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FACE TO FACE WITH THE GANGLAND GENERALS GANGLAND violence continues to Special report by TANYA SMITHtake its bloody toll on our streets.

CARTWRIGHT Week by week the body count rises, tsmith-cartwright@ seemingly unstoppable despite every effort tribunemedia.net the police and public leaders make.

Today Insight throws a light on just a few brave people who have put themselves on the line, talking to the men who fire the bullets and give the orders which break another family’s heart.

We also sat down with one of the gangland generals, hearing directly from him how he ended up living in the shadows of our society.

Full story - see Insight on page eight

$40M BAILOUT KEEPS BAHAMASAIR FLYING

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN taxpayers have spent $40m “and counting” to prop up Bahamasair over the past seven months, its chairman has revealed, while confirming the airline was late meeting payroll last week.

Tommy Turnquest disclosed to Tribune Business that the Government has already spent more than double what was budgeted

TOMMY TURNQUEST for the entire 2020-2021 fiscal year to keep the national flag carrier in the air, adding that the delay in

receiving another injection of funds from the Public Treasury was responsible for the late salary payments to hundreds of staff.

Some $19m was allocated to Bahamasair for the 12-month period to end-June 2021, and Mr Turnquest agreed that the current level of support for the airline was “unsustainable” amid the economic and fiscal devastation inflicted

by COVID-19.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

IT’S ANOTHER NEW RECORD FOR SHAUNAE

SEE SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 3

COOPER: IT’S TIME TO LIFT THE RESTRICTIONS ON EXUMA

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

EXUMA and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper insisted on Friday that it is time for Exuma to have its COVID restrictions relaxed.

He spoke a day before the Minnis administration relaxed Grand Bahama’s curfew, loosening the restriction by just one hour

from 10pm to 11pm daily.

Mr Cooper pointed to a recent announcement by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis about the thenimpending relaxation of Grand Bahama’s curfew, saying Exumians should be afforded the same leeway.

On Friday, Mr Cooper described the ongoing 10pm curfew as “one of those decisions that’s not rational,” adding it had negatively affected the island’s

business.

“We heard that the Prime Minister was in Grand Bahama and he indicated that there will be a relaxation for Grand Bahama,” Mr Cooper said. “We’re happy for them.

“We want to see those relaxations here for Exuma.

There’s no rational basis to continue to treat Exuma as if Exuma is a hotspot. So the same rules that they had in place when we were

a hotspot still exist. We’ve had one I believe case since January 1 and the reality is that now it’s hampering our quality of life.”

He added: “I spoke to some business owners in George Town today when we did a walk about and restaurants in particular are concerned about the 10 o’clock curfew because they’re unable to really make a living, keep their people employed and really

have a great and prosperous business. So, there is no science. “‘There is no rational basis for the restrictions to stay as they are and therefore there has to be some relaxation.

There’s a need for some of the restrictions to stay but certainly the 10 o’clock curfew, something that must go and must go now.”

Exuma has had 122 confirmed COVID cases.

The island’s last reported

Moultrie denies deal with PLP HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie has lashed out at a “fabricated, fake and politically motivated” story printed in The Punch last week that claimed he was set to “cut a deal” with the Progressive Liberal Party.

Mr Moultrie, Nassau Village MP, quit the Free National Movement this month and is now an independent member of Parliament.

The tabloid’s article claimed Mr Moultrie was set to run as an independent as part of an alleged “deal” with the PLP to split FNM votes and secure the opposition’s win in the area.

In response to the article, Mr Moultrie strongly denied the claims. He released a statement yesterday which said, in part, “The story which appears to be a paid political advertisement is diabolical in origin, pathological in nature and sycophantic in its objectives and desired results.

“It is yellow journalism in its nastiest and ugliest form. Clearly the concocted narrative is designed to undermine the Speaker’s Office and Parliament. The publication raises issues of privilege and contempt of Parliament contrary to the Rules of Procedure of the House of Assembly and the Powers and Privileges (Senate and House of Assembly) Act.” He added that “there has been no discussion with, no offer and no deal between the Speaker and the PLP”.

He also said: “The people of The Bahamas are hereby reassured that even if such an offer or proposal had been made, it would have been flatly rejected as the proposal from the Prime Minister was.”

His statement did not elaborate on this “proposal”.

He added that if he runs as an independent candidate in the next general

election, it will be for the love of the country, to further democracy and in an effort to win the most votes — not split the FNM’s votes to help the PLP. Last week, in his first ruling as an independent Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Moultrie overturned a controversial ruling that his predecessor had made that restricted the powers of the Public Accounts Committee.

The body is Parliament’s most powerful committee.

Former Speaker Dr Kendal Major, then a PLP MP, ruled in 2015 when the FNM was in opposition that the PAC could only examine documents that had been tabled in Parliament and could only send for persons, papers or records if a parliamentary resolution permits it to do so.

The consequence of this ruling has been that access to documents sought this session by the oppositionled PAC have been denied.

SPEAKER of the House Halson Moultrie.

Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune Staff

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A VIDEO of prospective Nassau Village candidate Nicole Martin, which was spread on social media last week, is not an official FNM campaign clip, the former Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union president said.

Ms Martin told The Tribune she has not been ratified by the party as yet, however, she said the video was taken during a photoshoot for her potential

political run.

The 41-second viral video opens with the words “No Retreat, No Surrender” and shows Ms Martin dancing to a song with the same name by dancehall artist Terror Fabulous.

She is dressed in FNM colours and standing in front of a photo backdrop and lighting. Then she speaks directly to the camera with her name and a caption that reads: “Prospective candidate”.

“I am Nicole Martin and I am ready to serve. Nassau Village, are you ready?”

she says to the camera.

When contacted, the former union president said the video, while it has attracted attention for her dancing and poses, is not official messaging.

“If you watch the video you can see the flash going off. It was a photoshoot and it was intended, we were preparing a video for if and when I am ratified by the FNM to have a message to put out there... an official video,” she explained yesterday.

“And they were recording as I was dancing to that

because that is a song that I used to use a lot in the union and we were just having a good time during the photoshoot. They recorded it and a video was put out. It really wasn’t intended as an official video. It is not an official video. It was more or less supposed to be fun as I understood it because it was out before I knew quite honestly.”

Before the video’s release, it was widely speculated that the former union leader would be a potential FNM candidate after Mr. Halson Moultrie resigned

NICOLE MARTIN VIDEO NOT PART OF OFFICIAL FNM CAMPAIGN

PLP HOLDS VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party in Grand Bahama launched a voter registration drive on Friday at its headquarters in Freeport, where a Nissan Cube car is being raffled to encourage first-time voters to register.

The initiative is one of several the PLP Men’s Branch is undertaking to get more young voters out to register and vote in the 2022 general elections.

First-time registrants are eligible to win the car, which will be raffled on April 5. Individuals must present their voter’s registration card to the PLP headquarters to show proof. A copy of it will be taken and entered in a draw with other eligible entrants.

Julian Sawyer, national vice-chairman of the PLP, is encouraging Bahamians everywhere to participate and become involved in the political process in the country.

“We especially encourage young people to get involved in this paradigm

shift of being registered to vote in the next general elections,” he said.

Nevar Smith, a member of the PLP Men’s Branch, said the drive is focused on encouraging first-time voters to register so their voices and vote can be counted.

“With the general elections quickly approaching, we realised the importance of encouraging the youth of GB to register to vote,” he stated. “We want them to understand how precious and valuable the right to vote is.”

Individuals who decide to participate in the initiative, he said, will not be told how to vote. “I want to stress that we are not telling people how to vote; this is not that type of situation.

But, instead, our primary objective is to encourage people to register to vote and let their voice be heard on election day.

“Those who get registered for the first time will be eligible to receive a car by having their names placed in a group with other first-time registrants. One lucky person will be chosen

out of that group of names

by April 5, 2021,” Mr Smith explained.

Mr Smith said they are also going to reach out to young people and Bahamians overseas through social media. “We do not want to disenfranchise persons overseas who want to participate so we will implement a Google form, in addition to having persons come to headquarters to drop off their receipt so people can participate overseas. So, every avenue is going to be used electronically and digitally,” he said.

James Turner, a PLP supporter and member of the Men’s Branch, said the point is getting people to register to vote. “If you want people to do the right thing sometimes you have to incentivise them to do the right thing. The fact is it does not matter who you vote for at this time; this is about having the right to vote.

“We want folks to know you ought to register to vote and select your candidate of choice -– it is a powerful thing. First-time voters are primarily young

folks; we are saying go and be registered.

“Once you have registered, bring your registration card to prove you are registered; we will make a copy of it and drop it in a box,” he said.

Mr Turner added: “The landscape is always changing; I would like to think that this will cause everybody to get registered…

But it is unlikely that that would happen. I believe like many others, we will have to do some things to get young voters to get registered. So, I don’t expect this to be the last thing we do.”

Vice-chairman Sawyer said the PLP has been actively participating in Grand Bahama. When asked about the ratification of PLP candidates in Grand Bahama, Mr Sawyer said: “That is in process and we are letting it go through the normal procedures.”

He said the PLP is for the people and is trying to reach out and help the people. “We are living up to our principles and the philosophy of the PLP to uplift the downtrodden and encourage all,” he said.

from the governing party earlier this month and is now serving as an Independent member of the House of Assembly.

Rumours swirled that Mr Moultrie resigned because he was told he was not getting the FNM nomination, however he has denied this.

The FNM recently put out a list of 17 ratified candidates, including 11 incumbents, but a Nassau Village candidate has not been named as yet.

Jamahl Strachan will be the Progressive Liberal Party’s candidate in that area.

case was on February 4.

The island is unable to have face-to-face public schooling, but Mr Cooper said he has agitated the minister of education for that to be changed.

“I think we are at a point in this pandemic where the competent authority is enjoying this position as competent authority and I think quite frankly it’s now being used as a political tool,” he said.

HENFIELD: I HAVE GIVEN MY BEST EFFORT

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

NORTH Abaco MP Darren Henfield says he gave constituents his best effort as their representative these last four years.

The incumbent was recently ratified as one of the Free National Movement’s candidates for the 2022 general election and told The Tribune that the governing party did the best that it could do given the circumstances.

Asked if he felt confident in being re-elected to represent his constituency, Mr Henfield said it was up to the people of North Abaco to make the decision.

However, he said he would continue to work as hard as possible to earn and keep their trust.

Mr Henfield said; “I did my best and I think most people will understand that I did my best. I rode out the storm with my people. The storm was very destructive to all of us,” he said on Friday.

“Stayed there long after and I remain with my people in North Abaco. We will need to stop until we recover all that Dorian has tried to steal from us. That’s where we are.”

There has been much criticism in the handling of Hurricane Dorian, including the rebuilding process.

Yet, the area’s member of Parliament defended the government.

“Dorian was the first of it’s kind for any government in this region, anywhere in the world.

“There’s no textbook response that one could come up with for Dorian,” he continued.

“I think (in) the circumstances we did our best.

We’re very pleased and grateful to God. We had a lot of help in the aftermath. People are still with us trying to help us recover and rebuild. You know you had wildfires in California.

They have not yet rebuilt some of them. Puerto Rico, (Hurricane) Irma have not yet rebuilt.

“I think for a small developing country we did extremely well to be where we are now in our recovery efforts.”

Central and South Abaco MP James Albury recently announced he is not seeking re-election.

PAGE 4, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Ban on Haiti travel

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNMENT has banned all commercial flights and vessels from Haiti beginning today in a move, officials said, was done as a precautionary measure to prevent the risk of imported coronavirus cases from Haiti now that the country has entered its Carnival season.

The embargo on all travel from Haiti was announced in the latest amendment to COVID-19 Emergency Powers Orders released over the weekend.

According to the order, the ban will be enforced for a period of 21 days.

It states: “Entry into The Bahamas of any vessel or person, who has departed from Haiti, whether by

direct transport routes or by transiting through another jurisdiction, and whether arriving by air or sea shall be prohibited for a period of 21 days commencing at 12.01 am on Monday.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said yesterday the decision was made in response to concerns about Haiti’s Carnival activities, which are seen as super spreader events.

Haiti’s Carnival, which began yesterday, is one of the nation’s biggest cultural events each year. It was cancelled last year after several violent protests disrupted the first day of the planned festivities.

However, this year’s events are being held in Port-de-Paix despite ongoing political unrest and COVID-19 concerns.

“The reason for the ban or what we call the embargo on flights between us and Haiti at the moment is because Haiti has entered its Carnival season today or tomorrow and I think it lasts for a couple of weeks and we were concerned about mitigating potential spread of course with COVID,” Mr Henfield said yesterday.

“You know in The Bahamas, we didn’t do our Junkanoo season in the way that we normally do. Trinidad didn’t do its Carnival in the way that it normally does and so we’re just being cautious here. This is just a precautionary step taken by the government to avoid any potential untoward activities after.”

The announcement might cause some observers to

question the government’s rationale for implementing a travel ban solely against Haiti and not other countries, especially where COVID-19 cases are rising and other more infectious variants are also said to be spreading.

Asked about this yesterday, the North Abaco MP replied: “My answer would be very simple. Carnival like atmospheres, we believe, can pose as a potential spread of the virus. My answer would also be that if in The Bahamas, we didn’t do our beloved Junkanoo season. Trinidad didn’t do its beloved Carnival season because of the potential risks associated with the pandemic which we face now.

