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VOLUME:116 No.60, MARCH 20TH, 2019

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ALICIA WALLACE: IT’S TIME WE DEMANDED BETTER

Police call 911 for suspect ‘beaten’ in custody MINNIS SET TO MEET TRUMP ON FRIDAY

THIS HAS TO STOP

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

EMERGENCY medical services were called to the Central Detective Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force yesterday to help a man who was allegedly beaten in custody, according to his lawyer Christina Galanos.

Ms Galanos recorded a four-second video showing the man, bent over in distress, being taken into an ambulance outside CDU. The attorney, who believes her client was beaten to make a confession, declined to reveal the identity of the man.

This is the latest allegation of beatings in police custody. Criminal lawyers insist it is a chronic problem and they are upset by the way law enforcement, political and judicial officials have traditionally handled the issue.

For his part, Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash, head of the Central

Detective Unit, said officers told him the suspect experienced a medical issue and required attention.

He said he was not aware of any accusation of police brutality.

Ms Galanos said: “I was hired to see a client at CDU. I went there around 11am. While waiting on him I was reliably informed by an inside source that he was beaten and that they called the ambulance for him. I was called on the outside

by ASP Cox and he told me my client is ‘complaining of shortness of breath and we called the ambulance for him’. I said ‘okay Officer Cox, why is he complaining of shortness of breath?’ (He said) ‘I can’t say, I just know the man is complaining of shortness of breath.’

“The ambulance came and I recorded them escorting my client out to the ambulance. It looked to me that something happened to him and police are now trying to cover it up and do

SEE PAGE THREE

GUNNED DOWN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

SEE PAGE THREE

PM’S INITIATIVE - JUST 17 APPLY

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

WITH no restroom and an unseemly roof, Trevor Moss’ tyre shop in Bain and Grants Town would be an ideal beneficiary of tax concessions under the government’s Over-the-Hill programme.

The savings would help Mr Moss and others who want to renovate and equip their homes or businesses, be exempt from real property taxes or bring in cars duty-free for work.

But nearly four months after the Economic Empowerment Zone went live, just 14 applications for concessions have been approved to date, the Ministry of Finance told The Tribune yesterday. In a zone with hundreds of residents and many businesses, only 17 applications have been submitted.

Only a few of the more than a dozen people The Tribune interviewed last week have even heard about the programme and its tax concessions.

SEE PAGE SIX

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and other regional leaders will meet with US President Donald Trump on Friday as the American leader looks to “counter China’s predatory economic practices” in the region among other things.

Potential opportunities for energy investment and security cooperation are also things that will be on the agenda for discussion.

A statement released by the Office of the Press Secretary at the White House last night said the meeting will take place at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“President Donald Trump will welcome the leaders of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, the Republic of Haiti,

BY RIEL MAJOR

IN this video grab, the suspect is helped to a waiting ambulance yesterday. His attorney Christina Galanos believes her client was beaten to make a confession but declined to reveal his identity.

‘NEW POST OFFICE - IT’S MONTHS AWAY’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS have been “deceived” by the government regarding the relocation of the General Post Office, Progressive Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis said yesterday.

He was referring to the timelines that have been previously set by the government for the GPO to be moved from the rundown

THE PLP tours the Town Centre Mall Post Office yesterday.

East Hill Street building to the Town Centre Mall.

Initially, Transport and

Local Government Minister Renward Wells said the move was slated to happen before Christmas 2018.

However this was delayed to January this year and then he said this date was pushed to mid-February.

Asked last week at Cabinet for an update, Mr Wells said he would give one in two weeks.

But from the looks of the site yesterday, Mr Davis said it could be months

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE SEVEN

POLICE are investigating the country’s latest homicide after a man was found dead at the junction of Mackey Street and Wilton Street yesterday morning.

According to Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash, shortly before 11am police received reports of gunshots.

At the scene, CSP Cash said: “The officers arrived on the scene they met the lifeless body of a male who were lying at the junction.

SEE PAGE TWO

TECHNOLOGY

TAKING ON VIDEO GAMERS

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Gunned down in broad daylight from page one “The only information we are working with at this time is at the victim just came from a local establishment as a customer. As he was walking across the street, he was approached by a lone gunman who opened fire on him and shot him multiple times.

“As a result, EMS was called in, they examined the body and pronounced him dead on the scene.”

He added: “We are appealing to members of the public who live in this area or who also may have been customers of the establishments, if they have information to contact the police.”

CSP Cash could not say whether the suspect or victim are known to police at this time.

Regarding other crime matters, CSP Cash also told reporters police currently have suspects in custody relating to recent homicides from the Fox Hill and the Nassau Village area.

He said: “We have one suspect in custody currently he is assisting the police investigation. Before day’s end, we should be releasing information relative to a second suspect and a flyer should be provided for the media.

“Additionally, the matter

in the Nassau Village area, we have three suspects in custody and currently there is a person of interest, we are probing them further to see if they had any involvement in that matter.”

When asked if the country is experiencing a peak in murders, CSP Cash said he wouldn’t call it a peak despite the three killings in the capital since Sunday.

He said: “We are committed to what we do, preventing these incidents or minimising these incidents as we possibly can.

We are working with persons or perpetrators who are hell bend in carrying out their intents. None of us know the intent of any human being but once we unravel what happened then we will go after all the persons who we suspect to be concerned with all these incidents.

“Again, we always appeal to members of the public if they know of anyone who have any differences in their communities give (that) information to the police so we can work with that information and prevent incidents like this. “ Based on The Tribune’s records this is the country’s 16th murder for the year.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 919, 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS.

A BODY lies at the scene of the fatality on Mackey and Wilton Street yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, PAGE 3

PRIME MINISTER MINNIS TO SEE PRESIDENT TRUMP ON FRIDAY from page one and Saint Lucia on Friday, March 22, 2019, for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago,” the statement posted on the US Embassy in Nassau’s Facebook page noted.

“President Trump’s meeting with the Caribbean leaders will reaffirm our strong friendship with and commitment to these countries, and signal the importance of the Caribbean to the hemisphere. The president will discuss his vision for our diverse relationships in the Caribbean and the potential

opportunities for energy investment. “The president looks forward to working with countries in the region to strengthen our security cooperation and counter China’s predatory economic practices. The president will use this meeting as an opportunity to thank these countries for their support for peace and democracy in Venezuela. The United States remains a good friend to the Caribbean and seeks to build on a proud legacy as the region’s partner of choice,” the statement concluded.

ABOVE: President Donald Trump and, left, PM Hubert Minnis

This has got to stop from page one

their usual evasive talk and evasive dance.”

The video does not show a front view of the man, but Ms Galanos said her client was holding his face, crying and shaking his head while looking on the ground.

Ms Galanos said her source did not say why her client was allegedly beaten. “What I can say,” she said, “is that nine times out of ten, most every time a client has complained to me about being beaten, it had to do with a confession, or if not a confession (police) feel a person knows about the crime and they are trying to get the person to call a name of someone.

“I’ve been concerned about this for years now,” she said. “What we see happening as criminal defence attorneys is very often these matters are coming before the court with confessions only. It cuts both ways. Let’s say the man truly is guilty, but was beaten to confess and in the case of my client I got on video that he was taken by way of ambulance so the judge may throw out the confession.

What you may have is a guilty man may walk on a murder charge because some police officer abused his powers. What I’m more concerned about are the people who are innocent. They are beaten and made to confess and when it goes up to trial they may not have any injuries or their injuries aren’t significant enough for a judge to throw a matter out and and most juries don’t know anything about the legal system and how the police operate, so they may well convict on this confession. So what you have now is an innocent man who was beaten by police to confess, now convicted of a serious crime. This is why I think it’s important

Suspect’s attorney believes her client was beaten up to make him confess to sensitise the public on these issues.”

Top police officials have yet to speak substantively on recent allegations of police brutality. Last month, Shavar Bain Sr, a man whose son was kidnapped, alleged CDU officers beat him to confess to a scheme to kidnap

his son. Deputy Commissioner of Police Emrick Seymour could not update this newspaper on the investigation into that incident last week, saying it is ongoing.

The Tribune reported recently the allegations of three people who claim CDU officers tortured

them for confessions in Eleuthera last year before releasing them without charge. They said they were handcuffed and fishbagged until they could not breathe. They filed a complaint with the Complaints and Corruption Unit of the RBPF, but police took more than a

year to get back to them, then told them that the time for their complaint to be addressed had expired.

Last week, a US human rights report on the Bahamas noted that the Police Complaints Inspectorate, which should oversee the Complaints and Corruption Unit to ensure

impartial investigations into allegations against police, has not had a meeting in almost two years.

National Security Minister Marvin Dames has not appointed anyone to the body even though the Police Act mandates that the inspectorate be constituted.

DAMES DEFENDS FAILURE TO APPOINT INSPECTORATE

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday defended the government’s failure to appoint the Police Complaints Inspectorate despite its legal mandate to do so.

Mr Dames confirmed the status of the civilian organisation - legally mandated to investigate complaints against police officers - as he responded to the latest US State Department report on human rights practices.

Referring to the report’s characterisation of prison conditions as “life-threatening”, Mr Dames said: “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“When we hear these stories,” Mr Dames continued, “it’s almost as if there’s a revelation that ‘gee, really, that’s happening?’ Every Bahamian knows, or ought

to know for decades that the conditions at Her Majesty’s correctional services is sub-par.

“This is no new revelation, it’s every time I read that, gee we have conditions in the prison are sub-standard. We have known for decades, but we’re working on improving it.”

Mr Dames insisted the Minnis administration has made significant strides to transform the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services holistically - focusing on not only physical conditions but the training and development of correctional officers.

According to the US human rights report, the PCI has not met since September 2017.

Outside Cabinet yesterday, Mr Dames cautioned the media not to get sidetracked and suggested the civilian body was ineffective in its present form.

“That team,” he said, “what have they done since

MARVIN DAMES they were enacted? At the end of the day the police are responsible for investigating complaints filed against police officers - not that group. I said before, and you can go back to archives, that we’re working on putting in place a team but when we do that we want it to work.”

