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VOLUME:117 No.46, JANUARY 29TH, 2020

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

ALICIA WALLACE: THE DIFFICULT LEGACY OF KOBE BRYANT

Monitored for deadly virus Quarantined student tells Tribune of her life under lockdown

By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN student living in Wuhan - the city where the new coronavirus originated - has been quarantined by officials in China.

Emerica Robinson told The Tribune yesterday she has been quarantined in Nanjing since last Thursday after attempting to re-enter Wuhan following attending a workshop during spring break in another city.

Nanjing is more than 300 miles from Wuhan.

Officials there, she said, have concerns and want to ensure she does not have the deadly coronavirus. “I have been placed in quarantine unfortunately in the city where I am at now.

Basically, where I am staying the police and the nurses and doctors had to come to me and they basically asked me to monitor my temperature twice per day and send it in to the hospital,” Ms Robinson said.

FEARS were raised yesterday in the Junkanoo community of large-scale defections from the Valley Boys group and the impact on the parade’s turnout after the group’s resignation from the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence (JCNP).

The JCNP revealed on Monday that the Valley Boys had resigned.

TREMORS from a powerful regional earthquake disrupted a Cabinet meeting and forced dozens along New Providence’s northern coast to evacuate their multi-storey office buildings and seek safety on ground level yesterday.

Cabinet Office ordered government offices closed as a precautionary measure.

Some people felt their building shake and watched as items swayed but the vibrations were never violent and there were no reports of injuries or damaged structures.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC)

LENIENCY PLEA - FOR 107LBS OF MARIJUANA

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

AN attorney was unsuccessful in her bid yesterday to have a magistrate impose a lighter sentence for drug possession on her Jamaican client because of the prime minister’s stance on decriminalising small amounts of marijuana.

Miranda Adderley tried to get Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes to exercise leniency on Cecil Reid for the 107 pounds of marijuana he was caught with because of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ recent stance on the substance.

However, Saxons Superstars member Anthony Etienne is not taking their departure seriously until June 1 - when the group would be due to show up for registration day.

He added that there is a chance members could join other groups. “Bahamians love Junkanoo and if they don’t come you’ll find plenty members they’ll come to the Saxons, plenty will go to Roots, plenty will go to SEE PAGE FIVE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE TWO

WHAT NEXT FOR VALLEY BOYS AFTER JUNKANOO BOYCOTT?

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ISLANDS SHAKEN

BY QUAKE TREMORS

BAHAMIAN student Emerica Robinson has been quarantined in China since last Thursday

SEE PAGE THREE

DAMNING REPORT ON AVIATION FAILINGS TECHNOLOGY

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

AVIATION chiefs yesterday pledged to double The Bahamas’ compliance score after global regulators found it had implemented less than one-third of the required “safety oversight” regime. Captain Charles Beneby, the Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority’s director-general, said his agency was “working feverishly” to plug the numerous gaps

CAPTAIN Charles Beneby identified in time for the next International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit in early 2021.

The last ICAO report reveals The Bahamas had only properly implemented 32 percent of the “critical elements of a safety oversight system” for the aviation industry with deficiencies found in eight key areas.

The report found The Bahamas had implemented just 2.5 percent of its aviation industry “surveillance”, and 15.97 percent of its “licensing, certification and authorisation”, obligations.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

AUDIO CONTENT FOR CHILDREN ON THE RISE SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

A GRAPHIC put together soon after the earthquake happened highlights the danger areas

ABOVE: A sinkhole is surrounded by police tape at Public Beach on West Bay, Grand Cayman after it appeared following the earthquake. The quake also left cracked roads and what appeared to be sewage spilling from cracked mains, below.

Islands hit by tremors after Jamaica earthquake from page one said a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred 83 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica at about 2.10pm at the depth of six miles and was felt in New Providence around 2.15pm. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), there were no reports of impact to the southern islands.

Unlike Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, the Cay Islands and Jamaica, The Bahamas never faced tsunami threats.

Some workers at Colina Insurance on East Bay Street felt the vibrations.

An hour after their building was evacuated most had returned to their stations but about a dozen people continued to congregate outside, afraid to re-enter the building.

“I just felt it shake,” said a woman who declined to give her name. “On my third floor it was shaking slightly. I grabbed my bag and ran to the stairwell. I didn’t believe it at first until my coworkers said ‘y’all felt that?’ By the time we reached the stairwell the fourth floor people

PEOPLE outside the Registrar General Office in Nassau after yesterday’s earthquake. Government offices were closed as a precaution. were already down in front of us.”

Another woman said: “For me I was unsure what was going on. I saw the water in my cup swaying and when I saw that then I realised that the building was shaking. I alerted everybody. We picked up and left.”

The tremors lasted a few minutes, the women said.

They were concerned about the safety of the building and decided to remain outside. “I feel like someone need to check the building and they should at least wait an hour or two to say for sure that the building is safe,” one said.

The Tribune encountered Cabinet ministers and

government workers leaving the Churchill Building downtown when it arrived shortly after 3pm. Some of them said they felt tremors, others did not.

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd said ministers had just started their afternoon Cabinet meeting when they felt the building shake.

“The prime minister ordered an immediate evacuation and the Secretary to Cabinet and other leaders ordered an immediate evacuation of all staff and that’s why for about 45 minutes we stood outside just to see what else is going on. Everybody then left,” he said.

“It felt scary. It was just a noticeable tremor and then immediately word came

to us that Jamaica had suffered a (7.7) magnitude or so earthquake and countries in this region were affected.”

Elsewhere downtown business continued as usual, with many saying they felt nothing.

“Structural engineers will come and see if there has been any impact on the integrity of the (Churchill) building,” Mr Lloyd opined. “We would need that definite reassurance.”

Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey reported that a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit off the Cayman Islands about two hours after the first earthquake and there were several smaller quakes

reported in and near Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

There were no reports of injuries or major damage throughout the region but social media was flooded with posts of photos and videos from people documenting the event. Some clips from the Cayman Islands and Jamaica captured damage to vehicles and gaping holes in the earth. In South Florida, multiple buildings were evacuated in Miami after people felt buildings shaking. The Associated Press reported that the quake was felt strongly in the Cuban city of Santiago.

“We were all sitting and we felt the chairs move,” Belkis Guerrero, who works in a Catholic cultural center in the center of Santiago, told the AP. “We heard the noise of everything moving around.”

She said there was no apparent damage in the city. “It felt very strong but it doesn’t look like anything happened,’’ she told the news agency.

The Washington Post reported that the quake was among the strongest on record in the Caribbean.

ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A MAN was charged with attempted murder and firearm possession in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Nigel Forbes, 42, of No 16 Bradfield Lane, was charged with attempted murder and three counts of possession of a firearm with intent to put another in fear. The accused was not required to enter a plea to the charges.

Forbes was also charged with possession of a firearm while committing an indictable offence. He pleaded not guilty to that offence.

The matters stem from the incident that occurred last year at Out to Sea Restaurant. Forbes was remanded in custody until April 20, 2020 when the matters will be heard at 11am.

THE TRIBUNE from page one “If there are any changes, then they’d have to send an ambulance to come or they would come.

“I’m told that the hospital now is not a place you want to go because they have become crowded. We are seeing on the news that the doctors are frustrated.

They are just asking us to stay indoors.”

The incubation period for the coronavirus according to the World Health Organisation is two to 10 days. However officials in China have quarantined Ms Robinson for 14 days until they are able to clear her of having the deadly respiratory virus.

“At some point this week they will have to send a doctor to me just to make sure. Honestly, they are so overwhelmed at the hospital, their staff is really stretched right now, so once they checked in once with me and told me what they need me to do.

“I am just waiting for a follow-up visit because I have requested for a doctor to tell me if they can do a test because we’re finding out that there’s a test you can do and I would prefer to do a test instead of just waiting with temperature checks. I do plan to leave this city to go into another city and I would need clearance to do that. So that’s my main concern that they would give me clearance to leave and go into another city one that is further away to wait until all this blows over and school opens back up,” she said.

It has now been made mandatory for people in China to wear masks in order to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus, according to the Electronic Information Communication Engineering major.

“And now some correspondence came out saying that you must not go out without your mask like in Wuhan before I left, but there was still some persons walking around without it.

