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Volume: 118 No.80, MARCH 19, 2021

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WHY DID YOU DETAIN THEM?

FAREWELL TO BIG ED, A TRUE BASEBALL LEGEND

SEE PAGE EIGHT

Govt told to prove refugees’ two-year detention is lawful

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE government has been ordered to prove it acted lawfully when officials detained a group of asylum seekers who sought to take refuge in the country after fleeing Cameroon over fear of persecution.

Last year, Human Rights Bahamas accused the

Department of Immigration of “illegally detaining” the asylum seekers, who according to the activist organisation, “fled a violent sectarian conflict in Cameroon where they were targeted as members of a minority group”.

The watchdog group claimed the detainees had not been charged SEE PAGE TWO

DREAM TAKES FLIGHT

MAKE-UP artist Ruth Rolle has taken her passion for travel and turned it into a business. See Weekend for the full story.

OVER-65s INVITED TO TAKE COVID VACCINE MP INSISTS HIS FIRM STAFF AIM TO STOP DIDN’T CAUSE FIRE ZNS PENSION MOVE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

VACCINATION sites across New Providence will have the capacity to vaccinate over 2,000 people daily once the country has enough supplies, according to the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee Deputy Chair Ed Fields.

According to committee

officials, people age 65 and older will also now be able to book their vaccine appointments online.

Vaccination sites already identified include Princess Margaret Hospital, Doctors Hospital, Loyola Hall as well as several other medical facilities.

Two of those sites have since been officially launched – PMH and SEE PAGE FOUR

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NORTH Eleuthera MP Rickey Mackey has alleged in an affidavit that his gas company – accused of negligently causing a fire that destroyed four residential units in Harbour Island – did not require licences as

plaintiffs claim in a lawsuit.

His affidavit, filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, counters claims that when Eleuthera Petroleum Limited was hired to fill a propane tank in June 2018, it negligently caused an explosion that destroyed the residential units and displaced residents.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

TWENTY-FOUR hours after a staff walk out, the union representing staff at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas said it intends to file an application for an injunction

against a salary deduction to cover workers’ health insurance payments.

Dozens of BCB staffers walked off the job on Wednesday, protesting a salary deduction of some $100 that represents 20 percent of the co-payment requirements for their health insurance.

SEE PAGE TWO

‘WE MUST WATCH OUT FOR DOUBLE STANDARDS’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said politicians are damaging their credibility by campaigning and hosting political events with large gatherings while COVID19 rules are still in place.

Current rules restrict social gatherings on New Providence.

Up until yesterday,

FNM supporters campaigning in Centreville last weekend. emergency protocols restricted the number of people who could attend weddings and funerals and participate in graveside

services to 20.

However an Emergency Powers (COVID-19 Pandemic) Order released last night relaxed some of these rules. Funerals can now be held at the graveside with a maximum of 40 people, excluding officiants. Meanwhile weddings on New Providence, and mainland Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera, may now be held in a religious facility once the number of attendees is SEE PAGE THREE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

A DAY OF HOPE THAT TURNED INTO TRAGEDY

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Friday, March 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Staff aim to stop ZNS pension move from page one

ZNS staff during their walkout this week.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

Workers who are members of both the Bahamas Communication and Public Officers Union (BCPOU) and Bahamas Communication and Public Managers Union (BCPMU) took part in the walk out to protest the deduction.

BCPOU president Dino Rolle said his members simply just cannot bear the burden of the cost. And, he said although the corporation’s management needs the union’s consent to make the deduction, employees discovered this pay period that the money was deducted without their permission.

“Management certainly is adamant about the stance they have taken to... deduct from my members salary,” Mr Rolle said. “So there seems to be from their part, no turning around.

They seem to be continuing on their path... As for the union, both BCPMU and BCPOU in protection

of our members we will be filing an injunction in the Supreme Court either today or tomorrow.

Before this, employees were not required to contribute to a co-pay for medical insurance. Mr Rolle said rather than waiting on the union to agree to the deduction as management was advised to do by the Department of Labour, it sought instead to come out and “run roughshod over members” by removing the money from their salaries.

He pointed out that ZNS is a government sponsored entity that does not pay well and insisted that the deduction is just not something that his members can afford.

“I know all of the necessary papers would have been forwarded to our attorneys,” he said. “I left something in my office to be delivered to our attorney this morning and it has been taken to our attorneys.

“My members are back at work today. I have had

no contact with management in that regard. They have already began the deductions and I think they believe that they have succeeded in what they set out to do. We are just making noise in the building as far as they are concerned. So we are left with no other choice, but to seek legal redress from the courts.

For his part, BCB chairman, Fred Gottlieb, denied Wednesday’s action was a walkout by staff.

“As far as I understand what transpired yesterday was not a walk out,” Mr Gottlieb said. “It was simply a gathering of employees at ZNS during the course of the day.

“In regards to the talks of the court action, we will deal with that when once it manifests itself and becomes a reality.”

When asked about future industrial action to be taken

by ZNS staff, Mr Rolle said the union and employees are not planning any further work disruption and is instead focusing on the promised court action.

GOVT TOLD TO PROVE REFUGEES’ TWO-YEAR DETENTION IS LAWFUL from page one with nor convicted of any crime in The Bahamas and argued the government had no legal justification for holding them indefinitely. The group also said all of the asylum seekers were interviewed by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and were in the process of having their political refugee status officially confirmed.

Yesterday, a Supreme Court judge granted the attorneys representing the detainees leave to issue a writ of habeas corpus against Attorney General Carl Bethel, Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson,

Immigration Director Clarence Russel and Peter Joseph, the officer in charge of the Carmichael Detention Centre.

Justice Bernard Turner’s order said the respondents have until April 7 to file a return explaining the reasons the applicants have been detained for nearly two years and proving why they should not be released immediately. He also said none of the respondents, or a person or agency acting on their behalf, would be allowed to deport, expel, remove or repatriate any of the applicants from the country until the matter was completed or a further order was issued.

Calendars & Co filed the action on the grounds

the government continued to “falsely imprison” the asylum seekers in breach of their constitutional rights.

The law firm recently filed the affidavit of Wislande Geffrard, a legal assistant of the chamber, who stated that Fred Smith, QC, in December 2020, wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield and National Security Minister Marvin Dames to request the “urgent release of the applicants”.

“The respondents did not respond to the letter sent by Mr Smith but they published a press release indicating that once they have ‘completed the screening process and agree the criteria have been met, the government would then

move to grant asylum status or (assist the asylum seeker to find a more appropriate third state in which to obtain that status),’” the court documents read.

“I am advised by the applicants’ attorneys that where the liberty of the person is in question, there must be the ‘strictest compliance with the law’ and that holding someone in custody while investigations are ongoing is unlawful. I am also advised that administrative arrests are unlawful and seeking refugee status is not a criminal offence and therefore not a lawful reason for keeping them in custody.”

Mr Geffrard said the applicants travelled to The Bahamas with “very little

clothing and have been rotating their clothing and underwear since May 2019.” He also stated the detainees have relatives in America who were willing to assist them financially until a decision was made on their refugee applications. He said these facts proved the detainees would not be a “burden on the state” if they were released.

Last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement asserting the government was satisfied the rights of detainees had not been violated. At the time, they also said the COVID19 pandemic had hampered the repatriation of detainees to their home countries as well as the processing of asylum seekers.

“The processing of asylum seekers by both the government and the UNHCR has been impacted by pandemic related challenges,” the statement read.

“The government and the UNHCR have remained in close contact during this period in order to complete the process of screening, and the UNHCR representative visited the Detention Centre on several occasions and made no reports of violations to the government.

“The government is satisfied that at no time have the rights of any detainees been violated. It is further satisfied that there has been full compliance with established protocols, as well as with both international law and domestic law.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, March 19, 2021, PAGE 3

PLP supporters - some not wearing masks properly, in close proximity to one another during the recent ratification meeting.

Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

‘We must watch out for double standards’ from page one

limited to one third of the capacity of the facility.

The Free National

Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party, by contrast, have held recent campaign gatherings which clearly feature more than

20 people.

While restaurants remain largely restricted to outdoor dining, the major political parties have occasionally

hosted ratification exercises behind closed doors which feature dozens of people.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and PLP

FUNERAL AND WEDDING RESTRICTIONS RELAXED THE government has relaxed restrictions on weddings and funerals, allowing a maximum of 40 people at graveside services and marriage ceremonies in churches on islands where this was prohibited.

The new measures were outlined in an amendment to the Emergency Powers Order issued yesterday.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said a graveside service or internment may now be held with a maximum of 40 people, not including the officiant and mortuary workers, on all islands of The Bahamas.

On the islands of New Providence, and mainland Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera, a wedding may now be held in a religious facility, provided that the number of attendees is limited to one third of the capacity of the facility. Physical distancing, mask wearing and sanitisation protocols, and other

guidelines issued by the Bahamas Christian Council and approved by the Ministry of Health must also be followed.

All other provisions related to funerals and weddings remain the same, the Office of the Prime Minister said.

The announcement came after wedding industry stakeholders and a local religious leader complained about continued restrictions.

