02242023 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

‘TELL ME HOW MY SON’S BODY WAS BURNED’

Mother still waits for answers on condition of her son’s remains

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

AFTER the death of her seven-year-old son in the hospital last December, Bianca Wilkinson is still trying to understand how her child’s remains were severely burned while in the morgue at the Rand Memorial Hospital. Ms Wilkinson said her son, Dkarter Gibson, was admitted to hospital in early December for shortness of breath and detained at the

Paediatric Ward. He later died on December 16, 2022.

On January 18 of this year, the hospital released her son’s body to a local mortician, who immediately contacted her after receiving the remains.

“I got a call asking me to come to the funeral home because they had just received my son. When I went there, it was unbelievable. It did not look like my son; his skin was off his body, it was burned like

GOVERNMENT TO MEET WITH RETAILERS ON PRICE CONTROL

TAXPAYERS ADDITIONAL $9M

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE FAILED $100m Grand Lucayan sale is set to cost Bahamian taxpayers a further $9.1m with subsidies to the resort for the full fiscal year near-doubling in the 2022-2023 mid-year Budget. The Davis administration is increasing funding for the hotel from the originally-forecast $10.3m to $19.4m, an 88.3 percent rise, which has almost certainly resulted from the Government having to hold the property for longer than anticipated after its sale to Electra America Hospitality Group collapsed in November 2022.

DELTEC CALLS $8BN FRAUD ACCUSATION ‘FRIVOLOUS’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

status quo has largely affected smaller retailers compared to larger ones, saying officials are seeking to figure out the best way forward.

GOVERNMENT hopes to soon meet with food retailers to come up with a permanent expanded price control list or other solutions before its existing price control regime ends on April 17, Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said yesterday.

He conceded that the

Mr Halkitis was asked for an update on ongoing talks with retailers during yesterday’s press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.

He said: “That expanded

lrolle@tribunemedia.net By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune

MOULTRIE: AG PINDER ‘OVER-REACHING’ ON PAC

FORMER House Speaker Halson Moultrie believes Attorney General Ryan Pinder is indirectly trying to overturn his 2021 decision on the Public Accounts Committee.

He said Senator Pinder is incorrect in his position on the limits of who the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) can summon and what it can investigate, adding that he is “overreaching”. Mr Moultrie said

the PAC has “unfettered” investigatory powers.

However, Mr Pinder thinks otherwise.

“As far as I know, the rules of the House have not been amended to read anything more than what was in my letter. Mr Moultrie should appreciate the Speaker doesn’t have unilateral authority to change the rules of the House,”

A BAHAMIAN bank and its chairman yesterday pledged to “vigorously defend” themselves against a class action lawsuit’s accusations that they helped “perpetuate” an $8bn fraud by FTX’s founder. Deltec Bank & Trust and Jean Chalopin, in a statement issued to Tribune Business, called allegations against them as “frivolous claims” after it was asserted that they and other financial institutions knowingly provided a platform that allowed Sam BankmanFried to “loot” client funds from the now-collapsed crypto exchange.

DIANE

Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net SEE PAGE FIVE FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS SEE PAGE THREE SEE PAGE THREE FORMER Speaker of the House Halson Moultrie A MOTHER is asking for answers after her

PHILLIPS: WHAT

All aboard for a yacht sensation

THE BAHAMAS Charter Yacht Show is being held in The Bahamas presently - with boats on show at a number of locations including Margaritaville, Hurricane Hole, and more until Sunday. See PAGE 10 for more photographs from the launch event. To find out more, visit https://bahamascharteryachtshow.com.

Photos: Moise Amisial

Government to meet with retailers on price control

from page one

list goes until April 17. Between now and then, we’ll seek to come to some meeting of the minds on a permanent expanded list or permanent solution.

We’ve been discussing the matter and we have been assessing some of the impact because we have been having some meetings.

“Some of our people have been having meetings engaging the impact on what has been happening and seeing what the impact is getting some sort of feedback from particularly some small operators and try to figure out going forward what is the best formula going forward because frankly, what we found is that it intends to impact the smaller retailers more than the bigger retailers.”

Therefore, he said, moving forward the government will have to come up with a balanced solution that benefits both small and larger businesses.

“We have to figure out a way to whatever we do, make sure we sort of balance that out but we think it was the right course of action given the inflationary environment at the time and given that the government had already done things like reduce

duties on food items during the last budget, intervene with shippers to get shipping rates down and prices remain stubbornly high,” he said.

Last year, the Davis administration rolled out a number of new price control measures for the pharmaceutical sector and food retailers to help offset rising inflation.

The government expanded the price control list to include 38 new categories of food and 14 categories of medicines.

The move was at first met with opposition from both sectors, but the government later reached a price control deal with pharmacies that ended last month.

With respect to the government’s negotiations with food retailers, they have remained ongoing.

Food retailers have previously warned that the expanded price control regime could be “the last straw” for small and medium-sized food stores.

In protest of the changes, some retailers last year failed to adjust their prices to reflect the new margins.

Their outright rejection prompted the government to order inspectors to go out and assess stores to see if they had implemented the changes.

Yesterday, Mr Halkitis

said officials are seeking to beef up manpower in the price control department and have already started training in that area.

“Some of you who cover business might know that we’ve been doing since Monday training for our

price control and consumer affairs personnel. They have had four days of training today (Thursday),” he told reporters.

“They are actually out in the field because I had said that during the period of the expanded price control regulations, what we

were doing was making sure that we put more people in the department, training them up to make sure that when we revert to the old margins or when we come up with a new solution, we have enough people properly trained and equipped who

can go out there to do the inspections.”

During his mid-year budget communication in the House of Assembly Wednesday, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis acknowledged that price controls are unnecessary in “a perfect market” but said that The Bahamas was far from achieving such status.

He said the government has a role to protect consumers from abuse and committed them to doing just that.

“This government came under sustained and unwarranted criticism for our efforts to assist and protect consumers through the expansion of items under price control. We acknowledge that, in a perfect market, price controls are unnecessary,” Mr Davis told the House of Assembly.

“But The Bahamas is not a perfect market. Many of those who shout loudly about the virtues of the free market themselves participate in monopolies, duopolies, oligopolies and other noncompetitive practices. In all areas, the government has a critical role to play in protecting consumers from market abuse.

“We will not flinch or shirk our responsibilities.”

MOULTRIE: AG PINDER ‘OVER-REACHING’ ON PAC

from page one

“I have done nothing of the sort. I merely requested the opposition abide by the rules that they seem always to demand the government to abide by.

“But this is frankly a lot about nothing - comply with the rules and procedure that is established is the request, nothing more, and Pintard and Moultrie know better - or they should. If they don’t then that raises serious questions about their ability to lead.”

In 2021, Mr Moultrie overturned a controversial ruling that his predecessor had made that restricted the powers of the PAC.

Former Speaker Dr Kendal Major ruled in 2015 that the PAC could only examine documents that have been tabled in Parliament and could only send for persons, papers or records if a parliamentary resolution permits it to do so. The committee has grabbed headlines this week after Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard expressed the opposition’s outrage over Mr Pinder’s attempt to “handcuff” and “muzzle” the PAC.

The party leader expressed concern that Permanent Secretary Luther

Smith was a “no show” before the PAC on Tuesday. He said Mr Smith’s non-appearance was on the instructions of Mr Pinder, adding that the committee will review the matter and soon advise what next steps it will take.

A February 21 letter Mr Pinder wrote to the PAC chairman, sent in care of the House of Assembly’s clerk, said the PAC “made a general request” which went beyond the powers granted to the committee by the House of Assembly’s rules, specifically section 17, and therefore the request by the chairman of the PAC was denied.

But Mr Moultrie refuted the Attorney General’s claim in his letter.

“First of all, let me say that is absolutely incorrect and the AG ought to know better than to suggest to the Bahamian people by citing only portions of that rulehe didn’t cite the entire rule. He cited the portion that was favourable to his decision and he knows better than to proceed as an attorney that is called before the Bar,” Mr Moultrie said. “It should be full and frank disclosure whenever any matter comes before a judge or an attorney with respect to the law. That provision provides the Public Accounts Committee with

unfettered investigatory powers to investigate the prime minister, any minister of the government, any permanent secretary, any director of the government and even any private contractor who may have business with the government,” the former Nassau Village MP said.

According to Mr Pinder’s letter, Section 17 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Assembly states that the PAC has the duty to examine and report on the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament to meet public expenditure; other reports, accounts or financial statements of ministries, departments and public corporations before the House as the committee may see fit; such other accounts as may be referred to the committee by the House or any other law; or the report of the auditor general. When contacted on Tuesday night about Mr Pintard’s argument, Mr Pinder said: “The scope of the request was not compliant with the parliamentary rules governing the PAC.”

Mr Pinder said he was also advised that Mr Smith was only made aware of the request to appear before the committee on Monday.

While criticising the attorney general this week, Mr

Pintard added that Senator Pinder has no authority over the legislature and the PAC.

Mr Moultrie echoed similar sentiments.

“I believe any attempt first of all by the attorney general to interfere with the proceedings of the legislative branch, in particular, the Public Accounts Committee, is overreaching on the part of the attorney general. He has no jurisdiction within the legislative branch ….Whenever the legislative branch invites any member of the public service - members of Parliament, including ministers and the prime minister - if they refuse to attend the Public Accounts Committee has the power to summon any individual before the Public Accounts Committee, including the attorney general to bring evidence and to give evidence and produce documents to satisfy the inquiry of the Public Accounts Committee with respect to any accounts, with respect to the assets of the Bahamian people.”

Mr Moultrie added: “And any matter that relates to transparency and accountability, the accountability and stewardship of the executive branch of the government is within the remit of the Public Accounts Committee’s authority and to suggest otherwise is absurd.

What I believe is happening is the attorney general is in an indirect way, trying to overturn the decision of the Speaker, the former Speaker, myself, decision with respect to the Public Accounts Committee.”

The former Nassau Village MP said there must be separation of powers.

“What I find interesting about what is happening now with this particular attorney general, first of all, he is not an elected person and he is interfering in the process and procedure of the elected members of Parliament who represent the Bahamian people.

“The representative members of Parliament through this Speaker has a ruling that should govern the affairs of the Parliament and the attorney general is attempting to overturn that ruling from his seat as attorney general and as a member of the executive branch. It is definitely undermining the whole principle and concept of the separation of powers and it should be resisted.”

When asked what the committee members should do, he went a step further and said Mr Pinder should be brought before the PAC to answer questions on several matters.

“In my estimation, what should happen is the AG

himself should be brought before the Public Accounts Committee to (give) justification for giving $2.5m of the taxpayers’ money and he should be called, the former member of Parliament Shane Gibson, and he should be called before the Public Accounts Committee to give justification on how he arrived at a decision that the prosecution of Shane Gibson was malicious prosecution,” Mr Moultrie argued.

“How did you arrive at the fact that Shane Gibson should be awarded $2.5m of the taxpayers’ money on the basis of malicious prosecution? Then he should be called to give an account to the Bahamian people on the BPL settlement that he made with respect to Darnell Osborne who had brought an action against the government and the government felt that the matter should be settled.

“He should give an account to the Bahamian people because there should be no such thing as a non-disclosure clause with respect to the public’s purse. If monies are being taken from the consolidated fund to settle any disputes, there should be no such thing as a provision that should be accepted as a nondisclosure provision.”

WATSON: DAVIS’ ‘MIXED MESSAGES’ ON SHANTY TOWN ACTION IS DUE TO TONE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune

IN the face of criticism over what some believe to be “mixed messages” from Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis on shanty towns, press secretary Clint Watson said while his tone may be different on the issue, Mr Davis’ message has never changed.

“His message has never changed in both. The tones are different which signals the tribute of a good leader,” Mr Watson said during the weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

During CARICOM’s closing press conference last week, Mr Davis suggested that the government will not immediately move to demolish shanty towns in the country despite the recent lifting of an injunction. He told reporters that it makes no

“responding to a crisis to

Days later, Mr Davis gave a national address where he pledged to take decisive action against shanty towns and announced Operation Secure, an initiative that will aid in tackling the unregulated communities.

Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has called the government’s message on the matter mixed and “confusing”.

However, Mr Watson does not agree, but said Mr Davis’ tone was different because of the setting where he spoke.

“You have to know when and where and how to say certain messages. The Prime Minister on Friday was among CARICOM leaders speaking to the world,” the press secretary said.

“There is a tone that’s important as a diplomatic leader in a democratic nation. When he is talking to his people specifically to actions he is about to

take, there is a different tone.

“The Prime Minister is also very eloquent and smart enough to know when the right tone is to present the right message for the right image for our country … Diplomacy is important.

“That doesn’t mean that you renege on your promise or what it is you want to do. It just means that you are eloquent enough to know how to present the information so that it is not (offensive) and it does not appear that you are taking something that will create a problem for the nation later on.”

Mr Watson said people will occasionally find that the Prime Minister’s tone will change, but insisted that his message will remain the same.

The government has given no timeline as for when officials will take action in unregulated communities.

And, when pressed on the matter yesterday, the press secretary refused to say but noted that action will be swift.

“We’re not going to put a deadline because we believe it’s past due and we want people not to sit and back and say ‘oh, I have two more weeks or oh, I have another week,’” he added.

“The clarion call came from the Prime Minister to do what you need to do and that’s where we’re going to leave it at because action will be swift, and it will be delivered.”

Legal residents living in the unregulated communities have been warned that they will be required to relocate at their expense.

Undocumented migrants in the communities will be repatriated, Mr Davis said.

Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis said yesterday that he is looking to meet with food retailers to work on a permanent expanded price control list or other solutions before the existing price control regime ends on April 17.

PRESS Secretary Clint Watson yesterday defending the Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis’ on the “mixed messages” he has given on how the government willdeal with shanty towns and Haitian migrants. He said the PM was conscious of “where and how to say certain messages’; calling Davis ‘elolquent’. He insisted that the message is still the same.

calls for transparency as government considers NIB rate hike

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A GOVERNANCE

reformer said yesterday the proposed National Insurance Board rate increase should include consultations in citizens’ interest, adding more transparency should be given to those who will be affected.

“NIB is one that is going to potentially touch everybody. We all got to pay into it, and everybody hopefully gets to be able to benefit from it,” Organization for Responsible Governance Executive Director Matt Aubry said yesterday

“So it’s a critical thing that we all will be brought into. It has nothing to do with one side of a political party or another. It has everything to do with what citizens’ interests are,” he added.

Mr Aubry was

contacted by The Tribune for comment about the ongoing debate on whether the government

will introduce a NIB rate increase. Mr Aubry noted The Bahamas is not the only

country that has faced similar challenges with social security, but said it would be beneficial to give citizens the opportunity to offer their input.

“Social support systems like NIB, the struggles are not just happening here, they are happening across the world. It’s going to need to encompass levels of consultation, like the citizens need to be brought into what are the potential opportunities? What are the strategies that are being considered?”

He added: “I think whatever comes from that, if the citizenry has the opportunity to understand and have their say, and their input in the formative stages of planning, you get potentially better compliance, better understanding, and better buy in.”

During the interview, Mr Aubry explained that for many, NIB is essential

such as to senior citizens, those who suffered work injuries, or anyone who has contributed over the years. He stressed going forward there should be more transparency with the public over proposed increases, adding it will create less anxiety and more understanding moving forward.

“This is a great opportunity to start to show and demonstrate what will be the standard that’s going to be in place. To ensure that any increases are being put to the best possible use, and that people would understand that this is not something that is a risk, but it is a wellresearched, understood, and consulted plan.”

Last week, Myles LaRoda, minister of state with responsibility for the National Insurance Board (NIB), warned that if there is no raise in the contribution rate this year

the National Insurance fund will lose $95m.

On February 8, Mr Laroda also revealed that the government will soon announce its decision on whether NIB contribution rates will increase or not. However, The Nassau Guardian reported that Cabinet had greenlit a rate increase which is believed to take effect on July 1.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has insisted that the government has not finalised a decision, deeming it a last resort to place an additional financial burden on society’s poor working class.

The Tribune also exclusively reported in April 2022 that an actuarial review of the National Insurance Board predicted that the fund could be depleted by 2028 should officials neglect to take urgent action.

12K ON FOOD ASSISTANCE TO RECEIVE TEN PERCENT BOOST

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunmedia.net

SOCIAL Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said the number of people receiving food assistance has grown by 1,000 since October, climbing to roughly 12,000 monthly, however those receiving help will get an increase of more than 10 percent beginning next week.

In November, Mr Wilchcombe announced that more than 11,000 Bahamians had received food assistance, while also predicting that there will be more in need in the future due to inflation and other financial burdens faced in The Bahamas and worldwide.

Yesterday, Mr Wilchcombe told The Tribune that the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development has had an average of about 12,000 persons receiving assistance from its food assistance programme in

recent months.

“We’re continuing that number. We continue to provide. In terms of the numbers that we’ve been feeding, the numbers are pretty much around the 12,000 mark across the country, but generally we’re very pleased that we’ve been able to meet the demands and continue to do so,” Mr Wilchcombe said.

Though a specific breakdown of the monthly feeding numbers was not immediately available, Mr Wilchcombe revealed that Bahamians can look forward to a 10 percent increase in food assistance given as early as next week.

“I do feel good that the projected increases for food assistance goes up ten percent next week for now, this pay period now, ten percent across the board for food assistance,”

Mr Wilchcombe said.

“This is very good.

People who used to get $84 for instance will now get like $100, so we’ve been able to slowly move it up and we’re very satisfied that since last

year we’ve been able to now effectively make it happen,” he said. Mr Wilchcombe added that Bahamians can also look forward to increasing benefits from the programmes offered by the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development.

“We’re going to take a further look at all the other assistance that we provide and see how best to up the numbers, given the realities of the changing times in our country and in the world,” Mr Wilchcombe said.

In August, the Department of Social Services increased the rates of financial assistance rendered through the community support services division by 10 percent in response to rapid inflation.

And in October, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis announced several additional relief measures to help struggling Bahamians cope during these difficult times.

Among them included price control expansion and increases to the national minimum wage.

A resolution to increase the minimum wage from $210 to $260 per week was passed in Parliament in November after two days of debate.

That same month, in Parliament, while responding to Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard’s criticisms of the Davis administration, Mr Wilchcombe said the Davis administration was not blind to the challenges being faced by Bahamians due to the high cost of living.

“We know the hurt of our people. I know — 11,749 Bahamians received food assistance last month, 11,749,” Mr Wilchcombe said in Parliament.

“We are providing shelter to 89 families; 180 of our people have received health assistance since July to this month (November 2022),” he said.

MATT AUBRY, Executive Director of organization for Responsible Government yesterday that a rate increase at NIB should follow public consultation for more transparency.

SOCIAL Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said yesterday that the roughly 12,000 people on food assistance will receive a ten percent increase starting next week.

NASSAU, The Bahamas - His Excellency Olaf Kjelsen, Non-resident Ambassador of Switzerland (left) presented Letters of Credence to His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Cornelius A. Smith, Governor General, at the Office of the Governor General on yesterday.

Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

NASSAU, The Bahamas - His Excellency David Comissiong, Non-resident High Commissioner of the Republic of Barbados presented Letters of Credence to Governor General His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Cornelius A. Smith during a brief ceremony at the Office of the Governor General on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Also present at the ceremony was Her Excellency Leslia Miller-Brice, High Commissioner of The Bahamas to CARICOM. Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

‘Tell me how my son’s body was burned’

when you throw acid on something,” she recalled.

Ms Wilkinson immediately contacted the hospital for answers.

“They told me to write a letter and state what I have seen and to attach pictures. And from then to now, I have not yet gotten any answers.” The mother said no one has contacted her.

“Up to this date and time, I have not heard one word back from them. Not a call, not a text, as if they turned a blind eye. It is just hurtful.”

The devoted mother said that Dkarter was always in and out of the hospital, particularly the Paediatric Ward. He had several health issues, she said, including a seizure disorder, Cerebral Palsy, and asthma.

“Anybody that knows me knows I always made sure my son had a life, even though he was a special child,” Ms Wilkinson said.

She said she took him to the Rand because he was experiencing shortness of breath and the hospital was able to get it under control. However, she received a call from the hospital on December 16.

“I got a call to come to the hospital and when I went there, he had already passed away,” she said. “There were no cuts, and bruises on him and his skin was intact, and he was just lying there peaceful.”

Ms Wilkinson said she requested that an autopsy be performed on her son.

She said that she was waiting to hear back from

SEVEN

them concerning the release of her son, but never received a call from the hospital.

The mother said that she is very hurt that they were not able to have an open casket at the funeral.

“This has been very tough for me and my family.

I already had to deal with the fact of burying him, and still could not even have an open casket to get that last closure to say this is it. I could not do that because his skin was... I don’t even know what to call that. I could not let people see him like that.

“I don’t know what could have happened. I mean, we all are human and if you make a mistake you can say, but the mere fact that you turn a blind eye towards it hurts,” Ms Wilkinson said.

She said her child’s father is aware of the situation.

“Everyone is hurt because no one expects to see their loved one like that. And it seems as though

they are dragging their feet with the whole thing. Someone should have said something.”

The Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) issued a statement concerning the matter yesterday.

It stated that the PHA and the Grand Bahama Health Services (GBHS) are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the remains of a male juvenile patient at the Rand Memorial Hospital Paediatric Ward.

“As part of the investigative process the Authority will communicate with the next of kin. The PHA and the administration and staff at the Rand Memorial Hospital extend deepest sympathies to the family,” the PHA said.

The statement also said that the PHA is cultivating a culture of transparency and accountability that reflects its mandate to provide quality care to patients and communities.

HALKITIS FULLY CONFIDENT ON GOVERNMENT BUDGET FORECASTS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

INSISTING that the country is moving in the right direction, Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis yesterday dismissed criticism from the opposition that the government was too optimistic in its budget projections.

Mr Halkitis told reporters during a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister that the government was fully confident with its forecasts and agreed that while officials were optimistic, the government’s track record spoke for itself.

“Yes, they are optimistic, but I would just like to say every projection that we’ve made, since we’ve come to office, we’ve beaten, not only met them, we’ve beaten those projections and so, yes, it’s optimistic but all that means is we have to work hard to achieve them,” he said.

“And, like I said, we’ve met and beaten every single projection that we have made. So, we feel good, that the economy is moving well, as the Prime Minister said, being driven by the rebound in tourism, very, very robust and persistent rebound and tourism and, you know, that has, of course, led economic recovery and we see that continuing notwithstanding some projections from external agencies about slowing growth.”

He added, “We’ll do all we can to make sure our economy continues to grow.”

During his mid-year budget communication in Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Phillip Davis revealed that revenue collections were up, which he partially attributed to growing tourism numbers, among other things.

And, according to Mr Davis, the government is now only predicting that revenue will exceed budget estimates by some $53m.

However, FNM leader Michael Pintard yesterday voiced concern over the widening deficit, and recurrent spending outpacing the growth in revenues, believing the Davis administration’s predictions to be

“overly optimistic.”

But Mr Halkitis does not share these same views and said the government felt optimistic about its projections based on historical trends.

He said the bulk of the country’s revenue usually comes during the second half of the fiscal year.

“Historically, we have collected most of our revenue in the first half of the calendar year, the second half of the fiscal year, so that period between January and June, that is when the bulk of the revenues are collected,” the minister continued.

“This year, we’ve seen a very, very good sign where we’ve had 44 percent of the revenue collected in the first half as opposed to 43 percent last year and 35 percent the year before. So, what we’ve seen happening is that we’re collecting more revenue in the first half of the year.

“The second point I wish to make is that in this year we’ve had some very, very heavy expenditure spending that had to be done in October as well as December mainly related to our debt obligations so the point I’m making is this period that we’re now in, is the time when we will see the bulk of the revenue come in.

“We’ve also seen those heavy commitments taken care of so the spending will not be as much, so we should see an even better budget performance during the second half of the year.”

Yesterday, Mr Halkitis also responded to the opposition’s criticism concerning its business licence renewal process.

Mr Pintard has accused the government of “unleashing burdens” on the business sector, such as the red tape required to get a business licence.

However, Mr Halkitis said the Department of Inland Revenue was just doing due diligence to ensure that the information being presented to them is correct and encouraged business owners to be precise in their record keeping.

people, but just as sort of a reinforcement of what you know, good business practices are, whether it’s the small business, medium business, the start-up business or the large business and so that is what we’re encouraging.”

To date, the department has approved under 19,000 business licence applications so far for the year, according to Minister Halkitis yesterday.

“I can tell you now that we have 13,468 (that have) been issued,” he also said.

“That’s completely closed, approved and issued. We have another 5,597 that have been approved, but just awaiting payment. So, if we add those two together, we get just under 19,000.”

“We have 9,859 where

some additional information has been requested, and they’re just waiting on that information and we have 8,166 to review that’s at yesterday so I’m sure that number is lower, and we’ve had 651 cases rejected.”

-year-old Dkarter Gibson had several health issues including a seizure disorder, cerebral palsy and asthma. He was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital due to an episode or shortness of breath which they got under control, however, the motherBianca Wilkinson - would receive a call to come to the hospital on December 16. When she arrived young Dkarter had already passed away.

BIANCA WILKINSON, mother of seven-year-old Dkarter Gibson seen here at his funeral which had to be closed casket as his body was burned. The PHA and the Grand Bahama Health Services (GBHS) say they are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the remains of a male juvenile patient at the Rand Memorial Hospital Paediatric Ward. Ms Wilkinson says she just wants closure on the matter.

MINISTER of Economic Affairs, Michael halkitis, yesterday defended the government budget outlook which the Opposition called ‘overly optimistic’ saying he was fully confident in their forecasts.

The Tribune Limited

Double standards in judging nations

AS the FTX crypto platform collapsed in spectacular fashion, one of the aspects of the whole affair that left a bad taste was the attitude displayed towards our country in international commentary.

There was this nudge nudge, wink wink approach from some who suggested that something nefarious was going on from the start and that is why the company set up shop in The Bahamas.

This completely ignored the facts, however, including the regulations and laws which we have in place, or that FTX has branches elsewhere, such as the US.

Perhaps the worst example of this commentary was a column in a national US newspaper that loudly declared that the first red flag over FTX was its relocation to The Bahamas then plunged into a history of our country going back to pirate days that have nothing to do with the modern realities of digital finances. It was simply muttering oh they used to be pirates, you know, and the implications that go with that, reiterating a stereotype far removed from how people live today.

We have discussed the snobbery and borderline racism that such attitudes exhibit in this column before – but we return to it because of a recent interview featuring Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados.

She was asked by a Swedish TV interviewer earlier this month why vulnerable countries are debt stricken and have corruption.

Perhaps the first clue in what was coming was when she asked the interviewer: “You really want me to answer you? Ok.”

She then proceeded – and here is her answer in full: “Why is that every time we talk about countries from the south the first allegation is corruption. Last time I checked, in the USA and the UK and Europe, they’re riddled with corruption but nobody says they’re not capable of achieving their objectives because of corruption.

“Why is it that we’re not talking about the fact that these countries became independent having allowed those countries that colonised them to extract significant portions of their wealth such that we had no proper housing, no proper education, no proper healthcare systems, no proper legal systems, no proper … across the whole stream. And certainly nothing to do with building social capital like community development and cultural enterprises.”

She went on: “And what has happened is therefore that we have spent the time since independence trying to give our people what the global north has taken for granted and has supported by the extrication of centuries of wealth to give their people out of our blood, sweat and tears.

“Now when our blood, sweat and tears finances the industrial revolution, and the industrial revolution then causes the climate crisis, and then I have to pay for the consequences of the climate crisis because of the industrial revolution financed by our blood, sweat and tears, then I think that they have no moral authority to tell me anything about the financing of the climate or about why we don’t have enough.”

We see countries that have caused damage and long-term problems for other nations continue to judge, blacklist and find reasons for failing to offer support or pay recompense.

Let us return to the collapsed crypto platform FTX for a moment. When it collapsed, around the world, fingers were pointed at The Bahamas for no good reason.

As the court process has continued, some of those sides who criticised our jurisdiction have come round to praising it for the actions carried out. So far, it seems, we were right in doing what we had to do. The praise has not rung out as loudly as the criticism, however.

Contrast that with another crypto firm, Phoenix Community Capital. Have you heard of it? Probably not. But yet it seems to have completely disappeared last September, taking with it huge chunks of investors’ money. Its website has gone and its investment portfolios have become inaccessible since that date.

The firm, which boasted a value of $800m or so, also had links to members of Parliamentary groups in the UK. It was a sponsor of one all-party parliamentary group, and one of its founders spoke at another such group as well as appearing at events in Parliament.

It went from that to disappearing in a puff of smoke. Some of its assets have apparently been sold to a new company, according to the UK Guardian newspaper, run by an individual named “Dan”. No more than that. Just Dan. And investors have been told the new company has no obligation towards them.

And yet do we see articles about the first red flag for this company being its links in the UK? No. Not one.

It is hard not to look at that contrast and speculate as to the reasons why our nation becomes vilified for the collapse of a private business while another nation is treated with a shrug of the shoulders.

Another politician, an Irish Member of the European Parliament name Clare Daly, also highlighted some of the apparent double standards in operation.

She said earlier this month in the European Parliament: “If you read down the EU’s anti money laundering blacklist one of the things that immediately strikes you is that not one of the countries on the list is majority white and not one of them is what we would call the West because this blacklist is biased and inconsistent and has a lot more to do about lobbying power than a genuine assessment of risk.”

She pointed out that one of the criteria for featuring on the blacklist is a risk to financial integrity but then noted that Vanuatu, with an economy just nine percent of the size of Greece’s, is on the list. As she asked, is that really a threat to EU financial integrity?

We do not say this to pretend that our country is free of corruption – this newspaper has reported vigorously on such cases down the years – but there are other countries that do pretend they have no such corruption. And all too often, they are the ones judging others, including ourselves.

Sometimes it is not just about the questions being asked of others, but who is doing the asking.

Haiti is in dire straits

EDITOR, The Tribune. JOVENEL Moïse’s death has created a power vacuum for the local gangs to seize control over more than half of Port-au-Prince as the death toll rises from gang warfare and the Haitian national police struggle to keep the peace while being underfunded, outmanned and outgunned.

Despite Ariel Henry’s ascension to Prime Minister and acting leader of the nation, his public support is slipping away as the last democratically elected officials leave office, making Henry’s administration appear more like a dictator rather than an elected leader.

A couple of months ago; several gangs had managed to blockade an entire fuel terminal, causing disruptions in electricity and shortages in gasoline for vehicles. If it had gone on longer, Haiti would have completely collapsed. That incident showcases the power of the gangs over the population and the desperation of the Haitian state to maintain national security and society in general.

While the people of Haiti have less-than-ideal experiences with foreign interventions from the UN, the advanced state of chaos in the country needs to be immediately put under control and more than half of the locals agree that intervention is now necessary to restore peace. The CARICOM summit we had nearly a week ago would have been a perfect opportunity for the Caribbean leaders and Canada to form

a plan to go into the country and push the gangs out of Port-au-Prince. However, this summit was a no show. CARICOM members talked over the crisis in Haiti and Canada has sent only halfhearted donations and almost no direct support for the National Police on the ground.

While we may understand that the last set of interventions had failed because we didn’t include the Haitians in rebuilding their institutions, the situation requires an immediate military response to restore peace and stability, and to allow their politicians to rebuild their institutions once elections are successfully held. CARICOM has refused to push forward with any viable plans to stop the gangs from taking over the island, with most members remaining quiet and hesitant.

Justin Trudeau’s strategy on sanctioning gangsters and corrupt politicians isn’t any better either, because most of the individuals under the blacklist can still buy weapons and goods in the black market. Although the Canadian Navy has deployed its ships off Haiti’s northern coastline; they’re only used to gather intelligence on the gangs and not much else, since the Canadian military has refrained from using ground troops to tackle the gangs on their own turf.

What makes this worse is that Canada and the United

States can throw a billion dollars of military equipment and quality training for the Ukrainian military, but the available aid for the Haitian National Police is only a couple of millions of dollars. That would be good enough for a few weapons, a couple of armored vehicles and a few weeks of training. However, that money would only supply a thousand officers at best. The National Police need far more money and resources to recruit more officers, train them properly and arm them appropriately to combat the gangs. The West refuses to dedicate the time to help Haiti as much as they help Ukraine, and that is hypocrisy for its foreign affairs policy, regardless if they know it or not. While the public understands that it doesn’t want to commit to another failed intervention and doesn’t want the troops to enforce their way of life onto any unwilling citizen, but if Haiti fully breaks down; the Caribbean will more likely experience increased instability, a major migration crisis region-wide and a possibility that Haiti will be used as a reliable stop for smugglers and even spies from hostile foreign powers. CARICOM and Canada’s own goals seem to be reasonable on paper, but in reality, it will do nothing to stop the humanitarian crisis that threatens to destroy everything in Haiti.

AMMAKA RUSSELL Nassau, February 21, 2023.

Troubles at BTC accounts

EDITOR, The Tribune

I THINK that BTC has completely lost the plot now. Over the last few days I have had several missed calls from a number 7020795. When I called back I got the message that it was BTC but we can’t take your call right now.

Yesterday morning at 7:40 am I got another call from this number on my mobile phone, and the lady on the other end with a heavy Jamaican accent, was most chirpy and happy and wished me all the wonders of the world, but said she just wanted to tell me that my land line was on the disconnect list and urged me to come in and pay today. I apologised and said I would have it paid today (yesterday). She then asked if I could tell her where (which BTC location) I would be paying at, which took me a bit aback, but I said none, I will be paying online. Oh, ok great she says and bid me a wonderful day. I

found it a bit strange at the time, however, as my wife usually pays these bills but I thought there might be a mistake. When I got to my office I went online to my BTC and selected “Landline” and low and behold my balance was actually in credit by $-93.00 odd. I thought no more about it until this morning when I came back home from an errand and my wife told me that our phone had been disconnected. Impossible I said. BTC owes us $93.00. She asked me to call her cell # if I did not believe her. As I dialed the number I got a voice message saying that this line has been suspended due to an outstanding balance. I then called the number that had been calling me all week and a Bahamian male voice answered and after exchanging pleasantries he enquired as to how I am.

So I let him have it, starting with an answer to how I am, being not very well. I told him the story and off

he went after asking me to hold. Five minutes later he returned to apologise for their “mixup” and says that he has now reconnected my line. Another incident that indicates that they are in a real muddle was my wife going into Cash ‘N Go and asking to pay her BTC balance for her cell phone. The clerk says she owes $239.60 so she writes a cheque to pay it forgetting that we ported her number to Aliv last year and had cleared the BTC balance to do so. Cash and Go were very co-operative when told of the mistake and recovered and returned my wife’s cheque yesterday and hopefully corrected their BTC misinformation.

Two hiccups in as many days indicates something has gone awry at the phone company accounts department.

BRUCE G. RAINE Nassau, February 21,2023

RACHEL BANKS KUPCHO, Matt Nelson, Steve Jewell, and Cindy Murphy, from left, chatted while they soaked in the 33 degree water of Lake Harriet in the snow on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Photo: Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP

Office of the Prime Minister appoints two press personnel

JOURNALIST and former news anchor

Keishla Adderley has been appointed deputy press secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.

According to a press

release, Ms Adderley has been “instrumental” in the press office in 2022, producing documentaries, providing coverage of Prime Minister Philip Davis, writing, and helping to set up the new

MAN GRANTED $5,000 BAIL FOR STOLEN CAR PARTS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted $5,000 bail in court yesterday after being accused of stealing $920 worth of car parts in Nassau Village earlier this month.

Conley Adderley, aka “Marlo Gardiner”, 24, stood before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain. There he faced charges of stealing and damage.

It is alleged that between January 31 and February 1, on Butler Street in Nassau Village, Adderley stole $920 worth of car parts from Kenneth Joseph’s

black 2011 Nissan Note. These parts include the battery, the front grill and the front headlights. It is further alleged that during this theft, $200 worth of damage was caused to Joseph’s vehicle.

In court the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Although the prosecution objected to bail it was granted to the accused at $5,000 with one or two sureties. Under the conditions of this bail, the accused is to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device. Adderley’s trial is set to begin on March 13. He is represented by attorney Milton Cox.

ABACO MAN HELD ON UNLAWFUL SEX WITH 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A 49-year-old Abaco man accused of having sex with a young girl appeared in the Magistrate’s Court this week in Abaco. Ivan Curry, of Central Pines, was charged with having

unlawful sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl on February 14. He was not required to enter a plea to the charge.

Curry was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections. The matter was adjourned to May 26, 2023, for service of a Voluntary Bill of Indictment.

department at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Ms Adderley is a journalist of 23 years. She previously served as a news anchor at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.

It was also announced that C Jillian Gray has been appointed chief press officer in the Office of the Prime Minister. Ms Gray is a former broadcast journalist. She has been with the

GERMAN WITH BAHAMIAN MEN GIVEN 6 MONTHS FOR HEMP

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A GERMAN resident and two other men were placed on six months’ probation yesterday after admitting in court of having a gram of Indian hemp. Wilfried Haslauer, 22, represented by attorney Bjorn Ferguson, with Jaquan Huyler, 25, and Jaico Chute, 24, faced Magistrate Samuel McKinney. They were charged with possession of dangerous drugs.

The accused were arrested on February 19 in New Providence after they were found with one gram of Indian hemp.

In court the trio, having pleaded guilty to the

offence, were granted a conditional discharge. They were placed on six months’ probation. If they violate their probation, they face a $500 fine or one month in prison.

Another man, Collins Florissant, 21, appeared before Magistrate McKinney on a separate drug charge. While Florissant was initially charged with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply, this charge was reduced to simple possession.

On February 21 in New Providence, Florissant was arrested after he was found with a little more than an ounce of Indian hemp.

After Florissant pleaded guilty to the charge in court, he was fined $500. Failure to pay will result in three months in prison.

JUVENILE SHOT IN THE AREA OF WINDSOR LANE

POLICE last night reported the shooting of a boy in the area of Windsor Lane.

