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Volume: 121 No.47, January 30, 2024

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PROSECUTORS KEY TO DEATH PENALTY Dame Anita Allen speaks on bail and executions

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net FORMER Court of Appeal president Dame Anita Allen said prosecutors should be more aggressive in seeking the death penalty in appropriate murder cases.

She also weighed in on the topical bail issue, saying

judges must strike the right balance between upholding the liberty of accused people and protecting the public.

She said it is difficult to justify giving bail to people suspected of committing multiple offences while on bail, adding that bail applications in such cases should SEE PAGE THREE

Father says ‘don’t shoot, there are children here’

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A SIX-year-old boy who witnessed his father’s shooting death allegedly told his grandmother his father had his hands in the air and begged police not to shoot because children were around – a plea officers ignored.

Police killed Tony Jamal “Foolish” Penn Smith, Valentino “T-Boy” Pratt and Trevor “Coopz” Cooper on Commonwealth Avenue in the early morning of May 17, 2019.

Jancimae Smith, Smith’s mother, said her son’s widow and his children were in the house during SEE PAGE THREE

Protest at UB for ‘overdue’ salary review

BAHAMAS Public Services Union president Kimsley Ferguson, union officials and supporters gather in front of the University of The Bahamas (UB) during an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the institution yesterday. See PAGE TWO. Photo: Dante Carrer

Witness in Gibson trial claims she ‘cried out’ over abuse while at WSC

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net A WITNESS in Adrian Gibson’s criminal trial claimed she suffered abuse when she headed the health

and safety department at the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), prompting her to ask the former chairman to relieve her of the post.

Mynez Cargill-Sherman, WSC’s senior manager,

testified that she “cried out” to Mr Gibson to reassign her for her well-being.

She said she requested this after her former boss, Elwood Donaldson, SEE PAGE FIVE

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis expects another country to step up and lead a mission to stabilise Haiti if Kenya’s court prevents that country from playing the role, noting CARICOM countries lack the “capacity or the wherewithal” to lead the mission.

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis His comment came after a Kenyan court blocked

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

the country from deploying police officers to Haiti.

Kenya’s government said it would appeal the matter.

“In the meantime,” Mr Davis said, “efforts are still being made to assist as we can through the Eminent Persons group, and they are very close, I think, to having some semblance of a pathway to free and fair

A $100M, 14-storey Goodman’s Bay penthouse complex will create 300 construction jobs and generate benefits “that far outweigh” the touted limited environmental impact, it has been pledged.

The EIA for Wynn Development’s second phase expansion asserted that it will create “muchneeded economic stimulus for New Providence” by also creating 30 permanent jobs and tax earnings for the Government.

SEE PAGE FIVE

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

PM: another nation will steP uP on haiti

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

wynn Pledges 300 jobs in build oF $100M Penthouse

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

UB staff protest for ‘overdue’ salary review PAGE 2, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net SEVERAL dozen University of The Bahamas staffers yesterday protested outside of the university as they waited for a long promised salary review.

Kimsley Ferguson, president of The Bahamas Public Services Union, representing the staff, accused UB’s leadership of dragging their feet.

“There is a very, very high level of frustration standing behind me,” he said, “a great degree of disappointment that we have to take to the streets and cannot sit at the table and address signed industrial agreements. We are in possession of documentation that addresses the fact that the university is aware of the fact that they would have reneged on their commitment to do our salary review.

“Again, I want to reiterate that our counterparts would have received it for every year that their review was not done, a hefty $2,000 lump sum for every year that their review was not done.

“We are here this morning and we are making representation on behalf of ourselves. We would like our salary review to be done retroactively from 2019, and we would also like compensation for the years in which it was not done.

Mr Ferguson said the union’s demonstration

yesterday was to exhaust diplomacy before other forms of action are taken.

He declined to comment on the next course of action.

Following the initial protest on the outskirts of the university, union members marched on the campus holding hands and chanting: “We want our money and we want it now.”

The union members stood outside of the launch ceremony of the university’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, hoping to see Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who was in attendance.

However, Mr Davis did not see them.

Acting president of the University of The Bahamas, Janyne Hodder, said the various sides were expected to meet yesterday afternoon to address the matter.

“The salary review is intended to cover all members of all bargaining units,” she said. “We agree that it’s an important thing that needs to be done and we are looking at the mechanism by which we will do that and that’s what I hope to discuss this afternoon.

“So, we respect all of our unions, and we want to do a fair and good salary review to the best of our ability because we think our staff, our facility, and our students are part of this community and an important contributor to everything we do.”

She said the matter was brought to her attention ten days ago.

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMAS Public Services Union president Kimsley Ferguson, union officials and supporters gather in front of the University of The Bahamas (UB) during an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the institution yesterday.

Photos: Dante Carrer

BAHAMAS Public Services Union (BPSU) president Kimsley Ferguson speaks with Opposition Leader Michael Pintard while BPSU members demonstrate at the University of The Bahamas yesterday.

PROSECUTORS KEY TO DEATH PENALTY THE TRIBUNE

from page one

be denied and the person’s bail revoked.

Although the death penalty is legal in The Bahamas, many believe that the Privy Council ruling makes it unlikely that the penalty would ever be upheld.

Dame Anita, however, called for “a more aggressive approach by the prosecution to apply in appropriate cases for the imposition of the death penalty on conviction of murder”.

She said: “Significantly, the death penalty is still a punishment for murder prescribed by the law of The Bahamas, albeit, since the Privy Council’s ruling in Bowe and Davis v R (2006), its imposition is discretionary, and since Maxo Tido v R (2011) (following Trimmingham v R (2009), it’s imposition is only lawful if imposed in cases in which the facts are extreme and exceptional or “the worst of the worst” or the” rarest of the rare”.

“That, notwithstanding, it is conceivable that a differently constituted Privy Council may well find that a case from this jurisdiction falls in the above category, or alternatively may

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 3

distinguish or depart from the stated authorities on the lawfulness of its imposition in other category of cases. It follows, therefore, that while the death penalty remains part of our law, it ought to be imposed in cases appropriate for its imposition in accordance with the authorities by which we are bound.

“While we will never know whether the death penalty is a deterrent to others who would commit murder, yet one thing we do know, and that is, that execution will deter that convict from committing murder again!”

The bail comments of Dame Anita, a former acting Chief Justice and the current head of the Law Reform Commission, come days after the Davis administration revealed legislation that would revoke bail of people who commit crimes or break their bail conditions while on bail.

Defence lawyers said the amendment won’t change much because such people can still apply to the Supreme Court, where judges can use their discretion.

Dame Anita said: “A delicate balance must be struck between the personal liberty of an accused

to be on bail, and the public’s interest to be protected from the commission of violence against them or against witnesses, repeat offending, absconding, tampering with evidence, or otherwise obstructing the course of justice.

“Moreover, the jailhouse grapevine will advise an accused not to plead guilty ever and will persuade him to apply for bail on the basis that he is not likely to be tried within a reasonable time. It will encourage him to use every device he can think up to frustrate the ends of justice, including demanding a new lawyer, feigning illness and what not, to delay the trial, and to buy years of time on bail, hoping that witnesses will forget their evidence, or die.

“In these circumstances, the court’s duty is to achieve fairness and balance, to ensure that a fair trial is not frustrated by the conduct of the accused.

The judge is tasked to consider whether the right to a fair trial should take precedence over his personal liberty, and the answer lies in whether his conduct amounts to grounds which justify the limitation of his fundamental right to liberty.”

FORMER Court of Appeal president Dame Anita Allen.

Photo: BIS

Father says ‘don’t shoot, there are children here’ from page one the shooting.

She said when the children were brought to her, her six-year-old grandson, Tony Jr, told her how her son died.

She said Tony Jr told her his father asked for forgiveness from God as he stood in an upstairs bedroom when police stormed the building.

She said he recalled his father putting his hands in the air and telling officers, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, there are kids in here.”

She claimed the boy said an officer ran behind Smith and shot him in the back as another officer yelled for him to shoot Smith again.

She said the boy said: “Grammy, I saw my daddy take his last breath”.

She said her grandson also claimed that his nine-year-old brother was pushed down the stairs by police while he was drenched in his father’s blood.

Mrs Smith told the jury that her son was selfemployed and sold “cars and stuff” for a living.

When questioned by K Melvin Munroe, who represents the 15 officers who are the subjects of the inquest, on whether she knew police wanted Smith, she said no.

Victoria Roberts, Valentino Pratt’s mother, said she loved and cherished her only son.

She broke down in tears and had to be taken out of the courtroom to compose herself the first time she

tried to testify.

Later, she said around 6am on the day of the shooting, her nephew told her there had been a shooting in Blair Estates.

She said she visited her son’s residence around 7am and saw a coroner’s van at the premises.

It wasn’t until 8am that a hospital friend told her her son was dead.

She said she went to police headquarters the following Monday to get them to release her son’s body. She said she couldn’t look at the wounds on his face and that a mortician told her he had been shot about 22 to 23 times.

She said there was no open casket funeral because her son’s two hands and legs had been broken in the shooting.

Ms Roberts told Mr Munroe that while her son lived between her house and the mansion in Blair, she wanted him to stay away from the company he kept because she believed one of the men was involved in a stabbing at a bus stop.

During cross-examination from Ciji Smith-Curry, who also represents the deceased’s estates, Ms Roberts said that her son’s girlfriend, Frantina Wilson, was also present at the shooting.

She recalled that Ms Wilson told her that the pair were in a room adjacent to the garage when they heard gunshots and police screaming about their presence.

Ms Wilson said Pratt went under the bed and told Ms Wilson to open

the door. She said when police came in, they shot him as he came out from under the bed. Ms Wilson was charged after the shooting, but the charges were dropped.

Ms Roberts told the jury that her son was unemployed.

Trevor Cooper, Sr, father of Trevor Cooper, Jr, said his 23-year-old son was a God-fearing and law-abiding pilot.

The deceased was living in Grand Bahama before his death and was said to be visiting New Providence to see his mother and grandmother for Mother’s Day. Mr Cooper, Sr, said he received details of the shooting from a newspaper, but that details were sketchy. He said he never got an official briefing from authorities on what happened to his son.

“Grammy, I saw my daddy take his last breath”

He told Mr Munroe he knew nothing about the people his son was with at the time of his death and never saw the company he kept.

He said while his son was once accused of a crime, he had been exonerated.

Sergeant Darren Pierre, one of the officers who visited the scene, testified that between May 22 and 26, he saw and photographed the bodies of the deceased at the morgue at PMH. He said blood samples and bullets recovered from their bodies were sent to forensic analysis

for a toxicological and ballistic report. He said he did not see the results.

Photos of Cooper’s body showed gunshot wounds to his face, groin, chest, shoulder, hips, thighs, neck, arms, stomach and hands.

Photos of Pratt’s body showed gunshot wounds to his face, right ear, shoulder, chest, groin, thighs, arms, lower back and hips.

Autopsy photos of Smith’s body showed that he had two gunshot wounds to his chest. He also had a gunshot wound to the right side of his back and a bruised lip.

