinquent real property tax payers face a 40 percent increase in their bills if these have to be passed to a private collections agency to make good on.

Confirming that several such companies, including some based overseas, have been hired for collections work, she added that while they were “making some headway” in cutting into hundreds of millions of dollars in real property tax arrears there was not

sufficient progress to report yet.

“A lot of accounts have been outsourced to private collection. That adds an additional 40 percent on to your tax bill. If persons have not been paying they will meet with enforcement action,” Ms Strachan warned, with collections activity “especially” targeting foreign-owned property.

“One of the changes in the July legislation was to really allow the Department [of Inland Revenue] to be able to exercise its power of sale over more than foreign-owned vacant land,” she said. “We now have the power to exercise power of sale over all property other than Bahamian-owned and occupied property. That’s major. That’s one thing coming down the pipeline.

“We’re doing a lot of things this year that we’ve not done before. It’s really been focusing on our revenue targets and ensuring revenue due to the Bahamian people comes in. We’ve been working with the banks. They’ve been very helpful, and have been starting to pay real property tax with clients that have not been paying. We’re doing a lot of things

differently. Garnishing is coming.”

Ms Strachan affirmed that the Department of Inland Revenue “won’t hold your Business Licence up” if a company is a tenant of a landlord who is delinquent on their real property tax payments. Tribune Business revealed earlier this month that all businesses must provide the real property tax assessment number for the building from which they operate, even if they are merely tenants, otherwise their Business Licence renewal may be delayed.

Responding to concerns that landlords are refusing to provide tenants with assessment numbers, the Department of Inland Revenue chief said businesses could instead submit the location of their premises and landlord’s name.

However, she did not directly address concerns that “garnishing” a tenant’s rental payments to pay off their landlord’s property tax arrears would place the former in potential breach of their lease agreement. This would result from the rental payment going to the Government rather than the landlord.

The joint objective of the Ministry of Finance and

Department of Inland Revenue is two-fold - to boost both Business Licence and real property tax revenue. By better matching business tenants to their commercial landlords, the tax authorities’ goal is to detect those among the latter who lack the necessary Business Licence for the activities they are conducting and thus clamp down on such tax dodging.

While companies have been assured that their landlord’s existing real property tax arrears will not impact Business Licence renewals, the strategy is also designed to provide the Department of Inland Revenue with information enabling it to “garnish” the tenant’s rental payments and thereby use these to pay-off debt owed to the Public Treasury by the building’s owner.

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Bahamas:

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS’ plan to generate $176m from the first five years of its new overflight fees regime was defended to US aviation regulators as “just and equitable for all air space users”.

The Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas (CAAB), rejecting the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) concerns, told its US counterpart in early 2021 that the fees were set at levels that would amount to a cost recovery scheme whereby this nation simply covered all expenses associated with building safety and oversight of its own sovereign air space.

It added that the $175.6m, which The Bahamas expected to collect over the five-year period through 2025, represented a near-$75m or almost 30 percent reduction on the initial $250m estimate after the charges were revised

downwards during the 2020 second half.

And this decline, which lowered the Bahamian regulator’s average annual costs for the period from $50m to $35.1m, was almost entirely driven by the FAA’s own offer to waive the cost of air navigation services and accept a mere $80,000 fee per annuman arrangement the two sides subsequently agreed upon, This slashed the Bahamian civil aviation authority’s annual costs by some $18.1m,

aviation

Pharmacies hopeful new price controls ‘cease’ next Tuesday

pandemic-induced fall in air traffic, show overflight fee revenues rising from an initial $27.4m in 2021, when the levy was first introduced, to $31.3m in 2022 and a forecast $35.2m for this calendar year.

As air traffic recovers, they are projected to further jump to $39m and $42.8m, respectively, in 2024 and 2025.

documents seen by Tribune Business disclose, driving a total expenses base shrinkage of some $14.9m or nearly 30 percent. As a result, The Bahamas was able to slash air traffic control (ATC) fees from the initially proposed maximum of $61 per 100 nautical miles to a high of $51.60 for planes transiting its air space and which do not land in this nation.