The juvenile was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital

by private vehicle, escorted by police. No further details were released at the time of going to press. The boy’s condition was unknown.

press office since it was established under the Davis administration.

Ms Gray has worked coordinating the dayto-day activities of the department and the press team. She is the

lead coordinator for media Cabinet briefings, ministers’ press tours, and engagement campaigns. The appointments take immediate effect.

MAN ACCUSED OF DEATH THREATS AGAINST PM GRANTED $5,000 BAIL

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of threatening to kill Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis was granted bail yesterday.

Isaac Roberts, 21, was charged earlier this week before Chief Magistrate Joyann FergusonPratt with making death threats.

According to police reports, it is alleged that someone called Central Police Station around 8.20am on Saturday, February 18, and threatened to kill Mr Davis.

After this incident, a suspect was taken into police custody

and had his cell phone confiscated.

Following Roberts’ plea of not guilty on Monday, he was sent to prison to await the judge’s decision on bail.

In his latest appearance before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt, he was granted $5,000 bail with one or two sureties. Under the condition of this bail, Roberts is to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and is expected to sign in at Wulff Road Police Station every Tuesday and Thursday by 6pm. Roberts’ trial is set for September 13-14. He is represented by Bjorn Ferguson.

$1,000

BAIL FOR STOLEN PRESSURE WASHER

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted $1,000 bail yesterday after being accused of having a stolen pressure washer last week.

Ricardo Davis, Sr, 58, appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on a charge of receiving.

It is alleged that on February 12 on Fritz Lane, Davis was found with a high-performance pressure

washer. This item, valued at $329, was reported by Drew McCartney as having been stolen.

In court the accused pleaded not guilty to the offence saying that he was unaware that the item had been stolen.

As there was no objection to bail it was granted to the accused at $1,000 with one surety, on condition he sign in at the Quakoo Street Police Station on Thursdays by 7pm. Davis’ trial is set for April 17.

Death Notice For

Winifred Delores Butler, 79

a resident of Hanna Road East, passed away peaceful1y at her residence on Monday, February 20, 2023.

She is survived by her children: Angela, Milo (Mary), Bernadette, Godwin (Jennifer) and Jevon; grandsons: Achim, Godwin Jr. Andre ’us and Johnathan; granddaughters: Naqiyah, Comfort Juanita, Ryely, Sydney, Elizabeth and Anastacia; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and many dear friends.

The Funeral Service is scheduled for Saturday, March 04, 2023, 10:00 a.m. at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Shirley and Church Streets.

NEWLY appointed deputy press secretary, Keishla Adderley NEWLY appointed chief press officer, C Jillian Gray

ROYAL VISITORS MEET GOLDEN STARS

ROYAL visitors Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and Forfar, and his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, attended an awards ceremony at SuperClubs Breezes last night.

The event was the Gold Awards presentation ceremony for the Governor General’s Youth Awards.

Prince Edward is also the chair of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Awards Foundation, which has funded five projects in The Bahamasand the Earl and Countess will visit three of those projects during their trip.

The couple leaves The Bahamas today.

Among those to receive awards was Alexus Francis. She said she was “very proud and very excited” and said “it was a very great experience from being a student part of the award programme to now being a leader, to encourage my students to be like me, get their bronze, silver and gold award in GGYA”.

Ms Francis started her progress in the awards in 2011 at Doris Johnson Senior High School. She urged others to join the awards because “it

broadens their horizons, gives them experience in the world, and being in Inagua you want students to experience other Family Islands like I did”.

Fellow honoree Edwin Johnson said: “It is an honour going through the three different levels... it’s truly an honour to be a gold award recipient. This programme, it provides a lot of different opportunities, especially for kids in the public school system. It provides opportunities for you to travel to the wider Bahamas, to see your country before travelling to the world.”

Funeral Service for

ERVIN LEROY JOHNSON, 79

a resident of Major Road, Yellow Elder & formerly of Abraham Bay, Mayaguana, will be held in the Chapel at Demeritte’s Funeral Home Market Street, on Monday, February 27, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. Officiating will be Rev. Wellington Maycock. Cremation follows

He is survived by his, 2 sons: Kelsey Leroy Cartwright Johnson & Koren Cummings; daughter-in-law: Errin Cartwright; sister: Evelyn Johnson; brothers: Walton Forbes & Felix Jones; grandchildren: Danika & Danishka; great grandchildren: Danaja & Lashawn; other relatives & friends including his loving and caring niece, Levolia Johnson.

Friends may pay their last respects at Demeritte’s Funeral Home, Market Street, from 9-12:00 p.m. on Saturday

GOLD Award recipient Alexus Francis speaking last night.

GOVERNOR General CA Smith flanked by Royal visitors Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, last night along with Governor General’s Youth Awards recipients.

Photos: Moise Amisial/Tribune Staff

What is wrong with this picture?

SOMETIMES it is not what is in a picture, but what is missing that matters. Say a story about about a little boy and the dog who follows him everywhere, but only the child is pictured, leaving the image of the dog to the imagination. An oversight? Most likely. But the picture doesn’t hit the mark. You know something is missing.

The story of boy and dog is small stuff. What happened this week reflected in the photo above is big. And it’s important.

The Prime Minister held an economic round table, inviting business leaders, presumably those movers and shakers who shape what happens in the domestic economy. I am certain the Prime Minister did not personally create the entire invitation list, though it is likely he suggested a few names.

Both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economic Affairs were involved as well as others in the Office of the Prime Minister, the permanent secretary, the special consultant. This is not a blame game and I work with all of them, appreciate them individually, but gentlemen, where are The Women?

What were you thinking?

Where was Audrey Oswell, president and managing director of Atlantis?

By Diane Phillips

exchanged was not only positive, but progressive.

What a shame we weren’t there to congratulate or to query, to be part of the experience and part of the think tank. Where were all the women when the men in black – and blue and gray – gathered?

Where was Debra Symonette, former CFO and now president of Super Value? Or Youlanda Deveaux, regional vice president of OneSpaWorld

could help guide ours and who now manages a family office and foundation?

Where is Christine Russell, CEO of Corner Bank,

Sonia Brown or Sarah Morley, project manager of one of the largest developments ever to be conceived on a Family Island? Or her sister, Tara Morley, president of the Bahamas Retailers Federation? Where was Daphne DeGregory Maiolis, who not only farms 120 acres in Abaco and manages Abaco Neem wholesale, but is president of the Abaco Chamber of Commerce?

growth, as the government cannot do it alone. The government is committed to working with the private sector to create a brighter future for The Bahamas.”

If leaders mean the government needs help from the private sector, then involve the full private sector without regard for gender, age, ethnicity, a cross-section of thinkers and doers.

treasured his pet but someone forgot to show them together.

Where was Deltec Bank CEO Odetta Morton?

Or Nancy Kelly, who transformed a dark and dank tiny purveyor of nails into the best-known store in The Bahamas, Kelly’s House & Home, and grew Kelly’s Lumber? Or University of The Bahamas chairman and former Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson?

To be fair, maybe some of the women who could have made valuable contributions were invited and were off the island or unavailable. But what a shame they could not be there to hear the interesting developments and share in the progress for, from what I learned secondhand, much of the information

that operates most of the luxury spas in the region, including the spa named best in North America?

Where was Davinia Bain who with a leap of faith and courage left the security of the Small Business Development Centre last year to take the plunge into Crypto Isle and is making it work? Or veteran entrepreneur Earla Bethel who is the holder of McDonald’s franchises in New Providence and a director of Commonwealth Bank? Or Denise Turnquest, who is president of Commonwealth Bank? Or Joan Albury, head of The Counsellors, founder of Business Outlook and producer of the popular morning show, Bahamas@ Sunrise?

Where is Catharina Birchall, whose experience in the stock exchange

among the first, if not the first, to offer Bahamians the ability to invest in international mutual funds and hold shares in global companies? Or Dr Nicola Virgill-Rolle who headed NIB during the roughest and toughest of times following Hurricane Dorian and through COVID and today is executive director of the Lyford Cay Foundation with a whole host of different responsibilities and day-to-day management decisions?

And speaking of Chambers, how about former Senator and former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce President Tanya Wright, legal tiger in the courtroom who last year won the largest settlement in the country’s history against police and prosecutors for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, an award of more than $750,000 for her client who, the court agreed, suffered years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Surely, the government would want to benefit from her legal, financial services and business innovation background.

I believe the Prime Minister who has been outspoken in his determination to see marital rape become law and shows respect for women in a myriad of ways would react as stunned as many of us were when we saw that picture.

The presence of 25+ men in suits and one woman invited to the economic roundtable was not only an embarrassment at best and an insult at worst, it was an oversight that resulted in a missed opportunity, much more important than the dog missing from the photo with the little boy who

Thanks for the correction, Patty Roker In last week’s column lamenting the fading of the voice of Island FM 102.9, a radio staple for more than two decades, I referred to its airing of an historic debate between two candidates vying for Prime Minister, saying Perry Christie and Hubert Ingraham. The woman who was among the most prominent voices on the station dedicated to the preservation of Bahamian music, and who I should have included in the tribute, Patty Roker, called to correct me. The famous Palm Sunday debate was between Mr Christie and the FNM candidate Tommy Turnquest. Thanks, Patty, and thanks for all the good times you brought to Island FM. My hand still reaches for that place on the dial that no longer responds.

What could the decision-makers have gleaned about the music and entertainment industry from a roundtable that included those like Shania Twain who have performed around the world and chosen to make The Bahamas their home for years? Can you imagine Shania Twain at a business roundtable, what she could have added and what that would have translated into for entertainment tourism ideas?

No one would argue about why Sir Franklyn Wilson was there. But where were the women in development like engineer

Maybe I missed it, but I did not even see the current Bahamas Chamber of Commerce president in the room. Nor the fivetime past president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association, Christine Wallace-Whitfield,or her successor, also a woman.

I have absolutely no problem with any of the invitees.

I’ve worked with many of them and have an ongoing relationship doing public relations for several prominent members of that roundtable. I’m glad they were considered important enough to be invited and hope they will be again.

But next time, may they please be seated among the women who also make a difference in the country.

A statement following the Monday economic roundtable said in part, “The Prime Minister emphasised the need for the private sector to be a partner in driving innovation and economic

AUDREY OSWELL, president & managing director of Atlantis, Paradise Island.

ALLYSON MAYNARD-GIBSON, University of The Bahamas chairman

CHRISTINE WALLACE-WHITFIELD, former president of BREA

NANCY KELLY, Kelly’s House and Home.

CHRISTINE RUSSELL, CEO of Corner Bank

NICOLA VIRGIL-ROLLE, Executive Director of the Lyford Cay Foundation

GROUP photo of Economic Roundtable attendees. Photo: Bahamas Information Services

ROTARY CLUB OF EAST NASSAU MARKS 60 YEARS WITH SPECIAL EVENTS

GRAND BAHAMA GOSPEL CONCERT TO BENEFIT LOCAL CHARITIES

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PASTOR Simeon Outten has announced plans to hold a free gospel concert on Sunday at the Independence Park in aid of three local charitable ministries on Grand Bahama.

Under the theme, “A Celebration of Gospel Music”, the event starts at 6pm and will feature some of the finest in the genre, including the Cooling Waters, Jay Mitchell, Bishop Lawrence Rolle, the Rahming Brothers, Wilfred Solomon and Simeon Outten and the Freedom Band, among others.

In an effort to raise food donations, Mr Outten said that persons attending the concert are asked to bring one food item or a canned good.

He stated that donations will be made to Rev Rudy Roberts Ministry, Bishop Washington Williams Ministry, and to the Reach Out Youth Organization.

PASTOR SIMEON OUTTEN, of New Life Community Church, announced on Wednesday plans to hold a free Gospel Concert on Sunday at the Independence Park to aid three local charitable ministries on Grand Bahama. From left are Bishop Washington Williams, of New Canaan Baptist Church; Pastor Outten; Jecholiah Braynen, Strategic Parternships at Aliv; and Dudley Seide, of Reach Out Youth Organization.

“And so, we are making this appeal for people to be a part of this initiative; you can stop by and drop off a canned good. It will go a long way in touching some hearts.”

Dudley Seide, of Reach Out Youth Organization, commended Pastor Outten for spearheading such an event. He said it is still difficult on the island and many will benefit from the donation.

to the church and then bring it to the park.”

Jecholiah Braynen, of Aliv, said the company is pleased to be part of the event.

“At Aliv, we are happy to be partnering with Simeon Outten. We believe in the community and in initiatives that are going to uplift the community,” she said.

THE ROTARY Club of East Nassau has kicked off its 60th anniversary year of celebration.

The club was chartered on May 6, 1963 after being formed by members of the Rotary Club of Nassau.

From its beginnings members have worked hard to improve the lives of fellow Bahamians and those around the world through community service, friendship and fundraising. Over the past 60 years

RCEN members have gone on to hold high ranking positions in the district, including District Governors and International President Barry Rassin in 2018-2019. This legacy will be celebrated in a year of activities starting with a black tie gala on Saturday, May 6, at the Baker House in Ocean Club Estates, followed by a golf tournament on Monday, May 8, at Ocean Club Golf Course.

Throughout the year, the club plans to honour donors and communityminded individuals who have supported RCEN and The Bahamas in the past. The club has also set a goal of raising $60,000 for the 60 years of existence for the East Nassau Club Charitable Trust scholarship fund, which is an investment for the future. For more details and to follow the club’s journey, follow its Facebook page

He said that Aliv and the Ministry for Grand Bahama are also assisting to make this event happen.

“We are asking the public to come out and support by bringing a food item. It is going to go a long way in helping to fill food pantries that assist the needy in our community,” Pastor Outten said.

“The need is great, and while Grand Bahama is transitioning and things are getting better, at the same time there are so many that can use a bag of groceries.

“I want to say a special thank you to Pastor Simeon for this vision and bringing some legends together... to help others. I thank him for choosing my organisation, which has been feeding over 20,000 families since Dorian and the pandemic,” he said.

Mr Seide added: “Our pantry is low and so I am asking the wider community to support the concert, and we are asking churches in Grand Bahama on Sunday to ask their members to bring canned goods

Rev Washington Williams, pastor of New Canaan Baptist Church, will not only be a recipient of the donation collected, but he will also be performing at the concert.

“I have been singing for the past 50 years and all for charity. So, any time there is something to help build the community that is my life I believe God has called me for,” he said, adding that he has been the leader of the Cooling Waters for the past 58 years. The event will be streamed live on social media.

ROTARY Club of East Nassua’s Planning Committee Members pictured from left: Adam Darville, Club President, Taran Mackey; Christian Knowles; Rafique Symonette, Kenrad Wilchombe; Corinne Laville; Robert Brown; Lindsey Cancino and Mayuri Deka.

SCENES from the opening party on Wednesday for the Bahamas Charter Yacht Show. Photos courtesy of show organisers

UN approves resolution calling for Russia to leave Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS

Associated Press

THE UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and withdraw its forces, sending a strong message on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion that Moscow’s aggression must end.

The resolution, drafted by Ukraine in consultation with its allies, passed 141-7, with 32 abstentions.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was more evidence it’s not only the West that backs his country.

“The support is much broader, and it will only continue to be consolidated and to be solidified,” Kuleba said after the vote. “This vote defies the argument that the global south does not stand on Ukraine’s side because

many countries representing Latin America, Africa, Asia voted in favor today.”

The General Assembly has become the most important UN body dealing with Ukraine because the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, is paralyzed by Russia’s veto power. Its resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions, but serve as a barometer of world opinion.

The seven countries voting against it were Belarus, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. The resolution was adopted after amendments proposed by Belarus that would have stripped much of the language were resoundingly defeated.

The vote was slightly below the highest total for the five previous resolutions

approved by the 193-member world body since Russia sent troops and tanks across the border into its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022. That tally, in an October resolution against Russia’s illegal annexations, won approval by 143 countries.

The war has killed tens

GUNMAN KILLS 3, INCLUDING CHILD, REPORTER COVERING FIRST DEATH

of thousands on both sides and has reduced entire cities to ruins and its impact has been felt worldwide in higher food and fuel costs and rising inflation.

In his own appeal, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said Ukrainians deserve “not only our compassion,

but also our support and solidarity.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock asked countries that claim “that by arming Ukraine, we are pouring oil into the fire” why Western nations would do that.

“The West didn’t want or choose the war and would rather focus all its energy and money on fixing schools, fighting the climate crisis or strengthening social justice,” she told the assembly.

“But the truth is: If Russia stops fighting, this war ends.

If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.”

China’s deputy UN ambassador Dai Bing told the assembly Thursday: “We support Russia and Ukraine in moving towards each other, resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible, bringing their legitimate concerns into the negotiation,

setting out feasible options, and giving a chance to an early end of the crisis and the rebuilding of peace.”

“The international community should make joint efforts to facilitate peace talks.”

But European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters the aggressor and the victim can’t be put on equal terms, and Ukraine cannot be asked not to defend itself.

Unhappily, he said, “Russia has not sent any positive signal of any minimum willingness to work for a peace.”

He said “that’s reality” and everyone who went to the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin will continue with his so-called special military operation “until he gets the military objective that he has been unable to get.”

IRAN ACKNOWLEDGES ACCUSATION IT ENRICHED URANIUM TO 84%

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Associated Press

IRAN on Thursday

directly acknowledged an accusation attributed to international inspectors that it enriched uranium to 84 percent purity for the first time, which would put the Islamic Republic closer than ever to weapons-grade material.

ORLANDO

Associated Press

A MAN riding in a car with his cousin shot and killed another passenger then returned to the same neighborhood near Orlando hours later and shot four more people, killing a journalist covering the original shooting and a 9-year-old girl, Florida police and witnesses said.

Orange County Sheriff

John Mina characterized the shootings Wednesday as random acts of violence.

Mina said during a news conference that 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the initial shooting that killed Nathacha Augustin, 38, and that “numerous more charges” would follow.

Spectrum News 13 identified the slain reporter as Dylan Lyons. Photographer Jesse Walden was also wounded. Mina said Walden has been talking to investigators while being treated at a hospital.

The two were in an unmarked news vehicle on Wednesday afternoon covering the first homicide when a man approached and shot them, Mina said. The man then went to a nearby home where he fatally shot T’yonna Major and critically wounded the girl’s mother. Officials have not released the mother’s name.

Mina said Thursday that investigators do not know the motive for any of the shootings. He said Moses is a known gang member but that the shootings didn’t appear to be gang-related. It was not clear if Moses knew that two of the victims were journalists and Mina noted that their vehicle didn’t look like a typical news van or feature the station’s logo.

The sheriff said when deputies arrested Moses they seized a Glock semiautomatic weapon that “was still hot to the touch, meaning it had just been fired, and there were no more rounds.”

Moses complained he was hurt and was taken to a hospital where he attacked medical staff, Mina said. He has since refused to speak with detectives.

The Office of the Public Defender for Orange and Osceola counties, which is representing Moses, declined to comment.

A man who called 911 after Augustin was shot told investigators that he was driving around smoking cannabis with her when he spotted Moses walking along a road. He said Moses “seemed down” so he offered him a ride, according to an arrest affidavit.

