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The Tribune

Volume:116 No.77, APRIL 12TH, 2019

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POLICE Commissioner Anthony Ferguson yesterday sidestepped calls for action to be taken against officers found to have carried out unlawful killings.

Instead, Commissioner Ferguson suggested it was not his role but rather parliament’s to create protocols his force should follow when inquest juries find officers acted outside the law.

He spoke to the press two days after a jury ruled that an officer unlawfully killed Osworth Rolle, 22, in November 2016. The victim’s father expressed anger that the officer’s duties were unchanged after the shooting and remain that way despite Tuesday’s unlawful killing finding.

“The law,” Commissioner Ferguson told reporters, “mandates the commissioner to supervise the Royal Bahamas Police Force and at this stage the

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officer is on active duty and there is nothing that prevents him from being on active duty”.

Some lawyers believe officers in policeinvolved killings should be removed from street duty and should have their functions modified pending inquest findings.

Such protocol exists in some other countries.

“It shouldn’t be that you kill Johnny on Monday and you back to work on Tuesday,” attorney Christina Galanos said in August after an officer received his second unlawful killing ruling in two months. “I don’t think any developed country operates like that.”

Defenders of the status quo note it could take years for an inquest to take place and even if a jury makes an unlawful killing finding, the director of public prosecutions may conclude insufficient evidence exists to pursue a criminal charge against an officer.

SEE PAGE FIVE

DESPITE criticising the former Christie administration last year for adding 9,000 people to the government payroll during its term in office, Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle revealed yesterday a “large number” of those hired from 2012 to 2017 have been re-engaged.

He said many were required to do comprehensive training to attain specific trades and skills related to ministries where they worked.

“Some of them have remained,” Mr Rolle told The Tribune yesterday.

“Some of them were on contracts that expired.

“We re-engaged a large number of them and as in the case of the Ministry of Education they set forth a comprehensive training programme to cause individuals to learn specific trades and skills related to the Ministry of Education and, if they successfully completed the one-year probationary period, they’ll be engaged in the service on a full-time basis.”

SEE PAGE SIX

pgs 13 - 18

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A COMIC’S VIEW LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE FUNNY SIDE OF EASTER

SEE PAGE EIGHT

‘LET’S WORK TOGETHER ON GANGS’

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

AN advocate for the rights and protection of family members of murder victims, Khandi Gibson, is calling for increased partnership between parents and teachers in an effort to end gang affiliation and violence in youth.

In an interview with The Tribune, the director and founder of the organisation Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM) said our society must SEE PAGE NINE

MOTHER PRATT’S ACCOLADE

‘LET GO’ WORKERS BACK ON PAYROLL

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

100!

Page 4 & 5

for everything that matters

IT’S NOT MY JOB

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

MAGGIE TURNS

Winter’s finally here

Your guide to the final ‘Gam e of Thrones’ season

Suspend officers who unlawfully kill?

Friday, April 12, 2019

history puzzles

IS SHE FIT TO PLEA? DE’EDRA MICHELLE GIBSON, 29, was yesterday charged with abducting four boys, one as young as three, from various places in New Providence in February and March.

Full story - Page 3 Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia “Mother” Pratt is adding another international accolade to the list with a guest feature on the Vera Moore Show.

Ms Moore, a former actress turned cosmetics CEO, travelled to The Bahamas to meet Mrs Pratt and use her platform to tell the former politician’s story of rising from SEE PAGE SIX

SPEED SUSPECTED IN FATAL CRASH

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

A YOUNG man is dead following a traffic accident on John F Kennedy Drive yesterday morning, police have confirmed.

Speaking to reporters at the scene of the incident, Superintendent Mareno Hinds said officers are still in the preliminary stages of the investigation but believe speed may have

THE CRASH scene yesterday. been a contributing factor to the accident, which culminated in the victim’s

vehicle hitting a utility pole.

The Tribune understands the victim to be 25-year-old Keshawn Lightbourn, an employee of Mr Ship It. “On Thursday, April 11, shortly after 10am, the police at Traffic Division were alerted to a road traffic collision on John F Kennedy Drive, just west of the Fusion complex,” Supt Hinds said.

“Upon our arrival at the scene, the police met a

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE THREE

DIANE PHILLIPS A STENCH OF ENTITLEMENT LAID BARE

SEE PAGE TEN

PAGE 2, Friday, April 12, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

A WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE

LED by banners and clad in bright colorful costumes depicting this year’s theme ‘A Walk Through the Bible’ hundreds of toddlers paraded through the streets of New Providence yesterday in celebration of PreSchool Week.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 12, 2019, PAGE 3

29-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH ABDUCTING FOUR CHILDREN

DE’EDRA GIBSON, centre, outside court yesterday.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net ALLEGED child abductor De’Edra Michelle Gibson was charged in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday with abducting four little boys, one as young as three, from various places in New Providence between February and March.

The 29-yearold appeared before

Magistrate Samuel McKinney to face four counts of abduction stemming from allegations that she abducted three eight-year-old boys and a three-year-old between February 16 and March 29.

Prior to the charges being read, however, her attorney, Howard Thompson Jr, indicated to the court that his client has a history of mental health issues. In fact, Mr Thompson said just

last October, Gibson spent some time in the psychiatric ward of the Brookdale University Hospital in New York.

Furthermore, Mr Thompson said he has received legal instructions from Gibson that have ranged from “incomprehensible” to “bizarre”. This, he said, was as recently as yesterday morning, when he visited her at the Central Detective Unit (CDU).

Police think speed may have been a factor in fatal crash

Thus, he said, proceeding with the arraignment in the normal fashion would not be prudent, and that a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether Gibson is mentally fit to comprehend the legal proceedings and allegations mounted against her would be appropriate given the circumstances.

Magistrate McKinney noted Mr Thompson’s claims, and said he would

THE SCENE of the accident on John F Kennedy Drive yesterday morning,

from page one

2007 Honda Accord with extensive damage to its passenger side and with front end damage.

“Police also discovered that a male, believed to be in his mid-twenties, on the inside of that vehicle.

Unfortunately, this male succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

“EMS were called. They administered what they needed to administer, however he could not be saved.

We believe that speed may have contributed to this accident. We are in our preliminary stages of this investigation, but it is too early to tell what caused the accident definitively.”

Regarding the nature of the incident, Supt Hinds said: “We believe that he touched some of the light poles before he came down, colliding into the shrubbery on the southern end of this thoroughfare before ultimately colliding into the high tension utility pole.”

Supt Hinds said the Jaws of Life was brought in, however it ultimately did not have to be used to extricate the victim.

The officer could not say whether there were any signs of distracted driving. When asked if the victim was wearing a seat belt, Supt Hinds could not confirm, however he said

officers are examining that “very carefully”.

Supt Hinds also issued safety tips for motorists, advising them not to speed or drive distractedly.

“We always advise our drivers, particularly on this thoroughfare, to wear their seat belts and to not speed,” he told reporters, noting the speed limit on that road is 45 miles per hour - the highest for any road in the country.

“We know that it is a long journey, it is a long thoroughfare, but we recognise that speed does not make your situation better. So we would ask that persons not drive distracted, with cellphones, eating food, fixing hair, or anything that may cause them to lose awareness of what they’re doing as a driver.”

He also addressed the impending amendments to road traffic laws.

“As you are aware, those new regulations have not passed, so we have

embarked on an education awareness and enforcement campaign in anticipation that they will be passed very shortly.”

Late last month, amendments to the Road Traffic Act were passed in the House of Assembly after being tabled last September.

Lawmakers passed amendments that will criminalise both the use of phones while driving and driving with an open alcoholic beverage. The amendments will have to be passed at the Senate level and then published in a gazette before they are officially enacted and become law.

Road traffic accidents are now the 13th highest cause of death in the country and without legislative changes, the government believes this will continue.

According to National Security Minister Marvin Dames, there were 63 traffic fatalities last year which represented a 29 percent

ATTORNEY Howard Thompson

increase from 2017. He said unfortunately, resulting from those 63 accidents were the deaths of 69 victims, reflecting a 28 percent increase from the previous year.

Of the traffic fatality victims by island, 42 of the fatalities occurred on New Providence, 11 on Grand Bahama and 10 on the remaining Family Islands, he said.

not require Gibson to enter a plea to the charges, nor would she be made to elect whether to have the matter tried in the Magistrate’s or Supreme Court.

He remanded the woman to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) and adjourned the matter to May 13, at which time a psychiatric report will be presented to the court on Gibson’s mental fitness.

PAGE 4, Friday, April 12, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Officers who kill must be held to account “WE have to understand the Royal Bahamas Police Force is no different from any other society.”

So said Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson last month – but his words back then don’t sit well against what he had to say yesterday about taking actions against officers who have carried out unlawful killings.

He practically shrugged off the suggestion that an officer who killed someone on a Monday perhaps shouldn’t be in the position to do so again on a Tuesday.

“The law,” he said yesterday, “mandates the commissioner to supervise the Royal Bahamas Police Force and at this stage the officer is on active duty and there is nothing that prevents him from being on active duty.”

Nothing to do with him, right? He only runs the police force. Instead, he said it’s up to Parliament to create rules for the force to follow when an officer goes out and kills someone unlawfully.

So is the force really no different, commissioner? What other part of society would see an employee found by a jury to be responsible for an unlawful killing and there being “nothing that prevents” them from returning to the same job where they were in a position to kill?

Mr Ferguson said that the force would follow whatever Parliament said – but didn’t offer any opinion himself on the matter, saying instead “I like to stay in my lane”.

Those who say that officers should not be prevented from returning to frontline duty after a fatal shooting say that it would be unfair on the officer because of the time it takes – years – for an inquest to take place after such an incident.

That is not an acceptable excuse. Citing the structural failings of the coroner system is not a reason to avoid taking precautions – rather it is a reason to fix the years-long delays that the coroner system routinely faces.

At the very least, it should be routine that an officer, for their own sake if nothing else, should be stood down and go through a period of counselling after taking someone else’s life. The very act of doing so – lawful or not – is traumatic and a traumatised officer should not be back out on the streets the next day.

Is all of that beyond the commissioner’s powers? Is he both unable to look after the safety of the public or the mental health of his own officers?

Again, last month, Mr Ferguson urged the public to trust the police force on complaints. How can we? Here we have a case of a jury deciding that an officer killed someone unlawfully. Last year, we had a case of a single officer being found to have killed someone illegally in two instances in under a month. We have gone through the due process of the coroner’s court – even though it took years – and still the commissioner shrugs his shoulders and says it’s not up to him. How can the public have faith when there is nothing that prevents someone in that position from being on active duty? Where is the indication that the force is taking the jury’s verdict seriously?

If the commissioner doesn’t have the courage to lead and call for the changes that must be made to the force, then Parliament must take up the baton and make sure that the police force is indeed no different when it comes to being held to account.

Let’s hope think tanks sell plenty of copies EDITOR, The Tribune AFTER seeing your story about our so-called competitive drop in providing financial services, I took the trouble to read the entire just published “Global Financial Centre 25 Report for 2019”, and totally agree with Minister Finance Turnquest that it should cause no concern for The Bahamas, or be of much relevance to serious financial analysts anywhere.

It’s a massive statistical compilation that must have taken thousands of working hours research by moles at the two think-tanks in London and China, and then more to compile and digest for readers. I don’t doubt that the facts and perceptions were drawn from many different metrics

and respectable sources.

But to what purpose?

What is the relevance of precise arithmetic ranking of 112 “Global” centres ranging from New York and London to Casablanca – that romantic North African city hardly known for attracting international finance?

It’s as if the editors chose nearly every country that has a bank and called it “Global”.

Even the regional subdivisions are bizarre.

“Caribbean and Latin America” includes both Bahamas and Buenos Aires, locations which have nothing in common and totally different resources and objectives.

So what if Bahamas dropped precisely 18 slots?

Comparative numerical

ranking is pointless. Elsewhere, can Moscow be rationally be ranked against Baku? Or Zurich against Lisbon?

As suggested by Minister Turnquest and former Central Bank Governor James Smith, no serious private investor or corporate venture will put much weight on this Index in deciding whether to establish in Nassau, Cayman – or Mexico City. They will do on-the-ground investigation to learn the special qualities of each place We hope the thinktanks sell enough copies to get a return on their investment.

RICHARD COULSON Nassau April 8, 2019

We need to police the driving public more EDITOR, The Tribune THE old people would often say when you were “talking fool”, “ain’t no good fa you to beat up ya gums wid dat now” and I could only wonder as social media carried the story of no cell phones and no drinking, “what is the point of adding new offences to the Road Traffic Act when the huge number that already exists are not being enforced and unlikely to be enforced in the lifetime of

anyone living today” ?

