03012022 NEWS, SPORT, FEATURES AND BUSINESS

WOMAN & HEALTH TUESDAY DISNEY Stitch Happy Meal

HIGH 80ºF LOW 69ºF

i’m lovin’ it!

Monday,

February

CARS! CARS!

8, 2021

The Tribune Established

Being Bound To

Swear To The Dogmas

1903

Of No Master

The Tribune L A T E S T

N E W S

tise Call

To Adver

-2351

601-0007 or 502

Starting at

$33.60

Established 1903

O N

T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M

Biggest And Best!

Volume: 119 No.68, March 1, 2022

CLASSIFIEDS TRADER

ed

VAT includ

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1

36 YEARS LOCKED AWAY ON A 7-YEAR SENTENCE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Supreme Court yesterday ordered the release of Eric Stubbs, a man who spent 36 years in Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre after he was convicted of rape in 1984.

Earlier this year, the Privy Council ruled the Supreme Court had to decide whether Mr Stubbs should be released or not.

Mr Stubbs was convicted of rape and housebreaking in 1984 and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He appealed the verdict and in 1985 the Court of Appeal changed the ruling to guilty, but mentally ill. The court ruled

LONG ISLAND OFFICERS ACCUSED OF ASSAULT

he had to be kept at Sandilands until he received an order of discharge from the Governor General.

Last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed his application for leave to apply to the Privy Council on the basis that his confinement was unconstitutional and a breach of his rights.

Mr Stubbs’ lawyer,, Sonia Timothy, said the error in the case concerned the requirement that her client could only be released by an order of the Governor General.

In its ruling, the Privy Council wrote: “The parties should seek directions from the Supreme Court as to the evidence it requires such

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

A 25-YEAR-OLD Cat Island local government official has alleged he was beaten by police and denied medical treatment in Long Island.

Jason Jasper Russell further claimed despite being released without any court charges, police are now alleging he committed a number of offences following his formal complaint of the incident to the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Complaints and Corruption Unit.

SEE PAGE FIVE

SEE PAGE FIVE

‘WE STAND WITH UKRAINE - IT WILL AFFECT US TOO’ BRITISH High Commissioner Sarah Dickson said it is “time to stand with Ukraine,” noting that while Russia’s invasion of its neighbour may seem far away, the shock waves felt by the war will be felt even here.

In a letter to the editor, Ms Dickson said Russia’s leaders are afraid of “successful, outward-facing, free market democracies” in its neighbourhood, because they do not want Russian people to know there is a world outside of a “stifling, corrupt dictatorship”.

She noted that British

Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced sanctions against Russia and that Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has condemned Russia’s actions.

“What’s happening in Ukraine may seem very far away, but the shock waves, created by the brutal invasion by Russia, will be felt even here,” Ms Dickson wrote. “The globalised world we live in means that the fall out of war will impact fuel and food prices; as well as consumer and investor confidence.”

SEE PAGE FOUR

‘WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY’ STEPHEN Cox is a bionic man. After losing his right arm in a job accident on Halloween in 2019, he has fought back and now has a bionic arm. Read his full story in FACE TO FACE on PAGE EIGHT.

MUNROE SEEKS PROBE INTO PRISON BOSS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe says he is seeking Cabinet’s permission to appoint an independent committee to investigate Charles Murphy’s tenure as Commissioner of Correctional Services.

Mr Murphy was controversially sent on leave in October, supposedly out of concern that a Supreme

CHARLES MURPHY Court order was breached under his watch. Since then,

Mr Munroe has claimed that a litany of issues have been uncovered.

Asked about the status of Commissioner Murphy’s position, Mr Munroe said: “That’s a matter where I’ve told them to draw a line under it and we’ll now be moving to get Cabinet permission to get the independent committee appointed to look into the matters that have been unearthed.

SEE PAGE THREE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

ABACO IN THE DARK - IT’S RUN OUT OF MILK

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said blows keep “piling on top of each other” for the Dorianravaged island which has presently run out of milk.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

PETER YOUNG: DICTATOR IS A THREAT TO THE WORLD

- SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

CONFISCATED contrabands at the Bahamas Department of Corrections with, left, Usha Pitts, Chargé D’Affaires at the US Embassy, and Wayne Munroe, Minister of National Security.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

Drugs, phones and more from prison contraband revealed

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net ILLEGAL drugs, cell phones and other contraband confiscated by officials at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services were displayed for the media at the facility yesterday.

The contraband was confiscated between September 28, 2021 and Sunday.

About 174 cell phones, a pound of dope, cell phone chargers, headphones and an assortment of devices were displayed.

Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare said a unit, which was disbanded in 2017/2018 and reinstituted upon his return to the facility last September, confiscated the contraband.

He said more items, which were not displayed, were confiscated.

“Some things are used by police (for) further investigations like some cell phones because some phones were linked to murders and those phones were turned over to police. Some of the drugs (are) before the courts now,” he said of

the contraband, which was not on display.

He said most of the contraband is found in medium security and also other areas of the compound.

He said some people are now resorting to throwing contraband over the facility’s exterior walls for inmates.

He said last week, a car sped past the facility and someone from inside the car threw a bag of marijuana onto the compound.

Asked if he has seen a decrease in contraband

being smuggled into the compound, he said: “When we arrived, a joint of marijuana in prison was for about $5. Since the unit has been formed a joint now is $20. So that tells you right there - supply and demand.”

Still, he said, more assistance is needed.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe noted the commissioner has already sent requests for CCTV cameras for the perimeter and added that last week there was a meeting with a presentation for AI technology.

The contraband was put on display after a ceremony for the donation of equipment from the US Embassy.

At the ceremony, Mr Munroe said the Davis administration is committed to upgrading the correctional facility.

“We’re also planning to very shortly see on these compounds a purpose built, high-medium security prison that will serve to relieve Commissioner Cleare of some of the headache of contraband,” Mr Munroe said.

He said the cells will

be prefabricated from a company in the United States. “They’ve already presented to the ministry. The ministry and the government have already sent a team of public officers over to inspect the production line of that company and inspect two prisons actually built and delivered by that company.”

The minister told reporters the approximate cost for that project will be in the region of $35-40m.

He said the proposal has to be taken to Cabinet for approval.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 3

USHA PITTS, Chargé D’ Affaires at the US Embassy, and Wayne Munroe, Minister of National Security with, right, acting Commisioner of Corrections Doan Cleare.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

Munroe seeks probe into prison boss from page one “There was a continuing issue of correction officers he just sent home without proper process and they just keep coming and, of course, if they weren’t properly dismissed and they couldn’t be dismissed, then we owe them money. Every other day it seems somebody makes contact over who I have to direct to BDOC so other than talking about trying to get a full picture of all of that, my view is

that you have the issue, appoint the independent committee and let them do what they have to do. I hope to get a draft Cabinet paper sometime this week to hopefully see if I can get on the agenda next week or the following week.”

Yesterday, Mr Murphy’s lawyer, Romona Farquharson Seymour, said she has already taken legal action in the courts on her client’s behalf.

In October, she accused Mr Munroe of bias in his handling of Commissioner

Murphy, noting he represented two deputy prison commissioners who asked the Supreme Court to quash Mr Murphy’s appointment.

“How do we view,” she said, “that the very thing you were petitioning and asking the court for, the removal of Mr Murphy, which you were asking for in your private capacity, now in your public capacity has come to fruition? Is that a coincidence, happenstance, is that what we are supposed to accept?”

USHA PITTS, Chargé D’ Affaires, and Wayne Munroe, Minister of National Security, signing documents.

CHARGÉ D’ Affaires Usha Pitts recieves a a gift on behalf of the Department of Corrections.

US DONATES $300K EQUIPMENT TO AID JAIL THE United States delivered nearly $300,000 worth of advanced imaging and scanning technology and radio equipment to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services yesterday.

The donation is part of a long-term collaboration between the US Embassy’s Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and BDCS to strengthen Bahamian law enforcement capabilities and make correctional facilities safe for inmates, visitors, and correctional officers alike. The donation consisted of a body scanner, x-ray machine, radios, and other equipment.

US Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts delivered the donation to Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe.

While noting that the visit was her first to the facility, Ms Pitts commented on the

significance of the donation.

“It’s all going to help protect the safety of everybody who is at this facility…It’s good for inmates, it’s good for visitors and it’s good for the officers who work here.”

Mr Munroe expressed appreciation for the donation.

“We need to appreciate that we get assistance [from the United States] not only on matters of mutual concern, but matters where they are simply helping us, because they are our friends.”

He added: “In this world today, with all that is happening, I think we all know that friendships are good to have – and good to keep.”

The Leidos SafeView Advanced Imaging System — valued at over $220,000 — can detect a range of objects that regular metal detectors cannot. In less than 1.5 seconds, the

Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Co. is looking for a suitable candidate to fill the following position:

Brewery Chief Engineer Qualifications | Suitable applicants must have:

• A degree in Engineering • 5 years experience in Beer Manufacturing • 5 years experience in European Bottling System • 5 years experience in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and at least 5 years in Mechanical Engineering Interested persons may apply in writing to: Barefoot Marketing: P.O. Box F-41779 Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas

system scans and detects both metallic and nonmetallic items, such as explosive sheets, powders, bulk explosives, metals, liquids, gels, ceramic, and plastic. The SafeView also guards against the theft of assets, confidential information, and valuables.

The Astrophysics XIS6040 Inspection System, valued at over $26,000, is a high-performance system for scanning backpacks, purses, and parcels. With a powerful 160KV generator,

the X-ray inspection system provides crisp, high-resolution images that can reveal weapons, contraband, cell phones, and other concealed items.

Finally, the radio equipment allows corrections officers to communicate with one another throughout the compound, improving coordination and safety. The equipment includes 11 Motorola APX Radios, chargers, batteries, two antennas, and other equipment.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

CARICOM PREPARATIONS

PRIME Minister Davis and the delegation spent yesterday briefing on the country’s position on a number of matters on the agenda at CARICOM including climate change, COVID-19, and tourism. The Bahamas will be making a number of interventions when the session opens today.

Fresh Start programme seeks to encourage young citizens

By PAVEL BAILEY THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture celebrated the relaunch of the Fresh Start programme in New Providence yesterday.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg along with programme coordinator Shanda Roberts welcomed the new candidates after the programme took a brief hiatus due to the pandemic.

The 16-week programme will have a reduced number of participants due to COVID-19.

Mr Bowleg congratulated the new participants, saying that they had taken a bold

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg at the Fresh Start launch yesterday.

Photo: Pavel Bailey step to ensure their own job security and become productive members of society.

“Let me congratulate each and every one of you for taking that opportunity and taking that bold

step to understand that in order for you to be a productive citizen in this country that you have to not look behind you.

There is a reason the rearview is smaller than the

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

windshield, you have to look forward right?”

When she spoke, Ms Roberts encouraged participants to embrace the opportunity to find new skills to help them succeed in the job market.

“I want to admonish you and encourage all of you to embrace the opportunities that will lie in front of you.

Our honourable minister and our PS has dedicated, or they’ve committed to $2,500 to each of you and you will be trained in various skills including beauty trades, culinary and baking, office procedures and web design and, of course, mixology. I want to say even if you try, and you don’t get

it the first time, try, and try again. This is your home, and this will be a safe space for you.”

The programme is aimed at helping people who struggled in school get a second chance at training. It is open to people between the ages of 16 to 25 to gain the necessary knowledge and skills that allow them to be employable.

The programme was recently relaunched in Grand Bahama and there are plans to extend it to Abaco and other islands.

Andrew Minus, a graduate of BTVI and one of the participants in Fresh Start, spoke about the opportunity.

“We just intend to make the most of this programme and to maximise our ability to represent The Bahamas as a nation.

It’s very hard for these opportunities to come by now these days and once you don’t have that scholarship in place you have to scrape and claw and fight your way through for every opportunity that comes by.

“I was very fortunate to be able to get that scholarship from the time when Dr Minnis was still in office, and as I reiterate, we are maximising all opportunities for growth here and we look for nothing but the best result,” he said.

‘WE STAND WITH UKRAINE - IT WILL AFFECT US TOO’ from page one

“The British Prime Minister was quick to act and announced an unprecedented package of sanctions against Russia. These sanctions include restricting access to London’s capital markets, and asset freezes and clearing restrictions on the Russian banking sector, banning Aeroflot from the UK and undertaking further steps against Russian money and oligarchs,” she said.

The United States also placed additional sanctions on Russia’s central bank yesterday, which “effectively prohibits Americans from doing any business with the bank as well as freezes its assets” within the US, according to CNBC. Yesterday, Ms Dickson underscored why it is important for nations to support Ukraine.

Our support and that

of The Bahamas matters for the sake of Ukraine, a European sovereign nation and UN member, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity, which should be protected by the UN Charter, is being dismembered by a UN Security Council permanent member.

“Why have we come to this? Some say Russia is threatened by NATO expansion.

Seriously?

Having spent two years negotiating for the UK at NATO and in the OSCE on the movement of armed forces in Europe, I know how carefully the alliance deliberates to ensure continuing peace. So, let’s be clear on what Russia fears. It’s not the immediate prospect of Ukraine in NATO, no more than it was the EU/Ukraine agreement in 2014 which led to the illegal annexation of Crimea.

“What Russia’s leaders fear is successful,

outward-facing, free market democracies in Russia’s neighbourhood, because they are afraid these potent counter-examples will show the Russian people that there is a future beyond stifling, corrupt dictatorship.

“It’s not for the EU or NATO, not for the UK or US, to dictate Ukraine’s future. But neither is it for Moscow. The world will stand with Ukraine against President Putin’s barbaric invasion so as a democratic, sovereign nation Ukraine and its people can chart their own course,” she said.

Russia launched a “fullscale invasion” of Ukraine on February 24. More than 200 people are reported dead after weapon strikes in Ukraine while hundreds of thousands of people have fled to neighbouring countries.

Last week, Mr Mitchell said gasoline prices could soar to $8 a gallon due to the conflict.

MINISTRY WARNS OF FAKE PUTIN VIDEO THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a video circulating on social media which alleges to present Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing threats against The Bahamas is fake.

“The Ministry of Foreign

Affairs wishes to inform the public that this is a fake report in which the context of the video was maliciously edited to mislead the viewer,” a brief statement from the ministry said. “There are absolutely

no threats against The Bahamas from Russia and any claims of such are false.

Further, we ask the public to refrain from circulating such content and to immediately report the same to the police.”

JOB VACANCY Leading Law Firm Seeking

FILING CLERK

Responsibilities Include: Creating Client files and filing documents. Digitization, maintenance and updating of case and client records. General filing duties.

Requirements: Experience in the desired post, Competence with the Microsoft Office Suite and an ability to work with legal software. Outstanding time-management, excellent attention to detail and strong communication skills.

Please apply by email attaching current resume and cover letter outlining your suitability and salary expectations to

Legalhrm242@outlook.com

on or before 7th March, A. D. 2022.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 5

36 YEARS LOCKED AWAY ON A 7-YEAR SENTENCE from page one

as psychiatric and social reports to consider the following factors applicable to the question of continuing detention: (a) whether the appellant is suffering from mental disorder of a nature or degree which makes it

appropriate for him to be liable to be detained in hospital for medical treatment; or (b) whether it is necessary for the health or safety of the appellant or for the protection of the public that he should receive such treatment.”

Ms Timothy said: “Mr Stubbs denied rape. There

was no medical evidence of rape. He maintained his innocence. He appealed his conviction and sentence.

He was not represented at his appeal. On February 27, 1985, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered that for the verdict of guilty there be substituted a verdict of

guilty, but insane and that for the sentences of seven years imprisonment there be substituted an order that the appellant be conveyed to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, there to be kept until discharged by order of the Governor General.”

Despite the evidence of

Dr Michael Neville that he should not be sent to Sandilands, the Court of Appeal ordered his sentence at Sandilands.

“The accused does suffer from a mental illness… In this case it would be in his interests not to be committed under a hospital order.

Our maximum-security unit

at Sandilands provides for security under conditions of total incarceration. We have no area in which he could gainfully work or be rehabilitated. The periodic nature of his illness would mean that he would spend long periods locked up when he should be working,” the court said.

Long Island officers accused of assault from page one He claimed in an interview yesterday that the assault, which left him with a face injury, chest and head trauma, a back injury and abrasions about the body, was committed by plain clothes officers as well as at least one officer in uniform.

The ordeal unfolded on Long Island more than a week ago during what was supposed to be a trip to a local “hangout” to meet his girlfriend’s parents.

The night quickly took a wrong turn after he said he watched a woman, believed to be a police officer in plain clothes, follow his girlfriend into the bathroom.

After a brief argument, Mr Russell said he along with his girlfriend and her father went outside, but reentered the establishment under the impression that the incident was over.

“About five minutes later when I looked, some guys, they came and rushed up on me,” Mr Russell, a licensed aircraft and marine technician, said.

“I didn’t know who they were, but when I look and spin around, this girl came back with a police officer in uniform saying I lock up. I asked what for?

“Then one of the guys in plain clothes slapped me.

WARNING OVER FAKE VACCINE CARDS THE Ministry of Health and Wellness has been made aware that some printing companies and other entities have been producing cards that fraudulently claim the cardholders have been vaccinated in countries abroad.

According to a statement from Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville yesterday: “These cards also falsely assert that they have been issued by legitimate authorities in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

The statement said The Bahamas has no authorisation to issue vaccination cards on behalf of another country.

“Any entity that produces such a card violates the law,” Dr Darville said.

“Persons found in possession of these cards or persons producing these cards are guilty of an offence relating to the false printing of documents.

Holders of these cards should immediately destroy them.

“Printing companies or other entities are also ordered to stop producing these cards or risk facing legal consequences.”

The statement comes amid a decline of COVID19 cases in the country.

In its February 27 dashboard, the Ministry of Health reported six COVID-19 cases, a significant drop from the start of the year when daily cases were in the triple digits.

After he slapped me then the crowd began to separate and I heard someone say ‘put the cuffs on him’. They locked me up and put me in the bus and took me to (the) station and beat me a couple hours later,” he claimed.

“I was trying to get a doctor to see me and I requested a call or whatever and they denied me medical help.

“They were not allowing me to make any calls.

They kept saying they would allow me to make a call because they are supposed to offer the call and they denied me calls, they denied me help.

“Plus, when I called my parents and told them what happened, they called the station and asked to speak to the officer in

charge. They were told they couldn’t speak to him because he won’t be in until tomorrow and we could try back tomorrow.

“So, after being denied help and can’t speak to the officer in charge they let me out at around 1pm on Sunday and we got a flight and went to Doctors Hospital and got a report.”

Soon after, he said, they went to file a complaint and that’s when he learned he was facing charges.

“They started putting charges on me that I didn’t even do,” he claimed.

“They put like obstruction of justice and resisting arrest and threats of death and all kinds of stuff they trying to put on me and I didn’t even do that.

“They attacked me.

So, now I am in the position where I need resolve because they are falsely accusing me of things I didn’t do and that woman tried to assault my girl in the bathroom,” he alleged.

“All this because a woman who claims she is a police out of uniform then she called the other guys who was police and wasn’t in uniform.

“So, a bunch of people attacked me out of uniform and then they took me to the station and put in false statements or whatever and now they trying to arrest me like I do something.

“They didn’t even charge me. They just let me out, didn’t charge me and they thought I was going to stay there or whatever because I needed medical help I

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

couldn’t stay there. They beat me for nothing.”

Mr Russell went on to raise questions about the charges he now faces.

“I need help at this point because they are trying to falsely accuse me because if I really did do something they would have charged me and sent me to court.

They know I did nothing.

“I have never been in trouble. I’ve been away to school in America and all of that and the same day I go to meet my girlfriend’s parents, I get in problems?

“You think I would act bad in front of people I just met to leave a bad impression?”

He fears his reputation could be tarnished in the long-term.

“I am a local government representative. I have my own business. I was a tourist in Long Island and I don’t even move like that.

“I am a licensed aircraft technician and a marine technician. I started my business. I help with the family business.”

Mr Russell called for a full investigation into what transpired.

Attempts to reach Royal Bahamas Police Force Commissioner Paul Rolle and Deputy Commissioner Clayton Fernander were unsuccessful up to press time.

When he was contacted, Assistant Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux referred this newspaper to Commissioner Rolle.

JOB OPPORTUNITY A company is looking for an experienced accounting clerk.

Confidentiality, excellent organizational skills, and accuracy are important qualifications for this position.

Knowledge/Skills: •

Experience with data entry, record keeping and other day-to-day financial and operational tasks.

•

Organizational, verbal, and written communication skills is a must.

