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The Tribune

Volume: 118 No.118, May 14, 2021

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NURSE SHORTAGE ADDING TO CRISIS As Third Wave fills beds hospitals struggle to find staff to deal with patients

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net ONGOING staff shortages coupled with rising COVID-19 hospitalisations continue to strain healthcare workers on the frontline fight against COVID-19, the country’s top infectious disease expert said yesterday.

According to Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Bahamas Ministry of Health, these are some of the biggest challenges being faced in the country’s healthcare system, specifically at Princess Margaret Hospital.

The nation is battling its SEE PAGE THREE

THE Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas is in talks with the Bahamian government about potentially providing supplies of China’s COVID-19 Sinopharm vaccine which the World Health Organisation has just approved for emergency use.

The Sinopharm vaccine is both the first Chinese vaccine and the first vaccine from a developing country to receive approval from the global health

body. Overall, it is the sixth vaccine to achieve this distinction.

Haigang Yin, Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Nassau, told The Tribune last night:: “We are pleased to see that the WHO has acknowledged the safety of the China Sinopharm vaccine. China has pledged that the vaccines should be made an international public good for all countries. So far, China has provided and is providing much-needed vaccines to more than 100 countries and international SEE PAGE FOUR

POSITIVE STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS THE LEGALISATION OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

SEE PAGE EIGHT

NYGARD SUFFERS ANOTHER SETBACK

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed Peter Nygard’s application for conditional leave to appeal to the Privy Council over their rejection of his appeal of a contempt conviction.

In February, the appellate SEE PAGE SEVEN

CHINA ANSWER ON VACCINE SUPPLY?

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CLASSIFIEDSTRADER

GOVT TOLD - BE TOUGH ON TAXES

SKY’S THE LIMIT 21-YEAR-OLD Codel Newton went from learning the basics of photography to shooting worldclass images in just one year. Utilising his skills with photo editing software, the Freeport native makes his backdrops look like the most exotic places on earth. He hopes to one day shoot for publications like Vogue and Fader magazine. See Weekend for the full story. (Photo/Codel Newton)

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

A TOP banker believes the government should put politics aside and make some unpopular decisions in the upcoming budget, saying the country is in a “precarious” position.

Gowon Bowe, Group CEO for Fidelity Bank & Trust, said a candid conversation on taxation needs to be had—with a view to SEE PAGE THREE

‘BAN MALE GUARDS FROM SAFE HOUSE’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

HUMAN Rights Bahamas has called on the government to immediately remove male officers from the Department of Immigration’s ‘‘safe house” and to investigate sexual assault allegations against detainees there.

Their demand comes

THE alleged rape victim from Suriname was moved from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre (pictured) to an immigration safe house.

after a Surinamese woman sued the government over claims that a male officer

drugged and sexually assaulted her.

In a statement yesterday, Rights Bahamas alleged there was a pattern of predatory behaviour in holding facilities.

“A picture is emerging, not of one or two isolated incidents, but rather an organised, practised and premeditated scheme of

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE THREE

THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF A MAN ON A MISSION

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Friday, May 14, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

OFFICIALS ADVISE AGAINST EATING RAW CONCH Vendors given training on how to prevent contamination

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MONTH after suspected conch poisoning cases were first reported, Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA) officials said investigations are ongoing and noted the advice is still to avoid raw conch.

Dr Patricia Johnson, BAHFSA’s director for food, safety and quality, along with Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) officials, visited Potter’s Cay Dock yesterday to hold a training session for food vendors on how to prevent the contamination of conch. The training covered topics such as food safety and hygiene as well as sanitation and consequences for non-compliance.

Last month, BAHFSA said it was aware of suspected conch poisoning cases. It cautioned consumers to avoid eating fresh conch at this time or conch that they suspect was not properly handled and/or prepared until the source of the

THE TRAINING session for vendors held at Potter’s Cay Dock.

contamination can be determined.

Asked by The Tribune if it was safe to eat conch yet, Dr Johnson answered: “The investigation is still ongoing and so I would still caution persons to avoid conch especially persons who have compromised immune systems at this time. BAHFSA will announce when this investigation has ended and it’s closed and it’s safe to consume raw conch but the advice is to avoid raw

conch.”

However people can still consume conch if it is properly cooked.

The number of cases of suspected conch poisoning is unclear as Nurse Joanna Chambers said many who experience the illness do not report to a health care centre.

“That creates a problem for us and our data collection,” Nurse Chambers said.

Meanwhile, officials will be inspecting conch stalls

to help vendors maintain compliance with food safety protocols.

Edward McPhee, who sells conch salad at his restaurant Bang’s, said there was “tremendous decrease of sales” since the suspected poisoning cases were announced.

“Some persons might say they could sell one or two conch salads,” he said.

“I must say in the last few days I haven’t sold any.

So I know how it is to be affected and that’s why I’m

DR PATRICIA JOHNSON, BAHFSA’s director for food, safety and quality. Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune staff

here.

“Before the outbreak of the conch poisoning, I could’ve sold like 10, 20 conch salads per day and be satisfied. But now not selling any, it’s really affecting (me).”

When asked about the customers he lost, he estimated: “I could say almost 90 percent because sometimes I sit up from morning, today on a day when I could normally make $300-$400 I’m making $30-$40.”

Earlier this month, infectious disease expert Dr Nikkiah Forbes said warm weather is to blame for the bacteria causing conch poisoning in the country, not the sanitary practices of vendors.

“The bacteria that generally causes this usually causes diarrhoea illnesses, gastroenteritis among other things. It is a seafood related diarrhoea illness. What it means is the organism lives in the marine environment usually,” Dr Forbes said.

“It is usually found in the

shallow part of the salty water environment. This bacteria increases in the environment as the water temperature increases. In hot, salty water it causes seafood to get contaminated. Raw conch, oysters and seafood like that usually get contaminated.

“People have to be aware that you’re at risk for infection if you consume underwater seafood, particularly in hot summer months. That’s why conch poisoning comes up from time to time in hot water.

If you put seafood in shallow containers, in hot salty water, the bacteria could multiply considerably and cause cross contamination.

Cooked conch is different. “Freezing conch and cooking conch in warm temperatures kills the bacteria, so vendors have to be careful.

“The bacteria comes on the conch. You could have really good hygiene practice and there could just be a lot of this bacteria in the water and you could still get food poisoning.”

THE CONCH cleaning demonstration at Potter’s Cay.

THE TRIBUNE

‘BAN MALE GUARDS FROM SAFE HOUSE’ FROM PAGE ONE

drugging and raping detainees, perpetrated by a small group of officers,” the group claimed.

“Information from former detainees also reveals a highly toxic wider culture of drunkenness and predatory behaviour among the male officers generally, who regularly sexually harass and intimidate female detainees, watch them while they are showering, and violate their right to privacy, safety and dignity in countless other ways. Meanwhile, the female officers look the other way,” the group claimed.

“We expect further lawsuits to be filed in due course and have full confidence (in) the Bahamas judiciary to ensure the justice is done in each case.”

The Surinamese woman said her alleged rapist told other officers what he did and she was denied access to her lawyers while immigration officials investigated her claims.

The woman claimed the officer repeatedly filled her a cup containing what he said was a mixture of gin, wine and cranberry juice until she became nauseated, weak and drowsy. He then allegedly started kissing and having sexual intercourse with her.

Rights Bahamas said: “We remind the government that the immigration safe house was created by order of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), precisely because the commission deemed there to be no safe place for women and children in the immigration department’s custody at the time.

“To say this dismal facility is failing to live up to its purpose, may be the understatement of the year.

“Instead of being held in safety, these women and children have been rendered into the clutches of predators.

“In addition to removing all male officers from active duty at the safe house, they should also explicitly be barred from entry at any other time, and a full review and investigation of the activities and culture among those officers must be launched immediately.

“The reluctance of successive administrations to deal with the rogue agency, which the Bahamas Immigration Department has become, serves as active encouragement for officers to continue to behave as if they are a law unto themselves and treat detainees as if they are worthless, have no rights, and can be physically and sexually abused at will.

“Someone has to have the courage to bring it to an end.”

Last month, the Department of Immigration asserted that there was “no substance” to the rape allegation in question.

In a press statement at the time, the department said an investigation by its Corruption, Complaints and Intelligence Unit, along with the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Sexual Offenses Unit, was concluded in the absence of the woman submitting the complaint.

The statement alleged that the woman denied there was any inappropriate conduct toward her.