“Our health officials continue to monitor the

spread of COVID and the variants from those various countries and the technical experts make the call and the government listens and we react accordingly.”

As it stands now, the minister said there are no current plans to stop flights or vessels from entering The Bahamas from other countries.

It is not clear how many Bahamians in Haiti have been affected by the latest travel restriction, with Mr Henfield telling The Tribune that those affected will be assisted by officials as necessary.

He told The Tribune: “There are no plans for repatriation flights and I have no knowledge of any Bahamian who may have been inadvertently cut off or impacted immediately

but it’s likely that there will be and you know in this day and era of the pandemic, these things happen and we try to work through them as best as we can.”

The government has issued travel bans in the past in response to the ongoing pandemic.

In March 2020, the country’s borders were closed to all incoming travellers, including Bahamian citizens, in a bid to prevent the COVID spread.

International commercial travel resumed on July 1, but a travel ban was later reimposed on all international flights and vessels with the exception of those coming from a few countries, after the country saw a spike of new cases. The travel restrictions were lifted later last year.

OFFICIAL CONFIDENT ON VACCINE ‘CHURCHES SHOULD SPEAK UP’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL senior health official has expressed her confidence in the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine despite recent reports about the drug getting some push back in European countries.

Multiple international media outlets have reported recently that some doctors given the drug suffered effects in France after getting the vaccine.

UK publication The Sunday Times reported last week that in Italy private doctors “lining up for a vaccine in Italy were similarly dismissive of the vaccine’s potential, with some demanding a dose of Pfizer instead of AstraZeneca.”

Commenting on the news coming out of Europe, director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health Dr Nikkiah Forbes told The Tribune yesterday that not everyone will get side-effects.

“The flu-like symptoms are known adverse effects that can happen with these vaccines, but

you have to consider that most people who get these vaccines will not have adverse effects,” she explained.

“So up to eight percent of participants in that particular phase, three randomised controlled trials by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca trial... symptoms that were reported what you would consider... headache and fever.

“The participants that got side effects in these trials were in the minority.

The minority experiencing effects appears to be demonstrated when looking at data of the doctors that suffered side effects out of the many batches who were vaccinated.”

Meanwhile, The Sunday Times also reported: “France has put medical staff on alert after doctors suffered ‘high-intensity flu symptoms’ following the first dose.

“In the first four days the vaccine was administered last week, 149 cases of strong symptoms were reported by staff who had to stop work to recover, according to ANSM, the national medicines safety agency.

“The recipients, with an average age of 34, reported high temperature, aches and headaches. So far 10,000 health care personnel have been vaccinated.”

The publication also said: “The state news radio station France Info reported they were ‘trying to avoid receiving AstraZeneca doses, which they regard as third rate compared with ‘the Rolls-Royce’ produced

by Pfizer-BioNTech.’”

In spite of some public hesitation about vaccines, Dr Forbes said the risk versus benefits should be considered.

She added: “So COVID19 is something that nobody should want to get. You just don’t know what will happen. . .and so vaccines are always about a risk versus a benefit. “...There’s always a risk versus a benefit and the benefit is that you are far less likely to get SARSCOV-2 or symptomatic COVID-19 and end up in hospital or dying.”

The government previously announced that the first doses of the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine should arrive in the country between this month and the end of the second quarter of the year.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Bahamas Christian Council president Bishop Simeon Hall says he is disappointed that there have been no public statements released from church groups on the issue of COVID-19 vaccines.

With so much misconception and misinformation about COVID-19, Bishop Hall said he believes the church can be instrumental in helping to inform the Bahamian people about the vaccines.

“I served the Bahamas Christian Council many years ago and I want to make clear that I do not in any way speak for that group at this time,” he said.

“I am disappointed, however, that as far as I’m concerned that no public statement has been made by any church group to give clarity and direction on the persons taking the vaccine whenever it comes.

“Perhaps a public forum should be had and should take place led by the church and to do some kind of a dialogue on the vaccines. We’re hearing

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE recent uptick of coronavirus cases and hospitalisations is something health officials will have to continue to monitor to determine if the country is experiencing another COVID-19 outbreak, a local infectious disease expert said yesterday.

Dr Nikkiah Forbes’ comments to The Tribune came after another death was confirmed as COVID related over the weekend, pushing the death toll to 179. The country also recorded 83 new infections last week — bringing the nation’s total to 8,370. Five of those cases had a recent history of travel. The week prior saw 80 confirmed cases.

Thursday and Friday had the highest number of confirmed infections last week, with 21 and 27 cases reported for those days respectively. Eleven new cases were recorded on Saturday.

There were also three COVID-19 related deaths confirmed by health officials last week: a 60-year-old woman from Eleuthera who died February 4, a 46-year-old man from New Providence who died February 7 and a 62-year-old man from New Providence who died February 9.

Hospitalisations also rose despite some fluctuations.

There were 12 patients hospitalised last Sunday, 16 on Monday, 15 on Tuesday, 20 on Wednesday, 19 on Thursday, 24 on Friday and 18 as of Saturday.

Yesterday, Dr Forbes

acknowledged the slight rise in infections and hospitalisations as concerning and again urged Bahamians to keep following all of the health protocols.

She said: “There’s been an uptick in. the number of new cases on two days of (last week) and hospitalisation has also seen an upward trend and those are just two indicators that we look at when we’re monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and that is something that we have to pay attention to and we need further information and we need to continue to monitor what is.

“It’s also important to know that we all have to pay attention to the public health measures because the outbreak of the coronavirus, it can change very, very quickly. You can have the curve flattened but cases can start to go up and again if the transmission, if there are clusters and we let our guard down, it’s very important that we pay attention to this and double down on our efforts, but it’s something that officials do need to watch and monitor and look at the information regarding the other indicators.”

Asked if the new infections were a cluster of cases or might be community spread, the director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health replied: “What will be needed is additional information on those cases on those days, are they related. Are they in a cluster or are they unrelated? If they are in a cluster that can be informative versus no relation at all with no travel history.”

The rise in cases comes as some countries are still experiencing a surge of new infections due to more infectious COVID-19 variants. The Bahamas does not currently have the capacity for the genomic sequencing that is necessary to determine if any of the new strains are present in the country.

However, last week, Deputy Chief Medical

a lot of information but I don’t think there’s ever been a forum where you have both sides – pro and cons.

“I heard a preacher go as far to say that the vaccine is the ‘mark of the beast’ that is epitomised in the Bible. I don’t know about that. However, personally whenever a debate takes place between faith and science, Christians should refer to the advice from their Christian leaders.

“But we have to be careful in our society and our country today and where you get the information from. I think if we can have a forum where we have both sides rather than people speaking out of their own interest and economic financial interest.”

A COVID-19 vaccine committee was established last month to advise the Ministry of Health on the country’s vaccination plan.

Committee members include health consultant to the Office of the Prime Minister Dr Merceline Dahl Regis; director of business development of Nassau Cruise Port Ltd Ed Fields; BCC president

Bishop Delton Fernander, along with several others.

During a press conference earlier this month, officials said they have formed three “priority” groups, a characterisation that will determine who gets the vaccine and when.

Group one includes healthcare workers, uniform branch workers, and elderly care providers.

Group two includes people with disabilities, people living in congregate settings, critical workers in high-risk settings, other essential service workers, people with co-morbidities and underlying chronic conditions and sea, air and ground persons.

Group three includes all other people.

Yesterday, Bishop Hall said: “I am 73 years of age and I’m being told that you can’t get your vaccine until you’re in the second or third batch on persons so I’m interested in knowing more about that … and I think the church can play a role to do that kind of community outreach but that will have to come under the auspices under the ministry of health. I think it can work together for the betterment of the people.”

Officer Dr Delon Brennen told a local talk show the government was still awaiting additional results from overseas to determine if any of the new COVID-19 variants had been detected in The Bahamas.

“We are awaiting additional results to be able to say for sure,” he said. “So, so far, we have not received any indication that we have

those variants. But, we will continue to have our surveillance. Even once we get results from these initial samples, we will continue our surveillance in sending off additional samples as well.”

The Tribune made several attempts to contact Dr Brennen for an update on the matter yesterday. However, no calls were returned up to press time.

ONE MORE DEATH AMID UPTICK IN POSITIVE CASES

TOTAL CASES

TOTAL DEATHS

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES SATURDAY 11 CASES

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES THURSDAY 21 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA

NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA

8,370 179 FRIDAY

10 1

27 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE 20 GRAND BAHAMA 3 ABACO 2 ELEUTHERA 1 ANDROS 1

WEDNESDAY

19 2

9 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA

8 1

NEWLY CONFIRMED DEATHS • 60-YEAR-OLD WOMAN FROM ELEUTHERA ON FEBRUARY 4

TOTAL TESTS

64,457

HOSPITALISED

16

CASES IN ICU

2

RECOVERED

7,006

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 5

Straw Market may face new safety protocols

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister has suggested there could be new health and safety protocols implemented at the Nassau Straw Market when it re-opens to safeguard vendors and visitors from contracting COVID-19.

“As soon as we open up, we want the vendors to be able to have a wonderful place that people are attracted to,” Mr Bannister said recently. “The other thing is they are going to do some things inside also.

It is absolutely critical, and I can’t emphasise this too much, it’s absolutely critical

that we have the appropriate environment inside that market so that vendors can stay safe.”

“We’re still in a pandemic. It’s going to be very important for us to change the way we do things, many things and so we’re going to do some things to ensure that vendors are safe. We’re going to consult with them but we’re going to ensure that they are safe and also our guests that come to this country are as safe as possible.”

He added that representatives from the straw market are also consulting with health officials concerning the market’s reopening protocols.

“The straw market

authority is constantly seeking advice from the Ministry of Health and that’s why I indicated to you that we have to do some modifications inside. The way that we did things in the past can’t be the way we do things in the future,” the deputy prime minister also said.

“It has to be a primary concern that the vendors in there are safe. It has to be a primary concern that the visitors to this country are safe and so there will be some procedures in there that will be discussed with vendors and those things will have to be put in place.”

The Straw Market was ordered closed in March

COAST GUARD SEEKS PARTNERS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE United States Coast Guard is eyeing partnerships in the region with a view to tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which poses as a major threat to the global fishing industry.

During a telephonic press briefing Friday, Vice Admiral Steven Poulin of the US Coast Guard spoke about the negative impacts IUU fishing can have on countries’ marine environments and by extension, their economies.

“IUU fishing undermines coastal state sovereignty,” he said. “It undermines the rule of law and it erodes maritime governance. It jeopardises food security and economic prosperity for more than 3.3 billion people who rely on fish as a primary source of protein.”

“It creates an unleveled playing field for those who are engaged in lawful fishing. I note that more than 400 billion dollars in lost revenue results from IUU fishing and it puts fish stocks at risk so this is an economic, a maritime governance and an environmental crisis.”

He also outlined several strategies identified

by US Coast Guard officials to combat the issue, one of them creating more awareness.

“We in the Coast Guard are putting our strategies

to address this problem into action as its reflected by the recent deployment of the Coast Guard Cutter Elmer Stone, which we called Operation Southern Cross,” he added.

“Coast Guard Cutter Elmer Stone is the newest Coast Guard national security cutter in the Coast Guard’s inventory.”

“Our Coast Guard strategy is founded on several key principles. The first is to build partnerships.

The second is to expand awareness of the problem globally. Next is to exchange information and lastly, is to look at conducting joint operations to ensure maritime governance and the enforcement of fisheries laws.”

Acting Director in the Office of Marine Conservation at the US State Department, David Hogan said because of IUU’s wide reaching impact on economies in the region, it’s important that all affected nations work together.

“IUU fishing is particularly important in the western hemisphere because of its impact on the economies of the region. Three million men and women depend on the fishing industry for the livelihoods that generates more than 20 million dollars in exports out to the global markets.”

“In light of this economic impact from IUU fishing as well as the other conditions that are prevailing in

SIX MISSING AFTER VESSEL CAPSIZES THE United States Coast Guard is searching for six people on board a vessel that capsized off the coast of Florida after setting sail from Bimini last week.

On Friday, a good Samaritan rescued a Jamaican national from the water approximately 23 miles east of Fort Pierce, Florida.

The USCG said Coast Guard Sector Miami received a call from the good Samaritan stating they had rescued one man from the water east of Fort Pierce. A Coast Guard crew responded to the scene, received the survivor and transferred him ashore to local emergency medical services, officials said.

The survivor told the Coast Guard that there were six other people who were

in the water after their boat capsized Wednesday on their way from Bimini. It is unclear where the boat was headed when it capsized.

The Coast Guard continued to search the area yesterday, deploying an HC-130 Hercules airplane and three cutter ships.

Last week, the Coast Guard rescued three Cubans who were stranded on an uninhabited Bahamian island for more than a month.

US officials said the three people — two men and a woman — were not seriously injured, however, they were taken to a Florida hospital.

A Coast Guard crew found them on Anguilla Cay, an island near Cay Sal Bank.

They reportedly survived on coconuts, rats and conch while stranded on the island.

MAN IN HOSPITAL AFTER SHOOTING NEW Providence police are investigating a shooting on Friday that left a man in hospital.