Moses climbed into the backseat, behind Augustin, and about 30 seconds later the driver said he “heard a loud bang” and saw blood on Augustin’s face.

He said he stopped and Moses fled. The driver called 911.

He told investigators that Moses and Augustin didn’t know each other and that he didn’t hear the two exchange any words before the shot was fired.

Mina said Thursday that the driver and Moses are cousins.

Deputies first went to the Pine Hills area, just northwest of Orlando, at around 11 a.m. Wednesday following reports that a woman had been shot. About five hours later, 911 calls began coming in from the same area, the sheriff said. Police found the journalists who had been shot being helped by a news crew from another station, WFTV.

“I want to acknowledge the brave WFTV news crew who was there and witnessed the shooting and rendered aid to the victims until our deputies arrived,” Mina said.

Lyons was born and raised in Philadelphia, and graduated from the University of Central Florida, the station said. Before joining Spectrum News, he worked for a station in Gainesville.

“(Lyons) took his job very seriously. He loved his career. He loved what he did,” said Spectrum Sports 360 reporter and friend Josh Miller. “He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did.”

Rachel Lyons, the reporter’s older sister, is raising money for his funeral via GoFundMe. She wrote that Lyons would have turned 25 in March. He is also survived by his parents and fiancée.

In a recorded message sent to parents Thursday, Principal Latonya Smothers at Pine Hill Elementary School, where T’yonna was a student, said grief counselors would be on campus for staff or students dealing

with the death.

“She was a kind and beautiful young girl with an infectious smile. She will be missed dearly,” Smothers said.

State Attorney Monique H. Worrell said at the news conference Thursday that her office had received multiple calls asking why Moses was not in custody from previous offenses.

“This individual’s only adult offense was a possession of marijuana, 4.6 grams of marijuana, that my office did not charge because when you have a quantity that low, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement does not test the substance, and that means the state’s attorneys office cannot prove the case,” she said.

Worrell said she was prohibited by Florida law from discussing any juvenile charges Moses might have faced. Earlier in the news conference, Mina said Moses had faced at least two gun-related charges as a juvenile, including possession of a firearm by a minor and armed robbery.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said “our hearts go out” to the families of those killed in yesterday’s shooting

“Too many lives are being ripped apart by gun violence,” she said. “The president continues to call on Congress to act on gun safety, and for state officials to take action at the state level.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t publicly commented on Wednesday’s shooting. Earlier this week, the Republican governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate made stops in three major Democratic metro areas — New York, Philadelphia and Chicago — to extol tough-on-crime laws that he has signed in Florida and to criticize “woke” culture and antipolice sentiment.

In recent months, DeSantis has expressed support for constitutional carry legislation, which would eliminate the requirement for concealed weapons permits in Florida. The phrase “constitutional carry” refers to the view that the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment negates any need for a permit or license to carry a gun in public, either openly or concealed.

The acknowledgement by a news website linked to the highest reaches of Iran’s theocracy renews pressure on the West to address Tehran’s program, which had been contained by the 2015 nuclear deal that America unilaterally withdrew from in 2018. Years of attacks across the Middle East have followed.

Already Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently regained his country’s premiership, is threatening to take military action similar to when Israel previously bombed nuclear programs in Iraq and Syria. But while those attacks saw no war erupt, Iran has an arsenal of ballistic missiles, drones and other weaponry it and its allies already have used in the region.

The acknowledgment Thursday came from Iran’s Nour News, a website linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Nour News separately is sanctioned by Canada for having “participated in gross and systematic human rights violations and perpetuated disinformation activities to justify the Iranian regime’s repression and persecution

of its citizens” amid nationwide protests there.

The comments by Nour News follow days of muddled comments by Iran not directly acknowledging the accusation by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran had enriched up to 84 percent.

Bloomberg first reported Sunday that inspectors had detected uranium particles enriched up to 84 percent. The IAEA, a United Nations agency based in Vienna, has not denied the report, saying only “that the IAEA is discussing with Iran the results of recent agency verification activities.”

In its comments Thursday, Nour News urged the IAEA to “not fall prey to the seduction of Western countries” and declare that Iran’s nuclear program was “completely peaceful.”

“It will be clear soon that the IAEA surprising report of discovering 84 percent enriched uranium particles in Iran’s enrichment facilities was an inspector’s error or was a deliberate action to create political atmospheres against Iran on the eve of the meeting of” its board, Nour News said on Twitter.

The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday over Nour News’ remarks.

It wasn’t immediately clear where the 84 percent enrichment allegedly took place, though the IAEA has said it found two cascades of advanced IR-6 centrifuges at Iran’s underground Fordo facility “interconnected in a way that was substantially

different from the mode of operation declared by Iran to the agency in November last year.” Iran is known to have been enriching uranium at Fordo up to 60 percent purity — at level which nonproliferation experts already say has no civilian use for Tehran.

Iran also enriches uranium at its Natanz nuclear site.

Weapons-grade uranium is enriched up to 90 percent. While the IAEA’s directorgeneral has warned Iran now has enough uranium to produce “several” nuclear bombs if it chooses, it likely would take months more to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put on a missile.

The new tensions over Iran’s program also take place against the backdrop of a shadow war between Iran and Israel that has spilled out across the wider Middle East.

Netanyahu said this week, “How do you stop a rogue nation from acquiring nuclear weapons?

“You had one that’s called Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. It was stopped by military force, ours. You had a second one that is called Syria that tried to develop nuclear weapons. And it was stopped by a military action, ours.”

He added: “A necessary condition, and an often sufficient condition, is credible military action. The longer you wait, the harder that becomes. We’ve waited very long.”

DEATH TOLL FROM TURKEY, SYRIA EARTHQUAKE TOPS 47,000

TURKEY Associated Press

THE DEATH toll from the massive earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 continues to rise as more bodies are retrieved from the rubble of demolished buildings. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the already battered province of Hatay this week damaged or demolished more buildings, compounding the devastation.

Here’s a look at the key developments Thursday from the aftermath of the earthquake.

DEATH TOLL TOPS

47,000

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has raised

the number of fatalities in Turkey from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake to 43,556.

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria now stands at 47,244.

In an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Wednesday, Soylu said teams were sifting through two buildings in hard-hit Hatay province in search of further bodies. Search operations elsewhere have come to an end, he said.

Meanwhile, at least 164,000 buildings have either collapsed or are so damaged that they need to be demolished, said Murat Kurum, Turkey’s minister for the environment and urbanization.

SYRIANS SHELTER IN TENTS AND CARS

The local civil defence in northwestern Syria, known locally as The White Helmets, said Thursday that thousands of children and tens of thousands of families have taken shelter in cars and tents “fearing they would face a repeat of the earthquake.”

In government-held Syria, a first plane from Bahrain loaded with aid landed in Damascus. The Gulf monarchy is among many Arab countries that in recent years have tried to thaw relations with President Bashar Assad, after shunning him in 2011 for his brutal crackdown on protesters.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two key US allies in the region, have also delivered aid.

GERMANY’s foreign minister Annalen Baerbock addresses the United Nations General Assembly before voting on a resolution upholding Ukraine’s territoria integrity yesterday.

Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP

THE POP-UP memorial for slain Spectrum News 13 journalist Dylan Lyons is shown at the University of Central Florida Nicholson School of Communications in Orlando, Florida, yesterday. Lyons, a graduate of UCF, was shot and killed while covering a homicide in Orlando on Wednesday,

Photo: Joe Burbank /AP

A MAN rides a motorcycle past debris from destroyed buildings in Samandag, southern Turkey, Wednesday. An earthquake 15 days ago destroyed buildings and have killed over 47,000 people.

Photo: Emrah Gurel/AP

SPORTS

36TH HUGH CAMPBELL BASKETBALL CLASSIC @ KENDAL ISAACS GYM

Day 4 double elimination

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was the start of the elimination process and the survival round on day four of the 36th edition of the prestigious Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic for senior boys at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. Sent packing after losing their second game in the double elimination format were Queen’s College, Temple Christian, Agape, Eight Mile Rock, Patrick J Bethel, Akhepran Academy and Sherlin C Bootle.

Here’s a look at how the teams stacked up yesterday: Louise McDonald High def. Sherlin C Bootle 59-43; Bishop Michael Eldon def. Akhepran Academy 43-37; RM Bailey def. Patrick J Bethel 51-34; Kingsway Academy def. Eight Mile Rock 55-45; Sunland Baptist def. Study Hall 61-30; Jack Hayward def. Agape Academy 45-41; Charles W. Saunders def. Temple Christian 74-40; Tabernacle Baptist def. Gateway Christian Academy 43-20 and Study Hall def. Queen’s College 53-42. Study Hall 53, Comets 42: Edwin Ferguson was one

of three players in double figures with 17 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists to pace the winners as they stayed alive with their second win in three games.

Trenaz Rigby had 12 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists and Jahmsrion Albury also had 12 points with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Trevor Forbes contributed six points with four rebounds and three steals.

Leonardo Burrows had 22 points with 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals, but it wasn’t enough to keep

Men’s national basketball team suffers 115-70 loss to Venezuela

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT wasn’t the performance that coach Moses Johnson anticipated from the men’s national basketball team in the opener of their two-game road trip in their final appearance in the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifier.

The Bahamas, already out of contention for qualifying for the World Cup, had a chance to spoil the chances for Venezuela. But in their match-up last night in Caracas, Venezuela outscored the Bahamas 115-70. Behind their roaring fans, Venezuela jumped out to an impressive 33-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They outscored the Bahamas 34-16 for a 67-37 halftime lead. They used another 25-14 spurt in the third and 23-11 in the fourth as they led from start to finish.

Venezuela had six players in double figures, led by David Cubillan with 16 points.

The Bahamas had three players in double figures, but it wasn’t enough as Venezuela held a slight 44-42 advantage on the boards and had a huge 31-9 difference in the assists category. The Bahamas also mde 26 turnovers, compared to nine by Venezuela.

Domnick Bridgewater went 6-for-19 from the field, 2-for-7 from the three-point line and 2-for-4 from the free throw line in 30 minutes and 13 seconds for 16 points with two rebounds and an assist.

Ahmad Pratt also had 16 points in 15.05 as he connected on 5-for-8 from the

field, 4-for-6 from the trey and 2-for-2 from the foul line with three rebounds.

Bradley Nairn, in 26:22 minutes on the court, helped out with 10 points as he went 2-for-8 from the field, 1-for-5 from the three-point line and 5-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Kentwan Smith had nine

points with 11 rebounds and Godfrey Rolle II also added nine points. Kadeem Coleby had six points and eight rebounds and Livingstone Munnings was the only other player to score with four points and six rebounds.

The Bahamas, 3-8 in fifth place in Group E, will now

Man United beats Barcelona 2-1 to advance in Europa League

By JAMES ROBSON AP Soccer Writer

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — With a sweeping first-time shot, Antony fired Manchester United to a rousing 2-1 win over Barcelona.

The comeback victory at Old Trafford yesterday sent United into the Europa League round of 16 and kept manager Erik ten Hag’s four-pronged trophy hunt on track.

Antony might have silenced a few critics, too.

“He is brave, he is fearless,” Ten Hag said of the Brazil forward who cost United $95 million for his transfer from Ajax last summer. With United trailing 1-0 at halftime and heading out of the tournament, Antony came off the bench to turn

the match around. His 73rdminute strike completed a come-from-behind win and provided further evidence that Ten Hag’s team is a rising force in Europe. “What he brought (in the) second half was what we needed, running in behind and dribbles and his goal,” Ten Hag said.

Barcelona is leading the way in Spain, eight points ahead of Champions League holder Real Madrid and seemingly on course for the domestic title.

Yet, over two games against United, the Spanish giant was shaken by the pace and pressing of Ten Hag’s players. “We lacked that calm and patience and started the second half really bad,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said. “Small details. We could have been more intense.”

Queen’s College alive in the tournament. They were the seventh team eliminated as their next best scorer was Tayshaun Taylor with eight points. Ethan Forbes had six points and six rebounds. Falcons 43, Gateway Christian Academy 20: The Grand Bahama champions Tabernacle Baptist Academy only had one player in double figures as Joshua Williams had a game high 15 points with four steals and two rebounds. Aiden Miller contributed eight points with five rebounds, three assists and

SEE PAGE 13

‘BUDDY’ SCORES 18 BUT NBA-LEADING CELTICS DEFEAT PACERS 142-138 IN OVERTIME

By PHILLIP B WILSON Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)

— Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, including the final four in the last minute of overtime, and the Boston Celtics outlasted the Indiana Pacers 142-138 last night.

Jaylen Brown added

30 points as the Celtics improved the NBA’s best record to 43-17.

It was 138-all with 56.2 seconds left before Tatum hit a pair of free throws. He capped the scoring with a tip-in off the glass with 10.4 seconds to go.

Myles Turner tied his career high with 40 points for the Pacers. He made a career-best eight 3-pointers and Indiana shot 22 of 49 overall on 3s.

travel to Panama to play their next game on Sunday. Panama is in sixth place at 2-9.

Venezuela is in a three-way tie for second place at 8-3 with the Dominican Republic and Argentina behind front running Canada, who are 10-1.

In a game with 17 lead changes by the end of the fourth quarter, the Pacers had the last shot in regulation, but Tyrese Haliburton’s deep 3-pointer from the top of key bounced off the back rim.

Haliburton had 22 points and 14 assists. Buddy Hield, the league’s 3-point leader, made four 3s and finished

Andy Murray reaches semifinals in Doha, top seed Rublev loses

DOHA, Qatar (AP)

— Andy Murray reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open by beating French qualifier Alexandre Muller 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 yesterday.

The 35-year-old Murray will next face Jiri Lehecka after the Czech player upset top-seeded Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion who has had two hip operations, eliminated fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round as the Scot seeks his third title in Doha.

He’s currently ranked 70th.

Second-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime will

SEE PAGE 15 ANDY MURRAY

face Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal. The 22-year-old Canadian reached the last four by beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-6 (5). Medvedev beat Christopher O’Connell of Australia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Robert Lewandowski’s first-half penalty had put the visitors in front on aggregate after the thrilling 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Nou Camp last week.

But Fred’s strike in the 47th evened the match before Antony’s winner. In front of a raucous crowd of

A PSV supporter punches Sevilla’s goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic in the face during the Europa League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV and Sevilla at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, yesterday. Sevilla won 3-2 on aggregate. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

COACH Moses Johnson gives some instructions to the men’s national basketball team yesterday.

QC Class of 1985 remember Frankie Simmons

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN memory of their deceased classmate Frankie Simmons, the class of 1985 of Queen’s College made a cheque presentation to the Freedom Farm Green Parrots to assist in their travel to the Perfect Game Tournament in Sandford, Florida.

The team, which will be coached by Anfernee Seymour, Wayde Beckford and Inigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya, will compete in the tournament from today to Monday just outside of Orlando.

Members of the QC class on hand were Stephen Johnson, Ryan Bethel, Marlene Wells-Fox, Gail Byer-Branon, Renee Hepburn-Davies and Karla Knowles.

They were joined by Simmons’ wife Sharon

Simmons and his father Roger Simmons. Naughty and Andrew Thompson, along with some of the players, were on hand to receive the cheque and behalf of Green Parrots, now headed by Anton Newbold, who took over from Simmons after his death.

“We reached out to coach Naughty and advised him that we the Class of 85 of Queen’s College would like to know if there was anything that we could do to assist his 12-and-under team,” Stephen Johnson said.

“Coach Naughty mentioned that they have a trip to Sandford, Florida that they were schooled to make. He mentioned to us that a few of the boys were having trouble raising the funds, so we decided to make the contribution towards his team for their travel to the tournament.”

Johnson said it was an overwhelming support from the class because they knew how much Simmons enjoyed coaching baseball.

“Frankie loved baseball. Frankie loved developing young boys. Frankie was instrumental in Jazz Chisholm’s baseball career,” added Johnson about the Miami Marlins baseball player.

“I was happy to see Jazz mentioned that after Frankie’s passing where Jazz gave him a lot of credit for where he’s at today.”

Naughty, best known as a comedian and radio personality, worked with Simmons prior to his death.

He noted that they were preparing the team to travel before Simmons passed away. He noted that they decided to continue their preparation for the trip because it would have been something Simmons wanted them to do.

“A lot of the players were out to the Don’t Blink baseball camp and they were invited to try out for this team that was travelling with Anfernee Seymour,” Naughty said. “This is the tournament that players like Jazz and Lucius Fox, so Frankie wanted to make sure that these guys get that same opportunity.

“This allowed them to see where they are and what they need to work on so if we wanted to go to the pros or to college and just how much work they need to put in. So he wanted us to make the trip and after he died, we wanted to make sure that the boys could still make the trip.”

Naughty said they were thrilled when the Simmons’ Class of 1985 at QC stepped up to the plate and made their donation, ensuring that three of the five guys from Simmons’ team will get to travel for free to play

two steals; Noah Bain had five points, four rebounds and two steals and Ahmad Abraham had four points with three rebounds and Alex Minus also had four points and two rebounds.

No player was in double figures for Gateway Academy as they stayed alive with a 1-1 record. Paulston Stuart led their attack with seven points. Sherrick Ellis had five points and seven rebounds and Denecko Allen added four points with 10 rebounds.

Cougars 74, Suns 40: Romial Strachan’s 16 points with eight rebounds and a pair of assists and steals helped the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ champions Charles W Saunders to win their first game after losing their opener to move to 1-1.

Treymon Wright had 14 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists;

Marcian Pickstock had 10 points with three rebounds and two assists and Raymone Woods also had 10 points with four assists.

For Temple Christian, who suffered their second straight loss and was the sixth team knocked out, Ogden Arahna had 14 points with three assists and steals and a pair of rebounds. Darren Knowles and Kymani Roberts both had six, but it wasn’t enough.

Wildcats 45, Agape 41: Desmond Hall scored a game high 16 points with three rebounds and as many steals to push Jack Hayward to their first victory after losing their opener as they improved to 1-1.

Avardo Williams and Deryl Williams both chipped in with 10 points.

Anthony Mertil had 15 points with seven rebounds and three steals to pace

Agape Academy in their second loss to be the fifth team eliminated. Jvaughntrae Albury added seven points, Canaan Davis had six points and seven rebounds and Deshawn Smith had five points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Stingers 61, Study Hall 30: Tianno Roberts led a balanced scoring attack with a game high 16 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists and steals for Sunland Baptist, who remained undefeated in the two games played so far.

De’Nage Kelly had 14 points, two rebounds and two steals and Jordan Saunders had 13 points, four rebounds and two steals and assists.

Edwin Ferguson was the only player in double figures for the losers with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. Trennaz Rigby had nine points and four rebounds as they dropped their first game to sit at 1-1.

Saints 55, Bluejays 45: Rayjin Smith exploded for a game high 24 points with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists to lead Kingsway Academy as they rebounded from an opening loss in the tournament to improve to 1-1.

Kenyon Johnson was also in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.

Christopher Munroe had nine points with three rebounds; Ethan Burrows had seven points and three rebounds and Evan Cartwright added five points with seven rebounds and two steals.

