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Volume: 119 No.94, April 6, 2022

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$450M PLAN TO REVAMP NASSAU IDB report proposes ‘zero waste’ city - with 100,000 more residents

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

TRANSFORMING Nassau and wider New Providence into a truly resilient, sustainable island demands a $450m investment spread over a 20-year period, a newly-released Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report has revealed.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, unveiled yesterday, identifies ten “priority” projects - ranging from climate change resilience, energy reform and a “zero waste” city through to urban regeneration,

planning and digital connectivity - as vital to enabling New Providence to sustain a further population explosion that is forecast to grow the island’s inhabitants by another 100,000 persons come 2045.

The 78-page document, which has been seen by Tribune Business, says most of the required investment - some $362m or just over 80 percent - should be public, meaning it is derived from the government and Bahamian taxpayers. The remaining $88m balance would originate from the private sector.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

AGE OF CONSENT LEGISLATION MAY GO TO CABINET NEXT WEEK

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder says he hopes to present draft legislation that addresses juvenile matters, including the age of consent, to Cabinet as early as next week.

Mr Pinder made the comments when asked for an update on the compendium of legislation that his ministry is working on to address

such issues of national concern as gender-based violence and sexual assault among other things.

Recently, there have been heightened calls for the government to strengthen legislation to better protect minors after a 40-year-old man was given a four-year sentence for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl who he impregnated.

SEE PAGE THREE

BUYER CHOSEN FOR GRAND LUCAYAN ‘BY END OF MONTH’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper anticipates that the government will choose a buyer for the Grand Lucayan resort by the end of this month, after which a contract for the purchase of the hotel will soon be executed.

According to Mr Cooper, three “substantial” offers have been made to the government by potential investors vying to purchase the hotel property, all of which he said are “acceptable” deals.

However, the tourism, investments and aviation minister said the government wants to do its due diligence before making any decision so as not to make the same mistakes made under the previous administration.

SEE PAGE FIVE

NURSES WARN NON-URGENT SURGERY DELAY MAY BE LENGTHY

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

CONVICT: DON’T MAKE DECISIONS YOU REGRET

CONVICT Ronald George Simmons speaking to students about making the right decisions in life and the consequences of making the wrong ones - during a forum at AF Adderley school yesterday. See PAGE TWO for the full story.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

BAHAMAS Nurses Union President Amancha Williams says Princess Margaret Hospital’s non-urgent surgical procedure backlog could continue for a long time, as large numbers of nurses continue to leave the public system for lucrative opportunities abroad.

Meanwhile, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville could not say how many cases were backlogged, but he attributed the issue to “wear and tear” on the system caused

by COVID-19.

SEE PAGE THREE

BAHAMASAIR PUTS UP PRICES AFTER FUEL HIKE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMASAIR has increased ticket prices on all domestic and international routes with effect from early April after its fuel costs soared by an “extra $100,000 per week”, its managing director revealed yesterday.

Tracy Cooper told Tribune Business that the state-owned national flag carrier had no choice but to

pass some of increase on to passengers as it was impossible to “absorb all of that” within its existing expense structure.

Disclosing that ticket prices have risen by around $3 on domestic routes, and $10 for all international

flights, he added that aviation fuel prices had risen by $1.50 per gallon over the past six to seven weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked sudden volatility in global oil prices.

The increased fuel burden comes as Bahamasair struggles to return to pre-pandemic passenger load factors, with Mr Cooper confirming that the airline and its rivals are “not there yet”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

ALICIA WALLACE: WE NEED MORE THAN LAWS

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

SUPERINTENDENT Audley Peters speaking to AF Adderley Jr High students yesterday.

Students are urged to stay away from gangs and violence

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A CONVICT alongside Royal Bahamas Police Force and Ministry of Education officials during a forum on school violence at AF Adderley Junior High.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THE Royal Bahamas Police Force and education officials held a special forum at AF Adderley Junior High School yesterday to caution students about the dangers of gangs and violence.

The sobering message was delivered weeks after a student was stabbed at the school. A 13-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder in the wake of the incident. Police have been returned to some school campuses after the attack, AF Adderley being one of them.

A funeral casket was on display at the forum a jarring reminder of the unfortunate outcomes of poor choices.

Convict Ronald George Simmons, 48, knows too well the consequences of making bad decisions.

Simmons was convicted of killing a police officer while escaping the scene of a robbery in Andros. He was sentenced to death on April 5, 2002 at the age of 28, but is now serving a life sentence for the crime.

Dressed in black and white stripes and in shackles, he told the mostly young audience to think about how their decisions impact their lives and others around them.

“They’re decisions you have to make at your very young age because at your very young age it’s quite obvious that you are able to do extreme damage. Like I said, life is about choices and some of the choices that you make you cannot easily fix,” the convict said.

“There’s a choice that I made that I cannot fix. I would like to, but I cannot fix some of the mistakes

I have made and there are choices you will make that will last a very long time and some of the decisions will be your very last decision because it will be a fatal decision and the people that you see standing here asking me to speak to you because they don’t want you to make the decision that could be a fatal decision or decision that you will regret for the rest of your life.”

Police officers also gave a presentation on gangs, including listing a few that are active and how they recruit young people to be their “soldiers”. After the AF Adderley stabbing, officials said it may have been gang-related.

“These are what young persons are doing marking their territory - letting it be known I’m a part of this gang,” one officer told the students.

During one point in the presentation, some members of the audience were able to identify a gang by the hand signs associated with that particular unlawful organised group.

Superintendent Audley Peters said the forum was held for ninth graders yesterday, with seventh graders expected today.

“The intention of the police in this instance is to provide the students and faculty here with nuances of the student experience on the street, that’s one, to expose the students of the consequences of their behaviours and decisions and also to encourage them to begin to know themselves using the various exercises we use during this forum,” he explained.

“The police department is always seeking to address issues as they arrive in our communities and we

know that crime and misbehaviour is an issue that is always at the forefront of people’s minds. So, we sought to seek to address this issue of school violence by putting on this forum having speakers come in who would’ve experienced what the students might be experiencing, potentially having to experience so that they may be exposed to the information and have the power to make the right decision when the time comes to reap the desire of being a productive person, growing up to be a productive citizen.”

Inspector Makelle Pinder, who has worked as a homicide detective for three years, put a spotlight on some of the country’s young victims of violence, many of whom were teens.

One of the most highprofile cases the officer dealt with was the killing of teen mother Breanna Mackey.

Mackey was stabbed to death a day after celebrating her 19th birthday and the accused were a group of females said to be her “friends”.

Inspector Pinder also mentioned two cousins who were AF Adderley students, 13 and 15, who were executed back in 2017.

“So who’s going to lead us? Young women and men, when we see this happening every day, (people are) gutted and left in the streets like animals - who’s going to lead us? The end result is if you don’t wake up your ideas you can either be an inmate or you can be a victim of crime - the ultimate choice is yours,” she said.

The forum is the first in a series planned with the police force, the Ministry of Education and the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 3

AGE OF CONSENT LEGISLATION MAY GO TO CABINET NEXT WEEK from page one

The current age of consent is 16. However, some people, including Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, believe that age should be raised to 18.

Yesterday, Mr Pinder reiterated that his ministry is addressing “inconsistencies” in law with the age of consent.

He also said that other matters relating to citizenship and sexual assault will be looked at and addressed separately.

He said: “We have split that up (the compendium of legislation) into three separate advancements because they deal with different items and it’s rather voluminous, so we now split that up to deal with immigration, citizenship and asylum as one block with sexual assault matters as another block and then equalising the juvenile ages and looking at all that as a third block for human rights matters with respect to juveniles.

“And if you would actually look at all the

different pieces of legislation in the country that deals with juveniles, you’ll see numerous inconsistencies and ages of what you can do as a juvenile and not do as a juvenile. So, for instance, you can get married at a certain age but you can’t go and get medical treatment by yourself at a certain age so these things are all inconsistencies throughout.

“So what we’re looking to do on the juvenile side is we’re looking to provide recommendations to Cabinet on all these

discrepancies throughout all these different pieces of legislation and get a consensus on equalising the age so there is less confusion and there’s more routine and transparency on how we deal with juvenile matters.

“What I would like to do is bring that as the first block to Cabinet maybe as soon as next week and then bring the second block, maybe the sexual offences matters and then the immigration citizens matters, but I will deal with them in independent blocks,” Mr Pinder said.

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder yesterday.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

Nurses warn non-urgent surgery delay may be lengthy from page one On Monday, the Public Hospitals Authority acknowledged that there may be significant wait times for non-urgent surgical procedures at PMH. PHA said this is due to the suspension of non-emergency surgical procedures as part of the ever-evolving COVID-19 management protocols, coupled with nursing shortages throughout the system.

It came after a news report claimed that a mother had been at PMH for two months waiting for a procedure.

Yesterday, the BNU president said officials had failed to come up with any attractive plans to make nurses remain in the public health care system. “(The backlog) may have something to do with shortage of nurses because at one point in time they had to send them to the various wards because of COVID,”

she said.

“That’s the reason I’m thinking of, because most of us nurses if we were working in (the) eye theatre or if we were working in some other specialised area, we had to be moved.”

She also said: “If we don’t recruit and continue to lose, I’d say 25 to 30 nurses quarterly, this could continue for a long time.”

Ms Williams said large numbers of nurses will continue to leave the sector as the government has yet to

offer anything attractive.

“We have not come up with anything good to keep them and I mean two years for an industrial agreement? Come on. They should want to do something to keep the nurses.

“The Americans have been making offers that can’t be refused and our specialty nurses continue to take these opportunities,” she said.

For his part, Dr Darville said officials were looking into the issue and intended

to “do a lot more” although he did not go into detail.

“COVID has definitely taken up a lot of our resources. There’s been much wear and tear in the public healthcare system and the ministry as well as the PHA has been working diligently now to do the necessary repairs that have caused some of the backlog with our surgical cases to put in place additional manpower so that we can now begin to address some of those backlogs.

“But as we speak, we are now doing some of that and we intend to do a lot more.”

Asked to say how many cases were backlogged, he said: “It’s difficult to say the cases (that are) backlogged. We have a wide cross section of services, surgery, internal medicine, gastroenterology and the list goes on and on and even ophthalmology there are backlogged and we’re having meetings to try to address those backlogs.”

COALITION REITERATES OPPOSITION TO OIL DRILLING A COALITION of activists, business owners and tourism advocates, has reaffirmed its position calling for a permanent nationwide ban on oil drilling following the most recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

The report, published on Monday, called on global leaders to make major shifts towards renewable energy and significantly cut carbon emissions in order to stave off the harshest effects of climate change.

The coalition said it is convinced any offshore drilling approvals will compromise the future well-being of The Bahamas.

“The reality is that greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing global warming, are at their highest levels in human history,” said IPCC

Working Group III CoChair Jim Skea. “It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5˚C (2.7˚F). Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”

“We are at a crossroads.

The decisions we make now can secure a liveable future. We have the tools and know-how required to limit warming,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. “I am encouraged by climate action being taken in many countries.

There are policies, regulations and market instruments that are proving effective.

If these are scaled up and applied more widely and equitably, they can support deep emissions reductions and stimulate innovation.”

Based on the findings of the IPCC, the coalition believes no new investments

in fossil fuels are possible if the world is to keep temperatures to 1.5˚C. “The newest IPCC report released (Monday) confirms that developing an energy system based on renewable energy and storage is the best way to ensure long-term energy security,” said coalition member Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, of BREEF, “but annual solar and wind investments must more than double in 2023-2032 compared with 2021 to keep below 1.5˚C within reach.

“The report also emphasised the importance of reducing our global demand for energy. Energy efficiency is something that children are learning in school and taking home to their families. It has immediate cost savings, as well as important implications for a

sustainable future.”

Coalition member Rashema Ingraham of Waterkeepers Bahamas said, “The report also highlighted that ‘coordinated cross-sectoral policies and planning must be the focus to support the linkages between mitigation’ which means that all stakeholders must be able to access and provide information of land management, ecosystem services and usages.

“The cross-sectoral policies and planning steps must be advanced with a sense of urgency, and should be transparent where it can and should be shared across all media.”

Our Islands, Our Future is a coalition of over 150 businesses, environmental groups, tourism advocates, and other Bahamian and international leaders

determined to stop offshore oil drilling in The Bahamas.

Over 96,000 global citizens and Bahamians have joined the coalition in asking Prime Minister

Philip “Brave” Davis to cancel all oil licences and permanently ban all offshore oil drilling in the country’s waters now and into the future.

To Publish your Financials and

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PAGE 4, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Govt monitoring spread of Omicron subvariant

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville says the government is closely monitoring the highly infectious Omicron subvariant that is spreading in some parts of the world and is preparing in the event of another potential surge.

“We’re watching the cases very closely,” Dr Darville said before going to a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

“We’re watching the numbers in The Bahamas and we are concerned and we have meetings to determine what our next steps will be.

“We’re always in

preparation mode,” he added. “It’s our job to get on top of things before they get out of hand and so I can assure you that the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the EOC, we’re watching this very closely and if we have to move, we will.”

The Omicron subvariant, called the BA.2, has been detected in more than 50 countries worldwide, including the US where it is said to be the most dominant strain.

Some nations are also experiencing a spike in infection rates in view of the infectious strain and have tightened restrictive measures in response to the new threat.

Asked whether the

government planned to impose any travel bans, Dr Darville said there were no plans to do so at this time.

This comes as the nation’s daily COVID case count continues to remain low, with only four cases recorded on Sunday and one new case on Monday.

The Bahamas has recorded more than 33,000 virus cases since the start of the pandemic and over 780 virus related deaths.

Yesterday, Dr Darville said his ministry continues to work to ensure the country has sufficient resources to manage the ongoing COVID-19 fight and provide proper medical care to ordinary Bahamians.

“We are in budget mode

as we speak,” he said, “and the Ministry of Health and Wellness petitioned the Ministry of Finance to ensure that areas where there are deficiencies and resources, we’re able to have the resources in order to function effectively in the next budget year.”

Asked how much money is needed by his ministry in the next budget cycle, the minister was unable to say.

“It’s very difficult to put a price tag on what resources would be needed in the fight against COVID, but I assure you that there is sufficient funds that is available to the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Davis-led administration, if

there are shortfalls, I have the ability to go to Cabinet to (rectify) those shortfalls because we all know that without having COVID under control, it’s very difficult to get the economy moving.

“So I’m in a fortunate position that if we do run into some additional budgetary constraints, we would have access to funding that would be approved by Cabinet.”

Dr Darville also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to build two new hospitals, one in Grand Bahama and another in New Providence.

He said: “The work associated with bringing those into reality is ongoing from

day one when we took office, that work is still going, and we are progressing very rapidly and we made a commitment to the residents of Grand Bahama that we should be in a position to put shovels in the ground very soon.

“As far as all of the details associated with it, we are still waiting for our health planners as well as our architectural engineers to do the final work for a total costing, but I can say this much to the residents of Grand Bahama, that the construction would be a phased approach. We’re activating phase one and before phase one is completed, we will activate phase two.”

BAIN VOWS TO SUE OVER CLAMPDOWN ON LAND USE

LINCOLN Bain outside the Office of the Prime Minister with a protest group threatening to take legal action against the government.

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net LINCOLN Bain, leader of the Coalition of Independents, has vowed to take legal action against the government if officials move to prosecute Bahamians living and farming on Crown land.

This comes after Environment and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller raised alarm about increased incidents of

unlawful land clearing in the country and promised to crack down on those engaging in the illegal practice.

It is not clear how many areas of government land have been cleared illegally in the country.

However, Attorney General Ryan Pinder told reporters last week he knew of at least 50 individual land plots in the Carmichael Road area that had been cleared by people who did not have permission to do so.

Some of those areas, he added, housed protected and endangered trees.

To address the issue, Mr Pinder said the government planned to issue cease and desist orders to those land dwellers as well as post notices advising them to vacate the property.

“And to the extent that that is ignored or not complied with, we will be proceeding with criminal prosecutions against those that are on the land illegally clearing the land or

trespassing on government land,” Mr Pinder said last week.

Members of the COI have taken exception to the minister’s remarks, arguing that Bahamians have a right to live on Crown land because it “belongs to them.”

The group also believes that the Davis administration cannot demand Bahamians to vacate the property, insisting they are protected under a standing injunction centred on the

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff demolition of unregulated communities.

“We’re out here for justice,” Mr Bain told reporters outside the Office of the Prime Minister where dozens of his supporters gathered to request a meeting with the prime minister.

“We’re out here because we are concerned for the wellbeing of Bahamians in general and for particular Bahamians who are now residing and farming in the area of Carmichael Road and the northern area that somehow the government is calling the ‘Lincoln Bain area’.

“We are concerned because contrary to a court order preventing any interference with any unregulated community in New Providence and Abaco that the Attorney General and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources has threatened that he will send cease and desist orders contrary to that order and he will also prosecute persons in those areas.

