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Volume: 119 No.96, April 8, 2022

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FIGHTING BACK ON CRIME PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis speaking yesterday and, above, the scene of the latest murder on Ragged Island Street.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/ Tribune Staff

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net IN the wake of a recent spate of murders and violent crime, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis yesterday announced a series of crime fighting initiatives to tackle gun violence in the country.

The measures include increased police presence in inner-city communities, the creation of a specialised police task force and focused attention to

bettering mental health.

The government’s push to reduce crime comes after six men were killed in separate incidents since Sunday, pushing the nation’s murder count to 44 for the year.

Twenty-two of those murders were recorded last month.

Mr Davis said evidence suggests that most of the murders appeared to be gang-related and added that many retaliation acts were now being carried out after being “postponed” due to COVID-19 lockdowns and curfews, which have since ended.

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However, Mr Davis said his administration is taking a “strategic” and “unified” approach to tackling gang violence, with specific focus on hotspot communities. According to Deputy Commissioner Clayton Fernander, police have identified between eight to ten gangs in the country.

“We will increase police presence in hotspots with saturation patrols for as long as they are necessary. Our communities need more manpower and more resources,” Mr Davis said during

a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

“The Royal Bahamas Police Force is creating a specialised task force focused on decreasing gang related crimes and apprehending those involved in firearms trafficking. We are expanding Urban Renewal to strengthen both community policing and the programmes that reach at-risk young people and provide pathways to opportunities and training.”

SEE PAGES TWO & THREE

...AS SIXTH PERSON SINCE SUNDAY SHOT DEAD

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net A MAN died after he was shot while sitting on a porch of a home on Ragged Island Street yesterday afternoon, marking the sixth murder since Sunday.

After the killing, Deputy Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander warned lawbreakers to walk away from a life

DEPUTY Commissioner Clayton Fernander at the scene. of crime to avoid facing prison or death.

He said police, through saturation patrols, were set on disrupting the

escalation of murders through a newly launched crime strategy targeting hotspot areas.

Police said Wednesday’s victim appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s.

He was sitting on a porch at Ragged Island Street when he was shot. After the suspect made his escape, he was pursued by officers in the area and led them on a high-speed SEE PAGE TWO

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

RED TAPE HINDERING FIGHT TO SAVE CORAL

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE fight against a deadly coral disease, and preservation of endangered species, have been undermined by a bureaucratic bottleneck that is “debasing” Bahamian science and reduced it to near-standstill.

Dr Nick Higgs, head of research and innovation at Cape Eleuthera Institute the Island School, said the scientific and environmental community’s year-long inability to obtain the necessary permits “boggles my mind”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

GOVERNOR GENERAL IN HOSPITAL

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNOR General Sir Cornelius A Smith was airlifted from Eleuthera to New Providence yesterday after suffering from what is believed to be heat exhaustion as he attended an official event on the island, Press Secretary Clint Watson said.

Sir Cornelius was taken to Doctors Hospital where, at last report, he was under observation by medical personnel. Yesterday was also his 85th birthday.

However, Mr Watson said he was expected to be fine.

SEE PAGE FOUR

SHOPPING FOR GAS AT A DISCOUNT

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE government is negotiating with several shipping companies to import fuel into the country at discounted rates to help buffer soaring gas prices, according to Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis yesterday.

Mr Davis said his administration was able to successfully negotiate with one of those companies, but he did not disclose which one.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

PAGE 2, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Fighting from page one Further to that, Mr Davis said his administration will increase access to mental

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis addressing the media yesterday.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

health services and mental health education through the public health system and other communitybased initiatives.

He continued: “In the next few days, I intend to constitute the National Security Council which will support increased

DEPUTY Commisioner of Police Clayton Fernander at yesterday’s press conference.

THE SCENE of the latest homicide on Ragged Island Street yesterday.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

SIXTH PERSON SINCE SUNDAY SHOT DEAD rfo m page o ne

chase onto Wulff Road.

The chase ended on Andros Avenue where he was arrested after running into a residence. Officers also collected a firearm, DCP Fernander said.

He added that the suspect was known to police, who had been looking for him on a separate matter of alleged attempted murder.

“Shortly after 2pm this afternoon (yesterday) a young man was seated on a porch just through Ragged Island Street when a small grey vehicle pulled up. A lone gunman exited, approached the young man on the porch and fired several shots,” Deputy Commissioner Fernander said yesterday.

“He was hit to the body.

He was later taken to

hospital by private vehicle and we just got a call a short time ago that he succumbed as a result of the injuries. The gunman got back into that vehicle and drove off. Officers who were on the alert and, as we indicated this morning, this area here, the Grove area, is considered a hot spot and identified by the prime minister with respect to saturation patrols. That was one of the initiatives by the commissioner of police. This is a hot area and you can see that playing out this afternoon.”

He continued: “Officers (were) right in the immediate area (and) saw the vehicle speeding away.

There was a chase onto Wulff Road and then ended up at the rear of this residence here right at the dead end. The individual exited and ran into this residence

DEPUTY Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander. followed by officers where he was arrested and a firearm recovered.

“This is what the saturated patrols will do and that is a high initiative and as I indicated it was identified by the prime minister and he intends to just move it again to another level.

“Either you will catch the individuals in the act or you will catch them leaving the scene - the only two things that could happen. If you don’t move away from the life of crime either you will make prison or you will die. (That is the) only

thing that could happen and we are pleading to the individuals, especially the young men who are out there involved in the life of crime, to please stop and stop now because the Bahamian people are fed up and they are supporting their police as we move to disrupt what is going on in our country today and we will do just that.

“You could see the senior command and this is what I am used to, action.

This is what I use to and you could see the senior command as leading the charge in this fight and we will continue in this vein.

The individual who was arrested we was looking for him for another matter for attempted murder. We was looking for him for the past month or so and you could see that he continued in his old ways and now he is in custody and

you have the detectives who now is speaking with him at CID.” Deputy Commissioner Fernander said he could not yet say if the victim was known to police and also denied reports that police fired shots as they sought to capture the suspect.

Asked if police were overwhelmed by the frequent occurrence of murders, the officer said police were not, adding: “This (is) what we live for.”

“You have officers who will go above and beyond.

They don’t even want to go home, but we encourage them to go get your rest and that’s why after one shift you have another team,” he said.

This comes after two men were killed in separate incidents on Tuesday night and another man was killed in a shooting incident on Wednesday night.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 3

back on crime

sharing of intelligence across agencies, allowing us to confront our security challenges jointly and with the best information possible and because criminal activities are not contained by borders, we intend to strengthen our collaboration with international partners.”

The prime minister also revealed that more resources are needed to help aid in the country’s fight against crime, saying the RBPF is looking for young people who want to serve and protect local communities.

According to police officials, the country currently has a shortage of about 800 police officers. Yesterday, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle told reporters that ideally, the force should consist of some 4,000 officers.

His comment came after he too spoke about the nation’s escalating crime problem, saying the issue is being taken “very seriously” by the police force.

He said officers continue to target gun traffickers and crack down on the importation of illegal firearms into the country.

“The prevalence of fi ​ rearms and illegal firearms in this country continue to be a grave concern for us in the Royal Bahamas Police Force,” the police chief said. “We’ve been working assiduously with our international partners to identify sources and methods and persons who have been actively engaged in the illicit purchase in some instances and importation

of firearms in the country.”

He said many of the illegal weapons are being smuggled into the country from the United States, some through courier companies.

“We have identified that the majority of those firearms, illegal firearms, have been coming from Florida,” Commissioner Rolle said.

“In particular, and what we’ve found is in recent months is a number of courier services that have sprung up in the southern communities and I have asked our partners to assist us in identifying these persons and companies and we have our liaison officers in Florida who are also working in partnership.

That is yielding positive results for us as we try to interdict a lot of this firearm that is destined for The Bahamas.”

According to Commissioner Rolle, some 109 illegal weapons have been seized by officers so far for the year, however, this does not include those intercepted abroad.

Meanwhile, as it relates to crime fighting technology, Mr Davis added: “We are going to expand and improve the use of drones, CCTV, and Shot Spotter sensors so that our police have the tools they need to be effective.

“More robust intelligence-sharing, increasing the capacity of the police and enhanced technology are all critical but, in the end, reducing violence in our communities also required strengthening our families and the ties within our communities.”

COMMISIONER of Police Paul Rolle addressing the media yesterday.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

PM: NO NEED FOR MUNROE TO RESIGN

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis says he doesn’t think National Security Minister Wayne Munroe should resign in the wake of backlash about his recent controversial comments concerning a child sex case involving a 40-year-old man.

Mr Davis said he believed the situation was a learning experience for the minister and has taught him that it’s best to keep his personal views to himself.

There have been calls for Mr Munroe’s resignation in recent days after he told reporters last week that a 40-year-old man who was charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl had in his opinion received a sentence that was too severe.

The man was sentenced by the Supreme Court to four years in prison as part of a plea deal. After he serves his time, he will be on probation for three years.

However, Mr Munroe said had he defended the man, he would not have accepted a plea deal because it was not rape and that the girl had consented.

The next day, Mr Munroe released a statement expressing deep regrets that his comments had caused public concern. He did not take back his earlier statements.

Yesterday, Mr Davis refused to directly comment on the case, but said perpetrators of child sex crimes deserve to be punished to “the fullest extent of the law.”

The prime minister also conceded that there is a need to strengthen the country’s laws to better protect women and children and said he has tasked the attorney general to conduct a comprehensive review of current legislation in that regard.

“We have to appreciate that sentencing is in the purview of the judge and the court and it is not for me or anyone else to comment on what the judge may have done,” Mr Davis said at a press conference

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe speaking at the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s annual award ceremony last week.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff when asked for his thoughts about the case.

“We may have our view as to what we may have done but it is what the judge did. Now insofar as sentencing in respect to crime against women, I have made myself implicitly clear. We need to protect our women. We need to ensure that the laws are enforced to the utmost so as to deter further assaults on our women and to deter the violence against women and that is my position

and I continue you to say so.”

As for calls for Mr Munroe’s resignation, the prime minister said he didn’t believe the situation warranted such a response.

He said: “He has already expressed his regrets in my conversations with him and if you hear what he has to say it appears to be more about his personal view and he has to come to learn as a young politician that when he holds the post as he does, his personal views may be best kept to himself.”

PAGE 4, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Davis: We still have no record of food spending

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lr o l le@tri bunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday doubled down on his assertions about the former government’s food assistance programme, saying his administration still has no record of how money was spent by the food task force despite reports saying otherwise.

“I am not attacking NGOs. If anyone looked

at what I had to say or if anyone understood what I had to say, it was not an attack. It was an effort to understand what went on,” Mr Davis said during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday.

“There is a statement that suggests that the facts are as clear as day. Well, show us the fact and we too may come to the conclusion, but it is as clear as day. As I speak, as I stand here, we still don’t have a

full picture of what went on.

“I’m not criticising the NGOS and as I said when I spoke about NGOs, you (would) not be talking about this if the former government had done their job. Their job as was required by the law was to account for the funds that were being expended.

“And I also warned them that the Transparency International and other international agencies were concerned with

this perception, indicated that we have to be careful of what they call pandemic spending, because it could be used in a way that is abusive.”

Last month, Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe claimed the country has not been able to provide information to the World Bank on how its $100m loan was used to provide pandemic relief to hurting Bahamians among other things.

This is one of several

concerns and allegations raised by government officials about the Minnis administration’s National Food Distribution Task Force.

However, Mrs Susan Larson, who headed the now disbanded task force, disclosed detailed records on the committee’s spending habits since the initiative’s start, inclusive of food purchases, trucking, shipping, stipends and other overhead costs with The Tribune.

Still, government officials say they do not have the information it seeks about the programme.

According to Mrs Larson, the COVID-19 feeding programme, which began in 2020, distributed 474,420 food vouchers and 972,191 food parcels during its 70 weeks for a total of 1.447m units.

Mrs Larson said an initial 54,107 households were being assisted at the pandemic’s height, but was later reduced to 18,000 towards the end of 2021.

‘THROW TENNIS COACH OFF TEAM FOR BULLYING ON WEIGHT’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tri bunemedia.net

SOCIAL Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe said a coach accused of criticising a young tennis player’s weight ought to be let off the team if the claims are true.

According to local media, the 14-year-old player alleged that the coach made discouraging comments about her size while on a recent national team trip. The athlete, who was 13 at the time, said she was not allowed to play on the trip and thought the sport may not be for her and that she did not belong on the team as a result.

Asked to comment on the issue, Mr Wilchcombe said yesterday that “bullying is unacceptable” and “no one’s too fat to play anything”.

“If the coach is doing it and then what should others do? Coaches are to set examples.”

He also said: “No one’s too big. In fact, we should be encouraging. Why say that to someone?

(The coach) should be penalised. (She) should be thrown from the team.”

He added: “I played on basketball teams, football teams, softball teams - we had big people playing. I find coaches to inspire, to ensure that you use your skill set. What is your skill set? What can you do as a part of the team? Teams work together….. If (the coach) did, if (the coach is) in fact guilty of what she claims, then (the coach) ought to be let off the team.