Earlier this week, Bahamas Christian Council President Delton Fernander criticised large political groups who have been campaigning in constituencies while some COVID restrictions remain on churches.

He pointed to funerals that up until last night were only allowed at the graveside with a maximum of 20 people, not including the officiant or mortuary workers.

He also said Lent, the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in

the Christian calendar, has been traditionally respected as a time when no campaigning takes place.

Over the weekend the Free National Movement was seen with a large group in the Centreville constituency.

Yesterday, The Tribune reported that organisers of the annual Bahamas Bridal Show were upset that COVID-19 restrictions on the wedding industry had not yet been relaxed. Before the latest amendment, weddings were limited to only 20 people, excluding an officiant.

In a statement, they said the wedding industry is currently operating at about 10 percent, lamenting it will take “at least three years” for businesses in the sector to recover.

At the time, the organisers of the bridal show said they had received no response from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis about their situation.

Chairman Fred Mitchell told the press recently that health protocols have been followed at their parties’ respective campaign events.

However, some people at both parties’ events have clearly congregated within less than six feet of each other. At the most recent PLP event, some people did not wear masks.

Dr Sands, who appeared yesterday on The Hit Back with Nahaja Black show on Guardian Radio, said Bahamians are taking note of the double standards.

“What it does is it damages credibility and it makes it harder to achieve the end that it wants,” he said. “In large part the Bahamian people are not only compliant, they are fairly agreeable but they are also very perceptive. So they look at what we do and they say, ‘ok, I see the play, so it’s okay for you, but it’s not okay for me?’

“When people say ‘well, okay, you could have 100 people campaign but you could only have 20 people

come to a wedding or to a funeral, now how that work again? So the virus don’t mess with people who campaigning, hey?’

“It becomes very important to call us out, the politicians, when these things happen. It is so so important, because sometimes you get caught up in the moment and you say boy ya know I had one pile of people campaigning with me and boom, everything good, but if it is good to campaign with 100 people, why would it not be okay to have 100 people at a funeral? The mixed messages confuse.

“We don’t always get it right, I don’t get it right, but if you are willing to say ‘hey, I screwed up, I’m sorry, if I get to do a do over I wouldn’t do it like this, the same way,’ then I think we would make up for it.”

The political events come as Bahamians continue to clamour for relaxed restrictions as reported COVID-19 cases remain stable in the country.

the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a pilot phase conducted at Loyola Hall on Sunday.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, Health Minister Renward Wells and other officials, were also among the nation’s first to receive the injections during that pilot phase.

The shots are a part of the 20,000 doses of the

AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the Indian government last week.

The country is expected to receive an additional 33,600 COVID-19 vaccine doses before the end of March through the World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility.

A further shipment of approximately 66,000 vaccines is expected to arrive by the end of May.

GOVERNOR GENERAL RECEIVES FIRST DOSE OF VACCINE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNOR General Sir Cornelius A Smith received his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Loyola Hall yesterday, joining dozens of other people who have been inoculated.

“I feel very fine. I didn’t even realise the needle

went there,” Sir Cornelius told reporters after getting his shot.

Asked if he recommended that others also take the vaccine, he replied: “Absolutely.”

His wife, Lady Clara Smith, was also vaccinated yesterday.

Their vaccinations came following a power outage at the facility, which resulted in a late start into

yesterday’s exercise.

Minutes after the outage occurred, the facility’s back-up generator kicked in – allowing for operations there to begin.

One official told reporters at the time they expected that power would be restored at the vaccination site “ very shortly”.

He also said that the facility could have operated for about 30 minutes without

CENSUS GOES ONLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY FOR the first time in census history, the Department of Statistics will introduce online options for the completion of a digital census questionnaire.

After unavoidable delays due to Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, pre-census activities are finally getting underway for the 2021 Census of Population and Housing scheduled for September, the Ministry of Finance announced yesterday.

The Department of Statistics will be conducting an exercise from April to July to establish a listing database that will allow for the digital and online census taking.

During the listing exercise, all buildings and dwellings in New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands will be listed by enumeration district. The listing will be compiled to create a comprehensive national register of households, which will be utilised during the official

census exercise.

“This year signals a landmark accomplishment for the Ministry of Finance through the Department of Statistics. For the first time in The Bahamas, the Census of Population and Housing will be conducted electronically. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 environment, the department plans to introduce alternative methods of data collection namely, online, telephone and personal interviews”, said Leona Wilson, acting director of the Department of Statistics.

“In addition to the building and dwelling data, the department will be collecting contact information for every dwelling, which will enable us to give the householder access to the web in order to complete their census questionnaire online,” she said.

The Department of Statistics intends to hire approximately 170 listers (field workers) from New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands to

assist with this exercise.

These listers will canvas every enumeration district throughout the country to collect GPS coordinates, the dwelling description and the contact for each dwelling.

The information provided will be kept in strictest confidence and used only for statistical purposes, the ministry said.

In adherence to the established health protocols, there will be no in-house visits. Ms Wilson said that each lister will be required to wear a photo identification issued by the department and bearing the signature of the acting director along with a vest with “The Department of Statistics” printed on the back. Finally, each household will be given a letter signed by the acting director of statistics regarding the listing exercise.

The 2020 Census was expected to begin last September, but was delayed due to COVID-19.

having power.

The country officially rolled out its vaccination campaign against COVID19 on Wednesday, when more than 60 healthcare workers and senior executives from the Public Hospitals Authority were inoculated.

Ruth Bastian, a public health nurse since 1975, was the first person in the country to receive

PAGE 4, Friday, March 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Over-65s invited to take COVID vaccine

from page one

Loyola Hall on Gladstone Road, the latter of which began operations yesterday.

An official also confirmed that Doctors Hospital began vaccinating their staff yesterday, but is not yet administering shots to the Bahamian public.

However, healthcare workers can still book their vaccine appointments with the local hospital through its online system which went live yesterday.

Meanwhile, Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre is expected to begin vaccinations today and Grand Bahama Health Services on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at Loyola Hall, Mr Fields said officials had initially planned to roll out the identified sites simultaneously, but decided against it after conducting their pilot phase on Sunday.

“We had planned to open all of the institutions in one day, but we did a pilot on Sunday and as a result of the pilot, we determined ‘hey, the best strategy to do is to open in a staggered way so that we can be as efficient as possible,’” he said.

According to Mr Fields, the Gladstone Road facility has the capacity to vaccinate up to 500 people a day.

Meanwhile, at Princess Margaret Hospital, officials estimate that workers there can vaccinate a minimum of 120 workers a day.

TOTAL CASES TOTAL DEATHS

8,815 186

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES WEDNESDAY 15 CASES NEW PROVIDENCE 7 GRAND BAHAMA 6 ABACO 2

TOTAL TESTS

72,503

HOSPITALISED

26

CASES IN ICU

3

RECOVERED

7,687

15 NEW CASES CONFIRMED FIFTEEN new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Wednesday.

According to the latest information from the Ministry of Health, seven of the cases are in New Providence, six are He also said that if the country had enough vaccine supply, workers could vaccinate 2,500 people in New Providence daily.

“Right now, we have this particular centre opened,”

in Grand Bahama, and two are in Abaco. The country now has 8,815 recorded cases.

At last report, 26 people were in hospital with three of those in intensive care.

Mr Fields said of Loyola Hall. “This is opened to 500…We have eight stations here and we can do so many half an hour and so many an hour today.

“Princess Margaret can

do (and) they’re doing about 80 or so a day and they can expand that and they’re doing that on demand. We’re going to go to Sandilands today to look at their capacity.

Doctors Hospital has the capacity to do about 100 and something a day and so the capacity is commensurate with what the supply is and what those facilities can do because you have to have enough space and vaccinators.”

He added: “If we had all the vaccines in the world, we could do 2,500 people a day because we have the sites already identified.

We have the sites already planned. We are even looking through drivethrough sites so we’re ready to go once we get the supply.”

Individuals eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase include: healthcare workers in the public sector, and private sector healthcare workers participating in the vaccination rollout; residents and staff of eldercare homes and non-ambulatory residents registered in the public health system; and staff of the uniformed branches.

It was previously announced that critical workers in high-risk settings and other essential services would also be included in the first priority group.

However, Mr Fields confirmed that protocols have changed due to limited vaccine supply.

It is also not clear who

will be in the next priority group, with Mr Fields only telling reporters that the matter will be dependent on several factors. He said the committee will provide additional updates in the days ahead.

“Right now, we have 20,000 doses, that’s the supply,” he told reporters.

“The demand is so much greater so we’re focused right now on healthcare workers and some nursing homes, etc, and as we see the uptick, we will then strategise where we go next so we have to be very cautious in terms of how we distribute based on our supply so, we want to ensure that given the uncertainty of supply that we have enough of the second dose for the people who would’ve taken it this go.”

He added: “We are in a situation where every day is another strategy depending on supply… and we will have to look to see if the supply that we were promised at the end of March is coming in and we may have to change the strategy again based on that. So, what we can promise to do is make sure we keep you updated and we do.”