The Police Act requires five people to be appointed to the Police Complaints Inspectorate to ensure investigations into police complaints are conducted properly.

In its year in review report, the police force said

the total number of complaints against police last year was 245.

Notwithstanding the group’s function, Mr Dames underscored it was ultimately the duty of the deputy commissioner of police to ensure complaints are properly investigated.

He pointed to the RFP process for body cams currently underway, adding there was also intent to introduce video cams.

Overall, Mr Dames underscored a focus on training and recruitment for law enforcement agencies that was unprecedented in recent years, stating the previous administration did a “terrible job”.

“I can tell you over the last five years under the previous government it was terrible,” he said, “so the quality of people you recruit will determine the effectiveness of your agencies or how they interact with the public.

He continued: “We’re

living in a world now where technology is as such that one incident can move throughout this country in warp time. Not saying these things have just started or getting worse.

“This is the world we are living in. We have to prepare our officers so they understand what their role entails, which is you are servants of the public.”

He added: “Under this FNM government we are not going to cover up for

any officer, you go out there, you take an action then you are accountable for that action that you take.”

Mr Dames pledged the government would reactivate the Police Complaints Inspectorate during his 2017-2018 budget contribution. He also committed the government to ensuring all accounts outlined in the Police Force Act are audited, and subsequently tabled in Parliament.

PAGE 4, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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Take to the streets to help Over-the-Hill WHEN Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis talked about schemes to benefit the Over-the-Hill communities, he talked about revolution. It’s proving to be a slow start to this particular revolution.

In November, the Economic Empowerment Zone was launched – and nearly four months later only 14 applications for concessions have been approved – with only 17 submitted. Let us be fair – the government cannot make people apply for such concessions, but perhaps they can make it a little easier.

In Fox Hill and Centreville, the MPs are Shonel Ferguson and Travis Robinson, and during election campaigning, every wannabe MP was up and down knocking on doors and urging people to get out and vote for them. Well, we sincerely hope that MPs and their staff and allies are now getting out to those who voted and helping them to make the most of the opportunities available to them.

One resident tells us he said to Mr Robinson that “nobody feeling nothin’ no more” and complaining that “everything is foreign, the foreigners get all the real opportunities but there is nothin’ for the small man”.

“We want you to invest in something,” said Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, head of the PM’s economic planning unit, as the programme was being launched – but too many residents are worried about putting food on the table rather than having money to invest in the future. The same man who complained about “feeling nothin’ no more” also said he had to go back to work before he had time to recover from a stroke he suffered.

Many might not have cars, or the time to get to government offices during working hours – so how about rather than knocking on doors and pressing leaflets into the hands of voters, the successful MPs and their teams knock on doors and press application forms into the hands of constituents?

These are early steps for this

programme – and we sincerely hope that many more take advantage of what it has to offer, but we also hope that more is done to take the help to the people, rather than just waiting for them to come to government.

Which is it, Mr Dames?

ONCE again, the police are subject to another complaint about a man being allegedly beaten in custody. A video taken by his lawyer, Christina Galanos, shows him bent double as he is taken to an ambulance.

These incidents happen far too often – but what is done about them? Three people who filed a complaint after they complained they were tortured by police in Eleuthera were told their case had run out of time to be dealt with – despite their filing shortly after the incident then not hearing back from the force for a year.

One body intended to deal with such complaints, the Police Complaints Inspectorate, was yesterday derided

by National Security Minister Marvin Dames.

“That team,” he said, “what have they done since they were enacted?” He went on to say it was the police that was responsible for investigating complaints – not that group.

It was a very different story in May last year, when Mr Dames said “the committee of civilians that was formed under the previous legislation allowed for a group to look at police investigations to provide an independent eye. It was disbanded a few years ago and we intend to bring that back very shortly so that it will allow for a greater degree of transparency and independence as police carry out their investigations.”

So who should we believe? Mr Dames? Or Mr Dames? Which version of him is truly committed to a greater degree of transparency and independence?

Dr Sands, I need help this is serious EDITOR, The Tribune Could you print this as an open letter to Dr Duane Sands?

Dr Duane Sands Minister of Health Dear Sir, I WOULD like you to handle this complaint as an official report about an incident that has been taking place in a portion of your constituency for over nine years.

I know you are aware of it, because I have mentioned it to you over six years ago, when you were at my home soliciting my vote. Well, I voted for you because you promised you would fix the situation.

Well, sir, six years later and this gentleman still has several tractor heads, trailers and such in my residential zoned area. Not only is this man allowed to operate his trucking business in the residential zoned area, but he is allowing his trucks to leak oil and diesel fuel in the ground.

However, may I remind you that one of my reasons

for voting for you was because I really thought you would get this thing done. I have C.O.P.D. (a lung disease) and find it almost impossible to breathe when he is running his trucks at five in the morning, every morning.

My wife and I have reported this to all the relevant agencies in the country since Mr Deveaux was Minister of Environmental Health and nothing happened. This problem was taken to court by The Department of Physical Planning who was laughed out of court by the prosecuting policeman who was seen laughing and talking at the table of the accused. Even the judge, I was told by Mr Major, stopped the case to go on vacation and would sign the order after her return from vacation, which never happened. He brought in more trucks to this lot where he built a triplex, which, to my knowledge he built without permission from Physical Planning. To this day, nothing has happened to stop these offences.

Dr Sands, I read about all the good things you are

doing for the health of this country and I appreciate it, but you see I did not ask you for money or jobs for my family. I can do those on my own. What I want is for you to represent the things I cannot do for my family and myself.

My personal investment in this area called Kool Acres is a complete disaster. I cannot retrieve my personal investment for the land I bought to develop. As soon as I cut a road from Fox Hill road to the Haitian village to the west, put in two poles, a transformer when Town Planning gave another expoliceman permission to build three triplexes as rentals, after warning me in writing that I was not permitted to do so as the area is zoned for residential only.

Dr Sands, for god’s sake please help. You are the Minister of Health and one of the people that put you in this powerful position needs your help. This is serious.

BOB THOMPSON Nassau March 18, 2019

Banton: Time to stand up and speak out EDITOR, The Tribune “AND the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.” - 2 Chronicles 7:12-15 But if I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven?

Where are the Gate Keepers for the Bahamas ? Who is going to stand for our God? We are in the beginning of one of the most sacred time of the year which is Lent season that is leading up to Palm Sunday which leads to Holy Week and into Easter.

All through the ages of time in history every city had a Gate Keeper; the role of a Gatekeeper is to keep out anything or persons that was not good for that city.

In the Bahamas we had Spirituals Gatekeepers and

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net also physical Gatekeepers, I want to know if the Spiritual Gatekeepers who represent our God and the Kingdom of heaven are asleep or on vacation or on lunch break.?

Here we are as a Christian nation and a country who believe in our Christian faith keeping our mouths shut and allowing demon spirits to come into this country, and in such a scared time of the year in our country and the church is quiet.

When we think about this season as a nation we have no choice but to stand up, Lent, Passion week, Holy Monday to Thursday, Good Friday to Easter these are our Holy and secret time of the year.

Which pastor in The Bahamas going to stand up and speak out against these demon spirits such as the Carnival, and Buju Banton concert, that the government is allowing to come into this country, we don’t need those things in this country.

God have blessed us with that Sport Centre, now it’s going to allow Buju Banton to come and bring that demon spirit in this place. The Christian Counsel should have been the one calling a prayer session around this time of the year in that place, but they are standing with a shut mouth while the demons are coming to take over.

I call on the pastors and all who are a part of the Kingdom of God of this country to drop the denominational hang up and stand up as a body of believers for God and nation.

We must let the leader of this country know that we are still a Christian nation and for God we stand.

Which pastor is going to stand up and speak on behalf of our God? The God that supplies all of our needs, the God who protects our seven hundred Islands year after year.

Who is going to stand up for God and nation?

May God bless our nation.

OLIVE BULLARD Nassau March 20, 2019

We need police on our streets EDITOR, The Tribune FOX Hill Centre murder afforded the RBPF an opportunity to arrest two criminals who did this shooting but even with accidentally being virtually on the scene, in a patrol car, the two criminals on a scooter were able to out wit the Police and are on the run!

Yes obviously was there the much talked about CCTV? Fox Hill is a known crime area – really

how effective is the CCTV system which has cost millions - how many arrests can be directly attributed to the gathering of video evidence from CCTV? We the public are not told CCTV system could all be a mirage, it doesn’t exist - is there a CCTV system - where does it cover - is it operational?

Government sorry don’t get upset when Travel advisories happen we have crime and until we intend in eradicating it forget crying

that other folks are picking on us…

The upcoming March 30th, concert…What a massive policing opportunity…

This Saturday I drove from Yamacraw to Cable Beach after 10pm and did not see a single Police Patrol Car - not a single Traffic Police outrider, not a single Police Officer. Commissioner explain?

J SAWYER Nassau March 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, PAGE 5

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

READMITTED to a hospital in Florida due to severe swelling and excruciating pain in his face, Harold Williams warned Bahamian travellers to “stay on your guard” during their next visit to the United States.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday as he waited for a plastic surgeon to assess the gash in his left cheek, Mr Williams said he is traumatised, adding everyone should be concerned.

He said he hoped the attack on him was enough for there to be a crime warning to Bahamians visiting and living in the US to be alert.

His injury could require an additional three-day hospital stay, Mr Williams said.

On Saturday, Mr Williams, a Bahamasair manager, went into the Pines Market restaurant at 9610 Pines Boulevard to use the restroom and was attacked as he walked to the rear of the business.

He has described it as an unprovoked attack which left him with a large slash on the side of his face and one of his eyes swollen shut.

“Beforehand, I guess I was kind of free-spirited and didn’t expect anything else especially in this kind of area, I mean it’s Pembroke Pines,” Mr Williams said, speaking to The Tribune from Florida yesterday. “You don’t expect not to be welcomed or to be a threat so I didn’t have any concern for that.

