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VOLUME:117 No.66, FEBRUARY 26TH, 2020

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

ALICIA WALLACE: MIGRANTS ARE HUMANS TOO

FBI AGENTS RAID NYGARD’S US HQ

Tycoon steps down from running company after sudden swoop on offices

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net US FEDERAL agents raided offices of Peter Nygard’s fashion company yesterday amid a sex-trafficking investigation into the wealthy fashion mogul.

Ken Frydman, a spokesperson for Mr Nygard, confirmed to international media that agents “executed a search and seizure on Nygard offices in California and New York”.

Hours later, it was announced that Mr Nygard would step down

as chairman and divest ownership of his company, Nygard International, “recognising the priority of the welfare of the thousands of Nygard employees, retail partners, loyal customers, vendors, suppliers and business partners.”

A New York judge, meanwhile, has granted a request by Mr Nygard’s lawyers for a pre-motion conference before they file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses their client of raping ten women. The meeting is scheduled for

THE government’s push to tackle unemployment and crack down on immigration issues must factor in scrutiny of work permit approvals, Department of Labour Director John Pinder said yesterday.

According to Mr Pinder, more than 40,000 work permits have been granted in the country; he thinks that number should be cut in

FOUR Bahamians are currently in quarantine after travelling on a Canadian flight with a passenger that tested positive for the novel coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19.

The Bahamian residents travelled on a Canadian domestic flight on February 14 and returned to this country on February 21, the Ministry of Health said in a statement yesterday.

“Canadian health officials discovered that a passenger on the said flight tested positive for COVID-19,” the ministry said.

“The Ministry of Health contacted the Bahamian residents travelling on that flight, evaluated them, and

‘PRISONERS MUST BE TREATED HUMANELY’

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

half to really put a dent in unemployment figures. He also said officials have been finding that work permit applicants are not being completely truthful about the roles labourers are taking.

Mr Pinder said in his two years as director of the department, he has not approved any labour certificates for Haitian cooks. But officials have observed many Haitian nationals cooking in restaurants, he said.

SEE PAGE FIVE

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

PINDER: WE COULD CUT 20,000 WORK PERMITS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

VIRUS: FOUR PASSENGERS PLACED IN QUARANTINE

‘WE ARE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN’ PRIME Minister Hubert Minnis held a FNM rally last night at the park opposite Garvin Tynes School. Full report - Page 2 Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

PRISON officers beating inmates is “unacceptable” and “intolerable,” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Eugene Poitier said yesterday.

His comment came after Ellen Kemp, 51, told The Tribune last week that her son, who is on remand for marijuana possession, was beaten so badly by a prison officer that his leg required surgery.

While giving a keynote address at the opening of a Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) conference yesterday, Mr Poitier said he saw a clip in the news of the incident SEE PAGE SEVEN

CONFRONT POLICE - YOU’RE GOING TO LOSE TECHNOLOGY

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net A DAY after police shot and killed a suspected armed robber, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said that, while the incident was unfortunate, criminals will lose when they confront police.

And after a spate of recent armed robberies in the capital, Mr Dames said officials will be re-adjusting their strategies to crack

THE SCENE on Mackey Street on Monday morning down on the problem. “We are having armed robberies continue and as they occur,

the police are adjusting their strategy to deal with them, and they have been doing an extremely wonderful job in addressing those issues as you would see,” he told reporters yesterday.

“We had many numbers of persons before the courts over the last few days in connection with the most recent homicides both here in Nassau and Grand Bahama and the same thing

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SEVEN

NEW RULES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, February 26, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

We’re all God’s children, Minnis tells the FNM faithful at rally

A FREE National Movement rally was held last night at the park opposite Garvin Tynes School.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said a Progressive Liberal Party official who made derogatory comments about dark-skinned people is “a disgrace.”

He was speaking during a Free National Movement rally last night at the park opposite Garvin Tynes School.

Earlier this month PLP national vice chair Patricia Deveaux introduced former Grand Bahama Minister Dr Michael Darville to the stage and said the PLP is comprised of “nice looking people” and not a “bunch of drakes all over the place, heating up the place.”

She later apologised.

Dr Minnis said yesterday: “I believe that every child has human dignity because we are all made in the image and likeness

of the God who created us. No matter the color of someone’s skin or what type of hair they have, we are all God’s children. I don’t have as much hair as I used to and my hair is now grey with life experience. But, I don’t see nowhere in the Constitution where it says you have to have curly hair to be in public life or to make something of yourself. We should be judged by the content of our character and hard work, not

the colour of our skin or the texture of our hair. When I entered politics and public life I did so to help regular people and the poor. I don’t have the prejudices that some in the PLP seem to have about our people.”

PLP officials have accused the Free National Movement of hypocrisy over the matter, noting there was no public outrage or reaction from the party when Bennet Minnis, a Water & Sewerage

Corporation board director and prominent FNM supporter, used slurs to refer to the PLP. Bennet Minnis never apologised for his comments but instead doubled down on them in an interview. In a series of voice notes last year, he said the PLP is “one corrupt, stealing, no good, bastard, homosexual, African monkeys.”

During last night’s rally Dr Minnis also discussed his administration’s agenda. He

said the sale of the Grand Lucayan will happen “next week Monday in Freeport,” adding the project will include “extensive renovations to the existing hotel and hotel property.”

“The re-design of the property will include: a boutique hotel, timeshare villas, a commercial village, adventure parks, water parks, a convention centre, event hosting facilities, retail spaces, dining and entertainment,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020, PAGE 3

from page one

Virus: Four passengers placed in quarantine

placed them in quarantine out of an abundance of caution. Consequently, there are a total of four persons in quarantine. All patients remain asymptomatic, and show no signs of any respiratory disease.”

The statement stressed that there are no suspected, reported or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Bahamas.

Canadian media reported that the British Columbia (BC) Centre for Disease Control confirmed on Sunday that a woman in her mid-30s onboard an Air Canada flight from Montreal to Vancouver became the province’s sixth presumptive case of COVID-19.

The woman had travelled from Iran where that country’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi had announced he had contracted the virus and the nation has a COVID-19

death count of eight. Those who were sitting close to her on the plane and other flight staff have been contacted by public health officials as a precautionary measure.

Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said those Bahamians on the Canadian flight have been in quarantine since Monday.

To date, COVID-19 has infected more than 80,000 globally and killed at least 2,700.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it is too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but countries

should prepare, which Dr Sands assured The Bahamas is doing.

“A particular country doesn’t plan for a pandemic,” he said yesterday. “A particular country plans for the possibility of one or more cases of a particular disease in that country. The pandemic speaks to an infection or a disease which spreads around many countries – a new disease. So, yes we have prepared. We have a national plan which has been disseminated …and yes we are making preparations like every other country.”

He later posted to

Facebook that the Bahamas has the capacity to test for the virus.

“The Bahamas National Reference Laboratory, headed by Dr Indira Martin, confirmed the capacity to test for COVID19 in Nassau as of today (Tuesday),” Dr Sands wrote.

“This capacity strengthens our ability to respond to this emerging public threat.”

Meanwhile, an official from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned yesterday that health experts are predicting the novel

MINISTER Dr Duane Sands coronavirus will spread in the United States.

“We expect we will see community spread in this country,” said Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the

CDC’s National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.”

A handful of Bahamians were placed in quarantine several weeks ago after travel to China, the epicentre of the outbreak, but were later released after not showing any signs of the deadly virus.

Editorial View - Page 4

ABOVE: FBI agents at the Manhattan headquarters of Peter Nygard’s company yesterday, the morning after federal authorities raided his Los Angeles home.

Right: The Nygard headquarters near Times Square

FBI raids Nygard’s US HQ as tycoon is forced to quit from page one March 5, according to court documents. The impact of the lawsuit hit Mr Nygard’s business yesterday with Dillard’s, an American department store chain, saying in a statement that it has “refused current deliveries, cancelled all existing orders and suspended all future purchases from Nygard” in light of the allegations.

Citing anonymous law enforcement officials, The New York Times reported that Mr Nygard has been under investigation by a joint child-exploitation task force of the FBI and NYPD for at least five months.

“At least four women who have accused Mr Nygard in a recent lawsuit of sexually assaulting them when they were 14 and 15 in the Bahamas have also met

with the task force,” the paper reported. The Times further said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigated Mr Nygard previously, though both investigations fizzled.

“On Tuesday morning, FBI agents and the police were in the lobby and the sixth floor of the Nygard building near Times Square.

About eight vehicles with federal parking placards were outside,” the paper reported.

Mr Frydman, reacting to the raids, said: “Nygard welcomes the federal investigation and expects his name to be cleared. He has not been charged, is not in custody and is cooperating with the investigation.”

Six women made complaints to Bahamian police about Mr Nygard last year.

Chief Superintendent of Police Solomon Cash, head of the Central Detective

Unit, said last week the allegations are still under investigation.

The lawsuit filed on February 13 in New York claimed Mr Nygard sexually assaulted ten women, mostly at Nygard Cay during the ‘pamper parties’ he held there. The suit claims Mr Nygard preyed on young, impoverished Bahamian girls and paid them hush money. Eight of his alleged Bahamian victims were between 14 and 18 when they were raped, according to the suit.

