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VOLUME:115 No.105, APRIL 24TH, 2018

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FACE-TO-FACE: WHAT DYNAMITE DAISY DID NEXT

WOMAN: LIVE LIKE A QUEEN

LOCKED AWAY FOR 15 YEARS Judge rejects call not to jail $700k COB thief

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net FORMER College of The Bahamas employee Chimeka Gibbs was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Supreme Court judge yesterday for stealing over $700,000 from the tertiary institution over a sevenyear period.

Justice Cheryl GrantThompson sentenced the 40-year-old to nine years for the 16 counts of falsification of accounts and 15 years for the eight counts of stealing by reason of employment she was

convicted of in February.

The sentences relative to the separate charges are to run concurrently, making for 15 years in total, Justice Grant-Thompson said.

Gibbs was also ordered to pay back the $704,580 she stole from the college, now the University of The Bahamas, between March 2008 and October 2015 within the next five years, via annual installments of $140,916.

Failure to do so will result in an additional year in prison, Justice GrantThompson said.

SEE PAGE THREE

WSC RESTRUCTURE MAY COST JOBS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Water & Sewerage Corporation will likely follow other utilities in right-sizing its workforce through voluntary separations, its chairman revealing

yesterday: “All options are on the table.”

Adrian Gibson said while the Corporation had yet to reach this point, there was “no doubt” it will have to restructure and reorganise to align its staffing and cost base with revenues.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

CHIMEKA GIBBS, pictured at a previous court appearance.

BANK TELLER ‘STOLE’ $49K OFF GG HANNA FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR FOI ACT

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A 21-YEAR-OLD bank teller was charged in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday with using his job to steal more than $49,000 from former Governor General Arthur Dion Hanna over a six-month period.

ARTHUR DION HANNA Cameron Rolle Jr, of Golden Gates, stood before

Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis faced with 27 counts of stealing by reason of employment, which allege he stole some $49,600 from Mr Hanna between October 17, 2017 and April 16 of this year.

Rolle was also charged with one count each of SEE PAGE FIVE

POLICE PROBE BAHAMASAIR TICKET SCAM

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net A FRAUDULENT credit card scheme involving ticket purchases at Bahamasair is under investigation by the Business

Technology Crimes Division of the Central Detective Unit.

According to Assistant Superintendent Deborah Thompson attached to the division, police are currently looking for two persons of interest after

more than 20 people fell victim to the fraudulent scheme. She said the incidents have taken place over the last three months. She said the number of victims was expected to increase as the investigation continued.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Minnis administration has set its sight on the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act within this upcoming budgetary year.

Attorney General Carl Bethel said yesterday a separate line item will be added to the 2018-2019 Budget to fund intense and widespread training needed at every department, agency or corporation that has a substantial government interest.

SEE PAGE SIX

PAGE 2, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

EARTH DAY AT BAHAMAS NATIONAL TRUST

PHOTOS: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

, N I W O T N E T S I L Z M A J 0 0 1 N O ONLY ES

U L C R O F K O O L D AN E N U B I R T E H T N I ONLY

ILL BE W D N U O S T E R C E S E TH T IF H S R E P E C N O D E PLAY DAILY M P 0 1 – M A 6 N E E BETW

CLUES

1. IT’S NOT A MACHINE 2. A BAHAMIAN FAVOURITE 3. SOMETHING OFTEN EATEN IN THE BAHAMAS

Z THIS YEAR’S 100 JAM SECRET SOUND IS H A PARTNERSHIP WIT THE BEAUTY SHACK

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 24, 2018, PAGE 3

REMERO Rolle pictured outside court yesterday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

TEENAGER CHARGED WITH MURDER

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net

AN 18-year-old wanted suspect was arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with murdering a man who was visiting his

family just over two months ago.

Remero Rolle, of Palm Beach Street, stood before Deputy Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain charged with one count of murder stemming from the February 20 incident.

It is alleged that on that date, Rolle murdered Cordero Pedican of East Street.

According to initial reports, shortly after 8pm on the date in question, a man was visiting his relatives at a home in

the area of Wilson Tract, when he was approached by another man armed with a firearm who shot him before fleeing on foot.

Paramedics visited the scene, but were unsuccessful in reviving

the victim, who died from his injuries at the scene.

Rolle was not required to enter a plea to the charge and the matter was adjourned to June 19 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim.

However, he has the right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

He is represented by attorney Bjorn Ferguson.

Locked away for 15 years from page one The judge also ordered that the $66,369.26 on Gibbs’ various accounts at Scotiabank, FirstCaribbean International Bank and Commonwealth Bank, be forfeited to the Public Treasury.

However, the judge said via that forfeiture, Gibbs would have satisfied almost half of the first installment to be repaid, making for a difference of $74,546.74.

In her sentencing remarks, Justice Grant-Thompson said Gibbs’ actions were “brazen and reprehensible,” and noted a “high degree of planning” was required to execute such an “egregious level” of criminality.

She also said that in previously being employed at the country’s premier tertiary institution and ultimately tasked with dealing with the payroll, Gibbs committed an “egregious, shameful and reprehensible” abuse of the trust placed in her.

“The people’s money is in my view, the people’s money,” the judge told Gibbs in her sentencing remarks. “It is not your own.”

In February, a ninemember jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all 24 counts Gibbs was charged with concerning her actions between 2008 and 2015.

According to court documents, Gibbs served as both a senior clerk and a human resources assistant at the college.

The jury was told Gibbs stole over $700,000 from COB by reason of her employment at the

institution.

The jurors were also told Gibbs falsified numerous COB direct deposit files, the result of which purported to show she was entitled to over $200,000 in salary payments.

Earlier this month, Kaylesa Simmons, a senior probation officer from the Department of Rehabilitative Welfare Services, told Justice Grant-Bethel that it wouldn’t be in Gibbs’ “best interest” for her to serve a prison term for her actions, and said the mother of one is capable of rehabilitation and reform.

When questioned by the judge on Gibbs’ prospects for counselling at the time, the senior probation officer said as Gibbs has not admitted to the offences, there really wouldn’t be anything to counsel her on.

However, Ms Simmons said if Justice Grant-Thompson decided to impose a custodial sentence, part of Gibbs’ rehabilitation should include her teaching basic computer skills to the female inmates at the Department of Correctional Services.

Gibbs’ attorney Roger Gomez, also submitted at the time that as his client has no previous convictions, she would be a “bigger asset to society” if she is not given a custodial sentence.

When the issue concerning Gibbs repaying whatever remains of the money she stole arose, Mr Gomez indicated at the time that her various bank accounts have been frozen as a result of her court case.

However, he said the court can simply seize the funds in her accounts.

And yesterday, Mr

POLICE HUNT ARMED ROBBERS POLICE are asking members of the public to come forward with any information they may have in solving two armed robberies which occurred yesterday morning.

In the first incident shortly before 1am, a man was driving on Marrow Lane, Garden Hills, when he was stopped by two men on foot who were armed with firearms. The gunmen robbed him of cash and a

cell phone before running away.

In the second incident about an hour later a man was standing outside a bar on Watlins Street when he was approached by two men, one armed with a firearm, who robbed him of cash before getting into his grey 2004 Ford Focus vehicle and speeding off.

Investigations into these matters are ongoing.

Gomez submitted that if the court was minded to impose a custodial sentence, five years would suffice, bearing in mind the government would be recouping the remaining $66,369.26 from Gibbs’ various accounts.

Crown prosecutor Al-Leecia Delancy had previously disagreed with the suggestion that Gibbs be given a non-custodial sentence, charging that she “must be held accountable for her actions.”

