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VOLUME:116 No.51, MARCH 7TH, 2019

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PM’s challenge in Reckley row Dames insists ‘no politics’ in officers’ retiring

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has challenged PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis to make his accusations about senior officer Clarence Reckley’s retirement in parliament, suggesting this was the only way he would respond to claims this directive came from his office.

As Dr Minnis refused to refer to the matter yesterday, National Security

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION leader Philip “Brave” Davis wants parliamentarians to reject the recent mid-year budget communication of Finance Minister Peter Turnquest, but House Speaker Halson Moultrie quashed his effort to put the matter on the agenda for parliament to debate yesterday.

Opposition members

SEE PAGE FIVE

PASSPORT CHAOS - WE ARE TRYING TO SORT IT

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net FOREIGN Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said his ministry has created an internal committee tasked with improving procedures at the Passport Office, as applicants seeking new travel documents this week described the process as “frustrating” and “backwards”.

Complaints of long lines and disorganisation have long plagued the Passport Office. When asked about these matters yesterday, Mr Henfield acknowledged these are “ongoing issues” but told The Tribune the problems are being looked at “very assiduously”.

SEARS - OUR ECONOMIC MODEL IS IN CRISIS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE THREE

marked their disapproval after a lengthy argument by walking out of the chamber before Speaker Moultrie ruled on the matter.

Mr Davis’ resolution called for parliament to reject Mr Turnquest’s communication because it “did not fully comply with the Financial Audit and Administration Act”. Mr Turnquest called this notion “nonsense”.

L SOUR CE

SEE PAGE SEVEN

Minister Marvin Dames was adamant there was nothing personal against any of the three officers slated to go into early retirement, telling reporters they were all happy to move on from the Royal Bahamas Police Force. He insisted this had nothing to do with politics.

The officers include Deputy Commissioner of Police Emrick Seymour, Senior Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dean and Assistant Commissioner

AND OFF GOES THE FUMING FOUR AGAIN

$1

ON THE BEAT CROWDS came out yesterday to enjoy the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s community tattoo at Dennis Park. More coverage - Page 10 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

THE Bahamas must transform an economic model that is in crisis by shoring up local entrepreneurs and capital, according to Alfred Sears QC. The former attorney general yesterday argued that the 60-year-old template left

by Sir Stafford Sands was now “broken” and inadequate for The Bahamas’ needs, perpetuating an unequal investment incentive regime that favours foreigners over Bahamians.

Arguing that such a situation is “not a sustainable trajectory” for the Bahamian economy, Mr Sears said The Bahamas could only build resilience by creating an incentive “level playing field”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

18-MONTH WAIT FOR LABOUR DAY TRIAL

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE man whose truck mowed into a crowd during last year’s Labour Day Parade will stand trial in 2020 over allegations that he negligently caused the death of four women and injured eight other people.

Travis Lamar Sawyer will stand trial before Justice Gregory Hilton on August 10 of next year charged with four counts of

TRAVIS LAMAR SAWYER manslaughter by negligence and eight additional counts of negligently causing harm

stemming from the June 1, 2018 incident. A case management hearing has been set for August 8 of this year.

Sawyer’s $8,000 bail, granted to him by Justice Bernard Turner, continues until that time.

Last month, the Silver Gates resident pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts when formally arraigned before Justice Turner. It is alleged that on June 1, 2018, Sawyer, by means of

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

DIANE PHILLIPS

HEY YOU, TURN YOUR PHONE OFF

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

TRAVIS Lamar Sawyer at an earlier court hearing

18-MONTH WAIT FOR LABOUR DAY TRIAL from page one

unlawful harm, negligently caused the deaths of 41-year-old Tabitha Haye, 48-year-old Tami Patrice Gibson, 51-yearold Kathleen Fernander and 55-year-old Dianna Gray-Ferguson.

It is also alleged that he negligently caused harm to eight other persons – Annabelle Gibson, Allez Lightbourne, Christine Adderley, Kimberlin Johnson, Kyren Johnson, Makeba Ford, Ruth Stuart and Philippa Forbes.

Shortly after 10am on the date in question, participants of the annual Labour Day parade were walking

north on East Street in the vicinity of Shirley Street, when a green Ford F150 truck, which was a part of the parade, descended the hill towards Shirley Street.

The vehicle, which at the time had no driver according to initial police reports, ran into a number of people who were a part of the parade, resulting in them receiving injuries. The vehicle came to a stop on hitting a Nissan vehicle, parked in a nearby parking lot.

Two people were pronounced dead at the scene, while 26 others were taken to hospital. Two women later died at the Princess Margaret Hospital, which was forced into mass casualty mode.

THE TRIBUNE from page one Reckley, who is the husband of former Urban Renewal Deputy Director Michelle Reckley. She was arraigned last month on more than 20 charges alleging that she defrauded the Urban Renewal Small Homes Repairs programme in Grand Bahama of over $1m.

Senior ACP Dean declined to comment on the matter yesterday, referring The Tribune to the minister.

He said he will talk about the matter “at an appropriate time”.

The issue was brought into focus on Tuesday when Mr Davis accused the government of pressuring ACP Reckley into early retirement. Later that day, it was confirmed that officers Dean and Seymour were also among those having accumulated leave with retirements to follow.

Mr Dames said that yesterday he spoke with both officers in what he called a “cordial” conversation. However, he did not say whether he also spoke to ACP Reckley.

“As you would know this is nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary,” Mr Dames said yesterday during an interview with reporters outside Parliament.

“Both men, and there are others as well, who are at that point of retirement.

We have some persons certainly within the service of the Royal Bahama Police Force with as many as close to two years leave. You are only allowed to keep up to 15 weeks.

“We would have conducted an audit of the police force just as an example and this is where we are in the organisation.”

He continued: “Both men are extremely happy. We had a very cordial conversation this morning. They are my friends, they all are.

“But this what is called the transforming of an agency. You come in, you serve, you reach that point of retirement. You prepare the officers under you to take over and this is what it’s all about.

“This has nothing to do with politics and we will continue this process because we are transforming these agencies. This is a part of the natural development and movement throughout these agencies.”

Mr Dames said this was simply the manifestation of years of neglecting the natural development and movement in certain agencies.

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 3

PM’s challenge in Reckley row

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Clarence Reckley leading a team of officers on a walkabout in Grand Bahama in December 2017

ALSO heading into retirement: Stephen Dean, left, and Emrick Seymour Asked by The Tribune whether ACP Reckley’s leave had anything to do with his wife’s court matter, as was suggested by Mr Davis, Mr Dames said it was an assumption on the PLP’s part.

“Do you believe it? Look

at the manpower audit.

Look at the mess the PLP would have left. Let’s look at the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

“We have an obligation as a government to get our agencies of government and our ministries of

government in line with the system.”

Mr Dames said he did not know how much leave ACP Reckley had accumulated or when he was set to retire. However, he did not respond directly when he was asked whether there

NO ACTION AGAINST PEOPLE WHO MISSED DISCLOSURE DEADLINES

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Office of the Attorney General was never asked to take action against three officials who failed to disclose their assets and liabilities on time last year, according to Public Disclosures Commission chairman Myles Laroda.

One parliamentarian and two senators missed the disclosure deadlines on March 1, 2018 and the extended deadline on March 31, 2018.

Press Secretary Anthony Newbold told reporters in August that the prime minister directed the PDC chairman to give the Office of the Attorney General information concerning the officials who failed to submit their financial information as the law demands.

Explaining why the AG’s Office never took action, Mr Laroda said yesterday: “The prime minister said to me, using his words, to let the law take its course.

I wrote to the prime minister and the leader of opposition, the prime minister came back to me with his instructions, but when the commission met a few days later, there were three outstanding and if I’m not mistaken they came in later the same day. I wrote my letter like around 10am, it went on the news around 1pm but when we met later

on those applications were already in. They were late but I wasn’t writing (the AG) to say they weren’t disclosed.”