But now they have made it mandatory that if you come out in public without a mask you can face a penalty and fines and possibly imprisonment, so you now have to where your mask when you leave your home.”

Meantime, Ms Robinson said the Bahamian Embassy in Beijing has been very supportive during this process.

And despite being unsure of when her university will re-open, Ms Robinson is not keen on returning to Nassau at this time due to the frustrations she could face in being blocked by several countries before returning.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to come back home, because once leaving China getting on any plane I would have to do a check in another country or another city, because from where I am there are about

Wednesday, January 29, 2020, PAGE 3

Monitored for deadly virus A WORKER wearing a face mask unloads medical supplies from a cargo plane at Wuhan Airport yesterday.

Below: Workers unload canisters of disinfectant from a truck.

two more stops from China to get to New York then to get from New York to Nassau. I’d probably have to go on quarantine again, my main concern is that we do not have adequate medical facilities if something were to change.

“I have been in contact with the embassy here since Thursday last week since I got a visit from the police and the doctors.

And I think I share the same sentiments with the majority of students here.

What is the point of going home because we know that our facilities home cannot handle this type of outbreak, because basically your symptoms do not show up. You can have and you can spread it and you do not have any symptoms, that’s the main concern,” she said.

The Nassauvian is a student at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan that has been updating students on the coronavirus outbreak since last year.

“We got word of the outbreak, that was before

Christmas in December.

At that time, we were told that it was not so much of an alarm. We were told at that time just persons who worked at the fish market or anyone who ate at the fish market or came into contact with anyone who was at the fish market or if you purchased any of the meat products or fish products.

“It was soon thereafter, maybe like the first week in January we noticed that the reports have changed, and it wasn’t animal-to-human it

was now human-to-human, cause at that early time they were just reporting that it was animal to human. Then they realised it was spreading from human to human,” said Ms Robinson.

Ms Robinson left Wuhan on January 20 for a training workshop during their spring break. However upon her return, she discovered the city of Wuhan was shut down and was forced to go Nanjing nearby.

Before leaving, Ms Robinson said she went to see a doctor about issues with

a sore throat. “I actually had to go to the doctor a week before I left Wuhan because I had a throat infection and that was my concern because they did say that if you are having any of the major symptoms which is coughing, sneezing, fever and headaches. I just had a throat infection that they deemed as laryngitis.

And the doctors were very concerned and asked if I had contact with anyone at the fish market and I told them that I really spend most of my time on campus,

so I didn’t really have any reason to leave. They were also concerned about where I ate food from, so I had to list all the places where I purchased food from, and they ruled them out of any of the places that had contaminated food from the market,” said Ms Robinson.

Like other universities, Ms Robinson’s university was expected to re-open in February but university officials have told them there is no firm date of when classes can resume.

She said: “School was scheduled to open the second week of February 14 or 15, but they sent out notice to say that it will not be opening at that time now. So, everyone is just sort of waiting and seeing what’s going on. Some students have left for their home country so their stuck there and others like me outside of the city and we can’t return. So, you have the choice to stay where you are at until it’s over or go back home.”

Deaths rise to 132 in China outbreak as foreigners leave - Page 11

COURT HEARS LENIENCY PLEA - FOR 107LBS OF MARIJUANA from page one

Cecil, a visitor from Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, as well as his two compatriots Robert Tenant and Courtney Stewart were arrested last week after police found over $100,000 worth of marijuana in a house they were in on Foster Street.

Ms Adderley, in pleading on Reid’s behalf, drew the senior magistrate’s attention to Dr Minnis saying in November that he supports decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana and making the drug legal for medicinal and/or scientific purposes.

Despite her attempts however, Dep. Chief Magistrate Forbes sentenced Reid to 18 months behind bars for his actions, noting that neither the government’s stance nor public discourse on the issue supersedes the current law.

In any event, the deputy chief magistrate said the current discussion surrounding marijuana pertains to “small quantities”, and not the large amount of drugs Reid was caught with.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Forbes further noted the peculiarity of Reid being caught in possession of such a large amount of drugs

despite being a visitor and being in the Bahamas for just eight months.

It came after Reid pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent Clifford Daxon told the court officers were on mobile patrol in the Foster Street area when they received certain information. As a result, they went to a house in the area where they saw three men, one of whom was Reid, standing by the door.

Upon seeing the officers, all three men tried to enter the residence. However, they were pursued and captured by the police.

As the officers entered the building they were greeted with a strong odour of marijuana. As a result, the officers took the men to an eastern bedroom where they found four crocus sacks of marijuana. Reid and the other two men were consequently cautioned and arrested.

While en route to the Nassau Street Police Station, Reid told the officers: “… It’s my dope. No need to lock up my two friends”.

Then, when he got to the police station, he gave a statement admitting knowledge of the drugs. His two

friends, 50-year-old Robert Tenant and 43-year-old Courtney Stewart denied knowledge of the drugs.

Yesterday, both Tenant, who landed in the country on January 5, and Stewart, who entered the country on December 9 of last year, pleaded not guilty to the charge and ASP Daxon consequently withdrew the charges against them.

Dep. Chief Magistrate Forbes said such Reid’s 19 month sentence should demonstrate his sort of conduct will not be tolerated “either here or in his home country of Jamaica”. After serving his sentence, Reid will be turned over to the Department of Immigration for deportation. His two compatriots are also ordered to be turned over to immigration authorities

for deportation, the senior magistrate said.

Last November, Dr Minnis said he favours decriminalising possession of small amounts of marijuana and making the substance legal for medicinal and/or scientific purposes.

Becoming the first sitting prime minister to publicly support some form of marijuana decriminalisation, he told The Tribune he hopes the decriminalisation process will happen before the end of this term.

He said he is eagerly awaiting the release of a report by the Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana to help chart the way forward on the substance, which has been illegal since 1929. He said as the country’s leader,

he feels responsibility to have the matter properly examined.

“Many Bahamians including young men have been convicted for possession of small amounts of marijuana resulting in criminal records and the loss of a job or inability to find employment,” he said yesterday. “A good number have also been incarcerated for periods of time. Some cannot afford bail.

“Studies have shown that CBDs (Cannabidiol) have been proven to aid patients suffering from various diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease.

Other Caribbean countries have taken steps to or are considering the decriminalising of marijuana for various purposes, including

Antigua and Barbuda as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.”

The Minnis administration has inched toward a more progressive stance on the drug. Earlier this month its top appointee to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Committee, Paul Farquharson, called on young and first-time offenders convicted of drug possession crimes to get their criminal records expunged.

“If you were to take a poll among young people, a whole lot of them have tried marijuana,” Mr Farquharson said. “Unfortunately, some of them get caught... so I am particularly interested in the young people and giving them another chance.”

PAGE 4, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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

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jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

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

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We have allowed this failure for far too long THE tragedy that saw Byron Ferguson’s plane crash into Bahamian waters – leaving him missing presumed dead – had already exposed some of the failings of our search and rescue capacity. Today the extent to which our nation is ill prepared when it comes to airline safety is laid bare.

Mr Ferguson’s crash took place in November 2018, and it was more than a year later that the final report into that incident was released. That report cited loopholes in the country’s aviation regime – including an absence of a designated search and rescue entity that meets international standards, the failure to set up a rescue co-ordination centre and more. Instead, the search was handled by a mish-mash of different organisations.

The defence force, the US Coast Guard, BASRA… many eager helpers but no trained body charged with the task of finding souls whose lives are at risk.

It is little surprise therefore that the search operation seemed such a mess – with civilians taking matters into their own hands to try to find Mr Ferguson when it seemed officials weren’t up to the task.

If that report last month was shocking, then the news in today’s Tribune of just how poorly rated our country is when it comes to aviation safety is an outrage.

Around the world, nations are given a compliance score to show how close they are to the required level of safety oversight. The Bahamas, according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) only has a third of the critical elements in place for a safety oversight system. Eight areas are listed as being key areas – and The Bahamas has failings in all eight.

As far as surveillance of the industry goes, The Bahamas has implemented just 2.5 percent of the required level – while only 15.97 percent of its licensing, certification and authorisation obligations are met. We know that latter situation has been a problem for a while – with the government making moves to try to clamp down on hackers – the pilots who take up illegal charters without the proper licences.