“We are concerned for that. That goes against the law. That goes against the rule of law and we are willing to take this to court if we have to even as far as the Privy Council, we are willing to do whatever it takes to do this.

“It is Crown land,” Mr Bain added. “Crown land belongs to all of the Bahamian people, but up to this time, Crown land has really only been able to be really used by either politicians or their cronies or foreigners and we are concerned that a hotel could come here and be given tens of thousands of acres, sometimes hundreds of thousands of acres of Crown land. While if a Bahamian asks for one acre, it’s a problem.”

He also claimed that

Bahamians are not responsible for deforestation in the area, saying “illegal immigrants” are to blame for the issue.

Yesterday, Mr Pinder reaffirmed the government’s stance on the issue and said respective land dwellers can expect to see those cease-and-desist orders issued before next Tuesday.

He also rejected Mr Bain’s comments that Bahamians are protected by the court’s injunction.

“That injunction deals with demolition of shantytowns in Abaco in violation of the Building Controls Act and the method in which places were built.

That is entirely different and if you read the ruling, it’s clear that the rule applies with respect to building codes and respect to shantytowns in Abaco,” the attorney general told reporters yesterday.

“In fact, the attempt to expand the injunction throughout The Bahamas was denied so I think it’s very clear that that ruling is inapplicable to what we’re dealing with here in Nassau which is illegal land clearing in violation of the Forestry Act and trespass upon Crown land without permission.”

Mr Pinder also said if land dwellers want to engage attorneys to fight the action, they have a right to do so. “​Nobody is talking about restricting anybody’s right to judicial process. We are enforcing the rights of the government and protecting the property and land of the government,” he said.

According to officials, people found guilty of unlawful land clearing can face fines of up to $25,000 or two years imprisonment or both.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 5

WSC POSTPONES PLANNED DISCONNECTION EXERCISE

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Water and Sewerage Corporation has delayed its planned disconnection exercise to focus on “pressing” upgrades throughout the country, according to corporation chairman Sylvanus Petty yesterday.

Until those upgrades are complete, he said, there will be no cuts to service.

Early last month, WSC

said there would be disconnections commencing on March 28 as it is owed about $50m with 45,625 customers behind on their payments.

However, this did not happen.

Mr Petty said: “Disconnections were scheduled for the 28th of March. Valuable manpower is being used in the Family Islands and in New Providence to continue the upgrade of our​ infrastructure. Once that’s done we will start our disconnection exercises.

“It’s so many places in Nassau that don’t have water. I want to put Water and Sewerage where it should be. The places in Nassau that don’t have water you have to catch water by 5 o’clock unless it’s off. Then you have the Family Islands. A lot of places don’t have water.

So, we are trying to get that sorted out first and keep my priorities in order,” the chairman also said.

The corporation said last month the money it is owed

increased from $38m in January 2020.

Visna Armbrister, the public relations manager of WSC, told The Tribune at the time: “The gist of it pretty much is that we haven’t disconnected in two years and our receivables, you know, we need revenue, we need to be able to pay, we’re a business.”

Despite the disconnection pledge, WSC will work with customers to create a payment plan.

“That’s going to be based

on what their current balance is and we will work with them to work out a plan that they’re able to maintain,” Ms Armbrister said.

“We try to make it as palatable as possible for customers, but, of course, as you can imagine some of the accounts are pretty high because people have not been paying at all.”

WSC has been aiming to restart disconnections for some time. Last November, the water provider said disconnections, which

were suspended in 2020 to help people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, would resume on November 15, 2021.

However, Minister of Works and Utilities Alfred Sears later said WSC did not inform him before sending out that notice and he had not been able to take the matter to Cabinet. Mr Petty said at the time that there would be no widespread disconnection of water supply to customers behind on their bills.

Buyer chosen for Grand Lucayan ‘by end of month’ from page one “We are at a stage in the discussions with the Grand Lucayan resort where we have three substantial offers,” Mr Cooper told reporters before heading to Cabinet yesterday. “Either of these offers would be in my view acceptable to the government and acceptable to the Bahamian people.

We are at the moment engaged with all three of them. We’re seeking the best outcome for the Bahamian people. I’ve always said that it will be a combination of the size of the cheque and vision for the resort and a shared vision for Grand Bahama.

“So, we’re seeking to find the right partner. We want to get this right and we’re being very deliberate. We’re learning from the mistakes of the previous administration with the last deal that was on the table so we’re going to be very deliberate to get a deal that is good for the economy of Grand Bahama and the people of Grand Bahama.

“I anticipate that by the end of April we would have determined the sole candidate that we will advance into an exclusive contract with, but again, I want to reiterate that we are going to learn from the mistakes of the past.”

The Minnis administration purchased the hotel for $65m in August 2018.

Nearly two years later, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line/ITM Group signed a heads of agreement with the government for a joint venture purchase and redevelopment of the hotel.

That agreement, however, was cancelled by the Davis administration last December after officials described the deal as a bad one.

THE GRAND Lucayan Resort.

In January, Mr Cooper said the government hopes to sell the resort for about $150m, the amount that has already been invested in the project.

However, yesterday, the minister did not want to provide additional details about the three offers being looked at.

He only said: “Let me say that we are about $200m invested in this property and we are going to do our best to ensure that we get the best possible outcome for the Bahamian people.

You would recall that the last deal was in the region of $65m and all I can say is we’re going to do the best

possible job for the Bahamian people.

“We have three people we’re talking with and this is a negotiation and I know the Bahamian people would appreciate that there is only so much I can say on this issue at this time so I want the people of Grand Bahama to be cautiously optimistic.”

Speaking on potential job opportunities once the resort’s sale has been finalised, Mr Cooper said he expects that between 500 to 1,000 construction jobs will become available on the island.

“We are anticipating that the construction phase will

Cooper said the government is seeking experienced and qualified private sector partners for the redevelopment of GBIA, with the objective of revitalising Grand Bahama’s economy.

He said: “We want to attract big investors to the island of Grand Bahama and see the second city return to its glory days. In order to do that, we need their first impression of Grand Bahama to be a good one. Redeveloping, maintaining, and operating the Grand Bahama International Airport is top priority, and we are proud today to do just that. This public private partnership programme is not just to bring in investors but also to bring hope and financial stability back to the people of Grand Bahama.”

With a decrease of airlift to the island, tourist arrivals have declined significantly resulting in low occupancy levels.

Dr Kenneth Romer, acting director of aviation at the Ministry of Tourism, has expressed hopefulness for the launch of the PPP initiative.

“This much-anticipated launch of phase one of The Bahamas Airport PPP Programme speaks well of the government’s commitment to addressing and

remedying the state of airport infrastructure within our country as a whole.

“The Department of Aviation is excited to be leading this initial process, which will restore investor confidence in Grand Bahama and contribute to the strategic plan to aggressively increase airlift and reposition Grand Bahama to regain its overall visitor arrivals market share.”

Dr Romer indicated that the government plans to embark on the construction and redevelopment of airports throughout the country in collaboration with private sector partnership, which is aligned with its priority goal of tourism expansion to the Family Islands.

He stated that this joint venture between the government and the private sector will also allow Bahamians to retain ownership of the airports as the facilities will not be sold, but instead, operations will be leased to successful private partners.

The Department of Aviation is inviting all private sector parties wishing to collaborate with the PPP programme to visit the Department of Aviation’s website: www.doabahamas. com and select the link to the PPP.

likely take 18 months,” he said. “We are desirous of a phased approach so that we don’t lose the rooms that we have at the Lighthouse Pointe and we’re able to retain the employment of the persons at the Lighthouse Pointe while the other stages of the resort is being developed.

“So, there are a lot of moving parts. We are still cautiously optimistic about the outcome but I can tell you we have bidders and I believe any of those three would be acceptable to the people of the Bahamas, the people of Grand Bahama and the government of The Bahamas.”

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper yesterday.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

GB AIRPORT FIRST IN LINE FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE DEAL

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE government has officially launched phase one of the public private partnership to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain several airports throughout The Bahamas.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation Chester Cooper, in an announcement yesterday, said Grand Bahama International Airport is first on the agenda due to the demand by airlift operators to return to the island, and the urgent need to boost its economic recovery.

The airport in Grand Bahama was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019. During that time, it was privately owned and operated by the Freeport Harbour Company, which is part of Hutchison Port Holdings of Hutchison Whampoa Group. Under the Minnis administration, the government purchased it in April 2021 for $1, with plans to redevelop the airport under a PPP. However, the government also paidout around $1m as its 50 percent share of the redundancy pay and associated benefits received by GBIA staff.

In a press statement, Mr

PAGE 6, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

PICTURE OF THE DAY

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

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

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

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A transformation we should reach towards WHEN a meeting was held last month to discuss the problems affecting Downtown Nassau – problems that frankly stretch back decades – Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper talked of the need for “aggressive transformation.”

That meant not settling for the little bit of improvement here, the little change there. It means not settling for simply repaving a road every now and then. It means not putting up with the broken and battered buildings that can be seen all over Downtown – and the others that may not be broken, but just seem tired, worn out by years of lack of upkeep.

It means not making do with a patchwork of replacements here and upgrades there but a whole new approach to bring about a transformation. To transform the old into the new.

Imagine then if that transformation stretched beyond Downtown – and what that could bring to our nation as a whole.

That word – transform – is at the heart of a report from the Inter-American Development Bank.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan is the name of the report – a fairly modest name for a substantial proposal.

If implemented, it would see ten priority projects launched that would cost about $450m over the next 20 years.

Those plans would bolster Nassau’s resilience to climate change, bring about energy reform, make Nassau a “zerowaste” city and more.

What would that mean in practice?

Well, it would improve recycling efforts and waste management at the landfill for starters – at a price tag of $34m.

A price tag of $57m goes towards reviving Bay Street and the Grants Town area, and another $52m to overhaul public transport, reforming the jitney system and encouraging ride sharing and car pooling.

There would be improved water and sewerage and conservation of green spaces, and “smart city monitoring” to improve traffic flow and tackle crime.

There would be moves to make street lighting energy efficient, and to tackle land issues to make development proposals less complex.

Essentially, the plan would make Nassau a more modern, energy efficient, revived city at the forefront of dealing with issues such as waste and the effects of climate change.

That wouldn’t just benefit our city as it is now – but the city as we want it to become.

It could become a selling point to attract more businesses to the country – come and operate in the leading green city in the region. It sounds good, doesn’t it?

Of course, it may not happen. Previous goals set in 2006 never came to fruition, and these may be the same.

But setting the standard high gives us something to aim for. Why should we settle for bits-and-pieces improvements here and there? What is the vision for the future we should strive towards?

How do we want the country we leave for our children to look?

There are warning bells in the report too – such as the need to be prepared for an expected increase of 100,000 in New Providence’s population.

If we’re going to need to think big about solutions to that situation, why not think big about what we can achieve along the way?

Juvenile legislation Attorney General Ryan Pinder says he hopes draft legislation on juvenile matters, including the age of consent, could go to Cabinet as early as next week.

Swift action is welcome – but we would sound one note of caution. Given the issue of age of consent has only emerged as a discussion point in the past week, it seems quick to bring draft legislation on a sensitive issue. This is the kind of legislation that could very much do with considered consultation with various groups to ensure that the best of intentions don’t unintentionally bring unwanted consequences.

More, such consultation might bring greater awareness of the kind of resources that would need to be brought to bear for any legal changes to actually bring the protection being sought.

We have seen other legislative moves on issues such as marital rape and marijuana that have gone on far too long as consultation became an apparent excuse to kick reforms into the long grass – that is the opposite extreme and to be avoided.

As yet, we do not know what will be in these legislative proposals – but let’s make sure the steps we take really do protect our children.

Where is the outrage over guns?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

IT IS refreshing to see the outrage being expressed

by Bahamians about sexual exploitation and domestic violence. It clearly speaks to an evolving civil culture – with perhaps a bit of virtue signaling thrown in, too.

But it is surprising, given the almost daily gun murders that we are witnessing, that similarly widespread outrage is never expressed about an issue that exacerbates almost every other social issue in our country: the easy availability of guns in The Bahamas.

The Bahamas is not alone in having to confront the conditions that create gang activity and domestic violence. As in other places, these are deep rooted issues that require long term solutions focused on socialisation.

But the difference between domestic or gang violence in a society that is flooded with guns is that death is far more frequently the outcome of

such violence than in other societies.

The young lady who was recently the victim of a murder-suicide at the hands of a domestic partner (and many others like her) could very easily be alive today in a society where guns are not as cheap and easily available as in ours.

Yet public discussion is strangely mute on a matter that can be so easily traced to a bad decision (by Hubert Ingraham’s government) and one that can so easily be fixed.

We have always had too much crime. But the astonishingly light sentencing practices that followed that irresponsible act by the Ingraham government are clearly an immediate cause of the murder spike seen today. The removal of existing minimum sentencing in an atmosphere of already high gun violence was simply beyond rational comprehension.

Further, that such a decision could have been taken without any kind of public consultation (apart from

with lawyers and judges – among the people least likely to be affected by gun violence) speaks both to a lack of citizen awareness and to an attitude among certain politicians that is more responsive to professional interest groups than to the general public.

Jamaica recently passed a minimum sentence law of 15 years for mere possession of a firearm. It will work, as it has worked everywhere it has been introduced (though, given Jamaica’s myriad other problems, it remains to be seen to what extent).

Bahamians simply need to realise that no amount of self-reflection or focus on long term issues will make our streets (or are homes) safe in the short or medium term as long as this little island is flooded with guns and the courts continue to treat possession of them as a trivial offence.

ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, April 5, 2022.

A PASSENGER jet is silhouetted against the rising full moon on approach to Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Arizona.

Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP

Age of consent EDITOR, The Tribune.

RECENTLY, a 40-yearold child sexual predator was given a light plea deal sentence of four years in prison for repeatedly engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-yearold child. Such a light sentence for such a horrific crime should cause us to hang our national head in shame. Why? Because the way a society truly feels about a particular crime is expressed by the punishment meted out to it. And it matters not that the maximum sentence for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child under age 16 is life in prison. Sadly, that maximum sentence on the law books is functionally irrelevant because the sentences given to child sexual predators are slaps on the wrist.

In truth, they amount more to reward than punishment.

But the silver lining in the dark cloud of the horrendous violation of that 14-year-old child is that it has brought the age of consent into the national conversation once again.

There continues to be widespread support to raise it from 16 to 18 years of age, not because it is the allencompassing solution to protecting our children from sexual exploitation and harm, but because it is an obvious and necessary step in the right direction.

Historically, the age of consent was set to the legal age of marriage, which has changed over the years.

It used to be as low as 12 years. The age of 16 goes

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net back to the late 1800s in English law, which we in The Bahamas inherited.

However, since our legal age for marriage is 18, by setting the age of consent at 16, we as a society have removed sexual relations from within the boundaries of marriage and legalised 16 and 17-year-olds to engage in fornication with their similarly aged peers and adults. This is quite arrogant and very sad.

Marriage is a covenantal commitment of sexual fidelity between one man and one woman, and it is the only legitimate context for sexual relations. It is God’s good and wise design; and we embrace it for our good, or we ignore it to our peril. Why legally withhold marriage from our 16 and 17-year-olds (unless they obtain parental or judicial consent), and then turn around and legally permit them to engage in fornication without the need for any kind of consent?

Societies that truly value the protection of children don’t do that. Instead, they pass laws to protect their children from prematurely engaging in sexual relations before they are adults, and to severely punish child sexual predators. Accordingly, we need to go back to aligning the age of consent to the age of marriage, which is currently 18.

I’m particularly pleased that the Deputy Prime

Minister, the Hon. Chester Cooper, has been and continues to be clear in his rationale and unequivocal in his support to raise the age of consent to 18. I pray that Prime Minister Davis and the rest of the Cabinet are of the same mind. Hopefully, they will swiftly bring legislation to Parliament to raise the age of consent to 18, to reform our laws to better protect minors from sexual exploitation, and to cause actual sentences for convicted child sexual predators to be more severe, while respecting the independence of the judiciary.

And since we can walk and chew gum at the same time, the government can and should simultaneously bring appropriate legislation to prohibit and criminalise forced sexual intercourse in marriage.

All of that said, I know all too well that laws cannot and, therefore, will not change the human heart.

Not even the 10 commandments can do that. Laws are given to govern conduct, not to transform hearts.

Only God can transform sinful hearts, so while I will continue to call for changes to strengthen our laws, I will also continue to proclaim the gospel and pray for national repentance, remembering that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

PASTOR MOSS Nassau, April 5, 2022.

CEDRIC

Mystified by commentary EDITOR, The Tribune.

HEARING the pronouncements of Mr Williams, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, and the subsequent media statements from Minister Wayne Munroe, QC, and Attorney Christina Galanos in reference to the plea-bargained sentence handed to the 40-year-old gentleman who admitted to having sexual intercourses with a then 14-year-old girl, I remain mystified by their logic.

