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VOLUME:116 No.31, FEBRUARY 7TH, 2019

OFFICIA

CLASSIFIED TRADER: CARS, CARS, CARS & MORE CARS

INSIDE

Abaco tragedy did 65 perish?

18 survivors, 30 bodies recovered, but still 35 missing

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE final death toll in the Abaco boat disaster could rise as high as 65.

For days unofficial figures have pointed to a much higher death toll but a statement released yesterday by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) revealed there are approximately 35 people who were on board the stricken vessel who remain unaccounted for.

Another body was recovered yesterday, bringing the

number brought to shore to 30 with 18 confirmed survivors.

NEMA reported the ship was carrying approximately 83 people - 76 men and seven women, all of whom were Haitian. There were no children on board.

The Immigration Department on Sunday said 87 people may have been on board but this number has been challenged by volunteers involved in the rescue operation who said many of the survivors put the number at 45.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE National Health Insurance Authority’s defence of the scheme’s $130m price tag yesterday raised more questions than answers, with a Cabinet minister admitting it needed “clarification”.

Dr Duane Sands, minister of health, said he had “the same question as you

do” after NHI’s supervisory body seemingly revealed that the $130m would only cover the 160,000-170,000 people not included the “employer mandate”.

The NHI Authority’s statement was issued in response to suggestions that the private sector would have to fill any funding gap if the scheme’s sums and cost estimates were wrong.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

L SOUR CE

‘RAISING VAT NOT ON OUR AGENDA’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest insisted yesterday the government has no intention to increase value added tax as speculation persists that a hike maybe featured in the impending 2019-2020 budget presentation. He called the claim an unfortunate rumour.

Mr Turnquest refuted the VAT hike after Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper projected the increase in the House of Assembly yesterday as MPs debated the 2018 Fiscal Strategy Report.

SEE PAGE SIX

CARNIVAL: OBAN NOT A WORRY FOR US

SEE PAGE FIVE

NHI - ADDING UP THE NUMBERS

$1

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THEY SHOT MY SON

A MOTHER’S torment yesterday after police shot and killed her son after he allegedly attempted to attack an officer with a knife. Full story - Page 3.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

A LEADING Carnival Corporation executive says the group is not at all concerned about the proposed multi-billion dollar oil refinery project by Oban Energies in East Grand Bahama and does not believe it would interfere with their proposed new cruise port development on the island.

Giora Israel, Carnival’s senior vice president of global port and destination development, told The Tribune the land where the port will be built is not in close proximity to the proposed Oban project.

SEE PAGE TEN

CORRUPTION IN SMITH CASE? NONSENSE

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday called accusations of corruption a “disgrace” as he rejected calls for a Commission of Inquiry into police conduct in the bribery and extortion trial of former PLP Senator Frank Smith.

Mr Dames told reporters outside Parliament

MINISTER Marvin Dames he would not participate in a spectacle, adding he was “sick and tired of

responding to nonsense”.

“I won’t go there anymore,” Mr Dames said, “it’s nonsense.”

The Mount Moriah MP is also facing opposition calls for him to resign over his own involvement in the case - now set for appeal.

Mr Dames said: “I have every confidence in the Royal Bahamas Police Force that when they undertake an investigation that they will do all

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

DIANE PHILLIPS PAPER STRAWS, SHARKS AND SUCCESS

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, February 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CLASSES SUSPENDED AT PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSES at CW Sawyer Primary School have been suspended today and tomorrow, according to the Ministry of Education.

This came after parents protested at the school yesterday due to reported mould and other infrastructure issues.

On Tuesday, Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip Davis raised the alarm regarding mould infestation and a rumoured sinkhole at the school and called on Education Minister Jeff

Lloyd to resolve the matter. Mr Davis also claimed teachers have fallen ill and are threatening demonstrations if the situation is not urgently addressed.

Education Director Marcellus Taylor confirmed the school does have a mould issue which is currently being dealt with, however he said he was unaware of a sinkhole.

Mr Taylor said on Tuesday: “I don’t know about the sinkhole, but we have some mould problem at the

CW Sawyer school. Our person with responsibility for the physical plant, Mr (Donovan) Turnquest…has been dealing with this matter, trying to address it. Not just today but he’s been working (on) it for a couple of weeks.

“I’m not aware of any classrooms (being affected),” he continued. “I’m only aware of administrative offices at the school that has mould. There may be some instances in the classrooms but I’m not aware of it.”

ACCUSATIONS are a disgrace, says Marvin Dames.

CORRUPTION IN SMITH CASE? THAT’S NONSENSE from page one within their power under the framework of the law to ensure that justice prevails.

Whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed or whether there is insufficient evidence, and they do it in consultation with the Department of Public Prosecutions.

“I am not an investigator,” he continued, “the commissioner of police is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the force. I have every confidence that he and his men and women are doing their utmost best to be fair in the execution of their duties, but to stand here and to level accusations on the Royal Bahamas Police Force is a disgrace and it’s nonsense and I will not continue to go down that road.”

Former State Minister for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez, QC, is calling for a commission of inquiry due to “chilling” concerns raised during trial.

Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, in her ruling last Friday, pointed to numerous “inconsistencies” and “discrepancies” in the Crown’s case, and cited the “egregious” behaviour of two Cabinet ministers - Mr Dames and Health Minister Dr Duane Sands - connected to the matter.

Dr Sands again declined comment on the matter yesterday.

Evangelist, Reverend Dr. Dorothy Bain is a household name in the Bahamas. Besides being a phenomenal mother, she was a beloved nurse, renowned business woman and most notably a passionate evangelist.

A native of New Bight Cat Island, Dr. Bain was born to doting parents Athreal and Louise Gilbert on Tuesday, 6th January, 1948. As the second of 10 children, she learned responsibility at a very early age which fostered her keen sense of autonomy and ingenuity. Scholastically, Dr. Bain was a force to be reckoned with. As an enthusiastic pupil, she clinged to the strong value of education instilled by her parents. Once her secondary education was completed, she traded in the ‘out island’ life to pursue a lucrative career in Nassau.

In 1965, Dr. Bain enrolled in the Nursing school program at Princess Margaret hospital where she received formal training. She was a devoted nurse who took her job very seriously. Her philosophy of earning an honest day’s wage governed her work ethic and commitment. Dr. Bain’s heightened compassion and generosity made her an instant favourite with her patients who often sang her praises at chance encounters outside the hospital walls.

Despite her love for her profession, Dr. Bain felt a strong obligation to attain a more comfortable life for herself and her children.

Around 1986, she succumbed to her entrepreneurial proclivities and began a ‘side hustle’ selling feather flowers from the trunk of her car after her PMH work shift. At some point, the feather flowers evolved into nurses uniforms, men’s clothing and finally into women’s clothing, the genre in which she found her niche. In 1988, on a leap of faith she opened her first store on Nassau Street which she appropriately named ‘Fashion Trap’. By 1994, Dr. Bain’s savvy business skills had landed her 3 successful stores at prime locations around Nassau. At this point, she tendered her resignation as a registered nurse to work full time in her thriving business. Despite all her financial success, Dr. Bain’s life came full circle the day she filled the spiritual void within her.

In 1998 she accepted Christ as her personal Saviour, and simultaneously the call on her life to be an evangelist.

Dr. Bain embraced God’s plan for her life with 100 times the enthusiasm she did her business. She was steadfast and unrelenting, embracing her family’s roots in the Church of God denomination. Dr. Bain’s fervor for the Gospel and the things of God was unparalleled. In 1999, just a year later she attained certified Evangelist and Evangelism trainer credentials. In 2002 she served as the Central District Evangelist for Church of God Bahamas and Turk & Caicos Islands, a position she held for 2 years. In 2003, Dr. Bain enrolled in the Church of God’s Ministerial Affirmation Program. In April 2004 she became a National Evangelist of the Church of God Bahamas and Turks & Caicos. She received her Exhorter’s License in 2005 and soon after in 2006 attained her Chaplin and Grief Counsellor certification from the Church of God Ministerial School in Cleveland Tennessee. In recognition of her social contributions and work in the community, Dr. Bain received an honorary doctorate from the Virginia Seminary School in 2010. In 2014, she became an ordained Minister in the Church of God. Up until her passing she led the Benevolence Committee for the Church of God. Besides these accomplishments, Dr. Bain received the “Most Outstanding Female Evangelist” in the Bahamas award in 2005 and Church of God’s “Business Woman of the Year” & “Church Mother of the Year” awards in 2006. She has preached and evangelized in the company of legendary international tele-evangelists; Mark Chironna and T. L. Lowery.

Dr. Bain’s mantra was to win the loss at any cost. She went on the highways and byways to do just that. There was no area of the Bahamas too poor or too rich to receive the goodness of the Gospel. To her every soul was important and worth saving. She was committed to her radio program ‘Stay Focus on Jesus’ where every Thursday at 11am she preached the unadulterated Word of God on 107.9 FM. Her generosity extended as far as her heart did.

When it came to the church, especially the Church of God, her wallet had no end. Those around her in need also experienced her boundless generosity. This is overflowed into the Benevolence and Park Ministry where she and her team would distribute food, clothing and gospel tracks in the less fortunate communities in Nassau. Dr. Bain was heartbroken by the despair and the shoddy living conditions she saw people were living in. Evangelist Dr. Dorothy P. Bain’s Outreach ministry also extended to the Cicely Ward at P.M.H as well as to Her Majesty’s Prison in Fox Hill. She was a blessing to the inmates and encouraged them despite their unfortunate circumstances.

Evangelist Reverend Dr. Dorothy Bain has lived a full life filled with so much accomplishments that there’s not enough pages to fill. She led by example everyday putting God first and focusing on the great commission to preach the Gospel everywhere. She has left an indelible mark on our lives; one that will remain with us forever.