“Obviously there is need to have concern now.”

He also said: “We Bahamians, we feel like it’s The Bahamas. We can go anywhere coming to the United States.

“You have got to be aware of your surroundings and be aware of where you going. You have to be concerned.”

Asked if he considered the incident to be a hate crime, Mr Williams said based on what he’s been told it was. However, Florida police told this newspaper they are not investigating the matter as a hate crime.

“From the news and reports that I’m getting it seems to be a hate crime. This person apparently has some issues with blacks, period. I was unaware of that. I am just hearing that now. I can’t understand it because I mean he would only need to be a few shades darker and he would be black himself.

“I hope The Bahamas

Stay on your guard The Tribune in US, slash victim warns Bahamians A1MAIN

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VOLUME:116 No.59, MARCH 19TH, 2019

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

WOMAN: HOW YOU CAN STEP AHEAD IN STILETTOS

Unsafe here? Try a Florida break Bahamian’s face slashed in random restaurant attack

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

side of his face and one of his eyes swollen shut.

Mr Williams was not in the US on official airline business, Bahamasair chairman Tommy Turnquest said yesterday.

A Pembroke Pines Police Department official confirmed to The Tribune yesterday that the alleged attacker is Fawaz Hassan, a 24-year-old employee of Pines Market. He was taken into custody following the incident.

Mr Williams told 7News Miami he was in Florida to pick up medication and was running errands on Saturday when he stopped at the SEE PAGE THREE

HOW The Tribune reported the story yesterday.

A BAHAMIAN man has said he is thankful to be alive after he was slashed

in his face during a knifereally acts and sends government attack at a restaurant in Pembroke Pines, Florida, out advisories as well,” Mr Wilon Saturday.

Harold Williams, a Bahaliams further masair manager, went into said. “If they can do Pines Market restaurant itthe to Pines us why at 9610 Boulevardshouldn’t we do it to on Saturday to use the them?” restroom and was attacked as he walked to the rear of the business. He has Fawaz Zarif Hassan, 24, has described it as an unprovoked attackcharged which left him been with one count of with a large slash on the causing bodily harm or disability. It is a second-degree felony in Pembroke Pines, Broward County.

By RASHAD ROLLE dictate he not speak about An official arrest report from Tribune Staff Reporter it. Asked if he is confident rrolle@tribunemedia.net the projectPines will still go Police the Pembroke ahead, he said: “I am, 100 ALEXANDER Griki- percent.”

Department themeeting incident tis, president of Oban said Yesterday’s Energies, declared his con- between Oban Energies happened between and fidence in the future of the and government12pm officials $5.5bn oil storage and refin- had been long delayed. ery project after aSaturday, lengthy A meeting 12.09pm March 16. was initially meeting with government scheduled for January 7. officials at the Ministry of Some political observerson the Additional notes listed Labour yesterday. have speculated the Minnis He gave no details administration would prefer MUSIC entrepreneur Ellis Rich yesterday criticised the Ministry of Tourism for failing to treat report said: “The listed defendant about what happened, to exit the Oban deal after former Bahamian beauty queen Khiara Sherman, above, with “fairness, dignity and respect”. telling reporters “agreeSee Tribune Business for the full story did knowingly and SEEintentionally ments and confidentiality” PAGE FIVE stab the victim on the left cheek area with a knife against his‘DON’T will BE SO PETTY, PRIME MINISTER’

By MORGAN ADDERLEY people’s money”. However, causing permanent disfigurement.

Tribune Staff Reporter Free National Movement chairman Carl Culmer “The victim stated thatmadderley@tribunemedia.net he defended Dr Minnis against PROGRESSIVE Liberal these claims, saying Dr Party deputy entered the business located at leader ChesMinnis’ trips are more than ter Cooper is firing back at a campaign tool.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert 9610 Pines Blvd (Pines Market) Mr Culmer also Minnis’ recent taunts addressed the opposition’s against him, calling for the criticism of the closed-door and stated that he needed to prime minister to “resist the signing between the govto be petty”. ernment and Disney Island use the restroom at which temptation point Mr Cooper, who is also DR Minnis and Chester Cooper Development Ltd for a the Exuma member of dollar project defendant Fawaz went withparliament, him addressed hall meetings as well. He multi-million in Eleuthera.

Minnis’ recent spate accused the prime minister to the back are where the Dr bathof Family Island town of “campaigning using the SEE PAGE SIX room was located.

“The victim stated that as he made his way to the bathroom

OBAN BOSS - 100% WE’LL GO AHEAD

SHOW ME SOME RESPECT

‘ATTACK DOES NOT WARRANT FORMAL ADVISORY ABOUT TRAVELLING TO AMERICA’

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE savage knife attack of a Bahamian at a Pembroke Pines eatery over the weekend, while “unfortunate,” does not warrant a formal advisory for Bahamians travelling to the United States, two Cabinet ministers have said.

In the aftermath of the vicious assault on Harold Williams, a Bahamasair manager reportedly in Florida for medical reasons, there was initial speculation that the incident was a hate crime and required some level of an advisory. US police have said they are not investigating the matter as a hate crime.

In separate interviews outside of Cabinet yesterday, both Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield and Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar speculated The Bahamas would incur more harm than good if it responded with a travel advisory.

“It is extremely unfortunate,” Mr D’Aguilar told reporters. “It demonstrates (that) no matter where you travel, you have to be careful and that you can become a victim of crime. “… One must be careful when one goes to the United States. And one might argue especially if you’re a black male, you have to be especially careful. But you know, every tourist destination has its issues and (America has) theirs; and I will leave it at that.”

When asked about public calls for a travel advisory, he added: “I think that we have to be very mindful

that 74 percent of our foreign visitors come from the United States … it’s a heck of a lot more impactful when they issue a travel advisory as opposed to when we issue a travel advisory.”

Addressing the occurrence in line with the travel warnings issued by the US State Department in recent years, the Freetown MP said it would be in The Bahamas’ better interest to avoid a “tit-for-tat” with the United States, claiming it to be a battle the country “will never win”.

“Our economy is extremely reliant on foreign visitors from the United States, and so we must tread very cautiously in how we respond to their travel advisories,” Mr D’Aguilar, pictured above, contended.

Referring to the government’s recent “push back” stance for recurring advisories being issued against The Bahamas, Mr D’Aguilar added: “But also, we try to impress upon them that they must very mindful of how impactful their travel advisory can be on our economy.

You know, that’s our job to sensitise them.”

Meanwhile, Mr Henfield called the attack a “nonsequitur” in the overall discussion on the safety of Bahamians in the United States and potential for hate crimes against them.

He said the attack, while “unfortunate,” was not common to the thousands of Bahamians who travel to the United States every year.

When asked directly if his ministry had considered issuing a travel advisory in the wake of the incident, Mr Henfield responded: “Absolutely not.”

“We just witnessed in New Zealand a real hate crime where 50 persons lost their lives. We sent to New Zealand a (diplomatic) note lamenting the fact that this instance took place in mosques in their country and that our thoughts and prayers are with them.

“How many moments do we know of that… Bahamians have been attacked in this fashion which will warrant us sending a warning to Bahamians travelling to Florida? For me, that’s a non-sequitur,” he said.

“I don’t want to speculate on conjecture. One is too much, if it is a hate crime, one is too much and it is intolerable and should not be tolerated by anyone or supported by any country, ok. But I am not going to speculate on conjecture,” he added.

He also said: “The government of The Bahamas will always act in the best interest of Bahamians, in their security and in their economy. If we feel that Bahamians are threatened to any country that they travel to, an advisory will come forward.”

“In this instance, we don’t feel we need to,” he said.

Mr Williams, in an interview with 7News Miami on Monday, said he was in Florida to pick up medication and was running errands on Saturday when he stopped at Pines Market - 9610 Pines Boulevard - a sandwich shop - to use the restroom.

He said a man behind the counter said he could use the restroom there.

As he was walking to the restroom, the assailant attacked him, he said.

Pembroke Pines police subsequently arrested 24-year-old Fawaz Hassan, an employee of the business.

He has been charged with aggravated battery.

he felt what he believed that

that defendant punched him on ROBBERY the face but shortly realised that he had been stabbed on the left VICTIM cheek area.

“The DIES OF victim then walked over to the MD Now Urgent Care clinic located at 9650 Pines Blvd WOUNDS to look for medical attention as he

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

continued to bleed profusely and attended to by medical staff who then contacted 911. The victim told the urgent care staff that he was stabbed at the Pines Market.

“Contact was made with defendant at the business and he spontaneously uttered that the victim attempted to enter the rear

A SUSPECTED armed robbery, which turned fatal late on Sunday night, has pushed the country’s murder count to 15 for the year, according to The Tribune’s records.

The victim, according to reports, was in a business establishment on Taylor Street, Nassau Village, shortly before midnight when a gunman forced his way into the business and shot him in his body several times before fleeing on foot.

The victim was taken to hospital where he later died.

The incident occurred just under nine hours after a father of two was gunned down in a brazen drive-by shooting in Fox Hill.

SEE PAGE TWO

GOSPEL SINGER ON RAPE CHARGE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

CHRISTIAN Massive lead singer Cartnel Kent Johnson was charged in Magistrate’s Court yesterday with allegedly raping a woman earlier this month.

The 48-year-old was charged before Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on a single rape charge stemming from the March 8 incident.

SEE PAGE TWO

FACE-TO-FACE NOW THAT’S A REALLY SMART IDEA

SEE PAGE EIGHT

HAROLD Williams in hospital in the US over the weekend.

of the business at which point he had to defend himself and stabbed the victim in the face. On scene investigation did not reveal that the victim was armed, presented any threat or had any intention to commit a crime within the business.

“There is CCTV footage of the incident which shows the victim entering the business with no weapons in his hands and also captured the moment before the stabbing and just after the stabbing where the victim is seen backing up with his hands up after having been stabbed,” the arrest report also said.

According to a report on 7 News Monday, Mr Williams said the man who stabbed him didn’t say a word.