Ms Delancy also submitted at the time Gibbs is not capable of being reformed, based on the probation report indicating she has not admitted to the crime and thus shows no remorse.

Yesterday, Justice GrantThompson said while she has respect for Ms Simmons

and appreciated her submissions concerning Gibbs’ fate, she could agree with those assertions.

Justice Grant-Thompson said she considered some of what was contained in the probation report, that Gibbs was raised in a stable environment, and was afforded a private school education for the majority of her life, formally at St Bede’s Catholic School for grades 1-6, Aquinas College for grades 7-11 before completing the 12th grade at CR Walker High School.

According to the probation report, Gibbs also obtained an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from Success Training College.

Justice Grant-Thompson

also noted that Gibbs had no previous convictions.

Nonetheless, the judge said a custodial sentence is warranted in the circumstances, and further said the sentence imposed should be one that reflects society’s and legislators’ abhorrence to the kind of behavior exhibited by Gibbs.

Justice Grant-Thompson ultimately sentenced the 40-year-old on her “24 counts of dishonesty,” adding that the sentence will hopefully serve to “prevent and protect society” from such a thing ever happening again, while simultaneously rehabilitating Gibbs in the process.

PAGE 4, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

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A cacophony of distraction for Trump IN the American government, the US Department of Justice looms large.

Along with the departments of Defence, State and Treasury, DoJ exercises significant influence on America’s place and posture in the world, and concurrently supervises national police work and law enforcement within the US borders.

Among DoJ’s subordinate agencies are the FBI, DEA and the extensive network of regionally-based United States Attorneys who oversee and coordinate American domestic law enforcement.

As an example of the scope and influence of the Justice Department, its US Attorney’s office in Miami employs 233 Assistant US Attorneys and a similar number of support staff in its main office and branch offices in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce. The arm of American law is long indeed.

At the top of this giant power pyramid in Washington sits the Attorney General and his senior staff. The AG and top lieutenants are often newsmakers, given the nature of their work, but not since the fading days of Richard Nixon’s presidency 45 years ago have DoJ’s leadership personnel been so consistently and controversially in the public eye.

Donald Trump has put them there and as long as he views his own Justice Department as the most existential threat to his continuation in office, he is likely to keep them in the spotlight.

Trump obviously believes the executive branch of the American government should serve him. Personally. Trump has more quickly than most presidents lost the ability or inclination to differentiate between his own personal interests and needs and those of the country he leads. So he sees issues like the Mueller investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 American presidential election and the federal inquiry into potential impropriety by his personal attorney as potentially damaging to him, personally.

Trump clearly feels it is the job of the DoJ to protect him as president from such activity. His envy of other world leaders unburdened by the nuisance of democratic, constitutionally based institutions is transparent.

That Trump tried to cajole or coerce then FBI director Comey to call off an investigation into the corrupt and potentially treasonous actions of Trump’s

first national security adviser is well documented. The release of Comey’s sensational new book last week has reminded Trump and everyone else of those early days in his administration.

The president’s instinctive response has been to punch back vigorously. He has relentlessly castigated Comey, calling him an incompetent liar.

As his administration reaches the 15-month mark, Trump must feel the Justice Department is indeed out to get him. He has not forgiven AG Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Mueller probe, since this means his loyal ally cannot now exercise control over the widening investigation. Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, a well regarded former US Attorney, has repeatedly recited his faith in and support for Mueller’s work. Rosenstein is a frequent target of Trump’s Twitter rants, and rumours are flying that Trump may yet fire Mueller, Rosenstein and even Sessions in an effort to end the Russia investigation.

As if all this were not enough, Trump’s alleged misbehaviour toward women continues to put him in hot water. A referral from Mueller has now led attorneys from the US Attorney’s office in New York City literally to the doorstep of long-time Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who may have paid off some of Trump’s paramours in exchange for their silence. Lawsuits on both sides of these cases are popping up like spring perennials in American courtrooms.

There is so much smoke around Trump’s misogyny and almost inexplicable fealty to Russian president Vladmir Putin that many do wonder what damaging material the Russians actually have on Trump.

It all adds up to a cacophony of distraction for a president and a nation that can ill afford such diversions from important events in the world. Aside from headline issues like Syria, North Korea, Russian state skullduggery, Middle East disharmony and continuing trade bluster, the United States would do well to pay much more attention to the deteriorating, chaotic situation in Venezuela, a hardly observed departure from Cuban leadership of the Castros and the eighth Summit of the Americas meeting in Lima which Trump decided not to attend.

By the rivers of Babylon EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE FNM administration is a work in progress.

While in opposition, it promised too much, if that were possible, to the people of this wonderful nation.

We are a strange breed of people. Unlike our counterparts in the wider Caribbean, we are politically passive in the extreme but once you’ve made a promise to us, we fully expect to see a concrete delivery and instantly. We are impatient and have very short attention span. It is what it is.

A year in office is too short a time, in my view, even if I am a New Deal PLP, to judge the performance or lack thereof by the FNM. There have been political misstatements and blunders which could have been avoided. Public policy initiatives are being proposed and rolled out without adequate or any at all sometimes consultation. This is not the way to govern and it sure is not the way to inculcate public confidence and trust. Communication is critical as the

FNM prepares to enter it’s second year in office.

Since the return of the FNM, the misery index has gone through the roof insofar as the unwashed masses here in New Providence and over in Grand Bahama. Mass firings in the Civil Service have been conducted and thousands of Bahamians have entered the ignoble ranks of the unemployed.

Mortgages and other fixed payments are now a challenge for many Bahamians, inclusive of many of those who voted FNM. Mind you, I too voted FNM but my heart and core loyalty have always belonged and will continue to belong to the PLP. The PM, God bless and keep him, and his colleagues say that they were elected to govern. Yes, we concede that but at what costs to the unwashed masses? They in the FNM know nothing and would appear to care less about knowing the mantra of the PLP: “Wipe away the tears from every eye; clothe the naked; bring assistance to the disabled and to

rescue and bind up every wound...“ This is foreign to the corporate way of thinking by FNMs, especially the rabid ones.

While Minnis and the FNM “govern” the average Bahamian is by the Rivers of Babylon shedding real tears of unbelief; frustration and hopelessness. They are crying now but were exultant last year when the FNM was ushered back into high office. Today, tens of thousands of Bahamians are caught between a rock and a very hard place.

The FNM may have some good intentions, but they are playing their cards close to their chests and none of them, save for “my boy” the Hon Dionisio D’Aguilar (FNM-Free Town), Minister of Tourism, seem to be connected to the people. He knows what it is to be by the Rivers of Babylon due to his long standing connections to and with the people in our inner city areas of New Providence. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE Jr Nassau, April 18, 2018.

Poll brings bad news for FNM EDITOR, The Tribune.

PUBLIC Domain’s favour Poll of the current political favour has to have shocked Cabinet and the 35 FNM MPs as they all perceive they have been doing an incredible job. One Minister said phenomenon!

Hey No! Public favour and the loss of favour in politics especially so soon after the election when you we’re flushed into office with an incredible majority winning 35 seats out of the total of 39 has to be essential and has to be always in the front of Cabinet and the Prime Minister when they go to work daily.

Let me suggest where PM Minnis & Co have gone wrong.

1) Prime Minister is not accessible - he hides behind Ace Newbold who has turned out to be a mill stone.

2) The PM is so involved with his perception that the PLP was totally corrupt then along comes the Oban Energies fiasco and all that followed. Surely his top advisers should have been fired?