The New York Times, in a recent report, explored the role billionaire Louis Bacon and his associates played in pushing the sexual assault allegations, revealing they have spent millions to secure and find alleged victims. In his legal filing last week Thursday ahead of a motion to dismiss the

lawsuit, Mr Nygard’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, said the complaint “represents the latest attempt (in a long-running campaign)

by Louis Bacon, a billionaire hedge fund manager, to inflict devastating harm on Mr Nygard and the Nygard business.”

“As set forth in a lawsuit that Mr Nygard recently filed against Mr Bacon in this district…Mr Bacon’s efforts to destroy Mr Nygard have included offering bribes to women to induce them to falsely claim that Mr Nygard sexually abused them and find other women who are willing to do the same,” he wrote in a memo to US District Judge for the Southern District of New York, Elgardo Ramos.

“Indeed, one such woman has described, in a sworn statement, being offered $10,000 for ‘made up and false criminal sex stories

involving Mr Nygard’. This lawsuit––which defendants understand is being funded

by Mr Bacon––arises out of Mr Bacon’s efforts to pay witnesses to make up stories about non-existent sexual assaults. If this case proceeds beyond our motion to dismiss, Mr Nygard would prove that these allegations are complete fabrications.”

Mr Nygard’s lawyer argued the US district court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

“None of the corporate defendants is incorporated in, has its principal place of business in, or has such substantial contacts with New York so as to render it ‘at home’ in the state,” he wrote. “Likewise, Mr Nygard is not a domiciliary of New York, owns no property in New York, is not alleged to have engaged in any misconduct that arises out of activities in

New York and lacks the type of substantial contacts that would render him ‘at home’ in New York. Mr Nygard is also not a citizen or a permanent resident of the US.” Mr Abramowitz said the case has other defects, including that the complaint asserts “claims that are time-barred.” He argues that the complaint further contains “immaterial, impertinent or scandalous matter,” citing claims that Mr Nygard paid off officials here in The Bahamas.

“In addition to being false, these scandalous allegations are conclusory and have no bearing on any issues in this case,” he wrote.

“They should therefore be stricken, along with other, comparable scandalous and irrelevant allegations in this complaint.”

PAGE 4, Wednesday, February 26, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Work permits by the numbers THERE has been a lot of noise lately over work permits – and the prospect of denying permits to businesses if they don’t have an understudy being trained.

Well, listen carefully, here comes the sound of the backtrack.

Last month, Labour Director John Pinder talked of revoking permits over non-compliance. He said: “We will now make it mandatory for the employer who is applying for a labour certificate to have understudies named.”

Now? Not so much. Yesterday, Mr Pinder said the situation regarding understudies was “not that great of an issue”. Odd that something which isn’t a great issue ended up being part of a speech by the prime minister the day before. It also brought concerns from the chamber of commerce, but Mr Pinder said he thinks the chamber had the wrong impression.

“They got the impression that I as Director of Labour was trying to suggest that every work permit is supposed to have an understudy. That’s not the case.”

Instead, he says, it’s only for those posts where the applicant fills in the section that asks if you have an understudy.

Mr Pinder also says that he thinks that the unemployment rate can be cut by reducing the number of work permits given out. He says more than 40,000 work permits have been granted and wants to see that halved. However, he also says that only around ten percent of work permits are for businesses

– or around 4,000 permits. Not all of those will have committed to an understudy in the application. Even if every one had such a commitment, a total of 4,000 work permits isn’t going to make much of a dent if he’s wanting to halve the number of work permits, so what he’s really needing to do is focus on the number of individual permits. Those are most often given out for handymen, gardeners and so on – jobs on low pay that are often taken on by Haitians rather than Bahamians.

So all that noise about cracking down on employers? Just that, noise. Now if an employer has committed to training up an individual, by all means hold them to their promises – but it seems unlikely these are the targets of the PM’s wrath this week, talking of “investors, bankers, etc” who “in six years they are still here, eight years they are still here, nine years they are planning for residency, displacing Bahamians”.

So what really is the solution to halve that total of 40,000 applications? What is the government planning to do over individual applications? The employers in those cases are Bahamians, maybe hiring someone to help look after their home, or work on a project – so it ought to be made clear if that’s going to be made more difficult, or more expensive.

What’s the real plan? Because cracking down on a fraction of applicants who have named an understudy isn’t going to make the numbers work.

THE ongoing story of the coronavirus outbreak is a matter of global concern.

There have been deaths in China, South Korea, Italy and Japan, mostly in China and a total of more than 2,700 worldwide. The World Health Organisation estimates the fatality rate at around two percent – though that is an early forecast and could as easily go down as up.

Thankfully, there have been no cases here in The Bahamas so far, though a number of people have been quarantined after travelling in China to ensure they did not carry the virus.

The question comes though, what if the virus spreads throughout the US? The Center for Disease Control there yesterday warned of that danger. There have been eight cases in California so far, two in Illinois and one each in Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin and Washington. Dr Nancy Messonnier, of the CDC, said “it’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness”.

Even as senior figures in President Donald Trump’s administration tried to

play down the risk, the agency sent out a tweet last night warning that Americans should think about getting ready.

What does that mean for us here?

Our economy’s lifeblood depends on tourism, with US tourists forming the largest percentage of our visitors by far.

We face two risks from the virus – visitors bringing it here and our having to deal with it and the economic crash that might come if people in the US decide against travel and stay at home. Danger if visitors come, danger if they don’t.

The US government has just requested an extra $2.5bn in funding to combat the coronavirus. Our government should be firmly making its own plans for how to deal with an outbreak here – and what it might cost to fight it.

We should not be too sensational about the virus at this stage – but we should absolutely be taking it seriously.

The old saying goes that when America sneezes, The Bahamas catches a cold. Well, what happens when America catches this virus? We absolutely need to come up with some answers beforehand, rather than try to react too late. We hope minds are focused in government.

If America sneezes...

Cartwright the one bright spot for FNM EDITOR, The Tribune OVER the last few years, Bahamians have been watching the steady decline, and I daresay implosion of the FNM. The movers and shakers of the party are already scrambling for an immediate successor but the party is short on talent save for a few.

Pundits are already making bets on who should lead an embattled FNM under Hubert Alexander Minnis.

Hubert Ingraham cannot set his foot back because it is claimed that many questions about the $100 million cost over run on the Road Improvement Project remains unanswered.

Jeff Lloyd has already displayed a level of arrogance and superiority

complex that is only matched by his boss. His level of insensitivity is disturbing. He comes off as being too cold.

Michael Pintard is no choir boy, talk a great talk, but may be all talk. The jury is still out.

Renward Wells has changed to a real FNM now, because he has been dithering here and there. Wells is straining to appear to be a “party first” player, hoping that he would remain in Minnis’ good books.

The only bright spot in the FNM is Shanendon Cartwright. He is unblemished.

Mr Cartwright is a worker who has assembled the people around him with a purpose.

Everyone could easily conclude that he is not

only getting the job done, but to the pleasure of most Bahamians. He does not subscribe to human suffering like some of his colleagues who behave like karma does not exist. His mild mannered, even tempered, calm disposition are his greatest assets.

He has gained the respect of many and would create the kind of atmosphere that is conducive to a united country.

Cartwright is definitely the bright spark that the FNM needs to repair their tarnished image.

Time will tell if they are wise enough to put the country on a solid foundation.

ALOMA THURSTON Nassau February 4, 2020

We need a commission into alleged corruption EDITOR, The Tribune I WOULD fully support a Commission of Inquiry into the allegations of political corruption against Peter Nygard in The Bahamas. In the past, commissions were launched in response to negative international publicity and allegations that ran the risk of affecting the reputation of The Bahamas, and the same thing is happening again now.

Of course, Mr Nygard is innocent until proven guilty of the other terrible crimes he is being accused of, but The Bahamas must look out for itself and either clear its name of the corruption charges that have been broadcast for all the world to see, or root out and denounce any local politicians that were involved.

We cannot afford be made out to be ground zero for corruption and a nation for sale once again.

SUPER Value is informing customers that “groceries must be packed in bags before leaving the store” – a new policy to deter shoplifting. Readers posted their reactions on tribune242.com.

Joeblow had this to say: “If they had brown paper bags to put your groceries in this would not be a problem!”

Islangal1 said: “Okay, this makes no sense to me. Each item has a bar code which is how they are scanned at the till. If the item is not scanned it goes off at the door, unless there’s no security system at that door, which I do believe there is because I’ve had an item go off before. So how is it people are allowed to push a cart full of groceries out the store? And how

Sadly, the opposition PLP is against such a Commission of Inquiry.

On one level this is not surprising, as the politicians who were allegedly corrupted all hail from their party. Still, I believe this is a big mistake. They must remember that the public is watching, and right now Nygard’s name is tied to the PLP, for better or worse. He is their number one supporter and campaign donor and they cannot run away from it.