FUNERAL SERVICE FOR Evangelist Rev’d Dr. Dorothy Pamela Bain, 71 of Lake Cunningham Estates and formerly of New Bight, Cat Island, will be held on Saturday, 9th February, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Church of God Auditorium, Joe Farrington Road. Officiating will be The Administrative Bishop for The Church of God Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, Bishop Dr. Moses A. Johnson, assisted by other ministers of the Gospel. Interment will follow in Lakeview Memorial Gardens, John F. Kennedy Drive.

Evangelist Rev Dr. Dorothy Bain will be lovingly remembered by her Two Daughters: Sophia McKinney and Dr. Marissa Moncur and Two Sons: Edison and Wayne Moncur. Eight Grandchildren: Jana, Jaleesa, Edison Jr and Liam Moncur; Eddion Whyms, Owen Jr, Akeem and Kaeden McKinney. Two Daughters-in-law: Kihan and Ivana Moncur and One Son-in-law: Owen McKinney. Three Sisters: Nurse Berthalee Walkes, Janet Gilbert and Ruth Edgecombe. Two Brothers: Allan “Candy” Gilbert and James Gilbert. One Aunt: Irene Johnson of New Bight, Cat Island. Six Sisters-in-Law: Lenora Gilbert of New Bight, Cat Island; Jenny Gilbert, Melvern Bain, Sherrie Morley, Sheena Lightbourne and Karen Thompson. Four Brothers-in-law: Leonard Edgecombe, Mecal and Edward Bain; Leo Morley. Numerous Nieces: Jacklyn Fox-Deveaux, Joan Cambridge-Telle, Dr. Krista Walkes-Francis,

Irregularities in the phone logs of Mr Smith and complainant Barbara Hanna that were produced by police and the logs from Mr Smith’s billing company were also raised at trial.

In reference to this, Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said: “The call logs were likely manipulated to create the false impression that the accused was constantly calling Barbara Hanna when, in fact, it was the reverse.”

Outside Parliament yesterday, Mr Dames said: “Have you ever heard of any other commission of inquiry coming out of a case...just follow that, let’s talk about these young men and women who go before the courts every day. What are we doing to help them out?

“See we have to be careful not to politicise cases, and I’m not going to speak to that and I made it clear from day one, because I’m not going down that road.

“I’ve been a part of investigations for decades,” he added. “I have given evidence inside and outside of The Bahamas. I’m not going to be a part of a spectacle.”

Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson declined comment on the matter yesterday.

Attempts to reach the Bahamas Bar Association for comment were unsuccessful up to press time.

Keisha, Kim and Tasha Gilbert; Valencia Ramachala, Samantha Johnson, Karis Carey, and Shanique Johnson, Nikita Gray, Michelle Johnson, Leeshan Morley, Brenique Lightbourne, Priscilla, Shenita, Kaverra, Miguel, Esther, Verlisa, Myra, Monet, Miracle and Lorraine Moncur; Romaine and Dr. Romona Nicholls; Romania Miller, Ceandra Stubbs, Indera Sands, Prisca Bannister, Darryl Poitier, Tamara Collie, Anya Miller, Raquel Strachan, Jewel Moss, Chrystal Simmons, Latoya Moncur-Knowles and Shameka Bevans. Numerous Nephews: Dr. Quentin Johnson of New York, Larez and Davidson Johnson; Alberto, Leonardo, Allancio, Ian, Teron, Kevin and William Jr. Gilbert; P.C. 2711 Reynaldo Walkes, Giovano Gilbert of Salt Lake City, Utah; Cory Bain, Cruze Gilbert, Leonard Edgecombe, Jonathan Jr., Jason and Archie Cambridge; Henderson Ambrister, Pastor Trevor Simmons, Karvin & Devin Bain, Travis Edgecombe, Ramod Morley; Shane, John, Rayall, Philip Jr., Navada, Saddam, Kennedy, Myron, Myles, Duran, Jeffrey, Allan, Wendell Jr. and Jason Moncur; Franklyn, Mustapha and Edward Strachan; Halson Ramsey, Jensel Watkins and Baldwin Johnson Jr.; A Host of Other Relatives including: Jenniemae Williams, Rev. Jeffrey Johnson, Lenora Hield, Kim Moss, Veronica Wilson, Maxine, Joan and Maryann Rolle, Gretel Stuart, Anthony and Leonard Johnson, Alfred Moss Jr., Mae Smith, Joan Rolle, Everette, Lynden, Frank, Rodney and Fairest Johnson; Betty and Sally Seymour; Judy Strapp, Oris Strachan, Melanie and Marie Moss; Lionel, Dennis and Wendy Gilbert; Barbara Dorsette, Theresa Collette, Paula-mae Brown, Maybell and Patricia Rolle, Whitney and Allison Moss; Howard Brown, Princess Gilbert, Joyce, Hilda and Edison Knowles; Opposition Leader the Honourable Philip Brave Davis, Elizabeth Gilbert, Madeline Darling, Rosemary Johnson, Joanne Dean, Harriette Johnson, Ellen Hepburn, Abigail Fife, Benjamin Fife, Rev. Ornan Johnson, Arthur Rolle, Geta and Setella Rolle, Prophet Lawrence Rolle, Rev. Winslow Moss, Jazmine, Amber, Leara and Leondre Gilbert; Veronique Moss, Quinton Williams, Charles Williams, Sherell Thompson, Sherell Rigby, Yasmin Rigby, Jaspmin Swaby and Peter Brown. Beloved Employees: Nerlande Meme, Edline Oscar, Stacey Minnis, Danica Deveaux, Mamlette Jermaie, and Inocene Vassor. Dearest Friends and Church Families: Bishop Moses A. Johnson National Overseer of the Church of God Bahamas & Turks and Caicos, Min Cynthia Johnson, Bishop Joseph Smith and the Independence Drive Church of God family, Bishop Goliath Burrows and the Southland Church of God family, Rev. Ilean Johnson and the Lighthouse Church of God family, Bishop Carlton Stuart and the Church of God East St. Cathedral family, Bishop Kirk Smith and the Vision of Hope Church of God family, Bishop Darren Touissant and Southwest Cathedral Church of God family, Bishop Dr. Charles Johnson and the Solid Rock Church of God Family, Bishop Stanley Duncombe and the Midwest Church of God family in Eight Mile Rock, Bishop Steve Dean and the Central Church of God family in Grand Bahama, Bishop Donnie & Jennymae Storr; Church of God National Evangelist Rachel Mackey, Sis. Loretta Lewis, Sis. Gretel Williams, J.P Minister Myrtle Goodman; Sis. Jane Storr, Sis. Helen Barnett, Sis. Euna Cooper and Bishop and Sis. Woodside of Grand Bahama; Bishop and Sis. Archlas Cooper, Bishop Peter Arnette and Sis. Barbara Smith of Abaco; Bro. Harold Mackey, Sis. Edna Leadon, Pastor Prince Cargill and Bishop Adderley of Andros; Sis. Jenny Humes, Rev. Tiffany Newman, Rev. Arlington Bodie, Rev. Dr. Julia Bain, Rev. Lozier Roker, Rev. Edna Lopez, Rev. Errol Johnson, Rev. Rufus Lightfoot, Rev. Bertha Deveaux, Sis. Laura Benson, Jensen Bethel, Retired Nurse Marilyn Rolle, Bridgette Richie, Myrtis Darville, Minister Eurice and Denver Dames, Lawyer Devard Francis LLB, Agnes Gilbert, Rosetta Clarke, Beijra and Franklyn McCoy; Barbara Williams, Detra Lightbourne of Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos; Sandra Bain, Judeline Francois of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Edward Colebrooke, Grace Gibson, Darren Kelly, Sue Culmer, Sidney Campbell, Sis. Violet and Cordel Delancey, Dr. Ebby Jackson, Delphine and Lemuel Boyd, Elaine and Leroy Franklyn, Paula and Ingrid Romer, Bishop Ephraim Rolle, Lashanda Lewis, Torrieano Cummings, Edward Moncur, Sidney, Wendall, Caleb, Florence, Philip, Hattie, Cephas, Judy, Deanna, Myron and Marcia Moncur; Rose Strachan, Lennor and Baldwin Johnson, Icelyn and Roman Nicholls, Terry Colebrooke, Linda Cartwright, Joanna Storr, Wesley Gaitor, William Campbell, Keith Russell, Sidney Campbell, Nurse Willamae Brennen, Harriette Smith, Betty Ambrister, Martin & Fifika Bain, Elizabeth Smith, Evangelist Livingston and Brenda Dames, Dr. Mikail Taylor, Cara Taylor, Kathleen Blanc, Adrian Griffith of Tampa, Florida; Cerena Shaw and Ruby Walcott of El Paso, Texas; Jane Silas, Brian Miller, Keith Russell, Portia McKenzie, Jeffrey Severe, Quaid Robinson, Jack Cambridge, Ian & Kim Smith, John & Benedicta Damas, Farreno & Ianthia Ferguson, Antonio & Nathanria Williams, Simeon Hall Jr., Alpheus Ramsey, Basil Dean Jr., Emmanuel Gibson, Eldred Saunders, Malissa Rolle, Olga Fedorenko-Botros of San Diego, California; Georgia Braithwaite of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Calvin Smith, Tyrus Curtis, Daphne Ferguson, Lucia Rolle, Claudette and O’neil Sherman, Lucy Johnson & Wilfred King; Pastor Jason Russell and Sophie Russell of the Tabernacle of God Outreach Int’l Ministries in Old Bight, Cat Island; Emmanuel Gospel Chapel and the Brethren church family, the Management and Staff of Fashion Trap at the Mall at Marathon, the Management and Staff of New Bight Food Market in New Bight, Cat Island; the Management and Staff of Sun & Ice and Poseidon’s Table in Atlantis, Paradise Island; the Management and Staff of Manuelo’s Café, the Management and Staff of Doc’s Pharmacy, the Management and Staff of Judy’s Hat Shop, The Doctors and Nurses at the Princess Margaret Hospital, The Doctors and Nurses of the Braathen Center at Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida; The ICU Doctors and Nurses at Broward General Medical Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; The Lake Cunningham Community, the Family Medicine Clinic, the Management and Staff of ZNS, the Management, Staff and Inmates of The Bahamas Department of Corrections, the Management and Staff of Bethel Brothers, the entire Cat Island Community including the: Moss, Gilbert, Johnson, Romer, Thompson, Russell, Moncur, Williams, Bannister, King, Pratt, Poitier, McKinney, Hart, Stubbs and Seymour Families, the entire Lower Bogue Community of Eleuthera including the: Bain, Moss, Ferguson and Kelly Families and others too numerous to mention.

