01172023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

‘GOVT STALLING ON MARITAL RAPE LAW’

AG: DON’T BE RECKLESS ON CASES OF POLLUTION

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder yesterday cautioned Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard to be mindful “not to make reckless forecasts” as to what may be awarded this jurisdiction for environmental damage in connection to two shipping incidents that took place last year.

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

WOMEN’S rights activists have accused the government of “dragging its feet” on marital rape legislation, suggesting the Davis administration is stalling with ongoing consultations.

These comments came after Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said on Wednesday that officials were hoping to have consultations wrapped up regarding proposed marital rape legislation in the next several weeks.

When contacted for comment, Equality

Bahamas director Alicia Wallace said women’s rights are not a priority on the government’s agenda.

“By dragging its feet and finding excuses to stall, a clear message is being sent to everyone in The Bahamas that the government is less concerned about women’s right to protection from violence than it is about the issues it attends to and the people it panders to,” Ms Wallace said.

Mr Wilchcombe also told reporters the ongoing consultation includes meetings with church leaders.

HOT MIX IN RUNNING TO TRANSFORM GB AIRPORT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A WELL-KNOWN Bahamian contractor and local financial analyst were yesterday said to have partnered on a bid to transform Dorian-ravaged Grand Bahama International Airport.

High-level Tribune Business sources revealed that Bahamas Hot Mix and CFAL president, Anthony

Ferguson, are part of a group competing for the right to redevelop, finance and manage Grand Bahama’s main aviation gateway under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with the Government.

Anthony Myers, Bahamas Hot Mix’s chairman and founder, was tightlipped when contacted by this newspaper and declined to comment.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Former liquor magnate, Garet ‘Tiger’ Finlayson, and his son, Mark, had earlier seen the Supreme Court reject arguments they were

breached

And the Court of Appeal yesterday unanimously upheld this verdict by ruling that the loan default, and the Finlaysons’ obligation to repay the debt, was “never in dispute” and that they had failed to prove Caterpillar recklessly sold the vessel at an “undervalue”.

He said doing so is not only inappropriate, but also would appear to undermine the judicial function of The Bahamas and further advised the opposition leader against making further comments that could prejudice court actions.

PINTARD WANTS RECEIPTS OVER BERMUDA TRIP

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

A MAN is dead after a shooting in Abaco

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said in the absence of receipts from the Progressive Liberal Party regarding repayment to the Public Treasury for a controversial Bermuda trip last year, he cannot be sure that the figure provided by the government’s press secretary last week is true.

Activists say women’s rights are not being treated as a priority

yacht.

CHINESE Ambassador Dai Qingli presents Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis with a rabbit - as the Chinese New Year arrives to usher in the Year of the Rabbit, while Ann Marie Davis watches on. See PAGE TWO for more from the ceremony to mark the Chinese New Year Festival. Photo: Eric Rose/BIS

PM hails Bahamas relations with China

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis hailed relations between The Bahamas and Chine as he spoke at the observance of the Chinese Lunar New Year festival on Thursday last week.

He said: “This year will be celebrated under the sign of the Rabbit –a symbol of kindness, a symbol of compassion, and a symbol of sensitivity –and I look forward to the opportunities for success and happiness the Year of the Rabbit beckons,” Prime Minister Davis said, at the ceremony held at Margaritaville Beach Resort.

“This month, both The Bahamas and China

welcome the New Year, which represents the start of an auspicious occasion for both our nations: It marks the start of a new 25 years of fruitful bilateral relations between The Bahamas and China, and, of the 50th Anniversary of Independence for The Bahamas,” he added.

Chinese Ambassador Dai Qingli hosted the ceremonies.

Mr Davis attended with his wife, Ann Marie Davis.

Mr Davis hailed the “meaningful and far-reaching” engagements between the two nations, which included sister-city relations between Grand Bahama and Hunan Province;

co-operation on the refurbishment of the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium; renewable energy projects; dialogue on health, infrastructure, education, and training for capacity building; and the installation of The Bahamas’ AmbassadorDesignate in Beijing.

He said: “Despite the continued global tumult brought about by challenges linked to COVID-19, climate change, and the global economic downturn, the hope and optimism exemplified by the Year of the Rabbit stand to prevail. I applaud the appointment of President Xi Jinping to an unprecedented third term in office, and the announcement of a new administration to lead China towards a bright future.

“We have no doubt that China will continue on its journey toward enhanced economic development while sustaining its valuable collaboration with the international community in addressing common challenges, particularly in the realms of public health and the environment.”

He added: “China has enjoyed expansive modernisation, seen the alleviation

WHEELCHAIR DONATION A GIFT OF HOPE

By FAY SIMMONS jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

CHINA donated 15 wheelchairs to The Bahamas in a ceremony on Friday.

Chinese Ambassador Dai Qingli reiterated the friendship between the two countries in her address at the ceremony, in which the wheelchairs were donated to the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

She said “we pride ourselves as friends to the Bahamian people”. She

said people with disabilities were a vulnerable population who need assistance to make life easier.

The donation was received by National Commission for Persons with Disabilities chairperson Nalini Bethel, who expressed gratitude and relayed the benefit these chairs will have for recipients.

Ms Bethel said the donation represents “hope and compassion” for people, and expressed hope for an ongoing relationship with the embassy.

She said the NCPD is for people with all disabilities and that donations such as the chairs help to enable and empower disabled people.

She said: “These donations help to enable and empower disabled persons to live active lives, be more socially active and obtain employment.”

Ambassador Qingli added that it was the Chinese New Year, which would see the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit - which itself represents hope and compassion.

of poverty for some 800 million persons since the 1970s, and cemented an increasingly consequential role in global politics.

“We have been fortunate to witness and share in these successes with you. We have no doubt that you will continue to achieve great things.

“The Bahamas and China have a strong and enduring relationship, and we look forward to deepening our ties and co-operation in the years to come. As we turn our eyes to Sunday, January 22, 2023, the official date of the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, we reaffirm our commitment to working together as partners and friends.”

Photos: Eric Rose/BIS

WHEELCHAIRS presented by the Chinese Embasay on Friday.

Photo: Moise Amisial

FNM: What now for NIB?

By LETRE SWEETING

THE Free National Movement is going to seek to get a full briefing from Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis on what has been decided concerning the National Insurance Board’s contribution rate, FNM leader Michael Pintard said yesterday.

Mr Pintard told The Tribune that he wants to hear Cabinet’s conclusion on whether the government will heed recommendations from NIB’s board to increase contributions for the public, advising that the government needs to be “candid” with relevant stakeholders.

“We have not seen the actuarial studies and gone through it or been briefed by this administration. We are going to seek to get a full briefing from them,” he said.

“We knew when we were in government that there was a challenge with the sustainability of the National Insurance fund and that there was a need for government to take a hard look at what we

must do in order to ensure that future generations are going to receive the required benefits that they are entitled to under the law,” Mr Pintard said.

“It’s a tough decision, but sometimes tough decisions have to be made for the sustainability and so we want to take a look and also be briefed on what has brought the chairman and the minister of state (of NIB) to this conclusion,” he said.

“We want to hear from the Prime Minister and we want to hear to a Cabinet conclusion what has been decided,” Mr Pintard said.

“We are most especially interested in hearing what the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister has to say, because he clearly indicated that there were other things he was exploring which he believed might not necessitate this action to be taken,” he said.

“This government, if we were to give them some advice, would be to explain to the general public what we are up against, what you believe should be the solution, but do not avoid any longer having a candid

discussion with stakeholders who are going to be affected by what you predict is going to happen,” Mr Pintard said.

Mr Pintard advised the Davis administration to “focus” on the “very difficult issues” that the country is facing.

“It is important for the Prime Minister to be focused on these very difficult issues that we are facing, such as NIB, such as the state of disrepair that our health facilities are in, such as the crisis of crime and crisis of immigration in general and the unregulated construction that is going on in a number of our major islands,” he said.

Last week, NIB’s board, echoing the social security system’s 11th actuarial review, was said to have recommended to the Davis Cabinet that contribution rates be increased by between three-quarters of a percentage point and 1.5 percentage points from January 1, 2023.

That would have raised the combined rate to between 10.55 percent and 11.3 percent, but

the government did not approve it, so the board is now awaiting a move come July 1.

Many observers, especially following the 11th actuarial review’s publication, have viewed an NIB contribution rate increase as inevitable, the only questions being the timing of the move and by how much.

The Davis administration, following its predecessors, has sought to hold off as long as possible but the delay will only make the magnitude of the correction greater.

Last month, Myles Laroda, minister of state with responsibility for the National Insurance Board, said the government will have to make a decision this year concerning the state of NIB’s fund, which he says remains on target to lose about $70m this year.

In the meantime, he said the government will continue considering its options on how it can ensure the fund’s sustainability.

These options include cutting back on costs or raising revenue or doing both, he said at the time.

PINTARD WANTS RECEIPTS OVER BERMUDA TRIP

from page one

“So first, let me say that in the absence of us seeing the actual list of expenses, which would include among other things, airfare, ground transportation, food, per diem, and any other incidentals, we have no way of knowing if the figure provided to the public in the press conference is true, we have no way of knowing that’s true,” the FNM leader said yesterday.

Press secretary Clint Watson said on Thursday that the PLP had fully reimbursed the Public Treasury

for Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis’ controversial trip to Bermuda in October of last year.

About the trip, Mr Watson said last week: “That’s behind us.”

Though Mr Watson was unable to give an exact sum paid to the treasury, he said: “I think it’s close — from the records I have received — it’s just under $60,000 in total for the entire thing.”

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, Mr Pintard posed several questions concerning the “misappropriated” funds for the Bermuda trip.

“We want to remind the public, the Prime Minister

has admitted to having broken the law, there is no financial legislation that we have seen or they have referenced, that justifies a policy maker and his consultant — because again, if I recall the sequence correctly, the Prime Minister then spoke to his consultant who then undertook to either instruct or execute this transaction to then go on this trip,” Mr Pintard said.

“We have not seen any legislation that permits them to cause a public servant to release funds from any government department to make this trip

possible,” he said.

“So what allows this loan to be repaid? Has the Auditor General been invited in to take a look at this matter? And what are the findings of the Auditor General? And essentially, they have broken the law, who is paying the price of the Prime Minister,” Mr Pintard said.

“Repercussions are outlined in General Orders and that is any, any member of the civil service who misappropriated funds is punishable consistent with the laws outlined in General Orders and the public service,” he said.

On October 19, 2022, Prime Minister Davis travelled to Bermuda with a delegation, including former Prime Minister Perry Christie and returned on October 20.

The travel later caused questions to surface from the media and 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 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.

When contacted yesterday, PLP chairman Fred Mitchell had no comment.

AG: DON’T BE RECKLESS ON CASES OF POLLUTION

from page one

Mr Pinder’s comments yesterday came in response to Mr Pintard, who on Sunday accused the Davis administration of failing to act on environmental laws and punish polluters.

Mr Pintard was speaking in reference to the recent sinking of cargo ship Onego Traveller in waters off Abaco and last summer’s spill of more than 30,000 gallons of fuel in Exuma waters.

The FNM leader claimed that the country stands “to lose up to $60m in uncollected fines” because of the government’s failure to act and called on Mr Pinder to explain “if he has or why he has not instructed legal action be commenced against the owners of the MT Arabian and MV Onego for environmental damage”.

In a statement released yesterday, Mr Pinder chided Mr Pintard, saying he ought to know better than suggesting that his office was being idle and not taking the necessary action.

The Attorney General argued that his team worked “day in and day out” to provide the best legal advice to the Davisled government which he said “has done more to advance the environmental protection and climate consciousness” than any other administration.

“The leader of the opposition should do better than to attribute any reference of inaction to the Office of the Attorney General and its attorneys, who day in and day out work to provide the most comprehensive legal advice to the government,” Senator Pinder added.

“Regarding the scale of damages, the leader of the opposition should be mindful not to make reckless forecasts as to what a judge of the courts of The Bahamas might award. It is not only inappropriate, but would appear to undermine the judicial function of The Bahamas.

“In this vein, I caution him against any further comments that could prejudice a court action.”

With respect to last

PM TO MEET US VICE PRESIDENT

PRIME Minister Philip Davis will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris today at the White House in Washington, DC, where he is expected to discuss issues of national security, including illegal migration and gun trafficking.

Following the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House, he will attend meetings at the Organization of American States, where as chairman of CARICOM, he will outline priorities for the region and underscore the importance of cooperation in promoting security and economic growth, a press release from his office said.

Mr Davis travelled from Miami to Washington, DC, yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday, he was honoured by US Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Mayor of Miami-Dade County Danielle Levine Cava at an event sponsored by the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Foundation, a foundation pairing at-risk young boys with supportive adult role models.

Mr Davis will return to Nassau on Wednesday, January 18.

While Mr Davis is in the United States, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper will serve as Acting Prime Minister.

year’s oil spill in Exuma, Mr Pinder said his office has been working in tandem with multiple government agencies, including the Port Department, the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, among others.

“We have now received final incident reports from all impacted agencies,” he added, “and are concluding witness interviews in preparation for filing appropriate action against the owners and operators of the mv Arabian by the end

of the month pursuant to the environmental laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

As it relates to the December 2022 sinking of the mv Onego Traveller off South Abaco’s coast, Mr Pinder said clean-up efforts remain underway despite being hampered by bad weather.

“The Office of the Attorney General can advise that Alpha Shipping Company, owner of the MV ONEGO Traveller, has engaged Resolve Marine Company for the removal of the wreck and the wreck

is expected to be removed expeditiously.

“When the Office of the Attorney General receives the final report from the Port Department, the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection and the Department of Environmental Health Services, it will pursue legal recourse available to the government of The Bahamas under the laws of The Bahamas.”

On December 29, 2022, Onego Traveller sank with heavy fuel onboard.

The Ministry of Transport and Housing said last

week that 3,119 tons of steel coils and 4,505 tons of Ferix in bulk remained submerged, prompting concerns about the sunken ship and its effect on the marine environment.

In July, 35,000 gallons of diesel spilled into waters off an Exuma bay as a vessel contracted by Sun Oil was offloading fuel to Bahamas Power and Light at George Town.

To date, the government has not paid for any clean up exercises or remediation efforts in reference to these incidents, according to Mr Pinder.

FNM leader Michael Pintard.

‘Govt stalling on marital rape law’

“We’re still waiting,” he said. “We haven’t completed (it) yet. We are to move with the president of the Bahamas Baptist Missionary Educational Convention. He wanted to meet with us to discuss a few matters and with members of his church and leadership, we’re waiting for that date.

“We’re hoping to have it done very shortly because in March we intend to have a national women’s convention that will coincide with International Women’s Day,” he said.

However, Ms Wallace said it was “absurd” that the government was waiting on a date to meet with another religious group when there was a symposium held last September which numerous religious leaders attended.

Ms Wallace continued: “The government should not treat this issue as though it is debatable. It is a fact that women are raped, and that in most cases the rapist is known to the victim or survivor. It is a fact that sexual violence is a violation of human rights, and a fact the government is responsible for ensuring that human rights are upheld.

“The criminalisation of marital rape is necessary to give married women

equal protection under the law and to affirm personhood and bodily autonomy. There is nothing any group can say to make any of that untrue.”

Ms Wallace said successive administrations have moved quickly on other issues while ignoring people in vulnerable situations.

“The Bahamas will go to the UN in a few months for the Universal Periodic Review. The government

needs to pass the bill, or explain why, four years after recommendations were made at the last review at UPR as well as CEDAW, it has failed to do so,” she said.

For her part, Prodesta Moore, president and founder of Women United, told The Tribune that the government should be consulting with women organisations rather than just the church on marital

rape. She added: “It is my belief that the government needs to take this a little more serious and make this a priority. As opposed to just talking about they’re having more consultations with the church, the Baptist church, they’ve had with other churches.

“So, if this is so important for the churches, and for these other groups, why are you allowing them

to determine to give you a date?” Ms Moore said.

Ms Moore noted that officials do have the power to criminalise marital rape, adding the government could also aid in funding of women‘s organisations.

“Right now, it’s a challenge for all of us, I know for my organisation as one is challenged financially. But we’re going to go there and do some fundraisers and try to find ways to stay

relevant and stay ahead of these bills and ensure that they are passed.”

Last year, the government released the proposed Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill.

The draft legislation would repeal Section 3 of the current law that defines rape, adding a new definition of rape that recognises the act within a marriage, and amends Section 2 to redefine what consent and indecent assault is.

Under the proposed bill, rape is redefined as “the act of any person not under fourteen years of age having sexual intercourse with another person without the consent of that person where he knows that person does not consent or is reckless as to whether the person consents.”

The draft bill adds a new section titled ‘3a’ that addresses the issue of consent which it defines as “the active agreement to sexual intercourse or to indecent assault, given expressly and freely, by overt acts, or words indicating agreement by a person, who has the capacity or legal ability to consent”.

The draft bill was met with mixed reactions from religious leaders at a Ministry of Social Services symposium last year — with one pastor calling it “the most wickedest and demonic bill” in the country’s history.

TEACHERS BACK IN CLASS AFTER ELEUTHERA PROTEST

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

TEACHERS from Preston Albury High School in Eleuthera have gone back to the classroom after they, along with parents, protested earlier this month, Acting Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell said.

She added that catchup classes are planned for students who missed instructions.

Mrs McCartney-Russell also said that a language arts teacher has been engaged, who has received his allowance and is actually on the ground.

The protest in Eleuthera this month was over a myriad of concerns such as a teacher shortage and lack of support for dealing with insubordinate students.

According to a flyer that was circulated, there are

calls for more teachers for core subjects, especially mathematics, English language and technical areas.

Mrs McCartney-Russell gave The Tribune an update yesterday.

“The teachers have gone back to the classroom and they have agreed to provide any catch up classes that the children would have missed and so the expectation is that those classes where the students did not have a teacher that they would ensure that those children obtain whatever knowledge information that they would have missed,” she said.

Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson had previously stated that for several months teachers have been complaining about a teacher shortage, violence on school campuses, disrespect by students towards teachers and the overall safety on campus.