I saw a statement in which PLP National Chairman Fred Mitchell blamed the whole thing on a foreign conspiracy against the PLP. Not even pausing to have a word of sympathy for the Bahamian victims

of the horrendous abuse that has been alleged, all Mr. Mitchell seems to care about is saving the political skin of the PLP. As for the governing FNM, all this is happening on their watch. It would look very bad for them to stand idly by and let the good name of The Bahamas be dragged through the mud once again. During the election campaign, they claimed to be the anti-corruption party and now is their chance to prove it.

I believe the FNM should immediately launch a Commission of Inquiry into the doings of Peter Nygard in the Bahamas. And the PLP should fully support it. If anything that Fred Mitchell says is true, then the PLP should have absolutely nothing to hide.

RICARDO JOHNSON Nassau February 25, 2020

in the world that much theft could’ve happened between the time the plastic bag ban was implemented to now?”

Jackbnimble posted this comment: “It’s a monster of their own making. The government in being greedy and charging the tax for the bag and Roberts for not finding another alternative.

He makes enough money to hire proper security/ surveillance without forcing his customers to buy an expensive bag. I think people reserve the right to not purchase a bag and to force them to do so in top

of purchasing expensive groceries is nonsense.”

And there was this from Millennial242: “If I have paid for the item and have proof that I paid for it, it is my property. What I do with it henceforth is not subject to the dictation of the person that sold it to me. If I decide to walk out with it in my hand, that is my prerogative. Perhaps your security model is outdated and that is what needs to be changed. This policy goes against the common law between buyer and seller. Very often I forget to bring my bag.

Or, if I am going in the store for one item (let’s say a bar of chocolate or a drink), I often refuse a bag anyways.”

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

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020, PAGE 5

from page one

Pinder: We could cut 20,000 work permits

Mr Pinder told The Tribune the majority of certificates have been given for gardening, handymen and similar jobs.

Of every 100 work permits up for approval, the director said maybe 10 are for a business whereas the remaining 90 percent are for individuals, leading him to question the prevalence of Haitian cooks.

He was contacted a day after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told Parliament that Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson was instructed to form a “strike force”, which will aggressively pursue undocumented migrants in the country.

Meanwhile, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said the prime minister appeared to continue his “campaigning” posture. He said despite Dr Minnis repeatedly making similar comments, no one could place a finger on actions that have ensued.

Dr Minnis also said foreigners granted work permits would be replaced where it was found Bahamian understudies had not been trained to take over those roles.

Asked to explain how much of an issue this has been, Mr Pinder said: “(It is) not that great of an issue, but it is a great concern in terms of the work permit keeps being renewed and if a person is not given an extension then that

organisation wants to bring a new person in.

“To me if we really are going to put a dent in this unemployment rate we have to look at the 40,000 plus work permits that are out there. I believe we could really cut that in half.

“At some point we are able to cut this unemployment rate down a bit in addition to the new initiatives that the government has on the drawing board with foreign investors. I think it can come down by at least six or seven percent, I support that.

“People think that the government has to create 20,000 or 30,000 new jobs (but) there are jobs there.”

He continued: “I can also tell you this, my biggest concern is the amount of Haitians that we give work permits to. I can tell you that is a concern I have. “…First of all the employer only wants to pay minimum wage and $210 is big money to a Haitian.

They have no problem with that. They normally apply for handymen, gardeners

and jobs they figure they know the Bahamian will not accept for $210 a week and it’s quite a bit of them.

“But I also say I know there are a number of Haitians who work in kitchens around restaurants in the Bahamas. I have never, and I have been in the chair almost two years now, I have never approved a cook for a labour certificate, so I don’t know how they could be cooking in these kitchens around the place.

“Whenever they come here for a labour certificate it is for gardening (and) handymen, those sorts of things. They don’t ever ask for one for a cook. I have never for two years had an application come for a Haitian cook.

“They are applying for handymen and end up on Arawak Cay or wherever else cooking.”

Regarding how the government will deal with the issue of understudies for work permit holders, the matter has now gone before the National Tripartite Council after the Bahamas

LABOUR Director John Pinder Chamber of Commerce expressed concern over how the process will work.

Last month, Mr Pinder said he wanted employers’ work permits revoked if they failed to appoint and properly train apprentices.

Mr Pinder said he believed the chamber had got the “wrong impression”.

“They got the impression that I as director of labour was trying to suggest that every work permit is supposed to have an understudy. That’s not the case. The application form asks you if you have an understudy.

“When you name the understudy is when we go after you and say ‘Okay you named someone we want to see the understudy programme. What have you put in place for this person to receive the training?’

“This is not nothing new,” he also said. “This is something that has been in place but we have not been transparent with it. We ask you if you name an understudy who is it? We are now following up with the understudy just to prove if the person is receiving the training to replace persons.”

He said at this point the Tripartite Council has the issue on its agenda and has committed a subcommittee to do a fact-finding report.

“Most of the ground work has already been done. It’s just a matter of looking at it, critiquing it and determining that it’s something that we can live with.

“We keep talking about brain drain because our students who go overseas to study don’t come back home because they can’t find gainful employment or they can’t find nothing to match their discipline.

“I have no problem with cross-training because there are a number of Bahamians in other parts of the world who are cross-training for key positions. But I am saying when you want to hold a key position in the Bahamas and there is a Bahamian who can hold that position then I think the Bahamian ought to be given the position,” Mr Pinder said yesterday.

Editorial View - Page 4

I agree with PM’s stance on ‘illegals’, says Johnson

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson said he supports the prime minister’s position on illegal migration, stating yesterday that the issue has put a strain on local schools and health facilities.

Mr Johnson spoke a day after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Bahamians must take their country back, while encouraging him to create a “strike force” to aggressively pursue undocumented migrants in the country.

Speaking about the strike force with reporters yesterday, Mr Johnson said everything done in his ministry is “designed to protect the borders of the Bahamas” and the “dignity of the human person.”

“Immigration is not just about economic migrants,” he said. “When we meet an economic migrant we go into protection mode, because they’re vulnerable — vulnerable women, men and children.

Still, Mr Johnson said officials have a “greater obligation” to stop terrorists, money launderers, and human and gun traffickers from entering the country’s borders.

Asked whether he believed Dr Minnis’ comments were xenophobic, he added: “No, he was not being xenophobic. That’s what you ought to do. You must say to persons in a humane way, this is how we’re going to conduct ourselves.

“We don’t have no more space in our schools, we don’t have monies to build anymore schools, we don’t have any more beds in the hospitals. We have to say listen Bahamians pay taxes (so) this is what we’re going to do.”

Mr Johnson insisted that while Bahamians “cannot build” the country without the help of foreigners, there is a way that non-citizens should enter the country.

“If you want to come, say to me how you’re going to educate your child because we already have the expense of educating Bahamian children,” he said.

“If you want to come, say to me how you’re going to deal with healthcare. We say a lot of things about Donald Trump, but he got it right when he says America wants meritorious migration.”

Still, he did say the government realises it is “fundamental to protect the dignity and integrity

IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson Asked whether the government was looking into changing legislation that would prevent illegal migrants from accessing the country’s social services and health resources, he added: “We’re not reviewing that at this time, but we’re saying listen if you want to come to the Bahamas, there’s a way to come.

“And in saying that, we aren’t identifying any one group, any one sex, any one religion (or) any one origin, we’re saying that as dispassionate as we possibly can in accordance with the Constitution of the Bahamas.”

Mr Johnson said he believes the country is “punching above its weight” and that there was only “so much” it could do.

“So any child that finds themselves here now we try and put them in the school and every time I speak about this I commend the teachers’ union for what they do because they don’t complain.

“But at some point, we’re going to have to come to the knowledge that you can’t put 50 children in one classroom. You’re doing a disservice to them.”

Mr Johnson insisted the country is not “doing anything strange” because similar immigration policies are enforced all around the world.

He also said local officials are always careful in protecting the “fundamental

human rights” of every individual. “...The government has an obligation to be reasonable, to be fair, to be transparent and as best (as) it can, to be honest in all of its dealings with anybody that find themselves within the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”

Mr Johnson also said officials have an “obligation to protect this sovereign and democratic country.”

He added that Bahamians “should not be afraid” to tell anybody in the country that they have to be “loyal and committed” to the country. “…We cannot allow people to twist the conversation,” he insisted. “People are (saying) all sorts of nonsense, all sorts of erroneous, frivolous and vexatious pictures about what we do in The Bahamas claiming that we burn people.

“Absolute nonsense. I want every Bahamian to understand. I have about three more years (and) don’t know that I will run again but for these three years I’m going to give it 110 percent service to my country.”

Mr Johnson declined to respond to accusations from some critics alleging that a number of the bodies of storm victims were unclaimed in Abaco after Hurricane Dorian because officials had deported those who could identify them.

of every person who finds themselves within the Bahamas.”

“We’ve been doing that

in accordance with the law (and) respecting the rights of everybody who’s here in the Bahamas,” he said.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, February 26, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

SIR MICHAEL SWORN IN AT COURT OF APPEAL

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett was sworn in as president of the Court of Appeal during a brief ceremony at Government House yesterday.

Government officials, family and friends watched as the former minister of legal affairs accepted his appointment with an oath of allegiance and judicial oath, which was administered by Governor General Cornelius Smith.