I don’t think this is due to me being “ignorant” or “stupid”, but to looking at this issue from an entirely different premise. I was shaken out of post retirement professional lassitude by the coverage and am now back in full survivor advocacy/psychiatric mode and would like, from this standpoint to question their opinions.

What has been sadly lacking in this country has been significant, reproducible research into the impact of family structure and

socialisation on child development and behaviour.

What we have in abundance is a folk lore of blame, be it absent fathers, teenage mothers, the breakdown of the “village”, materialism, wealth inequality, community violence, politics.

To these I would add Mr Williams’ “generation of sexualised children” and by his account largely indifferent parenting. Are these descriptions applicable to this specific case or those other victims in The Bahamas, similarly sexually exploited who never report, to those whose assailants remain at large, whose cases never get investigated or through the court system?

Finally, the apparent paradox of “consent to” and “agreement with” sexual activity. The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act quite clearly states that this young lady was not of legal age to give consent to sexual activity, yet seemingly this was not against her will so legally

it was interpreted as not as damaging, as was stated succinctly by the legal teams “It wasn’t rape, it was sexual assault”.

The law seemingly views “agreement” to sexual activity in a much more concrete fashion than does behavioral science.

Consent from the latter viewpoint is not merely saying yes, or appearing to agree, but giving that permission freely without coercion, with the full knowledge of what they are entering into and the option to call a halt at any time. In this case where there is such an imbalance not just in age but in status and life experience it is hard to believe that this youngster was “agreeing” in the full spirit of partnership. Sadly, I am sure that neither party was expecting the subsequent pregnancy.

DR FAIRCLOUGH Nassau, April 5, 2022.

SUE

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 7

Two men face court over drug possession charges

By PAVEL BAILEY TWO men were sentenced in Magistrate’s Court yesterday for separate drug charges.

Conrad Campbell, 42, of Harmony Hill, Blair Estates, appeared before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on two counts of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

On Saturday, April 2, police stopped Campbell after he was caught speeding in the Jerome Avenue area in a blue tinted Nissan Cube. Upon searching the vehicle officers uncovered a black

Nike draw-string bag on the car’s front floor mat containing suspected drugs.

Inside the bag was a vacuum sealed package with a substance later positively identified as Indian hemp.

Police searched the accused‘s residence later the same day and found a black computer bag in Campbell’s bedroom containing two more vacuum sealed packages of marijuana.

In total the accused was charged with being in possession of 1.5 pounds of Indian hemp and another 1.4 pounds of the drug, which Campbell

admitted to police belonged to him.

In court, Campbell pleaded guilty to both charges against him.

His attorney Deon Smith said his client had expressed remorse and had taken responsibility for his actions.

While Mr Smith acknowledged that Campbell has a prior drug conviction from 2017 he informed the magistrate that that matter is currently slated for retrial. The accused is expected to be heard before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on the matter again later this year.

After hearing this Magistrate

NEW BOARD TO HELP STEER UWIOCB THE University of the West Indies Open Campus Bahamas (UWIOCB) has appointed an advisory board of directors.

UWIOCB has a range of programmes for students, including those who may finish high school without a diploma and may find themselves more adept at vocational studies.

In addition to making recommendations, advice and support, board members ensure programmes are current and relevant to business, industry, labour and professional development practices in The Bahamas.

Board members include: Marisa Mason-Smith, chair; Charles Sealy, vice-chair; Dr Raveenia

McKinney accepted Campbell’s guilty plea and placed him on probation for 18 months. If he violates his probation, it would result in him spending six months in prison.

Campbell was also ordered to pay a collective fine of $3,500 for two drug charges. Failing to do so would result in nine months in prison for either charge.

The other man, Jameel Cambridge, 25, also appeared before Magistrate McKinney for possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

On April 3, Cambridge was arrested after he was found in

UWI Open Campus Bahamas board of directors: (standing, left to right) Charles Sealy, Vice Chair; Bridgette Cooper, Country Head; Dr Mortimer Moxey; Dr Yvonne Hunter-Johnson; (seated, left to right) Dr Kitiboni Rolle-Adderley; Terri Bellot; Marisa MasonSmith, Chair; Dr Raveenia Hanna.

Roberts-Hanna; Terri Bellot; Dr Mortimer Moxey; Dr Kitiboni Rolle-Adderley; and Dr Yvonne Hunter-Johnson.

“We must commend the leadership of UWI Open Campus for the first appointment of a board that will complement the advancement of its quality academic programmes and initiatives to its students and stakeholders,” said Mrs Mason-Smith.

“This board comprises a diverse team of professionals who are experts in their careers, making invaluable contributions in our community... in fact, globally. It is an honour to be the first chairman of this board. I am humbled and confident that this board will continue to serve with integrity,

purpose and passion, leaving a legacy of academic excellence in our nation.”

UWIOCB has also launched its latest fundraiser – the first fun, run, walk, push event. Proceeds will be used to award partial scholarships to high school students to attend this year’s five-week High School Summer programme. Participants will cover 5km. The fundraising event will be held on Saturday, April 30. Online registration begins today.

Registration fee is $35 and includes a race T-shirt.

For more information, visit www. bahamas@open.uwi.edu, or call 3236593/456-6687; or visit Facebook: UWIOCCSB and Instagram: uwi. oc.bahamas.

possession of Indian hemp in 10 foil wrappings which weighed 10 grams.

In court, the accused pleaded guilty to the charge against him but due to the relatively small amount of drugs found on Cambridge the magistrate reduced his charge to simple possession.

Magistrate McKinney then sentenced Cambridge to pay a fine of $350 or spend two months in prison.

Cambridge’s mother, who was in court during sentencing, was dismayed by the ruling as she was heard saying, “I ain’t paying for no foolishness.”

MURDER SUSPECT ‘VIOLATED BAIL’

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN accused of murder appeared in court yesterday for violating the conditions of his bail.

Mario Brown, 32, stood before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney accused of violating a condition of his bail in his ongoing murder trial.

Brown is accused of murdering Jamaal Kemp on February 10, 2019.

While Brown was

granted bail in this matter

by Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson, he was recently caught violating one of the conditions.

Sometime between December 25, 2021, and March 26, 2022, the accused failed to keep a daily curfew at his residence between 6pm and 6am.

Having found Brown guilty of violating a condition of his bail, Magistrate McKinney fined him $7,500 for the infraction.

MAN ACCUSED OVER FAKE CURRENCY

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was arraigned yesterday on possession of forged currency and drug charges.

Lavardo Dean Jr, 20, appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence A Rolle Davis on charges of possession of dangerous drugs and possession of a forged currency note.

On April 3, Dean was arrested after he was found in possession of

eight fraudulent US $100 bills bearing the serial number LF5360329OF as well as five grams of Indian hemp.

In court the accused pleaded guilty to both charges. While Magistrate Rolle Davis fined Dean $200 for the drug charges, he did not make a final ruling on the fake currency charge.

Dean’s case was adjourned to April 11 for the magistrate’s judgement on that matter.

PAGE 8, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

We need more than laws LAST week was tough.

The conversations taking place in public and private spaces were difficult.

Reading the news was a chore. The constant barrage of video clips, audio snippets, and sensational quotes were intrusive and exhausting.

Comments from the other side were not just “different points of view,” but in defence of rapists and accusatory toward survivors of grooming, sexual predation, sexual exploitation, and rape. These conversations and media moments were not just cringeworthy; they were harmful. They hurt people who have struggled and continued to struggle to survive violence against them, and they discouraged people from using the judicial system, and they perpetuated rape culture.

The same can certainly be said about other weeks and other recurring issues.

The public discourse is difficult to even see in passing, and much more challenging for those of us who must directly engage and witness or personally experience the impact they invariably have on people in situations of vulnerability. People often say, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” That may or may not be true, but we definitely have to pay attention to more than the conversations we have; we need to be thoughtful and intentional about how we have them. Many times, people are just talking. They read a comment, they reply to the comment.

They hear a soundbite, they respond to the soundbite. They hear what someone says, they challenge what they have said.

What we all end up having, in most cases, is not a conversation, but a series of responses to responses without thinking about the outcome. The main actors are not developing strategies and allowing

By Alicia Wallace them to guide engagement.

They are also not often thinking about the unintended consequences of the haphazard exchange of comments.

We have been responding, over and over again, to ignorant, unhelpful comments about the sentencing of a 40-year-old man and the suggestion that the 14-year-old girl was somehow at fault for the sexual violence perpetrated against her. This case has been used to highlight issues in the law and in society regarding sexual violence, sexual predators, and at-risk young people.

Most of the responses to

responses — which really cannot be called conversations — failed to point to solutions. We have to spend time and allocate resources to solutions.

We regularly look to the law for answers. We have come to depend on law enforcement and the judicial system to make a wide range of decisions and find our positions. We expect the law to be a moral compass.

We expect it to be correct.

We expect the people who studied the law and use it to mete out punishment to not only interpret it accurately and use it well, but to be, through their work, shining examples that dictate the

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way we see each other and gender-based violence bill respond to situations. We among others. There are could talk about whether or calls, now, to look at laws not we should look to the concerning minors. There is law to do all of this, but we growing concern for young cannot overlook the weight people who are being it has and the need for sexually violated, and the reform. adults who suggest they are Our laws are not perfect, responsible. People want and they are not meant stronger laws with higher to stay the same forever. penalties. The Minister In recogniof National tion of this ‘Parents and Security fact, there has already is a process guardians need to told us how for making talk to children criminals and amendments about sex, and their defense and for attorneys drafting new ensure that they manipulate legislation. know the difference the law for Still, there between sex and their proare several tection and issues with rape. To do that, benefit.

It the way we they need to have is obvious approach that we need the information legal reform. more than They include themselves, and the law to the way bills they often need address this are priorissue. Sexual itized, and guidance in having violence is we can look these conversations.’ occurring at the mariin society, tal bill as an example. In among and in the presence 2018, then Attorney Gen- of people who do not know eral Carl Bethel said it the law or the context of its would be dealt with in the contents. following year, laws relatPeople are quick to ing to financial services blame girls for their expewere of greater priority. riences of being sexually Many bills are passed qui- violated. They say girls etly, with no public notice invite sexual violence, or given. There are also many take the ignorant, harmamendments that need ful position that they are to be made, but various not being violated in cases administrations believe where they are not physitaking such action would cally forced, completely lead to a decrease in party ignoring the imbalance of support. There is little power, the difference in regard for human rights cognitive development, and and insufficient pressure the law. from the public.

We can make amendEven when laws are ments to the law. We can enacted, situations often increase legal protection of remain the same due children. We can increase to lack of public educa- penalties for perpetrators. tion and implementation. These are all important, Look, for example, at the and we need to take action Persons with Disabilities quickly. At the same time, (Equal Opportunities) how much of this will posiAct, 2014. Section 20 says, tively impact the lives of “Every person with a dis- children by preventing ability shall be entitled to sexual violence? These a barrier-free and disabled laws will not transform friendly environment to themselves into policies, enable him to have access programmes, services, or to buildings, Information practices to protect chilCommunication Technol- dren. We need more than ogy (ICT), roads and other the law, and we need to social amenities, and assis- recognize that when we tive or adaptive devices call for the government and other equipment to to take action. The law promote his mobility.” must come, for example, Section 13 (1) says, “A pro- with systemic and practical prietor of any building to changes within government which the public is permit- ministries. ted access shall adapt it to Where young people suit persons with disabili- are concerned, we have ties in such manner as may to turn to the Ministry of be specified by the Com- Education. This is the most mission including provision obvious route to reach and for parking of vehicles by teach young people and persons with disabilities.” the people who engage Section 13 (2) further states with them on a daily basis. that compliance is required Comprehensive sexuality within two years. It is now education is critical to the 2022, and it is not possible health and wellbeing of for a person using a wheel- young people. They need chair to access the gallery to learn the proper names of Parliament. This is a for body parts, know the clear indication of the com- difference between good mitment of the government touch and bad touch, to ensuring that people receive age-appropriate with disabilities have equal information about sex opportunities. It is also an and sexual abuse, and example of what happens be equipped with tools when laws are passed, they and resources relevant to are expected to magically their sexual and reproductransform the country to tive health. Resistance to match the text. comprehensive sexuality There are now calls for education is ridiculous. legal reform to address There are no benefits to gender-based violence withholding information and, in particular, sexual and, in the case of sexualviolence against children. ity education, it increases We have, for years, been the risk of harm. It is irresaying that we need to sponsible to leave young make amendments to the people to take a trial and Sexual Offences Act, and error approach. we need to work on the Ministry of Health

ought to be involved in the effort to provide information to young people and their parents and guardians. This should include resources for parents on having conversations with their children about sex, age-appropriate material for young people, and healthcare providers asking questions, recommending resources, and making referrals and reports as appropriate.

It must also find ways to address discrepancies in the law, including the age of consent being 16 and the age at which a person can seek healthcare without a parent or guardian being 18. People who can consent to sex need to have access to contraceptives and STI testing. This access has numerous benefits, including preventing unwanted pregnancies, preventing STIs, diagnosing and treating STIs, and data collection and analysis which can inform us, for example, of high rates of particular diagnoses and trends in sexual behaviour.

This can also be helpful in identifying sexual predators.

The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health ought to be partners in addressing the issue of sexual predation and sexual violence against children.

They, through schools and clinics, have direct contact with the people we need to reach, and they have the ability to collect data, share information, and make recommendations.

Parents and guardians need to talk to children about sex, and ensure that they know the difference between sex and rape. To do that, they need to have the information themselves, and they often need guidance in having these conversations. Resources need to be produced and widely disseminated through traditional and social media to equip parents and guardians to not only provide information, but create a safe, comfortable environment for sharing. They need to abandon scare tactics and use honesty and curiosity in their conversations with young people. They need to talk about bodily autonomy, sex as a positive, good experience, ways to be safe, and the importance of consent.

They also need to be able to talk about sexual violence. They need to know the risk factors, be able to assess the risk of the children in their home, and talk about it in a way that does not cause fear, but encourages vigilance, critical thinking, and comfort in reporting anything strange or uncomfortable.

Parents — mothers in particular — often get the blame when something goes wrong. People expect everything to be taken care of at home, but many people spend most of their time outside of the home. This is just one of the reasons we need institutions, especially government entities, to step up. Change the law; then be sure to follow it up with action at the level we, the people, are being reached.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 9

SIGN OF THE TIMES

TECHTALK

AMAZON BROADBAND PROJECT READY TO BLAST OFF

MLB APROVES ELECTRONIC PITCH CALLING

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In a move that ends a tradition dating more than 150 years, Major League Baseball approved the use of an electronic device for catchers to signal pitches in an effort to eliminate sign stealing and speed games.

Since the beginning of baseball in the 19th century, catchers had used their fingers to signal the type of pitch and its intended location.

As video at balllparks increased in the 21st century, so did sign stealing — and worries about how teams were trying to swipe signals. The Houston Astros were penalised for using a camera and banging a trash can to alert their batters to pitch types during their run to the 2017 World Series title.

“It basically eliminates all need to create a sign system, for a catcher giving signs,” MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak said Tuesday. “You literally just press a button and it delivers the pitch call to the pitcher. And what we’ve seen so far, it really improves pace of game.”

Some teams tried the system in spring training, with manager Tony La Russa of the Chicago White Sox and Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees among those saying they liked what they saw.

Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka used it a couple times this spring training, including Tuesday with pitcher Michael King against Detroit in New York’s final exhibition game.

“There’s still some stuff we’ve got to work through,

but I mean the fail safe is always just give signs. So, that’s always there when we need it.

“We’re just working out all the kinks right now. If we run into stumbling blocks in-game, we can always give signs. I’m not too worried about it being confusing,” he said.

“I like it. At first today I gave signs to King because I didn’t have a chance to talk to him about it, so I started getting all messed up with it.

“So I just decided to give signs, and that worked fine,” he said.

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer

KANSAS City Royals catcher Cam Gallagher wears a wrist-worn device used to call pitches as he prepares to bat during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Tuesday, in Peoria, Ariz. The MLB is experimenting with the PitchCom system where the catcher enters information on a wrist band with nine buttons which is transmitted to the pitcher to call a pitch. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) assistant GMs, managers and equipment managers, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

A catcher has nine choices on his wristband device: “four seam high inside, curve hi middle, slider hi outside, change mid inside, sinker middle, cutter mid out, splitter low inside, knuckle

SEATTLE Mariners catcher Tom Murphy wears a wrist-worn device used to call pitches as he catches a ball during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday.

MLB is providing each team with three transmitters, 10 receivers and a charging case for the PitchCom Pitcher Catcher Communication Device. It is available in English and Spanish.

“A maximum of five receivers and one transmitter may be in any use at any given time,” MLB wrote in a five-page memorandum Tuesday to general managers,

lo middle, two seam low outside.”

A thin band tucked inside a cap allows the audio to be heard at an adjustable level, envisioned to be used by pitchers, second baseman, shortstops and centre fielders.

“When changing pitchers, the manager shall provide a receiver to the replacement pitcher,” the memo said.

