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VOLUME:115 No.52, FEBRUARY 6TH, 2018
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FREE AT LAST ‘They miserable, they mad because I came back’ By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel yesterday stressed the case of Bahamas-born Jean Rony Jean-Charles has placed the government in a position uncovered by law or the Constitution, and urged the country to exercise restraint and let the law take its course following Mr Jean-Charles’ release from custody yesterday. Mr Bethel insisted the government did not have an “axe to grind” against any individual, and intended to act in a humane manner to correct any “gaps” in law that may be illuminated by the government’s appeal against a court ruling on the matter. He said the major issues
HOW THE DAY UNFOLDED - SEE PAGE TWO ‘SOMEONE OUT THERE HELPING ME, HELPED ME NOT GO CRAZY’ - SEE PAGE THREE AG: LET THE LAW TAKE ITS COURSE - SEE PAGE THREE surrounding the lawfulness of Mr Jean-Charles’ arrest, detention and deportation have yet to be determined, adding the outcome of the government’s appeal will have significant legal ramifications on the fate of people born in The Bahamas to foreign parents who have failed to apply for citizenship as prescribed by
ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel outside court yesterday.
the Constitution. Mr Jean Charles did not apply for citizenship when he was between the age of 18 and 19, and was deported at age 34 after being held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre for some three months. “This (Supreme) Court has already made its ruling,” Mr Bethel said following a hearing yesterday. “We are appealing against that so the issues that excite people’s minds have yet to be determined by the highest court in The Bahamas. I also say that pending that, people should just allow the law to take its course look at the facts of the situation: Mr Jean-Charles is 35 years old, our Constitution only provides an entitlement or right for persons who are born here when they reach 18 and between the ages of 18 and 19. “We are in a position that is uncovered by the Constitution or the law of The Bahamas and so the decision in this matter will have ramifications. It will be an important decision by the court and it will also more importantly guide the legislature in terms of any changes that may be needed to clarify the law of what happens with persons who remain in The Bahamas after their constitutional entitlement ends without having made an application pursuant to the Constitution.” SEE PAGE TWO
JEAN Rony celebrates his freedom.
Photos: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
TAXI DRIVERS: WE’RE CLEAN
LIFE UNDER THE DUMP’S SMOKE
By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net
By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Taxicab Union President Philip Watkins has dismissed a tabloid report that taxicab drivers are defecating and urinating in their vehicles while parked at Prince George Wharf as “old news” and “irrelevant”. However, he said there were one or two “isolated incidents” of this nature reported about two years
ago, but the issue had been addressed. Meanwhile, Road Traffic Controller Ross Smith told The Tribune yesterday that the last time he heard of a taxicab driver eliminating waste on the docks was in 2016. Yesterday, a local tabloid reported that taxi drivers park on Prince George Wharf at night and sleep in their vehicles in an attempt to be first in line at 5.30am, SEE PAGE SEVEN
RESIDENTS who live in the communities near the New Providence Landfill find themselves, yet again, going through the “routine of recovery” as smoke continues to emanate from the dumpsite. The Tribune canvassed the Jubilee Gardens community yesterday to grasp the mood of property owners and their families
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
as government officials look to make inroads into the longstanding crisis. On Saturday, January 27, a fire erupted at the dump, sending plumes of black smoke in the air. More than a week later, locals said they were still grappling with the effects of noxious smoke. While many of the residents interviewed by The Tribune agreed the recent fire is not as severe as fires in the past, nearly all of SEE PAGE FIVE
PAGE 2, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
HOW THE DAY UNFOLDED
Free at last
from page one
Mr Bethel added: “I call on every Bahamian and every citizen in our country to exercise restraint as we go through this process. It will be emotional in some ways, it may be tense in a lot of other ways, but let us respect each other and work towards creating a better civility in our society.” On Tuesday last week, Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton ordered the government to “immediately” issue a travel document for Mr JeanCharles to allow him to return from Haiti to the Bahamas at the government’s expense and to grant him legal status no later than 60 days after his return, and upon him making an application. The Passport Office issued an emergency travel document valid for one year for Mr Jean-Charles on January 31, the following day. The governed filed its appeal on Friday, February 2, and also asked Justice Hilton for a stay of his order until the appeal had been completed. Justice Hilton ordered an emergency stay on Saturday, which was requested by Mr Bethel after he was advised by Mr JeanCharles’ lawyer Fred Smith of his client’s “imminent return” to The Bahamas. The ex-parte order, granted while Mr JeanCharles was mid-air, stated “all further proceedings and the judgment in this action…be stayed pending the hearing and outcome of the application of a stay made by respondents and set down for a hearing on Monday.” Mr Jean-Charles was arrested by immigration officers shortly after he landed in Nassau on Saturday, and detained at the CRDC.
CLOCKWISE from top left, Jean Rony Jean-Charles being brought into court under guard, Attorney General Carl Bethel arriving at court, Jean Rony Jean-Charles speaking to his lawyer, pictured with Fred Smith QC after his release and, above left, with his family after his victory. Photos: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff In court yesterday, Justice Hilton adjourned the stay application hearing to Thursday at 10am and granted Mr Jean-Charles’ release after legal counsel agreed to a compromise. The compromise arose after respondents submitted supplemental affidavits in support of their stay application, which Mr Jean Charles’ counsel had not been given a chance to review. Loren Klein, QC, who appeared on behalf of the Crown suggested the government would agree to Mr Jean-Charles’ release with an undertaking that he would not be deported, but initially requested reporting requirements. However, Mr JeanCharles’ lawyer Fred Smith strongly objected to the conditions of reporting
requirements, stating his client is a free man who does not fear due process. Mr Smith said: “If respondents wish to take an opportunity to ask for an adjournment (to) seek to introduce new papers, I have no objection to that as long as there is no reporting requirement and Mr Jean-Charles is not deported. “This is not a bail application,” Mr Smith said. “The invisible leash is perverse. He is fighting to stay in his birth home, the absurdity of a reporting condition is highlighted by those facts. “There is no law in The Bahamas which requires anybody to produce any form of status. (Reporting requirement) it is to create a prejudice that doesn’t exist in law and we object to it.”
Mr Bethel, Minister of State for Legal Affairs Elsworth Johnson, and Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kayla Green-Smith sat in the gallery during the hearing. Mr Klein, Gary Francis, and Franklyn Williams represented the government, and Mr Jean Charles was represented by Mr Smith and Damian Gomez, QC, and junior partner Dawson Malone. Mr Bethel explained the government’s counsel fully expected Mr Jean-Charles’ release. “We felt that would be a major issue,” he said, “and that all things being determined, the fact is the question of his detention, the question of his removal from The Bahamas are presently before the Court of Appeal, and we don’t
feel the need to try and relitigate that issue here on an application for a stay. “Mr Smith made his move and brought him in in time, how that was achieved will be dealt with in these proceedings but that’s later.” Speaking outside the court following his client’s release, Mr Smith said: “Jean Rony is a free man today without issue, that shows a great measure of responsibility on the part of the government. I hope they address these situations in that fair way in the future. These immigration issues are very sensitive and everything that the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association promotes is to try and deal with them in a humane manner and respecting everybody. Doing it with brute
force, it dehumanises our entire society so it’s very important to deal with it as responsibly as the attorney general and the respondents dealt with it today, and I am very grateful to them for that.” He added: “Today he is free at last without issue.” Joseph Darville, vice president of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA), added: “What has happened today particularly with the attorney general in the court house means that there is still hope for us to recognise and value human life. I think the arguments put forth both by our attorney and by the Attorney General’s Office means that we could have a mutual consideration when to comes to dealing with human life.”