Mr Laroda could not say yesterday if every official has sent their declarations on time this year.

He said the PDC will meet today and he anticipates getting that information then.

Progressive Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell has said PLP parliamentarians and senators have all made their disclosures on time.

Those who fail to submit their declaration are liable to a $10,000 fine and/or two years in prison. Only the attorney general can initiate proceedings, however, and only the prime minister or the leader of the opposition can prompt such an action.

The weakness of the PDC has drawn criticism over the years. A bipartisan constitutional commission report in 2013 said: “…There are limitations on this body with respect to its investigative powers, and it certainly has no coercive powers.

There can be no denying that there is a need for a body which would have the ability to ensure that ministers, parliamentarians and other senior officials are accountable and exercise probity in their affairs.

In recent times, however, under successive governments, the public disclosure

AG CARL BETHEL commission has become essentially a dead letter.”

The Integrity Commission Bill, which was tabled in 2017 but not yet passed in Parliament, would lead to the possible imprisonment for parliamentarians who fail to disclose their assets.

Violating that law could

result in fines up to $15,000 and one year in prison. A parliamentarian or senator convicted under the law could be disqualified from holding public office for a period not exceeding five years.

Although the disclosures are required annually, reports of members’ financial information are rarely gazetted. The Integrity Commission Bill would give a commission the new power to gazette declarations without requiring permission from the prime minister. The commission would also be empowered to hold formal inquiries into matters relating to an official’s declaration. It is not clear when the Integrity Commission Bill will be debated in Parliament.

was indeed a directive from the Office of the Prime Minister in Mr Reckley’s case. The Tribune understands ACP Reckley’s service contract expires in August 2020, marking some 40 years with the force.

Senior ACP Dean

enlisted in the RBPF 1981.

This year marks his 38th anniversary with the force.

Deputy Commissioner Seymour joined the force in 1980.

“We are doing what we are supposed to be doing in all agencies of government, that’s the simple point. The records are there, just look at the records,” Mr Dames said.

However, despite repeatedly pointing to the manpower audit and suggesting others would be made to go into retirement, the minister said he didn’t want to be specific about how many officers would follow.

He also told The Tribune that he did not know on what scale the RBPF would decrease.

“We have to get to a point where we accept that when you serve, when you sign on to serve, at some point you are going to have to retire.

These individuals are at that point. The organisation has to grow and has to transition,” Mr Dames said.

PAGE 4, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Video nasty for our passport office A VIDEO by a talented Bahamian comedian circulated this week on social media.

The video by Latoya Dean showed a visit all too many Bahamians are familiar with – to the passport office.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” she is told in the skit, “you’re going to need your great great great great grandparents’ birth certificates.”

“But they’re dead,” she replies, “I don’t even know their names!”

It’s done for comedic effect of course – but the series of ever-changing requirements when you arrive to apply for your passport is too close for comfort to the real-life experience. You have to laugh, or else you’ll cry.

We suspect tears are closer to the mark for many who have had to face the disorganisation, long lines and hourslong waits at the office recently.

There are stories of waiting times of more than eight hours and one woman yesterday told The Tribune that she was on her fourth day at the Passport Office, arriving as early as 3am in the hope of getting served. She talked of people being put ahead in the queue because they weren’t served from the day before, and people queuing for hours only to be turned away because they’re told the staff can’t serve any more than are already in line.

Another woman shared her safety fears over people queuing outside the office at 4am with no security in sight – “people getting rob, people getting rape, and you gotta come out your bed at 4am with ya child to come get an early number to get a passport… that’s ridiculous”. Ridiculous indeed.

In a letter to the editor today, Pam Burnside recounts a similar experience – arriving at 7am, only to be told four hours later, at 11am, that no one else can be seen and should come back tomorrow. She also talks of seeing the mothers of first-time babies being called to be seen, having spent a long time themselves standing outside with their newborns in their arms.

A Tribune staff member also recalled last year queuing for hours to get the passport for his new-born, only to be told when he reached the counter that it EDITOR, The Tribune I AM writing this letter on behalf of us, the Bahamian people, in the spirit of constructive criticism and with suggestions for improving the woeful passport office experience. I am certainly thankful that this is but a “onceevery-10 years” occurrence because my recent experience was a two-day/7 hour debacle.

Preparation – I made my way to the passport office late one afternoon last month, but was told to come back the following day because the quota had already been met for the day – okay that was understandable. Before leaving I asked for an application form (seeing as the online website I had used was probably not up to date) and was told to get that information from the office at the front of the building – no problem. Armed with these papers, I decided to return the following week after half term was over, as apparently persons had been lining up with their school aged children from as early as 5am every day that week in order to get their passports!

The following week - Day 1, I arrived at the passport office at 7am to renew my e-passport with documents in hand as outlined on the information form I had taken away the week before.

There were still a few parking spaces available and a good crowd was present. After trying to find the end of the non-existent line, I inquired of one of the persons what the procedure was and he indicated I was to make my way through the haphazard mass of persons standing around to get to the lady by the door with the pad of paper and put my name on the ‘list’ - which I did, moving back

had to be the mother who had to apply, not the father.

Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield is disingenuous in his response to concerns about problems at the office, saying of people who are sent away that “to put it that way would be unfair”.

We would imagine that if he were to queue for four or five hours only to be told he couldn’t be seen that day, it would feel very fair to say that he had been sent away.

He blames the amount of space at the office – which he says can only allow for a hundred a day – and mutters about looking at staffing issues, but come on, this is nothing new. We’ve had these problems with the Passport Office for years – they surely can’t be “looking at” staffing issues now, why hasn’t this been resolved beforehand?

Imagine how this situation must be for people visiting from the Family Islands whose planes won’t arrive until after the queues have formed – and the extra expense they must face if they’ve had to come to Nassau and factor in staying overnight just to get seen.

The whole system needs a drastic overhaul – online applications, an appointments system, extra staff training to ensure consistency instead of ever-changing requirements, electronic record keeping to save people from having to resubmit the same documents or queue again at the Registry Office to get extra copies and please, please, an end to people having to queue for eight hours just to get their documents sorted out.

People deserve better – and this mess has been going on long enough.

PS

WE NOTE with weariness that once again the PLP has decided to walk out of Parliament – this time to protest the lack of debate over the mid-year budget.

The party might have a point about the country deserving a debate – but this political gimmick is getting old, and if the PLP keeps doing this, we might suggest they fit a revolving door on the House of Parliament.

So just how serious is our PM about CARICOM? EDITOR, The Tribune JUST how serious is the Prime Minister when it comes to CARICOM? Stayed one day and flew off to New York for a personal event, an award from UWI Alumni Association. Congrats on the award!

Curious first class from the CARICOM meeting in St. Kitts Nevis to New York cost what?

Hope Prime Minister saw this was not a legitimate Government

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net expense, but one for his account? What was the size of the party, that accompanied him to New York?

Who paid for their tickets and hotel bill?

By the time he returns, one hopes he will have cleared his thoughts, on firing Ministers Duane Sands and Marvin Dames…

Time to wake up and speak out into the crowd afterwards thinking that was a positive sign since at least a record was being kept of the order of who came when.

Amongst the ever growing crowd, there were a few lucky souls who had found a place to sit on one of the only two narrow rickety wooden benches on site that had no back support – photo attached. Well, at least many of us were squeezed under a canvas cover and there was a cool breeze blowing!

I was glad I had brought the daily paper to read since there was nothing of interest to keep one’s attention as we stood outside patiently waiting, and waiting, and waiting…..during which time I surveyed the area and thought – why aren’t there any seats (with back support) allocated for senior citizens, why aren’t there any signs explaining the procedure (seeing as they had a locked cabinet attached to one of the walls – photo attached - that was quite empty but it should contain a check list of what documents one should have so as to make sure your papers were in order before being processed), what was supposed to happen next, why aren’t the hours of operation (that are missing on the door) displayed?