Asked how many frontline workers are expected to be vaccinated in the first phase, Mr Fields could not say. However, he estimated that there could be a total of some 20,000 workers in the healthcare and uniformed branches sector.

“I mean we think that there’s about between uniformed services and the

health care workers, it could be close to 20,000.

We don’t know the uptake.

It could be 25 percent. It could be 50 percent. It could be 60 percent,” he continued, adding that officials expected yesterday’s vaccination exercise to be a “quiet” day.

He said the committee is expecting the numbers to ramp up in the days ahead.

Yesterday’s vaccination exercise at Loyola Hall did not come without any issues, however.

The process got off to a slight late start after a power outage occurred at the facility sometime around 8:25 am. Ten minutes later, the facility’s back-up generator kicked in – allowing for operations there to begin.

Governor General Sir Cornelius A Smith was the first person to receive the first dose of the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine at Loyola Hall yesterday.

Mr Fields assured reporters that the committee has a contingency plan in place for the protection of COVID-19 vaccines at all sites in the event of power outages.

He also addressed concerns about vaccines expiring due to vaccine hesitancy.

“First of all, we’re not taking vaccines…we won’t take them if they are nearing the expiration date. I can tell you that from our chairman’s perspective that anything that’s near (its) expiration date is a no go,” he said.

MITCHELL: VACCINE A TOOL TO REOPEN ECONOMY

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

SENATOR Fred Mitchell says the COVID-19 vaccine should be viewed as a tool in the country’s arsenal to open the economy.

He said not only did he and Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis agree to receive the shot, but “all of us” intend to take the vaccine when it becomes available.

He addressed the matter in the Senate yesterday, saying there were some of the view that the party had not made its position on the COVID-19 vaccine clear.

“I would like to address the question of the vaccines since it was raised,” he said.

“I am not a vaccine

denier and I think vaccines are valuable for health and people should, given the best science, take the vaccine.

“I will do it myself and Dr (Michael) Darville has said that he will do it. Our leader has said he will do it.

“I say this because I was just reading what the Attorney General has just forwarded to me the decision by the EU with regard to the specific vaccine, which is supplied here to The Bahamas, the AstraZeneca vaccine, which the EU now says their concerns have been allayed.”

Mr Mitchell said he was not trying to impose a choice on anyone, adding the matter came down to personal conviction.

“I know there are some religions who say as a matter of faith they do

not believe in vaccines but as a public health issue I think it is important for us to address this as one of the tools in the arsenal to open up this economy,” Mr Mitchell said.

“That is the only way ultimately it seems to me this financial quagmire that we’re in can ultimately be resolved is if this economy is open and there is a balance between the public health measures and opening up the economy.

“So, I just wanted to make that clear, some people said that our position is not clear.

“All of us intend to take the vaccine and I hope that demonstrates the point.”

If elected, the PLP says it would provide free COVID-19 testing and vaccines to the public.

“We have a moral duty to bring immediate relief to

the thousands who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in dire circumstances,” PLP Deputy Leader Chester Cooper said recently.

“It starts with a COVID19 plan that goes beyond vaccines and lockdowns, to save livelihoods as well as lives.

“We will offer free testing to all Bahamians concerned they’ve been exposed to COVID-19; eliminate restrictions not based on science; strengthen isolation protocols in clinics and hospitals; increase the speed of contact tracing to stop new outbreaks; engage in a public education campaign to give Bahamians the information they need to mitigate their risk, especially through improved ventilation, in their homes, churches and places of business.”

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell receives his first vaccine dose yesterday.

GRAND BAHAMA RESIDENTS LOOKING FORWARD TO JAB

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

WITH the COVID19 vaccination campaign expected to begin in Grand Bahama on Monday, many residents appear ready to take the shot when it becomes available.

The Tribune spoke with several Grand Bahama residents yesterday while at Port Lucaya Marketplace to get their views on the issue.

Freeport attorney Kirk Antoni said he will definitely get vaccinated as soon as he can.

“I will be first in line,” said Mr Antoni. “I am a doctor’s son and I looked at the science and I talked to the doctors and they say it is safe to take it; I will be the first in line as soon as it is available.”

He also said: “I have no fear in taking the vaccine because the more of us that take the vaccine the more herd immunity will start.”

Herd immunity or community immunity is when a large part of the population of an area is immune to a specific disease.

Mr Antoni also noted that people wishing to

travel will likely need to be vaccinated.

“I think you are going to have to have a vaccine passport to be able to travel anymore, and when you think about it right now the cost of taking all these PCR tests, travelling to Nassau and the (United) States, will be reduced once we have the vaccine.”

Although Nyia Walkine has some trepidation about the vaccine, she said that she will probably get vaccinated.

“I have mixed feelings about it,” she said, noting the speed in which the vaccines were developed was

an area of concern for her.

Still Ms Walkine, an entrepreneur and mother of two, said with airlines and the hotel industry likely to mandate vaccines for travel, she will probably take it. “(If) you have to get the vaccine to travel, that is automatic, so I probably would get it. My daughter goes to school abroad, and so that might be a requirement for her going back to the classroom and so she won’t have a choice.”

Marketing specialist Valdez Russell is thinking of taking the vaccine as well.

“As we emerge through

COVID-19 it is important for us to have access to modern elements that is going to help us to all be better,” he said.

Mr Russell said that choice and flexibility are important, along with planning and preparation.

“As I think about taking the vaccine, it is my hope to do that here in The Bahamas. It is also my hope that we have access to all of the best choices so I can make an informed and educated decision around my health,” he said.

Pastor Kenneth Fowler, of Eagles Nest Disciple Centre, said there is so much information circulating around about the various vaccines on the market.

“There is just so much information being given, and there are those who think we should not get it, and those who think we should,” he said.

Pastor Fowler said vaccinations have been around for years.

“We have been all right with it, and I believe there are some who might be affected by it. I will not tell my congregation to go ahead and get it, I will tell them to pray about it.

“As for myself personally, I am leaning more to being vaccinated. I heard all the negative talk around it. I am close to 70 so I had vaccinations before, and I am still here. And there might be those who have complications…and so there could be some adverse affects.

“I have no problem personally taking the vaccine when it is my turn. I am happy that the competent authority is giving those in the frontline first, and I think all things should be done by prayer. So, I would not tell someone to do it.”

Businessman Brian Seymour believes that the benefits outweigh the risks.

“Well, I know there is a lot of apprehension with this vaccine, but the benefits outweigh the risks. “. . .So, the AstraZeneca vaccine once it becomes available, I will be more than happy to take it so we could get back to some normalcy working without taking all sorts of risks.

“Whether we like it or not, travel in the future you are not going to be able to go to much places without having it. So, it comes down to which vaccine you want.

But you will have to take it because countries will not allow you in their jurisdiction unless you have it, and you are not going to be able to go on cruises,” Mr Seymour predicted.

“I hear all the conspiracy theories and stuff like that, but vaccines are the reality right now, and they have gotten better. The two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine that will be available to Bahamians, when it comes I will be taking it,” Mr Seymour said.

The government received 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and began vaccinations this week.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, March 19, 2021, PAGE 5

‘More must be done’ to tackle child abuse

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net AFTER Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell released the latest child abuse statistics, one local advocate said more must be done to look at the root cause of abuse in Bahamian society.

On Wednesday, Mr Campbell said there were 382 reported cases of child abuse from January 2020 to February of this year.

When contacted for

reaction, Bahamas Crisis Centre director Dr Sandra Dean-Patterson said while she had not seen the statistics, high rates of abuse against children have been an issue for some time. “(The rates of abuse) it’s been high,” she said.

“It’s been very worrying.

That’s why we keep making noise about it. That’s why we keep raising awareness to it. That’s how children learn violence really by being exposed to it and that’s how you can have so much (trauma) in our

country...”

She commended the government for passing a law that mandated people who suspect that a child is being abused to report it to authorities. Dr DeanPatterson believes this has resulted in more people reporting abuse.

Still, she said more must be done to determine which issues — such as poverty and lack of child support — are contributing to the social ill.

“We still have a very dysfunctional system of child

support and I know that we’ve been talking about improving the family court system because that to me, that’s the earliest intervention where you can make sure that families are supported. Financially supported and not put in positions where children go hungry or children end up being the victims of the anger or the violence in their parents.”

As for the pandemic possibly contributing to the child abuse problem, she responded: “We haven’t

done any research on it but it wouldn’t be surprising to know that abuse is higher during this period when people are not working. When people are very stressed. When people are homeless and people are living in their cars and not being able to do what they used to do with their children.

“Then of course you know the fact the children are having to work from home and you know do online learning and if you’re a parent that doesn’t

have the resources and you haven’t been fortunate enough to get a tablet for your children or may not even have electricity in your house.

“You know there’s lots and lots of stressors in the country and if parents don’t know how to deal with their stress and not aware of how the stress could be causing them to react poorly with their children then you would see the numbers increase and the isolation that a lot of families are experiencing now.”

HYGIENE KITS PROVIDED TO SUPPORT WOMEN AND GIRLS ACROSS The Bahamas, there are instances where disadvantaged women and girls, some with disabilities and other special needs, have limited access to basic hygiene supplies.

