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Volume: 118 No.69, MARCH 4, 2021

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Dionisio calls on cruise lines to strike a fairer deal for local tourism

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister yesterday urged the cruise lines to “not dump on the destination” given that they often created “insurmountable thresholds” for Bahamian entrepreneurs to do business with them.

Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar said he wanted to give “a little bit of push back” to criticisms by Carnival Cruise Lines executives that Nassau lacked fresh product - particularly new and exciting attractions and tours - to entice

passengers off ships when the industry returns after COVID-19.

Calling for a more equal partnership between The Bahamas and the cruise industry, Mr D’Aguilar said the latter’s practice of adding its own mark-up to the fee levied by Bahamian providers was effectively pricing local tours and excursions out of the market.

Arguing cruise lines also needed to adjust their own practices, he added that their mark-ups often gave passengers the impression there was “no value for money” in leaving the ship.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

AFTER weeks of being prey to online political mischief, the Progressive Liberal Party is fighting back and its leader, Philip “Brave” Davis has written to Facebook’s headquarters to have it stopped.

Mr Davis is petitioning the powerful and popular social media platform to change the internal policies that currently allow “fake organisations” to use the platform to spread their messages. He said the accounts are trying to “subvert” The Bahamas’

democracy.

In a letter addressed to Jennifer Newstead, Facebook’s vice president and general counsel, and Henry Moniz, Facebook’s chief compliance officer, Mr Davis listed 11 “fake” Facebook accounts that he said are using the PLP’ logo and sullying the party’s reputation.

In the letter, he said free and fair elections are the cornerstones of Bahamian democracy and the fake accounts are distorting and harming public discourse in the country ahead of the 2022 scheduled general election.

SEE PAGE THREE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net ADMITTING that she is not “necessarily” happy about being the only woman in Cabinet, West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe pledged yesterday to help facilitate the entry of more women into politics as she feels the group is underrepresented in this area.

Her comments came after the Cabinet Office on Tuesday announced her new appointment as minister of state for disaster preparedness, management and reconstruction, which will make her the only woman Cabinet minister in the Minnis administration since the shock resignation of Lanisha Rolle last week.

SEE PAGE THREE

FRONT PORCH

BRAVE ASKS FACEBOOK TO BLOCK ‘BOGUS’ SITES

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

PAKESIA: WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN POLITICS

FROM NORMAN’S CAY TO NYGARD CAY PAGE EIGHT

‘UNETHICAL’ ATTORNEY REFERRED TO THE DPP

‘RING DA BELL, DOC’

By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters

MEMBERS of the Democratic National Alliance protested outside Parliament yesterday morning, calling on Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to “Ring the bell” for the next general election. See page two for the full story.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

‘WE’RE BEING GIVEN NO RESPECT’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE Commissioner Paul Rolle issued letters yesterday to three Assistant Commissioners of Police – Clayton Fernander, Kendal Strachan and Leamond Deleveaux – that extends their “special assignment” at various government ministries for a further two years.

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander.

But according to their attorney, Wayne

Munroe, ACP Fernander encountered a startled Permanent Secretary who did not know why he was there when he showed up to the Ministry of Health yesterday “This is all a continuation of the farce they started two years ago and a poor use of police resources,” Mr Munroe said.

The three senior officers were among those who SEE PAGE FOUR

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

A SUPREME Court judge has urged the director of public prosecutions to investigate an attorney for “possible fraud” over a series of six-figure transactions involving the same real estate parcel.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

STATESIDE

TRUMP JUST WON’T GO AWAY

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Thursday, March 4, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

MEMBERS of the Democratic National Alliance marching into Rawson Square yesterday to protest.

Photos: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

‘Ring the election bell’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Democratic National Alliance protested outside Parliament yesterday morning, demanding Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis “Ring the bell” for the next general election.

As the House of Assembly met, protestors walked down West Bay Street towards Rawson Square, chanting “Minnis got to go” and holding placards that read “Ring the bell” as bystanders looked on.

At one point during the protest, there was a tense standoff between police and the protestors, with officers seen pushing demonstrators and moving them away from the building.

Protesters were instructed to leave the property and eventually joined the taxicab union across the street, which also demonstrated yesterday morning.

One DNA supporter told The Tribune yesterday: “We’re willing to

get arrested if we have to because… we really want to change things and this corruption needs to come to an end.”

The group say they are tired of “poor decisions” being made by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and want an early election to be called.

“We are here as the DNA representing the frustrations of the Bahamian people,” the party’s leader Arinthia Komolafe said yesterday. “We have to come to ask the honourable Dr Hubert Alexander Minnis to ring the bell. For almost 365 days, we have been under emergency orders and the poor decisions by the Prime Minister have cost jobs.

“It has cost lives. It has cost livelihoods and we are calling on the Prime Minister to free us from this misery, free the Bahamian people from hell and ring the bell... Dr Minnis got to go.”

Pointing to the country’s high cost of living and ailing economy, Mrs Komolafe said Bahamians are tired and fed up.

She said the DNA is the only “alternative” solution to the country’s current woes at this point.

“We are frustrated. Bahamians are losing their jobs every day. The hotel industry is shut down. People are not coming in and the numbers are low. Bahamians are being sent home. They cannot eat. They are being evicted from their homes.

“They cannot get assistance. The cost of travel to Family Islands is too expensive. Bahamians cannot move back and forth. It cost 100 plus dollars just to take an RT-PCR test to go and see our family members on the island when at a time the cost of living is so high, 12 percent VAT. “Food is high. Rent is high. Electricity is high and Bahamians can’t afford to go home.

We’re asking Dr Pharaoh Minnis to let our people go.”

Her comments were echoed by other DNA candidates and supporters, who also noted that Bahamians are tired of the failed promises from the government

TAXI drivers protesting yesterday.

and just want to see a change.

DNA candidate for the Centreville constituency Frederick Sawyer said: “We’re supposed to have a caring government. The FNM came into power and said they will be the people’s government and what have they done? Look at what they have done. I look at my country and cry shame.”

Meanwhile, Kino Lockhart, another DNA hopeful, added: “I’m the candidate for the Bains and Grants constituency. The biggest problem (for us) is the food assistance programme. You still have many Bahamians who are in the Bains and Grants Town area who are not being assisted. Housing is a serious issue.

“We choose to take $21m to build sidewalks (among other initiatives) when we could’ve gone to build homes in the inner city. People are sleeping in their cars. I’ve been to Social Services with my team to get rooms for persons… people are hungry, children are hungry. We need to get serious in this country and (Dr) Minnis got to go. The PLP got to go. Both of them are garbage juice.”

Scores of angry taxi drivers also gathered outside Parliament Square to protest what they consider to be a blatant “disregard” for their longstanding concerns about their industry.

The taxi union has been calling for new taxi plates to be issued to drivers and also for the colour of their taxi plates to be changed.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the Bahamas Taxicab Union president Wesley Ferguson said the union will continue to take action until their problems are addressed.

“They are playing this game that if we ignore you, we will go away but see they don’t know the Taxicab Union,” he said. “We are not to be ignored. We are not going away. We will be here every week until election and until we vote them out if they don’t fulfil their promises. If we don’t get our promises from the government, we’ll get it from the next one.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 4, 2021, PAGE 3

Johnson: PLP treatment of Forbes ‘unacceptable’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net YAMACRAW MP Elsworth Johnson said the Progressive Liberal Party treated Central and South Andros MP Picewell Forbes in an “unacceptable” way.

Mr Forbes said on Monday he will not seek re-election. He felt the leadership of the PLP did not robustly support his potential candidacy.

During the mid-year budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday, Mr Johnson discussed recent PLP matters that have made headlines, starting with Mr Forbes’ surprise announcement.

“I do recall when this matter first came, I stood on this very same floor and I said to the member for Cat Island (Philip Davis) who is not here today strangely enough, I said this is a committed and loyal gentleman,” he said, referring to Mr Forbes.

“Whenever the attack was on Cat Island, he would jump to his feet. He would put himself in the way and block the fiery spears or darts that (were) heading toward Cat Island. I said to him right there, this is an honourable man, this is a faithful man, you can’t be going back and forth, what is the deal with him?

“And it wasn’t my business you know, because that’s my cousin and I love him too, but what is the deal? Be fair with him. And he said to me…’everything’s okay’ but we going into the

community…going back and forth and to treat the member of Andros the way he was treated is unacceptable, you just don’t do these things.

“I said to my party, if you’re not going to run me, tell me you ain’ gon run me. We could have a discussion with the executive of Yamacraw and I could perhaps even walk with the fella who you sending in, but don’t let me go on the road for six, seven months, expend funds that I don’t have when I could be concentrating on rebuilding my firm. Tell me that now and then what I can do, just tell me and let me go.”