“I would like to thank my colleagues in the judiciary, the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the Magistrate’s Court for all of their help and support during my judicial career,” Sir Michael said during the ceremony.

“Our work is a collective effort and we can only succeed if we all work together. I thank the staff of the Court of Appeal who worked diligently to enable us to get our work done.

You are all unsung heroes.”

Sir Michael also expressed his appreciation to members of the Bar, who he said had been an “immense comfort” to him during the span of his career.

“I thank all of you for

SIR MICHAEL BARNETT, right, was sworn in as President of the Court of Appeal by Governor General CA Smith yesterday. Also in attendance was Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, left.

Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

coming out this morning,” he told those attending. “I am humbled by your presence and I ask for your continued support and your prayers knowing that at the end of the day we are all unworthy soldiers who simply do that which is required of us.”

During his remarks, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis described Sir Michael as “one of the nation’s most prominent jurists and a constitutional expert.”

“On behalf of the government and people of The Bahamas, I congratulate him on this appointment,” he said. “Inspired by his religious faith and (the) fine example of his parents, Sir Michael has given tremendous public service over the years. The law is his vocation and public service forms the fibre of his service to The Bahamas.

“Our country needs men and women of judicial character and temperament to serve throughout our judiciary, especially as it continues the work of judicial reform inclusive of the reform of the criminal justice system,” he added. “I am pleased that Sir Michael will lend his considerable talents, intellect and experience as president of the Court of the Appeal.”

Closing down Straw Market was critical, insists Bannister

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net MINISTER of Works Desmond Bannister yesterday lashed out at Straw Market vendors for criticising the ministry’s decision to close the Bay Street site and calling it “a ploy to get rid of workers.”

Noting the statements to be completely false, Mr Bannister said officials decided to close the market to address the safety and health challenges at the site.

“As you’re aware, the Straw Market had some serious safety challenges and it was absolutely critical for the government to not continue to expose vendors

and visitors to this country to those challenges,” he told reporters outside Cabinet yesterday.

“What had happened was that the system that had been put in there years ago had never been put in properly and that system was corroding on a daily basis and it was not operable. And so, the longer we left it in there, the more (it) was going to corrode.

The engineers advised that as a safety measure, we had to deal with that urgently and so the vendors have now moved out.

The market is being properly serviced with respect to that and when the pipes go in now, they’re going to

be coated so that the corrosion won’t be an issue and a problem.”

The minister also cited termite infestation as one of the issues that needed to be addressed. “Also in the Straw Market, there’s some other issues that are going to have to be dealt with, not right now but we’re going to have to look at those issues,” he added.“There is a terrible, terrible termite infestation in that Straw Market, and you would see if you go in there and take some photographs, you’ll see that the people are working in there now and moving the wood, as much wood as possible.

“Because a lot of the wood that has been brought

Funeral Service For

Jack William Edward Sands of Blair Estates, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, who passed away at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida on Monday, 17th February, 2020 will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, George Street, Nassau on Saturday, 29th February, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.

Jack W. E. Sands was President, Treasurer and Director of Betty K Agencies Ltd.; President and Director of Betty K Agencies (USA), LLC; Vice President, Secretary, and Managing Director of Kelly’s Lumber Yard Limited; President and Director of Import Export Brokers Limited; President and Director of Dorick Navigation SA, and; Secretary and Director of Rovert Properties Limited.

He was immediate past Chairman of the Board of APD Limited, and formerly served as Director on the Boards of Bahamas First Holdings Limited, Nassau Underwriters Agency Limited, and Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation.

The Very Reverend Harry Bain, Dean of Nassau, Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, assisted by The Venerable Keith N. Cartwright, Archdeacon of the Southern Bahamas and The Turks & Caicos Islands and Rector of St. Agnes Parish Grant’s Town, New Providence, will officiate and interment will be in The Columbarium, The Garden of Remembrance, Christ Church Cathedral, George Street, Nassau.

He was predeceased by his parents C. Kingsley Sands and Phyllis S. Sands.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Betty) A. Sands; three daughters, Karen Sands Byko and her husband, Rob Byko, Deborah (Debbie) Sands McDonald and her husband, John McDonald, Nancy Sands Cartwright and her husband, Paul Cartwright; three grandchildren, Jack and Isabella Cartwright and Jonathan McDonald; one aunt, Kathryn Sands; a sister, Daisy Roberts; a brother, Clarence (Junior) Sands and his wife, Loree Sands; a brother-in-law, Rolfe Harris; sisters-in-law, Lucille Sands and Janet Harris Padman and her husband, Bob Padman; many nieces and nephews and special friends.

In lieu of flowers the family request that donations be sent to the Cancer Caring Centre, P.O. Box SS 6539, Nassau, The Bahamas or the Bahamas Humane Society, P.O. Box N.242, Nassau in memory of Mr. Jack William Edward Sands.

Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited.

in is termite infested and that in itself is a problem.

Up to Saturday, they’ve taken 14 huge dumpsters of garbage out of there and they still have more so that may be half of what they took out of there.”

On February 13, the Straw Market Authority issued a letter notifying vendors that the SMA, “in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works,” would close the market to carry out “repairs and maintenance,” beginning on Saturday, February 23.

Speaking on the closure, Reverend Esther Thompson, president of the Straw Business Persons Society, told The Tribune on Friday that vendors felt disrespected after only being given nine days notice of the market’s closure without consultation.

While some vendors have expressed disappointment with the sudden move, others see it as a ploy to get rid of vendors.

Denying those claims, Mr

Bannister maintained that it was not the government’s intention to force anyone out.

“I think you saw one vendor saying some nonsense and we have to stop this politically motivated nonsense that we see. I sat down with that particular vendor the day before she made her statement,” he told reporters. “...She brought her own engineering expert in and when we left that meeting, the TUC president had to agree with me…so this political nonsense that they came and put out there and went out viral on the internet, it’s really ridiculous and really disgusting.

“There were a number of other vendors who called me and agreed that it had to be closed and it was despicable how one vendor was pointed out and that vendor’s stall was shown. That was despicable and that was disgusting and we have to stop that nonsense.”

The market will reopen Saturday, Mr Bannister said. “This is a five-day operation and we expect the Straw Market to open on 6am on Saturday. It should be open 7am but we’re going to try to give them an extra hour,” he said.

It is not clear how much the government has spent on the repairs as Mr Bannister said he could not give a definite figure.

However, he said: “The Straw Market is going to get a really good cleaning and you’re going to see later this year, it’s going to be totally rebranded. So that is going to impact how we look at the market on Bay Street.

“You’re going to see a totally different colour scheme and you’re going to see beautiful, vivid colours that represent our Straw Market and you’re going to see new work in there, work to make the vendors more comfortable and to make it more brighter.”

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Equity Side

2018 COM/qui/00720

IN THE MATTER OF ALL THAT piece parcel lot of land Lot No. Eleven (11) comprising one (1) Acre of land and originally granted to Edward George in Adelaide Village in the Western District of the Island of New Providence NORTHWARDLY and running thereon Two hundred and Thirty-one (231) feet EASTWARDLY running thereon One hundred and Ninety - two (192) feet and running thereon Two hundred and Twenty - four (224) feet SOUTHWARDLY bounded by swamp land and running thereon One hundred and Fifty (150) feet WESTWARDLY, which said piece parcel or lot of land has such position shape marks and dimensions as are more particularly and delineated on the diagram or plan attached hereto and thereon colored in PINK AND IN THE MATTER OF THE Quieting Titles Act 1959 IN THE MATTER OF THE Petition of MAE WALLACE HIGGS NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that MAE WALLACE HIGGS of the Western District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas is applying to the Supreme Court to have her title to the following land investigated to be granted by the said Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act: ALL THAT piece parcel lot of land Lot No. Eleven (11) comprising one (1) Acre of land and originally granted to Edward George situate in Adelaide Village in the Western District of the Island of New Providence NORTHWARDLY and running thereon Two hundred and Thirty-one (231) feet EASTWARDLY running thereon One hundred Ninety - two (192) feet and running thereon Two hundred and Twenty - four (224) feet SOUTHWARDLY bounded by swamp land and running thereon One hundred and Fifty (150) feet WESTWARDLY, which said piece parcel or lot of land has such position shape marks and dimensions as are more particularly described and delineated on the

Copies of the Plan may be inspected during normal office hours at the following places: (A)

The Registry of The Supreme Court, British American Building, By Street, in the City of Nassau, or

(b)

The Chambers of WILVER W. DELEVEAUX at No.11 Sandra Avenue Sunset Park Carmi chael Road, Nassau Bahamas.

ANY PERSON who objects to the granting of the said Certificate of Title is required to file in the Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioner or their Attorney a Statement of its, his or her Claim in the prescribed Form, verified by an Addidavit and other related documents to be filed therewith by the 1st day of March, A.D., 2020 FAILURE OF ANY PERSON to file and serve a Statement of its, his or her Claim together with the related documents by the 1st day of March, A.D., 2020, will operate as a bar to such claim WILVER W. DELEVEAUX Attorneys for the Petitioner

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020, PAGE 7

WE MUST TREAT PRISONERS HUMANELY, SAYS SECURITY CHIEF from page one recently and was certain Bahamas Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Charles Murphy would handle the matter. “… I almost cringed when I see these clips of a mother talking about how her son was brutalised within the prison system and it showed the inmate,” he said.