The hours ticked by with office members coming out the door at intervals to shout out names listed on the pieces of paper from that pad I had signed, and letting persons inside, whilst the defense force officer manning the door attempted to keep the entrance area clear at intervals.

Time ticked on and the crowd

hardly moved. At one point one of the office members came outside to say that there were no more seats inside but she would call out names from the list in order, asking to see what type of passport the person had in their possession, which she then wrote next to their name – my name was one of those – and they started handing out numbers in sequence that ended up in the 50s. (That sounded hopeful – at least some progress was being made). Then they called the names of the “mothers of first time babies’’ and several of those were let inside after having stood outside, babe in arms along with their baby bags and other accoutrements, a few being lucky enough to find a seat.

Also during this time closer to 10am any new person who came to the door was told to come back the following day as the passport office had already filled their quota for the day, and many of us were still standing outside. I gratefully was able to find a space on the bench as persons went inside, but since the bench sunk down at the back against the wall underneath the empty cabinet, I decided it was less hazardous to stand, which most of us continued to do.

Lo and behold around 11am (4 hours later) an office member came back outside to inform us that all those waiting outside could not be seen that day, and should come back tomorrow!

Needless to say, that announcement did not go down well! I for one found it totally unacceptable and voiced that view strongly, asking to see the supervisor. After

4 hours standing up, with my name on a list, and with 5 hours still remaining in the work day for passport office staff - to be told to go home and come back - they could not be serious! We were flabbergasted by this nonchalant attitude and disregard for customer service! Some citizens said that they had been told that the day before and now that would mean they had to take time off from work for a third day to come and wait, with no guarantee of being served yet again!

Yes, people, this is how we are treated in our own country by our “civil service” that in many instances lacks civility (training in politeness and courtesy) – and we, stupid people that we can be, allow our own people to treat us with this “too bad too sad, lack of apology, no-caring attitude!”

After much disgruntled dialogue back and forth from those 15 or so of us who had been so unceremoniously left in the lurch, we were assured that we would be put at the top of the list for the following day. The final statement made by a high ranking office member as they turned away from us - the citizens they are hired to serve and whose money pays their salary - was “you can only do so much”.

Well, I beg to differ, as evidenced with the writing of this open letter to the public in the hopes that so much more can indeed be done by us - civil society - providing constructive criticism to you - the civil servants and your bosses - that will hopefully result in a mutually

Sir based on your public insistence over the Alfred Grey issue it is my opinion that Sands and Dames on that principle alone must go and go now.

Mid-term Budget…Communication statements can be rebutted by the Opposition, they have all the rights. Mr. Speaker, you have to give them appropriate time.

ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau February 28, 2019

beneficial win-win for us all – the Bahamian people and our country. Citizens should not have to leave “gubment” offices annoyed and frustrated – we should leave pleased and satisfied for having been afforded the excellent customer service we deserve from government personnel that are proud to provide it in an efficient and courteous manner.

But in order to achieve this goal, a whole heap of work needs to be done!

Our country has become so saturated with a disastrous “power play silo mentality” reinforced daily by a lack of training in common courtesy, efficiency and effectiveness, that it totally boggles the mind, and we Bahamians refuse to speak up and demand better! But I say again, if a donkey is fool enough to let you get on his back, then you deserve to ride him!

I want to make it quite clear that this situation has nothing to do with what “gubment” party is in power or not in power, because the civil service remains the same for the most part in whatever instance. What is being spotlighted here is a sad and dangerous deterioration of common courtesy and disregard for one another that used to be the hallmark of what “true true community” meant.

Wake up and speak up, Bahamas – let’s march upward and onward, together, to a common loftier goal! ….to be continued with Day 2 along with constructive and creative suggestions.

PAM BURNSIDE Nassau, March 3, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 5

The fuming four MAIN picture: Exuma MP Chester Cooper walks out of House of Assembly; below: PLP leader Philip Davis and South Andros MP Picewell Forbes depart.

Photos: Yontalay Bowe

from page one The law requires that a communication be laid in Parliament every February.

Mr Davis did not explain how Mr Turnquest’s communication failed to apply with the law.

Mr Davis and Speaker Moultrie clashed on whether the resolution should be put on the agenda. Mr Davis stressed he was giving notice of the resolution, not calling for it to be debated immediately.

“The issue of whether this is appropriate comes up at time of debate,” he said. “If they don’t want to debate it, they could move closure or vote against it.”

Speaker Moultrie, backed by Carmichael MP Desmond Bannister, said he

Davis leads PLP quartet on another walkout where the House essentially has a duty to reject them.”

Mr Moultrie said: “The member in his resolution was asking the House to reject the communication when in fact the law demands that the communication be laid so there must be something highly irregular about that.

What the resolution is seeking to do is ask the House to reject the law.

The ruling of the chair is that the notice is highly irregular and is dismissed as being frivolous, scandalous, vexations and an abuse of the parliamentary process.”

is within his right to reject certain notices.

Mr Bannister said the resolution was “highly irregular and flawed.”

“The FAA simply imposes on the minister of finance the duty to lay before the House the budget statement, that is his only duty. Any inference that he has some further duty in relation to his legislation is incorrect because there is nothing else after that that is mandatory. Everything else is discretionary.”

He added: “As I look at (Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice), May says there are notices irregular

BPL’s new $95m power plant needs to be built by experts

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister said yesterday construction of Bahamas Power and Light’s new $95m power plant at Clifton Pier must utilise the professionals who know how to do it.

While he stressed this did not mean Bahamians do not have the ability to learn, the minister said time and a demand from Bahamians for a “certain high standard” and level of excellence, dictated differently.

His comments follow threats of “war” from Bahamas Electrical Workers Union president Paul Maynard who was angered by admissions from officials that there is no one at BPL with the required skills to instal seven new high efficiency engines that will power the new plant.

Mr Maynard has insisted there is no way he will allow Bahamians to be left behind as Finnish technology group Wärtsilä contracts non-Bahamians to do the work.

“I don’t know that is so, but I am going to tell you this: we have to be able to put that in place and utilise the people who know how to do it,” Mr Bannister told reporters outside the House of Assembly.

“Now that doesn’t mean that our people don’t have the ability to learn, but these generators are going to be here next month and the Bahamian people have demanded of us a certain level of excellence, a certain high standard in generation, so that learning curve is not going to happen overnight and so all of us have to be patient being able to put the mechanisms in place to make a difference for

workers of BPL and for the Bahamian people.

“The Bahamian people come first before anybody else. This county, you, your children, your comfort, your ability to have electricity comes before anybody else.”

However, Mr Bannister gave no clear answers when it came to questions over the funding of the plant.

He was asked yesterday to explain why BPL was paying for the plant despite there being a memorandum of understanding with Shell North America for new LNG facility, signed last year.

“Shell is partnering with Wärtsilä. Anything that Shell does is complementary to Wärtsilä. They are complementary. They are working together. It’s all being done in stages and you are going to see it come together in a wonderful way to make a difference for you and make your life more comfortable. So it requires a partnership that is being worked on in stages, that’s all.”

Asked again why BPL was footing the bill, he said: “There is a whole plan that BPL has that I’m sure the CEO and chairman would be happy to share all of the particulars with you, all of it.”

The Wärtsilä contract has raised lingering concerns, Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said in a statement yesterday.

He said on the face of it, the agreement did not add up.

“The question that must be asked is if Shell North America signed a contract with BPL to provide power generation capacity of 200 megawatts for $300 million dollars at no cost to BPL, then why is BPL expending

$95 million to get shortterm generation capacity?

If that is justified by the need to meet short-term demand, the next issue is why couldn’t Shell be asked to advance their project?”

Mr Davis asked.

“The other question would then be will Shell reimburse BPL for the $95 million dollars in expenditure? This all bears some parliamentary scrutiny.