THE TRIBUNE
‘Someone out there helping me, helped me not go crazy’
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, PAGE 3
By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net LAST week, Jean Rony Jean-Charles was living a nightmare, trapped in abject poverty in a Haitian slum he defined as “hell”. After a whirlwind 48-hours that ended in his unconditional release from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre yesterday, he told The Tribune he was “in heaven”. “I don’t know right now,” he said, attempting to describe his feelings. “It’s a new dream, I’m out, I’m free, I can’t believe it. Like it ain’t real, but it’s real, freedom.” However, his road to freedom would not be an easy one, he said, as he detailed his challenging track through hillside slums to the northern city of CapHaitian on motorbike. It was a journey he told The Tribune that could only have been guided by God. “I had to pay a motorbike, it took long we was riding ‘til morning and we started from 10pm. It was like when I ga reach, it was long riding over the hill, coming down the hill. I was saying when I ga reach, I almost fall asleep on the motorbike. “We catch a flat, patch up the tube, then the oil pan came out the bike because it was so rough so we had to stick a piece of wood under the pan, and then we had to find oil, but everywhere was closed. “The person that owned the bike he say he gonna check these gas stations and see if we can find a bottle of oil and we did find one. So we put the oil in the tank. God was with us, we put the oil in and we ride straight (to airport).” When he arrived at the airport, he said he believed the worst of his challenges were behind him. He said he had no idea the government had requested a stay of the judge’s order granting his return. “It feel great. Getting out of Haiti everything was fine. When I came to Nassau airport, (immigration) they start behaving stuck up. They went in the room, print the travel document and told me to sign it,” he said. “I signed it, I see they taking so long I say something ain’t right. Then they called me, they told two guys ‘go that way,’ these other two go get the van and make sure the reporters don’t see me.” He continued: “They say make sure the reporters don’t see you, so they rushing me, one hold me, just throw me in the van (and) speed off. I say man y’all kidnapping me where I going, they didn’t tell me at first, but then the fat man say you going the detention centre. I feel like I was kidnapped. “I asked them if they kidnap me, if they gone go kill me,” he said. In Nassau, Mr JeanCharles was immediately stopped by immigration officers and detained for nearly two hours before
JEAN Rony celebrates his freedom with family and supporters yesterday. he was taken to a bus and driven to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC). His attorney Crispin Hall Jr was present at the airport; however, Mr Hall Jr said he was not allowed to speak to Mr Jean-Charles and was told by immigration officials he would have to see him at the CRDC. While this newspaper was waiting outside the airport for Mr Jean-Charles to be escorted out, immigration officers attempted to conceal his exit. Upon seeing The Tribune, the officers began to run to a waiting bus with Mr Jean-Charles in tow. Mr Jean-Charles said when he got to the CRDC, he was derided by immigration officers who seemed personally upset by his return. “They was mad (at detention centre), the lady said ‘oh you’re a celebrity.’ I did feel miserable. I didn’t sleep, all I did was pray all night. The food they give me I didn’t want. I had just come off the plane I told the officers I didn’t sleep, I been riding all night. “They miserable, they mad because I came back. The lady before I came to court was saying ‘oh you is a Haitian’ this and that, I told her I born here, but she say oh she been to Port au Prince before in Haiti, it ain’t like that. And I say ‘man you ain’t really been, the place I been, it rough.’ “She say ‘oh Haiti nice,’ I say ‘yeah some part nice, but some part ain’t right.’ Some part what nice is the people what get the money, the part where I was, them people ain’t got no money, they poor, they dry rice
people.” He added: “I tired. I glad to be home, that’s what I did want.” Mr Jean-Charles’ case, and the outcome of the government’s appeal, was yesterday said to have significant ramifications on the fate of people born in the Bahamas to foreign parents who have failed to apply for citizenship as prescribed by the Constitution. Mr Jean Charles did not apply for citizenship when he was between the age of 18 and 19, and was deported at age 34 after being held at the Carmichael Road
Detention Centre for some three months. He was re-arrested and taken to the centre having returned to the country on a court-ordered and stateissued travel document on Saturday; and yesterday released pending the government’s appeal. In an interview with The Tribune shortly after his release from custody, Mr Jean-Charles explained he attempted the process of obtaining documents for his citizenship application but grew discouraged by the stalled pace. “When I was gonna go
Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff do it, it takes so long so I just stop checking,” he said. “No I never went to (the Department of) Immigration. I started the process of getting the documents but it was taking so long I just stop worrying about it. “I know I was born over here, went to school over here, so I stop worrying about it and I start hanging around other people and just stopped. I worked, I was doing security for a while because you need a National Insurance card to get paid, so I had to go get that. “He (his former employer) held it, and by
the time I asked him for it so I could go get the next card with the picture on it, he said he lost it, so I stop worrying about it.” His deportation to Haiti on November 24 last year was his first time on board an airplane, and he would later spend his 35th birthday, on December 5, beset by cognitive dissonance over his circumstances. Yesterday, when asked to respond to persons critical of his return, Mr Jean-Charles said: “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to say to that. I’m in heaven.”
PAGE 4, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
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How much is a human life worth? ON Thursday, January 31, Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans fined a woman $10,000 on a charge of killing a man in the course of dangerous driving and another $2,340 in additional charges related to the hit-and-run accident that took the life of 52-year-old Sunshine Park resident Malcus Ashe. Details of the accident that killed a man made the amount of the fine even more incredulous. According to court testimony, Wendy’s employee 24-yearold Maronique Paul was heading west on Carmichael Road near the Blue Hill Road intersection close to Quality Home Centre and the Shell fuel station when she slammed into a pedestrian crossing the street. The victim landed on the hood and as he fell off, injured but perhaps – and believed to be – still alive, Ms Paul rolled over him. Instead of stopping when she hit him or after she rolled over him, she fled the scene, cutting through a nearby shopping centre parking lot, and “went home to her bed”. The accident happened about 7:50 Wednesday evening in an area that is well-lit. There were six other charges, including driving an uninsured and unlicenced vehicle and driving without a valid driver’s licence. According to the victim’s distraught sister, Deborah Foulkes, who is still trying to recover from the shock and may never recover from the loss of the brother she loved, they may never have found out who killed her brother had it not been for a good Samaritan who saw the incident and apparently followed the car. That individual then went to police with a detailed description of the accident, the car, a 1997 gold Honda and the location of the driver. The following morning, police showed up at the Malcolm Road East apartment complex where they arrested Ms Paul, the mother of a young child with another on the way, and confiscated the car. The next day, in court to answer to the charges, she pleaded guilty to all seven as detailed by reporter Nico Scavella in the front page story of this newspaper on Friday. We quote directly from that report. “On Wednesday, Paul pleaded guilty to seven traffic-related charges stemming from Monday’s incident, namely killing in the course of dangerous driving; driving while not insured against third party risk; driving an unlicensed vehicle; driving without a valid driver’s licence; fraudulent use of a licence plate; fraudulent use of a licence disk; and failing to remain stationary after an accident.” When news of the death, seven charges and the fine – a total of $12,340 – broke, public reaction was immediate. Collective disbelief exploded. Talk shows were alive with various versions of incredulity, disgust and anger. Social media raged. Calls to this newspaper were non-stop. $10,000 for a heinous death by vehicle by someone who then
went home to her bed? Everything about the incident that took an innocent life of a man merely crossing a busy street rattled Bahamians to the core and it is that which is the important moral going forward. For all the bickering that politics brings out among those who vote red, gold or green, there is one thing that unites all Bahamians and that is a sense of injustice and a demand for justice for all. Having a history beginning with slavery and having experienced treatment as second class citizens, or having been treated with less respect than many deserved, Bahamians instantly recognise when one of their own suffers injustice and immediately bristle on their brother’s behalf. So when Magistrate Vogt-Evans handed down a fine that seemed more appropriate for someone found guilty of stealing chewing gum from a convenience store, not taking an innocent life and fleeing the scene, the outrage was appropriate. It is our view that the fine did not fit the crime but the public fury was deserved. We are glad that people took a stance. We do not know if those same people who were crying for blood would have been more satisfied seeing Ms Paul hauled off to serve time in prison. But there are other lessons to be learned as well, how to crack down on unlicensed vehicles and drivers, how to curtail the illegal swapping of license plates, practices that once again reaffirm the pervasive culture of corruption. We await a tough Integrity Commission Bill and we urge with the utmost priority that Minister of Transport Frankie Campbell step up, speak up and send a message loud and clear to all that such practices will no longer be tolerated, the police will be searching and persons found guilty of such crimes will pay with their freedom. Had Ms. Paul not been able to drive on that fatal Monday night because she did not have a licensed or insured vehicle, Mr. Ashe’s loved ones would not be mourning his loss today. He might be right at home with them, sharing a smile and talking of the day’s activities. Instead, his sisters are planning his funeral. A final note. We wanted to see what sort of action or behaviour would justify a $10,000 fine in a similar culture to ours but outside British law. We found an excellent example in the US In 2011, the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) fined a student at the University of Virginia $10,000 for flying a drone over the campus shooting a commercial for the school. The fine was later overturned with the National Transportation Safety Board ruling that the FAA did not have legal authority to impose the fine. But that is the level of crime that we would normally associate with a fine of $10,000, not the end of a life by callous misdirection enabled by a culture of low level corruption.