It would make interesting reading to see the actual statistics of people charged with Road Traffic Offences fifty years ago and those charged today. And the far fewer today DOES NOT mean that people are driving any better today, it just means that no one is being charged. There has been a total collapse of policing the driving public since before the last election but any day you go into a Police Station, a plethora of

officers are buzzing about, seemingly very busy with something. The TV’s are all going of course and the air conditioning is piping.

And we wonder why people just do whatever the hell they want to do today ?.

We have zero discipline but we need zero tolerance.

Minister Dames !!!!

You’re up to bat !

MONKEEDOO Nassau April 10, 2019

Why health policy needs radical new approach EDITOR, The Tribune FIRST let me share my heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Robert Valcom Jr., the young man who died waiting on an ambulance to respond.

The Ambulance service, as part of the essential Healthcare system within The Bahamas, is still at a crossroad. It appears we are content with being 20 years behind developed countries. The Government of The Bahamas is faced with an increased ambulance service cost, delayed response times and fair quality of service offered. This issue is compounded by the need for Universal Health and an overall revamping of how healthcare is delivered to Bahamians, residents and visitors.

In response to Dr. Sands comments; while we may not know if the extra 13-minute delay could have made a difference, however, we know that every second counts to save a life. Reducing the time, a patient receives medical care, was the major force in developing the EMS system. For this reason, New Providence has five ambulances operating 24/7, providing basic and advance emergency medical care. This would be more than adequate for a modest population; however, many variables prove otherwise. According to the Sanigest Internacional’s 2013 report for New Providence, more than 70 per cent of ambulance calls experience delays, with an average response time of 34 minutes. The exposure of the report prompted PHA to a specific commitment of reducing ambulance response times to 4 minutes and an improved quality of care. Currently, the average response time is 21 minutes.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net (The response time is calculated from the time a call is made, to the time the ambulance reaches its destination).

While I share the government’s commitment to providing quality prehospital care. I don’t believe the current Emergency Medical Services model offers the improved service the public reasonably expects.

It offers the same things, while expecting different results. The goal of this administration should be to outline a clear path forward that reduces administrative and operational expenses, while improving service quality. To accomplish these goals, it is my opinion that the delivery model must radically change from a centralised thinking.

Here is what was humbly proposed to Dr. Sands and the EMS Medical Director: • Increase the scope of the practice for paramedics and provide a first response vehicles for paramedics.

• Develop a department that focuses on non-emergency transports only.

• Subdivide New Providence into zones • All police officers should be trained in first aid and all patrol vehicles have a first-aid kit.

• Create a substation that houses at least two Ambulance vehicles and a first response vehicle in the southern New Providence area. This substation will be located on the grounds of the Flamingo Gardens Community Clinic or the Carmichael Road Police Station. (thereby allowing emergency vehicles to provide quality care with expedience).

We need decentralizing if we want to see improvements. The rational is based on the growing population within the greater Carmichael or City 2000 (included are South Beach, Southern Shores Golden Isles and Tall Pines). With these improvements, it is possible for EMS to have an ambulance on the scene within six – 8 minutes for most locations or lower the national average to a 10 – 12-minute response times. With regard to the paramedic quick response vehicle, acute emergencies are effectively triaged, immediate treatment initiated and the need for transport determined.

Far too often ambulances are diverted from true emergencies for people who have a broken toe or stomach pains for the past week.

Lastly, by providing a separate non-emergency transportation unit, you would limit the time an ambulance is used for non-emergencies.

This unit can also support the public health department with home care visit and treatment.

In conclusion, the professionals within the EMS community are the hardest working members within the healthcare industry, least recognized for their role and first to be blamed.

We all seek the highest level of care; It is our responsibility to ensure that the quality of care the residents of the Bahamas are receiving, is up to the highest standards.

This is only accomplished with an expanded scope practice, medical oversight (online and offline medical direction) and leaders with vision.

KISHON TURNER Nassau April 11, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 12, 2019, PAGE 5

Ferguson: It’s not my job to suspend officers who unlawfully kill A3MAIN

Give us justice

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 11, 2019, PAGE 3

from page one

The Police Act gives the commissioner wideranging powers to create policies through force standing orders and to assign duties to officers as Parents of unlawful killing victim demand action he sees fit, yet the police chief implied he has no power to change how such issues are handled.

“I think we have to respect the fact that we are a sovereign nation,” he said. “We have a parliament that makes laws. We will abide by the laws made by our parliament.”

During this week’s inquest, the attorney for Rolle’s family, Romona Farquharson Seymour, urged jurors to consider that the police shooting was investigated by police officers, a point the coroner reiterated when she summed A1MAIN up the case. Bjorn Ferguson, who represented the WEDNESDAY officer who killed Rolle, has said it may be time Established 1903 for police shootings to be investigated by an independent party.

Commissioner Ferguson did not share his view 24/7 BREAKING NEWS ON TRIBUNE242.COM HIGH 83ºF on this matter. “I have great confidence in this LOW 72ºF Biggest And Best! parliament of our Bahamas,” he said, “and if the parliament so desires some change in legislation they will do so but until that happens I think the ABOVE and below: How The Tribune reported the story police has to be focused on locking up criminals.”

He said: “I like to stay in my lane. I think sometimes we tend to jump the gun so quickly when we ALICIA WALLACE: LOOK FOR WHAT’S IN THE MESSAGE hear things. I’m not inclined to comment on any decision made in another arena but police officers Suspect shot three times by police was AMBULANCE will continue to do their jobs. We are mandated SHORTAGE PARALEGAL by law to protect the Bahamian people, preven- WE NEED ASSOCIATE DEGREE Study Material Included in Fees MOREtion CASHand detection of crime and we will continue to do that.” i’m lovin’ it!

The Tribune OSWORTH ROLLE, the fourth of his parents’ five sons, is pictured standing directly behind his mother in this family photograph. Right: His father, Kendal Rolle

some money. Around midday his body was delivered to the morgue leave. If that could happen, instead. He died about why should this man be five minutes away from allowed to remain on duty, his home on Alexandria perhaps carrying a gun? Boulevard, Nassau Village.

This is one of the things By the time his mother that has me angry. I’m reached the scene of the VOLUME:116 APRIL 2019his body had incident, angry with No.75, a system that 10TH, allows this man to go about already been removed. carrying out his duties like She said she overheard an officer telling bystanders nothing happened.”

Osworth Rolle was the a “prolific offender” long fourth of his parents’ five sought by police had been sons and he was their most killed. Her son, she said affectionate child, Mrs yesterday, did not have a Rolle said. The last con- criminal record.

“The picture that was versation she had with him was about food. The morn- painted is not the character ing he died, he wanted a of him and I really wanted hot plate of white rice and justice because I wasn’t satmackerel for breakfast and isfied with what they were saying about him,” she a grape-flavoured soda, she said. The plan was said.

Police were targeting that he would leave home after eating and return Nathaniel Miller, who at midday to accompany they wanted to quesher to the bank to deposit tion in connection to from page one

open investigations, when they shot Rolle. Officers alleged he pointed a gun in their direction during a chase on foot. They said they recovered a loaded gun from the scene, but Romona Farquharson Seymour, the lawyer for the family, said the gun was never tested for fingerprints.

Officer Brown’s lawyer, Bjorn Ferguson, is determining whether he will appeal the ruling. Once rare, unlawful killing rulings against police have become more frequent and Mr Ferguson believes rising anti-police sentiments because of high-profile allegations of police misconduct have contributed to this.

“The evidence as it stands in my humble opinion is that the officer acted lawfully and exercised his

lawful discretion in firing his weapon that day,” he said, “but as of late there have been a lot of issues that have surfaced in relation to the police and I think that contributed to the verdict. The jury is only supposed to consider the evidence before the court, but at the end of the day we live in this society and social media is available to everybody.”

Mr Ferguson believes jurors were uncomfortable with the fact that police investigate police shootings, a point Mrs Farquharson Seymour stressed during the inquest.

“I think the time has come when we may have to consider this whole notion of police investigating the police,” Mr Ferguson said. “We have to look at appointing

independent parties to oversee matters involving police shootings. Other jurisdictions have already moved there. I think the jury had a discomfort with that and unfortunately my client suffered from that discomfort.”

In her summation during the inquest, Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez emphasised the limited role her office plays in

investigations. “We have no special task force to investigate an officer in a police-involved shooting,” she said. “In this jurisdiction, if there is a fatal police shooting, it is the police who will investigate the police.”

In the last year, several police-involved killings have been ruled lawful by jurors at the Coroner’s Court.

Unlawfully killed

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE officer was unjustified in shooting a 22-year-old man to death in the Nassau Village community two years ago, a jury has found.

A jury unanimously found that Osworth Rolle Jr’s death at the hands of Detective Constable 3569 Kendrick Brown on November 30, 2016 was an unlawful killing.

Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin will be the one to ultimately determine whether D/C Brown will now face criminal charges based on yesterday’s verdict.

Nonetheless, Rolle’s mother, Christina MossRolle, told The Tribune after the ruling: “God is good. To God be the glory.

Great things he has done.”

Rolle was shot about the body multiple times after

being said to have pointed a weapon at officers during a police foot chase in the Nassau Village area. Graduating An Class of Paralegals autopsy report prepared

by Forensic PathologistPotential Dr students are those employed in law Caryn Sands said Rolle died offices, banks, trust companies, commercial from three bullet wounds— organizations, real trade security and debt two to either side of his face collection as well as those working as court and the other to the chest. clerks (civil and criminal), barristers’ clerks, All of the bullets travInsurance and law enforcement officers. elled downwards in Rolle’s body, and each of the injuries they caused wereREGISTRATION DEADLINE potentially fatal, Dr Sands 23rd April, 2019 said. Dr Sands also noted that given Rolle’s height Institute of Business and Commerce and that of D/C Brown, IBC - Prince Charles Drive as well as the circumstances surrounding the TEL: 324-4625 shooting, the downward trajectories of the bullets were unusual.

However, Rolle wasn’t the person police were originally after. Police said they were actually after Nathaniel Miller, who they believed could help with attempted murder investigations.

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

COMMISSIONER of Police Anthony Ferguson Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/ Tribune Staff

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

IN the face of criticism regarding EMS response time to the collapse and death of a 15-year-old boy over the weekend, Health Minister Duane Sands yesterday could not confirm when health services will be acquiring more ambulances.

Robert Sean Valcom Jr, an SC McPherson Junior High School student, was hanging out with friends on Saturday afternoon in a Dairy Queen at the Southwest Plaza when he collapsed.

Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) Director of Communications Judy Terrell confirmed to The Tribune yesterday that a call was made at 2.10 pm regarding the matter and an ambulance was dispatched 13 minutes later.

SEE PAGE TWO

Editorial View - Page 4

ABACO RESCUE OFFICERS INCLUDED IN COMMENDATIONS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

He stressed that it is WEB SHOPS important to express TOLD: DEAL’S appreciation and recognise A DEAL, IT’S employees for their good ‘FINAL’ TIME TO PAY MORE DELIVERY than 70 offic- work. ersDATEinFORthe NEW Northern PO “It confirms that their Bahamas district of the work is valued. The grantRoyal Bahama Police Force ing of these commendations were recognised during a will no doubt increase procommendation ceremony ductivity levels and help to in Grand Bahama on stimulate good work ethics Wednesday. among your peers,” he told Police Commissioner the recipients.

Anthony Ferguson comMr Ferguson also commended officers whoPROBABLY PILOT TO BLAME CRASH mended theIN FATAL supervisors, were selected from Grand explaining that it was not an Bahama, Bimini and Abaco easy task making selection for their courage and dedi- from among other equally PETER YOUNG cation in the execution of qualified officers. “The BRITAIN - THE their duties, and encour- quality of work you have WHOLE WORLD’S LAUGHING aged them to continue to produced sets you apart. strive for excellence in their So I implore you to conpolicing career. tinue on this path. As you The ceremony was held write your stories of policat the Police Training Col- ing, do so with zeal and with lege on Pioneers Way, vigour,” he stated. where some 76 officersNassau & Bahama “IIslands’ amLeading so Newspaper proud of you all. were recipients of certifi- I want to say that everyone cate of commendation from could not be recognised at the commissioner, and from this time, but we intend to their supervisors and com- make this a regular event to manders. ACP Samuel keep the good work going.” the Commissioner’s ComButler also present and ACP Butler thanked the mendation were seven brought brief remarks. police chief for coming to officers from the Abaco Commissioner Fergu- Grand Bahama as they District, including Corporal son expressed gratitude recognise officers in the 3183 Garnet Mills, Serto the recipients for their northern district who stood geant 2439 Claudia Butler, 3397 Patrick outstanding work.