Receivers and transmitters can be used only on the field and may not be operated during games in clubhouses, dugouts or bullpens.

“Signals communicated via PitchCom may only be given by the catcher in the game.

Signals may not be sent from the dugout, bullpen, a different player in the field, or anywhere else,” the memo said.

“Clubs are responsible for their PitchCom devices.

Any club that loses a transmitter or receiver will be charged a replacement fee of $5,000 per unit.”

Marinak said about half of the 30 MLB clubs had expressed interest.

“I’m not sure that every team will use it,” Marinak said during MLB’s third annual innovation and fan engagement showcase. “I think this is a kind of a personal preference kind of thing.”

Union head Tony Clark pointed out the devices are not mandatory.

“It was important to ensure the flexibility for players to use — or not use — the technology at their own discretion,” the former All-Star first baseman said in a statement. “The guys on the field are in the best position to make decisions as individuals about whether it’s right for

them.”

Players may no longer watch in-game video replays on clubhouse televisions but may review video only on iPads controlled by the MLB office. The video will be updated only at the end of each half-inning and players can go back and replay, but may not see content during a half-inning in progress.

“Players don’t have access to any technology that’s above and beyond what we’re offering in terms of in-game video,” Marinak said. “We also monitor all the transmission of traffic so that we understand what content is being delivered to the iPad.” The new system of umpires having microphones to explain video reviews to fans began with an exhibition game at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. MLB also is now taking in video from 104 of 120 minor league ballparks The automated ball/strike system of computer plate umpires will be used at 10 Triple-A West parks, Charlotte in Triple-A East and Low-A Southeast. MLB intends to illustrate the calls on stadium scoreboards.

Pitch clocks will be used at all minor league stadiums, likely a prelude to their installation at big league ballparks for 2023.

MLB showed off its new 1,400-square foot replay operations center in midtown Manhattan, which opened just as COVID-19 struck in 2020 and replaced a 900square foot facility in SoHo that had been used since 2014.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Amazon has deals with three rocket companies to help launch communications satellites that the online retail giant says will help provide fast, affordable broadband to millions of underserved people around the world.

Seattle-based Amazon said Tuesday that Arianespace, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin will combine for up to 83 launches during the next five years, deploying the majority of Amazon’s 3,236 low-earth satellites to be used for what Amazon is calling “Project Kuiper.”

No financial details were given.

Amazon and Blue Origin were both founded by Jeff Bezos, who blasted into space on a Blue Origin rocket last summer. Blue Origin signed on for 12 launches, with options for up to 15 more.

Arianespace is the European space consortium that launched NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope in December.

Amazon contracted for 18 launches of its new Ariane 6 rocket that will put satellites into orbit.

Arianespace hailed the deal as its largest ever, although it didn’t give a monetary value.

“That Amazon has chosen the Ariane 6 to do the job is a matter of tremendous pride for us and a great vote of confidence for our new launch vehicle.

“This day marks a decisive success for the Ariane 6 program,” said Stephane Israël, CEO of Arianespace.

Amazon contracted for 38 launches with Colorado-based United Launch Alliance.

Amazon has 1,000 employees working on Project Kuiper, which it says, once deployed, will be able to serve tens of millions of residential, business, and government customers in places without dependable broadband.

NEW TECHNOLOGY TAKES VIRGINIA STUDENTS VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE

By DAVID McGEE, Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Va. (AP) — Immersive technology that puts students inside the cockpit of a fighter plane, on the ocean floor or lets them virtually dissect animals is now available at two city schools.

Dubbed virtual reality, the technology has morphed from entertainment applications to education, reaching a generation of teens who grew up playing computer games.

On March 23, Virginia High School held an open house for teachers and students to visit its new virtual reality lab. Inside are 12 VR headsets, controllers and computers to take students virtually anywhere.

A similar lab is now set up at Virginia Middle School and believed to be among the largest in the region, according to Logan Childress, emerging technology specialist.

VIRGINIA High School’s Bhraedon Meredith explores the ocean during a virutal dive in the new Virtual Reality Learning lab at the school in Bristol, Va. (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP)

“The purpose is to give a futuristic look into educational technology.

To give teachers and classes something they can use to help further education in the classroom, supplement what they’re doing and try to mitigate some of the learning loss from the past couple of years (due to COVID),” Childress said.

The equipment was paid for with federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, allocated to address learning loss incurred during the past two years due to disruptions by the pandemic.

“It’s interactive. I call it the ‘gamification’ of learning because this is a medium students understand. If they can learn through this or even as a supplemental — it’s more native to them, engaging and visual all at the same time,” Childress said.

Some of the applications are basic, designed to introduce users to the technology, while others are

much more in-depth and highly interactive.

“We had an environmental science class come down. It’s much more than turning a page or watching a video. You have these things in your hand so you can interact,” Principal Ronnie Collins said. “As a history teacher, I can tell you about blitzkrieg all day or show you a video, but this is so much more.”

Virtually any discipline probably has a virtual reality application.

“Whether it’s CTE (career and technical education) with automotive or history or biology, there can be an application no matter what the curriculum. It’s just another tool,” Collins said. “When I was in the classroom students would watch a filmstrip, then video and streaming.

Now to be immersed in whatever is just the next step.”

There is a World War II airplane mission over Berlin, space

applications, including the Apollo 11 mission, a journey inside the components of the human body, a car mechanic performing virtual repairs, and looking inside how famous artwork was created and sports like bowling and boxing, Childress said, adding they have about 90 applications thus far.

“Their calling card is it is so realistic,” Childress said. “I have one basic program called Air Car. It’s an entire futuristic city; you fly around in this futuristic air car. It helps users learn the controls, but you can roll the thing like a plane; nose down, nose up. It’s raining the whole time, so you see these drops of water on the windshield.

“A lot of things we have were actually created as games but also became a learning tool. Now it’s starting to diverge and companies are developing VR for education,” Childress said.

PAGE 10, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Zelenskyy accuses Russian military of war crimes at UN BUCHA, Ukraine Associated Press UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russians of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the UN Security Council yesterday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one established at Nuremberg after World War II. Zelenskyy, appearing via video from Ukraine, said that civilians had been tortured, shot in the back of the head, thrown down wells, blown up with grenades in their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.

“They cut off limbs, cut their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because their aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them,” he said, recounting what he described as the worst atrocities since World War II. Over the past few days, grisly images of what appeared to be civilian massacres carried out by Russian forces in Bucha before they withdrew from the outskirts of Kyiv have caused a global outcry and led Western nations to expel scores of Moscow’s diplomats and propose further sanctions, including a ban on coal imports from Russia.

Zelenskyy said that both those who carried out the killings and those who gave the orders “must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes” in front of a tribunal similar to what was used in postwar Germany.

Moscow’s UN

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks via remote feed during a meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday.

Photo: John Minchillo/AP ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said that while Bucha was under Russian control, “not a single local person has suffered from any violent action”. Reiterating what the Kremlin has contended for days, he said that video footage of bodies in the streets was “a crude forgery” staged by the Ukrainians.

“You only saw what they showed you,” he said.

“The only ones who would fall for this are Western dilettantes.”

Associated Press journalists in Bucha have counted dozens of corpses in civilian clothes and interviewed

Ukrainians who told of witnessing atrocities. Also, high-resolution satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed that many of the bodies had been lying in the open for weeks, during the time that Russian forces were in the town.

The dead in Bucha included a pile of six charred bodies, as witnessed by AP journalists.

It was not clear who they were or under what circumstances they died. One body was probably that of a child, said Andrii Nebytov, head of police in the Kyiv region.

One person had a gunshot

wound to the head.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court at The Hague opened an investigation a month ago into possible war crimes in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy stressed that Bucha was only one place and that there are more with similar horrors — a warning echoed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“When and if they withdraw their troops and Ukrainian troops take over, I’m afraid they will see more mass graves, more atrocities and more examples of war crimes,” he said.

Stoltenberg, meanwhile, warned that in pulling back from the capital, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military is regrouping its forces in order to deploy them to eastern and southern Ukraine for a “crucial phase of the war.” Russia’s stated goal is control of the Donbas, the largely Russian-speaking industrial region in the east that includes the shattered port city of Mariupol.

“Moscow is not giving up its ambitions in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

While both Ukrainian and Russian representatives sent optimistic signals

following their latest round of talks a week ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow won’t accept a Ukrainian demand that a prospective peace deal include an immediate pullout of troops followed by a Ukrainian referendum on the agreement.

In televised remarks Tuesday, Lavrov said a new deal would have to be negotiated if the vote failed, and “we don’t want to play such cat and mouse”.

Ukrainian officials said that the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces and that a “torture chamber” was discovered in Bucha.

Zelenskyy told the Security Council there was “not a single crime” that Russian troops hadn’t committed in Bucha, and he likened their actions to those of the Islamic State group.

“The Russian military searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our country. They shot and killed women outside their houses when they just tried to call someone who is alive. They killed entire families, adults and children, and they tried to burn the bodies,” he said.

They used tanks to crush civilians “just for their pleasure,” he said.

Yeterday, police and other investigators walked the silent streets of Bucha, taking notes on bodies that residents showed them.

Survivors who hid in their homes during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, many of them past middle age, wandered past charred tanks and jagged window panes with plastic bags of food and other humanitarian aid.

Red Cross workers checked in on intact homes.

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A SECOND suspect arrested yesterday in connection with the mass shooting that killed six people in Sacramento had posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun hours before gunfire erupted, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Smiley Martin, 27, who is the brother of the first suspect taken into custody, was arrested while hospitalised with serious injuries from the gunfire in California’s capital.

A year ago, prosecutors implored the state parole board not to release Martin early from a ten-year sentence, noting his prior convictions for possessing

DANDRAE MARTIN an assault weapon, stealing electronics from department stores and beating a girlfriend he encouraged to be a prostitute.

“Martin’s criminal conduct is violent and lengthy,” a Sacramento prosecutor wrote. “Martin has committed several felony violations and clearly has little regard for human life and the law”.

Investigators believe the brothers possessed stolen

guns and are working to review financial documents, call records and social media messages to determine how and when they procured weapons, the official said. Authorities have searched several locations in connection with the shooting and the firearms investigation.

More than 100 shots were fired early Sunday near the state Capitol, creating a chaotic scene with hundreds of people trying desperately to get to safety.

Martin was among the 12 people wounded.

Police on Monday announced the arrest of his brother, Dandrae Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun. His first court appearance was set for yesterday.

SHANGHAI COVID OUTBREAK ‘EXTREMELY GRIM’ BEIJING Associated Press

THE COVID-19 outbreak in China’s largest metropolis of Shanghai remains “extremely grim” amid an ongoing lockdown confining around 26 million people to their homes, a city official said yesterday.

The director of Shanghai’s working group on epidemic control, Gu Honghui, was quoted by state media as saying that the outbreak in the city was “still running at a high level”. “The situation is extremely grim,” Gu said.

China has sent more than 10,000 health workers from around the country to aid the city, including 2,000 from the military, and is mass testing residents, some of whom have been locked down for weeks.

Most of eastern Shanghai, which was supposed to reopen last Friday, remained locked down along with the western half of the city.

Shanghai recorded another 13,354 cases on Monday — the vast majority of them asymptomatic — bringing the city’s total to more than 73,000 since the latest wave of infections began last month. No deaths have been ascribed to the outbreak driven by the omicron BA.2 variant, which is much more infectious but also less lethal than the previous delta strain.

A separate outbreak continues to rage in the northeastern province of Jilin and the capital, Beijing, also saw an additional nine cases, just one of them asymptomatic.

Workers shut down an entire shopping center in the city where a case had been detected.

While China’s vaccination rate hovers around 90 percent, its domestically produced inactivated virus vaccines are seen as weaker than the mRNA vaccines such as those produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that are used abroad, as well as in the Chinese

territories of Hong Kong and Macao. Vaccination rates among the elderly are also much lower than the population at large, with only around half of those over 80 fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, complaints have arisen in Shanghai over difficulties obtaining food and daily necessities, and shortages of medical workers, volunteers and beds in isolation wards where tens of thousands are being kept for observation.

Shanghai has converted an exhibition hall and other facilities into massive isolation centres where people with mild or no symptoms are housed in a sea of beds separated by temporary partitions.

Public outrage has been fueled by reports and video clips posted on the internet documenting the death of a nurse who was denied admittance to her own hospital under COVID-19 restrictions, and infant children separated from their parents.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 11

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SPORTS PAGE 12

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg.

GOVT SET TO ANNOUNCE SLOOP SAILING AS NATIONAL SPORT

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter btubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHAT’S the national sport of the Bahamas?

While there isn’t one officially on record, the government is set to make an announcement that sloop sailing will be given that title.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg confirmed on Monday as his ministry launched the sixth Bahamas Games as a part of the country’s Golden 50th anniversary of independence, a collaboration is being made with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Family Island Affairs on the announcement of the national sport in short order.

Mr Bowleg revealed that plans are currently underway to make the announcement, but he would rather wait for the appropriate time with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Family Island Affairs, which is responsible for all regattas in the country.

“We’ve had collaboration, myself and the Minister of Agriculture and we have a date in mind when we will make the announcement, but I wouldn’t want to say that,” he said. “It will be done within this year.”

When asked why sailing, Mr Bowleg asked what other sport should be considered.

“There is no sport in the world that is more indigenous to us than sailing,” Mr Bowleg said.

“Track and field is not ours, basketball ain’t ours, bowling isn’t ours, golf ain’t ours.

“But the only thing that is indigenous to the Bahamas when you think about it is sloop sailing. We are an archipelago surrounded by water and so we can’t find anything better that is our own than sloop sailing.”

In congratulating the Nassau Rowing Club’s team of Breanna Gayla, Jessica Profitt, Poppy Profitt and Leah Bethel, who placed third in the Miami International Regatta over the weekend, Bowleg noted that the sport has a lot of diamonds in the rough that need to be polished.

Making history

NASSAU Rowing Club’s team of Breanna Gayle, Jessica Profitt, Poppy Profitt and Leah Bethel with their bronze medals.

First ever rowing medal for The Bahamas

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE quartet of Jessica and Poppy Profitt – who are sisters – Breanna Gayla and Leah Bethel made history as they became the first team ever to win a rowing medal for The Bahamas in an international event.

Their historic feat was achieved on Saturday, April 2 at the 48th Miami International Regatta in Biscayne Bay in the Women’s Varsity Quadruple scull crew were they earned a bronze medal to get on the podium.

The quartet, coached by Canadian national team coach Al Morrow, finished the 1,500 metre course in a time of 6:13.2 for a bronze medal finish behind Miami Beach RC (5:41.6) and Ransom Everglades (5:45.4); and well ahead of Hollywood RC (6:48.3).

Jessica and Poppy Proffitt, age 16 and 14 respectively, are both students of Lyford Cay International School and Gayle and Bethel, both 16-year-olds of Genesis Academy, were a part of a 10-member team that represented The Bahamas at the competition.

Gayla represented The Bahamas previously at the Junior Pan American Games in December, 2021, and Jessica Profitt competed for the NRC at the Head of the Charles Regatta, the world’s largest LUCIUS Fox will become only the eighth Bahamian to play in Major League Baseball.

rowing event, in October, 2021.

According to Kyle Chea, the president of the NRC, all crews from the Bahamas rowed valiantly in their first sprint race since the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that Gayla also narrowly missed a podium finish in the women’s lightweight varsity singles sculls, getting fourth behind North Palm Beach Rowing Club’s Gabriella Childers by two seconds after her boat overlapped with the rower just ahead of her.

First and second place finishers came from the host Miami Rowing Club.

The NRC’s six crews were among 18 clubs and more than 350 crews from around South Florida with more than 3,000 spectators on Key Biscayne.

“This is the first medal that we have ever won by any team from The Bahamas in any rowing event,” Chea said. “So it’s pretty exciting for us.

“These four girls have been training with the club for the past four years, some as little as two years. I think it was a fantastic performance from them.”

In other results, Jessica Profitt got third in the women’s varsity scull in heat two in 6:13.158; David Roy placed fourth in heat three of the men’s varsity scull in 5:32.387; Ellery Cartwright was fifth in the men’s SEE PAGE 13

NASSAU Rowing Club’s team of Jessica and Poppy Profitt, Breanna Gayle and Leah Bethel getting ready to start competition.

A DREAM COME TRUE FOR LUCIUS FOX

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S a dream come true for Lucius Fox as he prepares to become only the eighth Bahamian to play in Major League Baseball.

The Washington Nationals recalled Fox from Triple-A Rochester and will include him on their opening day roster on Thursday, filling a void that was left after utility infielder Ehire Adrianza (quadriceps) was placed on the injured list, and Alcides Escobar was held out of Monday’s Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals due to a stiff neck.

As a result, the Nationals elected to reverse their previous transaction involving Fox, who was optioned to Rochester a week ago. The 24-year-old brings with him

to the big league his ability to switch hit and play infield at second base, shortstop and third base. He also has the luxury of playing outfield in centre field.