Friday, May 14, 2021, PAGE 3

NURSE SHORTAGE ADDING TO CRISIS

FROM PAGE ONE

third wave of new infections, with total cases now at 11,024 after 58 new infections were recorded on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 58 people are said to be in hospital sick with the virus. Of this figure, 26 were at PMH, 17 at Doctors Hospital, eight were at South Beach Acute Care and seven at Grand Bahama Health Services.

Despite rising virus numbers and COVID-19 related admissions, Dr Forbes said the hospital currently has sufficient bed capacity to handle the increase of positive patients.

At a Ministry of Health press conference last month, Health Minister Renward Wells said The Bahamas has bed availability for some 100 COVID patients.

However, ever since the country entered its third wave, hospitalisations have steadily risen.

“So, in this third wave, the hospitalisations continue to go up and the institutions are challenged as it relates to health care worker capacity,” Dr Forbes told The Tribune.

“We haven’t reached the full bed capacity (but) we need nurses and doctors to take care of patients.

So, we’re facing challenges with the health care worker capacity.

There is a nurse shortage. That’s also something you consider. I can tell you that we’re challenged in terms of limitations that we have right now on available nursing staff and that we have lost a number of nurses in the service.”

Bahamas Nurses Union President Amancha Williams told The Tribune more than a dozen nurses have left PMH in the last few months.

“I believe it’s more than 20 just from that facility alone,” she said.

“We’ve had a number of nurses (who have) left the country. I know A and E (Accident and Emergency) had seven (nurses) leave all at once.”

PRINCESS Margaret Hospital.

Government officials have previously announced plans to hire nurses from abroad to aid in the country’s fight against COVID. However, it is not clear what other steps have been taken to acquire additional medical workers since then.

Yesterday, Dr Forbes also spoke about the rise in virus-related deaths after another person died from the disease on Wednesday. The latest deceased victim is an 88-year-old-man from New Providence.

His death has pushed the nation’s overall death tally to 216.

“So, the challenge when you’re in a COVID-19 surge when the patients are presenting and more patients are presenting everyday in the surge, we know that deaths also go up and so that has been challenging and we are seeing that there has been an increase in deaths as we are in the surge in this third wave,” Dr Forbes said.

DR Nikkiah Forbes She said there have also been a few instances where patients have died shortly after being admitted to hospital, a situation that she said is concerning.

“Now, we are also seeing that people are coming in very short

of breath with low oxygen levels, needing a lot of support and some of them are getting a lot sicker very quickly. Some of them are even dying shortly after admission and our concerns are because with the identification, that the genes for certain variants are here and there could be three variant strains and we know some of those strains are associated with sicker patients and higher mortality so we all do have to keep our guards up.”

In April, health officials revealed that positive test results reported by the National Reference Lab “are showing evidence of an increasing number of genomic deletions,” which indicates that COVID mutations are present in the country.

Several samples have since been sent abroad to determine which COVID-19 variant is present in the country.

However, it is not clear if officials have yet received those results.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS THE ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force Entry 31 and Woman Entry 5, celebrating 25 years, called upon Governor General Sir Cornelius A Smith at the Office of the Governor General yesterday. (BIS Photo/Letisha Henderson)

GOVERNMENT TOLD - BE TOUGH ON TAXES

FROM PAGE ONE

increasing existing taxes or introducing new ones – but only on those citizens who can afford it.

“We are in a very precarious situation,” Mr Bowe told The Tribune. “We have to be in a position where we are making very difficult decisions that are going to be unpopular. The challenge is going into an election year, whether it is early or the regularly scheduled, whether or not the current administration will take the view that it will do as a fiduciary agent the best thing or it will be swayed by its political desires to continue in its current administration.

“When we move forward one year and we look at this time, the government’s precarious position I refer to is saying that ‘we do not want to push the debt levels to that point where we are only working to pay debt.’ In Bahamian vernacular it means my pay cheque is all going to pay previously spent money. That’s what debt represents, money that we have already spent.

“This year around, my position would be that the government has to be very deliberate that it is not spending on things that do not have long-term utility. What I

GOWON BOWE mean by that is we need economic expansion and the most advanced territories like the US, Europe, Germany and the UK their government expenditure now is with the objective of stimulus. ‘How do I get economic activity to increase?’”

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Finance reported that spending to support social assistance programmes caused the fiscal deficit to rise to $878.2 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal

year. This is up from $251.3 million during the same period in the previous year.

Since July 2020, the Minnis administration has borrowed $2.3 billion, a fiscal snapshot released by the ministry noted.

On the issue of social benefits doled out during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Bowe said Bahamians have already paid for the funding of these schemes through taxation.

“When I say that it comes down to in reality the government does not give back to the citizens what it does not take from the citizens,” Mr Bowe said. “In the last year there has been a lot of touting about the benefits that are being provided by the government. If we really take away all of the pomp and pageantry the government has only really given money back to citizens that it would have taxed before.

“Secondly, it has actually borrowed money in order to give benefits so it has left a debt for the same citizens. I think they need to do away with political rhetoric of what the government has done.

In reality what the government has simply done is make a choice on behalf of the Bahamian people to redistribute its revenues that it

collected from them, back to them directly as opposed to through government services economic expansion.

“It is almost an ‘Indian give’ in reality as they are giving certain incentives by way of tax breaks and other government subvention, but with the expectation that there is a return.

“I think that is going to be most important in this budget. That when we look at our expenditure, everything can be seen as investment in the future.”

On the issue of taxation, he said: “On the revenue front I think we have to (be) candid, in that we are already suffering from significant reductions in revenue and we are either going to have to look at increasing existing taxation or introducing new taxation that is not meant to strangle, but is meant to target those who can afford it.

“We’ve had a regressive tax system and we continue to have it based on consumption where you are not paying based on your ability to pay, but instead by just existing.

“The government is now going to have to look at its tax initiatives being directed in areas where it is most going to be impactful to those who have the capacity to pay. This

is going to get political lobbying.

They are going to have to shun that because they can’t increase it on those who are already in a depressed state. Trying to tax yourself out of a recession is like standing in a bucket and trying to lift yourself out.”

Mr Bowe also chided Bahamian governments for not looking beyond politics, saying that they should look at long-term planning.

He said a national plan is what is sorely needed for successful outcomes.

“There is too much focus on social benefits being provided and we need to now have a mindset on how to teach a man to fish as opposed to giving him a fish,” he said.

“We need to start looking beyond election cycles and we need the National Development Plan (implemented). That’s always my cry because that was looking out 25 years and beyond.

“In reality when you start planning that far in the future what you start doing is incremental steps and then you build. When you usually have a short horizon of what to do, you usually get thrown off course because you are not building towards something bigger.”

PAGE 4, Friday, May 14, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

PLAN FOR FEWER STUDENTS ON CAMPUS DURING EXAMS

CHINA ANSWER ON VACCINE SUPPLY? THE SINOPHARM COVID-19 vaccine.

FROM PAGE ONE organisations in different ways.

“China is now the largest provider of vaccines to developing countries.

Since the WHO approved the Sinopharm vaccine last week, China has been in communication with WHO regarding the implementation of its pledge of an initial batch of 10 million doses to the COVAX mechanism as soon as possible.

These vaccines will be sent to meet the urgent needs of developing countries.

“As it regards to The Bahamas, the Embassy is in communication with the relevant departments of the Bahamian government.

China will continue to support The Bahamas to defeat the virus.”

The Bahamian government’s appetite for the Chinese vaccine is unclear, but officials are keen to boost their supplies so the country can achieve herd immunity and resume normalcy. So far there have been no signals from the us that any special case is going to be made for The Bahamas despite it being the country’s closest neighbour which has not yet received US vaccines as have Canada and Mexico.

Mr Yin said, ultimately,

a request for vaccines must come from the Bahamian government.

China’s outreach to countries like The Bahamas comes as observers wait to see what the United States will do with its supplies of vaccines. Last month, the White House announced the US will share up to 60 million of its OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine with other countries and that the doses will be exported in the coming months after a federal review.

Benefits China’s willingness to directly share vaccines with The Bahamas comes as good news continues to emerge about the benefits fully vaccinated people could enjoy.

The Centres for Disease Control announced yesterday that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks or be physically distant from others indoors or outdoors, except where required by “federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws or rules and regulations.”

According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people could also refrain from testing or quarantine following a known exposure

to an asymptomatic case and can refrain from routine screening if feasible.

Locally, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has said fully vaccinated people will be exempted from travel visa requirements and could dine indoors without a mask so long as others around them are fully vaccinated.

The Bahamas received a 33,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses this week through the COVAX facility. Second shot doses for residents also became available this week.