“We out. “We truly appreci- Corporal know that you cannot be ate your commitment and Thurston, Det Corp 3137 fully compensated for all dedication in causing our Nelson Botin, Det Corp the time you are away from community to be safe. I 3442 Lamon Kerr, Det your families while keeping want to give credit to the Corp 3498 Malcom Dean, your community safe, and commissioner for his vision- and Corp 3506 Arnold Nesall the sacrifices you make ary leadership and being bitt Jr, for their bravery and daily to guard and maintain in tune with us; he under- courage in responding to the good reputation of the stands that praise is one of assist a distress vessel with RBPF,” he said. “We see the powerful tool a leader 82 passengers in waters off your commitment and we can use, and I invite com- Abaco.

Supt Noel Curry said know your hard work, and manding officers to look at so this commendation cer- their staff and give recom- the officers demonstrated strength and courage emony is just a small token mendation,” he said. through treacherous waters of our appreciation.”

Among those receiving SEE PAGE FIVE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT and Local Government Minister Renward Wells announced a “final” timeline of the third week in May for the General Post Office’s official move from East Hill Street to Town Centre Mall.

The new “state of the art” location is 99 percent complete, Mr Wells told The Tribune yesterday, despite its appearance just three weeks ago when the Progressive Liberal Party conducted an impromptu tour of the site.

Although the Post Office Bank and the cafeteria were finished before Christmas, the minister said he did not want a piecemeal move, adding several factors contributed to the general delay of the relocation.

He said it all came down to different aspects of the facility’s drawings needing to be redone, issues with mailboxes and problems with some parts of the building’s power supply for equipment like CCTV. Last October, an initial deadliine of December 15, 2018 was set for the move.

SEE PAGE SIX

GAME ON

FANTASTIC FINALE: See Friday’s Tribune for the ultimate countdown to the final series of Game of Thrones. Above are Kit Harington as Jon Snow and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A PILOT’S failure to maintain control of his plane was the probable cause of a crash that killed him and two others in Eleuthera last year, according to a new report by the Air Accident Investigation Department.

Three American men died on June 5, 2018 when their Cessna 421B plane crashed shortly

WRECKAGE of the aircraft

after departing the Rock Sound International Airport heading to Ft Pierce,

WEB shops were last night warned by a Cabinet minister to “get on board and pay your fair share to the Treasury” otherwise their licences will not be renewed if taxes remain owing.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, who has responsibility for gaming, said there was no good reason for continued foot-dragging by some operators now that the industry’s taxation settlement with the government had been given legal effect.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Florida. The accident was not survivable because “of the high speed, high angle impact with trees and the terrain and the intensity of the post-crash fire,” the AAID said.

The plane crashed in a heavily wooded area that was not easily accessible.

First responders and rescue personnel encountered difficulty finding the wreckage.

The fire destroyed 80 percent of the plane, hindering the investigative efforts of the AAID. SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE EIGHT

GRAND BAHAMA POLICE DISCOVER AMMUNITION, FIREARMS AND DRUGS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama police discovered about $30,000 worth of illegal drugs as well as firearms and ammunition on Grand Bahama this week.

According to reports, the first incident involved the discovery of 28 pounds of marijuana sometime around 3pm on Wednesday in the Freeport/Lucaya area.

Supt Walter Henderson reported that officers acting on information went to an area off Fortune Bay Drive, where they conducted a

search and found five clear wrapped packages of suspected marijuana, with an estimated street value of $28,000.

He said that no arrest was made in the matter.

In the second incident, a team of officers acting on information went to a bushy area after 8pm no Wednesday in Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock where they searched and discovered a .38 Colt revolver, containing five .38 ammunition.

Supt Henderson said that no arrest was made in that incident.

Later that evening, sometime after 9pm officers from Mobile Division

proceeded to the Beaconsfield area where they found a white plastic bag containing a quantity of suspected marijuana. The estimated weight is about two pounds with an estimated street value of $2,000.

He also reported that sometime after 10pm officers of Rapid Response were in the area of Adventurers Way when they stopped a vehicle. During a search, he said that officers found foil wrapping containing suspected marijuana.

Supt Henderson said that the driver was taken into custody and is expected to be charged.

OFFICERS from the Abaco District who demonstrated strength and courage to rescue 18 Haitians after their sloop shipwrecked in Abaco in February.

and were able to rescue 18 survivors, and retrieved 31 casualties.

Also recognised for their outstanding work in a major drug seizure in Grand Bahama were DEU officers Corporal 3301 Andrew Griffin, Sergeant 971 Breon Davis, Sergeant 1984 Kendal Smith, Corporal 3180 Yuri Lopez, and Constables 2935 Lakeisha Bradshaw, 3494 Edmund Burrows, and 3700 Rashad Johnson.

The officers were recognised in connection with the seizure of over 1,000 pounds of marijuana during a drug bust in East Grand Bahama, where suspects in a go-fast vessel were spotted and pursued. The occupants were suspected of smuggling illegal contraband, and the officers were able to retrieve 26 crocus sacks, containing a total 1,027 pounds of marijuana, from the water.

PAGE 6, Friday, April 12, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

GOVT RE-ENGAGES LARGE NUMBER OF ‘LET GO’ WORKERS from page one

However, he could not say specifically how many were reengaged. He made the comments yesterday following a graduation ceremony at Government House for dozens of registered nurses who successfully completed the Psychiatric Nursing Programme and the First Line Leadership & Management Certificate Programme.

Asked what the government is doing to control public sector hiring, he said: “Our hires this year will be targeted. We are replacing persons who resigned and like I said we are focusing on areas where there are strategic needs.”

Additionally, the minister said the government was also focusing on brain drain issues and attracting qualified Bahamians with

PUBLIC Service Minister Brensil Rolle degrees to apply for government jobs.

“We are trying to strategically place individuals in basically two programmes by the government.

One of which is we are targeting Bahamians with bachelor’s

degrees who are presently unemployed and what we propose to do is to encourage them to become employed by applying for a government job,” he said.

“We are going to hire them outside the public service on contract and their salary would be a little bit more competitive than in the service.”

He said this was not necessarily a strategy to improve unemployment numbers, but an effort to make The Bahamas more competitive.

“We are losing a tremendous amount of Bahamians to the US and Canada so we have got to respond. One of the ways that we are responding is saying to individuals there are many strategic areas in the government that vacancies exist so come back let’s talk. Let’s get you engaged.

“For example if you are in the Port Department there are so many vacancies there that need to be filled (and in) the Meteorology Department (as well).

“So we are saying to Bahamians let’s be competitive so to get them back into The Bahamas to get them engaged.

“We are offering a programme for degree individuals and this is not only to compete with those persons from away but to really get Bahamians engaged and so where vacancies exist we intend to fill them.”

In March 2018, the minister told the House of Assembly that an estimated 70 percent of the contracts awarded to persons for government employment under the Christie administration did not go through the Ministry of the Public Service.

This allowed Cabinet ministers to act “willy-nilly”, he said at the time.

As an example to parliamentarians, Mr Rolle said direct hiring to the Departments of Customs and Immigration was done without consultation of the public service.

In 2016, 114 customs officers were hired along with 217 immigration officers between March and April of 2017 and were told to report for duty without letters of engagement, the MP said.

The majority of them, he said, were just vetted when the Minnis administration took office.

However, according to Mr Rolle, around 50 of these persons had not been able to pass the vetting process.

The government, he said, has been advised by police to not even consider them for engagement.

Mother Pratt adds another accolade to her repertoire from page one

the inner-city to become the first woman deputy prime minister.

Friends, constituents and politicians all showed their support for Mrs Pratt by attending a press conference at Pat’s Senior Citizens Home yesterday.

“I’m an ordinary woman, I have the titles and all of that but those are words to me,” Mrs Pratt said.

“Many people have titles, but they’ve made no impact on another person. There is not one person that they can say they’ve helped up the path. It’s all about them.”

Mrs Pratt said: “God has given me the opportunity to sit with kings and queens, to the highest of high and (stay) in penthouses but when I look at all of this…

Ecclesiastes says it is all vanity meaningless. If I can’t touch a life then I would have failed, the titles wouldn’t mean a thing so we must leave a legacy.

“I want this country to understand that we may be a chain of islands small, but God is in control of this Bahama land and the people have demonstrated that over the years.

“We even have in our constitution we are a Christian nation. It is rare because normally governments don’t do that but that

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia “Mother” Pratt is due to appear in a guest feature on the Vera Moore Show. Below: the host, Vera Moore. is what we say as a people,” she continued.

Mrs Pratt said while she did not know it, God has

been preparing her for years to become the “voice of the poor”.

She said: “I came up

through the ropes knowing you better survive because there is no food tonight. I tell my story all the time so the masses in there will know there is still hope.

“The God that raised me from the gutter to the top is the same God that exist today so we can’t be ashamed to talk about our life and where God has brought us from.

“I still live in the inner city yes I still live among the people. I’m often criticised for still remaining there, I’ve been asked negative questions but listen this is my request I can sell out and move. Why would I do that to please you? I’m to please my God first then myself.”

She added: “The people are my life and I’ve represented them in the House of Parliament. If I wanted to remain in politics I can run today and win but, I have no desire. I finished my 15 years and I want to move on to higher heights, but the people still have confidence in me because they know I’ll be the voice of the poor and they can’t shut me up. This is a miracle from God that (Vera) is here and I had no idea this would happen.”

Ms Moore, a talk show host, said she didn’t know “Mother” Pratt beforehand,

but God brought them together.

She said: “Why we started the Vera Moore Show…my mantra has always been economic empowerment, leadership. When Timothy told me about Mother Pratt, I wanted to take time out and meet this lady. I did and I wanted to because I could learn so much from her. She’s a leader… you acknowledge her, you honor her, respect her and she’ll guide you and lead you.”

Glenys Hanna-Martin, Englerston MP, yesterday commended Mrs Pratt

for staying true to her background.

Mrs Hanna Martin said: “Mother Pratt never forgot where she came from. She said it’s not where you start but where you end up. Mother Pratt’s life has reflected that…and you’ve seen it in her work in politics, sports, and national security.

“Mother Pratt is a celebrated personality in this country, and I think her story resonates anywhere. She was able to mentor so many people and she hustled many scholarships.”

30 HAITIANS CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL LANDING MORE than 30 Haitian migrants were arraigned in Magistrate’s Court in Inagua yesterday on charges of illegal landing. The 37 migrants — 30 males and seven females — were brought before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt in Magistrate’s Court at Mathew Town.

According to a press release from the Department of Immigration, the migrants were convicted of

illegal landing and ordered a conditional discharge.

Early deportation was recommended.

Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt along with a team of immigration officials arrived in Inagua yesterday morning for the hearing. Officers Lashandawn Adderley and Shandeshia Marshall prosecuted these matters.

Meanwhile, six Haitians were charged before the

magistrate in New Providence on Wednesday. Of this group, five were convicted of illegal landing and sentenced to one month at Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

According to the Department of Immigration, Kerby Nelson was remanded until April 17, pending documentation.

Nelson claims to have been born in the Bahamas, immigration officials said.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 12, 2019, PAGE 7

Hotel worker denies molesting colleague

By NICO SCAVELLAÂ Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

said he asked the woman if she wanted to go along with him Phillipson’s residence, or if she preferred to get out of the car at that point.

He said she consented to going along.

Loriston said when he arrived at Phillipson’s place in the Mackey Street area, and when Phillipson walked out to greet him, the woman abruptly got out of the car and told him that if she knew Loriston was going to see Phillipson, her ex-boyfriend, she never would have never gone with him and instead would have gotten off on the corner.

Loriston also repeatedly

subsequently contacted, who later took her to a police station where she filed a formal complaint.

According to Magistrate McKinney, the officer who the woman got help from confirmed her story.

The woman officer said she heard the woman calling for help, but out of an abundance of caution did not open her door. Instead, the officer said she got a cell number from the woman, called that number and gave the person who answered certain information.

Loriston was later arrested and charged with indecent assault.

However, Loriston, opting to take the witness stand in his defence, and with the aid of a translator, said around noon on the date in question, the woman asked him for a ride home once their shift had completed at 5pm. He said the day prior, he had given her a ride over the Paradise Island bridge to the bus stop.