“I tried to get out of there, because he looked like he was coming to stab me again,” he said, “and the other guy who was with him, he just opened the door and said to me, ‘Never come back here again.’”

Mr Hassan was released on bond and a court date is pending.

The police report also noted he does not have any prior arrests.

PAGE 6, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

GRAND LUCAYAN BUYERS DOWN TO ‘THREE OR FOUR’

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE government has narrowed its list of potential purchasers for the Grand Lucayan down to “three or four” out of 60 interested bidders, according to Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

Mr D’Aguilar also revealed that government personnel were presently “negotiating quite closely” with the handful of unnamed, short-listed bidders.

The Freetown MP said that the government, now in critical negotiations to sell the property and conclude voluntary separation from page one Some said their homes or businesses do not need to be renovated. People like August Stevens, owner of a mom-and-pop store in Masons Addition, want to renovate their property but won’t because they don’t own the land. Others like Mr Moss said the concessions are too limited to address problems that have locked their families into a cycle of poverty for generations.

For their part, government officials note hardly three months have passed since the Economic Empowerment Zone went live in late November and officials are preparing to ramp up their education campaign to encourage more people to take advantage of the concessions.

“People are calling in, we’re receiving numerous calls,” Samita Ferguson, head of the Overthe-Hill Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister, said yesterday.

“We didn’t have a target of how many (applications) we wanted by a certain point. We are speeding up in our public education.

We are working on a commercial. We will make sure it’s spread through social media. The environmental monitors we have hired will be very strategic because when they walk about in the zones they will be able to pass out flyers or get names or numbers of persons that would be interested in tapping into the concessions.

“We have also tapped into the Urban Renewal Centres so applications can be found there.” Ms Ferguson said some who called her unit have been directed to the Small Business Development Centre, which, among other things, can provide financing to small businesses and may be a better fit for their needs.

Government officials also stress that the Overthe-Hill programme is bigger than tax concessions.

The government wants to create a food market for native products in the area; eliminate outside toilet use by 2025; create an auto-mechanic cluster that eliminates roadside mechanics in residential areas; build a multi-purpose community centre that offers care for children, the elderly and opportunities for counselling and construct a sports complex, among other things.

“The concessions part of the Over-the-Hill programme is just one part of a much broader programme that is really geared towards addressing different needs,” one OPM official said.

“There are other things going on within the programme. It’s a multi-layered

packages talks with some managers at the resort, did not want show its “entire hand” in the press.

“Yes, (negotiations are) proceeding very, very well,” he told reporters yesterday. “I am quietly optimistic something will happen very shortly; we’ll wait and see.”

He added: “We’re in the negation phase so we’re a little… we’re hedging on what we can disclose and not disclose, but its for a reason.

“We are negotiating. We don’t want to show our entire hand in the press. I know you’re anxious for information, but we are doing the best that we can to negotiate

and to keep you as informed as we can.

“When its done, we’ll let you know. We’re focused on probably three or four; we are negotiating quite closely with them so I am quietly optimistic,” he added.

Meanwhile, addressing those ongoing negotiations with managers at the resort seeking a way out, Mr D’Aguilar yesterday said stalled discussions had been jump-started by “fruitful” talks between legal representative for the managers, attorney Obie Ferguson, and himself.

“I met with the union yesterday, they are progressing very well,” Mr D’Aguilar told reporters. “We are in the negotiation phase, so

I rather not negotiate this in the press.

“It’s a negotiation and were waiting for the negotiation process to complete, but it is moving, we’re talking, everything is going well,” he added.

Mr D’Aguilar’s comments come on the heels of a recent Tribune report which revealed a $9.2m on operations and payout spend by the government at the resort since it acquired it last year.

A high-ranking government official on the request of anonymity confirmed $6m in taxpayer dollars was spent on operational costs and $3.2m paid to line staff who opted to receive voluntary separation packages.

However there has been no money expended on capital works projects.

The figure sharply falls below Progressive Liberal Party deputy leader Chester Cooper’s estimation last Tuesday that $14m in taxpayer funds has been used since the government temporarily took over the hotel.

He called the exercise a “frolic” as the PLP doubled down on criticising the government’s handling of Grand Lucayan employees and the execution of the plan to sell the resort. He further called for greater accountability in the spending of tax dollars.

PM’s initiative only attracts 17 applicants

TOP: TREVOR MOSS, 53, is renovating his tire shop but has not sought concessions from the government to do so, saying the cost of buying duty-free materials to equip his business is still too costly. He said he would be better helped if the government removed duties off tires.

LEFT: AUGUST STEVENS, 46, owns a convenience store on Masons Addition. He said he would like to renovate his shop, but he will do so only if his landlord gives him first preference if he decides to sell the property.

RIGHT: Pete Poitier said he wants to renovate his home, especially the inner structure, which has become “drop down.” However, he said even with concessions, “the money ain there.” programme that is the first of its kind on this scale.

The concessions, in terms of the application process, it hasn’t been three months yet. It’s kind of like an aircraft carrier, it takes a while to turn. We are collecting data, we are monitoring and we are happy with the progress but it takes time.”

Meanwhile, more than 70 standpipes have been

repaired in the zone, which stretches from Nassau Street to Collins Avenue and from Delancey Street in the north to Wulff Road in the south. The remodelling of at least two parks, the Father Marshall Cooper Park in Mason’s Addition and McPherson Park on Hay Street, has been completed and free Wi-Fi will be installed in those areas

soon in an effort to tackle the digital divide on the island, officials said.

Still, the tax concessions, first mentioned

by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis while he was in opposition in 2014, have been the most touted part of the Over-the-Hill programme since its inception. Several town-halls, broadcast by ZNS, have

been held to discuss the concessions.

Mr Moss, 53, owns a tyre shop on Meadow Street and was one of the few residents who has heard about the concessions.

“I spoke to Travis (Robinson) recently and told him nobody feeling nothin’ no more,” he said, referring to the area’s MP. “Everything is foreign, the foreigners get

all the real opportunities but there is nothin’ for the small man.”

Mr Moss is renovating his business. He wants to add a restroom and create a waiting area so customers can watch TV and enjoy airconditioning while he fixes their tyres.

It is the kind of improvement and expansion of property that the Overthe-Hill programme aims to facilitate. But Mr Moss said he has not sought out the available tax concessions. “That ain’ helping me,” he said. “You have 14 percent duty on the tyres, a $3.50 environmental levy tax, then you have 12 percent VAT, all on tyres. If you really want to do something for the small businessman, give us exemptions on that.

“Even occasional exemptions on duties or VAT would help.”

Dr Minnis in opposition said a Free National Movement government would exempt Over-the-Hill residents from customs duties on imported materials.

That idea was later curtailed – technocrats feared it would cause substantial tax revenue leakages because it would be too difficult to prevent goods bought by retailers within the zone from being sold to merchants outsize the zone.

The government’s subsequent decision to exempt duty only on imported materials used for construction, equipping and completing buildings is seen by some residents in the zone as too limited to make an impact and may explain why only few people have applied for the concessions, Mr Moss said.

“Lots of people come and when you say, ‘this is the price of the tyres,’ they roll back out because they don’t have the money,” he said. “If we could bring in tyres duty-free, I could reduce the average price of tyres by 30 or 40 percent. Only me one work here. I want to bring in someone but I can’t. I work seven days a week. Sometimes I tired. I work here from 8am to 10pm, 11pm at night every day. I suffered a mild stroke in February 2017 because I was overworked but had little time to recover before I had to get back to work and I’m still struggling.”

FOULKES CALLS FOR ‘GIVE AND TAKE’ IN SALT TALKS

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

AMID tenuous negotiations between Morton Salt (Bahamas) and the trade union representing its linestaff, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes has called for a process of “give and take,” urging the two sides to move closer to a resolution.

In an interview with reporters yesterday, Mr Foulkes pleaded for peace as he begged those involved in the negotiation to let cooler heads prevail.

On Sunday Jennifer Brown, president of the Bahamas Industrial, Manufacturers & Allied Workers Union (BIMAWU), told Tribune Business the union — which represents around 100 line-staff at the Morton Salt operation — was disappointed by the company’s recent decision to employ part-time workers

on the weekend shift. She blasted the move as a “tit for tat” tactic, one she said the BIMAWU would file a trade dispute over.

According to Ms Brown, this latest setback in a long-line of mishaps at the operation came to a head when full-time workers recognised that last weekend’s schedule was made-up exclusively of part-time workers.

She alleged that regular workers were never asked if they wanted to work, a move taken as payback for recent shortfalls in “tonnage” output at the company.

“They’re upset they’re not getting the tonnage they usually get, but what they expect if our workers are disgruntled,” she said on Sunday.

“We will be filing a trade dispute on that. They claim they are working on a counter-proposal. It’s been two weeks now. We have been negotiating for over a year. We are not signing for

a 1.5 percent wage increase. That’s an insult. I don’t care what kind of pressure they apply, we’re not accepting that,” she added.

Meanwhile, addressing the matter yesterday, Mr Foulkes said he was awaiting a report on the dispute from the director of labour.

Nonetheless, seemingly bothered by with the ordeal, Mr Foulkes called for peace, stressing that entering negotiations with an attitude of “give and take” would be the only way to reach a resolution.

“I know for the workers in Inagua things are rough; I know that. But the government is very empathetic to the plight of the workers, and the most I can say at this point is I want both sides to give and take,” he said.

“As the minister of labour, I have to stay in the middle. I cannot take sides on any of these issues,” he added.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, PAGE 7

from page one before the work is complete and the relocation carried out. Mr Davis led a group of party executives, supporters and reporters on what he hoped would be a tour of the site, however, a security officer told the group he could not allow this. The guard insisted he not only needed the names of everyone one in the group, but said there was a requirement for each person to wear hard hats and steel toe boots.

However, The Tribune noted that only one construction worker of several near the entrance of the building was wearing a hard hat.

Ultimately, the group was only allowed inside the main entrance of the building, but no further. Mr Davis admitted that the Official Opposition did not seek permission to access the construction site.