Friends may pay their last respects at Church of God, Independence Drive on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the auditorium on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until service time.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 3

Police shoot and kill man who threatened officer with a knife

CHIEF Superintendent Cash speaking at the scene. Below, right, the victim’s mother.

BY RIEL MAJOR POLICE shot and killed a man yesterday after he allegedly attempted to attack an officer with a silver knife in a shanty town located in the Joe Farrington Road area.

According to Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash, after 1.25pm the police launched a manhunt operation in the area to locate a wanted suspect. “As a result of that, the officers went in separate directions behind the houses in this shanty town when they encountered the suspect,” said CSP Cash.

CSP Cash said an officer approached the suspect and identified himself as law enforcement when the deceased pulled out a silver knife with a long blade, attempting to attack the officer.

He said: “The officer struggled with the suspect, trying to disarm the

suspect, however the officer being in fear of his life at the time produced his service revolver and shot the suspect several times which resulted in him succumbing to those injuries.”

CSP Cash also confirmed the suspect was a Bahamian of Haitian decent, between the ages of 20 to 24 and was not a stranger to police.

He added: “This was something specific as usual, once the suspect comes to the police’s attention, we send our men out in search of those suspects with an effort to try and bring him into custody to try question them on all the allegations that they are suspected of committing.

“If it is brought to the police attention that a suspect is wanted for any crime and the police have reasons to go and arrest these suspects, if these suspects are violently attacking the police or producing weapons resulting

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff in the death of officers - officers knowing their training if they are in fear of their life, they will use their revolver or pistol to protect themselves from any harm or death.”

The incident will now be turned over to Coroner’s Court for an investigation.

At the scene, the suspect’s relatives were emotional.

His mother said: “I heard two shots, three shots in the front. I started walking and I watched my son lay down (in his blood.) I tried to walk by my son, an officer said ‘don’t touch him.

Don’t come any closer, go back’ so I went back.

“My son is dead I can’t feel good.”

Other area residents were visibly upset about the incident.

The Tribune understands the deceased is Ben Joseph, however his identity was not released by police.

I NEVER HAD SEX WITH BOY, 14, ACCUSED TELLS JURY

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of unlawful sex with a 14-yearold boy in Grand Bahama took the stand yesterday, where at times he appeared agitated or flustered as questions were put to him by the prosecution concerning his arrest.

Fred Williams, 45, of West End, Grand Bahama, was called to testify by his attorney Carlson Shurland, who also became argumentative with his client, advising the accused to speak up, slow down and to look at the jurors while giving evidence from the witness box.

At one point, the defendant’s cellular phone was confiscated by the court clerk when it rang and interrupted the proceedings during cross-examination.

The defendant is accused of three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor of the same sex from October 2016 to November 2016 through February 2017 to November 2017. He was arrested and charged on December 10, 2017.

When asked by his attorney if he had forced the teen to perform sexual acts on him, Williams said that it never happened.

“In February 2017, did you take the complainant by BORCO at the fuel pipeline (in Pinder’s Point) and have him (perform oral sex)?” Mr Shurland asked.

“No, never,” Williams replied.

He also denied taking the teen to his house, rubbing baby oil on his body and forcing him to perform oral sex.

Williams told the court that he was “a law abiding citizen” who had changed his life for the better some 25 years ago after running in with the law in 1994. At that time, he was arrested and charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, to which he pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a fine.

He told his lawyer he had not been in trouble since.

He told the court he was a painter and carpenter, and

that he was employed at the A & V Convenient Store and Laundromat in West End. He said that he is the father of an adult child.

Williams denied knowing or having any contact with the teen in October 2016.

During that time, he said he was called in to help batten up the store in preparation for Hurricane Matthew.

He also stated that he did not know the complainant either during November 2016 as the storm destroyed the store.

The defendant said that in December 2016 he came to know the teen. While doing some painting to a building in West End, he claimed that the boy walked over to him and asked him if he was going up and if he could get a ride.

Williams said he obliged.

The teen, he said, told him he needed a job because he wanted a phone.

“He started asking me a bunch of questions like where I lived, and what was my name, and if I lived in West End,” recalled the defendant.

Williams said that he dropped the teen off at a house and left. He stated that he met the boy again in August 2017. After leaving a Junkanoo event, he went to check up on the boy’s older brother, because he did not see him at at the event. He pulled up to the house and blew his car horn, and the teen came out and told him that his brother, who the accused knew, was not at home. He said the complainant then asked if he was the man from A & V Convenient Store.

The defendant said that on December 1, 2017, he met police officers at his workplace who told him that officers at CDU wanted to see him. He said he was taken to West End Police Station.

When asked why he was at the police station, he was told for an unnatural sex matter. “I asked what is that?” Williams said.

The defendant said that when he asked the police officers what unnatural sex was, they could not explain what it meant. He was kept

overnight in a cell and the next morning picked up by officers who took him to CDU in Freeport, where he was in custody for three days. During that time, he said he was not questioned, or charged with anything.

He was released but was told that police wanted to see him again in another couple of days.

Williams was arrested again on December 10, 2017. He was taken to Central Police Station and later taken on inquiries with Detective Inspector Jamique Campbell and other officers to his house at Bahama Beach in West End where police searched and took photographs.

He claimed that officers did not tell him anything while he was in custody on Sunday. That Monday, he was handcuffed and taken to the Eight Mile Rock Magistrate’s Court.

When asked by Mr Shurland if he recalled the video recording of the record of interview conducted by Inspector Campbell, Williams said that another officer was also present when he was questioned.

“At the end of the video, did you say something?” asked Mr Shurland. “I said, ‘excuse me, officer, I have something to tell you,’ but they said it was a wrap,” he recalled.

Mr Shurland asked the defendant: “Did you confess to having sex with the complainant?”

“No, sir,” Williams responded.

When asked if police had conducted a sit-down or confrontation between him and the complainant, Mr Williams said, “no.”

During cross-examination, prosecutor Erica Kemp asked the defendant about the first time he was arrested at the A&V Convenient Store by officers on December 1, 2017.

She added: “You said that when the officers came to arrest you, you were not told what you were being arrested for? The officer who went on the stand and said he arrested you and told you, you were being arrested for unlawful sexual

intercourse and cautioned you, lied?”

Williams said that the officer who gave testimony about arresting him was not the officer who had arrested him. He claimed that a stout or fat officer with a big bump in the back of his head had arrested him.

When Mrs Kemp asked the defendant why he didn’t tell his attorney and have Mr Shurland ask Officer Linford Sands whether he was the arresting officer as he gave his evidence that day on the stand, Williams became visibly agitated.

He said that many officers were there and could not recall whether Officer Sands was present. “I don’t recall; I heard him say on the stand that he arrested me and the reason for the arrest; it was not him,” he insisted.

“I put it to you that he did say that. You had a chance to put it to the officer on the stand, but you did not do that,” Mrs Kemp replied.

“You were arrested two times, and nobody told you the reason for your arrest?”

Williams said that he was only told that CDU wanted to see him. The trial continues today before Senior Justice Estelle Gray Evans.

PAGE 4, Thursday, February 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Why autocracies that look like democracies are a threat to us all RUSSIA’S successful interference in the 2016 US presidential election may inspire other countries to do the same.

These other countries don’t look threatening. They look like democracies. But they’re not.

They’re a special kind of autocratic regime that masquerades as a democracy. And what looks like benevolent conduct by these countries can quickly change into aggressive, politically charged behavior.

Autocracies, often known as “authoritarian regimes,” maintain power through centralised control over information and resources. Political opposition is either forbidden or strongly curtailed and individual freedom is limited by the state.

Autocracies that look like democracies are different because their leaders permit political opponents to run for election – even though they rarely win.

These countries’ capitalist systems have some of the trappings of liberal democracies in the West. But these regimes use capitalism to further their authoritarian rule.

These so-called “dominant party authoritarian regimes” have surged in number from around 13 percent of all countries before the end of the Cold War to around 33 percent today. Most are located in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. They are also present in Eastern Europe and in the Americas. Russia is one of them; so are Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore and Venezuela.

These regimes often engage in the same kinds of bad behavior as other autocracies. But their behavior is critically different in both the motivations and methods used to further authoritarian ends, as detailed in my new book Authoritarian Capitalism.

Part of the danger with dominant party authoritarian regimes is that their veneer of democracy permits political opponents to run for election. But when incumbent rulers face a threat to their power, the autocrats often respond by targeting political dissidents and taking aggressive actions toward foreign enemies to bolster popular support.

For example, Russian leader Vladimir Putin faced an unprecedented challenge from citizen protests during the 2012 presidential election. The protests continued into 2013. Putin punished the protesters. New York Times correspondent Ellen Barry reported in 2013 that “new laws prescribe draconian punishments for acts of dissent. … Mr. Putin … embraced a new, sharply conservative rhetoric, dismissing the urban protesters as traitors and blasphemers, enemies of Russia.”

Shortly afterward, Russia’s foreign activities became even more belligerent than during the Soviet period. This accomplished just what Putin wanted: Following his annexation of Crimea in

2014, his approval ratings skyrocketed.