The acting direction of

education assured that the school updated its comprehensive discipline plan.

“Every school is required to create a comprehensive discipline plan,” she said.

“We have a school safety manual that is a guideline for our leaders and teachers and, of course, the other persons who are stakeholders in education.

“So the school has already, well actually not created, because they already had one, but they would have updated their comprehensive discipline plan so that if students present behaviours that are, you know, not good for the environment that there are consequences.

“Beyond that, we also want to provide opportunities for those children who are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. That they are also rewarded, so that we let our children know what we expect. So that comprehensive plan includes

prevention opportunities as well as interventions for behaviour, for academics, etc. So the school would have updated their draft. They are in the process of discussing that with their team members and they should have that produced by the end of the week.

“We are also sending our team from student development who will also assist them in creating their school safety committee. That committee actually includes parents, teachers, it may include the police. It

may even include the nurse, school boards, PTAs, etc. The entire community has to come together to ensure that the school is safe. That includes not just from students fighting, but safety and in other areas. All those hazards, etc, etc - looked at and mitigated.”

Mrs Wilson said two teachers have been identified to go to Preston Albury High School. However, further investigation revealed that the teachers do not have anywhere to live because the government

had not secured accommodations for them.

But Mrs McCartneyRussell said in response: “We don’t secure places for people to live.”

“What we do is we connect teachers with potential landlords, but we don’t necessarily secure a place for them to live. I think she’s probably talking about Harbour Island All Age. We do have two teachers there. but Preston Albury, the teacher there is already on the ground and already has a place.”

TWO YEARS IN JAIL OVER DRUGS AND AMMO

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after being found with 50 rounds of unfired ammunition and 13oz of marijuana in his Kennedy Subdivision home last week.

Audric Gibson, 31, with his brother, Levoyn Gibson, 39, of Coconut Grove both stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on charges of possession of ammunition with intent to supply and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

According to police reports around 2.25pm on January 11 officers, acting on a search warrant for dangerous drugs and firearms, aided by a K-9 unit, entered the defendants’ residence.

Inside, the police dog pointed out a chair covered in clothing. A search uncovered three clear plastic baggies containing Indian hemp. Audric immediately admitted to ownership of the 13 oz of marijuana, which had an estimated street value of $780.

A further search of the residence found 50 live rounds of .45 ammunition in a white box concealed in a hamper in the defendant’s bathroom.

In a subsequent police interview, Audric once again admitted to having the drugs saying that he had it to smoke. He also took responsibility for the ammunition at this time.

In court, Audric pleaded guilty to the charges while Levoyn pleaded not guilty. With his brother admitting sole responsibility to the offences, the charges against Levoyn were officially withdrawn.

The prosecution revealed to the Chief Magistrate that Audric had a prior drug conviction from December of 2015 when he was sentenced to nine months in prison. Audric had further antecedents before the court for disorderly behaviour and stealing.

In response to Audric saying that he was only holding the ammunition for a friend, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said that this isn’t the defendant’s “first rodeo” in court. She told him to take responsibility for his actions, citing the risk to the public in such matters with the escalation of firearmrelated deaths of late.

In view of his early plea of guilt and his prior offences, the Chief Magistrate sentenced the accused to two years in prison for the ammunition and 18 months for the drugs to be served concurrently. He was also told of his right to appeal sentencing within seven days.

Before being taken into remand Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told Audric that she hopes he learns from this.

PRODESTA MOORE, president and founder of Women United, left, and Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas.

‘Local workers can’t get work ahead of foreigners’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A GROUP of Central Andros residents have expressed frustration over alleged unfair hiring practices on the island, saying local workers cannot get any jobs because contractors are hiring foreigners instead.

Roscoe Thompson, district councillor for Central Andros, told The Tribune yesterday that residents are particularly upset with a contractor whose workforce is mostly Haitian.

Most of the work done by the group includes cement mixing and other jobs that many qualified Bahamians are capable of doing, he said.

It is not clear whether any of the foreign workers have work permits to be in the country, but this newspaper was told that the matter is being investigated.

“For me, the issue is that how can you pass all these young guys in the corner here looking for something to do and then you went back and bring nine Haitians,” Mr Thompson said in an interview with The Tribune

“They always complaining about the young guys them, saying they don’t want do nothing, but sit on the wall and smoke dope and do rum, but that’s not true in every case. We have young qualified folks looking for a job, looking for employment and you have some in the community.”

He added: “Honestly, when it comes to construction, we really ain’t no outsiders. I know at least about ten licensed contractors

ROSCOE THOMPSON

qualified to do extra work right in my township - so why can’t you hire folks right there.

“Folks are calling me every night and knocking on my door looking for work, but ain’t nothing I can do so we have a lot of young men who want something to do and I’m talking about qualified.”

When contacted yesterday, Central and South Andros MP Leon Lundy said he agreed with locals and planned to meet with some of them today on the issue, adding: “I don’t agree with any contractor bringing in any illegal (workers) to do any work down there.”

He also confirmed that the matter is now being investigated.

“I already have the officer down there and he was checking in on it because I understand that these persons did come from North Andros to come down and work,” he added.

“I know we don’t have any illegal immigrant problem down in

Central Andros in that area, but as I said, I want it investigated because I want to know where they came from and that they’re not doing any kind of city in the back of Central Andros somewhere that we don’t know about.”

The contractor in question, Mr Lundy said, was awarded the contract to build a platform for a generator near the wellfield.

“Let me say, he was just given that contract for the wellfield,” the island’s MP added. “He had a lot of contracts under the last government - so this is an isolated incident and, like I said, I am investigating it and dealing with it from Nassau out of the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

“Me and the chairman had a conversation with it so I’m just waiting for him to get back to me in regards with it because, of course, you never want anything like this happening where a job is being given out where someone in the community can actually do it.”

The Tribune understands that the situation prompted locals to confront the contractor over the weekend.

However, locals told this newspaper when the contractor saw the angered locals, he “packed up his stuff and left.”

“How could you insult the people in the community? How can you do that? It’s shameful,” Mr Thompson continued.

A video that was recorded after the alleged confrontation circulated on social media this week.

The man recording was visibly upset and alleged that workers “shut the job down” after a standoff with the contractor.

“We’re by the wellfield in Cargill Creek where we just shut a job down. This is what they were doing,” the angry resident said in the recording, while showing viewers the construction work taking place.

“They were getting ready to pour building - and all these young boys in Cargill Creek that could do the work but (the contractor) and his foreigners, you know they are here doing the work.”

“Young boys here hurting.”

Immigration Minister Keith Bell recently told The Nassau Guardian that his department plans to crack down on work permit violators.

This comes amid increasing concern about growing shanty towns in the country.

A multi-agency committee, composed of representatives from various government departments, ministries and law enforcement agencies, was formed last year in response to the illegal developments.

“We will be seeking Cabinet approval for the constitution and functions of that committee within the next two weeks,” Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears told reporters earlier this month.

“And the committee will then be able to speak with you and give you an update in terms of their work plan and their progress from time to time.”

PHONES, DRUGS AND WEAPONS IN PRISON CONTRABAND

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

CELL phones, shanks, drugs, Wi-Fi boxes and other contraband were confiscated by law enforcement in an overnight joint operation at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

The contraband was confiscated between 10pm on Sunday and 6.30am yesterday by members of

the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Department of Immigration and members of the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Officers from the various agencies conducted searches of inmates’ cells where they discovered 35 phones, chargers, more than 40 shanks, Wi-Fi boxes, drugs and cigarette lighters.

Yesterday, Acting Commissioner

of Corrections Doan Cleare was contacted by this newspaper but declined to comment.

However, he noted that officials expect to hold a press conference on the matter.

In November 2022, it was reported that some 400 cell phones were confiscated by officers at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services up to that point last year.

In response, National Security

Minister Wayne Munroe had said at the time it was “alarming” that some 400 cell phones could be recovered in a facility where “the only persons in and out have been correctional officers and some contractors.”

Officials continue to enhance their effort to crack down on contraband smuggling.

When contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Munroe was unresponsive up to press time.

MAN QUIZZED AFTER VICTIM SHOT OUTSIDE HIS RESIDENCE

POLICE are questioning a 26-year-old man of Dunmore Street in connection with a recent shooting that has left a 24-year-old Rupert Dean Lane man in hospital.

The incident occurred around 8.20pm on Sunday in the area of Rupert Dean Lane and Dunmore Street.

Preliminary reports revealed that the victim was standing outside his residence when he was approached and subsequently shot multiple times by two men, both of whom were armed with handguns.

The victim was taken to hospital by a private vehicle, where he is in critical condition.

POLICE PROBE IN POSSIBLE SUICIDE CASE

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the alleged suicide of an elderly Caucasian man.

Shortly after 11am on Sunday, officers from the Eleuthera division responded to a vessel in distress with an elderly man on board. While assisting the vessel to shore, officers heard the sound of a single gunshot.

It was reported that after securing the vessel, officers entered the cabin and discovered the elderly man with a single gunshot wound to his upper torso; a shotgun was also discovered lying next to his body.

The local medical practitioner responded to the scene and confirmed no vital signs of life.

Police investigations continue.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

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SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

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

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Conspiracy theories thrive as Davos starts

WHEN some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential figures gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting last year, sessions on climate change drew high-level discussions on topics such as carbon financing and sustainable food systems.

But an entirely different narrative played out on the internet, where social media users claimed leaders wanted to force the population to eat insects instead of meat in the name of saving the environment.

The annual event in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos, which opens Monday, has increasingly become a target of bizarre claims from a growing chorus of commentators who believe the forum involves a group of elites manipulating global events for their own benefit. Experts say what was once a conspiracy theory found in the internet’s underbelly has now hit the mainstream.

“This isn’t a conspiracy that is playing out on the extreme fringes,” said Alex Friedfeld, a researcher with the Anti-Defamation League who studies anti-government extremism. “We’re seeing it on mainstream social media platforms being shared by regular Americans. We were seeing it being spread by mainstream media figures right on their prime time news, on their nightly networks.”

The meeting draws heads of state, business executives, cultural trendsetters and representatives from international organisations to the luxe mountain town. Though it’s always unclear how much concrete action will emerge, the meeting is slated to take on pressing global issues from climate change and economic uncertainty to geopolitical instability and public health.

Hundreds of public sessions are planned, but the four-day conference is also known for secretive backroom meetings and deal-making by business leaders. This gap between what’s shown to the public and what happens behind closed doors helps make that makes the meeting a flashpoint for misinformation.

“When we have very high levels of ambiguity, it’s very easy to fill in narratives,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who is the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and also studies misinformation.

Theories about influential global leaders are not new, she said, but scrutiny of the forum and its chairman, Klaus Schwab, intensified in 2020 in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, the theme of the annual meeting was “The Great Reset”. The initiative envisioned sweeping changes to how societies and economies would work to recover from the pandemic and build a more sustainable future.

Now, in increasingly mainstream corners of the internet and on conservative talk shows, “The Great Reset” has become shorthand for what skeptics say is a reorganisation of society, using global uncertainty as a guise to take away rights. Believers argue that measures including pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates are tools to consolidate power and undercut individual sovereignty.

In a time of mounting anxiety, Jamieson says the public has become more

susceptible to falsehoods, as conspiracy theories emerge as a tool to cut through the chaos. Researchers who monitor extremism say these beliefs are becoming more popular and more concerning.

At a rally staged on the grounds of an upstate New York church last fall, a photo of Schwab was displayed on the center of a large screen alongside other “villains” accused of threatening American values. The crowd of thousands had gathered in a revivalist tent at a traveling roadshow used as a recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement. Participants discussed “The Great Reset”, among a host of other theories, as an assault on America’s foundations.

The phrase was used more than 60 times across all programs on Fox News in 2022, according to one tally generated by the Internet Archive’s TV news database. That’s up from 30 mentions in 2021 and about 20 in 2020. It was discussed most frequently on “The Ingraham Angle” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight”.

And in August, amid a defamation trial for calling the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack a hoax, Infowars host Alex Jones released a book called “The Great Reset: And The War For the World”. It’s described as an analysis of “the global elite’s international conspiracy to enslave humanity and all life on the planet”.

As the World Economic Forum has become intertwined with this narrative, a steady stream of claims have plagued the organisation. While some people offer legitimate criticisms of the forum — namely that it hosts wealthy executives who fly in on emissions-spewing corporate jets — others spread unverified or baseless information as fact.

For example, a site known for spreading fabricated stories falsely claimed last month that Schwab publicly encouraged the decriminalisation of sex between children and adults, using an invented quote and other baseless statements.

Still, it drew tens of thousands of shares on Twitter and Facebook.

Meanwhile, the popular claim that the forum wants people to replace meat with bugs is a distorted reference to an article once published on the organization’s website. In another instance, a widely shared post claimed without evidence that the forum had “appointed” US Rep Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House before the actual vote had taken place.

The concern, Friedfeld says, is that posts like these could introduce people to more fringe and dangerous conspiracy theories or even translate into real-world violence. Yann Zopf, head of media for the forum, says the organization has increased its monitoring of this kind of online activity and carefully watches for direct threats.

“Creating all that kind of stuff can generate enemies that people believe are responsible for whatever bad thing is happening in the world,” Friedfeld said. “Once that happens, when you believe that that things are happening in the world and a certain person or group of people is responsible for these attacks, all of a sudden, the idea of using violence to resist becomes more plausible.”

By SOPHIA TULP Associated Press

Dame Marguerite

EDITOR, The Tribune.

SEEMS she did not receive an “official invitation” - who organises the national events? Cabinet Office and mostly Ministry of Foreign Affairs - suggest possibly the plot thickens here and now - so Foreign Affairs who invites presumably omitted Dame Marguerite.

Dame Marguerite still went to St Agnes - attendance not restricted to “invites only”.

Past years, yes on this day

you saw Dame Marguerite and Fred Mitchell usually standing alone in front of Sir Lynden’s mausoleum so now PLP in office hundreds suddenly attend, but wasn’t the service at St Agnes a ‘National event’ ie Government how did the side event become one for the PLP youth?

What was said is not recorded the most unfortunate aspect what was said by Minister Mitchell on the side to journalists afterwards in which paraphrasing suggested the

comment from Dame Marguerite was a result of her “age” and we have to take it at that - sorry Minister your apology is not enough, this was an insult.

The next day, yesterday, of course, the spin doctors were busy... that show in the afternoon dished it out by the truck load.

Best advice under such circumstances be humble, apologise and keep quiet.

J HALL Nassau, January 12, 2023.

Poor show for visiting tourists

The Tribune.

EDITOR,

I RECENTLY went on a Royal Caribbean cruise with a group of friends from Cayman and the United States. One of the stops was in our own Nassau, Bahamas. We were actually advised to leave our valuables and cash on the ship if we got off in Nassau!

We didn’t get off of the ship, but the rest of the group did — I would like to share with you the comments from these friends (and also strangers) when I asked what they thought of our port.

One family spent less than an hour on Bay Street before returning to the ship. They said they were harassed by street vendors and tour “guides” the minute they left the ship — whenever they refused to purchase something they were actually cursed at. They witnessed an argument between two tourists and a Bahamian trying to rent them scooters on Bay Street - when they politely said no thanks they were followed and verbally attacked by this guy.

They were shocked at the trash and debris left over

But the most disturbing story — a couple wanted to explore the “real Nassau” they didn’t just want to go on a regular

— so they hired a local taxi driver and asked him to show them the inner and real parts of the islandthey wanted to meet some “Bahamian folk” - they agreed on a price and off they went. A few minutes into this “tour” of our island — the driver threw out his empty beer bottle into the street (so yes, he was actually drinking whilst driving tourists around).

At one point on this tour the couple asked the driver if he could stop somewhere to buy some water - This driver took them into many back roads and into an area where they immediately did not feel safe. He stopped at a random “store” on the side of the road and told them to get their water from this store. When they got out of the car, they

noticed that there were burglar bars on the front entrance, a rasta standing outside told them they could not go inside, but to point at what they wanted. The wife by this time felt extremely unsafe and got back into the car — it was at this point that they asked the so-called “tour guide” to please take them back to the ship. When they got back the driver proceeded to demand more than the agreed rate. The couple refused and they were verbally threatened by this driver.

I asked many strangers on the ship how they found Nassau to be (without telling them I was actually Bahamian). There was NOT ONE positive comment -- not one! What has happened to our country? I refer back to the robbery of two cruise ship passengers a few months ago right outside of the US Embassy.

I am an ashamed and embarrassed Bahamian right about now - we as a country have got to do better.

NANCY TRECO Nassau, January 6,

2023.

Cut the ceremony and get on with it

backlog which we have had for years.

Didn’t we have Swift Justice or some slick slogan back under PM Christie and AG Maynard Gibson – the swiftness doesn’t seem to have had too much affect as we talk about enormous unacceptable backlog - people coming to court years, yes, years six-seven-eight years after being arrested and charged and their cases unheard.

Certainly, now questions of Human Rights violations must arise.

Cut the ceremony, get on with the business, please. Why do the Courts start business so late in the day for starters?

Everyone else starts at 9am prompt, shouldn’t they also?

PAULA MINNS

Nassau, January 14, 2023.

VAT on health

EDITOR, The Tribune.

INFLATION....did anyone notice like me that Health Insurance Premiums have gone up 12-14%? Unfortunately, policies

are subject to VAT - so a whopping $800 payment to VAT on the premium which is high anyway!

Private Health Insurance saves the Treasury millions - surely Mr Tax

Man you can lower the rate or remove it totally? Annoyed.

Nassau, January 15, 2023.

from Junkanoo and the constant smell of urine as they walked around.

guided tour

letters@tribunemedia.net

EDITOR, The Tribune.

OFFICIAL opening of Assize in Nassau of The Supreme Court surely should suffice and the repeat ceremony in Grand Bahama is just fanciful political artificiality?

Do we have two sets of Supreme Courts? Surely, we can save all the expenses and put that cost to engaging more court officials to clear up the enormous court

THOUSANDS of walkers take part in a march honouring Martin Luther King Jr. in San Antonio yesterday.