The ICAO report goes on to highlight problems over resolution of safety issues and a lack of qualified personnel, while even in the better categories

of legislation and operating regulations, the country barely musters more than half the score required.

There are excuses – the audit coming at a time when the Civil Aviation Authority was switching from a government department to a standalone body – but they aren’t good ones.

As the authority’s director general, Captain Charles Beneby, admits, The Bahamas signed up to the ICAO convention 45 years ago. Things didn’t happen overnight to leave us in such a state – but nor can they be allowed to continue to fester a moment longer.

If there is a silver lining, it seems as if Captain Beneby is determined to do what is necessary to raise Bahamian standards – but at the same time, questions should be asked about how we got here. Not by Captain Beneby, who needs to get on with the task at hand of meeting the standards required, but perhaps by a government probe. Who was it who oversaw the mess we find ourselves in, and why wasn’t the proper investment given when needed?

After last month’s crash report, Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said he agreed with the criticisms, we hope he will be similarly vocal about the ICAO report.

Facing up to our failings requires honesty. It requires looking at where we’ve gone wrong, and how we got here. Only then can we be clear about how to fix the problems without repeating the same mistakes.

This smells like negligence over many years. This smells like a problem brushed under the carpet or ignored for far too long. Worse, it seems like we have been neglecting things that could have saved lives. We don’t know if matters had been different – if there was a designated search and rescue body with specialist training, for example – whether that would have meant Byron Ferguson might have been saved. We do know that if changes aren’t made then we might be risking lives in the future.

That cannot be allowed to stand. The changes that need to be made must be made – and soon. Too much time has already passed without meeting the standards required. We must not allow any more time – or any more lives – to pass on our watch.

Brilliant passport service EDITOR, The Tribune IF YOU feel the following message is worth sharing ...

Bahamas ONLINE passport renewal process www. mofa.gov.bs is INCREDIBLE...it exceeds all expectations! The instructions are clear, samples of each document are provided and you can’t get the online application unless you acknowledge each prerequisite document.

I submitted my application

at 2:00pm on Monday. At 4:50pm on Tuesday (the next day), I received a text stating that my passport was available for collection. On Wednesday in less than 15 minutes I had been fingerprintedand I had my new passport. I did not pay the fee to expedite my passport renewal. WOW! The only improvement I would recommend is that the text advising the passport is available for collection include the prerequisite documents you

must bring with you in order to collect your new passport. Also the website link including in the text shows that the Ministry’s website needs updating. Such a simple amendment to a standard email response would make this new process PERFECT. Thank you.

CHRISTOPHER E LIGHTBOURN Nassau January 27, 2020

Here’s where money talks EDITOR, The Tribune REFERENCE your editorial today 21st January 2020, “The Law Must Be Upheld. “ As they say in Internet Cryptography, FOTFL or Fell on the floor laughing.

Most countries in the world would not elicit such a response, but here, where money talks, the law invariably walks. Back under Hubert Ingraham’s last watch, he frustratingly would threaten, that if the POLICE did not close the

“webshops” down, then he would legalize them. Not long after that, under his former partner’s watch, web shops were legalised.

This country, dubbed by a friend of mine as “the land of the waving palm”, has a long and colourful history of money talking and the law walking. Perhaps the most notorious of these being Carlos Lehder who it is said bought the country, prompting a newspaper headline of “Nation For Sale”.

Regrettably with such high priced abortion pills,

there will be enough cash margin there to keep the authorities at bay, and after enough stories are told of mother and child deaths, the State will again succumb to an “not fit for purpose” government agency, and it will legalize surgical abortion to counteract an uncontrollable black market. And the church will be quiet or ignored again.

MONKEEDOO Nassau January 21, 2020

Ragged Island in desperate need of help EDITOR, The Tribune PLEASE allow a little space in your paper for our letter expressing concerns we have for our beloved home of Ragged Island.

Over the years, we have watched our beautiful, once thriving island community dwindle to where it has almost died. Today our population is less than 50 persons, which in the past was in the thousands.

Due to neglect and lack of priority by the authorities (past and present), the channel and harbour is in a very bad and poor state. No attention has been given to maintaining the harbour and channel in 50 years. This is a grave concern because we are fishermen. My immediate family (husband, sons and myself) have been fishing for over 45 years. Other Ragged Islanders, whose main source of income is through fishing, also desire for attention to be given to improving the channel and harbour. Upon completion of the harbour many years ago, vessels of up to 65 feet in length and drawing up to six feet of water in their draft, were able to dock right at the harbour in Ragged Island. As of today, there are no vessels larger than 19 feet, drawing no more than five feet of draft during high tide that can access the harbour in its present condition. It is our hope that something can be done to address this problem soon.

The channel and harbour needs to be worked on in

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Ragged Island. This would allow us to do better as fishermen and stewards of these islands that we live and eke out our survival upon, and share with our visitors.

Visitors (yachters) come down to the Ragged Island area for vacation. To provide some form of recreation, we have a party for the yachters around Valentine’s Day. This event is eagerly supported by the boaters. Sometimes we can have from 40 to 50 yachts anchored for the party. The majority of the persons are retirees or older persons.

Some have expressed that they wish they could leave their boats in Ragged Island rather than taking it back every year. If our channel and harbour were better maintained, boats could be left in Ragged Island, even during the hurricane season which is the time of most peril for these visitors. Imagine the work that would be created for the islanders if this were possible. More work would help to keep our beloved island alive and boost our economy. In the event of bad and unpredictable weather, our visitors would have a measure of safety and security for their vessels because they could come into the harbour for shelter.

During the party that is held around Valentine’s Day, it would be nice to

have bathroom facilities for the yachters on Hog Cay where the event is held. I have asked for assistance and await a reply to this request. Basic sanitary facilities, such as a bathroom, would further encourage visitors to our shores, and enable us to provide a better Bahamian experience.

I think moorings in the area would be a good provision for our fishermen and yachting visitors. This is an idea that a cousin of mine also shares who is familiar with the needs of boats that come into the area. Moorings would enable boats to anchor in various places to enjoy the beauty of the islands, as well as help to provide better anchorage.

Since the passage of hurricane Irma there is no policeman, nurse or school teacher on the island. Families are living apart because children have to be relocated to other islands or Nassau to be schooled.

When our children leave for school they do not come back. Without basic services this will only make life worse. We do not think it is too much or unreasonable to ask for more attention in helping to restore our beloved Ragged Island.

Thank you for assisting us in getting the message out that Ragged Island needs and merits attention URGENTLY! DANIEL & MAXINE WALLACE Ragged Island January 3, 2020

Time to tell the public EDITOR, The Tribune THE Chair of BP&L, Mr Moxey - his Minister when speaking about the all essential use of standby generators always speaks about their cost, but never speaks or confirms if BP&L makes a profit from their extensive use – why?

Yes $2 million a month might be high, but if BP&L is making $4-5-6 million a month on top of the basic per KW costs surely this

is something URCA as the Regulator should have approved and the customer should know?

115MW or more of the Aggreko generators as long as BP&L have been relying on them and even today those same generators are full blast on at Clifton. If truth be told BP&L can’t do without them right now.

Mr Moxey the public should be told the truth about this stand by generator revenue issue…..you

pay, so you say, $2 million every 30-days (a month).

My BP&L bill says I am charged at least 20 plus cents a KW…Is it true BP&L pay Aggreko two-three cents per KW? So BP&L are making 18 cents over the basic cost – the multiplier has to be enormous when taken as a whole. Time the public knew?

ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau January 28, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, January 29, 2020, PAGE 5

JUNKANOO IN CRISIS

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net A DAY after the Valley Boys shocked the nation with its resignation from the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence (JCNP), Youth, Sports & Culture Minister Lanisha Rolle said her ministry will work to bring all groups together for a discussion to resolve ongoing issues.

The move, the minister said yesterday, will take place once officials have been fully briefed with all the necessary details surrounding the unexpected resignation.

“I’ve not been fully briefed on the details surrounding any resignation – actual or proposed – and once I have that information, certainly I will look to bring the parties together to see how we can resolve the issues that have come about,” she told reporters outside Cabinet.