•

Proficiency in QuickBooks

•

Strong understanding of accounting processes and internal controls

•

Excellent leadership and supervisory skills

•

Excellent critical thinking skills

•

Excellent communication skills and customer relations

•

Excellent time management skills

•

Ability to work well with minimal supervision

Duties: ·

Using bookkeeping databases, spreadsheets and software

·

Posting financial transactions using Quickbooks software

·

Receiving and recording vouchers, cash and checks

·

Entering debits and credits into software appli cations and databases accurately

·

Producing a variety of reports including income statements and balance sheets

·

Checking for accuracy in reports, figures, and postings

·

Reconciling and reporting any discrepancies found in the records

email resume to chinainvestment1969@hotmail.com

JOB OPPORTUNITY Busy Optometry office in New Providence looking for full time Optometrist. Must have Doctorate of Optometry degree from an accredited college of Optometry or trained at a college of Optometry from the UK. Must be licensed to practice in country of training. Must be proficient in OCT and Humphrey’s Visual Field.

opticalopportunity36@gmail.com

PAGE 6, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday

Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES News & General Information Advertising Manager Circulation Department Nassau fax Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport fax

(242) 322-1986 (242) 502-2394 (242) 502-2386 (242) 328-2398 (242)-352-6608 (242) 352-9348

WEBSITE, TWITTER & FACEBOOK www.tribune242.com

@tribune242

tribune news network

Stubbs case exposes flaws in justice system ERIC Stubbs appears to be the man the system forgot.

In 1984, Mr Stubbs was convicted of rape and housebreaking. He was sentenced to seven years in jail. And that should have been that, if the system had worked. He would have been out in probably less than seven years unless he served his maximum sentence.

Except he spent 36 years in detention instead, in Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre.

How did this happen? Well, in 1985, he appealed the verdict and the Court of Appeal changed the verdict. He was still ruled to be guilty – but mentally ill.

Instead of the seven years in prison, he was ordered to be kept at Sandilands until he received an order of discharge from the Governor General.

Since then, Governors General have come and gone, but Mr Stubbs remained locked away from the world.

Finally, the Privy Council ruled that the Supreme Court had to decide whether Mr Stubbs should be released or not – and yesterday the Supreme Court gave that order.

Mr Stubbs was locked away despite evidence from eminent psychologist Dr Michael Neville that he should not be sent to Sandilands.

At his appeal, his current lawyer, Sonia Timothy, said he wasn’t even represented.

Mr Stubbs was found to be guilty twice, in his original case and in his appeal, so there might be little sympathy from many for him.

However, originally the justice system felt a sentence of seven years was appropriate – not being locked up for 36 years.

And if Sandilands is to live up to the word rehabilitation in its name, it needs to be more than somewhere where people get locked up forever.

More than that, how many others have been lost in the system in the same way as Mr Stubbs?

Injustice does not serve in the name of justice. This is a case that exposes the flaws in our system.

In all those years Mr Stubbs was detained, how many times did his case ever reach the desk of the Governor General to even be considered for release? How was the Governor General ever supposed to know he was locked away in such a fashion?

There should be lessons to learn from how this case was handled, of course, but the crucial question is who else has been treated in this way? Who else has

been left abandoned by a system that does nothing to rehabilitate?

It’s an unsettling story indeed – but one our system needs to consider carefully.

Prison Commissioner National Security Minister Wayne Munroe drew flak last year when he sent Prison Commissioner Charles Murphy on leave.

One of the concerns at the time was that prior to being elected Mr Munroe represented two deputy commissioners who asked the Supreme Court to quash Mr Murphy’s appointment.

Now he is asking Cabinet to appoint an independent committee to investigate Mr Murphy’s tenure.

An independent committee is the right way to go. Even if operating with the best of intentions, Mr Munroe’s involvement muddied the waters.

Instead of the focus being on reasons why Mr Murphy might need to be investigated and removed if necessary, the spotlight fell on the person doing the removing.

However, Mr Munroe went on yesterday to add further commentary, saying that “there was a continuing issue of correction officers he just sent home without proper process and they just keep coming and, of course, if they weren’t properly dismissed and they couldn’t be dismissed, then we owe them money”.

Mr Munroe, if you want the committee to be independent, don’t try to sway its members with extra commentary. Let them investigate, and if anything was done incorrectly, follow the guidance of the committee.

For his part, Mr Murphy is already taking legal action in the court, with his lawyer having accused Mr Munroe of bias in his handling of Mr Murphy.

What matters of course is finding out if there have been problems. This column had its own questions to raise with the commissioner who felt he was right to tell a journalist from this paper that she ought not to take up questions over whether coronavirus was in the prison or who dismissed concerns raised about conditions inside the prison.

So let the committee investigate. Let them find out what was done right– and what was done wrong. And then act accordingly. Anything else is just going to get in the way.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

THE TRIBUNE

Trilogy of tribulation EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE turn of the century brought with it significant challenges and a unique crisis to both major political organisations, as they moved towards governance here in The Bahamas: • 2002-2007 - PLP - Hurricane Frances & Jean • 2007-2012 - FNM Road & Infrastructure Project • 2012-2017 - PLP - BAHAMAR • 2017-2021 - FNM - Hurricane Dorian & COVID-19 pandemic Now, while the causes of these crises may be debatable, each leadership has had its own unique set of circumstances that eventually led to them being voted out of office.

In 2021, the Free National Movement were seemingly determined to run ahead of that freight train collision of being ousted by reframing the obvious environmental and social calamities the nation was still suffering from as a result of Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, as the “Twin Crisis”.

In hindsight, I am convinced that the FNM’s intent was to spin, brand and use these disasters to their organization’s advantage as they returned to the Bahamian voters seeking another term in office.

I get desperation. I do. But this? This neatly packaged deflection and shunning of socio-political responsibility, coupled with the traditional conditioning of branding in the minds of the electorate, may have been a good fit three election cycles prior (I mean, it sorta worked in ‘97); but now? No. The approach was a little too rich in “political three-card monte” for my blood.

Notwithstanding a missed opportunity for much needed transparency and vulnerability, in our political playing field. Fulfilling the public’s call and need for transparency and vulnerability as a government, could have ensured a different trajectory for the Free National Movement, nevertheless I digress.

Going forward, political organisations must harness the kinetic energy of their administration’s crisis to inform and empower, rather than deflect and manipulate.

Since coming in to office in September 2021, the Davis administration has, by default, inherited the FNM’s “twin crisis”, as many issues remain unresolved.

With the way the COVID-19 pandemic has ruptured rhythm, repetition and normalcy globally, the 5-month-old, “New Day” administration, finds themselves seeking solid footing in the face of global shifting sands.

What we’ve seen in the past, and for others felt, is the universe allowing administrations a grace period of roughly 12 to 18 months before they find themselves faced with a major calamity. Time has vetoed what has been accepted as tradition in this instance, and introduced the dreaded “fluidity”.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net While the Free National Movement coined the term “Twin Crisis” to describe what has happened midway in their administration’s governance, in less than six months the Progressive Liberal Party is faced with what I would like to call “The Trilogy of Tribulation”: Residue from Hurricane Dorian, a prolonged Covid pandemic and now war between Russia & Ukraine, which will affect an already strained supply chain globally.

Astute observers of national progression, and politics in general, may recognize, if they care to, that many of the traditions and historic landmarks that fed our people in times past are fading away, rapidly.

One may argue that it is essential for leadership to strike a balance. Identify the wisdom of an older generation and couple it with the strength of the new; pairing practical patriarchs with tech-savvy youth.

With the looming increase in many, if not all sectors of our society, we as a nation, politicians, private and working class citizens, public servants, religious, LGBTQ+, and medical communities, and all others must shift from this nonchalant approach of mere existence and move toward, what I’m convinced will be the order of the day, RESERVE TO PRESERVE. It is time that we take a very serious look at alternative forms of energy. And by this, I don’t mean pontification and niche projects handed off to social justice advocates for solar panel installation. I mean beyond the theoretical into the practical; the applied.

The Davis Administration has recently entered talks with the Saudi Arabian government about the possibility of providing direct fuel from Saudi Arabia to The Bahamas.

I thought this was a step in the right direction. As many on various media platforms, social and otherwise, debated the value for money out of the trip to Dubai, the Davis administration showed some inclination towards productivity and access for the Bahamian people, putting its skin in the game.

Capitalism and consumerism continue to be the order of the day. In fact, I’m reminded of the summer of 2021, when the then Minister of Health, Renward Wells, boasted of a proactive $250,000 commitment to the COVAX facility, in the event they found a vaccine. First world countries also made the same commitment, but additionally gave in some cases up to 1 billion dollars to have access to a vaccine; making our measly $250,000 a drop in the bucket of the insatiable capitalist regime.

In moments like those described, countries like The Bahamas became very low on the supply chain as it relates to priority. Enter the dreaded concept of “fluidity” in this new era of doing business globally.

As I look at the cards that are laid before us, I’m convinced that capitalism will supersede any polite gesture made by the Saudi Arabian government, and The Bahamas will find itself, just as it did in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, scrambling for much needed supplies, reaching out to our allies India, Antigua, Barbuda, America and others - to feed, fuel and power our islands in the sea.

This crisis is the Davis’ administration’s to triumph over, if they consider these “recommendations”; • doubling down on strategic diplomacy globally; • locally creating strategic policies and mandates to ensure that there is conservation (water, energy) in preparation for the inevitable; • expanding concessions significantly for solar panels and electric vehicles; • expediting Crown land access and distribution to local entrepreneurs and small and medium business owners through a digital platform.

• significantly easing the banking restrictions for doing business internationally; • fortifying the Sand Dollar fiat currency internally; • expanding reserves and permit worker’s within the uniform branches, more specifically immigration customs, RBDF, RBPF strategic reduction on mortgage interest rates, for an identified period, for homeowners – protecting both homeowners and renters locally by allowing landlords access to capital.

• purchasing Crystal Cruise ship and a few airplanes from Saudi Arabia for accessibility to move our major market consistently; South Florida • provide major incentives for and to local farmers • suggest car-pooling and public transportation in relation to the increase in fuel • create a merit system that incentivises those who adhere to and monetise this system • dive deeper into technology (app, data...) in all sectors of government; • demand that every single lesson within the public school sector be recorded live on a platform created for and owned by the government of The Bahamas, This “Trilogy of Tribulation” may be something that we have never seen in the existence of the modern Bahamas. However, I am convinced that our minds have evolved to a very clear understanding of what is required to align ourselves with a global position. I believe that The Bahamas is ready, and our politicians, our leaders, our clergymen, the working class and all and sundry must work together to ensure that we navigate to the shores of safety in the spirit of resilience that is so familiar to this nation for the next generation of Bahamian citizens.

God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

HOWARD R. GRANT Nassau February 26, 2022.

Putin growls EDITOR, The Tribune.

A WOMAN carries her child as she arrives at the Medyka border crossing in Poland yesterday after fleeing from the Ukraine. The head of the United Nations refugee agency says more than a half a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday.

Photo: Visar Kryeziu/AP

THERE are animals which when one of their herd is set upon – attacked by a lion – lion’s open mouth closed upon the throat of its victim – and not one wildebeest – not one zebra – to use two examples – would dare to interrupt or to intervene.

Looking on helplessly, they watch from a distance as one of their own is being strangled by the king of the jungle. Not so with a herd of buffalos.

Situation with Russia in Ukraine at present, and

these events from nature, witnessed in Maasai Mara and the Serengeti, come to mind.

Russia, like that lion, daring anyone to challenge – daring anyone to intervene – threatening damnation upon any and every nation.

Herd of buffalos, without a thought of the consequences, shows just how to treat a bully – exposing the coward that that bully is.

With a herd of angry buffalos with horns to the rescue, the king of the jungle is tossed into the air

and ripped up like a rag doll.

The lion ends up sheepishly fleeing or injured, limping away or lying as lifeless as the animal it attacked would soon have been had it not been rescued.

I recall as well some crazy baboons intervening on behalf of a gazelle a cheetah was strangling to make a meal of – allowing that gazelle to escape – to run for its life – to continue to live.

OBEDIAH SMITH Nassau, February 26, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 7

Man guilty of assault after attack with pipe

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 29-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he hit another man with a pipe in selfdefence was found guilty yesterday of assault with a dangerous instrument.

Williamson Garvconvil was convicted of the offence by Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans at the conclusion of his trial.

He was ordered to pay a fine and compensate the victim.

The senior magistrate’s ruling came shortly after the victim, Sam Stubbs Jr, and two witnesses gave testimony against Garvconvil concerning last year’s incident.

Stubbs, who was the

first to take the witness stand, told the court he had just arrived in the Wulff Road area before the argument occurred.

He said he was sitting on a wall in the community when two men approached him and started hitting him with an iron pipe.

The witness said he recognised Garvconvil as one of his attackers and claimed he reported the matter to police shortly after the incident happened.

When asked by the Crown prosecutor about his injuries, Stubbs told the court the attack left his hand broken in three places.

He also claimed he underwent surgery because of the injuries.

ACCUSED OVER FAKE CURRENCY

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of possessing fake Bahamian currency notes was charged in Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Davanno Miller, 24, appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly after he was allegedly found with a number of forged $50 and $20 Bahamian currency notes on February 23.

During yesterday’s hearing, Miller had initially pleaded guilty to the offence.

However, when the magistrate asked the accused if he knew the currency notes were fake, Miller replied, “No”.

He then went on to tell the magistrate how he found them in the glove compartment of a vehicle, but he was stopped from providing further evidence.

Having listened to his explanation, the magistrate recorded a not guilty plea

and adjourned the matter to April 4 for trial.

Bail was granted to the accused at $4,000 with one or two sureties.

He was further ordered to report to the Quakoo Street Police Station once a week.

Levardo Cornish, 32, also appeared before Magistrate Kelly in court yesterday charged with fraud by false pretences.

Police say Cornish obtained over $200 worth of food and drinks from “Over the Hill Bar” located at Holiday Inn by means of false pretences on February 25.

The 32-year-old has denied the allegations.

During yesterday’s hearing, the prosecutor asked the matter to be adjourned to allow him to review the charges against Cornish so he could make amendments where necessary.

His request was granted by the magistrate and the matter was adjourned until today.

MURDER CHARGE IN CASE OF COUPLE SHOT ON MOTORBIKE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 22-YEAR-OLD man accused of shooting a couple who had been riding on a motorcycle earlier this year was yesterday charged with murder and attempted murder.

Jefferson Bevans was charged before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans with the January 27 murder of Keith Sweeting and attempted murder of Kenniqua Taylor.

Police said the shooting occurred on McQuay Street around 7pm that day.

According to initial police reports, a man and woman were riding on a motorcycle travelling west on McQuay Street when two men emerged from a

bushy area and fired shots in their direction, hitting them.

Police said the man died at the scene from his injuries, while the woman was taken to hospital for medical attention.

The deceased was later identified as Sweeting, a father of two.

The female victim in the incident was said to be his girlfriend and child’s mother.

Yesterday, Bevans was not required to enter a plea to the charges.

He was subsequently remanded to prison and is expected to return to court on May 30 for the presentation of a voluntary bill of indictment.

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

BAIL DENIED IN RAPE CASE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 40-YEAR-OLD man was remanded to prison yesterday on rape charges.

Larry Newton was charged with raping a 38-year-old woman at his first appearance before Magistrate Shaka Serville.

Police say Newton committed the act last May. Due to the nature of the charge, he was not required to enter a plea and the case was adjourned to June 22 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

He was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.

In a separate matter, 30-year-old Anton Carey was charged with indecently assaulting a ten-year-old girl on February 25.

Carey denied the allegations during his hearing

before Magistrate Kendra Kelly.

When given the chance to speak, Carey sought to explain his relationship with the child in question, saying she is the daughter of someone he knows.

He told the court the child’s mother had three children, whom he would sometimes watch and discipline while the mother was at work.

Carey then started to explain what happened on the day in question, however, he was stopped by the magistrate, who informed him that he would only be able to give evidence during trial.

As a result, the case was adjourned to May 2 for trial.

Bail was also deferred until Wednesday to allow the prosecutor to check whether the accused had any pending or outstanding matters.

However, during crossexamination, Garvconvil, who was not represented by an attorney, accused Mr Stubbs of being the actual aggressor in the situation.

Garvconvil, who was living in an apartment building, claimed he had approached Mr Stubbs on the night in question and asked him to leave the area.

He claimed Mr Stubbs and his friends would usually gather near his home and use obscene language in front of his children.

However, he said Mr Stubbs pulled a knife on him when he approached him on the night in question, which prompted him to act in self-defence.

He further suggested that

Mr Stubbs’ injuries were self-inflicted.

“He kept swinging the knife at me and that’s how his hands got injured,” the accused told the court.

However, the witness denied the claims.

Police officer Rashad Thurston was the next witness to take the stand.

Mr Thurston testified of his role in arresting Garvconvil.

The police officer told the court he was on duty on October 13 of last year when he and other officers received information about the accused.

Mr Thurston said that after being given certain instructions, he and other officers went to Hardings Food store on Wulff Road where they saw Garvconvil.

The police officers said they arrested the accused after informing him of the allegations made against him.

However, the accused tried to challenge the police officer’s testimony, insisting that he never arrested him.

“I turned myself in…

I never saw him in my life,” Garvconvil told the court.

Also testifying in the trial yesterday was Police Sergeant Jarad Miller.

Sgt Miller told the court how he interviewed the accused in reference to the allegations after his arrest.

Sgt Miller said during his interview, Garvconvil admitted the offence.

Having listened to the witnesses’ testimonies,

the accused then made a no-case submission that the prosecution’s case was based on evidence that was not accurate.

In response, the magistrate said she found the accused guilty, noting his lack of evidence to support his claim of acting in self defence.

“There was no evidence the defendant was in fear of his life or in jeopardy of his home or children,” Magistrate Vogt-Evans said.

Garconvil was subsequently fined $500 or five months in prison and further ordered to compensate Mr Stubbs $700 for the injuries caused.

He has a right to appeal the magistrate’s decision to the Supreme Court within seven days.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

The bionic man who wouldn’t be beaten STEPHEN Cox is a superhero.

That’s what seven-year-old Syniah would say about her daddy. He has proven to her that he would do whatever it takes not to let her down – to be there for her and save the day, no matter what comes his way.

But Stephen never knew that his might and will to be his little girl’s superhero would be put to the test on Halloween … of all days … back in 2019.

On that day, an accident on the job proved to be life threatening. His right hand had been crushed and eventually, he lost that hand.

Instead of accepting a life with just one useful hand, Stephen fought back and with heroic determination, he set out on a mission to have a bionic arm. Today, he has more than just two working hands. He has a testimony to inspire others; he has the power to touch lives; and he has renewed confidence as a man, a father, and now a motivator for many.

Stephen was born on March 12, 1984. He was just seven-years-old when his mettle would first be tested.

He attended EP Roberts Primary and one day, a fight broke out. He was just a spectator, but one of the flying projectiles hit him in the eye.

The eye developed a cataract as he grew and eventually, he lost vision in that eye.

He developed the attitude of a champion from early on, deciding not to look at this misfortune as a setback.

Rather, he pressed on and attended CH Reeves Senior High, where he graduated in 2000.

“One of my very first jobs was working with my uncle at Sunshine Auto Sales,” Stephen said.

“He (Deanza “Sonny” Cox) taught me a lot about the work field and responsibility and I was always proud to be involved in the annual car show he had created.”

Fast forward to 2019, Stephen was working on the roof of the home he shared with his mother and sister.

He had a heat stroke and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The doctors advised him to take it easy to avoid further complications.

“This proved difficult for me because not only was I used to taking care of myself, I had a five-year-old daughter,” he said.

“I confided with a close friend of mine - Lynden Munroe, owner of Triple A Concrete Pumping and Machinery. He saw my frustration and employed me.

“While on the job on October 31, 2019, a slight miscommunication proved to be life threatening. My right hand had been crushed and time was of the essence.

I begged a fellow construction worker to take me to the hospital, not waiting for EMS (Emergency Medical Services) as instructed by my peers. At first, he was reluctant because of the blood I was losing, but it also prompted him to help even though his vehicle wasn’t registered for the road.

“In this time of trauma, the only thing that was on my mind was to have a conversation with God. His grace and mercy kept me through three surgeries. The first was a reconstruction of the hand decided by the head surgeon, who was also surprised that I had been conscious the whole time even though I had lost about three pints of blood. Due to the lack of blood flow, I then had a

TOP: Syniah and her sister are happy Stephen is home from hospital after his ordeal.

ABOVE: Stephen will work with Liz Uzcategui of the Hanger Foundation to help people in The Bahamas.

TOP RIGHT and RIGHT: Stephen Cox, the man with the bionic arm.

BELOW: Stephen designed his own bionic arm with a Black Panther skin and the word UGLY, which stands for “U Gatta Love Yaself”. second surgery removing my finger tips in hopes of saving enough of the hand so that I could have some function.

About two weeks later, that was unsuccessful, and the hand had to be amputated at the wrist.”

During his hospital stay, little Syniah was terrified.

She wanted to be able to see

her father and be held in his big, strong arms.

“When I was in the hospital, I had to coach and encourage her daily,” he recalled.

“That was until she saw me, and then it was like nothing ever happened. She’s just glad that I’m alive.”

While he was in the Intensive Care Unit, Stephen had a feeling the reconstructive surgeries would not work.

His conversations with God had left him at peace with all that was happening.

He started to research his options for a prosthesis. He did not want a wooden hand, a hook, or some kind of clamp. That is when he discovered the bionic arm, first engineered in the UK, now available in other parts of the world.

This would be monumental in terms of healthcare in the country. But Stephen’s doctors knew he had what it took to achieve this goal.

He was determined, resolute and the fight in him was so strong he remained awake to watch the first surgery. With this kind of valour, his doctors could not let him down.