‘The Bahamas is a safe place to come’, says PM PAGE 4, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@ tribunemedia.net

AFTER the United States changed the country’s travel advisory, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said his message to tourists remains: “The Bahamas is a safe place to come. Continue to come.”

“They will be safe while they are here. The Bahamas is what it is,” he said.

Zn Friday, the United States issued an updated travel advisory for The Bahamas, pushing the country’s alert level to two, meaning exercise increased caution.

“The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands,” the advisory reported.

“In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population.”

Mr Davis told residents not to be worried about the advisory, noting that it won’t impact the country.

“Well, first of all, travel

THE TRIBUNE

alerts are subjective to the country that issue them,” he said.

“We issue travel alerts as well, warning our citizens about countries where we feel that they could be at risk, and the advisory’s primarily is just to be careful about your surroundings.”

Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell questioned why people get concerned about travel advisories.

“I can’t understand why people are so agitated about this, I really don’t,” he said.

“What we’re trying to figure out is, are you upset about the advisory? Or are you upset about the fact that of the killings?

“Now, the killings you should be upset about, right, but that’s our society.”

“The advisory, well, that’s a subjective matter, and each country can advise their citizens how they wish to advise their citizens; we do it ourselves. And so, all I’m saying to Bahamians is that you ought to have confidence in your own country; it is your country, and there’s an expression in The Bahamas a fisherman does not call its own fish stink.”

FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER FRED MITCHELL

Concern over Margaritaville at Sea discontinuing ticket sales in GB

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net KWASI Thompson, Member of Parliament for East Grand Bahama, is concerned about Margaritaville’s decision to stop selling tickets originating from Grand Bahama.

He is urging the government to intervene immediately in the matter which he feels could harm the island’s economy and tourism.

“We are extremely troubled having recently learned the Margaritaville will no longer be selling one-way tickets or roundtrip tickets originating from Grand Bahama,” The MP said during his contributions in the House of the Assembly this week.

He noted that Grand Bahamians have become accustomed to Margaritaville as another option for West Palm Beach.

Additionally, he said the vessel serves as a shipping

option for Bahamian passengers to ship furniture and other large items when they travel.

“This is a very unique way of travelling for Grand Bahamians. If this is discontinued it would harm Grand Bahama’s economy as many businesses use this as a means of travel and shipping,” he said.

The FNM MP noted that the government provided some marketing subsidies and other concessions to the cruise line.

“If this is still continuing, we question whether a change in the arrangement would breach their marketing agreement with the government,” said Mr Thompson.

“Further, we understand passengers originating from West Palm Beach will no longer be able to stay overnight at Grand Bahama hotels. If this continues, why can’t Bahamians purchase a one-way ticket? I am informed that if a Bahamian attempts to

MARGARITAVILLE AT SEA leave in Freeport they will blacklist them and not sell another ticket.”

“We call upon the Government to intervene immediately and to protect the Grand Bahamian economy, and way of travel and also protect

against loss of our Tourism product,” Mr Thompson said.

The Tribune contacted the Margaritaville at Sea for comment. An agent said the cruise ship no longer offers the oneway tickets out of Grand

Bahama or the one-way sailing out of West Palm Beach.

The agent said the twonight round trip from West Palm Beach is still working as normal.

“The one-way sailing out of Grand Bahama

or West Palm Beach is no longer available. We apologise for the inconvenience,” the employee said.

It means that persons sailing to Grand Bahama must return to Palm Beach the same day when the ship leaves in the evening. If a passenger decides to get off and not return with the ship to Palm Beach they are blacklisted and will not be allowed to travel on the ship.

Margaritaville at Sea, formerly Grand Celebration, was initially founded by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, in 2014. It began operations in February 2015, however in May 2022, the company was rebranded to Margaritaville at Sea following a partnership between Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville brand. The sole ship, the Grand Classica, was refurbished and renamed Margaritaville at Sea Paradise.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that IVANETTE LAURISTON of #7 Limewood Lane, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of January 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that SAMANTHA VANESSA GLENDENA KEMP of #32 Beaconsfield Avenue, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of January 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CLAUDIA LAURISTON of #7 Limewood Lane, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of January 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that SHAQUILLE ONEAL WILLIAMS of P#79 Cabot Drive, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 23th day of January 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that CLAUDETTE LAURISTON of #7 Limewood Lane, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of January 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Davis: Another nation will step up on Haiti THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 5

from page one elections.”

Mr Davis added: “CARICOM, don’t forget it’s not just The Bahamas, CARICOM as a community do not have the capacity and or the wherewithal to respond to Haiti’s crisis on his own. It needs help.”

“So if it’s not Kenya, there’ll be some other major country that will come in to assist.

CARICOM alone cannot do it.

If Kenya is not able to because of their legal strictures there are some other country will more likely step in.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell told reporters Kenya’s government is confident they will win.

“There have been previous deployments of Kenyan officers overseas in a number of missions,” he said. “So their view is the decision is inexplicable. So the training and planning goes on and we await the outcome of whatever appeal they make.”

“There are other nations who have volunteered, and well, the Americans are actually leading this, so we’re in touch with them. I think there’s supposed to be a meeting of all of the parties within a couple of weeks.”

“It’s been more than a year since the government of Haiti requested these troops. The resolution is going to be almost six months old in March or will be six months old in March, and it only has the authority for 12 months. So, you know, time is against us.”

The Bahamas has committed to sending 150 officers to Haiti as part of a multi-national force to curb the violence in that country. Kenya said it would send 1,000 police officers to lead the force.

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis

Witness in Gibson trial claims she ‘cried out’ over abuse while at WSC agreed that was the corporation’s procedure, but said it was not followed.

She claimed there was a lack of “many invoices” concerning landscaping contracts and the transfer of work to Baha Maintenance from Elite Maintenance.

She said concerns were raised about payments being made for unfinished work. She said an employee who inspected the site complained about the issue.

“That was exactly what I had sent in my email to Mr Donaldson,” she said. “I asked him how was he preparing to close out contracts and pay persons when the work was not done.”

However, Mr Gomez suggested that the employee confirmed the work was properly completed after re-inspection.

Mrs Cargill-Sherman could not confirm this because she said she was “terminated.”

from page one “terminated” her from the post she had held for a month.

“It wasn’t a casual request for transfer,” she told the court yesterday. “This was a cry out after all of the abuse that I was going through.

You don’t just give up that position, but that wasn’t worth it, and my health was at stake.”

The witness said Mr Gibson was deeply involved in the corporation’s daily operations and its decision making.

During cross-examination, Gibson’s lawyer, Damian Gomez, KC, asked her if she was aware that the general manager has certain statutory responsibilities.

Mrs Cargill-Sherman said she was aware, but suggested that Mr Gibson’s close involvement with the corporation’s operations was out of the norm in her 35 years of experience at WSC. “Some things had changed in the organisation during that period,” she added.

Mr Gomez suggested that she lied about being terminated, a claim the witness sternly rejected.

The witness was also asked about the

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

ADRIAN Gibson greets attorneys Damian Gomez KC and Donald Saunders as he enters the Supreme Court last week.

Photo: Dante Carrer corporation’s payment obtained unless the inspec- ensured that the site had tor checked the work at been properly painted?” procedures.

“Would it not be true the site that an invoice was Mr Gomez asked.

Mrs Cargill-Sherman that payment could not be given in relation to and

Death Notice For Ruby G.E. Barigelli, 80 of Little Blair Estates died at her residence on Monday, 15th January 2024 Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited.

Gibson, the sitting MP for Long Island, is facing corruption charges concerning his tenure as WSC executive chairman under the Minnis administration.

The charges stem from Mr Gibson’s alleged failure to declare his interest in contracts awarded by the WSC. The FNM politician is charged with Mr Donaldson, Jr, Rashae Gibson, his cousin, Joan Knowles, Peaches Farquharson and Jerome Missick.

Mr Gomez, KC, Murrio Ducille, KC, Bryan Bastian, Ryan Eve, Mr Raphael Moxey, Christina Galanos, Ian Cargill and Donald Saunders represent the defendants.

Meanwhile, acting Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier, Cashena Thompson, Karine MacVean and Rashied Edgecombe are the Crown’s prosecutors.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

THE TRIBUNE

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Key findings in research on long COVID IT’S estimated around 3% of people in the UK experience long COVID – persistent, long-lasting symptoms after a COVID-19 infection.

Long COVID encompasses a range of health problems that can begin after even a mild COVID infection. Some of these symptoms include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and loss of smell.

For around 50% of long COVID sufferers, their symptoms also fit criteria for a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a neuro-immune disease characterised by depleted energy, muscle weakness and pain, cognitive dysfunction and dysautonomia (which affects blood pressure and heart rate).

A cardinal feature of ME is “post-exertional malaise” (PEM). This refers to a worsening of symptoms that takes place around 24-48 hours after any form of exertion – whether that’s physical, cognitive or emotional. PEM may take days or weeks to subside.

PEM remains one of the most debilitating yet least understood features of both ME and long COVID. But new research may point to a probable explanation for why physical activity in particular worsens long COVID symptoms. The study found that people with long COVID exhibit alterations in their muscle structure.

To conduct their study, the researchers analysed muscle biopsies and blood plasma samples taken from 25 people with long COVID and 21 people who had had COVID but didn’t have long COVID. Participants in both groups were around 41 years old, on average. There was a 48% to 52% split between men and women.

The blood and muscle samples were taken before and after a controlled cycling test. Participants cycled for approximately 15 minutes, starting slowly and gradually increasing in intensity.

During the cycling test, those with long COVID exhibited poorer muscular strength and had lower oxygen uptake compared with the healthy participants – despite putting in the same amount of effort. These results echo the findings of previous studies, suggesting people with long COVID have significantly reduced exercise capacity.

When the researchers analysed the muscle samples of the participants, they found that those with long COVID had a higher proportion of fast-twitch glycolytic muscle fibres. These muscle fibres can work at high intensity in short bursts, but are highly fatiguable because they have fewer mitochondria (organelles which provide cells with the energy they need to function properly).

The researchers then conducted further tests on the mitochondria in these fibres.

They found that exercise lowered mitochondrial function in the long COVID sufferers – indicating that as well as having a reduced capacity for exercise, their muscle tissue had acquired damage during the exercise test.

Tests on molecules in muscle and plasma also revealed that people with long COVID had lower levels of vital molecules required for the process mitochondria use to provide cells with energy.

This is not the first time that mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in an illness featuring PEM. In fact, this was first

proposed as the underlying mechanism in ME more than 40 years ago.

If the mitochondria in muscles are dysfunctional, this means the muscle cells don’t produce enough energy to meet the body’s demands. This may explain why people with long COVID experience worse symptoms after exercise.

Next, the authors studied whether there were clumps of mis-folded proteins present in the muscle samples.

Previous studies have shown these clumps, termed “microclots”, are found at raised levels in the plasma of people with long COVID. It’s been proposed that microclots may block capillaries, causing damage as blood re-enters tissues. This may also cause damage to the mitochondria.

The authors showed that people with long COVID did indeed have more microclots in their muscles compared with the control samples. The number of microclots also increased after exercise in all participants. However, they did not find evidence that they were blocking capillaries.