Police said around 3pm, police received reports of a shooting that occurred on Quakoo Street. Police were told that a man was standing on Quakoo Street when he was approached by a man who produced a handgun and shot it in his direction, hitting him in the right ankle. The victim was taken to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

Meanwhile, police in

Abaco seized a quantity of marijuana on Friday.

Officers were on patrol in the Forest Drive, Marsh Harbour area after 4pm when they saw a man in bushes acting suspiciously. Officers stopped and attempted to approach the man who was carrying a large bag. The man dropped the bag once he saw police and fled on foot.

The officers then searched the bag and discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana. The suspect is being sought by police. Investigations are ongoing.

the world today, it is more important than ever that we work together to protect the marine resources in which all of our economies rely.”

Asked about officials’ plans to specifically assist small island developing states in the Caribbean to tackle the issue, Vice Admiral Poulin replied: “We have a number of existing bilateral agreements with many of the Caribbean nations and one of the things we’re doing is looking at how we might expand some of those agreements to include IUU fishing.”

“The agreements that we have provide a strong baseline for us to continue to work with these nations to expand maritime domain awareness which is so vital to understanding the nature of the problem in the Caribbean.”

“We often have Coast Guard Cutters and maritime control craft in the area because of our counter drug efforts and in that context our counter drug efforts can help us understand patterns and trends of all kinds of maritime conveyances and that’s one of the ways we are expanding our awareness of IUU fishing in different parts of the hemisphere is to use our Coast Guard assets that are already down there on patrol to not only leverage their capabilities for the counter drug threat but also all threats to the region.”

along with many other nonessential businesses after the country recorded its first COVID-19 cases.

Although several downtown businesses have since re-opened, the tourist site remains closed – a situation some observers have attributed to the uncertainty surrounding the cruise industry’s return to The Bahamas.

Asked when the public can expect to see operations resume at the Straw Market , Mr Bannister said the matter depends on the country’s mass vaccination efforts.

He told reporters: “We’re hoping as the prime minister indicated to be able to vaccinate this entire

country in a very short period of time and we believe that once that vaccinations are in place, we’re going to be able to fully open up the country and tourists will come back and they’re going to want to go in the market. It is going to have to be ready for them, but it’s going to have to be a new focus on that market, a new focus on safety.”

However, in the meantime, the deputy prime minister said beautification works are continuing at the popular tourist attraction.

However, he could not give a timeline as to when those works will be completed.

“The first thing you saw was the tenting of it and the termite eradication and

now you see the painting but what you won’t see is some of the things that are going on inside so it’s an ongoing process to ensure that the straw market really represents the best of our people,” Mr Bannister said.

“The chair of the straw market authority Ms (Kelly) Ingraham has been working for the last two years to come up with an iconic design that’s going to represent what our straw market ought to look like on Bay Street and I think when you see the colours, they will really pop so we want the straw market to be a major attraction for tourism on Bay Street,” he said.

MINNIS OPENS EXUMA OFFICE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis officially opened Exuma’s Passport Office on Friday in an effort to improve passport services throughout the country.

Dr Minnis said the event demonstrates the government’s commitment to the island as well as comprehensive development of the Family Islands as centres of opportunity and growth.

He also pledged Exuma will get a new international airport.

“I know that many of your critical needs have been ignored for too long.

You have often not been treated fairly,” he said.

“We were determined to eliminate and reduce the many expenses associated with Family Island residents getting a new passport. You will no longer have to bear the costs of airline tickets, other transportation and in some instances, accommodations associated with travel to New Providence for first time applicants and for renewal of passports.

“We thought it very

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at the opening of the Exuma Passport Office on Friday.

Photo: Ulric Woodside/BIS unfair that communities and shortly thereafter, outside of Grand Bahama offices will be opened on and Abaco still had to Long Island and Eleuthera. travel to Nassau to collect Foreign Affairs Mintheir passports.” ister Darren Henfield He said the passport echoed the Prime Minister’s system went live for a trial sentiments. run on January 27 in Exuma He stated: “The Prime and since then, without pro- Minister says it often and motion or advertising, some I believe it (bears) repeat99 applicants have been ing on this occasion, just enrolled. Fourteen applica- because you live in a Family tions have been completed Island does not mean that and returned to Exuma you should be treated less on February 5. Four more than others who live in New were enroute Friday.

Providence or in Grand He said that by mid- Bahama. I’m an island boy March, a satellite Passport from Abaco so I know of Office will open in Inagua, which I speak.”

PAGE 6, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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The path that leads to crime SOMETIMES, it is too easy to focus on the statistics.

Every time there is a murder, one more gets added to the count. Already this year the count stands at 16 people murdered.

A few more days pass and another takes place, sometimes more than one, and the count goes on.

Behind each incident, however, are two stories. There is the story of the victim and the friends and family left behind who mourn the loss of their loved one. There is also the lesser told story of the killer, and how they got to the point in their lives where they raised a gun or pulled out a knife.

The story of the victim is often told, as it rightly should be, as people pay tribute to the person taken from them too soon.

The story of the killer is told less often, sometimes in a court of law, but perhaps these are the stories that give the biggest insight into the problems in our society. This is not a question of giving sympathy to perpetrators of the crimes that plague our nation, but rather to look our problems in the face instead of hiding them away.

In our Insight section today, one gang member talks with remarkable honesty to The Tribune about the path that led to where he is. Named Ghost, he says he had a regular family life growing up, going to private schools and church – but said something was missing. As he puts it, “power and belonging”. He kept getting put out of schools until he was recruited by a gang. It started with moving drugs and guns. He started to smoke weed. His family tried to get him back on the right path, but finally his mother “said I had no soul so she told me to get out of her house. I left and moved in with one of the generals.

Things were really good after that.”

Things being “good” led to Ghost being asked to kill a man. He tried to escape for a while, but the general made him move back in with him. Ghost wouldn’t answer if he had killed anyone.

His story could be the story of many others. A young man with trouble at school who wouldn’t settle down and got pulled into the wrong lifestyle.

Ghost also said that police “don’t really get involved with gang wars”

– and sadly neither does society at large.

These gangs are often going about their violent business and neither the root causes nor the immediate effects are truly being tackled.

This man calls the place we live in a “cowboy town” and says there is nothing anyone can do about it.

“We might go quiet for a while but then we bounce back up, lick off some shots to let you’ll know we still here,” he says.

Is he wrong? And more to the point, are we prepared to go on letting him be right?

Bahamasair troubles How long would your bank go on letting you rack up the bills before it cut you off? How might you wish then to be Bahamasair, which has been given $40m and counting by Bahamian taxpayers in the past seven months to keep going.

Even with that, its payroll was late last week.

Even chairman Tommy Turnquest admitted that the situation was “unsustainable”.

What can Bahamasair do about that?

Well, obviously COVID-19 has been a hammer blow to the airline, just as it has for airlines and the tourism industry around the world.

Unlike hotels, Bahamasair staff was not furloughed or given temporary layoffs, and there has been no increase in passenger traffic since the start of the year.

Salaries being late this time around is a sign of the financial firefighting going on – the government must have known the money was needed, but seemingly couldn’t get it there on time. That probably speaks to what is going on behind the scenes as the government tries to put money where it is needed most, but there are so many places where it is needed.

Things won’t be getting better for Bahamasair anytime soon – we’re going to be the ones paying for it to keep going for a while yet.

How long can that go on? We can’t say, but the airline must be thankful indeed that we are the ones footing its bills and not the bank.

Transparency?

EDITOR, The Tribune DURING the introduction of The Public Debt Management Bill and The Public Finance Management Bill in Parliament, The Prime Minister is reported to have made the following remarks: “A core tenet of my government is the promise of accountability and transparency, particularly when it comes to the management of the people’s money.”

These comments were boldly and shamelessly uttered on the same day that the Prime Minister and his government with its super majority in parliament, was gleefully voting to block “Opposition Day”.

A day set aside for the opposition and independent members in parliament, in pursuit of “accountability and transparency in government” to put questions to the government on the management of the people affairs.

In uttering those remark in wake of his government rejection of “Opposition Day” was a bold and, in my opinion a classic display of hypocrisy and duplicity.

It was also less than two weeks since his Attorney General blasted and rebuked members of the

opposition for demanding that the Competent Authority/Prime Minister give an account to Parliament on how public money was spent and, to whom these funds were spent with, for goods and services procured, while the country was subjected to an extended Emergency Orders.

The Attorney General in his characteristically unyielding loyalty to the Prime Minster, even went so far as to call for and/ or suggest that the Competent Authority/Prime Minister was owed an apology. And this is what the Prime Minister regard as a model of transparency and accountability.

The Prime Minister in the same address, went on to say “that these Bills will continue to deliver on that promise. They will further upgrade and bring our fiscal governance in line with international best practices by fostering much enhanced transparency and accountability in the way we manage the public purse.”

Reading closely, the Prime Minister remarks, one will observe and can appreciate why he goes no further than to say “A core tenet of his government

is the promise of accountability and transparency”, because unfortunately, he and his government have yet to match that promise.

In my view, they do nothing more than evade and conceal when the truth is being sought.

Further, I doubt the passage of these pieces of legislation (Public Debt Management Bill and Public Finance Management Bill) will cause the Prime Minster and his Cabinet members to be any more transparent and accountable in the management of the country’s affairs.

The passage of legislation by itself, does not accountability and transparency make.

It is only when breach of the legislation is indiscriminately enforced and a separate space is not carved out for the well-connected.

The Prime Ministers and his Ministers ought to appreciate the words of Franklyn D Roosevelt: “The Truth is found when Men are Free to Pursue it.”

This ought to be the core tenet of his Government.

CLAUDE B HANNA Nassau, February 14, 2021.

Need for anti-arms trafficking EDITOR, The Tribune.

WE HAVE no shortage of public speakers who are speaking out against the rampant homicides and other forms of gun crimes since the 1980s, but we have a shortage of people that understands this problem and are willing to tackle it head on.

Time and time again, the police have seized various firearms ranging from handguns to rifles and explosives. You’ll think after going through decades of illegal arms smuggling that there would be a proper strategy to control this crisis, but nothing’s been done.

As 2021 began, the first days of January were met with a spike in homicides and like with every other societal and national crisis, the mentality of the police usually acts like “Business as usual” when it comes to gun homicides. Apparently the police have long since given up on crime fighting and we are also losing the drive on protecting civilians.

When it comes to these recent murders, it’s becoming less and less about domestic disputes and more like hit men killings where they put a bounty on rivals and have someone assassinated for cash and gang recognition. Police officers had seen more military weaponry since 2010 and it has become more frequent. When it comes to the criminal underworld in the Bahamas, illegal arms smuggling and contract killings are the real security

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net threat that we’ve ignored for too long.

Now the question is: How do we fight it?

The first thing is to investigate our Customs department and the Defence Force, as foreign yachts (especially from Florida) aren’t actively searched when they cross into Bahamian waters as well as cruise ships, cargo ships, private jets and marina docks. Not all of them will carry illegal contraband but not searching any vessel or aircraft leaves us open to further problems down the road to arms smugglers to Mexican drug cartels having full reign.

The RBDF and Customs are tasked to guard the Bahamas from any threat and we must be sure if they’re doing their jobs.

If it goes well, the next thing the nation should do is enact three laws. The first is to ban the import of foreign guns and if the arms manufacturers want to sell firearms to this country, then they have to become registered under a special corporate designation and build an assembly facility in the country so that we can track the legal firearms more accurately. In short, the manufacturers would have to establish themselves here first before any firearms sales can go forward and we can monitor and regulate firearms currently out on the streets.

The second law is to make

a law that states that everyone who wishes to own a gun, must spend five years in law enforcement and the RBDF and must undergo training and extensive psychological screening and tests on a monthly basis.

That way, the authorities can weed out individuals on who can or shouldn’t own firearms or join any national security roles.

The third and arguably the most important law to curb gun crimes is to make illegal arms smuggling as the highest criminal offence besides murder. No one can bring in any guns through airports, marinas and cruise ships without approval from both the government and arms manufacturers themselves and those who deliberately buy an illegal firearm once will have to spend 11 years minimum, and those who run an illegal arms smuggling ring will have to face at least 25 to 30 years minimum for the offence. That way, people will have to take a long hard look at their decisions.

While discouraging others from making that mistake.

There’s no easy way to absolve gun violence and these laws will have to be strictly enforced, but these families can’t handle any more suffering of losing financial security and the lives of their loved ones. If these laws become reality, then it’ll help the families of the victims find it easier to cope, knowing that there is still a place for true justice.

AMMAKA RUSSELL Nassau, February 14, 2021.

Speaker independence EDITOR, The Tribune.

THERE has been so much fussing and fuming of late because House Speaker Halson Moultrie has decided to free himself of party affiliation and become independent of all political party control while he sits in the Speaker’s chair.

You must forgive my ignorance, but I thought that this was always the

case after political parties became a part of our political system. If this were not so, then this — in the name of fairness, and sound politics — is what it should have been and should still be.

And if this is not what it was then, let us hope that Mr Moultrie has made a sound political move that will be embraced for the future.

Anyone who sits at the head of the House should be absolutely independent

of any party once he is elevated to the chair with the mace of his authority in front of him.