3) Health - they might have inherited but the health sector has not improved. In February, PHA could not supply Aspirin let alone the life ensuring HIV-AIDS cocktail drugs - isn’t inventory

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net on a computer? When inventory is down to 50%, surely you order?

4) Crime - as much as the good Minister talks and wishes to claim as does the PM crime is still there and the basic cause is not receding. The recent scandal at Fox Hill should have seen firings immediately.

5) FDI-Paul Wynn’s two projects his Kempton Hotel opposite OPM West Bay - was inherited but why hasn’t the Minnis Administration pushed that through as a high priority? The Our Lucaya fiasco plenty talk, but nothing. Jobs, sir, jobs!

6) The arrogance factor which was a primary reason we kicked Christie & Co out is very much back with the FNM - listen to the comments from Ministers arising from the Public Domain Poll - delusional as was Christie. The Post Office to Gladstone Road!

7) The Pointe Hotel…

Minister of Labour where are the Bahamian construction workers who know how to bend rebar and pour concrete? Incredible your director could not answer a simple question as to how many Bahamians are engaged at The Pointe!

8) A comment I have heard the Minister of

Labour hires whilst PM Minnis fires! What is the policy, hiring or firing?

9) EU-OECD and Financial Services only one comment here - got caught with our pants below our knees. We have to restructure totally Financial Services where cost is going to be the highlight and you all know that is something difficult for The Bahamas.

10) BP&L - LNG - have we made a fundamental mistake here…We are committing to a long term commitment and new alternative generating process are being created but we will be stuck with electricity cost of 22 cents a KW for at least 15-years? Solar now totally forgotten? The sun PM is free - LNG you pay for.

Unfair not to acknowledge thanks to Sarkis and especially the goodwill of EXIM China there will be an increase of 21-25% in stay over visitors this fiscal year - the FNM cannot take any credit for that as we have to remember then Opposition Leader Minnis and eventual Minister D’Aguilar scolding the PLP over Baha Mar. 2020 with these rating don’t look too good for Minnis & Co. W THOMPSON Nassau, April 15, 2018.

Police reserves EDITOR, The Tribune.

I HAVE been a member of the RBDF Reserves for the past thirty-eight years and am currently attached to the north eastern division. The reason as to why I am writing this letter is because, we the hard working Reserve Officers, have not yet received any stipend since January 2018, which would have been payment for the month of December 2017.

A system was being implemented that the funds would be deposited directly to our bank accounts, it is obvious that that procedure did not work.

Our national commandant refuses to a call a meeting and inform the reserve body as to what is going on.

This is very frustrating to some of the reservist, because this is the only income they rely on to help maintain their

household, utilities bills and take care of their kids.

Can someone please inform us as to what is going on? Mr Minister of National Security, stop treating the reserves like door mats, we work just as hard, or even harder than some of the career officers.

Can someone look into this matter for us, please?

SUPERINTENDENT Nassau, April, 2018.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 24, 2018, PAGE 5

Police probe Bahamasair credit card ticket scam from page one

Bahamasair’s chairman Tommy Turnquest confirmed the matter was being looked into by officials, but said he would not go into its details so as not to compromise the probe.

Later in a statement, Tracy Cooper, managing director of Bahamasair, said a number of credit card ticket purchases that did not follow the established protocols for card transactions were uncovered during an internal investigation.

As a result of the findings, she said, some employees were “released,” adding that it was an open investigation.

Speaking to The Tribune, ASP Thompson: said: “We are investigating along with Bahamasair a number of incidents where fraudulent credit cards were used to purchase airline tickets on Bahamasair and so we have had one or two persons in custody with respect to that and we are still conducting an investigation into it.

“Our advice to members of the public is not to purchase tickets from unauthorised agents of Bahamasair.”

She continued: “The intelligence that we are

getting is that persons were approached or directed to individuals on the street who are purportedly selling these tickets at a very reduced rate.

“And so, we want to advise the public against that. That all tickets purchased you should know the source or the method of payment used to purchase the ticket because they will be held liable.”

ASP Thompson said Bahamasair’s website remains safe, adding only authorised channels for ticket purchases should be used.

This is not the first time the airline has found itself at the centre or a fraudulent scheme.

In 2016, the national airline released a statement advising the public that passengers travelling on tickets purchased outside of its approved sales channels would be denied travel after officials discovered and thwarted a scam which offered “deeply discounted” airline tickets to clients purchasing flights through a third-party source.

This incident was noticed after an illegitimate credit card was flagged after several transactions resulted in travel logs being reserved without

payment procedures being completed.

At the time, the airline’s then-managing director Henry Woods said the issue was discovered through a fraud detection mechanism layered into the company’s purchasing system.

Travellers who purchased tickets through the faulty source, turning up on the date of travel, encountered reserved seating but incomplete transactions, which ultimately ended with cancelled flight plans.

In another incident in 2009, a Nigerian man living in Thailand was said to be behind a $400,000 credit card scam at Bahamasair through which many people were swindled out of money.

Police alleged at the time the scam spanned international boundaries.

Once the money was sent, the Nigerian used a stolen credit card and logged onto Bahamasair’s website to purchase a ticket and e-mail a confirmation number and flight itinerary back to the Bahamian purchaser.

These individuals would go to the airline; some of them travelled one leg of their journey and then found out they could not return, it was reported.

WOMAN ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING PASTOR OF OVER $240,000

By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net A 62-YEAR-OLD woman was charged in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday with defrauding a local pastor of over $240,000 within the last decade.

Judith Smith, of Miller’s Heights, stood before

Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis charged with two counts of fraud by false pretences concerning the $240,000 she defrauded Bishop Charles Rolle out of between 2008 and 2018.

According to court documents, it is alleged that between those dates, Smith, being concerned with others and with the intent to defraud, obtained

$100,000 and $140,000 from Bishop Rolle.

Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges and the matter was adjourned to June 5 for trial. Bail was denied and she was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time or until she is successful in applying for bail at the Supreme Court.

BANK TELLER ‘STOLE’ $49K OFF GG HANNA from page one laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct and acquisition of the proceeds of criminal conduct, each concerning the $49,600 he

allegedly stole between the dates in question.

Rolle, who was represented by attorney Tonique Lewis, entered a not guilty plea to the charges. The case was adjourned to May 25 for trial.

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time or until he applies for bail at the Supreme Court, and is successful in doing so.

The legitimate cardholders checked their credit card bill and realised they didn’t purchase the trips so

they contacted card companies to have the charges reversed, leaving Bahamasair at a loss.

It was said that Air Jamaica had also suffered a loss because of this situation.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

Full steam ahead for FOI act

from page one

He spoke to media on the sidelines of an implementation workshop for Cabinet ministers and senior government officials led by Damian Cox, Jamaica’s director of access to information, at police headquarters. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis opened the workshop.

Sessions will run for the next two days, and also include civil society operatives, Mr Bethel said.

“Full implementation is not a one-day experience,” Mr Bethel said, “there has to be extensive training at every level in the public service and civil society.

Every single government

administrator’s office, in every Family Island no matter how remote, will have to have an information officer who has to be trained.

“Every single government department, every single government corporation, every single corporation in which the government has a substantial interest, such as BTC, will have to have a trained information officer. The whole process of how an internal review is done, if there is a refusal by an information officer, the whole process by which then the minister would intervene or make a determination, after that there is the referral to the information commissioner, there is

a whole process of training that has to be done.

“It can be done at the same time,” Mr Bethel added, “but it can’t be done overnight…It is our intention as a matter of policy to fully implement the act as soon as possible.