“But, the important thing we must remember is that Junkanoo, as I said before, is bigger than all of us.

“It has been before all of us and I gather it will be here after all of us and so we must make the best of what we have. We must try to preserve what we have, honour what we have and respect what we have. And, the only way we will do that is also by respecting each other. We’ll always have

Rolle hoping to bring groups back together differences, but it’s how we resolve those matters is what history is going to speak of us at the end of the day. “…It’s certainly surprising to hear what has transpired over the last few days, but what we want to do is continue to come together as a cultural community.”

Her comments to the press came after the group announced on Monday they will no longer be participating in upcoming parades managed by the JCNP. The group has taken issue with the results of the junkanoo parades, which crowned the Saxon Superstars as the official winners of both the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day events, as well as several aspects of the Independent Review Committee’s (IRC) final report.

Despite being declared the unofficial Boxing Day parade winners, the official

results placed the Valley Boys as second after a three-point penalty.

As for the New Year’s Day parade, Saxons Superstars came in first with 84.50 points, Valley Boys second with 81.44 points, One Family third with 81.10, and Roots fourth with 76.39 points.

“We trust that a new entity will be put in place to manage future Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades so that justice and fairness can prevail in future Junkanoo competitions,” said Valley Boys chairman Brian Adderley in response to the results.

However, this is not the first time the Valley Boys has been a victim to such changes.

In 2017, the group was declared the victor according to unofficial results for the 2017 New Year’s Day parade, but lost the official title to Roots.

Defending the judging of the parades, JCNP

president Dion Miller said on Monday: “The JCNP takes every precaution to make sure the parade is fair... My job is (to ensure) that the process is fair, is transparent, and doing what we supposed to be doing and I’m quite confident and quite comfortable with that.”

“The JCNP has a combination of about 24 or 25 groups, the Valley Boys is one group in that pie. So we have six other category A groups. The JCNP represents a collective. So we look out for the best interest of all of our groups.”

Noting that officials are hoping to bring an amicable solution to the matter, Mrs Rolle said her ministry is committed to preserving Bahamian culture.

“The Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence is a private entity and so is the Valley Boys, so I wouldn’t say (that we will) intervene, but (we) certainly look to

MINISTER: Lanisha Rolle bring parties together and in any way we can bring peace and in any we can assist in bringing resolve, that is the what the Ministry of Culture is here for - to preserve, to promote, to advance and enhance the culture of the people of the Bahamas.”

Asked if she thinks the resignation will impact the attendance of future parades, the youth minister replied: “I think this is very early to draw any sort of conclusions, but if I know the Junkanoo community as I’ve come to know them,

these are people of passion, first of all for their culture.

“And, I believe that whatever it’s going to take to ensure that they can produce a parade that people will be pleased with and that will represent our culture…they’re going to come together with a resolve to ensure that culture is reserved and respected.

“I think the JCNP plays a pivotal role, an integral role in what the Junkanoo community does and... perhaps, there must be consideration for how there can be a rejuvenation of whatever there is they’re doing and there is always room for growth. But, I don’t want to dismiss the work that they’ve done and over the years, I believe there is a way that we can all come together to be able to coexist and that is what is important.”

The Valley Boys are expected to hold a general meeting later this week to address the issues arising from the parades.

What next for Valley Boys? from page one One Family, they’ll be all over the place… or if the Saxons big enough we could form a Saxons-Valley,” he explained.

Mr Etienne said the Valley Boys group is aware of the process and the possibility of the results changing and recalled when the Saxons were dethroned in the past after the results were made official.

He said: “I could remember three times we won, celebrated for almost 30 days, and when they put all the tallying up the scores would change again three times. Valley Boys took two from us where we won and they change the scores after 30 days and the Valley Boys became the victor. Then it happened to us with One Family.”

“Saxons don’t cry, you know what I mean, but still even though we didn’t cry the Valley Boys still came out there... and call us cry babies. Saxons don’t cry, we just dust ourselves off and just keep coming. We’re not gone say we gone resign.”

However, Valley chairman Brian Adderley told The Tribune that the majority of his members supported the move as the group had been frustrated by the parade management over the years.

“It’s them that are frustrated and disappointed and every year we promise them that there should be change and things should be improved, but they’re not improving and so it is

THE TRIBUNE canvassed a few junkanoo shacks yesterday after The Valley Boys’ resignation. Left: Ricardo Pierre, Lead Costume, One Family; Right: Anthony Etienne from the Saxons.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff what it is in that respect,” Mr Adderley said.

“But I’m confident that the majority of the members would support what we’re doing because a lot of them have reached out to us to say that we need to make a change and the only way you can make a change is change. You can’t keep talking about it.”

He added that the parades had “prevented the groups from exploring other opportunities”.

“In addition to working with a new entity or like-minded people in Junkanoo or other Junkanoo groups, we’re looking to put together a new model for Junkanoo competitions or we’re also looking at exploring other business models for Junkanoo where members can benefit more and the sponsors of Junkanoo can get more exposure.”

Although he sees the Junkanoo giant exit as “a

laughing matter”, One Family member Ricardo Pierre speculated about the impact of the Valley’s departures.

“You know, it’s our culture and you as an organisation whose one of the forefathers of Junkanoo actually putting that on the table saying that you’re going to resign.

“So, what’s going to happen to the Valley Boy them (fans). Will they be coming out on Bay Street?

Is this the downfall of Junkanoo itself, you know, or can Junkanoo go on without the Valley Boys?

“The crowd will still be there because you know people love Junkanoo and all the years that people been protesting and that’s the first time actually someone actually say they gonna withdraw from Junkanoo and that’s a shocker. I wonder where we’re gonna go from there.”

Mr Pierre, on the other

hand, was optimistic that the gap could bring new opportunities for some Division B groups like Music Makers and The Immortals.

The Valley Boys were the unofficial Boxing Day parade winners while the Saxons came in second place. Monday’s official results crowned the Saxons in first place with 85.01 points and Valley Boys in second with 81.44 points after a three-point penalty.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net THE Court of Appeal has foiled a former police officer’s hopes of having the country’s highest court overturn its order for him to be extradited to the United States to stand trial for allegedly sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

The appellate court dismissed Nyahuma Bastian’s application for leave to appeal to the Privy Council concerning its August 2019 extradition order for him to stand trial over the alleged attack on his former lover in 2001.

However, the Court of Appeal said its decision to dismiss Bastian’s application is stayed for 60 days from the date of delivery to allow Bastian the opportunity to petition the Privy Council directly for leave to petition it.

The appellate tribunal of Justices Jon Isaacs, Stella Crane-Scott and Sir Michael Barnett unanimously agreed that Bastian was unable to demonstrate

THE TRIBUNE

Former cop fails to overturn extradition order in sex case that his case is “one which the Privy Council has yet to pronounce authoritatively”.

Conversely, the appellate judges said the Privy Council has, in “numerous cases”, travelled the issues Bastian raised in his application.

“We are satisfied that the issues (Bastian) seeks to have their Lordships determine do not raise any novel point of law; nor is any a point of law of public importance raised which requires the attention of the Privy Council,” the appellate judges ruled.

According to the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Bastian was arrested and charged in Denton Country, Texas in 2001 with aggravated sexual assault against his

ex-girlfriend. The alleged crime occurred on April 26 of that year while they were both students at the University of North Texas.

Bastian was allowed bail and his trial was set for February 2002. However, he fled to The Bahamas, eventually joined the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), and did not appear for his trial.

A warrant was issued for his arrest and subsequently, the United States issued a request for his extradition from the Bahamas.

Bastian was arrested on the extradition warrant when he reported for duty at the Central Detective Unit on June 10, 2010, after the US Department of Justice named him one

of the ten most wanted sex offenders in the US. Following a hearing before a Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate on March 18, 2015, Bastian was committed to await extradition. On March 25, 2015, Bastian filed a habeas corpus application, but it was dismissed by Justice Ian Winder on September 12, 2017.

Bastian then appealed to the Court of Appeal, who in turn dismissed his appeal on August 23, 2019, and ordered that he be extradited.