His surgeon, Dr Shrikan, his hand therapist, Dr Karna and his doctor representing the National Insurance Board, Dr DeSouza all worked together to approve his request, and they wrote to NIB to make the funding possible.

First, Stephen started therapy through the Bahamas Institute for Hand Rehabilitation (BIHAR) and received an industrial injury claim for 40 weeks from NIB. Then he was transferred to disability benefit and started the process for a prosthesis. Eventually, he was on his way to Ft Lauderdale to Hanger Clinic Orthotic and Prosthetic Care to begin the journey of receiving a bionic arm.

“My first trip to Florida was for consultation - to see what type of lifestyle I would like to live with this bionic arm,” he said.

“There’s a technology where they placed sensors on my muscles and connected them to an app on my cell phone, and I would see the hand on the screen. When I moved certain muscles, the censor would react on the screen. Then I did a casting, and I was told to come back for the fitting.

“On the second trip to Florida to Hanger Clinic, they had already made up about 80 percent of the arm with the cast. They inserted the censors and it was fitted on my amputation. I did the same exercises I did before the casting. At this point, I had to use the phone technology in order to do my exercises - opening and closing the hand with the app.

“When I came back for the final product, I was assessed every other day for ten days. I had to live my life and move around as normal (the bionic arm was no longer controlled by the

app, but by his mind and muscles). When I checked in with the doctors, I would let them know how my experience was going, living with the bionic arm for the first time, how it affected me, my skin… all of that. After that, they decided I was good to go!”

Stephen shared a few highlights of the trip: “When they put the arm on me for the first time, the doctor left the room. He knew with him gone, I would try some stuff, so he left me to my own devices. I picked up books, bottles… I even moved some chairs around!”

“When I started driving with it, I would only test myself on the straight road because I wasn’t sure how it would react with turns.

I was in Walmart’s parking lot practising in an area away from other vehicles. I was practising turning and I didn’t realise the hand would rotate the way it did. I got excited and did so many rotations that the hand popped off on the wheel! I remained calm, put the car in park, and put the arm back on.

When I told the doctors, they couldn’t stop laughing.”

“I also had an opportunity to speak with a group of university students during my last trip. I shared my experience and they asked lots of questions.”

“Since I came back, I have learned some new things with my bionic arm. I have been able to adjust the grips when I want to, because it is connected by Bluetooth to

my phone. The app assists me with different functions. The possibilities are endless, and I am just tapping into it.

“Syniah loves the bionic arm. I would often tell her I am doing X-men training … so I’m her super hero. She’ll be eight on March 7, just five days before my birthday.”

Stephen will not only make heroic attempts to make his daughter and his entire family proud. He’s also championing the rights of differently abled people, and has made public appearances, giving motivational speeches.

He has joined the Disabled Persons Organisation and the Bahamas Alliance for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

But he is also working on the establishment of a group of his own – the Able Partners Foundation. He is currently seeking backing and support to create the foundation in order to assist other amputees who would like to experience the world of bionics and prosthetics. For more information, email stephenswanncox@gmail.com. He is also the brand ambassador for Yes! It’s Switcharific - a new, local brand of fruity drinks.

“I’ve come to realize in my experience that people treat you the way you portray yourself, and if you want to have a better chance at inclusion, you must first accept yourself in your current state and realize that everyone doesn’t have the awareness and information to understand what you’re going through,” he explained.

“The world is a tough place - but try not to be so tough on the world because of what is lacking. I always said since I started therapy that whoever said “can’t”, didn’t have to!”

“In terms of prosthesis, I was told by various medical professionals that many people don’t like their prosthetic and find it uncomfortable. I feel the reason for that has to do with its design and limited capabilities. The reason I chose the bionic arm is because of its capabilities and functions. I wanted to get the maximum out of myself and the idea of bionic technology would include me as a person rather than exclude me as a person who is incapable. So, in this modern time, find a prosthesis that’s right for you… that’s if you’re interested in them, and wow the world by your own unique way of making the impossible…possible!”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 9

A dictator who is a threat to the world ALL too often during a major world crisis a plethora of information and divergent opinion in the international media soon reaches saturation point.

This has happened in the case of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With an avalanche of news updates by the minute in a continuous news cycle, it can be hard to extract the essential from a mass of detail. So, it has been interesting to study what a range of international commentators have been saying most recently about this unprovoked and terrible act of aggression which is now in its fifth day.

Widely seen as a grim new chapter in the pages of European history that is scarcely credible in modern times, it has been labelled the worst conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War; and it has been widely condemned around the world with protest marches in many capital cities. A brutal exercise in military might and imperialist ambition, it was an unprecedented and premeditated full-scale armed assault that is an egregious violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. It has led already to a tragic sequence of events – widespread suffering and heavy loss of life as Ukrainians fiercely resist with patriotic resolve, a humanitarian and refugee crisis, and massive instability in the country as a whole with serious damage to buildings and infrastructure.

While NATO has made clear it will not put troops on the ground or create a no-fly zone that could lead to a third world war, there has been a huge coordinated Western response – with imposition of the toughest financial sanctions ever used in targeting banks and individual Russian leaders and expulsion of the country from the international payments system,

The Peter Young column SWIFT, thereby ensuring its economic isolation. The effects are already being felt with the collapse of Russia’s currency the rouble. A wide range of sporting, cultural and other links have also been cut while all Russian aircraft have been banned from the airspace of EU countries. Russia has been turned in to a pariah state and Putin has been vilified as an evil megalomaniac, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he will be “condemned by the world and by history... never able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands”.

Amid the mayhem and disaster, it is noteworthy that most commentators claim Putin himself is personally responsible as an aggressor who believes in imperial conquest. As ruler of Russia for the last 20 years, he has become an unscrupulous dictator and a tyrant who is as much a danger to his own people as to the rest of the world.

He has been described as a demented sociopath with no concern for human life as he plunges eastern Europe into a bloody war – a dangerous former KGB thug who regarded it as a mistake for Ukraine

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin, right, leads a meeting on economic issues in Moscow, Russia, yesterday.

Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP to have become an independent state at the time of the break-up of the Soviet Union. He is obsessed with Ukraine, calling it “an artificial creation without any “tradition of genuine statehood” and therefore inherently part of “the same historical and spiritual space” as Russia.

He also makes an absurd claim about “de-nazifying” the country and wants to overthrow its existing government, install a puppet regime and bring it back as a satellite state in to what he regards as Russia’s sphere of influence.

Some observers claim he is now “borderline unhinged” and disconnected from reality. He is also cold and calculating - though at the same time unstable and guilty of irrational judgment - in wanting to restore what he sees as the glory of greater Russia.

There is thus a genuine threat to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of whom are members of NATO which would be compelled to respond to any attack on them – and that is doubly dangerous when an unstable dictator controls the

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OR DISTORTING THE TRUTH “ONLY the anti-war movement of Russians can save life on this planet”.

These dramatic words have been attributed to Russian journalist Dimitry Muratov, editor-in chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who shared with another journalist last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

He has spoken out recently against his country’s invasion of Ukraine about which he says he feels grief and shame.

This is, of course, in stark contrast to the main Russian media outlets that justify and support their leader’s actions. Putin’s state propaganda machine controlled by the Kremlin is reported to be portraying the invasion of Ukraine as a defensive campaign to “liberate” the eastern region of the country while protecting the selfproclaimed republics of Donbas and Luhansk, which have been recognised

by Russia, against claimed attacks by Kyiv. This follows Putin’s narratives in his recent addresses to the nation when he called the invasion a “special military operation” against Ukraine aggressors in order to “demilitarise” the country and save people from the

leadership of “drug addicts and neo-nazis”. Thus, in the midst of a crackdown on social media and individual news sites, state TV and Radio maintain the fiction that Russian forces are targeting military sites only and not harming civilians.

There is said to be mounting public opposition to the invasion within Russia but the evidence is local protests are quickly shut down by the police and demonstrators arrested. Ordinary people have access to various independent outlets for information, but these are heavily censored. Some can also read the foreign press.

More generally, the growing overall view internationally now seems to be that by instigating the invasion of Ukraine Putin has finally shed his posture as the enlightened autocrat in favour of peaceful collaboration who accepted the needs of a modern Russia that might even lead in due course to reform and free elections and free speech.

Instead, he has changed to his ruthless self as a hater of western democracy who also continues to wallow in his resentment over the fall of the USSR while wanting to restore the former Russian Empire.

This is not the place to examine further the situation in Russia. But, clearly, state TV, which is widely watched and is said to shape public opinion, has lapsed further into pure propaganda while the political leadership indulges in disinformation and distortion of the truth – if not plain lies and a reversal of the facts.

It is the case, of course, that none of this should come as any surprise to western observers. But it illustrates again the power of both the spoken and written word. For it is said that what matters is not so much what happens in the world but what people think happens; and that depends on what they hear and read. Repetition is also an important tool in disseminating information.

The advertising industry relies on it in getting a message across. But it can also be used negatively to convey disinformation.

Infamously, historians will not allow people to forget the example of Hitler’s evil chief propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, whose cynical contention was that, if you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

IMPORTANT MISSION FOR A US PRESIDENT AN INTERESTING and significant recent milestone in international relations seems to have attracted little media attention. Last week marked the 50th anniversary of US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972. This trailblazing trip re-established America’s relations with mainland China after a quarter of a century of no communication or diplomatic ties between the two countries.

There is no space today to examine the significance of this visit in any depth, but

it is generally agreed that it was one of the most important undertaken by any US President because it opened the way for China’s entry into the United Nations and trade with the West.

Of course, much has been written over the years about Nixon’s visit. But, most recently, an instructive and interesting account of it was contained in Dr Henry Kissinger’s mighty tome – described as a sweeping and insightful history - entitled “On China” which was published in 2011. The former National Security Advisor

and then Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford had made the preparations for Nixon’s trip to China and had accompanied him on it.

In writing about the visit, Kissinger concludes that it “brought about a seminal change in international affairs” – and discussion, in particular, of issues like geopolitical imperatives overcoming ideology and the importance of understanding and recognising each other’s national interests make fascinating reading.

largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world, not least now he has ordered Russian nuclear forces to be placed on high alert.

Putin no doubt calculated he could get away with the invasion without a severe reaction from the West, as he did over the annexation of Crimea and suppression of Chechnya when it tried to secede from the Russian Federation. If so, he seriously misjudged the situation. NATO is now saying his action was a terrible strategic mistake for Russia, for which it would pay heavily in political and economic terms for many years. He also seems to have underestimated Ukraine’s military capability as his forces face stiff resistance by people determined to fight for their national survival. He clearly misread their mood if he was deluded enough to think they would welcome the Russians into their country.

With peace talks attended

by President Zelensky and Russian representatives now having taken place in Belarus there appears to be at least a glimmer of hope of a possible ceasefire. But whatever now happens, with stronger military forces and weaponry the Russians presumably had expected at the outset to overcome Ukraine’s defences. But then what? What was Putin’s end game? Following an invasion, the chances of securing a wider political victory and winning over hearts and minds must have been practically zero – and, realistically, how would it have been possible to maintain control in the long-term over the largest country in Europe after taking it over by military force?

Be that as it may, one thing is certain. Putin’s evil acts of aggression have been a monumental failure.

The West is standing firm and he has gained nothing

but opprobrium worldwide, with even his friend China abstaining on the UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s invasion. Ironically, the only thing Putin has achieved is a strengthening of NATO on his borders and a commitment by its members to increase military spending - including, crucially, Germany’s decision not only to spend more but also to send weapons and military equipment to Ukraine while separately cancelling the Nord Stream2 pipeline carrying gas from Russia to Europe.

Much time and effort were spent by Western countries in recent weeks in trying to dissuade Putin from invading Ukraine. But it has now become clear he made a mockery of diplomacy which could never have worked because it was always incompatible with his warped view of the world.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

A MEMBER of the Ukrainian territorial defence directs cars in a traffic jam ahead of a military checkpoint outside Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.

Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP

40-mile convoy threatens Kyiv as shelling intensifies KYIV, Ukraine Associated Press

CARS at a roadblock set by civil defencemen at a road leading to central Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.

Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP

A 40-MILE convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine’s capital yesterday as an intense shelling attack targeted the country’s second-largest city, and both sides looked to resume talks in the coming days aimed at stopping the fighting.

The country’s embattled president said he believed the stepped-up shelling was designed to force him into concessions.

“I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late yesterday in a video address. He did not offer details of hourslong talks that took place, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery”.

The developments came as Russia finds itself increasingly isolated as a result of international condemnation and potentially backbreaking economic sanctions. Five days into the invasion, the Russian military’s movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate the airspace.

The Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal including intercontinental ballistic missiles and longrange bombers. Stepping up his rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin denounced the US and its allies as an “empire of lies”.

Meanwhile, an embattled Ukraine moved to solidify its ties to the West by applying to join the European Union — a largely symbolic move for now, but one that is unlikely to sit well with Putin, who has long accused the US of trying to pull Ukraine out of Moscow’s orbit.

A top Putin aide and head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that the first talks held between the two sides since the invasion lasted nearly five hours and that the envoys “found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen”. He said they agreed to continue the discussions in the days ahead.

As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in Kyiv, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly three million. The vast convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 17 miles from the centre of the city and stretched for about 40 miles, according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.

People in Kyiv lined up for groceries after the end of a weekend curfew, standing beneath a building with a gaping hole blown in its

side. Kyiv remained “a key goal” for the Russians, Zelenskyy said, noting that it was hit by three missile strikes yesterday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.

“They want to break our nationhood, that’s why the capital is constantly under threat,” Zelenskyy said.

Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.

“Russian soldier — Stop!

Remember your family.

Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.

Video from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, with a population of about 1.5 million, showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated, powerful blasts.

Authorities in Kharkiv said at least seven people had been killed and dozens injured. They warned that casualties could be far higher.

“They wanted to have a blitzkrieg, but it failed, so they act this way,” said 83-year-old Valentin Petrovich, who watched the shelling from his downtown apartment. He gave just his first name and his patronymic, a middle name derived from his father’s name, out of fear for his safety.

The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.

Fighting raged in other towns and cities across the country. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is “hanging on”, said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.

Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, and more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.

Dmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photographs of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching rubble.

In a later Facebook post, he said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting on Sunday. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

Despite its vast military strength, Russia still lacked control of Ukrainian airspace, a surprise that may help explain how Ukraine has so far prevented a rout.

In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They

described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.

“Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,” Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.

“They ate right in the store,” he said. “It looked like they haven’t been fed in recent days.”

Across Ukraine, terrified families huddled overnight in shelters, basements or corridors.

“I sit and pray for these negotiations to end successfully, so that they reach an agreement to end the slaughter,” said Alexandra Mikhailova, weeping as she clutched her cat in a shelter in Mariupol. Around her, parents tried to console children and keep them warm.

For many, Russia’s announcement of a nuclear high alert stirred fears that the West could be drawn into direct conflict with Russia. But a senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear posture.

As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia’s Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.

But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary Russians.

In yet another blow to Russia’s economy, oil giant Shell said it was pulling out of the country because of the invasion. It announced it will withdraw from its joint ventures with state-owned gas company Gazprom and other entities and end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Russia and Europe.

The economic sanctions, ordered by the US and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia’s growing status as a pariah country.

Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. On Monday, in a major blow to a soccer-mad nation, Russian teams were suspended from all international soccer.

Meanwhile, Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that his country would provide Ukraine with $50m in missiles, ammunition and other military hardware, and the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he will open an investigation soon into possible war crimes.

SPORTS PAGE 15

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022

MLB Lockout, Page 18

Ole Miss Rebels clinch No.4 seed in the SEC Tournament

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Y

olett McPheeMcCuin continues to lead the Ole Miss women’s basketball programme to an accolade season filled with milestones and now they head into the postseason as one of the top ranked teams in the nation’s most competitive conference.

Ole Miss clinched the No.4 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and earned an automatic bye to the quarterfinals in Nashville, Tennessee.

McPhee-McCuin’s side will face the winner of game four on Friday March 4, at approximately 2:25pm on SEC Network.

“Thank you Ole Miss for giving this young girl from The Bahamas a chance to teach, develop and inspire!” she posted to Twitter. “When I got this opportunity I was left with four players! But God! Three years later we’re the No.4 team in the SEC! To God be the glory!”

Game one of the tournament will feature the Texas A & M Aggies against the Vanderbilt Commodores and the winner will advance to face the Florida Gators. The winner of that

MCPHEE McCuin subsequent matchup will face Ole Miss.

At 22-7, 10-6 in the SEC, Ole Miss enjoyed its best finish in conference play

since the 1993-94 season.

They concluded the regular season with wins in four of their last five games.

McPhee-McCuin joined the Rebels in 2018 with expectations to rebuild a programme that struggled in recent years and was in the cellar of the SEC. In her first year at the helm the team finished 9-22, 3-13 in conference play and the season concluded with a first round loss in the SEC Tournament. In year two, The Rebels finished the season at 7-23 and suffered another opening round loss in the tournament.

Last year, the Rebels finished the season 15-12, for their first winning season

since 2016-17. After an 11-11 regular season, 4-10 in the SEC, they advanced to their first SEC Quarterfinal since 2004. Their résumé included three wins against ranked teams and four Top-50 NET wins.

They eventually fell to Rice in the WNIT title game.

Ole Miss recently signed McPhee-McCuin to a new four-year contract extension that runs through 2025.

This season, the programme earned its first top 25 ranking since 2007.

The 2021-22 campaign thus far has been highlighted by a 13-game win streak, the third longest win streak in programme history. It also included

wins over three ranked opponents.

Earlier this season, McPhee-McCuin reflected on the growth of the programme during her tenure.

“I just remember two years ago, us losing, and playing a player-manager and a walk-on and having that in the game, just trying to stay afloat. People don’t remember those days, but I do. To see where we’ve come as a programme, it really gives me a sense of pride. ... I’m so focused on where we’re trying to go this season, I have to remember how far we’ve come, so that I could stay in the moment and be appreciative of these moments.”

EAST-LEADING HEAT ‘BUDDY’ HIELD SCORES 18 POINTS IN LOSS TO MAGIC SLOW DEROZAN, BEAT BULLS 112-99 MIAMI (AP) — Gabe Vincent and Tyler Herro each scored 20 points, and the Miami Heat improved their standing atop the Eastern Conference by topping the Chicago Bulls 112-99 last night.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 15 points for Miami, which has won nine of its last 10 games. Max Strus had all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Heat.

Chicago guard DeMar DeRozan’s streak of 10 consecutive games with at least 30 points ended - he finished with 18. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 22 points, while Ayo Dosunmu had 18 and Nikola Vucevic added 14 for Chicago.

It was a big win for the Heat on multiple levels.

They moved two games clear of the second-place Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings, Miami’s largest lead yet this season.

And the Heat are now 3-0

against Chicago, ensuring Miami would hold a headto-head tiebreaker over the Bulls if one is needed to determine seeding.

GRIZZLIES 118, SPURS 105 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant threw down a massive dunk over 7-footer Jakob Poeltl and scored a career-high 52 points, lifting Memphis over San Antonio. The arena was still buzzing from Morant’s fast-break slam late in the second quarter when Steven Adams delivered a length-of-the-court pass to Morant, who knocked down a buzzer-beater from the left baseline for a 68-58 halftime lead.

De’Anthony Melton added 15 points for Memphis, while Tyus Jones scored 13. Lonnie Walker IV led the Spurs with 22, and Dejounte Murray added 21 and eight assists before being ejected late in the 4th quarter.

INDIANA Pacers guard Chavano “Buddy” Hield (24) has his path blocked by Orlando Magic centre Wendell Carter Jr (34) while driving to the basket during the first half of last night’s NBA game in Orlando, Florida.

(AP Photo/Phelan M Ebenhack) TIMBERWOLVES 127, CAVALIERS 122 CLEVELAND (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 3-pointer with 11.8 seconds

SEE PAGE 16

Local track clubs take part in South Florida Invitational

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WITH collaboration from the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC), a number of local track clubs got an opportunity to compete in the Speed Capital South Florida Invitational in Miramar, Florida, on Saturday.

The meet, organised by Luke Robinson and Jessica Shed, provided another meet for athletes from The Bahamas and Bermuda to try to attain the qualifying standards for the CARIFTA Games set for Kingston, Jamaica, over the Easter holiday weekend.

But none of the athletes were successful. However, there were a number of top finishers in the finals attained by athletes from Grand Bahama, New Providence and Andros. Here’s a look at some of those posted.

Mackey paces 3PA Stallions Track Club Jasmine Mackey won the girls’ 15-16 1,500n in 5:20.60. Raven Young, other member on the team, was 14th in the 200m in 31,72 and 16th in the 100m in 14.95.

Thomas leads Fast Trackers Keyezra Thomas pulled off a triple victory in the girls’ under-12 division as she won the 200 metres in 26.12 seconds, the 400m in 1:00.50 and the long jump.

She leapt 14-feet and 08 1/4 -inches to finish in a six-way tie for third place. She

earned 30 points overall to win the most outstanding female performance of the meet. Thomas was joined by her Grand Bahamian team-mates including Kianna Henchell won the girls under-14 100m in 12.18.