Mr Davis has publicly said the MPs who won their seats on the party’s ticket in 2017 were guaranteed a nomination.

He and a contingent of PLP leaders travelled to South Andros yesterday for meetings.

“Now he’s in South Andros when he’s done allowed it,” Mr Jonson said.

“You should’ve come out and told the man.”

Mr Johnson also discussed comments Monique Pindling, the daughter of Sir Lynden Pindling, made on Tuesday. Ms Pindling said the PLP’s leadership told her they did not want a Pindling on the ticket.

“Straighten that out,” Mr Johnson said. “It’s very disheartening.”

He continued: “Somebody told me you got Sir Lynden daughter in one way and then you trying to hold back A D Hanna

PICEWELL Forbes speaking in Parliament as he announced he would not run again in the next election.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff daughter. How you could do that?”

PLP officials say Glenys Hanna-Martin, the

Englerston MP, is guaranteed a nomination. Unlike Mr Forbes, no strong hopeful has been soliciting

support in her constituency.

Mr Johnson also discussed former Prime Minister Perry Christie,

saying the PLP should support an investigation into allegations of misconduct concerning Peter Nygard, the fashion mogul accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women.

“I’ve heard certain things said about (Mr Christie) but I don’t know that to be the man,” he said. “I know there are some allegations being made about Nygard Cay and I’ve called on them to say something about the women, but when I heard the thing about Mr Christie and about him exposing himself, I find it very difficult to believe it and I would give him the benefit of the doubt. And this is big man talking here now. But I would’ve expected that Cat Island would get up and say hey, at least it deserves an investigation to protect the office of this gentlemen and say what you like about him, he gave it his best shot.

“I just would like to warn all and sundry that South Andros deserves better, the legacy of Sir Lynden deserves better and like I said, say what you like, do what you like, Sir Lynden got all of us going his way and the Rt Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie at least deserves someone to stand and say, ‘listen I give him the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty, let’s say something to protect these women and children but have an investigation.’”

Mr Christie has said that he has “no fear of any investigation” into his conduct in public life concerning Nygard.

PAKESIA: WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN POLITICS

from page one

She replaces Iram Lewis, who was removed from his previous post to become the new minister of youth, sports and culture after Mrs Rolle’s departure.

In view of Mrs Rolle’s resignation and her male replacement, the Minnis administration has faced criticism from advocacy groups and politicians for not having a female representative in Cabinet.

Yesterday, Mrs ParkerEdgecombe admitted that the issue of women inclusion — especially in the political landscape — is one that needs addressing.

Saying she doesn’t want to be the only female minister, Mrs Parker-Edgecombe pledged to work towards ensuring that women are given more political opportunities.

“Being the only female in (Cabinet) is obviously an issue particularly at this time because we would’ve had minister Lanisha Rolle who was there prior who I think did a tremendous job in representing the women of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” she told reporters outside Parliament yesterday.

“I don’t want to be the only female. I wish that there were more and I am going to work to ensure that more women are running for political office and that has to start at the party level. I think that the more women offer themselves, our chances of being at the table is even better but I don’t necessarily feel happy being the only one there.”

Asked if she felt she has a greater responsibility to represent women as a result

of her new role, the West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP replied: “We have many females who will contribute to my voice in Parliament.

“I plan on joining up with those voices and bringing forward their concerns so the empowerment of females are there because there are so many different sectors and levels of our community so I will take from them and I will be their voice in Parliament but there are many females in Parliament that stand with me today and will use their voices through me.”

Yesterday, Mrs ParkerEdgecombe also responded to critics who believe her appointment was based on the fact that FNM needed a woman in Cabinet due to the backlash it received on the matter.

“That’s politics. That’s politics and it has nothing to do with the work that we

BRAVE ASKS FACEBOOK TO BLOCK ‘BOGUS’ SITES from page one “Please find below a list of 11 accounts that are falsely identifying themselves to the users of your platform,” Mr Davis wrote.

“Several of these accounts use our party’s logo to try to deceive people into believing these messages come from us. There is strong evidence that these accounts are administered by the same person or persons; identical content is run across various pages; several of the pages link to the same splash page; they use the same video.

“This is not the work of separate organisations. This is the work of one political organisation using deceitful tactics to subvert both your rules and our democracy.”

The accounts in question are “PLPs for Change”, “Inside Nassau”, “Bahamian Today”, “245 Wiki”, “Wellmudafuc”, “242 Truth Tellers”, “The History of the PLP”, “Grand Bahama Memes”, “In the Loop Grand Bahama”, “Nygard’s PLP” and “PLP Dirty Dozen”.

In the letter, Mr Davis requested that Facebook

check out the legitimacy of organisations before allowing them to advertise.

“We believe if you would take the simple step of requiring an organisation to be legitimate before allowing it to advertise, you would have an enormous impact on the health of public discourse – without having to be the arbiter of what is or isn’t true,” the letter said.

After noting an increase of negative ads against the party on Facebook, Mr Davis felt prompted to write the letter. One example is a “startling” ad that flooded Facebook which featured Ann-Marie Davis, his wife, and female PLP candidates with duct tape over their mouths indicating their silence over the alleged sexual crimes of international fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

“It has been suggested

to me by some that this is now standard practice in politics, and that in order to compete in the digital age, our party should also fund anonymous Facebook accounts that send out false information about our political opponents. I have refused to do this. I want to end this poisonous practice, not contribute to it,” Mr Davis’ letter continued.

Stating that although the accounts are fake, their damage to his party’s reputation is real, Mr Davis informed the Facebook authorities that the listed social media accounts are in violation of Facebook’s Community Standards governing account integrity and identity misrepresentation and should be removed.

Mr Davis asked Facebook to put the integrity of the nation’s elections ahead of its profits.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

do.” she said when asked about the issue. “We will not succumb to that. We are here to make a difference in the country. Whether I came here as a result of them feeling just to put a female there, we’re here.

I’m the voice for females at this point of time at that level and there’s many of us.”

Speaking in the House of Assembly on Monday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he looks forward to the day of “seeing a female Prime Minister” – something he has previously said.

“I have made a commitment that the one thing I want to see in this Bahamas - I believe in equality - but the one thing I wanna see…

My life was successful as a result of women,” he told Parliament.

“Growing up with my mom - single parent. My

profession, gynaecologist, I’ve made my whole businesses as a result of individuals like you, Englerston, women, and my greatest dream is to one day to see a female Prime Minister in The Bahamas.”

Asked if she aspires to be elected as Prime Minister one day, Mrs Parker-Edgecombe noted that it is not her dream at the moment and added that her decisions are led by God. “I could never say that.

I will work unto God. I will continue to do my best and whatever God and the Commonwealth sees for me. I most definitely will work towards that, but my ambition is not necessarily to be the first female Prime Minister. I look forward to what God has to offer and what the community allows me to offer.”

In the meantime, Mrs Parker-Edgecombe said she

is excited to serve in her new ministerial role and looks forward to working with the Disaster Reconstruction Authority team to help build a bigger, better and more resilient Bahamas.

“I’m going to work hard whether it be on the ground or at the ministry level,” she said. “This is something that is going to be a team effort.

I am not a solo person in this and the teamwork I know that we’re going to make a difference not only at the ministerial level but also on the ground. I feel pretty secure going into the election for West Grand Bahama and Bimini and it’s always going to be about community for me.”

The FNM MP previously served as parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for information and communication.

PAGE 4, Thursday, March 4, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

PAHO says vaccines due ‘mid March’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net THE director of the Pan-American Health Organisation said the group expects that the world will continue to face a shortage of vaccines for much of 2021.

Dr Carissa F Etienne and other PAHO officials spoke of the COVID-19 vaccine situation yesterday during a virtual press briefing. The director said some countries have already made the necessary preparations and PAHO is placing orders and readying several COVAX, a coalition led by the World Health Organisation and Gavi (Vaccine Alliance), deliveries in the region with “shipments likely to arrive mid-March”.

“Last Friday, COVAX informed all participating countries of the Americas about the number of doses allocated to each COVAX participant from now to May 2021.”

“A total of 28.7 million doses will be delivered to countries in the Americas in this period.

“Some countries have already made the necessary preparations and PAHO is placing orders and readying several COVAX deliveries in our region with shipments likely to arrive mid-March, but a

few countries still need approve the COVAX contracts to ensure that they have the proper regulations in place and to make their payments.”

She said the available doses for the short-term will likely be limited.

“As more doses are produced, we’ll see several waves of shipments arriving in the region every month.

In the short-term, doses will remain limited and we must use them wisely prioritising those most at risk….