“It’s special,” an enthusiastic Fox said Monday, running on three hours of sleep and adrenaline. “I’ve been working my whole life for this opportunity and this moment. I always envisioned how I’d feel, but I can’t put it into words.”

Fox Jr, who will join Miami Marlins’ infielder Jasrado ‘Jazz’ Chisholm in the Majors, along with San Francisco Giants’ first base coach Antoan Richardson, hit .400 with a home run in eight Spring Training games before being optioned to Triple-A. “He’s full of energy,” said Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez. “He plays with a lot of emotions. He’s a joy

to be around. He loves the game. He loves playing.”

Fox Jr was claimed off waivers from the Orioles just 11 says after Baltimore got him off waivers from Kansas City.

And his parents were overwhelmed that their son’s breakthrough has finally come.

“It’s been a long time and a long road, but we’re thanking God for it,” said his father, Lucius Fox Sr. “We give God all the thanks. It’s all God.” As he prepares for the season, Fox Sr said he expects great things from him because he considers him to be one of the best players in the world and that’s not just because he’s his son.

“All he needed is an opportunity to prove himself and now that SEE PAGE 13

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 13

INDIANA Pacers’ Buddy Hield. (AP Photo)

BUDDY HIELD SCORES 25 PTS, BUT PACERS LOSE TO 76ERS

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Joel Embiid had 45 points and 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers made a franchise-record 17 3-pointers in the first half of a 131-122 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night that moved them into a tie with Boston atop the Atlantic Division.

Embiid banked in a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer and shot 18 for 30 overall while moving into the NBA scoring lead with 30.4 points per game. He had 27 points and seven rebounds in the first half, helping Philadelphia take control with a 49-point second quarter that led to an 82-59 halftime lead.

Buddy Hield scored 25 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Indiana, which has lost a season-worst eight in a row.

The 76ers, meanwhile, continued to build momentum for a playoff push that begins next week — and perhaps Embiid’s pitch as league MVP. And they did nothing to disappoint Tuesday.

Tyrese Maxey made a career-high eight 3s, seven in the first half, and had 30 points for the 76ers. James Harden had 11 points and 14 assists.

The Pacers never fully recovered from the Sixers’ blistering start, though they did cut the deficit to 111106 with 9:19 left to play. But Philadelphia answered with a 10-3 run to put it away.

TIP-INS 76ers: Embiid posted his 12th game this season with 40 or more points and at least 10 rebounds, the most in one season since Russell Westbrook did it 12 times in 2016-17. ...

DeAndre Jordan was ejected for a flagrant foul with 9:19 left in the game. ... Philadelphia lost its only previous meeting this season against Indiana. The two teams meet for the third and final time this season Saturday.

Pacers: Indiana finished this season with a 16-25 record at home, its second straight sub-.500 mark after 31 straight seasons of posting winning records at home. ... Fan favourite Lance Stephenson had 10 points in what could be his final home game in Indy. ...

HE’S BACK Pacers guard T.J. McConnell returned to action Tuesday, marking his first appearance in a game since Dec. 1. McConnell missed 54 games with ligament damage in his right wrist and made it back against his former team.

“He wants to play, he wants to come back, he wants to get that feel and what it’s like playing with his teammates before the summer,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

“He’s worked really hard and I think it took him longer than expected.”

NASSAU Rowing Club celebrates in Miami.

Making history FROM PAGE 12

varsity single in heat two in 7:39.360; Leah Bethel and Eva Lily Worboys paired up in the women’s freshman doubles in heat three for fourth place in 7:39.441 and Roy and Harper Romer combined for fifth in the men’s freshman doubles in 6:22.405.

Chea, who accompanied head coach Morrow and assistant coaches Dan Bechard and Beatrise Bethel, said the NRC was very pleased with all of the performances at the regatta, which was held for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic.

“With the six crew that we sent, that was the most were sent to any regatta anywhere,” Chea pointed out. “So despite not competing since 2019, I think they are performed very well.”

Nassau RC’s will now prepare for their next regatta in a dual meet with the rowing squad at the Windsor School, coached by three-time Olympian and silver medallist Rob Gibson.

Both programmes, according to Chea, will field the “best of the best” from their programmes in single sculls, double sculls, and coxed fours in both men’s and women’s categories.

The Nassau RC members will continue to work out daily from 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Lake Cunningham, while they occupy space on Oak Hill Road where their boats are stationed.

NASSAU Rowing Club’s Breanna Gayle in action.

NASSAU Rowing Club’s team of Eilery Cartwright, David Roy, William Watson and Harrison Schindel with coach Al Morrow on the water.

NASSAU Rowing Club’s rowers Eva Lily Worboys and Poppy Profitt.

NASSAU Rowing Club’s rowers David Roy and Harper Romer in action.

A DREAM COME TRUE FOR LUCIUS FOX

FROM PAGE 12

opportunity is here,” he said. “We expect great things. Once you put God first, anything is possible.”

Although he played softball in high school and eventually basketball, Fox Sr said he believes his son developed most of his baseball skills from his mother’s side of the family that includes Dencil Clarke and the late Charles ‘Chuckie’ Smith.

His mother, Dotlee Fox, tried to hold back her emotions as she spoke.

“It’s been a long journey with so much ups and downs,” she said.

“We know that things don’t always go the way we want it too. He kept the faith and we pray with him every day.

“But he’s a very humble young man and we know that in God’s time everything will work out for him.

“He’s watched things happen for other people and he just say his time is coming. ‘My turn will come’. God has the best time. We just had to go through this for this moment. This is the moment that we have been waiting for.”

The Fox family have two other children, Dante, who plays baseball with Max-D and Elite Academy and D’Antae Fox, who is a softball player in Freedom Farm.

Fox will join Chisholm and Richardson as the only living Bahamians who have played in the Major Leagues.

The others are Andre Rodgers, Tony Curry, Ed Armbrister, Wentie Ford and Wil Culmer.

Bahamas Baseball Association secretary general Theodore Sweeting said it’s a great day for baseball in the country as he congratulated Fox Jr and his family on his latest achievement.

“For us in baseball, this

LUCIUS Fox Jr with his family.

is something that we envisioned happening back in 2013 when we made the tough decision to go back and rebuild the sport of baseball from the youth level,” Sweeting said.

“All these young men you see today are 22, 23 and 24 years old and they were little leaguers at the time, but they are now being given the awesome opportunity to play Major League baseball, so we are excited for them.”

Sweeting said while there are two now playing in Major League and one as a coach, they are not satisfied because there are many more in the pipeline waiting for their opportunities to excel.

He thanked all of the leagues, their membership and the Elite and Max-D Academies who have come on board and made the difference in taking the players to the next

level.

“The pieces of the puzzle is coming together

and we’re getting the success that this country deserves from all of the

hard work that they have put in,” Sweeting said.

At the end of the month, the Marlins are expected to travel to Washington to play the Nationals and Sweeting said BBA president Sam Rodgers and himself are looking at the possibility of taking in the game before they head to a COMPABO Conference.

“So it’s exciting for us and one of the things that we want to look at is, while we are getting the individual success from the players, we want to start looking at some team success,” he stressed.

“So we want to take a look at establishing our national teams.

“We have two teams traveling this summer and we want to host a tournament in December, so our major concern in all of this is pitching.”

Sweeting said they are looking at developing their pitching core so that the Bahamas can regain its place as a team to watch on the international scene.

PAGE 14, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

BARCELONA EXPECTS ANOTHER SOLD OUT STADIUM FOR WOMEN’S GAME BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — There could be another world-record crowd on hand to watch Barcelona’s semifinal in the women’s Champions League as the club announced Tuesday that all tickets for the match against Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou Stadium were picked up in just over 24 hours.

A crowd of 91,553 watched Barcelona defeat Real Madrid in the quarterfinals last month at the Camp Nou, the biggest attendance ever for a women’s soccer match.

The previous record for any women’s game had been 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in California.

Barcelona said the 50,000 free tickets made available to club members were all picked up Monday, and those sold to the general public were gone by Tuesday afternoon.

The club said it still has some tickets that UEFA regulations stipulate must be reserved for certain groups, “but depending how many more seats can be released, more should be available in the buildup to the match” on April 22.

The club did not specify the exact number of tickets sold so far. More than 70,000 tickets had been allocated beforehand to see Barcelona’s women play the “clásico” against Madrid.

The game against Wolfsburg will be the first leg of the semifinals. The second leg will be the following week in Germany.

Lyon and Paris SaintGermain will play in the other semifinal.

The women’s Champions League final will be in Turin on May 21.

MADRID’S ANCELOTTI LIKELY TO MISS CHELSEA GAME WITH COVID-19

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid will likely be without coach Carlo Ancelotti for the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Chelsea because of COVID-19.

Ancelotti tested positive for the coronavirus last week and did not travel to London with the rest of the squad on Tuesday.

There was a possibility he could still make it for Wednesday’s match if he tests negative in time to travel.

Ancelotti had already missed the team’s 2-1 win over Celta Vigo in the Spanish league on Saturday, when assistant coach Davide Ancelotti, his son, was among those in charge.

“He’s a big, big coach, big personality,” Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said.

“It would be nice to have him on the sideline in these kinds of games.”

Ancelotti, who had minor symptoms of COVID-19, is trying to win his second Champions League with Madrid after helping the club lift the European trophy in 2014.

Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy, who returned to action on Saturday after nursing injuries, practiced normally ahead of the trip to England.

Madrid was eliminated by eventual champion Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals last season.

“Last season’s tie was different,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said.

“There were no fans and it was at the semifinal stage.

“This is a new season, it’s the first leg of the quarterfinals and we’re all feeling really good and know what’s at stake.”

LIVERPOOL’S LUIS DIAZ, right, scores his side’s third goal during the Champions League quarterfinals, first leg, soccer match between Benfica and Liverpool at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Diaz stars on his return to Portugal in Liverpool win LISBON (AP) — It just had to be Luis Diaz.

The Colombia winger was the last player Benfica supporters inside the atmospheric Estádio da Luz wanted to see race onto a through-ball and produce an emphatic finish to complete a 3-1 win for Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.

After all, Diaz was playing for Porto, Benfica’s big rival in Portugal, until he was signed by Liverpool in January. No wonder he was whistled by home fans — and even targeted with objects thrown from the stands — as he wheeled away in celebration following his crucial third goal in the 87th minute.

It was a brilliantly taken goal, too, as Diaz latched onto Naby Keita’s deflected pass that split Benfica’s defense before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting his finish into the unguarded net from a tight angle.

“He got a nice reception,

LIVERPOOL’S LUIS DIAZ, centre right, celebrates with team mates after scoring his side’s third goal.

(AP Photo/Armando Franca) didn’t he?”

Liverpool a pinpoint long pass by defender Andrew Robert- Trent Alexander-Arnold son said, smiling. “It was a to allow Sadio Mane to good finish for him and a tap home from close range really important goal for in the 34th. That built on us. It gives us a two-goal Liverpool’s opener scored cushion, which makes a by Ibrahima Konaté — the difference.” center back’s first for the Diaz, who was jeered club — off an outswinging whenever he touched the corner from Robertson in ball, played a big part in the 17th minute.

Liverpool’s second goal, Benfica, playing in the too, when he nodded down quarterfinals for the first

time since 2016 after eliminating Ajax in the last 16, could easily have been further behind by halftime as Liverpool pressed high and was much sharper with its passing. But the hosts took the game more to the sixtime European champions in the second half and Uruguay striker Darwin Núñez capitalized on a mistake by Konaté to pull a goal back in the 49th.

Konaté blotted what was otherwise a strong defensive display by failing to clear Rafa Silva’s cross from the right. The ball went through his legs and landed at the feet of Núñez, who took a couple of touches and delivered a composed, sidefooted finish beyond the sprawling Konaté and into the bottom corner.

There were a few more rocky moments for Liverpool — in one of them, goalkeeper Alisson Becker was almost dispossessed on the edge of his area

by Silva — before Diaz’s strike ensured Jurgen

Klopp’s team would clinch a fifth straight win in all competitions.

“Coming here and winning an away game in the Champions League is tough,” Klopp said. “Benfica fought for their lives.

We gave them a little bit too much but they deserved the goal as well.”

Still, the Reds passed the latest test in their bid for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies, with the semifinals now in sight. They have already won the English League Cup, are in the semifinals of the FA Cup, and are one point behind leader Manchester City in the Premier League.

Klopp even took the option of bringing off star attackers Mane and Mohamed Salah in the 61st minute, perhaps with the league showdown against City on Sunday in mind.

City also will go into that game on the back of a win in Tuesday’s other quarterfinal, 1-0 over Atletico Madrid.

DE BRUYNE GIVES MANCHESTER CITY 1-0 WIN OVER ATLETICO

MANCHESTER City’s Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the Champions League, first leg, quarterfinal soccer match between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal to give Manchester City a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.

After a tight 70 minutes, City finally found its way through Atletico’s tough rearguard helped

by Phil Foden’s vision. Just 79 seconds after coming off the bench, Foden slid in a fine throughball and De Bruyne raced through to fire in a low shot from a tight angle.

“We knew it was going to be pretty tough to create some opportunities,” De Bruyne said.

“The first half was tight, but we didn’t give anything away and in the second half had a couple of chances. It was good that we took one.”

In the night’s other quarterfinal first leg, six-time European champion Liverpool won 3-1 at Benfica.

Both City and Atletico have reached the Champions League final but have never lifted the trophy.

Atletico played its usual cagey game as coach Diego Simeone had promised.

The first half was played at a slow tempo with City controlling most of the ball but, despite having all of its outfield players in the final third at times, being unable to create openings.

De Bruyne and Joao Cancelo both had efforts deflected wide and Aymeric Laporte missed the target with a header.

Ilkay Gundogan shot well over

and Rodri had a long-range effort blocked before De Bruyne had a penalty appeal turned down and John Stones also missed.

“It is very hard,” De Bruyne said.

“They played almost five at the back and five in midfield, it is very hard to find the spaces.”

It was not until the second half that the hosts tried to inject more pace into their play.

That did open the game up slightly and Atletico almost capitalised with a couple of breaks from deep. Antoine Griezmann wasted one opening with a poor pass and Marcos Llorente chipped tamely at goalkeeper Ederson from another.

However, City also began to threaten more as Gundogan had an effort deflected wide and Laporte went close with a header.

City appealed for another penalty for a push by Reinildo on Sterling but it was not given. That proved Sterling’s final involvement as manager Pep Guardiola took him off in the move that changed the game.

Foden, who came on alongside Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, teed up De Bruyne for the goal.

Foden created another chance for De Bruyne soon after following a tricky run to the byline but this time Atletico had enough players back to block.

“The way we played was good because we didn’t give anything away,” De Bruyne said. “You need to be calm and patient, try to find the balls and the spaces because they were compact.”

THE TRIBUNE

CARDINALS STAR GOLDSCHMIDT BATS .500 IN SPRING TRAINING

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 15 TIGER Woods drops golf balls on the driving range during a practice round for the Masters golf tournament on Tuesday in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

By CHUCK KING Associated Press JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — For a hitter not known for fast starts, Paul Goldschmidt put up a lofty number in spring training.

A batting average of .500, in fact.

“Anything can happen when you’re talking about 20 to 30 at-bats,” the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman said Tuesday. “Just like the end of spring, the numbers can be skewed better or worse. It’s not something I look at. It’s just getting your body ready for opening day and being ready to play the whole year.”

Batting second, Goldschmidt popped up and had a sacrifice fly on Tuesday against Miami, leaving him at 11 for 22.

Glove Goldschmidt’s hits haven’t been of the cheap variety, either.

Four left the ballpark.

It would have been five had Washington’s Lane Thomas not extended his glove over the wall on Monday, flicking a ball back into the field of play that Dee Strange-Gordon then caught in mid-air for an out.

“It’s like a video game,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Goldschmidt’s spring at-bats. “No matter what they throw, it ends up going far.”

The Cardinals open the season Thursday at home against Pittsburgh.

A career .293 hitter with 280 home runs, Goldschmidt usually takes a little time to heat up.

He’s a .275 hitter in limited March at-bats and all of April, down from his .293 career mark. The start of the 2021 season proved particularly troublesome for the six-time All-Star — he entered May hitting only .214.

This spring, Goldschmidt looked a lot more like the guy who hit .323 or better in each of the final three months last season.

One difference for Goldschmidt this spring is that he’s swinging a different piece of lumber. During the offseason season he visited Baseball Performance Lab in Louisiana to have his swing analyzed.

As a result, Goldschmidt is swinging a bat weighted a bit differently.

“It ends up being a little heavier, but the way it is feels the exact same as my old bat,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s very similar to the bat I’ve always swung.”

Goldschmidt minimizes the new bat’s role in his strong spring.

And he has a point.

The skill resides with the craftsman, not the tools.

“His timing, his at-bats, his laying off tough pitches, like I said, that’s what the greats do — and he’s one of the greats,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch. I’m excited to watch him this year.”