Photo: Eric Gay/AP

Residents ‘in survival mode’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS of the Bain and Grants Town community are in survival mode as some have tried to make ends meet by any means necessary.

Yesterday, The Tribune canvassed the area of Bain Town to find out how residents were dealing with the higher cost of living brought on by inflation.

Sterling Moss, senior pastor of Church of God of Prophecy, said there’s a harsh reality of struggle in the community, adding some women have even sold their bodies out of desperation.

“They’re going to bed hungry and their children are hungry. They have to give up their bodies to feed their children. My local church tries its best to accommodate them,” Pastor Moss said.

Pastor Moss added that the government’s Social Services coupons have caused a major “dent” in food distribution in the community as he explained that some people have often taken advantage of the coupon system.

“Those who are getting the coupons don’t deserve it because some of them have jobs. Which is very unfair to these people in these poverty areas,” he claimed.

He told this newspaper that residents benefited

more when grocery bags were being evenly disturbed throughout the community, saying that the government should take more time to address the needs of the poor.

A grandmother of 11, who identified herself as Goldie, makes a living by selling snacks at the local community park. She said the high cost of food in stores makes running her business challenging.

“My boyfriend worked for the government for 31 years and he’s a mechanic so that’s how we basically make it. And sometimes if my stuff (snacks) run out and I don’t have the funds to pay for it he would give me the money. But it is hard, and I have 11 grandkids,” she said.

She said she’s trying to “survive” while others around her are also scrapping to get by. Goldie added that the government should visit the community more and other areas on the island that have been constantly burdened with poverty.

“They need to put down the cost of food and come into the ghetto to really help the poor people. Because basically, people would be sitting on the park waiting for food, clothes, and other things,” she said.

“I mean, I’m trying to survive, but other people around me really have it hard. Honestly, sometimes

WINNER TURNS LOSER

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

AN American man lost his casino winnings and faced a $500 fine in court yesterday after admitting to lying to a US officer at LPIA by saying he had $15,000 when he actually he had $49,200.

Jeffrey Cohen, 46, of Florida, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on a charge of making a false declaration to an officer of the United States.

Around 12pm on January 15 at LPIA, while returning home with his family after staying at Baha Mar, Cohen lied to a US preclearance officer about the amount of cash with which he was travelling. The court was told that $49,200 was found on the defendant as well as in his luggage, contradicting the $15,000 cash he said he had.

In a subsequent police interview, Cohen admitted to the offence, further saying that he had won cash at the casino of his resort.

In court, the accused pleaded guilty to the offence.

His attorney, Ian Cargill, said his client is a married father of two who is employed in finance.

He further said that Cohen is a frequent visitor to the country who cooperated with authorities and admitted to the offence at the onset.

After stating that the defendant was remorseful and had no prior cases in any jurisdiction, Mr Cargill asked the court to be lenient to Cohen and give him the opportunity to revisit this country.

In view of this, the chief magistrate ordered the funds seized by authorities forfeited to the crown and imposed a fine on the defendant.

Although Cohen was initially fined $800 this amount was reduced to $500 after the intercession of his attorney.

The chief magistrate then warned the defendant and told him not to make false declarations on future visits to the country.

SHOOTING SUSPECT REMANDED

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison yesterday in connection with a shooting on Key West Street last month that left one man dead and another wounded.

Mario Cuffe, 21, represented by attorney Devard Francis, stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on charges of murder and attempted murder.

It is alleged that on December 30, 2022, at around 5pm Cuffe, being concerned with others, stopped on Key West Street in a grey Nissan vehicle. It is there they approached Travon Joseph, also known as Travon Rolle, 25, and

Nelson Adderley, 27, and opened fire on them resulting in both men being shot multiple times.

Both victims were taken to hospital by private vehicle. Adderley was successfully treated for his wounds, but Joseph died in the early hours of New Year’s Eve.

Cuffe was not required to enter a plea in court yesterday. He was informed that his matter would proceed to the Supreme Court by way of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

The accused was also told that while the chief magistrate lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail, he had the right to apply for it through the higher court.

He will get his VBI on April 4.

BOY ADMITS POSSESSING RIFLE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 15-YEAR-OLD was sent to the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys yesterday after admitting having a loaded high-powered rifle in the nation’s capital last week.

The teenage defendant appeared before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux in the presence of his guardian. He faced charges of possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition.

On January 11 in New Providence, the boy was arrested after he was found with a black and brown Draco AK-47 rifle with the serial number erased. At the time of his arrest, he was also found with 22 unfired rounds of 7.62mm ammunition without being the holder of a firearm certificate.

In court, the accused pleaded guilty to the charges. He was remanded to the juvenile centre and is expected to return to court on April 12 for his probation report.

they sit down waiting to go to the Great Commission for food and clothes. The government could do more if they come into the community and help the poor,” she added.

Meanwhile, a mother of three said her family is on the verge of being evicted from their home, adding they have nowhere else to go.

She explained she currently secured a temporary job at the carnival, but it is not enough to sustain her family.

“Even though I actually got a little job the living situation is very bad because right now we are in a situation where we are getting

evicted out of our apartment,” the mother said. “And we haven’t had a chance to invest money to move into a new apartment as yet.”

The mother said she didn’t live in the Bain Town area, but could relate deeply to the hard times other residents were feeling.

When asked if she sought help from the Department of Social Services she said “yes”, but pointed out that the process has been difficult to receive the assistance she needs.

“If you really wait on the government then you wouldn’t be getting nothing because the government

takes forever. If you go to Social Services to get help to pay your rent it takes like three months or more to approve. That’s a long time and people get tired of waiting,” she said.

Another resident of Bain Town, Floyd Woodside said he sells fruit daily on the side of the road, noting that some days aren’t profitable.

“Some days I come out, I barely sell anything. I have to carry that heavy bag (of fruits) back home. But I don’t curse God, I still thank Him.”

Despite the government’s efforts to assist Bahamians grappling with the high cost of living compounded

by inflation, residents have argued that the challenge to survive remains. Even with the recent increase in the minimum wage from $210 to $260 per week, some say more is needed.

In October, BPL also announced an increase to its monthly fuel charge which added to the high cost of living as well.

Customers that consume less than 800 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month will see their fuel charge rise via a series of rolling two cent quarterly increases, while for those using more than that threshold it will be a 4.3 cents per kWh quarterly leap.

THE PARK area in Bain Town yesterday.

Photo: Moise Amisial

RHONDA WRIGHT’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS JOURNEY IS PAYING OFF

RHONDA Wright has been one of the major advocates for healthy lifestyles in The Bahamas for many years. She has pushed for her fellow countrymen to see the value in a vegan lifestyle long before it became the cool trend it is now. She has been in the trenches - an unsung heroine in health and wellness - committed to reversing the staggering statistics for non communicable diseases in The Bahamas.

This month, Rhonda celebrated a milestone in her life that has proven the merit of the lifestyle she has lived for the past 22 years. She turned 50 years old; but as many of her friends, family and observers point out, she looks very young, healthy and vibrant. This is because Rhonda has always chosen to make her food her medicine.

“In 2000, sparked by a new community of friends who were all vegan, including my now husband Koji, I began a journey of intense research about the food I was eating,” Rhonda explained.

“I read articles and watched videos voraciously. I was mortified by how much I didn’t know and flabbergasted by the extent to which my food lifestyle at the time could have detrimental effects on my health in the long run. I couldn’t ignore or deny what I was learning. The research was very clear and consistent. So in 2001, I made the decision to change my food lifestyle to avoid the possible pitfalls that were almost inevitable if I didn’t.

“The change didn’t happen overnight; it was definitely a transition. By late 2001, almost 2 years before I had my first child, Ptah, I had transitioned to a vegan lifestyle, which means that I ate only plant-based foods.”

Once Ptah was born, Rhonda made the choice that she would raise her children as vegan. In The Bahamas, with limited availability of vegan raw goods, limited availability of quality fruits and vegetables, and almost nothing to appeal to the

palettes of children, Rhonda was giving herself the ultimate challenge. She would have to make all their meals and snacks, from scratch. She would have to keep them excited about raw and vegan foods, and she would have to instill a sense of pride in them about it, in order to face the natural peer pressure that schoolmates apply to any kids who go against the grain.

Twenty-two years since she made that choice, Rhonda has no regrets. She and Koji (a plant based eater of 27 years) not only nurtured their children in a vegan lifestyle, they did it with the kind of finesse that results in

champions. That’s right, their second child, Sia, is a vegan food champion.

Sia’s well planned and executed vegan dishes earned her the top prize in the 2021 New Providence district round of the Bahamas Young Chef Culinary Senior Competition. Sia came back in 2022 and solidified her position as a Young Chef and champion when she won the judges over with her vegan “Coconut Tart” and vegan “Stuffed Okra Rice Ball.”

Rhonda is mother to Ptah (19) and Sia (15), as well as two younger children, Nefer (13) and Ma’at (8), and she has a bonus son, Kamul.

Together, these children are representing the new face of the vegan community in The Bahamas - those who were nurtured in this lifestyle from the womb.

Now, at age 50, Rhonda can reflect on a way of life that has given her tangible benefits.

“On December 31st, I reached a mega milestone,” she shared.

“Many older women have said that when a woman turns 50, the best of her life is yet to come. I feel like I have embodied all of that. I feel like I have a new lease on life. Every mindful moment, decisive decision, nutritious and delicious plate, and slow and steady step in my health and wellness journey, is paying off. It by no means has been an easy journey, and there have been many missteps, lessons, challenges and changes. But every single lesson has been a blessing, and every decision has brought me to this beautiful period of my life.”

“I celebrate that my intentionally chosen lifestyle has

paved the way to allow me to have minimal sickness, and absolutely no chronic diseases. I look much younger than I am, and will continue to do my part, to ensure I continue to age gracefully, with full mobility, motility, cognition, vitality and joy!”

Throughout her journey, Rhonda has always been focused on sharing with others as much as she learns herself. She founded the popular Green Earth Festival, which has been responsible for the conversion of many to a healthier lifestyle. Some became vegan, some pescetarian or vegetarian. Others chose to eat meat but replace their starches with more vegetables. For many years, the Green Earth Festival brought together businesses throughout the country that provided healthy food items, green energy solutions, organic home and body care items, recycling services, and more.

The Green Earth Festival was born out of Rhonda’s business, SEEDling’s Place, which was launched in 2007 and is still going strong.

A few months after Sia’s birth, Rhonda’s passion for her lifestyle grew: “I continued my quest to research and expand my knowledge base and learn all I could about living a healthy lifestyle.

I wanted to establish the same for my growing family.

I began reading another book (I had read many by that time) called Heal Thyself for Health & Longevity by Queen Afua, who has now been guiding women for over 50 years and has become known as the Mother of Womb Wellness and is a Master Healer. It was in these pages where she talked about what she did to support her children in their journey, who she was also raising as vegan – she created a vegan playgroup in her community. A light bulb went off and the SEED for SEEDling’s Place was planted in my spirit!”

“I knew immediately that it was something I wanted to do for my children as well. By October 2007, SEEDlings’ Place (SP) was born. We began as a play/support group open to anyone in the community who wanted to attend our monthly gatherings.

“The initial purpose of SP was to provide a sacred space for my children, who represent the communities’ children, to commune with other like-minded families, to learn, be supportive and grow together in a fun environment (which was our home for a long time). All this with the common goal of living a healthy lifestyle. But it didn’t take long for our community efforts and reach to expand into so much more.”

“We organized teams to participate in the first and second Bahamas Marathon, forming the Love Yourself and Your health team. I went

on

Rhonda also had the opportunity to become a valuable member of Akhepran International Academy. She worked in various administrative capacities at the school since its opening in August, 2011. From July 2017 to July 2021, she had the privilege of serving as school Principal, helping to guide the institution to higher heights in education. While she has recently embarked upon a new journey in health and wellness with SEEDling’s Place, she continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the school.

She is a past president of the graduate chapter of Eta Psi Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority Inc, 2002-2003.

After a more than 5 year hiatus from front-line wellness advocacy and SEEDlings’ Place work, Rhonda relaunched her company April, 2021. Pivoting to providing support in the online space, she has launched two online programmes, the most recent being the: “What’s Fueling You!” 28-Day PlantBased Holistic Wellness Programme.

“This is an online programme especially for busy women, mothers and seekers of wellness who are ready to reboot, expand or delete the old version of themselves,” Rhonda explains, “The version that’s still too busy, in need of guidance, a road map, support, inspiration, or unsure where to start and sometimes stuck and struggling with making healthier, and more plant-based food choices and engaging in lifestyle habits that don’t serve them.”

“This programme is for people ready to be fueled and transformed into a new and improved version of themselves - shifting mindset, forming habits, setting intentions, and gearing up to be ready, set, and refueled! We are helping them create the version that’s at peace, feels good, full of vitality, energized, functions optimally, loves herself, is focused, intentional, confident, and busy being her best and healthiest self. Participants are guided to tap in and tune up their mind, body, spirit, heart, home, and environment, so they can become well and be prepareds to execute their purpose in 2023!”

What’s Fueling You begins its fourth cycle on February 18. Rhonda, known as the “Wellness Godmother”, provides personal coaching and creates a support and motivational group for each cohort. She arms her “wellness warriors” with more than 40 delicious plant-based recipes. She provides tools for self reflection, allowing those involved to release emotional triggers and past trauma. She also provides guidance on how to develop and enforce healthy lifestyle habits. The 28-day programme has given many participants new leases on life - mind, body and spirit. For more information, email info@seedlingsplace. com, or look for Seedling’s Place and Rhonda Wright on Social Media.

to co-host a weekly radio talk show called “Love Yourself Tuesday”. Then in 2010, I founded the Green Earth Festival, a one-of-a-kind wellness, and sustainability festival. As a community, we have also had cooking classes and the Green Smoothie Community Campaign.”

RHONDA Wright (above and right) and (left) Rhonda pictured with her family.

Is history repeating itself for the Royal Family?

HAVING written only last month about the ructions following the Netflix documentary purporting to tell the story of the life together of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, there is a danger of repetition in returning to the subject today. But, given the huge fallout from the subsequent publication of Prince Harry’s explosive memoir entitled “Spare”, which is reported to have become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever in the UK, it is hard to ignore it all together.

It is the case, of course, that for many people gossip and scandal make the world go round. So there will always be excessive interest in what the Royals in Britain do, particularly now that Harry has spilled the beans with his endless list of grievances and petty slights in relation to the rest of the Royal Family, too many of which are unsubstantiated, clearly unjustified or just plain wrong.

Whether his so-called revelations are true or not, many people in Britain do not like Harry slagging his family off in public. But others enjoy reading about the scandal, so publication of “Spare” is to the delight of some people; not least around the world and in America where many are largely uninformed about the activities of the Royal Family with the result that Harry’s claims are often falsely taken at face value.

There has been so much media coverage of the book during the past week that further comment today would be superfluous. The prince will know full well how wounding all this will be to his father and brother in particular and how it will infuriate them.

Suffice it to say that in Britain the terms being

The Peter Young column

bandied about in reaction to Harry’s actions include indiscreet, offensive, hypocritical, reprehensible, cheap and petty, together with immature, self-centred and intellectually challenged.

Many regard his references to his own genitalia and losing his virginity as sordid and banal while his claims about killing 25 Taliban insurgents during his tour of duty in Afghanistan have been heavily criticised by the military community as unwise, dangerous and unacceptable.

Many believe the prince is under the influence of a narcissistic wife whose motives and objectives in helping to sow discord remain unclear. Moreover, some people question whether Harry has become deluded and has lost all sense of judgment as his inability to come to terms with his mother’s death have left him utterly selfobsessed, hypersensitive, shameless and incapable of seeing the damage he is doing to himself and his immediate family as well as to the Royal Family as an institution.

Be all that as it may, what could be of considerable interest, but which has apparently not attracted much press attention, is the similarity in certain respects of this latest crisis to the circumstances surrounding the abdication of his greatgreat uncle Edward VIII in 1936; and some are now wondering whether Wallis and Edward’s so-called empty subsequent existence somehow will foreshadow Meghan and Harry’s fate.

Edward reigned for less than a year before abdicating and relinquishing his royal duties, thus abandoning his royal destiny. He declared he had done this for the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, whom, as an American divorcee, he was not allowed to marry while remaining king.

Like Edward, Harry and Meghan have emphasised “their great love” that drove them to quit royal life and find their own destiny.

Edward’s younger brother succeeded him as King George VI as the couple, now with the title of Duke and Duchess of Windsor (bestowed on them in 1937), fled Britain to live in France where they forged a new life and married the following year

HAS HAITI REACHED A NADIR?

THE BBC’S renowned Irish senior international correspondent, Orla Guerin, said it all when she visited Haiti last December. In a hard-hitting report she described the violence and killing there and the complete breakdown of law and order as some of the worst she had witnessed in 30 years of reporting from trouble spots around the world. With her reputation as one of the foremost war journalists internationally, who always gets to the front line and is intrepid and unflinching, she pulls no punches and her judgment can be relied upon.

So her reporting last month hit world headlines, albeit briefly as international attention quickly moved on. But only weeks earlier the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had warned that the country was on the verge of an abyss as unremitting armed violence had pushed Haiti’s descent into the worst humanitarian situation the country had experienced for decades.

He said that “urgent solutions” to this “protracted, multi-faceted crisis” must be found.

Reportedly, armed gangs control much of the capital Port-au-Prince where the situation is said to be as bad as it has ever been and there are skyrocketing rates of murder, kidnapping, torture, rape and sexual assault. Now, despite reports that Haiti did not want outside help, the Prime Minister has issued a distress call for the international community to deploy “a specialist armed force” to restore order.