In the girls 15-16 100m, Phebe Thompson placed second in 12.52 and seventh in Aaliyah Evans was seventh in 13.30.

In the 200m, Thompson got third in 26.23 behind second place finisher Shania Adderley in 26.18.

Janiyah Rolle was fourth in 26.67 and Aaliyah Evans was fifth in 27.30.

Adderley also got second in the 400m in 1:00.71, Rolle was fourth in 1:01.34 and Alexis Smith was fifth in 1:01.60.

Smith was also second in the 800m in 2:35.88 and in the long jump, Thompson was second with 5.19m, Evans fourth with 4.25m and Rolle sixth with 3.67m.

In other finals, Rizpah Thompson was second in the girls under-14 800m in 2:35.74, Alexandra Smith was third in the girls 17-18 200m in 27.60 and the 400m in 1:03.16. Ashinaye Dickerson was fourth in 27.71. Trinity Rolle was seventh in the girls under-11 200m in 31.04.

Mccardy and Pratt shine for Andros Heat 242 Nathaniel Mccardy was one of two members victorious, taking the boys’ 15-16 shot put with 13.66m, while Tylah Pratt cleared

SEE PAGE 16

Bahamians poised for NCAA Div. II conference tournaments this week

By RENALDO DORSETT As a freshman he averTribune Sports Reporter aged 7.3 points and 4.7 rdorsett@tribunemedia.net rebounds per game and last year in the COVIDNCAA Division II shortened season he basketball heads into its averaged just 5.9 points respective conference and 4.3 rebounds per tournaments and several game.

Bahamians are poised for Lathaniel Bastian and a postseason run. the Angelo State Rams Malachi McCoy and will begin postseason play the Benedict College tonight hosting UT PerTigers will be the No. 2 mian Basin at home at the seed in the SIAC Tourna- Junell Center in the first ment in Rock Hill, South round of the Lone Star Carolina, and received a Conference tournament. bye to the quarterfinals.

This will be the third The Tigers are sched- meeting between the two uled to play at 4:45pm on sides this season, in the March 2 either LeMoyne- previous two meetings, Owen, the third seed the away side took home from the West Division, the victory. or the winner between Bastian had nine points Clark Atlanta, the No. 6 and seven rebounds in seed from the East and the January 6 win, but Central State, the No. 7 just two points and three seed from the West. rebounds in the February On the season, the 6’7” 1 loss. junior forward averaged The Rams finished the career highs across the season 19-8, 9-6 in the board at 10.7 points, a LSC. team leading 8.7 rebounds They were the third and 1.3 blocks per game. highest-scoring offence in He shot 58 percent from the LSC, averaging 79.1 the field and also finished points per game. with five double doubles Bastian, a 6’8” junior on the year. forward, is fourth on the

team in scoring at 11.6 points per game while leading in both rebounding at 8.1 boards per game and blocked shots at 1.5 per game.

The Rams are the second-highest rebounding team in the Lone Star with 38.8 rebounds per game and individually Bastian ranked third.

Malik Joseph, Sherman Robinson, and Newberry College will take on Tusculum University in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, Joseph recently posted double figures for the second time this season with 15 points off the bench in a 76-64 win over Catawba College.

His best performance of his freshman season was a 17 point performance in just 14 minutes off the bench of a November 23 win over Wingate.

Robinson scored 16 points on 6-11 from the field in 22 minutes off the bench in an 82-64 loss to No.15 ranked Lincoln Memorial.

PAGE 16, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

BAHAMAS Roadmasters Running Club members share a special moment.

Bahamas Roadmasters: Chasing the Unicorn WHEN the coronavirus pandemic struck at the beginning of 2020, governments in many countries, including The Bahamas, responded with frequent lockdowns which brought sporting events around the world to a screeching halt.

In recent months, things have begun to turn around as countries are recording lower numbers of COVID-19 infections and

NBA FROM PAGE 15 left and Minnesota survived Cleveland’s comeback try. Towns’ first 3 of the game helped the Timberwolves hang on after blowing a 23-point thirdquarter lead.

D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points and Towns had 17 as Minnesota handed Cleveland its first home loss in nearly two months.

Kevin Love led the Cavaliers with 26 points, and Jarrett Allen had 21.

Brandon Goodwin had 17 points and 12 assists for the Cavs while starting in place of injured All-Star guard Darius Garland’.

RAPTORS 133, NETS 97 NEW YORK (AP) — Scottie Barnes made his first 11 shots and had 28 points and a seasonhigh 16 rebounds, leading Toronto over Brooklyn in the opener of a home-andhome series.

Barnes was 10 for 10 at halftime, the first rookie to be perfect on 10 or more shots in a half since Derrick

TRACK CLUBS FROM PAGE 15 1.50m to snatch the title in the girls 15-16 high jump.

Thoreon Evans finished second in the boys 15-1 3,000m in 11:02.86 and Thoreno Evans was 12th in the 100m in 11.88 and 14th in the 400m in 1:00.-08.

Sawyer and Duncan 1-2 punch for T-Bird In the two races they competed in for T-Bird in the boys 17-18 division, it was a two-man show as Denzel Sawyer won the 1,500m in 4:21.40, followed by Nathan Duncan in 4:26.30. Sawyer also clocked 9:35.45 in the 5,000 to hold off Duncan, who trailed in 9:52.98.

Collie cruises for Bahamas Striders Imani Collie clocked 6:06.40 for second in the girls under-11 1,500m in 8:06.40 and fifth in the 800m in 3:04.10. Jazae Johnson had to settle for fifth place in the girls under-11 100m in 14.21 after she had the fifth fastest time of 13.70 in the preliminaries. She was 10th in the 200mn in 30.77.

Psasha Johnson was eighth in the girls 15-16 400m in 1;0o6.06.

Strachan flexes his muscles for Chips Athletics National record holder Keyshawn Strachan won the boys 17-18 javelin with a heave of 69.94m to lead the throwers’ team. His younger sister Kamera Strachan took the girls under-14 javelin with

hospitalisations. “This is good news for the sport of long distance running with organisers staging virtual races and many now reverting to in-person race events.

The Boston Marathon recently held its 2021 marathon in a virtual format attracting tens of thousands of runners around the world. “Among them were over 30 members of Bahamas

Rose on March 18, 2009, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Precious Achiuwa had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors, who played without All-Star guard Fred VanVleet because of a sore right knee. VanVleet replacement Malachi Flynn scored 18 points.

KINGS 131, THUNDER 110 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — DeAaron Fox had 29 points and 10 assists, and Sacramento beat Oklahoma City to snap a four-game losing streak.

Trey Lyles scored 24 points and Harrison Barnes scored 23 for the Kings.

Domantas Sabonis added 14 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his third consecutive game with at least 30 points since returning from a sprained right ankle, scoring 37 points and dishing out 10 assists.

BUCKS 130, HORNETS 106 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points and 16 37.21m, followed by DiorRae Scott with 35.54m.

Calea Jackson doubled up in the girls 17-18 shot put with 10.49m and discus with 38.99m.

Cailyn Jackson took the girls 17-18 discus with 31.75, followed by teammate Danielle Nixon with 21.25m and they got the same position in the shot put with Jackson winning with 10.03m with Nixon second with 9.99m.

Kristian Mondesir had a pair of second place finishes in the boys 15-16 javelin with 18.39m and shot put with 11.80m.

His younger sister Milan Mondesir was second in the girls under-14 shot put with 10.31m and was trailed by teammate Alianna Dames with 8.77m. Milan Mondesir was also third in the discus with 19.71m and Dames was sixth in 10.87m.

In the boys under-14 discus, Lynwood Brown was second with 26.67m and Jaylen Archer was third with 26.65m. They revised the order of finish in the shot put with Archer taking second with 10.67m and Brown third with 10.02m.

Gray and relay team clinch win for DTSP Wolfpack Philip Gray got the lone individual victory for the club in the boys 15-16 400m in 50.29, but they also celebrated as he anchored their 4x100m relay team of Javon Adderley, Nicholas Henfield and William McKinney to the win in 45.05.

Adderley also got fourth in the final of the 100m in

Roadmasters Running Club (BRRC), led by its president, Marcel “Bop” Major, who came together following 18 weeks of intense training to “chase the unicorn”, the theme for the 2021 race.

Said Major. “It’s about time that this popular past-time of distance running which serves as an outlet for physical and mental fitness be allowed to resume.”

According to Major, road races commonly referred to as “funrun/walk” events are effective means of raising funds to support local charities while benefitting the overall health of participants.

“Longer distance races like marathons and half marathons are important elements of the sports tourism product, attracting big spending stop-over visitors,” said Major. Accordng to a press

release, Bahamas Roadmasters Running Club was founded in 1990 to support running enthusiasts and to advance the sport of long distance running in the country. “BRRC hosts two popular annual signature events, The Midnight Madness Fun Run/Walk and Bahamas Half, 5 & 10K. “Part proceeds from these events are donated to local charities,” said the release.

rebounds and Milwaukee scored a season-high 44

points in the second quarter on the way to beating

Charlotte. Jrue Holiday had 21 points and eight assists,

and Bobby Portis added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks.

LaMelo Ball scored 24 points to lead Charlotte.

Terry Rozier finished with 17 points and eight assists.

Milwaukee made its first 26 free throws and finished 32 of 37 from the line.

Antetokounmpo made all 14 of his free throws.

MAGIC 119, PACERS 103 ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — Wendell Carter Jr. had 21 points and 12 rebounds and eight Orlando players scored in double figures in the win over Indiana.

Mo Bamba and Franz Wagner had 15 points apiece for Orlando.

The game marked the return of Magic guard Markelle Fultz, who tore his left ACL almost 14 months ago.

Fultz had 10 points and six assists in 16 minutes, leaving the game with the Magic up by 16 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and seven assists for the Pacers, and Buddy Hield added 18 points.

10.80 after he was fifth in the preliminaries in 10.77.

Henfield and McKinney came in sixth and seventh in the 400m in 54.63 and 54.81 respectively.

McKinney also competed in the 15-17 100m where he was fifth in 11.49 and Kendice Hart was seventh in 11.58.

In the 200m, Adderley was sixth in 23.90, Henfield was ninth in 24.25 and Hart was 10th in 24.35.

Lydia Clarke got a pair of second place finishes in the girls 17-18 100m in 12.41 and the 200m in 26.24 after she got the second fastest qualifying time of 26.98 in the preliminaries. Elkan Johnson, competing in the open men’s category, was fifth in the 100m in 11.44 and fifth in the 200m in 23,17.

Archer doubles up for Fast Forward After opening up with the fastest qualifying time of 11.89 in the preliminaries of the girls 17-18 100m, Paige Archer came back and took the final in 11.87.

She added the 200 title to her ledger in 24.08 after leading the preliminaries in 26.40.

Solange Carter won the girls 17-18 100m hurdles in 17.80, but she got second in the 400m in 1:01.54 with her team-mate Raven Pratt taking the victory in 1:00.55.

Pratt also won the 800m in 2:50.31.

Keano Ferguson finished second in the open men’s 1,200m in 11.04, while Zachary Evans came

in third in the boys 17-18 100m in 10.70. He was the eighth and final qualifier in the preliminaries in 10.84.

His team-mates Matthew Chandler was ninth in 10.91, Alexander Dean was 12th in 10.91 and Taryll Thompson was 14th in 11.20.

Jayden Smith was 26th in the boys 15-17 100m preliminaries in 12.62.

Bartlett back in action for Heats Athletics Elite sprinter Blake Barlette, in his season opener, cruised to victory in the open men’s 100m in 10.82.

However, he did not finish the 200m.

Eric Barr took the girls 15-16 800m in 2:29.41, Shamar Smith won the boys 17-18 400m in 48.51 and Michael Styles was second in 48.63.

Albert Leathen was seventh in the boys 17-18 100m in 10.99.

Rihanna Simms was fourth in the girls under-13 200m in 28.06 and fifth in the 100m in 13.17 Ford surged ahead for Roadrunners Trent Ford, competing in the boys 15-16 division, got second in the discus with 25.51, fourth in the shot put with 8.33m and 16th in the 200m in 25.12 for the Roadrunners. He was also 15th in the 100m in 11.95 with his team-mate Dana Rolle two spots ahead of him in 13th in 11.92.

Desmond Harris was 17th in the boys 17-18 200m in 24.68 with Temar Davis 20th in 25.21. Harris also

placed 22 in the 100m in 12.17 and Davis was 24th in 12.36.

Brown and Rolle sped to victory for Swift Athletics Carlos Brown easily won the boys 17-18 100m in 10.58, while Ishmael Rolle captured the boys under-14 century in 11.30.

Brandon Brown was third in the open men’s 100m in 11.21. Shayann Demeritte was third in the girls 15.16 100m in 12.56, Sherinique Sears was also third in the girls 17-18 100m in 12.83 and Tyqwan Woodside was fourth in the boys under-13 100m in 12.72.

Swift Athletics enjoyed a lot of success in the relays in the girls 17-18 4 x 100m in 51.85 and the 4 x 400m in 4:46.39, the girls 15-16 4 x 400m in 4:46.39 and the boys 17-18 4 x 100m in 43.69. The boys 17-18 4x400m team was third in 3:33.63.

Dean flys high for Tabernacle Baptist Dirshawn Dean took one of the two individual titles to Grand Bahama in the boys under-14 long jump with a leap of 5.47m.

Patrick Bethel came in fifth with 4.65m. Dean also claimed sixth place in the 100m in 11.87.

The other title went to Jethro Jean-Baptiste in the boys 17-18 shot put with 12.20m. Jean-Baptiste was also second in the discus with 41.64m.

In other results, Ayden Bain was second in the boys under-14 800m in 2:27.06 and the 1,500m in 4:54.10,

D’Marco Oliver was third in the boys 17-18 long jump with 6.54m and Thomas Grant was fourth with 6.97m.

Lynden Johnson got fifth in the boys 17-18 100m in 10.82 and sixth in the qualifying round of the 200m in 22.19 with Isiah Bain 13th in 23.14, Thomas Grant 15th in 24.14 and D’Marco Oliver 18th in 24.73.

Pratt and Campbell pace way for Golden Eagles Zion Campbell, competing in the boys 17-18 division, won the 200m in 21.20 and he was second in the 100m in 10.62 to top the performances from the Golden Eagles out of Grand Bahama.

Erris Pratt cleared 1.82m to win the boys 15-16 high jump and his team-mate Joshua Johnson was third with 1.67m. Pratt also got fifth in the 400m in 54.54.

Zion Campbell, competing in the boys 17-18 division, won the 200m in 21.20. He also got second in the 100m in 10.62.

Robert Stuart won the boys 15-16 long jump with a leap of 6.23m with Johnson placing second again with 6.07m. Stuart was also second in the 110m hurdles in 15.90.

Aiden Kelly took the 200m in 22.88 and Roshane Tucker was third in 23.02.

Kelly also got fourth in the 100m in 11.42 and Tucker was sixth in 11.55.

Sasha Ferguson finished seventh in the girls 15-16 200m in 27.89 and was sixth in the 200m in 28.54.

GRIZZLIES guard Ja Morant reacts during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Spurs last nght in Memphis, Tenn.

(AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 17

Taylor pleased with Southeastern Conference Championship debut

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net VERSATILE Charisma Taylor, a transfer from Washington State, had a stellar Southeastern Conference Championship debut for the University of Tennessee Volunteers over the weekend at Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

On Saturday, Taylor soared to third place in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 45-feet, 1-inch or 13.74 metres. Less than an hour later, she was back on the track competing in the final of the women’s 60m hurdles where she placed second in 7.93 to lower her own school record.

Those two performances came a day after Taylor placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 20-21/2 (6.16m). She also had the third fastest qualifying time of 8.02 in the preliminaries of the 60m hurdles that saw University of Florida transfer Sasha Wells, who previously competed for Oral Roberts, place 13th in 8.30.

One other Bahamian, Megan Moss, competed for the University of Kentucky.

“I felt really good about my performances,” said Taylor after her accomplishments. “The long jump was probably six minutes or so after the 60 metres hurdles on Friday.

The prelims was good. I matched my PB and I felt pretty good about it. In the long jump, I felt I did pretty well considering that I didn’t have any time to prepare after the hurdles.

“The next day, I forgot about what happened and I just came in with a new mindset, just ready, hungry to do the triple jump and hurdles finals. The plan was just to do three jumps and pack it up and get ready for the hurdles final and that was what I did.”

Taylor, however, said her first jump wasn’t all that she anticipated, but it was a good start. She noted that her second jump was a little better, but she really connected on the third jump.

She admitted that she was a little hungrier to continue in the competition, but she listened to her coaches and packed it up to get ready for the hurdles.

“I had about an hour to recover, get my legs flushed out and get ready for the hurdles,” she pointed out.

“I was focusing on my race and my lane and that was what I did. I felt I had

a really good reaction to the gun and I got a close season and a huge PB, so I was really proud of that.

“The competition was great. This was my first time in the SEC. It was nothing short of amazing,” she stressed. “It was just great competition all around and I liked that.”

Taylor, a 22-year-old former Queen’s College star athlete, ended up collecting a total of 26 points for the Lady Vols, whose director of track and field/ cross country Beth AlfordSullivan had nothing but praise for her achievement.

“Charisma has just rewritten our record books all season and continued her incredible run this weekend,” Alford-Sullivan said. “She scored 16 points for the Tennessee Lady Vols and performed extremely well today in a tough back-to-back. It was a lot of fun watching her compete and we are excited to see what she can do at NCAAs.” With a week off to do some training, Taylor said she’s looking forward to the Nationals that will be staged in two weeks in Birmingham, Alabama.

They are scheduled to depart on Wednesday for the championships that will complete her fantastic indoor season.

Moss, now in her sophomore year at Kentucky, got 12th in the preliminaries of the women’s 400m in 53.19, while Florida junior Doneisha Anderson had to settle for 20th place overall in 54.49. Moss also led Kentucky’s team of new American 200m record holder Abby Steiner, Karimah Davis and Alexis Holmes, the 400m champion, as they finished third in 3:25.89 to erase their school record by nearly two seconds in a heat that saw winners Arkansas and second place Texas all running faster than the previous collegiate record.

Anderson and her Gators competed on the Gators’ distance medley that finished fourth in 11:05.99.

Miller Jr led the way at Big Ten Shaun Miller Jr, a sophomore at Ohio State, won the duel between two Bahamians with his third place finish in the men’s high jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Miller Jr cleared 7-1 ½ (2.17m), but was beaten out on the countback by

CHARISMA Taylor shows off her medal.

Rutgers’ senior Perry Christie. Jyles Etienne, the other Bahamian now a senior at Indiana University, was seventh with 6-10 ¾ (2.19m). Winning the title was Nebraska’s junior Mason Conner with 7-2 ½ (2.29m.

Also on the field, Purdue’s senior Tamar Greene cleared 50-8 (15.44m) on his fifth attempt for seventh in the men’s triple jump.

Nebraska’s senior Papay Glaywulu won with 52-0 (15.85m) on his second try.

On the track, Ohio State’s sophomore Oscar Smith came through in fourth place in the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.85. Joshua Zeller, a junior at Michigan, won in 7.67. Smith had the seventh fastest qualifying time of 7.82 in the preliminaries.

And Adrian Curry, another sophomore at Ohio State, posted the eighth fastest time in the in the preliminaries of the men’s 60m in 6.76, but he did not compete in the final that was won by Rikkoi Brathwaite, a junior at Indiana in 6.57.

Alcine sixth at Big 12 At the 2022 Big 12 Championships hosted by Iowa State University at the Lied Recreation Center in Ames, Iowa, Kansas State’s senior Kyle Alcine picked up a sixth place finish with 2.14m in the men’s high jump. Oklahoma’s junior Vernon Turner won with 2.23m.

Gibson leads Bahamian connection at Summit League At the Summit League Indoor Championships in Grand Folks, North Dakota, Oral Roberts’ senior Gabrielle Gibson captured the women’s 60m hurdles title in 10.0 hand-timed, followed by her sophomore team-mate

Indea Cartwright in third in 10.2 hand-timed. Gibson qualified for the final with the fastest time in the preliminaries in 8.40m and Cartwright did 8.64 for the third best.

Gibson was third in the women’s 60m in 7.42 and Cartwright came in fifth in 7.63. Rich-Ann Archer, a sophomore at South Dakota State, won the event in 7.32. Gibson had the second fastest qualifying time of 7.48 and Cartwright had the sixth best in 7.65. Oral Roberts’ junior team-mate Lakelle Kinteh had the 16th best time of 7.86.

In the 200m, Gibson was third in 24.19 as Sara Reifenrath, a freshman at South Dakota, won in 23.52.

Gibson had the second fastest qualifying time of 24.46, while Angel Pratt, a freshman sat North Dakota State, just missed making the final with ninth place in 25.10 and Cartwright was 11th in 25.33.

Pratt also competed in the 400m where she was sixth in 56.62. The winning time was 53.70 by Reifenrath. Pratt had the fourth fastest qualifying time of 56.96 and Oral Roberts’ senior Chanice Forbes was 13th in 58.78.

On the field, North Dakota State’s junior Daejha Moss was third with 5-07 (1.70m) in an event won by South Dakota’s Daniella Anglin with 5-10 ¾ (1.80m).