Regarding the Sinopharm vaccine, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Health Products Dr Mariangela Simao touted the product last week.

“The addition of this vaccine has the potential to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk,” she said. “We urge the manufacturer to participate in the COVAX Facility and contribute to the goal of more equitable vaccine distribution.”

The WHO recommends the Sinopharm vaccine for adults 18-years and older.

The vaccine’s efficacy for symptomatic and hospitalised cases was estimated to be 79 percent for all age groups combined.

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC school officials are planning to manage school sites so they have fewer students on campus during national exams to mitigate against COVID19 exposure, Director of Education Marcellus Taylor said.

He was contacted after the Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson urged the Ministry of Education to do a number of things, including closing schools in New Providence and the Family Islands where coronavirus numbers are growing, revert to virtual learning and revise a “workable plan”.

Mr Taylor told The Tribune on Wednesday that there was a meeting with unions in the sector, including the BUT, as part of the consultation process. Officials from the Ministry of Health and Department of Environmental Health were also present.

“Essentially we talked about the current status with COVID-19, what trends are being seen and how we are handling those and also we talked about some of the adjustments that have been made to the cleaning protocols following a positive COVID-19 case and then we talked some things we plan to do in education going into the last month or so of schooling,” Mr Taylor said of the meeting.

He said health officials acknowledged there were COVID-19 cases in schools,

but said “they are handled The emphasis at this point very well and they’re satis- from the 25th of May going fied with the way they are forward that’ll be our focus dealt with, but that was just making sure we try our best a by-the-way statement,” he to get the students through added. to the exams without great Asked what adjustments interruption.” will be seen in public schools Mrs Wilson has suggested and exams going forward, a reduction of school hours Mr Taylor responded: “We in the day and the number will send out a press release of students participating on that soon, but essentially in face-to-face learning if it revolves around manag- any, but she said if there ing the school sites so that was going to be face-to-face we have fewer students on learning, it should be the school sites so that when BJC and BGCSE examinawe do the exams there will tion candidates that attend be less chances school. of any interrupAsked about tions because the closing campuses way the national on New Proviexams work is dence and Family you have synchroIslands, Mr Taylor nised it across the said: “It’ll just be country and so if a largely open for the school has a probpurposes of exams lem during the and students are time of the exam not taking exams it could mean that but it’s still time for you know if that them (to) of course problem is only BAHAMAS Union of (receive) their localised to that Teachers president instruction through school it means Belinda Wilson. virtual means. those students “Remember a lot wouldn’t get a of students at this chance to do the exams. point in New Providence, “Whereas if we manage especially, are receiving it a little bit more closely their education in two locawith fewer people on the tions – either on the campus campus, fewer chances of or remotely. cases coming up, we believe “So that’s already kinda that we have a better chance happening. of having more students get “What I’m saying is the (through) the exams without emphasis at this point is on challenge.…when we send the exams and so the camout our press release we’ll puses being used largely have the details of it in it. to conduct exams…mostly “One of the things that the instructional will move you might find of particu- to the virtual platform, but lar interest is that we may I’m leaving out some details have a period where we only simply because it’s just some permit students to come on details we have to work the campus for exams…. out.”

RESTRICTIONS EASED FOR THOSE FULLY VACCINATED IN THE US

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PEOPLE who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or physically distance themselves, whether they are indoors or outdoors in most circumstances, according to the US Centres for Disease Control.

CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said during a media briefing: “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases (in the US), the scientific data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads, that moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated.”

The news comes during a week in which some residents became eligible in the Bahamas to receive their second vaccine dose.

It also comes as the government readies policies pertaining to the freedoms fully vaccinated people will enjoy.

Some. however, have expressed concern about how local officials will distinguish between those who are fully vaccinated and those who are not.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said fully vaccinated people will immediately be exempted from travel requirements.

“Once individuals are fully vaccinated,” he also said, “individuals can participate in a closed environment, once all within that

closed environment are fully vaccinated.

The mask would not be necessary and they can participate within that environment.

“That means indoor dining can resume for those individuals who are completely vaccinated.

“It also means from a cultural perspective that those, like myself, who participate in Junkanoo, once we are all vaccinated, we can work within the Junkanoo shacks among us all vaccinated individuals.

“This is important because it allows within an enclosed restaurant or wedding facility, once all are vaccinated, it also means that the cultural events that we had yesterday where individuals in restaurants and weddings would have Junkanoo rushing through the environment, that can occur once all, including the Junkanooers, are vaccinated and therefore we can commence some form of normal life.”

Dr Minnis acknowledged that enforcement will be key as vaccination status determines what people can and cannot do.

“Most important as we move forward, enforcement must be adhered to,” he said at the time.

“I recognise (the) excellent work the police and COVID ambassadors are doing and I recognise many of them are probably burnt out, but I ask them to just provide us with that extra burst of energy for the next two weeks so that we can enforce our laws, our order, especially with all the events that are occurring around our islands.”

BRAZILIAN AMBASSADOR VISITS DEPUTY PM

AMBASSADOR of the Federative Republic of Brazil Claudio Lins (left) paid a courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister on Thursday at the Ministry’s offices. (BIS Photo/Kristaan Ingraham)

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, May 14, 2021, PAGE 5

PILOT SAVED SELF AND PASSENGERS

BY LANDING IN SHALLOW WATER

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A 54-YEAR-OLD pilot saved himself and his passengers when he landed his plane in shallow waters off Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, last year after noticing flames from the inboard left engine cowling near him.

The pilot was among three people on the plane, which left the North Eleuthera International Airport (MYEH) on March 21, 2020 and was headed toward New Bight Airport in Cat Island.

“The pilot,” according to the Air Accident Investigation Authority report released this week, “reported that shortly after departing MYEH and while climbing through an altitude of 1,200 ft, his attention was drawn to the fuel flow indicator in the aircraft after ‘the left engine started running a lil rough.’ The left engine roughness was followed by the sound of a ‘bang’ and a subsequent ‘much louder bang’ followed by flames which were observed coming from the inboard left engine cowling closest to the pilot.

“During the post-accident interview, the pilot stated that he secured the left engine by shutting off power and fuel supply and attempted to join the right downwind pattern for runway seven at MYEH. The pilot further stated that with the change in direction toward the airport, the fire became more intense and realising he would be unable to return to the field, he sought a beach closest to his position where he could land the aircraft

safely. Once a beach was located, the pilot executed a landing in the shallow waters approximately 250 ft from the shoreline in the Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, settlement.

“After successfully ditching the aircraft, the pilot and both passengers were able to exit the aircraft in waters approximately waist deep and proceeded to the shore where they received assistance from local police and concerned citizens.

The ditching of the aircraft occurred approximately two nautical miles from the threshold of runway seven at MYEH.” The aircraft sustained substantial damage because of the engine fire and the impact forces of landing in the water. However, there were no injuries.

Investigators uncovered a “catastrophic cylinder failure on the left engine” when they went to the scene and documented other damage.

The AAIA said: “…The probable cause of the accident was a catastrophic failure of the number three cylinder of the left engine which severed the fuel line and resulted in an inflight fire that led to the ditching of the aircraft.”

As for contributing factors which resulted in the failure of the cylinder, investigators said: “Examination of the broken connecting rod bolt fractured surface revealed, ductile dimples and the absence of any identifiable fatigue features, indicating the bolt likely failed due to sudden overload, as a result of the intact connecting rod bolt rocking back and forth within the connecting rod.”

THE PILOT landed his plane in shallow waters off Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, last year.

AMBASSADOR OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA VISITS DEPUTY PM

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works Desmond Bannister received the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Dai Qingli in a courtesy call at the Ministry’s offices yesterday.

(BIS Photo/Letisha Henderson)

Union members unhappy with recent NIB hires

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

MEMBERS of the Union of Public Officers are upset over recent hires at the National Insurance Board, alleging nepotism and claiming that they have no proper representation from their union.

The Tribune was contacted by executive and non-executive members of UPO who expressed deep concern over what they claim to be transpiring at NIB. “We offer courses for those interested in becoming officers (in a certain department) and it can be taken by internal staff or people trying to be hired at the corporation,” one union member, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

“You sign a document saying if you are internal staff and you fail the course, you return to your position in the corporation, but if you are not an employee already, you are not hired.”

The employee claimed that a relative of a union member allegedly “took the course, failed it and was hired.”

It was also claimed that a similar situation occurred with a relative of another NIB official. “This is nepotism. Those are the prominent ones. There were many more who failed the course and yet HR hired them,” the NIB worker claimed.