The learning crisis EDITOR, The Tribune. IN recent days the effects of the failure of many students to successfully learn Maths and English skills have been highlighted by an RBC Royal Bank executive. His narrative is nothing new. In fact, The Nassau Institute published a public policy essay by its former Vice President, Ralph Massey on this subject in 2009. For the first time taxpayers were able to see more than just the average results of all subjects and the details were startling. Here’s an excerpt. “The English Language exam for the seven public high schools on New Providence shows that 44 percent passed, 39 percent simply failed, 17 percent
got failing grades and were language illiterate. “The results on the Mathematics exam are far worse, 18 percent passed, 36 percent failed and 46 percent were numerically illiterate. This 46 percent do not know the difference between addition and multiplication. In other words 56% of those taking the English exam failed and 82% of those sitting the Mathematics tests flunked. Average results in all subjects released this past September indicated that 54.33 percent of those taking the BJC received grades of D or worse. In the BGCSE exams 51.38 percent received grades of D or worse. More details allowing and in depth analysis subject by subject are
necessary going forward so the public will have a better understanding of the results their tax dollars are having with public education. The public system has been failing far too many of our children for what amounts to decades now. It is in the best interest of everyone that there is an urgent turnaround. To paraphrase Gary Becker, 1992 Nobel Laureate in Economics pointed out, significant economic growth is invariably accompanied by “large increases in education and training”. Yours in Liberty, THE NASSAU INSTITUTE RICK LOWE President www.nassauinstitute.org February 4, 2018.
The rule of law EDITOR, The Tribune. WE should not be so myopic as to believe the ruling in the case of Mr Jean-Rony Jean Charles only has implications for immigration matters. Instead, we should look to the greater issue which is that none of us are above the rule of law – not even the government, its departments or the civil service. When the government proceeds to make rules, then break those rules, it undermines confidence held in the individuals holding office and in the office itself. Should it be our own rights that are infringed upon, would we not seek to have an unbiased third party, ie the courts, evaluate the particulars of the case and make a determination as to whether proper protocols were followed that were in keeping with the law? An article published in The Tribune on February 1, 2018 relayed the contents of a press release made by Mr Fred Mitchell. Within, he conveyed his dismay that the government is complying with the judge’s order and that the Immigration Department is perplexed by this and are very concerned as to what they are supposed to do. Might I suggest something very
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net basic in principle, but apparently rather arduous in execution – and that is that they abide by the law. Justice Hilton found that Mr Jean Charles was unlawfully detained and unlawfully deported from the country. Two key takeaways were that a person must be charged within 48 hours of detention as per Section 9 of the Immigration Act and Section 18 of the Criminal Procedure Code Act; and that a deportation order must be in compliance of Section 40 of the Immigration Act which mandates it being signed by the Minister and not the department’s director. Justice Hilton’s ruling reminded us of another instance where a person was unlawfully deprived of his liberty, that person being Atain Takitota, who was unlawfully imprisoned for eight years between 1992 and 2000. A key finding of the court in that case is that in Mr Takitota’s case, the Court of Appeal held that “Detention or arrest with a view to deportation without being taken before a court is not permissible”. In essence, a person must be charged with an offence, taken before the
court, and it is the court that determines whether said person is in breach of the Immigration Act. Only subsequent to the court’s ruling is the Minister to issue a deportation order. The article included what I believe to have been Mr Mitchell levying a charge of anarchy against Mr Smith. How else are we to interpret his saying that “a group of anarchist … are busy undermining that law”. Recognising that Mr Smith would have utilised the judicial system to interpret the law as is applicable to us all, I fail to understand the way in which he has perpetuated some sort of lawlessness. I posit that it is Mr Mitchell who is the anarchist, believing that the rule of law is selective in its application. It is regrettable that Mr Mitchell, an officer of the court, would encourage the public to not respect the courts’ judgment and perpetuate the misguided notion that the government and its officers are above reproach and can act as a law unto themselves. Let us all be reminded that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Martin Luther King, Jr. LLB, BUT NOT AN ATTORNEY Nassau, February 5, 2018.
Are we serious about dealing with immigration? EDITOR, The Tribune. WHY do we spend $149m on each Defence Force boat, if the 100,000.00 plus square miles of Bahamian waters could perhaps be covered more efficiently, safely and with less cost, by drones? If we are going to allow immigrants to land here, (and that is what is happening), they are entitled to the protections offered by the Constitution. And only the Courts can determine whether the
operations of the Executive Branch of Government are constitutional. So it seems to me that either the Government invests in drones, and operates an effective interdiction of immigrants, or we get ready to invest much more in the judicial system to allow those landed their day in court, and consequential damages and cost orders which again, the Bahamian people will pay for. And if we are committed to a stable and safe constitutional democracy, we must
be willing to pay for that. We need to see the political will to deal with the reduction or prevention of mass illegal immigration on the one hand, and the willingness to respect constitutional protections for the individual on the other. Would this be the way forward for a responsible, accountable, transparent government under the rule of law, on an urgent basis? LEANDRA ESFAKIS Nassau, February 5, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, PAGE 5
THE AFTERMATH of the recent fire at the dump site, as pictured last week.
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
Life under the dump’s smoke from page one them insisted they just want an end to the recurring issue. Marsha Wells, who has lived through more than four fires at the landfill, said the key to overcoming the adverse effects has always been in the preparation she and members of her family have taken over the years. She said due to her family’s financial constraints, it is hard to move each time a fire occurs and, as a result, they’ve adapted their lifestyle to best address their living conditions. “A lot of people laugh, but the things we go through regularly is all to keep things in order when a fire happens and when the smoke blankets us,” she said. Recalling her family’s decision to move to Jubilee Gardens more than a decade ago, Ms Wells said when friends would ask where they were relocating to, she would joke and tell the “dump city”. “We always said dump city as a joke, now we call it smoke city and everyone in here knows what that means,” she said. Ms Wells, a hotel employee who is the primary caretaker for her 87-year-old grandmother added: “My daughter ordered this (air purifier) right here because she knows we could keep some of the smoke out, but not all. “We have to check the windows every week. We have to make sure the seals are all good. Same thing
with the door and every other spot around the house that air could get in to. Then what gets in, we hope that the (air purifier) controls.” When asked what happens when smoke gets into her home, Ms Wells said: “Child, it constant cleaning then. Everything that can hold the smoke we have to clean and clean deep. So again, more money, added on to whatever we spend when we have to relocate to a hotel.” Standing close to her grandmother Pleasant, who sat just outside the home’s front door alongside an elderly neighbour shelling a batch of green peas, Ms Wells said: “It’s what we have to do for her. We are worried because at this age, any little thing could become something big in no time.” Ms Wells explained that a recent trip to the eye doctor for her grandmother revealed last month’s fire had temporarily affected her sight. “We took her in after she was saying eyes were bothering her and the doctor told us the smoke was messing with her eyes. I couldn’t believe it. “So it goes to show, we think about the lungs and the heart, and those parts of the body, but this smoke thing goes beyond.” While the longstanding issues of the landfill have become political fodder, Ms Wells said residents faciing the situation are dealing with it at ground level. She said: “It isn’t about who done more or who said more. Yes, (former Tall Pines MP Leslie)
Miller did his part while he was in office. Yes, we’ve seen the new MP do all he could when the time came. But despite all that, the smoke comes no matter who in charge. The smoke comes no matter who is hired to watch the site. They say people going in starting the fires, they do that no matter who is the government. So until we look at the root of it all, people like us in Jubilee will be stuck with hoping forever.” A few doors up the block from Ms Wells, another longstanding resident Shantino Rolle echoed similar sentiments. “It’s not about pointing the finger at the government, it isn’t now and it never was for most of us,” Mr Rolle told the The Tribune from the window of his home. Clearing his throat more than a dozen times during the brief interview, Mr Rolle said it continues to be a “day-today” struggle for residents unable to move. Mr Rolle said he wasn’t interested with political talk surrounding the issue, but rather the resolutions being pitched by those affected and those concerned about the well-being of residents near the site. Mr Rolle said no one in his home has developed medical issues associated with the dump smoke, but he said he knows it is simply “a matter of time”. “We hear the stories. We know what it means to be here. It may not come now, but the longer we are here and that dump is there, it’s only a matter
THREE ACCUSED OF KILLINGS By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THREE men were arraigned on murder charges yesterday for two separate killings. Donnovan Rolle, 23, and Berkley Belfat, 22, are accused of killing Chamico Mackey, 34, on January 24. Mackey was shot dead while on the porch of his home at Irish Spring Court.