Moss also contested the long jump where she came in fourth with 18-10 ½ (5.75m) and Kinteh was 12th with 17-06 ¾ (5.35m).

Oral Roberts’ senior Shalom Olotu won with 19-01 ½ (5.83m).

And as she completed the trifecta, Moss ended up fifth in the triple jump with 38-11 ½ (11.87m).

Olutu won the title as well with 40-03 ¼ (12.27m).

Additionally, Pratt contested the pentathlon with a seventh place finish overall with 3,345 points.

North Dakota’s junior Elise Ulseth won the event with 4,080. Pratt was eighth in the 800m in 2:28.02; sixth in the 60m hurdles in 9.29; was tied with two others in the high jump with 4-10 1/2 (1.49m); fifth in the long jump with 17-04 (5.28m) and ninth in the shot put with 32-10 ¼ (10.01m).

On the men’s side, Bradley Dormeus, a senior at Oral Roberts, came in third in the men’s 200m in 21.50 after he posted the fastest qualifying time of 21.29.

Demar Francis, a freshman at South Dakota, won the event in 21.36.

And Oral Roberts’ freshman Keithwood Stubbs placed 12th in the men’s high jump with 6-02 ¼ (1.89m). Jack Durst, a junior at South Dakota, won with 6-08 ¼ (2.04m).

Stubbs also was 21st in the long jump with 17-10 ¼ (5.44m). North Dakota State’s junior Brandon Lewis won the event with 24-02 ¼ (7.37m).

Adderley at Southland Conference At the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, McKendree University transfer Michael Adderley, competing for Incarnate Word, was sixth in the men’s long jump with a leap of 22-07 (6.88m). The winner was Texas A&M Community College’s Trimir Siroki with 24-03 ¾ (7.41m).

Also Aisha Johnson, competing for New Orleans University, was 15th overall in the preliminaries of the women’s 60m in 7.89. She was also 21st in the 200m preliminaries in 26.28.

AFTER SCATHING REPORT, NCAA MAKES CHANGES FOR MARCH MADNESS

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEARLY a year ago, Oregon forward Sedona Prince took to Twitter to expose some of the more glaring inequities between the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments — an unwelcome viral moment for the organization and one that it is still responding to.

The NCAA has made major changes to its women’s basketball tournament. Many of the changes have been relatively easy to do, such as expanding the tournament to 68 teams and using the phrase “March Madness” — once limited to the men’s tourney — in branding.

“This year there will be numerous and notable enhancements to the championship,” said Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president of women’s basketball. “What those have translated to is an enhanced women’s basketball student-athlete experience and fan experience.”

Prince was happy to hear it. “Making those changes is incredible and I hope it continues to be that way, and not just from a massive scandal, and a player exposing them on a national stage,” she told The Associated Press.

“Things shouldn’t be fixed that way. “ There is still a lot of work to do, such as TV rights and revenue disbursement, just two of the issues outlined in a blistering report released last summer that looked into the inequities. The differences between the two tournaments were stark.

The NCAA said it has made a major effort to make the two tournaments more equitable, on and off the court. While the organization wouldn’t give an exact dollar amount, it did say it has spent millions more on the women’s tournament this year, with the Final Four set for Minneapolis. The men’s Final Four is in New Orleans.

“The zero-based budgeting exercise mentioned in the gender-equity report has been very detailed and time-consuming in a good way,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA senior vice president of basketball.

“We’ve taken every budget line for men’s and women’s basketball championships and compared and contrasted them.

Where there have been discrepancies, we’ve had significant discussions about the equity stand point. In many cases, they’ve been adjusted to the tune of millions of dollars.”

FANS watch from the stands during the championship game between Stanford and Arizona in the women’s Final Four NCAA basketball tournament in San Antonio on April 4, 2021. (AP) Starting in the regional rounds, which are played at neutral sites after earlier rounds are hosted by higher seeds, there will be “March Madness” logos on the courts instead of “Women’s Basketball.”

The Final Four logos will be gender specific, too.

Other changes include: — Gifts for each team will be the same. In previous years, while they were comparable in value, they were packaged and presented differently.

— Fan events at the Women’s Final Four have been expanded to be more similar to the men, including having an open practice the day before the championship game.

— Officials are being paid the same at both tournaments.

The NCAA has plans for changes next year.

They hope to move the selection show back to its Monday night slot after shifting it to Sunday

this year, where there is the potential for it to get dwarfed by the men’s show. The NCAA also hopes to have a neutral site for its opening round play-in games, similar to the men’s event in Dayton, Ohio.

Three things that were brought to light last year

by Prince’s video and other social media posts were disparities in the lodging, food and weight rooms.

Organizers said most of those discrepancies occurred mostly because of the set-up of the tournaments, with both hosting every team in single cities amid the pandemic instead of at sites across the nation. Still, the NCAA said it would ensure both tournaments will have equitable hotels and food this year.

Earlier this year, the NCAA announced it would not combine the two Final Fours, a

recommendation from the Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP report. There are other possibilities, including potentially moving one of the two to a different weekend.

On the men’s side, CBS and Turner’s original contract with the NCAA was for 14 years at $10.8 billion ($770 million per year). They signed an eight-year extension in 2016 that gives them the rights through 2032, and the per-year average will jump to $1.1 billion beginning in 2025.

Currently, the women’s tournament is bundled with other championships when it comes to TV rights, and many wonder how much money it could fetch if it stood alone in negotiations. The current contract with ESPN is not up until 2024.

Giving women’s teams revenue for winning games in the tournament — which would be similar to the men’s tourney — is a topic that has not been explored.

“If you get more money when your men win than when your women are winning, then you have to care more about the men winning,” said North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart, the vice president of the Women’s Basketball Coaching Association.

OLYMPIC SHOT PUT CHAMPION VALERIE ADAMS RETIRES WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Two-time Olympic women’s shot put champion Valerie Adams has announced her retirement at the age of 37.

Adams also won Olympic silver and bronze medals and was a four-time world champion, a four-time world indoor champion and three-time Commonwealth Games champion.

One of 18 children of a Tonga-born mother and England-born father, Adams is a sister of the Memphis Grizzlies basketball star Steven Adams. A sister, Lisa Adams, was a shot put gold medallist at the Tokyo Paralympics last year. She announced her retirement at a news conference yesterday.

“I’m here to share with you all that I’m officially hanging up these size 14 throwing shoes,” Adams said. “After winning my bronze medal in Tokyo, I contemplated whether to embark on another campaign. “I took some time to really process this thought and to see if it was something I actually wanted to do again. My heart, mind and body simply answered the question for me, so it’s time to call it a day.”

Adams won the 2007 championship before winning her first Olympic gold medal at Beijing in 2008.

She defended her Olympic title at London in 2012 and placed second at the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro.

Her personal best throw is 21.24 meters.

New Zealand awarded Adams the female equivalent of a knighthood for services to sport and she is known as Dame Valerie Adams.

OLE MISS GIVES ATHLETIC DIRECTOR KEITH CARTER 4-YEAR DEAL OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has extended the contract of vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter with a four-year deal worth $1.1 million annually.

The school announced the new deal yesterday, saying it took effect in January. Carter took over the athletic department in 2019.

“Since taking the reins of Ole Miss athletics in 2019, Keith has demonstrated exemplary leadership and instilled a culture of excellence in our athletics programme,” Chancellor Glenn F Boyce said. “His strong record of success, focus on enhancing the student-athlete experience and excellent management skills have led Ole Miss athletics into a new era of success as seen in how our programmes are competing and winning at every level.”

The Rebels won 10 regular season games in football for the first time and won the NCAA women’s golf championship in 2021.

Ole Miss has also launched a $350 million capital campaign to renovate athletic facilities.

“Ole Miss is a special place, and I am humbled and honored to be in this position,” said Carter, who played basketball for the Rebels. “I feel a real sense of responsibility to make sure our department succeeds at the highest level.”

TO ADVERTISE TODAY IN THE TRIBUNE CALL @ 502-2394

PAGE 18, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MLB labour talks go past midnight amid opening day deadline

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer JUPITER, Florida (AP) — Locked-out players and Major League Baseball engaged in a series of intense meetings that stretched into early this morning as they attempted to forge the path to a labour deal before management’s deadline for salvaging opening day on March 31.

The sides met nearly a dozen times yesterday, and negotiations carried on past midnight as the lockout reached its 90th day. They made progress toward an agreement but remained very far apart on key issues.

Commissioner Rob Manfred met with the union twice — once more than he had previously since the lockout started Dec. 2. After months of talks in fits and starts, the sides shifted into possible dealmaking mode.

“We’re working at it,’” Manfred said around 6 p.m. after his second session of the day with the union.

Deputy commissioner Dan Halem and executive vice president Morgan Sword were key figures in the meetings, including for a series of brief sessions that also included senior vice president Pat Houlihan late Monday.

Negotiations went into a ninth straight day after the league and players met just six times on core economics during the first 2 1/2 months of the lockout. They have laid out their positions to each

other in detail, both agreeing to funnel more money to young players but entering the day far apart on many economic terms.

Manfred said a deal had to be reached by Monday to maintain four weeks of spring training ahead of a 162-game schedule. MLB has not fixed an exact time to the deadline, which led to the possibility of bargaining sessions stretching into the wee hours if both sides sensed an agreement within reach.

The union has not said whether it agrees with the deadline, and baseball has shortened spring training to as few as three weeks in the past.

Emotions became more heated as the sides pressed for each other’s bottom line.

Philadelphia star Bryce Harper posted a photo on Instagram altered to show him in a Japanese baseball uniform with the words: “Yomiuri Giants you up? Got some time to kill.”

Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon, who attended negotiations last week, tweeted: “Players are used to their ‘threats.’ Owners actions have made it clear all along that they have a set # of games where they still make profits/get TV money. They don’t want to play.

It’s sad that these are the guys who drive the direction and ‘future’ of our amazing sport.”

The sides arrived at 10 a.m., three hours earlier than previous days, at Roger Dean Stadium, the vacant spring training home of

the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.

Mets pitcher Max Scherzer and free agent reliever Andrew Miler were the only players on hand.

Halem, Sword and Colorado Rockies CEO Dick Monfort also took part in the talks.

Players would lose $20.5 million in salary for each day of the season that is canceled, according to a study by The Associated Press, and the 30 teams would lose large sums that are harder to pin down.

Spring training games were to have begun Saturday, but baseball’s ninth work stoppage — and first since 1995 — already has led to exhibitions being canceled through March 7.

The most contentious proposals in dispute involve luxury tax thresholds and rates, the size of a new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players, minimum salaries, salary arbitration eligibility and the union’s desire to change the club revenue-sharing formula.

In addition, MLB has tied the elimination of direct free-agent compensation to players agreeing to higher luxury tax rates and still wants to expand the playoffs to 14 teams rather than the union’s preference for 12. MLB also has kept its proposal for an international amateur draft on the table.

Not since Aug 30, 2002, has MLB come this close to losing regular-season games to labor strife.

The union was set to strike at 3:20 p.m., but roughly 25 consecutive

MEDVEDEV IS 27TH NO. 1 IN ATP RANKINGS, OVERTAKING DJOKOVIC

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

DETROIT Tigers fan Genna Perugini holds a sign outside of Roger Dean Stadium.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) hours of meetings and caucuses culminated in an agreement at 11:45 a.m.

Bargaining has not had that type of frequency this year, but it has gained momentum since talks shifted from New York to Florida last week.

MLB has offered to raise the luxury tax threshold from $210 million last season to $214 million this year, increasing it to $220 million by 2026. Teams also want higher tax rates, which the union says would tend to act like a salary cap.

Players have asked for a $245 million threshold this year, rising to $273 million by the final season.

The union wants to expand arbitration to include the top 35% by service time of players with at least two seasons of major league service and less than three, up from the 22% cutoff in place since 2013.

The union proposed the prearbitration pool have $115 million distributed to 150 players, and management wants $20 million to be split among 30.

Russia suspended from international soccer as a result of war in Ukraine

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Russian teams were suspended yesterday from all international soccer, including qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup, as Moscow was pushed toward pariah status in sports for its invasion of Ukraine.

World soccer body FIFA and European authority UEFA banned Russian national and club teams from their competitions “until further notice.” Russia’s men’s national team had been scheduled to play in World Cup qualifying playoffs in just three weeks’ time.

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine,” FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement.

The high-level punishment involving sports and politics — something not seen for decades — came after the International Olympic Committee pushed dozens of sports governing bodies to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events.

The IOC said this action was needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

Denying Russia a place on the international stage could deliver a financial and psychological blow to the country, along with tarnishing its image as an elite sports powerhouse.

FIFA’s move excluded Russia from the World Cup ahead of qualifying playoff on March 24. Poland already had refused to play its scheduled game against Russia.

UEFA also took the last remaining Russians in European club competitions this season, Spartak Moscow, out of the second-tier Europa League.

Spartak’s scheduled opponent on March 10 and 17, Leipzig of Germany, advances directly to the quarterfinals, UEFA said.

Russia now faces the kind of isolation suffered

by Yugoslavian teams in 1992 after war broke out in the Balkans and by South African teams and athletes during the apartheid era

of racial segregation and discrimination.

South Africa was suspended by FIFA in 1964 and expelled in 1976 over apartheid, then reinstated in 1992. Yugoslavia was dropped from the 1992 European Championship on short notice, a day after the U.N. approved sanctions against the war-torn country. It was barred from 1994 World Cup qualifying, before emerging as separate nations.

Decisions by FIFA and UEFA can typically be challenged on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. The Football Union of Russia said in a statement that it would “reserve the right to challenge” the decision.

“I feel sorry for my boys,” said Russia coach Valery Karpin. “They were dreaming about playing at the World Cup. Now their hope is gone.”

Hockey followed suit, with international and NHL officials also punishing Russia.

The International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia and close ally Belarus from competitions at all age levels and said it was moving the 2023 world junior championship out of Siberia.

The NHL also condemned the invasion, suspending all business dealings in Russia and ruling out the possibility of holding events there in the near future.

“We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL clubs, and not on behalf of Russia,” the league said.

“We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.”

It was not immediately clear how the decisions would affect Russian tennis players, including topranked Daniil Medvedev, in Grand Slam, ATP and WTA tournaments outside the authority of the International Tennis Federation.

The IOC also went directly after President Vladimir Putin, who turned the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics into a personal project. Putin’s golden Olympic Order, which was awarded in 2001, has been

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin kicks the ball during an opening friendly soccer match between two children teams and FIFA legends at a Football Park in Red Square during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, on June 28, 2018.

(AP Photo/Alexander Safonov) withdrawn, the IOC said in including at the upcoming a statement.

Winter Paralympics in BeiThe Olympic body’s call jing, the IOC said. also applied to athletes Russian Olympic comand official from Belarus, mittee leader Stanislav which has abetted Russia’s Pozdnyakov said in a stateinvasion by allowing its ter- ment “there is only one ritory to be used to station comment to make -- we cattroops and launch military egorically disagree,” adding attacks. it would help national The IOC said it acted federations to challenge “with a heavy heart,” but “discriminatory rulings.” noted that the impact of Sports bodies across war on Ukrainian sports Europe already had moved and athletes who cannot against Russia yesterday now take part in compe- by refusing to host or play titions outweighed the against its teams. potential damage done to Finland wants the Rusathletes from Russia and sian hockey team banned Belarus. from the men’s world It was not a total blan- championships it will ket ban by the IOC, which host in May, the Swiss also did not specifically sus- soccer federation said its pend the national Olympic women’s team will not committees of Russia and play Russia in July at the Belarus.

European Championship, Where exclusion was and German soccer club “not possible on short Schalke said it had decided notice for organisational or to end its longstanding legal reasons,” then teams partnership with Gazprom. from Russia and Belarus In the World Cup, Russhould compete as neutral sia’s potential future athletes with no national opponents Sweden and the flag, anthem or symbols, Czech Republic had joined

Poland saying they would refuse to take the field.

The World Cup is scheduled to begin November 21 in Qatar.

FIFA had tried to compromise Sunday by suggesting Russia play at neutral venues without its flag and anthem and under the “Football Union of Russia” name.

That aligned with sanctions imposed by CAS in December 2020 to punish Russia for state-backed doping and cover-ups of cheating, and applied at last year’s Tokyo Olympics and this year’s Winter Games in Beijing.

Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said Sunday it was “totally unacceptable” that FIFA had not immediately expelled Russia from World Cup qualifying and said Poland is “not interested in participating in this game of appearances.”

Another future opponent, Albania, also said Sunday it would not play against Russia in any sports. Russia and Albania are scheduled to meet twice in June in the UEFA Nations League soccer tournament.

In hockey, the sport’s governing body has come under pressure from Finland and Switzerland to ban Russia and Belarus, both due to play at the world championships in May in Helsinki and Tampere.

Finnish Hockey Association chairman Harri Nummela said in a statement yesterday it had talks with the Zurich-based IIHF to exclude the two countries from the sport internationally.

Meanwhile, World Rugby suspended Russia and Belarus from all international events and cross-border club rugby, and suspended the Russian Rugby Union’s membership.

Those moves effectively ended the bid by Russia’s men’s team to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France — the men lay fifth in the six-team Rugby Europe Championship —and the women’s sevens team’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup Sevens in South Africa this year.

The women are third in the ongoing sevens world series.

DANIIL Medvedev officially moved up to No. 1 in the ATP rankings yesterday, overtaking Novak Djokovic to become the 27th man to hold the top spot since computerized rankings began in 1973.

Medvedev, a 26-year-old from Russia who won last year’s US Open and was the runner-up at this year’s Australian Open, rose from No. 2.

Djokovic slid down one place after having participated in only one tournament in 2022 because he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19. He was deported from Australia and not allowed to try to defend his title at Melbourne Park because he is not inoculated — and has said he won’t get the shots, even if he needs them to be able to play elsewhere, such as the French Open or Wimbledon.

Medvedev is the first player other than Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray to get to No. 1 since February 2004, when Andy Roddick was there. Medvedev is also the first new No. 1 since Murray in November 2016 and the third Russian man to lead the rankings, following Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin.

“It’s a huge honour to take over this spot. I’m sure everyone can understand it comes with mixed emotions that it happens this week,” Medvedev tweeted yesterday, an apparent reference to his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Thank you to my wife, team, sponsors, friends, & everyone that has helped along the way. It’s a long journey and I look forward to the years ahead.”

Djokovic’s most recent stay atop the rankings started in February 3, 2020, and his total of 361 weeks there are the most for any man since the tour’s computerized rankings began in 1973. He called Medvedev “very deserving” in a Twitter message last week.

“It’s great for tennis, I think, to have somebody new at world No. 1 again,” Jiri Vesely said after his victory over Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Thursday guaranteed there would be a change this week.

The 6-foot-6 (1.98-metre) Medvedev has appeared in four finals at major tournaments so far, losing to Nadal at the 2019 US Open and the 2022 Australian Open — despite taking the opening two sets — and losing to Djokovic at the 2021 Australian Open before beating Djokovic at the 2021 US Open to end the Serb’s bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam by a man in 52 years.

Alexander Zverev remained at No. 3 after getting kicked out of the Mexico Open for a violent outburst directed at a chair umpire, while Nadal rose one place to No. 4 by winning the title there — and beating Medvedev along the way — to improve to 15-0 this season.

BRITISH BOXING BODY LOOKS INTO SCORING IN WORLD TITLE FIGHT CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — British boxing authorities are investigating the scoring of a world title fight that saw Scottish fighter Josh Taylor retain his lightwelterweight belts in a split-decision victory.

English challenger Jack Catterall outboxed Taylor and landed more successful punches than his rival in Saturday’s bout but two of the three judges still scored in favor of the champion, who was fighting in his home country.

“The British Boxing Board of Control will be investigating the scoring of this contest,” the governing body said Monday, “and will advise accordingly.”

PAGE 12, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Trailblazer wants to bring excellence in education

By FELICITY DARVILLE

Dr Patrice J Pinder, a specialist in education, has created an education campaign designed to raise the bar for teachers and students, giving them additional tools to help improve the standard of education in the Bahamas.

A trailblazer in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and

DR Partrice Pinder

Mathematics) education in the Bahamas, her years of research and expertise have resulted in papers that have been published in educational journals throughout the world.

She wants to share her extensive knowledge and experience with as many of her fellow educators as possible, as well as the general public. Therefore, she is hosting the “242 Bringing Back Excellence in Education Campaign” to be held the week of

March 14–18, 2022. The event will be primarily virtual and will have a dual focus: “Excellence in Education” and “I Love Learning”. ”This event is free to the public and I am urging all pre-K–12 schools to partner with me on this event,” Dr Pinder said.

“All preschools, primary and secondary schools, both public and private schools throughout the archipelago of the Bahamas are encouraged to take part in this

very positive 2022 educational campaign.”

During the campaign, schools will be encouraged to highlight the successes of students, teachers and administrators.

“We will be learning from each other’s successes—we will learn what is working and what can work best in the Bahamian education system while at the same time, we will be celebrating the successes of others among us,” she said.

Dealing with harassment from an ex

By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

Whether you are a Kim Kardashian fan or not, it’s hard not to feel sorry for the reality TV star following the social media antics by her estranged husband, superstar rapper Ye (formerly Kanye) West.