Another recent example is Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s repression of domestic political dissidents following the failed July 2016 coup against him. According to The Guardian, the regime arrested or suspended “more than 110,000 officials, including judges, teachers, police and civil servants.”

Erdogan went after foreign-based dissidents too, allegedly orchestrating a plot to kidnap opposition leader Fetullah Gulen from Pennsylvania. And while he won the presidential election in June 2018, Erdogan’s foreign-based critics remain concerned about his threats.

Enes Kanter, a Turkish NBA star, declined to travel to London in January 2019 out of fear that Turkish spies might kill him.

Another distinction that characterises dominant party authoritarian regimes is how they exploit Western legal and financial systems against Western media outlets critical of the regime. Normally, autocrats control information and resources to retain power. But rather than relying on the typical autocrat’s crude hostile attacks or outright censorship, dominant party authoritarian regimes use legal or financial methods regarded as legitimate by the West. In other words, they sue the media or they buy them.

A slew of foreign news organisations – including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and The Economist – were sued by the Lee family, autocratic rulers of Singapore, for political and financial reporting after the 2008 global financial crisis.

The family maintained the coverage defamed them. As the Wall Street Journal’s editors wrote in 2008, “We know of no foreign publication that has ever won in a Singapore court of law. Virtually every Western publication that circulates in the city-state has faced a lawsuit, or the threat of one.”

Malaysian political authorities deployed similar tactics when their rulers felt threatened. Following the Asian financial crisis of 1997, and in the months leading up to the November 1999 general election, wealthy ruling party supporters in Malaysia filed a flurry of defamation lawsuits against foreign journalists and media organizations, such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.

With its attack on the US 2016 election, Russia showed that it’s possible to interfere destructively in the most powerful Western democracy. I expect that other autocracies that look like democracies will follow suit – across the globe.

By Richard Carney of the China Europe International Business School

Cruise control

THE news that Cabinet was considering Royal Caribbean’s partnership with a Mexican group to develop mega cruise berths and buy the Grand Lucayan got a lively response on tribune242.com.

Sickened said: “Looks very positive!”

Geostorm shared that optimism: “This looks promising and I hope that it is successful. The people of Freeport have been neglected by successive governments for too long.

They really need a breakthrough and should use this opportunity, if it succeeds, to create small businesses.

They should not just accept the status quo.”

But One had this to say: “STOP selling our country to tourism. We have a saturated market already and it

has turned our people into servants. Invest in industries that improves our country’s independence and creates skilled jobs.

We don’t even produce enough food to feed our small population. Meanwhile countries are sending ships to our waters to feed theirs.”

And there was this from SP: “With our proximity to 450 million North Americans, the islands of the Bahamas should be home to the number one competitor in the region to Florida and Los

Angeles’ theme park resort destinations! How the hell Pindling, Ingraham and Christie could be so dumb and stupid not to focus on promoting the Bahamas as Florida/Los Angeles type theme park development destinations throughout the ‘warmer winter’ southern Bahama islands is an unimaginable mystery that no one will ever figure out.”

After PM Dr Minnis said the relocated Carnival cruise port will become the company’s largest such facility in the world, John asked: “Shouldn’t these cruise ships be paying hotel taxes, casinos and restaurant licenses and other fees when they visit/overnight in the Bahamas?”

Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

Time to ban conch export EDITOR, The Tribune KEY West in the Florida Keys was/is referred to as the Conch Republic because there was at one time an abundance of conch. Despite the fact that there has been a total ban on the removal of conch from the Florida Keys for almost 40 years, there has been little increase in the population in the meantime as a certain density of conch is required in order for them to reproduce.

There is a Cut in the Exuma Cays known as Conch Cut, there is a Bay on the west side of Eleuthera known as Conch Bay and I am sure that there are many other such spots throughout The Bahamas which are known as conch this or conch that.

Ten years ago I was in Crooked Island, and we wanted to get a few conch to go hand-line fishing. You jumped overboard in the Bight between Acklins and Crooked Island and almost landed on top of a dozen conch, and in two minutes, you were back in the boat and headed for fishing. In 2018, I was in Crooked Island with my brother and went in the same area in the Bight and after being towed for more than an hour managed to find two conch. Anyone you speak with who goes diving in The Bahamas has a similar story.

During my time in the House of Assembly in 2012 to 2017, I raised the issue of the depletion of conch on no less than three occasions and was rebuffed on each occasion by the then Minister suggesting that he needed some scientific evidence to support the view that the conch population was being threatened, notwithstanding that he had before him several reports from groups that had been following the drastic decline in the number of conch for years. Another member of the previous administration even suggested that I didn’t know what I was talking about because of all the conch in Conch Cut. The issue, however, that I felt needed immediate attention was the legal export of conch which I felt should be banned

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net immediately. At that time, I understood that the limit on the export was 500,000 lbs per annum but subsequently discovered that the limit was at some point increased to 650,000 lbs which translates into more than 2m conch for export every year. That doesn’t take into account the millions of conch which are consumed locally every year or exported illegally.

You do not need scientific evidence to support the view that this uncontrolled killing of conch will, in short order, destroy the conch population. Common sense will tell you that. It is said, however, that common sense is a flower that doesn’t grow in everyone’s garden but let us demonstrate that at least, in this one instance, common sense does indeed grow in every Bahamian’s garden and that Bahamians are on one accord and will demand action by the government to, in the first instance, ban immediately the export of conch.

Other steps to protect conch such as closed season, banning the removal of conch by foreign boat owners, etc., can be the subject of further discussion with interested parties, but surely as regards the export of conch, there should be no need for further discussion. If government is concerned that persons may be out of work if a complete ban is placed on the export of conch, they may wish to stop and contemplate how many more thousands will be out of work when conch are no longer available and all of the people operating conch salad stands, restaurants, etc. are joining the unemployment line.

There is also a need for all Bahamians to understand that our conch are a natural resource. They provide employment for thousands of people, but if they cannot be replaced at a faster pace, than they are removed, then some constraints have to be imposed. Unfortunately, like in so many instances, we fail to observe the laws

that are in place. In order to protect the conch, there are size limits but there are unquestionably more juvenile conch destroyed than mature conch. At one time one conch was more than enough for one bowl of conch salad, whereas today you will, in many instances, require three.

Government finally received a wakeup call when a report appeared headed, “Conch Fishing Could Disappear in 15 Years” and then was followed by articles in National Geographic and the Miami Herald.

The response from the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources was, in my view, wholly inadequate primarily because we all know how governments operate and, as I mentioned earlier, there should be no need for a debate on the immediate ban on the export of conch. Instead this is the essence of the Minister’s response:“The question is to what extent has our conch stock been depleted and over what period of time.

Secondly, what kind of harvesting methods have led to this significant reduction in the conch population.

Thirdly, what steps must be taken to address the growing concerns about pressures our marine products and environment are under as a result of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in Bahamian waters”.

Is there really a need to talk about it for another year so that we can mull over the existing reports of how the population has been depleted, which illegal methods contribute to the reduction in the stock, and what steps we need to take to address the issue and meanwhile another 2m conch, many of which are no doubt immature, are killed for export.

I call on the Minister to demonstrate leadership and place an immediate ban on the export of conch.

Do not fiddle while conch disappear!!

RICHARD LIGHTBOURN Nassau February 5, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 5

TRAGEDY IN ABACO

from page one Adding to the uncertainly on Monday Dr Jean Paul Charles, president of the League of Haitian Pastors said he had unconfirmed reports the number onboard could have been as high as 96.

Yesterday’s figures from NEMA provide as close an answer as we are likely to get.

Rescue and recovery operations are continuing but as time drags on chances of survival will diminish for the passengers unaccounted for unless they somehow make it to shore.

In NEMA’s statement director, Captain Stephen Russell thanked all those involved in the tragedy.

“First, let me on behalf of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas extend condolences to the people of Haiti and to our Haitian brothers and sisters thought The Bahamas,” said Capt Russell. “... It is believed that the tragedy occurred as a result of engine problems and the vessel ended up in the cays of Abaco.

“We are saddened by this terrible loss. We know that an incident of this kind has happened before in Abaco.

But it was never to this magnitude where so many lives were lost...”

Hours before NEMA’s statement Pope Francis sent “affectionate thoughts” to the Haitian people and relatives of those who died in the Abaco tragedy as he ended his General Audience in Vatican City.

As Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, the Pope recognised the tragedy and asked parishioners to join him in prayer for the victims.

“Last Saturday, near the Bahamas archipelago, a boat sank, carrying dozens of migrants from Haiti in search of hope and a peaceful future. My affectionate thoughts go out to the families who are in pain, as well as to the Haitian people affected by this new tragedy. I invite you to join me in praying for those who have tragically lost their lives and for the wounded,” he told the thousands gathered in the Paul VI Hall.

The Pope’s remarks came as National Security Minister Marvin Dames called human smuggling and trafficking “grotesque” acts.

He said boat captains and others who facilitate these “terrible” acts are greedy and should receive whatever the law has to offer for these kinds of offences.

“Smuggling and trafficking in human beings is grotesque, it’s terrible and these are just greedy individuals who care nothing more than to put a few dollars in their pockets, you see what happened,” Mr Dames said when he was asked to respond to calls from some in the general public for the boat captain to face charges over the deaths of the Haitians who drowned when the boat they were on struck a reef last Friday.

“They don’t care, they put people’s lives at risk

Fears that now 65 might have perished at sea

NEMA reported the sloop was carrying approximately 83 people - 76 men and seven women, all of whom were Haitian. and they ought to get whatever the law has to give to them,” Mr Dames said.

“This is sad very sad.”

While the incident highlights the dangers of the journey from Haiti to the Bahamas and other areas, it also raised questions about the Sandy Bottom Project’s functionality, according to Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis on Tuesday.