This can have an impact on their education experience, access to work opportunities, participation and performance in society, and their human dignity overall.

In an effort to help ladies in need, CIBC FirstCaribbean recognised International Women’s Day by packaging a hundred hygiene kits and additional boxes of much-needed hygiene supplies purchased by the bank for distribution through the Dignified Girl Project (DGP).

DGP has continued its efforts through the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic to try to ensure that every woman and adolescent girl has access to feminine hygiene essentials and education.

According to the nonprofit organisation’s founder, Phillipa Dean,

the packed kits and supplementary hygiene products donated by the bank will be received by women and girls in innercity communities during an upcoming ‘pop-up’ that will adhere to social distancing protocols.

“For at least one month, over one hundred women and girls will not have to worry about where to get these basic supplies from,” said Mrs Dean.

Included in the kits prepared by women of CIBC FirstCaribbean were menstrual products, deodorant sticks, toothbrushes and toothpastes.

Gezel Farrington, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s director of retail banking channels, said, “Economic challenges have a ripple effect on so many aspects of society.

CIBC FirstCaribbean has continued to support food security initiatives as well as other community outreach activities and, for International Women’s Day, wanted to put a special focus on assisting women and girls in need.”

She added, “As individuals make financial cutbacks and adjustments now more than ever before due to the impacts of COVID-19, we believe that one aspect that should never be compromised is the access to and the use of feminine and other basic hygiene products.”

Beyond giving women and girls access to products like those donated

by CIBC FirstCaribbean, the Dignified Girl Project continues to educate adolescent girls about feminine health and hygiene while simultaneously destigmatising menstruation in society.

With a distribution centre now open in Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, additional funding will go toward introducing the same to Abaco and Grand Bahama. Financial backing will also help the organisation to increase data collection in The Bahamas, support DGP’s operational expenses and secure a physical space for its growing inventory.

BETHEL: 5G IS COMING

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel has announced that telecommunications companies have submitted recommendations to the government for the implementation of a 5G network in The Bahamas.

“Let me assure the Bahamian people, 5G is coming,” Mr Bethel said in the Senate yesterday, as he revealed it was the Cabinet’s decision to approach the country’s communications giants to have discussions about 5G. 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. Phone companies began introducing the technology around the world in 2019.

“One of the issues raised was the question of devising a strategy for the implementation of 5G within our lifetimes and as soon as practicable,” Mr Bethel said.

“I asked the agencies, the two giants, to either prepare a separate or collaborative report.

“Well, being in a state of competition they went so far and combined, up to a certain point, their recommendations and then for competitive reasons they each went and did other things into separate reports that have now been received (and) turned over now to the appropriate minister for implementation.

“I was minister of the regulator and I put the lions in the cage. Having done that, those reports as soon as received were turned over to the minister and I am sure that he will be able to in short order I believe he’s speaking

tomorrow to give a more full presentation.

“But, the government of The Bahamas I assure you now has already weighed in with our private sector partners and they have fully embraced the challenge to devise plans which the honourable minister, who we say is the best of the lot and I agree he is one of the best of all of us will no doubt push through towards an early conclusion.”

Mr Bethel said State Finance Minister Kwasi Thompson was expected to make further comment on the matter at a later date.

He was responding to Senator Fred Mitchell, leader of opposition business in the Senate, who raised concern that the country could not advance efficiently into a digital economy while plagued by telecommunications issues.

He said: “When I go to Grand Bahama in the middle of every call whether using the phone network or using the data network (there are) dropped calls, dropped data. Sometimes you have to wait two and three minutes for it to come back up and (also) here in New Providence.

“So, all I say is one day you know you go to the ATM and it keeps spinning, spinning, spinning you know. Central Bank is saying it’s going to become a digital currency and all of the digital stuff. Nothing in my view beats cold hard cash. It’s the greatest invention of mankind because it’s easy to use and no issues.

So, that’s my feel on that and I mention that because in the last couple of weeks there was a statement by the now CEO of BTC a man named Andre Foster.

“The first time I’ve seen the telephone company’s actually address the

question of 5G and what they are going to do. Now, my feeling is and this is the suggestion to my own party is that he says 5G will come in (20)22 or (20)23. I don’t know how you’re going to build a digital economy unless you improve this service.

“My view is that the Bahamas government ought to form a public corporation and do from island to island within the islands a complete fibre network to digitise this country, which we will own and the phone companies can take in offers if they want, but they clearly do not in my view have the national interest of this country.”

He continued: “What they are doing is selling cell phones. You know the more cellphones you sell and extracting profits and fancy ads and all of this but national development cannot move forward in my view unless there is a proper digital platform and infrastructure for The Bahamas and I’d like to advocate that.”

New BTC CEO Andre Foster recently told Guardian Radio that to build a 5G network locally would require partnership with other providers because it needs “so much investment from an infrastructure perspective.” Mr Foster said there was no real demand locally for such a network, therefore it will likely not be built until next year or 2023.

In 2019, Aliv’s Chief Officer Damian Blackburn said the company was “keeping a close eye” on global developments around 5G, the next generation of mobile technology, even though he suggested this was unlikely to become “commercially available” until 2022.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank staff pack basic hygiene supplies for more than 100 bags for women and girls in need.

Photo: ashley@serenawilliams-pr.com

Public Consultation Lighthouse Point

The public is advised that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Disney Cruise Line’s project at Lighthouse Point, Eleuthera, The Bahamas, is available for review.

The development, a Cruise Ship Destination, will include an open-trestle pier and marina that don’t require dredging, open-air buildings and other structures, walking paths, a new public roadway, service roads, and back-of-house support areas. The development will utilize 16% of the 758-acre site, with Disney donating 25% of the site to the people and Government of The Bahamas. Bahamian residents and citizens will have access to the site.

A public meeting will be held on Thursday, April 8, at 6 p.m. via Zoom with the meeting ID: 979 4656 3786.

Information about the project and a downloadable version of the Environmental Impact Assessment are available at http://www.lighthousepointbahamas. com. The EIA is available to the public for review at the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection and the Eleuthera Administrator’s Office in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, during normal business hours. The public is invited to send written comments to inquiries@depp.gov.bs or via the project’s website noted above no later than 21 days after the public meeting or April 29, 2021, by 5pm.

PAGE 6, Friday, March 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Why do we allow this abuse to continue?

IT happens every day.

The figures released for child abuse cases in the past year showed there were 382 reported cases between January 2020 and February this year. That’s more than one for every day.

That’s just the reported cases, of course. What about the cases we see on the streets or in our families that don’t get reported?

We see the children sent out on the streets to hustle for money, selling cookies or carrying sponsorship forms for events that never happen while an adult sits in a car nearby letting them do the work.

We see the swift hand that comes out to hit a child in the street from their parent or guardian, that seems to be part of the everyday existence for that child.

We see the videos that circulate from time to time showing children being subjected to abuses in places where they should be safe.

Worse, sometimes when these cases come to light, there are those who call up the talk shows and defend the beating of children, such as the woman in January this year who rang a show to say that “if you don’t beat, the children will beat you”.

It’s an all too commonplace attitude.

More must be done, call concerned voices, but it seems little is actually done.

We know the roots of much of it, of course. There are the broken families with absent fathers, there is the poverty and lack of child support experienced by many families.

It goes beyond that though with too widespread acceptance of beating of children, with too many saying that they got clipped when they were growing up and there’s nothing wrong with it. They say that even as they raise the hand to hit the next generation, and we wonder why nothing ever changes.

Things are likely even worse under the pandemic – with people stuck in homes and unable to get away from their abuser, and the economic pain hitting harder than ever for so many left without jobs.

That we don’t know how much worse it is shows how little research is going on into the issue – this should be a concern

front and centre for those whose job it is to protect those in need, but it doesn’t feel like it is.

But if we are to have a brighter future, we must not forget that every single day a child is being abused. Every single day.

How much longer must that go on before we decide it has to stop? How much longer before we are serious about change?

Asylum seekers A group of asylum seekers sought refuge here in The Bahamas after fleeing Cameroon amid fears of persecution.

The government detained them. Now the government has to show it didn’t act illegally.

Human Rights Bahamas says the detention was illegal, saying the detainees had not been charged or convicted of any crime in The Bahamas and so the government had no justification for holding them indefinitely.

The government has been on the wrong end of a number of cases involving detention, and now it faces a battle to explain why it was right to keep these people locked up for nearly two years.

Fred Smith, QC, has been a constant thorn in the side of the government on these issues – and he’s on the case again here.

In the meantime, the asylum seekers, who have committed no crime, remain locked up.

If the government loses the case, we would hope it would go beyond simply chalking it up as a court defeat and moving on while operating the same rules.

Isn’t there a better way than to keep locking people up, especially when there is nothing to suggest that they would be a danger or a burden on our society?

Wouldn’t a complete overhaul make sense so that people aren’t being badgered for documents when there is no law compelling people to carry such papers?

That we keep seeing cases come to the courts, and we keep seeing the government lose cases, suggests that something is wrong with the process or the administration. We really ought to learn from that – and stop repeating this same cycle.