In a separate arraignment, Travis Taylor, 21, was accused of killing Milsade Ulysses on January 20. Taylor’s attorney, Donna Major, told Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson Pratt her client was beaten while in police custody. Her client, she said, insisted on being taken to the hospital but was denied for two days. She said he sustained bruises to the right side
of his ribs, the swelling of which was reduced by the time he was taken to the hospital. All three men were not required to enter a plea and they had their matters adjourned until March 20 when a voluntary bill of indictment is expected to be served. The men were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim.
MURDER VICTIMS IDENTIFIED BY POLICE POLICE have released the identities of two recent murder victims. The man who died in hospital on Saturday has been identified as Okel Solomon, 45, of Laird Street. According to police, Solomon showed up at the Southern Police Station shortly after 11pm, after being shot during a failed carjacking. He told police he was in his car at the junction of East Street and Brougham Street when he was approached by two men with firearms who demanded he give them his car. He said after he declined and was driving off, one
of the men fired a shot at him. Paramedics assisted the man to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Police have also released the identity of man who was killed on January 20. He is Milsade Ulysees, 36, of Rupert Dean Lane. According to initial police reports, Ulysees was shot around 6am while at Rupert Dean Lane. He was one of two men fatally shot on January 20, in separate incidents. A man was charged in Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection to Ulysees’ murder.
Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to call police.
of time before something happens.” Last Friday, 111 residents of Jubilee Gardens filed a class action lawsuit against the government and former site manager Renew Bahamas for causing them to be “sickened to near death” as a result of the “toxic and hazardous” emissions caused by the recurring fires at the New Providence Landfill. Both residents interviewed yesterday expressed support for the suit. Ms Wells said she has already added her signature to the list of complainants, and Mr Rolle said he would look to join the suit in the coming days. In the writ, residents are suing the government and Renew Bahamas for breaching their respective
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duties to ensure that adequate measures were taken to manage the landfill and prevent the fires and resulting “toxicity” from adversely impacting them and their “convenience of living.” The residents are also suing the government in particular for breaching its “duty of care” by failing to “properly assess the danger of placing them so close” to the landfill and for not properly managing the dumpsite “so as to not pose a danger to the health and well-being of the residents of Jubilee.” Jubilee Gardens is a government subdivision. The residents have retained the services of attorney Fred Smith, QC, to represent them in the class action.
Smoke associated with the most recent fire at the landfill site has affected scores of residents in southwest and western New Providence. All classes at St John’s College were cancelled yesterday due to excessive smoke on the school’s campus and immediate vicinity. When contacted for comment Director of Environmental Health Services Melanie McKenzie said she was in meetings most of the day and unable to visit the site. Ms McKenzie referred all questions to Thomasina Wilson, senior deputy at DEHS with responsibility for all landfill sites in the country, who could not be reached up to press time.
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PAGE 6, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
Misogyny claims over Glenys ban ‘laughable’ By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie said yesterday it is “laughable” to suggest misogyny played a part in the disciplinary action he took in naming and suspending Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin in Parliament last week. He also insisted he did not breach the rules of the House of Assembly, telling The Tribune there was nothing in the rules which demands a motion should be immediately moved to determine a specific course of action. He said it is his intention to bring the motion when the House meets tomorrow, as one should be brought “within a reasonable time”. At this time, Parliament is expected to vote on whether the suspension should be extended for an additional two sittings or determine if the suspension from last week was sufficient. During a press conference Sunday, not only did Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis announce Mrs Hanna Martin will attend tomorrow’s House session, but he said the opposition did not believe Speaker Moultrie’s decision to name and suspend her comported or complied with the rules and procedures of the House. He also questioned if misogyny played a part in Mrs Hanna Martin being suspended from Parliament under two separate Free National Movement administrations. The Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador
MP further indicated he may decide to speak with Speaker Moultrie regarding the Progressive Liberal Party’s plans ahead of the start of House proceedings, so as to “avoid any lack of decorum” and to see “whether he understands what he has done”. “I am not speaking to this issue anymore in the press,” Speaker Moultrie said yesterday when he was asked to speak specifically to the PLP’s declaration that Mrs Hanna Martin would attend the House tomorrow. “I will deal with the matter on Wednesday and I will table all of the documents that have assisted with me making my decision. “It all will be revealed on Wednesday. They are suggesting, from the opposition, that I am in breach of the rules because a motion wasn’t put, but there is nothing in the rules that suggests that a motion should be immediately put. A motion should be put within a reasonable time and the very next sitting of Parliament, which is Wednesday, the motion will be put. “And in addition to that, rule 88 (3) provides the speaker with the authority to order a member’s withdrawal from Parliament without a reference to the Parliament itself and the provisions of that rule has the identical punishment. “So it’s just a matter of technicalities that I see being raised because in any event, when Parliament convenes on Wednesday the speaker has the option to ask any member to withdraw from the Parliament.” When asked about the suggestion of misogyny, he said: “Well, what I will
SPEAKER of the House Halson Moultrie. lay before the Parliament on Wednesday I think will paint a completely different picture (and) with respect to that claim (of misogyny), it’s laughable.” Asked if it was likely Mrs Hanna Martin would be escorted by police from the lower chamber should she attend tomorrow, Speaker Moultrie said: “We’ll see what happens.” However, the speaker said he had yet to receive formal communication from the PLP requesting a meeting. The party on Sunday said the PLP supports “all lawful
Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
actions” by Mrs Hanna Martin to “ensure that this denial of her right to represent her people is reversed.” “We intend to go (to the House) and Mrs Martin I expect to be there,” Mr Davis said Sunday. “I’m not going to allow her to be shamed in any way or disgraced in anyway or in any way to be embarrassed by any actions on the part of the speaker.” Mr Davis drew attention to rule 88 of the Rules of Procedure of the House, which requires a motion being made by the leader of the House, which in
turn is to be voted upon to enable the suspension of a member. Further, he said that in order to be named and suspended, the member in question has to have committed the offences set out in the rules. His announcement came days after Mrs Hanna Martin was named and suspended from further parliamentary sessions after walking out the House as Speaker Moultrie commented on her behaviour during previous proceedings. The explosive scene at the House last Wednesday
was sparked during discourse over comments she made the week before regarding the firing of two Eleuthera airport officials, which were ultimately stricken from the record. At the time, Speaker Moultrie stated a decision on the period of the suspension would be determined and Parliament would subsequently be informed. Otherwise, he ruled that Mrs Hanna Martin is “not entitled to enter the precincts” of the House unless “otherwise determined by the House and this chair”.