“This is particularly the case when all of this takes place against the backdrop

MINISTER Desmond Bannister of the allegations made by the last chairman of

the corporation, Darnell Osborne, and the other members who were removed in protest.

“The PLP intends to get to the bottom of this.”

He continued: “There are two requests for Select Committees: one in the Lower House and the other in the Senate that the opposition members intend to move at the earliest appropriate time.”

Mr Bannister was also asked about the outcome of an investigation into the

September fires at BPL. “Soon as we are able to, we are going to let you know when,” he said, adding the FNM government was one of transparency.

He said there were some matters he could not speak of publicly.

“I’m not mincing my words because it is important for me to do it properly and it’s important for when any results are released, it’s important for everything to be in place,” Mr Bannister told reporters.

PAGE 6, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Frankie Campbell’s advice to those who are minded to ‘harm our women’

Turn away from your wicked ways

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

SOCIAL Services Minister Frankie Campbell yesterday admonished Bahamians to make the protection of women and girls “a personal responsibility,” urging those seeking to bring harm to them to “turn away from their wicked ways”.

His comments came in the House of Assembly as he announced plans to attend the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) and local activities surrounding International Women’s Day. Mr Campbell, who was criticised recently and later apologised after he dismissed questions about a rise in reported rapes, yesterday implored Bahamians to wear purple in honour of International Women’s Day tomorrow to commemorate the advancement of women and girls in society.

“I also want to take this occasion to admonish those who are minded to harm our women and girls to repent of the mere thought,” he said.

“Mr Speaker, I admonish (those) who seek to harm our women and girls to turn away from their wicked ways.

“Mr Speaker, I ask all here present and all within the sound of my voice to take it as a personal responsibility to keep an open eye, to be the good Samaritan, to be the good neighbour to look out for and help protect our women and girls.”

Mr Campbell also highlighted the accomplishments of noted Bahamian women, saying that it was time to “pause and celebrate” the varied roles women have played in the Bahamian society.

“We owe a debt of

SOCIAL Services Minister Frankie Campbell gratitude to the matriarchs and trailblazers of our society who fought alongside their male counterparts for justice and equality,” he said.

“Women in The Bahamas have made and continue to make (an) invaluable contribution to national building.”

Reflecting on this year’s United Nation’s theme for International Women’s Day: ‘Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change,’ Mr Campbell challenged all sectors across The Bahamas to be creative and innovative in bringing about gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

To that end, he pointed to the ongoing excellence of Bahamian females, noting that as of May 2018, 68 percent of justices, 83

percent of registrars and 57 percent of magistrates are women.

Mr Campbell added that in politics, five percent of Cabinet ministers, 12 percent of parliamentarians and 43 percent of senators are also women.

Moving over to education, the Southern Shores MP revealed that 68 percent of private high school principals and 62 percent of public high school principals are woman.

He also noted that in healthcare, 45 percent of physicians and 75 percent of hospitals administrators are female.

Lastly, Mr Campbell pointed out that in the public service, 78 percent of directors, 31 percent of Family Island administrators, nine percent of chief councillors and 65 percent of permanent secretaries

and secretaries to the Cabinet are women.

“Women have excelled in many other fields including the arts, sports and in traditionally male dominated fields,” Mr Campbell contended.

A church service was

held at Evangelistic Temple last Sunday to kick start local International Women’s Day activities. A National Women’s Advisory Council strategic stakeholders’ luncheon and University of Bahamas pep rally are

scheduled for today.

And then, finally, personnel from the Department of Gender and Family Affairs will carry out several school visits, while an award ceremony and luncheon for former and current presidents of Urban Renewal and senior’s associations will all occur on Friday.

Mr Campbell is further expected to lead the Bahamian delegation to CSW63 next week.

The Commission on the Status of Women is a principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality.

It is instrumental is promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

At CSW63, Mr Campbell said he intends to address the General Assembly on the progress the Bahamas has made in fulfilling the UN’s mandate, as well as participate in number of sessions which will provide research data and best practices on social protection systems and policies for the advancement of women and girls.

SCHOOL TO HOST JOBS FAIR THE Department of Labour is holding its first job fair of the year this Saturday at CR Walker Senior High School on Baillou Hill Road. The event runs from 11am to 3pm.

Staff of the Department of Labour and a number of local businesses will be on hand to meet, interview and hire interested job seekers. As usual, Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes, along with senior executives from the Ministry and Department of Labour, will be in attendance to meet and assist job seekers.

Patrenda Russell-Brice, deputy director of labour, said: “Last year’s ‘Labour on the Blocks’ experienced a tremendous success

in partnering with various local businesses to employ Bahamians in search of jobs. This year the Department of Labour intends to double its efforts to bring about positive successes in the labour market for Bahamian job seekers and we invite both job seekers and employers to join us on this journey to success.”

Mrs Russell-Brice said at previous job fairs, many job seekers were hired on the spot. She encouraged job seekers who plan on attending Saturday’s event to come fully prepared. Persons are asked to bring their NIB smart card, a valid government-issued ID such as a passport or voter’s card and copies of their resumes.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 7

from page one “The space in the Passport Office is much too small for the crowds that we try to entertain there on a daily basis,” Mr Henfield said. “So we have space issues, we’re looking at the staffing issues. Hopefully we’re going to be able to renew some applications online very shortly. That will alleviate some of the stress from the Passport Office.

“But these are ongoing issues that you know come up from time to time. In the summer, they’re magnified when Bahamians wait sometimes too late to come all at once to get their passports renewed.”

When asked about reports there is a quota system at the office and that people are turned away after that, Mr Henfield replied: “My understanding is that the space can only allow for like a hundred a day. That’s my understanding.”

He added people aren’t necessarily sent away from the premises, telling this reporter that “to put it that way would be unfair”.

“Not sent away - either you can get in or you can’t,” he said.

When asked if he can promise there will be some relief, Mr Henfield said he could not promise, but noted a committee has been tasked with reviewing these matters.

“I can make no promises,” he said. “I say we’re looking at it very assiduously. We’ve tasked a committee to look at all things to do with the Passport Office and to see how we can make the experience a little bit more better for Bahamians.

“It’s an internal committee in my ministry. We have been looking at it for the past two weeks or more. On Monday we had a very serious focus session and we hope to see some results.”

Yesterday The Tribune canvassed the Passport Office, where the line spilled over from inside the building to outside.

Some individuals reported waitingtimes of over eight hours and noted they had been required to make multiple trips to the facility due to being sent away on previous days.

Renique Gibson, 29, told The Tribune yesterday marked her fourth day seeking assistance at the Passport Office.

When asked about her experiences, she said: “Coming here early in the morning, like three in the morning you’ll come and when you come they’ll serve other people they would say wasn’t served from yesterday. So they would do it the following day, which is the day that we come.

“And I don’t feel it’s fair, because I feel like that situation should be dealt with in a different way. Because we wait from three, now it’s like 11, I’ve been turned around four times.”

Passport chaos - we are trying to sort it

DESIREE CARTWRIGHT, above, one of many concerned customers at the passport office.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff Ms Gibson said applicants are instructed to write their names down in their order of arrival, and they are called in that order.

“But then when you reach to a certain point, they say they can’t serve no more. Which I don’t think is fair after waiting for so long.

“It could be more organised, they could do things better, they could give you better understanding instead of just pushing you aside because people have children to take care of, they have jobs to go on, so it’s (already) a sacrifice to come and get this. I mean if you’re a Bahamian, I don’t understand what’s the fight.”

Desiree Cartwright, 39, called out the safety risks of

people having to be outside the government office at such early hours.

“I got up at 3.30 yesterday morning, left home at 4am,” Ms Cartwright said. “I reached the Passport Office at 4.30. When I came here I met people here. So my thing is, why is it that you have to come out your bed at 4am, all (this stupidity) happening round these days — people getting rob, people getting rape, and you gotta come out your bed at 4am with ya child to come to get an early number to get a passport.

