04122022 NEWS, FEATURES, SPORT AND BUSINESS

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Volume: 119 No.98, April 12, 2022

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NIB FUND ‘RUNS OUT IN 6 YEARS’ DISNEY AND ATLANTIS TEAM UP TO SAVE CORAL

Laroda says report warns depletion rate has increased

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net A NEW actuarial review of the National Insurance Board has predicted that the fund could be depleted by 2028 should officials neglect to take urgent action.

The 11th report of its kind, received by the Davis administration roughly three weeks ago, reduced the fund’s potential depletion timeline by one year, as

the 10th review had made a prediction of 2029.

Myles Laroda, the state minister with responsibility for NIB, made the revelation yesterday, telling The Tribune he was of the view that the situation persisted as the board had run deficits for nearly six years.

It is also likely that the situation was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEE PAGE TWO

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

LAUGHTER, LOVE, AND FACING UP TO AUTISM

‘GOVT SHOULD HAVE HANDLED FOOD PROGRAMME ROW BETTER’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

OFFICIAL Opposition Leader Michael Pintard said the government should have been more measured in how it handled allegations about the Minnis administration’s food programme, adding that with

recent developments it was duty bound to answer questions in Parliament.

He said the government also needed to establish a clear timeline regarding answering certain questions from the World Bank and when finance records and other information related SEE PAGE THREE

LATESIA Smith and her son, Tafari, who has been diagnosed with autism. Latesia tells her story today of Tafari’s journey from challenges in school, through diagnosis and day-to-day life. She says some days are “beautiful” but others are “extremely hard”. See PAGE 13 in today’s HEALTH section.

CONSERVATIONISTS are partnering with Atlantis and Disney to create a “coral reef gene bank” to save species in danger of being wiped out by disease.

Dr Craig Dahlgren, of the Perry Institute for Marine Science, said the tie-up will establish a facility where coral “can be removed from harm’s way”, grown and bred to be saved from extinction.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

30 MONTHS FOR SEX OFFENCE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 32-YEAR-OLD man who masturbated in front of a woman with whom he shared a cell last year was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

OMAR ARCHER CHARGED OVER VOICE NOTE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

OMAR Archer was charged with intentional libel yesterday for allegedly defaming National Security Minister Wayne Munroe in a voice note that went viral last month.

Archer, former contractors registrar in the Ministry of Works, was arrested last week after police released a wanted bulletin for him

OMAR ARCHER alleging intentional libel.

Following the poster’s release, Archer, in a video

that circulated on social media, accused Mr Munroe of lodging the complaint against him.

He also went on to make several accusations against Mr Munroe along with an ultimatum that if the complaint were not dropped, he would release alleged damaging information regarding the minister.

According to court documents, the complaint in SEE PAGE SEVEN

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

FACE TO FACE: BEAUTY QUEEN WHO HEARD HER CALLING

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

NIB fund ‘runs out in 6 years’

MYLES LARODA, the State Minister with Responsibility for NIB.

from page one The Tribune has not seen the report, with the minister directing this newspaper to NIB. However, its chairman Philip McKenzie could not be reached, while a public relations official said the report had not yet been released.

However, Mr Laroda raised the shocking development as he made a case for the board’s tight financial position as it hopes to avoid industrial action by the Public Managers Union, which held a strike vote last week.

While the final results are unclear, PMU president Cassandra Lewis told The Tribune last week that a majority of union members voted in favour of striking.

With NIB’s actuarial review giving undesirable findings, Mr Laroda said he was hopeful that the union would accept a new offer the board made in response to their grievances.

The union has been wrangling with NIB for a new agreement for 29 months, according to Mrs Lewis last week. Recently the union pinpointed

the hiring of an inordinate number of people at the board since the Davis administration took office.

Mr Laroda said: “The PMU president has every right to represent her members’ interests, but the reality is that out of the last 29 months, the Davis administration is just going on seven months to date. So, if my math is correct the former government had three times as much time as we had and they didn’t get a resolution and so I will let the public come to their own conclusion as to whether the same energy matches what was given to the former administration.

“We have been given the 11th actuarial report that suggests that unless urgent action is taken, the fund can be depleted by 2028.

“So, we are taking a look at the whole picture and we have to take a holistic approach with the NIB and the way forward, which includes the remuneration of staff.

“The 10th report predicted the fund would be exhausted in 2029 if emergency measures weren’t taken.”

Asked whether the volume of assistance paid out by NIB during the

COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the review’s findings, Mr Laroda said: “Before COVID, NIB was running deficits from 2016, so five going on six years of running deficits.

“NIB does not get a subvention from the government so it relies on contributions and investments. I don’t know how many businesses will stay afloat year after year after year under those circumstances.

“We have an ageing population and low fertility rate among other things. A few decades ago you were talking about benefits of $12m. Now we are talking about north of $100m a year that’s just unsustainable.”

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, NIB administered unemployment assistance to 22,000 people.

That number has now decreased to around 8,000.

The last estimate on how much was spent on the unemployment benefit scheme was $263m at June 2021.

NIB also absorbed an additional $6.5m in social assistance costs to help finance a $500 lump sum payment to persons still on unemployment assistance last year.

THAT’S ONE WAY TO BEAT THE FUEL PRICE RISE!

NURSE Jessica Marshall won 12 months of free gas from Esso and $3,900 cash from CIBC FirstCaribbean as the winner of a recent joint customer appreciation promotion.

Over 20 CIBC FirstCaribbean clients

drove away with $200 fuel vouchers and cash prizes during the bank’s Happy Fuel Year promotion with Esso. Recently claiming the top prize was Nurse a Marshall, who banks with CIBC FirstCaribbean and is a loyal

customer of Esso.

To enter and win the weekly and overall prizes in the recent promotion, Esso patrons had to use their CIBC FirstCaribbean Visa debit or credit card to fuel up with $25 or more.

“As a nurse and university student, I am always driving to and from work and I am back and forth everywhere, so I love that I am getting free gas all year.

It’s a real help financially,” Nurse Marshall said.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 3

Should we cut taxes over gas prices?

Pintard says yes FNM leader Michael Pintard.

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net FREE National Movement Leader Michael Pintard says the Davis administration should give “serious consideration” to reducing taxes in response to soaring gas prices.

He said residents should better ration their resources but the government should still consider intervening.

“It is incumbent upon the government to have a broad stakeholder discussion with dealers and others who can impact the eventual price of fuel to the consumer,” he said.

“Secondly, those things that the government can affect, it ought to affect, so that’s stamp tax, duty, etc.

Obviously one of the things they will have to factor in that discussion is what is the present impact they receive from the gas taxes and what are the consequences of foregoing that revenue.

That would be an essential exercise and I know as a matter of course the technical experts will be able

to guide officials in that regard.”

Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association (BPDA) vice-president Vasco Bastian has said operators are seeking a 50 percent margin. They are threatening a strike during the Easter weekend.

Mr Bastian has said there is a risk that dealers will not be able to buy fuel, impacting residents.

The government collects value added tax on the wholesale and retail sale of gasoline, an area Mr Bastian believes should be targeted for intervention.

Mr Pintard said: “Dealers themselves are paying government I presume a range of fees and so the government should also have a discussion with them relative to the possibility of a rebate on some of those expenses that would then save them some resources given the fact that pressures are on both the consumer as well as some of the other stakeholders providing fuel inclusive of the dealers.”

Mr Pintard said whether the government can adjust taxes in response to the

rising gas prices “underscores the importance of needing to move with some sense of urgency in completing the white paper on taxes so we could move away from the regressive VAT taxes.”

He said: “Both on the corporate side as well as the resident side we need a plan of action on what the new policy will be on the tax mix.”

Fidelity Bank Chief Executive Officer Gowon Bowe said yesterday reducing taxes on gas would be a shortsighted move. He said people should better ration their resources and make lifestyle revisions.

“Those things need not be mutually exclusive,” Mr Pintard said. “The government may need to intervene but it is in the interest of every consumer to revise in terms of how they manage their fuel consumption, their electricity consumption, their expenses that often prompt them to pursue loans and so forth.

Consumers have to take a greater responsibility just in light of the challenge that we are now going through.”

vice president, has said value added tax and stamp taxes should be alleviated to help operators.

Mr Bowe, however, said it is a slippery slope to have the government reduce taxes in response to cost increases.

He said: “As food items go up, as the cost of fruits go up, as the cost of grain and bread goes up, are we going to say that for every item that goes up in cost that the government needs to have a knee-jerk reaction which is (to) remove the tax?

“The government can only provide its services by the revenues it collects, so whenever the government makes a decision to actually remove taxes on any item that it currently taxes by virtue of our

tax system, it needs to understand how it replaces that tax.

“I think persons are looking at the fuel price at the pump and not appreciating that actually the taxes on fuel are not based on the dollar at the pump, meaning what the distributors pay. “It is based on the actual gallons so there is a fixed dollar cost that the government actually imposes. When the price from where we buy it goes up, yes, the fuel price goes up but it’s not the taxes that are driving up the fuel price, it is the underlying price of fuel.”

Some jurisdictions have responded to the global gas price increases by adjusting taxes. In Connecticut, USA, a law was passed that suspends

...BUT FIDELITY BANK CHIEF BOWE SAYS IT WOULD BE UNWISE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A TOP financial expert says reducing taxes on gas in response to soaring prices would be unwise and short-sighted.

Gowon Bowe, chief executive officer of Fidelity Bank, said people should better ration their gas expenses and consider such cheaper solutions as public transportation and carpooling in the wake of rising fuel prices.

The Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association (BPDA) has threatened to strike because members are losing money from the spike in oil prices.

Vasco Bastian, BPDA

excise tax on gas from April 1 to June 30th. Similar action was taken in Georgia.

Mr Bowe said the amount of VAT people pay on gas has not increased much even as gas prices soar.

“The issue on the value added tax is if you pause and think about it this way,” he said, “when fuel was $4.50 value added tax would’ve been 45 cents. Now that fuel is $6 value added tax is 60 cents. The actual incremental cost on the fuel is not as large as people think because the move from $4.50 to $6 is not driven because of value added tax, it is actually driven because before an oil tanker used to bring it in at one price, now that price is escalating.

“When we start having the conversation about what the government should do in order to ease the burden of citizens, first thing let’s compartmentalise this. Do we believe that all citizens need the support? If the answer to that is no, is removing VAT going to be a targeted assistance for the persons who can least afford it? And if the answer to that is no, is the VAT removal the most appropriate mechanism?

And I would say to you the answer is absolutely not.

“If I have a vehicle and I’m putting fuel in the vehicle and I decide that I just ride up and down because I could afford to do so I need to change my lifestyle. The

individuals who are poor may need to look at carpooling. They may need to look at using the public transport system. They may need to look at what is the best use of my energy sources in terms of not just dashing to the food store every ten, fifteen times a week because that is easy enough to do so. If government changes its tax structure it is either going to have to remove services that it is providing using those tax resources or it is going to have to borrow, and if this fuel escalation is somewhat temporary, do we change a system for a temporary fix or do we as citizens take responsibility and say we have to adjust our lifestyle?”

‘GOVT SHOULD HAVE HANDLED FOOD PROGRAMME ROW BETTER’ from page one to the food programme were provided to the government.

He maintained that there had always been “institutional” memory in place regarding the National Food Distribution Task Force to corroborate how the programme was handled under the former government. He also accused some government ministers of misleading the House of Assembly on the matter.

His comments came amid new developments that Social Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe received a stack of documents on the food programme from Mrs Susan Larson, chairperson of the now disbanded task force, in the days after he expressed “embarrassment” over being unable to answer key questions he claimed the World Bank wanted answered in relation to that programme, according to a Nassau Guardian report.

While the minister could not be reached for comment yesterday, the documents Mrs Larson is said to have provided to him included the weekly financial reports the inclusive NGOs prepared, detailing how they handled taxpayer dollars, it

was also reported.

Those documents were also said to include a database of households that were being assisted and a report that the task force had previously prepared for the World Bank.

On March 28, Mr Wilchcombe said the government had no data to provide to the World Bank, which provided funds for food assistance during the pandemic, in response to its questions.

However, on March 30, Mrs Larson invited The Tribune and The Nassau Guardian to her Lyford Cay office to review the comprehensive volume of records related to the programme.

She said the records were given to the government.

Mr Pintard maintained ​ that it appeared that the government attempted to mislead Bahamians on the matter.

“My suspicion is they had access to the information and for whatever reason they did not request the information that they said was not valuable because it allowed them to make the case that they did make,” Mr Pintard said yesterday.

“Now that you are in the chair you are able to share what the nature of the COVID spending was because you now had a fiduciary duty. They were

feeding a narrative that amounted to no facts and deflecting. But the facts are there. It appears that with the facts becoming apparent they are now overwhelmed by that.

“They have to go to the House (of Assembly) to clarify statements that were made. It would be useful to look at the consequences of misleading the House.

“It would be useful to know when the reporting was made to the agency

and was the government aware that the reporting was done because as I have always said the institutional memory is still in place.

“So, it is my view that they could have been more measured really from the beginning.”

Mr Pintard pointed to comments made in Parliament last month by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis where he said investigations into the former government’s handling of

the food assistance programme revealed some NGOs had held onto substantial amounts of money while adding the Parks and Beaches Authority had been used as a “slush fund”.

Mr Davis also said there were some in the previous administration who viewed governance as an “extractive industry” and used public office to “enrich themselves”.

Mr Pintard said generally the reputations of all involved had been sullied.

“What you should not do is to sully all concerned,” he said, “because you are trying to make a hardline case. They talked about malfeasance and a government of extraction and those are very egregious and serious charges coming from the chief executive.

“So, he is duty bound to go and clarify why he misled the House on this matter and what other matters had he misled on,” Mr Pintard said.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Extra $1.5m from US to fight COVID in Caribbean THE United States government has announced plans to provide $1.5 million in urgent COVID-19 assistance through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for countries in the Caribbean, including The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

This assistance will help countries conduct vaccination campaigns, overcome vaccine hesitancy, and increase vaccination rates, a press release from the US Embassy in Nassau noted.

It will also help governments launch engagement activities, train healthcare workers, and combat misinformation.

While the rate of new cases in The Bahamas has declined significantly, the global COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and fewer than half of all Bahamians are vaccinated, the press release noted.

USAID will direct funding through organisations such as local Ministries of Health, NGOs, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Pan

American Health Organisation (PAHO), UNICEF, and USAID’s Country Health Information Systems and Data Use (CHISU) project.

Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts of the US Embassy in Nassau said, “Now that new cases are declining, our challenge lays with ensuring the country is prepared to battle the next wave of COVID, whenever or however it appears. The ongoing problem of vaccine hesitancy is a major obstacle to these preparations, so the timing of this

Abaco school ‘still needs another ten teachers’

assistance is key. I hope to see as many people get vaccinated against COVID-19 as possible, so we can prevent future strains of the virus from sweeping the country.”

USAID regional representative for the Eastern and Southern Caribbean, Clinton D White, said, “The funding will fill key gaps to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and strengthen countries’ preparedness for future pandemic threats.

The United States government remains firmly committed to assisting the

government and people of The Bahamas in the fight against COVID-19.”

This additional assistance builds on the nearly $63m in COVID-19 funding already provided by USAID to the Caribbean to address the health, humanitarian, and economic impacts of COVID-19. This includes $750,000 in funding to The Bahamas alone.

USAID’s previous COVID-19 assistance to The Bahamas led to the installation of 300 sanitizer units in classrooms and senior citizen care

facilities, and 18 handheld radios for emergency medical services. In addition, USAID funding was used to procure state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and industrial-grade laundry equipment for Princess Margaret Hospital.

“Diseases know no borders. The United States government is committed to partnering with our Caribbean neighbours to end the COVID-19 pandemic, save lives, and stop the threat of dangerous new variants,” the press release noted.

Meals on wheels for those in need

By PAVEL BAILEY

THE president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers says that Patrick J Bethel High School in Abaco still desperately needs more teachers, about a month after staff held a demonstration on the island.

Belinda Wilson said while some teachers have been dispatched to Abaco to address the teacher shortage, the local high school still needs ten more teachers.

“Approximately three weeks after the teachers, parents and even students staged a demonstration at Patrick J Bethel High School in Marsh Harbour, Abaco because of a teacher shortage, they are still awaiting ten teachers,” Mrs Wilson said yesterday.

In response to questions about the ongoing shortage, Director of Education Marcellus Taylor said the Ministry of Education has addressed some of the issues on the island, allowing Patrick J Bethel school to move from a virtual to a hybrid teaching model.

“We have addressed this issue several times and indicated that we have deficits which are being addressed.

We were able to address some of them which enabled the school to move

BUT President Belinda Wilson. from virtual to hybrid,” Mr Taylor said.

While Mrs Wilson acknowledged that the ministry had dispatched four teachers to the Patrick J Bethel in the month since the demonstration, she said there is still more work to be done on the island.

“There were four supply teachers who are retirees who are at Patrick J Bethel and they are teaching and we are grateful for their service, but the remainder of the teachers are needed and they are needed now,” she said.

She said the school requires four teachers for English language, three for mathematics, one for physical education, one for social sciences as well as a guidance counsellor.

“The teachers returned to the classroom in good faith and they are doing their best, but the remainder of the teachers are needed

and within the group there is still a guidance counsellor that is needed,” she added.

She also said even though the school has returned to a hybrid model recently, only grade nine and grade 12 students have fully transitioned back to full face-to-face learning.

Even though Mrs Wilson recognised that these grades were prioritised in order to prepare them for upcoming national examinations, she said the Ministry of Education needs to work swiftly to get teachers to Abaco.

“The plan that the ministry had was for Patrick J Bethel to return to full face-to-face, however the grade nine and the grade 12 are the only classes not still on the hybrid model. So we impress upon the minister of education to work swiftly to get teachers at Patrick J Bethel High School in Marsh Harbour, Abaco.”

Funeral Service For

Vernal “Boss” Stubbs, 60 of 8th Street, Coconut Grove will be held at Church of Christ, 8th Street, Coconut Grove on Thursday, 14th April, 2022 at 11:00am. Officiating will be Pastor D. W. Dorsette assisted by other ministers of the gospel. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Gardens Left to cherish his memories are his mother: Pastor Nathalie Stubbs; children: Sharelle, Vernal III and Neveah Stubbs, Nasia Rolle and Talisha Adderley; grandchildren: Jamaal Jr., Delshannon, Vernovia, Verniyah, Tah’raj, D’Naliyah, Ta’Naz, Rashad Jr. and Raheem; sisters: Grace, Velma, Amanda, Andrea, Anna and Ruth; brothers: Hugo, Anthony, Stephen, Jeremiah and Joseph; nieces: Nathera, Kayvana, Desmonique, Antonia, Ashanti, Darshanay, Halo, Candece, Makia, Stanique, Shanae, Rickeisha, Rickera, Raven, Candeisha. Nephews: Lewis, Trevor, Peter, Dario, Damien, Anthony, Antonio, Hugo Jr, Ricardo, Shawn, Perry, Stephen Jr., Rinardo and Jeremiah; aunts: Camel, Mae and Bloneva; son-in-law: Rashad Rolle; brother-in-law: Austin Stuart; sister-in-law: Eltina Stubbs; numerous relatives and friends including: Karen Bethel, Karen Minnis, Brenville Stubbs, Billy Joseph, Artesia, Tracy, Ricardo Ferguson, Dereck Rahming, Philippa, Pastor Evans, Shantel Knowles, Mary Armbrister & Family, Pastor D.W. Dorsett & Family, Pastor Missick & family, Minister Maxine Brown & Family, Ruthmae Brown & family, The Miller Family, The Bonaby Family, The Major Family, Church of Christ Family, Eight street Coconut Grove Family, Shawn & Keano Cox, Collimore & Family and the entire Stubbs Family.

The body will repose at Curtis Memorial Mortuary from 11:00AM - 4:00PM on Wednesday.

THE Kiwanis club of Fort Montagu recently held a meals-on-wheels event, its signature project, in innercity communities.

Over 200 breakfast meals were served at the event.

The club, led by Michael Ferguson and secretary Chandra Higgs-Ferguson (no relation), built a mobile

food station in order to serve food to the public.

On Saturday March, the journey started promptly at 7am at St Margaret Anglican Church park on Kemp Road. The mobile food station and Kiwanians then drove to Fifth Street, The Groove (off Baillou Hill road) where food was served

from 9.15am to 10.30am.

The Kiwanis club of Fort Montagu received its instruments in 1964 and is currently celebrating its 58th anniversary.

Kiwanis is a global organisation of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 5

Climate change impact to be focus of symposium

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net CLIMATE change and its impact on health in The Bahamas due to threats such as the rising sea level and greenhouse gases was highlighted at this year’s World Health Day Symposium yesterday.

The Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) hosted a halfday hybrid symposium, in partnership with the University of The Bahamas and the Department of Environmental Planning & Protection.

In a recent publication, the World Health Organisation identified climate change as the single biggest health threat facing humanity, particularly as it relates to the world exceeding the crucial 1.5 Celsius degree climate threshold.

Basil McIntosh, State Minister in the Ministry for the Environment, said that there are some urgent issues that are cause for concern for the country.

He noted that water is becoming more acidic affecting marine life, sea level rise as a result of thermal expansion, in addition to melting ice sheets and glaciers are putting coastal areas at greater risk of erosion and storm surge.

Mr McIntosh said that climate change is leading to many changes in ecosystems, including the coral reefs’ ecosystems, which are home to thousands of species that rely on healthy coral reefs to survive.

“Warming waters lead to coastal bleaching and stronger hurricanes can destroy reefs and cause sea level rise,” he said. “Nearly 60 percent of the population in The Bahamas live in coastal areas, meaning

hundreds of people will be impacted by sea-level rise.”

The state minister said some of our islands are predicted to possibly end up at or below sea level and many of our islands are not yet prepared to face climaterelated strengths.

“Going forward it is important that we invest in resilient infrastructure that will be able to withstand future risks,” he said.

Rochelle Newbold, special policy advisor for climate change and environmental matters at the Office of the Prime Minister, spoke on the prioritisation of national climate action and the way forward.

She said there is focus on building a more resilient pathway forward.

“As we celebrate World Health Day, we cannot help but reflect on significant public health challenges that our country has experienced over

the last three years due to the passage of Hurricane Dorian, and the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Both events have resulted in major loss of lives and threaten to collapse our healthcare system and threatened our ability to access basic needs such as food, water and shelter.”

Ms Newbold said the Prime Minister has made it a priority to underscore the impacts of climate change on our vulnerable nation, while supporting the implementation of multisectoral approaches to climate action initiatives.

This includes building greater awareness amongst various sectors and industries, and the general population.

“Climate change is not just an environmental problem; it is a societal problem.

Climate change impacts health on many levels, it contributes to respiratory

issues, and longer dry periods that threaten food and water security,” she explained.

She said climate change influences forest fires and temperature extremes, which are linked to heat stroke. In addition, it also affects the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and their associated storm surges, which are influenced by sea level rise, she stated.

“As The Bahamas is generally characterised as having low elevations, this is a significant concern for the resiliency of our communities, public infrastructure, and existing and future development projects,” said Ms Newbold.

The government will host a regional youth climate conference from July 6 to 8 to provide targeted training that will focus on impacts climate change has on public health.

She stated that additional targeted training action includes greenhouse gas calculations and the sequestration capacities of our natural resources, such as seagrass, mangroves, and forest, which can capture and store greenhouse gases.

“The Office of the Prime Minister is also in support of the development of a national health adaptation plan project, which will specifically speak to vulnerability and the needs of the health sector, as well identification of actions to build greater resilience against climate change,” Ms Newbold said.

“Like this health specific adaptation plan, the government encourages the development of other sectors specific adaptation plans which will assist in building resiliency among all sectors so that no sector is left behind.”

And the winners are...

THE annual Tribune Easter colouring contest came to an end on Friday.

Hundreds of entries were submitted from children all across The Bahamas.

We would like to thank Kelly’s and McDonalds for partnering with us, as we look forward to an even more successful colouring contest in 2023.

The judges came from various backgrounds, including Patrick Robinson, IT administrator at Kelly’s; Takia Rolle, Social Media Specialist, DanBrad Limited; Jason Taylor, The Art of Grafix Inc; and Jamaal Rolle, Ambassador for Culture and Celebrity Artist.

There were three categories, ages 4-5, 6-8, and 9-10.

The winners in each category are as

follows:

4-5 Category 1st Place - Shirniah Stubs 2nd Place - Dylan Gardiner 3rd Place - A’Keilah Munroe 6-8 Category 1st Place - Aleisha Flower 2nd Place - Kylie Dean 3rd Place - Kamaji Smith 9-10 Category 1st Place - Harshini Jagroo 2nd Place - Julius Williams 3rd Place - Trinity McDonald

PICTURED, from left, are Jason Taylor; Patrick Robinson II; Jamaal Rolle; and Takia Rolle.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

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PAGE 6, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

PICTURE OF THE DAY

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

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,

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

Published daily Monday to Friday

Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207 TELEPHONES News & General Information Advertising Manager Circulation Department Nassau fax Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport fax

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Good news for science... if the rules allow it HERE comes the cavalry!

The news about a partnership between conservationists, Atlantis and Disney is the kind of corporate involvement in the community of which we need to see more.

Well done to all concerned for their work to help save our coral reefs.

The Perry Institute for Marine Science will partner with the giant businesses to create what is called a coral reef gene bank.

It will mean that endangered coral can be relocated, while new coral can be grown and bred. It could stop some species of coral from becoming extinct.

That’s the bouquet, now for the brickbat.

As detailed in The Tribune last week, scientists are presently left tangled up in red tape as they try to carry out research or, as is the case with the conservationists here, save endangered species.

The Perry Institute finds itself in the same boat. As Dr Craig Dahlgren, institute director, said: “We do have permits to assess and continue to treat it. But we can’t collect corals, rescue them from harm’s way and bring them into a facility.”

A new Cabinet paper is supposed to sort all of that out – with the current government blaming the former administration for the implementation of the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act. As for the previous administration’s Environment Minister, Romauld Ferreira, in a shocking failure to take responsibility, in yesterday’s Tribune, he blamed civil servants for “hijacking” the act, and being inflexible in the application of its rules and procedures.

He said: “Unfortunately we had some civil servants take it over, and the rigid application of rules and procedures led to some challenges, but it can easily be overcome.”

Not good enough, Mr Ferreira. As the minister in charge, the legislation should have been framed in such a way that it could not be derailed by the whim of civil servants – that was almost entirely the point, to stop discriminatory decisions on different applications. If an

Act could so easily be derailed, to the extent it brought scientific expeditions in the country grinding to a halt, then it was badly written in the first place. If the civil servants were following the law, then the law was flawed. If they were breaking the law, then how come the first you’re talking about it is now?

Whatever solution is put forward by the current administration, we hope it fixes those flaws – and lets projects such as this partnership between scientists, tourism and entertainment empires go ahead.

We would love to hope that it can pave the way for more such ventures for the benefit of the nation.

Food programme FNM leader Michael Pintard is right when he says the government should have handled the row over the food programme better.

All around, the government was complaining it didn’t have data from the National Food Distribution Task Force.

The Tribune managed to see the records by simply visiting the office of task force chairperson Susan Larson. She told us the government had been given the records already. And yet still the loud complaining went on.

Even if the government couldn’t find the records they’d already been given – why didn’t they just ask instead of blasting it as some terrible example of previous governance?

And what influence will such loud and public commentary have on the audit process now going on? Can that truly be a fair process if the Prime Minister has been supplying side commentary?

Perhaps it is easier to point the finger elsewhere because not a great deal of legislation has taken place yet, to say “look at them” rather than “look at us”.

Either way, there seems to have been far better ways to have handled this.

And now that the government has been provided the documentation again, we will be interested to see if that brings any change in the tone of the rhetoric.

Stop gun terrorists EDITOR, The Tribune.

OVER the last few days, a gang war erupted in the streets of Nassau, disrupting the peace and leaving over 20 people dead in March.

Recently, Nassau suffers one murder every two or three nights since the weekend where five people were killed, hours apart from one another.

Meanwhile, a national conference and several police briefings were held to find the people responsible for the bloodbath. Despite the immediate deployment of saturation patrols and increased investments towards Urban Renewal, the gang war continues to terrorise the capital city with murders occurring almost every evening.

However, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle spoke of certain individuals and shipping companies in South Florida being responsible for the increased traffic of illegally modified firearms and other military equipment acquired from the Black Market. This was a few days ago from a recent police briefing.

For decades, arms trafficking has plagued the Bahamas alongside the drug trade with hundreds dead since the 1980s. With every successful delivery of cocaine and marijuana, guns flow into the country from neighbouring Florida

and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere. With drugs and guns, it brings the gang wars and dozens if not, a hundred homicides on a yearly basis with no end in sight.

Outside of social issues that needs to be addressed in schools, the only way to stop this current gang war and to properly combat the issue of gun smuggling is to simply treat the crime of gun running as an act of terrorism.

The gangsters nowadays have lost their fear of the law because of this same illegal drug trade that brings the gangsters money, power and guns. They lost the sense of dread of being arrested or killed because no one had dared to challenge their authority on the streets.

If no one is willing to stop the gun runners and gangs today, then these gang wars and homicides will claim more lives and they’ll eventually target major social and political figures in the future.

Just like how the actions of Al-Qaeda and other extremists groups were declared terrorists after committing acts of mass murder or financing other attacks against the state, the same gangs and the illegal arms dealers and smugglers should face far more severe sentences.

For the possession of an

illegal firearm? Nine and a half years mandatory for each charge. Smuggling in even one handgun? 12 years without any hope for parole or bail. Running an illegal arms trafficking ring?

36 years to life in prison.

In addition to any new legislation and law that targets gangs and their suppliers, the Police and Defence Force must commit to a massive offensive against them in order to properly enforce the law. Every possible point of entry point into the country, like marinas and airports, must be placed on perpetual high security and the personnel responsible for national security must remain forever vigilant against smuggling attempts. Any intelligence effort against murders and other gang activities involving firearms must be placed on the highest priority for the government to investigate. Last. but not least, a massive scale community campaign should be instated nationwide to prevent young people from joining gangs.

This may not solve any long term issues, but these efforts will effectively lower the murder rate until a viable solution is found.

AMMAKA RUSSELL Nassau, April 11, 2022.

AN INDIGENOUS man with his face painted with red ink representing spilled Indigenous blood and clay representing gold, participates in a protest against the increase of mining activities that are encroaching on his land, in front of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in Brasilia, Brazil, yesterday.

Photo: Eraldo Peres/AP

Laws on age of consent in Canada EDITOR, The Tribune.

IN THE public discussion about the age of consent, it is useful to see what other jurisdictions are doing. It is important when making laws to not allow a particular case or the unwise pronouncements by a Minister of National Security to determine legal canons.

Sometimes public sentiment cannot see the way forward clearly because many people are outraged, often justifiably, about a particular case. Then politicians sometimes respond without thinking about the repercussions.

The Government and Attorney General Ryan Pinder should be careful and show good and long judgement in how it proceeds on the age of consent.

On its website, the Federal Department of Justice in Canada describes the “Age of Consent to Sexual Activity”. I offer this to help inform the public debate as well as the debate and discussions in cabinet.

The Canadian law is as follows: “Consent to sexual activity “The age of consent is the age at which a young person can legally agree to sexual activity. Age of consent laws apply to all forms of sexual activity, ranging from kissing and fondling to sexual intercourse.

“All sexual activity without consent is a criminal offence, regardless of age.

“These are serious offences that carry serious penalties, including mandatory minimum penalties.

Canada’s age of consent “The age of consent to sexual activity is 16 years. In some cases, the age of consent is higher (for example, when there is a relationship of trust, authority or dependency).

In other words, a person must be at least 16 years old to be able to legally agree to sexual activity.

Close in age exceptions: A 14 or 15-year-old can consent to sexual activity as long as the partner is less than five years older and there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or any other exploitation of the young person. This means that if the partner is 5 years or older than the 14 or 15 year old, any sexual activity is a criminal offence.

“There is also a ‘close in age‘ exception for 12 and 13 year olds. A 12 or 13 year old can consent

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net to sexual activity with a partner as long as the partner is less than two years older and there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or any other exploitation of the young person.

“This means that if the partner is 2 years or older than the 12 or 13 years old, any sexual activity is a criminal offence.

Sexual exploitation A 16 or 17 year old cannot consent to sexual activity if: • their sexual partner is in position of trust or authority towards them, for example their teacher or coachthe young person is dependent on their sexual partner, for example for care or supportthe relationship between the young person and their sexual partner is exploitative“The following factors may be taken into account when determining whether a relationship is exploitative of the young person: • the young person’s agethe age difference between the young person and their partnerhow the relationship developed (for example, quickly, secretly, or over the internet) whether the partner may have controlled or influenced the young person.

Sexual offences “The Criminal Code protects all Canadians from sexual abuse and exploitation. For example, it protects everyone, including children, against: • sexual assault • sexual assault with a weapon • aggravated sexual assault • voyeurism • trafficking in persons • non-consensual distribution of intimate images Child sexual offences “The Criminal Code also protects children through child-specific offences including: • sexual interference • invitation to sexual touching • sexual exploitation Other child-specific sexual offences include: • Child pornography Child pornography is broadly defined and includes: • any representation of a person who is, or is depicted as being, under the age of 18 years, engaged in explicit sexual activityany

representation whose dominant characteristic is the depiction of the sexual organs or anal region of a person under the age of 18 years for a sexual purposewritten, visual and audio material that advocates or counsels unlawful sexual activity with a person under the age of 18 • written, visual and audio material whose dominant characteristic is the description of unlawful sexual activity with a person under the age of 18 for a sexual purpose It is against the law for child pornography to be: • made • distributed • made available • sold • possessed or accessed • advertised • exported or imported The maximum penalties for these offences range from 10 to 14 years.

Luring a child “It is against the law for anyone to use the internet to communicate with a young person in order to commit a sexual or abduction offence against that young person. This offence is sometimes called “internet luring.” The maximum penalty for this offence is 14 years.

Exposure It is against the law for anyone to expose their genital organs for a sexual purpose to a person under the age of 16 years. The maximum penalty for this offence is 2 years.

Child prostitution It is against the law for anyone to: purchase the sexual services of a person under the age of 18 yearsmaterially benefit from child prostitutionencourage or incite a person under the age of 18 to participate in prostitution The maximum penalties for these offences range from 10 to 14 years.

Child sex tourism “It is against the law for a Canadian or permanent resident to travel outside of Canada and engage in any sexual activity with a young person that is against the law in Canada. If the person is not prosecuted in the country where the offence is alleged to have occurred, the person could be prosecuted in Canada.

If convicted, the person would face the same penalty as if that offence had occurred in Canada.”

JURIST Nassau, April 11, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 7

‘We don’t know how long our money will last’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net RISING prices brought on by inflation have created a difficult situation for some people who were already struggling financially before this latest hurdle.

The Tribune recently spoke with several people seeking help at the Department of Social Services’ Baillou Hill Road office, who spoke about how they are feeling the economic pinch.

“I hate to go in the food store,” a woman from northern Abaco, who asked not to be identified, said. “Everything is extremely high. It’s terrible.

It’s stressful. I just was telling someone I don’t know how they expect for you to get healed and do better. A person like me has chronic kidney disease – so how am I supposed to recover when it’s always some kind of pressure or stress?”

She has been in Nassau

THE DEPARTMENT of Social Services yesterday. since September 2019 after Hurricane Dorian devastated her island. The mother was put in a hotel just five weeks ago and also gets a food coupon at the end of every month through government assistance.

She wants to go back to Abaco, but the family’s home is not finished.

“They (social services officials) put me at a hotel temporarily, assisted housing. Every Monday, I have

to come in to get an extension,” she explained.

“Every Monday until I get sorted out. I don’t know how long that’s going to last because you know they’re always putting the pressure on you saying ‘You don’t have no family members’. . .I came here out of Dorian, so the majority of my family back in Abaco.”

On top of her living situation, she has experienced a number of health issues

30 MONTHS FOR SEX OFFENCE from page one

Ryan Bodie received the prison sentence from Magistrate Kendra Kelly, months after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a 25-year-old woman while the two were detained in a holding cell at the East Street South Police Station on October 21, 2021.

The woman told police she was initially searched and placed in a holding cell by herself where she fell asleep. Sometime later, the woman said she was awakened by the cell door opening and officers putting a man inside with her.

The woman was lying on a cement bench in the cell when she saw Bodie, who was lying down on the floor in front of the cell door, take out his penis and begin to masturbate before falling asleep.

However, the woman said upon waking up, Bodie started to masturbate a second time while touching her hand and even told her he would rape her and give her AIDS while she was shouting for help.

Bodie’s arrest on the day in question came after

he threatened to kill his father and caused $260 worth of damage to the man’s vehicle earlier that morning.

However, the charges in that matter were withdrawn by his father yesterday after he told the court he wanted to give his son a second chance.

Before sentencing, the Crown prosecutor in the case, Sgt Vernon Pyfrom, requested the maximum penalty for Bodie, noting the severity of his actions.

However, Bodie’s attorney asked the court to take into consideration Bodie’s improved demeanour since the day of his arrest.

She also spoke of Bodie’s mental disorder, adding that he was taking his medications regularly.

“I believe if he sticks with his medication along with… rehabilitation, therapy and counselling, he can be a productive citizen,” the attorney said of the father of one.

In response, Magistrate Kelly said she would consider the defendant’s early guilty plea and his attorney’s plea in mitigation.

However, the

magistrate said while she too has seen some positive changes in Bodie’s behaviour since his time on remand, she could not overlook the seriousness of his actions.

“What the defendant did was absolutely inexcusable, it was inexcusable,” she said.

The magistrate admitted she blamed officers for putting Bodie in the same cell with a woman, but said it was still not an excuse for him to prey on the young complainant.

In response, Bodie said he knew his actions were wrong and claimed he was under the influence of alcohol.

“There is no excuse for that and there is nothing that you can say that someone did that caused you to behave like that,” the magistrate said.

The magistrate added that a strong message needed to be sent to wouldbe offenders in society.

As a result, Bodie was sentenced to two years and six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

She also told him the sentence would run from the date of his incarceration last October.

MURDER SUSPECT DENIED BAIL

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 26-YEAR-OLD man accused of murdering another man as he sat on the porch of his home last week was denied bail yesterday.

Livingston Knowles appeared in court yesterday, charged with the fatal April 7 shooting of Lynhurst Johnson.

The accused was also charged with illegal firearm and ammunition possession after police allege they found him with an unlicensed black Glock .9mm pistol and seven unfired rounds of ammunition on the same day.

Police said that shortly after 2pm on April 7, a man was sitting on a porch at Ragged Island Street when another man approached

him, firing several shots in his direction.

Police said after the suspect escaped, they pursued him in the area as he led them on a high-speed chase onto Wulff Road.

The chase ended on Andros Avenue where the suspect was arrested after running into a residence. Officers also collected a firearm, it was reported.

During his hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt, Knowles denied being in possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition. He will return to court for trial on the charges in October.

Pertaining to the murder charge, the 26-year-old was not required to enter a plea to the offence and the case was adjourned to September 21 for presentation of a

voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

As a result, bail was denied, and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.

Also appearing in court for an unrelated firearm matter was Omar Miller, 45.

Miller was arrested after police ​allegedly found him with an unlicensed black Austria Glock .45 piston and ten unfired rounds of ammunition on April 7.

Miller pleaded not guilty to the gun charges and bail was granted to him at $8,500 with two sureties.

He was also ordered to report to the police station nearest to him once a week.

The accused will next return to court September 21 and 22 for trial.

OMAR ARCHER CHARGED OVER VOICE NOTE from page one

question stems from a WhatsApp note allegedly recorded by Archer, 50, last month, accusing Mr Munroe of allegedly beating his wife in July 2021.

Police also claim that Archer posted the defamatory remarks on social media.

However, the 50-year-old denied the offence during

his court appearance before Magistrate Kendra Kelly yesterday.

When the issue of bail was brought up, prosecutor Sgt Vernon Pyfrom objected to Archer’s release, arguing that the accused was already on bail for a pending criminal case of a similar offence.

Sgt Pyfrom also told the court he wanted to make system checks to determine

whether the accused had any other outstanding warrants.

However, Archer denied this, insisting he had no other outstanding warrants.

As a result, Magistrate Kelly said she would consider bail on Wednesday after the prosecutor has made the proper checks.

Archer was subsequently remanded to prison until that time.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff such as being diabetic.

“I just was working last year at Fish Fry, but I just got sick. I just started to feel bad. I hurt my foot and I got cut and it wouldn’t heal.

So I had to stop working.

Then after that I buck my foot…”

She said she recently had surgery and lost her toe.

She said she has worked periodically since leaving Abaco, however she has had a few setbacks.

“When I came from Dorian, I was working at Fusion - I was a cook there. I stopped working because of the pandemic.

During the pandemic, I was one of the head cooks at Super Value. “Ended up catching COVID after a couple months and then COVID did me so bad. It took me like three months to recover, so I didn’t go back. After that I started doing my own thing and

then I got job out Fish Fry up to December last year.”

The Tribune spoke with another mother who was seeking government assistance. The woman, who did not want to be named, said the rising prices on food and other goods has been “extremely difficult”. The 56-year-old’s husband is also disabled so she is the main breadwinner.

She does part-time work cooking and also has to sell water and drinks during off season. She said the family’s internet was recently cut off, hampering her son’s ability to continue his studies.

Lisa Thompson, who was at the department yesterday getting assistance with groceries, said she is doing her best.

“I’m just taking it (inflation) in stride because there’s nothing you can do to change it. You just have to take it slow and be careful what you spend,” she said.

PAGE 8, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Beauty queen who heard her calling SHE has graced the stage of the Miss World Beauty Pageant representing the Bahamas... and she very well could have lit stages afire around the world as a dancer. But something drew Bridgette Cooper back home – the desire to educate those who likely needed her help the most.

She poured into children and those with special needs, helping to mold generations of Bahamians.

After more than 3 decades as a noted educator, she’s still at it; but this time, she’s lending a helping hand to adults who have discovered that learning is indeed a lifelong journey.

The young, beautiful Bridgette won the Miss Commonwealth title in 1986, during a time when the pageant was in its heyday. Competition was hot and the fans were many.

But the athletic dancer took home the crown and the title.

Born a Strachan, Bridgette grew up between her father’s family’s stomping ground, Strachan’s corner, Kemp Road, and her mother’s home on Bar 20 corner and Carmichael Rd. She was born to Althea YoungWood and Arvon Strachan,

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

and was the youngest of her developed both strength mother’s four children. She and grace and blossomed attended Palmdale Primary into a talented young lady. during her formative years, “Because I was athletic and later graduated from and a trained dancer, my Carmichael Primary then goal was to be a dancer,” went on to SC McPher- she said. son Jr High. Between her “All of the business studfather’s homestead and ies and other high school school, Bridgette’s child- options presented to me hood was filled with the fun looked boring. I always and laughter of loved movement, friends and family. ‘I always and so I knew She was always loved having a desk job athletically was not for me.” inclined, so natu- movement, Her finesse on rally she joined and so I the dance stage the SC McPherson knew having did not go unnoSharks and AF ticed.

Bridgette Adderley Tigers a desk job aspired to be a and added to their was not choreographer prowess as she and was well on for me.’ played softball, her way to attend netball, volleyball, the Alvin Ailey high jump, hurdle and shot American Dance Theater. put. In the summertime, But her mother would not Bridgette entered beauty have it. Althea had no pageants, and partici- faith in dancing as a formipated in dance lessons with dable career – an outlook renown instructor Robert that many parents had on Bain. In this way, she the arts at that time. She

warned her daughter if she broke her leg, her career was over.

While hopes of dance stardom may have been dashed, Bridgette entered Miss Commonwealth and claimed the crown. She represented The Bahamas at Miss World in Hong Kong and London, which was a “wonderful experience”. Among her many prizes, Bridgette won a scholarship to attend college, and with that, her journey in tertiary education began.

Bridgette attended Clearwater Christian College with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher.

While at college, Bridgette discovered that she had some learning challenges.

She had to get assistance in order to keep up with her course work.

“I realise that there are many students who face similar kinds of challenges and need help,” she said.

“A true teacher is one who can meet a child where they are and take them where they need to be. So, I wanted to help students like myself, who may have learning challenges and lack needed skills.”

Therefore, she decided that she wanted to study special education, to help those in need of educational support.

Bridgette graduated from Clearwater with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education.

Bridgette came back to New Providence ready to make a difference in the next generation. She worked at Trinity Christian School and then Kingsway Academy, where she taught primary school for six years before moving to Garvin Tynes Primary School.

Experiences at Garvin Tynes Primary School resulted in Bridgette further her education at the University of Miami where she earned a Master of Science degree in Education with concentration in Special Education/Reading.

This helped her to be more effective in educating the youngsters of the Bahamas.

“I wanted to enhance my effectiveness in the classroom,” she said.

“While I knew a lot about special education, I wanted to be able to diagnose my students, uncovering the reason why they were not learning. I wanted to test, evaluate, and prescribe treatment for students identified as having problems learning.”

“It was always exciting for me when I was able to help a child learn how to read,” she confessed, “When they could blend vowels and consonants to form words.”

“They then understood that these words mean something. They would then begin using inflections and intonations when reading. They would then begin to ask questions as they read stories. That’s when I knew I was making a difference.”

Today, many of these students became standout students as they continued on in their studies. Many of her students have successful careers and some are even teachers themselves.

Bridgette’s continued employment at the Ministry of Education resulted in assignments to a Special Education Commission tasked with investigating the status of special education in the country. She served as Technical Officer for the National Commission of Special Education; Secondary Consultant to

the Ministry of Education of St Kitts and Nevis; Technical Officer in the Special Education Unit in the Ministry of Education; and BRIDGETTE Quality Cooper as she is Assurtoday, top, and ance when she was CoorMiss Commondinator wealth in 1986. in the Preschool and Special Education Units for the Ministry of Education and the Inter-American Development Bank project: “Support Programme for Transforming Education and Training”.

Bridgette went on to serve as an Assistant Professor at the University of The Bahamas’ School of Education for ten years: “I enjoyed the interaction with UB students. I taught a wide range of students – some, right out of high school and others were professionals seeking to enhance their careers or change their careers altogether. While I enjoyed teaching all the students, teaching the mature students, was very satisfying to me.”

She has been described as a “self-directed enthusiastic educator” who is passionately committed to national development through education. Skilled in developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating educational programmes, Bridgette has dedicated her professional life to the enlightenment and empowerment of others.

Her journey continues as today, she serves as the Country Head of the University of the West Indies Open Campus Bahamas (UWIOCB). She began in this capacity in August 2020 and since then, she has been working to promote UWIOCB’s cause to “open doors to lifechanging learning”. The University of the West Indies, through its Open Campus, offers higher, distance, and continuing educational programmes, research and innovation, and outreach programmes from all of its locations across the Caribbean region. Students can earn a degree or professional certificate from the myriad of options available.

UWIOCB can design a professional certificate program to meet any need in the professional world, and all programmes are offered online. She has been proud to introduce a successful high school initiative that gives students an opportunity to have achieved something they can be proud of.

TRACY and Bridgette Cooper recently celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary.

“Many vocational programs offered in high schools, such as cosmetology, agricultural science, and motor mechanics do not offer national certificates to reflect knowledge and skill learned in the content area,” said Bridgette.

“As a result, many students in these subject areas graduate from high school without evidence to confirm their academic achievements and participation career option. UWIOCB wishes to assist these students in earning certificates of achievement in the areas of entrepreneurship and small business management, designed for students interested in becoming a business owner/entrepreneur; and the health management program is designed for aspirant clinical professionals in need of formal introductory training in the discipline. These two program options will assist in preparing students for their chosen careers in either area upon graduating from high school, thus giving them a head start in their chosen careers.”

UWIOCB has officially launched its most recent fundraiser – the first annual fun, run/walk/push and souse-out event. Proceeds will be used to award partial scholarships to high school students to attend this year’s high school summer program, which will run five to seven weeks.

Participants will cover five kilometers as they exercise for a worthy cause.

The event will be held on Saturday, April 30. Online registration is now open.

For more information, visit www.open.uwi.edu, or call 323-6593/456-6687; on Facebook: UWIOCCSB and Instagram: uwi. oc.bahamas.

In addition to her goal to augment continuing education options in The Bahamas, Bridgette continues to present at numerous workshops and training sessions.

She has often served as guest speaker on topics addressing inclusive education policies and practices, effective student assessment, educational leadership and school reform and youth development and mentorship.

While building her formidable teaching career, Bridgette passion for young people is evident as she is devoted to her church where she serves as the youth director. She has had the love and support of her high school sweetheart, Tracy Cooper, Managing Director of Bahamasair.

They are the proud parents of Delon, their son who is about to graduate as a civil engineer; and Brittany, who graduated from university last semester with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders. She will pursue her Master’s Degree in the fall in Speech and Language Pathology.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 9

Boris in Ukraine brave or foolhardy?

The Peter Young column WHAT to cover in a weekly column needs to be determined well in advance in order to leave time for research. While the world is watching the war in Ukraine play out in all its grisly reality, I had planned to write today about the failure of the United Nations – a body whose principal function is to maintain world peace – to take meaningful action to stop it. But, although still covering that issue, it seemed important to draw attention mainly to the unexpected news, revealed at the weekend, of the visit to Ukraine of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

For obvious security reasons, the planning of his trip to Kyiv on Saturday was kept carefully under wraps, so it came as a total surprise to the general public. It followed hard on the heels of an earlier visit the same week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Even though Moscow has pulled back its forces from Kyiv for redeployment in the eastern Donbas region, this was a highrisk visit which included a walkabout in the capital with the Ukrainian President. Reportedly, Mr Johnson himself was intent on making the trip despite the dangers of going in to what is still a warzone and he is the first G7 leader to travel to Kyiv since the Russian invasion on February 24. For the last part of the journey he travelled by train from Poland.

The PM’s trip came shortly after the announcement of further substantial UK military assistance for Ukrainian forces including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and so-called “suicide drones”. It also took place after the discovery of the mass killing of civilians in different parts of the country -- atrocities that are being described as nothing short of evil for which the perpetrators must be held accountable. Mr Johnson himself has said that because of these war crimes Putin’s reputation will be “permanently polluted”, as Russia becomes increasingly isolated in the global community.

It is said that he and President Volodymyr Zelensky have struck up a close working relationship with regular contact through telephone calls following the latter’s heartfelt and highly effective address last month via video link to the UK Parliament at Westminster.

At their face-to-face meeting on Saturday, the PM said he wanted to discuss the UK’s long-term support to Ukraine. He set out a new package of financial and military aid and pledged 120 armoured vehicles together with anti-ship missiles. He praised Zelensky’s resolute leadership, saying to him that “the Ukrainian people are a lion and you are its roar”, with the Ukrainian leader heaping praise on him in return by responding that the UK would “go down in history” and calling Boris Johnson “one of the most principled opponents of the Russian invasion, a leader in sanctions pressure on Russia and defence support of Ukraine”.

IN this image provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, shake hands during their walk in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 9.

UN STRUCTURE SHOULD REFLECT GLOBAL REALITIES RETURNING to the collective failure of the UN with its 192 member states to take effective action to end the Ukraine war, it is generally agreed that this is the biggest crisis for the organisation’s authority – practical, moral and legal – since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The UN Secretary General has called it one of the greatest challenges ever to “the international order and the global peace architecture”.

For many people, it is shocking that the principles enshrined in the UN founding charter in 1945, primarily aimed at upholding peace among sovereign states, have been torn up by Russia, with the Kremlin ignoring pleas by the Secretary General for an immediate end to hostilities and at the same time brutally disregarding the established humanitarian laws of warfare.

In the 1930s, the League of Nations gradually failed as it was unable to maintain global peace, not least because the US never joined it. The UN then emerged from the ruins of the Second World War, with the clear motivation among its signatories that But all this is against a background of the continuing need for NATO unity in the West’s response to Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified attack as well as a coordinated approach to ending the EU’s energy dependence on Russia.

Equally significant has been NATO’s self-imposed limits on any action that could precipitate a wider war, including restrictions on the type of military involvement in the shape of equipment, weapons and other support.

It seems that these limits may have been broken by some individual countries through their provision of individual support -including, for example, tanks and rocket launchers supplied by the Czech Republic. It is the case, of course, that details of military support, weapons and equipment are not made available to the general public. But, following Boris Johnson’s visit, questions are being raised in the UK press about whether Britain is keeping in line with NATO’s overall response or is it breaking the unity of the organisation.

Critics also wonder about the purpose of his visit. Was it just to show solidarity or did he hope to achieve anything specific? For those responsible for his safety, it must have been a security nightmare. Was the British

the horrors of the worst and most destructive global conflict in history “must never happen again”.

The UN preamble speaks of a determination that succeeding generations should be saved from the scourge of war and that it is essential to maintain international peace and security.

The Putin regime has ignored these obligations, and China has also failed to abide by the UN Charter, while countries like India have been sitting on the fence in reacting to Russia’s invasion. At the beginning of March, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding that Russia immediately end all military operations but this was ignored by the Kremlin. Three weeks later it passed another resolution insisting on aid agency access and the protection of civilians. This was likewise ignored.

The 15-member UN Security Council – five of whom are permanent members (US, Britain, China, Russia and France) and have the power of veto over its decisions - has already proved its impotence. In the days following the invasion a resolution

PM displaying bravery and real leadership as a statesman in a world crisis or was it simply a PR stunt? Was it heroic or downright reckless and unnecessary?

Views vary about the need, effectiveness and wisdom of Boris Johnson’s readiness to travel to Kyiv in such potentially dangerous conditions. I, for one, believe he should be applauded for taking this initiative. Meanwhile, a quick check reveals that the numerous comments from readers which UK newspapers publish in response to their articles seem to be generally positive to the extent that the PM is seen by many to be doing Britain proud by becoming so directly involved. What is more, historians remind us that, despite the threat to his personal safety, Churchill regularly flew to hotspots during the Second World War in order to see for himself what was happening and thus be better equipped to take military decisions to hasten the ending of the war.

But, despite differences of opinion, one thing is for sure - the so-called Brexitbashers who said that the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union would lead to national isolation in a country led by a clown have been proven, at the very least, to be well wide of the mark.

condemning it failed after being vetoed by Russia. In addition, the UNSC is unable to initiate action in response to President Zelensky’s call for it to take measures to stop the genocide. However, at least the UN Human Rights Council, which voted last week to suspend Russia from it, has reportedly started an investigation into the invasion and war crimes.

Others, who know more about the history of the UN and are more familiar with its proceedings than I am, may not agree but I believe there is a broad school of thought that, if the organisation as currently set up is unable to act decisively when the international rules-based order is broken, it is little more than a talking shop and needs to be reformed – though, of course, the UN does much good work in other areas through its specialised agencies.

One idea is to enlarge the UNSC’s permanent membership to include countries like Japan, Brazil, India, South Africa and Germany and to abolish the veto. This has been under discussion for years. But, looking at

the bigger picture, many people believe that now is the time to convene a new foundational conference like that in San Francisco in 1945 in order to relaunch the UN as an organisation to operate in ways that reflect the global power balance and priorities of the 21st century.

President Biden is on record as saying in advance of Russia’s invasion that it would “bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering” and that the US and its allies would respond in a “united and decisive way”. This is what has happened. But, because of Russia’s veto power, the UN can do no more than condemn that country rather than take harsher action against it.

In Britain, there are now calls for Russia to be stripped of its veto and even removed from the Security Council. The evidence suggests that more and more people consider it extraordinary that just one country with nuclear weapons can decide to annex another country and the UN can do nothing meaningful to stop it – even taking into account the danger of escalating hostilities through military action and starting a wider conflict.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, left, and Rory McIlroy in action at the Masters.

AUGUSTA AT ITS BEST DOES it get any better than this, asked the commentator during the weekend play at what is the pre-eminent event in the world’s golfing calendar - and he was not exaggerating. For golf lovers, there can be few finer experiences than watching a sunlit final day of the annual Masters tournament at Augusta National in Georgia where victory is the pinnacle of golfing achievement.

By common consent, the setting and atmosphere are unmatched, and this year was no exception. So what a joy it was to follow the excellent TV coverage, in particular the closing stages on Sunday afternoon.

The fact that Irishman Rory McIlroy seemed to come from nowhere to challenge the ultimate winner, Scottie Scheffler from Texas, made it that much more interesting for those of us originating from across the pond. Even though he ended up three strokes behind, what an amazing performance it was by McIlroy to card 64 – matching the lowest score ever for a final round at the Masters - including holing a

stunning bunker shot on the last green.

In 2019, Tiger Woods at the age of 43 came back after a string of injuries and personal problems to claim a spectacular victory by a single stroke and earn his fifth Masters title. This year, after recovering from serious injuries from a nasty car accident, he not only entered but played well enough to make the cut, though his game fell away on Saturday because – in his own words – he missed too many putts. This was the 25th anniversary of his memorable victory in 1997 when he was only 21 - and, apparently, because of continuing walking difficulties it was something of a miracle that he managed even to participate.

At the risk of repeating what I wrote in this column three years ago, even those with little interest in golf or knowledge of the game will surely acknowledge the high quality and excellent organisation of this amazing annual sporting event which attracts huge numbers of spectators. The Masters is a fine example of the best that America has to offer.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MAYOR: MORE THAN 10,000 CIVILIANS DEAD IN MARIUPOL KYIV, Ukraine Associated Press

THE mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said yesterday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were “carpeted through the streets”.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko also said Russian forces brought mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of the bodies, and he accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage.

Russian forces have taken many bodies to a huge shopping center

where there are storage facilities and refrigerators, Boychenko said.

“Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” he said.

The mayor’s comments emerged as Russia claimed that it destroyed several Ukrainian air-defense systems in what appeared to be a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv has described as crucial ahead of an expected broad new offensive in the east.

In one strike, Moscow said it hit four S-300 launchers near the central city of Dnipro that had been provided by a European country it did not name. Slovakia gave

Ukraine just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed. Russia previously reported two strikes on similar systems in other places.

The failure to win full control of Ukraine’s skies has hampered Moscow’s ability to provide air cover for troops on the ground, limiting their advances and likely exposing them to greater losses.

With their offensive in many parts of the country thwarted, Russian forces have relied increasingly on bombarding cities — a strategy that has left many urban areas flattened and killed thousands of people.

Ukrainian authorities accuse Russian forces of committing atrocities, including a massacre in the town of Bucha, outside

Kyiv, airstrikes on hospitals and a missile attack that killed at least 57 people last week at a train station.

In Bucha yesterday, the work of exhuming bodies from a mass grave in a churchyard resumed.

Galyna Feoktistova waited for hours in the cold and rain in hopes of identifying her 50-year-old son, who was shot and killed more than a month ago, but eventually she went home for some warmth.

“He’s still there,” her surviving son, Andriy, said.

In Mariupol, about 120,000 civilians are in dire need of food, water, warmth and communications, the mayor said.

Only those residents who have passed the Russian “filtration camps” are released from the city,

Boychenko said. He said improvised prisons were organised for those who did not pass the “filtering”, while at least 33,000 were taken to Russia or to separatist territory in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency said that nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion began. The United Nations has verified that 142 children have been killed and 229 injured, though the actual numbers are likely much higher.

Elsewhere, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow yesterday for talks that were “very direct, open and tough”.

In a statement released

by his office, Nehammer said his primary message to Putin was “that this war needs to end, because in war both sides can only lose”. Nehammer said he also raised the issue of war crimes committed by the Russian military and said those responsible “will be held to account”.

Austria is a member of the European Union and has backed the 27-nation bloc’s sanctions against Russia, though it so far has opposed cutting off deliveries of Russian gas. The country is militarily neutral and is not a member of NATO. In other developments, the head of the separatist rebel government in Donetsk said Ukrainian forces have lost control of the port area of Mariupol.

SHARIF SWORN IN AS NEW PM OF PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD Associated Press PAKISTAN’S parliament yesterday elected opposition lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as the new prime minister, following a week of political turmoil that led to the weekend ouster of Premier Imran Khan.

Sharif took the oath of office inside the stately, white marble palace known as the Presidency in a brief ceremony.

But his elevation won’t guarantee a peaceful path forward or solve the country’s many economic problems, including high inflation and a soaring energy crisis.

Sharif, the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, won with 174 votes after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf, or Pakistan Justice Party, resigned and walked out of the National Assembly in protest.

Those 174 votes — two more than the required simple majority — are enough to pass laws in the 342-seat assembly. If Khan’s followers take to the streets, as he has vowed, it could create more pressure on lawmakers and deepen the crisis.

Khan, a former cricket star whose conservative Islamist ideology and dogged independence characteried his three years and eight months in office, was ousted early on Sunday. He lost a no-confidence vote after being deserted by his party allies and a key coalition partner.

MACRON V LE PEN IN FRANCE RUNOFF VOTE PARIS Associated Press FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron declared yesterday that he wants to “convince” a broad range of French voters to back his centrist vision, kicking off a twoweek battle against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen ahead of the country’s presidential runoff vote.

Le Pen, meanwhile, is eager to highlight rising prices for energy and food that have hit poorer households especially hard recently as Macron has focused his efforts on seeking a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine.

The two candidates came out on top in Sunday’s firstround presidential vote, setting up an April 24 replay of their duel in 2017. Macron trounced Le Pen five years ago in the presidential runoff but all opinion polls show the leader of the National Rally is much closer this time to a potential win.

Macron has strongly backed European Union sanctions on Russia while Le Pen has worried about their impact on French living standards. Macron also is a firm supporter of NATO and of close collaboration with EU members.

Macron and Le Pen are to debate on national television next week.

PRESIDENT Joe Biden holds pieces of a 9mm pistol as he speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington yesterday.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Biden aims at ‘ghost guns’ with new rule WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Joe Biden yesterday took fresh aim at ghost guns, the privately made firearms without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes, as he struggles to break past gun-control opposition to address firearm deaths.

Speaking at the White House, Biden highlighted the Justice Department’s work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, and announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach, who served as a US attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016, to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm,” Biden said of ghost guns, briefly holding one up for cameras to see in the Rose Garden.

“Our communities are paying the price.”

He promised the new regulations would save lives.

Still, the announcement on guns highlights the limits of Biden’s influence to push a sweeping congressional overhaul of the nation’s firearm laws in response to both a recent surge in violent crime and continued mass shootings. Congress has deadlocked on legislative proposals to reform gun laws for a decade, and executive actions have

faced stiff headwinds in federal courts — even as the Democratic base has grown more vocal in calling on Biden to take more consequential action.

Dettelbach’s confirmation, too, is likely to be an uphill battle. Biden had to withdraw the nomination of his first ATF nominee, gun-control advocate David Chipman, after it stalled for months because of opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in the Senate.

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006.

Since then, only one nominee, former US Attorney B Todd Jones, has been confirmed. Jones made it through the Senate in 2013 but only after a six-month struggle. Jones was acting director when President Barack Obama nominated him in January 2013.

The Biden administration’s plan on guns was first reported by Politico.

For nearly a year, the ghost gun rule has been making its way through the federal regulation process. Gun safety groups and Democrats in Congress have been pushing for the Justice Department to finish the rule for months. It will probably be met with heavy resistance from gun groups and draw

litigation in the coming weeks.

Gun Owners of America vowed that it would immediately fight the rule.

“Just as we opposed the Trump Administration’s arbitrary ban on bump stocks, GOA will also sue Biden’s ATF to halt the implementation of this rule,” Aidan Johnston, the group’s director of federal affairs said in a statement.

The group believes the rule violates the US Constitution and several federal laws.

But gun safety advocacy groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushed the federal government for years to take action on ghost guns, applauded Biden’s moves and insisted that both Dettelbach’s appointment and the finalised rule will help combat gun violence.

“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president.

Christian Heyne, the vice president of policy at Brady, another gun control group, said Dettelbach was “an unimpeachable public servant who has spent a career using the levers of government to hold negligent or nefarious actors accountable”.

Justice Department statistics show that nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes and reported to the

government from 2016 to 2020. It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t contact the government about the guns because they can’t be traced.

The new rule changes the current definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun. It says those parts must be licenced and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale — as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.

Federally licenced firearms dealers must retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity and then transfer the records to ATF as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes.

“A year ago this week standing here with many of you, I instructed the attorney general to write a regulation that would rein in the proliferation of ghost guns because I was having trouble getting anything passed in the Congress,” Biden said.

PHILADELPHIA TO RESTORE INDOOR MASK MANDATE AS CASES RISE PHILADELPHIA became the first major US city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate yesterday after reporting a sharp increase in coronavirus infections, with the city’s top health official saying she wanted to forestall a potential new wave driven by an omicron subvariant.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen more than 50 percent in ten days, the threshold at which the city’s guidelines call for people to wear masks indoors, said Dr Cheryl Bettigole, the health commissioner.

Health officials believe the recent spike is being driven by the highly transmissible BA.2 subvariant of omicron, which has spread rapidly throughout Europe and Asia, and has become dominant in the US in recent weeks.

“If we fail to act now, knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalizations, and then a wave of deaths, it will be too late for many of our residents,” said Bettigole, noting about 750 Philadelphia residents died in the wintertime

omicron outbreak. “This is our chance to get ahead of the pandemic, to put our masks on until we have more information about the severity of this new variant.”

Health inspectors will begin enforcing the mask mandate at city businesses on April 18.

Most states and cities dropped their masking requirements in February and early March following new guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that put less focus on case counts and more on hospital

capacity. The CDC said at that time that with the virus in retreat, most Americans could safely take off their masks.

Philadelphia ended its indoor mask mandate on March 2, and Bettigole acknowledged “it was wonderful to feel that sense of normalcy again”.

Confirmed cases have since risen to more than 140 per day — still a fraction of what Philadelphia saw at the height of the omicron surge — while hospitalisations remain low at only 46 patients.

PAGE 11

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

More Bahamians ready to say ‘I do’?

Industry expects uptick in weddings

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

WILL the Bahamas experience a similar boom in weddings this year like our neighbour, the United States? Those in the local wedding and bridal industry certainly think so, as their calendars are already filling up and demands for their services are increasing.

If the predictions pan out, there will be some 2.5 million weddings happening in the US this year the most since 1984, according to the Wedding Report, a trade paper that gathered its data through a survey of vendors and consumers.

This number is believed to have been influenced by the majority of celebrations rescheduled during the last two years. The rest, the report said, are likely to be dominated by couples who became engaged during the pandemic.

And considering that the pandemic has been receding and local restrictions have been relaxed, and the fact that we are a stone’s throw away from the US, could mean the Bahamas will be welcoming many more couples looking for a destination wedding – taking up spaces and resources locals may want to access.

Kim Wallace, owner of Template, a local stationary business that specialises in handcrafted wedding and social invitations, programs and favours, advises local brides to start planning and booking their vendors immediately.

“We are going to see a heavy influx of tourists this year. So, tourism will get a boost. This will leave our people out, however, in terms of where to host their receptions because these tourists are here to spend the money on the wedding of their dreams,” she told Tribune Woman.

“So, our people are going to really have to be planners. You cannot sit back relax and say, ‘Oh, my wedding is in eight months or my wedding is in six months… I have time to plan.’ You have to start planning now. This is going

‘Bridgerton’ inspired wedding invitation

by Bahamian company Template to dictate how your wedding is going to be, how the tone of your wedding is going to be.”

Couples should also consider the current disruption in supply lines.

In her case, Ms Wallace she is seeing how sourcing paper and other items to produce quality stationary is becoming more difficult.

This also determines how many clients she can take on.

“I’m in the invitation business and worldwide things are getting very hard to find and very expensive with supply and demand. So, if you are getting married anytime soon, start looking at your wedding stationary now. Paper is being discontinued. Paper is not being able to be found. Mills around the world are even being shut down because they are short staffed. So, they are not even people around to make paper.

Everyone around the world is feeling the same pinch,” she said.

Even though people are tending towards digital invitations at

the moment, Ms Wallace said there is still a place for stationary.

“People still love the beauty of paper and it’s a keepsake.

People still also love the feel of new things. And one of the newer things that are trending are acrylic invitations. We have been going as far as Turkey to outsource acrylic invitations and as far as India for laser invitations because there have been short supplies in the United States and because of the short supplies the price has been going up,” she said.

Makeva Wallace, wedding planner and coordinator of the Bahamas Bridal Show, which is making a comeback next month, advises couples to be strategic.

“With being a wedding planner and brides contacting me, everyone is planning their wedding for later down in the year. While we have a few late planners, we have people planning more so earlier.

We also have people who are booking and planning for the first quarter for 2023. This is a good thing because this means everyone is getting a jump on it. If you want to have the wedding of your dreams, you are having a goodsized wedding the time is now to start planning. Even if your wedding is later in the year in order to get the vendors you want,” she said.

Latoya Forbes, a representative from Beyond The Décor, a premier event design company, told Tribune Woman their calendar is also filling up.

“There is an uptick in events in general. One of the requests we are getting now more than ever is birthdays. People now appreciate the opportunity to be able to celebrate. We have a lot of international people calling us to design their weddings.

People are more confident that they can officially host their event and not have it cancelled at the last minute. So, persons have been much more open to booking,” she said.

The resounding admonishment from most industry experts in the current climate is “fail to plan is a plan to fail.”

A therapeutic hobby turns into a colourful business for retired banker

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

After 35 years working in the financial sector, private banker Karen Haven took what she calls “voluntary early retirement” due to health reasons. She seemed to be suffering from an illness doctors couldn’t diagnose.

Having worked her entire life, she was suddenly at a loss as to what to do with all her newly acquired free time. Additionally, her medical condition had her feeling hyperactive for most of the day.

Karen quickly found out that gardening was not her cup of tea, so she began to refinish her outdoor furniture.

Once that was completed, with nothing else to do, she fell into a bit of a depression.

It was then that her youngest daughter came across online videos of acrylic painting which she thought might interest her mom. Karen said her daughter passed her an iPad and for the next few days it’s all she watched.

She then signed up for painting courses online and joined art groups.

“It served to calm me on my bad days and it quickly became an - I don’t want to say - obsession, but you get the picture. Eventually my friends started asking me to paint for them and some were offering to purchase ones that I had already painted. This was great because then I could buy more canvases and paints,” she told Tribune Woman.

What started as much-needed distraction and hobby to improve Karen’s mental health quickly turned into a family business: Haven Acrylics.

“My daughter Ashleigh started painting with me a few months later and has since joined me full time in the business. She was

ACRYLIC art by Karen Haven and her team always the artist in the family and she is my go-to person when I can’t seem to make a specific colour. My daughter Erin is still in college so she paints when she has free time. My son Kristen has also joined us. He started as a guest artist but has become more active although still part time,” said Karen.

With their Haven Acrylics venture, they offer their customers not only canvases, but also jewellery, keepsake boxes, indoor/ outdoor wall art, wine glasses, charcuterie boards, trays, lazy susans, handbags, and even barstools.

Karen said pretty much anything that has flat surface, she and her team can paint.

“What makes us happy is when our clients are happy. I am grateful to have the opportunity to do something I love and have a

passion for and to do it all from home, so it was great that the pandemic didn’t stop us from creating.

A lot of people were working from home during the worst part of the pandemic. It was then that they started reaching out to us as they wanted pieces to brighten their home or patio areas. Some just wanted to treat themselves to an inexpensive piece of jewellery or gift item. To see their delight when they receive their pieces always gives us a good feeling,” she said.

Karen said all of their clients are a lot fun to work with, but there were two projects in particular that stand out to her.

“Our biggest project was to paint outdoor wall art for a resort on Rose Island. We must have painted about 80 pieces for them, all in ocean colours. I also was asked by a friend to paint the countertops for a gourmet food market she was about to open.

I resisted as she wanted 2 - 3ft x 7ft tops painted. I had never done a piece that big before and here she was asking for two pieces. She insisted and persisted, and with the help of my two daughters we completed them,” she said.

Karen said it was also her brother, Craig, a web designer by profession, who inspired her to take her art further.

“He gave me the first push. He was fascinated by the techniques and pieces and told me I should sell my art. He secretly photographed my pieces and set up a website for me. The only problem was a name. We considered several names and came up with Haven Acrylics,” she explained.

“Then my younger sister, Denisia, pushed - not shoved - me into doing the Wine and Arts show at Bahamas National Trust and that’s how our brand started to become popular.”

For Karen, inspiration can come from anywhere. She said she once See PG B12

PAGE 12, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

A therapeutic hobby turns into a colourful business for retired banker From pg B11 painted pendants in the colours of a dress she had seen in a movie; or a photo of a bird she had seen on Facebook. Once, she had purchased a dress for a wedding but had no purse or jewellery to match it, so she painted them herself.

“My clients normally have an idea of the colours they would like. I send them colour palettes so that they can choose the one that best suits them and we use that to paint their pieces.For the indoor/outdoor wall art we thought of what we’d want in our own home, or sometimes we get special requests from clients or friends and family would make suggestions. So often you’d see a piece of wall art in a store but it’s not quite the colours you’d like. We solved that issue for ourselves. We painted all the art inside my home and have started changing out pieces on my exterior walls.

Our most popular product now is the wall art. We offer more than a dozen shapes and in different sizes: from baby starfish to giant octopuses, to turtles, hummingbirds and even monstera leaves, geckos, dragonflies, dolphins, sand dollars, suns and butterflies. We are always looking for more shapes,” she said.

“We went from seahorses to starfish and now we have a whole array of indoor/outdoor wall art. What makes it interesting is the fact that someone can order different pieces to adorn their home or patio area in their chosen colours. The pieces are weather-resistant and won’t rot or rust like most pieces you’d find in stores,” she said.

While they are still a small family business, they are having fun with their work.

“We do pop-ups now and then. This form of art is very relaxing. We have one studio so we kind of have a schedule. I take mornings, Ashleigh the afternoon, and Kris the evening after a full day at work,” she said.

Going from one person painting to a team of three, Karen said from time to time they also have guest artists to paint pieces.

The goal for the future is to eventually host paint and sip parties .

“Maybe art classes for kids; expanding our website, maybe opening a studio or store. We currently have our pieces in three stores on the island and hope to expand that number. I’m in talks with someone to offer our products in Abaco. Maybe we’ll be featured on more islands. Who knows?

Like I said, we’re just having fun right now,” she said.

When she first started in the business, Karen said she only produced art on canvases, but after a surgerical procedure she had to undergo, she could no longer stand up for long periods of time, so she got more into painting jewellery which allowed her to sit down.

“Eventually, we got into painting keepsake boxes and then one day my son brought me a seahorse wall hanging and asked me to paint it in his chosen colours. I did that and then thought, why not do that for everyone.

Two local female lawyers honoured in global publication Higgs & Johnson partners Vivienne M Gouthro and Christel Sands-Feaste have been recognised among the leading female transaction lawyers in a prominent law guide that recognises the achievements of female lawyers around the world.

They were both included in the recently published IFLR1000 Woman leaders 2022 listing for the second consecutive year.

It is an elite ranking category given to the most prominent woman lawyers around the world with outstanding regulations within their law firms and who hold leadership roles within their firms or practices.

Ms Gouthro has more than 27 years’ experience specialising in ship and international finance, as well as extensive experience in real estate and development. She is also noted for her work leading complex maritime deals. She is the managing partner of the Freeport office and Chair of the Maritime and Aviation Group.

Ms Sands-Feaste is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with over 22 years’ experience with a focus on financial services, securities and investment funds.

She is praised for her standout transactional work and is the partner and chair of the financial services and securities practice group. She is highly respected by the market in her financial and corporate practice with special recognition given to her financings and acquisitions expertise.

“Their achievements are a testament to the commitment Higgs & Johnson places on advancing diversity and investing in its female attorneys and staff,” the law firm said in a release.

Fifty-seven percent of the firm’s partnership is female, with more than half of them chairing or cochairing practice groups.

The firm boasts of having had a female co-managing partner and having seasoned female professional currently holding senior operational posts. including chief

CHRISTEL SANDS-FEASTE, Higgs & Johnson partner

VIVIENNE M GOUTHRO, Higgs & Johnson partner

operating officer, chief financial officer and human resource manager.

The company also ensures inclusion of the younger female attorneys and staff members in the operation of the firm as cochairs and participants in the management teams and believes an inclusive firm with diverse leadership improves the firm’s ability to provide clients with innovative and world class services.

Co-Managing Partner Sterling H Cooke praised the two women saying: “To be recognised on a global stage for their expertise and experience is truly an accomplishment and one that makes us very proud. They are among an exceptional team of female attorneys here at Higgs & Johnson and we salute their achievement.”

IFLR1000 is the guide to the world’s leading financial and corporate law firms and lawyers covering the business of law in over 120 jurisdictions worldwide.

Nontraditional Easter ‘baskets’

By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

Easter is upon us, and if the Easter Bunny has asked you as a mommy or wife to help ease his load, then we are here with some great ideas to help fill those Easter baskets for all ages Themed baskets are the way to go and will make the basket shopping so much easy.

Do you have a foodie on your list? Consider a charcuterie board full of treats rather than a traditional basket. And for that coffee lover in your life, why not let a cute mug be the basket and fill it with specialty coffees they will be sure to enjoy.

Are you looking for a basket for a hair freak? Special brushes, hair

DISNEY Princess Easter basket (Image_Pinterest) AN ADULT Easter basket (Image_Pinterest) products and accessories are the way to go.

Men will love baskets filled with sports gear, Maybe a gym bag filled with gym clothes, socks, water bottles or a tool box? They would also enjoy a beer or rum basket filled with their beverage of choice.

Virtual baskets can also be a great way to add Easter joy.

Tween boys can be hard to shop for, so why not send an online Easter basket filled with vouchers for games such as Fortnite.

Similarly, a gift certificate to their favourite online store is perfect for the fashionista or the home

FORTNITE drop box Easter baskets (Image_Pinterest)

designer, particularly if they live out of town.

Finally, make sure that the basket itself is part of the present.

Little girls will love purses full of treats. Women will love make-up storage containers filled with their favourite beauty products.

That frequent traveller you want to gift will love a carry-on

bag filled with travel sized toiletries. Have a cook that needs an Easter basket? How about specialty cookware or pots filled with kitchen gadgets or spices or special sauces.

This is a great way to celebrate the holiday in a non-traditional way with gifts they will truly love.

Review: Eye-opening historical fiction ‘Take My Hand’

By DONNA EDWARDS Associated Press Newly graduated from Tuskegee, Civil Townsend takes on her first job as a nurse at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic in 1973. She’s ready to make a difference and help the women in her community, but her very first case tests her in a way that will haunt her for decades to come.

“Take My Hand” by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is engrossing from the start. The novel takes place from Civil’s retrospective look some 40 years back from 2016. Being one of the few nurses with her own reliable transportation, Civil is assigned two rural Alabama girls, India and Erica Williams, who are receiving birth control shots.

From the first time Civil sees them she is appalled at their living conditions — did Black people still

live in shacks behind their white employers’ houses? — but she begins to fall in love with them, compelling her to help them any way she can.

It’s only a few months after Roe v Wade decided women have a right to abortion. It’s also one year after the public learned about the US government’s “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.” When Civil’s friends begin to question the birth control shot the nurses are giving to their patients, she discovers that Tuskegee was far from the end of America’s attempts to control Black bodies.

The novel explores the complex psychological impact of making decisions about reproduction or, conversely, having those decisions made for you without consent. It also examines the class separation between Black folks, which further divides and weakens a Berkley via AP group that is already being taken

advantage of. How could the Williams family trust Civil Townsend when she’s from money, and doesn’t understand or anticipate the problems they face every day? Though she’s still a step up from a white government worker, it’s only a step. She must earn their trust, then earn it again and again. But will she ever earn their forgiveness?

“Take My Hand” boasts gorgeous design and conversational prose. This being her third novel, Perkins-Valdez showcases her talent and experience through her easy command of voice, plot and pacing.

Throughout the novel, detailed descriptions command rapt attention. Between its sizable length and the immense amount of research and history poured into its more than 350 pages, “Take My Hand” is an excellent example of a Big Ambitious Novel by a 21st-century woman.

Fannie Lou Hamer, who is credited with coining the phrase “Mississippi appendectomy,” and Stokely Carmichael’s “Black Power” are just two among dozens of cultural references sprinkled throughout the book, adding context and emotional gravity to the novel. This is the kind of story you want to build extra time into reading so you can explore the wealth of history it draws upon.

Inspired by the real court case Wyatt v Alderholt, “Take My Hand” is a reminder that it wasn’t just Tuskegee. There has been a long list of offences, some of which are shockingly recent. By dropping the reader first-person into discovering one such offence, you experience the doubt and struggle of noticing something amiss, uncovering truth and finally determining how to move forward.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 13

BODY AND MIND

Raising a child with autism Mother of four-yearold shares fears and sense of hope

By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net

When Latesia Smith’s son turned one-year-old she noticed that he was not hitting the development milestones he should be.

The nagging feeling that something was amiss did not leave her.

“He started to say a few words, but regressed quickly. He would not respond to his name and he did not have consistent eye contact,” she told Tribune Health about her son, Tafari Cox-Smith.

Latesia believed the fact that Tafari was not able start school during the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason for his sluggish progression.

“I felt terrible guilt and blamed myself for his development. The pandemic hit and that made things more difficult for him to go to school,” she said.

After he turned two, Tafari was evaluated at a facility in Palm Beach, Florida. The consensus was occupational and speech therapy would correct the issues he had. However, when these did not quite solve the problems, Tafari was diagnosed with autism.

As April is Autism Awareness Month, Latesia thought it was important to share her story, to shed light on the trials and triumphs of raising a child with the condition.

Like most parents, Latesia had no prior first-hand experience dealing with autism.

“I knew the word ‘autism’ my whole adult life but never took the initiative and further steps to educate myself about it. Fast forward to two years ago and I had no idea what kind of ride I would be in for,” she said.

Since his initial evaluation, Tafari, who is now four yearsold, has been engaged in speech and occupational therapy. He was engaged in tele-therapy services with therapists in West Palm Beach and now he is doing in-person therapy twice a week.

Some days, said Latesia, are “beautiful”, while others are “extremely hard”.

“On both (types of) days, they are filled with love. There is beauty when Tafari sleeps straight through the night. There is beauty when he tries a new food and

LATESIA with her son Tafari likes it. There is beauty when the hour-long meltdown has ended.

To the outside world it may look like he is too spoiled, too coddled, maybe not disciplined enough, and to some that I am an out-ofcontrol mother, and possibly not strict enough. It gets hard when he’s screeching, throwing himself on the floor and unable to verbally communicate what he wants or feels within that moment,” she said.

And in these moments Latesia said she is aware of the stares, whispers and blatant remarks from strangers who do not understand her plight.

“If Tafari is having a meltdown the first thing I would hear is, ‘He don’t look like he have sutism’.

‘This child rude, aye?’ or ‘Could never be my child. He just need one good cut hip’,” she said.

And those remarks are heartbreaking for Latesia.

“At first, I would be upset all the time hearing these types of comments about my son. Then I have to remember that not many people understand or even wish to understand and learn about it.

There are so many misconceptions about autism. I wish others

would educate themselves before they judge something they do not understand. If you see a mother struggling in the food store with a screaming child, extend some grace. If you see an adult struggling, do not stare because you do not know the story behind their demeanor,” she said.

Although Tafari still struggles with verbal communication and social interaction, he has improved a lot. He is able to use some sign language when he wants something. He can recognise colours, some words, numbers, animals and mimic certain sounds. He also makes an attempt to read.

“He can now follow directions and respond to his name. He points to different objects and attempts to sound it out. He is also in school and that has helped tremendously with his progress,” said Latesia.

While she is pleased with the progress her son has made, having greater support at the community level would have made the journey a little bit easier, not only for her but for other parents with autistic children.

She hopes that more resources can be made available locally for parents and children.

“Unfortunately, there is a lack of resources available to those who are unable to afford services. There are so many children undiagnosed simply because many parents cannot afford to have their child diagnosed. The state of special needs and education in the Bahamas is unnerving.

More screening and testing for children at an early age is needed.

It’s unfair for parents and children to have to wait until the age of five for an evaluation and assessment through the government to confirm what they already know.

More special needs teachers are needed in the school sector, whether it be private or public. I especially feel for the families on the Family Islands who have little to no help,” she said.

“The reality is that most families who are considered ‘middle to low class’ are barely making ends meet. When confronted with exorbitant charges for services, they have a decision to make.

Get the help the child needs and struggle financially or continue making ends meet while the child suffers. For those who have insurance policies, when attempting to see if services would be covered, some insurance companies would deny coverage based on the fact that they are seen as pre-existing conditions. This is extremely overwhelming for a family or even single parent living paycheck to paycheck. More affordable resources are desperately needed.”

Thankfully, Latesia said, REACH Bahamas has been doing an amazing job over the years for the community, but there is only so much one organisation can do to help.

“All that aside, the team at REACH has been amazing with Tafari. To see his face light up when we arrive is an indescribable feeling. We’re so grateful that he is able to be a part of the REACH family,” she said.

But even with the support she has received and the progress she has seen, worry never leaves her.

“I still have tremendous fear.

Some days the worry is a fleeting thought. Other days, the worry consumes me. I worry about him being bullied or taken advantage of and him not being able to tell me. I worry about him making friends. I worry about how to teach him to be a kind, responsible self-regulating adult someday.

I worry about who will treasure him when his father and I take our last breath. I worry if they will make his salmon and potatoes the way he likes it. If I let it, the worry will consume me. I have to just trust that it will be OK,” said Latesia.

“Although I worry about his future, his independence that is displayed every day is mind blowing. Those little glimpses give me so much hope. As he grows older, I hope he understands and is able to share how amazing he is.

I hope that he can be an inspiration to other autistic teenagers and adults. I hope that he will be treated with respect just like any other neurotypical individual.”

For parents experiencing concerns over their child’s development, Latesia said early detection and intervention are important.

“If you notice something, do something. By researching and getting early interventions you’re setting your child up with the best resources and therapies so that they can have all the resources available to thrive in life. You’re not alone. It can feel like nobody knows what you’re going through.

I’ve been there. Join as many autism support groups on Facebook you can. Join the ones that celebrate success and not the negative ones. Remember that your child has no limits. A diagnosis does not determine your child’s worth. Your child will reach milestones. It may take a bit longer, but with support they will get there,” she said.

“Besides making us unhappy with our own bodies and distressed because of what others might think of us, it can cause some of us to dive into eating disorders, anxiety and depression.”

example petite or solid booty, I believe you should be comfortable with your summer body - happy, healthy and proud. When I say I am getting summer body ready, I am talking about the outfits I am about to throw on this body God gave me, that is my interpretation,” said Fredricka.

According to the online blog Lifestyle Collective, the attitude of having to obtain a “summer ready” body can take a toll on people’s mental health.

“Besides making us unhappy with our own bodies and distressed because of what others might think of us, it can cause some of us to dive into eating disorders, anxiety and depression,” the website stated.

“Instead of being a culture that cares more about the person’s mental and physical well-being, it conveys the wrong message that our looks measure our worth.

There’s no doubt that social media plays a massive role in pushing the summer body campaigns. Instagram and other image-related platforms reinforce this trend of having a particular shape to be ready for summer.”

But an increasing number of voices on the internet and social media are attempting to change this toxic narrative, encouraging people to acknowledge their natural beauty and take better care of their mental health. Some encourage women in particular to talk to wellness experts about the importance of the proper diet and training for your body type.

‘Stop browsing through social media and comparing yourself with the fake images’ is also a cry that is getting louder online.

Is your body ready for summer, and does it really matter?

By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Writer acadet@tribunemedia.net

Hollywood actress Lili Reinhart recently tweeted the following message: “Reminder to myself and to all - you don’t need a flat or perfectly toned stomach to wear a crop top. These ‘summer body’ trends are toxic. Your body is ready for summer no matter what it looks like. Don’t let it stop you from enjoying anything.”

Tribune Health spoke with a number of Bahamian women whom shared their thoughts on the ‘summer body’ trend - is it a good or bad thing?

Erica Taylor said she believes the expectation is not really a trend at all, but rather a mere wish and aspiration.

“All of the people that I know have talked about getting their bodies ready for summer only talked about it. They never actually did anything to achieve the look they wanted for summer.

I personally don’t subscribe to body trends. I believe in ‘I’ll get there when I get there’, and until then whatever bulges, bulges, and whatever jiggles, jiggles. Either way, I will still be wearing a swimsuit,” she said.

Like Erica, Charisse Brown said at the end of the day all that matters is how you feel inside, although it is important to be healthy and exercise self-love.

“When you have self-love, you learn there is no room to be bothered by judgment or body shame.

Listen, I applaud those women that sport their ‘fupas’, rolls and whatever body shape or form that doesn’t seem to be the norm these days,” she said.

(Photo_Rodnae Productions_Pexels)

But Charisse also touched on the fact that these days many women go beyond just getting in shape for summer and are actually seeking out surgical remedies.

“Persons have to get real and realise before persons started buying the bodies they want, what you had once upon a time was all you had. And it was embraced; just take a look at the music videos from back in the day: all natural beauties,” she said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am placing absolutely no judgement on those persons that are in a position to afford to get their bodies done. I am going to go ‘You go, girl’ to them just as much as I am going to say ‘You go, girl’ to a woman with natural curves. It all boils down to loving the skin you’re in. I just feel like society has influenced persons in a direction where it’s not OK to be natural,” said Charisse.

Meanwhile, Fredricka Bethell believes wanting to get your body summer or beach ready can be taken another way.

“I don’t take it as you should have a particular kind of body, for

PAGE 14, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

ED treatments of the future Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a very common disorder encountered by most men at some point in their lifetime. Never be embarrassed and never suffer needlessly in silence, when advanced solutions for your erectile dysfunction are readily available. ED is the inability to achieve or maintain a satisfactory erection. Premature ejaculation is a common form of erectile dysfunction that affects as many as 30 to 40 percent of men.

The management of ED must involve the determination of the root cause and the treatment of the cause(s).

There is a strong correlation between ED and cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, clogging of arteries.

Erectile dysfunction workup will involve ruling out poorly controlled or undiagnosed diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, low testosterone and cardiovascular disease, amongst other comorbidities.

The cause of the ED must be managed and not just the symptom of erectile dysfunction. For example, medications such as Viagra or Cialis may improve erectile function when the cause of the erectile dysfunction is uncontrolled blood pressure but eventually the sustained high blood pressure will cause irreversible damage to the penile blood supply and possible damage to other organs such as the kidney and heart. Eventually, this

uncontrolled high blood pressure will cause such significant damage to the penile blood supply that medications such as Viagra and Cialis will no longer work.

Healthy lifestyle changes are necessary to improve erectile function such as stopping smoking cigarettes and cigars, having regular exercise, losing weight and eating well balanced healthy meals.

POTENTIAL FUTURE ED TREATMENTS • PENILE INJECTIONS OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA (PRP)

hopeful future approval as an erectile dysfunction therapy.

• UPRIMA Uprima is a medication, apomorphine, that stimulates the chemical dopamine in the brain.

The increase in dopamine caused by taking Uprima that dissolves under the tongue, enhances the sexual experience and heightens sexual pleasure. This drug is readily available in Europe but not yet in North America. United States clinical trials are ongoing, including a nasal spray version of this medication.

Premature ejaculation is the most common form of erectile dysfunction with 30 to 40 percent of men suffering from this frustrating and often depressing sexual disorder.

An app controlled painless electrical stimulation patch is currently undergoing human trials with promising findings. A single use, square inch in size skin patch

• Dr Greggory Pinto is a board-certified Bahamian urologist and laparoscopic surgeon.

He can be contacted at OakTree Medical Center #2 Fifth Terrace and Mount Royal Avenue, Nassau, Bahamas; Telephone – (242) 322-1145-7; email: welcome@urologycarebahamas.com or visit the website:www.urologycarebahamas.com

Dr Greggory Pinto

•TOPIGLAN

Platelets are a constituent of blood that are important in the formation of new blood vessels and healing wounds. The aim of PRP penile injections is to make the tissue and blood vessels in the penis healthier. Erectile dysfunction therapy with penile injections of platelet-rich plasma has shown very promising results in human clinical trials.

Topiglan is a medication that is available in a cream form and currently being investigated in clinical trials and not yet available for the public. This cream uses the drug Alprostadil as the active ingredient. Alprostadil is presently available as ED therapy in the form of a penile injectable or a urethral suppository.

• STEM CELL THERAPY

• MELANOCORTICAL ACTIVATORS

Erectile dysfunction therapy involving penile injections of stem cells has been shown to be a welltolerated, safe and very effective treatment in human clinical trials.

Research and investigational human trials are ongoing, with

HIGH-TECH SOLUTIONS FOR PREMATURE EJACULATION

is applied to the man’s perineum; the area of skin below the scrotal sac and above the anus. The patch painlessly delivers a neuromuscular stimulation that can potentially delay the onset of ejaculation. The patch contains a tiny battery and a wireless transdermal electric neuromodulation unit, which is controlled by an app so that the male user or female partner can activate the device on their phone or android device and determine the intensity of sexual stimulation.

Studies involving this virility patch have shown that with its use, the time to ejaculation can be prolonged by a factor of four.

Any man can rise again, even if no erections were possible for many years. Reach out for confidential, compassionate and comprehensive state-of-the-art erectile dysfunction management and solutions. The true tragedy for far too many men in the Bahamas is continuing to allow erectile dysfunction to rob them of their happiness, confidence and self-worth.

THE UROLOGY DOCTOR IS IN...

Melanocortical activators are drugs that act on the brain and central nervous system to enhance the quality of erections and aid in maintaining erections. These drugs are in clinical phase studies

but have shown to be effective in animal trials.

Cleveland Clinic Florida physicians team up with Bahamas Kidney Association and Medication Association for local webinars In line with Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to partner with the medical community to provide information on medical research and education to the Bahamian public, three top physicians from Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Weston Hospital recently participated in virtual webinars hosted by local medical associations.

Dr Carla McWilliams, Chief of Infectious Diseases, Quality & Safety, along with Dr Neerja Agrawal, Transplant Nephrologist and Director of the Living Donor

Kidney Transplant Programme from Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston Hospital, participated in a virtual webinar hosted by the Bahamas Kidney Association (BKA) on March 20.

The webinar was one of many initiatives held by the BKA during March 2022 in recognition of Kidney Awareness Month.

According to the Association, approximately 200 Bahamians are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease each year requiring some form of advanced treatment. Leading the webinar

DR Kevin Stadtlander

DR Neerja Agrawal

DR Carla McWilliams

was BKA President Tamika Roberts, and topics covered included COVID-19, vaccinations, kidney disease and kidney transplantation.

(Watch the webinar at: https://bit.ly/3v3OhFl) Representing Cleveland Clinic as gold sponsors at the Medical Association of the Bahamas (MAB) 50th Annual Conference was Dr Kevin Stadtlander, a Vascular and Interventional Radiology Specialist and Section Head at the Weston Hospital.

Dr Stadtlander presented on “Interventional Radiology Treatment of Uterine Fibroids.”

The two-day webinar was hosted virtually on April 2-3 by MAB, the primary voice and advocate of the medical profession in the Bahamas. MAB’s objectives are to continuously expand the knowledge and skills of its members and elevate the standard of medical services in the Bahamas.

Monkeys can sense their own heartbeats, an ability tied to mental health, consciousness and memory in humans

By JOEY CHARBONNEAU, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS AND ELIZA BLISSMOREAU, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Abnormally low or high interoception is related to disorders like anxiety and depression.

Our work establishes that monkeys and people have a similar sense of their heartbeats and establishes a method for testing this ability across species.

(THE CONVERSATION) – The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

WHAT’S NEXT

THE BIG IDEA Rhesus monkeys have a sense of when their own hearts are beating, according to new research we conducted.

Sensing one’s own physiological states – like your heartbeat, breathing or blushing cheeks – is called interoception. Some previous research has shown that animals can be trained to do tasks that demonstrate this ability.

Decades ago, a team of scientists showed rhesus monkeys could be trained to increase and decrease their heart rates. But an open question has been whether monkeys have an unlearned ability to sense their bodily signals rather than being taught to do so.

Both human babies and monkeys look at things that are unexpected or novel for longer amounts of time than they look at things that they expect or are used to seeing. We used a task that relies on this behavior – originally developed to test whether human infants can sense their own heartbeats – to learn whether monkeys also have this ability.

We first got our monkeys to sit in chairs in front of a computer screen and hooked them up to electrocardiograms to monitor their heartbeats. Then we played videos of either a yellow or green cloud bouncing up and down accompanied by beeping sounds.

NEW research indicates that rhesus monkeys show interoception – the ability to sense physiological processes like their own heartbeats. (Matthew Verdolivo/UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services) Sometimes we would sync the bouncing and beeping to match the monkey’s heartbeat, and at other times they were out of sync.

We then used eye trackers to measure how long the monkeys looked at the images. If the monkeys had a sense of their own heartbeats, they would find the insync bouncing less interesting and novel than the out-of-sync bouncing and so would spend more time looking at the out-of-sync image.

We tested four monkeys and, just like human babies, they looked at the shapes that bounced and sounded out of sync with their heartbeats for significantly longer – nearly three-quarters of a second – than the in-sync images.

Additionally, the extent to which our monkeys paid more attention to out-of-sync shapes than in-sync shapes was very close to the difference in human babies. These findings strongly suggest that

monkeys have an innate sense of their own heartbeats.

WHY IT MATTERS Heartbeat detection tests are the most commonly used to evaluate how aware of bodily signals people are.

In humans, this skill is thought to be central to emotional experiences, having a sense of self, memory, knowledge of one’s own cognition and even consciousness.

People are well aware of many subtle physiological functions, not just their own heartbeats. But while some people have a very sharp interoceptive ability, a lot of humans are really bad at tasks like the one in the study. Next, our team plans to test whether – like people – some monkeys are better than others at sensing their own heartbeats and whether this translates to other psychological features.

Finally, with monkeys, researchers can track animals from womb to tomb, have exquisite experimental control and can carry out detailed anatomical evaluations.

This access may allow researchers to determine how interoceptive capacity develops, what features of the social and physical environment shape it and what neural systems underlie it.

Establishing this knowledge could further research into the causes behind many health challenges caused when interoception goes awry – including mental health disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and aging.

• This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com

SPORTS PAGE 15

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

MIKE Strachan

STRACHAN AND COLTS GET SET FOR OFFSEASON TRAINING

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net IN LESS than a week, Mike Strachan and the Indianapolis Colts will begin their offseason training regimen in preparation for the 2022 season.

The Colts will open their offseason workout programme on April 18.

This early phase traditionally gives veterans and new additions an opportunity to begin the first phase of strength and conditioning. Phase two of the offseason workout programme will follow with individual and group drills but no live contact or inter squad drills.

Offseason OTAs begin May 24-26, and again June 1-3, and June 13-16.

Mandatory Minicamp follows June 7-9.

The Colts will look to acclimate new quarterback Matt Ryan to the fold.

Strachan, a seventhround selection in last April’s NFL Draft, began the season with appearances in the first two games of the regular season but played sparingly for the remainder of the campaign.

In week one of the regular season, Strachan finished with two catches for 26 yards in the Colts’ 28-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Strachan was on the field for 18 snaps and was targeted three times, a higher rate than any other receiver in the lineup.

Despite his challenges, he still considered it a season of milestones with the opportunity to represent the country.

CONCERNED tennis parents William McCartney, Shayvon Clarke, Chandra Ferguson and Bernadette Major.

Parents’ concerns over tennis trips organisation

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A GROUP of parents have voiced their concerns about two recent Bahamas junior national tennis team trips, including issues about organisation of team travel, team uniforms and the selection process for coaches of the national teams.

The trips were the World Juniors team competition in El Salvador in February 19-27 and the Junior Billie Jean King and Junior Davis Cup from March 4-12 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Their concerns were raised on Monday at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The parents’ issues were also highlighted in a letter to the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) on March 28, however, one of the parents, Chandra Ferguson, the mother of BreAnn Ferguson, said they have yet to get a response.

“All of the players that you would see go on these trips are kids who are training at what we call high-level performance levels,” said Ferguson, who led a group of parents that included William McCartney III, Shayvon Clarke and Bernadette Major.

“They train for several hours per week with highly qualified coaches and as parents we make great sacrifices to make that opportunity available for them and they make

“What we’ve seen on these two last trips does not stack up to what we experienced as a country and it does not stack up on a regional or international level you will see when you go to these events.” great sacrifices in balancing training and school.”

As players between the ages of 12-15, she said, they have all represented the Bahamas before on national teams and they all know what a well-organised trip with a qualified coach is like.

“What we’ve seen on these two last trips does not stack up to what we experienced as a country and it does not stack up on a regional or international level you will see when you go to these events,” she said.

With the team selected from

Ferguson further noted that the selection of the coaches was a mystery and even though it was required, an official answer was not given until they forced the BLTA to meet with them three days before the team was to travel.

She noted that although the requirement for the selection of coaches is that they must be ITF Level One, the coach selected for the girls under-14 team was only involved in the BLTA’s play and stay programme, which is an introductory programme.

“To send someone like that with your high-level, high-performance players is basically an insult, not only to the players and parents, but to the country,” Ferguson said.

“The result that came from the girls team reflected on the support that they had.”

She noted that they couldn’t understand why Paula Whitfield was selected as the coach when she had never travelled before in that capacity, but only as a chaperone.

She said that they requested to the BLTA to make some changes, but their plea were denied.

However, she said Bradley Bain, the coach for the boys team, was an ideal choice and it showed with the SEE PAGE 16

TWO GAME LEADS IN NPBA BEST OF FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Highlight The highlight of his debut campaign in the NFL was a 27-17 week four win over the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Strachan played sparingly in his Colts’ first win of the season but said the experience of having his family in attendance was a “blessing.”

The Colts finished the season 9-8 and just missed the playoffs.

“It meant so much to be able to say that I’m a Bahamian in the NFL. It gives my people hope and something to look up to, especially the young ones coming up. I’m excited to be able to represent them the right way,” he said, “The first year we had a lot of ups and downs, I came in with a lot of confidence, it was a pleasure to represent my country and my family. God bought me a long way, it was a long process and I have even more to go.”

Strachan totalled 10 receptions for 130 yards in three preseason games.

Overall, he had a Pro Football Focus grade of 73.0 this preseason; he was targeted 16 times, had six receiving first downs, no dropped passes, four contested catches, and was part of three explosive pass plays. In his preseason debut, Strachan finished with three receptions for 57 yards in the Colts’ SEE PAGE 16

November, she said the BLTA refused to call a meeting with the parents to appraise them of what to expect when their children travel and to introduce them to the coaching staff taking them on the trips.

“For the under-14 trip, we travelled on February 19,” she said.

“That meeting did not take place until February 16 and the meeting actually took place because the parents expressed the concern that it had not happened as yet.

“So three days before travel was when the meeting took place. The rules state that a coach should be in contact with their players at least one week in advance of the trip.

During that meeting, some players, their tickets had not yet been secured. At that point, we had not yet received team uniforms, which a parent actually sponsored and organised the team uniforms.”

During the meeting, Ferguson said there was no discussion between the coaches, the players and parents about the rules and regulations for them to abide by during the trip, and travel authorisation forms were never issued for the parents to sign.

The same thing occurred with the trip in March for the Jr Billie Jean King and the Jr Davis Cup competitions.

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedis.net

YOUR Essential Store Giants in action against the Sun Oil Rockets. Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune staff

THE Giants basketball teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum against the Rockets as the New Providence Basketball Association began its bestof-five championship series over the weekend at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

The Your Essential Store (YES) Giants took a commanding two-game lead over the Sun Oil Rockets in the division II series with a 106-88 blowout in game one on Friday and a 80-74 decision on Sunday.

However, the two-time defending champions Commonwealth Bank Giants found themselves in a 2-0 deficit against the Discount Distributors Rockets, losing 84-75 in Friday’s opener and 79-77 in game two on Sunday.

Both do-or-die series will resume on Thursday with the division II between the Giants and Rockets being played at 7pm, followed by the Giants and the Rockets in the division one series at 8:30pm.

Rockets 79, Giants 77: Able Joseph finished with 27 points and Ernest Saunders came through with five of his eight points down the stretch to enable Discount Distributors to seal the deal in game two of their division one series.

“The series is going pretty good. We’re up 2-0, so I’m pretty happy with that,” said Discount

Distributors’ head coach Devon Johnson.

“The Giants are a very good team. They have been winning in this league for years, but my boys are hungry.

“We came out with a game. We know we could score. But as long as we play defence, we can win.”

Roosevelt Whylly contributed 12 points, while David Taylor had nine, Ernest Saunders eight and Livingstone Munnings seven in the win.

Discount Distributors opened an 18-13 first quarter lead, but fell behind Commonwealth Bank 34-32 at the half. The Rockets held a slim 56-53 third quarter lead and they traded the lead until it came down to the end.

For Commonwealth Bank, Adam Johnson also had 27 points, while Jackson Jacob had 19 and Michael Bain Jr, Jeffrey Henfield and Brian Bain all chipped in with nine.

“We knew it was going to be a fight and a battle or both teams. We know that the Rockets are a very

good team, but like I told the guys, did it before and it’s not over until it’s over,” said Giants’ coach Perry Thompson Sr. “We just have to regroup and come back and be prepared to play game three.

We know how to bounce back, so I am confident that we will get back into it.”

Thompson said once they can control the ball and rebound better, Commonwealth Bank will be guaranteed a comeback victory on Thursday night and avoid the three-game sweep.

Although they are in the driver’s seat, Johnson said his Rockets are not taking anything for granted.

“We can’t count anybody out, but we’re going to give it a hell of a try to win it,” he stated.

Rockets 84, Giants 75: Livingstone Munnings had 25 points and 22 rebounds to help the Discount Distributors clinch the opening game of their division one series on Friday night.

Able Joseph added 19 SEE PAGE 16

PAGE 16, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

TWO GAME LEADS IN NPBA BEST OF FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES FROM PAGE 15 points with nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block; David Taylor had 13 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals and Roosevelt Whylly had 12 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Commonwealth Bank was led by Jackson Jacob with 25 points and three rebounds.

Jeffrey Henfield had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists and Adam Johnson added 10 points with six rebounds and three steals.

Giants 80, Rockets 74: Dylan Musgrove was one of three players in double figures for Your Essential Store (YES), pouring in a game high 20 points as they took a convincing 2-0 advantage in their division II series.

Kenvon Farrington had 18 points and Kirklyn Farrington added 13.

The Giants held a slim 19-18 lead after the first quarter and held a 39-37 margin at the break. The Rockets responded with a 24-18 tear in the third to go 61-57.

But in the final period, the Giants went on a 23-14 spurt as they regained the lead and never looked back.

“This is a young, hungry bunch. They held off the challenge from the Rockets tonight, but they are hungry and determined,” said Perry Thompson Sr. “We will come out here on Thursday with one intention and that is to close it out.”

Thompson Sr said head coach Mark Hanna prepared the guys to withstand any opposition and they are working together and clicking on all cylinders and are poised to win it all.

Crispin Gibson had 13, Bertrum Minns 11 and both Cameron Cherry and Toppez Basden both ended up with 10 in a losing effort for the Sun Oil. Giants 106, Rockets 88: In Friday’s division II series opener, Dylan Musgrove had an all-around game, scoring 20 points with seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks to pace Commonwealth Bank.

Kirklyn Farrington added 19 points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals; Andreas Black had 16 points and nine rebounds; Raheem Smith had 13 points and 11 rebounds; Edward Williams had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Brandon Strachan had 10 points and four rebounds.

In a losing effort, Lerecus Armbrister exploded for a game high 29 points with two assists and two rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

Crosley Wilmore had 24 points and four rebounds and Bertrum Minns had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rockets will have one last chance on Thursday at 7pm to win or get swept by the Giants.

If necessary, the fourth game in both divisions II and one will be played on Saturday night. Game five, should any series be extended that long, will be played on Friday, April 22nd.

THE TRIBUNE

International Basketball Academy Bahamas to host ‘Set It Off’ event

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net INTERNATIONAL Basketball Academy Bahamas is using the Easter Holiday break to showcase student athletes in their first “Set It Off” Tournament.

Hosted at the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium, the week long event which began on August 9th and runs through the 17th, features hundreds of players from clubs throughout New Providence ranging from the 10U-20U categories.

Originally intended to be an early season event to prepare teams for the 2022 season, the pandemic forced the club to reschedule.

IBA Director and head coach of the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins Denycko

Bowles said players need as many opportunities as possible for organised play with another year in the school system lost to COVID. “This tournament is the first of its kind for us,” he said. “We had to delay from January but we saw fit to stay with it and get this tournament off the ground. We normally travel as a club during Easter but at this

particular time we thought a local tournament would be best because a lot of the kids don’t have an opportunity to play basketball on a regular basis so we wanted to put on something good for the kids to make sure they continue with their development, not only individually but as teams.

“These games are very very important for our kids.

We have a lot of seniors who have not played organised ball in about two years. They are lacking reps, lacking the footage needed to get them prepared for the next level so anything of this nature is beneficial for our young student athletes.”

Divisions featured include 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U and 20U. The tournament also serves as a follow up to the programme’s Grassroots Youth Development League which recently wrapped up its inaugural spring edition last month.

“The competition has been very good thus far. Kids that have participated in tournaments the past few months with their respective clubs have looked pretty good,” Bowles said. “I can see those games have helped them

improve from where they were, pre-COVID. I can speak to quite a few programmes like mine that have been working around the clock just to showcase their talent and to allow them to benefit from it.”

Championship day will be hosted on the 16th and the the tournament will conclude on the 17th with an All-Star afternoon featuring divisional All-Star games, a slam dunk and Three-Point Contest.

“The All-Star day is really a time for family, friends and teammates to mesh, bond, gel, have fun, come together as one and celebrate something we all love, and that’s the sport of basketball,” Bowles said.

General admission daily is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

EIGHT Mile Rock Bluejays under-17 boys runners-up.

GRAND BAHAMA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS COMPLETED

THE Grand Bahama Secondary Schools Sports Association completed the joint Carl Sands Construction under-17 and Franco/Scott/Quinton Big Three under-13 basketball Tournament on Saturday at the Jack Hayward Secondary High School.

In the under-17 boys division, the Sunland Lutheran Stingers nipped the Eight Mile Rock Bluejays 46-45 behind the 1-2 punch from Marco Carey and DeShawn Smith with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Barletta Bootle scored a game high 16 and Andre Jones added 10 in a losing effort.

Gianna Murray of Sunland was named the most valuable player. His teammate Mario Carey was the defensive player of the tournament. Their coach Marco Cooper was named the coach of the tournament.

Named to the All Tournament team were Giannio Murray (Sunland), DeShawn Smith (Sunland), Marco Carey (Sunland), Shameco Albury (Eight Mile Rock), Barretta Bootle (Eight Mile Rock) and Jeremiah Ranger (Tabernacle).

In the Franco/Scott/Quinton Big 3 U13 tournament, Tabernacle Baptist knocked off Eight Mile Rock 30-26 to claim the title as Randy Miller scored 15 points and Isaiah Roker added 11.

Lofton Rigby had 12 points in a losing effort.

The tournament MVP was Randy Miller of Tabernacle, while Alano Doreste, also of Tabernacle, was the defensive player of the tournament. The coach of the tournament was Tabernacle’s Quincy Gray.

Named to the All Tournament team were Randy Miller, Isaiah Roker and Alano Doreste of Tabernacle; Lofton Rigby and Jamaal Delouch of Eight Mile Rock and Sean John of SMPR).

DEFENSIVE player Marco Carey of Sunland with Carl Sands and Derick Dean.

GIANNO Muddy of Sunland receives his MVP award from Carl Sands and Derick Dean.

DEFENSIVE player winner Alano Doreste above with Quinton Hall and Franco Miller Sr.

MVP Randy Miller gets his award from Quinton Hall and Franco Miller Sr.

SUNLAND Stingers champions.

THIRD place finishers SMPR Panthers.

TABERNACLE Baptist Falcons under-13 boys champions.

PARENTS’ CONCERNS OVER TENNIS TRIPS ORGANISATION

FROM PAGE 15 team finishing as the runners-up.

Ferguson also stated that the coaches selected for both the Jr Billie Jean King and Jr Davis Cup teams were not adequately qualified to coach the teams, and that the BLTA ignored their request to have certified coaches travel with the teams.

She said there was an incident in the Dominican Republic where the players were given permission by the coach to congregate in the same housing complex with the girls to study - a total violation of the rules.

After the boys team was pulled from the tournament the next day, she noted that the coaches did nothing but inform the BLTA to intervene. She said it was the parents, who accompanied the team in the Dominican Republic, who met with the team officials to have the boys team reinstated.

Major, the mother of Michael Major, said tennis is a very expensive sport and while her son trains every day and is one of the top junior players in the country, she felt it was a disservice to him and other players in their final under16 tournament.

“For me and for him, we would like to see change,” she said. “It’s very expensive. His training is intense and it’s a lot on his body as well.”

Clarke, the mother of Sarai Clarke, said in the past, coaches, parents and players are notified by the BLTA before they travel and they are not kept in the dark.

“In a lot of cases, some of the players are not here and so they have to meet the team in a general location,” she said. “All of that needs to be discussed prior to the trip. If there is no communication, then you are setting yourself up for problems.

“In the past, it was never an issue. With the under-14 and under-16, we were just in the dark.

You can’t duck and dodge parents.

Parents have to prepare children for these trips, parents pay for coaches, parents for travel, so the least you can do is keep communication open. You can’t duck and dodge parents.”

And McCartney, father of William McCartney IV, said as a first-time parent involved in the sport he didn’t realise how expensive it was, but he wants to encourage his son because it’s his passion.

“But like I asked the other parents on the trip, what was going on?” he said. “Does this normally happen? I went to El Salvador and I went to the Dominican Republic and we basically had to deal with everything.

“You tried to call the president and he wasn’t answering his phone, so we had to basically be

the coaches, the chaperone and everything. You don’t want to send your child to a country where they speak Spanish and they don’t know the culture. We were parents for all of the kids. Everyone was calling me ‘daddy’.”

In response to the claims, the BLTA said they were made aware of the matter brought forward by Rachel Thompson, a participant on a national tennis team that travelled last month.

“The BLTA was delighted to nominate Rachel to the team and have her represent the country,” the BLTA said in a press release.

“Rachel’s hard work qualified her for the team in the third position.

“As a part of the three-member team, she performed well in El Salvador as she debuted on the courts for Team Bahamas on the second day of competition. Again, she, along with her teammates, represented well.”

The BLTA noted that they have conducted a review and had the opportunity to meet with Thompson and her parents and received the coach’s account.

“Rachel has expressed how she felt that she was treated. The association promotes the safety and wellness of our players, both physically and mentally,” the release further stated.

“The coach has noted that she showed the same appreciation for all the players’ well-being

and welfare. The coach’s care and kindness toward the players during the trip was referenced.”

In expressing their deep regret that the trip was not as rewarding as Thompson would have anticipated, the BLTA said she has expressed her willingness to serve on another team in the future.

“We were pleased that she participated in the BLTA’s Spring Classic Tennis tournament, which culminated yesterday (Sunday),” the BLTA stated. “The Association has welcomed Rachel in our

hearts over the years as we see her joy and growth in the sport.

“We will always seek to preserve and protect her best interests. We are working with Rachel and her parents to ensure any negative feelings that have developed due to this trip are addressed, as we give her the support she needs in her tennis journey.”

The BLTA also revealed that they are ensuring that current measures and procedures that are in place for national team travels are strengthened.

STRACHAN AND COLTS GET SET FOR OFFSEASON TRAINING

FROM PAGE 15

21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers. In his second appearance, Strachan finished with two catches for 12 yards in the Colts’ 12-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. five receptions for 61 yards in the Colts’ 27-17 win over the Detroit Lions.

“The biggest thing I took away from it is how to perform at the highest level. For me was just finding a way to stand out, being on my ‘A’ game,” he said, “I expected more playing time but everything happens for a reason, I just had to continue being the best me I can be. I feel like this season is going to be tremendous and will be big time for me. I plan to go in with great confidence.”

The former University of Charleston wide receiver and Grand Bahama native was selected by the Colts with the first pick of the seventh round (229 overall).

He became the third Bahamian born player to be drafted into the NFL following Ed Smithin 1973 (Denver Broncos - Round 13, pick 319) and Devard Darling in 2004 (Baltimore Ravens - Round 3, pick 82).

He was one of seven wide receivers named to the initial 53 man roster along with Parris Campbell, Ashton Dulin, T.Y. Hilton, Dezmon Patmon, Zach Pascal, and Michael Pittman Jr.

THE TRIBUNE

BAEZ’S 2-RUN HR IN 8TH LIFTS TIGERS TO 3-1 WIN OVER RED SOX

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer DETROIT (AP) — Javier Báez smashed a pitch over the fence and make a slick play in the field.

When the Detroit Tigers signed the twotime All-Star shortstop to a $140 million, sixyear contact last winter, they were banking on him having a lot of games just like that.

Baez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning and made a diving stop and throw from one knee for an out in the second, leading Detroit to a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

“Javy made a big-time play at shortstop and got a hit we needed,” said Miguel Cabrera, who had a sacrifice fly and two hits to pull within nine of the 3,000th of his career. “It was a big game for us after losing two to the White Sox.” Baez sent a 396-foot shot to left off Ryan Brasier that scored Austin Meadows, bringing home two players who are part of a newlook team that is hoping to contend.

Michael Fulmer (1-0) pitched the eighth and Gregory Soto closed the game for Detroit’s first save of the season.

Austin Davis (0-1) took the loss after giving up one run and two hits in one inning.

Boston led by multiple runs in each of its first three games against the New York Yankees, but didn’t win until Sunday when Bobby Dalbec hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning The Tigers were behind by two-plus runs in all three games against the Chicago White Sox, and rallied only in the opener on Báez RBI single in the ninth that scored Matthews in their Detroit debut.

“If you’re looking for panic, you should look somewhere else,” manager A.J. Hinch said.

The Tigers flipped the script against the Red Sox by taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Cabrera’s sacrifice, but didn’t generate much more offence until late in the game.

Detroit’s Matt Manning was perfect through four innings, before J.D. Martinez led off the fifth with a solo homer to pull Boston into a 1-all tie.

Manning, the No. 9 overall pick in 2016, gave up only Martinez’s solo homer over six innings.

“He had some good stuff early on and he kept us off balance and was giving us trouble,” Martinez said.

Alex Lange and Fulmer each gave up a hit in one inning of scoreless relief. Soto, too, allowed only one hit.

In his Red Sox debut, Michael Wacha got off to a shaky start before shutting Detroit down.

Wacha loaded the bases in the first with one out on Meadows’ single and two walks, but got out of the jam by giving up only one run on Cabrera’s sacrifice fly.

“That first inning was kind of frustrating for me,” Wacha said.

“Giving a couple free passes there ended up leading to a run, but I felt like I settled in pretty well after that.”

Cabrera doubled in the sixth, giving him 1,117 extra-base hits, pulling him into a 19thplace tie with Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx.

Hall of Famer George Brett (1,119) and Manny Ramírez (1,122) are the next two on the all-time extra-base hit list.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 17

Williams lowers his own national marathon record

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ONEIL Williams lowered his own Bahamas national record in the men’s marathon when he competed in the fourth edition of the Eldoret City Marathon in Kenya on Sunday.

Williams, who has been training in Africa for the past decade, clocked two hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds for 56th out of a field of 193 competitors, who completed the gruelling 42.197 kilometre (26.2 miles) race.

The winning time was 2:13:10 by Victor Kipchirchir Rotich of Kenya.

With his performance, Williams erased his Bahamian national record of 2:29.26 that he established on October 20, 2019 at the Amsterdam Marathon in the Netherlands.

“It was tough. It was one of the hardest races that I ever did,” Williams said.

“The condition was very hot and it was windy, but I guess with all my training, I just pulled through.”

Williams, 39, said the national record feat made up for all of the hard work and training.

“It’s been a long time coming.

“With no support, I was just glad that I was able to get another national record,” he said. “Hopefully I will be able to get on the Bahamas Government subvention.

“When you consider what I did, I did it with a high attitude and so when you convert the time, it’s really faster than what it

ONEIL Williams in action.

really is.

“So I think my training is going quite well right now.”

There is another marathon scheduled for Amsterdam in October and Williams is hoping to go back there and see if he can lower the national record once again. This would be the seventh marathon he has run since 2019.

“I am going to continue with my morning workouts, doing my speed workout and long runs.

“Nothing is going to change,” Williams said.

“Training is going well, but I still need that financial support.

“I am hoping that the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture can put me on the government subvention because this is a milestone so that I can get some help with my training.”

VIEWING the finish line.

GETTING ready to train.

PICTURED in the centre (L-R) are Fabian C. Fernander, Sales & Marketing Manager, Sun Oil Limited and Andrea Strapp, Bahamas Aquatics Asst Secretary & Team Manager.

(Photo by Ronnie Archer)

SUN OIL LIMITED SPONSORS TEAM BAHAMAS FOR THE CARIFTA AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS SUN OIL Limited is again partnering with the Bahamas Aquatics Federation to sponsor Team Bahamas’ participation at the 2022 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships, scheduled for April 16-19 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

“The Bahamas is the defending CARIFTA Champions and have won CARIFTA Aquatics for the last 3 years. In fact, we have won 5 of the 6 previous championships,” said Bahamas Aquatics Federation

President Algernon Cargill. “We are very confident that we will retain the CARIFTA title and the team is super excited! This event has not been held for the past 2 years and this meet is the first return to normalcy for these age group swimmers.”

Team Bahamas consists of 36 of the country’s top youth swimmers, aged 11-17 years.

“We have a lot of qualifiers, our time standards are very tough,” Cargill said. “It speaks to the strength of

the programme and the commitment of the coaches and the parents in preparing the athletes for CARIFTA.“ Expressing gratitude, Cargill thanked their multiyear sponsor, Sun Oil Limited, for again sponsoring Bahamas Aquatics.

“Sun Oil Limited is committed to its corporate citizenship programme and our role in youth and national development,” said Fabian C. Fernander, Sales & Marketing Manager, Sun Oil Limited. “Through

supporting initiatives like the Bahamas Aquatics programmes, we achieve this mission of investing in our communities and truly fuelling journeys that matter.

“We applaud the discipline and sportsmanship of Team Bahamas and wish them much luck at the 2022 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships as they defend our title.”

Sun Oil Limited is an integrated energy supplier and Shell Licensee.

REALMUTO’S 2-RUN HR IN THE 8TH HELPS PHILLIES TOP METS 5-4

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — J.T. Realmuto hit a tworun homer in the eighth inning and Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius followed with run-scoring doubles that helped the Philadelphia Phillies rally past the New York Mets 5-4 on Monday night.

The Phillies trailed 4-0 before they scored five runs in the eighth against two Mets relievers. Realmuto’s first homer of the season deep into the left-field seats made it 4-3. Hoskins ripped a tying double to left off Seth Lugo (0-1), and Gregorius lined one into the right-centre gap for a 5-4 lead.

J.T. Realmuto Seranthony Dominguez (1-0) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win.

Brad Hand worked the ninth for a save.

The NL East rivalry is just warming up: New York plays the Phillies 12 more times before the end of May. Then the season series resumes in August.

“I think we understand that our division is very tough and every game means something,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “But you can’t make too much of three games in April. I mean, they’re really important to us but neither team probably looks the way it’s going to look in a sense in June and July because people aren’t built up.”

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm made three errors in the first three innings, a bad look as he tries to win the third base job over rookie Bryson Stott. Edge after this defensive disaster: Stott.

Bohm made his first error in the first when he charged a ball that shot off starter

Ranger Suarez’s glove and made a wild, sidearm throw that sailed into right field.

His second error was in the second, a routine grounder that he threw over first baseman Rhys Hoskins and into foul territory. Bohm completed the trifecta in the third on a wide throw that pulled Hoskins off the bag.

Lip-readers ran wild when cameras caught Bohm having some choice words after his second error.

The Mets, though, did not score an unearned run off the three errors.

Girardi said before the game he started Bohm over Scott because of previous success against Mets starter Taijuan Walker.

“He’s had success off of

Walker,” Girardi said. “And as I said, they’re both going to play. I think it’s important they both play.”

Walker, though, only lasted two innings because of right shoulder irritation.

He struck out four, walked none and threw 30 pitches, retiring all six batters before he left the game. David Peterson tossed four shutout innings in long relief and held the Phillies in check.

Pete Alonso had an RBI groundout, Eduardo Escobar made it 2-0 on an RBI single to right and Mark Canha continued his torrid start with a run-scoring single off Suarez for a 3-0 lead in the first. Francisco Lindor added an RBI single in the seventh to make it 4-0.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 19

TOURISM GIANTS IN ‘CORAL REEF GENE BANK’ MOVE FROM PAGE 24 reef,” Dr Dahlgren told this newspaper.

“The disease is likely to drive some species of coral to extinction if we don’t act quickly. We do have the funding and support from Atlantis to develop that facility. We’re waiting for a Cabinet paper to be approved that will result in the cost to Atlantis and the Government for that to happen.”

Dr Dahlgren last week described Stony Coral Disease as the equivalent of “COVID or Ebola” for coral, adding that it was threatening to do in five years what climate change will impose in 20-30. Alluding to its likely impact on the Bahamian tourism, dive and fisheries industries, he said this nation has to look no further than Florida where at least one coral species has already become extinct in the wild.

“We do have permits to assess and continue to treat it,” Dr Dahlgren said of the disease. “But we can’t collect corals, rescue them from harm’s way and bring them into a facility. That’s what the Cabinet paper [is about]. It was supposed to be submitted earlier this year.” He added that he was unsure how far the initiative had progressed, and did not provide any figures for how much investment, and how many jobs, will be required by the planned “coral gene bank”.

Asserting that The Bahamas must be under no illusions about the threat posed by Stony Coral Disease, the Perry Institute for Marine Science chief last week lamented that the year-long hold-up in obtaining permits to examine and treat the disease had been “extremely costly” as it had spread beyond New Providence and Grand Bahama to five different Bahamian islands in that time.

Other research scientists and conservationists have blamed the permit delays, said to have brought science and environmental exploration in The Bahamas to a near-standstill over the past 12 months, on the former Minnis administration’s passage and implementation of the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act on April 1, 2021. It introduced a new approvals system that the industry says has created little more than a bureaucratic bottleneck.

Dr Nick Higgs, head of research and innovation at Cape Eleuthera Institute - the Island School, told Tribune Business that the legislation was designed to address “a non-existent problem” - that of The Bahamas’ genetic and biological resources being plundered by foreign, commercial exploration companies for potential multi-million profits with this country earning not a single cent for such activities.

While Romauld Ferreira, the former environment minister who shepherded the Act into law, on Monday said this problem was well-known, Dr Higgs said the Government had “never presented any evidence, other than anecdotal why this is necessary”.

However, both he and the former minister agree that the solution lies in “carving out” non-profits, conservationists, Bahamians and students from the enhanced due diligence that should be reserved for commercial researchers.

“We’ve made recommendations to the Attorney General’s Office, who have been keen to fix this problem,” Dr Higgs explained to this newspaper. “The recommendations, in short, are to focus on the highrisk research and to take conservation-based science and non-profit science out of the equation, simplify the process and remove these unconscionable liabilities from what is essentially a national service.

“We should be focused on commercial companies doing bio-prospecting. We said from the start let’s ease your work load and help you focus on the ones that need scrutiny. But the people who are being impacted are all these

non-profit conservation scientists trying to do nature science. Until these permits come through, nothing can be done legally. We have to work with the reality. Whatever the intent, we’ve had no legal basis to do research for a year.”

The “liabilities” referred to by Dr Higgs are the sanctions, fines and penalties faced by researchers who proceed to conduct their work without the necessary permits. “The way the law is written, the liabilities are off the scale; no one can accept them,” he added. As an example, he cited a Bahamian PhD student whose university faced a $7m “liability” if she proceeded with research without the required approval - an exposure that would require the state governor’s sign-off.

In addition, the Island School chief said the Act also imposed obstacles for scientists seeking to publish their research and findings to a wider audience, as it stipulates nothing should happen without the Government’s authorisation and tries to restrict information sharing to just those persons involved with the project.

Recalling how someone was last year told they could not publish an underwater photo, Dr Higgs said: “As a Bahamian, the constitution explicitly allows freedom of communication and information sharing. The key thing is this whole Bill goes against trends in science of openness and the communication of information. This Act shuts us down from sharing and communication of information....

“I want the director [of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection] to succeed.

I want the Government of The Bahamas to be managing their resources properly, but we have to do this co-operatively and, at the moment, I don’t feel we have that. Until this legislation is changed nothing is going to happen.”

Warning that there were “very real consequences” for the Stony Coral Disease fight and protection of endangered species as a result, Dr Higgs said he had left a previous posting in the UK because “I wanted to come back to The Bahamas to build science capacity in the country, and this is what I am faced with?”

He added that his ambition had been to establish a “Bahamian science hub”, especially with increasing numbers of students going into environmental science, but added that both himself and their efforts are now being frustrated by the current permit hold-up.

Dr Higgs also told Tribune Business that the difficulties were being worsened by the absence of any regulations, rules and guidelines to accompany the Act. “When I ask questions I get different answers,” he said, pointing in particular to the fee structure.

He explained that, at present, the DEPP has just two fee categories - for Bahamian students and research scientists. “They’re proposing to charge fees to students in the hundreds of dollars,” Dr Higgs said. “It’s beyond belief. To charge student scientists is unbelievable. They also said to me that there’s no category for Bahamian scientists.

There’s no consideration for Bahamian scientists.”

He added that he received an auto-generated $1,500 fee for one permit application, only to be told that he did not have to pay that sum and would be charged a lesser amount.

No invoice was issued, and then he was contacted by another official requesting he pay the initial fee. Dr Higgs also revealed that the DEPP’s invoices contained incorrect bank details. This was discovered when a bank returned the payment.

Describing the Act as “a power grab” by government officials, he added that it had only served to create another layer of bureaucracy and red tape when it came to science and research permits.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Common Law & Equity Division

2022/CLE/QUI/00002

IN THE MATTER OF ALL THOSE pieces parcels or tracts of land containing by admeasurements:Ninety and Two Hundred and Thirteen Thousandths (90.213) Acres situate in the Eastern District of the Island of Rum Cay one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas being property granted to Moses N. Deveaux as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 72 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by David Strachan on the East by land now or formerly owned by John Storr Grant on the South by Port Nelson Lake and on the West by reserved land around the Salt Pond.

Seven Hundred and Forty-Five and Two Hundred and Two Thousandths (745.202) Acres situate in the North-Western District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Thomas Fraser as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by lands now or formerly owned by Catherine Rucker, Andrew Deveaux and Charles Stewart on the South by vacant Crown land and land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt on the West by a tract now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

One Hundred and Fifty-Seven and Six Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousandths (157.622) Acres situate in the Southern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Nathaniel Young as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by vacant Crown land on the East by land now or formerly owned by William Smith on the South by the Sea and on the West by land now or formerly owned by John Hendrick.

One Hundred and Eighty-Four and Five Hundred and Seventeen Thousandths (184.517) Acres situate in the Southern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to William Smith as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt on the East by land now or formerly owned by Joshua N. Strachan on the South by the Sea and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Nathaniel Young.

Ninety Four and Nine Hundred and Twenty-One Thousandths (94.921) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes on the East by land now or formerly owned by Sahara Carmichael on the South by land now or formerly owned by Joshua N. Strachan and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt.

Two Hundred and Three and Nineteen Hundredths (203.19) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Charles Stewart as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 70 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Andrew Deveaux on the East by land now or formerly owned by Robert Butler on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt and Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

Two Hundred and Six and Seventy-One Hundredths (206.71) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Thomas Knowles as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by lands now or formerly owned by J. Charlow and Benjamin Russell, on the East by land now or formerly owned by B. Russell and James Strachan on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Josiah Tattnall and J. J. Burnside and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Joseph L. Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes.

One Thousand One Hundred and Eighty-Five and Forty-One Hundredths (1,185.41) Acres situate in the Northern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Robert Rumer as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by land now or formerly owned by J. Crosskill and Henry Glinton on the South by land now or formerly owned by B. Russell and on the West by lands now or formerly owned by Hector McAllister and Robert Rumer.

Seven Hundred and Ninety and Seventy-Four Hundredths (790.74) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Robert Butler as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 70 RC bounded on the North by lands now or formerly owned by Benjamin Lord Sr., Benjamin Lord Jr., Andrew Deveaux, and William Slator Adderley on the East by lands now or formerly owned by R. Rumer and Jas. Charlow on the South by land now or formerly owned by Jos. L. Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Charles Stewart.

Sixteen (16) Acres situate in the Northern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being a portion of property initially granted to Catherine Rucker as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by land now or formerly owned by Catherine Rucker on the South by land now or formerly owned

by Catherine Rucker and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

Two Hundred and Seventy-Six and Seventeen Hundredths (276.17) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Benj. Russell as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Robert Rumer on the East by lands now or formerly owned by Henry Glinton and Archibald Taylor, on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Thomas Knowles and James Strachan and on the West by lands now or formerly owned by Jos. Charlow and Thomas Knowles.

AND IN THE MATTER of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 AND IN THE MATTER of the Petition of Mondevco Limited.

NOTICE OF PETITION The Petition of Mondevco Limited, a company incorporated under the Laws of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is in respect of:ALL THOSE pieces parcels or tracts of land containing by admeasurements:Ninety and Two Hundred and Thirteen Thousandths (90.213) Acres situate in the Eastern District of the Island of Rum Cay one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas being property granted to Moses N. Deveaux as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 72 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by David Strachan on the East by land now or formerly owned by John Storr Grant on the South by Port Nelson Lake and on the West by reserved land around the Salt Pond.

Seven Hundred and Forty-Five and Two Hundred and Two Thousandths (745.202) Acres situate in the North-Western District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Thomas Fraser as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by lands now or formerly owned by Catherine Rucker, Andrew Deveaux and Charles Stewart on the South by vacant Crown land and land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt on the West by a tract now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

One Hundred and Fifty-Seven and Six Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousandths (157.622) Acres situate in the Southern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Nathaniel Young as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by vacant Crown land on the East by land now or formerly owned by William Smith on the South by the Sea and on the West by land now or formerly owned by John Hendrick.

One Hundred and Eighty-Four and Five Hundred and Seventeen Thousandths (184.517) Acres situate in the Southern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to William Smith as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt on the East by land now or formerly owned by Joshua N. Strachan on the South by the Sea and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Nathaniel Young.

Ninety Four and Nine Hundred and Twenty-One Thousandths (94.921) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes on the East by land now or formerly owned by Sahara Carmichael on the South by land now or formerly owned by Joshua N. Strachan and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt.

Two Hundred and Three and Nineteen Hundredths (203.19) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Charles Stewart as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 70 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Andrew Deveaux on the East by land now or formerly owned by Robert Butler on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Samuel Nesbitt and Joseph Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

Two Hundred and Six and Seventy-One Hundredths (206.71) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Thomas Knowles as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by lands now or formerly owned by J. Charlow and Benjamin Russell, on the East by land now or formerly owned by B. Russell and James Strachan on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Josiah Tattnall and J. J. Burnside and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Joseph L. Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes.

One Thousand One Hundred and Eighty-Five and Forty-One Hundredths (1,185.41) Acres situate in the Northern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Robert Rumer as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by land now or formerly owned by J. Crosskill and Henry Glinton on the South by land now or formerly owned by B. Russell and on the West by lands now or formerly owned by Hector McAllister and Robert Rumer.

Seven Hundred and Ninety and Seventy-Four Hundredths (790.74) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Robert Butler as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 70 RC bounded on the North by lands now or formerly owned by Benjamin Lord Sr., Benjamin Lord Jr., Andrew Deveaux, and William Slator Adderley on the East by lands now or formerly owned by R. Rumer and Jas. Charlow on the South by land now or formerly owned by Jos. L. Dorsett and Benjamin Tynes and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Charles Stewart.

Sixteen (16) Acres situate in the Northern District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being a portion of property initially granted to Catherine Rucker as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 71 RC bounded on the North by the Sea on the East by land now or formerly owned by Catherine Rucker on the South by land now or formerly owned

by Catherine Rucker and on the West by land now or formerly owned by Thomas Fraser.

Two Hundred and Seventy-Six and Seventeen Hundredths (276.17) Acres situate in the Central District of the Island of Rum Cay aforesaid being property initially granted to Benj. Russell as shown on the plan recorded in the Department of Lands & Surveys as Plan Number 69 RC bounded on the North by land now or formerly owned by Robert Rumer on the East by lands now or formerly owned by Henry Glinton and Archibald Taylor, on the South by lands now or formerly owned by Thomas Knowles and James Strachan and on the West by lands now or formerly owned by Jos. Charlow and Thomas Knowles. which are the subject of the Petition filed herein.

Mondevco Limited claims to be the equitable and beneficial owner in fee simple possession of the parcels of land hereinbefore described and such ownership as aforesaid arises by virtue of a possessory and documentary title to the said land. The Petitioner has made application to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas under Section Three (3) of the Quieting Titles Act, 1959 to have its title to the said land investigated and the nature and extent thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. Copies of the filed Petition and Plans may be inspected during normal office hours at:The Registry of the Supreme Court, The Ansbacher Building, Bank Lane, Nassau, Bahamas.

The Chambers of Meridian Law Chambers, Suite B6 East Bay Shopping Center, East Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas.

Notice is given that any person having dower or right of dower or an adverse claim or a claim not recognized in the petition must on or before the expiry of thirty (30) days following final publication of this Notice of Petition file in the Registry of the Supreme Court and serve on the Petitioner or the undersigned a statement of such claim in the prescribed form, verified by an affidavit to be filed therewith. Failure by any person to file and serve a statement of such claim within thirty (30) days following final publication of this Notice of Petition will operate as a bar to such claim.

MERIDIAN LAW CHAMBERS SUITE B6 EAST BAY SHOPPING CENTER EAST BAY STREET, NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS ATTORNEYS FOR MONDEVCO LIMITED

PAGE 20, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

GAS STATION SHUT DOWN TO ‘BRING COUNTRY TO HALT’ FROM PAGE 24 amid ongoing price volatility in the global markets, he added that the industry needed to address its problems with the Government given that talk of an Easter shutdown could potentially undermine one of the busiest periods in the Bahamian tourism calendar.

Acknowledging that the Government’s fiscal challenges make cutting taxes on gasoline sales, which are among its biggest revenue generators, problematic especially in the absence of an increase elsewhere, Mr Edwards said it should nevertheless “facilitate profitable businesses” and not

impose “undue pressure” on specific industries through its policies.

Gas station operators are urging the Government to increase their margins by 50 percent, which would raise them from the present 54 cents per gallon of gasoline to 81 cents, and change the basis upon which they are calculated to a percentage as opposed to a fixed mark-up.

They have warned that up to 80 percent may elect to close their stations this weekend unless their grievances are addressed, and the ORG economic chief yesterday even suggested a hybrid approach, with fixed margins maintained below a certain level, but a percentage used

once the price goes above a certain level.

Anticipating that any gas station shut down will not last for long, Mr Edwards said the situation still has the potential to significantly undermine an economy that runs almost exclusively on fossil fuels on both land and sea. “If there was a shut down it would be significant,” he told this newspaper. “It has the potential to bring the country to a halt, and certainly will have an adverse impact on economic activity.

“The overall impact depends on how long a shut down lasts for. The action by itself, or the possibility of such action, is sufficiently

disruptive. It’s an indication there’s a sector of the economy feeling the burden, feeling the pinch, so the knock-on impact on consumers would be huge.

“I hope that good sense prevails, and persons can sit down and talk this through and, at the end of the day, do nothing that harms the recovering economy. We’re still in a delicate place, and still have to protect this.

I’m sensitive to the plight of operators. They indicate the circumstances place their operations under undue pressure. There must be a way to sit down and talk this through with policymakers, and come up with a solution

THE TRIBUNE that avoids shutting down the country.”

While gas prices at Esso, Rubis and Shell are all presently above $6 per gallon, global oil prices have somewhat eased - and stabilised - after peaking at over $130 per barrel in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when the US announced it would ban Russian oil and gas imports, while the UK said it would phase them out.

Predictions of $200 per barrel have yet to materialise, with current indices at around 50 percent of that level. Brent crude was at $100 as Tribune Business went to press last night, having risen by 1.58 percent during the day, while West Texas Intermediate was up 1.76 percent at $95.95 per barrel. Depending on when the three oil companies do their wholesale buying, it is possible consumers may see a slight decline in pump prices when the next shipment comes in.

Gas station dealers have been especially concerned about the pressure rising gasoline costs impose on their cash flow and credit lines, as they have to pay out more for a 10,000 gallon tanker load and then have to wait to recover this expense on what are already thin margins.

“We have to put issues squarely on the table and say that we may not get everything we want at the moment, but if there is a commitment to find a solution and understand why we got here, that will be good in itself,” Mr Edwards said, warning about the impact any gas station shut down will have for the Easter tourism season peak.

“To do anything that harms this nascent recovery will be ill-advised,” he said.

“It would certainly disrupt commerce. Persons need fuel to get to work, persons need fuel for other transport activities. If it’s temporary we may not feel it, but if it was to be prolonged - and I don’t anticipate that - it could impact the tourism product

over the holiday weekend, so we want to avoid that as much as possible.”

Noting that the gas station operators’ concerns must be resolved “in the best interests of the country” given the integral role they play in the economy, Mr Edwards said the Government would be challenged to reduce the taxes it earns on gasoline - which currently stand at around $1.60 per gallon given its parlous fiscal state.

He added that consumers and businesses “sometimes have to make sacrifices for a better tomorrow”, saying: “Caution is the name of the game.” As for calls to increase gas station operators’ margins and the way these are calculated, Mr Edwards said: “The Government and policymakers should take a careful look at the industry, and any policy positions which disadvantage or create under pressure for a competitive space should be addressed.

“I’m not well enough informed to say the industry must move from a fixed margin to a percentage....

The answer may lie in a hybrid where they are fixed until they reach a certain point, and falling above a certain level become a percentage. The bottom line is that the Government should facilitate profitable businesses. If it creates disadvantages to businesses, it hurts the country and consideration should be given to making the necessary adjustments.”

Calling for more proactive planning, and addressing challenges as they arise instead of delaying action, Mr Edwards said: “One of the things this is showing us is how vulnerable we become when we fail to things we should do early. It reduces our capacity to respond in the moment of pressure. It’s my hope that we walk away from this continued crisis with a better appreciation of what the challenges are and a greater commitment to fix these things which will help us in future.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

The Public is hereby advised that I, RANDOLPH ALEXANDER KEMP of Grace Avenue, Marathon Estates, New Providence, Bahamas, intend to change my name to RANDOLPH ALEXANDER CHARLTON. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Officer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.

MARKET REPORT www.bisxbahamas.com

MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2022

BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES 52WK HI 6.70 40.50 2.05 2.90 2.60 6.05 10.05 3.55 9.02 3.10 7.20 14.00 2.71 10.25 11.25 10.75 15.00 4.00 10.00 16.50

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

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

PREFERENCE SHARES 1.00

1.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

1.00 10.00 1.00

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

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

52WK LOW 100.00 100.00

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

CLOSE

CHANGE

%CHANGE

YTD

YTD%

2279.41

-0.07

0.00

51.17

2.30

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAST CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 14.00 2.30 10.13 12.55 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00 LAST SALE 100.00 100.00 107.31 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.06 100.53 99.98 100.00 100.00 100.00 89.62 100.00 100.00 100.00

CLOSE 5.30 39.95 2.04 2.31 2.50 6.05 9.25 3.30 7.60 2.66 7.16 14.00 2.27 10.13 12.50 10.75 15.00 3.99 10.00 15.50 1.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1000.00 1.00 10.00 1.00

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

VOLUME

19,030

361

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CLOSE 100.00 100.00

CHANGE 0.00 0.00

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

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

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

MARKET TERMS

CHANGE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (0.03) 0.00 (0.05) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

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

VOLUME

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

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

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

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

P/E 22.2 42.9 N/M 16.5 N/M N/M 25.1 -7.5 54.3 14.5 15.9 19.4 22.3 21.7 19.3 14.8 18.4 19.7 10.6 24.6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

YIELD 3.21% 3.15% 0.98% 3.46% 0.00% 0.00% 2.81% 0.00% 0.00% 4.51% 3.07% 5.14% 19.12% 0.59% 2.62% 2.23% 3.60% 3.01% 2.00% 3.94% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.25% 7.00% 6.50%

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

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

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

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

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that SIDRICKA SEVERE of Rock Crusher Road, Nassau, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 5th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that JAVIER IGLESIAS REDOINDO, of Marathon Road, Nassau, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 12th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that GODDAY OKHUELEIGBE of P. O. Box EE-15137, #6 Domingo Heights, New Providence, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 5th day of April, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 21

OUT ISLAND HOTELS ‘DIAL UP VOLUME’ TO OFFSET FUEL HIKE FROM PAGE 24

like this. What that provides for our member hotels, say there is a $250 air fare credit if they stay four nights or two fly free out of Nassau if they stay four nights. What that allows is all member hotels can produce that as added value, and do not have to cut rates to encourage people to stay in their hotels.

“It’s critical. It’s just a matter of moving these promotions from the back burner to the front burner and dialling the

promotional interest up to let people know that these are available.” Mr Fountain spoke out after Tracy Cooper, Bahamasair’s managing director, recently confirmed that the national flag carrier has been forced to respond to aviation fuel price volatility through raising its air fares by $3 on domestic routes and by $10 internationally.

With fuel costs soaring by an “extra $100,000 per week”, Mr Cooper told Tribune Business that the airline had no choice but to pass some of the increase

on to passengers as it was impossible to “absorb all of that” within its existing expense structure. He added that aviation fuel prices had risen by $1.50 per gallon over the past six to seven weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked sudden volatility in global oil prices.

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

Omicron variant was a further setback for the industry in January and February, but he said customer volumes had started to come back in March and voiced optimism that the elimination of testing for inter-island travel would provide a timely boost for Easter.

Forecasting that Bahamasair was unlikely to recover fully from the pandemic until the rest of the economy does likewise, which is estimated to be some time in late 2023, Mr Cooper said of current aviation

industry conditions: “What we have is the fact that the fuel prices have gone up significantly. We’re up $1.50 or so more on a gallon of aviation fuel. It’s over $4.12 a gallon of aviation fuel.

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

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

PRIVATE BANK WORKER’S $58K WIN OVERTURNED FROM PAGE 24 Industrial Tribunal found this had gained Ms Munroe’s co-operation by promising her she would not be dismissed. However, Itau successfully argued on appeal that the letter was designed to provide it with an indemnity so it would not be exposed to adverse legal consequences when it went to her home and accessed Ms Munroe’s personal computer.

“Properly understood, there was nothing in that consent letter which could reasonably be interpreted as the appellant [Itau] having held out to the respondent a promise or inducement that she would not have been dismissed if she consented,” Appeal justice Isaacs ruled.

Tracing the background to the dispute, he wrote: “The events leading up to her dismissal were that on November 1, 2016, the respondent [Ms Munroe] forwarded confidential client information to her personal e-mail address without first obtaining authorisation to do so. This was contrary to the [bank’s] policies and procedures.

“The appellant confronted the respondent about the matter on November 4, 2016, and the respondent admitted to sending the e-mail without the requisite authorisation, but denied that the e-mail contained confidential information. Nevertheless, she apologised for her actions.”

This prompted the creation of the letter around which the unfair dismissal claim revolved around, as Ms Munroe authorised Itau staff “to access and go through her personal computer in her presence, and to delete any information from her personal e-mail regarding the appellant or its clients”.

The letter said: “In order to avoid any adverse consequences of such action, by

counter-signing this letter you consent to authorised employee(s) of Itau to accompany you to your residence, go through your personal computer and, in your presence, delete any and all information from your personal e-mail and/or personal files pertaining to Itau and/or any of its affiliates and clients.”

Two Itau employees, Daniel Amorim and Cheryl Fox, accompanied Ms Munroe to her home and examined her laptop in her presence. The e-mail was confirmed as having been sent to the latter’s personal account, and Ms Munroe was terminated that same day “for a material breach” of Itau’s confidentiality, corporate information and electronic security policies.

Ms Munroe, in her witness statement, said she was working to reconcile information from both The Bahamas and Cayman company registries that was required for billing fees to Itau’s clients.

She alleged that she was “under a lot of stress and pressure to meet the deadlines of the respective projects that were going on simultaneously, and not being able to work beyond 9pm to get as much done as possible, I forwarded to my home e-mail address the reconciliation task that I was working on”.

Ms Munroe also said the e-mail she sent contained information “for the most part within the public domain, but for the account numbers which were needed for billing purposes, so that I could determine and distinguish what was truly outstanding to the Bahamas and Cayman registries”.

Addressing the consequences of her termination, she added: “I have suffered significantly. As a breast cancer survivor, insurance coverage is critical and loss of employment resulted in the termination of my private health insurance and lost coverage. As a result, I lost years of premiums

and was not able to see my private doctors since November 2016 to May 2018, when I was finally able to secure meaningful employment.

“I spent over $11,112 in out of pocket expenses.... ltau’s insurance provider, Atlantic Medical, did not provide full coverage for anything cancer related, so I had to keep my individual insurance while I was employed with Itau.

While I was employed, I was able to cover my private health insurance premiums.

After I was terminated, I simply couldn’t afford to pay.”

Ms Munroe also alleged she was unable to find alternative employment for up to 17 months following her termination, and had to accept a much lower salary than she was accustomed to. She claimed she lost National Insurance Board (NIB) benefits that should have been paid when she was off sick.

However, Jacqueline Rolle, Itau’s general manager of fiduciary, testified that Ms Munroe had violated “Bahamian client confidentiality rules” through her actions. And Mr Amorim, Itau’s trust and operations manager, conceded under crossexamination that the laptop search and e-mail deletion had enabled it to “contain the risk to the bank”.

However, he denied that the November 4 letter had induced Ms Munroe to co-operate, saying it was instead for the bank’s protection.

Appeal justice Isaacs, in deciding the dispute, said of Ms Munroe: “Notwithstanding the respondent’s assertion that she did not transmit confidential information from her work computer to her personal computer at home via the Yahoo portal, the overwhelming evidence adduced at the hearing before the [Industrial

Tribunal] was that is indeed what she had done.

“The respondent was a bank employee who was aware that confidential information generated by the appellant was to be kept with strict regard to that confidentiality. She

transferred the appellant’s information over an unsecure platform, namely Yahoo, thereby placing her employer’s information in danger of being made public.

“She did not have the requisite VPN (virtual

because we cannot absorb all of that.”

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

Over a year, that translates into between a $7.02m and $7.41m expense hike. private network) access but if she wished to work from home all that was necessary for her to do was to request authorisation to do so. This she did not do. Her supervisor’s statement to the effect that she should do whatever was necessary to get the job done could not be taken as permitting her to breach the terms contained in her employer’s handbook.”

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT

2022 CLE/qui/No.

Common Law and Equity Division BETWEEN IN THE MATTER OF THE QUIETING TITLES ACT 1959 AND

IN THE MATTER of Petition of ALSET TE DELEVEAUX of the Island of Crooked Island,

The Bahamas

ALL THAT parcel or lot of land being of Admeasurements 42,104 sq ft and situate at Major's Cay, Crooked Island and bounded Eastwardly by Queens Highway and running thereon 292.03 feet Westwardly by vacant land and running thereon 301.47 feet Southwardly by vacant and running thereon 138.19 feet and Northwardly by vacant land and running thereon 147.67 feet NOTICE

TAKE NOTICE that Alsette Deleveaux claims to be the owner in

fee simple in possession of the said land and has made application of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Under Section 3 of the Quieting Title Act, 1959 to have his title to the said land investigated and the nature and extent thereof determined and declared in a Certificate of Title to be granted by the Court in accordance with the provision of the said Act. A Plan of the same may be inspected during normal working hour at: (a) The Registry of the Supreme Court New Providence in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Chambers ofV. Alfred Gray & Company, Dowdeswell House, Dowdeswell and Armstrong Street, New Providence NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that any person having dower or rights of dower

or an Adverse Claim of Claim not recognized in the Petition shall on or before the 10th day of May, A.O., 2022 file in the Supreme Court in New Providence aforesaid and serve on the Petitioner or the undersigned a Statement of their claim aforesaid on or before the 10th day of May A.O., 2022 or it will operate as a bar to such claim Dated this 5th day of April, A.O., 2022

V. ALFRED GRAY & CO.

Chamber Dowdeswell House Dowdeswell & Armstrong Street Nassau. Bahamas Attorneys for the Petitioner

PAGE 22, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

FULL CHURCHES TO BOOST FUNERAL EMPLOYMENT

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Funeral Directors Association’s (BFDA) president yesterday said the postCOVID return of 100 percent church occupancy will enable the industry to hire more people.

Kirsch Ferguson told Tribune Business: “This means that we should get back to a level of normalcy where more staff and manpower will be required, and back to traditional ways. Families with this new shift in the protocol will be more inclined to do things they normally would do in terms of funeral arrangements.”

The Government, just in time for Easter,

has removed the 50 percent maximum COVID seating requirement for churches, which means funerals can now be conducted indoors as opposed to graveside services with full COVID19 spacing.

Mr Ferguson warned, however, that the economy is still soft and that will be a factor for persons seeking to give their loved ones the appropriate sendoff. “People are now just

getting back to work,” he added, pointing to affordability concerns.

As to whether more church funerals will translate into increased business for florists and print shops, Mr Ferguson said: “In some respects, yes, and in some respects, no. Be mindful that the shift that we’ve had in the past few years, people are now mindful that things can be done differently. They don’t need

to go out above the norm and can still have a nice and decent funeral. So it’s just a matter of personal preferences.”

With COVID-19 restrictions slowly easing, and allowing funeral directors to work with families more sensitively, Mr Ferguson is still warning about unlicensed funeral directors in the market. He added: “As it stands now we are still hopeful that the proper

BTVI executives to give conference presentation TWO Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) executives have been invited to present a paper at a major global online learning conference.

Anthony Ramtulla, who helped develop BTVI’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme, along with Dr Robert W. Robertson, its president, have been invited to present at INNOVATE 2022. This is an annual global conference staged by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC).

Currently underway in Dallas until April 14, it includes higher education leaders and

innovators focused on advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach - and engage - the modern learner. The conference provides an avenue for innovators to share best practices, test new ideas and collaborate on pushing forward online, digital and blended learning.

Mr Ramtulla, who is BTVI’s dean of information technology, has teamed with Dr Robertson to develop a case study of the ICT dual enrollment programme. It provides high schoolers with training, which affords them the opportunity to attain a BTVI diploma, college

credits and international certifications in areas including but not limited to Linux, Python, Java-Script programming and cyber security. Courses are certified by Cisco, CompTIA and Microsoft.

There are more than 500 students enrolled in the programme and, to-date, more than 100 have completed it. Dr Robertson said: “The programme is designed as a series of short, flexible, stackable, certified courses to provide workforce-ready skills. It assists in building the core digital skills required for the new economy - the fourth industrial revolution.”

thing will be done to properly regulate this industry, and we’re hoping that something changes real soon for us in terms of legislation being enacted and enforcing laws where only people who are properly trained to call themselves funeral directors are allowed to practice.”

THE BAHAMAS Technical and Vocational Institute’s (BTVI) dean of information technology, Anthony Ramtulla, and president, Dr Robert W. Robertson, have been invited to present a paper at the global conference, INNOVATE 2022. They will present a case study on BTVI’s dual enrollment information and communication technology (ICT) programme for high schoolers. The courses are certified by Cisco, CompTIA and Microsoft.

Photo:BTVI

Many of the students have gone on to studies in the US or Canada with advanced standing based on the programme’s quality and certifications.

Mr Ramtulla added that building digital skills is vital as a career skill in

The Bahamas. “With this programme, the seed will be planted for these young people to become the leading experts in software engineering, network engineering and information technology management in the nation,” he said.

BTVI has articulation agreements with Valencia College and New England Institute of Technology, which provide academic pathways for students to move directly into an undergraduate programme with advanced standing.

Treasure Cay buyer refuses $20m bond FROM PAGE 24 reason, the message doesn’t seem to resonate in Nassau with the Bahamian government that Treasure Cay Ltd was the heart of the economy of North Abaco.

Treasure Cay Ltd basically folded after the hurricane; they left over 200 people unemployed. These were hundreds of Bahamians with decent paying jobs.”

The fate of Treasure Cay Resort’s potential sale remains clouded in uncertainty, while the island’s lift station has yet to be repaired by the Water & Sewerage Corporation so there is no working public sewage system.

“As homeowners we paid $2,000 a piece, and offered it to the Water and Sewerage Corporation for them to begin the capital expense to get our sewer system back up and running. I’m not sure if the project is under way as yet, but this has been nearly three years since we have been struggling with this sewerage situation,” Mr Hondros said The collective $320,000 donation was formally accepted by the Water & Sewerage Corporation last month following a year of trying to encourage the state-owned water utility to accept it.

“What’s really disheartening is that I don’t understand why this thing has gone on as long as it

has, and the other thing is the uncertainty over the future of the heart of Treasure Cay is driving any potential investors away,” Mr Hondros said. “I’m deathly afraid Treasure Cay could die on the vine. I’m afraid that could happen if a sale is not approved to an investor that has the best interest of Treasure Cay.” Trevor Lightbourn, owner/operator of Treasure Charters, Island Hopping and Deep-Sea Fishing, added: “Nobody knows what’s going on. Everything is just up in limbo. There is nothing being said concerning the sale, and there is no solid information like when is this all going to happen, and when are they going to put some infrastructure in place for the marina and things like that.”

With the resort and marina in a state of disrepair, there are no guests arriving and Mr Lightbourn cannot use the marina for docking. He added: “There is nothing happening right now because, even with the sewer system being down, we don’t have the volume of people. I have some people that have second homes here that I’ve been doing work for, and I’m doing what I have to do to survive.

“At the Bahama Beach Club they cant’ take too many people because of the sewer system and other places that rely on the sewer

system. They are suffering, and a lot of other places tied to the sewer system are suffering, and that falls down on me because if we don’t have the volume of people then I can’t get jobs.”

Gordon Beavridge, a second homeowner on Treasure Cay, said: “I’m not sure a sale for the Treasure Cay Resort has been accepted or approved. I just keep hearing rumours and innuendos, but nobody has really come out and said who is on board and who is actually going to be a part of the sale.

“I think the major issue is is that the Treasure Cay Ltd is more or less abandoned.

There is no security or progressive clean up. With Water & Sewerage they don’t have the lift stations, and those still haven’t been repaired 32 months down the road. I think its really disappointing for everyone involved.”

Mr Beavridge has opted to live in Marsh Harbour instead of Treasure Cay because the living conditions are simply unbearable.

“I think they are trying to repair the lift stations now, but I haven’t seen any action or any firm direction or communication from anyone on what to expect.

I’m in the construction business, and you can deal with what you can expect, but when you have unknowns you just don’t know what to expect,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 12, 2022, PAGE 23

BTC partners with landfill operator in finance Expo THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) participated in the Insurance and Financial Expo held by its long-standing partner, New Providence Ecology Park, on March 30.

BTC was among the organisations at the Expo, held by the former landfill, where it helped to train employees on how to save and invest. It presented value-packed plans and devices to attendees.

Wayne Rolle, a BTC business-to-business (B2B)

sales agent and manager for New Providence Ecology Park’s account, said the team will be looking to connect with some of New Providence Ecology Park’s partners to see how the carrier can assist with services and create a better relationship.

This event marked BTC’s first stop on its small business-focused road show, which seeks to foster relationships and connect the company with local businesses.

THE WEATHER REPORT

5-Day Forecast

TODAY

ORLANDO

High: 86° F/30° C Low: 66° F/19° C

TAMPA

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Some sun with winds subsiding

Breezy early; partly cloudy

Mostly sunny with winds subsiding

Partly sunny, breezy and pleasant

Breezy in the a.m., then a t‑storm

A couple of afternoon showers

High: 82°

Low: 72°

High: 84° Low: 73°

High: 84° Low: 72°

High: 84° Low: 73°

High: 85° Low: 72°

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

AccuWeather RealFeel

84° F

69° F

86°-73° F

90°-73° F

90°-75° F

92°-73° F

High: 87° F/31° C Low: 69° F/21° C

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

N

almanac

E

W

ABACO

S

N

High: 78° F/26° C Low: 72° F/22° C

8‑16 knots

S

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 73° F/23° C

8‑16 knots

FT. LAUDERDALE

FREEPORT

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

E

W S

E

W

WEST PALM BEACH

N

| Go to AccuWeather.com

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 71° F/22° C

MIAMI

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

8‑16 knots

Statistics are for Nassau through 2 p.m. yesterday Temperature High ................................................... 79° F/26° C Low .................................................... 67° F/19° C Normal high ....................................... 81° F/27° C Normal low ........................................ 69° F/20° C Last year’s high ................................. 86° F/30° C Last year’s low ................................... 63° F/17° C Precipitation As of 2 p.m. yesterday ................................. 0.00” Year to date ................................................. 6.79” Normal year to date ..................................... 5.15”

ELEUTHERA

NASSAU

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 72° F/22° C

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 73° F/23° C

N

KEY WEST

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 74° F/23° C

tiDes For nassau High Today

Ht.(ft.)

Low

Ht.(ft.)

5:12 a.m.

5:38 p.m.

2.5 2.3

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

Wednesday 5:59 a.m.

6:24 p.m.

2.6 2.5

12:21 p.m. 0.2 ‑‑‑‑‑ ‑‑‑‑‑

Thursday

6:44 a.m.

7:08 p.m.

2.7 2.8

12:37 a.m. 0.1 1:01 p.m. ‑0.1

Friday

7:27 a.m.

7:52 p.m.

2.8 3.0

1:24 a.m. ‑0.1 1:41 p.m. ‑0.3

Saturday

8:10 a.m.

8:35 p.m.

2.8 3.2

2:11 a.m. ‑0.3 2:21 p.m. ‑0.5

Sunday

8:54 a.m.

9:20 p.m.

2.8 3.3

2:58 a.m. ‑0.4 3:03 p.m. ‑0.6

Monday

9:39 a.m.

10:08 p.m.

2.7 3.3

3:46 a.m. ‑0.5 3:46 p.m. ‑0.7

sun anD moon Sunrise Sunset

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 72° F/22° C

N

S

E

W

8‑16 knots

S

10‑20 knots

ANDROS

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

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

6:51 a.m. Moonrise 7:31 p.m. Moonset

3:46 p.m.

4:26 a.m.

Full

Last

New

First

Apr. 16

Apr. 23

Apr. 30

May 8

CAT ISLAND

E

W

uV inDex toDay

SAN SALVADOR

GREAT EXUMA

High: 79° F/26° C Low: 72° F/22° C

High: 80° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

N

High: 82° F/28° C Low: 72° F/22° C

E

W S

LONG ISLAND

tracking map

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 74° F/23° C

10‑20 knots

MAYAGUANA High: 81° F/27° C Low: 77° F/25° C

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures

CROOKED ISLAND / ACKLINS

are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

RAGGED ISLAND High: 81° F/27° C Low: 76° F/24° C

H

High: 81° F/27° C Low: 75° F/24° C

GREAT INAGUA High: 84° F/29° C Low: 76° F/24° C

N

E

W

E

W

N

S

S

10‑20 knots

12‑25 knots

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

Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday: Today: Wednesday:

WINDS SE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 10‑20 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots ENE at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots ENE at 10‑20 Knots E at 12‑25 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots ESE at 8‑16 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots NE at 12‑25 Knots E at 12‑25 Knots ENE at 8‑16 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots ENE at 10‑20 Knots ENE at 10‑20 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots E at 8‑16 Knots NE at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots E at 10‑20 Knots

WAVES 3‑5 Feet 3‑6 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 4‑7 Feet 4‑7 Feet 4‑7 Feet 4‑8 Feet 3‑6 Feet 4‑7 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑3 Feet 1‑2 Feet 1‑2 Feet 4‑7 Feet 4‑7 Feet 3‑5 Feet 4‑7 Feet 5‑9 Feet 5‑9 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet 3‑6 Feet 4‑8 Feet 2‑4 Feet 2‑4 Feet

VISIBILITY 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 8 Miles 7 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 6 Miles 8 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles 5 Miles 7 Miles 10 Miles 10 Miles

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

business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

$6.15

$6.25

Tourism giants in ‘coral reef gene bank’ move • Proposed facility to prevent species wipe-out • Atlantis, Disney fund team with conservationists • Cabinet paper approval awaited for its advance

OUT Island resorts are “dialling the volume up” on air fare and fuel credits in a bid to offset the impact of fuel price volatility on airline tickets, a senior executive has revealed, thus enabling them to avoid slashing room rates.

Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that its member hotels always have the ability to pull initiatives out from “the back burner” in times of “crisis” such as that sparked by COVID-19, its aftermath and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

While air fare hikes have not yet materialised to their full extent, he said the various promotions the Board’s hotel members can offer provide potential travellers with “added

value” and the incentive to take lengthy stays across the archipelago.

“Back in 2008, when we experienced rising fuel costs at the pump, and we foretold during the great recession of that year that rising fuel costs will impact airline tickets, we haven’t seen much of that yet this time,” Mr Fountain told this newspaper.

“Again, our $250 air fare credit, fly free from Nassau, $300 boat fuel credit and $300 fuel credit for private pilots, all those are designed for crises like this. They are all in effect.

We feel we have always been prepared for a crisis like this. Some of them are seasonal, some of them are year-round.”

Mr Fountain explained that these promotions were critical to defraying air fare costs for travelling to the Family Islands, which are typically more expensive than the cost of tickets flying into Lynden Pindling

Private bank worker’s $58k win overturned

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PRIVATE bank employee has seen a $58,000 damages award against her former employer overturned after she breached its client confidentiality policies in deciding to complete work assignments at home.

The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous verdict, rejected the Industrial Tribunal’s finding that Avis Munroe, a two-year fiduciary billing officer with Itau Bank & Trust (Bahamas), had been unfairly dismissed as “unreasonable and illogical, and cannot be sustained”.

Appeal justice Isaacs, in delivering the court’s judgment, said it was “incongruous” and “inconsistent” for Industrial Tribunal vice-president, Simone Fitzcharles, to find the bank was justified in summarily dismissing Ms Munroe but, at the same time, also rule that she was unfairly terminated.

The Industrial Tribunal had based its verdict on a line in a November 4, 2016, letter that Ms Munroe signed authorising Itau personnel to inspect her computer, retrieve and delete the sensitive client information she had sent to her personal e-mail - something forbidden by the bank’s policies.

The second paragraph began with the phrase: “In order to avoid any adverse consequences of such action...”, and the

SEE PAGE 21

$6.19

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CONSERVATIONISTS are partnering with Atlantis and Disney to create a “coral reef gene bank” to save several Bahamian species in danger of being wiped out by disease, Tribune Business can reveal.

Dr Craig Dahlgren, executive director of the Perry Institute for Marine Science, which is leading the fight against the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), said the tie-up with the two leading tourism brands will establish a facility where coral “can be removed from harm’s way”, grown and bred to save certain types from being extinct.

He added, though, that the development was awaiting approval from the Davis

BEFORE and after: When a coral becomes infected with Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (left) it can be completely dead within a matter of weeks (right). This relentless, dangerous malady is sweeping across our underwater landscape, threatening the fishing, diving and tourism industries. Solutions exist and help has been offered, but the government is dragging its feet. administration, with a Cabinet paper on the subject supposed to have been submitted to the Government’s highest decision-making body earlier in 2022. Its fate is presently unclear, and could not be determined yesterday.

“The other thing we are waiting for in relation to this disease is we are partnering with Atlantis and the Disney Conservation Fund to develop a coral genetic resource facility; a living gene bank of coral

SEE PAGE 19

Gas station shut down to ‘bring country to halt’

Out Island hotels ‘dial up volume’ to offset fuel hike

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

$6.16

KERRY FOUNTAIN International Airport (LPIA), thus representing a potential deterrent and access barrier for tourists.

“Even when we don’t have a crisis, the cost of getting to the Family Islands via LPIA is much higher,” he added. “We’ve never really discontinued those. We’ve scaled them down, made some seasonal as opposed to year-round. To get to the Out Islands is always more expensive than getting to Nassau.

“We always have them on the back burner and dial the volume up and promote them when there are crises

SEE PAGE 21

Treasure Cay buyer refuses $20m bond

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A CONTROVERSIAL purchaser of Abaco’s Treasure Cay Resort has failed to lodge a $20m bond demanded by the seller, North Abaco’s MP confirmed yesterday.

Kirk Cornish told Tribune Business that Austrian financier, Dr Mirko Kovats, had not put up the security needed to progress the deal. “I was told that he refused to put up a $20m bond. As far as I know this means Treasure Cay Resort is up for sale and the Meisters are in the market for a purchaser,” he said of the vendor.

It is unclear whether this will end Dr Kovats’ interest in Treasure Cay. E-mails sent to Dr Kovats’ office have not been returned up to press time.

Mr Cornish, meanwhile, added: “The Meisters have Treasure Cay for sale and whoever can purchase it will make an offer and purchase it. I’m not saying that it is off the market, and I’m not saying it is on the market. As far as I know the Meisters have it for sale as its theirs to sell.”

Attempts to reach the Meister family for comment

were unsuccessful prior to press time. However, one resident of Treasure Cay, speaking under condition of anonymity, said: “We don’t really want Kovats here anyway. If that means he will not be purchasing the Treasure Cay resort then that is good news.”

The latest developments come after Treasure Cay residents yesterday voiced fears that the island will “die on the vine” unless the uncertainty surrounding the long-pending sale of its resort is urgently resolved so the economy can kick-start.

Randy Hondros, a Treasure Cay second homeowner, told this newspaper last week that the island could become a deserted ‘ghost town’ if its economic revival is not addressed more seriously by central government.

A Hurricane Dorian victim, he has not been back to Treasure Cay for several months as the island has not progressed sufficiently since it was devastated by the Category Five storm.

“It’s been nearly three years, and these people are hurting and struggling to try and rebuild their homes and their lives,” Mr Hondros said. “I think what is really missing here is, for some

SEE PAGE 22

• Such move ‘ill advised’ and threatens ‘nascent recovery’ • Governance reformer calls for ‘good sense’ to prevail • Suggests ‘hybrid’ margins could be industry’s solution

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A GAS station shut down would “bring the country to a halt” and threaten the “nascent recovery” from COVID-19, a governance reformer warned yesterday, adding that such a move would be “ill-advised”.

Hubert Edwards, head of the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) economic development committee, told Tribune Business that any such action by dealers would disrupt a Bahamian economy that is “still in a

HUBERT EDWARDS delicate place” and needs no further disruption from self-inflicted shocks.

Voicing sympathy, though, with the “plight” of gas station retailers

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