“He had a bandaged foot that was purple and talked about how (he) was punched in the face and was beaten on his leg and how he

was told some very disparaging remarks by (the) prison officer.

That is not correct and it’s unacceptable ... I’m sure Mr Murphy is going to deal with that officer accordingly.”

Ms Kemp told this newspaper that she visited her son, Jonathan Lightbourne, in hospital last week as his leg needed surgery after the alleged attack, which she reported to the department’s internal affairs section. She alleged: “He said he had an altercation with a juvenile in a cell who threw (urine) on him and an officer came

in and slapped up the juvenile. My son speaks his mind so apparently the officer told another officer to open the cell so he could take my son out and deal with him.

“My son said they threw a bucket of water on him and the officer went in the cell and beat him while two other officers stood out watching. He said he was kicked and stamped and no one did anything. This happened from last week, Wednesday, and no one took him to the doctor until he had to go to remand court where they sent him over to medical

and that’s how he got to the hospital. He had to go in surgery (on Tuesday) for his foot. They had to cut the skin from the bottom to drain it because it started to get gangrene.”

Officials took Mr Lightbourne’s statement at the hospital and Mr Murphy revealed previously the matter was being looked into.

According to the permanent secretary, a correctional services approach rather than a penal philosophy mentality is needed at the Fox Hill facility.

He explained: “The penchant

for violence lessens when incarcerated persons feel that there is a genuine effort being expected to help them strengthen their vocational competence maintain their family ties, and preserve their human dignity while they serve their sentence. “…So that means that you treat people like they’re humans. Not because they’re incarnated that means you have a right but that you should think that they’re subservient, they’re below you you have a right to treat them accordingly.”

‘Confront police and you’ll lose’ from page one applies to the armed robberies. These individuals have been caught but we want to be in a better position to prevent them. “...The police have been updating me and they have been adjusting their strategies to ensure that they are in a better place where they can prevent most of these incidents. (Monday) was a clear example of that.”

His comments to the press came after police shot and killed one suspect while wounding another after foiling a suspected robbery at Royal Bank of Canada on Monday morning.

Speaking at the scene, Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash told reporters that after one of the men opened fire on police, officers retaliated by fatally wounding one of the suspected persons, while harming the other.

CSP Cash said a weapon was found on the scene, but

no police or civilians were hurt.

This is the second time this month an incident like this occurred. On February 11, police said two men entered Portraits-a-La Sawyers photo studio dressed in white jumpsuits and claiming to be window cleaners.

They then allegedly duct taped the proprietor and a worker and tried to steal a large sum of cash. Police shot and wounded a suspect during the incident.

While noting that it is always “unfortunate” when one loses a life during these incidents, Mr Dames maintained that officers still will not spare any effort to combat crime across the country.

“It’s always unfortunate when someone has to lose their life but it’s a bad proposition as a criminal when you want to confront the police. You’re going to lose that, and we hate to see that happening,” he said.

“But the police have an obligation to protect all of

UNION ANGRY WITH UB PLAN TO SACK PAINTERS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Public Services Union is up in arms about perceived plans by the University of the Bahamas to make painters redundant.

The maintenance workers have a combined 78 years of service at the University of the Bahamas (UB).

According to BPSU President Kimsley Ferguson, the move does not fall in line with provisions under the industrial agreement between the union and the university.

The Tribune contacted UB’s Communications Department and was told a statement in response to the union was not ready, but one would be forthcoming. “(Tyrone Coakley BPSU chief shop steward) has now been our shop steward of some 40 years and we’re learning yesterday that he along with his staff, who is the painting section, were called into a meeting yesterday and advised that they were being made redundant,” Mr Ferguson told reporters during a press conference at UB yesterday.

Mr Ferguson said the industrial agreement, as well as the Employment Act, specifically states special circumstances for redundancies.

“Now our agreement has a specific layout of the process in which redundancy should take place and particularly the Employment Act. “…The question is being asked today is the University of the Bahamas not going to paint any more?

“Our agreement clearly

indicates whether there is some economic condition or some technological change that is taking place in an institution, positions are considered for redundancy. So we have an idea today that our shop steward Mr Coakley, because of his effectiveness is being targeted and so we are being very concerned that a man of 42 years in this institution, his other staff of 20 and 16 years respectively the college is giving consideration.”

He continued: “But we want to warn the University of the Bahamas today that the union will not sit idly by and allow the university to have a blatant disregard for the Bahamas Public Services Union.

“It’s clearly laid out in our agreement what should happen when the employer wants to consider an area for redundancy and it indicates that some three months prior to whatever they want to do they have to sit and consult and dialogue with the union.”

He said there had been no dialogue.

For his part, Mr Coakley accused university officials of “disrespecting” staff. He said he had complained to Mr Smith about a specific vice president, but was told nothing would be done.

“I have complained to the president in respect to this person’s behaviour and in response he blatantly told us that she is not going anywhere, but yet when a manager misbehaves they are reprimanded,” Mr Coakley said.

This, among other matters, he said, have failed to be resolved leaving the union angered by the university’s position.

us and to protect innocent people from those persons who are out to cause a mayhem.

“And we just can’t afford to allow that to happen and we’re putting every possible measure in place within the framework in the law to ensure that we keep Bahamians and visitors and the good citizens of this nation safe.”

The minister added that although officials have seen an overall decrease in crime recently, the government is still committed to addressing the crime issue in the country. “This is not an overnight quick fix thing,” he said. “It took us decades to get here and we hope that it doesn’t have to take us decades to move away

THE CAR riddled with bullets on Mackey Street on Monday from here. We’re already seeing positive results in our overall crime figures over the years and over the last two years, it’s been the lowest in the decade.

“Are we celebrating?

We’re far from that. We all recognise that there is a significant amount of work to do, but we won’t be

deterred and we’re getting down to business and we’re continuing that work.”

He continued: “And just, a warning to our young men out there that brandishing a weapon does not make you superman and especially when you take it upon yourself to hurt innocent people and to confront law

Photo: Donavan McIntosh enforcement. As I’ve said before, it’s a bad proposition and you’re not going to win that and that’s the last thing that we would want.

We hate losing our young men. We’ve lost too many of them already to crime and to violent acts and it’s the last resort that police would want to do.”

PAGE 8, Wednesday, February 26, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

MIGRANTS ARE HUMAN BEINGS TOO, DR MINNIS IN A shocking contribution to the mid-year budget debate, Dr Minnis said we need to “take our country back.” He was speaking, of course, about immigration. He spoke of the aggressive pursuit of illegal migrants, obviously referring specifically to Haitians. He said Bahamians are second-class citizens in The Bahamas. This is

more than an exaggeration. Interestingly, his examples pointed more to the inefficiency of government services and even the reluctance of Bahamian people to access those services. He also pointed to issues that proliferate due to the incompetence of government ministries and departments.

Perhaps more attention on

The

Alicia Wallace column THE recent kerfuffle about $100 is almost laughable. To begin with, the outrage is not over just $100. It is about the total amount of money the current government administration has decided should be available for travel expenses. It is also the principle of the matter – that allowances are being made for spouses to travel, which is wholly unnecessary, at the expense of the public which is still adjusting to a high increase in Value Added Tax, has a high rate of unemployment and is struggling to recover from Hurricane Dorian.

The maximum assistance available for post-Dorian rebuilding is $10,000, but spouses can receive $100 per day - the same amount as technical officers - for travel? There is good reason to be outraged.

The Free National Movement has attempted to brand itself as fiscally responsible which, in many cases, seems to be taken to mean fiscally conservative. There have been a few occasions when this administration chose to spend wildly. One of the first to come to mind is the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort. Another, on a different scale, is the increase in the travel budget. Not only is this new per diem for spouses cause for concern, but the 67 percent increase in the per diem for international travel provided to ministers. Coming after its criticism of the Progressive Liberal Party-led administration (which was also reckless in spending) for its travel budget, this is probably surprising to many.

There has been no rationale offered for these increases.

At the mere question, the public is treated like

insolent children, scolded for daring to ask and denied a response.

We will certainly remember this administration for its terrible engagement with the public through the media. It has refused to provide information, ridiculed reporters, completely disrespected the Bahamian people – its employers.

Microphones have been pushed away, ministers have abdicated responsibility and the prime minister has failed to meet his own commitment to regularly address the Bahamian people.

This unabashed disrespect is no salve for the sting of budget increases that benefit individuals in the administration and amount to a reduction in resources for the people. It is as though this administration is content to take food from us, eat it and refuse to even look at us when we are hungry. To them, are we not even worth acknowledgement?

Making matters worse, Dr Minnis’ flippant response to the question over the $100 per diem suggested it is not a lot of money. He is on the growing list of people who have no understanding of poverty, or even the struggles of the average Bahamian.