Protests by detention officers EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WATCHED the protest demonstration by prison officers this week and could only shake my head with a sarcastic laugh. As a former prison inmate I ask you to consider my words very carefully. A vast amount of the crime issues that are plaguing this country are a direct result of the absolutely appalling, degrading and inhumane treatment of inmates over the years.

For ten years, I witnessed my fellow Bahamian men slapped, punched, kicked and cry like babies as they were stripped naked and beaten with belts and pipes for issues that could have been handled without force or violence. I saw officers laugh as men were intentionally placed in certain cells so they could be gang raped. I watched officers who were

entrusted by the Bahamian people to help and reform inmates, simply laugh or turn a blind eye when these human rights violations and crimes against humanity were carried out against our own Bahamian men.

These same officers who protested have yet to once complain that in the year 2021, Bahamian men are still forced to deficate in slop buckets; given hard labour with not even minor pay; have not seen their loved ones for over one year or are locked away for more than 23 hours a day. Or that men imprisoned for petty crimes are forced to live next to serial rapists and murderers. They ignore that our men are being verbally, physically and emotionally broken every day by the same officers who were entrusted to help them. It

is some of these same officers who are trafficking an immense amount of drugs and cell phones into the prison, but it is the inmates who are beaten and punished when found with the contraband. It is the prison system that is breading criminals.

It is both sad and ironic that the same people who are now crying for mercy, justice, fairness and favour are the very ones who show little or none to their own fellow Bahamian who for but a time are called “inmate”. Officers complain about the Minister, but not since Hon Cynthia Mother Pratt has a Minister made such a genuine effort to help inmates. Thank you for your efforts Minister Dames.

L TAYLOR Nassau, March 18, 2021.

The prison is unhappy EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE difficult working conditions at the Bahamas Department of Corrections absolutely deserve to be taken into account.

That strike yesterday is far deeper than a union mobilisation.

Those officers cannot take it anymore; working in an increasingly unsafe environment, working overtime without pay, and other officers’ shift because of staffing shortages; this is ridiculous!

Yesterday, Senior Officer Whymns when asked the question, “Do you feel like you’re being taking advantage of?” her response was, “Miss, we are being walked on.” An officer of 31 years felt that deep.

The government is building, the government is doing groundbreaking, the government is opening bridges, but yet have not tabled anything for prison reform. This is not something that just happened, this has been like this far too long that governments fail to address.

It was terrifying to hear that officers transporting particular inmates, some with bounty’s on their heads, breaking down in the road. What

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net kind of nonsense is this?

You supplied a COVID19 ambassador team with almost 10 new cars, the Royal Bahamas Police Force with car upgrades, new government vehicles for senior officials; but have yet to release a slate of vehicles to the Department of Correction? This is why the people are feeling they are being walked on! They feel forgotten!

The officer was very right in her statement yesterday when she said this country sleeps at peace at night because of the correction officers. They play a vital role. And to have them striking poses a serious threat to our safety.

The jail that was designed to hold so many are now capacitated. But unfortunately, for our safety; how can the prison at this point refuse to accept the convict? Where else are they supposed to go?

This strike yesterday was far beyond pay. It was about safety, and officers have nothing to work with because just like those who occupy the jail cells, they have been thrown away and

forgotten. How can this be okay? This is not!

I urge this Minister to establish a better working environment for these officers. The prison system we have here is a mess. We’ve upgraded to Corrections, and I’m not even sure that this is what is being instituted with such limited resources.

It is time to implement a strong prison reform that works for officers and inmates. Because not only do we need a new prison, we need a new prison culture. That is if we meant correction to rehabilitate these individuals. But at the same token, who is to do that when the persons designated are not happy?

There’s a saying, “happy wife, happy home.” That goes for all workplaces. I believe once your employees are happy, they will effectively do their jobs.

I wish to remind the government the prison is a vital part of our safety for all communities. The lives of officers are very important.

They are not animals, they are not dumb, or uneducated; many of them love what they do; they deserve to be treated fairly!

DR MATHEO SMITH Nassau, March 18, 2021.

Zimbabwe problems EDITOR, The Tribune.

IT IS sad that Zimbabweans have no capacity to join the rest of the world to celebrate International Happiness Day because of multiple problems faced by the country. The Zimbabwean government has failed to improve the living standards of Zimbabweans and many citizens have

migrated to other countries in search of better living standards.

Zimbabweans are experiencing extreme poverty and cannot even be happy on International Happiness day because they are failing to have decent meals, proper clothing and their disposable income cannot buy anything. Happiness in Zimbabwe has been eroded by human

rights abuses, corruption and poor governance which have caused many problems.

The world should condemn the president of Zimbabwe Emmerson for failing to bring happiness after the ousting of Mugabe.

TAPIWA MUSKWE United Kingdom, March 18, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

MP INSISTS HIS FIRM DIDN’T CAUSE FIRE from page one Plaintiffs – who are seeking more than $450k in damages – allege Mr Mackey’s company was unlicenced.

Freeman Hanna, a former Ministry of Works inspector, claimed in an affidavit last month that the company did not have a dealer’s or sub-dealer’s licence to sell, store and convey liquified petroleum gas to the public, nor did the employees have an installer’s licence to connect, disconnect or fill liquified containers.

Mr Hanna alleged that when Mr Mackey approached him last year to discuss the causes of the fire, he asked him if he had any defence against the legal action brought against his company.

He claimed he told the MP his company and its employees lacked the necessary licences.

He also claimed he inspected the site of the fire on March 20, 2020 and concluded the employees of the gas company did not monitor the filling of the tank carefully, causing the tank to become overfilled and the relief valve to blow off the excess gas which then leaked and was ignited.

He said the ignited flame flashed back to the tank, which became overfilled, causing the fire.

He said the company “did not follow any of the basic standards set out in the regulations for the refilling of a bulk tank.”

Addressing Mr Hanna’s claims, Mr Mackey said in his affidavit that “the defendant does not install liquified containers and accordingly requires no licence for that purpose.”

“As regards paragraph 8 of Mr Hanna’s affidavit, in my discussion with Mr Hanna in early 2020, I approached him to enquire whether the Liquified Petroleum Act had been extended to the Family Islands in that there had always been a question as to whether or not it had been and he stated that in his view this was a misunderstanding as it applied and that was the end of the conversation,” he said.

“If, as Mr Hanna states, he was acting volatile inspector from 1999 and subsequently inspector and he was aware of the purported breach (of operating without a licence) then surely he would have said something to me about the alleged breach or does it perhaps suggest that the Act was not extended.

“At no time did I ask Mr Hanna whether he believed that EP had a defence to the action as he swears in paragraph 9 of his affidavit as I was never of the view that the company was liable.

“As regards paragraph 10 of his affidavit, I am at a loss to try and understand how Mr Hanna can suggest that he can determine the cause of a fire when inspecting a property some 21 months after a fire as he asserts.”

The plaintiffs are Justin Higgs, the owner of the four residential units and a laundromat attached to the building, and Letario Carl Higgs, one of the tenants.

Mr Higgs alleges he suffered “tremendous losses” because of the fire.

He claims that in discussions with Mr Mackey in the days after the fire, Mr Mackey admitted that his company and its employees were responsible for the blaze.

He further claims that though Mr Mackey agreed to give him resources to rebuild the structure, he has been unable to communicate with the MP so they could finish the project.

Mr Mackey, however, says he tried to help Mr Higgs given his status “as a relative of my wife and as a constituent”.

“I met with the first plaintiff and his wife and agreed to assist him by providing

the material to replace the roof of his building and commercial garbage bins to collect the debris and a donation of $10,000 towards his loss but at no time did I admit on behalf of EP any liability to the first plaintiff or his wife, nor did I offer to rebuild his structure,” he said in his affidavit.

“Since my payments of the sum of $10,000 and the provision of the material to replace the roof as I had agreed, up to the commencement of these proceedings, I received no communication from the first plaintiff suggesting that I had promised to make any further contribution towards his loss.

“With regard to the affidavit of Justin Higgs, if, as he asserts, he attempted on ‘numerous occasions’ to contact me, I know nothing of such attempts as neither I nor my wife, who is Mr Higgs’ first cousin, can recall any attempt by him to contact me or my wife up to the commencement of these proceedings.

“Mr Higgs’ statement is doubly strange given the fact that I pass his premises at least once on virtually every day when I am in Harbour Island and never once has Mr Higgs animated any desire to speak with me so he clearly made no effort to contact me.”

Mr Mackey alleges people on Harbour Island have told him Mr Higgs created a GoFundMe account to help restore his building and “received substantial donations towards the replacement costs of his building”.

“As I had received no further communication from him since our initial meeting it would suggest that he had accepted the position and required no further assistance from me,” he said. “Clearly if (which is denied) the plaintiffs were entitled to any damages from the defendant, such would be reduced substantially as a consequence of these donations.”

Mr Mackey alleges the fire was caused by Mr Higgs’ negligence, not his company.

“The fire resulted not from the negligence of the defendant but from the negligence of the first plaintiff or his agents whereby the plaintiff positioned a bulk gas tank so as to place it where, unbeknown to the defendant, exposed it to open flame within the interior of the building,” he said.