Finally, they looked at which immune cells were present in muscle tissue. They found increased numbers of macrophages and T-cells, which both help with tissue repair, in the samples of those with long COVID – even before they exercised.

This indicates that long COVID sufferers have locally activated immune cells in their muscle tissue as a response to tissue damage.

It’s known that mitochondria can cause and also be damaged by inflammation (which can be caused by an over-active immune system). This may be another reason why the mitochondria of long COVID sufferers are dysfunctional.

This study supports a growing body of research that has identified considerable abnormalities in the metabolic, muscular and immune function of people with long COVID (and, by extension, people with ME). It also suggests that targeting the mitochondria could help to improve symptoms.

Promisingly, many compounds have already been shown to positively affect mitochondrial function. Some of these are available without prescription, such as coenzyme Q10 (which our body naturally produces). But placebo-controlled trials will need to be carried out to see if these compounds have any effect on long COVID symptoms.

These findings also highlight how important it is to exercise caution when designing rehabilitation strategies for people with long COVID. Traditional programmes work on the basis that gradual increases in effort and difficulty build resilience and exercise capacity. But for people with long COVID, the opposite is true.

This recent paper has now found why this may be the case, showing that for those with long COVID, pushing beyond their capabilities will provoke mitochondrial damage, reducing resilience and provoking a relapse of their condition. These findings are key when considering recommendations for rehabilitation or return to work strategies for long COVID sufferers.

CAROLINE DALTON Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics, Sheffield Hallam University

PICTURE OF THE DAY

A GROUP of Joaldunak called Zanpantzar, take part in the carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain yesterday.

Photo: Alvaro Barrientos/AP

and fathers in the home EDITOR, The Tribune.

AMIDST all the wordiness surrounding criminality and murder in this small country, I have awaited reasonable, sensible and wise reflection on the calamity that has befallen this nation.

Finally, those inspired words appeared in both dailies – The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune. I salute not only these newspapers, but especially the letter writer Zephaniah Burrows.

It is obvious that he grew up a long time ago on an Out Island (Family Island, now called). I need not reiterate that which he so eloquently penned, but suffice it to say just a little bit more.

Growing up in the good old days, especially on an island, the home and family, the father and mother, were our instructors, disciplinarians and loving caretakers.

But not just them. We were blessed to have the schools as our “loco parentis”. The schools built on what began in the home.

Good manners at home and abroad were the order and rule of the day. “Good morning and good day” were spontaneous. When greeting an older man or woman, it was “Good morning sir” or “Good morning ma’am”.

To this very day, it is beyond my comprehension how news travelled. No electricity, no land lines, no cell phones, not an iota of modern communications, but a parent was somehow always made aware, long before a child stepped in the door at home, if their child had misbehaved at school or on the way there

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net or back.

Thus, we grew up not just being aware of the everseeing eye of our parents, but also that the God above saw and scrutinized every action, good or bad. It took me ages to break some of the habits of old, especially the greeting of anyone you may pass.

A long time after my island childhood, while attending universities abroad, it was extremely difficult to pass anyone and not greet them in the old-fashioned way. Sometimes the greeting would be returned, but often not. I would get a look that said: “What’s wrong with that…”

Nonetheless, that habit is still not completely broken, even after scores of years of life on this planet.

Thus, putting aside much of all the political maneuvering that we see taking place, the powers that be just need to take a look at Zephaniah’s words of wisdom and contemplate the best ways of getting families reestablished in this country with an emphasis on the presence of fathers in the home. I would surmise that close to 45 percent of homes in this country, especially in New Providence, lack the presence of dedicated and involved fathers.

How then can we expect our young men today to be other than what many of them are? Even the need to belong to a gang, speaks

volumes about what they missed in their early years.

In spite of their amazing efforts to raise balanced, caring and loving boys, mothers often struggle to manage through no fault of their own. When one key ingredient of the rearing of a child is absent, imbalance is often the result.

I have encountered girls who, due to absence of fathers, look to these same gang elements, led by young men, to find some distorted elements of fatherhood.

Very often in order to help support mom, they offer themselves sexually to gang members, become pregnant, and thus the vicious cycle continues.

In the short to medium term, strategies must be put in place to hold fathers responsible for the creation of potential criminals in this nation.

Taking the long-term view, the level of poverty in this nation, in spite of its enormous resources, must be recognised a singular tragedy. Equanimity at all levels of society must be the task of every government in order to stem the perversity of social alienation and crime, in every nook and cranny.

When we can state with shame that at this very moment nearly half our population is living at or below poverty level, we must either accept that criminality will forever rule the day, or else we must face and correct this unjust imbalance in our Bahamaland.

JOSEPH DARVILLE Grand Bahama January 23, 2024

Taxation destroying middle-class EDITOR, The Tribune.

IN the Nassau Guardian article it is stated that in 50 percent of car accidents the Bahamian drivers are uninsured and do not have a car insurance. This further verified, proved and confirmed that the Prime Minister Philip Davis and the PLP government taxation on the middle class and Bahamian small business owners is demolishing, destroying and eliminating middle class Bahamians to poverty and killing small Bahamian business owners’ companies.

Bahamian people are facing difficulties, struggles, economic hardship and are not able to pay rent, light bills, water bills, mortgages, purchasing groceries for family, buying a home and car because of the bad policies, high cost of living and high Government taxes.

I have a comprehensive economic plan to reduce taxes on the middle class and small business owners, to diversify the Bahamas

economy in bringing down the high cost of living and cost of groceries by reducing the one billion dollar import of food to The Bahamas. To have Bahamian farmers products be implemented in food stores and all hotels in The Bahamas, that would help build the farming industry in The Bahamas. It is so sad the Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas is travelling to Rome to visit the Pope, but no benefit to the Bahamian people and The Bahamas, it would have been better to have invited the Pope to visit The Bahamas.

As it further demonstrated and shows a Prime Minister who does not appear to have any care and concern about a broke Treasury, pain, suffering, difficulties and economic hardship of the poor Bahamian people. It is time to show some compassion and concern by reducing the Bahamas Government Cabinet now proving to be

incapable and unable to solve the issues, problems and multiple crises facing the Bahamian people.

This is why I am now answering to God calling to be the next Prime Minister of the Bahamas Pedro Smith and lead the BFP Party to become the first third political party to win the next general election in The Bahamas. I am asking for the religious church leaders, business owners and the Bahamian people to join and support Pedro Smith and the BFP Party to become the next Prime Minister and Government of the Bahamas. In making the Bahamas better and greater again for the Bahamian people, children and grandchildren. One Nation, One people, One Bahamas and One God onward forward and upward, help is on the way soon - Pedro Smith the Chosen One. PEDRO SMITH Nassau, January 25, 2024.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 7

St George’s High School unofficial Quaker issues recalls on two products over potential winner of GB Junior Junkanoo

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net -/Ê i À}i½ÃÊ } Ê-V Ê is the unofficial winner of the 2024 Anthony “Huck” Williams Junior Junkanoo Parade in Grand Bahama.

The school received a total of 4,766 points, comfortably ahead of rivals in the secondary division. The

Jack Hayward High School received 4,421 points, and Eight Mile Rock High School received 4,276 points.

In the primary A division, defending champions Freeport Primary retained its title, securing first place with 3,945 points to hold off Maurice Moore Primary School, which received 3,633 points.

Martin Town Primary won the primary B division, with 3,512 points, and Wilbur S Outten was second with 3,474 points.

In the junior division, Jack Hayward Junior High School was first with 3,809 points. Sister Mary Patricia Russell Jr High was second with 3,676.

Tabernacle Baptist Academy won the All

Age A Division, receiving 4,540 points, while Beacon School won the Age B Division, receiving 3,969 points.

In the pre-school division, Wilbur S Outten was first, with 2,006 points; ÃiV `Ê Ü>ÃÊ iÌÌÞ½ÃÊ * >yard Preschool, with 1,771 points; and third was Freeport Primary Preschool with 1,675 points.

POLICE INVESTIGATE INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT AT GRAND BAHAMA SHIPYARD

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama police are investigating an industrial accident at the Grand Bahama Shipyard that has left a 25-year-old man hospitalised.

The incident occurred

shortly before 2pm on Sunday when a male worker was trapped between a crane and pieces of steel.

He sustained injuries to his upper body.

He was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital for medical treatment. His condition is unknown.

It is also unknown

whether he was a permanent or contract worker.

Last December, 23-yearold Graham Pinder, a casual worker, fell from a tanker at the shipyard. He sustained severe injuries to his face, neck, back, and lower extremities.

Since then, union officials have expressed concerns

>L ÕÌÊ V>ÃÕ> Ê Ü À iÀÃ½Ê >V Ê of benefits, including medical insurance coverage.

They called for an end to the practice.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis also mentioned that casual workers should be transitioned to permanent workers with all the benefits.

TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO KILL DAVIS IS DELAYED AGAIN

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net THE trial of a 21-year-old man accused of threatening to kill Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis last February was once again delayed yesterday because the prosecution is still waiting for a Bahamas Telecommunications Company representative to testify.

Police officers previously testified that the defendant called Central Police Station to demand Lincoln > ½ÃÊ Ài i>ÃiÊ >vÌiÀÊ >Ê «À test outside of Baha Mar. The defendant reportedly alluded to a threat against Ì iÊ «À iÊ ÃÌiÀ½ÃÊ viÊ vÊ his demands were not met. Ã>>VÊ , LiÀÌÃ½Ê ÌÀ > Ê was scheduled to continue before acting Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley. Bjorn Ferguson

represented him. Inspector Deon Barr served as prosecutor.

After waiting in court from 10am yesterday and learning at 2.30pm of ëiVÌ ÀÊ >ÀÀ½ÃÊ Ìi Ì Ê to delay the case, Mr Ferguson expressed frustration.

He said this would be the third time a phone company representative failed to appear in court.

The matter was previously delayed on January 19.

Mr Ferguson said the continued delays in his case are prejudicing his client.

The defendant had previously appeared in court using crutches shortly after a reported motorcycle accident last September.

The attorney also raised concerns about disclosure because he has yet to be given a report from the outstanding witness.

The case was adjourned to March 4.

MAN ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED RAPE OF 18-YEAR-OLD GIRL REMANDED

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A 47-YEAR-OLD man was remanded in custody yesterday after being accused of attempting to

sexually abuse an 18-yearold girl in New Providence last week.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Dwayne Smith with attempted rape.

Smith is accused of trying to have sexual

intercourse with a teenage girl without her consent between January 21 and 22.

The accused was told that his matter would be transferred to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of

indictment (VBI). He will be sent to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until the higher court grants him bail.

- Ì ½ÃÊ 6 Ê ÃÊ `ÕiÊ v ÀÊ service on April 17.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

Salmonella contamination THE Quaker Oats Company through its authorized distributor THOMPSON TRADING announced on Friday an expansion of the December 20th, 2023, recall to include additional cereals, bars and snacks listed below because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The products listed on this website (www.quakergranolarecall.com) were produced in the United States and only the products listed on this press release were distributed to The Bahamas. Therefore, the company informs potential consumers to check their pantries for

any of the listed products and discard them.