“Manufacturers are working around the clock to produce more doses and new vaccine candidates are being reviewed and included in the WHO emergency use listing so that vaccines will hopefully be available soon, but we expect that the world will continue to face a shortage of vaccines for much of 2021. There are simply not enough vaccines to go around right now and the limited amounts that are available are not being distributed equitably.”

The PAHO director explained that without effective control measures in just a couple of weeks infections and hospitalisation rates can “spike drastically”.

“We must continue to mentor infection rates closely and to rely on proven health measures

when the virus surges.

This will be our reality for many months until we have enough vaccines for everyone and until we have controlled the transmission.”

Dr Etienne argued: “As long as COVID-19 endures in one part of the world the rest of the world can never be safe and as long as we allow the virus to spread the greater the risks that more dangerous variants emerge which could complicate control efforts and so that’s why it’s vital to accelerate access to vaccine doses – not just the ones with the most money.”

The first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were expected to arrive in the country late last week, but they did not show up. Health Minister Renward Mr Wells previously informed reporters that administration of the jabs could begin “as early” this week.

Asked about the delay, Mr Wells said on Monday: “We will update the public sometime this week, later on this week. There is no disappointment. The fact of the matter is I am so happy that y’all are concerned and elated and making sure that you keep the Bahamian people informed because when it does come, we do want all of the Bahamians (to take it).”

TOTAL CASES

TOTAL DEATHS

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES TUESDAY 9 CASES

NEWLY CONFIRMED DEATH

8,573 181 NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA

TOTAL TESTS

69,003

5 4

HOSPITALISED

11

• A death previously classified as a non-COVID death has been reclassified as COVID-related. The patient was a 58-year-old man from Abaco, who died on March 1.

CASES IN ICU

1

RECOVERED

7,398

DR CARISSA F ETIENNE

SPEAKER CONSIDERING QUESTION TIME HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie said he is considering implementing a Prime Minister’s question and answer period in Parliament as he warned members of Parliament to be on notice that the practice of the governing party avoiding questions will not continue.

Last week, Mr Moultrie ruled that a House of Assembly policy that permitted the government to avoid the question time is unconstitutional.

House of Assembly Rule 39 (2) states that unless the House determines otherwise, the House shall proceed, on the second Wednesday in each month, with the agenda that allows for question time.

Governing parties have traditionally proceeded with their own agenda, however, thus not making time for the question period.

Yesterday, Mr Moultrie noted that while next Wednesday is the second Wednesday in the month, the mid-year budget debate is expected to continue. But he stressed that the question period will be upheld.

“What just transpired is the deepening of democracy that this Parliament for a long time needed,” he said, after a governing member answered a question from the side opposite.

“Not only this session of

Parliament, but previous sessions, where questions have gone unanswered for five years. Last week I made the announcement that that must come to an end. “And I am so happy that we have set a precedent here today where voluntarily the members have agreed to answer questions.

“This is the first Wednesday in the month and next Wednesday would be the second Wednesday but this debate (mid-year budget) is expected to continue into next Wednesday.

“So I want to put everyone on notice that the questions that are on the agenda, be prepared to answer them.

As a matter of fact, the chair is also minded to introduce a Prime Minister’s question time so that the Prime Minister will be obligated to answer questions put to him by any member, not necessarily the opposition.”

In February, Free National Movement MPs voted against answering questions from members of the opposition in the House of Assembly, choosing instead to move forward with their own agenda.

That sitting marked the first where Mr Moultrie presided as an independent speaker after resigning from the governing party.

Yesterday, Speaker Moultrie also admonished

the Public Accounts Committee, which is made up of a majority of opposition members, to not shirk its responsibility.

“That does not exempt the opposition who has responsibility of the Public Accounts Committee. The Public Accounts Committee needs to answer to the Bahamian people why there has been no review or investigation of the close to 50 auditor general’s reports that have been tabled by this Speaker and referred to that committee?

“Moving forward I expect to hear from the Public Accounts Committee with respect to those documents that were tabled that raises questions of impropriety, malfeasance, corruption, plunder - they have all been tabled in this session. And I also expect the executive branch of the government to be responsible to the Bahamian people by answering questions put to the government.”

In response, Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper said the PAC is working vigorously since Speaker Moultrie overturned a previous ruling that had limited the group’s scope of investigation.

Mr Cooper said the PAC met on Tuesday and will be requesting certain information to continue its work.

‘WE’RE BEING GIVEN NO RESPECT’ from page one

were directed to take vacation leave in 2019. Although the Minnis administration justified the vacation policy by citing fiscal measures, the officers have come to believe that the administration simply wanted to sideline them.

When their vacation leave ended, they were sent on special assignments for a year.

ACP Fernander was assigned to the Ministry of Health, ACP Deleveaux was assigned to the Ministry of Education and ACP Strachan was assigned to head security teams at juvenile schools.

“The letter Fernander received (yesterday) said his special assignment has been extended for two years and he should report to the Permanent Secretary

for further briefing,” Mr Munroe said. “He went there today and the Permanent Secretary said she don’t know why he was there. ACP Deleveaux tried to go to his ministry, but the person wasn’t there to see him.”

One of the officers said yesterday that the treatment “is total disrespect”.

The officers have received a pay cheque while not physically reporting to their ministries, saying their posts would not require them to physically attend the positions to which they have been assigned.

ACP Strachan filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to get a declaration from the Supreme Court that the forced leave he took was not vacation and that his transfer to the Ministry of Social Services was unlawful. This lawsuit is ongoing.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 4, 2021, PAGE 5

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames in Parliament yesterday.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

120 body cameras in use - with more still to come

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said police officers are using 120 body cameras with more expected to be rolled out.

“There has been a procurement of 200 body-worn and 200 dash cameras since the programme went live in August of 2020,” he said during the mid-year budget debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.

“The systems are attached to officers in the mobile patrol unit, the flying squad and the rapid response unit. These are the persons who are on the streets engaging daily with members of the public. To date, 120 body-worn cameras have been deployed in operational command and 20 at the Cable Beach Police Station. The remaining 80

are being upgraded with the necessary specs while officer training is ongoing and these technologies are being supported by policies that govern their use.”

Mr Dames said 18 dash cameras have been installed, with the rest awaiting vehicle upgrades and officer training before they can be used.

“To date, almost 4,000 recordings have occurred with the dash camera technology so it proves that it is working,” he said.

“We are a government of transparency. Of the amount, one request was made for footage to aid in a police complaint and one request to aid in a police investigation. These investments are worth every single dollar and they bring about a greater degree of accountability, improve the transparency of the police force and it mitigates

against any complaints against police officers and brings those officers who are acting contrary to policies and the law to the forefront and to justice.”

Mr Dames said 44 percent or 463 gunshots in 2020 were confirmed by ShotSpotter technology, resulting in 13 arrests.

“This is a significant percentage given the fact that ShotSpotter sensors have not been installed to cover all areas of New Providence,” he said.

“I often like to tell the story of a suspect who after robbing a hardworking woman returning from work to her home, he left with a bag and decided that he wanted to celebrate and so he started to fire off a gun in the air in celebration, but that’s what triggered the police. Police responded almost immediately and the subject decided to engage

FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY NOW IN PLACE AT AIRPORT

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

admissibility to the United States.”

This new system for travel works in favour of those travelling to the STATE-of-the-art facial United States in the era of recognition comparison COVID-19 as it gives the technology is now available opportunity not to touch at Lynden Pindling Interna- many items. tional Airport to ensure a Mr Mara said, “The travmore secure and safe travel eller does not have to touch experience. as many things throughPrior to this new technol- out the process, but again ogy, the US pre-clearance the use of the technology facility at LPIA used fin- allows for less introduction gerprints to validate the of germs throughout proidentity of travellers to the cessing through our area.

United States. The facial In addition to what we did recognition technology will with simplified arrival we’ve replace that. also worked hard with our Jeff Mara, area port partners at Nassau Airport director at US Customs Development to add some and Border Protection, yes- other safety mechanisms terday explained how the throughout the process. technology works.