“We have a target we’re aiming for some time within the next budgetary year to be able to fully implement.”

Protections for whistleblowers, Section 47 in the Freedom of Information Act 2017 (FOIA), were brought into force last month.

The previous Ingraham administration passed a FOIA shortly before the 2012 general election, however there was no date for

enactment. The last Christie administration then overhauled the legislation, and conducted an extensive public consultation process.

The Christie administration passed a FOIA in Parliament in February.

However, aside from the whistleblower’s protection, only part one and sections of part five and eight of the legislation have been enacted, allowing for the appointment of an information commissioner and repealing the 2012 FOIA. Yesterday, Mr Bethel said he did not have any indication on who would be appointed as the information commissioner.

Activists have expressed concern over the stalled

pace of the legislation and a collective of 20 civil society organisations issued a statement earlier this year calling for the government to consider recommendations for revisions but ultimately move ahead with full enactment.

Yesterday’s workshop included an outline/overview of the Bahamas FOIA, and also focused on critical components of successful freedom of information implementation and Jamaica’s access to information experience – challenges, successes and opportunities.

In his opening remarks, Dr Minnis said: “The Model Inter-American Law on Access to Public Information states in its

preamble that the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights formally recognised the right of access to information as part of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression; that access to information is a fundamental right and an essential condition for all democratic societies and that the right of access to information is based on the principle of maximum disclosure.

“I am pleased that we are beginning the full training and implementation phase of the Freedom of Information regime,” he said. “We look forward to meaningful and productive workshops with the public sector and civil society groups over the next several days.”

DAVIS: NOTHING NEW FROM MINNIS TRIPS OVERSEAS

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said in his opinion “nothing new” came out of the meetings Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis attended while he was on trips to Peru and the United Kingdom.

Likening Sunday’s press conference upon his return to the country to “amateur hour,” Mr Davis said it was clear the prime minister was still carried away with the hubris of winning the 2017 general election by 35 seats to four, adding he simply repeated trite findings as though they were major accomplishments.

In a statement of his own, Free National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer Sr hit back at Mr Davis’ criticism of the prime minister’s trips and called on the Official Opposition to stop playing politics.

Fresh from his trips, Dr Minnis on Sunday revealed his earlier estimation of a $200m a year loss for the country because of corruption was a conservative estimate, as he believed it was more likely to be around $500m. He said this was based on global estimations on the cost of corruption based on a country’s gross domestic product. In addition, he was dismissive when it came to criticism about the size of the delegation which accompanied him on the trips.

He said he also spoke with US Vice President

Mike Pence, requesting assistance in the fight against illegal immigration, though he wouldn’t reveal Mr Pence’s response to his requests.

Dr Minnis further said he met with leaders of Panama, Canada, the United Kingdom and Singapore during his trips. The leader of Panama told him that country’s Copa Airlines is looking to increase its flights to the Bahamas by three while the leader of Singapore agreed to assist this country with technology digitisation, he said.

Mr Davis said: “His explanation on corruption and why he embarrassed our country by bad mouthing the country abroad was fatuous. Instead of sticking to the facts, he tried to make snide remarks about the PLP. He must understand that he is the government now and he must perform for the Bahamian people. One way he can do that is to get his facts right.

“He claims without any evidence that losses due to corruption in our country are $500m, twice as much as he said in Peru. He has nothing to back it up, just his say so. It is ridiculous on the face of it. It is more ridiculous than before.

“The tenor of the conference is that of a man full of himself and someone who has discovered religion.

Suddenly he is the expert on corruption, GDP per capita, the loans that are granted to us overseas and why we can’t get concessionary lending, cooperation with CARICOM leaders

OPPOSITION leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis. on climate change issues.

There is nothing like a trip to open your eyes.

“On the meeting with Mike Pence, the American vice president, he said that he asked for help with assistance on the migration issues. That is not new. The PLP made those requests as well and the US already provides assistance there.

“He said that the president of Panama promised to help with increasing flights to The Bahamas on Copa. This is old ground.

The reason Copa cannot increase the flights is because the traffic does not bear it. They told us when we can increase the traffic, they will increase the flights. Remember though the US has concerns about

Copa coming here because they say Copa is a smuggling trail,” Mr Davis said.

Regarding the British diplomatic mission reopening in the country, which was announced by a UK official last week, Mr Davis said this has nothing to do with government’s actions but rather the expectation that the British have that when they leave Europe they can expand their trade opportunities with the Commonwealth as a substitute.

“The takeaway we get is that nothing new came out of any of these meetings substantively. This is the same information, which the previous administration knew and explained to the public, which the FNM in

opposition described as a lie. They said the PLP was deceiving the people and keeping secrets,” Mr Davis continued.

“We think particularly of his explanation on concessionary loans because of high GDP per capita. Again this is something the PLP explained over and again to the public. The prime minister did not seem to know that both the US and Japan had agreed when the PLP was in office that they would not oppose concessionary loans to us on environmental and renewable energy projects.

“What was amusing was his explanation on all the reasons why this one or that had to go and travel with him. This is obviously

his Achilles heel. The press conference was held in the same room that the former administration held its press conferences when they returned home and we reported every time to the Bahamian people. He says that the public will accept what he is doing on travel because they have access to all the information now.

“Under the PLP, the public always had access to the information,” Mr Davis said.

In his critique of Mr Davis, Mr Culmer said people are amazed members of the party would not “come clean” about the “culture of corruption” he alleged was created in the Christie administration’s last term.

READERS RESPOND TO PM’S POLL AFTER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he was not disappointed by recent poll showing dissatisfaction with his government - saying: “you put me in office for five years, I can’t do it in year one”, readers gave their reaction on tribune242.com. joeblow said: “When he was in Opposition he judged the former gov’t on every decision they made.

Why should the Bahamian people not extend the same courtesy to him? Stop whining and do your job!”

Stillwaters voiced a similar sentiment: “Please . . .

I started judging the last government from day one, and this government needs the same judgment. Why should they be exempt? No place for any government to rest their lazy heads. DO YOUR WORK!!!!!!”

Well_mudda_take_sic had this to say: “Our country is in a deep enough hole as it is and this oaf wants four more years of deepening the hole without hearing us complain about his arrogance and gross incompetence! Is he for real!!”

There was this comment from John: “Apparently

Minnis is following the British way of governing where everything is subjective and decision making is long and drawn out, compared to the US where government is by objectives: Decide what you want to do, figure out how to do it then JUST DO IT. Not to worry about the consequences . . . leave that for the future government to worry about. And based on Minnis’ estimation of 500 million being lost annually by the government, due to corruption, how much has that figure been reduced in the past 11 and a half months of the Minnis FNM government and how much will that be reflected in the net budget and borrowing?”

Sickened said: “On Minnis’ comment I say - We will judge you every single time you open your mouth or sign a piece of paper on our behalf. We ain’t gonna give you a free ride for 5 years. Mussy crazy!”

The PM was also dismissive of criticism of the size of the delegation which accompanied him on recent trips to Peru and the United Kingdom.

DDK responded with this: “There was and will continue to be criticism if Minnis and Co. do not reign in spending as promised while campaigning. We keep waiting for transparency. I believe they hope that by the time they find someone who can add up their travel expenses, IF they bother to keep them, the people will have forgotten and moved on to something else . . . Why do we have to go all the way to the UK to hold a women’s or youth forum? Do we not pay the Ministry of Tourism who spend long dollars to promote The Bahamas?

The problem is not the PM’s meetings with other Heads of State. It is the inordinate size of the groupies who have to be flown, housed and fed. The people are working two and three jobs to make ends meet, while the power keeps going off like clockwork . . .”

• Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

A PASSAGE FROM INDIA THE Bahamas, with immediate effect, will facilitate the entry of Indian nationals who already possess Schengen, USA, UK or Canadian visas, according to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.

Indian nationals who have Schengen, Canadian, US and UK Visas should be

permitted to board the flights and other carriers destined to The Bahamas. They will be issued visas on arrival in The Bahamas.

On arrival, Department of Immigration officers will give them an entry letter to take to the Consular Division for the visa to be issued.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 24, 2018, PAGE 7

A PLASTIC bag floating in the water off New Providence in this picture from BREEF.

2020 vision to ban plastics and Styrofoam

By MORGAN ADDERLEY Tribune Staff Reporter madderley@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENT and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira yesterday officially announced his ministry’s initiative to ban single-use plastics and Styrofoam in the country by January 1, 2020 – a move he said would have a significant impact on waste at the New Providence Landfill.

Mr Ferreira also spoke about the long-term health and environment impacts from single-use plastics – such as disposable utensils, straws and shopping bags – and Styrofoam, which contribute to street and ocean litter as well as health disorders when chemicals from these products are leached into food.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, Mr Ferreira said the first round of public consultations on the ban is projected to start at the end of April. A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the minster and Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

The target deadline for the required legislation is August this year.

The ministry is also working on making the release of balloons into the air illegal, as these contribute to ocean pollution.

This initiative is being hailed as “the first step towards developing a national waste management strategy for The Bahamas”.

When asked how much of an impact the ban would have on the current state of the landfill, Mr Ferreira said it would be very

significant. He also added progress has been made on the selection of a new operator of the landfill, with hopes to make an announcement by June.

“As it stands now, a significant portion of the waste that we get at the landfill is single use plastics— plastic bags, etc,” he said.

“So in terms of its significance, once we get to the point where we could significantly reduce it coming into the country, then we would have significantly reduced the amount of waste we generate for that category.”

In terms of the impact on businesses that rely on the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam, as well as local distributors of these products, the ministry believes this will ultimately be a “win-win” situation.

According to officials, the ministry will conduct two rounds of public consultations with restaurants, hotels and retail outlets.

Feedback gathered will “assist the ministry in developing an alternative list that meets the demand and needs of businesses”.

With grocery stores bringing in an estimated 26 million plastic bags a year, the ban is predicted to help businesses save money while also giving local “creatives” the opportunity to help develop alternatives.

Mr Ferreira added this is why the ban is a “great opportunity for the creation of jobs,” specifically calling out to artists, straw vendors, and creatives.

He invited them to “redesign the traditional croker sack bags and add some

Androsia and a dash of our native straw”.

Furthermore, the ministry is working with the Customs Department and Ministry of Finance to “outline the correct protocol to reduce taxes on approved alternatives and to improve incentives for business operations”.

The public is expected to be involved through two rounds of public consultations, which includes town hall meetings and visiting businesses and schools.

Additionally, Mr Ferreira announced a logo competition for students ages 13-18. The goal is to create a logo that represents the plastic bag and Styrofoam initiative.

All entrees are to be submitted via email by 8pm on June 4. The competition’s flyer will be shared on the Ministry of Enviroment’s Facebook page and through the media.

Officials say the upcoming ban will have positive impacts on local health and tourism.

According to Bahamas Plastic Movement, if the rate of plastic pollution on beaches increases, it could cost up to $8.5m annually in tourism losses for the country.

Mr Ferreira pointed out the dangers of these products on human health.

“When used in microwaves, Styrofoam releases fluorocarbons into the air and several other poisonous gases are absorbed into whatever food item it contains.

“Additionally, ordinary heat from the food or drink releases these toxins into the contents of the

WHAT ARE SINGLE-USE PLASTICS? ACCORDING to plasticfreechallenge. org, single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These items are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging.

“Petroleum-based plastic is not biodegradable and usually goes into a landfill where it is buried or it gets into the water and finds it’s way into the ocean,” the website states.

“Although plastic will not biodegrade – decompose into natural substance like soil – it will break down into tiny particles after many years. In the process of Styrofoam containers.”

Adverse health effects from this chemical leaching include irritation of the gastrointestinal system, skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract, Mr Ferreira said.

Long-term health issues include minor effects on kidney function and menstrual cycles of women.

Mr Ferreira also added that people eventually end up eating their own plastics.

“Plastic and Styrofoam (don’t) decompose,” he said. “They break down

breaking down, it releases toxic chemicals, additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic, which make their way into our food and water supply.”

In light of the devastating effect of these products on the environment and people’s health, countries around the world have moved to ban them and encourage the use of alternatives.

According to the UK’s The Guardian, cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics could be banned from sale in England next year in the next phase of the campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans.

into much smaller micropieces which are often mistaken for food by birds, turtles, and fish.

“Plastic contamination is passed up through the food chain, accumulating from prey to predator and ultimately culminating in humans. Now, we have come full cycle and find ourselves eating our own plastic waste.”

Furthermore, these products “remain as litter along our streets, pollute our waters, clog our sewerage

pipes and drainage systems for 500-1000 years.”

The environment minister cited Haiti, Guyana, Dominica, Zimbabwe and Kenya as countries that have all made similar strides in recent years. He added Jamaica also has a motion before Parliament to ban plastic bags.

Mr Ferreira also added The Bahamas will become a signatory to the Clean Seas Campaign which was launched by the United Nations in January 2017.

International Financial Institution is looking for a Relationship Manager for Private Banking Core Responsibilities Expand the client base through the identification and acquisition of new clients. Promote the jurisdiction and the institution and its services in developing markets, possess a book of clients and reports to the Head of Private Banking.

The position is open to candidates who match the following profile: • Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Finance • Minimum 7-10 years advanced experience in, and excellent knowledge of private banking • Has established networks with existing portfolios • Willing to travel • Ability to work under pressure • Flexibility in office hours and hands-on approach when required • Goal oriented, self-motivated, positive attitude and outlook • Excellent oral and written communication, public presentation and client relationship management skills • Proficiency in Microsoft Office • Fluent in English and Spanish (French, German and/or Italian would be an advantage) Interested persons should submit their curriculum vitae along with a cover letter by May 1st 2018.

Private & Confidential Relationship Manager c/o The Tribune Box DA 107040 P.O.Box N-3207 Nassau, The Bahamas

STYROFOAM floating in the ocean in Bimini last year.

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

PAGE 8, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

WHAT DYNAMITE DAISY DID NEXT “D

YNAMITE Daisy” is a household name in The Bahamas. She is a comedienne well known as the life of the party at weddings, birthdays, church events and functions all over the country. She appears on radio and television shows and commercials, and was the star of many of her own full-stage productions with a group of fellow actors who performed to packed crowds. She has even travelled throughout the United States and the Caribbean with her dynamite act.

When Daisy shows up, the way she presents herself invokes the first set of laughs. Her hairstyle is outrageous, her clothes mismatched and her makeup is extremely loud and all-over-the-place. But Daisy’s confidence is through the roof. She boldly struts her stuff and takes every opportunity to compliment herself. She has a unique way of touching hearts and making everyone laugh. If you are a mother, you relate to the way she gives good advice to everyone. If you are a child, you get kicks out of her comical appearance combined with a big, genuine smile and lots of jokes. If you are from the streets, you connect to how street-wise, non-judgmental and down-to-earth she is. Daisy shows others how total self-confidence is key, as she is obviously oblivious to what others may think of her. Her messages have played an important role in this country, as they touch on serious issues such as drugs, violence, politics, family and national issues.