The Tribune spoke with a manager in the department in question who neither confirmed nor denied the allegations, but instead said the human resources department had to deal with that matter.

Messages left for NIB’s deputy director for human resources, Cyprianna Bethel were not returned.

The UPO member went on to allege that not only were these people hired after failing the test, but they were brought in with the title of the position they didn’t meet the requirements for and then deployed to other departments in NIB. “It’s like no one is checking for us,” the UPO member continued. “What about our rights? If our members who failed the course have to return to their same position and same salary, how can you bring in someone from the outside who failed the course and then give them the title and salary over our people? That’s not fair. They are here doing zero work and

not making any contribution, but getting paid big bucks.”

As of May 1, Laverne Pople stepped in as interim president of UPO because its former president Ghion Roach was promoted into management and could no longer serve as president. Now, there are calls for her to resign.

“Ms Pople has refused to answer our calls and discuss this matter with us. This is not fair. She cannot have our best interest at heart. Who is really representing

“What about our rights? If our members who failed the course have to return to their same position and same salary, how can you bring in someone from the outside who failed the course and then give them the title and salary over our people? That’s not fair. They are here doing zero work and not making any contribution, but getting paid big bucks.”

UPO member us? We have no one. In the best interest of the members of the Union of Public Officers, Ms Pople should resign immediately as she no longer serves us,” the employee claimed.

The Tribune contacted Ms Pople about the allegations, however, she was tight-lipped.

She said she was “not dealing with that” and directed this newspaper to NIB’s HR department and the director.

Union members have said that NIB executives have informed them repeatedly that there is a freeze on promotions and raises the reason as being that the agency is strapped for cash. They also said that earlier this year, staff members were told their owed increment payment had to be deferred for the same reason.

Calls were placed to Brensil Rolle, the minister responsible for NIB, to bring clarity to the matter, but they went unanswered.

PAGE 6, Friday, May 14, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

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Why national cyber defence is a ‘wicked’ problem The ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline on May 7, 2021, exemplifies the huge challenges the U.S. faces in shoring up its cyber defences. The private company, which controls a significant component of the U.S. energy infrastructure and supplies nearly half of the East Coast’s liquid fuels, was vulnerable to an all-too-common type of cyber attack. The FBI has attributed the attack to a Russian cybercrime gang. It would be difficult for the government to mandate better security at private companies, and the government is unable to provide that security for the private sector.

Similarly, the SolarWinds hack, one of the most devastating cyber attacks in history, which came to light in December 2020, exposed vulnerabilities in global software supply chains that affect government and private sector computer systems. It was a major breach of national security that revealed gaps in U.S. cyber defences.

These gaps include inadequate security by a major software producer, fragmented authority for government support to the private sector, blurred lines between organised crime and international espionage, and a national shortfall in software and cybersecurity skills. None of these gaps is easily bridged, but the scope and impact of the SolarWinds attack show how critical controlling these gaps is to U.S. national security.

The SolarWinds breach, likely carried out by a group affiliated with Russia’s FSB security service, compromised the software development supply chain used by SolarWinds to update 18,000 users of its Orion network management product. SolarWinds sells software that organisations use to manage their computer networks. The hack, which allegedly began in early 2020, was discovered only in December when cybersecurity company FireEye revealed that it had been hit by the malware. More worrisome, this may have been part of a broader attack on government and commercial targets in the U.S. The Biden administration is preparing an executive order that is expected to address these software supply chain vulnerabilities. However, these changes, as important as they are, would probably not have prevented the SolarWinds attack. And preventing ransomware attacks like the Colonial Pipeline attack would require U.S. intelligence and law enforcement to infiltrate every organised cyber criminal group in Eastern Europe.

Supply chains, sloppy security and a talent shortage The vulnerability of the software supply chain – the collections of software components and software development services companies use to build software products – is a well-known problem in the security field. In response to a 2017 executive order, a report by a Department of Defense-led interagency task force identified “a surprising level of foreign dependence,” workforce challenges and critical capabilities such as printed circuit board manufacturing that companies are moving offshore in pursuit of competitive pricing. All these factors came into play in the SolarWinds attack.

SolarWinds, driven by its growth strategy and plans to spin off its managed service provider business in 2021, bears much of the responsibility for the damage, according to cybersecurity experts. I believe that the company put itself at risk by outsourcing its software development to Eastern Europe, including a company in Belarus. Russian operatives have been known to use companies in former Soviet satellite countries to insert malware into software supply chains.

Russia used this technique in the 2017 NotPetya attack that cost global companies more than US$10 billion.

SolarWinds also failed to practice basic cybersecurity hygiene, according to a cybersecurity researcher.

Vinoth Kumar reported that the password for the software company’s development server was allegedly “solarwinds123,” an egregious violation of fundamental standards of cybersecurity. SolarWinds’ sloppy password management is ironic in light of the Password Management Solution of the Year award the company received in 2019 for its Passportal product.

In a blog post, the company admitted that “the attackers were able to circumvent threat detection techniques employed by both SolarWinds, other private companies, and the federal government.”

The larger question is why SolarWinds, an American company, had to turn to foreign providers for software development.

A Department of Defense report about supply chains characterises the lack of software engineers as a crisis, partly because the education pipeline is not providing enough software engineers to meet demand in the commercial and defence sectors.

There’s also a shortage of cybersecurity talent in the U.S. Engineers, software developers and network engineers are among the most needed skills across the U.S., and the

lack of software engineers who focus on the security of software in particular is acute.

FRAGMENTED AUTHORITY Though I’d argue SolarWinds has much to answer for, it should not have had to defend itself against a state-orchestrated cyber attack on its own. The 2018 National Cyber Strategy describes how supply chain security should work. The government determines the security of federal contractors like SolarWinds by reviewing their risk management strategies, ensuring that they are informed of threats and vulnerabilities and responding to incidents on their systems.

However, this official strategy split these responsibilities between the Pentagon for defence and intelligence systems and the Department of Homeland Security for civil agencies, continuing a fragmented approach to information security that began in the Reagan era. Execution of the strategy relies on the DOD’s U.S. Cyber Command and DHS’s Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency. DOD’s strategy is to “defend forward”: that is, to disrupt malicious cyber activity at its source, which proved effective in the runup to the 2018 midterm elections.

The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency, established in 2018, is responsible for providing information about threats to critical infrastructure sectors.

Neither agency appears to have sounded a warning or attempted to mitigate the attack on SolarWinds. The government’s response came only after the attack. The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency issued alerts and guidance, and a Cyber Unified Coordination Group was formed to facilitate coordination among federal agencies.

These tactical actions, while useful, were only a partial solution to the larger, strategic problem. The fragmentation of the authorities for national cyber defence evident in the SolarWinds hack is a strategic weakness that complicates cybersecurity for the government and private sector and invites more attacks on the software supply chain.

A WICKED PROBLEM National cyber defence is an example of a “wicked problem,” a policy problem that has no clear solution or measure of success. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission identified many inadequacies of U.S. national cyber defences. In its 2020 report, the commission noted that “There is still not a clear unity of effort or theory of victory driving the federal government’s approach to protecting and securing cyberspace.”

Many of the factors that make developing a centralised national cyber defence challenging lie outside of the government’s direct control. For example, economic forces push technology companies to get their products to market quickly, which can lead them to take shortcuts that undermine security. Legislation along the lines of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed in 1999 could help deal with the need for speed in software development. The law placed security requirements on financial institutions. But software development companies are likely to push back against additional regulation and oversight.

The Biden administration appears to be taking the challenge seriously. The president has appointed a national cybersecurity director to coordinate related government efforts. It remains to be seen whether and how the administration will address the problem of fragmented authorities and clarify how the government will protect companies that supply critical digital infrastructure. It’s unreasonable to expect any U.S. company to be able to fend for itself against a foreign nation’s cyberattack.

STEPS FORWARD In the meantime, software developers can apply the secure software development approach advocated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Government and industry can prioritise the development of artificial intelligence that can identify malware in existing systems. All this takes time, however, and hackers move quickly.

Finally, companies need to aggressively assess their vulnerabilities, particularly by engaging in more “red teaming” activities: that is, having employees, contractors or both play the role of hackers and attack the company. Recognising that hackers in the service of foreign adversaries are dedicated, thorough and not constrained by any rules is important for anticipating their next moves and reinforcing and improving U.S. national cyber defences. Otherwise, Colonial Pipeline is unlikely to be the last victim of a major attack on U.S. infrastructure and SolarWinds is unlikely to be the last victim of a major attack on the U.S. software supply chain.