Just months ago, $20-30 increases in already high electricity bills was said to be of no consequence. Let’s think about $20 or $100 in terms of tanks of gas, cans of tuna, five-gallon bottles of water, bus rides, blood pressure medication, occupational therapy sessions, tarps, baby formula or school lunches. Is it really so little? Does it really make no difference? Maybe to a person with $1 million, $100 is nothing, but for

policies and the people responsible for upholding them and less on the vulnerable people seeking refuge and opportunity here would yield the results he, and many like him, want.

In his speech, Dr Minnis repeatedly used the term “illegals.” It is important that we, as human beings, realise migrant people

are human beings. They may not have entered the country legally, but they do not then become less than human. People are not illegal. People can do illegal things.

Migrants are not illegal. They can enter countries illegally. “Illegals” is an offensive word that reduces people to their status. It is possible to recognise a person’s status

without characterising them by that status.

There is enough stigma around migrants and migration without us branding people “illegal” and we certainly do not need the prime minister’s assistance in making people illogically fearful and hateful not only of migration, but of Haitian migrants in particular.

It’s only $100 but its significance means so much

DR Minnis is on the growing list of people who have no understanding of poverty, or even the struggles of the average Bahamian people down to their last $10, it is all the difference in the world.

Maybe if the people making decisions about public funds actually thought about the people

affected – like, for example, those displaced by Hurricane Dorian – the consequence would be clear, but perhaps there is no amount of money that would make them actually care.

For as long as the money comes from our pockets and so long as our representatives are paid by us and speak in our names, we ought to care and we ought to compel them to

care. We need not wait for election day to do it. We have just as much power now as we will have in 2022. It is up to us to acknowledge and activate it.

TIMELY PRODUCTION AS WE STRUGGLE TO RECOVER FROM DORIAN IT IS a haunting story. It is not often thought of, much less told. It would probably not be a conversation today if not for the performances

of Ian Chinaka Strachan’s Diary of Souls at The Dundas. Directed by Nicolette Bethel and Renee Caesar, on the evocative set

designed by Jason Evans, the play is both a display of undeniable Bahamian talent and an unabashed look at an ugly truth

that lives in The Bahamas. It does this against the backdrop of the 1990 interception of a Haitian sloop by the defence force

which ended in the death of at least 39 Haitians and the contradictions that followed. It is a timely production, as we continue to reel from the impact of Hurricane Dorian, struggle to return to normalcy and creep toward recovery.

The three main characters are lost. They are stuck.

They have been deserted.

No, worse – they have been dumped. They have varying degrees of understanding of what happened to them and what could be next. One of the most disturbing parts of the play is when the three Haitian characters play a game, acting out the memories of the Bahamian people they understand to hate them. It is embarrassing, enraging, heartbreaking and not at all unfamiliar.

It is a true representation of the way we think about, speak of and treat Haitian people. It is a mirror.

In a scene I cannot get out of my head, one character asks: “Why do they hate us? Weren’t their people slaves too?”

The question is one some of us have been asking for years. We are not so different. We suffered through the same tragedy and were deposited on different rocks to live through more tragedy. We have the same desires. We come up against the same systemic obstacles. Still, we separate ourselves from them, understanding ourselves to be more deserving and more human.

The answer came from

another character. “We are ugly.” At first, I could not tell whether she had said “we” or “they,” but knew that she was right, either way. “We are ugly” would mean that we, as Bahamians, see Haitians as subhuman, less than us, and too closely resembling our ancestors. “They are ugly” would mean that we, as Bahamians, barely deserve to be considered human ourselves, because we have little regard for human life that is not our own, and our insides are rotten with hatred, greed and, in many cases, indifference. We have to reckon with the ugliness. Whether it is ours or theirs, it is of our own making.

There are three more performances of Diary of Souls this weekend. Go to The Dundas box office on Mackey Street or purchase tickets online. Learn about an event in our history that is never discussed. Open yourself up enough to feel something other than superiority. Move away from indifference. Allow yourself to be moved by the humanity of others, even as it is portrayed by characters who no longer have their own. Consider what is presented by a talented cast and production team in today’s context, in a country that is post-Dorian, but certainly not post-disaster.

Remember that part of the disaster is the difference we create between ourselves and the people we could easily have been.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020, PAGE 9

EU PROPOSES RULES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — The European Union unveiled proposals last week to regulate artificial intelligence that call for strict rules and safeguards on risky applications of the rapidly developing technology.

The report is part of the bloc’s wider digital strategy aimed at maintaining its position as the global pacesetter on technological standards.

Big tech companies seeking to tap Europe’s vast and lucrative market, including those from the U.S. and China, would have to play by any new rules that come into force.

The EU’s executive Commission said it wants to develop a “framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had ordered her top deputies to come up with a coordinated European approach to artificial intelligence and data strategy 100 days after she took office in December.

“We will be particularly careful where essential human rights and interests are at stake,” von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.

“Artificial intelligence must serve people, and therefore artificial intelligence must always comply with people’s rights.”

EU leaders, keen on establishing “technological sovereignty,” also released a strategy to unlock data from the continent’s businesses and the public sector so it can be harnessed for further innovation in artificial intel-

“We will be particularly careful where essential human rights and interests are at stake. Artificial intelligence must serve people, and therefore artificial intelligence must always comply with people’s rights.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ligence. Officials in Europe, which doesn’t have any homegrown tech giants, hope to to catch up with the U.S. and China by using the bloc’s vast and growing trove of industrial data for what they anticipate is a coming wave of digital transformation.

They also warned that even more regulation for foreign tech companies is in store with the upcoming “Digital Services Act,”

TECHTALK

PRESIDENT of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen looks at the invention ‘Do you Speak Robot?’ at the AI Xperience Center at the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in Brussels last week.

(Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP) a sweeping overhaul of how the bloc treats digital companies, including potentially holding them liable for illegal content posted on their platforms. A steady stream of Silicon Valley tech bosses, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft President Brad Smith, have visited Brussels in recent weeks as part of apparent lobbying efforts.

“It is not us that need to adapt to today’s platforms.

It is the platforms that need to adapt to Europe,” said Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market. “That is the message that we delivered to CEOs of these platforms when they come to see us.”

If the tech companies aren’t able to build systems “for our people, then we will regulate, and we are ready to do this in the Digital Services Act at the end of the year,” he said.

The EU’s report said clear rules are needed to address “high-risk AI systems,” such as those in recruitment, healthcare, law enforcement or transport, which should be “transparent, traceable and guarantee human oversight.”

Other artificial intelligence systems could come with labels certifying that they are in line with EU standards.

Artificial intelligence uses computers to process large sets of data and make decisions without human input. It is used, for example, to trade stocks in financial markets, or, in some countries, to scan faces in crowds to find criminal suspects.

Risks While it can be used to improve healthcare, make farming more efficient or combat climate change, it also brings risks. It can be unclear what data artificial intelligence systems work off.

Facial recognition systems can be biased against certain social groups, for example.

There are also concerns about privacy and the use of the technology for criminal purposes, the report said.

Human-centered guidelines for artificial intelligence are essential because “none of the positive things will be achieved if we distrust the technology,” said Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice president overseeing the EU’s digital strategy.

Under the proposals, which are open for public consultation until May 19, EU authorities want to be able to test and certify the data used by the algorithms

that power artificial intelligence in the same way they check cosmetics, cars and toys.

It’s important to use unbiased data to train high-risk artificial intelligence systems so they can avoid discrimination, the commission said.

Specifically, AI systems could be required to use data reflecting gender, ethnicity and “other possible grounds of prohibited discrimination.”

Other ideas include preserving data to help trace any problems and having AI systems clearly spell out their capabilities and limitations. Users should be told when they’re interacting with a machine and not a human while humans should be in charge of the system and have the final say on decisions such as rejecting an application for welfare benefits, the report said.

EU leaders said they also wanted to open a debate on when to allow facial recognition in remote identification systems, which are used to scan crowds to check people’s faces to those on a database. It’s considered the “most intrusive form” of the technology and is prohibited in the EU except in special cases.

MARS LANDER CONFIRMS QUAKES, EVEN AFTERSHOCKS ON RED PLANET

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s newest Mars lander has confirmed that quakes and even aftershocks are regularly jolting the red planet.

Scientists reported Monday that the seismometer from the InSight spacecraft has detected scores of marsquakes.

A series of research papers focus on the 174 marsquakes noted through last September. Twenty-four were relatively strong — magnitude 3 to 4 — and apparently stemmed from distant underground triggers. The rest were smaller, with uncertain magnitude and origin. Even the stronger quakes would not have posed a hazard to anybody on the planet’s surface, researchers said in a press conference.

The overall tally has since jumped to more than 450 marsquakes, most of them small, InSight’s lead scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in an email.

The basic cause of Martian quakes is a long-term cooling of the planet, which makes it contract, fracturing its brittle outer layers, Banerdt told

reporters. But it’s not clear what detailed mechanisms bring on specific quakes, he said.

While the team cannot rule out meteor impacts, the source of the tremors appears to be underground, according to the researchers. Nevertheless, Mars-orbiting spacecraft are on the lookout for signs of recent impacts, and InSight’s cameras scan the night sky for meteors. So far, they’ve come up empty.