I applaud Mr Moultrie’s decision. If what he has done is not what was once always done, then let’s pick up the pace and in the future have an independent Speaker of a politically divided House.

FAIR IS FAIR February 13, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Harbour Island suspect faces murder charge

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A HARBOUR ISLAND man was charged on Friday with murder in connection with a shooting incident last week that left another man in the settlement dead.

Clarington Bowleg, 29, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with the death of Anthony Petit on February 5.

According to initial police reports, shortly after 10 pm, police on the island received reports of a shooting incident that occurred on Barrack Street. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man lying on

the ground outside a residence with apparent gunshot wounds. Police said after the local doctor examined the body, he pronounced the victim dead.

Due to the nature of the charge, Bowleg was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to April 30 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

In the meantime, bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.

He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Meanwhile, on Friday a teenager was also charged with murder in the Magistrate’s Court.

Kydero Richardson, 19, was accused of killing Jayvon Edwards on February 7.

Police said shortly before 9pm, they received reports of a stabbing incident that occurred at the intersection of Second Street and Palm Tree Avenue. As a result, a man was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. The victim later died of his injuries.

Like Bowleg he was not required to enter a plea to the charge.

He returns to court on April 23 for a service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Richardson will remain in custody until that time.

HAITIAN MAN CLAIMED HE BOUGHT WORK PERMIT FROM AIRLINE AGENT

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A HAITIAN man who travelled to the country on a fraudulent work permit that he claimed to have purchased from an airline agent in his home country was ordered to pay $2,200 to avoid spending a year behind bars.

Marius Renold, 31, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was found with a forged re-entry permit that he attempted to present to immigration officials at the Lynden Pindling International airport to gain entry into the country.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of a forged

document and the unlawful use of a forged document during his arraignment.

The court was told that Renold had travelled from Haiti to the Bahamas on February 5. When he presented himself to immigration officials at the airport, he showed them his Haitian passport and a Bahamian entry card. When the officials ran the card through their system, they discovered that the accused had no pending or approved work permit on record. Investigations also revealed that the permit he presented did not belong to him, but was actually in the name of another Haitian man. According to the prosecution, the re-entry permit Marius produced was fraudulent as the department only issued electronic

entry permits. The accused was subsequently arrested and charged.

During the hearing, Marius, speaking through an interpreter, told the magistrate he had paid an airline agent in Haiti $2,300 to stamp his passport with the visa. He insisted he was not aware that the document was fraudulent.

After listening to his explanation, Magistrate Forbes fined him $1,200 for having the fake permit and another $1,000 for using the document unlawfully. If he fails to pay the fines, he could risk spending 12 months on remand.

Magistrate Forbes said once the fine was paid or the sentence was served, Marius would be turned over to the Director of Immigration for deportation.

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 7

MAID STOLE $1,200 FROM HER EMPLOYER

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAID who stole more than $1,000 cash from her employer was on Friday fined $500 and ordered to pay back the stolen money.

Gina Nottage, 43, appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain after she was accused of stealing $1,200 cash and a $200 John Bull gift card from Laurika Sands sometime between November 2020 and January of this year.

The court was told that Mrs Sands had told police that the mother of five, who she had hired to take care of her house, went into her bedroom and stole the gift card. The woman also claimed Nottage took the cash from her son’s wallet. After she filed her complaint, the accused was arrested. When questioned in custody, she

admitted to the offence.

According to the prosecution, Nottage had been convicted of a similar offence in the past.

During the hearing on Friday, Nottage pleaded guilty. Her attorney told the magistrate that she was the sole provider of five children, noting that three of them were still minors.

In response, Magistrate Swain told Nottage that her actions were a serious breach of trust. She also told the accused that she would have considered imposing a custodial sentence on her if she did not have young children.

As a result, she fined Nottage $500 or six months on remand for stealing. She also ordered the accused to compensate the complainant $1,400 for what was stolen. She warned Nottage that if she did not pay the compensation, she would risk being sentenced to an additional 30 days in prison.

FOUR ACCUSED OF ATTACKING WOMAN VICTIM WITH A BAT

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net FOUR siblings accused of assaulting a woman with a bat were granted bail on Friday ahead of their trial.

The prosecution alleged that Warren Johnson Jr, 27, and his three sisters Hermaine, 29, Hermanique, 23, and Warrentesh Johnson, 26, committed the act on January 29.

They all denied the allegation during their hearing before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain and their case was adjourned to

May 3 for trial.

The accused, who are represented by attorney Ian Cargill, were each granted $3,000 bail in the interim.

On Friday, a man who denied committing a similar offence was also granted bail ahead of his trial.

William Johnson, 42, was accused of assaulting a man with a welding hammer on February 7.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous instrument and his case was adjourned to April 29 for trial.

Johnson was granted $3,000 bail until that time.

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

‘We’re living in a cowboy town and there’s nothing anyone can do about it’

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net HARDLY a week goes by when another young man’s life is lost on the streets of New Providence - a victim of gang violence which still plagues our country.

It may feel the problem is less of an issue than it was in years gone by but the truth is it’s still there, casting a deathly shadow over many communities.

When the rattle of gunshots echoes through one area you know another life has been lost, someone ‘taken out’ by a rival gang. Within hours or just a few days more shots will be heard in another area, a revenge attack by the first victim’s fellow gangs members, striking back for the loss of their ‘soldier’.

Apart from the occasional stray hitting an innocent bystander or child, the proverbial “gang bullets” have names on them, taking out the correct target while bringing respect and possible promotion to the shooter. All the while those who witness the murderous acts will respond, “I saw nothing” when quizzed by police.

Recently Captain Godfrey G Rolle, RBDF (Rtrd) and former Ambassador to The Republic of Haiti, wrote a letter to The Tribune’s editor, lamenting over the horrible state of youth violence in our country.

Captain Rolle wrote: “My heart aches at the almost daily news reports of another young man’s life being violently snuffed out.

And even as it quakes at the of-time insensitive, callous and extremely graphic videos making the rounds on social media of yet another young Bahamian son falling to the ground under a fusillade of bullets, in the deep recesses of my mind, the words of John King in his song ‘How Many More Jah” bubble up’.”

The former military man reflected on times when he and journalist and businesswoman, Dr Debbie Bartlett, engaged in intervention activities.

He continued: “I reflect on my time (2007-2012) as the first Director of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (NADS) situated within the Ministry of National Security. I can vividly recall receiving a call from Dr Debbie Bartlett who had had a history of working in the inner city.

Dr Bartlett shared with me that she was in contact with a number of gang

leaders operating in com- and members. Some of munities throughout New them are the most gentle Providence. and loyal people that you “These men wanted to want to find. A lot of them meet with the Minister are also very honest. They of National Security and will admit to doing things. I the top brass of our Law used to know where bodies Enforcement Agencies, to are and where guns are. share their concerns about “I never betrayed them. a new breed of gangbangers They know the secrets I coming up in their organisa- kept, but you know why tions. The first meeting was they would come to me, organised and held at the they know that I would East Street Gospel Chapel, never compromise myself. and it was chilling to hear It looks easy when somethese gang leaders who can- body does it, but it’s not. didly admitted to sometime “We brought calm to the trying to ‘take each other Hay Street area and then out’ express their deep con- the government of the day cerns about the new crop decided they wanted to do of young men rising in the it without me. It was said various organisations. To to let it be a ‘man’s thing’. a man, they described this They did not know the relagroup of youngsters as tionship I had with those “men without souls”.” guys.”

Captain Rolle said the Not a tall or strappinglyleaders identified lack of built woman, Dr Bartlett education, poverty, lack of was asked how she manopportunities and incar- aged to take on the gangster ceration with hardened ruffians and get them to criminals, as ‘incubating respond to her successfully. factors’ for the growth of “So, when you talk about these gangs. me going into a room with “These gang leaders the gang members, I am themselves offered as a reading that room. There first-step is an invis‘The first time I was ible sign on suggestion to mitigate asked to kill a man; everyone against the that says, ‘I rise of these that bugged me. am imporI skipped out for ‘soulless tant to’,” she young men’, a while. I went to explained. the awarding “The of contracts stay with a cousin first thing and other who tried to talk I do is let assistance them know business into my from the I respect Government head. He told me to them. I don’t and Corpo- take what money I agree with rate citizens, had and start up a what they which would are doing and restaurant business they know empower each leader because he was a that I don’t in his good chef. I was agree with it, respective but I listen going to do it, but community to them. My to utilise the that knock came on experience young men the door one night.’ then tells me of that comwhat they munity to need and keep the area clean,” he then I open that door. I explained. give them hope, but I also Captain Rolle said sadly, help appeal to any sort of in his view, this warning and humanity in them.” plea for help was ignored, Dr Bartlett recalls some and the country is now of her most dangerous seeing the full manifesta- interventions where she and tion of the fears of those team members thwarted gang leaders - the rise of planned blood baths in the “the soulless young men”. inner city.

A woman brave enough “I was working with to sit in the front of “gang gangs and this young man bangers” and negotiate went to Ambassador Rolle, peace with them is remark- who at the time was a able. The Tribune reached defence force officer,” she out to Dr Bartlett to see recalled. “Twenty-five of what her mindset was as the top gangs wanted to she carried out these her- help the country as they culean tasks. She has since said their generals were out stopped the interventions, of control and worse than but remains in contact with them. They went to him many of the young men. and said that they wanted Dr Bartlett said: “Most me to be the private sector people don’t know but I’ve partner. been involved with the gang “They had three or four and underground world of the top gang leaders since the 1980s. I have there and they wanted to facilitated interventions make the introduction to with many gang leaders me. They did that because

of my history with the Hay Street area when they were shooting every day. I intervened and had a meeting with the president of the Christian Council at that time, who called 15 of the top denominational leaders, then there was Perry Christie, Tommy Turnquest, Desmond Bannister and Charles Maynard. They told them that if I didn’t intervene, they were going to kill two government ministers and two pastors.”

Dr Bartlett said those same gang members had another murderous plan to sit on a roof with AK47s “and just start shooting”.

She and her team mediated, got a group of corporate citizens together and got the gang members to cool down and the shooting plan was set aside.

“Although I did the work, I have to mention help I got from people who were involved like John Bostwick, Rev Patrick Paul and Elaine Pinder and many other people who pitched in. We all worked together with others,” said Dr Bartlett.

“There was that time when John Bostwick reached out to me. We worked a lot together in the inner city. They were going to have a gang war. One side told me and the other side told John. We met in Janet Bostwick’s office with the two sides. We had no idea what they were going to do, but they showed up with guns.

“It was a most hairraising experience. I was a journalist at ZNS those days. We negotiated and reasoned with them and we were able to get them to put the guns down. I am not that much involved anymore with interventions, but I am still in touch with some of them.”

Back in the day there were high school gangs like the “Syndicate” and the “Raiders”. Now there is the Haitian movement Zoe Pound and One Order to name a few. This writer had a “sit down” with one of the leaders of a local gang who agreed to do the interview under certain conditions.

“Ghost”, as he is called, has been in the game from his teen years and is now in his mid-thirties. Under his hardened demeanour lies a person begging for recognition and belonging.

“I have been involved in this game for 20 years,” said Ghost. “I had regular family life. I went to private schools, I went to church, but something was missing. Power and belonging! I needed to know I mattered and I wanted to be feared.

I kept getting put out of

schools and there were no more schools to send me to. Then I was recruited.

Someone was watching and saw what I doing and thought I would be a good soldier.

“They started me out moving drugs and guns with the Haitians and it was easy at first. Because I never showed fear for anything they gave me more and more to do and it started to get hard. I was young, so I was still living at home and my family started to get down on me. I was under a lot of pressure and I started to smoke weed to make me calm.

“My mother and father tried to put Jesus in my by dragging me to church one time so the devil can come out of me. That didn’t work out for them because while this big boy was dragging me to the ground, when he caught the spirit, my gun dropped out of my pants.

My mother said I had no soul so she told me to get out of her house. I left and moved in with one of the generals. Things were really good after that. I did lots of work and made lots and lots of money.

According to “Ghost” there was a time when he contemplated leaving the gang, but the general brought him back into the fold.

“The first time I was asked to kill a man; that bugged me. I skipped out for a while. I went to stay with a cousin who tried to talk business into my head. He told me to take what money I had and start up a restaurant business because he was a good chef.

I was going to do it, but that knock came on the door one night. It was the general I use to live with who told me I was a part of a brotherhood and he made me move back in with him.”

Ghost said he has gone to prison, “a few times” and never gave “snitched” on other gang members and he was rewarded for it. He said gang members have their own justice system.

“The police believe they are sharp, but trust me, we are always two steps ahead of them,” he continued.

“The police will bust us for a few pounds of weed here and there, but I think for the most part, they don’t really get involved with gang wars. We basically do our thing and if someone gets take out, they might investigate or they might not. They let us do our thing. We have our own justice system.

“I am now a general in this force. If you are not onboard with what I am dealing with, you have to

be eliminated. That’s simple eh? You cannot live if you want to go against me or steal from me. I’m a boss now and they have to show respect or taken out.”

Ghost became agitated when asked he has killed people before.

“Don’t be asking me if I ever killed anybody,” he responded quickly. “You ever killed anybody? I know if feels good, but I ain’t telling you if I did it or how many times I did it. For what I just finished telling you I do as a job, it’s almost disrespectful to ask me if I ever killed anybody. What you think?