From the year 2000, Dynamite Daisy held a 15 year-running success streak; then, she suddenly retired from the limelight. The person acting as the highlypopular and often-requested Daisy felt her life was being called into a new direction.

Many still don’t know who the actress is. Others are surprised when they find out.

Lynn Terez Nixon (nee Davis), affectionately called “Terez” has a demeanour which is in contrast to her Daisy persona. She loves to smile, but won’t be the one cracking all the jokes. She has a slightly serious but kind presence, a little shy in some ways, but sincere and forthright in others.

“I got a lot of slack for retiring the character,” she says.

“I held a big ball in 2015 and retired it. I honoured my artistic manager Trent Davis, my booking manager Nicole Watson and my

accountant Cheryl Pratt.

I honoured three ladies who travelled with me as my production managers at various points – Christa Petty, Kendia Simmons and Desiree Taylor.

I also honoured Tina Price-Lynch as the longest acting member of Dynamite Daisy Productions.

She performed with me on my very first show and was with me ever since.”

The day after the 2012 general elections, Terez took on a job at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture in the Youth Division.

That appointment has blossomed into the programme: “Youth Development Through the Arts”. Junior, High School and University students ages 15 to 21 participate in productions that include singers, dancers, actors and a full band performance on stage. Productions include “Jail House Rock” and “The Thief of Love” Part one and two, which was received so well they took the show to Freeport.

In 2013, Terez married her soul mate, Quinton Nixon. Her journey of love had included two failed proposals. In the first case at age 21, she called it off after deciding not to go through with it without her parents’ approval. The second time, she called it off because her beau’s former lover was still in the picture. Her own personal life drama, relatable to many, may have been one of the sources of inspiration for a character which she felt she was “an anointing” on her life.

“Daisy is a non-threatening person,” she said.

“She thinks she

Daisy. She is that family member or friend that speaks the truth in love. She is a non-threatening but nononsense character. It has always been my desire to write and perform, not just for entertainment, but for education and inspiration; to show people that situations can change. It is my passion – using the stage as a mirror to reflect what is happening in society and use it as a means to correct some of the wrongs.”

With the Daisy character on the shelf, Terez had time to develop her career and family life. She noted some people were hard on Quinton, thinking he was the reason for Daisy’s retirement.

“My husband has been fully behind me, one hundred percent in my AS a student decisions,” she said. at Morgan State “He has known me University since I was 17 and he was 20, because we were in the same nondenominational choir. We were so close, never knowing that one day we would be together. But when we looks got together, he told me so great that he had admired me all that anyone who these years.” doesn’t have a high selfNow happily maresteem, looking at her, ried and pouring her would feel a little better. passion into performing If she could be confident, arts for youngsters, Terez, buss up like that, then you 43, feels she is living out should too!” her purpose in a new “People identify with way, ever-mindful that

TEREZ NIXON as Dynamite Daisy photo from Dynamite Daisy’s facebook page.

MISS DAISY, right, performing with Miss Jessie Pearl years ago - set shows photos of Kayla Lockhart Edwards

TEREZ performing as Sojourner Truth

change is a part of spiritual growth.

“For artistic people, it’s difficult to be as productive as you want to be when you have a nine to five job. You need to be able to be free to sit up at 3am when you are inspired.”

As a young woman, Terez set some goals for herself and posted them on her bedroom door – “Sing, Write, Act and Preach”.

This past March, Terez achieved them all. She was ordained as Youth Pastor of Golden Gates World Outreach Ministries, where her father serves as pastor of 45 years; a landmark on Carmichael Road and church home to many in the Golden Gates area.

Terez is the last born of Bishop Ros Davis and Althea Davis (nee Wallace) and the only girl of three children. The family lived first in Ridgeland Park, then in Gleniston Gardens, and now in Westridge Estates, where we met. She remembers going on adventures in the bushes in the area that is now the Prince Charles Shopping Centre, cutting through the bushes with a cutlass with others like her cousin Devaughn.

Her older brothers Stan and Trent would sneak off to the Sea Breeze canal and she would follow.

Later on, the Davis family adopted two more children, Adrian and Deloris. All of her schooling years from pre-school to senior high, she attended Kingsway Academy. There, English teacher and drama coach Paula Angel, a UK native, had faith in her that she could be the singing narrator of a musical – “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”.

“This gave me my first glimpse into possibly doing this on a professional level,” she said.

“I had to act but I also had to sing through the

entire production. It was a whole lot of memorisation – musically and narrating the entire story line. It became easy after a while. It was exhilarating at the end of the day when it was time to put on the performance.

That was the spark that led me to see myself doing it on a professional level.”

“It gave me a sense of affirmation and acceptance at a young age. That’s what I believe is now happening to my students (at the Youth Division). I remember after one Jail House Rock performance, one of my students came to me and said, ‘Mrs. Nixon, I feel high like I took something!’

That is when I realised how powerful it is at changing lives.”

“Acting is a safe place to experiment. You can pretend to be a prostitute, a drug addict or a murderer and feel empathy for persons who do that without testing it on your own life.

They say experience is the best teacher, but I say learning from others’ experiences is the best teacher.

If I can put on a production that causes people to think and make someone say you know what, ‘I better go the right way’, then I would have accomplished my mission.

Terez also got her feet wet as a teenager at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, where she performed in the play “Gonna Take Hell”. At the Dundas Centre, she became inspired by the late Kayla Lockhart-Edwards.

A cultural giant, Kayla was responsible for inspiring many young people in the performing arts and left an indelible mark in the hearts of Bahamians.

At the age of 16, Terez wrote her first play – “Drugs Ain’t Cool At All”.

In sports, she loved softball recalls coach Paul Sattem leading the Kingsway team to a clean sweep in 1991.

On completing high school, she went on to study Primary Education at the College of The Bahamas.

Then, a close friend TEREZ and her husband, Quentin Nixon, on ordination day

PART of the poster for the new show - as Terez and Daisy will be on the same stage.

Novie encouraged her to pursue her acting aspirations and follow her dreams. She took heed and ended up attending Morgan State University where she studied Theatre Arts and graduated with honours.

When Terez returned to The Bahamas, she had a vision to perform a one-woman show, acting out five parts called “From Despair to Hope”.

Sojourner Truth, African American Abolitionist; Juliet of Romeo and Juliet; Madea, princess of a Greek mythological play; KC, a character she created who was pregnant and had been prostituted by her mother; and Daisy.

Terrance “Redeye” McSweeney built the set and her mentor Kayla came through and funded the production through her company, Arts International. It is from this performance that the public met daisy and she became in high demand.

Terez brought Daisy back in 2017 for just two shows. This past October, she performed a free show, with more than a thousand people attending. She held another during the Christmas season.

This time, Daisy is about to take the stage with Terez for a Mother’s Day special – a one-woman show called “Woe-Man”. The show, to be held May 12 & 13 at 7pm at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts, will feature Terez in drama and comedy with special appearances by Davonia Josey Williams and Maje Joseph. Tickets are on sale at the Dundas Box Office and Hallmark in the Mall at Marathon. The show will honor the life of Kayla Lockhart-Edwards with the blessing of her daughter, Keisha, a musical artist and author. A song written by Felicia Archer will be featured in the show as the single release with proceeds of the CD sales going to four-time cancer survivor Toni Lewis.

Terez loves to sing; she preaches and she writes, and she will always make a place for acting in her life. She wants to see more young people take her advice and follow their dreams. She thanks people like Evangelists Minalee Hanchell and Shirley Burrows for their spiritual guidance, encouraging her through some of her lowest points, like when she was a young teenager battling with a severe form of depression.