“Prior to the first plaintiff taking over the operation of the laundromat referenced in the statement of claim he was engaged in the business of preparing dryers and other equipment used in the laundromat business and by virtue therefore would have been aware of the danger of placing a gas dryer in a position that would have exposed it to a propane tank.”

Mr Mackey said his company has been in the propane gas business on Harbour Island since 1996 “and its employees are experienced and knowledgeable as regards the handling of a volatile product.”

Plaintiffs entered a $450,646.96 default judgement against Eleuthera Petroleum Ltd last year and had the Royal Bank of Canada account connected to the company frozen.

Eleuthera Petroleum, however, has succeeded in getting the judgement stricken after its lawyers argued that COVID-19 prevented the company from submitting a timely defence in the case. The case is now headed to trial.

Mr Mackey’s affidavit says: “As regards the sums claimed by both plaintiffs, if, which is denied, the defendant had any liability for the losses claimed there is in the most part no evidence to support the sums claimed and with my knowledge of construction the sums claimed are grossly excessive.”

Friday, March 19, 2021, PAGE 7

Abaco man on murder charge

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

AN Abaco man was charged with murder in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Raymond Bain, 23, of Sandy Point, Abaco, was flown to Grand Bahama where he was arraigned around 2pm before Magistrate LaQuay Laing on charges of murder and possession of ammunition.

It is alleged that on March 14 at Sandy Point, the accused intentionally caused the death of Lalphonso Stuart, a resident of Sandy Point.

Simone Brown represented Bain. He was not required to enter a plea to

the murder charge.

It is also alleged that on the same date and place, Bain was found in possession of eight live rounds of ammunition.

He pleaded not guilty to the second charge.

While addressing the court, Ms Brown said her client claimed to have suffered abuse at the hands of police. She said that Bain told her he was beaten about the body by police officers during his arrest in Abaco.

Magistrate Laing made a note of the complaint.

Bain was denied bail and the matter was adjourned to May 25. Bain was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

RAYMOND Bain outside court.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

MAN CHARGED WITH MARIJUANA POSSESSION

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 29-YEAR-OLD man who was found with over five ounces of marijuana must attend four months of drug counselling to avoid spending three months in prison.

Police arrested Cordero Meadows after they found $725 worth of Indian hemp in his car on March 12.

He pleaded guilty to one count of simple possession when he appeared before

Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt yesterday.

The court heard that morning, officers on mobile patrol in the Fox Hill area stopped a Nissan Cube in reference to a traffic violation. When they approached the vehicle to speak with the occupants, officers smelled marijuana emanating from the car.

As a result, they informed Meadows of their search and began their investigation. The prosecution said a brown bag which contained ten small clear packages of

marijuana was found on the floor of the backseat.

Meadows was subsequently arrested and cautioned.

When he was questioned in police custody, he admitted the offence and said he bought the drugs for his personal use.

During the hearing, Meadows’ attorney, Keevon Maynard, noted that his client had chosen not to waste the court’s time by admitting his guilt from the onset of the investigation. He also noted that Meadows was the primary

caretaker of his two daughters and stated that he was formally employed in the hotel industry before he was furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After listening to his plea in mitigation, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt granted Meadows a conditional discharge on the agreement he would attend drug counselling classes for four months. She warned him if he failed to comply with the conditions of his release, he would be sentenced to three months behind bars.

PAGE 8, Friday, March 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Farewell to Big Ed, a baseball legend I WAS deeply saddened on Wednesday evening to hear of the passing of Bahamian baseball legend Ed Armbrister, after a long battle with diabetes.

I will get into Armbrister’s baseball career in a moment.

‘BIG ED’

First I’d like to share a personal story about Ed Armbrister.

Over my illustrious career (nothing wrong with occasional self praise) at the Jokers Wild comedy club, I have made it a point to incorporate sports into my act, especially when working the crowd.

Whenever I encountered guests from Boston, I would always poke fun at the Red Sox. Being a die hard Yankee fan it came natural and any guests from New York in attendance would automatically have my back.

The jokes worked so well I started tagging them with - “I’m sorry for busting your chops, it’s just comedy. If it’s any consolation capture a bit of World Series history by taking a picture with Ed Armbrister from the ‘75 Reds, he’s a pit boss in the casino. If you’re nice he might let you see his World Series ring.”

In true tourist fashion, they started to take me up on my offer and before anyone knew, scores of guests from Boston who had been to my show,

A Comic’s View

By INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICAZELAYA

would head to the casino in search of a photo op with Ed Armbrister from the Big Red Machine (Cincinnati Reds).

When he found out the source of his newfound popularity, he popped in to the club one night to encourage me to continue on my path with comedy and entertaining the guests. And, of course, to share a laugh about the numerous photos he’d been posing for in the casino with guests from Boston.

From that moment right up until the time he retired, he would often call me to let me know he was sending some “special guests” from Boston to see the show, I always made sure Ed’s guests were a big part of the show and well taken care of.

GOOGLE IT!

Now what annoyed me about his passing was the erroneous tribute paid to him in the Senate by PLP Senator and party chairman Mr Fred Mitchell.

I have long stated Mr Mitchell is in love with the “politics” of politics and making every political opportunity all about him.

Mitchell’s recent comments in the Senate, regarding Armbrister’s career and his achievements were way off base.

It bordered on “fake news”.

Please allow me to set the record straight and give Mr Mitchell a crash course in baseball history

FOCUS FRED

Armbrister was originally signed by the Houston Astros organisation in 1967 and came to the Reds in a blockbuster trade with the Astros on Nov 29, 1971, that also included the late Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan, pitcher Jack Billingham, outfielder Cesar Geronimo and third baseman Denis Menke.

Armbrister played five different seasons for the Reds from 1973-77, but had only 302 plate appearances in 224 career games and finished with a career batting line of .245/.307/.377.

Armbrister did participate in ten postseason games and earned a World Series ring in both 1975 and 1976.

Armbrister’s most famous moment though, came in Game Three of the 1975 World Series when

in the bottom of the 10th inning with the score tied 5-5 he successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt, and then as he tried to run to first base crossed in front of Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, which caused Fisk to make a late and erratic throw to second base to try to force Geronimo.

The ball sailed into centre field, as a result.

Fisk and Reds Sox manager Darrell Johnson both argued that Armbrister interfered with Fisk, but the play stood.

After an intentional walk to Pete Rose loaded the bases and a strikeout of Merv Rettenmund, Morgan singled home the winning run.

WHAT GAME WERE YOU WATCHING ?

Mr Mitchell, what game were you watching?

There was no play at the plate with Armbrister sliding home attempting to score and colliding with Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk as you stated in the Senate!

A complete falsehood passed off in the Senate with such conviction as if it were gospel.

I wonder how many other half truths Mitchell has slipped through in his previous Senate contributions?

A simple Google search would have jogged your questionable memory, Mr Mitchell.

AH THE IRONY

What I find most ironic is that considering Mr Mitchell’s fondness for protocol, rules and regulations, one would think he would have at least gotten Mr Armbrister’s career achievements correct.

It’s only fair, I’m quite sure when it’s time for Mitchell to be memorialised he wouldn’t want his burning of the constitution, his suggested invasion of Haiti and the victriol he’s spewed about former Prime Ministers Pindling, Ingraham and various political foes

over the years to be omitted or altered. I’m quite sure he’d want his entire body of work and subsequent achievements to be recognised in the highest form possible.

FYI FRED

Despite all the accolades and World Series rings, Ed Armbrister’s true passion was with the inner-city kids and the Community Baseball Leagues. That’s where he made his greatest contribution to the development of baseball in The Bahamas. He always wanted to assist. That was his greatest legacy.

He will be missed.

Rest In Peace, ‘Big Ed’.

CANNABIS GROUP WANTS TEACHER WOULD HAVE FACED PRISON MARIJUANA LICENCES

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A LEADER of a local cannabis organisation is calling on the government to give the group “one of every type of licence” that will be issued in a legal marijuana industry.

At a press conference yesterday, Terry Miller, chairman of the Green Alternative Investment Network Cooperative Society Limited (GAIN), said the group is advocating for working-class Bahamians to ensure they have a piece of the marijuana pie.

“We are asking that the government give us one of every type of licence — give, complimentary — one of every type of licence in the marijuana industry,” Mr Miller said.

He predicted the licences issued by the government once a marijuana industry is established will be highly valuable.

“There’s no feeling about it... every licence will be worth millions. It will be magic. We’ll turn every one of those licences into millions.”

He explained why his

group is making such a request.

“While we are not opposing the bestowing of licences on the rich and connected, we are asking that our government secure the GAIN co-op platform for the working class Bahamians to have ownership in the regulated marijuana industry,” Mr Miller said.

“If you are serious, truly serious, about empowering a larger cross section of Bahamians, the opportunity is here and it is now.

“We are saying give us one of each that’s not asking much. We’re not saying give us $1 million dollars of every licence. We’re saying sign a piece of paper over to us.”

He went on to explain the different types of licences the group saw possible.

“You have a cultivator grower licence which there’ll be two licences.