Answer your own question!

Asked if he values life he said, “Sure I value life.

I value my life. I value my generals’ and soldiers’ life.

I value my daughter’s life, but everybody else is just a number to me. If they have to get take out, it will be done and I will eat my dinner and go to sleep afterwards. I have no time to play when it comes to this business. If you slip you will get ran over like a dog. You have to stay awake, watch, listen and make a move.”

Ghost was asked what sort of things he does daily in his “business”.

He said, “My crew ain’t Haitians, but we have to deal with the Haitians. The Haitians have the guns.

They have weed too, but the guns is the important part. They know how to move guns in broad daylight and that’s key. You have to do clean business with the Haitians.

“They some cruel ‘niggas’. They will chap up ‘niggas’ and drink their blood. We have done some serious things in our crew, but no way are we like them. I buy plenty guns from the Haitians, sell them or ship them out, but I don’t have them as no friends.

Strictly business!”

Asked how he got the name Ghost, he said, “How I got the name Ghost?

My movements made me famous. I could be here one minute and vanish the next minute like a ghost.

Just like how you can go home right now, open your door with a key and meet me sitting in your kitchen. I move around like the wind; unseen but heard. Just like a ghost.”

The 36-year-old gangster said the “gang world” is alive and well in what he calls a cowboy town and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

“We might go quiet for a while but then we bounce back up, lick off some shots to let you’ll know we still here.”

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 PAGE 9

AN IMAGE showing former Prime Minister Perry Christie with Peter Nygard in Las Vegas.

Nygard casts a dark shadow some will find hard to escape from

By MALCOLM STRACHAN THE disturbing revelations about multimillionaire fashion mogul and longtime political donor Peter Nygard remain a dark shadow over the Opposition’s chances of reclaiming the government. Already having the reputation during its last stint of being a corrupt and scandal-ridden bunch, the Nygard case brings back memories of forgettable leadership.

The release of CBC’s The Fifth Estate news report covering the allegations made against Nygard over decades spent in Canada, the United States and The Bahamas detailed the sort of man Nygard is alleged to be. Among the images seen in CBC’s report were members of the former PLP government which was bounced by the Bahamian people in 2017. Seeing them consorting with Nygard as he celebrated and congratulated himself for the role he played in “taking the country back” was nothing short of an embarrassment.

Accounts by young girls who were at the time mere children, though, while still being unproven, were heard as we saw clips of the former Prime Minister alongside My Nygard.

Perry Christie was retired by the Bahamian people, but others who rose to political prominence along with him are still relevant in the party. Most notable is former Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis.

When asked about the PLPs relationship with Nygard amid the firestorm of accusations at the end of last year, Davis’ posture was not one of condemnation. Rather than taking the opportunity to

IN an image from shortly after the PLP’s election victory, Peter Nygard is pictured with Shane Gibson and Dr Michael Darville. rebuke the alleged abhorrent behaviour and send a strong warning to current members of his party that corruption and scandals would not be tolerated under his leadership, he instead attempted to deflect and steer the conversation away.

Preferring to discuss matters currently going on in the country, Davis said: “My position in respect to what I heard or not heard about him is that I’m more concerned about what this election is going to be about.

“I’m not concerned about a foreign action that has been brought against a foreign person who may have had an interest in The Bahamas. I’m concerned about the livelihood of

Bahamians and the future of our Bahamians and that is what I will be about.”

He added: “I’m not going to be involved in the lies that are going to be spun by the FNM and their surrogates. I will not stand idly by and allow the PLP to be scandalised. I will be responding to them when appropriate, but I will not be dealing with that subject matter to be distracted from what is needed in this country.”

By shying away from an opportunity, Davis is refusing to show he understands

what is needed in the country.

Undeniably, we want a government that is going to help the economy rebound. But we must also understand an economic resurgence will be a slow process as long as tourism is the cornerstone of our economy and COVID-19 continues to be a mountainsized hurdle in the way of the industry resembling what it was in 2019.

What we need is a government we can trust, and the reality is that the Bahamian people do not trust

the current government.

Further, the opportunity to govern the country is a contract between the people and elected officials to do the people’s bidding in a way that exemplifies transparency and accountability.

As more and more Bahamians are becoming disillusioned with the political process under the avalanche of political buzzwords like accountability and transparency, younger Bahamians see less of a difference between what political parties have to

offer. This is a dangerous sentiment for a country that needs as much work as ours does.

But the fact remains life for Bahamians has gotten progressively worse under both PLP and FNM administrations.

And while the general consensus that opinions, one way or the other, on Peter Nygard do not begin to tackle the laundry list of issues that exist in our country may be true, Davis’ inability to exhibit something different from the PLP we’ve come to know is disappointing, but also telling.

During a time where campaigning may not come in the form of large rallies and grandiose campaigns, platforms and perhaps even more so, reputations, matter more than ever. Say what you will about the PLP and the FNM, but when the word corruption comes to mind – a hallmark of the 2017 election – the PLP still remains under the shroud of its shadowy past.

Moreover, during a time when a government should be judged on what it was able to do during its term, there is still much that will be said about their challengers’ inability to prove itself trustworthy. As for what will dominate the conversation as election nears, we will have to wait and see.

However, Nygard’s affiliation with the PLP will continue to shadow the party in election season, in addition to the government’s performance during this term.

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PAGE 10 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

A PROTESTER chants anti-government slogans to demand the resignation of Haiti’s president Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Wednesday last week. Haiti has lurched into fresh political crisis amid allegations of a coup attempt and an escalating dispute over when the presidential term of Moise should end.

Photo: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Haiti – on the edge of disaster again HAITI – a country to which all other countries that suffered slavery are deeply indebted – is once again in turmoil.

Therefore, no Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country should stand aside, silently, while Haiti is sliding into further catastrophe, retarding its already impoverished economy and depriving the Haitian people of hope for an improved future.

Of course, no country should interfere in the internal affairs of any

World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

other state. CARICOM has never done that. In the times when the organization has played a role in resolving political, electoral and constitutional issues in a CARICOM memberstate, it has done so at the

invitation of the Government and other political parties. This occurred most recently in Guyana, where CARICOM played a pivotal role in upholding democracy and ensuring the credible result of elections.

Non-interference in the internal affairs of a state should not be construed as approval. And, when conditions reach the point of loss of lives, the least that friendly states should do is to offer to help to bring about peace and to assist in resolving the issues that are causing violence and destruction. While the Haitian government might not agree, the present circumstances of the country are crying out for remedial action.

Hence, CARICOM was right, on February 11, to issue a public statement “encouraging all parties to engage in meaningful dialogue in the interest of peace and stability” and “strongly urging that action be taken to foster a safe environment, a return to normal life and the building of sustainable democratic institutions”.

Since October 2019, when President Jovenel Moïse postponed parliamentary and local elections, there has been no legislature in Haiti. The President has ruled the country by decree, contrary to its Constitution. Even at the municipal level, when the terms of elected Mayors end, Moïse has appointed people of his own choosing.

Further, in the absence of a legislature which, under the Constitution, is required to approve appointments to independent institutions and law enforcement agencies, including the Police, President Moïse has unilaterally installed favoured persons. For over a year, these circumstances have infuriated opposition parties as would be expected, but they also caused alarm among human rights groups within the country and internationally.

More recent events in Haiti, however, have attracted strong criticism of Moïse. The most compelling condemnation has come from seven members of the US House of Representatives. In early February, they wrote to the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, demanding the departure of Moïse “in accordance with the Haitian Constitution”.

For several months, the contention has been made by political and civil rights

groups in Haiti, that in conformity with the Constitution, the President’s term ended on February 7 – five years after the last elections in November 2016. He has contended that, notwithstanding the position stated in the Constitution about the life of the President’s term, he is entitled to remain in office for another year, since he did not assume office until February 2017.

In a situation in which a President’s stewardship has brought peace, economic development and social progress, the Haitian society may have gone along with Moïse’s view. Unfortunately, the situation on the ground in Haiti has been very different. Moïse was not a popularly elected President. The 2016 elections had a low turnout of voters. His actions, since then, especially his ruling by decree, weakened his approval still further.

In this atmosphere, the country slipped into lawlessness – some of it allegedly engendered by Moïse’s ruling party. Kidnappings and killings haunted rich and poor alike, and marauding gangs ruled districts driving fear into communities.

Massacres occurred in neighbourhoods where opposition to Moïse is strong.

All this led to street protests which the government met with an iron fist. In recent weeks, Police have fired live ammunition into crowds, killing and wounding people including two journalists, one of whom is in a critical condition.

During this, on February 7, Moïse alleged there was a plot to overthrow him. Police arrested and detained 23 people, including a former presidential candidate, a high-ranking police inspector and a judge on the country’s highest court. Additionally, Mosie, arbitrarily sent three judges of the Court of Justice on retirement. One of these judges was named jointly by the Opposition parties as the “Interim President” of Haiti – much as happened with Venezuela’s Juan Guaidó. The US Embassy in Haiti issued a statement questioning the merits of the action to unseat the judges.

Several non-CARICOM countries, looking for a solution to the current problem, are doing what they usually do – focussing on Presidential elections to end the conflict.

The problem is there is no credible election machinery in Haiti, including no up-to-date and verifiable electoral list. What is more, Moïse appointed a Committee of his associates to make recommendations on institutional and political reform, including of the provisional electoral council (CEP) which administers elections.

The much greater problem is that he plans to hold a referendum on April 25 on a draft constitution that his Committee has drafted. Among other things, the draft constitution, will set the stage for Presidential and other elections. The process has no credibility and no support from opposition political parties and civil rights groups and, therefore, will continue to rouse protests and crowd demonstrations.

Haiti, including President Moïse, and all the other actors – political and civil – need the help of honest brokers and mediators to help create agreed conditions to remedy the institutional issues, including the election machinery.

Without it, the situation is Haiti will worsen.

No country or organisation can impose itself to assist Haiti. The Haitian players must invite such help. Until they do so, all organisations, including CARICOM and the Organisation of American States should express their concerns and stand ready to be helpful to the people of Haiti who deserve the chance for a better life.

• Responses and previous commentaries:www. sirronaldsanders.com

The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 11

Trump’s acquittal exposes a rotten system - partisanship overriding principles

By JOHN E FINN Professor Emeritus of Government, Wesleyan University THE Senate’s decision to acquit former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial may have been a victory for Trump, but it is a clear sign that democracy in the US is in poor health.

As a constitutional scholar, I believe the United States – the world’s first constitutional democracy – is in a state of what I call “constitutional rot”.

In a constitutional democracy, the majority’s authority to govern is limited by the rule of law and by a set of legal rules and principles set out in the Constitution.

Constitutional rot is a condition in which we appear to be formally governed by constitutional rules and the rule of law, but the reality is quite different. When rot sets in, public officials and the public routinely ignore or subvert those rules while sanctimoniously professing fidelity to them.

APPEARANCE IS NOT REALITY Among the practices and principles of a constitutional democracy are limited government and the separation of powers, majority rule through elections that are fair and free, respect for minority and individual liberties, and government based on reason and deliberation.

These were famously stated in Federalist #1, an essay by Alexander Hamilton that laid out: “It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country … to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.”

In my book, “Peopling the Constitution,” I asked citizens to “imagine an ugly picture: A citizenry unwilling to hold its representatives or itself accountable to basic, fundamental constitutional rules and values.” This could happen either because fidelity to them is outweighed by some other goal, such as security or holding on to power, or because of a base impulse such as fear.

Or perhaps the people fail to hold representatives or themselves accountable because they do not know what those principles and values are or why or even if they are at risk.

Election 2020 and its long aftermath, culminating in a second impeachment trial of Trump, is a clear and undeniable sign of just how rotten things are, constitutionally speaking.

Trump and many of his Republican supporters inflamed an insurrection and encouraged violence directed at a coequal branch of government – Congress – as it discharged one of its most basic constitutional responsibilities – determining the results of the presidential election.

What ended on January 6 as an assault on the peoples’ representatives began months earlier as an attack on the electoral process.

Trump and his allies justified both as the work of true constitutional patriots intent on saving the republic from imaginary electoral fraud.

ELECTIONS: THE BASICS Elections that are free and fair are central to constitutional democracy. This is why elections are a good

PRESIDENT Donald Trump during a rally protesting the electoral stormed the Capitol building. marker of constitutional nothing or encouraged him.

That culminated in the cerrot.

A constitutional democ- tification vote in the House racy that cannot run of Representatives on Januelections that are free and ary 6 when 121 Republican representafair, and which are acknowl- Trump and many tives voted not to accept the edged by from winners and of his Republican results Arizona, and losers alike to supporters 138 voted not be legitimate inflamed an to accept the and conclusive, results from cannot call insurrection Pennsylvania. itself a democ- and encouraged that was racy. violence directed notButeven the Just as most signifiimportant: The at a coequal cant evidence perception of branch of of constitufairness and government – tional rot on the anticipaJanuary 6. tion of fairness Congress – as it Building on a are critical to discharged one series of lies electoral legit- of its most basic months – if imacy and not years – in public confi- constitutional the making, dence in both responsibilities the nation’s the process – determining President and the result. the results of encouraged his Unwarranted supporters to and baseless the presidential march on Capattacks on the election. itol Hill, with legitimacy tragic, deadly of electoral results do long-term, insidi- results. ous damage to the very fabric of constitutional democracy.