The current crisis dates back to the summer of 2021 when it was being said that this former French colony -- the poorest country in the Western hemisphere that for many years has been a failed state - was already not functioning properly as a member of the international community because

it was in the grip of terror and chaos and on the verge of civil war after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Now, some 18 months later, the deterioration has accelerated in this Caribbean country, which is a member of Caricom and near neighbour of The Bahamas and is said to be in a state of electoral and constitutional turmoil while also now facing a mix of crises unmatched by any in its turbulent history – devastating gang violence, famine, cholera, fuel shortages and economic collapse. Criminals are said to have taken the country hostage and the state has surrendered control. So the immediate question is whether the situation needs to get even worse – if that were possible - before the UN intervenes yet again, having withdrawn its peace-keeping mission in 2017 which was replaced by a much smaller followup mission that was itself withdrawn in 2019.

According to all reports, since drastic action is required more and more countries are calling for a military mission to take on the armed gangs and restore public order but they seem reluctant to take the necessary action.

The UN Secretary General said in November that armed action was needed and many believe that such a force could be led by Canada which, like the US, is home to a significant Haitian diaspora, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quoted as saying “we have to intervene in one way or another”.

That said, there appears to be limited momentum for an international force because Russia and China are likely to be against one and no country seems to be in a hurry to offer troops.

However, even though there is little appetite in the US for intervention following its ignominious

departure from Afghanistan, there are reports that Washington is drafting a UN resolution to authorise a multilateral rapid action force.

Clearly, Haiti, which has been cursed by endless adversity in the course of its history – much of it inflicted by other countries but also through domestic political and economic failures and natural disasters like hurricanes – has reached a low point in the nation’s fortunes and the only solution is outside intervention.

This is beyond the scope of CARICOM and must be at a higher and more influential international level, as commentators now suggest that some sort of mission to provide security assistance could be announced in the coming months.

For The Bahamas, there will be growing concern about the turmoil in Haiti – a country of some 11 million just to the south of the nation’s archipelagobecause of its likely effect on illegal immigration as more and more people flee their homeland.

Of course, uncontrolled migration from Haiti has constituted a serious threat to The Bahamas for many years as desperate people seek sanctuary in what is seen as a desirable destination that can also be used as a springboard to the US and Canada.

The UN’s Human Rights chief has warned about returning Haitian illegal migrants to their own country, but mass migration from Haiti could quickly overwhelm this country.

So, for many people it will have been encouraging to read last week’s press reports of assurances by the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Keith Bell, that the government is enforcing the country’s laws by beefing up its efforts to intercept illegal migrants and repatriate them as appropriate after proper screening, evaluation and assessment.

-- and some suggest parallels in this with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move to California?

The Duke of Windsor published his memoir, “A King’s Story”, in 1951 which documented, from his own perspective, his historymaking decision to marry a divorcee against the wishes of the government of the day, the church and the monarchy.

His book was a success commercially as was his new wife’s own later memoir which chronicled her earlier life and provided her view of the abdication crisis.

Their lucrative memoirs did not improve family relationships, nor did their continuing exploitation of the royal brand to endorse products and to conduct controversial media interviews. As a result, any hope of a reconciliation

was dashed. The author of “Traitor King”, Andrew Lownie, later wrote that the Royal Family maintained a dignified silence following publication of the two memoirs. But privately George VI was said to be “very distressed”, particularly when he heard that the Duke of Windsor had taken a huge advance for his book.

Another historian, Alexander Larman, quoted the King’s private secretary as expressing horror that someone should be making money out of spilling royal secrets.

Meanwhile, the only official role for Edward after the abdication was his service as Governor of The Bahamas from 1940 to 1945.

Events had created a longlasting rift between Edward and his younger brother and successor who had been

the “spare to the heir”. In particular, Edward fiercely resented the fact that after the abdication Wallis was never granted the title of Her Royal Highness. He accused Britain of trying “to humiliate both her and him”.

However, the brothers never got into a physical fight like William and Harry which, as recounted by the latter, supposedly ensued after the elder prince referred to his sister-inlaw as “difficult, rude and abrasive”.

Does all this not sound depressingly familiar? Is history repeating itself? It has been said that Harry has “detonated a huge landmine under Buckingham Palace”. But the Royal Family have adopted the same strategy as in the 1950s - a dignified silence. The prince is now saying that his long-term aim is “to fix the monarchy” and it is about “trying to save them from themselves”. The presumption, arrogance and absurdity of this is mind boggling.

Harry has been described as a peevish, petulant prince who wants the position but without the responsibilities. He has ended up like Edward VIII who ignored his destiny and broke away from his family to pursue his own path.

The King will surely come through this current crisis; but the sad reality is that it will probably not end well for Harry, who, like the Duke of Windsor, is an errant figure.

REASONS FOR NOT ACTING IN OWN INTERESTS

AS A FOLLOW-UP to last week’s column about the folly of political leaders in failing to act in their own interests and those of their country, it might be interesting to mention very briefly today why this happens.

Barbara Tuchman, the acclaimed American author of a work entitled the “The March of Folly” that I wrote about last week, explains that it usually involves the rejection of reason.

She argues that this is a prime characteristic of such folly, with reason often overpowered by non-rational human frailties including ambition, anxiety,

status-seeking, face-saving, illusions, selfdelusions and fixed prejudices.

Thus, she says, “although the structure of human thought is based on logical procedure from premise to conclusion, it is not proof against the frailties and passions”; and men and women are invariably controlled by a life of feelings, desires and fears in the face of which the natural laws of opinion and reason go out of the window.

These are sobering thoughts, indeed - and they are worthy of further study, though there is no space to do that today.

Funeral

Service

for

Mary Emily Oriel Rodgers, 75

of Shangrila, Eastern Road, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday 19th January, 2023 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, West Street North Officiating will be Rev. Fr. Glen C. Nixon. Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Virginia Street.

Mary was preceded in death by her Parents: Dr. Kenneth V.A. Rodgers and Anatol Rodgers (née Reeves). She is survived by her, Sister: Dr. Patricia E. J. Rodgers; Brother: Dr. K. Jonathan A. Rodgers (Patty); Nieces: Alanna Rodgers and Lisa Kirby (Brian); Nephew: Michael Rodgers; First Cousins: Adrian (Violet) Rodgers and Family, Roy (Shirley) Rodgers and Family, Randy Rodgers and Family, Wendy Munnings (Raphael) and Son, Astra Undavia and Family (Austin, Texas); Extended Family: Family of the late Leonora Rodgers McCartney, Family of the late Andre Rodgers, Family of the late George Lunn, Family of the late Frederick Lunn, Family of the late “Billy” Lunn, Mrs. Patricia Treco and Family, Dr. Sonja Lunn and Sons of the late Dr. John Lunn, Family of the late Tex Lunn, Family of the late Hon. Paul Adderley, Family of the late Dr. Francis Adderley, Family of the late Charles Lunn, Jr., Family of the late Leslie Lunn, Karen Spaulding (New York), Willie Munoz and Family (California) Family of the late David Lunn, Adam Mills, Family of the late Michael Lunn, Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson and Family, Ernie Cambridge (Marilyn), ‘Nita Rodgers Ellis, Mary Davis and Family, Marjorie Davis and Siblings, Justice Joseph Strachan (Beryl), Idris Reid (Gwen); Close Friends: Andrea Archer and Family, Sam Campbell and Family, Kim Carey and Family, Juanita Carey, Angela Cleare, Agatha Cumberbatch, Melanie Farrington, Harrison Lockhart; Godchildren: Allison Treco Kelly, Gina Archer, and Christopher Sherman.

May Her Soul Rest in Peace!

There will be NO PUBLIC Viewing.

COPIES of the new book by Prince Harry called “Spare” are displayed at a book store in Berlin, Germany, last week.

Photo: Michael Sohn/AP

Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy ‘must not be cheapened’

ATLANTA Associated Press

AMERICA has honoured Martin Luther King Jr with a federal holiday for nearly four decades yet still hasn’t fully embraced and acted on the lessons from the slain civil rights leader, his youngest daughter said yesterday.

The Rev Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes.

“We love to quote King in and around the holiday... But then we refuse to live King 365 days of the year,” she declared at the commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father once preached.

The service, sponsored by the center and held at Ebenezer annually, headlined observances of the 38th federal King holiday. King, gunned down in Memphis in 1968 as he advocated for better pay and working conditions for the city’s sanitation workers, would have celebrated his 94th birthday on Sunday.

Her voice rising and falling in cadences similar to her father’s, Bernice King bemoaned institutional and individual racism, economic and health care inequities, police violence,

a militarized international order, hardline immigration structures and the climate crisis. She said she’s “exhausted, exasperated and, frankly, disappointed” to hear her father’s words about justice quoted so extensively alongside “so little progress” addressing society’s gravest problems.

“He was God’s prophet sent to this nation and even the world to guide us and forewarn us... A prophetic word calls for an inconvenience because it challenges us to change our hearts, our minds and our behavior,” Bernice King said. “Dr King, the inconvenient King, puts some demands on us to change our ways.”

President Joe Biden was scheduled Monday to address an MLK breakfast hosted in Washington by the Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Sharpton got his start as a civil rights organiser in his teens as youth director of an anti-poverty project of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“This is a time for choosing,” Biden said, repeating themes from a speech he delivered Sunday at Ebenezer at the invitation of Sen Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer who recently won re-election to a full term as Georgia’s first black US senator.

“Will we choose democracy over autocracy, or community over chaos?

Love over hate?” Biden asked Monday. “These are the questions of our time that I ran for president to try to help answer... Dr King’s life and legacy — in my view — shows the way forward.”

Other commemorations echoed Bernice King’s reminder and Biden’s allusions that the “Beloved Community” — Martin Luther King’s descriptor for a world in which all people are free from fear, discrimination, hunger and violence — remains elusive.

In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu talked about a fight for the truth in an era of hyper-partisanship and misinformation.

“We’re battling not just two sides or left or right and a gradient in between that have to somehow come to compromise, but a growing movement of hate, abuse, extremism and white supremacy fueled by misinformation, fueled by conspiracy theories that are taking root at every level,” she said.

Wu, the first woman and person of color elected mayor of Boston, said education restores trust.

Quoting King, she called for overcoming the “fatigue of despair” to enact change.

“It is sometimes in those moments when we feel most tired, most despairing,

that we are just about to break through,” Wu told attendees at a memorial breakfast.

Volunteers in Philadelphia held a “day of service” focused on gun violence prevention. The city has seen a surge in homicides that saw 516 people killed last year and 562 the year before, the highest total in at least six decades.

Some participants in the effort’s signature project, led by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, worked to assemble gun safety kits for public distribution. The kits include “gun cable locks and additional safety devices for childproofing,” according to organisers. They also include information about firearm storage, health and social services information, and coping in the aftermath of gun violence.

Other kits being assembled highlighted Temple University Hospital’s “Fighting Chance” program and included materials to enable immediate response to victims at the scene of gunfire, organisers said. Recipients are to be trained in the use of the materials, which include tourniquets, gauze, chest seals and other items to treat critical wounds, they said.

In Selma, Alabama, a seminal site in the civil rights movement, residents were commemorating King as they recover from a

UKRAINE STRIKE DEATHS HIT 40

DNIPRO, Ukraine Associated Press

UKRAINIAN emergency crews yesterday sifted through what was left of a Dnipro apartment building destroyed by a Russian missile, placing bodies from one of the war’s deadliest single attacks in months in black bags and gingerly carrying them across steep piles of rubble.

Authorities said the death toll from Saturday’s strike rose to 40 and that 30 people remained missing yesterday. Tall cranes swung across the jagged gaps in a row of residential towers, the engines growling as residents of one of Ukraine’s largest cities watched largely in silence under a gray sky.

About 1,700 people lived in the multistory building, and search and rescue crews have worked nonstop since the missile strike to locate victims and survivors in the wreckage. The regional administration said 39 people have been rescued and at least 75 were wounded.

The reported death toll put it among the deadliest attacks on Ukrainian civilians since before the summer, according to The Associated PressFrontline War Crimes Watch project.

Residents said the apartment tower did not house any military facilities.

Oleksander Anyskevych said he was in his apartment when the missile struck.

“Boom — and that’s it. We saw that we were alive and that’s all,” Anyskevych said yesterday as he went to the

site to see his wrecked apartment.

He told The Associated Press that he knew people who died under the rubble. One of his son’s classmates lost her parents.

Dnipro residents took flowers, candles and toys to the ruins.

“All of us could be in that place,” local resident Iryna Skrypnyk said.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, called the strike, and others like it, “inhumane aggression” because it directly targeted civilians. “There will be no impunity for these crimes,” he said in a tweet on Sunday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the Dnipro strike, saying “attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law” and “must end immediately”, UN associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said yesterday.

Asked about the strike yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian military doesn’t target residential buildings and suggested the Dnipro building was hit as a result of Ukrainian air defence actions.

The strike on the building came amid a wider barrage of Russian cruise missiles across Ukraine. The Ukrainian military said Sunday that it did not have the means to intercept the type of Russian missile that hit the residential building in Dnipro.

Fierce fighting continued to rage

yesterday in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where military analysts have said both sides are likely suffering heavy troop casualties. No independent verification of developments was possible.

Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province make up the Donbas, an expansive industrial region bordering Russia that Russian President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the war’s outset. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv’s forces there since 2014.

The Russian and Belarusian air forces began a joint exercise Monday in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and served as a staging ground for Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.The drills are set to run through February 1, the Belarusian Defence Ministry said. Russia has sent its warplanes to Belarus for the drills.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, reported signs of the Kremlin taking steps to turn its Ukraine invasion into “a major conventional war” after months of embarrassing military reversals.

What Moscow calls “a special military operation” aimed to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, within weeks and to install a Kremlinfriendly regime there, but Russian forces ultimately withdrew from around Kyiv, the think tank said. Then came a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent months before the onset of winter slowed military advances.

deadly storm system that moved across the South last week.

King was not present at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge for the initial march known as “Bloody Sunday,” when Alabama state troopers attacked and beat marchers in March 1965. But he joined a subsequent procession that successfully crossed the bridge toward the Capitol in Montgomery, punctuating efforts that pushed Congress to pass and President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Pettus Bridge was unscathed by Thursday’s storm.

Maine’s first Black House speaker urged residents yesterday to honor King’s memory by joining in acts of service.

“His unshakable faith, powerful nonviolent activism and his vision for peace and justice in our world altered the course of history,” Rachel Talbot Ross said in a statement. Talbot Ross is also the daughter of Maine’s first black lawmaker, and a former president of the Portland NAACP.

“We must follow his example of leading with light and love and recommit ourselves to building a more compassionate, just and equal community,” she added.

At Ebenezer, Warnock, who has led the

congregation for 17 years, hailed his predecessor’s role in securing ballot access for black Americans. But, like Bernice King, the senator warned against a reductive understanding of King.

“Don’t just call him a civil rights leader. He was a faith leader,” Warnock said. “Faith was the foundation upon which he did everything he did. You don’t face down dogs and water hoses because you read Nietzsche or Niebuhr. You gotta tap into that thing, that God he said he met anew in Montgomery when someone threatened to bomb his house and kill his wife and his new child.”

King, Warnock said, “left the comfort of a filter that made the whole world his parish”, turning faith into “the creative weapon of love and non-violence”.

While echoing Bernice King’s call for bolder public policy, Warnock noted some progress in his lifetime. As he’s done through two Senate campaigns, Warnock noted he was born a year after King’s assassination, when both of Georgia senators were staunch segregationists, including one Warnock described as loving “the Negro” as long as he was “in his place at the back door”.

But, Warnock said, “Because of what Dr King and because of what you did... I now sit in his seat.”

ITALY’S MOST-WANTED MAFIA BOSS ARRESTED AFTER 30 YEARS ON RUN

ITALY’S No 1 fugitive, a Mafia boss convicted of helping to mastermind some of the nation’s most heinous slayings, was arrested yesterday when he sought treatment at a private clinic in Sicily after three decades on the run.

Matteo Messina Denaro was tried in absentia and convicted of dozens of murders, including helping to mastermind, along with other Cosa Nostra bosses, a pair of 1992 bombings that killed top anti-Mafia prosecutors — and led the Italian state to stiffen its crackdown on the Sicilian crime syndicate. He faces multiple life sentences that he is expected to serve in a maximum security prison and under the particularly restrictive conditions reserved for top organised crime bosses.

He went into hiding a year after those bombings while still a young man — but he was still considered one of Cosa Nostra’s top bosses even as a fugitive.

Hundreds of police officers were tasked over the years with tracking him, the last

of three long-time top-level Mafia bosses who managed to elude capture for decades.

He is now 60, and his health condition helped investigators zero in on him, according to Carabinieri Gen Pasquale Angelosanto, who heads the police force’s special operations squad.

“It all led to today’s date (when) he would have come for some tests and treatment” at the clinic, the Carabinieri general said.

Authorities did not say what he was being treated for, but he was captured at La Maddalena clinic in Palermo, an upscale medical facility with a reputation for treating cancer patients, and Italian media said he was undergoing treatment for a year.

During an evening news conference, authorities said Messina Denaro’s treatment could continue at a hospital prison ward.

Investigators said he was unarmed and dressed like a typical patient at the clinic, though wearing a watch worth at least 30,000 euros (about $33,000).

A LARGE group gathers to watch a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington yesterday.

Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

Jonquel Jones traded to New York Liberty

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It’s now official. After spending the past seven seasons in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) with the Connecticut Sun, the 29-year-old Grand Bahamian native Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones has packed her bags and is now with the New York Liberty.

Yesterday, the fourtime All-Star, who had requested the trade, left one more year on her contract with the Sun, coached by Curt Miller, to join the Liberty under coach Stephanie White.

It came in a three-team deal that shook up the WNBA, sending Rebecca Allen and Natasha Howard from New York to Connecticut and the Dallas Wings respectively.

The Wings also received the rights to Crystal Dangerfield of the Liberty and sent Kayla Thornton to New York as well as Tyasha Harris to Connecticut.

Additionally, the deal would allow the Sun to pick up the Liberty’s No.6 pick in the 2023 WNBA draft.

It’s a deal that New York’s general manager Jonathan Kolb said fits right into their scheme of things.

This was the second trade in the career of Jones, whose first came after she was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks as the sixth pick overall in the first round of the WNBA draft in 2016 in exchange for Chelsea Gray and two draft picks in 2026.