Although the remainder of the project could not be seen, what was apparent was that there is much work to be done.

There were what appeared to be unopened boxes containing new postal boxes, thick dust, electrical wiring visible in the ceiling and ceiling tiles not in place.

Some workers were also standing on an elevation well above the ground, but were not protected by a railing. “I think we were deceived by the timelines and I think the timeline was put forward to get the permission that they required from their own members to engage the lease of this building,” Mr Davis said in response to a question from The Tribune about the initial timeline and differing dates that came after.

“From my observation, this is the finishing part of it, I see months of work left to be done,” Mr Davis, former minister of works, under the previous Christie administration said.

He said the government needed to give an account to Bahamians when the work there would be complete.

“It’s disrupting businesses, impacting on the economy and the cries for a solution is being heard loud and clear. Whether they are hearing it is another matter. We trust this visit today will at least awaken them to listen.”

In a prepared statement, Mr Davis said what has happened to date is a dereliction of public duty by the Minnis administration.

“The PLP is very concerned

PLP tours new post office and declares: It’s months away from being finished

THE PLP yesterday toured the Town Centre Mall Post Office location.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff about the prolonged delay in regularising postal services in New Providence and the negative impact this is having on postal workers, businesses, the general public and the economy at large,” he said.

“This is particularly so in view of the fact that this administration met a process in place where ultimately the Bahamian people would have owned a custom-built and designed building to facilitate 21st century postal operations.

“We draw this wanton dereliction of public duty by this FNM government to the attention of the general public today.

“Had the incoming FNM government not interrupted the retrofit project at the former

Independence Shopping Centre, that project would have been completed and the Bahamian people would have enjoyed regularised postal services around December 2017, more than one year ago.”

He continued: “Additionally, the glaring conflict of interest involving a sitting minister of the Cabinet is an ongoing concern; a decision by the government not supported by the opposition caucus in Parliament.

“This corrupt and controversial move will cost the Bahamian people literally millions of tax dollars in the way of a redundant breach of contract settlement currently before the courts, and more, particularly in light of repeated delays.

“This straightforward project was turned into an expensive disaster from the beginning because the FNM was motivated and driven by partisan politics, special interest and not the public interest. The rushed purchase and selection the Gladstone Road property proved to be a waste of time and money because it was poorly thought out and executed and the government was forced to abandon that route.”

The Minnis administration had initially said the GPO would be moved to the old Phil’s Food Services building on Gladstone Road before abandoning that idea for Town Centre Mall. The mall is owned by Minister of Immigration Brent Symonette.

“In a last ditch effort to save face and embarrassment, the government guaranteed the public that this Town Centre Mall retrofit would have been completed

by December 15, 2018,” Mr Davis said. “It is now March 19, 2019, more than three months later and it remains unclear when this project will be completed and regular public postal services restored.”

SEVEN FAST-FOOD OUTLETS IN GB COULD BE CLOSED TODAY

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE closure of at least one of the seven fast-food restaurants owned by the Cooper family could happen as early as today due to the disconnection of power supply at those businesses by the Grand Bahama Power Company, The Tribune has learned.

According to a reliable source, the closure may come at one of the Burger King restaurants in Freeport, resulting in the unemployment of possibly dozens of Bahamians.

The Tribune understands that power supply at another business entity in Freeport has also been disconnected and the owner was subsequently detained yesterday for questioning by police in connection with suspected electricity theft.

When contacted yesterday about the arrest of another business owner in reference to a complaint filed by GBPC, ASP Terecita Pinder would only say that police are questioning a number of people in reference to the matter.

Meanwhile, a religious

and civic leader believes the ordeal could result in a major economic blow to Grand Bahama if those businesses close their doors and hundreds are left jobless.

“It would be a tragedy if that happened,” said Pastor Eddie Victor, president of the Coalition of the Concerned Citizens (CCC) - a civic group which has been very vocal about the high cost of electricity on Grand Bahama.

Power supply was turned off at seven fast food restaurants in Freeport owned and operated by the Cooper family after a complaint of suspected electricity theft was filed with police by GBPC last Wednesday. The owners were arrested and questioned by police, and released pending the outcome of the investigation.

On Tuesday, power was still not restored at the three Burger Kings, three KFCs, and Pollo Tropical location, which were on emergency generators since last Wednesday.

Last week, after recent metre audits the Grand Bahama Power Company said it uncovered a series of suspected electricity

diversion instances at a number of businesses in the Freeport area.

“As per our established protocols, we have taken immediate steps to isolate those customers from our electrical grid and formally lodged a complaint of suspected theft to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

The RBPF has officially launched an investigation and to our knowledge persons are assisting the police in this matter,” a GBPC statement said last Friday.

The Cooper family has denied any wrongdoing and said the controversy is the result of widely-used energy saving devices that were installed at their businesses, not electricity theft.

They indicated that other businesses and residents on the island are also using the same device which they had installed several years ago by a legitimate licencee of the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

Pastor Victor believes the action taken by the foreignowned power provider was wrong and could negatively impact the businesses, their employees and the economy of Grand Bahama.

On Sunday, the Cooper

ECUADORIAN PAIR ADMIT OVERSTAYING

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TWO Ecuadorians who admitted to coming to The Bahamas to be smuggled to the US were arraigned on Tuesday in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court for being in breach of the Immigration Act. Nancy Viviana Alvarez Jimenez, 21, and Luis Fernando Chuya Tinizhanay, 21, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson.

They were charged with overstaying.

The pair pleaded guilty.

According to the particulars, Jimenez and Tinizhanay were found in Freeport after the expiration of a seven-day stay granted them by an

immigration officer on February 21.

They both admitted to the judge that they were making preparatory steps to be smuggled to the US. Deputy Chief Magistrate Ferguson ordered them to each pay a fine of $3,000 or in default serve two years in prison.

On paying their fine or serving their custodial sentence, the Ecuadorians will be deported to their country of origin.

Meanwhile, a Guyanese man was arraigned on Monday for breach of the Immigration Act. Mark Henry, 45, appeared before Magistrate Charlton Smith where he was charged with overstaying.

Henry, who was

represented by Rufus Allen, pleaded guilty to the charge. According to the particulars, on Friday, March 25, Henry was found in Freeport after the expiration of a 14-day stay granted to him by an immigration officer on November 5, 2017.

He claimed to have entered the Bahamas legally after the passing of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and remained in the country without extending his visitor’s status or seeking to regulate his status.

Magistrate Smith ordered Henry to pay a fine of $2,000 or in default serve four months in prison.

Henry paid the fine and was handed over to the Immigration Department for deportation to Guyana.

family said that if power is not restored at their businesses they may be forced shut the restaurants down— which employ close to 500 Bahamians.

Pastor Victor said: “It would be another economic blow to GB - a blow not because of the economy, but because of a corporate entity on the island that is allowed to act like that that is the tragedy of this.”

He believes the situation should have been handled in a better way.

“I believe when you look at the whole scenario, they deliberately targeted the

Coopers’ businesses to make them an example to other customers. And to me, that is corporate bullying - they are bullying their customers.

“They are a Canadian company and they have a complete disconnect with the community of GB and with Bahamians. I can’t see any Bahamian entity treating Bahamian customers in that fashion. There should have been an initial communication to resolve the problem in an amicably way, and that did not happen,” he said.

Pastor Victor, who heads

the CCC, said that the police investigation is not complete and it has not been determined whether the devices are illegal and questioned why are persons being arrested.

“The police department does not have an electrical engineering unit. They have a cyber-crime unit, so how do they know if the devices are illegal?” he said.

Pastor Victor is encouraging the power company to sit down with the businesses and resolve the situation to avoid any further hardship to the island’s economy.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CHAOS at the Passport Office: People facing a long wait to be served. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

It’s shoddy, unacceptable and time we demanded better

T

HE current administration has not been popular - and that may be an understatement.

Many Bahamians are unimpressed or even frustrated with it because of its failure to address major issues, refusal to engage the public, reluctance to respond to questions from the media and lack of clarity about exactly what is planned and what is taking place in. Not only are we not being given opportunities to participate in decision-making, but it does not seem as though the Bahamian people are being considered by the administration. Ministers boldly tell us everything is fine when we can see through cracks, whatever we ask for is

The

Alicia Wallace

column

‘coming soon’ and they can do whatever they like doing because they have a title.

This is clear in three recent examples.

Failure to Disclose In recent years, we have been paying more attention to public disclosure.

According to the Public Disclosure Act, all senators and Members of Parliament are required to declare assets, income and liabilities of their own as well as spouses and children in the

household for the previous calendar year before March 1. Declarations are to be examined by the Public Disclosure Commission and published in the Gazette.

The Commission reports issues with declarations, including failure to submit, to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition who may then initiate action in response. Failure to disclose is an offence punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or up to two years of imprisonment. This depends completely on the

Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and those in these positions have never taken them seriously.

It has been reported that three Members of Parliament — Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe, Frankie Campbell (Minister of Social Services and Urban Development), and Dionisio D’Aguilar (Minister of Tourism and Aviation) — failed to disclose by the deadline and were given until March 15 (which Parker-Edgecome missed). Minnis insists they are in compliance. There always seem to be allowances for people who miss the deadline to disclose, though everyone knows the deadline remains the same every year. The same lenience and understanding is not given to Members of Parliament who think critically, dare to make their thoughts and opinions public, or challenge the positions of this administration. It is clear to see the difference in rules for those who stay in line.

Prime Ministers and Leaders of the Opposition cannot be trusted to do what the law prescribes when their own are in contravention. There is a need for an independent body or individual to be responsible for bringing charges.

Public disclosure needs to be taken seriously, but even the party that ran on the rhetoric of anti-corruption and transparency is not prepared to do it.

State of Schools

The Ministry of Education has been in the news several times in connection with health issues in our schools.

Department of Environmental Health Public Analyst Anthony Ryan said there is are housekeeping issues within government schools which give rise to health issues. He made mention of rodent droppings and dust mites which could trigger allergies and pointed to the poor maintenance of facilities. Minister of EduPAGE 12, Monday, March 18, 2019 cation Jeffrey Lloyd said the summer period is not long enough to take care of maintenance issues and suggested there is not enough money for proper cleaning.