“Certainly there’s social “We made some upgrades distance markings throughin preparation for a hopeful out the facility to assure return to travel. The most that we adhere to the CDC noted upgrade we made and local regulations as it was the implementation of pertains to social distancour biometric technology ing. Of course there is the known as simplified arrival mask mandate for travelin December. Simplified ling through the airport. arrival uses the state-of- And, we also utilise plexithe-art facial recognition glass barriers at each step of comparison technology and the process for the safety of creates a more safe secure our officers and the safety and seamless travel experi- of the travelling public. We ence. And, that’s because are ready and our techit’s a hands-free process. nologies are available, have “When you arrive or been in use.” depart from LPIA or Mr Mara said that travelanother airport in the ling to the US on a police United States, passen- record is still allowed gers stop briefly for a brief and added that it will not photo. Within seconds, change any time soon. based on our technology He continued, “Again we going to work to ensure just want to remind you that that the documents you the document requirements provided previously, for travel by Bahamian citiwhether it be a passport or zens to the United States a visa, that photo matches have not changed. What up. What happens then is you need to travel to the that the officer will validate United States is a valid the results, ask you some unexpired passport. For questions about your travel those who are 14 years or and then determine your older, the police certificate

indicating a lack of criminality. There is always a lot of supposition that that visa-free travel element between the United States and The Bahamas has been taken away.

“There are no plans at this time to remove the visa-free travel. The documentation requirements remain the same and we look forward to seeing you at LPIA. If there are any changes to our document requirements or to the process there will be a statement on it, whether it comes from US Customs and Border Protection or our embassy partners, the Public Affairs Office section.”

The United States has had a pre-clearance agreement with The Bahamas since 1974.

During the pandemic, the CBP has remained a constant presence at LPIA. Proud of this, Mr Mara said even though things were slow, CBP was always there.

“We are proud here at US Customs Border Protection that we’ve actually remained opened and operational throughout the pandemic while there have been some days when the flights were relatively low or slow, but we continued to maintain the operations and the inspectional duties here in Nassau,” he said.

Mr Mara also said Bahamians should remember the CBP operation at Freeport’s international airport is suspended at this time because of the unfortunate destruction of the facility by Hurricane Dorian. He said officials await the facility to be built to CBP standards so that the work can be continued.

the officers on seeing them, which resulted in an unfortunate outcome for the suspect.”

At least two people died through police-involved killings last month.

Mr Dames said: “Whenever it is found that a police officer is acting inconsistent with the laws of this nation and the policies of his organisation or agency, he or she will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.

But after having said that, I would’ve said earlier that firearms are the weapons of choice. We are no longer in the 70s or 60s where you get into a fight, you throw rock or bottle. We are in an era where some in our nation continue percent to defy authority and to take on police officers as if they are acting out a scene in a movie.”

“No one likes to see anyone shot and every

shooting deserves a thorough investigation and whenever an officer is at fault he or she must suffer the consequences, but I cannot say that if the duty of a police officer is to ensure the laws of this land are upheld and he or she is confronted with misguided individuals who feel that they are empowered to take on law enforcement with AK-47s and weapons of that kind, to take on trained individuals who are sworn to protect us, then they are doing it at their own peril. I send a warning out to all of those young men in particular who feel so emboldened that by carrying a handgun or an assault rifle puts them on top of the world, please, please, reconsider and rethink and think before you act because you will not succeed.”

Mr Dames noted that in 2020 overall crime

has decreased by about 16 percent compared to 2019, according to police statistics.

“Significant decreases were observed in a number of serious offence categories,” he said, “including murder, which declined by some 23 percent, armed robbery which declined by some 41 percent and attempted rape which declined by some 38 percent. It is not lost on us that rape increased by eight between 2019 and 2020.”

Mr Dames also noted that 406 new police officers have been hired since the start of the Minnis administration.

A manpower audit in 2018 said an additional 791 constables were needed to help police fulfil their mandate.

Mr Dames said the government is seeking to recruit 385 new police officers.

PAGE 6, Thursday, March 4, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Senior police officers given cold shoulder “DIGNITY and respect, that’s all I wanted.”

Those were the words of Assistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander more than a year ago after discovering he was being deployed to the Ministry of Health on “special assignment” after returning from forced vacation leave. That deployment was to last for an initial 12 months – but when he showed up at the Ministry of Health yesterday, he encountered a startled Permanent Secretary who did not even know why he was there.

ACP Fernander is one of three officers of that rank who found themselves first ordered to take vacation leave before returning to find themselves moved to other posts. While ACP Fernander found himself at the Ministry of Health, ACP Leamond Deleveaux was moved to the Ministry of Education, and ACP Kendal Strachan was assigned to head security teams at juvenile schools.

Now the officers are receiving their pay while not having to physically report to their ministries – with their posts not requiring them to physically attend.

These are officers with a wealth of years behind them in policing – and now they don’t even have to show up to the jobs they’ve been farmed out to. It’s a complete waste of their time, a complete waste of their experience and a complete waste of public resources.

Just think of all those areas where cutbacks have been made and people have been laid off in the past year, and here are officers that can’t even be found a role that matches their experience.

As one of the officers said yesterday, it “is total disrespect”.

These officers have given many years of their lives to serving the public.

Indeed, ACP Fernander very nearly gave his life itself. In April 2013, he was shot and very seriously injured. From around the island, police officers rushed to Doctors Hospital to find out the condition of their colleague.

After a prolonged recovery, including surgery in the United States on his right arm, which was seriously injured, Mr Fernander, then a Superintendent, said: “Thank God that I’m here.”

He went on to say: “This is the time

now that we need to come together as one (and) support the police force.”

He added: “Some people died and never was able to see how people appreciate them. But I have seen it, the overwhelming support.”

It seems as if that support has come up short for ACP Fernander in recent times. Surely there must be a better way that we can use the talents of those who have given so much – and nearly given everything – for our country.

Straight answers, please Why on Earth can’t Health Minister Renward Wells give a straight answer?

Recently, he has danced around the subject of when vaccines will be in the country and being administered.

Mr Wells had said that administration of the jabs could begin this week. That clearly isn’t happening.

On Monday, he said there would be an update “sometime this week, later on this week”.

As it turns out, last Friday, all countries receiving doses through the Pan-American Health Organisation were told about the number of doses allocated from now to May. Dr Carissa F Etienne said that shipments are “likely to arrive mid-March”.

Why then can the Minister of Health not simply report what he’s been told directly rather than build hopes up only for them to be let down?

With the preparation time we have had, and the way we have been able to see how rollouts have taken place in other countries, we should have a very clear process by now with the public knowing exactly when they can expect jabs after the vaccine arrives in the country, plus where to go and how to arrange the vaccination.

Instead, we have Mr Wells with nothing but empty hands and a smile, saying he is “so happy that y’all are concerned and elated and making sure that you keep the Bahamian people informed”.

We’re doing our best to keep people informed, Mr Wells, it would be helpful if you did too.

Taxpayers paid the most EDITOR, The Tribune.

AS we come to the final chapter, the coda or epilogue of the FNM government, one of its damning consequences has been that taxpayers have paid the most for the FNM corruption.

We are hurting. There is a real cost for the incompetence and ineptitude of the government and the taxpayers of the nation have been saddled with the costs. The costs are not only in dollars and cents but also reputational as we have been made to look like fools in the eyes of the world.

Let us examine some of the facts. Since 2017, four ministers out of the original Cabinet have resigned or have had to resign in circumstances where corruption surfaced or was strongly alleged. One other minister still serving as a minister has been judicially condemned.

Surely this must be a record for any government anywhere, and most certainly a record for The Bahamas. Space does not allow me to go into the details as to why Messrs Symonette, Sands and Turnquest and now Madam Rolle have had to leave the government but their resignations were not under the best of circumstances.

Very early in the FNM administration we had a clear signal that the FNM were corrupt when the saga of the OBAN deal unfolded.

The Prime Minister himself signed what he should have know was a fraudulent document with an individual who had a tarnished past and

presented it to the Bahamian people as being a legitimate investment which would bring untold prosperity to the Bahamian people. An investigation and the release of a report on this affair were entrusted to a committee headed by a senior and experienced Cabinet minister.

After some three years there has been not one word on the findings.

The pattern continued with the lease of the Town Centre Mall, an issue which has yet to be satisfactorily explained to the public.

The Sands and Turnquest saga, which while personal in nature, has resulted in the loss of two of the FNM brightest and ablest ministers and we have not had a sensible statement from the Prime Minister on either matter.

Now there is the Lanisha Rolle scandal. No details have been released on why she had to resign but it points to some real issues and yet the Prime Minister publicly said that she will not be pursued in any investigation.

Who then will be pursued?

At the wider level, corruption has manifested itself in many other ways. The Prime Minister as the “Competent Authority”, and in his new role as Minister of Finance, has yet to account to parliament as required by the Constitution on the expenditure of public funds under the COVID-19 emergency.

How much money has been spent? Who were the suppliers of goods and services?

Where is the transparency and accountability for funds spent for the Feeding Programme?

Here in New Providence, while people are literally starving and homeless, the FNM government has embarked on a senseless and wasteful programme of sidewalk construction which has now become the laughing stock of the public. But this is no laughing matter – it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill for these expenditures.