Henricus Maycock paced the losers in their second defeat with 21 points, eight rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists, but they became the fourth team ousted. Bruce Balfour had eight points and three rebounds and Jermaine Hall ended up with five points and four rebounds.

Louise McDonald High 59, Sherlin C Bootle 43:

Jasmen Rock scored 23 points with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists and Javardo Toote had 19 points and 13 rebounds to provide a 1-2 punch for Louise McDonald as they stayed alive at 1-1.

Derek Francis had six points with four rebounds, three steals and two assists and Breon Lindsay also had six points in the win.

with all of the other players on the team.

Additionally, Naughty said he reached out to John’s Department Store and the family once again came to his assistance and provided their support to the team.

“It’s something Frankie wanted. It’s something that we talked about,” Naughty said. “It’s a great opportunity for these players to travel to the Perfect Game Tournament in Sandford, Florida, coached by Anfernee Seymour, which will comprise of five of Simmons’ players and the rest who are good enough to play 12-and-under.”

A total of 14 players are on the team that will be coached by Seymour, Beckford and Naughty. There are also a number of parents who will be travelling to provide the support for the players during the tournament.

“It’s a good opportunity for the players to get into the Perfect Game system, to get looked at by the high school, college and pro scouts so they can start keeping track of these players,” Naughty said. “We could not have done it without the support of the Class of 85 at QC and John’s Department Store. “We’re very thankful, very appreciative and very humbled. The boys appreciate you all so much. We are going to go over there and represent not just the Bahamas, but what coach Simmons would have wanted them to do and that is to display good sportsmanship, play to the best we can, leave it all on the field, have some fun and conduct yourselves like gentlemen and learn that these are steps to take you from being a boy into a man and so we are definitely excited to carry on his legacy.”

contributed seven points with three rebounds.

Evan Hanna scored a game high 18 points with five rebounds, five steals and two assists in a losing effort. They suffered their second straight defeat to become the second team eliminated. Stephen Mackey had seven points with four steals and Baron Coleby II had six points, four rebounds and three steals.

RM Bailey 51, Patrick J Bethel 34: Kendrick Emilien had 17 points and four rebounds and Joshua Benjamin added 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in the win for the Pacers, who stayed alive to push their record to 1-1.

Ladanian McKenzie chipped in with nine points, six rebounds and a pair of assists and steals.

In the loss, Ivan Brave had nine points and a pair of rebounds and steals.

Timothy Davis had six points, seven rebounds and two steals and Christopher Turnquest also had six points and four rebounds and both Trevor Robinson and Matthew Duvreus added five points with six and three rebounds respectively.

Patrick J Bethel was the first team to be eliminated, losing two straight games.

Today’s Schedule

10am - Government High vs Gateway Christian Academy.

11am - CV Bethel vs Louise McDonald High.

In a losing effort, Miguel Sawyer had 21 points with 10 rebounds; Kendrick Sampre had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists and Alpachino Kemp added seven points and four rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as they got eliminated with their second consecutive loss and emerged as the third team ousted.

Bishop Michael Eldon 43, Akapheran Academy

37: Lavon Cooper scored

11 points with a pair of rebounds and Javon Basden had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win for Bishop Michael Eldon, who im-proved to 1-1. Aaron Forbes had seven points with 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals and Isaac Stuart also

Noon - Charles W Saunders vs RM Bailey.

1pm - Jack Hayward vs Kingsway Academy.

2pm - Doris Johnson vs Bishop Michael Eldon.

6pm - CR Walker vs Sunland Baptist

7pm - St George’s vs Anatol Rodgers.

8pm - CC Sweeting vs Tabernacle Baptist.

9pm - Jordan Prince Williams vs CI Gibson.

QUEEN’s College Class of 85 paid tribute to their late classmate Frankie Simmons by presenting a cheque to his baseball team.

GRAND Bahama champions Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons got the win over the Gateway Christian Academy 43-20 yesterday in the 36th Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic for senior boys at Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium.

Photos: Moises Amisial/Tribune Staff

UB Mingoes track & field team wins

4x400 relay at St Thomas University

THE University of The Bahamas Track and Field team won the 4x400m relay at the St. Thomas University Season Opener meet over the weekend.

The Mingoes also picked up four second place finishes and a third place finishes at the collegiate meet.

The men’s 4x400m team of Dennis Williamson, Donya Roberts, Jackson Ozias and Lhevinne Joseph won the event in by 0.53 seconds in a time of 3 minutes 23.18 seconds. The Lynn University Knights placed second in 3:23.71.

“This was an important win for team as this is our first international meet of the season,” head coach Ednal Rolle said. “I have a new team with nine freshman and we needed a win. We had a few second place finishes up to that point and when it came to the relay I told the guys that we need to leave with a win and they went out and made it happen.”

Brianique Strachan had a great international season opener with two second place finishes. She took second in the women’s 100m 12.25 seconds and the 200m event in 25.57 seconds.

“I felt good out there but even though I produced a PR in the 200 meters I felt that I could have done better,” Strachan said.

Besides leading off the winning relay team, Williamson also finished second in the men’s 400m in 49.69 seconds. Donya Roberts finished 4th in 51.17 seconds.

Joseph, who also anchored the winning relay team, finished third in the men’s 800m in 1:58.07.

“I went out 56 seconds in the first 400 and that was good but I wasn’t 100

GAUFF WIN SETS UP SWIATEK MATCH IN DUBAI, SABALENKA LOSES

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Coco Gauff set up a semifinals match against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the Dubai Championships by beating Madison Keys 6-2, 7-5 yesterday. Swiatek, who reached the last four in a walkover after Karolina Pliskova withdrew because of an illness, is 5-0 against Gauff and beat the 18-year-old American in last year’s French Open final. Gauff is yet to win a set against the three-time Grand Slam champion.

The fifth-seeded Gauff relied on her steady serve and capitalised on Keys’ mistakes in their all-American quarterfinal match. Keys committed 51 unforced errors.

Barbora Krejcikova upset second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1. Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, was on a 13-match winning streak and led 3-1 in the second set before Krejcikova’s comeback. It was Sabalenka’s first loss this season.

Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, will face Jessica Pegula of the United States in the semifinals. Pegula, who is ranked No. 3, advanced by a walkover after Karolina Muchova withdrew because of an abdominal injury.

percent out there today so I was pleased with that performance,” Joseph said.

Jackson Ozias finished 9th in 800m event in 2:04.86.

High jumper Jaidyn Brown finished second in the event with a best clearance of 1.7m (5-6 15/16th).

Sprinter Fridline Augustine took fourth in the women’s 400m in 1:01.29 and Gerline Belot finished 1:05.86.

Sprinter Lakeicia Lewis finished 10th in the women’s 800m in 2:42.79.

Long distance runner Kenold Jean finished 10th in the men’s 5000m event in 19:55.92.

Sprinter Tevin Wright finished 13th in the men’s 200m event in 24.55 seconds and 16th in the men’s 100m in 11.69 seconds.

UB Mingoes men earn 10-1 win over Baha Juniors

THE University of The Bahamas men’s soccer team seemed as if it just could not stop scoring against Baha Juniors Football Club in Bahamas Football Association play on Sunday at the Roscow AL Davies field.

The Mingoes scored five goals each half against Baha Juniors, including a five-goal performance from Ronaldo Green en route to the 10-1 win for the Mingoes.

Green scored in the 11th, 44th, 45th, 80th and 90th minutes for the Mingoes. He now leads the league in goals with 24 over nine matches. “We came out tonight and played hard to get the win,” he said.

“It was great to score so many goals but it’s more important to get the win.”

Green scored two goals off penalties. Midfielder Marc Ville started the scoring fest off for the Mingoes, connecting with the net in just the second minute of the match.

Winger Jeremy Holland connected on a toe kick in the 15th minute to put the Mingoes up 3-0.

Green, in addition to the 11th minute goal, also scored twice in the last minutes of the half to put the Mingoes up 5-0 at the break.

Out of the break, midfielder Nathan Wells scored after advancing deep in the box for the easy goal in the 58th minute.

Captain Marlon Barnes was awarded a free kick just out of the box in the 72nd minute of the match. The kick sailed over the wall and pass the opposing keeper for the goal.

In the 82nd minute, winger

Jervane Turnquest had a brilliant bending attack that sailed in the upper right corner of the goal for his first goal of the season. “It was a great goal for me,” Turnquest said. “I’ve been looking for that all season and to get it like that was really great. This sets us up for the harder matches coming up.”

UB long-distance runner Kenold Jean competes in the men’s 5,000m event.

UB sprinter Brianique Strachan competes in the women’s 200 metres.

UB sprinter Fridline Augustin competes in the women’s 400 metres.

UB sprinter Dennis Williamson hands the baton to Donya Roberts in the men’s 4x400 metres.

UB sprinter Jackson Ozias prepares to hand the baton to Lhevinne Joseph in the men’s 4x400 metres.

UB sprinter Donya Roberts prepares to hand the baton to Jackson Ozias in the men’s 4x400 metres.

UB sprinter Dennis Williamson competes in the

400 metres.

Photos: UB Athletics

Wembanyama stars for France, Ukraine’s World Cup hopes end

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

FRANCE has already qualified for this summer’s Basketball World Cup. And Victor Wembanyama offered another reminder that his nation is going to be a medal favourite.

The 7-foot-3 phenom had 22 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and four steals in leading France past the Czech Republic 72-59 yesterday at Pardubice, Czech Republic, in the next-tolast World Cup qualifying game for both teams.

In three games with the French national team, Wembanyama is averaging 20.3 points, 10 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 steals per game — while playing only 26 minutes, on average, in those contests.

He’s presumed to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft, and it continues being easy to see why.

“Victor showed his amazing talent and why he’s considered one of the best players in the world,”

Tomas Kyzlink of the Czech Republic said.

The Czechs had previously been eliminated from World Cup contention. That didn’t stop them from coming out flying, building a 30-11 lead with 8:59 left in the first half. The lead was 36-21 late in the half — but France outscored the hosts 51-23 over the final 22 minutes.

Kyzlink led the Czech Republic with 23 points and Patrik Auda scored 10.

Paul Lacombe scored 13 for France, while Yoan Makoundou added 10.

UKRAINE ELIMINATED

Italy pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Ukraine 85-75 yesterday.

The loss ended war-torn Ukraine’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.

OTHER GAMES EUROPEAN QUALIFYING

Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Montenegro 74-66; Georgia topped Netherlands 88-80; Lithuania rolled past Hungary 89-64;

Spain downed Iceland 80-61.

ASIAN

QUALIFYING

Japan topped Iran 96-61; Australia eased past Bahrain 83-51; China downed Kazakhstan 71-59.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Europe: Finland at Israel, Slovenia at Estonia, Latvia at Turkey, Serbia at Greece, Sweden at Germany, Belgium at Great Britain.

Asia: Saudi Arabia at New Zealand, Lebanon at Philippines, Jordan at India.

Africa: Cameroon vs. Congo at Egypt, Nigeria vs. Ivory Coast at Angola, South Sudan vs. Senegal at Egypt, Cape Verde vs. Guinea at Angola, Tunisia at Egypt, Uganda at Angola

FIELD UPDATE

EUROPE

Clinched World Cup berths: Finland, Latvia,

Germany, Greece, Slovenia, France, Lithuania, Spain, Italy.

Still in contention (three spots left):

Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Georgia, Iceland.

Eliminated: Turkey, Great Britain, Sweden, Israel, Estonia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Ukraine.

ASIA

Clinched World Cup berths: Philippines, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Australia, China.

Still in contention (2 spots left):

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kazakhstan.

Eliminated: Bahrain, India.

AFRICA

Clinched World Cup berths: Ivory Coast.

Still in contention (4 spots left): South Sudan, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Congo, Angola, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Guinea.

Eliminated: Cameroon, Uganda.

HORSCHEL, BRAMLETT LEAD HONDA CLASSIC WITH 1ST-ROUND 65S

PALM BEACH GAR-

DENS, Fla. (AP) — Billy Horschel has never won a PGA Tour event in his home state of Florida. His quest to change that is off to a fine start.

Horschel shot a 5-under 65 yesterday, tying him with Joseph Bramlett for the first-round lead in the Honda Classic at PGA National. Bramlett had a bogey-free round; Horschel had six birdies and one bogey.

“Just played really solid,” Horschel said. “Didn’t do anything special. Hit some quality iron shots here and there. I wouldn’t say everything was sort of automatic and it was easy. I had to just sort of work my way into making some good swings here and there. But overall, it was a really solid day of golf.”

Horschel’s pre-Honda preparations included a trip to the doctor, finally giving in and getting a prescription after trying to fight off a sinus infection for a few days. He might have felt tired, but it didn’t show.

The 65 was his best score in 33 rounds as a pro at PGA National. He’d shot 66 on two previous occasions.

FROM PAGE 12

with 18 points. Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points off the bench. Malcolm Brogdon, a former Pacers point guard, scored 24 off the bench for Boston. The Pacers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to outscore the Celtics 39-32 in the third quarter. Turner sank three 3s in the period as the Pacers made eight beyond the arc.

TIP-INS

Celtics: Improved league-best road record to 19-10. ... Tatum is averaging a career-high 30.6 points, nearly four points above his previous season best. The sixth-year pro scored a record 55 points to earn NBA All-Star MVP honors on Sunday.

Pacers: Dropped to 18-15 at home. ... Haliburton leads league in assists at 10.3 per game and is second in points/assists double-doubles with 25.

UP NEXT

Celtics: Visit Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Pacers: Visit Orlando Magic on Saturday.

76ERS 110, GRIZZLIES 105

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

— Tobias Harris made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, James Harden scored 31 points, and Joel Embiid had 27 points and 19 rebounds to help Philadelphia beat Memphis.

The 76ers shrugged off three of their worst quarters of the season to turn in a fantastic fourth that

FROM PAGE 12

73,000, this was the type of encounter United fans hope will become a regular occurrence under Ten Hag, whose outstanding first season in charge is improving by the week. “This is another step because when you can beat Barcelona — one of the best teams in this moment in Europe — your belief can be really strong because then I think you are able to beat anyone,” Ten Hag added.

The Dutch manager is still in contention to win four trophies, with his team facing Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday.

United also sits third in the Premier League standings and is still in the FA Cup. But Ten Hag’s team looked in danger of being

nearly shook the arena with each clutch bucket. Down by nine points late in the game, the Sixers took over.

NUGGETS 115, CAVALIERS 109

CLEVELAND (AP) —

Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists for his latest triple-double and Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points, leading Denver past Cleveland.

Jokic’s 13th triple-double in 16 games and his NBAleading 22nd this season helped the Nuggets come out of the All-Star break with an impressive road win over the Cavs, who dropped to 25-7 at home. The Nuggets improved to 22-0 when Jokic gets a triple-double.

RAPTORS 115, PELICANS 110

TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, Jakob Poeltl had 21 points and a career-high 18 rebounds and Toronto beat New Orleans for its sixth victory in seven games.

Gary Trent Jr scored 18 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, Scottie Barnes also had 18 and O.G. Anunoby returned from injury with 12 points as the Raptors matched their season high by winning three straight.

Brandon Ingram scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth for New Orleans.

MAGIC 108, PISTONS 106

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Wendell Carter Jr. tipped in Paolo Banchero’s

eliminated from the Europa League as Barcelona seized the advantage at Old Trafford, with Bruno Fernandes involved in the two key incidents in the first half.

The Portugal international could have put United in front after just three minutes when he ran through on goal, only to fire against the legs of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Having failed to take advantage at one end, Fernandes was then guilty of dragging back Alejandro Balde in the box and referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot.

Despite getting a hand to Lewandowski’s 18th minute penalty, David de Gea could not keep the ball out.

United struggled to find their rhythm before the break, but evened the score in an explosive start to the second half when Fred fired

missed layup at the buzzer to lift Orlando past Detroit. Franz Wagner added 21 points, and Carter

past Ter Stegen after Fernandes’ through ball.

Old Trafford was rocking and it went wild when Antony swept his shot low into the far corner to put United in front.

“We’ve had some good wins, Liverpool and Arsenal, but I think this over two legs — Barcelona are La Liga leaders — to beat them it’s a big win,” Ten Hag said.

HAT TRICK FOR DI MARIA

Angel Di Maria scored a hat trick as Juventus advanced in the Europa League playoffs by beating Nantes 3-0.

Juventus won 4-1 on aggregate to ensure another of Europe’s giants will play in the round of 16. World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring at Stade de la Beaujoire in the fifth minute and doubled the lead in the 20th from the

controlled the boards in the fourth quarter, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

penalty spot after Nicolas Pallois was sent off for a handball in the box.

The Argentine completed his hat trick in the 78th.

Sporting Lisbon also reached the next round after Pedro Goncalves scored twice in a 4-0 win at Midtjylland to secure a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Midtjylland’s Paulinho was sent off for receiving two yellow cards in the space of two minutes in the first half.

Bayer Leverkusen needed penalties to win an epic against Monaco after the score ended 5-5 on aggregate.

Monaco had won the first leg in Germany 3-2, but losing 3-1 going into the last 10 minutes at the Stade Louis II, it needed a Breel Embolo goal in the 84th to send the match into extra time.

25 points.

But that only delayed Leverkusen’s celebrations as the German team won the shootout 5-3.

AJAX GOES OUT

While Ten Hag is looking forward to the next round, his former club Ajax is out after a 3-1 loss at Union Berlin.

Roma, meanwhile, recovered from a 1-0 first-leg loss at RB Salzburg to win 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico.

Andrea Belotti fired the home team in front in the 33rd and Paulo Dybala sealed a 2-1 aggregate scoreline five minutes before halftime.

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Rennes on penalties after a 2-1 loss through extra time left the score at 3-3 on aggregate.

Karl Toko Ekambi’s strike in the 52nd for Rennes meant the game had to go to extra time.

Ibrahim Salah then put

“Listen, there’s no secret,” said Horschel, who played his college golf at Florida. “It’s not a secret. I grind. I work hard. It’s no secret out here that I work really, really hard out here. But this week with just the way I’m feeling and everything, energy’s still not completely 100 percent every day.”

Bramlett scrambled nicely when he had to. He missed six of 14 fairways and hit 13 of 18 greens.

“I definitely like when the conditions are difficult and guys have to really earn it,” said Bramlett, who has never won on the PGA Tour. “I think that’s historically always been in my favor.”

Pierceson Coody — a sponsor exemption playing his first PGA Tour event as a professional — finished the first round at 4 under, alongside Justin Suh. Coody has two wins in 15 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in June.

“It really just feels like another professional event,” the grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody said. “I’ve only played (15) professional events. But other than the big grandstands it’s not that different. You’re just playing golf, you’re trying to put a good score together. No real nerves out there. Just happy to play well.”

Suh missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his last hole — No. 9 — that would have tied him for the lead.

DIVOTS: Play was suspended for darkness just past 6 p.m., and four groups were unable to finish. Carson Young was at 4 under with three holes left to play.

the home team up 2-0 before an own goal from Jeanuël Belocian sent it to a shootout which Shakhtar won 5-4.

FAN ATTACKS

SEVILLA GOALKEEPER

Sevilla goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic was attacked by a fan who ran onto the field in the Spanish team’s game at PSV Eindhoven.