Election 2020, as assessed by professional and nonpartisan election officials, policy experts and academThe constitutional cusics, was one of the safest and most secure in Ameri- toms and rules that govern can history. Consider a elections require public simple and overwhelming officials and citizens alike fact: Trump and his allies to enforce and apply them. filed over 60 lawsuits trying Otherwise they are sterile to overturn the presidential formalities.

In the end, a safe and election in federal courts healthy constitutional and lost all but one.

In many of those cases, democracy depends upon the judges involved – many elected public officials and of them Trump appointees an educated citizenry that – wrote opinions that spoke values the principles and in unusually harsh language practices of constitutional about the frivolity of the democracy more than it values political power and lawsuits.

And yet Trump and partisan politics.

This is why the Senate’s many of his Republican failure to convict Trump compatriots, rather than acknowledge defeat, deter- should be seen as a sure mined instead to baselessly sign of just how deep our constitutional rot goes. delegitimise the election.

As the nation moves on, Republican leaders, many of whom knew Trump’s alle- overcoming constitutional gations were without merit, rot, I believe, requires cynical and deeply cor- public officials who have rosive of democracy, said the courage to speak the truth and to defend the

college certification of Joe Biden as President on January 6, 2021, in Washington, before rioters Photo: Evan Vucci/AP Constitution. That’s espe- primarily of political institu- not hold their representacially the case when the tions but of civic attitudes,” tives – or themselves – to threat comes from one of as constitutional scholar constitutional principles its own. Trump’s acquittal George Thomas recently they don’t know or don’t in the Senate shows us just wrote. understand. how uncommon publicOvercoming rot would As Thomas Jefferminded officials are. also rely on a foundation son counselled, “If we The country is fortunate of constitutionally literate think the people not that many judges, and some citizens who insist upon enlightened enough to public officials, such as respect for basic constitu- exercise their control Georgia Secretary of State tional values. with a wholesome discreBrad Raffensperger, honThere is no guarantee tion, the remedy is not to oured their oaths. that responsible citizens take it from them, but to The Senate’s failure to will always effectively inform their discretion by convict Trump is a con- guard constitutional education.” stitutional failure not values, but the best just “in legal terms but in remedy for rot is civic • Originally published on civic terms – a failure not education. Citizens will theconversation.com

IS CONSTITUTIONAL ROT IRREVERSIBLE?

YOUR

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PAGE 12, Monday, February 15, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Myanmar rattled by army movements YANGON, Myanmar Associated Press SIGHTINGS of armored personnel carriers in Myanmar’s biggest city and an internet shutdown raised political tensions late Sunday, after vast numbers of people around the country flouted orders against demonstrations to protest the military’s seizure of power.

Public concern has already been heightened for the past few nights by what many charge is the military’s manipulation of criminals released from prison to carry out nighttime violence and stir up panic.

Ambassadors from the United States and Canada and 12 European nations called on Myanmar’s security forces to refrain from violence against those “protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government”. They condemned the arrests of political leaders and activists as well as the military’s interference with communications.

“We support the people of Myanmar in their quest for democracy, freedom, peace, and prosperity,” they said in a joint statement issued late Sunday night.

“The world is watching.”

The military seized power on February 1, detaining the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of her government and preventing recently elected lawmakers from opening a new session of Parliament.

The junta, led by Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, said it was forced to step in because the government failed to properly investigate allegations of fraud in last year’s election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won in a landslide. The state election commission found no evidence to support the allegations.

There was no official

word about why armored personnel carriers traversed the streets of Yangon in broad daylight Sunday, making their way through busy traffic. As night fell, there were videos and other reports on social media of the movement of trucks packed with soldiers, and in the central city of Mandalay as well.

An order that appears to be from the Ministry of Transport and Communications told mobile phone service providers to shut down internet connections from 1am to 9am Monday.

It circulated widely on social media, as did a notice said to be from service provider Oredoo Myanmar containing the same details.

Several users contacted through other means confirmed that access though Myanmar’s broadband and mobile services were cut as scheduled.

Monday holds the prospect of two flashpoints for the political standoff.

Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, but a remand order holding her on a minor charge of possessing unregistered imported walkie-talkies expires Monday and a court in the capital, Naypyitaw, is supposed to take action on her case. Her freedom is a major demand of the protest movement.

Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer asked by Suu Kyi’s party to represent her, said he was uncertain if she would have a court appearance Monday, and it could be delayed by a day. He has not been able to make contact with Suu Kyi. There is also the possibility that a young woman who was shot during a demonstration last week, also in Naypyitaw, will be declared legally dead. She has been on life support in a hospital in the capital, and unofficial memorial services were held for her Sunday at protests in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s two

MANDALAY University graduates hold posters that say “Stop Arresting People illegally at midnight” and “Save Myanmar” during an anti-coup protest yesterday. demonstrations are esti- very active in the protests, and cause chaos in 1988 biggest cities.

Large demonstrations mated to have drawn and social media postings during a failed popular were also held in Naypyi- hundreds of thousands of on Sunday indicated that uprising against a military taw and far-flung corners of people to the streets despite state railway workers have dictatorship.

People have also been the country dominated by the threat of six months’ joined them, with some imprisonment for violating unconfirmed claims that rattled by police raids carethnic minorities. ried out during curfew Resistance also took an order banning gather- they have gone on strike.

The public at large has hours to seize individuplace in cyberspace, as a ings of five or more people. group calling itself Brother- The same order imposes an been alarmed since the gov- als seen as opposed to the ernment last week declared coup. In several cases, Hood of Myanmar Hackers 8pm to 4am curfew.

Sunday’s activism took an amnesty that led to the nearby residents rushed to defaced the government’s Myanmar Digital News place after the ruling junta release of more than 23,000 the scene in such numbers website, replacing con- issued a new order sus- convicts. There are many that security forces abantent on its home page with pending several basic civil claims on social media that doned their attempts to some have been recruited haul in their targets. words and pictures against liberties.

The order, issued late by the authorities to carry The independent Assisthe military takeover.

Association for Protesters in Yangon Saturday and published out violent activities at tance again rallied outside the Sunday in state newspapers, night in residential areas Political Prisoners says 400 Chinese and US embas- suspends provisions in an to spread panic, especially people have been detained sies. They accuse Beijing existing law on security and by setting fires. Some areas since the coup, with 375 still of propping up the military privacy protection, allowing have responded by setting being held.

Detainees have included regime and applaud Wash- the authorities to carry out up their own neighborhood political leaders, governington’s actions sanctioning searches and make arrests watch groups.

The truth of the ment officials, civil servants, the military. There were without court warrants.

It also allows the inter- allegations about gov- activists and student leadscattered appeals on Twitthugs ers. Medical personnel have ter for armed intervention ception of electronic and ernment-directed other communications with- is difficult to verify, even been singled out because by the United States.

Other protesters carried out a warrant and permits with videos claiming to their community initiated signs urging people to boy- the detention of detainees show their activities. There the civil disobedience camcott businesses linked to the for more than 24 hours is historical precedent, as paign against the military without court permission. the military released con- takeover and remains in its military.

Civil servants have been victs to carry out violence vanguard.

Eight days of street

US VIRUS CASES BELOW 100K FOR FIRST TIME IN MONTHS ATLANTA Associated Press

AVERAGE daily new coronavirus cases in the United States dipped below 100,000 in recent days for the first time in months, but experts cautioned yesterday that infections remain high and precautions to slow the pandemic must remain in place.

The seven-day rolling average of new infections was well above 200,000 for much of December and went to roughly 250,000 in January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University, as the pandemic came roaring back after it had been tamed in some places over the summer.

That average dropped below 100,000 on Friday for the first time since November 4. It stayed below 100,000 on Saturday.

“We are still at about 100,000 cases a day. We are still at around 1,500 to 3,500 deaths per day. The cases are more than two-and-a-halffold times what we saw over the summer,” Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said. “It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down, but

they’re coming down from an extraordinarily high place.”

On Saturday, the sevenday rolling average for deaths was around 2,500.

That number peaked at more than 3,300 earlier in the winter, according to Johns Hopkins.

The US saw a spike of more than 5,400 deaths reported Friday — nearly half from Ohio, where authorities said earlier in the week that they planned to add deaths to the state’s tally over the course of a few days after discovering as many as 4,000 unreported COVID-19 fatalities.

Walensky added that new variants, including one first detected in the United Kingdom that appears to be more transmissible and has already been recorded in more than 30 states, will likely lead to more cases and more deaths.

“All of it is really wraps up into we can’t let our guard down,” she said. “We have to continue wearing masks.

We have to continue with our current mitigation measures.

And we have to continue getting vaccinated as soon as that vaccine is available to us.”

The US has recorded more than 27.5 million

virus cases and more than 484,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins data.

With parents and political leaders eager to have children around the country back in school for in-person learning, it is important that people continue to observe precautions, Walensky said.

“We need to all take responsibility to decrease that community spread, including mask wearing so that we can get our kids and our society back,” she said.

The CDC released guidance on Friday outlining mitigation strategies necessary to reopen schools.

Some teachers have expressed concern about returning to the classroom without vaccination. Dr Anthony Fauci said that it would be “optimal” if teachers were vaccinated but other measures can lessen their risk.

“Practically speaking, when you balance the benefit of getting the children back to school with the fact that the risks are being mitigated, if you follow the recommendations and these new guidelines from the CDC, hopefully, I think that will alleviate the concerns on both sides,” he said.

DUCHESS OF SUSSEX EXPECTING SECOND BABY LOS ANGELES Associated Press

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their second child, their office confirmed yesterday.

A spokesperson for Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, said in a

statement: “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”

The baby will be eighth in line to the British throne.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “Her Majesty, Duke of Edinburgh,

Prince of Wales and the entire family are delighted and wish them well.”

The duke told chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall in 2019 that he would only have two children for the sake of the planet.

Goodall said: “Not too many,” and Harry replied: “Two, maximum.”

SPORTS PAGE 13

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

SEE PAGE 17

Miller-Uibo wins 400m, shatters NACAC record

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

I

t was the second record breaking performance this year for Shaunae MillerUibo as she powered to victory in the women’s 400 metres at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in New York.

As one of two Bahamians competing in the event on Saturday, Miller-Uibo made her return to her speciality in her first indoor race in seven years look like an easy job.

It wasn’t as smooth sailing for Grand Bahamian native Donald Thomas as his debut this season in the men’s high jump produced a fifth place finish.

Like a well-oiled machine, Miller-Uibo completed the first of two laps on the 200m track in a split of 23.92 seconds and came back in the second lap in 26.29 as she sped to victory in a world-leading time of 50.21.

It also culminated with a North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) and Bahamian national record for MillerUibo as she shattered the previous mark of 50.34 that was established by Christine Amertil on March 12, 2006, at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia.

With the time, MillerUibo moved up to eighth on the world indoor alltime list.

“I came out here to see where we’re at with my training and I’m very satisfied,” she stressed. “I feel really strong right now.”

Miller-Uibo was coming off her national record feat of 22.40 at the American Track League #2 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on January 31 as she erased

Pauline Davis-Thompson’s previous mark of 22.68 at the World Indoor Championships on March 11, 1995 in Barcelona, Spain.

“It was great. I wished I would have attacked it a little better from the start, but overall it was a great race,” the 26-year-old Miller-Uibo said.

“I’m very strong right now, so I have a whole lot of energy, but it was a great race.”

A trio of Americans trailed Miller-Uibo as Wadeline Jonathas got second in a season’s best of 51.95 for second with Jessica Beard third in 52.60 and 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis came in fourth in 54.86.

The reigning Olympic Games 400m champion from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016, is looking forward to going to the postponed 2020 games, scheduled for July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo, Japan with the goal of competing in the 200m.

Miller-Uibo is the 400m runner-up at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

“This one was great,” said Miller-Uibo as she was concerned about the effects on her 6-foot, oneinch frame on the turns on the indoor track.

“I like this one better. It’s a fast track and so overall, I like the performance and I like the track and so I’m quite pleased with where I’m at right now.”

Her two records in the 200 and 400 this year now pushes her total to three indoors as she also holds the 300m at 35.45 done on February 3, 2018 at the Millrose Games in New York City as well.

They are added to the five outdoor marks she holds, inclusive of the 150m (straight) in 16.23 from the Adidas Boost Boston Games on May

SHAUNAE MILLER-UIBO, of the Bahamas, gets ready to compete in the 150m at the Weltklasse Zurich Inspiration Games on July 9, 2020, in Bradenton, USA. Photo: Ka Deem Wynn/Weltklasse Zurich 20, 2018 in Boston, 200m in 21.74 at the Diamond League in Zurich, Switzerland on August 29, 2019, 200m (straight) in 21.76 on June 4, 2017 at the Boost Boston Games, 300m in 34.41 at the Golden Spike Ostrava and the 400m in 48.37 at 2019 World Championships in Doha.

It’s early in the season and Thomas obviously was not as fluent as he normally is, clearing 7-feet, 0 1/2-inch or 2.15 metre for his efforts. The 2007 world

champion cleared his opening height of 6-10 3/4 (6-10 3/4), but failed all three attempts at 7-2 1/2 (2.15m) to drop to fifth in the field.