Bastian then sought leave to appeal to the Privy Council on the grounds that the Court of Appeal was incorrect to presume that it would not be unjust

or oppressive for him to be tried in a US Court of law due to the passage of time; that complaints of racial bias would be addressed by the US Court; and that there was no abuse of process in having him extradited after an extended delay.

However, the appellate judges said although they were being called upon to exercise their discretion, they would first have to be “satisfied” by Bastian that his matter “is one on which the Privy Council has yet to pronounce authoritatively and involves a point of law of public importance”.

“In our view, (Bastian) has not demonstrated to us that this matter is one on which the Privy Council has yet to pronounce

authoritatively,” the appellate judges said. “In fact, the Privy Council has traversed the issues raised by (Bastian) in numerous cases; some of which we have referred to in the judgment sought to be appealed.

Moreover, this matter raises no issues or points of law of public importance which require the attention of the Privy Council.

“In the premises, therefore, we deny the application for leave to appeal to the Privy Council.

However, we stay our judgment for sixty days from the date of the delivery of our judgment to accord (Bastian) the opportunity to petition their Lordships directly for leave to appeal to the Privy Council.”

Man accused of murder says his bruises were caused by ‘lovemaking’ (and basketball)

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE man accused of murdering a middle-aged woman on Valentine’s Day three years ago at Seagrape, Eight Mile Rock, had told the lead police investigator that the bruises and abrasions on his body were caused from “lovemaking” with his girlfriend and while playing basketball.

Detective Sergeant 770 Lorenzo Johnson was testifying in the Supreme Court on Tuesday in the trial of 33-year-old Dwayne Belizaire, who is accused of murdering Margaret Smith on February 14, 2017.

Smith, who was found dead at her residence in Seagrape, had been strangled and immersed in water, according to earlier court

evidence. Det Sgt Johnson said on February 17, 2017, he collected Belizaire, who was in police custody at the Lucayan Police Station, around 9.55am and took him to Seagrape, EMR, where they executed a search warrant at his residence.

Sgt Johnson collected some clothing the defendant had been wearing on February 14, as well as a cellular phone that belonged to Belizaire.

During that time, Sgt Johnson said he observed bruises and abrasions on Belizaire’s left hand and bicep and a mark on the right side of his neck.

“I asked him under caution how he got the injuries and he told me his girlfriend, Cheryl Miller, had done it while lovemaking,” the officer told the court.

Sgt Johnson said the defendant also told him the bruise on his left side was from playing basketball.

When asked by Prosecutor Erica Kemp if he could identify Belizaire, the police officer pointed at the defendant who was seated in court wearing a red shirt.

According to Sgt Johnson, Belizaire was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital on February 18 where he was examined by Dr Fermal, who also took a blood sample from the defendant.

He said an extension was obtained to hold Belizaire in custody further.

The police investigator said on February 21 around 5.06pm he informed the defendant that he was suspected of the murder of Margaret Smith, who had sustained abrasions and

scratches on the face and neck and wounds to the back and right arm.

At the deceased’s residence he had also observed what appeared to be bloodstains on the sheetrock in a corridor leading to a bathroom, where there was a bloody towel on the floor, some clothing and a mop.

Sgt Johnson said he cautioned and interviewed Belizaire, who denied committing the murder. He said the defendant refused to sign the record of interview.

“I asked if he wished to read the questions and answers, and sign the interview, he said, ‘No’. “ The detective said the defendant was asked about his whereabouts on February 14, 2017.

According to Sgt Johnson, Belizaire told him he had been near the deceased’s residence on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Belizaire, he said, had left home around 9am and walked through a track road near to the deceased’s house where he saw Smith

standing in her doorway.

He said he gave a hail to the deceased and went to hail a neighbour not far away.

Sgt Johnson said Belizaire told him he went back towards a car parked near Smith’s house, where he stayed awhile before heading behind a neighbour’s house to catch the WiFi on his cellular phone.

After the interview, Belizaire was released from police custody on February 22. Sgt Johnson said as the investigation continued on March 7 he went to Seagrape where saw Pastor Dwight Jennings who was with Ashley Henfield and Tyrone Lawrence.

The men gave certain information to the detective and directed him and other officers “deep” into bushes, just southeast of the deceased Margaret Smith’s residence, to an area under a tree.

Sgt Johnson said they found a grey pair of panties, a dark blue piece of cloth and a GB Shipyard key holder with a single key on

it buried in the ground.

The items were photographed and collected.

Sgt Johnson then went to Smith’s residence where he and officers met the deceased’s son Shervin Thomas and discovered the key opened the southeastern back door of her residence.

Johnson testified that on March 22, two officers from the Police Forensic Lab in New Providence processed inside the residence.

Sgt Johnson said on August 16, 2017, he received a DNA report from an international DNA Lab. He said on August 25, Belizaire was accompanied by his attorney Simone Brown to Central Police Station, where he was arrested for murder.

He said Belizaire was interviewed again with his lawyer present and denied committing the offence. Sgt Johnson said he charged the defendant with murder.

The trial resumes. Belizaire is represented by Jethlyn Burrows.

Semi Military Funeral Service For Immigration Officer Bradley Eugene McDonald, 57 of Joe Farrington Road, will be held on Thursday, January 30th, 2020 at Mt. Horeb Baptist Church, Sandyport at 11:00 a.m. Officiating will be Rev. Lloyd Smith, assisted by other ministers of the gospel.

Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens.

Bradley was pre-deceased by his parents Gloria Demeritte and Charles McDonald along with sister Yvonne Bonaby.

Left behind to cherish his memories are: Children and Adopted Children: Bradia, Bradley Jr., Bradiesha, Bradleon and Christine McDonald, Neshonda Moxey and Orlando Gardener. Grandchildren: Tamarae’ Saunders, Crispin Roker Jr., K’shon Gallagher Jr., Obrinque Hanna, Tymia, Timmiqua and Timonthy Rolle. Brothers: Kevin, Cameron and Sgt. 2015 Julian McDonald, Wayne & Keno Sweeting and Phillip Lightbourne. Brother-in-Law: Larry Bonaby. Sisters: Prisca, Sherrell, Cindy, Shenique and Nicole Albury. Aunts: Francis Smith, Florence Fernander, Ruthmae Sweeting, Ruth Bethel. Uncles: George Bethel, George Fernander, Kenneth Sweeting. Nieces: Shari & Saskia McDonald (Caymen Islands), Jalin, Vacari, Jultwanique, Emily, Anphanique and Hailie. Nephews: Detective Constable #2714 Renaldo Bonaby, Eddison Adderley Jr., Zion Archer, Renard McDonald, Durante, Vacari, Emmett. Cousins: Philip, Charles, Glen, Ted, Wilfred, Shervin, Ricky, Derrick, Herbert, Ronald, Marvin, Andrew, David, Dario, Simeon, Salvator, Victor, Darryl, Mathew, Debbie, Kim, Anna, Ruth, Princess, Sophie, Elsie, Pamela, Patrice, Portia, Aretha, Joy, Eddie, Christine, Dwayne, Michelle, Tony, Vernon, Terry, Shamane, Clarise, Claudette, Claudine, Allan, Jackson, Leon, Isaiah, Caralyn, Millie. Stepfather: Harvey “Snake” Demeritte. Stepmother: Beryl Sands-McDonald. Numerous other relatives and Friends: Francita McDonald, Kerry-Ann McDonald, Leona Burnside, Giovanni Gabrielle, Esther, Owen and Marvin Pinder, Gregory Morttimer, Larry, Randy Cunningham, Sgt. 1343 Marilyn Thomas, The Saint Leo Graduation Class of 83, R.M Bailey Class of 79, The Fernander Family, The Bethel Family, The Curtis Family, The Mackay Families, The Taylor Families, The Brown Family, Patrice Rolle, The Director & Staff of the Bahamas Department of Immigration, The Commissioner & Staff of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Reverend Lloyd Smith & the Mt. Horeb Baptist Church Family, Reverend Alfred, Jackie & the Stewart Family, the New Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Kemp Road Community, The Bernard Road and Gardenview Communities, The Cowpen Road Community, Fox Hill Nangoes, Anthony Davis, Bruno Roberts, Michael Kelly, McDonald Farms and the NPABA Family and many too numerous to mention. If we have inadvertently omitted anyone’s name form the above list, we sincerely apologize as it was not our intent. May God bless and keep each and everyone one of you.