NOTES: Marlins starting pitcher Elieser Hernandez left the game after being hit in the arm by a liner from Tyler O’Neill in the first inning. Hernandez talked to Miami reporters postgame and said he was OK. Hernandez is scheduled to be Marlins’ No. 4 starter. ... St. Louis defeated Miami 7-0 to finish the spring with a 9-5 record.

Tiger Woods plans to play the Masters and thinks he can win

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Two words can go a long way when Tiger Woods is behind them.

No one would have been surprised if Woods never played golf again after a car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors raised the prospect of amputation.

Out of the public eye for nine months, Woods sent hopes soaring last November with a video of him swinging the club with a simple message, “Making progress.”

And here he is at Augusta National, making a Monday practice round feel like Sunday at a major because of the gallery, walking the steep slopes, swinging well and making it clear he has every intention of playing in the Masters.

Does he think he can win?

Woods offered the shortest answer of his press conference: “I do.”

He said Tuesday he is planning to play and thinks he can win. Never mind that it will be 508 days from the last time he played a tournament where he had to walk, or that he returns to this Masters with screws and rods still holding the bones in place in his right leg.

Woods also is 46. He would be the oldest Masters champion by three weeks over Jack Nicklaus.

A WORKER walks out with a weather warning sign while Tiger Woods hits on the driving range during a practice round for the Masters golf tournament on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The biggest question is how he holds up over 18 holes for four straight days.

Woods walked 18 holes last week — his first big test — during a scouting trip with 13-year-old son Charlie (including a stop at the Par 3 course).

He played the back nine on Sunday, the front nine on Monday.

Woods plans nine more for Wednesday and then it’s “game time.” He is to tee off at 10:34 a.m. Thursday with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann.

“I can hit it just fine.

I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint,” Woods said.

“Walking is the hard part.

This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the conditions that my leg is in, it gets even

more difficult.

“Seventy-two holes is a long road and it’s going to be a tough challenge,” he said. “And a challenge that I’m up for.”

That might be the biggest reason Woods is even at Augusta National for more than the sushi and misoglazed cod and Wagyu beef that defending champion Hideki Matsuyama put on the menu for the champions-only dinner Tuesday night. If he never plays — if he never wins — Woods said he is satisfied with what he has achieved.

“I think 82 is a pretty good number,” Woods said.

“And 15 is not too bad, either.”

His 15 majors are second only to Jack Nicklaus and his 18, the gold standard in golf. He is tied with Sam Snead for the PGA Tour

career record with 82 wins.

So why keep coming back? What else is there to prove?

“I love competing,” Woods said. “And I feel like if I can still compete at the highest level, I’m going to. And if I feel like I can still win, I’m going to play.”

“I don’t show up to an event unless I think I can win it. So that’s the attitude I’ve had,” he said. “There will be a day when it won’t happen, and I’ll know when that is.”

Shortly after he spoke, the starting times were released. Woods is helped by being part of the earlylate rotation, meaning he will have some 22 hours between rounds. Otherwise, Tuesday was mostly a wash.

Woods wasn’t planning on anything more than working on the range, anyway, and even that worked in his favor. Heavy storms moved over Augusta about the time he finished his work, and the course was closed the rest of the day.

As long as Woods has been part of Masters lore — Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer once predicted he would win more green jackets than both of them combined (10) — the reality is rust from no serious competition and a body that has endured at least 10 surgeries to both legs and his back.

But he’s planning to play, and that feels like enough.

For now.

“I think that the fact that

I was able to get myself here to this point is a success,” Woods said. “And now that I am playing, now everything is focused on, ‘How do I get myself into the position where I’m on that back nine on Sunday with a chance?’ Just like I did a few years ago.”

That was 2019, his fifth Masters title that followed four surgeries the previous five years on his lower back.

“How many comebacks has he had?” Jordan Spieth asked in wonderment.

There was the return from reconstructive knee surgery after his 2008 U.S. Open victory. He won seven times worldwide the following year. There was a return to No. 1 following the implosion in his personal life, and before the back surgeries.

Nothing compares with this one, mainly because of the walking involved on a leg so badly damaged that Woods spent three months in a hospital bed before advancing to a wheel chair, crutches, a compression sleeve and still the occasional limp.

“It’s amazing if you think about where he was at a year ago to now,” Spieth said. “I don’t know how many people — if anybody — could be out here. And this is not an easy walk. So to be out here and not to throw his age in the mix, but I don’t think that helps much for that recovery.

“But is anybody surprised?”

VERSATILE KAPLER, GIANTS SET TO DEFEND NL WEST TITLE

By JACK MAGRUDER Associated Press

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The San Francisco Giants will open defense of their NL West title without two key components. It’s a situation they managed well a year ago.

Third baseman Evan Longoria and outfielder/first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. will begin the season on the injured list, although the Giants played through a host of absences while posting a franchiserecord 107 wins last year.

“There are always injuries on every team,” versatile infielder Wilmer Flores said. “The good thing about this team is there are always good options where you can keep a good level of baseball going.

That’s what it is right now.”

Longoria underwent surgery to repair ligament damage in his right index finger last week and no timeline has been set for his return.

Wade had a bone bruise in his left knee in spring training, and it is uncertain how much time he will miss.

The Giants are optimistic that first baseman Brandon Belt will be ready for the start of the season Friday at home against Miami after he reported to camp with swelling in his right knee. Multiple MRIs showed no structural damage, and he played in his first game Saturday.

Belt hit a career-best 29 home runs with a .975 OPS a year ago after playing in only a handful of spring training games because of illness. He underwent heel surgery following the 2020 season.

SAN Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler shouts to players on the field during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Colorado Rockies last week in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) “You always wish you could have a few more games to get ready for the season, but sometimes that’s not how it works out,” Belt said. “I did the same thing last year and I wound up being fine.”

Because of injuries or strategic off days, no Giants position player played in more than 139 games last season, and 14 played in at least 76.

All but two of those pieces return, and the Giants added Joc Pederson to fill one of the outfield spots.

“We’re not trying to recreate all

the incidents that happened last year, where one guys gets hurt and another guy steps in and performs great,” manager Gabe Kapler said.

“Rather, we are thinking about the processes and the practices that lead to those things happening. We are just going to stay really focused on that.”

Flores is expected be the primary third baseman in Longoria’s absence, and Pederson can provide a left-handed bat with Wade out. Flores and outfielder Mike

Yastrzemski led the Giants with 139 games a year ago.

Yastrzemski and shortstop Brandon Crawford were the only players who had more than the 454 plate appearances made by catcher Buster Posey, whose retirement left an opening for Curt Casali and Joey Bart behind the plate.

The Giants were nothing if not versatile a year ago. Kapler, who likes to play matchups, never used the same defensive lineup more than five times, and that happened once. The Giants used 10 left fielders, eight right fielders and seven third basemen. The most common 1-through-8 batting order was used five times.

“That’s part of what made us so successful last year,” Yastrzemski said. “We all embraced what was going with our team strategy and our willingness to put our egos aside and say ‘I’m ready when I’m called upon.’”

Leftty-hitting Wade started in all three outfield spots and at first base. Righty Darin Ruf started at least 25 games in left field and first base. Crawford (130), Yastrzemski (119), Posey (102) and Belt (85) were the only players who started at least half the Giants games. “‘Kap really likes matchups,” Ruf said. “There are so many ways to get at-bats that ‘Kap’ likes to figure out. We are always ready for anything.”

“With him we all know never to be surprised by anything. Be ready for an opportunity. More or less you know what that opportunity is going to be, and he makes that move more times or not,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 17

BAHAMASAIR RAISES FARES ON $100K WEEKLY FUEL COST RISE

FROM PAGE 22

economy does likewise, which is estimated to be some time in late 2023, Mr Cooper said of current aviation industry conditions: “What we have is the fact that the fuel prices have gone up significantly. We’re up $1.50 or so more on a gallon of aviation fuel. It’s over $4.12 a gallon of aviation fuel.

“This has obviously been the impact of the Russian invasion.

Unfortunately, Bahamasair is using 90,000 to 95,00 gallons of fuel a week, so it’s a significant impact. It’s easily costing the airline an additional $100,000 a week in fuel costs. We don’t have any choice but to pass some of that on to the consumer because we cannot absorb all of that.”

Based on the $1.50 per gallon increase figure supplied by Mr Cooper, and the 90,000-95,000 gallons consumed by Bahamasair per week, this newspaper’s calculations show that the airline’s fuel costs have risen by between $135,000 and $142,500 per week. Based on a four-week month, that means monthly costs have jumped by between $540,000 and $570,000.

Over a year, that translates into between a $7.02m and $7.41m expense hike.

Asked how this will impact Bahamasair’s ticket prices, Mr Cooper replied: “We’ve already adjusted. It took effect a few days ago.

I believe that around the beginning of April it came into effect. We are looking at, I think, it’s another $3 domestically and $10 or so internationally on a ticket.

TRACY COOPER With the volatility in fuel prices, sometimes it goes up, and sometimes it comes down. We have to get the average and just stick with that for a while.

“We don’t make changes [to ticket prices] on a daily basis. We make adjustments, and then watch it for a while, and if we have to make changes up and down we do that. We cannot make changes every day. The consumer needs to have some degree of predictability as well. Hopefully the fuel prices stabilise and come down, but we just don’t know. It’s really what the market dictates.

“Obviously it has a negative impact, but if we pass some of the increase through it does not have as much adverse effect. The consumer picks up some of it, and we try and do the best we can until it levels back out.”

Bahamasair is still struggling to recover from COVID-19’s devastating

financial impact, with lockdowns, border closures and reduced travel slashing its revenues by 84 percent year-over-year for the ten

months to end-April 2021.

This forced Bahamian taxpayers to underwrite a $60m-plus subsidy to keep the airline operating.

“Obviously we still have not caught up to pre-pandemic levels,” Mr Cooper said yesterday. “For January 2022, air arrivals to The Bahamas were around 55 percent of 2019 levels, so it’s running in the right direction but we’re not there yet.

“Again, for January and February, we had the Omicron variant that was playing a bit of havoc.

We’ve seen a bit more of an increase for March.

We’re hoping that going into April, especially for the Easter break and with regatta festivals back in place, we’ll see a better return.”

Asked about the potential domestic tourism/

IN THE ESTATE OF BLAKE WARD MORGAN late of the City of Langley in the Province of British Columbia one of the Provinces of Canada NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claims or demands against the above-named Estate are requested to send the same duly certified to the undersigned on or before the 21st day of April A.D. 2022.

Notice is hereby also given that at the expiration of the time above mentioned the assets of the deceased will be distributed among the persons entitled thereto having regard only to the claims of which the Personal Representative shall then have had notice.

Share your news The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story.

Holowesko Pyfrom Fletcher Attorneys for the Personal Representative Chambers Templeton Building, Lyford Cay Nassau, Bahamas In the Estate of Blake Ward Morgan

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

TUESDAY, 05 APRIL 2022

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 6.70 40.50 2.05 2.90 2.60 6.05 10.05 3.55 9.02 3.10 7.20 13.00 2.71 10.25 11.25 10.75 15.00 4.00 10.00 16.50

52WK LOW 4.55 32.12 1.46 2.20 1.30 5.50 6.00 2.82 4.25 2.27 5.50 9.75 1.99 6.50 10.02 9.00 13.10 3.50 8.00 15.50

SECURITY AML Foods Limited APD Limited Benchmark Bahamas First Holdings Limited Bank of Bahamas Bahamas Property Fund Bahamas Waste Cable Bahamas Commonwealth Brewery Commonwealth Bank Colina Holdings CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Consolidated Water BDRs Doctor's Hospital Emera Incorporated Famguard Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited Focol Finco J. S. Johnson

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

Bahamas First Holdings Preference Cable Bahamas Series 6 Cable Bahamas Series 8 Cable Bahamas Series 9 Cable Bahamas Series 10 Colina Holdings Class A Fidelity Bank Bahamas Class A Focol Class B

CORPORATE DEBT - (percentage pricing) 52WK HI 100.00 100.00

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

SECURITY Fidelity Bank (Note 22 Series B+) Bahamas First Holdings Limited

CLOSE

CHANGE

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

2226.36

0.04

0.00

-1.88

-0.08

SYMBOL AML APD BBL BFH BOB BPF BWL CAB CBB CBL CHL CIB CWCB DHS EMAB FAM FBB FCL FIN JSJ BFHP CAB6 CAB8 CAB9 CAB10 CHLA FBBA FCLB SYMBOL FBB22 BFHB

BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT STOCK - (percentage pricing) 115.92 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.22 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.98 100.00

104.79 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.29 99.98 91.00 90.95 89.02 89.62 89.00 90.24 90.73

MUTUAL FUNDS 52WK HI 2.50 4.67 2.20 207.86 207.68 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.05 9.37 11.83 7.54 16.64 12.84 10.77 10.00 10.43 14.89

52WK LOW 2.11 3.30 1.68 164.74 116.70 1.68 1.73 1.75 1.01 6.41 7.62 5.66 8.65 10.54 9.57 9.88 8.45 11.20

Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029) BGS: 2014-12-7Y BGS: 2015-1-7Y BGS: 2014-12-30Y BGS: 2015-1-30Y BGS: 2015-6-7Y BGS: 2015-6-30Y BGS: 2015-10-7Y BGRS FL BGRS67023 BGRS FL BGRS70022 BGRS FL BGRS78024 BGRS FX BGR125238 BGRS FX BGR127139 BGRS FX BGR127149 BGRS FX BGR129249 BGRS FX BGR131249 BGRS FX BGR132249 BGRS FX BGR136150

BAH29 BG0107 BG0207 BG0130 BG0230 BG0307 BG0330 BG0407 BSBGRS670233 BSBGRS700220 BSBGRS780248 BSBGR1252380 BSBGR1271398 BSBGR1271497 BSBGR1292493 BSBGR1312499 BSBGR1322498 BSBGR1361504

LAST CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 13.00 2.30 10.13 12.32 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.06 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 13.00 2.28 10.13 12.39 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX - 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 52wk-Hi - Highest closing price in last 52 weeks 52wk-Low - Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Previous Close - Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Today's Close - Current day's weighted price for daily volume Change - Change in closing price from day to day Daily Vol. - Number of total shares traded today DIV $ - Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months P/E - Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings

VOLUME

3,000

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.06 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FUND CFAL Bond Fund CFAL Balanced Fund CFAL Money Market Fund CFAL Global Bond Fund CFAL Global Equity Fund Leno Financial Conservative Fund Leno Financial Aggressive Fund Leno Financial Balanced Fund Leno Financial Global Bond Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Secured Balanced Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Targeted Equity Fund RF Bahamas Opportunities Fund - Prime Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Equities Sub Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - High Yield Income Fund RF Bahamas International Investment Fund Limited - Alternative Strategies Fund Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F

MARKET TERMS

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.02) 0.00 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

(242) 323‐2330 (242) 323‐2320 EPS$ 0.239 0.932 0.000 0.140 0.070 1.760 0.369 -0.438 0.140 0.184 0.449 0.722 0.102 0.467 0.646 0.728 0.816 0.203 0.939 0.631 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

VOLUME

DIV$ 0.170 1.260 0.020 0.080 0.000 0.000 0.260 0.000 0.000 0.120 0.220 0.720 0.434 0.060 0.328 0.240 0.540 0.120 0.200 0.610 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

INTEREST Prime + 1.75% 6.25% 6.95% 4.50% 4.50% 6.25% 6.25% 4.50% 6.25% 4.25% 4.63% 4.50% 4.50% 5.00% 5.00% 5.50% 5.55% 5.60% 5.65% 5.69%

NAV 2.50 4.67 2.20 204.67 199.97 1.72 1.83 1.81 1.01 9.37 11.79 7.54 15.94 12.47 10.74 N/A 10.43 14.89

YTD% 12 MTH% 0.34% 4.30% -0.06% 5.21% 0.21% 2.72% 1.37% 3.18% 8.18% 14.94% 0.26% 2.76% 0.36% 2.37% 0.28% 2.51% -1.31% -3.43% -0.02% 10.36% -0.33% 18.23% 0.22% 3.05% -3.89% 14.76% -1.04% -2.57% 0.81% 4.20% N/A N/A 3.00% 25.60% 7.90% 48.70%

P/E 22.2 42.9 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M 25.1 -7.5 54.3 14.5 15.9 18.0 22.4 21.7 19.2 14.8 18.4 19.7 10.6 24.6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

YIELD 3.21% 3.15% 0.98% 3.46% 0.00% 0.00% 2.81% 0.00% 0.00% 4.51% 3.07% 5.54% 19.04% 0.59% 2.65% 2.23% 3.60% 3.01% 2.00% 3.94% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

MATURITY 19-Oct-2022 30-Sep-2025 20-Nov-2029 15-Dec-2021 30-Jul-2022 15-Dec-2044 30-Jul-2045 26-Jun-2022 26-Jun-2045 15-Oct-2022 8-Apr-2023 29-Jul-2022 22-Sep-2024 15-Oct-2038 15-Jan-2039 15-Jan-2049 15-Apr-2049 15-Jul-2049 15-Oct-2049 21-Apr-2050

NAV Date 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 28-Jan-2022 30-Sep-2021 30-Sep-2021 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Jan-2022 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021 31-Mar-2021

YIELD - last 12 month dividends divided by closing price Bid $ - Buying price of Colina and Fidelity Ask $ - Selling price of Colina and fidelity Last Price - Last traded over-the-counter price Weekly Vol. - Trading volume of the prior week EPS $ - A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths NAV - Net Asset Value N/M - Not Meaningful

TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | CORALISLE 242-502-7525 | LENO 242-396-3225 | BENCHMARK 242-326-7333

travel boost from the end to inter-island COVID testing, Mr Cooper added: “I think it’ll play itself out to be significant. We’re even more hopeful now that the US CDC has taken us down to Level 2, so a combination of those factors should cause for travel to be easier in and around, and to, The Bahamas.”