“She ought to be let off the team - that’s unacceptable. We’re getting ready to send our CARIFTA teams away. We’re encouraging them.

I spoke about some of the greatness of our country already. How do we know what this child has to offer? Why discourage her and cause her psychological problems for the rest of her life where she should never feel as if she’s adequate?

Why would you do that when (you) ought to be encouraging and lifting people?”

GOVERNOR General CA Smith pictured during a four-day tour of Exuma last month, which included a visit to his mother’s birthplace, “Old Place”, formerly known as Gilbert Grant.

GOVERNOR GENERAL IN HOSPITAL from page one

“From all indications and initial assessments, it appeared the Governor General may have experienced heat exhaustion,” Mr Watson said in an update yesterday.

“According to the Secretary to the Governor General, Jack Thompson, they were in Eleuthera on official business.

“They enjoyed a ‘great’ ceremony at PA Gibson Primary School, North Eleuthera and proceeded to take photos outside after that event.

“His Excellency complained of not feeling well. He was taken to the local clinic and seen by a doctor, who advised that he seek further medical attention.

“His Excellency was airlifted to Nassau and taken by ambulance to Doctors Hospital. During the entire ordeal he was awake and aware.”

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Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 5

PM: FACE QUESTION OF SUSTAINABILITY HEAD ON

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis challenged those attending the Sustainable Grand Bahama Conference to face head on the question of how best to embrace ideas of sustainability in the context of national development.

The three-day conference is being hosted by University of the Bahamas North at Pelican Bay. “This is a delicate balancing act akin to walking a suspended tightrope,” Mr Davis said as he opened the conference. “The needs and demands of the three broad components of economic, environmental, and social sustainability must all be satisfied.”

During his keynote address yesterday, Mr Davis also mentioned how past industrial pollution is still negatively affecting communities in Grand Bahama.

“As you hold discussions and deliberations and debate between yourselves, I urge you to be mindful of some of the painful lessons and memories of the past,” he said.

“Though the short-term economic benefit was significant, some of the negative impacts of the large-scale industrial operations of BORCO and Syntex are still being experienced in communities like Hunters and Lewis Yard. And unfortunately, some of the social, cultural, and environmental drawback still persists today.”

He also stressed that climate change is a threat that must be addressed sooner than later.

“In recent months, our administration has actively raised a number of issues surrounding climate change, both locally and internationally. In my address to the General Assembly of the UN last September, I challenged any leader who believes we still have plenty of time to address climate change to visit Grand Bahama and Abaco.

“What these islands endured in 2019 and the after effects which remain today, offer lessons to the whole world. And you are living with a reality which is fast becoming the global future.”

Mr Davis believes that

UB’s conference is where some of the greatest ideas can emerge.

He stated that Grand Bahamians need an economy with sufficient long-term potential for growth sustained for future generations – one that is diversified and able to create opportunities for people across all sections.

Mr Davis said he is also confident that the range of policy intervention proposed in his party’s Blueprint for Change will make a positive difference in the lives of people on the island.

“We are serious about finding and defining solutions,” he said. “We have to be unflinching and looking back and answering the hard questions. Questions

like, are the economic frameworks on the island still fit for focus? And within those frameworks, what is to be the role of the Grand Bahama Port Authority? Is there a role for GBPA?” He also spoke about Grand Bahama’s susceptibility to annual hurricanes.

He said that levels of resilience must be inherent in a development plan for the island to ensure that not only the natural and man-made structures can withstand them, but also the safety and security of people.

Mr Davis said that there are also questions of how best to support the people of Grand Bahama to move forward from the trauma of the recent past to live healthier, wealthier, and

better lives.

He hopes that the discussions taking place at the conference will embrace those fundamental questions.

UB President Dr Rodney Smith commended Dr Ian Strachan, UB North President and UB executive vice president, for having created the conference that has exceeded all expectations.

He said the conference has attracted scholars and experts from across the country and around the world to explore sustainable solutions to the country’s national development challenges, particularly in the context of Grand Bahama.

Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey also spoke at the conference yesterday.

Increase in cases of child abandonment

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Social Services and Urban Development Obediah Wilchcombe.

CHILD abandonment has become more “prevalent” in recent years, according to Social Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe.

He said while officials are still reviewing child abuse numbers, they believe the abandonment trend is related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy.

“We believe it’s all related to the economy, COVID, all connected, but the reality is many children are being left behind,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a Child Protection Month event yesterday. “They’ve been abandoned. They’re being delivered and just being left behind.”

Mr Wilchcombe pointed to Grand Bahama’s economy.

“We talk about COVID and we talked about Dorian, but the truth is it’s been happening since Hurricane Francis, Jeanne, Wilma from 2004. That economy has not regained its strength. We have to fix the economy. We have to create opportunities for many who don’t have and find themselves in dilemma and the only way to deal with a situation sometimes they believe is to run away from it but we have to tell people that’s not the way to deal with matters.”

He also said the cases of abuse, particularly sexual abuse, were “unacceptable” and no country should

accept it.

“We will take very strong measures to deal with it.

The reality is the attorney general is now drafting and has completed the drafts for new legislation which we intend to introduce as a part of our aggressive legislative agenda in the next several weeks.”

Mr Wilchcombe also revealed officials expect the numbers to increase at the Simpson Penn School for Boys as opposed to the Willie Mae Pratt Centre for Girls.

Asked if he has seen an increase of children being wards of the state, the minister confirmed this, but could not give an exact figure.

“We do expect the numbers to increase even more in the Simpson Penn as opposed to the Willie Mae Pratt - I was being briefed yesterday. It’s all related (to) the social dilemma that we find ourselves in. Many young people are finding themselves in (a) challenge and fight for themselves and finding themselves involved in circumstances and situations that are unacceptable to us,” he said yesterday.

“We have to find a way to get them. We have to reach them. As I’ve said before we have to arrest the mind before they commit the crime, so we’re finding ways to deal with that but the truth is that’s where we are and we are not (going to) shy away from the reality. We’re (going to) fight it directly.”

He said the government

is also looking at moving away from having a juvenile court to a single magistrate to hear these matters.

“We can’t assemble a panel, so we are likely to move away from the juvenile court and have a single magistrate.”

He also commented about the backlash his minister of state, Lisa Rahming, received over remarks she made over the weekend.

She told reporters that she did not entirely blame the child victim of a 40-year-old man who received four years in a plea deal for unlawful sexual intercourse, adding she believed the minor was just “misguided.”

“I would say that she was misguided,” Ms Rahming said on Saturday. “She was misled, she was a minor and that doesn’t mean that minors cannot make good decisions. What I look at it is, if a child is placed in a vulnerable position anything is likely to happen.

Think of when adults are placed in vulnerable positions. They sometimes make irrational decisions and so I looked at it as she was misguided.”

In response to the outcry, Mr Wilchcombe said: “I’m not sure exactly what happened. I was in another place, but I’m sure the minister knew what she wanted to say and I’m sure she explained as best she could.”

The Tribune tried to get a comment from Ms Rahming, but she was unable to speak at the time.

Death Notice For Mrs. Gloria Jane Moree, 77 of Highland Park, Nassau, The Bahamas, died at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Shirley Street on Wednesday, 30th March, 2022.

She will be greatly missed by her husband, Eric Moree Sr.; son, Eric Moree Jr.; daughter, Linda Pinder; grandsons, Eric Moree III, Teno Moree, Ronald Pinder III and Trent Moree; granddaughters, Sade Bowleg, Erica Moree, Sharminique Ritchie and Shantiqua Rolle; great grandchildren, Anthony, Anthea, Ryoku, Cire, Tatum and Tatiana Moree, Anson Moxey Jr., Rylan Ritchie and Chauncey Rolle Jr.; grandsons-in-law, Robin Ritchie and Chauncey Rolle Sr.; granddaughterin-law, Wenjie Moree; brothers, Mark Holbert, Ashlyn, Shane and Craig Armbrister; sisters, Marsha an Troy Holbert; sisters-in-law, Jasmine Holbert, Christine and Tara Armbrister, Pauline Pavon and Rosemary Knowles and many other relatives and close friends.

Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited.

PAGE 6, Friday, April 8, 2022

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Good intentions - but red tape stopping scientists WHEN the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Bill was passed in February last year, it was said that it would stop “the plundering” of The Bahamas’ genetic resources by foreign researchers without earning any money for our country.

It certainly sounded good. Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira talked of how The Bahamas was “a hotbed” of resources, but that there were no laws to ensure the country received fair benefits in return.

Mr Ferrerira said scientists had found “what they believe is a cure for cancer” in our waters, and the bill would ensure the country would maximise the economic benefits from its natural resources.

He said: “It’s so important to put in a legislative framework to prevent different companies, different groups and different people with different relationships from having to meet different criteria for the same permits. That’s a form of victimisation that we’re opposed to. I certainly am.

“This particular Act is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation tabled in the House to govern our natural resources, particularly the marine environment of The Bahamas.”

Good intentions, it would seem, but we know those can pave a path in a wayward direction.

Fast forward a year and where are we?

Well, research seems to have ground to a halt – including efforts to tackle the stony coral tissue loss disease affecting coral in our waters.

For a year, it is said, the scientific and environmental communities have been unable to obtain permits, while the National Science Foundation, the largest scientific research grant financier in the US, is steering applicants away from The Bahamas.

The Cape Eleuthera Institue – the Island School estimates it has lost tens of thousands of dollars in research funding, and other scientific non-profits have temporarily closed as finance has dried up and permits have remained absent.

Dr Nick Higgs, of the Cape Eleuthera Institute, said it seems the department handling the permit system does not have the capacity to operate it, while all research, small or large, is subjected to the same regulatory burden as high risk commercial activities.

As he said, it’s like “charging the Red Cross to come in and do relief”.

Attorney General Ryan Pinder says the government is doing a page by page review of the Act, aiming to be completed by the end of next week.

He criticised the former Minnis administration for “a poor excuse for legislative governance”.

Good intentions are not enough – legislation has to be carried out effectively, and appropriate resources provided to ensure processes such as handling grant applications and issuing permits can be carried out.

A “year of nothing” as Dr Higgs has called it isn’t just a frustrating delay, it has prevented scientists from acting to prevent real damage to our environment.

Mr Pinder has pledged to fix the situation, and we wish him well in doing so.

But if we have lost a year of scientific

work because the law was passed without dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s or making sure the right resources were in place, that is a shocking oversight by the previous government.

Crime fight In yesterday’s editorial, we hoped that Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis would update the nation on the fight against crime having previously pledged to do so – and he did indeed make a series of announcements during a press briefing yesterday. Some of the details in that press conference were welcome – such as confirming the ongoing crime problem, the work the police have done to identify eight to ten gangs operating in the country, and the constitution of a National Security Council to share intelligence across agencies.

He talked of saturation patrols, a familiar tactic particularly from the Christie administration days, and an expansion of Urban Renewal, again a familiar refrain from the PLP’s playbook.

There was talk of more tools, such as the use of drones, CCTV and Shot Spotter sensors, and the creation of a specialised police task force – presumably the same one referred to previously by Assistant Commissioner Clayton Fernander.

A lot of this is more of the same, but perhaps with extra resources on top.

Again, it was said that the force has a shortage of about 800 police officers.

While there is not a lot of new proposals here – talk of “working assiduously with our international partners” for example is just what we have been doing year in year out – we hope that there will at least be new funding to go with it. That was not announced – the price tag on this push against crime or what it will pay for – and that extra funding ultimately will determine a good deal of how much more of a presence can be put on the streets. There will be costs for recruitment, costs for overtime, costs for equipment and so on.

It is, however, a fight against crime that must be won. Already since Sunday we have seen six more people murdered, and so far this year 44 people are dead, 22 last month alone. In the meantime, we must remember the part we too play in this fight. For those of us who know where an illegal gun is, report it to the police and get it off the street.

We are reminded of a young man who came into The Tribune many years ago.

He was a gang member, and he was terrified. He wanted to get out of the gang life, but he was afraid of the reprisals, he was afraid of what might happen, and he did not know what to do.

The Tribune brought him inside and sat him down, and listened. A police officer was called to come and talk to the young man, and he too sat and listened.

Some time later, that young man got a job working on the presses that print our newspaper here at The Tribune. He had an avenue out, and took it.

There are many more who will be in gangs because they feel they have no other option. Those young people too need to be given a path out of the gang life.

National sport EDITOR, The Tribune.

WHAT’S the national sport of The Bahamas? - Tribune Wednesday, 6th April.

I don’t know Minister Mario Bowleg, and I truly hope that the narrowness of his announcement on our National Sport of being Sloop Sailing, is simply due to him being unaware of any other kind of sailing that takes place in the Bahamas.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Family Island Affairs is very much aware and very supportive of all sailing in the Bahamas, and while sloop sailing is one small sector of Bahamian

Sailing, there are many other sectors, or Classes, that are of equal importance, including the Star Class for which the Bahamas received its first ever Olympic Gold Medal in 1964.