One for industrial hemp growing and one for medicinal marijuana. There’s two completely different types of cultivation. You have security and transportation because this is still a regulated industry, so you wanna secure and protect.

“You have dispensaries

where the whole purpose of those dispensaries is to have specific types of cannabis, medicinal marijuana, where doctors will be retrained and doctors are going to have to go through a whole lot of training to understand the endocannabinoid system, how it works, and the different types of medicinal marijuana that’s available. So they will be giving the prescription to go to the dispensaries.

“Research and development is a big one,” Mr Miller said. “Whenever you come up with a new strain you know, you get royalties on that strain in perpetuity.

You will have licences on vape shops….”

Mr Miller said the group is calling for the release of a white paper on medical marijuana and for the Cabinet to adopt GAIN as the “people’s standard bearer” in the marijuana industry.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the government is in the process of completing legislation to bring to Parliament “to legalise medicinal marijuana” so that it can be grown by Bahamians and utilised and exported.

A TEACHER who was murdered earlier this year would have been given prison time had he lived.

The Court of Appeal revealed yesterday it would have quashed the man’s sentence for negligent driving, which caused the death of a teenager four years ago, and substituted it with a one-year prison term.

The ruling came after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the “unduly lenient” sentence handed down to Andre Valdes, a former physical education teacher at the North Long Island High School, who was involved in an accident that killed a 16-year-old student on the island in 2017.

Valdes was the victim of a homicide earlier this year.

After the accident in Long Island, he was transferred to the Stapledon School in New Providence where he continued to teach PE. However on New Year’s Day, Valdes’ body was found lying in a pool of blood with apparent gunshot wounds in one of the classrooms of the special needs institution.

In March 2017, Valdes gave a ride to Destyne James Smith and a female passenger.

While the woman sat in the cab of his vehicle, Destyne sat on the back of the truck. During the journey, Valdes placed several items — including two mattresses — on the back of his truck with the teen. He was also said

to have been speeding.

Sometime during the ride, Destyne and one of the mattresses were thrown from the truck. The teenager fractured his skull and was pronounced dead at the scene.

During his trial, Valdes pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence and was fined $2,500 or one year imprisonment. He was also placed on five years’ probation and ordered to pay Destyne’s mother $10,000 compensation.

Late last year, prosecutors argued Valdes’ sentence was based on a wrong principle of law. As a result, they sought to have his sentence overturned in favour of time in prison.

However, after the appellate panel of justices reserved its decision on the matter, Valdes was found shot to death.

In a 24-page judgement published to the court’s website yesterday, Justices Jon Isaacs, Roy Jones and Milton Evans said although their decision is no longer of consequence to Valdes, their ruling could “provide guidance to courts on the approach to be taken when sentencing a defendant”. They said after reviewing the circumstances of the case, they would have quashed Valdes’ original sentence and substituted it with 12 months’ imprisonment.

In their judgement, delivered by Justice Isaacs, the panel ruled Valdes had been sentenced as if he had been convicted for the offence of killing in the

course of dangerous driving instead of manslaughter by negligence.

They said in light of this fact, Valdes’ sentence was in fact based on a wrong principle of law.

“Regarding the leniency of the sentence, leniency is not an unwelcome guest, but it must be balanced,” they noted. “In this regard, the court must always weigh the circumstances of the offence and that of the offender. Further, a sentencing judge is required to always bear in mind the principles of sentencing: retribution, prevention, deterrence and rehabilitation. In the present case, while the judge was clearly aware of the principles of sentencing she failed to apply them to the circumstances of the offence.”

Justice Isaacs said in these circumstances, the sentence imposed was unduly lenient and a “period of incarceration” should have been enforced to “reflect the seriousness of the offence and the need to act as a general deterrent to others.”

“In the premises, I would have quashed the judge’s sentence and substitute in its stead, a sentence of 12 months’ incarceration; such sentence running from the date the respondent would have been reduced into custody. The $2,500 fine is to be returned to the respondent’s estate in light of the fact that he is now deceased. I am satisfied that the compensation order is appropriate in the circumstances.”

THREE ACCUSED OF CAUSING HARM

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THREE men who denied harming four people, damaging a police vehicle and attempting to obstruct justice were yesterday granted bail ahead of their trial.

Gerald Johnson, 22, Lorenzo Farrington, 24, and Albert Johnson appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis after they were accused of harming Patrick Kemp on March 12.

The prosecution said the trio also harmed Terrance Davis, Rovelle Delancy and Birtchell Tucker that same day.

Farrington is also accused of causing damage to the shirt of a police constable and the right spot light of a police patrol car on the day in question.

Gerald was also accused of damaging the shirt of another police officer while Farrington and Albert were further accused of obstructing five officers from carrying out their duties.

The prosecution said all of the defendants were acting in a disorderly manner and resisted arrest when officers tried to detain them.

During the hearing, the men pleaded not guilty to the charges and the matter was adjourned to June 21

for trial.

After they denied the allegations, their attorney, Nathan Smith, told the magistrate the incident happened after one of the defendants started recording officers on his cellphone, which was currently in police custody.

He noted that footage on the phone could serve as evidence in the case and asked for the device to be returned to his client in the “interest of justice”.

In response, Magistrate Rolle Davis said he would make a note of the request.

In the meantime, he granted Farrington, Albert and Gerald $8,000 bail each.

THE TRIBUNE

A day filled with such hope and excitement ends in tragedy WE’VE become so inured to statistics about death due to COVID that it took the startling images on the front page, online and on-air Monday to shake us out of our zombie-like acceptance of death on a daily basis.

Over the past year, we have talked about the sadness of someone dying alone in a hospital. No child by a mother’s side to squeeze her hand, no wife whispering to her husband of half a century that she still loves him as much as she did the day they wed.

We have focused on the alone-ness surrounding dying rather than the sharp knife that instantly slices life and death into two.

Sunday’s tragic boating accident in waters off North Eleuthera changed that. The pictures of two beautiful young woman and a handsome young man who died in that boating accident, all so alive one moment and their lives over the next, rattled us to our core. Even National Security Minister Marvin Dames could barely muster more than words of caution. He, too, felt what we did. Why, why did this have to happen and what could have prevented it?

Why, on the same day, was another young man killed in a jet ski accident?

Sunday dawned beautifully. After days of heavy

CLOCKWISE fr om ald, Jay Roberts right, Candice McDonwho died in a bo and Leanna Cartwright, at accident off Eleuthera.

North

By Diane Phillips winds and rough water, the winds laid down, leaving the sea a bit choppy but doable. Vaccines had arrived in the country. Politicians were out politicking. It had been one year since the first case of the virus had been identified in The Bahamas and with a few more visitors trickling in, hotels re-opening in stages, there was an air of optimism. An oppressive weight inexplicably lifted. Light from somewhere flooded the day.

It was a day for celebration and how do Bahamians celebrate? We go to the beach and if we have the privilege of having a boat of our own or an invitation to join a boating party, we jump at the chance.

A whole lot of people jumped at that chance last Sunday. A friend who was aboard a boat at the popular Palm Cay Marina at the southeastern tip of Nassau said he had never seen it so active. Every available spot where a car could be parked was taken as people piled aboard boats, many of which had sat for a year or more without use. Many

were headed for a poker run to Eleuthera.

Closer to the centre of New Providence, the vacant property across from Montagu Foreshore was jammed with parked trucks, their empty trailers ready to trek boats back home when they returned to the ramp across the street. Views from the Nassau Yacht Club and the Royal Nassau Sailing Club revealed a stunning array of boats of every size and make buzzing back and forth, heading out the Narrows or east to Porgee Rock and beyond – as if some deity had declared this national boating day.

It was a sight to behold, but it was also unnerving.

Because my husband is a certified veteran marine surveyor, I was unsettled by what I saw. Many of the boats were overloaded. It almost felt like the water was alive with giddy boaters happy to throw illegal wakes and rooster tails and zig zag as if they were playing a game. Even in the harbour there were troubling signs.

Or maybe, I told myself, I

AND THE MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO GROW FOR SAILING TO BECOME OFFICIAL NATIONAL SPORT A FEW weeks ago, I suggested that sloop sailing be named the official national sport. My apology - I should have said sailing, not just native sloops, so as to include sloops but also account for all the other vessels powered by wind and crew – Prams, Sunfish, Lasers, 5.5-metres, Stars, other one-design and larger boats built for racing or just enjoying the journey.

The immediate and ongoing response has been unanimous, but one, and I think he was exercising his right to be sarcastic. To a person, you want sailing

Friday, March 19, 2021, PAGE 9

to be named the official national sport, replacing cricket which is at best an imported sport and one it takes a genius or a few dark ales to understand.

Every single response has been in favour of sailing as the national sport.

I’ve received notes from ‘It’s a non-brainer, sailing is the national sport, it just hasn’t been declared” to a long and thoughtful reply from one of the founders of Abaco’s RSSA calling for the uniting of all sailing associations and clubs into a federation.

Years ago, a group of us - including sailors

whose names you would recognise - prepared and presented what we hoped would be a white paper to government when Zhivargo Laing was Minister of Youth, Sports and in those days, Education.

The idea is not new and it’s a clear win-win without political prejudice or colours.