Loriston said when the woman asked him for a ride on the 25th, he said “okay�.

He said when 5pm arrived, the woman came looking for him. When they both got into his car, she then asked him to do her an additional favour by taking her to a bank in the Mackey Street area, taking her back over to Paradise Island, before dropping her home.

Loriston said he again consented. He said he took her to the bank, where she withdrew some funds, then took her back to Paradise Island for her to drop off the money. At some point, he said the woman used his cellphone to call her cousin to get the money she withdrew. Afterwards, he said they left Paradise Island for the second and final time en-route to her home.

Loriston said as they were driving, he got a call from someone named Phillipson who asked him to pick up some money. According to Loriston, Phillipson is the woman’s ex-boyfriend, who also worked at Warwick Hotel covering the night shift. But based on Loriston’s evidence, the suggestion is she did not know it was Phillipson he was going to see.

Nonetheless, Loriston

A 30-YEAR-OLD Haitian man is trying to stave off allegations he fondled his co-worker after promising to drop her home from work earlier this year.

Loody Loriston has denied police claims that he took the woman to an area she was unfamiliar with and indecently assaulted her instead of taking to her Market Street home as agreed on January 25.

Loriston and the woman both work at Warwick Hotel on Paradise Island.

Loriston said he started working there in December 2018, but said he has since been suspended due to his court matter. He also has another job at Cleaning Masters, where he has worked for some two years.

According to the evidence summarised by Magistrate Samuel McKinney, the woman reported that on January 25, Loriston offered her a ride home.

She said she accepted his offer because at that time of the year, dark falls quickly.

She said earlier that day, Loriston had took her to a bank in Palmdale to run an errand.

The woman said while driving to her home, the route Loriston took became concerning to her. She said Loriston drove through many corners that she thought were shortcuts at the time. Nonetheless, she said as she was out of New Providence for six years, the turns made her somewhat disoriented.

She said Loriston eventually brought his car to a stop in front of a residence in an area she was unfamiliar with. She said when she asked him why they were there instead of at her residence on Market Street, Loriston did not answer, and instead fondled her.

The woman said she was able to fight him off, and when she was able to break free from his hold, she opened the car and ran away. She said she ended up at a stranger’s residence where she sought help from the person who lived there, who turned out to be a police officer.

Her boyfriend was

BAMSI EMPLOYEE SUSPENDED AFTER ‘GROPE’ CLAIM

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AN employee at the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) has been suspended as police investigate a claim he groped a co-worker. BAMSI chairman Tennyson Wells confirmed to The Tribune the incident The Tribune in was reported sometime The Tribune February, but denied social OBITS ilegedat media reports Th ofe apriv rape the Andros facility.

“I don’t think it was anything that rises to the level of rape,� Mr Wells said. “I know a lady made a complaint that somebody groped her. She made a complaint to human resources and to police and we suspended the person. “So human resources followed up with police because we want to know what action to take. We already took some action, but we’re just waiting on that investigation to know ne The eeTrkeibund W what our next step is.�

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By AVA TURNQUEST to sources Reporter of According Tribune Chief matter, as media.net close to the Wells has since aturnquest@tribune Mr Progres- Monday his accounts FOUR former Cabinet paid $9,000 on balParty an outstanding ARNOLD sive Liberal more than with $8,600.

FORBES ministers owedat Bahamas ance of some also said as $62,023 The source Forbes was one $20,000 each Mr Light, with Power and in arrears of Monday the company former minister as of July, in talks with balance over settle the Mr for some $60,000 a list obtained to three-month period. a according to PLP Mount

by The Tribune.and Collec- Forbes, former MP, was appointed The Credit 2015, listing of Moriah in January the tions Department and board to Cabinet served as MPs, senators the period and previouslythe Bahamas of for members 31, revealed chairman and Industrial ending July State Minister Agricultural that former of Works Corporation. the “do not on Ministry Others in the owed BPL list are: former Dr disconnect�

Arnold Forbes of Health Tall $62,023.14.

by The Minister former The list obtained delin- Perry Gomez, Leslie Miller, Tribune contains of six Pines MP Youth Minister of former quent accounts Cabinet minis- former Johnson, PLP Danny Dion former PLP MPs, Dr Village MP ters, two former Tourism DR DANIEL entities, and Nassau two private Cabinet min- Smith, former JOHNSON Obie Wilchcombe, one sitting $24,413 Town MP Minister South Beach MP and former ister: Bamboo Hamilton State Renward Wells. who owed Cleola of Mr Wells, $3,703.96 at former Minister Damian Affairs $9,277.07 and locations - for Legal two separatetotal – did not Gomez.

SEE PAGE EIGHT $12,981.03 in yesterwant to comment other former day, and the

DR PERRY GOMEZ $24,498

LESLIE MILLER $42,219

ing

By NEIL HARTNELL Editor $25m, five-year maximum contract Tribune Businessedia.net BPL management nhartnell@tribunem and Minnis if the board wish it to go.

Power & BAHAMAS board will administration which will The meeting,PowerSecure Light’s (BPL) meeting� attended by hold a “crunch today, be their attorneys executives and as key with PowerSecure likely crit- from the US, is viewed the with the outcome whether the to determining whethermake and ical in decidingas manager. sides will “kiss latter remainsTribune Busi- two separate. up� or Multiple - SEE BUSINESS yesterday US FULL STORY ness sources that the confirmed

DION SMITH $9,275

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HUMILIATION FORAFTER 4O YEARS LOSES HIS SEAT

seats: Encaptured four Island and Cat were spent under to South Aners’ dollars administration. glerston; 1,900 votes and San Salvador; Christie the win with is evidence 2017 the as well as Exuma DORSETT Mr Christie’s 1,875.

He said if there the new dros VIRGIL ELECTION Islands.

By SANCHESKAReporter to the unofBy KHRISNA Reporter seat, Fox According the the Ragged of “criminality�, Tribune Staff from the Parwill allow SPEAK edia.net An additional being reDeputy Chief ia.net ficial results Registration government course.

THE PEOPLE sdorsett@tribunem PAGE 4 was still its kvirgil@tribunemed his Hill, law to take to press time. and liamentary Mr Chipman after ON’ decounted up his parMoments DNA ‘TO GO PAGE 5 IN a surprisingat the Department, as the na- This marked the worst in out of 12 pollAFTER leadinglandslide defeat party won seven maiden speech MinLOSE humbling leader, Dr Prime Min- ing divisions in the former ty to a stunning feat for a governing Mr tion’s next PLP BIG NAMESPAGE 7 dealing a parapolls, outgoing that under recent history. victory and to the ProgresChristie lost PLP stronghold, while will nis promised victory came MPS ister Perry Bahamians The FNM’s won five. lysing blow Party last night, years the Centreville his watch, YOUR PROJECTED his seat in last night by Christie PAGE 9 to fear from despite a rocky five Mr Christie sive Liberal In 2012, have nothing conPrime Minister constituency representing pointing to that included two challengFAR incoming the Centrevilleeighth the government, RESULTS SO PAGE 14 Minnis declared 25 votes aftermore than 40 won the which he said es to Dr Minnis’ leadership, Dr Hubert of a fracstituency for time with have abused “imvictimisation, the area for to unofthat those who trust “have continued reports ultimately consecutive He defeated is “unconstitutional�

MORE COVERAGE of years, according party and the post “wrong�.

PAGES 2-18 positions 2,950 votes. moral� and to unofficial tured to fear�. ficial results. candidate Ella removal from has held something to thousands of According able his Official Opat the Mr Christie 1977 and the FNM’s FNM was leader of the House of Speaking by 1,349 votes at the Q House today. results, the defeat of won all the Lewis the seat since pledged that to pull off a stunning mas- position in the jubilant supporterslast night, ment Mr Christie leader of Dr Minnis has been Liberal Party time. polling division in will give securing a E Sports Centre Assembly. but one a long fought National Move- his administration Terrance of the PLP, Progressive was constituencies.

Free 39 “This the is not General Regit sive 34 of also announced since 1997. released a Prime 2012. but the victoryyours,� ment leader be sworn in as Auditor the resources former is Although he the loss, The Parliamentary did battle, The about his seat to that he will fourth prime Bastianto probe how taxpay- istration Department re- mine - the victory thousands Minister lost Movement statement did not speak full election last Dr Minnis told on the carThe Bahamas’ at Govern- needs Christie not release 5pm Free National packed with the and po- Mr minister at SEE PAGE SIX sults last night, in from the of FNMs (FNM) candidate Reece nival grounds. people’s time numbers coming litical newcomer agency around “This is the and I who secured government from the and I am your servant Chipman, 11pm. However it apSEE PAGE THREE unofficial numbers, the PLP only of the conpeared that “The outcomeinspire trust to not vention did Humes according in the Bahasaid last af- Mark confidence results, coming or that’s “obvious� mian electorate but think sweeping defeat residents unofficial that it is I ROLLE have stood behind us now and they night ter Fort Charlotte

By RASHAD Reporter told him party would winning the the party has a wonderful repeatedly lead- the Tribune Staff stand the any a better chance a.net rebuild and could not he been victori- opportunity to rrolle@tribunemedi of the country per- election had itself,� he said. leadership for for- ership despite their ous in the PLP’sadding that reengineer longer, him.

AS HE called SEE PAGE SIX RASPBERRY Minister Perry sonal affection for was pro- race in January, made a mistake� mer Prime who ICED TEA “the party resign as leader Mr Sears, Mr Christie.

Free NaChristie to Liberal in choosing to lose to the Al- jected Movement’s (FNM) of the Progressive last night, the tional Party (PLP) said he saw fred Sears

DAMIAN GOMEZ $3,413

OBIE WILCHCOMBE

CLEOLA

FRIDAY i’m lovin’ it!

By AVA TURNQUEST Reporter Tribune Chief edia.net aturnquest@tribunem Sewerage WATER and Chairman Corporation yesterday Adrian Gibson existence the confirmed disconnect� of a “do not by scores list populatedthe governof elites at utility owned to ment he pledged provider as on initiate a crackdown accounts. delinquent told The Mr Gibson “confidential Tribune the 221accounts, list� held total of with a combined the period $175,000 for2017. ending June he plans He said that corporathe to direct all persons tion to notify arrears owing excessive or face debts to resolve disconnection.a list confi“There is the Long dential list,�

Island MP said. think would I “In fact, corporations that all the year or two, in over the last and more particularly year, there May of thisclose attenhas been that list by tion paid to with the management changing the a view to lists usually way those operate. this con“As it stands, a number has fidential list on it, and of persons it’s being really and trulypersons by used to notify or letters. courtesy call that as the I can say toothe corporachairman of to direct tion I am going owing that all personswho are excessive arrears EIGHT SEE PAGE at the end of

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By SANCHESKA Reporter in Fox Hill.

Tribune Staff walkabout edia.net During a Acting prepared. live national sdorsett@tribunem on Tuesday, ROLLE During a Ferguson Commissioner Fox Hill his office

By RASHAD Reporter ACTING Fergu- Commissioner and address from Dr Minnis Tribune Staff Anti-Gang a.net of Police Anthony yesterday said the Inveslast night, Maria is rrolle@tribunemedi Tracing and announced dev- son establishment of two Firearms Unit will operate fore- said: “Hurricane the potentially Bahamas tigation WITH Detecwe the Maria another hurricane that separate Royal anti-crime out of the Central the cast for Hurricane Force storm to pass astating monitor.�

(CDU) while projecting the Baha- must carefully Though most Police aimed at eliminating tive Unit SEE PAGE 11 units counHe added: near the Southeast Prime was spared gang activity in the morning, of mas Friday Hubert Minnis of the Bahamas the number try, reducing Minister Dr of those SEE PAGE TWO and is urging residents be vigilant islands to

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Dr Hubert MinPRIME Minister Kendera Woodside, nis meeting murdered Eugene the mother of

this Yes I feel for our countries.than I can say.� more ensure has a responsibility one mother said he will Each citizen information Dr Minnis provided to and whatever that forward. medical attention is is pregnant. the composure. said he felt the fam- has we must bring among us.� who after feel live Dr Minnis Mrs Woodside, the grieving and days makes me Three These criminals who emphasised country’s he “You can see of those pushed the ily’s pain. “What through,�

Mrs Minnis, that her appearis that most during murder that violent crime into ROLLE she’s going someI, even worse

By RASHAD Reporter not a pain “I assured her that the family the yard, struggle with spotlight yet again, them was doctor, to will have we see in Tribune Staff a.net ance before called on women said. today (Friday) we to look the national as a medical acute. rrolle@tribunemedi come my my years political move,one day this week time her pain remained live a life, medical personnel she’s pregand comforting cried. “He ain’t even to wear blackfor murder victims.