Relatives and friends may pay their last respect at Evergreen Mortuary located on Collins Avenue & 5th Terrace on Wednesday from 12:00noon-5:30 p.m. and again at the church on Thursday from 10:00a.m. until service time.

Funeral Service for LEON “Teddy” DUVALIER, 79 of McKinney Avenue, will be held on Thursday, January 30th, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at The Church of The Most Holy Trinity, Stapledon Gardens.

Officiating will be Archdeacon Mark L. Fox, assisted by other ministers of the Clergy. Cremation will follow.

Left to cherish his fond memories are his Children: John, Vickie (Alex) Ferrier, Theo, Theophilus, Thaddeus, Latika, Christie and Ezricka; Grandchildren: Jarred, Kamisha, Bianca, Stephen, Christia and Donald, Jr.; Sisters: Brenda Duvalier and Daphne Clarke; Nephews: Jevon (Bridgette) Stuart and Wayne Clarke; Nieces: Antja (David) umes and Billie Duvalier; Grandnephew: Wayne Clarke II; Grandniece: Kenya Clarke; Great grandniece: Amelia Lewis Clarke; Mother-in-law: Marjorie Russell; Sisters in law: including Lorraine Duvalier, Gerrie Duvalier and Kim McIntosh; Brothers-in-law: including Prince McIntosh and Garcia McIntosh; Cousins: Everette Orlander, Alma (Everette) Sweeting, Families of the late Beatrice Hill, Ettian Role, Marjorie Culmer, Arnord Clarke and Mitchell Clarke, Sydney Godet and Family, Mary Ferguson and Family, Matthew Culmer and Family, The Stapledon Gardens family, Archdeacon Mark L. Fox and the family of The Most Holy Trinity Church, Glen Miller and family, Glen Johnson and family, Linda and Family, doctors and staff of the Princess Margaret Hospital and many other relatives and friends.

Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium, #44 Nassau Street on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the Church on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until service time.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, January 29, 2020, PAGE 7

FOURTH BODY RECOVERED AFTER BOAT CAPSIZE

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE body of another man was found off Double Breasted Cay yesterday as Royal Bahamas Defence Force officials continue investigating the discovery of 31 Haitian migrants in the Ragged Island chain.

The discovery comes after three men were found

washed ashore in the area on Friday – two on Double Breasted Cay and another near Hog Cay. According to the RBDF, the latest body is believed to be one of the Haitian nationals aboard a vessel which capsized near the area more than a week ago.

“It was retrieved off Double Breasted Cay by

RBDF military divers,” officials said in a press statement yesterday.

“At 5.30am (yesterday morning), HMBS Madeira brought the badly decomposed body of a male into the Defence Force Base and handed it over to the coroner’s office for processing... a shipwrecked vessel was also found on the northern tip of the cay.”

“This brings a total of four bodies which have since been retrieved in the Ragged Island chain after a group of 31 Haitian migrants were discovered on the cay and brought to the capital on 21st January.”

In an earlier statement, RBDF said the group reportedly left Haiti on January 10 with varying

reports that they capsized around January 13 and survived on the cay for about five days.

Officials added that migrants also told investigators that there were more persons unaccounted for, including another five women, but could not provide an exact total of all who had left Port au Paix, Haiti.

Still, RBDF said investigations will continue as officials search the surrounding areas for further survivors.

In the meantime, members of the public with any information or who have seen any recent sightings are asked to call the RBDF Operations Centre at 242-826-3117.

Turnquest: We are getting there

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest

DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest said yesterday the government has received positive feedback from utility companies in Grand Bahama concerning the restoration process on the storm impacted island.

Ever since Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the island in early September, communities in Grand Bahama have been plagued with several issues.

Electricity, for example, have not yet been restored to residents in eastern Grand Bahama while water quality also remains a problem after the 20ft storm surge affected more than 200 of the island’s well fields, resulting in salty tap water.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, the finance minister said the government was “working feverishly” to have power quickly restored to the eastern part of Grand Bahama to return some sort of normalcy to residents there.

This came after he admonished the power supplier over the lack of power in the eastern community in December, urging company officials to move faster in re-electrifying the island’s

east end post Hurricane Dorian.

“Since that time, we’ve received some positive feedback from both utility companies,” Mr Turnquest told reporters yesterday, while giving an update on the recovery efforts on the island.

“The electrical company has indicated that they are now going to extend the transmission lines out as far as Equinor in the first stage and work the service back from there towards the Freeport area.”

“That will give electricity to the major settlements in the East End and then we will look at how we extend the transmission lines out to McClean’s Town and Sweeting’s Cay.” “Whether we run the lines in the interim or whether we drop a generator in the community, itself to be able to provide temporary supply to those areas anyway.

“So that is very positive news and certainly an improvement in the picture that we were faced with before the end of the year.

So, we do want to thank the power company for acceding to our requests in that regard.”

As it relates to the restoration of water distribution on the island, Mr Turnquest said officials are hoping to have the

quality of water greatly improved

by May or June.

“The water utility company has also indicated that they are working on dropping a few more wells in some freshwater reservoirs that they’ve found on the island and hopefully, that will help to reduce the salinity in the water,” he said.

“And, I think the hydrologists have indicated that by about May or June we should start to see a significant increase in the quality of the portable water. “ He continued: “We are sensitive and are certainly presenting the case of the residents of Grand Bahama to the utility company that they feel that the charge or the utility company charging for this water that is not portable water may be unfair.”

“And, we are certainly having that discussion that the utility companies is offering a discount on the water, but nonetheless the residents do have a position rightfully so, that if they are not able to cook and drink with the water than there really ought to be a deeper discount than 25 per cent.”

“And so, we continue to have those conversations to see if we could come to an amicable resolution to that.”

PAGE 8, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

I

WAS not in Nassau when Hurricane Matthew hit. I remember trying to get in touch with family members. It took a long time to find out where everyone was staying and that they were all fine. There was damage to buildings and loss of possessions, but everyone was safe. When I returned, the drive from the airport was sombre. I had never seen trees so brown and I had definitely never seen so many of them. It was like a completely different place in many ways. Not only was the landscape different, but people seemed changed. In the months that followed, I realised the hurricane left trauma that would creep back and haunt many people every time it rained more than a spry or there was a whirring of wind. The image of the trees along the airport road, my first visual of the effects of Matthew, stuck with me for a long time, easy to bring to the fore.

Landing in Marsh Harbour, Abaco reminded me of my first day back in Nassau after Hurricane Matthew. The first thing I noticed was the large number of trees that looked like matchsticks. They have no limbs and no leaves.

They are slim brown structures, naked, surrounded

THE TRIBUNE

Where did recovery number come from?

There’s no evidence The

Alicia Wallace column by many others. As we headed north, we passed house after house with no roof, open to the elements.

Families’ belongings still sit beneath the open sky, both inside – if we can still call it “inside” when a structure lacks a roof – and outside.

One of the most striking sights was a two-storey house with its top lifted off and resting upside-down next to the bottom half.

Couches, fixtures, dishes,

trophies and cars are frequent sights on streets where Hurricane Dorian sat. Many houses are empty, previous residents staying in other homes in Abaco or elsewhere. Some houses are covered with tarp and a few show signs of impending or ongoing repairs. Some residents are cleaning up their yards and surrounding areas, making repairs, and engaging with neighbours.

On the drive through North Abaco, as our team speaks with residents and assesses the damage, the soundbite of Minnis’ claim of 80 percent recovery plays in my mind. Where did he get that figure?

When was the last time he was in Abaco? Who is expected to believe this?

What can the government even point to as its actions that would have led to this scale of recovery? It does not make sense - there is no evidence. There is significant work to be done and much of it is being undertaken by non-governmental organizations.

There is talk of encouraging Abaconians in Nassau to return to Abaco, but return to what? I have spoken to many of them and they are all desperate

THE PROBLEMS Dorian caused in Abaco to be back in Abaco, but the obstacles to undertaking the work ahead seems insurmountable. How does one begin to rebuild when only floor and walls remain, not even protecting the few personal effects left behind?

Where will people stay during construction? For

many, it is difficult to even understand what needs to be done and how much it will cost, much less how the bill will be paid. There are still many questions about rebuilding and what people are to do during the time between now and recovery.