The Bahamas Sailing Association (BSA) has been running Junior Sailing Programmes for many years, during which time some 300 students from 40 Government Schools in Nassau and the Out Islands have been able to learn to sail.

And the BSA has raised the money from the business community and others to sponsor them. In the last several years, the class of

boat that they have learned to sail in has been either the OPTIMIST dinghy or the SUNFISH and more recently the LASER and LASER RADIAL. And these are sailing classes that are internationally recognised for competitive sailing.

Hopefully the Regatta Desk at the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Family Island Affairs, will be able to clarify this and drop any adjectives from the word SAILING for the National Sport of the Bahamas.

BRUCE G RAINE Nassau, April 7, 2022.

UKRAINIAN soldiers Anastasia and Vyacheslav share a tender moment prior to their wedding ceremony in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.

Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Albany West proposals EDITOR, The Tribune.

AS A resident of South Ocean Village Phase I am an opponent of the foolish rerouting of Adelaide Road to accommodate the high end, gated luxury development of Albany, I feel compelled to respond to The Tribune’s March 21st edition public notice from the Department of Physical Planning concerning the proposed Albany West development.

Firstly, let me say, I may be beating a dead horse.

I have researched extensively and could not find a government that has used its powers to take ‘public’ land and give it to a ‘private’ developer to enhance its development. While the reverse is true in many cases, governments have taken private land and used it for public purpose, i.e. to build a school, police station or hospital.

Readers may remember some years ago, Albany or its representatives, attempted to manipulate or force, or approach the homeowners with a view to buying out the homeowners in South Ocean Village Phase I. I recall my now deceased wife telephoning me at my office saying, Pat, there is a man on the property with a measuring tape.

Obviously, I raced out there and located the gentleman.

However, what I told him cannot be repeated in your column. The point is, when one has money and the government is possibly in their back pockets, they believe they can do anything. At that time, The Tribune published a story with my views and as a result, I received a call from a famous public relations agency, saying a famous lawyer wanted to meet with me and talk about my concerns. I never agreed to the meeting. And quite frankly I was insulted.

At that time the intentions of Albany or its representatives went by the wayside and eventually died.

But, according to published reports, the developers of Albany have purchased the now closed South Ocean Village Hotel and its almost surrounding 400 acres.

To those who may not know, South Ocean Village Phase I subdivision is a small subdivision separating the entrance of Albany from the South Ocean

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Hotel. In fact, the talk was that once Albany buys out South Ocean Village Phase I home-owners, there were plans to reroute South West Bay Road and join Albany into South Ocean Hotel.

However, I cannot prove that. But there is some logic to it when one examines all the cooks in the kitchen.

But now they are back or are they? Because I read somewhere that Albany West is not related to the original Albany. According to the notice from the Department of Physical planning, there will be a meeting on April 19th to discuss the revised drawings. I observed they have made some changes with South West Bay Road and went back to its original position. However, that’s not my concern. I am concerned with the following: According to the latest notice, it talks about 16 acres for the Albany West development. Let me say, I’m very familiar with the South Ocean area and all its surrounding areas. I have a copy of the master survey plan of the entire area inclusive of the hotel’s property, South Ocean Village Phase I and the lots on South Ocean Boulevard. The waterfront being described is 16 acres. I challenge the Department of Physical Planning to prove its 16 acres, unless the developer reclaimed a lot of the beach. And if it isn’t 16 acres how was the approved number of condominiums and other amenities really approved by the department? The question I need answered is, was the policy of the department compromised to approve the number of units for the proposed condominiums?

In the department’s initial notice on November 2nd 2020, it talks about two luxury condo nine stories high. It doesn’t talk about how many units will be in each building. The number of units should be relative to the size of the land.

Will there be a 10ft high ugly prison wall encompassing Albany West? Like the one at the original Albany.

South Ocean Village Phase I has one entrance and that is also used as an exit.

I doubt the home-owners

there will want to be greeted by an ugly prison wall each time they enter or exit their community.

What are the future plans for the almost 400 acres and the South Ocean hotel? The notice says, future development. What is ‘really’ future development? Obviously, I’m not saying that the developer should know specifically what he/she intends to do.

But you must have some idea what you would like to accomplish. At least, in principal the home-owners of South Ocean Village Phase I ought to have been given that respect.

Additionally, the developer is now proposing to put a pathway, according to the notice in the area of the now closed Stuart’s Cove Marina, where the rocks are so sharp if you slip and hit your head, you may very well bleed to death. So, you now have the original developer New Providence Development Co whom initially had advised the home-owners that access to the beach was a part of the deal when they purchased are nowhere to be found.

And the new developer telling the residents, buddy your skin too dark to use the entrance the ‘other’ people are using.

So there you have it folks.

The foreign developers enter your country and do whatever they like. One wonders when our elected men and women are at the table, whom are they looking out for or speaking on behalf of. Or are the Negroes so excited to be in the midst of white people, they are just happy to be there? While we continue to get the sharp end of the stick.

I am of the view that there is a bigger plan to this scenario. My pa was born here. My ma was born here.

My grampa, my gramma were born here. I didn’t wash up on shore like seaweed. Why, why should I have to always have in the back of my mind, what is the next thing these Negroes are going to give permission for. What about the generation after me and the one after. Is the plan to weed you out and have you return to cut the grass, clean the kitchen and wash out the bathroom?

PAT STRACHAN Nassau, March, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 7

Shopping for gas at a discount from page one This comes as gas prices continue to rise locally, which is largely due to the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war and the subsequent sanctions imposed to ban Russian oil imports.

In early March, The Tribune reported that over a two-week period, motorists in New Providence, especially those who frequent Rubis gas stations, had faced a dramatic price hike.

The supplier’s price at the pumps was $5.16 per gallon in mid-February - below its competitors.

By March 2, that price had risen to $5.52. While Shell stations did not increase during that time frame, remaining at $5.37, Esso rose by five cents, increasing from $5.19 to $5.24.

However, this week, fuel costs shot up to over $6 per gallon at all major providers in New Providence. Shell’s fuel costs are the highest among providers at $6.25 followed by Rubis at $6.19 and then Esso at $6.16.

“What I have been doing is exploring ways and

means of putting up mechanisms for the challenge of inflation and that includes the cost of oil,” Mr Davis said of the rising prices at a press conference yesterday.

“What I have done is we have engaged with several of our shipping airlines, shipping agencies and I have been able to work out an engagement with one of them that has already agreed and has already put into effect the reduction of the cost of containers coming into the country.

“I don’t want to identify them because you don’t want a challenge as to what they’re charging but we have negotiated up to 38 percent discount on containers coming to The Bahamas, particularly from the Far East and we are waiting to hear what that discount will be from Florida and those are the efforts we have been engaged in to assist in mitigating the inflation and impact.”

Earlier this year, Bahamian consumers and businesses were warned to brace for gasoline prices to hit $6 per gallon this month after the Ukraine crisis sent

oil prices soaring to sevenyear highs.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has predicted a high of $8 per gallon of gas this spring.

Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis has said the situation is out of the government’s control due to international market fluctuations sparked from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There’s not much we can do given our economy and the fact that we’re still emerging from a COVID19 pandemic that has devastated our economy and a lot of other economies,” he told reporters last week.

“And it has caused a significant run up in the debt in The Bahamas and so we are managing our way out of it and hopeful that the volatility that we’ve seen will normalise in the shorter rather than the longer term.”

Mr Halkitis also reiterated that the government was not considering cutting the rate of taxation on fuel imports to help keep costs down as some places like Barbados have done.

“We are not unsympathetic. We are very sympathetic because the nature of our economy is rising energy prices impact the cost of transportation.

We import most of what

we produce so that means that price impact will be felt through that. The price of gas at the pump for individuals and taxi drivers and bus drivers and all of that and so we are quite aware,

but we have to look at everything in (the) complete context of our financial sustainability and building headroom coming out of this pandemic,” Mr Halkitis added.

‘$3K OF DRUGS BELONGED TO MY BOYFRIEND’ COURT IS TOLD

By PAVEL BAILEY A WOMAN was fined yesterday after being found in possession of more than $3,000 worth of marijuana which she said belonged to her boyfriend.

Dymphna Brown, 37, of Marigold Farm Road, stood before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on charges of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

During the last day of her trial, Detective Sergeant Gareth Rolle explained to the court that on May 1, 2019 officers conducted a search warrant of her residence.

During that search, officers found a black plastic bag containing a suspicious substance under the bed of a southeastern bedroom.

Inside that black bag was a brown taped package which once torn revealed a grassy substance later positively identified as 3.2lbs of Indian hemp. The estimated street value of the drugs was $3,100.

Upon the discovery of the drugs the accused reportedly told officers, “That

ain’t mine it belongs to my boyfriend O’Ryan.”

While the accused’s boyfriend O’Ryan Dickerson, 34, faced the same charge as Brown he has so far managed to evade police custody as he fled the scene in Brown’s black SUV shortly after her arrest.

When Det Sgt Rolle was asked by prosecutor Inspector Timothy Bain where the drugs were found in Brown’s residence, he told the court that the accused said the room in which the drugs were found was not the room in which she sleeps.

Brown maintains that it was Dickerson’s bedroom, which she claims was used for storage, where police recovered the drugs. Brown also said she sleeps in the other bedroom of her two-bedroom home.

Brown’s attorney Ian Cargill, during his crossexamination of Det Sgt Rolle, got confirmation from the officer that they never found the drugs on Brown’s person or in her bedroom.

In the end, Magistrate McKinney ordered the accused to pay a $2,500 fine on the drug charge or risk six months in prison.

TWO ACCUSED OF THREATS OF HARM

By PAVEL BAILEY

TWO men were arraigned in Magistrate’s Court yesterday for two separate charges of threats of harm.

Brendon Watson, 52, appeared before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney, accused of threatening Warren Watson at Shell Service Station on Marathon Road on March 23.

Watson pleaded not guilty to the charge against

him.

Magistrate McKinney granted him bail at $500 with one surety and adjourned his case to May 30.

In a separate case, Christopher Ferguson, 25, appeared before Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, accused of threatening to harm a woman on January 13 at Paradise Island.

However, while in court Ferguson was officially discharged.

DESTINY Wilson and Phillea Strachan are pictured with some of the animals created by students of Uriah McPhee Primary School.

Photos: Patrick Hanna/BIS

YOUNG SCIENTISTS AT WORK PAPIER mache, picture books, cardboard televisions, brochures, posters and 3-D models are all ways in which students of Uriah McPhee Primary School depicted their assignments for a Science Literacy Exhibition.

The school recognised Science Week from March 28-31 with activities including Science Talk, a virtual field trip to Bahamas National Trust, and a rap/poem competition. The theme: “Preserve our Forests, Protect our Animals.”

Among the activities was an exhibition for which the students were required to: • Create a pine forest and feature endangered land animals found in The Bahamas.

• Explain the significance of pine forests and endangered land animals of The Bahamas to the environment.

A view of the exhibition in the school’s newly renovated auditorium revealed: a replica of an erected pine forest, 3D models of flamingoes, trifold posters with endangered land animals, pop-up books, some showing pictures of crown pigeons, the Bahama parrot, iguanas and wild horses and so much more.

Science coordinator Shaphalle Knowles said: “Students were required to explain the significance of the pine forests to the eco-system which is important because it provides a home for so many of our endangered animals including the Bahama Parrot. Each grade level had a contribution to the exhibition.”

Grade 1 students created big and small picture books of the pine forests.

“Some of the students outdid themselves. They were so detailed in their efforts. It came out so lovely. They created pop-up books. Their focus was on the endangered land animals as well.

“All of this is to teach them about

PAMELA ARMALY, Principal at Uriah McPhee Primary School (left) and Shaphalle Knowles, Science Coordinator, are shown with cardboard televisions featuring pine forests and endangered land animals in The Bahamas. the pine forests and endangered animals. This is a part of our science curriculum. We [also] study the ecosystems, coral reefs, mangroves. We pull a theme from our science curriculum and go to town with it.

“They can learn how to conserve their environment for generations to come. If we don’t preserve our environment we won’t have anything left to enjoy.

“When you start with the children at an early age it creates a different mindset for them as they grow. The earlier you start the better off they are. They will understand automatically when they leave primary school into high school that conservation is the way.”

Of grade 2’s TVs, some flat screen, she said, “As you turn the roller on the cardboard TV you will see information about the pine forests and the endangered animals. There is plastic covering in front of the TV for the screens. The rollers are made with hand towel holders to show the different channels with information about the pine forests.”

There were also brochures, some

handmade, showcasing endangered land animals created by students of grade and 3D models of flamingoes (4 feet) by grade 6.

Head girl Phillea Strachan said the bright, orange flamingo was that color because of what they eat. “It depends on what they eat they would change their color,” she said.

“Parrots - one of our indigenous animals - back in the day they killed them for meat. The White Crowned Pigeon they killed them for food.”