Dr THE hugs her because sure that Prime Minister wife God,� Mrs Woodsidegive my upon after in mourning I’m calling words of I have to make infant are and his a baby. I could my really nant. “As a mother, Hubert Minnis couldn’t answer “He’s right now just for because I this,� her and her unborn will also make take all mothers can stop the Patricia Minnis that consumed breath be right here. They well and we to to make sure believe mothers who was tearful both the questions yesterday as babyheart out my body. who arrangementsmedical personnel They said Mrs Minnis, eight- my Kendera Woodside have our sons on a only son. for her son, killed times. “We birth and as they necessary her and see her “This my my daughter too after she grieved of them at from the safety who was still with look almost shoot (the house) with would’ve delivered most knowing we cradle basis to ensure infant.� year-old Eugene, men we are to me with regular they inside four days ago. people ain’t tell- and What they do to my family? so they are closer patients,� Dr becomeWe have to speakshould of her and her unborn PAGE TWO SEE are my former “Why these bringing my son me. they do to us? by pro- them. I think all women week me? I they we them. ain’ carry one day this ing me they she cried between What Minnis, a gynaecologist “The message “Why they wear black what’s happening in a baby.� tried to right now?� fession, said. the entire Bahamas 29 years, He’s Dr Minnis and mourn Eugene’s to live as send alone.

Rosescreams must this Tonio Woodside, family at theirEugene wife even is the police can’t fight console the consoled his home where on father, struggled to maintain bud Road a stray bullet as he was shot by did his homework. he Monday as

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By NEIL HARTNELL Editor Rolle, minForce’s (CFATF) BRENSIL Tribune Businessedia.net services he included that were not The Bahamas report on his staff ister of public nhartnell@tribunem 1,700 workers Gen- that he instructedaddressing and National Insurance, in his original count.

December Progressive THE Attorneyslammed to begin work on June.

Amid the said between 2017, the criticism May flaws from early eral yesterday

by Liberal Party’sadministrablasted the 2016 and in the nation’s the ballooned Mr Bethel deficiencies adminis- public purse laundering of the of the Minnisof its firings anti-money former Christie to tackle $16,532,738 because because “entirely unacfailing administration’s tion regime as SEE PAGE SIX they had tration for with the Christie public service ceptable�, warning “in great known weaknesses hiring of new that period. during put The Bahamas necessary urgency.

BUSINESS workers danger�. told Trib- FULL STORY - SEE Carl Bethelhe had been une Business

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traditions. just a short ROLLE “Earlier today,present ParBy RASHAD Reporter the while ago, Tribune Staff officially disa.net liament was Christie said. rrolle@tribunemedi Mr Perry solved,�seat in the House of “Every PRIME Minister the prover- Assembly is now vacant. the to you, Christie rang morning, “It is now left beloved bial bell yesterday that the 2017 citizenry of our who will announcing be held on nation, to decide in the next election willMay 10. fill those seats In doWednesday, address, givof Assembly.

His televisedOffice of the House you will also be dethe ing so, en live at the came mowho will form Prime Minister, Commis- ciding of the BahaPolice government five years. ments after Greenslade, for the next that mosioner Ellison as provost mas “You will make in what in his capacity decision proclamations pray marshal, readHouse of As- mentous hope and fair elecoutside the Governor Gen- I earnestly be free and Pin- will following a spirited sembly from Marguerite Let tions eral Dame Parliament. peaceful campaign. dling dissolving said he is but the forthcoming Mr Christie election will us contestwith all the vigour confident the and will fol- elections fair at our command.� be free and and peaceful SEE PAGE TWO low a spirited is consistent campaign that political with this country’s

ED 170,000 HAVE REGISTER DAY AHEAD OF POLLING

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By RASHAD Reporter register, ridding errors.

Tribune Staff a.net much-publicised staff to rrolle@tribunemedi “We have enough “We 170,000 peo- do this,� Mr Hall said.certiJUST over sure it’s to vote have to make after tople have registered 10 general elec- fied some 14 daysdate.� for the May Comday’s (Tuesday’s) with the tion, Parliamentary Hall said In accordance Elections missioner Sherlyn pubParliamentary yesterday. what he de- Act, Mr Hall will give of This follows election in a “mad rush� notice of the week, statscribed as to vote lic this of newspapers people registering place in conthe last day ing the date, times when on Monday, and registration. 172,000 peo- stituencies papers must be There were to vote in the nomination delivered. ple registeredelection.

SEE PAGE THREE 2012 general RegParliamentary is The Department istration

OVER BPL BANNISTER WORRIES THE LIGHTS ON ABILITY TO KEEP

energy. solar, to produce of agreeof Works The heads the governMINISTER said challenges, Desmond Bannister ment requires to “address concerns� pressed certain and BPL delayed today marks which he suggestedof docu- he has “serious Power and ment and consistent WHILE with Bahamas to “keep the reliable of electricity on the for both sitsubmission the deadlineformer parlia- the tell- supply Providence, Light’s ability are chal- lights on this summer,� of island of New ting and to file financial ments. the abiliAmong these the lack will include finanmentarians Public Discloing The Tribuneprevent the whichmeet the requirements with obtaining may ty to disclosures, Chair- lenges from spouses, cial records in situations reliability from fulfilling of the project.� sure Commission the instalLaroda told requireoper- government This involves supporting man Myles yesterday that particularly Mar all the necessary they may have all lation “of The Tribunestill some that wherebank accounts prior ments in the Baha necessary to ated there were He said there heads of agreement.he is al- infrastructure that SEE PAGE FIVE are “outstanding�.yesterday, to marriage. some unwillingHe added at new, alIn an interview in his dis- was also and apprehension ready “looking including said ways,�

Mr Laroda some persons ness SEE PAGE THREE ternative cussions with to make who are required they exthe disclosures,

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By KHRISNA Reporter Archdea- By BROWN Tribune Staff edia.net Ortland Bodie, Deputy Chief

By SANCHESKA said this elecia.net Reporter con Palacious “difficult� for ljohnson@tribunem kvirgil@tribunemed Tribune Staff edia.net Sr was tion will be and the FNM Move- sdorsett@tribunem of OMAR Archer both the PLP is no FREE National Dr Hubert Archdea- and at this point there how yesterday convicteda senment Leader to harm ANGLICAN gauge said said the threatening way to “properlygo.�

Minnis yesterday“all hands con James Palacious officer through need that the Progres- the results will came one ior police his social media FNM will vote the Pro- yesterday Party appears a post to two years ago.

His comments on deck� to Party gov- sive Liberal its life�

Deputy Prime nearly he to be “fighting for neither day after Phillip “Brave� page 45-year-old Nassau gressive Liberal of office as that The ernment out Day, May and predicted party nor the Ministerpredicted that the Village resident appeared Davis heralded Election seats in the SEE PAGE SEVEN Movement that will bring the governing will win 30 10, as a day Free Nationalseats in next PLP SEE PAGE TWO 30 change. spoke dur- will wingeneral election. at month’s Dr Minnis on conference as a guest ing a press Appearing SEE PAGE THREE

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By RASHAD Reporter Tribune Staff a.net rrolle@tribunemedi Nottage’s DR Bernard forever be will “footprints the Bahamian etched on landscape� fordevelopmental work as a through his of the Bahamer president of Athletic mas Association the Bahamas the Associations, Medical Association, and as a afMinDoctors’ Union consumer FORMER Prime reminister for health and to accept the ister Perry Christie a defeat, was as I did when I fairs, education, Opposifor it arrears, into pictured yesterday. W. national security, who was in sponsibility response to Photo: Terrel Philip “Brave� airport tenant described recent resigned,� he said in Staff levelled tion Leader as Carey/Tribune the criticism recent from accusations Mr Christie Davis said Wednesday. in questions on 71, died administration spending, misfea- moves made by the government pandering at his administration Dr Nottage, the Cleveby a party of irresponsible WELLS at a “misstep� thought

By RICARDO Reporter Wednesday He will receive sance and cronyism. that weeks. never any he was “disap- to its base. maintained Tribune Staff “There was land Clinic. ia.net He also said allegations being I was acceptin arrangerelating Mr Christie part that by the rwells@tribunemed gova state funeral announced, of documents would on my for any degree Per- pointed�around by the new be irrethat a review two controversies ments to ing responsibility Prime Minister tossed matters any criminality, the press secof of to these to FORMER as according the notion whatsoever administration yesterday condemned ernment concerning Office of the his last term absolve his and prove that much sponsible spending andbare’ is just ry Christie retary for the Minnis administra- transpired during Anthony is as noth- that ‘the cupboard is wrongdoing efforts by the his government in Prime Minister, prime minister.at accusations from of the FNM’s rhetoric slogans.� tion to portray as he challenged Newbold. “political political slogans.�

Hitting back Minnis adminislight, SEE PAGE SIX ing more than challenges I have SEE PAGE THREE a negative leader to carry out a of the the controverof the members “One of the the nation’s led the governexamination tration concerning than $8m to as the person who more government of “dispassionate the clean up sial pay out and who led record�. interview at one vendor for hurricane to an ment off of $1.2m During a lengthy home on Thursand the write his Cable Beach defended his day, Mr Christie

be abandoned.

it must Hurriis so devastated the island as Ragged Island remained on “Every home has Minnis warns with those who last week. destroyed. The Minister Dr Hubert Rag- discussion battered their homes has been has been health facility on storm-stricken Min- cane Irma Prime teachers’ residence no water. destroyed. The and safety conditions to deteriorate, urged the 18 been has been destroyed. The is no light. There is HEALTH he smell the school will only continue destroyed. There about, you can yesterday as The in the afterged Island Minnis said to evacuate “As we walkcarcasses, dead animals. deister Dr Hubert on the island reduced will stench of dead of the individuals remaining residentsIrma, which has them REPORT that we get of rubble and SPECIAL health conditions Russell, math of Hurricane it’s essential there to piles Words: Khrisna W Carey teriorate and Dr Minnis said. most structures the only Pictures: Terrel island unlivable. Dr Minnis off this island,� reluctant to leave for rendered the stay here,� saw for the understandablyhome, expressing concern “They cannot as Many were and a delegation and days ever known through said after he damage left by Irma place they’ve hurricane ripped of their residences, first time the Five monster will have about the safety personal belongings. behind. We Defence by the smell after the Category island. “They are concerned may have left and the exacerbated of all es- whatever materials they the small southern a vessel here the same physical condition, the destruction still Force dispatch the cleanup and at The island’s carcasses and strongly urge those the Defence Minnis said. THREE of rotting animalled Dr Minnis to small community can Force will try to commence security,� Dr SEE PAGE that there is sential services, to leave until the time ensure Island has been on Ragged Ragged Island and be restored. to the residents; a walk through “I’ve spoken Minnis said following Dr devastated,�

Friday, June 30, 2017

prom Fashion, pages 14&15

FORMER PM TELLS OF LAST TALK WITH NOTTAGE

IS • FORMER PM BY DAVIS TRIBUTE OF ‘DISAPPOINTED’ NS TO LEGACY COLLEAGUE FNM ALLEGATIO • SAYS GOVT DID NOTHING WRONG OVER $8M PAYOUT • CALLS FOR REVIEW OF DOCUMENTS

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IN THE SPOTLIG

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By RICARDO Reporter Tribune Staff ia.net rwells@tribunemed concern ADMITTING Bernard Notin over what Dr have battled last tage may his isolation during Prime Minisdays, former yesterday for ter Perry Christie admiration the expressed forth by the effort put security to former national the build-up minister in election. the May general from his Breaking away since being public silence office in hisof a voted out last month, toric fashion Mr Chrishis visibly troubled portions of his tie detailed with last conversation and longfriend childhood colleague on time political Thursday.

Centreville The former Nottage as Dr MP saw “fought tehis someone who throughout naciously� he loved and life for thosetrait he said he a supported, up to their saw on display last conversation. PAGE SIX SEE

Liberal were obtaineda from a ther’s PROGRESSIVE Bradley The emails EMAILS leaked following of China Con- by The Tribune Party Chairmanout at his highdata breach (CCA) Roberts lashed story in December of CCA struction America’s colleague Vinthat from the breach former party night, accusservers show2013, Jerome lighting by a San Francisco cent Peet last North Anto servers China Construction as early as was seeking ing the former Islands MP hacker.