LABOUR MINISTER: NO TRUTH IN CLAIMS OF POLITICAL MOTIVE FOR BAIC SACKINGS
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By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribumedia.net LABOUR Minister Dion Foulkes has emphatically denied recent terminations at the Bahamas Agricultural & Industrial Corporation were politically motivated, telling The Tribune to suggest otherwise is “totally inaccurate and baseless”. Thirteen employees were terminated from BAIC on Friday with the dismissals ranging from longstanding employees to recently confirmed workers. Among them, Mr Foulkes said, were also Free National Movement (FNM) supporters. Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis has branded the dismissals as “politically motivated” as they shocked some who were affected. However in an interview
with this newspaper yesterday, the labour minister hit back at this assertion and insisted it was not how the FNM government operated. “As a matter of policy the FNM government does not terminate based on political affiliation,” said Mr Foulkes. “No-one’s employment comes to an end because of political affiliation. That is something that we just do not do. So any accusation along those lines is totally inaccurate and baseless. Whatever criteria that was used by BAIC to end the employment of those persons had nothing to do with political affiliation. “I emphatically deny this.” He continued: “Some of them were on contract, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we do not end employment based on
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political affiliation. Number one it is unconstitutional and number two it is just immoral. “The fact of the matter is from what I am told is some of those affected were known supporters for both parties so that makes absolutely no sense.” In a statement issued by BAIC Friday, the corporation confirmed the disengagement exercise was part of an ongoing “comprehensive review” of operations by management and its board of directors. Categories for dismissal were: redundancy; contractual; probation; and for cause, according to the BAIC statement. Sources interviewed by The Tribune confirmed eight employees were expected to be terminated as of 3pm Friday, but suggested that number could increase to as many as 20 “pending circumstances”. Officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force were called in to keep the peace after several workers were reportedly blocked from entering the building. Mr Davis, along with PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, supported several of the terminated employees, who they identified as PLP supporters. According to Mr Davis, the letters given out on Friday ranged from outright termination to recommendations to take leave. He added many of the letters he reviewed didn’t exhibit just cause for dismissal. Among the fired persons was Latrae Rahming, press secretary to former Prime Minister Perry Christie. On Sunday, Mr Rahming said he had written to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis seeking answers about his dismissal.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, PAGE 7
Taxicab plates are still being leased despite Minnis pledge By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net LEASING of taxicab plates remains a rampant issue in the industry despite the Minnis administration’s promise to regulate the area, In May 2017, the government announced in its Speech from the Throne that it would “review and give consideration to the ownership of taxi licence plates by persons who have been leasing those plates for many years.” In November 2017, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said the government is considering ending the controversial practice. However, as of February 2018, the practice is still ongoing. Yesterday, Road Traffic Controller Ross Smith told The Tribune his wish is to “get rid of it” altogether. He said: “I hate the practice, I wish we could get rid of it completely or we find (another) way to deal with it. I am sure this minister has his views on it and will deal with it very soon. But personally I hate the practice. I think it’s unfair. “It’s so difficult to stamp out.” Philip Watkins, president of the Bahamas Taxicab Union (BTU), told The Tribune yesterday that while he has heard about the issue of leasing, BTU does not participate in it. However, he said the union manages a few plates. Mr Watkins said: “I know the taxi union itself, we have a few members that have since retired and are no longer able to operate— they can’t
see, they can’t move, or whatever. “Quite a few of them, about maybe ten or so of them, we operate their taxi plates for them. “(Additionally), if we have a member whose vehicle is down, we normally pass the taxi franchise over to those members to operate until their vehicles get back in service.” Mr Watkins continued: “But this thing with the leasing, I hear about that all the time.” When asked about the clause in the Speech from the Throne referencing the practice, Mr Watkins said: “Since the new government came in, we had a meeting with the Minister (of Transport Frankie) Campbell, and I told him point blank if they need any assistance from the union as to how they could do whatever to move this industry forward, feel free to call on us.” Former transport and aviation minister, Glenys Hanna Martin, also spoke with The Tribune yesterday, providing much context to the issue. Mrs Hanna Martin described the situation as “vexing” and one that leads to “oppressive and exploitative” arrangements. Mrs Hanna Martin said: “The practice of leasing, originally it had a very sort of altruistic (purpose). What it did was, a lot of times (when) taxi drivers died, their widow inherited the plate under the (law). “And so widows often times were elderly. So they would lease it out and enter arrangements where the taxi plate would be in the hands of a third party, but they would continue to get revenue from them. That
FORMER Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna-Martin. still happens to a large extent.” However, over the years, there has been a shift. Mrs Hanna Martin continued: “(Now) you have people who are employed who have taxi plates, whereas before, (for) a taxi driver, that was his career and his life. “And you know, taxi plates are not like tours which are more of a corporate thing. Taxi plates tend to be driver-owned. But (now) you have people with more than one plate.
TAXI DRIVERS: WE’RE CLEAN from page one
when the docks open to tourists. Because there are no available restrooms, the tabloid alleged the drivers instead relieve themselves in their vehicles and throw the waste in the nearby sea. Both Mr Watkins and Mr Smith heavily downplayed these claims. Mr Watkins told The Tribune: “What has happened is there were one or two isolated incidents reported maybe about two years ago of a few drivers who engaged in such behaviour. “Now this morning (Monday), I got confirmation from…Mr Derek Hudson and Mr Frederick Wallace who is the chairman of (the Prince George Dock Taxi Drivers Committee). More than a
year ago they, along with the (former) Minister of Transport Glenys Hanna (Martin) and the (Department of) Road Traffic, put a different system in place. “And so, for over a year now, no driver sleeps out on the dock. “So I don’t know who gave (the local tabloid) that (information) — that’s old news and irrelevant in 2018.” Mr Watkins continued: “The report I got is that (taxi drivers) normally go out there now about three in the morning. About two years ago, there were drivers who would be there from like four or five in the afternoon until (the next day). “But that (no longer happens). The drivers go home now, they get their vehicles clean, they shower, they come to work.
“The (local tabloid) could’ve called and I could’ve verified that for them. But I guess they want (to) sell paper talking stupidness,” Mr Watkins said. When he was contacted, Mr Smith declined to comment on calls for taxi drivers to be banned from parking on the wharf overnight. However, he suggested that the time for drivers to begin their days could be postponed from 5.30am to a later time. Mr Smith said: “Persons who come there overnight, I don’t know whether or not they can be banned. Unless we make an order to ensure that people only come at a certain time of the day, maybe that might be a resolution to people coming too early in the morning. “Then you can better monitor (the situation).”
FOX NEWS WATCHED BY LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF CABLE VIEWERS By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
LESS than one percent of Cable Bahamas’ monthly viewership came from people watching Fox News, and among news-watchers, only five percent watched the conservative channel, Cable Bahamas’ vice president of marketing and media, David Burrows said yesterday. His comments came as The Tribune continued to receive angry emails from fans of the channel after it was removed from Cable Bahamas’ line-up. Some people, with no evidence to support their claim, insisted the channel’s elimination was part of a wider anticonservative agenda. In fact, Mr Burrows said keeping the channel made little business sense for the company. Highlighting the disparity between the cost and popularity of the channel, he said Cable Bahamas pays less than one-third the price of Fox News for a rival news channel that experiences 300
percent more viewership. “It’s a very delicate thing, removing a channel,” he acknowledged, adding the decision to eliminate Fox News was made after a lengthy period of deliberation. “These are our customers. We respect them. But in The Bahamas we do not get the same rates for basic cable television as providers get in the US. It is incumbent on us as a cable/television provider to understand cost implications over a period of time.” The decision to eliminate Fox News was made as the cost of the channel was set to increase. An email sent to The Tribune from a Fox news publicist, Teresa Rivera, vice president of international distribution for Fox News, appeared to dispute this, saying: “Fox News kept the rates flat for all co-op members.” But Mr Burrows said this is “disingenuous”. “Cost remains flat for year one and two,” he explained, “but we have a five-year agreement. With the new contract, cost
would now go up 20 percent on top of the 43 percent it has already increased over the past five years. By 2022, the price would have gone up 63 percent.” He added: “We have shareholders and customers. Our product must maintain some level of profitability. Fox News is the most-watched news channel in the US, but here the demographic is just different. It’s not nearly as popular. Of course, we don’t make these decisions simply based on profitability. We ask ourselves, first of all, is there an alternative as we are cognizant of the fact people desire another perspective of news. When we heard what the cost increase was going to be we were presented with an alternative. By embracing that alternative, the perspective shared by Fox News will still be in our market.” That alternative is One America News Network, which Cable Bahamas last week said is the fastest growing conservative news channel in the US.