Destiny Wilson, prefect, added, “In the 1950s there were only about 6,000 left until The Bahamas put up laws to protect them. Now there are 70,000 or 80,000 of them left. They are now reproducing and having a healthy life on Little Inagua.

Wilson said she found the work exciting and learned why it’s important to take care of the endangered animals.

“This is real; science is every day.

We want our children to be able to live it out, to experience what it’s like.

All of the topics we choose for display are on the GLAT. So, it’s reinforcement,” said Pamela Armaly, Principal.

PAGE 8, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

A national radical change in values - Easter demands it THE Easter Season is the oldest in the Christian calendar. The season’s English name, Easter, is derived from Eostre, a teutonic goddess of spring, who gave her name to what corresponds to the month of April. The whole season of Easter is a festival season. It is the heart of our faith; we Christians are an Easter people.

It is regrettable that sometimes, as we divide Lent and Holy Week and Good Friday from Easter, the essential unity of the crucifixion and the resurrection also tends to be broken. We must always remember that the latter completes the former.

The resurrection throws the magnificent light of understanding over Christ’s life and death. The resurrection is Christ’s victory over death and so accomplishes our salvation, which was begun with the Incarnation and sealed by the crucifixion. Without the resurrection none of the rest, not Christmas, not the Lord’s Supper, especially not the crucifixion - not any of these would have meaning. Without this event, and the mystery, it revealed, assumed so important a position in the life of the church. Little time elapsed before Christians habitually observed Sunday as the Lord’s Day, because a Sunday had been the first day of their new life – their new beginning. That is why they set it apart and made it an occasion for coming together to celebrate the mystery and to partake in Holy Communion by which Christ’s presence was made known. The early Christians also associated Baptism closely with Easter because they saw a parallel with the death and resurrection of Christ.

The immersion under the water became a symbolic death and the re-emergence a symbolic resurrection.

By the Rev Canon B Sebastian Campbell, CM Preparation for baptism at Easter became the basis for the development of Lent.

After all, it is our baptism which enables us to share in the results of our Lord’s victory. Through the waters of baptism, we become members of the church of God, Christ’s own body.

Significance – Eggs are connected with Easter because they represent new life and thus the resurrection. For Easter, to be of any significance to us, it must challenge us to a new life and the resurrection at both a personal and societal level.

The proverbial spit has gone in the wind and is being blown back in all our faces. The new life and resurrection must by necessity first be realised in our homes. The Bible has mandated we live in families; basic to any family is a husband and a wife who then become the procreators of children.

Therefore, in every family there should be a resident father and mother.

Anything else is not the ideal family; we cannot continue to go up in the face of God, disobey His commands, and then expect His blessings when we have already misconstrued His teachings.

All of our leaders, both spiritual and political must campaign feverishly for the return of morality and, therefore, a new release of life in decency in our society. We must urge our government to enforce the moral code for those in public office.

Our hypocrisy cries out from the ground to us.

It’s absolutely ridiculous to have leaders making multi-families, with a barrage of illegitimate children and think they have moral authority to lead. The approximately 1,000 babies born to teenagers last year can be directly blamed on our double standards; our children see the hypocrisy of their unmarried parents having children, and their unmarried teachers being pregnant, and they imitate them. We will not lower the number of babies until we address our hypocrisies without simultaneously creating new ones. A resurrection calls for sacrifice and death.

The national debate on the legal age for consent makes no sense unless and until we attack immoral living and with this invest in the reconstruction of warped lives. You can lower or increase the age of consent, and nothing will happen to improve anything, paedophiles will still rape and haunt, like the murder rate that keeps going up and yet we do not address the real reasons.

This country needs resurrection, a radical moral and ethical turn around.

We have much work to do, before new life can come out of our graveyard of despair. For years, I’ve been advocating for youth centres to be set up in every district of our country.

Maybe in a combined effort between church, government, and other agencies. Our approach to this crisis must be intentional, to date, we are far from intentionality, the miniscule success we might

see happens all by chance.

These centres ought to be operated by trained youth/community leaders. Further, they ought to be able to employ many of our older generation who can work with our children and pass on to them our Bahamian values and culture.

The many unfathered children in our midst along with the TV parenting and the absentee mothers, who are out trying to make ends meet on two and three menial jobs, mandate that we as our society must fill a gap. These centres will be extended home, doing on the most part that which was done for many of us in our homes in ages past. We are dragging our feet and not being relevant to the times. Now is the time.

On the most part we already have buildings in our communities that can probably be converted to such centres. However, dollars and cents can never be an issue in social redemption, for if we fail to spend money on the front side of life, we will spend it on the back side of this same life.

We have a choice. As an Easter people, we know there is always good news for we can change ourselves and society for the better.

Easter gives us hope, hope for a better life. We live with assurance of forgiveness if we are honest with ourselves and our relationship with God, we can bring new life and hope out of our personal graveyards of despair and pass this alleluia of praise to society, for which we are responsible to Christianise.

Consider the following: 1. That society gives hope to approximately 1,000 teenage girls who annually

become pregnant. We must not allow their indiscretion to short circuit their formal education. The church must lead in keeping hope alive.

2. The many young males who stumble into gangster living. Can we preempt this distraction? Question: “How many of us sacrifice in making intentional sustained programmes/ solutions available?” How are men’s groups sponsoring a meaningful outreach to our boys? Can we? How do we reach our young girls who are attracted to this subculture.

3. Our Men’s Ministry group invest time, teach a trade, sponsor a uniform organisation, and impart marketable skills in a coordinated system to our boys.

4. Broken families. Do we invest in fellowship and spiritual currency to keep them together? For whatever reason, the average home in The Bahamas has a single parent.

5. Divorce courts can be sidestepped or “hell-holes” of marriage circumvented if unevenly yoked persons are honest with this reality before marriage or can counselors fearlessly steer lustful affairs or infatuated

desperadoes away from the altar. (Demand for pre-marriage counselling).

6.

Those in squalor.

Many, far too many Bahamians are living in conditions below human dignity, in the filth of slums. It’s even more tragic in knowing that the slum is being born into our children and therefore much of our social problems. People act the way they are treated.

Do we need to divest more from the rich so as to rescue the poor?

7. The TV culture must be zapped. It’s the babysitter and the only spokesperson in many homes. We can breathe life by socialising and knowing one another if we talk, chat, relate stories, play games together, etc, while simultaneously giving the TV the occasional break.

8. Fatherless homes.

Pray that more Bahamian mothers will give fathers, real fathers in residence, to their children. Bahamians confuse sperm donors with fatherhood all too often.

9. To lick illiteracy with an educational system that waits upon and pushes forward slow learners so as to guarantee every Bahamian is able to both read and write. Too many Bahamians are unemployable, they must be brought up to scratch.

10. The age of consent is not the issue. That’s the easy route that will make no difference either way the cookie crumbles. We have a whole lot of societal ills to address as we become honest with ourselves.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 9 A MAN buries his head in the sand at Montagu. Government pulled its head out of the sand in sports, naming sailing the official sport, but continues to look the other way when it comes to what it would take to bring back a sense of community and respect for one another and the land.

How long will we bury our heads in the sand?

THERE are 8,700+ words in the Chapter 5 of the constitution of The Bahamas. That’s the chapter dealing with Parliament.

I read every one of those words, some of them twice, because I wanted to make sure I was reading correctly when I saw references to disqualifications for serving in the Senate or the House of Assembly if you are deemed to be of unsound mind, for instance, or serving a sentence exceeding 12 months or under sentence of death.

Requiring soundness of mind to hold an elected office or a Senate seat seemed reasonable enough and demonstrated that a lot of thought had gone in to writing into the Constitution such detail as how long a sentence you would have to be serving to disqualify you from holding office.

Of those 8,700+ words, there was not one that required a member of Parliament to live in their constituencies.

In fact, the only reference to residency was, and I quote, the candidate “has ordinarily resided in The Bahamas for a period of not less than one year immediately before the date of SAILING is a large enough part Bahamian tradition that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were given a souvenir of the Sloop Bahamas Royal during their recent visit - and now it has been recognised as our country’s national sport.

By Diane Phillips

his nomination.” There are other references to once elected to the House or appointed to the Senate, how long you can be absent, but no reference to actually living in the community you are elected to represent.

REQUIREMENT

The absence of what would seem like such an obvious requirement comes directly from the UK heritage which many are now calling on to dismiss as yesterday’s cup of tea. In the UK, the ability to be elected to a seat in Parliament is even more lax. Not only do you not have to live in your constituency, you need not reside in the UK, though my knowledge of British history is extremely limited and I do not know whether anyone has actually taken advantage of that loophole and lived, for instance, in

The Bahamas while representing Nottingham.

But the point is as clear as the waters of The Bahamas on a calm day when you can toss a coin in the bay, look down and call heads or tails. Things don’t get much clearer than that. And that is how clear it is that our communities would be one heck of a lot better if the member of Parliament who represents that area actually lived in it.

He or she would know their neighbours, feel their challenges, understand their needs, celebrate their milestones. Their very presence and availability would build trust and confidence, accomplishing more effectively and naturally what members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force try to do when they do walkabouts. How can you walk a mile in one’s shoes if you never even tried them on? How does it serve the

people of Bain and Grant’s Town or Golden Shores or South Beach if an MP, accompanied by security, in a car with plates that clearly set him or her apart, stops by on a Saturday morning or moves from church to church for one funeral after another?

This is no offence to those MPs, whom I have no doubt want to do the best they can for the constituents they were elected to serve.

I know they often reach into their own pockets to help or shed heartfelt tears comforting the mother of another son lost to violence.

TRADITION

This is not their fault. It is ours for continuing to bury our collective heads in the sand to follow British tradition and put safe distance between the represented and the representer. The price we pay is high, more young lives destroyed by drugs or taken by gunfire, more elderly afraid to leave their homes. We bury our heads in the sand and create areas of dense population and personal isolation.

You want to know where the drugs and guns are hidden? You want to know

who’s dealing, renting a we will begin to restore the weapon for $50 or what sense of community that pressure is being put on once made places like Bain the young boy and Grant’s next door to ‘How can you Town the place run an errand residents loved and become walk a mile in to call home. a go-fer for a one’s shoes if The timing gang that he you never even has never been will later join? better with You can’t tried them on? government feel the pain How does it serve announcing it until you have the people of will not need lived it youra referenself and you Bain and Grant’s dum to bring can’t know the Town or Golden about gender community equality under Shores or South until you have the law. And put your head Beach if an MP, while you are to bed in its accompanied changing that, hearth. please conby security, in a Go ahead. sider requiring Keep a safe car with plates MPs to live distance. Get that clearly set in the conpicked up in him or her apart, stituency they the morning represent – and whisked stops by on a not in this to the House Saturday morning administraof Assembly or or moves from tion, of course, your air-conbut after. And ditioned office church to church while you are where you for one funeral at it, making always have a after another?’ these changes, place to park, please add though the citithe words zens coming to see you do “or her” after every refnot. erence to him. I did not Or get into the commu- have the energy to count nity not just for Saturday that number but there sure funerals. Live in it. Live its were a lot of he’s and him’s life and maybe, just maybe, in that Constitution.

AND ON THE OTHER HAND, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT...

THE good news was that the government finally pulled its head out of the sand and announced it would officially recognise what the rest of us have known since Columbus landed, albeit accidentally, on these shores some 530 years ago. Sailing is the national sport.

In a land of 100,000 miles of open ocean, sailing was survival long before it grew organically into a sport. It was our transport, the way supplies moved back and forth within the archipelago and beyond. It was the means by which Bahamians of old got to the fishing grounds or went sponging or how the sick got to a hospital.

Then, at some point, the men who went sponging or crawfishing pitted the work boats they were traveling on against one another for a bottle of rum at the end of Point A. And native sloop sailing was born.

Kudos to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg for listening to the voices, including those dating back to the days that Zhivargo Laing was the appropriate minister, calling for sailing to be named the national sport.

What we have in sloop sailing is a sport so distinctive, so majestic, so defying of mechanical engineering principles that it sometimes doesn’t seem real, like maybe it is

just propelled by the shouts of men on the wind.

Picture the start line. Class A. Eight or even ten wooden boats, poised like ammunition in a weapon waiting for someone to pull the trigger. Boats are 28 feet long carrying masts up to twice that length, wooden sticks in the air supported by absolutely no rigging, the gun goes off, and on every boat every hand except the skipper is hauling anchor, hoisting sail, trying to clamber from a dead stop position to first over the start line, get into clean air with everyone else scrambling to do the same and only the sound of clanking of anchors and sails being hoisted rivals the noise of the men shouting. The louder they shout, the faster it’ll make the boat go, this phenomenon of a work boat turned racing sloop that has no business even surviving yet racing before crowds of hundreds or gathering thousands who scream and shout and drink tons of Kalik and gobble conch salad at regattas, upping the economy of Family Islands as they follow the regatta calendar course.

Congratulations, at long last, sailing will be celebrated as the national sport. OK, you say native sloop sailing, I believe it should be all classes of boats, but I’ll settle.