“You come, no light, dark, pitch-black, no security, no police officer, no defence force officer. That’s ridiculous.”

LARGER AIRCRAFT HEADING DOWN TO NASSAU IN JUNE

By RIEL MAJOR

AMERICAN Airlines will start operating one of its seven daily flights from Miami to Nassau using a larger aircraft beginning in June.

In a statement interview sent to The Tribune, Laura Masvidal said the Boeing 737-800 has 16 seats in business class and 156 seats in the main cabin. The other six daily flights will operate with an ERJ175 aircraft with 12 seats in business class and 64 seats in the main cabin.

Ms Masvidal said: “During the summer, on peak days we operate five daily Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Lynden Pindling International Airport (CLT-NAS) flights, currently operated with A319s, with eight seats in business class and 120 seats in the main cabin.

“Starting in June two of our flights will be operated with A319s, two with A320s and one with an A321. The

A320 aircraft has 12 seats in business class and 138 seats in the main cabin, and the A321 aircraft has 16 seats in business class and 171 seats in the main cabin.”

Last December, American Airlines released a press statement stating the airline is growing its presence in the Bahamas.

“New seasonal service include flights from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to North Eleuthera International Airport (ELH) and Marsh Harbour International Airport (MHH). Additionally, seasonal service from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to the Lynden Pindling International Airport and year-round service

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from New York-LaGuardia (LGA) to the Lynden Pindling International Airport giving customers even more options when travelling between the US and the Bahamas,” the American Airlines press statement said.

American Airlines operates more than 153 weekly flights to five destinations in the Bahamas.

Caroline Hollingsworth, country manager for The Bahamas, said: “With a more than 30-year commitment to The Bahamas, we are pleased to continue growing our presence in the country, helping to further strengthen tourism, our number one industry.

“Additionally, these new routes will provide our customers flying from The Bahamas with one-stop access to the wide network that we operate from two of our hubs in the US, Charlotte, which includes more than 670 daily flights to 160 destinations and Chicago, with more than 510 daily flights to 144 destinations.”

PAGE 8, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Hey you, stupid, switch your phone off FATHER and bride: The wedding of Diane Phillips’ daughter on Saturday.

OUR daughter got married last Saturday. It was magical. Friends, family and even those who are reliably brutally honest said it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever been to. And in the middle of it after he had walked her down a 63-foot handpainted runway over a

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swimming pool and deposited her in the safekeeping of the pastor and husbandto-be, the bride’s father, my beloved husband, walked to his seat and momentarily stole the show when a jarring noise erupted from his pocket, growing insistently louder and louder.

The crowd stared. The ceremony stopped. He rose, fumbled and finally silenced his cell phone that had just gone off.

Even in a movie theatre, the meandering hot dog warns you to silence your phones. At funerals, a human issues the warning.

On airplanes, a stern voice instructs you to turn off all electronic gadgets for takeoff and if you disobey, the flight attendant stares at you with a look in his eye that says, “Hey, you, stupid. Turn that thing off and let this register: You will be the last person on this plane to get your choice of mini-pretzels or chocolate chip cookies.”

Cell phones – friend or foe? Ally or adversary?

Ignoring for a moment their immeasurable salience as sources of data and reverting solely to their initial role as instrument enabling conversation, consider the conditions of their practicality.

Just when we would have plenty of time for a relaxing chat while soaking in a bubble bath, the cell phone is totally impractical. Soapy sudsy bubbles would destroy 1,000 contacts and wipe out our existence in a sinking heartbeat. Cell phones as talking instruments are equally impractical when skiing, kiteboarding or jumping out of a plane and floating through the air and we want to share an adventure by describing the mountains or runs or reefs without fear of actually colliding with one.

But look where we can use them, while driving, when the only distraction they cause could potentially lead to death or dismemberment. A distracted wedding ceremony is one thing. The distraction will be among the memories of the day, paling as time goes by to the look of love between the betrothed. But such is not the case when an accident victim lives the remainder of his or her life without limbs courtesy of a distracted driver talking about Sunday’s football game.

Nevertheless, that is not the point of this writing, but just saying, as they say, the time has come to end all but hands-free cell or smart phone use while operating a vehicle. Road safety week

coming up and all, it’s time to acknowledge our addiction to our phones is so strong the only way to cure it is to make it illegal to touch while driving.

How addicted are we? In the UK, the average adult spends the equivalent of one day a week on a smart device or connected to a screen. In the US, the figure is even higher. According to a new study by the market research organisation best known for prying into our TV lives, Nielsen, American adults spend more waking time interacting with media than they do any other activity, some 11 hours reading, watching, listening to, playing games on, researching or other e-action involving media.

That includes work time at a computer and leisure time in front of TV. The research may be dated by now since it was published last August and the number of hours could be even higher. Four years ago, the same Nielsen group advised that American adults were spending a little over nine and a half hours staring at screens so the reality is the trend is taking us farther down the path of electronic communication, dependency and addiction.

That may be bad news for how we deal with relationships but it is good news for phone manufacturers and distributors. Last year alone, there were 1.56 billion smart phones sold.

(Personally, I am not sure how smart they really are if they couldn’t tell there was a wedding going on and keep it on silent for a few minutes). The value of those one and a half billion units was reportedly $522 billion worldwide.

Samsung remains the clear leader with 291.8 million units sold last year though its lead is slipping. Number two was Apple’s iPhone but in recent months, Chinabased Huawei quietly slid past the iPhone and became the second most popular smart phone in the world.

The company whose name

many of us would be challenged to pronounce is now the largest manufacturer of all electronics worldwide.

If you doubt we live in a touch screen environment, you grew up in the kind of innocence that over30 somethings did when fort was something you built in the back yard, not a game series and when play meant an activity that involved other humans. It may be humorous that the bride’s father’s cell phone went off in the middle of the wedding ceremony but there is a sadness about the loss of real play time, the substitution of staring at a screen instead of skipping rocks over a shallow body of water or playing ball until darkness falls and you reluctantly have to go inside. There is pleasure in being able to access all the information you need in a second on Chrome or find the most outrageous way to share a Coke on YouTube, but it is not nearly the reward of climbing a tree with a friend or sitting by the dock and letting your feet dangle barely brushing the water, sharing secrets and dreams. You can’t do that with a phone. Well, maybe you can, but let’s not go there. The world has changed and we have been swept up in the momentum without even thinking about it or putting on the brakes.

A single picture tells the story best. It is a little boy of potty-training age, sitting like daddy on a miniature version of the big white fixture next to him. Just like his daddy, he is reading a magazine but when he swipes his finger across the page, it fails to respond. He looks up and pronounces the print publication broken.

We may never go back to a life without smart devices and touch screens. The magazine may never trump the tablet but one thing’s for sure - at least paper does not interrupt a wedding ceremony.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 9

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net PASSENGERS onboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Escape are finally getting their time in paradise with stops in The Bahamas, this after the ship was slammed out of nowhere late on Sunday night by hurricaneforce wind gusts while sailing along the US east coast.

The Escape, due to arrive at Prince George Wharf today, was hit by a 115 mph gust of wind - which is on par with a category three hurricane.

In a recording filmed

by Aaron Black, a passenger, a group of people can be seen seated around what appears to be a piano bar when the ship starts to tilt. In the footage, tables, chairs and other passengers can be seen sliding across the room.

In addition to the sounds of sliding items and shattering glass, several loud screams can be heard in Mr Black’s footage posted to CNN’s website yesterday.

“I remember thinking about how calm it was for sailing out of New York in March and suddenly we got hit by a large gust of wind and the whole ship kind of just tilted to the side for about 30 seconds,” he said in a second video he recorded aboard the ship Tuesday afternoon. “Suddenly everything around me was starting to move.”

In another video shared by the New York Post, dozens of passengers can be seen in a panic as the ship sways from side to side.