Mr Dames was asked to respond to Mr Davis yesterday outside the House of Assembly.

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force project was commissioned under the Christie administration and cost taxpayers $232m.

Mr Dames said: “It hasn’t been successful to this point, (well) I shouldn’t say hasn’t been successful

because when we came in we met a mess.

“Where do you want me start from? It was a total mess. We had to work assiduously to bring it to some semblance of order. Do you want me to give you the run down on the mess that we met?

“We still have vessels that have to leave Nassau, travel south and when they run low on fuel guess where they have to go? They have to come back to Nassau.

That’s the Sandy Bottom Project that we met. That’s one of the mess that we met when we came into power.

“We still have vessels down at the (Royal Bahamas) Defence Force base where the Bahamian people’s monies have been invested and there is no shore power.

“This is when you invest in something and there is no foresight as it relates to planning so we spend on average $10,000 a month to provide fuel to keep those boats powered while they are at the base. So you can imagine the wear and tear that it is putting on those vessels. Now we have to find close to $400,000 to correct that problem. Do you want me to go on?

“Investing and taking on projects is one thing but having some concept as to how you plan and prepare to accommodate is another thing.

“You could imagine, these big vessels they are out there and these officers are engaged in operations they run low on fuel they have to come back to Nassau. That’s the kind of

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

mismanagement and convoluted planning that went around.

“I can go on and on and on but we are beyond that point now. We have to fix what we met in place and we are doing a good job at it. We have to ensure that when we spend people’s monies that we’re spending it wisely and that every dollar counts. This is what

this government is seeking to do.”

President of the League of Haitian Pastors Jean Paul Charles told The Tribune on Tuesday the bodies of the dead are in the process of being turned over to the Haitian Embassy in Nassau and the league.

There are plans in the works to bury them on Sunday, he said.

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THE TRIBUNE

Turnquest insists there is no intention of raising VAT from page one

PETER Turnquest speaking in the House yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

Mr Turnquest also revealed that the Ministry of Finance slightly reduced the rate of real economic growth in 2018 and 2019 by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.

“This is needless to say.

(It is) an unfortunate, recurrent and I got to call it rumour that is being put out and obviously as the member for Exuma and Ragged Island is saying it, it must be from the opposite side,” Mr Turnquest said.

“It’s unfortunate and it has the ability to cause panic, not just locally internationally.

“So I just want to caution the member to be circumspect. But the fact of the matter is the government is not in discussions about raising any VAT. There is no intention on the part of this government to increase the value added tax. There is no such discussion preliminary or otherwise.”

Mr Cooper had argued that his interpretation of the government’s budget projections showed the Minnis administration was not on track to meet forecasts regarding revenue or deficits.

He also accused the government of being too “bullish” in its projections.

He said: “One of my most alarming predictions upon reading the report is that this government will come for an increase in the rate of VAT or other taxes at the mid-term budget or come to borrow even more that’s my prediction and I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my prediction, my opinion and I hope I’m wrong. I predict this not just by examining the revenue shortfalls inclusive of December’s collections, but also the expenditure patterns and the borrowing report. Customs, as a barometer of consumption, is down in all major categories.”

The government developed and introduced the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which came into effect on October 1, 2018. The move was made to secure fiscal gains and provides a non-political institutional framework for fiscal policy to ensure no future government can “ever again

engage in flagrantly irresponsible” fiscal policies, Mr Turnquest said.

“We have taken responsive and targeted initiatives to identify, report on, and clear arrears, and implemented steps to strengthen expenditure controls so as to avoid an accumulation of new arrears,” Mr Turnquest told Parliament yesterday.

“This fiscal year, we have begun monthly agency budget meetings, to assess developments with respect to budgeted spending. We have implemented better control and recording of payment commitments, as well as more effective cash management and forecasting.

“We will shortly be introducing the requirement for monthly spending plans by agencies. In combination, these measures are intended to ensure that the government remains on top of what is happening and they support confidence in our fiscal policy stance. Going forward, when we make these kinds of forecasts during the budget debates when the fiscal year would have been more than three quarters complete, all can be assured that – barring the truly unforeseen – the forecasts will prove much more accurate.”

He also said the macroeconomic forecast has been updated to take into account the October 2018 release of the IMF World Economic Outlook, which remained unchanged in the most recent IMF update released just last week.

“Of note, the rate of real economic growth has now been shaded down only slightly in both 2018 and 2019, by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively,” he said.

“Real growth in 2018 is forecast at 2.3 percent and, in 2019, at 2.1 percent. This largely reflects somewhat softer projected growth in the US. However, forecasted inflation this year and next is now somewhat higher than previously projected. As a result, the growth of nominal GDP is now expected to be higher in both 2018 and 2019 than had been projected in the May budget,” Mr Turnquest said.

To advertise in The Tribune contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

THE GRAND Lucayan Resort.

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 7

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Grand Lucayan line staff receive severance deals

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Lucayan line staff have received their voluntary separation packages, inclusive of severance, gratuity, and back pay, according to its representative union.

Michelle Dorsette, president of the Commonwealth Union of Hotel Services and Allied Workers (CUHSAW), confirmed all 164 workers who applied for packages were accepted.

She did not disclose the total sum of the payout.

Casual workers employed in the Banquets

Department for more than six years were also included in the payouts, she added, noting those workers have received severance pay despite not having permanent status.

“We give God thanks for seeing us through this entire ordeal, because without Him this day would not have come,” said Ms Dorsette in a union press statement.

“It has been a long and hard fought battle but we are grateful that the government intervened and acted in the best interest of the workers.”

She said the majority of her members were happy

with their payments, adding no official complaints have been filed.

Meanwhile, Obie Ferguson, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) president and lead negotiator for the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association (BHMA), told Tribune Business his members are “optimistic” that their voluntary separation packages will be finalised shortly.

He said the total value of the payout sought by around 90 BHMA members was $4.1m, close to their last offer to Grand Lucayan’s board, which had refused to go above $3.5m.

PAGE 8, Thursday, February 7, 2019

I

FEAR the environment has become a fad. For those of us who have been trying to preach its importance for a long time, the problem is not so much that the concept has caught on but that its contagion has made the conversation little short of silly. Take, for instance, the situation in Florida where there is a squabble between those who want to protect sharks by not killing them and those who want to protect them by not taking pictures with them.

The matter has been elevated to news status.

There is now a ‘no pictures’ shark movement which upsets people who believe they have been doing the honourable thing

by CPR – catch, photograph, release. The ‘say no to pictures’ folk say catching only encourages closer human contact which, they believe, will lead to more shark-related incidents. At least I presume that’s the reason and it is not because they believe sharks are camera-shy or will suffer post-picture stress disorder.

Facts tend to get in the way of the delusional.

THE TRIBUNE

Photo: lesleyrochat.com

Straws, sharks and a kinda’ success The reality is that in 2017 the total number of unprovoked shark deaths worldwide stood at five. But weighing in on anything that fits in the envelope of ‘environment’ earns attention.

The Bahamas, of course, has helped lead the way in shark conservation, banning the capture or sale of sharks or any part thereof since 2011. Now we could be on the forefront of environmental leadership again with the popular #Be A

Hero campaign slated to slake the public’s unquenchable desire for the plastic straw. Minister of Environment and Housing Romi Ferreira has pledged to ban the use of single use plastic by the end of 2020 and that includes plastic straws and grocery bags.

Finding a cure for the common cold might be easier but it’s as worthy a goal as it is ambitious and it’s definitely worth a shot.

They curtailed single use grocery bag usage in the

UK almost overnight by charging for plastic bags and now anyone who asks for one is regarded as a partial gene short of brain dead.

However, because everyone is now an expert in environmental matters - including American President Donald Trump who suggested re-opening coal mines to provide jobs along with black lung disease - even the proposed ban on straws has its detractors. Anthony Sabatini, a Florida House representative from the 32nd District outside of Orlando, said banning straws was unnecessary and those who are calling for such a ban after seeing a sea turtle with a straw up its nose or other marine animals dying from straw digestive issues are “completely clueless”.

“They have no idea what they are doing,” said Sabatini, who was defending the rights of local constituencies to decide whether they wanted to ban straws as opposed to the state enjoying the privilege. “They just want to look as if they are sensitive to the environment, so they passed the bill,” he charged.

Closer to home, and in all seriousness or mostly seriousness, the environmental protection movement is catching on. And it is beginning and burgeoning exactly where it should, at the community level and with legal enforcement demonstrating there are consequences for littering, creating or enabling unsanitary conditions and failing to abide by a book of rules that most of us never even knew existed.

I had the distinct privilege of sitting in on Magistrate Court #9 yesterday as Chief Magistrate Joy Ann Ferguson-Pratt heard nine environmental matters, actually eight because one man had to be taken away by ambulance.

A former heart attack survivor, he did not bring his oxygen tank and may have suffered an anxiety attack as he awaited his name to be called. His breath came in ever shorter gasps and by the time the ambulance arrived, court was ending and his matter was postponed until he could stand and represent his case fairly. That is not meant to be cold or unkind. There should have been a medical attendant somewhere in that huge complex but the police officer told me, “What do you think this is, a hospital? It’s a

courthouse.” As if I hadn’t noticed.

The ever-dignified Chief Magistrate had agreed to hear numbers of environmental matters being presented by the Department of Environmental Health Services. Although some matters have been heard - more frequently in the Family Islands than in New Providence - the environmental court itself has not met for more than a decade so the excitement among those who scour the island searching for violations and trying to get those who offend to clear away abandoned vehicles and debris was palpable.

Explained one: “Environmental offences are criminal offences. They carry criminal penalties, including imprisonment.”

Most people, he said, don’t realise you can face imprisonment for ‘throwing a soda can out your car.’ Mostly, the soda can, chicken box and fast food thrower should face shame and embarrassment and have to clean up their community and if they offend again, we can talk jail time.