Fitzgerald of dollars eventually paid 24 bitcoins dros and Berry enemy� $24,000) secure millions trucking, and (the equivalent of of being a “political an independin brokerage, to their servat Baha who mounted because he to have access it aplimousine contracts showing a resat in Cabinet ers restored; however, ent campaigna nomination forwarded leaked emails Mar while he of Educathat emails ONE of the Education, Sciwas denied party.

Minister of as the Minister and Tech- pears relating to personnel quest from or Jerome Fitzgerald. from the governing tion, Science Tribune has to, to PLP supcompromised, ence and Technology Speaking at CCA were in The nology, The a rally in North officials at Baha porters at night, Mr Robagent for Limolink despite top they were not learned. which his Bahamas. You are encourcontradict the saying at from Andros last is war� as faThe emails this week de- Mar clientele with a reference by the hack if erts said “this writes, “I limousine company was vote aged to get of Viacom Minister, who his office to concerned the crowd toPerry Mr Fitzgerald matime. the president feel free he urged Dr nied ever using to himself the an email dated May 18, am aware that interior arrive miliar. with regard the you wish. Please In for incumbent that a vote “Also Izmirlian terials have began to really we direct contracts me personally business from the mul- 2013, sent to Mr the Gomez, adding to contact with hotel. I would or his family resort. is a vote for be limousine to meet with or have your agents contact Mr Fitzgerald, Cur- for the for Mr Peet Movement. if we could ready it Managing he Shelly are ti-billion dollar - the Pro- by our broPorter, appreciate anytime,�

Free National Mr Porter Mr Fitzgerald Party MP QuentinAlarice Fill copied, appointed your official your people SEE PAGE SIX his Director directly.� tis and 1st 2013.� writes. gressive Liberal we really ker for June - appears also Mr Fitzgerald indicates a request TWO & THREE “As indicated cusSEE PAGES for Marathon start brokerage $20,000 He then makesfor limouto highend for readiness to only cater to be requesting official Baha Mar’s and trucking services and of Mr Izmirlian Baha Mar, tomers and are the project a month from Sarkis services at of Baha Mar of re- sinehe touted the level original developer the ex- the brokers as the citing Izmirlian, were necessary remain for the property. penses that cost of his fa- cord to cover the Healthcare hisMarsh Harbour a tortured ROLLE Centre has missed deadBy RASHAD Reporter one of Staff tory, of shoddy Tribune a.net lines and claimsall without rrolle@tribunemedi of- workmanship, accountability.

GOVERNMENT the any clear facility’s original The bankrupt. ficials commissioned Healththe contractor went of Marsh Harbour in Abaco yesConstruction began Centre care centre it as a longIngraham terday, touting to the island healthcare under the former awaited boost adminisin and the Christie Health administration.

Christie adhealth centre When the Staff tration’s National tours the new came to power, RASPBERRY Perry Christie the W. Carey/Tribune Insurance plans. and Ado- ministration renovating Photo: Terrel ICED TEA PRIME Minister it spent $1m Like the Child SEE PAGE SIX Abaco yesterday.

Robert Smith lescent and that was (CARS) Complex last year, the commissioned

R HEALTH MARSH HARBOU

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By SANCHESKA Reporter Tribune Staff edia.net sdorsett@tribunem yesFIREFIGHTERS a large blaze terday battled Providence at the New three weeks Landfill, nearly a massive that after tackling city dump fire at the nearly a month. burned for Charge of Fire Officer in Chief SuperinServices, Evans said tendent Walter is “not confire the the current any way to this nected� in and at previous blazedo not know time officials the fire. Howwhat caused Minister ever Environment told rehe Kenred Dorsett the site that porters at “sabotage� in said suspected the fire. He relation to the team he “instructed�to have the firefighters of “before and blaze extinguished day� today nomination Baha Mar’s certainly before Friday. opening on started shortly The blaze and Wednesday after 3am officEvans said Chief Supt battle the fire to but ers expect another day for at least wind is a “huge� he said the factor.

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insisted that the woman told him: “My boyfriend is a police, I’m a Bahamian, and you’re a Haitian. I will deal with that.�

Loriston said he saw the woman at work the following day, but she didn’t say anything to him. Around 10 that morning however, he said two officers came to his place of work and told him to go to the Wulff Road police station at the end of his shift. He said some three hours later, other officers arrived and told him to go with them.

Loriston said the officers took him to the Paradise Island police station, before officers from the Central

Detective Unit (CDU) came for him. He said when he was taken to the Paradise Island station, he had no idea why. However, he said he found out once at CDU. He said while at CDU, a lady questioned him, and also questioned the woman.

Given his partial command of the English language, he said he only understood some of what was being said. “I felt bad,� he said via translator. “I didn’t know anything about it.�

Loriston, in response to questions put to him by his attorney Keevon Maynard, denied touching

the woman, saying, “No, never.� He also said she never complained during the ride.

Loriston also noted that at the time he gave the woman a ride, which was around the 5 o’clock hour, there was a lot of traffic on Mackey Street, so she could have gotten out at any time as opposed to waiting for him to bring the car to a stop. He also said it was because he knows the woman from work that he assisted her when she asked for a ride.

The matter continues on April 16.

Inspector Philip Davis is prosecuting the matter.

PAGE 8, Friday, April 12, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

On the funny side of Easter ... or why some hair spray might restore your faith in a good joke SINCE Easter is approaching, and Good Friday is a holiday, I thought I’d get the jump on the ‘Easter Bunny’ with some ‘Easter Funny.’

THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTER Several years ago, while preforming in Georgia, I had the chance to sit in on a middle school class presentation about Easter.

It’s still one of the funniest road stories I have, the comedian who I was working with, who shall remain nameless, for his sake, who is also a teacher, was asking his six-yearolds about the meaning of Easter.

“Children,” he said, “Do you know why we celebrate Easter?”

A little girl raised her hand.

“Yes Jenny,” he said.

Jenny said, “Is Easter when we put on costumes and go trick-or-treating?”

“No, Jenny. That’s Halloween. Does any one else know?”

A little boy yelled, “It’s when we set off fireworks!”

“No Jimmy, that’s Independence Day. Anybody else?”

A shy little girl in the back said, “Easter is when Jesus died.”

He replied, “That’s right,

Shauna. And what happened to Jesus that makes Easter special?”

“Well, he died and got buried. And every Easter he comes out. And if he sees his shadow there’s six more weeks of winter.”

HARE SPRAY A man was driving along the highway when he saw the Easter rabbit hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the rabbit, but unfortunately the Easter bunny jumped in front of the car and was struck by his car.

The basket of eggs and candy, the rabbit was carrying, went flying all over the place.

The driver, being a sensitive man, as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the rabbit carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the colourful rabbit was dead.

The driver felt so awful, he began to cry.

A woman driving down the highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over.

She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong?

“I feel terrible”, he explained, ‘“I accidentally

hit the Easter rabbit and killed it.

Children will be so disappointed. What should I do?”

The woman told the man not to worry. She knew what to do.

She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can.

She walked over to the dead, limp rabbit, and sprayed the contents of the can onto the furry animal.

Miraculously the Easter rabbit came to life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped down the road. 50 metres away the Easter rabbit stopped turned around, waved and hopped down the road. 50 metres further on, he turned again, waved and hopped another 50 metres, again he waved.

The man was astonished.

He couldn’t figure out what substance could be in the woman’s spray can.

He ran over to the woman and asked, “What is in your spray can?

What did you spray on the Easter rabbit?”

The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said: ‘Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.”

Happy Easter everyone, enjoy and remember the reason for the season!

WE NEED OUR YOUNGSTERS TO LEARN ABOUT CONSISTENT SAVING

READERS have been posting their reactions to the stories making the news this week on tribune242. com.

After Family Guardian president Glen Ritchie hailed the offloading of its under-performing pensions and capital markets business to Leno Corporate Services as a “win-win” for all parties, Realitycheck242 said: “Retrenchment in the the pension, investments and capital markets business in the Bahamas will continue as long as Bahamians fail to adopt a long term view with their personal finances. What is needed is more education from

the primary school level so that our youth can learn about what is possible with consistent saving, power on compounding interest, investment products, that are available. Too many of us see National Insurance as our hope for survival in retirement so we live for today with the attitude that tomorrow will take care of itself. ” Obie Ferguson, the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association’s president, labelled the government’s

current payout offer to Grand Lucayan managers as “discriminatory” because it is less favourable than the terms obtained by line staff.

Starting with a line from the story, TheMadHatter posted this comment: “‘. . . far in excess of the Employment Act’s 12-year limit that the government is seeking to impose on the managers.’

“No, they are not seeking to ‘impose’ - it’s the law.

The Employment Act is a law. If I get ticketed for running a red light can I cry to the judge and say ‘This policeman is seeking to IMPOSE the Road Traffic Act on me’?

THE TRIBUNE from page one realise there are only three places where many Bahamian children are freely accepted: the prison system, gangs and the grave.

She called for the establishment of a communications system for teachers and parents, and the introduction of mandatory conflict resolution classes.

Ms Gibson said: “Kids are joining gangs because they’re looking for identity and they’re looking for safety. If we don’t find a way to nip this (issue) in the bud now and be responsible for our children, then where does it leave us as a country?

“We live in a time where the older men are misleading our kids,” she continued.

“Kids today are not taught the value of life.

These young men are not taught when you fight another brother, guess what you’re actually attacking yourself because God made all men. He made everybody in the image of Him. Your life has value regardless if things aren’t going good at home, or if you can’t wear the Tommy or the Jordans, your life has value.”

Ms Gibson said communication should be established between teachers and parents, and suggested the use of social media platforms. She also stressed the importance of creating safe zones within classrooms to encourage students to confide in their teacher if they need help.

She said: “Teachers should create a WhatsApp group with all the students’ parents in their class. If Tommy isn’t to school the teacher should message the parent and say ‘hi soand-so it’s 9.40am and your child isn’t in school, is everything ok?’

“Teachers also need to make the children comfortable so they can come to them and tell them anything,” she said.

Friday, April 12, 2019, PAGE 9

We need to work together on gangs, says FOAM founder A5MAIN

THE TRIBUNE

Students open up on fear of gangs from page one

KHANDI GIBSON, director and founder of the organisation Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM). Right: How The Tribune reported on the story yesterday.

“As a teacher your job is to go to the principal and try to sort whatever issues out. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, it’s the school’s job to turn the problem child or children over to CDU.” Ms Gibson urged schools to take a stronger approach, and called for the introduction of mandatory conflict resolution classes as part of the national curriculum.

“I think schools should include Urban

Renewal and a conflict resolution class...that class should be mandatory in schools. “(When things happen in the schools) don’t have a special assembly and (invite) one guest speaker to speak to students because that is only one time. Teachers know who the troubled students and the good students are... the focus should be on the trouble makers. Maybe they came from a battered home and they can only

NEW TECH COMPANY TO CREATE 100 JOBS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ANOTHER tech company has been approved by government to operate a technology business in Grand Bahama, with an expected $2 million investment, it was announced yesterday.

The Office of the Prime Minister in Freeport officially confirmed that Skyward Techno-Bahamas, a software business solutions firm, has been approved to open a new location in Freeport.

The company intends to create up to 100 jobs for Bahamians over the next five years, according to a statement issued to The Tribune.

Businessman Kunjal Shukla owns the company, which was incorporated in India on November 15, 2010 and is currently in operation in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and Amedabad, India.

The company specialises in Android and iPhone app development and maintenance. It anticipates hiring five highly skilled Bahamians

Thursday, April 11, 2019, PAGE 5

by the third quarter of 2019 and a full staff of 17 by the end of the year.

According to the statement, Skyward has also started discussions with the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) about training Bahamians to take advantage of employment opportunities at the company.

“In keeping with the government’s commitment to establish Grand Bahama as a technology hub, we are pleased to welcome Skyward Techno-Bahamas as a continuation of our aggressive efforts in the development of our Silicon Island,” said Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson.

The government passed the Commercial Enterprises Act last year to attract technology companies to the Bahamas. To date, some three tech companies have been approved under the legislation.

In July 2018, the first tech company approved was GIBC Digital, which assists business clients to re-engineer their data resources to help them stay competitive and optimise their data

security. The company initially hired 25 Bahamians with a commitment to hire and train an additional 25 in specialised areas, such as automation, customer experience, data intelligence, and regulation and compliance.

The company had also launched an office in Nassau.

In January, the government approved a second tech company, Dev Digital, which specialises in software development, operated by Dev Digital CEO Peter Markum, Burton Rodgers and Alan Cates.