This is outrageous.

Can we be concerned about the abduction of children, unsatisfactory examination results and potential measles outbreaks while unconcerned about the health risk within the schools where they spend six hours every weekday?

In his comment, Lloyd mentioned the need to create J S JOHNSON & Company kicked HELPING HAND “a offculture its 100th-year celebrations by joinof ongoing maining forces once again with Hands for tenance,” and Hunger (H4H). training, The company’s manageFOR HANDS ment and staff volunteered their time greater responsibility to offito help H4H distribute over 7,000 lbs of FOR HUNGER cials within school districts as if there is time for a longerm system overhaul. The schools need to be properly cleaned and inspected before teachers, staff and students are expected to be there. It is inexplicable there is no existing culture of cleanliness and health and safety protocols led by the Ministry and carried out in all schools.

Passport Office Disaster

woman who has gone through the experience and The application and taken note of the issues. renewal process for pass- She thought about them ports is a disaster and an and got to work on a list embarrassment. Numerous of recommendations. Why people have shared their has no one at the Passport experiences in letters to Office been able to do this, the editor and social media or suggest that someone posts. The issues with the observe the process and process are clear to see submit recommendations? and the solutions easy to None of them are difficult develop. In fact, Pamela to implement, requiring Burnside, after her experi- little more than a dedicated ence which was a two-day that cares about the level fiasco, shared recommen- service available to the dations that are easy to public. Given that a passport is required not only implement.

The current situation is for travel, but for a range of that people go to the Pass- transactions (which is ridicport Office at 5am in an ulous and cost-prohibitive) attempt to ensure they are including job applications, among the first to arrive it should be a priority to and will not be turned away ensure every Bahamian is by staff. Some are turned able to obtain and renew it.

The government extends away because they do not have the electronic version deadlines when it suits, of a birth certificate or mar- ignores complaints until riage certificate, or because people are at risk and fails another document is miss- to improve its service to the ing. If only the website Bahamian public. Prioriwere up to date, the phones ties may not become clear, answered and signs outside but we are able to see what the building so that people does not matter.

Transparency is only ever could easily find out exactly what is needed to make the important to the opposiapplication before arriv- tion, and when it rises to ing and double check when power, to hell with those they are there. looking on, trying to deterThe people attempting mine exactly what is taking to apply stand outside for place. hours before they are given Children are the future, instructions and, even then, but good luck to them in they are not given com- surviving filthy school enviplete information about the ronments because it costs process and have to figure too much money to protect it out together. The list of their health. Best wishes to problems with this process the people outside of the goes on and on. Curiously, Passport Office in the dark, Chief Passport Officer standing for hours in hope Siobhan Dean stated there they did not take the mornis no quota system and no ing off from work for no one is turned away from the reason.

Passport Office, but later It is apparent this said they “have to cut off administration has bigger at a certain point”. Accord- things to worry about, ing to reports, that point is like increasing taxes before noon. while reducing services How hard can it be (in amount and quality). to determine how many It will not simply choose people can be served in to do better. We have to one day? Why wouldn’t demand it. the Passport Office have The Opposition has to a separate day for first- be vocal, not only when it time applicants until they is slighted, or participatacquire the additional space ing in petty back-and-forth it desperately needs. through the media. It needs Burnside’s recommenda- to speak to our interests tions include a website with in needs, amplifying our A12MAIN accurate information on voices.

THE TRIBUNE the process and necessary We have to use whatcomponents for the appli- ever power we have to cation, production of an make it absolutely necinformation pamphlet, and essary for the current working phone lines that administration to attend are answered during the to us. We are not even at business day. She also rec- the halfway point yet and ommended proper sitting look at our position. It is with protection from the energized and determined elements since people have to serve itself. to wait outside for hours.

We need turn “sick and She also included the need tired” into a boldness to to overhaul the registration demand what is due to us process through the use of as citizens of The Bahamas. technology to allow people 2022 is too far away, and we to arrive during daylight cannot afford to wait. It is hours and be processed in a time we learn to advocate reasonable amount of time. Nassau for ourselves because what fresh produce to more than 200 families Village,” said Zeleka Knowles, within the Nassau Village community, executive of Hands for is Hunger.

These recommendawe director are getting nowhere free of charge. “We are extremely grate“It shows they have a lot of faith in our tions from a Bahamian near and good enough. ful for J Sare Johnson’s partnership over programmes through corporate the years and specifically the support of the community market that took place in

partnerships, we’re able to make a quantifiable difference in communities.”

MINISTERS MISS THE DISCLOSURE DEADLINE from page one

Yesterday, Mrs ParkerEdgecombe told The Tribune she was given until March 15 to file but did not do so. She said she planned to “deliver next week”.

The Tribune was told Mr D’Aguilar was given until the end of the month, but planned to file within the next two days.

The Public Disclosure Act empowers only two people to act on delinquent filings: the prime minister

FROM left: Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe, Frankie Campbell and Dionisio D’Aguilar did not meet the March 1 deadline. attorney general or commissioner of police so those who failed to disclose could face a penalty.

The penalty for not dis-

that date. Those outstanding filings were submitted in the lead up to the PDC’s much-delayed meeting to discuss filings, so they were

THE TRIBUNE

NEW YORK Associated Press GOOGLE yesterday unveiled a video-game streaming platform called Stadia, positioning itself to take on the traditional video-game business.

The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and lets players jump across devices operating on Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS, such as Pixel phones and Chromebooks.

Google made the announcement at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Some industry watchers were expecting a streaming console, but Google’s platform centers squarely on the company’s cloud infrastructure.

“The new generation of gaming is not a box,” said Google Vice President Phil Harrison. “The data centre is your platform.”

Much like movies and music, the traditional video-game industry has been shifting from physical hardware and games to digital downloads and streaming. Videogame streaming typically requires a strong connection and more computing power than simply streaming video, since there is real-time interaction between player and game.

Google says it is leveraging its data centres to power the system.

Alphabet Inc’s Google said playing video games will be as simple as pressing a “Play Now” button, with nothing to download or install. An optional dedicated Stadia controller will be available. The

Myspace loses 12 years of content

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, PAGE 9

Goodbye console?

Google launches game-streaming platform

THE GOOGLE Stadia controller.

(Google image).

WiFi-enabled controller has a button that lets players launch a microphone and use Google Assistant to ask questions about the games being played.

Another button lets users share gameplay directly to Google’s video streaming service, YouTube.

CFRA Research analyst Scott Kessler said Google’s approach that ties YouTube sharing and video-game playing is unique.

“It is not necessarily at this point the easiest thing for people to livestream their games and now you can do it with the push of

a button,” he said. “What they’ve done with Stadia is to connect and unify both the gaming platform and the streaming platform which obviously is new.”

No launch date or pricing was announced but the company said Stadia will be available in 2019 in the US, Canada, the UK

and parts of Europe. The company showed demos of “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” and “Doom Eternal”.

More information about games is due this summer.

The US video game industry raked in revenue of $43.4bn in 2018, up 18 percent from 2017, according to research firm NPD Group.

BTIG Managing Director Brandon Ross said Stadia will be a positive for game publishers “assuming that it works and works at scale, which is a big assumption”.

That’s because the platform could bring in players not willing to spend the money upfront for a gaming PC or a console.

“What they’re presenting is a feasible way to play video games in the cloud, and utilising the cloud so you can play anytime, anyplace and anywhere,” he said. “There’s no friction, including the friction of upfront hardware costs.”

Ross added that Google’s platform could set up a distribution battle between Microsoft, which owns the Xbox, Sony, which owns the PlayStation, Google and perhaps Amazon, which reportedly is working on its own video-game service, as they race to lock down distribution of the most in-demand games.

To that end, Google launched Stadia Games and Entertainment which will develop Stadia-exclusive games.

“The differentiator for any of the distributors on a console or in the cloud is going to be available content,” he said.

NASA’s plan to scoop up dirt from asteroid hits a snag NEW YORK Associated Press

MYSPACE, once the largest social networking site in the world, apologised to users this week after losing 12 years of content.

The firm, based in California, told users on Monday that following a server migration, “any photos, videos and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available”.

That content reportedly includes any of the site’s reported 53 million songs that were uploaded from 2003, when the company was founded, until 2015.

Myspace reached its peak popularity in 2006 – when it was the most visited site in the US – before Facebook’s domination of social media.

Despite its decline, it has remained popular among new and established musicians.

NASA’s plan to scoop up dirt and gravel from an asteroid has hit a snag, but scientists say they can overcome it.

The asteroid Bennu was thought to have wide, open areas suitable for the task. But a recently arrived spacecraft revealed the asteroid is covered with boulders and there don’t seem to be any big, flat spots that could be used to grab samples.

In a paper released yesterday by the journal Nature, scientists say they plan to take a closer look at a few smaller areas that might work. They said sampling from those spots poses “a substantial challenge”.

“But I am confident this team is up to that substantial challenge,” the project’s lead scientist, Dante Lauretta, told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

The spacecraft, called Osiris-Rex, is scheduled to descend close to the surface in the summer of 2020. It will extend a robot arm to pick up the sample, which

ARTIST’s rending of the mapping of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu by the OSIRISREx spacecraft. will be returned to Earth in 2023. The spacecraft began orbiting Bennu at the end of last year, after spending two years chasing down the space rock.

When the mission was planned, scientists were aiming to take dirt and gravel from an area measuring at least 55 yards in diameter that was free of boulders or steep slopes, which would pose a hazard.

“It is a more rugged surface than we predicted,”

said Lauretta, of the University of Arizona in Tucson and one of the paper’s authors. But he said he believed a sample could still be collected.

NASA project manager Rich Burns said a spot will be chosen this summer and the setback won’t delay the sampling.

Patrick Taylor, who studies asteroids at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston but didn’t participate in the spacecraft

mission, noted in a telephone interview that the spacecraft was evidently maneuvering more accurately and precisely than had been expected.