Terez is “telling it all” in her authobiography which is about to be published.

“Behind the Face, Underneath the Makeup”, she says, will share of her life journey from a small girl, all of her ups and downs, and her path to finding her purpose in life.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 24, 2018, PAGE 9

‘Where has teen court programme gone?’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A TEEN court programme, approved by the Christie administration to divert at-risk teens from the formal justice system, has gone nowhere under the Minnis administration, frustrating the project’s organisers.

Hundreds of teen court programmes exist in the United States where they have become a popular intervention for young and usually first-time offenders.

The programmes are designed to help juveniles who have been arrested and have admitted guilt for their crime. Under the programmes, juveniles could choose to be sentenced by a jury of their peers instead of through the formal criminal justice system.

The teen court pilot programme, a flagship proposal for Project Youth Justice, a legal aid organisation for youth in conflict with the law, drew initial support from the Christie administration.

In 2016, then-Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson said her office would put a representative on the programme’s board of directors and help establish the system for reviewing and referring cases for the pilot programme.

Under the new administration, however, the project’s future is unclear.

Last week, Attorney General Carl Bethel, when asked about the matter, said: “Because I have not seen their actual proposal I am unable to judge whether it is acceptable and even if acceptable, whether it is feasible.”

He claimed the first he heard of the matter was when contacted by The Tribune.

The organisers’ concerns were expressed after reports that the Department of Rehabilitative/ Welfare services recommended that Chimeka Gibbs, the former College of The Bahamas employee convicted of stealing more than $600,000, not be imprisoned.

“Project Youth Justice (PYJ) is encouraged by the Department of Rehabilitative/Welfare Services highlighting the value of rehabilitation and reform, especially the usefulness of alternative punishments, in the case of former College of The Bahamas employee Chimeka Gibbs,” PYJ said in a press release.

“However, we remain disappointed that, even

today, many juveniles are not afforded the same opportunities for a second chance, often in far less serious circumstances. In fact, courts have a statutory obligation to consider what is in the ‘best interest of the child’ in all matters concerning a child. There is no such statutory duty for a court or the Department of Rehabilitative/Welfare Services to consider what is in the best interest of an adult, although that consideration appears to be applied more favourably towards adults than children.

“For over a year, a plan for an alternative, community-focused, restorative justice programme focused on young people – the Juvenile Diversion Programme – has sat in the bowels of the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Legal Affairs

without progress. Simultaneously, $3.3m of funding for improved rehabilitation, part of a failing $20m citizen security loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, has sat virtually unused for two years, as the Bahamian people accrue interest they will soon be made to pay. All the while, research conducted by the University of The Bahamas, and even used for policymaking in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank, shows that our correctional facilities act as mere preparatory schools for more extreme criminality.

“In the end, what will cost us more than the government and IDB’s faltering loan programme is the social and economic expense of repairing the young people the correctional system has failed

to save.

“Project Youth Justice calls on all the relevant government agencies, and the multilateral banks and organisations that support these agencies, to take seriously the need for rehabilitative and restorative justice, and alternative sentencing, in cases involving young people. We call on the Office of the Attorney General to partner with us, and all other relevant agencies, on the Juvenile Diversion Programme, so that we can give our young people the fighting chance they deserve. Finally, we ask the Bahamian public to take action on behalf of young people and speak to their representatives, to encourage them to support legislation and programmes for juveniles that rely more on rehabilitation than on punishment.”

ONE IN FIVE CHILDREN ‘NOT READY’ FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A MINISTRY of Education survey has revealed 20 percent of children entering the first grade each year are not ready for primary school, Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd said yesterday.

“They don’t possess the necessary academic and social skills to properly and sufficiently negotiate the first grade,” he said. “They are not able to recognise shapes; they hardly know their names or a sufficient number of words; they can’t put words together in sentences and don’t know the full names of their parents or their address; there is a significant data deficit.”

Mr Lloyd’s comment came in the context of emphasising the need to expand access to pre-school education.

He said his ministry wants the number of children enrolled in pre-schools to increase by 1,000 each year. However, the Minnis administration’s promise to make pre-school education mandatory for children between two and five will not be fulfilled until their is sufficient capacity and human resources to accommodate the increase in attendees, he said.

“In the next five years the gap now experienced by this country in the number of preschool primary students who are not in school or formally registered programme, that gap will be closed,” he said.

“We estimate there is anywhere to six to eight thousand pre-primary school students not in such a programme. We will close that by upgrading, modernising and building new facilities. We will have to enter public-private

partnerships to accomplish this. It is our intention to universalise pre-school education, meaning all children two to five must be in school, and while we intend to amend the Education Act so this is possible, we can’t do so unless there are sufficient resources in the country to accommodate those who will be mandated to attend school.

“There are facilities and resources issues; there are not enough qualified teachers and teacher aides. These are the most sensitive and vulnerable constituents off our education establishment we are talking about so we have to have qualified teachers and teacher aides.”

A global movement in recent years has sought to expand access to preschool education for children, but Mr Lloyd said The Bahamas is “lagging a bit in our process for achieving this objective”.

“One hundred and ninety countries around the world have taken this seriously,” he said. “Here, over 8,000 youngsters are not in school; we are losing.

If we don’t lay that foundation properly we will be in a heap of trouble. Some studies show children who attend pre-primary education, if only for a year, do far better academically, financially, intellectually, creatively than those who do not.”

The issue provides a case study on how income inequality is perpetuated, Mr Lloyd believes. Welloff Bahamians are more likely to send their children to pre-school because they can afford doing so, thereby ensuring their children get a solid jumpstart in life.

“On the average according to our investigations, the private sector has a cost of approximately $250 per month for pre-schools;

JEFFREY LLOYD, Minister of Education. $2,500 per year,” he said.

“Obviously to afford that you’re effectively looking at somebody of a certain income level. If you have already 45,000 of your citizens below the poverty line, you can see why, if the public sector is not providing it, they are incapable of accessing it through the private sector. It’s crucial the public sector acquires the capacity as quickly as possible.”

If necessary, The

Bahamas will look abroad for qualified pre-school teachers and teacher aides, Mr Lloyd said.

“We now have an aggressive invitation extended to all persons who are interest in becoming teachers; we have our teacher cadet programme where a number participants have expressed interest in becoming pre-primary school teachers. We have a number of others who are not qualified, having only a

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff bachelor’s degree prepared to consider some in-service training awards of grants to facilitate their upgrades.

“Unfortunately, we may have to go outside the country to get what we need.

I hope not but it might have to come down to it.

There will be an aggressive training programme for teacher’s asides, for teacher aides.”

The Ministry of Education held a conclave yesterday to discuss its

education plans with stakeholders.

“We invited stakeholders from across the country, civil society, members of private schooling sector, independent schools, the business community to hear our draft consideration for the next five years in education which includes curriculum changes, upgrade of physical plants and expansion of preschool education,” Mr Lloyd said.

WARNING OVER WATER QUALITY AT XANADU BEACH

By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

BEACHGOERS were advised to avoid swimming at Xanadu Beach in Grand Bahama for a day or two after the popular spot failed its bi-weekly water quality test due to elevated bacteria levels.

The beach was flagged on social media by Swim Guide, a website and app that tracks real-time water

quality information for thousands of beaches and other bodies of water.

The testing was done by Save The Bays/Waterkeepers Bahamas, according to outreach coordinator Rasheema Ingraham, who told The Tribune the organisation hopes to partner with the government to bolster its efforts.