I’d love to be a magistrate in environmental court and sentence every single guilty party to community cleanup including those who plead not guilty despite the photos of their property showing abandoned vehicles, old mattresses, oil cans and trash piled eight feet high.

Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt, however, was far more level-headed, a trait befitting her position. In one case, in which Olden Cooper, born February 24, 1971, had to plead guilty or not guilty to offences related to abandoned vehicles and conditions that lead to the potential breeding of rats and other vermin or Chapter 231,

Health Services Health Rules, Section 29 on property at Palm Beach Drive off Carmichael Road, Mr Cooper pleaded “It’s kinda’ hard to say.”

“I can only accept the plea of guilty or not guilty on the charge,” explained the ever-patient Chief Magistrate who said th e court can only offer the two options, guilty or not guilty, in other words, not ‘kinda’ hard to say’. “You either did it or you didn’t do it,” she added for extra information. He chose not guilty as did defendant after defendant as if taking a cue from the individual before him or her and was assigned a court date at which time they could explain why they were not guilty of the unsanitary conditions for which they were cited with photos and specifics.

There were two exceptions, one man who was congratulated for cleaning up his property following the notice and a man who decided he would keep his plea to himself by not showing up at all. There is a summons for his arrest.

Congratulations to the Minister, the Chief Magistrate, the environmental officers and monitors who are graduating this week and are ready to hit the streets and to all who are transforming the desire for cleaner, greener, safer communities into a demand that we shall all respect the land we live in and the world around us. It’s not such a bad thing that the environmental movement is catching on, even if there are a few bumps along the way like a squabble over who should have the right to decide about the rights of plastic straw users to choose paper or plastic through which to inhale a carbonated drink.

Every good cause has a pimple or two.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has suggested re-opening coal mines to provide jobs ... along with black lung disease

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 9

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

BLAZE HITS BAY STREET

By RIEL MAJOR POLICE are investigating a blaze that destroyed a twostory building on Bay Street yesterday.

Head of Police Fire Services, Chief Supt Walter Evans said firefighters responded to a fire at a building which used to house

a jewellery store sometime before 5am. “This morning when we got the call, the first responders met heavy flames coming from a two-story building,” he said.

“The blaze took place on Bay Street this was just near Deveaux Street and left a building destroyed. There was one

building to the east and another building to the west had received some damage those buildings were being threatened. They are two-story buildings and they were closely positioned near where the area of concentration was.

“There was a partial collapse of the building due to the

excessive heat …The wind was blowing toward the south. Wind was a major contributor to the propagation to that fire this morning.”

CSP Evans said Bay Street was closed around 8am between Victoria and Deveaux Streets for the safety of pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

At the scene, he commended the high turnout of firefighters as high winds were a major challenge in containing the blaze. All emergency vehicles were needed, according to CSP Evans, who added off-duty fire staff were also requested for duty.

The cause of the blaze was unknown up to press time.

PAGE 10, Thursday, February 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Oban is not a worry for us, says Carnival chief from page one Carnival Corporation on Monday evening unveiled plans to build one the largest cruise ports in the world in Grand Bahama.

The company plans to lease 329 acres of land at Sharp Rock, somewhere near the University of The Bahamas in the eastern part of the island.

Early last year, the government announced it had signed a Heads of Agreement with Oban Energies, which proposed to develop a $5.5 billion oil refinery and storage terminal on some 200 acres of Crown land, east of Stat Oil. The government’s initial agreement with Oban sparked intense criticism, including points of opposition from several environmental organisations who took

issue with the lack of an environmental impact assessment, given the project’s risk factors.

The government has now decided to renegotiate the terms of the agreement with Oban. Officials said an EIA has been completed, however, it has not been released to the public.

When asked by The Tribune during a meeting with the press at the Foster B Pestaina Hall on Tuesday morning whether Carnival felt the proposed Oban project would impact their port project, Mr Israel said: “I am not very familiar with the Oban project; I am familiar that we are far away from wherever it was proposed; we are 20 miles away. So, I don’t know much more than reading a little bit in some of the newspapers about it.

“I don’t know what stage it is, but the location we now have is

GIORA ISRAEL, Carnival’s senior vice president of global port development. very close to where the population is, and it is actually near to a protected area that is to the west of us,” said Mr Israel of the new cruise port which is expected to be built and open by October 2021.

“So, whatever they (Oban) will do, it is far out there. We are not concerned at all,” he said.

The new cruise port when completed will able to accommodate two 6,000-passenger cruise ships, and a crew of 2,000 at the same time, Mr Israel said. It was revealed that of the 329 acres of land leased by Carnival, 110 would be preserved as a natural wetland.

Mr Israel noted Carnival is committed to ensuring it improves places where it has been. “Our CEO Arnold Donald coined the phrase, which he keeps repeating, that we intend to come to places and leave them as good or better than we found them - that is our commitment; this is what we do,” he said.

He estimates that the project will cost about $100 million dollars to build.

“We do not have a definitive

budget but we will have more definitive budgets by March, April, or May. It may take three to four months to come up with a budget,” he added.

When asked about taxes and fees, Mr Israel said the company will pay government departure tax of $18 per passenger regardless. “That is the fee charged by the government of the Bahamas.

If we come to Nassau we pay an extra fee for Nassau, and a fee for Freeport. And when you come to our port you pay us a separate fee,” he explained.

“Every one of our ports have to be a profitable enterprise because it is business, and it needs to cover its cost and make a profit. When we manage ports, we manage them so that they are profitable by a small margin, but mainly to serve us to be able to bring people.”

COUSIN DENIES RELATIVE KILLED FOR CASH

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE cousin of one of three men accused of executing a murder plot in the summer of 2016 yesterday denied assertions that his relative killed the deceased for cash, then used some of the blood money to buy a car.

Carlderon Brown denied that he told police some two years ago that Jahmaro Edgecombe killed Kenyari Lightbourne at Daran Neely’s behest for some $5,000, then used $3,000 of that sum to buy a Nissan Primera.

Brown also denied telling police that after Neely found out he gave a statement incriminating them, Neely, while in prison, subsequently initiated a series of events to have Brown withdraw himself as a witness in the matter.

The revelations were made during Edgecombe’s, Neely’s, and a third individual, Sean Brown’s trial concerning Lightbourne’s death near Woods Alley.

On the date in question, Lightbourne was shot multiple times while walking through his Woods Alley neighbourhood off Market Street. He died at the scene.

Neely and Edgecombe aka “Bingy”, the alleged gunman, were arraigned within months of each other in 2016 in connection with Lightbourne’s death.

Sean Brown aka “Fire”, is charged with accessory after the fact.

During trial proceedings yesterday, lead Crown prosecutor Racquel Whymms read off the particulars of Brown’s July 8, 2016 statement he gave to police, which Brown denied as untrue because he did not give that information to officers.

According to the statement, Brown claimed that sometime in June 2016 he

was sitting in the back of a yard under a mango tree smoking with Edgecombe when Neely and Rashad Laroda aka “Rat” stopped in front of his yard in a Honda Pilot vehicle.

Brown said when he saw them, he hailed them and Neely subsequently called him out to the road. Edgecombe, he said, walked out to the road with him.

Brown said both Neely and Larodo knew Edgecombe from him various visits.

Brown said Neely then asked Edgecombe if he knew where “Eyes,” “Spider” and another man named “Yari” were.

After Brown said Edgecombe said he knew where they were, he claimed Neely said he had $6,000 on Eyes’ head and that he would pay $5,000 for each of them to be killed.

Brown said he heard when his cousin said “yeah, that straight, that straight”, before Neely and Laroda pulled off. Brown said he was shocked, but said he didn’t ask his cousin about it because he hoped he was joking.

About two or three days later, Brown said Edgecombe asked him to be let out of the house because he wanted to go by his girlfriend.

Brown said Edgecombe left early that morning and didn’t return until around 1pm. Brown said when Edgecombe returned, sat down with him and told him he had just bought a silver

Nissan Primera for $3,000, which was at the car wash just around the corner on Soursop Street.

Brown said he knew that Soursop Street is the next street over from where he had lived on Spice Street for some six years, but then said he did not know where Avocado Street was, despite that street being the next street over from Soursop Street.

Nonetheless, Brown said when he asked his cousin where he got the money to buy a car, Edgecombe called Neely’s name. Brown said Edgecombe then pulled a large amount of cash, full of $100 bills out of his pants pocket, then told him it was about $2,000 he had left.

Brown said his cousin told him, “Bey, I had to do what I had to do, I kill that bey Kenyari.” Brown said when he asked Edgecombe why he did it, he replied: “Bey, I broke and I need the money (sic).”

Brown said Edgecombe explained how he hid and waited through a short cut off Woods Alley, and when he saw Lightbourne walking towards the shortcut, he ran up to him and shot him in the head and the chest with his black and chrome .40 pistol, before running off and catching a bus out of the area.

However, Brown denied assertions that while at the Central Detective Unit (CDU) on October 17, 2016 he was shown a picture of a 12-man lineup by a police

officer, from which he positively identified Neely as position number 10.

Instead, he claimed police officers brought a piece of paper to him, showed him Neely’s picture, and told him to sign it.

Then, in a December 20, 2016 statement, Brown claimed that on December 13 of that year, he was at home when he received a phone call from Edgecombe whom he knew was in jail. He said Edgecombe asked him what he had told the police, because he wasn’t sure what his cousin knew, he said he told Edgecombe he didn’t tell the police anything.

The following day, Brown said he was at home when he received another phone call, this time from Neely whom he knew was also incarcerated. Brown said Neely told him “bey come to court Friday, Naldo ga come for you.” Brown said he didn’t reply, and neither did he have a chance to, because Neely hung up the phone.

Brown said later that afternoon, he got a third call on his cellphone from someone he knew as Renaldo Adderley from Spice Street, whom he said has a close relationship with Neely. Brown said Adderley told him he was coming for him the following day, and to be ready.