“As a result, you have people who have been leasing, and some of them leasing for very long periods of time. Some of them that I knew, when I served. Some of the stellar persons involved in the industry. I mean they are first class in terms of the standard set. And you know, many times I became shocked to learn these people had no plates. “I couldn’t believe it. And what happens is that the person who owns the plate, because leasing is not recognised, they’re able to
Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff enter these arrangements that are not governed by the law, that tend not reach legal scrutiny, and it leads to oppressive and exploitative types of arrangements. ““For example, a person may have a plate (leased) for 10 years, and the owner could come and say ‘I want my plate back next week.’ “And what happens is that the people who lease them also invest in vehicles too. And the owner of the plate could just (take it away) without any regard to that reality.”
She said the Christie administration considered ways to address the situation. “We looked at a number of things. I began to develop a database of people who are leasing and who they are leasing from. And I considered the options. “It’s a very complex situation. And it’s one that’s long standing, over generations. And a solution has to be found in terms of regularising the situation. And the serving minister has to be committed.”
PAGE 8, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
A life helping others then Michelle faced her own battle to survive Face to Face
By FELICITY INGRAHAM WHEN a doctor tells you to say your final goodbyes to loved ones, sometimes there’s no coming back. It can be a harrowing moment. The anaesthesiologist asks you to count backwards from ten to one, and the doctor has already told you that you may not survive. But when you have faith, be it as small as a mustard seed, you can overcome anything – and Dr Michelle C Major did just that. Michelle was in her early 30s with a two-year-old son when she became ill. Tests run here in Nassau and in Florida revealed a deadly Stage Four cancer attacking her cells. She kissed her family and was about to be wheeled into the operating theatre when the doctor asked her if she wanted to say her last goodbye to anyone and she broke down. It’s a moment no one would want to experience. But Michelle had been helping people all her life and felt that for her it was far from over. She felt she had purpose. I was impressed by this woman’s story of triumph not only because she survived a death sentence and lost a kidney in the process, but because as a little girl, she took care of her own mother as she battled and overcame an illness that was considered impossible to survive. Michelle’s mother, Amanuela Major, made medical history by being the first person to survive a risky and rare procedure to remove a cancerous tumour from her brain. Before her operation, no surgeon had ever been willing to perform it. She survived the 18-hour operation. A few months later, doctors discovered that not all was removed and had to perform another 18-hour operation. Amanuela must have been the wind beneath Michelle’s wings as she watched the medical team take her daughter into the operating theatre. She must have remembered the many years Michelle had to be strong for her, and now she was in a position to do the same, with the confidence that her daughter is just as strong. “My mother suffered for quite a long time before we knew what the problem was,” Michelle said. “I am an only child. So I took a lot of care for my mother. I was in grade three (at Kingsway Academy) when we had to move to Canada for the operation. My dad came back home to continue to work because we needed the money. I stayed with my aunt (while my mother was in hospital). It was very hard because I
didn’t have my parents.” Eventually, Amanuela was well enough to move back to New Providence and the family was together again. Michelle was then enrolled in Queen’s College and she continued to care for her mother through to her full recovery. “It’s all I knew,” she said, “When you are a kid you just do it. It’s my mom. I remember making her sandwiches, making her lunch… she would faint sometimes because of the tumour; it was very hard for her but she recovered.” Michelle’s father, Joshua Major, had a long career as a computer technician. He was industrious and strove to provide the best for his family during Michelle’s childhood. He met Michelle’s mother while she was vacationing in The Bahamas with her parents. The young Canadian girl met the love of her life, an island boy from Roses, Long Island while at the hotel bar, and that love is still standing the test of time. He moved the family from their first home on Bar 20 Corner to Arundel Street and Kennedy Subdivision before they settled in the current homestead on Prince Charles Drive. Michelle remembers her parents worked hard (her mother worked at Air Canada vacations) and that things were tough, but they managed to “scramble to afford to pay for the first three years of college” and from there, she soared. It was while attending Barry University that Michelle chose her career path – psychology. But at the time, she says she never expected to earn a PhD. “Going into psychology, I wasn’t even aware that graduate school was an option. No one in my family had gone to graduate school. My parents have high school degrees,” she said. “If you had asked me back then if I would have a PhD, I would have said, ‘No way! I am not smart enough, that will never happen. But that changed; I started to really love my field and I just wanted to learn learn more and more and I kept going.” Michelle performed well at Barry University. She received her Bachelors Masters, Specialist and Doctorate degrees from Barry. The university then offered her the post of Assistant Professor of Psychology, where she spent five years training school psychology graduate students in child and adolescent development. She was just four or five years
MICHELLE Major pictured receiving her Duke of Edinburgh award and meeting Prince Phillip in 1992.
DR Michelle C Major, top, and pictured as a child with parents Amanuela and Joshua, and as a girl guide. old when she knew that she wanted to work with children. At first, she wanted to be a nun, because she thought that was the only way she would have a chance to work with children. Her mother’s Portuguese background led to a childhood steeped in Catholic faith. Her grandaunt of Portugal is currently being canonised awaiting sainthood from the church. “I was born always very spiritual, just naturally,” she said. “Even though my parents believed in going to church every Sunday, I always had a natural spiritual connection that wasn’t just about religion in the church. I felt I was born that way.” Michelle is passionate about caring for others. She especially loves children and is fascinated with “the mind and how it works” and how children “think and process information”. So, it seemed a natural fit for her to take a job as a babysitter of a child with autism while she attended Barry University. This was one of many odd jobs she did to help make her own college goals come true. This week, on Thursday, February 8, Michelle will be honoured at Barry University’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Luncheon in Miami. Eight alumni will be honoured including Donald De Lucca, Chief of Police in the city of Doral, Florida and Rev Dr Carol Hoffman-Guzman, Executive Director Emeritus, Miami Urban Ministries and Arts at St Johns. While studying at Barry, it was the little boy named Heath whom she was hired to care of who may have lit the spark for her life path as an expert in the affairs of children with special needs. He was a challenge – biting, fighting, screaming; but nothing could divert her from her goal of helping him say his first words. As she described the breakthrough that came when Heath spoke, I could tell that we were touching the height of her passion. With sparkling eyes, she described the “high” that she felt when he spoke for the first time and the
delight of his parents. “Early intervention is important. I want to work with that brain, make that brain better, rewire that brain.” Ever since then, Michelle has never stopped. She has poured into child after child and has had some miraculous results, so much so that she is requested around the world by governments to assist kids on the autism spectrum. She is recognised as an international expert in the assessment, diagnosis and intervention for children with autism and lowincidence disabilities. She has presented and trained professionals throughout the United States and in Bangladesh, Jordan and the United Emirates. “I actually got to speak right after Sonia Ghandi and spoke in front of thousands. In a few weeks I will be in Saudi Arabia for training, and my career continues to take off.” But during the embryonic stages of Michelle’s career, she was the student and mentor, and Dr Vincent Carbone was a guru in the field. She was afforded the opportunity to work with one of the best in the world and learn effective techniques to help children improve and live their best lives. When she returned home, she called Dr Carbone’s wife who had successfully run his business, seeking assistance and guidance. She waited to hear back from the Carbones, and it was not until the day before the surgery which was doomed to take her life that she got the call. Dr Carbone informed her that he would personally assist her in realising her goal, noting her skill and passion while on the job with him. This call gave her the evidence she needed that she was not going to die, but that she would overcome to fulfil a purpose now being meted out for the betterment of children in The Bahamas and in the Caribbean region. Dreams have come true for many families dealing with special needs children at The Seahorse Institute where Michelle serves as executive director. The nonprofit currently cares for 25
students from babies to adults. The institute is research and evidence-based. Daily logs indicate the progress of the students daily. Seahorse staff members work to practice early intervention techniques to “work with children who can get in a regular school get them in school, and get all of them as fully functioning members of society”. On the other end, her own business thrives as well. As the clinical director of the Caribbean Centre for Child Development, Michelle is working the best practices and most effective techniques to help children at home and in the region. “The field of disability is a hard business to have in The Bahamas, because as a society we don’t really value it as much,” she opined. She has a lot of love to give and she just keeps on giving as if her life depended on it; maybe it does. Her new lease on life, having survived the operations, gives her every reason to sew so deeply into others. “I am passionate about reducing violence in the community so I want to get into that,” she said when asked what else she has in store. As a psychologist, she was one of the first on the ground in Long Island after Hurricane Irma flooded and battered the island. As a descendant of her grandparents James and Suzanna (nee Cartwright) Major, she also intends to spend more time on the island of her heritage. “It’s heaven; it’s the only place I can disconnect and truly be present, and the energy there is unbelievable,” she said of Long Island. “There are lots of things I have a passion for to make our country better so I am not going to stop here.” Michelle is looking forward to the future with her husband, Matthew Aubry and son, Sebastian, who is now ten-years-old. “There are lots of things I have a passion for to make our country better, so I am not going to stop here.”