The company employs 135 people, with offices in the US, India, and Zambia.

It had announced that it would hire anywhere between 15 to 20 persons in Grand Bahama.

At that time, Mr Thompson noted that the island was experiencing significant benefits of the law, and noted the applications under the act are approved within 30 days as a result of the newly formed investment unit of the Bahamas Investment Authority in the OPM in Freeport.

is due to boys not having father figures in their lives or falling into the “wrong crowds”.

A second 11th grade CC Sweeting student told The Tribune he believes another fatal stabbing could occur.

“Yea,” the 16-year-old said. “(Because) people don’t know how to talk it out.”

He added students “definitely” carry weapons to school.

A 12th grade RM Bailey Senior High School student said she does fear gang violence as she has been a victim of it herself.

“Worried? Most definitely,” the 17-year-old girl said. “Scared?

More like terrified. Being a victim of bullying, many gang members have either abused me verbally or physically. I’m scared that my little brothers would fall into the arms of gang violence because they aren’t too strong or tough.

“It scares me because anyone can be targeted. Many crazy initiations are taking place in our schools and communities. I’m scared that my innocent little sister can be either hurt or even verbally attacked by a boy in a gang to earn brownie points.

“I’m praying that things change, so that my worrying spirit and terrified mind can be at ease.”

Another RM Bailey student, a tenth-grade boy, admitted to being a gang member. He referenced the value he perceives gang affiliation brings to his manhood while also acknowledging its price.

“I am 15-years-old, a gang member but I’m more worried and scared than the average student in school,” he said. “Because being pushed to do things that I don’t want to do actually makes me think about what is going to happen to me if I continue on this route I’m taking.

“Gang violence makes me feel strong, macho and even in charge.

My experiences with fighting and robbing innocent people make me feel like my karma is going to come back. But gang violence needs to be stopped in schools, or our lives will all be in jeopardy.”

Gang violence affects even the youngest in our society. An 8thgrade TA Thompson student said that even at the tender age of 13, she fears accidentally getting caught up in the crossfire.

When asked if she fears violence at school, the young girl replied: “I feel like I don’t bother with no one, so them and they gang violence I does stay far from them.

“But like when they doing stuff at school I just don’t want me get caught up in nothing. So I stay far away from the gangs.”

An 11th-grade CC Sweeting student described gang violence as getting “out of control” in schools.

“Everyone just riding with gangs,” the 15-year-old said.

“Everyone involved. And just because kids getting bullied, they wan’ join gangs.

“You got some parents and all who involved. The children get in their lil’ vibes in school and then they call their parents and people

Gang violence makes me feel strong, macho even in charge ... But it needs to be stopped in schools or our lives will all The Tribune be in jeopardy.

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them so after school they could be there.”

When asked whether students feel afraid to walk home from school, the young man said yes.

“Because then you got some people from other areas, different schools, coming down there.

Throwing rock at the children, trying (to) jook them up.”

A 12th-grade Doris Johnson student told The Tribune she believes the prevalence of gang violence is “due to the fact that there is no one to really take time out and talk to the young males in our society without criticising them.”

In a similar vein, an 11th-grade

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

ALICIA WALLACE: WHY NOT ASK PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED?

Knifed to death outside school Juvenile held after boy, 15, fatally stabbed

LEFT: How The Tribune reported the

LUCAYANdeath of 15-year-old Perry Rolle Jr. MANAGERS ‘JUST WANT CC Sweeting student called for JUSTICE’teachers and administrators to do

more.

“I think they could talk to the people who are pressured to be in gangs or who are in gangs like teach them how they could solve it in a positive way instead of solving it in a negative way and reward them for each trial they pass,” he said. “That’s what I think they should do.”

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A UNION executive at the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association says that managers at the Grand Lucayan resort are not being unreasonable and are only asking for “fairness and justice” in the negotiations of their voluntary separation packages.

The lawyer represeting Lucayan Renewal Holdings said they will not be participating in any further proceedings in the matter set at the Industrial Tribunal in Freeport.

Following last week’s proceedings, Kirk Russell, vice president of BHMA, said he was not concerned by their withdrawal from the process as he believes that justice will prevail in the matter.

SEE PAGE 11

portray what they see in the answer because what SUSPECT their environment.” are the children SHOT DEADgoing to do FOR FIRING CHURCH LAUNCHES AT OFFICERS She added: “IfENDOWMENT an inci- in the meantime?

They’re CRASH CLAIMSgoing to adapt more to their FUNDhappens TO ASSIST at UB STUDENTS dent a school, SECOND VICTIM what the school does is environment, and they have suspend (the students) more time to hook up with ‘WE CAN’T AFFORD NURSES’ OVERTIME’ instead they should bring my friends and be with the the parents in to try to nip gangs. the (situation) in the bud.

“We need to get the Suspending children is not churches more involved in

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

A NINTH-grade student was fatally stabbed yesterday following an incident outside a school with another teenage boy.

The Tribune understands the victim is Perry Louis, a 15-year-old TA Thompson Junior High School student.

The perpetrator is said to be a 16-year-old student from another school.

According to police, Louis and the other boy

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

IN light of Canon Warren Rolle marking his 50th year as an ordained minister, an endowment fund has been established to assist one or two students who want to attend the University of the Bahamas.

At a press conference this week, Henry Dean, endowment committee chairman, said the group is hoping to make an annual endowment of no less than $2,000.

Mr Dean said: “It is still a work in progress, we may end up doing two a year at a $1,000 each or one person gets $2,000 but we are committed to beginning that process in September. The intent is to provide some assistance for persons enrolled in the University of the Bahamas.

“This endowment is not limited to (students in Nassau) but emphasis will be made to make accommodations for those from the family of islands who seemly may have more challenges accepting scholarship grants.

“The Anglican church has been involved in

education for about 60 years. I’m told that many professionals (owe) their success to the Anglican church’s support of education. The world is closing in and we must ensure our people are exposed to the higher levels of academics that we can find our rightful place around the world.”

He added: “Father Rolle has 23 years before he hits 100 but we want to peg his 50 years as a priest with our attempt to raise funds, $1,000 per year, and so we are seeking to raise $50,000 to create this endowment and hopefully it will be perpetual, it will last beyond his 100th year of birth.

“An account will be opened at Scotiabank where donations will be received. At the service, we will have envelopes to receive funds but, we appeal to the general community the business people, the students he has touched, the churches where he has served to consider the worthiness of what we are doing and to help to perpetuate this wonderful example of a man.”

The chairman said Father Rolle is a wonderful man and highlighted his character.

were involved in an argument in the Pitt Road area when “one of the males produced a knife and stabbed the other”. While the fight did not occur at either of the boys’ schools, the violent scene unfurled outside the premises of TG Glover Primary School.

Education Minister Jeff Lloyd yesterday told The Tribune he is “deeply saddened by this tragic occurrence” and “grieves heartily with his family and school community”.

SEE PAGE THREE

“He is a priest and I say

BY RIEL MAJOR Street. Police said the male driver of a black Honda this without fear there is no coupe lost control of his THE second person vehicle and crashed into a involved I in Sunday’s fatal wall. priest alive that celebrate traffic accident has died, The driver died on scene Inspector Leonardo Bur- and a male passenger was as much as rows I do him. confirmed yesterday. I’ve taken to hospital, where According to a police he was initially listed in a report, occasion shortly after 11pm stable never had an to condition. However, on Sunday, officers were he died yesterday. called to negative the scene of a traf- or hear him speak SEE PAGE 11 fic accident on East Bay to hear anyone speak negative of him. I’ve never seen him (act) harsh or offensive, he is always welcoming and humble,” he said.

Janet Munnings, UB representative, said students eligible for the grant will have to meet the entry level requirements of the university. She said: “There is going to be a committee specifically to determine who will get the grant. We have already started talks with the Office of Development at the University of the Bahamas. We will have persons from the back office working with persons from the committee who would then make the selection. We must still uphold standards.”

Canon Rolle thanked everyone on the committee, saying the goal is about trying to help someone. He said: “I was helped greatly during my years.

I would like to be able to give whatever help I can to students who may want to attend the University of the Bahamas.”

Editorial View - Page 4

POLICE shot and killed a man who allegedly fired a gun at them on Monday night.

The incident took place before 10pm when officers responded to reports of an armed man on Graham Drive, Yellow Elder Gardens. They encountered a man fitting the description and as officers approached the suspect, he produced a firearm, pointed it in the direction of the officers and discharged it, police said.

“Officers being in fear for their life, fired their service weapon at the suspect, injuring him,” a police report noted. “Paramedics were called to the scene SEE PAGE FIVE

THE VICTIM: Perry Louis, a 15-year-old from TA Thompson Junior High School.

TECHNOLOGY

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

AS the Public Hospitals Authority has found itself saddled with high overtime bills - at one time climbing to $750,000 in just one month - Health Minister Dr Duane Sands said the controversial shift system for nurses has been a vexing issue.

Giving nurses what they want is not easy, he said yesterday, as paying money

DR DUANE SANDS

owed to them is tied to the civil service which has restrictions on how much

the government can offer or how quickly this happens.

However, he said officials have been looking at how they could possibly change the compensation for nurses.

While stressing yesterday another strike would not serve the interests of Bahamians, the minister said the government was committed to finding a real solution to the issues raised by the Bahamas Nurses Union.

SEE PAGE FIVE

SCHOOL TEACHES STUDENTS WITH VIDEO GAMES

SEE PAGE NINE

the schools. When they get suspended and they have to do community service they fold clothes or lift blocks that is not the answer because the child still has an issue.”

She continued: “The schools have PTA meetings and parents don’t go.

Schools should make PTA meetings mandatory for parents. If the school has four meetings per year parents should be required to attend at least two. Teachers are with your child from 9 to 3 and your child is the teacher’s child while you’re to work.”

Finally, Ms Gibson acknowledged it takes more than a village to raise a child and conceded that parents must be more involved in their children’s lives. She said the responsibility rested on parents to become knowledgeable about the challenges facing their children.

“We now as parents have to go through our children’s Facebook account and see what they’re doing on Facebook because the stuff they’re normally doing online parents won’t know.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

CANDIDATES COMMITTEE REPORT April 5TH, 2019 LIST OF ENDORSED NAMES: EXECUTIVE MEMBERS: 1. Rosemary E. Burrows 2. Maralyn Genette Burrows 3. William Ingraham 4. Cyril Morris Jr. 5. Wayne Thompson 6. Kameisha Delique Wells 7. Judd T. Williams TRUSTEES: 1. Jacqueline Lorene Mckenzie 2. Bolinder Newbold – Munroe 3. Vernincha Louise Delcine Simmons 4. Lana Monique Williams-Smith 5. Haldane Alfred Stubbs AREA VICE PRESIDENTS: NORTHERN BAHAMAS: 1. Ann Marie Bullard 2. Eldecia Shaquincha Ethlyn Thompson GRAND BAHAMA: 1. Quintin Howard Laroda 2. George Austin Trevor Mills.

NEW PROVIDENCE: 1. Vernon Jemell Rodgers SOUTHERN BAHAMAS: 1. Ann Louise Strachan ASSISTANT TREASURER: 1. Catherine Knowles-Stubbs 2. Katress Wells SECRETARY – GENERAL: 1. Helena Cartwright 2. Dion Damien Johnson 3. Tiffany M. Delancy-Laing ASSISTANT SECRETARY – GENERAL: 1. Juanita T. Gaitor 2. Cedricka Rolle PRESIDENT: 1. Joan Knowles-Turnquest VICE PRESIDENT: 1. Tiffany Burrell-Roberts 2. Jason Haley From the desk of John Musgrove Secretary-General The Bahamas Union of Teachers.

PAGE 10, Friday, April 12, 2019

I

N MARCH, when the story broke revealing some 50 people had been indicted in the US for what was labelled a “racketeering scheme” involving Hollywood hotshots, hotheads and CEOs paying up to $500,000 to have test scores altered so their children could get into good colleges, shockwaves radiated from coast to coast.

Why was anyone surprised?

Money talks, always has, always will.

When extra cash meets available corruption, the result is not shocking but predictable. The story grabbed headlines and continued to dominate the news not because of its moral implications - which would have been reason enough for inquiring minds - but because of its juiciness.

The faces were familiar.

You stared at them across a TV screen and they spoke to you in your living room while you were in pjs. You saw the likes of “Fuller House” star Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Gianulli indicted for paying $500,000 for daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella “Bella” Rose get into the prestigious University of Southern California as crew on a rowing team, though neither apparently had any such experience.