PAGE 10, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

GOVERNMENT WORKING TO PROTECT AGAINST TERROR FUNDS

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder explained on Wednesday how the government was working to help protect none-for-profit organisations against terrorist financing.

Speaking to a group at a workshop, he said the sessions at the none-for-profit risk assessment and training workshop were meant to help non-profits that have been risk-assessed as being more vulnerable to terrorist financing and

money laundering.

“The compliance unit at the Office of the Attorney has completed a preliminary assessment in the sector by conducting what we call desktop review… and enable the risk profiling of each not-for-profit. This is very important - this risk profiling.

“This risk profiling (will) determine to what extent really that we monitor and we regulate you as a not-for-profit,” he said to those attending. In 2015, The Bahamas underwent an assessment of its implementation of 40 Financial

Action Task Force recommendations. The attorney general said the recommendations are what the FATF promulgated for countries to comply with in order to achieve international best practices in anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing.

It was under recommendation eight, that deals with non-profits, the country was evaluated as “partly partially compliant”, which Mr Pinder says in FATF’s language is a “failing grade”.

“A partially compliant rating essentially means

that The Bahamas has not fully implemented the requirements of recommendation eight and that there are deficiencies either in legislative framework or deficiencies in how we address and how we monitor non-forprofit organisations in the country.

“We are now looking to achieve a re-rating exercise next month where we have to submit again for the final two recommendations in which we are deemed non-compliant.”

The objective of recommendation eight is to

ensure that a non-profit is not misused by terrorist organisations to pose as legitimate entities. Moreover, to exploit legitimate entities, such as non-for profit, as conduits for terrorists financing.

Mr Pinder highlighted: “Despite all of our legitimate efforts, however, the events of September 11 coupled with the ongoing international campaign against terrorist financing have demonstrated that terrorists and terrorist organisations do in fact exploit not-profit organisations and they raise funds,

move funds, create logistical support, encourage recruitment and otherwise support terrorist organisations by the use and manipulation in certain instances, probably most instances, manipulation of not-for-profit organisation.”

The result of the risk assessment exercise will inform what it is called a risk based approach or targeted supervision of non-for-profit.

For example, organisations that accept donations from abroad or support charities and activities internationally.

DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS WORK OF BAHAMAS ALL-STARS

THE ‘Bahamas All-Stars’ Youth Development Organisation, celebrated its 10th anniversary last year - and a video documentary has been produced to highlight and celebrate the group’s successes.

The documentary will feature the organisation’s directors, former members, parents and some university band directors.

The first public viewing of the documentary will be on April 28 at Fusion

Cinema. A short reception with cocktails, food and live entertainment will start at 6pm followed by the viewing.

The mission of Bahamas All-Stars is designed to use performing arts as a vehicle to train and mentor members and unlock their full artistic potential.

Well over 200 members have been awarded either academic or band scholarships and some with both from universities in The United States, Canada and at the University of The Bahamas.

Many members have completed studies and are now engaged in the performing arts and the wider professional workplace. Many more have also joined uniform branches of the government such as the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, and The Bahamas Department of Corrections.

The Bahamas All-Stars has carried the Bahamian Flag on popular international stages around the world such as

St Patrick’s Festival in Ireland, Howard University Homecoming Battle of the Bands (Champions) in Washington DC, Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington DC, Florida Classics (four appearances) in Orlando, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and the World Expo in Dubai.

For more information about the organisation, or to support its work, contact bahamaallstars@gmail.com or phone (242) 427-0301.

WORLD POETRY DAY RECOGNISED IN BAIN AND GRANTS TOWN TO mark World Poetry Day, an event was held at Mother Butler Park by the Bain Grants Town advancement Association.

The Rev Dr CB Moss said in a statement about the event: “In 1999 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared March 21st each year as World Poetry Day. The objective was to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and providing opportunities for minority and endangered languages to be heard. Also to encourage interest in reading.”

Rev Dr Moss said: “Poetry is important in every culture throughout the world. Poetry can be found in the history of every nation.

Poetry uses rhythms, rhyme and imagery to stimulate the imagination. First discovered around 2000BC, but likely existed before this, Poetry moves feelings and emotions like no other literature. There are various types of poetry which falls under a broad umbrella.

“World Poetry Day provides an opportunity to recognise and honour Poets, particularly the new and the Young. Some of the best known international Poets are: William Shakespeare; Edgar Allen Poe;

Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling. The Day is celebrated all over the world with readings, festivals and other events. There are poetry groups across the Bahamas, in many schools and communities. Groups in the Family Islands are especially active.

We congratulate all those involved in this excellent art form.

“The Bain Grants Town Advancement Association is pleased to sponsor this event today in recognition and appreciation of the wealth of creative talent that exists in our community. Several years ago the Association established a Library and Museum, which among other initiatives launched an ambitious Literacy Program.

Over the past three years we have distributed thousands of books of all topics, for all ages free of charge to the public.

This project is currently one of our most successful.

“It is our hope that communities across The Bahamas will encourage our poets, young and not so young to become even more active in writing, and that all residents will become more involved in reading and listening to poetry which it is said, is a soothing balm for the spirit.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394 A YOUNGSTER providing a reading on World Poetry Day.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 11 SUPREME Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn in for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

Jackson confirmed WASHINGTON Associated Press

THE SENATE confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the high court.

Cheers rang out in the Senate chamber as Jackson, a 51 year-old appeals court judge with nine years experience on the federal bench, was confirmed 53-47, mostly along party lines but with three Republican votes. Presiding and emotionally announcing the vote was Vice President Kamala Harris, also the first Black woman to reach her high office.

“This is a wonderful day, a joyous day, an inspiring day — for the Senate, for the Supreme Court and for the United States of America,” exulted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The Senate’s upper galleries were almost full for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, and about a dozen House members, part of the the Congressional Black caucus, stood at the back of the chamber.

“We’re making history,” declared Rep Marilyn Strickland of Washington state.

Harris, who paused with emotion as she read the vote, said as she left the Capitol that she was “overjoyed, deeply moved”.

FIRST BLACK WOMAN VOTED INTO SUPREME COURT ROLE Jackson will take her seat when Justice Stephen Breyer retires this summer, solidifying the liberal wing of the 6-3 conservativedominated court.

She joined Biden at the White House to watch the vote, embracing as it came in.

During the four days of Senate hearings last month, Jackson spoke of her parents’ struggles through racial segregation and said her “path was clearer” than theirs as a Black American after the enactment of civil rights laws. She attended Harvard University, served as a public defender, worked at a private law firm and was appointed as a member of the US Sentencing Commission.

She told senators she would apply the law “without fear or favour”, and pushed back on Republican attempts to portray her as too lenient on criminals she had sentenced.

Jackson will be just the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman. She will join three other women, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan Amy Coney Barrett – meaning that four of the nine justices will be women for the first time in history.

SHOOTER KILLS TWO IN TEL AVIV SPREE TEL AVIV, Israel Associated Press

AN ATTACKER opened fire in a crowded restaurant district in central Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, killing at least two people and wounding several others before fleeing into a dense residential area, Israeli officials said.

Police said there were “indications” it was a terrorist attack — the fourth deadly assault in Israel in less than three weeks at a time of heightened IsraeliPalestinian tensions. The militant Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip praised the attack but did not claim responsibility.

Hours after the shooting, the suspected gunman remained at large. Hundreds of Israeli police officers, canine units, and army special forces were conducting a massive manhunt in central Tel Aviv, searching building by building through the densely

populated residential neighbourhoods. Amichai Eshed, the Tel Aviv police commander, said the shooter opened fire into a crowded bar at around 9pm and then fled the scene.

“Our working assumption is that he is still in the vicinity,” he told reporters. “As of right now, there are indications pointing to this being a terrorist attack, but I have to be very delicate about this, and say that we are also checking other leads.”

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it received reports of a shooting at “several scenes” around downtown Tel Aviv.

It said two men around 30 years old were killed.

Another seven people were wounded, three of them seriously, it said.

At least one shooting took place on Dizengoff Street, a central thoroughfare. Dizengoff Street has been the scene of several deadly attacks over the years.

Her eventual elevation to the court will be a respite for Democrats who fought three bruising battles over former President Donald Trump’s nominees and watched Republicans cement a conservative majority in the final days of Trump’s term with Barrett’s confirmation. While Jackson won’t change the balance, she will secure a legacy on the court for Biden and fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to nominate the first Black female justice.

“This is a tremendously historic day in the White House and in the country,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki after the vote. “And this is a fulfillment of a promise the president made to the country.”

Despite the efforts to tarnish her record, Jackson eventually won three GOP votes. The final tally was far from the overwhelming bipartisan confirmations for Breyer and other justices in decades past, but it was still a significant bipartisan accomplishment for Biden in the 50-50 split Senate after GOP senators aggressively worked to paint Jackson as too liberal and soft on crime.

Statements from Sens.

Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah all said the same thing — they might not always agree with Jackson, but they found her to be enormously well qualified for the job.

Collins and Murkowski both decried increasingly partisan confirmation fights, which only worsened during the battles over Trump’s three picks. Collins said the process was “broken” and Murkowski called it “corrosive” and “more detached from reality by the year”.

Biden, a veteran of a more bipartisan Senate, said from the day of Breyer’s retirement announcement in January that he wanted support from both parties for his history-making nominee, and he invited Republicans to the White House as he made his decision. It was an attempted reset from Trump’s presidency, when Democrats vociferously opposed the three nominees, and from the end of President Barack Obama’s, when Republicans blocked nominee Merrick Garland from getting a vote.

Once sworn in, Jackson will be the second youngest member of the court after

Barrett, 50. She will join a court on which no one is yet 75, the first time that has happened in nearly 30 years.

Jackson’s first term will be marked by cases involving race, both in college admissions and voting rights. She has pledged to sit out the court’s consideration of Harvard’s admissions program since she is a member of its board of overseers.

But the court could split off a second case involving a challenge to the University of North Carolina’s admissions process, which might allow her to weigh in on the issue.

Judith Browne Dianis, executive director the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization, said Jackson’s confirmation will make the court more reflective of communities that are most impacted by the judiciary.

“The highest court in the land now will have a firsthand perspective of how the law impacts communities of color — via voting rights, police misconduct, abortion access, housing discrimination or the criminal legal system, among other issues,” she said.

“This will ultimately benefit all Americans.”

Republicans spent the confirmation hearings strongly questioning her sentencing record, including the sentences she handed down in child pornography cases, which they argued were too light. Jackson declared that “nothing could be further from the truth” and explained her reasoning in detail. Democrats said she was in line with other judges in her decisions.

The GOP questioning in the Judiciary Committee showed the views of many Republicans, though, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said in a floor speech Wednesday that Jackson “never got tough once in this area”.

Democrats criticised the Republicans’ questioning.

“You could try and create a straw man here, but it does not hold,” said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker at the committee’s vote earlier this week. The panel deadlocked on the nomination 11-11, but the Senate voted to discharge it from committee and moved ahead with her confirmation.

In an impassioned moment during the hearings last month, Booker, who is Black, told Jackson that he felt emotional watching her testify. He said he saw “my ancestors and yours” in her image.

“But don’t worry, my sister,” Booker said. “Don’t worry. God has got you.

And how do I know that?

Because you’re here, and I know what it’s taken for you to sit in that seat.”

SHATTERED CITIES LEFT IN RUSSIAN WAKE CHERNIHIV, Ukraine Associated Press

RUSSIAN troops left behind crushed buildings, streets littered with destroyed cars and residents in dire need of food and other aid in a northern Ukrainian city, giving fuel to Kyiv’s calls yesterday for more Western support to help halt Moscow’s offensive before it refocuses on the country’s east.

Dozens of people lined up to receive loaves of bread, diapers and medicine from vans parked outside a shattered school now serving as an aid-distribution point in Chernihiv, which Russian forces besieged for weeks as part of their attempt to sweep south towards the capital before retreating.

The city’s streets are lined with shelled homes and apartment buildings, missing roofs or walls, and a chalk message on the blackboard in one classroom still reads: “Wednesday the 23rd of February — class work.”

Russia invaded the next day, launching a war that has seen more than four million Ukrainians flee the country, displaced millions more within it, and sent shockwaves through Europe and beyond.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned Thursday that despite a recent Russian pullback, the country remains vulnerable, pleading for

“weapons, weapons and weapons” from NATO to face down the coming offensive in the east. Nations from the western alliance agreed to increase their supply of arms, spurred on by reports of atrocities by Russian forces in areas surrounding the capital, Kyiv.

Western allies also ramped up financial penalties aimed at Moscow, including a ban by the European Union on Russian coal imports and a US move to suspend normal trade relations with Russia.

Kuleba encouraged Western countries to continue bearing down on Russia, suggesting that any let up will ultimately result in more suffering for Ukrainians.

“How many Buchas have to take place for you to impose sanctions?”