Then there is the purchase and sale of the Grand Lucayan Beach hotel in Grand Bahama. If ever there has been a maze of confusion, it has surfaced over this project which the government has not been able to come to grips with. The Government has spent millions of the taxpayers’ money with nothing to show for it. It is money that could have been better and more wisely spent. The public should demand to know what is really happening.

The entire process has been a sad saga of one bad decision after another by the government. Considerable public funds have been wasted on this project and there is no accounting for it. The bottom line is that at a time when the public is under an onerous 12% rate of VAT – some 60% more than what the government met when it came to office – the corruption of the FNM is a direct cost to the Bahamian people who cannot bear up under the strain.

It is clear that the government has lost its way and sadly, it is the Bahamian people who must now pay the piper for its corruption.

DEMOCRACY KEEPER Nassau,

This is not masterful governance EDITOR, The Tribune.

A COUNTRY where sub-standard governance is called masterful and excellent.

It was quite insulting to hear the Prime Minister and some of his Cabinet Ministers heap praises on themselves on how the affairs of this country was managed during this pandemic and the aftermath of hurricane Dorian.

Most insulting of all was The Deputy Prime Minister going so far as describing the government management of this pandemic as masterful.

Similar delusionary and self-serving praises, were expressed by other cabinet ministers, namely the ministers responsible for Education and that of Financial Services & Immigration.

I will not exhaust editorial space enumerating the many missteps and inconsistent and erratic decisions made by this administration, which exacerbated the pain and frustration many individuals and businesses were subjected to during the currency of this pandemic and, the events associated with the aftermath of hurricane Dorian, as they are well known to many.

While it is undeniable that this government was faced with some challenging events, (Hurricane and The Pandemic) it is equally undeniable that the government management of these events and their aftermath exacerbated the pain and suffering endured by many individuals and businesses.

To say that the government management of these events were masterful is just plain laughable.

While there have been one or two bright spots, there has been nothing masterful or excellent about the running of this country for a very long time and

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net this goes back several administrations.

This administration is no exception despite their propensity to embellish their low achievement.

Politicians should not seek to praise subpar performance or seek to convince people to reward it. Nothing impedes the development of a country and its people in reaching their full potential more than, when you have persons in political leadership, seeking to praise and reward sub-standard governance or mediocre performance in our everyday pursuits.

It is even more repulsive when they would go to the extent to describe sub-standard achievement as masterful.

Politicians should not expect us to limit our expectation of them to equal or match their limitations or incompetency. They ought to encourage us to expect and demand more of them and commit themselves to giving a better account of stewardship in governing.

To ask us to accept unsatisfactory leadership is a promise that we will get more of it.

I am also offended to hear our political leaders declare in relation to their management of this pandemic that “we are doing the same thing or are employing the same measures as they are in America and elsewhere around the world”.

What you are suggesting is that we ought not to expect or demand anymore out of you than the citizens of those countries demand or expect of their leaders.

By asserting such is also an admission on your part, that you are not equipped to forensically examine our indigenous or unique

circumstances and skillfully formulate a plan that takes into consideration our unique circumstances. We should aim to be the best we can be, not the best that America or other leaders in other parts of the world can be. Many of them in my opinion should not be followed.

OFFENDING HUMANKIND I am also offended that this administration should heap false praises on itself or find satisfaction in its governance, when it is demonstrably clear, that its people in large numbers are living a diminished quality of life and are seeking government and charitable assistance to meet their most basic needs.

It offends basic humanity and humankind for a government, in its desire to be reelected, to boast about how much assistance it gave to the poor and the less fortunate who find themselves unable to meet their basic needs. Especially, when their inability to do so, is a result of the government ill-advised decisions and conduct.

Many of these individuals do not find it pleasurable that they require government assistance and parliamentarians ought not to take pleasure in boasting or running their re-election campaign/ platform at the expense of these individuals whose diminished economic capacity, is, in many cases, a result of government illadvised decision.

In closing I end with a quote by the inspirational author/writer ― Israel-more Ayivor “To a hungry person, every bitter food is sweet.

When the preferable is not available, the available becomes preferable!”

CLAUDE B HANNA Nassau, February 28, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 4, 2021, PAGE 7

Sentence upheld in gun possession case

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed the sentence of a man who was convicted in 2017 for having an unlicensed loaded gun.

Dieuson Tomas was found guilty of being in possession of the unregistered firearm and a quantity of ammunition after the evidence presented during his trial said he was seen throwing the firearm before he was arrested by officers.

He recently appealed his conviction after arguing the magistrate failed to comply with the provisions of Section 108 as outlined in the Criminal Prosecution Code.

He was given a three-year jail sentence.

Yesterday, Justices Sir Michael Barnett, Jon Isaacs and Roy Jones dismissed Tomas’ appeal and confirmed his sentence after ruling that the evidence

against the appellant was “compelling”.

According to a judgment in August 2017 Tomas was found with a black Glock Austria .40 Pistol and six live rounds of .40 rounds ammunition.

During his trial, the prosecution argued officers in the Wilson Tract vicinity heard shots and went to the area.

When they got there, they found and chased Tomas.

“One of the officers giving chase saw the appellant throw a firearm which was recovered,” the court documents read.

“The appellant’s case was that he was riding his bike in the area when he was fired upon by men in a vehicle.

He crashed and ran to avoid being shot and it was at this time that police came on the scene instructing him to get down and he complied. The appellant denied that he was in possession of the firearm.”

In his appeal, Tomas’ attorney, Glendon Rolle, argued

there was no evidence to suggest his client was “in possession” of the gun. He also contended the magistrate gave “inadequate directions on points of law”.

Still, in their judgment, the panel ruled that it was up to the magistrate to decide what evidence he believed.

“The magistrate correctly states in his judgment that this case involved a dispute as to whether the appellant was in possession of the firearm. The magistrate, being the tribunal of law and fact accepted the prosecution’s evidence. The evidence against the appellant was compelling, as the officer’s evidence was such as to place the gun in the hands of the appellant. Given that the judge stated that he preferred the prosecution’s evidence there was reason to convict.’

Sir Michael continued: “Having any other verdict would have been perverse.

I would dismiss the appeal and affirm the sentence.”

MAN DENIES ASSAULT AND THEFT

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

AN ELEUTHERA man who denied assaulting another man and stealing a woman’s purse was granted bail ahead of his trial.

Police said Deonte Albury assaulted a man with a car in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera on February 14.

It is also alleged that on the same day he stole and dishonestly received a woman’s handbag that contained her $1,000 iPhone, $350 in cash and a variety of bank cards.

During his hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, he denied the allegations and his case was transferred to the Eleuthera district to be heard by a circuit magistrate on March 25.

In the meantime, Albury was granted $4,000 bail.

Meanwhile, another Eleuthera man appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt after he was accused of stealing a sum of cash from a woman on the island.

The prosecution said Marvin Pinder broke into a woman’s Governor’s Harbour residence to steal $800

cash on February 17.

The accused was also accused of trying to escape lawful custody when police attempted to arrest him three days after the incident.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial was also adjourned to be heard by a circuit magistrate in Eleuthera.

During Pinder’s arraignment, the prosecution requested more time to determine whether they would object to the issue of bail.

The accused was remanded into custody in the interim.

WOMAN FINED $1,500 FOR EXPIRED VISA

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JAMAICAN woman who was caught living in the country on an expired visa was ordered to pay $1,500 to avoid spending three months behind bars prior to her deportation back to her home country.

Sandralyn Williams appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney after she was found residing in New Providence on February 18,

beyond the time granted to her by an immigration officer.

The court was told that day, immigration officers went to the residence where Williams was staying and asked the home’s owner if they could conduct a search. They then approached Williams and asked her to show proof of her status. The court was told that the accused then produced a Jamaican passport which revealed that she was given permission

to stay in the country from October 2019 to January 2020. The prosecution said no further extensions were granted to the defendant.

During the arraignment, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of overstaying.

Magistrate McKinney subsequently fined her $1,500 or three months on remand.

He said once the fine was paid or sentence was completed, Williams would be handed over to the director of immigration for deportation.

TWO MEN ARRESTED OVER DRUGS FIND

BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TWO men were arrested in separate incidents by police on Tuesday after they were found in possession of illegal drugs in Freeport and Eight Mile Rock.

Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder reported that Drug Enforcement Unit officers, along with the Canine Unit of Bahamas Customs Department, executed a search warrant shortly before 1pm at a residence on Bruce Avenue, Freeport, where a quantity

of suspected marijuana and cocaine were discovered.

As a result, a male who occupies the residence was arrested and taken into police custody.