UÊ >«½ Ê ÀÕ V Ê ""*-tÊ All Berries Cereal – 10.3 oz 030000573235 – Best before: Between Jan-1124 H to Oct-1-24 H (Best Before Date must include “H” after date) UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ iÜÞÊ Granola Bars Yogurt Strawberry Flavor – 1.23 oz 12 Count – 030000315675 – Best before: Between Jan11-24 to Oct01-24

Additionally, consumers with any of the mentioned products can return the described product to the original store where they purchased it, presenting their purchase receipt.

For additional information, consumers with any of the mentioned products can contact the customer service hotline: consumers.1800@pepsico.com To date, Quaker has not received reports of illnesses related to the products covered by this market withdrawal.

Quaker has reported these actions to the relevant local authorities.

It is important to note that this withdrawal ONLY APPLIES to the specific products listed (www.quakergranolarecall.com), and NO OTHER Quaker product is affected. This recall does not include: UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ ">ÌÃÊ UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ ÃÌ> ÌÊ ">ÌÃÊ UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ À ÌÃÊ UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ ">ÌÊ À> Ê UÊ +Õ> iÀÊ ">ÌÊ ÕÀÊ UÊ Quaker Rice Snacks

Mervin Culmer: Unsung hero of Palmetto Point PAGE 8, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

ELEUTHERA native Mervin Culmer is a staple in his community. He is known for encouraging young people, hosting and participating in community events, and exhibiting pure dedication and love to his family. But there’s something else that Mervin does that Eleutherans and tourists alike know him for. You can visit the Culmer household in Palmetto Point almost any time of year and you will meet a vibrant, welcoming home decorated for the occasion. It doesn’t have to be Christmas or Easter for Mervin to decorate. His home, from the outside to the inside, will be outfitted with themed decorations to celebrate just about any event, especially the birthdays of his

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

and “New York” due to his lifelong dedication as a New York Yankee fanatic.

He has been a passionate sports enthusiast from a young age. He served as the team manager for the Five Wheels Hornets in softball, and he also played for the Wildcats, Lightning Flashers, and Palmetto Point Hornets. Additionally, he served as the team captain for the Austin

MERVIN CULMER, Eleuthera community leader, with his children children and grandchildren.

He has gotten so good at it that for the country’s 50th Independence anniversary, his home was the talk of the town.

Mervin is all about the kids. Many times during Christmas, Mervin dresses up as Santa Claus and gives out gifts to children in the settlement, much to their delight. He has a knack for making them smile, and he wanted them to have fun experiences that they could remember for a lifetime.

Thanks to others in the Palmetto Point community and Eleuthera at large, children enjoy many community events.

Mervin is affectionately known as “Tuck”

THE TRIBUNE

Knowles Construction Softball Team and led them to victory in their first championship game. Mervin has also provided guidance and support for various young men from the Palmetto Point neighbourhood in the sport of softball. He can play every position on the field, and is often seen holding down the catcher position, or shortstop.

This community elder is a diligent individual and an expert builder who has been employed by Brad’s United Builders Construction firm for more than 50 years. He continues to thrive in building well-known hotels and private homes throughout the island of Eleuthera. His colleagues have taken note

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of his meticulous and conscientious approach to his profession.

According to his children, he applies the same level of attention and work each year to create and construct decorations for various special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Guy Fawkes Day, birthdays, and Independence Day. Mervin has a distinct devotion and excitement for adorning his home and surrounding areas with lighting.

It all began at the age of six, when he started adorning his family’s Christmas tree with a necktie and a black hat. However in 1996, his enthusiasm for decorating expanded following the arrival of his first grandchild, prompting him to adorn his house with lights and Christmas decorations as a way to commemorate the occasion. Each year, he goes the extra mile to adorn his surroundings for many major events - even the Yankees championships.

His expertise was recently acknowledged at a national level when he won the 3rd place prize in the Bahamas 50th National Independence Home Decorating Competition in 2023.

He did not enter the competition himself, however.

He told his wife, elder Ena Culmer and his children that the Family Islanders are too often overlooked.

He was decorating with pride for himself and for those who come to enjoy it - not for publicity. However, his daughters got together and decided to take photos of the house and submit an application on their father’s behalf. That turned out to be a great decision. He was shocked, overjoyed, and happy for the cash prize that came along with it.

The overall winner was Jaqueline Hanna, a resident of St Anne’s constituency.

Other winners included Sherryann Griffith, Elizabeth Constituency; and Donyale Brandshaw representing Centreville, who said the family is keeping up a decorating tradition started by their mother, the late Rose Bradshaw, former ZNS employee. Independence Committee chair Leslia Miller-Brice said it’s people like these who are inspiring other Bahamians through their outward displays of Bahamian history and culture, she said. Their efforts also impact children, instilling a sense of pride in them for their country and community.

Mervin is an unsung hero in Palmetto Point, Eleuthera. He has always shown a strong commitment to his community and is often relied upon to provide assistance to the elderly residents. He was the one responsible for installing the very first indoor toilets for many members of the community. In addition, several years ago, Mervin initiated the “Santa Coming to Town” programme for children, finding satisfaction in seeing the expressions of happiness on their faces.

He personally invests funds into this event, and garners assistance from good community members. He distributes Christmas presents to children while riding on the local fire engine.

Full of life and a built-in passion for community building, Mervin

P ALMETTO Point’s resident Santa Claus Mervin Culmer loves bringing fun and cheer to the community during Christmas time. organised the inaugural Independence Honoree Service for the Palmetto Point neighbourhood in 2023. He is eagerly anticipating the event again this year.

Mervin derives great pleasure from engaging in quality family time, particularly on each birthday occasion, where he cherishes hosting a festive gathering in the backyard.

Mervin also enjoys travelling with his family, and he has a deep affection for engaging in fishing and farming activities with his son and grandson during his leisure hours.

He has a strong inclination to charitably provide fish and agricultural products to others who are in need. Mervin cherishes his beloved Eleuthera island, where he resides with his

wife, Ena; daughters Erica Culmer-Curry (Maxwell), Celesia Williams (Maddagen), and Asternique Curtis (Camarie); and son, Merez Culmer (Melissa).

His grandchildren: Malik Fox-Williams (Alando), Malika Williams and Makhari Williams enjoy seeing their grandpa make something to display their ages outside the home, with beautiful lights.

ABOVE: Mervin Culmer’s home won 3rd place in the Bahamas 50th National Independence Home Decoration competition. Below Mr Culmer and his grandson sporting their catch of the day, which he shares with those in need.

Conflicting rights: The accused versus society THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 9

By Dame Anita Mildred Allen SADLY, in the last few weeks, New Providence has become the scene of senseless violence, and more disturbingly, this violence has touched women and children caught-up in the culture of violence, and the crossfire.

Those of us who thankfully, until now are untouched by the violence, are nevertheless afraid to leave our homes, but even more daunting, we are afraid to stay in our homes.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to go about our daily lives without contemplating the possibility of either being witnesses to, or victims of, violence, and that fear is palpable, pervasive and paralyzing.

The evidence suggests that this unprecedented level of violence is attributable, in large part, to bailed criminal defendants, but I am not so naïve as to think that focusing on bail alone is the panacea for reducing the level of crime.

I do think, however, that the focus on bail is a starting point for what I fear is going to be “a long walk over the heath” and it is for this reason that I chose to write this piece.

Our system of government echoes the genius of the Westminster system in its focus on the rights and freedoms of individuals, and indeed, Part II of our Constitution mandates robust protections of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, including, protection from arbitrary arrest and detention, the presumption of innocence, provisions for fair trials within a reasonable time, and the right to be released on bail either unconditionally or upon reasonable conditions if the State is unable to afford to persons charged, a fair hearing within a reasonable time.

Suffice it to say, these fundamental rights and freedoms are not absolute, and are subject to constitutional limitations which ensure that the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms afforded to criminal defendants, does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others.

In our system, judges have a duty to defend and uphold the rule of law, and while the sanctity of liberty is the fulcrum of a civilized

FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF APPEAL DAME ANITA ALLEN society, yet the accent on personal liberty cannot be pyramided to the extent that it brings chaos to a society.

It is worth remembering that a criminal defendant is entitled to the fair and equal protection of law under our Constitution no less than a victim, but to no more than a victim.

For this reason, a delicate balance must be struck between the personal liberty of an accused to be on bail, and the public’s interest to be protected from the commission of violence against them or against witnesses, repeat offending, absconding, tampering with evidence, or otherwise obstructing the course of justice.

Moreover, the jailhouse grapevine will advise an accused not to plead guilty ever and will persuade him to apply for bail on the basis that he is not likely to be tried within a reasonable time. It will encourage him to use every device he can think up to frustrate the ends of justice, including demanding a new lawyer, feigning illness and what not, to delay the trial, and to buy years of time on bail, hoping that witnesses will forget their evidence, or die.

In these circumstances,

the court’s duty is to achieve fairness and balance, to ensure that a fair trial is not frustrated by the conduct of the accused.

The judge is tasked to consider whether the right to a fair trial should take precedence over his personal liberty, and the answer lies in whether his conduct amounts to grounds which justify the limitation of his fundamental right to liberty.

Indeed, before he became Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Warren Earl Burger spoke eloquently about the balance between the right of an accused to be at liberty, and the protection of the public.

He said that citizens of a country have a right to the protection of their person, their lives, their homes, and their property and that these rights are not fostered by the existence of even the most perfect system for the protection of the rights of criminal defendants.

In the same vein, Lord Bingham, in HURNAM V THE STATE [2006] 3LRC 370, 374 said: “… The Courts are routinely called upon to consider whether an un-convicted suspect should be released on bail, subject to conditions pending his trial … The interest of the suspect is, of course, to remain at liberty …. Any

loss of liberty before that time, particularly if he is acquitted or never tried, will inevitably prejudice him …. But the community has a countervailing interest in seeking to ensure that the course of justice is not thwarted by the flight of the accused, or perverted by his interference with witnesses or evidence, and that he does not take advantage of the inevitable delay to commit further offences.”

The principle in HURNAM is embodied in section 4 (2B) of the Bail Act, that courts should consider the protection of the public or public order and, where appropriate, the need to protect the safety of the victim or victims are to be primary considerations when deciding whether to grant bail.

Consequently, in appropriate cases, the right of an accused to liberty pending trial must give way to protection of the public, public order, or the safety of the victim or victims of the alleged crime.

Inexorably, the consideration of an application for bail requires a realistic assessment of all the circumstances of the case, including whether the applicant is likely to commit offences while on bail. It is difficult to envisage any

circumstances which justify the admission to bail of a person who is suspected of committing multiple offences of murder while on bail, and such an application ought to be denied, his previous bail revoked, and an order that the applicant be tried forthwith.

On all applications for bail, the prosecution is duty-bound to put forward, all the facts and the law relevant to the case, and to make such representations as are warranted to ensure justice is served, and where a decision appears not to be consonant with the law, to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal.

As previously stated, the constitutional imperative requires that a person accused of a crime must be tried within a reasonable time or be released either unconditionally or on reasonable grounds.