Too much is still unclear.

their first pair of jeans from the designer, or how a piece of someone’s work got them through a difficult time.

People mourn the parts they enjoyed, appreciated, were inspired by and continue to remember. There are parts that are unknown, forgotten and blocked out.

There are parts that, in the case of Bryant, have been allowed to fade into nearobscurity or that people believe have been erased by good deeds or important work later on. This is, for some of us, not only unacceptable, but outrageous.

Nothing can undo a harm done. This is not to say there is no room for apology and working toward righting the wrong, but that it does not go away and the harm will not be suffocated by any number of kind acts.

There are complicated, multi-layer responses to death, especially of people who have publicly done good and bad. Some believe we should never speak ill of the dead and highlight only the positive, and others believe it is irresponsible to ignore, in the case of Bryant, his history of sexual violence and the way he weaseled his way out of it with money.

As a women’s rights advocate with experience of gender-based violence, it is important to me that we acknowledge that history, especially as survivors are, like us, inundated by news reports and reactions to it.

They are paying attention, watching and listening as people excuse at least one heinous act while glorifying this figure – a person they do not even know. If people behave this way regarding a stranger, can anything different be expected regarding someone in our own communities? Will people feel safe in reporting sexual violence? How does this affect the health and wellbeing of the women and girls we see every day?

The ones who read our social media posts and hear us in casual conversation

about what is important and what truly matters when we look at the life of a man no longer here, and who should no longer be able to hurt anyone.

This is difficult time for people who have recently suffered the loss of a loved one, and at least equally difficult for people who have survived sexual violence. People should be able to mourn the people they knew and loved. That said, people should not be expected to mourn. Some of us have seen our reports ignored and access to justice impeded because the other person was seen as a “good person,” and this opens that wound.

There is a delicate balance to strike here. People need to be allowed to grieve. People need to be allowed to show their support and hold space for the surviving family members and friends. At the same time, people need to be allowed to be frustrated by the constant positive portrayals of a person who represents pain and danger to them. If you are saddened by Bryant’s death and have only memories of watching games, wearing jerseys and being inspired, you may not be bothered to include in your tributes or conversations that he was a different figure to you than he was to others. You need to know there are people you know who are watching as you, albeit unintentionally, erase the part of him that sticks in their minds and speaks to their experiences. Even if you choose not to acknowledge it, do not try to stop them from expressing themselves. Do not affirm their worst fears – that the reputation of a man or a public figure is more important than justice, their healing, or the truth.

By all means, mourn a person you do not know, but remember the people you do know and the pain they may carry that they may never share with you.

The delicate balance we need to strike in mourning someone like Kobe Bryant THE announcement of Kobe Bryant’s death has spurred a range of responses. There is a way that celebrities are mistaken for immortal beings.

They seem untouchable, as though they do not have human experiences.

In addition to this superhumanity we imagine for them, lines are blurred.

We understand ourselves to be more familiar with or closer to them, taken in by the pieces of their lives they choose to share with us and parts we access through media. They become, in our minds, the image they portray and what is leaked about them, completing excluding the parts of their lives that they managed to keep private. What we see of celebrities is a fabrication and a fantasy that we are all too ready to believe and we make judgments and decisions based on that image.

Fans have been expressing profound sadness, confusion and disbelief.

Others have been more critical, pointing out Bryant was not just a basketball player. He was also accused of rape (Though there was no verdict because the parties came to a private settlement). The argument over the past few days has been the case of sexual violence should not have come up right after his death.

Apparently, there is some kind of period of silence that needs to be observed before we can acknowledge all of the facets of a deceased person.

It can feel strange to be in the midst of the public mourning of a person who is actually far removed from us. We see them on television, pay to attend their events, read slivers of their lives that come to us through public relations personnel or shared by their disloyal family members and friends, or swiped by unrelenting members of the press. Perhaps people are not mourning a whole person, but what that person represents for them and the memories that are wrapped around them.

People remember buying their first jersey with the player’s name on it, going to their first concert, receiving

PAGE 10, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THANKS FOR THE HAND, LADS

MEMBERS of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force recently assisted the National Emergency Management Agency in East Grand Bahama with distribution of hurricane relief supplies. Led by Lieutenant Edward Fritz and Chief Petty Officer Raquel Forbes, the men and women distributed water and insect repellents to the churches located in the communities between High Rock and McCleans Town. As Grand Bahama continue to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force continues relief efforts on the island.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, January 29, 2020, PAGE 11

PRESIDENT’S TEAM CONCLUDES DEFENCE, ARGUING AGAINST CALLING BOLTON WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s legal team yesterday argued forcefully against the relevance of testimony from John Bolton as they concluded their impeachment trial defensce and the Senate braced for debate on whether to summon Trump’s former national security adviser and other witnesses into the trial.

“This should end now, as quickly as possible,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone declared, capping a defence presentation that painted Trump as a victim

and took dismissive swipes at Bolton, the potential witness who has scrambled Republican hopes for a swift end to the trial.

A day after the defence team largely brushed past Bolton, attorney Jay Sekulow addressed the controversy head-on by dismissing his manuscript — said to contradict a key defence argument about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine — as “inadmissible.” The argument was meant to dissuade Republicans from pursuing witnesses including Bolton, who writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid

from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. “It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts,” Sekulow said.

The argument built on a separate one on Monday night from Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz, who said that nothing in the manuscript — even if true — rises to the level of an impeachable offence. Sekulow also sought to undermine the credibility of Bolton’s book by noting that Attorney General William Barr has disputed comments attributed to him by Bolton.

The legal team delved into areas

that Democrats see as outside the scope of impeachment, alleging law enforcement bias and seizing on surveillance errors the FBI has acknowledged making in its Russian election interference probe.

Trump’s attorneys also argued that the Founding Fathers took care to make sure that impeachment was narrowly defined, with offences clearly enumerated.

“The bar for impeachment cannot be set this low,” Sekulow said.

“Danger. Danger. Danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it.”

The case now moves toward

written questions, with senators on both sides getting 16 hours to pose queries. By late in the week, they are expected to hold a vote on whether or not to hear from any witnesses.

While scoffing at the manuscript, Trump and the Republicans have strongly resisted summoning Bolton to testify in person about what he saw and heard as Trump’s top national security adviser.

Republicans spent two days behind closed doors discussing ideas to satisfy those who want to hear more testimony without prolonging the proceedings - or jeopardising the president’s expected acquittal.

WAS KOBE’S PILOT FEELING PRESSURE TO FLY THAT DAY?

ROCKY IS SHOWING HIS AGE HE MAY by a Hollywood action star but even Sylvester Stallone - best known for playing boxer Rocky Balboa - can’t keep fighting the years So, at 73, Stallone has shared a motivational message via his Instagram, revealing how he is embracing his grey hair and beard. He says: “Sometimes I wake up I feel like doing nothing.

Just relaxing. Just very true. If anyone says different, they’re lying - it’s human nature.

“Then you roll over, get a little mad at yourself, and realise to get anywhere you’ve got to make a deposit in the GOAL BANK. So, I’ll go back to my favorite phrase and do it!! #KeepPunching.”

LOA ANGELES Associated Press

AT 73, Sylvester Stallone is embracing his grey hair and beard.

Trump peace plan delights Israelis, enrages Palestinians WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump yesterday unveiled his long-awaited Middle East plan, winning immediate praise from a beaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but a swift rejection from the Palestinians, who called it “nonsense.”

Trump’s plan calls for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank in Israeli hands.

Netanyahu said he would move forward on Sunday and ask his Cabinet to approve plans to annex West Bank territory — an explosive move that is likely to be met with harsh international reaction.

Trump called his plan a “winwin” for both Israel and the Palestinians, and Netanyahu called it a “great plan for Israel.”

At a speech in the West Bank,

PRESIDENT Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington yesterday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as “nonsense.”

“We say 1,000 no’s to the Deal of the Century,” Abbas said, using a nickname for Trump’s proposal.

“We will not kneel and we will not surrender,” he said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through “peaceful, popular means.”