A voice is heard off camera saying: “Looks like the boat’s tipping… oh my God.” Passengers, visibly terrified, are also seen running to hold onto chairs, tables

THE CHAOS CAN BE SEEN ON BOARD

Cruise passengers hit by 115mph winds and countertops. The voice off camera adds: “Wow, oh my God. Everything is crashing in the bar.”

Toward the end of the video a female passenger is seen in a seated position on the ground, crying. Several other people can be seen gathering around her trying to give support.

A voice is then heard over the ship’s loud speaker saying: “Code alpha, deck seven [inaudible]; code alpha, deck seven [inaudible].”

Other videos of the ordeal have popped up all over social media in recent days, with passengers and crew providing their accounts of what transpired aboard the 6,000-person vessel.

“Two years ago, I was on (a cruise): 70 mph winds all throughout the night, just a bad storm. And those two minutes were worse than that whole night,” Boston resident Cam Dube said Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the ship docked at Terminal 10 at Port Canaveral.

“I thought it was tipping,” he said.

Montreal resident Rhona Pervin got tossed out of the shower in her eighth-level cabin — “the door opened, and the water sloshed out onto the floor.” Another Montreal resident, Jennifer Anthony from the fifth deck, said children and adults were crying after the incident.

“Several injuries were reported and those guests

and crew received immediate attention and were treated by the ship’s medical staff. There was no damage to the ship; she remains fully operational,” Norwegian Cruise Line officials wrote in a statement.

The Norwegian Escape. pictured right, can carry up to 4,266 guests and a crew of 1,733. The ship was on a seven-day round-trip cruise that departed from New York on Sunday. After Tuesday’s Port Canaveral port of call, the ship is expected to head on to the Bahamas before returning to New York.

The response was prompted by the report of a passenger on social media, who Tweeted: “The scariest (expletive) just happened

on this cruise. Chairs, tables, glass, people went flying to one side of the ship.”

Another passenger gave a harrowing account of the incident on Facebook: “All the plates and glassware smashed on the floor. A lotto machine fell on a lady.

Blood everywhere. My mom spoke with a lady today who has been working cruises for 18 years and she said never has anything this bad ever happened.”

Dube said the cabin he shared with his girlfriend, Sarah Rogers, tilted so

steeply that it got stuck in place “like a hill.”

“Glass was everywhere.

Everything went flying off our counters: the coffee maker, anything we had in the bathroom. Our housekeeper said it was awful outside of our room,” Rogers said.

Bill Hanson, a licensed boat captain from Wrentham, Massachusetts, and his wife, Anitra, were in their 12th-deck cabin when the ship listed without warning.

“My goodness, we heard glass crash and all the noise. Then from there, the boat started listing even more — and that’s when the panic hit,” Hanson said at Port Canaveral.

“We were looking for the life preservers. And I was looking to jump out the window and jump on the nearest thing around,” he said.

Watch the video now at tribune242.com

POLICE OFFICERS DID NOT IDENTIFY THEMSELVES BEFORE SHOOTING

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

TWO police officers in plain clothes did not identify themselves moments before one of them shot and killed a teenager in the Bain Town community almost 10 years ago, a lifelong friend of the deceased testified yesterday.

Ryan Fernander said former Sergeant Trevor Green and Corporal Ricardo Rolle did not say they were officers when they approached him, his cousin, and the deceased, Bradley Newbold as they sat on a wall at Hospital Lane in November 2010.

Instead, all Mr Fernander said he heard was the order “don’t move” from the two men who came “out of nowhere” and who were wearing plain clothes.

“I didn’t know who it was, I didn’t know what to expect. I just stood there,” Mr Fernander said.

Newbold though, opted to flee, something Mr Fernander said he found to be “somewhat” strange at the time. Nonetheless, he said despite there being rumours at the time that Newbold had a gun, he did not see a gun, and neither did he see Newbold brandishing a firearm.

Mr Fernander’s testimony came during the third day of an inquest into Newbold’s death at Cpl Rolle’s hands on November 20, 2010.

According to Forensic Pathologist Dr Caryn Sands, Newbold died of two gunshot wounds to the torso.

His death sparked utter chaos and anarchy in the Bain Town community, events that would eventually come to be known as the “Bain Town riot”.

Police officers and their vehicles were said to have been stoned by members of an angry mob and at least one car was set ablaze. Even news reporters covering the riot were said to be harassed by the angry mob.

So chaotic was the “Bain Town riot” that former Member of Parliament for Bain and Grants Town Dr Bernard Nottage subsequently called for an independent public inquiry into Newbold’s death. At the time, Dr Nottage, now deceased, said referring it to the Coroner’s Court was “not good enough”,

and neither was an internal police inquiry.

Former Sgt Green, now a teacher employed by the Ministry of Education, previously testified how on the date in question, he and Cpl Rolle, while on foot patrol on the area, approached three young men sitting on a wall, identified themselves and proceeded to search them in reference to firearms or drugs.

However, the former officer said after one of the men, who turned out to be Newbold, noticed the police badge pinned on his left chest, he jumped the wall and ran. Mr Green said Cpl Rolle, gave chase, and he followed suit.

During the foot chase, which Mr Green said lasted no more than a minute, Newbold clutched his waist and withdrew a black, KelTec 9mm Luger pistol and aimed it at Cpl Rolle and himself. Mr Green said Cpl Rolle told the man to drop the weapon twice, commands that were not obeyed.

Then, he said he heard two gun shots, and later saw when Cpl Rolle fell on top of Newbold on top of a cesspit. By the time he caught up to them both, Mr Green said Newbold’s breathing was “laboured”.

Mr Fernander’s narrative of events differed, however.

Taking the witness stand before Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez, Mr Fernander said on the date in question, he, his cousin, and Newbold were all sitting on a wall on Hospital Lane having a discussion when two men “came out of nowhere” from the direction of King Street.

Mr Fernander said the two men told them “don’t move”. He said he didn’t know for sure if they were police officers, but figured that based on how they carried themselves and how they sounded, they were most likely law enforcement.

Mr Fernander said he and his cousin obeyed the command and stayed put, but Newbold jumped over the wall and ran off.

Mr Fernander said the officers gave chase, prompting he and his cousin to move to a position where they could better see what was happening. He said at no time did he hear the officers giving any commands to Newbold.

During the foot chase,

Mr Fernander said he saw when Newbold got shot in his back when he put his foot on a cesspit; he said he heard two shots, and though he couldn’t say if Newbold was shot twice, said he definitely saw when his friend was hit.

Mr Fernander said when Newbold got shot, that prompted both him and his cousin to go to him. However, he said as they approached, one of the officers spun around, pointed his gun at them both and told them to turn back or he would shoot them both.

Mr Fernander said he and his cousin, agitated, repeatedly asked the officers why

they shot their “brethren”, but the officers kept telling them to go away or else they would be shot.

“After they told us to ‘go that way’, we asked them why you shoot our brethren? Why you shoot him?

And they telling us ‘go that way, go that way before we shoot ya’ll. Hurry up, go that way,’” Mr Fernander testified.

Afterwards, Mr Fernander said he ran to the house where Newbold and his other family members grew up and told his friend’s grandaunt, who was selling food at the time, and told her Newbold had been shot.

Then, after going back to the yard and talking to

his cousin, he said he ran to his home and told his family that Newbold had been shot. After that, Mr Fernander said he went on King Street and told one of his friends “bey, they just kill Marco (sic).”

Mr Fernander said him spreading word of Newbold being shot took roughly 30 seconds or so. He said he ultimately went back to the scene of the shooting, and after a short while, a white vehicle came and took the two officers he saw out of the area.

Mr Fernander said he was unable to accurately identify anyone in court as the police officer who shot Newbold given the

amount of time that has elapsed since the shooting.

However, he noted that it was the shorter of the two officers who shot Newbold, and said the officer looked like his attorney Bjorn Ferguson.