Ye has leaked screen grabs of their private messages, encouraged fans to scream at Kim’s new beau, SNL comedian Pete Davidson, in public, and has referred to him disparagingly in now deleted posts. Kim and her family have blocked Ye on social media and

begged him to stop the harassment before a fan hurts Pete.

Ye claims he is not harassing Kim, but merely “fighting to get his wife back” and restore his family.

This week, divorced Bahamian women weighed in on the controversy which has led to increased discussions about social media harassment and toxic exes.

“I feel sorry for her and everything he is putting her through,” said Lori of the Kim-Ye situation.

“I remember when I got divorced…just leaving was such a big decision, and you think, ‘Thank God, I am free of that burden’. But I can’t imagine you’re finally in your peace of

mind and with a chance to be happy and here comes someone who didn’t know how to treat you when he had you and now threatens your new relationship. I feel bad for Pete…that’s a lot of pressure and I hope he is sincere and won’t cave.”

Taylor thinks that law enforcement needs to put an end to this type of harassment.

“Women need to be protected from this type of abuse. He should be banned from social media just like how you would be able to get a restraining order for physical abuse. Any further interaction and he should be in jail for assault.

Because this is emotional assault.

Kim is lucky she can afford to live

behind a gate and hire security, unlike a lot of women who have to live in fear,” she said.

Brittany said she was once in a similar situation and said the whole incident with Kim and Ye is triggering for her as it reminds her of the explosive end to her own marriage two years ago.

“My ex-husband just would not stop harassing me. He would show up at job and be loud, asking, ‘Where my wife? Where my wife?’ I was so shame. He tried to get my friends to turn against me or put in a good word for him. I was stressed out. He would call me all hours of the day and night,” she said.

Brittany said she had to have her brothers eventually threaten her ex-husband with the police to get him to leave her alone.

“I met a new guy and I was so afraid he would confront him or beat him up. I was afraid to be alone because he got in my house one time. It was so horrible, it only ended when he got involved with someone else. I feel very sorry for her. I am just glad we never had kids, because until they’re adults you have to have interact with your ex and co-parent, and that is why I hope Kanye won’t be allowed to destroy Kim. She needs to only speak to him through her attorney,” she said.

Bahamian-American publishes children’s book about travel and celebrating our differences When ‘Iolani Lightbourne Bullock prepared to travel to Thailand with her son Lenox, she couldn’t find many books about travel for children, and certainly none with characters of colour. Since she couldn’t find the perfect book to read with her son, she decided to create one herself.

The result was “Lenox Takes Flight”, a story that centers around Lenox, an imaginative kid who loves airplanes and who dreams of the day he will get to board one.

In preparing for the family trip overseas, he learns that his great-grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman who earned pilot wings. He cannot wait to board his first flight and

get a pair of his own, until his excitement causes him to lose his passport in the airport. He and his little sister Teagan set out on an adventure to find it before their flight takes off.

The chaptered book is geared towards children age 9 to 11 and was recently published by New Degree Press.

It has enjoyed positive reviews from parents, educators and children alike. Popular family travel blogger Tykesha S Burton of MommaWanderlust.com commented: “Lenox’s excitement and wonder leaps off the page...’Iolani L Bullock shares the world of travel through the eyes of a curious, intelligent young man who

is on the cusp of a grand lifealtering journey.” ’Iolani hopes that Black and brown children will be inspired by seeing themselves in Lenox and that all children understand that our differences are what make us special.

Ultimately, she wants to get “Lenox Takes Flight” into classrooms and has created an educator guide to facilitate the discussion of themes that arise from the book such as exploring other cultures through travel, the history of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, and overcoming your fears to achieve your goals.

“Lenox Takes Flight” is available on Amazon and where books are sold online.

AUTHOR ‘Iolani Lightbourne Bullock

Winfrey’s new book club pick is by lifestyle coach

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey’s new book club pick is a bestseller by a Harvard-trained sociologist sometimes referred to as Winfrey’s “life coach.”

It’s also her first selection since 2019 that was not announced in partnership with Apple.

Winfrey announced last week that she had selected Martha Beck’s “The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self.” She promoted the selection on Tuesday night through an

author interview on her monthly livestream “The Life You Want Class,” on OprahDaily.com. Beck has known Winfrey since the early 2000s and was a longtime contributor to O, the Oprah Magazine.

“For over 15 years, I have looked to Martha Beck for her wisdom, and marveled at how she helps people through crises in their lives with such grace, insight, and humor,” Winfrey said in a statement. “As we all navigate this watershed moment in our collective history, `The Way of Integrity’ provides a roadmap on the journey to truth.”

Beck, whose book was published last year, said in a statement: “To have my work recognised in this way is so thrilling, it’s almost surreal. I think it’s also a statement about the desperate need for integrity in our public and private lives. Oprah Winfrey embodies this value, and for this reason alone I can’t imagine a greater honor.”

By midday Tuesday, “The Way of Integrity” was No 3 on the bestseller list of Amazon.com.

Recent Winfrey choices such as Richard Powers’ “Bewilderment” and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ “The Love Songs of WEB

Du Bois” had featured exclusive author interviews on Apple TV + and other special content through Apple. But Tuesday’s announcement does not refer to Apple. A Winfrey spokesperson, asked if the Apple deal was still in place, said “Apple will continue to amplify the selection across their Apple Book and Apple News verticals, but OprahDaily will be doing live virtual streaming events with the authors moving forward.”

Apple did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

Winfrey started her book club in 1996 and quickly became a singular force in publishing, her endorsements generating hundreds of thousands or more in sales of works ranging from contemporary novels such as Jane Hamilton’s “The Book of Ruth” to older works such as John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.” She ended her original club in 2011, then relaunched it a year later as Oprah’s Book Club 2.0.

In September 2019, she formally began her Apple partnership with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel “The Water Dancer.”

PAGE 11

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022

Local women’s groups demand immediate action to protect the vulnerable against abuse

By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

Thirty-four local women’s organisations have come together under the banner of the Women United Organisation to call on the government to urgently address the increase of violence against women in the Bahamas and children, saying that enough is enough.

The open letter is addressed to Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Chief Justice Sir Brian Moree, Attorney General Ryan Pinder, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe, Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Franklyn Williams, and Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle.

“We are demanding the delivery of what was promised, with additional courts and resources to urgently address the ongoing and increasing violence against women and children,” the letter states.

“This call is being made in the aftermath of multiple grievous incidences of violence against Women in recent months and the notably long delays in having these matters reach finality in the courts.

“There have been a spate of incidences that have caused public outcry in recent months, including the death of four D’Onya Bella Walker, the death of Heavenly Terveus, who shot while nursing

A vision for a happy future

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

Many Bahamians swear by having a vision board in order to keep their goals in their sight, to stay inspired and motivated going into the future. Many of them start their vision boards as soon as the new year begins, and continue to add images to it as their goals grow and evolve. Those who swear by the vision board concept, said they have been able to accomplish their goals more easily.

Tribune Woman spoke with several readers who shared their

her infant son, the social media viral video of the young woman who was dragged into the street and beaten while holding her infant, then stabbed and rolled over by a car allegedly driven by the infant’s father, and the married mother of three who lost sight in her right eye. These savage acts, along with so many other reported cases of violence against women and children, have created an environment of great terror, distress and anxiety among women in the Bahamas. We fear for our safety and are concerned for the well-being of our children and families.”

The organisations said both Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic presented them with unprecedented calls for help from the most vulnerable populations in the Bahamas, especially those who live with disabilities, elderly, migrants, and numerous young women.

The organisations urged the government to work expeditiously to achieve these demands.

Among other things they are calling for a gender-based violence authority to deal with such matters on a full-time basis and for the government to provide shelters and safe houses to accommodate individuals who are suffering from abuse.

The shelters, they emphasised, also need to be accessible to those with disabilities.

They are also calling for additional courts and resources so that advice on to how dream or vision boards can be approached, the process of creating one, and why it is a beneficial activity to incorporate in one’s goal-setting.

A dream board or vision board is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of one’s dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation. The usefulness of vision boards has been endorsed by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey and John Pierre.

“I love the practice of a vision board,” said Amanda Simms.

“It has brought great clarity and focus to my goals. Sometimes goals that you are rolling around in your mind seem sketchy. But when you begin to see it through photos and images the goals do not seem impossible.”

Dania Major said biblical scriptures also support vision boards, which is why she adopted the practice.

“The Bible tells us in the book of Jeremiah to write the vision and make it plain. It also encourages us to mediate and speaks of the power of meditation and the use of the imagination. Images

the victims of such crimes can have their matters dealt with swiftly.

“We demand what was promised, because denial of justice is the most egregious factor resulting in the most unacceptably slow movement to final judicial redress,” the open letter states.

The delays in the justice system, the organisations said, result in complaints and cases being abandoned, victims not receiving justice and vital community standards not being upheld.

The groups are calling for the actual enactment of gender-based violence bill, saying that citizens are losing faith in the legal system because of the many roadblocks which have hindered its implementation in the past Further, they are calling for the enactment of a victim’s bill of rights, removal of reservations from the Bahamas’ commitments to the world, better statistics when it comes to gender-based violence, and law reform and public awareness.

They concluded by applauding Prime Minister Davis’ recent comments with regard to martial rape, where he stated that rape is rape and made other assertions that would suggest a move in the right direction.

This includes recent announcements that repossessed homes may be soon be used as shelters and that a search is presently underway for a location that could serve as a sexual offenders’ court.

help you strengthen your belief and confidence that you can become and do what you are hoping to achieve,” she said.

“Dream boards help you to renew your mind. Let’s say you are hoping to manifest a particular lifestyle, but constantly visualising and seeing that lifestyle in the front of your face you, you are building confidence in what you can achieve.”

Though the popular way of creating a vision board is by collecting physical images and

The letter is signed by the following organisations: 1. Ali McIntosh Children’s Charities 2. Bahamas Chapter - Caribbean Institute Women in Leadership (CIWIL) 3. Bahamas Crisis Centre 4. Bahamas Debutante Foundation 5. Bahamas Lotus (BL) 6. Bahamas Network of Rural Women Producers 7. Bahamas Urban Youth Development Center (BUYDC) 8. Core of Hope 9. Dynamic Youth in Action Org (DYA) 10. Erin Brown Connects, Disability, Advocacy, and Inclusion Management 11. Everyone Counts Organisation 12. Families of All Murdered Victims 13. Grow in God Immensely 14. Human Rights Bahamas 15. It’s All Love 16. Josiah Institute for Leadership & Public Policy 17. Lady’s Chambers 18. Ladies of Tomorrow 19. National Organisation of Women Associations in the Bahamas (NOWAB) 20. Princess Court Ministries GB/Fort Charlotte 21. Resilience 22. S Ali McIntosh and Associates Leadership Consultants 23. Save Our Children Alliance (SOCA) 24. Saving Our Daughters 25. SMART Women 26. Solutions Counseling Services (SCS Network) 27. STRAW Inc Centre for Women 28. UN CEDAW Committee Member (Marion Bethel) 29. Women Investment Group 30. Women of Strength Association 31. Women United (WU) 32. Women United Northern Bahamas 33. ZONTA Club of New Providence 34. 242 Domestic Violence Support Network, Inc

pasting them on to an actual board, there are other ways to make your own dream board.

Tara Saunders said she does not create a physical board.

“I am not as crafty, so I have decided to just create a digital vision board through Pinterest.

Obviously, this does not have to be done through Pinterest, but I use it because it already has a feature that allows you to create your boards. Now, I know the point of a vision board is to keep your goals within reach and in

the front of your face ,so having a digital vision board takes some disciple. I have been intentional about opening the app on a daily basis to keep the vision in front of my face,” she said.

“One advantage of a digital vision board is that you can also incorporate various audio and video to that also provides inspiration. But like I say, it takes discipline and a good memory to visit a digital board when it is less tangible.”

Mia Thompson said she utilises both physical and digital boards.

“My physical board is something that I can pull out and look at almost like a photo album. And when I am on the go and want to keep my vision in front of me, I use the digital board,” she said.

Mia said she is constantly saving images and even taking photos of things she sees along the way that serve as inspiration for her.

“I’m not new to vision boards.

I have done this for the past few years. When I accomplish a goal, it feels so good to look back on my vision board and see what has manifested,” she said.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 13

Dangerous male sex enhancement pills Viagra obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in March, 1998 and the world of erectile dysfunction has never been the same. The sexual enhancement pills industry is huge and continues to grow, with Viagra making over $2 billion last year. Other PDE5 inhibitor medications such as Cialis and Levitra are widely prescribed throughout the world.

There is also a dubious industry of purported sexual enhancement pills that do not have FDA approval and are unregulated.

These unregulated sex pills are potentially very dangerous to a man’s health, as they have not gone through rigorous testing. The possible harmful health effects are numerous and very troubling. There is no data to support the safety or efficacy of these falsely advertised natural supplements.

A man should not trust a medication he can buy from a cashier at the local gas station or hardware store, or over the internet.

These medications are to be taken at one’s own risk but the average man has no idea what those potential negative health effects might be.

Rock Hard for Men pills, for example, were found in 2012 to contain counterfeit Cialis (tadalafil) and a diabetic drug that could prove deadly if misused. More than one dozen men died taking this drug in Asia in 2009.

In a Singapore study, more than three quarters of tested unregulated male enhancement pills contained chemicals that were not disclosed and more than half of the pills had doses of declared chemicals that were higher than recommended.

Earlier this year, the FDA issued specific warnings for multiple male unregulated sexual enhancements pills, some of which include the following:

Stiff Nights

This supposed male sexual stimulant is marketed as a type of dietary supplement. The FDA has warned that these pills contain the chemical sulfoaidenafil which could dangerously lower a man’s blood pressure and potentially have a deadly reaction with nitrate medications.

Rock Hard Weekend

This unregulated male sexual enhancer also contains sulfoaidenafil and has the same potentially deadly side effect profile.

Man Up Now

This product is marketed as an all natural and herbal

enhancement medication, but is far from natural and also contains the potentially dangerous sulfoaidenafil.

Magic Power Coffee

This instant coffee product is not magical and is not 100 percent natural, as falsely advertised.

It contains sulfoaidenafil and hydroxyhomosildenafil, which are chemicals very similar to Viagra.

The product claims that horny goat weed and goji berries cause the extra mojo.

The FDA has issued a strong warning against the use of this product.

Mr Magic Male Enhancer from Don Wands

The FDA found this product to be far from magical and ordered that it no longer be made available as it contained the untested, dangerous chemicals sulfoaidenafil and hydroxyhomosildenafil.

Duro Extend

This product had a complete recall by the FDA in December 2010 after it was determined that the marketed dietary supplement contained sulfoaidenafil, that is not a regulated chemical ingredient.

Time Out Capsules This product is marketed as being 100 percent natural, but it also contains potentially dangerous sulfoaidenafil that could potentially cause sudden death in men taking nitrate medications.

Vitalex

The founder of the company distributing Vitalex, Phu Tan Luong, is currently serving a prison sentence for Medicare fraud. This supposed all natural supplement contains acetildenafil, another untested rip off of Viagra.

Many of the hundreds of unregulated pills marketed as natural male sexual enhancers can improve sexual function, but at what cost to a man’s health and future?

The FDA has published strict warnings against the use of many of these pills and some brands have been recalled. These pills lack scientific studies and animal and human trials. Buyers beware is the motto that must be adopted when using these unregulated products.

Many of these so called natural male enhancers actually contain chemicals that are dangerous rip offs of the active ingredients in Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitor medications like Cialis and Levitra.

It is illegal to sell PDE5 inhibitor medications without providing a prescription from a licensed physician, who should have done a full evaluation of the patient and determined its use as safe and beneficial.

The FDA regulates all drugs on the market but dietary supplements are only reviewed and monitored by the FDA. This loop hole in the regulatory regime of the FDA provides for all of these pills that are falsely advertised as being all natural or dietary supplements, to flood the market.

THE UROLOGY DOCTOR IS IN...

Dr Greggory Pinto

These unregulated male enhancers such as Rhino, that has more than 25 different pills marketed under the brand, are cheaper than regulated PDE5 inhibitors and do not require a man seeking assistance and evaluation from a licenced physician.

Several of the fake natural products do improve blood flow to the penis but they also do untold harm to other organs such as the heart, kidneys, brain and liver.

Researchers have found rat poison, diabetic drugs, paint, lead in some of these dangerous unregulated, untested male enhancement pills.

Do not play Russian roulette with your life and your organs

Male erections require adequate penile blood supply and nerve supply and adequate levels of the male hormone testosterone and the right state of mind.

Underlying conditions such as undiagnosed or poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and hypertension, are often the culprits for erectile dysfunction in Bahamian men.

Erectile dysfunction often prompts many Bahamian men to seek urologist assistance and they are diagnosed for the first time with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or cardiovascular disease. The diagnosis of these potentially debilitating conditions could prevent irreversible negative health effects for these men in the future.

Fake herbal supplements are only masking the potentially deadly underlying problem that lead to the erectile dysfunction.

There is a strong correlation between cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction. The occurrence of erectile dysfunction in some men should prompt investigation for cardiovascular disease, that potentially could prevent a cardiovascular event such as a stroke, heart attack or peripheral vascular disease of the legs.

Spinal, colorectal and prostate surgeries, amongst many more, could potentially disrupt the nerve supply to the penis.

At the age of 40 years old, the male hormone testosterone falls on average one percent year.

Approximately 12 percent of middle-aged men have low testosterone, or hypogonadism.

Many medications potentially can interfere with erectile function.

Erectile dysfunction should be thoroughly investigated by an urologist and the underlying cause(s) should be determined, managed and reversed if possible.

There is nothing simple nor safe about taking un-prescribed and unregulated male enhancements pills.

Seek the confidential, compassionate and comprehensive consult of an urologist in regards to your erectile dysfunction. You can always rise again.

• Dr Greggory Pinto is a board certified Bahamian urologist and laparoscopic surgeon. He can be contacted at OakTree Medical Center #2 Fifth Terrace and Mount Royal Avenue, Nassau, Bahamas; Telephone – (242) 322-1145-7; email: welcome@ urologycarebahamas.com or visit the website:www.urologycarebahamas.com

Kidney disease on the rise in the Bahamas Wear green this march to help raise awareness

are possibly hundreds more undiagnosed and at risk.

This makes the work of BKA, a non-profit organisation, not only essential but critical in the prevention and management of kidney disease in our country.

Building on the legacy of Dr Ada Thompson, who championed kidney disease awareness for many years, the BKA was established to carry on her work with her continued support. The BKA has two main purposes: to improve the lives of individuals affected by kidney disease and to reduce the instances of kidney failure in the Bahamas.

“March is Kidney Disease Awareness Month, and we hope you will join us in support of those

Kidney disease is growing more and more prevalent in the Bahamas, according to the Bahamas Kidney Association (BKA). It is impacting hundreds of Bahamian families who struggle with the illness. In 2020, a local nephrologist concluded that 10 to 13 percent of the adult population battle chronic kidney disease and there

Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa to start seeking doctor help

By TOM MURPHY and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Associated Press If there is no doctor in the house, Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to summon one.

Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health are starting a voice-activated virtual care program that lets customers get medical help without picking up their phones.

The service, for health issues that aren’t emergencies, will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices.

Customers can tell the voice assistant Alexa that they want to talk to a doctor, and that will prompt a call back on the device from a Teladoc physician.

The programme, announced Monday, marks

Amazon’s latest expansion into health care and another push by the retail giant into a form of care that grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Telehealth now is something that patients have gotten used to and may come to expect as an option for their care,” said Lori Uscher-Pines, a senior policy researcher with Rand Corp. “(Before) the pandemic, there might not have been this much awareness that this was a service that was available.”

Amazon already dispenses prescription drugs and is expanding an Amazon Care programme it launched in 2019 that offers telemedicine visits with an option to send a care provider to the patient if they need an in-person visit.

The company’s latest health care expansion comes as several competitors including Walmart and the drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens also beef up their medical offerings.

They are adding care clinics or virtual programs to make it easier for patients to find regular help in the fragmented US health care system.

Insurers and employers that pay medical bills are pushing for this as a way to improve health and cut down on hospital stays or other big medical expenses.

“Health care is a huge industry of enormous value, and it is ripe for disruption,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “And Amazon views itself as a disruptor.”

Some hospitals already use Alexa as a voice assistant in patient rooms. In Great Britain, Alexa works with that country’s National Health Service to help answer medical questions with advice from the country’s official website.

The service announced Monday will be available for customers who create an Alexa voice ID. After telling the voice assistant that they need to talk to a doctor, people will be connected to a Teladoc call centre and then get a call back from a physician.

The calls are audio-only for now, but the companies say they expect to add video soon. In some cases, doctors will be able to prescribe medications.

Customers can get a call back the same day, but that may depend on the availability of doctors in the state where the patient is located, Teladoc spokesman Chris Savarese said. He noted that the ongoing pandemic may lead to longer wait times.

affected by wearing green every Friday. Tag us, showing you and your friends or family on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #weargreenforkidneybean,” said the BKA. If you would like to financially support the BKA’s efforts, you may send your donation to: CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, JFK Branch; transit 29067 Account name: Bahamas Kidney Association Account number: 201747463 For more information on all the events for March, please visit the website at www.bahamaskidneyassociation.org.