Banerdt said he had hoped to find more larger quakes, which are useful for probing deeper under the planet’s surface. In an email, he said “another year of observations will be needed to complete the goals of the mission.”

InSight landed in a small crater in Mars’ Elysium Planitia in November 2018. Its French seismometer was placed directly on the volcanic plain the following month.

This region has especially turbulent weather, with dust devil-like vortexes.

The lander still has another year of geologic observations for a total of two years, or one full Martian year. There likely are more quakes occurring than the seismometer is registering; interference from wind

THE INSIGHT lander’s dome-covered seismometer, known as SEIS, on Mars.

(NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP) and other weather conditions can mask the measurements.

And while no marsquakes with magnitudes greater than 4 have been detected, that doesn’t mean they aren’t occurring, according to Banerdt.

Banerdt describes Mars as moderately active from a seismic standpoint, more than the moon but less than Earth. The findings are close to initial predictions. The moon’s seismic

activity is known thanks to instruments left behind a half-century ago by the Apollo astronauts.

“Knowledge of the level of seismic activity is crucial for investigating the interior structure and understanding Mars’ thermal and chemical evolution,” Banerdt wrote in an overview article in Nature Geoscience. The journal as well as Nature Communications feature four papers from the InSight team.

• AMAZON wants to kill the supermarket checkout line.

The online retailing giant is opening its first cashier-less supermarket, where shoppers can grab milk or eggs and walk out without waiting in line or ever opening their wallets. It’s the latest sign that Amazon is serious about shaking up the $800 billion grocery industry.

At the new store, which opened Tuesday in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle, shoppers scan a smartphone app to enter the store. Cameras and sensors track what’s taken off shelves.

Items are charged to an Amazon account after leaving.

“I love the convenience of literally grabbing and going” said Art Kuniyuki, a payroll and benefits manager from Seattle, who spent $15 on Barilla pasta, Dove chocolate and other groceries shortly after the store opened.

Called Amazon Go Grocery, the new store is an expansion of its 2-year-old chain of 25 Amazon Go convenience stores. It’s 10,400 square feet — more than five times the size of the convenience stores — and stocks much more beyond the sodas and sandwiches found at Amazon Go. Cameron Janes, who helps oversee Amazon’s physical stores, said the technology had to be tweaked to account for how people squeeze tomatoes to test for ripeness or rummage through avocados to find just the right one. Nothing at the store is weighed. One blood orange goes for 53 cents; a banana is 19 cents.

• WHITNEY Houston is appearing on the concert stage again.

Eight years after her death, a holographic Houston embarked on a European tour that started in England yesterday and runs through early April, with U.S. dates expected to follow.

“Now is just the right time,” said Pat Houston, the singer’s sister-in-law, former manager and the executor of her estate, which is producing the show in collaboration with BASE Hologram. “In the spirit of Whitney, I know we’re doing all the right things right now.”

Last week, a few dozen members of the media were given a dress-rehearsal preview in Burbank, California of most of “An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour,” which features a Houston projected onto a nearly invisible scrim on a stage with real dancers and a live backing band.

The concert set includes most of her biggest hits — “How Will I Know,” “Saving All My Love For You,” “I Will Always Love You,” along with some unexpected rarities, including a cover of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” that Houston first recorded three decades ago.

The show, which was first conceived five years ago, used a body double along with hundreds of hours of Houston performances and extensive CGI synthesizing.

“We created the hologram the same way they did Carrie Fisher in the ‘Star Wars’ movie ‘Rogue One,’” said Marty Tudor, CEO of BASE Hologram, which has previously revived performing versions of dead singers including Roy Orbison and Maria Callas. “It’s lengthy, it’s tedious, it’s a big, complicated process, but I think it worked.”

PAGE 10, Wednesday, February 26, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Lewis: 34 domes will be ready in Abaco by Friday

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net MINISTER of State Disaster Preparedness Iram Lewis said at least 34 domes will be ready at the family

relief centre in Abaco this Friday. “There was an issue with the utility connections, they are in place so it’s just a matter now of putting in the utility supplies and then families will

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be able to move in by this Friday,” he said. According to Mr Lewis, all of the domes that are ready have two bedrooms. He also confirmed that “more work is underway”.

Asked whether persons had been selected to occupy the completed domes, he added: “I’m not sure, but we do have a process by which we will select them and of course displaced Abaconians will be considered first.”

Mr Lewis also said officials are in the process of identifying a mass burial site for unclaimed storm victims in Abaco. “Certainly there will not be one grave,” he said. “The idea is to have it all in one location with each of the graves marked so that at the end of the day, once all of the DNA (is) finalised, persons (who) wish to exhume the bodies and so forth, that can be done.

“To make it easy (and) to make it simple as far as I am aware, it will be perhaps in one general area.”

Still, Mr Lewis said he was not sure if a location had been identified as yet.

“It’s in the hands of local government who has responsibility for cemeteries, but once we have all the pertinent information we will advise the media.”

He added that an exact date has yet to be confirmed because officials have to consult the family members of the storm victims in Abaco.

“I’m not sure that a meeting was had yet with those family members, but once that is also determined, the media will be advised,” he said.

When asked whether he believed the DNA process of analysis had been exhausted at this point, Mr Lewis declined to comment, stating he was not qualified to speak in that area.

While speaking to reporters outside Cabinet yesterday on the same issue, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands insisted that the government has handled the situation humanely and fairly. He also confirmed that all of the unclaimed bodies of storm victims in Abaco will be given “Christian burial rights” once the plot of land is identified.

“Each set of remains will be interred in an individual plot which will be indexed so that if there are appropriate matches to DNA or identification, then family members would have the ability to get closure,” he explained.

“As of today, I’m advised that there has been no match of DNA with any of the remains to any individual who has come forward and so notwithstanding the

fact that there are claims that has not been worn out based on what I’ve been advised by the DNA.” Dr Sands said that although officials have had “several rounds of DNA, based on (a) conversation with the pathologists”, there has been no match to date.

He insisted that while there may be “competing concerns”, the public must be mindful of the concerns of the surviving family members of storm victims.

“And while it may be inconvenient for others, I think we need to understand that there are people who have lost a wife, a husband, a grammy, a child and they are the greatest victims here,” Dr Sands said.

Yesterday, Mr Lewis also said his ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) are working diligently to ensure the country is prepared for the upcoming hurricane season.

Mr Lewis said while officials are still involved in recovery efforts from Hurricane Dorian last September, their preparations for the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season will be completed come June.

“The question is asked, are we ready today? No, but of course we do have time,” he said. “Are we getting ready? Yes. Will we be ready? Yes.

“I’m confident that NEMA with the (Ministry) responsible for Disaster Preparedness and Management, we’re putting the necessary pieces in place. We’ve had our workshop (and) training is now ongoing on some of the islands.”

Mr Lewis said that officials had a training officer in Exuma just last week.

He added that announcements with regards to “logistics and disaster time response”, are “coming up in short order”.

“That is being spearheaded by Captain Russell and the agency NEMA, and, of course, once those workshops and those deadlines are finalised, we would advise the public because we realise that in NEMA we have to build capacity,” he explained.

“We have to decentralise NEMA and put the same facilities in place that we have in Nassau on other islands like Abaco, like Grand Bahama, like a central zone and also a zone for the south.”

Mr Lewis said the “plan down the road” is to build new shelters that would fit this criteria. Still, he said in the “meantime”, officials will go through all of the buildings that were identified as hurricane shelters to “ensure that they can adequately function” as reliable structures.

DAMES DEFENDS DECISION TO MOVE SENIOR OFFICERS

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday defended the government’s decision to reassign several senior officers to various ministries.

He said it was a necessary move to help address security issues experienced at those respective ministries.

Mr Dames also said the move was a part of the government’s overall efforts to create a safer and better country.

“Our actions as a government is we have to ensure that our approach is very broad in scope,” he told reporters outside Cabinet yesterday.

“Law enforcement is not confined to the police force.

We have problems in our schools. We have problems in other ministries of government that need clear oversight.

“So, it’s our job to ensure that we broaden our scope and we put our focus on wherever those issues are, and we ensure that we’re taking all measures possible to mitigate the problems that we’re experiencing throughout this country.

“It’s more than just the streets. It’s in our ministries, you know and so we have an obligation to work together as ministers to help one another but also, all of this is an effort for a better Bahamas.”

Last year, the government directed eight senior police officers to take vacation leave, saying it was part of a policy to prevent officers from accumulating so much vacation leave that they would have to be paid substantial sums of money when they retire.

Since their return from leave, several officers have

MINISTER Marvin Dames been appointed to new roles at various government agencies. ACP Kendal Strachan and ACP Clayton Fernander, for example, have been directed to head security teams at juvenile schools and the Ministry of Health respectively.

Meanwhile, ACP Leamond Deleveaux has been assigned to “to assist with the overall security concerns” at the Ministry of Education.

Wayne Munroe, attorney for two of the officers, has criticised the new appointments, suggesting they are demotions. ACP Strachan has sued the government over his transfer.

However, maintaining that the appointments are not demotions, Mr Dames said that in order to address concerns at the specific ministries, “all hands on deck” are needed, specifically those with experience.