Asked how Bahamasair’s current financial performance compares against the losses the airline suffered during COVID, he said the amount of ‘red ink’ had been cut by between tree to four-fold. Mr Cooper said: “Where we’re at, in comparison to the latter part of

2020 and early part of 2021, I can easily say we’re 200 percent, 300 percent better, but that’s not a difficult thing to compute. We were dead in the water at those times.

“Everyone can remember that 2019 was a banner year for The Bahamas. It’s probably going to be a little difficult for a while to get back to that, with 7.2m visitors in 2019. It was an extraordinary year, including Dorian. The projection for the full recovery is somewhere in 2023, that’s what the market is talking about.

I don’t anticipate we’ll get back before that time with the progress being made.”

PAGE 18, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

$450M TO MAKE NASSAU A TRULY SUSTAINABLE CITY

FROM PAGE 22 “zero waste” via enhanced recycling, waste management and improvements at the island’s landfill (now the New Providence Ecology Park), upon which the report placed a total price tag of $34m.

Other immediate goals listed were $57m for reviving downtown Nassau/Bay Street and the Grants Town area, and some $52m to overhaul public transportation through long-awaited reform of the jitney system and “disincentives” for private car use via ride sharing and car pooling.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan set out as medium term goals the creation of “Healthy City Nassau” through an $80m spend on improved water and sewerage system, and conservation of green spaces. Establishing a local government structure for Nassau/New Providence, “smart city monitoring” via the use of technology to control traffic signals and lights, and control crime, and empowering Bahamian citizens also fell into this category.

Finally, over the longterm, the IDB report recommends a $13m investment in energy efficiency relating to street lights and public (government) buildings, as well as the crafting of a New Providence land

use and development master plan. This would also involve creating “a new land administration system, establish land and property regulations and local tax incentives for better city land development”.

Climate change, growing social and economic inequalities and lack of proper infrastructure and planning made urgent reform and action imperative, the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan said, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many of these challenges.

Pointing to ever-increasing population challenges, as more Bahamians migrate to New Providence in search of work, the report added: “In just 15 years (2000-2015), the New Providence population increased by nearly 27 percent. ESC (emerging and sustainable cities) population growth models project that New Providence will continue growing, increasing 19 percent in the 2015-2030 period and increasing another 15 percent from 2030 to 2045.....

“As compared to other Bahamian islands, New Providence is quite small despite being the most populous with an estimated 270,000 inhabitants - more than 70 percent of the national population. The population of New Providence is predicted to further

increase by another 100,000 inhabitants over the next 28 years with its share of the total population increasing from 70 percent to almost 80 percent.”

This poses a further threat to The Bahamas’ sustainable growth and resilience, with the country exhibiting “a comparatively high rate of income inequality” that will only have become wider due to the debilitating effects of COVID-19.

Summing up its findings, the IDB said: “The way ahead is not an easy one for Nassau. The prospect for positive change is great, yet the urban sustainability challenges remain and will require commitment from the Government and citizens to be surmounted.

This Action Plan serves as a guide through the obstacles ahead and shows how Nassau can grow and flourish in a more sustainable and inclusive way.”

No date was placed on the IDB report, which was aided by the involvement and feedback of multiple government agencies and private sector groups, including the Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC). It appears to have been crafted during the period 2016-2017, overlapping the Christie and

Minnis administrations, but has never been publicly disclosed before.

In many ways, though, its findings and recommendations are more relevant than ever given the greater inequalities in income, education and living standards sparked by the pandemic. Few, if any, of the projects and plans detailed have been initiated in a meaningful way, which in some respects is no surprise given that the past two-and-a-half years have been dominated by coping with the devastating fall-out from Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan’s disclosure is also timely given the Davis administration’s intent, as unveiled recently by Chester Chester, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investment and aviation, to revive the city of Nassau. He said Bay Street and the surrounding areas “must “become the calling card of The Bahamas, not continue to be a point of national shame”, warning that the Government would not wait for property owners to keep up.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan acknowledged that past proposals for resolving downtown’s woes, such as the 2006 EDAW recommendations, had never come close to being implemented. “Currently

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL The Public is hereby advised that I, GUERLINE MELE GUERLINE CHARLES of Farrington Road, Eastern District, Nassau, Bahamas, intend to change my name to GUERLINE MELLE. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Officer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that KENVA BRITNEY PAUL of Bacardi Road, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30th day of March, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P. O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that RAHEEM HUBERT DAWKINS of P.O. Box SS-19324, Cow Pen Road, West, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 30st day of March, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE

BLOCKOUT POINT LTD.

RELAJATE INTERNATIONAL INC.

In Voluntary Liquidation Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act. 2000, BLOCKOUT POINT LTD. is in dissolution as of April 1, 2022.

International Liquidator Services Ltd. situated at 3rd Floor Whitfield Tower, 4792 Coney Drive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

LIQUIDATOR ______________________

(in Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on 6th April, 2022. Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is Lynden D. Maycock, P. O. Box EE-15953, Nassau, Bahamas.

All person having claims against the above-named Company are required on or before 6th May, 2022 to send their names and addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company or, in default thereof, they may be excluded from the benefit or any distribution made before such debts are proved.

Dated this 6th day of April, 2022.

Lynden Maycock Liquidator

there is no zoning and development plan in place,” the report said. “The public sector is not leading, but rather reacting to private initiatives for urban development without leveraging public interest and validating the integrity of interventions.”

It added that Nassau’s transition “into the widelysprawled city of today”, with former residents relocating to the suburbs and commercial uses rapidly evolving - the shipping industry departing to Arawak Cay and many banks heading to New Providence - had left “an area that transformed into a mono-functional and often derelict centre with little residential use”.

Pointing to the disconnect between the city of Nassau and its waterfront, the IDB report added: “Currently, the sea coast is unattractive and a ‘backdoor’ of the city that is inaccessible to residents. The existing downtown waterfront, Woodes Rodgers Walk, is very short (approximately 1,300 feet long) and caters to mass tourism mostly cruise ship visitors bringing little revenue to the city.

“The city is lacking a system of connected public spaces, making it unattractive to walk in the central area. Narrow sidewalks are challenging for pedestrians, and the traditional cantilevers and arcades are disappearing due to inadequate building codes and weak enforcement.

“Important intersections and public spaces, like parks and plazas, could be better utilised for economic activities with a high frequency of clients, as is the case for Pompey Square.

Shaded pedestrian walkways connecting a sequence of plazas every 660 feet would not only make it more appealing to walk

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through Downtown Nassau, but would also create spaces that promote the interaction of neighbours, tourists and locals.”

The $300m Nassau Cruise Port investment is intended as a catalyst to spark some of these changes. The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, though, calls for “the creation of flexible commercial rental spaces for diverse types of vendors and other small businesses.. as an important element of any Downtown Nassau revitalisation effort necessary to expand the local economy.

“An emphasis on the revitalisation of ‘Historic Nassau’ is also needed, and the designation of a formal historic district could be useful for guiding development in the area through special building guidelines and protections,” the report continued.

“A Grants Town-Bain Town neighbourhood revitalisation effort could introduce significant improvements to housing, public services and community spaces and buildings.

Historic buildings could be rehabilitated, as well as those representing traditional architectural styles and heritage value.”

Noting the absence of planning, the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan added: “The city’s lack of an urban master plan is perhaps most evident in downtown Nassau. A proposed project to address these shortcomings includes introducing a land development plan for New Providence that will assign coherent land uses to specific areas, while preserving vulnerable natural assets such as beaches, parks and other public spaces.

“One component of this project envisions strengthening land management through a Geographic Information System (GIS) that would allow for better collection, storage, analysis and use of land data that can improve decision-making for the development of the island.”

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MYRLANDE CAMFORT of Rock Johnson Road, Nassau, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 6th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that LAFRANCE ALCIRA of Eleuthera Heights, Eleuthera, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 6th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 19

‘INTELLIGENT’ PLANNING TO SLASH URBAN GROWTH COST BY $1.6BN FROM PAGE 22

Providence, particularly in the Over-the-Hill neighbourhoods of Grants Town and Bain Town.

“Managing urban density in a sustainable way and successfully attracting residents back to the downtown Nassau core area, where the concentration of people can yield significant fiscal and environmental savings, are vexing challenges the island must confront.

“A rigorous analysis of the New Providence urban footprint yielded significant evidence that the island should shift to a sustainable urban development trend in preparation for the expected 367,500 persons who will be living on the island by 2045.

“Under the intelligent growth scenario, the expected housing demand for 2045 can be met with an additional 6,186 homes, while the land use mix could change to include 54 percent of urbanised space and 46 percent of natural systems areas,” the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan continued.

“The New Providence urban footprint analysis also showed that adopting an intelligent urban planning approach would yield savings of more than $1.6bn in urban development costs over a 30-year period for The Bahamas and could reduce CO2 emissions (the carbon footprint of the city) by 1,420 kilotons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) compared to a ‘businessas-usual’ urban growth scenario.”

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, though, asserted that The Bahamas appeared to be making little to no progress in addressing these concerns.

“At the heart of creating a sustainable city lies the need for a clear, transparent and effective system of land administration,” it warned.

“The Bahamas, while fully aware of the complexities of its situation in terms of land rights, tenure, taxes environmental issues and other issues, does not appear to be working towards creating such a system currently. Urgent actions must be taken to develop a better system of land utilisation and management within New Providence.”

Detailing New Providence’s planning inadequacies and deficiencies, the report estimated that The Bahamas could need close to 100,000 new homes for its expanding population by 2045 unless it implemented significant, far-reaching reforms.

“There are significant gaps in the quality of housing and the surrounding built environment in

AERIAL VIEW OF NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND. Nassau, particularly for lower income families,” the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan said. “Also, consideration needs to be given to the projected quantitative housing deficit for future populations, estimated at 98,979 new houses needed by 2045.

“Innovative settlement upgrading programmes can add value to the existing private or co-operative housing developers to leverage resources and produce better residential settings. New programmes could consider the strategic use of financial subsidies for housing and neighbourhood upgrading.

“Subsidies could be directed at improving housing materials, encouraging resilient designs, improving accessibility and mobility corridors, and providing smart solutions for water catchment, energy consumption and solid waste management.”

Upgrading the real property tax roll, as was done via the recent Tyler Technologies-led revaluation exercise, appears to be one of the few areas where the Government’s actions align with the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan’s recommendations. The latter, though, called for The Bahamas to move beyond simply using real property tax waivers as

a foreign direct investment (FDI ) incentive for the likes of the hotel industry.

“New Providence has a record of low property tax revenue collection due to improper assessment and limited capture of capital gains from real estate investments,” the report said. “This can be at least partially attributed to certain elements of land taxation in The Bahamas plus the fact that easements in the land tax have been utilised to promote foreign direct investment.

“Land value capture, and other forms of property and land taxation, are critical options to harness resources for new public urban investments. It is necessary to start a comprehensive analysis of land and property taxation throughout New Providence to find ways in which property taxes, and the mechanisms whereby they are applied in the country, can go beyond simply attracting foreign investment and become a source for sustainable urban development of Nassau.”

Calling for an urban master plan and land administration system for New Providence, the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan also identified further planning-related flaws.

“The current city zoning

system is not sufficiently capable of addressing the future challenges New Providence faces to achieve balanced, sustainable urban development. The urban master plan (for land use and land development) for New Providence would provide a vision of sustainability for the future of its territory,” it added.

“Currently, there is no functional ability to block areas for future development where climate change projections and environmental risk analysis dictate that urban development should be restrained.

“The most effective mechanism to support proper land administration is by establishing a sectorarea planning framework, within which different stakeholders (land owners, developers, purchasers and the public interest represented by the Government) can ensure the benefits of urban development are maximised together with absorbing and/or mitigating any side effects from disorderly development.”

While the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan appears to have been developed between 2016-2017, transcending both the Christie and Minnis administrations, its findings and recommendations are arguably even more relevant today postCOVID given that so little has been implemented.

Dr Nicola Virgill, thendirector of the economic development and planning unit in the Prime Minister’s

Office, wrote in the report: “The city of Nassau on the island of New Providence must fully harness its potential as the driver of urban sustainability, both economically and environmentally, if we are to see meaningful growth and development in The Bahamas...

“Nassau, like other emerging cities, faces similar challenges: High levels of vulnerability to coastal intrusion; growth and expansion of the city of Nassau and urban sprawl to the rest of New Providence; elevated crime levels; and urban poverty.

“Sound urban planning, social engagement, wellstructured institutions and frameworks, focused environmental responses and economic initiatives will be critical to successfully reversing these trends. It is our hope that the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan will provide a road map for the future development of Nassau. The focal point of this plan is the urban regeneration of Nassau through citizen engagement, and a focused long-term socioeconomic outlook.”

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that VADA ALCIRA of Eleuthera Heights, Eleuthera, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 6th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

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PAGE 20, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Mobile operators ready for new Galaxy model THE Bahamas’ two mobile operators are this week celebrating the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S22 in The Bahamas.

Aliv will launch the latest addition to the Galaxy family on Thursday at an event that will also see the unveiling of its mobile store, with attendees also able to engage in cigar rolling and rum tasting. The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), meanwhile, said it will launch the smartphone on

Friday, April 8, in all its 31 stores with a promotion.

“With the Galaxy S22, the consumer will own the night, taking the best and brightest photos and videos they have ever captured.

They’ll also dominate the day with power, speed and tools that can’t be found anywhere else. Also, our S Pen will change their daily life to make them more creative”, said Terry Weech, BTC’s director of mobile sales.

“We will have them in all stores”, BTC’s chief executive, Andre Foster, said: “BTC continues to enjoy a great relationship with Samsung. Our customers are excited about the introduction of the S22, and we are happy that these devices will be in all 31 BTC stores nationwide early in April.

We have an exciting instore launch event planned on April 8, and we encourage customers to follow our social media pages for details.”

ANDRE FOSTER

DPM’S VACATION RENTAL ‘LAW BREAKING’ CONCERN FROM PAGE 22 the previous Parliament in June. It sought to extract an extra $31m annually from the vacation rental market by “levelling the playing field” as it related to taxation.

The VAT Act was changed to make clear to Airbnb and its competitors that taxes must be levied “on the full value of the rental”, rather than just the commission paid to their platforms. “We are amending the law to clarify that all vacation home marketplaces, such as Airbnb and VRBO, are required to pay VAT on rentals and commissions,” ex-prime minister, Dr Hubert Minnis, said then.

Meanwhile, Mr Cooper yesterday charged: “We are also concerned about

the breaking of the law by many persons who do vacation rentals, particularly in some of the islands like Exuma and Abaco and elsewhere, where they offer rental cars, they offer rental boats without the relevant licences, so we’re looking into that.

“We’re going to seek to register, as hotels are required to register, all of the vacation rental houses throughout the country.

That’s a process currently being undertaken by the Hotel Licensing Department under the policy oversight of parliamentary secretary John Pinder from my ministry.

“That is something that has been several months in the making, and we’re almost at the stage where we’re able to roll this out, hopefully in time for

the Budget debate.” Mr Cooper estimated that there are around 7,000 to 10,000 vacation rental properties in The Bahamas, and he pledged: “Ultimately the law will apply to all.”

The deputy prime minister also said 10 percent VAT would be levied on every rental regardless of whether the property owner meets the VAT registration threshold of $100,000 in annual revenues or not.

He added that Airbnb was currently levying, and collecting on the Government’s behalf, VAT even if the property owner is not a VAT registrant.

And Mr Cooper also asserted that there was unlikely to be “a significant impact on demand” from vacation rental clients now having to pay an increased rate via 10 percent VAT.

EX-GRAND LUCAYAN DIRECTOR BACKS AGGRESSIVE SALE PUSH

Instead, he described it as a “win-win”, as more formal regulation and oversight will enable Bahamians to receive government assistance to participate in the industry, thereby increasing local ownership, while the Government benefits from tax revenues generated.

“I take a view that we must do both,” Mr Cooper said, when asked whether vacation rentals would be negatively impacted by higher taxation and regulation. He added that the Government would seek to assist Bahamian vacation rental owners via the likes of the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Fund and Tourism Development Corporation.