The fan threw a punch at Dmitrovic before being wrestled to the ground by the keeper during the incident which happened late in the match at the PSV Stadium.

Dmitrovic appeared to be unhurt and the fan was quickly surrounded by players from both teams before being led off the field to jeers from the crowd.

Sevilla progressed despite losing 2-0 at PSV Eindhoven, advancing 3-2 on aggregate.

Jaden Ivey led Detroit with

He hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to tie it.

VICTOR Wembanyama. (AP)

‘Buddy’ scores

18 in 142-138 loss to Celtics in overtime

INDIANA Pacers guard Buddy Hield (24) shoots in front of Boston Celtics centre Robert Williams III (44) during the second half in Indianapolis last night. The Celtics won 142-138 in overtime. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

THE Bahamas Boxing Federation is slated to hold the Bahamas versus the Caribbean Boxing Show March 3-4 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and will be held in memory of the late Wellington ‘Sonny Boy’ Rahming and Leonard ‘Boston Blackie’ Miller.

This event, according to president Vincent Strachan, will also serve as a showcase of boxers, coaches and officials who would be participating in the Bahamas Games in July. Countries confirmed to participate against the Bahamas are Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica and St Marten.

Team Bahamas is made up of boxers, coaches and officials from Bimini, Grand Bahama, Inagua, New Providence and the United States and will be 37 strong. The coaches are national coach Valentino Knowles, assisted by Jermaine Gibson.

“Haiti is very strong and they have 27 members, Bermuda has eight members, St Marten has four members and the Cayman Islands and Jamaica have a combined three members, including coach Floyd Trumpe,” Strachan said.

“He will conduct the coaches’ seminar with James Beckles, who would conduct the training for referees and judges.”

Visiting teams will arrive from February 27 to March 2 and competition will be held March 3-4.

Gates will open at 4pm to allow ticket sales. Action begins 6-10pm. “I am appealing to corporate Bahamas and the Bahamas Government to do more for the young males and females, who choose to be boxers to support their dreams and aspirations,” Strachan said.

“It is disconcerting and downright unfair to tell the Boxing Federation that you don’t have any money while millions of dollars are spent on other sports and sporting facilities receiving upgrades to the tone of millions.”

Strachan said actions speak louder and the eyes are beholden.

“It is very sad when persons in senior government officers attempt to interfere in the administration of this federation,” he said.

“Deliberately withhold funds that are air marked for the administration of this organisation.

“We will continue to move forward, even if it means sleeping in airports when we cannot afford hotels during stopovers. The resounding results of success of our athletes makes the journey enjoyable.”

Strachan expressed his gratitude to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Commodore Raymond King, who has pledged to assist in security and transportation of our international and local teams. “We are looking forward to an exciting two

HOW TO DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF A JUDO COMPETITION

days of exciting boxing that would showcase some of our junior and elite national teams,” he said.

“Members of the Haitian national boxing team will bring a strong team that will help to make it a success.

“Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and St Marten will add to the excitement.

“This also is the reestablishing of the Western Caribbean, USA and Canada Boxing alliance.”

Boxers competing for Team New Providence are Carl Hield, elite 156lbs; Israel Johnson, elite 175lbs; Reshield Williams, elite 147lbs; Tyrone Oliver, elite 140lbs; Anai Powell, junior 17yrs 140lbs; Jailen Young, 17yrs, junior 138lbs; Jaiden Young, 18tyrs old junior 142lbs; Davonne Musgrove, novice 165lbs 19 yrs; Christian Thompson, novice 156lbs, 20yrs; Tyrone Humes, novice 200+ 20yrs; Milton Newbold, Pee Wee 81lbs 11yrs; Cayden Higgs, Pee Wee 81lbs 11yrs old; Willow Johnson, 124 lbs; Isaiah Francois, 79.1 lbs; Jiraiya Francois, 147.6 lbs; Javon Bain, 154.8 lbs; Colon Smith, 187.3 lbs; Jason Bethel, 140.1; Josiah Smith, 126.7 lbs and Elijah Smith, 205 lbs.

The Grand Bahama team will consist of Rico Arnett, Vincent Deleveaux, Latino Smith, Timothy Smith, Renaldo Cunningham and Israel Cox.

By CYNTHIA RAHMING Special To The Tribune

JUDO is a popular martial art that emphasizes throws, pins, and joint locks to control opponents. Competing in judo can be a thrilling experience for athletes, but determining the quality of a competition can be difficult. There are several factors that can help assess the quality of a judo competition, including the number of athletes in the division, weight categories, calibre of athletes, level of competition, age categories, and the level of the athlete.

The number of athletes in the division can provide a good indication of the competition’s difficulty. If a competition has eight or less competitors, it is considered an easy competition, and losing a match can still lead to a chance at repêchage. An averagesized competition with 10 or more competitors and requires winning to get to repêchage or semi-finals.

A difficult competition has 15+ competitors, and athletes must win several rounds before reaching the repêchage or semi-finals.

Weight categories also play a significant role in assessing the quality of a judo competition. Competing against lighter weight categories can give an athlete an advantage, while competing against heavier weight categories can have some

disadvantages. There are generally two light-weight, two medium-weight, and three heavy-weight categories in judo competitions.

The calibre of athletes is another essential factor in determining the quality of a competition. The diversity in fighting styles, international competitors on an International Judo Federation (IJF) level, world and national rankings, and age categories are all critical indicators of athlete calibre.

Different levels of competition are categorised as A, B, C, or D. A-level competitions include the Olympics and World Championships, while B-level competitions include Grand Slam, Grand Prix, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Championships, and Pan American Games.

C-level competitions are

called Opens, and participants vary from novices to high-ranked competitors, while D-level competitions are primarily for novices and non-internationally ranked competitors. Age categories are also essential in determining the quality of a judo competition. The Cadet category includes athletes aged 15-17, Juniors aged 15-21, and Seniors aged 17+. There are internationally ranked competitions for all age categories, and weight categories differ for each category. The level of an athlete is another critical factor in determining the quality of a judo competition. Factors that can help determine an athlete’s level include the number of training hours, quality of training, training partners’ international competition experience, gym work, strength and cardio maximums, and competition records. In conclusion, determining the quality of a judo competition requires consideration of several factors, including the number of athletes in the division, weight categories, calibre of athletes, level of competition, age categories, and athlete level. Athletes who can effectively assess these factors are better equipped to make informed decisions about which competitions to participate in, and can improve their chances of success.

CYNTHIA Rahming

STOCKS RISE ON WALL STREET AND BREAK A 4-DAY LOSING STREAK

By STAN CHOE

AP Business Writer

STOCKS climbed Thursday after a see-saw day on Wall Street to break out of their longest losing streak since December.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% for its first gain in five days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 108 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%.

Tech stocks helped lead the way after Nvidia reported better results for the latest quarter than expected. Its shares jumped 14% after it also gave a forecast for upcoming revenue that topped some analysts’ expectations. It cited recovering strength in video gaming and demand for artificial intelligence products.

It’s a turnaround for tech and high-growth stocks, which have struggled recently because of worries about rising interest rates.

They’re seen as some of the most vulnerable as the Federal Reserve jacks rates

higher in hopes of stamping out inflation. High rates hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the riskiest, most expensive or whose big growth is furthest out in the future. They also raise the risk of a recession because they slow the economy.

After leaping in January, stocks broadly have slammed into a wall this month on worries that inflation isn’t cooling as quickly or as smoothly as hoped. A lengthening list of reports have shown the economy is in stronger shape than expected.

While that’s raised hopes about avoiding a recession in the near term, it’s also forced Wall Street to raise its forecasts for how high the Fed will take interest rates and then how long it will keep them there.

The latest economic data released on Thursday also suggested an economy with enough strength to encourage the Fed to press on with its “higher for longer”

campaign on rates. The fear is that a strong economy could feed into upward pressure on inflation.

Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, another indication that the job market remains resilient despite the fastest increase in rates in decades.

A separate report said the U.S. economy’s growth was likely a touch weaker in the last three months of 2022 than earlier estimated. But it still grew at a 2.7% annual rate.

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, said stronger economic data going back to the jobs report at the start of the month pushed him to add one more rate hike to his forecast before the Fed takes a pause. He also pushed out how long he thinks it may take the S&P 500 to get to his target level of 4,575. Instead of thinking it could happen by the end of this year, he thinks it could be 12 months from now.

“The bond market has been pretty pessimistic right from the start, assuming that inflation would be higher for longer, that we do have the likelihood of a recession,” Stovall said.

“Our belief is that it probably won’t be a repeat of the Great Recession. In terms of timing, it could actually be fairly similar to the recession of 2001. It could end up being fairly short and happens 14 months after the start of the bear market” for stocks.

Wall Street’s heightened expectations for rates and the Fed have been most evident in the bond market, where Treasury yields have shot higher this month.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Manhattan federal court in New York, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. The FTX founder returned to a New York courtroom for the second time in two weeks to explain why he keeps accessing parts of the internet that the government can’t monitor and how it might affect his bail.

They eased a bit on Thursday to take some of the pressure off stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans, dipped to 3.88% from 3.93% late Wednesday.

Earlier this week, it topped 3.95% as it raced toward its highest level since November.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Moderna, whose shares slid 6.7% after it reported its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 70% as COVID-19 vaccine sales fell and the drugmaker caught up on a royalty payment.

FTX’s

Domino’s Pizza dropped 11.7% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and it lowered the top and bottom ends of its forecasted range for global sales growth in the next two to three years.

Lordstown Motors tumbled 11.4% to $1.09 after it said it’s temporarily halting production and deliveries of its Endurance electric pickup due to performance and quality issues with certain components.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 21.27 points to 4,012.32.

The Dow added 108.82 to 33,153,91, and the Nasdaq climbed 83.33 to 11,590.40.

Bankman-Fried

faces new charges in updated indictment

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

FTX founder Sam

Bankman-Fried faced new fraud charges Thursday, as prosecutors accused him of cheating thousands of investors out of billions of dollars while casting himself as a trustworthy “savior of the cryptocurrency industry” — an image boosted by celebrity-studded Super Bowl advertising and big donations to political figures.

New charges, including securities fraud and conspiracy fraud counts, were unveiled with the unsealing of the refreshed indictment in Manhattan federal court.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams hinted, as he has several times previously, that prosecutors were not finished building their case.

“We are hard at work and will remain so until justice is done,” he said.

A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried’s attorneys declined comment.

The new charges raised the prison sentence Bankman-Fried could face if convicted from 115 years to 155 years, authorities said.

It also boosted the number of counts in the indictment to 12, as prosecutors more thoroughly and eloquently told their story of what happened to FTX, Bankman-Fried’s global cryptocurrency exchange, and its affiliated cryptocurrency trading hedge fund, Alameda Research.

The description cast FTX customers, investors, financial institutions, lenders and the Federal Election Commission as victims of fraudulent schemes Bankman-Fried allegedly carried out from 2019 until last November.

Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to support the operations and investments of FTX and Alameda and to fund speculative venture investments, make charitable donations and spend tens of millions of dollars on illegal campaign donations to Democrats and Republicans in an attempt to buy influence over cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.

They said Bankman-Fried cast himself as a “figurehead of a trustworthy and law-abiding segment of the cryptocurrency industry” that sought to protect investors and clients.

“As recently as late 2022, Bankman-Fried boasted about FTX’s profits and portrayed himself as a savior of the cryptocurrency

industry, making venture investments and acquisitions purportedly to assist struggling industry participants,” the new indictment says.

Meanwhile, he spent millions of dollars on celebrity advertisements during the 2022 Super Bowl that promoted FTX as the “safest and easiest way to buy and sell crypto” and “the most trusted way to buy and sell” digital assets, it states.

In reality, prosecutors wrote, Bankman-Fried routinely tapped FTX customer assets to provide interest-free capital for his and Alameda’s private expenditures and in the process “exposed FTX customers to massive, undisclosed risk.” They said Bankman-Fried controlled both companies and “used them to prop each other up, notwithstanding conflicts of interest and outright lies to the contrary.”

It was not known when Bankman-Fried would return to Manhattan for an arraignment. Twice in the last two weeks, he has appeared in court after prosecutors expressed concern that he might be communicating online in ways they cannot trace. They have also said his communications indicate that he might be trying to influence a witness with incriminating evidence against him.

A judge is deciding how to toughen BankmanFried’s bail requirements to prevent any improper communications. Last week, he even suggested that Bankman-Fried might have to be incarcerated prior to trial if his communications cannot be monitored to ensure he is not tampering with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried has already pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits at FTX, his cryptocurrency platform. The charges accuse him of diverting money from his investors in part to finance political donations and make risky trades through his cryptocurrency trading hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas in December and was brought to the United States soon afterward. FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, when it ran out of money after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run.

He is free on a $250 million personal recognizance bond. The bail arrangement allows him to live with electronic monitoring at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

TRADERS work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. Photo:Seth Wenig/AP

Photo:John Minchillo/AP

Failed Lucayan sale to cost taxpayers $9.1m

focus to the selling price and instead make sure we get a sustainable operator and get it open because of the amount of money lost to the economy over the past six-and-a-half years.

“It’s not easy to open a hotel that has been dead for six-and-a-half years.

When you ask people who know this stuff how much it will cost to redevelop it, the numbers are all over the place. Nobody knows what they’re going to find....

If we’re going to spend all that money on the airport, then we’re going to need to have the hotel rooms to put the guests in that are flying into the airport.

“It’s a stool with three legs. It’s the Grand Lucayan, it’s the airport, and to create the airlift.

If you don’t have one of them... having a new airport and the Grand Lucayan open, and not having airlift, you’re not going to solve the problem. And you’re not going to get airlift without the airport. Those are the three legs: Airport, airlift and the Grand Lucayan.”

Multiple Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have revealed that a

major New York-based real estate investment firm has been locked in talks with the Davis administration over the Grand Lucayan’s potential purchase in the months following the Electra America deal’s failure. It is understood that the prospective buyer was initially a possible financing partner for Electra America, but it moved into the negotiating seat once the latter withdrew and has been seeking to acquire the resort itself. “I know there was a real estate firm out

of New York,” one contact said. “They were some of the finance people behind the Electra deal, and when they did not get the numbers to work, they looked at doing it themselves. I know their people were coming and going up until a few weeks ago.”

Meanwhile, another Freeport business contact said the increased 20222023 Budget subsidy for the Grand Lucayan should be a signal to the Government that it rapidly needs to find an exit route. “What that

tells me is that they need to find someone to give that hotel to,” they said. “You have got to know when to say when, and it’s now the time to say when. Hire it out, agree a price to redevelop it.

“What it tells me is clearly there’s no buyer in sight, and if that’s the case we have a real issue here that nobody wants to think about. It makes no sense whatsoever to keep it. It’s a loss leader.”

The Government appears to have made more progress in finding a partner

‘Heavy spending’ led to deficit rise

FROM PAGE A24

However, he argued that the fact the half-year deficit hit $285.7m, representing some 50.6 percent of the forecast full-year amount and a $7.8m year-over-year rise, was merely a “timing related” issue and will not be repeated during the year’s final six months to end-June.

“We’ve had some very heavy expenditure commitments that had to be done in October as well as December, mainly related to debt obligations,” Mr Halkitis explained of the deficit outcome for the six months to end-December 2022. “This period we are now in is when the bulk of the revenues come in, and the heavy commitments we’ve seen have been taken care of and spending will not be as much.

“So we should see an even better Budget performance in the second half of the year. We look at performance, we are looking at trends. We are on track and we are moving in the

right direction.” Tribune Business reported yesterday that the Government is projecting a slight increase in its 2022-2023 full-year Budget deficit compared to the Budget estimates last May, with the gap widening by $11.4m to $575.4m.

However, as a percentage of economic output (gross domestic product), the full-year deficit remains at 4.3 percent. The Government is also holding to its medium-term fiscal and economic forecasts over the next three years, projecting that the deficit will shrink to $125.3m or 0.9 percent of GDP in 2023-2024 before being converted into a $278.8m surplus the following year.

“The main takes that came out of the mid-year Budget are that revenues are performing exceptionally well, by and large we are containing our costs, and we are largely on target to meet our 4.3 percent deficit projection for the full year, and very optimistic that we will meet or exceed

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL PUBLIC NOTICE

The Public is hereby advised that I, DELLIANA DIANA BURROWS of #39 Jackfish Drive, Carmichael Road P.O Box N3408 Nassau, Bahamas, intend to change my name to DELLIANNA DAINA HARDY If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that DEVANO ASHTON HENDFIELD of General Delivery Sea Grape, Eight Mile Rock, Freeport, Grand Bahama. is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that JOEL DIEUFORT OLIBRICE of Hay Street, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

that target,” Mr Halkitis said.

“We are on the right track, and the news is positive. Anyone saying the deficit is up, that’s timing related. We are fully confident we will meet our projections. More revenue comes in in the second half [of the fiscal year], and we will not have all the heavy spending obligations.”

The Government typically earns the bulk of its revenues during the fiscal year’s second half, which is the January-June period, as this coincides with a spike in economic activity due to the peak winter tourism season, the payment of Business Licence fees and the majority of real property taxes, and commercial vehicle licensing month.

However, successive administrations have always been unable to control the spike in expenditure that typically occurs in May and June, as multiple ministries, departments and agencies race to settle outstanding bills before the

fiscal year-end. The deficit for the 2021-2022 fiscal year spiked by $318.7m in June 2022, which represented over 46 percent of the fullyear amount.

And, while revenues have increased, their first-half performance having been up a comparative period when the economy was re-opening and COVID restrictions still applied, this has been more than matched by rising expenditure. As a result, the revenue gains gave effectively been cancelled out, as shown by the fact the Government is forecasting that recurrent expenditure will increase by $76.5m to over $3bn for the full fiscal year compared to a $53m revenue rise.

“We resolved not to have any tax increases,” Mr Halkitis said of the Government’s plans. “It’s a multi-year strategy of the Government to restore the country’s finances by growing the economy, having improved revenue administration meaning we do

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, VIVELANE MYRTIL, VIVELANE DELIVERANCE, VIVELANE DELIVRANCE AND VIVELANE DORISCA are one and the same person of #14 Carribean Gardens off Gladstone Road, New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name to VIVELANE DORISCA If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that DIEUDONNE CEPOUDY DOLCE of Mango Street, New Providence, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that NELLIN ANDRE of Porkfish Drive, Solider Road, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

to finance, construct and manage a new Grand Bahama International Airport. Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, indicated earlier this week that a finalised public-private partnership (PPP) deal may be close, saying that final terms on a contract were being pinned down. No further details were revealed, although Tribune Business previously revealed that the preferred bidder appeared to be a group featuring CFAL’s

a better job of collecting taxes that are due, containing costs and finding new revenue sources. That’s the whole carbon credit discussion. We are gradually moving in that direction of sustainable finances.”

Again responding to Opposition charges that the Government’s fiscal forecasts are optimistic, he added: “Yes, they are optimistic, but every projection we’ve made since coming to office we’ve made sure we’ve not only met them but beaten them. We’ve met or beaten every single projection made.”