Kuleba asked reporters, referring to a town near Kyiv where Associated Press journalists counted dozens of bodies, some burned, others apparently shot at close range or with their hands bound. “How many children, women, men, have to die – innocent lives have to be lost – for you to understand that you cannot allow sanctions fatigue, as we cannot allow fighting fatigue?”

Ukrainian officials said earlier this week that the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital city. Volunteers have spent days collecting the corpses, and more were

picked up in Bucha on Thursday.

Ukrainian and several Western leaders have blamed the massacres on Moscow’s troops, and the weekly Der Spiegel reported Thursday that Germany’s foreign intelligence agency had intercepted radio messages between Russian soldiers discussing the killings of civilians. Russia has falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged.

Kuleba became emotional while referring to the horrors in the town, telling reporters that they couldn’t understand “how it feels after seeing pictures from Bucha, talking to people who escaped, knowing that the person you know was raped four days in a row”.

His comments came in response to a reporter’s question about a video allegedly showing Ukrainian soldiers shooting a captured and wounded Russian soldier. He said he had not seen the video but that it would be investigated and acknowledged that there could be “isolated incidents” of violations.

The video has not been independently verified by the AP. In the 6-week-old war, President Vladimir Putin’s forces have failed to take Ukraine’s capital quickly and achieve what Western countries said was the Russian leader’s initial aim of ousting the Ukrainian government.

PAGE 12, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

TOP-SEED SABALENKA AND PAST CHAMP KEYS ADVANCE IN CHARLESTON CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka won for the first time since late February, outlasting American Alison Riske 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Wednesday in the weather-delayed Credit One Charleston Open.

Second-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain and third-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic also advanced to the third round at the season’s first claycourt event.

No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan wasn’t so fortunate, falling to Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

The weather continued to be a problem as the match between fourth-seeded Ons Jabeur and American Emma Navarro was suspended with Jabeur, of Tunisia, leading 6-3, 5-2 before lightning and heavy rain hit the facility.

Sabalenka, of Belarus, had lost her opening matches at Indian Wells and Miami after falling to new No. 1 Iga Swiatek in quarterfinals at Qatar six weeks ago.

Tiebreaker Still, Sabalenka needed nearly two hours to make it past Riske. Sabalenka led 5-3 in the opening set before Riske forced a tiebreaker. Sabalenka eventually pulled away and won five of the final six points in the tiebreak.

Badosa, of Spain, defeated Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-1, 6-4 and Pliskova of the Czech Republic topped Katarina Zavatska of Ukraine 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.

Other seeded winners included No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 9 Madison Keys, No. 10 Belinda Bencic and No. 12 Alize Cornet.

American Pegula ousted Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1, and Keys of the United States beat Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri 6-3, 6-1.

Keys was supposed to start Tuesday night until bad weather postponed things. She said it was important to get going quickly against Eikeri.

“I didn’t want things to kind of get off track after having that sort of delay,” said Keys, who won this event in 2019. “So I was just super focused in the first couple of games and felt like my level raised.”

Bencic, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo, defeated Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (6).

Cornet of France bested American Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 6-2. Three other seeded players lost Wednesday: No. 14 Ajla Tomljanovic and No. 16 Shuai Zhang of China.

Tomljanovic fell to Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 6-3 while Zhang lost in three sets to American Claire Liu 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

The season’s first clay-court event had a full schedule after several of Tuesday’s matches were wiped out due to rain and severe weather in the area. The tournament might have more trouble catching up Thursday as rain is forecast into the afternoon.

TIGER Woods watches his tee shot on the first hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament on Thursday, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Tiger Time: Woods thrills with Masters comeback

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — He walked among the azaleas with just the slightest hint of a limp.

He couldn’t quite bend over to read the putts on Augusta National’s tricky greens.

Otherwise, there was nothing to indicate that Tiger Woods nearly lost his right leg 14 months ago in a devastating car wreck.

Woods’ greatest comeback yet got off to an electrifying start Thursday when he shot a 1-under 71 in the opening round of the Masters.

“To end up in the red,” he said confidently, “I’m right where I need to be.”

As Woods walked briskly toward the clubhouse after a grueling day that stretched to nearly 5 1/2 hours, he heard shouts of “Way to go, Tiger!” from the spectators.

He was just three strokes off the lead - with roughly half the field still on the course - after making three birdies, a pair of bogeys and a whole lot of solid pars — many of them salvaged by his deft touch around the greens.

Woods pulled off one last Houdini act at No. 18. After yanking his tee shot into the towering pine trees on the right, he had to lay up short of the green.

But he pitched to 6 feet and rolled in the putt to keep his score under par.

“I felt good,” Woods said.

“Once the adrenaline kicks in and I get into my own little world, I knew I should be able to handle business.”

Yep, there’s still a long way to go. Woods still must prove his body can bounce back day after day — four of them, should he make it to Sunday.

But it felt as if he was

TIGER Woods pumps his fist after a birdie putt on the 16th green during the first round at the Masters golf tournament. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) already a winner.

“You just can’t not watch him,” said Australia’s Cameron Smith, among those tied for the lead after shooting a 68. “It’s an inspiration with him coming back and playing golf.”

With storm clouds giving way to brilliant spring sunshine, Woods defied everyone’s expectations.

Except his own.

When Woods delivered an emphatic clutch of the right fist after rolling in a 30-footer for birdie at the 16th hole, it seemed like old times at one of golf’s most hallowed courses.

From the collapse of his marriage to multiple surgeries, Woods has always found a way to bounce back.

He’s doing it again, looking every bit like the guy who’s won five green jackets and defied the odds time and time again.

A tap-in birdie at No. 6 sent the patrons into a frenzy. A sloppy bogey at

the par-5 eighth brought some groans, but Woods’ brilliant short game kept him from posting one of those big numbers that can spell doom at Augusta.

He made it clear he had every intention of winning when he decided to make the Masters his first competitive tournament since that horrific car wreck in February 2021 led him to say doctors said his right leg might need to be amputated.

Woods started the round with five straight pars — he just missed a birdie at the tough No. 5 hole when a 15-foot putt lipped out — before delivering a vintage tee shot at the par-3 sixth.

The ball climbed up a ridge on the green and stopped 2 feet short of the flag, leaving Woods with a gimme that put him in red numbers for the first time.

A wedge shot and errant chip led to a bogey at No. 8, a hole that should be a prime birdie opportunity.

“A loss of concentration there,” he moaned.

But Woods bounced back with a tricky downhiller from 8 feet to save par at No. 9.

Woods insisted his hands still held the amazing touch that has helped him win 15 major titles — the first of them 25 years ago at this very place — and capture a record-tying 82 victories on the PGA Tour.

Beginning at No. 7, he missed the green on five straight holes, but kept recovering with his short irons and putter.

Wearing a pink shirt and black pants, Woods was greeted by thunderous applause when his name was announced to a huge gallery surrounding the first tee.

Woods failed to make solid contact with his first shot: a 264-yard drive that faded behind a bunker on the right side of the fairway.

His approach rolled off the front of the green, but he

sank a 10-foot putt to save par, bringing another huge roar from the patrons.

Woods walked slowly, knowing that he faced four tough days on an extremely hilly course if he manages to make the cut.

He couldn’t fully bend over to read putts, forcing him to rely more on caddie Joe LaCava to help him judge the treacherous greens at Augusta National.

But those felt like minor inconveniences after all he’s been through.

Woods’ career was in jeopardy after the car wreck left him confined to a hospital bed for three months. Woods was out of the public eye until last November, when he posted a video of him swinging a club with a simple message, “Making progress.”

His lone tournament in the 508 days since he last competed was a just-for-fun event in December in which he rode in a cart and was paired with his 13-year-old son, Charlie.

Despite the long layoff and the obvious physical limitations with screws and rods still holding the bones in place in his right leg, Woods clearly thinks he can win his sixth green jacket.

At 46, he would be the oldest Masters champion by three weeks over Jack Nicklaus.

The biggest question is how Woods holds up over 18 holes over four straight days, presuming he makes the cut as he always does at Augusta.

He walked 18 holes last week — his first big test — during a scouting trip with his son.

Playing an entire tournament will be much more challenging.

What now?

“Lots of ice,” he said, breaking into a big grin.

Just like old times.

SERENA WILLIAMS’ COACH, MOURATOGLOU, TO WORK WITH HALEP

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer

SERENA Williams’ coach for a decade, Patrick Mouratoglou, is going to work with another Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, Simona Halep.

Mouratoglou announced his partnership with Halep via social media on Thursday, creating a formidable pairing — and raising questions what this means for the future of Williams as a player.

The owner of 23 major singles titles, a record for the professional era, Williams has not competed anywhere since hurting her right hamstring in a first-round match at Wimbledon in late June last year.

“Today I am starting a new chapter in my coaching career: I am now the full-time coach of Simona Halep. In the last 8 months, I realized how much I missed coaching,” Mouratoglou wrote on Thursday.

“It is the passion of my life, and I still feel like I have so much to give.”

SERENA Williams walks on a practice court with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, in 2018, in New York. Serena Williams’ coach for a decade, Mouratoglou is going to work with another Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, Simona Halep.

(AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

Mouratoglou said Halep, a 30-year-old from Romania who won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019, went to his tennis academy for a training block before last month’s tournament at Indian Wells, California.

He said he stopped by some of her practice sessions to watch.

“At the end of the week, she asked me if I was available to coach her.

“I have the highest respect for her, but it was out of the question at the time.

“A few weeks later, I had a conversation with Serena, and the door opened for me, at least short term, to work with someone else,” Mouratoglou said. “I will keep you updated on what’s coming next soon.”

Mouratoglou and Williams began working together shortly after she lost to Virginie Razzano in the first round of the 2012 French Open. That was the only openingmatch exit for the American at any Grand Slam tournament until her

injury-forced retirement in the first set on Centre Court against Aliaksandra Sasnovich on June 29.

Williams was 30 when Mouratoglou came aboard; she won 13 of her Grand Slam singles trophies before that and 10 since.

She will turn 41 in September and is currently ranked 246th because of her lack of action on tour.

Halep, who defeated Williams in the 2019 final at the All England Club, first reached the top ranking in 2017 and is now 20th.

Halep missed a chunk of last season because of a torn left calf.

After reaching the semifinals at Indian Wells in March, she withdrew from the Miami Open because of a left thigh problem.

She announced in September she would no longer be coached

by Darren Cahill after six years together.

“Excited for a new chapter,” Halep wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “Let’s get to work @ pmouratoglou.”

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 13

MATCHDAY: DORTMUND V STUTTGART; NEWCASTLE V WOLVES IN EPL A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Friday: • GERMANY Second-place Borussia Dortmund are nine points behind Bayern Munich with six rounds remaining in the Bundesliga and hoping to make amends for an embarrassing defeat when they visit Stuttgart. Dortmund fans were in party mood last weekend on their return to a full stadium for the first time in more than two years, but Leipzig spoiled their fun by snatching a 4-1 away win. It was Dortmund’s second heavy defeat at home in the league this season after the 5-2 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in February. They also had heavy losses at home to Ajax and Rangers in European competition so perhaps it’s a relief for Dortmund to be playing Stuttgart away. But Stuttgart have been improving, with two wins from four games without defeat, and Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team will be pushing for another win to climb away from the relegation zone.

• ENGLAND Newcastle are still not completely clear of relegation trouble in the Premier League heading into a home match against Wolverhampton. An eight-game unbeaten run containing six wins looked to have pulled Newcastle sufficiently away from the bottom three, but three straight losses have left the Saudi-owned northeast club seven points above the drop zone. Wolves could climb to sixth place with a victory in its bid to qualify for one of the European competitions next season. The match begins the 32nd round of games in the Premier League.

• SPAIN Sevilla host Granada needing the three points to relaunch their bid to finish second in the Spanish league after four rounds without a victory. Their struggles have cost Sevilla which once had a firm grip on second place. Julen Lopetegui’s side has slid into fourth place, level on points with Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Runaway leader Real Madrid is 12 points ahead.

• FRANCE French league strugglers Lorient and Saint-Etienne face off in a battle between relegation-threatened teams. With eight rounds to go, hosts Lorient have a one-point lead over 18thplace Saint-Etienne. Both teams had heavy losses last weekend, with Lorient conceding five goals against Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne losing 4-2 against Marseille.

COACH SAYS DE LA FUENTE UNLIKELY TO PLAY AGAIN THIS SEASON

AMERICAN forward Konrad de la Fuente is unlikely to play again this season for Marseille due to a knee injury.

French media reports said the 20-year-old will undergo surgery and miss Marseille’s last eight French league games.

“It’s a cartilage injury,” Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli was quoted as saying by French broadcaster RMC Sport. “He will have three or four weeks without playing after the surgery. It will be very difficult to see him again this season.”

De la Fuente joined Marseille last summer from Barcelona and has struggled with playing time. He has 10 starts among 17 league appearaces with no goals and two assists.

A Miami native, de la Fuente made his U.S. national team debut in November 2020 in an exhibition at Wales. He played for the Americans at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup.