In this regard, the Bail Act provides that without limiting the extent of a reasonable time, an accused must be tried within a period of three years from the date of arrest or detention. This leaves intact the discretion of a court to decide on the circumstances before it, whether a reasonable time is longer or shorter than three years.

Indeed, circumstances such as the number of witnesses to be called, the availability of those witnesses, the availability of defence counsel, and jurors, any backlog, the number and complexity of pretrial applications, the need for medical and forensic reports, the expected length of the trial, and the number of pre-trial adjournments granted, may impact what is a reasonable time, in any case.

I suggest that increasing the number of public defenders and the panel of jurors, improving the process of summoning, and selecting jurors, providing protection for jurors, increasing the capacity of the police forensic lab, fewer pre-trial adjournments, better time management of trials, weeding out the backlog in the system, and stricter compliance with the law and rules of procedure by all actors in the justice system, are some ways the trial of cases in a reasonable time might be achieved.

Additionally, I propose two other suggestions, the first, which was advocated by Sir Burton Hall some years

ago, is to provide in legislation the option of trials by judge alone to persons charged with offences such as murder and manslaughter.

This will alleviate the need for some jury trials where accused persons choose that option and may help to decrease the backlog of cases waiting to be tried. Alternatively, if there is appetite for a referendum, to amend the Constitution to remove the right to jury trial, in which case criminal defendants would have no choice but to be tried by judge alone.

The second suggestion which I apprehend abolitionists will find unpalatable, is a more aggressive approach by the prosecution to apply in appropriate cases for the imposition of the death penalty on conviction of murder.

Significantly, the death penalty is still a punishment for murder prescribed by the law of The Bahamas, albeit, since the Privy Council’s ruling in Bowe and Davis v R (2006), its imposition is discretionary, and since Maxo Tido v R (2011) (following Trimmingham v R (2009)), it’s imposition is only lawful if imposed in cases in which the facts are extreme and exceptional or “ the worst of the worse” or the” rarest of the rare”.

That, notwithstanding, it is conceivable that a differently constituted Privy Council may well find that a case from this jurisdiction falls in the above category, or alternatively may distinguish or depart from the stated authorities on the lawfulness of its imposition in other category of cases. It follows therefore that while the death penalty remains part of our law, it ought to be imposed in cases appropriate for its imposition in accordance with the authorities by which we are bound.

While we will never know whether the death penalty is a deterrent to others who would commit murder, yet one thing we do know, and that is, that execution will deter that convict from committing murder again!

Finally, to guarantee the continued preservation of our freedom and peace in our land, we must all work assiduously to ensure that the fundamental canons which secure our individual freedoms continue to be the bulwark against punishment before conviction, but equally, that they continue to be the rampart that protects our society from lawlessness.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

THE TRIBUNE

BTVI launches solar programme

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis speaks during an event at BTVI to launch a renewable energy initiative yesterday.

Photos: Dante Carrer

BAHAMAS Technical Vocational Institute yesterday launched its training for the Installation and Maintenance of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems.

The partnership with the government will begin with eight instructors that will be a part of a ‘Train the Trainers’ session led by Nova Scotia Community

College (Canada).

They will in turn deliver a three-course series to 25 Bahamians throughout the country, including a pilot for persons with disabilities.

It will culminate with a component where this summer, those eight instructors will then conduct a workshop for

teachers and students.

BTVI has partnered with the Government of The Bahamas by way of the Ministry of Finance to execute this national training initiative. Funding is being provided by the Ministry of Finance through an International Development Bank (IDB) $80M loan, which is supplemented by

a European Union Caribbean Investment Fund (EU-CIF) $9M grant.

BTVI’s thrust falls in line with that of the Government of The Bahamas, which seeks to accelerate its transition to clean energy and it is on its way to producing a pool of renewable energy technicians.

MINISTER OF EDUCATION GLENYS HANNA MARTIN

BTVI INTERIM PRESIDENT LINDA DAVIS

NOVA SCOTIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVE ZORAN KONDALI

IDB REPRESENTATIVE DANIELA CARRERA-MARQUIS

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 11

Haitians suffering gang violence are desperate after Kenyan court blocks police force deployment

A NATIONAL Police officer patrols an intersection in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. A court in Kenya on Friday blocked the deployment of a UN-backed police force to help fight gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.

Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE Associated Press RADIO stations across Haiti got jammed with calls just hours after a court in Kenya blocked the deployment of a UN-backed police force to help fight gangs in the troubled Caribbean country.

Many callers wondered and demanded: What’s next?

Few know.

Uncertainty and fear have been spreading since Friday’s ruling, with violence reaching new records as gangs tighten their grip on Haiti’s capital and beyond.

“Absent a robust external mission that would be deployed very soon, we are facing quite a tragic scenario in Haiti,” warned Diego Da Rin with International Crisis Group.

Gangs that control an estimated 80% of Haiti’s capital have in recent weeks attacked and seized power of previously peaceful communities, killing and injuring dozens, leading to widespread concerns that they will soon control all of Port-au-Prince.

The number of people reported killed last year in Haiti more than doubled to nearly 4,500, and the number of reported kidnappings surged by more than 80% to nearly 2,500 cases, according to the most recent UN statistics.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s National Police is losing officers at “an alarming rate,” while those still in service continue to be overwhelmed by gangs, according to a UN report released this week. More than 1,600 officers left the department last year, and another 48 were reported killed.

In addition, equipment sent by the international community to help bolster an underfunded police department has crumpled beneath heavy fights with gangs. Only 21 of 47 armoured vehicles were operational as of midNovember, with 19 “severely damaged during anti-gang operations or broken down,” according to the UN report.

The remaining seven vehicles “are permanently disabled,” it stated.

“The situation has gone overboard.

Enough is enough,” said a man who identified himself as Pastor Malory Laurent when he called Radio Caraibes to vent about Friday’s ruling.

“Every day, you feel there is no hope.”

Kenya’s government said it would appeal the ruling.

Still, it’s unclear how long that might take and whether other countries who pledged to send smaller forces to

GANG VIOLENCE IS SURGING TO UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS IN HAITI, UN ENVOY SAYS UNITED NATIONS Associated Press

LAWYERS react as Justice Chacha Mwita delivers judgement on a petition against the deployment of Kenyan forces to Haiti, at Milimani court in the capital Nairobi, Kenya, Friday. A Kenyan court on Friday blocked the deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti, to help the Caribbean nation deal with gang violence. “A declaration is issued that the National Security Council has no mandate to deploy the National Police Service,” Justice Chacha ruled.

Photo: Brian Inganga/AP boost the multi-national mission would consider going at it alone.

Among those who planned to send forces were the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, Burundi, Chad and Senegal.

“All I will say at this time is that this is a major setback for the people of Haiti who yearn to have a stable country to live in,” said Roosevelt Skerrit, Dominica prime minister and former head of a Caribbean trade bloc known as Caricom that has sent recent delegations to Haiti to help resolve the unrest. “The decision of the Kenyan court warrants an emergency meeting of the friends of Haiti to determine with the Haitian people the plan B.” Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis did not return messages for comment, nor did the office of Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Hugh Todd, Guyana’s foreign minister, told The Associated Press that the trade bloc will likely meet soon to discuss the implications of the ruling as it awaits word from Jamaica.

“We will have to see if there is any legal space for us to operate,” he said, referring to whether there are any other legal options that might allow Kenya and other countries to move forward.

UN officials have not commented since the court ruling.

Edwin Paraison, a former Haitian diplomat and executive director of a foundation that seeks to strengthen ties between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, said he would be surprised if

international leaders didn’t have a plan B. He said the ruling, however, would allow Haiti to implement its own solutions to gang violence, and that he believes it has enough resources to do so.

“One entity that has never been mentioned, and we don’t understand why it’s never been mentioned, is Haiti’s military, even if it’s at an embryonic stage,” he said.

Paraison noted that more than 600 soldiers who recently received training in Mexico could work alongside with police.

“We have to look at the resources we have at the local level to deal with this situation,” he said.

But such resources might not be enough, said André Joseph, 50, who owns a small convenience store in downtown Port-au-Prince, one of the more dangerous areas of the capital.

The people who live and work around his store are very protective of him and his business, he said.

“I hope that someone can fight for them also,” Joseph said. “The international force would be the best thing for these people to have here, and for me, too.”

But in the absence of one, he would like to see the money set aside for the multinational mission go to Haiti instead so it can rebuild its own forces and fight gangs.

Many Haitians grumbled about Friday’s ruling, including Marjorie Lamour, a 39-year-old mother of two who sells women’s lingerie out of a small container she carries with her. She is forced to keep her load light

in case she must run from gangs.

“Some days I’m here all day, and then there’s a shooting and I’m running, and I come back home without a cent,” said Lamour, who called the ruling “a major crime” against Haitians.

She noted that she and her family have been forced to flee two different homes already because of gang violence, which has left more than 310,000 Haitians homeless.

“I don’t want to have to run a third time,” she said, adding that she doesn’t make enough money to properly care for her children. “Feeding my kids a meal once a day is hard enough. I hope God can do something for us because no one is doing anything.”

Da Rin, with International Crisis Group, noted that one silver lining is how the mission backed by the UN Security Council did not specify that Kenya would be the one to lead it. He said it opens the possibility that another country could take the reins without additional meetings and approval from the council.

As Haiti awaits the possibility of a plan B, Da Rin said he worries that the situation could only worsen, especially given the recent arrival of former Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe, who has not supported the Kenyan-led mission.

“With this news, the desperation of Haitians to see a way out of the security crisis increases,” he said. “They may make some slightly radical decisions.”

AN unprecedented surge in gang violence is plaguing Haiti, with the number of victims killed, injured and kidnapped more than doubling last year, the UN special envoy for the conflict-wracked Caribbean nations said Thursday.

In a grim briefing, Maria Isabel Salvador told the UN Security Council, “I cannot overstress the severity of the situation in Haiti, where multiple protracted crises have reached a critical point.”

She said the 8,400 victims of gang violence documented by her UN office last year — a 122% rise from 2022 — were mainly targeted by gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Some 300 gangs control an estimated 80% of the capital, and accounted for 83% of last year’s killings and injuries, Salvador said. But, she added, their tentacles have reached northward into the Artibonite region, considered Haiti’s food basket, and south of the capital “gangs conducted large-scale attacks to control key zones,” systematically using sexual violence to exert control.

The briefing came more than three months after the Security Council approved the deployment of a multinational armed force led by Kenya to help bring gang violence under control.

But the deployment of Kenyan security officers has faced a series of hurdles. It finally got a green light from Kenya’s parliament. And Kenya’s UN ambassador, Martin Kimani, told the council a court verdict in a case brought by an individual seeking to block the deployment would be announced Friday.

If the court allows the deployment, Kenyan authorities told The Associated Press last month that the first group of about 300 officers was expected to arrive in Haiti by February. Kenya’s contribution would eventually rise to 1,000 officers at the head of a 3,000-strong multinational force.

Burundi, Chad, Senegal, Jamaica and Belize have pledged troops for the multinational mission.