The cost for a visit can vary depend on the patient’s coverage. Without insurance, the calls will cost $75.

Savarese said Amazon will not be able to access, record or store the content of the ensuing call.

Amazon is moving deeper into health care as other growth engines slow.

In its most recent quarter, the Seattle-based company reported that its online retail business dropped on percent.

Kate McCarthy, senior research director at research firm Gartner, sees room for Amazon to expand beyond simple doctor calls. She noted that the company’s health care segment in its cloud computing division is aimed at coming up with new services and health care products.

McCarthy said she could see Amazon eventually helping to monitor patients that go home after a hospital stay, using Alexa and sensors to check how often

they flush the toilet or open the refrigerator.

With its prescription services, Amazon hasn’t bit off meaningful share from its drugstore rivals, but McCarthy noted it could become a legitimate player.

“There isn’t one kind of magic market entrance,” she added “It will be a combination of things.”

Telemedicine in general grew rapidly when the pandemic first hit the United States and patients wanted to hunker down at home instead of visiting the doctor’s office.

Virtual visits have since leveled off a bit as office visits have widely resumed.

But Uscher-Pines said research shows that patients remain interested.

Many want telemedicine available when they need its convenience, not as a replacement for in-person care.

“Most people don’t want that to cannibalize their in-person care,” she said.

“They still want those options.”

PAGE 14, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

BODY AND MIND

Bahamian psychologist offers free counselling services

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

WITH so many Bahamians struggling with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, a Bahamian psychologist is using his expertise to help those who are struggling.

Lorenzo Rolle, who currently resides in Canada, has a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology.

Though he is living abroad, the psychologist has been a keeping close eye on what has been happening locally. By offering his services free of charge he hopes to help remove the stigma around seeking help for mental health.

The sessions begin this Friday.

Mr Rolle has been working in the mental health field for six years now.

“The journey began with me attending the College of the Bahamas, now the University of the Bahamas, and then later attending the University of the Southern Caribbean, Burman University, and then Yorkville University where I obtained my Masters in Counselling Psychology. I’ve resided in Canada since 2014, but now is the time for me to return,” he told Tribune Health.

Mr Rolle’s scope of practice includes anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, self-harm, sexual addiction, drug/ alcohol addiction, gang involvement, schizophrenia, and other areas of expertise.

“My aspiration to provide free counseling to the Bahamas didn’t just come about. It’s been a plan that has been in the works for over a year now, but I believe now is

time for harvest. There was a part of me that didn’t feel as though I was ready, a part of me that was a bit hesitant to the response that would be received, but my love for the Bahamian people would not allow me to wait any longer,” he said.

“Throughout the years I’ve had to keep my blinders on. In my opinion, this was the only way that I could focus and ensure that I would be fully prepared to support the Bahamas when the time came for me to return. I was also inspired by the amazing feedback I began to receive from my colleagues in Canada. As I began to obtain referrals from professionals which included psychiatrists, physicians, nurses and other counsellors and therapists, I thought to myself, maybe they see something I don’t.”

Mr Rolle’s goal is to continue to provide this service to the Bahamas on a consistent basis, once a week.

“The goal is for each person who is willing to have an opportunity to access counselling services and determine if it’s something they would like to continue doing in the future. By no means does this suggest that I intend every individual who signs up to become my client in the future, but instead it’s with hope that they will pursue other services within the Bahamas and find someone who fits with their therapeutic needs within a positive therapeutic relationship,” he said.

Mr Rolle has already received a great deal of feedback to his plan, which he said which speaks to the great need of counselling services.

More than 80 individuals have signed up for the free sessions.

“I believe that by simply having someone to be used as a sounding board, a listening ear, one which holds no bias regardless of their past experiences, views, or sexual orientation, will prove to be beneficial to all,” he said.

“If I had the ability to dictate the results, it would be a Bahamas where all individuals would find peace of mind while striving to help the person beside them, one where we support each other through our struggles rather than continuing to tear each other down for selfish gain.

Unfortunately, the results of this endeavour are not at all up to me, I’m just here to help,” he said.

For more information, contact Mr Rolle on WhatsApp at 1587-738-0038.

The ‘Tooth Doc 242’ creates unique social media presence to make dentists more accessible

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

Dr Jenai Lowe, also known as the “Tooth Doc 242”, is an enthusiastic advocate for all things concerning oral health.

A native of Freeport, Grand Bahama, the dentist has worked in this field for approximately five years. Her drive to improve the oral health of those in her community, paired with her tenacious spirit, makes her a passionate dentist dedicated to using her skills to improve the lives of others in any way she can.

Dr Lowe told Tribune Health her initial inspiration to pursue a career in dentistry came from being involved in a traumatic accident which resulted in her having to undergo extensive dental and reconstructive surgeries. The many visits to the dental office struck a chord within her and awakened her curiosity, and ever since that time she has been passionate about cosmetic dentistry.

Dr Lowe’s experience as a dental patient herself allowed her to have a level of compassion and understanding for patients who may experience dental anxiety.

“At this point in my career, I believe that the experiences I’ve had thus far are invaluable. My passion that led me to initially seek out a profession in dentistry still drive me in my field of work today. If given the chance, I would make the same choices to pursue a career in the field of oral health.

Giving someone back their smile

DR Jenai Lowe at work

”Giving someone back their smile is lifechanging.”

is lifechanging.

By far the most rewarding experience is rehabilitating the oral health of those in my community. The smile on someone’s face and the joyous tears that my patients shed when their new smile is revealed to them is what I enjoy most about my job,” she said.

She said the purpose of her “toothdoc242” social media platforms on Instagram and Facebook is to allow the public a means of communication with a dentist outside of the dental office setting. It allows accessibility to dental education with the click of a mouse. Oral health tips shared on these pages include oral hygiene suggestions, ways to improve a smile, as well as tips for cavity prevention.

Dr Lowe said the goal is to post more educational tips to help those in the community understand how they can best improve their oral health. There will also be testimonials from patients, question and answer sessions, as well as photographs of dental treatments uploaded to the pages.

Dr Lowe’s academic career began at the Sunland Baptist Academy in Freeport. Later, she went on to become an Honours BSc graduate at Dalhousie Univeristy in Nova Scotia, Canada. A UWI alumni, Dr Lowe obtained her DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) at the UWI St Augustine in Trinidad and

Tobago, graduating with honours.

She is now pursuing a fellowship in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

“I have engaged in several community outreaches and free dental screening programmes within my community prior to the COVID19 pandemic. The impact these outreaches have had as well as the ability to reach individuals who may not be able to attend to their dental health regularly are some of my most memorable experiences. As more individuals become vaccinated in efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope to plan free dental screening outreaches regularly,” she said.

Dr Lowe said five dental hygiene tips to keep your pearly whites healthy include: avoiding excessive consumption of sugary foods and drinks; brushing your teeth twice daily; remembering to floss at least once daily; using a fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash to keep your enamel strong, and visiting your dentist or dental hygienist every six months for regular check-ups and cleanings.

It is her hope that her work in community will inspire each and every one of her patients to stay smiling.

Dr Lowe is also currently the CEO and President of Sunrise Smiles Medical Centre, East Sunrise Highway Grand Bahama.

She is located at the JenJa Dental Clinic located in the Culmerville Plaza, Freeport.

PAGE 20, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

CENTRAL BANK: INFLATIONARY PRESSURE TO BE ‘CONTAINED’ FROM PAGE 24

cut into the spending power and living standards.

And it contrasts with a recent statement by Walter Ferguson, the Consumer Protection Commissioner, who said: “One of the biggest challenges in our country is that more than 90 percent of our goods are imported. Due to the supply chain disruptions, bad weather, staff and trucking issues in our number one source market, the US, our prices will rise.

“Inflation has hit the US by 7 percent, so you can only imagine what is going to happen here in The Bahamas. We are looking at staggering price increases.

There is no way, at this time, to control this global environment. What we will have to do as Bahamians is buckle our belts, tighten up and buy what is needed more than what is wanted.”

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, earlier this year said global inflation and its impact on

The Bahamas, given that the country imports all it consumes, represented a potential headwind to the economy’s post-COVID rebound.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank forecast that The Bahamas’ foreign currency reserves will have little difficulty supporting the country’s fixed exchange rate peg with the US dollar throughout 2022.

“External reserve balances are anticipated to remain buoyant over the course of the year, bolstered by expected foreign currency inflows from the tourism sector and other net private sector receipts, thus ending 2022 above the international benchmark, [and] remaining more than adequate to sustain the Bahamian dollar currency peg,” it said.

The external reserves stood at $2.417bn at endJanuary 2022, nearly $100m higher than at the same point a year earlier. The drawdown on the reserves was also less this

PUBLIC NOTICE

year, standing at $41.7m compared to $60.72m in January 2021.

“Underlying this outturn, the Central Bank’s transactions with commercial banks switched to a net purchase of $48.2m vis-à-vis a net sale of $32.8m in the preceding year,” the regulator added.

“Further, commercial banks’ net intake from customers broadened to $73.7m from just $4.6m in the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s net sale to the public sector widened to $89.2m from $29.9m a year earlier.”

And, with the economy continuing to re-open as The Bahamas continues to recover from the COVID19 pandemic, the Central Bank said: “Provisional data on foreign currency sales for current account transactions for the month of January revealed a $218.1m expansion in outflows to $556.2m vis-à-vis the same period of the preceding year, reflecting

growth across almost all categories.

“Specifically, ‘other’ current items moved higher by $97.3m, largely reflecting a rise in credit and debit card transactions, while non-oil imports and oil imports rose by $51.6m and by $44.1m, respectively.

Likewise, factor income payments grew by $23.4m and travelrelated transactions by $3.2m. Providing a modest offset, foreign currency sales for transfer payments decreased by $1.5m.”

But, while Bahamian dollar credit growth rose to $73.5m compared to $20.7m in January 2021, the Central Bank report revealed that this was driven solely by the Government’s borrowing activities.

“The fall-off in private sector credit moderated to $5.9m from $10.9m in 2021, as the growth in commercial credit quickened to $10.7m from $4.8m a year earlier.

In addition, the reduction in mortgages slowed to $4.8m from $5.4m in the prior year,” the Central

Bank added. “However, the decrease in consumer credit extended to $11.8m from $10.3m in the previous year.

As for the commercial banking industry’s loan quality, the sector’s regulator reported a minor increase in arrears which now total more than $785m.

“Total private sector arrears rose by $5.3m (0.7 percent) to $785.1m, elevating the attendant ratio by 13 basis points to 14.4 percent,” the Central Bank said.

“Disaggregated by the average age of delinquency, non-performing loans grew by $7m (1.3 percent) to $534.9m, resulting in the accompanying ratio moving higher by 15 basis points to 9.8 percent, with increases in the non-performing loan rates for consumer loans by 29 basis points to 10.2 percent; mortgages by seven basis points to 11 percent; and commercial loans by seven basis points to 5.4 percent.

“In contrast, shortterm arrears (31-90 days) declined by $1.7m (0.7

THE TRIBUNE

percent) to $250.1m with the associated ratio narrowing by two basis points to 4.6 percent. A breakdown by loan type revealed that consumer arrears increased by $8.5m (3.2 percent) to $278.5m, as both the long and short-term components rose by $4.7m (2.3 percent) and by $3.8m (5.6 percent), respectively,” it added.

“Likewise, mortgage delinquencies grew by $5.2m (1.2 percent) to $443.6m, with the shortterm segment increasing by $3.6m (2.2 percent), while the non-accruals category moved higher by $1.6m (0.6 percent).

“Conversely, commercial loan arrears fell by $8.4m (11.8 percent) to $63m owing to a $9.1m (38.3 percent) reduction in the short-term segment, as opposed to the $0.7m (1.5 percent) uptick in nonperforming loans.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, ELEANOR ROBERTS of Harbour Island, The Bahamas, parent of BLAKE ZACHARY MYLIN VILNEGRE a minor intend to change my child’s name to BLAKE ZACHARY MYLIN ROBERTS. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

The Public is hereby advised that I, KELVIN A. KISSOON AND LATOYA S JOHNSON of Coral Vista, Nassau, The Bahamas, P.O Box CR-56569, parents of CHANCE JADONE JOHNSON a minor intend to change our child’s name to CHANCE JADONE KISSOON. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that ROBERTO PEÑA of Nassau Village, Talbot Avenue, Nassau, Bahamas, is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 1st day of March, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

MONDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2022

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 6.70 40.15 2.05 2.90 2.60 6.05 10.05 3.60 9.02 3.10 7.15 13.00 2.71 10.10 11.06 10.75 15.00 4.00 10.00 16.50

52WK LOW 4.50 32.12 1.46 2.20 1.30 5.50 6.00 2.82 4.25 2.27 5.00 9.75 1.99 6.50 9.50 8.40 13.10 3.42 8.00 15.50

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited Focol Finco J. S. Johnson

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Bahamas Class A Focol Class B

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank (Note 22 Series B+) Bahamas First Holdings Limited

CLOSE

CHANGE

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

2246.88

2.40

0.11

18.64

0.84

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 102.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.98 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 96.71 93.97 94.12 91.00 90.95 89.02 89.62 89.00 90.24 90.73

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.50 4.67 2.20 207.86 207.68 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.05 9.37 11.83 7.54 16.64 12.84 10.77 10.00 10.43 14.89

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.68 1.73 1.75 1.01 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y BGRS FX BGR106036 BGRS FX BGR117037 BGRS FX BGR118037 BGRS FX BGR125238 BGRS FX BGR127139 BGRS FX BGR127149 BGRS FX BGR129249 BGRS FX BGR131249 BGRS FX BGR132249 BGRS FX BGR136150

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGR1060361 BSBGR1170376 BSBGR1180375 BSBGR1252380 BSBGR1271398 BSBGR1271497 BSBGR1292493 BSBGR1312499 BSBGR1322498 BSBGR1361504

LAST CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.49 6.05 9.50 3.30 7.99 2.82 7.10 13.00 1.91 10.06 11.41 10.75 15.00 3.90 9.85 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.49 6.05 9.50 3.30 7.99 2.82 7.15 13.00 1.96 10.06 11.44 10.75 15.00 3.94 9.85 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

VOLUME

6,400 4,000

17,960

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Financial Conservative Fund Leno Financial Aggressive Fund Leno Financial Balanced Fund Leno Financial Global Bond Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Equities Sub Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - High Yield Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

MARKET TERMS

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00

(242) 323‐2330 (242) 323‐2320 EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.140 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.080 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25% 6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 5.40% 5.20% 5.22% 5.00% 5.00% 5.50% 5.55% 5.60% 5.65% 5.69%

NAV 2.50 4.67 2.20 204.67 199.97 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.01 9.37 11.79 7.54 15.94 12.47 10.74 N/A 10.43 14.89

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.34% 4.30% -0.06% 5.21% 0.21% 2.72% 1.37% 3.18% 8.18% 14.94% 0.26% 2.76% 0.36% 2.37% 0.28% 2.51% -1.31% -3.43% -0.02% 10.36% -0.33% 18.23% 0.22% 3.05% -3.89% 14.76% -1.04% -2.57% 0.81% 4.20% N/A N/A 3.00% 25.60% 7.90% 48.70%

P/E 22.2 42.9 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M 25.7 -7.5 57.1 15.3 15.9 18.0 19.2 21.5 17.7 14.8 18.4 19.4 10.5 24.6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

YIELD 3.21% 3.15% 0.98% 3.46% 0.00% 0.00% 2.74% 0.00% 0.00% 4.26% 3.08% 5.54% 22.14% 0.60% 2.87% 2.23% 3.60% 3.05% 2.03% 3.94% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025 20-Nov-2029 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2022 4-Aug-2036 14-Jul-2037 13-Oct-2037 15-Oct-2038 15-Jan-2039 15-Jan-2049 15-Apr-2049 15-Jul-2049 15-Oct-2049 21-Apr-2050

NAV Date 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 28-Jan-2022 30-Sep-2021 30-Sep-2021 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | CORALISLE 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, Wilner Onesse of Bacardi Road, New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my child’s name from CIANNA HARMONY DIEUVEUIL to CIANNA HARMONY ONESSE. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that DAJAH ANN HIGGS of Stapleton Gardens, P.O. Box CB-13614, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 22nd day of February, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that RICKI WILSON of P.O. Box N-9426, Cordeaux Avenue off Market Street, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 1st day of March, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 21

REALTORS BACK REFORM CALL ON ‘ANTIQUATED’ CONDO ACT FROM PAGE 24

Speaking from personal experience, the HG Christie chief added: “I’m in the process of a condo sale that has become bogged down because the lines were not drawn properly in the first place. We’re waiting for the lawyers to work it out. Simplify it while being fair to both buyer and seller.

“You’re buying that existing piece of that building, and if it’s slightly off, everything gets thrown off. I think it could be clarified and made more simple.” If a condo unit is under-sized or over-sized compared to the specifications set out in the Declaration of Condominium, it immediately raises questions as to whether a seller can provide good title, thereby disrupting potential sales.

George Damianos, president of Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty, told Tribune Business of Justice Klein’s call: “The only thing I can say to you is that I totally agree with him. I

do think it’s antiquated and there are a number of issues that come up precisely with the Declaration of Condominium, and then they have to correct them and refile them.

“I’m embarrassed to tell you I know of issues here in Lyford Cay. I know we’ve had to clean up some of the issues here with two condominium buildings at Lyford Cay. He’s totally correct.

It does need to be sorted.

What can I say? It’s like a lot of things that need to be uplifted in The Bahamas.

I totally agree with him. It needs to be revised.”

Justice Klein, in ruling on a sales dispute involving a unit at Paradise Island’s One Ocean condo project, asserted that “only the Quieting Titles Act has been productive of greater mischief in the law of real property” than the Law of Property (Condominium) Act 1965.

“The claim also illustrates the unique complications that can arise from transactions involving the peculiar

NOTICE

Bahamas Electrical Utilities Managerial Union (BEUMU) (The Senior Staff Union of The Bahamas Electricity Corporation)

Will Hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) On Monday, 28 March, 2022 at 4:45 p.m. via Zoom (The Zoom link and password will be sent prior to the meeting) All Officers and Members are asked to attend and be on time.

Meeting Agenda: • Reports from Officers • Other Business

legal estate of fee simple ownership of property in a multi-storey building,” he wrote in his judgment.

“It is apparent that the Condominium Act has not kept pace with the mischief which has been generated by some of its provisions. These difficulties are strikingly illustrated by transactions involving the sale (or resale) of units, which seemingly cast an onerous burden on a prospective purchaser to ascertain that the building and units comply with near exactitude to the Declaration and registered plan.

“It has been left for the courts to attempt to ameliorate some of these issues by resorting to common law and equitable principles on a case-by-case basis, which has not always produced a uniform approach. The time may well have come for there to be a review and revision of the Act benchmarked on other jurisdictions to address the unique issues that have

developed regarding condominium title.

“It is noted, for example, that modern condominium legislation in Canada and elsewhere provide for what is called an ‘estoppel certificate’ to be provided by the (condominium) association to the purchaser of a resale unit, providing information in relation to the condominium and unit which creates an estoppel in favour of the purchaser, and removes some uncertainty out of the transaction.”

Several sales at the tenstorey One Ocean condo project, which dominates the skyline on Paradise Island’s southern shore, have become embroiled in bitter court fights stemming from disputes over the size of the unit involved.

The controversy, which has been the subject of three separate Supreme Court rulings within a twomonth period, stems from “inaccuracies” contained in the original architect’s certificate that were then used to set-out the dimensions of

One Ocean’s 79 units in its Declaration of Condominium - the legal instrument that gives effect to the condominium’s creation.

A December 20, 2021, judgment by Justice Ian Winder approved an application by the One Ocean condo owners and their association to amend the development’s Declaration of Condominium such that it contained the right unit and common area dimensions/sizes. This will ensure that owners can provide buyers with good title should they sell their units.

The problems stemmed from the original architect’s certificate, signed-off by Bahamian architect Leslie Johnson in 2010, which incorrectly stated the sizes and dimensions of One Ocean’s penthouse units which subsequently underwent renovations under the property’s new developer, Replay Resorts. The incorrect dimensions were recorded in the Declaration of Condominium.

As a result, legal disputes erupted when Replay Resorts sought to sell two penthouse units. One purchaser, Belitza Marling Sagaray Silva, said she sought to withdraw from a $4.1m deal due to fears Replay was unable to provide good title because, while the unit was advertised at 6,165 square feet, the Declaration of Condominium described it as comprising 4,801 square feet.

And the purchaser of another One Ocean penthouse, a corporate entity named Gathina Ltd, had argued it was entitled to be refunded $1.105m because Replay was unable to provide it, too, with good title.

It alleged that Replay only had good title to the 4,801 square feet represented as the unit’s size in the Declaration of Condominium, whereas the true area involved was 6,419 square feet. As a result, Gathnia Ltd claimed it could not obtain good title to 25 percent of the space.