“That gives me confidence they will be able to attempt a sample acquisition,” he said.

Bennu is 70 million miles from Earth. It’s estimated to be just over 1,600 feet across and is the smallest celestial body ever orbited by a spacecraft.

Students develop injury detection device MANSFIELD Associated Press SAY you’re a ship captain and you want to know when one of your sailors is fatigued to the point he or she is at risk of getting injured.

Some University of Connecticut students have an idea.

The team of Devon Thompson, Julia Podsen, Yannis Halkiadakis, Prateek Rana and Kyle-Gabriel de Vera Tan, has developed a device, worn around the ankle, that detects normal and abnormal walking patterns. The goal is to develop an algorithm that can predict from someone’s walking patterns if they’re going to get injured and what the injury will be.

“The whole idea is, ‘Can we keep these people mission-ready? Can we keep them performing optimally on a boat?’” said Kristin Morgan, an assistant professor in UConn’s Biomedical Engineering Department.

The sponsor for the project is Electric Boat, which along with the Navy has made a big push to use wearable technology, given its low cost and ease of use, to monitor human performance.

A year and a half ago, UConn and the University of Rhode Island teamed up to create the Naval Science and Technology Program to get students interested in naval projects before they graduate, and to help create a pipeline of workers for the naval industries in the two states.

More than 100 students have been involved in the programme since it started.

Graduating engineering majors at both universities have to complete a senior project — that amounts to about 500 projects total between both universities. This year, 17 of the projects have naval relevance. The goal is to increase that number next year, and include some of the smaller suppliers of the naval industry in both states.

The wearable device project at UConn is just one example of what the students have been working on. As part of the project, the students have observed different subjects — some who are healthy, others who have lower-extremity injuries — going through the same walking protocol on a splitbelt treadmill, which allows them to move their feet at different speeds. That destabilises the subjects to see if they can re-stabilise. They also observed them at symmetrical speeds.

The subjects wear the sensors around each of their ankles. The sensors have a small microphone attached, which capture the vibrations of their footsteps, which are then used to differentiate between abnormal and normal walking patterns.

The sensors also have a Bluetooth device attached, allowing them to collect the data in real time, which is plotted on a graph on a computer. The next step is to put the data into an algorithm that can be used as an early diagnostic tool to know if someone is susceptible to injury.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

CALL TO PREVENT EXPANSION OF SHANTY TOWNS

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE government is working on an enforcement plan to prevent the expansion of shanty towns in the country, according to Labour Minister Dion Foulkes yesterday.

Mr Foulkes said officials will be careful not to breach the Supreme Court order that prohibits the government from dismantling those communities pending a judicial review.

“We are speaking to the Ministry of Works and also to the police to work out a mechanism to ensure that that happens,” he said outside the Cabinet Office. “We do not want to breach the overall order

so we have to be judicious in how we approach that.”

The government was granted a variation of the August 2018 injunction blocking evictions and service disconnections in an order filed on March 14.

The adjusted order prevents those residents from altering or expanding those communities unless in compliance with the Building Regulation Act. The government sought a variation of the order in October 2018, claiming it was made aware that certain residents or occupiers of shanty towns in New Providence had “continued to engage in the construction, erection and alteration of buildings or structures” within those areas without

LABOUR Minister Dion Foulkes obtaining building permits, in violation of the Buildings Regulations Act. It said such activities “injure the public interest in the

proper enforcement of planning laws, creates risk to human safety by the construction of sub-standard housing, and is detrimental to the orderly development and use of the environment.”

Last August, Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ordered the government and utility providers to halt any planned service disconnections or evictions in shanty towns pending a judicial review of the Minnis administration’s policy to eradicate those communities.

The injunction prohibits the government, directly or through its agents, appointees or employees, from taking possession of, demolishing any building on, or otherwise interfering with the

enjoyment of land in shantytowns in New Providence by the 177 applicants for the judicial review, as well as other residents and occupiers of those communities, by disconnecting any utilities “other than pursuant to the relevant enabling legislation” pending the determination of the action or until further order.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, Attorney General Carl Bethel, Mr Foulkes, Public Works Minister Desmond Bannister, Bahamas Power and Light, and the Water and Sewerage Corporation are listed as the respondents.

Non-profit group Respect Our Homes Limited (ROHL), Luanne Nonord and the 177 residents are listed as the applicants.

Schools will be digital within 18 months - Lloyd

By RIEL MAJOR

EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd said yesterday in the next 12 to 18 months, public school systems will be digital.

Mr Lloyd told reporters outside of Cabinet that his ministry recognises the challenges populating the teaching sector, particularly the Family Islands, and noted that issue will be addressed.

He said: “First of all by more aggressive recruiting but secondly by digitising the system which is already on the way. Last September we signed the contract with BTC and signed the contract in January with Cable and in February with Walker’s Industry.

“One of the very most important components of that is distance education which will enable teachers here in New Providence to be able to teach those

classes in New Providence and at the same time students in the Family Islands that have the benefit of such subjects for instance math, science or a foreign language. Those reforms are already on the way, we are already reforming for instance our curriculum you know that it has to be 21st century ready it has to be relevant to the commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

When asked if there will be any major overhauls of schools during the summer break, Mr Lloyd said those kinds of upgrades need longer time than the window of six to seven weeks.

He said: “We are however going to be aggressive in remediating some of the challenges that we have on a number of our campuses that is why we are not waiting on the summer to begin, we are doing them now.

“We have started already; the facility managers have gone into the field and scope the works throughout The Bahamas and those in the most egregious state of disrepair. We are addressing beginning right now because if we wait until summer time I can assure you school will not open properly for a number of those schools and we cannot afford that.”

Mr Lloyd also told reporters people are taking advantage of expanded access to education.

He said: “We have a tuition-free programme at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI), last year it was way over subscribed. This year also we are going to have tuition free at the University of the Bahamas again... so university students, firsttime university students are going to be benefiting from that.”

EDUCATION Minister Jeffrey Lloyd

KILLER PAID OFF BILLS WITH ‘BLOOD MONEY’

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A MAN previously admitted to police that he murdered another man in the Woods Alley area three years ago not only in furtherance of a murder plot, but because he and the deceased were gang rivals.

Jahmaro Edgecombe admitted to killing Kenyari Lightbourne in June 2016 because of his affiliation with the Mad Ass gang when initially interviewed by then Detective Constable Raphael Miller just three weeks after the incident in question.

In fact, Edgecombe said he was after Lightbourne and several other affiliates of the Mad Ass gang, namely “Spider”, “Eyes”, and “Kadi”, with the promise that he could be paid $8,000 for killing any of them. Lightbourne ended up being the one he shot and killed that day.

Edgecombe further admitted that his co-accused, Daran Neely, was the one who authorised the hit on Lightbourne’s life some days before the actual murder, and that Neely sent his second co-accused, Sean Brown aka “Fire”, to pay him the $6,000 for successfully executing the crime.

And after killing Lightbourne and cashing in on his reward, Edgecombe told police he “paid off some bills” with the blood money and distributed the rest to family members.

The revelations were revealed during Neely’s, Edgecombe’s and Brown’s trial before Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson concerning Lightbourne’s death.

On June 21, 2016, Lightbourne was shot multiple times while walking through his neighbourhood off Market Street. He died at the scene.

Neely and Edgecombe aka “Bingy”, the alleged

gunman, were arraigned within months of each other in 2016 in connection with Lightbourne’s death. Brown was charged with being an accessory after the fact.

At the start of yesterday’s proceedings, the Crown played a video recording of Edgecombe’s initial record of interview on July 13, 2016. Conducting the interview was Det Cpl Miller and sitting in was Det. Cpl. 2733 McKenzie.

During the interview, Edgecombe admitted to knowing Lightbourne via social media, but said the two were not friends.

He agreed with DC Miller’s assertion that he was rivals with Lightbourne because of his affiliation with the Mad Ass gang.

Edgecombe said on the morning of June 21, 2016, he was “looking for affiliates” of Kenyari and the Mad Ass street gang and that he was in the area to “take out a hit”. When asked to specify what he meant by taking out a hit, Edgecombe replied: “To commit a murder that I would be paid for.”

He said on that morning, he saw both Lightbourne and “Eyes”; the latter was near an abandoned building while Lightbourne was on Market Street walking through Woods Alley.

Edgecombe agreed with assertions from DC Miller that when he saw both men, he was hiding in a shortcut.

Edgecombe said when he saw Lightbourne, he did not call out his name to get his attention. Instead, Edgecombe said he simply approached Lightbourne and shot him three times with a chrome 40-caliber handgun. Afterwards, he said he ran onto Baillou Hill Road and caught a bus into the Pinewood area so he could “get paid”.

The gun he used was on his waist during his entire commute from the Woods Alley area to Pinewood,

Edgecombe admitted. He said he ultimately sold it to a guy from the Chippingham area who goes by the name “Mob”.

Edgecombe, in response to a question put to him, said Neely authorised the hit on Lightbourne’s life. “It happened days before the actual hit, the murder, in Pinewood at my family residence (on) Spice Street,” Edgecombe said. He said no one else was present during his conversation with Neely.

“He ask me if I knew Kenyari or any of them other Mad Ass affiliates: Eyes, Spider, Kadi or Kenyari,” Edgecombe said during the interview. “Then after I said yes, he said if I kill any of them, I could get $8,000.”

After the crime, Edgecombe said Neely sent Brown to pay him $6,000 for killing Lightbourne.

When asked by DC Miller how he knew Neely sent Brown to pay him, Edgecombe replied: “Because Daran called Sean Brown while we were together in a vehicle in the front of me.”

When asked what he did with the $6,000, Edgecombe said he “paid off a few bills, and gave some money to family members.” Edgecombe’s cousin Carlderon Brown, in a statement he gave to the police on July 8, 2016, said Edgecombe used $3,000 of that sum to buy a Nissan Primera.