Brown said he was very scared and didn’t know what to do, so he agreed and told Adderley to pick him up by the graveyard off Cowpen Road. After being picked up the following day, Brown said Adderley took him to a justice of the peace and to the Office of the Attorney General in a bid to get Brown to change the statement he gave to police.

Brown denied giving that statement to police, but agreed that he went to the AG’s Office. However, he said he went there with his neighbour and another woman. He told the court that while there, he met and spoke with a woman named Ms Christie—whose name was mentioned in the statement.

Brown further admitted that after they went upstairs to her office, he told Ms Christie that he didn’t want to be a witness in the matter. She told him that he would have to go to court to have that issue resolved.

The case continues today.

Neely is represented

by Wayne Munroe, QC, and Jomo Campbell, David Cash represents Edgecombe, and Nathan Smith represents Sean Brown.

Al-Leecia Delancy assists Ms Whymms in representing the Crown.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 11

Sands and Dames should quit over Frank Smith trial, says pressure group

By RIEL MAJOR A group of concerned citizens says its members are planning to protest for the resignations of Health Minister Dr Duane Sands and National Security Minister Marvin Dames for the role they played in the Frank Smith trial.

Ricardo Smith, a member of Concerned Citizens for Justice and Empowerment, said as early as next Wednesday, they are going to take their demonstration to the streets.

Mr Smith, who is also a member of the Progressive Liberal Party, said: “We have decided it is incumbent on us to take this to the next level. We are going to announce our date of demonstration. We are going to call on the commissioner of police and we are going to call on the independent prosecutor to do their jobs.

We are going to articulate in letters to them what we think should happen as far as this matter.

“We can’t allow this. We are steadfast and there is

FRANK Smith after his acquittal last week. no other way…we want to make sure that the citizens of the Bahamas have the right to have our wishes heard by those who are in position of power. We believe that there are established conventions that

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dictates that when these persons find themselves in these types of positions that they don’t wait around… they don’t hang around when they do that which is honourable. Because this is supposed to be an honourable Parliament... for us now, we are placed in a position whereby the citizens of The Bahamas have to act.

“The administration said they would come here, and they would be cleaning up all of the mess and they would be fixing this and fixing that. The fact of the matter is it appears that they are messier than anything else.”

Mr Smith said Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has a responsibility at this time to fire both Mr Dames and Dr Sands and if he fails to do his duty, he himself must go.

“We as citizens, we have no other choice (but) to take our plight to the

streets to ask before the state to become involved and demand these people to do the right thing or else there would be no law.

There would be no order in our country.”

Mr Smith said a letter was drafted asking for permission to demonstrate and the group is currently waiting to be granted a permit to protest.

PLP leader Philip Davis has repeatedly called for the resignations of Mr Dames and Dr Sands after Mr Smith was acquitted of bribery and extortion charges last week. In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt pointed to numerous “inconsistencies” and “discrepancies” in the Crown’s case, which she further said was “undermined” by its own witnesses. She also cited the “egregious” behaviour of two Cabinet ministers connected to the matter.

POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MISSING 16-YEAR-OLD POLICE are looking for a 16-year-old who ran away from the Ranfurly Home for Children on Tuesday, the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development said yesterday.

Officials did not give many details on the matter, only that officials at the home reported the matter to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The teen’s family members have also been notified, officials said.

PAGE 12, Thursday, February 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Psychiatrist on ‘hidden epidemic wreaking havoc’ in Bahamas

DR David Allen was speaking about the link between childhood trauma and violence.

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net EARLY childhood abuse is linked to violence and murder in teenage years, noted psychiatrist Dr David Allen said yesterday, adding this “hidden epidemic” is “wreaking havoc” in the country.

Dr Allen spoke of the link with childhood trauma and violence as the Ministry of National Security launched the Advisory Council on Crime, an organisation which will provide a holistic, evidence-based approach to tackling crime. The council will be chaired by Dr Allen, founder of The Family: People Helping People.

At a press conference to announce the launch yesterday, Minister of National Security

Marvin Dames referenced a study

by Dr Allen and Director of Research Keva Bethel, which found a correlation to perpetrators being victims of crime themselves.

Of these findings, Dr Allen said: “We’ve found there’s a powerful connection between early childhood sexual abuse and late teenage year murders… If a kid is abused sexually, between one and seven years-old, they have a high rate of violent crimes in the late teenage years, early 20s.

“If you look at our murder rate, the average age of Bahamian murderers is between 16 and 24. I am convinced through my work in The Family, around the country, that it’s a hidden epidemic, that we’re not paying attention to early childhood sexual abuse, incest

and that’s wreaking havoc on our country. The new theory isn’t ‘what have you done’, but ‘what happened to you?’ We now believe that people who are traumatised continue producing trauma.”

With sexual abuse already identified as a cause of violence, Mr Dames was asked if anything is being done to tackle this problem.

“There are things that are currently being done and things that are being worked on,” he replied.

“A few days ago we signed an MoU with Corrections Canada.

And if you look at that MoU and you look at what’s about to take place…in the Department of Corrections…we’re talking about treatment for sexual offenders, treatment for persons who would have been victims. We’re talking about that.”

As for the newly formed council, Mr Dames described its purpose as twofold: “First to serve as a consultative arm of the Ministry of National Security on crime and second, to function as the bridge between law enforcement and the community.”

Mr Dames contextualised the council as part of this administration’s latest initiatives to “reduce the unacceptable levels of crime”. He noted that last year, the country saw overall crime decrease by eight percent and homicides by 25 percent.

Last year, the country recorded 91 murders, the lowest since 2010 when 94 people were murdered.

“With the launch of this Advisory Council coupled with hardworking police officers and law enforcement personnel, and our recent strategies and

initiatives, we anticipate to see continuing decreases in crime,” Mr Dames continued.

Mr Dames noted the council has five main objectives: to identify and describe the root causes of crime and recommend creative ways to address these; to provide a forum where those with ideas on tackling crime can present their thoughts; to act as a “microcosm” of all the key stakeholders in the fight against crime; to develop, redefine, and expand on programmes to deal with the roots of crime; and to function as a think tank to “discuss difficulty issues” to enhance how law enforcement and citizens can work together.

Mr Dames said the committee is comprised of approximately 21 volunteers, who he described as “a great group of professionals”.

REALTOR APPEALS SENTENCE FOR DEFRAUDING CLIENTS

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

APPELLATE judges are considering whether to accept a former realtor’s assertions that her six-year sentence for swindling 21 people out of over $144,000 in 2008 as part of a property scam should be cut in half.

The Court of Appeal reserved its decision on Tuesday on whether it would accede to Daisymae Johnson’s arguments that the court should substitute a three-year sentence in place of the half dozen years she is currently serving.

Johnson, who operated a real estate company without a licence, stole $144,785.34 from clients who made cash deposits to her on homes and lots that she never delivered between December 2007 and December 2008.

The Crown said at the time that Gibraltar Real Estate company, which was located at Logwood Road in Grand Bahama, commenced operation sometime in 2008.

Johnson, who was operating the company, applied to the Grand Bahama Development Company to develop 22 lots in the Heritage West Subdivision, but her request was denied.

Despite not having a licence, Johnson went ahead with the company and offered house and lot packages, ranging from $109,000 to $179,000, to the public.

People making deposits to Johnson on the homes were given receipts and promised the homes would be constructed in three months.

However, the police received 21 complaints of theft by Johnson between March 23, 2009 and November 13, 2009.

Prosecutor Darrell Taylor said at the time that during the course of police investigations, it was discovered Gibraltar did not own the properties and was not authorised to sell them.

Ms Taylor also said it was further discovered that six of the properties Johnson showed clients and had offered for sale were owned

by Coral KFL Contractors.

And although the company never gave Gibraltar Real Estate company authorisation to sell the six properties or conduct business on their behalf, Ms Taylor said Johnson went ahead anyway.

On March 13, 2012, Johnson was arraigned before Sir Hartman Longley, then a senior Supreme Court judge, on 21 counts of stealing by reason of service.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

However some six months later, on September 20, Johnson entered into a plea agreement whereby it was agreed that in exchange for her pleading guilty to the 21 charges, the Crown would make a recommendation that she repay the sum of $144,785.34 over within 22 months.

It was further recommended in the plea agreement that if she defaulted on three consecutive monthly payments, the Crown would not oppose a request by her that six years would be an appropriate sentence for the disposition of the case.

On January 30, 2013, Johnson and the Crown entered into an amended plea agreement in which all of the aforementioned terms were again agreed to; however, an agreed payment schedule outlining the monthly payments were to be disbursed to the 21 complainants.

Johnson paid roughly half of the $144,785.34 before becoming delinquent in making the payments. On July 13, 2016, the court gave her 90 days within which to pay the balance of $72,635.84.

After Johnson failed to pay that sum within 90 days, on January 27, 2017, she appeared before Justice Estelle Gray-Evans pursuant to a summons and an affidavit filed by the Crown, which requested the agreement be rescinded and a six-year sentence imposed.

Justice Gray-Evans ultimately acceded to the Crown’s application and sentenced her to six years in prison.

However, Johnson, via her attorney Christina Galanos, is contesting

Justice Gray-Evans’ decision to accede to the Crown’s request on the basis she erred in her interpretation of the plea agreement during the sentencing exercise, and that the sentence passed was thus unduly severe.

Ms Galanos submitted the agreement mandates her client was only liable to be sentenced after missing three consecutive monthly payments, and that in the event she requested a six-year sentence, the prosecutor would not oppose that request.

Furthermore, Johnson asserts the agreement not to oppose a request by her that six years is an appropriate sentence for the disposition of the case implies that whenever she would have breached the agreement, there would be a “discussion” to determine what would be an appropriate sentence.