The CAAB’s projections, which were finalised postCOVID and adjusted for the

“The total expected revenues match the costs to recover ($175.6m),” the Bahamian regulator asserted, justifying the proposed fee structure in the face of growing US airline pressure even then. “Therefore, the CAAB’s charging scheme is cost-reflective and proposes a fair and equitable charging scheme for all air space users.”

That total was revised downwards from the initial $250m forecast made when The Bahamas issued its socalled “notice of intent” to implement the overflight

Businesses are warned: Stop ‘lying’ on turnover

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government’s tax collection chief yesterday voiced scepticism that fewer than 20 percent of businesses meet the VAT registration threshold, and demanded the private sector “be truthful”.

Shunda Strachan, the Department of Inland

Revenue’s acting controller, said it will “this year be asking questions” amid suspicions that “most businesses don’t really report their true turnover” for Business Licence valuation purposes.

Speaking at the first Prime Minister’s Office media briefing for 2023, she said that out of nearly 50,000 companies with Business Licences “only about 9,000” - some 18 percent - meet the annual $100,000

turnover threshold that legally mandates they must register to collect and remit VAT to the Government.

Ms Strachan openly voiced doubts as to whether the remaining 40,000-plus Business Licence registrants all have annual turnovers below the $100,000 mark, saying: “I don’t know about that.” Calling for honesty, she pledged

Customs chief: Entry reforms are ‘better than sliced bread’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

CUSTOMS top official yesterday assured complaining brokers they will ultimately find integration with its electronic goods clearance system is “better than sliced bread” due to the cost savings and efficiency gains that result.

Ralph Munroe, comptroller for an agency that collects some $1bn annually, described as “much ado about nothing” concerns held by some brokers over the mandate for them to connect with the Electronic Single Window (ESW), known as Click2Clear, via digital - as opposed to user - interface.

Speaking at the first Prime Minister’s Office media briefing for 2023, he asserted that no broker or importer had been “blocked” from Customs’ system even though some are still scrambling to acquire, install and learn the third-party software that will facilitate the electronic data interface (EDI) that was mandated from January 3, 2023.

Pledging that Customs’ approach is business-friendly, Mr Munroe said that “gone are the days when we were a big stick” as the focus is now on facilitating trade and commerce. Promising that “we don’t want anybody to

‘Go-to’ contractor faces worker payment probe

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A CONTRACTOR, which advertises itself as “fast becoming the go-to” builder at Abaco’s Baker’s Bay development, was yesterday confirmed to be under investigation for alleged non-payment of Bahamian workers.

Robert Farquharson, the Government’s director of labour, told Tribune Business his department is conducting a probe into the claims surrounding Endeavor Development International but declined to comment further for

fear it might prejudice the outcome.

“The Department of Labour is conducting an investigation but I’m unable to give any comments on that matter at this time,” he replied to this newspaper’s inquiries. “That is a matter before me and I will not have discussions about it in the media until we complete the investigation. That is a matter that involves an ongoing investigation by the Department of Labour.”

Mr Farquharson spoke after Clint Watson, the Prime Minister’ press secretary, yesterday singled out

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

PHARMACIES are voicing cautious optimism that their lower-margin price control regime could end as early as next Tuesday with the industry also pushing for a reduction in work permit fees.

Shantia McBride, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) president, yesterday confirmed in messaged replies to Tribune Business inquiries that the tone emerging from meetings with government officials this week was that the existing regime “should cease” by January 17, 2023, as set out in the mid-October Order that implemented it.

A similar message, seen by this newspaper, was delivered to Association members and pharmacists yesterday. Headlined ‘Update on price control amendments’, it also suggested the agreement reached with the Government on November 3, 2022, was likely to end in line with its intended three-month lifetime.

“The amendments should cease on January 17, 2023,” pharmacists were told. “Yesterday’s [Wednesday’s] meeting was a pleasant recap of BPA and government experience during the price control amendment period.... Government was pleased with the feedback of our compliance and assistance given to price control during their visits to our stores. Customers spoke of the discounts they received and allaround positive experience at their individual pharmacies.”

SHANTIA MCBRIDE