• This article is by Terry Thompson, Johns Hopkins University for theconversation.com.

Cock eyed policies and inhumanity EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE Minnis-led FNM administration appears to be spiraling out of control rapidly. A majority of Bahamians supported and voted for the then opposition FNM in 2017,,,,four years ago and counting. People were simply fed up with former PM Christie and he had to go apparently by any means necessary. This now seems to be the same place in which Minnis and his crew find themselves. How ironic.

Almost a month ago six persons were brutally shot to death in the Jerome Avenue area after just being released from police custody from the Wulff Road Police Station.

There is supposed to be surveillance cameras and spot checker devices, yet weeks later the police say that they have no positive leads or any possible suspects in custody.

There is little doubt in my mind that suspected gang related retaliation will go on and the carnage will not stop anytime soon. The police, I am sure, know a whole lot more than they are telling us. The public has a right to know all of the underlying circumstances.

Now we have a developing situation over in Abaco where the Ministry of Works has started the demolition of certain so-called shanty towns and are threatening to extend that demolition to New Providence. My God, what manner of administration is this? Where is its compassion? Where is its heart and where is its soul? I am a lawyer by training and I fully appreciate and understand the need to abide by the rule of law. Not a problem. I do have a big problem, however, in the manner in which government is

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net

now seeking to eliminate a long vexing issue.

We are dealing with fellow human beings all made in the image and likeness of The Lord Jesus Christ. How is it that while there is pending litigation that a government would move willy-nilly to destroy homes occupied by human beings without a plan in place to relocate them. Is this exercise an attempt to distract away from the ineptness and abject failures of this regime? The national economy is in shambles. Jobs have gone south without a passport or a visa.

The vaccination roll out, with all due respects to brother Edward Fields and the good doctors, has been botched and is still a work in progress.

Crime is totally out of control. Not a single government home has been built in four years. We now hear questions about the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation.

Bahamas Power & Light cannot seem to get its bond issue and others resolved.

Pot holes abound on our streets here in New Providence. They have been renovating Government House and the Ministry of Tourism building for all of the four years that they have been in office with no end in sight. Bay Street was supposed to have been upgraded and refurbished years ago, long before Dorian and the pandemic. What happened over there? Not a damned thing.

Now I understand that brother Fields has recused himself from further involvement with that committee.

Who is now in charge and what is being

proposed with the soonto-be redeveloped Prince George Wharf?

In my opinion these demolitions are no more than smoke screens and mirrors to make the administration appear as if they are actually in charge of the country and doing something when it is running around and floundering like a headless chicken or uncooked stewed fish or sardines with no yellow grits.

There will be a day or reckoning and the Minnis administration will pay a heavy price at the polls.

After demolishing scores of structures my once upon a time ‘friend’ Frankie Campbell says that his ministry will assist the displaced residents of the shanty towns with taxpayers’ monies regardless of immigration status!

What sort of cock-eyed policies are these. Break down my home and then give me some bread and water with no roof over the heads of me and my family, inclusive of children?

Another hurricane season is upon us and there are no tangible signs of preparation by the regime. God forbid that another hurricane of Dorian proportions should land in our nation.

Cock-eyed policies and inhumane treatment will cause the crumbling and dying FNM to die a political death of one thousand razor blade cuts.

Where is your compassion and where is your heart?

The least that you do for one of these black Haitians you do for The Master. To God then in all things be the glory.

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr Nassau, May 13, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, May 14, 2021, PAGE 7

$5,000 OR SIX MONTHS FOR FALSE COVID TEST RESULTS

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who tried to use falsified COVID-19 test results to travel to Abaco last month must pay $5,000 to avoid spending six months behind bars.

Clement Antenor was arrested after he presented a fake Medical Pavilion RT-PCR negative COVID test to a COVID ambassador at Lynden Pindling International Airport on April 26.

He pleaded guilty to possessing and uttering a forged document when he appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

The court was told that Antenor showed the official the fake test on his phone when he was asked to show proof of his health status at the domestic terminal. The

prosecution said when the ambassador examined the test results, he suspected them to be fraudulent. This prompted him to contact the Medical Pavilion Lab which confirmed the test was not genuine.

Antenor was arrested a short time later. When he was interviewed in police custody, he admitted the offence and claimed he purchased the fake test from a man by the name of John.

During the hearing, Antenor declined to comment. As a result, he was fined $2,500 for having the falsified test and another $2,500 for presenting it to the COVID ambassador at the airport.

Magistrate McKinney said if he fails to pay the fines, he could risk spending six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

MAN GETS PROBATION FOR ASSAULT ON GIRLFRIEND

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A HARBOUR Island man who admitted assaulting his girlfriend in an argument over money was placed on three months probation.

Keno Johnson was arrested after he choked his partner of three years during a disagreement at home on May 10.

The court was told that when the woman reported the matter to police, she said she was out having a good time drinking when Johnson approached her and told her she was embarrassing him. The woman also said that when she and the accused got into an argument later that night, he grabbed her by the throat and choked her to the point where she almost passed out. Johnson was subsequently arrested. He denied the allegations when he was questioned by police.

When he appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis yesterday, Johhnson pleaded guilty to one count of assault.

He also told the magistrate the argument started over money which he claimed the complainant stole from him on two different occasions. The accused said he didn’t make an issue out of it the first time it happened, but when his girlfriend did it again, he told her family and she eventually gave him his money back.

“Both of us have anger problems,” he said. “She was raging and coming into me so I just hold her to say ‘Ease up.’ I just hold her off, I never attacked her and I never planned on choking her out.”

After listening to his explanation, Magistrate Rolle Davis placed the accused on probation for three months.

He said if Johnson was convicted of an offence within that time frame, he would spend one month on remand.

NYGARD SUFFERS ANOTHER SETBACK FROM PAGE ONE

i.e. the fine he was “wrongfully required to pay,” which In February, the appellate was more than $4,000. panel of justices refused the He further contended that fashion mogul’s application even if he were not entitled for leave to appeal the con- “as of right,” he should be tempt conviction he received granted leave to appeal as his for breaching an injunction application raised points of that banned him from publaw of general public imporlishing stolen emails from tance. Nonetheless, in their the environmental group judgment delivered by Sir Save The Bays.

Michael Barnett, the panel He later sought to have their decision re- noted that when exercising their discretion examined by the to grant leave to London-based appeal to the Privy Privy Council; howCouncil, they conever, Justices Sir sidered “whether Michael Barnett, the applicant had Jon Isaacs, and Roy an arguable case” Jones yesterday and “whether the refused his applicaappeal involved a tion after ruling his point of general and appeal did not raise public importance”. any “point of law “The proposed of general or public appeal does not importance’’. raise any point of According to law of general or court documents, public importance, in February 2019 Nygard was not an injunction order PETER NYGARD in The Bahamas, was granted against but had submitNygard, which banned ted to the jurisdiction of the him from interacting with “certain correspondence” Bahamian courts in the subin “any form or fash- stantive proceedings,” Sir ion,” which he was said to Michael said.

“Nygard’s presence outhave obtained illegally.

In November 2019, side the jurisdiction may Nygard was found to be in affect the ability of the court contempt of the injunction to enforce the committal order and was subsequently order, but does not affect the sentenced to 90 days in ability of the court to make prison and fined $150,000, the order.

“Whether the commitplus $5,000 a day if he failed to comply with the court’s tal order should have been made or whether the order judgment.

When Nygard had was too harsh in its terms attempted to appeal the having regard to the breach order in the Court of is a matter of discretion and Appeal, the panel refused his does not involve a point of application and affirmed the law of public importance.”

“In the circumstances,” judge’s ruling after concluding the sentence imposed said Sir Michael, “as the proon him was “commensurate posed appeal does not raise any point of law of general with the contempt proved”.

Just days after their ruling or public importance, we was released, Nygard tried to refuse the application for appeal the Court of Appeal’s conditional leave.

“Of course, Nygard may decision to the Privy Council on the grounds that he apply directly to the Privy was “entitled to appeal as Council for leave to appeal of right” as he was “seek- the judgment of the Court of ing to recover his property, Appeal.”

THE MEMBERS of RBDF Entry 41/Woman Entry 13 donating grocery items to the Urban Renewal Centre, St. James Road on Tuesday May 4. From left: Samantha Seymour; Leading Seaman Shavanno Mullings; Leading Seaman Deron Musgrove; Tanya Gibson; Sub Lieutenant Miska Clarke; Petty Officer Devon Paul; Senior Lieutenant Sidney Whyms; and Daphne Bannister. (RBDF Photo by Petty Officer Al Rahming)

DEFENCE FORCE SQUAD MEMBERS GIVE BACK MEMBERS of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s Entry 41/Woman Entry 13 recently donated grocery items to the Urban Renewal Center on St James Road.