Ms Pinder reported that a short time later sometime after 4pm DEU officers, acting on information, went to the western side of East Atlantic Drive, adjacent to Bruce Avenue. They found one black and silver pistol, with a magazine containing five .9mm ammunition in the bushes.

No arrest was made in connection with the matter and investigations are

continuing.

Mr Pinder also reported that officers of the Rapid Response Unit made a drug arrest in the Eight Mile Rock area.

According to reports, shortly before 10pm on Tuesday, officers on mobile patrol in the area of Cemetery Road, EMR, stopped and searched a suspicious vehicle with two male occupants.

A quantity of suspected marijuana was found in possession of one of the males. The suspect was arrested and taken into police custody.

PAGE 8, Thursday, March 4, 2021 THE sordid and dark chapters in Bahamian history linking Norman’s Cay, Exuma, to Nygard Cay, New Providence, are deeply woven into the political narrative and entrenched culture of corruption of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

It is a tragic story of how the party that was so instrumental in ushering in majority rule and independence, quickly turned the modern Bahamas into, “A Nation for Sale”.

It is also a story of how certain political leaders enabled and cavorted with drug traffickers and an alleged sex trafficking ringleader in the feverish pursuit of insatiable greed, lust for power and the seeming tolerance of depravity.

A February 1, 2021, story in The Nassau Guardian noted: “The Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) relationship with former Canadian fashion executive and Lyford Cay homeowner Peter Nygard is in the past, PLP Leader Philip Brave Davis said yesterday, adding that during his time in government no criminal complaint was ever made against Nygard in The Bahamas.”

While the PLP may not have a current relationship with Mr Nygard, the scarring effects of his actions on alleged victims, the party’s association with him, including the alleged millions he gave to the party, current investigations by Bahamian police and criminal prosecution by the United States federal authorities are not in the past.

Indeed, the investigations and prosecution are ongoing and may yet reveal additional information currently not in the public domain. Were there previous complaints by alleged Bahamian victims that were never fully investigated?

What is also not in the past is the failure of the PLP to reckon with its history, including a drug era that destroyed much of our social fabric, during which quite a number of Bahamians were poisoned by and succumbed to the crack epidemic.

There are still broken families, a culture of

THE TRIBUNE

criminality and social decline because of the drug era. In the chronicle of history, the drug era is nowhere even near a distant past.

The PLP’s attempt to dismiss an inconvenient history and attempts at a false equivalence with the FNM speak to a mind-set alive and well within a PLP that continues to try to whitewash certain parts of its history.

Carlos Toro was a representative for the infamous Medellin Drug Cartel and was a friend of its cofounder Carlos Lehder, who turned Norman’s Cay into one of the most notorious drug transhipment outposts in the region.

Toro remembered: “Norman’s Cay was a playground. I have a vivid picture of being picked up in a Land Rover with the top down and naked women driving to come and welcome me from my airplane ... And there we partied.

And it was a Sodom and Gomorrah ... drugs, sex, no police ... you made the rules ... and it was fun.”

SIMILAR

A few decades later, that description of Norman’s Cay sounded eerily and sickeningly similar to Nygard Cay, which a number of senior politicians visited as guests.

As sitting Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling visited Norman’s Cay. At Norman’s Cay and at Nygard Cay, two wealthy foreigners mocked and scoffed at the country’s sovereignty, ruling their enclaves like potentates, allegedly bribing politicians and law enforcement officials to turn a blind eye to their alleged criminal conduct.

The same PLP that stylises itself as a defender of all things Bahamian and as a champion of the masses, happily allowed certain foreign interests to run riot over the good of the country, trampling our laws and dismissing Bahamians as obsequious natives giddily and slavishly taking handouts at the expense of other Bahamians.

Norman’s Cay is about six and a quarter miles in length and approximately

From Norman’s Cay to Nygard Cay 800 acres. It sits at the northern end of the Exuma chain, approximately 33 miles southeast of New Providence. The small relatively remote island is a short trip of about 210 miles from the Florida coast.

Its relative isolation and geographic location in The Bahamas and the Americas has been exploited by pirates, rumrunners and drug barons.

Today, it is a private retreat for wealthy Bahamians and foreigners, its reputation and environs restored through various recent investments.

Carlos Lehder was a

drug trafficker who used a number of innovations to expand his nefarious trade. Like many others, he appreciated the value and strategic advantage of the archipelagic nature of The Bahamas and its proximity to the United States. Lehder helped to revolutionise how drugs were transported into the United States.

“The typical method of transporting small shipments, often carried by human drug mules, either through ingestion or in their luggage, onto commercial airlines, was surpassed by the use of small aircraft shipping entire loads of cocaine”, from a transhipment base in The Bahamas.

The PBS documentary series Frontline described Lehder’s control of the Cay: “For four years it was a drug smuggling hub and tropical hideaway for Medellin cartel kingpin Carlos Lehder and associates. Lehder arrived there in 1978 and started buying up large pieces of property, including a home for himself, a hotel and an airstrip. With his arrival, the locals noticed a marked increase in airplane traffic on the island’s tiny airstrip, as well as armed guards patrolling the beaches…

“Norman’s Cay became the stop-over and refuelling hub for these planes, carrying cocaine for Lehder and other members of the Medellin cartel from Colombia to the US. Lehder built a 3,300-foot runway protected by radar, bodyguards and Doberman attack dogs for the fleet of aircraft under his command …

“With the Bahamian authorities looking the other way and the local inhabitants scared off, the island became a haven of debauchery for Lehder and his associates.”

Frontline reported: “Eventually Lehder harassed the island’s residents and visitors until they fled, while Bahamian Prime Minister Lynden Pindling, who investigators believe had accepted Lehder’s bribes, did nothing to stop him. He in effect took over the entire island.”

It was during the Pindling era that Norman’s Cay became a drug transhipment centre run by the GermanColumbian Lehder.

NOTORIOUS

It was also under Sir Lynden that the CanadianFinnish manufacturer of women’s apparel, Peter Nygard was given approval to purchase the land on which he created the notorious Nygard Cay, which became allegedly an international centre synonymous with sex trafficking and debauchery.

With both Lehder and Nygard, The Bahamas earned a dark reputation as a country for sale. In a series of special reports in The Miami Herald, titled,

“A Nation for Sale: Corruption in The Bahamas” Carl Hiaasen and Jim McGee chronicled the devastating descent of The Bahamas into the corrosive drug era of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Miami Herald reported: “During the past 12 years, foreign investors in the Bahamas channeled nearly $17 million to Bahamas Prime Minister Lynden O Pindling or to companies in which he had a secret interest, records show.

“The money took various forms: gifts, unorthodox bank loans, direct payments to Pindling creditors, unusual stock deals or generous home mortgages.

“It came from businessmen who depended on the goodwill of the Pindling government, sought approval of government-regulated ventures or contemplated investments in The Bahamas.

“The largest chunk, $14 million, came from a Bahamian bank controlled by fugitive financier Robert Vesco. The bank financed companies in which Pindling had an undisclosed one-third interest.”

The Miami Herald special continued: “Since 1977 Pindling spent $4 million – eight times his reported total earnings during that time according to a Bahamas Commission of Inquiry…

“Hundreds of thousands of dollars contributed by foreign businessmen went for the construction of Pindling’s new house, a lavish lakefront home east of Nassau that his attorney says is worth $3 million.”

At the conclusion of the 1984 Commission of Inquiry, called to investigate rampant drug trafficking through The Bahamas and related issues during this period, former Anglican Bishop Drexel Gomez issued a minority statement.

DEPOSITS

In his minority report Bishop Gomez discussed various identified and unidentified deposits in the bank account of Sir Lynden.

He stated: “It is certainly feasible that all of these payments could have been made from non-drug related sources. But in my opinion,

the circumstances raise great suspicion and I find it impossible to say that the payments were all non-drug related.”

A recent news story noted: “Not since the release of the 1984 Royal Commission Report have there been so many resignations from Cabinet under one administration, according to a University of The Bahamas (UB) history professor…

“The last time we saw this much movement was in the 1980s,” the professor said.“ [Dr Christopher] Curry was referring to the Royal Commission report on alleged government corruption that led to the resignation of three Cabinet ministers.”

Even the hint of a comparison between resignations from Prime Minister Minnis’ cabinet, which occurred at different times and for varied reasons, and the drug era resignations from Sir Lynden’s cabinet, are bizarre and unsustainable.

How can any serious historian or educator even begin to feebly attempt to draw a comparison between the massive fallout from the drug era, with corruption rife in the PLP and Sir Lynden battling allegations of aiding an international drug cartel, with cabinet departures in 2019, 2020 and 2021, over the span of three years?