Mr Fernander said although he saw when Newbold got shot, he did not talk to any police officers except former Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade. And that conversation, according to him, was not Mr Greenslade seeking to get to the bottom of what happened, but more so him trying to pacify the unrest that erupted in the community.

The matter continues.

PAGE 10, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

FUN FOR ALL AT COMMUNITY TATTOO

THE ROYAL Bahamas Police Force held its community tattoo at Dennis Park, Yellow Elder yesterday.

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 11

APPEAL FOR HELP FOR MEALS ON WHEELS PROGRAMME

FOR nearly three decades, Mt Olive Baptist Church Social Outreach Ministries has successfully run a feeding network, providing food to over 130 people in the Bain Town community each week.

Each Tuesday, food is distributed to shut-ins, less fortunate residents, or anyone in need of a meal. The operation is two-fold.

Food is distributed on Tuesdays at noon from the church’s Social Outreach Centre, located Augusta St South, directly behind the church, which is on Meadow and Augusta Streets. In addition, there is a Meals on Wheels

programme, which allows volunteers to deliver meals to residents who may not be in a position to come to the centre. They include the elderly, sick or disabled, and according to a resident interviewed, the food delivery was something they looked forward to each week.

However, for the past two months, Meals on Wheels has been seriously hampered because the vehicle used to deliver food is no longer working. Due to the outcry from the residents and the desire to keep the programme running, Rev CB Moss, Pastor

of Mt Olive, is reaching out to the public for help in purchasing another vehicle for Meals on Wheels. He has identified a second-hand vehicle from a local company that would serve them well. The van comes at a cost of $10,000, including licencing and insurance fees.

Rev Moss said the feeding programme once operated twice weekly – Tuesdays and Thursdays.

However, a few years ago, a downturn in the economy resulted in them cutting back to Tuesdays only.

He hopes that one day, the programme will return to its twice per

week operations. Not only were the sick and shut-ins able to receive hot meals each week, they also received grocery items, fresh fruit and bottled water whenever available.

He noted that there are times when the residents are alone at home, because everyone else in the family is at school or at work, therefore they express sincere appreciation for the visits from the Meals on Wheels programme.

“It is important because a lot of people have different disabilities and can’t get around,” said minister Jacqueline Dorsett, head of the outreach centre.

“Sometimes they are unable to come out and receive. We have been using personal vehicles at times to get the meals to them.

Just over 130 people are being affected by us no longer having the vehicle.”

In addition, volunteers have been walking to nearby homes in an attempt to try to keep the feeding programme alive until another vehicle is acquired.

Mt Olive also hosts a clothing giveaway each Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm. Clothes are free of charge; however donations are accepted.

PAGE 12, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

MP McALPINE: I WILL RUN AGAIN, NOMINATED OR NOT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net WHILE Fredrick McAlpine appears to be out of favour with the Free National Movement, the controversial MP says he intends to run again in the Pineridge constituency even if he does not get the nomination from his party.

“The nomination at this time is not important, but I do intend to run in Pineridge,” said McAlpine.

The outspoken MP has broken ranks with his party on several issues and has been critical of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis on many occasions, most recently about Dr Minnis’ failure to address the conduct of two FNM Cabinet ministers relating to the Frank Smith bribery and extortion trial.

He believes the ministers should be treated the same way as he and two other FNM colleagues, who were fired last year based on rules of the Westminster system when they voted against a VAT increase.

But, he also went as far as saying it was “petty” of Dr Minnis not to call his name as one of the future leaders to carry on the party when he retires after a second

FREDRICK McAlpine intends to run again in the Pineridge constituency even if he does not get the nomination from his party. term in office. Dr Minnis was speaking to supporters at a recent meeting at FNM headquarters in Grand Bahama that Mr McAlpine said he did not attend due to a prior church obligation.

When asked if he thinks he will again receive a nomination under the FNM, Mr McAlpine said: “As it relates to the nomination that is not important. Now, however I run, I am an FNM. If they do not wish to run me, let me say this, the nomination ain’t the issue, being elected is the issue.

Anybody can get a nomination don’t even need a party to nominate you, you can just run and get nominated.

“What my party should

be concerned about is not who they are going to give the nomination to and when they going to give it, and who they going to withhold nomination from. What they need to be concerned about is can they win the next general election. I think that needs to be more of a pertinent question, and who do you need to win the next general election.”

He also said: “I have a gift from God to which I am grateful and thankful for everyday. And the Bahamian people know me quite well. I can be with or I can be against you but wherever I go trust me I intend to use the gifts God has given to me.”

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In October 2018 at the Leaders of the World Conference hosted by New Jersey’s Montclair State University, which is ranked in the Top 100 Major Public Universities in the United States of America, Bridgette Francis was recognized as One of the Leaders of The World Speakers for the field of the Internationalization of Higher Education.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 13

PAGE 14, Thursday, March 7, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BORDER CLOSURE FORCES VENEZUELAN KIDS TO MAKE PERILOUS TREKS CUCUTA, Colombia Associated Press

THE SUN had just begun to rise when Yurladis Rojas and her young daughter began trekking along one of the illegal dirt pathways that have become a perilous lifeline for Venezuelans no longer able to cross blocked border bridges.

As they reached the muddy Tachira River, they joined dozens of other Venezuelan students boarding makeshift wooden rafts intent on getting into Colombia to accomplish a simple childhood goal — going to school.

“We don’t deserve this and the children don’t either,” Rojas, a housewife, said after men pushed her daughter in a gray school uniform across the knee-deep

SCOTTISH UNI DEVICE LINKED TO LONDON MAIL BOMBS LONDON Associated Press BRITISH police said a suspicious package destroyed by bomb-disposal experts at the University of Glasgow yesterday contained an explosive device and was linked to three letter bombs sent to two London airports and a railway station.

The Met Police force’s Counter Terrorism Command said the item sent to the Scottish university had “similarities in the package, its markings and the type of device” to the three small improvised bombs received by the London transportation hubs on Tuesday.

The mailing envelope sent to Heathrow Airport with one of the bombs inside partly caught fire when someone opened it, but no one was injured.

The force said it had not identified the sender and urged people “to be vigilant” about watching for suspicious packages.

river. “They shouldn’t be paying the consequences for what is happening.”

The closure of Venezuela’s border with Colombia is exacting a heavy toll on the thousands who have grown to rely on the neighboring Andean nation for everything from chemotherapy to food as their homeland’s humanitarian crisis worsens.

On a typical day, over 30,000 Venezuelans used to cross the two bridges into the bustling Colombian border city of Cucuta, but both have been closed since the opposition’s failed bid to drive through trucks filled with US-donated aid over a week ago.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro dismissed the aid push as a US-backed attempt to remove

him from power and responded by severing ties with Colombia, where tons of undelivered aid is being stored. What has followed is a tense extension of Venezuela’s political standoff, with thousands of Venezuelans ranging from patients to schoolchildren seeking risky alternative routes to Colombia.

Complicating the ordeal is the lack of communication between Venezuelan and Colombian authorities amid the diplomatic strife.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has joined 50 other nations in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful president, but the military is standing with Maduro and the bridges remain closed. Felipe Munoz, Colombia’s director for

A STUDENT rides on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia from Venezuela,

Venezuela border issues, said officials have had no contact with Maduro’s administration over the closure.

Venezuela opposition leaders, meanwhile, are looking to go through outside organizations like the Red Cross in appealing for their assistance in securing the safe passage of children and vulnerable adults and reopening the border.

“Lives are being put at risk,” exiled lawmaker Gaby Arellano said.

An estimated 3,200 Venezuelan schoolchildren cross the border to attend school in Colombia, where many parents believe they will get a better quality education, not to mention at least one meal, sometimes the only one they’ll get in a day.