ABACO MILK RUNS DRY AS BLOWS ‘PILING ON’ FROM PAGE 24

supply chain break, and also keep “cash on hand” to deal with emergencies.

“I think our concerns are the same as anywhere else,” the Abaco Chamber chief said of the economic consequences flowing from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. “In terms of the economic impact, we have oil well over $100 a barrel or higher, so we’re probably looking at $8 a gallon for gas. It will definitely be here. It’s not here yet, but I can see it coming.

“It’s just going to exacerbate the existing situation.

The gas prices are very concerning. It’s not just the price at the pump. There are a lot of people still operating off generators here, and with VAT now back on diesel for generators those costs have already increased by 10 percent.”

Abaco, and other Family Islands, typically face greater prices and a higher cost of living than Nassau due to the additional stage involved in transporting goods to them from the capital, while their relatively

small population sizes mean they lack economies of scale and purchasing power.

“Building material prices are still sky high,” Mr Hutton told this newspaper, “and the supply chain is still stretched. It’s very difficult to get materials in. We’re running out of food before new shipments come in.

There’s no milk here right now. There’s no milk on this island.

“I don’t know if it’s because stores are not getting their shipments in the quantities that they’ve ordered, or if there’s more people here than they anticipated and demand is higher. I don’t think it is an increase in population. I think it’s maybe fast getting harder to have your order filled out 100 percent.

“I spoke to a businessman about a month ago. It’s got to the point where they had to send their own crew over to the US to pick their own order because their supplier did not have enough staff to do it, so they had to do it themselves.”

Voicing concerns over the so-called ‘People’s Convoy’ protests against COVID-19

mandates and restrictions in the US, and the potential negative economic impact stemming from that, Mr Hutton said he was also fearful that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will deter US and Canadian second homeowners from returning to Abaco to rebuild post-Dorian.

“In my business, if I order sheet rock today, I’m lucky if I get that in six weeks and this is a basic building material,” he said. “Lumber prices are up 35 percent since the beginning of the year. Is it going to stop?

I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t look like it. Once the weather warms up in the north, construction will start again, and prices will go even higher.

“All shipping companies have assessed rate increases on their fuel charges. I don’t see that stopping any time soon. It’s one thing after another, after another, after another. When you have all these things piled on top of each other.... I don’t know what the breaking point is.

“On Abaco, we have not got our economy back.

While on New Providence and other islands the economy is recovering from COVID-19, ours was wiped out. We have to rebuild to get to those levels, and we’re not even close to it.

It’s Dorian, it’s COVID, it’s supply chain, it’s inflation.

But Abaco is tough, and we will get through it. There is no doubt in my mind.”

Mr Hutton voiced hope that the Ukraine conflict will be relatively short, adding that if it became protracted or widened to pull in other powers it could take down the entire global economy. “If it gets worse here you may see, like after Dorian, an exodus because it is too expensive and difficult to live here,” he added.

“Am I concerned? Absolutely. I think the Ukraine situation is an additional concern for the world economy, and not just us... It’s global. Everyone here is watching it very closely. We no longer live on a rock in the middle of the ocean. We live on a rock in the middle of the world.

“If things go south, I’ve been telling people that you need to look at the next six to eight months as if you are preparing for a major hurricane,” Mr Hutton added.

“People need not hoard or overdo it, but purchase a little more every week if possible in case the supply chain goes down.

“And keep cash in hand.

Think about it as if you’re planning for a big hurricane season just a little early.”

DUSHKU OVERSEAS LTD. Company No. 518187 (In Voluntary Liquidation)

NOTICE is hereby given pursuant to Section 204 (1)(b) of the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 that DUSHKU OVERSEAS LTD. is in voluntary liquidation. The voluntary liquidation commenced on 21st February 2022 and Wolfgang Rabanser, of Landstrasse 33, Fl9490 Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein has been appointed as the Sole Liquidator.

Dated this 23rd day of February 2022 Sgd. Wolfgang Rabanser Voluntary Liquidator

NOTICE ALFIL GROUP LIMITED In Voluntary Liquidation Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International BusinessCompanies Act. 2000, ALFIL GROUP LIMITED is in dissolution as of February 24. 2022 International Liquidator Services Limited situated at 3rd Floor Withfield Tower, 4792 Coney Drive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

LIQUIDATOR ______________________

PAGE 22, Tuesday, March 1, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

‘BUILD CONFIDENCE’ FOR $2BN DEBT REFINANCE

FROM PAGE 24 debt is due to mature in 2022, split into some $1.905bn in domestic principal and a further $179.7m that is held by foreign investors. Data provided by the Ministry of Finance’s 20212022 second quarter debt bulletin thus shows some $2.085bn in debt principal is due for repayment between January and June 2022.

“Refinancing risk is a key risk for the Government, with the average time to maturity (ATM) settling at seven years at end-December 2021 and an average 25.85 percent of the portfolio maturing in one year,” the report conceded.

“The latter reflected the impact of the short-term nature of Treasury bills and notes, which elevated the percentage of the [domestic] debt maturing in one-year to a high of 38.03 percent. By comparison, only 9.09 percent of the external debt is maturing within one year.”

Picking up on this, Mr Bowe said the heavy weighting of short-term Treasury Bills in the debt coming due will likely make it easier for the Government to roll over, or renew, much of those borrowings with existing investors continuing to hold these securities on the same terms, returns and conditions.

“Although they are due every three and six months,

they have been held for an extended period of time,” he told Tribune Business of Treasury Bills. “These ones certainly have their financing risks because, if the holders of these instruments say they are ready for them to mature and cash out, they have to be financed from other proceeds.

“But, up to this point in time, these have been advantageous to banking institutions because they provide short-term liquidity and contribute to regulatory liquidity. I would imagine a large portion of the due amount is on the three to six-month Treasury Bill side.”

That was confirmed by the Ministry of Finance’s quarterly debt bulletin.

And, given the growing risk aversion to long-term government debt securities due to The Bahamas’ fiscal crisis, slow post-COVID recovery and credit rating downgrades, Mr Bowe said many of the bonds issued over the past year had carried maturities of just 12 months.

This, in turn, had helped inflate the principal sums maturing by end-June 2022.

“The Government had the shorter instruments last year; a lot of their debt securities had a oneyear term,” Mr Bowe said.

“There was $100m issued at different junctures with one-year maturities.”

He added that these securities, too, carried “some refinancing risk” and Ministry of Finance officials have already been contacting investors to determine whether they plan to roll over or cash out. The Fidelity chief, as a holder of some of this debt, said he had already indicated his BISX-listed institution will seek the latter option.

“The truth of the matter is that, in this environment, for several reasons most of the major investors are looking for short-term paper,” Mr Bowe added.

“We have to be honest and candid about it. It’s largely driven by uncertainty over our economic performance and the Government’s credit rating.

“It’s a little bit chicken and egg. You stabilise the rating by having a more comprehensive debt management plan that allows investors to see how the debt trajectory is managed downwards, but they need a level of confidence to give the Government the time to do so.

“What you’re seeing coming down in the next 12 months is a lot of roll overs where the Government has to maintain the confidence of holders of these instruments. There are not a lot of alternative investments, so from that perspective they need to keep people confident to hold the debt and roll it forward.”

With only the likes of insurers and pension funds, who need to match longterm assets to liabilities of similar duration, interested in government debt with a maturity of beyond one year, Mr Bowe said the administration needed to improve dialogue with its financiers.

“The performance around debt management and cash flow needs to be bolted on to quarterly reporting,” he advised the Government. “In reality, they are interdependent.

The Government’s debt management strategy is going to impact its ability to finance its deficit, and the deficit is going to impact cash flow, which provides evidence of its ability to meet payments as they come due.”

Assessing the likelihood that the Government will refinance its $2bn-plus in maturing debt without any major difficulty, Mr Bowe concluded: “They are benefiting from a couple of positive trends. One is that the interest rates being offered by them, while cheaper than previous longterm debt, are certainly better than what people are seeing in non-government securities and banks with similar terms and maturities.

“The interest rates are attractive, and the economic performance is looking upward. Greater

revenues are being collected, and they have now to convince debt holders that additional tax revenues are not being spent and that they will hold firm on expenditure so that any increase on the revenue side is not dissipated by expenditure.”

The Ministry of Finance’s public debt report agreed, although it glossed over the huge spike in domestic debt becoming due in the 2022 first half - an amount almost equal to the $1.929bn that has to be repaid in the 32-year period between June 2033 and June 2065.

“The distribution of public debt forecasted redemptions through 2032 continues to highlight the impact of the large

portfolio of domestic bonds in the portfolio. These bonds are primarily held by commercial banks, public corporations and institutional investors, who tend to refinance issues amid the lack of readily available investment alternatives,” the Ministry of Finance said.

“The redemption profile is well distributed from 2023 to 2032, although there is a spike in domestic debt in 2023, and in external repayments in 2024 and again between 2027 and 2032, in line with the maturity of various international bond issues. The Government intends to smooth out these through appropriate liability management initiatives.”

Share your news The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods.

Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, PAGE 23

DECEMBER AIR ARRIVALS HIT 85% OF PRE-COVID LEVELS FROM PAGE 24 port of entry expanded to 500,718 in December, from a mere 33,681 in the corresponding period of 2020, when international borders reopened with restrictions,” the Central Bank said.

“Underlying this outturn, air arrivals rose to 118,501 from 30,009 in the previous year—representing 84.6 percent of the air visitors recorded in 2019. In addition, sea traffic recovered to 382,217, relative to a volume of just 3,672 in the prior year.”

Turning to the tourism figures on an annual basis, the Central Bank provided only percentages - not the actual figures. “On an annual basis, total arrivals rebounded

by 17.1 percent in 2021, a reversal from a 75.2 percent reduction in 2020,” it said “Underlying this outturn, air arrivals rebounded sharply by 111.9 percent following a 74.8 percent contraction in 2020, as all major markets registered gains during the review year. Further, the decrease in sea traffic moderated to 11.8 percent from a 75.4 percent fall-off in 2020.”

Last year’s tourism figures were up against weak comparatives from 2020’s COVID shutdown, and a better gauge of The Bahamas’ recovery momentum is to compare them with 2019 numbers. “A breakdown by major ports of entry revealed that total arrivals to

New Providence advanced to 231,139 from 18,525 a year earlier,” the Central Bank said of December 2021.

“Contributing to this development, the sea and air segments measured 91,532 and 139,607, respectively.

Foreign arrivals to Grand Bahama increased to 12,355, extending the volume of a mere 1,573 registered a year earlier, as air and sea arrivals amounted to 2,303 and 10,052, respectively.

“Further, traffic to the Family Islands strengthened to 257,224 from 13,583 in the prior year, supported by improvements in the air and sea components to 24,666 and 232,558, respectively.”

The Family Island arrivals, based on the Central Bank’s

gains in the demand for short-term rentals. Specifically, during the review month, total room nights sold rose more than two-fold to 113,559 from 41,064 in the corresponding 2021 period,” the Central Bank report said.

“Reflective of this outcome, occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings firmed to 50.8 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively, from 29.1 percent and 30.5 percent in the comparative COVID-19 constrained period last year.

“Price indicators showed that, year-over-year, the average daily rate (ADR) for hotel comparable listings moved higher by 17.2 percent to $177.75, and for entire place listings by 14.5 percent to $483.07.”

data, exceeded those for New Providence.

As for January 2022, the report added: “Further cementing trends, data provided by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) revealed that total departures - net of domestic passengers - rose to 77,171 in January from 23,099 in the corresponding month of 2021.

“In particular, US departures increased to 65,200 from 20,190 in the prior year, while non-US departures firmed to 11,971 from 2,909 a year earlier.” And the vacation rental market proved just as buoyant.

“In the vacation rental market, data provided by AirDNA for the month of January indicated steady

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 60° F/16° C

TAMPA

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

A shower in the morning; some sun

Mainly clear

Partly sunny and pleasant

Sunny to partly cloudy

Partly sunny and breezy

Partly sunny and breezy

High: 80°

Low: 69°

High: 80° Low: 68°

High: 79° Low: 69°

High: 80° Low: 68°

High: 79° Low: 71°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

87° F

69° F

84°-67° F

83°-65° F

81°-66° F

81°-70° F

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 77° F/25° C Low: 69° F/21° C

7-14 knots

S

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 65° F/18° C

6-12 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 67° F/19° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

TONIGHT

High: 77° F/25° C Low: 61° F/16° C

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 64° F/18° C

MIAMI

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 66° F/19° C

8-16 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 1 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 82° F/28° C Low .................................................... 68° F/20° C Normal high ....................................... 78° F/26° C Normal low ........................................ 64° F/18° C Last year’s high ................................. 84° F/29° C Last year’s low ................................... 74° F/23° C Precipitation As of 1 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 4.33” Normal year to date ..................................... 2.86”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 80° F/26° C Low: 69° F/20° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 70° F/21° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 76° F/24° C Low: 67° F/19° C

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau High Today

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

6:35 a.m.

6:58 p.m.

3.2 2.7

12:14 a.m. -0.5 1:01 p.m. -0.4

Wednesday 7:24 a.m.

7:47 p.m.

3.2 2.8

1:08 a.m. -0.6 1:47 p.m. -0.5

Thursday

8:10 a.m.

8:33 p.m.

3.1 2.9

1:58 a.m. -0.6 2:30 p.m. -0.6

Friday

8:53 a.m.

9:17 p.m.

3.0 2.9

2:46 a.m. -0.5 3:11 p.m. -0.5

Saturday

9:35 a.m.

10:01 p.m.

2.8 2.8

3:32 a.m. -0.4 3:51 p.m. -0.4

Sunday

10:16 a.m.

10:44 p.m.

2.5 2.7

4:18 a.m. -0.2 4:30 p.m. -0.2

Monday

10:58 a.m.

11:29 p.m.

2.3 2.6

5:04 a.m.

5:10 p.m.

0.0 0.0

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 71° F/22° C

N

S

E

W

7-14 knots

S

3-6 knots

ANDROS

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

uV inDex toDay

6:33 a.m.

6:12 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

6:02 a.m.

5:20 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Mar. 2

Mar. 10

Mar. 18

Mar. 25

CAT ISLAND

E

W

The Central Bank’s economic outlook for The Bahamas, though, remains little changed as it forecast “modest growth momentum in 2022” that will be sustained by tourism’s rebound.

“The speed of the rebound in the tourism sector towards pre-COVID-19 levels remains reliant on continued alleviation of globally-imposed travel restrictions, strengthening of public health sector infrastructures and broadening of vaccination access across countries,” it added.

“In terms of the labour market, the unemployment rate is projected to remain above pre-pandemic levels, with any job gains concentrated mainly in the construction sector and the full re-engagement of tourism sector employees.”

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 71° F/22° C

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

N

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 70° F/21° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 72° F/22° C

4-8 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 79° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 79° F/26° C Low: 74° F/23° C

L

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 83° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

4-8 knots

4-8 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday:

WINDS NW at 6-12 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots NW at 7-14 Knots ENE at 7-14 Knots WSW at 6-12 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots S at 4-8 Knots ENE at 7-14 Knots WSW at 4-8 Knots NE at 10-20 Knots N at 7-14 Knots ENE at 10-20 Knots W at 3-6 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots S at 4-8 Knots NE at 8-16 Knots SW at 3-6 Knots ENE at 7-14 Knots SSW at 4-8 Knots NE at 7-14 Knots W at 4-8 Knots ENE at 10-20 Knots E at 4-8 Knots ENE at 7-14 Knots SW at 4-8 Knots ENE at 8-16 Knots

WAVES 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet 0-1 Feet 0-1 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-6 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 3-6 Feet 0-1 Feet 1-3 Feet 0-1 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-3 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 2-4 Feet 0-1 Feet 1-3 Feet 1-2 Feet 1-2 Feet 2-4 Feet 3-6 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 7 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 7 Miles 6 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 76° F 76° F 78° F 78° F 80° F 79° F 79° F 81° F 79° F 78° F 81° F 80° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 82° F 81° F 80° F 77° F 77° F 77° F 78° F 80° F 80° F 79° F 78° F

business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022

$5.37

$5.19

$5.37

$5.16

‘Build confidence’ for $2bn debt refinance

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government must “build confidence” among Bahamian investors to successfully refinance almost $2bn in domestic debt coming due by June 2022, a top banker urged last night.

Gowon Bowe, also a member of the Fiscal Responsibility Council, told Tribune Business he was optimistic that the Davis administration will be able to persuade sufficient investors to roll-over some $1.907bn in Bahamian dollar principal that is maturing during the year’s first half due to several trends that were in its favour.

Pointing to the lack of suitable alternative investments that

• 26% of $10bn Gov’t debt to mature by June • Fiscal Council member optimistic on roll overs • Sum involved equals 20332065 repayments provided similar levels of liquidity, and counted towards regulatory capital for banks, insurers and other institutions, the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief also argued that government debt is

generating higher returns than the meagre interest paid on bank deposits.

Mr Bowe added, though, that the Government needed to safeguard its fiscal plans by giving

investors comfort that it will not simply use improving postCOVID tax collections to increase public spending.

Reiterating his call for the administration to produce “a more comprehensive debt management strategy”, he added that the Government should hold regular investor briefings with those holding its bonds and “maintain confidence” that their investments are secure if it is to refinance the spike in maturities via rollovers as opposed to raising new borrowings.

Almost 26 percent of the Government’s $10.318m direct

SEE PAGE 22

Abaco milk runs dry as blows ‘piling on’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday said economic blows keep “piling on top of each other” for the Dorian-ravaged island which has presently run out of milk.

Ken Hutton, telling Tribune Business that he “doesn’t know what the breaking point is”, said the drying-up of milk supplies - as well as shortages of staples such as fruits and bananas - suggested local retailers and wholesalers were having difficulty obtaining 100 percent of their orders from local suppliers.

Revealing that local businesses have even resorted to sending their own teams to the US to “pull their orders” in an effort to break the supply chain logjam, he added that the economic fall-out from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was merely

KEN HUTTON the latest challenge to face Abaco after Dorian, COVID-19 and the current inflationary surge impacting prices across-the-board.

Agreeing that an $8 per gallon price for gasoline will “definitely be here”, as prices for Brent crude oil – the international benchmark – surged by 4.8 percent to $102.67 per barrel

Realtors back reform call on ‘antiquated’ Condo Act

• Island bracing for $8 gas after Ukraine invasion • Businesses send own teams to US to get orders • Chamber chief: ‘I don’t know what break point is’ on Monday, Mr Hutton said he was advising Abaconians to treat the next six to eight months as if they are “preparing for a major hurricane”.

While warning against hoarding, he suggested that persons purchase a little more food than they need to consume each month in case of a

SEE PAGE 21

Central Bank: Inflationary pressure to be ‘contained’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank yesterday forecast that “inflationary pressures will remain contained” while The Bahamas’ foreign currency reserves will close 2022 above “international benchmarks”.

Using language that might surprise many Bahamians, given rising food prices and cost increases for other essential products during early 2022, the regulator acknowledged that “some firming” in inflation was unavoidable given external forces that have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“With regard to prices, inflationary pressures are anticipated to remain contained, although some firming is forecasted, as a result of the rise in international oil prices, increased costs on other imported goods as a result of supply chain shortages, and geopolitical tensions in eastern Europe,” the Central Bank said in its monthly economic report for January 2022.

The Central Bank’s measured assessment on inflation many not match the daily experiences of many Bahamians, who are already feeling price increases

SEE PAGE 20

CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS

December air arrivals hit 85% of pre-COVID levels

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AIR arrivals for December 2021 reached close to 85 percent of their pre-COVID levels, the Central Bank revealed yesterday, increasing almost four-fold compared to 2020 figures.

The regulator, in its monthly economic assessment for January 2022, also disclosed that total room nights sold in January 2022 among Bahamian vacation rentals

GOWON BOWE

more than doubled year-over-year to exceed 113,000.

And The Bahamas’ postpandemic re-opening last year resulted in a 17.1 percent increase in total arrivals for the full year that was largely driven by a rebound in stopover visitors. Cruise passenger numbers rebounded much more slowly in the second half as that industry resumed sailing.

“The latest available data from the Ministry of Tourism showed that total visitor arrivals by first

SEE PAGE 23

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SENIOR realtors yesterday backed a Supreme Court judge’s call to reform the “antiquated” Condominium Act because “everything gets thrown off” in a sale by the slightest error in unit size.

John Christie, HG Christie’s president and managing broker, told Tribune Business it “would be a good idea” to follow Justice Loren Klein’s suggestion because the smallest mistake in calculating a condo unit’s dimensions can create title questions and disrupt a transaction “I know the Law of Property (Condominium) Act 1965 is very specific and can lead to a lot of problems,” he said. “The problem is that what has happened is, if the lawyer is not meticulous when drafting it the first time, and it’s [a unit’s size and dimensions] slightly off, and you’ve made a mistake

JOHN CHRISTIE in measuring it, that messes up the title.

“If it goes through two to three sales, and then a good lawyer is alerted to it from a long way back, they have to redo it and get it redrafted.”

Mr Christie was referring to revisions to a condominium complex’s Declaration of Condominium, which has to be redrafted and any changes approved, if a particular unit or units are found to be of different size to that specified in this document.

SEE PAGE 21