In commemoration of celebrating 16 years of service to the country the combined male and female squad decided that it was only fitting that they do a charitable project in an inner-city community.

On Tuesday, May 4, the officers and marines donated cases of breakfast items, disposable lid containers, and boxes of male clothing.

Receiving the grocery items were the organisation’s supervisor, Daphne Bannister, and Tanya Gibson, who serves

as secretary and Samantha Seymour, who all expressed their appreciation for the donated items.

Led by Sub Lieutenant Miska Clarke, members of the squad had intended to conduct a breakfast giveaway, but due to the emergency orders, it was agreed upon to make a bulk donation of breakfast items.

The centre seeks to provide breakfast a few days a week for residents of the Farm Road community who are in need.

The combined squad of 39 members observed 16 years as a unit, after enlisting on February 28, 2005, and together they continue to make significant contributions to the organisation.

LEADING Seaman Deron Musgrove and Petty Officer Devon Paul of RBDF Entry 41/Woman Entry 13 assisting with lifting the donated items during the donation of grocery items to the Urban Renewal Centre, St James Road on Tuesday May 4.

(RBDF Photo by Petty Officer Al Rahming)

PAGE 8, Friday, May 14, 2021

THE TRIBUNE

Positive steps taken towards the legalisation of medicinal marijuana ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel recently announced that marijuana legislation, once approved

by Cabinet, will be introduced to Parliament before the end of the budget year.

Bethel also stated “We are trying to bring the bill to parliament before the end of the budget year.”

“Dame Anita Allen is working on the Law Reform Commission now to put all of the different suggestions that we think are going to be workable.

Not everything suggested is workable at the present time into the redraft of the bill. That will then be

submitted to me.”

The current administration is still in the consultative phase of the Medicinal Cannabis Bill and associated bills.

Also, I understand there is a draft that has been drawn up, but it is still

necessary to consult further in relation to it being passed one way or another.

While all of these are positive steps in the right direction in regards to the legalisation of medicinal marijuana, I understand it’s an arduous process.

I’m still waiting for the conversation to shift to the legalisation of recreational marijuana and it’s decriminalisation.

It seems the conversation when it comes to these topics has gone silent.

While I wait on that, let me share the latest from Louisiana, where the state has become the latest to decriminalise possession of small amounts of marijuana, and hopefully it will remind the powers that be, that there is no legalisation of any kind without decriminalisation!

RAGIN’ CAJUN’S : The Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill this past Tuesday that effectively decriminalises possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Under the measure, House Bill 652 the possession of up to 14 grams (half an ounce) of marijuana

would be punished by only a fine of up to $100 on the first and second offence.

Minor marijuana possession offences would still be classified as misdemeanors, but would no longer carry the threat of incarceration.

The bill was approved last week by the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice in advance of this week’s floor vote.

The full House approved HB 652 on Tuesday with a vote of 67 to 25.

Rep. Cedric Glover who sponsored the bill received significant support from both his Democratic colleagues and members of the GOP majority.

CITY SMOKE : New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, have already taken action to reduce the penalties for low-level marijuana possession.

In New Orleans, penalties for a first cannabis possession offence are capped at a fine of only $40, while some city leaders are calling for the fine to be dropped even further to $1.

In 2018, Baton Rouge eliminated jail time as a possible penalty for possession of less than 14 grams of marijuana.

Instead, a fine of between $40 and $100 will be assessed, depending on the number of prior offences for a particular defendant.

FINGERS CROSSED : HB 652 now heads to the Louisiana Senate for consideration.

If the measure is passed by the upper house of the state legislature, it would become law once signed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Anyway back to waiting on our AG, time to pour another.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

DESANTIS: FLORIDA WILL FILL VOID IF SMALL CRUISE LINES LEAVE

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON ASSOCIATED PRESS TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Calling Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings “not one of the bigger ones,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that if smaller cruise lines want to leave the state because of bans on vaccine requirements, their void will be filled.

Miami-based Norwegian is the third-largest cruise line in the world and has three ports of departure in Florida — Miami, Port Canaveral and Tampa. It also makes stops in Key West. But it hasn’t operated in the U.S. since the federal government shut down all cruises last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government is getting ready to let cruises sail again, but only if nearly all passengers and crew are

FLORIDA Gov. Ron DeSantis. vaccinated against the virus.

DeSantis, however, signed a bill banning business from requiring proof of vaccination, prompting Norwegian to say it might move Florida departures to other states or Caribbean ports.

“The major cruise lines,

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Norwegian’s not one of the bigger ones, by the way ... have been operating in other parts of the world where there’s no access to vaccine, much less the passengers required” to be vaccinated, DeSantis said during a news conference in Ormand Beach.

DeSantis later said that if one of the smaller cruise lines doesn’t want to operate in Florida, “that niche will get filled.”

“We are the number one destination for people who want to come and take cruises,” DeSantis said.

“These cruise lines are ready to go — Royal Caribbean, Carnival — they want to go, they’re going to be able to do it. We’re ready.”

DeSantis is suing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the nosail order.

The CDC is set to let cruises sail again if 98% of the crew and 95% of passengers are vaccinated and ships take other measures to limit the risk of transmitting the virus.

Norwegian didn’t immediately return a call and emails seeking comment.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, May 14, 2021, PAGE 9

The unsolved mystery of a man on a mission THE first time I heard the name George Snow was when girls around Seacrest High School in Delray Beach whispered about this new hot Math teacher. It was the late ‘50s so I don’t think they called it hot in those days, more likely it was cool. By the time I was ready for his class a year later, his name drew sighs and I was stuck in someone else’s Math class.

Young girls do daydream Several years passed and the good-looking Math teacher was now making a name for himself as a businessman. He had a construction company, a young family, a nice way about him – everything he touched turned to gold.

The year 1965 came and took my mother’s life with it, ending her painful struggle with cancer. It also stole my father’s reason for living.

The following year after sitting on a couch and staring at her portrait day after day, he died and there was George Snow again. My father and he had been in parallel businesses, my father one of the original developers of Boca Raton, and George Snow, a pioneer builder with boundless energy and dreams.

THE LONE piece of helicopter wreckage that was recovered.

Once a wealthy man, my father died poor. He just gave up after my mother died. My sister, my then husband and I had to sell the undeveloped land that he owned and so it was no surprise that the likely buyer who would build on it was the same George Snow.

We sold. If I told you where that land was and how little we sold it for, you would

FROM left: NBC producer Don Critchfield, George Snow, NBC cameraman Randy Fairbairn, NBC soundman Dan Cefalo, ABC correspondent David Garcia, ABC cameraman Steve Stanford, ABC soundman Joe Dalisero, and an unidentified pilot. Fairbairn – Cefalo and Dalisero were on the chopper with Snow.

shake your head and not be able to focus on the rest of the story.

With more land on which to build, and IBM now making its headquarters in Boca Raton not far from that newly acquired land my late father had planned to develop, George Snow’s business boomed, his family grew, his status was cemented. He did not just defend the rights of blacks in Delray to attend the best public school; he bought a school bus to make sure they had a way to get there.

Few people owned and flew their own planes back then out of Boca’s tiny airstrip. George Snow was one of them.

After a health scare when he was not yet 40, the man with the magic touch did an about face, shifting his attention to family, boating and flying. Still, there was a restlessness for the next big thing.

In the 1970s, he began flying news media to get stories and then assisting law enforcement to track down smugglers and drug dealers.

And that took him back and forth to The Bahamas.

Former law enforcement officials remember him. By 1980 at the height of drug and human smuggling, the nowdivorced and high energy George Snow was a regular fixture in his helicopter in The Bahamas. He ferried photographers. He knew the waters like a local and understood the tiny cays where illegals would be dropped. He could spot boats with contraband.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FLORIDA TAKES STEP TOWARD THE CATCHING OF GOLIATH GROUPER

By TERRY SPENCER ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A divided board of Florida game regulators took a tentative step Wednesday that might eventually allow fishermen to catch and kill goliath groupers, a fish that was almost driven to extinction 30 years ago by overfishing and pollution.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told its staff to craft a regulation it has proposed that would allow 100 goliaths to be caught and kept annually during a fouryear period. Supported by fishing groups, the proposed limited harvest calls for a lottery to issue $300-per-week licenses that allow each recipient to catch and kill one goliath, with proceeds funding research of the species.