“We’ve had failed beaches but it was probably during rainfall or change of tides,” she said. “Nothing

really to panic so much but to be cautious and maybe wait a few days before you use that beach again, at least 36 hours.”

She said she hopes the government recognises the group’s work as the samples collected are historical data.

“It’s important for the tourism product, and we’re hoping they will come on board to partner with us.”

The organisation monitors 17 beach sites on the islands of Bimini, Grand Bahama

and the western bays in New Providence, and samples are collected and processed

by Waterkeepers Bahamas staff, volunteers and student cadets.

Xanadu Beach will be tested again this Thursday.

“We don’t test ground water just surface water,” Ms Ingraham said, “we look for things like E coli, Strep, and those strands. Bacteria is always in the water, what we look for is whether those levels are outside of

the norm, so persons can be careful when they are swimming not to ingest.

“We use US EPA standards. Anywhere above our normal level we consider that too much bacteria for persons to ingest. You want to put the alert out there for persons going to those beaches to be cautious, not to say it should be completely off limits. But if you are going to swim at one of the beaches where we tested just be very careful.”

She continued: “We test every two weeks but because there was a fail we will test again on Thursday.

I think it’s important to note that because our waters are so saline we hardly ever have failed beaches.

“We had a lot of rainfall on GB in the last few days which is something that we kind of hoped for, but we’ve had a continuous flow of rainfall in the last few days so of course you’re going to have runoff from the land.”

PAGE 10, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

STUDENTS of Centreville Primary School cleaned up Goodman’s Bay Beach for Earth Day with assistance from Breeze’s staff. The students also hosted a mini exhibition in the hotel’s lobby and painted drums that will be placed on their campus.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

CENTREVILLE PRIMARY ROCKS GOODMAN’S BAY WITH CLEAN UP CAMPAIGN

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, April 24, 2018, PAGE 11

Waffle House slaying suspect arrested after massive manhunt NASHVILLE Associated Press THE MENTALLY unstable gunman suspected of killing four people in a late-night shooting at a Waffle House restaurant was arrested near his apartment yesterday after hiding from police for more than a day, authorities said.

Police and federal agents had mounted a massive manhunt for 29-year-old Travis Reinking after the Sunday morning attacks, in which a gunman clad only in a jacket used an assault rifle to attack a diverse crowd of patrons at the restaurant before being disarmed by a patron.

Construction workers told officers yesterday that a person matching Reinking’s

description walked into the woods near a construction site, Lt Carlos Lara told reporters. A detective spotted Reinking, who lay down on the ground to be handcuffed when confronted, Lara said Reinking carried a black backpack with a silver semiautomatic weapon and .45-caliber ammunition, Lara said. Detectives cut the backpack off him.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said Reinking requested a lawyer and was taken to a hospital before he would be booked on four counts of criminal homicide.

It’s not clear why Reinking attacked shortly after 3am on Sunday, though he may have “mental issues”, Metropolitan Nashville police chief Steve

IN this photo released by the Metro Nashville Police Department, Travis Reinking sits in a police car after being arrested in Nashville, Tenn.

Anderson said earlier.

Police said Reinking opened fire in the restaurant parking lot before storming the restaurant, which had about 20 people inside. Four people — three of them black and one Hispanic — were killed and four others injured before a customer wrestled the weapon away and Reinking, who is white, ran out, police said.

Police said Reinking stole a BMW days before the attack. The car was quickly recovered, but authorities did not immediately link the theft to Reinking.

Meanwhile, authorities in Illinois shared past reports suggesting multiple red flags about a disturbed young man with paranoid delusions.

VAN KILLS 9, INJURES 16 ON TORONTO STREET TORONTO Associated Press A RENTED van jumped onto a crowded Toronto sidewalk yesterday, killing nine people and injuring 16 before the driver fled and was quickly arrested in a confrontation with police, Canadian authorities said.

Witnesses said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting deliberately, but police said they did not yet know the cause or any possible motive. The name of the suspect was not released.

Toronto Police Services deputy chief Peter Yuen released no details about the investigation as he announced the number of casualties.

Yuen said police were still interviewing witnesses and examining surveillance video of the incident as part of what he called a

A BODY lies covered on the sidewalk in Toronto after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into a number of pedestrians on yesterday. A van apparently jumped a curb Monday in a busy intersection in Toronto and struck numerous people and fled the scene before it was found and the driver was taken into custody, Canadian police said.

Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim/AP “complex” investigation.

“I can assure the public all our available resources have been brought in to investigate this tragic

situation,” he said.

The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to

discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.

Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale said that it was too soon to say whether the crash was a case of international terrorism and that the government had not raised its terrorism alert.

The driver was heading south on busy Yonge Street around 1.30pm and the streets were crowded with people enjoying an unseasonably warm day when the van jumped onto the sidewalk.

Ali Shaker, who was driving near the van at the time, told Canadian broadcast outlet CP24 that the driver appeared to be moving deliberately through the crowd at more than 30 mph.

“He just went on the sidewalk,” a distraught Shaker

said. “He just started hitting everybody, man. He hit every single person on the sidewalk. Anybody in his way he would hit.”

Witness Peter Kang told CTV News that the driver did not seem to make any effort to stop.

“If it was an accident he would have stopped,” Kang said. “But the person just went through the sidewalk.

He could have stopped.”

Video shown on several Canadian outlets showed police arresting the driver, dressed in dark clothes, after officers surrounded him and his rental Ryder van several blocks from where the incident occurred in north Toronto.

He appeared to make some sort of gesture at the police with an object in his hand just before they ordered him to lie down on the ground and took him away.

PRINCE CHARMING: KATE GIVES BIRTH TO BOY, HOME BY SUPPERTIME LONDON Associated Press THIRD time’s a charm.

The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth Monday morning to a new prince who is fifth in line to the British throne — and she was home by suppertime.

The duchess and husband Prince William drove to St Mary’s Hospital in London early in the morning, and Kate’s 8 pound, 7 ounce (3.8 kilogram) boy was born at 11:01am, with royal officials announcing the birth about two hours later.

There followed a smoothly choreographed operation perfected after the births of the couple’s two other children. In late afternoon, elder siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte were brought to meet their baby brother. Around 6pm, Kate emerged alongside her husband, wearing a vibrant red dress and holding the tiny royal highness wrapped in a white lace shawl.

After posing for dozens of photographers and camera crews outside the hospital’s private Lindo Wing, the trio headed home, with the baby nestled securely in a car seat.

Television news helicopters followed the royal Range Rover as it made the milelong (1.6 kilometer) journey to the family’s Kensington Palace residence.

William declared the couple “very delighted” with the new addition to the family.

The royal palace said “the queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news.” Prime Minister Theresa May offered “warmest congratulations”.

News of the royal birth came with a mix of tradition and modernity typical of Britain’s media-savvy royal family.

PAGE 12, Tuesday, April 24, 2018

THE TRIBUNE

ALIV Believe in Best Art Competition

RIHANNA Evans and Calieah Taylor with their winning mural.

ALIV hosted their Believe in Best Art Competition Award Ceremony at St Cecilia’s Primary School where they awarded the competition winners and other participants along with revealing the winning mural.

PHOTOS: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

DENISE COOPERLOUIS, principal, St Cecilia’s Primary School.

MEMBER of Parliament for St Barnabas, Shanendon Cartwright.

FROM left: Theo McClain, ALIV lead artist; Gravette Brown, chief aliv commercial officer; Denise Cooper-Louis, principal; Annisa Adderley, ALIV’s brand and inventory champion.