Ms Galanos further submitted that notwithstanding that the maximum penalty for the offences in question is 10 years imprisonment, her client had no previous convictions; pled guilty so as to not waste the court’s time and repaid roughly half of the stolen funds. Thus, she said a sentence towards the higher end of the spectrum was unwarranted.

Ms Galanos further asserts that when the plea agreement was first struck, and before Johnson made any payments pursuant to the agreement, it was “clear” that both parties were “somewhat comfortable” with a sixyear sentence.

However, she says once Johnson defaulted on her monthly payments, the circumstances had “clearly changed” as she had paid roughly half of what was owed. Thus, Ms Galanos said Justice Gray-Evans ought to have taken that fact into consideration, reduced the sentence mentioned by one-half and thereby sentenced Johnson to three years imprisonment.

“We contend that this would have been a logical and fair approach in the unique circumstances of this case,” Ms Galanos submitted.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 13

Students out to prove they are made of the write stuff

EIGHTY students from 13 different schools participated in the third annual economics essay competition this February at Anatol Rodgers High School. It was organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with The Nassau Institute and sponsored by the Templeton Religion Trust.

The competition was open to senior high school business students in public and private schools in New Providence and the Family Islands. The students were required to write an essay on a subject based on the book “Economics in One Lesson” by renowned American economist Henry Hazlitt. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded for the three best essays and the winner will attend a three-day economics seminar in the USA. All entrants will receive a certificate of participation.

Last year’s winner was

Kiran Halkitis of St Augustine’s College, as well as a cash prize, he attended a seminar under the auspices of the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta, Georgia.

Speaking to The Tribune after overseeing the competition again this year in his capacity as a director of The Nassau Institute, former British High Commissioner Peter Young thanked the Templeton Religion Trust for its generous support and the Ministry of Education for its efficient organisation of the event. He mentioned, in particular, Gwendolyn Johnson, the officer responsible for business studies at the ministry together with Lakell Johnson of CR Walker Senior High School and Samantha Keziah Knowles of Central High School in Palmetto Point.

A prize giving ceremony will be arranged next month.

EIGHTY students from 13 different schools took part.

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PAGE 14, Thursday, February 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

2018 WAS 4TH WARMEST, BUT NEXT FIVE YEARS COULD BREAK RECORDS WASHINGTON Associated Press

WHILE 2018 was the fourthwarmest year on record, British meteorologists are predicting the next five years will be much hotter, maybe even record-breaking.

Two US agencies, the United Kingdom Met Office and the World Meteorological Organization analysed global temperatures in slightly different ways, but each came to the same conclusion: 2018 was the fourth-warmest

year on record behind 2016, 2015 and 2017. The US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said 2018’s average temperature was 58.42 degrees, which is 1.42 degrees warmer than the 20th century average. Much of Europe had its warmest years on record. Records go back to 1880.

NASA and NOAA climate scientists said even though 2018 was a tad cooler than the three previous years that’s mostly due to random weather variations.

“Never mind the little wiggles

from year to year. The trend is going relentlessly up, and it will continue to do so,” Potsdam Institute climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf said in an email.

“Those who live in denial of this fact are in denial of physics.”

Using computer simulations, the British weather office forecast s that the next five years will average somewhere between 58.51 and 59.49 degrees. That would be warmer than the last four years.

Outside scientists, such as Natalie Mahowald of Cornell University, said the forecast is

consistent with what researchers know about warming and natural variability.

The obvious long-term trend of steady warming makes it easier to more accurately predict near future warming, said NASA chief climate scientist Gavin Schmidt.

The US temperature in 2018 was the 14th warmest on average, said NOAA climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt.

Last year was also the third wettest on record in the US. Nine eastern states had their wettest years on record, “an exclamation

point on a trend of big rain” in the age of climate change, Arndt said.

There were 14 weather and climate disasters that cost more than $1 billion, for a total of $91 billion, Arndt said. At least 247 people died in those disasters.

That’s the fourth-highest number of billion-dollar disasters and the fourth-highest dollar amount, taking inflation into account.

The damage included Hurricane Michael’s $25 billion tally and $24 billion each from Hurricane Florence and the western wildfires.

Trump: All IS territory will be cleared in week

WASHINGTON Associated Press

PRESIDENT Donald Trump predicted yesterday that the Islamic State group will have lost by next week all the territory it once controlled. He said the US will not relent in fighting remnants of the extremist organisation despite his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria over the objections of some of his most senior national security advisers.

The president told representatives of a 79-member, US-led coalition fighting IS that the militants held a tiny percentage of the vast territory they claimed as their “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.

“It should be formally announced sometime, probably next week, that we will have 100 percent of the caliphate,” Trump said.

US officials have said in recent weeks that IS has lost 99.5 percent of its territory and is holding on to fewer than five square kilometers in Syria, or less than two square miles, in the villages of the Middle Euphrates River Valley, where the bulk of the fighters are concentrated.

But there are fears the impending

DONALD Trump speaking at the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS meeting yesterday.

US pullout will imperil those gains.

Trump told coalition members meeting at the State Department that while “remnants” of the group were still dangerous, he was determined to bring US troops home. He called on coalition members to step

up and do their “fair share” in the fight against terrorism.

Even as Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the withdrawal decision, which shocked US allies and led to the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis

and the US envoy to the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk, some military leaders, renewed their concerns.

While the withdrawal would fulfill a Trump goal, top military officials have pushed back for months, arguing IS remains a threat and could regroup. US policy had been to keep troops in place until the extremists are completely eradicated. Fears that IS fighters are making a strategic maneuver to lay low ahead of the US pullout has fuelled criticism that Trump telegraphed his military plans — the same thing he accused President Barack Obama of doing in Afghanistan.

Pompeo told the coalition that the planned withdrawal “is not a change in the mission” but a change in tactics against a group that should still be considered a menace.

“In this new era, local law enforcement and information sharing will be crucial, and our fight will not necessarily always be military-led,” he said. Trump’s announcement “is not the end of America’s fight. The fight is one that we will continue to wage alongside of you.”

COURT BLOCKS EXECUTION OF MUSLIM MONTGOMERY Associated Press

ALABAMA may be violating the religious rights of a Muslim inmate set for execution by refusing to allow an imam at his death, a federal court said yesterday in blocking the lethal injection.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted an indefinite stay for Dominique Ray, 42, a day before he was scheduled to die for the slaying of a teenager more than two decades ago. A three-judge panel of judges wrote that it was “exceedingly loath to substitute our judgment on prison procedures.”

But, they added that it “looks substantially likely to us that Alabama has run afoul of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

The Alabama chapter of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations said it supported Ray’s bid to have an Islamic leader present.

“We welcome this decision and hope Mr. Ray will be provided equal access to spiritual guidance,” they said.

VENEZUELA MILITARY BARRICADES BRIDGE IN ATTEMPT TO BLOCK AID CUCUTA, Colombia Associated Press

THE Venezuelan military has barricaded a bridge at a key border crossing, issuing a challenge yesterday to a US-backed effort by the opposition to bring humanitarian aid into the troubled nation.

The Tienditas International Bridge was blocked a day prior by the Venezuelan National Guard with a giant orange tanker, two large blue containers and makeshift fencing near the border town of Cucuta, Colombian officials said.

The bridge is at the same site where officials plan to store humanitarian aid that opposition leader Juan Guaido is vowing to deliver to Venezuela. The Trump administration has pledged $20 million in aid and Canada has promised another $53 million.

The squabble is now the latest front in the battle between Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro, who is vowing not to let the supplies enter the country.

Maduro argues Venezuela isn’t a nation of “beggars” and has long rejected receiving humanitarian assistance, equating it to a foreign intervention.

A FUEL tanker and cargo trailers blocking the Tienditas International Bridge in an attempt to stop aid entering from Colombia.

Looking up at the giant containers blocking the bridge, aid worker Alba Pereira shook her head and dismissed the barricade as another government ploy.

She said that humanitarian volunteers would find a way to get the aid into the country regardless.

“It’s a means of intimidation, but I don’t think it will accomplish anything,” said Pereira, director of the nonprofit Entre Dos Tierras, which aids Venezuelans migrants.

Roughly 40 countries around the world have backed Guaido, who swore himself in as president in late January contending that as head of the oppositionled National Assembly he is

Venezuela’s rightful leader because Maduro’s re-election last year was a sham.

Guaido says the emergency shipment is a “test” for Venezuela’s armed forces, which will have to choose if they allow the much needed aid to pass, or if they instead obey orders.

No details have been released on exactly how the opposition plans to get the shipments into Venezuela.

An emphatic U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Venezuelans desperately need the emergency supplies that the US and other countries are preparing to provide.

“Venezuela’s military under Maduro’s orders is blocking aid,” Pompeo tweeted.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, February 7, 2019, PAGE 15

STEM FOR OCEANS EDUCATION LAUNCH WITH support from Royal Caribbean Ltd, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) is launching an innovative STEM for Oceans education initiative in The Bahamas.

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education has increasingly been recognised as a key driver for opportunity in countries worldwide. In the Caribbean, the need to develop a STEM-skilled workforce presents a critical challenge.

Through STEM, youth can develop the skills and

knowledge necessary for a workforce where success results not just from what one knows, but from what one is able to do with that knowledge. As such, STEM skills go beyond “hard” skills.

Instead, STEM focuses on skills that are both cognitive and noncognitive, such as problem - solving, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, and communication skills.

STEM for Oceans will reach at least 200 public school students with learning content related to science, technology,

engineering and mathematics. “The Bahamas has an intrinsic connection to oceans, both economically and culturally,” said Reverend Don Haynes, principal at the RN Gomez School in Great Harbour Cay, where the project recently launched.

“Ocean science is dynamic and interdisciplinary. The new STEM for Oceans programme will set the stage for creative and disciplined thinking to engage our youth to help solve real-life issues in our island nation.”

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