American Trey Culver won with a world-leading and personal best mark of 7-7 3/4 (2.33m).

The 36-year-old Thomas, who made the transformation from a basketball player to a high jumper on a dare from one of his college team-mates, is hoping to get back to his vintage form so that he can go after

DaVante Carey achieves NCAA Championships qualifying standard

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net DAVANTE Carey achieved an NCAA Championships qualifying standard and was a part of a record-setting relay team for his McKendree Bearcats at the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

In the 100 yard backstroke, Carey finished second with a time of 47.61 seconds which also qualified as an NCAA championships-B cut at last week’s meet in Elkhart, Indiana.

In the men’s 400 yard medley relay, Carey teamed with Henrik Dahrendorff, Gregg Lichinsky, and Xander Skinner to capture gold and set a new GLVC record in the process with a time of 3:10.74.

Carey was also a member of the 200 medley relay team along with Dahrendorff, Lichinsky and Caleb Law that finished fourth with a time of 1:27.71.

McKendree finished with a total of 1,120.50 points, fourth overall.

Drury University claimed its fifth GLVC Men’s Swimming and Diving DAVANTE CAREY

SEE PAGE 16

Young named Blue Jays’ Major League Spring Training non-roster invitee

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net FOLLOWING his Canberra Cavalry’s third place finish in the Australian Baseball League, Chavez Young was named one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 28 non-roster invitees to Major League Spring Training.

Young, currently ranked No.29 in the Blue Jays’ farm system, will make his third consecutive Spring Training appearance with the club in Dunedin, Florida. “[Young] has impressive speed,” MLB.com said in a positional

breakdown of the non roster invitees, “Keep an eye on him in centre field if he sees playing time, as his ability to stick at that position long term will be key.”

Young was called up to Spring Training prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and in his short time there, impressed the Blue Jays’ front office in the Grapefruit League both on the field and to move up the rankings and entered the top 30 on the prospect list.

In the ABL, Young and the Cavalry defeated the Adelaide Giants 3-2 to advance to the Preliminary Final.

In the Qualifying Final, Melbourne defeated Perth, 9-2. The Victoria region entered a five-day COVID19 lockdown therefore the game became the Championship Game, rather than a Qualifying Final, under the ABL’s playoff protocols for the impact of COVID-19 or weather.

Limited by quarantine restrictions and a foot injury, Young appeared in just seven of the 23 regular season games for the Cavalry. He hit .217 with a .467 OPS, five hits, two runs, one RBI, five total bases and two

SEE PAGE 16

the Olympic medal that has eluded his illustrious career.

In addition to standing on top of the world in Osaka, Japan in 2007, Thomas has also triumphed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, the 2010 Central American Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and the 2013 Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

FREEDOM FARM BASEBALL ALL-STAR WEEKEND BLAST

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Freedom Farm Baseball League returned to the diamond with its All-Star weekend and scouting combine featuring the league’s top 50 players ages 13-18 in a showcase of drills and exhibition games for international scouts and coaches.

The league plans to return in phases in adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

“Right now we are doing everything in stages. We started with our 13-14 and 15-18 divisions, they will go at it for about 30 days, then we will look at starting our 9-10, 11-12 division,” said Clarence McKenzie, the league commissioner.

“We have to take our time. We want to be responsible as we return to baseball, so it’s not going to be a situation in 2021 where we have all of our 44-plus teams and 800 players come to the park at once. This is a trial run so we can iron out all the kinks with health and safety as a priority.

“As we continue to do well, and as the country continues to do well, we will see more and more games added toward the schedule. After this month’s tournament, we will look at a 2021 shortened regular season, so it’s just a matter of getting the kids back into playing again but we have to do it one step at a time.”

The weekend featured a series of position drills and exhibition games as the league officially returned to play for the first time since March 15, 2020.

“You can tell the kids that have been working since we shut down. The play was pretty sharp in spots, as they play more games it will increase the level of competition and level of play,”

SEE PAGE 16

ALGERNON CARGILL RETURNS AS PRESIDENT OF BAHAMAS AQUATICS FEDERATION THE Bahamas Aquatics Federation, the national governing body for aquatic sports, held its annual general meeting and elections of its executive board on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

The federation returns to the competent leadership of Algernon Cargill, who was unopposed for president.

In a thorough report, Cargill highlighted the achievements of Bahamas Aquatics over the past four years, including sponsorships, international appointments, event hosting and participation, membership, individual athlete and national team achievements.

Cargill will be supported by a trio of experienced vice-presidents.

Grand Bahamian Lynne Fraino becomes the first female to serve as first vice-president.

Rochelle Bastian will lead public relations efforts for the federation as second vice-president and long-serving executive board member John Bradley will work as third vice-president.

Georgette Albury will officially assume the role of secretary, after supporting the federation as

acting secretary for the past two years. Albury will be assisted by Andrea Strapp, who secured the post of assistant secretary.

Erald Thompson moves to treasurer after working as assistant treasurer for the past four years. Kendric Albury is the newly elected assistant treasurer.

In addition to the election of executive officers, 22 proposed constitutional amendments were passed.

One of the approved amendments expanded the member-at-large position from one to three persons.

Gena Culmer-Taylor, Wilfred Pratt and Christine Wallace-Whitfield were elected as membersat-large, each bringing individual strengths and interests to complete the 2020-2024 executive board lineup.

The president’s report, executive board election results, and the various constitutional amendments that were passed by membership, are available on the federation website (www.bahamasaquatics. com) and Facebook page.

Executive members of Bahamas Aquatics are elected for a term of four years. The Bahamas Olympic Committee supervised the election process.

SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 15

Grizzlies beat ‘Buddy’ Hield and Kings

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 25 points and had 12 rebounds to offset a late technical foul and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Sacramento Kings 124-110 last night.

Ja Morant added 16 points and 10 assists despite a rough 7-for-18 shooting night from the field. Dillon Brooks scored 22 points and Kyle Anderson had 17 points and six rebounds for Memphis, which had lost five of six.

Two days after blowing a 20-point, first-quarter lead in a loss to the Lakers, the Grizzlies built another early advantage and withstood a late run by the Kings.

The game got chippy late, after Sacramento’s Chimezie Metu dunked over Valanciunas and held onto the rim with both hands. Valanciuanas continued to stand under the rim and did not move to allow Metu to land as players from both teams ran in.

The play was reviewed and Valanciunas was called for an unsportsmanlike technical foul.

A few minutes later, Valanciunas dunked and hung

SACRAMENTO Kings guard Buddy Hield, right, looks to pass against Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen during the first half last night in Sacramento, California.

(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) onto the rim for several moments, even though no one was near him.

Memphis had seven players score in double figures, led by as many as 24 points and scored 68 points in

the paint. It wasn’t just the Grizzlies starters who stood out. Xavier Tillman drove the lane for a thunderous one-handed dunk and Sean McDermott followed with another dunk off a baseline

drive moments later. The Grizzlies had not won in Sacramento since December 31, 2017.

De’Aaron Fox had 23 point and nine assists for the Kings.

The teams were scheduled to play back-to-backs in Memphis in late January before the games were postponed due to COVID19 issues.

BROOKS FAST START Brooks, who had not scored more than 15 points in four previous games against Sacramento, had 18 in 18 minutes to get Memphis off to the double-digit lead by halftime. Brooks picked up his fourth foul 25 seconds into the third quarter, but came back to score four in the fourth.

TIP-INS Grizzlies: Brandon Clarke returned for Memphis after missing four consecutive games with a sore right calf and scored 13. ... Brooks scored 12 of Memphis’ first 21 points.

Kings: Sacramento missed eight of its first 10 shots. … Marvin Bagley III was held out for a second consecutive game with left calf soreness. DaQuan Jeffries started in place of Bagley and had three rebounds, but did not score.

Jeffries sat out 21 games this season with ankle and back injuries.

UP NEXT Grizzlies: Host the Pelicans on Tuesday. New Orleans beat Memphis on February 6 and has won four straight in the series.

Kings: Play the Nets today in the second half of a back-to-back. Brooklyn has won four straight against Sacramento.

AYTON AND SUNS STOP MAGIC 109-90, ROLL TO 6TH STRAIGHT WIN

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — The Phoenix Suns were coming off impressive, hard-fought victories over two of the NBA’s best teams. They’ve got another big game in a few days when the Nets come to town.

That made a drama-free blowout over the Orlando Magic a welcome change Sunday night.

Devin Booker scored 27 points, Mikal Bridges added 21 and the Suns cruised to their sixth straight victory, beating the short-handed Magic 109-90 in a game that was never particularly close.

“We did what we had to do to win the game,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

“We’ve had some really emotional games in this building and to win the way we’ve won the past few games, we didn’t even want to talk about a letdown.”

It’s safe to say that wasn’t a problem. The Suns never trailed and jumped out to a 14-2 lead after Orlando missed 12 of its first 13 shots.

“We just wanted to push the tempo early and make them feel us,” Suns forward Jae Crowder said.

It never got much better for the Magic, who had just eight players available because of injuries.

Orlando has lost eight of its past 10 and fell to 10-18.

The Suns improved to 17-9.

Terrence Ross led the Magic with 23 points.

Dwayne Bacon added 19 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“We got off to a bad start and I thought, actually, in the first quarter in the beginning we had decent shots,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “We didn’t finish any of them so we played in a hole.”

Booker scored 17 points in the first quarter on 8-of-10 shooting, including a 30-foot 3-pointer and a breakaway dunk, and the Suns took a 28-16 lead. They led by 23 in the second quarter before settling for a 52-35 advantage at the break.

Phoenix scored the first six points of the second half and pushed ahead 80-55

PHOENIX Suns centre Deandre Ayton shoots over Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid (21) during the second half on Saturday in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Matt York) after Crowder hit back-toback 3-pointers. Crowder finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Chris Paul added 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Orlando shot just 6 of 35 (17%) from 3-point range and was outrebounded 59-48. Ross said he’s never been on a team that’s dealing with so many injuries at the same time.

“Everybody is kind of doing something different, playing outside our comfort zone,” Ross said. “It is part of the game I guess. That is where we are at right now.”

TIP-INS

Magic: Orlando’s injury list was a long one: It included Al-Farouq Aminu (right knee), Cole Anthony (shoulder), James Ennis III (groin) and Evan Fournier (back spasms). ... Ross started a game for the first time in three seasons. He had come off the bench in 180 straight games. ... The Magic shot just 6 of 24 from the field in the first quarter. ... Mo Bamba finished with 11 rebounds.

Suns: Booker is averaged 28.3 points and shooting 54.7% during the sevengame homestand that ends Tuesday. He shot 10 of 16 from the field against the Magic ... Deandre Ayton added 10 points and 13 rebounds. ... The Suns got 35 points from the bench and scored 46 points in the paint. ... Dario Saric scored seven points in 16 minutes in his second game back after missing 13 straight because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols and an ankle injury.

UP NEXT Magic: Host New York on Wednesday night.

Suns: Host Brooklyn on Tuesday night.

LILLARD HELPS TRAIL BLAZERS TOP DONCIC, MAVERICKS 121-118 DALLAS (AP) — Damian Lillard hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute, and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame another high-scoring outing from Luka Doncic in a 121118 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.

The young Dallas sensation scored 44 points two nights after getting a careerhigh 46 in a victory over New Orleans, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Mavericks’ four-game winning streak, tied for their longest this season.

Lillard finished with 34 points and 11 assists. He connected on the go-ahead 3 after Doncic assisted on a tying 3-pointer from Dorian Finney-Smith after the Mavericks trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter.

The Trail Blazers won their fourth consecutive game with help from a 45-point third quarter, matching the franchise record for that period.

PISTONS 123, PELICANS 112 DETROIT (AP) — Mason Plumlee had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double, and the Pistons spoiled Stan Van Gundy’s return to Motown.

Van Gundy was the coach and president of basketball operations for the Pistons from 2014-18. He’s coaching the Pelicans now, and

Detroit became the latest team to blitz New Orleans from 3-point range.

The Pistons had six players with at least 15 points, and Detroit went 17 of 35 from beyond the arc — 13 of 21 during the final three quarters.

Josh Jackson led Detroit with 21 points, and Svi Mykhailiuk added 18.

The Pelicans also lost their previous two games, allowing 25 3-pointers in each one.

Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram each scored 26 points for New Orleans.

THUNDER 114, BUCKS 109 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Justin Jackson scored a season-high 22 points and hit a critical 3-pointer in the final minute to help Oklahoma City overcome Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double.

With Milwaukee making a late push, Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 14.9 seconds remaining to put the Thunder in control for good in just his second start of the season.

Al Horford had 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Oklahoma City, which played without leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander because of a sprained left knee.

Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 17 rebounds and 10

PORTLAND Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) goes for a layup in front of Dallas Mavericks centre Kristaps Porzingis (6) during the second half yesterday.

(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth) assists for his fourth tripledouble of the season. Khris Middleton added 23 points for the Bucks.

Milwaukee has lost three straight -- all without guard Jrue Holiday, who has been out because of health and safety protocols.

TIMBERWOLVES 116, RAPTORS 112 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored seven of his 20 points late in the fourth quarter before fouling out, helping Minnesota snap a four-game losing streak.