The departures from Sir Lynden’s cabinet included: Arthur Hanna, who broke with Sir Lynden over allegations of corruption; Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie who were fired; and George Smith and Kendall Nottage, who resigned amid various allegations.

The PLP departures were over an unprecedented and gigantic international scandal of monumental proportions in Bahamian history, a scandalous era that turned The Bahamas into a sort of narco-state, and which gained the attention of the White House, with plans to reportedly arrest a Bahamian cabinet minister in international waters.

Is this really the specious, intellectually disingenuous comparison Dr Curry is attempting to make!? A history conference of peers would find such a comparison odious and laughable.

Sadly, incoherent false analogies and equivalences are often reported with little historical or other context by some in the media who mindlessly report but who do not inform or educate their readers and viewers.

When young, uninformed journalists report certain matters with little insight and context it is truly unfortunate. But when certain others in the country make staggeringly false comparisons, the intellectual life of the country is not well served.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 4, 2021, PAGE 9

Same old, same old - the man just won’t go away HE GOT a haircut.

That was the first thing some spectators noticed when ex-President Donald Trump strode out on to the stage on Sunday at an Orlando Hyatt hotel to bask in the adulatory applause of the 1,400 faithful fans gathered at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Committee conference.

Not that he ever looked especially overwhelmed by the burdens of office while living in the White House, but Trump did look tanned and well-rested.

And just as smug and cocky as ever.

Shaking his head wearily, though, one observer of Trump’s 90-minute rally speech at CPAC said the whole experience left him “just incredibly tired.

Somehow, hearing all the same smack talk and lies and exaggerations and venomous attacks on opponents left me as wrung out as a dishrag.”

“When Trump was still President, I guess you had to take him seriously, even if he rarely seemed to give any thought to what he was actually saying and often strayed off course to pursue grievances.

“Now, though, he’s out of office. It feels like I don’t have to pay him so much attention any more. What a relief.”

Finding Trump’s muchballyhooed speech on television on a Sunday afternoon wasn’t particularly easy. The mainstream media that Trump so often and so virulently criticizes largely ignored his appearance.

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox carried on with their normal sports, reruns, movies or infomercial

programming. CNN and MSNBC did “cover” Trump’s words, but focused more on other stories such as COVID-19 vaccination updates.

Fox News, One America Network and Newsmax all adoringly carried Trump’s every word, however.

These three are supposedly vying for Trump’s favour and seem to be scrambling all over each other to catch his eye. They still offer no ontime fact checking of his prevarications, of which those keeping track said the total exceeded 30,000 lies during his four years as President.

After keeping his audience and his loyal news networks waiting for one hour before he appeared, Trump was played on to the stage with the Country and Western anthem “God Bless the USA.” He wore his customary navy-blue suit, white shirt and blood red necktie.

All of that notwithstanding, Trump did drop some news during his monologue. He revealed he and his supporters had no plans to form a breakaway party in advance of the 2022 or 2024 American elections.

“Why should we?” he asked the crowd. “The Republican Party is solidly behind us (me), and it is poised to take back the House and Senate next year and the White House two years later.

“I wonder,” Trump mused, “who will take back the White House for the Republican Party in 2024? Who might that be, hmmm?” he teased his audience of true believers.

That was the breaking

ORDINARILY, the only context in which Ted Cruz and Andrew Cuomo would be mentioned together would be an alphabetical directory of current American political celebrities.

These aren’t ordinary times. Both the Republican Texas senator and the Democratic New York governor have stepped into potholes they dug for themselves, and their likely fate speaks eloquently about the culture of the political movements they lead.

You may have heard about the deadly misery inflicted on Texans recently when the polar vortex punched a hole in the jet stream and sent an unusual and unexpected tsunami of cold air down through the middle of the United States.

It snowed in Houston.

There were icicles on the Texas Gulf Coast. And the Texas power grid failed to deliver sufficient juice to keep thousands of Lone Star state residents from suffering and in some cases dying from the cold. This was all because conservative, tax avoidance Republican state regulators over a decade ago took the easy path and refused to commit the state to paying the financial or political price to join the national power grid.

The result was that people froze to death or died inhaling noxious gases from equipment pressed into service to stave off the cold but which was not designed for that purpose.

A scandal ensued, snaring among others the state’s Republican governor, who initially blamed the whole mess, implausibly, on the Green New Deal.

Ted Cruz got caught too.

In the midst of all the suffering in Texas, he and his investment banker wife Heidi and their two daughters took off for a sunny break at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico, a place better known as a spring break magnet for college students.

Cruz was pictured on numerous cell phones

passing through the Houston airport after Heidi had urged some of her wealthy neighbours to join them in the sun. “Rooms are only $309 per night,” she shared on social media.

Cruz, who virulently opposed Trump in the 2016 GOP primaries and was punished with the nickname “Lyin’ Ted,” now instantly became known as “Flyin’ Ted” or “Cancun Cruz.”

The senator was compelled to admit that deciding to sneak off to the sun was “a mistake”.

Now Cruz is back in Washington spreading disinformation like marmalade. Cruz will continue to seek the support of the Trump wing of his party in the fight for the next GOP presidential nomination.

Almost universally disliked by his colleagues for personal rudeness and insensitivity, Cruz has few Senate fans. His colleague Lindsay Graham of South Carolina once said “if you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would vote to convict you.”

Cruz will nonetheless probably survive. He isn’t up for re-election until 2024.

Then there is Andrew Cuomo. Son of a longtime New York governor and elder brother to the CNN 9pm weeknight news host, this Democratic scion was once married for 15 years to one of Bobby Kennedy’s daughters and was riding high as he became the face and voice of responsible government in the time of COVID-19.

In fact, Cuomo’s noontime press briefings as the coronavirus devastated the US became the exemplary counterpoint to the wilful ignorance and disinformation coming from the American President.

Then, much more recently, things turned sour. First, it emerged Cuomo may have cooked the books on nursing home death totals to make his administration look better.

FORMER President Donald Trump speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, yesterday.

Photo: John Raoux/AP

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

news from an otherwise all too familiar address.

HOME GROWN HOWLERS

This week, at least three women have alleged that the governor behaved inappropriately toward them, and one plaintiff has video to back up her claim.

Cuomo is experiencing what such other once distinguished public figures as Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby and Al Franken have suffered as their alleged improprieties accumulated with stunning speed and volume.

Franken, the one-time comedian who turned out to be an effective politician and represented Minnesota in the Senate until his behaviour toward women undid his career, was tried and convicted of misogyny by an impromptu jury of his female Senate colleagues and was compelled to resign his seat.

One of those Senate Democratic women was New York’s Kristen Gillibrand. Now many observers are watching what she does in the coming days. If this bellwether feminist deserts Cuomo, so the story goes, he will be as doomed as Franken and might as well resign immediately.

So far, this is all Gillibrand has said: “The women who have come forward have shown tremendous courage and must be treated with respect and dignity. The behaviour described in these allegations against Gov. Cuomo is completely unacceptable.”

New York and the US has no shortage of powerful Democratic women.

What might New York City congresswoman Alexandria Cortez-Ocasio have to say about Cuomo in the days to come? How about Trump nemesis Letitia James, the state’s Attorney General?

The governor, like his father, is a renowned fighter. But a world of trouble might await him.

Because the Democrats can publicly eat their own.

The Republicans? Not so much. Georgia bigot and QAnon darling Marjorie Taylor Greene, after all, remains in her House seat this morning.

It’s just that you had to

hunt for a TV network that

was actually broadcasting it.

No Facebook. No Twitter.

No mainstream TV media.

53 largely quiet days after he incited a historic assault on the American Capitol, Trump might finally be starting a journey down the path to being forgotten but not gone.

And that might just suit most of the nation.

PAGE 10, Thursday, March 4, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

PETER THOMAS, 58, of Washington, receives his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at Howard University, in Washington.

Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

One reason black Americans may hold back on taking the COVID vaccines

By ESTHER JONES Associate Professor of English, affiliate with Africana Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies, Clark University BLACK Americans have been the least inclined of any racial or ethnic group to say they’d get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The proportion of black people who said they’ll probably or definitely take the shot has risen over time – but even by mid-January, with two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the US., only 35 percent of black survey respondents said they’d get it as soon as they could, or already had gotten the shot.

At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately harmed black, indigenous and other people of colour in comparison with white members of American society. With black Americans being hospitalized at rates 2.9 times higher than white Americans and dying from COVID-19 at rates 1.9 times higher, you might assume that black people would be lining up at

breakneck speed to receive the vaccine as soon as it’s available to them.