Because of the sheer numbers and the settlements or trials that will roll out, the story will have longer lasting legs than most. CEOs, celebs, college coaches, test score administrators will all

THE TRIBUNE

A stench of entitlement laid bare face the music in coming months. And those who pay close attention, relishing in how the mighty have fallen or applaud the investigation that led to the charges will probably miss the deeper reasons why this story is important.

Its gravitas lies not in what a group of rich people did or how they behaved.

For every one of those who believed they could get away with it because they always have, there are others - the moderately and the extremely wealthy - who use their wealth to create better educational opportunities, build sports facilities, advance entrepreneurship, design smart communities or feed the hungry.

This story must not go down in history as evil rich

people paying off to get what they want. It must be digested with dual deliberations. The first is obvious: for every coveted spot in a freshman class that parents paid for, there is a student who was turned down, a student who may have gone on to medical school and contributed to cancer research or engineering and helped solve an energy crisis.

Perhaps a creative judge will include a fine that involves paying for a scholarship for the displaced student who was left behind.

But the most disturbing lesson the pay-off plunder leaves in its wake is the recognition of a culture, Bahamian as well as American, that revolves

around an obnoxious sense of entitlement. Clinical psychologists define sense of entitlement as narcissism to the extreme.

In years past, we would have been horrified by such behaviour, but as more athletes and musicians and young CEOs of wildly successful start-ups earn ever larger sums of money, the expectation by those of new wealth and their handlers is they deserve special treatment is commonplace. They walk straight through a crowd to get into a club.

They display temper when something doesn’t go their way. Their handlers demand rather than ask.

So why were we shocked at the college admissions scandal? What we should take away from it is how do we go forward with a culture of wealth on steroids without a sense of entitlement? That is the reality and the lesson for our future before corruption becomes so commonplace we fail to see it with our own eyes.

ACTRESS Lori Loughlin and husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, leave the federal court in Boston after facing charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.

Time to hitch a ride on the harbour highway

IF YOU haven’t been stuck in traffic in New Providence, you are either housebound or are so lucky that if you were a gambler, every casino would bar you from it.

Congestion is a slayer of time, a thief of efficiency, an enemy of tranquility. While we applaud the Ministry of Works for the magic carpet smooth paving job (second time around) on East Bay Street

and other areas where work is ongoing, the gentleness of the ride does not solve the problem of how long it takes to get from point A to point B. That is not to sound ungrateful. The roads are getting better as they always seem to do under a certain administration. But spending less time on them would be even better.

Once again, I offer what others

including the late Jackson Burnside have said before. Nassau harbour is our natural highway.

A dual ferry system, one express and the other with multiple stops, will eliminate hundreds of cars from Nassau streets during peak traffic hours, reduce pollution, provide jobs and improve the quality of life.

The stretch from downtown

to the roundabout at Saunders beach, already a nightmare twice a day, will only get worse as more development occurs if a solution is not found. A turning lane is possible that would ease eastward bound traffic turning into any of the businesses on the south side.

The greater solution, however, I believe is staring us right in the face, our own harbour highway.

That’s just what the doctor ordered HATS off to Dr Arlington Lightbourne, pictured right, and the entire team at the Eleuthera Wellness Clinic, owned by the Eleuthera Community Health Initiative, a non-profit. With hundreds of members who pay a low monthly fee for unlimited primary care

services, the clinic that includes a nutrition coach and a range of specialists on certain days of the week is making giant strides in childhood obesity and other non-communicable diseases.

Watch for the addition of dental services very soon.

RAISING THE ROOF

SINGING took centre stage at Hope Town Primary School, when the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Abaco adjudications visited. The students formed choirs to sing gospel and Bahamian songs. All performances garnered impressive scores and comments from Music Adjudicator Trent Elliott Davis.

Photo: Eric Rose/BIS)

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, April 12, 2019, PAGE 11

EX-OBAMA COUNSEL CHARGED WITH LYING IN LOBBYING PROBE WASHINGTON Associated Press

FORMER Obama White House counsel Greg Craig was indicted yesterday on charges of making false statements and concealing information in a federal foreign lobbying investigation that intersected with the Russia probe.

Craig, 74, was charged in a twocount indictment that accuses him of willfully concealing material facts from the Justice Department about work he performed for the Ukrainian government.

The indictment, announced by the US attorney for the District of Columbia, came a day after

Craig’s lawyers said he expected to be charged in the probe spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

In a statement, his attorneys, William Taylor and William Murphy, said, “Mr Craig is not guilty of any charge and the government’s stubborn insistence on prosecuting Mr Craig is a misguided abuse of prosecutorial discretion.” The lawyers said the Justice Department’s national security division pushed to indict Craig despite federal prosecutors in New York declining to bring charges, an assertion that couldn’t immediately be verified.

A spokesman for the US attorney’s office declined to comment.

Craig’s indictment is part of a Justice Department crackdown on unregistered foreign lobbying and consulting. Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating two prominent Washington lobbying firms in a similar probe, and Justice Department officials in Washington have been increasingly willing to prosecute people who they believe intentionally conceal their lobbying work from the government.

The scrutiny of Craig, pictured right, stems from an investigation

of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his work on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. The charges come about three months after Craig’s former law firm agreed to pay more than $4.6 million and publicly acknowledge that it failed to register with the government for its work for the Ukraine.

The civil settlement with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP laid much of the blame for the firm’s conduct on Craig, who was a senior partner.

Craig, who is set to appear in federal court today, is a prominent Washington attorney and was the first White House counsel to former President Barack Obama.

The work that drew the Justice Department’s attention occurred in 2012, when Craig and Skadden were hired by the Ukrainian government to write a report on the prosecution of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Ukrainian prime minister. Tymoshenko was a political opponent of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was a longtime Manafort patron.

The report was billed as independent, but critics have said it whitewashed a politically motivated prosecution.

RETIRED POPE BLAMES THE 1960S FOR SEX ABUSE SCANDAL

A SURVIVOR REMEMBERS

Associated Press

FORMER Nazi concentration camp survivor Petro Mishuk of Ukraine mourns during a minute’s of silence in memory of the victims at the commemoration ceremonies for the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, yesterday. On April 11, 1945, units of the 3rd US Army reached Ettersberg Hill.

WikiLeaks’ Assange arrested as he’s hauled from embassy LONDON Associated Press BRITISH police yesterday hauled a bearded and shouting Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he was holed up for nearly seven years, and the US charged the WikiLeaks founder with conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to get their hands on government secrets.

Police arrested Assange after the South American nation revoked the political asylum that had protected him in the embassy, and he was brought before a British court — the first step in an extradition battle that he has vowed to fight.

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno said he decided to evict the 47-yearold Assange from the embassy after “repeated

violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols,” and he later lashed out at him during a speech in Quito, calling the Australian native a “spoiled brat” who treated his hosts with disrespect.

In Washington, the US Justice Department accused Assange of conspiring with Manning to break into a classified government computer at the Pentagon. The charge was announced after Assange was taken into custody.

Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012 after he was released on bail in Britain while facing extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations that have since been dropped. He refused to leave the embassy, fearing arrest and extradition to the US for publishing classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.

Manning, who served

SUDAN’S MILITARY OVERTHROWS PRESIDENT AMID BLOODY PROTEST

SUDANESE celebrate after officials said the military had forced President Omar al-Bashir to step down after 30 years in power.

CAIRO Associated Press SUDAN’S military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir yesterdy after months of bloody protests against his repressive 30-year rule. But pro-democracy demonstrators vowed to keep up their campaign in the streets after the military said it would govern the country for the next two years.

Al-Bashir’s fall came a week after Algeria’s longruling, military-backed president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was driven from

power. Together, the developments echoed the Arab Spring uprisings eight years ago that brought down autocrats across the Middle East.

The announcement of the arrest and removal of the 75-year-old al-Bashir was made by Defense Minister Awad Mohammed Ibn Ouf, who is under US sanctions for links to atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur conflict.

Ibn Ouf said a military council will be formed by the army, intelligence and security apparatus will rule for two years, after which “free and fair elections” will take place.

ASSANGE yesterday several years in prison for leaking troves of classified documents before her

sentence was commuted by then-President Barack Obama, is again in custody in Alexandria, Virginia, for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. Manning’s legal team said the indictment against Assange showed prosecutors didn’t need her testimony and called for her to be released, saying her continued detention would be “purely punitive.”

Over the years, Assange used Ecuador’s embassy as a platform to keep his

name before the public, frequently making appearances on its tiny balcony, posing for pictures and reading statements. Even his cat became famous.

But his presence was an embarrassment to UK authorities, who for years kept a police presence around the clock outside the embassy, costing taxpayers millions in police overtime. Such surveillance was removed in 2015, but the embassy remained a focal point for his activities.

POPE Benedict XVI has ventured out of retirement to publish an essay blaming the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests.

His analysis was immediately criticised as “catastrophically irresponsible” — a conflict with efforts by his successor, Pope Francis, to lead the church out of its crisis.

“Why did pedophilia reach such proportions?

Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God,” Benedict wrote, in the 6,000-word essay published yesterday in the German monthly Klerusblatt, the Catholic News Agency and other conservative media.

Benedict traced the start of the crisis to the ‘60s, citing the appearance of sex in films in his native Bavaria and the formation of “homosexual cliques” in seminaries “which acted more or less openly and significantly changed the climate.” He also attributed it to failures in moral theology in that era.

“Perhaps it is worth mentioning that in not a few seminaries, students caught reading my books were considered unsuitable for the priesthood,” the conservative theologian wrote. “My books were hidden away, like bad literature, and only read under the desk.”

Benedict also faulted church laws that gave undue protection to accused priests. During the 1980s and 1990s, he wrote, “the right to a defense (for priests) was so broad as to make a conviction nearly impossible.”

PAGE 12, Friday, April 12, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Jamaal on fast train to China

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net “A VISION United” — the latest project by renowned Bahamian artist and The Tribune cartoonist Jamaal Rolle has garnered international acclaim after it became the focal point of the closing ceremony of UNESCO’s Third International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage (IYF3).

The piece, a depiction of unity through colours and abstract shapes labelled with the names of all the countries invited to the youth forum, was crafted during a four-hour train

ride between the two Chinese provinces that hosted the seven-day event Changsha and Nanjing.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Rolle referred to his experience in China as “life changing,” dubbing the forum “the central point” for what the world can be when great minds and opportunities come together.

IYF3, according to event organisers, aimed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation among the media art cities and creative young talents of the ‘Belt and Road’ nations.

The central focus of the forum was the drafting of the Changsha Initiative, a

JAMAAL ROLLE’S digital work was studied by 120 delegates from 83 countries when they met in China for the Third International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage Along The Silk Roads. Left: Jamaal talks to Kitso Rantao, a delegate from South Africa.

five part working document that looks to address creativity, innovation, exchange, capacity building and youth work in the countries involved.

The initiative gives way to a series of concrete recommendations and insights devised by participants on how to promote and achieve the United National’s sustainable development goals related to creativity and heritage.

This year was the first year Caribbean delegates were invited to participate in the discussion.

Mr Rolle was The Bahamas’ representative among the 120 millennial leaders from 83 countries.

He said, feeling moved by the enormity of the discussion and the level of participation offered to him, being from such a small country, he thought it necessary and essential to commemorate the moment.

“It was the train ride.

I just felt so happy to be there and to be heard among so many people.

The thought popped into my mind that when we, all of us there, work together so much can be achieved.

We proved that and I wanted to show it,” he told The Tribune.

“I was sitting down on the train and just got to playing around on my iPad and it all started to come together.

I didn’t see it as a big deal until everyone there started to react to it; my friends, the organisers, the persons from UNESCO, everyone was so moved by it and it became what it became,” he added.

“For me it came down to inspiration. I was just moved by my counters and the people I met during my time in China.

It’s such a special place and to see it, and to see so many people from so many places coming together; the thought popped into my head and this is what it ended up being.”

To close out the forum, Mr Rolle’s artwork was projected onto a large 20-ft backdrop, where it was viewed by attendees and officials; many of whom posed for a photo opportunity with the artist.

Kitso Rantao, a delegate from South Africa who viewed a “A Vision United,” said: “I think that if you look at it metaphorically, it speaks of how the youth are coming together to have a unified vision which is something that previous generation could not see eye to eye.”

He added: “Generations of war that we have inherited, generations of segregation, generations of discrimination and not understanding each other, and us coming together in this space, working towards one vision, is a very power image and I am very happy that South Africa is part of a bigger vision for a better world.”