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, PAGE 9
RASSIN TAKES SAN DIEGO BOW BEFORE hundreds of assembled international Rotarians in San Diego, California, the Bahamas’ Barry Rassin, who appeared on stage with his wife, Esther, was presented as the president-elect of Rotary International, 2018-19. Me Rassin will represent over 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide when he takes office in July 2018. His chosen theme for his tenure is ‘Be the Inspiration.’ His logo is redolent with Bahamian overtones of ocean and sun. He laid out his vision for the future of the organisation recently, calling on leaders to work for a sustainable future and to inspire Rotarians and the community at large. “I want you to inspire in your clubs, your Rotarians, that desire for something greater. The drive to do more, to be more, to create something that will live
beyond each of us.” Mr Rassin stressed the power of Rotary’s new vision statement, “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” This describes the Rotary that leaders must help build, he said. Mr Rassin said one source of inspiration has been Rotary’s work to eradicate polio. He described the incredible progress made over the past three decades. In 1988, an estimated 350,000 people were paralysed by the poliovirus; just 20 cases were reported in 2017 as of December 27. “We are at an incredibly exciting time for polio eradication,” he said, “a point at which each new case of polio could very well be the last.” He emphasised that even when that last case of polio
is recorded, the work won’t be finished. “Polio won’t be over, until the certifying commission says it’s over—when not one poliovirus has been found, in a river, in a sewer, or in a paralysed child, for at least three years,” he said. “Until then, we have to keep doing everything we’re doing now.” He urged continued dedication to immunisation and disease surveillance programmes. Rotary has focused heavily on sustainability in its humanitarian work in recent years. Now, Mr Rassin said, Rotarians must acknowledge some hard realities about pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change. He noted that 80 per cent of his own country is within one metre of sea level. With sea levels projected to rise two metres by 2100, he said: “My country is going to be gone in 50 years, along with
ROTARY President Elect Barry Rassin and his wife Esther are introduced to the Rotary International assembly in San Diego on January 14. most of the islands in the Caribbean and coastal cities and low-lying areas all over the world. “We want the good we
do to last. We want to make the world a better place. Not just here, not just for us, but everywhere, for everyone, for generations.”
Mr Rassin will bring increased focus on the Bahamas as he travels the world for Rotary International.
20 vehicles destroyed as fire hits tour bus business By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A FIRE at the Priscilla Forbes Building in Grand Bahama destroyed at least 20 vehicles, including three mass transit buses at the tour establishment on Queen’s Highway on Sunday evening. The fire occurred sometime around 7.45pm at the rear of the building where an auto-mechanic garage and repair shop is located. Officers at the Fire Division of the Royal Bahamas Police Force immediately responded where they met several vehicles ablaze. The Bahamas Buckeye Hub’s
(BBH) emergency response team also responded to a call for assistance. However, the team was unable to assist due to the absence of hydrants in the immediate vicinity, according to a company official. The cause of the fire is not known and investigations are underway. Grand Bahama Fire Chief Ernest Hanna reported the Fire Department received a call that a double-decker bus was ablaze and dispatched fire units to the area. Despite breezy conditions and the lack of nearby water hydrants in the immediate vicinity, flames were contained reasonably
quickly preventing the fire from spreading to the building or a nearby business. When The Tribune arrived around 8.30pm, many of the mass transit vehicles owned by Freeport tour operator Hadley Forbes had been removed from the property and parked along the roadside. Bystanders, including some employees, watched as firemen worked to extinguish the flames. Mr Hanna and Chief Superintendent Loretta Mackey were at the scene. “Fortunately, we were able to get the fire under control, but about 20 vehicles were destroyed. There
was some minor damage to the building, and we are still looking into the cause of the fire,” Officer Hanna said. The fire chief reported they encountered some challenges while battling the blaze. “Vehicles were parked in close proximity of each other and that caused a problem for us. The winds were also an issue, but we were able to get this fire under control and stopped the forward movement of the flames a half hour after arriving. We had some challenge with water as there was no reliable water supply in close proximity to this facility and we had to truck water in.”
Although a full inspection of the building was not conducted on Sunday evening, the fire chief believes there was no breach of the two-storey structure. “There was superficial damage to the building; there was no structural damage, and the fire did not get to the interior of the building from what I could see,” he said. The lack of adequate water hydrants in Freeport, particularly in the commercial-industrial area, has been an ongoing concern for some time. Tyrone Thomas, safety programme specialist at Bahamas Buckeye Hub, formerly BORCO, said
their fire trucks can only pump water and so the lack of hydrants was an issue. “They called us to assist with extinguishing the flames, but we were not able to use our trucks because they are pumpers and we need access to a water (source) at the site in order to assist,” he explained. Mr Thomas commended firemen from the RBPF. “It is important we look at putting water hydrants throughout GB. Here it is we have Freeport Gases establishment right here next door, and there is no hydrants in this area, and so firemen had to leave to refill their trucks with water, “ he said.