Haiti’s National Police are no match for the gangs. Less than 10,000 officers are on duty at any time in a country of more than 11 million people. Ideally, there should be some 25,000 active officers, according to the UN Salvador told the council that although 795 new recruits will join the force in March, about 1,600 police officers left the force in 2023, according to data gathered by her office, further diminishing the Haitian police’s ability to counter gang violence and maintain security.

Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Génus said the country stands “at a decisive crossroads on which the hopes for Haiti’s future are pinned.”

“The Haitian people have had enough of the armed gangs savagery,” he said, adding that the gangs have stepped up their activities, perhaps concerned that the multinational mission is going to arrive any day.

“Every passing day that this long-awaited support has not yet arrived is one day too many — one day too many that we’re being subjected to the hell imposed on us by the gangs,” Génus said. “Given that time is of the essence, we would like to see a swift and effective deployment.”

Kenya’s ambassador said the government has made “significant progress” preparing for the deployment, while awaiting the court decision, including making assessment missions to Haiti.

Kenya is preparing for a planning conference with other police contributing countries in mid-February, Kimani said, and it is engaging with partners to prepare a pledging conference to mobilize funds for the mission.

The head of the UN office combatting drugs and crime told the council that gangs continue to have access to sophisticated weapons, which are fuelling the ongoing violence.

Last October, Ghada Waly said her office identified four major land and sea routes bringing illegal weapons into Haiti, mainly from the United States. A new report released Wednesday said weapons could also be arriving by small planes at 11 informal or clandestine airstrips across the country, she said.

SPORTS PAGE 12

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2024

Super Bowl, Page 14

DOUBLE DOUBLE

KEN MULLINGS’ COACH PROGRAMME PLEASED Deandre Ayton scores 22 points, grabs 12 AT URIAH WITH WHAT rebounds in Trail Blazers’ 104-96 loss to Bulls MCPHEE HE SAW PILOT AMATEUR BOXING

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE New Providence Amateur Boxing and the Bahamas Boxing Federation have teamed up, through the support of former boxer Andrew Albury, to begin a pilot amateur boxing programme at Uriah McPhee Primary School.

On Monday, Albury, along with NPBA president Valentino Knowles and BBF president Vincent Strachan, presented a punching bag for the use of the programme.

The programme will be geared to both boys and girls from grades 4-6 between the ages of 8-12 years old, according to Wanda Burrows, the physical education teacher at Uriah McPhee.

“We are very excited at Uriah McPhee Primary because this will bring a new form of discipline. It will teach great values and respect for the sport, not just here, but in our community,” Burrows said.

“We are also excited to know that there will be more men involved in this area and in our school, so we are more than ecstatic about what the programme

COACH Petros Kyprianou feels national record holder Ken Mullings has all the makings of being a topnotch decathlete.

Kyprianou, who hails from Greece, has been working with Mullings since he made the transition to their training camp in Urbana, Illinois.

In his first appearance this year in the multiple event competition over the weekend in Illinois, Mullings surpassed the 6,000-point mark as he accumulated a total of 6,340 points to improve on his previous national record for the indoor heptathlon - a seven-event competition.

“Last year when he came over, we didn’t get a chance to work with him as much as we did this year during the offseason,” Kyprianou said.

“He almost touched 6,000 points last year. But this year, he got the opportunity to work with us at the University of Illinois in November, so he really got to change a lot of his weaknesses. He’s become more efficient with his techniques and his speed and he’s gotten a lot stronger. “

SEE PAGE 14

ABOVE THE RIM: Portland Trail Blazers centre Deandre Ayton dunks against Chicago Bulls guard Coby White, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Oregon, late Sunday night.

(AP Photo/Troy Wayrynen) SEE THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 13

SEE PAGE 14

Tyrone and Zachary emerge as champions

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net TYRONE Brown and Zachary Young emerged as the walk and run champions of the fourth Bain and Grants Town Dr Bernard Nottage Fun Run/Walk race held on Saturday.

The free-for-all event, designed for the constituency where Wayde Watson serves as Member of Parliament, attracted a number of competitors from the various armed forces in the country, especially the Royal Bahamas Police

Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force as well as some of the track teams.

On hand to greet the participants as they crossed the finish line, where they started the early riser at the Southern Recreation Grounds, was Portia Butterfield-Nottage, the wife of the late Dr Bernard Nottage, the immediate past MP for BGT. “Mr Watson came up with the idea and he spoke to me and I thought it was fitting because BJ was a sportsman,” his wife said.

“He was involved in a lot of organisations that dealt

PORTIA NOTTAGE, MP Wayde Watson and Sean Bastian pose above with the winners (centre) of the BGT’s fourth annual Dr Bernard Nottage Walk Race on Saturday.

SPORTS CALENDAR BASKETBALL NPBA ACTION THE New Providence Basketball Association will continue its regular season action this week with the following games on tap: Wednesday 7pm - Cyber T4ech Blue Marlins vs Rhythm Rebels (DII) 8:30pm - Zulu Media & Symphony vs Discount Liquors Rockets (D1) NPWBA ACTION THE New Providence Women’s Basketball Association will continue its regular season action this week at the DW Davis Gymnasium with the following games on tap: Tuesday 7pm - Elite Ballers vs Lady Defenders 8pm - Sand Dollar Lady Flyers vs Shift Lady Eagles Thursday 7pm - Sand Dollar Lady Flyers vs Elite Ballers

Jan. 2024

8pm - Shift Lady Eagles vs Lady Defenders Saturday 8:30pm - Lady Defenders vs Sand Dollar Lady Flyers PRIMARY SCHOOLS TOURNEY THE New Providence Public Primary Schools Sports Association will continue its basketball competition today at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, starting at 9am when the girls will complete their playoffs and championship. The boys will begin their competition on Wednesday.

BAISS PLAYOFFS THE Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools will begin its basketball postseason today at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium with sudden death action, starting at 4pm.

Junior girls - #2 St John’s College (3-1) vs #3 Queen’s College (2-2).

SEE PAGE 16

with sports, so I thought it fitting.”

She expressed her gratitude to all of the organisers and the participants for helping to keep her husband’s memory alive.

Watson said he was delighted to stage the event in recognition of Dr Nottage, who would have touched the lives of so many people during his era as their MP and even in his involvement as a Minister of the Government and an advocate for sports in the country.

SEE PAGE 13

RISING UNDER-12 TENNIS STARS COMPETE IN FIRST IC BAHAMAS JUNIOR SERIES FOR THE YEAR PLAYERS in the under12 division competed in the first IC Bahamas Junior Series for the year at the National Tennis Centre this weekend.

Players represented from Grand Bahama, Abaco and New Providence.

On the boys’ side, Da’Shan Gardiner Jr, who hails from Abaco, would come out on top and capture his first U12 title in a very strong performance over Aidan Nsouli. Both boys were undefeated in the run to the finals.

Gardiner Jr would win over Nsouli in straight sets in the finals.

In the girls’ division, both Marina Bostwick and Grand Bahama native Danielle Saunders played great. In what would be the last match of the tournament, Bostwick was victorious over Saunders in a very exciting matchup.

YOUNG tennis players Marina Bostwick and Danielle Saunders.

The girls went to a 1st set tiebreak with Bostwick going on to win straight sets.

Congratulations are extended to Gardiner and Bostwick on capturing their first under-12 titles in an excellent start to the new year. Congrats are also extended to Saunders

and Nsouli on their finalist placements and to all the players in the tournament.

“We applaud the tournament organisers, IC Bahamas on a very smooth and well-organised event,” the BLTA said.

The tournament was sponsored by Winterbotham Trust.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 13

Ayton posts double double 22 points and 12 rebounds in Trail Blazers’ loss to Bulls

By ANNE M PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan finished with 20 points and the Chicago Bulls snapped a two-game losing streak with a 104-96 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

Coby White had 15 points and 10 assists for the Bulls, playing the last of a short three-game road trip, while Andre Drummond came off the bench with 15.

Ayo Dosunmu’s 3-pointer with 21 seconds left all but sealed the win.

The Bulls, who were never able to extend their lead by more than 11 points and made just eight of 32 3-point attempts, relied on defence for the victory.

“I really thought we tried to share the ball,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

“I think 27 assists on the number of threes that we generated, that we just didn’t shoot the ball very well. But I give the guys credit, we hung in there defensively.”

Jerami Grant led Portland with 24 points, while Deandre Ayton had 22 and 12 rebounds. The Blazers have lost four of their last five games.

The Bulls narrowly led by 76-75 going into the final quarter. Chicago rookie Julian Phillips’ 3-pointer stretched the lead to 88-80.

Anfernee Simons’ 3-pointer with 4:34 left got Portland within 92-89 before DeRozan’s 3 on the other end ended the threat.

Simons got the Blazers within 99-96 late in the game but Dosunmu’s 3-pointer snuffed any attempt at a final rally.

CHICAGO Bulls centre Andre Drummond, left, drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers centre Deandre Ayton, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday night.

(AP Photo/Troy Wayrynen) Dosunmu’s 3 came off a pass from Nikola Vucevic.

“Anytime you get a win, it always feels good,” Dosunmu said.

“It just feels good because of the work I put into it, (Vucevic) trusting me, he could have easily just shot it, because he’s a veteran and an All-Sar, but he trusted in me to make the right play.”

The Bulls were without Patrick Williams, who has a sore left foot and is scheduled to undergo additional imaging in Chicago before there’s a timeline for his return.

Williams, averaging 10 points a game, played on Thursday in Los Angeles when the Bulls fell to the Lakers 141-132.

His absence impacts Chicago, which is already missing Zach LaVine and Torrey Craig.

Grant (back soreness) and rookie Scoot Henderson (quad contusion) were game-time decisions for the Blazers, but both played.

Portland, sitting secondto-last in the Western Conference, has struggled throughout January with injuries and illness.

The Blazers were coming off a 1-3 road trip that ended on Friday with a 116-100 loss to the Spurs.

Portland trailed for the nearly all of the first quarter but closed the gap midway through the second and tied the game at 30 on Duop Reath’s 3-pointer.

White answered for the Bulls with a 3 of his own.

The Bulls stretched the lead to 53-42 at halftime.

White led all players with 11 points.

Portland closed within 59-55 after Ayton’s second straight dunk but the Blazers couldn’t get closer until

Ayton made a pair of free throws that tied it at 67.

Portland pulled ahead on Grant’s free throw and the teams wrestled for the lead the rest of the third quarter.

The Blazers also struggled from the perimeter, making just six of 33 3-point attempts.

“We know we’ve got the players capable of putting up numbers, scoring from the outside, from the inside. We just have to figure it out,” Grant said.

“I really don’t have the answers for that, but we’re definitely capable.”

BEN SIMMONS MAKES BIG IMPACT IN LIMITED MINUTES IN RETURN AS NETS BEAT JAZZ 147-114 NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Simmons had 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds in his return from a 38-game absence, Mikal Bridges added 33 points and the Brooklyn Nets routed the Utah Jazz 147114 last night.

Simmons hadn’t played since November 6 because of a pinched nerve in his lower back. The No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft played 18 minutes off the bench, made all five shots and likely would have had a triple-double if not for a minutes restriction.