FRANKFURT’S ANSGAR KNAUFF, left, scores his side’s opening goal during the Europa League quarter final, first leg soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Barcelona held by Frankfurt, West Ham draws with Lyon

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press

BARCELONA failed to win an away match in the Europa League for the first time after they were held 1-1 by 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Ferran Torres salvaged the draw in the second-tier European competition with an equaliser following a series of fluent passes around the box in the 66th minute.

Barcelona were knocked out of the lucrative Champions League in the team’s first post-Lionel Messi season.

They are playing for the first time in the Europa League and never won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, reaching the semifinals on four occasions but not getting to a final.

Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.

Rebuilding under recently hired coach Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona have relied on big away performances to get to the last eight, beating Napoli (4-2) and Galatasaray (2-1) on the road after first-leg home draws.

In other games, 10-man West Ham also drew 1-1 with Lyon. The Hammers reached the quarterfinals of a European competition for the first time since 1981 after eliminating sixtime champion Sevilla.

Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso saved a penalty and a follow-up attempt but he couldn’t keep out an own-goal by Davide Zappacosta from the resulting corner as Leipzig salvaged a 1-1 draw.

Also, Braga beat Rangers 1-0.

In the Europa Conference League, Roma, one of the favourites to win UEFA’s new third-tier competition, failed to get their revenge at Bodø/ Glimt and lost 2-1. The Norwegian club routed Roma 6-1 in the group stage for Jose Mourinho’s biggest loss as a coach. Bodø/Glimt also earned a draw in the return match in Italy, and eliminated Celtic and AZ Alkmaar in the knockout stage.

Also, Leicester were held 0-0 at home by PSV Eindhoven, Marseille beat PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 and Slavia Prague earned a 3-3 draw at Feyenoord.

• EUROPA LEAGUE In Frankfurt, Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué had to be substituted in the 23rd minute due to an injury after he slipped and could not continue.

In the first half, Barcelona didn’t

WEST Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Europa League first-leg quarterfinal soccer match between West Ham United and Olympique Lyonnais at the London stadium in London Thursday.

(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) look like the in-form team that has moved to second place in the Spanish league.

Ansgar Knauff put the hosts ahead three minutes into the second half with a dipping shot after Barcelona failed to clear a corner. Brazilian defender Tuta received his second yellow in the 78th minute and was ejected.

West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell downed Lyon forward Moussa Dembélé, who was running on goal outside the area, and received a straight red in first-half injury time.

Despite that setback, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen delighted the packed London Stadium by giving the hosts the lead on a counterattack early in the second half.

Tanguy Ndombélé, who is on loan at Lyon from Tottenham, cancelled out that lead to give the visitors a decent result ahead of the second leg.

Atalanta’s Musso denied André

BARCELONA’S Ferran Torres scores his side’s opening goal during the Europa League quarter final, first leg soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday.

(AP Photo/Michael Probst) Silva from the spot in the 58th minute, and also denied Willi Orban from the rebound in Leipzig.

Moments later, Zappacosta was under pressure from a corner and sent the ball into his own net.

Luis Muriel’s first-half goal gave Atalanta the lead after he cut into the box from the left to beat Leipzig

BODO Glimt’s Hugo Vetlesen, Ulrik Saltnes, Brice Wembangomo Runar Espejord and Elias Kristoffersen Hagen celebrate a goal during the Europa Conference League quarterfinal soccer match between Bodo Glimt and AS Roma at Aspmyra stadium, Bodo, Norway. (Mats Torbergsen/NTB via AP)

goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi with an angled shot into the roof of the net.

Both sides hit the woodwork twice.

Atalanta are bidding to become the first Italian club to win the competition since Parma won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, in 1999.

Abel Ruiz netted the sole goal five minutes before halftime for Braga against Rangers. In another chance, Ricardo Horta hit the post.

• EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE Hugo Vetlesen scored the winning goal for Bodø/Glimt in the 89th minute after teammate Ulrik Saltnes had equalised around 10 minutes into the second half.

Roma’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan chipped the ball over the defence for Lorenzo Pellegrini to fire home two minutes before the interval.

Gerson volleyed in the opening goal for Marseille. Dimitri Payet, who set up that first goal, doubled the advantage at the end of the first half with a perfect drive off Cengiz Ünder’s corner.

Payet picked up a piece of broken glass on the field during the game — as he prepared to take a corner — and gave it to the referee.

Leicester’s Harvey Barnes hit the bar and Kelechi Iheanacho chipped wide in the first half against PSV. Ibrahim Traoré scored with a backheel shot in the dying seconds of injury time for Slavia Prague to earn a draw.

It was the third encounter between the Dutch and Czech clubs this season.

Orkun Kökçü scored with a low free kick four minutes before the end to put Feyenoord 3-2 up in an entertaining game in Rotterdam.

PAGE 14, Friday, April 8, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MARLINS TO HOST SECOND BAHAMIAN APPRECIATION CELEBRATION FROM PAGE 16

Ticket prices are subject to change and the Bahamian Appreciation jersey is of limited quantity.

Miami Marlins Group Sales Services Executive Brad Johnson said the expectations for this year’s event are at an all time high after the success of 2021.

“Last year we were limited a little bit because of some of our restrictions per seating. We were only allowed 7,500 people in this stands. This year everybody and anybody can come and have an opportunity to celebrate with us,” he said, “It also provides an opportunity to provide everyone with ticket packages with our Bahamian Heritage jersey, which we are very proud of. Last year we had t-shirts with the slogan ‘242 To The World’ and we all hope everyone will support and wear these jerseys.

“We also provide food that is in line with the culture. We will be working very closely to bring the taste of The Bahamas back to the stadium,” Johnson said, “The Marlins have a very open opportunity to welcome our international players. And the Bahamas field system has provided quite a number of prospects. We have a huge dedication and commitment to the talent that has been coming out of The Bahamas. We welcome all Bahamian talent and will always be on the look out for more Bahamian talent.”

Vice President of Public Affairs Alfredo Mesa spoke of the connection between the city of Miami and The Bahamas.

“The city of Miami would not exist without the Bahamian people. The rich culture of Bahamian heritage is embedded into who we are as a city,” he said, “This is the second annual but hopefully the trend will continue because there are so many families who will feel at home having Jazz as the face of Bahamian pride.”

Last year the Marlins celebrated rising star Jazz Chisholm Jr and “Bahamian Heritage Night” at Loan Depot Park with a 4-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Chisholm scored the game’s first run on Jesus Aguilar’s sac fly in the first inning but the celebration from the pregame festivities, to the final out centred around Jazz and franchise’s connection to The Bahamas.

Scores of Bahamian supporters, both local and based in the United States were on hand at Loan Depot Park. Julien Believe performed the Bahamian national anthem and fans were treated to a Junkanoo rush out on the stadium’s West Plaza.

Chisholm has taken the Miami, Florida area by storm with his bright blue coloured hair and his spectacular performance as a starting infielder at shortstop and second base.

He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks as an international free agent in July, 2015. On July 31, 2019, the Diamondbacks traded Chisholm to the Marlins for pitcher Zac Gallen.

The Marlins also celebrate their multi cultural representation with Cuban, South Florida Black Legacy, Japanese, Nicaraguan, Italian, Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic, Jewish, Venezuelan, Colombian and Mexican Heritage nights.

BENEDICT College’s Gwendolyn Rouse coaching in the huddle with the towerBENEDICT-College men’s volleyball team. ing Ras Jesse Delancy in the background looking on.

Ras Jesse Delancy is Benedict College’s all-round volleyball player of the year

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net RAS Jesse Delancy, who helped to form a Bahamian connection to start a vibrant men’s volleyball programme at Benedict College Tigers, is having an exceptional season.

Having played previously at Central States and also having had a semester at BAMSI, Delancy was among a list of players recruited by renowned women’s coach Gwendolyn Rouse when she was charged with adding a men’s volleyball programme to her alma mater at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Rouse got in touch with her contacts in the Bahamas and was introduced to Delancy and a few other players. She immediately signed them to be a part of the Tigers men’s team that competes in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

“I went to the Bahamas in July, and I was able to get four kids,” Rouse said. “My connections in the Virgin Islands sent me videos (resulting in three players). Also, I had two different trials at the school, and with the trials, I was able to pull three kids.”

Delancy, who stands at 6-feet, 6-inches, turned out to be a perfect fit for the Tigers team. He is a 22-year-old graduate of the CV Bethel Secondary High School.

The Tigers’ team also includes St Augustine’s College graduate Terran Walkin, a 6-0 freshman setter; Donovan Wilmott, a 6-2 graduate of Anatol Rodgers High School and is a middle blocker/outside hitter as a junior; Clint Forbes, aslo a graduate of CV Bethel, who in his freshman year is a 5-7 libero specialist and Zion Beckford, who at 6-4, is a freshman playing right side and an as an outside hitter.

“I have a craving to play volleyball at the highest level, and I feel this is a step up from my club volleyball back home that is going to get me to where I want to be,” said

RAS Jesse Delancy receives Benedict College’s best all around volleyball player of the year honours.

Delancy, an outside hitter/middle eight service aces and nine digs. In blocker. a loss to Central State, he recorded Delancy, who is studying sports a season-high 23 kills (.526) and management, said the level of play tied his season high of three solo is a step up from playing in the New blocks.

Providence Volleyball Association Benedict is currently fourth in with the Tour Daddy Defenders. the SIAC standings.

His goal is to continue to improve On Friday, Delancy received and play professionally after Benedict College’s all-around college. player of the year award, the latest Delancy was named the SIAC of the many accomplishments that Volleyball Offensive Player of the he attained this year.

Week April 4. In a three-set win Nobody was more proud of his over Kentucky State, he recorded performance than his mother, joureight kills (.400) with a season-high nalist Felicity Darville, who along

with his father, Eugene Delancy, thanked coach Rouse for recruiting him and encouraging him each step of the way.

“I am so proud to see Jesse succeed. He left Nassau determined to be his best as he entered St Benedict’s,” she said. “He was playing night league volleyball before he left, but the pandemic affected the frequency of practices. He has aspirations to go pro in volleyball, and he has the love and support of his entire family to stand on.

“I have a passion for volleyball, so I am ecstatic to see him excelling in the sport. He has also had a great semester academically, and I encourage him to remain disciplined, focused, and confident that he can manifest every goal he sets for himself, with the grace of God.” While his mom was captain of St Augustine’s College Big Red Machine’s senior girls volleyball team and was the most valuable player in 1995, Delancy has a lot of other sporting personalities in his family.

His grandmother is Agatha Delancy, national Hall of Fame golfer; his grandfather is Allan Ingraham from Grand Bahama, who is a national Hall of Famer for American football and his grand aunt Elizabeth Ingraham-Davis was a member of the Jordan Prince Williams Falcons’ senior girls volleyball team.

Delancy and the rest of the Bahamian connection at Benedict College will close out their regular season on Saturday when they host Edward Waters out of Florida before coach Rouse gets them prepared for their first SIAC Men’s Volleyball Championships that will run from April 19-21 at a site yet to be determined.

When they’re done, Delancy and the rest of the Bahamian connection will be returning home to try out for the Bahamas men’s national volleyball team as they prepare for the Caribbean Volleyball Championships this summer. Delancy played previously on the men’s junior national team.

METS BEAT NATS 5-1 IN SHOWALTER DEBUT BEHIND FILL-IN MEGILL

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP National Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mark Canha and Starling Marte — two products of the Mets’ quarter-billion dollar offseason spending spree — drove in runs to back five shutout innings from Tylor Megill, Jacob deGrom’s fillin as the opening day starter, and New York won manager Buck Showalter’s debut 5-1 against the Washington Nationals on Thursday night.

The Mets became the first team to get scoreless outings from their starters on opening day in four consecutive seasons. Megill (1-0), a 6-foot-7 right-hander who reached the majors last June, allowed three hits and no walks while striking out six.

He entered the day with the least amount of time in the majors of any Mets opening day starting pitcher, but drew the assignment

MEMBERS of the Washington Nationals wave as they stand on the first base line during pregame festivities in the opening day baseball game against the New York Mets at Nationals Park, Thursday, in Washington. Bahamian Lucius Fox is number 26. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

because deGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, is injured.

Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (0-1), on the mound for Game 1 because 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg is returning from surgery, gave up two runs in four-plus innings.

The game originally was scheduled to start at 4:05 p.m., but rain in the forecast prompted the teams to agree on Wednesday that they would push that back to 7:05 p.m. in the hopes the wet weather would clear.

Took longer than that on a 50-degree day: The first pitch was thrown at 8:21 p.m.

The Mets made it 2-0 in the fifth, then 4-0 in the sixth with consecutive RBI singles

by Canha and Jeff McNeil off reliever Austin Voth.

That elicited some “Let’s go Mets!” chants from a crowd announced at 35,052.

Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo and Edwin Díaz each pitched a hitless inning in relief.

Juan Soto produced Washington’s run with his 99th career homer, a seconddeck shot off Trevor May in the sixth.

Soto is one of the lone remnants from Washington’s title team of three years ago. General manager Mike Rizzo tore down the roster at the trade deadline last July in the midst of a second straight last-place NL East finish.