At the end of the interview, Edgecombe said he was “comfortable” with the information he gave to DC Miller and said it was “all true”. He subsequently signed the record of interview and declined to give a statement under caution.

The matter continues.

Racquel Whymms and AlLeecia Delancy represent the Crown. Neely is represented by Wayne Munroe, QC, and Jomo Campbell; Edgecombe is represented

by David Cash, and Brown

by Nathan Smith.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, March 20, 2019, PAGE 11

REMEMBERING PRESTON MOSS

A MEMORIAL Service was held yesterday at St Anslem’s for Catholic priest Monsignor Preston Moss, pictured above.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

PAGE 12, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

PRESIDENT BUDDIES UP WITH BOLSONARO, THE ‘TRUMP OF THE TROPICS’ WASHINGTON Associated Press

PRESIDENT Donald Trump welcomed Brazil’s new far-right leader to the White House yesterday and made clear that flattery pays.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — the “Trump of the Tropics”— ran an unabashedly pro-Trump, pro-American campaign last year, emulating Trump in tone and style. It seems to have paid off for Bolsonaro on his first official trip to Washington.

At a joint news conference, Trump announced that he’d agreed to designate Brazil a

“major non-NATO ally” — something Brazil had pursued to smooth US weapons purchases and military coordination. Trump even said he’d be open to granting full NATO membership to Latin America’s largest and most populous nation, even though Brazil doesn’t quality to join the North Atlantic alliance.

The showing was the latest example of the premium Trump puts on personal relationships and the extent to which he’s willing to work with those who sing his virtues. And it renewed focus on the growing wave of populist strongmen who have captured voters’ support with blunt admonitions of

“political correctness” and hardline immigration views.

As they sat down for the first time, Trump hailed Bolsonaro’s run as “one of the incredible campaigns,” saying he was “honored” it had drawn comparisons to his own 2016 victory. And he predicted the two would have a “fantastic working relationship,” telling reporters at a joint press conference that they have “many views” in common. The two also exchanged soccer jerseys in a sign of their budding friendship.

Bolsonaro was equally complimentary, predicting Trump would win re-election in 2020 and

drawing parallels between their efforts.

Standing side-by-side in the White House Rose Garden, Bolsonaro said their two countries “stand side by side in their efforts to ensure liberties and respect to traditional family lifestyles, respect to God, our Creator, against the gender ideology or the politically correct attitudes and against fake news.”

“I’m very proud to hear the president use the term ‘fake news’,” Trump later remarked.

Bolsonaro had arrived in the US with a half a dozen ministers and a goal of expanding trade, diplomatic and military cooperation

between the two largest economies in the Western Hemisphere.

And Trump appeared eager to deliver.

He announced he would back Brazil’s effort’s to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, while floating the idea of full NATO membership, though he said he’d “have to talk to a lot of people” for Brazil to join the organization.

However, James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO from 2009 to 2013, said Brazil does not qualify for full membership under the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949.

TRUMP: NEVER WAS, NEVER WILL BE A FAN OF MCCAIN WASHINGTON Associated Press

FLOOD waters covering large tracts of land in Nicoadala, Zambezia Province of Mozambique.

Major floods causing huge devastation across Africa ZIMBABWE Associated Press AID workers rushed to rescue victims clinging to trees and crammed on rooftops against rapidly rising waters yesterday after a cyclone unleashed devastating floods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. More than 238 were dead, hundreds were missing and thousands more were at risk.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis in Mozambique’s recent history,” said Jamie LeSueur, head of response efforts in Beira for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

At least 400,000 people were left homeless.

The rapidly rising floodwaters created “an inland ocean” in Mozambique, endangering tens of thousands of families, aid workers said as they scrambled to rescue survivors of Cyclone Idai and airdrop food, water and blankets.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said the death toll could reach 1,000.

Emergency workers called it the region’s most destructive flooding in 20 years. Heavy rains were

A FAMILY dig for their son who got buried in the mud when Cyclone Idai struck in Zimbabwe. expected to continue through Thursday.

“This is a major humanitarian emergency that is getting bigger by the hour,” said Herve Verhoosel of the World Food Program. Many people were “crammed on rooftops and elevated patches of land outside the port city of Beira” and WFP was rushing to rescue as many as possible, he said.

Mozambique’s Pungue and Buzi rivers overflowed, creating “inland

oceans extending for miles and miles in all directions,” Verhoosel said. Dams were at 95 percent to 100 percent capacity.

“People visible from the air may be the lucky ones and the top priority now is to rescue as many as possible,” he said.

The extent of the damage was not yet known as many areas remained impassible. With key roads washed away, aid groups were trying to get badly needed food, medicine and fuel into hard-hit Beira, a city of some 500,000 people, by air and sea.

Cyclone Idai swept across central Mozambique before dropping huge amounts of rain in neighboring Zimbabwe’s eastern mountains.

That rainfall is now rushing back through Mozambique, further inundating the already flooded countryside.

“It’s dire,” Caroline Haga of the Red Cross told The Associated Press from Beira. “We did an aerial surveillance yesterday and saw people on rooftops and in tree branches. The waters are still rising and we are desperately trying to save as many as possible.”

Satellite images were helping

the rescue teams target the most critical areas, Haga said. Rescue operations were based at Beira airport, one of the few places in the city with working communications.

The waters flooded a swath of land more than 30 miles wide in central Mozambique putting more than 100,000 people at risk, said the aid group Save the Children.

“The assessment emerging from Mozambique today is chilling,” said Machiel Pouw, Save the Children’s response leader in Mozambique.

“Thousands of children lived in areas completely engulfed by water.

In many places, no roofs or tree tops are even visible above the floods.”

“The full horror, the full impact is only going to emerge over coming days,” Red Cross spokesman Matthew Cochrane told reporters in Geneva.

Torrential rain was still lashing the region on Tuesday, and Buzi town could be entirely submerged within 24 hours, the aid group said.

Hardest hit was Beira, where thousands of homes were destroyed.The city and surrounding areas were without power and nearly all communication lines were destroyed.

CARRYING a bitter personal feud beyond the grave, President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on the late Sen. John McCain yesterday, declaring he will “never” be a fan of the Vietnam war hero and longtime Republican lawmaker who died last year of brain cancer.

“I was never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The fresh vitriol followed Trump’s weekend tweets insulting the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, with whom he long had a fractious relationship. He repeated some of those attacks, complaining about McCain’s vote against repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law.

“He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years and then it got to a vote and he said thumbs down,” Trump said, adding that the repeal would have “saved a trillion dollars.”

Over the weekend, Trump attacked McCain, pictured below, on Twitter. Among his barbs was that the longtime Arizona senator had been “last in his class” at the US Naval Academy. But while McCain famously racked up demerits and earned poor grades, he ultimately graduated fifth from the bottom of his 1958 class.

Those attacks drew retaliatory fire from McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain.

“He spends his weekend obsessing over great men because he knows it and I know it and all of you know it — he will never be a great man,” said Meghan McCain, on ABC’s “The View,” which she co-hosts.

Trump targeted McCain during his presidential campaign, saying that the former prisoner-of-war was not a hero, “because he was captured.”

DUTCH PROSECUTORS LOOK AT US AND RUSSIA DIVIDED ON TERROR MOTIVE IN SHOOTING VENEZUELA AFTER ROME TALKS UTRECHT Associated Press

ROME Associated Press

INVESTIGATORS probing the deadly tram shooting in the Dutch city of Utrecht sharpened their focus yesterday on a possible extremist motive, as judicial authorities revealed that the main suspect was released from jail this month and faces a rape trial in July.

The nature of the Monday’s attack and a note found in a suspected getaway car suggest a possible terror motive, prosecutors said in a statement, but they add that other possible reasons also are being investigated.

“Based on the letter, we think he had a terroristic motive,” said police spokesman Joost Lanshage.

Speaking in parliament, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said the note expressed support

RUSSIA and the United States remain split on how to resolve the crisis in Venezuela, officials from both powers said yesterday after talks in Rome.

Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration’s special envoy to Venezuela, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to discuss the situation in the Latin American country.

“We did not come to a meeting of the minds, but the talks were positive in the sense that I think both sides emerged with a better understanding of the other’s views,” Abrams told reporters after the meeting at a hotel in Rome.

He said it’s “perfectly plausible” that the two sides meet again but no date was set.

Russia backs Venezuelan

DUTCH Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus arrive at a makeshift memorial yesterday. for the suspect’s “Muslim brothers.”

Prosecutors also said that investigations so far have not established any relationship at all between the main suspect, Gokmen Tanis, and the shooting victims.

Three people died: a 19-year-old woman from the neighboring town of Vianen, and two men aged

28 and 49 from Utrecht.

Three others were seriously wounded and four more suffered minor injuries, according to prosecutors.

Tanis, a 37-year-old man of Turkish descent, was being held on suspicion of “manslaughter with terrorist intent.”

He was arrested on Monday after a manhunt that paralysed the city.

President Nicolas Maduro and has accused Washington of meddling in the country’s affairs by pressing him to step down and hand over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Speaking to Russian media, Ryabkov emphasized the need for dialogue with the US but warned Washington against military intervention.

President Donald Trump has said “all options are on the table” regarding Venezuela, which Russia interprets as a refusal to exclude military force, Ryabkov said.

“We have warned the U.S. against that reckless approach,” Ryabkov said in remarks that were carried by the state Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies.

Abrams insisted the US will continue to keep its options open, but said it has chosen the path of putting political, financial and

diplomatic pressure on Maduro’s regime.

Earlier, Abrams met with government officials from Italy — one of four European Union countries that have not backed Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president — and paid a visit to the Vatican. He noted that the Catholic Church enjoys respect and credibility in Venezuela, but said it’s unclear what role if any the Vatican could play in its political crisis.

Pope Francis has reportedly written to Maduro indicating conditions aren’t ripe for the Vatican to step in and help mediate.

Yesterday, the US added a Venezuelan state-owned mining company to a growing sanctions list as it seeks to increase pressure on Maduro. The new sanctions bar any US citizen from any financial transactions with the gold mining company known as Minerven.