PAGE 10, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE
CONCEPT artwork for the new IMAX cinema showing a poster for the Black Panther movie from Marvel - due to arrive at rival Galleria’s screens on February 16. But now the word is that the site will have a soft opening in April. The site is pictured, right, during construction last year. Aerial photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff
Back to business F
EBRUARY now truly starts the business year, after January’s blip when most of our citizens twiddled their thumbs to celebrate that historic holiday (Age: two years), Majority Rule Day. Here’s what to look for:
Richard Coulson’s
Business Bites
payroll and rent a few will be crucial matters as hundred thousand in they must convince proexchange for losing any spective investors to buy. growth potential in the Ordinarily, these matters Family Islands, now facing would be negotiated with new opportunities. Mr an experienced financial Royal Bank of Canada Ryder excused RBC’s woes firm like Royal Fidelity, (RBC) as our oldest bank by blaming The Bahamas’ CFAL, or Providence Advishortfalls, sors, formally appointed is unofficially called “the educational government’s bank”. It is corruption and other sys- to act as underwriter or certainly not the people’s temic problems, claiming placement agent. But no bank. Ever since manager he knows “personally” such appointment has been Nathaniel Beneby began wealthy investors planning announced, or even hinted taking about “enhancing “financial escape routes” at. Any plans are hidden client experience” with from the country. Perhaps. I can assure him between the three Govmore “access, convenience and security” - via I know “personally” indi- ernment principals (PM, restricting money trans- viduals who will not open Minister of Finance, and fers and face-to-face a new RBC account and are AG) and the Boards of interactions with branch considering closing present Directors of Holding Co. (names unpublished), staff - RBC has been losing ones. Cable Bahamas (controlfriends. ling ALIV), and ALIV The last straw was WHEN WILL itself (actually running the closing of four GOVERNMENT operations), with senior branches, including two in accountant Gowon Bowe the Family Islands, which SELL ALIV? as co-ordinator. will be “consolidated” I hope this unwieldy with the venerable Main For nearly two years, Branch, meaning simply that Government has been team is working smoothly Andros and Long Island saying it would off-load its together. It’s crucial the sale customers must come to 51.75% equity stake in be completed soon, for two Bay Street to get personal ALIV, acquired for about reasons: First, Government needs service - or maybe shift $70m as part of ALIV’s their accounts to another start-up capital. Another the money to meet its combank. $62.5m was contributed mitments, like the PM’s The true reason for ser- by Cable Bahamas in recent promise of $25m for vice curtailment, as return for 48.25 percent small businesses Second, the 51.75 peradmitted in a recent speech and a contract for manageby Tim Rider, senior VP for ment control of the new cent of ALIV shares are the Caribbean, is simply to venture. At the launch “overhanging the market”, save money for the Royal, party in November 2016, making it impossible until which is faced with making I recall Prime Minis- sold to determine a true “hard choices” in The ter Christie vigorously value either for ALIV or Bahamas. But what about demanding a prompt sale of for its BISX-listed parent choices in Canada, where Government’s “temporary” Cable Bahamas. In effect, the current quoted price RBC earns the vast bulk investment. of its $7billion profits, It has not yet hap- for Cable shares is meanup from $6.2 pened. The ingless - an intolerable billion the pre- ‘Even as a colddeal is situation for both Cable vious year. mired in and BISX, that must be corrected. Where is our blooded financial uncertainties. Central Bank? exercise, RBC is Government’s It has authorshares in short-sighted PROPERTY FUND MAY ity over RBC ALIV are actuthe same reducing its ally held TRADE ON BISX. way URCA payroll and rent a by its wholly can regulate owned special When Anwer Sunderji, BTC or Cable few hundred purpose vehi- the ingenious founder of Bahamas for thousand in cle incorporated the Fidelity Group, organthe public ben- exchange under the ised the Bahamas Property efit. Yet on all name “Hold- Fund (BPF) over ten years for losing any issues of fees ing Co”, and ago, it seemed the peror services, like growth potential it’s this com- fect answer for Bahamians how many in the Family pany, not who wanted to take small, branches are the ALIV liquid, equity stakes in real licenced, we Islands.’ shares, that property. are told the (as I underIn the US, multiple tax Bank cannot intervene stand) will be sold. How advantaged REITS (real as banks are commercial exactly? Will ordinary estate investment trusts) enterprises free to maxim- shares or preference secu- had been set up, giving ise profits. In the US or the rities of Holding Co be millions of Americans UK, banks are periodically offered? To the general precisely this investment hit with heavy cash fines for public and listed on BISX, potential over thousands of violating public policy. Do or privately placed with properties our troika of Canadians institutional investors? Unfortunately, the harsh ever face similar sanctions? Governed by the Securi- realities of economic slowEven as a cold- ties Commission? The down combined with our blooded financial pricing of these securities limited realty market have exercise, RBC is short- and the contents of the not been kind to BPF. sighted - reducing its related offering circular Royal Fidelity, the fund’s
ROYAL BANK DOWNSIZES ITS REPUTATION
IMAX BEHEMOTH KEEPS US GUESSING
BAHAMIAN motorists have been staring in perplexity up at the monster lizard of construction raising its head and stretching its tail along the ridge overlooking Lake Cunningham. Last July, a press release told them it would be the site of an IMAX film theatre, with its vast screen and all-round sound effects, just part of a family entertainment complex including eight smaller movie houses, restaurants, Starbucks concession, kids’ day-care centre, shopping arcade - you name it - all under the catchy title “Fusion Superplex”, set to open early in 2018. Reading further, they could learn the project was created by four young Bahamian entrepreneurs who had raised $42m capital, partly their own funds but largely from a bank who committed once a 22-year IMAX licence was granted. The whole facility could accommodate 3,000 visitors and the theaters would draw on a potential market of some 800,000 (yes!) movie-goers. Aside from glossy employee-recruiting ads, nothing further was heard until the January 4 announcement of a corporate
office scheduled for February followed by a “soft opening” in April. How “soft” will it be? An eye-balling of the structure shows it still wrapped in metal scaffolding, unpainted with blank openings for expected panoramic windows and no parking areas. Maybe the recently announced 24-hour working shifts will finish the job on time. We all wish success for this imaginative venture. But every curious citizen raises major questions, mainly about the market of 800,000 people. How we import all dem folk? Last fall I tried to dig out more info for my readers, and opened a detailed website about Atavus Group Ltd, the Bahamian company that owns the venture. When I asked for background from Selina Archer, chief marketing officer, she told me in alarm that the website was “unauthorised” for public viewing, and it was abruptly taken down. I never had time to write the name of a Canadian identified as the largest single equity investor. He remains The Man Who Never Was.
manager, found that most owners of solid incomeearning properties simply did not want to sell. Only three office buildings were acquired, two of which are partly vacant and the third is losing its sole tenant hopefully to be replaced, but when? BPF’s earnings have been irregular and it has not paid dividends for several years. Its shares are listed on BISX, but have not traded since October 2016, at $9.09. Many shareholders have been trying to sell, but found zero buyer interest down to $8.19. Wisely, BISX has just dropped the minimum trade price, so I entered a buy order at $7.50 to stimulate movement. If no trading results, Fidelity will have no realistic choice but to delist BPF, liquidate its assets by property sales and distribute the proceeds. That may be a sad end to what once seemed a good idea, but a capitalist world inevitably produces both winners and NATHANIEL BENEBY, manager of RBC, who has talked about “enlosers. hancing client experience” even as branches have been closing.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, PAGE 11
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest cut the ribbon to officially open Pirate’s Cove Zip Line & Water Park at Taino Beach in Grand Bahama on Saturday.
Zip line off to a flying start By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A ZIP line has been opened at the Pirate’s Cove Water Park at Taino Beach on Saturday in Grand Bahama and plans are to open a similar adventure park in New Providence. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and his wife Patricia Minnis; Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompso, and Travis Robinson, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Tourism attended the official opening. During his address, Dr
Minnis repeated recent statements that his government is working hard on a deal for the reopening of hotels on the Lucaya strip. Pirate’s Cove Water Theme Park opened its doors in June 2016. The installation of the zip line completes the second phase of the adventure park. A group of 11 Bahamian investors got together investing some $1.5m into the business. Former Free National Movement MP David Wallace, one of the investors, announced plans are underway to build a zip line and water park in New Providence, and requested exemptions on
costly materials for the park. Some 30 people are employed at the Pirate’s Cove. The zip line and towers were constructed by High Extreme Adventure Tours (HEAT) from Jamaica. The poles are some 75ft tall. At the park, there are also three eateries, a bar, water sports, Segway rides, snorkelling and a beach massage service. The prime minister said he was pleased the business is 100 percent Bahamian owned and employing some 30 Bahamians. He pledged his government will do what it can to ensure the park is successful.
PATRICIA MINNIS, wife of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, was one of the first brave persons to try out the zip line at Pirate’s Cove Zip Line & Water Park during an opening ceremony on Saturday, February 3. Mrs Minnis successfully zipped on the 30ft line and she set the stage for others to try. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest followed, choosing to take the 50ft line where he waved to the crowd as he zipped by. Photos: Lisa Davis/BIS
PAGE 12, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
THE TRIBUNE