Someone wrote, “Use your pen and keep pushing it.” I certainly will.

And keep those responses coming. Leave a note on Tribune242.com at the end of the column or directly to me at diane@dpa-media. com.

was just being too nervous and I should just keep my mouth shut and enjoy the scene.

And then the news started to come in. On a day so enticing, even exhilarating, everything about the beauty of that promising sunrise vanished in the shadow of four untimely deaths. It would never be our place to cast blame, but it is our responsibility to explore what it would take to ensure that it is less likely to happen again.

The problem lies in the fact that we believe, and rightly so, that boating is our right. We do not think we need to be licensed to drive or operate a vessel on the water unless we do so for commercial purposes although we fully accept that we have to be licensed to operate a vehicle on the road.

We do not feel compelled to take a course like Chapman’s Piloting as required for USCG approval to operate a vessel in parts of the US because our

ancestors operated boats and they didn’t have to take a course so why should we?

We also expect our Defence Force to patrol tens of thousands of miles of open ocean and borders without making busy harbours a priority.

We almost resent their presence interfering with our leisure if we are sailing or motoring to Rose Island, Lower Harbour, Green Cay or Eleuthera. Why aren’t they out there catching poachers instead of

bothering responsible families, asking for papers, we wonder?

Maybe we need to re-think our expectations of the RBDF and how satellites and drones can assist as well as how marinas can play an important role.

If the Defence Force lacks staff power to do all that is expected of it, firstly employ nano satellites or drones to provide evidence of violations which can be ticketed, fined or argued in court.

Secondly, ensure that all safety equipment is aboard and marked with the vessel’s name so it cannot be transferred from one vessel to another when it is time for an insurance eligibility survey.

Thirdly, in the same way the Bahamas National Trust deputises park wardens and assigns them certain authority and responsibilities, consider deputising experienced boat captains who have demonstrated an excellent record for responsibility and safety and are willing to save lives and prevent serious injuries by reporting and documenting by cell phone video violations they see at sea.

Fourthly, engage the Association of Bahamas Marinas to post posters with regulations and distribute a fact sheet about safety in Bahamian waters to every transient boat that docks and reinforce with an electronic copy of the regulations with emphasis on different sections with dockage fees statements for permanent or long-term renters.

Tragedy is an awesome teacher, but the lessons it leaves in its wake could save another parent from ever waving goodbye in the morning to a son or daughter going out for a day of fun on the water only to find it was the last and final goodbye until they wailed over a gravesite and cried, Why? Why?

PAGE 10, Friday, March 19, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

EU: AstraZeneca vaccine safe LONDON Associated Press THE European Union’s drug regulatory agency said yesterday that the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t increase the overall incidence of blood clots and that the benefits of using it outweigh the possible risks, paving the way for European countries to resume dispensing the shots.

France, Italy and Germany promptly announced they will start using the vaccine again today. Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands said they will do so next week, though Spain said it might exclude certain groups to minimise any danger.

More than a dozen nations around the world had suspended their use of the vaccine over the past week following reports of clots in a few dozen of the millions of people across Europe who have gotten the shot. The question was whether the vaccine had anything to do with the clots and whether any action needed to be taken.

The safety committee of the European Medicines Agency “has come to a clear scientific conclusion”, the head of the EMA, Emer Cooke, announced.

“This is a safe and effective vaccine.”

She added: “If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow.”

However, she said the agency “still cannot rule out definitively a link” between certain rare types of blood clots and the vaccine. The EMA recommended adding a description of these cases to the vaccine leaflets.

The debate raised fears that the safety questions would seriously undermine public confidence in AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is

key to efforts to immunise some of the world’s poorer countries, and further slow the lagging vaccination drive across the 27-nation EU at a moment when infections are rising at an alarming rate. Europe also relies on Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said he would be getting an AstraZeneca shot today “to show we can have complete confidence” in it.

Clots that form in the arms, legs or elsewhere can break free and travel to the heart, brain or lungs, causing strokes, heart attacks or other deadly blockages.

In its findings yesterday, the EMA said the overall number of clotting events of

various sorts reported since the rollout is lower than what would be expected in the general population.

But those very common clots aren’t the kind causing concern. Instead, the EMA said it will continue to look closely at two rare types of blood clots. It cited seven reports of a type that appears in multiple blood vessels and 18 reports of a kind called cerebral venous thrombosis, which occurs in a vein that drains blood from the brain.

That’s out of the 20 million people who have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain and the EU. Most of those cases were in people younger than 55 and the majority were

women, the EMA said.

Experts said it will be critical to uncover if something predisposed those people to these rare clots. For example, before the pandemic, the brain-related clots almost always occurred in people with certain risk factors such as taking birth control pills, or any of a list of underlying conditions that affect clotting.

Sabine Straus, head of the EMA’s safety committee, said birth control pills are “a distinct possibility” that will be investigated.

She also said experts found “no evidence of a quality or a batch issue” linked to any particular manufacturing site.

Ann Taylor, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer,

welcomed the EMA’s findings and added: “We trust that, after the regulators’ careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe.”

The World Health Organization previously said it saw no evidence the vaccine was to blame for the clots. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is central to COVAX, the UN-backed project to supply COVID19 shots to poorer countries around the world.

AstraZeneca is expected to apply in the coming weeks for US authorisation for its vaccine. The US now relies on vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Britain was not among the countries that suspended use of the vaccine.

Yesterday, ahead of the EMA’s announcement, Britain’s drug regulatory agency said there is no evidence the formula causes clots, and it urged people to continue getting the shot.

Like the EMA, however, British regulators followed its counterparts on the continent in urging people to seek medical attention if they suffer headaches that last for more than four days after vaccination or bruising beyond the injection site after a few days.

The pause in vaccinations with AstraZeneca’s formula comes as tens of thousands of new daily cases have prompted new lockdown measures in Italy, caused hospitalisations in France to spike and led German officials to announce a third surge of COVID-19 has begun.

“Rarely has an immunisation program been more important to the well-being of a population,” said Pauline Paterson, co-director of the Vaccine Confidence Project team at the London

School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

In yet another setback, however, British officials said the country is facing a shortfall in vaccine deliveries that may delay the start of shots for people under 50 in the coming weeks.

The EU has an estimated seven million unused doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Clinical trials are typically done in tens of thousands of participants. As a result, extremely rare side effects often aren’t detected until a vaccine has been used in many millions of people, long after the product has reached the market.

For example, it took nearly a year after vaccination campaigns began against the 2009 swine flu pandemic for European officials to notice an increase in narcolepsy in children and teenagers who got the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine.

“It’s right to investigate any potential signals of problems, but you can do that while you continue immunisation,” said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton. “If we pause the vaccine rollout every time there’s a possible signal, it won’t be much of a rollout.”

Head cautioned that there are costs to going slowly: The longer the coronavirus is allowed to circulate widely, the more chance it has to mutate into a deadlier version.

“People may well be more hesitant to take an AstraZeneca vaccine when immunization resumes,” he said. “And this is at a time when we need to stop the virus circulating to the reduce the chances of further variants emerging.”

SUU KYI PAYMENTS CLAIMED AS MYANMAR JUNTA RAISES PRESSURE MANDALAY, Myanmar Associated Press A MYANMAR construction magnate with links to military rulers said he personally gave more than half a million dollars in cash to deposed leader Aung San

Suu Kyi in a broadcast on state television aimed at discrediting the ousted civilian government.

The statement by Maung Waik could pave the way for more serious charges against Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the

Feb. 1 military takeover while security forces increasingly use lethal force against a popular uprising demanding the restoration of democratically elected leaders.

The military has already tried to implicate Suu Kyi in

corruption, alleging she was given $600,000 plus gold bars by a political ally. She and President Win Myint have been charged so far with inciting unrest, possession of walkie-talkies and violating a pandemic order limiting public gatherings.

In the latest salvo of allegations, Maung Waik, who has previously been convicted of drug trafficking, told state TV he gave cash to government ministers to help his businesses. He said the money included $100,000 given to Suu Kyi in 2018 for a charitable foundation named after her mother, $150,000 in 2019 for which he did not specify a reason, $50,000 last February and $250,000 in April, again with no purpose specified.

The country’s AntiCorruption Commission is investigating the allegations and vowed to take action against Suu Kyi under the Anti-Corruption Law, the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, a court has issued an arrest warrant for the country’s UN ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, on charges of treason, the newspaper reported.

The charge stems from his remarks February 26 at UN headquarters, in which he condemned the coup and appealed for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy in his country.

Also charged with treason was Mahn Win Khaing Than, the civilian leader of Myanmar’s government in hiding, the newspaper said.

The acting vice president and member of Suu Kyi’s political party on Saturday had vowed to continue supporting a “revolution” to eject the military from power.

TEMPLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 2021-2022 Temple Christian High School will hold its Entrance Examination on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at the school on Shirley Street from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon for students wishing to enter grades 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Application forms are available at the High School Office. The application fee is twentyfive dollars ($25). Application forms should be completed and returned to the school by Friday, March 19, 2021.

For further information, please call telephone number: 394-4481/394-4484.