“Adding Jonquel and Kayla to our roster in the prime of their careers was a can’t-miss opportunity to bolster our frontcourt on both ends of the floor,” said Kolb in a statement. “JJ brings an established MVP skill set, and Kayla possesses a rare combination of defensive physicality and offensive spacing. We can’t wait to welcome them to the Liberty family and get to work on pursuing our championship goals.”

Jones, at 6-foot, 6-inches, is a forward/centre, who averaged 14.6 points, 8,6 rebounds and 1.2 block shots per game this season.

She helped Connecticut to a second WNBA Finals berth in four seasons, won the MVP title and was the Most Improved Player in 2027 and the Sixth Woman of the Year in 2018.

Her departure from the Sun leaves a void, but Connecticut’s general manager Darius Taylor wished her all the best as she moves on.

“Jonquel has been an integral part of the

Connecticut Sun’s growth over the last seven years, and we truly appreciate everything she has given to this franchise,” Taylor said in a statement. “Unfortunately, JJ’s trade was a decision that both parties decided was best. We wish her the best in her future endeavours.”

As she moves on, Jones will become just the third

player in WNBA history to win the WNBA MVP and then play for a new team two seasons later.

The others are Elena Delle Donne, who in 2015 won the MVP with the Chicago Sky and then was traded to the Washington Mystics in 2017 and Tina Charles, the 2012 MVP with the Sun, who was traded to Liberty in 2014,

the same path that Jones is taking.

Jones, who was the first player in WNBA history to win the MVP, Sixth Woman of the Year and the WNBA Most Improved Player awards, is expected to suit up with the Liberty when they open the WNBA 2023 regular season against Washington on Friday, May 19.

By PHIL STUKENBORG Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)

— Ja Morant scored 29 points, Desmond Bane added 28 and the Memphis Grizzlies extended their season-high winning streak to 10 games with a 136-106 victory over the injury-depleted Phoenix Suns last night.

The Grizzlies can tie their franchise-record winning streak of 11 games, set last season, when they host Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Mikal Bridges scored 21 points and Deandre Ayton added 18 for the Suns. Phoenix (21-24) lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

The Suns played without starters Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Paul missed his fifth straight game with a right hip injury. Booker has not played since Christmas Day because of a groin injury.

Jaren Jackson Jr contributed 18 points and six blocks for the Grizzlies, who did not play Morant or Dillon Brooks in the fourth quarter when Memphis stretched its lead to as many as 36 points.

Memphis also scored 130 or more points for the third straight game, matching the franchise-record run of last February.

The Grizzlies started slow, trailing by as many as 11 in the opening quarter

NADAL STRUGGLES AT TIMES DURING 4-SET WIN AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rafael Nadal never truly seemed in danger of becoming the first Australian Open defending men’s champion to lose in the first round since his current coach, Carlos Moya, managed to beat Boris Becker a quarter of a century ago.

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE International Tennis Clubs Doubles Week, featuring veteran retired tennis players from around the world, got underway yesterday at the Nassau Lawn Tennis Club with the United States showing their dominance in the two matches they played.

In the early match of the day on Monday, the USA Bluebirds knocked off Barbados 4-1 before the USA Robins came back and blanked the International Team 5-0.

The tournament consists of two men’s doubles, a ladies’ doubles and two mixed doubles. They are played with teams

averaging 105 years in players combined and 125.

The IC is made up of 40 countries around the world, whose motto is “Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean.” They consist of top international players and national title holders.

Kit Spencer, president of the IC Bahamas, said they are excited to have the return of the tournament in the Bahamas, which is held on a bi-annual basis, but was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a lot of great and strong players participating in the tournament,” Spencer said.

But after playing on the International Team that got blanked 5-0 by the USA Robins’ team, Spencer said it will be interesting to see

how they stack up against the rest of the countries, including the Bahamas.

“The USA has two very good teams. They have a lot of very strong players,” he said. “We have four hundred thousand people and they have four million people, so they are very tough.”

Bob Beverley, who hails from Charlotte, North Carolina, said he started calling players from June/ July to play in the tournament and he’s happy with the two teams they have assembled.

“This is a wonderful tournament,” he said. “I had a number of people who were supposed to come, but didn’t come. I think it will be between one of our teams and the Bahamas and even though

we have two teams, I think the Bahamas will get in the final, or at least that is what we’re hoping.”

The Bahamas, which will play its first match today against the USA Robins, starting at 9am, is looking forward to the challenge, according to team captain Neil Mactaggart.

“We’re a bunch of players, who know each other, but we haven’t played with each other,” Mactaggart said. “Some of our players are nursing injuries, so I’m hoping we all can play as a team uninjured and if we do, I think we will do very well.

“The USA is very strong again this year. They have a bunch of world-class players. In the Bahamas, we have some experienced players like John Antonas

and Sue Kimball, but we have some younger players who we hope will step up because they are very knowledgeable about doubles.”

Robb Bunner, the president of the US Tennis Club, said they are delighted to be in the Bahamas for the Caribbean IC Doubles Challenge.

“We love coming here. We’re so delighted to be playing on their clay courts in the city of Nassau,” he said. “It helps so much with preserving what’s left of our knees.”

Bunner, however, said during the week, they hope to accomplish three things.

“Number one is to have some fun, number two is don’t get hurt and number

Still, this was not a vintage performance by Nadal, who came into yesterday’s matchup against 21-yearold Jack Draper with an 0-2 record in 2023 and six losses in his past seven outings overall. After nearly two hours of so-so play, Nadal found himself even at a set apiece.

He appeared to be pulling away, taking advantage of his opponent’s bout with cramps on an afternoon with the temperature at about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius), when suddenly Draper went up by a break in the fourth set. From there, though, Nadal would not drop another game, beginning his pursuit of a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam championship with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win that took more than 3 1/2 hours in Rod Laver Arena.

“I need a victory, so that’s the main thing,” Nadal said. “Doesn’t matter the way.”

That’s good, then, because the 36-year-old

JONQUEL JONES, of the Bahamas, walks down court during the second half of Game 5 in a WNBA basketball playoff semifinal against the Chicago Sky. The New York Liberty have traded for Jonquel Jones, adding a big piece to their championship hopes. The Liberty acquired the 2021 MVP as part of a three-team deal with the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings, the teams announced yesterday. (AP Photo/ Charles Rex Arbogast)

A NUMBER of the tennis players participating in the IC Bahamas tournament are pictured above.

Freedom Farm Baseball League enjoys opening day

ON Saturday, the Freedom Farm Baseball League held its opening day festivities.

The day began with a short service at Holy Cross Anglican Parish followed by its highly anticipated parade of athletes from the church to the Freedom Farm Baseball Park in the Yamacraw community.

With Freedom Farm’s selected theme being ‘Health & Wellness’, bringing remarks was Minister of Health and Wellness Michael Darville, who spoke passionately about the urgent need for Bahamians to take their health seriously.

Dr Darville referenced a STEP survey which was done on the Bahamas which clearly outlined the significant health deficiencies of our population.

The report shows that The Bahamas is ranked

the worst in the region as it relates to the number of cases of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, renal failure, obesity and hypertension. If this trend is not reversed, Dr Darville said the healthcare system will be challenged to meet the needs of those requiring attention at our tertiary medical institutions.

In an effort to tackle this crisis head on, the minister indicated that his ministry, through a Wellness Unit, will be launching an aggressive educational campaign throughout the Commonweath of the Bahamas touching as many areas as possible, particularly grassroots communities, and the elderly.

In closing he urged the audience to take their health serious, after all, ‘an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure’.

Joining Dr Darville was Timothy Munnings, the former director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, and

with the Wellness Unit of the Ministry of Health.

In partnering with Freedom Farm Baseball League, the Ministry

of Health staged its first health screening for adults at the park and they provided medical referrals that were necessary.

SI WOO KIM RALLIES WITH BIG FINISH TO WIN SONY OPEN

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

HONOLULU (AP) — Si Woo Kim battled all day from a three-shot deficit in the Sony Open, and when he finally caught up late Sunday afternoon, it only got harder.

His 7-iron to the par-3 17th bounded over the firm green and into a tough patch of grass in the rough. Behind, he could hear the cheering for Hayden Buckley making birdie on the 16th hole to regain the lead.

Suddenly, a tough chip got easier.

“Nothing to lose,” Kim said.

With an aggressive stroke, Kim chipped in from 30 feet to tie Buckley, and then he won the Sony Open with a 5-iron out of the bunker from 236 yards that bounced along the dry grass and onto the green, setting up a two-putt birdie from 40 feet and a 6-under 64.

Buckley missed a 12-foot birdie on the par-5

closing hole that would have forced a playoff.

The finish brought a sleepy Sony Open to life and gave the 27-year-old Kim his fourth career PGA Tour victory, and first in two years.

Buckley, who started the final round with a two-shot lead, was among nine of the leading 16 players going into Sunday who had never won on the PGA Tour. He did his part except for a pair of short par putts that he missed on the back nine.

He closed with a 68.

“Winning on the PGA Tour is the hardest thing to do, and sometimes you just get beat,” Buckley said.

“And I feel like that’s what happened today.”

Kim opened with three straight birdies to get back in the mix, and he stayed there the entire day as other contenders came and went.

The pivotal point came on the 17th. And as much pressure as Kim felt over the shot, Buckley’s 15-foot birdie putt and the reaction seemed to calm him.

“If he made a par, like I’m more nervous because I have to save (par), and especially into the grain with the pressure, it’s more nervous for me,” Kim said.

“But I knew it. I heard the sounds.”

One shot behind, he felt it was birdie or bust.

“Bogey is fine,” he said.

“So I have to hit it aggressive. I think that really helps.”

He pumped his first when it dropped for birdie, a big moment, but not enough for him to react the way he did at the Presidents Cup when his partner, Tom Kim, made a big putt to win a fourballs match.”

“If I was playing with him I definitely would do that,” Kim said with a laugh. “But this more stroke play and he (Buckley) is still behind me. I wanted to, but I just kept calm.”

Kim, who got married a month ago in South Korea, finished at 18-under 262 and is assured two weeks in Hawaii next year, as defending champion in the Sony Open and the Sentry Tournament of Champions

at Kapalua. More immediately, the victory assures him a spot in the Masters.

Buckley, who once shot a 61 at a college event on Kauai that convinced him he might try to play golf for a living, moved up to No. 14 in the FedEx Cup in a big year in which only the top 70 reach the postseason.

He was in reasonable shape off the tee at the par-5 closing hole, but his approach from the right collar of the rough came out flat and to the right, leaving a tough pitch up the slope to a pin in the back right. It rolled out some 12 feet, and the birdie putt to force a playoff narrowly missed.

Buckley made nine straight pars after opening with a birdie, and then had a six-shot stretch on the back nine of one par, two bogeys and three birdies. His two bogeys came on putts of 5 feet and just inside 4 feet, and he failed to birdie the two par 5s at Waialae.

“I feel like I made a lot of those long putts, but I struggled on the short

ones. That was dating back to Thursday,” Buckley said. “That really just caught up to me at the end. I feel like I had control of the tournament pretty much the whole way, but just a late miss on 15 from 3 or 4 feet really hurt.

“Overall, I was impressed by what I did, and I think I’ll remember this day and it’ll just make me better.”

Chris Kirk had a 68 and finished alone in third.

It was the second straight week in Hawaii that someone rallied from at least three shots behind to win, though it wasn’t nearly as stunning as Jon Rahm coming from six back with nine holes to play at Kapalua against Collin Morikawa.

“It always can happen fast, like last week,” Kim said. “I tried my best every shot. It was a little shaky the last four holes.”

He missed the green on the 17th, and he missed the fairway on the 18th, two places that make birdies hard to find. Kim found them and walked away as a winner.

BASKETBALL RESULTS

BASKETBALL results for Monday, January 16. Games were played at The Hope Center on University Commons.

Mini Division

jordan Prince William 19 def Temple Christian School 6

Labron Taylor no. 2 of Prince William had eight (8) points in the win.

Lyndon Nicolus no. 23 of Temple had six (6) points in the loss.

Primary Boys Jordan Prince William 16 def Teleos Christian School 1

Alanno Hepburn no. 3 of Prince Wiliam had thirteen (13) points in the win William Pierre no. 14 of Teleos had one (1) point in the loss.

Junior Boys International School of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology ISBET 25 def Freedom Baptist Academy A 23

Paidyn Taylor no. 00 of ISBET had fourteen (14) points in the win McKinley Lucin no. 24 of Freedom A had eight (8) points in the loss.

Teleos Christian School 39 def Akhepran International Academy 14

Javon Sweeting no. 0 and Andrew Bethel no. 3 combined to lead Teleos with eight (8) points each in the win.

Adisa Eneas no 9 of Akhepran had seven (7) points in the loss.

Senior Boys

Akhepran International Academy 43 def New Horizon Christian Academy 21 Baron Coleby no. 20 of Akhepran had eleven (11) points in the win.

Adam Albury no. 3 of New Horizon had seven (7) points in the loss.

TODAY

PB – Kingsway Academy vs Jordan Prince William JB – Greenville Preparatory Academy vs Freedom Baptist Academy A JB – Akhepran International Academy vs Genesis Academy

SB – Akhepran International Academy vs Mt Carmel Preparatory Academy

OLYMPIC TRIPLE JUMPER ANA JOSÉ TIMA SUSPENDED IN DOPING CASE

MONACO (AP) — Twotime Olympic athlete Ana José Tima was provisionally suspended for two positive tests for doping substances, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said yesterday.

The AIU said José Tima, a triple jumper from the Dominican Republic, was notified of allegations in the case that involved positive tests in December for ostarine and GW501516.

No timetable was given for a disciplinary case for the 33-year-old athlete.

José Tima competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics though did not qualify for either final.

She placed 10th at the world championships last July in Eugene, Oregon.

Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that can help muscle growth. The British men’s 4x100-metre relay team was disqualified from second place in Tokyo after Chijindu Ujah tested positive for ostarine.

The substance GW501516 is a metabolic modulator that failed medical trials. It was the subject of a health risk warning in 2013 by the World AntiDoping Agency.

TIM Munnings and Greg Burrows Sr, right, on the Freedom Farm baseball march.

SI Woo Kim holds the champions trophy after the final round of the Sony Open golf tournament, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

(AP Photo/Matt York)

DR Michael Darville and Greg Burrows Sr viewing the free screening test.

Janero Miller signs with Miami Marlins as pitcher/outfielder

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH he was considered a late bloomer at the age of nine, Janero Miller will achieve one of his goals of becoming a professional baseball player at the age of 17.

In two years, he hopes that he will become the latest Bahamian to play in the Major League of Baseball.

Miller will take that first step to his pro career tonight when he signs his contract with the Miami Marlins as a pitcher/outfielder at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

His signing comes on the heels of Sebastian Walcott, who inked his name on a deal with the Texas Rangers organisation on Sunday at Sapodilla Restuarant.

They join several other Bahamians who are involved in the 2023 Signing Class out of the International Elite Sports Academy, headed by Geron Sands and Albert Cartwright.

For Miller, who started playing the sport at Freedom Farm, said it was rough at the beginning, but he’s quite pleased with his progress over the years.

The former Albury Sayle student went on to excel as the top pitcher and most valuable player for the HO Nash Lions in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association’s baseball league.

“I have a love for baseball now, but when I got started, I really didn’t want to play it,” said Miller, who is the only member of his four siblings that play any sport. “But after I played a few games and I hit a home run I felt like this was the sport for me and so I continued with it. I fell in love with it.”

As he prepares for his transgression into the pro ranks, he said: “I am very proud of myself because hard work

NADAL

FROM PAGE 15

from Spain was not in peak form. All in all, it was a bit of a struggle. He tried to put a silver-lining spin on things, nonetheless, given his recent track record and knowing that he tore an abdominal muscle twice in the past six months.

“I was humble enough to accept that (there were) going to be a little bit of ups and downs during the match,” Nadal said. “(That’s a) typical thing when you are not in a winning mood.”

Both men are left-handers, but that is pretty much where the similarities end, whether in terms of style or age or experience or accomplishments.

Nadal, who is seeded No. 1 because top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz is sidelined with an injury, is appearing in his 67th Grand Slam tournament. Draper, ranked a career-best No.

TENNIS

FROM PAGE 15

three is to win at all cost,” he stressed.

“We have 400 members in our club, which is one of the biggest IC’s in the world, so it’s quite natural that we are here to win.”

When they are not playing, Bunner, who hails from Atlanta, Georgia, said they are busy doing philanthropy work around the world, especially in Rwanda, for unprivileged kids who don’t have access to tennis or education.

The US IUC just celebrated their 90th anniversary, but Bunner said the IC has been in existence for 124 years, so they are also looking at ways of keeping the camaraderie and friendship alive among the players long after they stop playing competitively.

Results of games played on day one are as follows:

always pays off,” Miller said. “I was so determined to make it to this point and I’m so glad to know that this is where God has brought me. I can now get the opportunity to continue to play this sport at the highest level.”

During his playing days at Freedom Farm and the support of his mother, Crystal Swain and others, Miller said he got a lot of encouragement from scouts, who whispered in his ear that he had the ability to play the game and that was when he started to take it seriously.

“They are expecting me to come in and play the outfield more than pitch,” said Miller, who is expected to go to Miami, Florida in a few days to get through the league’s formalities before he heads off to the Dominican Republic for their six-month training camp.

“They don’t want me to get too much stress on my arm pitching, so they want me to play the outfield and even some first base. I really like pitching, but the outfield is a lot of fun as well. Hitting is fun as well. Baseball, on the whole, is a lot of fun.”

Having watched the signing of several players from the Bahamas, Miller said he got more inspired to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball.

“I realised that nothing could stop me from reaching my end goal, but me,” he said.

“A lot of the players who signed before me, they told me that I have the talent to do it as well, so that pushed me to work hard and not to give up, but to trust the process.”

Through the process, Miller said he’s confident that at the age of 19, he will be playing in the Major League. “I just have to continue to play hard, stay focused and trust my coaches and being open to listening to my coaches,” he said. “I think those are the ingredients that will help me to get through it.”