The mid-year Budget, though, revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs’ recurrent Budget allocation of $6.149m for food security - a topic much-touted by the Davis administration - has been cut by more than 50 percent, which has

president, Anthony Ferguson, and Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM) chairman Tony Myers, together with the company itself. Manchester Airport Group out of the UK were said to be the operating partner.

“I see that there is work there, and every week a few things are being done,” Mr Alnebeck added. “That’s encouraging because at least they are tackling the low-hanging fruit and fixing that. The airport is looking better, looking nice and that’s good.”

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader and Marco City MP, yesterday suggested that the $9.1m extra subsidy that the Government is making available to the Grand Lucayan is unlikely to cover the remainder of the fiscal year. “We know that the expenses for the hotel are increasing,” he said. “$9.1m is really a small amount.

“They’ll have to go to the Budget to continue to fund that unless they cut back on the staff they have in place. We expect that figure to increase. I think the $9.1m is likely to run out before they get someone to pick up the salaries.”

shrunk this by $3.098m to some $3.051m. These monies appear to have been reallocated to the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC), which has seen its subsidy expanded by $2.081m to $7.081m, and the Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), whose taxpayer support has been expanded by $1.15m to $7.626m. It is unclear whether these two agencies will now have responsibility for food security.

The Ministry of Public Service has enjoyed the largest mid-year Budget reallocation of $25.511m. Some $15.8m, or over 60 percent, of this sum is to cover office rental costs and National Insurance Board (NIB) lease agreements, with a further $6.18m dedicated to pension payments to public officials. These will now increase to over $130m for the year.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that YONATHAN JEAN TILES of Bamboo Town, South Beach, New Providence, The Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ISSOUFOU TINTO of #13 Orchard Terrance, Village Road New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that ALFRED JERINNG VILSON of Fox Hill, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 24th day of February, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

GRAND LUCAYAN

FTX investors target Bahamas bank in suit

Also named as defendant was Moonstone Bank, the 26th smallest financial institution in the US, which is also headed by Mr Chalopin. “Defendants Deltec, Moonstone and Jean Chalopin primarily assisted Sam Bankman-Fried in trafficking class member funds across the US border,” the lawsuit alleged.

“Defendant Deltec, at Mr Chalopin’s direction, provided one-of-a-kind digital asset banking services to FTX and, upon information and belief, served as a primary vehicle through which Sam BankmanFried routed class member funds offshore beyond the reach of US regulators and law enforcement.

“Defendant Moonstone, also at the direction of Mr Chalopin, provided complementary services, assisting Sam Bankman-Fried in funnelling more than $50m in class member funds to entities he separately owned through accounts at the bank.”

Describing Mr Chalopin as a crypto industry veteran, the class action lawsuit continued: “As the chief executive of Deltec, he spent years assisting the Bahamian government in ‘transform[ing] the country into a sandbox for digital asset start-ups’. Through these efforts, Mr Chalopin developed close ties to FTX.

“With FTX, Deltec cohosted a crypto summit in The Bahamas, at which Mr Chalopin touted that ‘Deltec has been a longtime friend of FTX, and it is our pleasure to support

them’. FTX, in turn, was a great friend of Deltec. In October 2021, Deltec’s parent company, Deltec International Group, received a $50m loan from Norton Hall Ltd, an entity controlled by Ryan Salame, chief executive of FTX’s Bahamian outfit.

“From its long-standing, close ties with FTX, Deltec gained an awareness of FTX’s fraud. Nevertheless, Deltec, at Mr Chalopin’s direction, assisted FTX in moving class member funds offshore,” the lawsuit continued. “These funds included, upon information and belief, not only class members’ US dollar deposits, but also class members’ cryptocurrencies, as Deltec is one of few banks that offer the services necessary to do that, including banking and taking custody of cryptocurrencies, as well as trading, lending and borrowing digital assets.”

Class action lawsuits or often difficult to sustain, and sometimes hard to stand up in court. But, while Deltec and Mr Chalopin are vigorously contesting and denying the allegations against them, the action’s filing represents a blow to their efforts to put as much distance as possible between themselves, Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX’s collapse.

The Lyford Cay-based institution, which has aggressively embraced the digital assets evolution by setting up its Delchain subsidiary to target this area, previously denied that its purchase of Ansbacher (Bahamas), which closed at end-March 2022, was

funded at least in part with financing from FTX. It then doubled down on this position with a November 14, 2022, statement posted to its website. “FTX did not provide any services to or hold any assets for the bank,” it reiterated. “Deltec Bank does not hold or trade any digital assets for its own account or on behalf of its clients. Therefore, there is no credit or asset exposure by the bank to FTX.”

However, Wednesday’s class action lawsuit reproduced a purported social media exchange that took place between Mr Bankman-Fried and an FTX client on January 13, 2021, where the latter was inquiring about the crypto exchange’s relationship with Deltec.

“OK... so you are not wiring money to Deltec,” the client wrote. “Then how are you funding your account at Deltec if you are not wiring money to Deltec?” To this, Mr Bankman-Fried cryptically replied: “Correspondent banks.” The class action lawsuit then focused on Mr Chalopin’s efforts to obtain funding from FTX for his US bank, Moonstone.

“Janvier Chalopin, Moonstone’s chief digital officer and Mr Chalopin’s son, reports that they ‘pitched [Alameda Research] the whole road map’ to invest in Moonstone, which he claimed would fill ‘the massive gap in banking in the US for digital assets businesses’,” the lawsuit said, referring to Mr Bankman-Fried’s trading vehicle. “The Chalopins succeeded. In January 2022, Alameda invested $11.5m

in Moonstone - nearly double the bank’s net worth at the time.

“Moonstone was not always flush with such large inflows of capital. Until recently, Moonstone was the 26th smallest of 4,800 banks in the US with a single branch in Farmington, Washington, a town of only 150 residents. In 2010, the bank’s president bragged that it did not offer credit cards and held more deposits than loans outstanding.

“That changed in 2020 when Mr Chalopin purchased Moonstone, purportedly to support the ‘underserved cannabis industry’, and now serves as its chairman and chief executive. Upon Alameda’s investment in Moonstone, Moonstone promptly applied, and was approved, to become a member of the Federal Reserve,” the complaint continued.

“With that, FTX gained access to a third point of entry to the US banking system, and FTX promptly took advantage of these services, depositing $50m in class member funds across two accounts. At the time of the fraud’s collapse, FTX was Moonstone’s largest customer, and Moonstone, for its part, benefited tremendously from this quid pro quo.

“With FTX’s accounts, Moonstone’s deposits jumped to $71m in the third quarter of 2020, a 600 percent increase from Moonstone’s historical average. In pursuit of continued growth and unprecedented profits, Moonstone, at the direction of Mr Chalopin, gladly took

action in furtherance of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud.”

The Bahamian provisional liquidators for FTX Digital Markets, the crypto exchange’s local subsidiary, are presently seeking to recover the $50m deposited with Moonstone after the funds were seized by the US Justice Department. They are presently negotiating with the latter for the funds’ return after recently obtaining Chapter 15 legal status and recognition from the Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

The class action lawsuit, meanwhile, alleged that the close ties between Mr Bankman-Fried, and Deltec and Mr Chalopin, meant the latter knew “FTX was misappropriating class member funds by funnelling them through accounts under Sam BankmanFried’s control at Deltec and Moonstone.

“Nevertheless, Deltec and Moonstone took overt acts in furtherance of the FTX fraud, with Moonstone providing FTX access to the US banking system, and effecting transfers of class member funds into accounts under Sam Bankman-Fried’s control, and Deltec, in turn, helping Sam BankmanFried fence class member funds, including those held in accounts at Silvergate, Signature and Moonstone, across the US border and beyond the reach of US law enforcement.

“Sam BankmanFried could not have perpetuated the fraud without these services.”

Mr O’Keefe and other former FTX clients behind the lawsuit are demanding

Loss-making SOEs: You’ll ‘pay one way or another’

FROM PAGE A24

persons pay proportionately more of their earnings in taxes.

“The reality is we have to ask ourselves: Is it throwing good money after bad, and is there an ability to cap these sorts of black holes?” he asked of loss-making SOEs. The 2022-2023 midyear Budget reaffirmed that, combined with $588.988m in forecast interest payments to service the Government’s debt, the $492.24m in taxpayer subsidies total some $1.08bn - more than onethird, or $1 out of every $3, of the Government’s $3bn recurrent spending.

Noting that the likes of the Water & Sewerage Corporation, Bahamasair and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) are the major subsidy drains on the Public Treasury, Mr Bowe nevertheless said all were “essential public services” that somehow must be funded. In the case of the first two, he contrasted them with the telecommunications

sector, saying no independent, competitive markets had emerged in those areas.

“If we are in a situation where the only way these essential services can be provided is through effectively pumping subsidies into SOEs, the question arises: Are they services being provided at the appropriate market rate? We are paying for it one way or another,” he told Tribune Business.

“Is is more appropriate to pay for it via a demand use charge or a direct taxpayer charge where the latter may not all be persons using the service.

“They still have to subsidise it. We are taking the approach everyone has to pay and they may not all be the consumers.” One example is the Water & Sewerage Corporation, which received a further $20m subsidy in the 2022-2023 mid-year Budget, taking total taxpayer support for the year to $54m to finance both its capital projects and bills due to its reverse osmosis suppliers.

Not all Bahamians use the Corporation’s services due to the proliferation of private wells. And an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study of key public expenditure areas, dated February 2022 but only recently released, confirmed what has long been known - that both Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) and the Water & Sewerage Corporation are selling their products at prices below the cost of production, resulting in consistent heavy losses. The latter has not seen a tariff rise since 1999 despite the impact of inflation on its input costs.

Successive administrations, particularly in the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s case, have preferred that taxpayers subsidise the cost for Bahamian consumers. “The decision has to be made: What is the recovery at market rate, and can we ultimately engage private management that is competent and open these

areas and wean them off government support in the provision of these services,” Mr Bowe asked.

Arguing that The Bahamas “needs to move past the cliche” of private-public partnership (PPP)” to where such arrangements are implemented in practice, he said annual pledges to cut subsidies to loss-making SOEs were little more than “idle promises” when it came to those providing essential services because consumers cannot afford for them to be cut-off.

And, due to the regressive nature of the Bahamian tax system, the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said: “It will be the less fortunate individual subsidising those more fortunate because they are not directly targeting the subvention. To provide it they are taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to the users of these enterprises.”

Mr Bowe added that The Bahamas has to “mature as a society”, and become familiar with the terms “you get what you pay for” and “render unto Caesar what is due to Caesar”. This means Bahamians have “to stop

crying about paying taxes” if they want to properly fund the public services they desire to receive.

“If you want electricity, water and airlift and not put them in the private sector, we can’t complain about the price we have to pay,” he said. “It’s not all on the Government. We as citizens have responsibilities. We have complained about bad policymaking or the results, but have not taken action as responsible citizens to improve it.”

The majority of the SOE increase is an extra $20m allocated to the Water & Sewerage Corporation to help pay bills due to its reverse osmosis suppliers. Another $3m is being provided to the Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority, taking its total subsidy for 2022-2023 to $27m, while the University of The Bahamas is to receive a further $5.2m in taxpayer subventions.

The Airport Authority, too, is to receive an additional $4m to help cover its “operating expenses”, which will bring its subsidy to $12.542m. The increases unveiled in the

that the matter go to a jury trial. This newspaper previously reported that FTX and entities controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried held no fewer than 17 accounts with Deltec Bank & Trust. Documents produced by John Ray, the FTX Trading chief, disclosed that the latter entity held just one account at Deltec.

However, a further nine were said to be in the name of Alameda Research, the trading/hedge fund entity controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried, and which is thought to have played a central role in the crypto exchange’s implosion.

The remaining seven Deltec accounts were in the name of West Realm Shires Services, a Delaware-based entity also majority-controlled by Mr Bankman-Fried together with fellow FTX cofounder, Gary Wang, and the crypto exchange’s engineering head, Nishad Singh. The 17 Deltec accounts were held in a variety of currencies, including US dollars, euros, Swiss francs, Canadian and Australian dollars, and the UK pound sterling.

Mr Chalopin, who initially made his fortune as the creator of the Inspector Gadget cartoons, also enabled the Albany project in south-west New Providence by selling a key estate parcel to its developers that was often referred to as the property behind ‘the long pink wall’. He was among the speakers at the Crypto Bahamas conference that was staged by Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX last year.

supplementary Budget represent a reversal of the Minnis administration’s plan to cut SOR subsidies by a collective $100m over three years, and are heading in a different direction from that unveiled by the Government’s recently-published Fiscal Strategy Report.

To enable a $38.278m increase in the Ministry of Education’s capital budget, so as to facilitate school repairs and new construction, cuts have been made elsewhere. The Ministry of Works and Utilities’ capital budget has been slashed by some $20m to $101.399m, with cut backs in areas such as building maintenance, bridge repairs, road repairs, ports and docks, water and airport infrastructure. The $20m cut matches the increased Water & Sewerage subsidy.

The Ministry of Finance’s capital works budget, too, has been lowered by some $18.069m. Small and medium-sized business support has been cut by 50 percent, from $8m to $4m, although financing to aid this sector is contained elsewhere in the Budget. And funds earmarked for Family Island capital development have been reduced by $10m - from $12m to $2m.

CIBC PROFITS DROP 15% ON INFLATION, PROVISIONS

A BISX-listed bank has blamed a combination of inflationary pressures and $22m year-over-year increase in loan loss provisions for a near-15 percent decline in its 2022 full-year profitability.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas), in its annual report for the year to end-October 2022, said inflation helped produce a $5m increase in operating expenses compared to 2021 along with higher expenses related to “strategic business and infrastructure investments”.

And, while it had enjoyed the “partial release” of COVID-19 related loan loss provisions in its 2021 financial year, the commercial lender said changed modelling and “credit migration” forced it to incur a $22m charge in the 12 months to end-October 2022. This

offset a $3m increase in net interest income, driven by higher US interest rates and securities portfolio growth, and an $11m operating rise due to foreign exchange and other fee-based activities.

Jacqui Band, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) managing director, told shareholders: “For the year ended October 31, 2022, the bank reported net income of $70.2m, a decrease of $12m or 15 percent from prior year’s net income of $82.2m.”

Turning to initiatives launched during the year, she said these had largely focused on customer service and digitisation.

“Early in the fiscal year we launched the Client Resolution Centre, a self-service online portal that allows clients to lodge complaints or compliments and have

these addressed through a structured process with executive oversight,” Ms Band said.

“Further, the system gives us a data set for analysis and to observe trends. We can quickly put our finger on a systemic issue and drive resolution. With our digital transformation well underway and much of our core digital infrastructure in place, our focus is shifting to continuous improvement and growth. During the year, the Bank deployed an additional 14 Smart ABMs across The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos that count currency notes and give instant value for cash deposits.

“We introduced QR codes to mobile banking, which facilitate quick and easy personto-person payments. For corporate online, we made

enhancements to improve administration, bill presentment and cheque image display among general user experience and performance enhancements.

“Toward the end of the fiscal year, we introduced our Digital Loan Store, an automated platform that allows borrowers to complete an online loan application and, once approved, receive the funds in less than 15 minutes.”

Breaking down its performance into segments, CIBC FirstCaribbean said revenues in its retail and business banking division increased from $88m to $101m year-over-year in 2022. However, net income dropped by $7m or 21.9 percent, dropping from $32m in 2021 to $25m.

“Total revenues increased year-on-year by $13m or 15 percent primarily due to

lower fund transfer pricing (FTP) cost on loans and higher foreign exchange earnings, deposit services and cards services income, partially offset by lower performing loans income.

Net income decreased yearon-year by $7m driven by higher provision for credit losses, net of the higher revenues,” the bank said.

Moving to its corporate and investment banking niche, while revenues rose year-over-year from $82m to $88m, profits were relatively flat - rising by only $1m to $54m. “Total revenues increased year-on-year by $6m or 7 percent primarily due to higher deposit, credit and card services fee income and higher foreign exchange earnings,” CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) said.

DISNEY TO HOST ELEUTHERA CONSTRUCTION SAFETY FAIR

DISNEY Cruise Line (DCL) yesterday said it is teaming with its main contractor to host a construction safety fair on Eleuthera this Saturday from 10am to 3pm.

The Lighthouse Point developer, in a statement, said the event at the Eleuthera Business Hub is targeted at Bahamians wanting to learn more about the construction industry and job safety.

It is partnering with its main contractor, American Bridge (Bahamas), as well as the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce and Bahamian Contractors Association, in staging the workshop.

Representatives from Walt Disney Imagineering and American Bridge, the design-builder for Lighthouse Point project, will share construction industry best practices as well as provide free training on

ways to help keep employees safe at work.

“Safety is top of mind for everything we do at Disney,” said Steve Norton, senior construction manager, Walt Disney Imagineering. “As we build a new experience at Lighthouse Point, we’re looking forward to bringing this group together so we can share best safety practices with the community and connect with local contractors.”

Bahamian vendors will be available at several stations throughout the fair, offering training on personal protection equipment (PPE), fall protection demonstrations, first aid training, fire safety instruction, and small tool and ladder safety training as well as environmental training related to the recycling of construction materials. Free blood pressure screenings will also be available.

“Net income increased $1m year-on-year due to the higher revenues partially offset by higher internal expense allocations and a smaller net credit loss expense release.” On the wealth management side, revenues rose from $10m to $13m, and losses fell by 60 percent year-over-yearreducing from $5m to $2m.

“Total revenues increased year-on-year by $3m or 33 percent as a result of higher FTP earnings on deposits due to the higher interest rate environment and higher foreign exchange earnings,” CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) said. “Net loss declined $3m year-on-year primarily due to as the higher FTP earnings.”

“It’s important for us to be part of the communities where American Bridge operates, and The Bahamas has welcomed us here for many years,” said Rob Conroy, of American Bridge Bahamas. “This event is an opportunity for us to share our expertise in workplace safety and provide Bahamians with valuable information they can use at work and at home.”

In addition to free safety training, attendees will have the opportunity to apply for contractor positions and learn more about local construction jobs. Other event partners include the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI), Small Business Development Centre/Access Accelerator, Family Medical Centre and the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

First-ever yacht show to boost Bahamas potential

By FAY SIMMONS jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A BROKER yesterday voiced optimism that the first-ever Bahamas Charter Yacht Show will draw more focus to this nation’s rising potential as a boating destination.

Paul Flannery, the International Yacht Brokers Association’s chief operating officer, said the

event had already become the largest of its kind in the Caribbean given the number of vessels and yacht brokers present.

“We’re excited about the show. It’s our first show here. We have 47 boats and almost 100 brokers registered, which is the largest show in the area. The expectations are that we bring more attention to the opportunities here in The Bahamas to charter

some of the finest yachts in the world,” he added.

The inaugural Bahamas Charter Yacht Show is being held through a partnership between the International Yacht Brokers, Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) and the Ministry of Tourism. It is being staged at four major New Providence marinas - Bay Street Marina, Nassau Yacht Haven, The Pointe and

‘Abundance of caution’ in $232m loan clean-up

FROM PAGE A22

former by the Central Bank cannot exceed 30 percent of the Government’s “average” or “estimated” revenue - a sum around $800m-$900m.