Blow for Trump as trade deficit jumps WASHINGTON Associated Press THE US trade deficit reached its highest sum ever last year, defying President Donald Trump’s efforts and promises to shrink it through his economic policies. The irony is that those policies likely contributed to the deficit.

Trump entered office insisting that decades of trade gaps had crushed the US economy and that he would forge new agreements that would diminish the deficits. It hasn’t happened.

The government said yesterday that the US trade gap in goods and services reached $621 billion last year, its highest total since 2008.

And the US deficits in goods with China and Mexico surged to record highs.

As president, Trump’s signature effort to stimulate US growth — deficit-funded tax cuts — likely helped fuel the willingness of American corporations and households to spend, including

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP on imported goods. That is especially true at a time when much of the rest of the economic world has weakened and is less likely to buy US goods. The result has been more imports than exports.

What’s more, the tariffs Trump imposed on steel, aluminum and hundreds of billions’ worth of Chinese goods likely contributed to the trend: During 2018, American

companies that import goods from China appeared to accelerate their spending on them to avoid Trump’s future import taxes.

Trump often misrepresents the trade deficit. He has frequently labelled it an outright economic loss.

“We’ve been losing, on average, $375 billion a year with China,” the president said in February, referring to the 2017 deficit in goods between the United States and China. That imbalance surged to $419.2 billion in 2018 under Trump’s watch.

Yet the trade gap isn’t an outright loss. It simply reflects the greater value of what the United States imports compared to what it exports. And it’s not necessarily a cause for concern.

Last year’s trade deficit paid for smartphones, kitchen appliances, clothing, auto parts and a whole range of goods that were made more affordable because of China’s lower manufacturing costs. Those lower costs have indeed contributed to the loss of U.S. factories

to foreign countries and devastated vast swaths of the industrial Midwest . But lower import prices have also benefited companies and millions of consumers in ways that boosted the U.S. economy — 70 percent of which consists of consumer spending. The ability and willingness of Americans to spend, including on imports, is generally a healthy economic sign.

In its relationship with China, a bigger problem for the US economy than trade deficits is the widespread suspicion that Beijing steals intellectual property and requires American companies that operate there to turn over technology secrets — two issues at the heart of the administration’s negotiations with Beijing.

Such policies weaken the ability of US companies to compete and inflict billions in losses, according to a report last year by Lee Branstetter, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University and a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

MUSIC MUSEUMS KEEP MICHAEL JACKSON EXHIBITS ON DISPLAY NASHVILLE Associated Press

MICHAEL JACKSON’S musical legacy has been getting critically reappraised after a new documentary rekindled allegations of child sexual abuse, but at least two music museums in Detroit and Tennessee aren’t scrubbing the King of Pop from their exhibits.

The National Museum for African American Music says some Michael Jackson artifacts will be on display in a planned exhibit called “One Nation Under A Groove,” when the museum opens in downtown Nashville in early 2020. The museum has previously released renderings of the building’s design, featuring an image of Jackson on the exterior.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the chairwoman and CEO of Motown Museum said its mission is to share the stories and artifacts of the history of Motown.

“Michael Jackson’s musical contributions remain part of the Motown story,” Robin Terry said.

Motown Records was the first major label to record The Jackson 5, in which Michael debuted as a young star alongside his siblings, and released their

LINA STEPHENS, chief curator at the Motown Historical Museum hits “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” The HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland” aired detailed and disturbing stories from two men who say Jackson groomed them for sex and molested them when they were just little boys. Allegations of sexual abuse shadowed Jackson throughout much of his adult life, and he was acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005. Jackson died in 2009.

There’s been no evidence of major damage to Jackson’s estate or his music because of the new documentary.

“The importance of Michael Jackson’s music to the African American culture, and to the American soundtrack, is unrivalled,”

said H. Beecher Hicks III, president and CEO of the National Museum for African American Music in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“As a part of our One Nation Under a Groove gallery, Jackson will be defined by his music, his importance to pop culture, music videos and his impact on changing the course of popular music in our country. NMAAM has collected some artifacts which will be on display in this gallery, each of which will help highlight these aspects of his contributions to African American music. We understand that, like music itself, legacies are constantly evolving, and that we must be able to evolve and shift as needed.”

BILLIONAIRE DIAMOND TRADER DIES DURING PENIS ENLARGEMENT SURGERY A BILLIONAIRE diamond trader has died after ‘suffering a heart attack’ during a penis enlargement operation in Paris.

Ehud Arye Laniado, 65, was at an unidentified private clinic on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in the French capital on Saturday when complications during surgery proved fatal. The experienced diamond expert’s heart attack happened when a substance was injected into his penis, Belgian media reported.

Mr Laniado’s company Omega Diamonds, which is based in the Belgian city of Antwerp, confirmed his passing. A statement from the firm said: ‘Farewell to

a visionary businessman. It is with great sadness that we confirm that our founder Ehud Arye Laniado has passed away.’ Mr Laniado, pictured, reportedly owned the most expensive penthouse in Monaco worth more than £30million, as well as a house in the plush LA suburb of Bel Air, where he was said to have loved to drink bottles of Chateau Margaux with models and celebrities. In 2015, Mr Laniado sold the world’s most expensive diamond called the Blue Moon of Josephine to Hong Kong businessman and convicted felon Joseph Lau Luen Hung for $48.4m.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, March 7, 2019, PAGE 15

GERALD Grey has been missing since October.

MOTHER IN SEARCH FOR HER SON

BY RIEL MAJOR MARIA Curtis is desperately searching for her 20-year-old son, who she said has been missing for nearly five months.

Ms Curtis said she hasn’t seen or heard from Gerald Grey since October 10, 2018. Grey, who was charged with armed robbery and was wearing an electronic ankle monitor, has been missing since October 10, 2018.

“All I know is I left him home that Wednesday on the 10th cleaning his car. I asked him ‘Gerald, are you not going to work today?’

He said, ‘mommy the ramp dead, but I might go later.’ I was dressed for work, shift 4 to 12, and that’s it,” she told The Tribune during a recent interview.

The mother-of-two said she is stressed out and expressed her concern for the well-being of her son.

“Miss, how you mean how I feel – that’s my baby…I does be off the chain bad. I didn’t go back to work…for four weeks I was home. I was (doing) bad, my eyes had big black bags under it. (I had bad headaches) and I had to go on pressure tablets.

“All I do is lay down and think because I don’t know what to say or what happen…I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s in the water or if he came off the water.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, every day I be thinking… if it wasn’t for my sisters to make me get ready and carry me out, I would be right in my bed slunking (sic).”

Ms Curtis said the following day she asked his friends about his whereabouts and why none of them tried looking for him.

“Every afternoon Gerald goes on the (fish) ramp, he comes home in a truck full of his friends. They would hang out in my yard Friday and Saturday when they knock off. All off a sudden, no one is come in the yard…from the 10th of October no one hang up in the yard.

“I went to his (friends) and ask, ‘if all of y’all does come back on the truck, why didn’t Gerald come with y’all that afternoon?’”

She said she was later told her son was spotted on a Jet Ski at Cabbage Beach. “(My sisters and I) went over Cabbage Beach and the boys there told me they saw him and said he left to go back to the ramp… so I said to myself well how far is Cabbage Beach from Montagu ramp? Even the vendors said they saw him on the Jet Ski.” The distressed mother expressed her disappointment at police efforts to find her missing son.

“I haven’t heard anything from nobody, CDU... nobody. If I don’t call, they don’t call me. I (last) called them in December and look like they trying to let me do the investigating so if you want me do all of the investigating... I might as well don’t call and tell (them) nothing.

“They haven’t even tried to (locate) the Jet Ski owner. My son doesn’t own a Jet Ski. That Jet Ski probably worth thousands of dollars and if the Jet Ski (wasn’t returned) … you don’t think the (owner) would report it missing?”

When contacted, a senior police officer said he was familiar with the mother’s claims, but did not comment on the investigation up to press time.

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