38 this week, was making his fourth trip to a major and his best showing was getting to the third round at the U.S. Open last September.

Draper also has faced problems dealing with steamy conditions: In his ATP Tour debut at the Miami Open in March 2021, he collapsed on court and needed to stop playing after one set.

“Real honour to play against him, someone I’ve idolised growing up. To go toe-to-toe with him on a big court like that is special,” Draper said.

“I can take away the fact that my tennis is getting closer and closer. And physically, I’ll be first to say I’m still a work in progress.”

This time, signs of trouble showed up early, and Draper was treated by a trainer during changeovers. Later, he massaged his right thigh between points.

Nadal, not surprisingly, wore Draper down from

USA Bluebirds def. Barbados 4-1

Men’s 105+ - Shirish Desphpande /Steve Moehn (USA) def. Rogerunner, Edhghill/James Taskerr (Barbados) 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s 105+ - Kay Beverley/Shana Msgtruder (USA) def. Tracy Johnson/ Marie-Jeanne Symmonds (Barbados) 6-1, 6-3.

Men’s 125+ - John Chatlak/Ward Snyder (USA) derf. Raymond Forde/Peter Symmonds (Barbados) 6-1, 6-3.

Mixed 105+ - Steve Moehn/Shana Magruder (USA) def. Riger Edghill/ Marie-Jeanne Symmonds (Barboads) 6-1, 6-3.

Mixed 120+ - Raymond Forde/Marie Gentile (Barbados) def. John Chatlak/ Kay Beverley (USA) 6-2, 3-6, 10-8.

USA Robins def. International 5-0

Men’s 105+ - Jeff Clark/ Jeff Snow def. Cory

Miller said he owes a great debt of gratitude to so many persons, including David Fowler, who introduced him to baseball, Greg Burrows Sr and Jr for his development at Freedom Farm and the coaches there and the I-Elite programme, led by Sands and Cartwright, for playing such a big role in his life and getting him to the point where he is right now.

To the players coming behind, Miller had this simple message to share with them.

“Always work hard. Trust your coaches, trust the process because there are other ways to get to the big league, not just by signing,” he pointed out.

“You can do it through

the baseline, engaging in exchanges before finding an opening to yank a big forehand this way or that.

“When you win matches, you are more relaxed,” Nadal said. “You are more confident.”

His next opponent will be Mackie McDonald, a past NCAA champion at UCLA who won an allAmerican matchup against Brandon Nakashima that lasted 4 hours by a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-7 (10), 6-4 score.

The No. 1-seeded woman, Iga Swiatek, followed Nadal into Laver for the night session and found herself in a tight second set before reeling off the last four games to eliminate 69th-ranked Jule Niemeier 6-4, 7-5.

Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins, the 2022 runner-up at Melbourne Park, also reached the second round with straightset victories yesterday, and 2017 US Open finalist

Francis/Alex Murbach (International) 6-4, 6-1.

Women’s 105+ - Mariana Hollman/Margaret Lumia (USA) def. Dale Kozicz/ Kathy Mueller (International Team) 6-0, 6-4.

Men’s 125+ - Robb Bunner/Rob Castorri (USA) def. Jerry Kanuka/ Kit Spencer (International Team) 6-1, 6-3.

Mixed 105+ - Jeff Clark/ Ann Clark (USA) def. Coiry Francis/Kathy Mueller (International Team) 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed 120+ - Jeff Snow/ Margaret Lumia (USA) def. Jerry Ksnuka/Dale Kozicz (International Team) 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Today’s Schedule

9am - USA Robins vs The Bahamas 2pm - Barbados vs the International Team.

high school or college, so just trust the process and believe in your coaches. Never give up on your dreams.

“If you want to go to the big leagues, you have to go for it.”

Lyrone Burrows, who was first introduced to Miller at age nine by his mother and has turned out to be a father-figure, said he was there to watch his progress over the years and assisted him in every way possible.

“To start playing baseball at nine, it’s a late start, but we watched him bat and he would always step away from the plate to avoid being hit,” said Burrows, a local softball player and executive.

Madison Keys won in three sets.

Others advancing included 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari, while twotime Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka got past 2020 winner Sofia Kenin 6-4, 7-6 (3).

There were plenty of other major titlists on the packed Day 1 schedule, with Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova among the winners.

But three-time Slam champ Stan Wawrinka bowed out with a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to Alex Molcan.

The biggest surprise of the day came off the court: the withdrawal of Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, who needs surgery on his left knee.

“I’m devastated, obviously,” said Kyrgios, a

“But when you look at his family and their athletic capabilities, he has an older aunt, Samantha Gilbert, who played in college and his mom played volleyball locally, while he was a small skinny kid, we always knew what he was projected to become.”

Now at 6-feet, 2 inches, Burrows said Miller has excelled to the level where he could be considered a diamond in the rough and one whom he feels will excel to the Majors, maybe in his opinion, not at 19, but at least 20 or 21.

“I’m sticking with 19,” Miller quipped. “That is my goal to make it. I’m looking forward to it once I sign my contract and I head off to start my journey.”

27-year-old from Australia who won the men’s doubles championship at Melbourne Park a year ago.

Men who moved on included No. 3-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 16 Frances Tiafoe and No. 20 Denis Shapovalov.

Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion and the runner-up in Melbourne the past two years, breezed past Marcos Giron of the U.S. 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 at night.

The No. 3-seeded Pegula overwhelmed Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-0, 6-1 in just 59 minutes, No. 7 Gauff overcame a secondset wobble to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4, and No. 13 Collins had her left knee treated and taped up while defeating Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Pegula and Gauff could meet in the semifinals; Collins could play Swiatek in the fourth round.

PADRES SIGN 16-YEAR-OLD CATCHING PROSPECT SALAS FOR $5.6M

SAN DIEGO (AP) —

The San Diego Padres signed 16-year-old catcher Ethan Salas of Caracas, Venezuela, to a $5.6 million bonus on Sunday, the first day of the international signing period.

Salas is the consensus top overall prospect in this year’s class. The lefthanded hitter is the younger brother of Jose Salas, one of the top prospects in the Miami Marlins system.

The Salas brothers have a long pedigree. Their father, Jose Antonio, played in the Atlanta Braves’ organisation; their uncle, Jose Gregorio, played in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system; and their grandfather, Jose Gregorio, played in the Houston Astros’ and Kansas City Royals’ systems.

According to scouting reports, Salas has raw power at the plate and strong defensive skills.

Also Sunday, the Washington Nationals signed outfielder Elian Soto, the 17-year-old brother of Padres right fielder Juan Soto. The Nationals traded Juan Soto to the Padres in a blockbuster deal August 2.

The Texas Rangers signed outfielder Pablo Guerrero, the son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and younger brother of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

WHITE SOX AGREE TO DEALS WITH 7 INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox agreed to contracts with seven international free agents yesterday, including pitching prospect Luis Reyes and infielder Juan Uribe Jr. The 6-foot-2 Reyes, the top prospect in the bunch, is due $700,000. The 17-year-old right-hander from Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, is rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 4 international pitching prospect and No. 41 overall.

The 16-year-old Uribe ($700,000), who was born in Chicago, is a 5-10 second baseman who bats and throws right-handed. His father, Juan Uribe, was an infielder who played 16 seasons in the majors and won World Series championships with the 2005 White Sox and 2010 San Francisco Giants.

The White Sox also agreed to deals with righthander Denny Lima ($10,000), outfielders Abraham Núñez ($700,000) and Albert Alberto ($50,000), and infielders D’Angelo Tejada ($350,000) and Rafael Álvarez ($350,000).

JANERO MILLER, pitching above, with his mother Crystal Swain, top inset.

Prescott outshines Brady, Cowboys dominate Bucs 31-14

By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Florida (AP)

— Dak Prescott outplayed Tom Brady, throwing for four touchdowns and running for another to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC wild-card playoff game last night.

Prescott completed 25 of 33 passes for 305 yards and played turnover-free ball for the first time in eight games as the Cowboys (13-5) dominated the listless Buccaneers (8-10) in what may turn out to be Brady’s last game in a Tampa Bay uniform.

Dallas beat Brady for the first time in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s career and won in the postseason on the road for the first time in 30 years to earn a trip to San Francisco to face the 49ers in the NFC divisional round next

Sunday. The Cowboys had dropped eight straight playoff games on the road since winning the NFC championship game in San Francisco on January 17, 1993.

Brady, who signed with Tampa Bay in 2020 and led the Bucs to a Super Bowl title two years ago, will be a free agent this winter. He retired briefly last February before changing his mind and returning for a 23rd season at age 45.

About the only thing that went wrong for the Cowboys last night was kicker Brett Maher missing his first four extra points, becoming the first player in NFL history to miss that many in a game.

Maher finally converted on his fifth attempt after coach Mike McCarthy decided against sending him out to try a field goal from roughly the same distance as a PAT. Tampa Bay receiver Russell Gage was

strapped to a backboard and carted off the field after an injury late in the fourth quarter. Gage slipped and fell to the turf while running a route and took a blow to the neck area as he went down. He was unable to get to his feet and silence fell over the stadium as players took a knee and medical personnel tended to him.

Brady, who had been 7-0 against the Cowboys, completed 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards, including second-half touchdowns of 30 yards to Julio Jones and 8 yards to Cameron Brate.

He was sacked twice and also threw a costly interception — a second-quarter, end-zone pick from the Dallas 5 that prevented the Bucs from potentially taking the lead when they were only trailing 6-0.

Prescott tossed the first of his two TD passes to Dalton Schultz to get the Cowboys going, then turned Brady’s first red-zone interception

since 2019 into points by finishing a 15-play, 80-yard drive by circling left end for a 1-yard TD run on fourth down.

The Dallas quarterback expanded the lead to 18-0 with an 11-yard TD throw to Schultz, then threw 2 yards to Michael Gallup for a 24-point lead early in the third quarter. It could have been 28-0 if not for Maher missing all four extra points.

Prescott’s last TD pass, an 18-yarder to CeeDee Lamb, put the Cowboys up 31-6 with 10:13 remaining.

Little came easy this season for the Bucs, just the fourth team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a

losing record in a non-strike year.

While Brady broke his own league record for completions in a season and ranked third in passing yards behind Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, Tampa Bay finished 25th in scoring at 18.4 points per game and never won more than two in a row while holding off Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta to repeat as NFC South champions. Dallas rebounded from a 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay in Week 1, weathering Prescott being sidelined five weeks with a fractured right thumb suffered in that game to

resemble a Super Bowl contender much of the season.

Prescott, however, entered the playoffs on a career-worst, seven-game interception streak and had a pick returned for a touchdown in three of the last four games, including an ugly 26-6 loss to Washington in the regular-season finale.

UP NEXT Cowboys: At San Francisco next Sunday in the divisional round.

Buccaneers: The wait begins to learn if Brady will retire, return for a fourth season with Tampa Bay or sign with another club in free agency.

4-TIME WNBA CHAMPION MAYA MOORE OFFICIALLY RETIRES AT 33

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) —

Maya Moore knew it was time to officially end her basketball career — four years after stepping away.

The Minnesota Lynx star left the WNBA in 2019 to help her now-husband Jonathan Irons win his release from prison by getting his 50-year sentence overturned in 2020. Irons married Moore soon after his release and the couple had their first child, Jonathan Jr, in February.

She announced her decision to retire yesterday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Before that, Moore had been noncommittal about playing basketball again, but she said in an interview with The Associated Press that it was time to retire.

“Over the last year, it finally felt right to just close the chapter,” Moore said. “Talk about it in a celebratory way. ... I’m excited to able to give the clarity to the basketball world.”

Moore said it did cross her mind that her son and husband wouldn’t get to see her play in the WNBA, but that didn’t sway her to keep playing.

Irons said he supported Moore’s decision.

“It was totally her decision and you know it brewed from her heart,” he said. “I was gonna root for her whatever she chose to do. I’d been right there at the stadium yelling: ‘Go girl! Take that jump shot, win that championship!”

The 33-year-old Moore won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx, two Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball and two NCAA titles with UConn.

“On behalf of the Minnesota Lynx organisation, I want to congratulate Maya on an incredible basketball career,” Lynx coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve said. “We will always cherish her time in a Lynx uniform and we wish her the best as she continues to pursue this next chapter of her life.”

Moore will be eligible for the Naismith Hall of Fame next year since she stopped playing four years ago, one of the rare athletes to leave their sport in the prime of their career.

She was drafted No. 1 by the Lynx in 2011, winning the Rookie of the Year award and going on

to average 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals over eight seasons for Minnesota. She was the league’s MVP in 2014 and the only player in WNBA history with four 40-plus point games.

“Her four WNBA championships, six All-Star selections, an MVP award and a Finals MVP trophy are indicative of the type of rare, generational talent Maya brought to this league, but perhaps her

greatest legacy will be what she accomplished beyond the game,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

When Moore stepped away from basketball, she started a social action campaign “ Win With Justice.” Moore and her husband also have a book coming out this week titled “Love & Justice.”

During her career, she was at the forefront of the Lynx becoming one of the

first pro sports teams to fully embrace social activism, starting before a game on July 9, 2016, when players wore black T-shirts that read, “Change Starts With Us.” Their message was prompted by fatal police shootings earlier that week of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana.

“I hope people saw me as someone who gave all she had,” Moore said yesterday, “but also somebody who looked beyond the craft that I pursued.”

The Lynx went 200-71 in the regular season and 40-16 in the playoffs during Moore’s career as the star among stars in a core that featured Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and eventually Sylvia Fowles.

She finished her career as the Lynx franchise leader in scoring average, 3-point field goals made (530) and steals (449) and finished second in total points scored (4,984), field goals made (1,782), assists (896) and blocks (176).

“Maya Moore has forever left a mark on the state of Minnesota, the Minnesota Lynx franchise and the hearts of Lynx fans everywhere,” Minnesota

Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor said. “Maya’s accolades are numerous; her leadership and talent both fearless and inspirational set the foundation for the most exciting and historic championship run in the league from 2011-2017. While today culminates Maya’s basketball career, there is no doubt she will continue to impact the game we all love.” Moore went 150-4 in her career at UConn. The twotime AP Player of the Year was a key part of the Huskies’ 90-game winning streak that was the longest ever until the school had an 111game run a few years later.

“Maya obviously has thought this out and I’m sure it wasn’t a decision that came easily. The love that Maya had for the game, the way she played the game, the passion that she played the game with – you don’t walk away from that nonchalantly. I’m sure this was a very difficult decision for her and her family,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “At the same time, to be able to make this decision says to me that she is so committed to the life and family that she’s built and the causes she’s fighting for now.”

before using a dominating third quarter to pull away. Memphis outscored the Suns 39-23 in the third quarter and built a 22-point advantage (103-81) following a three-point play by Morant.

The Suns started strong, hitting 11 of their first 15 shots, including their first six, to lead by as many as 11 in the opening quarter.

The Grizzlies regained the lead late in the second quarter after Morant drained three consecutive 3-pointers for a 60-58 Memphis lead. The Grizzlies were up 68-65 at the half, led by 52% shooting and 17 points from Morant. The Suns shot 55.8% in the opening half and got 26 points from their bench.

RAPTORS 123, KNICKS 121 OT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 33 points, Scottie Barnes had 26 points and the Toronto Raptors recovered in overtime after RJ Barrett’s tying slam with 0.6 seconds left in regulation to beat the New York Knicks 123-121 on Monday.

Pascal Siakam had 20 points, nine assists and

eight rebounds for the Raptors, but he was on the bench after fouling out when Toronto had to wait out Jalen Brunson’s missed 3-pointer in the final second before emerging with the victory.

O.G. Anunoby hit two 3-pointers in overtime as Toronto built a six-point lead, but New York nearly erased that in the final minute.

Barrett, who is from Toronto, scored 32 points and Brunson had 26 for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Julius Randle finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.

WARRIORS 127, WIZARDS 118

WASHINGTON (AP)

— Stephen Curry scored 41 points and Jordan Poole added 32 points to help Golden State beat Washington.

Golden State had lost four of five coming into the game.

Draymond Green had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 32 points.

Kyle Kuzma added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but struggled from the field, where he was only 5 for 20.

CELTICS 130, HORNETS 118

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 51 points, including seven 3-pointers, and Boston beat Charlotte for the second time in three days.

Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 for the Celtics.

Tatum was 15 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the foul line. Jalen

McDaniels led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. LaMelo Ball finished with 25 points on 8-of-23 shooting.

BUCKS 132, PACERS 119

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 35 points to go along with 11 assists and Milwaukee beat Indiana without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks played a third consecutive game without Antetokounmpo due to left knee soreness. The Pacers were missing leading scorer and NBA assists leader Tyrese Haliburton for a third straight game due to a left elbow sprain and a mild left knee bone bruise.

Holiday shot 13 of 19 overall and 5 of 8 from 3-point range while collecting his third straight double-double.

Myles Turner returned for Indiana after missing three games with back spasms and scored 30 points. T.J. McConnell added a career-high 29 points and had nine assists.

CAVALIERS 113, PELICANS 103

CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen added 24 and Cleveland rallied in the fourth quarter with star Donovan Mitchell injured on the bench to beat New Orleans.

Mitchell scored 11 points in 22 minutes before sitting out the fourth with a strained left groin.

The Pelicans were once again without stars Zion Williamson (strained hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (bruised toe). CJ McCollum scored 25 and and Jonas Valanciunas had

22 and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans.

HAWKS 121, HEAT 113

ATLANTA (AP) — Dejounte Murray scored 12 of his 28 points in the final period as Atlanta held off Miami’s comeback attempt. Trae Young added 24 points as the Hawks, who never trailed, moved back to .500 with the win.

Miami had its three-game winning streak end despite Jimmy Butler’s 34 points. Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

JAZZ

126, TIMBERWOLVES 125

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Walker Kessler had career highs of 20 points and 21 rebounds, Jordan Clarkson added 21 points and Utah rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Minnesota.

Collin Sexton added 19 points off the bench for Utah, which had seven players score in double digits in its third win in four games.

Anthony Edwards scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quarter and D’Angelo Russell added 21 points for Minnesota.

Kyle Anderson had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.

MINNESOTA Lynx’s Maya Moore in action against the Seattle Storm in the first half of a WNBA basketball game, September 10, 2013, in Seattle. Moore has officially decided to retire from playing basketball, making her announcement on “Good Morning America” yesterday.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

COWBOYS quarterback Dak Prescott (4) runs into the end zone on a touchdown carry during the first half against the Buccaneers last night.

(AP Photo/ John Raoux)

NEW York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9) dunks in front of Toronto

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) at the end of the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, in New York.

(AP Photo/ Adam Hunger)

Finlaysons fail

duo obtained from Caterpillar on December 21, 2001, via their company, Kurc Ltd. The borrowing was secured on the Maratani X, with both men guaranteeing the debt’s repayment.

“Kurc defaulted on the loan. Whilst in Florida, the yacht was arrested at the instance of the respondent (Caterpillar),” Sir Michael wrote. “After the arrest of the yacht, the respondent obtained the permission of a US court to effect repairs to the vessel. Thereafter, the respondent sought to realise on its security. The appellants (the Finlaysons) also retained brokers to assist in selling the yacht.

“The yacht was finally sold by the respondent in December 2016 for the sum of $2.43m. At the time of the sale, the amount of principal owing on the debt was $4.207m. After applying the proceeds of sale to the debt, the balance due was $2.763m. The respondent

sued the appellants for that balance due.”

Caterpillar’s statement of claim, which was reproduced by Sir Michael, alleged that it demanded repayment of all sums “due and owing” on the Maratani X loan on December 9, 2015, after the Finlaysons defaulted on the repayments earlier that year.

After the yacht was sold on December 28, 2016, the lender claimed that even after applying the proceeds to the outstanding loan balance it was still owed some $1.981m in principal; $18,077 in unpaid interest; and $764,657 for expenses incurred in trying to collect on the debt. This produced the $2.763m claim, with Caterpillar also alleging that interest was accruing at the rate of $296.34 per day.

The Finlaysons, in their defence, denied liability for the remaining loan balance. They alleged that Caterpillar had failed to effect repairs to increase the Maratani X’s value to potential buyers, and

escape

accused the financier of “intentionally or negligently” taking steps that resulted in the yacht “being sold for substantially less than its market value to achieve an unjust and unlawful gain”.

Justice Petra HannaWeekes Adderley, sitting in the Supreme Court, found the Maratani X’s sale was “not an undervalue” and ruled in Caterpillar’s favour.

The Finlaysons appealed on the basis that the lender produced no evidence to justify the sales price as being reasonable, arguing that the $2.43m price “was unreasonable, reckless, negligent and prejudicial” to their interests.

Noting that no expert witnesses on yacht valuation were called by either side during the Supreme Court trial, Sir Michael said the judge had to rely on both parties’ documentary evidence and their respective witnesses. These were Robert Hughes, Caterpillar’s US east coast manager, and Mark Finlayson.

loan default liability

“The primary contention of the appellants is that the respondent failed to make the vessel seaworthy in order for it to undergo a sea trial. The appellants’ contention is that ‘the overwhelming evidence before the court was that a sea trial was necessary to secure a reasonable return on the sale of the vessel’,” the Court of Appeal president said of the Finlaysons’ argument.

“In my judgment, the flaw in the appellants’ argument is that it is premised on a duty of the respondent as mortgagee in the discharge of its duty to improve the property, if necessary, to obtain the best possible price at the time of the sale. In my judgment, there is no such duty. Whilst the respondent had the ability to invest in improving the property, its duty of care did not require it to do so.

“The state of the Maratani X at the time that the respondent took possession is not in dispute. The evidence was that Kurc was attempting to sell the vessel and had retained the broker, Bradford Marine, to find a buyer. The agent being used by Kurc and Bradford was Tucker Fallon.” The Finlaysons were thus attempting to sell the yacht to repay the loan balance on which they had defaulted some months before.

Tucker Fallon suggested that these problems could be overcome if Caterpillar was persuaded to sort out Maratani X’s starting system, get its generators running and take the vessel for a test run at sea. While buyers would put up with numerous defects, it added that they needed to know the engines and generators worked.

Just over three weeks later, the Finlaysons agreed to surrender the yacht on March 29, 2016, and signed the necessary paperwork.

“It is to be noted that there is nothing in the agreement which required the respondent to invest in improving the condition of the yacht, nor is there a covenant whereby the respondent agreed to do so,” Sir Michael wrote.

Tucker Fallon then wrote to Caterpillar on April 28, 2016, detailing a lengthy list of problems with the Maratani X that needed to be fixed as it had “not been used for years” and had no maintenance budget. It added: “The current asking price of the yacht is $6.5m and has been promoted as a ‘distress sale’.

If we take the boat to sea trial, and If It passes, then it is estimated to be worth approximately $3.5k or more. A major consideration is if it doesn’t pass sea trial, it might entail costly repairs........

“Approximately 12 people have toured the boat as of November 9, 2016. We’ve received four offers in total, although only one in writing, ranging from $1m to $2m.”

Sir Michael concluded: “The issue raised in this case is a very narrow one. It is whether the respondent was in breach of its duty to the appellants to take reasonable care to sell the yacht for the best possible price reasonably obtainable... The respondent accepted a bid of $2.43m. The appellants have not shown on the evidence that this price is... outside the ambit of a vessel of the type and condition of Maratani X at the time of the sale.

Surveillance Officers (Nassau)

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Tucker Fallon, in a March 3, 2016, e-mail to the Finlaysons warned that buyer activity was “very slow”. It said: “Much of the reason for that is that all of the major brokers in South Florida know that the boat has not run in years. One broker asked me how I was going to sell a boat that could not go for a sea trial.

“All the Fort Lauderdale brokers know about the boat and are afraid to bring a client to see the boat. The brokers do not want a buyer to find out that so many systems do not work, that the boat has not run. The brokers will be reluctant to even show the boat because they would be concerned that they could lose the client.”

“I have had numerous inquiries at this price and have had three written offers, one at $3.5m, one at $4.2m and one at $4.25m. All are subject to survey and sea trial.” The Finlaysons argued that Caterpillar had obtained a US court order requiring it to effect the necessary repairs, but Sir Michael said there was nothing that mandated the lender do so.

The Supreme Court found that the Finlaysons and Caterpillar had spent $1m and $700,000, respectively, on repairs but the Maratani X was still not ready to undergo a sea trial. And to make it ready, it said Caterpillar may have needed to invest a further $500,000 while incurring monthly costs of $25,000 to hold the vessel.

Without the Finlaysons providing expert witnesses to testify to the contrary, Sir Michael ruled that the Supreme Court was justified in relying upon a letter from Landon Gracey, Caterpillar’s customer service manager, to the lender’s managing director, Rob Coon.

The letter read: “According to our broker’s input, which he is basing upon offers received to date and upon discussions with other brokers, he thinks the boat is worth at best as-is, where-is around $3m.

“The debt was never in dispute. The appellants’ obligation to pay the debt was never in dispute. The sole issue was whether the respondent was in breach of its duty as a mortgagee to the appellants in realising its security. The burden was on the appellants to show that it was in breach of that duty. The judge found that the appellants did not prove that the respondent was in breach of that duty. We agree with the judge.”

The Court of Appeal also rejected the Finalysons’ argument that the loan agreements and guarantees could not be submitted as evidence because they were not stamped as required under the Stamp Act. Sir Michael found this had “no merit” as none of the agreements were made in The Bahamas or governed by Bahamian law.

The Finlaysons have been prominent figures in the Bahamian business community, having sold their interest in Commonwealth Brewery/Burns House (now 700 Island Wines and Spirits) to Heineken for $125m almost a decade ago. Other ventures they have been involved with, most notably the now-defunct City Markets supermarket chain and Solomon’s Mines, the luxury goods retailer, have been notably less successful.

The duo were represented by Bahamas Bar Association chairman, Khalil Parker KC, while Caterpillar’s lead attorney was Keith Major.

0.1400.08017.63.25%

9.750.00 0.3690.26026.42.67%

4.260.00 -0.4380.000-9.7 0.00%

11.220.00 0.7280.24015.42.14%

Jarol

Hot Mix and CFAL’s chief in GB airport bid

Grand Bahama International Airport from its present flood-prone site to a new plot nearby. “They’ve decided to give up on the airport site and go across the road,” they added. “They’ve decided to move it. No longer are they going to use the old site. They’re moving it and are going to relocate the airport across the road in an area of land that doesn’t flood. It will make it a lot easier to do and make a lot of sense if that’s where they move it to.”

The involvement of Bahamas Hot Mix and Mr Ferguson/CFAL in a Grand Bahama International Airport bid would make sense, as one party could provide the necessary construction expertise while the other arranges the necessary financing for the facility’s redevelopment.

Airport construction, maintenance and improvement is listed as one of Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM Company’s) specialty areas on its website, and it has long experience of working at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA)

on areas such as runway paving and resurfacing.

The company also last year announced the expansion of its Freeport-based concrete and asphalt production capabilities, and its plant will enable it to supply Grand Bahama International Airport with these product needs during reconstruction. BHM also has international reach via its London, UK-based entity, which will help connect with potential airport/ operating partners.

Bahamas Hot Mix, which is one of the major infrastructure developers in the country, features several prominent Bahamians on its Board. Peter Andrews, Bahamas Waste’s chair, is its vice-chair while the company’s treasurer is Craig Symonette, head of the Symonette Group and Bahamas Ferries. John Bethell, of Bethell Estates, is company secretary, and another shareholder is the trust for former deputy prime minister, Brent Symonette’s children.

Mr Ferguson and CFAL, meanwhile, would be wellplaced to both source and structure Bahamasbased capital to finance

the airport’s redevelopment given their existing role in the Bahamian capital markets. The CFAL chief is understood to be close to the Davis administration, and has been handed the responsibility to “financially engineer and structure” The Bahamas’ proposed blue carbon credits “and to create a network to effectively market, sell and monetise carbon credits”.

Tribune Business, meanwhile, understands that Dublin Airport Authority, which was previously named as having an interest in a Grand Bahama International Airport bid, is not connected to the group involving BHM Company and Mr Ferguson/CFAL although it may be involved with another.

Founded in 1937, the company operates the airports in Dublin and Cork, and has interests in another 18 airports spread across 16 countries including Bridgetown in Barbados, and Winnipeg, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax in Canada.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and who has responsibility for

seeking GB airport’s private sector development partner in his capacity as minister of tourism, investments and aviation, has repeatedly suggested that an announcement on a preferred bidder is imminent. He has indicated that it may now come in the 2023 first quarter.

Grand Bahama International’s redevelopment following the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019 is seen as a vital component in the island’s tourism and economic rebound. Besides being the first and last impression for visitors, the airport is also critical to facilitating the airlift that drives tourism and other commercial activity on the island.

Its transformation goes hand-in-hand with the long-running, and so far unsuccessful, efforts to sell the Grand Lucayan resort as one needs the other to be financially sustainable. The redevelopment, led by the winning bidder, will also play a key role in attracting the US government to reinstate pre-clearance facilities in Grand Bahama.

In the short-term, though, a winning bidder’s ability to generate the necessary cash flow and revenues to service any debt financing could be impacted by a lack of passenger traffic despite the Government’s efforts to build airlift with new Bahamasair and Sunwing flights.

And Tribune Business previously reported that Grand Bahama International Airport suffered an $8.129m operating loss in the two-and-a-half years leading up to its 2021 purchase by the Government from Hutchison Whampoa and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).

For 2019, Grand Bahama’s major aviation gateway suffered a $1.826m operational loss, with total revenues of $9.608m exceeded by $11.435m worth of expenses. This contrasted with both 2018 and 2017, when the airport earned operating income of $2.61m and $1.208m, respectively.

COVID-19, though, took Grand Bahama International Airport’s operational losses to a new low. That was achieved in 2020 with a $5.451m operating loss based on total expenses

GB airport not enough for ‘diamond in rough’

“It’s very quiet on Grand Bahama, that’s for sure. Let’s see if something happens,” Mr Alnebeck told this newspaper. “There is work at the airport, and the domestic terminal opened up for Sunwing, so there are little things happening. The reality is that we don’t have much airlift in the first place, but the Government is trying to put little things in place and the promise something big is going to happen.

“Hopefully that happens at the same time as the Grand Lucayan gets sold. Having a nice airport

is important, but by itself is not going to bring more people here. We need to have the airlift, and the airlift is only generated if we have more product that is appealing and encourages people to come here.

“It’s like a stool with three legs, with airport, airlift and product that drives demand. If we think a new airport is going to be the only solution to the problem that is not the case. One could even argue that if you were to look at the airport in Georgetown, it’s definitely not one of the best airports in the region, but it has a lot of airlift. Why? Because they

have a product that drives demand.”

The Grand Lucayan’s sale and Grand Bahama International Airport redevelopment are seen by many observers as going hand-in-hand because the resort needs the latter to facilitate airlift, while the airport needs the hotel to drive demand and passenger numbers.

Describing Grand Bahama’s plight in recent years as “very frustrating”, and only made worse by Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, Mr Alnebeck said it was very easy for residents and businesses to become “disillusioned” by the

multiple announcements and agreement signings that ultimately failed to translate into jobs and economic development.

“There’s definitely a feeling of ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll believe it when we see it’,” he added of the reaction to proposed investments. “It’s more than six years, six-and-ahalf years almost, since the Grand Lucayan was really functioning because of Hurricane Matthew and when Memories left.

“There’s a substantial amount of rebuilding that has to be done, both physical and promotional. We haven’t really been in the

marketplace for six years. Although we’ve made a lot of little efforts to maintain a presence, we won’t have something to come to the table with, which in my mind needs to be the re-opening of the Grand Lucayan, to bring us back to the market. Once something happens with the Grand Lucayan, and we get the airport a bit more operational, at least we’ll be on the way.”

Mr Alnebeck said he was still receiving reports of investor interest in Freeport, but added that this must be translated into actual projects. “There are a lot of people sniffing

worth $8.497m far exceeding revenues of $3.036m, with the latter depressed by the lack of air traffic and passenger volumes due to the double blow inflicted by the pandemic’s travel restrictions and Dorian’s impact on the tourism and hotel plant.

The operating losses continued into the first four months of 2021, hitting $851,000 for the period between January and April 2021, with $945,000 in revenues once more exceeded by some $1.796m in operating expenses. That further ‘red ink’ was incurred just before the Government acquired the airport from Hutchison-controlled Freeport Harbour Company, its immediate parent, in May/ June 2021.

A previous Request for Proposal (RFP) document, issued under the Minnis administration, also said the Government was seeking a private sector partner to invest $150m-$200m at the high-end on Grand Bahama International Airport’s transformation.

around and there’s a lot of interest,” he told this newspaper. “I don’t know how many. We hear the island has great potential, that it is a diamond in the rough, but it’s about time someone gets that diamond in the rough and does something with it.”

FTX’s Bahamas liquidators beaten to $143m by DOJ

for the $143m to be released to them, and prove they belong to the Bahamian subsidiary and/or its creditors, and potentially participate in further US court proceedings.

The Bahamian trio, in their December 23 filings, said they were merely seeking “to safeguard certain of the estate’s funds currently on deposit in banks located in the United States” even though they had yet to obtain recognition from the same Delaware Bankruptcy Court as a “main foreign proceeding” under Chapter 15 laws.

“Despite the limited information currently available to the foreign representatives, they have identified that the Chapter 15 debtor (FTX Digital Markets) maintains at least seven bank accounts located in the US,” the Bahamian provisional liquidators said.

“These accounts are maintained at Farmington State Bank, doing business as Moonstone Bank, and Silvergate Bank. As of the commencement of this Chapter 15 case, the combined balance of the FTX Digital US accounts was approximately $143m.

“The foreign representatives believe that the FTX Digital funds are at risk of loss or depletion which would be to the detriment of the Chapter 15

IDB AND EU OFFICIALS ASSESS RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRESS

FROM PAGE A23

held yesterday. A steering committee featuring multiple government agencies meets regularly to advance the ‘Reconstruction with resilience in the energy sector in the Bahamas’ project, which is financed by $80m from the IDB and a further $9m in European Union (EU) grant funding.

The IDB-initiated project is designed to drive The Bahamas towards its National Energy Policy goal of generating 30 percent of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. The IDB and EU team will visit Abaco tomorrow to view reconstruction of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) transmission and distribution systems on the island following their destruction in Hurricane Dorian.

Debtor’s creditors.” The trio, adding that they were fulfilling their Bahamian Supreme Court mandate “to ensure the safety of the FTX Digital funds”, added: “To safeguard these funds, they must be moved out of the small fintech (financial technology) banks where they are being held.....

“It appears that the Chapter 15 debtor is Moonstone’s largest customer, comprising most of the bank’s total deposits. Further, although Silvergate has a significantly larger customer base than Moonstone, the foreign representatives are troubled by the fact that Silvergate is the defendant in at least four class-action lawsuits brought by FTX creditors and Silvergate shareholders since the collapse of the FTX enterprise in November.”

Mr Simms and his two PwC colleagues said they were seeking the Delaware court’s permission “to minimise the potential for a diminution in the value of funds available to the creditors” of FTX Digital Markets by having the $143m transferred to institutions that were better capitalised and had less exposure to the crypto exchange’s collapse. They added that both Moonstone and Silvergate had refused to release the assets each was holding without a court order.

“Importantly, while the foreign representatives

anticipate seeking authority to transfer these funds to The Bahamas at some point in the future, this motion does not seek that relief. Rather, the foreign representatives will hold the FTX Digital Funds inside the US until further order of this court,” the trio pledged, arguing that the Bahamian subsidiary’s ownership of the accounts is “undisputed”.

“The Chapter 15 debtor has two accounts at Moonstone with approximately $49.999m in funds on deposit. In addition, the Chapter 15 debtor has approximately $93.222m in funds on deposit at Silvergate, spread among five US dollar and Eurodenominated accounts,” the Bahamian provisional liquidators added.

US media reports said Moonstone’s customer deposits had jumped nearly 600 percent to $84m during the 2022 third quarter, having remained at $10m for the previous decade, with $71m of the $74m increase coming from just four accounts. “As such, it appears that the Chapter 15 debtor is by far Moonstone’s largest customer, comprising the vast majority of the funds on deposit at the bank,” the Bahamian provisional liquidators asserted.

However, the US Justice Department pounced before the Delaware Bankruptcy Court could even

consider their request. Silvergate Bank, in its own court filing on January 4, 2023, said bluntly: “The motion is now moot. The accounts were seized on December 30, 2022, by a warrant issued from the US District Court for the southern district of New York as a part of a civil forfeiture process related to criminal proceedings in that court.”

Meanwhile, Deltec Bank & Trust yesterday defended the $50m loan that its Cayman parent, Deltec International Group, received in October 2021 from Norton Hall Ltd, an entity alleged to be controlled by FTX Digital Markets chief, Ryan Salame, that is not included in any of the crypto exchange’s worldwide bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings.

“In the ordinary course of business, the parent company of Deltec Bank, Deltec International Group, received a short-term loan to fund strategic growth initiatives from Norton Hall Ltd, an entity affiliated with FTX,” the Lyford Cay-based institution said in a statement.

“While the terms of the loan extend until March 2023, Deltec International Group has been attempting to repay the loan in full since December 2022. Deltec International Group is currently awaiting information as to the proper instructions on how to

repay the loan.” The “strategic growth initiatives” and loan terms were not disclosed.

Deltec then reiterated that it has “no credit or asset exposure” to FTX, while touting its year-end 2021 financial statements for showing that it is wellcapitalised and has no debt.

It also hailed its “unparalleled risk management”, along with “good corporate governance practices” and “regulatory compliance”, reassuring investors “there is no threat to the bank’s sustainability, safety and soundness”.

However, sources spoken to yesterday by Tribune Business queried why an institution with no debt, $1.446bn in total assets and over $119m in net equity at end-2021 would need a relatively small loan amount worth $50m. They pointed out that, with banks, the capital flow typically tends to go the other way with credit advanced and not borrowed.

Deltec, which has aggressively embraced the digital assets evolution by setting up its Delchain subsidiary to target this area, has fought hard to distance itself from FTX and Mr Bankman-Fried since the crypto currency exchange imploded. It has vigorously denied that its purchase of Ansbacher (Bahamas), which closed at end-March 2022, was funded at least

in part with financing from FTX.

However, this newspaper previously reported that FTX and entities controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried held no fewer than 17 accounts with Deltec Bank & Trust. Documents produced by John Ray, the chief executive for FTX US, disclosed that the latter entity held just one account at Deltec.

A further nine were said to be in the name of Alameda Research, the trading/hedge fund entity controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried, and which is thought to have played a central role in the crypto exchange’s week-long implosion. The remaining seven Deltec accounts were in the name of West Realm Shires Services, a Delaware-based entity also majority-controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried together with fellow FTX cofounder, Gary Wang, and the exchange’s engineering head, Nishad Singh.

Mr Chalopin, who initially made his fortune as the creator of the Inspector Gadget cartoons, also enabled the Albany project in south-west New Providence by selling a key estate parcel to its developers that was often referred to as the property behind ‘the long pink wall’. He was among the speakers at the Crypto Bahamas conference that was staged by Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX earlier this year.

DEVELOPER: ‘ALL THIS WAITING IS BAHAMIANS NOT WORKING’

FROM PAGE A24

pressures ease. Such factors, he added, were why the Government needed to speed up the approvals process so as not to provide developers with an excuse not to proceed.

“We’re still waiting for final approvals for our Adelaide project, and that process has already taken a year,” Mr Myers told this newspaper. “We have to pay our subdivision fees, and all that is still to happen. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and time. We’re pretty close, but it’s a long process getting all the details figured out. It’s a painful process.

“We’re very much hoping to break ground. We hope to start in January, this month, starting to clear roads, moving indigenous trees and doing all that stuff. We’ve got to get that to happen. I’ve got crews standing by ready to work. We’ve got to get all approvals in the next couple of weeks or we will have to send people home. We could have started from

September, but have to get all these ducks in a row.”

Mr Myers said once the traffic impact study is approved, the subdivision fees for Adelaide Pines (which are based on the number of lots) can be paid and the developers begin to interact with BPL and Water & Sewerage to confirm their drawings and designs meet the utilities’ requirements.

Pointing out that the subdivision fee could have been paid from October 2022, he added: “We can’t move forward because Physical Planning said we cannot move forward unless we have a traffic impact assessment. It’s another two months of waiting. All that hurts Bahamians going to work. All of that waiting is Bahamians not working. Bahamians that could have jobs don’t have jobs because their bosses can’t send them to work.

“Months go by and nothing. We’ve got to get people to work, not talk about it. I’m tired of talking about it. I want to put our people to work, but until I get these approvals I can’t go

and see BPL and Water & Sewerage to make sure the drawings are OK and then price this stuff.

“That doesn’t stop me from clearing roads, excavating and doing trenches. But it may be if we get those numbers back on what BPL says it costs to connect me we may wait a year. That’s why the Government needs to speed-up getting projects approved.”

Mr Myers has partnered with Bahamas-based billionaire Joe Lewis and his fellow Albany principals, plus two UK investors, to develop a middle income housing subdivision located on the southern side of Adelaide Road opposite the eastern entrance to Albany. Adelaide Pines will feature “about 180” single family lots, together with 19-25 lots for commercial and light industry in a bid to attract businesses to the area and provide employment for residents.

A National Economic Council (NEC) paper on the project, written earlier this year, said: “Some 150-200 Bahamians be employed during the

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Reinforces company goals and vision to all direct reports and continually implements this strategy into overall communications.

• Supervises, directly and/or indirectly, all Security/Surveillance team members including: selection, training, work direction, safety, communication, counseling, disciplining, performance evaluations and records.

Oversight and training for emergency response procedures such

matters as fires, bomb threats, power outages, and other serious matters or emergencies.

• Directs and monitors the security and safety of customers, employees, facilities, and grounds.

Reviews security/surveillance investigations concerning all incidents and issues taking place on property and makes necessary reports and notifies the Assistant COO.

• Checks all security/surveillance reports for accuracy and completeness and ensure timeliness.

• Ensure compliance with department and Company policies and procedures.

• Create and update weekly department schedule.

• Continually evaluate Team Members for alertness, appearance, and proper performance of duties.

• Observes, supervises and instructs shift officers in the performance of their duties.

Determines personnel requirements and makes assignments at the beginning of each shift.

• Ensure effective onboarding and training for Security/Surveillance Officers. Provide security and protection for customers, team members, property and assets.

• Reacts promptly to disturbances where Security/Surveillance is required.

• Maintain a high level of confidentiality

• Be familiar with all Chances web shops throughout the Bahamas.

• Takes appropriate action, when required, of individuals suspected of illegal activities.

• Perform related duties as assigned by management.

Interested persons must require surveillance experience, certification, training, communication skills, attention to detail, ability to work independently and should apply at Jarol Investments Limited Head Office, Prince Charles Drive (Across from Restview) between the hours of 9am to 5pm. Or send your CV to

Subject: Assistant Security Manager – Your Name

construction phase. The first year of operations will generate about 30 jobs, and that will rise steadily through the completion of the various phases of development to about 250-300 permanent jobs within the complex.”

Describing Adelaide Pines as a gated community that will provide parks and other amenities, the NEC paper added: “Adjoining the residential community to the south-east will be 19-25 commercial and light industrial lots that will encourage businesses to establish themselves in the area, thus providing employment opportunities for those living in the community and the broader community.

“East of the mini-storage facility will be a retail and office park that will lease units to third parties on the lower floor for restaurants, shops and service businesses in a courtyard design and office space on the second floor. It is proposed that the project be built out in phases, with the commercial and light industrial phase starting as

soon as planning permission is obtained, and all other phases will run concurrently and/or follow the commercial development.”

Pointing out that Adelaide Pines will offer two, three and four-bedroom homes ranging in size from 1,200 square feet to 1,800 square feet, located on lots containing between 6,5000 square feet and 7,00 square feet, Mr Myers told Tribune Business previously: “This is consistent with middle income housing. There’s no beach access, there’s no guaranteed access to Albany. You’ve got your own little club house, swimming pool and gym.

“The reason Albany is involved is because it’s on their doorstep and they think there’s an opportunity for their staff to live in a nice, safe, pleasant community next to their work. It’s a community for working people. It’s a safe, pleasant, environmentally conscious and aesthetically pleasing community for middle income people.”

The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story.

Jarol Investments Limited is seeking to fill the following position: Assistant Security Manager (Nassau)

BAHAMIAN PROVIDER LAUNCHES DIGITAL TRAVEL REWARDS PRODUCT

A BAHAMIAN digital payments facilitator has marked the New Year by launching a Visa Travel Reward Card membership programme that is available within a digital wallet.

MobileAssist, in a statement, said the product is currently being tested with a pre-selected group of app users. It is offering virtual Visa cards within 48 to 72 hours of approval, and access to instant rewards with major airlines, hotel brands, US retailers and car rental companies.

MobileAssist’s rewards programme is being facilitated by Via Carte, a provider of rewards and loyalty solutions globally. The MobileAssist Visa Travel Rewards card

features instant discounts at over 360,000 US-based restaurants, retailers, and theme parks, as well as lowcost flights, car rentals and hotel stays with cash back at selected properties.

“As leaders in innovation, evident by the evolution of MobileAssist from a directory app to digital payment provider, our goal has always been to provide our app users with more options, more inclusivity, more features and more ways to spend using their digital wallets,” said co-founder and board member, Philip Simon.

“With the introduction of our Visa Travel Rewards Card, our customers will now have the opportunity to opt in for

membership and shop online at stores, or access cash at ATMs throughout the VISA global network as well receive a multitude of rewards instantly.”

IDB and EU officials assess renewable energy progress

OFFICIALS from the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) energy mission and the European Union (EU) are visiting The Bahamas to review ongoing solar projects.

During their five-day visit, which began yesterday and lasts until Friday, the team will visit various New Providence sites including a battery energy storage system that is under construction plus roof-top solar panel installations at C.I.

Gibson Senior High School and T.G. Glover Primary School.

An initial meeting with the visiting representatives, chaired by Marco Rolle, a consultant in the Prime Minister’s Office, was

SEE PAGE A22

The initial private launch of the MobileAssist Visa Travel Rewards card took place this past week, with pre-selected App users invited to participate in a

TO R: Dr Donovan Moxey, MobileAssist’s chief executive and co-founder,with Via Carte chief executive, Michael Cohen, during a recent Via Carte symposium where the launch of MobileAssist’s Visa Travel Rewards cards was announced.

30-day free membership trial. Applications for the card are completed on the MobileAssist app and, once approved in a process that typically takes between 48 and 72 hours, persons will receive their digital VISA card within one business day.

The physical card card is delivered within 15 to 30 days to the Clickbox location clients select. Digital cards can be used immediately for any online purchases like a normal debit or credit card.

Dr Donovan Moxey, MobileAssist’s chief

executive and co-founder, said: “We are using our soft launch as an opportunity to garner customer feedback before making our MobileAssist Visa Travel Reward membership card available to all of our app users with an intended roll-out the week of January 16. We will continue to offer the 30-day free trial to our wider user base.”

The MobileAssist app is available for download in both the Google Play and App Store, and is preinstalled on all Aliv android smartphones.

THE IDB Mission includes Roberto Aiello, its project team leader; Serge-Henri Troch, lead environmental safeguards specialist; Che Stewart, senior environmental specialist; August Bonzi, energy specialist; Irati Jiminez, energy technical analyst, and team members in Nassau, including Alberto Elizalde,energy senior consultant; Ana Paz, procurement specialist; Nilda Morales, financial specialist; and Anthonique Hanna, operations associate.

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PHOTO:Patrick Hanna/BIS

Hot Mix and CFAL’s chief in GB airport bid

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A WELL-KNOWN Bahamian contractor and local financial analyst were yesterday said to have partnered on a bid to transform Dorian-ravaged Grand Bahama International Airport.

High-level Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Bahamas Hot Mix and CFAL president, Anthony Ferguson, are part of a group competing for the right to redevelop, finance and manage Grand Bahama’s main aviation gateway under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with the Government.

Anthony Myers, Bahamas Hot Mix’s chairman and founder, was tight-lipped when contacted by this newspaper and declined to comment. “I can’t comment on it at this stage. It’s not appropriate for me to comment on that

Finlaysons fail to escape $2.8m loan default liability

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A PROMINENT Bahamian businessman and his son yesterday failed to escape paying the outstanding $2.763m balance on a defaulted loan that was secured on their high-end yacht.

Former liquor magnate, Garet ‘Tiger’ Finlayson, and his son, Mark, had earlier seen the Supreme Court reject arguments they were not liable to pay this sum because the lender, USbased Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, had breached its duty to sell the Maratani X “for the best

possible price reasonably obtainable”.

And the Court of Appeal yesterday unanimously upheld this verdict by ruling that the loan default, and the Finlaysons’ obligation to repay the debt, was “never in dispute” and that they had failed to prove Caterpillar recklessly sold the vessel at an “undervalue”.

Sir Michael Barnett, the court’s president, in a written ruling backed by his fellow appeal justices, Sir Brian Moree and Milton Evans, traced the dispute’s origins to the $9.68m construction loan that the Finlayson father-and-son

project,” he said. Mr Ferguson could not be reached for comment, as calls and messages to both his office and cell phone went unanswered.

However, this newspaper was told that there were up to four

understood to have been signed up to non-disclosure agreements by the Government, which is keen to maintain a veil of confidentiality over the process.

“There were four different proposals and they’re still in the process of evaluating the offers that were made,” one contact said of the Government. Another added: “I understand there are two groups - Bahamian-led consortiums. I was told that they’re not international players; they’re Bahamians, local guys. I heard there were two entities that they’re choosing between, and heard they’re both local.”

The same source said the Government is also seeking to relocate

FTX’s Bahamas liquidators beaten to $143m by DOJ

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE bid by FTX’s Bahamian liquidators to take control of $143m held in US bank accounts was rendered “moot” - at least temporarily - after the assets were seized by the US federal authorities.

Documents seen by Tribune Business reveal that Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton senior partner, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting duo, Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves, just two days before Christmas sought the Delaware Bankruptcy Court’s approval to transfer funds held in the name of FTX Digital Markets to more “creditworthy” financial institutions.

The Bahamian subsidiary was said to have more than $93m on deposit with Silvergate Bank, an institution well-known for providing services to the crypto and digital

assets industries, with the remaining near-$50m balance held at the 26th smallest bank in the US, Moonstone Bank.

The latter, as previously reported by Tribune Business, is headed by Jean Chalopin, also chairman of Lyford Cay-based Deltec Bank & Trust. The latter has repeatedly denied any ties to Moonstone, asserting that the only connection is the common shareholdings of Mr Chalopin, but the Bahamian institution’s links to FTX and its indicted co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, continue to attract scrutiny both in this nation and abroad.

Deltec yesterday reasserted that it “remains financially unaffected” by FTX’s implosion, and that of Mr Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund/trading vehicle, Alameda Research, while confirming media reports that its Cayman-based parent received a $50m loan from an

the

GB airport not enough for ‘diamond in rough’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A HOTELIER yesterday said “it’s about time” that the “diamond in the rough” which is Grand Bahama gets polished as he warned that fixing the island’s airport will not be a cure-all for its multiple challenges.

Magnus Alnebeck, Pelican Bay’s general manager, told Tribune Business that many Freeport residents and those in the wider island were tired of constantly hearing Grand Bahama being spoken of as having “great potential” and want to

see this transformed into reality.

Speaking as the Government hopes to unveil a winning bidder for Grand Bahama International Airport soon (see other article on Page 24B), he described the island as akin to “a three-leg stool” where the gateway, airlift and tourism product all need to be in place to thrive.

Suggesting that two will not be enough without the ‘third leg’, Mr Alnebeck said a world-class airlift by itself would not be a difference maker. He pointed as an example to Exuma, which “definitely does not have the Caribbean’s best airport, but was attracting

Developer: ‘All this waiting is Bahamians not working’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN businessman is hoping work on a $63m New Providence real estate development can start this month, adding: “All this waiting is persons not working who could have jobs.”

Robert Myers told Tribune Business he and his partners in the Adelaide Pines development, which has already received its key

environmental and Town Planning permits, is still awaiting final approvals linked to a traffic impact assessment study before they can proceed with the southwestern New Providence community.

He explained that it was only when the Ministry of Works and Department of Physical Planning approve the traffic study that the developers can pay their subdivision fees and interact with key utilities - Bahamas Power & Light

(BPL), Water & Sewerage Corporation and such like - over the engineering and costs involved in connecting Adelaide Pines to their infrastructure.

With inflation having already increased material prices and construction costs, Mr Myers said the expense involve with utility hook-ups could still persuade himself and his partners to delay starting work in the hope pricing

strong visitor numbers and airlift based on the tourism product offered to guests.

Noting that it is close to six-and-a-half years since the Grand Lucayan “really functioned” following Memories post-Hurricane Matthew pull-out, he added that the resort’s sale and

re-opening under new ownership was critical for Grand Bahama to “have something to come to the table with” and re-establish itself in the tourism marketplace.

entity linked to

crypto exchange and its former

Bahamas chief, Ryan Salame (see later in article).

Meanwhile, legal filings obtained by this newspaper revealed that the seven bank accounts which FTX Digital Markets’ liquidators had hoped to take control of were all seized by the US Justice Department on December 30, 2022. They will now have to negotiate with the federal authorities

bids vying for the PPP contract with the group involving Bahamas Hot Mix (now known as BHM Company) and Mr Ferguson likely to be considered among the front-runners by the Davis administration. All participants are

DORIAN-RAVAGED GRAND BAHAMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

BRIAN SIMMS KC

MARATANI X YACHT

ROBERT MYERS