Mr Thompson, meanwhile, queried why the Government had been in such a hurry to gain access to the SDRs without “first coming to Parliament” to make the necessary legal changes. He effectively accused the Davis administration of a backwards process, where it borrowed first and then obtained the

necessary legal authority after the event.

“What was the urgent need for you to break the law without first coming to Parliament? That means there was a serious situation that the Government found itself in which caused them to disregard the law,” he argued.

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, revealed to Tribune Business in early January that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the monetary policy regulator and Ministry of Finance

stipulated the Davis administration must change the Central Bank Act to facilitate the SDR transaction.

Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, previously said the MoU would provide the Government with access to financing that was an estimated 700 basis points below prevailing market rates. He argued that this seven percentage point differential could generate close to $20m in annual interest savings for hardpressed Bahamian taxpayers compared to the likely rates

Hurricane Hole Superyacht Marina.

The event aims to show showcase to brokers, yacht charter firms and boaters the variety of experiences they can enjoy in The Bahamas. Mr Flannery said: “Clients can come in from all over the world, base here in Nassau and travel to the beautiful Out Island experiences that are available up in the Abacos, through Eleuthera, down in the

if the Government had to borrow in the international capital markets.

Mr Wilson also argued that the Government’s SDR borrowing was aligned with the IMF’s stated reason for issuing them, which was their use for “fiscal purposes”. It emerged in the Government’s December 2022 fiscal report that the full $232.3m had been drawn down by the Davis administration that month, classifying this as “bank loans” or part of some $250m in “foreign currency loans”.

The Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary confirmed that the $232.3m was used to repay $180m in foreign currency borrowings, leaving $52.3m unused. He also indicated that the SDRs were encashed and monetised.

Exumas, and down further into the Out Islands of Cat Island, Crooked [Island], Acklins, Long Island and Rum Cay.

“So there’s a lot of adventure, a lot to be seen, a lot to do. And it’s super easy to get here. So that’s why we’re inviting people to see what it’s all about.” Event sponsors include Graycliff, Baha Mar, Nassau Yacht

Haven and Margaritaville. Mr Flannery said: “The businesses that recognise the value of the charter industry have been very, very supportive of the show.

“We also have representatives in from all over The Bahamas on the different islands and the marinas there, so we have great participation from all around the islands.”

N O T I C E

Martha’s Vineyard Corporation INC

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act, (no. 45 of 2000) as follows:

(a) Martha’s Vineyard Corporation INC (the “Company”) is in dissolution under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, 2000.

(b) The dissolution of the said Company commenced on the 22nd day of February, 2023 when its Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.

(c) The Liquidator of the said Company is Ms. Jonell Rolle.

Dated the 22nd day of February, 2023.

THE AUDLEY C. KEMP SR. ESTATE BENEFICIARIES

All Beneficiaries are asked to contact Ms. Sydnease Rolle for arrangements to be made to obtain a copy of the report. Identification must be provided.

603-1022/805-3976

DISNEY LIGHTHOUSE POINT

with experience in the grocery business should apply must be energetic, organized and detail oriented.

BUSINESS LICENCES: MORE THAN

MORE than 10,000 Business Licences have been issued within the past week, a Cabinet minister said yesterday, as he sought to reassure the private sector that “steady progress is being made” in processing their applications.

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told the Prime Minister’s Office media briefing that the vast majority of Business Licence renewal submissions - around 19,000m - have either been issued or approved with the Department of Inland Revenue just waiting for payment of the relevant fee.

Seeking to counter suggestions that Business

Licence renewals are being impeded by bureaucracy and red tape, and demands for small businesses to produce information verifying their annual turnover, the figures he quoted indicated that the Government is making progress after just 3,000 were said to have been issued and approved one week ago.

Mr Halkitis said: “I can tell you now that we have 13,468 that have been issued; that’s completely closed, approved and issued. We have another 5,597 that just have been approved, but awaiting payment. So if we add those two together, we will get just under [sic; over] 19,000.

“We have 9,859 where some additional information has been requested, and we’re just waiting on information. We have 1,166 to review from Wednesday,

so I’m sure that number is lower, and we’ve had 651 cases rejected and that have to come back. Steady progress is being made.”

Concerns have been voiced over the Department of Inland Revenue’s requirement that corporate tenants provide their landlord’s real property tax assessment number when submitting their Business Licence renewals, as the Government seeks to implement a series of cross-checks to determine whether taxpayers are complying with their obligations. If the assessment number cannot be obtained, tenants then must provide their landlord’s name and their own location/address.

Mr Halkitis also previously said the Department of Inland Revenue was not requiring small businesses with an annual turnover

WITHIN PAST WEEK

of less than $100,000 - and which have to pay zero such fees - to provide income statements as proof of turnover. This newspaper had been informed that the agency is asking, postsubmission, for figures such as revenue and gross profit in checking the accuracy of turnover figures provided to it. The minister said yesterday: “I would just like to make one point here, because we’ve seen a lot of feedback, and it has entered the political realm where people are talking about why are we requiring people to present certain information. And I’d just like to say this: It’s the duty of the department to do their due diligence, to make sure that the information being presented to them is correct.

“They use their discretion with that, but I should say that the way forward for business is to be in the position where you are keeping your records, and you have records of your revenue and records of the expenditure because that’s the way to know whether your business is profitable.”

“We should not look at it as the Department of Inland Revenue imposing measures on people, but just as sort of a reinforcement of what good business practices are, whether it’s a small business, medium business, the start-up business or a large business.”

Mr Halkitis said the Department of Inland Revenue is in the process of creating “customer service units” that will cater to businesses of all sizes - from the largest to the smallest - in a bid to improve

Gov’t seeking end to price control ‘combat’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE GOVERNMENT wants to avoid “a combative relationship” with the food distribution industry as it seeks to determine what the industry’s price controls will be once the expanded regime ends on April 17.

Michael Halkitis, minister for economic affairs, yesterday told the Prime Minister’s Office’s media briefing that the Government hoped to come to “a meeting of the minds” with food retailers and wholesalers over a more “permanent” solution to the price control

controversy that erupted last October when the Government expanded regulation without prior industry consultation.

“That expanded list goes until April 17. Between now and then we’ll seek to come to some meeting of the minds on a permanent expanded list or permanent solution. We’ve been discussing the matter, and we have been assessing some of the impact, and some of our people have been having meetings, gauging the impact on what has been happening and getting some feedback - particularly from small operators - and trying to figure out what is best going forward,” he said.

“What is the best formula going forward? Because,

frankly, what we found is that it tends to impact the smaller retailers more than the bigger retailers, so going forward we have to figure out a way to balance that out.”

Food merchants and their wholesale suppliers last year warned that the 38 selected categories for expanded price controls included more than 5,000 product line items, and would lead to between 40-60 percent of a retailer’s inventory becoming price controlled with mark-ups below their cost of sales. This would result in a large portion, or the majority, of their inventory being sold at a loss. Besides threatening hundreds of industry jobs, and the very survival of many operators,

‘Abundance of caution’ in $232m loan clean-up

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister

yesterday said the Central Bank Act is being “cleaned

up out of an abundance of caution” to ensure the Government can lawfully borrow the $232.3m IMF special drawing rights (SDRs).

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told

the Prime Minister’s Office media briefing that there were “varying opinions” as to whether the Act needed to be reformed to facilitate a transaction whose legality has repeatedly been challenged by the Opposition

the Retail Grocers Association and its members also warned that the original proposal could result in food shortages as retailers/wholesalers decline to stock loss-making items while also increasing prices on non-controlled items, thereby further fuelling the cost of living crisis.

However, Mr Halkitis yesterday argued: “We think it was the right cause of action, given the inflationary environment at the time and given that the Government had already done things like reduced duties on food items from the last Budget, intervened in terms of shipping and with shippers to get shipping rates down, and prices remained stubbornly high. So in the Government’s view we had

Free National Movement (FNM).

Explaining that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had allocated SDRs to its member countries to assist with their financial and other responses to COVID-19, he said The Bahamas’ share was around $240m and this country drew down on some $232m.

“We viewed it as the IMF making that money available to the Government of the Bahamas,” Mr Halkitis said. “There was an opinion that the way that the Central Bank of the Bahamas Act is written, it didn’t account for the IMF making those funds available to the Government in that way, and so they had to treat it in a certain way.

“So just out of an abundance of caution, the Prime Minister introduced an amendment to enable the Central Bank to act as a pass through of those special drawing rights from the IMF to the Government of the Bahamas. It’s a clean up to allow them to pass it through, the SDR allocation, to the Government.”

Mr Halkitis said the Government received conflicting legal advice on whether the existing Central Bank Act enabled the Government to access the

relationships with the private sector and make the payment of taxes as smooth and easy as possible. He added that all Business Licence applications will be “resolved” by the March 31 renewal deadline, and going forward we expect it to be a much easier process”.

He added: “The point I wanted to make is that steady progress has been made, and the point I made last week was we fast-tracked a number of categories. We’re working hard, we have staff dedicated to it, the licences are good until the 31st so people can still conduct business, and so we’re moving steadily and hopefully I can commit that next week we will see those numbers increase even more in terms of cases being closed or issued.”

to do something to give some immediate relief, albeit temporary, in that case.”

In practice, Tribune Business understands that while the Government gazzetted the expanded price control regime last year, it has not been enforcing it and the food retail and wholesale industry have continued to operate under the margins and mark-ups existed prior to its unveiling.

Mr Halkitis, meanwhile, said the Government had used “the temporary period” afforded by the expanded price control regime to “beef up” its price control and consumer protection divisions so that they can “enforce” it moving forward. “We had four days of training and,

SDR allocation. “The way the law was written, they felt it could be done,” he said of one opinion. But another said the Act did not provide for this, and needed to be changed.

Given the “varying opinions”, Mr Halkitis said the decision was made to amend the Central Bank Act “just to avoid any doubt”, with the legislation tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday. However, he did not address why the Bill is being made retroactive so that it takes effect from December 1, 2022, or why the legal reforms were required as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into with the Central Bank to access the SDRs.

The Bill, as tabled, contains language stating it “shall be deemed to have come into force on December 1, 2022”, thus making its implementation and legal effect retroactive to when the $232.3m was advanced to the Government. Kwasi Thompson, the FNM’s finance spokesman, argued that the Bill’s emergence was “proof” the Opposition had been correct to accuse the Government of “breaking the law” as there was previously no provision in

today, they are actually out in the field,” he added of the new recruits. “I had said, during the period of the expanded price control regulations, what we were doing was making sure that we put more people in the department, trained them up and made sure that when we revert to the old margins, or when we come up with a new solution, we have enough people, properly trained, properly equipped, who can go out there and do the inspections.”

“Going forward, we don’t look for a combative relationship with the industry. We would very much like to move to a more collaborative working relationship. That’s what we aim for.”

the Central Bank Act to facilitate the SDR deal. That will now be permitted by the new legislation, which states in its ‘objects and reasons’ section: “The Central Bank of The Bahamas (Amendment) Bill 2023 seeks to make provision.... of a new section 17A to empower the minister to access, utilise or convert special drawing rights allocated by the IMF for the purpose of reducing its foreign currency debt obligations and to manage its foreign currency debt operations.”

Significantly, the Bill says section 21 in the existing Central Bank Act will not apply to the Government’s “use or conversion” of SDRs or the proceeds. Section 21 sets limits on how much the monetary policy regulator can lend or advance to the Government. It currently can only make temporary loans that mature within 91 days and have “market-based” interest rates attached, while the amount involved is also capped. Combined with total issued Treasury Bills, and securities issued or guaranteed by the Government and its corporations, total outstanding loans to the

CIBC profits drop 15% on inflation, provisions

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BISX-listed bank has blamed a combination of inflationary pressures and $22m year-over-year increase in loan loss provisions for a near-15 percent decline in its 2022 full-year profitability.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas), in its annual report for the year to end-October 2022, said inflation helped produce a $5m increase in operating expenses compared to 2021 along with higher expenses related to “strategic business and infrastructure investments”.

And, while it had enjoyed the “partial release” of COVID-19 related loan loss provisions in its 2021 financial year, the commercial lender said changed modelling and “credit migration” forced it to incur a $22m charge in the 12 months to end-October 2022. This offset a $3m increase in net interest income, driven by higher US interest rates and securities portfolio growth, and an $11m operating rise due to foreign exchange and other fee-based activities.

Jacqui Band, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) managing director, told shareholders: “For the year ended October 31, 2022, the bank reported net income of $70.2m, a decrease of $12m or 15 percent from prior year’s net income of $82.2m.”

Turning to initiatives launched during the year, she said these had largely focused on customer service and digitisation. “Early in the fiscal year we launched the Client Resolution

Centre, a self-service online portal that allows clients to lodge complaints or compliments and have these addressed through a structured process with executive oversight,” Ms Band said.

“Further, the system gives us a data set for analysis and to observe trends. We can quickly put our finger on a systemic issue and drive resolution. With our digital transformation well underway and much of our core digital infrastructure in place, our focus is shifting to continuous improvement and growth.

During the year, the Bank deployed an additional 14 Smart ABMs across The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos that count currency notes and give instant value for cash deposits.

“We introduced QR codes to mobile banking, which facilitate quick and easy personto-person payments. For corporate online, we made enhancements to improve administration, bill presentment and cheque image display among general user experience and performance enhancements.

“Toward the end of the fiscal year, we introduced our Digital Loan Store, an automated platform that allows borrowers to complete an online loan application and, once approved, receive the funds in less than 15 minutes.”

Breaking down its performance into segments, CIBC FirstCaribbean said revenues in its retail and business banking division increased from $88m to $101m year-over-year in 2022. However, net income dropped by $7m or 21.9 percent, dropping from $32m in 2021 to $25m.

“Total revenues increased year-on-year by $13m or 15 percent primarily due to lower fund transfer pricing (FTP) cost on loans and higher foreign exchange earnings, deposit services and cards services income, partially offset by lower performing loans income. Net income decreased yearon-year by $7m driven by higher provision for credit losses, net of the higher revenues,” the bank said.

Moving to its corporate and investment banking niche, while revenues rose year-over-year from $82m to $88m, profits were relatively flat - rising by only $1m to $54m. “Total revenues increased year-on-year by $6m or 7 percent primarily due to higher deposit, credit and card services fee income and higher foreign exchange earnings,” CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) said.

“Net income increased $1m year-on-year due to the higher revenues partially offset by higher internal expense allocations and a smaller net credit loss expense release.” On the wealth management side, revenues rose from $10m to $13m, and losses fell by 60 percent year-over-yearreducing from $5m to $2m.

“Total revenues increased year-on-year by $3m or 33 percent as a result of higher FTP earnings on deposits due to the higher interest rate environment and higher foreign exchange earnings,” CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) said. “Net loss declined $3m year-on-year primarily due to as the higher FTP earnings.”

FTX investors target Bahamas bank in suit

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN bank and its chairman yesterday pledged to “vigorously defend” themselves against a class action lawsuit’s accusations that they helped “perpetuate” an $8bn fraud by FTX’s founder.

Deltec Bank & Trust and Jean Chalopin, in a statement issued to Tribune Business, blasted the allegations against them as “frivolous claims” after it was asserted that they and multiple other financial institutions knowingly provided a platform that allowed Sam Bankman-Fried to “loot” client funds from the now-collapsed crypto exchange.

“Deltec and Jean Chalopin are among multiple banks,

• Deltec and chairman among class action defendants

• Both pledge to ‘vigorously defend’ $8bn fraud case

• Brand accusations against them as ‘frivolous claims’

venture capital firms, accountants and others named in the class action complaint. Deltec and Jean plan to vigorously defend against the frivolous claims against them in the complaint,” the Lyford Cay-based institution told this newspaper.

The class action complaint, filed in the southern Florida

‘Heavy spending’ led to deficit rise

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister yesterday blamed an increased deficit on “very heavy spending commitments” incurred during the 2022-2023 fiscal year’s first half, but voiced confidence the Government will “meet or exceed” target.

Michael Halkitis, minster of economic affairs, addressing the Prime Minister’s Office media briefing, said the need to meet “debt obligations” coming due helped produce an

MICHAEL HALKITIS

expenditure spike in both October and December last year. No figures were provided, and the spending “commitments” not identified.

SEE PAGE A19

federal court on Wednesday, claimed that Deltec, Mr Chalopin and the other defendants had “full view” of Mr Bankman-Fried’s activities but “did not care” that he was misusing and misappropriating FTX customer funds without their permission. However, the action, filed in the name of

Failed Lucayan sale to cost taxpayers $9.1m

• Full-year subsidy neardoubling to $19.4m

• ‘Less focus on price’, more on right buyer

• GB needs ‘stool with three legs’ to work

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE FAILED $100m Grand Lucayan sale is set to cost Bahamian taxpayers a further $9.1m with subsidies to the resort for the full fiscal year near-doubling in the 2022-2023 mid-year Budget.

FTX client, Connor O’Keefe, provided no specific evidence that either Deltec or Mr Chalopin were aware a fraud was being perpetrated.

SEE PAGE A20

Loss-making SOEs: You’ll ‘pay one way or another’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS must decide whether to pay the full cost of public services directly or as taxpayers to eliminate the financial “black hole” created by many state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a prominent banker is arguing.

Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business that residents are “paying one way or another” for loss-making SOEs and need to determine if it is “more appropriate” for consumers or taxpayers to bear the financial burden.

Speaking after the Government’s 2022-2023 mid-year

Budget revealed that subsidies to the likes of the Water & Sewerage Corporation are set to increase by $35m, or 7.7 percent, compared to the May Budget estimate, reaching just shy of $500m or half a billion dollars at a total $492.24m, he said many taxpayers did not necessarily use the services they provide but were having to pay for them via VAT and other taxes.

This effectively represents a wealth transfer from taxpayers to users/consumers, and Mr Bowe told this newspaper that the impact was worsened by the regressive nature of The Bahamas’ consumption-based tax system which means lower income

SEE PAGE A20

The Davis administration is increasing funding for the hotel from the originallyforecast $10.3m to $19.4m, an 88.3 percent rise, which has almost certainly resulted from the Government having to hold the property for longer than anticipated after its sale to Electra America Hospitality Group collapsed in November 2022.

The extra $9.1m may seem relatively minor when measured against the Government’s projected $3bn in recurrent spending for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, but the taxpayer’s total Grand Lucayan exposure - including the initial $65m purchase price paid to Hutchison Whampoa’s real estate arm in September 2018 - is now likely to be moving close to the $200m mark.

The revelation of further subsidy increases yesterday prompted renewed calls for the Government to “pay less attention to the sales price” and instead focus on finding the correct purchaser who can transform the Grand Lucayanand, by extension, Freeport and the wider island - into a true tourism destination once again via a sustainable business plan that can attract the necessary demand and airlift.

Magnus Alnebeck, the Pelican Bay resort’s general manager, yesterday told Tribune Business that the increased subsidy could be to help open more rooms, or upgrade the property and its infrastructure, rather than just covering operational losses and expenses.

However, he added of the increased Budget allocation: “It’s very concerning. It’s six-and-a-half years now [since Memories closed]. I think we should pay less

SEE PAGE A19

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED