04182019 NEWS

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VOLUME:116 No.81, APRIL 18TH, 2019

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WEEKEND: BEST BUNNIES, BASKETS AND BONNETS FOR EASTER

Govt hit with $11m damages claim

Time to teach them a lesson ‘Immigration is not a Super Police, a law unto itself’

L SOUR CE

STATESIDE

A SPELLBINDING SUNDAY IN AUGUSTA

SEE PAGE EIGHT

TOUGHER FINES FOR DRIVERS WHO KILL

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the government will increase penalties for killing in the course of dangerous driving.

The US cited traffic fatalities as a major concern in an advisory this week, noting there was a 29 percent increase in trafficrelated deaths from 2017 to 2018.

Dr Minnis said the advisory was “coincidental” as he has already told Cabinet ministers “fines must be more harsh than what we’re seeing”.

SEE PAGE FIVE

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

Mr Smith, in making submissions before Justice Indra Charles, asserted that such a KENYAN native figure is appropriate Douglas Ngumi is suing to “send a message” the government for $11m to the government with interest for illegally that “civil and constidetaining him for six tutional crime” in the years and seven months form of “ubiquitous, at the Carmichael Road unapologetic, endemic Detention Centre, during oppression” which time will “no he alleglonger pay”. edly endured Mr Smith “numerous” requested beatings by the payment immigration be made officials and within 28 contracted days.

Failtwo diseases. ure to do so Of that would result sum, $5m is in the govfor exemplary ernment damages; being found FRED SMITH QC $3m is for in contempt false imprisof court. onment, assault and Mr Ngumi is also seekbatteries; $2m is for con- ing legal costs on a full stitutional damages by indemnity solicitor own way of compensation and client basis given the vindication; $1m is for “manner” in which the aggravated damages; and case was conducted by $950 is for special dam- the government. ages, his attorney, Fred SEE PAGE THREE Smith, QC said.

WATER UNIONS OPT FOR STRIKES

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

DOUGLAS Ngumi.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

REVEALED - $580M ABACO RESORTS PROJECT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A $580M mixed-use South Abaco resort investment is pledging to create 600 full-time jobs and inject $2bn into the area’s struggling economy during its first ten years in operation.

A four-page booklet produced by Tyrsoz Family Holdings Ltd, which has been obtained by Tribune Business, details plans to

AN ARTIST’s impression of the site in South Abaco. construct multiple hotels, residential homes, a 136slip marina, golf course, water park, nature preserve and other amenities spread

across almost 1,100 acres that is split into two separate land parcels.

The two parcels are said to be “under contract” for purchase by the project’s owners, who are not identified in the report. The principal figure named is Ronnie Ben-Zur, the development manager, chief executive of French Quarter Holdings, a hospitality development company.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

BAHAMAS Utilities Service and Allied Workers Union members have voted in favour of industrial action against the Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Yesterday, 155 BUSAWU members in New Providence and other islands where WSC is present cast ballots in support of a strike while 48 members said they did not agree. It was not clear up to press time whether all of the votes had been counted, however SEE PAGE SIX

HAPPY EASTER TO READERS

THE TRIBUNE RETURNS ON TUESDAY

PAGE 2, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

DRIVE SAFE, WARN POLICE AFTER LATEST FATAL CRASH

By RIEL MAJOR

A MAN involved in a traffic accident on Saturday died in hospital yesterday, police have confirmed.

According to reports, shortly after 11pm, a man was driving on New Providence Highway when he lost control of his car and collided into a guard rail at the junction of New

Providence Highway and Sanford Drive. The driver was taken to hospital on Saturday, however he died yesterday.

This news came the same day officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force traffic division held a press conference to announce they will be out on the streets enforcing traffic laws this holiday weekend.

Assistant Superintendent Craig Stubbs said

THE ROYAL Bahamas Police Force held a press conference to address issues and give safety tips to road users for the upcoming holiday. From left, Assistant Superintendent Paul Cash, Chief Superintendent Craig Stubbs and Superintendent Mareno Hinds.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff recently police have recorded three traffic

fatalities and a number of serious accidents on the

streets of New Providence and the Family Islands due to driver’s error.

ASP Stubbs said: “For this upcoming period we’re going to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to the many persons we see committing infractions against the Road Traffic Act. “We know for this holiday period where we see persons would be driving from various parties or on the beach having a picnic and the consumption of alcohol is obvious.

“We will have officers in place at many of these locations. You will see officers out in full force and doing stop and search.

(We’ll be) checking drivers to ensure they aren’t impaired drivers, to ensure they are driving consistent with the rules and regulations of the streets of New Providence.”

ASP Stubbs also alerted people who allow relatives to operate their vehicles without a valid licence or insurance that they will be placed before the courts and formally charged.

He said: “Our main concern is that a lot of those vehicles that are cited, we have a young driver who is driving with only a permit. The car is either registered in mom or dad’s name. There are cases where we have had persons who are being injured. No compensation once that person is not insured to drive that vehicle. It is a concern for us. It has placed a burden financially within our department and other stakeholders whether it be the medical facilities.

“We say to those parents if you are going to

allow your child to drive those vehicles please ensure that the car is insured, and those persons have a valid driver’s licence and they’re also covered on insurance to drive said vehicles. “ Stressing that officers will be out in full force this weekend, police also warned motorcyclists against “stunt” riding and popping wheelies.

Police also urged motorists to wear seatbelts and obey speed limits.

Officer Paul Cash, of the traffic division, also advised people against riding on truck beds.

“I want to speak about the overcrowding on the back of these trucks we are going to be enforcing laws about that. As of lately we’ve had a number of accidents that has involved persons that would have fallen from the back of the truck because of them sitting on either the railing or the tailgate.

“The trucks that are overcrowded we want to discourage that drivers you are responsible for your vehicle,” he said.

Meanwhile Assistant Superintendent Shanta Knowles encouraged parents to be vigilant of their children on the beach this holiday weekend.

She said: “Each year we see accidents involving children on beaches or near pools or waterways.

“While we ask you to pay attention to the traffic rules and regulations we also want those people who will be attending the beaches and have children in their company to pay attention to the children that are in the water, do not leave children unattended near the water or in the water at any time.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 3

Govt hit with $11m damages claim from page one But despite the hefty $11m sum his client is seeking, Mr Smith submitted that based on a “completely scientific calculation” of the $280,000 in damages awarded to American visitor Tamara Merson for being falsely imprisoned for two days in 1987, Mr Ngumi is actually entitled to a $387,990,000 in damages.

Mr Smith also said even if one was to calculate the damages awarded to Ms Merson for false imprisonment only, inflation taken into account, the end result when applied to his client’s ordeal would be $76,500 per day for the 2,395 days he was detained totaling $183,217,500.

And if the court by chance were to factor in exemplary and punitive damages, the final amount would be “truly astronomic”, Mr Smith asserted.

Mr Smith noted that such figures may be “fantastical” however, he said if there were civil jury trials in the Bahamas, damages in those amounts “would not be out of the realm of possibility”.

Nonetheless, if successful, Mr Ngumi’s requested payout would still be among the largest in unlawful detention cases, with it being 10 times more than the $1m paid to Atain Takitota, a Japanese man who was unlawfully detained in prison for eight years from 1992 to 2000.

Mr Ngumi, formerly a jitney driver in Kenya, came to the Bahamas in 1997, and was granted a work permit in 1998. In 2000 he married Gricilda Pratt, a Bahamian citizen he had met in Turks and Caicos. However, he never got a spousal permit.

Mr Ngumi was deported to Cuba in 2002. He received a work permit in 2005 but his application for renewal was denied.

Between 2006 and 2011, he said he frequently travelled to Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas to avoid overstaying his allotted time and running afoul of Bahamian law.

In 2011, however, Mr Ngumi was charged with overstaying and engaging in gainful occupation contrary to the Immigration Act. He pleaded guilty to overstaying — prosecutors withdrew the latter charge. The magistrate subsequently ordered that Mr Ngumi be deported to Kenya, however, his detention continued.

Mr Ngumi was later charged with possession of dangerous drugs in 2013, accused of having four grams of marijuana. After pleading guilty, the judge took into consideration the time he had spent in custody. He was cautioned and the judge recommended that he be deported to Kenya, but his detention persisted for another four years instead.

Mr Smith filed a habeas corpus application on behalf of Mr Ngumi on July 26, 2017 but before a hearing took place the Kenyan was released on August 4, 2017.

According to court documents, Mr Ngumi gave uncontested evidence that on numerous occasions between January 11, 2011 and 4th August 2017, he was beaten by immigration officers. He said he was handcuffed to a table in the kitchen at the CRDC and beaten with a PVC pipe by

DOUGLAS NGUMI, pictured outside court previously.

Royal Bahamas Defence Force officers for hours until he sustained a serious wound to his back that had to be treated for days.

However, Mr Smith noted that not one immigration or RBDF officer was called to give evidence by the government to deny those claims.

According to the evidence, Mr Ngumi also contracted at least two communicable diseases, namely scabies and tuberculosis, during his stay at CRDC. He was treated at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) for tuberculosis for seven months after his release.

But despite being released from CRDC, and despite the matter going to trial, Mr Smith said his client is still on an “invisible leash” and mandated to check in at the Department of Immigration.

During proceedings yesterday afternoon, Mr Smith submitted that despite the government releasing his client without a hearing on the habeas corpus application, its submissions “maintain the lawfulness of the imprisonment for the entire six years and seven months and deny any other wrong doing”.

Mr Smith also said the government continues to resist judgment on liability and has failed to address the quantum of damages his client should be paid. In fact, Mr Smith said so “confident” is the government in its defence of Mr Ngumi’s claims that it hasn’t even made any submissions on the issue of damages in the event they are found liable.

Mr Smith said the government has led no evidence in its defence during the trial. However, he said the government appears to be relying on two main points that have been repeated and relied upon in their submissions: that all claims for breaches of Mr Ngumi’s

HUNT FOR ROBBERS POLICE are seeking the public’s assistance in apprehending the suspects behind two separate armed robbery incidents that occurred on Tuesday.

Shortly after 3pm, police said three men armed with guns entered a business on Market Street and Oxford

Avenue and robbed the store’s cashier before escaping in a black Suzuki Swift.

And shortly after midnight, a man was standing outside a home in Golden Palm Estates when he was approached by a gunman who stole his silver 2006 Nissan March.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

constitutional rights should Procedure Code, and the be dismissed because, in Police Act. Immigration reliance upon the proviso is not a law unto itself. to Article 28 of the Con“...Case after case in the stitution, Mr Ngumi has Supreme Court, the Court “adequate means of redress of Appeal, and the Privy under the common law”.

Council have clearly set Secondly, the government out the relevant law on asserts that as Mr Ngumi the extent of the policing was initially arrested on powers of agents of the reasonable suspicion that State such as the police and he committed an offence, immigration,” Mr Smith his subsequent detention submitted. for six years and seven “It is common knowledge months was lawful. and the cases reflect the However, Mr Smith wholesale abuse of many submitted that the “mere persons on an ongoing, assertion and insistence” repeated and continuous on the latter submission basis by Immigration. Yet “raises the terrifying reality, the State has done nothnot even the spectre, of how ing to stop this. They are out of control the state is in content to pay the small The Bahamas”. damages awards and allow “Mr Ngumi says the immigration to continue ‘state’ because, this is their unrepentant pattern not just the Immigra- of abuse, illegal, and uncontion Department that is stitutional behaviour. maintaining this. The Immi“The State has shown gration Defendants are obstinate and stubborn represented by the Office of resistance to respecting the The Attorney General. He law and the rights of all is also a Defendant under persons protected by the the Crown Proceedings Act Constitution. and is also included because “The State behaves as of the constitutional claims. if it does not care and/ What is more, the defend- or that the consequences ants are represented by will be so minimal as to be experienced Counsel who inconsequential. are acting upon instruc“The very rule of law is at tions,” said Mr Smith. stake in The Bahamas. Mr “...Despite repeated judi- Ngumi’s case exemplifies cial pronouncements and this.” educational exposition of Mr Smith added: “… what the law is in relation Judges have repeatedly to police and immigration encouraged the state to powers of arrest and deten- respect rights, but to no tion, the Immigration avail. The same kinds of authorities in particular con- abusive cases continue to tinue to brazenly flout the afflict all manner of persons Fundamental Rights and in The Bahamas. No one is Freedom in Chapter 3 of the safe in The Bahamas from Constitution with impunity ubiquitous, unapologetic, and without Executive cen- endemic oppression by the sure and under the mantle state. of litigation protection pro“The court should use Mr vided by the Office of The Ngumi’s case to send a mesAttorney General who will sage to the State that civil fight, as in this case, the inde- and constitutional crime fensible, to the bitter end. will no longer pay.” “...The Immigration After yesterday’s subDefendants are not a Super missions the case was Police Power who are out- adjourned. A ruling on the side the control of the damages claim is expected Constitution, theThursday, Criminal within a few months.

18th April 2019

"Open today until 5 for all your automotive needs.

Re-opening on Tuesday, we encourage sober heads and safe driving this long holiday weekend. Happy Easter!"

“QUOTE OF THE DAY” Distributed By

BAY STREET GARAGE Dowdeswell Street

322-2434 • 322-2082

FRED SMITH QC, with Douglas Ngumi and, right, Crispin Hall.

PAGE 4, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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

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When will we learn to treat people as humans?

IT is hard to imagine how much worse the government could have treated Douglas Ngumi.

He was locked away for more than six and a half years in Carmichael Road Detention Centre. Years and years of his life just snatched away.

While he was there, he contracted scabies and tuberculosis, and says he suffered numerous beatings by immigration officials. At one point, he says he was tied to a table and beaten for hours with a PVC pipe. For hours.

It all started when Mr Ngumi was detained by officials and was accused of overstaying. He had previously had a work permit, and had married a Bahamian woman, but had not yet received a spousal permit.

In 2011, he admitted overstaying – and a magistrate ordered him deported to Kenya. The deportation never happened. Instead, he remained in detention, day by day, year by year.

Two years later, he faced another court case over four grams of marijuana.

Again, he pleaded guilty, again a judge recommended he be deported. Again, nothing happened.

Finally, he was released in 2017. Fred Smith, QC, had filed papers in court on his behalf, but Mr Ngumi was released before a hearing could take place.

You would think the response to a man being locked away for so long with no good reason would be to bend over backwards to help him, but no. Instead, the government has continued to contest matters in court, but dragging its feet and failing to provide evidence.

The government continues to shrug off liability, or offer any suggestions for compensation. The government even continues to suggest it was perfectly fine to lock someone up for years over an overstayed permit and a few grams of marijuana. The horrifying thought that goes with that is that if the government thinks this is right, then it could happen to others.

It is no surprise then that Mr Ngumi and his lawyer, Mr Smith, have returned with their own bill to be paid.

Time and again, the authorities seem to fail to learn their lesson when it comes to the detention and deportation of people.

The warning has been heard plenty of times – starting from the case of Atain Takitota, a Japanese man detained unlawfully from 1992 to 2000 and paid $1m in compensation as a result.

There will be people who will be annoyed at the amount of money being sought by Mr Ngumi, and there will be voices who decry the cost to the public purse, but as in other cases, this cost happens because the authorities don’t do their job right.

We must stop these cases from happening – but we must do that by doing the right thing.

Where is the sense in keeping someone locked away for years – itself a cost on the public purse – in such circumstances?

Where is the commitment to crack down on allegations of brutality affecting prisoners, detainees, suspects in custody?

Where is the determination to treat people with human decency, in conditions where diseases aren’t left to thrive?

Why not be pro-active with individuals in long-term custody and come to them to work out ways to resolve their cases?

Why leave it to a battle in the courts where you try to justify everything that happened to an individual in their yearslong interment?

This is an ugly blindspot in Bahamian justice, where individuals are left unseen and unheard, open to abuse and with seemingly no plan to resolve their situation.

It must be dealt with by reforming the system – and trying to claim everything is fine and the likes of Mr Ngumi is entitled to nothing will only perpetuate a pattern of abuse and disrespect for human rights.

Mr Takitota wasn’t the last, and it cost the public purse a million. Will Mr Ngumi be the last to suffer so? It is time to learn.

We don’t know if he’s ever been a betting man, but we would urge Attorney General Carl Bethel to take a long, hard look at Mr Ngumi’s case and assess what he thinks the judge is likely to do. We suspect he might conclude that the government might not have a leg to stand on.

Dealing with corruption EDITOR, The Tribune.

Propaganda for the FNM EDITOR, The Tribune.

PLEASE publish my commentary on a recent Nassau Guardian editorial: The Oxford English Dictionary defines “governance” as “the action or manner of governing a state”. Expanding on this definition by reference to modern norms, “good governance” generally infers transparency, responsibility and accountability on the part of a government.

Naturally, in making the preposterous claim that the present government has made “steady progress in governance”, your Editorial of the 12th April did not refer to one single instance of an improvement in actual governance since May 2017. Because it couldn’t.

Instead you referenced a succession of economic achievements, beginning with the improved tourism numbers that everyone (except presumably yourselves) understands to be directly related to the opening of the Baha Mar resort (by the PLP), which the present Minister of Tourism

once trashed constantly and the present Prime Minister threatened to close and resell to a “real buyer”.

You proceeded through a list of promised investments, including the one proposed for the Grand Lucayan, which is only at the stage of a letter of Intent. Naturally you didn’t take note of the dodgy recent history of Letters of Intent in The Bahamas, most notably the one executed by a sitting minister of the present government under the most controversial of circumstances – and which the Prime Minister (having once grilled the PLP over it) has never felt compelled to explain.

On several, glaring levels, the present government has brought new lows in governance to the Bahamian post-independence experience. Contrary to your suggestion, it is not just PLPs who can see that.

Few instances of perceived government misconduct have outraged Bahamians across the political spectrum as much as the televised heads of agreements with Oban Energies,

which involved forged signatures, deeply troubling, one-sided clauses and (still) missing files. A promised police report is still not forthcoming, while persistent journalists have gotten a tongue-lashing from an irate Prime Minister.

More recently, we have had two ministers roundly criticised by a magistrate for their conduct in the trial of a political opponent and a post office lease being halted, then hurriedly given to a cabinet minister in the interest of speed (only to be slowed down again). This last matter was publicly opposed by three government MPs on the basis of a glaring conflict of interests.

If this government has succeeded in achieving anything relative to governance, it is having inured Bahamians to new levels of hypocrisy and arrogance, such as supporters of the FNM can even fix their mouths to make claims of the kind contained in your Editorial.

ANDREW ALLEN Nassau,

April 12, 2019.

A REAL Bahamian, I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing our politicians adopt bogus stances towards alleged corruption by the party in power when the other side is in opposition. It is dead wrong and it is an overt insult to the collective intelligence of the unwashed masses.

Most right-thinking Bahamians are more than aware that today’s politics are totally different than back in the previous decades. In that era politics was all about public service. Today, it seems, it is all about what material acquisitions may be made or gathered by the incumbent party; it’s leadership and the acolytes.

There are now five accepted ways in which a person with little or no means may get unrealistic wealth in a relatively short period of time: wholesale drug dealer; the pulpit; politics; web shop operator and/or a liquor store.

I consider myself “a man of the people” despite my “golden spoon” upbringing and career path. As such, I interact and mix with the unwashed masses on a daily basis, especially within the inner city areas of New Providence.

We have two dominant political parties in the nation. The balance of power alternates like clockwork. They both come into office singing hosannas and dishing out very thick, shaving cream for want of a better word. The mantra of the Christie-led PLP was ‘‘We believe in Bahamians”. The Minnis-led FNM shouted from the roof tops: “ It’s the People’s Time”.

The problem with both of these meaningless political cliches is that they are deceptive.

The PLP was almost wiped out during the 2017 general elections due to a number of factors. The stark lack of accountability and transparency within the then Christie-led “free for all” regime were staggering. A then minister tried to snag lucrative contracts down at Baha Mar by his public admissions. A next minister, et al, had secured leases for several stores down there.

It has been revealed by assorted reports by the Auditor General and his highly competent staff that there were contracts being awarded without following

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net established protocols and financial requirements.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars apparently walked straight out of the Post Office Bank during the watch of Glenys Hanna Martin. Mind you, this is not to suggest in any way that she, as Minister of Aviation and Transport would have been directly responsible but under the so-called Westminster system she should have been held accountable from a purely political standpoint. The “investigations”, years later, are still ongoing. One glaring case was presented to the courts but no one has heard a single word since of the status much less the outcome.

A known PLP operative/ hanger-on allegedly issued a cheque to the Post Office Savings bank one day for some big money. A few days later, that individual withdrew the face value of that cheque and walked away with big bucks. He was never charged, as far as I am aware and he’s still to be seen around town living the life of Riley. As far as I understand, he is also a fugitive from the justice system of the USA, where he allegedly jumped bail and returned to The Bahamas!

Decades ago, a sitting PLP MP, the late Wilbert Moss, actually was criminally prosecuted straight to Fox Hill, under Sir Lynden’s watch. In more recent times, a former FNM candidate for Fox Hill, my good friend former Senator Fred Ramsey was charged and convicted on bribery charges but, because if his advanced years and medical condition, he was spared serving time in Fox Hill.

So far, no adherent to any other fringe political groupings have been accused or charged of any crime.

Accountability and transparency should always be the order of the day in public life. We are talking about propelling many hungry bellied individuals into high office where they are placed “in charge” of millions of dollars. 65 per cent of them never successfully started and managed a for profit business. Very few of them ever had more than B$1,000 in his/her bank account, if they had one. Access to sudden and large amounts of cash have

ruined or enriched countless Bahamians, especially in politics. When one’s party comes into power, the light bulbs go on, big time.

When one’s party loses at the polls you are almost able to feel the dejection and fears of eventual public prosecution.

In office, the cronies and financial supporters of the successful party are jubilant, not because of a desire to help the unwashed masses, but to gain access to the public purse. Once at the political trough all hell breaks lose as adherents jockey for the biggest slice of bread of the biggest soup bowl.

A recent report by the unquestionable and completely independent Auditor General, Terrance Bastian, my Androsian cousin, made some findings relative to a contract awarded by the Ministry of Youth; Sports & Culture during the Christie regime.

More than a million dollars were expended but, according to the report, no one has been able to see the actual contract or even a copy.

There appeared, according to the report, no paper trail as to whether or not the terms and conditions of the same were fulfilled.

No names of individuals have been called, yet there is a choir of “defenders”. The former minister weighed in on this report while protesting that: “It ain’t me’!!” Some politicians who know better, have sought to attack the integrity of the Auditor General, which they never questioned when the sized 18 shoes were on the other foot. Duplicity is at work here. The former minister also used some choice language and bragged about being a “black” man with monies. How ridiculous!

The race card has no place in our nation today and I cry shame on the minister for dragging this long dead boggy man out of the crypt. Let the chips fall where they may, to quote the much beloved former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham, even if he made some missteps. He never, publicly, tolerated alleged or possible corruption. Mind you, I am not suggesting that there would have been none under his watch, but he did not play.

ORTLAND H. BODIE, Jr. Nassau, April 14, 2019.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 5

Tougher fines for drivers who kill from page one “Vehicular manslaughter, we must look at that because it’s insulting for individuals who have been knocked or hit and suffer when they die and it’s just basically a slap on the wrist (for the perpetrators),” he said. “I think the fines need to be a lot more harsh. I’ve spoken to the Law Reform commissioner and asked her to look at traffic fines, violations, etc, so we could have proper legislation to deal with ordinary society.”

Currently, people who kill in the course of dangerous driving pay a maximum fine of $10,000, a vexing fact for many.

National Security Minister Marvin Dames echoed Dr Minnis’ view.

He said: “I’ve had the opportunity to speak to families who would’ve lost a loved one who has been

struck by a careless driver only to find out at the end of the day that many of these persons are still walking the streets as if nothing happened. We have to look at how we can bring some balance there. As you can see, the amount of traffic accidents, it’s crazy.

“We should not be having that much on an island that is seven by 21. There are a lot of reckless drivers.

That’s why we introduced the law with cell phones and we are looking at breathalyzers because it’s on the books. You have a lot of people sitting behind the wheels of these vehicles who are plastered. Taking a life is a serious thing and you have helpless people out there who can tell you stories of loved ones who are gone and persons who have been responsible for their deaths are still walking the streets as if nothing happened.”

CONTRACT SIGNED FOR BPL PROBE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A LONG-PROMISED probe into Bahamas Power & Light will begin soon after the government signed a contract with an investigative firm last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed yesterday.

The foreign firm is expected to investigate what led to the ugly disintegration of BPL’s former board last year, among other things.

“We’ve signed a contract already, selected a company and they should commence their questioning and investigations very soon,” the prime minister said when asked about the probe on the sidelines of an event commissioning a new long range radar in Inagua yesterday.

Dr Minnis did not reveal the firm or say how much the contract is worth but he said more information will be publicised in time.

BPL’s board broke into two factions last year for

disputed reasons. One faction was backed by Works Minister Desmond Bannister and included BPL CEO Whitney Heastie, vice-president Patrick Rollins and Ferron Bethel.

The other faction included former chairwoman Darnell Osborne and former board members Nick Dean and Nicola Thompson.

Mrs Osborne, Mr Dean and Ms Thompson are pursuing lawsuits against the government over the matter. Mrs Osborne is seeking $80,000 from the government. Collectively, the three are seeking damages for misfeasance of public office by Mr Bannister, slander and aggravated and exemplary damages for slander and misfeasance in public office.

Yesterday, a government official said the probe will delve into financial issues at BPL. Christina Alstrom recently became the latest high profile departure from BPL, resigning as chief operating officer in what The Tribune understands

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday at the commissioning in Inagua.

was another fraught affair.

Dr Minnis first promised an investigation into BPL nine months ago. Last August he said the results of the investigation will be made public.

LONG-RANGE RADAR TO HELP TACKLE MIGRATION

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE fight against illegal immigration and other migration challenges was enhanced yesterday with the commissioning of a $2.1m long-range radar in Inagua, the first of several radars that will be installed around the country.

The radar, a gift from the United States, is the government’s latest acquisition to strengthen the country’s border defences, with $133m projected to be spent over the next three budget cycles in this regard, according to National Security Minister Marvin Dames.

“The installation of technically-advanced longrange coastal radars are an essential component in enhancing the monitoring and better protection of the borders of our far-flung island-chain,” Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said.

“Great Inagua is the first island in our archipelago to receive the state-of-the art coastal radar system.

A second radar will be erected on New Providence. And there are plans for two more of these radar systems.”

General Terrence J O’Shaughnessy, the commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, said Exuma is among the islands that will get a radar.

Decentralising operations has been a major goal of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in recent years and Dr Minnis said a new base will be constructed on Ragged Island in the near future.

“Just last week the Cabinet approved a proposal to implement a Bahamas Unmanned Aerial System that resides under the leadership of the RBDF,” he said.

The drone programme will involve surveillance,

drone training and the development of a drone academy and workshop, he added.

For his part, Mr Dames said a host of improvements have been made to the RBDF’s Inagua base to complement the emergence of the new radar.

“Contracts were signed totaling some $573,000 with three construction companies on the island for rebuilding of new units,” he said. “The new structures will include a sick bay, detention centre and a mechanical building.”

Lieutenant Commander Carlon Bethel, operations officer for the RBDF and project lead for the radar system, said the radar is a part of a bigger puzzle.

“It allows us to save time patrolling, being able to identify something and then being able to investigate only what we need to investigate,” he said. He declined to reveal the specific range of the radar.

Photos: Yontalay Bowe

PAGE 6, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Water unions opt for strikes from page one based on the preliminary numbers only 203 of the union’s 318 members took part in the poll.

The Water and Sewerage Management Union (WSMU) simultaneously held a strike vote and 21 managers said they wanted to take some form of industrial action. Fourteen of these members voted against it.

A successful strike poll is part of the requirement for a union to be granted a strike certificate by the Department of Labour.

Ahead of the preliminary ballot count, BUSAWU President Dwayne Woods said majority support would vindicate him in a long battle with the corporation that has now somewhat calmed.

He said he was hopeful that even though the union exercised its right to hold a strike vote, it would not have a bearing on BUSAWU’s relationship with WSC that has recently taken a turn for better.

This comes two days after Mr Woods expressed confidence the strike vote would end successfully.

“This should free me as a leader to know the members are expressing themselves through the votes,” Mr Woods told The Tribune yesterday as members were voting. “I am only doing the wishes of my management.”

He said failure of the water provider’s executives to address long standing industrial issue had taken a toll on staff morale, which he said was at an all-time low.

“The major grievances

WATER and Sewerage Union president Dwayne Woods. that we are having the strike poll on today stem from issues that we would have adjudicated at the Labour Department from January 2017. The then director would have advised the corporation to move forward on matters pertaining to

posting a hierarchical chart of the corporation which shows existing positions of each employee and it definitely would have showed the vacancies that are existing.

“Stemming from that particular dispute arose

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff the idea of the corporation unilaterally varying the terms and conditions of promotions. We went ahead and formulated a new promotional policy and both the general manager and the president of the union signed on to that

policy and that became the new promotional policy procedure.

“Since then a new board would have taken over a new executive chairman (Adrian Gibson) and a new general manager who should have known the policy, the general manager I am speaking of, but yet still we have promotional lists coming out not adhering to the promotional procedure policy and the lists are unorthodox meaning they are promoting friends, family and lovers.

The hell with others who are deserving and to that the union is saying no.”

He continued: “The Labour Board is saying to them to match similar listings that they would have put out and promoted and give the union the opportunity for deserving members.

“Another item is the union leave, which is the people’s leave and to whomever they deem to be their president. The president is facilitated in that

leave for three years and then we go to election every three years.

“After an election is won the president writes the corporation to have that leave renewed and that is why you may hear them saying I haven’t been to work in seven years when in actuality I’ve won the leave for three consecutive terms giving me a nine-year term in office.”

Mr Woods added: “So the corporation is unilaterally varying the terms of the industrial agreement again by revoking the leave or attempting to.

“The industrial agreement says the only way this leave can be taken away is that it has to be mutually agreed upon through a negotiation process.

“So to that the people are now saying they want their leave, they want these promotional procedures to be matched and the union be given equal opportunity for members who should be promoted as well.”

WSC executive chairman Adrian Gibson.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 7

More money planned to buy ambulances

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday there are plans to request money for more ambulances when his ministry submits its financial needs to the government for consideration in the new budget.

This request is one among many capital requests by his ministry, which Dr Sands admitted yesterday will most likely exceed whatever the final budget will be.

The parents of a 15-yearold boy who collapsed and died inside a Diary Queen nearly two weeks ago raised the question of whether there are sufficient ambulances in the capital.

Ambulance response times have also been pinpointed in a newly released United States report.

“There is a request for many things included in the capital requests,” Dr Sands told The Tribune.

“But again bear in mind the budget goes from bottom up so every single agency and facility creates a wish list that then goes up through either Public Health or Public Hospitals Authority then comes over to the Ministry of Health and then to Finance, then Cabinet and the House (of Assembly) decides on the budget.

“Obviously the prime minister will spend quite a bit of time looking at it and tweaking it to determine whether or not it comports with the government’s priorities.

“So what is in the budget right now will likely exceed what will be in the final budget.

“We can put in a request for 100 ambulances right now but that’s unlikely to be in the final approved budget.”

The United States’ Overseas Security Advisory Council highlighted ambulance response times in a report that notes deficiencies of public medical facilities.

“Medical facilities are limited, and not equipped to handle many emergencies, particularly those requiring surgery,” the 2019 report read. “Adequate medical care is available on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands, but more limited on the Family Islands. Some private clinics offer basic primary care.

“There is a chronic shortage of blood at Princess Margaret Hospital, the country’s largest public hospital. Travellers with rare blood types should know the names and locations of possible blood donors should the need arise.”

It also said: “Ambulance service is available on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands, but may not be able to respond

quickly in the event of a major emergency or disaster.”

Crime and criminal threats in New Providence were also highlighted.

“There is serious risk from crime in Nassau, and considerable risk in Freeport. Crime represents the country’s primary security threat. Royal Bahamas Police Force statistics for 2018 highlight an overall drop in crime from 2017.

“According to RBPF statistics, the number of murders decreased by 25 percent compared to 2017.

The number of robberies and attempted robberies decreased; however, the number of rapes increased slightly. The majority of murders occurred in the southern portion of New Providence (the island home to Nassau and Paradise Island). June was the deadliest month, followed

by January and December.

“In Grand Bahama, the number of murders decreased by 45 percent, but overall crime remained constant, with drug trafficking as the major concern.”

Despite the publicised numbers, incidents involving US citizens - mostly rape, sexual assault, and robbery/theft - increased by 32 percent, the report said. Armed robbery, property crime, purse snatching, theft, fraud, and sexual assault remain the most common crimes perpetrated against tourists.

“The RBPF increased assertive policing methods, which included high-visibility checkpoints, focused raids, and a robust presence in tourist areas. Most reported violence perpetrated against Bahamians occurred in areas of saturated criminality tourists do not typically visit. However, New Providence has witnessed crime in locations tourists frequent.

Gangs are involved in targeted violence.

“There were eleven police-involved shootings resulting in death in 2018; an additional nine police shootings resulted in nonlife threatening injuries.”

The report further noted increased road traffic accidents, calling incidents of traffic fatalities a major concern.

It noted a 29 percent increase in traffic related deaths since 2017.

“Traffic congestion in Nassau is prevalent. Drivers occasionally display antagonistic tendencies and drive recklessly, passing on the right into oncoming traffic. Many motorists disobey stop signs, speed limits, and traffic signals.”

Police have increased enforcement of traffic laws, but it is less than US standards, the report added.

“Visitors, particularly pedestrians, cyclists, and runners, should exercise extreme caution. While it is against the law, drinking and driving is common;

MINISTER of Health Dr Duane Sands. police infrequently enforce the ban, resulting in numerous traffic accidents and fatalities, including some involving tourists on foot or on motor scooters.

“Traffic accidents pose a safety hazard in some parts of The Bahamas, primarily due to intolerant drivers speeding and driving recklessly. On many islands, the roads are two-way, poorly illuminated, in need of maintenance and repair, and not designed for highspeed travel.

“Some major streets do not have adequate shoulders or even passable sidewalks, compelling pedestrians to walk in oncoming traffic. Motorcyclists frequently swerve through slow traffic and drive between lanes of moving vehicles.

“Poorly maintained or excessively loaded vehicles also use the roadways. Passengers regularly ride in the back of trucks without any safety restraints; and although required by law, motorcyclists often do not wear helmets. Roads on the outer Family Islands can be narrow, winding, and in poor condition,” the report also said.

PAGE 8, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

TIGER Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament on Sunday in Augusta, Georgia.

Photo: David J Phillip/AP

A spellbinding Sunday in Augusta STATESIDE

AMONG golf tournaments, the British Open and the Masters are generally regarded as the most prestigious and the most steeped in the many traditions with which golf drapes itself. In the US, CBS has televised the Masters from the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia since 1956, the longstanding commercial relationship between the network and the tournament organizers becoming a tradition in itself.

Among CBS’ many broadcasters, two stand out - former New York Giants star Pat Summerall provided commentary from 1968-94 and current velvet-toned mainstay Jim Nance has been at the mike in Augusta since 1986.

It has long been rumoured that in order to keep its relationship with the tournament, CBS must adhere to the sometimes maddening, treacly reverence with which Nance and others unctuously describe the

with Charlie Harper course’s 18 holes, each of which has its own name.

None of that was a problem this year.

Tiger Woods, 43 years of age, saw to that by methodically and inexorably winning his fifth Masters green jacket and 15th over all major golf championship. The major title was his first in 11 years and first Masters win since 2005. Now best known locally

for his involvement in Albany in western New Providence and his season-ending PGA golf tournament on its course, Woods has revived speculation about whether he can catch Jack Nicklaus (six Masters and 18 majors). Nicklaus, after ceremonially inaugurating this year’s Masters with Gary Player, was reportedly bone fishing in The Bahamas while Woods mesmerised a huge

NBA BRINGSMAGIC MOMENTS

AS the six-month NBA season transitions into its two-plus month post-season, with TV screens saturated with play-off series between often unevenly matched opponents seeking fitfully for suspense, there have been some truly significant developments.

Perhaps the biggest of these concerns the league’s glamour franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers. The team missed the play-offs again, for the sixth straight year. This slump comes after a run of 60 play-off appearances and 16 championships which is only historically rivalled by the success of the Boston Celtics. Right after the 2018-19 season ended, Magic Johnson resigned as president of the Lakers.

While this once-transcendent star had little more front-office success with the Lakers than did Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards after he retired as a player, Magic’s sudden departure still felt jarring. In the end,

Magic may have concluded that he is happier as a free-wheeling, diversified – and quite successful – businessman than as a team employee.

Dwayne Wade has retired after a brilliant Hall of Fame career with the Miami Heat. Wade, now 37, went out in style with a triple double against Brooklyn in a road game attended by his “Banana Boat” buddies LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. The always gracious Wade seemed genuinely touched by the outpouring of admiration and love he received on his farewell tour this season. He led the Heat to three NBA titles and was the scoring leader for the 2008 US Olympic champion “Dream Team”, the best collection of pure basketball talent ever assembled. Still quite productive and arguably still the best player on a team that just missed qualifying for the playoffs this year, Wade goes out on his own terms, publicly

launching a search for “the next chapter” in a life so far defined by grace and accomplishment.

Dirk Nowitski also announced his retirement. An NBA champion and Finals MVP in 2011, Nowitski set a record by playing 21 seasons for the Dallas Mavericks. Initially dismissed as a seven-foot jump shooter, Nowitski determinedly built a career as a 14-time NBA All Star. Entering the NBA from Germany where he was a prep sensation, Nowitski is credited with paving the way for more than one generation of European and other foreign stars to the NBA, enhancing its reputation as the world’s premier basketball league and advancing the sport’s appeal far beyond the United States. It is fitting that as he departs, Nowitski hands off his baton with the Mavs to another brilliant young European star, Luka Doncic, a Slovenian guard who many expect to be chosen as the NBA Rookie of the Year.

early Sunday television audience with his steady, determined play. No one moves the needle in golf like Tiger.

Two images from this year’s Masters seem likely to remain most indelibly etched in viewers’ minds. The first came at the short 12th hole, where then-leader Francesco Molinari of Italy shot first and promptly dumped his tee shot in the water.

Molinari’s ashen expression immediately after his mis-hit told the whole story.

After wise veteran Woods put his tee shot safely on the green, it felt like Tiger would win. After he did, the emotiondrenched hugs with his children and his mother were aptly and meaningfully compared with his embrace of his father when he won his first Masters in 1997. Nance and CBS rose to the occasion, and it all made for great TV.

THE REAL STORY FOREIGN Direct Investment can be defined as a controlling interest in a business in one country by an entity based in another country.

An example attracting persistent local interest is control of Baha Mar by a Hong Kong-based Chinese firm. FDI is often a part of a broader discussion of international trade and economic and commercial relations.

Foreign trade has been elevated by current US President Trump to a headline issue to a much greater extent than under other recent American chief executives, and the resulting furore has likely pushed the issue into public discourse to an unprecedented degree, especially in the US. At a recent private academic gathering in Washington, Catherine Novelli exposed several popular myths of international trade. A veteran of the office of the US. Trade Representative at the State Department as well as a former Vice President at Apple, Novelli identified as Myth One China’s position on a list of largest US trade partners. While most people she has encountered on a recent listening tour across America thought China was America’s biggest trading

partner, Novelli says the European Union, Mexico and Canada all rank well ahead.

The EU, she noted, is “by far the largest partner in the import and export of services (as distinguished from manufactured goods or agricultural products).”

On FDI in the US, the EU is “massively in the lead, far ahead of any other entity, specifically including China”. The UK is the leader, with almost 15 percent of FDI in the US Japan, Canada and the Netherlands were next.

Another myth is that international trade is mostly in manufactured goods. Services and agriculture account for larger and growing percentages for the US, Novelli said, especially in the export sector. Also, many believe only large multinational firms benefit from international trade.

By volume, Novelli said 98 percent of US international trade is now conducted by small businesses, though she admitted that two-thirds of the overall revenue is generated by large corporations.

Foreign trade and FDI remain nuanced issues subject to easy misrepresentation. In the current environment, this is especially true in the US, but also elsewhere.

WHEN MEN WERE MEN THE 107th anniversary of the catastrophic sinking of the Titanic just passed on Monday.

It turns out that a little-known memorial in Washington DC commemorates the sacrifice on that fateful night of many of the male passengers. As so famously recalled in the Oscar-winning film Titanic, men aboard the doomed ship stood aside so women and children passengers could board lifeboats and save themselves.

According to the Washington Post, Swedish researchers in 2012

discovered that 70 percent of the female passengers on board survived the vessel’s tragic collision with a North Atlantic iceberg.

Only 20 percent of the men survived.

But the Swedish researchers also found that the principle of “women and children first” seems to have been applied uniquely in the Titanic calamity.

They found no evidence that this gallant-sounding tenet has ever been applied in other maritime disasters.

Hmm. Next, we’re going to hear that the Easter Bunny is all a big commercial hoax.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 9

Owner defends treatment of pigs at tourist attraction

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE owner of an ecotour company in Grand Bahama that has come under fire over concerns of how it houses its “swimming pigs” insisted yesterday that the tour operation is “above board.”

Celebrity Eco-Adventures proprietor Barbara Darville said the treatment of some 20 swimming pigs that are the star attraction of their daily tours ensures they are healthy, well kept, and being properly housed and cared for.

Earlier this week, The Tribune reported that there were concerns being raised and shared across social media about the “remote rock” where the pigs are kept.

One such post by Canadian travel blogger Kennidy Fisher, the person behind the “Kennidy From Canada” travel blog, described a recent trip with Celebrity Eco Adventures as “heartbreaking”.

However Mrs Darville dismissed concerns of animal cruelty and refuted Ms Fisher’s account of her recent experience with the company. The Tribune was also invited to see the company’s tour operation yesterday.

“She (Ms Fisher) was here on Sunday and did not even go out on the tour,” Mrs Darville said. “We don’t have anything to hide here; everything is open and above board.”

She said her business has been in operation since 2014 but introduced the “swimming pigs” in 2017 as part of their expanded tour business.

Ms Fisher, in a Facebook post made over the

PIGS in a second holding area on the beach. weekend, lamented her any further in the tour in decision to patronise the protest, and demanded a venture entirely. “I went refund. thinking it would be the Mrs Darville defended same experience and I her company when she was completely wrong,” was contacted by The Tribshe said, referring to the une on Monday and did so world-renowned Exuma again yesterday. swimming pigs operation.

“We pride our pigs, and “I already went here the pigs are well-trained as reading the reviews know- far as I am concerned. Whating what I might see, but I ever the lady said that was wanted to see it for myself,” subjective. You got people Ms Fisher added. “So these who are animal activists, and poor pigs are kept in a that’s their opinion. But anycrate about a (kilometre) body who comes here they off the actual beach where can see that the pigs are not they proceeded to lie to us being abused. saying the pigs live their “We don’t treat anilives freely on this beach mals with cruelty; we don’t and they are all wild and believe in that. The animals blah blah blah.” are fed, they are watered, Recalling the visit further, and all I am saying is that Ms Fisher said employees of before people write up stoCelebrity Eco Adventures ries they should investigate could be seen throwing the and do some research. Pigs pigs into the water — “in love water and they are nathuge waves, with current”. urally good swimmers.”

She added: “They made When asked about the these pigs swim in water enclosure on “the rocks,” and they were not allowed Mrs Darville explained back on the beach… they that it is one of two holding were fighting for their lives, areas for the pigs, but that and people are just trying they are not housed or kept to take photos with them, it there overnight. was horrible.”

“We had to build two Ms Fisher said her group areas for the pigs. That area opted not to participate (out there on the rock) is a

MINISTERS QUIET ON SWIMMING PIGS VENTURE WORRY

By RICARDO WELLS Tribune Staff Reporter rwells@tribunemedia.net

AMID calls for the removal of a group of pigs from a west Grand Bahama “swimming pigs” venture over allegations of inhumane treatment toward the animals, two Cabinet ministers whose portfolios govern separate aspects of such operations have declined to address it.

Both Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar and Agriculture Minister Michael Pintard this week have skirted the issue, with the former deferring comment to the latter, who, when contacted yesterday said he was still waiting on a report on the operation.

The Tribune on Tuesday reported concerns related to Celebrity Eco Adventures which has come under fire for the way its 19 pigs are housed and treated.

Among the concerns raised and shared across social media this week is the “remote rock” the pigs are kept on.

The “rock”, which reportedly doesn’t provide any space for fresh water wallowing (the process of mud bathing) or adequate feeding, has led animal protectionists and activists to call for the outright closure of the operation. One such post by Canadian travel blogger Kennidy Fisher, the person behind the “Kennidy From Canada” travel blog, described a recent trip with Celebrity Eco Adventures as “heartbreaking”.

Accounts like this have reportedly poured into the Grand Bahama Humane Society (GBHS), according to executive director Tip Burrows, who this

week said those concerns have been subsequently forwarded to the Ministry of Tourism, Department of Agriculture and the Grand Bahama Tourism Board.

Since Ms Fisher’s Facebook post, GBHS has taken to social media to call for other concerned citizens to bombard these government offices with “respectful, polite calls and emails” to advocate for the pigs’ removal from the rock and relocation to a “suitable enclosure on dry land, with ample space, shade, shelter and wallow area”.

A similar feat was achieved by the GBHS in the past, but only temporarily.

Celebrity Eco Adventures has faced negative criticism on social media over concerns about the treatment of its pigs. The

company also had some negative reviews on travel website TripAdvisor.

When asked about the negative publicity, Mr D’Aguilar said the issue had more to do with the Ministry of Agriculture, which he referred The Tribune to for comment.

For his part, Mr Pintard when contacted yesterday confirmed that his ministry had dispatched officials to visit and review the site.

He said once that review is complete and a report is filed, a determination can be made related to Celebrity Eco Adventures.

“This isn’t the sort of thing that is resolved in one day, you know. I am waiting on a report related to that matter. When I get that, I will comment further,” he said.

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holding area where we do the tours at the bank out there. We take the pigs out there in the morning,” she said.

She noted that the floor of the holding area is concrete slab.

According to tour guide Philip Brooks, the pigs are taken to the the rocky cay and put in the holding area around 8.30am for their first tour which starts at 11am.

When asked the depth of the water between the holding area on the cay and the sand bank where the tour and feeding takes place, he said it is about four feet high.

After the tour, he said the pigs are taken onshore to a second holding area about 8x6 on the beach where they stay until the second tour at 1pm. There, the pigs are given drinking water and food, and are allowed to roam and move about freely in a playground area, he said.

After that the last tour at 1pm, the pigs are herded back onshore where they are housed and kept overnight, this newspaper was told. He said if the weather

is bad, the tours are cancelled and the pigs are only allowed to swim in water where their feet can touch the ocean floor.

Mrs Darville explained that the pigs are taken to the holding area on the cay because when they brought the pigs out for tours initially, guests would rush towards them and they would run away.

“With that kind of attention, the pigs would run back because it is too much attention. So we decided to take them out to the cay and we use that to bring them out to the tour so that would take all the confusion away. “. . .We take them to the cay, and when the tour is finished we take them again out there to rest in the pen; they have water and food already there so they can get refreshed and relaxed until the second tour,” she said.

Mrs Darville said that the pigs are properly fed with feed imported from the US. She also stated that their diet consists of grains and apples.

“We don’t allow people to bring their own food to feed the pigs. We give them the prescribed diet which is apples, and so they are not fed slop. And if you are doing tours with tourists, you don’t want the pigs all up in the mud,” she said.

She also noted that a veterinarian from New Providence comes to check the pigs once a month, and a government appointed vet visits the operation to inspect the pigs to make sure they are within the regulations as it relates to proper care of the animals.

“If it is something that we are doing that is not right, he would quickly let us know,” Mrs Darville said.

Some 200 guests went on the tour yesterday. One visitor described the experience as “really cool”.

Mrs Darville said that she and her husband invested some $500,000 in the business. Amid calls from some activists for the business to be shut down, Mrs Darville explained that the closure of the business would not only affect them, but also the economy of Grand Bahama.

“I have 12 full time staff, and 25 contractors, and over 20-30 cab drivers and tour operators that benefit from this operation, and so it would have a trickle down effect.

“I am not going to worry about it. I think it is a good thing we are doing and I am sure a lot of people here would agree. I know we have some animal lovers and activists out there, but it’s subjective,” she said.

“You got people who are animal activist and that’s their opinion. But anybody who comes here they can see that the pigs are not being abused,” she said.

However, when contacted on Monday, Grand Bahama Humane Society executive director Tip Burrows said her organisation has received several “concerning” reports related to the operation in recent months.

Ms Burrows said these reports have been forwarded to the Ministry of Tourism, Department of Agriculture and the Grand Bahama Tourism Board, all in an attempt to verify how the operation was established and what regulations it is being made to follow.

She said these had resulted in the temporary relocation of the pigs, an occurrence she touted as a “short-lived success”.

PAGE 10, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

HOW LONG

WILL YOU

LIVE?

By JEYARAJ VADIVELOO Director of the Janet and Mark L Goldenson Center For Actuarial Research University Of Connecticut AS the old saying goes, the only things certain in life are death and taxes.

While death is inevitable, the quality of life you experience until death is often within an individual’s control.

This is what our team at the Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research chose to focus on by developing a rigorous measure of quality

of life. How many healthy years of life do you have ahead before you become unhealthy?

Everyone understands the benefits of living a long healthy life, but this also has implications for industry and society. Medical costs, financial planning and health support services are directly related to the state of health of an individual or community.

We call this measure of quality of life “healthy life expectancy” and its complement “unhealthy life expectancy”. We define entering an unhealthy state as a severe enough state of disablement that there is

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no recovery, so you remain unhealthy until death.

It follows that life expectancy – a measure of the total future years an individual is expected to live – is simply the two added together.

Calculating Imagine a healthy 60-year-old male who exercises regularly, has a healthy diet and healthy body mass index and sleeps at least eight hours a night.

By our estimate, he could have an additional 13 years of healthy living compared to his unhealthy counterpart. That’s 13 more years of quality living with family and loved ones.

This is quite a startling revelation, not only because of the significant difference in healthy life expectancy between these two individuals, but also because this difference is driven by lifestyle choices within the individual’s control.

So what factors contribute to a better healthy life expectancy? Two factors that are not lifestyle-related are age and gender. All other things being equal, healthy life expectancy decreases with age. Women have a longer healthy life expectancy compared to men.

We have already seen that diet, exercise and sufficient

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sleep positively impact healthy life expectancy.

Other positive factors that we have incorporated in our model include level of education, level of income, perception of one’s own state of health, moderate alcohol intake, not smoking and absence of Type 2 diabetes. The higher the level of education and income, the higher your healthy life expectancy. Having a positive perception of your state of health helps, too.

Try it yourself Want to know your own estimate of healthy years ahead? We developed a free online tool that lets you calculate healthy, unhealthy and total life expectancy.

This is work in progress.

This is the first time such a measurement tool has been developed. While it’s too early to validate the accuracy of our calculations with actual data, we have been careful to ensure that the model assumptions are based on established actuarial sources and the modeling results are logical and consistent.

It should be noted that healthy life expectancy is simply an educated prediction. Unforeseen incidents – like being hit by a truck – could render this estimate invalid, no matter how well you manage lifestyle

habits. Also, there could be other nonmeasurable factors impacting healthy life expectancy that we have not included in our model, like level of stress, a positive attitude to life or social connections.

Living longer is one thing.

Being healthy enough to enjoy it is another. Maroke Putting our model to work Our team plans to explore some of these practical applications of healthy life expectancy in industry.

For example, the concept of healthy life expectancy can help with retirement financial planning. Annual retirement spending should not be level across your life expectancy. More discretionary retirement spending should happen during healthy years and less during unhealthy years, while spending on basic expenses increases during unhealthy years.

Insurance products can be also designed using healthy life expectancy measures in mind. This can protect an individual against additional basic living expenses during the unhealthy period. One such product could be a deferred long-term care or temporary deferred life annuity, where the deferral period is for healthy life expectancy

and the temporary coverage is for the unhealthy period. This can be a significantly cheaper and a more needed product compared to what is available in the marketplace currently.

Since healthy life expectancy is also related to quality of life and level of health, a relative index could compare an individual’s results against a benchmark healthy life expectancy for someone with “average” characteristics. This can then be used as an underwriting tool and to predict future health care costs. Our model could also serve as a patient screening tool for medical providers by incorporating more detailed lifestyle and dietary details as well as prior medical history information.

We hope that other researchers and practitioners will continue to build on this. Then society could focus on not just prolonging life, but prolonging quality of life using our model. As the saying goes, “In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

• Calculate your life span at: https://apps.goldensoncenter.uconn.edu/HLEC/ * First published on theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 11

THE BAHAMAS Power and Light head office.

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

‘This is last summer of load shedding’ Station was off and affected the Village Road area; adding the Winton shopping centre and the airport exit also experienced load shedding.

On Monday, The Tribune reported an unexpected power generation problem triggered load shedding in two-hour intervals on the majority of the island.

This came days after BPL Chairman Donovan Moxey told the Nassau Guardian the company did not anticipate any load shedding this summer.

“We don’t expect any load shedding,” Mr Moxey said last week. “There are several generation assets that we’re looking to make sure that we maintain properly [and] appropriately so that we will be ready for the summer. We are also looking at bringing in some additional rental generation to cover the needs in the summer. So from our perspective, we’re doing everything that we can in order to prepare for the load that we’re required to

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IN the wake of residents and businesses across New Providence suffering through disruptions in power supply this week, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) executive Patrick Rollins said yesterday this summer will be the last for load shedding.

Mr Rollins told reporters on the sidelines of a BPL press conference that the company lost a generator a few weeks ago, adding a replacement part could not be found.

“On Monday, we had some equipment failure and a few weeks ago we lost a generator and we can’t find the part for it so we actually have to get some more generation for the summer.

So we are doing our best to minimise load shedding and this will be the last summer of having any of these issues,” the BPL executive director said.

When asked if weekly

load shedding is to be expected, Mr Rollins said he hopes it does not continue, but added it is difficult to predict with old equipment.

“If something fails we may experience some load shedding, but we will try to keep that to a minimum,” Mr Rollins said.

BPL carried out another load shedding exercise yesterday that left customers in the eastern and western areas of New Providence without power.

Quincy Parker, BPL’s director of communications, confirmed the generation shortage yesterday.

Mr Parker said residents were to expect load shedding in two-hour rotations.

The affected areas included: Blue Hill Road South, East Street South, Baha Mar East and West, the Melia hotel, Sir Lynden Pindling Estates, Skyline Drive and the Jerome Avenue area.

Mr Parker also noted the Montagu Switching

WINTON MEADOWS SUBDIVISION NO.1 LOT NO: 115 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Single Family Residence PROPERTY SIZE: 8,000 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, powder, foyer, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, laundry room and a single carport.

LOCATION: Traveling east along Prince Charles Drive from Culberts Hill, take the first corner on the right Jasmine Drive.

Heading south, take the second corner on the right, Violet Drive. The subject properties the fourth house on the left.

APPRAISED VALUE: $266,000

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

deliver during the summer months.”

Meanwhile BPL insiders said, on Monday, the power provider was battling problems with a generator that had gone offline and an internal BPL email obtained by The Tribune further confirmed this.

It said that without GT#8 there was an 18-megawatt shortfall. As a result, only 189-megawatts were available where demand required 207-megawatts.

FOR SALE

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

MARKET STREET PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Two Storey Commercial Building PROPERTY SIZE: 4,600 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: The ground floor comprises of upholstery and furniture making store with reception area, one office, display area, manufacturing area and restroom (currently being occupied by a church). The 1st (first) floor comprises of two, two bedroom apartments, and one bathroom apartment, each with one bathroom, living/dining room and kitchen.

LOCATION: Traveling north along Market Street from Wulff Road, come to the 5th corner on the left (Brougham Street).

The subject is the 2nd lot on the left. A two storey building painted white. Building #156 APPRAISED VALUE: 278,000.00

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

PAGE 12, Thursday, April 18, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Why Good Friday was dangerous for Jews in the Middle Ages and how that changed to the Jewish people as a whole.

During the medieval Good Friday service, Christians prayed for the “perfidious” – or deceitful – Jews that God might “remove the veil from their hearts so that they would know Jesus Christ”. In another part of the service, a crucifix was placed in front of the congregation so people could venerate the crucified body of Jesus.

During this time, a chant known as “the Reproaches” was sung. In this piece, the voice of God accused the Jewish people of faithlessness in rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and crucifying him instead.

FOR SALE

AS Christians observe Good Friday they will remember, with devotion and prayer, the death of Jesus on the Cross.

It is a day of solemnity in which Christians give thanks for their salvation made possible by the suffering of Jesus. They prepare for rejoicing on Easter Sunday, when the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated.

In the Middle Ages, however, Good Friday was a dangerous time for Jews.

Good Friday in the Middle Ages As a scholar of JewishChristian relations, I teach a course called “Undoing Anti-Judaism” at my seminary with a local rabbi. What I have found is that since at least the fourth century, Christians have traditionally read the Gospel of John’s version of the trial and death of Jesus during Good Friday services. This gospel persistently uses the phrase “the Jews” to describe those who conspired to kill Jesus.

This language shifted the blame for the death of Jesus in medieval Christianity from Roman authorities

STAR ESTATES SUBDIVISION LOT NO. 67 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Four Units Apt. PROPERTY SIZE: 7,000 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: Two bedrooms each with one bathroom living/dining room, laundry room, kitchen and balcony.

LOCATION: Traveling east along Prince Charles Dr. after passing Colony Village, take the 1st corner on the right, next to Sea Grapes Shopping Plaza on to Jupiter Way. Follow Jupiter Way around the bend to the right and then take a left at the T-junction or 3rd corner to the left, continuing on Jupiter Way. The subject property is the 3rd lot on the left, next to the subdivision park.

APPRAISED VALUE: $626,000

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

Medieval Christians thus received the message on Good Friday that the Jews who lived in their midst were the enemies of Christians who killed their savior and needed to either convert to Christianity or face divine punishment.

Good Friday and medieval Jews This language about Jews in the medieval Good Friday liturgy often carried over into physical violence toward local Jewish communities.

It was common for Jewish houses to be attacked with stones. Often these attacks were led by the clergy.

David Nirenberg, a scholar of medieval Jewish-Christian relations, argues that this violence reenacted the violence of Jesus’ suffering and death.

Another scholar of this history, Lester Little, argues that the attack on the Jewish community was meant to be a revenge for the death of Jesus and a ritual act that reinforced the boundary between Jews and Christians.

Local clergy who encouraged and participated in the violence against Jews were in violation of the rules of their own church.

Church law sought to protect Jews and required them to stay inside on Good Friday.

Historically, the western church took responsibility for the safeguarding of Jewish communities because they viewed Jews as preservers of the Old Testament, and thus of the prophecies concerning Jesus. Official positions were, however, often ignored locally as many Christians sought to assert their power over the Jewish community.

Civil authorities protected Jews by setting up armed guards and not permitting Christians under 16 years to throw stones.

But this could not always prevent bloodshed and violence.

What changed after World War II Although violence against Jews on Good Friday receded after the medieval period, the language about Jews in the Good Friday service did not go away until the 20th century. After the Holocaust, Christian churches realised that their own teachings and practices had contributed to the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people.

The Second Vatican Council was a turning point in Roman Catholicism. This was a gathering of all bishops in the church that met from 1962 to 1965 and set a new direction for how the church would engage with the modern world.

During the council, the Roman Catholic Church issued a decree on relations with non-Christians called “Nostra Aetate”.

This document affirmed that the church emerged from the Jewish people and declared that Jews should not be held responsible for the death of Jesus. Furthermore, Nostra Aetate stated that it “decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone”.

As a result of this decree, the Roman Catholic Church began a concerted effort that continues to this day to improve relations with the Jewish people and engage in extended dialogues.

Although some churches still use the Reproaches during Good Friday services, it is less common, and the negative language about Jews often has been removed. Among Roman Catholics, a revised prayer for the conversion of the Jews is still permitted, though only in the Latin version of the liturgy.

This version of liturgy is only used by a minority of Catholics.

The most common version of the Good Friday service used by Roman Catholics now has a new

prayer that recognizes the Jewish people’s relationship with God that replaces the prayer for the conversion of Jews.

Around the same time after the Holocaust, many Protestant churches in Europe and North America also worked to revise their Holy Week services so that anti-Jewish language and actions were avoided.

The work that remains However, there is still some work to be done on the worship services of Holy Week, including in my tradition of the Episcopal Church.

In my church, the Gospel of John remains the only authorised passion narrative for the Good Friday service. While the reading of the Gospel of John does not explicitly encourage violence against Jews, retaining this reading as the only option for Good Friday, I believe, might show an unwillingness by the institutional church to confront the history of its use.

I want to emphasise that the Episcopal Church has elsewhere encouraged reconciliation and dialogue with Jews in the United States. Similarly, Christians of other denominations too have demonstrated time and again how they stand against acts of violence against Jews.

In October 2018, Christians across the country gathered in the synagogues of their Jewish neighbors to mourn with them in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

But more work needs to address wherever the legacy of hostility against Jews remains embedded in Christian scriptures and liturgies.

• First published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

FOR SALE

By DANIEL JOSLYN Siemiatkoski Seminary of the Southwest

TOWERS OF CABLE BEACH APARTMENTS LOT NO. 1B PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Multi family Residence PROPERTY SIZE: 888 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: Two bedrooms with closet, one bathroom, bedroom corridor, foyer, living/dining area and kitchen.

LOCATION: Traveling west on West Bay Street, two properties after Sandals on the right hand side.

APPRAISED VALUE: $260,000

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 13

Grand Bahama needs more educators, says union leader

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE shortage of curriculum officers on Grand Bahama is among several pressing issues in the public education system that must be addressed by the Ministry of Education, said newly elected area vice president of the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union (BEMU) Frazette Gibson.

Mrs Gibson, who was elected April 12 in Grand

Bahama, said there are presently only two curriculum officers, however one is due to retire at the end of the year.

“We need a curriculum officer for each discipline, but there are only officers for English Language, and Family and Consumer Science,” she said.

“We are concerned about the inadequate number of curriculum officers on the island who are very vital to the fabric of education as they provide support, guidance,

monitoring, inspection, evaluating and reporting on the process of teaching and learning in the schools.”

Mrs Gibson stressed that the matter must be addressed as officers provide much needed support for immediate supervisors at the schools.

The union executive also noted that salary reassessment is another significant concern for education managers.

Mrs Gibson believes that education managers are not being paid according to

industry standards.

“Education managers should receive salaries which speak to what they do in their various capacity, and so we seek to ensure that we have salary reassessment that is in alignment with current industry practices,” she said.

The BEMU also wants post confirmations conducted in a timely manner.

She indicated that the union will partner with the employer to ensure that managers are confirmed on a timely basis.

“You cannot have an individual in a post for three and five years without them being confirmed and hence their salaries are not changing. So it is high time that the Ministry of Education and the (Department of) Public Service work in unison to facilitate confirmations quickly.

Mrs Gibson also noted that training and development is important. She said lack of training presents challenges when individuals appointed to posts do not receive proper training for

the positions they occupy.

As the new area vice president, Mrs Gibson promised to look at holding quality meetings so that members on the island are updated about what is going on and so they can provide input on what is being done on their behalf.

Mrs Gibson, a veteran educator, was able to beat out three opponents, including incumbent Tammi Ellis-Elliot, Keith Barr, and Kendris Heild, during BEMU elections held last week.

SEEKING TO TACKLE ANGER

FOR SALE

OFFICIALS at the Urban Renewal Commission, as well as the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development have teamed up with temperament and anger management consultant Dr Eric W Fox to provide a six-week anger management course aimed at addressing violence within communities.

Seventy-five persons have already graduated and received their certification from the programme that is facilitated by Dr Fox who also conducts follow-up sessions with participants.

Launched in December 2018, the programme caters to young men and women 18 years of age and older and is conducted on Wednesdays from 6pm-8pm at the Centreville Urban Centre.

Kellen Russell, acting director of the Urban Renewal Commission, said officials are in discussions

regarding expanding the age category to include boys and girls from as early as 12.

“We also want to expand the programme to the point where we can become a referral resource for the schools and for parents who have children who are not successfully managing their anger issues,” Mr Russell said.

“Dr Fox has been doing an outstanding job facilitating the programme. We have a lot of our Millennials (persons reaching young adulthood in the 21st Century), a lot of our youth and young people have challenges with controlling their emotions, controlling and properly managing their anger, and so Dr Fox has been able to meet with them, to speak with them, to help guide and instruct them into more positive behaviours as it relates to properly managing and controlling

their anger,” Mr Russell added.

Currently the executive director of Teen Challenge Bahamas, an advisor for national security, and cofacilitator for the Catholic Church Group, Dr Fox has been providing temperament and anger management counseling for the past 30 years. He has received extensive training in the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica and Barbados.

Mr Russell said one of the aims of the programme is to get at the root causes of the anger that is being expressed through violence, which he says, can be vast.

“Persons sometimes have social issues that they have to deal with on a daily basis such as no electricity, parents died at an early age, they were mishandled at an early age — the reasons are so vast. What happens a lot of times is that their inability to effectively deal with

BLACKBEARD’S TOWER SUBDIVISION LOT NO. 14 & 15 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Single family residential PROPERTY SIZE: 47,343 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: Ground floor comprises guest bedroom with ensuite bathroom, one bedroom, one bath, powder room, foyer, living room, family room, sitting room, kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room, two car garage. First floor comprises the master bedroom suite, upper living room, two additional bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom and walk in closets. The lower level comprises one bedroom, one bath, storage room and recreation room.

LOCATION: Traveling east along the Eastern Road from Fox Hill Road, take the 2nd corner on the right, Blackbeard’s Terrace. Follow the road until it turns right and the subject property is on the immediate right building number 18.

APPRAISED VALUE: $1,971,000

FOR SALE

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

ACTING Director of the Urban Renewal Commission Kellen Russell (centre) discusses aspects of the Urban Renewal Commission’s anger management programme with temperament and anger management consultant Dr Eric W Fox (left) and Sheryl Knowles, programmes and special projects coordinator.

Photo: Matt Maura/BIS the issues they are facing, particularly at a young age, are manifested into anger, into violence, because there is no proper way for them to express or to deal with what they are going through.

“Participation in the programme allows them the opportunity to speak with someone who has been where they have been and who can help guide them through the process

towards controlling their anger and not allowing that anger to manifest into violence. That’s part of the expertise Dr Fox brings to this equation,” Mr Russell added.

ENGAGED Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Whitestone, Jr. of North Palm Beach, Florida and formerly of Frederick, Maryland are pleased to announce the engagement of their only daughter Amanda Whitestone to James Hull, III. The couple met during their first month at University.

James is the son of Dr. and Mrs. James Hull and Attorney Rhonda L.C. Hull, all of Marsh Harbour, Abaco. James is the great grandson of Sir Etienne and Lady Dupuch of Nassau. He is the grandson of Reverend Robert Cornea and Phyllis Cornea (nee Carey) also of Marsh Harbour and Betty (nee Dupuch), the late James Hull, Sr. and Victor Howe of Guelph, Ontario and Vera Watson of Cobourg, Ontario.

WEST WINDS ESTATES LOT NO. 3 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: Single Family Residential PROPERTY SIZE: 6,047 sq. ft.

ACCOMMODATION: Split level house consisting of three bedrooms with walk-in closets, three bath, living room, dining room, family room, laundry, kitchen with custom wooden cabinetry and granite counter tops, front entrance porch and two car garage.

LOCATION: Traveling west on West Bay Street, turn left into main entrance of West Winds (gated community) then traveling south turn 1st corner right, traveling west subject property is the 2nd on the right.

APPRAISED VALUE: $548,000

INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD CONTACT: SHERRY THURSTON: 397-6510 OR 376-1343 / IAN SYMONETTE: 397-6513 OR 397-6940

James graduated from James Madison University in Virginia in December, 2018 and is a Financial Analyst at NextERA Energy in Jupiter, Florida. He is the eldest of the four Hull brothers.

Amanda is the granddaughter of the late Dennis Whitestone, Sr. and Gail Dunmire of Gainesville, Virginia and Mr. and Mrs. George and Doris Robb of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Amanda is completing her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and is a Registered Yoga Instructor.

The couple are planning a November wedding and will make their home in Jupiter, Florida with their first born, Audi. Audi is multi-racial, multi-lingual and non-denominational and was born a year ago with 4 legs and no arms.

PAGE 14, Thursday, April 18, 2019

TRUMP CRACKS DOWN ON CUBA, NICARAGUA AND VENEZUELA

DESPITE RECUSAL, PROSECUTOR TEXTED DEPUTY IN SMOLLETT CASE

CORAL GABLES, Florida Associated Press

CHICAGO’S top prosecutor injected herself into the criminal case accusing Jussie Smollett of staging a racist, anti-gay attack in January despite having recused herself, texting a deputy that the Empire actor had been overcharged by her own office.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her staff also scrambled later to explain the March 26 decision to drop all criminal charges against Smollett amid an explosion of public criticism.

Foxx recused herself in

THE Trump administration yesterday intensified its crackdown on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, rolling back Obama administration policy and announcing new restrictions and sanctions against the three countries whose leaders national security adviser John Bolton dubbed the “three stooges of socialism”.

“The troika of tyranny — Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua — is beginning to crumble,” Bolton said in a speech near Miami on the 58th anniversary of the failed US Bay of Pigs invasion, an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government.

The measures seem likely to hit hardest in Cuba, which is at a moment of severe economic weakness as it struggles to find cash to import basic food and other supplies following a drop in aid from Venezuela and a string of bad years in other economic sectors.

Bolton announced a new cap on the amount of money families in the US can send their relatives in Cuba. The Obama administration had lifted limits, but the new limit will be $1,000 per person per quarter.

Remittances to Cuba from the US amounted to $3bn in 2016, according to the State Department.

Washington also moved to restrict “non-family travel” after a broad loosening of so-called purposeful visits under Obama led to soaring numbers of American trips for cultural and educational exchanges.

Details on the restrictions were not immediately clear, but tourism is a key lifeline of hard currency for Cuba.

CHICAGO Associated Press

KIM FOXX

THE TRIBUNE

February, her office explaining that she had “facilitated a connection” between a Smollett family member and detectives after the relative expressed concerns.

Foxx nevertheless sent a March 8 text to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats, who became the final decision-maker in the case.

“Sooo ...... I’m recused,” she texted, with ellipses to introduce her point, “but when people accuse us of overcharging cases ... 16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A.” Magats responded to his boss: “Yes. I can see where that can be seen as excessive.”

JUSSIE SMOLLETT

Redacted Mueller report due to be released today WASHINGTON Associated Press AFTER nearly two years of waiting, America will get some answers straight from Robert Mueller.

The Justice Department is today expected to release a redacted version of the special counsel’s report on Russian election interference and Donald Trump’s campaign, opening up months, if not years, of fights over what the document means in a deeply divided country.

Attorney General William Barr will hold a 9.30am news conference accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the investigation after Mueller’s appointment in May 2017.

It’s unclear if Barr will speak before or after the

report is released.

The nearly 400-page report is expected to reveal what Mueller uncovered about ties between the Trump campaign and Russia that fell short of criminal conduct. It will also lay out the special counsel’s conclusions about formative episodes in Trump’s presidency, including his firing of FBI director James Comey and his efforts to undermine the Russia investigation publicly and privately.

The report is not expected to place the president in legal jeopardy, as Barr made his own decision that Trump shouldn’t be prosecuted for obstruction.

But it is likely to contain unflattering details about the president’s efforts to control the Russia investigation that will cloud his ability to credibly claim

total exoneration. And it may paint the Trump campaign as eager to exploit Russian aid and emails stolen from Democrats and Hillary Clinton’s campaign even if no Americans crossed the line into criminal activity.

The report’s release will also be a test of Barr’s credibility as the public and Congress judge the veracity of a letter he released relaying Mueller’s principal conclusions. The letter said Mueller didn’t find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government but he found evidence on “both sides” of the question of whether the president obstructed justice.

Barr will also face scrutiny over how much of the report he blacks out. He has said he is withholding grand

jury and classified information as well as portions relating to ongoing investigation and the privacy or reputation of uncharged “peripheral” people. But how liberally he interprets those categories is yet to be seen.

Democrats have vowed to fight in court for the disclosure of the additional information from the report. They are expected to seize on any negative portrait of the president to demand the release of the full report and will be looking for any signs that Barr is trying to shield Trump and his family.

Mueller is known to have investigated multiple efforts by the president over the last two years to influence the Russia probe or shape public perception of it.

In addition to Comey’s

firing, Mueller scrutinised the president’s request of Comey to end an investigation into Trump’s first national security adviser; his relentless badgering of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his recusal from the Russia investigation; and his role in drafting an incomplete explanation about a meeting his oldest son took at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-connected lawyer.

Justice Department legal opinions say that a sitting president cannot be indicted, but Barr said he did not take that into account when he decided the evidence was insufficient to establish obstruction.

Overall, Mueller brought charges against 34 people — including six Trump aides and advisers.

EX-PERU PRESIDENT KILLS HIMSELF AS POLICE CLOSE IN LIMA, Peru Associated Press

FORMER Peruvian president Alan Garcia shot himself in the head and died Wednesday as officers waited to arrest him in a massive graft probe that has put the country’s most prominent politicians behind bars and provoked a reckoning over corruption.

Authorities broke through a door at Garcia’s mansion in a leafy, upscale neighbourhood of the Peruvian capital after hearing gunfire. The 69-year-old former head of state was rushed to a hospital, where a team of doctors

performed emergency surgery but could not save him.

“The president, upset over this situation, knowing his absolute innocence... had this terrible accident,” said his lawyer, Erasmo Reyna.

It was a shocking end for a man who twice ruled Peru — once in the 1980s and then again more than two decades later. In more recent years, he became ensnared in Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal, a sweeping investigation of politicians’ dealings with the Brazilian construction giant known as Odebrecht.

No country outside Brazil has gone as far in prosecuting politicians tied to

Odebrecht, which admitted in a 2016 plea agreement that it paid nearly $800m throughout Latin America in exchange for lucrative public-works contracts.

In Peru, politicians have described the accusations as a political witch hunt. Prosecutors and anti-corruption advocates insist the arrests show the South American nation is finally holding leaders accountable.

Several leaders called on Peruvians to set aside politics as the nation mourns the one-time populist firebrand whose second presidency helped usher in a commodities-led investment boom.

TEEN ‘OBSESSED’ WITH COLUMBINE FOUND DEAD LITTLETON, Colorado Associated Press A FLORIDA teenager who authorities say was obsessed with the Columbine school shooting and may have been planning an attack of her own in Colorado just days ahead of the 20th anniversary was found dead yesterday in an apparent suicide after a nearly 24-hour manhunt.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader said 18-year-old Sol Pais was discovered by the FBI with what appeared to be a selfinflicted gunshot wound.

SOL PAIS, who was found dead after a search which also saw Denver schools closed.

The manhunt had led to the closing of Denver-area schools as a precaution, with classes and extracurricular

activities canceled for half a million students.

During the urgent search, the FBI said Pais was “infatuated” with the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School and made threats against the Denver area ahead of Saturday’s anniversary of the attack that killed 13 people.

The Miami Beach high school student flew to Colorado on Monday and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition from a gun shop in Littleton, not far from Columbine, authorities said. The FBI described her as “extremely dangerous”.

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THE TRIBUNE

‘The Bahamas’ own street philosopher’

Thursday, April 18, 2019, PAGE 15