But board members said that did not mean the regulation would ultimately be approved even over the next few years, saying the science may not support its quick adoption.

There were questions about whether the fish, which typically weigh 400 pounds (180 kilogrammes) but can exceed 800 pounds (360 kilogrammes), has seen its population sufficiently recover. The commissioners did, however, seem to oppose a permanent ban, saying a harvest should be allowed eventually.

Goliath grouper is not allowed to be caught in any other state or federal waters.

Commissioner Robert Spottswood believes the population is getting near a point where a limited harvest can be allowed. He said many of the arguments against a harvest are based on emotion. While the species’ population is unknown, the commission’s staff believes it has grown enough to allow the limited catch.

“We can’t just be stuck because there is a philosophy out there that says this big lovable creature can never be taken again,” Spottswood said during the Tallahassee meeting.

But Commissioner Gary Nicklaus said the reports that the goliaths’ population is nearing recovery is based upon where it was when it was close to extinction, not when it was abundant in the 1950s. He said the biggest economic benefit the goliath provides to the state is drawing scuba divers who want to swim with it and photograph it.

“I think we should protect it until its population comes back to whatever baseline we want that to be,” said Nicklaus, the son of retired pro golfer Jack Nicklaus.

The goliath once ranged over a wide swath of ocean territory, from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil.

But its numbers dropped sharply starting in the 1960s. By 1990, when Florida banned its catch, it was almost gone because of overfishing.

Today, the goliath is found mainly off South Florida. Adults live in reefs and shipwrecks, digging holes that provide hiding spaces for other fish.

Public comment to the board was about equally divided Wednesday. A prime example was scuba divers — some called it a nuisance

GEORGE Snow in front of his helicopter at Cayo Lobos in November 1980.

Then one night, while in the throes of a series of stories with a well-known Miami newsman who he would ferry for images and interviews to expose the horrors of humans who had spent their last penny to escape Haiti being dropped off on an isle with no water or food, his plane went down. He just vanished.

Crews searched for days, two of his sons searched for years. Only a small piece of the Bell Ranger chopper was ever recovered, but there are Androsians who believe the remains of the flying hero lies somewhere near Congo Town.

He lived fast and died hard, but in life and in death this man with whom I crossed paths without knowing it for nearly my whole life still haunts in a strange way.

Researching comparisons for

the Lyford Cay Foundation recently, I came across the George Snow Scholarship Fund.

It has awarded more than $12 million to 2,000- plus students and is considered one of the great non-profits.

The numbers are almost identical to Lyford Cay Foundation.

Yesterday, I googled a map to an eye surgical facility in South Florida where I am going next week.

It was next to George Snow Park.

KUDOS TO THE VACCINE VOLUNTEERS, MORE HELP DESPERATELY NEEDED If you went to Loyola Hall or Church of God of Prophecy or St. Anselm for either your first or second shot of

the COVID-19 vaccine, you saw them.

They greeted you, ushered you through the process seamlessly, watched over you as you waited your 15-minute recovery time to make sure you did not suffer any serious reaction. They are the volunteers who are making it possible for the country to get past this pandemic that has not discriminated against emotional, economic and health crises.

Every day, it takes more than 100 of these volunteers plus all the nurses and health care workers to administer the vaccine that is more than a shot in the arm of the individual. It is a shot in the arm to the economy and to our well-being.

Some of these volunteers have been out there every day, working 4-hour shifts that have recently been increased to five hours. Some of them, along with a nurse, have traveled to the most remote cays in the Family Islands, going by boat from one cay to another from morning until late in the evening to vaccinate those who had a challenge getting to a central location.

The volunteers who come from Rotary clubs, Kiwanis, from companies that care like JS Johnson are all wearing the bright vests of the Governor General’s Volunteer Bahamas, the NGO created to nurture and reward a culture of volunteerism in The Bahamas.

There can be no greater cause for that culture to be created and applauded than the one they are serving now under the leadership and direction of Barry Rassin and Ed Fields.

More volunteers are desperately needed. If you want to assist, please call 356-0255 and leave your name and number. Your call will be returned.

PUBLIC NOTICE All REV Customers residing in the following communities:

Hope Town Man O War Cay Treasure Cay

A GOLIATH Grouper swims at Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, Fla. (Conor Goulding/Mote Marine Laboratory via AP) and told commissioners they want to hunt it on spearfishing trips, while others saw the fish as photogenic and said it should be protected.

The goliath is popular with both spearfishers and photographers as it does not flee when divers approach.

Dick Kempton, a member of the St. Pete Underwater Club, spoke in support of the harvest plan, saying the fish is becoming too plentiful in the waters around Tampa Bay and that is impacting other species.

“There are goliath grouper everywhere,” Kempton said, especially at shipwrecks and other underwater structures. “They eat everything that comes by ... There is plenty of stock out there. A limited harvest is not going to affect that at all.”

But Tom Ingram, president of the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association, said the goliath draws divers to the state who simply want to see and photograph them. He said it will take at least another 10 years for the goliath to recover.

“Goliath grouper are still considered vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature,” Ingram said. He asked the commission to implement a permanent ban on the catching of goliaths, saying they are as important to the economy at manatees, which are protected.

The proposal as currently envisioned would limit the size of goliaths that could be killed to a range of 4 to 6.5 feet (1.2 to 2 metres) and 70 to 200 pounds (32 to 90 kilogrammes) — that’s a young adult of 7 to 10 years. Older fish are high in the neurotoxin methylmercury, which is especially dangerous to children and pregnant women.

Outside that range they would be released, just like all goliaths caught now are supposed to be, though poaching is a problem. Goliaths have a lifespan of 35 years or more. Fishing would also remain banned during their spawning season of July to September and at their spawning spots.

Please be advised that as of June 11th, 2021 REV will discontinue all traditional copper cable broadband service within your community. All customers will be upgraded to Fibre which will result in a change to your monthly service charge in accordance with the table below:

Please contact a REV Concierge agent at

699-1140 807-0548

for further information.

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5/13/21 4:50 PM

PAGE 10, Friday, May 14, 2021

DC POLICE VICTIM OF MASSIVE DATA LEAK BY RANSOMWARE SYNDICATE

THE TRIBUNE

PALESTINIANS rescuers search in the rubble for missing members of the Al-Tanani family, after their house was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday.

(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

By ALAN SUDERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The police department in the nation’s capital has suffered a massive leak of internal information after refusing to meet the blackmail demands of Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate. Experts say it’s the worst known ransomware attack ever to hit a U.S. police department.

The gang, known as the Babuk group, released thousands of the Metropolitan Police Department’s sensitive documents on the dark web Thursday.

A review by The Associated Press found hundreds of police officer disciplinary files and intelligence reports that include feeds from other agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service.

Ransomware attacks have reached epidemic levels as foreign criminal gangs paralyse computer networks at state and local governments, police departments, hospitals and private companies. They demand large payments to decrypt stolen data or to prevent it from being leaked online.

A cyberattack last week shut down the Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s largest fuel pipeline, prompting gas-hoarding and panic-buying in parts of the Southeast.

Brett Callow, a threat analyst and ransomware expert at the security firm Emsisoft, said the police leak ranks as “possibly the most significant ransomware incident to date” because of the risks it presents for officers and civilians.

Some of the documents include security information from other law enforcement agencies related to President Joe Biden’s inauguration, including a reference to a “source embedded” with a militia group.

One document details the steps the FBI has taken in its investigation of two pipe bombs left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That includes “big data pulls” of cell towers, and plans to “analyse purchases” of Nike shoes worn by a person of interest, the document said.

The police department did not immediately return a request for comment, but has previously said some officers’ personal information was stolen.

Some of that information was previously leaked, revealing personal information of some officers taken from background checks, including details of their past drug use, finances and — in at least one incident — of past sexual abuse.

The newly released files include details of disciplinary proceedings of hundreds of officers dating back to 2004. The files often contain sensitive and embarrassing private details.

“This is going to send a shock through the law enforcement community throughout the country,” said Ted Williams, a former officer at the department who is now an attorney.

He’s representing a retired officer whose background file was included in an earlier leak.

The leak of such sensitive data underscores how foreign ransomware gangs believe they can act with impunity. A 2018 report from the think tank Third Way found less than 1% of malicious cyber incidents result in an enforcement action taken against the attackers.

Speaking about the pipeline hack Thursday, Biden said his administration is “going to pursue a measure to disrupt” foreign ransomware gangs’ “ability to operate.”

He also did not rule out any kind of retaliatory cyberattacks.

