WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1st, 2017
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RBC expert: Bahamas squandering VAT - see Business
Ingraham: Get out and register Bahamians urged by former PM to sign up By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net AS VOTER registration in the country remains sluggish - falling below numbers compared to this same period during the last election cycle - former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham encouraged Bahamians to register notwithstanding the inconveniences they are facing. Speaking to The Tribune last night, Mr Ingraham said this is a very important exercise and is the only opportunity that Bahamians have to determine the party they would like to govern the country. He made the comments shortly after he and his wife Delores registered to vote at the Government High School in Yellow Elder Gardens. As it stands, the number of registered voters is around 88,000, lower than it was at this same time last election season.
7TH GRADE STUDENT HAD GUN ON CAMPUS
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A SEVENTH grade male student of AF Adderley Junior High School brought a gun on the school’s campus Monday and was arrested by police, officials confirmed yesterday. Another male student is also being questioned by police. Although the incident occurred on Monday, police did not release an official report on the matter until Tuesday evening. Police said they did not find any ammunition for the weapon. Expressing outrage, Joan Knowles-Turnquest, the acting president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT), said: “There could have been a death.” “We could have heard the sirens of police going down SEE PAGE SIX
FITZGERALD: WE’VE DONE ALL WE CAN TO END SCHOOL VIOLENCE By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
HUBERT INGRAHAM, former Prime Minister of The Bahamas, registering to vote with his wife Delores at Government High School yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff Asked whether he be- the Constituencies Commis- encies Commission’s report general election. lieved this spoke to voter sion’s report is tabled in Par- had been behind schedule, On Friday, Mr Christie apathy, the former prime liament and it is adopted. preventing it from reaching said the report could be minister said he was cerMr Ingraham said under Parliament. Under the pre- complete sometime this tain the numbers would im- Prime Minister Perry Chris- vious Ingraham administra- week. prove once the constituency tie’s watch this was the sec- tion, the report had been SEE PAGE SIX boundaries are officially cut, ond time that the Constitu- tabled six months before the
‘SHAMEFUL THAT HALKITIS CANNOT EXPLAIN WHERE VAT HAS GONE’ By SANCHESKA DORSETT Tribune Staff Reporter sdorsett@tribunemedia.net FREE National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday said it is “shameful” that after two hours on the radio airwaves, Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis could not explain to
the Bahamian people “where the VAT money gone”. He was responding to Mr Halkitis’ defensive demeanour to criticism of a value added tax (VAT) speech he gave at the PLP convention last week. In a statement, Dr Minnis said Mr Halkitis’ explanation on where the revenue from VAT went was
“inadequate and insulting” and “does not reflect the type of servant leadership that the Bahamian people desire”. On Monday, Mr Halkitis, while appearing as a guest on “The Revolution” with host Juan McCartney maintained that the VAT money is being used to pay down the national debt as well
as defray other government expenses. He also insisted that there can never be a true account of where the VAT money is spent because the money “goes into the consolidated fund with all other government revenue”. SEE PAGE FIVE
EDUCATION Minister Jerome Fitzgerald yesterday said the onus for recent violent incidents on school campuses must fall on the wider society, further lamenting that officials have done everything they can to stop school violence. Mr Fitzgerald, in his first public comments on violent crimes at school campuses since the stabbing incident at the Government High School campus earlier this month which left one teen in critical condition and two others with injuries, said the presence of police and heightened security forces have dramatically “cut down” incidents but the core issues spurring these matters had to be addressed in the community. SEE PAGE SIX
NHI REGISTRATION OF PHYSICIANS BEGINS By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net
GOVERNMENT officials yesterday announced the launch of National Health Insurance’s primary care physician registration, which NHI senior officials said is a “critical milestone” that signals the “initiation” of the second phase of the government proposed scheme. However, there is still no
clear indication by NHI officials as to when that registration process is expected to be complete, which is what has to happen in order for the commencement of the second phase of NHI, enrolment, to be fully realised. NHI Secretariat Permanent Secretary Peter Deveaux-Isaacs said yesterday that “many doctors” have already indicated an interest in registering for NHI, giv-
ing the impression that registering the interested primary care providers (PCPs) should be an expedient process. Additionally, NHI Project Manager Dr Delon Brennen said based on the “enthusiastic” response of various PCPs towards registering with NHI, officials are “assured that this process will happen in a timely manner”. Regarding just how many primary care providers are
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needed in order to properly segue into the enrolment phase, or an expected number of the same, Bahamas Doctor’s Union (BDU) President Charles Clarke yesterday estimated it would take “about 90 physicians”. However, noting that that number “varies,” Dr Clarke said it would need anywhere from 90 to 120 PCPs. SEE PAGE SEVEN