Malik Beasley also scored 20 points for the Timberwolves, and Anthony Edwards finished with 18.

The Raptors had a chance to tie the game after Beasley stepped out of bounds with 12.1 seconds left for Minnesota’s eighth turnover of the fourth quarter.

But Pascal Siakam missed a layup that was contested by 6-foot-10 Jaden McDaniels.

Jordan McLaughlin clinched the victory with two free throws with 3.7 seconds left.

Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 24 points, and Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell had 22 points apiece.

Siakam finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

SPURS 122, HORNETS 110 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Dejounte Murray had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and the Spurs outlasted the short-handed Hornets.

Derrick White scored 12 of his season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter,

helping San Antonio to its fifth win in six games.

Terry Rozier had 33 points for the Hornets, who played without leading scorer Gordon Hayward because of a sore back and P.J. Washington, Caleb Martin and Cody Martin due to health and safety protocols.

In addition, Devonte Graham departed because of knee discomfort and did not play in the second half.

Malik Monk scored 23 points for Charlotte, and rookie LaMelo Ball had 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

WIZARDS 104, CELTICS 91 WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 35 points in his return from a rare night off, leading Washington to the victory.

Beal went 10 for 18 from the field and 11 for 11 at the free-throw line.

The NBA’s leading scorer rested during Friday night’s loss to the New York Knicks.

Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Wizards. Rui Hachimura added 15 points.

Kemba Walker and Jalen Brown each scored 25 points for Boston, which has lost 10 of 16.

Jayson Tatum, who entered the game averaging 26.6 points, was held to a season-low six points.

PAGE 16, Monday, February 15, 2021

SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Double gold: Humphries finishes off historic bobsled sweep

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer KAILLIE Humphries wasn’t sure if she would get a chance to race this season.

She ended up on top of the world — twice.

Humphries ended her international season yesterday by winning the inaugural women’s monobob world championship in Altenberg, Germany, adding that gold medal to the one she and Lolo Jones claimed on the same track last weekend.

Humphries becomes the obvious gold-medal favourite going into the Olympic season, with two medal events — now with monobob included — awaiting women’s bobsledders at next winter’s Beijing Games for the first time.

“To be able to end on a high, I really just continue to think that I am so grateful to be here,” Humphries said. “To be representing the United States and to be able to compete is such a huge honour. And I’m excited to go home and see my husband and my dog.”

Moments later, she hopped atop the medal stand amid a backdrop of snow-covered evergreen trees, wrapped herself in the American flag, then put her right hand over her heart as “The Star-Spangled Banner” cut through the frosty air.

It was her fifth world championship, her third in as many tries since getting her release from the Canadian programme and beginning to slide for the United States in 2019. If Humphries — a two-time Olympic gold medallist who is married to an American and now calls San Diego home — is going to race for the US in next winter’s Beijing Games, she needs

BASEBALL FROM PAGE 13

McKenzie said. “The Bahamas is a relatively new marketplace for baseball, we are always getting calls for scouts looking to see when we start games so they can watch and observe these players. When we announced this we got flooded with calls.”

International scouts representing several Major League Baseball franchises were in attendance.

Sal Agostinelli, international scouting director of the Philadelphia Phillies, said he was impressed with the level of athleticism.

“We’ve been coming down here for a few years,

to obtain citizenship in the coming months.

“She’s the best driver in the world,” longtime bobsled analyst John Morgan said.

Humphries’ final time for four runs over two days was 3 minutes, 59.62 seconds — a half-second better than anyone else. She had the fastest time in each of the final three heats, a track-record time of 59.47 seconds in the final run clinching gold.

“We just saved the best for last,” Humphries said.

Germany and Canada took the next six spots behind Humphries, with the Germans grabbing silver and bronze. Stephanie Schneider, the leader after Saturday’s first two heats, finished second in 4:00.12.

Laura Nolte was third in 4:00.42.

Mariama Jamanka was fourth for Germany, followed by Canada’s Cynthia Appiah, Germany’s Kim Kalicki and Canada’s Melissa Lotholz.

On average, those six German and Canadian sleds were 1.43 seconds behind Humphries. In sliding, that margin is enormous.

“Kaillie, she’s the best in the world, hands-down, one of the best pilots in the world, men or women, taking the bobsled down the hill,” US assistant coach Brian Shimer said. “No question.”

Elana Meyers Taylor was 15th for the US, her medal hopes dashed by a first-heat crash Saturday.

Like Humphries, Germany’s Francesco Friedrich won double gold at worlds, capping off an easy fourman win later yesterday in 3:35.02. It’s the fifth consecutive year that he has swept the two- and four-man golds at either the world championships or Olympics, and

BOBSLEIGH pilot Kaillie Humphries of the United States reacts at the finish line after taking first place during the women’s monobob race at the Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) his 11th world champion- circuits this winter, all from going overseas to compete ship overall. women. Each of Hum- in any events. These world The Austrian sled driven phries’ five medals were championship races for

by Benjamin Maier was golds; two from worlds, one bobsled and skeleton were second in 3:35.81, and the in World Cup and two in to have been held in Lake German sled driven by the Monobob World Series. Placid, New York, over Johannes Lochner was “Her experience, the past two weeks — then third in 3:36.53. patience and talent helped moved to Germany because Counting all three sliding her win this gold medal of the pandemic and travel sports — bobsled, skeleton for Team USA,” US coach concerns. and luge — American ath- Mike Kohn said.

The American teams letes won 18 medals on the The US wasn’t sure until wound up skipping the first top international sliding December if it would be half of the season while

there are a lot of good players here. There are great athletes, there’s a lot of evaluation that has to be done, but I can tell you one thing, there are a lot of great athletes here, a lot of guys that can throw, can really run, it’s an interesting group of kids,” he said.

“I thought it was interesting, the younger kids had a little trouble, they had been away for a while, they’re not as strong, but they got into it eventually. The older kids were swinging the bat really well, there were some good looking kids there. I thought they were looking pretty sharp.”

James Kang, international crosschecker for the defending World Series champions Los Angeles

Dodgers, said despite the inactivity due to the pandemic, the players still delivered a series of impressive performances on the field.

“A lot of good athletes.

The Bahamas is a really interesting market that is coming up on the international side with a lot of guys starting to sign out.

It’s really cool to see the young kids coming up and trying to get a feel for those prospects coming up, in particular the younger ones.

It’s about just trying to get a feel for the guys, build relationships,” he said.

“We cut them a break, we all know during COVID everyone was just sitting at home so we expected them to be a little slow at

the beginning but when we come back to see them again in about six months we know it’ll be a little better.”

The 13-14 games were highlighted by Rohan Culmer and Nuygen Culmer who each homered Sunday afternoon.

In the 15-18 division, several players put on a hitting display over the weekend highlighted by Paris Johnson, Kason Conliffe and Brian Johnson among others.

Ryan Reckley was perfect at the plate and homered in both games while Breyias Dean had a two-home run game on Saturday afternoon.

“It feels great, we don’t really get a chance to get

VAN DER POEL SETS SPEEDSKATING 10,000 WORLD RECORD HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP) — Nils van der Poel of Sweden set a world record in the 10,000 metres yesterday to win his second title at the world single distances speedskating championships at the Thialf Oval.

Van der Poel’s winning time of 12:32.95 shaved nearly a second off the record set a year ago by Graeme Fish of Canada at the Utah Olympic Oval.

“Eat fish for dinner!” a beaming Van der Poel yelled into a camera after his victory.

Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, the 2014 Olympic 10,000-metre champion, was second nearly 13 seconds behind the dominant Van der Poel.

Russian skater Alexander Rumyantsev was third.

Van der Poel’s victory came after he won the 5,000 on Thursday, beating pre-race favourite Patrick Roest into second place.

“It was the challenge of my life,” the Swede with a Dutch grandfather said of yesterday’s race in an interview with broadcaster NOS. “And also it’s a new club record in my club in Trollhättan, so don’t forget that,” he added with a smile. determining if their sliders could compete in Europe safely. They figured it out in time, and once Humphries got rolling over the past three weeks including the World Cup finale and last weekend’s women’s bobsled title race, she was unstoppable. “An historic day,” Humphries said. “I am super pumped.”

on the field as much as we would like to because of COVID, but once you get in the field with the guys it’s just really fun to try and do your best all the time,” Dean said.

“Those hits came pretty easily, the pitcher made a mistake and I took advantage. The first at bat I was a bit surprised, which caught me off guard, but the second at bat I was ready, I had the timing down.”

Greg Burrows Jr, director of Maximum Development Academy, said several prospects put themselves in favourable positions with the clubs that were represented over the weekend.

“It was good to get the guys out.

“The scouts that came out were impressed by a few guys,” he said.

“COVID has pushed the signing period back, but we are hoping to have a couple of these guys be a part of that next signing period in January.”

FFBL has been on hiatus since March 15 due to restrictions set in place to combat the spread of COVID-19. The league consists of nine divisions ranging from Rookie-T Ball to 15-18, (two softball divisions for junior and senior girls) and features approximately 800 players.

FFBL has formed a hygiene committee that comprises health care professionals who will make recommendations to the board in an effort to adapt to COVID-19 protocols.

In addition, the league also follows Major guidelines set in place by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The Bahamas Baseball Association also created a Prevention Guidelines document to assist a uniform return to competitive play for leagues around the country. Their document features over 100 recommendations outlining prevention and safety methods.

DAVANTE

was also a member of both the second place 400 yard Free relay team (3:03.18) and the second place 400 yard Medley relay team (3:26.06).

At Indianapolis, Carey was again a top finisher in his signature event. He finished first in the 100 yard Back with a time of 51.39.

He was also a member of the 200 yard medley relay team that finished first in 1:31.11.

Carey comes off a freshman season where he earned Academic AllGLVC accolades. He won silver at GLVC Championships and earned three All-American honours at the NCAA Championships.

FROM PAGE 13

Championship in programme history with a conference record 1,652.5 points. The University of Indianapolis was second with 1,546.50 points and Lindenwood University placed third with 1,393 points.

In a COVID-19 shortened season that also featured several postponed meets, Carey made the most of his few opportunities this season. Against Lindenwood in mid January, Carey had three top three finishes. He won the 100 yard Backstroke in 49.93. He

YOUNG FROM PAGE 13 stolen bases. In his last full season of baseball, Young appeared in 111 games in 2019 with the Lansing Lugnuts in Single A-Advanced baseball. He hit .247 with 99 hits and 43 RBI. He also had an .669 OPS, slugged .354 with 24

stolen bases, 53 runs scored, 17 doubles, four triples, and six home runs.

In 2018, Young led the Lugnuts in batting average, runs scored, and stolen bases.

Defensively, playing in centre and right field, he totalled 15 outfield assists along with 290 putouts and a .984 fielding percentage.

He was named a Midwest League All-Star.

SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, February 15, 2021, PAGE 19

Katrinka Marshall dies at 53 after long illness

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net KATRINKA Marshall, one of the top scoring officials in local basketball, who helped to groom her two daughters to follow in her footsteps, died on Saturday after a long illness.

Marshall, 53, was employed with the Sports Division in the Ministry of Education since July 2019 after she left Garvin Tynes Primary School where she served as a physical education teacher for a number of years.

Rupert Gardiner, one of the officials in the ministry, extended condolences to the Marshall family on behalf of the Sports Unit, headed by Evon Wisdom.

Said Rochelle Kemp, head of the group of females who officiate basketball games in all of the local sporting leagues, from men and women night leagues as well as the government schools: “She has served as secretary and tale official for both the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association and New Providence Basketball Association,” Kemp said.

“Our condolences go out to her family, especially her

KATRINKA MARSHALL two daughters, Kiara and Kylah Marshall.”

The younger Kylah Marshall, who graduated from St John’s College last year, also played on the Giants senior girls’

basketball team. She is now enrolled at Acadia University in Canada, but is at home doing online courses because of COVID-19.

Christine Cunningham, who worked together with Marshall in scoring games for the NPBA, said her close friend will surely be missed. She was among a group of friends consoling the daughters at home.

“She has contributed a lot to the field of basketball.

Her heart was committed and she was dedicated to the sport,” Cunninghm said. “I think she will be greatly missed.

“Our heart, love and support go out to the family, but we knew she fought a good fight. I pray that she will rest in peace.”

Government Secondary Schools Sports Association president Varel Davis said Marshall was a great person and physical education

teacher who loved her students.

“A very good friend of mine, I am lost for words,” Davis said. “When you think about Katrinka, these things come to mind - hard worker and always willing to assist in any way possible.

“She will never tell you no. She will find a way to help you. I could depend on her whenever I call her. She was always available.”

Although she was a PE Teacher, Marshall also

served as the GSSSA statistician in basketball and volleyball. She also assisted in softball.

“You could always count on her,” Davis said. “She trained her two daughters, Kiara and Kylah, as statisticians for the GSSSA and many other leagues.

“On behalf of the GSSSA, we would like to send heartfelt condolences to the family of Katrinka Marshall, especially her daughters, Kiara and Kylah

Marshall. May her soul rest in peace.”

Marshall was a member of the 1984 graduating class of St Augustine’s College where she participated in basketball.

She and her daughters also served as table officials for the Baptist Sports Council along with referee Van Hutchinson.

The BSC also joined the other sporting bodies in extending its condolences to Marshall’s family.