“But in the meantime we must render to Caesar

what is due to Caesar,” the deputy prime minister said, “and many of these vacation rentals, the money is paid into an account abroad. They come in, bring their food and there is very little economic impact left for the community where vacation rentals exist.

“It has to be an equitable distribution, and we’re simply asking for 10 percent, which is the VAT paid by the vacation renter. The impact, if there’s an increase in the cost of the vacation rental, we don’t think that will significantly impact demand and, therefore, this is going to be a win-win. A win-win for the individual doing the renting, because of the support provided by the government agencies, and a win for us because of the taxes collected.

FROM PAGE 22

they get a signed contract by the end of April it will be great. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

“If they don’t set a time, nothing is going to happen.

I give them credit for setting a time. I’m not sure that’s the right time, but at least they’re getting people moving.” Mr Leonard added that finding the right Grand Lucayan purchaser, and increasing tourist volumes again, will make Grand Bahama International Airport more attractive to potential public-private partnership (PPP) investors.

and the people of Grand Bahama,” he added.

“I anticipate that by the end of April we would have determined the sole candidate that we will advance into an exclusive contract with, but again, I want to reiterate that we are going to learn from the mistakes of the past.”

Mr Leonard backed this timetable, saying: “I think he [Mr Cooper] may be able to get a contract signed in April. Getting a final deal completed for the hotel will take longer than that.

It will take months, but if

“Let me say to you that I have had experience with foreigners who own homes in the Family Islands, and who complain about things like property taxes and complain about VAT, but also complain about the state of the infrastructure,” Mr Cooper added.

“They complain about the roads, they complain about the water, they complain about the electricity, they complain about the state of the airport, and my response is: How do you expect us to fix these things if you don’t want to pay taxes? It has to be equitable, and this is what we’re going to ensure will be done.”

Mr Cooper said vacation rentals enable The Bahamas to increase its room inventory without relying on the construction of new resorts, while providing visitors with authentic community-based experiences that a growing segment of the travel market craves.

“The key to the airport is getting the hotel fully operational because then you get that passenger flow,” Mr Leonard said. “It’s critical for the Government to get the hotel sold and up and running as quickly as possible because it relieves the burden on the airport.”

Mr Cooper yesterday said Bahamian taxpayers have invested close to $200m in the Grand Lucayan since the Government acquired the resort in September 2018. “We are anticipating that the construction phase will likely take 18 months,” he said of the post-sale schedule.

“We are desirous of a phased approach so that we don’t lose the rooms that we have at the Lighthouse Pointe, and we’re able to retain the employment of the persons at the Lighthouse Pointe while the other stages of the resort are being developed.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Wednesday, April 6, 2022, PAGE 21

GB AIRPORT PPP TO HELP RETURN FREEPORT TO ‘GLORY DAYS’ THE deputy prime minister yesterday said Grand Bahama International Airport’s redevelopment is a critical step towards attracting “big investors” to Freeport and restoring the city to its “glory days”.

Speaking one week after the bid process seeking a private sector partner was launched, Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said in a statement: “We want to attract big investors to the island of Grand Bahama and see the second city return to its glory days.

“In order to do that, we need their first impression of Grand Bahama to be a good one. Redeveloping, maintaining and operating the Grand Bahama International Airport is top priority, and we are proud

today to do just that. This public private partnership (PPP) programme is not just to bring in investors but also to bring hope and financial stability back to the people of Grand Bahama.”

Dr Kenneth Romer, acting director of aviation, added: “This much-anticipated launch of Phase I of The Bahamas’ airport PPP programme speaks well of the Government’s commitment to addressing and remedying the state of airport infrastructure within our country as a whole.

“The Department of Aviation is excited to be leading this initial process, which will restore investor confidence in Grand Bahama and contribute to the strategic plan to aggressively increase airlift and reposition Grand Bahama to regain

its overall visitor arrivals market share.”

Tribune Business revealed last week how Grand Bahama International Airport suffered an $8.129m operating loss in the twoand-a-half years leading up to its 2021 purchase by the Government, which is aiming to select the preferred bidder to redevelop this asset by August 2022.

The brief financial details provided in the pre-qualification round, which mandates that all initial offers be submitted within 30 days on April 29, 2022, reveal that Grand Bahama International Airport was plunged into consistent losses, with operating expenses exceeding revenue income, immediately following Hurricane Dorian.

For 2019, Grand Bahama’s major aviation gateway suffered a $1.826m operational loss, with total revenues of $9.608m exceeded by $11.435m worth of expenses.

This contrasted with both 2018 and 2017, when the airport earned operating income of $2.61m and $1.208m, respectively.

COVID-19, though, took Grand Bahama International Airport’s operational losses to a new low. That was achieved in 2020 with a $5.451m operating loss based on total expenses worth $8.497m far exceeding revenues of $3.036m, with the latter depressed by the lack of air traffic and passenger volumes due to the double blow inflicted by the pandemic’s travel restrictions and Dorian’s impact on the tourism and hotel plant.

The operating losses continued into the first four months of 2021, hitting $851,000 for the period between January and April 2021, with $945,000 in revenues once more exceeded by some $1.796m in operating expenses.

Last week’s bidding launch represents the start of the pre-qualification phase, which is designed to separate the serious, wellcapitalised groups with a strong track record in airport redevelopment from those that lack the experience and wherewithal to meet what the Government is looking for.

Once that stage closes, successful applicants will move on to the formal Request for Proposal (RFP) round with final bids due by end-June 2022. The

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 91° F/33° C Low: 73° F/23° C

TAMPA

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Mostly sunny, breezy and humid

Clear and humid

Winds gradually sub‑ siding and humid

A t‑storm in spots in the afternoon

Considerable cloudi‑ ness and breezy

Mostly sunny and beautiful

High: 87°

Low: 74°

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High: 79° Low: 69°

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93° F

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82°-65° F

82°-65° F

The exclusive AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature® is an index that combines the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body—everything that affects how warm or cold a person feels. Temperatures reflect the high and the low for the day.

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

8‑16 knots

S

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 75° F/24° C

7‑14 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 77° F/25° C

E S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

W

uV inDex toDay

THURSDAY

N

N

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TONIGHT

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 76° F/24° C

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 74° F/23° C

MIAMI

High: 89° F/32° C Low: 78° F/26° C

7‑14 knots

KEY WEST

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 78° F/26° C

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 74° F/23° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022

N

The higher the AccuWeather UV IndexTM number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

tiDes For nassau Low

Ht.(ft.)

Today

12:06 p.m. ‑‑‑‑‑

High

Ht.(ft.)

2.0 ‑‑‑‑‑

6:19 a.m.

6:09 p.m.

0.3 0.3

Thursday

12:35 a.m.

12:53 p.m.

2.5 1.9

7:07 a.m.

6:56 p.m.

0.5 0.4

Friday

1:26 a.m.

1:47 p.m.

2.4 1.8

8:01 a.m.

7:49 p.m.

0.7 0.6

Saturday

2:22 a.m.

2:48 p.m.

2.3 1.8

9:00 a.m.

8:50 p.m.

0.8 0.7

Sunday

3:22 a.m.

3:50 p.m.

2.3 1.9

9:59 a.m.

9:53 p.m.

0.7 0.6

Monday

4:20 a.m.

4:47 p.m.

2.4 2.0

10:52 a.m. 0.6 10:53 p.m. 0.5

Tuesday

5:12 a.m.

5:38 p.m.

2.5 2.3

11:39 a.m. 0.4 11:47 p.m. 0.3

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

6:57 a.m.

7:28 p.m.

Moonrise Moonset

10:26 a.m. none

First

Full

Last

New

Apr. 9

Apr. 16

Apr. 23

Apr. 30

CAT ISLAND

E

W

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

S

E

W

8‑16 knots

S

7‑14 knots Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 82° F/28° C Low .................................................... 73° F/23° C Normal high ....................................... 80° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 68° F/20° C Last year’s high ................................. 79° F/26° C Last year’s low ................................... 60° F/16° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.06” Year to date ................................................. 6.42” Normal year to date ..................................... 4.75”

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

Government is hoping to conclude negotiations with the preferred bidder, and close commercial and financial terms, by August 2022.

The winning bidder will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of Grand Bahama International Airport under the same private-public partnership (PPP) model currently employed at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) with the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD).

The Government is eyeing the same model for overhauling other Family Island airports, but Grand Bahama was selected first given the need to boost its economic recovery and demand from airline operators.

ANDROS

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 75° F/24° C

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

High: 85° F/29° C Low: 74° F/23° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 84° F/29° C Low: 75° F/24° C

7‑14 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 84° F/29° C Low: 78° F/26° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

H

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS RAGGED ISLAND High: 83° F/28° C Low: 77° F/25° C

High: 83° F/28° C Low: 76° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 85° F/29° C Low: 77° F/25° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

8‑16 knots

8‑16 knots

marine Forecast ABACO ANDROS CAT ISLAND CROOKED ISLAND ELEUTHERA FREEPORT GREAT EXUMA GREAT INAGUA LONG ISLAND MAYAGUANA NASSAU RAGGED ISLAND SAN SALVADOR

Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday: Today: Thursday:

WINDS S at 7‑14 Knots S at 8‑16 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots S at 8‑16 Knots S at 10‑20 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots E at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 7‑14 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 8‑16 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SE at 7‑14 Knots SSE at 7‑14 Knots

WAVES 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 3‑5 Feet 3‑5 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 2‑4 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

WATER TEMPS. 76° F 77° F 81° F 81° F 78° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 78° F 79° F 80° F 82° F 80° F 81° F 81° F 81° F 79° F 79° F 80° F 80° F 81° F 81° F 80° F 80° F 79° F 79° F

business@tribunemedia.net

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022

$6.15

$6.16

$6.25

$6.19

$450m to make Nassau a truly sustainable city

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TRANSFORMING Nassau and wider New Providence into a truly resilient, sustainable island demands a $450m investment spread over a 20-year period, a newly-released InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) report has revealed.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, unveiled yesterday, identifies ten “priority” projects - ranging from climate change resilience, energy reform and a “zero waste” city through to urban regeneration, planning and digital connectivity - as vital to enabling New Providence to sustain a further population explosion that is forecast to grow the island’s inhabitants by another 100,000 persons come 2045.

The 78-page document, which has been seen by Tribune Business, says most of the required investment - some $362m or just over 80 percent should be public, meaning it is derived from the Government

THE SUSTAINABLE NASSAU ACTION PLAN

• Newly-unveiled IDB report urges two-decade effort • Says $362m from Gov’t, $88m from private sector • New Providence population to jump 100k by 2045

and Bahamian taxpayers. The remaining $88m balance would originate from the private sector.

Financing the Government’s share will be a tall order given the fiscal and debt crisis, which has only been made worse

by Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, but the report recommends spreading the investment out over two decades to reduce demands on both the public purse and corporate Bahamas.

“The estimated total cost of all proposed actions in this plan would amount to $7 million in necessary pre-investment studies and $450m in investment projects, which can be expensed over a period of 17-20 years,” the IDB said. “These total cost estimates have also been prioritised as short, medium and long-term, considering limitations on fiscal resources and suggesting a relative urgency and possible sequencing.”

Short-term priorities included making Nassau a

SEE PAGE 18

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

SEE PAGE 20

‘Intelligent’ planning to slash urban growth cost by $1.6bn • Bahamas told to confront ‘vexing challenges’ • Making no progress on land rights reforms • Near-100,000 new homes needed by 2045

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

DPM’s vacation rental ‘law breaking’ concern THE Government is aiming to roll-out a vacation rental register that could ultimately feature 10,000 properties in time for the May Budget, the deputy prime minister said yesterday, as he voiced concern over “law breaking” by some owners.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told reporters before the weekly Cabinet meeting that the Davis administration will “look into” the renting of boats and vehicles to guests by vacation home renters who lack the necessary licences and permits to do so.

Suggesting that such practices were especially prevalent in the Family Islands, the deputy prime minister added that the Government was planning to amend the law so that VAT is levied on the full value of the rental rather than just the commission paid to sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Mr Cooper, estimating that there are between 7,000 to 10,000 vacation rental properties in The Bahamas, said the Davis administration will “seek to regulate first” and register those listed on Airbnb because they were smaller in number and easier to do. Pointing out that VRBO had an especially strong Bahamas presence, he added that the registration would then move on to all other platforms and those advertised “over-the-counter” via the Internet and What’s App. Affirming that the law and taxation will apply to all, the deputy prime minister said it was hypocritical of foreign property and vacation rental owners to both complain about taxes and the quality of infrastructure when failing to pay the former meant there was no financing to upgrade the latter.

Reiterating much of what he said at last year’s Exuma Business Outlook conference, Mr Cooper said: “I foreshadowed that the Government would look to tax in a meaningful way vacation rentals. There is already a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbnb, and at the moment we are collecting VAT on the fee that vacation homes would pay. We are seeking to make an amendment so that the VAT applies to the entire amount of vacation rentals.”

However, the situation described by Mr Cooper was supposed to have been addressed by the Minnis administration in the original 2021-2022 Budget passed by

THE SUSTAINABLE NASSAU ACTION PLAN

Cooper confirming that the airline and its rivals are “not there yet”. COVID’s Omicron variant was a further setback for the industry in January and February, but he said customer volumes had started to come back in March and voiced optimism that the elimination of testing for inter-island travel would provide a timely boost for Easter.

Forecasting that Bahamasair was unlikely to recover fully from the pandemic until the rest of the

NEW Providence’s urban development costs could be slashed by $1.6bn over a 30-year period via “intelligent” planning, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report revealed yesterday, as it urged “vexing challenges” be confronted.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, crafted with input from Bahamian government agencies and private sector stakeholders, estimated that this nation could slash the capital’s urban development costs from $6.89bn to $5.28bn by adopting a structured approach to integrating and managing the island’s various land uses.

The current land use mix, according to the report, involves an even split between urbanised and natural areas, with both holding a 36 percent share. However, a further 28 percent of New Providence’s land use mass was said to be “at risk” - meaning it has been cleared for development, although no such activity has yet taken place.

Acknowledging what it termed the “competitive advantages” bestowed upon Nassau by its existing infrastructure and US proximity, the Sustainable Action Nassau Plan nevertheless warned: “New Providence faces several financial, social and environmental challenges that severely threaten the island’s future growth potential.....”

The Bahamas’ fiscal, economic and income inequality challenges have further deteriorated beyond what the report allows for, as it was written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pointing to income inequality, in particular, it said: “The latter results in visible levels of urban poverty throughout New

SEE PAGE 17

SEE PAGE 19

BAHAMASAIR

Bahamasair raises fares on $100k weekly fuel cost rise

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMASAIR has increased ticket prices on all domestic and international routes with effect from early April after its fuel costs soared by an “extra $100,000 per week”, its managing director revealed yesterday.

Tracy Cooper told Tribune Business that the state-owned national flag carrier had no choice but to pass some of increase on to passengers as it was

impossible to “absorb all of that” within its existing expense structure.

Disclosing that ticket prices have risen by around $3 on domestic routes, and $10 for all international flights, he added that aviation fuel prices had risen by $1.50 per gallon over the past six to seven weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked sudden volatility in global oil prices.

The increased fuel burden comes as Bahamasair struggles to return to pre-pandemic passenger load factors, with Mr

Ex-Grand Lucayan director backs aggressive sale push

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Grand Lucayan director is backing the Government’s decision to set aggressive timeline for the resort’s sale, saying it would “be great” if the deputy prime minister achieves a signed sales agreement by end-April.

Carey Leonard told Tribune Business that closing the sale will likely take longer as Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, yesterday said the Davis administration planned to select a preferred bidder this month from three “substantial” offers by unnamed parties to acquire the resort.

Having served on the Grand Lucayan’s Board under the

CAREY LEONARD former Minnis administration, Mr Leonard also backed the current government’s decision to terminate long-running negotiations with the ITM Group/Royal Caribbean joint venture.

“I’m very pleased that the Government is trying to do something about the hotel.

Having been a director of it, I know there were some very viable offers,” he told this newspaper. “I give this government credit for cancelling the contract. It was needed. Kudos to them for doing that.

“People were interested in the hotel, but were waiting to see what the [former] government did with the Royal Caribbean deal. I can also understand them wanting to narrow the buyers down.” Mr Cooper, in giving an update on the Grand Lucayan talks before Cabinet yesterday, said: “We are at a stage in the discussions with the Grand Lucayan resort where we have three substantial offers.

“Either of these offers would be, in my view, acceptable to the Government and acceptable to the Bahamian people.

We are at the moment engaged with all three of them. We’re seeking the best outcome for the Bahamian people. I’ve always said that it will be a combination of the size of the cheque and vision for the resort, and a shared vision for Grand Bahama.

“So, we’re seeking to find the right partner. We want to get this right and we’re being very deliberate. We’re learning from the mistakes of the previous administration with the last deal that was on the table, so we’re going to be very deliberate to get a deal that is good for the economy of Grand Bahama

SEE PAGE 20