D.C. Police Union chairman Gregg Pemberton said the union has filed a grievance against the city for violating a collective bargaining agreement.

The union also wants the city’s inspector general to investigate.

ISRAEL THREATENS GAZA GROUND INVASION DESPITE TRUCE EFFORTS

By JOSEF FEDERMAN AND FARES AKRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Thursday said it was massing troops along the Gaza frontier and calling up 9,000 reservists ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled territory, as the two bitter enemies plunged closer to all-out war.

Egyptian mediators rushed to Israel for cease-fire efforts but showed no signs of progress.

The stepped-up fighting came as communal violence in Israel erupted for a fourth night, with Jewish and Arab mobs clashing in the flashpoint town of Lod. The fighting took place despite a bolstered police presence ordered by the nation’s leaders.

The four-day burst of violence has pushed Israel into uncharted territory — dealing with the most intense fighting it has ever had with Hamas while simultaneously coping with the worst JewishArab violence inside Israel in decades. A late-night barrage of rocket fire from Lebanon that landed in the sea threatened to open a new front along Israel’s northern border.

Visiting a rocket defence battery, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops to be prepared for an extended campaign against Hamas. “It will take more time, but ... we will achieve our goal — to restore peace to the state of Israel,” he said.

The fighting broke out late Monday when Hamas, claiming to be the defender of Jerusalem, fired a barrage of long-range rockets toward the city in response to what it said were Israeli provocations. Israel quickly responded with a series of airstrikes.

Since then, Israel has attacked hundreds of targets in Gaza. The strikes set off scores of earth-shaking explosions across the densely populated territory. Gaza militants have fired nearly 2,000 rockets into Israel, bringing life in the southern part of the country to a standstill. Several barrages targeted the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) away.

Gaza’s Health

MEMBERS of Sror family inspect the damage of their apartment after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip over night in Petah Tikva, central Israel, Thursday. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Ministry said the death toll has climbed to 103 Palestinians, including 27 children and 11 women, with 530 people wounded. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups have confirmed 20 deaths in their ranks, though Israel says that number is much higher. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a 6-year-old boy.

In Washington, President Joe Biden said he spoke with Netanyahu about calming the fighting but also backed the Israeli leader by saying “there has not been a significant overreaction.”

He said the goal now is to “get to a point where there is a significant reduction in attacks, particularly rocket attacks that are indiscriminately fired into population centres.” He called the effort a “a work in progress.”

Thursday’s visit by Egyptian officials marked an important step in the ceasefire efforts.

Egypt often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, and it has been a key player in ending past rounds of fighting. The officials met first with Hamas leaders in Gaza before holding talks with Israelis in Tel Aviv, two Egyptian intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Hamas’ exiled leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was also in touch with

the Egyptians, the group said.

Despite those efforts, the fighting only intensified.

Israeli aircraft pummeled targets in Gaza throughout the day.

And late Thursday, Israel fired tank and artillery shells across the border for the first time, sending scores of terrified residents fleeing for safety.

The airstrikes have destroyed scores of buildings, including three high rises. Israel says the buildings housed Hamas militants or facilities, but civilians were inside as well.

In the northern Gaza Strip, Rafat Tanani, his pregnant wife and four children were killed after an Israeli warplane reduced the building to rubble, residents said.

Sadallah Tanani, a relative, said the family was “wiped out from the population register” without warning. “It was a massacre. My feelings are indescribable,” he said.

Israel has come under heavy international criticism for civilian casualties in Gaza fighting. It says Hamas is responsible for endangering civilians by hiding and launching rockets from civilian areas.

Late Thursday, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the mobilisation of an additional 9,000 reservists.

The chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Hidai

Zilberman, said troops were massing along the Gaza border for a possible ground operation. He said tanks, armored vehicles and artillery were being prepared “for mobilisation at any given moment.”

Hamas showed no signs of backing down. It launched several intense barrages of rockets throughout the day and fired its most powerful rocket, the Ayyash, nearly 200 kilometres (120 miles) into southern Israel. The rocket landed in the open desert but briefly disrupted flight traffic at the southern Ramon airport. Hamas also launched a drone that Israel said it quickly shot down.

Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida said the group was not afraid of a ground invasion, saying any invasion would be a chance “to increase our catch” of dead or captive soldiers.

The fighting cast a pall over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, normally marked by family gatherings and festive meals. Instead, the streets of Gaza were mostly empty.

Hassan Abu Shaaban tried to lighten the mood by passing out candy to passers-by but acknowledged “there is no atmosphere” for celebrating. “It is all airstrikes, destruction and devastation,” he said. “May God help everyone.”

The current eruption of

violence began a month ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed Israeli police tactics during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families

by Jewish settlers ignited protests and clashes with police.

A focal point of clashes was Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on a hilltop compound that is revered by Jews and Muslims.

Israel regards Jerusalem in its entirety as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.

The violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel resulted in scenes not witnessed in more than two decades.

The confrontations erupted again late Thursday. Jewish and Arab mobs battled in the central city of Lod, the epicenter of the troubles, for a fourth consecutive night, despite a state of emergency and heavy police presence. A Jewish man was shot and seriously wounded, and Israeli media said a second Jewish man was shot.

In the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, an Israeli soldier was attacked by a group of Arabs and hospitalised in serious condition.

The fighting deepened a political crisis that has sent Israel careening through four inconclusive elections in just two years.

After March elections, Netanyahu failed to form a government coalition. Now his political rivals have three weeks to try to do so.

Those efforts have been greatly complicated by the fighting.

His opponents include a broad range of parties that have little in common. They would need the support of an Arab party, whose leader has said he cannot negotiate while Israel is fighting in Gaza.

Naftali Bennett, leader of a small right-wing party, was quoted as saying he did not believe an alternate coalition could be formed in the current atmosphere.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is leading the coalition-building efforts, said the country was facing an “existential threat” and urged Bennett to join him to help rescue the country.

“We are on the brink of the abyss,” he said.

‘GREAT DAY FOR AMERICA’: VACCINATED CAN LARGELY DITCH MASKS

By ZEKE MILLER AND MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step toward returning to prepandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased maskwearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

“Today is a great day for America,” President Joe Biden said during a Rose Garden address heralding the new guidance, an event where he and his staff went without masks. Hours earlier in the Oval Office, where Biden was meeting with vaccinated Republican lawmakers, he led the group in removing their masks when the guidance was announced.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask,” he said, summarising the new guidance and encouraging more Americans to roll up their sleeves.

“Get vaccinated — or wear a mask until you do.”

The guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but it will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools and other venues — even removing the need for social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.

“We have all longed for this

PRESIDENT Joe Biden walks with Vice President Kamala Harris after speaking on updated guidance on face mask mandates and COVID-19 response, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) moment — when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said at an earlier White House briefing.

The CDC and the Biden administration have faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people — those who are two weeks past their last required COVID-19 vaccine dose — in part to highlight the benefits of getting the shot.

The country’s aggressive vaccination campaign has paid off: U.S. virus cases are at their lowest rate since September, deaths are at their lowest point since last April and the test positivity rate is at the lowest point since the pandemic began.

Walensky said the long-awaited change is thanks to the millions of people who have gotten vaccinated and is based on the latest science about how well those shots are working.

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities — large or small — without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” Walensky said.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”

The new guidance is likely to open the door to confusion, since there is no surefire way for businesses or others to distinguish between those who are fully vaccinated and those who are not.

“Millions of Americans are doing the right thing and getting vaccinated, but essential workers are still forced to play mask police for shoppers who are unvaccinated and refuse to follow local COVID safety measures,” said Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Are they now supposed to become the vaccination police?”

Walensky and Biden said people who are not fully vaccinated should continue to wear masks indoors.

“We’ve gotten this far — please protect yourself until you get to the finish line,” Biden said, noting that most Americans under 65 are not yet fully vaccinated. He said the government was not going to enforce the mask wearing guidance on those not yet fully vaccinated.

“We’re not going to go out and arrest people,” added Biden, who said he believes the American people want to take care of their neighbours.

“If you haven’t been vaccinated, wear your mask for your own protection and the protection of the people who also have not been vaccinated yet.”

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is not changing the rules requiring masks on the House floor.

“No,” Pelosi told CNN. “Are they all vaccinated?”

Recent estimates have put the percentage of unvaccinated lawmakers in the House at 25%.

That ambiguity over who is and isn’t vaccinated led Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, to declare the CDC guidance “confusing and contradictory.”

“The public will not feel comfortable in a crowded indoor space if they are unsure if the maskless person standing next to them is or is not vaccinated,” he said.