Division rival New York is going in the opposite direction, aggressively adding talent.

Free agents included Canha ($26.5 million, two years), Marte ($78 million, four years) and Max Scherzer ($130 million, three years).

Showalter is with his fifth major league team as a skipper, including the Yankees from 1992-95 and, most recently, the Orioles from 2010-18.

THIS AND THAT Mets 1B Pete Alonso got hit by a pitch from reliever Mason Thompson in the ninth and left the game. Earlier, catcher James McCann was hit twice — once by Corbin with the bases loaded and once by Andres Machado. ... Alonso got thrown out at home while trying to score from first base on Eduardo Escobar’s double in the fourth. Alonso immediately put his hands to his ears to signal that he wanted a reply challenge.

Showalter requested one but lost, a ruling announced to the crowd by an umpire under a new policy this season. ... DH Nelson Cruz went 0 for 4 in his Nationals debut.

MINOR TRADE The Mets picked up RHP Adonis Medina from the

Pirates in exchange for cash and optioned him to TripleA Syracuse. RHP Yennsy Díaz was designated for assignment.

TRAINER’S ROOM Mets: DeGrom went on the 10-day IL with a stress reaction on his right shoulder blade. He is likely out at least until June. ... OF Brandon Nimmo (stiff neck) sat out.

Nationals: Strasburg was put on the 10-day IL as he continues his return from thoracic outlet surgery. ...

RHP Will Harris, who had surgery to clean up scar tissue in his right pectoral muscle last week, went on the 60-day IL. ... INF Ehire Adrianza (strained left calf) went on the 10-day IL. UP NEXT Three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Scherzer will make his first Mets appearance Friday — and it’ll be his return to Nationals Park after pitching for Washington for 6 1/2 seasons. He’s been dealing with a right hamstring issue but declared himself “good to go.” Washington starts Josiah Gray, acquired in the trade that sent Scherzer to the Dodgers last July.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 8, 2022, PAGE 15

OLD TIMERS SOFTBALL RETURNS THIS WEEKEND AFTER MISSING two years of competition, the New Providence Old Timers Softball Association will return to action this weekend (April 9th and 10th, 2022) with a memorial tournament, but at a different venue under new leadership.

Led by its president Tommy Stubbs, the legendary modified-pitch softball league went inactive due to the pandemic shortly after an executive body was elected to serve a two-year term.

Elected to serve from 2019 and getting unanimous support from council members to officially start their term this year with Stubbs include vicepresident Marvin Wood, treasurer Clelia Armbrister, assistant treasurer Andy Ford, secretary Keith Smith and assistant secretary Benson Young.

Danny Stubbs has been appointed commissioner.

The 47-year-old league had its 2020 season interrupted two years ago less than one month before opening day due to the coronavirus pandemic which forced the country’s lockdown in March 2020.

The league will launch its return with a preseason double-elimination tournament at Banker’s Softball Field on the weekend of April 9-10 as it awaits the restructure of the William Thompson Softball Park at the Southern Recreation Grounds.

Tommy Stubbs said the tournament will be a twofold event, one to give teams a chance to better prepare for stiff competition to which they are accustomed and to pay the highest respect to at least 18 league members who died since March 2020.

“Over the past two years we lost some great members of our association and outstanding citizens, including brothers Ed and Kelson Armbrister and their teammate Anthony ‘Poker’ Huyler from the KC Construction team, sponsored by Kelson Armbrister,” he said.

They also lost Judy Brown, a fan favourite who made the park her second home and treated it as such serving as caretaker.

“We knew we had to pay our respects in a significant way since most of us were not able to due to restrictions when they died,” he said. “We thought it only appropriate to stage this tournament as a memorial to remember and celebrate the lives of our fallen members.”

This weekend’s tournament is designed to showcase nine teams from the league and will start action at 10am Saturday and finish on Sunday.

There will also be a home run derby named after prolific slugger Crestwell Pratt, which will allow teams to prove who has the most powerful hitter in the league. Crestwell also lost his brother Tyrone “Grouper” Pratt during the pandemic who was also a league member.

It will be interesting to see which teams and players are ready to compete and take home the Lorenzo Doni Lockhart’s team championship and Eddie Ford MVP awards.

The league anticipates the loss of four teams from its 2022 schedule, Blue Postal Sharks, Carlo Rossi Stallions, BDP Rattlers and Pearl Island Pirates.

However, the 10 remaining teams expected to compete are Yelrom Home Boys, Q Club Divers, Lone Rebels, ABC Truckers, BTC Vibes, SWD Boyz, Dozer Pros, Corner Boys, KC Construction and Masqueraders.

“At this stage, it appears those four might have dissolved,” said Stubbs. “But there’s still time for them to meet our April 21st team registration deadline to return, if they wish to.

We hope so.”

The regular season is scheduled to start May 2, either at Bankers field or at The Archdeacon William Thompson Softball Park at the Southern Recreation Ground when its renovation is completed.

Yelrom Home Boys captured the championship to conclude the 2019 season which was considered one of its most competitive on record.

THE BAHAMAS men’s national cricket team have been training ahead of their trip to the Cayman Islands. Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff

Bahamas national cricket team set for T-20 Cayman matches

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS a spin-off for their trip to Antigua for the International Cricket Council’s World Cup Division Qualifier Tournament in November, the Bahamas Cricket Association will be sending another men’s team off to the Cayman Islands.

The Bahamas ended up with a ranking of 56 out of 104 countries in the International Cricket Council and BCA president Greg Taylor Sr said they have negotiated a series of T-20 international matches against the Cayman Islands, who didn’t make the trip.

The team, now coached

by Corey Edwards from Barbados, will be leaving town on Monday to head to the Cayman Islands to play at least five T-20 matches before they return home on April 19.

Hopefully at the end of the matches, Taylor Sr said, the Bahamas should be able to improve on their rankings.

“I feel we have some more players who joined the team, especially in batting, so we should be able to really compete,”

said Taylor Sr, who will travel with the team.

Edwards, who already started working with the youth development programme, said his goal is to try to get the Bahamas men’s team to play at a higher level.

“It was a bit of a culture shock,” said Edwards, about the training regime that he put in place.

“The fellows rallied and got to put in some good work. So I feel the preparation has gone very well

and we should be able to do some good things in the Cayman Islands.”

Edwards said the players have adapted very well and so he’s pleased with the progress he’s seen in their performances.

“There’s always some things that we could do a lot better, but if we do some of the things that we have been practicing, I think we will do very well,” Edwards said.

“One you are mature enough to understand

what we are doing, if we can stick to our strengths and improve on our weaknesses, we will be alright.”

Named to the team are Marc Taylor, Greg Taylor Jr, Everette Haven, Renford Davson, Antonio Harris, Dwight Wheatley Jr, Keith Burrows, Julio Jemison, Sandeep Goud, Jagnauth Jagrod, Derrick Edgecombe, Bhumeshwar Jagrod, Festus Benn and Rudolph Fox. “The team has adapted very well to the new

coach,” Greg Taylor Jr said. “We have been working on getting the small things right and so far it has been very positive.

With the makeup of this year’s team, Taylor Jr has some great expectations for the team.

“We have a good mix.

We have some older players, but we have some young players, so we should be able to do very well,” he said.

SPORTS SECTION E

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022

MIAMI Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr.

MARLINS TO HOST SECOND BAHAMIAN APPRECIATION CELEBRATION

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN culture will once again take centre stage at loanDepot Park when the Miami Marlins hosts its second annual celebration of the relationship between the franchise and the Bahamas.

The Marlins will host a Bahamian Appreciation Celebration on June 25 when they face the New York Mets in Miami, Florida.

First pitch is at 4:10pm but the day is expected to be filled with activity to showcase Jazz Chisholm Jr and Bahamian heritage.

Bahamas Baseball Association Secretary General Teddy Sweeting said the move is another milestone in the development and exposure of Bahamian baseball.

“This is an exciting time for baseball in our country. The doors are wide open and everything is just moving in the direction we anticipated and we are very, very excited,” he said, “Last year, It was exciting to celebrate one of our very own and also our heritage. We had Junkanoo, brass bands, and events that showcase our heritage. I want to thank the Marlins for giving us that opportunity. This is the second one, we want this one to be the most exciting one ever. We always go to Miami, pick this weekend to do your shopping and do your celebration with us at loanDepot Park. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to grow sports tourism.”

In addition to Chisholm at the MLB level, the Miami Marlins minor league pipeline includes five Bahamian players - Ian Lewis, Steven Adderley, Andre Arthur, Toby Simmons and Cherif Neymour.

“When the scouts for the Marlins come over and view these young men they are ready. That is due in large part to our developmental leagues and the work done by our academies, Maximum Development, International Elite and Antoan Richardson’s Project,” he said, “The sport of Baseball, we all know its history but we are so excited about what is happening for our young men in this country.”

Tickets can be booked on the Miami Marlins website or through the website of the Bahamas Baseball Association.

Purchasing a Bahamian Heritage ticket package includes an exclusive Bahamian Heritage Marlins Jersey. Fans can also enjoy pregame Junkanoo and postgame entertainment presented by Truly Hard Seltzer on the West Plaza.

A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will benefit the Bahamian Baseball Association (BBA).

Jersey distribution is based on a first-come, first-served basis and will be available for pick up from when gates open at 2:30PM until the end of the 4th inning – have your ticket ready to show at the redemption table.

SEE PAGE 14

National cricket team off to Cayman Islands THE BAHAMAS men’s national cricket team is in training before heading to the Cayman Islands to play at least five T-20 international matches next week. See page 15 for more. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff

Adderley sisters get set for Carifta

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bdstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALMOST every year, there are at least one or two sibling pairs who make an impact as members of the Bahamas Carifta team in the biggest junior regional track and field competition.

This year, as the 49th edition of the event returns to Kingston, Jamaica over the Easter holiday weekend after a two-year hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, there are two sets of siblings on the 54-member team that will represent the Bahamas.

One of them is the brother/sister combo of Keyshawn and Kamera Strachan who have been a force to reckon with in the javelin in the under-20 boys and under-17 girls divisions from the Blue Chip Athletics.

There’s another versatile pair of sisters from Fast Forward Track Club, who are competing in the under-17 girls division. They are long/ high jumper Koi Adderley and Zoe Adderley, who will be participating in the triple jump.

Koi, the older of the two, was the first to get her bags packed when she qualified in March at the Road Runners Track Club’s Dianne Lynn Thompson Memorial Time Trials Classic at Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Zoe, however, didn’t want to be left at home and so she turned in her feat at the Bahamas Associations of Athletic Association’s final trials over the weekend at the stadium.

The duo are also cousins to Dior-Ray Scott, who qualified along with Kamera Strachan in the under-17 girls javelin.

Koi, a 15-year-old 10th grader at the International

SISTERS Koi and Zoe Adderley.

School of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, said she was happy to be the pacesetter for her younger sister.

“In the long jump, I was hoping to get the A standard, but I fell short and I got the B standard,” she said of her winning jump of 1.62m (or 5-feet, 3 3/4-inches) that matched the BAAA’s automatic standard.

“For high jump, I did 1.62m (5-3 3/4), the same

height that I did in the earlier meet to qualify again with the A standard. But I believe if I can jump at least 1.65m (5-5) that would put me in a good position to win a medal.”

She said she’s still thrilled to know that she has made her first Carifta team and now she gets to share the opportunity with her sister and cousin making the journey as teammates.

“I’m very proud of her

(Zoe). She is only 13 and I know she will enjoy herself and that makes me feel ever better about this experience,” she said.

“I am so very proud of myself and I know we will enjoy it because we also have our cousin on the team. So I think it’s going to be a good family affair, especially if we all can come back with a medal.”

The younger Adderley, Zoe, who is also a

student of the International School of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, said after watching her big sister and cousin achieve their qualifying feats, she didn’t want to be left home for the holidays.

“I’m amazed. I’m very proud of myself,” the younger of the crew at just 13.

“I still have three more years to compete in the under-17 division, so I will just use this one as an experience trip.

“Hopefully, the next few times, I will be able to apply myself and be in a much better position to compete for a medal. But if the opportunity comes in Jamaica, I will be going for it.”

In making her debut in the event, Zoe Adderley soared to a personal best of 11.73m (38-6) in the triple jump and is expected to be competing along with Lanaisha Lubin, who did 11.62m (38-1 1/2) to also make the team.

“I just want to go there and have a good time,” she said.

“I just felt the adrenaline. I was just excited and I knew that I could do it. I am a very joyful person and I knew that I could do it and I did it.”

Older sister Koi said the feeling is mutual, although she is expected to have some company in the long jump with Jamiah Nabbie as a qualifier. While Adderley did 5.46m (17-11), Nabbie trailed with 5.42m (17-9 1/2).

“I’m looking forward to the experience and hoping to win a medal,” she said.

The Adderleys will leave on Wednesday with the rest of Team Bahamas for the competition that will take place at the National Stadium in Kingston from Saturday to Monday, April 16-18.