But the black community has reasons for distrust – even beyond what might be attributed to the mixed messaging of the nation’s COVID-19 response. And it’s not a simple or sole matter of miseducation.

I’m a medical humanist and bioethicist who studies history, ethics and literature to understand racial and gender health disparities.

My research explores the history of unethical and abusive treatment Black Americans have experienced at the hands of the medical establishment.

Based on past experience, Black people have many legitimate reasons to be in no hurry to get the vaccination.

A TROUBLING TRACK RECORD

The American medical establishment has a long history of unethical treatment of black research subjects. Medical ethicist Harriet A. Washington details some of the most egregious examples in her

book “Medical Apartheid.” There’s the now notorious Tuskegee syphilis experiment, in which the government misled black male patients to believe they were receiving treatment for syphilis when, in fact, they were not. That study went on for a total of 40 years, continuing even after a cure for syphilis was developed in the 1940s.

Perhaps less widely known are the unethical and unjustified experiments J. Marion Sims performed on enslaved women in 1800s US. that helped earn him the nickname the “father of modern gynaecology.” Sims performed experimental vesicovaginal fistula surgery on enslaved women without anaesthesia or even the basic standard of care typical for the time.

Sims experimented on Anarcha, a 17-year-old slave, over 30 times. His decision not to give anaesthesia was based on the racist assumption that black people experience less pain than their white peers – a belief that persists among medical professionals today. Historian Deirdre Cooper Owens elaborates on this case and many other

ways black women’s bodies have been used as guinea pigs in her book “Medical Bondage.”

Cases of medical malfeasance and malevolence have persisted, even after the establishment of the Nuremburg code, a set of medical ethical principles developed after World War II and subsequent trials for crimes against humanity.

In 1951, doctors harvested cervical cancer cells from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks without her permission.

Researchers went on to use them to create the first immortal cell culture and subjected her descendants to ongoing study for years without informed consent.

Investigative journalist Rebecca Skloot details the cascade of ethical violations in her book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” Despite heightened awareness after the book’s publication, the ethical violations continued when a group of scientists mapped the HeLa genome without her family’s knowledge or consent.

Advances in genomics are still being used to resuscitate theories of racial

“science.” For example, a now-debunked 2007 study purported to isolate a socalled “warrior gene” in Maori indigenous men and argued they are genetically “hard-wired” for violence.

Scientists and news outlets in the US jumped on board, suggesting there’s a genetic predisposition for black and Latino males to engage in gang activity.

Legal scholar Dorothy E Roberts explains in her book “Fatal Invention” how incidents like this one perpetuate the harm of race-based science.

Using biological data and flawed reasoning tainted by racial stereotyping reinforces racist beliefs about black people. Such logic focuses on purely biological factors and ignores the social and systemic factors that produce negative and inequitable health outcomes.

While there is now an ample body of scholarly research that reveals these truths about racism in the medical establishment, black Americans need only to gather around the kitchen table with a few friends and family to share and hear personally

experienced stories of medical malfeasance.

PRESENT-DAY PERSISTENCE OF RACISM IN HEALTH CARE

Even though their experiences at the hands of researchers like J Marion Sims were central to advances in modern gynaecology, today black women have not benefited from these advances to the same degree as white women.

Black women still suffer worse outcomes and more deaths from gynaecologic cancers and have worse health and more deaths affiliated with childbearing, just to name two.

When tennis star Serena Williams gave birth, she saw firsthand how black women are disbelieved by the medical establishment. She might have died from postpartum blood clots if she hadn’t advocated for herself in the face of dismissive medical professionals.

Black people are acutely aware of this history of racism in the medical establishment, and the ways it persists today on both an individual and a collective level. Stereotypes about black patients, whether the result of explicit or implicit bias, continue to affect the care they receive and their medical outcomes.

Again and again, when surveyed, black Americans report that medical providers don’t believe them, won’t prescribe necessary treatments, including pain medication, and blame them for their health problems.

And the association between racism and increased disease cases and deaths has held true during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OVERCOMING THESE CHALLENGES

Ongoing trust issues around the COVID-19 vaccines are just the latest indication of racial health disparities in the US. Still, there are ways to begin to close the COVID19 racial health and mortality gap. Vaccinations for black people may otherwise continue to lag in proportion to population size.

An important first step is for health care workers and policymakers to learn these painful histories and develop strategies informed by an understanding of the systemic racism black Americans face.

• Originally published in theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 4, 2021, PAGE 11

ANTI-COUP protesters run as one of them discharges a fire extinguisher to counter the impact of tear gas fired by riot policemen in Yangon, Myanmar, yesterday.

Myanmar security forces ‘kill at least 34 protestors’ YANGON, Myanmar Associated Press MYANMAR security forces dramatically escalated their crackdown on protests against last month’s coup, killing at least 34 protesters yesterday in several cities, according to accounts on social media and local news reports compiled by a data analyst.

That is the highest daily death toll since the Feb. 1 takeover, exceeding the 18 that the UN Human Rights Office said were killed on Sunday, and could galvanise the international community, which has responded fitfully so far to the violence.

Videos also showed security forces firing slingshots at demonstrators, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.

The toll could even be higher; the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service, tallied 38 deaths.

Demonstrators have regularly flooded the

streets of cities across the country since the military seized power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Their numbers have remained high even as security forces have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowds, and arrested protesters en masse.

The intensifying standoff is unfortunately familiar in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule — and brutal crackdowns. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.

The death toll yesterday was compiled by a data analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also collected information where he could on the victims’ names, ages, hometowns, and where and how they were killed.

The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm most of

the reported deaths, but several square with online postings. The data analyst, who is in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, said he collected the information to honor those who were killed for their heroic resistance.

According to his list, the highest number of deaths were in Yangon, where the total was 18. In the central city of Monywa, which has turned out huge crowds, eight deaths were reported.

Three deaths were reported in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, and two in Salin, a town in Magwe region. Mawlamyine, in the country’s southeast, and Myingyan and Kalay, both in central Myanmar, each had a single death.

As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested hundreds of people, including journalists. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained.

A video showed he had moved out of the way as police charged down a street at protesters, but

then was seized by police officers, who handcuffed him and held him briefly in a chokehold before marching him away.

He has been charged with violating a public safety law that could see him imprisoned for up to three years.

The escalation of the crackdown has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s political crisis — but there appear to be few viable options. It’s not yet clear if yesterday’s soaring death toll could change the dynamic.

The UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the situation on Friday, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to make the information public before the official announcement. The United Kingdom requested the meeting, they said.

Still, any kind of coordinated action at the United Nations will be difficult since two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto

it. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions.

UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, who supports sanctions, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that she receives some 2,000 messages per day from people inside Myanmar, many “who are really desperate to see action from the international community”.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, held a teleconference meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

But there, too, action is unlikely. The regional group of ten nations has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. A statement by the chair after the meeting merely called for an end to violence and for talks on how to reach a peaceful settlement.

Ignoring that appeal, Myanmar’s security forces on Wednesday continued to

attack peaceful protestors.

In addition to the deaths, there have been reports of other violence. In Yangon, a widely circulated video taken from a security camera showed police in the city brutally beating members of an ambulance crew — apparently after they were arrested. Police can be seen kicking the three crew members and thrashing them with rifle butts.

Security forces are believed to single out medical workers for arrest and mistreatment because members of the medical profession launched the country’s civil disobedience movement to resist the junta.

In Mandalay, riot police, backed by soldiers, broke up a rally and chased around 1,000 teachers and students from a street with tear gas as gun shots could be heard.

Video from the AP showed a squad of police firing slingshots in the apparent direction of demonstrators as they dispersed.

PALACE TO INVESTIGATE AFTER MEGHAN ACCUSED OF BULLYING LONDON Associated Press

BUCKINGHAM Palace said yesterday it was launching an investigation after a newspaper reported that a former aide had made a bullying allegation against the Duchess of Sussex.

The Times of London reported allegations that the duchess drove out two

personal assistants and left staff feeling “humiliated”.

It said an official complaint was made by Jason Knauf, then the communications secretary to Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry.

He now works for Harry’s elder brother, Prince William.

The palace said it was “clearly very concerned” about the allegations.

It said in a statement that

the palace human resources team “will look into the circumstances outlined in the article” and would seek to speak to current and former staff.

“The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace,” it said.

American actress

Meghan Markle married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born the following year.

In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of

the British media. They recently bought a house in Santa Barbara, California, and are expecting a second child.

The bullying allegations were reported four days before the scheduled broadcast of an Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan, which is anticipated to draw a huge audience. It also comes less than two weeks after

the palace announced that the couple’s split from official duties would be final.

A spokesman for the duchess said she was “saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma”.