With Netanyahu standing beside him, Trump presented the plan at a White House ceremony filled with other Israeli officials and allies, including evangelical Christian leaders and wealthy Republican donors but no Palestinian representatives.

The ceremony came amid Trump’s impeachment trial and a US election year, and after Netanyahu was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases. The longtime Israeli leader, who denies any wrongdoing, also faces a March 2 parliamentary election, Israel’s third in less than a year.

The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — for an independent state and the removal of more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas.

But as details emerged, it became clear that the plan sides heavily with Netanyahu’s hard-line

nationalist vision for the region and shunts aside many of the Palestinians’ core demands.

Under the terms of the “peace vision” that Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, all settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley.

The proposed Palestinian state would also include more than a dozen Israeli “enclaves” with the entity’s borders monitored by Israel. In addition, the areas of east Jerusalem offered to the Palestinians consist of poor, crowded neighborhoods located behind a hulking concrete separation barrier.

Trump acknowledged that he has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a “great deal for the Palestinians.”

He said his vision gives the Palestinians the time needed for them to meet the challenges of statehood.

THE pilot in the foggyweather helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant was well-acquainted with the skies over Los Angeles and accustomed to flying celebrities. Ara Zobayan, 50, had spent thousands of hours ferrying passengers through one of the nation’s busiest air spaces and training students how to fly a helicopter. Friends and colleagues described him as skilled, cool and collected, the very qualities you want in a pilot.

His decision to proceed in deteriorating visibility, though, has experts and fellow pilots wondering whether pressure to get his superstar client where he wanted to go played a role in the crash.

Jerry Kidrick, a retired Army colonel who flew helicopters in Iraq, said there can be pressure to fly VIPs despite poor conditions, a situation he experienced when flying military brass in bad weather. “The perceived pressure is, ‘Man, if I don’t go, they’re going to find somebody who will fly this thing,’” Kidrick said.

Randy Waldman, a Los Angeles helicopter flight instructor who viewed tracking data of the flight’s path and saw a photo of the dense fog in the area at the time, speculated that Zobayan got disoriented in the clouds, a common danger for pilots.

He said Zobayan should have turned around or landed but may have felt the pressure to reach his destination. “Somebody who’s a wealthy celebrity who can afford a helicopter to go places, the reason they take the helicopter is so they can get from A to B quickly with no hassle,” Waldman said. “Anybody that flies for a living there’s sort of an inherent pressure to get the job done because if too many times they go, ‘No, I don’t think I can fly, the weather’s getting bad or it’s too windy,’ ... they’re going to lose their job.”

CHINA DEATH TOLL INCREASES AFRAID OF CHIHUAHUAS, MR TO 132 AS FOREIGNERS LEAVE WEINSTEIN? APPARENTLY NOT BEIJING Associated Press

NEW YORK Associated Press

THE US and Japan began evacuating their citizens earlier today from the Chinese city hardest-hit by an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad.

China’s latest figures cover the previous 24 hours and add 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. The 5,974 cases on the mainland were a rise of 1,459 from the previous day.

Dozens of infections of the new type of coronavirus have been confirmed outside mainland China as well.

A Japanese chartered flight carrying 206 evacuees from Wuhan included some who had coughs and fever on the plane, Kyodo News reported, citing health ministry officials.

They were expected to be taken by ambulances to a Tokyo hospital specialising in infectious diseases.

HARVEY Weinstein’s trial is moving at a faster pace than predicted, with three more of his accusers expected to testify before the end of the week .

A secondary witness took the stand yesterday as part of the prosecution’s effort to corroborate Mimi Haleyi’s earlier testimony, where she detailed her allegation that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at his New York City apartment in 2006.

Elizabeth Entin, Haleyi’s former roommate, told jurors that the former “Project Runway”production assistant told her about the encounter a short time after it happened. Entin said Haleyi was anxious and pacing as she recounted telling Weinstein, “No. No.” She said she told Haleyi, “That sounds like rape.

Why don’t you call a lawyer?” but Haleyi didn’t want to pursue it or talk about it.

A JAPANESE chartered plane, centre, carrying evacuees from Wuhan lands in Tokyo earlier today A plane carrying Americans who had been in Wuhan left for Anchorage, Alaska, where they will be rescreened for the virus.

Hospitals are prepared to treat or quarantine people who may be infected. Then the plane is scheduled to fly to Ontario, California.

The British government is warning against “all but essential travel” to mainland China amid the outbreak of the new type of coronavirus. And Hong Kong’s leader said the territory will cut all rail links to

the mainland and halve the number of flights to stop the spread of the virus.

South Korea also said it will send a plane, and France, Mongolia and other governments also planned evacuations.

China has cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities in Hubei province to prevent people from leaving and spreading the virus further. The lockdown has trapped more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease control measures ever imposed.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN On cross-examination by one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Donna Rotunno, Entin also recalled thinking at first that it was just “stupid” that Weinstein kept showing up unannounced at the women’s apartment.

“Because this older guy was trying to get your friend? Correct?” Rotunno asked.

“Correct,” Entin said.

“And you thought it funny?” Rotnunno asked.

“We did, at the time,” Entin said, recalling how her pet Chihuahua, Peanut, once chased Weinstein around the apartment.

The women viewed Weinstein “as a pathetic older

man trying really hard to hit on” Haleyi, Entin said.

The day’s court actions abbreviated, ending by 11am. As Weinstein left the courtroom, a reporter in the hall asked, “Mr. Weinstein, are you afraid of Chihuahuas?”

Weinstein smiled. “Do I look like I’m afraid of Chihuahuas?” he said.

Later this week, two more women are expected to testify about alleged “prior bad acts” by Weinstein — called “Molineux” witnesses — followed by a key witness who says he raped her at a hotel in 2013.

A final Molineux witness would testify next Monday, completing the bulk of a prosecution case in the trial that was initially expected to stretch into March.

Lawyers for Weinstein, 67, who is charged with sexually assaulting Haleyi and raping an aspiring actress in 2013, have insisted any sexual encounters were consensual and zeroed in on his accusers’ continued contact with him after the alleged assaults.

PAGE 12, Wednesday, January 29, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

AIRBNB AND BNT LINK UP TO OFFER FIVE SABBATICALS

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

AIRBNB has partnered with the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) to launch a Family Island sabbatical to let the world know The Bahamas is still “open for business” following the passage of Hurricane Dorian.

In April, the online lodging marketplace will give five people the opportunity to spend a two-month sabbatical on Andros, Eleuthera and Exuma, where they will work with the BNT on a variety of environmental projects.

Eric Carey, BNT’s executive director, told The Tribune the partnership came out of the Ministry of Tourism’s outreach efforts following the storm.

“The government – especially the Ministry of Tourism – had a huge priority to inform the world that The Bahamas was still open for business and one of the initiatives that came out of this was this partnership between Airbnb,” he said.

“The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism felt that it was quite fitting and timely to show how resilient nature is by having the sabbatical based around national parks.”

“The sabbatical is something that Airbnb have done in several other places throughout the world.

Now, thousands of people are expected to apply for these five coveted spots to come to The Bahamas and participate in wonderful experiences learning about the nature and the culture of the country.”

Mr Carey also said the initiative will give visitors

the opportunity to have a “conservation impact” on the islands.

“In the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, they’re going to assist with a survey of invasive lionfish working with one of our ambassadors, Andre Musgrove, who is an incredible underwater specialist filmmaker and free diver extraordinaire,” he explained.

“In Andros, they’re going to work with another BNT ambassador, Katie Storr, who is an incredible underwater wildlife photographer. There, they will work with Katie and others on coral restoration and the maintenance of coral nurseries.”

“In Eleuthera, they are going to work with our own staff member, Omar McKlewhite, and there they are going to participate in experiences propagating native trees and bush tea specialty trees and also learning to make bush tea.”

Mr Carey said that the experiences will leave a “lasting impact” on participants by exposing them to the country’s unique culture and natural resources.

He insisted the global “buzz” around the sabbatical will be a powerful marketing tool for the country to let the world know it is still welcoming visitors.

“The sabbatical is getting the attention of the world and spreading the message that these wonderful islands – despite the fact that we were impacted by climate change Dorian – are still open for business, resilient, ready and willing to accept visitors to our shores,” Mr Carey said.