“It’s a very high-level position. It’s not a low-level position,” he told reporters yesterday. “It requires very senior persons and, as I said, the issues we face in many of our ministries, they are significant. “…These ministries are massive. They’re massive

and the work that’s required to get them to where they need to go, we need all hands on deck.

“And we must ensure that we have qualified and capable people who can assist the minister and the permanent secretaries in getting the job done and providing sound advice to ensure that we’re doing the right thing.”

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd has previously said that his ministry wants to beef up security as it has undertaken a large-scale technology initiative at all schools in the country.

“Our children, they’re our future,” Mr Dames continued. “The violence within the school systems, the security providing it can advise us how we can better secure those.

That’s a job within itself and that’s just one aspect of the Ministry of Education.”

“You look at (Ministry of) Health and with such a massive budget, we continue to have losses and theft of supplies…They must all be secured across this country, the length and breadth that we have not been paying enough attention to in terms of when we talk from a security standpoint.”

Asked by reporters yesterday if there were any concerns about officers seeking legal advice, the Mount Moriah MP replied: “Everyone is entitled. Everyone has a right to do whatever they choose. We can’t fault them for that. It’s your right. If you feel that you have been wronged, it’s not for me to say don’t go to a counsel.

“That would be wrong, and they have a right to choose advice and get the best advice. They’re entitled to that.”

COMMUNITY TRAINING GRADUATES SECURITY officers who Retired assistant comhave completed training missioner of police Paul with community organisa- Thompson conducted the tion Bahamas Against Crime course. will graduate tomorrow. • Mt Olive Baptist Church The Rev Dr CB Moss, chair- is also hosting senior citiman of the group, said that zens activities on Thursdays the graduation would take from 10am-2pm, with all place from 6pm at Mt Olive welcome. For more inforBaptist Church. mation, contact 325-7909.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, February 26, 2020, PAGE 11

‘It’s no longer ‘if’ but ‘when’ coronavirus spreads in America’ NEW YORK Associated Press US health officials yesterdy warned that the burgeoning coronavirus is certain to spread more widely in the country at some point, even as their counterparts in Europe and Asia scrambled to contain new outbreaks of the illness.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen — and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Dr Nancy Messonnier of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

She went on: “I had a conversation with my family over breakfast this morning, and I told my children that - while I didn’t think they were at risk - right now, we as a family, need to be preparing for significant disruption of our lives,. [Parents should] ask schools, are there plans for teleschool? You should think what you would do for daycare if schools close?”The CDC’s call for Americans to be prepared added new urgency to response efforts that, until this week, focused on a disease largely confined to China, where it apparently originated, and neighbouring countries.

New clusters of the illness popped up far from China, causing increased concerns for officials in some of the wealthiest nations in Europe and Asia, as well as in countries with far fewer resources.

But many remained uncertain about how best to contain it.

The new outbreaks were reported in places as far-flung as Italy and Iran, France and Algeria, and Spain’s Canary Islands.

The tiny Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain said it had 17 cases, including a school bus driver who had transported students as recently as Sunday.

In Iran, the head of the country’s

ITALIAN soldiers check transit to and from the cordoned areas in northern Italy yesterday virus task force, who just a day earlier had urged the public not to overreact about the spread of the disease, tested positive himself. The official, Iraj Harirchi, posted a new video online, promising authorities would bring the virus under control within weeks.

Officials in South Korea said they were racing to contain an outbreak that has grown to nearly 1,000 cases.

“It’s a matter of speed and time: We must create a clear turning point within this week,” President Moon Jae-in said.

The virus’ toll continued to mount, even as Chinese officials reported a slowing in the number of new cases. As of yesterday, the spread of the illness had sickened some 80,000 people worldwide and

caused about 2,700 deaths. The vast majority of those infections remain in China, where 518 new cases were reported Tuesday and another 71 deaths, 68 of them in the central city of Wuhan, where the epidemic was first detected in December. The updates bring mainland China’s totals to 77,780 cases and 2,666 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

WHO said the fatality rate was between 2% and 4% in Wuhan and 0.7% elsewhere in China.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, the WHO envoy who led a team just back from China, told reporters the reason for the large discrepancy was partly because the disease hit Wuhan early and fast, when “people didn’t know what we were

dealing with, were learning how to treat this.”

In Italy’s north, where more than 200 people were sickened, a dozen towns were sealed off and police wearing face masks patrolled.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza huddled in Rome with counterparts from bordering countries — France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia — as well as with those from Germany and Croatia, two countries whose citizens are among frequent visitors to Italy.

Among the shared points of view emerging from the meeting, Speranza told reporters, was this one: “Closing borders is inappropriate” as a response. Italian officials reported 322 cases of the virus, including 11 deaths.

NEW ORLEANS FEASTS ON FAT TUESDAY

WEINSTEIN CASE COULD AFFECT SEX PROSECUTIONS NEW YORK Associated Press NEW York prosecutors are hailing Harvey Weinstein’s conviction as a pivotal moment that could change the way the legal system views a type of sexual assault case historically considered difficult to prove.

Most of the women who testified against Weinstein stayed in contact with him — and sometimes had consensual sexual encounters with him — after alleged attacks. None promptly reported his crimes. There was little physical evidence to bolster their stories.

The jury convicted anyway, finding the producer guilty of raping one woman in 2013 and sexually assaulting another in 2006.

“This is a new day,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said after the verdict was announced.

“Rape is rape whether the survivor reports within an hour, within a year or perhaps never. It’s rape despite the complicated dynamics of power and consent after an assault. It’s rape even if there is no physical evidence.”

But some women’s advocates cautioned that it’s too soon to know how much the legal landscape has shifted. “This is not a signal that our systems and institutions are magically transformed,” said Sonia Ossorio, the president of the National Organization for Women’s New York chapter. “This is one case, one man. We’ve got to keep it in perspective.”

GUILTY: Weinstein

5 MONTHS’ JAIL FOR MOTHER IN COLLEGE SCAM BOSTON Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS Associated Press

AN heir to the Hot Pockets fortune was yesterday sentenced to five months in prison for trying to cheat and bribe her daughters’ way into school as part of a nationwide college admissions scam.

Michelle Janavs, whose father and uncle invented the microwaveable Hot Pockets turnover, showed no emotion as the judge delivered his sentence after she apologised for abandoning her moral compass and hurting her family and friends. “I am so very sorry that I tried to create an unfair advantage for my children,” she said.

The judge told Janavs that prison time was needed to deter others who might have the gall to use their wealth to break the law and dismissed her argument that her actions were motivated by a love for her children.

The “vast majority of parents do not brazenly try to push their kids in the side door” of universities through bribery, US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton said.

THOUSANDS of people thronged the streets of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday, reaching for beads, shimmying to the music of marching bands and celebrating the end of a Carnival season tinged by tragedy after two bystanders were killed by floats this year.

Even before sunrise, the Northside Skull and Bone Gang in skeleton costumes was out waking people up in the Treme neighborhood to celebrate a day that for some continues long into the night. Thousands of people lined the streets, dressed in the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold, standing or sitting in lawn chairs, eating food and talking to friends and neighbors.

“The most important thing is family, just being able to be out here and enjoying the music, the high school bands, the excitement that the kids have,” said one enthusiast.

DEMOCRATS BAND TOGETHER TO KNOCK SANDERS DURING DEBATE CLASH SOUTH CAROLINA Associated Press

DEMOCRATS unleashed a roaring assault against Bernie Sanders and seized on Mike Bloomberg’s past with women in the workplace during a contentious debate last night that tested the strength of the two men at the centre of the party’s presidential nomination fight.

As the undeniable Democratic front-runner, Sanders faced the brunt of the attacks for much of the night, and for one of the few times,

fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren was among the critics. The Massachusetts senator pressed the case that she could execute ideas that the Vermont senator could only talk about. “Bernie and I agree on a lot of things,” she said. “But I think I would make a better president than Bernie.”

A group of moderates, meanwhile, fought to emerge as the chief Sanders alternative.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking a strong win in South Carolina to keep his campaign

afloat, argued only he has the experience to lead in the world. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota repeatedly contended that she alone could win the votes of battleground state moderates.

And Pete Buttigieg pointed to Sanders’ self-described democratic socialism and his recent comments expressing admiration for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s push for education.

“I am not looking forward to a scenario where it comes down to Donald Trump with his nostalgia for the social order of the 1950s

and Bernie Sanders with a nostalgia for the revolutionary politics of the 1960s,” the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, declared.

But the moderates did little to draw separation among themselves, a dynamic that has so far only benefited the Vermont senator. Sanders fought back throughout the night, pointing to polls that showed him beating the Republican president and noting all the recent attention he’s gotten: “I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. I wonder why?”

FRONT RUNNER: Sanders

The intensity of Tuesday’s forum, with candidates repeatedly shouting over each other, reflected the reality that the Democrats’ establishment wing is quickly running out of time to stop Sanders’ rise. Even some critics, Bloomberg among them, conceded that Sanders could build an insurmountable delegate lead as soon as next week.

The Democratic White House hopefuls will not stand side-by-side on the debate stage again until the middle of March.