Cam Thomas added 25 points for the Nets, who rolled to their highest point total of the season, had 41 assists on their 54 field goals and made 21 3-pointers. They have won two straight after losing seven of their previous eight.

Keyonte George scored 21 points for the Jazz. They were trying to match an NBA record by scoring 120 points for a 12th straight game, but didn’t help their chances by committing 17 turnovers that the Nets turned into 27 points.

SUNS 118, HEAT 105 MIAMI (AP) — Eric Gordon scored 23 points, Devin Booker had 22 and

WALK/RUN FROM PAGE 12

“From my perspective, this was a good way to memorialise his legacy,” Watson said. “So I want to say thank you to the armed forces. We had participation from just about every one of them and we had some participation from some of the track clubs as well. So I want to thank them.”

Sean Bastian, the organiser of the event, said he was impressed with the turnout as well.

Phoenix handed Miami its seventh consecutive loss.

Kevin Durant scored 20 and Bradley Beal had 19 for the Suns, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games and swept the Heat for just the second time in the last 17 seasons.

Jimmy Butler scored 26 points for Miami, which was 24-16 and fifth in the Eastern Conference just two weeks ago. The Heat are now 24-23 and three games behind Indiana in the loss column for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth. It’s the first seven-game skid for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

CAVALIERS 118, CLIPPERS 108 CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 28 points and 12 assists and Jarrett Allen extended his double-double streak to 15 straight games, leading Cleveland past Los Angeles.

Allen finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds.

Isaac Okoro added 17 points — all in the first half — as the Cavs held off a late Clippers comeback and ended L.A.’s winning streak at five. Cleveland is 10-1 since Jan. 3.

Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points and Norman

“I feel with a fun run/ walk, it’s very challenging for people to get up that early, especially those persons who are not used to walking or jogging that early in the morning,” he said. “But I was quite satisfied with the turnout. We did a very good fun run walk and health screening and we provided fritters and souse, so it’s still a work in progress.”

Tyrone Brown, the winner of the walk race, said despite the fact that the course was too short, he

Powell 18 for the Clippers, who got within four in the final two minutes but fell to 2-1 on a season-long sevengame trip.

KNICKS 113, HORNETS 92 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jalen Brunson

scored 32 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 28 and New York kept rolling without the injured Julius Randle, beating Charlotte for its seventh straight victory.

Josh Hart chipped in with 12 rebounds, eight

points and seven assists for the Knicks (30-17), who entered with the fourthbest record in the Eastern Conference.

Brandon Miller scored 29 points and Miles Bridges had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets (10-35) fell to 0-4 since trading Terry Rozier to Miami for Kyle Lowry and a first-round draft pick.

Lowry isn’t expected to play for Charlotte.

CELTICS 118, PELICANS 112 BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and Boston rallied past New Orleans.

The victory snapped a two-game skid at home for Boston, which started the season 20-0 at TD Garden.

Jaylen Brown added 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Jrue Holiday had 20 points and Derrick White finished with 17.

The Pelicans led by 17 in the first half but were outscored 68-52 over the final two quarters to drop their third straight game.

Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Zion Williamson finished with 26 points.

was happy that he was still able to clinch the overall victory. “I was happy that I came out here and competed,” he said. “I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun, but it was just too short. By the time I got warmed up, I was getting ready to cross the finish line,” he said.

“It was still a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.”

Another one of the participants, James Simmons, representing the Bahamas Correctional Institution, said it was a lot of fun competing in the event. He

emerged as the divisional winner of the men’s 59-age group category in the run.

“I think the event is an excellent way to help develop your mind, body and soul,” he said. “Even though the run was short, I enjoyed it and next year, we will definitely have a bigger crowd of prison officers participating.”

Nurse Alkeitah Colebrooke conducted the health screening with nurses Joycetina Conliffe and Earlene Munnings as they conducted blood

pressure and glucose testing.

“What we do is we look at the numbers and we give advice and, if any numbers are out of whack, we will inform them of what to do,” she said.

Results of the top three finishers in each race: Walkers - 1st place Tyrone Brown; 2nd place William Seymour; 3rd place Vance Ferguson.

Runners - 1st place Zachary Young; 2rd place Trevon Brown; 3rd place Bryant Ferguson.

BROOKLYN Nets guard Ben Simmons (10) goes to the basket past Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3), forward Luka Samanic (19) and guard Talen Horton-Tucker (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game last night in New York.

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

HARDEN PUTS UP HIGHEST SCORING TRIPLEDOUBLE IN NBA HISTORY TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY: (JANUARY 30) 1971 — UCLA starts its 88-game winning streak with a 74-61 win over UC Santa Barbara.

1983 — John Riggins rushes for a Super Bowl-record 166 yards on 38 carries to spark the Washington Redskins to a comeback 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

For Riggins, the game’s MVP, it’s his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game during the playoffs, also a record.

1992 — Jockey Mike Smith wins six races in one day at Aqueduct for the second time in the month.

His first six-winner day at Aqueduct was on Jan. 13.

1993 — Monica Seles beats Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to capture her third straight Australian Open.

1994 — The Dallas Cowboys, behind MVP Emmitt Smith and safety James Washington, beat Buffalo 30-13 for their second straight NFL title while giving the Bills four straight Super Bowl losses.

1996 — Magic Johnson finishes with 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-118 victory over Golden State. It is Johnson’s first regular-season game back from a 4 1/2season retirement.

1999 — Martina Hingis wins her fifth Grand Slam title and third straight Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France’s Amelie Mauresmo.

2001 — Daron Rahlves wins the super giant slalom, the first American to capture the event at the world championships.

2002 — Utah’s Karl Malone becomes 2nd player in NBA history to register 34,000 career points by scoring 18 in a 90-78 win over Chicago at the Delta Center; trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points).

2006 — Teemu Selanne scores two goals for his 1,000th career point in Anaheim’s 4-3 overtime victory against Los Angeles.

2010 — Serena Williams ends Justine Henin’s hopes of a Grand Slam title in her return from retirement with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in the Australian Open final.

2011 — MVP DeAngelo Hall has one of his team’s five interceptions and returns a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown to help the NFC match a Pro Bowl scoring record in a 55-41 victory over the AFC. AFC quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel each throw first-half interceptions to help the NFC blow open a 42-0 lead.

2016 — Angelique Kerber upsets Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open title, ending the six-time champion’s unbeaten streak in finals at Melbourne Park.

2018 — Houston guard James Harden puts up highest scoring tripledouble in NBA history (60 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) as the Rockets beat Orlando Magic, 114-107 in Houston.

2022 - Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Rafael Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam singles title with an epic 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

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PAGE 14, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

THE TRIBUNE

The Super Bowl is set: Mahomes and Chiefs to face Purdy and 49ers

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer PATRICK Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Las Vegas with a chance for a rare repeat while facing the San Francisco 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch from four years ago.

The Chiefs beat Lamar Jackson and the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC championship game Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.

A few hours later, Brock Purdy rallied the No. 1-seeded 49ers to a 34-31 victory over the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game.

The Chiefs (14-6) are aiming to become the first back-to-back champions since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots did it following the 2003-04 seasons.

Purdy — who was still two years away from being the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft the last time the teams played in the Super Bowl — will try to lead the 49ers (14-5) to a record-tying sixth title in their eighth appearance.

The teams meet at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11.

The 49ers opened as 2 1/2point favourites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Mahomes and the Chiefs overcame a 20-10 fourthquarter deficit and beat the 49ers 31-20 to give coach Andy Reid his first Super Bowl victory on Feb. 2, 2020. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spoiled Kansas City’s repeat bid the following year.

SAN Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy speaks at a news conference after the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

KANSAS City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes reacts after the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore.

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The Chiefs will become just the third team to play in four Super Bowls over a five-year span. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s and the Patriots in the 2000s and 2010s won three Super Bowls in a five-year span.

Mahomes rallied the Chiefs for a 38-35 comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl last year.

They beat Miami 26-7 in the wild-card round and defeated the Bills 27-24 in Buffalo last week in Mahomes’ first career

Francisco, which last won it following the 1994 season.

Reid will lead a team in the Super Bowl for the fifth time, moving into a tie with Tom Landry for third most behind Bill Belichick’s nine and Don Shula’s six. Reid coached the Eagles when the Patriots beat them to repeat 19 years ago.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan returns to the Super Bowl after losing to Reid in his first crack at it.

Shanahan was Atlanta’s offensive coordinator when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead against Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl 51.

playoff game on the road besides Super Bowls.

The 49ers were dominated by the Eagles in the NFC title game last year in a game that saw Purdy suffer a significant elbow injury that required surgery. He returned for the season opener and helped them earn a first-round bye. Purdy led a 24-21 comeback win over Green Bay last week and brought the Niners back from a 17-point deficit against the Lions.

Only New England and Pittsburgh have more Super Bowl wins the San

Mahomes, a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP, will start in his fourth Super Bowl, tied with Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning, Roger Staubach and Jim Kelly for third-most behind Brady’s 10 and John Elway’s five.

The biggest question is whether Taylor Swift will make it to Las Vegas to watch her boyfriend in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11.

Swift, who celebrated with Kelce on the field after the victory over the Ravens, is scheduled to perform in Japan just 24 hours before kickoff.

it’s about 10 or 11 MULLINGS 1,000m, points per second, so when

FROM PAGE 12

Despite his increase in numbers, Kyprianou admitted that Mullingas has to improve on his time in the 1,000 metres and the 1,500m outdoors, with the five-metre pole in the pole vault, his long jump and being consistent in the high jump.

“All around, I feel very good. Hopefully he can get to go to the World Indoor Championships and compete for a medal,” he said.

“He can jump further in the long jump, his shot put needs to be more than 16m, he improved a lot in the hurdles, but he can do it again, but where he can get a lot of points is the high jump and the 1,000. “In the

BOXING FROM PAGE 12

can bring for our school.” said Albury, a retired Bahamasair pilot who wanted to give back to the sport that helped him as a young boy growing up.

“Through sports, with my experience, we can develop mutual respect and discipline,” Albury said. “Mr Strachan and myself go way back. No matter what status we have in life, we have developed a good relationship.

“So I am happy to be able to give this to the association and hope that it will help with the further development of the sport. I hope to be involved in the programme in whatever way I can. I want to be able to give back because the sport helped me.”

Knowles, a graduate of Uriah, thanked God for giving him the vision for allowing him to bring the programme to his alma mater through the sponsorship of Albury.

“This movement for me is spiritually, physically and emotionally encouraging to be back here where it all started for me at ground

you are running 2:52 rather than 2:40 minutes, that’s another 100 points. “I told him he needed to run 2:45 to score over 6,400 points.

He just needs more experience in that event, rather than going out there and jogging it. If he can run it a lot faster, he could be in contention for a medal.”

And based on his training environment, Kyprianou said it shows that Miullings is not just healthy, but he’s happy, so if they can keep him in that frame of mind, he will be a contender.

“He’s not on the NCAA team, but he’s training with the group here and helping out,” Kypianou said. “He has a good training partner and next year, we will have another competitor who I

zero,” said Knowles, who went on to become one of the country’s most decorated amateur boxers.

“I’m happy to be heading this initiative right now.

This programme is going to be well-grounded with four coaches on board, who have been documented and certified by the Bahamas Boxing Federation.”

Knowles said what is so inspiring is that they have been given permission to put on the training programme during the school hours, so it won’t affect the children in the afternoons.

“We will only be able to put on the strength, conditioning and skills level at the school,” Knowles said.

“But as the programme goes on we intend to move to the National Boxing Gym at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex where we will be able to do more of the contact work.”

At the end of the 2-3 month programme, Knowles said they will host an event at Uriah where they will allow the students to showcase what they have learned during the sessions, which are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Strachan called it a “red letter day” because it brings

KEN MULLINGS, of The Bahamas, and his coach Petros Kyprianou pose in front of the national record and world-leading performance. trained in Greece, so he will have plenty of help to get him to the next level.”

As the world’s leader so far this year in the

pentathlon, Kyprianou said Mullings should have no problem qualifying for the Worlds set for Glasgow, Scotland, March 1-3.

“I feel very great. I’m happy with my decision to come here. This is a game changer,” said Mullings, aged 26, who also said his

BOXING equipment for Uriah McPhee was presented to Wanda Burrows by former boxer Andrew Albury. At left is Valentino Knowles and at right is Vincent Strachan. back the memories where the late Ray Minus Jr started Champion Amateur Boxing Club, recruiting boxers like Knowles.

“So I’m honoured today to be here to share in the relaunch of the programme in the school,” Strachan said. “This is the brainchild of Valentino Knowless, so we are happy to support him in this venture.

“We are excited about what’s happening in boxing.

We’re not just going to stop here. We’re going elsewhere and developing as many schools as we can so that we can rescue the youth of our nation through boxing. If it is God’s will, we will reap the fruits of our labour.”

Knowles thanked Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and the National Sports Authority for affording him the time off from the NBC

to be able to conduct the programme at Uriah.

“It takes a village to raise a child and so we want to thank the federation for joining us in this venture,” Knowles asid. “This is a great way of combating all of the crime going on in our society.”

“We want to catch the kids while they are young.

The bible says that we should train up a child while they are young and

WREXHAM BOWS OUT OF FA CUP IN THE 4TH ROUND BLACKBURN, England (AP) — Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham missed out on the chance of a showdown with Newcastle after losing to Blackburn 4-1 in the FA Cup yesterday.

The Welsh club’s Hollywood co-owner might have been dreaming of a mouthwatering fifth-round clash against the English Premier League team when Andrew Cannon put Wrexham up 1-0 in the 19th-minute at Ewood Park.

But the fourth-division team was brought to earth by second-division Blackburn.

Sammi Szmodics and Sam Gallagher scored in the 32nd and 34th. Szmodics struck again in first-half stoppage time. Sondre Tronstad notched the fourth goal.

“It’s a great lesson for us. Against better quality players, you’ve got to be switched on all the time or you get punished, and they punished us tonight,” Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said. “We’ll regroup and we’ll concentrate on a terrific second part of the season in the league.”

Blackburn manager Jon Dahl Tomasson is a former Newcastle striker and can look forward to a reunion with his old team.

And Szmodics is targeting a cup giant-killing in the next round.

“Chuffed to get through and into the next round, looking forward to Newcastle,” he said. “We feel like we can beat anyone here on our day.”

Wrexham’s priority is to secure a second successive promotion and move up to division three. It is second in the standings and five points behind first-placed Stockport with a game in hand.

performance has really indicated how well he’s progressing. “There were some personal bests that I had for too long and I needed to improve on and I basically destroyed most of them, so I couldn’t ask for more,” Mullings said. “The competition was perfect for January, especially for a home meet.

“My team-mate scored a personal best of 930 points and everybody had solid individual marks to keep the competition solid enough for me to perform as best as I did.”

With some time off to recuperate, Mullings is returning home this week to spend some time with his wife Abigail Adderley, and his son, Myles, who is celebrating his birthday on February 3.

when they get older, they will not depart from it.”

The purpose of the programme, according to Knowles, is to introduce the sport of boxing and the goal is to teach boxing skills, technique, self defense and discipline while scouting for potential talent for the future of boxing.

Through the programme, Knowles said the participants will be able to improve their health, combat anti-bullying and improve their overall performances, attendance and academic pursuits.

Once they have their signed consent forms from their parents, Knowles is encouraging the students to come dressed in their athletic gear, bring a water bottle and a towel.

Assisting Knowles in the programme will be Andy Ford, the senior superintendent for facilities at the National Boxing Center and coaches Jamaal Nabbie, Godfrey Strachan, Verdant Scott, Tyrone Humes and Johnathan Hernandez.

Interested persons who wish to make a contribution of water or refreshments for the programme can contact Knowles at NPBA242@ gmail.com or 456-4371.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, January 30, 2024, PAGE 15

PREP holds first session PREP, the Next Step Mentorship Programme, held its first Saturday session over the weekend.

The programme was launched by St Matthew’s Anglican Church for youth in the church and the Free Town area.

Last week’s session was on identity and was attended by students aged 11 through 18.

The programme will feature lectures from diverse speakers, activities, group work, tutoring and job opportunities for participants.

Interested individuals are encouraged to reach out to St Matthew’s Anglican Church for further information on how to partner, contribute, sponsor, donate, teach or mentor.

JUNIOR JUNKANOO

STUDENTS from more than 20 schools participated in the 2024 Jr Junkanoo Parade, with participants raging from preschool to senior high, including public and private schools. One on One Preschool took home first place in the Preschool Division; Lyford Cay International School took the top position for the All-Age Division; Woodcock Primary School won the Primary Division; C.H. Reeves Junior High won the Junior Division and CV Bethel Senior High received 1st place in Senior Division.

Photos: Dante Carrer

ONE on One Preschool.

CV BETHEL.

LYFORD Cay School.

WOODCOCK Primary.

HONOURING RETIREES ESSAY CONTEST OPEN TO LOCAL STUDENTS THE Ministry of Education has honoured 80 retirees who dedicated between ten and 40 years of service.

The honourees included former assistant directors, deputy directors, district superintendents, master teachers, school security guards, and an array of officers who served in the ministry’s headquarters and satellite offices.

The honourees were presented with service awards for 20 years and less, 20 plus

CH REEVES.

years, 30 plus years, and 40 plus years.

In attendance were Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Glenys Hanna Martin and former Education Ministers Jeffrey Lloyd, Jerome Fitzgerald, and Desmond Bannister.

The former ministers, who served during the work life of many of the retirees in attendance, thanked the retirees for their service and congratulated them on their retirement.

THE Laws of Life Essay Competition is currently open to students throughout the Bahamas grades five through 12 and local college students age 25 and under.

The competition provides students with an opportunity to reflect and write about their beliefs and principles.

Students must be enrolled in a local educational

institution, homeschool, community program, or alternative educational setting.

Students, teachers and schools can win prizes, top scorers in the Family Islands can also win a prize.

The competition deadline is Friday, February 9, and all rules, topics, writing resources and submission portal can be found at bahamaslawsoflife.org.

PAGE 16, Tuesday, January 30, 2024

THE TRIBUNE

NPPPSSA SHERMAN SMITH MINI BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCORES

T

HE New Providence Public Primary Schools Sports Association’s 2024 Sherman Smith Mini Basketball Tournament got underway yesterday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium with a series of games played in the girls’ division.

Here’s a look at the scores posted: Girls Division Pool A Eva Hilton 20, Garvin Tynes 8.

Eva Hilton 25, Carlton Francis 0.

Garvin Tynes 24, Carlton Francis 0 Final Pool A Standings 1. Eva Hilton 2. Garvin Tynes 3. Carlton Francis (eliminated) Pool B Centreville 8, Sadie Curtis 4.

CW Sawyer 3, Yellow Elder 0.

Sadie Curtis 7, CW Sawyer 4.

Centreville 7, Yellow Elder 0.

Pool C Palmdale 12, Claridge 11.

Uriah McPhee 4, EP Roberts 3.

Uriah McPhee 5, Claridge 3.

EP Roberts 11, Palmdale 8 Pool D Sandilands 12, Albury Sayles 0.

Sandilands 20, Thelma Gibson 0.

Thelma Gibson 4, Albury Sayles 0.

Final Pool D Standings 1. Sandilands 2. Thelma Gibson 3. Albury Sayles (eliminated) Play continues today with the completion of pools B and C group play Pool C: Sadie Curtis vs Yellow Elder

Centreville vs CW Sawyer Pool D: Claridge vs EP Roberts Palmdale vs Uriah McPhee To be followed by: 1. Pool championships: 1st v 2nd ranked teams in each pool 2. Semifinals: Pool A Champion vs Pool D Champion + Pool B Champion vs Pool C Champion 3. Consolation game: Losers of semifinal 1 vs loser of semifinal 2 4. Championship game: Winner of semifinal 1 v Winner of semifinal 2

Photos by Dante Carrer

SPORTS NOTES

FROM PAGE 12 Junior boys - #2 Queen’s College (10-1) vs #3 Jordan Prince Williams (8-3).

Senior girls - #2 St John’s College (6-1) vs #3 St Augustine’s College (4-2).

Senior boys - #2 Jordan Prince Williams (8-2) vs #3 Kingsway Academy (8-2).

Wednesday Junior girls - #1 St. Augustine’s College (4-0) vs #4 Charles W Saunders (1-3).

Junior boys - #1 St John’s College (11-0) vs #4 St Augustine’s College (8-3).

Senior girls - #1 Kingsway Academy (7-0) vs #4 Queen’s College (4-3).

Senior boys - #1 Charles W Saunders (10-0) vs #4 Queen’s College (6-4).

5K RUN/WALK Bahamas Feeding Network THE Bahamas Feeding Network will hold its 5K

Fun Run/Walk & Health Fair on Saturday, February 3. The registration fee is $20. Interested persons can register online at www.facebook.com/ qcpharmacypi or www. bahamasfeedingnetwork. org. For more information, persons can also contact 242-605-9559, 242-395-9559 or 242-676-2676.

TENNIS Inaugural Valentine’s Doubles Classic Open Invite THIS February, during the season of love, Insurance Management and The Gym Tennis Club of Winton invite tennis players in the country to experience the “love of the game” with their inaugural Valentine’s Doubles Classic Tennis Open Invitational.

The tournament will begin on February 10 and tennis players from all around the island will converge at the Gym Tennis Club in Winton to battle it out in a “doubles” only

tournament featuring four categories, including: Men’s, Ladies, Over 55, and the always entertaining Mixed Doubles category.

Interested players should e-mail “gtctourbah@gmail. com” to get their registration forms. Insurance Management and the Gym Tennis Club encourages fans and those who want to discover the love of tennis, to come come out, cheer, enjoy and even hit a ball or two.”

YOUTH FLAG FOOTBALL THE Bahamas Youth Flag Football League will be hosting a free offensive camp February 3 and Feb 10 @ the multipurpose field at the Sports Center. Kids ages 6 - 17 are invited to attend and can sign up by email byffl242@gmail.com.

This is the first official event for the BYFFL this year and will be followed by the 2nd Annual High School Tournament planned for April 13.